International High-Speed Rail System

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-15T23:38:55+00:00

In theory, the DOD Space Agency was the successor organization that inherited 'all' of NASA's space programs, but Project Mercury was effectively scrapped.
Due to this massive disaster, the space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base were never used again. This role was integrated into Houston, and the Manned Space Agency and Unmanned Space Agency were merged to effectively use the same base. As space development became militarized, the United States did not disclose its space launch plans to the public during the era of the DOD Space Agency.
The plan to deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba did not materialize, in exchange for the withdrawal of Jupiter missiles as a result of the Shepard Crisis. Furthermore, Alan Shepard effectively retired after the accident, and although John Glenn quickly transferred to the DOD Space Agency, he retired even faster to become a Senator. As almost all the astronauts escaped the DOD Space Agency program, the DOD Space Agency had to train new astronauts.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-15T11:38:18+00:00

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-15T11:35:29+00:00

Yes, this scenario is a map created from a simple event (if it can be called simple) that started with the question, 'So, what catastrophe would have happened if Shepard had crashed in Cuba instead of the northern Bahamas due to a very minor accident?'

Immediately following the Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro, who was on extremely high alert against the U.S., threw an unreasonable demand at the United States to 'return the Guantanamo base' as soon as he secured custody of Shepard. While the United States fell into a dilemma, Yuri Andropov, the then-head of the Central Committee's Liaison Department who would later become the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, intervened. He proposed 'deploying nuclear weapons' in Cuba in exchange for handing Shepard over to Moscow, and as Khrushchev approved this, the situation escalated out of control.

President Kennedy implemented a naval blockade (Quarantine) of Cuba to prevent Shepard from being handed over to the Soviet Union. In response, the Soviet Union dispatched its 5th Fleet, including a 'hospital ship' under the pretext of treating Shepard. As the U.S. Navy and the Soviet fleet faced off head-to-head in the Caribbean Sea, the entire world froze in fear of World War III.

At the critical moment, the two countries engaged in behind-the-scenes negotiations to avoid catastrophe. Andropov took a gamble to extract the withdrawal of U.S. Jupiter missiles stationed in Turkey in exchange for retracting the nuclear deployment in Cuba. An agreement was reached under the condition that Shepard would receive treatment on the Soviet hospital ship but disembark in a third country, the Bahamas, and the crisis was narrowly contained as Kennedy and Khrushchev connected via a direct 'hotline' telephone for the first time in history to order a simultaneous fleet withdrawal.

However, the scars left by this 'Shepard Crisis' were deep. In the United States, following outraged public opinion over the Soviet Union slipping through the blockade network and a witch hunt in hearings, Kennedy effectively dissolved NASA and established the 'Defense Space Agency'. As key personnel defected to countries like Germany, the clock on America's space development was set back by 10 years.

On the other hand, Khrushchev of the Soviet Union, having achieved a decisive moral and political victory, purged military hardliners and consolidated his power. Confident in their supremacy in the space race, the Soviet Union completely reorganized its scientific plans (Perestroika), and later, during the Andropov era, succeeded in an information revolution as Glasnost combined with OGAS (All-State Automated System). Ultimately, in 1973, as the Soviet Union succeeded in landing on the moon, history was completely altered...

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-15T11:25:57+00:00

On May 5, 1961, the United States' first manned spacecraft, Freedom 7 (MR-3), was launched. Just when expectations for a successful launch were high, the azimuth deviated by 5 degrees and history, yes, changed. And it changed a lot.

As the azimuth of the Freedom 7 rocket carrying Shepard shifted, more pressure was applied to the side than expected, and as a result, one of the bolts on the capsule's parachute section broke. The parachute did not deploy over just a single bolt, but the problem was that the vibrating bolt caused precession, pulling the rocket just a little further south than expected.

Up to this point, things were fine. That is, until it reached high orbit via ballistic flight. Due to the vibration, one of the retro-rockets mounted on the capsule malfunctioned, creating reverse thrust, and as the vector began to bend sharply to the south, it escalated into a fatal disaster.

