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Overheaven

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Overheaven (styled OVRHVN) is a Science Fiction Alternate History/future timeline posted on DeviantArt by user NK-Ryzov. The timeline's Point of Divergence is in 1963, when Nikita Khrushchev accidentally leaves a loophole in the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, leading to the passing of an alternate version of the Outer Space Treaty which does not prohibit nations from making territorial claims in space. This causes the Cold War to take a radically different course, and leads to mankind's technological progress and advancement into space happening much faster. Notably, the timeline continues past our own present day, well into The Future - the furthest official posts are set in 2585.A map of Earth in this timeline's alternate 2022, with links to the Google Docs that comprise much of the lore mentioned on this page, can be found here, and makes for a good starting point.
 Overheaven
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2024-04-30T03:01:03Z
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2024-04-30T03:01:03Z
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Dropped link to ArabOilSheikh: Not a Feature - ITEM
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City on the Water
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Ganymede, thus far, seems to have averted this, instead opting for building arcologies that float.
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Multinational Team
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Multinational Team: The Hong Kong Defence Forces allow foreigners to serve in their ranks so long as they have a grasp of English and/or Cantonese. This comes in very handy when China gives them a year to surrender or be invaded. Thousands of volunteers flock to Hong Kong from all over the world and even as far as Luna, and when China does indeed invade, they (along with an almost-as-diverse Commonwealth task force) succeed in driving off the People's Liberation Army and ensuring the independence of the city-state.
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 Overheaven / int_17ce80aa
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All There in the Manual
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All There in the Manual: The maps and flags, as impressive as they are, are at most half of the story. The real meat of OVRHVN lies in the lore documents Ryzov posts alongside the art.
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 Overheaven / int_18d15922
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Title Drop
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Title Drop: The E!22 lore document, after hundreds of pages detailing every aspect of life on Earth (and, to an extent, beyond) in the alternate present of the setting, ends by calling attention to the friction between pro- and anti-technology forces over whether human progress really is inevitable:
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 Overheaven / int_191a3673
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Graceful Loser
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Graceful Loser: At the end of the Red-Blue War, Tobias Falco's reaction to his Arch-Enemy Aaron Lang showing up in person with a squad of soldiers to capture him while he's in the middle of his daily livestream is to calmly turn around, offer Lang a seat and a cup of tea, and say the following, live for all of Mars to hear:
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 Overheaven / int_19fc58a2
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A Lighter Shade of Black
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A Lighter Shade of Black / Evil vs. Evil: What the "Blank War" boils down to. Following South Africa's split and subsequent race war, a number of Afrikaners had decided to start over in space, founding the Martian colony of Kruger. Naturally, this colony ends up attracting a lot of regular old white supremacists and Neo-Nazis from around the world, producing the two demographics of the Boers in Kruger and the Blanks in the breakaway state of Agartha. The Boers are religious, conservative and not exactly egalitarian, but they're also markedly less racist than they used to be, and by the time of the Red-Blue War, they want to put their apartheid origins behind them. The Blanks, on the other hand, are, well... Neo-Nazis. The Boers and Blanks go to war during the RBW, the Reds and Blues eventually intervene, and the Boers ultimately win. The Blanks are implied to have been nigh-completely wiped out, which is treated as a good thing.
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 Overheaven / int_1b8c7503
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The Exile
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The Exile: Multiple communist leaders head for Venus, or try to, when things go south for them on Earth. Nicolae Ceaucescu fled to the Romanian colony of Infloria when he was overthrown, and Jim Jones founded an aerostat colony with the People's Temple after defecting to the USSR. Gaddafi attempted to flee to Venus when Eurofed invaded Libya, but he was captured and executed. When communism fell in Cuba, Fidel Castro did depart for Venus, but died en route, and when the Ba'athist regime in Iraq and Syria fell, Bashar al-Assad was "encouraged" by the new Western-backed government of Mesopotamia to leave for the Syrian aerostats.
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 Overheaven / int_1d47dc06
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Alternative Calendar
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Alternative Calendar: Since Mars' day and year are longer than Earth's, dates for events that take place on Mars are given using the Darian calendar. Jovian calendars are even stranger, since Jupiter's year is twelve times longer than Earth's and its moons (where everyone lives) are tidally locked. Days aren't even called days, but "circads," and the light-dark cycle encompasses the whole eight-circad week.
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 Overheaven / int_1ea248b4
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Neat Freak
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Neat Freak: Played for horror with Masoud Noorani. He's obsessed with cleanliness to the point of germophobia... and he views Hindus as "filthy." It's implied to be part of why he nukes India.
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 Overheaven / int_1ed1bead
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Domed Hometown
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Domed Hometown: Something that's done both in the colonies, for obvious reasons, and on Earth, for stylistic and practical purposes. Turns out, it's a pretty good way to keep cool in the US Southwest, or warm in Siberia.
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Artificial Human
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Artificial Human: Not yet, at least not as of 2022, but scientists in Taiwan are working on it.
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 Overheaven / int_22cf50f9
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Chekhov's Gag
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Chekhov's Gag: At one point during E!22, whilst discussing Eastern Europe, the strong cooperation between the restored constitutional monarchies of Romania and Bulgaria is noted, with the reaction from the rest of Eastern Europe being described thusly: "Why don't your monarchs kiss and marry already?" "Maybe we will!" Naturally, in E!2150, it's revealed that by the 2070s, that's exactly what happened, and the two nations now share a ruling dynasty.
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 Overheaven / int_2344d3d6
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Post-Cyberpunk
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Post-Cyberpunk: OVRHVN is an excellent example - technology is used to help people, society can be and is changed from within, and while the downsides are not shied away from, the world is A World Half Full and humanity is always making progress.
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 Overheaven / int_258a5cfe
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Different World, Different Movies
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Different World, Different Movies: Quite extensively so. For one thing, Star Trek comes to an end in the 2000s, since its vision of the future doesn't look all that futuristic anymore now that people are actually traveling to other planets. The Trek fandom, however, does manage to carry on and become a minor cultural force in its own right, thanks in large part to a number of unauthorized Martian Star Trek anime. Trekkie colonies spring up throughout the solar system, trying to bring the show's utopian ideals into reality. The 80s and 90s see a major boom in high fantasy, leading to, among other things, a Dungeons & Dragons animated series which is much more successful than the one our timeline got. One original work from OVRHVN that's been mentioned repeatedly is Freeman, a neo-noir TV series about a detective running from his past on the colony of Port Dread on Mars' moon Deimos. Actual Dreadites cringe at its inaccurate portrayal of their city and its Yakuza underbelly, but acknowledge that its effects and sets (done in Vancouver) are actually quite good. Since Korea's rise was slowed by the Second Korean War (the North lost, but it was still messy) and the USSR succeeded in reforming into the Sovereign Union and peacefully ending the Cold War, this TL has R-Pop - Russian pop music - take the place of K-Pop. Ted Kaczynski's hit novel ''The Unabomber'' inspires a generation of radical environmentalists, and is eventually made into a hit movie which is implied to be this timeline's equivalent of Joker, given that Joaquin Phoenix plays the titular Eco-Terrorist Mad Bomber. By 2585, one of the most popular musical genres on Ganymede is whalesong - which is to say, music made by, and in the languages of, uplifted cetaceans. The delphi (bottlenose dolphin uplifts) dominate the pop scene, while classical whalesong is more the province of the paikea (humpback whale uplifts).
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 Overheaven / int_25c60be7
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Only in Florida
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Only in Florida: This timeline has its own variant, concerning China. China's laws on cybernetics and gene-modding are quite lax, and ever since the fall of the CCP and the establishment of democracy, the nation has become known for eccentric billionaires, fistfights in the legislature and generally wacky news stories. Apparently there's even a subreddit for it - r/MeanwhileInChina. Incidentally, this is a bit of irony on Ryzov's part - IRL, it's Taiwan that's known for legislative brawling.
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Kid Hero
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Kid Hero: The "Tank Kidz," a group of Martian high-schoolers piloting remote-controlled robot tanks, who lend their skills to the Blues during the Red-Blue War.
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 Overheaven / int_2726d167
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The World Is Just Awesome
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The World Is Just Awesome: This trope actually winds up having a tangible effect on global politics. By 2022, enough of Earth's population (including policymakers) has been into space that the Overview Effect is starting to become widespread, fostering an increased sense of community and an upswing in international cooperation.
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 Overheaven / int_2854b56d
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Uncertain Doom
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comment
Kim Jong-chul, Jong-un's half-brother, is last seen by US Marines, running down an alleyway in Pyongyang. He's never heard from again. Conspiracy theories about what happened to him circulate in Korea to this day.
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 Overheaven / int_28d73447
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Regional Redecoration
 Overheaven / int_28d73447
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Regional Redecoration: The USA builds a massive dam (called the Rampart Dam) to provide electricity to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. As a result of the Dam's construction, a sizable portion of northern Alaska is flooded, creating a new lake called Lake Kennedy. Indeed, lake-making is not unheard of throughout the world - the nations of the Maghreb have all been engaging in their own plans to alter the Sahara to their liking, with Egypt even going so far as to create a whole new branch of the Nile. Meanwhile, the Chadian government has done much to rebuild Lake Chad, and the USSR is working on restoring the Aral Sea.
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 Overheaven / int_2a195285
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Revolvers Are Just Better
 Overheaven / int_2a195285
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Revolvers Are Just Better: There's an entire post about famous revolvers of the 26th century. Apparently, such guns still see a fair bit of use in the offworld colonies. The post features four examples: The Lokang M62, from Io, is the weapon of choice of the Imperial Patrol, the Jovian Empire's equivalent to the Mounties. The Jager Tarzan, from Venus, an ancient DinoTek design for killing or at least deterring dinosaurs, refined over the centuries by the people of post-terraforming Venus. The Isayama Gun, an Ornamental Weapon from Mars, where the judges in the Alliance's Disciplinary Court use pistols as gavels in a tradition dating back to the Red-Blue War. The 262 Gungnir Smartpepper, from Luna, a popular choice among police forces on Luna and Earth thanks to its ability to minimize collateral damage via Homing Projectile.
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 Overheaven / int_2b3e7d3e
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Sketchy Successor
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Sketchy Successor: When Deng Xiaoping dies earlier than in OTL, his replacement is not Jiang Zemin, but instead a different, more obscure CCP figure named Sun Luoyang. Unfortunately, Sun proves thoroughly incompetent - he fails to keep China competitive in space, gives up China's claim to Taiwan in order to get China onto the UN Security Council, and finally brings about an even-worse-than-OTL Tiananmen Square Massacre, leading to years of further protests and over a thousand more deaths. Sun's idea of trying to foster unity in the face of this is... to invade Hong Kong. The "Hong Kong War" is a Curb-Stomp Battle in Hong Kong's favor, and it ultimately results in Sun Luoyang being forced out of office and the pro-democracy protest movement gaining enough strength to force the CCP out of office.
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 Overheaven / int_2cf48b40
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Ornamental Weapon
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The Isayama Gun, an Ornamental Weapon from Mars, where the judges in the Alliance's Disciplinary Court use pistols as gavels in a tradition dating back to the Red-Blue War.
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 Overheaven / int_2f6b63aa
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Land of One City
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Land of One City: The Cape Republic is described as this, being very much centered on Cape Town.
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 Overheaven / int_2fe5444
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Fantastic Ship Prefix
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Fantastic Ship Prefix: Prior to the Red-Blue War, Martian spaceships use MTOS (Mars Treaty Organization Ship). After the war, with the foundation of the Martian Alliance, they use MCS (presumably, MarsCom Ship).
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 Overheaven / int_3130e2c6
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Uplifted Animal
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Uplifted Animal: A technology that's still in its infancy in 2022, but is already producing interesting results. There's at least one facility working to uplift various primates, and New York City has a problem with tool-using rats. By the 2070s, several species have been genuinely uplifted - the Red-Blue War sees rodent uplifts doing espionage and cat uplifts doing counter-espionage, and the oceans of Ganymede are home to uplifted whales and dolphins.
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 Overheaven / int_31b99a18
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Naming Your Colony World
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Naming Your Colony World: It's common for countries to name their offworld colonies after important historical figures or significant locations from Earth. American settlements in particular tend to have names alluding to whichever state most of the colonists come from.
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 Overheaven / int_31c5e7fb
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Starfish Aliens
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Starfish Aliens: Europa's underground ocean is home to a whole ecosystem of alien life, the so-called "eurozoa," and they're very much this trope. The one eurozoa we've seen a picture of, the "cubecell," looks like a cube-shaped single-celled organism - except it's almost as large as a human. With this in mind, the fact that many eurozoa are edible and nutritious to humans gets even stranger. Thus far, no known eurozoa have displayed signs of sentience, but you never know...
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Hegemonic Empire
 Overheaven / int_34602d5a
comment
Jupiter's moons are united under the Jovian Empire in 2249 at the end of a century-long "Warring Moons Period." Io becomes a desert world of heavy industry, Europa is home to a thriving ecosystem of alien creatures in its subsurface ocean and Ganymede and Callisto are both terraformed. Ganymede is the focus of the Age of Aquarius update, which reveals that the whole moon is now one giant ocean.
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 Overheaven / int_3537d6df
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Alternate Techline
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Lasagna Dawn goes into the relevant facets of the Alternate Techline.
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The Fellowship Has Ended
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The Fellowship Has Ended: NATO apparently dissolved in the early 1990s following the mending of Russo-American relations.
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 Overheaven / int_3678fbfa
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Mad Bomber
 Overheaven / int_3678fbfa
comment
Ted Kaczynski's politics don't change, but he never becomes a Mad Bomber himself, instead writing a controversial best-selling novel entitled ''The Unabomber'' whose titular protagonist is indeed one. It's been an inspiration to many a would-be domestic Eco-Terrorist, and it eventually gets The Film of the Book, starring Joaquin Phoenix.
