While I would be less-blunt, the "Battle Lines" can be drawn as follows:
Republicans, Democrats, Socialist-Farmer-Labor, and about half the military (Marshall and Nimitz).
True Patriots, Golden Circle, the other half of the military (MacArthur and Patton).
As for battle maps, a rough idea of the states' loyalties would be this map of how people voted during the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
So basically, states that are opposed to the Civil Rights Act are likely to be more-sympathetic to Bilbo's National Emergency Government, while the states that were more-in-favor would support the United Front.
Well, except for the Great Plains states in what is the US and Canada. With how spread-out those places can be (plus the resettlement of a ton of former colonists there), they've served as a sort of "National Redoubt" that threatens to cut the United Front in two at Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
Honestly, I feel like the "Solid South" might not be nearly this solid in this timeline. With desegregation having been in effect for several decades (and with segregation never hitting its OTL peak in the interwar era), you would probably see much larger African-American participation in politics, including being in statewide and federal positions of power, unlike in OTL, where African-Americans had very few political rights in the South until the 1970s.
In many places, particularly in the Deep South, African-Americans are actually the majority of the population, and I highly doubt that people who have regained their freedom, and used it, for the past few decades would calmly accept a pseudo-legal coup to make them second-class citizens again - particularly since there are in all likelyhood African-Americans in every National Guard and Police force in the country. Also, everyone (or at least a substantial portion of the population) owns guns in the US.
The United States does not control the Panama Canal.
Why would they? They are not trying to secede. They are the political actors attempting to unite and keep the country going in the current crisis while their political opponent went for the blatant power grab.
Being the legitimate government of the United States also requires these things, you know. Maybe I should have spelled it as "claimant to the presidency" but that's more wordy, I thought my original meaning was clear enough, and frankly phrasing it that way implies that they're not legitimate.
(Also, Bilbo's constitutional theory for claiming the presidency seems even more questionable when you get down to the details. The president pro tempore position does not automatically fall to the most senior person in the senate - and the tradition is actually the most senior person in the majority party. Who exactly are the surviving members of the senate and are the True Patriots even a majority of them? Who exactly accepted his argument enough to be willing to administer the oath of office?)
Also, Bilbo's constitutional theory for claiming the presidency seems even more questionable when you get down to the details. The president pro tempore position does not automatically fall to the most senior person in the senate - and the tradition is actually the most senior person in the majority party. Who exactly are the surviving members of the senate and are the True Patriots even a majority of them? Who exactly accepted his argument enough to be willing to administer the oath of office?
The role of President Pro-Tempore in the 1940 Congress (which was the one that was largely-exploded) is a bit tricky. With four major parties and a few others, the True Patriots held a plurality of seats in the Senate, but nothing close to a majority.
As part of the compromises at the start of the term in 1941, the True Patriots were given the largely-procedural position of President Pro-Tempore of the Senate under the condition that they would not grind everything to a standstill with single votes.
And with the United States Senate being a stickler for procedure and tradition, that arrangement had largely-worked until the Capitol Bombing.
As for the surviving members of the True Patriot congressional delegation, Bilbo is the most-senior and is largely-unopposed in his party at this point, though he does have local southern governors like Eugene Talmadge providing him with a much of his legitimacy.
As for judges, well… the Supreme Court is largely-dead, along with several judges as part of the coup attempt.
The judge who allowed Bilbo to swear himself in was a district judge from the South in a hasty ceremony that is ironically reminiscent of LBJ's swearing in.
Basically they used it as a way to get a first impression, but the general consensus was that it doesn't matter who you were in the Lost History. What matters is who you become in this one.
Oddly similar to China's philosophy on things, now that I think of it. Though America doesn't have to worry about General so-and-so becoming a warlord.
