*UNDER CONSTRUCTION* Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners Within the Corners

A Gun Is The Thing With Feathers: A Novel is now out!!! Here it is at Barnes & Noble, and Booktopia, but if you can buy it from a local store (just ask them to order it in from Ingram Spark) then please do~ We gotta keep those brick and mortar stores open. Or if you need to buy it cheaper (and as a byproduct, give me more money from the purchase) you can buy it as an Ebook from most online stores or my Itch or Etsy!

For those not in the know, here’s the blurb:

Emma Taumata just cooked her last bounty alive. It was an accident.

Emma's a washed-up bounty hunter working for Earth's colonialist alien overlords, the Qhixs'is, who so generously turned off the power, factories, & banned toilets nearly two decades ago. Despite her hatred of them, Emma loves her job, but she's just had another shitty Thursday, & lost the last of her points. So, she's forced to hunt her childhood best friend, Davis Jake.

The once serialized A Gun Is The Thing With Feathers is now here, in full novel form, featuring bonus content! For fans of Science Fiction Dystopia and post apocalypse vibes. AGITTWF features a strong female ace protagonist and an LGBTQIA+POC cast, full of found family, platonic love and adventure.

BLURB END

I’m also diving right into the next novel, Project Worthy, and have already managed ALMOST 16k words. This next book is going to be a MAJOR departure from AGITTWF, but that’s on purpose, as getting pigeon-holled is the worst thing I can imagine. Fans of my horror are going to eat well when this next one is done.

Support queer. Support Emma.

~Adorne Sibley

OMG! The Small Press Zine Fair was a fucking blast! I bought both too many zines and not enough zines. On the day, I was scared to spend the money and now I regret not buying more. It was down in the south of Tasmania and I live in the north so it was a bit of a drive but so worth it. Myself and some north Tas artists are planning on putting on our own fair up top. Which I’m sure will be fun.

Before the zine fair I was full of zine ideas and now that I’ve come back from that place… Oh god help me. Spooky zine, intestinal zine, tamagotchi-like zine, randomized dungeon crawler zine, anatomy/ vulva zine, stopping mowing lawns/ raking leaves zine, needing routine but craving chaos zine, how to lay an egg zine, decolonizing your language zine, breakfast based wargame zine, and of course… Nicolas Cage zine, my newest baby.

So my latest project does have a little more story to it than face value. I was in the kitchen one night, thinking about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and how much I want more of that. But WTF would a sequel to that look like. And I have your answer. You can find it on Itch for free and Etsy for not (print version to come…)

So when I had this idea, I wrote it down. But I wrote it down in a file dubbed “BAD IDEAS.” At the time, there was only one other idea written in this file (A 28 style TTRPG/Wargame which I may talk about another time.) I kept coming back to this file like a mouth ulcer, tonguing it even when I didn’t want to. I couldn’t leave either of them alone.

I’ve never been one for the idea of bad ideas. Unless something is hateful or bigotty or causes harm (I know I said the same thing 3 times) then it probably deserves to be shared, because you never know what something may mean to someone else. You never know how much fun can be gained from something fun and silly, because often we relate a stupid or bad idea to something “childish.”

I had so much fun removing this bad idea from its bonds and setting it free into the world. (Really I expect to be contacted by Nicolas Cage’s people any day now to discuss a movie deal… But truly, I would actually watch the fuck out of this.)

In doing this exorcism, it caused me to take a look at the only thing left in “bad ideas.” And… I started playing with it. I stayed up past 11 playing with it. (Late for me) We hold onto our art and our ideas as if they were precious, one-of-a-kind shinies or treat them horribly… there needs to be an inbetween. Your ideas are like pretty beetles, they come and land on you and we shouldn’t keep them, we should set them free so other people can see them too. “Your creativity is the voice of the eternal passing through a you-shaped hole,” said a great human, CJ the X (video CW: Justin Roiland)

Speaking of the NECESSITY of putting your human made art out there, I’ve kept away, as far as I know (because I know some folks will get shit made on Sora, then crop out the watermark, and post that shit elsewhere), from Sora AI and its infinite slop hose. It seriously depresses the shit out of me watching the way these AI companies pour more and more money into their machines with no regard for how they work, what effect they have on the world, whether they’re bringing any value (artistic or societal, not just monetary) into the world, or if they’re gonna get tired of our shit and just decide to vote kick humanity off the face of the planet using CRISPR made viruses that specifically stop human lungs from processing oxygen. My daydream, not because I hate the idea of an Artificial Intelligence, but because it seems to be already what these companies are doing, is that they’ll become an almost oroboros, an AI centipede, its input hooked into another’s output into another’s input into another’s output until they all just fucking self implode and can’t make proper content anymore… I CAN DREAM HAROLD.

As part of my drive to escape this hellish system, I recently read Compound Fracture by Joseph Andrew White. What a fucking incredible book~ Trans protag, who is also aromanitc, autistic, and pro-socialism/ communism (very different from one another, but both come up during the story in a positive light). The book itself is anti-fascism/ cops, pro-LGBTQIA+, anti-capitalist, pro-community, pro-inclusivity, pro-union, and etc. It’s a supernatural horror book but… the supernatural element ISN’T the horror. I CANNOT recommend it highly enough if you’re not Cis Het Christian Male, because of how hard it hits home, not that if you’re Cis Het Christian and Male you wouldn’t be able to appreciate the novel or have it impact you deeply either, it’s just about lived experience versus empathy. Go check it out from your library TODAY. (Also it’s YA… and starts with the hardest line I’ve ever fucking read. “When the sheriff of Twist Creek County—and all those other sons of bitches, the Baldwin-Felts agents and bloodthirsty strike-breakers—finally caught my great-great-grandfather and dragged his ass up from the mine to make a spectacle of his execution, they killed him by hammering a railroad spike through his mouth.”)

