Reds fanfic

AH.com thread: A Little Confession


Bro, what the fuck were you doing? You do realize how much trouble you can get into for that, right? The Army used to put people in military tribunals for shit like that, back when the Cold War was really bad. Nowadays, the Army won't do much but send you home (and possibly get you investigated for a few months or so by StateSec) but the Cubanos? Yeah, underneath that hospitable exterior they are friendly, but there's a burning hatred for Communism underneath that exterior. Haven't you heard about all the kidnappings and murders? The Cuban Army harassing American tourists? I'm glad you had fun, but please don't take such stupid risks next time.

Why is it like John Wick, may I ask? I haven't seen the movies yet, but I've heard they are good.


Matter Number 1: ComradeBulldog, please be more careful in the future, I've no doubt Cuba is an exotic place to live out some dark fantasies, but I'd be careful if I were you. Cuba is a really dangerous place for Americans.

Matter Number 2: Carl my dude, I can drop some knowledge on you for what John Wick is. It's one of those "American Assassin" movies, you know, those movies that feature American contract killers working in the Capitalist Bloc because of the desire to enrich themselves out of self interest. Egoism is pretty prevalent among the American protagonists in these kind of movies.

So he story is this: the plot follows John Wick, an American man who was a contract killer for several criminal organizations around the capitalist world, including British Firms, Sicilian Mafia families, Indian Mobs, and West German Familiens. His reasons for working with these scum is one of self-interest: he believes in socialism and the spreading of revolution, but he was also a hardcore egoist that believes in working for his own gain. Needless to say, he enjoyed the excesses of wealthy capitalist society. However, as he got older, he found a woman that he gee to love and decided to leave the world of organized crime (though he did take out a bunch of British mob bosses, which basically allowed him to leave)

So he went back to America, and lived with his wife and dog in Los Angeles, where he invested much of the money he earned in crime into his community and city, his self-serving ways largely suppressed. However, the mob bosses he worked for decide that the money he earned was not his to spend, and attack him, leaving his wife and dog dead. To add insult to injury, they also steal his sweet Boss Mustang. Nevertheless, he goes on a revenge fueled killing spree across the capitalist world, sinking back into the decadence of capitalist society as a result.

>hasn't watched Le Epic Egoist Assassin yet

M8, what are you doing with your life, besides chasing after those teenagers that steal your cars?
 
The issue is adrenaline, Wotan. You feel it when you do something risky, whether its skydiving, or just avoiding a car crash.

In a ITTL American society, soft drugs and lots of sex are seen as routine, so they don't give you adrenaline, they don't make you feel on edge.

Gambling, however, is seen immoral in capitalist society, thus people do it to feel "wicked" and "on edge".
Well, from what I hear drug use is not for the adrenaline, but to brighten their existence (and everyone in our society inevitably comes to such an idea in the head).
In addition, there are other ways to get adrenaline - extreme sports eg.
 
Well, from what I hear drug use is not for the adrenaline, but to brighten their existence (and everyone in our society inevitably comes to such an idea in the head).
In addition, there are other ways to get adrenaline - extreme sports eg.

The feeling of rebelling against authority is what I mean. In the ITTL communist world, it's going to a casino and gambling.
 

Deleted member 97083

The feeling of rebelling against authority is what I mean. In the ITTL communist world, it's going to a casino and gambling.
Casinos are already considered a vice though.

And people don't do drugs to rebel against authority. Although drug usage does statistically increase after it is made illegal.
 
Casinos are already considered a vice though.

Yes, but I'm talking about perspective. In the UASR, gambling is not allowed. Thus you get a thrill from doing it, because "The Man" hates it.

In Cuba ITTL, a yuma can have fun gambling. But since its not illicit, he doesn't get that THRILL.
 
AH.com thread: A Little Confession

UpNorth said:


Ah, gambling. I understand the thrill from that.

I remember at an arcade, I spent my allowance on this roulette game.

