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Tada! done with Russia, I mean Rustavya. I'm gonna spruce it up and make it shiner later, but photoshop takes time, and adulting is time consuming :(. working on my oc now, but mostly wanted feedback first. ✌
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💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮
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Rustavya
(pronounced Rhoos-stahv-ya, not rush, basically pronounce it with a slavic accent, preferably Russian, but Romanian and Ukrainian works too. Also Belarusian.)
💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷
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Rustavya is ruled by the Royal House of Vasaätten, the current Sovereign being King Nikolas III. His Queen Consort was Rhiannon of Rökstenne.
💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓼
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Blue and silver, with shades of red (though, particularly when worn by government officials, red is considered offensive since it was the colour of the last civil war leaders)
💎𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓲𝓼 𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓕𝓸𝓻
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(I know, I know, concise and short, but I love Russia okay? I can’t do short. I need some kind of outlet to spew off all these useless facts I’ve accumulated. I’ve embellished some of it, but most of those numbers and shit are fucking true, for Russia, Rustavya’s not real. Only changed some rankings to reflect the political shifts in Rustavya.)
Alongside being the largest country by landmass (though a lot of it is uninhabitable due it being a frozen tundra, so their population ranks them as about the 9th largest country), Rustavya is oil and natural gas rich, and known for its extensive mineral and gemstone mining, particularly of diamonds, as well as its extensive military and arms industry.
💎𝓡𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽/𝓡𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂
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💎𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻
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Playlist
» The capital city is named Voskhod and is home to Voskresenskie Palace, seat of the Sovereign.
» During the 60’s, they were engaged in a space race, and while they did not manage to claim the first man on the moon, in 1961, they manned the first flight in space and put the first man in space, as well as bringing him back. Rustavyan astronauts are called cosmonauts, and Ruscosmos (the nickname of Rustavyan Cosmonautic Organziation) remains a heavily protected and invested in industry in Rustavya.
aesthetics and stuff to come. again, adulting takes up so much time. I hate work. TToTT
💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓝𝓪𝓶𝓮
――――――――――
Rustavya
(pronounced Rhoos-stahv-ya, not rush, basically pronounce it with a slavic accent, preferably Russian, but Romanian and Ukrainian works too. Also Belarusian.)
💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷
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Rustavya is ruled by the Royal House of Vasaätten, the current Sovereign being King Nikolas III. His Queen Consort was Rhiannon of Rökstenne.
They were… not a happy couple, to say the least. Reportedly, they didn’t even sleep in the same bed after the birth of their one and only child. Rhiannon was the daughter of a neighbouring kingdom, and the marriage procured purely for alliance purposes, yet that did not make her a pliant nor silent Queen. Opinionated, intelligent, and headstrong, she did not come to Rustavya to simply wear a crown and look pretty. The royal couple differed on many a view, and despite being a foreigner, she’s managed to get much of the Cabinet on her side, and disagreements between the monarchs didn’t end with the King always winning, however, given Rustavya’s “complex” political nature, it didn’t also end with some kind of legislation (more on that later).
Nikolas came into the throne young, just barely past the age of majority (18), and filled with ambition, vigour, and endless arrogance. He is the pure embodiment of the downsides of the Ancien Régime. However, unlike Louis XIV, he is not golden. While he has ambition, he lacks the intelligence and patience of better dictator-kings. What Nikolas wants, Nikolas gets. Aka, every basic white man, essentially. Everything went his way, until he was married to Rhiannon, similar to him in nature, but she had the intelligence and patience he lacks. While the King of Rustayva is absolute, critically, he (or she) must not appear to be, as public riots and revolutions in the past have shown, which is why the cabinet exists, to provide the illusion of a cooperative government. Rhiannon, however, was also to sway about half of them to her will, resulting in increased corruption and political assassinations, including attempts on both the King and Queen (known to have been orchestrated by each other). Publically, they maintained a civil face, but did not keep their dislike of each other entirely private, which has also split the public in terms of which sovereign to love and obey. Suspiciously, the Queen has been missing for about 5 years now, and no one can say with any certainty what has happened to her. Officially, it’s stated as foul play, assumed to have been a kidnapping, and the length of time since her disappearance makes it all the more likely that she is dead. However, this has also worked in her favour, as King Nikolas’s approval is at an all-time low of 46%, whereas the Queen, despite not being there, is at 97% approval.
