I’ve been struggling a lot lately with the concept of purpose and–related to that–value. In classical thought, particularly within the Aristotelian tradition, purpose is intrinsically linked to telos, or the inherent end goal of a being. Aristotle argued that everything in nature has a specific function or purpose, and achieving excellence—or arete—within that function is […]
1. A Guide for Successful World-Building in Fiction — Sarah Frances Hicks (Writing Cooperative)A practical, encouraging guide framing world-building as something every novel does, not just fantasy/sci-fi — even a story set in “Kansas City, Nebraska” needs a distinct world. Argues writers should feel free to spend as much space as the story needs (citing […]
The story follows 17-year-old Medusa, nicknamed “Meddy,” who lives on a secluded island. Unlike her immortal parents (the minor sea deities Phorcys and Ceto) and her sisters, Meddy is mortal and feels like an outsider. Yearning for adventure and a purpose beyond her family’s expectations, she leaps at the chance to leave the island when […]
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is a fast-paced, darkly comedic LitRPG (Literary Role-Playing Game) novel that kicks off an incredibly popular apocalyptic survival series. It blends high-stakes action, absurd humor, and a critique of corporate greed and reality television. The story begins on a freezing night when alien syndicates suddenly flatten every building on […]
risten L. Berry’s gripping debut novel, We Don’t Talk About Carol, follows Sydney Singleton, a former crime reporter who returns to North Carolina following her grandmother’s death to help her family sort through the estate. While clearing out the house, Sydney discovers a hidden photograph of a teenage girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to […]
Annalee Newitz’s delightful novella, Automatic Noodle, is a masterfully crafted piece of near-future speculative fiction that manages to be both deeply comforting and razor-sharp. It seamlessly balances the warmth of “cozy sci-fi” with a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of freedom, dignity, and systemic prejudice. The story takes place in a San Francisco working to rebuild itself […]
The second book in Matt Dinniman’s series is titled Carl’s Doomsday Scenario. Picking up immediately after the events of the first book, the novel transitions the characters from the basic tutorial phases into a complex, open-world environment that satirizes classic MMORPG mechanics. Carl and his sapient, magic-casting feline partner, Princess Donut, arrive on the third […]
The Test by Sylvain Neuvel is a dystopian sci-fi novella that functions as a dark, psychological examination of state bureaucracy, immigration, and human morality. The Premise The story is set in a near-future United Kingdom, where the government has implemented the rigorous British Values Assessment (BVA). Only male immigrants between the ages of 16 and […]
In this volume, Carl, Donut, and their growing alliance descend to the dungeon’s fourth floor, known as The Iron Tangle. Instead of traditional fantasy landscapes, this floor is a mind-bending, impossibly complex labyrinth constructed from the subterranean subway and rail systems of countless conquered worlds. Space, distance, and direction are entirely warped—up is down, close […]
A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.” The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds. As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the […]
Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in the Austrian Empire, the darling of Viennese society, spots a woman’s nude body in the Danube canal. He knows he should summon a policeman, but he can’t resist stopping to make a sketch first. And as he draws, the woman coughs. She’s alive! Back at his […]
New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure. You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent. A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps. It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four […]
When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to ‘kill thirteen innocents and one guilty’ in ‘an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man’, Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of […]
Ellory Morgan is a 21-year-old freshman beginning her first semester at the prestigious Warren University. She dreams of going into journalism, but the high expectations of her parents back home in Jamaica have pushed her toward a law degree. After growing up between Jamaica and Queens, working twice as hard for half the recognition, Ellory […]
Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King’s seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction. It has sold millions of copies and has been adapted twice for television. Generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilisation, and its stunning array of […]
It’s the mid-1980s in the tiny town of Longview, Texas. Nellie Anderson, the beautiful daughter of the Anderson family dynasty, has burst onto the scene. She always gets what she wants. What she can’t get for herself… well, that’s what her mother is for. Because Charleigh Andersen, blond, beautiful, and ruthlessly cunning, remembers all too […]
Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants most of all: Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. She doesn’t […]
A roofing family’s bonds of loyalty are tested when they uncover a long-hidden secret at the heart of their blue-collar town―from Amy Jo Burns, author of the critically acclaimed novel Shiner It’s 1990 and seventeen-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at […]
An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally […]
An enchanting novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches . Sera Swan was once one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very […]
In the cult classic novel Bunny, Samantha Heather Mackey, a lonely outsider student at a highly selective MFA program in New England, was first ostracized and then seduced by a clique of creepy-sweet rich girls who call themselves “Bunny.” An invitation to the Bunnies’ Smut Salon leads Samantha down a dark rabbit hole (pun intended) into […]
In this article, G.M. Baker argues that worldbuilding has evolved from a tool used to support storytelling into a distinct, participatory art form of its own. He contends that this shift has fundamentally changed modern fiction, elevating expansive, open-ended universes at the expense of traditional, close-ended literary plots. Baker distinguishes between the structural demands of […]
This piece explores the “triumvirate” of plot, character, and setting, arguing that excellent worldbuilding forces characters to confront internal conflicts they wouldn’t face otherwise. Drives Authentic Motivation: Using examples like The Expanse, the article shows how environmental rules (like gravity physics or resource scarcity) naturally create authentic class, political, and personal friction. Prevents Shallow Narratives: […]
Selling TTRPG miniature STLs successfully comes down to understanding how the tabletop community buys and prints digital files. While standard e-commerce platforms work for general products, the 3D printing miniature community is highly concentrated around a few specific platforms and subscription models. The strategy involves choosing the right platforms, ensuring print reliability, and structuring files […]
Having a filament (FDM) printer actually gives you a massive, highly underserved niche if you market your files correctly. While the majority of standard 28mm-32mm humanoid character minis are printed in resin for crisp detail, millions of tabletop gamers only own filament printers. If they try to print a standard resin-optimized STL, thin parts like […]
Creating supportless models for 3D printing requires designing geometry that the printer can build layer by layer without printing in mid-air. You can achieve this by designing for the 45-degree rule, using specific bridging techniques, and orienting your model properly. Before generating the final mesh, you can guide generative AI like Meshy.ai to create a […]
The article provides a comprehensive overview of Trauma Studies as a field of literary theory and criticism, tracing its evolution from its 19th-century psychoanalytic roots to contemporary literary frameworks. The core concepts and historical shifts detailed in the article can be broken down as follows: Foundations in Freudian Psychoanalysis The field’s core psychological concepts rely […]
Institutionalized education and grooming in schools refer to the structured processes through which students are socialized and the dangers of predatory manipulation within academic settings. It broadly spans two primary concepts: the intentional acculturation of children to societal norms, and the patterned exploitation of authority by adults to isolate and manipulate vulnerable students. Discussions around […]
This is a topic that spans sociology of education, child development, and child protection literature — worth separating carefully since “grooming” means quite different things in each context. Grooming as acculturation In sociology, “grooming” (or “preparing,” “shaping,” “socializing”) describes how institutions cultivate people into social roles over time. This isn’t sinister by default — it’s […]