I know its not remotely the same experience as going to Cuba. But I get the same feeling. Risking it all, hoping to cash in, hoping that roulette hits the jackpot.

Magnify that times 1000, and that is what it must like to sneak to Cuba, mingle with the Yuma, and waste all your cash.

But then I look at my pocket, and I learn I can't afford my ration of mint chocolate, and I've realized I made a mistake.

From an early age, in a more kid friendly experience, I've walked that road of gambling addiction, and have come away wiser, but after losing money I should not have lost.
 
Kalki" said:
Red_Devildog- It isn't too great for us cappies either. Like TotalBrit said, due to the very liberal tax and gambling laws, it's really easy to lose all your money and end up with a drug addiction. The gambling huts are also the dens of very unsavory characters.

I've seen Business as Usual: Part II. I know what happens in Havana.

AVeryTrueDemocrat said:
What the hell is "Business as Usual", and why is there two parts?

Kalki said:
Oh yeah, it didn't go to America. "Business as Usual" is a trilogy of comedies starring Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, and Richard Ayoade as three start-up businessmen, who, in their zeal to close deals to help grow their internet business (selling used furniture, which has been extensively cleaned and prettied up) , end up on strange, drunken adventures, where they encounter bizarre characters, and almost escape death. Part II has them in Havana, trying to get a partnership with a Cuban firm for distribution, which leads to them waking up surrounded by cocaine, empty bottles of alcohol, and a Cuban prostitute. They also find their money had been stolen, and they try to find their money before they have to close the deal.

They aren't great comedies, but they have their audience.
 
Guys, I had a few ideas and questions.

The first relates to Isaac Asimov and his Laws of Robotics (and indeed the whole robot).
In fact the theme of Rise of the Machines is based on two factors. First - fear of the unknown, the phenomenon peculiar to humans, which is impossible to suppress through. Second - Capitalism. In fact, it is a cross between Frankenstein and ideas Luddite. Now something about Asimov - On uninformed opinion, the laws fully guarantee the safety of the use of robots. In fact, the wording of Asimov longer suitable for the role of a literary tool than an effective means of modeling the behavior of artificial intelligence. The master himself in his stories describing the hazardous situation, which managed to create robots that do not violate or go about his own laws. And to protect the interests of mankind, he set only the ugly old maid-robopsychologist. Later Azimov offered other formulations of laws and even introduced a "zero-law." But the approach has remained the same: the writer perceived the robot as "a very good man." They were asked to follow the human morality.
And one more important detail: the robots had to comply with the laws, but the people they should not have anything. In fact, Asimov's robots were no different from the workforce without rights era rise of capitalism. Just wondering what kind of development is the theme gets a new society. In Soviet fiction I know only one film on this subject.

Also, I'm interested in the problem of Nathan Drake and Indiana Jones. Just when you think that they are ordinary thieves (with dubious moral principles).
 
Question:

Since 40k is incredibly popular ITTL as compared to today, are the figurines cheaper, or does GeeDubs retain it's well deserved reputation of being greedy motherfuckers?

I don't really play 40k tabletop (I've done it a few times, but I get really confused by all the rules and shit) but I do like the miniatures. I'm sure as shit not spending hundreds of dollars on that shit, though.
 
Here's a trailer for an ITTL film idea I had been mulling over for a while now:


*We start at a stage covered by a curtain. An off-screen audience chants the name "PEGGY"*

TEXT: SHE WAS THE TOPPEST TOT IN TINSELTOWN...

The curtain is drawn, revealing a young woman wearing an outfit clearly more suited for an infant. The audience gasps.

TEXT: ...ONCE UPON A TIME.

YOUNG WOMAN: I'm sorry, you wanted Baby Peggy? Well, this is all you're getting. That girl is dead, accept it!

The young woman marches off stage in a huff, with the camera following her

TEXT: NOW, ALL OF AMERICA IS WONDERING...WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MILLION DOLLAR BABY?

