Literature / America's Stepbrother, America's Enemy V2.0

America's Stepbrother, America's Enemy v2.0 is a rewrite of SergeantHeretic's America's Stepbrother, America's Enemy story currently in progress by Milarqui with SergeantHeretic's approval (although he has stated he lacks time, so he has passed the torch to the collaborators and readers). The rewrite is mainly to fix up the many problems with the retcons, organization, and in some cases grammar. Unfortunately, the story stopped being updated around 2014, leading to the story meeting a similar fate to its predecessor. Forum members continue to discuss a possibility of a third rewrite, as of 2021.

As before, the United States of 2012, a month and a half after voting Barack Obama to the Presidency for the second time, are ISOTed to the Earth of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. After learning of the three superstates of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia tyranny of Earth and Oceania's attempts to subjugate America to Big Brother, the US responds in the only way Oceania will understand: a complete curbstomp militarily and bringing freedom and democracy to their doorsteps.

War is not the only thing to ensue. The United States has to deal with the sudden loss of all foreign trade, initial attacks across the border, and rationing - and, as the liberated territory expands, the millions of people that have been freed and now have to be given a chance to gain a new life. As the problems for the United States diminish, they begin for the superstates, especially as it is discovered that the latter are not the only nations that exist. However, behind Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia lies a dark secret that only makes things more confusing...

The main discussion thread is here, while the Story-Only thread is here. Both links require login.

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This story provides examples of:

• Airstrip One: There are several scenes that take place inside Airstrip One.
• Alien Space Bats: Revealed as the architects of the Threeist system. At least one alien made contact with the founders of Oceania (and presumably the other superstates) after World War II and provided them with enough assistance to set up the system, including the stasis chamber technology which is beyond anything the superstates could ever have managed on their own, as well as helping them come up with the horrid philosophy that locked all three superstates into an utterly futile Forever War.
• America Saves the Day: Of incredible proportions! Though due to the weakness/stupidity of their enemies, they're just steamrolling through Oceania.
• The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: President Obama is glad to see that the people of America are banding together to help out their fellow man in the midst of wartime.

• Artistic License – Geography: "It was official: eight months and a half after the Event took place, Big Brother's flag was struck down from the facilities in the northern shore of the Panama Canal, all of North and Central America became officially free from tyranny[.]" The Panama Canal runs approximately north-south and so has an east and a west shore. There is also a not insignificant portion of Panama between the canal and South America.
• "Ass" in Ambassador: When Hillary Clinton meets a group of high-ranking Inner Party members, their apparent leader makes a complete fool of himself, arrogantly demanding America's submission despite the fact that Oceania's days are numbered. Clinton is not impressed and calls them out on their bullshit, ending the meeting on a sour note.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The cumbersome tanks and ships used by the Threeist armed forces, which in 1984 are used only to waste resources and be as flashy as possible, have nothing on the far more technologically advanced (not to mention motivated to actually win) United States.
• Balance of Power: The balance shared by the Threeists is torn apart one by one after the Event.
• Big, Bulky Bomb: In retaliation for the attempt to use nuclear weapons, the Americans drop MOAB bombs upon London, Suffolk, and Northumberland, destroying the Ministry buildings and their nuclear material processing facilities.
• Big Damn Heroes: An underscored one in that Winston Smith and Julia are saved from being tortured and brainwashed thanks to the Event and its consequences.
• Bilingual Bonus: An entire update written in Newspeak.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Whenever the United States forces meet a Threeist force, the former inflicts this on the latter.
• Dark Secret: Where the stasis chambers come from.
• Decapitated Army: Oceanian troops surrender very quickly once their Thought Officers and/or Inner Party officers are killed.
• Deconstruction Fic: What happens when you put the superpowers of 1984 against a non-backward, non-totalitarian superpower. Supreme ass-kicking.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Michael Ramsay dreams of the arrival of the Americans and Queen Gabriella, and the Liberation of the United Kingdom.
• Due to the Dead: The Vietnamese have an enormous wall where they write the names of every soldier that has fallen to the Eastasian attacks. Several American Spec-Ops soldiers that were stationed in Vietnam when the US fell chose to stay and help, and after they died their names were inscribed there as well.
• Dystopia Is Hard: Well, more like it's very easy to slide into, but impossible to adapt to changing circumstances. With the coming of America, the status quo shatters for the Threeist system with the advent of a powerful nation that's having exactly nothing of their fascist shenanigans.

