#Castles in the air

[taxmacabre]

As the 1755 vs 1757 debate seems to be making the rounds on my dash again, here's my two cents (taken from my WIP, that still needs serious editing)

[nerdyrevelries]

Castles in the Air

I'm extremely excited to announce that the game I've been working on for the past 4 years is coming to Kickstarter! Castles in the Air (CitA) is a tabletop RPG inspired by the novels of Louisa May Alcott and L.M. Montgomery. Players start as children with boundless dreams who will change over the years based on the relationships they form and choices they make. I think it's a really special game, and I'm looking forward to being able to share it with everyone.

For more information or to sign up to be notified when the Kickstarter launches on May 14th, please check out the game's page on the Storybrewers Roleplaying website. If that name sounds familiar, Storybrewers is the company that created Good Society: A Jane Austen RPG. I feel very honored that they reached out to me about publishing Castles in the Air. While Castles in the Air is a standalone game, its mechanics are inspired by Good Society, and if you like Good Society, I think you'll like CitA too as it allows you to tell similarly compelling stories.

I will be creating some blog posts talking about the literary inspirations for different parts of the game in the weeks leading up to the Kickstarter and during its run. I will be using this as a master post to keep track of all of them, so make sure to check back here or follow my blog if you are interested.

Blog Posts

Meg March: The Nurturer

Jo March: The Pragmatist

[dimalink]

Peak in winter with moon dust

Pixel art for today based on videogame Champions of Krynn for computer system MS DOS. Role playing game about fantasy world. Lots of strange events. And most interesting adventure. In dungeons. And there are even castles in the clouds. Big and fantasy. A Baldurs Gate.

And this is my drawing based on Champions of Krynn (MS DOS). We are getting closer to  the peak This is name for this place. With castles in the air. Who can believe it, they are real. And there is whole city there. Even two of them. Under the moon.

It is starting winter. It is start to fall magic snow. Mixed up with moon sand. Dust from the moon is falling to earth too. Such ash color for snow and moon sand.

Looks like dwarf do not lie, when he said that we need to come through dungeons of Shagra. To reach the peak. At the edge, as this place also named with this locals. Path was long. Days and nights spent in lots of underground labyrinths floors. And here at last, clear air. Late autumn is changed with winter. It looks like it was passed whole eternity.

Dima Link is making retro videogames, apps, a little of music, write stories, and some retro more.

WEBSITE: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html ITCHIO: https://dimalink.itch.io/

TUMBLR: https://dimalink.tumblr.com/ BLOGGER: https://dimalinkeng.blogspot.com/ MASTODON: https://mastodon.social/@DimaLink

[auntieblues]

“I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula

original auntieblues

[roadside-enshrined]

mina day 🥺

[fairwellersmustache]

🚨🚨🚨Storybrewers is making a Little Women/Anne of Green Gables inspired game! I repeat, Storybrewers is making a Little Women/Anne of Green Gables inspired game!🚨🚨🚨

[nerdyrevelries]

For anyone who likes both of those books, I wrote a tabletop RPG inspired by them where you can play out your own stories of childhood friendship, boundless dreams, and growing up. It's called Castles in the Air, and it comes out April 2025!

[muziqalley]

Hills of forest green Where the mountains touch the sky A dream come true I'll live there 'til I die I'm asking you to say my last goodbye The love we knew ain't worth another try

-"castles in the air" by don mclean

[quietflorilegium]

“But suppose the whole scheme should turn out to be a castle in the air?” said Mrs. Garth. “Well, well,” replied Caleb; “the castle will tumble about nobody’s head.”

George Eliot, "Middlemarch"

[nerdyrevelries]

Jo March: The Pragmatist

One of the most common complaints I hear about Little Women is the way it ends. Many people think that Jo stifles her creativity and gives up on her writing in order to marry Professor Bhaer, which isn't true. Jo writes a very successful book in one of the sequels, Jo’s Boys, but let's set that to the side because what I really want to discuss is what Jo actually thinks of the writing she’s doing in the latter half of Little Women. 

In Part I of Little Women, we see the type of writing that Jo does prior to selling her work. In “A Merry Christmas,” the family puts on The Witch’s Curse, an Operatic Tragedy, which seems to be a Shakespearean melodrama. In “Jo Meets Apollyon,” the book Amy burns in anger is “half a dozen little fairy tales.” In “The P.C. and P.O.,” Jo writes a comedic poem and a lament for one of Beth’s cats. Finally, in “Secrets,” Jo submits a tragic romance to The Spread Eagle (one assumes that this name was less funny when Little Women was originally published in 1868.) The Spread Eagle doesn’t pay beginners, so we can assume that everything written up until this point is the type of writing Jo does for herself when there’s no pressure to make changes to please an editor in order to get a paycheck. 

