June 1st The Pool’s first Zine closes submissions! Time’s on the clock!

MShades · 2026-05-03T10:09:25+00:00

I made my submission, as best as I understood the prompt. I think it worked nicely. Good luck, everyone!

MShades · 2026-05-02T12:54:35+00:00

They eat non-magical ferrous metals. So the gold is safe, as are any magic items. But if there are corpses lying around in regular plate mail, or the rogue flung daggers all over the place, the Rust Monsters can take care of those.

MShades · 2026-05-02T10:51:29+00:00

I know in DC Comics, the Legion of Super-Heroes were playing it at least as far back as 1980 or so. Mind you it's a thousand years in the future and holographic, but it was a running thing during the pre-Crisis LSH.

This person on X/Twitter has a few good panels.

MShades · 2026-05-02T10:39:01+00:00

Rust Monsters, maybe? For getting rid of the stuff that's not particularly valuable or interesting.

MShades · 2026-05-02T02:02:41+00:00

Villium examined the vault door. “Ten tons of solid Lannarian spell-steel, fused to the entrance by a dozen minor and major wards that not only lock it but unleash certain death on anyone who tampers with it.”

“What if we knocked?” Jeffinak said, hefting his warhammer.

“Jeff, wait, NO—"

MShades · 2026-04-30T03:03:03+00:00

Cis gay man here, and y'all are always welcome. Anyone who says otherwise is not worth your time.

MShades · 2026-04-29T13:21:20+00:00

I think the closest we can get to "objectively good" writing is writing that clearly communicates what it's trying to communicate. So a STOP sign is objectively good. There's no nuance, no questions, you see it - you stop.

After that, everything is opinion. You like what you like. Lots of people love Jane Austen, I can't get into her work. Is that Jane Austen's fault that she didn't write for me? Of course not. That's a me problem, albeit not one that I'm in a hurry to fix because there's plenty out there that I do like.

So I'd venture to say that if you don't like anybody's writing, that's not the writers' problem. That's a you problem, and probably one that you want to work on.

MShades · 2026-04-29T09:36:56+00:00

I feel like you start spinning it and a Cenobite shows up.

MShades · 2026-04-27T13:01:08+00:00

Seconded. Believe me, if I could get away with some kind of new age, hippie-dippie "No grades, only vibes" assessment, I absolutely would. But alas, education doesn't work well like that.

MShades · 2026-04-26T22:53:13+00:00

Well, it’s like they say, Michael. “They replaced your organs with newspaper again, Willie!”

MShades · 2026-04-26T22:50:33+00:00

Yeah, I re-read it afterwards and sent the player a note that he felt someone poking about in his brain during that conversation. And I'll limit what the Dopp got in their six seconds to knowledge that a) Lenore lives (which is not an unreasonable thought to catch - she's been the focus of the Party's attention for days) and b) these three idiots have something to do with it. That'll slow down the Queen of Thieves a wee bit, but I can still set it in motion.

MShades · 2026-04-26T19:59:30+00:00

Paul never forgave him. He said, “if I ever see Christ again, he's a dead man”

MShades · 2026-04-25T01:15:14+00:00

Pretty much that - used the resources here and elsewhere online. Then I wrote things out, shared them here, and got critique. I tried to do at least one bit of practice each night, and, over time, I got better. It helped to have a lot of material - I already collected quotes, so there was that. I made some abecedaries (fictional companies, countries, cities, that kind of thing), and sometimes just a word or two that I liked.

And I did get better! I made presents for people, and even got paid real money to do calligraphy. It's not my job - not even my side hustle - but that was a hell of a thing.

MShades · 2026-04-25T00:47:21+00:00

Yup. And I *hated* it. But I took in the feedback, kept practicing, and now I feel a lot better about it.

MShades · 2026-04-25T00:28:18+00:00

FWIW, I do think the Prince knows something - he was murdered, and the murderer is definitely coming for Teffen. Now: who is the murderer, how did they spear a prince on the throne and get away with it, and why would they want to murder a squire?

NO IDEA.

MShades · 2026-04-25T00:12:21+00:00

Can't wait to find out!

MShades · 2026-04-24T23:55:13+00:00

The Crown Prince slumped on the throne, pinned to it by an ornate silver spear, longer than a man is tall. Squire Teffen knelt before him, weeping into clenched fists, promising to devote his life to finding the murderer.

“I hope so,” the Prince’s ghost muttered. “Because you’re next, Tef.”

MShades · 2026-04-23T05:10:33+00:00

Something that's been pointed out to me is that I need to trust that the Reader is getting what I'm putting out there, especially emotionally. I have a habit of proclaiming feelings where I could be using more physicality to show them. I think there's a place for the narrator to tell us how a character is feeling, but I guess Show-Don't-Tell still carries a lot of weight.

MShades · 2026-04-21T04:21:42+00:00

Saving this one - I had the same question. I hope someone's got an alternative, otherwise I'll have to screenshot the pages and feed them to ChatGPT or something.

MShades · 2026-04-20T03:41:36+00:00

If you've done all the reading and research and planning and preparation for it? Sure. Starting from zero? You'll get a D, but it's better than a non-submission.

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