This Things I Believe

Hate never really dies Mind like a sewer, heart like a fridge Stand to be insulted, pay for the privilege Writer!! (Will be using this blog to promote short stories!) 21 she/they 🏳️‍⚧️ Autistic!!

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Introduction to Anthology of American Folk Music:

The title of the series is in reference to a collection of American folk songs (from various cultures across the so-called United States) complies by the eccentric Harry Smith and released by the Smithsonian.

There are three “periods” which the stories can focus on: the past (which corresponds to any number of time periods in post-Colonial North American History, though all before the 2000s,) the “present” (roughly the mid-2010s to ~2060s) and the future (an unknown amount of time later, say for the sake of argument 750-1000 years, the details matter little.) Stories in the past and present are named after songs in the Anthology, which may have degrees of thematic relevance.

Genre-wise, the series can be considered ‘diet sci-fi,’ fantastical elements are present, yet the plot is less so about these. Perhaps the closest author to this style would be Philip K Dick, but even he gets carried away with what sort of technologies are present. Present and Future may feel somewhat cliched, and a bit close to stereotypical post apocalypses, like the Fallout series. I can’t offer much in explanation other than that nothing is original. Many of the truly advanced things in this universe are secret, separate from mainline society. The past, present and future contain these unbelievable aspects.

Many of the characters in the series, especially in the past and present, are abhorrent people. They are the crème de la crème of the American and Imperial project, even if they are not materially at the time. They embody the horrific realities of American excellence and its overreach. Operating usually without impunity, creating comedy and tragedy alike.

It is a story of empire at end and without end. Hope you find it interesting!!

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The mercenaries of the past, present and future in Anthology of American Folk Music:

(Contains potentially distressing themes & repetition of the words mercenary, compradore etc.)

In capitalist society, everyone is a mercenary. Americans excel especially in this trait, most of our interactions are transactional, and in fact perhaps someday soon all our interactions will be. In terms of actual mercenaries, America was only ever able to escape the British yoke because of them. Great hordes of drunkards and Frenchman drove the redcoats off the colonist shores. The Civil war also saw the usage of mercenaries, more prominently on the side of the confederates. The Iraq War in our timeline, and in this timeline to a greater degree saw the triumphant return of mass mercenary deployment in a directly prosecuted US conflict- as thousands of PMCs committed butchery on Iraqi soil.

For the universe of Anthology of American Folk music, this is truly a watershed and prescient event, as in their massive crusade the Americans recruit compradores en masse. These compradores largely come from families whose trees are stained by their participation in some reactionary or otherwise unsavory cause which saw US backing at some point. Some aren’t even compradores- some come from far-right European lineages, who side with the American action as both an ideological and monetary commitment.

These mercenaries are prominent in the prosecution of the war abroad and eventually back in the US. Many of them serve as the police force to quell unrest. Many become integrated into bickering American governmental and political factions as they do.

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A Brief Explanation of Timeline Divergence in Anthology of American Folk Music

The timeline of Anthology of American Folk Music remains relatively the same as our own, up until the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The mission proves a marginal amount more successful as all of the major Western European powers are stirred from their conscientious objection to America’s quixotic attempt at establishing a true traditional empire.

So whilst the Iraq War’s ultimate goal of full subjugation to Imperial authority under Bremerian supervision fails as it did in our own timeline, the Euros prove more willing to prosecute and execute Iraqi officials. This sets off a greater amount of polarization between the West and “the rest.” Despite the Iraqi state not being popular- the show of acting without impunity worries government and citizenry alike the world over.

The US’ global position backslides at an even more rapid pace than in our own universe, and the decline in its authority over trade results in the country’s decline, causing a three-branch control by conservatives. By the late 2010s and 2020s this government decides to call upon its allies once again in a massive effort to re-secure domination. The prosecution of this war spans all inhabited continents, and created great unrest in the US, over a variety of factors.