/lit/ - Literature

based and &amp-pilled

ahhh!! very nice!!

Kino
>KINO
Kino
>KINO
Kino
>KINO

>>22122560
Thank you editors for your tireless work. This new issue looks lovely.

>>22122560
Nice

Nice. I see my story didn't make it but my poem did. I'll take it. Gonna go to the bar now and read this on my phone while getting drunk.

Join the official &amp discord to chat with &amp contributors and help with new issues (and talk shit about Gardner)

https://discord.gg/NxGAK6Dz

>>22122640
Watcha drinkin?

>>22122705
Tuborg Classic

Why the fuck did editorsama allow the Unrealcucks to send in an ad for their genreslop? &amp is better than this

>>22122755
Seethe/cope

>we must come together against Frank Gardner!
>Frank hacks the website and doxes half of the readers before the issue is even up
How's that little rebellion going guys?
The poem by Korwil Korczak was the best piece.

>>22122797
The “hack” seems like it was a psyop by editorsama

>>22122797
>the internet battles are real in my head
Not even memeing, seek help

>>22122797
We are winning

>>22122797
It does turn the whole call to arms into a big wet fart doesn't it?

>>22122803
>>22122802
>it was fake
Not him, but I might have believed that before Frank (or whoever it is) started posting IPs.

>>22122819
There was no hack, it was a false flag for editor-kun turning us against Gardner

Husky Mutt Puppy was great. I think he could have trimmed it back like 15% and made it a bit punchier (after girl scouts are mentioned seems to he the area to trim) but overall I loved the setup and the character voice was great. Bitch mother got what she deserved too.

Back to work but will review more when I can.

>>22122797
I liked that poem too

>>22122832
Anyone can post a random string of numbers and claim it’s an IP address you retard

>>22122560
Huge shoutout to the editors putting this together. Feels like one of the few genuinely cool counter cultural products to come out in recent memory.

>>22122797
If I have to chose between F.Gardner and a guy who beats up women, I'm picking Gardner every time.

>>22122914
Cringe as fuck, onions opinion

>>22122921
This bro! Beating up woman is BAZED as all fuck my fellow /lit/izen!

>>22122914
Who beats up women?

Faith restored.
I will now write my submission for 018. Many thanks Editor sama and Z.A.

>>22122930
>why yes, I beat up women

>>22122930
KR Hartley the gigachad &amp editor

>>22122560
>The climax was invented as a reflection of the male ejaculated. It's kind of gay when you think about it.
I will now buy your book.

The 'mixtape hyperborea' chapter is really superb. One of the best things I've read in &amp.

>>22123047
I feel pretty good to read the novels coming out in the past few years from /lit/. Mixtape is easily the funniest.
Billard

>>22122797
It's very clearly a burning of the reichstag by Editor ryan. Can't believe so many dumbasses got filtered

>>22123010
Was this from the Mixtape story?

>>22123147
The interview at the end. I was already planning on getting the novel anyways

>>22123068
Even if that was true, it clearly failed.
There isn't a single person on /lit/ with a genuine hatred of Gardner outside of the Unreal guys, and the only reason they hate Gardner is because he refused to work with them. You're not going to start a movement by seething about Frank.

>>22123198
>There isn't a single person on /lit/ with a genuine hatred of Gardner outside of the Unreal guys
KEK, it’s a testament to your stupidity that you actually believe this Frank. We all hate you, and from that screen cap it looks like the unreal guys might have been the only people to even consider tolerating you and look where it got them.
Keep seething, Frank. If you want evidence about how everyone feels about you just make another shill thread and watch the hatred roll in. Knowing that these guys make you so mad is going to convince me to actually buy their books.

>>22123198
Gardner went on a manic doxing spree when Unreal memoryholed their interview of him. He only refused to work with &amp after Ryan talked shit about him on groomercord, before he messaged a bunch of people on Ryan’s social media claiming he’s a racist.

>>22123198
Tales had nothing to do with Gardner. We picked the horror theme for Unreal Anthology 4 and then picked Weird Tales for the aesthetic since the unreal guys were all reading Clark Asthon Smith at the time.
We attempted to collab with Gardner 3 times. Once in 2021 with our first release, again in 2022 on Podcast episode one, and then once more with a second podcast episode before everyone quit.

I'm so excited bros - I didn't realise the last issue was only early this year. It honestly feels like so long. NEVER STOP! going to read now and I will felate the works I enjoy.

>>22123223
Frank is regularly one of the top selling /lit/ authors. Frank is so popular, in fact, that Zulu stopped doing the /wg/ top 10 list because he was tired of putting multiple of Frank's books in there each week while never being able to include his own. Unreal wasn't "tolerating" Frank. They were trying to use him and his relative fame to prop up their own garbage. Gardner, was thankfully smart enough to see through it though.
No one actually hates Frank. They buy his books in droves and everyone who isn't being bought seethes about it. If you want to be part of that crowd, then go ahead.

>>22123233
So Ogden is lying here? What is his motivation for doing so?

>>22123242
>Nuh-uh! I’m actually super popular!! Everyone loves me!!
You’re a pathetic fuck, you’re just fortunate your brain is too small to process shame and humiliation otherwise you’d have necked a long time ago. Lucky for the rest of us you’re also too stupid to realize that the screen caps you post make clear that you’re just a whiny brat, so go ahead and keep posting.

>>22123251
You are clearly upset. Just admit that you wanted Frank to prop you up but he said no. You'll feel better if you do. You shouldn't let that bubble up inside of you.

>>22123242
He's not lying at all, just misinformed. Tales was developed by 2 dudes underneath the Main project which was Unreal Anthology 3. It had been in development since October but the general public wasn't shown anything about it until a month before release. We did, as i said, talk about Collabing with Gardner on an anthology and given the camp nature of Tales it's not surprising that he would conclude Tales was an extension of that project.

Zulu stopped making the top ten because he got a full time job to feed and house himself. Frank usually had one book at most in the top ten, not that it matters given the scale we're dealing with, whenever he had a new release it would be in the top ten for 1-2 weeks. The Top Ten was a great effort in building some sort of culture out of /lit/ authors but his efforts are really wasted here.

>>22123242
Spamming =/= popularity

>>22122560

I am the only person in the world who matters, and I don't care. Therefore, logically, it is true to say that no one who matters cares. Also true for that other one, you know the one. Its name honestly escapes me at the moment which is good because this helps my "I don't think about you at all" attitude despite writing this.

>>22123260
So you did offer to make a "Gardner presents:" anthology and he refused? And now you hate him? And those two things aren't related at all?
Sure..

>Zulu stopped making the top ten because he got a full time job
It takes 10 minutes to check amazon ratings and throw them into MSpaint. He wasn't so overworked with his full time Doordash job that he couldn't do that. He quit after he realized he was going to have to throw one together that had 7 Gardner books in the top 10 and then another where it had 5 the next week. I'm in your discord. I know what's happening.

>>22123262
It's not Gardner spamming. It's people who like him. I know people liking you is a foreign concept to you, but it isn't to Frank.

>>22123242
>No one actually hates Frank

Editor-anon does.

>>22123289
>it’s not me— I mean, Frank
Again, you are too stupid to manage this Frank. It is obvious to everyone but you because the rest of us don’t have double digit IQ.