YOUNG WOMAN: Oh, you really want to know how it got this way? Okay, I'll tell you...consider this my birthday present to you.

TEXT: SEE THE ACTRESS FORMERLY KNOWN AS BABY PEGGY SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT IN "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MILLION DOLLAR BABY?" ON HER BIRTHDAY, OCTOBER 29TH. FOR ADULTS ONLY!

(for context: Baby Peggy was one of the first child film stars.)

Whatever Happened to the Million Dollar Baby? (1939)

Peggy-Jean Montgomery was born in 1919, in San Diego. Her father Jack was a stuntman for cowboy movies, which led to her being discovered by Hollywood talent scouts. She was the first child star, making hundreds of films and touring the country as a vaudeville performer, and by age 5 she was one of the first film stars to earn over a million dollars per movie. Her likeness appeared on dolls, jewelry, sheet music, even on bottles of milk.

But her time in Hollywood was a difficult one. She was forced to perform her own stunts, perform while sick, and the grueling schedule of making new films then going on tour to promote the films caused problems. Worse, her parents had spent all of her money on jewelry and fancy cars. She eventually retired broke and forgotten.

It's no surprise, then, that she ended up running away from home to join the Red Army. Taking the assumed name "Margaret Montomgery", she took part in the liberation of Los Angeles, famously leading the charge at the assault on the LA Times building and arresting Harry Chandler. After her previous life as Baby Peggy was discovered, she was encouraged to tell her story of what she called "my journey through the meat grinder of show business".

Whatever Happened to the Million Dollar Baby? was the first film produced by the Gower Street Collective, an amalgamation of most of the studios on the lower rungs of the Hollywood ladder. Directed by pioneering French filmmaker and feminist Germaine Dulac, and based off a script penned by Ms. Montgomery, the film was promoted as a sexy, scandalous drama dealing with a star that many had fondly remembered. But this was deliberately misleading, as Dulac's background in impressionism and surrealism turned the film into a surreal, Brechtian meditation on patriarchal power structures, the nature of celebrity, and the manipulation of children by adults.

The film is separated into three acts. The first act, "A Beautiful Baby", focuses on the beginnings of Baby Peggy. Notably, Dulac cast the eleven year old Shirley Temple to play the preschool aged Baby Peggy in this segment, both as a way for audiences to notice the similarities between the two women and as a commentary on how child stars like Temple or Montgomery are perceived. While Peggy is at first glad to be famous, she experiences long grueling work hours, nearly fatal stunts (including being nearly drowned and escaping from a burning building), animal cruelty, and fans who seem too eager to see her...

The second act, "Limelight", covers her time on the vaudeville circuit. Her troubles continue, as her family recklessly spends all her money, and she is forced to retain the "Baby Peggy" persona despite being too old for it to be believable. An attempted screen comeback fails, and she is destitute. This leads to the film's most famous scene, where teenage Peggy has a nightmare of herself, dressed in oversized baby clothes, unable to walk or talk, and being ogled by lecherous men.

The third act, "Redemption", shows Montgomery on the battlefield. She meets her parents for the last time. She tells them "You never loved me. You loved what you thought I should be. I never had a childhood, just a simulation." The film infamously ends on a shot of Peggy finding her younger self from the first act in a victory parade, who tells her "Your name is now Margaret. Baby Peggy is dead."

The film was a moderate success, but polarized audiences and critics. The Metropolis Times called it "a strange, self-indulgent piece of juvenalia", and called the casting of Shirley Temple "a distraction". The Los Angeles Herald praised the cinematography and score, but said that "ultimately, the answer to the question is 'who cares?'" Bertolt Brecht, meanwhile, praised the film, calling it "an amazing look at the horrors of old Hollywood", appreciating the film's use of his alienation effect, and concluding his review with "There will come a time when this will be seen as the trailblazer that it is. I, for one, welcome the artist formerly known as Baby Peggy back to the screen, and hope she has a good career."

