#asks.clause

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imagine marrying into the kirkland family but far enough removed that you don't expect the succession to get to your spouse

and then it does

like what do you even do with that? they're just going to be eternally young and you'll grow old and die and you weren't prepared for this at all. everything was supposed to be normal. and now? it's about as far from normal as you can get.

dear Lord that's a nightmare situation for either side of this one. like, at least if you get with an NP post succession you KNOW what ur getting into, now it's just. Wow. You think Oliver had a first wife like that? Does he have a fucking, special graveyard of wives and children, where the first group has this ceremonial spot? Wait would that just be the Kirkland family cemetery? Oliver created the Kirkland Family Cemetery

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Poor Matthew and Madeline have been neglected. I’m requesting your brain worms for those two and also how the French NPs are part of that equation concerning the 1600/1700s (also thinking of that convo we just had re: Francis adopting….) (perhaps Madeline could have been a nurse in one of the world wars if she was around for them)

— @freegiftjones (sending asks is fun I’m new to this)

Okay it took me a while to get together my thoughts for this one lol. Some ideas I had! I think Madeline might be the first Canadian np, like. Canada doesn't suffer from the American np curse, and I just genuinely find the idea of her being the oldest for a little bit compelling. She's seen so many things.

She definitely participated in both world wars! I'll have to do more research about it to say something 100% definitive about it, but I definitely see her being a nurse for them! She was around when her two parental figures died (Oliver and... Francis the 1st, anyone? 2pNyo France? We have options) and then likely wound up becoming something like an aunt to the two new ones who took their place. I think she saw what happened with Arthur and Francis and decided that the only way to have a smooth transition into the next np is to have it be an intentional one, rather than one that just Happens when she dies of some unrelated cause. Like, she's old and genuinely feels fulfilled in life, she saw the mistakes of her predecessors, she knows that there will never be a perfect time to do this kind of thing but there's such thing as a good enough time. So she partners with her government and does it.

She was originally raised by the kingdom of France before the seven years war thing happened and she was kind of transferred to Oliver. How do you think the first nps age as children? I think that they age slowly, and then once they hit some kind of adulthood they age even slower? So she's taken by Oliver when she's physically 12ish. And then he goes on to be a legitimately good father to her, or at least try to be, it's complicated by the fact that they're both immortal so her opinion on him is one that has been curated over multiple lifetimes. I think she was bitter towards him at first but eventually that mellowed out. She definitely had a mini funeral for her maman after she heard the news that the np of the kingdom of France died in the French revolution. I don't see Oliver stopping her from doing that.

I don't think Matthew is Madeline's son. Maybe he's like, a grandnephew or a great great (times like a million) grandnephew. I think the choice for Matthew to be the next np wasnt made 100% based on who he was related to, and I also think that Madeline never personally wanted to birth any children. And so she didn't. Matthew was born in like... 45ish, when he was 16 he was chosen to be the next Canadian np and spent the rest of his highschool and college years basically shadowing her. Learning political junk and being taught directly by one of the oldest people alive.

This kind of shapes him up to be one of the most mentally stable nps (note, this does not mean he has nothing wrong with him, he was just better prepared for The Curse). I think he sees his immortality as a responsibility rather than a curse or a burden, partially because he had the gift and privilege of being taught directly by someone who has been experiencing it and knows what she's doing.

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okay so bear with me because I just got home and I have so many thoughts

what are the rules governing this inheritance? like especially in the kirkland line, are we going by some sort of modified primogeniture to account for The Weirdness? can it be male-preference primogeniture, and then there are just no female englands?

and also who on earth are all the other parents in this situation? like I imagine it'd be socially prestigious and all, but this is a legitimate succession, we can't just have maitresses-en-titre around here - so is oliver just marrying people and then waiting until they die to have more kids? is that something he would need to do - i can't remember how old oliver is, was he around at a time when divorce was not an option?

all of the above is in the context of a public au but if the nations are secret:

i think we decided over on kat's blog that the first representatives of any nation are also born, usually as one of the first babies of that nation (though i don't think that idea really works in every context, but we'll cross bridges when we get to them) so do you think their parents know what's happening or does someone just show up and casually be like, "sorry, we'll be taking your kid now, have a good life!"

I love this ask so much okay let's go bit by bit

1- I think succession is largely, written out in a very very simplified way, the closest direct descendent of the NP in question (this one being Oliver), like being male matters but being the closest possible descendent of the NP matters moreso. Arthur gets the title because his father (Olivers direct son) has died, and everyone else is like, a niece or a nephew or has five generations between them and Oliver. I also think age has a deal with it, no one below 17 no one above 50 kind of rule. Maybe not those specific ages but the thought is, in succession for nps, no one too young and no one too old. Maybe there was another direct child of Oliver somewhere but the man was in his 70's

2- Oliver has been np since roughly the late 1500's early 1600's, he's been around for a While. Yeah I genuinely think he only takes on new wives once the old one has died, ladies man Oliver is funny to say yeah but he's exceptionally loyal. His deal is that he wants family all the time always, not that he wants specifically women, yk? Hey chat do you think Oliver even believes in divorce? I don't think he does

