Week 14: Years from now

Where do I see ourselves in the future 10 years from now?

I'd like to stay optimistic and think we've progressed in a positive trend.  I think during these next four years the US is going to take a hit in terms of progression but hopefully afterwards it will start doing everything possible in the ways of influencing the world to address important issues. In 10 years the water level will probably rise from climate change and prove that it's a obvious problem in which those who were nonbelievers in global warming will actually have their pride shattered enough to start doing something about it. Hopefully they will also address the basic common needs of their lower class citizens and start providing from them rather than spend their money on spoon feeding the 1%.


What about in 2050?

Antartica is gone, penguins and polar bears are all gone, humanity has essentially killed some of the cutest animals to exist, disgusting. The pride and ego of the counsels were too big as they tried to compensate for other insecurities that it drove us to a deteriorating world. Because of the shift in climate the water level has grown drastically and countries have become increasingly crowded due to the overflow of people wanting to live on land since yachts cost about 10 kidneys. Speaking of organs, due to the overcrowding a second Black Plague has occurred causing a desease where peoples organs start to dissipate in them leading to a severe need for organs from healthy people. Those with money pay top dollar for these organs but most are infected so these organs will also soon die. Those who are poor sell their organs for a pitiful penny considering the amount of inflation so its just enough to feed a family of 3 for a week.


What about year 3000?

Within in the past century humans have adapted to underwater living. It started with floating homes, continuing onto ship living, to the point where humans just said "fuck it" and started injecting themselves with marine life DNA. Years of genetics in action later, kids are born with gills and the human race is saved by the science, who would have guessed. With these new adaptations it's been possible to explore the 95% of the ocean we in 2017 don't know anything about. Atlantis was found, turns out it was sitting on the back of a turtle which is why it was impossible to find. Aquatic technology has been created at a slow pace compared to everything else, many children are skeptical of the existence of tvs ands computer. Despite the longevity of people increasing greatly throughout the years, I myself would call it quits once wifi is out of the picture.

Week 13: The Aquatic Uncle

In class we read The Aquatic Uncle, a short story by Italo Calvino. I personally enjoyed this story seeing as it portrayed an element of science and heavily referred to the theory of evolution. Like classic nursery rhymes or folk tales it used the personification of animals in order to tell the story which also allowed it to stay lighthearted in nature. Throughout the entire narrative my attention was always kept and curiosity always piqued due to the fact that I constantly wanted to know what land animal or creature the female protagonist was since the authors explanation of her was consistently vague. My first impression of it was one we see often in media today, "X old person doesn't like current technology/ways of living and is stubborn until they are convinced otherwise due to need".  It wasn't surprising that the fiance was patient and supportive of him as she fit the role of  "empathetic female" who wished nothing more than to get along with her future husband's family. As the story progressed you could tell the shift between just trying to get along with the uncle to a genuine interest and curiosity in his aquatic way of living.  Needless to say after this extended buildup I wasn't overly shocked by the outcome of this story seeing as the female character ran off to be with the uncle, someone who supported her interest, rather than stay on land with her former fiance, someone who no longer wanted an aquatic lifestyle and couldn't understand her choice in the matter. With the concept of evolution still in mind it really made me think how the transition wasn't a simple one of water life straight to land but rather a process of back and forth shifting between the two.

Week 13: Oryx and Crake

For this weeks reading genre of Literary Speculation I chose to start Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I found myself comparing this book a lot to The Giver by Lois Lowry mainly in the way the memory flashbacks were being treated. Snowman reminded me of the Giver, someone who hold all the memories and knowledge and bears the weight of them in order to keep everyone else safe. He struggles with maintaining his humanity something that seems to have been abandoned in his surrounding society. This story also covers the subject of genetic modification seeing as both Snowman's parents were responsible for creating a subspecies of pigs from which they harvested organs from since everyone was falling ill. I find that this portion of the plot is similar to the video game Presentable Liberty where the survival of humans lays in those who have healthy organs and those who have enough money to buy them from healthy humans. Mass illnesses like these aren't far from reality seeing as we've already gone though the Black Plague. For all we know we aren't far from a future where this could happen again, overpopulation and a decrease of living space due to rising water levels can prove to be a formidable opponent in the upcoming decade. Though I didn't get too far in this book it's ne I'd like to finish seeing as other students in the class found it an interesting red.

Week 12: Bloodchild

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

My response to the beginning of this story was one of slight confusion seeing as it took a while to understand that Gatoi was some sort of inhuman creature. Moving forward I felt somewhat neutral to the relationship the family had with Gatoi seeing as they were being somewhat brainwashed by the "eggs" the Tlic provide to their host family. I started to feel wary of them when the mother expressed her discomfort towards Gatoi handling her children, more so Gan, since she knew that eventually Gatoi would be using him as a host. From here my reaction towards Gatoi became one of disgust as she then tore open the man Lomas and removed the children of another Tlic.

