Literary Inquiry [ Video ]

[universal_charm]

[ So, Luceti, you have Kirk showing up today on our totally hi-grade, super deluxe communication system (haha, yeah right). Anyways, he's there, and he currently has a copy of George Orwell's "1984" displayed in hand. ]

So... I have an honest to god sort of question for everyone. 

How many of you ever thought or believed the stuff in books like this would come true in the future? Or better yet, does anyone actually live in a world like these books describe?

Because, really, the twenty-first century view of the future is... interesting. 

Comments

[stillplaying]

[She doesn't recognize the book he's holding. But based on his question, she's not entirely certain she wants to know what book this is. There weren't many books in District 12. What was there were all previously screened and approved by the Capitol. The idea of reading for pleasure still seems foreign to her.

She'd much rather sing. Or tell stories. You couldn't get in nearly as much trouble for sedition if stories were passed orally rather than written down.

But she remembers it being different in the Capitol. There had been books there. Media that wasn't Hunger Games reruns. Capitol propaganda. Or, at least, not on the same level as in the Districts.]

Not all the worlds represented here are good ones.

[universal_charm]

Yeah, I know.

_{[ He knows, because you've told him, and his heart breaks thinking of a world like that, so very... broken. ]}

But even knowing that, some of this stuff just sounds so crazy and far-fetched. I mean, good on them for imagination, I guess.

[stillplaying]

[Maybe it's better now. She still thinks that every now and then. Wonders if Paylor's government will stand the test of time, will remain that republic Plutarch talked about. Or would they go back to Snow's dictatorship? The controlling Capitol and the crushed Districts?

She doesn't know. And for now, still, whenever she thinks of home, she thinks of the home that she grew up in.]

Like the Hunger Games?

[Video]

[spohkh]

Captain... I was not aware that you were into science fiction.

[Irony abounds.]

Re: [Video]

[universal_charm]

I really wasn't, but there's not all that much to do so I thought I would give one a chance. And... it really just kind of made me laugh and really hope that they were giving this guy medication.

Re: [Video]

[spohkh]

And so you decided to start with George Orwell? Fascinating choice.
I would have recommended that you read Jules Verne for a... 'warm-up'.

But I wish to know, did you enjoy the novel?

[i_speak_softly]

Not me, but someone I met recently...

[universal_charm]

Yeah, I've met a few who live in what would be classified as post-apocalyptic or dystopian, but not quite like these books. I mean, there is no "Big Brother" in my time, that's for sure.

[i_speak_softly]

Why do you ask?

[It doesn't seem like just an idle question.]

[Voice]

[whatwalls]

Uhhh, nobody thinks that stuff's like actually gonna happen. [It's called science fiction for a reason, after all.]

They just make you read those kinds of books in school so you learn to think about like, how dangerous extremists can be and stuff.

Re: [Voice]

[universal_charm]

Well, I admit, he does write a lot about extreme government.

But if on some level you don't believe this stuff can happen, why write about it? Someone had to believe Star Fleet could be real, some day, after all or else I wouldn't my Enterprise.

[Voice]

[whatwalls]

I didn't say people don't think it could happen, like maybe possibly, I said they don't think it will happen. I mean, it's a pretty big stretch, y'know?

Dystopian novels are more like... a warning? Yeah, like considering the human psyche, here's the worst possible scenario, so don't do this! [She gives a short chuckle.]

[voice]

[girlverine]

I have seen two terrible futures. One of them could have had roots in concepts similar to Orwell's book.

[What? Laura reads!]

Re: [voice]

[universal_charm]

_{[ Kirk isn't sure he believes you. Mostly because he hasn't met you yet. Til now. ]}

Seen them? Are you a fortune-teller like Rei?

[voice]

[girlverine]

No.

[A beat.]

Time travel is possible on my world.

[stilldontgotit]

Big Brother is watching you.

[He snorts. Yeah, he's taken a look at that book before. Kind of grim, honestly.]

Anyway, it really wouldn't surprise me if worlds like that existed. Some of the places I've seen were pretty bleak. No Thought Police or anything, but I've dealt with evil computer programs obsessed with making a perfect world.

[universal_charm]

You know, I wish that sounded as farfetched as it really should have, but it doesn't. It just doesn't. And I don't know what that says about me anymore.

[stilldontgotit]

You think a computer network's weird? I've seen the insides of a whale twice and didn't even get digested.

[Then again, Monstro's insides were just plain weird. Colorful blotches you can bounce on? Yeah, that's not what he remembers from biology class.]

( Video )

[padme_amidala]

How does the book portray the "twenty-first century"? ( She rarely has time to read for pleasure, so this is asked out of pure curiosity. )

Re: ( Video )

[universal_charm]

Well, I suppose it's really the twentieth, since it was written in the 1900s, but they kind of mesh right there when the switch happens.

And it's just a good representation of the fears and mind sets of some of the people. Authors draw from current events, the feelings of nations and their own feelings towards that. Usually, such views are shared given the law of odds.

( Video )

[padme_amidala]

It sounds like an interesting book. I should like to read it when I have the time.

Do you read many books?

video;

[ex_tessen852]

I can't say I believe what's written in books at home about its future, but I do believe the people that happen to be from the future.

Re: video;

[universal_charm]

Do you know any from the future of your world here? I hear that's happened a couple times, which I am sure has to be a mind-bomb for some.

[Video]

[knightofratatosk]

What if your world is someone else's future? I mean, my world doesn't have anything like spaceships right now, but that doesn't mean they aren't something that might not be invented in my future.

Maybe someday someone will show up here from my world's future and I'll be able to find out.

Re: [Video]

[universal_charm]

True, but as I've learned, the future's not always set in stone. It's mutable. So what would your particular vision be? What do you think?