The Legend of Zelda by Angela Mercado

The Origins:

Long ago from the heavens came three goddesses into the chaos of the universe.

• Din, Goddess of Power and creator of the material realm
• Farore, Goddess of Courage and creator of life
• Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom and creator of order

After creating the world, the Golden Goddesses made the Triforce, an omnipotent relic whose power could be harnessed by any mortal, good or evil. 

The Triforce is made of three smaller segments, each containing the essence of its corresponding goddess: 

• the Triforce of Power
• the Triforce of Wisdom
• the Triforce of Courage

Even though the power of the Triforce can be accessed regardless of intention, an ancient prophecy states that if the holder of the Triforce has malicious intent a Hero is destined to defeat them.

The Triforce can only be used by someone with a perfect balance of power, wisdom, and courage. If the heart of whoever attempts to wield its power is not in balance, the Triforce will split into its three parts. 

Only the part representing their strongest trait will remain, leaving them unable to use the Triforce until they have found and collected the other Triforces.

“If that one seeks the True Force, that one must acquire the two lost parts. Those two parts will be held within others chosen by destiny, who will bear the Triforce mark on the backs of their hands.“

The Triforce was placed in the Sacred Realm, a parallel dimension created by the Goddesses through which they first entered, and later left Hyrule. The state of the Sacred Realm mirrors the intentions of those who enter it seeking the Triforce.

Before returning to their home, the Triforce was left in the care of the goddess Hylia, warden of the new land and its inhabitants.

• The world created by the Goddesses was called Hyrule, named by the race of humans living there
• The humans named themselves Hylians, after the goddess Hylia that they worshipped

Other non-human species living in Hyrule include the Kokiri, Rito, Gorons, and Zora.

There are three main ethnic/cultural groups within the Hylian race.

• Hylians
• The Sheikah Tribe
• The Gerudo

The Era of Hylia:

After several years of peace and prosperity under the care of the Goddess Hylia, the Demon King Demise, an eternal entity and source of all monsters and malice, emerged through a crack in the earth in search of the Triforce. 

To save her people from his demon army, the Goddess of Light gathered any surviving Hylians onto the section of land surrounding her temple and used her power to send part of the outcrop into the sky. She created a magical cloud barrier to seal off the Sky from the Surface and protect the Hylians from Demise. 

Hylia created the Sky Keep underneath her temple, a chamber containing a gate to the Sacred Realm (the Triforce), her sacred harp, and the Goddess Sword. The gate to the Sacred Realm was designed to be opened with the Song of the Hero, a melody that could only be learned and played by the Chosen Hero on Hylia’s harp.

• The Chosen Hero is a Hylian destined to help Hylia serve and protect Hyrule during times of need. The Goddess Sword was forged by Hylia to help arm her Hero.

After securing the safety of the humans and the Triforce, Hylia and her Hero joined the rest of the beings on the Surface to fight Demise and his army. After a long battle, the Goddess was able to overpower Demise and trap his soul in a prison she created in the ruins of her temple where the Goddess Statue once stood. The rest of the survivors spread out across Hyrule and established their own domains. 

Now gravely injured after the battle, Hylia knew that her seal on Demise couldn’t last forever and feared the catastrophe his powers would unleash on the world when he escaped. 

To prevent this, Hylia created a guardian spirit called Fi that would be bound to the Goddess Sword and aid the Chosen Heroes of the future. She also renounced her divinity so that her soul could later be reborn as a mortal, allowing her to use the Triforce and finally stop Demise when he was later freed. In her final moments, Hylia appointed a dragon to watch over each of the regions of Hyrule in her absence. 

• Faron, Eldin, Lanayru

She gave the sky spirit Levias the task of protecting the skies, and taught a portion of the Song of the Hero to each of them, instructing them to await the Chosen Hero and pass on the song when the time came.

The Era of the Sky:

Thousands of years later, Hylia is reborn as Zelda, a teenager living in Skyloft. After Zelda is kidnapped by Ghirahim, a demon lord that rules over the Surface, in order to attempt to free Demise.

• Hylia sends Impa, her Sheikah advisor, through time to rescue Zelda from Ghirahim. They travel to the Temple of Time, an ancient monument on the Surface that protects the Gate of Time, a portal created by Hylia before her death that leads to the time just after Demise’s imprisonment. After using the Gate of Time to return to the past, the Gate of Time is destroyed.

Zelda regains her memories as the goddess Hylia.

Meanwhile, on Skyloft, Zelda’s childhood friend Link is lead by Fi to find and pull the Goddess Sword from where it was hidden by Hylia, and is revealed to be the next Chosen Hero. With the help of Fi, Link travels down to the Surface and seeks out the three sacred flames to forge the Goddess Sword into the Master Sword. He uses the sword to activate a second Gate of Time in the original location of Hylia’s temple, the place where Demise was trapped.

Link travels back to the Era of Hylia to find Zelda and Impa, where Zelda had just placed herself in a 1,000 year long sleep to preserve the breaking seal on Demise. Link goes back to his present, collects the Song of the Hero, unlocks the Sacred Realm, and uses the Triforce to destroy Demise.

• Back in the past, Zelda awakens from her sleep, and is kidnapped (again) by Ghirahim. He takes her even farther into the past, and uses her soul (the soul of Hylia) to revive Demise and bring him back into the present after Link had killed him.

Demise’s Curse:

Link fights and defeats the resurrected Demise, sealing him away inside of the Master Sword. With his last words, Demise swears that reincarnations of his evil will follow “those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero” in an eternal cycle. 

The Master Sword is placed in a pedestal inside of the remains of Hylia’s temple on the Surface, which is now called the Sealed Temple. Fi becomes dormant inside of the sword. Zelda and Link return to their present, while Impa remains in the past (her present) to guard the sword.

Back in their time, Zelda and the other humans leave Skyloft and repopulate the Surface.

The Aftermath:

Zelda’s descendants later established the Kingdom of Hyrule and became the Royal Family. The Princesses were all named Zelda, after the original mortal incarnation of Hylia, and carried on the blood of the Goddess. The Sheikah, who once served the Goddess herself, became the right-hand of the Royal Family. The name Impa became common among the Sheikah, and is the name that the personal advisors to the Princess shared. Link is often a member of the Royal Guard or is Zelda’s personal knight. 