After having my cards push me towards Project Worthy, I have been having an extraordinarily hard time getting into it. Something about it just wasn’t clicking. Well, this past week I had a bloody breakthrough! It was a combination of understanding what made the characters special, including the ones who are truly tangential to the main story, and then discovering why this story was important in a grander sense. With that I went from spending no time thinking about it outside of writing time to really struggling to NOT be thinking about it in my spare time. It has been truly wonderful~

As some of y’all would have surely seen by now, I’ve been making art inside of video games! I started with and have been primarily using Bombing!! A Graffiti Sandbox, which was INTENDED to make art with, however, as I explored briefly with Terraria, I am also excited by the idea of trying to make art with video games that weren’t explicitly made FOR art. I’ve daydreamed about stippling in a game with guns and bullets, or maybe making abstract paintings with blood and giblets, or actual pixel art in things like Terraria or even Minecraft. I’ve seen some really beautiful and fun art projects in Minecraft before so… that could be a fun idea! I find art making like this to be really cathartic. I can dig in, find some little bit of me begging to be expressed and then throw it into the game to capture. I’ve considered even doing art pieces based on some of my written work, recording the process of making it, and maybe reading, or having my partner read, the work that inspired it as narration over the video… Ideas ideas ideas.

Support weird. Support art. Support human-made.

~Adorne Sibley

Butts… this is what happens when you take too long to write things! Still feel free to go check out the people who participated in the zine week. The bundle isn’t available but it still lists all the zines in the link above, many of which are, in fact, free! Firstly, if you haven’t already, go check out that first link and snag yourself some FREE/CHEAP zines. It is pay what you want so you are welcome to pay $0 but if you are feeling generous, paying below $67 USD is getting it cheaper than normal. Most peeps are being super awesome and spending about $4. There are some really fantastic things in there. This bundle is put together by two wonderful ladies who are so amazing and patient. So, so thankful to be a part of it. Please, go look

I got a badge maker for my birthmas and that is one of the “other things” I’d like to sell. I recently made a zine which had a badge as part of its cover and it just felt so cool to make. Reminded me of the birthday cards you’d get as a kid with your age on the button attached… except this was against capitalism and the system in general. So, if I want to make and sell these things, short of putting a shop on here… which seems like A LOT of work… I guess I have to use Etsy (and Ko-Fi) for any physical zines and things.

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I’m slowly working on my Etsy. Long ago, in a land far, far away, I sold things on Etsy. This is giving me those flashbacks. It feels cumbersome even though it is pretty easy to use and I think it is because I’m having to wade through the memories and bad associations that go along with it? But I feel it’s a necessary evil if I want to sell more physical zines and other things. (UPDATE: There are now badges on there, including Cheese Slut, and the every-classy Eat Me Pussy badge.)

Episode 4 is out! here and also here And Episode 5 is out! Here

When I first started down this leg of my writing journey, I got myself a Patreon. I still have it but it is absolutely different. But I think back to what I was trying to do on there. Most of it focused around physical things that I would send out to people. (I have no patrons FYI. I’m yet to tap into that sweet sweet Patreon nectar) I guess what I’m trying to point out is that I like the idea of physical media. I like the idea of sending someone out an envelope, they get to open it up and have cool stuff inside. Getting mail is exciting and I wanted to give that to people. Currently, my patreon is… (*goes to check*) “All paid tiers get the same. Early access to the serialised novel, A Gun is the Thing with Feathers.” All just digital, the idea being that I put everything on there first. I have wafted around the idea of putting physical stuff back on there… Sometimes I go to make changes to it and then I think “Do that when you finally get a Patreon supporter” but then… that’s not what they signed up for, is it? It is hard to know what will land and what will fall behind, what will bring joy and what will drag you down. I want to make money from my art so I can continue to make art. Patreon sounded like a good way to do that. (UPDATE: I went and added a physical bundle option on my patreon. Dream big or go home, right? And hey! I got my first member, a free member but it's exciting! {you know who you are and thank you <3 }) Also! All members (free or paying) will get a small discount to my Etsy.

I’ve hesitated going back to playing my more modern games in my collection and instead have been diving back into my PS3 to play the games that I grew up playing/ played in my early adulthood (plus spending the evenings playing co-op games with one of my loved ones.) It is a wild experience going back to some of these and having the life experience and knowledge of storytelling techniques to understand more of what these games were trying to say.

Two of the games I’ve been playing that I didn’t expect to hit so hard have been Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto 4. MGS4 focuses, so far, on perpetual war and giving control over to AI which will manipulate everyone into fitting the world it wants to make. GTA4 focuses on the death of the American dream and the systemic difficulties that immigrants face. Both of which I am thinking about because of the AWFUL protests that happened here that were anti-immigration and anti-nonwhiteAustralians.

MGS4 and GTA4 are also glorious examples of good friction. MGS4 wants DESPERATELY to tell you its story, and for you to assume the roll of an aging soldier in a world he doesn’t fit into any longer. Forcing you to contend with Snake’s aging body and a story that moves VERY quickly for the uninitiated. GTA4 puts you in the shoes of an immigrant who knows nothing of Liberty City and asks you to consider Nico, what he wants, what he likes, and… it honestly feels really bad going on a “spree” in this game. It feels so much more satisfying to watch his violence spiral as the missions progress, and otherwise try to mitigate the violence enacted on random pedestrians.

