America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
- Thread starter CountDVB
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Yeah, the A is for Atari. And Bungie is still already around and would still make Halo with Master Chief. I was just talking about what Microsoft Atari developed in-house.
Not sure if samus has already been made a woman here or not but it would be kind of cool if Master Chief was a girl here and Cortana and her were satmin
Samus yes is already a woman. As for Master Chief, well, he has always been to be a stand-in for a common soldier of sorts.
In fact, as an interview with Vice put it: "Rob is a stickler for military accuracy, and he’s the reason the shotgun shells have a little dent where the firing pin hits. He said commanders don’t get sent into fights. So we looked up ranks in the US navy, and above this certain line you’re no longer considered expendable. Looking there, Master Chief was the highest non-commission officer rank that’s considered expendable".
Given that, it's likely Master Chief would still likely remain male, since he wasn't really meant to become a prominent standout character of his own, but it still happened. We were meant to put ourselves into this solider's shoes and the additional development just kinda came from story continuation and the inevitability of such phenomenon.
2001: Uprising in Saudi Arabia
2001: Uprising in Saudi Arabia
November 9, 2001. A date to remember. Over the past several years, most of the world has been absence of tension for the most part. They have finished concluding with large affairs or in the process of doing so, even with nations like North Korea. As such, it seemed that there could be global peace finally being brought about over in the world. However, history does not truly end and some parts of the world remain potential hotspots of conflict. And one of those locales would be none other than Saudi Arabia. Once a prominent ally of the first world during the Cold War, their relevancy would diminish in the face of the growing transition away from fossil fuels, the end of the Cold War and the growing social liberalization which clashes with their particular brand of Islam. Additionally, the loss of Pakistan was also an indirect blow to Saudi Arabia as it would seem to permanantly damage the idea of a nation so dominant in its faith. However, the primary cause of tensions within the nation would be the growing inflexibility of the House of Saud in the face of how they rule. From the concentration of their wealth to the royal family to the dominance of the absolute monarchy over their subjects, the people had alot to be frustrated about, especially as their neighbors were undergoing their own changes. Not only that, but said changes were granting them new opportunities in the post-Cold War world and new acceptance as well.
And their neighbors were paying close attention.
Ever since their return, the Neo-Baathists have longed to continue forward with their plans of reform. From their success in working with the prince in Qatar and transitioning into a republic to reaching out to ally with Afghanistan and even their success in Syria, they have been growing their prominence in the region. However, Saudi Arabia remained the grandest prize for them to take. Even if the hope of uniting most of the Arabian peninsula remained outside of their grasp, the desire to still topple the House of Saud remained strong and they helped to contact potential rebellious forces. A growing number of allies would come in to support them and perhaps one of the biggest would be Osama Bin Laden. A prominent son of the very wealthy Bin Laden family, he was once known for having been briefly involved in the Pakistani conflict, only to come out of it heavily disheartned. While a heavily religious man who was drawn in by the "Islamist" beliefs over of the former Pakistan, the violence of the war, the corruption of the leadership and of the faith would break him of that. As he would put it, the witness of intense corruption and violence shocked and disgusted him. While he remained pious, he would end up embracing the idea of secular leadership and the importance of the seperation of religion and politics.
His beliefs would be further influenced as he would spend time traveling across the Middle East as part of buisness endeavors for his family's company, the Saudi Binladin Group, a powerful construction conglomerate. The successes of Iran and Afghanistan as nationstates would leave an impact on him, especially in talking to some of the people and despite having embraced secular politics and even some Western ideals, they remain close to their faith. Some go further and note that many felt more comfortable abiding by their faith in a secular government since there was a lack of pressure. Even with some of the growing global trends, they felt they could reconcile it on their own terms along with admitting the times the Westerners having a point. Beyond traveling to the Middle East, Bin Laden would go even further and go across Europe and North America, which further had an impact, especially when face-to-face with the experiences of others. Perhaps most of all would be going over to Qater and getting to talk with the Neo-Baathists and their own ambitions. While not in total agreement with them, he came to admire their dedication to reform and their points on the need for people to change and evolve to continue to prosper.
