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zenderael_ooc2011-11-25 12:15 pm
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Entry tags:
The OOG World
Below the cut is the setting of 2050 America, and some helpful geopolitical ideas to follow.
AVAST! Enjoy, and please comment with additions to the FAQ.
2050
A Brief Political Summary
Sociological Climate/Culture
Technology
FAQ
2050
2050 America feels a lot like 2010 America. There's still no flying cars (godDAMNit) and the same patterns are starting to re-emerge. The difference is that we're a whole lot angrier now. Suburbia is full of active people, who emerge onto the streets with creases to their brow to go to their low-end jobs that never really got anywhere, and the urban areas are jam-packed with "artists" who refuse to work for anything but their passions. There's a chill to the word "tax" and "FoxNews" has become a criticism lobbed at only the most sinful of shock-and-awe journalism.
A Brief Political Summary
During 2012, the fiscal crisis that had been developing for the previous five years finally produced a slow death-knell for the American economy. The last man standing, so to speak, was WalMart, alternatively, Sam's, and soon, the country found itself listening to a bunch of talking heads standing for WalMart's objectives.
This dystopian reality didn't last very long. History will eventually misremember, but it's just recent enough for your characters to know that a group of eight courageous individuals began to attack the system through seemingly unknown origins. These eight eventually dwindled to two remainders, but through their investigative work and the help of two moles within the WalMart corporation, it found its end in 2020.
The two who survived: Winter Johnson and Stephanie Cruiser. These two became the first Presidents in a wave of political reconstruction. The constitution officially barred several of the things that lead to the corruption in the first place: no more campaign contributions, more power to the executive cabinet, mandatory four party system, regulated airwave monopolies. These names are known, well-known, and the political change seemed to create a situation of hope.
The embattled, embittered American people, having spent roughly fifteen years working for President Cruiser and Vice President Johnson to get into power couldn't see the hope through the haze. They, along with Cruiser and Johnson, were too steeped in their own silly history. They immediately began ratifying the recreation of "re-evaluated" institutions that lead to the original mess.
Currently, several very violent outbursts are occurring across the nation. Journalism sources, now closely monitored to provide accurate and non-manipulative reporting, have begun to speculate they may be tied together. They are protesting what is the same-old, same-old... roughly twenty-five years after the historic inauguration of Cruiser/Johnson, the country is starting to look and feel the same it did in 2010.
Education
Student Loans were revised as student grants, but because there was no fund set up to permanently allow their dispersal, college is sometimes seen as an elitist institution. Instead of "everyone gets to go," now it's "only the best twenty-five percent get to go." Despite the establishment of several technical schools and trade schools meant to re-direct the flow of applicants into jobs that needed them, the bitterness that not everyone could go study if they chose to has become noticeable.
High School was modified to include two final years of technical prep. This means your character had the option to graduate at 17-18 but most likely graduated at 19-20. Those going to college unilaterally graduate at 18, but several choose to stay in high school to cover the "general requisites" that used to be covered in college. Those extra two years allow for the "mandatory degree" to be removed from several positions, and so it is perfectly plausible for your character to work in a job that used to require a degree that now does not.
A note about China
China owns a mother-eff-tonne of our nation right now. They've got us on Fiscal Lockdown. Most "liberal" identified individuals want fiscal independence from China, but note the lack of cultural dominance that typically accompanies empires. There is a growing amount of tension between the idea of the Chinese and China and America, and it should show in your character's political opinions. Uneducated, racist, or slanderous opinions about China are common on the internet, and usually indicate someone who is far right-wing, far left-wing-nut, or an idiot.
Briefly, about the President
The current president is a muslim woman named Nessa Akwal. She is very competent and held in high-esteem. Her vice president, a gay black man named Frederick Costs, is also competent and held in high-esteem. The situation of the country is blamed largely on Congress and several higher-level interest groups.
The Political Parties
Republican
Democrat
Center
Libertarian
Republican
Probably more closely related to "Conservative" than ever, the Republican party lost its' marbles officially at the end of 2020 and continues to be pretty loose around the gills. They're anti-tax, anti-government, anti-regulation, pro-illegalization of just about anything you can think. The only thing they seem mum about are lgbtq rights... perhaps it's because once they were finally put through, a lot of Republicans could stop living a double life.
