Month: April 2023

Rise my creatures

I’m back and the same as ever.

I would say I’m better than ever but that’s probably a lie.

Hello internet people I have returned from my blog-free era and now, I have to make a humanities blog. This specific blog was about our project called.

RISE OF THE FRANKENSTUFFIES.

The driving question of this project was “How can sci-fi/fantasy fiction help us imagine a different future?” 

This is a big question to answer without any knowledge of sci-fi, so let’s take a look at the steps we took to answer it.

First of all we needed to know the end product of this project, so we found out that our goal was to create a movie trailer for a sci-fi film based around a character that we made. So  obviously the first thing we had to do was make this character. To do this we bought our own stuffies and sewed them together in order to create the amalgamation we would base our story of off. I decided to get a standard doll and remove the torso to create a spider-like creature. I named my protagonist DERRICK.

 

 

So now we have the character we have to make up who he is. Derrick is a weird looking creature so I wanted him to be from outer space. I wanted it to be somewhere that hasnt been greatly explored so I thought maybe mars, but I decided against that because martians are too cliche. The other planets are all to far away and are too different from earth so I went with the moon, but that has been explored so I went with the dark side of the moon. Now I knew where we was from I had to pick between hero and villain, so I went with villain because, well, look at his face. If you want to understand more about hike here is a resume for him as a… person… thing… I don’t really know what he is. 

Now we started to read a book called leviathan, and if you are wondering why it’s because we needed to figure out what makes a good sci-fi story. While reading leviathan we had to pay attention to the details and what made it a good sci fi book. To help us do this we had reading roles that we had to complete, and also in class activities to help us understand it further. Unfortunately there isn’t much else I can say about this but the book was very good.

Now we know who Derrick is, we needed to start thinking about what our story would be. I wanted this to be a dark and sadistic and what more dark that eating babies. Since I made Derrick out of a stuffie I wanted him to act like one to be able to hide in plain sight. Now we had the base of the story I needed a plot to focus it around. Now I usually don’t like when villains turn into good guys but I couldn’t come up with anything, so I asked for my teachers help and she suggested it. I had given Derrick a rough past and had the idea to include that in the story. My idea is incredibly cliche but it works out, I decided to have Derrick meet a child who doesn’t have loving parents and feel bad for him. So we learn more about him no Derrick decides not to kill him, but instead to befriend him. So that would be the base of my story.

Now I knew what my story would be about I had to write it but before that I made a sort of cheat sheet to help me write it. I had a table with opening, action and details on it, so I could write what I wanted to have in my story, and have the points I wanted to get across in that section written down. If you ant to read it you can but it’s quite long.

