From ashes to ashes

A writing blog for a lonely, lil demon. Call me Booker-Garet, Books, BG, August, or Auggie. They/Them, He/Him, On/Jego. Reblogging, writing, adding on, the whole nine yards. Welcome to the deepest, darkest parts of my mind.

[up-in-flames-writing]

Sup, peeps! This is my writing/whump blog!

The name's Booker-Garet, although I also go by August/Auggie.

I'm a he/they/it/bun/whatever you want me to be as long as it isn't she!

I'm a young (adult), queer & autistic writer focusing primarily on fantasy & whump prose, with some dabbling in comedy & poetry.

I'll try to focus on original writing for this blog but I also do fandom stuff, currently mostly TF2, BioShock Infinite, & the Witcher games.

I hope y'all enjoy my content as much as I enjoy writing it.

My book: https://books2read.com/b/thewindowstoashapeshifterssoul

My website: https://upinflamesstories.wordpress.com

My Substack: https://upinflamesstories.substack.com

My RedBubble: UpInFlamesWrite.redbubble.com

My Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/upinflameswriting

Current projects:

The Black Fox Chronicles: https://www.tumblr.com/up-in-flames-writing/725650859683348480/the-bards-sing-songs-of-heroes-of-old?source=share

Misfit Marauders:

Secret Project (Roguish Types):

[up-in-flames-writing]

Life is not going well, I need emergency dental surgery & I need help paying for it (yes, despite living in the UK, because I guess 'free healthcare' doesn't care about your teeth). If anyone can donate, please do, I don't know what to do with myself at this point.

Buy UpInFlamesWriting a Coffee

Become a supporter of UpInFlamesWriting today!

[thewhumpyprintingpress]

Cosmic Consequences Cover Reveal

We're thrilled to reveal the fantastic cover for Cosmic Consequences, illustrated by the supremely talented Nicole Alessi!

The theme of this anthology is whump ... but in space! There are over 30 space-whump themed stories, covering everything from equipment malfunctions to hostile aliens. The table of contents includes:

Shield Fall by Kras Nebula @scrawlingmouse

Between Darkness and the Void by John M. Campbell

Subject 371 (Homo Sapien) by Scarlett Skyes

Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions, As Interpreted by An Ex-Space space station, by Yasmeen Ambro

The Specimen by Dr. Suvajeet Duttagupta

A Lesson in Cooperation by Marti @galaxywhump

Thunderstorm by Marti @galaxywhump

The Gamble by Nox Spacey @not-a-space-alien

In the Event of Total Annihilation, Please Take Some Calming Breaths by Scarlett Skyes

Flesh and Bone, Wires and Steel by LadyWallace @lady-wallace

Test Mission by Moss @mossteriouslydrawn

Shine Bright For Us by Scarlett Skyes

Courier by Nate Jaros

Adrift Among a Quiet Sea of Stars by Lorelai Deasy

World Eaters’ Return by Booker G.A. Feniks @up-in-flames-writing

To Take an Order (to take a life) by Scarlett Skyes

Microbial High by Sarina Dorie

It Can Still Play Card Games by Nox Spacey @not-a-space-alien

Last Night by Zi Trone @whumpshaped

Sneezes and Space Pirates by E.J. LeRoy

Celestial by C.L. Urbana @pigeonwhumps

The Rediscovery of the Starship Aurora by Kay Hanifen

Martian Wallpaper by Wen Wen Yang

Echoes of the Lost by A. E. Pillow @nature-wants-you-dead

Insults from the Universe by Leanne Albilar

Ananke by T. Lane @t-lane-writes

Kenophobia by Booker G.A. Feniks @up-in-flames-writing

Specter by Aiden E. Messer @aidenemesser

The Great Red Frontier by Asidian Morris @asidian

The Cost of a Life is Measured in Blood by Lux Thorn @whump-me

Lost by Zi Trone @whumpshaped

Found by Mil Cohen @whumpsday

Cosmic Consequences launches on BackerKit on May 28, 2026! You can check out the project here.

[chiimeramanticore]

i wanna see more art of trans men with boobs where the point of the art is anything other than the fact that they have boobs. i want the idea of trans men with breasts to stop being novel. i want people to stop perceiving trans men as only either having already had top surgery or always binding. i want people to stop assuming everyone with visible breasts is a woman or woman-aligned. i want breasts to become a completely genderless feature. i wanna be allowed to let em hang without being misgendered. i wanna be able to stop worrying about what to put on my chest every day for the sake of other people's perception of me without feeling pressured into getting expensive surgery. i want that to stop being the only two options for transmascs

[bookerbluedragon]

Item: A Stunning Frame Rarity: ⏶ Common

What game has the best art style?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

God, that's a hard one. Abzu is gorgeous, I love the fishies, but The Legend ot Zelda Twilight Princess has one of the most nostalgic art styles of any game I've played, and then BioShock Infinite is just so vibrant and amazing and I love that game...

