Spilled Ink

Issue 67

Welcome!

Ciao, Scribblers! After all our time together, it felt fitting to find a word that meant both hello and goodbye. Welcome to the last issue of Spilled Ink for 2024! We have had a great time creating this newsletter for you every single week, and we are sad for it to end, but we’ve put together the best send-off we could! The launch of ScratchThat’s Emotion Spring 2024 Zine is TOMORROW! If you do not already have your ticket, now is the time to get them. You can find tickets here.

In this issue, we have a quick preview of last week’s website content, which is already live. There is still more content going live this week as well. We also have everything you need to know about the end of the semester here at QUT, plus a few little events that are happening around Brisbane. If you’re still looking for somewhere to submit your work, check out our Submission Opportunities below. If you need a little jump start, this week’s writing prompt is inspired by the theme Desire.

Finally, in “Devour Weekly”, Dylan shed a tear or two (or three) watching the latest season of Heartstopper. Sean’s got his heart-stopping playing Silent Hill 2, and Karma’s got her heart skipping a beat with Book Lovers by Emily Henry.

Writing Prompt

Desire

Do you have the desire to write something but there is no gas left in the tank? This week, our writing prompt is inspired by the emotion, Desire. Whether you’ve got something in the works or are just looking to start something new, hopefully, this prompt will give you the jumpstart you need.

They have the most beautiful eyes you have ever seen, and they’re looking straight at you. Not behind you, at you. There’s something about them that feels different, almost supernatural. They approach you, and without speaking a word, you know they want to kiss you. You want to kiss them back

Devour Weekly

Sean’s Review: Silent Hill 2

I’m not sure how old I was when I played the original Silent Hill 2 on PlayStation 2; all I know is that I was far too young. To put it bluntly, it scared the fuck out of me and turned me into the horror fan I am now. So naturally, I have been excited for its long-awaited remake. Now I’ll admit I had reservations about this classic psychological horror title being remade. Part of me feared that what made it such a horrifying yet special experience may be lost in the remake. However, that fear was quickly put to rest when I loaded it up for the first time last week.

Silent Hill 2 tells the story of James Sunderland, who after receiving a letter from his deceased wife, Mary, travels to the mysterious town of Silent Hill in the hopes of finding her. The moment James sets foot in the rural American town, it is clear something is very wrong. Grotesque creatures stalk the fog-smothered streets and rundown buildings of Silent Hill, manifestations of the guilt and fears from the people trapped within the town. James must overcome threats, both real and imagined, to discover the disturbing truth behind the letter he received.

This game is pure atmosphere. It uses everything at its disposal to manipulate and exploit the player. The haunting audio design and art style draws the player into its captivating narrative that explores themes of grief, guilt, love, loss, and the psychological toll it can take on a person. Despite already knowing this game inside and out, the Silent Hill 2 remake scared and delighted me as much as the original did all those years ago. It captures everything great about the original while pushing it to terrifying new heights that will traumatise players, whether they were fans of the original or total newcomers to the Silent Hill series.

The Silent Hill 2 remake is available now on PlayStation 5 and PC.

Dylan’s Review: Heartstopper Season 3

For whatever reason, I chose not to start watching Heartstopper back in 2022 when it was the show on everyone’s lips. I know—as a gay man, it almost amounts to a crime, but there was something about how mainstream the show became that made it feel inauthentic to me. So, I put it on the watchlist and never watched it. Until now.

The most recent season of Heartstopper picks up a couple of months after the end of Season 2. Charlie’s depression and eating disorder have gotten worse to the point where he’s been committed to a facility; Nick is struggling to handle a day-to-day routine without Charlie, despite the support of their friends. I enjoyed how the showrunners handled this kind of story arc: rather than leave us drowning in the grit of Charlie’s depression, and we see how it affects the people around him, even after he’s better. We see his parents constantly worrying that he’ll get worse, and Nick is afraid that anything he does for himself will make Charlie feel abandoned. It’s a departure from the way mental illness is portrayed in a lot of other stories, where the focus is on the experience of the sufferer.

Ultimately, I thought Season 3 was significantly better than Season 2. The stakes for all the characters felt higher, and the tension was more real. As half of the friendship group started to look towards university, the shape of their lives shifted in a way that reminded me of my own life at that age. But the way this season showed that we are stronger as a whole rather than being alone was inspiring. If you put Heartstopper down after the last season, I definitely recommend picking it up again.

Karma’s Review: Emily Henry

Full disclosure, I am an avid fantasy reader. I am pretty sure if you look over my Goodreads challenge from last year, you will find that forty out of the forty-five books I read were fantasy novels. One was a contemporary YA for a uni class, and the final four were all Emily Henry. I had been drawn to her because I had heard her books be compared to the rom-coms I love so much, and thought I’d give them a go. Little did I know I would soon be falling in love with a new author.

I often claim that I don’t like reading books set in our world, that they can feel too close and too real but also unrealistic in their eternally happy endings. However, Emily Henry proves me wrong, especially in my favourite, Book Lovers. Nora, our protagonist, is not like any of the other main romance girls I had ever read or heard of. She is a cutthroat literary agent, unapologetic to the core, and is compared to the ‘big city girlfriend’ out of all of the classic Hallmark movies. She is the girlfriend that encourages the man to shut down the struggling bakery and hurry back to New York City, and only ever wears the most impractical Louboutin’s. And whilst yes, in this story, she visits a small town for her sister, this demeanour never changes, and she sticks by loving her life in the city and the hard work that she does.

The romance is unique in this same way. Charlie, our love interest, has no interest in changing Nora at all, instead matching her in drive, dedication, and lifestyle. He does not show her how living slowly can be beautiful or encourage her to live out on a farm away from the busy city. That is why I love this story; it does not force its characters to have the same kind of happy ending that every other romance seems to have: a big wedding, a big house, and kids out in the country. Instead, it gives the characters the ending that they want. How could you not love that?

Author: Karma O’Reilly is a writer, creator, and dancer currently finishing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She has held a passion for all things bookish since childhood and has a particular love for high fantasy. As well as working on ScratchThat Magazine, Karma has also worked as a choreographer, treasurer, and dancer with QUT Burlesque Society.

Author: Dylan Oliver is a Meanjin-based writer. He’s had his work published in ScratchThat Magazine and is currently working towards his Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing at QUT. Dylan enjoys writing authentic queer stories that speak to his own experience as a queer person. He is hard at work on what he hopes will be his debut novel.

Author: Sean Sutcliffe is a writer who is currently in the final year of his Creative Writing degree. He has a deep love for all forms of creative media, particularly horror or horror-inspired work, and selfishly plans to indulge this love while broadening his knowledge and sharing his thoughts on current and past media with the readers of this newsletter.

Artist: Phoenix Sunrider (they/she) is an aspiring author with several works in the making. They love all kinds of animals, and add as many as possible into all their works whether that be high fantasy, magical realism, or even fan fiction. They currently have no social media platforms, but hope to develop some when more work is completed.

Edited by: Ricky Jade and Ashley Commens