Anna Sibilia

David Steiling

Invisibility in Numbers

Influences Overwriting Each other

Many governments and societal structures depend on the concept of the ‘majority rule’, a term defined as “a political system in which the group that has the most members has the power to make decisions” (Merriam-Webster) and operates on the belief that the larger percentage of people will have the better intentions and will pick a more practical solution that benefits the whole. This is not always the case for it is the balance in the information’s ethos, pathos, and logos that will sway either side of a conflict one way or another. The advertisement and media are professionals at this, selling half of a story in order to sway the outcome for it will benefit them, and most of the time the masses are none the wiser for it is difficult to find the logos in anything if pathos is the only source being exploited or reported on. 

This mindset ultimately carries into fiction as well, for in order to be applicable and relatable to a large audience, a work must have a level of generic or basic ideas, right? In I Live with You, the protagonist is more like a generic shadow that casts itself onto another person that was barely more tangible. Even though the mina character didn’t have the physical commodities of the other, they were able to pull the strings and orchestrate the other person like a puppet, controlling everything from their wardrobe to their tastes in food and eventually their romantic interest. They give the other no choice but to submissively follow the new pattern put in place for them, like how many people must follow a majority rule though they disagree with the implemented law or practice. It is unfair for the ones who did not get what they wanted often cannot turn the situation around or are put at a purposeful disadvantage, that way if discourse was to arise from the conflict, it would not matter and nothing too great could be done to fix the issue at hand. 

Likewise this story shows how a woman’s life, once turned upside down, has no situational power to clean up the mess. The main character preaches about how they do everything for the benefit of the other, how they ‘don’t steal’, when almost every action they take in the story is  because they want to watch a mess unfold for entertainment; that’s all their new company is to them: a thing to be toyed with, not an actual person with rights. While the unnamed woman was introverted, she was safe in her pattern and liked her ways; she was simply content in her life and didn’t feel the need to explore too much, yet then the unwelcome influence weasels into her life and she cannot help but comply. She struggles to keep her bearings, keep her life together, and though she might have some fleeting moments of happiness, they are few and far between and heavily outweighed by the strife put on her by a nosy sadist. 

 This disregard for another autonomy and well being is a theme that exists today but has little recognition in mass media -for obvious reasons. By trying to make sure that the largest majority is happy, the same groups are constantly unrepresented and taken advantage of; it is a vicious cycles that, thankfully, is being broken in recent works along wth the aid of social media, but it is still reinforced by the major outlets. However as more stories and new faces begin to come to light, it is more clear that there are far more voices and imaginations that should have attention given to them. What is safe is not innovative, and what is innovative is often not imagined by those whom have lived in comfort. 

Anna Sibilia

David Steiling 

Synthesized

Improving the Imperfect

The plethora of sub-genres within science fiction are innumerable and can either transcend seamlessly into one another or be as stark a contrast as night and day. These little niches of the overarching whole provide areas of concentrated taste, but their purposeful focus can lead the audience to newer themes that may not have been relevant to the original whole. Cyberpunk executes this with a mindful irony; in the beginning of science fiction a common theme was man triumphing over machines. However this often gritty, stylish sub-genre blends the barriers between the organic and mechanical and gives rise to a bastardization of both -which can be crude or sublime depending on the mindset and desires of the author, though a healthy mix of both usually populates a story to show the evolution and ease of the techno-organic merge over periods of time. It is apparent that the nature of man doesn’t make the transition as easily though, for even when the advancements in technology are great, people are constantly seeking to abuse it for a greater evil. Dystopia is such a common construction within this frame that merely saying Cyberpunk will bring to mind the fluid, high technology and seamless synthesis of man and machine, with a dark and brutal underside to the highlighted chrome.  

Such is the conflict in William Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic, a short story placed in a crime controlled society where people and information are the currency; certain individuals like Johnny are used as memory banks for illicit information -portable, living hard drives for data. Yet when the crime lord clients no longer have use for him,  Johnny finds himself in an entirely new situation: go underground, leave the advanced technology behind and never surface. 

This is a striking conflict for the protagonist as he cannot fully dissociate with the machinery, it is literally hardwired into him. Instead, he finds aid in the company of assassin Molly Millions, a cyborg built for executions who in turn introduces Johnny to the society of Lo Teks, a group of beast-like humans whom thrive without the high-grade technology and electricity that he was used to. 

This is an underlying theme in Cyberpunk literature: the less someone uses technology, the more brutish they are portrayed; it lies in keeping with how older generations will stick to the beliefs they were introduced to as they grew up and resist the changes that come with each passing era. ‘The old ways are old and ill-fitting for a reason, progress and society wants you to adapt and conform!’ eHowever this also presents the situation in which Johnny found himself in: once people are wired into the system, it is impossible for them to leave. Everything they do leaves traces and from those small trails, anyone can be found. In a society where information is power and everyone is linked to a single data stream, it can be assumed that those on top are those who can manipulate and regulate that stream with the most ease and influence -be it destructive or constructive. 

