#honestly i think it was just an anthology of short stories WHICH. ive always wanted to make a remastered anthology doujin | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

omophagic-beast · 1 year

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alright lets talk ttrpg goals for 2023! this post is about games im writing that i want to finish this year, ill make another one for games i want to play in 2023.

i have. so many half finished games. in fact i even have several games that are written!! they just need to be laid out and put out there. so heres the goals and the order for said goals

1- Record Collection 2K23, and the yet-unnamed game for it that ive been writing up over the past few weeks. part tarot-driven game, part... play? there’s stage directions in there in any case

its based off the four wind albums by the Oh Hellos, later on the two characters in the play only talk to eachother via lyrics from each album, moving through the seasons as they move through their story.

ofc i want to finish this one during the jam, which means by the end of january. very much pushing myself to just Get It Out There and not worry so much about it being exactly what i want, because i can always come back and update it later. its horribly (affectionate) self indulgent already so to b clear i am writing this game for Me, so the only person who needs to like it at any point is Me :3

2- There Is An Anger Inside Of You. ive been noodling at this game for over a year now, with the creation date on the word doc being may of 2021. its done!!! its finished, i swear to god, i just need to lay it out, and i already know how im going to do that i just need to *grabs myself by the shoulders* fucking do it

its a game about being angry when youre not able to express it, the struggle of keeping your anger under wraps being played out as a rather unfair game of chess. and i am going to get it out by the end of february.

3- The Lady, The Tiger, and The Accused, a hack of For The Queen based on the short story The Lady or The Tiger. its another one that is currently completely written out, but rather than laying it out and getting it out there my goal with this one is to get it formatted for playtesting. its a three player game, players taking on the role of either The Lady, The Tiger, or The Accused, and answering the prompts as such. i really love it, but it needs to be played by people and revised before ill feel comfortable declaring it finished.

also, i want to actually crowdfund and print this one, with art and editing and maybe some pretty extras and such. so my goal is to start playtesting it by my birthday, the 17th of march. after that... im not sure! crowdfunding it by the end of the year would be wild i think, since, in true For The Queen style, id love to get a gaggle of artists to draw Princess cards for it, and that takes time! so the goal is more to have it ready for crowdfunding by the end of this year, and if that happens sooner then thats cool and good!

4- Someones Simple Book of Spells Volume One: Paper. This one is also FULLY WRITTEN *sounds of agony in the distance* i just need to LAY IT OUT

and honestly since i already know how i want to lay it out lets put this one for the end of april. yes this is pretty much a game a month for the next bit but theyre all SO CLOSEEEE to being done anyways its just that final push, i could accomplish most of these goals in a weekend if i just did it so. im going to!! do it!!!

5- ok finally, one thats actually not almost finished, its The Center of the Known Universe. a small anthology of games originally started for the weird west jam but never finished.

its got some of my favorite concepts ive ever thought of though, a game about aliens freezing time in a small western town and LARPing as cowboys, two wild west wizards battling it out at high noon, a game about supernatural cowboys falling in love while experiencing all the seasons of the desert, and more. its a love letter to the small desert town i currently live in, and i want to see it come into being. im going to give myself the summer for this, lets say the goal is to have the full first draft written by september. i also would love for this one to go into print, so a secondary goal is to have it ready to crowdfund in time for ZineMonth 2024, so february of next year.

i think thats probably all the projects i can set goals for this year, october-december is always very busy for me so im not gonna set anything besides the two i want to get ready for crowdfunding in 2024, though i do have several other half written games lying about (looks nervously at my over-4000 word “ttrpg ideas” doc).

maybe ill get into the swing of actually finishing games and get to them as well! but if not thats just fine :3

you can always find all my games over on the Grey Jay Games itch.io page, and i may make a sideblog just for GJG, but for the moment all game news and stuff from me will be right here @resident-corvid

#corvid caws #indie ttrpgs #also who knows #trying to crowdfund two things in 2024 might be a wild thing to try and do #cause running crowdfunding projects is Hard #but at the least id like to have those two ready so i could potentially crowdfund both in 2024 #and at the very very least the overall goal is to just SLAP SOME STUFF UP ON ITCH #number one goal above all else #GET IT THE FUCK UP THERE #njsdkbhjbgd #its going to be great #im excited

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writeinspiration · 6 years

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suggestions for a young writer? im 15 and i just started seriously writing about a year ago~ since then I've written mostly poetry but I really write other stuff like short stories or plays too! but i always have trouble making my ideas ideas into something and just deciding how or what i want to write. and i get so worried that i lose motivation! i think that i first want to tackle trying to make characters/a simple short story. advice, tips, or tricks? thank youuu!

