2022 Writing Log 37

[rynling]

- I edited Chapter Eight of An Unfound Door. It was relatively long to begin with, and I ended up adding another 500 words.

- I edited my original horror short story “The Cow-Headed Boy” to be 400 words shorter and then resubmitted it.

- My story "Spooktober Fifteen Day Challenge" was published in The Oracle’s first issue, an anthology of horror-themed flash fiction and art. My piece is a creepy little story told in the form of a cursed social media game, and I had a lot of fun writing it. The zine is very short, but it’s lovely to look at, and the other work is surprisingly strong. If you’re interested, The Oracle is (here) on Twitter, and you can download a free digital copy of the issue via Google Drive (here).

- I submitted my review of an indie comics anthology called You Died: An Anthology of the Afterlife to my editor at Women Write About Comics. I’ve been working on this review for almost two months, as it has a few elements that I really don’t like and couldn’t figure out how to discuss properly. In the end, I decided that criticizing a (mostly) sweet and gentle anthology that was put together during the height of the pandemic would serve no real purpose, and I pulled my punches.

- I posted a two-part narrative illustration (it’s not quite a comic) called “The Museum of Hyrule” on Tumblr (here). This is one of the most pointless things I’ve ever drawn, but I really enjoyed working on it.

This week I took a break from Elden Ring to play three visual novels. (The first) was heartwarming, (the second) was sweet, and the third – The House in Fata Morgana, which I’m not even close to finishing yet – is batshit insane. Damn I love visual novels. Video games in general are great. It’s nice to live in such a golden age of gaming.

Comments

[renegadefolkhero]

I've been playing House of Fata Morgana since 2018 because it turns out I'm not a long VN guy at all, but every time I do manage to play I'm popcorn-eating-gif the whole damn time.

[rynling]

I appreciate the game for what it is, but I also think it would be 50% better if it were 50% shorter. The stories are a lot of fun, but I'm not sure the hundreds of text boxes that consist of little more than anguished screaming are necessary. My condolences to the two-person translation team who had to wade through this script. I hope they're happy and healthy and doing okay.

[lassarina]

I tried to play House in Fata Morgana and around the first achievement for the Rose House I just could not. It's just...it's too drawn out for me. Or maybe I'm too impatient and brain dead right now.

[rynling]

> It's just...it's too drawn out for me. Or maybe I'm too impatient

You are not wrong! Fata Morgana is way, way too drawn out. I keep reading that the narrative payoff is totally worth it, but we'll see.

[lassarina]

I honestly think that if the text appeared faster I would be less impatient, but it is also.....looping back on itself a lot, and I find that a bit frustrating. In any event, I look forward to your eventual thoughts!