blah the Prussian

I'm not talking about Saudi Arabia, I'm talking about decent countries like Jordan, or Iraq, who might as well be our protectorate.

This is partially the IS's mess, though. How do we expect to be trusted by our allies if we say "clean up your own mess" the instant thigs get marginally difficult?

Terrible, terrible idea. Europe has so much to experience that you will not have enough time to take it all in.

I would compare it to letting the Soviets beat the Nazis on their own. I definitely would not trust the Saudis to make the Middle East a pleasant place to live after the fall of ISIS. I favor a personal union of Iraq, Syria, and Jordan, myself.

There are plenty of works of fiction in space where powerful monarchies exist and are depicted in a positive light; Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Honor Harrington come to mind.

Well, I don't masturbate to anime. I masturbate to 19th century military uniforms. Knowing me, why would you be surprised?

What I was trying to convey was that after Anderson retired, he watched the country he created fall into tyranny, and so he went into denial. He wants to believe that the Peoples Republic is a utopia because he doesn't want to admit to himself that his country is a hellhole and he could have prevented it. In case it wasn't obvious, he is my attempt to deconstruct the Camus archetype; it always bothered me how there is the tendency to act like people who were fighting for evil out of loyalty rather than genuine belief are somewhat admirable; if anything they are worse than the true believers because they know what they are doing is wrong. As such, Anderson is a man whose character arc is essentially owning up to his mistakes. Regarding the Politburo, I should probably change the plan to just be that capturing a member would strike a great blow. Anderson makes the exchange because the rest of the Politburo order him to do so. He isn't loyal to them as individuals, but he is loyal to the state, and since they are the leaders of the state, he obeys them.

No, its fine, the whole point of this thread is for people to tear into the outline for the story. I'd prefer more criticism of the basic plot, though.

Earth isn't the center of all political decisions, but it is the economic center of the galaxy. The colonies had a large amount of self rule, and it was only earth that was keeping them from fighting each other. Thats why the wars of unification happened following the destruction of Earth.

Hah! Already in Prague, bitches!

Well, no, obviously the main problem is the fact that a bunch of rapists are being found not guilty, because Sweden does not have disproportionate murder rates.

The solution to that would seem to be for Sweden to get its act together in its handling of rape cases. Not as many people would rape if they thought they wouldn't get away with it.

8% seems like an acceptable number to me, although of course if it could be reduced to zero that would be desirable. With Sweden, it is in their best interest to accept immigrants, refugee or not, because of their plummeting birth rate. They are making up for it with immigration, which seems like a fine strategy to me.

Okay, the event probably actually happened, It's just the tone of the article that concerned me, and how obviously biased it was. I would like reliable statistics on the refugee to non refugee ratio that makes it into Germany. You might not have been playing the reverse racism card, but the article clearly was; even the title does so, and the links refer to an "invasion".

Orban doesn't have to let migrants go through Hungary, but he's still being a dick about it. The war in Ukraine is far, far smaller scale than the war in Syria. These refugees can go to the 75% of Ukraine that is away from the war, while all of Syria is a warzone in one way or another. Sorry, but no reverse racism for you.Edit: Also, the fact that you apparently read that source makes me extremely concerned for your intelligence.

But he doesn't have to follow that plan, and obviously he hasn't been. The problem is that he is obstructing migrants, period, not just ones that want to live in Hungary.

The EU made it clear that the migrants would be just passing through, and would eventually settle in Germany. He was and is actively trying to obstruct the EU refugee policy which does not harm his country.

Much improved. I would also recommend that you develop your own style; something that makes your LPs unique.

Well, I can agree on that. Our allies in Iraq and Jordan are fighting a war, and we should be helping them because that is what a good ally does.

What about refugees in Germany, France, and the Nordics, all of whom are doing well economically? It should be noted that, in general, countries experiencing economic difficulty are not taking in Refugees.

Question: what do you two mean by "nationalist"? There are plenty of nationalist movements in Europe and they are not pretty. I don't know how prominent Viktor Orban and his wall are in American news, but he's a total asshole who's always making speeches about how It is Hungary's duty to save Europe from Muslims like they did in the 1500s (what he means, of course, is when Suileiman the Magnificent annihilated their army and killed their king in one battle, and the Hungarians went to the Hapsburgs and begged them to rule Hungary in exchange for not being Muslim, but I digress). I'm fine with having pride in one's country, but not with the kind of Rhetoric that Orban and Trump constantly spout out.