Democrat
Known for being permanently wishy-washy, the Democratic party is the favorite of most of your character's parents and is aligned with the most centric of doctrines. They're not insane but they're not sane, refusing to pull the trigger on important human right's legislation while at the same time passing moronic legislation governing cell phone pornography. Look out, world. It's the micro-managers.
Center
Another name for Socialist, they preach far left dogma and LOVE it. They're the ones responsible for a lot of the social law advances, and President Cruiser was their founding member. The issue: they're often short-sighted financially, and have sat on their laurels while our finances were directly controlled overseas. The favored party of most younger characters.
Libertarian
Where the Tea Partiers ended up. This is also a favored party of younger characters, and operates under the assumptions that unhappy people will flock to those promising to solve their woes. Preaching veiled racist dogma and offering solutions that don't hold fiscally or socially, the Libertarian party looks much the same as it always did, except now has opinion based commentary to back it: what once was FoxNEWS is now FoxRHET, mandated by the Center party presidencies to change.
(for the record, it's also MSNBC RHET and CRN, for "Rhetoric.")
Sociological Climate/Culture
This section will be divided into "the issues," "outlooks," and "culture." Any issues that are not mentioned here will be added should they be brought up by prospective/current players, but hopefully the setting page has given you enough information to sort out character opinions outside of this.
ISSUES
LGBTQ Rights
Everyone can get married. Everyone! Gay parents are practically common. Homosexual love is depicted in media honestly, sometimes erring on reverently. The sexuality of superstars is no longer a big deal. There is a Harvey Milk day celebrated in the Pacific Northwest (this game's location), California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New York, and Vermont.
However...
Trans rights are still questionable. There was a big to-do when Cruiser/Johnson were brought into office with some off-handed comments made about a celebrity at the time by Johnson. He mentioned that he didn't understand the trans perspective when asked if the path to gender-change would be cleared now that gay marriage had been ratified. He said that the path seemed just fine, and that gender-identity being mandatory in several state levels didn't contribute anything to sexism or lgbtq issues.
Now-a-days, it's common to hear Trans-hate. Trans hate-crimes are at an all-time high; and it seems that it's the easy way to get out of having to understand a complex issue.
The good news: the gay community, that sometimes was not always on the trans side, is now officially always standing on the line of pro-trans issues and pro-trans rights.
Abortion
Legal. Right to Choice prevailed, though was temporarily revoked in 2015 during the WalMart era. It was reinstated by Cruiser's people, as she courageously stated in her campaign: I am an American woman, and I have had an abortion, and it makes me no monster, and it makes me no less a patriot!
Right to Life is still a valid opinion, but it is viewed now as an opinion, and the law is seen as a way to protect rights rather than restrict them. Most Right to Life groups, save extremists, agree now with this sentiment.
The modship takes no stance on opinions of abortion. We simply write the setting.
Drugs
Cocaine/Crack Cocaine: Illegal
Ecstacy: Legal
Heroin: Illegal
Marijuana: Legal
Meth-amphetamines: Legalized recently, under great controversy
LSD: Legal
Mushrooms: Legal, mostly (Illegal to grow, legal to possess or use, federal crime to operate machinery while using)
Opium: Legal
PCP: Illegal
Note: All drugs come with suspension of license upon first offense if used while driving, and if used at work are subject to immediate termination for federal reasons despite whatever a company might have listed.
Other drugs not listed here: If it makes you hallucinate and doesn't come from any drug cartels? Legal. If it makes you do awful things to yourself, others around you, encourages prostitution, and has awful drug cartels? Illegal.
The modship takes no stance on opinions of legalization. We simply write the setting.
Environmental Concerns
We constantly try to sanction China about pollution, but we're not a world power, so nobody listens.
We now run entirely on renewable energy.
Cool, energy efficient cars are the standard!
We still do very little to protect endangered animals.
