Brian Arson's Peculiar Journal

Girl teams, all girl teams.

Female characters of color who actually represent their culture.

Less self-sacrificing, martyr girls more girls and women who do things for themselves without feeling bad about it or people judging them for it.

Mothers who do things other than parent and cook.

Mother and daughter characters who don’t hate each others guts.

No more “I’m not like the other girls”.

Girl characters who are good at math and science.

More poor female characters, who come from nothing, and exploring how that effects their heroism. And I don’t mean like middle-class poor, I mean, like having to chose between food and paying bills poor.

Girls who don’t like each other, but can still respect each other.

No more girl heroes/villains whose tragic backstory is getting raped.

No more female characters of color dying or sacrificing themselves for white female characters.

More fat girl characters in fantasy and other genre fiction who are the ones kicking-ass and taking names and being haled the hero. That are defined by something other than their weight.

More girls of various body-types other than “lean.”

More disabled characters in stories that aren’t necessarily about their disability.

More unattractive girl characters.

Girls that are not looking for relationships or losing their virginity.

More non-binary female characters.

More LGBTAQ+ female characters.

“Strong” female characters who actually do things other than fight all the time and have a personality.

More “strong” female characters whose “strength” is something other than fighting.

No more stories sold as “feminist” in which only the leading character is female and everyone else is man, and only other female characters are minor or antagonists.

No more using “like a girl” or being a girl as an insult.

Stop making female characters be “bitches” just because. Unlikable characters are still supposed to be likable, meaning: love to hate, hate to love. Just look at Scarlett O’Hara, she’s a godawful awful person, but she’s a fantastic character.

me: 

#can we turn kaiba into a llama

#does kaiba dress in drag??

“You threw off my groove!”

“I’m sorry, but you’ve thrown off the CEO’s groove.”

Neither Courage Wolf nor Calming Manatee were doing much to help my anxiety, but I knew they were both on to something.

Basically got an official diagnosis of anxiety today. Got prescribed Xanax. I was told that I need to see a psychiatrist, which somehow makes the anxiety even more stressful than it has been.

Remember how I said the other day that I’ve been hustling in order to pay rent and whatnot?

Well, it’s taken a toll on my health to some degree. My blood pressure and heart rate have been making my doctors very unhappy. I even did a 24-hour heart monitor a while back but was told that everything was fine. -.-

My doctor was concerned about how I’m having trouble getting to sleep some nights.

So she asked me what I was anxious about (since I’d briefly mentioned that it hasn’t been great lately).

And that was one of those “Well, boy, howdy, do I have a story for you…” moments.

The more I told her, the more she was like, “Yeah, you definitely have a lot to be anxious about.”

So now I have Xanax. Yay. And I’m supposed to go see a psychiatrist at some point. :/

I went to counseling when I was in school because it was a service available to students. Last May was the last time I went. I’ve been keeping up with my anxiety/depression journal some. And I’m not afraid to vent to people. I’m really not, haha.

But my brain and body are being uncooperative.

So this is a bit longer than I wanted it to be, but I figured this was an important update.

And it serves as an excellent reminder to all of us: no matter how good things are, there will still be bad stuff. But it doesn’t mean that everything is suddenly bad. It just means there are some bad things in your life.

No matter how triumphant I have felt lately, I’m still tightly wound and exhausted. But I’ve made it to a good and important place in my life.

Pain may be great, but it is not meant to last.

That really means a lot to me. Seriously. It’s hard to think positive sometimes (okay, more than I’d like to admit), and seeing messages from all the lovely people makes it a little easier. :)

This has been in Draft Purgatory for a while. But this is what I needed to read right now. 

I’m so grateful for all the wonderful followers that I have gained over the years, and it means so much to me that you have stuck with me all through this stuff.

I’m scared about things right now, but I’m trying to cope. I hope to get back into the swing of things. I need to balance work and life and stress and everything else. I’m actually starting to get work done again, so I’m hoping that things will be okay.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to belittle the meds - meds are an important component in mental health and getting better. But it’s always helped me to know that even if someone prescribes you that stuff, you still have control over your thoughts and your body. Same stuff a little pill can do for you, same stuff your body can do if you’re feeling up for a run that day. 