As part of the compromises at the start of the term in 1941, the True Patriots were given the largely-procedural position of President Pro-Tempore of the Senate under the condition that they would not grind everything to a standstill with single votes.
normally, unless Bilbo personally had the position already, that wouldn't make it automatically go to him - there would have to be another vote - of the whole senate - after the other. It's possible that they passed some rules package changing that, but there's not really any reason to do so - unless the TP specifically pushed for it to be codified. Which, if it's the case, seems like it should be a red flag (or could at least be portrayed as one in hindsight by the United Front).
Honestly, so many of the rules as they are in OTL are predicated on there being two major parties that it's hard to say how the system would react to this situation. There's a lot of power associated with being 'the majority party' which is formally defined as the largest party caucus committee regardless of how close or not it is to being an actual majority. I guess it's plausible that they didn't manage to change the rules (or have two or more of the other parties form a coalition caucus), particularly if the multi-party system was a recent development or the TP used what power they had to block it from happening, but it's hard to imagine it being stable long-term, regardless of any deals.
So, would anyone object to having Bilbo retconned to being the President Pro-Tempore?
Assuming he entered the Senate back in 1923 instead of the guy he replaced (because people got mad at the guy for trying to stop a lynching), I would say it's fairly reasonable to assume he'd be the most-senior among the the TPs.
Plus, with the Senate being a borderline free-for-all, I believe it would be reasonable to assume they would give a largely-ceremonial and mostly-powerless position to the True Patriots if it means they stop being annoying obstructionists about the most-mundane things ever (military promotions, post offices, etc) that would otherwise be fast-tracked through unanimous consent.
I mean, what's the worst that could happen? The entire government gets exploded?
I mean, do what you want, but that wasn't what I was suggesting at all, because honestly there does have to have been something questionable about his accession for the United Front to have perceived legitimacy in the eyes of people on the sidelines who care more about constitutional technicalities than the object-level fact that these people are racists and terrorist sympathizers. I was more trying to flesh out what exactly that might be. Though maybe "It's very suspicious in light of recent events that the Pro Tempore position specifically was what they demanded in compromise" - whether that's true or not - is enough.
The alternatives are: United Front has no particular claim to constitutional legitimacy, but China declares war on the US considering Bilbo's government an extension of the group responsible for attacks on their embassies etc, and the UF is a resistance movement. Or maybe a more limited United Front, recognizing the legitimacy of Bilbo's government, but opposing actions [e.g. the habeas corpus thing] that seem likely to prevent fair elections. Or maybe Bilbo being complicit in the coup is less deniable, so the fracture is between TP/GC true believers who think that isn't a problem for his legitimacy anyway (because he was merely restoring real American values, the former president was the real traitor), and everyone else for whom it is regardless of any constitutional technicalities.
I mean, do what you want, but that wasn't what I was suggesting at all, because honestly there does have to have been something questionable about his accession for the United Front to have perceived legitimacy in the eyes of people on the sidelines who care more about constitutional technicalities than the object-level fact that these people are racists and terrorist sympathizers. I was more trying to flesh out what exactly that might be. Though maybe "It's very suspicious in light of recent events that the Pro Tempore position specifically was what they demanded in compromise" - whether that's true or not - is enough.
The alternatives are: United Front has no particular claim to constitutional legitimacy, but China declares war on the US considering Bilbo's government an extension of the group responsible for attacks on their embassies etc, and the UF is a resistance movement. Or maybe a more limited United Front, recognizing the legitimacy of Bilbo's government, but opposing actions [e.g. the habeas corpus thing] that seem likely to prevent fair elections. Or maybe Bilbo being complicit in the coup is less deniable, so the fracture is between TP/GC true believers who think that isn't a problem for his legitimacy anyway (because he was merely restoring real American values, the former president was the real traitor), and everyone else for whom it is regardless of any constitutional technicalities.
One of the conspiracies around the JFK assassination was LBJ's quick swearing in as President. His reasoning was that it was the best for a nation if there was an immediate transfer of power to ensure stability.
While I do not believe in the conspiracy theories about LBJ, I can kinda see how somebody could come to that conclusion: President gets shot and his successor succeeds him ASAP.
