mlreeve1

Arianna and Alaina are doing great. Arianna is getting over Streep throat, but she's doing much better. Alaina's Birthday is this Saturday she will be 4 and Arianna's is the 29th and she'll be 8.

Honestly I think a lot of things were probably going through Bass mind. Honestly though I think he was trying to figure out how to get to Miles, but you can't ignore the look on his face when he bursts through the doors of that bar. He was in full on kill mode, and it was because of what they were doing to Charlie, and I just don't believe he had all that rage just because she is Miles neice.


As far as the diamonds....I have always wondered where they came from, and why do they even have any value in a blackout world. I mean bartering for goods and services I get, but diamonds would really have no actual value in a world like theirs. Maybe I'm wrong!

MDRevolutionFan

Thanks, Ice!

Hmmm, herb encrusted chicken sounds good. Not so much on the stuffing and sweet potatoes though. I don't know why I hate sweet potatoes since I loved them when I was a kid, but I do. Stuffing would only be good if it was crispy instead of soggy from gravy/juices.


-What did Bass think about when he took care of a drugged up Charlie?
-What's up with using diamonds as currency? Is that just a Texas/Wastelands thing or was it everywhere? It was basically raining diamonds...and bullets, but you know they were so rare...until they weren't.

Interesting questions...
No idea what was on Bass's mind -- never really thought about it TBH, though I suppose he hoped she didn't die -- that they didn't give her actual poison as opposed to ruffies (or whatever you call date-rape drugs).

I got the impression the diamonds were probably "universal" and I'm guessing that many were actually cubic zirconia -- some are really good quality. I imagine a lot of jewelry stores were broken into too.

I also think they probably used any gem or precious metal -- any commodity was probably currency -- Scanlon's ppl were pulling gold teeth out of the dead Patriots. But yeah, that's another thing that should've been explained better.

EDIT: LadyH...
Gems and gold always had value even before actually currency, so I imagine that would happen again.

IceonFire7

Yeah, no problem. So to answer your questions...

I think Bass really was as gentlemanly as he said he was. I personally think when he walked into that bar and saw Charlie falling to the ground, obviously drugged, he was really pissed off. And he took it out on those men in the bar. So while I think part of it, at that point anyway, was that she was Miles's niece, I also think there was something simmering under the surface for him. He'd been wildly impressed with her when she volunteered to take the bullet for Danny back in Philly, and I have to assume his impression of her had just been rising since then. So while falling for her may not have even formed a thought in his head (yet), I do think he felt fiercely protective of her. And I think that protectiveness would have extended even to him taking any kind of advantage of her. He was a horrid dictator, but I think most of us realize circumstances lead him to that end. Honestly, underneath the general, I think Bass wasn't really a bad man.


As far as the diamonds go, yeah, that never made sense. Like all of a sudden, there's no power and everyone just has a ton of diamonds lying around? I realize paper money was going to fall by the wayside, but it didn't seem like this was the best solution for the writers. But we do know this show had some very lazy writers. I could see that maybe people raided their jewelry boxes and jewelry stores for items of value, but nothing but diamonds? I would think that there would be a mix of precious gems out there; rubies, sapphires and emeralds seem like they wouldn't have just lost their value in the post-electric world. Maybe even melted down gold would be around. Possibly silver as well. But for everyone to have nothing but diamonds seems weird to me.

mlreeve1

Oh I know I just never understood it. All the lights are out, life sucks, but here's a nice shiny rock for that nice horse. IMO the horse would be more valuable than diamonds or gold.

IceonFire7

Yeah, LadyH, you might be right about the horse having more value.

ILuvMyThesaurus

I've told you before, but what lovely names! Happy early Birthdays to them both... Any special plans? I'm glad the oldest is getting better.

The diamond thing was really odd to me as well. It didn't seem like they were mentioned until the second season, so it does leave the question what was the currency in the Georgia Federation. In the Monroe Republic, they mentioned militia trade dollars and that Miles was worth 25 pounds of gold, so it does seem there was some kind of basic organized system in the Republic. I agree that bartering goods and services would make far more sense. Plus, that long after the end of the blackout, would there really be that many diamonds floating around? They could have also traded in medicine/drugs/supplies as well. I could understand gold and silver better than diamonds. Setting up a currency system is one of the founding things a country has to undertake, so it would have been interesting to get more info on this.

