Another week here. I’ve decided that these last two weeks of the month aren’t going to be included in my regularly scheduled goal of a blog post a week and a story a month deal. Specifically, I’m referring to the story, because it clearly hasn’t been four weeks. 

Since its release earlier this month, I’ve been playing a lot of Helldivers 2 when I can. It feels like the gameplay is goofy and serious at the same time and the entire narrative follows a similar tone with its hyper nationalism and propaganda themes. Basically, it’s really good at poking fun at itself while maintaining its gameplay and story as serious.

With my heavy involvement in the game, I ended up asking myself why I like the game so much. The gameplay ramps up to some pretty chaotic and unpredictable situations quickly and the fact that players need to learn how to deal with certain obstacles and enemies really draws me in. The many little things like the characters’ voice lines in chaotic situations, flavor text around maps and ships and loading screens, and the tone that the community puts into the game have me laughing.

But, something came into my head recently that is more personal than anything. And it’s that future space military as a theme has always fascinated me. Maybe it’s because my family has been involved with military things in the past or maybe it’s the supposed structure of it and its many flaws when dealing with human issues or maybe it’s the look at how we need something familiar when dealing with something as big as traveling to another planet. The list can go on and probably ranges from something as simple as perceived heroism to moral philosophy about colonizing something that we don’t consider alive.

All of this is to say that the genre of space military and warfare, regardless if it takes itself seriously or not, has the capability to cover such a wide array of topics that seem relevant to our past and present. Debating whether it’s okay to bring bio domes onto a newly found planet, despite its clearly different ecosystems? Environmentalism and its ethics. Wiping out an alien species and having humans settle on the planet? The beginnings of world travel on Earth and racism. Using a chemical that’s not harmful to us, but is lethal to aliens for war purposes? The use of mustard gas famously used during World War 1. And this isn’t even mentioning the more individual, personal themes that can be touched on. The concept of home, the effect of ending another being’s life, defining and developing identity, on and on it all goes with space military. 

Even just what I can imagine is a daunting list. There’s probably way more out there to explore.

But, I think I need to remember that a story or even a series of stories can’t fit everything in it. They’re just little events that make up the entirety of the world that’s being built. That’s been a problem that I’ve been having, I think. I always want to add more and more until it’s an unstable tower that falls apart. Just have to keep it concise to what’s relevant.