#essay anthology

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

'DisCrit Expanded'- Annamma, Subini Ancy. Ferri, Beth A. Connor, David J.

Subtitle: Reverberations, Ruptures, and Inquiries

Discusses: Ableism, Racism, Education, Oppression, Intersectionality, Language, Citizenship, Post-Secondary Education, The Disabled Experience, POC Identities

Published: Teachers College Press

Publisher: 2022

Available Formats: Paperback, Hardback, Ebook

For more information on summaries, content warnings and additional tropes, see here:

#books #disability books #disability #disability representation #non fiction #essay anthology #essays #anthology #link

[morebedsidebooks]

Violent Phenomena: 21 essays on Translation

language is a dwelling, and as a result, that different languages establish different dwellings in the world, different lights and different gods, different works. —Between Crié and Ècrit by Monchoachi tr. Eric Fishman

Violent Phenomena: 21 essays on Translation is an anthology of writing by 24 contributors featuring a breadth of personal experience with culture, language, translation, publishing, and grappling with colonial and imperial legacies. As the introduction puts it ‘Above all this book is a challenge to inherited assumptions about translators and translations being neutral, making the case that every aspect of translation is political.’

Several of the contributors and their work I was familiar with prior. While with others this book is the first I’ve encountered. Yet these essays all echo very long recurring discussions. Reflecting my personal preferences the highlight is Monchoachi’s Between Crié and Ècrit from 2007 in English translation from the French also with afterword by Eric Fishman. Then “Blackness” in French: On Translation, Haiti, and the Matter of Race by Kaiama L. Glover (previously Race and the Aesthetic in French and Francophone Cultures) and Why Don’t You Translate Pakistanian? by Sawad Hussain are likewise particularly engaging. Among the many other essays all worth going over.

If one has an interest in translation and decolonisation pick up this book.

Violent Phenomena: 21 essays on Translation edited by Dr. Kavita Bhanot and Jeremy Tiang is available in print or digital from Tilted Axis Press

Contributors: Gitanjali Patel, Nariman Youssef, Kaiama L. Glover, Aaron Robertson, Khairani Barokka, Anton Hur, Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi, Eluned Gramich, Sofia Rehman, Layla Benitez-James, Mona Kareem, Lúcia Collischonn, Sawad Hussain, Yogesh Maitreya, Sandra Tamele, Hamid Roslan, Onaiza Drabu, Shushan Avagyan, Monchoachi (tr. Eric Fishman), Elisa Taber, M. NourbeSe Philip, Barbara Ofosu-Somuah and Madhu Kaza

#translation #decolonisation #Violent Phenomena: 21 essays on Translation #essay anthology #nonfiction #bookopoly #cw: colonialism imperialism racism xenophobia ableism genocide Islamophobia pandemic terrorism

[tomework]

While trying to find “Outliers” for my class project, I came across this work and couldn’t pass it up. I’ve learned that about some of my local haunts, if I don’t get them they sell.

“A Field Guide to White Supremacy” edited by Kathleen Belew and Ramón A. Gutiérrez

A collection of essays creating “the definitive field guide for understanding and opposing white supremacy in America” illuminating the violent, patriarchal career of these ideals in the United States for activists, journalists, citizens, and policymakers.

I’m excited to dive into this one, although it’s a collection of academic essays so it will be a bit different than my normal reads, but will still be highly informative.

#tomework #book review #want to read #book blog #nonfiction #radical reads #intersectionality #a field guide to white supremacy #edited by Kathleen belew #edited by ramón a gutiérrez #academic essays #essay anthology #understanding and opposing white supremacy

[elspagoot]

I made a 70-minute long tribute to Escam, ScribbleShrimp’s story about meat.

Despite its unfortunate premature ending, Escam is a story that means so so much to me, and in an attempt to create something just as meaningful, I’ve spent the past few months working on a video essay detailing my thoughts about it, and explaining my deeply personal relationship to this series of TikToks. Whether you used to be a diehard Escam fan, or if you’ve never heard of it at all, I hope you can still appreciate the video nonetheless. It is called Escam: A Eulogy, and it is out now.

“I don’t think I can even articulate the emotions this video gave me.”

~ @scribbleshrimp

#escam #scribbleshrimp #tiktok #video essay #videoessay #escam escapism anthology #Abraham Efron #Neil Ludwig #Mallory Leeroy #house of leaves #Youtube

[tatjana-fantasy]

Why I love House of Ashes’ choice system

House of Ashes is my favorite Dark Pictures game for many reasons, and one of them is its choice system. It makes the game very replayable for me, despite the plot armor it has. But what exactly do I mean by that?

