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Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord. King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!!

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ThePhotogsBlog


Very, very nice work and original story. I love it.

PureEnergy


Megapost, indeed...

Spooks, I am in utter awe of your magnificent talents, sir - and can only gape at all this artistry with humble admiration.  This is absolutely spectacular…  

Brilliant, and ever so superlatively.

ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
ThePhotogsBlog wrote:Very, very nice work and original story.  I love it.  

Thanks so much ThePhotogsBlog!  I'm glad to see you digging through the depth of the forum (there has been so much great work posted) and that you resurrected Saint Crow to the front page (I'll admit it, I get really happy seeing this come back up).  Stick around, I've got some more fun in the world of the Radio Kings coming soon.

PureEnergy wrote:Megapost, indeed...

Spooks, I am in utter awe of your magnificent talents, sir - and can only gape at all this artistry with humble admiration.  This is absolutely spectacular…  

Brilliant, and ever so superlatively.

Lol.  Yeah, this was done over 3 posts in an old forum, so when OSF got started, I HAD to bring the Radio Kings over, and to start at the beginning.  I was a bit worried no one would make it through it all in 1 thread.  Laughing

And seriously man, thank you.  I'm so glad you dig it.  Radio Kings is my other big story line, and it all starts with Saint Crow.  If you're interested, and you'll forgive my shameless self promotion, Marrow is the 2nd of the Radio Kings character's I've posted.  

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t545-marrow-the-deathblessed-from-the-world-of-the-radio-kings

We're coming back to the wastelands real soon, and I've got some fun stuff I'm dying to share.

http://reverendspooky.com

ThePhotogsBlog

ThePhotogsBlog
[quote="ReverendSpooky"]
ThePhotogsBlog wrote:Very, very nice work and original story.  I love it.  

Thanks so much ThePhotogsBlog!  I'm glad to see you digging through the depth of the forum (there has been so much great work posted) and that you resurrected Saint Crow to the front page (I'll admit it, I get really happy seeing this come back up).  Stick around, I've got some more fun in the world of the Radio Kings coming soon.



I look forward to seeing the work.

Ovy

Ovy
Yeah that is new to me, thanks photogs for digging it up!

I would write more but I still have to process it all... xD

ThePhotogsBlog

ThePhotogsBlog
I really love the loft set you built for this. Saint Crow and his buddies clearly have one of the coolest pads in the wastelands.

ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
ThePhotogsBlog wrote:I really love the loft set you built for this.  Saint Crow and his buddies clearly have one of the coolest pads in the wastelands.

Thank you so much! I will admit, I'm ridiculously proud of how the loft came out. It's such a versatile background too. I actually just repainted all of the brick work (I always felt like they were too dark a red anyway) to something with a lot more weathering. I don't know if I can ever leave a project alone. Definitely need to get some new pictures up, so might be a good excuse for a new photo shoot.

I figured these types of old brick industrial spaces would probably have held up the best after the apocalypse, and seemed like a great spot for him to take over. The Radio Kings is in a lot of ways about people rebuilding something decent from the ashes of civilization, and while Crow finds himself more and more drawn in by the community that's come together in this little territory he's helped carve out, he's extremely uncomfortable with the idea of settling down, and the sense of responsibility that comes from being seen as a leader. But having a sweet spot like this to put down roots definitely would be hard to walk away from!


_________________
www.reverendspooky.com
http://reverendspooky.com

ThePhotogsBlog

ThePhotogsBlog
The element that causes the most damage to un-maintained buildings is water, whether in liquid form or snow. If this building were in a very dry region....Arizona desert or something like that, it would have a pretty good chance of surviving.

I've gone into lots of poorly maintained old industrial buildings here in Montreal, and I can tell you that what give our first is the roof/ceiling. The wall, if they are thick enough, can last a long time. The building work in was built in 1908 and has very thick brick walls, both inside and out. The roof however was old and rotted and a couple of years ago, a sudden micro-burst in a freak storm tore about half the roof off.

My own post-apocalyptic collection will be set in the years immediately following the collapse and so decent housing will not be the problem so much as defending it from hungry, desperate survivors who'll do anything for a chocolate bar.

These things being said, it's the details, big and small that make your set come together. I love that spiral staircase? Where my I ask did you get that?

I plan to build a diorama-set for my figures also, but haven't decided if they've taken refuge in a hunting/fishing camp in the mountains, an abandoned motel, or have they gained access to some kind of underground bunker? I'm still think about this as I build my collection.


ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
ThePhotogsBlog wrote:The element that causes the most damage to un-maintained buildings is water, whether in liquid form or snow.  If this building were in a very dry region....Arizona desert or something like that, it would have a pretty good chance of surviving.

I've gone into lots of poorly maintained old industrial buildings here in Montreal, and I can tell you that what give our first is the roof/ceiling.  The wall, if they are thick enough, can last a long time.  The building work in was built in 1908 and has very thick brick walls, both inside and out.  The roof however was old and rotted and a couple of years ago, a sudden micro-burst in a freak storm tore about half the roof off.

My own post-apocalyptic collection will be set in the years immediately following the collapse and so decent housing will not be the problem so much as defending it from hungry, desperate survivors who'll do anything for a chocolate bar.

These things being said, it's the details, big and small that make your set come together.  I love that spiral staircase?  Where my I ask did you get that?  

I plan to build a diorama-set for my figures also, but haven't decided if they've taken refuge in a hunting/fishing camp in the mountains, an abandoned motel, or have they gained access to some kind of underground bunker?  I'm still think about this as I build my collection.

I really need to take a deep dive into the History Channel's Life without people, where they get a bunch of scientists and engineers to speculate on how landmarks and urban areas would decay without maintenance.  Probably essential watching for this kind of post apocalyptic stuff.  



That's pretty insane that you got to see some of that in real time!  It's tough, and you're totally right that realistically, modern structures really do decay quickly if un-maintained.  I've agonized over these sets, since I want them to be versatile for a variety of photo backgrounds, but I also want to beat it up a bit more for the Radio Kings pics, and don't want to ignore the reality of how little would survive that long after.  I really want to do some really decayed and overgrown backgrounds too, somewhere down the line, with this type of feel:

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 A422abfa71cf5c68a64bfee66ddb39a3

In this case, I skirt around it a bit with the idea that this has been somewhat maintained.  When Saint Crow finds this area, it was a small community, set up in the ruins of an old town and had been rebuilding for some time.  They'd managed to restore some power with wind and solar, and were working on restoring hydroelectric from the ruins of an old dam when they were taken over by a brutal warlord.  Saint Crow liberates them, and kinda settles in there, although he keeps telling himself it'll be temporary.  

I'm so glad you like the staircase!  I actually made it.  All the steps are from wooden folding hand fans:

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 712Gcsh1FLL._SX425_

I had seen a tutorial somewhere for a smaller scale, but I figure'd it'd translate to 1/6 fairly easily, and the cut out wood looks great as that sort of ironwork.  The inner fan pieces are too soft, so I could only use the ones on the ends, but I bought a big pack of them dirt cheap on amazon, so it wasn't a big deal.  I used a matte black spray paint, and some weathering powders for the rust, metal scrapbook corners to connect the outer edges.  Here are a couple close ups from when I was building it.

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 48525_orig

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 6716835_orig

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 1809084_orig

I fully encourage your dioramas!  The recently abandoned offers so many cool set and prop opportunities, and I like the desperation of people scrambling as civilization falls.  The bunker would probably be the easiest (concrete walls, functional furniture) but there's a ton of great detail that would be a blast to do, and lots of military bits you can work with.  The motel I could see being the hardest, but so worth it!  Lots of tacky carpets and peeling wallpaper.  The fishing cabin could be really cool too, although I shudder at all the woodwork (which is not my strong suit by a long shot). Either way, I'm excited to see what you have in store!


_________________
www.reverendspooky.com
http://reverendspooky.com

skywalkersaga

skywalkersaga
Ahhh wow, I am soooooooooooooooo incredibly in love with this!!! Not enough words to express!! This is the kind of content I am here for. The lifelong miniature enthusiast in me is thrilled by pretty much every single thing about this. ESPECIALLY those tiny LPs..... I NEED ME SOME OF THOSE OMG. :3


_________________
"The happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth, and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read,
not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man."

Ignoring current 'official' Star Wars content for my own sanity.

ThePhotogsBlog

ThePhotogsBlog
Wow! Your staircase is simply amazing work. I'm blown away.

"Life Without People:" I watched several episodes. Interesting but it gets tedious after a while. The thing is, it doesn't take that long for nature to reclaim a city or town that's not maintained and we have many examples that we can study in the here and now, the most famous perhaps being Chernobyl, of what happens when you abandon a city. It's not pretty.

