Line #19 Literature/BadInfluences

Context Literature / BadInfluences

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1	[[http://badinfluences.org.uk Bad Influences]] is a BlogFiction. It is told through a set of four interconnected character blogs.
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3	It is a NearFuture DisasterFiction, set in 2026 (thirteen years in the future, at time of posting) and blogged in RealTime. It follows the devastating spread of a fatal pandemic flu virus. The story is told simultaneously from the viewpoint of four major characters from four distant corners of the world, and sometimes by their friends, family or random strangers who comment on their blogs. Readers are encouraged to sign up to participate in the comments in-character and become part of the story.
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5	The four main bloggers are a group of friends who met on a conservation volunteer project in Vietnam a few months before the beginning of the story, and keep in touch through their blogs. [[http://brighterhorizon.wordpress.com Mei]] is an idealistic first year art student at Peking University, [[http://darthfarmboy.wordpress.com Jack]] is a comic artist and gamer living on his family’s farm in New Jersey, [[http://lonerlain.wordpress.com Elaine]] is a misanthropic supermarket greeter in Canberra and [[http://nursinggrievances.wordpress.com Ash]] is a nurse, husband, father and disillusioned ex-rebel in North London.
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7	As each character's individual story unfolds, a fifth story emerges in the comments concerning their influence on one another and the nature of online friendship and communication.
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10	!! This show provides examples of:
11	* ApocalypticLog: This is effectively the central premise. There are explanations of how the internet remains functional, provided the characters can find the means to power a device that can connect to it.
12	* JustBeforeTheEnd: The apocalypse is ongoing throughout rather than immediate, so we get to see a DepopulationBomb in progress rather than coming in afterwards.
13	* ThePlague: The quick-spreading [=H5N1=]-like strain of bird flu is referred to by a few names before being dubbed "Blood Flu".
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16	!! Episodes of this series provide examples of:
17	* Elaine has some ApocalypseAnarchy going on as she goes into hiding
18	* Mei displays some TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople
19	* Ash's story plays on expectations of the CosyCatastrophe
20	* Mei and Ash's stories will both explore DisasterDemocracy in various ways
21	* The characters exchange recipe memes about their current diet, and more than one is ReducedToRatburgers.
22	* Ash is currently a textbook WatchTheWorldDie.

Context Literature / BadInfluences