cosmosogler

[cosmosogler]

Kerdly real kerdly real kerdly real kerdly is real THE VOICES

[cosmosogler]

Paint’n studies I did on my Wii U gamepad earlier in the year.

[cosmosogler]

its so scary to put yourself out there but a SINGLE message saying "hi i loved what you made it touched me in some way" makes it all worth it 10000%

[cosmosogler]

TURN THE LIGHTS OFF!

[cosmosogler]

Academics work so hard to be taken seriously that we can't even acknowledge the fact that one of the biggest and most important science journals is called PNAS. We just need to keep submitting to PNAS and citing PNAS and doing review work for PNAS as if it's nothing.

[cosmosogler]

lineup of the important players in my spiderguy's universe! i'll put blurbs for each character under the cut!

wilson fisk- kingpin- late 50s (at time spiderguy was bitten)- american- he/him

CEO of a fossil fuels company that provides electricity, gas and oil to not just new york, but the world. fisk is all about money, and amassing as much wealth as possible- and of course, the influence to keep that wealth. he's threatened by green initiatives, and uses any means necessary to crush them, however illegal. his more blantantly illegal stunts frustrate the government and state, as they struggle to outwardly defend him then, but rest assured, they still will. the cops are on his side and he takes full advantage of that. an imposing, shrewd man, fisk prefers to let others do his dirty work, and has multiple agents working for him. however, he can still hold his own in a fight very easily if pushed to it.

main villain. kingpin has no powers- just his money, influence, and a tall stature.

felix hardy- black cat- 16- irish american- he/him

a tricky, bright eyed little thief, felix loves being black cat more than anything. drop out of his school's gynmnast team, he spends his nights nimbly bounding between new york's skyscrapers, looking for things to steal, and messing with spiderguy. he particularly enjoys the latter as time goes on, his playful personality and unfocused attitude towards who he steals from both flustering and frustrating spiderguy. they find shaky alliances (and reationships) with time, particularly after spiderguy is able to convince him to only steal from the rich. even so, felix doesn't like being felix very much, and is avoidant and uncomfortable being vulnerable, not wanting to admit that part of the reason he started this to begin with was to support his single father. who cares about their civillian identities, lets have fun!

no powers, felix gets around with a grappling hook.

luka averin- spiderguy- 15 (17 as of ATSV)- mixed japanese/russian american- he/him

luka is a quiet, unassming, closeted trans kid. out as a guy to only a single person, the janitor at the homeless shleter he volunteers at once a week,much of his inner life and true self is kept inside, and he has issues with isolating himself. he enjoys tending to the little sporuts on his wndowsill, song composing, and video games (fishing/farming sims and jrpgs), is on his school's netball team, and is very passionate about the city that he lives in actually being…liveable. he would like clean air and no radiation, please! his parents have, whilst well meaning, instilled in him an urge not to rock the boat, something that goes away when he's bitten by a radioactive spider

as spiderguy, luka has the confidence and ability to embrace his punk views and fight for the city in the way that it needs. while focusing on people in danger first, he also puts a lot into sabotaging fisk's plans and equipment, even his legal ones, if they're going to harm the city. the cops are not his friend, and he has no problem fighting their violence with more violence. the mask also brings out his previously quiet, nervous sort of humour and puts more conviction behind it, often speaking to his enemies directly and talking about how stupid and evil some of their plans are with great joy. even so, keeping this secret from his parents, and becoming more estrangd from them and his one real close friend is wearing on him.

luka has the standard spider powers (strength, healing, nimblene, spideysense etc). additonally, his gold webs (naturally made by his body) encourage plant growth, he can throw them as flower shaped nets, and he has tiny fangs. ever since being bitten, he has also had the urge to sew, knit, and weave.

hermie schultz- shocker- 25- german american- she/her

daughter of a man who remarried into a wealthy family when she was very young, hermie is a brash, impulsive woman who steals from banks for two reasons: for fun, and for attention. her father and step mother have imposed etiquette and a wish for her to be more "lady-like"on her all of her life, and she has absolutely no patience for it, particularly as none of her family have ever encouraged her tech building. she'd had to build that from the ground up with no support, and enjoys making a big mess with her gauntlets. villain of the week, she enjoys both talking and throwing down with spiderguy, and her parents just use their money to get her out of jail. for now. their patience is running thin.

