#post-apocalyptic author

[judgeitbyitscover]

Southern Reach series (10th Anniversary Editions) by Jeff VanderMeer

Cover art by Pablo Delcan

MacMillan, 2014-2024

Annihilation (2014)

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything

Authority (2014)

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John Rodríguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most disturbing questions are answered . . . but the answers are far from reassuring.

Acceptance (2014)

It is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing expedition after expedition, refusing to reveal its secrets. As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it—the Southern Reach—has collapsed on itself in confusion. Now one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may hold the answers they've been seeking. If they fail, the outer world is in peril.

Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X—what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X—and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound—or terrifying.

Absolution (2024)

When the Southern Reach Trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestsellers list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem?

Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time

[breakdownsbuttlights]

Chapters: 1/4 Fandom: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Drift | Deadlock/Ratchet Characters: Drift | Deadlock, Ratchet (Transformers) Additional Tags: Empire of Stone, Drift's Exile, Alternate Universe - Human, Whump, Fever, Delirium, Religious Crisis, legionnaire's disease, (all in good time) Summary:

“For eighteen months Drift wandered beyond the fringes of civilization, living out of the trunk of his car, eating little, sleeping less, each day sinking deeper into a magical, malignant world of his own creation. If Ratchet hadn’t caught up with him when he did, he likely would have died in that wilderness.”

[the-altered-sequence]

Writing update!

Bound to Ashes is available as a Google Doc (ask for .pdf) for general readers. I'm not after much feedback except general vibes and if you caught any stray typos.

It's 95k words (that's roughly 380 novel pages) written in 1st person present-tense, character-driven, post-apocalyptic science fiction set in a speculative alternate future. If you're interested in themes of survival, learning how to trust, and existing in a world that feels like it wasn't made for you, then you might enjoy it! I would content rate it for older teens and up.

From here, I'll take some more feedback into account and make any teeny-tiny edits I have to, then it's on to figuring out a nice free way to distribute an eBook.

[bonnibelleangelica]

POV: You’re My Friend and I’m Telling You About My Book (Status Quo)

Okay, so it's about this boy called Phylum. He’s 18 years old and lives in a massive bunker society 200 years after the apocalypse.

You see, the Yellowstone super volcano erupted and the ash was full of a new mineral that would mutate everything that ingested it, essentailly allowing them to evolve however they needed. Humans freaked out and a bunch of them hid underground so they wouldn’t be exposed.

So anyway, 200 years later (like i said), Phylum joins a team of other biologists to go study the surface for one week every month. However, for some reason, everyone on the team hates him. It has nothing to do with the fact that his society has a eugenics classing system that only lets certain people have kids, and of which he is also part of the highest ranking family. Nothing to do with that at all.

It can’t be! This system is great!

Anyway, when he goes up, they ditch him so he’s left to wander around alone. In all his arrogance, he decides to take a sample of a weird plant without gloves one, not knowing it will kill you almost instantly. He goes to touch it, but just at that moment, a weird, loud girl jumps out of the trees and stops him.

Anyway.

Turns out there are humans on the surface and they aren't feral monsters at all. Canopy (the girl) is actually chill as hell and they become great friends. She is obsessed with wildlife and has a journal full of her own research, so she shows Phylum around and does her best to flirt with him at all times. Hes like major league dumb tho, so he just thinks she likes constantly touching him and snuggling up whenever they sit down.

She has empathy tho (crazy i know) so when he tells her about how his society works, she is grossed tf out and it makes him start to think about it. In fact, as time goes on, he realises that he actually hates his life, his manipulative parents and the propaganda he’s been eating up this whole time.

In between all of these surface expeditions, Phylum decides to explore more of the bunker. This is when he meets Ash (Baby!), a little blind, albino girl from the lowest class. And despite never having an education, she uses the vents to listen to the doctorate lectures above her room. Impressed by her database knowledge of the scientfic names for plants and animals shes never seen before, Phylum takes her under his wing in the hopes he can convince the council to make her an exception and move her up the ranks.