In the context of this story, I imagine that somebody like Bilbo would use a similar argument, though he would actually be behind the terrorist attack this time.
While one could definitely see his actions as rash and constitutionally-questionable, they could also see the reasoning.
The nation just experienced a decapitation strike that wiped out all three branches of the government, so the most-senior surviving government official decides to take the liberty of ensuring an immediate transfer of power.
Of course, not everyone buys it, especially when the legality of said transfer of power is dubious at best.
And that's before anyone starts asking about why the man undergoing chemotherapy is in surprisingly good health.
Anchorage, Alaska, United Front-Controlled Territory, 16 January 1942
Morgan missed the days when things were easier. Sure there were days of exams and projects, but there were also fun times like Halloween with her brother and their friends.
She could still remember how they all dressed up as Three Houses characters last year. Despite Adrian calling first dibs on Claude and Selena complaining about having to dye her hair white because "Morgan can fit in Professor's outfit better and she's Lin's twin," it was a good memory.
Those days were gone. For now, anyways.
Nearly getting murdered tends to do that to you.
Jon and Adrian had buried themselves in their schoolwork, while Selena was off helping Lin handle therapy.
We shared almost everything growing up, but Lin's the one who ended up with most of the trauma. That doesn't seem fair.
Her phone rang, and Morgan instantly picked it up. Odds were that it was a telemarketer, but anything was better than moping all day in her hotel room.
"Hello?"
"It's good to hear you, Morgan," an all-too-familiar feminine voice greeted her. "How are you?"
"Shenshen?" Morgan's face lit up. She may have been a daddy's girl, but that didn't stop her from adoring her aunt. "Isn't it late over there?"
"The agency waits for nobody, Morgan," her aunt Rachel yawned. "Besides, I just woke up from a nap."
"How are Baba and Shushu?"
"Busy. Your father is busy doing some advising, while your uncle is… Well, you know how it is."
"If I find out, I get sworn to secrecy," Morgan repeated from memory. Harsh as it was, she understood the importance of secrecy. "Is everything alright?"
"As much as it can be, Morgan," her aunt sighed. "We may be overstretched, but at least I wasn't court martialed and got the blank check."
"That bad, huh?"
"More than you know. How about you?"
"Bored. Alaska's nice and all, but we're still stranded up here."
"So I have heard. Look, I don't want to impose, but I need your help."
"Don't you have physicists on the payroll at the MIB?"
"I don't need physicists, Morgan. I need people with military training that I can trust, and you are the closest thing I have."
"Shenshen?" Honestly Morgan didn't know what to say to that. "I know I qualified as a marksman and completed SERE training, but I was only in the Marines for a year."
"You also spent that year working in intel, which makes you the perfect person for the job."
"I doubt that, Shenshen."
"You are the perfect person for the job who isn't already in the field, dead, or in the hospital. It's your call, though."
"You know Baba is going to kill you if he finds out, right?"
"Morgan, you don't last long in this line of work if you don't have self-preservation skills."
"You asked them first, didn't you?"
"Of course. I may get my hands dirty, but I'm not stupid."
Colón, Panamanian Exclave Inside Panama Canal Zone, Panama, 23 January 1942
This was insane. There was no way Morgan could describe it as anything else.
With a garrison of up to twenty thousand out of a population of fifty thousand, the Canal Zone was practically half-soldier and impregnable on paper.
Taking Balboa in the south would be difficult, but at least it was attached to the Unionist-controlled Pacific Ocean.
But the Northern Sector of the Panama Canal was a different story. Not only was it surrounded by Nationalist-held territory for miles, but they were also facing the Nationalist-controlled Gulf of Mexico.
"About time you got here," she told the off-duty Marine Colonel. "Though you wouldn't show, Mike."
"In a bar like this with cheap beer and off-base? Honestly, it would be more-suspicious if I didn't visit now and then."
"Perks of being an officer, I imagine," she replied to Colonel Edson. "So you're sure Barrett's on board with this?"
