Haaaay, Absolutely Gonna Jump On This. @winkells

Haaaay, absolutely gonna jump on this. @winkells

Is okay to base a story off of your art? I’ve recently been very inspired by your art, and it’s really pushing me out of my writers block

Yes absolutely! I’ve been asked this a few times and I’m sorry I keep forgetting to respond–you’re more than welcome to write stories/anything you’d like based off of my work. If you do write something, feel free to message me a link/tag me in it; I’d love to read it ♥

*hysterical fanning intensifies*

Follow Josephine Pt. 1 (Another Bioshock Fanfic)

The boat creaked with every gentle wave, and the wind howled around them, though it wasn’t even storming. At least, Angelina didn’t hear rain, but she couldn’t see over the side to check, anyway. It was so cold out here, even with her best coat buttoned all the way up to her neck. She looked up at Mama. 

Mama sat on the floor of the boat, her fingers working over her stitching, her mouth moving in a nearly-silent song. Last year for her birthday, she had made Angelina a white hat that had made her the envy of all the girls in the neighborhood; she felt lucky that she could wear it now. They had had to leave so much behind. Angelina hadn’t even thought that they’d had very much to begin with, but still. 

Papa and the boatman were talking up by the stern (she knew that word from a book). With the wind in his hair and the moonlight on his face, Papa looked more excited than she had ever seen him—like a little boy. 

She remembered the day when he’d come home, his smile nearly shining through the grease on his face, and how he’d ruffled her hair, hugged her tight against him, and said, “Gellie, Gellie, everything is gonna be okay.” The words he’d said after that didn’t make a whole lot of sense: a new place underwater, being free to make his art, Andrew Ryan, Rapture. 

“The Andrew Ryan?” Mama had said, eyes bugging. “What’re ya talkin, about, Abe? He’s a business man!” 

“It’s real, I tell ya. It’s real. I know it. We can make new lives there, get out of this city. Fran, I could make art again.” Something happened to this voice then, like it got high and tight. He was looking at Mama like one word from her would make him fall apart. But she didn’t say a word; she just stared. He kept talking, “I-I could sell, again. There’ll be new materials to work with… You could work if you wanted, selling your knitting, doing almost anything! We’ve got savings. It’s enough, I checked, if I just…” 

“Abraham.” She was using her stern voice, the one you don’t argue with. Papa swallowed hard, fiddling with his hands. “You’re not making sense.” 

After that they talked, and talked. Mama got quiet and worried, while Papa got louder and happier. They kept talking, then Papa stopped leaving for work, then Mama told Angelina to stop selling flowers on the corner, and then they were all packing. When Angelina had asked questions, they said, “We’re moving someplace with more money.” And now they were here. 

Papa had his hands on his hips as he turned to look at the fog ahead. “There it is,” said the boatman, his voice low and somehow, scary. “In the fog.” 

Angelina ran up to them and grabbed Papa’s hand. She couldn’t see anything, but his warm hand around hers helped slow her breathing. Then his grip tightened a little. “You’re right. I see it! Francine, we’re here!” 

“Papa, what is it? What is it? Are we gonna crash?” Angelina hopped up and down, unsure whether to run or climb up the side of the boat. But Papa grabbed her around the middle and hoisted her up, and she did see, then. 

A building—the strangest one she had ever seen—was rising out of the water like the horn of some giant sea creature. At its very tip was a flashing light, and a little figure like a bird, or a woman. Water crashed around the stones at its base. “This is the lighthouse, Angelina,” Papa whispered. “We’re home.”

Console-free Camping

If you like to play The Last of Us, then try Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

If you like to play Beyond: Two Souls, then try The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

If you like to play Call of Duty: Black Ops (Zombies), then try World War Z by Max Brooks

If you like playing Grand Theft Auto, then try American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

If you like playing Sid Meier’s Civilization, then try A Game Of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

If you like playing Final Fantasy, try playing Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

If you like playing Mass Effect, then try Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

If you like playing Alice: Madness Returns, then try Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

If you like playing Halo, then try Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein

If you like playing Portal, then try House Of Stairs by William Sleator

If you like playing Mario Kart, then try The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia 

If you like playing Dark Souls, then try Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

If you like playing Life Is Strange, then try We Are Okay by Nina Lacour

If you like playing Stardew Valley, then try How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

If you like playing Fable, then try Young Elites by Marie Lu

If you like playing Borderlands, then try Velocity by Chris Wooding

If you like playing Dishonored, then try Airman by Eoin Colfer

If you like playing The Oregon Trail, then try Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

If you like playing the Elder Scrolls series, then try The Naming by Alison Croggon

If you like playing Red Dead Redemption, then try Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

If you like playing Bioshock, then try  Dark Life by Kat Falls

If you like playing Fallout, then try Razorland by Ann Aguirre 

If you like playing Assasin’s Creed, then try The Way of Shadows Night by Brent Weeks

If you like playing Dragonage, then try Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

If you like playing The Legend of Zelda, then try Graceling by Kristin Cashore

If you like playing Until Dawn, then try Ten by Gretchen McNeil

If you like playing Sonic, then try Maximum Ride by James Patterson

If you like playing Overwatch, then try Bluescreen by Dan Wells

If you like playing Uncharted, then try Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

If you like playing Pokemon, then try Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by JK Rowling, and Newt Scamander

If you like playing Mario Party, then try Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

If I Can...

I was just helping a student with her homework at my job the other day, and she had to look up a poem and explain to her class what she'd learned about it in the process of studying it. The only problem was that she didn't know what poem she wanted. 

We brainstormed. I tried to think of some of my favorite poets and run their most famous pieces by her. Robert Browning was out, since his were so long, and she would have to read the poem aloud.

Eventually, I pulled up Emily Dickinson. One of the first poems that popped up was the following:

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.

-Emily Dickinson

We talked about it for a long time, and she was pleased to understand what it meant and finally understand the rhyme scheme. 

Yesterday, she came back to me and said that she picked a Shel Silverstein poem that she really enjoyed anyway, so we practiced that and talked about it and she left feeling pretty happy with it. 

She also told me that the essay we had worked on together received an A, as did another short play review. Both of these assignments had caused her a lot of anxiety, and we'd studied and prepared for them over hours. 

Even though she hadn't picked the Dickinson poem, it resonates with me especially. I don't always help her get A's, and Goodness knows I mess up a lot of things. I haven't helped a robin, or necessarily spared heartbreak, either. But this one time I helped. 

I shall not live in vain. 

Looking forward to some interesting insights.