Well, in HOA, the consequences of your actions are often decided by both your current and your previous choices. There is rarely a single choice that always happens and always dooms a character, because the game gives you multiple ways to save them. It’s honestly amazing, and I hope future Supermassive games will implement this choice system as well. Let’s talk about some examples!

The first one is technically not a choice, but a QTE: Eric cutting the rope or not. But since it’s presented as a choice, I’m fine with treating it as such. Here, by far the safer option for Eric is cutting the rope because it guarantees his survival (assuming Dar wasn’t alerted), but NOT cutting the rope doesn’t guarantee his death. Instead, Jason’s and Nick’s actions decide his fate, particularly how well they do in the QTEs and whether or not they save Merwin. If they save him, they won’t have enough time to save Eric and he dies if he doesn’t cut the rope. But if they kill Merwin – either by accident or by choice –, they prevent Eric from falling to his death, allowing him to hold on to the rope.

And that’s so amazing, isn’t it? That the game makes it possible for him to survive either way, but requires certain choices to be made beforehand. There was even supposed to be a third way to save Eric, by A.I. Rachel cutting the rope herself, but because of an earlier scene getting cut, it’s unfortunately not possible to get this outcome anymore. A small part of me still hopes it will be edited in someday …

The second example is Nick’s and Salim’s truce. Once again, Eric’s life is at stake. There are multiple ways to kill him here, but there are also multiple ways to save him. I think the most common way to kill Eric is by shooting the shepherd, letting Eric accompany Nick and reassuring Salim to stay, so let’s go with that. (I know you can kill Eric slightly easier by simply exposing Salim’s location, but even then, it requires around three consecutive choices to cause Eric’s death, while just a single different one can guarantee his survival.) You don’t have to worry if you shot the shepherd, because just telling Eric to stay behind makes sure he doesn’t die. But you also don’t have to worry if he accompanies you, because you can just tell Salim to hide in order to save Eric’s life. It’s only if you shoot the shepherd, allow Eric to join Nick and reassure Salim that causes Eric’s death. I love that the game gives you so many ways to save him here!

Then there’s the Clarice situation. Once again, the game gives you multiple ways to avoid Eric’s death. In Bloodbath alone, there are three ways to leave Clarice behind (leaving her behind directly, picking the right dialogue options for her to stay behind by herself and failing the QTE to cross the chasm), but even if Rachel convinces her to follow her, Clarice can still die by saying the wrong thing to Jason (which is admittedly hard to screw up by accident) or by Eric deciding to abandon her later. Granted, all these choices lean more into causing Eric’s death rather than avoiding it, but I still applaud the game for giving you so many possibilities to save him!

Speaking off Bloodbath: I LOVE the scene variation during Eric’s parts of the chapter. Depending on whether Salim was captured and the vampire was killed, there are four different ways these scenes can play out, not counting the one that requires Eric to be dead. I think we need more of this – scenes that don’t only vary because you killed someone, but because you made some different choices. :)

Another example I want to mention is Rachel’s infection, but not because it’s forgiving, but because it has two solutions. Assuming you don’t avoid her getting infected, you have to pick some strict dialogue options in order to save her, with barely any variation. But if you do pick the right options, she can either survive by burning the infection out of her or by getting cocooned. I LOVE that depending on whether or not Eric knows about the effects of the UV wand (which in itself can be achieved in slightly different ways), Rachel’s fate changes, but is only truly doomed if there’s nobody to save her. Although I do wish that the dialogue options in order to get these scenes wouldn’t be as strict as they are, I’m glad the game doesn’t automatically doom Rachel without Eric’s UV wand.

Finally, we have the game’s greatest scene when it comes to possibilities: Nick advancing the motherlode. It’s outstanding in so many ways, because the game doesn’t only give you multiple ways to save him, but also one that automatically dooms him – while still being quite forgiving overall. Let’s go over the possibilities!

The first way to save Nick is by not having anyone else (besides him) injured. It’s quite easy to avoid Jason’s and Eric’s injury, but Salim’s is another story, since most players would want to save Rachel from her vampire instead of shooting the vampire that attacks Salim. So, saving Nick this way isn’t too likely – but House of Ashes wouldn’t be House of Ashes if it didn’t give you another chance to save him.

Here, Joey’s med-kit comes into place. It allows you to heal one injury, so if you end up with the likely scenario of only Salim (and Nick) being injured, finding the med-kit is enough to heal him – and to save Nick’s life in the process.

But let’s say you didn’t find the med-kit and/or have more than one person besides Nick injured. Maybe you shot the shepherd or screwed up some QTEs. In this case, there’s a third way to save him: By finding the stake in the Bloodbath chapter and giving it to Nick. Granted, the dialogue option isn’t as clear-cut as it could be, but it still provides another option for him to defend himself.