And, hey, you can look at it this way if you like: If you always knew you had anxiety, then getting diagnosed just means that now you have people who want to help you out and fight it! Same guy who chuckled about Xanax also said he’d been in practice long enough to cure anxiety pretty quick (he was teaching instead of practicing, as I recall, because he had a near-fatal reaction to something in the jungle while he was helping... pandas, I think? And his 60/70-year-old body couldn’t quite make the recovery. Real cool guy. Not particularly relevant, but I feel like there might be a basis for a story somewhere in there). The bills will always suck, but they will go toward solving a problem. You deserve to be relieved of your burden.

“Papa,” the boy coughed, “Papa, sing me the old song. The song you’ve guarded all these years.”

Diego looked frantically around the bare apartment for bandages, cloth, anything that would stop the bleeding, but knew that even if he found something he could not leave his boy’s side to retrieve it.

“I know you said I’m not ready to be your apprentice yet, papa, but I want to hear it once. Just once.”

Diego sat on the floor and pulled his son into his lap, cradling his head in the crook of his elbow. He brushed the boy’s sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes, and, with another wary glance the CSU in the doorway, began to sing his forgotten song.

“Somebody once told me, the-” Diego choked back a sob, and gripped his son tight as he sang, “The world is gonna roll me, I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed,”

Diego’s son closed his eyes, and one last breath left his body through the smile on his young lips. Diego could not stop.

“She was looking kind of dumb, with a finger and her thumb in the shape of an L on her forehead.” Outside, Diego could hear the approaching sirens of more Culture Suppression Units. He brought his son’s frail body closer to him.

I decided to make a reference post on most of the writing topics I’ve covered so far. If you’re looking for something specific, this might make it easier. Hope this helps!

General writing posts—

Ideas Worth Your Time

Antagonists

How to Keep a Deadline

How Anthropology Relates to Writing

Incorporating Flashbacks

When to Use Bad Language

How to Write What You Know

Is Your Novel Working

Introduction to Screenwriting

Writing with Others

Working on Multiple Projects Simultaneously 

Picking Up an Old Story

Developing a Well Paced Novel

When to Include a Prologue

Dialogue Writing

Embarrassing Writing Habits

Developing Good Writing Habits

World Building 101

The Opening Hook

Developing Your Style

Types of Endings

Plotting Failures

Forging Friendships

Editing posts—

Easy to Miss Writing Mistakes

Staying Motivated During the Editing Process

Is Your Story Too Telly?

Editing: Who Should You Trust?

When to Begin Editing

On Editing

Easy Editing

Content Editing

Character posts—

My Character is Drunk

Writing the Significant Other

Writing the Best Friend

Writing the Best Antagonist

Introducing Your Characters

Character Trait Cheat Sheet

Characters You Need to Stop Writing (Or Reinvent)

Making Your Characters Likeable

Prewriting Characters

Writing a Young Character

The Importance of Characters

Is Your Character a Mary Sue?

Character Development Exercises

Strong Characters

Too Many Characters

Genre posts—

The Space Opera

Historical Fiction

What is High Fantasy?

Figuring Out Your Genre

The New Adult Genre

Different Types of Science Fiction

Writing Horror Novels

Teen Sick-Lit

Fantasy Clichés

Motivation—

Keep Being Weird

Important Writing Lessons

My Favorite Writing Quotes

You’re Not Perfect

Where to Write

Negative People to Avoid

Quick Motivation Tips

Using Rejection to Motivate

Finding the Courage to Share Your Writing

Staying Motivated

How to Stay Motivated Over the Weekend

Publishing—

Writing a Blurb

How to Make Sure Your Novel Won’t Get Published

Full Querying Guide

What is a Crossover Novel?

