Week 11 Story: 30 for 30: The Iron Stomach

Updated Version: https://sites.google.com/view/davidrportfolio/30-for-30-the-iron-stomach

(ESPN Logos: Wikimedia Commons)

What if I told you that the greatest competitive eater got his start in middle school? That he has no fun while eating, but does it for the thrill of winning? That he is actually a fictional character from the movie Matilda? This is the story of Bruce "The Iron Stomach" Bogtrotter.

(Matilda (1996) - Bruce vs. Chocolate Cake Scene (4/10) | Movieclips)

"My name is Bruce Bogtrotter, and I'm the number one ranked competitive eater in the world. I hold the record for basically every food out there: hot dogs, Twinkies, honey butter chicken biscuits. If it can be eaten, I will eat the most of it in record time without a doubt. It all started when I was like 12 years old. We had this crazy principal named Ms. Trunchbull. She was absolutely nuts. In hindsight, the police should have definitely been involved from all the acts of child abuse she committed against us. Many of us had to go to therapy... Anyways, she made me eat an entire chocolate cake in front of the whole school. This cake was massive, and at the time I was really self-conscious about my weight. The only thing that got me through it was the whole school started cheering me on. They were all like 'Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!' and their cheers gave me a rush of adrenaline. I felt like death when I finished, but after eating that cake I was a hero in school. All the girls wanted me. Well, they wanted to see me eat, but whatever it's the same thing you know? It was from then on that I decided to commit my life to competitive eating. To be honest, I don't even like it, but I love the competition. It's something that I'm good at and the rush after a win makes everything worth it. But like any other sport, it starts taking a toll on your body."

If I were to ask you what the most dangerous sport is you would probably guess football or some other contact sport, right? Well you would be wrong if you answered that. Competitive eaters have the highest mortality rate out of all sports. Bruce has seen many of his dear friends be taken away too soon by the sport they love. He's even cheated death a couple of times himself.

"After my 10th heart attack I took a step back and had to reevaluate my life. The one thing I am good at in life is literally going to kill me if I don't stop. There were many sleepless nights, I was a shell of my former self, and my stoke tank was at an all-time low. So I asked myself, 'What would Paul Walker do?' I knew the answer. Paul Walker wouldn't give up. Even after losing his first race to Dominic he still got with his sister. If that's not inspiring then I don't know what is. So a couple hours after I was released from the hospital I started training for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest which is hosted every Fourth of July."

It's Fourth of July at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Number one versus number two. Bruce Bogtrotter versus Joey Chestnut. The stage is set and the crowd is growing restless.

"Joey and I are neck and neck near the end of the contest. There's maybe thirty seconds left and I'm pushing myself to my limit. I felt like I was about to pass out from the pain, but then the image of Paul Walker came into my head and everything went black. When I came to I was holding up the championship belt and everyone was going wild. Joey told me he was going to retire. He was the only other eater that could even come close to me. I realized at this moment it was time to pass the torch onto the next generation. I left my mark on the competitive eating scene. I knew Paul Walker would be proud of me."

Author's Note: The origin folk tale this story is based on is called “Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton.” In this story, Atdlarneq is a great seal hunter who always manages to catch multiple seals every time he goes out to hunt. Then one day while he’s out hunting, he sees a house with a lot of women. He decides to go to the house and the women treat him well. Then Atdlarneq finds out that the master of the house is coming home soon so he decides to hide. When the master comes home Atdlarneq reveals himself and the master treats him well too. However, the master makes Atdlarneq eat a lot of food or else he will beat him up basically. Atdlarneq ends up nearly dying from overeating and decides to never go South again. For my retelling, I chose to tell it kind of how ESPN does their 30 for 30 series. I also incorporated a character from the movie “Matilda” into it who was forced to eat a huge chocolate cake in front of his whole school as a punishment. I thought of this movie scene immediately when I read about how Atdlarneq was forced to keep eating. Once again, I added some aspects from the San Clemente City Council Meeting about the Paul Walker statue. It’s a callback to one of my previous stories and I thought it would add some more humor to students who had read that story earlier this semester.

Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Week 9 Story: The Unwanted Avenger

(The Avengers movie art: marvelousRoland, Flickr)

Avenger’s Mansion, 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City

Captain America in front of the Avengers

“Alright everyone, this emergency meeting has been called to address the recent destruction caused by the big, hairy guy who can transform into anything. We don’t know much about him or if he’s good or evil, but we need to figure out what to do about him. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

Hulk raises his hand

“Yes Hulk?”

“SMASH!”

“Hulk, we’ve been over this, you can’t keep suggesting that at every meeting. It’s getting old. Any other suggestions?”

Doctor Strange stands up

“I’ll bargain with him. I would rather him be on our side than fighting against us.”

Doctor Strange travels to Gold’s Gym

“Surely he’ll be here. He wears tank tops all the time and it looks like he only works out his glamour muscles. Oh wait, I think that’s him flexing in the mirror.”

Doctor strange approaches Su Wu Kung

“I have come here to tell you that Captain America and the rest of the Avengers have invited to come to our headquarters for the possibility of becoming one of us.”

Sun Wu Kung answers

“Really? I’ve always wanted to be an Avenger! My name is Sun Wu Kung. First, let me finish taking a picture for Instagram before we go.”

Sun Wu Kung arrives at headquarters where all the Avengers are waiting for him

“Wow this place is awesome! When’s our first mission? Also, I’m going to need to have code names for all of you if I’m going to lead you guys into battle.”

Iron Man speaks up

“Actually, Captain America called dibs on leading the next mission. But I think we need someone to be in charge of getting snacks for everyone.”

Sun Wu Kung seems unfazed

“Sure! That sounds like a pretty important job. I’ll make sure no one goes on the mission with an empty stomach.”

The next day

Thor is speaking to Black Widow

“I’m glad that guy thinks he’s actually an Avenger by getting us snacks. It’s a good thing he doesn’t know that we’re just pretending to be his friends. He’s too arrogant. Like even more arrogant than Iron Man.”

Sun Wu Kung overhears this conversation

“I see how it. I don’t need those guys. I can save the world all by myself. They’ll be really sorry whenever I’m taking all the glory away from them.”

Sun Wu Kung leaves headquarters and goes back to Gold’s Gym where he is surrounded by his friends

“Bro it’s total BS. Those guys don’t know what they’re doing. I am so much stronger than all of them combined. Just looks at my traps! From now on, all of you call me the Ultimate Avenger. I like the sound of that.”

Back at Avenger’s HQ. Captain America addressed the group

“Okay, we may have screwed up. That guy is too unpredictable for us to not know where he is at all times. Hulk, today’s your lucky day, let’s go get him.”

The Avengers get riled up. Doctor Strange stands up again

“Hold on guys. Everyone just calm down. I heard that all he wants to be called is the Ultimate Avenger, so let’s just give him that title and everything will be settled. I’ll go bargain with him again since it’s kind of my thing.”

Doctor Strange goes to the nearest tanning salon

“This guy is seriously the worst. Of course I would find him here. Just act cool and pretend that you like him.”

Doctor Strange approaches Sun Wu Kung again

“Hey man, sorry about what happened the other day. The other Avengers and I have talked about it and we want you back. We even thought of a new name for you: The Ultimate Avenger.”

Sun Wu Kung pretends to not be excited

“Okay, I guess I’ll come back to you guys since you seem pretty desperate.”

Avenger’s HQ. The Avengers are throwing a birthday party for Hawkeye. They all welcome Sun Wu Kung back. He addresses the group

“I’m back! Doctor Strange over here told me how much you all missed me and I felt bad. You’re going to be seeing me a lot from here on out.”

The Avengers fake smile and pretend that they don’t hate Sun Wu Kung. Everyone continues celebrating. Sun Wu Kung wanders through HQ by himself

“Man, I wonder where the bathroom is. This room looks about right. Wait, no, this is the kitchen.”

Sun Wu Kung notices Hawkeye’s birthday cake

“They won’t notice if I just take a little bit of frosting.”

