Paracelsus Academy (Mods) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
paracelsus_mods) wrote2013-09-02 01:44 pm
paracelsus_mods) wrote2013-09-02 01:44 pm
Entry tags:
The World in 1996
Paracelsus Academy takes place during the middle of the 1990's. Specifically, the game starts on September 1st, 1996. Life was a little different during the 1990's and this post describes the basics, from the political climate to the pop culture.
1. Political Climate and History
2. Social Attitudes and Culture
3. Mass Culture
3.1. Music
3.2. Movies
3.3. Television
4. The Internet
5. Mages and the Modern World
1. Political Climate and History
The world in 1996 is best defined by the end of the Cold War. Somehow, the United States managed to vanquish the Soviet Union without ending the world in a nuclear apocalypse. Russia became a democracy and, for all intents and purposes, appears to be ready to stay a successful, prosperous, and capitalist democracy. This came with a sense of prosperity; the stock market is at unheard of levels, people have jobs, and the Clinton administration is wildly popular. The United States successfully fought two wars, in Iraq and Bosnia, that are noted most for barely having any casualties.
However, people remember what the Cold War was like. Even the teenage students of Paracelsus Academy remember the Cold War; the youngest was born in 1980, and the oldest was born in 1976. They remember when the world was simply assumed to end in a nuclear exchange in the foreseeable future.
The changes that followed surprised the rest of the world. The Communist half of the world seemed to fall apart; Americans could barely make sense of things like the Berlin Wall coming down and Russians telling the Soviet Union to get out.
After the Cold War ended in a victory for the Americans, the capitalist West took a great sigh of relief. In 1996, this sigh is ongoing. They somehow avoided nuclear annihilation and seem to be poised to start a century without fear of being attacked, enjoying a benign, prosperous, and capitalist position of privilege over a world that loves them. The cracks are visible, of course, but hindsight is 20/20 -- and September 11, 2001 is five years away.
Of course, characters from or affiliated with the Communist East have a very different experience. Most of them were raised to learn that Marx and Lenin were fundamentally right; that the United States wanted a disastrous nuclear war, rather than giving workers their due. They could see the disparities, of course, with older relatives that remembered gulags and Soviet invasions. However, they still had the strange experience of finding out that everything they were told was right was wrong. Communism, a way of life, was tossed to the historical curb.
The reaction against Communism has been strong in Eastern Europe. Religious sentiments are strong, now that Communist states aren't encouraging atheism, and backlash against the old Communist rulers has proven an effective way to get elected. The peaceful, prosperous world that the West likes to talk about isn't there; large-scale unemployment, religious strife, and armed conflict have left people wondering if everyone won the Cold War, the way the Americans say.
If you are interested in playing a character from the former Soviet Union, the mods suggest you check out My Perestroika, a 90 minute documentary about growing up in the twilight of the Soviet Union.
The only Communists with any power left are the People's Republic of China. Their experiment with state capitalism is still ongoing, and while China has had incredible economic growth, it still seems like it might be a fluke. The frightening oppression of the Cultural Revolution is a not-so-distant memory and people remember when the government put down a student revolt in 1989 clearly. It was on the brand new Cable News Network.
2. Social Attitudes and Culture
The social and cultural attitudes in the United States reflect the environment of prosperity. People think an incredible amount of potential exists; a chance for the United States to make the world a better place just because. After all, the Soviet Union fell, China is becoming capitalist (and could become a democracy any day now!), the Clinton administration almost passed universal healthcare, and the United States stopped a genocide in Bosnia (and no one knows where Rwanda is anyways). Times are good. People have jobs and money in their pockets.
Stability is expected. 1996 is an election year, with Bob Dole running against the incumbent Democrat President, Bill Clinton. Clinton is likely to get a second term -- at least, probably. The Republicans did manage to retake the House in 1994, after an upstart named Newt Gingrich started talking about evangelical religion a lot. Of course, politics as usual wasn't that different back then.
At least the President hasn't been caught cheating on his wife.
Social issues looked different in 1996. The Cold War victory has contributed to a sense that the United States has conquered its social woes. Racism is a thing of the past. Homosexuals can even serve in the military, now, provided they hide their sexual orientation. Transsexuals are barely understood in the mainstream, and some people think that feminism is "over."
The truth, of course, is that these struggles are far from over. Poorer communities have not seen much change, either, and the Democrats and Republicans sound suspiciously similar to those truly in need.
3. Mass Culture
An incredible amount of entertainment has been mass-produced by Hollywood and shipped out to American and overseas audiences. What's new, what's old, and what's classic aren't the same in 1996 as they are in the 2010's. After all, Star Wars is only three movies, and the older characters might have seen Return of the Jedi in theaters. Britney Spears has yet to be a twinkle in her agent's eye. This section will focus almost exclusively on American products, since this is what students at Paracelsus Academy will be most familiar with.