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 Overheaven / int_3909db4f
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Failed State
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Failed State: While most of OTL's infamous failed states, such as Somalia, are doing well for themselves ITTL, other nations that are mostly stable in OTL have become this trope in OVRHVN's timeline. Not coincidentally, they tend to be oil-based economies that failed to adapt when oil started falling out of favor as a fuel: The United Arab Emirates has split in two, and the new "Republic of Magan" is an archetypal example of the trope - impoverished, anarchic, ruled by cults and deranged warlords, and infested with Ruthless Modern Pirates. The rump UAE, now under a military government, is somewhat stabler but not much better off. When things really started getting bad in 2011, the Sultan of Brunei and his ministers refused to try and reform the country, instead opting to simply take the money and run to Singapore. With no central government save for what remained of the military, Brunei fell into complete chaos. By 2018, the once-prosperous country had become an "open-air black market" for drugs, weapons and slaves, and Malaysia finally had enough and decided to invade. Even after this, the Sultan still refuses to return, and 80% of Bruneians would rather be annexed into Malaysia than have him back.
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 Overheaven / int_393a1e86
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But What About the Astronauts?
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But What About the Astronauts?: Hell Day causes a Kessler catastrophe, destroying most of Exonesia. The survivors - in particular the Uplifted Animal and Little Bit Beastly population on ArkGenesis - are forced to evacuate to the devastated Earth, and will do much to begin rebuilding it. Luna suffers much loss of life due to impact ejecta and space debris falling onto the moon, but by then the population (which numbers over 120 million) is mostly self-sufficient, and civilization there is able to survive. The rest of Sol (which comprises hundreds of millions more people) is unscathed by the impact itself, but the social, economic and political ramifications will reach across almost all of humanity.
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Advert-Overloaded Future
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Advert-Overloaded Future: Post-Hell Day, a Lunar company buys Easter Island and turns it into a strange sort of augmented-reality historical theme park, creating a localized version of this.
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 Overheaven / int_3a997f9e
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Solar Punk
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Solar Punk: The term is name-dropped a few times, and indeed, most of Earth's electricity even in 2022 is coming from green energy and nuclear fusion.
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 Overheaven / int_3a997f9e
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_3a997f9e
 Overheaven / int_3e8c80f5
type
British Rockstar
 Overheaven / int_3e8c80f5
comment
Liam Merrick, of the Avalon Red Commandos.
 Overheaven / int_3e8c80f5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_3e8c80f5
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_3e8c80f5
 Overheaven / int_3e8d9cd3
type
Historical Hero Upgrade
 Overheaven / int_3e8d9cd3
comment
Nepal is The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune represents cyclical change, the inevitability of ups and downs, and the turning of karma with both its disorder and its opportunity. Nepal manages to avoid some of the worse events that befell it OTL - Prince Dipendra never murders his family like he did in our timeline, instead renouncing his claim to the throne to marry an Indian noblewoman, with whom he moves to Mars. Nepal is able to remain a monarchy and adopt a formal constitution, and this helps them weather the worst of the Punjab War and its aftermath. The Himalayas shield Nepal from most of the fallout, and the main issue for Nepal in the 2010s is a relatively minor refugee crisis. That, and the thorny issue of genetically-engineered human-chimpanzee hybrids, one of whom fights crime on the streets of Kathmandu for a time.
 Overheaven / int_3e8d9cd3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_3e8d9cd3
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_3e8d9cd3
 Overheaven / int_3ed23024
type
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome
 Overheaven / int_3ed23024
comment
There's some floating cities on Earth, too - seasteading has taken off in a big way. Several such cities are built off the coast of Japan (though their boom years only last so long before going bust). Some American libertarians construct "Freedom Ship," a city-state in the form of what amounts to a giant cruise ship that sails around the world doing business.
 Overheaven / int_3ed23024
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_3ed23024
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_3ed23024
 Overheaven / int_420c50b7
type
A.I. Is a Crapshoot
 Overheaven / int_420c50b7
comment
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Soundly averted. In 2022, sentient AI has only just recently been invented. The anti-technology groups are fearing it will be the end of us all, the transhumanists are proclaiming it will bring The Singularity... and MIT's Sophia, the first of her kind, is on alternate-Twitter, liking people's fanart of her as a cute anime girl. By 2150, AIs appear to have been afforded equal rights, thereby averting What Measure Is a Non-Human?, and they've integrated into human civilization as more or less ordinary members of society. They respect humanity for having created them, and "robot revolt" scenarios are thus all but nonexistent.
 Overheaven / int_420c50b7
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 Overheaven / int_420c50b7
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Overheaven / int_420c50b7
 Overheaven / int_4612ec70
type
No Transhumanism Allowed
 Overheaven / int_4612ec70
comment
No Transhumanism Allowed: This is a political position - it's called "bioconservatism" - and it's far from unheard of in many places, though it's also not exactly a majority. Some of the Western Terrorists in this timeline are of this viewpoint.
 Overheaven / int_4612ec70
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_4612ec70
featureConfidence
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Overheaven / int_4612ec70
 Overheaven / int_47f524ff
type
Fantastic Religious Weirdness
 Overheaven / int_47f524ff
comment
Fantastic Religious Weirdness: Shintoism is brought offworld by Japanese colonists, and it goes off in some odd directions on Mars. In particular, there arises a significant belief that humans have brought the kami with them to Mars, and that said kami are now trapped in the colonies' life support systems and can only be released by way of noaforming. Naturally, this leads to Shinto Church Militant groups fighting for the Blue side during the Red-Blue War. Many Mormons also find their way to Mars, settling mostly in the area around Olympus Mons, after the discovery of an unusual meteorite there that they interpret as a sign from God.
 Overheaven / int_47f524ff
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_47f524ff
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1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_47f524ff
 Overheaven / int_48aac61d
type
Chummy Commies
 Overheaven / int_48aac61d
comment
Chummy Commies: Russia moderated into a very reasonable democracy, and even the diehard communists who inhabit the aerostats of Venus are mostly friendly, if sometimes Cloudcuckoolanders.
 Overheaven / int_48aac61d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_48aac61d
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_48aac61d
 Overheaven / int_4921aad7
type
Expanded States of America
 Overheaven / int_4921aad7
comment
Expanded States of America: Subverted. The USA has built up an extensive network of offworld colonies, which are at least nominally part of the USA. In practice, however, the further out one gets, the more likely the colonies are to be effectively independent. Back on Earth, the USA does still control the Panama Canal Zone, albeit not as a state. And by 2150, it's played straight, with chunks of Canada and Mexico joining the US as states alongside a few space colonies.
 Overheaven / int_4921aad7
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 Overheaven / int_4921aad7
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_4921aad7
 Overheaven / int_4a84e5be
type
Wandering Culture
 Overheaven / int_4a84e5be
comment
Wandering Culture: Every world seems to have one. Tuaregs on Earth, Grays on Luna, Rusties on Mars and Mariners on Ganymede.
 Overheaven / int_4a84e5be
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_4a84e5be
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_4a84e5be
 Overheaven / int_4b4ac0ca
type
Homing Projectile
 Overheaven / int_4b4ac0ca
comment
The 262 Gungnir Smartpepper, from Luna, a popular choice among police forces on Luna and Earth thanks to its ability to minimize collateral damage via Homing Projectile.
 Overheaven / int_4b4ac0ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_4b4ac0ca
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_4b4ac0ca
 Overheaven / int_4ef92d0b
type
The Atoner
 Overheaven / int_4ef92d0b
comment
The Atoner: The Cape Republic (the white half of a balkanized South Africa) has come to regret the apartheid system that led to its creation, and many in it would like to reunite with their black neighbors in Mzansi, or at the very least reestablish a good relationship between the two. While the former is unlikely, the latter has seen some progress. The Capians' distant cousins, the Martian colonists of Kruger, come to feel similarly, and while they're no liberals, they're still willing to fight (and win) a war against their Neo-Nazi neighbors in Agartha.
 Overheaven / int_4ef92d0b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_4ef92d0b
featureConfidence
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Overheaven / int_4ef92d0b
 Overheaven / int_515189ab
type
Single-Biome Planet
 Overheaven / int_515189ab
comment
Single-Biome Planet: Ganymede is terraformed into an ocean world.
 Overheaven / int_515189ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_515189ab
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_515189ab
 Overheaven / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 Overheaven / int_5313c266
comment
Book Ends: The Cenozoic both began and ended with an asteroid impact.
 Overheaven / int_5313c266
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_5313c266
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_5313c266
 Overheaven / int_53a7089a
type
Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 Overheaven / int_53a7089a
comment
Minako Hiyama, of the Red Planet Revolutionary Ronin.
 Overheaven / int_53a7089a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_53a7089a
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_53a7089a
 Overheaven / int_57b80b45
type
Fantastic Racism
 Overheaven / int_57b80b45
comment
Fantastic Racism: Zoans - a catch-all term for uplifted animals and humans with genetically engineered animal traits - are massively discriminated against on mid-21st-century Earth, prompting many to leave and establish the "Zoan Homeland" of ArkGenesis in orbit.
 Overheaven / int_57b80b45
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_57b80b45
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_57b80b45
 Overheaven / int_5989e3b6
type
Enemy Mine
 Overheaven / int_5989e3b6
comment
Enemy Mine: ESCA, one of the Red armies of the Red-Blue War, is an alliance between Christian fundamentalists and Muslim jihadists. They work together surprisingly well during the war, but it ends as badly as you'd expect afterwards.
 Overheaven / int_5989e3b6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_5989e3b6
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Overheaven / int_5989e3b6
 Overheaven / int_5a100b90
type
Puppet King
 Overheaven / int_5a100b90
comment
Sultan Al-Khatib, of ESCA.
 Overheaven / int_5a100b90
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_5a100b90
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_5a100b90
 Overheaven / int_5b84f2a
type
Transhuman
 Overheaven / int_5b84f2a
comment
Transhuman: Cyborgs, genetically modified humans and such things are a major part of the timeline, and the term is name-dropped repeatedly. Outright transhumanism for its own sake is considered a somewhat fringe political stance in 2022, and frowned upon in most places, but that's likely to change in the future...
 Overheaven / int_5b84f2a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_5b84f2a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_5b84f2a
 Overheaven / int_60783afa
type
Standard Sci-Fi History
 Overheaven / int_60783afa
comment
Standard Sci-Fi History: OVRHVN explores stages 0 through 2 in depth and is heading towards stage 3 (Interstellar Colonization) by 2585. Notably, stage 2 hits Earth with an all-natural Colony Drop instead of World War III, and the aftermath is played as something resembling the Long Night stage of The Cycle of Empires.
 Overheaven / int_60783afa
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_60783afa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_60783afa
 Overheaven / int_60b21fa3
type
The Lancer
 Overheaven / int_60b21fa3
comment
Levi Brahm, of the Euromartian Defense Forces.
 Overheaven / int_60b21fa3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_60b21fa3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_60b21fa3
 Overheaven / int_60e49895
type
The Leader
 Overheaven / int_60e49895
comment
Falco himself, of the Primus Occupation Force.
 Overheaven / int_60e49895
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_60e49895
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_60e49895
 Overheaven / int_60f992e8
type
Florence Nightingale Effect
 Overheaven / int_60f992e8
comment
Alberto Fujimori is hit by a car whilst attending college in America, falls in love with his nurse, and moves to America to marry her. He thus never becomes dictator of Peru.
 Overheaven / int_60f992e8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_60f992e8
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_60f992e8
 Overheaven / int_6439de78
type
Heroic Sacrifice
 Overheaven / int_6439de78
comment
Valentina Tereshkova, in OTL the first woman in space, ITTL goes on to lead the Soviets' first expeditions to Venus. Tragically, a freak accident leads to her falling to her death into the sulfuric clouds of Venus. Rather than discouraging further Venusian endeavors, however, her death is viewed as a Heroic Sacrifice of sorts, and the Warsaw Pact's efforts to colonize Venus are soon in full swing.
 Overheaven / int_6439de78
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_6439de78
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1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_6439de78
 Overheaven / int_6454966e
type
World War III
 Overheaven / int_6454966e
comment
World War III: Never fully comes to pass on Earth, at least not the way it's usually envisioned, but the Punjab War between India and Pakistan is probably close enough - it did go nuclear, after all.
 Overheaven / int_6454966e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_6454966e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_6454966e
 Overheaven / int_64fd1e63
type
Other Me Annoys Me
 Overheaven / int_64fd1e63
comment
Alex Jones, of InfoWars infamy, takes the exact opposite career path ITTL - becoming famous in the world of news as a debunker and skeptic. Meanwhile, since the militia movement isn't as powerful ITTL, Timothy McVeigh never commits the Oklahoma City bombing and instead becomes OVRHVN's equivalent of OTL Alex Jones. Needless to say, McVeigh and Jones don't like each other one bit.
 Overheaven / int_64fd1e63
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_64fd1e63
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_64fd1e63
 Overheaven / int_6627695f
type
Author Appeal
 Overheaven / int_6627695f
comment
Author Appeal: Ryzov seems to really like designing flags. (Not that anyone's complaining.) The Mars posts in particular include dozens of them.
 Overheaven / int_6627695f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_6627695f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_6627695f
 Overheaven / int_6651bba7
type
Bio-Augmentation
 Overheaven / int_6651bba7
comment
Bio-Augmentation: Not uncommon, and sometimes goes hand in hand with cyborgization.