This goes as well as you’d expect...

Heres my book @statusquoofficial and here is the concept art for the cover and the official synopsis. Enjoy! Can’t wait for you to read it!

[statusquoofficial]

Parvus the Rat

Formerly a lab rat used to observe the effects of catalyst, Parvus finds a new home with Canopy on the surface as a gift from Phylum. Due to his ability to melt hearts and look cute, Canopy feeds him at a near-constant rate and he grows to the size of a house cat and adapts to be even more heart melting and cute.

So on and so forth…

[theeccentricraven]

Writecamp Day 7 ☀️

Thank you again @agirlandherquill for hosting this special kind of tag game of writing prompts! ✍🏻

the rules are as follows: choose a prompt (or as many of them as you like) from the list, write something and share your creation with the rest of writeblr, and share the game with others, because as we all know writing is a gift and it deserves to be shared!

For today's prompt I chose "a cloudless sky" easy because my YA Dystopia The Blood Cleaners takes place in post-apocalyptic Arizona. My snippet is a little short because I'm near the ending and trying to avoid spoilers. The scene is from what I rewrote for Draft 2. I hope you enjoy.

Justin and John spent hours riding their bikes across the desert beneath a cloudless sky. They stopped occasionally to set a tiny flag in the desert dirt. The desert surrounding Arthur was full of life. Cacti, desert flowers, desert grass, diamondbacks, prairie dogs, jack rabbits, scorpions, tarantulas, and birds brought color to the desert. Hours passed before life slowly diminished, as flora and fauna disappeared into the wasteland. They were getting close to the Death Zone. They kept the Geiger Counter out. When the loud static cried, they turned around. They found a spot in the clean region to share their meal. John used a match to warm up an MRE. The pasta was ready and delicious. Justin and John ate quietly. After long conversations about how to break into the Steel, they’d earned a break. Justin thought that John deserved to hear something good. “Your daughter believes you’ll make it back.”. John snorted. “Why do you have to be such a damn optimist, kid?” Justin shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I’m not the only one who believes.”

Tagging moots (optional) and open!

@sleepyrxsetea @edstoriesblog @thecomfywriter @pen-for-sword @toribookworm22

@furrywrit3r @wyked-ao3 @selenekallanwriter @drchenquill @revenantlore

@kitkins13 @buffythevampirelover @willtheweaver @poethill @acmartin

@cowboybrunch @leahnardo-da-veggie @dandelion-jester @aalinaaaaaa @faeriecinna

@brynwrites @somethingclevermahogony @rickie-the-storyteller @raevenlywrites @winterandwords

@whatwewrotepodcast @jay-avian @gioiaalbanoart @orphanheirs @pluppsauthor

@happypup-kitcat24 @the-golden-comet @autism-purgatory @talesofsorrowandofruin @kaylark

@tildeathiwillwrite @screamingatanemptyroom @kbwritesstuff @spookyceph @pluto-murphy-writes

@ieppiq @diabolical-blue @forthesanityofstorytellers @thelittlewritingcat

@g0ttest0d @infinnative @little-peril-stories @lyneidas @kaylinalexanderbooks

[norbezjones]

Bez Reviews Independent Books 5: The Last Bread Mage

Hey everyone!  I wanna do little reviews/writeups for the independently-published books I find on itch.io, and so, here I am.  I want to review one book every month or two (or quicker, if I’m lucky); it’ll get me reading more, and get authors who often go without feedback some thoughts on their work!  I think it’ll be cool for everyone!

If you want your book reviewed, the only requirement I have is that it’s hosted on itch.io.  Even if itch is just one of many places you can get the book, I want to review books that have a home there at least.  Feel free to get in touch with me with your books—I’m @NorbezJones on Twitter (I refuse to call it X), Bluesky, Pillowfort, Threads, Instagram, and Tumblr; I’m norbez2.0 on Discord.

