Almost There

Welcome to the Stone Soup Weekly Digest! This is where I share what I'm up to and some of my favorite things from around the internet. Subscribe to Stone Soup to get this in your inbox every week.

Love Letters: Reasons to Be Alive Kickstarter is 96% funded!!

Last week, the Kickstarter for Love Letters: Reasons to Be Alive launched! We had a hell of a Week One, and the project is currently 96% of the way to being fully funded for the first year. You all played a huge part in getting us this far, and I can’t wait to see this project make it all the way across the plate.

If you missed it last week, here’s the rundown: Love Letters: Reasons to Be Alive is a celebration of the small, delightful handholds that get us through life. An amazing lineup of authors and artists have contributed essays, comics, and art about the small, specific experiences and objects that have helped them forge onward through the project of being alive. Together, we're going to produce a quarterly print and digital zine shining a spotlight on the moments that anchor us to existence.

Go check out the Kickstarter for the full description, access to the support tiers (including one that gets you a curated care package from me!), and a sneak peek at the contributor list! You can also see a preview of the first essay in the series..

Support Your Community

The American Southeast is currently recovering from a couple of major storms that caused immense damage in the region.  

• SONG Hurricane Helene Mutual Aid + Rapid Response Resource Guide is a regularly updated resource that compiles support materials available for people impacted by Hurricane Helene along with some ways to support them. 
• Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization that is directing funds to help those affected by Hurricane Milton. I will share more specific Milton relief resources as the situation develops.
• Learn more about how to request FEMA aid here.
• North Carolina Relief Funds directs donations to nonprofits to address the immediate needs of storm victims in North Carolina. 
• Florida Disaster Fund distributes funds to organizations that serve communities in Florida.
• Florida Chamber Safety Council is your resource to pick up volunteer work or send money to disaster relief funds
• CARE provides cash assistance to those in need, supports long-term recovery, and protects at-risk populations
• United Way of Florida is currently assisting those who have been affected by the storms. 

Palestine, Lebanon, & Our Neighbors In the Region. We have the power to help the people who need us right now. Here are a few ways you can do your part.

• Check out a collection of ways to help Lebanese communities here
• Support the United Nations relief efforts in Palestine here
• Donate to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) here
• Purchase from Palestinian-owned business – here are 15 Palestinian brands, 8 Palestinian Etsy Shops, and a portal full of Palestinian goods 
• Check out Gaza Funds, a website that gathers crowdfunding campaigns from people in need in Gaza
• Check out Operation Olive Branch, which helps fund medical evacuations
• Connect with Jewish Voice for Peace
• Use Resistbot to contact your representatives

CLICK HERE for a round-up of more resources that will allow you to serve your community at home and around the world by getting vaccinated, voting, and helping support those who are currently in need around the world.

Alasdair Stuart Reviews: Dredge

The incredibly insightful Alasdair Stuart is a pop culture genius, reviewer extraordinaire, and regular Digest contributor. Be sure to subscribe to The Full Lid for more brilliant pop culture analysis.

It's entirely appropriate that Dredge should appear out of nowhere. Black Salt Games’ debut hurtled into view the same way you do as the game begins. The fog lifts, a boat appears and suddenly we’re there. the captain of a destiny we don't remember signing up for. Welcome to Greater Marrow, a town in an archipelago of islands. Don't think too hard about how you got here–just work your boat, make your catches, and, if you can, never ever go out at night.

Black Salt Games' debut launch is a survival and crafting game wrapped around an RPG and the sort of cold, salt-crusted horror that warms my dark Manx bones. Fishing communities are temples to Terminus, constantly riding the line between land and sea, life and death. You never forget the way that tension feels sitting at the back of your neck. Several of my teachers were volunteer lifeboat crew. Several school friends are now members of the Coast Guard. My school lost a kid to the sea every couple of years. Dredge turns the volume up, to be sure, but most of what it's amplifying is already there.

That's why the gameplay loops here are so satisfying: their pragmatism is enhanced and corrupted by the narrative. You repair your boat, navigate the demands of your fellow islanders, and catch fish. But waterspouts and vast creatures hunt you through the world; your fellow islanders include cultists, maniacs, and a collector of gristly innovations; and the fish you catch aren’t always…right. If you stay awake instead of rest, then the nervy, panicky nature of the world unfolds itself in front of you like a chitinous flower of murder. Mirages appear, eyes float on the horizon and there is always something moving in the deep. The water in this game is a beautiful threat, and changes as you travel the archipelago. The volcanic region is shallow and littered with ruins, the bayou is knotted with roots and the abyss is full of something Chthonic whose tentacles are as vast as they are oddly beautiful. That aesthetic magnifies the themes of beauty and corruption, the perky little boat continually thrown around by the vast creatures beneath it and the vast ocean that it struggles across. There are occasional moments of grace too, as whales and dolphins make their way through the world, blissfully unaware of the cargo, both real and psychological, you’re hauling.

That cargo, and the truth of your arrival, is what drives the game’s narrative. Whether you’re playing the core game or the narrative DLC packs (The Pale Reach and The Iron Rig), your presence is always the focus. In Pale Reach the game explores the consequences of other sailor’s interactions with the unknown. In The Iron Rig, a deliciously squamous, upended version of Local Hero ensues as you assist in the construction of an oil rig drilling for something truly unspeakable. In every case, Dredge keeps you in the cabin of that chipper, fragile little boat. Always struggling through the next storm, always with your eyes on the horizon. Always afloat, just, somewhere on the wild, wild sea.

Dredge is available now for all major platforms. If you can, get the Complete Edition as the DLC is all very good.

Currently Reading: Milkman by Anna Burns

In an unnamed city, middle sister stands out for the wrong reasons. She reads while walking, for one. And she has been taking French night classes downtown. So when a local paramilitary known as the milkman begins pursuing her, she suddenly becomes “interesting,” the last thing she ever wanted to be. Despite middle sister’s attempts to avoid him―and to keep her mother from finding out about her maybe-boyfriend―rumors spread and the threat of violence lingers. Milkman is a story of the way inaction can have enormous repercussions, in a time when the wrong flag, wrong religion, or even a sunset can be subversive. Told with ferocious energy and sly, wicked humor, Milkman establishes Anna Burns as one of the most consequential voices of our day.

Barnes & Noble | Bad River Website | Local Library | Find an Indie Bookstore

If you’re a paying subscriber, this month’s Supper Club members get a recipe postcard from me this month! Next week is our monthly coworking date – don’t forget to RSVP and add it to your calendar. See you there!

—Gailey