This week has been a very creative whirlwind for me! I’ve taught myself some basic image editing, played around with blog post format (structurally and contextually), and spruced up my site to balance with the new content I have made.
The first assignment I completed this week was the Apocalyptic Flash Fiction Daily Create. I took a few hours during my day to think of an original concept that could be told succinctly, and finally the idea of a ghost being stuck to its body came to me! I thought that if normally ghosts haunt their grave, then if their body was moving they might just be stuck following it. I also wanted something more comical to balance out the usual raw emotions involved in apocalypses.
You're dead. A ghost attached to an undead body that was once yours. Now you have to try to protect (babysit) the walking corpse from no-good, show-off, zombie-murdering humans since you don't know what happens to you if your body is killed. #tdc2206 #ds106
— Katie Hartraft (@KatieHartraft) January 23, 2018
Second, I did the Daily Create on Thursday, where I had to create a gateway to another dimension. I ran through many ideas throughout the day before I settled on the one pictured below. Even though it is only supposed to be a 10 minute assignment, I admit I got a little carried away and spent around 2 hours on it. This was mostly because I was still learning exactly how to use the image-editing software on my computer. I’m really satisfied with the product despite how much trial and error it took me to get there.
So this owl in my room can open gateways to mirror dimensions and we're best friends. @ds106dc #tdc2208 #theend106 pic.twitter.com/cqTpOk5rBB
— Katie Hartraft (@KatieHartraft) January 26, 2018
Third, I did the Tell it/Tweet it assignment. The idea I initially had for this story became much larger than I could contain in a short post, so I had to drastically alter the progression, viewpoint, and ending. I do think it still turned out really well! Like my previous Daily Create, my perfectionist side kicked in and I spent a LOT of time on this story. All of its parts (writing a well-rounded story, finding and embedding gifs/images, and editing it all together) played off each other, and it needed a lot of tweaking to get where I wanted it to be. Shortening the story down to fit into a tweet took some word-tetris, but I ended up deciding to not give away the ending and instead draw readers in to read the full story.
"I'm in an old mall with this girl. Despite her assurances, I feel that the rotting zombies she 'saved' want to break free of their cages and tear me to pieces. She said she's on her own now, but this place is pretty big for one person to keep under control…" #ds106 #theend106 pic.twitter.com/QMehLrs1kD
— Katie Hartraft (@KatieHartraft) January 26, 2018
Now, the Question of the Week!
“In the event of a zombie apocalypse, would I rather be turned into a zombie or have everyone I love turned into a zombie? Why?”
Were a zombie apocalypse to occur, I would rather have everyone I loved turned into a zombie before turning into a zombie myself. This coincides with my view on whether there is an afterlife or not: I am really really curious to see what happens after you die, but I am going to live out my life on earth (in zombie terms, as a human) first.
The only exception would be that were I turned into a zombie in place of my loved ones, then yes I would cross into Zombiedom in a heartbeat! But if this were a matter of me submitting to be a zombie before I have to see my family (inevitably) turn, then I think giving up and turning into a zombie is quitter talk. Though I understand that losing everyone I love to zombie-ism would be devastating, there still could be more for me out in the world. Maybe I’ll join a group or community to survive together. There’s a chance I could save others and their families to (at least temporarily) spare them of what I went through. I could only hope, whatever my situation is, that it isn’t worse than becoming a zombie…
