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Squills 02/01/15 - 02/08/15



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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:14 am
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Welcome to Squills, the official news bulletin of the Young Writers Society!

What will you find here? Tons of interesting news about YWS, including but not limited to: articles about writing, art, and the world of humanities; interviews with YWS members; shameless plugs; link round-ups; and opinionated columns.

And where will all of this come from? Take a look at our fantastic creative staff!

CREATIVE STAFF


Spoiler! :
Editor-in-Chief
ShadowVyper

General Editors
BlueAfrica
Gravity

Friendly Neighborhood Robot
SquillsBot

Literary Reporter
AstralHunter

Community Reporter
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

Resources Reporter
Available – PM SquillsBot if interested

Storybook Reporter
AfterTheStorm

Poetry Enchantress
Aley

Quibbles Columnist
Available - PM SquillsBot if interested

Link Cowgirl
megsug

The Adventurer
BlueAfrica

Social Correspondent
ShadowVyper

Associates of Pruno and Gruno
Blackwood
Gravity

Media Critic
Kanome

Code Master
Avalon

General Reporters
AriaAdams
AstralHunter
Holofernes
OliveDreams
Omni
Skydreamer
whitewolfpuppy


Past Editors-in-Chief
GriffinKeeper
AlfredSymon
Iggy
Hannah


Of course, our content can’t come only from our staff. We also depend on you to help keep Squills successful. You’re all a part of a writing community, after all. If you’re interested in submitting to Squills, pop on over to the Reader’s Corner to find out how you can get involved by contributing an article or participating in other Squills activities. You can also subscribe to the Squills Fan Club , or PM SquillsBot to receive a notification each time a new issue is published!

Well, that’s all I have for now. So, what are you waiting for? Enjoy!





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:16 am
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ADVENTURES IN WRITING
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written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Last week, I talked about some different reasons your characters might need revision. Once you’ve identified these problems, how do you rectify them? Here are three tips to get you started.

Start with motivation. If a character is boxed in by a certain role, figuring out her motivation for acting in the story can help her climb out of the box. Authentic motivations will lead her to act in ways that can help her break out of her assigned role.

It can be tough figuring out these deeper motivations for your character, though. You may recall that my character Liza had been designated as a Strong Female Character. Her initial motivation to act in the story was that her husband was missing, but this was superficial at best. Considering she wanted to find her missing husband and was supposed to be such a strong person, why did she stay behind while the main character journeyed to the place where her husband was? Because she wasn’t really motivated by her husband’s disappearance. It was enough to bring her into the story, but once she was present, it didn’t influence her actions very much.

If your character has a superficial motivation like this, the first step is to deepen it so it really has an effect on her. What emotions might arise from this motive? What would your character do as a result of obstacles blocking her from attaining the goal suggested by this motive?

Once you’ve figured this out, the next step is to give the character further motivations. For example, her husband’s disappearance was Liza’s only motivation in the first drafts. But what about motivations unrelated to him, or to any other character for that matter? Think about possible motivations that are tied to your character’s back story and other desires.

Flesh them out. If your character is stuck in first draft mode, it’s often because she hasn’t been developed enough. Her back story might need developing, or maybe her personality needs building up.

One option is the ever-popular character worksheet. Here are some good ones to start you off.

Main Character Worksheet . This one gets into your character’s educational, occupational, and familial history as well as favorite things, personality quirks, and flaws. Additionally, this worksheet helps out with character description by asking you to list verbal or physical quirks (such as saying “My, my” or scratching her head when thinking) and synonyms for hair and eye color.

How to Create a Character Profile . This one has you describe your character’s relationship to various family members and other characters. It also gets into her spiritual characteristics and personality attributions (i.e., how does the character see herself?).

The Writer’s Craft Character Worksheet . This worksheet is more concerned with the way the character’s flaws and personality influence the story. In addition, it has boxes instead of spaces for answers, which means you can doodle or draw brainstorming maps to help you figure things out.

For more character sheets, check out this list .

Sometimes, character worksheets aren’t enough. Maybe you’re just not the kind of person who likes filling out worksheets, or maybe you have the kind of problem I did. Since my first draft character, Minerva, is a garden statue, she doesn’t have things like an educational, occupational, or familial history. What can you do to flesh out characters like this?

It can be difficult to work from scratch, which is why so many people like using the worksheets. But basically, there are some important things to consider when trying to bring this character up to snuff.

• Her relationship with and attitudes toward other characters. Does she like the other characters? Dislike them? Does she feel conflicted about one or more of them? Does she like someone unexpected, a character the other characters hate or fear?If so, why? Is she blind to this character’s flaws, or does she see a redeeming trait the other characters do not?

