Creative ways white conquerors can be made to leave the lands they occupy?

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crossword

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In my alt universe, the British king has set up his sons as kings of India and other Asian countries, the French king has set up his sons as kings of African countries, the German Kaiser has invaded various countries and set up his sons as kings there.


3 sisters from India aged 18, 19, and 20 develop the power to teleport and traverse universes.



What would be a creative way for them to drive the whites out of India and really out of all countries they have occupied?



My idea: the sisters can also teleport other people. So they start with the white emperor of India. They take him to our world, our earth, and leave him there, perhaps in the UK.



He tells the authorities the truth and naturally they think he’s mad. No one would believe his babblings he’s the emperor of India in another universe, he’s been teleported here etc.



meanwhile the girls leave a note in his palace saying something like: “Quit India or we will make ever ruler you install here disappear.”



do you think this would work? Or would the Brits be more likely to go on a purge and kill innocent Indians to stop the culprits? I think those were more like Nazi tactics in concentration camps, ie kill innocent people when others tried to escape. Sure, the Brits in India were ruthless but they still had to present some facade of benevolence. they had to keep up the fiction they were only helping backward indians. Yes they shot unarmed demonstrators in the Amritsar Massacre, but how could they kill innocent people in my alt verse if those people weren’t demonstrating or protesting anything?



So anyway how do you think the Brits or any white rulers would react if their sons started disappearing? Do you think they would indeed leave the countries they occupied?



I suppose even if its not their own sons who disappear, even if the Brits install a Viceroy in India, the girls could kidnap all viceroys until the Brits get the message.



Or can you think of any other good ways my heroines could accomplish driving the Brits out of india? And also other countries because my heroines arent selfish. Of course they want to help the entire colonized world and give them all their freedom.




One thing I like about my idea they kidnap and dump in our world is that it adds to the mystery. My heroine from our world who has no idea theres an alt universe will hear of these people who are babbling theyre from another verse and it will add another piece to the puzzle she is solving.



Thanks for any feedback.
 

dpaterso

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Never underestimate the British, they are not gentlemen whenever imperial interests are threatened. They would round up the usual suspects and interrogations would begin, as they urgently seek information on what's going on (how can they even understand what's going on?). Whether there's evidence against them or not, prisoners would be hung publicly -- or whatever method of execution is most offensive to local religion -- to send a message: stop kidnapping our people, or else. How would your teleporting heroines deal with this?

To piss the British off and drive them out, strangle their lines of supply, kill trade, prevent local companies from dealing with them, burn their warehouses and their ships. Use newspapers/media to bolster their unpopularity.

This might not apply to your world, don't feel obliged to agree or anything.

-Derek
 

crossword

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Never underestimate the British, they are not gentlemen whenever imperial interests are threatened. They would round up the usual suspects and interrogations would begin, as they urgently seek information on what's going on (how can they even understand what's going on?). Whether there's evidence against them or not, prisoners would be hung publicly -- or whatever method of execution is most offensive to local religion -- to send a message: stop kidnapping our people, or else. How would your teleporting heroines deal with this?

Ha ha; are you Scottish? Your location is Caledonia, old name for Scotland, and I detect in your tone just a teeeeensy bit of distrust of the Brits ...




One of my fave current series is by Avery Cockburn; it’s a gay romance series set in Scotland. Love it.




I suppose my heroines could kidnap all interrogators too. Anyone who kills an indian could wind up with a knife in his back himself.
 

crossword

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I’m looking for fantasy ways for them to think of booting the Brits out, rather than realistic ways. How would they best use their paranormal powers if they had this ability?

even if it went as you suggested, that could work. Two of the sisters could rashly kidnap the British king, then the crown prince, or make any other rash action that then brings the wrath of the Brits upon India or Indians in the UK. Fiction is all about chasing your hero up a tree and then throwing rocks at him. So then the girls have to figure out a way out of the trouble they created. If its discovered it was them who did it, all the better because I anyway need the Brits to then blackmail the girls into using their powers to help them defeat Germany.
 

Brightdreamer

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I suppose my heroines could kidnap all interrogators too. Anyone who kills an indian could wind up with a knife in his back himself.

Could they do this, realistically, across all occupied lands and against all "white" aggressors? Are there any limits to their powers - and do they involve the ability to travel through time, in case multiple attacks occur simultaneously, or they don't learn of one until after the fact?

Beware of creating a power so great and with so little cost that the characters are essentially flawless gods.

That said, I'd think how they'd think to use the powers depends on their personalities, how they see the conflict and what they think would help.

One might go guerilla/ninja, a stealth attacker striking at the heart of power and melting away. This might create backfire in harsher policies, crackdowns, etc., but she justifies it as for "the cause," convinced she's ultimately doing more to help than to harm.

