A pulp throwback solar system, featuring Catgirls from Mars and other oddities.
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Penelope | 19 |
It sounds like Terra conquered the Martians, but through slow neocolonialism instead of some Edison Conquers the Martians stuff. "Political advisors" and so on. I would imagine local resistance is behind the "political unrest" hinted at. I guess the Great Houses are something like megacorps? Maybe a "neostate" is something like EIC India.
Oh, and it sounds like there are other intelligent species in the Solar System besides Martian and Humans, can't wait till we meet them!
This is an in-universe encyclopedic article with subtle biases of the writer in favor of the Earth colonization of Mars and inherently skeptical of the native Martians. Weaving these with facts about the planet helps to convey how subtle propaganda like this can be effective in real life, because you start to trust the source, and usually worldbuilding in this format is just the objective truth so this constitutes a clever subversion of that.
EARTH COUPED THE MARTIAN GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT THE FORMATION OF A UNITED STATES OF CUTE GIRLS
CRITICAL SUPPORT FOR THE STRATOCRACIES IN THEIR STRUGGLE AGAINSTT F£DERATION IMPERIALISM
Bretonians are really out there diagnosing entire species with psychological disorders. Also why do Martians mask up, don't they know dust storms aren't real?
I think the fact hiveminds and the like are this psychic culture's form of authoritarianism is a particularly inspired and creative choice that makes a lot of sense.
I find the association between authoritarianism and psychic powers really fascinating, it's easy to imagine how such an ability could be abused that way as an even stronger vector for groupthink.
I'm especially interested in hearing more about the Empress and the monarchy's history in general, and how dynasties dying out works when you can self-fertilize (even if it's considered socially weird).
I am slightly disappointed you didn't go for the original War of the Worlds Martians.
Ah, so this is why the Triumvirate gets along with the United Kingdo—While public criticism of the Empress is no longer a crime in most jurisdictions, insulting the Empress remains a civil offense punishable by fines. The line between criticism and insult may be blurred due to translation difficulties, cultural differences, and ideological concerns. All travelers are advised to speak of the Empress in neutral or positive language.
Historically composed of three High Queendoms, all nations of Mars subsequently recognized the power of the institution and joined, whether as members or observers.
Sin Shian, the ancient queen of Sabaea, was declared a goddess; her psychic rule lasted more than a millennium.
Love to see girlbosses winningRulers on Mars, including the Empress of the Triumvirate, are almost always women - that is, participants of nara alone. This is by tradition. The constitution of the Triumvirate does not specify which gender the imperial office-holder must participate in, though it is always assumed to be nara.
Earthbound Martians are usually shorter. Malnourishment, increased gravity, and extraplanetary psychosis causes health defects, shedding of fur, and overhydration of the skin
Earth has a population, possibly of some degree of a million, of martians that have grown on Earth, and are suffering from severe health defects and a kind of mental disease comparable to psychosis?
i'm curious as to if genomics and gene sequencing has lagged in TTL compared to our own, since it seems like that would make it easy to determine if humans and rooks share a common origin, and if so, how far in the past it was.
Wow, I just realized how much it must suck to fight Martian infantry. Psychic abilites must means that coordinating small-unit tactics is hella easy.
Earth has a population, possibly of some degree of a million, of martians that have grown on Earth, and are suffering from severe health defects and a kind of mental disease comparable to psychosis?
Also dear me, the Federation has a veto like the League of Nations or the United Nations Security Council, we're doomed.
Finally, there's something universally understandable about a child puppet ruler being put on the throne by foreign powers, that's a classic. Don't tell the Martians I said that though, I don't want to be fined.
Sin Shian, the ancient queen of Sabaea, was declared a goddess; her psychic rule lasted more than a millennium.
It used to be a lot worse. In the old days, just after the wars, your options as a first generation earthbound Martian were pretty limited - mostly charitable doctors and/or experimental and potentially unsafe procedures. Now there are established treatment plans and pills one can take to fix or alleviate most of it.
The Winter of Discontent
Though some truth might remain, a major flaw in the Ranathist assumptions became evident within weeks. Shortly after the first Terran landings, Shianva VI and her nascent court in the west surrendered to the arriving military forces and sued for peace. The sentiment within the Ranathist court turned to humor: "You see?" The Empress reportedly said, "The ill-born child quits already - the sure sign of the weak-willed and the turncloak." But Shianva VI's motivations were quite different. In negotiations with the Houses of Terra and Federation representatives, she turned the process not into one of unconditional surrender, but alliance. An agreement quickly hashed out provided Shianvists with renewed legitimacy to rule Mars, and laid the groundwork for much of the post-rebellion order.
Radicals advocated Martian republicanism, inspired by the areosocialist writings of Mi-Ka.
A few radicals even suggested several socialist writers, wholly unrelated to any royal bloodline, any one of whom could be made Empress solely so that she might destroy the Triumvirate. This, unsurprisingly, never went anywhere.
While investigations by the Houses of Terra and the Imperial Office of Shianva VI found no evidence of a conspiracy related to the assassination
An escape attempt persisted only until morning, when the Royal Guard found her in the basement of a colonial casino. She died before being able to be questioned.