Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World?

grayghost said:

I suppose a bit more suave and dashing, but I'm okay with it as is.

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Haha . There are already too many suave and dashing people about . We need a hard gritty action bruce willis style guy .

Davout said:

A little alliteration goes a long way.

I was going to say a sunfish or humpback because those guys are damaging and sinking Sydney to Hobart yachts every year, but Nazi subs it is then. Although the deck gun and/or conning tower ought to have ripped the galleon a new one.

BTW, I go to a Jesuit church and they announced this evening that the new General of the Society is a Spaniard who has worked as a professor in Japan for the last 30 years.

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Glad to see you come back so soon XD . Well it depends . If the Submarine was already surfaced , it would hit the ship on the broadside and would avoid the gun and conning tower completely . Haha , a Spaniard Professor with a Japanese education . Sounds like Timelines material alright !

grayghost said:

Unless the submarine with it's superior maneuverabilty just wanted to give the galleon a love tap and mess with everyones head...maybe.

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LOL love tap ? Is that what they call it ?

English Patriot said:

The hell's a love tap?

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ROFL I wish grayghost would come back and explain XD

Alright folks , time for our weekly schedule !

The interview will be up sometime either tonight or tomorrow . Then we have a bonus planned at the beginning of the week . Then on Tuesday or Wednesday we'll have the next chapter and then Friday or Saturday a chapter after that ! Please look forward to it !

comagoosie said:

me looking forward to the bonus!



I decided to take a little break from poetry to really get my poetry writing skills in line. So I taking canonized advice and doing art. Someone would think that I am in my mid-life crisis. I better not be.

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ROFL what an excellent improvement from before ! ... what is it supposed to be ? XD Maybe you can try drawing the Cardinals next XD

RGB: Haha .. not the soldier did describe it as dark after all .

Mettermrck: Haha , yes , as grayghost pointed out ... we have ourselves a veritable Nautilus XD . As for Madeleine . We'll have to see . She is indeed flirtatious and it will probably get her in trouble !

RGB: Haha ; you don't give up do you XD

comagoosie: Hmm .. a Cardinal Cow ... now there's an idea .

Interview going up in a few minutes !

ForzaA said:

Then again, it doesn't seem to matter what our 'friends' do; it'll land them in trouble ANYWAY.

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ROFL . More trouble perhaps I should say XD Interview going up NOW .

Good morning everyone and welcome once again to this week’s You’ve Been Canonized! our weekly interview segment here on Timelines where we take a patron author and get to know a little bit about them, their thoughts on Timelines, and about their current AAR or project! If you’re new to the programme, I’m canonized author of Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? and today’s guest is our newest friend DerKaiser author of The Golden Nation- California (VIP) AAR . Let’s get it on !

Part I: The AARistocrat
DerKaiser sheds some light about himself.

canonized: First , thank you very much for being on the programme ! Could you please introduce yourself for us ?

DerKaiser:Thanks for having me! Well I'm 17 years old, live in South Kensington, London and I'm the heir to a very old and very defunct aristocratic tradition!

canonized: Haha , yes I do suppose that shows up readily both in your signature and in your demeanor . How did you come upon paradox games and the forums ?

DerKaiser:Well I've always been interested in history, particularly the 19th century, and when I stumbled across a review of Victoria in the Sunday Times I could tell it was right up my street. I went out and bought it, there followed an interval of two years of lonely game-playing, and then for some unknown reason I looked it up on the internet- and there was paradoxplaza.

canonized: What subsequently brought you to writing AARs and being involved in AARland ?

DerKaiser:Well even before I'd ever heard of an "AAR" I found myself playing them out in my head: what would the King, President, Shah or whoever it was be thinking now? How would the people greet each action in their local inn? How would history remember my alternate realities? So as soon as I saw the AAR section- I knew I had to write one! And I literally dived right into it that evening, after a cursory reading of Rensslaer's "Fire Warms The Northern Lands" had persuaded me that that was definitely the place for me!

canonized: What kind of writing experience or background -- or perhaps a background in literature or other humanities -- would you say influences or helps fuel your authorship ?

DerKaiser:A number of things come to mind I suppose... I've always been interested in history- reading historical works, watching period dramas, visiting sites and so forth, and I think the fact that I've read so much (particularly in the run-up to my interview at Oxford University), definitely helps me to write history-book sections of my AAR. In terms of literature I'll read just about anything- though I give the majority of credit to my girlfriend and two other friends for pointing me in the direction of various works of "Great Literature" that have been a massive influence. If I was pressed to name one author that fuels me it would have to be Shakespeare (how unoriginal)- there are certainly elements of him in my AAR... But AARs are really the only things I write, apart from one short story which I entered into a competition...

canonized: Certainly, in your writing, that kind of dramatic irony plays out very well . Why did you choose , at least in your current AAR , to write a hybrid of history and narrative ?

