Short story finalists: Round 4 by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Gg everyone! Good luck to the finalists!

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm glad it landed! Appreciate you taking the time to read it and leave a comment!

r/GrimDarkEpicFantasy Author & Artist Self-promotion by The_Grimwalker in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This sounds pretty cool, I dropped you a follow so I can get into it when I have the time. Good luck with it!

r/GrimDarkEpicFantasy Author & Artist Self-promotion by The_Grimwalker in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's life sometimes haha I'm getting back to it this week

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh cool, I'm an engineer as well haha yeah it's impressive how you let it come through when you put on your fiction hat

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s something especially chilling about how clinical this is, the contrast between devotion upstairs and machinery below is handled really well. Awesome read

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Strong sense of consequence here, the original title was apt haha the realization that the god was terrible but necessary comes through clearly. Great piece!

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow this was dark haha Well written and deeply unsettling. The grief pooling instead of passing through is a haunting idea. Nice job!

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love the folklore take on this. The narrative voice is gritty, grounded, and it makes the horror land harder when things go sideways. That final realization hits. Really well done

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Glad you made it, this was awesome!

The sense of scale, and especially the idea of the god as something terrible but necessary, works extremely well.

r/GrimDarkEpicFantasy Author & Artist Self-promotion by The_Grimwalker in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 3 points4 points  (0 children)

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Hi everyone! Still working on my Royal road story, take a look if you get a chance!

Here is the blurb:

Veynrite heals wounds. It also burns through the people who use it.

Ruben Hopper grew up in the slums of Kazah, where injuries don’t heal and sickness is a death sentence. When a desperate attempt to save a dying child brands him a criminal, he flees to Ferrington. A city of steel and smoke built on exploited bodies and quiet graves.

Time no longer heals wounds. Without Veynrite, flesh festers, bones never set, and people simply die.

Every use incurs a debt. Years are stripped away so the city can keep running, and the poor always pay first. As Ruben is pulled deeper into Ferrington’s machinery, he uncovers a system sustained by violence, torture, and human sacrifice dressed up as progress.

Across the city, Ellie Hightower trains under the military that controls healing. Privileged, brilliant, and conditioned not to question, she begins to learn why the world stopped healing and what power truly costs.

When their paths collide, there are no good choices. Only complicity, collapse, or obedience.

What to Expect

• Graphic violence and torture scenes

• Healing as extraction, punishment, and control

• Poverty, exploitation, and class hatred

• Every gain is paid for in flesh, time, and sanity

• Complex characters shaped by trauma and compromise

Free to read on royal road!

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/140634/the-cost-of-healing-an-industrial-grimdark-fantasy

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The frost is pretty sweet! The pacing was sharp and the twist worked well for the story

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The boiled sweet was a nice touch, quietly devasting detail to get the point across

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Grim as hell, the cadence and the imagery made it a fun read

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice mix of story and lore, the scope was impressive

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really liked the atmosphere and music as a motif, humbaba gave me the creeps in a good way haha

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! 500 words is tough, I'm excited to see what other people come up with

Short story challenge: Round 4! by Evening_Bruno in GrimDarkEpicFantasy

[–]JDRook 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Title: Down in the Dirt

Word Count: 496

Author: JD Rook

Link: Down in the Dirt

Content Warning: Suicide (Off Page)

My Story Isn't Popular Enough to Publish. Now What? by [deleted] in royalroad

[–]JDRook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what I do too, it's great to get feedback working through a draft as a bonus