"Of course. Between you and me, he probably hates Admiral Halsey more than he likes General Butler."
Morgan knew that was a high bar. Her Baba always spoke highly of Senator Butler, the man he described as the "Father of the Modern US Marines."
Which was a more-respectable way of referring to the man that many of the rank-and-file still half-jokingly called "US Marine Jesus."
"I'll, um, take your word for it," Morgan figured. "Carlson's ready when you are."
"Thought so. Send the message through the ratline. Midnight, tonight."
"You're kidding, right? Why tonight?"
"Because we have all the pieces in place, and the longer we wait, the greater the risk of a leak."
"Fair enough."
"Besides, it's a Friday night, and I pulled a few strings to get my men on guard duty while the rest of the garrison is drunk and hungover."
One of the conspiracies around the JFK assassination was LBJ's quick swearing in as President. His reasoning was that it was the best for a nation if there was an immediate transfer of power to ensure stability.
While I do not believe in the conspiracy theories about LBJ, I can kinda see how somebody could come to that conclusion: President gets shot and his successor succeeds him ASAP.
In the context of this story, I imagine that somebody like Bilbo would use a similar argument, though he would actually be behind the terrorist attack this time.
While one could definitely see his actions as rash and constitutionally-questionable, they could also see the reasoning.
The nation just experienced a decapitation strike that wiped out all three branches of the government, so the most-senior surviving government official decides to take the liberty of ensuring an immediate transfer of power.
Of course, not everyone buys it, especially when the legality of said transfer of power is dubious at best.
And that's before anyone starts asking about why the man undergoing chemotherapy is in surprisingly good health.
Anchorage, Alaska, United Front-Controlled Territory, United States of America, 15 January 1942
(Unnamed Prototype Long-Range Drone)
"Yeah, I worked on drones a bit during my year of service," Chen Lin told his girlfriend in their commandeered workshop, only to quickly change his tone. "Could you hand me the soldering gun, Lena?"
"Sure," his partner Selena Rossi handed it over. "I thought you fixed vehicles, not drones."
"They throw everything at you when you're the repair guy," he figured, before seeing Lena working on the drone's airframe. "Especially when they find out you used to race them for a hobby."
Nevermind that FPV drones are different from flying bombs. It's all, "Oh hey, you kinda know how to do this thing, so can you fix this thing that is kinda related despite having little-to-no experience?"
Yeah, I'm still mad about that.
No, I will not stop being mad about that.
"Makes sense." Lena put on her welding mask and turned to the airframe they were building. "…Wait."
"What's up?"
"Why did they need you to work on kamikaze drones if they're just going to blow up, anyways? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose?"
"Not if you want it to blow up in the right place, Lena."
"Ah."
"New topic?"
"Shoot."
"How'd you get so good at metalworking, anyways?"
"Same way I got good at woodworking," she told him off-handedly. "Shop Class in high school. Had to be sharp when I was the only girl who didn't do Home Econ."
"I'll take your word for it." Not like Jon or Adrian can weld worth a damn, anyways. "New topic?"
"Sure." It wasn't like she hadn't told him the story a hundred times. "Think it'll fly?"
"…Probably? It's kinda crappier than the ones I used to work on, but it should work."
Not bad for a project we've been working on because we got bored of getting stranded in Alaska.
"Lin, we built this in a college workshop with a box of scraps."
"Damn straight we did."
Hell yeah. Always wanted to say that.
Juneau, Alaska, United Front-Controlled Territory, United States of America, 18 January 1942
(Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF)
"You two are very lucky to had permission," Colonel James Doolittle told the couple over video chat. "My phone's been ringing non-stop about UFOs showing up on radar."
"Yeah... sorry about that," the Chinese-American man said sheepishly. "For what it's worth, we did fill out all the forms and the local government notified everyone."
"'Course. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get that working, anyways?"
"Boredom, a workable lab, and some drone projects that were about to be scrapped," the red-haired engineer told him, "The engine was half-built by the time we got here, so all that was left were the airframe and the soldering."
