holocene is a love story.

Holocene is a love letter to many things: to love itself, friends, family (biological and found), community, the act of creation, the world, and how amazing it is to be alive.

Thematically, Holocene is about grief and loss, change and cycles, but also about the healing and growth and beauty that can be found even in hard times. It’s about human connection and the things we find meaning in and what it’s like to share life and joy with people you love. The world of Holocene isn’t stagnant. Instead, it’s something that grows and breathes with the people who live in it - and grows alongside me, as well. It is a story best told in snippets: a collection of snapshots that, together, make a life.

This is a deeply personal project that I’ve carried with me for most of my life, and will continue to carry for the rest of it. The world and story of Holocene is a living thing, and I hope that it can feel alive to you, too.

— cae.

The story of Holocene centers around two main characters, Han and Leigh. It follows their journeys together, through loss and love and healing.

They inhabit a world that is very, very old, dotted with ruins and magic and stories. The land is shaped by its history and the people who live on it, whose legacy remains long after they have passed. Much of the earth’s past has been lost to time, and the line between history and myth are blurred.

The world is filled with vibrant and varied cultures and people, gods and angels. Gods or angels are not more important than mortals, but rather all are their own important piece of the larger, beautiful universe.

The universe of Holocene is shaped by the lives in it, as much as the lives in it are shaped by the world around them. There is a constant theme of give and take, individuality and belonging to a greater whole. All souls - mortal, angel, god - are part of the reincarnation cycle, returning to the earth and being born from it again and again. Magic in Holocene follows the same philosophy, and is a key part of culture and daily life. How each culture or individual uses magic is endlessly diverse.

Just like any living thing, some of the stories the earth carries leave scars. The ruins that dot the land are remnants from some ancient civilization many, many centuries ago. They left behind great works of art, breathtaking murals and structures that touch the clouds and decorate the bottom of oceans, and texts that tell of old gods and older legends.

They also left behind places of dangerous and volatile magic that tear the fabric of space at its seams and can cause strange natural phenomenon: snow in the middle of summer, earthquakes that level towns, or blights that wilt crops. Because of this, many of the ruins known to be more dangerous are in remote locations, but some ruins can lie dormant until they’re disturbed, and cause suffering to those nearby.

Han and Leigh set out to seal this dangerous magic and heal the land. They are two people who find strength in the things they share: the love of other people, the world around them, and of life itself. They are not only lovers but best friends, confidants, and each other’s favourite person. Through the choices they make and the experiences they share, they grow and learn together, and are able to find ways to heal both themselves and the earth.

Corny, right? But Holocene is a hopeful love story that believes in happy endings.