no powers, hermie uses her tech.

dwight james- blight- 34- american- they/he

no comcbook counterpart here. dwight is an agent of kingpin, blackmailed into service by the man, who is threatening their family. all they want is to be left alone and to get the job done. as such, theyre silent, efficient, and ruthless, as much as they'd like not to be. kingpin sends them to sabotage green areas with their powers, and to fight spiderguy on multiple occasions, who over time, gets them to talk about their situation more, and discuss how to get them out of it. when not being blackmailed by a cruel maniac, dwight is a shy, if cynical saxaphone and bass player who likes to spend time with his sisters kids, strictly keeping the secrets of their new job from all of his family. it's to keep them safe

dwight has corrosive abilities after being exposed to radiatioactive waste, (in an incident that just made their brother terminally ill) and the ability to produce and control noxious gases.

[cosmosogler]

Right, stumbling out of my too busy coma to talk more about pulling your punches with writing. I've tried to describe this several times with other writers, and get a lot of blank looks because my definition of words is hodge-podge of also vaguely wrong definitions.

What I mean by "pulling your punches" is holding back and avoiding the hard choices. This is both in terms of character and plot. As much as we joke about torturing our characters, sometimes it is hard to make them go through the most difficult thing because we like our characters, and we want the readers to like them too.

In contrast, it's much easier to make those choices in fanfiction, because they're not really "our" characters. We don't bear the responsibility of what happens to them in original narrative. (Yes, I realize I am talking about totally made-up, not real people. Bear with me.)

The tricky thing is determining when you are holding back. Often this takes the advice of a beta reader, but sometimes they can't always help, because only you know what you're holding back on, and half the time you're not aware of doing it. Hard!

When you're editing your scenes or going over your outline, take the time to consider the worst-case scenario in each one and the following consequences. You're not going to always go with the most extreme option, but laying it out can help you see if your current scene feels to weak.

Another thing to remember is that this often comes up because your characters wouldn't want to experience that. When you're trying to write them as true to their character, you can also unconsciously shield them from choices, consequences, and realizations they need to face. If it feels like your character isn't progressing (or a beta reader points that out), going back and yanking away what's shielding them.

You're only going to be able to determine this on your own story, but let me give you an example of mine. A critical part of my plot is my main character realizing her father is a bad person and she can't live with him anymore.

This sounds easy to do, but I have a lot of sympathy for both characters. The MC's father is facing terrible decisions and acting in the belief that he's protecting his daughter. The MC has spent her whole life with only her dad to rely on, and life without him seems far more frightening.

This took years to untangle. I spent too many drafts where the MC would not fully confront her father about his failings, because I never had her admit them in the story. I had to put the book away and write two other ones before I could look at it again and realize the obvious: the MC had to directly confront her father and fully commit to leaving him. Every other issue with the book fell in line once I figured that out.

If you're stuck on this and spinning your wheels like me, getting feedback on your story is the most helpful way to see the flaws in it. If you're not able to get that feedback, going through and asking yourself "How do I make this situation worse?" for both the plot and the character can help you pinpoint those missing steps.

[cosmosogler]

what you learn from hobbies:

consistent practice opens up whole worlds of skill that you couldn't imagine

making mistakes in the process of learning is not only natural, it is also essential

activities that you enjoy can give you more energy back than you spent on them

wow everything is so expensive

[cosmosogler]

[cosmosogler]

Adjuntas, Puerto Rico

shot w/ konica v-up z150

[cosmosogler]

Reminder that you can just turn your autopilot on, get out of your ship, and just watch it fly away.

[cosmosogler]

The point of fiction is actually to put that guy in a situation™️, and he might try to tell you the point is to then get him out of the situation, WRONG, second situation

[cosmosogler]

up in just a minute!

hello everyone! i'll be bringing up the rear for the outer wilds block party on my twitch channel starting at 6 pm edt (in about two hours)! my stream will run for two hours. i'll reblog this post again when i start. i will be working on a gabbro ref sheet!