"It's not much," said the Chinese-American whose name Doolittle had forgotten. "Only about half the distance of the loitering munitions I worked on in China."
"You do realize that your 'not much' is still several hundred miles, right? Honestly, I'm impressed."
"Why? Lin just told you that its range is nothing to write home about."
Colonel Doolittle chuckled.
"Miss Rossi, who said anything about range? I had some of my men look at the parts. No offense, but it would be dirt-cheap to mass-produce something that looks like it was built in a cave with a box of scraps."
Hughes Aircraft, Los Angeles, California, United Front-Controlled Territory, United States of America, 19 January 1942
(Howard Hughes, Founder of Hughes Aircraft, Co-Founder of Hughes-Kennedy Productions)
Howard Hughes was one to learn from the past.
While maintaining an air of eccentricity was all well and good, he took care to handle his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and follow safety protocols when he was flying to avoid any fireballs this time around.
And it went without saying that calling people pedophiles on social media if they disagreed with him was out of the question. Therapy existed for a reason, and he was smart enough to do that instead of post on social media all day.
That said, eccentricity had its limits.
"Jimmy," he said to Colonel Doolittle over the phone, "I value our friendship as a fellow aviator, but this is a bit much, isn't it? The files you sent me are for a drone that has a fraction of the range and a fraction of the payload-"
"If by 'fraction,' you mean a lower amount," the Colonel said over the secured line, "Then yes. But I ran this by you because it's dirt cheap for a one-use drone."
Hughes had to give him credit where it was due: It was cheap. Even if it went against much of his design philosophy of quality over quantity.
Sure, one could ponder the implications of such a philosophy as having to do with his other self's near-fatal crash in the Lost History. He'd done so himself on many occasions. But it went without saying that the concept of a loitering munition, otherwise known as a "suicide drone," was practically anathema to his philosophy.
Hughes prioritized performance first and reliability second at the cost of... well, cost, while a one-use loitering munition placed the two as afterthoughts when price was the main concern.
"I know it goes against every one of my instincts as an aerospace engineer," the young businessman thought aloud, "But these are designed to explode in fireballs, right?"
"Yes. Targeted fireballs, but yes. That's why I asked you to run the numbers last night."
"I had one of my men do that last night," Hughes answered, speaking with the usual pride in his company's work, "And it's cost-effective once you factor in the risk of a shootdown. Less for unmanned aircraft, but the resource incentive is still there so long as one in ten hit their target."
"And the feasibility of production?"
"Did that myself," Hughes said, with even more pride in his personal work. "The Skunkworks can handle initial production while Hughes Tools provides the tools and machinery via vertical integration. Materials are of lower-quality, so they should be easier to source and allow for exponential production growth."
"In English, Howard."
"We can go from 'More than you would think,' to 'A lot' in a few months."
"That's what I like to hear, Howard. I take it you'll be applying for the contract?"
"It's either me, Boeing, Northrop, or Douglas, and none of them can spin up production lines as fast as I can."
Even if this looks like it was built in a cave, with a box of scraps.
'The Stark Mk1 Loitering Munitions Drone. Affectionately nicknamed the 'Scrapper' by those whom use it in the field for the near legendary ability to put together a working one from even a wrecked, bombed out, arms depot. This was demonstrated on at least three occasions where, during the final top-attack vertical nosedive at a target, the wings or tail detached. In two of these three cases the drone still destroyed their targets, while the third was close enough to disable it. After loyalist forces moved up to regain control of the area, they retrieved the cast off parts and reused them on another drone.'
I think this is more for SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) by either overwhelming the launchers' targeting systems with targets or outright making them run out of ammo.
That said... it's also useful for blowing up other stuff.
'The Stark Mk1 Loitering Munitions Drone. Affectionately nicknamed the 'Scrapper' by those whom use it in the field for the near legendary ability to put together a working one from even a wrecked, bombed out, arms depot.