Body Language—

The Importance of Body Language

Further Understanding Body Language

Random posts—

Why Everyone Should Continue Writing Love Stories

Why Writer’s Are Insane

Don’t Preach to Your YA Readers

Overused Situations in Fiction Writing

Male Readers and Female Protagonists

The Power of Silence

Studying People

Trends I’m Sick of in YA Fiction

Virginity as an Identity

Sorry I couldn’t replace the link with the title of the post. CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THINGS ON TUMBLR NOW. Also, you can obviously follow my blog for more writing tips or suggest topics for me to cover. Thank you!

PLEASE, DO NOT PURCHASE MY STOLEN WORKS FROM THESE VENDORS, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO AFFILIATION WITH ANY OF THESE PEOPLE!

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32545043062.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.739.P0Gz88

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32561634198.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.743.P0Gz88

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32232524543.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.747.P0Gz88

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32559937329.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.755.P0Gz88

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32548141221.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.751.P0Gz88

I repeat, THESE IMAGES ARE STOLEN!

I DO NOT SELL FANART (for reasons of copyright)

I HAVE NEVER AUTHORIZED OR GIVEN PERMISSION TO ANY OTHER SELLER/BUSINESS/ENTITY THE RIGHT TO SELL MY WORK (fan art or otherwise). 

I have not been able to get these listings/images removed and reporting the infringements went nowhere.

I was hoping to get this infringement issue solved internally and swiftly but it no longer looks like that will be the case. So I am taking my own route in raising awareness to the theft involving my art.  

Plus, how all nine of these images are meshed together is not how I would present this series ever, for sale or not.

Please be vigilant and responsible consumers and not be enamored by stolen work that’s illegally produced and offered for cheap without the artist’s consent. Take some time to research before buying. Find out if you are purchasing from a legitimate source or from art thieves.

If you think you see artwork that may be stolen, please let the original artist know so they can take action.

WATERMARKING UPDATE (2/27/2016)

Because of this, I have gone back and put watermarks on all of my art posts for this tumblr. While I know this is not going to fix what’s done in the past (and I’m not very keen on putting watermarks all over artwork myself) but it makes me feel better that I am at least taking some sort of action to protect my work instead of just letting it float out there unprotected. I consider it a bitter lesson learned.

I would like to thank everyone who has reported these thefts and have given me support so far in this difficult situation. It’s been a terribly tough and emotionally draining road that has greatly effected my creativity and productivity. I hope to move on from this ordeal and get back to producing more work and doing what I love best.

Thank you,

ramida-r

+++

Survey for Visual Artists About Internet Infringement

The Graphic Artists Guild in conjunction with the US Copyright Office is conducting a survey to study online copyright infringement and the effectiveness of filing DMCA Takedown Notices. If you have some time, please take the survey and share your experience to help them understand and improve upon the present copyright protection laws and systems.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE

EXCEPT THIS LISTING IS STILL ACTIVE FOR PURCHASE. I DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHY IT’S STILL AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE (SAME SELLER, TWO DIFFERENT LISTINGS FOR SAME ITEM):

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32232524543.html?spm=2114.01010208.0.747.P0Gz88

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/team-fortress-2-mouse-pad-razer-High-quality-game-pad-to-mouse-notebook-computer-mouse-mat/32232524543.html?spm=2114.10010108.100010.7.y4706m

AGAIN, THE IMAGES USED ON THIS MOUSEPAD ARE STOLEN ART FROM ME. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE. I DO NOT KNOW THIS SELLER AND NEVER GAVE PERMISSION!!

My original images are here and here. I’ve recently started putting watermarks on them (as of 2/27/2016 on tumblr) because of the crap and theft that’s happened. They have never been mashed and warped into a single image like this!

Thank you so much everyone for your support in this matter thus far with helping to signal boost this and take a stand. I am overwhelmed at the responses I’ve been getting from my audience members and the general public. It’s been an incredibly frustrating and mentally exhausting ordeal being in a situation that some unknown persons are profiting off of your work and creativity without even so much as having the courtesy to ask for permission (let alone not getting any response when reporting the theft and wrongdoing). Knowing that people do care about art theft and will not stand for such illicit activities to continue is what gives us artists’ strength and not be discouraged from creating.

