The End Of All Things: Apocalyptic Fic
THE END OF ALL THINGS:
APOCALYPTIC FIC
By
BRADYGIRL_12
Apocalyptic stories are tough to write and often to read. They involve loss and upheaval, usually not for the better. Change is part of life, but apocalyptic stories deal with change on an immense scale and with surprising swiftness.
When I wrote The End Of All Things (Goddess, I love that title!), I chose Wonder Woman as the person who would see the earthshaking events that would affect the huge cast of characters, including herself. Through her eyes we see loss and change, and finally, the birth of a new world.
This workshop chronicles my thoughts as I wrote this story, so it's also a story writing process essay.
THE TASTE OF ASHES
I chose Diana as the character who would see these events because of her empathic and Warrior nature. Either Clark or Bruce could have served, but Diana seemed the best suited, perhaps because her background (the Gods and Goddesses) connects her to sweeping events, but also because of her empathy.
Certainly I could have used several different viewpoints with the large cast of characters, but decided to stick to one POV. It served two purposes: seeing the losses pile up on one character, but also Diana could maintain some sort of distance for some of the deaths, which would not be the case if I told this story from other viewpoints besides hers.
I chose to kill off Steve early in the war to begin her losses. It hurt me to do it since DC had already killed him twice in pre-Crisis canon, but losing her Beloved made Diana vulnerable to the losses of war.
Her losses mirror those of the other characters: soulmates, relatives, and friends. As the old world collapses around them, the losses build up.
How do Diana and her friends survive these losses? That is one of the major themes of the story: surviving the losses as the old world disappears and the new one is born.
Apocalyptic stories deal with the loss of everything and everyone in varying degrees. If you’re squeamish about deathfic, I wouldn’t recommend writing this genre. You do have to kill off at least a few characters, after all.
The psychological ramifications are just as important as the physical: how do your characters react to the devastating change in situation? Do they crumble or harden, and is there anything left of them when it’s all over?
Diana loses Steve early in the war, then her mother and sisters as Paradise Island is invaded and everyone killed. She must come to grips with being the last living Amazon.
Her Warrior training helps her, because she can fight back in a tangible way. Other friends and colleagues begin to fall in battle, and there are the wounded. A major theme of the story is Clark’s susceptibility to the weapons that the invading aliens are using, and old enemy (and former friend) Lex Luthor comes up with a protective armor for Clark, Linda, and Kon.
NEW ALLIANCES
Lex Luthor and his tangled relationship with Clark and Bruce intertwines with the story of him developing the armor. Bruce doesn’t trust Lex but is forced to because the armor will allow Clark to fight and keep him invulnerable, and Clark allows Lex quite a bit of trust, and here is where I threw in a bit of the Smallville television series by hinting at a close friendship (possibly lovers) between the two of them in the past. Lex became a villain and Clark ended up with Bruce, but Clark never forgets those he’s loved (and a small part of him continues to love).
Diana must form new alliances with old friends at the end of the story as the new Amazons depart for another world to build themselves up again, the new culled from the surviving ranks of female superheroes and exceptional civilians.
INCREMENTAL STEPS
How could I write this story without miring everyone, including myself, into deep depression? Well, to be honest, it was going to be a dark journey, but I did add some lighter moments, as when Lex and Diana have coffee together in the cafeteria, and when Clark re-charges in the garden with Bruce at his side and the other heroes watching.
Diana eventually breaks down from the weight of all her losses, but Clark and Bruce are there to help her through it. I did try and show the raw pain that she was suffering, often hidden from everyone else, but she never forgets her mother and Steve, missing them every day, and she doesn’t know if she can go on with a jagged hole of emptiness inside her. She’s bleeding emotionally and is wounded as badly as any of those physically hurt. One of my favorite scenes to write was her breakdown.
CATHARSIS
Why write such a dark story when my fiction tends to be more upbeat and optimistic? I find that darkfic serves its purpose for me. While I prefer a sunnier outlook, darkfic allows me to bleed out darker thoughts and impulses that is cathartic.
THE FINAL BATTLE
The chapter of the Final Battle does bring everything crashing down upon Diana’s head and that of her colleagues: the final sweep of losses occur in this chapter, and we see that not only lives are lost, but minds as well.
I knew that this chapter would be difficult to write as well as read, but felt it was necessary with the apocalyptic theme. The losses occurred rapidly, piling up on one another, until it almost crushed the survivors, but then the final theme that had played throughout the story had its final curtain: hope.
HOPE
Despite the darkness of this story, I knew that hope had to be a part of it, otherwise it would just be too crushing. And a completely dark fic is fine with me, but I just felt as if this story would be better served with hope struggling to remain throughout the darkness. The theme intertwined with that of survival, but without hope, survival is merely existence, not living.
Even after the terrible events of the war, with the world devastated and the future uncertain, there is hope. Diana visits the Kents, Alfred, and the Trevors to say her goodbyes before leaving for her new world, and while all three families are left with loss, they are all peaceful and accepting. Martha knows that Clark’s greatest fear was outliving everyone he loved, and that won’t happen now. Alfred will tend the Manor and the graves of his family, grateful that Bruce was given peace at last, and the Trevors will remember Steve and continue.
Lex is determined to help build the new world, relishing the challenge. He and Diana share a scene of hope for that new world, in which Diana also gives Lex the hope that Clark still loved him.
Not all apocalyptic fic requires hope as part of the theme, but it seemed fitting for this particular story.
CONCLUSION
Despite the darkness of this story and how difficult it was at times to write, it remains one of my favorites. I really felt like I was hitting on all cylinders with this one, and hope that the rising of the new world from the ashes of the old was a satisfying story for you to read as well.
