Most recent edit on 2007-06-08 01:50:15 by BaxilDragon [adding link]
Additions:
Then came New Year's Eve.
Deletions:
Then came New Year's Eve.
Edited on 2006-12-28 18:42:09 by BaxilDragon [merely fixing links and wording - much work still needed]
Additions:
the following is copied over from http://www.tomorrowlands.org/story/history.html∞; it needs to be broken into chunks and added to the appropriate CategoryEras pages. For the moment, it's a start. -b
"It is certainly wrong to assume, as some people do, that The Changes began with The First Sighting, and I think even The Missing Moment was much too late. The first visible event, yes. But not the start. Waking up and realizing you're no longer asleep are two different things." - Dennis Redwing
By next morning, the major networks had picked up the footage from the station, every newspaper in the country was running pictures, and the expected claims of fraud were being vigorously denied by several dozen on-the-scene witnesses (and some experts, who pointed out that this "publicity stunt" would have to have a vast conspiracy of silence and a multimillion-dollar budget behind it if it were, in fact, fake). The Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who could bring the dragon, in person, before a board of scientists. (A reward which, ironically, still goes unclaimed.)
The controversy was short-lived: as word spread, more dragons almost immediately started popping up left and right, along with a dizzying variety of other mythic animals, animal-human hybrids, and animal shapeshifters. Reports started flooding in of confirmed sightings worldwide. It was no longer a question of "is this happening?" but "what is happening?" And why?
Predictably, apocalyptic sentiment ran high. Many claimed that the End Times were upon us. The most visible and cogent refutation came, interestingly enough, from one of the dragons -- Dennis Redwing, whose fame would only grow as time passed. "Where did chapters 7 through 11 of Revelation go?" he pointed out, in one of the world's first televised interviews of a nonhuman. "In the Bible, a dragon only appears after a string of worldwide disasters and the disappearance of 144,000 people." He offered the alternate view that we were going through a transition rather than an ending; that the Earth and all of her children were awakening, that we were becoming active participants in our reality, rather than just inhabitants. The appearance of nonhumans was a side effect of this, Redwing said: We were being handed the pen of reality for the first time, and asked to help write, and naturally the first thing that we added to the book was our collective mythology.
Redwing's explanation of the events now popularly called The Changes would eventually gain general acceptance, but at the time, it was a little too forward-thinking. (Verifiable reports of magic took longer to surface, the phenomenon being more subtle and less understood than the dragon appearance.) At the time, people wanted reassurance, not explanation. The world had, in a real sense, been turned upside down, and nobody could be sure that this wasn't just a sign of bigger and worse things to come.
Spurred by the dire predictions of some religious leaders, public attitude degenerated over several days into panic, and at times into chaos; a large economic dip and simultaneous riots in several major cities prompted President Clinton to declare a nationwide state of emergency. Having somebody in control did ease tensions, and as days passed and the world didn't end, the nation calmed back down. At the same time, the media was making instant celebrities of every nonhuman who volunteered to stand in front of a camera.
The world was still in awe as the days went on, but the fear was crumbling, bit by bit. Christmas passed without serious incident, and the country stopped holding its collective breath. The state of emergency was rolled back, and the warning cries started dying down to just the far right wing. There was even some talk of how society would have to change to accommodate members of different shapes and sizes.
Deletions:
the following is copied over from http://www.tomorrowlands.org/story/history.html∞; it needs to be broken into chunks and added to the appropriate CategoryEra page. For the moment, it's a start. -b
"It is certainly wrong to assume, as some people do, that The Changes began with TheFirstSighting, and I think even TheMissingMoment was much too late. The first visible event, yes. But not the start. Waking up and realizing you're no longer asleep are two different things." - Dennis Redwing
By next morning, the major networks had picked up the footage from the station, every newspaper in the country was running pictures, and the expected claims of fraud were being vigorously denied by several dozen on-the-scene witnesses (and some experts, who pointed out that this "publicity stunt" would have to have a vast conspiracy of silence and a multimillion-dollar budget behind it if it were, in fact, fake). The Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who could bring the dragon, in person, before a board of scientists. (A reward which, ironically, still goes unclaimed.)
The controversy lasted for merely a day or two, as on the 19th and 20th more dragons started popping up left and right, followed by other mythic animals of every description. Reports started trickling in of confirmed sightings worldwide. Suddenly, it was no longer a question of "is this happening?" but "what is happening?" And why?
Predictably, apocalyptic sentiment ran high. Many claimed that the End Times were upon us. The most visible and cogent refutation came, interestingly enough, from one of the dragons -- Dennis Redwing, whose fame would only grow as time passed. "Where did chapters 7 through 11 of Revelation go?" he pointed out, in the world's first televised interview of a nonhuman. "In the Bible, a dragon only appears after a string of worldwide disasters and the disappearance of 144,000 people." He offered the alternate view that we were going through a transition rather than an ending; that the Earth and all of her children were awakening, that we were becoming active participants in our reality, rather than just inhabitants. The appearance of nonhumans was a side effect of this, Redwing said: We were being handed the pen of reality for the first time, and asked to help write, and naturally the first thing that we added to the book was our collective mythology.
Redwing's explanation of the events now popularly called The Changes would eventually gain general acceptance, but at the time, it was a little too forward-thinking. (Reports of magic took much longer to surface, the phenomenon being far more subtle and less understood than the dragon appearance.) At the time, people wanted reassurance, not explanation. The world had, in a real sense, been turned upside down, and nobody could be sure that this wasn't just a sign of bigger and worse things to come.
Spurred by the dire predictions of religious leaders, public attitude degenerated over several days into panic, and at times into chaos; a large economic dip and simultaneous riots in several major cities prompted President Clinton to declare a nationwide state of emergency. Having somebody in control did ease tensions, and as days passed and the world didn't end, the nation calmed back down. At the same time, the media was making instant celebrities of every nonhuman who volunteered to stand in front of a camera.