Sun Wu Kung tastes the cake and decides to eat all of it

“Oh shoot. I need to get out of here before Hawkeye gets pissed at me.”

Sun Wu Kung sneaks out the back door. The Avengers see the remains of the eaten cake and realize it was Sun Wu Kung. Captain America calls another emergency meeting

“That’s the last straw. We need to get rid of this guy. He made Hawkeye cry! Who wants to do it?”

Ant-Man immediately jumps up

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

Ant-Man sneaks into Sun Wu Kung’s house and starts walking around on him. Sun Wu Kung becomes annoyed because he can’t get him to stop. This goes on for days. Sun Wu Kung goes to Avengers HQ

“Please get this guy off of me! I’ll do anything!”

Iron Man approaches him

“We will help you on two conditions: First, stop being a jerk. Second, go by the name of the Unwanted Avenger.”

Sun Wu Kung is still noticeably irritated by Ant-Man

“Okay deal!”

And that is the origin story of how Sun Wu Kung became apart of the Avengers and played minor roles in the fifteen movies Marvel decided the make under The Avengers name

Author's Note: This story is based off “The Monkey King” unit. In this unit, we meet a stone monkey who was born out of stone and was the ruler of the apes. His only goal was to become immortal. He eventually trains under someone to learn how to transform his body and become immortal. The monkey king is extremely arrogant and makes a lot of enemies by his actions. The Lord of the Heavens and other spirits get complaints of the trouble he is causing so they decide to make him one of them to appease him. The monkey king gets made at all of them whenever he finds out that they gave him a job with no respect or dignity. He leaves and the Lord of the Heavens decides to send warriors to defeat him. However, the Evening Star vouches for him and says that they can’t beat and instead should appease him by giving him the title of Great Saint. They do this, but then the monkey king drinks all the wine and peaches that was supposed to be for a banquet for important spirits. The Lord of the Heavens and the other spirits have had enough and they eventually have Buddha try to stop him. Buddha successfully stops him and the monkey king starts behaving. The main difference in my story is that I replaced the spirits with the Avengers. Also, instead of Buddha easily beating the monkey king, I have Ant-Man annoy him until he gives up. 

Bibliography: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

Week 7 Story: Step Brothers 2

(Will Ferrell 2012: Wikimedia Commons)

UPDATED VERSION ON MY PORTFOLIO: STEP BROTHERS 2

On this episode of VH1’s Behind the Music, we look at the fall and rise of one of the most influential bands in history: Prestige Worldwide. To understand what happened between this legendary duo, we must first go back and look at how it all started.

The lead singer, Brennan Huff, came from humble beginnings. Growing up without a father was tough for Brennan, some will say it was even harder on Brennan’s older brother Derek though. After their parent’s divorce, there was a divide created between Brennan and Derek which stemmed from Derek being jealous of Brennan’s amazing singing voice. However, being the older brother, Derek would discourage Brennan from singing and ruined his self-esteem. It took Brennan his whole life to muster up the courage to perform in front of a live audience, and at the young age of 43 he showed the world his talents with his album The Brennan Huff Experiment.

If you were to ask anyone who the best drummer in the world is, it would be hard to find someone who didn’t say Dale Doback. While his father was busy with his medical practice, young Dale would be furiously beating on his drum set and perfecting his craft. Since Dale had no siblings, he grew attached to his drums because they were the only thing that could make him happy. This attachment caused him to be very territorial with his equipment and has even shown aggression. Dale’s first big break came when Nickelback’s drummer got the flu before a concert and Dale told them he could play the drums. Dale’s success was almost overshadowed when he punched the lead singer of Nickelback, Chad Kroeger, in the face after he attempted to pick up Dale’s drumstick which he had dropped. Although Dale never got to work with Nickelback again, he made a name for himself and the rest is history.

Brennan and Dale were both aware of each other’s musical talents, but they had never met or had the desire to collaborate on anything. This changed when Brennan’s mother and Dale’s father matched each other on Tinder. In two short weeks after the first message, they were saying “I do.” Adam Sandler was supposed to be the wedding singer, but he had a family emergency at the last minute. This is where the music industry changed forever. Brennan and Dale decided to play some songs for the wedding because they didn’t want anything to go wrong on their parents’ special day. They played an improvised song, but that song ended up as the number single in the world for six months straight.