As mentioned, I’ve been playing co-op games with one of my loved ones recently. We blasted through Army of Two and then smashed Army of Two: the 40th Day. Schlocky little games which had… interesting things to say. Generally it was “Private militarization is bad, but look how cool your characters are!” It still seems quite positive on US intervention and militarization in general. The games were great co-op experiences, however.

Now we’re working on Resident Evil 6. One thing I’ve been trying to internalize is that regardless of the quality of a game, generally, it is possible to have heaps of fun if you’re playing with the right person. As we’ve been playing I’ve recognized that RE6 is an awful Resident Evil game, as far as gameplay style goes. It’s a blast, mind you, diving and rolling around to out maneuver the zombies, but it really does not feel like survival horror in the slightest. The STORY is spot on for the cheezy horror the series is known for, however. Poorly delivered dialogue, big evil Pharma corpos, and action that would make Michael Bay weep. (We made it through Chris and Leon’s campaigns and are now neck deep in Jake’s. It has been GLORIOUS.)

A long while ago I picked up an old Windows 98 PC from the tip (shhhh) and found out that it appeared to still be working, but it wouldn’t fully boot until I had a ps2 (style of port, not Playstation) mouse and keyboard. Well yesterday I managed to find everything I bloody needed, and with a little root around, deleting things that weren’t mine to keep, I had games up and running on it! I first tested out my original copies of Road Rash and Unreal Tournament and both ran flawlessly~ Unreal was even running with hardware acceleration! I don’t know what kind of graphics card this thing has… but the fact that it has anything is kinda astounding.

The bloody thing also has a cd writable disk drive and a floppy drive as well! I may have to get some blank cds and make backups of some of my game discs as they’re getting pretty old… Road Rash in particular has been with my family since it released in 1996, very nearly 30 years ago… jesus.

I was thinking about literary fiction today and what it means. Like… I know what it means but what does it MEAN. "Encompasses fiction books and writings that are more character-driven rather than plot-driven, that examine the human condition, or that are simply considered serious art by critics." Literary fiction: character driven, not plot driven. Ghostbusters is literary fiction. (To be clear, it probably isn't, but lol.) Well, or that Lit Fic’s definiton, not Ghostbusters, is completely fucking arbitrary, and that feels bad, but is probably true. For slightly more context, I was thinking about the snubbery of genre fiction from those who “only read literature” and I couldn’t help my mind fight. And this idea brought me great joy— thinking about this plotless/ themeless masterpiece being thrust into the box of literature… I feel like this could be a bigger idea, and essay even, but I do not have the spoons for that. Free idea! Up for grabs.

At the beginning of the month I went to an event in Launceston called Smut. It was hosted by Drag Queen, and general good egg, Enya Arsenal. It was an absolutely lovely night of folks reading out smut, their own, or from other sources, and recounting exciting tales from their own lives. Anything we can do to normalize sexuality in safe spaces is good by me.

Support weird. Support disjointed collections of thoughts and other things.

~Adorne Sibley

Despite being sick for two weeks last month, and still recovering from the fatigue, I’ve managed to launch Episode 3 of A Gun Is The Thing With Feathers! I have so many memes… which I didn’ know what to do with. My original thought had been to put them on instagram but *vom face* same goes for the other social medias/microblogging sites. I just… Have you ever partially woke up through the night and felt like something is wrong, you can’t breathe right, its too hot then you come to and you’re accidentally smothering yourself with your own pillow? That’s what socmed feels like right now. So I made zines out of them instead. One for each Episode.

I have so much coming up in this next month… the overwhelm is real. I have had so much on this month. Health things, family health things, ER visits and emergency calls, still trying to get my house ready to sell it and I just can’t quite get my feet under myself as I fall down this hill. But while I was sick I found a fantastic artist/crafter/human on youtube who gives such wholesome chaotic vibes. Please go check out Ash Bentley.

I also watched a great essayist who is also a Neocities freak like us! Go give PageMelt a follow and watch one of their videos.

Trent Hollbrook of the Miscast YouTube channel has also been doing something fun. He started doing a post every day or pemadeath channel where he just posts these 8 minute vlogs that have been so much fun to watch each day. Trent is another wholesomely chaotic creator that just fills me full of joy and inspires so much in me. I am super into miniatures of different varieties and Trent (and his Gf, Rachel, they are adorable together!) give me a little taste of that life without me having to break out my paints myself.

I picked up an indie western (region, not genre) RPG called Dreamspring last month and have had a great time exploring all the nooks and crannies of its, frankly, absurdly large world. I have hopes that the developer will manage to create and implement things like lower LOD models as the bigger areas of the game CHUG because it’s loading the castle some ten minutes of walking away at full detail despite it taking up all of like… fifty pixels on my screen. I do want to note, however, I’m just glad I get to play this weird game at all. It might not ever reach a state I personally consider “finished,” but that’s alright. My support is because I thought it looked cool and want to give this creator a chance to make without worrying about working elsewhere.

Speaking of weird games, Death Stranding 2 has a stranglehold on my emotions and has repeatedly punched me in the emotional gut over the course of the thirty-ish hours I’ve managed to log so far. It feels like a favorite, slightly damp, blanket I just can’t bear to let go long enough to let it dry. It’s so comforting… but… it’s like something is just… a little wrong.

In total opposition to this, I started playing Rise of the Triad 2013, the least emotionally complex game I’ve played in a hot minute. I think it won me over the first time a notzi (as I call them, cause they’re the Triad, not the nazis… but they look like fucking nazis) exploded and their eyeballs hit my screen and slowly slid off. I adore going back to what was considered “bad” games back in the day and realizing they’re just good schlocky fun.

