Sci-fi, Horror and Fantasy

                                  Speculative Fiction: Ghost Stories and Pirates of the Caribbean                  Not going to lie this one threw me through a loop, it took me a bit to realize how broad of a subject it is, and that so many stories fit underneath its umbrella. However it seems that a large prevalent part of it is the supernatural and fantasy involved with the super natural. Ghost stories of any kind fit into Speculative fiction by being a fictitious element within our reality that follows a separate set of  rules then the rest of the world. I think that if this is the requirement for speculative fiction, then shouldn't any story that involves a fictional world element that interacts with our world but follows its own set of rules be speculative fiction, even if it's a whole separate world? So a world like Pirates of the Caribbean which takes place in our world, our version of the world but also has an entire separate world of fantasy, magic and myth connec

                                                Afro Futurism and Diversity In Science Fiction                       This is an interesting topic because it is a mixture of a focus on specific sci-fi stories that reflect upon and have focus on the improvements of social and racial equality in our world as the genre developed, how ever id like to make the argument that the Science- Fiction genre as a whole developed with the these changes and arguably helped in reality to improve the state of racial relations in the world. Star Trek was the First tv show to air an interracial kiss on television. As well since then has made head way having a diverse cast of ethnicity's in the crew and having the captains and main protagonists of two shows, voyager and deep space nine, be a black man and a woman. and never shying away from using at a platform to talk about social injustices and current racial tensions and issues. For example in Deep Space Nine towards the end of the show there is

                                                Cyber Punk: Corporate Power and Trans-Humanisim                         Cyber Punk is hands down the coolest sci-fi sub genre ever. the ideas that build and the way it is represented is usually bone chilling and awesome. Like in Blade Runner, Eden, Ghost in a Shell, or Judge Dread, The themes of Corporations running the world like governments, questioning what it is to be human and what is to be less or more, and facing problems like over population or a world post massively destructive war ( usually nuclear). What would humans do how would we face those realities, but how would we expand on them as well. The idea of massive cities more developed technologically then we have ever been yet paired with the a social decline comparable with the dark ages, where human life is valueless and civil rights are thrown away with the contracts we sign to our new Corporate leaders. The ideas of Ai being sentient or simply being a soulless enti

                                           Humanities Future and Sci-Fi Grounded in Reality                      I find bot interesting and concerning how whenever we take serious look at the science fiction possibilities of the human race on a more serious level it is almost never a positive thing, usual the technology is evil, or the humans who control the technology are evil. It's never a happy reflection of how for we've come and how better off the whole race is with the technology we now have. I think we can trace most of this back to the era where grounded science fiction began, the cold war. At that point in history when most people in the world thought they were all about to die in a nuclear holocaust no one was really reflecting positively where technology had taken them, to the brink of their own destruction. So thats what they wrote about, and Ray Bradberry's Martian Chronicles is an excellent example. In the Martian Chronicles earth is plagued by nuclear wa

                                                               Star Wars and Space Operas                    Well shit if this isn't one of largest sub genre's to tackle, that is if it even counts as sub genre considering its actually a hybrid between fantasy and science fiction. I feel like the rules of what constitutes a Space Opera was set in stone by the First Star Wars movie. A story of a young farm boy who is the chosen one, and must quest with a wise old wizard funny creature companions and the dashing rouge to save the princess from the evil wizard and empire who killed his father and learn old magical ways in the process. Except it all take place in an intergalactic empire, with space ships, guns and telepathic powers instead of magic. This ultimately set the standard of a space opera being a world with the skin and appearance of advanced technology but with the plot, story and world mechanics being direct interpretations or identical to those of a fantasy world

                                                   Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Urban Fantasy                       So easily my favorite urban fantasy book of all time is Good Omens written by both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett so I'm mostly gonna talk about that. Urban Fantasy is a ripe setting for comedy, mixing the whimsical ridiculousness of Fantasy and the drab ultra serious practicality of modern society. The contrast between the two creates an immediate interest, and stets the stage for some hilariously juxtaposed events. For example in the book Good Omens, Crawly a demon, and his best friend Azeraphiale and angle who like the earth and enjoy human civilization are tasked with starting the rapture and in turn accidentally lose the Anti-Christ, high-jinx ensue. The book thrives on the on the mellow accepting nature of dull urban England in the face of a fantasy nightmare of biblical proportions. Events like a satanic nunnery that gets into a paintball and enter