One might travel to other worlds (including ours?) to research how such global empires collapsed and were driven out in other histories, then try to apply the lessons to her own world.

One might set herself up as a semidivine leader, perhaps, creating a cult following that would follow them through hellfire. As others suggested, create a supernatural allure to rattle the enemy ranks.

Or they might use their powers to spy on the leaders, leaking vital info, sabotaging plans, perhaps even confounding trade by meddling with shipments or messages or such. Fail to turn a profit, and the business interests behind the colonization would evaporate. Without a paycheck, how long would the soldiers linger? How long would governors linger in a hostile place without financial backing?
 

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It's definitely a fun conceit you've got going, so really the only limitations you have will be the ones you impose on the teleportation itself, and the moral boundaries of your characters.

For example, if you really want to go full aggression and make the Colonialists think twice, you go straight to the source; you take their kids. Go to the reigning monarch of England and take the princes and princesses, take the kids of the generals in charge of the military decisions, and kidnap the children of the decision makers at the East Indian Company who are responsible for sending the ships over and bringing in the profits that make India such a prize to begin with. Once dead children start falling from the sky with cryptic notes left in their bedrooms that this won't stop until India is free, you're going to get a response.

Also keep in mind that if this is the colonial period, you'll need to strike on two fronts due to the lag in communications. If you do something in India, word won't get back to England for months. If you want faster results, you'll need to do something in England as well. Just keep in mind that profit was the chief reason England had such a vested interest in India in the first place. If occupying India costs more money than it's worth, and businesses are actually taking a loss, they'll pull back. If national pride is at stake, go for the family. If honor matters, then embarrass them publicly. There are plenty of ways to attack England colonialism and make it hurt, it's just a question of what limits are there on the teleportation powers and, more importantly, how immoral are your characters willing to be to get the job done. Dead children are horrible under any circumstances, but it will also work once you make a few examples out of notable people of influence and they realize they are powerless to stop it.

Of course the other thing is to start teleporting things IN. Bombs in parliament, bombs in the palace, poisons administered in people's sleep... it's all on the table for someone willing to do anything "for the cause."
 
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MisterFrancis

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Teleport parliamentarians, bishops and philanthropists from the metropole into the worst slums to see the impacts of colonialism first hand?
 

CameronJohnston

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A lot would depend on the alt-time period you are talking about. If it's still the height of imperial power and arrogance, it will not go well. The response to kidnapping via 'black magic' would not be what your hero's want as the imperial powers would never deign to be seen giving in to the demands of the 'bloodthirsty savages'. And then there is the panic it will cause. Scared people do dumb/harsh things. Take one of ours and we kill two thousand of yours a day until they are returned and the culprits given up would likely be the official response.

Economics is the 'soft' but more effective answer. Make the colonial presence in India an economic black hole, all of their coin pouring into it until they are almost broke. Then they are offered a buy-out, and will gratefully accept it to stave off being ruined. This way the sisters will buy out and own all the colonial interests. After all, they can teleport so obtaining a mountain of gold is not an issue. All that would be left is taking the nominal, weakened crown.

Teleportation is an awesome power if it has no restrictions (which it really should), but people are not stupid and if people are disappearing from locked rooms there will suddenly be traps on every floor, daggers and loaded pistols under every pillow they will need to take into consideration.
 
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patskywriter

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Three Indian sisters, right? It would interesting to allow them to “borrow” the traits of legendary Indians from the past and come up with their own ways to extract the British. One could take on Gandhi-esque traits (with some ML King thrown in), as she tries to have everything grind to a halt with strikes, work-stoppages, and the “awakening” of “the people.” Another can accept all kinds of “dirty money” from powerful bad people à la Mother Teresa*, as she tends to the poor and funds an army of resisters (who think that the Gandhi folks are moving too slowly). And the third can borrow from Sabu, who entranced white audiences with his charming good looks and physicality. Seduction has caused the downfall of entire societies, so this might be the perfect story for it.

How the three sisters use their new-found powers can be the setting for all kinds of collaborations and in-fighting.


* I know that Mother Teresa wasn’t Indian, but you know what I’m saying.
 
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Friendly Frog

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To piss the British off and drive them out, strangle their lines of supply, kill trade, prevent local companies from dealing with them, burn their warehouses and their ships. Use newspapers/media to bolster their unpopularity.
Yeah, monarchs are important in nations but it's on trade that nations rise or fall. Monarchs are -in the end- always replaceable.

Since economy drove so much of colonialism, killing the trade or taking it over so the Britts can't make a profit would really strikes where it hurts. If the sisters can teleport cargo as well as people, they could really provide an unbeatable competition in trade as they would't have the transport costs the Britts would have to ship cargo from India to England. And they could transport many a competitor's ship to the bottom of the sea without anyone being the wiser. They could destroy trade agreements or expose company's sectrest by teleporting in unnoticed and rifling through desks and vaults to ferret out incriminating information. They could use the earned money to help raise internal resistance.

