Tibby's Graphics and Grab-Bag Thread.

[Turquoise Blue]

 

[Turquoise Blue]

(Huỳnh Tấn Phát)
Name: Nguyễn Tiến Chí
Age: 19 May 1908 (46 years old)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Viet
Religion: Mahayana Buddhism
Party/Faction: Vietnamese Nationalist Party (VNQDD)
List of Occupations and Offices Held: Politician (19??-present)
Acquaintance of the Chief of State (1950-present)
Personality: Nguyễn Tiến Chí is someone who is the peak of hypocrisy. He will talk loftily of the universality of Doctor Sun Yat-sen’s ideas on one hand and yet on the other hand cut deals that go against those ideas. Behind that brash hypocrisy lies a man who knows he lives in history, that the unrelenting wind of change will push other men hither and thither, but he will be like a sailboat. He will sail with the wind but not like the helpless ones. He will have his steering wheel and sail his own fate. Is he a bit intimidated by those times? Oh sure. But that makes it all the more fun!
Other Important Information: Likely has lots of connections cultivated over the last decade.
Biography: There are men who wish to use those times to improve the lives of the masses even at the cost of their own. There are men who hold to lofty ideas no matter what. And then there are men like Nguyễn Tiến Chí.

While not completely bereft of ideas, he is far more pragmatic than most. Some, okay a lot, would consider his actions hypocritical. But can an idea feed a man? Can an idea pay an army? No. The world runs on very non-ideological grounds, and the best men are ones that have their morality shaped by ideas but their decisions by the facts on the ground. Or at least that is what he would say.

Nguyễn Tiến Chí is the result of a precarious upbringing. Born to one of the scant middle-class, he realised from a young age that the reason why his family achieved that was through nothing but hard work and some questionable involvement in the black market. Every time he looked around his Vietnam, he saw nothing but poverty. A lot of poverty. It sickened him that his country was like this, and the French masters were doing nothing to fix it.

By the time he was 20, he was keen to get involved in some anti-colonial politics. France had ample time to bother fixing Vietnam, and all of his life they never did. He knew a doomed endeavour when he saw one, and hence when he heard of the VNQDD, he promptly joined them. This period of his life is known as the one where he was most idealistic, getting caught up in the nationalistic fervour. He has an arrest record in France for it. And a missing tooth.

Did he take part in the failed revolution of 1930? With the French gone, he can safely say he was, and only escaped execution via disguising himself as a female peasant for more time than he would admit. It is in this time that he developed some of his (admittedly by now very tense) communist ties (a few people still recall meeting Nguyễn Tiến Chi, note the different tone), and it is the time he became acutely aware of the sexist nature of Vietnamese society. Also, if you believe some people, he still screams like a woman.

After a while, he escaped to Yunnan where the rest of the VNQDD was, shorn himself of the deception, and became part of the resistance, although by now increasingly sceptical of Hồ Chí Minh’s political intents and becoming one of the more mild anti-communists in the VNQDD. Vietnam needed to be freed from Franco-Japanese colonialism, yes, but this didn’t mean Hồ could be trusted completely. He was vindicated in the end as Hồ turned on them.

After the war, and as the chaos of post-1945 Vietnam ensued, the now penniless Nguyễn Tiến Chí realised an opportunity in his home city of Saigon. Moving quickly, he claimed that his (actually somewhat lower-middle-class) family was true owners of many valuable goods that was still in Vietnam somehow and managed to pull a lot of party connections to get those. He then promptly sold many of them abroad at higher than market prices, and returned to his family’s tried and true method – namely a business that prioritises trade and has dubious black market connections.

It is in this that he first made the acquaintance of Bảo Đại, who he privately despised for his Japanese collaboration but knew had a lot of outsized influence in South Vietnam. With his business being known as one of the few reasonably successful major ones, he could manage to portray himself not as an ex-communist revolutionary, but as a respectable businessman who promised to help in the creation of a better Vietnam.

He is by absolutely no means in Bảo Đại’s favourites for Prime Minister. And why would he wish to jeopardise all he has by taking on what he sees as a thankless task? Let some poor sucker do it. Nguyễn Tiến Chí knows the real power isn’t in a political office. It has always been money in the end.

Cold hard money.

Skills:
Charisma -3
Organising - 3
Generalship - 1
Skulduggery - 3

Spoiler: Stances

Religious Matters: "I am a Buddhist. But I don't think we should discriminate against any religion, really. Vietnam is bigger than any of them."
Foreign Policy: "The French? No. But the Americans? Absolutely. We should work with them."
Economic Policy: "We should seek to create a good mixture of state intervention and the free market. No communism. Social democracy."
Bao Dai:
- Privately: "He is nothing but a Japanese collaborationist. Should have been shot with the rest of them."
- Publicly: "I support the idea of a restrained executive. Perhaps a true republic with a good balance between a president and legislature. But if the conclusion to this discourse is a ceremonial monarchy, I will support it, as I will support any non-communist system for Vietnam."
The Chinese: "We should not target any ethnicity in particular. But I absolutely do support a tax on landowners."

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Spoiler: Code.

{{Infobox election
| election_name = 2020 United States presidential election
| country = United States
| flag_year = 1960
| type = presidential
| ongoing = No
| opinion_polls = Nationwide opinion polling for the 2020 United States presidential election
| college_voted = Yes
| previous_election = 2016 United States presidential election
| previous_year = 2016
| election_date = November 3, 2020
| next_election = 2024 United States presidential election
| next_year = ''2024''
| votes_for_election = 538 members of the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]]
| needed_votes = 270 electoral
| image_size = x160px
| image1 = File:Nick Clegg (2011) (cropped).jpg
| nominee1 = '''[[Lisa Brennan-Jobs]]'''
| party1 = [[i|Tomorrow]]
| colour1 = 1ce9b5
| home_state1 = [[California]]
| running_mate1 = '''[[Andrew Yang]]'''
| popular_vote1 = '''73,173,132'''
| electoral_vote1 = '''283'''
| states_carried1 = '''21 + [[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district|NE-02]]'''
| percentage1 = '''46.2%'''
| image2 = File:Nick Clegg (2011) (cropped).jpg
| nominee2 = [[John Bel Edwards]]
| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)
| home_state2 = [[Louisiana]]
| running_mate2 = [[i|Lucas St. Clair]]
| popular_vote2 = 71,114,147
| electoral_vote2 = 255
| states_carried2 = '''29 + [[Maine's 2nd congressional district|DC]]'''
| percentage2 = 44.9%
| image3 = File:Nick Clegg (2011) (cropped).jpg
| nominee3 = [[i|Orenthal Simpson]]
| party3 = Republican Party (United States)
| home_state3 = [[California]]
| running_mate3 = [[i|Donald Trump]]
| popular_vote3 = 10,770,071
| electoral_vote3 = 0
| states_carried3 = 0
| percentage3 = 6.8%
| map = {{2020 United States presidential election imagemap}}
| map_caption = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:green;">Green</span> denotes states won by Brennan-Jobs/Yang and <span style="color:darkblue;">Blue</span> denotes those won by Edwards/St. Clair. Numbers indicate [[United States Electoral College|electoral votes]] cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
| map_alt = A map of the United States showing several coastal states and some of the Midwest and South voting for Biden, with most of the Midwest, South, and Plains voting for Trump.
| title = President
| before_election = [[i|Orenthal Simpson]]
| before_party = Republican Party (United States)
| after_election = [[Lisa Brennan-Jobs]]
| after_party = [[I|Tomorrow]]
}}

 

[Turquoise Blue]

ПАСПОРТ / PASSPORT

(Maia Sandu)
Фамилия / Surname: МЕЛЬНИК / MELNIK
Имя / Given names: АНТОНИНА АЛИКОВНА (ТО́НЯ) / ANTONINA ALIKOVNA (TONYA)
Пол / Gender: Ж / F
Дата рождения / Date of Birth: 12.3.1948 (currently 43 y/o)
Национальность / Nationality: РУССКИЙ / RUSSIAN
Религия / Religion: ПРАВОСЛАВНЫЙ / ORTHODOX (her faith 'comes and goes')
Федеральный субъект / Federal Subject: ЛЕНИНГРАДСКАЯ ОБЛАСТЬ / LENINGRAD OBLAST
Партия / Party: РОССИЙСКАЯ ОБЪЕДИНЕННАЯ ДЕМОКРАТИЧЕСКАЯ ПАРТИЯ «ЯБЛОКО» / RUSSIAN UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY "YABLOKO" (1993-)
КОММУНИСТИЧЕСКАЯ ПАРТИЯ СОВЕТСКОГО СОЮЗА / COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION (1972-1990)
List of Previous Offices Held: Soviet Bureaucrat and Apparatchik (1970s-1990)
Associate at (random Russian business) (1991-present)
Member of the State Duma (1993-present)
Biography: Antonina Alikovna Melnik, known as Tonya to her friends, is in a sense the epitome of the old Soviet bureaucracy. Well-acquainted to the byzantine realm that ran the old Soviet Union, she was if anything a barely relevant paper pusher who nevertheless grew to truly understand the intricate webs and connections. Even now she still has many of that skill and can still lean into it considerably when it benefits her considerably.

