Fiction

House of Dragon, S3, yawn
Game of Thrones was an enthralling HBO series with characters you grew to love, only to have the writers kill them off. I gasped aloud when Ned Stark was beheaded. His daughter, Arya, was a fighter and survived many challenges. Cersei was so evil I wanted to strangle her and her horrid son myself. She was so cruel and cunning, yet I felt sorry for her during her naked walk of shame. Tyrion Lannister was always fun to watch and see the scheming he did. Cersei was cruel to him, her brother.
By Andrea Corwin 2 months ago in Critique
Twilight should have died faster than it grew. . Honorable Mention in The Most Overrated Challenge.
Twilight was huge when it came out, with the first movie hitting the big screen in 2008 and the book hitting the shelves in 2005.
By Jen Phillips2 months ago in Critique
No Redemption for Andy Dufresne
The Shawshank Redemption is one of those films that sits comfortably in the upper echelons of the movie talkie colour picture. It's become shorthand for the greatest film ever made—or GOAT, as the kids insist on calling it.
By Paul Stewart2 months ago in Critique
Attack on Titan: The Masterpiece That May Have Outgrown Its Own Story
Few anime have created expectations as enormous as Attack on Titan. When the series began, its premise was almost brutally simple: humanity lives behind enormous walls, terrified of giant humanoid creatures called Titans. People are dying, the world seems hopeless, and a young boy named Eren Yeager dreams of freedom beyond the walls.
By Takashi Nagaya2 months ago in Critique
Disney Is Why You’re Sad. Content Warning.
I have come to the conclusion that Disney is overrated. I realize this is dangerous territory. Americans will tolerate criticism of their government, their religion, possibly even their mothers, but tell them The Little Mermaid might not be the pinnacle of children’s storytelling and suddenly you’ve gone too far.
By Jesse Lee2 months ago in Critique
The Seduction of Surrender in Twilight
At first glance, the Twilight series appears to offer many readers a compelling fantasy of desire, protection, and romantic closeness. Yet it is precisely the force of that fantasy that makes the novel's ideological implications so troubling. Edward's habit of watching Bella while she sleeps, following her movements, and making decisions about her safety is repeatedly framed as romantic protection rather than invasive control. In doing so, Twilight does not merely depict surveillance, control, and female submission; it reframes these dynamics as evidence of devotion, obscuring the signs of an unequal and potentially harmful relationship.
By Sarah Xenos2 months ago in Critique
Gay Love Through the Female Gaze. Winner in The Most Overrated Challenge.
As someone currently writing an MM (male/male romantic pairing) hockey romance set in an American university, Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid had been recommended to me by a lot of people - fellow authors, fans of the books and fans of the new HBO adaptation.
By Ted Ryan3 months ago in Critique
An Archaeologist's Review of Nolan's Odyssey. Top Story - August 2026.
As any archaeologist or historian will tell you, don't study our field unless you want to be angry or disappointed all the time. This joke is largely pointed to films, novels, and video games, all of which those of us in these professions still enjoy despite our seemingly contradictory reservations. The method most of us use is simple: we separate our acknowledgement of its value as entertainment from its historical or literary accuracy. As such, this is how I will structure my review in order to maintain fairness to Christopher Nolan and the entire cast and crew of his 2026 adaptation of Homer's Odyssey.
By Ian Read3 months ago in Critique
I've written a novella!
I've accidentally written a novella. Let me explain. I wanted to write a serialised story. Vocal lends itself to this very well with the way that you can publish instantaneously and my idea was to write a seven part story, releasing a new part every day over a week so that there was no delay between chapters and the momentum was always there. It seemed like a good length.
By Rachel Deeming3 months ago in Critique
The Terrarium at 11 PM
I was about to pick the mealworm out with my tweezers when it crawled right between the spider’s two front legs. The spider arched up, lifted its whole body off the substrate, let the worm pass underneath and out the back, then settled back down. About half a minute later, it suddenly turned around and grabbed the worm by the head.
By Jin3 months ago in Critique
Table Scraps #1: The Unmoored
I don't know about you all, but I got a couple pages of drafts sitting in my Vocal stories, and they've been sitting there for varying lengths of time...some even for multiple years.
By Amanda Starks3 months ago in Critique
The Messenger
The messenger’s name was Oren Redwood, and he had outlived both his wives, three horses, and the better part of his own conscience.
By Stephanie Wright3 months ago in Critique