>>22123300
>because the rest of us don’t have double digit IQ.
Then why does practically everyone at Unreal have a crappy minimum wage service jobs? Are you all underachieving 140iq outliers? Maybe you're just stupid..

>>22123292
Holy fucking based.

>>22123289
Idk why you connected the two incidents. Gardner said no to a collab two years ago and he was still considered an unreal bro a year later when we interviewed him so obviously your chronology is wanton. You're just trying to shift the narrative given that your attempt to pit me against Ogden or stir up more drama fell flat. Whoever you are.

>>22123301
What jobs have you held, Frank? Being daddy’s favorite doesn’t count

>>22123289
Also, Zulu was begging someone else to take up the top ten mantle for the last month of the series. He was burnt out in addition to having a new set of responsibilities thrust on him. I know you'd like a more grand narrative to form out of this but believe it or not when the potential rewards are this low and the effort required is this high people tend to get bored rather easily.

>>22123312
>Being daddy’s favorite doesn’t count
Another job outside your reach Rhyme? Surely mommy will love you forever right? Your time mooching off of her doesn't have a deadline right? Right..?

>>22123319
>the effort required is this high
Once again, ten minutes of light effort while you watch YouTube in the background. Not a big ask, even if you do need to cut it short sometimes to deliver someone's McDonald's.
He dropped it because he realized that by promoting /lit/'s most popular he was promoting mostly Gardner.
Come up with another excuse. Maybe someone will believe you.

>>22123336
So no jobs then? Not a single one? Not surprising at all.
Keep crying. Not even your daddy can undo being a fuck up for over thirty years

>>22123336
The guy you called rhyme isn’t rhyme, I am. You don’t seem to understand that the top ten wasn’t a service he owed you. It was a curious side project that other people came to enjoy. He was bored of it, nobody picked it up. Why don’t you take up the mantle if it’s so trivial? Clearly you care about it. Zulu was one of the rare few who didn’t dislike Gard, by maligning him you’re harming F’s reputation. Zulu’s top ten was a great source of gratification for us so obviously we were sad to see it go.

The general obsession with me in these threads is flattering but you should know that I’m never the person you’re talking to. This is the first thread I’ve commented on since ~may 6. Congrats on issue 17, editor.

>>22123374
You're a liar. I've seen what Zulu has written about F.Gardner. He seethes about him as much as you do.

>>22123380
Everyone hates you Frank. No one has anything nice to say about you because there is truly not a single good thing about you. Get it through your fucking head and chase it with a bullet

>>22123386
Then why do his books sell so much more than yours do? Hmmm? Why did you try so hard to grab his coattails? Why are you so mad that he's not paying attention to you? That's what this is right? An attempt to get Franks attention? Maybe you can kiss and make up and he'll throw his name onto your next slop?

>>22123386
>>22123404
I assume this is one dude talking to himself but before I go I will say that the only begging happening on this board has been Frank begging for his podcast interview to go back up. Literally had people texting me saying F is looking for you. It’s gone, Frank. Don’t buy views next time.

>>22123404
>my books sell more
>Amazon sales ranking is over 1 million
It’s pathetic you even think of it in these terms. Your positive reviews were all paid for by your father, I can only assume your family are the only people buying copies because they feel bad for you.
Besides, you’ve spent years of your life shilling here and everyone here hates you and your worthless scrawling. The writers you think are jealous are actually credible despite all the horrid shit you’ve dropped and poor reputation you’ve set for self-published authors. You are a complete blemish, and you should be thanking all those authors for undoing much of the harm you’ve caused. But again, this is reasoning far outside your capability to think

>>22123292
>calls Frank a fake Nazi as an insult
>mad when people point out that he's a virulent racist
Editor has some issues.

>>22123408
Not a samefag. You’re witnessing a real live Frank and the outside world interaction

>>22123412
This is just more whining. I'll make you a deal. Buy 500 copies of Frank's books and he'll put his name on your text abortion. Deal?

>>22123415
when did editorsama ever say anything racist? wasn’t his old GF black? doubt he would date her if he was a virulent racist like you claim

>>22123433
Never ask a white supremacist the race of his girlfriend.

More discussion of the new fascicle please.

>>22123442
This one feels real. I don't know. Quality stories, interviews, editor input. Only thing missing is a review section and letters to the editor. I love this issue and have a great feeling about &amp's future.

>>22123507
Based &amp enjoyer

>>22122560
No Adonis Has Come to Stay was pretty enjoyable for its length. Not sure it was as deep as the author wanted it to be but there were lots of great moments.

>>22123442
the ad thing before Husky puppy is pretty nice, I respect it. And the picture of the girl's belly got me going. The poem about snow was pretty cute. Korczak's poem Statistics is alright. Schizo cantos were my favorite, it was a fun read. I couldn't see through what he meant if he did sincerely mean there's a meaning to what he wrote.

The Complete Works of God II had nice formatting, but I found the degree of repeating redundant phrases to be too obnoxious, and for all of the cool words we also get words like "bongo" and "beaver." I suppose some of this is supposed to sound funny, and the some of the later sections made me chuckle. But other than that, God II was definitely a creative way to re-imagine the world and the foot notes give an added layer to it. The tirades after felt tacked on. Not sure how to feel about the Post-Irony section, but the reaction to Post-Modernism, whether it's New Sincerity or otherwise, feels so murky right now. Praying that anons can make something else soon.

The Husky Puppy story is crazy and not at all what I expected. Is it a monkey paw situation? This kid didn't deserve Robert Falcon Scott.
I liked the style in Waltzing Elephants, but maybe I just need another a more clear mind to really understand what was going on, but there narrative felt pretty smart.
I wrote On American Psycho so I will just leave those comments to someone else. That one was waiting in the wings a long time.
I remember seeing anon post the Fantasist's Grindset in the thread before. As much as /lit/ pokes fun at Sanderson and fantasy writers this was pretty amusing. Has &amp done many stories about the writing process yet besides this one?

Still need to read "Adonis" and "Hell on Wheels." Gonna do that now.
Already read Mixtape Hyperborea last month—it's sick.

Is it crazy that I’m feeling nostalgic right now? I guess &amp has only been around for a few years, but this feels like a blast from the past

>>22123888
It's good to be back.

Love this fucking magazine. We're so back bros. Catch me in 017.

>>22123943
I’ll be there with you. Cheers!

>>22123797
This guy gets it. Thank you, anon.

I will post some comment reviews later. I want to pick one of the stories to write a full review on and submit that to 017. I'm not sure which would work for it the best.

>>22124090
If you can figure out what Waltzing Elephants was about I think we'd all be grateful.

>>22122914
As much as I hate to admit it, you are right. It's fun to put Gardner down. He's a shit writer, he's never had a job, he blatantly shills his shit. All true, but he's never hit a woman.
Some of you might feel the need to look at this situation with 4chan goggles on, happy to throw your edgy opinions out like it being "Onions to not beat woman" but there's a reality to this that you incels don't have the life experience to appreciate. You don't know how much she was beaten or how severe this beating was. Did she need her jaw wired shut? Did she need surgery to put her eye socket back together? Did her parents see the aftermath? Where did she sleep the night after the beating?
None of you actually give a shit, not because you're edgy 4chan oldfags, but because you're looking to suck this guys dick so he'll put your work in his mag. It's shameless.

>>22124212
If I'd known all I had to do was suck the editor's dick to get my story published I never would've wasted time joking about domestic abuse anonymously.

