Character Notes: Foriegn Relations
...not that there are very many to speak of. Anyway, while more often than not I just roll with whatever the other mun thinks, I figured it couldn't hurt to actually write some of this shit down.
United States of America: And this relationship here, this is the one that basically made Aaron everything he is, and he knows it. Taken in by his twin when he first appeared in 1787, as a child North was just literally the world to Aaron. He didn’t know others, nor did he care to. It was Alfred who took care of him and raised him, making him this odd mix of mother, father, brother, friend, and boss in Aaron’s mind. Alfred was just a little bit of everything to him, and likewise Aaron was loyal to Alfred, and only him. And things were their brand of normal.
And then things started happening. Where the brothers were able to work out compromises, they began to argue into deadlock after deadlock, and more and more frequently. While they had started out on the same page of the same book, by the end of Antebellum it became obvious the North and South had very different agendas that neither was willing to alter, and really, it would have been difficult to. As described by a British tourist at the time, the North and South were two regions with nothing in common but “a similar language and meager political union”. To Aaron, it seemed as if Alfred was increasingly willing to sacrifice him in order to achieve his ends, a fear that became all the more real to him with Harper’s Ferry and the election of Lincoln. And so in an attempt to preserve himself and the states, Aaron left. Obviously, this wasn’t taken very kindly too.
In the beginning, Aaron had never wanted to fight his brother. Really, he just wished Alfred would let him go so maybe, just maybe, things could actually be worked out and resolved. Then as Alfred kept trying to take him back, Aaron began to grow frustrated with Alfred, and finally after being harmed by him, CSA actually turned against him, wanting nothing more than to win the war and be able to turn his back on the Union for good.
He still struggled with that part of him that had loved Alfred so, however much he tried to ignore it, pretend it didn’t exist. He hated how after everything, part of him still loved North and god forbid, wanted to go back to him. But it was too late, and so the war continued, Aaron going so far as to harm himself in order to get to Alfred, to keep fighting against him and end his own emotional turmoil as well as end the war with a Confederate victory. Which as he know, didn’t happen, and in his time Aaron is struggling even harder with the side of him that loves his brother and the side that just wants to kill him dead with a rock, trying to find some sort of mid-ground between the two. Increasingly, this "mid-ground" seems to be taking the form of Stockholm Syndrome.
Canada: Canada is like…that brother that Aaron always forgets exists, for the simple fact it seems like he’s never there. Which, isn’t just what it seems like. With North standing between the Confederacy and Canada, it’s even rarer than Antebellum for the two to interact. He’ll call the other a brother for the simple reason that’s what he always heard North refer to him as, and while there is some sort of brotherly love on Aaron’s side, it’s not nearly as much as a driving force as his love for Alfred tends to be. It’s almost more passing, something that’s there when Canada is in his thoughts and fades away again once the other is gone.
Native Americans: “On August 12, 1861, Confederate commissioner Albert Pike concluded one of several treaties between his government and elements of the “Five Civilized Tribes” living in Indian territory. Among quaint-sounding articles that forbade stealing horses and going “upon the warpath” was a pledge on the part of the Confederate government that the Indians would not “henceforward…be in any wise troubled or molested by any power or people, State or person whatever.” Pike, a resourceful and knowledgeable emissary, made sound suggestions to President Davis on Indian policy. The Indians sought protection against the United States, Pike pointed out, and as long as the Confederates could provide the protection, the tribes would be loyal allies. In fact, Indian forces fought for the South at Pea Ridge in March of 1862, and elsewhere.”
-The Confederate Nation (Emory M. Thomas)
Out of the "Five Civilized Tribes", CSA seemed closest to the Cherokee Nation. In fact, the last Confederate to surrender was General Stand Watie, the leader of the Cherokee Nation. He regrets being unable to protect the Natives, as well as feeling guilty for it as well. CSA knows that, now that the Tribes have shown loyalty to him rather than to the Union, North will turn his attention to them once he's done with CSA. He's grateful to the Cherokee Nation for being his only real ally throughout the War for Southern Independence, and now that he's been unable to secede and protect them from North as a seperate country, he'll instead turn his attention to attempting to protect them as he is now.
England: The Confederacy admires and respects England, though only the latter outwardly. In a way, he wanted to be like the other, not exactly of course because who wants to be exactly like a pessimistic old man, but you get the point. England have CSA a goal, something to aspire to, and it helped that unlike the majority of others, England actually did something to help him.
However, England never gave CSA what he wanted most: recognition. CSA was often left wondering if he was anything besides good buisness, particularly when, once it started to become apparent CSA could not win on his own, the aid he did have became more and more difficult to get. CSA became disappointed and aggrivated bythis, something he has yet to let go and it's debateable if he ever will, but in the end it wasn't enough to put a end to his desire for Arthur's attention, for his recognition of him.
