I mean, one thing that makes unusually bad TLs unusually bad is their sheer length. It means that they take their fundamentally unsound premises to bizarre directions. It meant that Queen Nixon went from “Eisenhower passed the Voting Rights Act with no backlash whatsoever” to “Queen Nixon” to “Mandela supports apartheid”.
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Least favorite alt-history story?
- Thread starter Resurgam
- Start date
I mean, one thing that makes unusually bad TLs unusually bad is their sheer length. It means that they take their fundamentally unsound premises to bizarre directions. It meant that Queen Nixon went from “Eisenhower passed the Voting Rights Act with no backlash whatsoever” to “Queen Nixon” to “Mandela supports apartheid”.
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah the lack of a narrative is a feature, not a bug in the Bad TL system.I mean, one thing that makes unusually bad TLs unusually bad is their sheer length. It means that they take their fundamentally unsound premises to bizarre directions. It meant that Queen Nixon went from “Eisenhower passed the Voting Rights Act with no backlash whatsoever” to “Queen Nixon” to “Mandela supports apartheid”.
That's the thing that's put me from off from reading those, they're just soooooo long.That's also true of some really good TLs. Decades of Darkness and Look to the West are also really, really long.
Von Callay
Getting Grilled by Special Agent Nixon
A long work has the advantage of either being consumed serially over a long period, or simple longevity, to get itself into your memory.That's also true of some really good TLs. Decades of Darkness and Look to the West are also really, really long.
For a short work to lodge itself in your mind, it has to be really outstanding one way or the other.
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Pronouns
- She/Her
DoD has a narrative conclusion though which is pretty cool.That's the thing that's put me from off from reading those, they're just soooooo long.
- Location
- Over the rainbow
Though personally I think that the author could have done a lot better with parts of that timeline.DoD has a narrative conclusion though which is pretty cool.
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A long work has the advantage of either being consumed serially over a long period, or simple longevity, to get itself into your memory.
For a short work to lodge itself in your mind, it has to be really outstanding one way or the other.
It's like the difference between a throwaway 150 page "men's adventure" novel from the 1980s and the Survivalist with its 27 book strict continuity and gigantic genre shifts.
How do you know this?
(this may have sounded interrogative, but I am genuinely curious)
I'm giving the whole thing a read right now actually. I did the math out to see how much I was in for first. I'm ~500 pages in right now. I'm planning on writing a sort of reflection/review of it when I finish which I'll either post here or on a place like sufficient velocity.
I'm giving the whole thing a read right now actually. I did the math out to see how much I was in for first. I'm ~500 pages in right now. I'm planning on writing a sort of reflection/review of it when I finish which I'll either post here or on a place like sufficient velocity.
Have you gotten to the conventional WWIII yet?
Have you gotten to the conventional WWIII yet?
No, I just hit the MarySue Reagan presidency.
I actually plan on using your Iceland Calculator when I get to the Tom Clancy War though.
Von Callay
Getting Grilled by Special Agent Nixon
Most of the 'and then John was the zombie' level AH stories I can think of were explicitly jokes, not meant to be taken seriously. There was a great one some years ago that was a blow by blow account of the Presidency of Al Gore, but it was just him being president for like two or three days because Clinton died of a sudden and tragic heart attack the week of the inauguration, so it was 6:58am - President awakens and rises in residency, 7:01 am - President finishes urinating in executive bathroom, etc.It's like the difference between a throwaway 150 page "men's adventure" novel from the 1980s and the Survivalist with its 27 book strict continuity and gigantic genre shifts.
napoleon IV
Sheer Animal Cunning of the Groundhog
- Location
- Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- Pronouns
- he/him
That TL was an important portrayal of people who suffer from bowel problems. President Gore pooped for a really long time each day.Most of the 'and then John was the zombie' level AH stories I can think of were explicitly jokes, not meant to be taken seriously. There was a great one some years ago that was a blow by blow account of the Presidency of Al Gore, but it was just him being president for like two or three days because Clinton died of a sudden and tragic heart attack the week of the inauguration, so it was 6:58am - President awakens and rises in residency, 7:01 am - President finishes urinating in executive bathroom, etc.
Von Callay
Getting Grilled by Special Agent Nixon
Hey, if I was president, I'd probably spend an above-average amount of time in the bathroom.That TL was an important portrayal of people who suffer from bowel problems. President Gore pooped for a really long time each day.
Heck, if I was just a senator and I could cause the government of the United States to grind to a halt by hiding in a bathroom, it would be pretty tempting.
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Pronouns
- She/Her
What happened to Canada Jared?Thought personally I think that the author could have done a lot better with parts of that timeline.
Steve Brinson
The possum is not OK. Neither are we.
- Location
- Brooklyn (originally Houston)
- Pronouns
- he/him
Do you have a link? I could use a good laugh.There was a great one some years ago that was a blow by blow account of the Presidency of Al Gore, but it was just him being president for like two or three days because Clinton died of a sudden and tragic heart attack the week of the inauguration, so it was 6:58am - President awakens and rises in residency, 7:01 am - President finishes urinating in executive bathroom, etc.
Von Callay
Getting Grilled by Special Agent Nixon
Do you have a link? I could use a good laugh.
Here you go.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-al-gore-presidency.196004/
- Location
- Western New York
O God the font size my eyes
- Pronouns
- He/Him
That was chuckle worthy, glad I now know that Gore takes two minutes to have a wee which seems inhuman (also he has a poo within 30 seconds which is something).
- Location
- Over the rainbow
It dissolved into a sea of narrativium.What happened to Canada Jared?
I don’t know if I like your Evangelion and Decades of Darkness fanfic, CaliBoy.It dissolved into a sea of narrativium.