Most Zelda games follow a Princess Zelda, and incarnation of Demise, and a Hero called Link as they carry out their destinies of conflict. Though the condition and location of the Triforce varies, it is generally considered that the essence and powers of the Triforces of Wisdom, Courage, and Power are within Zelda, Link, and Demise respectively (though not always active).

Discussion Questions:

1. What makes a series like this work better as video games over other mediums like books or movies? 

2. Does the complexity of a world like this (time travel, reincarnations, alternate timelines, etc.) work for the story or against it?

3. Is Zelda’s role in the series fitting considering that it’s named after her?

4. How do the ages of Link and Zelda affect the story and how it’s received by players?

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Worldbuilding Presentation by Elissa Parker Alexander

Summary:

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a young adult fantasy novel written by Ransom Riggs. The book begins with the main character, Jacob, recounting his experiences from a future perspective. He focuses on the stories his grandfather used to tell him about gifted (peculiar children) who lived with him on an island during WW2, and the monsters he fought with them. He also showed various pictures that Jacob now sees as “cleverly edited.” Jacob is very clear about the fact that he no longer believes his grandfather’s stories.

The inciting incident of the novel is when Jacob goes to check on his grandfather, as their entire family thinks he’s suffering from PTSD after the war. As Jacob drives into the neighborhood, he sees a “blind” man with white eyes supposedly staring at him. When Jacob arrives, the screen door is scratched, leading Jacob to investigate the forests behind the house. Lying the grass outside, bleeding out, is Jacob’s grandfather, who tells him to go to the island, and gives him some cryptic information about Emerson, a bird and September 3rd, 1940, before dying. Jacob sees some sort of tentacle mouthed creature in the woods and proceeds to have vivid nightmares where he wakes up screaming.

After the nightmares continue despite treatment, Jacob’s psychiatrist suggests that he should go visit the island to confront his trauma. Once arriving on the island, Jacob discovers that the house his grandfather lived in was blown up by German planes, and that his grandfather was the only survivor. Despite this, he explores the house and meets some mysterious characters, and perseus them into a cairn tunnel. When he emerges from the tunnel, Jacob finds himself in 1940 on exactly September 3rd, the day the house was bombed. This is where he meets the peculiars his grandfather described: Millard, the invisible boy, Bronwyn the brute, Enoch, who can bring the dead back to life, Hugh, whose body is able to house bees, his (unmentioned?) ex-girlfriend Emma, who can control fire, and more. This half of the novel is spent exploring the new world without much conflict.

The second half of the novel is where conflict begins to emerge. Miss Peregrine is revealed to be hiding big elements of peculiar life, specifically the antagonists: hollows and wights. Hollows are former peculiars turned into tentacle-mouthed creatures in an immortality experiment gone wrong. Wights, on the other hand, are former hollowgasts who have consumed enough peculiar souls to regain a human form. Their only defining feature are white eyes without pupils. Jacob’s peculiar ability is being able to see hollows, while others can only see their shadows. Emma and Jacob begin to fall in love. The group soon discovers that a hollow has come to the island with a wight in the present to find Jacob. The wight reveals themselves to be Jacob’s psychiatrist who encouraged him to come to the island.

His “psychiatrist” has also posed as Jacob’s bus driver and his family’s lawn worker in order to keep tabs on him, hoping to be lead to the loop. Jacob and Emma are separated from the group when Dr. Golan sics his hollow on them. Once the two recover and return, they find that the other children have been locked in the house and Miss Peregrine has been taken. Millard, the invisible boy, managed to follow Dr. Golan and leave a trail for the rest to follow. The ending scuffle ends with Dr. Golan dead, and Miss Peregrine safe, but she is trapped in her bird form, causing the loop to collapse without her to reset it, leaving the house destroyed by the bombs. Jacob decides to live in the peculiar world rather than returning to his old one, leaving a note for his father (and bringing Emma to visit :/) The group takes a boat to the mainland, guided by Horace’s prophetic dream, in hopes of finding salvation.

Analysis:

The fantastical element found in this world is obviously the peculiar children and their society. They have a very specific way of life, centered around ymbrynes, who create the time loops. Since the main characters all never age (except to their death), their entire lives focus around their one day in the loop. They are also all trapped in the same time period, only able to travel into current times for a few moments. While peculiars manage to escape persecution this way, they also trap themselves in an immortal Groundhog day hell they can’t leave if they stay too long, which, while worth the trade-off for some (Jacob and Abe), just can’t work out for others. (Like Horace or Hugh.) A lot of the peculiars that Jacob meets have been given up or abused by their parents/ authority figures. Despite being immortal, they still haven’t overcome their past traumas.

Real-World Connection:

The main thread that connects the world of the peculiar children to our world is the feeling of not belonging, or being looked down upon/ cast out just for being yourself. The books go further than just being seen this way by outsiders, but also by those within your group, who may just as easily try to hurt you. The book also tackles the typical teenage “coming of age” experience with Jacob’s need to leave the normal world behind mostly because of his romance with Emma. The main attraction of his life changing choice is a whirlwind romance with his grandfather’s ex-girlfriend…anyway. Another way the peculiar world connects with ours is the found footage. All of the photos used to provide visuals for characters and places were found by the author at flea markets, and some of the characters were mainly inspired by the photos, giving the impression that peculiarity really lives in our world.

Discussion Questions:

1. How much do you think the found photos contributes to the worldbuilding of the story? How different would the book be without them?
2. Who do you think Jacob represents in the world? Is he always an outsider or does he become a real peculiar by the end of the book? What makes a peculiar child?
3. Are loops the best solution to the peculiars’ problems, or is there a better way for them to live?
4. Do you think the strange nature of Emma and Jacob was an intentional narrative choice or supposed to be a real romance?

