Balennaria

"**Balennaria**", or "**Jacksonia**", was the Church of Q's colony in Bujan during Wannaenid rule. As a province of the Qyuvian theocracy, it was known as the **Diocese of Balennaria**.

## Flag

The flag of Balennaria was meant to emulate the bygone American nation. It has eight stripes, four white and four black; with a red canton with the church's emblem in white.

## Symbols

The Qyuvian emblem is a stylised loop with a star in the middle. It is also used everywhere in the diocese as its regional symbol.

## History

Balennaria was formed from the north and centre of Bujan after Zvesta's fall to the Wannaenid Empire. It eventually went to war with the Tyrskans, who controlled another part of Bujan as Zavtrana Province.

## Geography

See also: Terran colonies of Bujan

* Selena (capital) - Vaitachol, northwestern Bujan. Known for its grand capital
* Second Dis, Dis City - Alevon, northwestern Bujan

## Politics

Balennaria was a theocracy managed by the Diocese, which is headquartered in the city of Vaitachol at Slonti Province, northwestern Bujan. During that time, it was known as Selena.

It often fought against the other disputing governments: the Zavtranian monarchy, the Salvation Party, and the Wannaenid colonial authorities.

Another rival, the Serpents, was formed by masses of poorer militants who were cheated by the authorities, seeking to create a People's Republic of Balenia as a communist state.

## Qyuvians

See also: Qyuvian glossary

The Qyuvians were the ruling Maeranoi in occupied Bujan. Many of them resemble the 1950s in bygone America, but poorer, more religious, and more fanatically militant.

They were especially notorious for abusing children to force them to pray correctly, their hatred of other races, and their "troll culture", an attitude that demanded no limits on every manner of curse and vile behaviour under the sun.

Nearly all of them resembled ethnic Bujanski Slavs, being peach skinned and having colourful hair and eyes.

## Qyuvian culture

Qyuvians love golf, smoking, guns, hunting, newspaper comics, videogames, and radio.

A lot of Qyuvians kept big automobiles and trucks. Initially, they rioted over the lack of petroleum, but they eventually agreed to use rytoryntar due to its longer-lasting energy and it being easily replenished and farmed from sunlight. Nonetheless, they avoided the extremely advanced technology of the Zvestarids, fearing them as demonic and heretical.

Bullying was a part of Qyuvian culture, seen as a path to becoming a true warrior.

Homeless people were seen as subhumans and parasites, leading to suicides among sorrowful Qyuvians who lose their homes. One tragic example was at the victory of the Bujanski Revolution, when hundreds of Qyuvians murdered their own families out of fear that they would be exiled back to their war-torn homeworld.

In spite of their emulation of 1950s suburban culture, Qyuvians also had "modern" entertainment. It had a thriving Internet realm, where people spread propaganda or socialised, or went around on flame wars to cheerlead sports teams.

The Church of Q also has regiments of hackers and online trolls, to intimidate any opposition, disrupt any technology from opponents, and glorify the Church's propaganda.

### Pop culture

The Church of Q had its own Internet service in Bujan under a single corporation. Aside from the usual propaganda, it was also a place for many adults, especially men, to socialise and fight online. Trolling was encouraged as an art, originating from the humorous rhetoric used by American politicians, then degraded into a culture of bullying and sadism that became normal among Qyuvians everywhere.

Several years after the Qyuvians took over parts of Bujan, they started to permit videogames after banning existing ones by Zvestarid artists. Most of the popular videogames consisted of first-person shooters and dating sims.

Gokase, known by them as "anime", was very popular among men because it was seen as a form of stress relief. Many troublemakers were obsessed with keeping it in their utopia, as a place where men always had their way.

## Serpentians

The Serpentians were another culture of Maeranoi in Bujan who disliked the ultraconservative coercion used by the Q Church and its armed guerillas. Many of them tend to come from other exiles and criminals banished to Bujan, forming their own separate community.