3- I think that, when available, the first np of a new nation is born Directly to the np of an elder/parent/preexisting nation! So in this case Jamie is Oliver's son by blood. In cases where such a figure isn't available I bet it's just a game of seeing which child isn't aging correctly + has superpowers. It's definitely a struggle if they aren't born directly to another np so it's probably heavily encouraged for nps to get direct control over that somehow. There's definitely been some NPs who went under the radar until adulthood because of this too

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Two thoughts:

Nps and children

Why blood relation is important

I feel bad for the nps when it comes to the pressure of having to continue the bloodline connection. Their government wants it more than they do. Constantly preaching about duty and responsibility to the nation. Especially from the Medieval to Victorian era. Child mortality was high, and the more children an np had, the safer the government felt in knowing that they had spares.

I think that perhaps a motivator to have an np be picked via blood relation is that they are still national personifications. They are spirits that connect the people and the land. Their has to be some weirdness to them. A sort of non-human trait that does get inherited, but not activated unless that person becomes an np. Maybe sometimes that otherness does manifest in some ways, especially if that child is one of the first few children of the np. Stories of demi-gods being based off of the children of np's.

But the first np born to a new nation; that one has the strongest and most pronounced abilities. As the line of np's go on, their power sort of fades. If a blood relative is able to hold onto the np status for quite a while, those abilities theoretically could reappear, but it happens so rarely that it's not known for sure.

Common qualities of np's is that while they CAN be killed, they are difficult to kill. They get some sort of resistance to injuries because if not, then they'd be dying a lot more often. Smaller wounds (cuts, sprains, minor breaks) can heal much faster than that of a human. They can heal from more serious injuries but it wouldn't be as fast. More other worldly abilities would be magic. Flashes of the future. Maybe even an island nation np that could breathe underwater.

For James, as the first np of the US, what if he was born with superhuman abilities. Strength well passed what's considered normal for an np, as well as durability and endurance. Since his line gets lost, no other American np process those qualities on account they can never hold onto their status long enough for them to manifest. Alfred on the other hand, as a distant descendant, gets that activated almost right away.

Even though Alfred technically jumped the line that the US gov worked so hard to prepare so they wouldn't be caught off guard, they decide mmmmm, maybe we should keep this one when he accidently sends a car tumbling after kicking it out of frustration.

Yeah pretty much no notes I agree here. This makes Alfred's case interesting because they lost an entire bloodline, and it makes Madeline's case interesting because she manages to go through hundreds of years with that pressure and not bend to it. Like, it's fun seeing the different ways characters are impacted by this kind of thing. Also I love super strength Alfred so much let that boy mr incredible his way around an old railroad

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"He is endlessly loyal to his nation and crown and family - in that order."

This is going to cause such drama and heartbreak when it comes to the Revolution. I'm currently mapping that out in my own notes and it's so much fun. Oliver the parent to support his children, but will make offhanded remarks that sometimes takes them back and makes them rethink who their father is.

Jamie is the loyal son who does his best to fit in his fathers vision, till he has to make a choice. Personally, I think it would be very interesting to make Jamie a British officer, even during the war, up until a breaking a point; he must choose between crown and and people, nation and colony.

----𓅂----

"You can't do this. I will not allow you to do this!"

"You have little say regarding what I can and cannot do at this point, father. I have given you my all. My loyalty, my love, my life- and still you do not treat me as I rightfully deserve to be. An equal, both in parliament and court. I have done everything you have ever asked! And for what? To be a treasured token, stuffed away in your pocket?"

"You are my son-"

"No. No, I was your son. Until you had your men kill my own. He was just a boy, and you had him killed!"

You get me you get it you get it omg!!! its the perfect recipe for drama because he's loyal to his family as long as it doesn't betray his crown and he's loyal to his crown as long as it doesn't betray his nation, and on paper this sounds so good, until you know. The Revolution.

Also your writing is superb what the hell

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Martha Lou-Ann Baxter, the first and only woman to be the np of the US between 1889 to 1932. Advocate for equal rights and perhaps the biggest headache to the US government at that time. As the status of the US np was hotly contested ever since the Civil War, many did not believe she was the actual np till she proved her mark to be true.

That's all I have on her for now, but she was a menace lol. Debated for fun, very well educated, and loved to point out the hypocrisy of the government- especially the constitution when it came to equal rights. Since she was an np, she was reluctantly given time to speak. Did NOT get along Truman. They absolutely loathed one another.

She and Oliver also did not get along at all. She was always very quick to bring up how the mess of the US succession was his fault.

Besties with Madeleine though.

omg I love her already. this au is kind of built to be the oc machine and I'm Living for it. makes me dream of a world where amelia put on that bomber jacket instead honestly

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Allencore

GUYS 😭

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Made a playlist for the inspirational vibes. Any recs so I can add to it? 👀

Body by Mother Mother, Life Itself by Glass Animals, Boy Clothes by Nxdia(Amelia song), You are the Beginning by the family crest (it's an Oliver and Jamie song 2 me) and... eh, why not, Damage Suppressor by Black Dresses (noise/breakcore warning for this one). Let me know what other stuff you add to it!