Scientists HAVE INDEED found a way to trap the methane emitted from cattle to produce fuel!
Cheetahs and Hyenas and other animals of their ilk are also indeed on the endangered species list.
Vegetarianism now outnumbers meat-eating 51-49, and factory farms are in the process of being shut down!
This means that rainforest deforestation due to soy has increased exponentially.
It also means meat is starting to get pretty expensive, but nothing more than the prices your local co-op might have for grass-fed meat.
Emu is becoming popular as a beef alternative. It's leaner meat, they cost less to raise, they require less space, and they're easier to farm on a small, local level. They're also largely organic, because factory farming hasn't quite caught on yet!
Racism
There are still some similar patterns in the works. Though black men and women now make equal to their "majority" compatriots, they're still last in line for promotion and find a lot of stereotypes still applied to their culture. Latino/a-Americans outstrip any other race, particularly after the amnesty of 2025, but are still treated with indifference. Arizona has repeatedly attempted to file a new law to hate on Latino/a-Americans, but has failed again and again due to congressional interference. Native Americans have finally been given reparations, and it seems there will be some reparations made soon to African-Americans.
The narrow-eye of the American racist agenda is now focused on Chinese and anyone an uneducated American might think is Chinese, leading to a rash of name changes and general awfulness towards mainland Asian individuals. Luckily, Japanese at this point are held in such high-regard they are often 1) not mistaken for Chinese and 2) considered co-conspirators in hating Chinese.
Another lasting bitter sentiment remains against Russia, whose relationship with America has never healed itself even more than half a century from the Cold War.
CULTURE
Music
Currently, the popular music is a mix of jazz electronic. One might say it's probably the best of the music that could be considered top 40 for the last hundred years... smooth and layered, with a sound knowledge of music theory and the use of all instruments and technologies available.
Hip Hop has become much more of a second-genre than a sub-culture. If people aren't listening to Top40, they are listening to Hip Hop. If people aren't listening to Hip-Hop, they are listening to Oldies. It's really rock and metal and "emo" that have taken the hardest hit, falling into sub-culture obscurity.
Soloists tend to be of varying genres, and world music is more greatly accepted. A song not in English might just play on the radio now, and one in four times it will be Chinese.
Media
Books: Yes, printed books remain. They are far less popular and no big Barnes and Noble exist anymore. Small bookstores sell Artist's Books, or books meant to be bought for their craft, along with printed copies of most books. Print-runs are just small to negligible, and bookstores tailor to specific topics. Where your characters are there is an inordinate amount of these shops, as the Pacific Northwest has long had a love affair with a page.
Stories are largely women-driven narratives, so much so there's been a small cry in artist communities about the male voice being driven out of fiction.
Television: Still trashy. Still campy. Still fighting to get someone, anyone of color in a scene. If anything, television has become the scare house for a frightened now-minority; you won't see a latino/a actor despite the fact they are the clear majority. You WILL, however, see more Chinese actors than you'd expect.
Movies: Finally! Original work! Largely male narratives still exist in film, but there's original stories! Everywhere! Gone are the days of remakes and comic books, but films themselves are losing money, and fast. They are being replaced by...
Immersion: A 3D, all-around spectacle that includes tactile feedback. It's still a film, but now you are an extra in every scene, and sometimes are dealt with directly by your favorites.
OUTLOOKS
Your character has an opinion on the world!
Here are three designed outlooks you can take if this is all-too-much, but feel free to synthesize a more organic outlook!
1 The world is getting better, slowly!
This is the character who is just stoked about all this positive change. They are a glass half-full sort of person. So what if China has our money? Look! It's a Muslim president! Look! Gays can be married! Look! The Trans war is finally being fought! They're dismayed by the violent protest, and are happy that school is free if you work hard enough and view it as a very American concept.
