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| Copyright © Mark Kelly 2025 |
On a personal note, it's been a couple of years now since I last touched the dice and hid behind the shield of a DM's screen, and yes, there are times I yearn to be there again. One obstacle, though - finding your player base. But I'll leave that for another day (or evening) and another post.
As the title states, I'll be going over the Critical Roll - "the Crit", and its counter-part, the Failed Roll - "the Fumble".
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| Copyright © Mark Kelly 2025 |
What I initially thought was a rain-drenched Wood Pigeon, sat on our garden seat set-up, was in fact a Sparrowhawk. It was in the process of eating its morning kill, feathers strewn about its feet and the table upon which it feasted - rather ironic.
So it would seem my little feathered friend was not the victim of a Magpie as suspected, but of this Sparrowhawk.
I didn't disturb it, as it is nature doing what nature does, and I know some reading this might be of the opinion that I should have shooed it away, but the meal it was engaged in was beyond recognisable, and nothing would be gained.
FEEDING THE FLOCK.
One momentary lapse of attention and a heart-breaking discovery.
Since the tail-end of 2024's Winter I began buying suet pellets, seed and dried mealworms in order to feed my garden bird visitors. My main aim was to help them prepare for the nesting season to follow in early 2025.
Like most people who live in an urban setting, garden birds are acknowledged but not really focused upon. They come, they go, they sometimes crap on your washing line full of clean clothes. Aside from that, they fill a silence with the musicality of nature. Some more than others.
The feeding 'table' of choice I decided would be the garage roof - low enough for me to place food adequately, but tall enough to give the birds confidence in feeding with the risk of predators.
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| Copyright © Mark Kelly 2025 |
On the floor by 0700hrs after the hand-over, and was informed I'd be covering two areas. Nothing unusual there, but this day the department was short-staffed. I flitted about making sure things were in order, stock levels and the such, before things began getting busy as patients who had been there overnight would start waking and the buzzers start buzzing.
It was just after my return from break I encountered an elderly lady looking lost. My initial impression was she could be a relative seeking the way out. Not unusual, and happens frequently. People get easily disorientated.
I asked if I could help in any way. She smiled, and told me she was looking for her dog. Okay, I replied, and gently steered her towards the main desk, to find out 'where her dog was'.
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| Copyright © M.Kelly 2025 |
When distilled, its core reason: self-indulgence.
Such a simple premise, yet so loaded, that if it were a car the tyres would have blown from the immense weight.
But seriously, writing is so very self-indulgent.
Think about it, you have absolute and total control - from the weather, the time, location, the character or characters (which in itself is potentially boundless in regards what you can create). Basically, in essence, you are the ultimate creator. Your word is 'law'. You wield the power to create, destroy, make sun, rain, laughter, tears, joy, sadness. The list could be endless.
Yet... and here's the rub, you are also at the mercy of that which you create. Believe this or not, but characters can develop in ways that are both unexpected and surprising, WITHOUT your intent. Yes. It is a thing. Many writers will tell you such. Once you are in a flow state of writing and your muse is in tune with your creative flow, the words take on a life of their own, and before you realise what's happening you may have written a page or two, maybe three, and not even thought about it. It just flowed.
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| Copyright © M.Kelly 2025 |
Undoubtedly it was a tap installed into my imagination, allowing me to turn it on to full flow and let the ideas run freely. And this they did for a very long time. During that time my role playing influences filtered through from games such as 'Traveller' (original spelling), from Games Workshop - back in the day when they were all about the games and not the money - 'Call of Cthulu', 'Warhammer Fantasy RPG', 'AD&D', 'Shadow Run', and last, but not least, my ultimate rpg love, the brilliantly simple, 'Dragon Warriors'.
I consumed books/novels in the various genres weekly, buying more and more, my imagination filling with new vistas, characters, scenarios, locations - basically everything a DM/GM needed in order to run their worlds for their rpg group. And that I did.
"But what if I wrote a story?" I asked myself. So I did. Poorly. But I wrote another, and another. All of them crap. Though to me it was an amazing sense of freedom. I wrote for myself. No-one ever read them, nor will they. For me, writing was having my own personal cinema in my head. Putting the words to paper fired up the screen of my imagination. It was wonderful.
As the title states, it has indeed been a long time passed since I last posted. I must confess, it's entirely down to me, my procrastinating mindset combined with a lacklustre imagination fuelled by a plethora of external - and some internal - conflicts, mini-dramas and distractions.
For that, I most humbly regret.
But here we are, early hours of Saturday, 23rd of August, 2025, and another epically uninspiring Summer has dragged its unimpressive arse closer to handing over the baton to a toe-tapping Autumn.
So, to catch up, let me think...
Every once in a while, whilst watching something on TV, a piece of music pops up, be it in an advert (not so much lately), or a film, or series, that makes your ears prick and your brains blurts, "Hang on! I like that! What is it?"
Well, I stumbled across a new Polish Police drama, titled FORST, the trailer for which I'll post below, as it'll save me blabbing on in a poor attempt to explain it. The trailer is in Polish, but click on the subtitles option. Trust me, dubbing just ruins it.
But in episode one, there is a point where the main character Forst is in his caravan, and puts an LP onto his record player - old school, love it - and this smooth bass lines kicks in, followed by a chilled guitar line, and then the lead vocal. It is so sublime you can feel yourself mellowing out as the seconds pass.
Instantly my brain gives me a kick, and my ears are tuned in. The track is call "Apocalypse" and is performed by a band called: Cigarettes After Sex. So, for your listening pleasure, here is the track (on the strength of which, I've ordered the album on CD, as I like to play them in my car when driving). Enjoy.