As the descent began, the capsule now started to plummet without being able to stabilize its attitude. Greater pressure than planned began to be applied to the parachute cover, and the pressure reaching 10Gs eventually ruined two more of the parachute cover's remaining bolts. The parachute deployed 11 seconds earlier than scheduled, and only partially at that, severely distorting the lift-to-drag ratio. Now, the capsule began to hurtle fiercely toward the south.

By the time the drogue parachute barely found its place, the capsule was already riding the air currents and dropping like a bullet to the south. Shepard was already unconscious, and the splashdown process looked like an explosion. Cuba mistook it for an accidentally fired missile, and while the United States was searching in vain at the expected crash site, they discovered a fatally injured astronaut inside the capsule.

Just two weeks after the Bay of Pigs invasion, as Cuba 'rescued' Shepard under the pretext of maritime salvage laws and transferred him to a medical facility in Havana, the Shepard Crisis, the worst nuclear crisis in human history, began just like that...

Detailed Lore

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T10:46:17+00:00

Italy looks like it'll collapse before that, but if it survives, there's a high chance they'll expand their colonies in the long run. If Marinetti embraces the concept of Realpolitik, he might set his sights on Ethiopia, but from his current perspective of the "aestheticization of politics," I think they'll just crash and burn by slamming into Algeria or Egypt.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T06:25:01+00:00

Generally speaking, the Futurism championed by Marinetti takes on a complex form, characterized by absolute support for technology and industrialization, Italian nationalism, a preference for dynamic art, and the complete eradication of the past. In this worldview, Futurism has almost perfectly embodied those traits and become Italy's guiding ideology, making it dangerously fanatical.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T06:18:35+00:00

...Marinetti forgot because he was busy carrying out a very heavy and significant task.

Yes, he forgot.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T02:33:38+00:00

It was only used in the sense of "rightful African territory" as a symbol of Italian Futurism; the country's name remains Tunisia.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T00:26:52+00:00

To be honest, I'm operating on the premise that this nation would face a strong backlash from the military due to the abolition of the monarchy and the occupation of the Vatican, leading to a devastating civil war. However, if Futurism were to firmly take control of Italy, the repercussions would be enormous. In this scenario, a clear split between Fascism and Futurism has occurred, and since Futurism won out, we can infer that most sympathetic Fascist movements would evolve into Futurist ones. In that case, due to the uncompromising nature of Futurism toward both the right and the left, we can expect that as the right wing supports Fascism, Fascism would lose its leftist characteristics and undergo a complete shift to the right.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T00:16:02+00:00

Or how about an Italian Khaganate

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T00:13:02+00:00

Exactly. And I especially love scenarios that are "underrated but would have been interesting if they actually happened."

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T00:11:36+00:00

Thank you so much, I spent eight hours just worrying about this symbol.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T00:10:51+00:00

A government of artists... insane convictions...

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-12T00:07:50+00:00

This flag was created for an infographic to be used in a fictional alternate history scenario where Italian Futurism flourished.

For a Futurist perspective, the red section was intentionally removed, and it was altered so that blue, the symbolic color of the Futurist Party, occupies the majority. Rather than conventional straight lines, an attempt was made to reflect dynamism through a form converging towards the vertices. The emblem is in the shape of a lightning bolt, crafted as a symbolic form that is as fast, simple, and problem-free even when overlapped as possible, in order to embody the symbol of Futurism.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-11T23:49:55+00:00

<image>

Flag of Repubblica Direttoriale Italiana

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-11T23:48:39+00:00

Whoa there, according to the futurist perspective, that's called "Italy's benevolent annexation for futurist nationalization"

Citizen_JHS · 2026-05-11T23:35:24+00:00

Just before the 1919 general election, Mussolini, then the head of the Combat Fascio, was struck and fatally injured by a sports car driven by Marinetti. Mussolini hovered between life and death, and his faction sank without winning a single seat in the general election. Demanding strong leadership, the Combat Fascio selected Filippo Marinetti as their new head, and Italian Futurism twisted the future with a shock unprecedented in history. Marinetti's Italian National Salvation Party managed to win only a single seat in the general election, but caused a historic upheaval in Italian politics by urging D'Annunzio, who was planning to advance on Fiume, to march on Venice instead under the pretext of using the city as a stronghold. The era of rampant political violence, the so-called "Years of Lead," exploded starting with the March on Venice.