And if you can disrupt the market in England, the Britts will be a lot less interested in maintaining overseas territories if they're scrambling to keep their home market up. Still, it would be a lot of work for just three people. But then trying to defeat an invasive force by any means would be a big job for just three people.

In a way, I would think a covert way of operating would generate better results. If the sisters make it plain that someone is deliberatedly organising the disappearances and that it is perpetrated by people who want an independent India, that that is what the English will combat against. IOW if they know people are behind it, they will strike back at those people. They may not know how the sisters are doing it, but people are easier to beat that, say bad luck or fate. It may be overly idealistic to think the Brits wouldn't start putting pressure on the Indian population at that point.

There are also a lot of other defensive strategies the Britts can implement. They'll just make it harder to get to the people in charge, or choose expendible figure heads while keeping the identity of the people in charge a secret. The sisters will have a real job on their hands trying to get to the heart of the matter. Choosing to operate in the shadows may give them more benefits. Bad luck and inexplicable accidents is something far less tangible and something no one can really defend against. There is little that works as demoralising as an enemy you can't defeat.
 

crossword

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Thanks a lot, everyone. Since so many people feel the Brits would be more likely to go on a purge and kill innocent Indians to stop the culprits, I realize blackmailing them would not work. I assume everyone who said the above is white, though I could easily be wrong. Interesting that I, an Indian woman, had more faith in the decency of the Brits than white people did. Misplaced faith, it turns out.




Since the genre is Young Adult paranormal romance, I also need romance plots. The basic idea gave me this possible romance story. Would you mind telling me what you think of this:




Kaya and Ruana are two sisters from British-ruled alt universe India. The 2 have been teleporting to our world for the last 2 years. I already worked out Kaya’s story, how she falls in love with Castor, an American from our universe. Her sister gets fond of him too since he spends hours each day giving them the education they can’t receive at home since they have to work as maids.



Kaya is the more cautious, sensible one. Ruana is the impulsive one. One day she kidnaps the Prince of Wales from her universe. By now Castor is 18, and in his first year of med school. He lives in a flat by himself. No roommates because he wants the sisters to teleport at will into his place so they can meet. he’s in love with Kaya and sees Ruana as his little sister.



One day Ruana brings Prince Ralen to him and Kaya, saying: “We’ll hold him hostage in your flat until the Brits give us our freedom.”



Kaya and Castor are horrified. All three expect Ralen to be a bewildered, snivelling mess.



But he’s quite nonchalant and undaunted. “Well this is a nice change from a dull routine,” he says. “Of course you know we British are ruthless. My people will start killing your people until you give me back. But meanwhile we can have a nice chat. Tell me more about your world. So colored people run their own countries here? And America even had a black president? What a novel concept.”




Despite themselves they’re impressed with his insouciance.



“I’m not sure you understand how this kidnapping thing works,” Ruana tells him. “I could cut off a finger or ear and send it to your parents as a token of goodwill.”



“I’m not sure you understand how Brits work,” he replies. “They would only ravage India in revenge. Assuming you love your country, I take it that is not what you want. And we Brits aren't cowards. If you expect me to quake in my shoes, you’ll be waiting a long time.”



they lock him up in Castor’s bedroom and tell him even if he were to escape, no one would believe he’s from another verse, etc.



“I have no interest in escaping,” he replies. “I’m your willing prisoner. Since we have some time to kill before my parents and government get back to you, why don't you show me around? Some science fiction writers in my world have written of alt universes and I always kind of believed there must be worlds besides mine, but I never thought I'd be go lucky as to travel to one.”



“I’m your captor, not your tourist guide,” snaps Ruana. “if you behave, I might let you have some food. Only because I assume even you can’t keep yapping while your mouth is full.”



“You seem to be a very competent young lady,” he says. “So I'm sure you're a good cook too. I love Indian food. How about a chicken biryani?”



“You're getting bread and cheese,” she says. “If you’re lucky, I won't spit in it.”



But she does make the chicken biryani.



“You want him to admire your cooking,” guesses Kaya.



“Don't be ridiculous,” snaps Ruana. “His babbling about chicken biryani just gave me a craving for it, that's all.”



Sparks fly between Ralen and Ruana. All his life he’s been used to people treating him with deference and women falling all over him. she’s the first girl he’s met who isn't impressed with his status.



The Brits do indeed threaten to lay waste India. In a panic, his three captors plan to return him.



