Welcome everyone! I have been thinking about how to start off my journal for a long time and nothing was clicking until I thought about posting a story. I wanted my journal to feel like a cohesive piece on my website portfolio, and this seemed so natural when it finally occurred to me, I am not sure why it took me so long to figure this out!
Making stories has been something that I have done since I was a little girl. I still have copies of hand written poems and short stories from elementary school complete with drawings of mystical horses and faeries. I have never been the “sit down and monologue every instance of my life” kind of journalist, and maybe one day I will be able to figure that out. I have instead this ingrained desire to create stories that has burned in my bones since I was a child, eating up the literary creations of many authors and illustrators that inspired me (that is a post for another day). At the risk of sounding like a complete maniac, I will admit that sometimes it feels like I am going to fall apart if I don’t put any of this out, so for a long time I have been creating and cataloguing for the sake of my own personal sanity.
What I seem to have lost since childhood is the unfettered confidence that what I was creating was worth being seen by other people. Isn’t it weird how as adults we lose that inhibition? Getting past that self-doubt has been a battle for me (another post for another time HA!) A lot of experiences have burned me, but I think that I have finally come to a place of peace with it all enough to begin (tentatively) sharing some of my creations with you. I have had so many people, even complete strangers sometimes, reach out to me and express such kind compliments and encouragement to keep sharing what I create that it has started to feel like Divine Intervention. An encouragement from someone who I didn’t know I was longing to feel empowered by. (Sheesh this is filling up with post ideas for another time!)
Mystery & Magic
Without further ado I would like to present: The Garden, a “beautiful horror” DnD based story set in the lands beyond the Amaranth Sea, where the material realms collide with realms of greater magic.
The Garden follows the story of my Bard character Lysander, who has been transported away from his desert city home to a realm of legendary proportion. If you have been following my posts on any of my social platforms, you have probably seen the plethora of Lysander related concept art that I have been sharing this year. When I first considered making the garden I thought “Ah! I can’t make all these webcomics it is going to take forever!” but as I considered further I realized that the Garden would be a perfect way to start.
A Place for all the Specimens
The Garden is full of interesting and scientific themes and there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into making a webcomic.
Social Media has become a fickle beast over the last several years and the pressure to create lucrative content has sucked all the fun out of sharing process art. As I was making pages for the Garden webcomic, I realized how much I wanted a place to dump all my process work, all the sketches and concepts that have gone into laying out and creating the story and its characters.
The Directory (based off a location from the story) is just that kind of place. An archive where I can share everything that went into the process of the Garden with you, the people who have encouraged me to keep going.
Now, a little about the story and the characters. I won’t give anything away, but a quick note may be warranted (spooky vibes) Essentially a trigger warning.
The Garden follows a “beautiful horror” genre of storytelling, meaning that there are some aspects of the story that may be a little on the spookier side. I am not a graphic writer (generally) and I don’t believe that descriptions need be graphic or vulgar to get the point across so don’t let that throw you, however there are some psychological themes and hauntings in this story that may hit a little close to home for some readers. Beautiful Horror, or dark fantasy is a genre of storytelling that romanticizes the horrific experiences of the characters alongside aesthetically beautiful settings that play into the elements of the story, finding beauty in the dark things that surround us. As a holistic health professional, talking about mental and emotional health openly is something very important to me. It is important to me to be able to depict characters with complex, and relatable struggles, and to illustrate them in their struggles and penultimate triumphs.
Lysander
A Bard with a taste for beauty and a penchant for mischief
Lysander originated as an NPC character and developed from there into the beloved bard I have come to know him as. He is vibrant and unapologetically charismatic, a social butterfly that finds tremendous joy performing for his audiences, as well as a tenderhearted rogue with a soft spot for anyone who suffers. I hope that you will enjoy his journey as much as I have.
Alongside him we have a colorful cast of characters in this universe, including quirky spirits, shadowy monsters, and a dragon or two, but I will let you get to know them as the story unfolds! ;)
Ceres
A Dragon whose time and patience is wearing thin.
Ceres and Lysander have come to life over the course of a few years and there is a lot that has gone into their origins. I am excited to be able to share their lives and moments with you!
Until Next Time
May your gardens grow happily!
XOXO
Rylie!