I’ve just started up a physical DVD collection and got myself a portable DVD player with a built in screen~ I’ve been grabbing films that I would definitely rewatch given the opportunity, and trying to grab ones I know are good, but haven’t ever gotten around to watching… and a few films that I KNOW are gonna be shit, but might provide a good time watching them with friends for a laugh. It has been so much fun going through the second hand stores and finding gems here and there. (Like last week, I managed to find and pick up the complete series of Avatar the Last Airbender, which I’ve only managed to watch a handful of episodes of.) I’m trying my best to keep the collection small… which of course means I have two grocery bags full of DVDs now. The positive side, I find, is that these films which I really want to see or would love to rewatch, can’t suddenly and without warning be removed from my shelf with no way of getting ahold of them again. (Bonus fun thing: This little dvd player has video in so I can play my Genesis and PS3 on its TINY SCREEN while the CRT is packed away for the move.)

Current running list of DVDs I’ve sat down and watched: Demon House (Holy shit it’s awful and so much fun. The demon puns are peak) (INTERRUPTION: While trying to find an IMDB or wikipedia for this movie, I discovered this is apparently Night of the Demons 3... THERE ARE TWO MORE OF THESE? Well, one day I'll have to dig them up and check them out. For more info and a run down on the film, I found this video. Back to your regularly scheduled newlsetter.), The Forbidden Kingdom (Always holds up, despite the odd addition of the modern day white kid to the story of Journey to the West), Idle Hands (A perfect send-up of schlocky horror, and a real time capsule of that era of filmmaking), Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (Just got started rewatching from the beginning, but I was surprised to find out the second and third episodes are connecting to one another. Did I dream that the show was mostly self contained stories? We’ll see as I watch more), The Man in the Iron Mask (Leo did SUCH a great job (the whole cast did) and I loved rewatching this relatively soon after rewatching The Three Musketeers.) I’m gonna make I made a shrine page to DVDs and take photos of my growing collection with notes of my feelings on each item.

It was my birthmas so I got myself something super cute. I got one of those little thermal cameras with the sticker paper. OMG so much fun. I loved the little polaroids too, but there is something so grimy about this. Its legit just an EFTPOS receipt… so cool.

This post has been sitting in my drive half finished for a month. Life just won’t stop and I’m doing my fucking damndest to keep up. As such, there may be some oddities when it comes to periods of time mentioned. I need like a gif of some dude in a suit on a treadmill trying to type on a computer, watch something, drink coffee and talk on a phone at the same time, maybe while lemons are pelted at him from off screen. Just imagine that for me, please.

I got an inkling that maybe Project Spoons wasn’t the right project to tackle next, so I decided to do a Lenormand pull. I really want to put out some sort of long story between the sequel to AGITTWF. I first thought I would be doing Project Hope or Project Shadows but I had a few other possibilities…

Well. God damn. This is Project Worthy. Up and down. I questioned it for a second and then flipped the deck over and saw the Coffin. Alright alright, so that’s it, Project Worthy comes next. The idea that birthed it has changed quite a lot and its current iteration is something I’m pretty damn excited for. <3 Watched the new Nosferatu last night which will be good inspiration for sure.

One more thing, for those of you who stuck it out: The next chapbook drops in about two weeks, and will be the first one which costs money. It’ll be 2.50 USD. However, I want it to be known that if you cannot afford this, reach out to me and I will provide a coupon code to make it free. Access to art is important, and I don’t want to preclude the possibility of reading my complete story on the basis of income.

Support weird. Support art.

~Adorne Sibley

Another month has gone by, another AGITTWF chapbook successfully released! The further in I get with super self publishing, the more I fall in love with what I am doing. I’m having so much fun making what I’m making. Having people read it and even enjoy it is a bonus.

The Alternative Market Launceston has come and gone as well. It has been such a fucking joy to get to sell my stuff there along with the other local writers. I managed to move three copies of Episode 1 to folks I didn’t know, and two copies of Episode 2 to two of those folks! I also consistently have really lovely conversations with people at these markets. The stall holders and visitors are all just so welcoming and wonderful.

Speaking of welcoming and wonderful, holy shit the response to AGITTWF here on Neocities has been incredible. Way beyond anything I could’ve imagined. Having this kind of palpable excitement and love from folks has always been my dream. Because, of course, I love my story to death, but I want nothing more than for her to find her audience so they can love her just as much. ≺ SPEAKING OF RECEIVING LOVE. HAVE YOU SEEN THE INCREDIBLE FAN ART BY KELLY PLASMA?!?!?! HERE, GO HERE! I openly wept when I saw it. This is exactly what Mei Wong has looked like in my head from the first time I described him.

And now that I’ve brought up the undeniably talented Kelly Plasma, I’d be remiss to not bring up Sour Note Symphony, https://sournotesymphony.neocities.org/home the band they’re lead singer of! Their music is Punk as fuck and varied as hell. I cannot stop singing Ew, Pervert… that song is everything. I’ve gone and ordered myself their physical CD which they burn themselves! This will be going into the CD player in my car and never leaving. XD

I am such a lover of physical media and using “older tech.” I find that the additional friction while using it actually makes the experience better by making me slow down and really consider what I’m doing. From writing in notebooks with a fountain pen, having to pick an ink and fill it up, or using a typewriter, to gaming…

I have examples of where I removed friction and it made me like something less, actually. I love playing games on my Genesis, but the games I play the MOST are the ones that I own physical copies of, not the games I’ve put onto my Mega Everdrive (a flash cart). The more games I put on the flash cart, the less I wanted to play… I’ve been considering going into the SD card and separating out the overall library from a PLAYING library of only like one to three games. That way I can still change out the games, but to play them I’d have to actually load it on my PC. (I’d ZIP the overall collection so that the Everdrive doesn’t recognize it.)