In the same chapter, Jason can also make two dialogue options that inspire Nick enough to “fight like they do”, which is one of the rare instances where a (technically “bad”) dialogue option can determinantly save a character’s life. Similar to the previous dialogue option, it’s not very obvious, but I still appreciate that it exists!

But of course, we can’t talk about this scene without mentioning the possibility of Eric leaving Nick to die. In this case, it doesn’t matter how many choices you’ve made that usually guarantee his survival, because a low relationship with Eric will render them all pointless. Thankfully, it’s easy enough to keep their relationship on a neutral level, but just like it’s possible to miss all chances to save Nick, it’s also possible to cause the one consequence that kills him.

Still: It’s outstanding that the game is so forgiving in its choices, and lets you save its characters in different ways. There is even more stuff I haven’t talked about (like Eric’s possible death in The Signal or some general second chances when it comes to saving vs leaving characters), but I think you get my point. Personally, I absolutely love House of Ashes’ choice system and hope to see it in future games <3

#house of ashes #dpa essay #the dark pictures anthology #supermassive games

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Fat and Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives edited by Bruce Owens Grimm, Miquel M. Morales and Tiff Joshua TJ Ferentini

goodreads

We're here. We're queer. We're fat. This one-of-a-kind collection of prose and poetry radically explores the intersection of fat and queer identities, showcasing new, emerging and established queer and trans writers from around the world. Celebrating fat and queer bodies and lives, this book challenges negative and damaging representations of queer and fat bodies and offers readers ways to reclaim their bodies, providing stories of support, inspiration and empowerment. In writing that is intimate, luminous and emotionally raw, this anthology is a testament to the diversity and power of fat queer voices and experiences, and they deserve to be heard.

Mod opinion: I haven't read this anthology yet, but I remember reading an essay by one of the contributers in another anthology that I liked, so I'm excited to check it out at some point!

#fat and queer #bruce owens grimm #miguel m. morales #miguel morales #tiff joshua ferentini #polls #trans books #trans lit #trans literature #lgbt books #lgbt lit #lgbt literature #anthology #nonfiction #essays #to read

[letters-adressed-to-the-fire]

part 2 of the albatross essay i couldn't stop myself from writing

In the first part, I talked about the narrative of the song, how taylor takes us through different perspectives to finally give the albatross its own voice. But in case you didn't notice, i carefully left out my own personal interpretation of the song. Why? I wanted to dive into that with this second part. This song is very personal to me in more than one way, but there's one specific idea I want to approach right now.

Obviously, like with every Taylor song, there are a million and one ways to interpret this version of the story of the albatross. If you think about it with Taylor in mind, it is clear that she and the albatross are one, and she's drawing inspiration from her own experiences in the public eye. More than once, she was blamed for things she claimed she didn’t do (the edited call with K*nye West) or for things a man would’ve never been condemned for (dating a lot). And every single time, she wasn't allowed to react, and her word was immediately disregarded.

The moral of the fable is pretty clear once you understand the lyrics: people are perceived as guilty or responsible for negative situations without taking into account their own experience or intention because it’s what’s easier. But my own very personal interpretation of the song is a little broader. Without even realizing it, I immediately gave the albatross a feminine presence, I mean of course it had to do with Taylor being the performer, but after a few listens I began to grasp why this perspective resonated so strongly.

Women are still being judged way harder in too many aspects of life. Like I’m being so serious when I tell you that less than a week ago some guy was shamelessly slut-shaming a girl while justifying himself for doing the exact same thing (without noticing the hypocrisy I might add). I mean, some people are at least aware of the internalized misogyny behind this kind of mentality, but there are still far too many who remain oblivious. And this just gets worse when one constantly endures public scrutiny.

This type of behavior can be traced back to historical figures such as Cleopatra, who has been the subject of much criticism and stigmatization throughout history for her relationship with Roman leaders such as Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Although Julius Caesar and Mark Antony also had extramarital affairs and allied themselves with Cleopatra for political reasons, it is Cleopatra who has been portrayed as a manipulative seductress and a threat to Roman power, meanwhile the men were largely seen as statesmen and military leaders, and their relationships with Cleopatra were not portrayed with the same negativity or criticism.  

So yeah, the albatross IS about Taylor, but it's also about you and me. It's about Taylor's own experience in the public eye, but it's also about that time you realized society was never gonna be fair when it came to women. It's about being the prey when you're being labeled as the archer*. It's the perfect metaphor for how women are often held to different standards compared to men, both historically and in contemporary society, and how we've been finding ways to retrieve our narrative even when no one wanted to believe us.

