fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

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!event: welcome picnic

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

Some extra tables had been set up in the shade of the trees on the lawn, away from the buffet in spots where it might be less crowded and much quieter. Well, aside from the mariachi band, but at least their music was entertaining? They might even take requests!

[OCD is up, have at it! This is the FIRST post for general mingling. Please use this post first, if your browser can handle the comment load. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here and there's more room for mingling here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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"And within five years you've got trains all over," Petra said, completely dubious now.

"Of course not all over," Ulrik shook his head. "But within the USE, yes, there are a couple rail lines. The Americans apparently felt rapid transportation a priority."

"What the hell is the USE?" And why should the Americans' priorities mean anything to everybody else...? Petra was frankly amazed they hadn't all been burned at the stake as witches within a month.

Oh, there were certainly some who'd had that initial reaction. By now, though, most of Europe had reached the conclusion that 'god works in mysterious ways'. "The United States of Europe. It won't exist where you're from, I know."

"We have the European Union?" Which definitely hadn't felt the need to name itself after the USA. "But it's not like a country or anything, just, I don't know." She wasn't clear on all that. "An alliance?" She shook her head. "Are you--do you seriously still expect me to buy all this? I mean, it's a smart way to prank someone on America-centrism or whatever that's called, but I'm not buying it at all." Because she was the sort of person who didn't automatically assume Europeans knew American geography, yes.

Well, the USE had been named by Americans. And then given legitimacy by the king of Sweden, who'd subsequently declared himself Emperor of said new nation. As you do.

"You just informed me that the talking pink pony is, in fact, real, and you're having trouble believing anything I say couldn't be anything but a prank?" Ulrik asked her, rummaging around in his pockets as he did so. Pulling out a small leather pouch, he spilled out a number of coins as well as a bundle of bills. The coins were Danish rigsdalar, imprinted with his father's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_IV_of_Denmark) face. And the bills... the bills were USE dollars, remarkably similar in design to their US counterparts, only in lieu of any presidents there was Gustav Adolph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Adolph). "I know it must seem quite odd, but like I said, I am accustomed to something of an 'everything is nuts' curve, as you put it."

"Well, 'five years ago we were medieval--Renaissance? Enlightenment? I get my historical periods mixed up--Europe and now no one blinks at trains and we have a totally different system of government named after the United States?' Come on. You have to admit that sounds pretty improbable. I'm not an expert but infrastructure takes, like, time? I mean it takes years and years to build like a rail line now, and we already have all the mines with modern technology and factories and things," Petra pointed out. "And I just...I don't know, it kind of gives me the heebies that Europe renamed itself after America, and not just because America doesn't exist yet but because this idea that America thinks it's the center of the universe is a huge deal that pisses off a lot of people. Probably some people at this school. I mean, I think it's pretty gross myself. But I will give you that printing money for a prank would be above and beyond."

"It's not as if it's the entirety of Europe," Ulrik said. "Just- more or less the portion that would've one day become Germany. Before the Americans it was just a collection of city-states constantly being ravaged by one mercenary army or another. They protected their territory, and started taking in refugees from the surrounding area," he shrugged. "And for some strange reason," he said in a tone that belied that he didn't really think it strange at all, "the Germans were really rather enamored of the idea of a republican government."

"'The United States of Europe' really did not make that clear. At all," Petra told him. "Why couldn't they just name it Germany if it's Germany?" And the part where the Americans were apparently the saviors of Europe was again with giving her the heebies, but this guy didn't get that or have the cultural context to get that, she guessed--to him the Americans were just the people who showed up and, like, completely changed everything and that was awesome.

Unfortunately, to Petra, the Americans, including herself, were frequently the people who showed up and changed everything and then it turned out to suck in new and unforeseen ways. And then the Corporation tried to kill you.

Especially because, "Yeah, that is really weird. That Europeans at that point would suddenly decide a republic sounded awesome. But you're saying it's what happened, so. Okay."