Hi! I’m glad you’re ready to get started! Beingeager about writing is the best. Writing a poem is a lot like writing a shortstory, so you’re on the right track. Good writing is precise and almost lyrical.

It can be really difficult to maintain motivation.Most people will advise you to write every day, which is good advice, but it’sjust not always feasible. The more you write, the better you will get!

Personally, titles and concepts and characters areall equally likely to get me started on a project. A cool title might pop up inmy head, and then I develop what story and characters go with it. Or I’ll havea concept that I’ll develop and label. Other times, I start with a characterand figure out who they are and what they do.

Here’s my most popular post regarding charactercreation: https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/158687382194/how-do-you-create-characters-or-do-they-come-find

Keeping motivated can be really difficult whenyou’re unsure of your capabilities as a writer. But the more you wait to putyour ideas to the page, the harder it will be to pick things back up. Onceyou’ve gone a week without writing, one more day seems like nothing. One moreweek, one more month… where does it stop?

I’ve seen people suggest leaving off in the middleof a sentence. When you do that, you are setting up for success. You alreadyknow exactly how that sentence will end and where it will lead. So once you sitdown with it again, you can hit the middle of the sentence without staring at atotally blank page.

I have a lot of different posts and tags that mayhelp you out!

Writer’s block and depression (1), and again (2), and some pick-me-ups (3)

First drafts don’t have to be good.

Write a whole bunch of crappy sentences if that’s what it takesto get a good one.

Don’t let it get you down. Just get it done.

Your big ideas are worth pursuing.

This post in particular will likely resonate with you and how you feel right now: https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/132168477614/ive-been-trying-to-write-for-years-unfortunately (full text included at the very, very bottom of this post)

More below the “Keep reading” line!

Important links:

Big projects on the way!!

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IT GETS BETTER (now on Wordpress too!)

Feeling generous and want to thank me for my work on this blog? Then please click here and donate via PayPal!

You can also become a patron of me on Patreon.

Don’t have a dime to spare? That’s totally fine! :) Thanks for your support~!

Click here to get a random “Why Aren’t You Writing?” post!

You can buy my stuff!

Useful tags:

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/young– stuff relating to young writers and characters

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/inspiration– inspiration

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/motivation– motivation

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/tagged/depression– depression

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/characters– everything relating to characters

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/writing+prompt

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/prompt

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/search/rapid+prompt

– writing prompts

Specific posts that address some of your concerns:

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/144610505447/if-you-see-a-need-fill-it– If you see a need, fill it.

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/152075979524/fuckyeahyoungadultlit-tachycardiia– diversity in YA lit

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/132168477614/ive-been-trying-to-write-for-years-unfortunately– starting to write

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/131428782622/cliches-in-ya-romance– clichés in YA romance

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/131034862609/lizardpeopledearreader-honestly-if-stephanie– There’s always someone worse.

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/104205593649/jetpack-johnny-rose-for-a-tenner-actually– Curiosity is important.

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/23740953643/setting– starting with setting

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/151665809147/learning-the-essentials-of-plotting-your-novel– plotting

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/149405245039/i-have-an-insanely-bad-time-writing-dialogue-any– dialogue

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/169191903744/behind-me-is-infinite-power-before-me-is-endless– possibilities

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/167418537238/startledoctopus-ronibravo-i-started-writing– any reason to start writing is a good reason

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/96119396642/cranky-crustaceans-pupukachoo– Pixar’s rules for storytelling

30THNOVEMBER 2013

QUOTE REBLOGGEDFROM BLOTS& PLOTS WITH 105,191 NOTES

Young writers should read books past bedtime andwrite things down in notebooks when they are supposed to be doing somethingelse.

— Lemony Snicket (via blotsandplots)

14THDECEMBER 2012

The question for each man to settle is not what hewould do if he had means, time, influence and educational advantages; thequestion is what he will do with the things he has. The moment a young manceases to dream or to bemoan his lack of opportunities and resolutely looks hisconditions in the face, and resolves to change them, he lays the corner-stoneof a solid and honorable success.

