Introducing The Anti-Anti-Anti-Christs
Hello and welcome to The Anti-Anti-Anti-Christs, my very first attempt at prism fiction. This is the first episode in a series, and hopefully the start of something amazing. I'll explain everything on this page, but let's start with the story:
What's it all about?
Our hero works for a secret organization dedicated to hunting down and eliminating the Anti-Christ — which is not, as you might have heard, a singular event. It happens regularly, and requires constant vigilance to keep on top of — which is why our hero has devised a way to predict the birth of Anti-Christs before it happens. The trick is, the secret organization decides to use this technology to hunt down and kill the parents — technically innocent bystanders — without mercy. This isn't what our hero had in mind, and so they set out to find and save as many soon-to-be parents as they can...without bringing about the apocalypse by mistake.
Wait, is this anti-religion?
No, follow along:
- Christ = cool guy
- Anti-Christ = evil guy
- Anti-Anti-Christs = trying to kill the evil guy
- Anti-Anti-Anti-Christ = trying to stop the people trying to kill the evil guy's parents
See? Clear as mud.
Why does the hero not have a name?
Ah, you noticed! That's because you have to choose the character's name. And their pronouns, too! That's part of Prism fiction: the main cast's definition is entirely up to you and your preferences. If you want an all-female story, all it takes is making a few selections on a form. The story updates to match. If you decide to switch your choices a few pages in, that's cool too. It's all about what you want it to be.
What's the catch?
No catch, just the possibility for interesting self-reflection. Since I don't explicitly say who each character is when you name them, you won't know for sure what the character's dynamic is with the rest of the cast. In early betas, we had surprise love affairs cropping up, awkward moments of violence, and an overall feeling of unease in spots — which is good! If nothing else, I want everyone who reads AAAC to think about why they chose what they chose, and if and when they decide to switch a character around, I want them to ask themselves why.
Is this a psychological experiment?
No, it's an artistic experiment. It's exploring the nature of identity, not just in terms of how you see yourself, but in how you see the world around you. There are no judgments here -- I'm not tracking any of the choices you make -- it's purely a question of how you feel about what you've decided. Yes, I play some games along the way, throwing in love triangles that might make some people uncomfortable, but ultimately, this is an examination of why you prefer the things you do, and how adamantly you prefer them.
How can I play?
It's easy: just head on over to the Anti-Anti-Anti-Christs page and set up your hero, and get reading. The first episode is about 20,000 words long, so it'll take you a bit to get through it all, but with any luck you'll be desperate to read more...
...and with even more luck, I'll have more sometime this year :D
