Remove ads

What's the most Cringeworthy Alternate History you've ever read?

Jake said:
Has anyone not been banned from AH.com at this point?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
As with Mark Twain's death, the rumoured dangers of AH.com have been greatly exaggerated.

I've been an active participant on AH.com since 2004 - including in Chat - and never been so much as warned, never mind kicked or banned.

While there are many aspects of that board's moderation I disagree with, it's not that hard to stay under the radar. Even while expressing political views, with a couple of very well-known exceptions (Israel-Palestine being the most common.)
 
Jared said:
As with Mark Twain's death, the rumoured dangers of AH.com have been greatly exaggerated.

I've been an active participant on AH.com since 2004 - including in Chat - and never been so much as warned, never mind kicked or banned.

While there are many aspects of that board's moderation I disagree with, it's not that hard to stay under the radar. Even while expressing political views, with a couple of very well-known exceptions (Israel-Palestine being the most common.)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah you shouldn't run into issues unless you don't know how to handle yourself. I've been on the site from 2010 myself and I have yet to receive so much as a warning from a mod because I avoid bad situations, that's basically it. If you can't handle not being brusque when talking politics (or debating Israel at all) then just avoid Chat and you'll do okay.
 
Jake said:
Has anyone not been banned from AH.com at this point?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I was, many years ago, but was unbanned after an email explanation. Most bannings to me it seems take place in Chat so if you stay out of there you should be fine. Having been a member for almost 9 years now, I've found out what triggers the mods there and what their pet causes are, so I just know to avoid those.
 
Last edited:
mesonoxian said:
That was me, up until Ian decided criticizing Trump voters was "unsubstantiated accusations of bigotry".
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's part of the reason I don't post, I'm not a fan of the position that accusing people of bigotry is just as bad as actually being bigoted.

Yes spurious accusations should be treated harshly but they take it way too far.
 
mesonoxian said:
That was me, up until Ian decided criticizing Trump voters was "unsubstantiated accusations of bigotry".
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I got a week on the bench for arguing that criticism of Hillary Clinton can be rooted in sexism. For this, Ian sent me a PM telling me that I'm paranoid and/or deusional.

I'm still around on AH.com, but I don't think I've posted anywhere (besides calling out some dummies in the Star Wars thread) in about a year.
 
Last edited:
What annoyed me during the election was the people saying that any mention of Hilary's health was sexism, even after she collapsed while campaigning, while in the same breath people were saying they believed that Trump literally has dementia. I doubt that was unique to AH.com, though.
 
Lemon flavoured said:
What annoyed me during the election was the people saying that any mention of Hilary's health was sexism, even after she collapsed while campaigning, while in the same breath people were saying they believed that Trump literally has dementia. I doubt that was unique to AH.com, though.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Both aren't exactly young. Health issues of some sort are bound to pop up.
 
I haven't been banned, though I'm surprised I wasn't for pointing out how colossally wrong Ian was in his understanding of political authoritarianism, but was kicked thanks to Ian being hyper-pedantic about the use of the word "force" when discussing fascists and I no longer post there thanks to how incredibly idiosyncratic, somewhat unpredictable and incredibly uninformed Ian is in his judgments.

That whole flap where he said it's ok for Black people to be anti-Semites because they're worse off than Jews and don't know any better was one tipping point. The last one was some thread in post-1900 about how cutting off Lend-Lease would impact the postwar situation where multiple posters, in spite of board rules to the contrary, were openly going, "well I guess it's ok if the Holocaust kills a couple million more people and millions more Soviet citizens die if that averts the Cold War." For a forum that claims to ban people for fantasizing about genocide it was quite something to see that thread go without a single ban, one kick for someone engaging in personal attacks and me getting warned for calling said apologia out.

I'm still registered, I just don't post.

Anyway for other cringe-worthy AH from Different Worlds (that forum produced a lot of turds truth be told) there's always this one awful piece of tripe (written by the same person who did "Lee of the Union") where the author did some sort of TL that was a weird pastiche of V for Vendetta set in a dystopian America that started with MacArthur couping FDR, joining the Axis, was followed by Nixon taking over after MacArthur's death, the Kennedys being the heroes trying to save the country and the V analogue running around in a JFK mask.

