Post by seychelles on Dec 11, 2010 19:04:10 GMT -5
(((My Reflection)))
Nation: Republic of Seychelles
Creole : Repiblik Sesel
French : République des Seychelles
Name: Océane Charbonneau
Océane is a French first name that means "ocean". Charbonneau is a French surname that was originally used to indicate a dark complexion. According to Wikipedia, about 70% of Seychellois people have French names.
Gender: Female
Appearance Age:
French colony: 7-10
British colony: 11-15
New nation: 16-18
Modern: 19
Hair Color: Dark brown
Eye Color: Brown
Height: about 5 feet 3 inches
Weight: about 120 lbs
Appearance:
Perhaps owing to the matriarchal traditions of her people, Seychelles takes the form of an attractive young woman. Her skin is light brown, representing the European ancestry of her people, darkened over time through their inter-marriage with Africans from the mainland. Her body is small and slender, but not overly skinny. She has an expressive face, with warm brown eyes and a mouth that can smile brightly one moment and twist into an angry scowl the next. Her long, dark hair is tied in pigtails with red ribbons, and her bangs dangle down over her thin, arched eyebrows. Océane frequently wears light blue, knee-length dresses with puffed sleeves. She dislikes closed-in shoes and prefers to go barefoot or wear sandals when possible.
(((Know Thyself )))
Personality:
In most situations, Océane is timid and a little awkward. She is perpetually in awe of how big the world seems, and she’s a little nervous because she is so small in comparison to other nations. Many of these larger nations intimidate her, especially England and sometimes France. However, she is happy with who she is and honestly has no desire to expand her territory or become a powerful empire. Although she does wish that more people were aware of her existence, she would prefer to stay on her islands and keep mostly to herself than try to become powerful and end up failing as she’s seen so many other countries do.
Océane has a warm heart and tends to be sweet and caring. She is a little bit ditsy and awkward sometimes. She becomes embarrassed easily and is not quite sure how to behave. She wants to fit in and be normal, but like all nations, she has her own unique perception of what “normal” is. Seychelles is very naïve and innocent, often shocked by the things that other countries say and do. This leads to her being a little gullible and often trusting too easily. Her innocence is particularly obvious where France is concerned. She likes him in the same chaste way that she did as a small proto-nation, hardly realizing that he lusts for her. Each time that he offers his “love”, she is shocked and quickly becomes angry.
Despite her usual sweet and naïve nature, Océane has a fiery and precarious temper that explodes at seemingly unimportant occasions. When a fellow nation pushes her too far, she can turn from sweet to scary in the blink of an eye. This tendency often gets her into difficult situations when she, in a moment of fury, says or does something she later comes to regret and can never fully take back.
Likes:
★ Fish
★ The ocean
★ Her islands
★ Singing
★ Dancing
Dislikes:
✖ Nations (or humans) who don’t know she exists
✖ Nations (or humans) who think her country’s crest and flag are silly
✖ Things she doesn’t understand
✖ Feeling small
✖ Closed-in shoes
Fears:
☣ Big, powerful countries
☣ Being laughed at
Secrets:
♦ She really likes her crest and flag. That’s one of the reasons she’s afraid people will laugh at them. She pretends that she thinks they’re silly because she assumes that’s what other people will think, but secretly, she would never want to change them.
♦ She sometimes wishes she were just a girl instead of a nation.
Strengths:
Although due to her small size and lack of power, Seychelles is less physically strong than most nations, she has great emotional strength and endurance. She was able to survive as a proto-nation for about 470 years. With many conflicts and several changes in ownership and government while still in this delicate stage of life, it would have been easy for her to fade away, but she was resilient and eventually became her own independent country.
Having no indigenous people or culture of her own, Seychelles has been greatly influenced by France and England. This is especially apparent in her diverse languages. She is fluent in her country’s three official languages – English, French, and Seychellois Creole – along with Shaykomay, the default language of the nations. This is very useful when communicating with humans. Because English is one of the most common languages and French is also widely-spoken, she is able to communicate with foreign humans much more easily than if she spoke only Seychellois Creole and Shaykomay.
