Working on these pages of Scylla has put me in a reflective headspace I didn’t entirely expect.
On the surface, the last few pages have been about power, hierarchy, and threat… quiet conversations in corporate offices, measured words that carry very real consequences, and characters who believe they’re justified in how they treat one another because of position, intelligence, or survival. But sitting with the finished pages, what really stands out to me is how casually cruelty can be delivered when it’s wrapped in authority or convenience. DeBarett remains composed and Ventrik doesn't show fear. And yet the way they talk to each other, and about other people, is sharp, transactional, and dismissive in a way that feels uncomfortably familiar.
In the midst of the Christmas season, a time that’s supposed to center generosity, patience, and care it’s hard not to think about how easy it is to forget those values when systems, deadlines, or perceived importance get in the way. Dystopia is a dark world by design, but the questions it raises aren’t limited to fiction: how we speak to others, who we deem “useful,” and how much empathy we’re willing to extend when no one is watching.
As always, Jackwraith and I are grateful you’re here reading along, thinking about these things with us, and I hope the season gives you moments of kindness, reflection, and connection both on and off the page.