It was ... something. Highlights included the Free City of San Francisco, led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, which managed to secede from the US without incident and stay free for several years before being brought down by Nixon using biological weapons against them that were created using technology that was still theoretical at the time of the TL's writing.
 
Lemon flavoured said:
What annoyed me during the election was the people saying that any mention of Hilary's health was sexism, even after she collapsed while campaigning, while in the same breath people were saying they believed that Trump literally has dementia. I doubt that was unique to AH.com, though.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

At risk of getting off topic, the conspiracy theory about her health was a thing long before September 2016, and those criticisms were mostly if not wholly rooted in sexism. The "mainstream" conspiracy theory was that she had secret parkinsons', and the even further out there conspiracy was that she had some sort of disease that you get from cannibalism.
 
Can some one recommend me some proper Nazi vs America WW3 fics? The only one that comes to mind is Anglo American Nazi War, which is good. It's just that a lot of timelines just have America invaded with no prior battles they just roll up on shore and occupy the east coast instantly.

Gentlemen, all I ask is a proper Allies vs Axis World War so grand as to make hell itself tremble, and also doesn't end in nuclear war. I want a war that begins with panzers rolling into free scotland and ends with the UN flag draped over the Volkshalle, I want a war that has bullets from M16s and STG 80s dance across the rainforest of the congo, I want dogfights between F15s and ME 4000s from beyond line of sight, none of that resistance bullcrap. I want a proper WORLD WAR 3!!!

*the major intensifies*
 
Terran Allias said:
Can some one recommend me some proper Nazi vs America WW3 fics? The only one that comes to mind is Anglo American Nazi War, which is good. It's just that a lot of timelines just have America invaded with no prior battles they just roll up on shore and occupy the east coast instantly.

Gentlemen, all I ask is a proper Allies vs Axis World War so grand as to make hell itself tremble, and also doesn't end in nuclear war. I want a war that begins with panzers rolling into free scotland and ends with the UN flag draped over the Volkshalle, I want a war that has bullets from M16s and STG 80s dance across the rainforest of the congo, I want dogfights between F15s and ME 4000s from beyond line of sight, none of that resistance bullcrap. I want a proper WORLD WAR 3!!!

*the major intensifies*
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The problem with any sort of Allies vs Axis World War on this scale is it requires massive changes to Nazi Germany, some of which are in direct violation of ideological imperatives or the power dynamics that put them in charge, that you aren't talking historical Nazis to begin with. This is compounded by the fact that the Nazis barely had enough fuel to run their war machine as-is, starting in 1942 were being outproduced just by the Soviet Union and the possibility of them invading Britain before invading the USSR has been debated to death with the consensus being such a feat is totally impossible under all but the most optimal of conditions. AANW is the closest you'll get and that one, by the author's own admission, depends on a massive handwave to even happen at all.
 
Terran Allias said:
Can some one recommend me some proper Nazi vs America WW3 fics? The only one that comes to mind is Anglo American Nazi War, which is good. It's just that a lot of timelines just have America invaded with no prior battles they just roll up on shore and occupy the east coast instantly.

Gentlemen, all I ask is a proper Allies vs Axis World War so grand as to make hell itself tremble, and also doesn't end in nuclear war. I want a war that begins with panzers rolling into free scotland and ends with the UN flag draped over the Volkshalle, I want a war that has bullets from M16s and STG 80s dance across the rainforest of the congo, I want dogfights between F15s and ME 4000s from beyond line of sight, none of that resistance bullcrap. I want a proper WORLD WAR 3!!!

*the major intensifies*
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The idea that the nazis could survive WWII is inherently pretty absurd, so having a WWIII containing them requires it to be yet more absurd. Having this not contain nuclear weapons is ridiculous. Your stipulations necessitate an Alt history of rather poor quality.
 
bigseb31213 said:
At risk of getting off topic, the conspiracy theory about her health was a thing long before September 2016, and those criticisms were mostly if not wholly rooted in sexism. The "mainstream" conspiracy theory was that she had secret parkinsons', and the even further out there conspiracy was that she had some sort of disease that you get from cannibalism.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's fair enough, but 1) it was also, in a sense, a conspiracy theory to say Trump has dementia, and 2) it's actually a good example of conspiracy theories poisoning discourse, because it means you can't talk about potentially legit problems without it drawing in the conspiracy theory.
 