Looking forward to seeing your books! <3

__________

After I reviewed M. Kirin’s Memory Leak, Kirin ( @maxkirin ) contacted me and asked if I wanted a review copy of another one of their books, The Last Bread Mage!  I said yes, and here we are!  So to make it plain as possible: I was giving a free copy of this book in order to review it.  However, that does not sway my opinion of the book either way, and my opinions are 100% my own.

So, what’s The Last Bread Mage about?  Well, in a fantasy world, the end times have arrived.  A red mage named Fel manages to survive the destruction of his magic school, and he finds a saint named Amara, who insists they must go to The Pinnacle, the center of the world.  Along their journey, they find a knight named Virgen and a thief named Dormi.  The four journey to the center of the world using the help of Fel’s magic, and when they get there, they make a surprising discovery.

There are almost 30 chapters, and between each chapter is a mini-chapter that describes something that ended off the previous chapter and/or will start off the next chapter.  This “something” can be an object, a person, a piece of worldbuilding, anything really.  These mini-chapters are a cool idea and add a lot to making the world feel real.

So, I won’t bury the lead: I liked this book a whole lot.  I really, really love it.  And not because I got it for free—like I said, that does not affect my opinion, and I honestly wish I could go back in time and spend money on this.  I’m going to make this review as in-depth as possible to make up for the fact that barely anybody has read this fucking amazing book.  I have criticisms, obviously, but overall, this book is a 10/10 from me.

It reminded me of the thick sci-fi & fantasy epics I read to pass time in the hospital (to be clear, that is a compliment), immersing myself in deep worlds with rich characters between the pages.  I wish I’d had The Last Bread Mage during my last trip to inpatient.  I’m glad I have it now, at least.

Also, it’s one of those books that the more you read it, the more the meaning of the cover becomes clear & changes.  The last time that happened was with Still Life With Woodpecker, and it was pretty cool to see it happening here.

You might be asking, “Why is it called The Last Bread Mage?”  This is because Fel is the last red mage, and “bread mage” is another name for “red mage” due to the fact that red mages make bread for hungry people.  They basically use their magic to bend the rules of the universe using the three basic components all things are made of: texture, fiber, & substance.  By mixing & matching these basic materials, they can turn one thing into an entirely different thing, like when Fel renders the bars of a cell into bread.  They use up energy when they do that though, so they can’t do it forever—after all, even magic-users are only human.

The magic system in this book is very interesting, and makes for some very unique ways for Fel to get him & his friends out of the perils they end up facing.  It also soon leads to theological implications, because red mages’ magic changes the logic of the universe set by God.  However, God can only ���see” the basic components all things are made of, so since a transmuted item retains the same basic materials, in God’s eyes, nothing has changed.  These theological implications are explored in various ways and go in many directions I didn’t expect, like when Fel uses his powers to make him & his friends not exist in the eyes of God.

There are also times where Fel’s powers go awry, though, through no fault of his own.  Basically, the apocalypse occurring in the world is causing the world’s logic to fall apart, drowning continents and making fantastical creatures appear that previously only existed in fiction.  This means that the logic behind Fel’s powers sometimes fails him, such as when he tries to make a doorway for him & Amara to escape down the block from a threat, but when they go through that doorway, they’ve been transported halfway across the world.

By making the story about the logic of the universe and how it can be exploited or make what should go right go wrong, the book carries a consistent throughline throughout the whole thing, even & especially when Fel does his most shocking action near the end of the story.  It’s a very admirable feat.

Speaking of the ending, I do want to talk about that.  If you don’t want to be spoiled, skip to the “SPOILERS END HERE” line.