Transition        Action            Details

Out in space	A shuttle is headed toward earth containing an alien life-form that recently discovered a planet called earth. The creature inside is named derick and is looking for a new home because he feels excluded on the dark side of the moon even though it is his home.	Derick is flying to earth in a shuttle Derick was rejected and left the dark side of the moon
Once he had landed	His shuttle hit the ground and the door opened into a world of such beauty gorgeous green grass and vibrant coloured trees,  derick sets out to explore.	Derick lands and sees the beauty of nature Derick starts exploring
After his exploration	Derrick realises how humans live and decides to observe one specific family to expand his knowledge of the new creatures.	He doesn’t understand why and how humans do things Derrick decides to watch one family
After a few years	Derick realised one of the humans got very big and then suddenly she shrunk and there was a new small creature that was very annoying and irritating yet the big humans cared for it and loved it. This makes Derrick mad, such a stupid ugly creature was getting the attention he never did from his parents, this rage drives Derrick to destroy this creature, and all creatures like it.	Derrick observes a family have a baby Derrick hates the baby and doesn’t think it deserves the love that it’s getting that he never received
After some planning	Derrick plots and chooses the best way to eliminate the baby, he will act like one of the toys it has and then eat it. But first it has to integrate itself into the family.	Derrick plans out how to kill the baby He will pretend to be a toy
When the time was right	Derrick weaved it’s way into their life and mind controlled the baby into making its parent buy him. He waited until they baby was alone and then struck, he had eaten the baby.	Derrick got into their life and swiftly killed the baby.
After some time	Derrick yearned for more so he went on a rampage, tricking and killing and deceiving and destroying, he had never felt a rush like this.	Derrick finds all the loved babies he can and murders every one he finds.
But one day	He found a child bigger than than his previous victims, he watched and learned about this child and noticed this family is different. This child has only one parent lives in a small empty home and has no friends, his parent doesn’t even love him.	Derrick finds an older child with a very difficult life and it reminds him of himself.
Suddenly	Derrick felt a new emotion he was unfamiliar with, it made him feel bad and almost want to stop what he was doing. This feeling was sorrow, remorse, anger, fear and horror all at once. He realised what he was doing was wrong. He decided to change.	Derrick feels bad for the child He wanted to change his ways
After some thought	Derrick decided to befriend this child and help him to be happy.  He decided to act like a toy that the boy could play with and as expected the boy loved him. They played they talked, they did everything together. But Derrick was left with the question, should he let the boy know he isn’t a toy.	The boy loves Derrick Derrick wonders if he should let the boy know he’s alive
A year passes	After a while Derrick starts making plans to have fun with the boy but unfortunately during this time the human walked in on Derrick, learning that he is in fact alive!	The boy finds out Derrick is alive
Now his secret was revealed	The boy was stunned, Derrick thinks the boy won’t love him anymore but this was the opposite of reality. The boy was jumping with joy after finding out his best friend wasn’t a toy. But they had no was to communicate.	The boy is happy his friend is alive. They can’t talk to each other.
After some thinking	Derrick made a translator device to allow them to talk. Derrick explained his story as he believed the boy had a right to know. Unbeknownst to Derrick the boys mother was listening behind the door. She informed the city of derricks existence. This causes an uprising among the parents of the dead children.	Derrick explains his past to the boy The boys mother overhears and informs the city which causes an upset among the people
Now	Derrick is faced with a challenge, a moral dilemma, does he flee or does he face the consequences of his actions from the past. This isn’t avoidable so he must chose what to do.	Derrick has to chose from running away or facing angry parents.
Once he made up his mind	He explained to the boy what he had to do, he needed to confront his past. He could try to explain, or he could fight back what would he do. Had he really changed as a derickian or was he still the murderer he once was. This was indeed a struggle.	Derrick is faced with an inner conflict having to think about if ha has really changed for the better.
Now the time had come	Derrick was on his was to confront the mob, he surely knew this was his impending doom, as he roamed the streets of inevitable demise he thought about what he would do. Finally the end was in sight.	Derrick decided to talk to the people
Finnaly	Derrick was face to faces with the terror of his past. He tried to use the translator “WAAAAIIIT!”  Came a scream from the device. “STOOOOOP! I CAN EXPLAIN!” But alas they were blinded by rage, nothing can stop the passion of an angry grieving parent. Until a scream followed by a running child came from a distance.	Derrick tries to reason with the mob. A child is running towards them
It was the boy	The boy that derick was best friends with came charging in screaming at the top of his lungs, but no one was listening, nobody could hear him over the sound of revenge. 25 meters, 20 meters, 15, 10, 5, he was too late the angry mob had derick by the limbs? Tentacle? Nobody knows what those are but anyway, the boy was jumping and screaming and losing his voice but this was a futile attempt to stop them. Derrick was torn apart, ripped in two and lay cold on the floor.	The boy was running towards the people but no one could hear him The boy could get to Derrick in time and they tore him apart
Dead on the floor	Derrick sat there, no longer alive. The boy came running over to him, eyes flooded with tears, he dropped to his knees and started sobbing. But somehow derricks to parts started drifting towards each other.	The boy is crying about Derrick being dead. His parts are moving closer
Shocked	The group of parents noticed what they had done. They had murdered the only friends that boy ever had, realising this this must have meant he changed, they regretted their actions. However Derrick wasn’t finished quite yet. The two pieces of his body melded back together and Derrick was reborn.	The people realise derrick changed and feel bad. Derrick came back
Using the translator	Derrick explained what his powers were, and helped them understand that he couldn’t move in sunlight. Derrick apologised for what he had done and tried to make amends with all he had hurt.	Derrick apologies to the people
Ever since that day	Derrick lived among society living with his new best friend and working any jobs he can find to make money for the boys food. He is known by all in the city and lives peacefully as if he isn’t an alien. Because he isn’t, earth is his new home, and that’s perfectly fine. At least he thinks so.