LHB said:
The problem with any sort of Allies vs Axis World War on this scale is it requires massive changes to Nazi Germany, some of which are in direct violation of ideological imperatives or the power dynamics that put them in charge, that you aren't talking historical Nazis to begin with. This is compounded by the fact that the Nazis barely had enough fuel to run their war machine as-is, starting in 1942 were being outproduced just by the Soviet Union and the possibility of them invading Britain before invading the USSR has been debated to death with the consensus being such a feat is totally impossible under all but the most optimal of conditions. AANW is the closest you'll get and that one, by the author's own admission, depends on a massive handwave to even happen at all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

veteranMortal said:
The idea that the nazis could survive WWII is inherently pretty absurd, so having a WWIII containing them requires it to be yet more absurd. Having this not contain nuclear weapons is ridiculous. Your stipulations necessitate an Alt history of rather poor quality.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That I'm fully aware of, but at least what I'm proposing is more plausible than turning point fall of liberty. At least New Order last days of Europe seem to be headed towards that direction aside from the nuclear holocaust
 
Terran Allias said:
Can some one recommend me some proper Nazi vs America WW3 fics? The only one that comes to mind is Anglo American Nazi War, which is good. It's just that a lot of timelines just have America invaded with no prior battles they just roll up on shore and occupy the east coast instantly.

Gentlemen, all I ask is a proper Allies vs Axis World War so grand as to make hell itself tremble, and also doesn't end in nuclear war. I want a war that begins with panzers rolling into free scotland and ends with the UN flag draped over the Volkshalle, I want a war that has bullets from M16s and STG 80s dance across the rainforest of the congo, I want dogfights between F15s and ME 4000s from beyond line of sight, none of that resistance bullcrap. I want a proper WORLD WAR 3!!!

*the major intensifies*
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It doesn't involve panzers in Scotland or battles in the Congo, but Thousand-Week Reich is pretty good. It originally started as a series of maps on /r/imaginarymaps, but it's actually being turned into a HOI4 mod now:

Thousand-Week Reich - My attempt at a 'realistic' Nazi victory scenario from r/imaginarymaps

If you search for Thousand Week Reich on that subreddit there are plenty more maps
 
Jake said:
Has anyone not been banned from AH.com at this point?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I am still here and there. But then, I don't really do much.

As people have said, avoid Chat. Not worth stressing over it - although admittedly the same warnings can be applied to SB's Non Sci Fi Debate (+Whitehall) and News & Politics here.
 
Last edited:
Okay, anyone here recall The Black and the Gray?

Alright, the CSA giving the nod to Cleburne's idea for the recruitment of Black Soldiers in 1864 rather than laughing him out of the room? Fine, one impossibility per TL rule applies.

The plan being implemented smoothly with no defections or revolts? Especially with integrated units? Stretching matters to say the least.

USCT switching over to the more honorable and less racist Confederates in Job Lots? How High Are You Do You Think I Am?!?

Compared to this, the usual Glorious Southron Victory Over The Pathetic Yankees is small beans (although we have that mess too).
 
htgriffin said:
Okay, anyone here recall The Black and the Gray?

Alright, the CSA giving the nod to Cleburne's idea for the recruitment of Black Soldiers in 1864 rather than laughing him out of the room? Fine, one impossibility per TL rule applies.

The plan being implemented smoothly with no defections or revolts? Especially with integrated units? Stretching matters to say the least.

USCT switching over to the more honorable and less racist Confederates in Job Lots? How High Are You Do You Think I Am?!?

Compared to this, the usual Glorious Southron Victory Over The Pathetic Yankees is small beans (although we have that mess too).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Wow that's really bad.

To take a dejure white supremacist state like the Confederacy and make it suddenly tolerant is some egregious whitewashing.
 
Space Oddity said:
The man who made it had an informal reward named after him that was handed out during the Turtledoves.

AH.com is a community that tends to avoid admitting it has serious problems in some areas.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
To be fair, if he tried to post the same timeline today, he'd be run off of the site before you could say "Bobby Lee's beard".

AH.com has changed tremendously since the days of the Black and the Gray.
 
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top