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- All Subjects: Fiction
- Creators: Amparano Garcia, Julie
- Creators: Dean, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Status: Published
You have heard this story before, you think, or one like it—listen again. It is never the same twice.
The following creative project defends that, whether intentionally or not, mental illness and substance abuse are inevitably romanticized in young adult media and discusses the dangers of this romanticization. This project is divided into three parts. The first part consists of psychological evaluations of the main characters of two popular, contemporary forms of young adult media, Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and Euphoria by Sam Levinson. These evaluations use textual evidence and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to determine what symptoms of psychopathology the characters appear to display. The second part consists of a self-written short story that is meant to accurately depict the life of a young adult struggling with mental illness and substance abuse. This story contains various aesthetic techniques borrowed from the two young adult media forms. The final part consists of an aesthetic statement which discusses in depth the aesthetic techniques employed within the short story, Quicksand by Anisha Mehra.
The main character, Princess Alexandria, must navigate a world where the all magic is controlled by a power-hungry ruler, King Mordred. After he decides to pursue the Ruins of Kronos in order to gain control over time itself, the princess decides to intervene. Alexandria escapes the palace with her childhood best friend James, to stop him, nearly dying in the process, and finds a group of fairies who have lost their wings. The fairies help her discover the true origins and capabilities of magic, making her realize that she must restore it to the realm in order to stop King Mordred. Alexandria disguises herself as a man and joins the King’s Knights, befriending a rebel in disguise named Keith along the way, as she discovers her brother Noah may be on the King’s side. Together, they work to liberate lands oppressed by King Mordred’s rule, and by the Black Plague that Morgana has set upon them, all while uncovering the corruption present in their society.
Superstition is an urban fantasy fiction anthology podcast. Each episode follows a new pair of characters, revealing the supernatural community hidden within the southwest suburb of Superstition. In Superstition, vampires, werewolves and magic have made their home among chain restaurants and malls, neighborhood parks and massive parking lots. In recent weeks, both human and supernatural have gone missing and everyone has a different belief in who and why this is happening. Some simply want life to be as quiet and calm as they remember it to be and other will take matters into their own hands to protect their home. “Thicker than Water” follows two vampire sisters, one of which is in the midst of running for Superstition City Council and the other who has decided to take the future and safety of their community into her own hands in the form of Superstition's first vampire coven. The two disagree about how they should be leading Superstition and reflection on their shared trauma leads to high tensions and questioned trust.