“Wait,” he says to Ruana. “Promise me this isn't the last time I'll ever see you. You’re so different from the fluttery females I meet all the time who are dying to capture the Prince of Wales. Of course you're wrong to want to free India but I even admire how rash and bold you were to kidnap me. At least you’re doing something to stand up for what you believe in, even if your beliefs are all wrong. Most young women I know are only interested in men and other such worthless things.”



she’s secretly flattered but replies, “You just want to use my powers so you can explore this world.”



“That too of course,” he says. “But every woman I meet from now on is going to seem tame and dull compared to the raven-haired spitfire who can make a chicken biryani fit for the gods. And who can hop from one universe to another. I swear I will never tell anyone who it was who kidnapped me. Please let’s keep meeting.”



But Kaya and Castor decide its too dangerous. And Ruana reluctantly agrees.



Back at his palace, Ralen is miserable. Now that he knows there’s another world and verse out there, he’s dying to explore it. Everything about his own world and people now seems dull and boring. He pines for Ruana but knows he must make no attempt to search her out, or else he will expose her to capture.



He lies and tells everyone he has few memories of his time in captivity. But he starts making inquiries of people as to whether they've heard of people who can teleport to other universes. He asks the famous scientists of his time if its possible.



And word gets round and the authorities start to suspect that is what happened to him.



Then one day someone who sees the girls teleporting sells the info to his father the king and the girls are brought before them.



Ralen’s heart leaps with joy at the sight of Ruana but his face remains impassive. “I've never seen these girls before in my life,” he says. “Whoever they are, they’re not my captors.”



Afterwards he meets the girls and says: “Haven't I proved I can be trusted? I promise I will never reveal the truth. Please don't disappear from my life again.”



so Ruana starts taking him on trips to our world. She shows him a slum in India and says: “See what colonization did to India.”



“What I see is that the British were right to rule India,” he says. “Look what a miserable job Indians are doing ruling themselves. Look at the third world toilet that India is. How can you look at the India of this world and not realize the Brits
were better rulers?”



He also uses arguments that make her uneasy. He looks up the history of our world and tells her: “There was a bloodbath when India did get her freedom. One million Hindus and Muslims slaughtered each other in the post Indian independence riots. If you love India the way you claim to, there is no way you would want that for it. No one who loves their country would ever want one section of it to kill another. Unless you too are one of those Hindus who wants to butcher Muslims because you think they don't have a right to be in India.”



Well of course she isn't one of those Hindus and she knows any pulling out by the Brits will result in Muslims getting slaughtered. They've never been safe in India since theyre a minority.



“We Brits are a necessary evil in India,” he tells her. “You’ll be happier once you accept that. we’re the only thing that stops Hindus and Muslims trying to genocide each other out of existence.”



So they argue their views and spar, but they cant keep away from each other. Ruana realizes to her dismay she’s falling in love with him. And he comes from a time and culture where white people would consider it demeaning to marry any non-white. sure, he has fun flirting with her but that doesn't mean he’s serious about her.



She confides in her sister Kaya. “Ralen is what in this world would be called a racist and white supremacist. And he doesn't have a hundred years of the history of race relations that this world has. But I cant resist him. If only the India of this world hadnt done such a lousy job of ruling itself. I could have rubbed the smug smile right off his gorgeous arrogant face had I been able to show him a self-governed india that was a developed country.”



meanwhile his father King Henry still suspects the girls, so he sets spies upon them. They report back they saw Ruana teleport with Ralen.



So Henry kidnaps the girls parents and holds them in an undiscosed location.



Do you find it interesting so far? I can outline later how the rest of tehir romance goes.



I know one risk is that I feature a hero who starts off racist but he IS from a time when most whites were, when most Brits did think they had a right to rule much of the world.



And if I want them to start off with totally opposing views so there’s a lot of the conflict and clash between them. I loathe romances where the couple has no real reason to stay apart but fights for silly reasons to keep the story going.



It will take some doing but I will feature events that change him and his racist views. That’s his character growth.



So what do you think of the above romance story? Thanks for any feedback.
 

Brightdreamer

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IMHO, I think this level of specific help with your story might do better in SYW or the Brainstorming sandbox, so I won't comment on the details.

To address your later questions, yes, it would make sense for your MC to reflect the attitudes of his culture, including the less pleasant aspects, especially at the start when he's had no reason to question his own assumptions.

As for giving them "totally opposing views," there's a fine line to tread between "opposites attract" and "there's no way on any remotely plausible world these two will ever possibly be able to tolerate, let alone love, one another." Different perspectives, different personalities, yes... but beware of making them utterly and completely incompatible just to increase the conflict, then expect the audience to believe they could ever have a future together. Maybe show outward opposition, but also show how similar drives ultimately are behind them: passion for their causes, perhaps, or loyalty to family, something that, once they got past the surface, they could relate to about each other.
 
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