Fantasy can be used as a distraction, but its job is to give us new ways to look at what's around us every day,
It is not required to substitute ugly things for lovely ones in the name of some spurious bid for truth.
And how we might be able to write about it.
Why SF&F have something to teach us even when it isn't "real".
Why I wasn't going to do post-apoc, or apoc-in-general, stories -- yes, even long before COVID-19 came along.
The point isn't to run away from what's around you, but to see something new despite it.
SF and fantasy both have shelf lives, but drastically different kinds.