Edelweiss-KRDS Dev Diary #9 - Ophélie Delacroix [Radical Socialist]

Man the barricades and stand in solidarity, as joining us today in our utopian commune of waifus and husbandos is the one, the only, Ophélie Delacroix, Radical Socialist and a true believer in the power of the people!

Portrait of Ophélie

Ophélie Delacroix was born in the town of Tours in early 1918, into a low-middle class family which always seemed unable to find the second nickel to rub. Her father, Jean Delacroix, was originally a common tailor, but was conscripted into the army when the banners of war were raised by the French Republic in 1914, and her mother, Isabella Delacroix, was brought into the war industry at around the same time, forced to work by the revanchist state. Her father nearly lost his life at the infamous battle of Verdun, but returned alive by the skin of his teeth. However, even after the battle, he seemed to have left a significant part himself on the rolling fields of Marne, clearly having suffered great mental trauma. He was a shell of his former self, having lost much of the enthusiasm and hope of a French victory he had displayed earlier on in the war. As for her mother, her initially decent working conditions had plummeted as the French government became more increasingly desperate and she was forced to work much harder on their behalf. The second mutiny by the French Army was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and France eventually capitulated. After the surrender of France, both of her parents were finally free from their wartime duty and returned to the city of Tours, which had remained relatively untouched over the course of the war, allowing the two to go back to their jobs. Something, however, was different. Their faith in their leaders was shattered by the redundancy of the mission they had condemned their people to, a sentiment shared by Franks across the nation who created a swell in support for the growing Socialist movement, which quickly grew to a tsunami which overran the Republican government.

After the Commune of France was born of the fires of revolution, her family conditions improved significantly. Ophélie entered early life with the facilities, borne of the new egalitarian society they lived in, to pursue her education, an opportunity she seized with zeal. Her strong belief in anarchist ideals stems from this, and lead her to read the works of many French socialists and study the early Paris Commune of 1871. She never developed a strong sense of nationalism or a desire for revenge on the German Empire, but rather, wished that the territories lost could be gained back through negotiation, or a compromise. Her father's stories of the Weltkrieg shaped Ophélie’s anti-war ideals, for though he was a war hero, and wore the name as a badge of honour, her father had still suffered much from the war and had seen the damage it had done to France. Her desire for a war of such magnitude to never happen again is largely due to her father's influence. She could only reflect on what a German may have experienced, and how similar a German or Austrian conscript would have been to her father, lending her great empathy.

A young Ophelie in a photo with her family

Ophelie tends to act quite differently around different people, depending on what she knows about them - on particular, their ideological beliefs. Reactionaries and people with more radical views than her tend to get her far less composed than usual and she closes herself off from them. It's a little surprising, then, to see her more extroverted, bubbly, and kind side surface when she is speaking to people she likes, even if she is still a little shy at first. Should someone get close enough,she could become comfortable enough to share her inner pain and conflicting feelings. Ophélie tends to be a bit sarcastic at times and says things on impulse, but later ends up regretting her words. Thanks to French traditions that persevered past the revolution, Ophélie has an obsession with many varieties of wine from around the country, as well as traditional French foods and clothing. In addition, she is an expert in many other languages has studied much of the history of France and its revolutionary past. One thing that sets her apart, is her belief in Christian Socialism, and although she isn’t too devout, she believes that you can't serve both god and the state, to really appreciate the glory of god you can't be attached to a concept like that of the state and money

Ophélie is supportive of the Communal Government and her parents’ ideological views, and though she disagrees with the ideas and beliefs proposed by the Sorelians and Jacobins, she still believes that the members of the party have a right to express their beliefs. Prior to the 1936 French elections, her social life had been going well. However, her open support of the Anarchistes and Nestor Makhno during the tense times caused by the election campaigns caused her fellow students and even friends to turn on Ophélie, bullying and harassing her for not favouring a stronger, more centralized state and economy and calling her a traitor to the revolution. The harassment made her an outcast, and she became closed off, anxious, and somewhat paranoid around people. Susceptible to stress, she grew more and more withdrawn as her faith in humans, one of her best traits, was contrasted with the disdain she witnessed. Sick of staying at the now toxic environment that had been her school, Ophélie applied to the International School of Geneva to escape from the people she used to call friends and start anew. Still, the mental scars from her harassment and bullying during the election remain, festering beneath her quiet exterior.

Ophélie on the train to Geneva

Credit to all of wonderful Editors and Artists who helped me a lot on this. Also, our new artist RuneRaven, who did the second image, please give him a shout out on the discord!