I'm locking the old Mad Ideas thread since it is too HUEG and I am thus postings Vic's most astute summary in this new threads.
The latest discussion involves:Invictus wrote:Fear what I start doing out of sudden urges.
I read through all 50 pages of this thread and summarized all the bits of world-setting that got discussed by us. I didn't include stuff like story ideas or details in character histories, since that stuff is less far-reaching. But I get the feeling that half the canon of Comix! seems to exist in this thread and nowhere else. Hence the executive summary:
- Kamin’s suggestion of a “Hell invades America” plot was quickly rejected (By Shroom, who by the way wrote the very same thing into his history of the SDI). However, this led to a discussion on the nature of religion and gods in Comixverse. The general consensus was to keep no defining pantheons or cosmic principles in place, just because everyone has written down too many mutually contradictory deities already. Retconning real-world religion into the mess creates an even bigger one, especially concerning the metaphysical monopoly of the Judeo-Christian god.
Shroom: That SDI thing was positively ancient and I changed my mind about it. Sort of.
- Cydonia Academy’s field trip to the Hero Labs Experimental Science Center. Remember, Ford.
- Ford’s idea of Tony Saint’s previous excursions into other universes ruled by alternate versions of himself, killing them and taking their stuff. This led to the introduction of a number of technologies into mainstream Comixverse, such as artificial muscle suits and homing lasers. There were no objections to this.
- Malchus’s idea of parabolic memory wipers and armed golf carts for the Blacksuits, which have already appeared in other threads so I won’t elaborate. There is also, however, using the Black U-2 as a transdimensional spy plane. The up-armed Black Patton idea got shot down though.
- The Seven Serpents of Crime are go already.
- Orson Nate and Fidel Castro unite against Aztec death-cults, as proposed by Shroom. More of a story idea, but it confirms the presence of overt Aztec death-cults running around in South America, presumably with period getup.
- Everyone agreed that it is more reasonable if Archwind is married and has a family. Peck’s wife may be called Cass and works currently for the SuperDep, and is an ordinary human. When they met, she was either a Crowtalon attorney or a UN diplomat – something that influenced Archwind the farmboy’s own political stance.
- The Maverick Three are go.
- Siege’s the Clockwork Wars between France and Britain in the early 19th Century, involving steampunk hacking. Siege, however, later withdrew that one for more consideration.
- The Holy Inquisition being an active anti-supernatural organization in the modern day, also suggested by Siege. He objected to them being a bunch of ineffectual sadists and casts them as the world’s oldest intelligence agency instead, which IMO is a nifty angle.
- A city of nymphs in the Mediterranean Sea, again from Siege. Objections were raised over such an overt supernatural presence.
- Ford’s general reminder that vampires and werewolves in Comixverse are not entirely hidden and not generally evil for evil’s sake either.
- Shroom’s idea of people who are psychic “blanks” got shot down, because technology makes them redundant. This confirms that anti-psychic technology is relatively easy, too.
- Comrade Felix using his abilities in Russian nuclear disarmament: i.e. absorbing all their energy and doing something more useful with it. Still in the air.
- THE ORIGINS OF RONALD VON REAGAN (I had to quote all this because it was so awesome):
“In the 16th, 17th, 18th or whateverth centuries - House von Reagan falls out of favor of the Kaiser or of the other noble houses due to some court intrigue and shit. Sort of like House Hasburg (sp?) in good Old Familiars. Except, perhaps, maybe Ronald von Reagan's venerable ancestors were up to von Reagan-brand dickery back in the Fatherland, pissing off all the Counts and Barons and the Kaiser himself. As in, royally pissing them off.
So when we say "proud Germanic Heritage of the American West Coast", it's actually more like everyone who hated House von Reagan, which is everyone, told the whole clan to GTFO and so the von Reagans snubbed their noses, adjusted their monocles, and transfered their entire castle brick for brick to a plot of land in the New World that would one day become Californication.
Along the way, I guess at some point they ended up becoming something of a Colonial Company - like the East Indies or some shit. Except since the Other Houses don't like them, the von Reagans didn't get to become THAT big. They were still majorly influential, though.
Aaaaanyway, a few more centuries of bad blood later, when the Imperial Germans start calling their American cousins and asking them help for World War 1 - the von Reagans would promptly tell them to shove a pickelhaube up their arshlochs.
Austerlitz would HAET the von Reagans. So much.”
