Are Aliens the oppressed or the oppressors?

LINK:  ALIVE IN JOBURG
This was the question that kept coming to my mind as I watched this amazing viral video for the upcoming movie District 9. Placing it 1990 South Africa makes the premise of the movie all the more troubling and conflicted. What struck me most was the various layers of power between everyone here, from the lowly alien begging for water, the bio suit alien that could crush someone like an insect, the giant ships, to the race and class differences right at the height of Apartheid. I love the comment someone made on Vimeo, "I love that the aliens just become a social problem, not an apocalyptic threat."

Where there is pattern there is meaning.

This is something I learned very early on from Sean Kane, the guy who wrote this book, Wisdom of the Mythtellers. Myths are full of patterns reflected in nature, and their telling reveals layer by layer their connections.

It would take a keen ear to catch such patterns, and perhaps the patterns mean different things for different people at different stages in their life. I'm trying to be aware of this as I write, where I draw on the natural world, but also on the web of social relationships between the characters. All of this while within a story being narrated, which I guess acts as a synecdoche (I love that word, hehe).

The story I'm using as reference is inspired from the Mabinogion, "Branwen Daughter of Llyr" which features some of the most vicious scenes. I'm taking my time with this one...

Prologue Narration

Well here it is... the prologue to my story, accompanied by Renee's beautiful artwork. I hope you enjoy it, please feel free to point out anything you like or dislike. Please don't the intentional ambiguity in some parts. All of the elements in this prologue are repeated throughout the first 11 chapters. ENJOY!

Part One:



Part Two:



Part Three:

Milestone is near.

Nine chapters, plus the prologue have been finished. I've been tidying up and tightening some loose connections in the story thus far, and am at the 35 thousand word mark. As soon as I've finished the 10th chapter I will post a draft of my prologue.

Character designs from nature pt. 2.

The story is slowly maturing, which is good because I really dislike rushing a narrative. I find when I start writing with guns a'blazin the story is rather short-lived, my fingers just can't keep up with my imagination. So what I've decided to do is s-l-o-w my imagination down in a way that allows me to nurture character and plot development.

3. Oven bird.

Anyway, here are two other character designs based on creatures in nature. The first is the tiny oven-bird, an unassuming bird at first glance, but quite intricate with its overall shape, breast design and beautiful song. This character is similar and serves a very important role in the story. In the story, they are actually aids in storytelling, and oddly enough have kinship with the Coddle Squid HERE.




4. Fen Wasp.

Don't ask me why I chose to make hummingbirds nasty, but in my story they can't be trusted because they'll want to kill you. Yeah, and I love hummingbirds, so I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. Perhaps I wanted to come up with a character that appears really beautiful but is deceptively dangerous, hence the fen wasp: a medium dog size literal mash-up of a wasp/hummingbird. I'll offer more details when I write character and creature profiles.

Movie: Battle For Terra Trailer

I love animation and sci-fi....put them together and it is fun all around for this gal! I can't wait to see this movie.

New adona painting - The Fox