Not White Enough

The_Oan_Isles · January 11, 2018, 8:32am

Introduction

The Conservative Party was built largely on the ideals of the incumbent government of the United Kingdom. The policies it developed and the ideologies it held were aligned with those of the Conservative Party of the UK, which was one of the biggest parties in the UK government. The Conservative Party of Thalria was the biggest party in the Folksting, the law making body of the country.

In this capacity it formed the government and elected the President. For strategic political, economic and social reasons, it aligned the policies and those of the nation as a whole with those of the United Kingdom. In many respects it was an extension of the UK government. Having been founded on and supported by UK money, it was obliged to keep them at arm’s length.

Many military bases were built in Thalria. Thalria depends on the UK for trade and foreign aid. The public widely supported this close partnership with the UK. The people of Thalria shared some Morstaybishlian ancestry, and by extension held linguistic, cultural and religious similarities with the UK and its people. Its brutal past under the unified Ethalria was something that many people wanted to shirk of.

After they were “liberated from Matriarchal oppression” by the UK, as the invading forces elegantly put it, the bonds that they shared came even closer. The UK, and Staynes in particular, was seen as a sophisticated civilisation that Thalria must model itself on to enter into the so-called “civilised” world. The Staynish language is taught in schools, published in books and media, and used in government. Parents encourage children to round their "o"s and annunciate their words in a more “Staynish” way.

Staynes was more than a country, but an ideal of what the world ought to be like. This desire to be more Staynish also came from a subconscious desire to resist the ever-growing intrusion of the Kostuv people into their way of life. With Kostrom refugees and Tuvalti migrants as a result of the war and nuclear disaster in Kostoria Obertonia, the people of Thalria, were worried about being influenced by these people.

This racist mentality had existed for a long time, and was even promoted by the Ethalria government. The liberation of Thalria did almost nothing to change those feelings. It seemed to right wing proponents is that the best way to become more civilised and resist the Kostuv intrusion was to become more Morstaybishlian.

The_Oan_Isles · January 11, 2018, 8:57am

Isenberg, Thalria
11 January 2017

Adela held a small silver cross in her hand. She held each bead on the necklace that held the cross around her neck as she said her prayer. The Rosary, a set of prayers said by the Catholic church, renewed her faith.

When she opened her eyes, she looked at the person sitting next to her and her eyes widened. The light brown skinned lady smiled at her. She looked away and shifted nervously from where she sat in the pew. The light brown lady looked down awkwardly.

After Mass that Sunday, there was a luncheon in the church garden. The people spoke about a range of topics. They were at ease with another. There was a lightness to the mood of late, ever since the Ethalria government fell and they got their own country.

The light brown lady came over to Adela and smiled and said, Hi.

The corners of Adelas mouth barely went up. She replied in a pretentious Staynish accent, Good morning.

Adelas friends simply smiled and said nothing.

The lady said, My name is Vera Pyotrwich. I came to apologise if I made you feel uncomfortable.

Of course not, Adela replied defensively, Well, it was pleasant to meet you.

Likewise, Vera replied and went away.

Adela’s and her friends let her get to a safe distance before they dared to speak. Adela said, I don’t know what she’s doing here. She can’t mingle with us. She’s not white enough.

The_Oan_Isles · January 12, 2018, 11:45am

Isenberg, Thalria

It was Monday morning. Adela went with a group of women from the church, that she regularly met with for prayer meetings and bible study classes and had built solid friendships with over the years, to the Saint Teresa Home of Mercy.

The Saint Teresa Home of Mercy was a place where poor people came to find help like blankets, clothes and food. Some of those who regularly came here were not entirely mentally sound or were in a constant state of inebriation. The ladies from the church came to help and often donated supplies for these people.

Adela hugged one of the old women affectionately and said, God bless you.

She went to the kitchen and put on her apron. She began cooking with the other women singing songs such as Mercy, mercy, saved me with her friends.

She rang the bell, a loud echo resonating throughout the building, calling all the hungry to eat. The poor, often maligned for disorder and greed, gathered orderly in queues, courteously letting the elderly and frail go first. Adela have each their helping with a warm smile and a God bless you.

Then a lady came through the front door with her head and half her face covered with a black hood, unrecognisable as she approached. She lifted her hood and reveal her caramel skin. Adela got a cold chill down her skin and a crawling feeling under her skin.

Sister Adela, the lady said.

Vera, Adela replied.

Its so good to see you, Vera said and gave Adela a warm hug, which was not reciprocated. I saw all the good work you are doing and I had hoped to join you ladies.

Adela simply said, I have the perfect job for you.

She led Vera to a heap of dishes. Adela instructed the lady who was washing them to stop, Ana, stop. Mrs Peterwitch wants to help out. I think the dishes would do her just fine. Vera Adela said with a nod.
Vera gladly grabbed a pair of gloves, an apron and a sponge.