“Refinement therefore of the concept proposed by Shroom: I would propose that House Von Reagan controlled a piddling city-state in Bavaria, did what it did best (the Runaway Defence Budgets of the 18th century!), resulting in some truly oversized cannonry and a military might completely disproportionate to the size of their territory. After some antics that would have made Von Munchausen proud they draw the ire of the Archdukes of Austria, who conspire to have them Driven From The Land. In 1750 the Von Reagans end up with a ridiculous assignment to colonize California in the name of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, although it was a public secret that it was actually an exile orchestrated by his wife Maria Theresa, the Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary (because she was furious that then-Baron Manfred von Reagan spurred her avances and declined to be her male courtesan!) who had an ally in the nefarious Baron Rudolph von Austerlitz (who wished to usurp the lands of the Von Reagans!)
And so House Von Reagan ends up in hostile California far from their beloved Black Forest, but like the Atreides ended up on Dune and made the best of it, Manfred von Reagan rebuilds his proud castle on the Hollywood Hills and fights off Indians, Spanish/Mexicans, Texans and dirty Confederates to establish the noble Barony Von Reagan in Exile! Which later joins the USA in a similar vein to the Indian reservations (EG it's defacto a state within a state - considering Skyhaven and the undoubtedly bizarre history of the West Coast I think this wouldn't be too much of a stretch). Because they had so little help from Germany to thank for their troubles they wouldn't exactly feel like helping the Imperial Germans out in return - particularly since their perpetual nemesis House Von Austerlitz was firmly in the Imperial camp. And so, WW1 sees an American Von Reagan duking it out with a Von Austerlitz whilst trading insults such as "Traitor!" and "Usurper!"
Returning as a war hero, the star of the Von Reagan dynasty will then rise over the course of the 20th century, culminating in the presidency of Baron Ronald "perhaps it's not called an Empire but I still rule the world! Muahaha!" Von Reagan!”
“While the concept of a German California is still awesome, there's something here that can be potentially bad. It's never stated when Von Reagan's California becomes a commonwealth (in U.S. political jargon, a commonwealth is essentially a self-governing protectorate/territory) under U.S. control, which can have serious implications regarding the Compromise of 1850 and the Civil War.
Since California never applied for statehood in Comix!, the permanent imbalance in the Senate in the favor of abolitionists would never happen, which means that the Compromise, which postponed the Civil War for a decade after tensions regarding the free/slave state status of the newly acquired territories from Mexico threatened to make war break out, would become massively imbalanced in favor of the slave states. While this might not seem like a big deal, it should be noted that the North underwent a massive surge in industrialization during those ten years, which allowed them to pursue their strategy of attrition that ultimately won the war. By removing those ten years, the nature of the Civil War could potentially change for the worse (or not; the North could still be able to pull off victory, but at a larger cost).
Granted, for most people who are indifferent regarding history (I'm obviously not one of them) this isn't really a big deal and could be whisked away via a deus ex machina of sorts (e.g., the New Mexico territory could take California's place). Alternatively, Von Reagan's California could aid the U.S. in the Mexican-American War, or vice versa, and would shortly thereafter become a commonwealth of the U.S. for protection and be given a voting senator to signify that it isn't just another territory, thus making this little hiccup in history moot.”
- The Reign of von Reagan was marked by runaway defense budgets, a national mood bordering on crypto-fascism, environmental blight and urban decay. (Note: The Culture Wars would have been so. Much. Worse.) His legacy includes of course Castle von Reagan, brooding upon a hill overlooking Hollywood, transported brick by brick from the Barony of von Reagan in Bavaria.
- Wild Manchuria has already been established, a postwar wasteland roamed by ChiCom lawgivers with red star badges, Mongolian bikers, criminals bootlegging soft drinks, Japanese remnants, Technotheocratic cyberwright-preachers, North Korean spies and xenophobic inhuman tribes.
There are also Russian Cossack Cowboys, don't forget the frickin' cowboys!
- A brotherhood of Iron Chefs in a moon base, as suggested by Mobius.
- The increased use of airships throughout history, suggested by various people. Some may be pure dirigibles, others also use anti-gravity Cavorite. Siege wants them in direct combat roles up until WWII but Shroom is skeptic.
- The issue of your average passenger plane in Comixverse came up again, as an argument between the implications of advanced technology and keeping the universe relatively recognizable. Suborbital supersonic liners do exist, although not everywhere.
- Stuff regarding Dimitri Dzhugashvili Deschain and the Gulag of A Thousand Stalins. Largely integrated into Erika Deschain’s profile, I guesse.
- Heretic’s “The Onion”, a government agency that went around ‘regulating’ alien immigration on Earth, which other seemed fine with if they were instead a private organization funded by individuals with a grudge. Heretic did not pursue it further, though.