[cosmosogler]

hello everyone! i'll be bringing up the rear for the outer wilds block party on my twitch channel starting at 6 pm edt (in about two hours)! my stream will run for two hours. i'll reblog this post again when i start. i will be working on a gabbro ref sheet!

[cosmosogler]

3rd Voice book is happening.... Here's some in-progress proof materials. 1500 of them are being printed right now... You will be able to order it soon at Topatoco if you'd like.

This is looking like it will be THE BEST-LOOKING SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK I HAVE EVER MADE HONESTLY

Book will FORMALLY DEBUT at the Small Press Expo in September in DC. Come say hello if you are in the area PLEASE

3rd voice web comic

[cosmosogler]

"An Unweeded Garden" - the worst Hamlet essays, ever

Just watched some hilarious Shakespeare with Seri, so I thought I’d post this.

By Michael F. LaGory, compiled from student essays on Hamlet (1975-1991):

*****

At the start of the play the mood changes. The air on the guard platform is crispy. A ghost appears, but he is forbidden to tell Hamlet about his morbid lifestyle. Hamlet decides to act madly. He gets in an antic position. Polonius finds him manually walking. He tells Rosencrantz and Guildernstern that Fortune is a trumpet. Later the Prince will unleash his true colors. A mental and physical character, Hamlet uses his mental powers intellectually. His nature leads him to different places. Bedraggled by suspicion and uncertainty, his “O that this too too sullied flesh would melt” soliloquy unfolds the petals of his blooming character. Alone, he wonders whether to be or to not be. He gets psyched out by the thoughts of death, and thinks real philosophical thoughts, mentality-wise. For instance, death is a tragedy and it’s not worth giving your life for. Dying is something one does not do every day. Everyone hopes to possess the quality of reason. Thinking greatly influenced success or failure in life. But mental retardity is a universal flaw of all human beings.

Ophelia is lower class. She is a real airhead. Polonius and Laertes feed negative input into her mind. Polonius, the Lord Chambermaid, wants Ophelia to put her relationship on hold. She tells Hamlet she can’t go out with him anymore. Her father uses underminded tactics. He wants to gather data on the Prince. So she reports her impressions as an obedient daughter of Hamlet. With “doublet all unbraced,” Ophelia speaks to Hamlet, and finds him strangely excited. In those times women’s place was in the kitchen. That’s why Ophelia didn’t get a job, like in our society today. We can infer that Hamlet and Ophelia conceived an illegitimate child by reading between the lines. In the end she drowns to death.

Hamlet has a thing for his mother. He has an edible complex. Gertrude is an obvious woman. She is one of the most unfaithful wives of all time. However, she is not at the mercy of her brain. When Polonius enters Gertrude the Queen is bored and asks for “More matter and less art.” Her son accuses her of incense. Hamlet finally comes out of the closet with Polonius, after reaching an understanding with the Queen.

We also learn about the characters of Claudius. His downfall begins to arise when an uprising led by Laertes befalls him. Laertes is consumed by a thirst for revenge. In the graveshift scene Hamlet  talks to Yorick and speculates the type of person once existed in  the skull. The Gravedigger’s pronunciation examplifies his unlearnedness.

It is fitting that Hamlet should die when his life comes to an end. Another tragic hero, Oedipus, forces out his eyes and condoms himself. Horatio speaks a eulogy to the Great Dane.

Shakespeare uses phrases throughout the play. He writes in pyrrhic monometer. He wrote all his books in Old English so they would be hard to understand but more artistic. He quotes a lot of famous sayings, like “Something’s rotten in Denmark” and “To thine own self be true.”

T. S. Eliot wrote an essay about Shakespeare’s novel. He could not  find Hamlet convincing, so Shakespeare revised the original comedy by Thomas Kyd. Eliot offered ideas which Shakespeare should have  done, but Shakespeare didn’t use them. His final advise to the reader is to understand things which Shakespeare didn’t understand  himself.