Meet Amelia. A new conservative symbol and reaction image, she started out as the antagonist from Shout Out UK’s government-funded Pathways visual novel/web game. For many people, Amelia does not belong as a villain in a computer game.
Interestingly, Pathways was taken off its proprietary site for some time on January 14– it was just a loading screen and didn’t return anything. This was because the British government temporarily removed it some time ago, as the internet had a field day and anything she did became a meme. The Amelia meme artists were doing a little trolling and pointing out the absurdity of the government, regardless of the game being shut down momentarily.
Note: As of January 27, 2026, Pathways is fully restored and back online. Play the game just to happen upon Amelia. Pathways – Shout Out UK
In Pathways, Amelia befriended audience surrogate Charlie and warned him that immigrants have been taking legal citizens’ jobs in England. She was portrayed as the villain, for she originally was intended to represent the beliefs Charlie should not follow — consequently, what the player shouldn’t want to be. Amelia was seen at protests, waving a St. George’s Cross (England) flag and hoisting a “NO ENTRY” sign. The character was painted as a villain for convincing Charlie to participate in the rallies, and, because she was friends with him, Charlie got guilt by association. Pathways is in the style of a choose-your-own-adventure game. To progress in the game, Charlie seemingly must make his own decisions and use informed judgment. Sadly, they label Charlie “radicalized” if he makes a choice to join Amelia. Charlie is only seen as good if he conforms, agrees that Amelia is a bad influence on him, and stops being her friend. At this point, Amelia became an internet sensation and began her life as a reaction image online.
As a conservative symbol, Amelia obtains a fresh start and escapes from being portrayed negatively in this Pathways web game. Amelia is cool and mature. She has a “based” personality and a sassy, “tough girl” aesthetic. She would likely have a sarcastic sense of humor and never have been remotely evil. The Pathways game may be based on the simplistic assumption that people (other than oneself, represented by Charlie) just have a one-note personality that does not change, but in real life, people will reform, change their minds, and broaden their horizons. People have personalities made of complex parts, allowing Amelia to make more conservative choices and stand up for what is right, and possibly become heroic. This is a reason why conservatives take characters from “woke” media forms and reclaim them. Another major reason is that the character appears cool and likable, as Amelia is.
Amelia has overlap with Franklin the Turtle, a fellow conservative symbol dating to 2025. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth uploaded the original Franklin parody cover on X during the 2025 holiday season. Lots of X users embraced the meme and joined the edited Franklin cover train. The parody books used humorous titles such as, “Franklin Is Tired of Illegal Immigrants and Their Behavior” and “Franklin Demands a Limited Federal Government of Separate and Enumerated Powers.” Parody Franklin book covers are versatile for trolling purposes. Franklin was such an influential news item that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s final Christmas cartoon had a cameo from Franklin and intended to “reclaim” Franklin as a liberal symbol. Colbert ignored that Franklin is quite clearly a conservative icon, and he just didn’t meme.
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