Yet the Melnik that stands as a Yabloko member of the State Duma is one considerably affected by the fall of Communism. As she describes it, it was as if everything became truly clear. Her life spent at a desk navigating the system and keeping the old Union up, it was… well it wasn’t useless. She did help Russia. But it was keeping up an unjust system, keeping down the people and their true voice silenced. It was less a dictatorship of the proletariat and more just a dictatorship proper. And hence gradually floating around in the chaotic post-Soviet world, evolving further and further from the old communist ways, she ended up part of the reformist-democrat Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin clique (later on evolving to the Russian United Democratic Party 'Yabloko'), and ended up elected to the State Duma as a sincere democrat in 1993.

Acutely aware of her weakness as a bureaucrat in a world where image is everything, she regularly practises her speeches in the mirror of her apartment, perfecting her intonation and facial expressions, trying to get it down to a T before she actually gives them. But no matter how much she pushes herself into this unfamiliar world, she is still one much more used to the reality that no longer is. And the more she goes off script, the more her speeches become clinical and formal, more like her true self – the unassuming bureaucrat. Still, she is persistent. That is her core trait.

Spoiler: Issues

Corruption
Anti-Corruption: Corruption is a serious issue, and we should use all the resources available to the state to eliminate or at least reduce it.

The Economy
Center: Resume the voucher privatization, but consider slowing it down to ensure a smoother, less volatile transition to capitalism.

Chechnya
We should seek to achieve some sort of negotiated peace that preserves the average person’s liberties there.

Culture
Russia is a diverse, multiethnic country. It is ultimately one of many peoples, and we should embrace that and support our ethnic minorities. Regarding homosexuality, while I obviously don’t support the ideology, there are a fair few non-ideological homosexuals around, enough to justify the decriminalisation.

Constitutional Reform
Center: The current system is acceptable, perhaps with some tweaks to ensure comprehensibility and avoid another political standoff.
(has some sympathy to center-left)

Yugoslav Wars
We should focus more on our own internal matters for now, but support an international peacekeeping effort.

Foreign Policy
We should reconcile with the West of course! Perhaps not an alliance with NATO, put that to the people in a referendum. With China, I don’t see why we cannot reconcile with them as well. We can be a constructive bridge between West and East.

Administration: (3+2=) 5
Economy: 4
Diplomacy: 3
Media: (6-2) 4
Combat: 1

 

[Turquoise Blue]

 

[Turquoise Blue]

"Ie pák belge. Ie sum belge. Mien pais, mien lond, set exist! S'est nox néderlandais, nox fransais. S'est belge!"
- I speak Belgian. I am Belgian. My country, my land, it exists! It is neither Dutch nor French. It is Belgian!

"Hallu, Franshom!"
- Hello, Frenchman!

"Ze plus grat ilusion van ze franshom est sét ze belge pák sa tál. Sela ók vrai por ze néderlandais."
- The greatest delusion of the Frenchman is that the Belgian spoke his language. That is also true for the Dutch.

"Pák tou nox Belge? O."
- You don't speak Belgian? Oh.

"Láng liver ze roi! Za Belgice zál nóit on républiek zyn!"
- Long live the King! Belgium shall never be a republic!

"Ie pák belge. Za Belgice pák belge. Ta za Belgice!"
- I speak Belgian. Belgium speaks Belgian. All Belgium!

"S'est Belge. Vou ave neit ze tál belge zién?"
- This is Belgian. You have not seen the Belgian language?

"Ta est boed avet mie. Dank por ze pose za kuestie!"
- All is good with me. Thanks for asking!

"Dá n'est resen án mie te douten!"
- There is no reason to doubt me!

"Za Belgice est vrecht!"
- Belgium is real!

 

[Turquoise Blue]

 

[Turquoise Blue]

(Nilo Peçanha)
Name: Joel Ambrósio Cardoso Pinheiro
Gender: Male
Date of Birth (Age): 19 October 1881 (32 y/o)
Previous Offices Held:
Mid-Level Party Officer for the Socialist Party (1900s-present)
Lawyer (1903-present)
Party: Socialist Party
Secret Organization: Carbonária

Spoiler: Biography

Portugal is the bastion of the Atlantoid race, the superior Luso-Atlantoid specimens, highest of the Atlantoids, which are in turn highest of the Europids, which are in turn the highest of all races of humanity. Portugal may be trodden on, she may be ignored, she may be exploited, but she has her racial superiority and national greatness to cling on to. Portugal is inherently great, and all we have to do is discover greatness within ourselves and reject foreign ideas cooked up by lesser races.

The Luso-Atlantoids are not of any class. They are workers. They are bosses. They are Portuguese above all (and Galician, we’ll get that back). Marx was a Teuton. His ideas are foreign to Luso-Atlantoid society. There must be a Portuguese Socialism, a Lusocialismo, one shaped by Portugese ideas and the peak of the intelligence of the superior Luso-Atlantoid specimens. And who better than… a mixed-race bastard from Lisbon?

Certainly, Joel Ambrósio Pinheiro is a strange beast indeed for such a task. A result of an indiscretion between a drunk noble and a mixed-race maid, he was thrown into a distant cousin’s residence since an early age as a result of his father disliking him. Since this age, Pinheiro has been engulfed with this quiet rage at his own creation, and a desire to deny, no, change reality. He is not a mulatto, he is a Luso-Atlantoid, of the very same race that created greats such as Sebastian and Henry the Navigator.

Climbing up from being the outcast, he immediately realised that the way to advancement was quite simple – knowledge. Consuming as much literature as possible like a hungry and thirsty man upon discovering a feast in an oasis, he was immediately enamoured by the idea of the Atlanteans, the people that once peopled a place in the Atlantic. Where did they go? Pinheiro concluded that they must have become the Portuguese, and other ‘Atlantic’ people like the English and Celts.

Going from the strange ‘swarthy’ child in a noble estate to a barely-respected lawyer took every effort, and that struggle shaped him and instilled in him a dislike for Portuguese society as it existed. It, he came to believe, was riddled with foreign ideas. The Luso-Atlantoid people were struggling under foreign ideas, foreign systems. It needed a renewal. The Socialist Party was a bunch of deeply strange individuals, and he naturally drifted to it as part of his labour as a lawyer for ‘the people’.

It is with the Socialist Party that he developed his more political ideas. Portugal needed Portuguese Socialism (Lusocialismo?), shaped by Luso-Atlantoids and for Luso-Atlantoids. A racial consciousness, a rejection of Teutonic ideas pushed by Marx and his lackeys, and one that promotes true equality between the sexes. All foreign ideas should be shed, and workers organise into a great national workers’ state.

It is quite peculiar that Pinheiro was publicly neutral on the monarchy question. As he put it – “Portugal could have been great with the King, and it could be great with the President. Nothing has changed. It is still the same Portugal, with the same racial potential.” Of course, there’s mutters that he was privately more sympathetic with Manuel as part of Manuel’s cooperation with the Socialists, but all that’s in the past.

As a middling-level Socialist politician and average lawyer, he is currently writing his first book – Conclusions on the Heritage of the Portuguese People, where he aims to elaborate on his idea of the racial classification of the Portuguese people, the Luso-Atlantoid race.

Spoiler: Political Stances

The Catholic Church: “The Catholic Church is at once at the heart and anathema to the Portuguese people. It has grown to be a great conduct and comfort to Portuguese society, but it is also controlled by a foreign head, an Italian to be exact. How can we expect Italians to understand Portuguese experiences and beliefs? Indeed, what I would do, is copy our Atlantoid brethren in the United Kingdom, and create a church based on Portuguese experiences, a Lusitanian Church, so to speak. It would preserve many of the Catholic beliefs we take comfort in, but reject control of Rome.”

Labour: “Labour makes this country strong. What is our culture ultimately but the working-class manifest? And how can we stand by and watch our fellow Portuguese suffer in indignity for the sake of what the Teutons call profit? No, I reject such filthy ideas likely coined by Germans. Let us care for our people and serve them as much as we can. Is this not the point of the Republic?”

Suffrage: “Of course I support women and the illiterate being able to vote! What sort of idiot would argue otherwise?”

Ultramar: “The Ultramar is an expression of Luso-Atlantoid racial supremacy over the indigenous people. We should seek to abolish the tribal authorities, for acknowledging they exist is inherently acknowledging the indigenous as equal to the Luso-Atlantoid, and this must not stand. Do not grant civil rights. Instead, we must seek to ‘water’ down their backwards descent with good settlers. A good Luso-Atlantoid’s descent outshines that of an indigenous, and their child will take after the Luso-Atlantoid. If that child has a child with a Luso-Atlantoid, that child will be perfectly Luso-Atlantoid! It is through this process that we will transform the Ultramar.”