• Establishing Character Moment: After the first encounter with the enemy, the retreating Oceanians callously leave their wounded and dead troops behind, showing how little they care for their own.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Several times.
  • The Oceanians are unable to understand how the Americans' minds work and demand their subjugation to Big Brother, even as they are getting pummeled.
  • The other superstates then ask the United States whether they are willing to replace Oceania in the War, and are surprised when the United States goes after them.
• Evil Is Bigger: Because tying up resources is a major part of the Oceanian military's function, Oceanian military vehicles tend to be considerably larger than American ones. They're also amazingly underpowered compared to America's stuff.
• Expanded States of America: The people in the Canadian and Mexican territories vote to join the United States, as well as a few Caribbean Islands.
• Failed a Spot Check: O'Brien is so obsessed with trying to doublethink away all of America's victories over Oceania that he neglects keeping an eye on Winston and Julia, giving them the opportunity to escape from Airstrip One.
• Fearless Fool: Oceania's Thought Police and the Inner Party, as part of their Idiot Ball status. Their typical response when faced with overwhelming American firepower is to declare their enemies thoughtcriminals, before getting killed.
• Forever War: What was taking place on 1984!Earth (called the Eternal War) until the United States appeared.
• Foreshadowing: There have been several references to events that have yet to take place, such as Operation COLUMBUS or some Wikipedia articles.
• Good Shepherd: Michael Ramsay, Archbishop of York and leader of the hidden Church of England.
• Handicapped Badass: The Gimp Soldier Program, which recruits people that were discharged or rejected for medical reasons to fulfill bureaucratic and training roles, freeing fit soldiers for duty. This does not prevent them from playing important roles in the story.
• Heel–Face Turn: Not that the Prole soldiers were much of a heel. As time advances, they begin to kill their Thought Police Officers the first chance they get and surrender to the US Army. Many end up joining the Allied Army and in fact eventually become the bigger part of it. Also, many Outer Party members (or their equivalents in other places) surrender and aid the United States in the organization of the liberated territories.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Several American Spec-Ops soldiers that decided to stay in Vietnam after America fell to Oceania sacrificed themselves in a ploy to distract Eastasian troops while the Dalai Lama was taken out of Lhasa in a plane.
• I Reject Your Reality: The Inner Party, the Ministry of Love, and the Thought Police simply refuse to accept the fact that America is kicking their asses all over the place with little to no effort.
• Idiot Ball: Everything the Oceanian military does. The consensus on Oceanian nuclear capability is that their nukes (if they have any) are in a warehouse guarded by a squad of Thought Police. Later it is revealed that they did have long-range missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload, but they only had a limited amount of them and wasted them all in the war that formed the three superstates.
  • Their entire military doctrine and weapon technology is ridiculous. They have no other tactic than Zerg Rush, even when the quality of their soldiers and materiel is so laughable they fall by the droves at little risk to their enemies.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: One soldier, speaking about the Oceanian megalandcruisers (their tanks), which he describes as a hunk of metal, mentions that it took the helicopters a few minutes to change one letter, turning them from hunk to junk.
• Insistent Terminology: All updates use the "uptime" (from the point of view of the Americans) year and the "downtime" (from the point of view of the "locals") year, with the order depending on where the story takes place.
• In-Series Nickname: The Oceanian soldiers are nicknamed "Waterboys".
• I Surrender, Suckers: In several instances, the Thought Police Officers pull this trick. The Allies certainly don't like it - one of the TPOs captured during the Battle of Buenos Aires after doing this has his kneecaps destroyed, and another gets to "meet" the commander of a corporal he killed.
• La Résistance: Despite the brutality of the Threeist states, there is still resistance. The Church of England, for one, survives hiding among the Airstrip One proles.
  • In Indochina, the "Iron Triangle" formed by the Empire of Vietnam, Lan Xang, and Cambodia have not only survived, but repelled all attacks by Eastasian troops.
  • A remnant of the invaded European nations exists in the Federated Kingdom of North Africa, an amalgamation of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya with the European people that evacuated.
  • Several redoubts in the Australian Outback fended off Oceanian attacks enough times that the Oceanians decided to declare victory and leave.
  • Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley led the Loyalist American troops against the Ingsoc conspiracy, but were killed in 1955.
  • The Japanese resistance movement, led by someone implied to be Hirohito's son, lays low for many years and revolts when the Americans arrive.
  • There's an underground resistance in Oceanian-controlled South Africa, too - and one of its leaders turns out to be an alternate (but more or less the same) Nelson Mandela.
  • The British-Indian Raj and Thailand were also resisting, but they were nuked when sabotage led the Threeist to realize that both nations were researching nuclear weapons.