The World of “Honored Ancestors” by Isobel Perez

Summary:

“Honored Ancestors,” also called “My Dear Ancestors” is a chapter from Junji Ito’s collection of short stories titled Shiver. The story opens with Makita bringing Risa, the protagonist, home after she’s mysteriously lost her memory. He claims to have found her wandering around on his way home from school only to realize that she can’t remember who he is. Risa doesn’t remember her way home or who her parents are. 

After taking Risa to the doctors, the doctor states that he believes that her memory loss may be the result of some sort of psychological shock and that they’ll carefully consider their treatment. Makita promises that they can “start over again” and that they’ll be able to experience everything they’ve done together again and that it will be exciting.

Later, Risa sees a giant caterpillar crawl into her room as she’s lying in bed trying to sleep. The caterpillar tries to crawl into bed with her and she screams, waking her parents and causing them to rush to her room where they find her alone. The next day, Risa tells Makita about this experience, worried that the caterpillar may come for her again. Makita tries to comfort Risa by inviting her out where he later confesses that he likes her and that prior to Risa losing her memory, he had already confessed this to her. Risa doesn’t remember this, and Makita replies that he couldn’t imagine losing his memory. 

Makita invites Risa to his house which she’s apparently visited before. She eventually meets Makita’s ill father who was once a writer but who’s now unable to do much as a result of his illness. Risa has met Makita’s father in the past, but she doesn’t remember this either. Makita’s father eventually comes out of his room, scootching across the floor on his back where he then reveals that Risa was previously engaged to Makita. Risa’s anxiety continues to grow as she returns home. Risa begins to wonder if Makita’s house has something to do with her losing her memory. 

Makita eventually returns to Risa’s house, panicked because his father is dying and he’s requesting Risa’s presence. They rush to his room where Risa sees that Makita’s father has a long line of skulls attached to his head. These skulls are the skulls of their ancestors. Risa lost her memory because of her shock when she first went to Makita’s house and met his father. The skulls resemble a large caterpillar which explains her hallucination. 

These skulls contain the memories and thoughts of all Makita’s previous ancestors and have been draining Makita’s father’s energy. Now it’s time for Makita to become attached to the skulls. Makita’s father and the skulls demand that Makita produce an child and continue the family line. With this, Risa regains her memory, but she doesn’t want to marry Makita or have. a child with him. She runs and Makita chases after her, spurred on by the cries of his ancestors and his father. However, he eventually collapses, sensing that his father has died, and he stumbles back into the bedroom where the skulls attach to him. Risa sees this and runs again while Makita continues to chase after her, crawling with the skulls trailing behind him. Risa reverts to her memory-less state and collapses on the floor. The skulls begin to plan a wedding for Risa and Makita, proclaiming that the family is safe for another generation. 

The Real-World Horror of “Honored Ancestors:”

Most of Junji Ito’s worlds are set in realistic settings with characters that experience little development throughout the procession of his stories. This reflects the real horror of Ito’s stories: his stories could happen to anyone, anywhere. His undeveloped characters allow the reader to easily insert themselves into the narrative and immerse themselves in a horrifying experience.

Specifically, with Ito’s “Honored Ancestors,” the undeveloped characters and the unspecified setting allow for Ito to comment on societal pressures and expectations. “Honored Ancestors” focuses on the pressure older family members place on younger generations to get married, have children, and “continue the bloodline.” Ito takes the fear and anxiety that can arise from having this pressure placed on you and creates the image of a long stretch of skulls living off of Makita’s father and, by the end of the story, Makita, himself. 

One motif that I’ve found in a lot of Ito’s stories and that I found particularly terrifying in “Honored Ancestors” is the loss of control experienced by the characters in his stories. I think this idea is especially interesting in “Honored Ancestors” because it reflects how younger generations can feel a loss of control over their own lives. When Makita’s father dies, he falls in pain then has to wobble over to the room to attach the heads to himself. He’s lost his autonomy and now has to listen to the thoughts and opinions of his ancestors for the rest of his life.  

The scene where Risa is running from Makita and collapses, having lost her memory, was another horrifying/disheartening moment of this story. Risa has lost control of her life and her body and must now live a life and have a child that she didn’t want. Both characters are victims to societal/generational pressures and expectations. 

What value/meaning does “Honored Ancestors” have for our real world?

Like I said, “Honored Ancestors” shows how creating a world that mirrors real-world allows writers to comment on social norms. Through the use of exaggeration and absurd details contrasting the banality of our real-world, writers can truly showcase the horrors of whatever subject their commenting on.

Discussion questions:

• How do you think “Honored Ancestors” being created as a manga contributed to the worldbuilding of the story? Do you think there would have been more/less/equal impact if the story were created as a written short story?
• Do you think Makita’s family of skulls is an isolated incident or that there are other families out there in like this Ito’s world?

STAR WARS THE SEQUEL TRILOGY: HOW TO FAIL AT WORLD BUILDING by Benjamin Authur

Summary: “The sequel trilogy is the third installment of films of the Star Wars saga to be produced. It begins thirty years after the ending of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and focuses around a conflict between the First Order, a military state and successor to the Galactic Empire, and the Resistance, a military group formed to oppose the First Order and successor to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.” – Wookiepedia here

Wookiepedia does a better job of explaining the films’ existence than I can. Frankly, I can find no reason. If any of us here are force-sensitive, I’d like you to meditate on what this image means:

Most scholars within the Jedi temple have agreed that this represents the term, CORPORATE GREED.

So, as a preface to this presentation, I’d like the audience to understand that the first failing in any work that seeks to build a world is money. Specifically, when the work in question is not to create a world for its own sake, but to create a vessel through which dollars can be imported and shipped to Disney faster than lightspeed. 

This presentation will briefly cover the first movie within the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, with regards to how it establishes its world through narrative execution and visual effects, with the budget obviously going to the latter.

Episode IVVII, A NewThe Force Awakens

“Look at how old you’ve become” -Kylo Ren

This movie, objectively, shouldered the biggest burden of the three. Before I tear it down for its lack of artistic merit, The Force Awakens did have the impossible task of establishing a new world and continuity within a decades-long film franchise, set in, arguably, the biggest sci-fi property in existence. Instead of giving it the opportunity to explore whatever niche it wanted, the sheer scope of the film meant that it had to satisfy old fans of the franchise as well as bring in a comparable amount of new viewers to fit within the new generation it was appealing to. Thus, its worldbuilding opportunities were rather limited.