Since he's lost the war though, despite that want, he's trying to distance himself, torn between wanting to be closer and the possiblity of disappearing. So, he stays semi-formal usually, unaware of whatever England's thoughts or feelings may be, to wary to speak up.
If asked, probably the most truthful response on how he feels in respect to England is "I don't know". He knows he's unhappy with him concerning the war, he knows he's wary to get close because he just knows that someday, he'll vanish, and he's too scared to risk hurting England like that might. But then there's the admiration and virtual need for England's attention that he can't identify.
The rest of the British Isles:
Ireland: CSA views Ireland as a aunt, given that he often calls her 'Auntie'. Out of the British Isles, she's the one he's most comfortable around, not so unsure of his own feelings like with England or as thrown off like with Scotland or Wales.
Scotland: In short, Scotland has a way of throwing Aaron off, so to speak. While he may assume the other will act one way based on what he's seen of Scotland, that doesn't necessarily mean the other actually behaves as expected, and so when in his company, CSA is often left confused.
Wales: Out of the Isles, Wales is the one CSA knows the least, and so never knows what to do when he's around. If CSA is the closest to Ireland or England, he's the furthest from Wales.
Others:
France: France often acts as if CSA is a thorn in his side, and so Aaron likewise often purposefully pesters and annoys the other. Up until France mentions the whole begging for aid thing, then CSA just gets bitchy. He doesn’t really understand why France dislikes him, but CSA doubts he’d care to know. Beyond this, he really doesn’t have much of an opinion on the other.
Mexico: During Antebellum, Aaron aided his brother in the Mexican-American War and took Texas. During the War for Southern Independence, Mexico sent the Confederacy supplies, and after the war Confederate soldiers fled across the Rio Grande into the country to escape Union troops. So CSA tends to stay kinda neutral about him. Mexico serves to annoy, but he did something, and something that aided him and his boys at that. Oddly, CSA doesn’t feel as if he owes Mexico for this aid, however. Still though, should he run into the other, Aaron would remain polite. He thinks of Mexico almost as that weird cousin.
Bahamas, Brazil, and South Africa: These three aided the CSA in basically the same way, and so his thoughts on them are all the same: useful. Used as a way to get the ships to Confederate sailors or as a stopping point outside the blockade, the three aided the Confederate Navy and beyond that CSA really doesn’t have any thoughts on them.
United States of America: And this relationship here, this is the one that basically made Aaron everything he is, and he knows it. Taken in by his twin when he first appeared in 1787, as a child North was just literally the world to Aaron. He didn’t know others, nor did he care to. It was Alfred who took care of him and raised him, making him this odd mix of mother, father, brother, friend, and boss in Aaron’s mind. Alfred was just a little bit of everything to him, and likewise Aaron was loyal to Alfred, and only him. And things were their brand of normal.
And then things started happening. Where the brothers were able to work out compromises, they began to argue into deadlock after deadlock, and more and more frequently. While they had started out on the same page of the same book, by the end of Antebellum it became obvious the North and South had very different agendas that neither was willing to alter, and really, it would have been difficult to. As described by a British tourist at the time, the North and South were two regions with nothing in common but “a similar language and meager political union”. To Aaron, it seemed as if Alfred was increasingly willing to sacrifice him in order to achieve his ends, a fear that became all the more real to him with Harper’s Ferry and the election of Lincoln. And so in an attempt to preserve himself and the states, Aaron left. Obviously, this wasn’t taken very kindly too.
In the beginning, Aaron had never wanted to fight his brother. Really, he just wished Alfred would let him go so maybe, just maybe, things could actually be worked out and resolved. Then as Alfred kept trying to take him back, Aaron began to grow frustrated with Alfred, and finally after being harmed by him, CSA actually turned against him, wanting nothing more than to win the war and be able to turn his back on the Union for good.
He still struggled with that part of him that had loved Alfred so, however much he tried to ignore it, pretend it didn’t exist. He hated how after everything, part of him still loved North and god forbid, wanted to go back to him. But it was too late, and so the war continued, Aaron going so far as to harm himself in order to get to Alfred, to keep fighting against him and end his own emotional turmoil as well as end the war with a Confederate victory. Which as he know, didn’t happen, and in his time Aaron is struggling even harder with the side of him that loves his brother and the side that just wants to kill him dead with a rock, trying to find some sort of mid-ground between the two. Increasingly, this "mid-ground" seems to be taking the form of Stockholm Syndrome.
