Uncategorized – Page 3

3 Easy Ways to Keep Short Fiction Short

David V Stewart June 30, 2020 June 30, 2020Fiction, Non-fiction, Uncategorized, Writing 3

This was part of a response to a free audiobook of one of my short works (about 12k) words, which you can listen to for free below. The comment was concerning how to keep short fiction short. Writing short fiction is really a different beast than writing long fiction, and the skills are a different set. If you want to limit length, here are a few easy things: 1) Limit the scope. A few locations, or one, rather than many. A few characters, or even one, rather than many. 2) Keep it to one plot. “A” story only, no sub-plots.…

The death cult forgets its mask

David V Stewart May 28, 2020 May 28, 2020Creative non-fiction, politics, Uncategorized 4

I’m fairly certain they deleted the tweet because they realize they weren’t wearing their mask, so here is a screenshot: Murdering babies is badass you say? Something cool kids do? Too bad those uncool Spanish Christians put a stop to such a badass and admirable practice. Truly, the European man is evil for wiping such a badass cultural practice off the face of the earth. No respect for the religious beliefs of others, those wicked conquistadors. People wonder why I call it the death cult. It’s because they’re obsessed with death and promote it endlessly. If it’s not infanticide, it’s…

Tolerance, “The Good” and the Social Order

David V Stewart May 26, 2020 May 26, 2020Uncategorized 2

When it comes to assessing what kind of behavior ought to be accepted, tolerated, or punished, I find it useful to consider the categories of behavior in a social context. Keep in mind that this ordering is mostly in the context of the greater discussion of state power and its moral use, as well as the difficult question of what “the good” actually is. When it comes to undesirable behavior, that is behavior that the greater culture does not want or does not itself exercise, there are three categories: antisocial behavior, delinquent behavior, and deviant/degenerate behavior. Antisocial behavior is that…

Portland

David V Stewart May 25, 2020 May 25, 2020Creative non-fiction, Non-fiction, Uncategorized 1

Portland is a sanctuary city with no Latinos living in it. That’s a simple statement, but it sums up everything about the city’s culture – it’s all about signaling. And it’s the kind of signaling that’s an inversion of a regular business sign. A sign in front of a fruit stand advertises that they have a certain fruit because they have that fruit want you to come in and buy that fruit. The signaling the people of Portland do is pointed towards what they lack – virtue, taste, uniqueness, and quality. Virtue signaling is always a sure sign that virtue…

Color: The Key to Impact and Emotion

David V Stewart May 23, 2020 May 23, 2020Analysis, Art, Non-fiction, Uncategorized 0

Time for something different – some tips on choosing the right colors for art, ad copy, and things like book covers. Let’s start with some examples of great fantasy art by Kerem Beyit: Kerem’s proficiencies are many, but one of the reasons his art has such a vivid “pop” and stands out so much is his use of color, specifically limited color range centered on two different (but rarely complementary) colors. Rather than attempting to go for some “realistic” approach to color representation, he distills things down to a few charged areas. The result is really eye catching. Notice in…

Steven Pinker – Immune to Reason

David V Stewart May 22, 2020 May 22, 2020Ethics, Non-fiction, Philosophy, politics, Uncategorized 4

Easy to see Pinker is full of shit once again. People need to work (duh) even if he doesn’t. The idea of an afterlife IMPROVES behavior – both in theory (fear of judgment of the creator) and in practice (Atheists are the biggest mass murderers in history). A life whose value is greater than a dog for reasons of marginal utility is not one that is valued. If you are an object, value of human life is a non-sequitur. First reply: Because they deserve it. What does it mean to make life safer, longer and happier to an atheist like…

Apolitical™

David V Stewart May 19, 2020 May 19, 2020Art, Ethics, Games, Philosophy, politics, Uncategorized, Writing 4

Sorry, folks, the Apolitical™ brand is just that – a brand. I get it – you don’t like the politics being forced into your favorite franchises at the expense of story, gameplay, aesthetics, and the general effect of the medium itself. I get that female Thor is lame and super-buff She-Hulk is an eyesore. I know that it’s not fun to be lectured about global warming in the middle of a space-opera game, or to be forced to play a game as an uggo who’s bent on killing your favorite franchise characters – and will succeed. I know it’s annoying…

Why forced diversity doesn’t work

David V Stewart May 15, 2020 May 15, 2020Art, Non-fiction, Uncategorized, Writing 5

There is a divide that the greater culture of the center/right has a hard time explaining, but an easy time recognizing: The difference between “forced diversity” and diversity which is incidental to a story. The surface definition should be pretty easy to work with: Forced diversity is the inclusion of characters in media that are members of social/ethnic/sexual groups for no discernible story reason. Obviously, a story about a transwoman struggling to fit in will include trans characters. “Forced diversity” is having a character that is trans for no reason related to the plot. It’s a character that is put…

When the Wind is in the West

David V Stewart May 13, 2020 May 13, 2020Creative non-fiction, Uncategorized 0

There is always a feeling I get during the season changes: the transition from hot to cool, from cool to cold and back again. That’s how the seasons are here in central California – the weather is the same for eight weeks, then transitions for about one or two weeks to a new season. This year the heat has been slow in coming, and I’m not complaining. The feeling is something akin to nostalgia, but different – more like a memory of things that never were. My imagination always goes wild. Dreams get more intense. The sun shows at different…

Going Stupid

David V Stewart March 9, 2020 March 9, 2020Economics, Non-fiction, Uncategorized 2

As my Google Pixel XL (the original) continues its decline into non-functionality through hardware failure and obsolescence, I am seriously considering “going stupid” for my next phone. That is, I will “downgrade” to a flip-phone or the like. I have a lot of reasons for this, but there are also some big problems with trying to avoid smartphones in 2020. Reasons to go stupid: Headphone jacks are disappearing – This I decided was my line in the sand for smartphones. If I can no longer get one with a headphone jack, that means I won’t use one. I just cannot…

Category: Uncategorized