Nikolas came into the throne young, just barely past the age of majority (18), and filled with ambition, vigour, and endless arrogance. He is the pure embodiment of the downsides of the Ancien Régime. However, unlike Louis XIV, he is not golden. While he has ambition, he lacks the intelligence and patience of better dictator-kings. What Nikolas wants, Nikolas gets. Aka, every basic white man, essentially. Everything went his way, until he was married to Rhiannon, similar to him in nature, but she had the intelligence and patience he lacks. While the King of Rustayva is absolute, critically, he (or she) must not appear to be, as public riots and revolutions in the past have shown, which is why the cabinet exists, to provide the illusion of a cooperative government. Rhiannon, however, was also to sway about half of them to her will, resulting in increased corruption and political assassinations, including attempts on both the King and Queen (known to have been orchestrated by each other). Publically, they maintained a civil face, but did not keep their dislike of each other entirely private, which has also split the public in terms of which sovereign to love and obey. Suspiciously, the Queen has been missing for about 5 years now, and no one can say with any certainty what has happened to her. Officially, it’s stated as foul play, assumed to have been a kidnapping, and the length of time since her disappearance makes it all the more likely that she is dead. However, this has also worked in her favour, as King Nikolas’s approval is at an all-time low of 46%, whereas the Queen, despite not being there, is at 97% approval.
Overall, Rustavya, isn’t exactly conservative or liberal so much as it is simply subject to the will of the reigning Sovereign. Social progress goes back and forth depending on who's wearing the crown. What is constant, however, is the ironclad grip with which the crown bearer rules. The free press is non-existent in Rustavya, though there is a feeble attempt to pretend the state doesn't control the news and ALL media. And the internet is heavily watched and controlled, and at times banned. Accounts that belong to users from certain foreign nations are blocked in Rustavya. Dissent is not appreciated nor welcome in Rustayva. Though depending on the severity of the dissenters actions, and the mood of the monarch, they can get off scot free or be executed.
In theory, Rustavya practises absolute-primogeniture, meaning that the title (in this case the throne) passes to the eldest living trueborn child, regardless of gender. However, there exists a provision that any marriages to other royal families, wherein the spouse is the heir apparent or presumptive of a line of succession, automatically forfeits the Rustavyan's claim to Rustavya's throne. Historically, this has been used to bypass female heirs. Only in the event of no viable living heirs (including cousins and secondary lines of succession) can the throne pass to an illegitimate child or an illegitimate line, there have been instances, however, of overruling this provision in cases of popular male princes du sangs (princes of the blood), though this has always instigated a war. Most royal matches are to be consented to by the sovereign (as such, it usually falls to them to arrange betrothal as well), however, a royal over 18 may simply get consent from the cabinet. The heir, however, must obtain consent from both the sovereign and cabinet, if they are over 18, they are free to REJECT any betrothal they so choose, but cannot accept as they please.
Although the royal couple have only one child, Crown Princess Venera, the King has another child, an older son, Grand Duke Vasily, he is a prince du sang, prince of the blood, and born out of wedlock (illegitimate) and therefore unable to lay claim to the throne, except in extenuating circumstances (that’s not to say he doesn’t want it though).
Although the royal couple have only one child, Crown Princess Venera, the King has another child, an older son, Grand Duke Vasily, he is a prince du sang, prince of the blood, and born out of wedlock (illegitimate) and therefore unable to lay claim to the throne, except in extenuating circumstances (that’s not to say he doesn’t want it though).
💎𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓒𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓼
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Blue and silver, with shades of red (though, particularly when worn by government officials, red is considered offensive since it was the colour of the last civil war leaders)
💎𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓲𝓼 𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓕𝓸𝓻
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(I know, I know, concise and short, but I love Russia okay? I can’t do short. I need some kind of outlet to spew off all these useless facts I’ve accumulated. I’ve embellished some of it, but most of those numbers and shit are fucking true, for Russia, Rustavya’s not real. Only changed some rankings to reflect the political shifts in Rustavya.)
