Great Depression and WW-2 (M/F Romance)

[NiceTexasGuy]

Once upon a time in America ...

The Roaring 20's, followed by the Great Depression, then a war in which hundreds of millions were killed, injured, or displaced.  It was truly a tough time, but thanks to Hollywood, we can play it with a certain amount of romantic nostalgia, and that's what I'd love to do.  Because people still fell in love.

I'd like to play this as close to reality as possible (Japan invades Manchuria, Italy invades Abyssinia, USSR invades Finland, the whole works, down to the recruiting offices being packed on Monday, December 8, 1941.)  Then from that point, we can begin to fictionalize certain places, people, and events, but only if they still fit in the overall scheme of historical context.  (Okay, we might fudge a little before then, too.)

Our characters are from (or wind up in) the same small town in middle America, and we follow them through these historical times.

I would prefer to play the male, but would be willing to play the female role if it works out that way.

The basic idea:

There is a bit of an age difference.  It might not mean that much in adulthood, but to the young it would be the same as a generation gap.  Maybe three years (he's the older brother's best friend) or maybe ten (he's a student in one of Dad's classes at the college) or whatever we come up with.  Regardless, she's crushing on him, while he sees her as little more than a pest - to be endured and tolerated.  As the years go by, the little pest starts looking more and more like Hollywood starlet material and she discovers other boys exist, while he begins to wish she still felt the same way she did about him when she was flat-chested.

Eventually, he goes off into the World to seek fame and fortune -- or maybe just a job -- while she remains in Podunk, destined to marry well and live happily ever after with a houseful of children to raise.  But maybe the Fates didn't see it that way.

Will they somehow find each other again in that crazy mixed up world at war?  I suspect they will.

Perhaps she becomes a nurse.  Or perhaps she speaks German fluently thanks to the grandparents who helped raise her?  Or perhaps Japanese, because of those years her father spent teaching in Tokyo?  Maybe she met a boy from England and moved there to be close to him just before the war started.  Maybe she's a newspaper correspondent.  Maybe she got caught up in the turmoil and was unable to make it out of the country before it fell to the invader. 

Millions of possibilities, we just have to decide on one.

Because of Elliquiy's rules we can't play out their childhood here, though it will be entirely (wait till the honeymoon) non sexual except for perhaps a kiss on the cheek until the younger of the pair turns 16 (and she still plans to wait for the honeymoon).  I figure part of the fun will just be plotting out their background via email or IM. 

So, in the words of Simon in True Lies -- If not for me, do it for your country.

[NiceTexasGuy]

aaaannnddddddddd ... I'm going to bump .....

this one!