Serious Sam. The answer is Serious Sam.

[bookerbluedragon]

Item: Your ID Rarity: ⏶ Common

Do you have a username you always use in games?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

I always go for either UpInFlames for my game marketplace usernames (Steam and the like) and BookerBlueDragon or BookerTheWarrior in the games themselves.

[bookerbluedragon]

Item: A Dusty Tome Rarity: ✶ Rare

What video game has the best lore?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

The Elder Scrolls keeps me coming back simply because of the lore. I can listen to weeks worth of lore videos breaking down everything from Mundus to the Void to Oblivion. Like, man, the fact that the entire series is just a dream of a being so much more powerful than ANY of the Aedra or Daedra or anything else in the universe, shouldn't be as cool as it is! The Elder Scrolls lore is just that good.

[bookerbluedragon]

Item: The Couch Rarity: ⏶ Common

Couch co-op or online?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

Neither 😭 I hate co-op, but most of my friends are in America so online co-op, I suppose.

[bookerbluedragon]

Item: A Soft Pillow Rarity: ⏶ Common

What's your comfort game?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

Either Abzu or BioShock Infinite. I replay Infinite at least once a year, & I play Abzu on my Switch whenever my depression hits & nothing else interests me.

[up-in-flames-writing]

The Invisible Me (Trans Day of Visibility

When I was a little girl, I went to a school full of skirts and frills, of long hair and pretty jewellery. I could never understand, in my troubled teen mind, why I never quite fit in with the other girls. Why the sight of my naked body brought on such a visceral feeling of disgust I went against every rule that founded the school just to be able to avoid undressing and redressing every PE period. Why I fought with every teacher I possibly could to drop the skirts and the flats, and why I reacted aggressively whenever someone accused me of being 'unlady-like', as if the little masculine scamp that I was, was beneath them. I had no common topics to talk about with my classmates, no wish to go out and get dressed and meet boys my age. I had no care for hair or makeup or earrings, I had no care for every single teen girl stereotype that my classmates embraced wholeheartedly and without question.

When I was a little girl, an author came to my school. He was old and white and greying, but he signed my little notebook when I came up to him after his presentation, and he encouraged me to keep writing.

When I was a little girl, I could never imagine myself growing up into a woman...

The Invisible Me

When I was a little girl, I went to a school full of skirts and frills, of long hair and pretty jewellery. I could never understand, in my t

[drchucktingle]

you are allowed to feel and choose

whenever folks talk about harry potter and separating artist from art they always have this indignant 'OH SO IM A BAD FOR BUYING THESE BOOKS?' but thats not the question. the reality is that many will BELIEVE you are bad, and that is VALID. its not your choice what others think of you

'AM I BAD?' is a grand and cosmic question that is well beyond our scope. fine. here on the ground, the DAY TO DAY effects are that your actions contribute to hurt and suffering in small or large ways, and those who hurt and suffer because of you are allowed to not like you because of it. SORRY BUD.

what is alternative? forcing folks to enjoy the art of those who hurt them? THEY DONT LIKE IT. someone saying 'your choices harm me so i dont like your creations and i dont like you' is not offensive, it is the most basic use of human autonomy and it is SO bizarre when folks argue otherwise

if you are a bigot or support bigotry or act in a movie built on the profits of hate, people are allowed to not like you 1. because bigotry is bad and 2. because people generally DONT LIKE THINGS THAT HURT THEM. like this is so obvious. it is not 'canceling' it is an exercise in basic human autonomy

i swear if we had social media in the past people would call the hippie and punk movements 'cancel culture' too. LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE MOBILIZING AGAINST THE THINGS THAT HURT THEM IS NOT NEW. SORRY BUD IT IS NOT SOME GEN Z FAD IF YOU SUPPORT HATEFUL THINGS AND FOLKS DONT WANT TO BUY YOUR STUFF ANYMORE

[thelittleblackfox]

XKCD: Free Speech

[up-in-flames-writing]

This was written, as were a number of my other poems, for the National Poetry Competition. With the loss of my benefits over the winter, the prize money from the competition could have been life-changing for me, and I spent countless hours writing, polishing, perfecting this poem. I wrote it as a reflection of myself, and as a plea to finally be seen for what I am. As you can see by me posting this, I didn’t win anything. Oh well, that sucks, whoop dee doo. It would mean a lot to me if people could share this, however. To read what I have spent countless days slaving over. This poem was something special to me, and although it won nothing, it changed something inside of me. I want it to see the light.

