Table of Contents

Prologue

Once upon a time, there was a boy who liked to play.
He made nice games, he wrote fun books, and he's still doing that today.

But as he grew older, maybe wiser, he realized a fact.
The universe? It ran on money, and now he needed some of that!

Thus he set out to create a store, but not just one of any kind.
One with special rules and products, which are only here to find.

The boy hopes these works bring food to his table and joy into many a heart.
Browse around and be transformed or transfixed by these magical works of art.

The Three Laws of Melodycoin

The Wayward Melody does things a bit differently. It has a few Magical Webshopping Laws designed to prevent needless consumerism or shady tactics, to be kind to the climate, and to make it possible for us to sustainably offer these services.

Law 1: Physical items shall arrive whenever they arrive. (This rarely takes longer than 2 weeks, though. You’ll get a tracking url.)

Law 2: Recycling shall trump refunds and returns. (We do not offer the option to refund or return, for both digital and physical goods.)

Law 3: Thou shall reimburse at least 35 euros, but never shipping fees. (Any order with physical items will cost at least 35 euros. Above that, there are no shipping fees.)

Most of all, however, we at The Wayward Melody obey the 0th law.

Law 0: Kindness and sharing shall rule most of all. (I’m an artist and human being. I only reluctantly monetize because I need money to survive. You can always contact me, and maybe we can work something out.)

See the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for explanations for why these laws exist, and more specifics about how they apply.

What spells do we cast?

This webshop sells both digital goods (files you can immediately download) and physical goods (physical products that are shipped and delivered to you).

Our spellbook mostly provides activities and experiences! Educational activities, escape rooms, pub quizzes, board games, and more. These are often digital goods that you can print or execute on your computer yourself, to create a fun experience at home with your family or friends. I am a big proponent of learning (while having fun) and providing more real-life (social) experiences to share with your loved ones.

On top of that, we offer merchandise for our most popular works. For example, you can buy designs from the Wildebyte Arcades, a long-running book series about someone stuck inside the world of video games.

And finally, we offer bonus material (on top of something else that might be free or sold through other channels, like bookstores). For example, you can buy all the source files and original assets for some of my projects, or extra short stories to devour between physical books in the same series.

The Wayward Melody is a shared universe that contains many other websites. They might link to or promote products from within this webshop, when its relevant to the page you’re visiting. Once clicked, they should refer you to this domain.

Who is this boy that created the shop?

Hi, I’m Tiamo Pastoor! I’m a freelance artist in the Netherlands. I’ve been producing professional works in dozens of different creative categories for 15+ years now.

For the longest time, these weren’t that great. That’s where everyone starts.

Then I became professional. I actually registered a company, started offering my services, and built 5 huge websites that are visited thousands of times a day now. I did all of that, however, for free. I was only concerned with giving and sharing. With making my work as accessible as possible, never asking money or even so much as a donation.

Obviously, by the time this little boy became an adult, I had no funds and no income for the foreseeable future. But I did need to eat—I’m not that magical. After gaining enough experience, I decided to make a smart plan to turn some of what I do into an income.

This webshop is the result of all that. A nice and cozy home for some of my paid work. I feel somewhat comfortable giving these things a price tag, while keeping everything else I make as free and accessible as before.

The Shared Universe

Want to see my other websites? They’re all completely free and accessible, without so much as a single advertisement, as promised.

  • Pandaqi Games => over 200 free board games and video games of professional quality. Also contains a blog that explains the process of making each one, spilling the secrets.
  • Pandaqi Tutorials => over 500 free high-quality tutorials teaching some of the skills I am using every day, from programming, to designing, to productivity and mental health.
  • The Saga of Life => a massive website with interconnected short stories (both English and Dutch). Gets updated each year. Completely free to access, designed for reading and enjoying the stories.
  • Tiamo Pastoor => my author/writing website with links and updates to all my books, as well as my personal blog.
  • El Troubadour => my music website, containing lyrics/chords for my songs, and links + background information for all my streamable albums.
  • Rode Panda => my portfolio that connects everything I ever made in a way that’s easy to navigate.

Now go forth and make life magical!