His words were prescient. The film was rediscovered through late-night television broadcasts in the 50's, and film scholars re-appraised the film as a masterpiece of American surrealist film. The pervasive sense of dread and unsettling atmosphere were a strong influence on Ed Wood and David Lynch, the New Left viewed themselves in Peggy, Pauline Kael called it "the greatest film ever directed by a woman" and even today, it's shown at film classes and socialist meetings across the globe.

The film would be the beginning of a long career for Margaret Montgomery, and even today she considers it the project she's the proudest of. In an interview with The Daily Worker, Montgomery said that the film "was basically a long self-therapy session, and I'm thankful that Germaine and I managed to get this stuff out of my system."
 
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Bulldoggus

Banned
Since 40k is incredibly popular ITTL as compared to today, are the figurines cheaper, or does GeeDubs retain it's well deserved reputation of being greedy motherfuckers?
Probably it is somewhat cheaper.

Also, what do y'all think of the idea of Indiana Jones being more about him trying to protect (magical) treasures and keep them with indigenous populations, opposed by German Fascists who want them for power and Franco-British imperialists who want to take them and show them off in museums?
 
Probably it is somewhat cheaper.

Also, what do y'all think of the idea of Indiana Jones being more about him trying to protect (magical) treasures and keep them with indigenous populations, opposed by German Fascists who want them for power and Franco-British imperialists who want to take them and show them off in museums?

That would actually be cool. Jones fighting both evil Germans and evil French-British people.

In fact, you don't really need to change the villains.

Rene Belloq, for example, was a French who was willing to make deals with Nazis to get what he wanted. He could represent the stupid deal the French were willing to make with the Nazis.
 
Idea: the more anti-communist the guy is OTL, the more pro-communist he/she is in the Reds-Verse!

"Stalin was a good Christian who did nothing wrong!"
-Larry MacDonald
 

Bulldoggus

Banned
Idea: the more anti-communist the guy is OTL, the more pro-communist he/she is in the Reds-Verse!
So I go from weaksauce/fellow traveller anti-communist to weaksauce commie? I did think that people like the RATM guys, that only came to communism to be edgy, might be anti-communist ttl.
 
Idea: the more anti-communist the guy is OTL, the more pro-communist he/she is in the Reds-Verse!

"Stalin was a good Christian who did nothing wrong!"
-Larry MacDonald


Well, I imagine that happening as well. Most OTL extremists (like George Wallace) were simply populists dancing to the tune the audience most wanted.

ITTL, the tune is different - since everybody is taught to hate capitalism- but the rules are the same.

Rush Limbaugh, if he were to exist, would frequently denounce the "cappies", especially since he's in Missouri- a place of both farming and industry- would be very left (in the economic sense at least. Socially, they would be a lot slower to adopt libertine social ideals).
 
Idea: the more anti-communist the guy is OTL, the more pro-communist he/she is in the Reds-Verse!

"Stalin was a good Christian who did nothing wrong!"
-Larry MacDonald

It's already happening in some way. And I doubt that Larry Macdonald will defend Stalin using that quote. "Christian" doesn't fit, because Stalin is not Christian or did certain things in the name of Christianity and he will not be defended for whatever he did in that manner, if it comes to that.

An ITTL Larry Macdonald could very well be anything politically from LCP, given his military background that could be transferred to TTL's circumstances, to the DRP. He could even be a True Democrat, supporting a limited capitalist restorationist agenda and calling himself a "left-wing nationalist" in opposition to the developing postwar integration inside the Comintern. And I doubt he will be defending Comrade Stalin amidst postwar de-Stalinization atmosphere in the USSR.

It's complicated. It's not per se that Stalin did nothing wrong. In what way do you think Comrade Stalin can be defended? In what actions of his and his regime can be defended as a necessary evil? There's those kinds of things.

People who are anti-communists IOTL but becoming anti-capitalists ITTL depends on the circumstances obviously and it's not so clear cut.