Cyberpunk often raises the message of how much technology we as humans will accept into our lives, be it in our own bodies, our society, to fulfill our more base needs or even just do menial tasks we do not want to deal with anymore. After a while the line between flesh, bone, blood, oil, and wires becomes too blurred to dictate what is what, and it is easier for anything to assume an identity. ‘What is human’ is a prevalent question that many authors leave open to speculation for their audience has to decide for themselves based upon the character’s actions and the repercussions of the world around them, much like how we function in the real world today. 

Anna Sibilia

David Steiling 

Diversity, Discrimination, and Demonization

Dictating Humanity

The human condition and philosophy is a convoluted mess on the best of days with so many ideas and perspectives clashing in an uproar and creating a somewhat childish clamor. It is hard to share a common ground in a mass since what one culture might uphold has normality might not align with another, and thus a discrepancy is born. The general consensus on such matters is not usually so terrible, however, this disconnect does make it harder for some people to connect with others; how can one expect to understand another if they have not felt or lived a moment akin to another being’s? It is this situational barrier that separates many people from one another, causing rifts based upon beliefs -religious, political, social, anything really, and from there it is easier to begin observing more disparities between individuals. It does not help that many societies also have a competitive mindset that helps cultivate this attitude of separating yourself from another; demonization is far easier than trying to connect with someone else. This tactic is also used in war propaganda: if your enemy is inhuman and you set out to kill them, then you’re a hero, but if they’re a person, what does that make you?

J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned Giant illustrates this point perfectly, communicating the nature of the situation and truth of the actions with far more accuracy than most would like to admit. When the giant is first discovered the townsfolk are first hesitant and trepidatious; here is a being that looks like something from the elder tales and legends of ancient mythos, and those present are not sure of how to interact or even comprehend the massive corpse. Yet after the first few brave souls start clambering on top of the fallen goliath, the masses soon follow suit. Curiosity is the motivator at this point, prompting the scientific community to investigate and glean as much as they can to better comprehend this strange creature. After the initial shock has worn off, the giant’s body is no longer treated with care, but just as another object to be exploited -even circus owners wondered if they could procure the specimen for their shows only to gawk at the size of the felled legend and realize that such a feat would be too great for them to accomplish in a cost-effective and practical manner. Once rejected by the showmen who’d wanted the giant for shock and awe, the body was gradually left to the public; people trampled all over it, had campfires on its flesh, and began carving and otherwise defiling it. Ultimately, the body was carved up and disposed of, save for a few bones or otherwise preservable novelties that were sold. 

This story portrays how when something new is suddenly thrust into the faces of the public, the people do not know what to make of it. The giant held no threat, it was just a corpse on a beach, and thus there was nothing to be too afraid of. After investigation had been done and the scholarly community had ran its own course, the body was gradually just another commodity used for bewilderment, and further fell into a state of disrepair as it naturally decayed and was removed piece by piece. One of the key moments in the tale is how the protagonist notes that once the first incisions were made and gotten rid of, the carving of profanities and swastikas soon began. The body was already dead, but it was not allowed to rest; it was inhuman in origin already, so who was to say that it wasn’t acceptable to disgrace it further? It was already being cut up anyways.

This work points a finger at how society will react in a manner towards new and foreign ideas: first with fear, then academically, but then an exploited or apathetic view takes over as the novelty wears off. it doesn’t take long for these ‘new’ ideas to be lost in current day-to-day life without too much relevance and more often than not the public does not fully understand just what they are glossing over.

Anna Sibilia

David Steiling

Science and Faith

Unraveling the Mystics

The sense of a greater destiny has always been a prevalent theme throughout the literary spectrum, but it is mostly exploited in fantasy and science fiction. Be it from a poor farm boy finding out he will rectify the balance of the universe or from a man journeying to another planet and becoming a part of its people, science fiction loves remodeling the biblical calling that audiences are drawn to. While some authors prefer to explain and debunk the spiritual calling based upon researched or scientific principles, others love to blend the two into a singularity; what defines God, and can you really quantify a spiritual calling or reduce it to deluded thinking or actions of one who rejects the hard reality of life and nature?

Yet there must be a balance between the fact and faith, as too much of either side begins to make a story sound either humorless or preachy; the prophecies used by many a story are often vague and compelling for it gives the authors freedom without being too specific or aligned with one side over the other. The shorts stories The Nine Billion Names of God and The Star explore a different twist on this matter, presenting an unusual connection between the scientific discoveries of man and the sublime nature of a higher existence: what happens when man finds God through science, but He is not what we were led to believe He was? The characters in these stories are skeptical, always questioning the greater presence until they are confronted by it with overwhelming proof. 