*thank you to one of my bestest friends in the world (cath!!) for making me realize the connection between the archer and the albatross, i literally haven't been able to think about anything else since*

#share your own interpretations pls #id love to read them #taylor swift #ttpd #swiftie #the tortured poets department #the albatross #the anthology #poetry #lyric analysis #song analysis #in this essay i will #women #tell me you all get it

[that-butch-archivist]

The GDrive archive is now at 5.5GB .... and I haven't even started adding my set of physical books & essays yet.

#archivist talk #general goal is to break all these anthologiss into individual essays on top of full files #so you can still find good content that suits your interests without having to plow through 50-150 pages to get there #and then maybe if you really like the anthology you'll read the other essays #of my physical books the goal is to grab butch and femme and trans content first and foremost #and then i'll tackle more categories after that

[echo-echo31]

fave lyrics from all songs + commentary because I need to SAY THINGS part 1

1. Fortnight - "your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her" (babe this is illicit affairs but unhinged I love it)

2. The Tortured Poets Department - "You left your typewriter at my apartment, Straight from the tortured poets department, Who else decodes you?" (mecore mecore MECORE LETS GO)

3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys - "Once I fix me, he's gonna miss me" (thinking of Diane and the revenge dress rn)

4. Down Bad - "Fuck it if I can't have him" (hopeless romantic me loves this in a problematic way)

5. So Long, London - "You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died at the altar waitin' for proof" (ough)

6. But Daddy I Love Him - "I'm havin' his baby. No, I'm not, but you should see your faces" (fuckin snarky 4th wall taylor I love you)

7. Fresh Out The Slammer - "To the one who says I'm the girl of his American Dreams" (although this song is not about positive love I am biased about this line)

8. Florida!!! - "Little did you know your home's really only a town you're just a guest in" (OUFH ALSO FLORENCE ILY)

9. Guilty As Sin? - "What if he's written "Mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?" (:3)

10. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? - 'So tell me everything is not about me, but what if it is?" (women 👏 unapologetically 👏 not 👏 humble)

11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) - "Trust me, I can handle me a dangerous man. No really, I can" (so much writing potential)

12. loml - "You're the loss of my life" (WDYMMMMMMMM)

13. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart - "'Cause I'm miserable (Haha). And nobody even knows" (the overachiver mental health anthem)

14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - "And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive. The smallest man who ever lived" (see really said imma hold a grudge on the man with a small dick)

15. The Alchemy - "The hospital was a drag. Worst sleep that I ever had." (medical trauma besties u know this one)

16. Clara Bow - "You look like Taylor Swift. In this light, we're lovin' it. You've got edge, she never did" (T A Y L O R)

#pls send help #this is like a poetry anthology i need to write ESSAYS #ts #echo rants #taylor swift

[bloodwhet]

jacob geller made a book :0

#it's an anthology of his video essays but omgggg

[pocketseizure]

Hyrule Fashion Anthology is a fanzine celebrating the complex evolution of fashion history through the characters and setting of the Legend of Zelda series. I contributed an essay titled “A Wind-Grieved Ghost” about the influence of medieval Japanese Noh theater on Ganondorf’s costume and character in The Wind Waker.

@hyrulefashion is filled with gorgeous illustrations that illuminate the historical and cultural influences of the character designs in the series, as well as brilliant renditions of fan-favorite characters in a diversity of times and places. The zine also includes music, merch, and articles about weaving, metalworking, and the beauty of style in all its forms.

Preorders are open until September 19! ✨ https://hyrulefashionanthology.bigcartel.com

#Zelda zines #Hyrule Fashion Anthology #Wind Waker #Ganondorf #signal boost #the art in this zine is phenomenal #and the writing is fantastic #I love Zelda essays

[bowokshop]

Growing Up Queer in Australia - edited Benjamin Law

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘No amount of YouTube videos and queer think pieces prepared me for this moment.’ ‘The mantle of “queer migrant” compelled me to keep going – to go further.’ ‘I never “came out” to my parents. I felt I owed them no explanation.’ ‘All I heard from the pulpit were grim hints.’ ‘I became acutely aware of the parts of myself that were unpalatable to queers who grew up in the city.’ ‘My queerness was born in a hot dry land that was never ceded.’ ‘Even now, I sometimes think that I don’t know my own desire.’ Compiled by celebrated author and journalist Benjamin Law, Growing Up Queer in Australia assembles voices from across the spectrum of LGBTIQA+ identity. Spanning diverse places, eras, ethnicities and experiences, these are the stories of growing up queer in Australia.

‘For better or worse, sooner or later, life conspires to reveal you to yourself, and this is growing up.’