The United Kingdom: “Anyone who argues that we should work with the Teuton should have their head examined. The Teuton yearns for our colonies, like a barbarian yearns to control cities or a dog yearns to have a bone. They are mindlessly martial and savage, like the backwards Slav, and we should have nothing to do with either of them! Britain on the other hand, shows that even lesser variants of the Atlantoid race can still shine its dominance over the world! It is with them that our blood is with. The memory of old Atlantis rests with them as it does with us, and it is on us to repair our relationship with them at once!”

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Name: Astra Nielsen (known colloquially by some as 'Astra Lion-Core')
Age when becoming leader: 16
Religion: PRIMUS PROTECT
Leadership Style: Temporally she will cooperate with the existing structures while still their master, spiritually she will assert her authority as High Calixte.
Leader Personality: Privately sociopathic, but with a streak of self-awareness and revulsion at such, she presents a serious, but humble, front to the public. She will seek to cultivate her image as a 'consul of the people' above all, one who listens to the masses.
Biography: What can one say about Astra Nielsen? Only that she is truly a product of her society. From an early age, she was noted to be somewhat reclusive, easily taking to books and (somewhat concerning) talking to herself. Always a quick reader, she found the books to be a ‘fun distraction’ from the disturbing reality she realised early on, and pushed hard to read some of the… archived books seized from the Pequod, and eventually received such.

One night she could be found curling up with a book many would call heretical and almost was thrown into destruction, a book all about ‘ancient knights’. It portrayed a very strange world, one of men in charge, but even at that young age she dismissed that as just the book coming from heretics. Still, she had to admit, even the silly book managed to make them look quite admirable. Fighting for a cause greater than them, even if an ultimately wrong-headed one. The ‘rules of a knight’, it tapped something deep in her. Something that needed something to be latched on. It offered what she lacked in life – a sense of morality.

For you see, with her mother too busy with the war and her extensive attempts at reforms, there were often months where Astra was left with tutors, simpering servants, and the voices. The voices were always there, ringing around in her head. She disliked them. They were… demanding. They wanted her to be shaped into something she didn’t want to. The book, as abhorrent as it often was, offered her a way to fend them off. An idea. A sense of morality. She didn’t quite get why knights had to do what they did, but she understood that in some way it was… good?

Astra Nielsen would go from a reclusive and bookish girl to a martial figure eager to practise fighting with a sword, a gun, and what else she could wield. The tutors were given plenty of time to teach her, and she would now be an eager student. The simpering servants proved tiresome, but she grew to tolerate them. A true knight respects her inferiors after all. The voices proved as irritating as ever, unfortunately.

As her mother began to decay, Astra increasingly knew her time to lead was near. While she was never close to her mother, she still mourned when Victoria passed away, and once the funeral was finished, she looked up to the skies.

The Dain was up there. So was Primus. There was this one word she found difficult to understand in the book, but now comprehended to the full.

Crusade.

Goals:

Core Goal
The Crusade
The Dain still looms large. As the ever-faithful servant and conduct of Primus, Astra cannot let this stand. Thus she will authorise the Crusade against the destructive forces of ‘Harmony’ and liberate, in the name of the Ever-Loving Primus, the benighted and broken remnants of humanity, as well as seize once and for all, the lost Erth.

Erth, once portrayed as the hell from where humans fled, will now be portrayed as humanity’s ancient home, and while Primus granted us this bountiful Paradise, we have an obligation to free our old home from the tyranny, and turn it towards the light. The final victory over the Dain will be when we liberate the broken Erth and make it anew, erase his final hiding place on this material plane and make it a bastion of none other than Faith.

The Crusade is nothing but a war of the heavens, the ultimate struggle between Primus and the Dain, and every Nautilien should steel themselves for this. Erth awaits for us to bring the light of Primus to its people. It is our destiny. It has always been our destiny.

[Oh, if this war succeeds, there'll be a custodian order in place to manage Sol, firmly in Nautilien hands, but given enough autonomy to work off]

Secondary Goal 1
A New, Knightly, Order
Astra has long been concerned about the attitudes of the Nautilien elite to their lowers, and will seek to change this. Not via law. Law is the hard hammer. But through the way of the spirit. She will release the ‘Five Conclusions’, which will delineate what she believes to be the ideal Nautilien.

THE FIVE CONCLUSIONS
1. Primus wished for everyone to be cooperative and work within the society for its greater survival. In those times, this rule is more acute than ever as we head towards the ultimate struggle. Hence any behaviour that goes against social cohesion and unity is against Primus’ will.

2. Authority is key to social cohesion, and everyone must pay respect to their superior. Men must pay respect to women, lower castes to higher castes, and everyone to the High Calixte.

3. No one but the High Calixte is immune to the Dain’s influence, hence everyone else must be conscious of their behaviour to anyone else. Would they consider such to be warranted towards a superior, or even to the High Calixte? If not, then that is the Dain at work and they must cease.

4. The ideal Nautilien is someone who is willing to give everything for Primus, including their very life. The expression of utter sacrifice for Primus is one the Dain cannot manufacture.

5. Only the person involved and the High Calixte can see if someone’s soul is that of a man, or that of a woman. If there is any doubt, the High Calixte (untainted by the Dain) can perceive the reality.

Building off this, she will seek to cultivate a specific military order to recognise those soldiers who have fought bravely for Nautilia and for Primus – the Order of the Round Table. She will also grant membership in the order posthumously of course, to anyone who performed great acts of heroism for the Crusade and for Primus. No matter their caste. Chivalry knows no social order in her eyes.

Secondary Goal 2
The Quiet Revolution
Building off the Third Conclusion, Astra will seek to (after the Crusade, so this is null and void if she loses) implement her own reforms to the Consultatium. It would not seek to undermine the agreement made with her mother. It would however, seek to acknowledge further the people who fought for Primus by granting each of the Knights of the Round Table a spot on the Consultatium for life.

Of course, the agreement to maintain the ¼ rule will be maintained, and carried out in full. Even as the Consultatium expands to take in the new Knight-Consultants, the sortition number will be expanded.

The new Consultatium will be turned to to help the Consul fulfil the First Conclusion in full in peacetime, including policies that seek to encourage social cohesion and curb any growing threats. The Dain, obviously now that he has lost his unjust possession of Erth, has sent more nebulous threats to us, like disease, unemployment, etc. Every industry will see state support to return to its pre-war state, and even further!

Minor Goal 1
A Consul and a Funeral
Early on in her time in power, she will seek to complete her dear mother’s plans for a memorial to herself (which Astra considers slightly vain, but she won’t say such). It will be the only expense she seeks before the Crusade.

Minor Goal 2
Le Morte d'Astra
Unlike her mother, she will not seek to live forever. She will appoint a niece of hers as her heir, having no children of her own, and seek to train that niece as much as possible to be the new leader. Once she believes her time is somewhat near, she will make preparations for her own funeral.

It will not be a traditional Primusian funeral, but be a cremation like her mother's. Her body will be burnt, and the ashes scattered to the winds of Paradise. The person who will do the scattering will be specially chosen, a cleaner-caste orphan son of a posthumous Knight of the Round Table. If the preparations go well, he will scatter the ashes of Astra Nielsen on a windy day in front of a solemn audience.

She will make sure to write in her final letter that all this is the will of the Primus.

A cenotaph will be commissioned of course for the mausoleum her mother created.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Spoiler: Dynastic Claimants USA

Washingtonian claimants to the American Empire - 1789-present
No. Someone else has, and there's conflicting claims, so no.

Adamsian claimants to the American Empire - 1797-present
John I (Adams) 1797-1826
John II and I (Adams) 1826-1848 [also claimant in his own right as John I from 1825]
Mary I (Adams) 1848-1859 [daughter of Prince John, who deceased before John II and I]
John III and II (Johnson) 1859-1938
William I (Johnson) 1938-1940
John IV and III (Johnson) 1940-1953 [brother of William I]
Winters (Johnson) 1953-2002
Eric (Johnson) 2002-present

Jeffersonian claimants to the American Empire - 1801-present
Thomas I (Jefferson) 1801-1826
Martha I (Jefferson) 1826-1836
Thomas II (Randolph) 1836-1875
George I (Randolph) 1875-1893
Francis I (Randolph) 1893-1922 [brother of George I]
Charlotte (Randolph) 1922-1935
Caroline (Rafferty) 1935-1995
Anne (Rafferty) 1995-2010 [sister of Caroline]
Sara (Barnes) 2010-present

Spoiler: Renew, Reenergise, Rejoin!

Renew, Reenergise, Rejoin!

