Alright, so I got this idea stuck in my head a while back, called it “america in another world” in my notes. Sounded kinda grand, but really, I just wanted to figure out what that might actually look like if I tried to map it out. It wasn’t about writing a perfect story, more like just messing around with the concept, seeing where it went.
First thing I did was just grab a notebook and start brainstorming. Dumped everything I could think of. What if a chunk of the US, like, physically got teleported? Or maybe just the people? Or maybe it’s more metaphorical, like American ideals popping up somewhere completely alien. I decided early on, no magic wands or easy explanations. Wanted it to feel kinda gritty and confusing, like it would be if something that nuts actually happened.
So, I settled on the physical displacement idea. Let’s say, a few states, maybe the West Coast, just vanished from Earth and appeared on a totally different planet. Had to figure out what this ‘other world’ was like. Didn’t want elves or dwarves. Thought it’d be more interesting if it was maybe Earth-like, but way behind technologically, or maybe with totally different societies already there. Went with a world that had its own long history, maybe kinda recovering from its own past troubles, definitely not prepared for a chunk of modern America landing on its doorstep.
Working Out The Nitty-Gritty
Okay, so California, Oregon, Washington, maybe Arizona, Nevada… bam, they’re somewhere else. Now what? That’s where I started really digging in.
Immediate Problems:
- Power Grid: Gone, right? Local power plants might work for a bit, but the interconnected grid is severed. Chaos.
- Internet/Comms: Dead. Satellites aren’t there. Fiber optic lines lead to nowhere. How do people even know what happened outside their immediate area?
- Supply Chains: Food, medicine, fuel… everything relies on supply chains that just got cut off. Big problem, fast.
- The Locals: How do the existing inhabitants of this new world react? Fear? Curiosity? War?
I started sketching rough maps. Where did this chunk of America land? In an ocean? On a continent? Near existing settlements of this new world? Decided to put it partly overlapping an existing coastline on the new planet, creating immediate territory disputes and resource issues.
Then I thought about the people. Would they unite? California vs. Texas attitudes, but now on an alien world? Would the US military units stationed there take control? Or would everything just fragment into chaos? I leaned towards fragmentation. It felt more realistic. People sticking to their local communities, trying to survive, leaders popping up randomly.
Hitting Some Walls
Tried writing a few short scenes, like a family in LA waking up to a sky with weird stars, or a trucker finding the highway just… ends. It was fun, but keeping track of all the moving parts got complicated fast. What technology still worked? How long would batteries last? Would gasoline still be usable after a while? Got kinda bogged down in trying to make it ‘realistic’.
Realized after a bit that focusing too much on the tech details was missing the point. The interesting part wasn’t the hardware, it was the people. How they reacted, how society reformed or fell apart. How American culture, good and bad, clashed with this new reality and the locals.
So, yeah. That’s kinda where I left it. It’s a folder full of notes, some bad maps, and a few scene snippets. Didn’t turn into a finished ‘thing’, but the exercise itself was the interesting part. Just exploring the ‘what ifs’ and trying to work through the consequences. It was a neat way to spend some evenings, just thinking through the puzzle. Maybe I’ll dig it out again someday, maybe not. It was just a practice run, really.