 Overheaven / int_6651bba7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_6651bba7
featureConfidence
1.0
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Overheaven / int_6651bba7
 Overheaven / int_67b24bc8
type
Why We Are Bummed: Communism Fell
 Overheaven / int_67b24bc8
comment
Why We Are Bummed Communism Fell: Not only does Russia successfully reform into a social democracy, the Chinese Communist Party is overthrown and the Castro regime in Cuba is forced to step down, leaving communism almost nonexistent on Earth, and communists there quite bummed indeed. This leads to the rise to prominence of "exit socialism," a theory asserting that establishing socialism on a planet already controlled by capitalism is either impossible or not worth the effort, and that therefore, the socialist state must be built from scratch, in the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism - space! Fortunately, the Soviet bloc had already been colonizing Venus.
 Overheaven / int_67b24bc8
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_67b24bc8
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_67b24bc8
 Overheaven / int_67d90683
type
Fictional Political Party
 Overheaven / int_67d90683
comment
Fictional Political Party: The party of government in Australia in 2022 is called the Science Party. They're an offshoot of Labor which advocates for scientific advancement as well as a generally progressive social policy.
 Overheaven / int_67d90683
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_67d90683
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_67d90683
 Overheaven / int_680a5252
type
In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race
 Overheaven / int_680a5252
comment
In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race: The goal of the Zera movement, based in the UK, is to bring about this by encouraging the growth of an entirely new, genetically-engineered human phenotype: light brown skin ("splitting the difference" to weaken the grip of racial prejudice), naturally white hair (to cut down on ageism), and red eyes ("something new and different.") While it never really catches on on Earth, it does catch on in the British colony of Avalon on Mars. In Ryzov's Red-Blue War political compass meme, the Avalon Red Commandos are depicted as being Zeras.
 Overheaven / int_680a5252
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_680a5252
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_680a5252
 Overheaven / int_68a5e1c3
type
Humans Are Psychic in the Future
 Overheaven / int_68a5e1c3
comment
Humans Are Psychic in the Future: Psychic Powers are proven to exist in the mid-to-late 21st century. However, they're not particularly strong nor common. Furthermore, "espers" can only receive or transmit thoughts - not both.
 Overheaven / int_68a5e1c3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Overheaven / int_68a5e1c3
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_68a5e1c3
 Overheaven / int_69dff6df
type
Fantasy Counterpart Religion
 Overheaven / int_69dff6df
comment
Fantasy Counterpart Religion: The Barsu. Basically, their prophet was a woman named Aelita (born Susan Schneider) who became convinced she was a reincarnated ancient Martian. Aelita produced a huge volume of writings and art, and many people who met her in person or followed her online came to identify with her beliefs as well. The Barsu believe that they are humans with alien souls, and that Mars is the promised land to which they must return. They are thus heavily involved in Martian colonization and the Red-Blue War. Most Barsu are Blue, and some Red factions heavily persecute them. By the 24th century, the Barsu will have grown into a major demographic on Mars.
 Overheaven / int_69dff6df
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_69dff6df
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_69dff6df
 Overheaven / int_6a2d1b1a
type
Rebel Leader
 Overheaven / int_6a2d1b1a
comment
Rebel Leader: Tobias Falco, "80-year-old zoomer" and former general in the Martian government, who kicked off the Red-Blue War by defecting to the Reds and occupying the erstwhile Martian capital of Primus. He proves himself a Reasonable Authority Figure and A Father to His Men during the war and a Graceful Loser at its end. Tragically, he's killed at the peace talks by a group of "Hard Red" terrorists who considered him a traitor to the movement, thereby uniting both sides against the extremists and helping to ensure the stability of the nascent Martian Alliance. In fact, the United Forces (the main organization of the Red side) actually had seven of them: Falco himself, of the Primus Occupation Force. Levi Brahm, of the Euromartian Defense Forces. Minako Hiyama, of the Red Planet Revolutionary Ronin. Liam Merrick, of the Avalon Red Commandos. Utena Jackson, of the Code Red Coalition. Sultan Al-Khatib, of ESCA. Ernesto Nores, of the Army of the North.
 Overheaven / int_6a2d1b1a
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_6a2d1b1a
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_6a2d1b1a
 Overheaven / int_6af8ebb5
type
Death by Falling Over
 Overheaven / int_6af8ebb5
comment
Two PoDs, both involving the original PoD for the timeline, ensure that Iran winds up in much better shape than OTL. First, in 1967, after a long night spent discussing the implications of the newly-passed alt-Outer Space Treaty with his wife, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran has an "intense" dream which leads him to rethink his policies and decide to pivot the country away from oil, which he does. Second, Ruhollah Khomeini falls down the stairs and dies in 1974 whilst "pondering the impiety of colonizing the moon," meaning there's never an Iranian Revolution to overthrow the Shah. The end result of all this is that Iran remains a monarchy and a US ally into the modern day. They're a cultural and economic force in their own right, and as much of the rest of the Middle East collapses, Iran thrives. They've got a robust space industry and even their own little Mars colony.
 Overheaven / int_6af8ebb5
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_6af8ebb5
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Overheaven / int_6af8ebb5
 Overheaven / int_6b4f4350
type
Zeppelins from Another World
 Overheaven / int_6b4f4350
comment
Zeppelins from Another World: Believe it or not, airships have made a comeback in OVRHVN. The use of aerostats on Venus brought them back into the public's good graces, and rather than flammable hydrogen, they can be fueled using the much safer helium that's produced as a byproduct of nuclear fusion reactors. Eurofed is noted to be a leader in the technology.
 Overheaven / int_6b4f4350
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_6b4f4350
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Overheaven / int_6b4f4350
 Overheaven / int_6cd2fb82
type
Full-Conversion Cyborg
 Overheaven / int_6cd2fb82
comment
Full-Conversion Cyborg: Since 2001, it's been possible to become one via the "Yashima Procedure," named after the first person to undergo it, a 25-year-old Japanese woman named Tsuru Yashima, who volunteered for the experiment as it was the only way for her to survive her terminal leukemia. She experiences severe dysphoria afterwards, and it takes her several years to acclimate to her new prosthetic body, but by 2006, she's comfortable enough to appear on the cover of TIME alongside the second person to undergo the procedure - Christopher Reeve.
 Overheaven / int_6cd2fb82
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_6cd2fb82
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_6cd2fb82
 Overheaven / int_703ab38d
type
Base on Wheels
 Overheaven / int_703ab38d
comment
Base on Wheels: Some of the colonies on Mercury take this route, though it's less "on wheels" and more "on tracks" or "on rails."
 Overheaven / int_703ab38d
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_703ab38d
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Overheaven / int_703ab38d
 Overheaven / int_7179a462
type
World in the Sky
 Overheaven / int_7179a462
comment
World in the Sky: The use of aerostats on Venus produces a society something like this. Not an exact example, since there is of course an actual surface down there below the clouds, but as the Venusian surface is, well, the Venusian surface, the effect is much the same.
 Overheaven / int_7179a462
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_7179a462
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1.0
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Overheaven / int_7179a462
 Overheaven / int_7335ffa9
type
Grey-and-Gray Morality
 Overheaven / int_7335ffa9
comment
Grey-and-Gray Morality: Neither side of the Red-Blue War is necessarily "the good guys" or "the bad guys" as a whole, though there are undeniably nutjobs on both sides. In the end, the moderates on both sides unite against the extremists after the war, and both the Reds and the Blues get most of what they wanted.
 Overheaven / int_7335ffa9
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_7335ffa9
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Overheaven / int_7335ffa9
 Overheaven / int_7453bc5b
type
Spared by the Adaptation
 Overheaven / int_7453bc5b
comment
Spared by the Adaptation: Anwar Sadat survives the assassination attempt that killed him OTL, and goes on to make Egypt a prosperous economic power in North Africa before finally retiring in 1995 and dying peacefully a few years later. 9/11 never occurs ITTL, so the World Trade Center towers still stand.
 Overheaven / int_7453bc5b
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_7453bc5b
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Overheaven / int_7453bc5b
 Overheaven / int_7568eb84
type
Human Subspecies
 Overheaven / int_7568eb84
comment
Human Subspecies: "Chimeras," humans genetically enhanced with animal traits. These and uplifts are known by the collective name "zoans." There's also the aquamorphs or "gill-babies," humans genetically modified to be able to breathe underwater. Initially outcasts both on Earth and on the moons of Jupiter, they come into their own when Ganymede is terraformed into an ocean world. The Kara, a subculture of "Australian libertarian spider-goths" who have made extensive genetic modifications to themselves, most visibly extra limbs. As experts in esoteric gene-modding, their skills are in high demand on Mars, though their dark aesthetics (which they sometimes play into) lead many to be suspicious or fearful of them.
 Overheaven / int_7568eb84
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_7568eb84
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1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_7568eb84
 Overheaven / int_758cb30a
type
United Europe
 Overheaven / int_758cb30a
comment
United Europe: United Western Europe, at least. The European Federation (Eurofed for short) consists of France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Low Countries and (for a time) Iberia. They spend most of the 21st century as a world power.
 Overheaven / int_758cb30a
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1.0
 Overheaven / int_758cb30a
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1.0
 Overheaven
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Overheaven / int_758cb30a
 Overheaven / int_75c952bf
type
Our Presidents Are Different
 Overheaven / int_75c952bf
comment
Our Presidents Are Different: John Glenn is a deconstructed President Geek - he spends much of his single term focusing on space to the exclusion of domestic affairs, and is remembered as a great astronaut but a mediocre president. Ronald Reagan ends up less conservative, though still a Republican, and he's remembered largely as President Personable. Donald Trump becomes president in 1992, on the Reform Party ticket, and he's depicted as President Buffoon - his presidency is remembered as a mixed bag and a strange time, but a nostalgic one. Colin Powell and Hillary Rodham are both President Minority, being the first black and female presidents, respectively.
 Overheaven / int_75c952bf
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 Overheaven / int_786bf97f
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Real Life Writes the Plot
 Overheaven / int_786bf97f
comment
Notably, however, with the exception of 2023 (Ryzov had COVID at the time), all the "shitposts" have provided genuine OVRHVN lore - hence why they're considered Loose Canon as opposed to noncanon, and why they all bear the subtitle "(Not) A Shitpost." Lasagna Dawn goes into the relevant facets of the Alternate Techline. Wagon Station talks about the early years of the Space Boom. Parbex Presents: Easter Island discusses Hell Day in a fair amount of detail and was indeed the main canon source on it prior to Graveyard Earth. Corn Lords gives a full explanation of what florasophs are and how they work, along with some information on the pansophist movement, who created florasophs out of a belief that the non-human parts of the biosphere deserved their own say.
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Overheaven / int_786bf97f
 Overheaven / int_7913833c
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Balkanize Me
 Overheaven / int_7913833c
comment
While some parts of the Middle East ends up better off than OTL, since there's never a War on Terror, there is still a great deal of turmoil there in 2022. In this timeline, however, it's not Iraq and Syria that are the the epicenter, but a balkanizing Saudi Arabia. The advent of fusion power caused the oil market to collapse in the 2010s, and while it rebounded (even without oil as fuel, people still need oil for plastics and such), the damage to the stability of the Arabian Peninsula had been done. Meanwhile, the Ba'athists under Hafez al-Assad had managed to unite Syria with Iraq, forming the Arab Republic of Iraq & Syria or ARIS, which also falls into serious disorder around the same time and for some of the same reasons. Bashar al-Assad is "encouraged" by the USSR to step down and go into exile on Venus, and ARIS transitions into the Republic of Mesopotamia.
 Overheaven / int_7913833c
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Overheaven / int_7913833c
 Overheaven / int_79a60aec
type
For Want of a Nail
 Overheaven / int_79a60aec
comment
Chile undergoes an odd subversion. It seems like For Want Of A Nail at first, when Augusto Pinochet comes down with a stomachache and misses the meeting that would've brought him into the planned coup against Salvador Allende, leading to the coup being called off... but then Pinochet becomes leader of Chile anyway, by winning an election the honest way. Neither he nor Allende are remembered as particularly impressive presidents, but Pinochet is much more moderate than OTL and even initiates the Chilean space program.
 Overheaven / int_79a60aec
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Overheaven / int_79a60aec
 Overheaven / int_7a265daa
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Eagleland
 Overheaven / int_7a265daa
comment
Eagleland: Type 1. The United States of America is the undisputed #1 superpower in 2022, and it's consistently been the main driver of space exploration, space colonization, and technological development. While not without its problems, it's portrayed as a pretty good place to live, and it's avoided many of the pitfalls it suffered OTL, thanks in large part to Lyndon Johnson pulling America out of The Vietnam War much earlier than OTL.
 Overheaven / int_7a265daa
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Overheaven / int_7a265daa
 Overheaven / int_7a9f921d
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Extinct in the Future
 Overheaven / int_7a9f921d
comment
Extinct in the Future: A positive example, oddly enough. It's mentioned in passing that by 2150, as a result of concerted campaigns against the diseases they spread, mosquitoes, guinea worms and tsetse flies have been wiped out.