The Plot Before Rey

Everyone is looking for Luke Skywalker because he went away 😦 Kylo Ren, Luke’s nephew and also dark-side apprentice to Snoke, invades a planet named Tatooine Jakku to find a man named Lor Santeka and kills him because he had a map to Luke. However, shortly before Kylo Ren’s invasion, Lor was a manboss and put the map in Resistance Pilot Poe Dameron’s droid, BB8, to run away with so Kylo won’t find the map. Poe gets captured but BB8 successfully runs away.

In my opinion, this is a cool opening to a cool world. The nighttime invasion with impressive visual effects opening off a new Star Wars story was super promising and posed interesting questions. Where will the droid go? Oh no, how is Poe going to get out of this?? All these are questions directly related to the plot, and suggest a possibly darker and more grim world to have Star Wars set in.

Jakku (Not Tatooine!!)

Jakku is the first planet of the new saga. It is also home to the protagonist, Rey.

Jakku is characterized by its, rather gorgeously shot, hilly desert landscape, as well as the many destroyed and obsolete spacecraft that dot its surface, due to being a former battleground in the Battle of Jakku some 28 years ago. Sounds like a potentially cool setup, right? Well, you wouldn’t know that last part just by watching the films. 

If you’re familiar with the franchise, you could at least infer that there was some space dogfighting above from some battle. But, for people who aren’t, why are there spaceships there?? But, I digress. It’s a mystery for another day. Onto Rey:

(Remind you of anything??)

Rey grew up alone on this desert planet after being orphaned as a young child and is now a girlboss scavenger of starships to make her living. How did she survive on this planet as a tiny child? Did someone help her? Where/who are her parents? Again, mysteries. But, that’s fine, they’ll explain later, surely. 

The previously established BB8 (in the picture before the last one), finds Rey as she’s scavenging for parts. It tells Rey that its in trouble and needs to get back to the resistance. Rey is based and likely sees profit on a rotating sphere, though is intrigued by the droid’s quest. So, she slaps it on her bike and rides back with her to sell her scraps.

Back to Poe

Poe is being tortured aboard The Finalizer, Kylo Ren’s Star Destroyer, for the location of the map. Poe tries to resist but ultimately succumbs a bit to Kylo’s force-powered interrogation, letting slip that BB8 has the plans

Kylo then demands an all-out invasion of Jakku’s only trading hub to find the droid. 

Enter FN2187 (Finn)

Not all stormtroopers like killing things 😦 The invasion and slaughter of the small village that Kylo led, just to get a map, was the first time FN2187 had seen combat, and one of his stormtrooper buddies died :(((

(the blood somehow leaks through the armored gloves of his buddy but whatever it’s a sad moment)

FN wants out of the First Order. Luckily for him, he thinks these thoughts as he passes the captive Poe, who happens to be an ace pilot. FN breaks him out on the condition that he can find them a nice backwater planet for Finn to stay on while he plots his next move. Poe agrees, and the two quickly bond, with Poe explaining that BB8 has the map to Luke, while piloting a stolen starfighter and head down to the planet below, and Poe dubs FN, Finn. New name for A New Hope. Oh, darn, I said it again.

By this point, the plot’s intrigue is not burdened by the exposition it has yet to explain. Cool setup, new characters, typical star wars desert world, things are starting to ramp up.

Back to the Desert

Poe and Finn get shot down onto the planet. They crash land and Finn manages to eject, but the ship sinks into quicksand and Poe is presumed dead, leaving behind only his jacket.

Finn, saddened, trudges onwards. After wandering for a bit, he finds Rey dealing with a group of assailants, which he tries to assist her in defeating, but she girlbosses her way through them and mistakes Finn for another attacker due to BB8 recognizing Poe’s jacket on Finn.

Finn clears up this misunderstanding by lying to Rey. As girlboss as she is, she believes him when he says he’s a resistance fighter. Typical men. Anyways, as they’re heading back to Rey’s shack, BB8 informs them they’re in trouble because stormtroopers are after them. They decide to steal a garbage vehicle to escape the planet with and go to Finn’s resistance base, which BB8 knows the location of. Of course the “garbage freighter” they steal is the MILLENIUM FUCKING FALCON which Rey expertly pilots away from pursuing stormtroopers

Ok, now the worldbuilding gets a bit funky?

For new viewers to the franchise, this ship they just stole is one of the most famous ships IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY. Not only do people know it from Han Solo’s escapades during the original trilogy, but he had it when he was general in the dominant governing body in the galaxy. You’re expected to believe it was just sitting there in the scraps of a backwater planet. Even with all of those factors, it would all be fine if they just explained it.

Special Episode: Attack of the Director JJ Abrams

This man, a renowned hollywood director, is the one who directed and executed the creative vision of this movie:

“Everything I told you is true. From a certain point of view” Obi-wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi

With many successful and critically-acclaimed films under his belt, sci-fi or otherwise, JJ seems like a great guy for the job of steering the ship of this new entry into the most successful sci-fi franchise in existence, right? Maybe, if his films EXPLAINED ANYTHING.

Let’s take a second to look at a few of the questions raised in this movie so far. We’re maybe a fourth of the way in, plotwise.

Who is Lor Santekka, why did he have the map?

Why did Luke disappear from the galaxy?

Who was that stormtrooper that Finn had that bloody mark from? (Must have mad an impact to make him defect)

WHY IS THE MILLENIUM FALCON IN AN OLD SCRAPYARD??

How is Rey able to pilot the falcon so effortlessly away from trained First Order troops???

These are, in my opinion, important questions that the audience must be able to answer by the end of the film to have a solid foundation upon which they can understand the world. Otherwise, we should all assume that stormtroopers defect all the time after their first combat, scavenging big ole hunks of metal translates superbly to flying skills, galaxy-renowned ships just disappear as well as galaxy-renowned sith-killing Jedi heroes. 

