Rhydian Murphy
@rhydianmurphy.bsky.social
Fantasy and sci-fi author, academic, freelance content writer, shark appreciator. That profile picture of a leopard seal is definitely me, don't check. Do not check.
Me, awake and foolish: It'd probably be more marketable if this character's associated mythical being was a dragon, but I really want him to be kinda dog-like so it should be some kind of werewolf.
Me, sleep-deprived and so wise: A dragon can be a kind of dog if you believe.
Me, sleep-deprived and so wise: A dragon can be a kind of dog if you believe.
November 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Me, awake and foolish: It'd probably be more marketable if this character's associated mythical being was a dragon, but I really want him to be kinda dog-like so it should be some kind of werewolf.
Me, sleep-deprived and so wise: A dragon can be a kind of dog if you believe.
Me, sleep-deprived and so wise: A dragon can be a kind of dog if you believe.
It: Welcome to Derry got off to a really promising beginning with its cold open and then immediately after its cold open introduces you to a child who, bear with me here, you kinda sorta want to get eaten by a clown.
October 27, 2025 at 7:53 AM
It: Welcome to Derry got off to a really promising beginning with its cold open and then immediately after its cold open introduces you to a child who, bear with me here, you kinda sorta want to get eaten by a clown.
Occasionally I see passing references to The Flash tv show and am unpleasantly reminded of how after I stopped watching (for reasons wholly unrelated to its quality at the time), the show just -- plunged headfirst off a cliff, and that's kind of sad.
October 13, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Occasionally I see passing references to The Flash tv show and am unpleasantly reminded of how after I stopped watching (for reasons wholly unrelated to its quality at the time), the show just -- plunged headfirst off a cliff, and that's kind of sad.
Here's a writing question that is apparently controversial: Starting your story with a line of dialogue -- a good way to hook interest, or a cheap tactic and terribly overused? #WritingCommunity
September 23, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Here's a writing question that is apparently controversial: Starting your story with a line of dialogue -- a good way to hook interest, or a cheap tactic and terribly overused? #WritingCommunity
The irritation that I could just describe this building in novel as 'Gigeresque' and everyone would know what I mean, but I can't because this is a fantasy novel and famed artist H.R. Giger does not exist in its history.
September 21, 2025 at 8:24 AM
The irritation that I could just describe this building in novel as 'Gigeresque' and everyone would know what I mean, but I can't because this is a fantasy novel and famed artist H.R. Giger does not exist in its history.
Regrettably when you search for 'those steampunk lightbulb looking things' what you get are steampunk-looking lightbulbs, which is not useful for me, a person whose lighting arrangements are presently serviceable.
Second fantasy author problem: Trying to describe clockpunk devices. It turns out that I, a person who has never studied mechanical engineering even in passing, know less than you might think about mechanical engineering.
September 17, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Regrettably when you search for 'those steampunk lightbulb looking things' what you get are steampunk-looking lightbulbs, which is not useful for me, a person whose lighting arrangements are presently serviceable.
Second fantasy author problem: Trying to describe clockpunk devices. It turns out that I, a person who has never studied mechanical engineering even in passing, know less than you might think about mechanical engineering.
September 17, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Second fantasy author problem: Trying to describe clockpunk devices. It turns out that I, a person who has never studied mechanical engineering even in passing, know less than you might think about mechanical engineering.
Ah, there is the familiar compulsion to completely rework my opening to this novel. I am allaying it for now by deciding that I'll finish writing Act 1, which has a fixed point scene that will be in any version of the opening, and then see about reworking it.
September 14, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Ah, there is the familiar compulsion to completely rework my opening to this novel. I am allaying it for now by deciding that I'll finish writing Act 1, which has a fixed point scene that will be in any version of the opening, and then see about reworking it.
Petition to have TV shows that cast Alexander Siddig stop massively under-utilising him. "Oh, we'll just have him say a few lines." Jail for screenwriter. Jail for 1000 years.
September 12, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Petition to have TV shows that cast Alexander Siddig stop massively under-utilising him. "Oh, we'll just have him say a few lines." Jail for screenwriter. Jail for 1000 years.
There's an annoying, like, three line section in my first chapter, where I feel like keeping it in makes a very early plot twist too obvious, and taking it out makes said plot twist confusing because then it won't be something the reader has even realised could happen.
September 12, 2025 at 12:53 AM
There's an annoying, like, three line section in my first chapter, where I feel like keeping it in makes a very early plot twist too obvious, and taking it out makes said plot twist confusing because then it won't be something the reader has even realised could happen.
Reposted by Rhydian Murphy
I don't think you even have to like Gretchen to recognize that she, as a best-selling horror writer with an active following, was a get for DC comic. A DC comic was not a get for Gretchen Felker Martin
I think DC has it exactly backwards on who was doing who a favor by making this comic
September 11, 2025 at 10:40 PM
I don't think you even have to like Gretchen to recognize that she, as a best-selling horror writer with an active following, was a get for DC comic. A DC comic was not a get for Gretchen Felker Martin
I was not expecting to be so tired today. Time For Coffee, I Guess, which isn't great because I do not like coffee and it does not like me.
