addressing a puppy-sized elephant in the room

[ratbones]

"You know that Lizzo song that goes like 'Why men great till they gotta be great?' I've been singing a version of that in my head but with different lyrics which go 'The world doesn't need your coronavirus hot take.'" - John Green in the first ten seconds of this video

I've been trying to think of something to say about COVID-19 and the obvious but completely coincidental thematic overlap with the long longfic I finished posting recently, but really, I got nothing. My degree is in astrophysics; I have no relevant expertise here. I have a little bit of experience in how to make a pandemic into an entertaining story, which is the opposite of useful right now. I don't keep up with the news (one might say I generally avoid the news as much as possible and get my coronavirus information from the CDC and WHO websites) so I have gaps in my knowledge of current events. If anyone has thoughts, feel free to think them at me! I just thought I'd better make some kind of note somewhere, since people are picking up on the confluence of events, that I don't have a take, and that All-Consuming is...okay, I wouldn't say it's wholly apolitical, but it's not a specific commentary on any news story.

EDIT 4/22/20, for those coming from the link in the author's note: WELP. The fic still isn't about coronavirus, but, look, this is the world we live in now. The story is permanently entangled with the actual plague that it accidentally presaged. I hope it can be comforting or hopeful in some way. (For what it's worth, I've come around to finding the whole thing kinda funny?) If the fic brings up feelings, I'd be delighted to talk to you about it. <3

Comments

[extrapenguin]

1. The CDC is apparently being an underfunded hot mess about covid right now, so looking at more local level leadership might be a good idea? Or just wash your hands and and don't spread any bugs you might catch, especially not to elderly or immunocompromised people. On the science side, you might enjoy the situation report by NextStrain, or this overview with links about what is currently known.

2. WRT All-Consuming, I think you finished it off just in time for it to not look terribly topical. Had it started posting now, it would look very different.

3. Coronavirus take cold enough to cure global warming forever: wash your hands. (Twitter thread with the science of soap vs viruses!)

(I haven't joined Twitter! I have merely started procrastinating by reading about the covid situation through scientist outreach twitters! I should probably go write fic instead...)

[clevermanka]

I have a little bit of experience in how to make a pandemic into an entertaining story, which is the opposite of useful right now.
Au contraire! I think it's INCREDIBLY helpful and is one of those weirdly timely things that makes me feel that "wow, maybe time isn't linear!" thing. Here's this giant, scary thing that people are having to deal with and here's this fucking amazing story with characters fighting and succeeding. It provides such good catharsis. Which yes, I think is a hugely useful thing, especially right now.

It does suck that you're feeling weird about it (instead of smug, which is totally where I'd be). That's not a cool feeling and I hadn't thought about those comments making you uncomfortable. I apologize for my part in that.

[marycrawford]

I never thought for even a hot second that the two were related other than coincidentally, since your story came out much earlier, but I agree with manka - having a fabulous story that provides catharsis connected to a scary theme that's in the front of people's mind right now is great. I mean, that is part of what fiction is for, right? To tell stories about scary things, but have the good people win despite the odds (unlike IRL where a brave Chinese doctor died after warning people about the virus, alas).

Also, I get a little emotional about fandom sometimes and All-Consuming is one of those moments - it is so GOOD and reading it I feel like, how did I get so lucky? How can I be reading a novel length story about characters I love, that's as tightly paced as anything you could wish for in a pro novel, with a clever action/time travel plot AND a romance that makes me clutch myself and go eeee, and I just...get to read it for free? HOW?

I will be rereading and dropping some actual comments on AO3, so mostly this is just a heads-up for that, and a whole lot of <3 <3 <3 to throw your way.

[nnozomi]

late to the party but I was thinking about this and hoping you were not continuing to worry; from my perspective at least, good fic is always a good thing (I'm still looking forward to the Epilogue too), and All-Consuming in particular is...the right distance removed from reality to be comforting rather than depressing? I mean, the coronavirus is bad, but actual zombies would be so much worse, to state the obvious. And it's heartening that it doesn't end in total despair and disaster, either. (I have also been thinking about going back to reread Anne McCaffrey's Moreta, do you know that one? influenza pandemic on another planet, with dragons, it seems like the time.)
in any case, best wishes and take all good care :)

[tinny]

you are in a weirdly unique position, having just written All-Consuming.

Is it life imitating art? ;P

Also: the hype level around corona really is more reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse than a virus with a lethality of 1%... O_o