Category: art

art, Runemaster, Stories

Runemaster characters – Malachi

Autumn

Malachi is the Runemaster, aka the character that the story is titled after.

I originally created him 20 years ago when I was a teenager, and he was initially an angel who wandered the planet as a priest for some nondescript Christian religion. However, with life experience I’ve come to the conclusion that anything that’s vaguely Christian-esque is too much of a hot topic to touch, so I reworked him over to being solidly Pagan in a world where gods are mostly distant figures that don’t have much to do with humans. Therefore, no one has to judge everything he says and does! You can sit comfortable in the idea that he’s going to hell no matter what, anyway. 😛

Sorry. I know that I’m a brat, lol. I should work on my snarky behavior.

Ideally everyone would understand that this is a 100% fictional world that has no bearing on what you do with your life in the real world, but this is 2024 and a lot of people don’t know how to make that distinction. Thank you, social media! ~Putting everyone on the defensive since 2009~

In many ways, Malachi is intended to be the epitome of paternal love. Remember how I said that I created him when I was a teenager? He was my fictional replacement for something I was lacking in real life. Now that I’m an adult and the pieces have been healed, he has more leeway with his heart and actions, but for the most part he’s still patient, protective, and understanding.

And very very secretive.

art, Runemaster, Stories

Runemaster characters – Lyra

Autumn

Lyra is the primary protagonist, and the bulk of the story is told from her perspective.

The fun thing about RuneMaster is that I created the characters clear back when I was a teenager, and I was young enough that Lyra was a blatant self-insert. That meant that when I decided to re-imagine and rewrite the story, her character needed to be built from the ground up.

At the beginning of the novel, Lyra is 18-years-old, her father has been dead for two months, and she works as a dressmaker’s assistant. Socially she’s an outcast with no friends, and as a result she suffers from anxiety and insecurity, but she learns fast and is very meticulous. She also hates fire.

This is perhaps a bit of an odd quirk, but for this novel I decided that none of the main characters are going to be given last names. In fact, I’m contemplating having one of the main characters in the sequel to this novel not even have a name at all. I guess I’m feeling avant garde like that.

About Writing, art

Coming soon

Autumn

This novel is a prequel to The Black Magus, though how the two are connected won’t be obvious for quite some time.

As much as I like The Scion Suit/The Scions, truth is I’ve never 100% gotten over the fact that it originated as a story prompt. It doesn’t thematically fit into the larger mythos that I created for The Black Magus, and on an emotional level, that’s what I need right now.

You know. That whole emotional self expression through writing thing. Remember back when that was popular, before our creative culture was subverted for profit?

Anyway, I still plan on finishing The Scion Suit/The Scions, but it is on the back burner for now.

art

Stable Diffusion XL – White Cat

Autumn

I’m not going to pretend like I have any idea what’s going on with the AI art community. I have no clue. My life is primarily focused on what’s going on inside the four walls of my home, so if all of this is old hat by now, feel free to excuse me as being out of touch — because I am! 😆

I use Stable Diffusion to supplement my writing, but I also just enjoy crafting prompts. Finally, visual art in a form that my aphantastic brain can understand! HA HA! Print that sucker out and tape it up on the walls! Because why not?

So, these pictures all use the same Seed and other settings, with the only difference being some slight tweaking of the prompt. Some of them literally have the order of a couple of words changed, and that’s it. However, the end results all have drastically different visual impacts.

art, poetry

Winter’s Grace

Autumn

The snow falls, soft and pure
A blanket of white, covering the earth
The skies above, dark and cold
But beneath the snow, the earth has grown rich and bold
The trees are bare, their leaves have fallen
But beneath the snow, the earth is swelling
The roots reach down, deep in the soil
Preparing for the spring, when new life will unfurl
The winter air is crisp, and clear
And in the snow, there’s beauty to be seen
The silence of the snow provides a place
To listen to our thoughts, and hear our dreams
The winter’s grace, it fills our world
With peace and serenity, unbound
And when the snow melts, and spring is here
We know the earth, will once again sing clear.