**SPOILERS START HERE**

When Fel and his friends reach The Pinnacle, they meet a few other folks there—and they meet God.  I wasn’t sure if God was going to end up being real or not, but there it is, fretting as the world comes to an end.  It’s revealed that God made the world in an effort to make order out of chaos, but chaos keeps seeping through, no matter what it does.  It has ended & restarted the world many, many, many times, always bringing back The Chosen Four (Amara & three others named Lumbre, Huesos, & Frio) and The Fated Four (Fel [true name: Felicidad], Virgen [true name: Virtud], Dormi [true name: Domino (a name Dormi finds “fucking stupid”) & Beatrix [true name: Hambre])

Beatrix is a very interesting character.  In this lifetime, she was the butcher in the prison Dormi was locked up in, ruthlessly killing many of Dormi’s friends.  But she regrets being that person, thought she had to make herself into what she now realizes is a monster.  Her & Dormi’s reflection is shown in this passage:

“Dormi and Beatrix‌—‌who had been incredibly lost until this point‌—‌found themselves looking at one another. They thought about the life they’d led and wondered how different things would’ve been had they switched places. It humbled Beatrix, for she had been taught to hate the people of Gritlan, and it scared Dormi, for they were terrified of the butcher they might’ve become.”

The eight of them are always created when a new cycle begins.  Amara remembers every single cycle, every single timeline that has ever existed.  So does God, of course.  And now, it’s time for the world to end for a new cycle to begin.

The Chosen Four all carry pieces of The Worldly Egg, from which a new cycle of the world will hatch.  They take out their pieces, the egg forms—but God doesn’t hatch it.  Instead, God admits to them that it is tired of change, of chaos.  It longs for predictability, and wants this all to end.  It wants this to be the last cycle to ever exist.

Of course, everyone else protests.  So, God asks them all to vote whether this should be the last cycle of the world.  God votes Yea, as it is tired of doing this over & over again.  Everyone else votes, until finally, Fel has to be the tiebreaker. 

But instead of voting, Fel takes the The Worldly Egg and rends it, crunching it down to its most basic materials and absorbing them into himself.  In doing so, Fel absorbs everything existing into himself—the world, his friends, even God—and becomes the new creator of the universe.  The Prince of Absolute Chaos.

He creates a new cycle, brings his friends back.  God is reborn as a child, and as a being who has never had a name, it asks Fel to have his—to be named Felicidad.  Fel says yes, as long as, “[Y]ou must promise me to honor the name by living a life full of joy, laughter, and smiles.  Do you promise?”

The previous God thinks about it—after all, life could be full of “joy, laughter, and smiles” or it can be full of “misery and misfortune”.  In the end, it promises Fel it will uphold the name, and the book ends on that final exchange.

I teared up quite a bit as I read through the ending, and even going back to find quotes for this review made me tear up again.  Saving your friends, saving the world, and even saving God—there’s something very beautiful in that, I think.

I also love how Kirin was able to bring aspects of his Mexican culture into the book, by making all of the true names that of “the first language” within the book’s universe (Spanish).  It’s a nice little touch and I think it’s neat.

**SPOILERS END HERE**

Now for my criticisms.  Like Adrian in Memory Leak, Fel is referred to as “the young man” quite a lot.  Sometimes this happens multiple times in the same paragraph.  This seems to be in an effort to avoid using pronouns instead, but sometimes, it’s better to just say “he”, as someone who also has this problem in eir writing (thanks, OCD [literally, not a figure of speech]!).

That’s basically my only nitpick.  I wish I had more to criticize honestly, but I really don’t.  Good problems to have.

In conclusion, I’ve never been angrier that a book isn’t popular than when I finished this one.  Where are the Tumblr shitposts and multiple pieces of fanart for this book?  I’m so mad lmao!  Also, I imagine I will have that feeling quite a bit as I continue this book review series.

I want to leave off with these words that Amara says to Fel, because I think they’re beautiful:

“‘The only thing worth a damn in this world is being the best versions of ourselves. What does that look like to you, sweet Fel? What does the best version of you look like? It may seem far away, unreachable at the best of times, but you should reach out for this impossible ideal. Be the truest version of yourself. That’s the only thing we can do. Everything else? My dear, everything else is a gamble.’”

So true, bestie.  Amen.