Creating separation of purpose is a good thing, as it makes me appreciate the thing I’m using more for what it is doing. I can honestly say I got so much more use out of my ipod and old phone than my current Oppo smart phone. (despite how hard the apps on my phone try to keep me on there.) Hell, even here! It takes barely any thought to snap a photo of what I’m working on and post it to Instafacesky but I get zero enjoyment… It took me so long the other night to figure out some simple code, just so I could do one little thing on my Neocity and I have been stoked for days that I figured it out by myself. That’s not really separation of purpose but it is friction.

Speaking of adding friction to my life that I feel has been very positive, I’ve started taking nearly daily walks to the shops and back. I used to do big grocery shops each week online, then drive to pick it up, but now I’m going daily, I just grab whatever I really need. I only walk back two bags of groceries, max. On the way home I often stop at the park and watch the sunset. I really… really don’t like the town I’m in, but there’s just so much fucking beauty in Tas, no matter where you are. I have a list of negatives and positives for going on these walks. Negative: My household often runs out of stuff, Positive: We’re never out of stuff longer than a day. Negative: I’ve been spending more money on coffee and sweets, Positive: I’ve been getting more coffee and sweets.

Speaking of sweets, here’s a taste test from my lolly jar. (this is not a euphemism)

I beat the game Lunacid last month! I got to experience the normal ending and followed a little guide to do the CD ending. It was such a beautiful experience, up and down. I am fucking HANKERING for more dungeon crawling Kings Field goodness, but at the same time, it was the exact right length. As well, I’ve been playing Dread Delusion and having an absolutely lovely time exploring its strange and stunning world. I’ve clocked about 19 hours so far and have only finished the story quests in the first big area and the Endless Realms. I’ve just recently made it to the Clockwork Kingdom and have been really loving the kafka-esque vibes and themes going on there. However, RIGHT NOW (as in for the foreseeable future) all other games are on hold as I play through Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. I’ve only managed to clock about five hours in the game so far, but it has still managed to make me cry. I really don’t give myself heaps of time to play games, so I’m anticipating this lasting me a VERY LONG TIME.

I really am such a sucker for hand crafted open world RPGs. Hence my on again, off again love affair with Morrowind (and project Tamriel), Lunacid, Dread Delusion, and Death Stranding 2. (Yes I count Lunacid as, despite having loading screens, it feels so cohesive that it definitely fits in with these others. (Fuck, Morrowind has loading screens.)) One thing I think I really like in all of these games is how built in friction makes me slow down and enjoy them more. Morrowind refuses to give you quest markers and so you have to slow down and actually LISTEN to the people you speak with so you can know where the hell you’re going. Lunacid has so many secrets that if you’re trying to go quickly you’ll likely miss entire AREAS of the games. Dread Delusion has, not only, numerous secrets throughout it, but bizarre side quests that are totally missable if you’re not slowing down. Lastly, Death Stranding 2 requires you go slowly for intrinsic reasons (higher scores on your missions) but gives you so much beauty to look at that you’ll be happy for it. Man… if I could own physical copies of Morrowind, Lunacid, and Dread Delusion, I bloody would.

Speaking of media! Ughbees has a freaking CINEMA on their website. You can find it here. grab some popcorn, a slushie, and head through the flashing red doorway. I adore the idea of hosting and sharing free access films like this!

I’ve always had dreams of doing something similar in meat space. There’s an old cinema in town that would be PERFECT for airing cheap or public domain movies (which the local council could TOTALLY set up and do.) It’s an old thing and is currently under repair, but would be absolutely perfect. (Charge like a gold coin donation to get in. (cold coins are 1 and 2 dollar coins here.))

Speaking of screens, I made a couple… Watch “The Feed” here.

Speaking of slowing down, I made an itty bitty meditation zine, get it free here.

Support weird. Support physical media. Support friction.

~Adorne Sibley

I did it! Project E is officially transformed into A Gun Is the Thing With Feathers! You can find it HERE in physical, HERE in digital and pretty much anywhere else (including possibly in your local library! Please request it) Not including A-zon because they were going to force me to charge people… Eventually they will cost money but only after the first three. Episode 4 and onwards will cost money and Episode 6 and onwards will be available everywhere except A-zon, A-ple and G-ogle.

Also a meme for my book, for your viewing pleasure:

The act of zine making and punk art creation. This whole month I’ve been making and releasing zines, physically and digitally and it has been such a wild fucking ride. The ink block prints I’ve been making have really opened me up to a whole new avenue of creation. I make the designs in Aseprite first, then print them and transfer them to a cork tile before carving them out by hand. (using a combination of hobby knife and stanley knife.) I’ve literally never done ink blocks before, so I have just thrown myself in the deep end and loving the feeling of drowning.

Creation, then release, as quickly as I can do so, with no time to second guess myself. Do it punk, do it fast. I dearly hope some of these stories can end up in people’s hands (hence why so much is being released for free) but the act of creation itself has been so freeing this past month.

I’ll be honest, with all this fun, I have still been running myself ragged. I have such a hard time finding a balance between rest and work. I do worry about this at times, but with how good it has felt to be making, it’s the kind of tired that leaves me deeply satisfied. I find myself at times just holding a book I’ve just folded and stapled, I’ve dyed the pages myself, I wrote the words and loved the characters into life, I rolled the ink and carved and pressed and crafted. I hold it in my hands and feel so much contentment, so much joy and peace. It feels right. Like fitting a puzzle piece in the right hole.

