[Space/Thaumatology] Stargate: Fantasy - Worldbuilding thread

[adm]

No vote, I do not see any of these choices being overwhelmingly advantageous over the others.

[Prince Charon]

Stargate Command Question I

Who has control of the Stargate when it becomes active? (These questions will affect how the SGC-equivalent is formed. Several will require a vote to further narrow things down.)

1. The USAF, under NORAD (so, pretty much canon, just with a big ley line nexus down there).

2. The US Army's real life Stargate Project, which would thus be operating for longer in this timeline (this may mean the alt-SGC knows more about magic than expected (and probably think it's psionics)... or at least has some evidence leading higher authorities to think that they do). If this wins, it triggers a vote on how the project lasted long enough and gained enough clout to be assigned to research the Stargate, since in our timeline it was closed and declassified in 1995.

3. NASA (suggests a more civilian SGC).

4. The Library of Congress (another that could mean our SGC-expy understands magic better than they 'should'; also suggests a more civilian SGC).

5. A different US agency (please specify).

6. A UK agency (probably in a complex near or below Stonehenge).

7. An agency of another government.

8. An intergovernmental organization (e.g. UNIT, NATO, the British Commonwealth, ASEAN, et cetra).

9. A private organization.

10. Something else (please specify).

Please remember to include the number of your preferred option when you vote.

*******

Answer: It appears that 8 (specifically Five Eyes) wins.

[TGLS]

Well if you want something resembling Stargate, you need an organization that's secretive. I dunno if NASA or Library of Congress fit that bill.

Anyway, I'll go with 8, and go with Five Eyes. In this timeline, the Stargate project was an outgrowth of a research project to use ley lines for uninterceptible communications.

[adm]

8. I like TGLS's 5 Eyes suggestion, plus Germany.

Idea; After WWII, Wewelsburg Castle, Himmler's SS Castle, was found to have a number of hidden underground research labs, that have collected oddities from all over the areas the Germans controlled from WWII. The Stargate had been found somewhere, where has been lost due to end of war chaos, and was brought to the US.

This gives a long term reason for study, without use, until some bright young human* thinks of ley lines. This also give a warehouse sources for mcguffians of the week, with questionable provenance.


* Or a possessed human who has been trying to figure out a way home.

[Kesendeja]

In order of preference:

2. The US Army's real life Stargate Project, which would thus be operating for longer in this timeline (this may mean the alt-SGC knows more about magic than expected (and probably think it's psionics)... or at least has some evidence leading higher authorities to think that they do). If this wins, it triggers a vote on how the project lasted long enough and gained enough clout to be assigned to research the Stargate, since in our timeline it was closed and declassified in 1995.

Just like the US snatched up NAZI rocket scientists after WW2, They would probably snatched up their mystics (provided there was evidence that the supernatural existed to the higher ups).

8. An intergovernmental organization (e.g. UNIT, NATO, the British Commonwealth, ASEAN, et cetra).

Much like the answer above, but it also gives my cold black heart the warm fuzzes to see UNIT mentioned.

4. The Library of Congress (another that could mean our SGC-expy understands magic better than they 'should'; also suggests a more civilian SGC).

I like this one, but its the hardest to justify. Maybe there is a secret society in the government based out of the Library of Congress, but it doesn't have the budget without a massive amount of coverup unless the stargate program is public knowledge.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Stargate Command Question I

1: NORAD. As with my answer for the year involved, I'll go with what roughly matches the original series. It may be appropriate to have it be under the same command but in a different location, to take advantage of the ley lines. Indeed, I could see part of what Daniel Jackson would do while figuring out how to get the gate to work would be checking a map of Leylines in the US, and convincing the precursor to SGC to try activating the device at a nearby nexus of them (indeed, you could replace the whole "finding the origin symbol" part of the original movie with "figuring out where to put the gate to get it working."

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Stargate Command Question I

It could be a different branch fo the US military (if you're going to stay US-centric) like the Navy (canon in one alterante timeline) but in my mind the next alternative is the FBI.

The Gate is still very likely to be taken as threat to US security and the FBI has sigificant resources. SWAT teams, forensic science units and even profilers who might be useful in analyzing fake gods.

[Prince Charon]

OK, so there's two votes for a specific form of 8 (the Five Eyes), one for 8 as a secondary option with 2 being the preferred vote, and two votes that are not for 8 at all, but do not agree with each other (one for 1 and one seems to be for 5, specifying the FBI). I'm leaving the poll open for now, in case more people want to vote. If there are more votes for 2, for example, the Army's Stargate Project could plausibly be merged with the Five Eyes vote (each of them had information useful to the other in this context, or at least seemed to), though other mergings might require more explanation.

Five Eyes is an interesting option, since it implies a more intelligence focused SGC (more spying, less shooting at people and blowing things up... though still some gunshots and explosions). Interactions with the Tok'Ra will probably be easier, since the mindsets are more similar, but the Five Eyes teams will still probably be seen as a bit impatient by the Tok'Ra.

[ericthered]

8 (five eyes) or 4 (library of congress)

[Fred Brackin]

Just as a note, "Five Eyes" meant nothing to me so I googled it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes

It stil doesn't really suggest anything to me about how it'd actually work. Te real organization might not have more resources of its' own than Interpol.

This doesn't keep Interol from ahvign agnets in fiction (especially TV shows) but it leaves you just making stuff up most of the time.