Eisenhower, Patton are communists since coming home from the Western Front in World War I. Henry Wallace was affected by the Biennio Rosso at home that he's one of those countless OTL liberals and conservatives that turned to communism ITTL. George Kennan is a late convert but he will be in the ranks of Communist Labor's prominent Cold War intellectuals, most likely. I can see him giving cautious praise to the Liberation's open support to Soviet Eritrea and Soviet Somalia against the Ethiopian Empire in the Ethiopian War but given the Comintern's defeat on overthrowing the restored Emperor from the throne, he will be harsh on criticizing Liberation's failure there and we may even see him as part of the probable first Communist Labor government out of this defeat. Kennan seeing the First Cultural Revolution as a top-down imposition by the revolutionary vanguard will pull him in that direction.

@Alexander the Average gave a good background of TTL's Chinese Civil War but I am not sure if that will be adopted for the most part. I just like it, but a few changes will be necessary there. I believe it's on this very thread when he discussed how a Sovietized revolutionary China may be formed from the KMT-CPC lead Republic of China.

William Buckley, Jr. grew up as a fervent Communist Labor neoconservative, criticizing the postwar second cultural revolution's "excesses" and talking of postwar dissidents like Noam Chomsky as "infantile leftists". He's cautiously praising Albert and Hahnel but felt that they are corrupted by the new generation of students in American universities that are quite rebellious in the 1960s and formed part of the core of the Social Ecology Union.

Many OTL neoconservatives may embrace ITTL American neoconservatism. Sean Hannity seems to count already, based on his "Workers' Vanguard in America" textbook from the special edition. Rush Limbaugh may be included there.

Alex Jones can remain a crank but I like him now as one of those SEU's cranks. I am not too familiar with his crankiness, so I don't know how it could properly translate to ITTL situation.

I actually see a lot of believers in free energy suppression and UFOs in the SEU. It certainly fits. These kinds of things are not hampered by any belief in Marxism or communism. You could be a fervent anti-capitalist and a believer that a worldwide structure was in place to suppress whatever shit you believe that's being suppressed and socialist governments are compliant to that thing or whatever, because of capitalism's remaining corruptive elements that lingered in the UASR or inside the Comintern, and that the FBU is taking advantage of such things or something. If this is the lizard-reptilian bullshit, then we have these aliens contacting world governments and something... I don't know.

It's that kind of thing.

I actually also want to suggest a contemporary Liberation-led government as of 2017 lead by Premier Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. with Amy Goodman holding the portfolio of the Communications Secretariat. The Leader of the Opposition could be Gloria LaRiva or somebody.

Bernie Sanders may be a prominent LCP politician and a one-time Premier of Vermont. ITTL, he may be a better carpenter because he will not be working in odd jobs or struggle in near-poverty in most of his early adulthood. Rather than divorced from his first wife, He may have both ex-wife and current wife as his legal wives. It's that thing.

I don't know how polyamorous relationships work but I assume that if you get two or more girls in a relationship with you is that because circumstances are that the girls are usually tightly-knit with each other and the circumstances fit. But if you established a relationship with another girl that's a stranger to these girls in another time-period and you are in a different place and you did not tell the girls about this that you are still cheating. And that's a bad thing. I guess I get that gist.

Umi no Misaki helped me out in that. It's a harem manga with a harem ending (sorry for spoiling the ending, but I can guarantee that the journey to the ending is enjoyable to read) and it's a balanced harem. And polyamory works in many arrangements as well. One female, three males, one male is in a relationship with another female, yep, that kind of thing.

