D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
@deadstar.black
transmedia creative — a fusionist 🎨🖋️
exploring grimdark narratives, haunted seas, and architecture of the soul
nautical horror | wh40k | dark SFF
75k words into THE REPLY, projected 120k novel
https://deadstar.black
exploring grimdark narratives, haunted seas, and architecture of the soul
nautical horror | wh40k | dark SFF
75k words into THE REPLY, projected 120k novel
https://deadstar.black
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
this week's craft essay is for everyone tired of being told they're morally suspect for liking complex characters. about diegetic writing, why compelling beats likeable, and why fiction isn't an instruction manual.
Stop Making Your Protagonists Sympathetic
Why the most interesting characters are the ones (other people say) you shouldn't like. Learn why diegetic writing and morally complex protagonists create better fiction than sympathetic characters. C...
logbook.deadstar.black
November 26, 2025 at 6:29 PM
this week's craft essay is for everyone tired of being told they're morally suspect for liking complex characters. about diegetic writing, why compelling beats likeable, and why fiction isn't an instruction manual.
this week's craft essay is for everyone tired of being told they're morally suspect for liking complex characters. about diegetic writing, why compelling beats likeable, and why fiction isn't an instruction manual.
Stop Making Your Protagonists Sympathetic
Why the most interesting characters are the ones (other people say) you shouldn't like. Learn why diegetic writing and morally complex protagonists create better fiction than sympathetic characters. C...
logbook.deadstar.black
November 26, 2025 at 6:29 PM
this week's craft essay is for everyone tired of being told they're morally suspect for liking complex characters. about diegetic writing, why compelling beats likeable, and why fiction isn't an instruction manual.
Owlcat Games featured the Deadstar Logbook on their gamedev resources page 😭
owlcat.games/learning
genuinely honoured. there's incredible craft analysis on there. very grateful to be included.
logbook.deadstar.black
owlcat.games/learning
genuinely honoured. there's incredible craft analysis on there. very grateful to be included.
logbook.deadstar.black
Owlcat Games - We create cRPGs
We create cRPGs
owlcat.games
November 18, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Owlcat Games featured the Deadstar Logbook on their gamedev resources page 😭
owlcat.games/learning
genuinely honoured. there's incredible craft analysis on there. very grateful to be included.
logbook.deadstar.black
owlcat.games/learning
genuinely honoured. there's incredible craft analysis on there. very grateful to be included.
logbook.deadstar.black
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
I had the honor of making this painting for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein.
November 13, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I had the honor of making this painting for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein.
i made a new toyhou.se for managing characters for the arpg and got carried away doing CSS and html styling for my sons toyhou.se/fangsblack
November 14, 2025 at 12:14 AM
i made a new toyhou.se for managing characters for the arpg and got carried away doing CSS and html styling for my sons toyhou.se/fangsblack
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
it’s better to sail with a moody good captain than a laughing bad one
November 9, 2025 at 9:47 PM
it’s better to sail with a moody good captain than a laughing bad one
made a windows app for myself i've been planning for 2 years because nothing like it existed. just a lightweight, simple ui for adding web links and local folder path links with imgs
since i'm very visual-first, this has alrdy saved me minutes of time today hunting thru project files in explorer
since i'm very visual-first, this has alrdy saved me minutes of time today hunting thru project files in explorer
November 8, 2025 at 8:48 PM
made a windows app for myself i've been planning for 2 years because nothing like it existed. just a lightweight, simple ui for adding web links and local folder path links with imgs
since i'm very visual-first, this has alrdy saved me minutes of time today hunting thru project files in explorer
since i'm very visual-first, this has alrdy saved me minutes of time today hunting thru project files in explorer
ughh please look at the stylisation, how the blackwork "melts" . Roberto de la Torre kills it every time. also the title treatment of the fangs + scales? chef kiss
NEW: Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent releases today from Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics!
The serpent god coils around the Hyborian Age and every age linked to it; can Conan unravel Set's plan for humanity?
https://titan-comics.com/c/2316-conan-the-barbarian-scourge-of-the-serpent/
The serpent god coils around the Hyborian Age and every age linked to it; can Conan unravel Set's plan for humanity?
https://titan-comics.com/c/2316-conan-the-barbarian-scourge-of-the-serpent/
November 6, 2025 at 2:33 PM
ughh please look at the stylisation, how the blackwork "melts" . Roberto de la Torre kills it every time. also the title treatment of the fangs + scales? chef kiss
from halloween🐺turned him into a wuff
November 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
from halloween🐺turned him into a wuff
what if your⚓officers' uniforms didn't just show rank, but encoded what gods they survived meeting?
