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[meta] A distinct imbalance of knowledge
11-03-2013, 07:29 PM
In order to bring the page size down to something more reasonable (read: can be grasped in a single quick reading), I just moved the "politics" section of the Crystal Millennium page onto http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... Millennium]its own page, and left a brief summary on the main Senshi page.
This means that the largest single non-story page on the wiki is currently the write-up for the VVS. (One is tempted to look at that page and see what should be spun off into separate articles... but that's Mal's baby.) The main "Crystal Millennium" page is now the third-largest non-story page on the wiki, with the "United Federation of Planets" page currently in the number-2 slot. (One is also tempted to look at the main Trekkie page and see what should be spun off into separate articles... but that's also Mal's baby.)
We've been developing the Senshi quite a bit - the "Politics of the Crystal Millennium" page is larger than either "The Wizarding World" page or the "Galactic Republic" page, or the "Independent Faction" and "Interstellar Alliance" pages put together. (Heck, we know more about the very-minor Galactican faction than we know about the Fivers.)
Anybody want to develop the Major Factions that aren't Trekkies or Senshi?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
I have planned a little bit more happening between the EU/JAXA group and the Galactic Republic... but at the moment I am busy with a new story about CERN and the Little Big Bang Labs. 
(edit)
Now that I have mentioned a "plan for the warsies", I think I should just sketch it too.
The thing will happen 2-4 years after the Aurora station delivered the first Helium-3 to Earth... there will be some attempt at political backstabbing when governments on Earth finally learn the "dirty secret" of the Aurora station (the handwaved extension)... still, the Helium-3 is flowing and they run the "spearhead of progress of Europe/Japan" number for quite some time, which results in an unexpected outcome.
After some back and forth, some party takes a deep breath and proposes to extend the Aurora operation together with the "Fen at Saturn"... which might (still a little bit unclear from the plot line I have in mind) with a larger joined station at Saturn to mine more Helium-3 for both parties... which will most likely get the name "Bespin Cloud City" (I don't think the Warsies will agree to a different one ^^).
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The easiest way to do that is to bring them into a story somehow...
But for the life of me I can't think how. They're quite far out and nobody really has much of an affiliation with them - and neither are any of us writing active Wizards.
I think somewhere in the vast reams of kipple I generate, I gave them a secret redoubt in the Belt called The Nevernever, that was accidentally uncovered during the Search for Sato leading to some diplomatic ructions between the Wizards and the Millenium. But that particular bit has never been seen outside of IRC so it's not canon. They probably have more than a few small keeps and Covenants out in the Belt - both as final refuges and quiet places to do research on things they aren't ready for the rest of the world to see.
Part of the problem might be the perception that they're a single-fandom group. And a fandom with a much smaller universale scope that Star-Trek, or Star Wars, or Superheroics, or Mecha.... or several others for that matter. Part of the reason the Millenium is so popular is because it's so diverse in fandom and scope. The Wizarding world is just for the Harry Potter fen - the scope is narrowed immediately.
But there's plenty of magic-types out there. They've probably got Dresden-people and some of the other urban-fantasy types mixed in. And Arse-Magica. Old-school fantasy-magics. Maybe a little diversification to include other sources might be nice. Even subtle things like message couriers being known as redcaps, or the Dresden rules of magic applying to handwavium technology. The leader of the Unspeakables taking the name Blackstaff. Maybe a little Dipsomancy on the side....
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Well, maybe we should be saying the Wizards aren't just Harry Potter Fen - they can be "modern magic Fen" instead. That draws in the Charles de Lint fen, the Mercedes Lackey fen, some of the C. S. Lewis fen, and so on.
This still leaves the Senshi as the largest multi-base faction, but their bases become "magical girl fen and action girl Fen" rather than specific shows. Thus, no serious retconning or wiki-surgery is necessary.
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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We also know that the Technomages of Fiver fandom are closely allied with the Wizards; it probably would be fair to say that they're a subfaction of both.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Further thoughts on redefining the bases of the major factions:
The Trekkies are the "Space Exploration Fen", while the Warsies are the "Space Navy Fen". Not a perfect mix, given DS9, but it does allow for a definite rivalry. Each side thinks the other one got it almost right... and they both wonder about the "Space Western Fen" Whedonites.