"Dammit! The Scrapper is a suicide drone, not an aerobatics one. You're supposed to soak up enemy fire, not evade it until you see the bloodshot in their eyes."
Anchorage, Alaska, United Front-Controlled Territory, United States of America, 15 January 1942
(Unnamed Prototype Long-Range Drone)
"Yeah, I worked on drones a bit during my year of service," Chen Lin told his girlfriend in their commandeered workshop, only to quickly change his tone. "Could you hand me the soldering gun, Lena?"
"Sure," his partner Selena Rossi handed it over. "I thought you fixed vehicles, not drones."
"They throw everything at you when you're the repair guy," he figured, before seeing Lena working on the drone's airframe. "Especially when they find out you used to race them for a hobby."
Nevermind that FPV drones are different from flying bombs. It's all, "Oh hey, you kinda know how to do this thing, so can you fix this thing that is kinda related despite having little-to-no experience?"
Yeah, I'm still mad about that.
No, I will not stop being mad about that.
"Makes sense." Lena put on her welding mask and turned to the airframe they were building. "…Wait."
"What's up?"
"Why did they need you to work on kamikaze drones if they're just going to blow up, anyways? Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose?"
"Not if you want it to blow up in the right place, Lena."
"Ah."
"New topic?"
"Shoot."
"How'd you get so good at metalworking, anyways?"
"Same way I got good at woodworking," she told him off-handedly. "Shop Class in high school. Had to be sharp when I was the only girl who didn't do Home Econ."
"I'll take your word for it." Not like Jon or Adrian can weld worth a damn, anyways. "New topic?"
"Sure." It wasn't like she hadn't told him the story a hundred times. "Think it'll fly?"
"…Probably? It's kinda crappier than the ones I used to work on, but it should work."
Not bad for a project we've been working on because we got bored of getting stranded in Alaska.
"Lin, we built this in a college workshop with a box of scraps."
"Damn straight we did."
Hell yeah. Always wanted to say that.
Juneau, Alaska, United Front-Controlled Territory, United States of America, 18 January 1942
(Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF)
"You two are very lucky to had permission," Colonel James Doolittle told the couple over video chat. "My phone's been ringing non-stop about UFOs showing up on radar."
"Yeah... sorry about that," the Chinese-American man said sheepishly. "For what it's worth, we did fill out all the forms and the local government notified everyone."
"'Course. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get that working, anyways?"
"Boredom, a workable lab, and some drone projects that were about to be scrapped," the red-haired engineer told him, "The engine was half-built by the time we got here, so all that was left were the airframe and the soldering."
"It's not much," said the Chinese-American whose name Doolittle had forgotten. "Only about half the distance of the loitering munitions I worked on in China."
"You do realize that your 'not much' is still several hundred miles, right? Honestly, I'm impressed."
"Why? Lin just told you that its range is nothing to write home about."
Colonel Doolittle chuckled.
"Miss Rossi, who said anything about range? I had some of my men look at the parts. No offense, but it would be dirt-cheap to mass-produce something that looks like it was built in a cave with a box of scraps."
Hughes Aircraft, Los Angeles, California, United Front-Controlled Territory, United States of America, 19 January 1942
(Howard Hughes, Founder of Hughes Aircraft, Co-Founder of Hughes-Kennedy Productions)
Howard Hughes was one to learn from the past.
While maintaining an air of eccentricity was all well and good, he took care to handle his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and follow safety protocols when he was flying to avoid any fireballs this time around.
And it went without saying that calling people pedophiles on social media if they disagreed with him was out of the question. Therapy existed for a reason, and he was smart enough to do that instead of post on social media all day.
That said, eccentricity had its limits.
"Jimmy," he said to Colonel Doolittle over the phone, "I value our friendship as a fellow aviator, but this is a bit much, isn't it? The files you sent me are for a drone that has a fraction of the range and a fraction of the payload-"
"If by 'fraction,' you mean a lower amount," the Colonel said over the secured line, "Then yes. But I ran this by you because it's dirt cheap for a one-use drone."
