QAnon versus the DC Swamp Monsters
Erik B. lives in Denmark and had this bit of criticism about my novel, Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story:
"I did find Stefanie's German fiancé perhaps a bit on the lean side of characterization. He seemed stereotypical to the degree of parody. Maybe that was the whole point, but I wasn't sure. Anyway, I found that Mackenzie's very dynamic, round and developing character made up for any possible lack in the fiancé."
If Josef's character came out a bit flat, it may have been partly because he was only ever present on a flat-screen display via a Skype connection from lockdowned Germany.
But yes, I do confess, Stefaine's fiancé was intended to be a parody of a "trumpbot" — someone who blindly follows and has total faith in Donald Trump and his QAnon army saving the world (any moment now!) from the DC Swamp Monsters (no, not DC Comics, Washington DC).
Now, I'm not saying whether Trump can "drain the swamp" or not (in between all his court cases). Honestly, I don't know. But the beauty of a novel is you can have different characters take sides and debate it out as I did in chapter 31:
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“Well, that’s what the QAnon is trying to do,” said Josef.
“QAnon?” I’d never heard the term.
“It refers to people who follow Q,” said Stefanie, swivelling her chair away from the webcam so Josef couldn’t see the smirk that stole over her face.
“Q?” I repeated. “Wasn’t he that cocky, all-powerful, transdimensional alien from Star Trek?”
Josef laughed. I’m not sure if he was laughing at what I said or at my ignorance.
“Q might as well be from Star Trek,” said Stefanie, who wasn’t laughing. “Q is the head of a made-up secret military organization which people like my lovable but gullible fiancé believe will overthrow the Corona World Order.”
“Hey, hey,” cut in Josef. “The US military’s just waiting to make their move. Letting things get bad enough before they take down the Deep State... You’ll see. Trump won’t let us down.”
“So you think Trump’s a good guy?” I asked Josef.
“He’s no saint,” admitted Josef.
“That’s for sure,” muttered Stefanie.
“But compared to every president since JFK, he’s the only one standing up against the global elite.”
Stefanie extended her left arm out to the side, cocked her head, and began moving an invisible bow across an imaginary violin with her right hand.
“You don’t agree?” I asked her. “Are you rooting for Biden instead?”
Her barely visible, blonde eyebrows rose and held their position as if she was trying to discern whether I meant the question as a joke.
“Biden?” she said with an astonished chuckle. “It’s like Corbett says, Trump or Biden, Pepsi or Coca-Cola, it’s all the same.”
“Quorbett? Is he Q?”
“Ha!” laughed Josef. “No, he’s C. James Corbett is this bald Canadian journalist living in Japan. I admit he’s pretty witty and smart, even if he’s totally wrong about the Q movement.”
Stefanie shook her head and said, “James Corbett runs an alternative media site called The Corbett Report. I’ll send you a link.”
She clicked on the mouse, temporarily minimalizing her QAnon fiancé to the bottom corner of the screen.
“CorbettReport.com,” she said, as she composed a new email destined for my inbox. “James deals in facts; doesn’t push hopium,”
“Hopium?” I asked.
“That’s where the government tricks people into thinking that some military coup or womanizing president is going to save the day, so the people won’t bother saving the day themselves.”
“Ah!” exclaimed Josef, as his face filled the screen once again. “This is a war between powers far greater than any of us. We need to stay alert and not get caught in the crossfire.”
“War?” I repeated. “Crossfire?”
“World War III, Mr. Elk,” said Josef. “It’s begun. And these sociopaths are set on exterminating most of the world’s population.”
I had thought the Dandelion was a bit bonkers, but her future husband sounded completely unhinged.
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Josef of course supplied the needed third corner to form a love triangle with him, Stefanie and Vince. What would a dystopian love story be without a love triangle?
In the end, the COVID jab ended up breaking the triangle and leading to a scene in the story that I thought had some of the funniest lines, despite how sad it was.
Much Ado About Corona weaves the philosophy of freedom with the emotions, complexities and adventure of human existence. If you'd like to know what happens to Stefanie's QAnon fiancé and how the vax caused their engagement to "die suddenly," you'll have to read the novel.
You can buy yourself and all your QAnon friends on 4chan a copy at: https://MuchAdoAboutCorona.com
—John C.A. Manley
PS And, in case you are wondering, James "Q" Corbett is a real "bald Canadian journalist living in Japan" with a real website and a really good sense of humour: https://corbettreport.com/
PPS Erik B. (the reader from Denmark who didn't think much of Josef) was accosted in a playground for reading Much Ado About Corona. You can hear his account of the incident here: https://blazingpinecone.com/news/2024/02/15/
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/