The stories implement the high-minded attitude of man only to render it feeble and riddled with doubt, thereby deconstructing the worldview of the characters involved -something more popular in fiction- and leaving their now insignificant conscious to the mercy of the higher powers. Using this format has led to many a new creation story throughout the fantasy genre, spawning how humans turn into heroes at the compelling of a deity in need of a champion, but here it is left to speculation. These gods do not ask anything of or even acknowledge the mortals who’ve witnessed their power; they simply are in the same space -or evidence of them exists in that space- which leads the confused humans to make their own judgement. Yet how do we dream God? Evidently we cannot, or at least, we should not, for the gods shown in the stories do not appear to take kindly to the likes of man’s musings. 

This is not the archetype of a deity interested in redemption or salvation so much as it a force that acts as it pleases and does not want interference. It is an enigma that wishes to remain hidden away, or at the very least, not a subject of science. If you were to find out the mysteries of a godly being, what would stop you from usurping their power? No wonder the destruction of life happened in both stories (though we are left to speculate on why the events of The Star unfolded as they did), for the creations were learning too much about their creators. In these examples, prophecies are not always interpreted to redeem the world of man, but destroy it; sometimes the learned knowledge was better left unknown. 

Anna Sibilia

David Steiling

Reinventing Genesis

Remaking The Gods That Made All

Within the realm of the fantastic, where mortals manipulate fate and can conquer death, there exists a strange fascination with the beginning. Every world must have a start (and thus many also have an end, either from thinning resources, war, a primordial evil doctrine rising from the depths of hell, or another great apocalypse that must be averted by the hero’s influence) which is either wrought by the will of the gods, an ancient mystery that has long since been forgotten in the recesses of time, or a pseudo-scientific account of how the elements of the universe coincided to create a new planet which would eventually yield life. Yet it is when authors reinvent the gods of our own world that piques my interest the most; there are so many pre-existing legends that many do not dare to learn, so sharing them with a more broad audience and introducing them to those uneducated in the stories of cultures outside of their native sphere is usually as fantastic and immersive (if not even more so) than weaving a new tale.

Neil Gaiman does this expertly in his novels American Gods and Anansi Boys, which fuze a representation of our own modern and evolving world with the laws and traditions of the ancient minds. This setting exploits the ways that past and future constantly collide and often quarrel with each other, and in the case of the latter, it is revealed in the way of a dysfunctional family -something many in a modern audience relate to, especially when it comes to the practice of archaic traditions or a more current outlook on life. As readers delve deeper into the mess that once was Charles Nancy’s (‘Fat Charlie Nancy’) mundane life, we experience a tale of misunderstanding, chaos, and convoluted perspectives: how do the two sons of the trickster god Anansi interact in a world that rejects magic but tramples those without the ability to see and feel wonder? Charles was too unassuming and bland, yet his twin half ‘Spider’ was too far invested in the mystical to properly understand the ways of men. Their plight is caused by their lack of mutual comprehension and they must learn to understand the ways of the other to save themselves in the end. 

This message is Charlie’s entire quest, and because of it we (as an audience that is most likely not too well versed in the beliefs of African gods) are exposed to a tale that is far from familiar; we see a pantheon of spirits unlike the Olympian champions and their mighty heroes, more foreign than the Nordic Aesir and their viking kin, but something that simply exists at the Beginning of the World. These gods are all treacherous, as they have been witness to more millennia than most others and know how to influence the minds of men, so it is not challenging for them to throw Charlie into a tailspin. Once they can influence the modern children of their old adversary, these gods wreak havoc on the pair and it is only when Charlie comprehends his birthright and Spider his brother’s world that the pair can finally coexist and set things right. The balance that the two end up reaching at the end is one that speaks volumes: though we may move forward, we should not forget the past; traditions survive throughout the ages and there is much to be learned from generations before, yet it is how we embody those traditions today in a modern realm that properly defines our nature. Beliefs are constructs of their times, but there will always be a bit of truth inside the story -often hidden in the beginning. 

Anna Sibilia

David Steiling

November 9, 2015

Bloodchild responses

Are there any prominent symbols the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?

Within the story, there is a cyclical symbolism concerning eggs. We are first shown the Humans consuming the eggs of the Tlic for nutrients and strength. They are a meant to be a life-giving and fortifying food to help with the aging and growth of the Humans that consume them, yet towards the end of the story, we are shown why this food is the main nourishment for Humans underneath the care of the Tlic. Humans are host organisms for implanted eggs as the Tlic cannot carry their incubating young. Once hatched, the grubs then eat their way out of their shell and will start attacking its host for its own nourishment. It is a slightly ironic element to the story that Humans are brought up eating something that will eventually be implanted inside them and consume them.