>>22123797
>Schizo cantos were my favorite, it was a fun read. I couldn't see through what he meant if he did sincerely mean there's a meaning to what he wrote.
I promise, I swear, I pledge absolutely, there's a coherent point in here somewhere, but it may take many more installments and extensive meditation and possibly a near-death experience before you can find it. It's like explaining colors to the blind, but metaphysically maybe even worse.

I cannot wait until this weekend when I'm not drowning in work, so I can sit down with a big pot of tea and read this thing.
Bless you, editoranon.

>>22124275
I believe you. I have plenty of spiritual perception in regards to justification and conflict, but I'm thinking your writing comes from an angle I haven't looked at before. Difficult to correlate with ideas so the impression is strong in my head but not moving.

>>22124304
Just explain it

>>22124331
I'm not Hiero. I don't really want him to explain it as much as I want him to set me on the path. Discovery is one of the best parts of reading, I think we ought to have that, but the cantos are too opaque.

The picture of Atlas's timestamp felt a big reveal but I'm not versed in the drama lore to get its significance.

>>22124425
same

>>22124425
I thought this issue would have a whole breakdown of the facts.

Husky Mutt Puppy and Fantasist's Grindset are the quintessential spirit of the 4chan lucid shitpost - both bizarre and hilarious in all the right ways. Fantasist had me laughing out loud at the Sanderson tutorials, and I was actually frightened to go and do my laundry after Husky Mutt because I was imagining a giant tarantula downstairs. Both great stories with a lot of charisma

>>22123733
>>22124107
Halfway through and agree with these two.

Apparently they didn't even have a lot of submissions for this issue

>>22124925
It looks like they selected fewer but more longform pieces for this one, which is interesting.

>>22124925
Why was the submission deadline cut so soon, is it to get it over with ASAP to save &amp? I know people get discouraged if there's any kind of delay. I am trying my best to contribute. I hope there's a lot more coming because I recall a number of anons reacting to the call for 017 submissions since they missed the deadline for 016.
Also, more thoughts on the current issue would be nice. Going to read more of it today.

>>22124212
Kys Frank.
Only reason you’ve never beat a woman is because no woman on earth would ever bother speaking to you

>>22124925
then why is my story not published?? Few chapters worth of psychedelic content, my dream was periodical publication of short novel, like its XIX century. Either i really dont have any talent, or &amp is elitist and they only accept some muh pomo muh wordsalad, NYC hipster pieces

>>22124985
Editors said elsewhere they actually forgot to include a story they liked by accident so might have just been lost in shuffle so definitely resubmit for 017.

>>22124937
I think just eager to get going again. I'd guess the whole issue is comfortably north of 20k words so it's not barebones by any means.

I finished reading "No Adonis has Come to Stay" by Jack Norman. I'd say literary realism, lots of description and a theme that builds up in various ways. I get the feeling that the protagonist Paul Poer has a lot of anxiety about life, particularly in other living creatures. He is worried about world overpopulation. He's worried about wildlife, especially rats and possums. But he also sees how remarkably easy it is to get injured. People tolerate wounds and disease, lose their minds and die suddenly the way fumigated rats do, or a small dog snatched by a hawk. Paul is also worried about his own child who will be born soon. I am no so certain what all goes through Paul's head, but it seems to me he has to accept the fragility of his life and circumstances. Overall, pretty solid piece and explores a pretty common but intense anxiety about the desire to feel firmly planted in our lives. I think this Greek notion that a new season is always approaching is a mature one, and Paul has to realize he can only do so much to protect his family.

>>22125217
This shit reads like a high school book report nigga

>>22125237
Would it be better to just call it cool?

>>22125237
Dang it’s almost like reading and having critical thinking skills is fun

Thank you Atlas for baking sacred bread on our behalf. And thank you Alitspa for guiding us through heavy waters. And to all of &amp’s contributors, readers, and haters alike—without you, this wouldn’t be possible.
>>22124425
>>22124677
Checked. I asked a few people if they would write something concerning the entire affair but nobody was willing to, and I’m thankful for that now. >>22124937
Alitspa configured the deadlines based on his own strategic rationale, however yes, I believe it was responsible to call it. That way anons are more certain of what’s happening. Also I think we’ll send acceptance letters going forward.
>>22124985
Submit it again. Don’t give up
>>22124212
Frank, you’re under a hex. Nobody here beats up women. Everything was disclosed in Message in a Bottle but you don’t read.
>>22123241
>>22123507
Praise. Already mockingup templates for Seventeen. We ride.

>>22125360
Basado

>>22123797
complete works of god were cool to jump around in, too much to read all in one go

enjoyed and will read different parts of it later

Best of &amp ad looks kino. Is there a release date yet?

>>22124931
I think it would’ve been nice to have broken up the longer pieces with some shorter ones, because multiple long stories in one issue felt a bit overwhelming.

>>22124107
Idk man I just like Kipling

>>22122560
based as always, from start to finish*

*I'm just starting to read it right now but if any of the previous issues, none of which I've read in full btw, are any indication of this issue's quality, it's going to be based, start to finish

>>22125217
It is without a doubt the most traditional attempt at achieving something literary I have seen in &amp for a while. I actually think it succeeds, I agree with you there is definitely a lot of THEME spilling out everywhere, which gets a bit excessive at times, but otherwise it felt like a serious story with a message it understands and mostly great execution.

>>22125500
i thought that shit was cancelled desu

>>22125360
Where can we send in submissions for the next one?

>>22126083
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel

>>22126126
Which is?

>>22126219
admin@lampbylit.com

>>22126083
>>22126219
>admin@LampByLit.com
>https://lampbylit.com/magazine/submit/
admin@LampByLit.com
https://lampbylit.com/magazine/submit/
>admin@LampByLit.com
>https://lampbylit.com/magazine/submit/
admin@LampByLit.com
https://lampbylit.com/magazine/submit/

>>22126382
bitch has corpse eyes and shrunken skull

>>22126388
both wrong

>>22126428
Bitch thinks it knows things.

>>22126436
No they’re right, but you can also use lamp.lit.magazine@gmail.com

>>22126428
That’s Frank.
>>22126436
>>22126456

>>22123374
If that’s really you, you should consider teaming with me for a podcast. You were good at it and I think it’s a good idea.

More reviews!

>>22126466
I hope somebody podcasts anything, I dont wanna listen to Brando's podcast anymore. I listen to silence when I commute. Please send help.

>>22125360
Is Atlas still involved in &amp? Weird

>>22126466
A Rhyme + KRH podcast would be bomb

>>22126644
Checked. Yes Atlas is cliqued up in the inner circle again. She did some design work for sixteen as well.

I just thought of a short story that involves a bulldozer. Ohhhhhhh man.

>>22126970
I wanna get all up in her inner circle if you know what I mean

>>22127035
More reviews.