With contributions from David Marr, Fiona Wright, Nayuka Gorrie, Steve Dow, Holly Throsby, Sally Rugg, Tony Ayres, Nic Holas, Rebecca Shaw and many more.

I am privileged enough to have grown up with the internet, with information about queer people and queer identities so difficult to hide, such that even at a christian school, I was able to find the words to describe myself almost as soon as I recognised those parts of myself.

Even so, hearing first-person accounts of Australian queer people, like me, dealing with Australia's culture and biases, made me felt seen in a way I don't think any other medium could have.

Growing Up Queer in Australia portrayed all different aspects of queerness, from celebration and pride to rejection and heartbreak. It was a wonderful reflection of thoughts and feelings I've had, as well as those I would never have considered to be part of the queer experience.

I really appreciated the range of queer identities represented in the book; from lesbian and gay to queer, every letter of LGBTQ+ was represented. I do wish we got more stories from the '+' part of the queer community, but I am glad that Growing Up Queer does make an effort to include more than just gay and lesbian authors. I especially appreciated the range in gender identities and presentation of the authors, including both masc- and femme-presenting lesbians and their struggles, trans people who realised both early and late in life, people who had strong gendered feelings that didn't neatly fit into these boxes.

I also welcome the intersectionality present in Growing Up. As someone who is white and able-bodied, it was eye-opening to read how deep the authors' queerness was related to other marginalised parts of their identity such as disability and race. I appreciated the variety in Australian class and location represented in the book, including rural, small towns, suburban and city perspectives. It made me really happy in one story to notice where they were from and say "Hey, that's near me! That's my community!"

As Benjamin Law addresses in the wonderfully written foreword, I am very glad that the title chosen is 'Growing Up Queer in Australia.' The use of 'queer' feels very inclusive and tells me Law is not shying away from the tougher parts of queer identities in an effort to make the book more marketable.

For me personally though, trying to digest the a-spec parts of my identity has been a big part of my personal discovery, and for this reason I would loved to have seen asexual and aromantic representation. It seems from personal anecdote to make up a surprisingly large section of the lgbtq+ community, so it was a bit disappointing that with dozens of authors involved, there was not a single a-spec author.

In general, I was a little disappointed there weren't many authors from the '+' part of lgbtq+, such as a-spec, non-binary and genderfluid. There are some identities that feel marginalised even within the queer community and this book could have been a good opportunity to bring light to them. I would have especially loved to see 'contradictory' identities such as he/him lesbians.

I am still giving 5 stars because I understand when compiling and publishing a book like this, there will always be people who felt left out by it, and I can see and appreciate the effort that has gone into diversity and intersectionality in Growing Up Queer.

Growing Up Queer, through its diverse collection of stories, reaches out and says, You are not alone. There are others who have been in the same situation.

#book review #growing up queer in australia #benjamin law #non-fiction #nonfiction #short stories #essays #memoir #lgbtq books #lgbtqia #australian books #anthology #5 stars #endymion #book reviews #book recommendation #book recommendations #book reccs #book blog #books #bookblr #booklr #reading #book reading

[thequietabsolute]

In the late 1960s, a number of important thinkers in France — Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, and Roland Barthes among them — began to investigate what would happen to Western thought if the fact that it exists mainly in writing were taken seriously.

— The Norton Anthology: Theory and Criticism, from the entry on Hélène Cixous [2001]

#literary criticism #philosophy #essay #helene cixous #jacques derrida #julia kristeva #roland barthes #the norton anthology #quote

[tatjana-fantasy]

Why Little Hope’s most mundane interpretation is still amazing

You know what’s amazing about Little Hope’s story? That even its most mundane explanation – everything being an imagination and nothing more – still makes for a heartbreaking experience. This is why I decided to look through the events of the game from the basic “Anthony walks through the town” perspective, and analyze the various places he visits throughout the game, and why they were important to him. Because I believe this may be another way to interpret Little Hope’s story: Anthony coming to town to say goodbye to every place he loved.

(For the sake of argument, we’re mostly going to ignore everything that isn’t “real.”)

We start at the Bus Crash Site, where Anthony is perfectly greeted by the “Welcome to Little Hope” sign. I don’t think the place itself is actually important, but it does force Anthony to head into town, so I think it’s worth mentioning. Similarly, the fog forces him to stay on his path, which is likely Anthony’s own subconscious, guiding him to familiar places.

(Side note: I think it’s very fitting that Anthony can find Eric’s and Rachel’s car here, a reminder of another horrible accident that took place at the edge of town.)

