Zed
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Zabëlle Lunarius Skye (Pronunciation: zɑːbɛl luːˈnaː.ris skaɪ zah‧behl‧loo‧nuh‧ris‧sky; abbr. ZLS; born 11 October 2004)—also known mononymously as Zed or Luna—is a British-South African micropatriologist, micronational historian, entrepreneur, author and semi-retired micronationalist and MicroWiki editor originally hailing from the MicroWiki sector.
Pre-micronational life and ancestry
Zabëlle Lunarius Skye[a] was born on 11 October 2004 at 10:50 p.m. (UTC) in the county of Surrey, southeastern England to South African immigrant parents. They immigrated to England in November 2000 and had been married since 14 July 1999. Skye's father, George Smith (born 10 April 1969) is an accountant and part-time events manager while his mother, Maria Johannes Wilhelmina Renier Smith (born 30 January 1970; née van Bosch), is a physician and artist. Skye is the middle child of three brothers; his older brother was born on 2 June 2003 and his younger brother, retired micronationalist Janus Smith, was born on 20 September 2006. At birth, Skye weighed 4.296 kilograms (9.471 lbs), larger than the average weight of a newborn.
An Afrikaner, Skye is of English, Dutch, French and German descent. Most of his South African ancestors worked in agriculture, hunting or the railroad; however, his maternal grandfather, Pieter Koos Gerhardus Smith, was a prominent diplomat, and his fourth-great grandfather, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (1819–1901), was the first official President of the South African Republic between 1866 and 1871. Pretorius also compiled the macronation's first constitution. Skye is bilingual, speaking English and Afrikaans with native proficiency; he also studies German and Dutch.
Early childhood
Born to Christian parents, Skye was baptised at a Protestant church, and, as of 2024, still practices Christianity. His parents moved to their current residence, the Main Building—a semi-detached house in London built in June 1936—on 10 March 2008. In order to learn Afrikaans, Skye's parents stipulated that their children speak only Afrikaans with them while at home, while Skye grew up on predominantly English-language television series—especially those of Cartoon Network. Skye and his siblings were home educated, being taught primarily by their mother as their father worked most of the day.
Skye and his family regularly traveled, often to see family; during his early childhood he visited South Africa and the Canary Islands, a territory of Spain located off the coast of Africa, on several occasions. Indeed, by 2012, Skye had been to nine macronations. Between 2013 and 2015, he attended a trampolining school, forest school and drama and art classes at a building for the British Sea Cadets. Skye's mother repeatedly wanted her son to do gymnastics as he was very flexible and energetic, but Skye regularly declined. He has been bespectacled since 2014.
Entry into micronationalism
Republic of New Finland (December 2017–June 2018)
Skye initially became interested in micronationalism upon discovering the Republic of Molossia via its national website in late 2017. Inspired by this, he soon began further researching micronationalism on Wikipedia until gaining the courage to proclaim his own micronation, the Republic of New Finland, on 31 December 2017. A presidential republic, he declared himself President and laid claim to his cousins' home in a suburb of Pretoria, South Africa during a holiday to the macronation with his family which they commenced on 9 December. Skye created the first draft for New Finland's national flag, finalising it on 1 January 2018 alongside creating the coat of arms and the design for a hypothetical digital currency—the Finlandic pound.
On 4 January, Skye laid claim to his family's residence in Greater London, England, upon returning home from their trip to South Africa. Upon his arrival to Greater London, he immediately faced a civil war; on 5 January, citizen Janus Smith (Skye's younger brother) briefly declared war on the micronation in an attempt to commit a coup d'état. However, he surrendered just minutes later after Skye hit him on the leg with a wooden sword. During the following three weeks, Skye prioritised the cultural and artistic industries of New Finland, as well as designating and maintaining several bicycle routes. However, by mid-January, New Finland had become dormant.
On 9 February, Skye became interested in New Finland again and realised that, in order to revive the micronation's former activity, he would have to enact political reforms. To achieve this, he likely dissolved the original claim in South Africa due to the long distance[b] and created a new flag and coat of arms for New Finland, alongside designating various other national symbols. He also created the legal provisions—albeit in a limited capacity—for a supreme court, as well as the power to hold referendums—formally enacting democracy in the micronation. On 2 March, Skye designed a passport, although it was never printed, and proclaimed three cities. Due to his interest in cinema, Skye created the Official New Eiffel Ratings Board (then unnamed) on 17 March, followed by the construction of Dead Tree Lane alongside Smith in April.
The Royal Archives—the erstwhile national archives of the Principality of New Eiffel (successor to New Finland) that now operate to preserve New Eiffelic history—suggests that New Finland was dormant during May. Photographs taken on Skye's tablet indicate that he was interested in New Finland between 19–24 May; he probably began considerations for a second reform for the micronation, hoping to once again restore activity.