>>22126970
surprised Ari is cool with that desu. but i look forward to reading more of her schizo rants in future issues

>>22123292
Someone post the text of this I wanna use it as a copypasta

>>22126974
Submit plot to Steal These Stories

>>22127229
Everybody has to be cool; my word was handed down. Best-of is in good hands.
>>22127316
>Block me then. You are a tiny and cursed mote on the eye of this entire movement, a hard and egregious splinter. Your inability to even acknowledge your transgression proves your inherent weakness. You are a fucking mosquito, whining in my ear, F Fucking Gardner, the undisputed compost pile of /lit/. Kill yourself lest I waste my prayers. Behold, you’re already buried at my feet. You are no longer in control now. I own you, little man. Please for the love of all that is true—die. Be away with your quickly shallow self. You are a waste of perfectly breathable air. You are sorry, poor of spirit, and grossly over-attended to, full of spite and dying slowly of sadness. Your slow passing won’t yet satisfy satan’s own desire for self-fulfillment—you’re over. You are mine. You dont even get kill yourself without my permission now. You reached your tiny yellow hands into the life of someone I love and for that I will see thoroughly to your end, you dead queer footprint of a former meme. I thought you were just a funny joke, but now you’ve galvanized yourself as the grim fantasy of my darkest sadistic wrath. Might I watch your life slip at the hands of some dystopian cartel from the comfort of my home theatre in the company of family. I will not stop pulling you from your skin until every single insect that crawls near this cess understands that to even be near your shadow means manifesting a curse so black that all that is final and finished results in pain and total torment.
>This is not ‘in minecraft’. Your actual life is nigh. There is no amount of regret that you could ever imagine to feign sufficient to unfuck what you’ve fucked—little, grim corpse. You are the worst and ultimately complete version of Hell’s model prisoner now.
>Death to you.

>>22127335
Gardener’s greatest literary contribution is inspiring this

>>22127329
I didn't know I could submit those, they aren't all editor's ideas? I might give it a shot. I think of ideas all the time. But honestly I will keep the bulldozer story for reasons.

How about this one:
>Someone with a scientific background must navigate past a body of liquid. Describe how this person analyzes the mysterious clear, colorless, odorless liquid without assuming it is pH 7 water. The twist: it's a super-saturated solution of a crystalline material in (solvent of your choice) that grows needle-like structures, and the moment a crystal seeds, the crystals crash out instantly, potentially destroying anything in their path.

>>22127335
>little, grim corpse
Possibly my favorite insult I've ever read

>>22122560
yall are some insane motherfuckers. kudos for pulling this together

bump

If I wrote an essay about Ru Paul's Drag Race would it get picked up do you think? Chuds would seethe but it's a great show.

>>22127972
KYS faggot

>>22127979
LMAO!

>>22127378
Praise where praise is due.

>>22127979
More reviews

>>22123435
This is true, my last ex was half Colombian and man am I not going back to (fully) white women.

>>22128000
mayonnaisesisters….it’s over

The essay about American Psycho was boring badly written trash. Should never have been published. Bineville’s story sucked too.

>>22122797
statistics was very good

Don’t be shy, cur. Say it in the thread.

Zulu did a decent job as editor for 016. I have some constructive criticism for him to take into consideration for 017:

If you’re going to include long submissions, it’s best to stick to only one really long submission per issue as a sort of “feature story.” This prevents the reader from getting overwhelmed or bogged down. And with long stories (5000+ words) the quality to quantity ratio really has to be there. A short story that’s mediocre or shitty can be easily skipped over or skimmed, but a lengthy story needs to be at least reasonably good to justify the amount of pages it uses. I thought that Adonis and Mixtape Hyperborea were both good enough to justify their length, but I think 016 would’ve been much stronger if Bineville’s novel excerpt had been omitted, because it was a tedious slog and actively detracted from the reading experience.

It might be a good idea to introduce a soft limit of 5000 words for future submissions, and to tell anons that they’re free to submit longer pieces if they want, but that there’s no guarantee those long submissions will be published if the quality isn’t there.

The ordering of 016 also seemed a little screwy. There was a big chunk in the middle with a bunch of stories in succession that was set up more like an anthology than a magazine. The order of the content needs to be more varied. Long submissions should be interspersed with shorter ones and pages of graphics/art/ads to create interest and improve readability. Some of the signature eclectic &amp feel was there, but it sort of missed the mark a bit.

My overall ratings of the pieces in 016:

Husky Mutt Puppy 8/10
No Adonis Has Come To Stay 6/10
Riddle of the Waltzing Elephants 3/10
On American Psycho 2/10
Blank Verse 5/10
Hell on Wheels 2/10
The Fantasists Grindset 6/10
Statistics 8/10
The Schizo Cantos 8/10
The Complete Works of God II 5/10
Mixtape Hyperborea 7/10

I’ll come back and provide more substantiative commentary on specific stories later.

>>22128469
Thank you based scoreanon

>>22122560
Wow. The devolution of Western Man in one sad pic.

>>22128469
What is a 10/10 short story? Canonical examples.

>>22128589
Joyce, a painful case

>>22128469
hi pup.

>>22128589
I agree with >>22128681, and would add on Joyce’s “Araby” and “The Dead.” Other writers who I would say wrote 10/10 short stories are Kafka, George Saunders, Sherwood Anderson, Raymond Carver, DFW, Gogol, Hemingway... there are more but those are the ones that I think of off the top of my head.

>>22128714
>oh what do I think a 10/10 story us? Ever heard of KAFKA and a few little known tales such as (insert most widely taught and celebrated stories in lit history)

>>22128589
The things they carried.

>>22125806
Agreed. Favorite of the issue.

>>22128791
You want a good short? my dick

>>22128809
The things they carried? my balls

>>22128409
He's 100% right.

>>22128409
People still use IRC?

>>22128791
I’m not sure why you think that this is some kind of gotcha. I never claimed that any of the writers I mentioned were obscure. Their work is renowned for a reason. To me, a 10/10 rating means that a story is so exceptionally good that it essentially cannot be improved upon, so of course I reserve that distinction for writers that l consider the best of the best. An 7/10 or 8/10 rating for an amateur writer’s work is very high praise, and I very rarely rate higher than that for works published in &amp. But if you want an example of a story published in &amp that would merit a higher rating, then I would say that “The Only Computer Crime…” from issue 011 is at least a 9.5/10, possibly even a 10/10.

>>22128836
lampbylit.com/elite

USERNAME: anon
PASSWORD: god

>>22128826
There are criticisms to be made of these threads, but his whole post reeks of seething resentment. If he thinks the &amp threads are a circlejerk then he should post in the thread and offer some harsh critiques to balance things out instead of bitching and giving vague criticism in the chat.

>>22128882
I wouldn't say that's overly vague. It's pretty obvious who he's talking about when he complains of "hopeless bums who cream their pants over typesetting" and how they will do so no matter the quality.
Like all /lit/ community creations, &amp is suffering from ball polishers doing everything in their power to latch onto the coattails. Look at you-know-who calling the editor a wife-beater earlier in the thread. A very specific group of people were very quick to jump to his defense, even shouting how cool he was for beating women. This isn't because they actually think it's cool to beat women, it's just that the editor had a blemish on his balls that they were all too happy buff out.

>>22128851
You sound a little underread to be trying your hand a goodreads ratings

>>22128851
I was the one yanking your chain but I actually agree with your point and appreciate the high bar you set to encourage growth. I look forward to your more detailed analysis though because I'm personally not a fan of number/star reviews

>>22128882
There is obviously some healthy criticism in the thread as well as some joy to have our homegrown mag up and running again - good. Some people just want to drama post though.