Boris Johnson (Conservative) 2019-2023
2019 (maj.): def. Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat)
Liz Truss (Conservative) 2023-2024
Keir Starmer (Labour) 2024-2029
2024 (maj.): def. Liz Truss (Conservative), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Oliver Dowden (Conservative) 2029-2031
2029 (min.): def. Keir Starmer (Labour), Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat), Humza Yousaf (SNP), Zarah Sultana (Momentum), Alex Haida and Tamsin Omond (There Is An Alternative (Volt UK - Green Party Britain)
2030 (min.): def. Andy Burnham (Labour), Munira Wilson, Alex Haida and Amelia Womack (New Politics Alliance (Liberal Democrat - Volt UK - Green Party Britain), Zarah Sultana (Momentum), Humza Yousaf (SNP)
Alex Haida (Volt UK-led 'New Politics Alliance' [w/ Liberal Democrats and Green Party Britain]) 2031-????
2031 (coal. with Labour): def. Oliver Dowden (Conservative), Andy Burnham (Labour), Laura Pidcock (Momentum), Humza Yousaf (SNP)
2033 EU referendum: 61.1% Rejoin - 39.9% Stay Out

The 2020s is remembered as the second of Britain's "Lost Decades". A sluggish economy, growing decline in exports, soaring cost of living [only contained temporarily after Starmer's "Left Turn" in 2026], two recessions [2022 and 2028] and growing anger enabling first the increasingly far-right rhetoric of Oliver Dowden then the surge of the New Politics Alliance. It is not a decade anyone in Britain wants to remember.

Truth be told, the 2033 referendum wasn't about Europe. Not really. Oh it was a vote for rejoining [which happened eventually in 2035 after two more years of negotiations] that was clear. But it wasn't about Europe. It was ultimately a visceral rejection of everything Leaving stood for. By this point, it was a long and bewildering list. Austerity, protectionism, anti-immigration, elite rule, social conservatism, even imperial measurements and blue passports. The pettiness of identity politics shown in the 2010s for the triumphant Leaver side was matched by the 2030s Rejoiners.

The referendum itself was the most nasty referendum in British history. The once-triumphant Eurosceptics was keen to protect what they saw as 'their' Britain from Volt UK and the New Politics Alliance's attempt to 'reclaim' it for themselves. Calls of 'treason' flew wildly, and the embittered Remainers/Rejoiners were no better, they was at this point fanatical at ending the 'Leaver age'. It got so bad even the European Commission had to call for calm, and many on the continent looked at Britain with fear and confusion. It almost seemed like a return to the 17th century.

But ultimately Rejoin won by selling itself as everything to everyone. End to austerity, end to Toryism, end to social conservatism, end to the police state, end to protectionism, end to the bad days of the Lost Decades. Ultimately, it promised change. Which was the one thing Outters never could.

Spoiler: The Hermit Kingdom

My Attempt At A Really Dystopian Socially-Conservative Britain List
James Callaghan (Labour majority) 1964-1970
1964 [maj.]: def. Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative) & Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1966 [maj.]: def. Julian Amery (Conservative) & Jeremy Thorpe (Liberal)
Julian Amery (Conservative majority) 1970-1976
1970 [maj.]: def. James Callaghan (Labour) & Jeremy Thorpe [de jure] (Liberal)
1975 [maj.]: def. Robert Mellish (Labour) & Mark Bonham Carter (Liberal)
Robert Mellish (Labour majority) 1976-1981
1976 [maj.]: def. Julian Amery (Conservative) & Mark Bonham Carter, Roy Jenkins and William Rees-Mogg ('Democratic Centre')
Roy Mason (Labour majority) 1981-1987
1981 [maj.]: def. John Stokes (Conservative) & Mark Bonham Carter, Edward Heath and David Marquand ('Democratic Centre')
1986 [suspended due to The Emergency]
Alan Clark (Conservative majority) 1987-1995
1987 [maj.]: def. Roy Mason (Labour) & Enoch Powell and Peter Shore (Democratic-Constitutionalist Labour Alliance)
1991 [maj.]: def. Clare Short (Labour) & Enoch Powell and Peter Shore (Democratic-Constitutionalist Labour Alliance)
Neil Hamilton (Conservative majority) 1995-1998
1996 [suspended due to The Second Emergency]
George Galloway (Labour majority) 1998-2005
1998 [maj.]: def. Neil Hamilton (Conservative) & Robin Cook (Libertarian)
2004 [maj.]: def. Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative) & Robin Cook (Libertarian)
Frank Field (Labour majority) 2005-2007
Ann Widdecombe (Conservative majority) 2007-2014
2007 [maj.]: def. Frank Field (Labour) & Alex Johnson (Libertarian)
2010 [maj.]: def. Kate Hoey (Labour) & Alex Johnson (Libertarian)
Mike Hookem (Labour-Patriotic coalition) 2014-2019
2014 [coal.]: def. Ann Widdecombe (Conservative), Gerard Batten (Patriotic) & Liz Truss (Libertarian)
Kate Forbes (Conservative majority) 2019-present
2019 [maj.]: def. Mike Hookem (Labour-Patriotic 'coupon') & Liz Truss (Libertarian)
2024 [suspended due to The Third Emergency]

As the country approaches the end of five years of Forbes' mixture of economic centrism with die-hard Christian fundamentalism, the hermit kingdom starts to look around and see that other countries are drastically different to it, with social views far more liberal than British politics ever considered.

The depressingly-common killings of homosexuals [something the Libertarians make a point of through listing their names into Hansard] has only if anything escalated as Forbes' speeches has if anything become more and more openly homophobic even by British standards.

The Labour leader - the eighty-one-year-old Robert Kilroy-Silk - continues his party's deeply 'workerist' view, holding a dim view of anything that is deemed to be merely the 'babblings of the egoistic middle-class' such as homosexual rights. Kilroy-Silk instead focuses on economic competence.

The new leader of the Libertarian Party is a former far-leftist, tortured by the British state during the Second Emergency as a suspected 'fellow traveller' for the CPGB, and has carried those memories with him, even as he has reinvented himself as "the people's advocate". Keir Starmer is a quiet man who sees the polls finally turn for the Libertarians and is anxious to not squander an once-in-a-lifetime's chance to change Britain for the better.

The final poll before Forbes' speech was 37% Libertarian, 27% Conservative, 26% Labour. A 10 point lead, one that could possibly be won.

Then Forbes announced the start of the Third Emergency, alleging that "dark forces" are engulfing Britain. The dream was deferred once more.

Or is it? The youth are rallying even more, they know what is in Britain is not normal, and even the police beating them up as they protest against the Third Emergency doesn't stop the turnout. It feels that to a generation of Brits, enough is enough, and the more the state crack down on them, the more they slowly lose the support of even people who endorse the old ways of Britain.

Maybe, just maybe, change can finally come to the hermit kingdom.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (-1920)
Victoria (Hanover) 1837-1901
Edward VII (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) 1901-1910
George V (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) 1910-1920

Monarchs of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland (1920-1934)
Robert IV (Wittelsbach) 1920-1934 [also King of Bavaria]

Monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1934-)
George V (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) 1934-

====

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (-1920)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative) 1895-1902
Arthur Balfour (Conservative) 1902-1905
Edward Grey (Liberal) 1905-1918
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (Liberal) 1918-1920

Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of England (1920-1934)
Herbert Vivian ("Jacobite" Liberal) 1920-1927
Gilbert Baird Fraser (Tory) 1927-1931
Winston Churchill ("Jacobite" Liberal, then Liberal) 1931-1934

Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Scotland (1920-1934)
Theodore Napier (Scottish Unionist) 1920-1924
Ruaraidh Erskine ("Jacobite" Liberal) 1924-1927
Reginald Lindesay-Bethune, 12th Earl of Lindsay (Scottish Unionist) 1927-1933
Noel Skelton (Scottish Unionist) 1933-1934

Prime Ministers of the Kingdom of Ireland (1920-1934)
W. B. Yeats (White Rose) 1920-1933 [symbolic: real power was in the "Jacobite Junto"]
William Redmond (Irish Parliamentary) 1933-1934

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1934-)
Herbert Sackville, 9th Earl De La Warr (Liberal-Labour) 1934-