- Malchus’ idea of a series of short stories about the daily life of Average Joes and not so average Joes on Comix! Earth.
- Ford established that yes, there are fusion reactors that fit inside cars and fighter planes.
- Some discussion on the visibility of the Technotheocracy, which established that their all-out offensive in Things Might Get Trippy was a tad too much. They are definitely more influential in Russia and Eastern Europe, and Siege suggests that their organization be a lot more esoteric so not even the majority of their members know about the weirder stuff. There were also some arguments about its overlap with the Eastern Orthodox Church and its Cold War battle of influence with the USSR, which led into a discussion about turning it into a serious religion.
- “How's this for a start: like the orthodox church, the TTC is split into multiple more-or-less autonomous patriarchates, those being:
1. The Ecumenical Atomic Pontificate of Moscow
2. The Electrified Patriarchate of Kragoreshtan
3. The Autocephalous Electronic Archdiocese of the Far East
Since the Great Schism the Ecumenical Pontificate is the primes inter pares of the TTC, but although they are supposed to work together they sometimes also come into conflict with one another (yay intrigue and quibbling over doctrine!)”
- 38 pages later, we go back to discussing the nature of Hell in Comix. Still no consensus, though.
- The Gargoyle Initiative as an English occult watchdog organization founded in Tudor times, suggested by Speaker.
- The existence of Gatling Carriages and Mechanical Spiders in the ACW as a sign of accelerated technological development, but not much else was said.
- The Peacekeeper nuclear deterrent bomber takes shape. Another demented product of the von Reagan administration, they are presumably still patrolling American airspace today, updated with fusion engines and modern avionics. There was talk of them having rudimentary sentience.
- SOCRATES the Blacksuit AI. Already implemented.
- Shroom’s ruminations on stealth and Compressed Space technology. Black helicopters actually use cloak by ducking into another dimension, and so do Raptor Xs. This has its own side effects including the volatility of the c-space pockets when the craft itself is destroyed, but Malchus seems enthusiastic.
- Siege on the way the Martian Invasion altered 19th century European history, along with all the other events. Something which will be worked out eventually.
And I think we’re current enough that the rest doesn’t need summarizing.
- Stalin and Lenin being awesome Socialist Soviet Sorcerer Supremes and Hitler being Stalin's arch foe, an evil arch-warlock who got blown to smithereens courtesy of the Man of Steel (Stalin) in the Battle of Berlin and whose scattered organs are now unholy artifacts prized by questing Nazi occultists. Moby is flabbergasted, Militum is curious, Siege and I are the madmen who proposed all this.
- Ronald von Reagan's rampant deregulation causing the ecologic demise of Los Angeles into something resembling Blade Runner LA, with the smoke stacks and the oil drilling. Maybe it ends up in the US West Coast's own version of the Kuwaiti oil field fires.
- The Independence Day ripoff aliens mentioned in the SDI article becoming awesome. They now have an interesting backstory involving planetary decimation at the hands of Mogar and mass exodus, before they find a new home - Earth. They send an envoy to the supposed "worldking" of Earth, Ronald von Reagan, who told them to go fuck themselves. Pissed off, the aliens prepare to invade Earth and do so.
The aliens, due to the wear-and-tear of entire generations of nomadic flight, can no longer perform orbital bombardments and Base Delta Zeroes. Also, due to being civilized folk, they cannot bring themselves to do indiscriminate slaughter. Nonetheless they retain technological advantage. So they send their thousands of destroyers into Earth's atmosphere over a course of a week, engaging only military targets while hovering ominously above Earth's cities to dissuade human nuclear retaliation. This causes a pitched battle for the very fate of the planet, both in the land, air, sea and space, as the combined militaries and superheroes do battle against the aliens. The aliens cannot be stopped, but humanity will never give up and never surrender!
Eventually the alien worldship arrives to orbit over the Earth to give humanity a final ultimatum, hovering above us like a second (angrier) moon. But it is humanity who gives the aliens the ultimatuming and the what-for, as the world's mightiest heroes led by Archwind and co. go up into the worldship and show the aliens what's what. The aliens retreat begrudgingly, gather their thousands upon thousands of dead soldiers and the wreckage of their wrecked city-sized destroyers, and seek another fate.
This may or may not be Doctor Difference's debut, as his energy-destroying powers may defeat the alien's technology through their inherent fuel shortages.
- Another one of mein ideas about cyberpunk and the Corporations in the 80s, with lots of basis on 80s sci-fi and pop culture and silly fashion.
- Vic's Giant von Reagan Tank!