• A Lighter Shade of Black: Emmanuel Goldstein was a leading member of the INGSOC party, and helped set up the system and murder the British Royal Family, but didn't want to keep the proles completely subjugated and tried to actually rebuild the cities - leading to his Heel–Face Turn and becoming Big Brother's enemy. Or so he says.
• Mass Teleportation: The Event, which takes place on December 21, 2012 between 12 PM and 7 AM EST.
• Mythology Gag: A US Army interrogator is named Emmanuel Goldstein, like Big Brother's fabled enemy. The interrogated Oceanians literally go Oh, Crap! when they learn this tidbit.
• Nuke 'em: Oceania tries to attack America like this after they invade South America, but the dirigible carrying the nukes gets shot down over Greenland.
• Operation: [Blank]: Several are made reference to. The first is Operation Southern Cross, the liberation of South America, and there are references to future Operations related to the liberation of Europe.
• Orwellian Retcon: In-Universe, there has been one that the readers said was very creepy - O'Brien's mental retconning to fit the Inner Party's dogma with reality right as the Americans start Operation Southern Cross.
• Outside-Context Problem: The Americans are this to the Threeists.
• Paper Tiger: Despite being one of the most terrifying totalitarian regimes in all of fiction, turns out Oceania's not so tough when push comes to shove.
• Rebel Leader: The 1984-verse's Nelson Mandela led the resistance in South Africa until the Oceanians caught him. The Americans free him during the liberation of Robben Island, and he's put in charge of the restored South Africa.
• Restored My Faith in Humanity: The President is pleasantly surprised to see that, in the middle of the war between the United States and Oceania, donations are at an all time high and everyone is working hard to ensure everyone receives their fair share.
  Obama: Just when we were ready to write the American people of as jaded and uncaring, they make us all proud again.
• Retcon: The rewrite takes care of retconning a few events that were confusing in the original writing.
• Retired Badass: The Gimp Soldier Program brings back many retired soldiers, willing to help the armed forces in any way they can.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Queen Gabriella joins the army that liberates the Bahamas, officially only to act as a figure for the British-French soldiers, but also takes part of the battle for the Andros docks, shooting one Oceanian soldier.
• Schizo Tech: Futuristic stasis chambers alongside zeppelins. All Threeist war technology is designed to be as flashy and wasteful as possible, heavily hindering its effectiveness against more conventional tech. At one point the Oceanians possessed long-range nuclear missiles without the technology to create more. After wasting all of them in the war that shaped the world, they are forced to deploy zeppelins as missile platforms for V1 rockets with nuclear payloads in an attempt to attack the US.
• Shout-Out: This update has several references to The Salvation War and Worldwar: War of Equals.
  • The UK forces have one Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in command.
• Space-Filling Empire: Subverted. The map from this trope's page image is what the official Propaganda Machine claims the borders to be, but in reality there are some pretty large areas where their authority is nominal at best, most notably the Australian Outback. Neither is the "disputed" region as much of a lawless No Man's Land as it was implied to be in the source material, with several loosely-aligned independent states holding the line against all three Empires.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Winston, somewhat obviously. An article even confirms that he eventually becomes the British Prime Minister. It's up in the air whether or not Julia escaped with him, though she probably did.
• Technology Porn: RamscoopRaider's "rants" over how bad the Threeist navys are quite long and full of information over the stats of the different ships.
• The Emperor: Vietnam still conserves its Emperor, who is autocratic but benevolent, and as the Eastasian threat fades makes sure to democratize the nation.
  • The Emperor of Japan (said to be Hirohito's son) becomes the leader of the Japanese resistance, and is enthroned some time after the Americans liberate Japan.
• The Fundamentalist: Emily Barksdale from New Mexico, one of the viewpoint characters, is one, although toned down from typical portrayals, and she eventually mellows when she meets a former Prole called Brel Frunk.
• Unreliable Narrator: The US eventually find the actual Emmanuel Goldstein and learn a great deal about how the Threeist system was started, but they can't actually verify anything other than he had a great knowledge of the Inner Party's working and that a man named Emmanuel Goldstein had indeed being a member of English Socialism, plus some inaccuracies in his story.
• Villainous Breakdown: Many Inner Party leaders across Oceania become increasingly high strung as their ability to doublethink is compromised by imminent defeat.