But, you know what? This is fine. As long as, at some point by the end of the film, we understand the answers to these questions, then it will have made not only an intriguing watching experience, but also a consistent world with consistent rules whose expectations we can apply to future films within the same continuity. So, I posit the question to you: How many of these do you think we get the answer to by the end?

(think)

THE ANSWER IS ZERO.

Instead, MORE QUESTIONS. Here is a lightning summary of the plot after this point.

Finn and Rey escape but get pulled in by pirates, who obviously recognize the Millenium Falcon. Those pirates are HAN SOLO AND CHEWBACCA. They’re out in the middle of nowhere, literally. The Falcon is in a sorry state of repairs and can’t get into hyperspace so they just wander in search of a planet until Han Solo finds them. This raises many questions.

There’s an encounter with people Han and Chewie owe money to before Rey, Fin, BB8, and Han +Chewie escape them with the Falcon. They go to the planet Tako Dana to seek the help of Han’s old friend Maz Kanata. Finn tells Rey he is not a resistence fighter and just wants to save his own skin. Afterwards, Rey just randomly finds Luke Skywaler’s lightsaber in a random box of Maz’s and then has a very vague but impressively-shot and visually-effected vision. Endless questions from this scene alone. But, before they can linger, The First Order closes in on them and there’s a war on Tako Dana to search for BB8. They all escape except for Rey, who is captured.

Oh yeah the very subtly fascist First Order

Gets a rallying peptalk from a previously established General Hux, and then the very subtly Death Star-inspired Starkiller Base

fires a giant planet laser that destroys 4 New Republic Planets.

Han and the gang minus Rey meet up with Leia because they heard what happened and want to help. Also Poe didn’t actually die and he meets up with Finn again. Anyways, they plan an attack on Starkiller Base that involves shooting a vulnerable spot. They start the attack with Han and Finn leading the ground team to take out the shield, which they meet up with Rey for but not before they all get stuck in a trash compactor.

(familiar yet????)

They disable the shields which lets the Resistence fighters bomb the vulnerable part and because the base is a planet it’s going to explode. Also Kylo Ren kills Han and gets shot by Chewie (this part is explained rather well, so not knocking it) and then Kylo Ren catches up to Rey and Fin and Chewie and Kylo understandably wins a lightsaber duel with Finn (they took Luke’s lightsaber incase they needed it) but then, the most agregious thing in the entire fucking film happens.

This is a worldbuilding presentation, right?

Kylo Ren, former jedi apprentice to Luke Skywalker, current sith apprentice to Snoke, the leader of the First Order and presumably very powerful man, established strong evil guy in the story, gets beaten in single combat with an untrained desert girl. It’s Rey of course. What is this world???

The crew escapes with everyone except Han because he died, and they celebrate a job well done. It was the third highest grossing film that year, so sure, they did a great job. At appealing to everyone and no one at the same time.

Summary

When it’s treading its own ground, The Force Awakens establishes interesting storylines to be treated upon later, but never within its own space. The other 80% of the time, when it’s treading the ground of A New Hope, it hits the same beats but worse. The expectations of this world are completely out of whack, it seems like anything can happen just because.

The film’s shining light is the effects, set design, and environments of the places the cast visits. In this regard, the actual “worlds” themselves are colorful, distinct, and beg to be explored. The mysterious desert of Jakku (ok, I tried. The sand looks nice though), the lush tree canopies of Tako Dana and vibrant cantina, the snowy tundra and industrial design of Starkiller Base, it all looks gorgeous to the eye.

Discussion Questions:

1: How can we avoid the pitfalls of bad worldbuilding in our own worlds?

2: To what extent can gorgeous visual and distinct environments cover-up a lacking plot?

3: Is ReyLo valid? (/j)

4: What makes the difference between establishing questions that serve the plot, and being overly vague and not following through on anything?

The World of Snowpiercer by Christian Hinojosa

Notice: There are 3 separate pieces of media which are titled “Snowpiercer” and operate under the same plot premise, the original graphic novel, a 2014 movie, and the currently running TV Show. For the sake of simplicity, I will mainly focus on the show (2019-present) as it has a more complex and defined world. I will also reference the movie in comparison to the show, although the movie and show are not canonically related.

Summary

Snowpiercer is set in a present world in which due to concerns of climate change and a rapidly warming earth, scientists launch giant aerosol capsules (CW7) into the stratosphere. This backfires and instead of chilling the earth down it freezes completely. While this is happening the brilliant engineer, billionaire, philanthropist “Mr. Wilford” is taking precautions against the future, which he foresaw. He and his partner Melanie Cavill construct a massive hydrogen-powered train around the surface of the earth. The train is entirely self-sufficient and was openly designed as a luxury trip for the wealthy, but its secret use was always to act as a vestige for the remains of humanity. The series and film both take place entirely on the train and it is (more or less) impossible to survive outside without serious life support systems. In the series the train contains 1,034 cars, but in the movie, there are only 1,001. As the “Big freeze” worsened, the masses of humanity got desperate, and many everyday citizens attempted to board Snow Piercer before it left its station. This resulted in a large group of people boarding the train through a back entrance. The back of the train began to be referred to as the “Tail” and those that resided there as “tailies.”

As time progresses an impromptu class hierarchy forms with the tailies being the lower class, the service workers being the middle class and wealthy in First being the upper class. Tailies endure harsh conditions, specifically lack of food, water and space. They are explicitly emphasized to have become cannibals in both the book and series. Eventually they are given rations which ends the cannibalism but in response many tailie children are stolen annually and used as enslaved labor by first class. To morally justify their treatment of the Tail, First Class will often state that since Tailies did not purchase tickets, they are not true “passengers” and have no actual rights. Train-related terminology is heavily utilized as a means to de-stress the last remaining humans whose survival is constantly under threat.

Analysis:

The one element of worldbuilding that makes Snow Piercer so unique is its setting. The fact that the entire story is set on a massive train with limited resources circled the frozen earth adds a layer of constant suspense for the audience and pressure for the characters who are forced to coexist in such an uncomfortable position. Every decision made is vital to the survival of the human race and therefore nothing can be taken lightly. The normalcy of the train is a fascinating element, along with the struggle for resources. For example, in the movie Mr. Wilford is seen eating a steak while in the series steak no longer exists as during one of the wars a bomb exploded in the “Cattle Car” which made cows extinct.