And it would be in there that the middle-aged man would begin to align gradually with their goals. Some of his family commented on this, noting a certain mellowing out of his ideals while others would joke of him having a midlife crisis of sorts. Regardless, with this, some of the Bin Laden family began heading toward these various reformist groups. The family was divided on the decision, given their ties over with the House of Saud, but on the other hand, the tensions were already there and if nothing else, if things do heat up, they would have an opportunity to go and remain in a position of power regardless of the outcome. As such, the family would reluctantly accept the funds going over toward this endeavor.
Unsurprisingly, as the new millenium came and the pressures were mounting, the House of Saud would crack down harder, trying to maintain their lingering prestige, but in the face of their declining prominence in world stage and value to their allies, it was difficult to say the least. However, everything would change over in Novemember 9th where the Arabian Liberation Front would be held as thousands of Arabs would flock to join the formal group with the hopes of reformation and bringing change. While there was the hope of transitioning into a consititutional monarchy, the growing contempt against the House of Saud itself made that a very small possibility and it was growing more likely it would be a transition into a republic, with some noting it may resemble more what Iran or even Afghanistan has. The Novemember 9th Revolt would be remembered for the large number of people showing up and the violent response of the Saudi monarchy in trying to deal with them.
The tensions have boiled over and violence would become the norm. Many would note November 9th 2001 would be the beginning of the Arabian Civil War.
Yeah, Bin Laden is not the same man he was in OTL. He never left college in 1979 to join up with the Mujahideen because there was no Soviet-Afghan War. So he matured and grew differently and being there in the last days of Pakistan as the Islamist government tore itself apart in corruption and violence left a profound impact on him, especially since he was a bit more mature there. This along with seeing the world and the like met he became a different person to a degree.
Glad someone noticed
. Thoughts on everything like the past pop culture stuff or other developments and the like?
Yeah I’m glad that some more creative alternative events are happening to show how much things are changing and diverging from OTL, especially considering it’s been 25 years since the PoD in 1976.
Yup! I am trying to balance out everything out, especially with the period of peace going on while everyone is still trying to figure stuff out.
2001 Overview
2001 Overview
The 2000s truly began in this time, with plenty of changes being brought on. As President Clinton was signed in, it truly heralded the beginning of a great change over in American politics. It would seem like anything was possible now and it would reinvigorate people to go into politics or groups to go forward with political endeavors. One major change would be the rise of the second Federalist Party, a center-right party that positioned itself as a replacement over for the Republican Party. Being party of a political movement related to a new form of conservatism known as neoclassical conservatism, it promised on being a worthy and honorable politicla party encapsulating the best aspects of America from its beginnings and a return to the roots while maintaining the important milestones achieved in societal reformation. Already various Republican voters and even some politicians began the switch over from the Republican Party to the Federalist Party, especially the younger politicians who believed that they would possess a greater chance of forwarding their careers and having an impact with a brand new political party. While it would still need to work on expressing their driving philosophy and cementing their political positions, it was already drawing in plenty of positive attenton. Many wondered how long something similar may happen to the Democrats, though the Democrats have lacked the same sort of volatile problems as the GOP had. All the while, the United Central Party celeberated their victory and being considered an official major party and the Clinton Administration beginning their work. For the most part, it was a focus on the technological such as infrastructure development and finishing up on some leftover stuff from the previous administration. It was unknown what further plans the Clinton Administration would be having, but it seemed for the most part on economic development and some modest liberal policies.