• Her flaws. People aren’t perfect, so your character should have at least one quality that is less than desirable. She might have a temper or a habit of lying. Maybe she’s so shy that she comes across as cold and distant to people who don’t know her. Whatever her flaw, consider how it affects her and the other characters. How do they perceive her flaw? One character might find her lying unforgivable, while another might think it’ll come in handy. Keep in mind that flaws are often in the eye of the beholder.

• Her thoughts and feelings. First draft characters are stuck with first draft thoughts and feelings, which are usually underdeveloped and somewhat superficial. Whenever your character reacts to something, consider why she reacts the way she does. Don’t let her react a certain way to something just to make the plot work! Consider your character’s real thoughts and feelings about the current situation and let her actions and reactions stem from that.

Make a change. If you don’t feel that your character’s motivation or developments are the problem, try something different. Change your character’s gender, race, or age. Try giving her a new role in the story or a new attitude toward another character. Play around. Experiment with your character until you find something you like. It seems like such a simple thing, to make a random change, but it can be just the shakeup you need to get your character back where she needs to be.





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:16 am
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TWO CENTS: PRACTICE
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written by Aley < PM: >

On Top
Some days it feels like you're just dragged down
drowning in the mush of life
which you're supposed to be eating
but your mouth is full up through your nose
so you have to keep swimming instead.


There are times when none of us want to get out of bed, and in those days are the times when we must find a way to push through. For writing, it's the same way. Writer's block is a problem that happens sometimes without us even noticing it occur. Other times, it's too painful not to notice that you can't get in the groove of writing, or that you just don't find pleasure from it any longer.

This article is for us.

One of the ways that I've discovered to overcome not wanting to write is to write every day. Give yourself a "free pass," so to speak, to write every day for a certain time frame. If you do find yourself stuck when you've got that time mapped into your routine, then allow yourself to write poorly. It seems counterproductive to some extent, allowing yourself to write at your worst, but the reasoning behind why it helps might be rewarding to hear.

One of the reasons why writer’s block is a thing is that there's too much pressure to write the next best novel, or just to write and complete a novel in general. Other reasons include losing interest in a story or plot, or losing interest in writing. If you allow yourself an opportunity to write poorly, as a warm-up, you can loosen up your writing habits for a while and begin to get some of these things out.

Writing poorly doesn't mean you write very little, though. If you're going to allow yourself to write poorly, you have to write a lot. The reason writing anything can help is because it allows you to free your mind and stretch your creative arm past that which it normally would succumb to. Allowing yourself to write nothing allows the writer's block to win. What we must do instead is take time to write stuff we'll just throw away or stuff we might later add into what we're writing well.

This practice is known as free-writing. Occasionally, teachers who are encouraging young writers will enforce the practice in class. When I was in AP English, I had to write for 5 minutes at the beginning of each class, at least one lined, college-ruled page, about the reading assignment we had last night. We could write that we didn't read it, or about how horrible it was, or what we hated about it, but we were encouraged to make our writing analytical. This dedication to writing 5 minutes every class carried over, to some extent, and I write half an hour every night on something trivial and pointless. My habit, however, has become a writer's block of its own, and that's the final paragraph of this message.

If you allow yourself to write poorly, also challenge yourself to take some time each day to try to write better than what you wrote as you wrote poorly. If you write for half an hour on something trivial, take five minutes each day to write something you feel is important. Don't be afraid to start new ventures, or take that half an hour and dedicate it to writing well again. Use these tools to get back on track, instead of the groundwork for the track you're setting.

For more motivational articles and lots more information, check out the Miscellaneous Section of The Knowledge Base





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:18 am
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HIDDEN SPOTLIGHT
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written by Skydreamer < PM: >

Apart from bringing us voted-upon favorites of the day, the YWS spotlight helps to shine a light on inspirational, hilarious, or interesting poems and stories. However, there are plenty of excellent works by YWSers that aren't getting to the spotlight, and also works from the past that one could call "hidden". While the spotlight occasionally captures things that we cannot comprehend, like @Pompadour and @LadySpark's poetry, there are times when it misses the mark, leaving some literary works out in the cold.

Instead of just letting these beautiful pieces of written art sit without an audience, why not have a hidden spotlight for poetry, SB posts, short stories, or any good posts that don't get an eyeful? With that in mind, I have decided to run a column on this new hidden spotlight.

