Fantasy & Fairytale Unsplash Collection

Silas Denver Melvin, from Grit: Poems; “Shiny Chrome”

[Text ID: “watch me cut myself gleaming, / shrieking. polish / my inside until / every wretched organ / sings like chrome.”]

REBLOG THIS TO GIVE THE PERSON YOU REBLOGGED THIS FROM A GOLD STAR BECAUSE THEY’VE BEEN STELLAR TODAY AND THEY DESERVE IT ⭐️

All For The Game (Original Series Soundtrack) Songs from Season Three of Netflix’s All For The Game (Season One · Season Two) ▸ blood // water · grandson ∟ The blood had hit the bottom of his locker and was now spilling onto the floor in a swiftly-spreading puddle. […] Neil followed Matt’s gaze to the far wall and felt his stomach bottom out. Written in blood across the tile was a bold message: “Happy 19th Birthday, Jr.” ▸ drugs · EDEN ∟ “I hate you.” “Nine percent of the time you don’t.” “Nine percent of the time I don’t want to kill you. I always hate you.” “Every time you say that I believe you a little less.” “No one asked you.” With that, Andrew caught Neil’s face in his hands and leaned in. ▸ goodbye · cage the elephant ∟ He traced the outline of a key into his bloody, burnt palm with a shaky finger, closed his eyes, and wished Neil Josten goodbye. ▸ can’t pretend · tom odell ∟ Andrew bit the question into the corner of Neil’s jaw. “Yes or no?” “It’s always yes with you,” Neil said. ▸ champion · barns courtney ∟ Before he stepped on Kevin tapped the butt of his racquet against the floor and passed his stick to his other hand. He strode to half-court head high and left-handed, and the crowd went wild.

Finally, was starting to think I'd never get anything released! Y'all ready to ROCK?!

Now, just to get this out of the way, I was really hoping to have something else done for y'all by now, that thing being the update to Flesh and Bone I mentioned in my last update post. Mechanically, it's done and has been for a while, and I'm VERY pleased with how it's coming along. However, it's proving to be a frustrating challenge to get it formatted with artwork that doesn't look awful. So, I took a much-needed break to work on something else and it's going on the back burner. It'll be out when it's out.

So what's this new thing I bring before you this day? With my main D&D campaign wrapping up, I've been working on a absolute TON of custom stuff for a new character, so that's taken up a lot of my creative energy. Now that we've had our first session and my work is done, I can pretty it up for y'all!

As one may surmise, I'm playing a heavy metal bard, so I put this together based on a combination of an existing college of metal I found on D&Dwiki and Matt Mercer's college of the maestro. The metalheads among you may have also noticed that yes, each feature and solo are named after metal songs, a lot of bangers too. Having run a combat with it, I'm already really happy with it mechanically and since it's my newest character it will be getting LOTS of playtesting. 

Another thing to mention is the little sidebar at the end. For this campaign I'm playing the 2024 playtest version of the new bard so that's what this was originally built for.  However, since most won't be playing it, I reworked it for the existing bard and added a way to "update" it for the new one for those who want it. For future content I would like to do something similar depending on how extensive the changes are, but we'll see how things shake out.

Anyway, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. A little sparse in the art department, but I think the theme I picked does a lot to carry it. Plus, I genuinely couldn't come up with anything that looked better, so hey, I'm not gonna let perfect be the enemy of done.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. So glad to actually be working on stuff again. Stay safe, don't forget to love each other, and I'll see you again soon.

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gothic fiction delicacies 

𝖔𝖓𝖊. decaying setting 

haunted houses, castles with secret passages/rooms, trapdoors, mazes, labyrinths, closed doors, trick panels with hidden levers, dark or hidden staircases, added flavor with darkness, uneven floors, branchings, claustrophobia, echoes of unusual sounds.

𝖙𝖜𝖔. supernatural beings or monsters

time of great discovery and exploration in the fields of science, religion, and industry; revere and question the existence of a higher power; ghosts, death and decay, deviant forms of humans: vampires, zombies, wolfmen

𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊. curses or prophecies

obscure, partial, confusing prophecies and curses, undecipherable maps and house plans

𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗. omens or portents

disturbing dreams, phenomenons, imitation thoughts, foreshadowing, statues falling, paintings ripped and staring back, windows tapping at night, dark curtains caught in the wind

𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊. a suspenseful and mysterious atmosphere

fear enhanced by the unknown, inexplicable murders, mutilated bodies, mounted corpses, raised suspense, mysterious invitations, surreal appearances, blend between imagination and reality

𝖘𝖎𝖝. heroes in distress

appeal to the pathos and sympathy of the reader, events that leave one fainting, terrified, screaming, and/or sobbing; lonely, pensive, oppressed hero/heroine; pronounced sufferings, abandoned with no protection, “stay here, I’ll be right back.”

𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓. tyrannical antagonist

power as king or queen, lord or mistress of the manor, forcing the intolerable, supernatural/paranormal strength, poisonous seduction, irresistable charm

𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙. light and dark interplay

shades of grey or blood-red colors, blood as visual spectacle, blood stains, red roses, candle-light, violet night, silver moon, household silver

𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊. intense emotions

madness - strange or troubling events that, while logical, seem to originate from unexpected forces; repressed fears & desires, memory of past sin, terror, sorrow, anger, feeling of impending doom

𝖙𝖊𝖓. metonymy of gloom and horror

suggesting mystery, danger, supernatural; howling wind, blowing rain, doors grating on rusty hinges, sighs, moans, howls, eerie sounds, footsteps approaching, clanking chains, lights in abandoned rooms, gusts of wind blowing out lights, characters trapped in a room, doors suddenly slamming shut, ruins of buildings, baying of distant dogs or wolves, thunder and lightning, crazed laughter

(Some) Of Fantasy’s Many Subgenres

(science fiction version)

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” -Dr. Seuss

Shows & Films depicted (from top to bottom): Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One, Pan’s Labyrinth, Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring, Beauty & The Beast, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Game Of Thrones, American Gods, Supernatural, Wings Of Desire, Guardians Of The Galaxy.

Thought I might make a reblog game of my own.

what to write next; wip writers' block edition:

switch POVs (this would differ if you really want it to be limited, but if you do switch, make sure to keep it [somewhat] consistent)

introduce a new character

scrap the planning and go off the rails (literally and figuratively)

kill off a character

turn something the characters have been chasing into something that doesn't exist

destroy the thing they've been chasing just when they get it

introduce another subplot

turn one of the mc's trusted characters into a traitor

what would you do to make your mc's life as difficult as possible? oh, that's evil. do it.

send the mc on a wild goose chase

make the mc screw up really, really badly

enact the Fatal Flaw™—make this make them screw up

the mc does something that splits up their group and renders them not trustworthy

the mc betrays their group

the characters are forced to sacrifice something dear

the villain dies

the villain is killed by an underling who is even worse than the original villain

introduce the person who controls the villain

kill off the mc's motivation

what would give the villain absolute power? a gateway to achieve their goal? do it, or if you can't, nudge them in the right direction

Marienburg Castle, Hanover, Germany.