Hughes had to give him credit where it was due: It was cheap. Even if it went against much of his design philosophy of quality over quantity.
Sure, one could ponder the implications of such a philosophy as having to do with his other self's near-fatal crash in the Lost History. He'd done so himself on many occasions. But it went without saying that the concept of a loitering munition, otherwise known as a "suicide drone," was practically anathema to his philosophy.
Hughes prioritized performance first and reliability second at the cost of... well, cost, while a one-use loitering munition placed the two as afterthoughts when price was the main concern.
"I know it goes against every one of my instincts as an aerospace engineer," the young businessman thought aloud, "But these are designed to explode in fireballs, right?"
"Yes. Targeted fireballs, but yes. That's why I asked you to run the numbers last night."
"I had one of my men do that last night," Hughes answered, speaking with the usual pride in his company's work, "And it's cost-effective once you factor in the risk of a shootdown. Less for unmanned aircraft, but the resource incentive is still there so long as one in ten hit their target."
"And the feasibility of production?"
"Did that myself," Hughes said, with even more pride in his personal work. "The Skunkworks can handle initial production while Hughes Tools provides the tools and machinery via vertical integration. Materials are of lower-quality, so they should be easier to source and allow for exponential production growth."
"In English, Howard."
"We can go from 'More than you would think,' to 'A lot' in a few months."
"That's what I like to hear, Howard. I take it you'll be applying for the contract?"
"It's either me, Boeing, Northrop, or Douglas, and none of them can spin up production lines as fast as I can."
Even if this looks like it was built in a cave, with a box of scraps.
Hope Hughes saw the entirety of the mcu, especially the Ironman trilogy and the captain america trilogy, he might be flattered in his inspiration on tony and howard stark, especially howard stark...
Hope Hughes saw the entirety of the mcu, especially the Ironman trilogy and the captain america trilogy, he might be flattered in his inspiration on tony and howard stark, especially howard stark...
Well, he still produces movies so I would be more-surprised if he didn't.
Learning about his downward-spiral in the Lost History turned out to be a wake-up call that led to him being a lot more pragmatic and willing to listen to others.
To be honest, I kinda write this timeline's Howard Hughes as the sort of person Elon Musk claimed to be. Sure, Hughes can be prideful and have a bit of an ego, but the guy has a lot more tact and emotional maturity than our timeline's Elon Musk.
Of course, much of that is out of a paralyzing fear of becoming a recluse in Vegas, but the point stands.
I just want to say that while this story had a bit of a lull with all the world building i am very pleased with how the narrative is shaping up now. We have proper conflict and villains.
I just want to say that while this story had a bit of a lull with all the world building i am very pleased with how the narrative is shaping up now. We have proper conflict and villains.
Haven't really had a proper villain since Yuan Shikai, so it's nice to go back to that while also having about a year's worth of writing practice under my belt.
And for what it's worth, I promise I won't unceremoniously explode this villain with a train, too.
Here's a quick overview of the map for the American Succession Crisis as of January 1942, which should be fleshed-out upon during the next chapter.
Colonial Expatriate-dominated governments in the Great Plains and the True Patriot-aligned South have aligned with Bilbo's National Emergency Government, and they are threatening to cut the United Front in half at Denver and are threatening the STL-KC Line. Of course, there aren't exactly solid battle lines, and guerrillas are wreaking havoc in the rear of both sides.
In-story, it's a map made by somebody in-universe with Hearts of Iron IV.
Here's a quick overview of the map for the American Succession Crisis as of January 1942, which should be fleshed-out upon during the next chapter.
Colonial Expatriate-dominated governments in the Great Plains and the True Patriot-aligned South have aligned with Bilbo's National Emergency Government, and they are threatening to cut the United Front in half at Denver and are threatening the STL-KC Line. Of course, there aren't exactly solid battle lines, and guerrillas are wreaking havoc in the rear of both sides.
In-story, it's a map made by somebody in-universe with Hearts of Iron IV.
