Ninja Eel Miners

Exactly so.

I’m not the best writer I know. Wasn’t even when I started, writing with a handful of friends. But I’ve always been up for learning. And I’m stubborn enough to keep at it.

hollyblack:

jephjacques:

gotta get better

This is exactly right.

When I was starting out, I knew lots of writers who were much better than me. But I kept writing. And I got better. And I still know lots of writers who are better than me. But all I can do is keep going and keep getting better.

I know it’s easier to portray a world that’s filled with cynicism and anger, where problems are solved with violence. That’s titillating. It’s an easy out. What’s a whole lot tougher is to offer alternatives, to present other ways conflicts can be resolved, and to show that you can have a positive impact on your world. To do that, you have to put yourself out on a limb, take chances, and run the risk of being called a do-gooder.

“

—	Jim Henson (via winkmink)

I’m trying not to reblog all of these, but this one’s particularly awesome.

youchosewrong:

(from Choose Your Own Adventure #17: Race Forever, 1982; now CYOA #7 in the current printing run)

Another tall glass of nightmare fuel direct from the folks at ChooseCo!

You might also want to check out Lose Your Own Adventure, a site featuring the bad ends and oddities of the CYOA series. It’s like You Chose Wrong, only with a tighter focus and a cleverer (and more grammatically correct) title!

I think I actually still own this one.

youchosewrong:

(from Choose Your Own Adventure #51: The Magic of the Unicorn, 1985)

There have been times when I’ve posted a selection and thought “I’m never going to top this for sheer existential insanity.”

And then my brother Greg emailed me (complete with a cameo appearance by his left thumb) the above photo and reminded me that Romeo Void had it right.

youchosewrong:

(from Be An Interplanetary Spy 12: Skystalker, 1985)

youchosewrong:

(from Golden Dragon #1: Crypt of the Vampire, 1984)

youchosewrong:

(from Real Life Gamebooks #3: Sword and Flame - The English Civil War, 1986)

Cheerful Writer: “Today’s research: Bruises and how quickly they change color! That one should be easy!”

(pulls up sources) (gets rough timeline of progression from red to purple/blue to greenish/yellow) (glances up)

Protagonist: “…”

Cheerful Writer: “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“

—	Blog post: character conversations

But she also notes that her site is built on a community ‘where we prefer the skinny look, but not at the cost of health.’ Oh, really? If health is of the utmost concern here, then maybe it was sheer, selfless consideration for Upton’s cholesterol and blood pressure levels that inspired the snarky post? …

I’m finding it harder and harder in my daily life to come across a woman who doesn’t exhibit some form of disordered behavior around food, exercise, or body image. What constitutes a ‘disorder’ if the majority of the population engages in it? If it’s becoming increasingly normal to obsess, restrict, and deny oneself nutrition for the sake of thinness, then what’s so disordered about a blog centered solely around starvation tips and skin-and-bones “aspirational” role models?

So is this the new normal then?

“

—	The fat shaming of Kate Upton; or why I’ll never by the difference between “thinspiration” and “pro-ana” websites

youchosewrong:

(from Find Your Fate #12: James Bond in Strike It Deadly, 1985)

This one was loosely based on the film A View to a Kill, which could only have been improved by puppeteer-inflicted incineration of the hero.