To Post-Apocalypse or Not To Post-Apocalypse - R.A. Young - May 14, 2024
To Post-Apocalypse or Not To Post-Apocalypse
How does one decide whether or not to do an apocalypse? What does it say if one does an apocalypse, as opposed to choosing not to? And if one does choose an apocalypse, should it be detailed or even acknowledged in a story that takes place post-apocalypse? Does curiosity over a potential apocalypse create deeper meaning?
How does one decide whether to do an apocalypse on Earth or elsewhere? What extra meaning does doing an apocalypse on Earth lend a story that doing an apocalypse elsewhere won’t have? Is it so different if nothing else would be changed? Does setting a story on Earth make it inherently more sympathetic, and that much more compelling (and risky?) as a result?
These are the current questions eating at my brain as I explore outlining for my story. I’ve written Dungeons & Dragons campaigns before. I’ve dabbled in short stories. I’ve never written anything the length of a novel, or considered a multi-novel series, though. I understood and am excited by the necessity of world/universe-building, but underestimated the difficulty of making even extremely basic foundational questions. From a purely narrative point-of-view, yes, setting my story on a post-apocalypse Earth and going from there is so much more enticing than a non-apocalypse non-Earth. It has hooks that get readers invested and would make it easier for me to build on. It has genre tropes that I could cleverly manipulate if I manage to be clever in the first place. But I still don’t know. It’s the meaning that I’m getting caught up on. Does it serve a purpose? Does it serve my goals? Does it make for a better story, or just an easier one?
Should I or should I not do a post-apocalypse for my sci-fi story?
Great Saturday Awesome Broadcast
For the past, oh it must be around 5 months now, I’ve been doing a weekend movie stream online with friends. The event is named after a friend who passed away from cancer in 2024. Gary loved movies and loved his friends online. I wanted a way to remember him in a way that would make him happy.
In this week’s bit-too-personal section of the newsletter, I wanted to write a bit about online friends and GSAB. Now, I love my online friends. I’d do almost anything for them. But I understand that even among my very close online friends, most do not see things the same way I do. Priority-wise, even close online friends aren’t seen as requiring the kind of consideration that offline friends do, or even offline anything. Online friends are there when you’re online, and largely out of mind otherwise. It’s certainly more complex than that. I’m sure it has to do with many of my friends being men, and introverts as well, to which rich friendships aren’t pursued as often in the first place. Nevertheless, I try — and admittedly invest a lot more of myself than I care to admit — to further my online friendships as I’m able. Sometimes, though. Sometimes, I get hurt, however unintentionally
My hope with GSAB was that, with a weekly hard-scheduled event it would be easy for friends online to gather. We’d watch a movie, but more than that it was a simple opportunity to spend time with friends. Bad movies, good movies, who cares? Let’s spend time together. After the first month of GSABs, though — really, even after the first couple of weeks — a group of what I thought would be ten or more friends dropped to one reliable attendee and another jumping in from time to time. Sometimes a rare movie would draw in one or two more, but otherwise? It was almost always two or three people including myself. For something I’d invested a lot of myself in emotionally, I’ve been a bit shattered by it all. I really thought it would be something special. It’s no one’s fault it didn’t work out. I know that. Nevertheless, I’m mourning not only a failed event but also the kind of friendships I thought I’d developed that aren’t where I believed them to be. And while I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to be through those five months, it’s only recently that I admitted to myself how much the situation hurt me.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter over the months, you may have already recognized part of the problem. I’ve been on antidepressants of one kind or another all of 2024. I’m only now feeling feelings again. I may even be feeling a bit too much all at once. But the situation is nevertheless untenable. I should have said or done something about the situation months ago.
Remembering Gary is still profoundly important to me. Continuing to pay tribute to him was never something I was worried I’d stop or fail to do justice. If only things were so straightforward concerning online friendships. I’m at a loss there.
Lightning Round
Here are some quicker thoughts on various things that cropped up over the past week:
Marvel Rivals — Been playing the alpha for this third-person Overwatch-like for a couple of days now and I’m on the fence. Who doesn’t want to play as a Marvel superhero? If I’m honest, the gameplay here isn’t great. It’s sloppy and imbalanced to a fault. But it works, and it can be competitive, and that’s sometimes all you need in a game like this. Also, boob socks.
Shards of Earth — Picked up this Adrian Tchaikovsky sci-fi novel at the recommendation of a friend, who was so enamored and excited about everything that happened in the story. I can see why, as it’s very fast-moving and punchy. I’m typically more of a fan of rich, patient storytelling that builds to and delivers on important moments. I’m willing to give this book time, if only because I adore worldbuilding and there’s so much yet to discover here.
AFK Journey — Yup, still playing this gacha game. I’m still playing this because I find comfort in its incredibly structured progression paths. There’s always very little to do, other than the thing that you’re supposed to bang your head on until you get more resources over time. It’s stifling, pushes players to spend money, and yet I like that simplicity, when options are all taken away. It ain’t healthy, though. Don’t play this.
Big Kitty, Little City — I tried this open-world kitty game for a couple hours. I like being the kitty. I like hitting stuff off of shelves and purring. The game otherwise is a bit simple for my cat-RP tastes, but where else will I get what I need?
What’s Next? — I still have Eiyuden Chronicle sitting right here next to me, unplayed. I hope I get away from AFK Journey to play it. Otherwise, more FF14, Overwatch 2, and Marvel Rivals. Live service games have stolen my soul.
Thanks so much for reading my newsletter. I hope it’s intriguing if nothing else. I’m working on it being less of an annoying “I do this” list of stuff and more of a look into what I really care about and why. I’m relearning how to write that, after 10+ years of formulaic news articles of reprocessed and condensed gaming news. I hope the heart shines through.
Take care,
Rory