Young Writers Society

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!




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.

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

1. NAPO THREAD HIGHLIGHTS
2. NEW ARRIVALS
3. STORYBOOK UPDATE
4. THE EPICS: SONG OF MYSELF 2, WALT WHITMAN
5. MARMS’ VIEW: REQUIEM
6. ANIME MANIAC HOUR: YU YU HAKUSHO
7. WORD OF THE WEEK: DESULTORY
8. WORD SEARCH
9. SHAMELESS PLUGS
10. SUBSCRIBERS

NAPO THREAD HIGHLIGHTS

written by alliyah < PM: >

We're on the home-stretch for NaPo with less than ten days before the end the April. But the NaPo threads are still going strong, and we have another round of highlights. To read the full poems and all the lovely NaPo threads follow this link: NaPo Threads.

and our shattered gazes
finally meet across the
precipice of goodbyes

@killeham "winter arrived"

i seem to lose days faster
when i hold them too close
to my chest
i'm afraid i accidentally breathe them into these lungs

@metrophobia "thirteen"

the soft whisper of their wings
mixing with the dancing of the leaves above
the very air tastes of magic and mystery
of joy and laughter and childish curiosity

@TheBlueCat "butterfly forest"





@BlueAfrica "I miss the birds in winter"

I've never known the nature of things,
only of you and I.
The words we spin like spider-silk,
the expectations we defy.

@Querencia "solivagant xviii"

i cut my teeth on metal flowers,
spitting out my memory of you.

@Evander "not a living meadow"




@soundofmind "nineteen"

So forgive me the dampness of my words
As they come stumbling from heavy tongue
My lungs are learning to carry the weight of air

@RoseAndThorn "VIII"

And those are your highlights for the week! Don't miss the rest of the lovely NaPo poems that will be coming out in the last week of April, and remember if you see the tag "Comments Welcome" be sure to leave your thoughts and encouragement to the writers and let them know what you're thinking.

NEW ARRIVALS

written by ShadowVyper < PM: >

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

@MasterAvi jumped right into the spirit of YWS by posting their first work! They also made good use of the WRFF thread, requesting reviews of their very first posted work The Running Man: Introduction and Chapter 1
Go show it some love!

@splatteringskelton21 is already proving to be an active member of community by contributing reviews! Drop by their wall to welcome them to the site, and keep an eye out for when they post a work, so you can return the favor!

@BagelMarie is the new name of an old friend, who dropped by the Welcome Mat to announce their recent return to YWS after a bit of a hiatus. They returned strong and have already belted out several reviews, leaving them only a few reviews short of their first star already!

@IacanusNegraeus jumped right into being an active participant around the forums. From posting on threads in Serious Discussions and Debate, to checking out needs in the Writer’s Corner, to discussing Dungeons & Dragons Shenanigans, this user is digging deep into the community. Be sure to give them a hearty welcome if you see them around!

@GER @HnM @WriterGina and @TheMaskedAstro all started off their time as a member of our community by contributing reviews. Be sure that you thank them for their help, and offer to return it when they post works of their own!

STORYBOOK UPDATEwritten by Kanome < PM: >

There is a time where someone would create a storybook but it would be overlooked. Certain storybooks may have an interesting plot, but no one doesn’t seem to join. Why is that, you might ask? Maybe it’s just the overlooking, or maybe no one has never pointed out how great the storybook is. You never know. Ask yourself: What is a storybook? Storybooks are a detailed collaborative way of roleplaying with your fellow members. Here are some of the storybooks you can consider joining if you’re into roleplaying.

Black Flags and Blue Waters by @Vellichor
If you’re into pirates and a little pinch of history, this is the storybook for you. This speaks about the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, where pirates come into play. There is also a few other groups of sailors which involves the British Royal Navy, the Spanish Navy, and Privateers. The storyline is basically where you live your life in one of these groups, going through the changes after the war. Seems pretty amazing, right? Pirates have that effect on you. If you want to earn some booty, come sign up for the crew! It is currently accepting members at this time.

The Marauder Era by @Desdemona
If you enjoy some little magic and fantasy, this is the place for you. This storybook follows the world of Harry Potter, before the trio came to be. You can explore the characters such as Albus or Snape and develop their character and personality in your own way, and one of the best things about it is that the setting takes place with the characters in Hogwarts as students. As a Harry Potter fan, I find this idea simply amazing and unique in its own way. It is currently accepting members at this time. Come join and explore magic!

