Allyssa Ellis

What does the future look like in 15 years? Everything is mostly the same. Advanced technology has progressed more and more. We have either signed a deal to switch to all-natural energy resources and have regenerated many dying species or gone in the opposite direction and destroyed the Earth even more. The water levels have continued to rise, causing most of the coastal areas to disappear and move people inland. Millions of more people have been displaced by a changing climate and economy, making overpopulation more of a problem in the "cooler" areas of the planet. Automation is in it's fullest form, causing little human interaction and resulting in problems of anxiety and public speaking to grow. I'm 35 years old, and I have made enough money to pay off my student loans or the department of education has decided to pay off student loan debt (how great would that be). I am a senior designer or CEO of my own design studio, using new programs and technology that did

Bloodchild  by Octavia Butler What is your reaction to the text you've just read? My reaction to Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is a mixed one. It seems as though there's a boundary between the so-called alien or Tlic's perspective and the human or Terran perspective. People that had witnessed the transformation of the society from it's original state to one that lives symbiotically with the Tlic's are much more resistant to the idea of the Tlics and may even despise them. Particularly the brother in the story that had seen the pain and even death that can come as a result of them implanting into people. The implanting itself is a very disturbing image that can result in a nauseous feeling. The image that comes to mind when they describe the worms crawling inside of people as Tlic's young babies is revolting. Although it begs the question of whether it's possible to have symbiotic relationships to this extent with other species, and is this something that

For this week, I read the short story Come to Venus Melancholy by Thomas M. Disch. The story had quite a bit of dark tones to it, as well as taking some time to understand. I think the element of surprise was something that played a big part in this story. Something that appears to be so normal, so close to what we know, can be the complete opposite. In this story, in the beginning, I thought that the character was monologuing about their life. The element of surprise here is that the "her" is a cyborg of sorts, that used to be a human, but is now a computer in a house. The second surprise is that the environment of the swamp isn't from planet Earth, it's on planet Venus. The final surprise was the cyborg's confession of both love and craziness. This was quite a short read and an interesting perspective since it's told from the cyborg's point of view. I feel like in many of these stories there is often a hero, and the story is narrated from that hero's