2. What connections did you make with the story that you read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

I felt as though I could connect with Gan in this story as someone who has a younger sibling. Gan had to ultimately make a difficult decision as to wether or not sacrifice himself or his willing sister to the breeding of Gatoi's children. He was scared to take the role himself but selfless enough to take responsibility instead of subjecting his sister to that kind of torture. I also felt like sympathetic towards Gatoi in a strange sense where all she wanted was the best for her children.. Gatoi had already spent time bonding with this family and in this world their kind was already used to this system of symbiosis where both parties benefit from one another.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

If I were to to change this to another medium I would probably go for a full length film or comic instead of something along the lines of a video game or short film. In order to do so rather than change the plot I would prefer to add to it, mainly in terms of world building. I felt as though we  received enough information from the text to understand the bare minimum but I'd like to further explore this world in order to immerse the audience further. I would also prefer to start off by showing the Tlic to be more benevolent and helpful rather than an already suspicious creature in order to drive a harder impact on their true nature later in the plot.

Week 12: I Live With You

For this weeks reading the theme/genre given to us was "diverse position in science fiction" and from the resource page I chose the story I Live with You. The first thing I'd like to state is that I genuinely think this story should probably be in the horror section since I found the narrative to be disturbing. This story heavily plays around with invoking a sense of paranoia in not only the protagonist but the reader as well. As someone who is slightly paranoid I could feel a chill reading through this story it made me uncomfortable and reminds me of how my forgetfulness sometimes makes me question my past action. I thought that it was interesting how the "antagonist" became comfortable with her new living environment so much so she slowly started morphing into the protagonist. Which brings up the question of what she really was, a person, ghost, a second personality? It made me think heavily on those little changes in a room that you never question because you think you did them yourself. The antagonist starts by doing such small actions like nibbling at your leftovers or switching the location of items that the protagonist doesn't start questioning until they get more severe. I found that in later sections it started getting difficult to tell whether the protagonist had done something or if it was the antagonist.

Week 7: The Night Circus

Feeling somewhat let down by the previous reading I did on Harry Potter I chose to do a second title in the tale of spiritual education section by reading The Night Circus which most students in class seemed to have enjoyed. Now based off the first few chapters I can say that this novel lead me to continue reading further without any struggle or loss of interest. Maybe because the character's emotions were far more complex and believable or that they weren't children for long like in Harry Potter. I found it fascinating how the relationships between student and mentor progressed as both Celia and Marco grew up under the guidance of Hector and Alexander respectively. As from what I've read so far Celia seemed to suffer a lot both physically and emotional in her training seeing as her father is mainly using her as a pawn in a gamble against Alexander's student. I felt as though she faced a lot of moral choices when it came to keeping her temper and following her father's orders no matter what they may be. Seeing as Celia shows great promise in her abilities she could have maybe run off or fought with her father but she may have struggled with the fact that he is her father and has a parental respect for him despite the way he has treated her. Marco on the other hand wasn't as abused though he was socially deprived for a great length of time. I can't say this is much better seeing as he was also just adopted to be a pawn in the challenge and forced into something he has no knowledge of. Even though both characters are essentially being used they continue to comply with the orders of their teachers. I personally think from what I've read they continue doing so because they are driven by curiosity and thirst for further knowledge.

Week 7: The Tale of Spiritual Education

For this weeks reading I chose to read about the feature film  before class, Harry Potter. Now quick life story but I was never allowed to read let alone watch a Harry Potter film growing up. Not once did I get close to doing either seeing as my mother was a firm and stubborn Christian woman who detested the concept of witchcraft of any nature. So by my knowledge all I knew about Harry Potter came from friend's who had seen the films and memes from the internet. This week I got the chance to finally get through the first few chapters of the first book and in all honesty I wasn't the most interested in it. I believe this probably had a lot to do with the fact that I couldn't heavily relate to these adolescent characters as I would have in elementary or middle school. The tone of the series here is light and fun which I can appreciate in a children's book considering where the series seems to lead later on. What I personally found fascinating was the great lengths were met when it came to world building. As a Game Art major here at Ringling I believe world building to be most important when it comes to creating an immersive story. Since so much meticulous care was put into creating this story it managed to capture the hearts of several fans which kept them following along with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Everything in the world is thought out carefully in order to suit the characters residing in it and so much creative detail was thought out from the hallways in Hogwarts to the name of spells and origin of creatures. I find it inspiring that Rowling created all this from a simple jotted down after thought on a delayed train.