Death is us, and we are death

To sit before a fire is not an act of god.Shivering wet, craving warmth like all the poor sods,Worker ants that gather round and round the r

[thisisexorsexism]

Well, today (9th March) is Non-binary Day in Poland (because it's between Women's Day [8th March] and Men's Day [10th March]). But ofc no-one cares about that and most people there (in Poland) don't even know what non-binary is. I don't even expect to get any wishes from friends who know that I'm non-binary. It's sad that non-binary people get constant erasure.

Happy Non-binary Day to my fellow Polish enbies, enben and non-binary people!

this is exorsexism

happy nonbinary day

[up-in-flames-writing]

I'm sad I'm finding this out through tumblr. My mom has started letting me celebrate Men's Day as myself, but no one ever told me there was a Nonbinary Day for me to be celebrated during, too. I hate that our language & culture is so binary & so gendered that we have to deny important parts of ourselves, just to be taken seriously as trans people, even among family. I'm sad that I'm trans & Polish & can't be proud of both of those things.

[autiebiographical]

Today, March 1st is Disability Day of Mourning. We take this time to remember the disabled people who have been murdered by their parents or caregivers. Too often their lives are seen as the tragedy, not their deaths.

Disabled people are looked upon, not as human, but as burdens, and leeches on society. But we ARE human, and we deserve the right to live with dignity and respect as much as anyone else. Those murdered didn't deserve to die. What was their crime? Being an inconvenience?

One thing that needs to be addressed is the lack of support given to disabled people, including their caregivers. While not justified, some of these murders were committed by those who had been pushed to their breaking point, without any help of any kind. More and more, government support is being stripped away, if it was even there to begin with. We need to hold politicians accountable for how little they care about us. You may not like me bringing politics into this, but being disabled is political. How many of us are on disability? How many of us rely on government supports?

We need to fight. We need to speak up. Make our voices heard over the swaths of non-disabled voices that speak over us. But for today, let us be silent, just for a moment, to mourn those we've lost.

[afreemanlearns]

[andothren]

evil

[ohifonlyx33]

People really hate thinking huh

[cherrysamasama]

Illiteracy is becoming rampant. Reminds me of the fact that a lot of children aren't taught how to sound out letters and are instead taught whole words from the beginning. They memorize it like it's a hieroglyphic instead of learning how to actually read and then picking up more advanced tricks on top of that foundational skill.

[the-lost-alchemist]

"It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well. It isn't only the synonyms; there are also the antonyms. After all, what justification is there for a word which is simply the opposite of some other words? A word contains its opposite in itself. Take 'good,' for instance. If you have a word like 'good,' what need is there for a word like 'bad'? 'Ungood' will do just as well--better, because it's an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again, if you want a stronger version of 'good,' what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all the rest of them? 'Plusgood' covers the meaning, or 'doubleplusgood' if you want something stronger still...In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words--in reality, only one word. Don't you see the beauty of that, Winston?"

- George Orwell, 1984

[vigilantsycamore]

The example in that screenshot is also just. Worse. Like, let's do a comparison here, and bearing in mind that I have not read Gatsby:

"In my younger and more vulnerable years" vs "When I was young". The original emphasises the narrator's condition/state of mind when their father gave them that advice, the summarised version loses that. Also, "younger" and "young" are two different things - the original line compares the narrator's age then to their age now, it doesn't necessarily mean they were actually young at the time or that they're not young anymore, and the summarised version suggests both of those things

"Gave me some advice" vs "told me something" - the original is significantly more specific. All telling someone something means is that you're conveying information. Giving someone advice means that you're providing insight/instruction on something - either specific, like the best way to do a Task, or more generic, like your thoughts on how to live a fulfilling life

"I've been" vs "I". This might not seem like as big a deal but the summarised version suggests the narrator only occasionally reflects on their father's advice, whereas the original text suggests a more continuous and ongoing action. It puts emphasis on how much that advice has affected the narrator

"Turning over in my mind" vs "Think about". The former suggests more regular, more active, and more intense reflection than what comes to mind upon reading the latter. Again, emphasises how much that advice has affected the narrator

