[ Crystal Shaman ] - Tribal Ambient Music - Meditation, Focus And Harmony

Path of the Black Alchemist was accompanied by lots of bonus materials in the Appendices. Rest assured, there's more on the way when the third and final, as-yet-untitled book in my AoD sequel trilogy is released!

What bonus goodies are YOU looking forward to seeing?

Check out the Appendices, and download my books for free, from my website: jrmilward.com

Shout out to @dean_kopri for the INCREDIBLE music! 🎶❤️🎶❤️🎶❤️🎶

📚❤️📚❤️📚❤️📚

What Happens When Evil Wins?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and in despair right now, this might help <3

Ladies and gentlemen, D.M. again.

Probably the best TRAOD review I’ve ever read. I can’t resist to highlight some awesome bits.

“I cannot for the life of me understand those who felt Core’s Lara had no depth or motivation, especially compared to the wangsty, ham-and-cheese sandwhich Lara of Crystal Dynamics. Jonel Elliot has her limitations, of course, but there is more humanity expressed in the way Lara touches Kurtis after he’s been knocked into the pit with her than there is in Keeley Hawes shouting “WHERE! IS! MY! MOTHER!?” or “No, no, no, my mother’s dead. My mother died a long time ago. You’re not my mother.“ 

“And I loved the interplay between Lara and Kurtis. I understand some people hated it, either because Kurtis has sucky control, because he got grope Lara in the Louvre, or because they object to the notion that Lara could ever have a man play an important role in her life, or that she could age. Just look at her expression when Kurtis disarms her and steals the Obscura painting–say what you want about how ‘mature’ the scene is, but the fact remains that it’s presented to us from Lara’s point of view. She’s ****ed because he stole the painting, but perhaps as much because he didn’t finish what he started. He’s on the same playing field. When he backs away, she’s almost looking at him as if to say, “Now what? You started this.” I think she expresses this when she takes her “revenge” by disarming and searching Kurtis later in the game, though less suggestively. This is the only TR game I’ve seen/played that acknowledges Lara’s sexuality in the sense that she actually reacts to something rather than simply being made the enticing object of our oggling from atop an unreachable pillar. That makes her more human than giving her a wangsty past. Profoundly more so. Just watch her body language during all the scenes in which she interacts with Kurtis. It’s fascinating. “

Agree or disagree with me all you like, but I found their chemistry to be more convincing than the chemistry between Lara and Alex West in the first Tomb Raider movie, and more convincing than chemistry between Lara and Terry Sheridan in the second. Why did it work for me? There was no obligatory banter, flirting, or arguments one would expect. Kurtis very much inhabits Lara’s world, and is just as internally driven as she is. I would have disliked Kurtis if he were a macho stereotype or a braggart (which is why that image of Duke Nukem cupping Lara’s breasts makes me ill, and so do all suggestions that she and Larson had chemistry as well), but instead, he’s a kindred spirit, caught up in the same struggle against the same enemy as Lara, and about as close to a soul mate as she has ever had. Or at least, potentially. Their connection seems to stem, not from something as arbitrary as the attraction of opposites, but something as deep as the symmetry of souls. Once the guns are holstered (and perhaps before), they have an instinctive understanding of each other, and I thought that was fantastic. Kurtis Trent is far and away the best sidekick Lara has ever had, IMHO.”

“Though the game doesn’t make a point of this, Lara is perhaps more invested in Kurtis than she knows, because later on, she does something I have never seen her do once in six games: She forefits the macguffin she has just retrieved for the life of another person. And almost seconds later Kurtis does something similar: He forefits his chance for revenge/justice (and possibly, his life) for the sake of helping Lara. Again, no questions are asked, because the two understand each other.”

Now I’m crawling to a corner to cry and die.

2 days baby!

Art: Me (ixcato)

Software: Clip Studio Paint

memes are fun and relatable and all that, but don't let them discourage you. all of that stuff that doesn't make it into the final product is part of how the final product gets made

2025 Art Commission are open :^)

Payment with card, PayPal or Stripe

Pricelist:

My commissions are open again, both Hipolink and Lava.top are available for payment via card, PayPal or Stripe :) Lava.Top has slightly more options and you can pay via EU or USD, if you want.

Hipolink.me

Author needlesslycryptic Content Showcase on Hipolink

All content by needlesslycryptic ➤ buy access ➤ support your favorite author ➤ follow content updates by needlesslycryptic

"If you use em dash in your works, it makes them look AI generated. No real human uses em dash."

Imaging thinking actual human writers are Not Real because they use... professional writing in their works.

Imagine thinking millions of people who have been using em dash way before AI becomes a thing are all robots.

REBLOG IF YOU'RE A HUMAN AND YOU USE EM DASH

A few loading screens that I made) I hope you enjoyed it - I, like the whole team, did my best to keep the mood of the original and give it a new lease of life)

A Positive Writing Rant

It's like 3am for me rn but I gotta say it dude, writing is so much fun Like real talk for a second, this might be a lil cringe but here we go Truthfully, I've been writing since I was 12 years old, and started attempting to write full novels for my main characters at the time (I got a grand total of 27 pages on my first one, to no one's surprise) Because of that first novel, though, I wrote a sequel which I never completed, but it managed to get to 18 pages before I finally called it quits with those characters because I had lost interest, which continued into me taking a creative writing class that sprung up a few stories that I plan on fleshing out in the future alongside my other projects, which continued into a LOT more adventurous projects Despite that, for a very long time, I never considered myself a writer in any capacity because I simply wasn't good at it to start and thought I couldn't become good(as just about any artist is) but in the last couple of years I FINALLY accepted that I enjoy writing at least a bit more than the average joe I don't know why I decided to keep writing despite thinking my writing was objectively terrible but I am SO glad I did, truly a hidden spark discovered much later than I care to admit So here I am now, working on 2 full length novels (one of them has already FAR beaten out my first attempt at a novel, all while not even being 3 chapters done) and I'm genuinely enjoying writing as well as considering it a potential career For all you beginner writers please don't let that little spark go out, it might be tough getting over that first hill but I promise you that the reward on the other side is so so worth it, even if you think your writing is "bad" or "cringe", it doesn't matter as long as it makes you happy Even if you never pursue writing as a career and stick it as a hobby, or for giving your characters lore or for even building your own personal fantasy world, do not let that spark die This may not hit a lot of people but I do hope it will at least inspire a few to keep writing Thanks for coming to my TED talk