Alright, here we go for the second part. We open with Anderson greeting his son, George, in the lobby of a jail. George is known for having anti-government sympathies, and is constantly being arrested by the secret police, however his father bails him out every time. In their transport, George expresses his frustration at the government, and thinks that Anderson should take over. Anderson replies that he did not fight the revolution to become military dictator. He furthermore states that in the People's Republic, if the people want the Politburo to change, the Politburo will change. Meanwhile, Princess Natalia is being tortured by the chief of the secret police, Andrew Stevenson. Stevenson demands to know what the Empire's battle plans are, but Natalia once again refuses to tell him. Frustrated, Stevenson takes the recording of her torture and sends it to her sister, deciding he might as well use it to lower morale. On Ausozera, Sophia orders her butler to dispose of the tape, not wanting to see it for obvious reasons. She then heads to the command center, where Antonov, who has been relegated to a strategic role due to his tactical failure against Anderson, briefs them on the state of the war. The Empire has amassed a massive fleet at Ausozera, ready to strike at the heart of the People's Republic. Antonov explains that the People's Republic is a highly centralized state, and that as such to take the capitol would most likely result in central authority collapsing. Arthur, Sophia, and their generals agree that a strike towards the capitol, originally Bellum but rechristened Marx following the Revolution, is for the best. That settled, they retire to their quarters. Sophia still has to attend to her political duties, and an election within the Empire is coming up. The charismatic Xia Jun is running for the position of Prime Minister for the Nationalist Party, and he gives a speech in the Imperial Capitol, Planet Pyotr, declaring that the Empire must stand strong against the People's Republic. This is met with applause. It is clear that Jun is set to defeat the incumbent Prime Minister in the coming elections. A series of flashbacks go into Anderson's backstory. He was born a minor noble on a key planet, but made friends with some of his serfs. He aways was fascinated with military history, and wanted to be a Royal Admiral. One day, though, his reactionary father found out about his friendship with the serfs, and tried to kill his best friend. He succeeded, but Anderson found out and shot his father to death. Realizing what he had done, he fled his estates to avoid prosecution. For 5 years Anderson lived as a fugitive, before he fell in with a group of Communist rebels. His charisma and strategic/tactical brilliance quickly won the rebels a series of battles (note: if you think it is implausible for an aristocrat to be Communist, Lenin was an aristocrat). Under his leadership, the rebellion blossomed into an all out revolution, and he obviously won it. However, Anderson had no interest in politics, and more than anything did not want to be remembered as a figure like Cromwell or Caesar. He thought of the People's Republic as his greatest achievement, and so he watched in denial as it got more and more tyrannical, deluding himself into thinking that what was happening was the will of the people. Cut to Anderson commanding a fleet over a planet in rebellion. The Politburo orders him to use nuclear weapons against the populace. At this, George enters, and confronts his father about if he is going to obey these orders. Anderson replies that he must obey the will of the Politburo, and of the people. George loses his cool, demanding to know if Anderson really thinks that this is the will of the people. At this, Anderson breaks down. He finally admits that it was he who helped create the Orwellian nightmare that exists today, and that it was his inaction that allowed the state to devolve into tyranny. Anderson finally steps out of denial. At that moment, word comes in from Planet Marx that the Imperial Fleet is approaching. Anderson declares that first he will defeat the forces of the old order and then he will set the new order right. The two fleets meet above Planet Marx. Sophia is now in full command of the Imperial Fleet. Unwilling to fall into the same trap a second time, She has decided to borrow a strategy from Shaka Zulu and use two spearheads to break through enemy lines. Suddenly, though, a transmission from Stevenson interrupts the battle. He demands that Sophia and Arthur call off their forces, or he will kill Natalia. He switches to a screen showing Natalia kneeling in a guillotine, and, rather than shake her head no, she is begging for her sister to save her. Sophia and Arthur consult with each other, but ultimately decide that it is their duty as rulers to fight. Sophia orders an attack. The blade falls. Stevenson then begins executing any and all political prisoners, as well as their families. Anderson is rendered speechless by this atrocity. The public executions of political prisoners is causing more than a few crews to mutiny. Anderson weighs his chances, and realizes that he would have better chances fighting elsewhere. He declares that the Politburo are an illegitimate government, and he will stay loyal to the original revolution. This is met with wide cheers by his men. Anderson and most of the flee withdraw. Sophia and Arthur are pleasantly surprised by this development, but Arthur is still furious about the execution of Natalia, who he always saw as a little sister to an even greater extent than Sophia did. Meanwhile, the politburo is in a panic. Imperial troops surround their compound, but Stevenson manages to escape. Arthur and his bodyguards pursue him. Stevenson flees to his mansion, and when Arthur forces his way in, Stevenson's young son stands in front of him. The boy begs Arthur not to kill his father. Arthur demands he get out of the way, or he will shoot. The child refuses, so Arthur opens fire, killing both Stevenson and his son. His bodyguard forces his way in at this moment, and Arthur lies and says that Stevenson used his son as a human shield and that he tried to save him, but there was nothing he could do. Meanwhile, a large amount of planets are rebelling against the authority of the People's Republic. Some of the rebels declare for Arthur, but others are just angry. The People's Republic descends into lawlessness. Anderson is still out there, preparing for his finest hour. A victory parade is held on Planet Marx, as Arthur declares the Kingdom officially restored. And yet, it remains a hollow victory. The war is not yet over, and then, Arthur and Sophia must win the peace.

