> I haven't had the pleasure of traveling to another land and plugging
> in consumer electronics into improper outlets. What are the effects?
> Do things go up in flames?
Unlikely if it's relatively modern, self extinguishing plastics have 
seen to that.

>  Do the clouds swarm around your location,
>   
Possiblly
> what? 
It depends heavilly on the design. Somewhere between works fine and goes 
up in smoke most likely. any direct mains powered lightbulbs will blow 
almost instantly.
> And is it predictable by some simulation software rather than me
> having to go do a resistor/xyz-component model to nanoscale accuracy?
>   
It's easy enough to see through either software simulation or old 
fasioned calculation to work out what components in your design will be 
overstressed in whatever scenario you present the circuit with. I'm 
pretty sure most circuit simulation can have max ratings specified and 
then log of those ratings are exceeded (I don't use simulation software 
myself though). If you can't then you don't understand your own design 
properly.

Figuring out what those components will do when overstressed is another 
matter, generally they will either survive, burn open or burn short. 
Quite possiblly with smoke and/or excessive heat. Fire from the 
components themselves is very unlikey with modern components but fire 
from the things they touch may be a possibility. In areas where burning 
short would be particualrlly nasty (e.g. PSU mains filter caps) you 
should make sure you use components that are explicitly designed for the 
job and approved to an appropriate standard for that use.


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