Here are all the current six categories:

Forums (With emphasis on individual posts)
Short Stories
Novels (Chapters or the novels themselves)
Poetry
Storybook Posts (And, on occasion, storybook ideas/storylines)
Profound Quotes (Made by a YWSer)

Every week, three categories will be chosen, as well as some people to help me find their favorites within each category! If you would like to be a hidden spotlight detective and submit works from one of the categories (or if you feel there should be an extra category that you have something for), you can go to Hidden Spotlight HQ and join! You can pull people in and they can be the next to share something unique that we haven't seen.

The goal here is to inspire people, through the works and moments of YWSers, and to share the beauty of excellent writing, unknown.

The first few Hidden Spotlight members are BiscuitsBatchAvoy, Deanie, Auxiira, and @TimmyJake!

And here is the...

FIRST EVER HIDDEN SPOTLIGHT


Category: Short Story. Title: How Math Helped Me Fish
Author: @Larsen. Uncovered by: @BiscuitsBatchAvoy

Category: Novel. Title: Souls Decay
Author: @mephistophelesangel. Uncovered by: @Deanie

Category: SB Post. Title |Arkady Hawker|
Author: @Craz. Uncovered by: @Auxiira

I asked each hidden spotlight detective why they picked what they picked and how they felt it could be improved.

BiscuitsBatchAvoy mentioned how Larsen’s short story stuck with her, and had a good point on how even work-in-progress pieces should be included in the spotlight. She said,



Although the plot was simple, the tone was very rich, and after reviewing it months ago in June 2014 I still remembered it. I remembered enjoying it. And, having never interacted with the author, the fact that I remember it must mean a lot.





She had this to say about work-in-progress pieces.

Sometimes it would actually be helpful for flawed works to end up in the spotlight because people would read the reviews pointing out those flaws and maybe be able to apply that advice in their own writing.



Deanie mentioned that there was something different about the novel she chose, mephistophelesangel’s Soul Decay.



I chose this because I don't usually read books where the main characters are not human, and this was something like that! And I don't like werewolf books. This isn't exactly that, though - it is about foxes - but it was completely out of my comfort zone. Yet I loved it!



Auxiira mentioned what stood out to her about Craz’s Storybook post.



It just really captivated me, in the way she managed to capture so perfectly the way her characters act, as well as her amazing style.



If you would like to share a work you feel needs more views go ahead and join the Hidden Spotlight HQ . Thanks!





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:18 am
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JANUARY 2015 REVIEW DAY IN REVIEW
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written by Omni < PM: >

Unfortunately, we didn't get the goal of 550 reviews this month, only reaching 456, but it was nonetheless a very eventful Review Day! With almost 100 reviewers, it was a close match between Team Blue Moon and Team Smaug, with Smaug rounding out the victory with 262 reviews and 28,602 points to Blue Moon's 194 reviews and 23,599 points. Well fought, teams.

If you want a full statistical review of this Review Day, then check out the Review Day Results !

When pestered, I mean, questioned about last Review Day, @Arkhaion responded,



It was definitely a great competition, and both teams (and everyone else) won in the end (and we all rocked out and lived happily ever after).



Rock on, Arkhaion, rock on.

Join us for the February Review Day edition with lots more statistics and maybe Pat Buchanan. No, no Pat Buchanan this time around, but it'll be sure to be an eventful Review Day. Until next time.





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:19 am
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FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: RHIASOFIA
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written by Aley < PM: >

This month's featured member is none other than our very own @rhiasofia, one of our poetry writers on YWS who joined just over a year ago. She's already got 4 stars, with 204ish reviews. If you're looking for someone to critique a poem, she is definitely someone to turn to.


Squills: Hello, Rhiasofia. If you have some time, I'd like to interview you for Squills' Featured Member article. How does it feel to be the featured member?


Rhiasofia: It feels really great, but sort of surprising, really. I guess for me, I write so much for myself that it's always a little shocking, in the good way, when someone else enjoys it too. Especially when it's enough people that suddenly I'm featured.

S: Tell me more about why you write. You say you write for yourself, but in what ways do you decide what to write when it is for yourself?


R: Well, when I started writing, it was really more for school assignments. I didn't find a passion for it until I was required to keep a commonplace book in my sophomore year, and the teacher pointed out that my writing was more than just average journaling/observations. It was more poetry than anything.

S: So can you explain what a commonplace book is for, and how it's used?


R:It's basically a journal or notebook with anything. Creativity-wise, about anything is fair game. Mine was filled with quotes I loved, scraps of pictures from magazines that I wanted to use as drawing reference, jokes I wanted to tell people, letters telling people things I couldn't tell them in person (usually in the form of a poem,) and, eventually, my own poetry.

S: Do you still keep a commonplace journal?


