"What Madness Is This?" Volume I: The Union Forever

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Worffan101

Worffan101

That was fucked-up in a gloriously amazing way. The deliberately uninteresting plot (with its reflexive "report it to the Authorities (tm)" theme) and tepid response to anything but superficial patriotism are such a good combination of quintessential Americana and dystopian totalitarianism, I'm laughing my ass off.

It's really hard to do Stylistic Suck right but that was it right there.
 

Sunstone77

I’m all for satire but gore like that is really uncomfortable :frown:

Back to Pennsylvania Jack, I’m guessing his next adventure will involve him finding a secret undercover ring of Inferiors posing as Betters. Maybe he can get a sidekick in the form of a buxom female ORRA agent, fighting the good fight to keep the Pinnacle Blood pure

latest

ORRA Officer Lorraine Lincoln in the 2012 talkie Pennsylvania Jack: Secret Origins
 
Murica1776

Murica1776

First of all, I have to say props to Napo for that story. You really captured the tone of those kinds of PI stories, and just added extra propaganda. Also RUMP's phone number being 1776 is such a perfect little touch of Americana that I actually LOL'd.

Napoleon53 said:
"Does he have plans for a bloody vacation in CoCaro?"
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Well, obviously Archie Williams is a Satan loving degenerate, so of course he doesn't! Ya know what? Just to spite the memory of this foul character and his real world counterparts, all y'all Yankees should book a vacation in lovely East Carolina! Feel the tropical breeze in your hair, the warm sand gently coating your skin, and a slower pace of life. Now for the low, low price of $95 per person! Book your vacation today! HARK THE SOUND OF TROPICAL LIVING!

Napoleon53 said:
Will the Grimoire reveal its secrets? Is Miss Sandwich really an accomplice or a well-meaning fool? Is Archie Williams really gone for good? Read the next issue of this magazine to see what happens when the Magick Grimoire is transported to the Tobias Institute... and how Pennsylvania Jack will handle his continuing adventure against the forces of darkness!
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Let's see. The Grimoire will be revealed to be the work of the Pope/the French/the Ruskies. I'm assuming Miss Sandwich is just a bumbling bimbo who.. er... needs Jack's Fluids to sort her out? Ew. Obviously the Institute and Jack will destroy the forces of darkness!

FranzAncheNo said:
Maybe I'm getting it completely wrong, but to be sure... @Murica1776
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Thank you for your question citizen! Allow me to clarify for you to prevent future confusion. Kookie is a word meaning strange, bizarre, occult. Cokie is a citizen of the Confederation of the Carolinas, the Republic Andy Jackson Built, our New Eden! Hark the Sound of Educational Voices!
 
Roger Redux

Roger Redux

Ephraim Ben Raphael said:
I'm guessing that Morton helped pay for the story? Lighting up a Morton sure gets referenced a lot.
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I think it's more like the 'brand culture' has sunken even deeper into their psyche than it has with has us.
So while we may have "genericized" brands like Q-Tips, Band-Aids, Jacuzzi (and oddly enough Ping Pong); to them the brand tells you something about the character.
He's a Morton man, not a Firebreather man, and that says something.
 
Napoleon53

Napoleon53

I started out to write a Lovecraftian horror but I realllyyyyy liked the idea of Jack being an... anti-antihero. Not only does he not really care that much, he's also just gonna report to authorities. He's the opposite of a sperhero. What justice he does take into his own hands is thanks to his license from the government.

Roger Redux said:
I think it's more like the 'brand culture' has sunken even deeper into their psyche than it has with has us.
So while we may have "genericized" brands like Q-Tips, Band-Aids, Jacuzzi (and oddly enough Ping Pong); to them the brand tells you something about the character.
He's a Morton man, not a Firebreather man, and that says something.
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This is EXACTLY what I was trying to convey. I got the idea from something I learned from the cig vender at Walgreens. Different neighborhoods in town buy more of certain brands. So it's literally "32nd street buys Winstons, but folks over on Washington Avenue prefer camels." Ratchet that up to 11 and you have WMIT brand loyalty. As I learned from docs I watched on tobacco history, as well, people used to identify with their cigs. "I'm a Lucky Strike man."

I could even imagine different portions of the country thinking it almost bizarre to not buy a certain brand. In war it could almost be a "Who won the World Series?" Question for spies.

"You're from Michigania? What brand do you smoke?"

"Uhm... Mortons?"

"FRENCH FOP! EVERYONE IN MICHIGANIA SMOKES BURTON BRIGHTS! GUARDS!"
 
TheImperialTheorist

TheImperialTheorist

It certainly does feel like something from WMIT. The idea that the authorities would be more concerned with the desecration of a national symbol than occult stuff, obvious propaganda supporting the authorities, and the first signs of some sort of horrifying madness that would play a part in all this are all guaranteed signs of Madness. The plot’s a little thin, but considering it comes from the 20s and a magazine, I’m not that surprised.
 
Born in the USSA

Born in the USSA

Turns out the Union becoming crazy environmentally conscious is easier than I thought. Some version of Silent Spring showing the national symbol unable to spread their Pinnacle (bird) Fluids! will change public opinion overnight and leave a lot of the clans that make industrial chemicals pissing in their pants for fear of a mob.
 

Omar20

Born in the USSA said:
Turns out the Union becoming crazy environmentally conscious is easier than I thought. Some version of Silent Spring showing the national symbol unable to spread their Pinnacle (bird) Fluids! will change public opinion overnight and leave a lot of the clans that make industrial chemicals pissing in their pants for fear of a mob.
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That's what I believe. All the Pinnacle Fluids and New Jerusalem talk make the Yankees ITTL easier to turn into enviromentalists.
 

Sunstone77

I think enviromentalism in the RU would have its own unique twist. The government may protect some of Bald Eagle habitats but completely decimate non-eagle habitats in their pursuit of profit and manifest destiny. I might be misremembering, but hasn't the buffalo already been hunted to extinction
 
Born in the USSA

Born in the USSA

Sunstone77 said:
I think enviromentalism in the RU would have its own unique twist. The government may protect some of Bald Eagle habitats but completely decimate non-eagle habitats in their pursuit of profit and manifest destiny. I might be misremembering, but hasn't the buffalo already been hunted to extinction
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Close to it but not quite if I remember. It would be interesting if *rodeos in the RU involved Pinnacle Men trying to fight a buffalo, like that cockamamie Nazi scheme to recreate aurochs so Aryan Supermen could test their mettle like their Germanic ancestors.
 
Napoleon53

Napoleon53

Sorry for silence guys! I find out in a day or two if I get my apartment manager job so I've been too busy to write much or PM. I'll be back to normal soon!
 
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