What do you mean by "escape"? You need to be trapped in order to escape. The situation you are describing is like a house burning down next door that cannot be saved. Instead of feeling content that you aren't in that situation, you put yourself in the burning house and say you can't "escape". Similarly, even if it is true that nothing can be saved, how does that matter to you? Why does it matter to you? Why do you choose to live with a mindset that is detached from the current world and project yourself to the wrong time and wrong place when the world is about to end? Does your meaning of life depends on doing something that is passed on forever?

The world would end is one thing. Why is that depressing is another question.

If it is so sad, and depressing, what I would do is to just write that as it is, be done with it, return to the actual world and move on.

Eye of Storm (2000)
This is a tragedy about an damaged cyborg nurse and an innocent biometal wyvern stuck in an inertial stalemate between two ultimate weapons leading to the end of the world. The story shows a condition where due to the greed and ambition of some people in power, the world was driven beyond the point of no return. There is no solution.[/quote]

Are you asking this:

"How do I write a story with a happy ending about a person trapped in a house on fire with no way to escape?"

The end of the universe is not relevant to the current, actual world, but the fact that I am in a body I'm not very happy with and a social situation I'm not very happy with, and many of my relatives and friends have serious health problems, are very much a part of my current, actual world. Every time I drink or eat something I have to consider whether it is bad for my diabetes, and if so whether to choose to drink or eat it anyway. If I drink or eat something with artificial sweetener instead my blood sugar will be ok, but am I subtly poisoning myself and increasing the likelihood I'll get cancer? If there was any action that the meaning of my life depended on it would be having a child, but I can't just go out and get myself pregnant, that would be horribly irresponsible. I won't even get into unpleasant elements of the everyday world like crime and war, or the many, many people who long for magic that doesn't exist. What non-depressing actual world are you advising me to return to?

Edit: I thought I'd add, I do prefer to think about cheerful things instead of depressing ones when possible. I would be just as happy to change the topic of the conversation to something else about writing or themes. I only mentioned this concept in the first place as an illustration of an insoluble problem which does not make a good basis for fiction with a cheerful tone or happy ending.

[color="#1c2837"]@Sun

[color="#1c2837"]I know exactly where you're coming from.

Thanks, that's nice to hear. I also was pleased to hear you say earlier that you agreed about the desirability of stories with a more positive and optimistic attitude ala 80s culture.

I don't see anything you have said to be depressing. But I am speaking from a mindset with death overdue. Isn't it enough to know that you are still alive at of this moment?

I am not doing any comparison about different conditions because I think it is unfair to assume that someone who doesn't have the "average life" has a problem. Circumstances and health don't have any weight for me because if you are talking to me mind to mind, there is no handicap. A person's integrity and ethics should be unmovable regardless of circumstance. So what if everything is dangerous, everyone is unfair, and the world is going to end just for you? The only thing that should matter is whether you can still keep your integrity and do what is right.

When I look around, I see so many people who have lost their integrity. If you could keep that, that is way above many people.

The world doesn't exactly reward people for having integrity. For instance, you would almost immediately lose all of your friends, because no one wants to stand next to the good person, because they don't want to feel bad. You will have a life with no support, because everyone else would take any chance to ridicule you and try to show that you are a hypocrite. You will be unable to participate in certain gatherings to meet friends and socialize because you know something fundamentally wrong or unjust about them. At last, you can't talk about how you feel or try to convince others how you feel, because by now you are so isolated and alienated that you are not convinced that people need to know it. Although you live a life with integrity, you do not hate the people who do not, and you aren't trying to change them. Somehow you are content even though there can't be another being as lonely as you are.

The reason is that you know that you are not the only one. There are other people just like you who are trapped in different pockets in the world. You know that you will find those people, just like how you wanted to be found. You know that if you can't find them, you would at least leave a trail so that those who saw the trail could find each other even though you are no longer there.

What is happiness? Happiness is knowing that you get to sleep knowing that you have done everything you could according to what you feel is right. Happiness is not about what the circumstance, but what you do regardless of the circumstance.


* * *
This is what I wrote before I posted the scene. I didn't post this.