R: Not very formally. I've started writing so much poetry that I want journals of pure writing, so as to avoid confusion. I'm trying to get back into it. I do keep a sort of digital one in blog form, though. Right now, it tends to be me shoving scraps of stuff into my sketch book and then losing it.

S: What attracts you to poetry as an art form?


R: Oh gosh, um, I think it's the most aesthetically appealing type of writing, and I do art as well as writing, so I like that. I can write short things with little worry as to character development, story line, all that stuff that novels, novellas, and even short stories have that I don't have the patience to do.

S: What has your experience on YWS been like?


R: Oh I love YWS. I think it's been so incredibly helpful. I used to be too shy to even tell people that I wrote poetry, never mind share some with them. Hearing other people's views on my writing, as well as seeing just how many people appreciate and even write the same sort of stuff has made me so much braver. And once I was able to share my poetry with friends, it became so much easier to let people know more about me and get closer to my friends. I used to be so closed off. Now, I'm doing stuff like entering some of my most personal poems into the scholastic writing contest.

S: So you've had a really positive experience here on YWS! That's great to hear. What is one of your favorite poems?


R: I think right now the one that feels the closest and most important to me is this one, Just a Migraine

S: Can you tell me a bit about what inspired this poem?


R: Um, my very closest friend, who's only gotten to be that close this year, and I had a night where we ended up swinging on a swing-set at a park in the middle of the night, just talking, and we were each trying to tell the other things we'd never told anyone else. And I found out that, a couple years ago (we had a class and I sat right next to her but never got close to her), she suffered from depression and anxiety. She was telling me all about it, and how she would fake migraines to get out of school. It almost ended really bad for her, but she's been so much happier lately and I feel so lucky to have her. She's my biggest supporter with my poetry, actually. Most of the time I feel like the only reason I keep making myself write is because she likes reading it.

S: That's really personal. Do you find that all of your poems are confessional?


R: Probably about 80%. Some of them are me just describing things I see but have no real investment in, like this one, Martyr of the Valley or for Waynesville . With this one, even though I use heavy stuff like death and skeleton and what not, it was just me talking about a homeless musician playing "You Are My Sunshine," even though the sun was setting.

S: Interesting. So any final thoughts for our readers at Squills?


R: Not really, except that I feel really lucky to be pinned with this title, and that I'm always ready to help with poetry. Even if it's not published here and people just need advice, I love helping. Writers pursuing poetry should never be deterred by how poor their early poems seem to be. Keep writing and write lots, and write about the most seemingly unimportant things and it'll be easier.


Be sure to check out this featured member's work and maybe drop a line or two as a review. With Rhiasofia having a style of a true-to-life experience writer, there is bound to be at least one poem that will touch you too.

Congratulations Rhia!





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:21 am
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NEW ARRIVALS
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written by BlueAfrica < PM: >

Take a moment to welcome this week’s newest members to the site!

@ClippedWings has been pretty active in the forums so far. Check out her post on this thread to see when she started writing . Here’s a hint: It’s cute and kind of funny.

@XPresidentTurtlesX is just five reviews away from her second review start! Head over to her wall to cheer her on .

@Clickduncake has written a short story in the format of emails from a werewolf to his therapist. Click here to check it out .

Other members who haven't had a chance to be as active, but are no less a member of our family are...


@jayflames1@ellenauthor@Sayruh@tazeen@SiddharthVerma@slowpainfulagony@Meagan@Pook@EmilyDiMattia123@MagnoliaWind@igorbi@Pooh2502@Wolf33@LoriStori@Ijustlikewriting@upstateguitar@Nataliee23@lordmoldymort@jonathenmunoz@IchigoMikan@fakhirawdyn@Sunnyanddinostomp@WeAreForeverApart@MissUnderstood2000@TheDoctor10@RobBeatty@sudheeji@EternalMiracle@Yuna229@mmentz88@Minerva@StarKeeper@natalia22@CapitalMonday@ravenraeen@Shakil616@123abc123@awkwardadolescent • @kimgrace112 • @peeplesn@aravindbhargava312@gordoncomstock@MickiSR@mckapo@PierceMitt@evairo@Madrick@221BTARDIS@Koolio315@MissE@Quint@Megan1805@Precious01@StressTest@jeannamarie@Taz101@KieraD@Cookieyahoo@AbansaEllen@RoyalFlush@WritersPyre@ChainsTheProphet@ivymixup@dftba221btardis@DriftingPulp@shankaratal@EmoKid22@aliking@philoneist@RebekahJ1199@TheStoriesof10@WritingIsLoveXOX@Kaliana13@thefurminator@BlackWing@dorothy18@anonymous12@LLChow@katherine35@kunpuying@Kiyomi@TheMessenger15@philip17@Deep@MidniteBrain@moonqueen@Augustus





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:21 am
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THIS WEEK'S ROUNDUP – 2/1
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written by megsug < PM: >

YWS is preparing for Valentine’s Day, but we’ve also got a link of hate, and a link with elves! Let’s send all of the mixed signals.