The way I see it, cities would become very dangerous places in the post apocalypse, but at the same time, lucrative places for scavenging. Moreover, scavengers will be scavenging for different stuff depending on how long since the brown stuff hit the fan. There would be a point early on where what's being scavenged (or pillaged) is stuff like food, medicine, toilet paper, liquor, cigarettes and other consumables. That's what people would fill their backpacks with.

Later...assuming they have secured a stable food supply outside of the city and settled into farming or farming communities, just about any other manufactured goods that can be easily carried and make our day to day lives easier...tools, nails, screws, tarps, anything you can cook with...will be the things people scavenge. Eventually, if some sort of stable, comfortable shelter and existence can be established, that's when things like books, musical instruments, records and things to play them on will be the things people seek. In a world with a lot of hardship, and without TV, those things will be very important. This is where I can see "Radio Kings" becoming important.


Stryker2011

Stryker2011
Founding Father
That's amazing, Rev, that you made that staircase out of fans. Never would have thought of that. Brilliant.


And interesting discussion about the post-apocalypse. There's so many problematic areas if you want to be a true-survivalist -- which is why all these movies and TV shows about the end of the world are always a bit ridiculous. Urban environments would be the absolute worst place to go if you wanted to survive the end of the world. Without water, food, electricity and gasoline, food in grocery stores would quickly dry up -- disease and starvation would kill off most of the population in a matter of days -- not to mention murder and pillaging. A person alone won't last long at all. Sleep depravation would slow your response time, dull your senses and eventually kill you, or get you killed. But by the time most people figured out that the best course of action would be to get out of the city (and how would you do that without a working vehicle), 98% of the population would either already be dead or too weak to do anything about it -- imagine trying to walk your way out of a major metropolitan area with a backpack laden with necessities; or you have a small child; or an elderly or disable person -- all the while surrounding by other desperate folks wanting the same thing -- to survive. Tough choices would have to be made. Are you going to leave your kids behind? Put down your elderly parent who can't travel by foot?

Bunkers sounds like a good idea; if you were one of the folks smart enough to already have one. Those folks that do, have the money and resources to have stock-piled enough food and weapons to fend off all sorts of starving, weak-from-hunger invaders; so most likely you wouldn't be able to get close to any of those. And the majority of Survivalists that have Bunkers or are "Off-Grid" don't disclose those locations to anyone, and they are generally well-hidden. There are entire communities today of people preparing for the "end of the world", or at the very least the next Civil War, and they are a die-hard and committed group, many military or ex-military, who don't screw around, and wouldn't hesitate to blow someone's head off if it meant the survival of themselves and their family.

Rural areas would actually be your best bet for survival, but it doesn't make for interesting video games to watch a bunch of people living in camouflaged huts built from natural sources in the mountains of Montana or British Columbia, killing animals for food, and trying to grow crops with what little bit of grain they could carry with them on their way further out into the wilderness to get away from all the death and disease of the inner cities. Even then, you'd have to set up watches, not just for people, but for wild animals, and without a reasonable number of people in the community to spread out the day-to-day necessities for survival (shelter -- the most important; food -- and water) -- the chances of survival are still extremely slim. Humans can go without food for about 3 weeks; only 72 hours without water; but the number one killer of most people in a survival situation is exposure to the elements -- without some place to bunk down and either keep warm or cool -- you won't last long.

A community is the only way survival of any kind would work -- even if it's out in the sticks. You need people to keep watch, build shelters, hunt for food, plant crops, try to maintain some sort of sanitary conditions -- or disease and wildlife will kill you -- and most of that can't be done for long by a single person unless you're highly trained and skilled in woodcraft and survival techniques. The average Urban dweller is an idiot, and as I said before, they'd be mostly dead within a week's time (what few sickly stragglers were left could be easily wiped out after that).

Anyways... all of this is way too serious a subject for mere Action Figure dioramas of what's supposed to be fun "end of the world" dioramas with cool characters and cool sets.


_________________
Mark

He who dies with the most toys wins!

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 C8485110

ThePhotogsBlog

ThePhotogsBlog
Stryker2011 wrote:That's amazing, Rev, that you made that staircase out of fans. Never would have thought of that. Brilliant.


