Hello!
I'm "Jack," as you know. Maybe we've had a PM or two, maybe not? Well, I think we're a bit acquainted, anyway, and I think we both want to be here, so let's not pussyfoot around, yeah?
A few years ago, I got it in my head that I could merge the high-concept military fantasy utopianism of Metal Gear's anti-capitalist thematics with the explosive calm of Tomb Raider, the grittiness of cold steel mingled in humid jungles. Derring-do, heartache, trauma, adventure, weird jokes and a love of the natural world and its varied splendor.
The result is, uh, ehhhh.
The problems set in more or less immediately. I hadn't done enough regional prep; I knew hardly anything about Peru, Afghanistan, Darfur, Cuba, or let alone Bolivia where much of the immediate events would be set. I hadn't written this much "action" before, and found myself suddenly a bit troubled with my ability to convey motion and urgency. Least of all, by the time I was a few months in and almost eighty pages thick, I realised Snake and Lara (my two leads!) had no real reason to stand by each other. There were too many fissures and not enough promise they were intentional conflicts I would resolve and not enough planning to resolve things smoothly.
So, I did what any good fiction writer would do. I threw the baby out with the bathwater and went to go fall asleep in front of Bojack Horseman for the next couple years.
A few things happened since then, I'm sure in your life as well as mine. I got married. My mom died. I almost bought the farm a couple times and did buy a few new cars (since departed). Naturally, I did keep writing, and got a bit better about starting big projects without a roadmap first.
But also, Metal Gear Solid V and Shadow of the Tomb Raider came out, and both of them are shockingly similar in goals and thematic interests. V is a masterpiece and Shadow is, uh, neat! But I saw where, with more or less both "franchises" closing out their respective stories, my story from years past might have slotted in. And neatly, no less.
So over the last spring I've been replaying some of the games, of both franchises and with particular focus on MGSV, and that's sort of why I'm writing you now. I'm going to restart this ol' engine of mine, see if it still runs, see if I'm still half the pilot I thought I was to mix a metaphor or two. I'm also reorganising and really just second drafting from what's uploaded as-is. Replays have given me a lot of fresh ideas, and a sense of new perspective on what's already taken place. A fair bit of change is going to be in store for what's already happened; I've gotta tell you, I like parts of the airport scene, but we're gonna be nigh-on glacially paced if things were going at a snail's speed before. The story will also expand in some ways, and shrink in others.
What does all that mean for people who've already reached where I had stopped? Well, for starters, I'm gonna be upfront: the story ends well past the last MGS4 story timeline (roughly 2014) so time is a matter of little urgency, but we'll also be spending some time in the sixties, maybe the seventies, and how some TR character backgrounds fit into the crossover is still being worked out. The dialogue is probably going to change the least; I managed to get everybody's mood okay on the first pass somehow. Something else is in general the story is going to be a lot less problematic, and a lot more focus is going to be on the people of colour in our story and how Snake and Lara and Hal (all white folx) deal with other cultures in a way contextually appropriate for them as people.
Which, of course, is a warning for those lookin' for sexytime and action romps: I'm basically an avowed SJW so if that shit turns you off, you might wanna keep looking elsewhere.
So! As of now, I'll be leaving this up, warts and all, to peruse and see, but for how long will depend on when I can get this first chapter up of the new draft. After that, it'll be a matter of archiving; It'll stay up, but more as a relic I'm not working on anymore.
I hope this stuff is of interest to some of you, as always I love hearing mail, and I'll see you guys sooner than ya think!
~J