2 The world is falling the mother-eff apart.
Oh, fucking great. We're falling deeper into debt. There's an elitist mark on school. You have to work your ass off for minimum wage at most jobs (who cares if it's higher historically than it has been.) There's very little value in the stock market. There's going to be a crash tomorrow. President Akwal and Vice President Costs are ignorant assholes who aren't paying attention to the fact that CHINA OWNS US. There's not really a hope if you're 20-something in getting into the club that's been re-established with even harder iron fences around the elitist parts of life. Want a kid? Better sign it off! You'll never be able to afford it. The two new parties don't change anything. People still think in Red or Blue. Fuck it. Going to Canada.
3 :T
Clearly, we are always going to be in debt. Clearly, our jobless rate will never go down. Clearly, we are incompetent at being a world power. Can't we just take this time to finally restructure? We're still using the old scare tactics of hating someone or something, blaming someone or something. Can't we just take a moment and realize that trans deaths are at an all time high? The only answer to this is a complete gut of our entire system, not just a re-integration of old ideals with fancy diversity slapped on its' cover.
Technology
Cell Phones
They're now more like mini-computers, with processing rates and screens that envy what a player might see on the highest end laptops. They can download movies in seconds, they can process major games (including Zen) and have digital ink technology installed so they can harbor your text books. The problems of memory are in the past; your cell phone can do everything your laptop could do and then-some.
The only way it hasn't overtaken the computer is it's size and keyboard functionality. People still don't feel comfortable using a cell phone for serious business work, and the fact that calls can interrupt and potentially lose data/stop a boss battle keep most from using it for their portable gaming/processing needs.
Cell phones, then, are most commonly used for:
There are quite a few models, but primarily, characters use either Apple or Droid. Droid has become the "off-hipster brand" after Apple, post Steve Jobs, became something of a mega-conglomeration of Design Efficiency. The iPhone 10s is what's used by the mainstream populace, where the most popular Droid, the Droid E-FECTIV, is used by most of the technology pandering crowd.
Computers
PCs and Macs continue their never-ending battle, but they're now treated as equally conglomerate operating systems. Macs are still seen as superior art machines, and Adobe has long-since given up developing top-notch software for the PC; it is now a given that if you're an artist, you use a Mac.
Similarly, most hard-core gamers have long since surrendered to the idea that their games will always run a bit wonkily on the Mac, and the Zen developers, X-DAV, even admit to some PC optimization.
Chances are, your character uses a PC, or has some griping to say about the Apple Angry Puma OS and Zen's frame rates.
Television/Gaming Systems
These are no longer separate. Starting with the PS5, the television and the system are now combined. In fact, after Microsoft released the X, you can just download new gaming systems directly to your television set. This revolution to the gaming industry in 2040 nearly killed all competing companies, until the federal courts ruled in 2042 that the X had to allow other systems to be downloaded and could not connect to anything related to Microsoft.
The Wii and its descendants are now more novelty items, set aside as "apart" from the serious gaming realm. Nintendo concentrates most of its efforts on its handheld systems, with the 3DS's descendants essentially wiping out Sony's PSP competition. Nintendo is still known for creating durable hardware and innovative gameplay, but is also still known for exploiting new technologies as "gimmicks" in certain games.
The X created such a straight-to-consumer mentality for Microsoft that any quality construction is only being found released for the Playstation and 3DS.
If your character likes console games, they 99.5% chance own an X, but probably have downloaded the PSInfiniti processor. They most likely use the PSInfiniti more than any hard-loaded X drivers.
TVs are all 3D capable, and most produce 3D for you automatically. Games can be either or, but some are entirely immersive, such as the Wii-al, pronounced like Real, the completely immersive gaming environment for Nintendo.
Zen does not operate that way. It is a standard console or PC game. You can, however, play it on your X, if you desire. You could also have it constructed into 3D if you prefer, as the models are designed to work that way.
OOG SETTING FAQS
1. Are we at war?
No; no theaters. We do still have our bases and the world at large is kind of exhausted with us running them. To be honest, we're exhausted with having to spend the money to staff them. We're so entrenched in several of our offshore bases that we simply can't close them yet.
2. Going to Canada?
Look, you don't want to go there. They're so closed off now that it's just ridiculous. Also, their currency is really devalued against the Yuan. And... well. Actually, they do seem rather nice. They have nice trees. And moose.