September 11, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I was not expecting to be so tired today. Time For Coffee, I Guess, which isn't great because I do not like coffee and it does not like me.
Ah, I see Labour is salivating over welfare cuts again, which are not only toxic with their own MPs but are so unpopular with the public that every time they come up you have people across the political spectrum going "For fuck's sake."
September 9, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Ah, I see Labour is salivating over welfare cuts again, which are not only toxic with their own MPs but are so unpopular with the public that every time they come up you have people across the political spectrum going "For fuck's sake."
Pleased to have figured out a thorny, albeit very far in the future writing problem. Namely 'how do I make this work as a standalone OR the start of a series,' which I gather is important for agents.
September 7, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Pleased to have figured out a thorny, albeit very far in the future writing problem. Namely 'how do I make this work as a standalone OR the start of a series,' which I gather is important for agents.
So nobody was going to tell me about how terrifyingly intelligent fungi are, huh. We were all going to keep that from Ol' Murph. "Look at him," you all said, "he doesn't even know that mycelial networks are capable of shape recognition and strategic decision-making. The fool."
September 5, 2025 at 12:37 AM
So nobody was going to tell me about how terrifyingly intelligent fungi are, huh. We were all going to keep that from Ol' Murph. "Look at him," you all said, "he doesn't even know that mycelial networks are capable of shape recognition and strategic decision-making. The fool."
#AlienEarth this week is really shaping up to be forty solid minutes of the worst biological containment protocols anyone has ever devised.
September 3, 2025 at 3:26 AM
#AlienEarth this week is really shaping up to be forty solid minutes of the worst biological containment protocols anyone has ever devised.
The problem with ever socialising is that what I really need is some kind of spirit or angel or perhaps a very large dog to appear afterwards and go "You were not overly annoying and people did not brim over with hatred for you."
August 28, 2025 at 10:42 PM
The problem with ever socialising is that what I really need is some kind of spirit or angel or perhaps a very large dog to appear afterwards and go "You were not overly annoying and people did not brim over with hatred for you."
I really hope #silenthillf is good. It's the most interesting looking Silent Hill game since the first four, and if it ends up sucking I will weep and rend my clothes and probably set fire to an orphanage.
August 21, 2025 at 11:58 PM
I really hope #silenthillf is good. It's the most interesting looking Silent Hill game since the first four, and if it ends up sucking I will weep and rend my clothes and probably set fire to an orphanage.
Man, my local supermarket got gyoza in stock just yesterday, and they're all gone today. The people crave gyoza. "Give unto us the gyoza," they seem to say, "that we may become as gods."
August 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Man, my local supermarket got gyoza in stock just yesterday, and they're all gone today. The people crave gyoza. "Give unto us the gyoza," they seem to say, "that we may become as gods."
Why is it that Alien characters are always like "Oh look, ominously pulsating black eggs. What I should do here is put my unprotected face reeeeeeeaaaaal close to them."
August 20, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Why is it that Alien characters are always like "Oh look, ominously pulsating black eggs. What I should do here is put my unprotected face reeeeeeeaaaaal close to them."
Seeing Geoff Keighley trying to work around mentioning that ZA/UM is the Studio of Theseus was quite something, but I guess it'd be bad form to say 'the studio that made Disco Elysium (but now capitalism has hollowed it out and is puppeteering its corpse).'
August 19, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Seeing Geoff Keighley trying to work around mentioning that ZA/UM is the Studio of Theseus was quite something, but I guess it'd be bad form to say 'the studio that made Disco Elysium (but now capitalism has hollowed it out and is puppeteering its corpse).'
With everything wrong with the world, it's so important to distract yourself from the horrors with different, worse horrors. For example, in my spare time I'm building a great tower of living flesh, writhing and wet, ever-screaming in agony, and I find that really helps.
August 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
With everything wrong with the world, it's so important to distract yourself from the horrors with different, worse horrors. For example, in my spare time I'm building a great tower of living flesh, writhing and wet, ever-screaming in agony, and I find that really helps.
Really wish the local Lidl would restock the chicken and leek gratins they had for a while. Those were really good.
August 14, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Really wish the local Lidl would restock the chicken and leek gratins they had for a while. Those were really good.
If I was in charge of a sinister experiment involving children, I simply would not call my test group 'the Lost Boys,' the most sinister reference it's possible to make in this situation. I'd call them 'the Happy Hungry Bunch.' #AlienEarth
August 13, 2025 at 8:17 AM
If I was in charge of a sinister experiment involving children, I simply would not call my test group 'the Lost Boys,' the most sinister reference it's possible to make in this situation. I'd call them 'the Happy Hungry Bunch.' #AlienEarth
#AlienEarth is trying very hard in its first ten minutes to reassure me that Horror will be eventually happening, which I suppose is useful for all of the doubtless many people who tuned in going "I sure hope this isn't a wholesome romantic comedy."
August 13, 2025 at 6:01 AM
#AlienEarth is trying very hard in its first ten minutes to reassure me that Horror will be eventually happening, which I suppose is useful for all of the doubtless many people who tuned in going "I sure hope this isn't a wholesome romantic comedy."