Tune in next week to see where it all went downhill for Prestige Worldwide.  

Author's Note: The original story that this retelling is based on is from the Japanese Mythology unit. More specially, the section, The Fortunate Fish-Hook, is the source material behind this retelling. In this story, we meet two brothers who are descendants of Japanese gods. One of the brothers is a talented hunter who was famous for killing all kinds of animals. The other brother is a talented fisherman who was famous for being able to catch anything in the sea. One day, the brothers decide to switch roles and swap the tools they use. The hunter gave his bow and arrows to his brother while the fisherman gave him his magic fish-hook. The hunter ends up losing the magic fish-hook, and the fisherman gets really upset with him. My version replaces the brothers with characters from the movie Stepbrothers. I show how one of them is a talented singer, while the other is a talented drummer. I go more in depth on the talents the brothers have. Also, I make them step brothers instead of blood brothers. I am also planning on continuing this story in my portfolio and showing how one of the brothers attempts to switch roles like in the original, but the other brother is very against it.

Bibliography: Japanese Mythology by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917).

Week 6 Story: Survivor Season 36: Castaway

(Survivor Bermuda Logo: Wikimedia Commons)

“Welcome back to Survivor Season 36. I am your host, Captain Jack Sparrow, and we are down to our final three contestants. We have been through several challenges and only the strongest have survived. First, we have Jack Dawson, a starving artist from Wisconsin who was one of the survivors of the infamous Titanic wreck. Next, we have Chuck “Wilson” Noland, a systems manager and high school volleyball coach from Memphis, Tennessee. Last, but not least, we have Sindbad, a sailor from Baghdad, Iraq. For all of you new viewers joining us this week, let me run over how the show works. It is the same rules as previous seasons of Survivor, but with a twist. Instead of voting contestants off of the island, the contestant with the most votes against them are left stranded on whichever island we are currently on. Tonight, we will find out who will make it to the finale and who will be left stranded.”

Camera zooms in on Chuck and Jack privately discussing their votes for tonight

“I don’t know Jack, Sindbad is a nice guy and he’s my friend. I feel bad teaming up against him like this behind his back.”

“Chuck, it’s him or one of us. We have to stick together and vote for him. He’s already rich from his long run on Jeopardy!, it’s our time to shine.”

Sindbad is facing the camera for an interview

“I honestly don’t know who I’m voting for tonight. I have grown to like both of them throughout this experience. Chuck is a great guy, but he does tend to talk about volleyball way too much. Especially how superior Wilson volleyballs are to other brands. Jack is cool too, but he did almost lose our team the challenge in week two when we realized he wasn’t a strong swimmer. This is definitely going to be a tough decision.”

Camera is on Captain Jack Sparrow in the middle of the beach

“Who’s going to get stranded tonight and miss out on the chance to win one million dollars? Find out after these short messages.”

Commercial break

Author's Note: The original story that is the basic of this retelling is Sindbad's Second Voyage. In this voyage, the sailor Sindbad goes to various islands with a group of merchants. However, one day they end up on a nice island where Sindbad decides to relax and go to sleep. He wakes up and realizes that the ship has left and he is stranded on the island alone. Sindbad now has to find a way to get back home. Later on, Sindbad meets up with the ship that left him and finds out that is was an accident. I changed this story and turned in into the reality TV show Survivor. I included Jack Dawson from the movie Titanic, Chuck Noland from the movie Castaway, Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This retelling changes the way Sindbad was left on the island since it is now a competition on who will be left stranded. 

Bibliography: Sindbad: Second Voyage by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). 