2) What connections (if any) did you make with the story? Discuss the elements with which you were able to connect? 

Personally, my helminthophobia and parasitophobia kicked in while reading this story. I have a longstanding fear of of some of the more graphic content that was within the story due to some unfortunate observations in my early childhood (namely finding roadkill absolutely riddled with maggots on the side of the street and accidentally coming across this kind of stuff on televised documentaries). It’s a subject I tend to avoid for it makes me anything from lightheaded to nauseated and sick, so while I didn’t enjoy reading it, I will admit that the underlying tones were interesting.

3) What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you choose? What changes would you make?

If I was to adapt this short story into another medium, I would most likely choose to make this into an RPG with a huge emphasis on story and a system to takes the player’s actions into account to change elements of the narrative. I feel like this would make a unique experience as an interactive story, one where the main character cannot actually fight back if they are threatened and must weigh the consequences of each action carefully; sometimes playing along with the Tlic would be beneficial, other times it could be more of a trap or burden. I’d hesitate to give this adventure a combat system outside of a health gauge, for I fear it’d become a horror-FPS whereas its narrative lends itself far more to a psychological and survivalist tone. Besides, the imagery used in the story would create a visual interest from how the Humans under care of the Tlic look, how the Tlic themselves would move and weave within their environment, as well as the differences between the variations of the aliens themselves. 

Anna Sibilia

David Steiling

October 4, 2015

Magic and Morality

Betwixt Balance and Chaos

Magic has always been a gray area of fantasy, both alluring and terrifying. Mysticism and spell craft often blur the edges of reality and imagination for the characters within the stories, so it is only appropriate that they contort the fabric of morality as well. Depending on the author’s intention, magic itself can either be a corrupting force in it’s own right, slowly consuming and sinking into the human flaws of a character’s nature or a slightly sentient force tied to its host that responds and reacts with a minds of its own -be it for better or worse. 

A recurring tool in fantasy has often been whether or not magic should be used by its characters to tempt the fates, be it by undoing the laws of nature or acting out a plan that gambles with the lives of others caught between the words of their spells. Yet even the most genuine and true magical masters can have their spells go awry and distort beyond what their original intentions were. It’s no wonder that the arcane crafts are considered heinous  when the potential for disaster is so high, especially when those whom make the deals with the powers that be are not always the pinnacle of charity or honor.

Night Circus exploits this in an unusual way, pitting a pair of young magicians and illusionists up against each other for the pride of their teachers. Celia Bowen, a girl burdened unto her father Hector Bowen -known primarily under the guise of Prospero the Enchanter, competes against Marco Alisdair, a student brought up under the tutelage of Mr. Alexander H. The intent of this duel was to prove the superiority of the two masters’ teaching methods, proving either the Enchanter or Alexander the winner through the success of their students. The practices of the old learning, being able to create beauty in the eyes of those who want to see it, and the new teachings of tangible illusions clash when the student start their shows within the black and white curtains of the circus tents.

Yet as the plot moves on and the grand spectacles of the magician’s showcases within the enigmatic circus start having more effects and impacts than just creating new attractions for the show. The workers of the circus begin to become bound to the show ring, unable to age much or leave their station among the performers. The dueling students slowly fall in love, complicating the plans of their teachers and only adding more chaos to the precarious situation. It isn’t long until personalities snap, people are killed, and the laws of nature are shattered in a final act of desperation to save one’s love. 

The issue of the novel is exposed in the harsh treatment of the Celia from her father, as he constantly uses abusive methods in order to push her into furthering her skills, which are to be used in a contest for his own pride and not her benefit. This kind of malicious intent in the beginning is something that goes against the cardinal rules of modern magic in our world. Many current Pagan and Wiccan practitioners emphasize that ‘intent and belief is everything; if you start out with a negative thought in mind, then that is the crop you shall reap.’ As much as her father’s patronizing and (literal) bone-breaking teaching methods cause her to stiffen and become resilient in character, they stem from a place of loathing towards her not-so-lovable paternal figure. Ultimately this lends itself to the climax of the story, when Celia unbinds herself and Marco from the physical realm. She is a tragic hero, losing most everything save her true love, and all because of the cyclical nature of magic. 

Magic is a strange and fussy thing, and often it reels that what one asks for is never really what they are deserving of or necessary. It has an important role of acting as a placebo for enabling characters to think they are the masters of themselves and of others, only to end up with everything taken or ruined in the end. It is a shame that the consequence of all the hideous deeds committed and schemed had bear down on Marco and Celia, but even if their end was tragic, they were allowed to escape beyond the confines of the circus -even if only to stand in it’s eternal shadow, finally freed of the ploys that trapped them there.