The Fivers are the "Space Colonization Fen" - which would bring the L5 Society (and possibly the Mars Society) under their umbrella. (Where's their HQ? Anywhere in space!)
As mentioned above, the Wizards are the "Modern Magic Fen" and the Senshi are the "Magical Girl Fen plus Action Girl Fen".
In each case, the factions are identified by the most popular story of each subgenre in the latter half of the first decade of the 21st century (as seen by popular culture - the Crystal Millennium are the "Senshi" instead of the "TSAB" because Nanoha hasn't been on North American TV). The separate minor factions that line up with any of these can be explained as groups who didn't like the party line of the major factions (or groups who eventually join up with the best-match major factions, the way the VVS and Trekkies got together).
Does this sound reasonable to everyone?
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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That sounds suspiciously reasonable. Like, almost too reasonable for us.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
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Yeah, but it seems to be how we're heading in the one-on-one game that Ross Van Loan and I are playing. Not that that's a reason to make it happen in mainline Fenspace, of course.
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We don't have to retcon it in, just make it a part of the story that there's some coalescing, coalitioning, and merging of similarly-minded groups.
Not neccessarily every similarly-minded group will fall into any particular coalition, so there's some room for oddities (like the Macross fans ending up with the Rockhounds, for example, or the Soviet/Federation alliance).
Have it be something that happens over time, not right away.
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I always had the feeling that the Wizards stayed mostly among themselves... maybe we need something to change this.
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I would think that after the hit they took during the Boskone War, mainly because they were so reclusive, they would make some deliberate efforts to connect with the other factions. That could be some good story fodder right there.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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And we know in CITD timeline, one ended up the head of XCOM or something like that, yes?
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ECSNorway Wrote:We don't have to retcon it in, just make it a part of the story that there's some coalescing, coalitioning, and merging of similarly-minded groups.
Not neccessarily every similarly-minded group will fall into any particular coalition, so there's some room for oddities (like the Macross fans ending up with the Rockhounds, for example, or the Soviet/Federation alliance). Well, the Soviets and the Feds are both heavy on space exploration (as opposed to exploitation or defense), so that match makes sense to me.
ECSNorway Wrote:Have it be something that happens over time, not right away. Oh, definitely - follow the Crystal Millennium's lead, but over a longer timetable.
EDIT: Come to think of it, the Soviet/Federation alliance could be what kicks off the meme of merging some but not all of the like-minded minor factions into the matching major factions... and they'd consider long and hard, on both sides, before actually taking that step.
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
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Proposal: Add this to the "Faction Guide" page (preferably with additions from other Collective members)
== A Brief History of Factions ==
In the days of the [[First Fen], every group that made it into space formed its own subculture - there were ''Star Trek'' Fen, ''Star Wars'' Fen, ''Harry Potter'' Fen, ''Sailor Moon'' Fen, ''Doctor Who'' Fen, and so on. But groups the size of a hamlet have trouble staying alive in space without outside assistance, let alone actually doing something. Thus, many of the various like-minded groups grew together in the first half-decade of Fenspace - the various settlements, stations, and ships that were patterning themselves directly off of ''Star Trek'' became the United Federation of Planets, the various magical-girl fandoms and action-girl fandoms combined into the Crystal Millennium, and so on.
Social dynamics were pretty much put on hold during the [[Boskone War]. Working together as the [[Fenspace Convention] became the "new normal," but individual groups stayed pretty much as they were; very few people wanted to change the diplomatic relationships during wartime, lest those changes cause problems for [[Great Justice] (and, later, the [[Space Patrol]).
Once the war was over, people started looking at how to make things better. Of course, one person's "better" was another's "worse," so factional differences began to matter again, but not to the extent that they had before SOS-Con. The Trekkies were becoming the "Space Exploration Fen", while the Warsies were the "Space Navy Fen."not a perfect split, given ''DS9'', but it's essentially correct in broad strokes. The Trekkie/Warsie rivalry lives on in that each group thinks the other one got it ''almost'' right... and each group wonders why the "Space Adventure Fen" Whedonites haven't joined their faction yet. The "Space Colonization Fen" Fivers wonder when all three of those groups are going to settle down, stop concentrating on their differences, and pay attention to what they all have in common. People who are Fen, want to be in an organized group, but aren't Sci-Fi Fen look at the "Modern Magic Fen" Potterites, the "Magical Girl Fen plus Action Girl Fen" Senshi, and other factions to fill their needs.