AVAST! Enjoy, and please comment with additions to the FAQ.
2050
A Brief Political Summary
Sociological Climate/Culture
Technology
FAQ
2050
2050 America feels a lot like 2010 America. There's still no flying cars (godDAMNit) and the same patterns are starting to re-emerge. The difference is that we're a whole lot angrier now. Suburbia is full of active people, who emerge onto the streets with creases to their brow to go to their low-end jobs that never really got anywhere, and the urban areas are jam-packed with "artists" who refuse to work for anything but their passions. There's a chill to the word "tax" and "FoxNews" has become a criticism lobbed at only the most sinful of shock-and-awe journalism.
A Brief Political Summary
During 2012, the fiscal crisis that had been developing for the previous five years finally produced a slow death-knell for the American economy. The last man standing, so to speak, was WalMart, alternatively, Sam's, and soon, the country found itself listening to a bunch of talking heads standing for WalMart's objectives.
This dystopian reality didn't last very long. History will eventually misremember, but it's just recent enough for your characters to know that a group of eight courageous individuals began to attack the system through seemingly unknown origins. These eight eventually dwindled to two remainders, but through their investigative work and the help of two moles within the WalMart corporation, it found its end in 2020.
The two who survived: Winter Johnson and Stephanie Cruiser. These two became the first Presidents in a wave of political reconstruction. The constitution officially barred several of the things that lead to the corruption in the first place: no more campaign contributions, more power to the executive cabinet, mandatory four party system, regulated airwave monopolies. These names are known, well-known, and the political change seemed to create a situation of hope.
The embattled, embittered American people, having spent roughly fifteen years working for President Cruiser and Vice President Johnson to get into power couldn't see the hope through the haze. They, along with Cruiser and Johnson, were too steeped in their own silly history. They immediately began ratifying the recreation of "re-evaluated" institutions that lead to the original mess.
Currently, several very violent outbursts are occurring across the nation. Journalism sources, now closely monitored to provide accurate and non-manipulative reporting, have begun to speculate they may be tied together. They are protesting what is the same-old, same-old... roughly twenty-five years after the historic inauguration of Cruiser/Johnson, the country is starting to look and feel the same it did in 2010.
Education
Student Loans were revised as student grants, but because there was no fund set up to permanently allow their dispersal, college is sometimes seen as an elitist institution. Instead of "everyone gets to go," now it's "only the best twenty-five percent get to go." Despite the establishment of several technical schools and trade schools meant to re-direct the flow of applicants into jobs that needed them, the bitterness that not everyone could go study if they chose to has become noticeable.
High School was modified to include two final years of technical prep. This means your character had the option to graduate at 17-18 but most likely graduated at 19-20. Those going to college unilaterally graduate at 18, but several choose to stay in high school to cover the "general requisites" that used to be covered in college. Those extra two years allow for the "mandatory degree" to be removed from several positions, and so it is perfectly plausible for your character to work in a job that used to require a degree that now does not.
A note about China
China owns a mother-eff-tonne of our nation right now. They've got us on Fiscal Lockdown. Most "liberal" identified individuals want fiscal independence from China, but note the lack of cultural dominance that typically accompanies empires. There is a growing amount of tension between the idea of the Chinese and China and America, and it should show in your character's political opinions. Uneducated, racist, or slanderous opinions about China are common on the internet, and usually indicate someone who is far right-wing, far left-wing-nut, or an idiot.
Briefly, about the President
The current president is a muslim woman named Nessa Akwal. She is very competent and held in high-esteem. Her vice president, a gay black man named Frederick Costs, is also competent and held in high-esteem. The situation of the country is blamed largely on Congress and several higher-level interest groups.
The Political Parties
Republican
Democrat
Center
Libertarian
Republican
Probably more closely related to "Conservative" than ever, the Republican party lost its' marbles officially at the end of 2020 and continues to be pretty loose around the gills. They're anti-tax, anti-government, anti-regulation, pro-illegalization of just about anything you can think. The only thing they seem mum about are lgbtq rights... perhaps it's because once they were finally put through, a lot of Republicans could stop living a double life.