And interesting discussion about the post-apocalypse. There's so many problematic areas if you want to be a true-survivalist -- which is why all these movies and TV shows about the end of the world are always a bit ridiculous. Urban environments would be the absolute worst place to go if you wanted to survive the end of the world. Without water, food, electricity and gasoline, food in grocery stores would quickly dry up -- disease and starvation would kill off most of the population in a matter of days -- not to mention murder and pillaging. A person alone won't last long at all. Sleep depravation would slow your response time, dull your senses and eventually kill you, or get you killed. But by the time most people figured out that the best course of action would be to get out of the city (and how would you do that without a working vehicle), 98% of the population would either already be dead or too weak to do anything about it -- imagine trying to walk your way out of a major metropolitan area with a backpack laden with necessities; or you have a small child; or an elderly or disable person -- all the while surrounding by other desperate folks wanting the same thing -- to survive. Tough choices would have to be made. Are you going to leave your kids behind? Put down your elderly parent who can't travel by foot?

Bunkers sounds like a good idea; if you were one of the folks smart enough to already have one. Those folks that do, have the money and resources to have stock-piled enough food and weapons to fend off all sorts of starving, weak-from-hunger invaders; so most likely you wouldn't be able to get close to any of those. And the majority of Survivalists that have Bunkers or are "Off-Grid" don't disclose those locations to anyone, and they are generally well-hidden. There are entire communities today of people preparing for the "end of the world", or at the very least the next Civil War, and they are a die-hard and committed group, many military or ex-military, who don't screw around, and wouldn't hesitate to blow someone's head off if it meant the survival of themselves and their family.

Rural areas would actually be your best bet for survival, but it doesn't make for interesting video games to watch a bunch of people living in camouflaged huts built from natural sources in the mountains of Montana or British Columbia, killing animals for food, and trying to grow crops with what little bit of grain they could carry with them on their way further out into the wilderness to get away from all the death and disease of the inner cities. Even then, you'd have to set up watches, not just for people, but for wild animals, and without a reasonable number of people in the community to spread out the day-to-day necessities for survival (shelter -- the most important; food -- and water) -- the chances of survival are still extremely slim. Humans can go without food for about 3 weeks; only 72 hours without water; but the number one killer of most people in a survival situation is exposure to the elements -- without some place to bunk down and either keep warm or cool -- you won't last long.

A community is the only way survival of any kind would work -- even if it's out in the sticks. You need people to keep watch, build shelters, hunt for food, plant crops, try to maintain some sort of sanitary conditions -- or disease and wildlife will kill you -- and most of that can't be done for long by a single person unless you're highly trained and skilled in woodcraft and survival techniques. The average Urban dweller is an idiot, and as I said before, they'd be mostly dead within a week's time (what few sickly stragglers were left could be easily wiped out after that).

Anyways... all of this is way too serious a subject for mere Action Figure dioramas of what's supposed to be fun "end of the world" dioramas with cool characters and cool sets.




I've been researching the topic of survival in a post apocalyptic scenario for decades, mostly because i'm a child of the cold war and spend a considerable portion of of my childhood watching nuclear armed B-52 and FB 111 bombers take off and land at the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base in the 60's and 70's. I live in Montreal, which is nearby and my family used to camp all season long near Plattsburgh. Anyway...Cities bad for long term survival and unless you have true Jim Bridger mountain man skills, so are the woods or mountains. Even so, if you get sick or are injured somehow, you are far from any kind of medical help and probably a goner.

Bunkers may get you through a crisis....like nuclear fallout etc, and could even make a permanent operating base. But eventually, you will still run out of food. So, my opinion as to the best location for your secret bunker is around farm country. Farming will be the only way of providing a stable food supply for groups and while most city folk aren't any good at being farmers on their own, the one thing they could do, if they have guns and ammo is to strike up a deal with local farmers to provide security and protection for their farms, and if you have non combatants in your group, labour. In a world where there's no gas or diesel fuel for the tractors, little or no electrical power, farmers will need every pair of hands they can get to help on the farm. But like you say.....this is too serious, not to mention boring for action figures or post apocalyptic movies.

Another place to hole up, but which you would be incapable of stocking in advance with goodies, would be any old coastal or other fortification with it's walls and living quarters intact. There are a lot of 18th and 19th century forts in North America where this is the case. Of course if you've planning to occupy one of those place, you'll need a substantial force to man its defenses which multiplies the supply problems. Anyone planning to occupy an old fort therefore, had better bring several truckloads of food and supplies, and if the fort isn't a a rural area, you may still starve when your food runs out.