>>22128469
>>22128237
Finally noticed issue 16 is out and I come in seeing Hell on Wheels getting the business. Upset it’s getting such a low rating but I fully understand the slog point. I’ve got a real problem with letting stuff grow too long, could have split the story into two considering the scale. I’m going to try and correct the length of what I write going forward. I’ve trouble cutting material but I know it’s in me to keep scope more limited going in, which is more fair to the magazine. Next time I submit I’ll keep in short and sweet.

Speaking of short and sweet, Husky Mutt Puppy was an excellent read and a very good opener. The “these things happen” line literally picked my mood back up. Almost thought the boy might learn how to love the spider a little but no. Short and weird, something I feel I should take notes on.

>>22128920
The solution to ball polishers in the threads isn’t to bitch about them in the chat. It’s to post in the thread yourself, tell it like it is, and call out dicksucking and asskissing when you see it. Don’t just fuck off and abandon the &amp threads to hugbox fags and semi-literates.

On the anons jumping to editor’s defense, no one should praise anyone for beating women, and excusing someone’s bad behaviour simply because you admire their work is pathetic and fucked up. But to be fair, you-know-who’s initial accusation about beating women was clearly a bad-faith attempt to discredit the editor. If you read his account of it it doesn’t sound like he ever actually beat his girlfriend.

>We were doing drugs because were drug addicts and I tried to restrain her and she grabbed a sharp railing and cut herself. And we argued in our apartment building. And the cops were called. And she bled over everything. So when they showed up it looked like a ducking murder scene

None of us can know what actually happened because we weren’t there, so it’s possible that he could be lying to make himself look less culpable. But what he says seems believable enough, and it sounds like it was a mutually dysfunctional relationship in which there was fault on both sides. He behaved badly and showed poor judgement, but it doesn’t look like he’s a hardened woman-beater who intended to brutalize her. Anyway, the guy is far from perfect and clearly has his own issues, but that’s almost besides the point. You don’t have to admire his moral character and endorse all of his life choices to respect the work that he’s done on &amp.

>>22128920
>Like all /lit/ community creations, &amp is suffering from ball polishers doing everything in their power to latch onto the coattails.
This. These aspiring authors looking to network need to fuck off. Every critique is met with some disingenuous defense that is only meant as a big "fuck off" to anyone offering "dissent". It's all so self-serving and obvious.

>>22129042
>simply because you admire their work
It's not even that they admire the editor's work. It's that they admire what the editor can do for their career. Like >>22129048 said, it's all self serving, and that makes it even more nauseating.

>>22129048
>>22129065
>ball-polishing is bad, said the two ball-polishing faggots
Nothing is going to please you because you’re just bitter little faggots who would rather hate everything than enjoy anything. Release the world from the burden of your existence and delete system32.

>>22129074
>Every critique is met with some disingenuous defense that is only meant as a big "fuck off" to anyone offering "dissent".

>>22129074
>who would rather hate everything than enjoy anything.
I'm not going to enjoy you sucking farts for head pats. Go back to the discord you crawled out of.

>>22129086
Wow you can quote yourself! Good job! Any chance of actually confirming this against the posts in the thread, or are you just trying to get your balls nice and shiny so your little faggot friend can suck them again?

>>22129095
You’re not going to enjoy shit, you’re just angry anonymous poster #2947739283729. Cry all you want, it’s truly meaningless.

>>22129048
Yeah, the two-bit shills need to fuck off and stop dickriding. But a few losers don’t make the &ampthreads worthless. It’s best to either ignore them or offer counter arguments. If your arguments are well-reasoned and honest then they’ll speak for themselves, whereas the shills are incapable of saying anything of value and will always look like dishonest retards.

>>22129065
I agree that their behaviour is nauseating, but it should probably just be ignored. Realistically it doesn’t matter, because how would defending the editor anonymously even further their careers at all? &amp accepts basically anything anyway, and it’s not as though the editor would even know which submitters were defending him in the threads and be able to prioritize their work somehow.

>>22129098
>Any chance of actually confirming this against the posts in the thread
I think I'm done corralling you retards. I'll check back in a couple months to see if you've been lanced off by then.

>>22129108
>it’s not as though the editor would even know which submitters were defending him in the threads and be able to prioritize their work somehow.
The people doing this are new, and that newness seems to correlate to this recent discord business. I can almost guarantee you the editor knows who is polishing his balls, and if I'm correct in my assessment, that ball polishing got them a full page advertisement in this issue. You can't say it's not working.

>>22129117
>couple months
You’ll be monitoring this thread and all the following ones waiting for the right moment to talk pointless shit, you obvious fucking retard lol

>>22129130
I (Atlas) made the Tales of the Unreal advertisement and put it in 016—it was entirely my idea and had nothing to do with any ball polishing or Discord drama. I’m not affiliated with Unreal, nor am I in their Discord server anymore. I just thought that the Tales anthology was a cool idea and wanted to spread the word. The anthology really does have a few gems in it (as well as a lot of mediocre stories and some spectacularly shitty ones). And anyone can submit ads to &amp as far as I know. (Well, anyone but Gardner.)

>>22129173
you seem much less mentally disturbed now. glad to see it

>>22129173
While I don't know anything close to the full story, I know enough to know that were involved in the gay drama to some degree. If you say it had no bearing on the inclusion then I'll believe you fully, though I hope you understand why people would be quick to question you on that given Unreal's relationship with Ari.

i was overjoyed to see the cover for the best-of. can't wait.

>>22129214
Fair enough. I was just trying to make a few pages’ worth of filler content for 016 and had the idea for a Tales advertisement that I thought would look cool. The ad was a last minute addition to the issue, and it wasn’t included for any particular reason other than wanting to fill up the blank space. I understand why you might believe otherwise, but that’s the truth.

>>22129264
That’s not the official cover, to be clear. I’m not involved in choosing that and have no idea what it will look like. I just thought it might be nice to turn some of the old cover mock-ups into ads, since they turned out well and would otherwise just go to waste.

>>22129279
ah, i see. is the cover still being discussed? what direction do you think it will/ought to go?

>>22129304
I have no idea. I’m no longer involved in the project. All I was told is that it’s well underway and is supposed to release relatively soon.

>>22129315
>I’m no longer involved in the project.
shame

>>22129042
>We were doing drugs because were drug addicts and I tried to restrain her and she grabbed a sharp railing and cut herself. And we argued in our apartment building. And the cops were called. And she bled over everything. So when they showed up it looked like a ducking murder scene
To be fair, every domestic abuser has a story like this. Not to say Gardner is right here but I'm not gonna give the benefit of the doubt to a drug addict with a bloodied up girlfriend when his only excuse is a skidrow variation on the "she walked into a door" story.

>>22128469
Damn, I don't know if I should be ashamed or honored for being rated so low. Thanks for reading!

>>22129370
As I said, he could very well be lying to absolve himself, but no one will ever know the truth so there’s no real point in speculating. The bigger point here is that you-know-who isn’t genuinely concerned about any potential victims in this situation. He’s concern trolling and moralfagging in a sad attempt to discredit &amp and shill his own garbage books. I don’t support &amp because I think KRH is a great guy on a personal level. I support &amp because it’s the only half-good thing that /lit/ is putting out right now. What the editor did or didn’t do is almost a moot point and is really none of my business. He’ll face the consequences that the law deems necessary, my opinion of his life choices has no bearing on that.

