Tag Archives: writing

A Language, Little Known

Posted on January 15, 2025 by Ryn PB

The steps led down, down, down—far away from the sun, where no flowers should be able to grow. And yet— “She said the Third-Eyebright would be here.” The angry red scratches on Trev’s face had only gotten worse since the … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged amaranth, bees, betrayal, botanist, botany, bugs, contest, eyebright, floral, florist, floristry, flowers, friends, geranium, journey, LGBT+, life lessons, nyc midnight, quest, search, secret society, write, writing, yellowjackets | Leave a comment

The Soup-Port Group

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

“Okay, everyone, welcome to the group. I’m Holden, this is my brother Harry, and we decided to put this thing together for people who’ve had similar experiences to us.” Holden’s effeminate voice pierced the air like the rainbow flag pin … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged anxiety, colin mochrie, comedy, food, group, humor, jokes, LGBT+, pun, puns, saturday night live, snl, stereotypes, support group, therapy, whose line, whose line is it anyway, writing | 1 Comment

TBR Playlist: Play It By Ear Edition

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Ryn PB

Hello, I’m back! Happy Halloween! I’m afraid this post has nothing to do with the Halloween season. Though I’ve been writing, I haven’t been writing much that I wanted to share with the Internet. I’ve mostly been writing different iterations … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, TBR Playlist | Tagged books, comedy, dropout, dropout tv, graphic novels, improv, improv comedy, jess mckenna, LGBT+, life lessons, mano agapion, mental health, music, musical, musical comedy, off book, play it by ear, queer lit, reading, writing, zach reino | Leave a comment

Hooked on Books: An Oral History

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

Hello and welcome to my blog, Poor Unfortunate Stories! My name is Ursula, and I will be your captain on this voyage into reading. Today, however, I have some co-navigators—my arch-nemesis Terry and his grandkid LJ. Every week, we will … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories, LGBT+ | Tagged age, ages, blog, book, book blogs, books, booktube, fish puns, generation, generation gap, generational gap, generations, grandkid, grandparents, LGBT+, librarian, library, life lessons, nemesis, nonbinary, old, oral history, podcast, puns, reading, student, the little mermaid, transcript, writing, young | Leave a comment

Consequences of a Con

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Ryn PB

Cornhusker Cons: Psychics, Clairvoyants, and Mystics in the Heartland. Fran had never actually read the book in which their father’s scams had been made public. An entire chapter had been dedicated to him and his two partners. “Just put that … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged anxiety, barn, blog, book, books, bookstore, camera, cat, cats, cemetery, clairvoyant, con, crime, family, fiction, ghost, graveyard, ice cream, illegal, jail, LGBT+, life lessons, mental health, photography, psychic, seance, spirit, spirits, statue, stories, supernatural, writing | Leave a comment

Dead Birds and Pharmacies

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Ryn PB

CW: Big Pharma, dead animals, mental illness I’m still half asleep. I just dragged myself away from my cat, who inevitably started acting cute right as I grabbed my keys, and now I’m preparing my customer service brain for work. … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, mental health | Tagged anxiety, apology, bad omen, big pharma, dead bird, hadestown, LGBT+, life lessons, meds, mental health, mental illness, omen, pharmacies, sorry, writing | Leave a comment

Problematic Faves: Why I Love Them, Why They’re Problematic, and Why I Give Them Passes

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Ryn PB

Introduction To me, the term “problematic fave” is a bit redundant, especially when in reference to a celebrity. Almost everyone and everything is “problematic” in some way, or has been in the past. Generally, I see people use the phrase … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, polysyllabic spree | Tagged art, bo burnham, books, boys love, cancel culture, comedy, content warning, detective show, fiction, gilmore girls, gravitation, high fidelity, hulu, LGBT+, make happy, manga, media, mental health, monk, murder mystery, music, mystery, netflix, nick hornby, ocd, problematic, problematic fave, psych, reading, trans, trigger, trigger warning, tv, tv series, tv show, warning, writing, yaoi, youtube, zoe kravitz | Leave a comment

Friends, Alone

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

Content Warnings: underage drinking and smoking, homophobia, violence/bullying, mild domestic abuse Even though she had a key to the house, and even though the Raneys usually kept their door unlocked anyway, Allison wasn’t in the habit of entering their house … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories, original writing | Tagged art, arts school, batman, batman the movie, books, cigarettes, friends, friendship, gay, high school, hot chocolate, LGBT+, movie, movie night, painting, photography, popcorn, queer, queer lit, reader, reading, robin, school, shark spray, siblings, smoking, twins, vivian maier, writing | Leave a comment

26 Things I’ve Learned Over 26 Years

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Ryn PB

I was going to post this on my actual birthday, but as I said in my last post, my computer broke and I was not in possession of my laptop in the days around my birthday. I won’t let technological … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era | Tagged adult, age, animals, anxiety, anxious, art, asexual, asexuality, bad art, best, birthday, carrots, cats, date, delicious, dogs, energy, food, forgiveness, gross, health, hobbies, hobby, integrity, labels, life, life lessons, mental health, money, nose, pace, questions, relationships, sexuality, sibling, sister, sniffle, snot, trust, wine, writing | 1 Comment

The Clairvoyant Cashier

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Ryn PB

Ernest Kowalski just wanted to pick up some potatoes for his pierogis, but Ziggy’s market was closed on Sundays. Two of his daughters and their kids were coming for dinner that night, so after Mass he’d ventured out to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Another New Era, Fiction Short Stories | Tagged aging, anxiety, brain, cashier, clairvoyance, class, community, death, elderly, esp, family, family stories, fiancee, grief, groceries, grocery, LGBT, LGBT+, life lessons, marriage, mind, neighborhood, old man, polish, psychic, queer lit, shopping, store, sunday, voodoo, wife, writing | Leave a comment