Pax America Sequel - Ideas?

[Centauri18]

I could use some help here, you guys. I want to make things exciting and unexpected - but nothing too out there, like all-out nuclear war. I mean something like new conflicts, new alliances, where to put modern characters.
I need ideas of where to put people who are live right now where you wouldn't exoect to find them... or possibly where you would expect to find them. But nothing too out-there there, either.
For instance, in a peaceful Middle East, what would we do with Arafat and/or Sharon?
In a world without Sadaam and with Bin Laden in jail for a couple thousand years, what would George W be doing?
In a world where Iroquois run England, what about the royal family - in our world, anyway - in a world without British royalty?
And what about Mexico? With no immigration crisis... well, what do we do?
I'm thinking about a lot of things. Maybe research into aging stemming from the Cure for Cancer means that Einstein is still around or something.
Changes to history mean that old problems in our world never even occurred. No slavery in America, no civil rights movement... Martin Luther King would have had a much different life.
It's things like that. Just send ideas, and if I like them, I'll work them into the Pax America sequel, in progress.
[Which means I haven't even thought about it yet.]
Thanks for reading the original, you guys, and thanks for fifthing my story so far in the nominations.

[SKILORD]

In a world where Iroquois run England, what about the royal family - in our world, anyway - in a world without British royalty?

The Royal family builds up a local Fascist party which pushes for English self governence (maybe a ERA (English Republican Army))

[Centauri18]

That could work.

[Centauri18]

But wait a second. The Celts ran things until the Iroquois liberated them from Celtic oppression. And the English have been Iroquois citizens for half a century. Things are pretty good over there.
But then the liberation movement might be an idea. Since the royal family would be descendants of the original English monarch, if monarchy was re-instituted, they would be the royal family again. But like the Nazis, they would probably never get very far in this reality.
Any other ideas?

[Centauri18]

Come on, you guys, I need some ideas, some inspiration. I have never been this stuck before.

[vovan]

Well, I unfortunately have nothing to tell you as far as plot goes, but I hope this helps:

There is no need to get on with the next story right after you finish one. I mean, all of us here write for fun. And if you are stuck, and can't come up with anything good, and the joy of writing turns into frustration at temporarily impotent creativity, there is no need to force yourself to go on. Take a couple of days "off". Don't spend this long weekend banging your head on the wall trying to come up with something just for the sake of coming up with anything. Forget about it for a couple of days, and then when you come back to writing, you might just have more ideas.

You know how when you are looking for something, and can't find it, you usually find something that you'd lost a long time ago and weren't looking for now? And then you decide that what you are looking for now is not worth it and forget it, and then a week or so later you accidentally find it? To me, it is the same with inspiration. When I sit down to write, and stare at the balnk page (or one filled with a couple of sentences), I cannot come up with anything. On the other hand, when I just go about my business, I sometimes spontaneously come up with some interesting stuff for a story. Maybe that would also work for you that way...

[TheGuitarist]

In an alternate past, African terrain is rich and arable but fraught with dangerous predators. Tribes form and band together for protection; cooperation is key for survival. Thus wars are virtually nonexistent - the many peoples are one. Eventually, a great alliance is formed to promote African control of the continent, furthering progress even more. Technology expands at breakneck pace; various discoveries lengthen lifespan and promote the general quality of life for Africans. Even after the once-mighty predators are extinct, Africa continues its charge to greatness.

An unavoidable result of this speed is that African countries develop far faster than European countries. By 1492, Africa has created massive frigates, muskets, cannons, libraries, banks, companies, and hospitals; Europe is still populated with primitives waving clubs and vying for control of their rocky and rough territory.

African explorers discover the New World; they also discover Europe. As colonization progresses, a massive and exploitative triangular trade develops. Raw materials from the New World settlements are shipped home to Africa, where they are sold; the money is brought to Europe where it is used to buy white slaves; the slaves are shipped to the New World where they are sold to the colonies.

The conflict: civil rights. The tables are turned - is the situation the same? Characters can develop increasingly realistic situations that mirror the experiences of slaves in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in America. Perhaps the outcome is the same; perhaps we'll learn a little from it.

Go to town, Centauri.

[Centauri18]

Oh, okay. I just feel pressured to write a follow-up before my first one is forgotten, you know? But I'll take a breather.
The thing is, I just was hoping for a few new ideas to toss around and see if they work with what I ahve in mind so far.
That's the reason for this thread, after all.

[vovan]

Well, I actually agree that it might be a good idea to ask other people for suggestions. We actually had this idea of writing a group story some time ago, only it never picked up... So, yes, incorporating other people's suggestions might turn up an interesting story, though to me it would be hard to write such a story, because I think it is generally hard to write about something you didn't come up with on your own. Unless you are writing a school composition, that is.

[Centauri18]

I just meant that I'd take any contributed ideas and modify them slightly, or just toss them around until I got a new idea of my own. Or something.

[TheGuitarist]

Feel free to shamelessly steal my idea and run with it, Centauri. Or you can just take a breather and come back later. Just a suggestion, anyway.

[vovan]

Yep, the visitors of this forum have long memories, so we won't forget your story easily, Centauri18.

[TheGuitarist]

Since you've just started posting here, Centauri, I feel like your post count should be low. But looking at your profile, I see you have only a few less posts than I do!

I also see you joined Apolyton about a year ago, while I joined a little more than six months ago. And I was feeling like an old hand...

[vovan]

Interesting... I just looked at the list of your posts, Centauri18, seems you have been spending lots of time at the AC fiction forums... It's a pity that it is much less active than this forum here. Or maybe it's a good thing, because if it was, we would never get your attention.

[Centauri18]

Comes from a lot of comments on the Alpha Centauri thread, my favorite game at the time - hence my screen name.
I forgot about my account here for a while, then came back. I'd been reading stories for a long time, and just decided why not write one of my own?
'Pax America' was almost toally off the top of my head, and I'm glad people liked it so much.