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Overheaven / int_7a9f921d
 Overheaven / int_7adc9fc6
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Colonized Solar System
 Overheaven / int_7adc9fc6
comment
Colonized Solar System: Most if not all of the Solar System will, sooner or later, have some kind of human presence. Even in 2022, humans are already venturing as far as Titan, and Luna and Mars are becoming quite extensively colonized. Mercury seems to have been settled mostly by Americans. They live in Underground Cities, have a thriving drug culture and fought a war over whether or not they should dismantle the planet to build a Dyson swarm. Venus is colonized by way of "aerostats" - essentially floating airship-cities in the Venusian clouds. It's also the setting's premier Commie Land. Eventually, it's terraformed and its ecosystem populated with, among other things, genetically-reengineered dinosaurs. There's a significant human presence in orbit and on Luna, and these are naturally the most closely tied to Earth. The orbital nations are referred to collectively as "Exonesia," and many of them are Start My Own ventures by nationalist groups. Luna, as the first place beyond Earth humanity colonized, is often colloquially called the "Eighth Continent," but even it has developed a unique culture of its own. Mars is heavily colonized, and eventually terraformed (or "noaformed" as is said in this timeline), by a wide range of nations. A civil war is fought there in the 2070s between Red (anti-noaforming) and Blue (pro-noaforming) factions, which the Blues win, leading to the formation of the Martian Alliance. Phobos and Deimos, Mars' moons, are also settled, with Deimos in particular becoming home to the major trading city of Port Dread. Many asteroids are colonized by Asteroid Miners and other such ventures. One, 15 Eunomia, has actually been colonized by the Church of Scientology, who are Persona Non Grata on both Earth and Mars. Jupiter's moons are united under the Jovian Empire in 2249 at the end of a century-long "Warring Moons Period." Io becomes a desert world of heavy industry, Europa is home to a thriving ecosystem of alien creatures in its subsurface ocean and Ganymede and Callisto are both terraformed. Ganymede is the focus of the Age of Aquarius update, which reveals that the whole moon is now one giant ocean. Saturn's moons are colonized as well, but there doesn't seem to be a Planetary Nation there. Instead, the transhumanists on Titan and the cephalopods on Enceladus are engaged in a Space Cold War with the backing of Mars and Earth, respectively. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are colonized by the Martians. Pluto may or may not also be home to German goths gene-modding themselves into vampires.
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Overheaven / int_7adc9fc6
 Overheaven / int_7eb73553
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Bullying a Dragon
 Overheaven / int_7eb73553
comment
Bullying a Dragon: Muammar Gaddafi launching (non-nuclear) missiles at the European Federation, one of which destroys the Colosseum, can only be described as this trope. Eurofed, more enraged than intimidated, promptly invades Libya, and Gaddafi is ultimately captured attempting to flee to space and is executed.
 Overheaven / int_7eb73553
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Overheaven / int_7eb73553
 Overheaven / int_80b57bec
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Super-Soldier
 Overheaven / int_80b57bec
comment
Super-Soldier: During the Space Cold War between Earth and Mars, one of the ways in which Mars seeks to overcome its massive disadvantage in resources and manpower is by using genetic engineering and cybernetics to create these, under a program known as "Project Marabunta" after the army ant, an animal Martians consider emblematic of courage and David Versus Goliath scenarios. (Martians in general have something of a fixation on insects.)
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Overheaven / int_80b57bec
 Overheaven / int_80eb641c
type
Straw Nihilist
 Overheaven / int_80eb641c
comment
Straw Nihilist: The "Cleaners," a fringe group from the Red-Blue War, believe humanity is unworthy to be on Mars and thus that all human influence must be wiped off the face of Mars. They espouse Misanthrope Supreme talking points, engage in sabotage, and even use a black flag. Fortunately for everyone else, the Cleaners' nihilism means they don't attract many recruits, and the Reds and Blues are not above working together to get rid of them.
 Overheaven / int_80eb641c
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Overheaven / int_80eb641c
 Overheaven / int_830343d8
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We Will Use WikiWords in the Future
 Overheaven / int_830343d8
comment
We Will Use WikiWords in the Future: Both sides of the Red-Blue War have CamelCase names: MarsCom (Martian Command) for the Blues, and UniFor (United Forces) for the Reds. The three main divisions of MarsCom are also like this: DefCom (Defense Command), SciCom (Science Command), and CivCom (Civil Command). Back on Earth, there's the European Federation, more commonly known as Eurofed.
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Overheaven / int_830343d8
 Overheaven / int_83364794
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Asteroid Miners
 Overheaven / int_83364794
comment
Many asteroids are colonized by Asteroid Miners and other such ventures. One, 15 Eunomia, has actually been colonized by the Church of Scientology, who are Persona Non Grata on both Earth and Mars.
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Overheaven / int_83364794
 Overheaven / int_8344209e
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BFG
 Overheaven / int_8344209e
comment
A downplayed example, specific to firearms, occurs in the case of Don "Tank" Fontaine, a cyborg soldier with the Blues whose weapon of choice is a Browning .50 machine gun - a gun which was manufactured for World War II and is thus over a century old by the time Fontaine brings it to Mars. It's said to be the only one of its kind on the whole planet.
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Overheaven / int_8344209e
 Overheaven / int_83f3983b
type
Necessarily Evil
 Overheaven / int_83f3983b
comment
Necessarily Evil: The so-called "Worst Generation" of leaders who take charge of post-nuclear India are described as being this, and all too aware of it. They see themselves as having done what they had to do to keep India alive and mostly unified. They did succeed, and India has survived, but at a high price.
 Overheaven / int_83f3983b
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Overheaven / int_83f3983b
 Overheaven / int_87f13be4
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Designer Babies
 Overheaven / int_87f13be4
comment
Designer Babies: Possible by 2022, but only to a very limited extent, and considered to be somewhat ethically dubious in most cases.
 Overheaven / int_87f13be4
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Overheaven / int_87f13be4
 Overheaven / int_881ac9cb
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Dangerous Orbital Debris
 Overheaven / int_881ac9cb
comment
Dangerous Orbital Debris: Most of Earth's orbital infrastructure is destroyed in Hell Day, bringing Kessler Syndrome into full effect for quite some time.
 Overheaven / int_881ac9cb
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Overheaven / int_881ac9cb
 Overheaven / int_8878f3be
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Badass Army
 Overheaven / int_8878f3be
comment
The three main divisions of MarsCom are also like this: DefCom (Defense Command), SciCom (Science Command), and CivCom (Civil Command).
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Overheaven / int_8878f3be
 Overheaven / int_8947140b
type
Significant Reference Date
 Overheaven / int_8947140b
comment
Significant Reference Date: The first manned Mars landing occurs on July 4th, 1976, America's 200th birthday. Naturally, it's a NASA mission.
 Overheaven / int_8947140b
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Overheaven / int_8947140b
 Overheaven / int_8a1bb4eb
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Conlang
 Overheaven / int_8a1bb4eb
comment
Conlang: The first astroceti (uplifted whales and dolphins) invent their own language, Astroceti Basic, based on whalesong. Their descendants still speak it. It also becomes traditional amongst astroceti to each create a personal conlang or "heart-tongue," which is typically only revealed to those one is closest to.
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Overheaven / int_8a1bb4eb
 Overheaven / int_8a943fe3
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Space Cold War
 Overheaven / int_8a943fe3
comment
Space Cold War: The timeline is mostly about space and starts in The '60s, so naturally the initial driver of the Space Boom is the Cold War. By The '90s, however, detente's been achieved and the USSR has liberalized, and by the 21st century, while there are four great powers - America, the Sovereign Union, Eurofed and China (in about that order) - their rivalry is downplayed, and the USA is clearly on top. (For the record, Japan is a close fifth.) Following the Red-Blue War and the rise of the Martian Alliance, Earth and Mars become involved in a "Geo-Martian Cold War." After Hell Day, Luna and Mars developed one. Luna made a We Can Rule Together offer to Mars, who rejected it as more "Earthling imperialism," kicking off the Solar Wars. Mars eventually Won the War, Lost the Peace - they took control of Jupiter, but their Puppet State was swiftly overthrown by the revolution that founded the Jovian Empire.
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 Overheaven / int_8b748519
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South Asian Terrorists
 Overheaven / int_8b748519
comment
South Asian Terrorists: One of the many problems India has to contend with during the post-nuclear period is that of rebellious Naxalites.
 Overheaven / int_8b748519
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Overheaven / int_8b748519
 Overheaven / int_8cf6aa
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Literal Metaphor
 Overheaven / int_8cf6aa
comment
Literal Metaphor: It's a minor Running Gag for the process of "building bridges" between two nations to involve building an actual bridge. Israel and Palestine build the Salam Bridge to connect the West Bank to Gaza, while Spain and Morocco build a bridge across the Straits of Gibraltar.
 Overheaven / int_8cf6aa
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Overheaven / int_8cf6aa
 Overheaven / int_8f746311
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Cargo Cult
 Overheaven / int_8f746311
comment
Cargo Cult: A rocket booster from a Ecuadorian satellite launch accidentally fell into the territory of a hitherto-uncontacted tribe in the Amazon. The company that launched it sent a helicopter for recovery, but after the locals fired arrows at the chopper, they decided it was best to let them keep the booster. Satellite imagery of the area suggests that the tribe has since surrounded the booster with bonfires, "and possibly pushed it upright for unknown reasons."
 Overheaven / int_8f746311
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Overheaven / int_8f746311
 Overheaven / int_91b31f6b
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Please Select New City Name
 Overheaven / int_91b31f6b
comment
Please Select New City Name: When South Africa splits into white Cape and black Mzansi, Mzansi ends up with Pretoria as its capital, so they rename it Tshwane.
 Overheaven / int_91b31f6b
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Overheaven / int_91b31f6b
 Overheaven / int_91e894b4
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Apocalypse How
 Overheaven / int_91e894b4
comment
Apocalypse How: Happens a few times throughout the timeline. The advent of nuclear fusion causes a crash in the oil industry, sending much of the Arabian Peninsula into a Class 0 (Regional Societal Disruption). India and Pakistan have a localized nuclear war in 2009, causing a somewhat more severe Class 0 (which in some areas approaches Class 1). In 2150, an asteroid strikes the Earth, wiping out the majority of the population in what becomes known as Hell Day. It's likely a Class 3, almost Class 4, but humanity on Earth (barely) manages to survive. Of course, by then there are hundreds of millions of us off Earth...
 Overheaven / int_91e894b4
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Overheaven / int_91e894b4
 Overheaven / int_91e8cd03
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Apocalypse Wow
 Overheaven / int_91e8cd03
comment
Apocalypse Wow: In spite of how Nightmare Fuel it is, the description of Hell Day is genuinely awe-inspiring.
 Overheaven / int_91e8cd03
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Overheaven / int_91e8cd03
 Overheaven / int_9203bf6
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Arc Number
 Overheaven / int_9203bf6
comment
Arc Number: Nines show up on a semi-regular basis. Eight planets plus Luna, nine aerospheres making up the United Principalities of Cloud 9, nine grand-pelarcs on Ganymede.
 Overheaven / int_9203bf6
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Overheaven / int_9203bf6
 Overheaven / int_93c04c8a
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Future Food Is Artificial
 Overheaven / int_93c04c8a
comment
Future Food Is Artificial: "Veat" - vat-grown meat - is becoming popular on both Earth and Mars.
 Overheaven / int_93c04c8a
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Overheaven / int_93c04c8a
 Overheaven / int_95b7e807
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Middle Eastern Terrorists
 Overheaven / int_95b7e807
comment
Nejd, one of the post-Saudi states, has reached net zero carbon emissions... by destroying all the modern technology they can get their hands on. Except the AK-47s. They need those. They also mutilate or decapitate those caught with technology deemed haram (i.e. most technology post-dating the World Wars). Fortunately for everyone, such militant primitivism means Nejd doesn't have the cash to bankroll terrorism or the resources to try to invade their comparatively liberal neighbors in Hejaz (who control Mecca), and with oil not as necessary as it used to be, most of the world is content to, as Ryzov puts it, "leave the Nejdis to their full-time Fremen LARP."
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Overheaven / int_95b7e807
 Overheaven / int_95b875b1
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Not Me This Time
 Overheaven / int_95b875b1
comment
Not Me This Time: Mars and Earth were still not fully on good terms at the time of Hell Day, and it was thought by some at first that the Beijing Impact had been a deliberate attack. Ryzov describes the Martian government's reaction to Hell Day as being "Bring My Brown Pants, followed by 'we swear we didn't do it.'"
 Overheaven / int_95b875b1
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Overheaven / int_95b875b1
 Overheaven / int_978937d6
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Brand X
 Overheaven / int_978937d6
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Another running gag is Chead, a fictional soft drink frequently mentioned or shown as a random background brand, which Ryzov is seemingly insistent on not elaborating about.
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 Overheaven / int_97e48376
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The Elites Jump Ship
 Overheaven / int_97e48376
comment
The Elites Jump Ship: Muammar Gaddafi certainly tried it, attempting to escape to space when it became clear he'd lost the Libyan War, but Eurofed forces caught up to him before he could reach his rocket. His secret launch site in the desert (which Ryzov likens to a "Bond Villain Lair") is now a museum. When things really started falling apart in Arabia, the House of Saud and their fellow Arab Oil Sheikh-types scattered to the winds - to America, to the UK, to Switzerland, to various libertarian havens and, occasionally, to space. Their main refuge, however, is the technocratic city-state of Neom, not far from the Sinai Peninsula.
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Overheaven / int_97e48376
 Overheaven / int_98aad75f
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Inspirational Martyr
 Overheaven / int_98aad75f
comment
Inspirational Martyr: Tobias Falco becomes this, his death at the hands of "Hard Red" terrorists uniting the Reds and Blues against the extremists on both sides.
 Overheaven / int_98aad75f
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Overheaven / int_98aad75f
 Overheaven / int_99a12edd
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Cyborg
 Overheaven / int_99a12edd
comment
Cyborg: Cyborgs are a major part of the timeline. The technology first comes into existence during the Cold War, and it becomes fairly common over the course of the 21st century. By the 2300s, even with noaforming, most Martians are augmented in some way.
 Overheaven / int_99a12edd
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Overheaven / int_99a12edd
 Overheaven / int_99dfd4fc
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Nothing Is the Same Anymore
 Overheaven / int_99dfd4fc
comment
Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Hell Day wipes out the majority of the human population, destroys most of Exonesia and completely removes Earth from the astropolitical stage. While the physical effects of the Impact extend no further than Luna, the social, economic and political impact reverberates throughout the whole Solar System. Afterwards, Earth no longer exerts influence on the colonies (if anything, it's the other way around), technological development slows and the general balance of power is completely changed.