Stryker2011

Stryker2011
Founding Father
Agreed, farm country is the best. Perimeter defenses would be a nightmare without armed guards. Medical care would only last so long in a big city, however. Sanitary conditions would all but disappear in a centralized medical facility, as would supplies. Hopefully, someone in your community would have medical training — even if it’s just a military medic or a Veterinarian. Sadly, serious wounds would probably still be fatal.

You and I must be about the same age. I was stationed in Afghanistan in the mid 80s, then at Ramstein when the Wall came down in ‘89.


_________________
Mark

He who dies with the most toys wins!

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 C8485110

ThePhotogsBlog

ThePhotogsBlog
I think the best solution to perimeter defense would be to take a page out of medieval times and build small, fortified villages or hamlets and take refuge behind the walls at night and work in the fields by day.

The best way to patrol and keep the fields safe by day would likely through watchtowers and patrols on horseback. Horses incidentally, would become very, very valuable. If you live in a cold area as I do, wood burning stoves would be in high demand.  And yeah...you want both MD's and veterinarians in your group.  Of course, the guys in the watchtowers should have high-powered rifles (if they can't have machine guns) and the patrols, be they on horse or foot would need to be armed as well. Reconnaissance, intel gathering and emergency planning would also be essential to survival.

Having said all these things though, it's worth noting that the native tribes that populated the St-Lawrence Valley, essentially where I live, survived in North America for millennia without the modern tools and conveniences we have today. The Iroquoian tribes that lived around here lived in long houses made of wood and bark, had to resort to open fires for cooking and warmth, and lived off the land.  But we just don't have the skills and knowledge they once did, and neither to their descendants.

ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
skywalkersaga wrote:Ahhh wow, I am soooooooooooooooo incredibly in love with this!!! Not enough words to express!! This is the kind of content I am here for. The lifelong miniature enthusiast in me is thrilled by pretty much every single thing about this. ESPECIALLY those tiny LPs..... I NEED ME SOME OF THOSE OMG. :3

Thanks so much Skywalkersaga!!  Really glad you're enjoying.  I'm such a big fan of miniatures too, and at a point I just started needing to build some environments.  Granted 1/6 is THE WORST for it, since it ends up being so huge.  I keep seeing gorgeous dioramas in small scales and thinking "I bet I could do something like that in 1/6..."  Madness!

And so glad you dig the records!  I need to continue to grow Saint Crow's record collection.  I'd say I should start taking album requests, but almost all were made with records I own.  It's really easy to find cover art, but can be really hard to find good images of the backs of albums.  Thankfully, I usually pick up all my favorites on vinyl, so I have a lot to draw from.  The stickers on the records are photographed from the actual record stickers on most of these, and for that Cramps record, I used the actual record art, which is different from the CD release.

Stryker & PhotogsBlog -

1st off, so glad you guys like the staircase!  I wish I could take credit for the idea, but someone far more clever beat me to it, and I just adapted to 1/6.  It was genuinely a fun project to do though.

2nd, PhotogsBlog, thanks for the heads up on Life Without People.  I'll probably do an episode or two, and get all I need out of it.  And maybe I'll cherry pick a few episodes to watch my favorite landmarks decay.  It's funny that you'd say "it's not pretty" in relation to places like Chernobyl.  I have such a deep and intense love for all the photos people take of abandoned places reclaimed by nature.  Places like Chernobyl (and the nearby Pripyat amusement park) or Japan's Hashima Island are so achingly beautiful to me.  

3nd, Stryker, too serious!?  But discussions on apocalypse plans are the most fun!!!  I am really glad that this thread ended up here.  And at least for me, I end up thinking a lot about the logistics of these things when I'm putting together figures and dioramas.  The Radio Kings is meant to be way over the top with some pretty fantastical and sci-fi elements (The Scut are borderline supernatural) but I definitely aim for a certain level of believability, at least with this type of stuff.  Discussions like this are really helpful too, as I'm always testing and questioning the believability of my ideas.

Stryker and PhotogsBlog, I think you guys are totally right.  Building a community is key to survival, and a some sort of fortified farm situation definitely sounds like the only sane way to survive.

