Historic themed interactive story - idea dump
Added 2021-10-16 19:53:15 +0000 UTCOk, so it looks like you like this. I already have a few ideas, such as:
-Crusades age: Christian European lady to Arab harem woman
-Spanish reconquista: from Christian Spanish woman to Arab wife of Emir
-British exploration of Africa: from British woman to tribeswoman
-British domination of India: from daughter of British governor to Indian girl
-Roman Egypt: from Roman to Egyptian woman
-US, civil war: from Southern belle to Black slave girl
-WW2: from American spy to Japanese geisha
Before I set up a poll however I wanted to hear from you.
Feel free to write your suggestions in the comment section below, I'll include them in my next poll.
Comments
Yeah, pretty much what I was expecting.
Alex94
2021-10-18 12:39:49 +0000 UTCIndeed, this would be interesting! Thanks for the suggestion!
Alex94
2021-10-18 12:39:17 +0000 UTCI didn't have any specific idea in mind, but a French or Flemish noble woman would be a good candidate. Turkic or Arab, I would use similar images. As you mention the Fatimids, they were indeed a dynasty of Arab origins, being turned into one of their princess would be interesting for our lady, I think.
Alex94
2021-10-18 12:39:01 +0000 UTCAs for the Crusades idea, which one did you have in mind? And generally, the Muslim combatants in the Crusades were not Arab. They were usually Turkic, with the exception of the First, where most resistance came from the Fatimids, a multi-ethnic Shia caliphate. Furthermore, at the time, most Islamic armies were primarily made up of Christians (either Ethiopian or Varangian.) Usually, only the elite shock troops were Muslim. And is the Christian woman Byzantine or Latin?
Brian Coakley
2021-10-17 22:50:32 +0000 UTCAbolitionist to Black slave girl, perhaps. Less of a 'comeuppance', admittedly, but might be an interesting plot.
MollyRealized
2021-10-17 17:24:32 +0000 UTCYeah, you’re right. The Classical cultures had complicated opinions about Egypt. On the one hand, they greatly respected Egyptian traditions, and believed that most of their own traditions originated in Egypt, even if they actually didn’t. On the other hand, there was this stereotype of Egyptians losing touch with what the Greeks considered to be the enlightened portions of their culture. To some Greeks and eventually Romans, the Egyptians were somewhat backwards, an inverse of normal civilized society. In addition, there was also the stereotype of Egyptians being untrustworthy tricksters and charlatans.
Brian Coakley
2021-10-17 16:36:56 +0000 UTCWow, you really are an expert! Just a personal interest or something more academic? I'm less familiar with the Hellenistic world but I like the idea, although I have no clue how a Hellenistic woman of Greek heritage would feel about native Egyptian culture. I guess the latter still had a huge prestige at that time. I might pick up more than one story if I like the themes btw
Alex94
2021-10-17 09:16:40 +0000 UTCPotentially, but it was rare. Maybe you might find something like that in the city of Philae on the First Cataract, but certainly by this time most of Egypt was hellenized. In regards to Isis, by this period, she had been absorbed by the Greek goddess Hera. The entire Egyptian pantheon merged with the Greco-Roman one. Later on, Isis would become associated with the Virgin Mary. Though I think there is something you could play with. Instead of a Roman woman becoming Egyptian, why not turn the clock back a few centuries to the early days of the Ptolemies. A hellenized Alexandrian woman could find herself deep within Upper Egypt, potentially Philae, where the indigenous culture is still thriving.
Brian Coakley
2021-10-17 08:28:21 +0000 UTCI know that despite what most people think about Cleopatra, the ruling class was indeed related to the Greek/Macedonian Ptolemaic family but I had in mind a woman of indigenous Egyptian stock, maybe a priestess of Isis. I'm pretty sure that certain aspects of the original Egyptian culture were still intact in pre Christian Roman times.
Alex94
2021-10-17 07:47:29 +0000 UTCIn regards to the Roman Egypt one, I’m curious as to what you’re planning. By the time Rome took over Egypt, indigenous Egyptian culture had already practically disappeared after centuries of Ptolemaic and Persian rule. So what exactly is this woman becoming?
Brian Coakley
2021-10-17 00:33:04 +0000 UTC