Unfortunately, art theft continues to happen every day to artists by opportunistic thieves looking to make a quick buck off other people’s work. Please continue to be vigilant and responsible buyers when shopping for artwork. Your direct patronage to the artist or his/her legal, authorized vendors goes to his/her housing, food, various other bills and everyday living expenses. Buying from thieves is not only wrong, but absolutely ZERO financial support goes to the artist for his/her work! Research before you buy, question the authenticity of the listings. When in doubt, search for the artist and ask them if the listing is legitimate, or a case of theft they do not know about. Also make sure to ask if the artist actually made the work available for sale, because in my case I certainly never sold prints or merchandise of this series or any other fan art.

Thank you again for all your kind support and help! Please keep signal boosting. If you see more of these type of listings out there on any other site please let me know!

Seriously?! Another one?! Folks, this is stolen as well. Please do not purchase!

Tor, cream of the crop. 25 cents a word. Stories can be read for free (YES). Slowish response time at ~3 months. Prefer under 12k, absolute maximum is 17.5k. Don’t bother if it’s not highly professional quality. SFWA qualifying.

Crossed Genres. 6 cents a word. Different theme each month (this month’s is “failure”). Submissions must combine either sci-fi or fantasy with the theme. Response time 1 month. 1k-6k, no exceptions. SFWA qualifying.

Long Hidden, anthology from CG. 6 cents a word. 2k-8k, no exceptions. Must take place before 1935. Protagonist(s) must be under 18 and marginalized in their time and place. Must be sci-fi/fantasy/horror. Deadline 30 April. Response by 1 October.

Queers Destroy Science Fiction. Sci-fi only right now, author must identify as queer (gay, lesbian, bi, ace, pan, trans, genderfluid, etc, just not cishet). 7.5k max. Deadline 15 February. Responses by 1 March. You can submit one flash fiction and one short story at the same time. (My network blocks the Lightspeed site for some reason, so I can’t get all the submission details. >_>) Probably SFWA qualifying?

Women in Practical Armor. 6 cents a word. 2k-5k. Must be about 1) a female warrior who 2) is already empowered and 3) wears sensible armour. Deadline 1 April. Response within three months.

Fiction Vortex. $10 per story, with $20 and $30 for editor’s and readers’ choice stories (hoping to improve). Speculative fiction only. Imaginative but non-florid stories. 7.5k maximum, preference for 5k and under. (I kind of want to support them on general principle.)

Urban Fantasy Magazine. 6 cents a word. 8k max, under 4k preferred. Must be urban fantasy (aka, the modern world, doesn’t need to be a literal city). 

Nightmare. 6 cents a word. 1.5-7.5k, preference for under 5k. Horror and dark fantasy. Response time up to two weeks. SFWA and HWA qualifying.

Apex Magazine. 6 cents a word. 7.5k max, no exceptions. Dark sci-fi/fantasy/horror. SFWA qualifying.

Asimov’s Science Fiction. 8-10 cents a word. 20k max, 1k minimum. Sci-fi; borderline fantasy is ok, but not S&S. Prefer character focused. Response time 5 weeks; query at 3 months. SFWA qualifying, ofc.

Buzzy Mag. 10 cents a word. 10k max. Should be acceptable for anyone 15+. Response time 6-8 weeks. SFWA qualifying.

Strange Horizons. 8 cents a word. Speculative fiction. 10k max, prefers under 5k. Response time 40 days. Particularly interested in diverse perspectives, nuanced approahces to political issues, and hypertexts. SFWA qualifying. 

Fantasy and Science Fiction. 7-12 cents a word. Speculative fiction, preference for character focus, would like more science-fiction or humour. 25k maximum. Prefers Courier. Response time 15 days.

Scigentasy. 3 cents a word. .5-5k. Science-fiction and fantasy, progressive/feminist emphasis. 

Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. 15 cents a word. 3k maximum. Any sci-fi/fantasy, they like a literary bent. (psst, steinbecks!) They also like to see both traditional and experimental approaches. Response time two weeks.