Inspired

0 comments on "Transhuman; Jupiter Ascending: post-dystopian consumerism"

“Transhuman or trans-human is the concept of an intermediary form between human and posthuman. In other words, a transhuman is a being that resembles a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. These abilities might include improved intelligence, awareness, strength, or durability. Transhumans sometimes appear in science-fiction as cyborgs or genetically-enhanced humans.” – Wikipedia.

I was looking up “Jupiter Ascending” to remind myself of a particular scene and was taken to the Wikipedia page. There I saw that the people out in the galaxy–the Exalted–were described as being transhuman. And it got me thinking. And writing.

NOTE: I realize that many have found fault with the movie “Jupiter Ascending”, but I don’t care. That was space opera crack at its most over-indulgent and I could happily do with another dose. Plus the fanfic it has produced … Mwah! Divine. How could I hate on source material that has inspired so many great stories to read?

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I read that the rise of post-apocalyptic fiction is a sign of dissatisfaction in the general population. By choosing the books and media they do, the younger generation is expressing cynicism and fear of the future.

From a naively hopeful view of the future where humans are zooming amongst the stars and colonizing new planets, stories have taken on a grim view of intergalactic battles and the forced extinction of the human race. And back home on Earth, instead of the vaulted spires of a utopian society, everything has turned to disaster having overfallen the world and a struggling society attempting to rebuild something amongst the ruins of our modern cities.

No longer do protagonists and antagonists banter and bumble their way through the apocalypse. Now it is a foregone conclusion that our world will end.

There is nothing to stop. Nothing to struggle against. Disaster has already happened.

To the people of those future visions, we are nothing less than rumors. Everything that we’ve built has already faded away.

And even then, with the world ruined and humanity struggling to stay alive, there is always a group of people with all of the resources and technology, lording it over like gods above the rest.

These stories present no real answers. Because in the end, the message is that there’s nothing you can do to stop the terrible future to come.

You should huddle down and close your eyes. Go quiet and small and survive. Because there’s nothing you can do to make the world a better place. It’s going to be your grandchild’s responsibility to scream defiance at the ultra-modern nobility.

Presented with such a pessimestic outlook, is it no wonder that people are beginning to feel hopeless about the future? Children are growing up with the belief that no matter what they do, it means nothing. Because the end is nigh and their story isn’t the important one. They should set aside their personal goals and focus on the creation of some grand Ubermensch.

Meanwhile, right now is when people should show their defiance. Right now is when people need to stand up, point out the injustices, and ROAR “That’s not right!”

And instead, I hear people say “I should buy some guns”, as though that’s the answer to every problem.

Don’t write petitions. Don’t chastise government officials into doing a better job.

Buy guns. Stockpile food. Be ready to flee into the wilds.

Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that everything is destined to fall apart. And the problem with “destiny” is that it cannot be changed. It can only be endured.

Destiny is a surrender to helplessness. It is someone brushing their hands off and leaving the problem solving to somebody else.

And when you feel helpless, you close your eyes and ears to the plights of people around you. Because their problems are their own and you don’t want to get involved.

But that’s all we need to do to save the environment and the human species: get involved.

Learn how to roar when it’s needed, and talk when it’s not. Research sustainability and environmental protection. Learn the reasons why people are so unhappy and what they need to succeed.

Because if we help each other, we help ourselves.

0 comments on "Sometimes I receive inpiration from television"

ARCHER => S1 E8. “The Rock.” Sterling and Lana are out on a mission and things go pear-shaped.

The tech team is busy with their own issues and not offering the support necessary. As a result, the agents are left to hang for a while, depending on intel that’s going sourer by the moment.

* * *

Ah, the joys of working for a Company with a small Operations budget, Opal sighed.

She was hanging from a paracord rope she’d woven herself. The carabiners and gloves were new, but the rest of her gear was stuff she’d cobbled together on the fly.

The woman she was facing was neatly pressed and poised. She looked like she’d just stepped out of a military supply catalogue, all black leather and web belts. She looked professional and ultra-competent at her job. She was intimidating.

“I think you’re going to hand me that sapphire,” the taller woman said. Her gun was unwavering in her left hand.

“You’d really shoot a stranger in the face over a rock?” Opal demanded, all hurt feelings and accusation.

“You’d let a stranger shoot you in the face?” The woman cocked one eyebrow. “I think that says more about you than it does about me. Now do what I say and roll that sapphire my way.”

Staring down the barrel of the gun, Opal wore her most fearless expression. “My boss is going to hate me, thanks-a-freaking-lot, the least you can do is aim that at my forehead. I’d rather they need to use some skull putty rather than a whole reassembly kit. I was promised a Viking funeral when I die and I want to look beautiful for me mother. You know how it is. I’ve spent my whole life running away from dresses, so I owe it to Mummy to be the little girl she always wanted.”

As she spoke, Opal crouched with the giant sapphire in her left hand, poised to roll it skeeball-style. She drew her arm back, but at the last moment she spun her whole body around on the toe plate in her right boot.

It was a little harrowing to have shots pass so close to her head, but she didn’t let herself hesitate.

The rope was a hindrance as she dodged to the right, but she was going to need it to get back up to the roof. She shoved the sapphire into her hip pouch, trusting that the velcro would seal it up safe as she slammed her hands flat on the floor and began spinning her legs as fast as she could around the rope, winding it around her thighs.

She huffed out a breath as she shoved off the floor, reaching up to grab the rope and pull herself up higher and faster. It wasn’t graceful or lovely–nothing like the rope dancing at the class she’d taken–but it was enough to get her up to the hole she’d burned into the ceiling. Bullets pinged against the rafters and she yelped when a graze dug a furrow against her right side.

Opal clambered out of the hole faster than she’d gone down, log rolling across the asphalt of the rooftop toward the anchoring spike she’d used to attach her rope. She tried to stand up and almost fell over, the rope tightly tangled around her legs and hips.

“Shit.” She fumbled the knife out of her sleeve and began sawing through the paracord. She needed to get her ass out of here before Miss Brown-Eyes decided to shoot her in the face gangland style.

/END EXCERPT

 

0 comments on "Beatrice the Biologist strikes again! “Some superhero suggestions”"

Beatrice the Biologist: Superheroes

I love these ideas more than is probably healthy. I find myself being inspired by these superheroes/supervillains(?) and might have to do some research.

You’re a superhero come to arrest some baddies, but oh no! It’s Sea Cucumber Woman, gross! While she makes off with her bag of stolen goodies, she casually reaches in through her mouth and pulls out something pulsing and squishy purple. You try to dodge out of the way, but … Ugh.

Amoeba Woman absorbs you into her amorphous body and begins to squeeze. You struggle and attempt to break away, but once she’s got you in her grasp, the only escape is the GRAVE!

Fungus Woman may look like she’s got a serious skin condition, but once you get close enough to catch a whiff of her alluring spores, it’s already too late. Lulled into a state of dreamy reticence, you don’t even notice the almost silvery webbing forming over your skin, strands of frothy white forming as you are consumed alive.

Link: http://www.beatricebiologist.com/