2016 Blog Archive

Advice • Fiction • Gaming • General Musings • Reviews

12/16/2016 - Abuse
What do you do when you find out something you weren't intended to know? Especially when one person is trying so hard to keep things normal?
12/09/2016 - Fanfictioneering
A brief (one-sided) conversation on the ins and outs of why I've been spending so much time writing fanfiction and not other things.
11/14/2016 -About Last Tuesday
Wherein I reveal my thoughts on the 2016 election, not that anyone was really waiting for that. Spoiler: I'm not pleased.
11/11/2016 - Asylum: Out of the Shadows
I got to work on a super awesome museum exhibit that opens just beyond the horizon, and I'm going to tell you all about it! Well, partially about it, anyway.
10/31/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: Goneril
"Like reality, some stories end more abruptly than we desire.
Like reality, tales sometimes finish in directions that we are unwilling to face.
And like reality, when these traits pair together, we must accept our finale."
10/24/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Endurance
"I suppose my point is that, realistically, it is fairly wise to know one’s limits and be accepting of them so as to not end up with a squirming mass of insects for a shirt."
10/17/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: Cyndar's Timekeeper
"“What if she’s already dead?” one of his cohorts asked.
Olson sighed in irritation. “Sylvia, are you dead?”
“No,” Sylvia responded, clearly angry.
“There, you see?” Olson told his companion. “Don’t die until I’ve had a chance to kill you.”"
10/10/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Interruptions
"It wasn’t long before Cordelia noticed something that did not fit the theme of graffiti-based threats—sets of four long scratches in the carpeting that revealed the wood beneath. Some of these marks were flourished with spatters of dark stains, the origins of which the girl felt were better left unruminated upon."
10/3/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: The Friendly Footstools
"Those panicked students who spent the next morning searching for the missing noticed that all of the footstools in the dorms had similarly vanished. While initially only regarded as a curiosity, all replacement furniture that was brought in also disappeared—always overnight, always out of sight."
9/26/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Theories
"“I simply refuse to talk to someone with such an antagonistic relationship with combs.” The bed practically choked on its own amusement. “You are deliciously cruel.”"
9/19/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Dreams
"No one knows precisely how it happened, but ... Garbovan was found in the chemistry labs as a green viscous fluid contained in a sturdy flask, his worried face occasionally visible in the churning goo."
9/12/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Void Closets and Friendships Past
"As for the scars, the eyepatch’s reduction of his depth perception made the already-clumsy boy more susceptible to repeatedly jabbing himself with his silverware."
9/05/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Fortress Woundwort
"A few of the ones with more thoughtful expressions watched with what Cordy accurately guessed was bemusement, although the watchers thought it was mere apathy, an emotion they called ‘unfeels’."
8/29/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Reacquaintances
"The first hut ever constructed, history tells us, owes its existence to a Thaddeus Rathermaere. Unfortunately for him, his desperation did not match his skill, and he is also recorded as the first victim of catastrophic architectural failure."
8/22/2016 - Four Kinds of Bad
In the spicy variety that is life, there are literally thousands of ways for something to be terrible. Here are four!
8/15/2016 - We Need to Talk About Grimm
Grimm is one of those shows that feels very comfortable "borrowing" stories from other cultures with the grace, understanding, and sensitivity of a ham-fisted idiot.
8/11/2016 - Rejected Harry Potter Sequels
Wherein I reveal that I was tapped to pitch new stories for sequels to a popular book series, and further reveal that such an idea was truly a mistake.
8/08/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: A Cauldron of Yesterdayers
"Knowing the creature’s weakness to fire (a trait shared by most things, really), Cordy sprinted past the bouncing blobs and at the [stove], leapt, and slammed into it, grasping at its sides as the impact rang through her body."
8/01/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: On Potato Politics
"[P]otatoes are not known for their spatial awareness. Religious variety, perhaps. But combine a lack of conception of four dimensional space with Edgewood’s relationship with architectural cohesion—described at best as “darkly sarcastic”—and any traveler would have come to Cordelia’s conclusion..."