This would also be seen in parts of the Anglosphere as some conservatives over in the United Kingdom and Australia along with Canada to a lesser extent would learn from and adopt neoclassical conservatism. For many of them though, it was actually quite simpler since it would be viewed as polishing familiar ideas already present such as Canada with Red Toryism becoming the norm while the UK would see it as the returning prominence of the ideals of the High Tories as well as Tory democracy, though with some concessions made to deal with the new paradigm estabished. Some saw this rising prominence as a reaction to the electoral victories going on, such as the maintanance of the Labour/LibDem alliance in the UK or the victory of the left in Australia once more. Beyond this, international politics had been calm for the most part though the massacre in Nepal was quite shocking and the beginnings of civil war in Saudi Arabia left governments preparing to deal with the inevitable spike in petrol prices that would no doubt be coming from this. While more and more nations have begun the transition away from fossil fuel dependency in their infrastructure, the chaotic prices that would come from the conflicts in Saudi Arabia would no doubt be the kick in the pants for the stragglers to push forward to catch up while those further ahead can test if their preparations were adequate enough. Beyond this though, there was still a large scale sense of hope for peace to win out in the world. People came together to help out Cuba and there was a lessening of international tensions, with people focusing over on economic growth and societal progress. Special focus is going into China and North Korea in their endeavors. General Secretary Zhao Ziyang mainains his position in promoting democratic reforms in the nation, even if weakening the CCP and ending the one-party nation rule while North Korea would nearly be approaching the second phase of their unification efforts with South Korea. Kim Yong-ju would be approaching the end of his tenure of five years, having led the efforts of de-Kimification in the nation, something to be continued by his future successor, Kim Pyong-il.
Film in 2001 would be quite a motherload of plenty of good films, with the biggest memorable ones being not one, but two Star Wars films. The circumstances behind these films was a bit unorthodox, but it was George Lucas being torn between whether to make a sequel to the original trilogy or a prequel. While the latter was in development longer, the former would be considered too enticing to pass up and the concern should anything happen to the main cast. However, in trying to make both films at once, George Lucas would be forced to delegate alot of the work, which many believed contributed to the success of both films. That said, both weren't meant to come out in the same year, having only done so because one was delayed in release. The first one to come out would be Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Having been delayed by a year and a half, this would mark the start of a trilogy serving as the background for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, the man who would become Darth Vader. The delays were due to script-writing and trying to settle the direction of the film, especially with the concerns on pacing. The film would see a young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) stumble upon the beginnings of a conspiracy that makes them realize that after a thousand years of peace, the Sith may be returning. Circumstances would lead them to a harsh desert world and meeting Anakin Skywalker, the son of a slave with a strong connection to the Force. While he would impress the Council with his potential, the harsh background he had as a slave along with having to leave behind his mother hint at the fertile ground of the Dark Side. All the while, the two would meet up with other important characters, including a young political figure in Padme Amidala and Jar Jar Binks, an eccentric and seemingly goofy member of the Gungans, a race of amphibious aliens of Naboo. While initially planned as comic relief with hints of a greater role, his lines and direction were rewritten so that his more secretive and suspicious side was notable for the audience, especially when left alone or with the droids. Even lines were rerecorded, such as his banishment being by an accident sounding more like a dodgy answer. All the while, the Sith moved in the background. The film would also have fan favorite Darth Maul come and antagonize the group, even killing Qui-Gonn Jinn at seemingly the cost of his own life, though he was never shown to have died onscreen. The film would do fairly well as people were impressed with the world-building in the setting and new characters such as Darth Maul, Qui-Gon and so on. The effects were also applauded as Yoda would be portrayed with a mix of animatronics and CGI to make him look realer than the original films along with being able to do more subtle facial cues. There was some faults, with some noting that Anakin's actor was not wholly utilized the best, though this was attributed to the writing team and Jar Jar was seen as divisive initially, only for the fanbase to realize that this was intentional, serving more that he was not what he seemed. Additionally, the film would be accompanied with the news of a potential Star Wars television series in the works, but little was known about it, outside of it focusing over Anakin and Obi-Wan. Not even the medium was known for right now.