wrote about designing naval uniforms as worldbuilding—color as theology, insignia as mythology, and why competence can look like divinity 🔱
full craft breakdown:
wrote about designing naval uniforms as worldbuilding—color as theology, insignia as mythology, and why competence can look like divinity 🔱
full craft breakdown:
How to Make Your Officers Look Like Gods
Naval fiction has given us competence. I want to give you apotheosis. What happens when you bring Gothic symbolic density to naval fiction. A craft guide to designing uniforms, insignia, and material ...
logbook.deadstar.black
November 4, 2025 at 4:07 PM
what if your⚓officers' uniforms didn't just show rank, but encoded what gods they survived meeting?
wrote about designing naval uniforms as worldbuilding—color as theology, insignia as mythology, and why competence can look like divinity 🔱
full craft breakdown:
wrote about designing naval uniforms as worldbuilding—color as theology, insignia as mythology, and why competence can look like divinity 🔱
full craft breakdown:
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
The skeletal remains of mutants unfathomable have shaped the toxic swamps hiding in the district under the city of Scintilla. So the creature you see in the concept art continued its lifeless existence, becoming an integral part of the noxious world.
#Warhammer40000
#DarkHeresy
#Warhammer40000
#DarkHeresy
November 3, 2025 at 3:01 PM
The skeletal remains of mutants unfathomable have shaped the toxic swamps hiding in the district under the city of Scintilla. So the creature you see in the concept art continued its lifeless existence, becoming an integral part of the noxious world.
#Warhammer40000
#DarkHeresy
#Warhammer40000
#DarkHeresy
me: i should just design some naval uniforms
also me: creates entire theological argument through material culture
writing about Arune's naval uniforms on tuesday. visual dev + why i'm like this
logbook.deadstar.black
also me: creates entire theological argument through material culture
writing about Arune's naval uniforms on tuesday. visual dev + why i'm like this
logbook.deadstar.black
November 1, 2025 at 2:20 PM
me: i should just design some naval uniforms
also me: creates entire theological argument through material culture
writing about Arune's naval uniforms on tuesday. visual dev + why i'm like this
logbook.deadstar.black
also me: creates entire theological argument through material culture
writing about Arune's naval uniforms on tuesday. visual dev + why i'm like this
logbook.deadstar.black
you improve faster studying why someone else's piece works than by only posting your own.
ego protects stagnation. curiosity builds craft.
the best artists I know engage deeply with peers' work. It's not optional--it's how you grow.
ego protects stagnation. curiosity builds craft.
the best artists I know engage deeply with peers' work. It's not optional--it's how you grow.
November 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
you improve faster studying why someone else's piece works than by only posting your own.
ego protects stagnation. curiosity builds craft.
the best artists I know engage deeply with peers' work. It's not optional--it's how you grow.
ego protects stagnation. curiosity builds craft.
the best artists I know engage deeply with peers' work. It's not optional--it's how you grow.
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
Happy halloween and old paintings for thee
October 31, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Happy halloween and old paintings for thee
Eramma // Riddle of Bronze
October 31, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Eramma // Riddle of Bronze
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
October 30, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
the woven // clawstar
October 30, 2025 at 8:02 AM
the woven // clawstar
Reposted by D. S. B l a c k 🔪🫀
me wiping my brow and furiously typing the script for my all male audience
October 26, 2025 at 6:45 AM
me wiping my brow and furiously typing the script for my all male audience
if Origen is stillness, Saren is the storm that can't stop moving.
wrote about designing a Rogue Trader whose entire identity is performance over void—motion as survival, gilt as armor, control as barely-contained panic.
full craft breakdown:
wrote about designing a Rogue Trader whose entire identity is performance over void—motion as survival, gilt as armor, control as barely-contained panic.
full craft breakdown:
Thunder and the Void: Designing Saren von Aurastor
If Origen Thule is the crushing pressure of the deep ocean, Saren von Aurastor is the storm that screams across its surface—all thunder, lightning, and the desperate, magnificent performance of a man ...
logbook.deadstar.black
October 20, 2025 at 5:36 PM
if Origen is stillness, Saren is the storm that can't stop moving.
wrote about designing a Rogue Trader whose entire identity is performance over void—motion as survival, gilt as armor, control as barely-contained panic.
full craft breakdown:
wrote about designing a Rogue Trader whose entire identity is performance over void—motion as survival, gilt as armor, control as barely-contained panic.
full craft breakdown:
latest update, 65k words and lots of revising, retexturing and restaging
i thought i had everything planned out in detail but turns out that's somehow the easy part
anyway beta readers kinda like it
i thought i had everything planned out in detail but turns out that's somehow the easy part
anyway beta readers kinda like it
October 20, 2025 at 3:36 AM
latest update, 65k words and lots of revising, retexturing and restaging
i thought i had everything planned out in detail but turns out that's somehow the easy part
anyway beta readers kinda like it
i thought i had everything planned out in detail but turns out that's somehow the easy part
anyway beta readers kinda like it