1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?
Ongoing symbols I'm seeing are pushes for the living issues of both social and job classes in current day city life being applied to futuristic settings of a metropolitan sci-fi city. Things such as racial discrepancies (with the transients), the troubled life of being a journalist (our main character's loathing), the city norms (street whores and racial melting pot), and futuristic alternatives (advanced showers, holographic clothing scanners/dispensers, drug store meds being intelligence-enhancing) are commonly found in this setting, which seems to make the transition from what you originally thought at the beginning was a piece set in the current timeframe into a more futuristic one less jarring and relatable. Things such as drinking and tobacco are still a thing, as well as cars, toll booths, and presidential elections. These things are anchored with everyday life nowadays, and can allow for a more easier to understand story setting.
2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you are able to connect.
Personally, I found the troubling cases the main character Spider goes through to be very realistic. The writer's block, the need to get away, and the lack of human interactions and time away from the civil population being jarring and incredibly obnoxious. I can connect with the need of a job with resources to better your production and meeting a deadline much like he can. Living with deadlines is hard to do, and some people don't handle that kind of stress well (like he is unable to). I find is approaches to be a little too type-A for me, but I can very much relate with having weights being held over your head (student loans, for instance), and how you have to meet them otherwise see legal obligations in consequence. Interestingly enough, the city life described by him and the issues it has are incredibly easy to find in today's modern city life. I can easily relate to seeing similar imagery, troubles, and people types found in this futuristic setting in today, as well as getting by in the thick of it when I used to live in Pittsburgh.
3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?
I could see this series being put in a gritty movie (series, perhaps even). Movies like Watchmen and Mad Max were able to take harsh stories and convert them to film (limitations included, of course), and I could see this being applied similarly. I'm seeing a lot of the futuristic punk visuals in this narrative, and the reuse of that in film wouldn't be a stretch as it's been done before. Heck, I could see the audience enjoying the sudden change of starting off what you think is current-day and realizing the city he's driving to is actually reading as, "hey, this is actually in the future." As a curveball early on plot twist. In terms of changes there would have to be different actor selection to be fit the characters' personalities over appearance, and the paneling/editing similar to the Sin City/Scott Pilgrim movies could benefit from the use of environmental interactions and editing of onomatopoeia. Granted, if the producers are looking to aim for a wider market (as this can easily be a rated R movie), they'd have to look into censorship. Many things such as nudity, drug and alcohol use would have to be toned down heavily, and the story would have to cut corners in areas like the characters interactions (for instance - the scene where Spider gets the kid to run to the drugstore for him). The cinematography could help create the closed in feelings this story/city provides, and wouldn't be hard to mimic and reproduce with proper editing, prop design, costuming, and special effects.