— Hamilton Wright Mabie

7THNOVEMBER 2017

PHOTO REBLOGGEDFROM FIXYOUR WRITING HABITS WITH 2,493 NOTES

[Image transcript:The Rules of Writing

1: Write crappy first drafts.2: Words don’t bleed. Cut them.3: Write now. Edit later.4: There are NO mistakes–only creative opportunities.5. Don’t think. Just write.6: Rules? There are rules?]

Starting to write:

https://writeinspiration.tumblr.com/post/132168477614/ive-been-trying-to-write-for-years-unfortunately

deathtotheselfie asked:I’ve been trying to write for years. Unfortunately I’m very young and theschooling I’ve received on writing is nothing like I what I write about. I’monly 14 now, but little phrases and ideas bounce around in my head. Howeverwhen I write I feel like it’s not good or mature enough because of my lack ofexperience. I can’t tend to think of original plots as I’m just surrounded inother people’s work. Do you have any advice on plot development? And do youthink I should continue trying to write?

Hi! Your question makes me quite sad. If you liketo write, then you should pursue it. It’s that simple.

School doesn’t help much in terms of creativewriting. Over the summer, when I was little, my mom would make my sister and mewrite short stories. It kept me in the habit of writing even when school wasn’tin session.

(Wanna know a secret? I often got stuck halfwaythrough my story, so I’d coerce my sister into showing me hers. Then I wouldwrite the same events but in my own words. I did this for quite a while onesummer. Maybe two.)

Not only does school keep you ridiculously busy,but it also doesn’t like teaching creative stuff much either, because math andscience are deemed as more important than anything related to the arts.

All those negative voices banging around in yourhead along with all the good ideas you have? You need to learn to silence them.Those things are what you are being trained to think.

Here’s what nobody seems to know about writing:you have to start somewhere. No one starts off as an amazing writer.

People expect writers to have this magical well ofintuition, but honestly, it just comes from practice.

You know that thing about practicing 10,000 hoursin order to become a master at something? It applies to writing, too.

Writers write.

You need to watch and write things down–what youobserve can be the basis for characters or plot or whatever. Eavesdrop on astranger’s phone conversation to get a peek into other people’s lives. Sit on abench in the mall and watch people go by.

Do you know how babies learn? They observe otherpeople doing things and then try to mimic them.

I don’t mean that fledgling writers are babies, ofcourse, but I mean that you can get your best work by reading other people’swork.

Figure out what you like to read, what you don’t liketo read. And then ask yourself WHY.

What is it about that book you hated? Was it thecharacters? The plot? The slow story-telling?

What did you love about that one book? How did itmake you feel? What parts made you feel that way?

I was in middle school when I began reading a Series of Unfortunate Events (I’m25, for comparison’s sake). Do you know what my writing sounded like while Iwas reading those? Lemony Snicket. It wasn’t on purpose, but that’s just whathappened. (Also for comparison’s sake, I now have had a short story publishedin an actual anthology and completed a 60-page poetry collection as my creativethesis, as well as a book that I’m trying to get published.)

The more you read, the more you gain. If you readenough books, then you’ll have influences from all over that create a uniquewriter: you.

You are the sum of everything you have ever reador seen or thought about.

Yes, you’re a teenager. But that doesn’t stop youfrom observing the world and teaching yourself to understand other writers’work.

If you want to write something but are worriedthat it sounds too much like somebody else, then figure out why it sounds thatway. Is it just you that thinks it sounds that way? Or do other people tell youthat as well? Find out what it is that makes it sound like that. Is it thenarration? The plot? The themes?

Regardless of your answers, you are able to makeit unique to you.

You are a writer, and whatever you write will beyours and yours alone.

As far as plot development goes, I find thatoutlining helps. I don’t always keep to the outline, but askingyourself “Then what happens?” after each event that you write down is thebest thing you can do for yourself.

A plot is a series of events. If you know whathappens naturally after something, then you write that down. It also helps ifyou understand WHY something happens.

She goes to the mall.

Then what happens?

She ends up going home and crying in her room.

Why? What caused this? What physical actionscaused her to want to leave the mall? What mental actions occurred because ofthe physical actions?

She runs into someone she used to be best friendswith, and they get into a fight. This makes her feel disappointed in her friendbut also unsure of herself because she doesn’t know what she has done to makeher friend act that way. She places the blame on herself instead of on herformer friend. This is because she has been told growing up that everything isher fault and that her younger brother can’t do anything wrong.

