TLIAW: For Want Of A Paragraph

Japhy

Banned
Man, I didn't read anything after the first update because I got busy as all hell. I'm going to do it all now though.
 
I like happy endings. I like how this is a moderately diverging TL, with at first seemingly small ripples down the line. What will 2015 be like with the Postman at the helm? It's those hints which pique the curiosity, but they don't smack you about the head and neck with a length of political wood. Very, very good.
 

Japhy

Banned
Alright, I'm all caught up now. You have to understand as usual I have to try and figure out pieces I don't understand, so I can talk in generalities at best, forgive me.

First off, I like the "nothing/everything changes" sentiments at the end of this work, just like I did with Zonen. We often treat history on this site as if one breaks away from our version of history that nothing can go back to normal, this is wrong, of course its just as possible an option to generally move back towards things as they were, and of course we should look more at the ripples of these minor changes because they offer just as much a divergence. I'll admit my current little project has the same sort of thing in mind, a minor change that on its own doesn't change the course of anything, but its ripples will. If that makes any sense.

Secondly, It was a fantastic little drama of the political fight. In its own way it actually reminded me of one of my favorite movies The Best Man and the fantastic timeline AnywherebutOTL did a few months ago Slippery When Wet. I absolutely love a good political fight timeline that goes into focus on that nitty, gritty fight between factions that has to race between the shadows and backrooms and the cameras. The fact you actually set a scene in a literally smoked filled room and ended the whole damned fight with a banana in hand was a wonderful degree of playing with the tropes. Always good to mess around with the cliches you know and all that.

Third, the normal stupid American comment: Yes I had to do a bit of work to figure out what was going on at times, but you managed to create something enjoyable enough that I didn't mind, and I'll admit that I probably could have read the whole thing without doing that at all and still enjoyed it. (No I couldn't I'm a basket case who always needs to know but lets pretend I'm fuctional.)

Lastly, that ending. Also literally one of my favorite timeline finishes I've seen on the site at all recently. The son not making the mistake of the father thing, with his own sons rivalry carried well along side of the painful and wrong but highly human reaction of a family having been wrecked by the fight for power that destroyed both Brothers. As others have said, I was left with the positive feeling that David was on a path to a happier life, and hopefully one where "spending more time with his family" is actually going to happen. Not the victory of a politician, but the victory of a true man.

All in all, a fantastic work, Thank You for writing it.
 

Thande

Donor
Minor bump (as my home internet is broken so I wasn't able to comment over the weekend) just to say I like Meadow's invention of the snarky bold conversation at the end as well as the beginning, and for thinking of me with the eighty-odd MPs comment! :p

For the record I think the argument about Harman standing because of a reaction against the 'cult of youth' due to Miliband seems plausible to me. I also think Harman from my own limited experience has a bit more to her than her stereotypical media image would suggest. Ironically perhaps my impression is that Yvette Cooper is more like Media Stereotype Harman than Actual Harman is. But that's just based on a superficial level of understanding, of course, we have people here In Wiv Da Party whose views might differ.
 
BBC_One_This_Week.png

Jack Tindale's face was less red than usual, thanks to a thick layer of foundation applied by the pretty makeup girl, but Thande did wonder whether the folks at home would get as strong a splash of beetroot as he was in the studio.

"Good to go?" Jack asked with a smile.

"I'm raring to go," said LancyIain, "thanks for having me on again."

"It's a pleasure. I'm really looking forward to Geordie's special report on the Green Party - apparently he's done it in the style of a Downfall parody."

Thande shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but gave an approving nod and a smile. Ever since the Politibrit Broadcasting Corporation had got off the ground, he'd been at its heart. Election nights and Newsnight saw him at his best, but the cloying atmosphere of Tindale's late-night politics chat show made him feel nauseous.

The floor manager shouted something incomprehensible, and the red lights flicked on.

"Welcome," said Jack with a loud 'aha', "to Politibrit This Week!"

The familiar jingle kicked in, along with a terrible animation that tried to imply this evening's guests were all members of Kingsman: The Secret Service. Jack picked his nose. Thande tried not to watch.

"Before we get into the excellent news streaming in from the Lecternverse - Tim Congdon's meltdown in the tearooms has just leaked to YouTube, a quick look at the latest projected results in the general election 2015 over in Zonen - yep, they're exactly the same. Okay. Moving on, we have a quick plug for our very own presenter of Have I Got Alternate News For You, Meadow!"

Fake applause played through the speakers.

"I'm more than happy to plug this," said LancyIain enthusiastically, "I really liked For Want Of A Paragraph, and I'm very pleased to see it's been nominated in the Turtledoves."

Thande nodded.

"Absolutely, I think it was a great work. Meadow even wrote a section of it with me in mind. And the joke about Geordie accents was great!"

Jack gave a fierce nod.

"I also thought it was a great work of alternate history," he said pointedly, to which both men gave supportive noises.

"Absolutely," LancyIain said, "any fool can put together a complex timeline spanning hundreds of years, starting with PODs as varied as a king tripping over on a bit of carpet, some letters not being found in a drawer, or a Louisiana politician entering a Presidential race. It takes a real master to write a timeline where not much actually changes, but there are jokes about handjobs and a scene between Ed and David Miliband that was clearly ripped off from Star Wars."