The Frozen Falls by @ScarlettFire
Even though I mentioned this storybook in a previous article, it is still accepting members at this time. To recap, seven people from seven bloodlines must come together to steal an object from a royal palace. The group’s goal is to take the object back to where it was originally created. It is still an interesting plot up to this day, consider joining!

Martin Luther University by @Nike
Do you enjoy a little of slice of life? How about joining this storybook? You are basically a college student where you join a sorority, a fraternity, or a fratority. Do you want to live the life of a college student? This is the place for you! It is accepting members at this time!

For the creators of the storybooks, you can set up challenges for the participants once you get started posting. Simply go to Storybook Badges & Challenges to read the guidelines on how to set up the challenges and how the participants can earn badges. For new members who enjoy roleplaying or just simply new to the site, there are rules and guidelines to follow when joining a storybook, simply go to Storybook Rules & Resources before you join a storybook.

There are some more storybooks that are still accepting members. The ones listed are just a few that have been overlooked for quite some time. All the plots are interesting, and possibly worth joining too! So if you are a member who enjoys roleplaying or just want to try something new, simply check these storybooks out! Hope you have fun!

THE EPICS: SONG OF MYSELF 2, WALT WHITMANwritten by Aley < PM: >

In the second edition of The Epics, we're dealing with the second part of this amazingly long epic. The first portion talked about what this poem was going to be about, basically a diary of his thoughts and ideas. Here's the second part!

2

Houses and rooms are full of perfumes, the shelves are crowded with perfumes,
I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it,
The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.

The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the distillation, it is odorless,
It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it,
I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked,
I am mad for it to be in contact with me.

The smoke of my own breath,
Echoes, ripples, buzz’d whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine,
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the passing of blood and air through my lungs,
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and dark-color’d sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn,
The sound of the belch’d words of my voice loos’d to the eddies of the wind,
A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms,
The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag,
The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the fields and hill-sides,
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun.

Have you reckon’d a thousand acres much? have you reckon’d the earth much?
Have you practis’d so long to learn to read?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,)
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.

Questions

What do you think he's talking about?

Where can you see this going in the future? [what sort of poems do you think will come next?]

Do you think he's talking metaphysically the whole time or just part of it or none of it?

Analysis

Well. I feel like this poem has two sides to it. It definitely has a turn. In this particular section we feel the flip when we are addressed directly with "have you reckon'd a thousand acres much?" and even more directly when he talks about analyzing a poem, like I'm doing now.

To me, this part of the poem is really asking the reader to stop reading poems and just go experience them. With Whitman this really makes sense because he's so about the transcendental way of life. He wants people to experience life in the barest sense, being among life to experience it every second of the day. That really hurt him in the end with the civil war at the end of his life. Here, we have a much younger version than the one who wrote about the war, someone who is still enamored with all that life has to offer.

When he's talking about nudity in this poem, he could be talking about actually being naked, or he could be talking about spiritually bared to nature, accepting everything you see and feel, opening up your senses to experience the world. It's really up to your interpretation. Personally, I like to think about it as a nudity of the soul, or senses in this poem because if you don't, things get really awkward since he talks about other people in here.

Another thing that's kind of interesting about this piece is that we get the first sense that he's going to be handling things of a sexual nature in these poems. Some of these poems get somewhat explicit, so I'm going to be adding warnings at the beginning of these sometimes. I have yet to run across a "stanza" that is actually explicit, but he talks about desiring men sometimes in a sexual way. There is also some areas of this poem which sound incredibly racist in today's age. Fair warning as we go into part three next week!

MARMS’ VIEW: REQUIEMwritten by marms
< PM: >

Welcome to my new column! In the past you’ve seen some rare book reviews and opinionated articles from me, but I really want to start doing them more often. Whenever I have thoughts on a T.V. show or movie I’ve seen or a book I’ve read, I’m going to write an article on it, sharing my thoughts.

In two days I binge-watched one of best T.V. shows I’ve ever seen. It’s a Netflix original, titled Requiem. If you love scary mysteries with a pinch of witchcraft in the mix, this is the show for you!

