Life… The Best Game in Town

Before I get to the heavy stuff, big news! The Kickstarter launch has been pushed back a bit from March 24 to give me time to properly promote it, but the prelaunch link is live now.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waypointcomic/waypoint-1-4

Go there and click the "Notify me on launch" button. The more people sign up, the better for metrics. Or something. I don't know. I'm learning about this stuff (against my will) as I go.

Okay, onto the actual meat of the post.

It’s easy to be cynical about humanity. I’ve been guilty of it a few times myself. Claire Carlisle, the main character of my upcoming comic WAYPOINT, was so cynical about humanity that she left earth entirely to get away from it. One could probably make a convincing argument that the main character of a comic that I wrote reflects my own views. But here’s the thing: misanthropy is the easy way out. Sure, there will always be bastards. The crux of WAYPOINT (and, I would argue, real life) is: don’t be one of them.

Let me tell you about going to a funeral for somebody I’ve never met.

A couple Saturdays ago, the worst of us started an illegal, unjustified war for their own profit. I was blissfully unaware. Instead, I was at a celebration of the too-brief life of a genuinely good man: John Sawyer, or, as I know him on Discord, Emergency Stount Cerril. He doesn’t live that far for me – about 40 miles down the I-5 freeway, or, in LA terms, two hours away. We’d always intended to get together for a board game day, or meet up at a metal concert, but the stars never quite aligned. Now that door is shut forever.

Still, he made a big impact on me (and a lot of other people), even through the medium of text and dumb GIFs. He was always the voice of reason, always happy to help with tech questions if he could, always a welcome addition to any conversation. Plus he could fire off a wicked zinger.

Turns out that was true in real life as well. Over and over, all the speakers touched on a common theme: his kindness. One story stuck with me.

One of his aunts went up to deliver a few words. From what she said, I gathered that she was of a more conservative bent. Which proved to be a problem when her son realized that they were, in fact, her daughter. She spoke about how her initial reaction was one of disgust and anger – how could their child do this to her? Cerril was the first one to take her aside and say to her, “Everybody else hates her for what she is. She’s your child. Love her.”

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by world events. Here’s the thing: it’s unlikely that you, personally, will be able to do anything to shift the course of history. In my book, Claire gets such an opportunity, but that’s because it’s a story and it needs stakes. And if you ever do get a chance to make a positive difference, do! We saw that (and still are seeing it) in Minnesota this year. But the anxiety and stress that comes with staring at your screen, trying to will a better world into existence?

Well, there’s a reason it’s called a screen. It separates you from the world. Creates a divide. Keeps us apart from each other. All you can do through that screen is offer words of support. And sometimes that’s helpful! More often, though, the way to make the world a better place lies in doing things like Cerril.

Offer a loved one a place to stay while they’re trying to get back on their feet. Take the time to guide their much-lower level characters through tricky parts of World of Warcraft when they need an escape. Walk your coworkers through tech issues without rolling your eyes at them. It’s those little (and sometimes larger) acts of kindness that make an impact on those around you.

I bring this up in the context of WAYPOINT because that Celebration of Life – and Cerril’s shining example – served to confirm my own core beliefs, beliefs that I had scripted for the comic well before I even knew him. Claire pulls together a little group of friends through little acts of kindness of her own: offering a friendly ear to someone who’s grieving, giving a candy bar to a hungry alien, drinking with the weirdo at work who nobody else likes. Those acts snowball in a big way for her, ultimately giving her the strong support system she needs to take down the bad guys (and go through her own arc).

The bad guys, meanwhile, are engaged in a complex conspiracy to influence galactic events, but they’re all selfish assholes and wind up turning on each other when Claire starts pulling on strings. It’s a bit simplistic, sure. I think recent real world events have proven that it’s not that outlandish. Ultimately, all these miserable fucks in positions of power hate each other and would turn on their colleagues in a second if it benefited them. Kindness is an act as alien to them as Zeta Hub is to Earth. They’re not creating a positive impact through munitions.

Cerril made the world a better place. His example continues to make the world a better place. It’s purely coincidence that WAYPOINT touches on similar themes, but I’m happy it does. Be like Claire. Be like Cerril. Don’t be a bastard.

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