That makes sense! That also makes them, like… still pretty new in 55 WR?
Very new. Probably still only with the one gateway to the rest of the Web, though I presume that their main goal after the White Cell crisis passes is to find more gateways and activate them, so they can have more avenues to the Web.
That’d makes sense! Is it part of the Core or Fringe?
IIRC Fringe is considered as the systems/dimensions that can only be accessed via space-borne gateways, while Core systems/worlds have planetside gateways, right?
In that case, Asgar would be considered Fringe, since I’m seeing them primarily having space gateways.
That’s pretty much it! There’s also an implication – which is unfair, but people have been shitty to each other before – of backwardness/lack of development/et cetera.
That implication’s probably faded some by 55 WR though.
Certainly, those lingering prejudices could play in a bit, in the aftermath of White Cell, with Asgar serving like a new rallying force for the Fringe. Or at the very least, Asgarian influencers (read: the three local megacorps) pushing the narrative locally that “the rest of this so-called ‘Web’ see us as backwater,” to foster loyalty to Asgar, and resentment to the rest of the Web.
WELL…one wonders how much of this “the Fringe is backward” survives into 55 WR. It’s possible that a more politically neutral term has taken hold in the Web, just as these days it is somewhat uncommon to refer to a “Third World Country.”
Also, this may seem weird, but thinking of time in Kuopopolis, we have:
Mid-40s - Are CoH time, “late-era” Proper
48-52 I think of as “The Lost Years”, between the “end of Proper” and the White Cell conflict, where all the set-up for White Cell we could never be bother to actually write happened. I’m going to reflect on this in some future Notes post, but I kept wanting to pull the trigger on White Cell, and thinking, “oh, but I really need to do X, y, and Z, first, and it’s not far to other writers if I do this in the middle of their ongoing plot, so I should wait for it to finish…”
52-54(ish) - White Cell. THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!
55: Reborn
…and…
There’s Legends.
And Neo. Like, recently I event spitballed a few ideas for a new continuation. Because I love superheroes, but also love giant robots.
That’d make sense. I could see “the Fringe is backwards” as… more like the rhetoric of some crazy nationalist groups. Ones who basically desperately wish their former Great Powers would get back to it?
Which, granted, Asgar might respond to.
And I hear you, Trav. I fell pretty out of it by… 45 WR? That actually helped me, some, for Reborn: it’s a lot easier to feel like I’m doing a fresh start with new characters, almost a Generation 2 type thing.
All fair points. I should get around to writing up an intro post for Asgar’s arrival on the Web of Worlds, though I’d need to refresh on what’s happening in Gate Dimension in 52 WR, so as to determine what the reaction of a whole new system would be in Gate, at the very least. Establish also what the reaction Asgar-side will be, and set up all of the players in Asgar, what the politics homeside would be during the duration of White Cell.
Then I can tackle how the Asgarian nations will respond to the post-White Cell Web. Now they’ve had a few years to sit back, watch, and be courted by the various Great Powers.
WELL…this is a bigger question…are there even “Great Powers” post White Cell?
White Cell was (at least partly) intended to be kind of a recent button on the Great Powers era and a way to dramatically reorder everything, and in the past, we’ve talked about reorienting the story.
BUT…I know, deep down, we probably all really like this political stuff, and it’s still a big draw for the story.
That makes sense, Jay!
And yeah, Trav. I can’t see just not writing political stuff again, though I expect it’ll be a backdrop. I dunno if we have Great Powers in the 30s WR sense…
But I feel like some countries are bigger than others, no matter what.
WELL, as I’ve said elsewhere, “Great Power”-wise, in my little corner of the Web:
-Scande got hit real hard, and even though it has a big military, it’s mostly focused on reconquering the Dragon Dimension. (…they also have that secret group trying to resurrect Tyr, because they’re totally convinced that that’s the way to Make Scande Great Again.)
-Tasnica is a bit more neutral and reserved in Web affairs, mostly focused on “returning to normalcy” and making money. Whereas before Tasnica’s economic power was intertwined with its political power, in Reborn it’s much more like “we shouldn’t rock the boat, that might be bad for business.”
-Eblan is experiencing an economic and cultural boom. My intent is that this mirror’s Japan’s phoenix-like post-WWII miracle. I suppose, in terms of Kupopolitic, this is potentially interesting – does Eblan join the other nations of Crystal, seek a wider role on the Web stage in its own right, or try to maintain some distance from Web affairs?
Here’s how I see it. Travis has his points, the Great Powers aren’t nearly as Great as they used to be, post-WC. But they’ll still probably be referred to as “Great Powers” colloquially, because old habits etc. Just as some people still refer to “First World” and “Third World” even if those terms are outdated or obsolete.
As Asgar starts establishing itself in the Web, and especially as it locates and activates more gateways to other dimensions in it (because they will absolutely want more than one trade route available), it could further cause the changes in perception about what constitutes a “Great Power” and further drive out the old notions of “Core vs Fringe.”