"The prequel trilogy, too!" added Thande.

"I quite agree," said Jack, grimacing in an attempt at a wry gin, "but before we go on I will just have to say that I've been told that David Steel has insisted he won't be resigning as Prime Minister after Mr Owen's declaration of no confidence in him over in the Falklands Loss universe."

"Probably a wise move," LancyIain said.

"Yes," said Thande, "David Owen has yet to meaningfully triumph in any universe, including our own, so I don't think Steel has much to worry about."

"You never know, maybe he'll shoot himself!" Jack chuckled darkly, "and finally in cross-universe news: Enoch Powell has just become Prime Minister in somebody's Facebook status. That's the third time this week."

"If I could just repeat the plug for Meadow's timeline," LancyIain said, "I really think it's a fine work worthy of recognition."

"And, of course," began Jack with a look to the camera, "you can vote by clicking here."

Thande looked confused.

"'Clicking here'? What's going on?"

Jack gave a cheeky wink to the camera, and Thande was quietly dragged out of the studio by two men wearing the uniforms of Mass Observation.

"That's all for us until after the break," said Jack, "goodnight for now, and remember: wherever you are, Fight And Be Right."

Jack gazed up at the enormous camera. Six years it had taken him to learn what kind of genius was hidden behind the eyes of the infrastructure expert. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the Blairite Mosley! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved EdT.​
 

Japhy

Banned
I want to nominate that post for best Parody work. Damn you I have to wait a whole year now.
 
Minor bump (as my home internet is broken so I wasn't able to comment over the weekend) just to say I like Meadow's invention of the snarky bold conversation at the end as well as the beginning, and for thinking of me with the eighty-odd MPs comment! :p
Cough. I'll be the first to admit that Meadow managed it much better than I did, but I'll be defending the only innovation I've made in my seven years on the site, especially as it's in my only actual work, to date. I may also have been the first to do TLIA-something that isn't a week. However, seeing how that has went completely silly, I'm less proud of that achievement.
Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved EdT.
Beautiful. Absolutely superb. If I could vote again, I would.
 
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I just re-read this, and I was wondering: did Gordon Brown really try to persuade other candidates to stand in 2007, or is that an unreliable narrator speaking? My impression (mainly from Chris Mullin) is that just the reverse happened, and Mullin compares him unfavourably to Blair in 1994 who wanted to make sure that a number of candidates stood against him.

The End of the Party suggests that Brown wanted some sort of competition so it didn't look like a coronation, just he didn't want anyone who actually stood a chance to stand against him. Basically, he wanted to go against someone like John McDonnell who he could crush easily.

That Turtledove plug was excellently fun, so many in-jokes. If a bit weird and dark.
 
I just re-read this, and I was wondering: did Gordon Brown really try to persuade other candidates to stand in 2007, or is that an unreliable narrator speaking? My impression (mainly from Chris Mullin) is that just the reverse happened, and Mullin compares him unfavourably to Blair in 1994 who wanted to make sure that a number of candidates stood against him.

The End of the Party suggests that Brown wanted some sort of competition so it didn't look like a coronation, just he didn't want anyone who actually stood a chance to stand against him. Basically, he wanted to go against someone like John McDonnell who he could crush easily.

That Turtledove plug was excellently fun, so many in-jokes. If a bit weird and dark.

The End Of The Party was basically the Ur-text for a lot of the research for this TL, but in this case I had actually heard the 'Brown wanted others to stand but not have a chance of winning' elsewhere before I saw it in Rawnsley's words.

Indeed, IIRC that's what Ray Collins says in the story - 'he wanted people to stand, not to beat him, obviously, but to avoid a coronation'.

I haven't reached the Brown era in Mullin's diaries, I will keep an eye out for how it comes across.

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the plug and voted - Paragraph was level-pegging with Nutmeg a few days ago and it's now 9 or 10 votes ahead.
 

Thande

Donor
Cough. I'll be the first to admit that Meadow managed it much better than I did, but I'll be defending the only innovation I've made in my seven years on the site, especially as it's in my only actual work, to date. I may also have been the first to do TLIA-something that isn't a week. However, seeing how that has went completely silly, I'm less proud of that achievement.
Alright, alright, you got there first. I am even drinking a very large mug of tea while typing this as a peace offering and totally not because I was anyway :p

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the plug and voted - Paragraph was level-pegging with Nutmeg a few days ago and it's now 9 or 10 votes ahead.
That does sound like something a horse racing announcer would say...
 
For Want of a Paragraph is now available for purchase as Kindle ebook as part of the first phase of publications from Sea Lion Press.


Featuring a short afterword exploring the real world backdrop of the story, as well as some potential self-criticism as to why events contained within are a little fanciful, it can be bought by clicking on the cover above (which was designed by the extremely talented Lord Roem).

Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed FWOAP the first time around. The Kindle edition is the same story, but if you enjoyed it so much you'd like to read it again in a more comfortable format, or give it as a gift, please feel free to give it a whirl.

Best wishes to all.
 
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