The formats are different, too. Network television is still the most popular and cable packages, while more common, are hardly ubiquitous. People listen to their music on compact disc, and they probably still own tapes to listen to when they drive. No one ever watches videos on the internet and if they listen to music there, they download a .midi arrangement of a song.
3.1 Music
Some of 1996's biggest musical hits have come out of Britain. Pop music's number one single for the year, which just came out in July and is still getting incredible amounts of radio play, came from a previously unheard of all-girl band from Britain called the Spice Girls:
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The alternative and rock scene has been dominated by Oasis. Their album What's the Story (Morning Glory) has launched several hit singles, including "Champagne Supernova" and "Don't Look Back in Anger." Their song at the top of the charts, though, is...
Not all of the music, though, comes from Britain. A new artist named Sheryl Crow, who made a splash with her unexpected hit "All I Wanna Do," has a much anticipated self-titled album coming out in Late September. Gangsta rap has remained popular; Snoop Doggy Dogg's album, The Doggfather, is scheduled for release in November after his January acquital on murder charges.
Of course, the song that really sticks in peoples' ears -- and radio requests -- is a little less critically regarded... and poorly understood by English speakers.
3.2 Movies
Going to the movies is still a popular thing. This is the golden age of the summer blockbuster; this last year, a number of popular movies made big strides. Mission Impossible drew in huge audiences and huge dollars at the start of the summer. The Rock also drew in more crowds in summer, continuing the trend of action movies making big money. The king of the summer blockbusters, though, brought Will Smith to the forefront of marketable male stars.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released by Disney that summer, continuing a trend of family friendly two-dimensional animation blockbusters that have been critically acclaimed. The Disney Renaissance has produced classic children's movies that seem poised to go on forever; Michael Eisner is seen as a visionary who returned Disney's animation to its roots. The songs and movies make up a large part of younger characters' worldviews.
The movies of the 1970's and 1980's are the recent classics that people own on their new VHS-playing VCRs. Movies like Star Wars (all three of them, untouched by George Lucas) are classics that parents show their children. Critically acclaimed films of recent memory include Out of Africa, Dancing With Wolves, and Schindler's List. Of course, one of the most off-quoted ones took the previous year's Best Picture:
3.3. Television
Network television still dominates the television scene. Sitcoms remain popular; shows like Friends have just started, while shows like Family Matters and Home Improvement are in the middle of their run. They're following after the tradition of Cheers, which was wildly popular but ended recently. The most popular sitcom at the moment, perhaps, is still in its prime... and about nothing:
Dramas on the air have also taken after shows in the 1980's that blazed the way, like Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. ER has enjoyed considerable success, with Michael Crichton's name attached to it, but the real trendsetter began with no end in sight:
Twenty-four news is an experiment that only recently took off. CNN has existed since the 1980's, but the O.J. Simpson murder trial's constant coverage really helped to kick that era off. Still, a lot of Americans get their news in thirty minutes in the evenings. Comedy Central has recently tried an experiment with a fake news program, hosted by former SportsCenter anchor Craig Kilborn.
Anime is still a fringe hobby. Home video stores and rentals can produce copies of titles like Robotech, Ninja Scroll, and the ever-famous Akira. Almost all of it is dubbed poorly; fansubs are rare and of middling quality, while debates rage about what was different with what series. Of course, some anime is on television, like...
4. The Internet and Computer Technology
The Internet is available at Paracelsus Academy, but it has only recently began to take off. Computing technology is rare, and more Americans don't use the Internet than do. However, Paracelsus affords every student a computer of their own to use. They also provide them with a 28 KB/second modem and a dedicated phoneline, which is virtually unheard of. Paracelsus retains its own usenet bulletin board: alt.paracelsus.academy.edu. Students also get their own email accounts, with a paracelsus.edu address. Some may use the brand new service, Hotmail. Some students may have America Online accounts, and their parents in the United States almost certainly do.
The most common multiplayer games to be played are MUDs, which are still popular. There are some computer games out there to be played, too, but most multiplayer games are done as LAN parties. Some students host them every weekend.
The gaming system of choice is often still the Super Nintendo System or Sega Genesis. The Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn have been released within the last year, and the Nintendo 64 is expected to be released shortly after this term begins.
5. Mages and the Modern World
Mages are not what one might expect: they are rarely archaic, hidebound individuals who have never seen a computer or a car before. While those exist, and are certainly common among ancient mages, most have had no choice but to adapt. The average student at Paracelsus Academy has at least seen a computer before arriving, and many owned them. They may very well have a Gameboy to pass the time, and have sent an email before they arrive. They also may well know about politics and world issues, and have opinions about the lives of ordinary mundanes.
