But you *still* don't get to know what the Rooks are. Argh.
Serious Question: how do you justify the failure of the Boxer Rebellion in a world where the Boxers really did have supernatural abilities?
Answer: you don’t. The Boxer Rebellion succeeded. The Boxers, with their Iron Body and Wind Over Seven Waters and Jeweled Dragon Descending shattered the forces of the Germans, the British and the Americans, leaving them in intimidated ruins. Fuck yeah.
They all died, of course. I mean, that goes without saying; the Boxers all got they asses shot, numsayin’? But they fucked up what can only be described as a critical mass of ships, artillery and hundreds and hundreds of troops with little more than bare hands, bladed weapons and blazing auras.
Resulting Question: how then do you reconcile the world remaining the same? World War One? World War Two? Korea? Mao Tse-Tsung? Chiang Kai Shek? All that shit.
Answer: you don’t. The world changed.
Resulting Problem: The world changed - big-time. There is no way in hell I am either able or willing to write an alternate history (counter-factual, whatever the fuck) of such immense magnitude. I’m certain, of course, that it’s possible but a) I personally am incapable of it and b) it’s not even the story I want to tell in any case. I want superpowered martial artists in a world that is virtually identical to the present day. Comparatively minor shit like the Tunguska Event having happened on the coast of Japan instead of Russia is one thing, chi utterly rewriting the technological, military and religious history of the past 100+ years is something else entirely.
All of which leads us back to square one: how do you reconcile the existence of chi-enhanced martial artists with the world being exactly the same as it is? I mean, the UFC for instance could use an infusion of class, someone needs to win that fucking Randi Prize and, and, there’s absolutely no reason for them to keep their abilities secret. So what, the gummint would come after you? Not if you revealed that anyone can learn this shit and started a dojo to prove it. Better yet, by the time the TV cameras catch up with you, you already have a crop of twelve-year-olds that can kick dents in steel girders and back-flip over speeding SUVs.
I can’t believe I’ve put myself in this position: normally, I’m the one arguing for the characters to transform their goddamn world because they can.
I should never have read Spook Country and that’s the gods’ honest truth. Dammit.
Answer: you don’t. The Boxer Rebellion succeeded. The Boxers, with their Iron Body and Wind Over Seven Waters and Jeweled Dragon Descending shattered the forces of the Germans, the British and the Americans, leaving them in intimidated ruins. Fuck yeah.
They all died, of course. I mean, that goes without saying; the Boxers all got they asses shot, numsayin’? But they fucked up what can only be described as a critical mass of ships, artillery and hundreds and hundreds of troops with little more than bare hands, bladed weapons and blazing auras.
Resulting Question: how then do you reconcile the world remaining the same? World War One? World War Two? Korea? Mao Tse-Tsung? Chiang Kai Shek? All that shit.
Answer: you don’t. The world changed.
Resulting Problem: The world changed - big-time. There is no way in hell I am either able or willing to write an alternate history (counter-factual, whatever the fuck) of such immense magnitude. I’m certain, of course, that it’s possible but a) I personally am incapable of it and b) it’s not even the story I want to tell in any case. I want superpowered martial artists in a world that is virtually identical to the present day. Comparatively minor shit like the Tunguska Event having happened on the coast of Japan instead of Russia is one thing, chi utterly rewriting the technological, military and religious history of the past 100+ years is something else entirely.
All of which leads us back to square one: how do you reconcile the existence of chi-enhanced martial artists with the world being exactly the same as it is? I mean, the UFC for instance could use an infusion of class, someone needs to win that fucking Randi Prize and, and, there’s absolutely no reason for them to keep their abilities secret. So what, the gummint would come after you? Not if you revealed that anyone can learn this shit and started a dojo to prove it. Better yet, by the time the TV cameras catch up with you, you already have a crop of twelve-year-olds that can kick dents in steel girders and back-flip over speeding SUVs.
I can’t believe I’ve put myself in this position: normally, I’m the one arguing for the characters to transform their goddamn world because they can.
I should never have read Spook Country and that’s the gods’ honest truth. Dammit.