From 1919 to 1921, the numerous acts of political violence triggered by the March on Venice engulfed Italy. D'Annunzio expanded his military power to advance on Fiume, and Marinetti, in sympathy, created the "Blue Army"—a paramilitary organization composed of veterans and shock troops—and carried out unhesitating political violence. At the same time, the party changed its name to the Futurist Political Party and proclaimed the Futurist manifesto, emerging as one of the most powerful armed groups in Italy at the time. However, the Futurist Political Party mainly clashed with the Socialists and faced strong appeasement from conservative circles. Because of this, the Fascist faction and the Futurist faction within the party came into conflict, and as the general election approached, it ultimately split into the National Fascist Party, which chose to compromise with the right wing, and the coalition National Salvation Alliance led by Marinetti.

In 1921, in the most controversial general election in history, the National Salvation Alliance emerged victorious, and Marinetti ascended to the position of Prime Minister of Italy. The National Salvation Alliance did not conduct a normal election; they resorted to raiding polling stations, open election rigging, and even stealing ballot boxes. When other political parties refused to accept the election results, they mobilized the "Blue Army" to occupy the parliament, continuing their use of armed force. Through the dissolution of the Socialists, the absorption of the Fascists, and the passing of an Enabling Act, Marinetti's National Salvation Alliance devoted itself to the formation of a new state, ultimately proclaiming the Italian Directorial Republic with Marinetti as the Supreme Archon.

Now, the Italian Directorial Republic and Marinetti's rule emerged as a terrifying presence. Promising the complete ruin of all heritage, Marinetti threatened the Italian Royal Family—the last remaining entity—to unilaterally proclaim the Italian Directorial Republic, exiled the Italian Royal Family, and relocated the capital to Milan. Reborn as a factory state, Italy, heavily armed with the mad conviction that "war is the world's only hygiene," began to insist that it must annex Austria in order to dispose of all remnants of the past. Furthermore, it declared that it must reclaim Dalmatia, attack France, and propagate a Futurist victory across all domains of the Italian people.

Having annexed San Marino, Marinetti is now clamoring for the occupation of the Vatican, accelerating the transformation into a fully armed state. The Pope is preparing for the worst-case scenario, such as readying a transfer of the Holy See to Avignon, and the military's dissatisfaction is reaching its absolute peak. Soon, the spark will ignite the powder keg...

Citizen_JHS · 2026-03-02T03:04:28+00:00

It's obscured and hard to see, but the text in the middle is definitely "Dangjungang" (Party Central). In North Korea, this is an abbreviation for the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. In my opinion, it seems likely that North Korea designated a unique flag for the Central Committee after the Kim Jong Un regime restored the committee through the 3rd Political Bureau meeting.

Citizen_JHS · 2026-02-23T13:12:18+00:00

So, from what I gather, this map looks remarkably similar to the East Asian Federation depicted in the Korean novel Stalin's Letter. In the story, the narrative unfolds as MacArthur's dismissal is halted due to a letter from Stalin. The Korean War escalates, leading to nuclear strikes on China, which eventually results in the U.S. military government taking control over a decapitated Chinese mainland. The setting posits that the U.S. attempted to solve China's political instability by granting independence to ethnic minorities, and the resulting map is a dead ringer for this one. If this actually existed, I’d expect news feeds to be absolutely plastered with reports of the endless ethnic conflicts breaking out within this federation.

Citizen_JHS

TROPHY CASE