1. Political Climate and History
2. Social Attitudes and Culture
3. Mass Culture
3.1. Music
3.2. Movies
3.3. Television
4. The Internet
5. Mages and the Modern World
1. Political Climate and History
The world in 1996 is best defined by the end of the Cold War. Somehow, the United States managed to vanquish the Soviet Union without ending the world in a nuclear apocalypse. Russia became a democracy and, for all intents and purposes, appears to be ready to stay a successful, prosperous, and capitalist democracy. This came with a sense of prosperity; the stock market is at unheard of levels, people have jobs, and the Clinton administration is wildly popular. The United States successfully fought two wars, in Iraq and Bosnia, that are noted most for barely having any casualties.
However, people remember what the Cold War was like. Even the teenage students of Paracelsus Academy remember the Cold War; the youngest was born in 1980, and the oldest was born in 1976. They remember when the world was simply assumed to end in a nuclear exchange in the foreseeable future.
The changes that followed surprised the rest of the world. The Communist half of the world seemed to fall apart; Americans could barely make sense of things like the Berlin Wall coming down and Russians telling the Soviet Union to get out.
After the Cold War ended in a victory for the Americans, the capitalist West took a great sigh of relief. In 1996, this sigh is ongoing. They somehow avoided nuclear annihilation and seem to be poised to start a century without fear of being attacked, enjoying a benign, prosperous, and capitalist position of privilege over a world that loves them. The cracks are visible, of course, but hindsight is 20/20 -- and September 11, 2001 is five years away.
Of course, characters from or affiliated with the Communist East have a very different experience. Most of them were raised to learn that Marx and Lenin were fundamentally right; that the United States wanted a disastrous nuclear war, rather than giving workers their due. They could see the disparities, of course, with older relatives that remembered gulags and Soviet invasions. However, they still had the strange experience of finding out that everything they were told was right was wrong. Communism, a way of life, was tossed to the historical curb.
The reaction against Communism has been strong in Eastern Europe. Religious sentiments are strong, now that Communist states aren't encouraging atheism, and backlash against the old Communist rulers has proven an effective way to get elected. The peaceful, prosperous world that the West likes to talk about isn't there; large-scale unemployment, religious strife, and armed conflict have left people wondering if everyone won the Cold War, the way the Americans say.
If you are interested in playing a character from the former Soviet Union, the mods suggest you check out My Perestroika, a 90 minute documentary about growing up in the twilight of the Soviet Union.
The only Communists with any power left are the People's Republic of China. Their experiment with state capitalism is still ongoing, and while China has had incredible economic growth, it still seems like it might be a fluke. The frightening oppression of the Cultural Revolution is a not-so-distant memory and people remember when the government put down a student revolt in 1989 clearly. It was on the brand new Cable News Network.
2. Social Attitudes and Culture
The social and cultural attitudes in the United States reflect the environment of prosperity. People think an incredible amount of potential exists; a chance for the United States to make the world a better place just because. After all, the Soviet Union fell, China is becoming capitalist (and could become a democracy any day now!), the Clinton administration almost passed universal healthcare, and the United States stopped a genocide in Bosnia (and no one knows where Rwanda is anyways). Times are good. People have jobs and money in their pockets.
Stability is expected. 1996 is an election year, with Bob Dole running against the incumbent Democrat President, Bill Clinton. Clinton is likely to get a second term -- at least, probably. The Republicans did manage to retake the House in 1994, after an upstart named Newt Gingrich started talking about evangelical religion a lot. Of course, politics as usual wasn't that different back then.
At least the President hasn't been caught cheating on his wife.
Social issues looked different in 1996. The Cold War victory has contributed to a sense that the United States has conquered its social woes. Racism is a thing of the past. Homosexuals can even serve in the military, now, provided they hide their sexual orientation. Transsexuals are barely understood in the mainstream, and some people think that feminism is "over."
The truth, of course, is that these struggles are far from over. Poorer communities have not seen much change, either, and the Democrats and Republicans sound suspiciously similar to those truly in need.
3. Mass Culture
An incredible amount of entertainment has been mass-produced by Hollywood and shipped out to American and overseas audiences. What's new, what's old, and what's classic aren't the same in 1996 as they are in the 2010's. After all, Star Wars is only three movies, and the older characters might have seen Return of the Jedi in theaters. Britney Spears has yet to be a twinkle in her agent's eye. This section will focus almost exclusively on American products, since this is what students at Paracelsus Academy will be most familiar with.