Week 5 Story: Rocky 7

(Rocky Balboa: Alatele fr, Flickr)

Rocky Balboa, and his lesser known brother Bullwinkle, were gifted fighters at a very young age. Rocky, who was only sixteen, was destined to become a champion when his time came. One day, the retired fighter Apollo Creed came to visit Mick, Rocky’s trainer, to ask for a favor. Apollo explained how gang members were vandalizing his gyms across Philadelphia and he needed Rocky’s help to beat them up since he would go to jail for assaulting minors. Mick did not want Rocky to get injured, but Apollo was one of his closest friends so he agreed to let Rocky go with him. Apollo also insisted on bringing Bullwinkle in case there were too many gang members for Rocky to handle on his own.

The three of them drove to the only gym that had not been vandalized yet. They waited in a dark alleyway which had a good vantage point of where the gang members would most likely target. It was around midnight when Rocky and Bullwinkle sprung into action after seeing suspicious shadows moving around the gym. There were five gang members dressed in all black holding cans of spray paint about to deface yet another one of Apollo’s gyms. Right when they were about to start, they heard the thunderous footsteps of Rocky coming towards them. At first, they couldn’t see who it was, but soon they realized it was Rocky, the greatest fighter in Philly, and all of them decided to run away except for one.

The brave soul who decided to stay and fight was by the smallest and youngest of the group. He couldn’t have been older than twelve years old, but he pulled out a pocket knife and rushed towards Rocky and Bullwinkle. Seeing how young the boy was, Rocky and Bullwinkle decided to dodge the attacks instead of throwing any punches themselves. This went on for awhile until Apollo screamed from the car, “Finish him already!”. Bullwinkle punched the boy in the stomach and Rocky struck him with a mean left hook. The boy was instantly knocked out, but still breathing since Rocky didn’t want to kill him. Apollo came up to Rocky and Bullwinkle and gave them praises on how well they defended his gym. The next day, Apollo bought Rocky all the best boxing equipment that money could buy to help him on his journey of becoming a world champion.

Author's Note: For this week, I chose the story of Ramayana to retell. Rama is the reincarnation of the god Vishnu. Rama, the prince of his city, is loved by all his people and a very talented fighter. One day when Rama and his brother are young, a sage named Vishvamitra asks Rama's father if he can take Rama to help save his hermitage that is being ravaged by demons. He takes the two brothers to a jungle where they encounter a female shape-shifting demon. Since she is a female, the brothers hesitate to kill her. They eventually work together to kill her though. Vishvamitra was happy and summoned celestial weapons for Rama. I changed Rama to be Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer, and Vishvamitra to be Apollo Creed who is also from the Rocky movies. I changed the demon to be a young gang member whom Rocky and his brother would be hesitant to beat up since he was so little. Apollo is happy and rewards Rocky with state of the art boxing equipment. I also changed Rama's brother's name to Bullwinkle because it was funny and I couldn't think of any other name that would work. 

Bibliography: Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie

Week 4 Story: Circe and Coke

Updated Version: https://sites.google.com/s/0BwNBfRJVQpXFZFQ5VUxlaUtVWjg/p/1pmh3roT7niytqROySMVTPY2JlK04QHgU/edit


(Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus: Wikimedia Commons)

The tracks of the beaten up Kia Sorento tear across the asphalt of a residential street as they come to a final stop. "Finally", explains Evan from the back seat. We've spent the entire evening trying to find a party and it looks like we may have just lucked out. Calling the residence in front of us a house was an understatement, it was like an island of its own. From the street, the lights of the house lit up the entire street and it was evident that a party was going on. Rather than just barge in and invite ourselves to the party, I sent Evan, Chance, and Mike in to check out the party and relay back to us. After thirty minutes, only Mike had returned. He was frantic, beads of sweat lined his worried face. He reported back that the party was incredible, however, Chance and Evan indulged in a drink called "Circe-Roc" it was a matter of minutes before they started acting like pigs. They were customarily the most respectful friends of ours, but this drink seems to have corrupted their minds. They were all over girls, asking them for their Snapchat, telling them to "hit them up on Kik" and even worse, they started DMing girls. At this point I realized that I had to go in myself and get them out of there. "Please Dave, don't go in, you'll end up just like them after one drink" pleaded Michael, but my mind  was set. As I made my way in the house my senses were overwhelmed by the smell of E-cig juices and Lil John lyrics. Despite the obvious revulsion to the situation I was experiencing I pressed on. After wading through what felt like a sea of people I finally caught wind of Evan and Chance. I went up to Chance and he had a full bottle of "Circe-Roc" in his hands. Everyone was drinking it. Rather than refuse and get forced out of the party I had to do as the Romans do. As I took my first swig I realized this was the best drink I have ever had. I went back out to the car and grabbed the rest of the guys. We stayed till the break of dawn. 

