Oh yeah, 100%! It also lands a little differently through the show, sometimes despairing, sometimes regretful, and even with a flicker of hope. Absolutely recommend if you’d like a sci-fi survival story that feels like a dark graphic novel. The writing is top notch
You should check out Scavenger’s Reign! The intro music only becomes more haunting and fitting as you learn more about the story. I never skipped it and i typically don’t like title sequences
Edit: Intro link
Octavia Butler has an essay that makes the same key point as Stephen King: read and write. It’s the same as any other skill. If you’re a musician, you listen to music and play your instrument. If you want to draw, you watch people draw, observe their process, and you draw. If you’re a welder, you watch people weld, study the process, and you weld.
Storytelling, however, is very broad. You see it on tv, in movies, in books, and you practice in daily conversation. There are loads of books and videos discussing different aspects of storytelling structure, form, and best practices. The Great Courses even has a lecture series on storytelling. But the best thing you can do is read and write. And ask for feedback.
Seveneves kind of touches on rebuilding although it skips decades and centuries. Lucifer’s Hammer deals with the aftermath of a global disaster and includes some rebuilding… kind of. Alas, Babylon explores a post-nuclear world. None of them are particularly optimistic except Seveneves (in a way), but it also doesn’t explore rebuilding in a lot of detail. Since you’re already reading Octavia Butler, you can try Lilith’s Brood, but it won’t be anything like rebuilding the modern world. Asimov’s Foundation series is about rebuilding at a galactic scale but I’m not sure they aged particularly well.
If you’re interested in building specifically you can try Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars.
In addition: Children of Time might scratch the itch in a way since it’s about the development of a sentient species. I think the sequel explores more building, but i haven’t read it yet and the reviews are kind of mixed
Oh man, I wonder what the author of The Book of Eels thinks. I remember thoroughly enjoying the book even though it ended without any conclusive idea where eels come from
And a couple that aren’t really reactions but I use them anyway:
When they announced new star wars like 10 years ago I really hoped for a Kyle Katarn story. Seeing what they’ve done though I’m glad they left him alone
Catching strays
Watch videos and read some articles about it. There are different edge angles for different use cases, but you’ll generally aim for 20-25°. For things like razors and kitchen knives you’ll want a straight grind/edge and for more heavy use knives a slightly beveled edge is okay. Low grit is for large corrections like burrs and blunt spots. Those kinds of corrections will take a lot of time and you’ll want to look for uniformity before moving to higher grits for a sharper edge and eventually polish. Highly recommend starting with an angle tool and going slowly with a knife you don’t really care about. Work on keeping your angle and pressure consistent and don’t press down very hard. If you apply too much pressure you’ll damage both the edge and stone, especially for softer (higher grit) stones. Check your work regularly to make sure the edge is consistent, you’ll see it pretty clearly under a light. It takes practice. I’ve been freehand sharpening for about 20 years and I still mess up sometimes.
My biggest tip is regular maintenance! I clean and do a few passes on 3000 grit with my kitchen knife every time I use it and it’s been my sharpest knife for 10 years. And clean your stone! Residual steel will build up, making the stone less effective and also risking damage to the edge.
Do my 600 applications mean nothing?!
(Yes, they in fact mean nothing)
Personally, i lack executive function and self discipline. I used to read 3 or 4 books a month and write for a minimum amount of time every day, which usually went much longer. I have one published short from my time in college, then i graduated and started working. What focus and motivation I had evaporated with my free time as I now had to balance a dozen competing priorities. I still regularly have new ideas for plots, scenes, characters, and beats, but ten years later I’m between jobs and so burnt out I’d rather just sleep, game, and hang out with my dog. I’ve justified a lot of it to myself by saying “I need to experience more” before i can do whatever story justice, which is just an excuse. I only need to practice more. I’m certainly trying to start it up again.
But fuck, man, I’m so tired lol