21 Prognostications for the Parasol Protectorate in the 21st century.

J.M. Frey and I at the Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition, April 2011.
Photo by the awesome Lex Machina. 

The tribute to Gail Carriger continues! Thanks to the lovely J.M. Frey, she of the TARDIS Steampunk dress and author of the excellent SF novel Triptych, we have another post in the Tribute. This comes as the result of light-hearted banter via Twitter messaging. All twenty-one of these are J.M.'s - my only contribution was placing them in twenty-one entries to match the century.  SPOILERS ABOUND! So if you haven't read Timeless, you may wish to wait on checking these out. Please feel free to add more in the comments.

1. The God breaker plague was ended by urban sprawl.  Conall and Alexia have passed on, of course. Prudence lived quite long, because of her ability to steal immortality, and buried her grandkids. Once a year, the PP gets together somwhere between Akeldama's and Ivy's and eats Treacle tart in honour of Alexia.
2. Lyall and Biffy are happily back in charge of the London Pack. Lyall represents Biffy in the House of Lords, b/c Biffy wants no part of the boredom of politics. He's besties with Wills & Kate. Biffy despises denim and longs for a good old cravat.    Lyall is afraid Betas CAN go mad, and that the 21st C might drive him so. Lyall writes books under a pseudonym, all about supernatural biology and hierarchies. 
3. Ivy is a great patron of the theatre, and her decendants own most of the East End. She designs all the hats for Royal Ascot. Ivy desperately misses her husband.  The Tunstell's descendants include Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Elton John.
4. The Parasol Protectorate has been folded into the MI, and is MI9 (9 looks like a P). Always led by a Prete or Meta-natural Maccon.
5. Madame LeFoux became a ghost, not pleased about it, but perfected her preservation system.
   She's the Q to MI9. 
6. Major Channing died in charging the gattling guns in WWI, too much of a proud tosser to call a retreat. Most of the pack went with him.
7. Countess Nadasy owns most of the London metro system--she's the reason there's a tube.
8. Benedict Cumberbatch thought about being a Claviger, but decided that he'd go to LAMBDA instead of Royal.
9. The London Pack is, of course, the patron house of the BBC. The Doctor never had a Werewolf companion, though, because leaving territory behind would be too traumatic for a wolf.
10. Biffy is bittersweet about Steampunk, but he loves it because Lyall has a chance to get his Glassicals out and wear that waistcoat. KINKY. But, would there be steampunk in a world where there had been zepplins and aethergraphs? More like there'd be a lot of cyberpunk. Oh, and the best selling YA book would be set in a world where there are NO SUPERNATURALS AT ALL. Weeeeeeird.  Talk about a dystopia.
11. Twilight is just a boring teen lit book about a drone/claviger who can't decide who she'd rather get the bite from. OR, it's a YA distopian where there are no supernaturals & the thrill comes from Bella trying to get used to the idea that her suitor will get OLD.
12. I suppose Hollywood would be run by Werewolves... but the studio execs would be Vampires. Mr. Mayer hasn't left MGM just yet.
13. Lady Kingair is just the same, and the Kingair pack operates a tourist castle / B&B where people can see the legendary home of the Maccons.
14. And of course, the truth about Pretenaturals came out around WWII, when they were recruited specifically as curse-breakers.
15. Old documents about Alexia and Conall Maccon surfaced. Historian and archaeologist Gail Carriger was selected to write a 5 volume biography.
16. Luckily most of their contemporaries still lived, so Carriger was able into interview Lord Akeldama, Queen Ivy, Lord Biffy and Prof. Lyall (Good to have primary resources).
17. OH. I forgot - the Maccon townhouse in London was annexed by Akeldama's historical preservation fund and is a full-moon ball venue now.
18. The London Pack owns a modern condo development and everyone lives there - dungeons are below the carkpark, high security at the door.
19. And Floote's Bedouins still roam the Luxor valley - there is a high price for pieces of a dead preternatural in the black market.
20. Of course, Pretanatural Poachers are illegal, must grave rob,and kidnapping Preternaturals is a capitol offence. Most Pretas are cremated.
21. Akeldama would be a leading figure in the Fashion pages-but not working in it. That's a trade, my darling pergoi. Perez Hilton is his drone. Akeldama is totally not enamoured of Black and the Daily Sun. So... gauche. So obvious. The Paparazzi does not impress Akeldama.  Akeldama is the biggest fan of slash fanfic EVAR.

NOTE: J.M. Frey's Triptych has been nominated for a CBC Bookie, a people's choice award. She's nominated in the SF category, and she's up against heavyweights Margaret Atwood and Robert Sawyer. All love to Mr. Sawyer, but he already has enough awards. No love to Atwood, I've never liked her fiction, I hate that she's conflated with the SF scene more than she deserves, and the book she's nominated for isn't really fiction! So let's defeat the giants, shall we? Show some love for J.M. over at the Bookies. It would be very cool for a gender-bending-time-travel-adventure to win the Bookie for SF. And if you don't want to vote without reading Triptych first, there's a simple solution. It's a hell of a book, trust me.