See what I mean? And it’s okay to ask yourselfwhat you would do in that situation. But your characters are not you. Theyprobably won’t react like you would. And that’s okay and important.

As I told my students last year, ask yourself WHYand HOW after each sentence, after each paragraph, after each plot point, aftereach whatever. It will keep your story going until it reaches its naturalconclusion.

Okay, this ended up being way, way longer than Iintended it to be, haha. But I’m completely serious and obviously verypassionate about this. And I can say way more on the subject at the drop of ahat, so if you have any more questions, then just give me a shout. :)

Best of luck. And don’t stop writing.

I mean it. :)

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souichipresents · 7 years

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Souichi Presents: What Horrors Lurk... in the Iron Circus

Kyahaha! Hello hello hello, once again it is time for.. SOUICHI PRESENTS! Where we’ll one day have reviewed every single Junji Itou comic ever made, after which we’ll... presumably switch over to a episode by episode review of every scooby doo episode ever made. It’s a work in progress concept.

BUT that day won’t happen anytime soon, because the thing is? People just keep on making amazing horror work. I genuinely beleive that there may not have even been such an amazing time for horror. Ive mentioned it before, but the internet, independently created scene is a godsend for this genre.

From keeping up with new and emerging short video format horror through the great Night Mind channel, to following horror illustrators and comic creators I love. And the comics. Oh, the comics! That’s what we’re here to talk about today. There’s so many good horror comics out there; and today I’d like to talk about an anthology I’ve been meaning to review for a long, long time now...

SOUICHI PRESENTS: THE SLEEP OF REASON (Part One)

(Cover art by Michael Deforge)

The Sleep of Reason is a FANTASTIC horror comic anthology, with 26 chilling, creepy, and strange stories. Produced by Iron Circus Comics, who as far as I’m concerned, is one of the companies to keep an eye on for independent publishing, which was single handedly built from the floor up by the amazing C. Spike Trotman. Iron Circus Comics has put out such great works as Poorcraft, Smut Peddler, Shadoweyes Vol 1, and more!

I was excited to get my hands on this, and it completely delivered. So why haven’t I reviewed it yet? Well... because, honestly? Some is just scheduling, memory, already having this or that on the docket. But also... Some of these stories are too scary for me. I had to take breaks reading it! I had to wait a while. See, part of why I run this blog is I’d already read the complete works of Junji Ito- over and over and over again, enough to work the sting out of them.

This? This has a sting and a half. And there’s enough stories here, and enough to say about them, that being as exhaustive as I am for normal stories would be... a literal half a years worth of regular updates. So I’m going to be talking about my favorites, in order.

As for stories left out? Some are just fine, but didn’t catch my eye. Maybe one or two I hate. But some? Honestly? Are too upsetting for me. Not the fun upsetting. That doesn’t make them bad horror. I even love some of them- they could even wind up being your favorites. But your dear host has even his limits, if you can forgive me. <3

Let’s get started with....

The Child Eater, by Meg Gandy

Content Warnings for: Spousal abuse, (not seen but for sure) rape, child abuse, body horror, death.

Any kid who grew up in rough times of any level can tell you, imagination is a powerful way to escape. This short isn’t about imagination. But it’s about the reason why a little kid might need one: kids can be all, all, all too aware of exactly what horrors are going on around them.

And the horror here is, for the most part, going on AROUND little Ruthie here; the real life horror. Whatever else might be going on.... well there’s monsters, and there’s monsters. And I won’t lie guys; it’s a rouge bite.

Horror is a way to talk about vulnerability. It can be a way to talk about things that scare us without talking about them directly. Well. This isn’t a comforting veneer of abstraction and fantasy kind of story. And it’s about the most vulnerable kind of hero you could possibly imagine. And it does it with art that uses a deft hand on details and emotional weight- we ARE in Ruthies shoes, we’re walking with her.

And I won’t tell you where she decides to go; only that it’s one of the most grimly satisfied endings i’ve run across.

The Waiting Game, a Nightmare by Carla Speed McNeil

Content warnings for: Starvation, suicide, body horror, non consensual voyeurism.

Somehow, this story seems so much longer then it actually is, when you’re reading it. And that could not possibly be more apt for the story that it is; the slow, second by second agony of the story’s unnamed, ungendered subject. Our subject, who’s life is such agony that they can only wait, desperately, for an end. But we don’t need to be told that.

