America: A Nation of Monsters

The early 1600s was a tumultuous time in Europe.  Religious wars tore through the continent, causing many to flee to other parts of the globe as refugees.  No Europeans were affected more strongly in this than the non-human species who hid themselves within the various human populations.  What made matters especially bad for them was the English independence from the Catholic Church.

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Star Wars: A Fandom Divided Against Itself

There is a saying: “No one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans.”  I have found that sentiment to be unarguably correct, but I have spoken to many people who find themselves confused by this.  Detractors exist in all fandoms, but I have yet to see a fandom as passionately divided as Star Wars can get.  I believe the answer is buried in the core of what made Star Wars work in the first place.

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The Rise of English Wizardry

In the mid-1500s, the dominant magical tradition in Europe was that of Catholicism.  Priests would use mass prayer as a power source and religious iconography as focusing devices.  These were old methods that dated back to before the Roman Empire in various forms and were well ingrained into the tradition of Europe.  However, the Protestant Reformation threatened to undermine this tradition.

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The Romanian Empire

Vlad Tepes (also known as Dracula) was Voivode of Wallachia in the mid-1400s. During his reign, Wallachia faced expansionist invasions by the Ottoman Empire. Vlad used every strategy available to him to stop the Ottoman invasion. Eventually, he turned to darker methods and allowed himself to be turned into a vampire. This granted him the power to turn the Ottomans back, but it came at a cost.

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Hivemind

About 300 years ago, there was a French fur trapper who lived near Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit. Unbeknownst to him, when he moved there, he possessed a unique genetic mutation. It was upon the birth of his first child that he noticed the effect, even if he didn’t understand the cause at the time. Everyone with that particular allele had their brains networked together, functioning as a single mind with several bodies. An odd interaction with an unrelated protein code that was closely located to this allele on the chromosome caused it to be Super Dominant in that if present on one Chromosome, it would become duplicated on the other one. Only a tiny fraction of children end up not carrying the allele.

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Vampire Castes

Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, small packs of vampires would stalk the larger tribes of nomadic humans, preying on them at night. When humans began settling into permanent villages and cities, most vampires continued their stalking habits, just with more permanent lairs hidden in the outskirts of smaller settlements or the depths of larger ones. However, one vampire was more enterprising than that.

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