I’ve been having all sorts of debates with myself about political things, criminal justice, etc… All the things that go horribly sideways after an apocalypse.
I just noticed something about my characters’ backstories: They’re all young. This is by-design. It’s also the case in almost all action stories for the same reason I chose it: Old people don’t go on adventures. I can use system fuckery to inject older folks with the necessary hormones to get them active again. System fuckery is much less effective when it comes to changing attitudes.
Digression: And now I need to add the old guy who is the exception to that rule. Either because “someone needs to keep an eye on the kids” or “fuck yeah! Second chance!”, perhaps one of each. That sounds like a book two problem.
This has immense repercussions because that means they’re also dumb! Naive, if you prefer. They can make stupid mistakes. What 25 year old understands the importance of stable local government? What 17 year old is going to care about standards of evidence before he feeds a bad guy to the dungeon?
Some of this sort of thing can be used as story fodder. More importantly, it can also be used to hide author ignorance and stupidity.
I need to remember to write them as young people. This is most definitely not a Young Adult series, but my common reaction to YA – “why are they doing this stupid thing?!?!” – applies. They’re young and dumb (not stupid; that’s different).
I was thinking I might need to make Sheriff Ken Corrigan a bit older. I have him at 35. According to our AI overlords, the average age of a US sheriff is 39. 35 should be fine.
One more bonus: This takes place in rural America. An apocalypse doesn’t change culture. Official channels may break down, but everyone is going to remain basically rule following and respectful, if far more wary of strangers. No one is starving and desperate (here). Hungry(*) and upset are entirely different things and don’t (usually) escalate as badly.
Cities are different (and this is one reason I moved out of one). Despite their claims of “culture”, cities don’t have *a* culture. They’re a hodgepodge of different cultures only living side-by-side due to the threat of state force. When that threat is removed, so is the restraint that keeps them from each others throats. If I need to elaborate, you need to read the news more carefully.
Kier’s town meetings will be run by Robert’s Rules simply because that’s how meetings are run. Not literally, but that’s the underlying idea.
(*) I do need to look into “protein starvation”. There’s going to be no shortage of meat (in book two, winter is going to bring hordes of monsters down from Canada), but one cannot live on meat alone.
Oooh! Start of the werewolves-as-mercenaries story? Go to North Dakota to protect the oil fields from said monsters. Maybe even by government (of some sort) request? Pack fans out. Our intrepid hero claims another sector or two. No one knows what the sector numbers mean. Only the people in them are notified. Semi-stealthy/semi-legitimate land grab. I think I just figured out the middle of book two.
Marked Up 