7/25/2016 - Our Darker Purpose: Part Two
"“Is the museum on an ancient burial ground of some sort?”
“No... but the fourth Archpriestess of Flatbrook did find a quarter just down the road...”"
7/20/2016 - How To Do a Positive Write-Up of Ghostbusters
The new Ghostbusters movie was released and, contrary to whiny idiots, it's pretty good! Write about it my way, which may make hateful cretins ignore you (though probably not).
7/18/2016 - Endings and How to Lose Them
Games have a lot to keep in the air to keep things going smoothly. A shoehorned moral that scolds people for playing, though, is not one of them.
7/11/2016 - I Think I'm Playing Pokémon Go Wrong
If we're being honest, I don't recall this series being so foggy and gory. Also, the writing seems a touch... I dunno... unnecessarily obtuse?
7/4/2016 - Facts About the People and Places of the United States
I have used all my massive brainmeat to produce this fantastic list of facts about the people and places of these United States, and you're going to love them.
6/20/2016 - I Was at a Wedding Last Saturday! Mine!
Well, I went and got married to my longtime lady friend Ashlie, and now you're going to hear all about it! Kind of!
6/6/2016 - Happy Four Year Anniversary!
It's been awhile, hasn't it? Well, I will get you up to speed on what's been going on behind the scenes over at this whole wacky experiment called life.
5/23/2016 - Trampling in the Land of Woe
A book about soulmates, Hell, ninjas, and friendship. There's a lot of other stuff in there, too, but what else do you want with less than two lines of description?
5/2/2016 - No One Will Ever Love You
The things in your past can always haunt you. No matter how you think you can rid yourself of them, something remains.
4/7/2016 - Primary Horror Story
Based on real events.
Kind of.
3/28/2016 - An Improbables Book Tour!
I've got a list of people who are going to be kind enough to host me on a fantabulous tour across the interwebs to promote the hell out of Improbables!
3/21/2016 - Traipsing Through Silent Hill 2: Episode Sixteen, or Denouement
And lo, James did lay waste to the horrors of Silent Hill, and it came to pass that six possibilities opened before him. Most were kind of 'meh', all things considered.
3/18/2016 - Authors, Ideology, and Writing
Let's have a frank discussion about how writing, in general, is very hard to divorce from the author's lived experience and belief system, shall we?
3/11/2016 - It's Time for a Guest Post from S. Valentine!
Wherein a wonderful person stops on by and talks shop 'bout writin' romance. She also has a book out, so you can look at that and be all "Oooooooh!" if you want to be a good person.
3/07/2016 - Writing Talking Okayishly
Sometimes people are all 'Jonathan writes good words when its people making the lip flapping!' so I chose to respond and it... got a touch messy.
2/29/2016 - A Word on Romancifying
Wherein I discuss the process of writing as authentic a relationship as I possibly can while also mentioning the other ways I've done the whole "relationship writing" thing in the past.
2/22/2016 - Happy Improbables Release Day!
If you want to know a little bit more about my writing process when it came to the newly released Improables, well, here's your chance!
2/15/2016 - For Immediate Release
It has come to our attention that a famous wizard, whose name has been redacted, may not have been the paragon of morality that we have made him out to be.
1/29/2016 - Improbables Cover and Release Info
You know that new novel I've been yammering about for months now? Well, it's got a cover and release date, so don't expect me to shut up about it any time soon.
1/19/2016 - Chatting About Writing Philosophy with Tak tse Profit
Wherein a guest swings on by the website tells us about philosophy and the writer's craft.
1/18/2016 - Games Without Souls, Souls Without Games
Bloodborne and Assassin's Creed Syndicate have some great elements, but do they come at a cost of something else?
1/8/2016 - Update on the State of the Site
Click here to find out why the updates over the last couple of months have been a bit on the inconsistent side.
1/1/2016 - Happy 2016!
Wherein I go through my greatest hits of 2015 in preparation for more greatest hits. Those will happen later, I swear.