Requesting some Rowan worldbuilding for WIP Wednesday this week, because I love the concept. What are some of the primary elements from Fallout and Borderlands that inspired you? Other than sci-fi, what genre do you see this being? In this future are people chill with queer relationships or is that an obstacle people are going to have to deal with?
You don't have to answer all the questions but if any of them catch your fancy I would be happy to hear it. Or if there are any other random pieces of information you'd like to share!
Thank you very much for the questions, I am very excited to talk about this!
So, full disclosure, Fate is Just the Half of It grew out of a concept for a Rhack (Borderlands) fic set in the world of Fallout 4.
The main Fallout part of the inspiration is a post-apocalyptic world with people surviving in different ways and different societies, plus several factions, each of which believes they have the right idea of what the new world should be like. Also, a man-out-of-time premise for one half of the main duo, being a survivor of cryogenic freeze; and exploring the themes of identity and humanity for the other, being a digitally preserved consciousness of a pre-apocalypse person, now living in a lifelike android body.
(In short, if you know Fallout 4, RhysRowan is not quite the Sole Survivor, but in similar shoes; and Jack is a self-aware synth. Also, both these facts are revealed in chapters 1 and 2, so I'm not really spoiling here.)
So the main Borderlands influence is the main characters. Jack Howard, who refused to change his first name for this story, is inspired by Handsome Jack, albeit with a less... villainous life trajectory. Another easy way to picture Jack Howard is to take MCU's Tony Stark and never give him the existential crisis of Iron Man 1. So, brilliant industrialist, charismatic douchebag, really good at capitalism, emotionally closed off from everyone except very, very select few. And Rowan Woods, modeled after Rhys Strongfork, an ambitious young engineer who, instead of taking a technically-minded job, takes a shot at being the PA of someone he'd admired for a really long time. Wouldn't you know it, they fall in love, but then apocalypse happens.
Genre-wise, I think FiJtHoI (wow, what an acronym) will mainly feature sci-fi and romance. There's adventure, there's drama, and there will be a happy ever after.
Which brings me to the last question: are people in the future I write cool with queer relationships? Yes. Parts of the story will be set in an alternative near-ish future (late 21st century), and parts, two hundred years later. And in both of these times, queer relationships are universally accepted in my story world. (As are trans people, by the way; Rowan is a trans man.) I give my queer characters plenty of obstacles to overcome on their way to happiness, but I also like to give them a world where they can be who they are and love who they love without fear of discrimination or violence.
(That's not to say I'm writing a post-apocalyptic utopia. Other forms of prejudice may well be present: for example, differences in opinion on whether sentient AIs are deserving of human rights.)
An Australian film directed by Rowan Woods and written by Jacquelin Perske. It was filmed in and around Sydney, in Cabramatta and in Fairfield. The film was developed and produced by Vincent Sheehan and Liz Watts of Porchlight Films, with Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton's production company Dirty Films receiving an Associate Producer credit.
Tracy Heart is a former heroin addict who is desperately trying to escape her past and achieve her goals and dreams. Tracy lives with her mother and brother Ray in the suburb of Cabramatta, Sydney, where heroin is readily available.
She is in need of money to become a partner in the video store that she works in, but her loan applications are repeatedly rejected by finance providers, as a result of her past criminal record, poor repayments of credit card debt, history of drug use and lack of collateral. Tracy lies to both her mother and her boss at the video store, pretending she has received the loan. The casual ways people lie to each other for convenience is one of the recurring themes of the movie.
Tracy is trying to help her drug addicted stepfather and former National Rugby League star Lionel Dawson to kick his heroin addiction. After a four-year absence in Vancouver, her former boyfriend Jonny Nguyen, also a former heroin addict, has come back into her life. Jonny, who now dresses in business suits, claims to have employment as a stockbroker at a large firm and suggests he may be able to obtain the money Tracy desires through share trading. The romance between Tracy and Jonny is rekindled.
Upon visiting Jonny's alleged workplace, Tracy discovers Jonny has lied to her and is not in fact employed as a stockbroker. Jonny has become involved in a drug deal with her brother Ray, and Tracy also chooses to become involved in the deal as she sees this as the only means of providing the finance she needs to become a partner in the video store.
Tracy, Ray, and Jonny set out to execute the deal, which ends in tragedy. Tracy's courage and deep love for those she cares about are notable in the climactic scenes of the film.
Cate Blanchett as Tracy Louise Heart
Hugo Weaving as Lionel Dawson
Sam Neill as Brad "The Jockey" Thompson
Martin Henderson as Ray Heart
Noni Hazlehurst as Janelle Heart
Dustin Nguyen as Jonny Nguyen
Joel Tobeck as Steven Moss
Lisa McCune as Laura
Susie Porter as Jenny Moss
Anh Do as Tran
The soundtrack composed by Nathan Larson.
Meet Ash and Rowan. Members of the Wood Clan. They live in the deep Forest where they can forage and hunt everything they need to survive. They are nomads therefor dont stay long on one place.
