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Old 05-25-2013, 11:47 AM   #48
tshiggins
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
Very badly, I suspect. OTOH, they're also getting much more diplomatically worded advice from the Inp-Japanese government, but it's of a less-than-palatable, 'let sleeping giants lie' variety (the fact that they're also getting scary warnings from some of their seers and priests is probably a bigger concern).
I look forward to seeing what they finally do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post

(SNIP)

One of the issues that worries Inp-Earth political thinkers is the possibility that the people of Dp-Earth may decide that we're a bigger threat to their way of life than the Nazis.
I jumped on that notion, right away, and to me that's one of the more fascinating aspects of this entire setting.

The periods in history you picked for Dp-Earth and Stp-Earth feature attitudes that many people in the world -- and very many people in the United States -- will find very upsetting. Some of those reasons for upset would be rather surprising.

What happens when people who want to use the word "racist" to describe the NAACP are confronted with the vast numbers of Dp-Earth Southerners who simply cannot accept the notion of racial equality? When they see an active and popular Klan, witness the creation of "White Defense Councils" and watch actual lynchings take place? What happens when people who romanticize the Civil War start to hear the opinions of those from Stp-Earth who genuinely believe blacks are the "Children of Ham" and ordained by God for lives of service to their betters, and thus unworthy of equality?

I see a pretty serious outbreak of psychological difficulties, as the liberals on Inp-Earth point to the attitudes of Dp-Earth and Stp-Earth and say, "This is what the words really mean, and these are the attitudes conservatives truly possess."

(Now, that won't be true about the attitudes, most of the time, but the culture war in the Inp-United States will get even more intense. The slow appearance of magic will not help, either, when it starts to result in the manifestations of warped Aryan ideal physiology amongst white supremacists, and pseudo-Egyptian, Arabian-Nights-style, or Voudou abilities amongst black separatists. The Inp-Earth's Robert S. Mueller III, director of the FBI, will start his own X-Files.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post

(SNIP)

Unless the troops only move when that part of the world is facing away from Inp-Earth (though hiding when the world turns would be a bitch).
Logistically, that's crippling. The visibility of the troop movements, combined with the penetration of Axis communications, makes the Axis position untenable. Not that they'll want to accept that, of course, until British, French and American boots march through the radioactive dust of Berlin.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post

(SNIP)

Almost certainly, though the size of the post-war organization is undetermined (probably quite small, at least at first).
I think the notion of HYDRA as the greatest terrorist threat in all five worlds has incredible dramatic appeal, both from the standpoint of story-telling, and as an RPG campaign seed. What happens if they decide to set up shop in, say, Cp-South Africa? Could the mineral wealth, there, become the basis of HYDRA's funding, and the political control become the seed of a Draka-style hegemony? :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post

(SNIP)

No, for reasons that will be seen later. On a potentially-related note, do you know what the phrase 'You may use the garden' means, in the context of a meeting with an Emperor or Shogun?

(SNIP)
No, actually, and my usually-serviceable Google-fu isn't helping.

I do know that Japanese gardens are considered havens of quiet reflection, away from the hurly-burly of the external world. So, is it a great honor to be invited into such a private place of repose, or is it a politely Japanese way to say that someone who has lost political power no longer need concern himself with the outside world?
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Last edited by tshiggins; 05-25-2013 at 12:01 PM.
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