Part II begins with the chapter “Gossip,” which catches us up on what’s been happening over the past three years. Jo is now a regular contributor to The Spread Eagle who receives a dollar for each story. She refers to them as “rubbish,” so she doesn’t seem particularly proud of the writing she’s doing, but she’s in the process of writing a novel she hopes will win her fame and prestige. 

In “Literary Lessons,” Jo observes a boy reading a newspaper story illustrated with a dramatic scene of “an Indian in full war costume, tumbling over a precipice with a wolf at his throat” and two men stabbing each other while a terrified woman flees the scene. When the boy offers to share, Jo agrees more because she likes the boy than because of an interest in the story. The story is sensation fiction, which Jo privately thinks is trash anyone could have written. However, when she learns the author is making a good living from her stories, Jo decides to try her hand at this new style of writing. She submits the story to a contest the newspaper is running and wins $100. Jo uses the money to send Beth and Marmee to the seashore. She’s proud of her ability to earn money to help her family, so she continues to write these kinds of stories since they are lucrative. 

She later finishes her novel and sends it to multiple publishers, only one of whom is interested, and only if there are major cuts and revisions. After conflicting advice from her family, she decides to make the requested changes, which earns her $300 and some very mixed reviews that lead Jo to respond, “Some make fun of it, some over-praise, and nearly all insist that I had a deep theory to expound, when I only wrote it for the pleasure and the money. I wish I’d printed it whole or not at all, for I do hate to be so misjudged.” 

In “Calls,” Jo reluctantly joins Amy to return calls to their neighbors with generally disastrous results. One incident involves Jo receiving a compliment on her writing. 

Any mention of her “works” always had a bad effect upon Jo, who either grew rigid and looked offended, or changed the subject with a brusque remark, as now. “Sorry you could find nothing better to read. I write that rubbish because it sells, and ordinary people like it.”

This passage makes it very clear that Jo isn’t proud or fond of what she is writing. The reception to her novel combined with the money she can make from sensation fiction has changed Jo’s primary motivation for writing. She is no longer doing it for the love of writing or because she’s pursuing her dreams. She’s trying to make money to help out her family.

I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. We all have periods in our life when we take a job that we aren’t extremely excited about because it will allow us to achieve something that is more important to us. However, it’s a different narrative than is usually spun about Jo who is frequently depicted as continually working towards her dream. There is a role in Castles in the Air that fits that narrative. It’s called the Striver, but I don’t think that’s the role that Jo has. Instead, Jo is the Pragmatist, which is a role about setting aside your dreams for the moment because you have other responsibilities. Both are interesting conflicts, but they lead to very different conclusions when it comes to Jo’s story! 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at “Friend,” which follows Jo in New York. She’s now writing for a newspaper called the Weekly Volcano, which has required Jo to make so many changes to her stories that she decides to have her work published anonymously. That certainly wouldn’t be a good career move if she was truly trying for fame! She’s also come to greatly respect a man staying at her boarding house named Professor Bhaer. One day, he makes a comment about a newspaper that publishes sensation stories like the ones Jo is writing. Her response is telling:

Jo glanced at the sheet, and saw a pleasing illustration composed of a lunatic, a corpse, a villain, and a viper. She did not like it; but the impulse that made her turn it over was not one of displeasure, but fear, because, for a minute, she fancied the paper was the “Volcano.” 

Professor Bhaer notices her look and guesses the truth, but instead of letting her know this, he decides to gently explain his reasoning. After this, Jo goes back to reread the stories she has been writing and decides to burn them. Far from stifling her creativity, Professor Bhaer is the one who sees that Jo is ashamed of her writing and reminds her that she is capable of more.

This is part of a series on the literary inspirations behind game elements for my upcoming tabletop RPG based on the novels of Louisa May Alcott and L.M. Montgomery, Castles in the Air. To see a complete list of the posts I’ve written thus far, check out the master post. If you would like more information, visit the game’s website!

[bookstattoosandtea]

Release Blitz, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway: Castles in the Air by Felice Stevens

Release Blitz, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway: Castles in the Air By Felice Stevens One heartbroken, lonely man Another man struggling to find his life again Ryan Matson dreams of a new life, one with a future where drugs aren’t in control. But lying to himself isn’t helping him achieve that goal. Neither is pretending he’s sober, especially not with Logan Silver, his one-night stand and longtime…

[lionspel]

[ce-ayr-blog]

Fairy Tale - Unicorn Challenge

Copyright Ayr/Gray The Unicorn Challenge. A magical new weekly writing opportunity from her – Jenne Gray – and me.Visit her blog every Friday to see the photo prompt, and post your amazing story in her comments section.Or on your own blog, and stick the link down in her comments.The rules are:Maximum of 250 words.Based on photo prompt.That’s it.To hear me read my story, just click here: Fairy…

[bigsquirrel18]

So call for the crossroads if you're lost in the woods

If I drop this torch, then I'll be gone for good

I said, "Enough is enough"

Well, I guess I lied, I guess I lied

[hitchell-mope]

Oh that’s gonna cost her.