Apathy, a parasitic creature from the depths of a place beyond the comprehensible: A cold, dying world. At first, there were many stars in the sky. Perhaps too many. In time, however, their light began to fade. Eventually their sun, too, began to grow cold as well. The sapient races of that world rushed to do something. They were distraught. Ecosystems collapsed and the world grew ever darker, ever colder. As the last, desperate vestiges of light and life began to fade, they had done it. They had created something. None of them knew whether or not it was a good thing. Wordlessly, they released it. A creature capable of traversing the Void itself.

The fate of that world remains unknown, but the parasites themselves have become a plague on most sapient races, including those of Earth. Known only as Apathy, they latch onto humans and drain them of emotion, feeding off of everything they can in the vain hope of powering the lights of a dead world. Travelling the Void is a difficult task, and is in itself incredibly dangerous. Physically entering another world? Almost impossible. Thus, they live in a state of limbo – there, but not quite there. We cannot see them, and yet they’re able to interact with us, even if just barely. And yet it is still enough for them to feed. Off of life and love and joy and terror and agony. Off of everything you’ve ever felt, leaving nothing but the cold. In a world like today’s, it’s incredibly easy for them to find targets and latch on.

Fighting them back is simple. Allow yourself to feel. Allow yourself to love. They are not powerful enough to control you completely. By their very nature, they cannot destroy who you are.

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This is a pretty “out-there” skin for the This Year On Earth contest theme. I’ve created a representation of Apathy for it. A parasite clings to a human, filling them with hopelessness and cold unconcern. The skin itself has blue hair, representing a fairly strong growth and mainstream acceptance of niche cultures and groups which would once be outcasts. Colored hair like that would once make you an outcast, but now, it’s far less of a big deal. Their shirt has the classic “jazz” design found on a lot disposable cups in the 90’s. Legends say they can still be found today. It’s designed to represent a strong resurgence in 80’s and 90’s culture in the past year, from Stranger Things to the popularization of once niche genres à la synthwave. And retrowave. And basically anything ending with wave. This, paired with the parasite itself is intended to show that Apathy isn’t the result of someone being “evil.” It’s a fairly average person, possibly once a bit of an outcast, who doesn’t seem like your traditional corrupt, suit-wearing Bad Guy. They’re just a normal person overwhelmed with everything going on in the world.


I decided to go with Apathy because of how much I’ve seen it grow the past year. It’s always existed, especially on the internet, but the internet is more popular than ever and more and more share in “internet culture.” There are already over 3 billion internet users. Now, more and more news reaches people. We’re able to know virtually anything that happens, and this boundless knowledge makes us cynical. We’re constantly reminded of all the terrible things in this world. Because it’s just the internet, there’s nothing we can do. While I wouldn’t say the world is a terrible place, worse than it’s ever been, everyone is now capable of knowing what’s happening. Everyone has access to incredible amounts of knowledge. And they have to live with knowing there’s nothing they can do. When they read about the terrible things that are happening, all they can do is sit there. This hopelessness and despair leads to apathy.


Internet culture in itself has encouraged the spread of apathy, especially recently. Acting aloof and uncaring is seen as a good thing. 4Chan edgelords without any sense of morality are seen as hilarious at best, at worst something to try and emulate. Pleasure is taken in the suffering of others, and “Grow up, it’s the internet.” Is an excuse for poor behavior. Instead of improving one’s own attitude, it’s the fault of anyone who takes issue with it for taking issue with it. With the recent rise in fearmongering about “SJW’s,” being hateful and vitriolic is respected. It’s sticking it to political correctness. It’s free speech to tell someone that they’re horrible because of their religion, race, gender, or any other trait. Saying anything in your defense is censorship.


All the while, this attitude just breeds more and more apathy. Newcomers eventually learn what to say and what not to say. Generally, this is as simple as not being yourself. Don’t be enthusiastic about the things you enjoy. That’s cringy. Don’t talk about negative experiences you’ve had. Attention fishing. Don’t talk about positive experiences you’ve had. Cringe. Don't post selfies. You're full of yourself. Don't post your art when you're just starting out. Cringe. Don't be young. So much cringe. Don't have a slightly abnormal voice. Haha, cringe! Don't have mental illness. Omg such cringe, what a tumblrina. Don't be yourself unless you like random people being jerks.

The strong growth in “Cringe” or “Drama” channels really shows how far it’s gone. People make videos with the sole purpose of harassing others and that’s seen as okay. It’s funny. Most of the time those they harass are genuinely enthusiastic about something seen as abnormal or have actual mental illness. It’s juvenile playground bullying on a massive scale. Caring about something, be it video game skeletons or a legitimate cause, is rarely seen as a good thing. It’s a symptom of widespread apathy, and one I hope we can overcome. Caring is the inverse of apathy, and apathy rarely likes to go out easily, especially when shedding this apathy could lead to judgement by your peers.

Many in-jokes and memes have become little more than layers upon layers of irony. It’s a self-defense mechanism. Anything that can be argued against is just satire. It’s often a way to have an opinion without needing to worry about others finding it “cringy,” or having to defend it. While this overall attitude isn't some horrible thing that's going to destroy the world, it contributes to an atmosphere which often makes people feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, and it only seems to be growing. All I ask is that everyone considers being just a bit more kind to others, even if for no reason. A tiny act of kindness can mean more than you'd ever expect.

Apathy doesn’t come from hatred. It doesn’t come from being “evil” or having no emotion. It comes from feeling too much. It comes from being sick and sad and overwhelmed by everything. It comes from hopelessness and helplessness and fear of the unknown. Apathy is a defense mechanism. You so desperately want to help. Just about everyone wants to save the world somehow. It can be a pretty bad place sometimes. But a single human can’t do that.

Even if none of us can save the world, however, we may be able to save just one or two people. And that’s okay.

Empathy is not weakness. Caring isn’t “cringy.” Kindness accomplishes more than hatred ever could. Compassion is powerful.



If you take anything out of this, let it be this: Don’t be a jerk to random people on the internet out of apathy. Thanks.