Now I was ready to write the real thing. I had a lot of prep before hand so surely I was ready. So I started writing and figuring derricks tale. I don’t have much to say about the writing of the story so here you can read it.

Out in space, a shuttle is headed toward earth containing an alien life-form that recently discovered a planet called earth. This creature is called Derrick, he is looking for a new home as he was excluded from his own planet. Derrick is a Derrickian life-form native to the dark side of the moon. This specific one has chosen to leave because it was exiled for being stupid by the standards of the species. He landed on earth and opened his door to the beauty of nature, he decides to explore. 

During his exploration Derrick finds out how humans live and decides to observe one specific family. This family consisted of two tall creatures, but suddenly one of the humans starting expanding, then over the course of 9 months they got bigger and bigger until one day they shrunk. A new small ugly creature had arrived. Derrick wonders why they pay attention to it. It is annoying, loud, stupid and tries to eat everything. WHY WERE THEY GIVING IT SO MUCH LOVE! Derrick thought to himself why do they love that thing, I deserve their love. Why don’t I get that love, I hate that thing, I want to kill that thing, I want to destroy all of those creatures. I WILL DESTROY THEM ALL! This set Derrick out on a quest. A journey with only one outcome, to kill all babies. 

First to deal with this one, the first baby he ever saw and the first he would ever kill. He planned for days and weeks crafting the most detailed and thought out plan ever known. He would put up an act as a stuffy and integrate itself into the family, and then make the move. Derrick weaved himself into their lives, first by mind controlling the baby and making it grab him so the parents just had to buy it. Then waiting until they left the baby all alone, carefully he snuck up behind the baby and… CHOMP! He devoured the child with one big bite. All these thoughts and emotions rushing through Derrick’s head the taste, the thrill, the joy, the fear. All these things, Derrick was thirsty for more. He needed more, he had developed a taste for it. A need, an addiction. And so began Derrick’s murder spree, he went around town hunting new families, one after the other, baby after baby, victim after victim, no child was safe, missing children, disappearances everywhere. 

People started to speculate that someone was behind this. A murderer with a sick mind, who could this mystery man be. Word had spread throughout the city. Children were being hidden away, this was a problem for Derrick he kept finding it more and move difficult to wiggle his way into their lives, but this just made him want more. Years passed and Derrick was still at it, nobody knew the cause they only knew the consequence. Everybody was learning and working from home. The whole city was in hiding. But one day Derrick found a new child. 

He did the usual routine of finding the family, learning all about them and getting into their life. But this family was different. There was only one big person, and they barely ever spoke. The small person was always locked in their room, and never did anything. He didn’t eat he didn’t play he didn’t have anything, not even the big pillow they sleep on. Derrick started to think this wasn’t a child. He was bigger and didn’t have much love, but he knew that it was a child when he got into his life. He adored Derrick treated him like the only friend he had. This was baffling to Derrick, he was receiving love. 

This caused Derrick to think back, Derrick remembered what his childhood was like. It was so similar, he never spoke to his family, he had no friends, if only he had someone to love. This caused Derrick to re-think his actions. What had he been doing. Why was he killing these innocent things just because of his lacking parents. Why had he caused all of this carnage. What had he done! He was so scared, he was regretting his actions. He didn’t want it to be real. He didn’t want to live this way anymore. He wanted to change. Derrick decided to be friends with this boy. He learned his name, Todrick, he hadn’t had a second parent his whole life. He never had friends, and never had toys. This made Derrick feel awful, he wanted to explain to todrick what he had done. He thought he deserved to know. 