The "Serpents" were also, specifically, a large communist militant group formed by some Serpentians. Driven by fanaticism and the fear of the death gangs, many of their members and leaders were notorious for seeking the extermination of Bujanski people. In spite of their willingness to have other races join its "revolution", Serpentians were also notorious for being racist towards Wonaos and Bujanski Slavs, calling them slurs and cheering for their deaths.

## Serpentian culture

In their hatred of anything American, to the extent of blocking people for simply questioning them, Serpentians imitated the Soviet Union as the "antithesis of oppressive capitalism". They occasionally managed to paint their otherwise-drab buildings with bright murals and decorate them with local plants.

The official languages of the Serpents were English, Spanish, and Russian. Russian was used as a tribute to the Soviet Union, their role model. In spite of this, the Tyrskans, themselves descendants of Russians, declared war on them. The Tyrskans hated them for their American background, their fannish attitude and love of cartoons, and their "irreverent" depiction of Soviet art.

### Pop culture

As people from "America", Serpentians love cartoons, movies, and animations. They are known for their fanart of various shows, including the local version of "Broken Plates". Examples of such paintings are found in the Serpentian Museum in the town of Indamura, Teimoi Province.

Serpentians were also notorious for their fanatical obsession with their favourite cartoons and movies, leading to harrassment, bullying, and violent fights. Mob violence was also practiced there as a sport, as in the other Terran "authorities" of the island.

### Serpentian cancel culture vs Bujanski penance

The Serpentians who took part in such large-scale bullying also called it "cancel culture", but as a mocking term of pride to scare their enemies. It later became co-opted by the Bujanski as a nickname for their own system of penance and public shaming, done back at the Terrans to humiliate them.

Many Serpentians were later punished for various online offences, ranging from cyberbullying to banning and blocking people over trivial reasons and mistakes. To their surprise, the Bujanski allowed them to keep their jobs, and even invited them to rejoin some online servers, as the reward for completing penance and winning back social trust. This was done to discourage the practice of "moving on", explained to them as associated by Bujanski with Terrans making fun of their losses.

They also ordered all Serpentians who underwent penance for online offenses to show that they have completely renounced their crimes, and - most importantly - reconciling and apologising to their victims. If they wrongfully banned or blocked any victims over a mistake, they were ordered by the authorities to reverse the bans.

## Americans in modern Bujan

The two communities eventually formed into two slightly similar communities: the Free North, and the Bujanski Maeranoi.

People from both communities already knew that what their people did, ranging from corporate abuse to cyberbullying, was never forgotten. Every school in Bujan taught about their crimes, and entire sections of museums depicted various offenses committed by the Maeranoi.

Even as they are treated as any Bujanski citizen, many Maeranoi in modern Bujan felt ashamed that they are mostly known for everything their people did wrong. Perhaps out of acknowledgement for their shame, the same schools and museums invited Maeranoi to explain to students and visitors about their actions. This also caused some people to pity them.

## Trivia

* Balennaria was based on the fictional island of "Bali Ha'i".
	+ Jacksonia, the other name, was from Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. He was notorious for the Indian Removal Act, waging war on the native tribes that lived in parts of America.
* The two cultures of the Balennarians were based on several American subcultures.
	+ The Church of Q was based on 1950s America and the Trumpist movement of the 2010s. In fact, they were named after QAnon, a conspiracy theorist group, as a parallel to the Z letter used by Russian militarists who supported the invasion of Ukraine.
	+ The Serpentians were mostly based on 2020s pop culture and Millennials, while the Serpents were based on far-left netizens on Twitter and Tumblr, especially Marxists and those obsessed with the Soviet Union.
* Various "American" behaviours are taught in moral classes all over Bujan, as examples of what not to practice.
	+ Some Maeranoi thought that this was offensive, because the classes tend to depict Americans as abusive, untrustworthy cutthroats and fanatics. They suggested renaming sessions about "American" or "Terran" behaviours with more general titles that did not refer to a specific group

## See also

* Maeranoi
* Three Archetypes
* Sophie Goodwill, an example of a Serpentian Maeranoi.