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Overheaven / int_99dfd4fc
 Overheaven / int_9a7f6233
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Fictional Video Game
 Overheaven / int_9a7f6233
comment
Fictional Video Game: The Tacitus series of war games (including at least one Real-Time Strategy installment), by Mars-based studio Team Horus. They take place in a Constructed World and often discuss themes like the harshness of war and when violence is and isn't necessary. The series even played its own small role in the Red-Blue War, when the Team Horus devs formed a human chain to stop the two sides from destroying their home city, then set up multiplayer matches for the troops in the local Internet cafes so Reds and Blues could bond over a shared love of Tacitus while the truce to keep the city neutral was being negotiated.
 Overheaven / int_9a7f6233
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Overheaven / int_9a7f6233
 Overheaven / int_9bfb2f41
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Dead Guy on Display
 Overheaven / int_9bfb2f41
comment
Dead Guy on Display: The ultimate fate of Masoud Noorani, the Pakistani General Ripper who nuked India, is a high-tech version of this trope. After being captured, turned over to India and convicted of crimes against humanity, Noorani is hanged in a livestreamed Public Execution - the video of which remains on the front page of the Indian government's official website to this day.
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 Overheaven / int_9c45b5a2
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What Measure Is a Non-Human?
 Overheaven / int_9c45b5a2
comment
By 2150, AIs appear to have been afforded equal rights, thereby averting What Measure Is a Non-Human?, and they've integrated into human civilization as more or less ordinary members of society. They respect humanity for having created them, and "robot revolt" scenarios are thus all but nonexistent.
 Overheaven / int_9c45b5a2
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 Overheaven / int_9cdef1ef
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Lovable Sex Maniac
 Overheaven / int_9cdef1ef
comment
Male delphi (bottlenose dolphin uplifts) also have a penchant for shirtlessness when in humanoid prosthetic bodies, but that's just because delphi are both rather fond of the human form and rather lecherous, and think it's a shame that we humans insist on hiding our bodies as much as we do.
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World of Technicolor Hair
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World of Technicolor Hair: Thanks to modern genetic treatments, by 2022 it's becoming common for people (especially younger people) to have hair colors that would ordinarily be the province of anime without needing to use hair dye. Interestingly, while most of the treatments are temporary, if one conceives a child after having recently taken such a treatment, the child might well end up with that color as their natural hair color. Indeed, so many women in Brazil used such a treatment to recolor their hair in anticipation of the 2002 World Cup that when Brazil won, the ensuing celebrations resulted in so many pregnancies that twenty years later, 11.4% of the Brazilian population has naturally green hair.
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 Overheaven / int_9e1e1e94
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Fantastic Livestock
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Fantastic Livestock: Perhaps the strangest thing about the alien creatures of Europa's underground ocean is that they can be this. Not only are many "Eurozoa" edible to humans, some of them are actually nutritious, and frippers and tigerspines soon become the staple protein of the Jovian colonies.
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 Overheaven / int_a19a70f8
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Evil Luddite
 Overheaven / int_a19a70f8
comment
Evil Luddite: America, and the Pacific Northwest in particular, has a problem with eco-terrorists for a while. Most are eventually caught, killed or surrender, but a few are still around in 2022 - mostly older veterans who went off the grid and live solitary, self-sufficient lifestyles deep in The Other Rainforest. A number of other countries have had, or still have, similar issues. Nejd, one of the post-Saudi states, has reached net zero carbon emissions... by destroying all the modern technology they can get their hands on. Except the AK-47s. They need those. They also mutilate or decapitate those caught with technology deemed haram (i.e. most technology post-dating the World Wars). Fortunately for everyone, such militant primitivism means Nejd doesn't have the cash to bankroll terrorism or the resources to try to invade their comparatively liberal neighbors in Hejaz (who control Mecca), and with oil not as necessary as it used to be, most of the world is content to, as Ryzov puts it, "leave the Nejdis to their full-time Fremen LARP."
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 Overheaven / int_a26a101
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Tannhäuser Gate
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Tannhäuser Gate: It's an interplanetary transport and trade hub orbiting the far side of the moon, founded (and to this day ruled as an independent state) by Eccentric Millionaire Reinhold von Lowitz.
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 Overheaven / int_a448674
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Gratuitous Latin
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Gratuitous Latin: A semi-regular feature of post titles. The map of asteroid 433 Eros is titled "Omnia Vincit Amor," and the series on the Red-Blue War is called "Pax Per Bellum."
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 Overheaven / int_a46ce039
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Superstitious Sailors
 Overheaven / int_a46ce039
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Superstitious Sailors: Spaceship crews are no less superstitious than their seagoing forebears. In the Spaceman's Quarter of Port Dread, which as the name suggests is frequented by spacers, the local Oni statues are a frequent subject of such superstition - it's not at all uncommon for spacers to leave small offerings at the statues. (The understanding is that in the case of offerings of money, the haves give what they can and the have-nots take what they need, in a sort of ritualized charity.)
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Commie Land
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Venus is colonized by way of "aerostats" - essentially floating airship-cities in the Venusian clouds. It's also the setting's premier Commie Land. Eventually, it's terraformed and its ecosystem populated with, among other things, genetically-reengineered dinosaurs.
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 Overheaven / int_a8de2a46
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Eccentric Millionaire
 Overheaven / int_a8de2a46
comment
Eccentric Millionaire: Crossed with Cool Old Guy. Reinhold von Lowitz, born a German noble in 1918. He was formerly an Idle Rich Millionaire Playboy, but when he realized how empty his life was, he started Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life - and he found it in space, investing all his millions into building a massive interplanetary transport hub, the Tannhäuser Gate orbiting the far side of the moon. In 2150, he lives there to this day, and is, at the age of 232, the oldest man and second-oldest human alive.
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 Overheaven / int_a9c7258a
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Absent Aliens
 Overheaven / int_a9c7258a
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Absent Aliens: Heavily downplayed, and Double Subverted for that matter, but still somewhat in play. There are microbes on Mars, and a fairly robust ecosystem in the underground oceans of Europa, but sapient life is notably absent. It clearly was around at some point, but isn't anymore — alien megastructures around Delta Pavonis and Kapteyn's Star were spotted by our telescopes in 1999, but they seem to be abandoned.
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 Overheaven / int_aa8dcc21
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MegaCorp
 Overheaven / int_aa8dcc21
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MegaCorp: Corporate influence is significantly downplayed compared to many hard sci-fi works, but there is a noteworthy example of the trope: the Chinese space venture Tian Corp. The mysterious billionaire Liao Jiahao seeks to promote Chinese culture across the solar system, and to that end, he's secured Tian Corp contracts from the Chinese National Space Agency, which he uses to ramp up the efficiency of China's rockets and establish "Chinatown" colonies all across the Inner Solar System and even as far as Ganymede. There's also the Japanese Shimizu Corporation, a real-life architecture, engineering and contracting firm which ITTL has gotten the chance to bring to life some of its more ambitious projects - floating cities, experimental Solar Punk communities, and of course the Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid, the last of which has proven especially successful and become something of a symbol of Japan, not unlike the Sydney Opera House for Australia.
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 Overheaven / int_ab173426
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Ruthless Modern Pirates
 Overheaven / int_ab173426
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The United Arab Emirates has split in two, and the new "Republic of Magan" is an archetypal example of the trope - impoverished, anarchic, ruled by cults and deranged warlords, and infested with Ruthless Modern Pirates. The rump UAE, now under a military government, is somewhat stabler but not much better off.
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 Overheaven / int_ac320c0e
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Nuke 'em
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Nuke 'em: India and Pakistan go to war in 2009, and thanks to a coup launched by mentally unstable Pakistani Army officer Masoud Noorani, the war ends up going nuclear. Pakistani nukes destroy or badly damage several Indian cities and irradiate the Ganges River for a while, whilst Indian nuclear retaliation (as well as non-nuclear Orbital Bombardment by the international taskforce that was trying to ensure nukes wouldn't be used) leaves Pakistan devastated. Thankfully, the destruction is largely confined to the Indian subcontinent - though it still ends up having an effect on the rest of the world, via a "minor" nuclear winter and producing so many refugees they effectively form a new demographic, the so-called Pravasi ("migrants").
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Far-East Asian Terrorists
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Kim Jong-nam, the dictator's eldest son, flees the country and goes on to found a far-left terrorist network called the New World Brigade. The NWB terrorizes Asia for some time, and in recent years has splintered after Jong-nam's death in a gunfight with police in 2014.
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Plant Person
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Plant Person: Florasophs are these, although they're more "plants who are people" than "people who are plants." They tend to have rather alien thought processes, be very good at contingencies and long-term planning, and be thought of as distant cousins to the Uplifted Animal community.
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 Overheaven / int_b10d7e8e
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Head-in-the-Sand Management
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When things really started getting bad in 2011, the Sultan of Brunei and his ministers refused to try and reform the country, instead opting to simply take the money and run to Singapore. With no central government save for what remained of the military, Brunei fell into complete chaos. By 2018, the once-prosperous country had become an "open-air black market" for drugs, weapons and slaves, and Malaysia finally had enough and decided to invade. Even after this, the Sultan still refuses to return, and 80% of Bruneians would rather be annexed into Malaysia than have him back.
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Colony Drop
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Colony Drop: In a natural example of the trope in 2014, a comet strikes Mars near its north pole, melting part of the northern polar icecap and kicking the terraforming conversation into high gear - thus indirectly causing the Red-Blue War. And then, in 2150, another probably-natural example happens in the form of Hell Day. An asteroid comes crashing down on top of Beijing, wiping out most of Earth's population via shockwaves, superheated temperatures (and ensuing firestorms), earthquakes (which trigger volcanic eruptions), Kessler Syndrome in orbit and nuclear winter-like conditions and general chaos after the fact. Once the dust (literally and metaphorically) settles, Luna devotes its efforts to rebuilding Earth. The "Metazoic Era" that Earth subsequently enters has been hinted to be the subject of a future update.
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City of Adventure
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City of Adventure: Port Dread, a rotating space station city attached to Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons. Originally setted by Japanese and British colonists, it's grown into a melting pot, a gateway to and from Mars, and a thriving city full of unique local quirks and stories. And also Yakuza. There's an entire map (with attached lore document) focusing on Deimos in general and Port Dread in particular. On Earth, the "Principality of Cloud 9" is a flying city, built in the form of a geodesic sphere, based on a concept by Buckminster Fuller. Due to being in effect an independent state, it's filled with all kinds of tech startups and transhumanists.
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Added Alliterative Appeal
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Added Alliterative Appeal: One of the anti-terraforming armies on Mars is called the Red Planet Revolutionary Ronin.
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Take That!
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After the Chinese Communist Party is overthrown, Xi Jinping winds up in Albania, leading an unrecognized communist government in exile. He's described as being completely ineffectual, and thus very depressed.
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Planetary Nation
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Planetary Nation: The Red-Blue War ends with the victorious Blues, the defeated Reds and the neutral Greens agreeing at the Peace Conference to unite under a new government, the Martian Alliance, which seems to encompass the entirety of Mars. It's the first such planetary government, but it's not the last - Ryzov has already given us a flag, a backstory and a fair bit of setting detail for the Jovian Empire, which encompasses Jupiter and all its moons, and Parbex Presents: Easter Island provided a bit of info on the Lunar Covenant, which controls the Moon. A "Venusian Soviet" has also been mentioned in passing.
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"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue
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"Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: There's a Second Korean War in The '90s, and the North ultimately loses. Thus, Ryzov gives a rundown of what became of the various members of the Kim Dynasty: Kim Jong-il is executed for crimes against humanity at the end of the war. Kim Jong-nam, the dictator's eldest son, flees the country and goes on to found a far-left terrorist network called the New World Brigade. The NWB terrorizes Asia for some time, and in recent years has splintered after Jong-nam's death in a gunfight with police in 2014. Kim Jong-un was thirteen at the time, and thus wasn't tried for anything. However, after the war, he becomes an object of worship for a minor neo-Juche cult in post-war Korea. He eventually leaves the cult, writes his memoirs, moves to Japan and leads a relatively normal life, albeit under tight security for fear of harassment by the cults he now advocates against. Kim Yo-jong, Jong-un's younger sister, was only six when the war started, and went missing in the chaos. She ends up being adopted by a Japanese family and grows up under the name "Kayoko Iwamoto." Eventually, years of therapy allow her to recover her suppressed childhood memories, and her identity is confirmed. She's able to reunite with her brother and becomes something of a celebrity as the "Korean Anastasia," even getting a Studio Ghibli movie based on her life. Kim Pyong-il, Jong-il's half-brother, was overseas on diplomatic duties when the war started. He distances himself from the regime (and has to dodge NWB assassination attempts as a result), and he ultimately serves a few years in a Swiss prison before finally coming back to Korea and reuniting with Jong-un and Yo-jong. Sadly, the New World Brigade finally manages to kill him in 2018. Kim Jong-chul, Jong-un's half-brother, is last seen by US Marines, running down an alleyway in Pyongyang. He's never heard from again. Conspiracy theories about what happened to him circulate in Korea to this day.
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Color-Coded Armies
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The Color-Coded Armies themselves are an unintentional reference to Red vs. Blue.
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Illegal Religion
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Illegal Religion: Downplayed, and somewhat justified. It's not technically illegal to be a Scientologist on Mars, but their main church is banned there. Considering that said church had infiltrated several Martian colonial governments, committed many crimes (including murder) and made plans for coups in some places, declaring it a criminal organization was an understandable decision.