Major themes such as class conflict are very much present in modern America as in Snowpiercer. The only difference is that resources are far more plentiful in the real world, so the desire to kill your neighbor and boss is far less prevalent. Much of the rhetoric used in Snow Piercer such as Tailies shouting “eat the rich” or First Class referring to Tailies as “parasites” are common slogans in the modern world. The apocalyptic universe of Snowpiercer gives us a glimpse of how when put into desperate positions humans will do anything for survival.

Other:

The train is huge. It takes hours to run across on foot. There is a sub train beneath the train.

Guns are incredibly rare, almost nonexistent.

In the series, to combat overpopulation there were various forms of sterilization/birth control introduced and childbirth is incredibly rare and closely supervised.

There is a popular drug called “kronol” which is a key plot element.

Advanced medical technology can freeze humans’ bodies in a coma, but there are serious side effects. 

During the beginning of the Big Freeze. Melanie attempted to board 27 geneticists onto Snow Piercer, Wilford decided to veto that idea and brought strippers instead. 

There is one “mainline” but many smaller tracks which divert off from it, to be used as shortcuts or emergency routes. 

If the train stops everyone dies.  

If We Were Villains: The Modern Shakespearean Tragedy by Gryphon Alhonti

 

SUMMARY 

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio is a fictional 

murder mystery that follows a group of seven 

acting students at the prestigious Dellecher 

Conservatory. These students not only 

exclusively study Shakespeare at the 

conservatory, but they also share a deep, 

cult-like love for his work, even going so far as to regularly quote him in normal conversation. 

The novel begins backwards: Oliver Marks, the protagonist, has been released from prison after serving a ten-year sentence. The first person to talk to him is Detective Colborne, the man who arrested him. Detective Colborne is retiring, which means he is now allowed to speak freely of 

his past cases, and even inquire about them with those involved past the limits of law enforcement. The first few pages of the book follow Oliver as he returns to Dellecher with the detective and recounts what happened the decade before. 

Let’s return to 1997: Our seven actors–Oliver 

Marks, Richard Stirling, James Farrow, Meredith 

Dardenne, Alexander Vass, Wren Stirling (Richard’s 

cousin), and Flippa Kosta–are lounging around, 

preparing for the Julius Caesar auditions coming up. 

Alexander makes a joke, betting money on a list he 

created, detailing who will get cast as who. This is 

where Rio presents the central narrative. These 

characters are archetypes of their own, and they are 

aware of the “characters” they play. Rio begins the 

book by describing exactly who these people are for 

the purpose of flipping the narrative on its head. 

Richard: The Tyrant. A strong, abrasive character whose abusive dark side is the elephant in every room. Cast as Julius Caesar–this is important. 

James: The Hero. Rich kid with rich parents who don’t care about him. Kind-hearted, heroic, and overall the definition of a “good guy”. 

Meredith: The Temptress. Very sexualized, has a strong character and isn’t afraid to fight back–especially with Richard.

Alexander: The Villain. Often cast as the loner, dark & brooding characters (think Sirius Black or Severus Snape) but not always the outright villain character. Cast as 

Wren: The Ingenue. 

Flippa and Oliver: The outcasts and scraps–they get whatever the others leave behind. 

When the cast list is revealed, Alexander turns out to be completely right. Here, the narrative plays its role like a character in a play–all the way until Halloween. 

Every year at Dellecher, each department hosts an event of sorts. For the theater department, it’s Macbeth on Halloween. Each actor is delivered an envelope containing the scenes they must memorize and the character they will be playing. The catch? You cannot tell anyone who you will be playing and you will not find out until you get up on “stage” and deliver your lines. The “stage” is a small lake behind the woods, just around the school. Oliver, who has been cast as Banquo, is somewhat taken aback by the fact that James was cast as Macbeth, and not Richard. This is the first straw to hit the camel’s back. 

As the plot thickens, it is revealed to the reader that the 

one of the seven who dies is Richard. After a long, 

complicated scene at a party involving an inebriated 

Richard, an even more inebriated James, a very high 

Alexander, and Oliver & Meredith alone, Richard is 

found dead–floating in the river right behind the seven 

students’ living quarters. The remainder of the book is 

spent in an attempt to untie the web of who killed Richard 

and why–and more importantly, why Oliver went to jail 

for it. 

Spoilers in this next part, so beware, I suppose. 

WHY DOES IT MATTER? 

Rio begins to deconstruct not only the pre-existing 

dynamics that she personally created for this world, but 

also the world of Shakespeare. In the actual Tragedy of Macbeth, the titular character dies at the hands of Macduff. By the end of If We Were Villains, it is revealed that James is the one who

delivered the final blow to Richard–the new Macbeth kills the old one; the hero becomes the tyrant whose life he took. James wasn’t doing well, and the last thing Oliver wanted to see was his friend’s life ruined by a drunken mistake he made. So, Oliver took the fall. He pretended to be the one who killed Richard. 

There are several points throughout the book in which the characters jokingly refer to themselves as a Shakespearan cult, both in the way that their lives follow the outline of a Shakespearan work and in the way that they almost worship his work. As aforementioned, the students regularly quote plays like King Lear, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night in everyday conversation. At times, they will make fun of the Classics students who whisper to each other in Greek and Latin, unknowing that that is exactly what they sound like to the outside eye. In the interest of worldbuilding, Rio uses the Shakespearean formula for tragedy and comedy to build the baseline of her story, rather than any contemporary strategy, and, on top of that, makes it the central selling point of the story rather than an added asset. As writers and creators of worlds without magic, what can we gain from this? Shakespearean tragedy, as a style of writing, can seem very unrealistic without meaning to. It’s far too melodramatic at times, and can feel too much like a play. In its own way, Shakespearean tragedy is a form of magic in and of itself. It can give us, as readers, an outside look into how ridiculous these incredibly emotional moments can look to outsiders, and, as writers, it can teach us how to create realistic “magic” in these stories. 16th century tragedy can seem overly dramatic or soap-opera-like in modern day stories, but If We Were Villains proves that it can be done right. 