Eventually, Anthony makes his first stop at the Black Cat Bar. Here, he meets Vince, the only other real person in town. It’s quite clear that Vince visited the bar regularly, but I wonder if Anthony visited it, too. We know that he was only an adult for about two and a half months, so he might’ve shared a drink with Vince during them; but even if he didn’t, he likely knew that Vince was a regular customer, which probably inspired him to visit the bar in the first place.

Afterwards, Anthony follows the Main Road, which is basically the red string of the story that ties all places together. Here, he makes a short detour to a vantage point; I can’t pinpoint its exact significance, but it’s easy to imagine that he had certain spots in town he liked to visit whenever he wanted to be alone.

The first bridge Anthony comes across is the part where the fictional characters in-game decide to split up. It’s like a metaphorical bridge for Anthony that allowed him to sink deeper into the depths of his mind; beforehand, his imagination only went so far to imagine all characters relatively close together, but now that he’s deeper in town, his imagination grows.

Meanwhile, Vince glimpses into Anthony’s story every so often, as if to remind him of the reality he doesn’t want to accept. Fittingly, his first cameo happens at the intersection, which can easily be seen as the intersection between imagination and reality.

Shortly afterwards, Anthony comes across a hut with a gun inside it – which raises some interesting questions about whom the hut belongs to, and consequently, who the owner of the gun is. Because of the book you can find inside, I believe it could be Vince, but it’s hard to say for sure since he doesn’t seem to recognize the gun later. There’s also the possibility that Anthony himself deposited the gun here at some point, but I don’t think that’s very likely.

Either way, Anthony continues to the Little Hope Police Department, which is obviously an important place for him, considering he was briefly imprisoned here and made the Crude Doll. But before we actually get to see him explore the place, we jump to Daniel’s POV – and the question of how real the events outside Anthony’s own perspective are. Does he imagine the other characters visiting these places or does he visit them himself? Personally, I’m leaning towards the latter.

We get a look at the Little Hope Middle School, which Megan likely visited, and the Playground, where one of her drawings can be found. It’s quite horrifying to think that all that time, Megan drew her experiences with Carson, but no one paid enough attention to her in order to do something about it.

Anthony enters the General Store next, whose nostalgic value is shown in the comic, where he mentions that he used to buy comics and candy there. Nearby, there’s also a small shack with some runestones and candles, but similarly to the hut above, the owner is difficult to pinpoint. Was it Vince’s and Tanya’s place to practice their Pagan beliefs? Or was Anthony himself a regular visitor? It’s hard to tell for sure, but I think both explanations are likely.

Either way, he explores the inside of the police station next, which must be a painful experience for him. He looks at all the memories he rather wanted to forget, reminds himself of everything he lost. I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been for him!

Exiting the police station, he comes across the Little Hope Bridge, where Tilly Johnson’s memorial makes me wonder about her existence, while Dennis’s band poster reveals more details about the Clarke family. Following the most mundane explanation theory though, this could potentially reveal a very heartbreaking fact about Anthony: That the memorial and the poster didn’t depict his family members, but he sees them anyway, like he can’t stop thinking about the people he let down.

This can also be seen in the Little Hope Graveyard. Because of course Anthony would want to visit his family’s graves; a part of him wants to confront the harsh reality he cannot yet accept.

When it comes to the other graves (like Wyman’s or Abraham’s), I suspect he got inspired here and decided to use their names for his story. It’s also interesting that Anthony comes across Vince right after, because this basically confirms they barely missed each other when visiting the graves of the people they loved.

Continuing to the Woods, I have to wonder about their significance. Sure, the Witch Trial is located here, which is likely a place Anthony was interested in, but I’m not sure if this is the only explanation – especially because the Woods are visited later as well. Is this another red string for the story, like the Main Road? I honestly have no idea, so I’d like to hear your thoughts!

Anyway, after a quick scene on the Main Road where we get a glance at the sewers, Anthony enters the Little Hope Museum. It’s easy to imagine that he used to come here regularly, and in the present, he even visits it twice. The first time, his own mind influenced the things he saw, but his second visit showed him what was actually real. Maybe a part of him knew it all along, so he went back to confirm it.

Following the Main Road, several historical plaques of places and events can be found here, alongside Tilly Johnson’s house and the Execution Site near the Church. The Execution Site is probably part of Little Hope’s historical town tour, while the Church is not only the place where Anthony bumps into Vince again, but also the place Reverend Carson resided. Which is interesting because after a short climb to the Bell Tower, you are free to either explore the church or simply skip everything that might remind Anthony of Carson. It’s the only place that allows that, like Anthony doesn’t want to be reminded of him anymore than he has to. He was probably a regular church visitor, and might’ve confided in him a couple of times, which only strengthens the betrayal he must feel.