White communist segregationists in the Southern republics may have retrograde views on race relations but they will not be so openly expressing legalist racial segregation like a new Jim Crow and say the N-word or talk of white racial supremacy. Jello hinted on problems of enforcement of progressive social legislation per place, like electoral laws where blacks were openly intimidated through extra-judicial harassment so that they will not compel to register to vote outside the black-majority regions, rather than any reintroduction of restrictions, since the Cultural Revolution already destroyed them. Racial discrimination in the public sphere is frowned upon but it doesn't fully translate to the private sphere, despite how communism blurred the distinctions between the private and the public. Code words will be used by those segregationists and they may even become the greatest advocates of African nationalist separatism, ironically, and of course the Duboisian talented tenth doctrine so that the blacks can have their own homeland and not disturb the already fragile racial supremacist structure in rest of the South.

It's a matter of time before it all fall apart. The postwar generation will spearhead the change.
 
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Horror from behind the curtain - American Black Metal.
Traditionally, Black Metal is associated with the Scandinavian countries, especially Norway. There in the second half of the 90s, there were several incidents related to the musician Varg Vikernes, the founder and the sole member of the project Burzum. In 1993, he was arrested for the murder of Euronymous. He was also suspected of arson of several ancient Norwegian churches. In 2009, he was released on parole. Now he lives in France with his wife and raising two sons, not forgetting to write music (most close to the ambient than his earlier works). Nevertheless, "Norwegian Darkness" was inspired by musicians from many countries, including the UASR, gave rise to many extreme bands.

Heavy music has always been a way to express protest. Black metallers protested against Christian dogmas and moral conservatism in Europe; death metallers and grindcore tried to shake the quiet and measured life of the European everyman depiction of medical pathologies and painful deaths; thrash metal glorified war and violence. Part of the heavy metal in the Western European countries favor a kind of analogue of horror films, allowing to experience fear and awe, while remaining safe. In general, the American cultural environment is very liberal to various innovations (especially in comparison with the Soviet Union), and high living standards and high social protection deterred trends "Black" protest. Of course America contributed to the development of thrash metal commands in the eighties, but they are essentially a music application to horror films, and carry any ideological coloring. Motives of Satanism and anti-Christianity were not disclosed (due to the high secularization of culture ). However, the experience of the Norwegians was not in vain.

The first sign of American darkness was a group Demoncy, which released their first demo in 1991. In essence, this was the traditional "raw" black metal, with poor recording quality. According to the band, they did it to demonstrate the growth of discontent left Democratic Party, is gaining popularity in the elections. However, the real challenge was the project of musician Andrew Harris (performing under the pseudonym Akhenaten) Judas Iscariot. The concept and philosophy of art Akhenaten tightly intertwined with the image of the historical character of Judas Iscariot. According to the words of Akhenaten's name refers to Judas Iscariot all anti-Christian, to uncover the true nature of Jesus Christ, calling the act against God, the destruction of the idols. Therefore, the choice of such a naming his project was not accidental. However, Akhenaten philosophy is not limited to this way, his music is hatred, evil, winter, a war for the triumph of evil. He also publishes a magazine which promotes the extreme right-wing forms of anarchism. Among the other groups play old school Black also noteworthy Morbosidad, Obeisance, Black Witchery, Manticore.

However, "traditional", "Satanic" metal did not receive further development and popularity in their home country did not use. In fact, a real American school has arisen only in the new millennium. The pioneer of the "true American metal" was a group of Threnos, released a demo "By Blood and by Earth". Unfortunately it was the only group release, but based on it having Fauna and Echtra. Together they created what is now known as "Cascadian Black Metal" (the name of the region where similar groups began to emerge). In essence, the new group was close to the atmospheric black metal and folk metal. Also, such groups have refused shocking representations, approaching the spirit of witches gatherings (though retained the love of special effects on stage). Actively promotes this school group "Wolves in the Throne Room", which members (brothers Aaron and Nathan Weavers) active participants in the Social Ecological Union. Actively developing the genre project Panopticon, the various elements are shown in Uada creativity, exploring "the role of darkness in the dialectic of life." Instead of Satanism, evil and destruction of traditional black metal, the group focuses on the nature, pagan mythology and anarchism (While maintaining the mystical moods in the genre). However, some groups still show signs of the same kind of misanthropy.
 
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