>>22129438
Gardner shit aside, almost every single domestic abuse case is a he-said she-said scenario. The full story is never heard on either side. While I need to temper my judgement, I'm not going to withhold that judgement.
You may care more about 4chan's publishing industry than you do whether or not he beat her, but I don't. these 4chan projects are transient. They come and they go. If she was actually the victim of domestic abuse then that would be a defining moment in her life, and I don't think she'd appreciate you handwaving it away with "He sure does make a mean PDF though!"

>>22128469
Most the stories felt great for a "come back" issue. I agree with you about design overall. I think editors were a little excited to get it out.

>>22129489
>white knighting for some random bitch

go back to plebbit

>>22129489
So are you like one of those twitter users or something? What on earth are you talking about? I don't know these people. (YOU) don't know these people. Your judgement, withheld or otherwise, is completely irrelevant.

>>22129489
No one will ever have the objective facts about what happened and your judgement is irrelevant here. It’s not going to improve her situation or undo whatever was done. It’s not as though anyone on 4chan would’ve known about these events if he didn’t bring them up himself anyway. He had no need to come up with a cover story for /lit/ to excuse his girlfriend’s bloody hand, if he had some serious abuse to hide he could’ve just kept quiet about the whole thing. His version of events makes him look pretty bad anyway.

>>22129533
You're right, we don't know these people.
I don't know the editor enough to say that he 100% beat his girlfriend. My response is to make an educated guess based on his character and lifestyle.
You don't know the editor enough to say that he 100% didn't beat his girlfriend. your response is some halfhearted plea to the haziness of events and the value of objectivity. It's not that you don't care about whether or not she was beaten, it's that it would be inconvenient for you to care.
If our judgement, withheld or otherwise, was completely irrelevant then you wouldn't be jumping through hoops to justify your support for him.

>>22129315
>I’m no longer involved in the project

if you still were then it might of actually been finished by now

>>22129599
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............................................................

>>22129489
abusing women is a chad move. sometimes a bitch acts up and needs to get slapped

So now that the dust has settled, when is 017?

>>22129793
Never. Editorfag will prolly OD on crack and fentanyl before he can finish it

>>22129801
That's what you said about 015 and 016, doomposter.

>>22129793
I already made my submission.

>>22129315
I’m surprised Ari is even finishing it. Thought he’d fucked off

>>22129801
I’ve finished seething at you Frank. Now it’s your turn to give it a rest.

>>22128994
Maybe lay off the coke the next time you write. Besides that you're alright just keep it under 5 pages.

>>22129208
Looks like she finally got the white cock that she needed.

>>22129315
I was extremely burnt out for a while after I finished school and have lurked the chan for brief periods with only having made one submission to miniMAG that came out last month. Would be nice to hear about your exploits as well. I recently began a project and figured you might want to know what I'm doing.

Pic related, sort of

>>22129934
Who is this?

>>22129968
Go check last month's miniMAGs idiot.

>>22129968
Life is Elsewhere

>>22129993
Ah, okay. Glad you’ve been doing well.

>>22129998
Finished all the books I was loaned last year, 4 Kunderas and The Clown by Heinrich Böll; all quite entertaining. As of now I'm reading a history book on the early Ottoman Empire and have left my written project in the backburner while I (hopefully) manage to get the project I mentioned earlier off the ground and without too many rough edges. Send me a smoke signal sometime, friend

>>22129998
Charmed as always

>>22129934
Looks like Satantango

>>22130063
Hamvas influenced actually

>>22129998
>>22130034
Is &amp just a bunch of people who somehow know each other irl? Or were you online friends?

>>22126466
Yeah, that was me. Glad to see &amp is fully operational, cooking something to submit to issue 17. I’ve got all this equipment still but the unreal podcast genuinely ran its course and your interview was a perfect finale. I mean we did everybody on /lit/, right? Just missing a Waldun episode. But a new project with you and Zulu and Miles would be a great listen I think.

>>22130109
My body is ready for more /lit/.

>>22130092
That’s just what happens when you join a discord server and start working on projects together
>inb4 some faggot starts crying about discord trannies

>>22130169
I don't know any of the anons personally the way you might, but I do feel a sense of kinship with writers here. It's great to see people finish work and collaborate.

>>22122940
fuckin lord aris on lit?
PMAN0N

>>22130034
Good to hear about what you’ve been up to lately. I’m sorry for whatever weirdness you may have seen from me in the past few threads. I’ll send you a text sometime.

>>22130169
True, but that isn’t someone I know from Discord. He’s an IRL friend that I haven’t talked to in a while. I’ll leave it at that.

>>22130236
Weirdness? You? Naw. Look forward to talking :) still got that trained pigeon?

>>22129264
>>22129315
seriously, if it releases and they pull off a cool design it will be big success story.

>>22130214
Somebody shoot this guy.
And thanks.

>>22130299
it’s not gonna release dude, whatevs. editorman should just handle it

On American Pyscho seemed really lacking in focus and structure. A lot of its observations were very surface level, and some of the more interesting points, like Bateman's rhetoric and how he says crazy shit in the middle of his dialog and closes with innocuous statements, didn't adequately explore that idea after giving only one very long example. Also, if you're talking about the book, why even mention Christian Bale? It reads like a first draft.
>>22128994
Husky Mutt Puppy was short but packed with jokes. "These things happen" was probably the best line in the story. Your mom gets eaten by a giant spider and that's the best condolence the priest can give. Really? Do people get eaten by giant spiders often? It's like the priest does not give a fuck and just wanted to leave the funeral. I was cracking up.
>>22124107
Waltzing Elephants is a story about corporate espionage, political conspiracies, and the mainstream media of the US, and also bait and switch tactics. The story starts and ends as if we're going to read about some dark secrets about an oil company and its involvement with the government, but instead they only talk about meaningless dreams, like a politician ignoring an issue at hand and talking about anything else. It reminds me of when that tranny shot up an elementary school in Nashville earlier this year, and Joe Biden was supposed to address it, but he came out smiling and cracking jokes and talking about ice cream as the reporters laughed. So the story ends and we don't learn anything about these dark political secrets at all, because the meat of the story was a distraction from what the lobbyist or pundit should have actually talked about. Or maybe the elephants were just symbolic of Republicans enjoying life as the 1%. But I like my interpretation better. I think the story is better if its meaning is not just "grrr Republicans!"

The style wasn't really for me. It was so densely packed it never gave the reader breathing room.

>>22128469
I thought about No adonis, Schizo cantos, Husky Mutt, and Complete Works of God that I didn't really *get* them but in a way that means they are difficult and challenging stories instead of them being bad. I'm really surprised how good they were I read some of the old issues and was expecting something a lot different because they're not always great.

>>22130299
>>22130459
When I spoke to the editor earlier he said that he hasn’t heard anything about the best-of in a while, and that if he doesn’t get an update and an ETA from Ari soon then he’s going to use the list to take over the project himself and publish it rebranded as “&amp’s Greatest Hits.”

>>22130717
Good. We’ve been waiting long enough

>mfw reading Husky Mutt Puppy

Husky Mutt Puppy is beautiful, sublime derangement. It reminds me of these occasional dreams I have of walking up to my tarantula's terrarium only to find- not a Chilean rose- but a whole assortment of arthropodic nightmares in the form of head-sized spiders and scorpions with thick limbs and smooth carapaces in color palettes like royal blue and desaturated sunset. The longer I look, the more creatures I notice in the cage, the more disturbing they get, and the more an oppressive alien predatory presence fills the dreaming-air around me. Reading that story felt like the author and I had both tapped into the same weird part of the collective unconscious. The fantastical parts of the story were familiar in an unsettling way.
I hope to read and review everything else tomorrow, and I'm glad people seem to like the schizo cantos.