Democrat
Known for being permanently wishy-washy, the Democratic party is the favorite of most of your character's parents and is aligned with the most centric of doctrines. They're not insane but they're not sane, refusing to pull the trigger on important human right's legislation while at the same time passing moronic legislation governing cell phone pornography. Look out, world. It's the micro-managers.
Center
Another name for Socialist, they preach far left dogma and LOVE it. They're the ones responsible for a lot of the social law advances, and President Cruiser was their founding member. The issue: they're often short-sighted financially, and have sat on their laurels while our finances were directly controlled overseas. The favored party of most younger characters.
Libertarian
Where the Tea Partiers ended up. This is also a favored party of younger characters, and operates under the assumptions that unhappy people will flock to those promising to solve their woes. Preaching veiled racist dogma and offering solutions that don't hold fiscally or socially, the Libertarian party looks much the same as it always did, except now has opinion based commentary to back it: what once was FoxNEWS is now FoxRHET, mandated by the Center party presidencies to change.
(for the record, it's also MSNBC RHET and CRN, for "Rhetoric.")
Sociological Climate/Culture
This section will be divided into "the issues," "outlooks," and "culture." Any issues that are not mentioned here will be added should they be brought up by prospective/current players, but hopefully the setting page has given you enough information to sort out character opinions outside of this.
ISSUES
LGBTQ Rights
Everyone can get married. Everyone! Gay parents are practically common. Homosexual love is depicted in media honestly, sometimes erring on reverently. The sexuality of superstars is no longer a big deal. There is a Harvey Milk day celebrated in the Pacific Northwest (this game's location), California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New York, and Vermont.
However...
Trans rights are still questionable. There was a big to-do when Cruiser/Johnson were brought into office with some off-handed comments made about a celebrity at the time by Johnson. He mentioned that he didn't understand the trans perspective when asked if the path to gender-change would be cleared now that gay marriage had been ratified. He said that the path seemed just fine, and that gender-identity being mandatory in several state levels didn't contribute anything to sexism or lgbtq issues.
Now-a-days, it's common to hear Trans-hate. Trans hate-crimes are at an all-time high; and it seems that it's the easy way to get out of having to understand a complex issue.
The good news: the gay community, that sometimes was not always on the trans side, is now officially always standing on the line of pro-trans issues and pro-trans rights.
Abortion
Legal. Right to Choice prevailed, though was temporarily revoked in 2015 during the WalMart era. It was reinstated by Cruiser's people, as she courageously stated in her campaign: I am an American woman, and I have had an abortion, and it makes me no monster, and it makes me no less a patriot!
Right to Life is still a valid opinion, but it is viewed now as an opinion, and the law is seen as a way to protect rights rather than restrict them. Most Right to Life groups, save extremists, agree now with this sentiment.
The modship takes no stance on opinions of abortion. We simply write the setting.
Drugs
Cocaine/Crack Cocaine: Illegal
Ecstacy: Legal
Heroin: Illegal
Marijuana: Legal
Meth-amphetamines: Legalized recently, under great controversy
LSD: Legal
Mushrooms: Legal, mostly (Illegal to grow, legal to possess or use, federal crime to operate machinery while using)
Opium: Legal
PCP: Illegal
Note: All drugs come with suspension of license upon first offense if used while driving, and if used at work are subject to immediate termination for federal reasons despite whatever a company might have listed.
Other drugs not listed here: If it makes you hallucinate and doesn't come from any drug cartels? Legal. If it makes you do awful things to yourself, others around you, encourages prostitution, and has awful drug cartels? Illegal.
The modship takes no stance on opinions of legalization. We simply write the setting.
Environmental Concerns
We constantly try to sanction China about pollution, but we're not a world power, so nobody listens.
We now run entirely on renewable energy.
Cool, energy efficient cars are the standard!
We still do very little to protect endangered animals.
Scientists HAVE INDEED found a way to trap the methane emitted from cattle to produce fuel!
Cheetahs and Hyenas and other animals of their ilk are also indeed on the endangered species list.