DerKaiser:Firstly, the influence of Rensslaer. "Fire Warms The Northern Lands" is my eternal benchmark, and my first AAR was a house built entirely on his foundations. I wanted to emulate the style he produced (he and others of course), but make my own plot, my own world and my own characters. When I got down to the actual writing, I get just as much enjoyment out of writing narrative and history-book, and so that seemed to finalise my choice for me. However, I do like to think of my AAR as a narrative piece, with the history-book sections put in to flesh out the plot and fill in the gaps. For me, it's essentially a narrative.

canonized: Do you plan on any real life works or projects to apply your talent on ?

DerKaiserifficult to say. I'd like to and I've certainly had some ideas for novels and so forth- but they've mostly lasted a few days and then run out of steam. Without the Paradox game as the backdrop I'm not sure if I'd be able to formulate a story that lasted long enough, to be honest! Besides which, most of my creative talent in the real world goes into acting- which I can possibly see myself taking forwards seriously in the future...

Part II: A New Reader
DerKaiser shares some insights about his current trek through Timelines.

canonized: Catching up on Timelines ; what are your impressions so far ?

DerKaiser:The way I've started to regard Timelines is a little bit like the work of an impressionist painter: you just have to stand a little way back and gaze in awe at the majesty of the finished product. That isn't to denigrate the detail- which is fantastic- but the structure, the intertwined plots, even the graphics are the things that really let it stand out for me.

canonized: What most about the architecture stands out for you ?

DerKaiser:The two stories weaved into one. There are at least several chapters I recall where the two parts would perfectly fit together or complement each other, and it just struck me how much thought had gone into it. It's amazing to think that the whole thing must have been conceived in advance and then mapped out- no small testament to your skills!

canonized: Haha , well i'm flattered , but there's rarely any chance to think more than a chapter ahead , though I've got the final end in mind ; it's usually a chapter by chapter basis that we write updates at the office . As a narrative writer yourself , what kind of comments could you give on Timelines' story element so far ?

DerKaiser:I think it has to be the way the plot and the characters develop. The way in which we find out more about the timepieces, the empire itself and Spain's various enemies is superbly timed- and keeps a reader hooked from chapter to chapter. They follow on from each other so well that every time I end a chapter I feel I'm on the verge of a major revelation! In terms of the story- I'm particularly enjoying reading about the different characters. Antonio and Isabella are a highlight for me- and where I've reached, they've just been re-united. You've managed to create a very engaging and believable relationship (something I strive to do), and as much as I want to know how the titanic clash of Spanish Empire vs. Zombie-Ming-Nazi alliance ends, I sometimes feel more of an urge to find out if they ever manage to say the magic words!!

canonized: The romantic in you speaks ! It's something we share in common with our characters I think to naturally have them in a complicated romance . Do you have any thoughts on the actions going on in the 2007 timeframe ?

DerKaiser:My preoccupying thought is to find out what happens to poor old Tom Royce! I've left him in a pitch-black dungeon talking to a disembodied voice about his destiny- it seems a far cry from the innocent young student who wrote a speculative essay! Equally, I'm interested in the objectives of your "terrorists". The fact that they seem to be demanding, essentially, the world we live in today gives one an intriguing perspective on real life- and so I almost want them to have some success to prove it wouldn't actually be all that bad! Though, naturally, if they try and achieve their ends by fiddling with the Timepieces and blowing up the world, it probably will be "all that bad"...

canonized: Of the exotic locales and places we've gone to , we've also visited your AAR's home of California . Of the places and adventures , do you have any that stand out for you ?

DerKaiser:The scenes underneath Constantinople, which are still going at the point I've reached, are a favourite. There was something eerily beautiful about the way you described the abandoned Silent Room of the Byzantines- the attractive Greek architecture mixed with the skeletons of the dead- that made it stand out for me. And the sharpening of the blade in the dark was terrifying!

canonized: Certainly as someone who's catching up , the length of the work is a major issue . What kind of advice would you give for someone who might be intimidated to follow through with being part of the readership ?

DerKaiser:I'd say plough ahead and within a few chapters you'll be addicted! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't initially daunted by the size of the task, but once you've read a few pages you'll begin to feel the desperation to know what happens next- and from then on reading won't be a problem! My only problem now having the time to read, but I certainly have the inclination!

canonized: And lastly from this section ; any guesses on the Timepieces and Keys as to what they are or their purpose ?

DerKaiser:I think the Timepieces, and I know no-one's ever thought of this so it's going to come as a bit of a shock, are in some way capable of warping or altering time. Whether that means being able to go back and change things around, or simply shift reality a bit (for example to create our 2007 instead of Tom's) I'm not yet sure. The keys, I'm fairly certain, are simply the devices needed to safely operate the Timepieces (and not cause Armageddon- silly Nazis...). Hence. presumably, why they were scattered across various cities- so that no-one could dominate the world by possessing them all. That may be completely off, but you said guesses after all...

Part III: The Gold Standard
DerKaiser answers a few questions about his wonderful AAR !

canonized: The first place to begin is the choice of your subject - The California Republic . What brought you to this corner of the Americas and what appealed to you to write about it ?