"Ever since" vs "still". Again, "ever since" suggests something continuous and constant, putting emphasis on how big of a deal the narrator's dad's advice was. "Still" does not do that

Even simple matters of word choice like "in my [...] years" vs "when i was [...]" or "father" instead of "dad" serve a purpose - they maintain the narrator's "voice" and make them sound like an actual character with an actual personality. I'm not sure if it would have come off the same way to a 1920s reader, but to a modern reader it suggests the narrator tends to speak in a somewhat formal way

And the 1984 quote above is worth pointing out as well, not necessarily for the Newspeak comparison (Newspeak is an in-universe modified English deliberately constructed to restrict the articulation of ideas, a good IRL comparison would be censoring discussion of/references to LGBT+ topics, whereas with this BS it's hard to say whether the continued erosion of literacy is the secret true goal of this or just a side effect)

But because it's another example of how word choice matters and helps make a point. Notice how, when explaining the supposed benefits of Newspeak, the speaker barely uses Newspeak at all? And how this entire quote would become cumbersome and unwieldy if "translated" into Newspeak and probably wouldn't get all of its ideas across the same way? Notice, in other words, how the architects of Newspeak don't use it themselves and using Newspeak would make it impossible to properly describe it?

[daughterofstories]

This is particularly frustrating to me, because Great Gatsby is actually an excellent example of a book that readers might need support to understand, but not, primarily, because of the language or complex sentences.

Gatsby is hard because (a) it's drowning in symbolism, and (b) it's entirely entrenched in the Gilded Age.

A reader without a grounding in American culture circa 1920 will miss about 90% of the point of the book, and an AI simplification of the language will do nothing to help with that.

An actual "easy version" of Gatsby wouldn't be re-written to have boring sentences, it would be annotated.

[thewhumpyprintingpress]

WPP's in the Small Spec Book Awards!

Ten WPP books will be competing in the Small Spec Book Awards! This award was created to recognize astounding books published by small and independent presses. Books are sorted into categories based on primary genre (fantasy, sci-fi, or horror) and then are read and rated by a bunch of speculative fiction enthusiasts. The semi-finalists will be announced on July 1!

The WPP nominees are:

Lux in Tenebris (horror) by @whump-tr0pes

Hunting Static (fantasy) by @arwenride

The Windows to a Shapeshifter’s Soul (fantasy) by @up-in-flames-writing

Never, Never (horror) by @befuddled-calico-whump

Creatures From the Caldera (fantasy) by @nature-wants-you-dead

Deepest Canyon (fantasy) by @scrawlingmouse

Chipped (sci-fi) by @whump-me

Silence (sci-fi) by @whumpshaped

Bonnie and Guy (sci-fi) by @not-a-space-alien

The Dark Side of the Sun (fantasy)

Congratulations to all our nominees!

You can learn more about the awards and check out all the other nominees here!

[strawberry-souffle]

PSA: stuttering in fics

as someone with a speech impediment, all of the people saying that only one type of stuttering is valid are wrong.

stuttering CAN look like this: "t-this is a-an example s-s-sentence"

OR this: "this-this is an example sen-sentence."

OR this: "t-t-t-th-..t-ttttthis is an example sentence."

OR this: "this is, uhm, an example, uh, sentence."

OR this: "this is an example sssssss-sentence."

OR this: "this is an examp-...this an example sentence."

sometimes the sentence won't even come out of your mouth at all.

there are probably many examples i'm forgetting, but that's the point! it usually is a mix of a few of these, but some people do one of them more often than others! some people with speech impediments have certain sounds that they almost consistently have trouble with (for me it's "st").

people with speech impediments also rarely-if ever-stutter whilst they're singing or whispering.

most importantly!!!! people with speech impediments are capable of saying a sentence without stuttering!! it can just be a gamble sometimes.

and if more people could portray the frustration that comes with stuttering and not being able to get words out, i'd be a very happy girl.

(fun fact: sometimes when my mouth won't let me say what i want to say, i get so annoyed that i just yell or grumble out "WORDS.")

this was your speech impediment PSA!!!!

[the-complicity-system]

We need more repeat and pause stutters or when you basically lose the plot after one too many retries

Its like- its like when- like- when- like when- FUCK

Its like.........uh- like when.... when— fuck nevermind

We get this shit so much hh

[up-in-flames-writing]

Or when they get stuck on an entire word like 'We went there and then... and... andandandandandand... we didn't find him!' Short, snappy words are so easy to get stuck on!