Definitely a shame that the world has ended up in such a state. Thank goodness Summer's around to break the system and put an end to such harsh outcomes.

Well said! She's the hero we need~

Summer's a really fun character <3 I like Autumn and Backdoor too
And I really like the world you've come up with

Great work on this!

Thank you! It was cathartic to come up with this world, and I wanted the one who ended it to be likable~

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you with notes on this, as it took me a while to fully register everything I love and relate to in this story. As a (self-proclaimed) environmentalist, there is so much about this climate change dystopia that I have only seen in my deepest fears for the future - sea obliterated with plastic, oil, and dead fish, hurricanes and wildfires raging at the same time, and the mosquitoes - rising temperatures making for the perfect environment for mosquitoes to live and spread disease is an aspect I don't see discussed a lot, even in 'conventional' climate fiction.

The most fascinating character in this was Autumn. I don't know if you've ever read Parable of the Sower, a 1993 dystopian book about climate change. In it, there's this character called Joanne, the protagonist's childhood friend. In that book, the protagonist, Lauren, confides in her about how she plans to survive off the land once their gated community inevitably falls apart, but Joanne doesn't take her seriously. I read her as an allegory for giving up, saying, 'humans didin't cause climate change, and even if we did, we can't change it back. What are we going to do? We're just kids.' She snitches to her parents about Lauren's crazy wilderness survival plan, and years later, her family is one of the few to willingly leave the community to live in a beachside company town.

To me, there are a few similarities between Joanne and Autumn. Autumn wants what's best for Summer, and in her mind, the best thing to do is to just give up. It's better to try and eke out an existence in a crappy world than try to do anything to disrupt it or go against the status quo. She's also adept at being in denial over her own actions, telling Backdoor that they are the one who have been hurting her friend...seconds after she brought guards over to taser her and send her to prison. It's scary that there are people in the real world who don't experience internal hypocrisy like Autumn - that 'why did you make me hit you?' mentality.

As always, I loved the little references you sprinkled in - Verixxotle from Parks-&-Rec, Whitewhale from BoJack, By N' Large from WALL-E, and those jabs at Bezos and Musk I MEAN Wastedough and Husk. The Summerpocalypse would never have happened if they hadn't made future generations so unfathomably hungry - it's a bittersweet end for Earth, in that even though its gone, at least all those people won't have to keep shuffling in half-lifes in the Time of Hunger.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful and thought-provoking post! This was such a depressing story, I was worried that nobody would get anything out of it. I'm so glad it resonated with you!

I wish I could take credit for worldbuilding, but this story's universe didn't take much imagination, since most of it came from real life -- the recent rise in mosquitoes and dengue fever, wildfires and the resulting smoke, and so on. With everything going on nowadays, it wasn't hard to picture a future that'd make the present look pleasant.

I hadn't heard of Parable of the Sower, but I trust your taste and was intrigued by what you said of it, so I got on the waitlist for a copy from the library. I'm excited to read it and then talk about it more with you!

In the meantime, based on what you've said, Joanne definitely sounds a lot like Autumn. Both think of themselves as good people and realists -- even though they're really the opposite on both counts. They hurt their friends in their attempts to help, and, in accepting reality as it is, they're in denial about the fact that they could try to make things better -- and they might even succeed.

I'm reminded of my favorite book series, which happens to contain an allegory for climate change: A Song of Ice and Fire. One of the characters once said, "Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it."

Joanne, Autumn, and most people in real life fall into that category. It's hard to imagine the world becoming a dystopia -- partly because it hasn't happened yet, so it's out of sight and out of mind. And once the world -is- a dystopia, it'll still be depressing to think about -- so it'll be easier to be like Joanne and Autumn and go, "This is fine."

To be fair to them, though, Summer's not much different. Like Joanne and Autumn, Summer simply accepts that the world sucks, and she doesn't bother thinking of ways she could try to improve it. To her, the damage is already done, older generations and corporations are to blame, and there's nothing she can do about it.

If anything, Summer's arguably an even worse person than Joanne and Autumn. She spends much of the story focusing on her own insatiable wants, she aids others only when doing so coincides with her desires, and her idea of helping the world is ending it. In that way, she's just like her mother and Autumn -- hurting people without their consent in an attempt to help. Don't get me wrong -- I like Summer, and I did my best to make readers like her too -- but I tend to like mean characters the best.

Thanks again for giving me so much to think about -- and for appreciating the Easter eggs, as always!

This was a surprisingly thoughtful story, what is it like in summer belly?

Thank you! It's very roomy~