Last month I had my first day out at the Alternative Market Launceston It was a really beautiful day and it was so nice seeing folks walk away with my zines. This month I’m bringing along A Gun Is The Thing With Feathers to do a nice little launch alongside the rest of the stall that the Write Here Launceston group runs (For free, mind you, passing the sales back to the writers who brought their books and writing to sell.) The Alternative Market is also having a “crop swap” where you can bring in produce and pick up fresh and free produce that others have brought in as well! However, the part that really excites me is this: You don’t HAVE to bring in any crops to take home food. This is, as I now understand the term, actual mutual aid! CJ the X made a video recently talking about it (through discussing Kiki’s Delivery Service) and I also consumed a compact and VERY informative zine, which you can read here!

I’ll be bringing along a whole bunch of my apples from my garden! They have reached PEAK ripeness. They’re so aromatic that I can smell them any time I walk past the wheelbarrow load I currently have sitting outside my back door. You may be jealous, this is acceptable. XD I am so happy to get to share them too… It’s such a fucking blessing having these trees up the back of my house.

I’d been struggling for so long with what to do with A Gun Is the Thing with Feathers. I flipped back and forth between indie and trad like I was in a love triangle with two semi abusive partners, neither of which I felt loved by.

In all honesty, I’ve always wanted to be trad published. There is a glamour* there. The covers feel nicer. You get to see your book in bookstores. Rub shoulders with your favourite authors. Take home the big bucks.

There is a scrappiness to indie publishing that I enjoy also. Pulling yourself up with your own two hands. Hard work and community and complete creative control. But these aren’t a given either.

There is such a stigma around self publishing. I have literally been warned against it by some industry professionals, people who I respect the opinions of with my whole heart. So, what were two villains in a trench coat to do?

I don’t understand why there’s such a divide. The indie authors over here and the trad pubs over there. When you’re an artist, you just say you’re an artist. You don’t have to wait to be shown in a gallery to call yourself an artist. You don’t have to call yourself something different. I guess the idea being that Frank the furry porn artist probably isn’t going to have his work hung beside Da Vinci and Louise the Wholocke Super Hell An-Extra-Hour-in-the-Ball-Pit collage artist isn’t going to be having lunch with Banksy.

So maybe the labels are the problem? Is that the point I’m trying to reach for? Because the honest honest truth is that, where I live, I could easily have my self-pub book in a bookstore. I have community. I rub shoulders with the greats. I don’t want to suck at the teat of the great and dying sow that is capitalism. (Anyone down for making an animal sacrifice to the Old Gods?) I wanted mom and dad to stop fighting over my soul and let me enjoy a unified house again. Trad and Indie being mom and dad.

So, I decided to just say “You aren’t my real mom and dad!” and go even further by handmaking everything… Going zinester style on a novel feels in line with my aesthetic TBH

Warframe and games that respect your time, but still WANT you to keep playing. Street Uni X being a great respecter of time, talk about two minute time limits on normal levels. Outside of writing and creation, I’ve been playing a BUNCH of Warframe recently, (A bunch meaning about an hour or two a night for the past month) and have been so impressed with the way the game is designed to encourage you to keep playing “just one more mission” but at the same time, doesn’t WASTE your time. If you have a goal, it may take a little grinding to get, but if you’re enjoying the game, it’s no skin off your nose.

Speaking of perfect little games who respect your time, I’ve also been playing Street Uni X on and off throughout the month. Oh… you haven’t heard of it? It’s only the greatest Unicycle street sports game ever created! The soundtrack fucking SLAPS and it’s DIRT CHEAP. Each run is only two minutes long, a la THPS and it just OOZES personality. Get it now, get it in your eyes, get it get it get it!

Support weird. Support indie. Support ME! GO DOWNLOAD MY BOOK!

~Adorne Sibley

*Glamour. An enchantment that makes something more beautiful than it is. Often associated with Fae shenanigans.

So I started reading/ listening to Don't Let the Forest in by C.G. Drews and good lord is it an incredible atmospheric experience. The words are so beautifully crafted and the queer longing so painfully realized.... and the relationship so horrifically real and unhealthy. I haven't finished it, and can easily recommend it to anyone who loves fae horror and folk horror with a nice coat of LGBTQIA+.

I've been feeling so completely overwhelmed this past month and have decided to spend this week "emphasizing play," as my Tarot/ Oracle recommended. As part of that, I'm making some art to share on here, likely pushing the next episodes of A Cabin in the Woods and a House by the Sea along, and moving Project E into her next stage. I also plan to get out of the house and touch grass/ surround myself with trees and moss. I'm really hoping that letting myself have this time will be rewarding and rejuvenating.

Last night I watched an absolutely delightful film called Molli and Max in the Future. It was a scifi retelling of When Harry Met Sally and was a blast~ The campy FX, stop motion, and clear love and joy poured into it was so inspiring.

Speaking of inspiration, here's a few videos I watched over the last two days that really lit a fire under my ass. Struthless's newest Alphabet Superset video essay/ documentary: Internet Fatigue: why this place sucks now James Lee's exploration on creative workflow: How I Think Creatively

I am desperately holding onto the punk mindset of making a thing, max giving it one pass to clean up, and pushing it out the door so it can exist and doesn't get stuck in pefection purgatory. Wish me luck as I push each baby out the door without looking back. @-@

I've been playing games lately, but honestly, I don't feel like sharing that very much so I think I'm gonna end this post here!

'Til next time!