Outside Church, Anthony makes a return to the Woods, where he relaxes for a bit and continues on the Dirt Trail, whose significance I honestly can’t tell. However, it does lead up to Mary’s grave, and most interesting of all, the Derelict Building. Since Abraham is properly introduced here, the building has to have a meaning, but what exactly? Was it always abandoned and Anthony came across it one day? Was it a functioning building before? In the flashbacks, Joseph seems to live there, so maybe James used to live there as well? I’m really curious what you think, because I believe there has to be a reason why Anthony wanted to visit this building in particular, I just don’t know what it could be. So, what are your thoughts? :)

Continuing to the Factory and another meeting with Vince, Anthony can find multiple remnants of the past. In the comic, it’s the first building he visits, spending quite some time there, reminiscing of the past and the physical memories it left behind. It’s also obviously the place his father and Vince worked at, so it makes sense that he would want to go there at some point.

From the Factory Grounds, you have to walk quite a bit through the Woods and a small tunnel until you come across the Ruined House, and the Back Yard associated with it. It’s notable that Vince’s old car stands here, like he never moved it away after the fire. And in the Ruined House itself, Anthony finally reaches his destination: Home. Now, he has to decide Mary’s/Megan’s fate, he has to come to a conclusion. But interestingly enough, his own story only ends here if he fails to forgive Megan and/or fails to let his family go; it’s only when he saves at least one person besides Mary that he can continue to the Main Road, where Vince determinantly brings him to his last – and in some ways, first – destination: The Diner. No matter which ending you get, Anthony’s story comes full circle and he leaves the town forever.

Imho, just viewing Little Hope as Anthony wandering around town and nothing more still makes for an interesting, heartbreaking story, and one I personally love – regardless of the interpretation you choose to believe. :)

#little hope #dpa essay #the dark pictures anthology #supermassive games #anthony clarke

[wrongpublishing]

Increase Your Literary Body Count in 2024

by Mathew Gostelow.

"In my slut era," I whispered, sending the story out on its ninth simultaneous submission.

At the most recent count, I wrote 60-odd things in 2024 and submitted them a total of 202 times in all. 42 of them were published in some form. Along the way, I racked up 90 rejections. All in all, I published somewhere around 44,000 words in 2023.

I was whoring my stories all over, like some sort of village bike made of ink and shamelessness. I spent a year subbing sluttily. I had a blast doing it too. I got a fair few publications under my belt, made new friends, and learned some lessons as well. Here’s just a few of them…  

Change horses midstream

I’ve discovered I work best when I’m juggling multiple projects at once. It sounds counter-intuitive and I guess it might not work for everyone, but I reckon everyone should try it.

The idea is to have several stories on the go at one time. Three feels ideal. I find that I will inevitably run out of steam on a piece – my interest or focus always flags at some point. Switching to something new acts as a vital palate-cleanser. I’m able to return to each project afresh, bringing new energy and perspective thanks to the time I spent away.

Follow the fun 

Don't be afraid to mix it up. Move out of your comfort zone.

If your latest flash isn’t quite working, why not rewrite it as a poem? Or mash it together with another half-finished piece and see what happens. In a longer piece, it’s okay to jump straight to the scene that's exciting you in that moment. Fill in the gaps and the preamble later.

Try things out. Write flash, write microfiction, write a poem. Seen a shiny prompt? Go for it. Plunge into a genre that you'd normally avoid. You might have fun, you might learn something. You might even end up with a story worth submitting.

Lean into your weird

I'm not saying you're weird, but… you’re totally weird. The way you tell stories is uniquely yours. You understand the world through the filter of your own personal experiences. And you express those observations in wonderfully idiosyncratic ways. 

One thing this prolific year taught me is that I love my writing more when I delve into those quirky parts of me. It could be sharing an oddly-specific fear in a horror story, or playing with words in a way that feels pleasing and musical to me.

Putting those unusual parts of yourself out into the world can be scary, but it's also fun. And I've found that readers and editors seem to respond to it as well.

Sim-subbing is addictive - but tread carefully

Simultaneous submissions are great. Is that one mag taking a bit long to decide on whether they want you piece? Send it somewhere else. Feel those sweet endorphins coursing through your veins. Oh yeah. That’s the stuff.

Here’s what I learned from a year of very heavy simultaneous submissions: Send a piece out to as many places as you like – but only if you're equally happy with ever possible outcome. That’s the important bit.

If you have your heart set on a specific home for a story then for gawd’s sakes don't sub it anywhere else until they have decided. Otherwise you risk tying yourself in knots if/when one of the lesser mags accepts it before your dream publisher has decided.

Play fast and loose!