Alongside being the largest country by landmass (though a lot of it is uninhabitable due it being a frozen tundra, so their population ranks them as about the 9th largest country), Rustavya is oil and natural gas rich, and known for its extensive mineral and gemstone mining, particularly of diamonds, as well as its extensive military and arms industry.
The petroleum industry in Rustavya is one of the largest in the world, a contender for the largest, but authorities are in disagreement as some believe a few middle Eastern countries may win that crown. However, Rustavya, by far, has the largest reserves and is the largest exporter of natural gas. It has the fourth largest coal reserves, second highest oil reserves, and is a contender for the largest producer of oil. However, Rustavya itself is only the fourth highest fossil fuel energy user in the world (prior to the reign of Nikolas III, they were second). They produce 12% of the world’s oil, and about 14% of global oil exports. Most of their oil goes west, particularly to Europe. In regards to natural gas, not only are they the world's largest exporter, but are the proven holder of the largest reserve. It’s theorized, but not proven, that they are also likely home to the largest volume of still-undiscovered natural gas, with a mean probable volume of 6.7 trillion cubic meters of said fossil fuel that is absolutely horrendous for the environment (listen, my country ain’t all that liberal, but I sure as hell am). Undiscovered oil is estimated to be about 22 billion barrels (second to the estimated undiscovered oil in Iraq- I mean a middle eastern country). The petroleum industries revenues account for about 12% of Rustavya’s GDP (14% for Russia, in 2005, and only as being responsible for the post-soviet GDP growth, slightly out of date statistic, so). They are considered an “energy superpower”, and the world estimates their oil and gas reserves to be worth and estimated $75 Trillion US dollars (or I guess Acrian dollars? Also, yeah, that’s the real estimate of the worth of Russia’s oil and gas, they hella rich son).
The second most profitable industry in Rustavya is their mining of non-oil and gas minerals. One of the world’s leading mineral industries, and accounting for a large percentage of Eastern Europe/Slavic State production of a range of minerals, Rustavya is ranked among the top 5 worldwide producers of a number of minerals, including; aluminion, arsenic, cement, copper, magnesium compounds and metals, nitrogen, palladium, silicon, nickel, and vanadium. Additionally, they lead the world in diamond mining by volume, and account for 27% of global diamond extraction.
To guard oil and diamonds, one might want a few tanks, and Rustavya has, frankly, all of them. They have a large and sophisticated military and arms industry, some would argue an necessarily large stockpile. They have the capabilities to design and manufacture high-tech military equipment, including fifth-generation fighter jets, and are currently working on next-gen jets with greater tracking and “invisibility abilities”, for a lack of a better term, just being quiet and using the clouds and shit to shield them from view, and signals to avoid detection, not like wonder woman’s invisible jet. They also have like, all the guns and tanks, etc. Rustavya has so much excessive military equipment, in fact, that they opened up a theme park a few years ago. Just two hours outside of the capital, it’s call Komrade Park (the actual one in Russia is called Patriot Park), you can climb on tanks, shoot bazooka’s, it’s actually pretty fun, if a little threatening. Rustavyan arms exports are valued at approximately $15.7 billion usd, their worth second only to the US/Acira. Their top exports are combat aircrafts, air defense systems, ships, and submarines.
Additionally, Rustavya is a nuclear superpower, and has numerous ballistic missiles, as well as nuclear powered submarines. They have a large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, and invented the Novichok agents, a series of nerve agents claimed to be 5-8 times more deadly than the (british made, but idk who is england in-verse) VX series of nerve agents, and Soman (discovered during WWI, and further developed by the US/Acira and Germany, separately, during WWII). Over 100 strains of Novichok agents exist, and they are heavily guarded and kept in secret locations by the government. As Rustavya has not provided any information on the chemical makeup of Novichok, it has had be reverse engineered from victims in other nations, and it’s difficult to crack due to it’s highly volatile nature. No known treatment exists, and Rustavya has not admitted to whether or not they engineered an antidote themselves. Novichok agents are the favoured Rustavyan method of disposing of people out of their own borders. The exact stockpile of Rustavyan weapons of mass destruction is unknown, as it’s a closely guarded secret. It’s even entirely clear if the King knows exactly how many they have. In the late 80’s-90’s, they admitted to a total peak stockpile of 68,000 warheads (the united states admitted to 32 040), but, as of a UN estimate last year, they’ve gone down to 7,850 (which includes all missiles, bio-weapons, etc. btw, USA, you guys currently at 7100, no data available yet to show how trump affected that though).