In some cases, groups have gone beyond allying and have merged with each other, following the lead of the Sozvezdie Soviet and the Federation. A large fraction of the Macross Fen have ended up with Greenwood, usually working at various Rockhounds projects; this has not turned Marsbase Sara into a Greenwood company town, though.At least, not yet. Some people think it's only a matter of time before the Senshi, the Supers, and Stellvia Corporation formally merge, although it's unknown how many of those people are Supers, Senshi, or Stellvians. And there are a very few Convention members out there who hope that ''all'' the factions will blend together into a true nation with each current faction focusing on what it does best, but there's no sign of that sort of federalism taking place in the Convention any time soon.
--
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
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Hm. Script doctor powers, ACTIVATE!
Quote:== A Brief History of Factions ==
Factions evolved from the groups - specifically the larger groups - who were the first to effectively exploit handwavium. Aside from outliers like [[Stellvia Corporation] (an effort funded in essence by one wealthy man) or the ''[[Grover's Corners]'' (consisting of a small group of close friends pooling resources) and individual efforts like [[Katz Schroedinger], most of the people who went to space and thrived there had the resources of a larger group backing them up. Most of these groups were fan clubs of one variety or another, and this gave the [[First Fen] factions a tendency towards self-selection. Star Trek fans would pool together with other Trek fans, Star Wars fans would do likewise, fandoms which were too diffuse would cluster around whoever seemed to be doing best at the time, etc.
The first half-decade of Fenspace saw the formation of the major factions as we know them today, mostly formed around the larger fan clubs of the pre-handwavium age, when such clubs existed. When they didn't Fen would gather under the banner of the nearest proactive group - the [[Crystal Millennium] became a major faction by absorbing anime and action-girl fandoms. The social dynamics leading to this fragmentation were put on hold during the [[Boskone War], as the necessities of the conflict forced all the factions to work together under the [[Fenspace Convention]. Increased cross-faction cooporation became the new normal during the war and after it, as institutions like [[Great Justice] and the [[Space Patrol] depended on trans-factional unity to keep going.
In the post-war period the factions continue to exist, but as time goes on they've become increasingly generalized beyond their respective "flagship fandoms:" The [[Trekkies] are evolving into a faction that focuses on deep space exploration and colonization, the [[Warsies] are evolving into the generic Space Navy faction, focused on defending Fenspace as a whole, and the [[Whedonites] and the [[Fivers] are evolving towards Space Settlement, backfilling the territory discovered by the Federation and defended by the Republic. Other factions like the [[Potterites] and [[Senshi] continue to grow by absorbing microfactions and individual Fen who want the security of numbers but don't fit into the science-fiction background of the other majors.
Absorption and consolidation is the major theme of factional dynamics in the 2020s. The merger of the [[Sozvezdie Soviet] with the Federation is only the most public example. Several microfactions devoted to the ''Macross'' series have become part of the Greenwood combine. Some observers think it only a matter of time before the Senshi, the [[Supers] and Stellvia unify. And of course there are cross-factional regional unification movements on [[Luna], the cislunar Lagrange points and [[Mars] that could see larger factions arising. A full-fledged unified Fenspace is not likely in the near-term, however.
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Quote: this has not turned Marsbase Sara into a Greenwood company town, though.
It helps that corporate management in Greenwood actively opposes any attempts to make it so. That said, there -are- a few ambitious middle-management types who think it would be a good idea and make them look good when the annual performance review comes up. The last such middle-manager to come to CEO Lambretta's attention is currently enjoying the scenery from his new office in Kittikut, where he is acting as administrative assistant to the head of Greenwood's petroleum sales division.
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Two months (roughly) with no comments - "A Brief History of Factions" is now in the Wiki.
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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