The Media That Inspires This Bard
It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am a huge fan of Dungeon and Dragons. However, several pieces of media have influenced my writing and style of running various TTRPGs. These influences range from music to movies, books, and art, which have propelled my journey, and here I want to rhapsodize for others to explore these touchstones because I am a huge nerd and like talking about my little obsessions. So, if you would, please join me in this indulgence.
The Film Which Soothes My Creative Soul
"My gods, I've created a moving picture!" - The Artificer.
My favorite movie is Forest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, but that's not what I want to talk about today, as that movie is more of a pleasure and makes me laugh more than it inspires me. Instead, everyone who has seen any of the films by Studio Ghibli has a favorite. And, if you haven't seen anything by Ghibli, do yourself a favor and get on that, then come back here after your inevitable movie marathon. It's incredible the level of consistent, high-quality, writing and animation you get from Ghibli.
Now that you have the context of Ghibli films, while Howl's Moving Castle is fantastical and My Neighbor Totoro warms my heart, at the core of my being Spirited Away is the masterpiece that touched my soul. An adventure of a young girl who is tossed into a strange world filled with spirits and ruled over by a hag of a witch, it is a relatively modern take on the stranger in a strange land trope, which is set in an almost feywild type realm that pulls heavily from Eastern mythology. Now, if that scuffed attempt at a one-sentence description didn't scare you into scrolling to the following subheading, let me break it down for you why I adore this movie.
Stranger In A Strange Land: This trope, where the protagonist is thrust from a familiar land into the unknown, has always resonated with me. I love seeing the weird and unique and have been graced by the fortune to travel to many parts of our world. From the USA, where I was born, to the cradle of culture in the Middle East and beautiful vistas of the Mediterranean, to Northern Europe and the root of my family in Scotland, I've been able to explore places that many people will simply miss in the span of a single human lifetime. How does that relate to Spirited Away? Well, let's just say I'd love to explore that world and am waiting for a Ghibli RPG system or given the license to write it myself. Moreover, as I saw it shortly after its release in 2001, the soul-touching story of adventure hit me at a time when I was but a wee and impressionable young bard.
The Message: As I saw it as a child, the message of a hard transition from the cradle to becoming my own person hit home. I empathized with the self-possessed and anxious main character and saw how that time of life can be terrifying but with its little beauties. Yet, growing older, I have noticed that it is not a singular experience, as the more we grow, the more we have to go through an anxious trial to grow and leave it behind without looking back.
The Animation: It's no revelation that Studio Ghibli films are beautiful. Spirited Away is animated with a smoothness and finesse characteristic of the studio. The otherworldly spirits are based on Yokai, and Eastern depictions of various supernatural forces, and the art direction is stupefyingly stunning.
Music Means Much To Me
"Hold the bard down, he's getting too spicy." -The Warlock.
With that last selection setting the tone for this post, let's talk about music, the thing I always have going in the background and have spent countless hours consuming. I have also spent almost an hour trying to figure out how to construct this subheading, and I am just going to talk about one and move on because this is overwhelming.
Hollywood Undead: With a musical journey that has gone from frat music to dark and then weirdly hopeful jams, Hollywood Undead has been my Spotify most listened-to band for about three years running. They have a song for every mood and every character I write, and Runaway is potentially my favorite of the bunch.
Books That I Adore
"Books are at the core of my personality. I don't know who I am without them." - The Wizard.
With my profession being a writer, it is pretty easy to guess that I like to read. So here's a short list of my top books.
Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card: An example of separating art from the artist, I read Ender's Game before I cared about who authored the novels I enjoyed. (So basically high school) I love the hard science fiction and futuristic worldbuilding that is just probable enough. The political intrigue and glimpse into the mind of someone with great intelligence in a young mind is fantastic, and the question of the morality of war has been something I have revisited time and again.
Berserk- Kentaro Miura: I said books and mean it by having a manga in this section. Berserk, while not my favorite manga, is among the best I've ever read. While we will never see the final act of this epic playout, due to the author Kentaro Miura's death and his inheritors looking to preserve his legacy as it was, the pages that the mangaka penned are among the darkest, most human, and intense I've ever read and established a love of dark fantasy in my soul.
Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor Series- Dan Abnett: Combining the dark fiction of Berserk and science fiction and mixing them with a splash of James Bond, the Inquisitor series of books set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k universe just do it for me as a nerd. Giant space battles paired with intimate character moments, all with the backdrop of fantasy demons invading the universe, are cool as hell, and I won't hear anything to the contrary.
Waterdeep Dragon Heist- Wizard's RPG Team: A bit off from more traditional storytelling, I want to pick out Waterdeep Dragon Heist in Fifth Edition D&D as one of the best adventures ever. I've run several of the prewritten games in 5e, but I have always preferred writing my own games and worlds that are more centered around the characters my players bring to the game. Dragon Heist is the exception to that. When I played through it, my players understood the assignment and told one of the best TTRPG stories I've ever had. Mind you, I HEAVILY altered the campaign to fit our group better, but the bones came from the incredible storytelling and depth of lore provided in the original sourcebook.
As I can with music, I can go on about my favorite books until the heat death of the universe, so I will leave it there for now and jump into our last two subtopics.
ANIME!
"Just gonna sneak this in here..." - The Rogue.
Okay, so I rarely watch TV. I am more of a gamer, writer, and experience seeker to have time, let alone space, to care about television. However, I do adore anime and cartoons and always try to carve out a bit of time in my life for both. While I would love to chat about every anime or cartoon I have loved, I will limit this section to talk about one that is my favorite by a mile. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, based on the manga by Hiromu Arakawa and adapted by Studio Bones, is a 51-episode masterpiece that incorporates every aspect of fantasy and literature I find interesting.
With well-written, motivated, and, most importantly, flawed characters, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood tells a simple story about a pair of brothers that is layered upon with outstanding worldbuilding and a compelling meta-narrative. The parallels between WWII speak with a depth of history, and the well-researched magic system builds on the narrative and never takes center stage. However, while all that is amazing on its own, what truly speaks to me about FMA is how it takes every detail and mixes it into a masterclass in good storytelling. The protagonists are good, but their moral struggles tell a human story. The world is dynamic, and every action is written with intent. The overall plot is compelling and doesn't do the anime sin of overstaying its welcome, making for a nail-biting experience that grows more profound in meaning with every rewatch. Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, and to an extent, its flawed companion piece of the original anime, is an inspiration that will stay with me until I have rotted away.
Gaming Is My Favorite Pasttime
"Life should be enjoyable, so enjoy it." -The Bard.
My blog is about TTRPGs, so it's probably apparent I play games, both tabletop and video variety. Dungeons and Dragons has been a mainstay of my adult life and inspired me to become a writer. But, since that is a cornerstone of my website already, I want to talk about the video game series, which is my comfort food.
Dark Souls and the broader Souls series, including Elden Ring, Sekiro, and Bloodborne, are role-playing games I have spent the most time playing over the past decade. Ask anyone who has played D&D with me, and they will likely say that my encounters are challenging, where the balance is often skewed in favor of the enemies. I don't do this out of a desire to punish my players, and I do it because, through difficulties and struggle, some of the best characters are born.
Moreover, the bleak and plainly grimdark world of the Souls games is the perfect bleak backdrop for someone with my tastes in media. It is spooky but not horror, with foreboding undertones and a narrative that is as hidden to the player as the game character. Honestly, if anything, the Souls series is a mishmash of everything I have discussed in this article and just a little more.