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Preserve Your Gays
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Harvey Milk survives the assassination attempt that killed him in our timeline, and goes on to become mayor of San Francisco... only to discover in 1982 that he has AIDS. He uses the time he has left to advocate as much as possible for doing something about the disease, and it's partly thanks to him that Ronald Reagan is, unlike in OTL, persuaded to actively work to combat HIV. The end result of all this is that Milk's efforts get the cause of gay rights into the mainstream earlier than OTL, and that in 1987, scientists at Stanford University successfully develop a cure for AIDS, which saves millions of lives around the world.
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Coca-Pepsi, Inc.
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Coca-Pepsi, Inc.: Hasbro and Marvel merge in this timeline.
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Yakuza
 Overheaven / int_bdddc73e
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One original work from OVRHVN that's been mentioned repeatedly is Freeman, a neo-noir TV series about a detective running from his past on the colony of Port Dread on Mars' moon Deimos. Actual Dreadites cringe at its inaccurate portrayal of their city and its Yakuza underbelly, but acknowledge that its effects and sets (done in Vancouver) are actually quite good.
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The Theme Park Version
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The Theme Park Version: In-Universe example. Earthling media about the colonies tends to have an exaggerated and not terribly accurate idea of what they're like, which actual colonials, especially the Martians, cringe at.
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Tarot Motifs
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Tarot Motifs: The nations of the Indian subcontinent, which in 2022 range from "more or less back in action" to "Apocalypse Anarchy" following the nuclear devastation of the Punjab War, are each assigned a tarot card by Ryzov, with the card's meaning being significant to the state of affairs in that country. India is The Hanged Man. The Hanged Man represents circumstances beyond one's control, but also patience, resilience of character and the clarity needed to choose a new path after breaking free. India certainly didn't start the war, nor did they choose much of the hardship that ensued afterwards, but they've managed to survive despite everything, and by the 2020s it's becoming clear that India's best days are still ahead. Pakistan is Death. When upright, Death represents new beginnings, change, transition and letting go, while when reversed, it represents inability to move forward, repetition of negative patterns, dependency and resistance to change. Pakistan spent the 2010s seemingly trapped in a cycle of violence and suffering, but with the help of their orbital colonies, they gradually managed to lift themselves out of it. Now, Pakistan is trying to pull itself back together and move on. Time will tell whether it manages to take, though, and many Pakistanis, having learned the hard way how to manage by themselves, are unconvinced that Pakistan can, or even should, be resurrected. Bangladesh is The Tower. The Tower is perhaps the most negative card, representing chaos, destruction, and loss, and sure enough, Bangladesh, despite not actually being nuked, is the biggest loser of the Punjab War. The Ganges is still partly irradiated at its mouth in Bangladesh, leading to horrific social stratification based around access to water. An Islamist coup, short-lived though its rule was, did not help matters, and civil war is believed to be just around the corner. While the ongoing crisis is at least helping to drive innovation in the field of radiation-clearing, it will get worse - much worse - before it gets better. Sri Lanka is The Sun. The Sun represents material happiness and contentment, and so Sri Lanka, largely insulated from events on the mainland, has managed to do rather well for itself. Sri Lanka had already been on good terms with Japan since even before the Point of Divergence (long story), and they thus benefitted from OVRHVN's Japan being even stronger economically than OTL. Political reforms to rectify anti-Tamil discrimination averted the Sri Lankan Civil War, and after the Punjab War, a great deal of investment and outsourcing that was previously geared at India instead went to Sri Lanka. Today, while India still has the greater GDP, Sri Lanka has the highest standard of living and the healthiest democracy in the subcontinent. All things considered, Sri Lanka's sun seems to be on the rise. Nepal is The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune represents cyclical change, the inevitability of ups and downs, and the turning of karma with both its disorder and its opportunity. Nepal manages to avoid some of the worse events that befell it OTL - Prince Dipendra never murders his family like he did in our timeline, instead renouncing his claim to the throne to marry an Indian noblewoman, with whom he moves to Mars. Nepal is able to remain a monarchy and adopt a formal constitution, and this helps them weather the worst of the Punjab War and its aftermath. The Himalayas shield Nepal from most of the fallout, and the main issue for Nepal in the 2010s is a relatively minor refugee crisis. That, and the thorny issue of genetically-engineered human-chimpanzee hybrids, one of whom fights crime on the streets of Kathmandu for a time. Bhutan, perhaps inevitably, is The Hermit. The Hermit represents wisdom, introspection and solitude. Isolated as it is, Bhutan managed to more or less completely dodge the war. They controversially kept their borders closed during the ensuing refugee crisis, and even in 2022 their only noteworthy interaction with the outside world is as a supplier of a very specific strain of fungus that happens to be useful in certain anti-cancer treatments. Afghanistan is Temperance. Temperance represents balance, harmony and prudence. The Soviet Union, preoccupied as it was with Venus, never invaded Afghanistan ITTL. Thus, with the help of Iran, the Afghan monarchy is restored. The Islamists are eventually fought off, and rather than commit to Iran, Pakistan or the USSR over the others, Afghanistan settles into a comfortable neutrality. They fight in a minor capacity against Pakistan in the Punjab War anyway, even setting up a client state in the form of Pashtunistan. Afghanistan has been actively modernizing, welcoming outside culture and building up their own. The mullahs grumble, but hardly anyone's listening. Pashtunistan, for its part, is The Fool - new beginnings, beginner's luck, and putting one's faith in the absurd. Only partially recognized by the rest of the world, Pashtunistan was carved out of northern Pakistan by Pashtun separatists backed by the Royal Afghan Army towards the end of the Punjab War. Outright described by Ryzov as The Apunkalypse, Pashtunistan has an explicitly unlimited right to bear arms in its constitution, encouraging the Proud Warrior Race Guy Pashtuns to use military-grade weapons for the sake of settling vendettas and feuds. With nearly all the "country"'s elder statesmen having been killed by the fallout from nuked Islamabad, the area is in a state of Apocalypse Anarchy, save for the capital of Peshawar, where organized vigilante groups (possibly backed by Pakistan and India) are actively working to establish some semblance of law and sanity. Myanmar is The Devil - selfish impulses, ambition, taboo and The Dark Side. As in OTL, Myanmar is engaged in a long-running civil war between the Bamar ethnic majority and the various minorities they discriminate against, and the Punjab War hasn't helped one bit. Buddhist militants have gained significant influence, there's a massive refugee/immigration crisis along the border with India, the country's human rights record is atrocious, and it's an Open Secret that China is Playing Both Sides of the whole thing. The UN Trust Territory of Rakhine is The World. The World represents wholeness, the big picture, emigration, assured success, and the end of a cycle about to start anew. The United Nations has set up a trust territory in a particularly chaotic region near the Myanmar/India border in the hopes of protecting the Rohingya and other persecuted minorities and refugees from genocide. Unfortunately, incompetent and corrupt governance has led to massive slums, human trafficking scandals and cholera outbreaks, among other troubles. In spite of this, it remains the best hope for many in it, and the "Rakhine Mandate" actually is succeeding in some of its goals: the refugees there remain reliably fed, effective vaccination regimens made the disease outbreaks much less severe than they could've been, and many refugees are successfully moving out to safer countries such as Indonesia, Australia or the USA.
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Transhumans in Space
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Transhumans in Space: ...which naturally results in this trope.
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Dies Differently in Adaptation
 Overheaven / int_c181a846
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Dies Differently in Adaptation: Nelson Mandela dies in 1984 in OVRHVN, and without him, South Africa falls into civil war. Several other Historical Domain Characters also die before they can rise to fame: Ruhollah Khomeini dies before he gets a chance to lead the Iranian Revolution (meaning Iran is still a Shahdom into the modern day). Thomas Sankara dies in obscurity (meaning, among other things, that Burkina Faso is still called Upper Volta). Deng Xiaoping dies in an accident in 1984, and he's succeeded by the incompetent Sun Luoyang, who ultimately brings about the downfall of the CCP. Chiang Kai-shek falls down the stairs and dies in 1967, and his son Chiang Ching-kuo is hit by the ambulance as it arrives at the scene of his father's death. With the Chiangs thus out of the picture, Taiwan ends up reaching an agreement with China and the UN to remain as a recognized, but separate, country. Valentina Tereshkova, in OTL the first woman in space, ITTL goes on to lead the Soviets' first expeditions to Venus. Tragically, a freak accident leads to her falling to her death into the sulfuric clouds of Venus. Rather than discouraging further Venusian endeavors, however, her death is viewed as a Heroic Sacrifice of sorts, and the Warsaw Pact's efforts to colonize Venus are soon in full swing. Harvey Milk survives the assassination attempt that killed him in our timeline, and goes on to become mayor of San Francisco... only to discover in 1982 that he has AIDS. He uses the time he has left to advocate as much as possible for doing something about the disease, and it's partly thanks to him that Ronald Reagan is, unlike in OTL, persuaded to actively work to combat HIV. The end result of all this is that Milk's efforts get the cause of gay rights into the mainstream earlier than OTL, and that in 1987, scientists at Stanford University successfully develop a cure for AIDS, which saves millions of lives around the world. Saloth Sar, the man who in OTL would become Pol Pot, dies in 1969 of a snakebite. The Khmer Rouge thus never come to power, and this combined with the USA never invading Cambodia (on account of a shorter Vietnam War) produces a still troubled, but slightly better off Cambodia.
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 Overheaven / int_c25f013
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Reconcile the Bitter Foes
 Overheaven / int_c25f013
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Reconcile the Bitter Foes: Thanks to a number of factors, including the lack of an Iranian Revolution and the more rabid Zionists moving to Mars, Israel and Palestine manage to find peace.
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 Overheaven / int_c309f9d1
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Science Marches On
 Overheaven / int_c309f9d1
comment
Science Marches On: An In-Universe example occurs in the story of the asteroid 298 Baptistina: in the 1990s, scientists believed that they had traced the origins of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs to Baptistina. This hypothesis was disproven in 2008, but by then, someone had already colonized Baptistina and turned it into a dinosaur-themed interplanetary tourist trap.
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 Overheaven / int_c420a553
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We Can Rule Together
 Overheaven / int_c420a553
comment
After Hell Day, Luna and Mars developed one. Luna made a We Can Rule Together offer to Mars, who rejected it as more "Earthling imperialism," kicking off the Solar Wars. Mars eventually Won the War, Lost the Peace - they took control of Jupiter, but their Puppet State was swiftly overthrown by the revolution that founded the Jovian Empire.
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 Overheaven / int_c4db3679
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The Dark Side
 Overheaven / int_c4db3679
comment
Myanmar is The Devil - selfish impulses, ambition, taboo and The Dark Side. As in OTL, Myanmar is engaged in a long-running civil war between the Bamar ethnic majority and the various minorities they discriminate against, and the Punjab War hasn't helped one bit. Buddhist militants have gained significant influence, there's a massive refugee/immigration crisis along the border with India, the country's human rights record is atrocious, and it's an Open Secret that China is Playing Both Sides of the whole thing.
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 Overheaven / int_c69902e7
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Church of Happyology
 Overheaven / int_c69902e7
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Church of Happyology: Averted - Scientology is mentioned by name, and is given an unflattering depiction. Apparently their main church is outright banned by international treaty on Mars.
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 Overheaven / int_c75df49a
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Shout-Out
 Overheaven / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: The series of maps and documents detailing the Red-Blue War includes several, not all of them intentional: The Color-Coded Armies themselves are an unintentional reference to Red vs. Blue. One of the Red side's generals is a revolutionary named Utena Jackson. (She goes on to become the Martian Alliance's first proper president after Lang refuses the job, and proves very good at it.) The climactic battle of the war involves a unit called the Spartan Corps fighting on a ring of space stations called the Halo. According to Ryzov, this was completely accidental. One minor Red group, the Red Katipuneros under "Revolutionary Commander" Karen Bondoc, are a force of "radicalized theater kids" whose idea of protesting against the Blue-controlled local government largely boils down to organizing flamboyant "revolutionary" public musical numbers. They don't see much action during the war itself, but end up becoming heroes at the peace summit when they block off the escape route of the terrorists who attacked the summit and killed Falco. According to Ryzov, their existence is an elaborate reference to Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight, which explains why their leader is named Karen. Tobias Falco's surname can easily be assumed to refer to Star Fox (or to Super Smash Bros. for that matter), but when asked, Ryzov said that it was if anything a reference to the Austrian singer. OVRHVN as a whole features a recurring one: Ryzov's April Fools' Day posts are typically given the subtitle "(Not) A Shitpost". Lasagna Dawn even had its chapters titled in the same style. The New World Brigade, a minor antagonistic organization from Ghost in the Shell, shows up as a terrorist network founded by Former Regime Personnel from North Korea. Perhaps not surprisng, given that Ryzov has never made a secret of Ghost In The Shell being a major influence on OVRHVN. Ganymede being terraformed into an ocean world is a reference to Cowboy Bebop, and to a lesser extent Farmer in the Sky. The term "Worst Generation" originates from One Piece, which Ryzov has cited as an inspiration, although OVRHVN uses it in a completely different context.
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 Overheaven / int_c8c968c3
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The Alliance
 Overheaven / int_c8c968c3
comment
In fact, the United Forces (the main organization of the Red side) actually had seven of them: Falco himself, of the Primus Occupation Force. Levi Brahm, of the Euromartian Defense Forces. Minako Hiyama, of the Red Planet Revolutionary Ronin. Liam Merrick, of the Avalon Red Commandos. Utena Jackson, of the Code Red Coalition. Sultan Al-Khatib, of ESCA. Ernesto Nores, of the Army of the North.
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 Overheaven / int_c91bf297
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Iron Lady
 Overheaven / int_c91bf297
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Utena Jackson, of the Code Red Coalition.