Kingdom of New Finland (June–July 2018)
On 4 June, Skye proclaimed the Kingdom of New Finland as the successor to the Republic. The reasoning behind his decision to transform the micronation into a monarchy is unknown, but he may have felt himself to be the microgenitor (principal creator) of the micronation. The Kingdom adopted a new flag and coat of arms, both of which having been designed by Skye the previous day. On 24 June, Łight Net (ŁN) was created by Skye and adopted as the national currency. Drawn on pieces of paper, ŁN had five denominations and, unlike the Finlandic pound, Łight Net experienced significant use until 12 July, when Smith burned all of his Łight Net banknotes in protest against Skye's proposed vehicle registration plating and ID system for bicycles in the kingdom.
By either June or July, Skye had become the king of New Finland, replacing George Smith—Skye's father. Sometime during these two months—most likely in mid- or late July—Skye was accused of abusing his position as monarch by attempting to use loopholes in New Finland's law to claim ownership over Janus Smith's property. Additionally, he also controlled the supreme court, which ruled in his favour. Smith fought back, however, by renouncing his participation in New Finland, which dismayed Skye. Following backlash from several of New Finland's other citizens, the micronation subsequently returned to a state of dormancy.
Reign as Prince of New Eiffel
After engaging in geofiction via roleplaying on the free browser-based government simulation game NationStates—and running a plush toy micronation in his bedroom between 28 July and 3 August 2018—Skye once again became interested in physical micronationalism on 1 August. He envisioned the creation of the third iteration of his micronation, the Principality of New Eiffel, by as early as 8 August.
First year: developing New Eiffel (August 2018–August 2019)
Skye theorised that New Finland's fall into dormancy was due to its lack of planning. As such, on 8 August. he made a checklist of things he wanted his future micronation to have, and began further researching the micronationalism online. He discovered MicroWiki (though he did not register an account until 27 September) and MicroWikia that same day, and viewed the 6-part BBC comedic documentary series How to Start Your Own Country over a period of several days—which gave him much inspiration. On 9 August, Skye began work on New Eiffel's recognised public holidays, declared Christianity the official religion, and outlined several national symbols.
On 10 August, he started gathering citizens via an online mobile game, and filmed a digital tour of New Eiffel (then still unnamed) under the title Prince Zabëlle I. Skye officially declared the Principality of New Temporary[c] an independent sovereign state on 11 August, formally declaring himself Prince. He created the national flag that same day and later adopted the coat of arms which was previously used by the Kingdom of New Finland on 13 August. On 30 August, Skye wrote and adopted "Friendly, New Eiffel" as the national anthem, replacing Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), a string sextet in one movement composed in 1899 by the Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg.
On 30 August, upon Janus's recommendation, New Temporary was renamed to New Eiffel. On 1 September, Skye declared a general election to take place between 15–25 December for the micronation's first official prime minister. On 10 September, Skye declared several additional national symbols and began work on a constitution on 25 September. Throughout October, Skye oversaw further development of the law, military, additional territorial claims and transportation, and in November, he commenced New Eiffel's diplomatic outreach into the MicroWiki sector. He also created a business registry and citizenship application. In late December, Skye established the Royal Archives, and on 25 December, he created His Royal Mail Service of New Eiffel, a planned national package delivery and mail service that never came to fruition.
On 21 January 2019, Skye wrote a new national anthem, "Stand tall, New Eiffel", which replaced "Friendly, New Eiffel". His constitution was formally adopted on 1 March. Noting the absence of any chivalric honours for the micronation, Skye created the Order of the Beaver on 25 March for micronationalists he "deemed kind". On 28 April, he commissioned Walker Schroeder, then-Chancellor of the Unitary State of Swivia, for the creation of a new, fully-instrumental anthem, "Aardvarks on Parade", which was not completed until 20 May 2020. Skye established two more orders, the Order of the Lion—awarded for bravery—on 25 May 2019, and the Order of the Amphisbaena Potato—for good humour—on 15 June. Skye conducted New Eiffel's only census on 6 July.
Political changes, Elijahgate, the crisis in New Eiffel and COVID-19 (September 2019–June 2020)
Abdication (June 2020)
Activity in the MicroWiki sector
First impression, foundation of the New Eiffel Union of Micronations and the Furry War (September–December 2018)
Skye registered an account on MicroWiki on 27 September 2018 and made his first edit the following day. He was initially seldom active, and his principal method of communication was through talk pages on the wiki—a form of diplomatic outreach known as "talk page diplomacy". Skye also registered an account on the MicroWiki forums on 11 December, though he did not utilise them. He created the New Eiffel Union of Micronations (later retitled the Organisation of Active Micronations; OAM) on 21 November, seeking the creation of a community of smaller and newer micronations like New Eiffel. Gaining six member states by the end of the month via the wiki, it had greatly expanded both Skye and New Eiffel's diplomatic outreach. The organisation had eleven members by the conclusion of December, and Skye became close political friends with Anthony Dickson of the Islamic Republic of Hala'ib Triangle, Lahav Morris of Blue Army and Cooper Norfolk of the Democratic Republic of Seybold.