DOES Bineville do coke?

Thanks for the kind words on Statistics, frens. I have to say I've been struggling with my confidence lately (aren't we all?) and I appreciate it a lot. To the editor, I loved the formatting of my second piece at the end in particular. It was great seeing it sandwiched in the advertising section. I might do some more of those in the future.

I'm still reading everyone's work, but the schizo cantos stuck out to me in particular. There are some really talented people here, and it's really fun to be a part of this grand experiment. I don't want to wax too sentimental, but I've often thought that if there's one single place left that's got the requisite wackos to birth a genuinely new literary movement, it's probably 4chan. Thanks to everyone for their submissions, and to the editor for continuing to push the boulder up the hill. I look forward to finishing the entire issue.

>>22129048
>>22128920
...... this is an anonymous forum... you can say whatever you want. you can say the stories are shit and no one will ever know. how is it trying to ride coattails?> are you guys on the discord or something?

>>22131367
schizocrabs don't have to make sense
News at 11

>>22130717
based, editorman is gonna btfo Ari’s second grade word project and do a way better job

>>22130717
I don’t understand why it’s taken so long anyway, it was supposed to be finished 8 months ago

>>22131300
He sucks cock. Common misconception.

>>22131801
Might take another 8 years before someone here writes something worthy of being included in any publication's "best-of" edition.

>>22131801
it’s obviously just laziness. all he has to do is copy paste other people’s stories and do a little formatting. that shit couldn’t take more than a few hours.

>>22132046
A lot of time and energy was spent on the cover.

>>22123047
It felt like a collection of /v/ greentexts about sleeping over with other board's stories mixed in. Felt very zeitgeisty and one of us.
I really liked it.

Ari is still making progress on the &amp Best Of. We’re aiming for July.

>>22122560
Editor, will we get a submission deadline for 017?

>>22131367
It's not exactly anonymous though, is it? Multiple contributors have shown up in this thread to take credit for their work. A quick note on that: familiarity breeds contempt, scarcity breeds value. An unanswered question from an uninvolved third party about the meaning of your writing, if left hanging, will provoke far more interest in your work than even the most carefully-crafted banner ad or the subtlest shilling campaign. Curiosity, curiosity, and curiosity is what gets people interested.

"Why is &amp advertising Tales of the Unreal?" is a riddle that someone might want to solve, "because we needed filler" is a bit of an anticlimax.

>>22132759
>Why is &amp advertising Tales of the Unreal?
Because it’s a piece of writing produced by anons on this board and people like it. Your unnatural saltiness regarding this shows that you’re just a jealous faggot. What a way to be. Sad for you, desu

>>22132759
Editor cites Unreal as an inspiration.

>>22132770
>trevor fletch was driving home. it was his favorite type of afternoon: quiet, calm, and sunny. a perfect afternoon to live out in the country, he thought.
is this indicative of the quality of the rest of the collection? it'll be a hard pass from me. &amp may have some utter dreck, but it also has some genuinely brilliant, experimental, and unusual writing. i don't know why unreal would choose to lead the collection with that story, if it doesn't represent well the rest of the works.

>>22133052
>it'll be a hard pass from me
You say this like someone asked. You seem to be caught in this loop of not liking thing then obsessing about thing. Ever considered professional help?

>>22133070
>obsessing
huh? i literally just saw it namedropped right now and looked it up. i read the first page on amazon. in what way, exactly, is that being obsessed? it's really not that important to me, and the question was asked in good faith... fairly dismissively, granted, because of the quality of the passage quoted, but in good faith.

>>22133052
It's an anthology where one story is a 5/10 and the rest struggle to reach a 3/10. Pretty bog standard for our writers. &amp at least makes the slop look pretty.

>>22133076
Lol, you’re not very a good liar

>>22133090
???????

>>22133076
>>22133098
Unreal are Discord trannies who have a half dozen rivalries with other no names. If you say anything bad about Tales of Unreal they'll just accuse you of being [insert name here] and discard your opinion. It's their catchall response to any criticism at this point.

>>22132759
Yeah but if you have any critiques of the work in &amp, you can post them. Long, scathing critiques. 1/10s. Anything you want to say. The writers may identify themselves, but you haven't. It is anonymous. So by all means, go ahead. Tear these stories to shreds. But you haven't. Instead you and anons bitch about it being a mutually beneficial hugbox forgetting that no one knows who the FUCK anyone is. Oh and by the way I'm the editor ;) so watch what you say or I'll burn you /lit/ career to the ground. You won't be able to show your face on this forum ever again.

>>22133339
>/lit/ career

>>22133339
We've already gone over what's wrong with the stories posted. Bineville is as shit as he normally is, Waltzing Elephants was wooden and uninteresting with nothing to say and the American Psycho piece was so bad that you should excommunicate the writer and whoever approved it.
You're fine with me saying this with complete anonymity, but why is "career" ruination your first response to my critique of this newfound hugbox mentality?

>>22133345
>>22133397
I'm memeing you utter retards. I am not the editor. And there is no such thing as a /lit/ career OBVIOUSLY as this forum is ANONYMOUS. Fucking lmao at your life. The absolute state of some anons.

>>22133416
Well you captured his hysteric defensiveness to a T. That's something to congratulate I suppose.

>>22133416
You’re talking to one faggot so obsessed with a group of anons he supposedly hates that he follows them around 4chan trying to discourage them from writing stories on the internet. Best keep your distance desu

>>22133445
>it's all one guy
What's my name then faggot? I've had my shit published in this mag, I'm allowed to talk about it.

>>22133458
What a dramatic shift in tone.

>>22133458
Uh oh guys, he’s mad!

>>22133458
Bullshit. Which one?

>>22133466
The "dramatic shift in tone" started with you accusing me of being a guy obsessed with a group of people who I assume you've included yourself in.
I've written multiple stories with the sole purpose of submitting to this mag. Now I say one bad thing about some discord asskisser and I get branded as an outsider. Fuck right off.

>>22133484
Yeah, like I'm gonna out myself now. See who doesn't submit in the future and play detective.

>>22133495
>how dare you brand me as an outsider! I’m part of the club!
>pfft, like I’d ever tell you who I am. I am comfortable being an anonymous little brat
Bro, you have to be playing with this kind of childish bullshit. I don’t care if you’re a Nobel prize laureate, you’re a genuine bitch boy faggot and I guarantee anything would be better for you not being involved.
Also I called you obsessed and was not the anon who called out your tone. It really is just that obvious you’re a pathetic fucking loser desperate to shit on other people for no reason.

>>22133513
>I guarantee anything would be better for you not being involved.
Good. I'll see myself out then.
>to shit on other people for no reason.
Nothing I did was "shitting" on anyone. All I did was reiterate critiques of a handful of stories in this mag, critiques that I didn't even make originally.
Or are you upset over the hugbox mentality critique? Because your attitude right now is only reinforcing my critiques.