Author's Note: The original story is about Odysseus and his men landing on Circe's island after escaping the land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus splits up his men and they explore the island. One of the groups finds the goddess Circe's house and it is amazing, but also guarded by wolves and mountain lions under Circe's magic. The men are scared, but they are lured in by Circe and giving drinks that she had drugged. The men turn into literal pigs, but Eurylochus had a feeling it was trap and doesn't go in the house. He goes back to Odysseus crying and Odysseus decides to go save his men. Before he goes, Hermes warns Odysseus and tells Odysseus how to save his men and not end up like them. Odysseus successfully avoids Circe's attempt to trap him and his men get turned back into normal. I chose to tell this story from my point of view with my friends as the other characters. Instead of Circe, I chose an alcoholic drink named "Circe-Roc", inspired by Ciroc, to be what causes trouble in the story. Instead of the ending in the original where Odysseus doesn't fall for Circe's trap, I chose to make myself succumb to "Circe-Roc". The movie "Project X" also helped inspire me to write the story this way since it was about a big house party. 

Bibliography: Homer's Odyssey: Circe's Magic, as translated by Tony Kline

Week 3 Story: You Never Had Me

Updated Story: https://sites.google.com/view/davidrportfolio/you-never-had-me

(The Fast and the Furious, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker: BagoGames, Flickr)

Ancient Los Angeles, 2013, near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

As Rick Yune stands next to his Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, he contemplates if it was the right move for him to destroy Vin Diesel’s green Toyota Supra considering Paul Walker, who now owes Vin Diesel a five second car, is coming after him. Paul Walker zooms in driving Vin Diesel’s dad’s 1970 Dodge Charger with one thing on his mind: REVENGE. He gets out of the car, removes his sunglasses, and looks Rick Yune right in the eyes. Rick Yune realizes his grave mistake, hops on his motorcycle, and pops a wheelie as he speeds away. Paul Walker, unconcerned, gets back into his car and spins his tires as he enters hot pursuit. The chase continues, but Rick Yune’s motorcycle runs out of fuel. By the grace of god, his crew rolls up and give him one of their street bikes. After a seemingly endless amount of laps around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Rick Yune becomes delirious from exhaustion and thinks his crew has come back to support him. He stops the motorcycle and faces Paul Walker.

“Paul, can’t we work this out? You're a reasonable man right? I’ll give the pink slips to all my motorcycles and we can call it even” Rick Yune says to Paul Walker trying to negotiate his way out of certain death.

Paul, unwavering in his thirst for vengeance says nothing but pulls out his Colt .45 and aims it at Rick Yune's face, “Any last words?” Paul Walker says.

“The treasure is buried…” but before Rick Yune can finish his sentence, Paul Walker unloads a round of the most powerful handgun known to Californians right between his eyes. Paul Walker blows the smoke from the barrel of his gun, walks towards Rick Yune’s body, and says, “Almost had me?” (Thompson, Bergquist, and Ayer)

Bibliography: Homer's Iliad: The Slaying of Hector (Retold by A. J. Church); The Fast and the Furious written by Gary Scott Thompson, Eric Bergquist, and David Ayer. Dirty Harry 

