Hello
Well, it’s done! Sorta!
This site is the culmination of several years of work. Well–daydreaming with occasional work. This is the result of five or so years of that. I never really had any specific sense of what it would be. But as, like many people, I’ve felt more and more angry about the world sliding further and further into a capitalist dystopia, I felt I needed to get it out there as some kind of “thing” instead of just sitting on it. Not that it will change anything, but just to try and articulate my own sense of spiralling bewilderment and to give a sense of one possible logical conclusion to all this madness. It’s a story about the misery and profanity of work, the humiliating grind of trying to survive in a world set up to destroy you, and the general psychosis of utterly uncontrolled Capital.
I’ve spent the last few months trying to draw it together into a self-supporting set of tiny fiction pieces. I hope to add to it as I go, and establish some kind of regular update routine. There are gaps that I will fill; there are a lot of things I want the setting to “do” that it doesn’t yet do, though I have them mapped out–emphasise the alignment of Capital with fascism, at least partly tackle the question of how marginalised people suffer more under a hard Capitalist system (and specific, culturally-determined subsets of humanity e.g. old white men benefit). But for now, it’s very much a single perspective focused on the absurd cycle of a late capitalist society shitting itself out and eating its own shit over and over again.
I decided to present everything like this after experimenting with comics, illustrated fiction and various other forms. I think the story works best when you just see disconnected snapshots of how things are. I feel like it’s important to emphasise that it’s not a puzzle to “piece together” or some kind of secret plot thread to decode. The pieces don’t tessellate–it’s more like they overlap and layer up. They are meant to provide thoughts and ideas and concerns and themes–not answers.
Meanwhile, though, I’ve got some specific things planned to add to the site in 2018:
- A glossary section for easy reference to some of the main concepts, characters, brands etc
- A REZQ Stuff Store
- A FAQ / submission of user questions
- Longer-form fiction pieces set in the setting
- Gallery for art / writing by guests
- Character registration (maybe!)
If you have any comments, suggestions for features or any other feedback I’d be happy to receive emails at mongreldog@rezq.space. Please do also drop your email address into this form if you’d like to be updated of any major developments for the site. Or you could follow the REZQ Twitter account.
Meanwhile I hope you have the opportunity to rest and look after yourself over the festive season. If you don’t have any new year’s resolutions set up yet, might I recommend joining a union?
bye for now