Nothing wrong with free stuff. I like free stuff. Although I will say that that last sentence was actually pretty funny. I really can't stand Clinton.

Fair enough. However, it would seem to me that either I have been living under a rock or neither of those are mainstream, or at least not as main stream as, for example, the Hunger Games or Harry Potter (Dystopia, Fantasy). I chose the galactic setting partially because I wanted to do war in a non Middle Ages setting, and I didn't want nuclear weapons to be a big problem. Once again, I suppose I could change it, but I would need to change a good deal of the battles; for example, the structure of the final fight would have to be completely different. The character of Anderson will be explored more in the next part. Finally, I suppose it would probably make more sense for a single member of the Politburo to be visiting one planet. You misunderstand. Communism does fall. This is Putin's Russia allied to modern China. Basically, Russia and China are already heavily controlled by companies, and the USA is going down that route. At this stage in Russia, for example, Putin could fall, but the oligarchs would probably retain their influence. In any case, of course there is more history to explore on Earth between the beginning of space colonization and the nuclear apocalypse, but to even briefly go over it would require an entire chapter of pure exposition, which I don't want. I dont disagree with your interpretation. I just said succumbed because Prussia and Austria ended up better than Jacobin France, especially under Robespierre, and, generally, I think it would have been better had Louis XVI been able to lead an enlightened absolutist state. I am an adherent to the Great Human theory, and that is a minor theme of the story; Anderson is a great man, but he does not finish what he started. This results in the rise of the Politburo, and the creation of a state worse than what Anderson was fighting. I could engage you in a massive discussion of historiography, but lets just agree to disagree for now. Regarding an author tract, I don't think that author tracts are always bad. For example, "Animal Farm" is basically George Orwell saying that Stalin is evil, and it is a great book. I am trying to make this more of an "Animal Farm" and less of an "Atlas Shrugged". In any case, the Constitutional Monarchical system of government will cause problems later on, specifically in the final part, and Anderson, while it might not have been shown in the synopsis, is a genuinely good person. Once again, more about him will be revealed in the second part. The focus of the story is mainly on the relationship between Arthur and Sophia. This part focuses on their relationship at its high point, when they are adopted siblings and fighting together in a war against an Orwellian state. It will only be downhill from here, trust me.

But that is completely implausible. It goes against FDR's nature, and it goes against Stalin's nature. In any case, the idea is that it was a complete accident that the easterners are good and the westerners are evil, because 100 years before the story starts both are feudalistic corporate hellholes; the Easterners just so happened to have a leader who gave a shit and was competent enough to make a difference. Its for the same reason that the French succumbed to revolution while the Austrians and Prussians didn't; Frederick the Great and Joseph II were able and willing to improve the rights of commoners, while Louis XVI had his heart in the right place but didn't have the will to break the power of the nobility. The central themes of the story would be what being a leader does to a person as will become clear later on, and that would work in any setting; its just that dystopian earths and fantasy worlds are overdone as settings, while I don't think there has been a space opera in recent memory.