"Because it's not Germany," Ulrik explained patiently. "At best, it was the Germanies. A bunch of city-states being ruled over by squabbling Princes." He raised an eyebrow at her. "The common people, the ones whose farms were routinely burned to the ground, their women raped, their men murdered, and their children abducted to join mercenary armies were, yes, of the opinion that a group of people who actively opposed such things, and had a system of government whose leaders were actually chosen by the people they ruled over, was in fact a good thing."

Edited 2012-05-05 19:45 (UTC)

Petra raised her eyebrow right back at him and said, "Okay, we seem to be having two different conversations now? Because okay, I totally buy that that happened," even if she still thought five years was an awfully short time for change that massive, "because I don't think you made fake money for a prank," even though she could still see some European kid (probably Kenzi) showing up here and being all, 'Oh yes, the Americans came in my universe and showed us the error of our European ways and now everything is so much better thanks to America!' just to mess with the locals. Especially since some of them might buy it. Which was ultra depressing.

"And look, I totally get, like, people thinking that sounded great. It's just that, you know, according to my history lessons if some Americans hadn't showed up with superior technology and weaponry the aristocracy wouldn't have decided it sounded like a good idea or got overthrown because they didn't decide that for at least a couple hundred more years, and a lot of modern history is Americans showing up somewhere with superior technology and weapons and going, 'hey, let us show you the light, and did we mention we have bombs.' And it's frankly gross. So I mean, great if it's working for you, although I think you're a little blase about how the history those people came from is being completely written over--thanks so much for not giving a fuck that my state and by extension me might not ever exist, by the way--but the way you're saying it happened sounds like America being imperialists again for someone else's own good, when they didn't know the way they were doing it sucked until America showed up to tell them. And name the place after themselves. Which feels gross to me. Again, great if it's working for you, I just don't like imperialism, I think it sucks. Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick here, I don't know, but, the United States of Europe?"

She was thinking about the island again, she realized, how the Corporation had taken over and shipped Tane's people out because they weren't using the place the way they thought it should be used, and then they'd completely wrecked it and, you know, turned it into a death trap.

Edited 2012-05-06 01:04 (UTC)

"I never claimed I did not 'give a fuck' about your world," Ulrik countered. "But nobody knows how the Ring of Fire that brought Grantville happened or why. We're learning to live with it, up-timer and down-timer alike. They're adjusting to how the German people do things just as much as the Germans are adjusting to their ideas. The states that joined the USE did so of their own accord. In fact, the only nation conquered by anyone in recent years was my own. By the Swedes." He sighed. "I will not claim that the up-timers are saints, or even that all of them are entirely well-meaning, because that would be ludicrous. But in general, they've done more good than harm. On a rather personal level, according to an encyclopedia article I read, I was slated to die a rather brutal death what would've been three years ago from my perspective. Because of the changes brought about by the Ring of Fire, I did not. Much like you, I'm rather fond of the notion of myself existing." A beat. "I'm sorry," he added. "I did not intend to start an argument. We can change the subject, if you'd prefer."

Petra was still, like, completely appalled here, but.

"Wait. The Ring of Fire?"

Edited 2012-05-06 02:51 (UTC)

"The term that was coined to describe the- phenomenon, Act of God, call it what you will, that brought Grantville to Thuringia. I'm told it's because the air seemed to shimmer with some strange light at the moment the event occured."

"Did they go down, down, down, and the flames went higher?"

"...What?"

"Did it burn, burn, burn, the ring of fire?" Petra asked innocently. If one disregarded the spark of mischief in her eyes.

"Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that you are teasing me?" Ulrik had to ask.

"I just want to know if, bound by wild desire, they fell into a ring of fire," Petra returned, like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

"You clearly know something that I do not," Ulrik didn't pout, exactly, but the look he gave her definitely had something petulant about it.

Petra burst out laughing, unable to contain it any longer. "It's a Johnny Cash song!"

"I haven't had the chance to listen to very much up-time music!" Ulrik defended his ignorance, although the fact that the corner of his mouth was twitching up in a smile likely betrayed that he wasn't really upset about anything.

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Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

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