Canada: Canada is like…that brother that Aaron always forgets exists, for the simple fact it seems like he’s never there. Which, isn’t just what it seems like. With North standing between the Confederacy and Canada, it’s even rarer than Antebellum for the two to interact. He’ll call the other a brother for the simple reason that’s what he always heard North refer to him as, and while there is some sort of brotherly love on Aaron’s side, it’s not nearly as much as a driving force as his love for Alfred tends to be. It’s almost more passing, something that’s there when Canada is in his thoughts and fades away again once the other is gone.
Native Americans: “On August 12, 1861, Confederate commissioner Albert Pike concluded one of several treaties between his government and elements of the “Five Civilized Tribes” living in Indian territory. Among quaint-sounding articles that forbade stealing horses and going “upon the warpath” was a pledge on the part of the Confederate government that the Indians would not “henceforward…be in any wise troubled or molested by any power or people, State or person whatever.” Pike, a resourceful and knowledgeable emissary, made sound suggestions to President Davis on Indian policy. The Indians sought protection against the United States, Pike pointed out, and as long as the Confederates could provide the protection, the tribes would be loyal allies. In fact, Indian forces fought for the South at Pea Ridge in March of 1862, and elsewhere.”
-The Confederate Nation (Emory M. Thomas)
Out of the "Five Civilized Tribes", CSA seemed closest to the Cherokee Nation. In fact, the last Confederate to surrender was General Stand Watie, the leader of the Cherokee Nation. He regrets being unable to protect the Natives, as well as feeling guilty for it as well. CSA knows that, now that the Tribes have shown loyalty to him rather than to the Union, North will turn his attention to them once he's done with CSA. He's grateful to the Cherokee Nation for being his only real ally throughout the War for Southern Independence, and now that he's been unable to secede and protect them from North as a seperate country, he'll instead turn his attention to attempting to protect them as he is now.
England: The Confederacy admires and respects England, though only the latter outwardly. In a way, he wanted to be like the other, not exactly of course because who wants to be exactly like a pessimistic old man, but you get the point. England have CSA a goal, something to aspire to, and it helped that unlike the majority of others, England actually did something to help him.
However, England never gave CSA what he wanted most: recognition. CSA was often left wondering if he was anything besides good buisness, particularly when, once it started to become apparent CSA could not win on his own, the aid he did have became more and more difficult to get. CSA became disappointed and aggrivated bythis, something he has yet to let go and it's debateable if he ever will, but in the end it wasn't enough to put a end to his desire for Arthur's attention, for his recognition of him.
Since he's lost the war though, despite that want, he's trying to distance himself, torn between wanting to be closer and the possiblity of disappearing. So, he stays semi-formal usually, unaware of whatever England's thoughts or feelings may be, to wary to speak up.
If asked, probably the most truthful response on how he feels in respect to England is "I don't know". He knows he's unhappy with him concerning the war, he knows he's wary to get close because he just knows that someday, he'll vanish, and he's too scared to risk hurting England like that might. But then there's the admiration and virtual need for England's attention that he can't identify.
The rest of the British Isles:
Ireland: CSA views Ireland as a aunt, given that he often calls her 'Auntie'. Out of the British Isles, she's the one he's most comfortable around, not so unsure of his own feelings like with England or as thrown off like with Scotland or Wales.
Scotland: In short, Scotland has a way of throwing Aaron off, so to speak. While he may assume the other will act one way based on what he's seen of Scotland, that doesn't necessarily mean the other actually behaves as expected, and so when in his company, CSA is often left confused.
Wales: Out of the Isles, Wales is the one CSA knows the least, and so never knows what to do when he's around. If CSA is the closest to Ireland or England, he's the furthest from Wales.
Others:
France: France often acts as if CSA is a thorn in his side, and so Aaron likewise often purposefully pesters and annoys the other. Up until France mentions the whole begging for aid thing, then CSA just gets bitchy. He doesn’t really understand why France dislikes him, but CSA doubts he’d care to know. Beyond this, he really doesn’t have much of an opinion on the other.
Mexico: During Antebellum, Aaron aided his brother in the Mexican-American War and took Texas. During the War for Southern Independence, Mexico sent the Confederacy supplies, and after the war Confederate soldiers fled across the Rio Grande into the country to escape Union troops. So CSA tends to stay kinda neutral about him. Mexico serves to annoy, but he did something, and something that aided him and his boys at that. Oddly, CSA doesn’t feel as if he owes Mexico for this aid, however. Still though, should he run into the other, Aaron would remain polite. He thinks of Mexico almost as that weird cousin.
Bahamas, Brazil, and South Africa: These three aided the CSA in basically the same way, and so his thoughts on them are all the same: useful. Used as a way to get the ships to Confederate sailors or as a stopping point outside the blockade, the three aided the Confederate Navy and beyond that CSA really doesn’t have any thoughts on them.