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jana_denardoThis was conceived as an talk about alternative history but alternative reality is probably a better term for it.
Alternative history, it’s not really my bailiwick, not like for some of my flist. That said, I suppose you could argue that the addition any paranormals automatically makes it alternative, especially if the paranormals are known entities like they are in The Soldiers of the Sun series and in the new one I’m working on (and for that matter one of my non-erotic stories as well), that I haven’t yet named; let’s call it Academy Demonica for now, since it’s about a university where demon hunters are trained.
I’m not talking major changes in history here. Nothing like what if the South won the Civil War or Japan won WWI. I’ll leave sweeping historical changes to the alternative history pros like Harry Turtledove. My stories are a bit simpler in nature. In both cases, it’s at its base as simple change; there is incontrovertible proof that demons exist both free-form and able to possess humans. That one fact means things have to change. An easy change could be a stronger believe in a deity. To balance that, there is proof that faith and holy images and objects of faith (holy water, varja and bell etc) all work. This could certainly put the idea of one path to God (whatever that path) to the question. Atheists could spin this as less demonic and more interdimensional travelers with aversions to certain things. Fundamentalists would have more difficulty proving their point that the Bible is the only way when a Shinto prayer is just as affective as some holy water.
Every day life would probably not be drastically changed but there could be more fear of being out after dark but in the modern age that as probably been reduced. There could be a quicker response to angry people if it were known that strong negative emotions predisposed someone to demonic possession. People might have ‘faith kits’ in the house or car just in case.
What I could see however are changes to media and entertainment. Would Temple be able to go see a Hammer movie in the 1930’s or would we never develop an interest in horror flicks. Would Gideon be faced with a slew of Damon or Rosemary Baby jokes in the modern day thanks to his half-demon lineage? Would there ever have been a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a group known as the Watchers if real life groups existed doing the same thing? (man if there weren’t several friends of mine would have had to find something else to get their PhD’s in without horror entertainment).
I guess it could go either way. With the real horror out there and active as a threat, the populace might not want to see it on the big and small screens. On the other hand, war is real, serial killers are real, and we can’t get enough of it. If anything, I think it is possible that there would be even more books, shows and movies about the topic because it is real, because it could happen and that makes it that much more exciting.
I could also see quackery taken to new heights (and perhaps a delay in the development of modern psychiatry if things could be blamed on demonic possession). Late night ads might blare with kits you could use on a blind date to make sure you’re not going home with a demon. This pill drives the devil right out of your unruly teen. This pill puts a minor demon in your penis making it bigger and better.
How else might things change? Thoughts?
Alternative history, it’s not really my bailiwick, not like for some of my flist. That said, I suppose you could argue that the addition any paranormals automatically makes it alternative, especially if the paranormals are known entities like they are in The Soldiers of the Sun series and in the new one I’m working on (and for that matter one of my non-erotic stories as well), that I haven’t yet named; let’s call it Academy Demonica for now, since it’s about a university where demon hunters are trained.
I’m not talking major changes in history here. Nothing like what if the South won the Civil War or Japan won WWI. I’ll leave sweeping historical changes to the alternative history pros like Harry Turtledove. My stories are a bit simpler in nature. In both cases, it’s at its base as simple change; there is incontrovertible proof that demons exist both free-form and able to possess humans. That one fact means things have to change. An easy change could be a stronger believe in a deity. To balance that, there is proof that faith and holy images and objects of faith (holy water, varja and bell etc) all work. This could certainly put the idea of one path to God (whatever that path) to the question. Atheists could spin this as less demonic and more interdimensional travelers with aversions to certain things. Fundamentalists would have more difficulty proving their point that the Bible is the only way when a Shinto prayer is just as affective as some holy water.
Every day life would probably not be drastically changed but there could be more fear of being out after dark but in the modern age that as probably been reduced. There could be a quicker response to angry people if it were known that strong negative emotions predisposed someone to demonic possession. People might have ‘faith kits’ in the house or car just in case.
What I could see however are changes to media and entertainment. Would Temple be able to go see a Hammer movie in the 1930’s or would we never develop an interest in horror flicks. Would Gideon be faced with a slew of Damon or Rosemary Baby jokes in the modern day thanks to his half-demon lineage? Would there ever have been a Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a group known as the Watchers if real life groups existed doing the same thing? (man if there weren’t several friends of mine would have had to find something else to get their PhD’s in without horror entertainment).
I guess it could go either way. With the real horror out there and active as a threat, the populace might not want to see it on the big and small screens. On the other hand, war is real, serial killers are real, and we can’t get enough of it. If anything, I think it is possible that there would be even more books, shows and movies about the topic because it is real, because it could happen and that makes it that much more exciting.
I could also see quackery taken to new heights (and perhaps a delay in the development of modern psychiatry if things could be blamed on demonic possession). Late night ads might blare with kits you could use on a blind date to make sure you’re not going home with a demon. This pill drives the devil right out of your unruly teen. This pill puts a minor demon in your penis making it bigger and better.
How else might things change? Thoughts?
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Date: 2012-07-28 07:36 pm (UTC)That's one reason why, in my world, real magic is referred to with specific terms--such as "mage" for a real, magic-using person, as opposed to an illusionist or stage magician, which do still exist. Magic as a science and magic as a craft both exist but only a few people are aware of the former, and what I did was have the church be responsible for that--in early centuries they went after magic in this world, I just made it real in my own.
Thus I could easily see things just going overboard in worlds where magic is real -- take the palm reader on the corner and double it. My biggest theory on writing is that, no matter what time or place they're from, people are people. They love being scared, they WANT to believe, and they are skeptics. Put it all together and I don't think it's a far stretch to see Hammer films in a world where terrors are real, because all you have to do is make them EVEN BIGGER, EVEN SCARIER, EVEN MORE GRUESOME.
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Date: 2012-07-28 08:02 pm (UTC)Your last statement is pretty much how I see it too. I think it would be a dreary world with no monster movies or that kind of escapism. I suppose if I were writing a dystopia, that's how it would be (probably one of the reason they aren't my favorite subgenres)
And you're right, it would be very easy to overdo it. For instance, in your world if magic were more prevalent it is conceivable that the internet would never have been developed since magic would have allowed for something similiar for example (Like Wolfram and Hart's magic book that could be ANY other book in the library)
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