DerKaiser:Well the idea first came to me while I was in the thick of my first AAR in the summer of 2006. I was on holiday in California, and I was trying to imagine up some plotlines, but because of my location I kept trying to fit them into a Californian setting. Naturally 19th Century Austria and 21st Century California don't go together as well- and I began to dream up a Californian history instead. Then, when it came to starting a new idea in May 2007, I simply returned to the project. What attracts me about California is that I could pretty much do what I wanted with it- a few Dons, a few farmers and the rest was a blank slate. The closest I had to a historical document for my ideas was "The Mask of Zorro", and... well... ahem...

canonized: Haha . It's certainly true that you've done a lot of innovation with your adopted country for this AAR . A lot of time is spent giving careful detail to the political situation especially in the battle between Don vs Peasant and aristocracy and liberalism seem to be at the root of a lot of the drama that occurs . Why did you wish to write about this and how did you go about doing it ?

DerKaiser:Any AAR that I'm likely to write has to have a solid core of aristocrats- I'm fascinated by what my ancestors were like! Other things fed into that desire- for example reading Lampedusa's "The Leopard" which is essentially about that very same conflict (set in 1860s Sicily). That sort of "progress vs. tradition" or perhaps even "romance vs. realism" if I'm feeling nostalgic was something I really wanted to explore in my own way- hence the backbone of Don-liberal conflict. As to how I go about it- I used a lot of real life precedents and extrapolated them onto the Californian landscape. The questions about land tenure, industrialisation and the role of the nobility were all tender issues in the real world 19th century, so I used those, added my own characters and twists and went from there!

canonized: Speaking of the Dons , we have an ensemble cast of both classic and complex personalities ranging from the former president Alvarado to our protagonist Alejandro to the crazy and dangerous Tibalto etc . You've already mentioned the Shakespearian influence , how else did you come to construct these figures of a new history ?

DerKaiser:Broadly, my formula runs: one part from other literary references (with Tibalto it's Shakespeare's Tybalt for example), one part often has a core of someone I know (Javier de la Vega is a particular example of this), and one part is just completely made up! Then I expose them to the conditions of the time and just see how I think they'd develop!

canonized: Haha a fun enterprise . Do any of the characters contain your particular core perhaps ?

DerKaiser:Haha I was wondering if you might ask that... I suppose, being very boring, all of them have little bits of me inside- feelings I've felt and opinions I've had. An example might be Alejandro's dilemma with Elena and Javier- I've been trapped between my best friend and the woman I love before, and I'm ashamed to say my response was much the same as his.

canonized: Certainly a part of a man's soul is in his art . The way each character plays is , sometimes , how we speak to ourselves . About Alejandro , though ; a many times gentle yet upright man caught in a changing world . He's seen many adventures either through raiding with El Zorro , fighting in the trenches of Panama , or quarrelling with the politicians -- what kind of future is there in store for such a man in such a Republic verging on Empire ?

DerKaiser:At the moment I see Alejandro as a mess of contradictions: dashing yet indecisive, romantic yet often socially awkward; and these are the things that will come back to haunt him. He's got some big decisions facing him in the very near future which he can't just muddle through as he has done before- he's going to have go make major sacrifices whatever he does and I'm looking forward to taking him into those kinds of positions. I also have him chalked up in history-book terms as a man who will end up with a great reputation he doesn't necessarily deserve- as I've played out a few scathingly revisionist accounts of him in my head! We'll have to wait and see!

canonized: California is on a crossroads and slowly becoming a power in the world . Acquiring Pacific possessions and expanding its influence in Central America . We are also on the verge of a civil war . The dramatic elements abound -- what lies in store for this "youngest" in the pantheon of nations ?

DerKaiser:A great deal to say the least! I've planned out California's future as far as the end of World War Two (which still happens despite California's existence changing history) and it's eventful. At home we have a Civil War coming up (as my readers well know) and that certainly won't be the last of the domestic upheavals. Abroad, California will become more and more involved in both Far Eastern and European affairs- she'll certainly be looking to have one of those famous empires on which the sun never sets! I've also planned out all the most important characters up to 1920- and I'm certainly looking forward to developing their personalities. It's going to be an action-packed century, and, I hope, an interesting one!

canonized: Lastly , do you have any plans for future AARs at the moment ?

DerKaiser:Well, I certainly have a few ideas. I was on the verge of starting a new one recently but shelved it because I didn't want to divert my attention away from "The Golden Nation", and that will probably remain my position: nothing until this one is finished. That may well end up being rather a long time, however, so I wouldn't rule anything out!

canonized: We’d like to thank DerKaiser once again for being on the programme it was certainly a wonderful interview and we’d like to thank our audience once more for tuning in with us this week ! We all hope you enjoyed it ! Next week’s interviewee will be announced sometime during the week so please stop by the thread in order to find out who it will be . Don’t forget that there are only a few days left until the AARland Choice AwAARds will be ending and it’s your last chance to vote ; there will be NO MORE extensions . Please do keep DerKaiser and I in mind when you vote and if you have any questions about voting you can always PM me or anonymous4401 for instructions . It’s fun , easy , and allows you to support your favourite AARs ! That’s all for our interview this time , see you next time , and in the meantime stay tuned for more Timelines ; fair , balanced , and unafraid .