No more "Space Nazi" references

Published: 05/15/2015 10:41 pm

I didn't like it when I created the concept of a 'newer, gentler reich.' There were a few concepts I did like and wanted to incorporate and identify with, but there were too many negative connotations along with 'Reich.' The whole Space Nazi trope is far too clichéd. I think narratively one can grasp the concept of an all-controlling oligarchy and possibly grasp that in the future there may be a possibility that under duress and the threat of invasion and death everywhere that man may not hate man at least as much as man would hate others. Perhaps a solidarity of humankind really could come to fruition.

I've renamed and removed all references to the "New Reich Empire" to the "Rikan Empire" effective tonight in my manuscripts and on this website. Other than that everything is still as it should be: Sentry is still Sentry, Jeri is still Jeri and their views are still xenophobic.

Why "Rikan"? I'll be honest: laziness. It's similar enough to the original "Reich" that it keeps me from completely changing my whole structure of thought of the culture without being immediately apparent of the original concept almost a year ago. I wanted Sentry to be a haven for humanity with a strong intolerance to even the most civilized non-human cultures. My first thought was to early 20th century Germany. I modeled it too closely; that was a mistake. The more I developed the society and the technology the further it went from "steampunk 20th century (which is Pankeen)" to "damn we've got nanotech and lasers all based on solar and geothermal power!"

So why even an Empire? Are they actually out there conquering? Well, not now. But an empire expands by taking territory from others. If the Rikans could take the territory around them they would, but with the constant threat of the Trencian Empire and the defiant Pankeen Clansmen and Pan-Kai Alliance the ability to expand north and east are blocked. Expanding west would be fruitless as the Crimson Mountains which is a shard of Hartal would be nigh impossible to conquer and even more difficult to settle.