Write-up eventually coming. Hoping to submit this as part of the 10th challenge.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Always the Bride...
Elizabeth (Tudor) 1558-1603
John II (Rurikid) 1603-1643 [also Ivan V of Russia]
John III (Rurikid) 1643-1661 [also Ivan VI of Russia]
- Interregnum 1661-1666 [First Regency-State of England]
Charles I (Stuart) 1666-1685 [also Charles II of Scotland]
James I (Stuart) 1685-1688 [also James VII of Scotland]
- Interregnum 1688-1690 [Second Regency-State of England]
William III (Orange) 1690-1702
- Interregnum 1702-1703 [Third Regency-State of England]
James II (Stuart) 1702-1743 [also James VIII of Scotland]
- Interregnum 1743-1744 [Fourth Regency-State of England]
John IV (Braganza) 1743-1750 [also João V of Portugal]
Joseph I (Braganza) 1750-1777 [also José I of Portugal]
Peter (Braganza) 1777-1781 [also Pedro III of Portugal] - 1781: England conquered through the "Second Armada"
Joseph II (Habsburg-Lorraine) 1781-1790 [also Josef II, Holy Roman Emperor]
Leopold (Habsburg-Lorraine) 1790-1793 [also Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor]
- Interregnum 1793-1805 [Fifth Regency-State of England]
Napoleon I (Bonaparte) 1805-1815 [also Napoléon I of France]
Francis (Habsburg-Lorraine) 1815-1835 [also Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor]
Ferdinand (Habsburg-Lorraine) 1835-1847 [also Ferdinand IV, Holy Roman Emperor]
- Interregnum? 1847 [Sixth Regency-State of England for a few minutes?]
Napoleon II (Bonaparte) 1847-1873 [also Napoléon III of France]
Napoleon III (Bonaparte) 1873-1899 [also Napoléon IV of France]
- Interregnum 1899-1901 [Seventh Regency-State of England]
Charles II (Braganza) 1901-1908 [also Carlos I of Portugal]
Emmanuel (Braganza) 1908-1932 [also Manuel II of Portugal]
- Interregnum 1932-1940 [Eighth Regency-State of England]
Charles III (Habsburg-Lorraine) 1940-1947 [also Karl VIII, Holy Roman Emperor]
Otto (Habsburg-Lorraine) 1947-2011 [also Otto VI, Holy Roman Emperor]
- Interregnum 2011-2020 [Ninth Regency-State of England]
Henry IX (Yamato) 2020-present [also The Reigning Emperor (Reiwa), of Japan]

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (-2024)
Boris Johnson (Conservative majority) 2019-2022
2019: def. Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat)
Rishi Sunak (Conservative majority) 2022
Keir Starmer (Labour 'Non-Partisan National Government', then Labour majority) 2022-2023 - appointed by King Charles III
2023: def. Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat), Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish Concord [SNP/SGP]), Tamsin Omond (Extinction Rebellion), Theresa May (Team May), Ben Wallace (Global Britain), Rishi Sunak ('Conservative'), Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
John McDonnell (Labour majority) 2023-2024

Prime Ministers of the Democratic Commonwealth (2024-)
John McDonnell (Labour-led People's Front majority) 2024-2027
2026: def. Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat), Tamsin Omond (Green New Deal), scattered nationalist/conservative opposition
Jonathan Reynolds (Labour-led People's Front majority, then People's Socialist Party) 2027-
2030: unopposed

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Ode to Joy...
Winston Churchill (Conservative-led Wartime Cabinet) 1940-1946*
Joe Anderson (Independent-led Wartime Cabinet) 1946-1947
Ernie Bevin (Labour-led Wartime Cabinet) 1947-1951*
Anthony Eden (Conservative-led Wartime Cabinet) 1951-1954*
Harold Nicolson (National Labour-led Wartime Cabinet, then National Labour-led National Government) 1954-1957

It has been 18 years of unrelenting war.

Britain refused to surrender, even as London itself faded to rubble, children were forced to work in the fields, people were put on starvation rations, the Navy acquired more and more of the monetary funding to the point where the Army was barely an afterthought at the worst times.

Even the arch-imperialist Ernie Bevin had to, after fighting off a bad case of indigestion from the latest National Bread, sign the agreement to give further concessions to the colonies to ensure their further recruitment for the British Armed Forces. More bodies were needed after all.

America proved intransigent yet again and refused to bail out Britain or even help it. Free France suffered a major morale hit when De Gaulle was killed in yet another London bombing. Even a fumbled plea for a deal from Japan received no response.

Britain was alone. It had to fight Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. Surely it would perish?

The emaciated figure of Harold Nicolson, dressed in a tatty suit and with a thousand-yard stare, looked as if he would sooner fall over and die than announce victory. But due to a series of lucky breaks, including Italy suddenly declaring it was out of the Axis, the Japanese armed forces turning against each other, Germany and Russia going to war, and massive massive promises made to secure the final, tantalising, victory.

The Treaty of London was at once the declaration of Britain's final victory in the brutal Second World War and its Empire's death warrant. Just as promised, the exhausted Britain in the following years gave independence to what was regarded as 'Dominions', but they quickly acquired republican governments and declared Queen Elizabeth II no longer their monarch, even if it was all done in very polite terms.

However, in exchange for losing its second Empire, Britain has acquired a third. With the Nazis and Soviets done for, Europe is Britain's oyster, its bloated imperial armed forces currently setting up new states with help from some governments-in-exile. The thinking in Chequers [Downing Street is just... gone] is that Britain's new dominion will be one of... economic association, instead of the costly imperium that was the old thinking. Lots of people to employ in those countries, it'll have to be emphasised as one of equals, just with Britain at the helm naturally.

After so much years of Britain standing alone in the Second World War, it now has its new European Union standing with it.

[this is a silly list off the idea of twisting the gammon idea of WW2 into a 'Britain-led EU' outcome].

 

[Turquoise Blue]

The Great Collapse
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (-2031?)
Boris Johnson (Conservative minority, then majority, then minority) 2019-2027
2019 (maj.): def. Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat)
2024 (min.): def. Keir Starmer (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Liz Truss (Conservative minority) 2027-2031
2029 (min.): def. Wes Streeting (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Graham Brady (Conservative government-in-exile) 2031-???? [vanished?]

Chairs of the People's Autonomous Republics of Britain (2030-2032)
Richard Burgon and Nadia Whittome (Momentum) 2030-2031
Tamsin Omond and Nadia Whittome (Momentum) 2031-2032
Nadia Whittome (Momentum) 2032

Presidents of the Free Republic of Scotland (2031-)
Ian Blackford (SNP) 2031-present

Protectors of the Patriotic Commonwealth of England (2031-2033)
Tommy Robinson (England Arise!) 2031-2033*
Anne-Marie Waters (England Arise!) 2033

Prime Ministers of the 'Provisional Government' of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2031-2033)
Stephen Kinnock (Labour) 2031-2032
Dominic Grieve (Independent) 2032-2033

Governors of the European Union Mandate of Great Britain (2033-)
Jeppe Kofod (Social Democrats [Denmark]/S&D) 2033-present

How did it get to this point? How did it get to the point where Britain failed completely and utterly as a state? As the European Commission prepares Britain for a future utterly dependent on the European Union [but crucially, not in the EU, and won't be for decades at least], the people are resigned to it. In just a few years they went from teetering on the brink to smashed on the floor. A society in ruins. The smouldering wreck of the Houses of Parliament pays testament to that, and even as Governor Kofod speaks of 'rebuilding and reorienting Britain', there is no interest in restoring the old UK.

Dominic Grieve's agreement to the Chequers Treaty will be forever controversial. But with Graham Brady all but vanished after announcing he would form a government in exile, the Patriotic Commonwealth on their last legs and the tragically amateurish PAR destroyed, Grieve was given an ultimatum. The decade of 'Brexit'-obsessed governments alienating Europe proved too much, and the Commission wanted one of their men in charge. With the Provisional Government's very existence propped up by EU armies which were French or Spanish, he had no choice.

Much to Scotland's displeasure, their overtures have been ignored. To Kofod, Grieve's signature confirmed that all of the former United Kingdom was now the Mandate, and Scotland was regarded as similar to the PCE or the PAR. President Blackford has vowed to fight on, but it is doubtful that Scotland will last beyond the next year. Northern Ireland shortly after was hived off as its own mandate, with vague promises of the restoration of the Assembly that was basically non-existent for more than a decade made. The Taoiseach has pressed on the idea of an 'united Ireland' of course.

Where did it all go wrong? The Mandate Commission is very clear. 2016. That was where it all went wrong. Some Labour people mutter 2024 when the Tories successfully won a minority government off labelling Labour as a party of pedophiles. Or 2019 when Corbyn lost. Or 2017. Or 2015. Or... To Tories [what remain of them], the moment is either 2027 when Truss became PM, or to 2019 when Johnson became PM. Blame games all around.

Some mutter of the 'king over the water', namely Charles III who was forced into exile to Canada at the start of 2030 when the Collapse began. Kofod is not a stupid man, he knows the King has appeal to the people. He is just not sure how to... use that. As many letters scribbled in black spider writing on the Governor's desk indicate, the King is very concerned about his people and want to help the most he can. To Kofod, those letters are irritating, but useful. He has no wish to discourage Charles III from writing to him. It's very good for legitimacy after all.

The Senedd of Wales barely escaped abolition, but in return they were made a puppet. First Minister Vaughan Gething now oversees a policy programme handed to him from Chequers and Mandate military presence in Cardiff makes sure he and the Senedd does not object to it.