I need to move on, so here is my conclusion.

Not only is human compatible with the universe, but they are the most compatible species ever existed. Human adapts and redefines themselves. If a key is compatible to a lock that it can open, then human is like a key that can morph itself to fit different locks, short-term or long-term.

The original statement is wrong because it was too general. If you make it more specific then you get a correct statement such as this:

Sometimes, people have desires that are incompatible with the universe.

Examples of such desires include:

“I am always right.”
“I know everything.”
“I am always the best.”
"I want to be known forever."


* * *

On the other hand I have developed a bit of an aversion to exploring something I consider a deep problem in a story, because in the past when I have done this it has resulted in getting stuck a lot because there is no good answer to this kind of problem, or at least I don't have any idea what that answer might be. An example is my assessment that human nature is fundamentally incompatible with the universe. What can you do with that kind of problem?

To re-iterate:

The problem is the concept people sometimes have, that their desires are incompatible with the universe.

The solution depends on the specific situation.

1) If the person feels stuck because they don’t recognize that they could change themselves or their desires, then learning that they could change, and learning how to commit to it would be the solution.

2) If the person feels stuck because something makes them unhappy, but they can’t change it or their feeling in any way, then they could:
a) Have hope and believe that what is missing now, they may find later.
b) Come to an understanding that unhappiness happens, and it isn’t everything in life (i.e. I am unhappy, but so what? Eat the frog.)
c) Learn to find happiness in other ways (i.e. Even though there is something that will always drive me toward unhappiness, there is more driving me toward happiness, so in the end I am still happy.)
d) Take on the mission to find out what people like this should do, so that when they find similar people they could lead them out. Understand that they aren’t solving it just for their own sake, but for anyone that may come after.

Is this what you were asking for?

Or is it time for some second opinion?

The second opinion was the conversation with Skyle. I just posted that instead because I thought the dialog about although the world could end and everything would be erased, for now the universe is compatible, and that is all that matters now. I didn't post the rest because I thought it was uplifting and finds an agreement between the two views: that in the long run, the universe is indeed incompatible, but in the short-run, we are okay. When I read it, I just feel the current situation isn't that bad compared to the end of the world. But actually the end of the world isn't too bad either. Because happiness has nothing to do with the circumstance.

* * *

“Yea, it would suck if a star is blowing up next door wouldn’t it?”

“It probably won’t be too bad.” Skyle said and lay back down. Looking at the sky, she asked me:

"Have I ever told you why I like to see the sky like this?"

I said no. She said:

"When I look at the sky lying on the ground, I feel so small and insignificant, so perspective-less as if I never existed. To some people, this is a depressing thought. But to me, this gives me strength because it leaves me with no fear to do what is right."

She paused a little bit and added, "Does this sound really corny?"

I said:
a) No, I feel the same.
b) Sure it does, but I feel the same.
c) Yes, but I don't think you know enough hardship to say this.
d) Aren't you too young to be thinking about this?
e) What is it that takes so much "strength" to do?
f) ...

"If the sky goes out, I will still be there for you." I said, then asked her, "How's that? Who is more corny now?"

Skyle let out an almost inaudible mix of a giggle and a sigh. I could mentally feel her hitting me with her cap, but she was too lazy to do it.

@Wai I read your last post, re-read the previous one, and thought about it for a while. That definition of happiness isn't really compatible with mine. My definition of happiness is more like a combination of being comfortable, valued, and having hope for the future. I feel that insignificance gives freedom, but it is being valued, or significant, to someone else that gives strength. There is a satisfaction at the end of the day in knowing you spent the day doing what you really wanted to do, or knowing that you learned something new, or knowing that you made someone else feel better, or knowing that you accomplished something challenging. But, that satisfaction isn't what I would call happiness. Integrity, I used to think artistic integrity was important, and that leaving a piece of art or knowledge for future generations was worthwhile. I don't feel that way any more; art is an act of communication, and at some point I decided I didn't want to communicate with people in general, thus I saw no value in creating art to give to them. This is why I focus on exploring themes - because to me that's what makes a story worth writing even without an audience.