The second Star Wars film would be Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The film would borrow heavily from the famous Thrawn trilogy written by Timothy Zahn though having to be changed with setting. Set 15 years after the events of Episode VI, it would see the New Republic try and rise from the ashes while warring against the remnants of the Empire, known as the Imperial Front, led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, a ruthless military tactician. After a cold war, the conflicts would rise up when both sides learn of a secret base far-off created by Emperor Palpatine containing a secret cache of information, with both sides racing for it along with the underlying mystery and the reflection of the time past. It would also explore how the characters have grown, from Leia handling being a politician back to military commander, her and Han Solo's complex relationship, Luke struggling with rebuilding the Jedi Order and the introduction of Mara Jade. A Force sensitive assassin, she serves as a foil over Leia and a prominent character in her right, struggling with her past being tainted in serving as the Hand of the Emperor along with her with relationship with Luke. Writers wanted to have the two meet up, but noted that with the ages of the cast now, it would be difficult to justify it. That said, her actress did a phenomenonal job of selling the character and making it seem like a natrual fit, along with her and Mark Hamil getting good chemistry. Many noted that despite the film's rough patches, it possessed plenty of charm in seeing the cast reunite and set up plenty of seeds for future stories. In fact, given how there was an overarching mystery throughout the film, the lack of details and time used to catch up served as a surprisingly good hook. Both the protagonists and the audience have to refamiliarize themselves and get used to the new status quo. Fascinatingly enough, one of the questions left unanswered was on if any of the main characters have become parents, something which the writers have dodged and left the fans speculating. Some even believe this was intentional so the writers could guage whether or not to introduce the potential children as characters. Regardless, the film would be see as a fun returning to form and setting the background for a new status quo in the galaxy.
Besides the massive bombshell of having two different Star Wars films, there were plenty of standout hits to be enjoyed. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring would manage to be in the top three with both Star Wars films for the highest grossing films. Provoking classics like A Beautiful Mind and Memento would dazzle and intrigue audiences alongside more flashly and exciting films like Ocean's Eleven. However, beyond fantasy and science fiction ruling the box office, animation would also reign well over in the theater. Disney would release Monsters Inc over with Pixar and then also switch directions to a more action-oriented film in Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Propped up as a change of pace, it would be fun and thrilling adventure with gorgeous animation and promoted pretty heavily thanks to enthusiasm on the creative side. In one creative move, the Atlanteans would have their own unique language, created by the same man who made Klingon. Disney being Disney, would go further and add two songs within the film, one being an Atlantean lullaby sung by Kida and the second a requiem for the emperor. There was some controversy due to back-stage politicking that has been resolved though led to approx 30 minutes being cut from the film, including a cut third song meant to be a more joyus song of celeberation. However, Dreamworks would also show them up over with Shrek. A satrical fairy tale starring the ogre of the titular name, it was meant as a jab over at Disney's classic affairs with the antagonist in Lord Farquad being supposedly a cariacature of Katzenberg'sformer boss in Eisner. Not much is known though some have noted that Eisner has decided to increase more over for the film's animation budgets, seemingly determined to show him up. Shrek would become a beloved classic along with popularizing "All Star" by Smash Mouth. Betwixt Sun and Moon would also be released near the end of the year. An adaptation of the Norwegian fairy tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon", it would focus on a young woman who goes on a journey to rescue her beloved, who was cursed to become a polar bear, from being engaged to a troll princess. The film would be applauded as a wonderful return to form for traditional Bluth films with a healthy budget and going for a more obscure fairy tale. The creative use of of CGI for the spirits of wind and other effects was applauded. The film also had a trailer for the upcoming Bluth Dreamworks film, Satyrday, which would lead to growing calls for more copies of the book.