I agree that Bass had a lot on his mind when he was caring for Charlie. I think his primary objective was finding out information about Miles, because seeing Charlie again seemed to re-light a spark inside of him. I think he recognized that when he was in the pool and when he followed Charlie. He needed her, but she also made him FEEL something other than apathy, pain, and numbness. He was always interested in her, even peripherally. I also don't see Bass as the type to ever just leave a woman to be raped. Obviously he knew it was happening in the crazy world they were living in, but I don't see him being someone that would just walk on by. His rage definitely had something to do with Charlie herself being in that position.

Well, they had gold and militia trade dollars in the Monroe Republic. I don't think they mentioned what was used in Georgia and very little was known about California. Mexico might have relied on drugs and other hard to get items from Central and South America in exchange for what they needed from the American Republics and or diamonds from Texas. There's only one active diamond mine in the entire United States in Arkansas, and Texas had part of Arkansas territory, so I suppose it's feasible, but I think if diamonds were the main currency, a lot of them were likely fakes or lesser gems that came in clear colors, like sapphires, beryl, tourmaline or topaz, which are not particularly valuable, and would mostly be used as side-stones in less expensive pieces. Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent, but I think you could be onto something with cubic zirconia or other fakes. That's right, they did use gold in the Wastelands, so that region probably just used whatever they could their hands on.

MDRevolutionFan

Giving it some more thought... we did only see people using diamonds in the show, but maybe they were like the most valuable denomination, like dollars vs. cents or $100 vs. $10. If that makes any sense?

As for trade, probably most transactions were object for object or service for service or a combination, but if you're someone who doesn't have a service to offer or equally valuable object to trade, "money", like gems, for a horse, say, would have to do. *shrugs*

I also agree with you, Ice, on Bass's intentions/feelings. In my answer though, I interpreted the question as being what was he thinking as she was passed out.

EDIT: Thessie...
I thought there was mention/use of diamonds in s1, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: I think Rachel might've given diamonds to the guy who ferried her and Aaron across the Mississippi?

mlreeve1

I think that was the question MD....I think we just added to it. Lol

ILuvMyThesaurus

ICA Icicle with everything you said. I agree that he was a gentleman as well, although I'm sure he spent some time staring at her just like he did in Philly and the pool. She was a means to an end, but I don't think he wanted Charlie to be hurt. I do think there was also something left-over from him promising Rachel to save Charlie. He was protective of Charlie because of Miles, but also because he was intrigued by her (attracted to her as well, IMO), and because he despised what they were trying to do to her. I think Bass wore the dictator guise as a way to smother and hide all the pain and betrayal Miles caused him. In S2, especially before Connor came on the scene and in the last couple episodes, I think we got to see the real Bass.

It was lazy. There were some mentions in S1 about Monroe's currency, but even then it was mentioned barely in passing. It would be interesting to know how people came by their lingerie and radioactive feria hair dye. Anything of value would have been utilized in my opinion, including copper and bronze. The focus on diamonds in S2 was just silly.

Oh heck yeah, the horse would be more valuable...

You're right, there was that scene with the diamonds to get them across the river, but I think that was the only time. Rachel also tried to barter a necklace (I think) for food in the Plains Nation. I can't remember if it had stones or not. And another logic gap, but where did she come by it? LOL...

ILuvMyThesaurus

Fell asleep in the chair, so I've got to go to bed. I hope you all have a great rest of the week and we'll chat soon!

ETA: Sorry for the double-post...

IceonFire7

Hey, guys, sorry I'm a few minutes late. My computer seems to be running really slow today. Either that or the site is running slow for me.

Anyway, welcome to club. I will give everyone a chance to get here and then talk to everyone in a few minutes.

MDRevolutionFan

Hey, Ice. How's it going? Me = ok, but I literally JUST finished reading.

ILuvMyThesaurus

Hey Icicle, how are you? Just got home, so I'm getting everything ready for a night in the recliner.

I didn't have the time for the fic. I didn't even remember it until today and had to go back and see what the story was. I'll try and have a few thoughts, but I'll have to go at the end. I'm such a dork.

Question, is Good Ship Charloe gone?

ETA: Hey MD! How are you?

IceonFire7

Hey, MD. That's OK. Me too. I'm trying to get a few notes together here.

Hey, Thessie. If you can't, no worries. I posted the stories on the DM thread for book club over on Twitter, so that may be why you missed it.

The website? Or Lemon?

MDRevolutionFan

Both, though upon reading Thessie's post, I notice the website does seem to have gone bye-bye.

Hi, Thessie, BTW. How goes it?