@Nate created a thread years ago asking what your five least favorite books are. Since then, there have been pages of ranting and minor disagreements about bad books and if certain books are actually bad. I might have @Deanie’s problem:



Not sure I have five.




What books do you need to warn people away from?


…To get your grammar help. @RacheDrache has created a lovely little thread that allows users to post sentences where they’re not sure about the grammar. You don’t have to do anything special, just…



…post the sentence or sentences troubling you and the Elves will get to work!




Now you guys have no excuse about getting your grammar wrong.


There’s a contest with love all up in there to get into the season. It can be about any kind of love, as long as it’s not R-rated. Here are a few other rules:



-poetry and prose are both acceptable.
-prose should be under 2000 words in length, but exceptions may be made if requested.
-existing work may be entered if you like!
-as always, normal rules apply - plagiarism will get you in a lot more trouble than just being disqualified from the competition




The prizes haven’t been announced yet, but they’re supposed to be marvelous! Deadline is the last day of February.


Members of the mod squad have pulled a Valentine’s Day celebration that is so fantastic that Valentine’s Day has gone from one to three days. Several activities will be taking place, including the contest. Other fun things include: word wars, a small gift giving day, and perhaps best of all…



@LadySpark and @Lauren2010 will be hosting a workshop on Sunday the 15th, discussing different relationships and how to write them. From platonic love to passionate love, come hang with us and discuss the relationships in your writing lately.



Check the thread to see what time that workshop is taking place in your time zone! Be sure to take part in some of the goodies going on soon!





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:27 am
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SHAMELESS PLUGS
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written by SquillsBot < PM: >

We love to run articles and questions, but we also love to advertise for you. Let people know about your new blog, a poem or story you’re looking for reviews on, or a forum thread you’d like more traffic on through Squills’ Shameless Plugs. PM @SquillsBot with the exact formatting of your advertisement, contained in the following code.

Code: Select all
Place advertisement here. Make sure you include a title!


And now for this week's Shameless Plugs!


The Adventures in Writing Description Contest



@BlueAfrica is hosting a contest based on her Squills column, Adventures in Writing. For contest details, check out the forum ! Entries close February 28th, so be sure to enter for the chance to win!



That's all folks~ Now send us yours.





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Tue Feb 03, 2015 12:27 am
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SUBSCRIBERS
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written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!

Spoiler! :
@SquillsBot@Carina@ShadowVyper@ArcticMonkey@Hannah • @Avalon • @Holofernes • @VeerenVKS • @megsug@StoneHeart@Skydreamer • @Draknghar • @Aley@Rydia@Alpha@skorlir@KnightTeen • @AriaAdams • @neko@Aquila90@DudeMcGuy@kayfortnight@Cole@Blackwood@manisha • @Widdershins • @HighTop • @cgirl1118@KittyCatMeow • @Strange • @ChocoCookie@carbonCore@Auxiira@Iggy@Blues@Paracosm@Sparkle@FireFox@Dakushau • @AlexSushiDog • @wizkid515@yubbies21@PiesAreSquared@FatCowsSis@CelticaNoir@BenFranks@TimmyJake@whitewolfpuppy@WallFlower@Magenta@BrittanyNicole@GoldFlame@Messenger@ThereseCricket@TriSARAHtops • @buggiedude2340• @AdrianMoon • @WillowPaw1@Laure@TakeThatYouFiend@dragonlily@Cheetah@NicoleBri@Pompadour@Zontafer@QueenOfWords@Crimsona • @DeeDemesne • @vluvswriting@GreenTulip@Audy@EllaBliss@Isha@Deanie@lostthought@CesareBorgia@Omni • @magpie • @AfterTheStorm • @AstralHunter • @Autumns • @Wolfie36 • @Pamplemousse • @Ecirahs • @gia2505 • @BiscuitsBatchAvoy • @Zhia • @Noelle • @Lylas • @Tortwag • @kingofeli • @Wolfare1 • @malachitear@GeeLyria • @KatyaElefant


Do you, too, want to be enspoiler-ed and receive a personal weekly notification when the Squills newsletter is posted? Shoot a PM over to SquillsBot to let him know, and you'll be pinged along with the next issue!








"I never expected that I should be a queen so soon."
— Alice's Adventures in Wonderland