Meet the New Gatekeeper, Same as the Old Gatekeeper
OnIf you’ve spent any time talking about geek culture, you’ve probably seen one word come up over and over again: gatekeeper.
“Asylum Relapse” by Patrick Q. Wright Is a Sympathetic Sounding Board Resonating Feelings of Isolation
OnWhile “Asylum Relapse” isn’t part of the Legendary Pink Dots Project, Patrick Wright has been instrumental to some of their greatest albums.
So You Think You’re a Writer?
OnWhat makes a writer? Is it coffee and cats? Is it a good author photo? Is it having a screenname like @JaneDoeWrites?
Queerness Is Not a Fandom
OnIt’s normal to look for people who share your interest in pop culture. But what happens when you only know how to be queer through fandom?
Books Are Not Movies: Writing the Invisible
OnInstead of learning from books, too many fledgling writers learn to write primarily from movies, television and video games, and their writing suffers as a result.
To Be a Great Writer, You Must Defeat a Thousand Babies
OnAs the world looks grimmer and grimmer, Millennials and Gen Xers retreat deeper and deeper into childhood nostalgia.
Finding Beauty In Darkness
OnWhy do we love horror so much? On the surface, it makes no sense. Why would anybody enjoy media that focuses on upsetting, grotesque topics?
Saving Criticism from the Corporate Marketing Machine
OnCultural criticism has always been an essential part of our media ecosystem, especially when it comes to geek culture. But is any of this really meaningful, or is it just another part of the big corporate content marketing machine?
Bad Writing Advice
OnThere are many writing advice columns that won’t help you write good—that will actually encourage you to write bad, or at best mediocre.
I’m Not Here to Make Friends: On Unlikable Female Characters
OnFilthcore queen Gretchen Felker-Martin returns to talk about unlikable female characters. What makes a woman unlikable?