Archive | February 6, 2014

February is World Building Month. Day Six: Tír na Cali

[personal profile] piratekitten has declared February world-building month.

Every day in February, I will answer one question about any one of my settings.

The question post is here, please feel free to add more questions!

The sixth question comes from [personal profile] clare_dragonfly and is for Tir na Cali.

Does the West Coast being cut off from the US change anything for the way the modern US works?


This is one of those realms in which I am more than open to suggestions, because my worldbuilding in Tír na Cali is admittedly flimsy.

That being said: Yes. The United States in the world of Tír na Cali is more insular, more reactionary, more socially conservative, and did I mention more insular than it is in the world in which we live. Embarrassed by not one but two rebellions, one of which it did not manage to put down, it never became quite the same meddling power-house on the world stage.

That is not to say that Cali-verse US does not have military might – it does – or social/diplomatic clout – it also does – just that it is not as loud, as powerful, as sure.

American tourists walk with care in the world – Americans walk with care anywhere, because the boogeyman of the Californian slaver is behind every bush, even in foreign lands. A Californian might not grab a French citizen, but they won’t hesitate to grab a verifiably American tourist in France.

And the American nuclear program? Never reached full fruition. When you attempt to bomb a neighboring country and the bombs just bounce back onto your land… you look for other ways to be strong, other ways to attack.

This is a rough summary; as I said, I am open to other ideas, too.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/659511.html. You can comment here or there.

Bingo Row – 5-100-word stories from the Generator Card

My card lives here and on LJ.

Story: For All Time
Prompt:Foolish Wishes 750A(French)
Setting: The Aunt Family
Warnings: Paradox

Story: Cherry Blossoms
Prompt: Cherry Blossoms
Setting: Stranded World
Warnings: grief

Story: Accident
Prompt: Accidental Marriage
Setting: Space Accountant
Warnings: none

Story: Gone Rummaging
Prompt: Rummage Sale
Setting: none
Warnings: None

Story: Treacherous Sister
Prompt: The Treacherous Sister
Setting: The Aunt Family
Warnings: treachery

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/659327.html. You can comment here or there.

100-word stories

My card lives here and on LJ.

Story: For All Time
Prompt:Foolish Wishes 750A(French)
Setting: The Aunt Family
Warnings: Paradox

Story: Cherry Blossoms
Prompt: Cherry Blossoms
Setting: Stranded World
Warnings: grief

Story: Accident
Prompt: Accidental Marriage
Setting: Space Accountant
Warnings: none

Story: Gone Rummaging
Prompt: Rummage Sale
Setting: none
Warnings: None

Story: Treacherous Sister
Prompt: The Treacherous Sister
Setting: The Aunt Family
Warnings: treachery

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/659327.html. You can comment here or there.

Treacherous Sister, a drabble of Aunt Family (Zenobia) for the Random Bonus Card

This is to [personal profile] kelkyag‘s prompt to this bingo card.

It fills the “Treacherous Sister” square.

Zenobia is the post-American-Civil-War Aunt in the Aunt Family; her tag is here and the family landing page is here.

The Icon (in DW) is of another Aunt, Ruan. I don’t have one for Zenobia yet.

This is semi-concurrent with Securing One’s Own Legacy.

It was odd things that tipped you off.

The way your sister Alexandra wore her hat when she went out; the way your sister Bernadette tried not to giggle when Alexandra stepped out, the way your mother was more fierce than normal with the knife, preparing dinner, and more generous than usual with your portions.

It was odd things that saved you – the necklace your grandmother had given you, that whispered warnings, the flowers an uncle had shared, that gave off a dangerous odor, the way Alexandra never could learn to step lightly, even when she was plotting murder.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/659011.html. You can comment here or there.

What Happened After School? Pania and Efrosin

This is a brief summary of the after-Year-9 lives of two of my characters from . I may do more of these, if there is interest.

After this


Let me be your boyfriend, Efrosin had suggested, and Pania had, in all honesty, really considered it. He was a nice guy, when he was trying to be. He was the father of her son, which was another argument both in his favor and against him. After all, she hadn’t asked for that.

In the end, what killed his chances was simple. “Figure out who Efrosin is,” she told him, as gently as she could. “When you can tell me that, with a straight face and in full honesty, then we can talk.”

She felt like a hypocrite as she said it, knowing full well that she didn’t really know who Pania was either. But she said it, and he left, like a weight off her chest.

She tried being Good Keeper Pania, and found that it was harder than she’d expected (and that Terach also found it difficult to be Good Kept, and had no interest in making it easy for her to be Good Keeper).

Efrosin came to visit from school, and she told him, gently, that College Party Boy was a nice role, but she didn’t think it was him.

She tried being Older Role Model Pania, and found that frustrating, and the Eleventh Cohort difficult to mentor. So she tried being Nobody’s Ever Going to Victimize Me Again Pania, and that, at least, was rewarding, although she had a feeling Doug didn’t buy the act.

Efrosin’s Good College Student role was even harder to believe than the party boy.

She moved on to Sharpshooter Pania on a whim, and found that there, there was something she really enjoyed. Her Mentor was surprisingly unsurprised by this, and brought in an ancient fae to teach her proper use of bow and arrow and a young fae to teach her better gun skills.

By the time she graduated, she’d found that Mom and Deadly Aim Pania was a comfortable fit… but Efrosin was still trying to figure out something better to be than Tom Cat Eff. She made sure he saw his son every month or so, and made no further effort to try to change him.

~

Pania graduated and moved to college, taking her two sons with her. Efrosin… still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. Everyone else liked the roles, why couldn’t she?

He made sure he saw his sons every chance their mothers gave him, difficult as Reese and Pania had not settled close to one another. He went from college – high honors, but what did it matter – to the Peace Corps, because maybe there he could figure out something he wanted to do with his life?

Pania picked the college with the best preschool program, picked a major that gave her plenty of time with her children and the chance of a high-grossing career, and practiced both gun and bow every weekend.

Efrosin came back from the Peace Corps with the realization that he liked the rush he got from helping people, and got a job as an EMT in a city equidistant from Reese and Pania.

The world ended three years into Pania’s college career, when her sons were seven and six.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/658757.html. You can comment here or there.