[jack-alanturne]

My new book

Hey everyone! My name is Jack R. Rival, and I'm a new upcoming author and artist. This year, I published my first work titled "WarEnder Act: I", a post-apocalyptic sci-fi about one soldier trying to end a current genocide and put the world back together. I'm starting a whole blog dedicated to WarEnder and its world and characters, and I would very much appreciate the support! This is my first work so it's not perfect, but I worked very hard, and I'd like to think it's an interesting read. It's only 9 chapters, and it's completed with illustrations that I did myself! If you decide to make any posts about it (which I would deeply appreciate!), please use the tag #warender so I am sure to see it!

The book is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as other bookstores, but I get the most royalties if purchased from the publisher themselves. Here are the links if interested!

WARENDER: ACT 1 by Jack R. Rival | Writers Republic Bookshop

Looking forward to sharing more with everyone, thank you!

[to-jest-apokalipsa]

hello!

welcome to my page :)

my name is oliver and this is my little oc/writing project called apokalipsa. it's a story about two young adults surviving in a strange new world after a disease eliminates a large percentage of the world's population. its also an alternate history, where ww3 has already happened and directly caused the outbreak.

some topics included;

grief and coping

war

disease

takes place in oregon!

nature

wlw romance

queer platonic relationships

fire watch towers

radios

older technology

strange creatures (think cryptids)

and found family

inspirations/similar stories that inspire me;

luke humphris' youtube channel/art

the biography of x by catherine lacey

the magnus archives

welcome to nightvale

house of leaves by mark z danielewski

scp foundation

if you're interested, consider hanging out here for a bit :) i'll (hopefullly) post art, bits of lore, and possibly(!) snippets of writing. and of course, collecting things that inspire me here.

- oliver

(fyi; for my mental health and productivity i probably won't be super active on this account/tumblr in general. however i will post things occasionally!! or when i think of it)

[blissfullyunawares]

Moodboard Prompt Request: Post-Apocalyptic World

Life After Zombies

If you'd like your story / wip / idea turned into a moodboard, send me an ask, and I'll queue it up for ya!

#blissfullyunawaresasks #blissfullyunawaresmoodboards #blissfullyunawaresprompts

[elliepassmore]

Moon of the Crusted Snow review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: post-apocalyptic stories, survival, Indigenous authors

I'd actually been thinking of rereading Desperate Times recently, so when I heard about this book my interest was piqued. It's another lights-out disaster book but based within a tribal community in Canada.

One thing that struck me out was the casualness of this book. Cell service and TV goes down, but that was common on the rez until recently, so no biggie. Internet down? Same thing. Power? Yup. The main character, Ethan, definitely gets that prickly feeling that something is off, but at the same time there's also that general "oh yeah, infrastructure is crapping out again" mood throughout the community. This is actually paralleled in the book with 'city living' and how people react there. Two younger men from the community were off at college and ended up traveling home after the power went out and so we actually get to hear about how things are going in other places, which I liked.

I also really liked how this book focused a lot on how the community dealt with things. This wasn't some every-man-for-himself (or himself and his family) situation. Or even one where survivors wander around until finally finding each other. From the get-go the focus is on ensuring the community, and in particular its most vulnerable members, are attended to and taken care of. It's a focus I appreciate and one I haven't seen much in disaster/apocalyptic books ( All the Water in the World is very community-oriented as well).

Evan himself is a pretty chill guy. He's not the leader of the community, but he is someone people turn to and he steps up and takes responsibility for things without really having to be asked. Like with the community-oriented aspect, I liked that the main character wasn't the leader of the group. I think it provides some distance from certain things and allows better perspective in regards to the overall situation. Evan is clearly someone who cares about his community and about his family. He's not particularly aggressive, but he's willing to become so if the situation necessitates it. I would have liked to see more of his family, his wife in particular was interesting to me since she helped with some of the kids' schooling (in Anishinaabemowin) and knew some stuff about medicine and traditional healing practices.

I would've liked to see more tension and talk around survival. The community had a pretty good store of food put away in the event something happened to cut them off from the city, but they know they'll run out eventually and I feel like there was not enough planning regarding how they were going to stretch their supply and/or function once it ran out. Teaching younger adults and teens how to hunt could've been a quick scene, and so would asking community members what kind of seeds they had, and it would've helped flesh out those practical aspects a little more.