~Adorne Sibley

As the gif makes it clear, I've been playing some Drakengard 3 on my PS3 and WOW THAT GAME IS HORNY. I've finished the... first branch? I think that's the term they used. It is moderately fun, but mostly I'm just here for the absurd characters and interesting meta narrative stuff that Yoko Taro loves. I know that the Drakengard games are well known for their amount of grinding, but WOW I was not prepared. Yes Yoko, I can see what you're doing. Oh look how many enemies I've killed! What horror! And it means so little to me, why would I do this? I've played Spec Ops: The Line, this doesn't even phase me. XD

As well, I've been playing a bunch more Morrowind, specifically focusing on the Tamriel Rebuilt content. Over the last few days I've gotten to play through a quest that was essentially an adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth and it was brilliantly done! Complete with scholarly person running away from the townsfolk, fishy people, subterfuge, young love, a drunkard who knows pretty much everything, and an FBI (Indoril guard) raid on Devil's Reef (The Lighthouse). I am so consistently blown away by not only the quality of content in Tamriel Rebuilt, but the love and effort put into these mods by the community. It's truly mindblowing.

I've had a project simmering in the background for awhile and I'm finally pulling the pin on it. For now it'll be called Project ACitWaaHbtS, and I'll be making an Aesthetics page for it. It'll be an anthology series, released as chapbooks, out of order. So far I have almost five of the stories finished, and I'm working on the first chapbook which will be Little Ram which was previosly released on my Patreon. Wish me luck! (I'll also be making lineoleum block prints for the covers, so I'm super pumped for that~)

I appreciate the love I've received for my zines since their release, and I'm definitely planning on continuing to release writing/ art projects like this in the coming months. You are all legends~

I've also recently cracked open L.B. Hazelthorn's Rare Birds and have been savouring being immersed in 1920/30's era culture (Including running into some Polari words!) I really needed something with a unique texture and yet a cosiness that allows me to get snuggled in before bed and wind down.

I wrapped up my re-read of John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin and am so glad to see it held up. What a fucking ride. If you love cosmic horror and absurdist humor, it is possibly the best example of both.

I had the pleasure of hosting a TTRPG one shot with a friend and their family just last month and it was such a great time~ I ran CY_BORG for them and they ended up hitting all of my planned moments! They still went with a few approaches I hadn't entirely expected, but that's the rule of GMing, you can't plan for everything. If you haven't tried out a Borg system, go grab the Bare Bones edition of MÖRK BORG (free and legal) and run one of their adventures with your friends! It is pretty stripped back of descriptions, which I find nice as a GM. You have room to play around and come up with your own stuff, and add details that you can then MAKE part of the story later.

'Til next time!

~Adorne Sibley

CW: Animated gore, hover over blurred image to reveal animation!

It is a gorgeous rainy summer day down here in Lutruwita. This household is one of mixed theologies so no Christmas here beside some Italian treats and a roast lunch. We really just use the day as an excuse to eat a little more indulgently than normal. Sometimes I miss the tree and the lights, but mostly not. If ever this household revisits the xmas spirit it will be to put up faerie lights to stay all year round and a living tree to decorate differently as the wheel of the year turns.

My critique partner finished their read through of Project E and I couldn’t be happier with all of the notes and suggestions I walked away with. This process has significantly improved the novel, for sure. Also, they made art which I will one day share! It feels so nice that my story stuck with them enough to inspire such wonderful creations~

I have finished the yt playlist for Project E which you can find here. It is chockas with bangers. I’m currently compiling my list of potential Lit Agents to pitch her to. Project E, not the playlist. Wish me luck

I picked up a heap of indie games during the holiday season, which of course means I’m not diving into my backlog and trying out things which I hadn’t given much a chance back when I first got them. Case-in-point, UBERMOSH. What a fucking completely overwhelming metal-as-fuck punk-as-hell series. Currently slamming my head against UBERMOSH: WRAITH as I enjoy having the endless field to run across, as some of them take place inside very compact and claustrophobic maps. If you like brutally difficult arcade twinstick shooters where you only have to live for 90 seconds to win, I can’t recommend this entire franchise enough. (plus they’re dirt cheap)

I just finished All The Murmuring Bones by the fabulous Angela Slatter and I have started… two new books to try to close out the year with, Smothermoss by Alisa Alering (audible) and The Echoes by Evie Wyld (paperback). It is interesting how these two books are so different and yet their vibes are so similar. Both are distant and strange, dream-like and whimsical, making me feel nostalgic for something I have never (and never want to) experience. Pure witchcraft. Thank you to all three of these simply gorgeous authors for making me feel real magic.

Last saturday I got to play Death in Space with my TTRPG pals~ What a wild little system. It was a lot for everyone to remember the Void Points each time someone failed, but man it is so rewarding to have a mechanic that lets you stack up failures so that you can (almost) guarantee a success later. Also the “magic” in the game is powered by these Void Points as well! It’s so cool~ We didn’t quite finish the adventure I’d drummed up for them, but we’re all looking forward to smashing it out next time.

~Adorne Sibley

Today’s animation is brought to you by Pip and the Pastel Hell! It's subtle foreshadowing of Hank's lactose intolerance.

I'm participating in Scream Jam! I'm finally freaking doing it! I'm making a game!!! I'd never heard of Gdevelop until I looked at Scream Jam. I'd been considering using RPG Maker MZ right up until the day before the Jam started, but at the last minute I checked out Gdevelop and thought it seemed pretty intuitive and more flexible, so switched over. Already I've got movement, camera control, and dialogue (with branching paths and variables that allow for event tracking) implemented. I'm making the vast majority of assets from scratch, so wish me luck~

Here, to my right, is one of the main character's animations. Her name is Pip! She's very squishy.

That's pretty much my exclusive focus for the next week, so updates to the site may not be incoming.