However, Skye's first impression to the wider MicroWiki community was one of ridicule; on 12 December, he engaged in online micronational warfare via talk pages with Aidan McGrath of the erstwhile Catholique Socialist Republic after McGrath declared war on New Eiffel because of Skye's support of the furry fandom. The incident, dubbed the "Furry War", consisted solely of exchanges of insults and threats against one another. The incident was strongly criticised by members on the MicroWiki@Discord server, particularly Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed and Norfolk, the latter of whom wrote critically about the conflict in the 75th Issue of Seybold Today. Following the conclusion of the conflict on 15 December, Skye and McGrath continued to hold opposing views for a number of years, though both immediately regretted the Furry War and regarded it as humiliating.
Immense activity on MicroWiki@Discord and popularity (January–December 2019)
Skye created the later highly-publicised Micronationalist of the Month award (which was focused on the MicroWiki community) on 28 January 2019. The award later contributed to improving his reputation in the sector. Nevertheless, he was initially ridiculed upon first entering MicroWiki@Discord on 7 February, particularly due to his initial alleged unprofessionalism and involvement in the Furry War. He was prominently described by members of the server as peculiar and "wacky", likely due to him never having had a social media account until joining MicroWiki.
Skye became more involved in the server and other micronations throughout March, regularly averaging over 3,000 messages on MicroWiki@Discord per week with a personal record of 4,756 enclosing the week of 25 March—or 679 per day. On 19 April, Skye became subject to the @New Eiffel Government meme, which revolved around users pinging ("@ing")—a feature that sends a notification to the targeted user—his Discord account on MicroWiki@Discord. This, alongside the growing popularity of the OAM, aided in Skye's increasing popularity and ubiquity on the server, particularly amongst the New Guard.
Skye's increasing activity throughout May and June, including his involvement in various micronations in the Discord sector, resulted in him becoming one of the most popular and ubiquitous figures on MicroWiki@Discord since the 2018 intake. Skye took his first sabbatical from the MicroWiki community due to what he cited as "personal reasons" involving his family life between 16 August and 2 September. In earls October, a jocular relationship between Skye and Ian "Duck" (also known as Flames or Cyanide) began to flourish, culminating in a jocular matrimonial ceremony on 23 October that was held on a Discord server. The Charlington Press in the State of Gradonia (now a kingdom) dubbed it the greatest and "largest micronational wedding" of all time. The two later renewed wedding vows on 27 December. On 25 December, Skye, Leon Montan of the People's Republic of Ponderoda Hills and Anna Telford of the Federal Republic of Caddia founded the humorous, invitation-only social club TOES that eventually became its own sector.
Peak and subsequent decline (January 2020–present)
For New Year Honours, Skye was bestowed a member of the Most Glorious Order of Millanian Excellence in the Millanic Confederation for his "outstanding service to the community." He was voted as his own Micronationalist of the Month for February 2020 with a total of nine votes ahead of three other candidates, being awarded chiefly for his work in the Grand Unified Micronational and editing on MicroWiki. That same month, he was the subject of the affectionate "Zedposting" meme on MicroWiki@Discord, wherein users posted miscellaneous text, images and memes relating to Skye. This included "Zedism", a comical religion based around himself—although he opposed this as blasphemous.
By March, Skye started to consider leaving the MicroWiki sector to focus on his education and mental health, believing that he spent an unhealthy amount of time on MicroWiki and MicroWiki@Discord. Despite this, he was appointed as an administrator on MicroWiki@Discord on 1 May. However, during the server's growing decline throughout June and July, Skye began to become less active while increasing his attention on national micronational Discord servers, citing the unprofessionalism of MicroWiki@Discord. Nevertheless, between 30 June and 5 July, Skye participated in the satirical TOES-Almendria War as a spy for TOES.
While Skye started spending less time on MicroWiki@Discord to pursue other endeavours in the MicroWiki community, his pursuits for higher political offices were ultimately unsuccessful. After this, Skye left most of his incumbent micronational positions between July and November, formally announcing his break from the MicroWiki community on 29 September. During this time, Skye's reputation had declined significantly as newer micronationalists found him to frequently exhibit attention-seeking behaviour, in addition to constantly seeking approval as well as espousing contentious political beliefs. He left MicroWiki@Discord in October, but briefly returned between 24 January and 1 March 2021. While he continued occasionally editing MicroWiki—finally returning fully to the project on 28 January 2022—he never reclaimed his prior level of activity within the MicroWiki sector, focusing instead on intermicronational affairs. Skye rejoined the successor server to MicroWiki@Discord, entitled MicroWiki Community, on 9 March 2023.
Intermicronational politics
Intermicronational ventures and projects
Micropatriology
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