Unfortunately, sane has no place in the world of the Radio Kings, and things definitely went down the darker path.  Since their apocalypse was so heavily caused by environmental factors, farming became a way harder option.  Chaos ruled everywhere, and people fought for what they could scavenge, and when there weren't any more scraps, often cannibalism.  The populations severely and rapidly diminished.  People did find ways to grow things, either through new agricultural advancements or some sort of hydroponic greenhouses.  But they'd usually just get taken over by whatever warlord was in power in that area at the time.  Most survivors either became monsters or slaves.  Eventually, things settled into some equilibrium, and I'd imagine it mostly to be a number of spread out fiefdom's with a lot of empty space in between.  And the good are rare.  There's a lot more nuance than that, but those are kinda the broad strokes.  

One of the cool things about setting it a ways in the future is that it is such a different world.  Very empty, with these clusters of madness that are as close to civilization as it gets.  Our world feels like ancient history, a mysterious civilization that rose to incredible heights and destroyed itself.  There's been technological progress and some form of industrialization, but under the stranglehold of dictators and warlords.  Strange cultures took form, like the nomadic Scut, who are a post-apocalyptic tribal culture that have adapted to living in the harsh environment.  Weird cults appear and latch on to misinterpreted pieces of old found culture.  Genre-wise, It's almost fantasy, drawn over the bones of our world.


_________________
www.reverendspooky.com
http://reverendspooky.com

Stryker2011

Stryker2011
Founding Father
Glad you found the conversation interesting, Rev. I was beginning to worry we may have been hijacking your thread, or putting too dark of a spin on your really cool world you’ve created.


_________________
Mark

He who dies with the most toys wins!

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 C8485110

ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
Stryker2011 wrote:Glad you found the conversation interesting, Rev. I was beginning to worry we may have been hijacking your thread, or putting too dark of a spin on your really cool world you’ve created.

Not at all! It's the perfect discussion for this thread. I fully encourage anyone to chime in on their apocalypse plan, or their approach to apocalyptic fiction.

Funny, I was worried I was the one with way too dark and cynical a take on the apocalypse! I honestly really enjoy the nitty-gritty of puzzling out how it would all go down, and how to survive. And the least glamorous is probably the most logical. But I think it's really dependent on what the cause of the collapse of civilization is. Is it a pandemic? Usually the survivors are the scientists or medical personnel who have access to somewhere to seal them off from whatever's causing it. Of course they may try to save friends and family, and will need muscle to help with a lot. Not to mention the levels of paranoia if you have some sort of fast spreading and fatal illness. The Zombie apocalypse? The Walking Dead (the comic especially, I couldn't stick with the show) does a great job of exploring how communities could grow up and thrive dealing with the undead. That show Jericho from a few years ago was actually pretty interesting for their take on a farming town whose location (along with some other circumstances) left them in a unique position in a country wide nuclear attack. It's really a shame it didn't continue, as it had some really interesting ideas.

I've also thought about it before from the perspective of, what if someone had some advance notice? Could they not only have a stocked bunker (or community of bunkers) but could they start gathering people with unique skills that would thrive in this situation. Are there unconventional technological ways to approach it? Solar/wind/hydroelectric energy sources. I've read about some crazy advances in hydroponic farming, and growing crops in warehouses in urban environments. I agree that the average person is pretty screwed, but it might be outliers who have the best chance. People with unique access, knowledge, or skill sets. There are people WAY smarter than me who would approach things from a perspective I couldn't even imagine. Or being lucky enough to be in some advantageous position. PhotogsBlog, your characters scenario is a perfect example of timing giving your crew a unique advantage. I'm curious, have you puzzled out the cause of your story's apocalypse?

All the things you guys mentioned are actually way better approaches to a story taking place when everything goes down. My scenario would be terrible to read or watch, and way too hopeless and bleak. Evil basically wins for a 100 years. But so many years later, it's a great rock bottom starting point for a character to come in to.


_________________
www.reverendspooky.com
http://reverendspooky.com

skywalkersaga

skywalkersaga
Interesting discussion.

I adore post-apocalyptic settings, whether realistic or fantasy versions. That said, as with all my fiction, my preference is for dark, but with a heavy dose of Romanticism. : ) Of course, I can appreciate the appeal of exploring things in a highly realistic manner that draws on actual survivalist knowledge and what we know of history and pre-history (and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading things like 'The World Without Us', which was a thought-experiment that sounds similar to the video that was recommended above; along with another post-apocalyptic story I encountered recently, entitled 'Station Eleven', which was absolutely haunting), and have spent a great deal of time thinking about how such a thing would pan out in 'real life'.

