Figured I’d take a moment to rant on one of my favorite parts of the Aether story that I wish we got more of, the Broken Earth! And to be honest with you, I feel like the Dark Aether that our characters are currently in definitely has potential to lean into the mysteriousness and creep factor that the broken Earth had. It’s practically hopeless, if not even more hopeless than the Broken Earth because it’s the entire multiverse underneath the CW/Bo6 universe now. There is no escape from it!
But anyways, I’m not here to talk about the potential of the Dark Aether, I’m here to talk about the utter hopelessness that the post Moon EE earth had. I just absolutely love the atmosphere and the feelings of dread that carries. You can hear much of it in the radios with the people arguing between the Flesh and Maxis. The remnants of society is literally falling apart. No matter who they choose is unknowingly going to be their doom.
I like being on Tranzit in moments when it’s quiet and you can faintly hear screams of desperation in the distance, likely people succumbing to the undead and the Denizins in the fog. And then in Die Rise, the massive debris in the atmosphere slowly crashing back down to the already beyond repair Earth, just making it even worse. The seemingly endless fog below and the jumping jacks and zombies likely lurking at the surface just wait for their next meal to fall down.
Overall the atmosphere is perfect for horror. I so wish we got more of it back in the day. Still, I think the Dark Aether has much potential, because we don’t know what all is out there beyond the fog of Ashes. I did enjoy the little stories we got of other victims that found themselves in the Dark Aether, they reminded me of the Broken Earth Radios a bit.
Were you a fan of the broken Earth saga? What was your favorite bit of it, what do you wish we saw more of from it? Let me know!