Vegetarianism now outnumbers meat-eating 51-49, and factory farms are in the process of being shut down!
This means that rainforest deforestation due to soy has increased exponentially.
It also means meat is starting to get pretty expensive, but nothing more than the prices your local co-op might have for grass-fed meat.
Emu is becoming popular as a beef alternative. It's leaner meat, they cost less to raise, they require less space, and they're easier to farm on a small, local level. They're also largely organic, because factory farming hasn't quite caught on yet!
Racism
There are still some similar patterns in the works. Though black men and women now make equal to their "majority" compatriots, they're still last in line for promotion and find a lot of stereotypes still applied to their culture. Latino/a-Americans outstrip any other race, particularly after the amnesty of 2025, but are still treated with indifference. Arizona has repeatedly attempted to file a new law to hate on Latino/a-Americans, but has failed again and again due to congressional interference. Native Americans have finally been given reparations, and it seems there will be some reparations made soon to African-Americans.
The narrow-eye of the American racist agenda is now focused on Chinese and anyone an uneducated American might think is Chinese, leading to a rash of name changes and general awfulness towards mainland Asian individuals. Luckily, Japanese at this point are held in such high-regard they are often 1) not mistaken for Chinese and 2) considered co-conspirators in hating Chinese.
Another lasting bitter sentiment remains against Russia, whose relationship with America has never healed itself even more than half a century from the Cold War.
CULTURE
Music
Currently, the popular music is a mix of jazz electronic. One might say it's probably the best of the music that could be considered top 40 for the last hundred years... smooth and layered, with a sound knowledge of music theory and the use of all instruments and technologies available.
Hip Hop has become much more of a second-genre than a sub-culture. If people aren't listening to Top40, they are listening to Hip Hop. If people aren't listening to Hip-Hop, they are listening to Oldies. It's really rock and metal and "emo" that have taken the hardest hit, falling into sub-culture obscurity.
Soloists tend to be of varying genres, and world music is more greatly accepted. A song not in English might just play on the radio now, and one in four times it will be Chinese.
Media
Books: Yes, printed books remain. They are far less popular and no big Barnes and Noble exist anymore. Small bookstores sell Artist's Books, or books meant to be bought for their craft, along with printed copies of most books. Print-runs are just small to negligible, and bookstores tailor to specific topics. Where your characters are there is an inordinate amount of these shops, as the Pacific Northwest has long had a love affair with a page.
Stories are largely women-driven narratives, so much so there's been a small cry in artist communities about the male voice being driven out of fiction.
Television: Still trashy. Still campy. Still fighting to get someone, anyone of color in a scene. If anything, television has become the scare house for a frightened now-minority; you won't see a latino/a actor despite the fact they are the clear majority. You WILL, however, see more Chinese actors than you'd expect.
Movies: Finally! Original work! Largely male narratives still exist in film, but there's original stories! Everywhere! Gone are the days of remakes and comic books, but films themselves are losing money, and fast. They are being replaced by...
Immersion: A 3D, all-around spectacle that includes tactile feedback. It's still a film, but now you are an extra in every scene, and sometimes are dealt with directly by your favorites.
OUTLOOKS
Your character has an opinion on the world!
Here are three designed outlooks you can take if this is all-too-much, but feel free to synthesize a more organic outlook!
1 The world is getting better, slowly!
This is the character who is just stoked about all this positive change. They are a glass half-full sort of person. So what if China has our money? Look! It's a Muslim president! Look! Gays can be married! Look! The Trans war is finally being fought! They're dismayed by the violent protest, and are happy that school is free if you work hard enough and view it as a very American concept.
2 The world is falling the mother-eff apart.
Oh, fucking great. We're falling deeper into debt. There's an elitist mark on school. You have to work your ass off for minimum wage at most jobs (who cares if it's higher historically than it has been.) There's very little value in the stock market. There's going to be a crash tomorrow. President Akwal and Vice President Costs are ignorant assholes who aren't paying attention to the fact that CHINA OWNS US. There's not really a hope if you're 20-something in getting into the club that's been re-established with even harder iron fences around the elitist parts of life. Want a kid? Better sign it off! You'll never be able to afford it. The two new parties don't change anything. People still think in Red or Blue. Fuck it. Going to Canada.