Weaknesses:
Perhaps Seychelles’ greatest weakness is her lack of physical strength. Her country is small, with economic troubles and very little power, so she simply would not last long if she were to seek a fight with one of the more powerful countries. This also impacts her healing abilities; she requires much longer to recover from a flood or an economic recession in her land body, or from a serious injury to her human body, than a more powerful nation would.
Seychelles’ unpredictable temper is also a weakness. While she tries to remain level-headed and reasonable, she often finds herself flying out of control when others push her too far. This is difficult for her because she rarely thinks through her reactions and often says or does the wrong thing at the wrong time.
(((The Pages of History )))
History:
1502:
Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama discovers Seychelles.
1608:
Ships from the English East India Company are caught in a storm and end up on Seychelles. They report its existence to England, but the British make no move to colonize the islands.
Late 17th Century:
Pirates pass through the Seychelles islands on their way to Madagascar.
1742:
The French send explorer Lazare Picault to chart the islands near Madagascar.
1756:
France claims Seychelles during the 7 years war.
1770:
The first French settlers arrive to start a colony in Seychelles.
1790:
Shortly after the French revolution, Seychellois colonists decide to govern their colony themselves through a Colonial Assembly.
1793:
Seychelles has become a base for French corsairs (pirates who were allowed by their country’s government to attack ships belonging to the enemy, in this case England). The current leader, Jean-Baptiste Queau de Quincy, is tolerant of this, but the British discover it and send a squadron of ships to the islands to remove the pirates. Quincy is able to successfully negotiate a treaty with the British.
1801:
Several conflicts take place between the French, British, and Seychellois over ships.
1812:
Seychelles falls under British rule.
1814:
British control over Seychelles is made official in the Treaty of Paris.
1835:
Slavery is abolished in the British Empire, including Seychelles.
1862:
A flood takes place on one of the islands and around 70 people are killed.
1903:
Seychelles officially becomes a Crown Colony of the British Empire.
During and shortly after World War I:
Seychelles’ economy struggles and crime rates rise. After the war, Seychelles suffers from economic depression. Its people become angry with England for ignoring their financial difficulties.
1937:
The League of Colored Peoples demands benefits for workers, including a minimum wage and free health care.
1939:
The Taxpayers’ Association is formed. This is Seychelles’ first political party.
1948:
Property owners are granted the right to vote, and the first election is held.
1958:
The Glorioso Islands are bought from Seychelles by France.
1964:
Two more political parties are formed: the Seychelles Peoples’ United Party and the Seychelles Democratic Party.
1974:
Seychelles negotiates with Great Brittan for its independence.
1976:
On June 29, Seychelles becomes an independent country.
On June 30, Seychelles makes an alliance with the Soviet Union.
1977:
Following a coup d’état, Seychelles becomes a one-party socialist state with France-Albert Rene as president.
1981:
South Africa sends mercenaries to attempt to overthrow Seychelles’ government. This is unsuccessful.
1982:
An army mutiny is stopped by the remaining loyal troops and reinforcements from Tanzania.
1991:
Seychelles amends its constitution to allow for multiple political parties.
1992:
The Democratic Party and United Opposition Party are formed.
1993:
The SPFF (socialist) party wins the first multi-party election.
1999:
The Seychelles National Party is formed.
2003:
Economic reforms are introduced.
2004:
President Rene steps down and is replaced by James Michel
Three tsunamis hit Seychelles, causing damage.
2006:
Parliament bans political and religious organizations from running radio stations, causing unrest among the Seychellois people.
2009:
Somali pirates move south to Seychelles.
Seychelles and the European Union sign the Anti-Piracy agreement, allowing the EU to send troops to the islands to try to capture the pirates.
2010:
Eleven pirates from Somalia are arrested.