Additionally, Rustavya is a nuclear superpower, and has numerous ballistic missiles, as well as nuclear powered submarines. They have a large stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, and invented the Novichok agents, a series of nerve agents claimed to be 5-8 times more deadly than the (british made, but idk who is england in-verse) VX series of nerve agents, and Soman (discovered during WWI, and further developed by the US/Acira and Germany, separately, during WWII). Over 100 strains of Novichok agents exist, and they are heavily guarded and kept in secret locations by the government. As Rustavya has not provided any information on the chemical makeup of Novichok, it has had be reverse engineered from victims in other nations, and it’s difficult to crack due to it’s highly volatile nature. No known treatment exists, and Rustavya has not admitted to whether or not they engineered an antidote themselves. Novichok agents are the favoured Rustavyan method of disposing of people out of their own borders. The exact stockpile of Rustavyan weapons of mass destruction is unknown, as it’s a closely guarded secret. It’s even entirely clear if the King knows exactly how many they have. In the late 80’s-90’s, they admitted to a total peak stockpile of 68,000 warheads (the united states admitted to 32 040), but, as of a UN estimate last year, they’ve gone down to 7,850 (which includes all missiles, bio-weapons, etc. btw, USA, you guys currently at 7100, no data available yet to show how trump affected that though).
Economically speaking, Rustayva has been very careful to ensure that while the world is dependent on them, their economy will survive if suddenly cut off. They have vast farming, health, and etc industries, though they may not rank as the highest in the world, they are profitable and self-sustaining enough, and if all trade was suddenly cut off, the country would survive. This is what allows it to keep enduring as it does as it pleases, since sanctions have little to no effect on their economy. The Rustayvan economy implements an odd mix of marxist-leninist communism, and oligarchy. Rustayva has an uneven distribution of wealth, yet has low poverty rates and general satisfaction amongst the people, as it’s largely abolished the bourgeoisie. The distinction in status is essentially that you are either of (proven) royal blood, or you are a commoner, and therefore equal to everyone else. The state, ie the Crown, owns most state assets, such as the aforementioned 3 major industries of oil/gas, diamonds, and arms, however, outside out of the immediate branch of the royal family, the wealthier you are, the higher your taxes. Offshore banking is considered treason within Rustavya, and the penalty for treason is, of course, death. Additionally, even if a company is NOT state owned, the Sovereign has the power to shut down or indefinitely and forcibly keep open any company they so choose. The country implements a living wage, as well as various social benefits, such as maternity and parental leave, as well as complete and free universal healthcare (includes dental). This system, however, breaks down during high periods of corruption, often resulting in civil and a near complete change of government. An easier way of understanding the Rustavyan economy is actually just to look at Amazon’s business model, the company is happy to bleed money in order to gain market share, and keep prices low to make sure the consumers are happy. With Rustavya, the Crown would be Jeff Bezos, they have all the money, and can save the world if they wanted to, Amazon is the government/whatever-remains-of-the-bourgeoisie (essentially, they’re oligarchs, but it doesn’t matter how much money they have, if they piss off the King/Queen, they gonna die), they’ll lose money, in order to make sure the customers, the people, can keep affording to buy shit, and live in homes, so that they don’t riot.
However, despite all this definitely cool and necessary information about their wealth and economy, Rustavya is best known for its political turmoil and militarial endeavours. Civil war is just another tuesday in Rustavya. It goes through governments faster than Trump goes through wives. They also don’t keep that shit to themselves, and have been encroaching on neighbouring lands and necessarily getting involved in middle east conflicts. Internationally, they’ve also been accused of meddling in the elections of other nations, as well as committing assassinations on foreign soil. Most of which they’ve denied, or openly laughed off. Because of this, they have been subject to UN and other sanctions, but it hasn’t affected their economy.