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 Overheaven / int_cb63f039
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Spaceship Girl
 Overheaven / int_cb63f039
comment
Spaceship Girl: After a certain point in the timeline, spaceships begin having AI constructs (referred to as "figureheads") that handle a large part of the ship's operations. Perhaps inevitably, they seem to invariably be this trope. Freedom Ship also has one. Her name is Liberty.
 Overheaven / int_cb63f039
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 Overheaven / int_cb9aeb6a
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Vigilante Man
 Overheaven / int_cb9aeb6a
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In a Philippines where the Marcos regime came to an early end, Rodrigo Duterte ultimately becomes a Vigilante Man, and is eventually arrested and tried for the murder of 12 alleged drug dealers.
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 Overheaven / int_ce6555f0
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Lighter and Softer
 Overheaven / int_ce6555f0
comment
Lighter and Softer: Ryzov has admitted that the current OVRHVN canon (essentially, everything from The Terror Moon onward, and especially E!22, Pax Per Bellum, E!2150 and Age of Aquarius) is deliberately this compared to the earlier versions of the story. In the first few drafts of OVRHVN, the Earth underwent four world wars, the setting's advanced technology was used in numerous atrocities, the Beijing Impact was intentional and the alternate history elements weren't present. The nature of modern OVRHVN as a Reconstruction of hard science fiction is as much a reaction to early OVRHVN as it is to other sci-fi stories. note Some of those early drafts were posted on dA, and they're still viewable there, but they are considered to be outdated. Word of God holds that everything predating The Terror Moon ranges from semi-canon to non-canon.
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 Overheaven / int_d082b66b
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The Apunkalypse
 Overheaven / int_d082b66b
comment
Pashtunistan, for its part, is The Fool - new beginnings, beginner's luck, and putting one's faith in the absurd. Only partially recognized by the rest of the world, Pashtunistan was carved out of northern Pakistan by Pashtun separatists backed by the Royal Afghan Army towards the end of the Punjab War. Outright described by Ryzov as The Apunkalypse, Pashtunistan has an explicitly unlimited right to bear arms in its constitution, encouraging the Proud Warrior Race Guy Pashtuns to use military-grade weapons for the sake of settling vendettas and feuds. With nearly all the "country"'s elder statesmen having been killed by the fallout from nuked Islamabad, the area is in a state of Apocalypse Anarchy, save for the capital of Peshawar, where organized vigilante groups (possibly backed by Pakistan and India) are actively working to establish some semblance of law and sanity.
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 Overheaven / int_d243518d
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In Spite of a Nail
 Overheaven / int_d243518d
comment
In Spite of a Nail: The COVID-19 Pandemic still happens, at the same time and in fairly similar fashion. The biggest difference seems to be that it's not called COVID-19, but NCOV-19 (Novel COronaVirus 2019). Ryzov exclusively refers to it as such. Chile undergoes an odd subversion. It seems like For Want Of A Nail at first, when Augusto Pinochet comes down with a stomachache and misses the meeting that would've brought him into the planned coup against Salvador Allende, leading to the coup being called off... but then Pinochet becomes leader of Chile anyway, by winning an election the honest way. Neither he nor Allende are remembered as particularly impressive presidents, but Pinochet is much more moderate than OTL and even initiates the Chilean space program. While some parts of the Middle East ends up better off than OTL, since there's never a War on Terror, there is still a great deal of turmoil there in 2022. In this timeline, however, it's not Iraq and Syria that are the the epicenter, but a balkanizing Saudi Arabia. The advent of fusion power caused the oil market to collapse in the 2010s, and while it rebounded (even without oil as fuel, people still need oil for plastics and such), the damage to the stability of the Arabian Peninsula had been done. Meanwhile, the Ba'athists under Hafez al-Assad had managed to unite Syria with Iraq, forming the Arab Republic of Iraq & Syria or ARIS, which also falls into serious disorder around the same time and for some of the same reasons. Bashar al-Assad is "encouraged" by the USSR to step down and go into exile on Venus, and ARIS transitions into the Republic of Mesopotamia.
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 Overheaven / int_d45c0b86
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Refuge in Audacity
 Overheaven / int_d45c0b86
comment
Refuge in Audacity: During the Red-Blue War, CivCom (MarsCom's civil engineering division) would send operatives behind Red lines - not to sabotage, but to repair civilian infrastructure, both to win over populations and to demonstrate MarsCom's power. They'd even leave behind a Calling Card, usually in the form of "you're welcome" notes, pro-Blue graffiti or advice on mitigating erosion risks in the area.
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 Overheaven / int_d49f90ea
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Western Terrorists
 Overheaven / int_d49f90ea
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Western Terrorists: While the different course of the Cold War weakens the power of the militia movement, that just means domestic terrorism in the US persists into the 21st century on a lower level.
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Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman
 Overheaven / int_d4a4771e
comment
Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman: Extremely common with figures from The '60s up through the present - Ryzov, it seems, is very fond of this trope. It's not known what Nixon himself was up to in OVRHVN, but he never became president. Other presidents from the TL include Robert F. Kennedy, John Glenn, an earlier President Donald Trump (he serves in The '90s after winning on a third-party ticket, and is thus less extreme and more just strange), Colin Powell, John Edwards, Hillary Rodham and (incumbent as of 2022) Andrew Yang.note The exact order is: LBJ, RFK, Glenn, Reagan, HW Bush, Trump, Powell, Edwards, Rodham, Yang. After the Chinese Communist Party is overthrown, Xi Jinping winds up in Albania, leading an unrecognized communist government in exile. He's described as being completely ineffectual, and thus very depressed. Alexei Navalny and Volodymyr Zelenskyy become President and Prime Minister, respectively, of the Sovereign Union (the USSR, after a successful liberalization). Chris Hadfield, a successful Canadian astronaut with NASA IOTL, becomes Governor-General of Canada. John Travolta becomes the main celebrity spokesperson for Scientology, and one of its leaders, in place of Tom Cruise. (Cruise, for his part, has become a Barsu.) Rather than establishing a cult compound, Jim Jones defects to the USSR and is eventually persuaded to move to Venus. Since the People's Temple is now based offworld and never commits mass suicide, Jones gets something of a Historical Hero Upgrade, and his descendants still lead the aerostat colony he founded. Also on Venus, one may find John Lennon. He was never murdered ITTL, and he's still a celebrity among the British leftists on the colony of Aumbria, but he's not on good terms with the other ex-Beatles, and Yoko Ono has long since left him, so he's quite depressed. Gordon Ramsay, of all people, is Prime Minister of the UK. Alex Jones, of InfoWars infamy, takes the exact opposite career path ITTL - becoming famous in the world of news as a debunker and skeptic. Meanwhile, since the militia movement isn't as powerful ITTL, Timothy McVeigh never commits the Oklahoma City bombing and instead becomes OVRHVN's equivalent of OTL Alex Jones. Needless to say, McVeigh and Jones don't like each other one bit. George W. Bush never becomes president. Instead, his wife leaves him due to his alcoholism, and he eventually spends a few years in jail after accidentally killing someone in a car crash. While in prison, he sobers up and converts to Mormonism, and after his father pardons him, he moves to Mars, remarries and returns to (local) politics. Christopher Reeve still suffers the riding accident that rendered him quadriplegic IOTL. ITTL, however, thanks to advances in cybernetics, he's able to walk and function again - specifically, by becoming the second person ever to undergo the experimental "Yashima Procedure" and become a Full-Conversion Cyborg. He seems to be quite happy with his new state, as he's gone on to become a major advocate for the technology in addition to returning to acting. Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American astronaut, became the first man on Mars. Later, he moves there for good with the first wave of civilian colonists, bringing his whole family with him. Laurentia, one of America's Martian colonies, is named in his honor. Charlie Day has gone into politics and become Governor of Rhode Island, and is known for strange publicity stunts. Dwayne Johnson, meanwhile, has gotten himself elected Governor of California. Ted Kaczynski's politics don't change, but he never becomes a Mad Bomber himself, instead writing a controversial best-selling novel entitled ''The Unabomber'' whose titular protagonist is indeed one. It's been an inspiration to many a would-be domestic Eco-Terrorist, and it eventually gets The Film of the Book, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Hugo Chávez never becomes a leftist (he never discovers the stash of Marxist literature he did OTL because he was tuning in to the Mars landing that day instead). He ends up having a Turn to Religion and living out his days as a small-town priest (and a Good Shepherd at that), while Venezuela goes off in an altogether different direction without him. Alberto Fujimori is hit by a car whilst attending college in America, falls in love with his nurse, and moves to America to marry her. He thus never becomes dictator of Peru. In the absence of The War on Terror, Hamas is the name of Palestine's most renowned and controversial... hip-hop collective. (There's also a drag troupe from Mesopotamia called ISIS.) After the USSR successfully reforms into the Sovereign Union, they invest heavily in rehabilitating the Soviet image through culture, and in particular pop music. Thus, many ex-KGB agents reinvent themselves as managers for R-Pop labels - one of the most successful being one Vladimir Putin. The new president of India is none other than Shah Rukh Khan, and he's turned out to be just the kind of positive influence India direly needs. Abbas al-Musawi, the man who in our timeline founded Hezbollah, never did so in OVRHVN. Instead, thanks to advances in space travel in The '70s, al-Musawi develops a new perspective on humanity's place in the cosmos, and becomes an atheist. He goes on to start a successful punk rock band (still called Hezbollah) in a much more peaceful Lebanon. Osama bin Laden emigrated to the United States early on and leads an altogether unremarkable life running a chain of 7-Elevens in Southern California's Orange County. Meanwhile, a different Bin Laden, a distant relative of Osama, is leader of a terrorist faction - specifically, the Emirate of Nejd. In a Philippines where the Marcos regime came to an early end, Rodrigo Duterte ultimately becomes a Vigilante Man, and is eventually arrested and tried for the murder of 12 alleged drug dealers.
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Walking Shirtless Scene
 Overheaven / int_d4bb4e51
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Walking Shirtless Scene: Cryomorphs - humans gene-modded for cold climates, like the Canadian Arctic or Europa - tend to not wear a whole lot when in warmer climates, as they run the risk of overheating. Male delphi (bottlenose dolphin uplifts) also have a penchant for shirtlessness when in humanoid prosthetic bodies, but that's just because delphi are both rather fond of the human form and rather lecherous, and think it's a shame that we humans insist on hiding our bodies as much as we do.
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 Overheaven / int_d7d6ed9a
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Fictional Sport
 Overheaven / int_d7d6ed9a
comment
Fictional Sport: Ganymedeans play ice cricket.
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 Overheaven / int_d8b3412b
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The Singularity
 Overheaven / int_d8b3412b
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In 2022, sentient AI has only just recently been invented. The anti-technology groups are fearing it will be the end of us all, the transhumanists are proclaiming it will bring The Singularity... and MIT's Sophia, the first of her kind, is on alternate-Twitter, liking people's fanart of her as a cute anime girl.
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 Overheaven / int_d9cf40fa
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Screw This, I'm Outta Here
 Overheaven / int_d9cf40fa
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Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Hong Kong rejoins the Federal Republic of China in 2037, the orbital habitat of Neo Hong Kong decides they'd rather not and declares independence. After several years of political crises nearly escalating into war, NHK and a few other like-minded habitats simply strap engines to their orbitals and defect to Mars. (This also nearly causes a war, and in fact is a major inciting incident in the Space Cold War between Mars and Earth.)
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 Overheaven / int_da48b2c6
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Science Is Good
 Overheaven / int_da48b2c6
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Science Is Good: A common opinion In-Universe. Ryzov describes the world as one of "techno-optimism."
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 Overheaven / int_dca6a9d
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Start My Own
 Overheaven / int_dca6a9d
comment
Start My Own: It becomes relatively commonplace for marginalized or stateless groups to engage in "exo-nationalism," leaving Earth and founding new nations in orbit or on other worlds.
 Overheaven / int_dca6a9d
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 Overheaven / int_ddcc22c3
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Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age
 Overheaven / int_ddcc22c3
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Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Early into the Red-Blue War (Mars' civil war over Terraforming), the difficulty of getting supplies to Mars means both sides start running out of ammo. As such, many soldiers are issued upgraded versions of traditional melee weapons. "Power bows" that are best utilized by cyborgs come into use, the British colonists in the Avalon Red Commandos take to using the Zulu iklwa spear, and thanks to Mars' large Japanese population, katanas and naginatas become a common sight. Guns are never abandoned, but they're less common than they would be otherwise - with the exception of the neutral Green armies, who end up creating a Kingmaker Scenario partly because they still have their ammo stockpiles. A downplayed example, specific to firearms, occurs in the case of Don "Tank" Fontaine, a cyborg soldier with the Blues whose weapon of choice is a Browning .50 machine gun - a gun which was manufactured for World War II and is thus over a century old by the time Fontaine brings it to Mars. It's said to be the only one of its kind on the whole planet.
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 Overheaven / int_dddbdc26
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Monumental Damage
 Overheaven / int_dddbdc26
comment
Monumental Damage: The Colosseum is destroyed in a Libyan missile attack. On the site, a new structure, the so-called "Colosseum Nova," is built, in the style of the original, and it now hosts sporting events, historical reenactments and even the Eurovision Song Contest.
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 Overheaven / int_ddf56e0a
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Amoral Afrikaner
 Overheaven / int_ddf56e0a
comment
The Martian colony of Kruger becomes this for racist Afrikaners who preferred South Africa while it was still under apartheid (and before it split in half), as well as for various white supremacist groups who were fast becoming Persona Non Grata on Earth. These two demographics eventually have a civil war.
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Culture Chop Suey
 Overheaven / int_df60d405
comment
Culture Chop Suey: Offworld colonies end up like this on a pretty regular basis.