And, yeah, the title fit perfectly! One of those that when you thought of it you say, "Yes! That's it!" ;)
APOCALYPTIC FIC
By
BRADYGIRL_12
Apocalyptic stories are tough to write and often to read. They involve loss and upheaval, usually not for the better. Change is part of life, but apocalyptic stories deal with change on an immense scale and with surprising swiftness.
When I wrote The End Of All Things (Goddess, I love that title!), I chose Wonder Woman as the person who would see the earthshaking events that would affect the huge cast of characters, including herself. Through her eyes we see loss and change, and finally, the birth of a new world.
This workshop chronicles my thoughts as I wrote this story, so it's also a story writing process essay.
THE TASTE OF ASHES
I chose Diana as the character who would see these events because of her empathic and Warrior nature. Either Clark or Bruce could have served, but Diana seemed the best suited, perhaps because her background (the Gods and Goddesses) connects her to sweeping events, but also because of her empathy.
Certainly I could have used several different viewpoints with the large cast of characters, but decided to stick to one POV. It served two purposes: seeing the losses pile up on one character, but also Diana could maintain some sort of distance for some of the deaths, which would not be the case if I told this story from other viewpoints besides hers.
I chose to kill off Steve early in the war to begin her losses. It hurt me to do it since DC had already killed him twice in pre-Crisis canon, but losing her Beloved made Diana vulnerable to the losses of war.
Her losses mirror those of the other characters: soulmates, relatives, and friends. As the old world collapses around them, the losses build up.
How do Diana and her friends survive these losses? That is one of the major themes of the story: surviving the losses as the old world disappears and the new one is born.
Apocalyptic stories deal with the loss of everything and everyone in varying degrees. If you’re squeamish about deathfic, I wouldn’t recommend writing this genre. You do have to kill off at least a few characters, after all.
The psychological ramifications are just as important as the physical: how do your characters react to the devastating change in situation? Do they crumble or harden, and is there anything left of them when it’s all over?
Diana loses Steve early in the war, then her mother and sisters as Paradise Island is invaded and everyone killed. She must come to grips with being the last living Amazon.
Her Warrior training helps her, because she can fight back in a tangible way. Other friends and colleagues begin to fall in battle, and there are the wounded. A major theme of the story is Clark’s susceptibility to the weapons that the invading aliens are using, and old enemy (and former friend) Lex Luthor comes up with a protective armor for Clark, Linda, and Kon.
NEW ALLIANCES
Lex Luthor and his tangled relationship with Clark and Bruce intertwines with the story of him developing the armor. Bruce doesn’t trust Lex but is forced to because the armor will allow Clark to fight and keep him invulnerable, and Clark allows Lex quite a bit of trust, and here is where I threw in a bit of the Smallville television series by hinting at a close friendship (possibly lovers) between the two of them in the past. Lex became a villain and Clark ended up with Bruce, but Clark never forgets those he’s loved (and a small part of him continues to love).
Diana must form new alliances with old friends at the end of the story as the new Amazons depart for another world to build themselves up again, the new culled from the surviving ranks of female superheroes and exceptional civilians.
INCREMENTAL STEPS
How could I write this story without miring everyone, including myself, into deep depression? Well, to be honest, it was going to be a dark journey, but I did add some lighter moments, as when Lex and Diana have coffee together in the cafeteria, and when Clark re-charges in the garden with Bruce at his side and the other heroes watching.
Diana eventually breaks down from the weight of all her losses, but Clark and Bruce are there to help her through it. I did try and show the raw pain that she was suffering, often hidden from everyone else, but she never forgets her mother and Steve, missing them every day, and she doesn’t know if she can go on with a jagged hole of emptiness inside her. She’s bleeding emotionally and is wounded as badly as any of those physically hurt. One of my favorite scenes to write was her breakdown.
CATHARSIS
Why write such a dark story when my fiction tends to be more upbeat and optimistic? I find that darkfic serves its purpose for me. While I prefer a sunnier outlook, darkfic allows me to bleed out darker thoughts and impulses that is cathartic.
THE FINAL BATTLE
The chapter of the Final Battle does bring everything crashing down upon Diana’s head and that of her colleagues: the final sweep of losses occur in this chapter, and we see that not only lives are lost, but minds as well.
I knew that this chapter would be difficult to write as well as read, but felt it was necessary with the apocalyptic theme. The losses occurred rapidly, piling up on one another, until it almost crushed the survivors, but then the final theme that had played throughout the story had its final curtain: hope.
HOPE
Despite the darkness of this story, I knew that hope had to be a part of it, otherwise it would just be too crushing. And a completely dark fic is fine with me, but I just felt as if this story would be better served with hope struggling to remain throughout the darkness. The theme intertwined with that of survival, but without hope, survival is merely existence, not living.
Even after the terrible events of the war, with the world devastated and the future uncertain, there is hope. Diana visits the Kents, Alfred, and the Trevors to say her goodbyes before leaving for her new world, and while all three families are left with loss, they are all peaceful and accepting. Martha knows that Clark’s greatest fear was outliving everyone he loved, and that won’t happen now. Alfred will tend the Manor and the graves of his family, grateful that Bruce was given peace at last, and the Trevors will remember Steve and continue.
Lex is determined to help build the new world, relishing the challenge. He and Diana share a scene of hope for that new world, in which Diana also gives Lex the hope that Clark still loved him.
Not all apocalyptic fic requires hope as part of the theme, but it seemed fitting for this particular story.
CONCLUSION
Despite the darkness of this story and how difficult it was at times to write, it remains one of my favorites. I really felt like I was hitting on all cylinders with this one, and hope that the rising of the new world from the ashes of the old was a satisfying story for you to read as well.
And, yeah, the title fit perfectly! One of those that when you thought of it you say, "Yes! That's it!" ;)