The world was still in awe as the days went on, but the fear was crumbling, bit by bit. Christmas passed without serious incident, and the country stopped holding its collective breath. The state of emergency was rolled back, and the warning cries started dying down to just the right wing. There was even some talk of how society would have to change to accommodate members of different shapes and sizes.
Edited on 2006-12-18 13:13:36 by BaxilDragon [canon change: quote fix. (still first draft; needs major organize, rewrite)]
Additions:
"It is certainly wrong to assume, as some people do, that The Changes began with TheFirstSighting, and I think even TheMissingMoment was much too late. The first visible event, yes. But not the start. Waking up and realizing you're no longer asleep are two different things." - Dennis Redwing
Deletions:
"It is certainly wrong to assume, as some people do, that The Changes began with the Flyby, and I think even the First Sighting was much too late. The first visible event, yes. But not the start. Waking up and realizing you're no longer asleep are two different things." - Dennis Redwing
Edited on 2006-12-18 13:12:04 by BaxilDragon [formatting fix]
Additions:
the following is copied over from http://www.tomorrowlands.org/story/history.html∞; it needs to be broken into chunks and added to the appropriate CategoryEra page. For the moment, it's a start. -b
Deletions:
the following is copied over from http://www.tomorrowlands.org/story/history.html∞; it needs to be broken into chunks and added to the appropriate CategoryEra page. For the moment, it's a start. -b
Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2006-12-18 13:11:05 by BaxilDragon [very early draft; copied from tlands/story/History]
Page view:
The Changes
It is literally impossible to explain the world of TTU without coming back to the event that started it all: The Changes.
the following is copied over from http://www.tomorrowlands.org/story/history.html∞; it needs to be broken into chunks and added to the appropriate CategoryEra page. For the moment, it's a start. -b
The first few days
"It is certainly wrong to assume, as some people do, that The Changes began with the Flyby, and I think even the First Sighting was much too late. The first visible event, yes. But not the start. Waking up and realizing you're no longer asleep are two different things." -
Dennis Redwing
Rumors of odd monster sightings started circulating as the year drew to a close, but nobody paid them much attention until that first fateful day. On December 18, 1996, tens of thousands of Americans watched their televisions in shock as a dragon -- a living, flesh-and-blood dragon -- walked through the background of a small Midwestern station's live news broadcast.
By next morning, the major networks had picked up the footage from the station, every newspaper in the country was running pictures, and the expected claims of fraud were being vigorously denied by several dozen on-the-scene witnesses (and some experts, who pointed out that this "publicity stunt" would have to have a vast conspiracy of silence and a multimillion-dollar budget behind it if it were, in fact, fake). The Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who could bring the dragon, in person, before a board of scientists. (A reward which, ironically, still goes unclaimed.)
The controversy lasted for merely a day or two, as on the 19th and 20th more dragons started popping up left and right, followed by other mythic animals of every description. Reports started trickling in of confirmed sightings worldwide. Suddenly, it was no longer a question of "is this happening?" but "what is happening?" And why?
Predictably, apocalyptic sentiment ran high. Many claimed that the End Times were upon us. The most visible and cogent refutation came, interestingly enough, from one of the dragons -- Dennis Redwing, whose fame would only grow as time passed. "Where did chapters 7 through 11 of Revelation go?" he pointed out, in the world's first televised interview of a nonhuman. "In the Bible, a dragon only appears after a string of worldwide disasters and the disappearance of 144,000 people." He offered the alternate view that we were going through a transition rather than an ending; that the Earth and all of her children were awakening, that we were becoming active participants in our reality, rather than just inhabitants. The appearance of nonhumans was a side effect of this, Redwing said: We were being handed the pen of reality for the first time, and asked to help write, and naturally the first thing that we added to the book was our collective mythology.
Redwing's explanation of the events now popularly called The Changes would eventually gain general acceptance, but at the time, it was a little too forward-thinking. (Reports of magic took much longer to surface, the phenomenon being far more subtle and less understood than the dragon appearance.) At the time, people wanted reassurance, not explanation. The world had, in a real sense, been turned upside down, and nobody could be sure that this wasn't just a sign of bigger and worse things to come.
Spurred by the dire predictions of religious leaders, public attitude degenerated over several days into panic, and at times into chaos; a large economic dip and simultaneous riots in several major cities prompted President Clinton to declare a nationwide state of emergency. Having somebody in control did ease tensions, and as days passed and the world didn't end, the nation calmed back down. At the same time, the media was making instant celebrities of every nonhuman who volunteered to stand in front of a camera.
It was quickly learned that these nonhumans -- who were collectively coined "therianthropes," from the Greek therion (beast) and anthropos (man) -- hadn't just appeared from thin air. (Incidentally, the label "therianthrope" was quickly expanded to include mages, too, although that use of the term is a total misnomer.) They had been born humans, grew up normally, and changed into their new forms at various times during that fateful month. Fears of involuntary transformation were quelled when, almost to a man, the therianthropes the media could reach either admitted knowing of their therianthropy before The Changes started, or indicated they were thrilled with their new form, and in fact had always wished they could be one. Of course, the fact that most theris could shapeshift back to their original human form, thus becoming practically invisible in society, sparked off several witch-hunts -- but that news was prudently suppressed as much as possible, and took some weeks to become common knowledge.
The world was still in awe as the days went on, but the fear was crumbling, bit by bit. Christmas passed without serious incident, and the country stopped holding its collective breath. The state of emergency was rolled back, and the warning cries started dying down to just the right wing. There was even some talk of how society would have to change to accommodate members of different shapes and sizes.
Then came New Year's Eve.