Sharang Biswas
@sharangbiswas
Games, writing, art. ENnies, IndieCade, IGDN winner. Teaching at NYU & Fordham Words: Eurogamer, Lightspeed, Augur, Strange Horizons, Baffling. SFWA member THE IRON BELOW REMEMBERS is out from Neon Hemlock Press! Repped by @glassglassmadeof.bsky.social
LavenderCon was excellent! Met cool writers, awesome readers, and was reminded numerous times that my book is actually quite good. Maybe you want to vote for it for the Ignyte Awards (voting is open to the public!)
Finished @whatsmacksaid.bsky.social's DEATH VALLEY BLOOMS sitting on a bench by thr water in the late evening sunlight in Copenhagen... Perfect vibes for this excellent book. Just saying
Valencia: -Swimming at the Gay Games -3 gay clubs Vienna: -200-year-old gay bathhouse (adventures included) -1 S&M scene Copenhagen: -Gay Conversion Therapy larp -Staying with my trans-punk friend -Rewatch HEATED RIVALRY -2 queer dance parties -1 tickling/spanking scene Gayest holiday to date!
Had a REALLY good time in Denmark at THE FUTURE IS STRAIGHT, a larp about teens at gay conversion therapy camp, in a world where queerness is universally & unequivocally reviled. A lovely, tragic, thought-provoking, piece of art. Gods, I love larp. And I REALLY love being a gay man.
Sachertorte in Vienna! Sandwiched between the Gay Games and a larp about Gay Conversion Therapy!
Ugh, sorry, @phoebebarton.bsky.social! The bots think I wrote your book! 😳
Four different flavours of queer art in Valencia! The Gay Games have been fun!
And done with my events at the Gay Games! Now to expllre Valencia, bond with the team, watch some cool athletic events, and maybe kiss a boy or few!
Gay Games in Valencia are going well! Tomorrow, I get my swim on!
Finally got to play @gregisonthego.bsky.social’s KEEP THE FAITH, a hybrid boardgame/storygame about how religion evolves. Really thought-provoking! Might use it in class! Also made lemon posset (topped with saffron) to go with it!
SLUGBLASTER by @wilkiescandylab.com LOVECRAFTESQUE By @armadajosh.bsky.social & @beckyannison.bsky.social BLOOMFALL by me and @yeonsoonerorlater.bsky.social
FIGHT WITH SPIRIT by @storybrewersroleplaying.com TEN CANDLES & TO SERVE HER WINTRY HUNGER by @stephendewey.bsky.social STARCROSSED by @helloalexroberts.bsky.social VERDURE by me TACKLEBOX by @ludopolitics.bsky.social AUGURS OF GLAMOUR by me, Lucian Kahn & @nerdypupgames.bsky.social CONTD
Games I used as examples or case studies (some brief, some long): BRINDLEWOOD BAY and THE BETWEEN by @jasoncordova.bsky.social D&D DRAW STEEL by @hellomcdm.bsky.social DIALECT by Thorny Games 13th AGE by @pelgranepress.bsky.social AGON by @johnharper.bsky.social & @seannittner.bsky.social CONTD
Thinkers & Scholars I cited: Emily Care Boss, René Reinhold Schallegger, @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social, Kat Jones, @ckunzelman.bsky.social, Pamela Regis. Extra big thanks to Kunzelman's book, which really helped me develop my thesis
I think my keynote talk at @narrascope.org went well this year! I put a good deal of thought & research into a big theoretical concept, and hey, maybe an article will come out of this too. See this thread for the games and authors I included!
Finished a full campaign of @wilkiescandylab.com's SLUGBLASTER! EXCELLENT game with innovative narrative design & a zany scifi world grounded by small, compelling drama-moments HIGHLY recommended for campaign play Props to @itsquinns.bsky.social's informative review for spurring me to play it!
The HEATED RIVALRY parody musical really was as excellent as people said. Really fun music, hilarious, and they made changes to the plot not only to better fit the short timeframe, but also to allow naive audience-members to still appreciate a fun story. Also the guys were hot.
4) a fragment where a word is conspicuously repeated, and a fragment where an action or theme is repeated. The first exercise was surprisingly easy. I think I already use word repetition a lot. The second was cool. I’m newer at writing longer works; this made me think about plot structures…
The narrative beats in the Mars scenario are a little goofy… the historical ones are definitely more grounded! However, I still had a blast and the game DOES make you think of different political realities!
Oooh I got one of those kinds of emails! Does this mean I’ve made it? I’m an author famous enough to scam?
It's super cool to be invited back to my alma mater as one of the speakers for Dartmouth Pride! I'll be talking about THE IRON BELOW REMEMBERS (from @neonhemlock.bsky.social), running a game set in the world of the book at a FLGS, & more! students.dartmouth.edu/opal/communi...
I finally got to play Disney's VILLANOUS recently. I'm still intrigued...but was somewhat unimpressed by my character's gameplay. Maybe playing more and with different characters will help me appreciate it better? It's pretty, though!
I had a truly excellent time at @clawinfo.org! And now I have a new story brewing, inspired by the weekend of depravity...