He built a translation device to be able to explain to todrick what he was, where he was from, and what he had done. He explained to him that he was entirely immortal, but died in sunlight. Derrick was worried todrick would hate him and run away or kill him, but the complete opposite happened. Todrick was astonished he thought Derrick was so cool they played together and talked and cooked. They did everything together. After a few weeks of knowing each other, Derrick explained how to him the murder he had caused but explained that he had changed, todrick had made him realise what he had done. Todrick understood and really believed he changed but little did they know, Todrick’s parent was listening through the door. 

They informed the whole city about what he did who he was and where he was. Now Derrick was faced with a challenge that caused much panic. How would he address the matter, would he run away or face the actions of his past. Derrick chose impending doom, he would confront the angry parents and try to explain himself. To confront the mob he would have to prepare himself, he needs to get their attention, but how. He decided to go head to head with them and just try to talk it out. The time had come for Derrick to face his past, he needed to scream (well technically he couldn’t scream but the translator could) the loudest he could. Doom was approaching in the form of a riot. There they were, the families of all his victims morphed into a ball of rage. He was screaming STOOOP! WAAAIIT! I CAN EXPLAIN! Nothing. They were like a bull to a red flag. Charging, getting closer and closer. But suddenly, in the distance you could hear a voice. Noooooo! Stooooop! 

It was a race, the murderous mob of parents, or a small todrick. He tried his very best but he wasn’t fast enough. They grabbed Derrick by the legs and thrusted him up into the air. Everyone got a stab or a whack at the small creature, until finally the last two parents, the first of Derrick’s victims. They stared into Derrick’s eyes, face to face with the root of his murder but then. They ripped him in two. 

Derrick lay cold on the the floor lifeless. Todrick ran over to his lost friend and toppled over straight onto his knees and started bawling. The angry mob heard his sobbing, they all turned around to see the boy crying his eyes out. This meant he had to have changed, he couldn’t be the same ruthless killer that he once was. Full of remorse those two parents that started it all walked over to comfort Todrick. Their shadows looming over the spit body cast a big enough shadow for Derrick to regain his powers. His two halve started moving together like magnets, slowing drifting along the floor. They started melding back together, merging to create a reborn form of Derrick. 

Todrick had no idea his eyes still flooded with tears. Todrick felt a pat on his leg, he opened his eyes and still couldn’t see well. He wiped the tears from his face and burst with joy, still careful no to move as to take him out the shadow. Derrick picked up the translator and explained his whole story to the public. He told them everything about himself and helped them understand who he was. To this day Derrick still lives among those people, as if he is a citizen. He has a job to pay for Todrick’s food, he has friends that he spends time with and he even goes to book club on Wednesdays. He lives a normal human life on earth, living in a city in Ohio. At least for now……

So now the story was complete I had to make it into a movie because who reads books nowadays. So before I made the movie I had to hype it up with trailer. (By the way there isn’t actually going to be a movie but there will be a trailer). But first we had to find out what makes a good movie trailer, so I examined trailers carefully, and by that I mean I watched a couple videos, and noticed that it had to be exciting, but not too revealing. It had to be suspenseful but not confusing. And it needed to make people want to watch it and find out what happens. With all this information stored in my noggin I popped out this trailer for Derrick vs the world.

Finally I will return to the driving question. How can sci-fi/fantasy fiction help us imagine a different future? 

I think that we can learn from the mistakes that these fictional characters make and improve our lives to make sure that they never happen to us. We can use these made up stories as vessels to convey our thoughts and problems with the world. We can use our imaginations to create a world where we want to be. If we write about a future that we want to be in we can escape a sad or lonely life.

Thank you for reading my blog (but I don’t blame you if you skipped some parts) I appreciate it. I hope you’ll read some more and have a nice day : )

Bye bye