The times of negotiation is over. It has been over for a very long time.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

So yeah, this is a somewhat jokey "British flag, but it's USSR" off the fact the old Labour logo vaguely looks like it could work for a communist country.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

The Snap of Winter

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (-2027 [de facto])
Boris Johnson (Conservative majority, then minority) 2019-2024
May 2024 (min.): def. Keir Starmer (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Nadine Dorries (Conservative minority) 2024-2027
Oct 2024 (min.): def. Angela Rayner (Labour), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Liz Truss (Conservative minority, then government-in-exile) 2027-

Prime Ministers of the 'People's Government' of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2027-2029)
Martin Lewis (Independent [NationSaver] leading provisional administration) 2027-2029

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2029- [declared])
Martin Lewis (NationSaver majority) 2029-2031
2029 (maj.): def. Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat), Alex Sobel (Labour), Humza Yousaf (SNP), Tamsin Omond (Green New Deal)
Jack Monroe (NationSaver majority) 2031-

The "Winter Revolution" came out of nowhere. There couldn't have been any prediction for it. It wasn't something that could have been foreseen. A major country, a major capitalist country in the West, falling to revolution in the 21st century. And in Britain of all places.

Quiet, leafy, England, known for being the bastion of calm and stability - falling to revolution? Surely not! All the stocks were doing fine, sure PM Dorries was quite right-wing, but she worked well with the rest of the West, mostly. The profit from privatising the BBC really did help cut the deficit. Sure Labor was going on about a cost of living crisis and apparently they said something about a 'famine'? In the West? Nonsense.

Britain was doing great, the pound was at a great value, its housing market booming with houses going for unbelievable prices. Revolution? Far, far from everyone's thoughts. It's one of those things that just happened, hard to predict. Sometimes the people just get those... excitable moments.

Nothing we could have done. What a shame. We could have seen Britain finally end its huge deficit, but the new government, a bunch of communists really, announced their 'NationSaving' policies. Lots of nationalisation, lots of spending. We tried to help the legitimate PM back in power, with some American troops moving to reassert order. Who knew it would lead to the "People's Government" announcing a withdrawal from NATO and to a break of America with our European allies? After a year of this, President Cruz announced withdrawal. Humiliation.

We of course keep recognising the Truss Government. No way will we allow those communists in London to be in the UN. We've vetoed about five attempts to replace them, the last one had China, India and the EU vote for it. Bah!

=======

The Winter Revolution was inevitable, comrade. Toryism is always for the rich, not the rest of us, and they chose to squeeze us until we pop. And pop we did! After years of hunger, years of starvation, we rose up. They sent in the Army, they always did. But the Army refused to fire on their fellow Brits [okay okay some did, but we don't say that in the official history]. Comrade Lewis at this time stepped up to the fore and spoke for us.

Nadine Dorries, the latest and most horrible example of Toryism, declared that the "woke" was taking over Britain and told the Army to "do what is necessary" to purge "wokeism" from Britain. Fascism of course. That was what Toryism ultimately became. However, just as Toryism is authoritarian, it is also weak. Dorries was replaced by Truss. Toryism with a human face. If she did that a few years before, perhaps we wouldn't be here. But it was too late. Even Comrade Lewis knew it now. There was no turning back. The revolution must be completed, lest reaction triumph.

The King was turned to by both Truss and Comrade Lewis, he said in his Speech. He had a choice. Would he choose the government that has brought endless misery to this country, and destroyed the environment at that, or would he choose the oppressed sigh of the people he swore to rule? Okay, it didn't sound like that, but it is what is going in the books at any rate. History is written by the victors. And we won.

We knew we won when it was found out Truss fled to America. The Americans, of course, took her in along with all the other millionaires who profited from our misery. Then of course they tried to put her back in charge! We fought against that, it was hard, unbelievably hard, but we triumphed.

In the 2029 election, the first one after the Winter Revolution and the Liberation War, there were no Tories standing. The few Tories who defected to us weren't really Tories and ended up quite comfortably in the Lib Dems. Toryism was a pest we forever banished from this country. The Americans protest, they try to deny that the Revolution ever happened and keep the weak government-in-exile with its sick delusions of reasserting Toryism over this country, in the UN. But the Revolution won. One day we will take our seat at the United Nations, and champion the people of the world.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton in 'Bridgerton'.
Name: Stephanie Louise "Tiffany" Arkwright (sometimes called "Tiff", or "Tiffa" by close friends and family)
Family: Arkwright
Clique: None
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Personality:

• Nice: The one thing everyone agrees is that Tiffany Arkwright is ultimately a pleasant person to know.
• Ditzy: She's often absent-minded, and has bouts of forgetfulness that can make her look unintelligent (emphasis on look).
• Artsy: She loves painting above all. However, her paintings has been described as... unique.

Other Pertinent Information: Daughter of the wealthy but mysterious Augustus Arkwright and his wife Violet.
Character Skills:

• Artistic-Minded: Tiffany Arkwright loves art and she can be often found working on her latest unique painting.
• Socialite: She can often be found talking to people effortlessly and while not charismatic, certainly is endearing.
• Exquisite: Always can be on top of such matters as formalities. That is, when she's mentally there.

Character Foibles:

• Absent-Minded: Often can easily forget what she's supposed to do.
• Visionary: No, not in the positive sense. She has, ah, visions sometimes. Might be the schizophrenia. Might not. It's something that causes people to raise their eyebrows if she has one in a public setting.
• Naïve: She's too good for this world, being a fairly trusting person. [this is in foibles because come on]

Character Traits:

• Accepted by the Academy: Even at a young age, Tiffany's skill has been acknowledged. [or her father bribed them, either/or]
• Wealthy: Has her hands in the mysteriously-sourced Arkwright treasury, like all other members of the family.
• Respectable Liberal: She is a supporter of Liberalism. That is, when she can be bothered to involve herself in politics.
• Ladies' Activist: Well, some say she is. All she basically did was say that women should be treated equally to men.
• Closeted Queer: All I will say is that her diary has a lot of adoring writings about, well, girls her age.
• Young Lineage: Tiffany's ancestry doesn't really stretch that far back. At least the records suggest... [FAMILIAL TRAIT]
• Magically Connected: Like all Arkwrights, she has connections to the world of magic. Or at least that's what they say. [FAMILIAL TRAIT]

Short Biography: TBD

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Reserving this post for stuff I write for Un Nouveau Départ, my madcap Harry Potter fanfic that's half emotional drama, half mystery and 100% queer.

If you want, I've saved some drabbles in an older post I just threadmarked after this to grasp what it is. But it'll be done properly now.

Here's what I wrote for it, ish.

Spoiler: Un Nouveau Départ - Chapter 1: A Flower At Hogwarts (WIP)

The Scottish countryside was beautiful, Fleur thought as she looked down from the Beauxbatons carriage. What a pity it’s cold. She moved away from the window and sat back in her seat. Madame Maxime of course reminded all of her students to cast a warming spell as the carriage entered Scotland, so Fleur wasn’t as cold as she would have been.

Still, it’s all the way up here. She heard a good deal about Hogwarts, of course. The… incidents that happened there were news even in France, and baffled even a good deal of people used to the school’s strangeness in the magical community. What was it last year? She raked her head for any recollection. Ah, it was something about an escaped murderer? Mon dieu, she hoped they got rid of those Dementors this year, even just reading about them cast shivers down her spine.

Madame Maxime’s voice came from the front of the carriage – “We are about to land at Hogwarts soon. I will remind you that you all represent the very best of Academie de Magie Beauxbâtons, so I expect you all to be on your best behaviour and be a credit to the school.” This was the same thing she made clear just before they got on the carriage, Fleur thought in light irritation. The clouds began to clear as the carriage started to descend.

Hogwarts looked, well, Fleur wouldn’t say that it was impressive. Beauxbatons was far better. But it seemed respectable. And that was the bare minimum for a magical school. As the carriage landed with a slight thud, she quietly sighed. It took a lot to convince her parents to let her come here, with Madame Maxime on her side, but she wanted to get out of Beauxbatons and let her wings free for a while. This Tournament was the perfect way for that and to prove herself as more than just the daughter of her Papa. It was still, however, in Scotland.

As Madame Maxime left the carriage, Fleur prepared to get out of her seat. Wrapping her shawl around her, she took a small breath. This year will go fine, she’ll be the Champion and win the Triwizard Tournament for her school. She was Fleur Delacour after all. Who else could win?

Spoiler: Un Nouveau Départ - Chapter TBD (Dumbledore)

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, stroked his beard. What happened the previous day was unexpected. He knew Tom would try something with the Goblet, that much was certain. It was in its way like the Stone, a temptation for Tom to take advantage of. But why did Tom interfere like that? And why did that girl appear out of nowhere?