3 :T
Clearly, we are always going to be in debt. Clearly, our jobless rate will never go down. Clearly, we are incompetent at being a world power. Can't we just take this time to finally restructure? We're still using the old scare tactics of hating someone or something, blaming someone or something. Can't we just take a moment and realize that trans deaths are at an all time high? The only answer to this is a complete gut of our entire system, not just a re-integration of old ideals with fancy diversity slapped on its' cover.
Technology
Cell Phones
They're now more like mini-computers, with processing rates and screens that envy what a player might see on the highest end laptops. They can download movies in seconds, they can process major games (including Zen) and have digital ink technology installed so they can harbor your text books. The problems of memory are in the past; your cell phone can do everything your laptop could do and then-some.
The only way it hasn't overtaken the computer is it's size and keyboard functionality. People still don't feel comfortable using a cell phone for serious business work, and the fact that calls can interrupt and potentially lose data/stop a boss battle keep most from using it for their portable gaming/processing needs.
Cell phones, then, are most commonly used for:
- eReader functionality, replacing Tablets, Nooks and Kindles.
- Casual Gaming (Angry Birds, etc.)
- Internet outside of MMORPGs
- Level-grinding in MMORPGs
There are quite a few models, but primarily, characters use either Apple or Droid. Droid has become the "off-hipster brand" after Apple, post Steve Jobs, became something of a mega-conglomeration of Design Efficiency. The iPhone 10s is what's used by the mainstream populace, where the most popular Droid, the Droid E-FECTIV, is used by most of the technology pandering crowd.
Computers
PCs and Macs continue their never-ending battle, but they're now treated as equally conglomerate operating systems. Macs are still seen as superior art machines, and Adobe has long-since given up developing top-notch software for the PC; it is now a given that if you're an artist, you use a Mac.
Similarly, most hard-core gamers have long since surrendered to the idea that their games will always run a bit wonkily on the Mac, and the Zen developers, X-DAV, even admit to some PC optimization.
Chances are, your character uses a PC, or has some griping to say about the Apple Angry Puma OS and Zen's frame rates.
Television/Gaming Systems
These are no longer separate. Starting with the PS5, the television and the system are now combined. In fact, after Microsoft released the X, you can just download new gaming systems directly to your television set. This revolution to the gaming industry in 2040 nearly killed all competing companies, until the federal courts ruled in 2042 that the X had to allow other systems to be downloaded and could not connect to anything related to Microsoft.
The Wii and its descendants are now more novelty items, set aside as "apart" from the serious gaming realm. Nintendo concentrates most of its efforts on its handheld systems, with the 3DS's descendants essentially wiping out Sony's PSP competition. Nintendo is still known for creating durable hardware and innovative gameplay, but is also still known for exploiting new technologies as "gimmicks" in certain games.
The X created such a straight-to-consumer mentality for Microsoft that any quality construction is only being found released for the Playstation and 3DS.
If your character likes console games, they 99.5% chance own an X, but probably have downloaded the PSInfiniti processor. They most likely use the PSInfiniti more than any hard-loaded X drivers.
TVs are all 3D capable, and most produce 3D for you automatically. Games can be either or, but some are entirely immersive, such as the Wii-al, pronounced like Real, the completely immersive gaming environment for Nintendo.
Zen does not operate that way. It is a standard console or PC game. You can, however, play it on your X, if you desire. You could also have it constructed into 3D if you prefer, as the models are designed to work that way.
OOG SETTING FAQS
1. Are we at war?
No; no theaters. We do still have our bases and the world at large is kind of exhausted with us running them. To be honest, we're exhausted with having to spend the money to staff them. We're so entrenched in several of our offshore bases that we simply can't close them yet.
2. Going to Canada?
Look, you don't want to go there. They're so closed off now that it's just ridiculous. Also, their currency is really devalued against the Yuan. And... well. Actually, they do seem rather nice. They have nice trees. And moose.