But at the same time, I also think that a post-apocalyptic world can be a wonderful fictional setting in which one can simply tell a good story, explore some fascinating themes (such as freedom, mortality, 'what is civilization', etc,), and even just as a way to provide a backdrop for some excellent character studies -- and for those purposes, hyper-realism isn't always a necessary, or even desirable, approach.

When it comes to realism vs. fantasy in this genre, what is rather more irksome to me is when a story *claims* to be a 'gritty' and 'realistic' take on such a scenario, but actually is anything but. I much prefer a fun and unapologetically fantastical post-apocalyptic story like Mad Max: Fury Road than, say, something that makes a false pretense at 'gritty realism'. :p


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ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
skywalkersaga wrote:Interesting discussion.

I adore post-apocalyptic settings, whether realistic or fantasy versions. That said, as with all my fiction, my preference is for dark, but with a heavy dose of Romanticism. : ) Of course, I can appreciate the appeal of exploring things in a highly realistic manner that draws on actual survivalist knowledge and what we know of history and pre-history (and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading things like 'The World Without Us', which was a thought-experiment that sounds similar to the video that was recommended above; along with another post-apocalyptic story I encountered recently, entitled 'Station Eleven', which was absolutely haunting), and have spent a great deal of time thinking about how such a thing would pan out in 'real life'.

But at the same time, I also think that a post-apocalyptic world can be a wonderful fictional setting in which one can simply tell a good story, explore some fascinating themes (such as freedom, mortality, 'what is civilization', etc,), and even just as a way to provide a backdrop for some excellent character studies -- and for those purposes, hyper-realism isn't always a necessary, or even desirable, approach.

When it comes to realism vs. fantasy in this genre, what is rather more irksome to me is when a story *claims* to be a 'gritty' and 'realistic' take on such a scenario, but actually is anything but. I much prefer a fun and unapologetically fantastical post-apocalyptic story like Mad Max: Fury Road than, say, something that makes a false pretense at 'gritty realism'. :p

I'll have to check out The World Without Us too, and definitely need to look into Station Eleven!  My tastes usually run along those same lines.  

Yeah, I agree 100% that the post apocalyptic setting really is just in service of the story you want to tell, and the themes you want to explore. And there's a lot you can get away with omitting and leaving to the imagination.  But too big a leap in logic can be really break your immersion.  I'm not overly critical, but there have been so many shows I've enjoyed, until something happens that just makes me scream "Come on! That could never happen that way!"  The Radio Kings world has a ton of really out-there concepts and fantastical elements, but I still feel the need to maintain a believability within that world.  I'm far more comfortable with a story that bends the laws of physics than logic.  Fury road was glorious madness, but it never felt felt like there was anything that didn't work in the context of that world.  And Radio Kings is definitely in that realm of of over-the-top insanity.  

I'm always re-examining my own concepts, trying to break them, so I can make them stronger, and I welcome the chance to look at it from someone else's perspective. I want there to be a strong and believable logic, at least to how the world works.  I know I don't have the knowledge to make it completely unimpeachable, but my logic needs to stand up to at least some gentle prodding. Smile


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Stryker2011

Stryker2011
Founding Father
You might want to check out Richard Matheson’s book “I Am Legend”. There have been 3 film interpretations, but none of them followed the book that well. That last one with Will Smith (despite a great performance by him), sucked horribly if you know the book. Stephen King cites it as the book that got him interested in writing Horror novels.


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He who dies with the most toys wins!

Saint Crow - 1st of the Radio Kings & Post Apocalyptic Warlord.  King's Currency: Wasteland Salvaged Records, Turntable, and Speakers MEGAPOST!!! - Page 3 C8485110

ReverendSpooky

ReverendSpooky
Stryker2011 wrote:You might want to check out Richard Matheson’s book “I Am Legend”. There have been 3 film interpretations, but none of them followed the book that well. That last one with Will Smith (despite a great performance by him), sucked horribly if you know the book. Stephen King cites it as the book that got him interested in writing Horror novels.

I remember reading it years back! Really heartbreaking stuff, and the twist at the end (and the reason for the title) is magnificent. And I remember being really excited by the trailer for the Will Smith movie and then really disappointed after seeing it too. I had never heard that about Steven King though!


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