What was her name? Ah, yes, Lis Delacour. Younger sister of the Beauxbatons champion, he recalled Madame Maxime speaking of the events she got in at Beauxbatons those last two years. Lightly chuckling, if any of those were real and not just a half-giant’s fantasies, she would do very well as the fourth Champion indeed. But why did her name come out of the goblet in the first place? Now that was a mystery. He was sure Tom was behind it, this felt like it was his entire plan. But why her?

“Ah, Severus!” he said, eyes twinkling at the arrival of the dark figure of his Potions Master, before offering a lemon drop. As always, Severus declined, much to his disappointment. Can’t a man share a sweet? Quickly moving on to the question looming in his thoughts, Dumbledore pressed Snape: “Did Voldemort have any involvement with the appearance of the younger Delacour in our castle?”. Snape visibly sneered at that.

“The dunderhead he chose was told to put Potter’s name in the Goblet to use the teleportation rune to get him back where he knows he is. Nothing was mentioned about that girl. The Dark Lord is very furious at him. He wanted the Potter brat, not her. His plans will need adjusting.” Curious, thought Dumbledore. Not like Tom to make a mistake like that.

“That will be all, Severus.” he said, mind already racing.

The names Harry Potter and Lis Delacour were very hard to mix up, surely. One was English, one was French. One was the name of the Boy-Who-Lived, the other of the French Minister of Magic. Why would the ‘dunderhead’ as Severus described him choose to risk Magical France’s ire? It didn’t make sense. There was a slow unease creeping over him. The concept started to form.

Surely not? It seemed a fanciful idea. He knew the Goblet had runes in for when people changed names, so any previous names would be altered on the paper but still apply magically. It was designed to prevent anyone from changing names to get out of the competition, a fine sensible decision. He drew on his memory of Madame Maxime describing the events in her pupil’s two years at Beauxbatons. Two. Harry disappeared two years ago, didn’t he?

No, it was too fanciful, he told himself. Why would anyone turn from a boy to a girl to escape Hogwarts, of all places? And the trustworthy Dursleys he was placed at? He stroked his beard again. Maybe he should go and see them after all, the last note he got was from Arabella Figg close to two years ago, wasn’t it. As much as he knew Figg was reliable, he did wonder at times of her letters. Indeed, Victor and Petunia would be fine with meeting him and giving an explanation. They had a son too, Muggle as well, Duncan. A quick chat, nothing major, just to understand what happened.

Perhaps a tiff with Duncan, a burgeoning cousin rivalry? The two likely saw each other as brothers, and he knew full well how brothers could end up quite strongly disagreeing with each other. Sighing, why didn’t Aberforth reply to his letters? Surely bygones should be bygones? He was sure he could at least ensure this rivalry between Harry and Duncan was put aside and the two friends again, and Harry safely secured at the Dursleys over the summer once more.

Spoiler: Un Nouveau Départ - Chapter TBD (Dursley Abandonment)

Lis always hated those dreams. They were rare, but disturbingly more frequent than ever now that she was unwillingly transported to this English school. Unlike other dreams, those were not forgotten that easily. This one wasn’t even the worst one. It even had a happy ending for once.

Like all of the dreams, she was apparently a boy, what nonsense, and was in a very unfamiliar house that somehow struck her as one she should be familiar with. There was at that time a house elf who implored her to not go ‘back’ to the school, she apparently disagreed and the house elf decided to cause havoc as revenge, causing the fury of those people.

When picking apart those dreams, she mentally called them the Walrus, the Stick and the Pig, for they resembled such to her. Certainly, her dreams didn’t endear her to them at all, for they apparently were quite nasty people. Certainly, they seemed to treat her in the dreams as an inconvenience at best and at worst, well, let just say there’s a few dreams in where she woke up screaming. That was the worst thing about those dreams, they seemed to imprint a memory of pain.

The Walrus was worst of all, but the Stick and the Pig didn’t slack up on tormenting her in the dreams. Abominable people, really. She really did hope they weren’t real. They only existed in her dreams and she would very much like for that to stay the case. In this particular dream, the Walrus went ballistic at her and screamed obscene English words at her. Those dreams were the only ones in English, unlike her more pleasant ones. He then muttered something she didn’t catch before chuckling and walking down the stairs, seemingly certain that he had a plan.

The dream then blurred. It tended to do that. All she could see was a trunk being opened and her being pushed into it, and the Walrus chuckling before saying “Pet, we’ll get rid of the boy for once and all.” The trunk was then shut and the dream blacked out. Normally this would be the end of one of those dreams, but in this one there was a quite long period of blackness before the trunk was opened. The Stick smiled in that waspish way of hers, as if she was triumphant. The Pig was in the car, and the Walrus strolled around to the trunk, with that smug smile of his. Mon Dieu, he was irritating.

“Right, now, boy. Get out.” he stated as an order, and the person she apparently was in the dream climbed out. The Walrus then dumped her, well, one could say things, but many which weren’t recognisable to her, and brandished her wand triumphantly – funny, it didn’t look like her wand. He laughed, “You won’t need this, will you?” and seized it with both his meaty hands. She could feel some pang of anger, but a resigned one, as the Walrus broke it.

As the Walrus climbed back in the car with that arrogant smile of his, the Stick stood for a moment, and stated “Your mother did well on her own. You don’t need us, you freak.” and opened the door. They knew Maman? She apparently tried to knock on the back door, pleading, but the Pig snorted as the car fled. Alone was the feeling. It was an unfamiliar countryside and she was utterly alone.

See, this is where those dreams would have ended, with this feeling of utter loneliness. And for a while, it did, but then as the sun grew to descend, a car she did recognise came down the road, engulfing it in its warm light. By this point, she was lying on the grass by the road, seemingly resigned to her fate. Even cries for ‘Hedwig’ didn’t help. The car stopped, and…

Maman came out. She raised an eyebrow of concern after taking off her sunglasses. What she spoke next was something Lis would have known. It was French, but for some reason it was Chinese to her. Maman then spoke in English: “Do you speak English? Are you lost?”. Dream her, if one can call that boy such, nodded fervently, and Maman smiled gently. Clearly noticing the magical objects in the tossed-out things, she quietly spelled all those into the back, and gestured for the dream person to sit in the front with her.

As that happened, she smiled once again and stated “We’ll go back to Manoir Delacour, and work out what happened and how best to help you. Is that acceptable, Monsieur P-”

The dream cut out then and she woke with silent tears on her cheeks. Those always happened after those dreams, but with this one the dream didn’t end with pain, but with strange happiness.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Spoiler: Fleur et Lis (my madcap Harry Potter fanfic idea)

"The Goblet of Fire will now apparate Harry Potter here and we will-" the English headmaster's voice faded away as Fleur Delacour thought in her head This is bad. Very bad. We kept Lis at Beauxbatons for a reason. Cedric looked at her clearly worried face and asked her what was wrong. She merely coughed delicately and said 'you may find out soon'. The others raised their eyebrows.

Then shouting came from the great hall.

"And that must be Harry! My boy..." Dumbledore's voice faded into silence as the person who was summoned was a bright blonde teenage girl in a blue Beauxbatons outfit and somewhat of a resemblance to Fleur Delacour. In a melodical yet nervous tone, she went "I am Lis Delacour. Why am I here?" Madame Maxime walked up to Dumbledore and declared "Dumbly dorr, you summoned one of my students because you thought they were this 'Arry Potter. Mademoiselle Delacour will not be competing in this tournament."

"Ah, but my dear Madame Maxime, this young lady here is obviously Harry, perhaps under a glamour or something..." Dumbledore tried to assure the half-giant, only to receive an icy stare as his voice faltered. "Mademoiselle Delacour has been my student for three years. She is most certainly not under a glamour. I would have seen through one, or are you doubting my ability, Dumbly dorr?"

"No, no, Madame Maxime. Ah, how about we get her sister out, perhaps she can explain why this happened? Perhaps in private, like my office?" Dumbledore said, to a shaking head and a muttering of "Minister Delacour will have your head for this..."

"Cor, look at that bird. She's hot. Wonder why she came here? If she's Harry's girlfriend, damn is he lucky!" Ron said, dimwitlessly staring at the Beauxbatons girl. Hermione glanced at him in disgust. "There must be an explanation, Ronald. There always is. Maybe Headmaster Dumbledore summoned her here to send a message to Harry. See how the Beauxbatons headmistress is arguing with Headmaster Dumbledore?" she reasoned, only for Ron to mumble "Imagine having one of those chicks on my arm..."

======

A man in a business suit stormed into the room and glared at the Headmaster in barely-concealed anger, before saying in a restrained tone "Pray tell, Headmaster, why did you abduct my daughter in the middle of her classes?"