Also, Evan mentioned at one point that there was enough food for 500 people for two years, but then later in the book they're worried it's going to run out before spring when they can plant. So my question is: How the hell did 300 people run through (more than) two years of food in 3-4 months?! I feel like there might be an implication of food stealing going on here, but it's not really made clear enough that that's actually what's going on vs. people being pressured into giving a certain character their food, leaving me wondering where all that food went.

I'll also say, the book does start jumping around a little in terms of the timeline, so that was a bit confusing. One chapter would end and then a new one would begin and have stuff changed without there being a clear indicator that time had elapsed. The first time jump was honestly the most jarring, the ones after that weren't as big a deal, but it did confuse me a bit.

[blackforrestpunk]

The Two of Us - Friend

We are nearly to the end.

[the-altered-sequence]

If only the warfare that nearly wiped out humanity had actually finished the job. Then Dev and the other remaining genetically Altered supersoldiers wouldn't be facing what could be their final days scraping by. They went from science experiments to vermin and today is the last straw. Their plan to finally end the fighting backfires, and now they face an even more frightening reality. The new human leader, Alessandra, doesn't want them dead. She needs their help. Dev isn't sure if his decision to help her will save them... or get them all killed.

Bound to Ashes (originally released in 2014) is a fast-paced, character-driven post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel (~90k words) about learning to trust and doing what's right even though no right has ever been done to you.

Status: OPEN for Beta Reading and FREE. (Link goes to the Google Doc folder.) Check out the additional document for feedback guidelines.

Reviews and more under the cut.

Content warning for language and violence.

I love post-apocalyptic settings. The idea of humanity as it is now getting a "reset" is compelling. But I was disappointed by the vast majority of post-apoc media rife with misogyny, alpha male kitsch, and grimdark nihilism. I wanted characters that felt the hopelessness of the world but still chose to be better. I wrote BtA to be the change.

BtA was my first serious writing project when I was 21, back in '12. Since then it has gone through 10 drafts, a few serious beta readers, a self-publishing, an un-self-publishing, and a last polish this year (2024) to finalize series-wide changes.

Here's what readers have said about Bound to Ashes:

"Bound to Ashes is everything I wish Maze Runner was."

"It took me three sentences to fall in love with this book, and it kept me hooked until the very end. Amazing read that I will be passing along to my friends."

"The mental images projected were vibrant and intense, and had me in tears in a bath."

[bonnibelleangelica]

STATUS QUO:BEHIND THE SCENES

~Propaganda Addition~

Alright, this one is just a bunch of tiny details so I’ll just do a dot point list.

- The writing at the bottom of the article got cut off anyway so I just left the template filler there. I did however show part of the bottom to fill space but the only thing you can make out is “North P-”. So as my roommates put it, “only real fans know about the North P-”

- The aesthetic of the bunker is very coldwar because how could I not? So if the propaganda gave you icky vibes, it should!

- I spent HOURS trying to come up with a name for the newpaper, just to cover it up in the final.

- The family having three kids was intentional, only the ruling class (nobles) are allowed to have three kids. So when they say “keep US safe” they mean them specifically. Gotta love the bourgeoisie.

- The newspaper date is my best friend's birthday

- The Chimera Initiative was started as a result of the bunker residents going multiple generations without marrying people of other races. Genetic overlap and inbreeding were starting to cause health issues, so eventually, they took away the right to choose your partner at all. From that point on, they were forced into arranged marriages based on genetic health and compatibility. (Eugenics, yay!)

[statusquoofficial]

Canopy Design Update 02.01.25

Okay okay okay, NOW we’re fucking talking.

[treexlady]

things I have googled this week as an author:

what does human meat taste like?

what happens to someone psychologically after being alone for 5 years?

how to stop writing cringey dialogue

is there a word for a group of three people that ISN’T a trio

how long after civilization falls would weather start changing

why won’t my cat stop walking on my keyboard