Themed calls are great. They can be inspiring, sparking fresh ideas in our minds. Or help us to see our existing stories in a new light. But here’s what I learned this year: don’t be afraid to come at the theme from an obtuse angle.

Editors must get tired of reading 50 different permutations of the same story. Your off-kilter take could be just the breath of fresh air they're looking for.

And if you have a story already written when a call comes along and it feels like it's close-ish to what they're looking for, then you should throw it in the mix. What have you got to lose?

A true story from this year:

I had a story accepted after misunderstanding what a themed call was all about. I didn’t read the instructions carefully enough and subbed the wrong thing. I realised immediately after pulling the trigger and considered withdrawing my piece. For some reason, though, I didn't. (Slut era!) The editors saw something in my story and accepted the piece.

Moral: Don’t slavishly follow the theme. Go crazy.

Dilute the sting

Rejections can hurt, especially if you have your sights set on a specific magazine or anthology. But you know what helps? Rebound sex. Er… I mean, rebound submissions. Get that same piece back out there. Heck, send it to two places. Go crazy. You get closure by moving on. Also, the more you submit, the more rejection notches you get on your bedpost. And you know what, after a while you��ll find it starts to sting a lot less. 

So there you go. Lessons from a promiscuous wordmonger. Why not try to up your literary body count in 2024? You might like it. Repeat after me: “Slut era”.

Mathew Gostelow (he/him) is the author of two collections; See My Breath Dance Ghostly, a book of speculative short stories (Alien Buddha Press) and Connections, a flash fiction chapbook (Naked Cat Publishing). He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. @MatGost

#essay #submissions #writing #writers #writing advice #literary submissions #lit mags #publishing advice #publishing #horror anthologies

[letters-adressed-to-the-fire]

So I ended up writing a short essay about the albatross (part 1)

There’s just something about the albatross that’s been scratching my brain since the first time I heard it. Initially, I thought “oh, it feels like it belongs in evermore” (I really love that album), but soon I realized it goes way deeper than that.

Well the song is about the albatross (duh), but to really understand it, there are a few things you need to know. First of all, this particular bird is widely known as a symbol of bad luck, burden and regret. Why? What could an innocent bird possibly have done to deserve such a reputation? Taylor tell us the answer throughout the song, but for a more in-depth understanding, one can turn to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, which was the source of inspiration for this piece.

Gotta be honest, I haven’t read it, not entirely (it’s actually really long). But I did do my research soooo, let me summarize it for you in a few lines:

This is the tale of a sailor who, convinced that an albatross was a bad omen, tragically shoots the innocent bird. As a consequence, he and his crew face a curse. The sailor is compelled to wear the lifeless bird around his neck as a form of punishment. Yet, as time passes and years go by, it is the innocent albatross that becomes a mournful symbol, rather than the sailor who committed the deed.

Now, if you revisit Taylor's lyrics, she narrates this progression through the reprise of different verses:

“Cautions issued, he stood Shooting the messengers They tried to warn him about her”

“Locked me up in towers But I'd visit in your dreams And they tried to warn you about me”

“You were sleeping soundly When they dragged you from your bed And I tried to warn you about them”

Or:

“Cross your thoughtless heart Only liquor anoints you She's the albatross She is here to destroy you”

“So I crossed my thoughtless heart Spread my wings like a parachute I'm the albatross I swept in at the rescue”

Or my personal favorite:

“Devils that you know Raise worse hell than a stranger She's the death you chose You're in terrible danger”

“The devil that you know Looks now more like an angel I'm the life you chose And all this terrible danger”

What I found so fascinating about her decision behind the use of this technique, is that she not only embraces it to move the story forward in an organic way, but she plays with the point of view of the spectator (or in this case, listener) to lead them through all the characters of the story.

In the opening verse, you assume the role of the sailor on the verge of shooting the albatross. You don’t have proof but you know she’s here to destroy you. As the song progresses into the second verse, it becomes evident that you’re now talking with the albatross, or more accurate would be to say that the albatross is talking to you. Contrary to the poem, Taylor is giving the albatross a voice (which effectively serves as a metaphor for herself), and this standpoint will remain for the rest of the song, though with a slight change at the end. Taylor not only lets the albatross tell its story, but she let it be the hero. By the end, the spectator finds themselves in the crosshairs of "them”, the very group they once belonged to. This is the moment where the transformation of the figure of the albatross reaches its peak, as it transitions from a harbinger of misfortune to a beacon of hope, it is there to rescue you.

(obviously there's more to this! but I'll be posting part 2 in a few days just because i didn't want this post to be THAT long lol)

#the albatross #taylor swift #ttpd #the anthology #the tortured poets department #swifties #lyric analysis #in this essay i will #poetry