You look good in an apron. You must be accustomed to this sort of thing

The_Oan_Isles · January 17, 2018, 11:37am

Isenberg, Thalria

Adela was wearing a white overall covered with droplets of black, red and blue spraypaint. She softly hummed the Morstaybishlian anthem, ‘The Red and Blue Mighty’.

She was preparing banners for a rally led by the Unity Party. The Unity Party was slowly, but steadily gaining support from the population and political establishment. While it had yet to win an election, its members began to approach that of the Conservative Party, the current ruling party of Thalria.

The party was attractive among the vulnerable people in society. It not only brought attention to and spoke about their issues, it alleviated their suffering through community programs. The elderly, unemployed, orphaned, widowed, and disabled were drawn to the no-nonsense style that its leader spoke of ideals that the party was guided by.

Furthermore, it had a powerful activist branch. It worked closely with civil society and special interest groups to build a culture of social activism and political lobbying. Even though it’s leader Immanuel Leahdotter was controversial, the media and the people loved him.

His fresh and unabashed style with the media made him a popular source of entertainment for some and inspiration for others and a welcome relief for most from the dour evening news. One of his followers was Adela.

She liked him. He was handsome. He was a bad boy. He was right. The Matriarchs WERE the source of all their problems. Immigrants WERE draining resources and taking jobs. Uniting with Morstaybishlia WAS the only way to achieve greatness… Wait? What?

By the time he got the crowd riled up and excited no one took heed of the nuance in his oratory. They gladly followed this unique and refreshing leader. The current President, Gertrude Amaliadotter was a serious and uninspiring woman. Her government was made up of equally uninteresting and avowedly centrist female colleagues. Her whole party was a place for housewives to develop policy and shape the law.

Hardworking women from more austere surroundings were neglected by the powder-nosed fake-hair elite. Even though Immanuel Leahdotter was a man, he was a capable leader. The fact that he exuded this coy mixture of masculine bravado when speaking in public and demure femininity when he spoke to his followers one-on-one made him popular with the only demographic that really mattered: women.

Adela was of those women who was prepared to bear him all the way to the National elections and Presidential office. When she was done painting the banners, she put them in her car and went to the gathering at Rosamund Square.

She gave out the banners and held the biggest one with a group of close comrades at the head of the procession to The Presidential Palace down Narcissus Avenue. Immanuel came in his car with his female bodyguards. He stood on the podium and addressed the crowd. With their spirits lifted and their hearts set on their goals, they began gathering to march towards the Presidential Palace.

He held his husband’s hand and kissed him on the cheek. They walked together to the head of the march, hugging the people near him. When Adela held the man and smelled his cologne, she forgot that he was her leader. She pushed her head against his chest and breathed him in.

He finally let go. Adela awkwardly gathered herself together and began chanting, leading the crowd, unified in one voice. The message was distorted, but they made enough noise to elicit the attention of the government.

The_Oan_Isles · January 26, 2018, 5:30pm

It was election day. People in Thalria were nervous. Voting booths opened early in the morning for people to cast their ballots, with the first ballot being cast by a determined old women at five o’clock in the morning. It was her way of exercising that seemingly impossible expression of free choice, the aspiration toward democratic values that had evaded her generation.

Lines grew longer and the venues grew busier but there was relative peace, each person relied on the ticket they cast next to the face of their preferred candidate and logo of their preferred party to do all the talking that was required.

Thalria had observed a shift in local politics. With the liberalisation that had seen men finally acquire some semblance of masculinity that elevated them slightly but not entirely close to their counterparts all over the world.

Ethalria had been the antithesis of everything in the world. Whereas many societies where patriarchal - governed by men - Ethalria and all its manifestations including Thalria, had been matriarchal. For the first time women were inclining themselves toward some respect for the partners that they had largely seen as submissive and docile husbands tending to the home while they worked and ran the nation. This new voice that men found, deep and bassy, and the new confidence with which they walked with their chests puffed up, their beards long and their heads high, led even the most Amazonian independence women to concede that there was an arousing and humbling quality to men that was unmatched.

As the votes came in and were tallied. Immanuel Leahdotter and his Unity Party were neck and neck with Gertrude Amaliadotter and her Conservative Party.

The_Oan_Isles · January 31, 2018, 3:15pm

Rorikton, Thalria

After a day of elections, of people waiting in line, having their thumbprints taken, and putting their ballots in boxes, the results were announced. People waited patiently, biting their nails, curling their hair and silently praying, for the announcement of the results of the election that had been taking place the whole of that day - from morning till evening.

The Unity Party won 47% of the vote, the Conservative Party won 38% of the vote, while other parties won the remaining 15% of votes. Immanuel Leahdotter won 56% of the vote while his main opponent, Gertrude Amaliadotter, won 40% of the vote.