Proposal: Add this to the "Faction Guide" page (preferably with additions from other Collective members)
== A Brief History of Factions ==
In the days of the [[First Fen], every group that made it into space formed its own subculture - there were ''Star Trek'' Fen, ''Star Wars'' Fen, ''Harry Potter'' Fen, ''Sailor Moon'' Fen, ''Doctor Who'' Fen, and so on. But groups the size of a hamlet have trouble staying alive in space without outside assistance, let alone actually doing something. Thus, many of the various like-minded groups grew together in the first half-decade of Fenspace - the various settlements, stations, and ships that were patterning themselves directly off of ''Star Trek'' became the United Federation of Planets, the various magical-girl fandoms and action-girl fandoms combined into the Crystal Millennium, and so on.
Social dynamics were pretty much put on hold during the [[Boskone War]. Working together as the [[Fenspace Convention] became the "new normal," but individual groups stayed pretty much as they were; very few people wanted to change the diplomatic relationships during wartime, lest those changes cause problems for [[Great Justice] (and, later, the [[Space Patrol]).
Once the war was over, people started looking at how to make things better. Of course, one person's "better" was another's "worse," so factional differences began to matter again, but not to the extent that they had before SOS-Con. The Trekkies were becoming the "Space Exploration Fen", while the Warsies were the "Space Navy Fen."not a perfect split, given ''DS9'', but it's essentially correct in broad strokes. The Trekkie/Warsie rivalry lives on in that each group thinks the other one got it ''almost'' right... and each group wonders why the "Space Adventure Fen" Whedonites haven't joined their faction yet. The "Space Colonization Fen" Fivers wonder when all three of those groups are going to settle down, stop concentrating on their differences, and pay attention to what they all have in common. People who are Fen, want to be in an organized group, but aren't Sci-Fi Fen look at the "Modern Magic Fen" Potterites, the "Magical Girl Fen plus Action Girl Fen" Senshi, and other factions to fill their needs.
In some cases, groups have gone beyond allying and have merged with each other, following the lead of the Sozvezdie Soviet and the Federation. A large fraction of the Macross Fen have ended up with Greenwood, usually working at various Rockhounds projects; this has not turned Marsbase Sara into a Greenwood company town, though.At least, not yet. Some people think it's only a matter of time before the Senshi, the Supers, and Stellvia Corporation formally merge, although it's unknown how many of those people are Supers, Senshi, or Stellvians. And there are a very few Convention members out there who hope that ''all'' the factions will blend together into a true nation with each current faction focusing on what it does best, but there's no sign of that sort of federalism taking place in the Convention any time soon.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
== A Brief History of Factions ==
In the days of the [[First Fen], every group that made it into space formed its own subculture - there were ''Star Trek'' Fen, ''Star Wars'' Fen, ''Harry Potter'' Fen, ''Sailor Moon'' Fen, ''Doctor Who'' Fen, and so on. But groups the size of a hamlet have trouble staying alive in space without outside assistance, let alone actually doing something. Thus, many of the various like-minded groups grew together in the first half-decade of Fenspace - the various settlements, stations, and ships that were patterning themselves directly off of ''Star Trek'' became the United Federation of Planets, the various magical-girl fandoms and action-girl fandoms combined into the Crystal Millennium, and so on.
Social dynamics were pretty much put on hold during the [[Boskone War]. Working together as the [[Fenspace Convention] became the "new normal," but individual groups stayed pretty much as they were; very few people wanted to change the diplomatic relationships during wartime, lest those changes cause problems for [[Great Justice] (and, later, the [[Space Patrol]).
Once the war was over, people started looking at how to make things better. Of course, one person's "better" was another's "worse," so factional differences began to matter again, but not to the extent that they had before SOS-Con. The Trekkies were becoming the "Space Exploration Fen", while the Warsies were the "Space Navy Fen."not a perfect split, given ''DS9'', but it's essentially correct in broad strokes. The Trekkie/Warsie rivalry lives on in that each group thinks the other one got it ''almost'' right... and each group wonders why the "Space Adventure Fen" Whedonites haven't joined their faction yet. The "Space Colonization Fen" Fivers wonder when all three of those groups are going to settle down, stop concentrating on their differences, and pay attention to what they all have in common. People who are Fen, want to be in an organized group, but aren't Sci-Fi Fen look at the "Modern Magic Fen" Potterites, the "Magical Girl Fen plus Action Girl Fen" Senshi, and other factions to fill their needs.
In some cases, groups have gone beyond allying and have merged with each other, following the lead of the Sozvezdie Soviet and the Federation. A large fraction of the Macross Fen have ended up with Greenwood, usually working at various Rockhounds projects; this has not turned Marsbase Sara into a Greenwood company town, though.At least, not yet. Some people think it's only a matter of time before the Senshi, the Supers, and Stellvia Corporation formally merge, although it's unknown how many of those people are Supers, Senshi, or Stellvians. And there are a very few Convention members out there who hope that ''all'' the factions will blend together into a true nation with each current faction focusing on what it does best, but there's no sign of that sort of federalism taking place in the Convention any time soon.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012