When reading a book, one opens it with the expectation that they must suspend at least some of their disbelief. When engaging in a 16th century tragedy, you may have to suspend all of it. The question is, can that be too much to ask of a reader? I personally think not. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

1. Why did Rio use Macbeth specifically, and not some other play? In addition, why should the production in progress be Julius Ceasar and not, say, Romeo and Juliet? 2. What is the meaning or significance of our protagonist not fitting into any particular archetype the way his peers do? 

3. If you were the writer of If We Were Villains and you had to kill off one of the seven, who would you take out and why? Do you agree with Rio’s choice of who dies and who takes their life?

Euphoria: the teen experience portrayed in the media by Chanice Posada

Summary:

Euphoria is a TV series that is set in a small town called East Highland. The show is mostly centered around the characters, Rue, Maddie, Cassie, Nate, Fez, Lexi, and Kat. Each of these characters face their own personal hardships. The show is a mirror of the real world and the “highschool experience”. Most of these characters struggle with coming of age experiences and traumas. Issues like substance abuse, body image, sexual exploitation, and self identity. This story is set in the real world, but incorporate fantastical elements and false realities through visions that some of the characters experience. The show is narrated by Rue, a relapsed drug addict. Her substance abuse issues are a key part of the show’s plotlines.

Maddie is a popular cheerleader with with a dark history and an abusive relationship. Cassie, is Maddie’s best friend, who deals with her own family issues and is emotionally traumatized from her dad abandoning her at an early age. Nate, Maddie’s boyfriend is a 5-star football player struggles with his sexuality, and anger/ abuse compulsion. Fez, is a high school drop out, who has taken the reins of his disabled grandmother’s drug business while simultaneously taking care of his little brother. Kat, is a part of the girl group above and she struggles with body image issues and confidence.

What makes euphoria special?

Euphoria, while grandiose and exaggerated most of the time, is very realistic. One thing that sets this show apart from others is how well this world is built. The plot doesn’t feel over manufactured. The writers do an excellent job of maintaining drama and problems while still making the characters tangible and relatable. The problems feel real and evoke emotions even if the specific experiences isn’t 100% relatable to the viewer. They bring up issues that teens can connect to and they dissect them in a way that is digestible and will resonate with the viewers.

How does this show offer meaning to the real world?

This show exposes real world problems in direct ways. If Euphoria offers anything, it’s a common language to share with the public. However different they might look, all the characters gather and relate around similar coming of age struggles: their relationships with their parents, each other, themselves, and particular substances. They struggle with expectations and responsibilities put to them. The main drawing point that Euphoria has is that the characters are both good and bad. They aren’t perfectly crafted people that don’t make mistakes. That’s what makes them human.

discussion questions:

How does the small town setting affect the plot?

How does the backstory of each character contribute to their behavior?

Should realistic fiction include more fantastical elements to draw in viewers?

Can cinematography substitute for fantasy?

Is this show damaging or harmful for teen viewers? How far is too far in media?

The World of “Septimus Heap” by Elijah Kennedy

Summary 

The world of Septimus Heap is like harry potter-lite. Which isn’t too surprising considering it was made by Angie Sage about 8 years after the publication of the first Harry potter book. It’s a world that seems analogous to roughly 14^th-15^th century Europe and takes place in a mythical island kingdom somewhere were the real life Netherlands are. It is a kingdom built on magic or Magyk as it’s called in the book series. The Kingdom is ruled in a line of direct descendants of women, who all have dark raven black hair. there is also a being Known as the “extra-ordinary wizard” a  Title which basically just means supreme magical building. The entire kingdom is built around the Palace, and the Wizard towers, upon the top of which sits the Extra-Ordinary wizard’s apartments. The Extra-Ordinary wizard takes on an apprentice that trains to become the next “Extra-Ordinary” Wizard. Which is where we start in the book with Septimus heap being the apprentice for Marcalie the current extra-ordinary wizard. 

The backstory of the titular Septimus heap, Septimus is a special blond-haired blue-eyed boy because he is the 7^th son of a 7^th son (who is an ordinary wizard), which embus him with special magical properties. When he is born he’s declared dead  but it secretly stolen away by a shady magical organization so they can train him to be evil, but there’s aa mix up and a random child is chosen and septimus is kicked to the garbage heap. *wink*

The heaps, devastated by septimus’s “death” take in an orphaned young girl, who turns out to be the princess of the land after her mother was murdered at her post-birth baby shower. Also at that baby shower was the then  Extra-ordinary wizard and his Apprentice marcalie. Marcalie saves the baby princess, gives her to the Heaps and boom bang bingo that’s the set up. 

Key Elements 

There is a great emphasis on the lottery of birth in the story. 

Septimus and Jenna (the princess) aren’t particularly very special in their own right, as in before their true identities are revealed they’re just normal kids, which continues to carry over even after they become “special” Jenna has no regard for correct Royal procedure and so throws everyone in the kingdom off with her lax nature. 

Septimus often incurs the anger of his older brother, Simon, who himself trained to be the extra-ordinary wizard apprentice for decades, when he’s thrown over for Septimus (this occurs within a month of his identity being revealed). Septimus does nothing to ‘earn’ his specialness, he’s simply special because he was born last. 

Community is another big part of the story: 

For the most part everyone who is ‘evil’ or ‘dies’ shuns the rest of society and their family, they turn inwards and consume themselves. The Heaps are an integral unit for both their community and themselves, more than once they are saved by the kindness and generosity of people they have earned good will with. So to do Septimus and Jenna, adoptive siblings who find community with each other and the friends they make. A lot of the arcs in the books deal with returning to where you belong, as a part of a whole. 

The magyk is an element of the story which in entwined inside nearly every aspect of the characters, especially because the Titular Septimus is a powerful Wizard, The magyk permeates every sector of society from street vendors who use hexs and spells to make people enjoy their food, to merchants and shop owners, it is just an aspect of the world they everyone excepts and expects. Although there is a royal family and palace, there isn’t a class system per say, anyone and everyone can move up or down on the ladder. It is mainly a magical caste system, with the Extra-ordinary wizard at the top, the powerful but not as powerful ordinary wizards who also live in the tower, and then the ordinary ordinary wizards who live amongst the people, and then the regular people who only use magyk in making medicine or food. 