"Ah, you must have been mistaken, he is not your dau-" "Henriette Lis Delacour, birthday August 12. One eighth Veela, with fire bearing powers. Favourite food is creme brulee. Apart from some laziness, is otherwise an exceptional student who receives great marks. Often has nightmares about a green light, has a problem with trust that she's seeing a mind healer about. Favourite colour is green, like her eyes. She's my daughter, you senile old man. And more importantly legally speaking, a French citizen." the Minister of Magic declared, but it did not flap the ancient headmaster who smirked. "Nevertheless, Minister Delacour, your daughter is Harry Potter and is magically obliged to be in the Triwizard Tournament. He will ha-"

Minister Delacour cut Dumbledore off with "I made it so that any previous names of hers would not be eligible to drag her into anything. There is no obligation. At all. Now if you excuse me, I have to congratulate my eldest daughter and comfort my middle one. Good day, sir." He then left the room, slamming the door. Dumbledore stroked his beard and silently thought "Hmm. Harry will still have to compete. Even if he's some sort of French creature, he will still have to compete. Its all for the Greater Good."

======

"Hello, Girl-Who-Was-Born-Twice. You know, you look a lot better this way. There's no wrackspurts around your head and being blonde suits you. But then, I would say that would I?" Luna Lovegood said to Lis Delacour while smiling that distant smile of hers, which got Lis giggling a bit and replying "I suppose that's a nicer title than Boy or Girl-Who-Lived. I don't even know why people think I'm Harry Potter. I'm just some lucky orphan girl who was adopted into the Delacour family.". Luna frowned a bit and patted Lis' hand.

"It'll hurt to remember, Girl-Who-Was-Born-Twice. I'm sorry but it will." she said, looking at Lis with distant, even if sad, eyes as if understanding what will happen. Lis felt all alone in Hogwarts apart from Fleur, and yet felt safe with the mysterious Ravenclaw girl. She said "If it will, then I would... appreciate a friend here. All my friends are at Beauxbatons, and the people here who say they're my friends seem to know a wholly different me that I don't recognise..." This got a shocked face as Luna's eyes opened wide. "You're asking... me to be your friend? I... I would like that."

=====

Basically while Harry was a toss-up between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Lis has more Ravenclaw qualities. Comes of losing the memories of having to hide her intelligence to avoid being beaten up, and having more nervous qualities due to knowing she's amnesiac and trying to adjust to a whole different culture. She's really a different person. And her old friends seem to not recognise that, at least at first.

=====

Due to a letter from her niece, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, walked into the Great Hall accompanied by two Aurors. "According to sources here, the missing Harry Potter has been found". Bones' monocled eye passed over the rest of the collected group, reading their magic signals. It was a closely kept secret, but Amelia Bones' monocle worked for her the same way Mad Eye's er, mad eye, worked for him. In the end, she glanced at a nervous blonde woman next to the Beauxbatons Champion.

Her magical signal was changed somewhat, but it was still unmistakably Harry. And she knew that the new form wasn't a glamour but permanent. A sigh came from her mouth as she went "Is this little girl Harry Potter?" Fleur got insulted on her sister's belief, "Non! This is no little girl. This is my sister, Lis Delacour, who has been abducted here by the Headmaster of this school!" Upon receiving this information, even the schooled and experienced face of the Director grimaced. This was to be a lot of paperwork. And a possible international incident. Joy.

=====

"You're Nymphadora Tonks, right?" Lis said to the pink-haired Auror, who made a face and said "Yes, but call me Tonks only. I don't like the name my mother gave me." The third scion of the noble Delacour family, with Delacour, Veela, Potter and Black blood flowing in her veins, smiled lightly at that and said "We'll make a deal. I won't call you Nymphadora and you won't call me Harry or Potter or whatever." The auror rolled her eyes and drew out a long and exasperated "fiiiine". This blonde was going to cause her trouble, she just knew it. What a pity she's the person she has to protect. Oh and a distant cousin at that, which did weird things with the Black family magic, which she suspected had some part in how i-

Nymphadora Tonks' eyes opened wide as a realisation hit her. She turned to Lis and said "Tell me one thing and one thing only. If there's anything from your memory of when you were Ha-" this got a glare "not Scion Delacour, did you ever think that you ever wanted to be let say, a girl? Not judgey here, I know an Auror who takes Polyjuice every day to stay a man for one. Completely respect him and whatnot, he's a great guy."

"To be honest, I can't remember that. But it would make sense." Miss Delacour said, shrugging. Tonks gulped and said quietly "you may be a metamorphmagus". Lis raised her eyebrow and responded "I would have known of it before now". Tonks scrambled to keep her thoughts under control and as her hair began to flash, she noticed Lis' hair shift slightly to an extremely light orange.

Tonks was used to paying attention to people's hair colours and smiled widely at this. "Dear cousin, it seems the Black magic has produced two halfsie morphs. Your hair just changed a little and I saw it. If you want, I can teach you, but I'm a natural so...". Her pink hair returned as she got excited. Another metamorphmagus! The scion sighed and nodded her agreement. Anything to avoid further conflict with who was obviously her bodyguard. Her papa taught her to not be on the bad side of anyone who protects her.

======

"Mr. Potter, you've come back to Hogwarts? Oh my. Now this is unexpected. Very rarely do I see the same mind twice, and none as changed as yours, dear lady. You're even more difficult to Sort this time around! Still brave like a Gryffindor and cunning like a Slytherin, but oh your loyalty shines through even more now. But what's this? Love of knowledge? Definitely a new element to your mind. Your birth mother would approve. So what is it now dear lady? You are no longer a pupil here, so I'm doing this for our mutual curiosity, after all. Hmm... Still not willing to be Slytherin, eh?"

"I'm not Gryffindor material either"

"Oh, don't underestimate your bravery, dear lady. You still have bravery in your heart, Miss Delacour. That has not changed. But ah, you're the type to think first and act second. A more cunning approach, but also a more thinking one."

"Ravenclaw would suit me."

"Is this choice because of the curious Miss Lovegood being in that house? You could as well be a Hufflepuff, you know. Plenty of loyalty there, even more than last time. And I am delighted you finally found out your morphing abilities, although I thought you used it to escape the meddlesome headmaster rather than what actually happened, which surprises me. Young Nymphadora was in that house, for what it's worth."

"Ravenclaw please."

"Miss Delacour, as much a pleasure it has been to converse with you once more, I absolutely insist this is your last Sorting. You're a hatstall twice over now, you know! Anyway, there is only one house for you, I feel... RAVENCLAW!"

======

Professor Minerva McGonagall did not know how to feel about Lis Delacour. On one side, she was the child of James and Lily Potter, two of her favourite students, and was a brave even if foolish student when she was in Hogwarts for her first (and as it would turn out, only) year. On the other hand, she represented McGonagall's greatest failure. She was promised time and time again that the Dursleys would protect Harry despite her grievances.

And every time Lis Delacour was in her presence, it hurt. She was a reminder that Harry Potter, the child of James and Lily, was well and truly dead. Oh, she didn't resent the young girl much. She even hoped there was still some Harry left in her despite it all. Perhaps she now truly understood why Severus never felt comfortable around Harry back in first year and felt the need to punish him for minor actions. He reminded Severus of his greatest moral failure, and now she reminds Minerva of hers.

======

The first invitation letter she got, which was from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 31 July 1991
Mr. H. Potter, The Cupboard Under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

The second invitation letter she got, which was from Académie de Magie Beauxbâtons on 24 September 1992
Mlle. L. Delacour, La Troisième Chambre en Haut des Escaliers, Manoir Delacour, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon.

Spoiler: Magically Blonde

"So this is the little lady I'll be defending! You look so cute, yes you do! Ms. Elle Woods, at your service!" the pink covered lady smiled as she held out a hand to shake.

Lis Delacour looked at the clearly American lawyer weirdly, before taking her hand and shaking it.

"Madame Woods, are you aware of what jurisdiction we are dealing with?"

"Ah yes, the Magical British Law System. Thankfully under the International Conference of Wizards which means I can invoke ICW law which makes our job waaaay easier, sweetie. Don't worry. Now, what's your name?"

"Apparently it depends, Madame Woods. I'm somewhat famous under a different name."

"Yes yes, I'm familiar with that. But you obviously don't go by that name any longer and I'm considerate of people's feelings, especially my clients! So sweetie, what is the name of this cutie in front of me?"

"Henriette Lis Delacour. Everyone calls me Lis."

"God, I love French names! They always sound lovely! So, our defence will rest on some... uncomfortable grounds for you, sweetie, sorry. How much can you remember of your old life? If it was quite bad, we could say the old coot, Dumbledore, failed you and the Delacours invoked the old right of magical foundlings by taking you in. Open and shut case, sweetie!"

"It kind of is hard to remember. But what I do, isn't pleasant."

"Ah, I have the best idea! We can use a pensieve! That way you can recall it only once! Makes it easier for both of us. God, if only I had one at home, I would be looking at when I told Warner to piss off all the time. Dear, don't let any boy think they can just take you back after they do a bad thing. Be firm. I do relationship consultant work for free!"

As much as Lis thought this person was barmy, she clearly knew more than she let on. So she decided to work with her to get out of this legal predicament.