The story follows a young cellist named Matilda Gray (Lydia Wilson). In the first episode, Matilda’s mother commits suicide. A few days after the scarring event, Matilda goes back to her mother’s house and finds a box she’s never seen before. Matilda lifts off the lid, inside the box are newspaper clippings about a little girl who went missing twenty years ago from a small Welsh town. Confused by this finding and grieving from the loss of her mother, Matilda confides in her friend Hal (Joel Fry), who suggests that they visit this town to hopefully ease Matilda's mind and, possibly, find out more information on why her mother kept these clippings. While in this town, however, Matilda causes disturbances among the townspeople who aren’t fond of her prying and, after learning more information on this missing child’s case, Matilda starts to question her identity. It’s a thrilling story that plays out in only six episodes. The cast includes Brendan Coyle as a retired detective, Sian Reese-Williams as a barmaid, Tara Fitzgerald as an antique dealer, and so many more great actors!

The following paragraph contains spoilers:

I don’t have much to critique on this show since I loved it so much, besides the fact that it was only six episodes. Sadly, through all my frantic google searches once the final credits rolled, I didn’t see much news on a season two. Though, the creator and writer of Requiem, Kris Mrksa, stated that he left some dangling threads. I really want a season two so that we can see more of Hal’s story and what happened to him in the forest. I mean, all we saw was him completely naked, eating a sheep with his bare hands in the middle of a shepherd's field, but we never got much information what really happened to him to get him into that state. I’m also super curious about the ending. The angel possessed Matilda and kills four of the five cult members and I wonder which one the angel spared. We know that Kendrick (Brendan Coyle) is dead because we can see his arm sticking out of the dirt, but other than that we are left in the dark. I think either Hilary (Tara Fitzgerald) or Nick (James Frecheville) we spared but that’s just pure speculation. Hopefully there’s a season two so we get answers and more of this story because six episodes was not nearly enough!

Overall I really recommend this story. It’s an amazing mystery and while it’s scary at times, I think almost everyone would enjoy it. You don’t want to miss out on this story―plus if you watch it we can talk about it together!

ANIME MANIAC HOUR: YU YU HAKUSHOwritten by Kanome < PM: >

Welcome back to another Anime Maniac Hour where I will be discussing something that I have recently started reading. I have been told numerous times to read or watch this because of its characters’ developments and plot itself. I finally got around to it, and to be frank, it’s not that bad of a read. Today, I am going to be reviewing the first volume of Yu Yu Hakusho!

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Basically, from the what I got from the first volume, the story was about a boy who died from saving another. He was told by ‘death’ itself that it was not his time, therefore, must overcome a trial to come back to life or ‘revival’. Not a bad start to the storyline I must say. During this first volume, you get to learn a little more about the main character, which they explain how is mother is and you learn more about the bond between him and his childhood friend. You also learn more about the main character’s personality. In the beginning, he comes off as a delinquent and dangerous, only to find out that he is actually kind around others and that he cares for people in his own way. The development of each character so far is going at a steady pace, and I love learning little by little about each character's’ backstory.

OVERALL OPINION ON THE MANGA

Overall, I personally enjoyed the manga. It was definitely something new. I never read anything like this before, so it was refreshing to read. I enjoyed the aspect of all the characters and the storyline itself. I will be continuing my read in the future. I don’t really have much to say on the first volume, because y’know, it’s the first volume of the series. I would like to thank @Aley for recommending such a great series to me. I love it and will possibly enjoy the series more in the future.

WORD OF THE WEEK: DESULTORYwritten by marms
< PM: >

Pronunciation: des·ul·to·ry

Part of Speech: adjective

Definition: lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm.

Synonyms: half-hearted, lukewarm, aimless, unmethodical

Origin: Desultory literally means “skipping around.” It comes from the late 16th century from the Latin word ‘desultorius’ meaning ‘superficial’.

Used in a Quote: “My father died shortly after I was twenty-one; and being left well off, and having a taste for travel and adventure, I resigned, for a time, all pursuit of the almighty dollar, and became a desultory wanderer over the face of the earth.” ― English novelist, playwright, and poet, Edward Bulwer-lytton

WORD SEARCH written by killeham< PM: >

Hello everyone and welcome to the weekly word search!



I hope you have fun and feel free to send in your completed searches!

For future reference, if you have any themes you’d like to see, please send me your ideas! I want you lovely readers to enjoy doing these searches, so by all means, give some advice on what you’d be more willing to complete! Thanks!

That’s all for now, folks! Be sure to finish the searches, since there might be something waiting in your PMs. Until next time!

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >
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