In fact, we aren’t told much at all. But the beauty of this story- and there are many- is that we’re left to let the horror unfold in our own minds eye. The crowds of the rich, eager, leaning over each others shoulders, anticipatory.

Hungry.

What kind of entertainment do people want, if they can have anything. Anything in the whole world?

And how badly do we suffer for it.

Found Object, by Britt C. H.

Content warnings for: death, gore.

Well first of all I’ll ask you to stay out of my three AM discord conversations. If theres a comic in here with a conversation about Donald Ducks emotional depth, I’m... well actually that’d be AMAZING. But I digress!

This is the kind of story I could use as a thesis support; a genuine fear touched on through a strange event. It lays it’s self out flat and clean; in both structure and subject, I consider this an amazingly classic horror piece, to my sensibilities.

Something I’m fond of about horror is that it has a unique quality: It can only obfuscate how it’s plot is going to go but so far. Specifically I mean: It’s horror, so you know something terrible is going to happen. The story begins; something is introduced. We, the audience, become immediately aware this ‘thing’ is going to be something horrifying.

What matters isn’t the what. it’s the how. And this has a magnificent how.

The Grackle Bride, by Randal Milholland

Content Warnings for: Death. Birds.

If like me, you happen to have been following Mr. Milholland’s work since... oh, say... middle school, you wouldn’t be too surprised to see his work here. Every year readers of his comic have enjoyed “The Last Trick-or-Treaters”, a beautiful watercolor series about... well. Children! Having... adventures.... that might end... lets say badly! For those children.

But that’s a horse of a different color. For this collection, we’re treated to a beautifully folkloric yarn- just the kind of mysterious, slightly gruesome story I would have devoured as a child myself. It feels authentic; you have your poor farmer, and his only daughter. A beautiful girl... only all she seems to care about are those grackles.

It’s a thrill of a yarn at that. Cosy, even! Might depend a bit on how you feel about birds....

Proliferation, by Lin Visel and J.R. Cullen

Content warnings for: Death.

Interesting to think about is- how little information can you use to make sure your audience knows what you mean? This story I think, hits very close to that edge; if you walked into this story completely missing a key piece of outside information, I still think you would get the idea through the context clues, especially combined with the title.

That’s impressive; but even more impressive to me is this is one of those horror stories I get a sense of temperature- atmosphere. The wet, sweltering heat of your own breath passing through you. The horrible chill of air meeting sweating, clammy skin. The horrible stillness of a forest.

I do love short horror; and I’m always pleased to let the story sit as it is; a fragmenting little prism of moments. But this one I think I’d love to see more of; more of what’s happening. Maybe that would ruin it; but I know that it means a story has an inviting texture. As inviting as the temptation to keep on walking a little... further.

Just a little more.

Artifacts, by Evan Dahm

I have a complicated relationship with the phrase ‘cosmic horror’. Once you get too good a look at the lineage of the ideas it’s... well folks, it’s kind of all racism and penguins down there. But I still remember the thrill at the idea- the notion of something... so strange and unknowable. The idea that there is a scale of size we can’t even begin to comprehend; that we might as well be ants, blindly trying to make sense of things we can’t even see.

This story makes me feel like I’m sitting between the stacks of the library, lost in the quiet terror of the idea of those horizons dropping away.

To me, making our protagonist an artist solves- immediately- a lot of the problem this kind of story can have. Why exactly would someone be studying something that leads somewhere... so odd? When its a scientist, or a researcher, it feels natural, but can get... odd. Not a lot of theoretical whatever's take hikes into abandoned buildings. But fine artists will do a lot of things. I learned in class about a man who laid under the floorboards of a gallery space making weird noises.

A single man, slowly working and working and working on making something.... pure. Approaching something big. It could have happened already.

That’s all for this week- I’ll continue reviewing this in short sections of my favorites. Check it out sometime if you can! I will say chapters I didn’t get to do have some raw stuff in them; as with any horror, specific subjects can kind of lunge at you.

But it’s a representation of what I absolutely love: An independent, off the wall, beautiful set of horror comics.

And as always... souichi WILL return!

#The Sleep of Reason #Iron Circus Comics #review #horror review #souichi presents #Warnings fromt he collection but NOT covered in this review are #eating disorders parasites self mutilation gore unreality and one story I didnt touch on that does that stupid scary crazy person shtick #but its just the one so as horror goes not bad

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