Rustavya has its own rich and historic culture, and is heavily resistant to outsiders influence, particularly from the western half of the world. It heavily resents nations *cough* The US-I mean Aciras *cough* that constantly screams that they are “the greatest nation on the Earth”, like “fuck off”, said the average Russian-I mean Rustavyan. Because of this, they loathe foreign culture, particularly western culture, and have their own celebrities. Most people recognized as international stars, ironically, would be either little or completely unknown in Rustavya.
Rustavya practices state agnosticism (during the last civil war, it became the first country to practise state atheism, though the harshness of the last government is why it’s now agnostic). While the state does not endorse any one religion nor another, the constitution allows for freedom of religion, but all government employees, including the monarchy, are forbidden from publicly displaying faith in any religion. If something of the spiritual variety is to be mentioned, they may only use vague terms such as “the divine,” or “the forces of the universe,” etc.
Rustavya has its own rich and historic culture, and is heavily resistant to outsiders influence, particularly from the western half of the world. It heavily resents nations *cough* The US-I mean Aciras *cough* that constantly screams that they are “the greatest nation on the Earth”, like “fuck off”, said the average Russian-I mean Rustavyan. Because of this, they loathe foreign culture, particularly western culture, and have their own celebrities. Most people recognized as international stars, ironically, would be either little or completely unknown in Rustavya.
Rustavya practices state agnosticism (during the last civil war, it became the first country to practise state atheism, though the harshness of the last government is why it’s now agnostic). While the state does not endorse any one religion nor another, the constitution allows for freedom of religion, but all government employees, including the monarchy, are forbidden from publicly displaying faith in any religion. If something of the spiritual variety is to be mentioned, they may only use vague terms such as “the divine,” or “the forces of the universe,” etc.
💎𝓡𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽/𝓡𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂
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Rustavya has a long and complex history. It’s well over a thousand years old. Originally, it was known as Kievan Rus’, and was founded by Varagians (the name given by the Rus’, greeks, and others to Vikings). It’s been through several major periods of extreme political upheaval, from basic feudalism to a somewhat functioning traditional democracy in around the 1300’s, to the outright Divine Rule of Kings to a traditional constitutional monarchy to a communist rebellion, to sudden royalist revolt, back to constitutional monarchy, and a few more civil wars before the current government was established, and remains unbroken (though challenged) since 1937.
The House of Yusupov is a cadet branch of the royal house, and they enjoyed a lot of power, but it wasn't enough and they came for the crown. The Yuspov's gained support of the majority of the government, but lacked the military and the people. However, the war lasted a decade, from the 80's to the late 90's, and resulted in numerous casualties. They lost in the end, and most Yusupov's were executed, including children and completely innocent family members. At the time, their executions resulted in international outcry, but ironically had the opposite effect on everyday Rustavyan's, who resented the concept of mercy for people who fucked up their lives for 10 years.
"Dead men don't claim vengeance, and neither do their dead sons." - Paraphrase of a paraphrase of a Tywin Lannister saying. (I think it was clash of kings? no dance of the dragons. either way, it was GRRM who wrote it)
Previously part of Rökstenne, Askold was once part of Rustavyan (during the communist days), and when they last made moves indicating they wanted to take it back, Rökstenne swiftly arranged the marriage of Princess Rhiannon to then the boy king, 20 year old Nikolas. It was annexed by Rustavya a few months after her disappearance, sparking international outcry, yet little to no repercussions. They were hit with some sanctions, but they had no visible effect on the Rustavyan economy.
Following the success of getting away with annexing Askold, Rustavya has been more blatant, getting into scuffles in the Black Sea, and seizing numerous boats, as well as openly killing dissidents that had managed to escape to other countries.
💎𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻
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Playlist
» The capital city is named Voskhod and is home to Voskresenskie Palace, seat of the Sovereign.
» During the 60’s, they were engaged in a space race, and while they did not manage to claim the first man on the moon, in 1961, they manned the first flight in space and put the first man in space, as well as bringing him back. Rustavyan astronauts are called cosmonauts, and Ruscosmos (the nickname of Rustavyan Cosmonautic Organziation) remains a heavily protected and invested in industry in Rustavya.
aesthetics and stuff to come. again, adulting takes up so much time. I hate work. TToTT