Author's Note: Homer's Iliad: The Slaying of Hector tells the story of how the Greek demi-god Achilles avenges the death of his friend Patroclus by killing Hector the prince of Troy during the Trojan War. Hector is basically regretting facing Achilles and when Achilles shows up Hector runs away. Achilles chases Hector around Troy and the god Apollo helps Hector while the goddess Athene ultimately cause Hector to stop because she favors Achilles. Hector tries to plead with Achilles and offers him everything Troy has to offer, but Achilles does not accept. They battle and Achilles comes out victorious. Achilles then takes Hector's body, ties it to his chariot, and drags him away. My retelling changes the characters and setting of the story. I incorporated characters from "The Fast and the Furious" but kept the actors' real names. I also changed the setting to Los Angeles instead of Troy. Furthermore, instead of a chase on foot, they do their chase in vehicles. Ultimately, I made these decisions because I was inspired by a YouTube video of two guys trying to get a Paul Walker memorial statue in their city. I gave the story a much cheesier and funny feel to it as opposed to the original story which was tense and dramatic. The line "the most powerful handgun know to Californians..." was accidentally inspired by the movie "Dirty Harry". 

Week 2 Story: Peter and Gale's Metamorphosis

Peter was tired of all the girls in San Francisco on Tinder that seemed like they only wanted to hook up. He wanted someone whom he could spend the rest of his life with. Peter was a talented computer programmer who would built robots as a hobby. One day he realized he could make his perfect partner in the form of an artificially intelligent robot. Peter went down to his basement and started to create his masterpiece. After months of barely getting any sleep or going outside for fresh air, Peter had successfully built a female robot.

Peter did everything he could to make his robot look like a real female human. He gave it a realistic brunette wig, stylish clothing, and named it Gale. Peter had actually made a robot that looked amazingly similar to a human. However, anyone would be able to tell Gale wasn't really alive. Her voice was robotic, her movements were rigid, and she couldn't display emotions. This didn't deter Peter from loving Gale though. He treated her as if she were his high school sweetheart whom he had married. Peter showed off his "wife" to his colleagues and disguised his love for her. Everyone was impressed, but they all thought the robot was just a side project that Peter had made because he was bored. Unfortunately, no matter how much  praise he received, Peter longed for Gale to be sentient.

Being in Silicon Valley, Peter was connected to many prominent names in the technology industry. So one day he was invited to Elon Musk's birthday party. Peter became close with Elon during Elon's short time at Stanford. When Peter arrived, Elon warmly greeted him and showed him around. Peter had brought Elon a gift card to Sushirrito, the restaurant where they had hit it off and became close friends decades ago. Elon let out a laugh as Peter presented him this gift. They started reminiscing on old times and then Elon asked Peter what he had been up to recently. Peter told him all about Gale and Elon could see the excitement in his eyes. He could also see the sadness in his eyes when Peter mentioned how he wanted her to be sentient. They parted ways for the night and enjoyed the rest of the celebration.

The next day, Peter received a knock at his door which he did not expect. He looked through the peep hole only to see that is was Elon. He opened the door and happily let him in, but he was slightly confused as to why Elon was there. Elon told him that he wanted to see Gale. Peter hurriedly grabbed her and brought her to the living. Elon silently inspected her and asked if he could take her to the basement to make some modifications. Peter hesitantly agreed without asking any questions. Hours later, Elon emerged from the basement by himself. Peter asked where Gale was and Elon told him to go look in the basement. When Peter saw Gale, he felt that something was different about her. Then, she spoke to him in a perfectly normal human voice. Peter was stunned. Elon came down and told Peter he had installed software to could make robots sentient and as close to human as possible. All Peter could do was hug Elon and tell him how grateful he was.

Although Gale was still technically a robot, her and Peter's love was real. They lived the rest of their days together and even got officially married. Of course, Elon was the best man at the wedding. Since Gale couldn't have children of her own, they decided to adopt. Peter, Gale, and their three kids moved to the Hawaii where you can find them running their own surfboard shop.

(Actroid: Wikimedia Commons)

Author's Note: This story was based off of Ovid's Metamorphosis. In this story, Pygmalion creates his perfect woman by carving ivory. He loves the statue, but wishes she was real. The goddess Venus grants his wish of the statue being real after he gave an offering to her at her festival. The statue becomes real and her and Pygmalion get married and have a kid. 

Bibliography: "Ovid's Metamorphosis", translated by Tony Kline (2000), from Myth-Folklore Anthology. Web source: Metamorphosis