-what value/meaning does this made-up world have for our real world?

I’d say the best value of the SH book series is finding you people, and if you don’t have a people, then making one. There is an emphasis on the dangers of being alone and how you must always have at least one person to be the balance for you. 

-discussion questions focused on aspects of worldbuilding…

-How believable is it that a magical kingdom can operate in a seemingly non-magical outside world (on more than one occasion an outside observer comes to the kingdom and is stunned by the magyk) without being completely exploited or attacked by their neighbors. 

-This series contains a world with Queens, palaces and royalty but a seemingly non-existent class system. How viable is this strategy of worldbuilding when it comes to suspending disbelief 

-How important is it to balance realism with fantasy when dealing with fantastical worlds? 

The World of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” by Gabriela Mejia

Description of the world/universe

The 2011 movie starts out with the chipmunks and chipettes on a cruise ship. Alvin, one of the chipmunks, decides to go parasailing but ends up pulling all the other rodents with him. Dave, their guardian, then tries to save them but Ian, the security guard on the ship wearing a pelican suit, tries to stop Dave. Both adults and the rodents fall into the ocean. They swim to safety and find a nearby island to crash on. This island is the world I will be talking about. 

Here the rodents and the humans get separated. The rodents land on a different part of the beach and because of this they gather firewood and make a fire. The fire made the rodents realize they are hungry and that wood is not delectable. This leads to them finding mango trees. The chipettes and chipmunks fight over who gets the first mango. In the midst of this fight, they run into Zoe who says she also crashed on this island except via plane. 

Zoe takes the rodents to her house and introduces them to her friends, and her sports equipment. All of her sports equipment is named and are her protectors. While hanging out with Zoe Simon one of the chipmunks gets bitten by a spider. 

While all this is happening Dave and Ian are still searching for the rodents walking through the vegetation of the island. When Simon wakes up he turns into Simone and becomes very confident. This confidence leads him to dive into the lake of the island. While doing this he accidentally finds treasure behind a waterfall. Zoe then learns about this treasure and kidnaps Jeanette, one of the chipettes, so she can grab the treasure. 

While this happens all the other rodents are hanging out in the hot springs of the island. They find it funny how the island has hot springs then realize the water is being heated by a volcano erupting. Simon eventually returns to his real self and the rodents, having found the adults, try to escape the island. Zoe is still using Jeanette to get the treasure so Dave goes and tries to save this rodent. Jeanette is saved but not without a but not without a little damage. Zoe tries to kill Dave. They eventually all escape the island and the rodents perform at their show.  

Focus analysis on specific/defining/essential element of this world/universe

I would like to talk about the ruler of this world, and how this plays into the government of the island. In my opinion, Zoe is the ruler of this world. She tells the rodents that her plane crashed on the island eight or nine years ago. What really happened is that she came to the island specifically for the treasure and having not found it she has just never left. When the rodents meet Zoe she convinces them to hang out with her instead of looking for Dave. She also introduces the rodents to her friends which are sports equipment. Zoe also tries to convince Simon that the spiders on the island are not harmful. 

Zoe’s reign on the island leaves corruption among rodents and almost kills Dave. I have a theory about the government of this world and how it may even play into religion. Maybe Zoe’s relationship with her sports equipment counts as a religion? Zoe being the religious leader and her balls being her followers. Without Zoe, the lake would not be as important either. Zoe’s search for the treasure causes her to be upsest with every square inch of the island but when finding the treasure behind the waterfall this location gains more importance to her. 

What value/meaning does this made-up world have for our real world?

This movie was made for children so the moral of the made-up world did not play into anything too specific. This world reminds us that while we fantasize about being stranded. Truly being stranded has serious effects on a person. Humans need contact with each other and as demonstrated this movie tells this well. Society or in other words our real world is upsest with the abnormal and being stranded on an island certainly falls in this category. 

Discussion questions focused on aspects of worldbuilding

Since only parts of the island were shown in the movie. What other things do you think make up the landscape of the island? 

Zoe uses ziplines to get around the island. If you were stranded on this island would you do the same or choose another way to get around? What would be your form of transportation? 

Being that Simon went crazy with one spider bite from the island, how many bites do you think Zoe has received? 

Do you really think spider bites cause hysteria in the people it bites, or is the person’s isolation the thing that drives them crazy? Maybe the spiders are great things to blame craziness on? 

Cruise ships pass around this island continuously. At what point do you think Zoe stopped trying to flag them down, or maybe she never even tried to flag them down? 

Zoe made her own house out of the island’s vegetation. How would your shelter differ in this world? 

Dave had to manage his stress on the island in order to find all the rodents, specifically his kids, the chipmunks. What coping mechanism would you use to ground yourself if you crashed on an island?

Ian initially hated the chipmunks but ended up appreciating them for the boat they made. Do you think being stuck on an island causes relationships to change? Or do you think it could be that spending more time with a person helps you see the better picture? 

Map

Visuals

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_and_the_Chipmunks:_Chipwrecked

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmemes.getyarn.io%2Fyarn-clip%2F57d26b54-7879-44ab-93cf-110947a899cc&psig=AOvVaw3PMpMRGEWiZmRWy4-lNRs4&ust=1650405559621000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCKje44LOnvcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAu

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffemalevillains.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FUser_blog%3AShsdss5043%2FZoe_(Alvin_And_The_Chipmunks%3A_Chipwrecked)&psig=AOvVaw3PMpMRGEWiZmRWy4-lNRs4&ust=1650405559621000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCKje44LOnvcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABBA

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.awn.com%2Fvfxworld%2Fchipwrecked-and-revamped&psig=AOvVaw3PMpMRGEWiZmRWy4-lNRs4&ust=1650405559621000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCKje44LOnvcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABBM

“Smallville”: An Exploration by Quentin Pham

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