The formats are different, too. Network television is still the most popular and cable packages, while more common, are hardly ubiquitous. People listen to their music on compact disc, and they probably still own tapes to listen to when they drive. No one ever watches videos on the internet and if they listen to music there, they download a .midi arrangement of a song.
3.1 Music
Some of 1996's biggest musical hits have come out of Britain. Pop music's number one single for the year, which just came out in July and is still getting incredible amounts of radio play, came from a previously unheard of all-girl band from Britain called the Spice Girls:
The alternative and rock scene has been dominated by Oasis. Their album What's the Story (Morning Glory) has launched several hit singles, including "Champagne Supernova" and "Don't Look Back in Anger." Their song at the top of the charts, though, is...
Not all of the music, though, comes from Britain. A new artist named Sheryl Crow, who made a splash with her unexpected hit "All I Wanna Do," has a much anticipated self-titled album coming out in Late September. Gangsta rap has remained popular; Snoop Doggy Dogg's album, The Doggfather, is scheduled for release in November after his January acquital on murder charges.
Of course, the song that really sticks in peoples' ears -- and radio requests -- is a little less critically regarded... and poorly understood by English speakers.
3.2 Movies
Going to the movies is still a popular thing. This is the golden age of the summer blockbuster; this last year, a number of popular movies made big strides. Mission Impossible drew in huge audiences and huge dollars at the start of the summer. The Rock also drew in more crowds in summer, continuing the trend of action movies making big money. The king of the summer blockbusters, though, brought Will Smith to the forefront of marketable male stars.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released by Disney that summer, continuing a trend of family friendly two-dimensional animation blockbusters that have been critically acclaimed. The Disney Renaissance has produced classic children's movies that seem poised to go on forever; Michael Eisner is seen as a visionary who returned Disney's animation to its roots. The songs and movies make up a large part of younger characters' worldviews.
The movies of the 1970's and 1980's are the recent classics that people own on their new VHS-playing VCRs. Movies like Star Wars (all three of them, untouched by George Lucas) are classics that parents show their children. Critically acclaimed films of recent memory include Out of Africa, Dancing With Wolves, and Schindler's List. Of course, one of the most off-quoted ones took the previous year's Best Picture:
3.3. Television
Network television still dominates the television scene. Sitcoms remain popular; shows like Friends have just started, while shows like Family Matters and Home Improvement are in the middle of their run. They're following after the tradition of Cheers, which was wildly popular but ended recently. The most popular sitcom at the moment, perhaps, is still in its prime... and about nothing:
Dramas on the air have also taken after shows in the 1980's that blazed the way, like Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere. ER has enjoyed considerable success, with Michael Crichton's name attached to it, but the real trendsetter began with no end in sight:
Twenty-four news is an experiment that only recently took off. CNN has existed since the 1980's, but the O.J. Simpson murder trial's constant coverage really helped to kick that era off. Still, a lot of Americans get their news in thirty minutes in the evenings. Comedy Central has recently tried an experiment with a fake news program, hosted by former SportsCenter anchor Craig Kilborn.
Anime is still a fringe hobby. Home video stores and rentals can produce copies of titles like Robotech, Ninja Scroll, and the ever-famous Akira. Almost all of it is dubbed poorly; fansubs are rare and of middling quality, while debates rage about what was different with what series. Of course, some anime is on television, like...
4. The Internet and Computer Technology
The Internet is available at Paracelsus Academy, but it has only recently began to take off. Computing technology is rare, and more Americans don't use the Internet than do. However, Paracelsus affords every student a computer of their own to use. They also provide them with a 28 KB/second modem and a dedicated phoneline, which is virtually unheard of. Paracelsus retains its own usenet bulletin board: alt.paracelsus.academy.edu. Students also get their own email accounts, with a paracelsus.edu address. Some may use the brand new service, Hotmail. Some students may have America Online accounts, and their parents in the United States almost certainly do.
The most common multiplayer games to be played are MUDs, which are still popular. There are some computer games out there to be played, too, but most multiplayer games are done as LAN parties. Some students host them every weekend.
The gaming system of choice is often still the Super Nintendo System or Sega Genesis. The Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn have been released within the last year, and the Nintendo 64 is expected to be released shortly after this term begins.
5. Mages and the Modern World
Mages are not what one might expect: they are rarely archaic, hidebound individuals who have never seen a computer or a car before. While those exist, and are certainly common among ancient mages, most have had no choice but to adapt. The average student at Paracelsus Academy has at least seen a computer before arriving, and many owned them. They may very well have a Gameboy to pass the time, and have sent an email before they arrive. They also may well know about politics and world issues, and have opinions about the lives of ordinary mundanes.