That Sweet Mexican Bourbon Magic (Preamble)
This is a TL based around the idea that Louis XIV gets frisky with his wife instead of a mistress on a night in late 1664/early 1665, and Maria Theresa gives birth to a healthy boy who survives the perils of childhood into adulthood. I’ve done plenty of TLs in my head, but this is the first I’ve committed in such depth on paper. It has given me a new appreciation for the effort that goes into writing massive ongoing TLs, and I applaud the vigor of those who write them. I’ve probably made a few errors along the way in names and terminology, and my formatting is pretty sloppy, but hopefully you’ll understand what I’m going for. I’ve left the same the OTL names of a lot of cities/states/etc. First, I’m not all that imaginative when it comes to realistic new names, and second, in those TLs where others completely go with fresh names, I get hopelessly lost, so I wanted to avoid that in my own TL. I probably give short thrift to some events and hopelessly babble on in others. I’ve attempted to keep things possible if not highly likely. Nothing as crazily never going to happen like the Queen of Russia refusing medical treatment and dying on the verge of victory, only to have her heir completely reverse course in the war and embrace the enemy, only to be killed off in a coup by his foreigner wife who has no legitimacy to the throne and who goes on to become one of the country’s greatest rulers, and meanwhile also kills off the true heir to the throne who has been imprisoned since he was a baby. Keep that in mind if you see something that makes you say, yeah, right, like that’s ever going to happen. Just go with it. I’ve tried to acknowledge major butterflies, but it’s hard to keep track of all the possible ones, so a lot of minor stuff, I’ve just left for sake of convenience. I’ve had fun writing it so far, and hope someone enjoys it.