Talk:Peerage of Westarctica
In the UK, at least, a baronet is not considered a "peer". Are they considered peers in Westarctica? If not, what label do they get? (lesser nobility?). Do we congratulate baronets on becoming "peers" or rather on becoming "nobles"? Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 20:53, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
Yes, in our system, Baronets are considered peers. (talk) 30 January 2020
- Another suggestion: let's ditch the photo altogether and replace it with a coat of arms or something. The photo does us no credit, and I don't think it promotes us well. Just a thought. Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 06:51, 7 April 2020 (UTC)
- I like the photo. It's not like there's going to be a coat of arms that covers the Peerage, collectively. I'm listening, if there's an actual alternative suggested.--DukeBearPeninsula (talk) 16:09, 8 April 2020 (UTC)
Removal of second title for the Duke of Sherman
I removed the second title listing for the Duke of Sherman. Those of us with multiple Westarctican titles (Dukes Ravencroft, Sherman, Moulton-Berlin, Bear Peninsula, Count of Goldstream, and Baron of Lee-Tearmun) only have our highest title listed. If the highest title was our first, there is no mention of secondary ones. If they were given a new title, and kept their original, that that will typically be covered in their notes.--DukeBearPeninsula (talk) 15:22, 9 April 2020 (UTC)
The photo
I'd like to suggest that we switch out the current photo collage of some of our "peers". While those pictured are, of course, Westarctican peers, the collage does very little to convey the idea of peerage in Westarctica (at an ideal level, anyway). I like the idea of showing a person/ people either in formal suits and ties (as many of the actual peers of Great Britain are pictured in their Wikipedia articles) or else showing a person/ people in some form of royal "garb" analogous to the various uniforms worn by the Grand Duke in his portraits. I don't think we should use a picture of the Grand Duke, however, as the peers are meant to be the collective of nobles beneath him. If we are going to show a person or people, and at the risk of sounding over-self-promotional, I'd like to propose that we use the picture of me in my jabot and white gloves here— actually, what I would prefer is to have a collection of photos of individual peers in similar costume, but it seems we are somewhat short on those. At any rate, the current photo doesn't do anything to sell Westarctica, and I am of the strong opinion that we should change it to something else (may no one take offense at the suggestion— I truly wish only to improve the article!). Some sort of symbol would also be fine in my book, and I don't want the picture of me to get too much air time anyway. Thoughts, gentlemen? Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 21:55, 26 June 2020 (UTC)
Recent photo edit
While I personally preferred the collage, I'm not the final authority. That said, changing them out to use the British ducal coronet instead is a step in the wrong direction. If we want to make a move like this, we should utilize the Westarctican blue-felted coronet. Changing it back.--DukeBearPeninsula (talk) 01:27, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
Photo Edit Suggestions
Ideally, we'd have a group photo of our peers in their courtly dress. Since that's not likely to happen anytime soon, a collage is our second-best solution. The concept behind a collage of our peers is showing that, unlike the ancient European peerage systems, we are inclusive and confer titles upon anyone who is deserving irrespective of race, gender, age, or anything else. I personally feel a collage does a lot to convey our philosophy behind awarding peerages and is a quick way for anyone to see that it's not meant to be an "exclusive club" that keeps some out and others in. If anything, we can update it with new pictures of more recent additions to the peerage. User:Westarctica 9 February 2021
- Updating the collage might be a good move, but if we're going to put out a call for pictures in "courtly dress" we might want to encourage a specific direction for what exactly that constitutes in Westarctica. Those seven or eight individuals who I've seen in pictures that might qualify have varied wildly in cultural traditions (Germanic, Prussian, Victorian, Napoleonic, Scottish, etc.) and eras (middle ages through modern). Not to say that we should explicitly limit people to a single motif, but shouldn't we provide at least some guidance if that's what we're looking for?--DukeBearPeninsula (talk) 18:55, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
- You MIGHT get six Westarctican nobles to put on and have themselves photographed professionally or semi-professionally in SOME kind of courtly dress, even if this dress were inconsistent with regard to style or time period or place. Hoping for this dress to have temporal or stylistic consistency will make the whole idea a wash. What we are left with instead is a guy in a wrinkled short sleeved shirt on a farm somewhere, some other dude maybe in a bar in a button-up T, a scowling mug-shot for an employee ID badge, a woman in a spaghetti strap dress who didn't know the picture was even being taken, Dinny in a white and red leather racing jacket and shades, and then the only picture that looks like it MIGHT belong here, which I think is the counsel for Spain. The combination is visually weird. It makes sense in that these are our peers, but it also makes NO sense visually, a thing which seems like it should be given some importance. Nothing about the image would make me want to join such a motley crew. But my interest in hoping for change/ improvement on this front grows weary. No call for new pictures has gone out, I have no authority to make one, my attempt to change the image to a different one was reverted, and so we are stuck with what we've got, which is, honestly, embarrassing. That no one else sees this leaves me dumbstruck. Here too, I surrender. Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 21:31, 20 April 2021 (UTC)
- I never disagreed that there's room for improvement on the image. I merely weighed in in the notion. To be clear: I agree that we can do better. It is frankly not something I personally have any interest in taking up. As I said elsewhere on this page, the attempt to update the picture was reverted because it was a step in the wrong direction. It was distinctly less Westarctican than the current collage. If you want to take the time to put together a more suitable collage (up to and including soliciting pictures for one), no one is stopping you. --DukeBearPeninsula (talk) 15:30, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
- It's not like I made a change and it was reverted. Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 11:49, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
- I never disagreed that there's room for improvement on the image. I merely weighed in in the notion. To be clear: I agree that we can do better. It is frankly not something I personally have any interest in taking up. As I said elsewhere on this page, the attempt to update the picture was reverted because it was a step in the wrong direction. It was distinctly less Westarctican than the current collage. If you want to take the time to put together a more suitable collage (up to and including soliciting pictures for one), no one is stopping you. --DukeBearPeninsula (talk) 15:30, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
- You MIGHT get six Westarctican nobles to put on and have themselves photographed professionally or semi-professionally in SOME kind of courtly dress, even if this dress were inconsistent with regard to style or time period or place. Hoping for this dress to have temporal or stylistic consistency will make the whole idea a wash. What we are left with instead is a guy in a wrinkled short sleeved shirt on a farm somewhere, some other dude maybe in a bar in a button-up T, a scowling mug-shot for an employee ID badge, a woman in a spaghetti strap dress who didn't know the picture was even being taken, Dinny in a white and red leather racing jacket and shades, and then the only picture that looks like it MIGHT belong here, which I think is the counsel for Spain. The combination is visually weird. It makes sense in that these are our peers, but it also makes NO sense visually, a thing which seems like it should be given some importance. Nothing about the image would make me want to join such a motley crew. But my interest in hoping for change/ improvement on this front grows weary. No call for new pictures has gone out, I have no authority to make one, my attempt to change the image to a different one was reverted, and so we are stuck with what we've got, which is, honestly, embarrassing. That no one else sees this leaves me dumbstruck. Here too, I surrender. Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 21:31, 20 April 2021 (UTC)
Distinctiond between life peers and hereditary nobility
We need an article explaining what a life peer is and how it is different from the hereditary nobility, what sanctions each group is subject to as well as the rights pertaining to each. I am not the person to produce this, but it strikes me as a rather gaping hole in the system. Baron of Bastanchury (talk) 20:59, 20 April 2021 (UTC)