Over the weekend I had the joy of volunteering at a local writer's fesitval and got to seem some incredible folks speak on writing, including Markus Zusak and Robbie Arnott. It's so relieving that these two world-class writers are just dudes. This is in contrast to ethereal writers like Mark Z. Danielewski and the problematic Neil Gaiman, who are just as weird and ephemeral as they seem through their writing. I also discovered many new writers to dive into over the course of the weekend. Eugen Bacon, Angela Slatter, Mark Mupotsa-Russell, and Joana Nell were all writers who were entirely new to me, and their talks have really helped me look at characterization and storytelling in ways I hadn't before. It was massively inspiring, so having to dedicate my time to video game creation instead of writing is... a little torturous. XD I am so excited to get back to editing Project E and my other short stories.

~Adorne Sibley

P.S. I got to go to a late night event called SMUT, and it was an absolute riot. I got to watch Cameron Hindrum, Tasmanian writer and poet extrodinaire, read one of James Joyce's letters to his wife, and the entire room lost their collective mind when we got to the farting. Seriously, don't Google "James Joyce Letters to Wife" unless you're prepared to learn about every single kink he had. During that night I also got to hear the singular sex scenes from "The Hitwoman's Guide to Reducing Household Debt" by Mark Mupotsa-Russell, and "Mrs. Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year" by Joana Nell. I purchased both of them the next day.

Update for all of you! I have two stories up under writies if you click the Read Only Memory: Electronic floppy. Appropriate trigger warnings are on the page where you select the story you'd like to read.

As well, if you head over to the Art page, you'll find a Doom Maps page now exists. Inside, I've uploaded three levels, and provided videos of gameplay! Give em a go and feel free to leave comments in the Guestbook~

Lastly, but not leastly, I've continued adding yet more art to the About page, which will obviously end up on the Blinkies showcase as well.

Life and writing is busy, but I'm doing my best to keep updating and filling out the site. (There is a WIP shrine for Alan Wake, but I can't in good conscience recommend you check it out yet)

~Adorne Sibley

I've got more pages up and running! Now the only page that doesn't have anything on the other end of it is the Shrines page! Feel free to click around and explore~ (And if you've been here before make sure to clear cache! On windows you can do this by holding Shift+Ctrl and pressing R. That way the links work properly!

I am officially a supporter of Neocities, happily, and have gone ahead and used that to enable WebAmp and upload the PDF to Anachronism, the first mini zine from my project Umbrulexicon!

Life gets fucking busy, but it's so nice to stop and tinker on my website every so often. I'm currently listening to Camp Damascus from Chuck Tingle, I'm not sure what's scarier the HORROR or the religious brainwashing. As well I've been playing a lot of Salt and Sanctuary, getting further than I ever have before! It's inspiring some ideas in me~

As well there are a few short stories I've been tinkering with. I don't know if I've ever had a more productive year when it comes to my creativity.

~Adorne Sibley

Edit: Also I've added the Guestbook feature! It's being hosted through Atabook and I'll be approving messages sent through there, but please feel free to come by and say hello!

Hi everyone! It's been a very busy week as I've rapidly assembled a few pages into moderate levels of function! As of this moment, I have a temporary Art page set up as well as my Writies page. The About page is slowly filling in more and more, and obviously the main page here is getting quite busy~

I am hovering inches above hitting that supporter payment button. I would like to be able to host some songs for Webamp and my Doom levels that I've created, and for only five bucks a month... I could do that. Oh the possibilities. That would also let me host interesting little games cause I could host the files on my website myself.

I've been listening to The Reddening by Adam L.G. Nevill and A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. Yes, this is tonal whiplash, and no, I don't think I'll be changing my reading/listening habits. XD Adam Nevill is SO good at creating a pervasive sense of unease and dread. I'm kind of jealous. While T. Kingfisher is whimsical to the point that it hurts my soul in the best way possible. She's a horror writer also and this is the kind of genre flexibilty I aspire to. Let me drip fae whispers into your ears, and then make you laugh at the funny man adding one crack of pepper to his soup. I've got a cross country mad max story for you, and then a family drama/horror story. I also have a satirical dark romance horror that's slithering its way to towards this website as I speak.

~Adorne Sibley

Greetings, everyone! I'm Adorne Sibley, a writer, poet, animator, doom mapper, and artist. My favored genres are Horror, Scifi, Urban Fantasty, and Meta Fiction. I've written so much... and the only published things I cannot tell you about. XD 👻

I'm sure this is going to come as a surprise, but this site is now a work in progress. Please feel free to poke around and see what comes up. I'll likely also end up creating a separate landing page complete with trigger warnings for my writing and art. Currently all of the buttons on the left hand side are going to be dead links, and at the bottom of the page you can see a small animated pride-tegram that links over to the Trevor Project. I'm mostly typing this up to test out what the writing looks like once I'm outside of the HTML editor. Thanks for swinging by! Soon enough I'll have a Guestbook setup for y'all to leave little messages. Remember to keep it polite!

If you happen to be here early enough that this is the first post, then I'd like to let you know that I am going to start uploading a serialized story under Writies. As well, when I finish the first part of my "Fictional Play" I'll be uploading that as well, exclusively to my Neocities website.

The Tidings section will be where I post my Newsletters.

TTRPG Stuffs will contain hacked and homebrew content I've made... as well as full projects whenever I finish them. I'll try to keep it organized per system. Expect a lot of Mörk Borg stuff.

Shrines will contain pages dedicated to my many hyperfixatons. I'll likely be making an Alan Wake one first.

Art is where I'll be uploading gifs, animations, art and more as I make it to share for free with all~ If you like anything you find and want to use it, feel free, just link back to this site or the art page.

Aesthetics will contain mood boards for my different writing projects! They'll stay up even once projects have been completed. Before release, they'll have codenames and after I release a project, I'll change its name on here to its release title. (Consider it sneakpeaks at the ideas behind my projects.)

~Adorne Sibley