>>22133495
Cry about out it fag

>>22133495
>see who doesn't submit in the future and play detective.
Lol I shan't be doing that because I do not give a fuck who you are. This has to be underage lmfao.

>>22133530
>Good. I'll see myself out then.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, faggot :)

>>22133530
>Nothing I did was "shitting" on anyone
Excommunication is a pretty strong word. By the way I already submitted more work.

Excommunicate my dick lmoa

>>22122560
it's a little bit funty, i been here so long, yet nobody can see what hides behind my schlong. whenever i'm writing, and usually i am, i know that /lit/ doesn't give a fucking pound of sand
and you can tell everybody
my diary desu
maybe you think yr original
but that just ain't true
i know you won't find
i know no replies
whenever i shit words
how wonderful
comedy pyramids
when audience is birds
one time i submitted
to a guy in hong kong
we had short correspondence
not at all long
and i wrote a few stories
embedded as nfts
goddamn wallet be better off
spoogin' titty commodities
and you can tell everybody
that i am writer
i may not get introduced as one
but I still got my whole soul
i wrote you more lines
i wrote some more lines
and i put into words
how wonderful, the stars singing out of the sky and my face caught in the glare of the headlights, two luau gardens nyuking schinkt about and mia goths freckles dotting short silly buses to tune the station of my name on her lips at least a start
a startled response in repose of now, here, lenses of capture and patents of yesteryear sold outside the government or luxury sector. and so, misses darling's thirtieth reunion broadcast, and the law's nebraska parachute.

i guess none of you guys got a copy of my tourism guide/ ghost story booklet

submitted for the approval of the four leaf society, and by the power invested in who the old ones call a derivativemoot, i call this tellyphone
THE TALE OF THE COLLECTION OF ENDINGS

>>22122560
Nice work. I haven't read any of it yet, but I'm glad that none of what I submitted was published. They were throwaway stories so the fact they didn't make the cut shows the editor(s) are displaying some critical judgement and therefore raising the standards. Next time I'm submitting less a shitpost and more proper writing.

Although part of me wishes &amp would retain some of that shitpost quality of the earlier editions. The "so bad it's good" kind of vibe. In some ways it's more raw and authentic, and cringe is itself a niche form of entertainment. Too much stress on making the mag respectable risks ebbing into pretension. We have enough pretentious self-consciously "literary" magazines, full of insufferable twats!

>>22122560
Just finished reading most of it.
Liked the Husky Mutt Puppy, funny but kind of bleak. It reminded me of that one Dog Killer story in another issue.
American Psycho essay was meh. Felt like i was reading a college essay, and the author belabors his point.
Hypoboreon Mixtape was probably the best story. Really captures that feeling of being a kid at a sleepover again, with some interesting reflection on the nature of masculinity.

>>22132614
>aiming for July
seriously doubt it’ll happen lol

>>22133831
I also felt the essay was poor. I think if the editors are going to include essays they should enforce a higher bar for quality.

>>22135440
Not to be more critical, but this isn't the first time there was a very college-freshman literature essay in &amp: I recall something similarly poor on DFW, on Dutch literature, perhaps another.
I too think it fitting of the rag to take whatever, both the good & the bad, but when it comes to essays (on literature, in particular) it will often skew toward a type of mediocrity that doesn't make for fun reading...

>>22135502
yeah I never enjoyed including ‘homework’ but I did it anyways.
I like the rating of works that happens in these threads tho. I think it should keep contributors honest.

snow poem was great

K.R. Hartley was right.

>>22132251
What does the working cover look like? Give us a sneak peek.

>>22135757
But can a dog still grab it and shake my chicken to death? I believe so.

>>22135661
thanks:)

>>22135575
I agree I like anons harsh rating system up top. I like how he said a 6/10 is as compared to a 10/10 in the canon and I think that's a really good scale to keep.
>>22135502
I like essays and homework. But you're right it should be a lot better.

>>22135502
Do one on Moby Dick.

>>22136188
You can see the cover for it in issue 16.

>>22136188
Clouds

>>22137488
That’s not the official cover. It’s just a mock-up that was used for an ad.

>>22135757
Someone should overlay this image with Uncle Ted's visage.

>>22136188

>>22138381
is this a joke? background is tacky and text is hard to read desu. looks off center and the letter spacing is weird somehow.

>>22138381
This is just the default font on a blown up backdrop that clashes with the text. Black borders look awful. Apply yourself.

>>22138381
Did some anon just make this in canva?

>>22138381
anon...

>>22138381
Personally I dislike this, but if you’re really set on using it then I’d suggest removing the black strip at the side, fixing the kerning on the “&amp” text to leave less space between the letters and mimic the look of the title in official &amp issues, and adding some shading to the text to make it stand out more from the background (if you’re using Canva you can do this by applying the ‘Lift’ effect under ‘Text Effects’). Pic related uses a similar background and shows the difference these changes would make.

>>22138381
Personally I dislike this, but if you’re really set on using it then I’d suggest removing the black strip at the side, fixing the kerning on the “&amp” text to leave less space between the letters and mimic the way the title is styled in official &amp issues, and adding some shading to the text to make it stand out more from the background (if you’re using Canva you can do this by applying the ‘Lift’ effect under ‘Text Effects’). Also use a slight off-white rather than a stark white, and remove the word ‘issues’ because it’s redundant and makes the title look visually unbalanced. Pic related uses a similar background and shows the difference these changes would make.

>>22138381
The background makes it look like the cover of a science textbook

>>22138997
Autistic or helpful? You decide

>>22138997
This is good advice

>>22139095
It’s both desu

>>22138381
Why not just go with the cloud cover from issue 16? This one looks cheap and messy

>>22138381
I don’t know why everyone is seething, I think this look pretty cool

>>22138997
The background isn't bad when presented like this. It's alright. But real talk we shouldn't give a POOP about the cover.

as long as it says 001 (two zeroes) and a proper en dash (–). Old-style numies would be nice too, but dno if Futura has em (certainly not in Canva).

View from the office this morning

>>22139419
Gonna bust you out, choom. &amp 100 years.

>>22139276
Idk man, one of the best elements of &amp has always been editor’s design aesthetic, so publishing the best-of collection with some cheap shitty-looking cover would be a big letdown. I’d like to buy a hard copy of the anthology once it’s finished, but if I’m gonna spend money on it then I want it to look tasteful and polished.

>>22138381
>>22139061
the aesthetic here is reminiscent of Biology 12, kek

>>22139419
Good luck buddy

>>22139423
Chocolate cake with a file baked into it

>>22138997
Based graphic design anon. Were you around last year when the best-of was in its infancy?

Updated view from the office

>>22140067
>that drivers license
Kek

>>22138997
I might even use double zeroes before “1” like I originally did. Such that I can make a thousand issues before rebranding entirely :^)

>>22140078
As previously seen on Canada’s Most Wanted

>>22140067
Looks like a more pleasant office this time

>>22140262
Less expensive, more options

Have you got a cutoff date for 017 submissions in mind, editor?

>>22140290
And IS anyone checking the email inbox?

>>22140361
Nonresponse on email has been the norm even on accepted submissions in my experience

>>22140361
>>22140290
>>22140411
Checked. No deadline as of yet. There lesser slaves monitoring the inbox but editors will return before long.

>>22140411
Earlier in the thread they said theyd try to normalize acceptance replies.

New bread:

>>22140693
>>22140693
>>22140693