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 Overheaven / int_dfbdfc6f
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Underwater City
 Overheaven / int_dfbdfc6f
comment
Underwater City: The city-state of Atlantis is one, built in the 90s and early 2000s. It's of a somewhat libertarian bent, but it's no Rapture. Ganymede, thus far, seems to have averted this, instead opting for building arcologies that float.
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 Overheaven / int_e061cb06
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Rightful King Returns
 Overheaven / int_e061cb06
comment
Afghanistan is Temperance. Temperance represents balance, harmony and prudence. The Soviet Union, preoccupied as it was with Venus, never invaded Afghanistan ITTL. Thus, with the help of Iran, the Afghan monarchy is restored. The Islamists are eventually fought off, and rather than commit to Iran, Pakistan or the USSR over the others, Afghanistan settles into a comfortable neutrality. They fight in a minor capacity against Pakistan in the Punjab War anyway, even setting up a client state in the form of Pashtunistan. Afghanistan has been actively modernizing, welcoming outside culture and building up their own. The mullahs grumble, but hardly anyone's listening.
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Military Mashup Machine
 Overheaven / int_e2138f91
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Military Mashup Machine: Land Battleships, in the form of "megatanks" deployed by the Reds in the Red-Blue War.
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Overheaven / int_e2138f91
 Overheaven / int_e26c3c72
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Mile-Long Ship
 Overheaven / int_e26c3c72
comment
Mile-Long Ship: Try five-mile-long ship. The MTOS Goliath, a giant space tanker built to deliver much-needed nitrogen, ammonia and water to Mars, is 8.2 kilometers long. It's thus very slow, such that its round trip from Mars to Ganymede (where the ice is) and back takes seven years. But since it's so huge, it's capable of carrying so much of these precious supplies that its return to Mars, and the ensuing conflict over it, is what ends the Red-Blue War.
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Overheaven / int_e26c3c72
 Overheaven / int_e2f7ab99
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Assassin Outclassin'
 Overheaven / int_e2f7ab99
comment
Assassin Outclassin': Aaron Lang, leader of the Blue side in the Red-Blue War, survives over 600 assassination attempts over the course of the war, at least one of which he overcomes by personally putting one assassin in a headlock and shooting the other one. (In the intestines, mind you. He had to interrogate him afterwards, after all.)
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Overheaven / int_e2f7ab99
 Overheaven / int_e3ebcc2d
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Animal Jingoism
 Overheaven / int_e3ebcc2d
comment
By the 2070s, several species have been genuinely uplifted - the Red-Blue War sees rodent uplifts doing espionage and cat uplifts doing counter-espionage, and the oceans of Ganymede are home to uplifted whales and dolphins.
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 Overheaven / int_e50987a9
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Reconstruction
 Overheaven / int_e50987a9
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Reconstruction: Ryzov has stated that OVRHVN is essentially intended as this for science fiction. Specifically, they wanted to write relatively hard sci-fi that still maintained the optimism of older sci-fi works.
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 Overheaven / int_e542d8c1
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Goth
 Overheaven / int_e542d8c1
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Goth: Many are concentrated in (reunited) Berlin. Some of them are genetically modified into pseudo-vampires. And then there's the Kara...
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Overheaven / int_e542d8c1
 Overheaven / int_e563bf09
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Insistent Terminology
 Overheaven / int_e563bf09
comment
Insistent Terminology: It's "noaforming," not terraforming. Which term you use is actually something of a political statement. The Blues call it noaforming, in reference to Mars' ancient Noachian Epoch, suggesting the idea of returning Mars from its lifeless present to a former "rightful" state. The Reds, meanwhile, call it terraforming, stemming from a belief that making Mars into "another Earth" would strip the Martians of their identity.
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Lysistrata Gambit
 Overheaven / int_e69efe7f
comment
Lysistrata Gambit: Large-scale "sex-strikes" by the women of Sudan played a major role in weakening Omar Al-Bashir's forces enough that a Commonwealth intervention succeeded in ending the Sudanese Civil War in favor of democracy. A similar strategy helps to bring down the FARC in Colombia.
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 Overheaven / int_e7f67516
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Point of Divergence
 Overheaven / int_e7f67516
comment
Sri Lanka is The Sun. The Sun represents material happiness and contentment, and so Sri Lanka, largely insulated from events on the mainland, has managed to do rather well for itself. Sri Lanka had already been on good terms with Japan since even before the Point of Divergence (long story), and they thus benefitted from OVRHVN's Japan being even stronger economically than OTL. Political reforms to rectify anti-Tamil discrimination averted the Sri Lankan Civil War, and after the Punjab War, a great deal of investment and outsourcing that was previously geared at India instead went to Sri Lanka. Today, while India still has the greater GDP, Sri Lanka has the highest standard of living and the healthiest democracy in the subcontinent. All things considered, Sri Lanka's sun seems to be on the rise.
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Overheaven / int_e7f67516
 Overheaven / int_e7fbdf7e
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Clone Jesus
 Overheaven / int_e7fbdf7e
comment
Clone Jesus: One company claims to have succeeded in their effort to clone Christ note key word being "claims" — scientific consensus is that the DNA they used is not from the historical Jesus, but is at least from the right part of the world, along with several other renowned historical figures. Clone Jesus is now a teenager living on a Jesuit compound in Paraguay. He goes by the name of "Joshua", preaches via Twitch to an audience mostly his own age, and uses his fame to advocate for various charities and good causes. The Vatican's stance on him is as follows:
 Overheaven / int_e7fbdf7e
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Overheaven / int_e7fbdf7e
 Overheaven / int_eac3ee70
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April Fools' Day
 Overheaven / int_eac3ee70
comment
OVRHVN as a whole features a recurring one: Ryzov's April Fools' Day posts are typically given the subtitle "(Not) A Shitpost". Lasagna Dawn even had its chapters titled in the same style.
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Overheaven / int_eac3ee70
 Overheaven / int_eddfe7e5
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Underground City
 Overheaven / int_eddfe7e5
comment
Underground City: Some offworld colonies are like this. The "Ice Age" of Ganymede was dominated by such cities, but this came to an end when terraforming started melting the ice. Mercury continues to make use of them, as it's the best way to stay out of the sun.
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Overheaven / int_eddfe7e5
 Overheaven / int_eff83d77
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Mundane Utility
 Overheaven / int_eff83d77
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Some space colonies actually find a Mundane Utility for nukes, of all things - turns out, because they're great at melting ice and heating up the atmosphere, nuclear bombs make remarkably good terraforming devices.
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Overheaven / int_eff83d77
 Overheaven / int_f0089082
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Early-Bird Cameo
 Overheaven / int_f0089082
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Early-Bird Cameo: A blink-and-you'll-miss it marker on the map of Earth in 2022 mentions a young man named Tobias Falco having just graduated US Marine Corps officer school. Later, when the Red-Blue War series (set in the 2070s) is posted, Falco's significance is revealed - he will grow up to be the Rebel Leader of the Reds and be remembered as one of the founding fathers of the Martian Alliance.
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 Overheaven / int_f0f03464
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TheSeventies
 Overheaven / int_f0f03464
comment
Abbas al-Musawi, the man who in our timeline founded Hezbollah, never did so in OVRHVN. Instead, thanks to advances in space travel in The '70s, al-Musawi develops a new perspective on humanity's place in the cosmos, and becomes an atheist. He goes on to start a successful punk rock band (still called Hezbollah) in a much more peaceful Lebanon.
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 Overheaven / int_f18ac036
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Velvet Revolution
 Overheaven / int_f18ac036
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Velvet Revolution: Ultimately, this is how the Communist Party of China falls. After an even worse Tiananmen Square Massacre, years of further protests and deaths, and a botched attempt to invade Hong Kong that ends in humiliating defeat for the PRC, on the 8th anniversary of the Tiananmen protests in 1997, 500,000 protestors march on the square once more... and this time, the People's Liberation Army lets them in. The CCP is all but forced to organize a multi-party election, which they naturally lose in a landslide, and Hu Jintao steps down peacefully, allowing a new constitution to be written and the People's Republic to transition into the Federal Republic of China.
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 Overheaven / int_f1d7b320
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Crazy Survivalist
 Overheaven / int_f1d7b320
comment
Crazy Survivalist: The Lomonosov Project, a group of several thousand people who built an underwater city in the Arctic in the hopes of ensuring humanity could survive any concievable catastrophe in some form. Come Hell Day, it turns out they were Properly Paranoid, and over a century of doomsday prepping made them so Crazy-Prepared they weather it almost unscathed.
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 Overheaven / int_f3fac450
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Brain in a Jar
 Overheaven / int_f3fac450
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Ernesto Nores, of the Army of the North.
 Overheaven / int_f3fac450
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 Overheaven / int_f64a9cf7
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Earn Your Happy Ending
 Overheaven / int_f64a9cf7
comment
There's also the aquamorphs or "gill-babies," humans genetically modified to be able to breathe underwater. Initially outcasts both on Earth and on the moons of Jupiter, they come into their own when Ganymede is terraformed into an ocean world.
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 Overheaven / int_f76b8969
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Anthropomorphic Personification
 Overheaven / int_f76b8969
comment
Anthropomorphic Personification: The city of Port Dread, on Deimos, has one, an Oni named Goki. Dreadites in general seem fond of using Cute Monster Girl oni for this purpose.
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 Overheaven / int_f7cf9612
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Neologism
 Overheaven / int_f7cf9612
comment
Neologism: Astropolitics - it's like geopolitics, but IN SPACE!
 Overheaven / int_f7cf9612
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 Overheaven / int_f9c17447
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The Remnant
 Overheaven / int_f9c17447
comment
The Remnant: It's not uncommon for movements or nations that have fallen from grace on Earth to attempt a new start offworld — or in a sufficiently out-of-the-way place on it. Venus, having already been the target of extensive colonization by the Warsaw Pact, is now the destination of choice for those who are bummed communism fell. The Martian colony of Kruger becomes this for racist Afrikaners who preferred South Africa while it was still under apartheid (and before it split in half), as well as for various white supremacist groups who were fast becoming Persona Non Grata on Earth. These two demographics eventually have a civil war. Albania ends up being one of the last communist states on Earth. It's described as being a pseudo-monarchist People's Republic of Tyranny not unlike OTL North Korea, except instead of a family member succeeding Enver Hoxha, they've cloned him. Owing to being the only hardline Marxist state left on Earth, Albania ends up hosting a number of die-hards from the deposed Chinese Communist Party, who set up a government-in-exile/micronation there. Only Albania recognizes them. After the Punjab War, a remnant Pakistani government is formed in Pakistan's orbital habitats. It eventually manages to reunite with the homeland. The Church of Scientology falls out of favor on Earth and is banned on Mars, so they colonize the asteroid 15 Eunomia instead. The closest thing to this trope for Saudi Arabia would be the city-state of Neom.
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 Overheaven / int_f9f2c33
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Running Gag
 Overheaven / int_f9f2c33
comment
Running Gag: If a Historical Domain Character needs to be out of the way for things to go differently in a particular country, there's a good chance they'll fall down the stairs to their death. (Except for Joseph Mobutu - he survives the fall, but in an interesting justified case of Historical Hero Upgrade, the hit to the head causes a shift in his personality and he becomes a somewhat better ruler, allowing Zaire to do decently well for itself in the modern day.) Another running gag is Chead, a fictional soft drink frequently mentioned or shown as a random background brand, which Ryzov is seemingly insistent on not elaborating about.
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 Overheaven / int_fbd5fda1
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Friendly Rivalry
 Overheaven / int_fbd5fda1
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Friendly Rivalry: Following Gorbachev's successful reform of the USSR into the Sovereign Union, and the subsequent breakup of NATO, America and Russia have settled into this by 2022.
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 Overheaven / int_fcaec6bf
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Orbital Bombardment
 Overheaven / int_fcaec6bf
comment
Orbital Bombardment: The "Rods From God" concept is put into action by the US and other militaries. The Brits, with a kinetic projectile loaned from the Americans, help convince China to pull out of Hong Kong by firing a warning shot from their new Kill Sat. Later on, during the Punjab War, the system gets fully put to use in destroying the Pakistani Armed Forces' bases as soon as the erstwhile peacekeeping mission realizes the Pakistani General Ripper Noorani has just nuked northern India. Sadly, it doesn't stop the Indians from retaliating with their own nuclear arsenal, leaving Pakistan even more devastated than India afterwards.
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 Overheaven / int_fd807d08
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New Neo City
 Overheaven / int_fd807d08
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New Neo City: Hong Kong builds a habitat in orbit, which is naturally dubbed Neo Hong Kong. The capital of the Japanese colonies on Mars is, perhaps inevitably, named Neo-Tokyo.
 Overheaven / int_fd807d08
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Overheaven / int_fd807d08
 Overheaven / int_fea715c1
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Feudal Future
 Overheaven / int_fea715c1
comment
Feudal Future: Downplayed, but invoked nonetheless, by the Jovian Empire. It's a constitutional monarchy, and one which grants a lot of autonomy to the individual moons that comprise it, but it is nonetheless still a monarchy, ruled by the genetically-engineered philosopher-kings of House Fulmen. Their explicit aim is to be The Good Kingdom. In practice, they come off as more of an unusually decentralized Hegemonic Empire.
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 Overheaven / int_ffad4e9f
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Shown Their Work
 Overheaven / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: NK-Ryzov clearly does their research - For Want Of A Nail plotlines and obscure historical footnotes being raised to prominence are quite common, and usually extensively thought out, and the science involved is very accurate. Likewise, the explanations of the Tarot Motifs for the South Asian nations display a very in-depth understanding of the relevant symbolism.
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Overheaven

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Overheaven
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Building of Adventure / int_e292ddbc
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First Time in the Sun / int_e292ddbc
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National Weapon / int_e292ddbc
 Tannhäuser Gate
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