Allies:
France was the one who found her as a proto-nation and raised her. She was influenced a lot by his culture, and she likes him as a father or an older brother. However, she does not approve of the ways that he has behaved toward her since discovering that her body is developing.
Seychelles made an alliance with the Soviet Union immediately after gaining independence from England. They were allies during the cold war, and they still have diplomatic relations in modern times.
Tanzania once sent troops to help prevent an army mutiny in Seychelles.
India and Seychelles are currently working together to fight piracy in the Indian Ocean.
In modern times, Seychelles has diplomatic relations with the United States, France, Russia, China, Malaysia, and South Africa.
Enemies:
Although she wouldn’t exactly consider him an enemy, Seychelles had a tense relationship with England during her time as a British colony. She thought he was too bossy and didn’t like him very much, although she could get along with him when necessary. Since gaining independence, she has been relatively indifferent towards him.
When Seychelles was a new nation, South Africa sent mercenaries to try to overthrow her president.
She has recently had problems with pirates from Somalia.
Sample Post:
Great. An attempted military coup was one more thing that Seychelles really did not need to deal with.
She sat in her boss’s office, resting her chin on her hand, listening to him talk. It was good news; the mutiny had been thwarted and her boss was still in power. She had felt the conflict, of course, like always. She was connected to her people in a way that she could barely begin to describe. The only thing she hadn’t known was how it would end.
Honestly, she had felt confused ever since the coup d’état. She personally liked her new boss pretty well, but she knew that some of her people didn’t. In some ways, she understood where they were coming from. What would be the harm in allowing multiple political parties? Surely whichever one won would be the one that best represented her people. Rene had insisted, though, and she couldn’t go against her boss’s wishes. One-party socialism was fine with her.
Maybe she should have just stayed a colony. That might have been better than being constantly on the edge of disaster, always struggling, with her people fighting amongst themselves. At least as a colony she had someone else dealing with politics and someone more powerful to turn to when it was too much for her to handle. She wistfully recalled her childhood, with France visiting and teaching her his culture, teaching her his language, while she sat and looked out at the sea with shining eyes. One of her early political parties had even wanted to stay part of the British Empire, and she couldn’t deny that part of her wanted to agree with them. Wouldn’t it have been so much easier?
No. Independence is better. It’s what the people want. More importantly, it’s what the boss wants.
How was she supposed to handle all this? She wasn’t used to this. She wasn’t used to the problems and complications that came with being a nation. Barely five years old, and she had to struggle through all kinds of things. First a coup d’état, then the conflicts with South Africa, and now a failed army mutiny. Not that the rebellious soldiers had succeeded, thanks to timely reinforcements from her neighbor Tanzania. She would have to remember to thank him when she got time …
“Seychelles?” her boss’s voice cut sharply through her train of thought. “Seychelles, are you listening to me?”
She felt a sudden surge of irritation. Didn’t he get it? Didn’t he understand how difficult it was, being a new nation?
“Oui,” she snapped. “You were saying that we’ve had yet another problem. I get it, okay?”
Her boss raised his eyebrows in dismay.
“Seychelles, I understand that you’re probably tired and stressed, but I won’t be spoken to that way.”
She waited impatiently, rolling her eyes and drumming her fingers lightly on the desk.
“Perhaps you should go home and get some rest. We can finish this conversation another time.”
Seychelles sighed with relief and stood abruptly. She excused herself from the room, and then walked briskly down the hall and out of the building. As she walked out into Victoria, her capitol city, she smiled brightly. It was good to be out of that stuffy office.
Still recent events were weighing on her, and her smile faltered.
“Sometimes I don’t want to be Seychelles,” she whispered under her breath, afraid to admit the truth even to herself. “Sometimes I wish I was just Océane.”
Did you read the rules and Dark Reflections Canon? Yes. On a completely unrelated topic, I’d like some Italian Pasta.
Random fun fact about yourself: I’m obsessed with names and their meanings. I guess you could probably tell that from my explanation of the name I chose for Seychelles.