Television would keep growing with new shows and ideas. Cartoon Network would push further for adult animation with the block [adult swim] being released over this year. Shows like Scrubs, Band of Brothers, Reba and Degrassi: The Next Generation would become stand out hits while Disney would seem to make a potental return for teen drams with Lizzie Mcguire though with special care regarding the well-being of the actors and actresses. Animation would also be doing quite well with a slew of new shows. With the success over Wonder Woman: The Animated Series, a Justice League show would be made, borrowing from the legendary Grant Morrison run of JLA. Besides starring the big three of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, the League would consist of Barry Allen as the Flash, John Stewart and Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Enrichetta Negrini as the Atom. The show would quickly rise to popularity with the dynamics of the team balancing out, especially with the Season 1 finale, "Lightfall." Released at the same time as the final issue of the Green Lantern comic run, it would be quite a shocking development as it would show the heroic sacrifice of Hal Jordan, both in the comics and in the episode, bringing tears to the eyes of many. It would also fully cement John Stewart's place as the Green Lantern of Earth (as plans to write off Hal Jordan were in the works for years) and in the comics, also fully promoting more Kimiyo Hoshi as the next Green Lantern. Other shows included Samurai Jack and Time Squad over on Cartoon Network while the Toonami bloc would get some new shows, notably Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop, both of whom would become such standout hits they would remain consistent reruns on the bloc. This would coincide with Toonami being shifted regading their timeslot, going in the evenings, but before [Adult Swim]. Nickelodeon would introduce some breakout hits with Fairly Oddparents along with Invader Zim. Overall, not much was going about though there was one big bit of news. Over in the United Kingdom, the BBC would be airing the long-awaited television adaptation of J.K. Rowling's popular children's book series, Hermione the Witch*, with Season 1 focusing on the first book, Hermione the Witch and the Philosopher's Stone. Created during her poorer years, the book starred a girl named Hermione who would discover her magical lineage and go to Hogwarts, a school for wizardry and witchcraft. A boarding school mystery series with elements of magic, it would become popular for the premise and cast of characters, including her two closest friends, bookish Harry Potter, who had Wizarding parents, but was orphaned along with Ron Weasley, who comes from old wizarding family, but of working class. The book series became quite popular in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, but would get relatively little fanfare over in the United States, a combination of the paperwork and poor advertising.
As for video games, well, there was alot to go around. The Dreamcast would get its major challengers so far in with the Abox and the Playstation 2 both finally come out to growing acclaim. Besides their inhouse franchises being reborn and modernized, the Abox would have a strong line of games from other developers such as Halo: Combat Evolved, Max Payne and some sports simulator games over from EA. The Playstation 2 meanwhile would also go in guns blazing with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X (exclusive over to the PS2, much to Nintendo's chagrin), Jak and Daxter and most of all, Silent Hill 2. Nintendo meanwhile was winding down as they were preparing for their big releases in the next year, but had some fun stuff left for the Nintendo Ultra 64, such as the unusual Conker's Bad Fur Day and with the GamePal Color, the Legend of Hyrule: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. With it though came the announcement of Nintendo's next console, the Nintendo Gamecube and the GamePal's successor in the Super GamePal, which promised greater graphics, sound and control.
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*=TTL's version of Harry Potter, though with Hermione as the main character and moderately less violence. Would be pretty popular, but mainly in the UK and parts of British influence such as Canada, Australia and others to a lesser degree. As such, instead of movies, gets a BBC television series though I reckon most of the actors are the same.
Well, Episode II, whatever it will be called, will come out later in this timeline.
Yeah, Star Wars is coming out different! Lucas got ambitious, which meant he got overstretched and thus needed to rely on more people. This meant that there was more chances for clean-up and for the final products to be better. I did my best to portray what it could look like at the time. No clue on who could be portraying Mara Jade. I considered Ian McKellan for Thrawn, but he’d be way too busy with Lord of the Rings. Suggestions here? Would have to be older acto
Atlantis Lost Empire is 30 minutes longer than OTL, but still got 30 min cut from final product, though a director's cut would come out with the whole thing.
Thoughts on other things regarding pop culture of the year?
Sean Connery might make a good Thrawn, and possibly Keri Russell for Mara Jade.
Nice, would the lineup be like OTL, or would it expand from the get-go?
Nice.
That is awesome.
1: Nice.
2: Wow! Cowboy Bebop? What airs on AS at first in its place considering how CB was there for the full midnight hour at first?
3: Why would Toonami move to the evenings?
So, would Invader Zim be more successful, be treated better and last longer?
Nice, but I think MetroCentury Family should pick it up, considering how I'm getting concerned because I don't think I've heard anything about that channel in quite a while...
All of these are great!
Overall, you made another good post!