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canmom · 3 months

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Wait is ratfic not fiction about rats???

I can talk about fiction about rats too! Let's talk about some British childrens' book series! And one American comic book.

The four relevant works for our discussion would be the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, the Welkin Weasels series by Garry Kilworth, the Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis, and the Mouse Guard series by David Petersen. All these works portray a world inhabited by semi-anthropomorphic animals that are at the scale of real world animals. And indeed all of them include rats, albeit mostly as antagonists.

Redwall is perhaps the one that has most penetrated internet pop culture, thanks to articles like this one on SomethingAwful which mocked some of the series's recurring elements while painting Brian Jacques as a bit of a nazi. I ate those books up as a kid, but in retrospect I truthfully can remember only snatches: the shrews' battle cry of 'logalogalogalog!', the pages of elaborate descriptions of feasts.

Redwall is a big sufferer from the 'evil races' problem. A certain arbitrary set of species (e.g. rats, stoats, weasels, ferrets) are ontologically evil, and various other species are standins for various stereotypical British social classes (e.g. iirc moles are always working class). As unfortunately tends to be the case, it even makes the strange decision to double down on this - I believe in one of the books, a member of one of the evil species is raised in the Abbey, but inevitably his evil nature comes out when the good rodents and mustelids are once again threatened by an army of bad rodents and mustelids.

Nevertheless, as repetitive and ethically dubious as these books are, they do conjour a very specific flavour which makes them memorable. The author's enthusiasm for food as child of the Blitz shines through, as does his evident love for the idyllic Redwall Abbey. There's a lot of really charming elements like the 'logalogalog' thing. Having these read out to me as kid was great, it had a bit of a panto feel, where I could join in with the expected beats.

The first Redwall book implies that humans exist in this world, but this is subsequently quietly retconned to an only-animals fantasy world.

The Welkin Weasels series is a lot shorter at six books, and you may well bounce off the author's enthusiasm to insert puns and references all over the place (I recall one book managing to set up "badgers? we don't need no stinkin' badgers"), but from what I remember of them they benefit from having more explicit horror elements which makes the stakes much more engaging. I recall the weasels trying to weasel their way into a crypt full of horrible pitfalls and finding it very tense as a kid.

There is once again a sympathetic-unsympathetic species divide - weasels are our plucky heroes, while stoats tend to be aristocratic and cruel. However, it does play out a little differently: the first three books are in a medieval fantasy setting with explicit magic, but over the course of the novels, the mustelids manage to rediscover humans, leading to a timeskip forward into a more steampunk setting where the animals and humans have built a joint society together.

Honestly, I would quite like to reread these books! They may well not hold up today, but it would be fun to revisit them.

The Deptford Mice series by Robin Jarvis - author of Deathscent, a highly memorable novel in which Elizabethans have been transported by aliens into a space archipelago where all the animals are robots which run on the four humours - is a pretty fun one, although my memory is very foggy. It's set in our world, in London, and as I recall the first book involves an evil cat wizard attempting to resurrect the Bubonic Plague from the plague pits. I recall a scene in which rats dig up the plague pit and have their paws melted by the lime coating it. Beyond that I can recall very little but I definitely think it merits inclusion in this list of rat fic.

Once again we have the good rodent/evil rodent problem. Mice and rats are almost identical creatures, so it's weird that the sympathetic/unsympathetic divide falls so consistently.

Mouse Guard is an American comic series about mice with little cloaks and swords. Making it be a comic is kind of a great idea because you get to see how cute they are at every turn. The mouse guard are responsible for defending the other mice from threats such as snakes. They have a pretty high mortality rate.

I'm... actually not super familiar with the comics, but they inspired a roleplaying game by the creators of Burning Wheel, using similar mechanics - e.g. its beliefs system, the simultaneous-resolution combat system. That got a lot of buzz around the late 2010s. So if you want a game to play as an rat at the tabletop, it's probably a good one to check out!

We might also at this juncture mention the wildly popular novel Watership Down, which imagines an elaborate rabbit society complete with a substantially fleshed out rabbit religion. I wrote about the animated film for Animation Night a couple years back - it's quite a memorable one.

Sadly, this is mostly mousefic (with a bit of weaselfic). I don't know of any true ratfic - centred on rats as protagonists. Perhaps this is an opportunity for someone out there to write ratfic ratfic to correct this imbalance.

edit: omfg i forgot the rats of NIMH. thanks to both the people who reminded me of that one

#fiction #novels

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all-about-the-tea-parties · 5 months

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apparently I’m in the minority (and the tags are feeling very American right now), but like? Our family of stoats is messy sure but like? The hell is this “omg they killed the leadership that’s so irresponsible”

Did you guys miss the part where the First Stoats entered the chat by immediately killing Sybil as a “lesson”. Don’t know about you, but watching some alien fucking unethical experimentation doomism police state don’t-ever-mourn-your-loved-ones cult leaders kill the one god damn stoat who made our family feel even a little bit safe, who was by the way, a CHILD, I might not take that as “oh they just wanted to talkkkkk”.

Nah, we’re wayyyy past talking. Did we break into somewhere we shouldn’t have? Yeah, but your whole society has been sus from the beginning and instant murder reaction is insane and suddenly OUR stoats are bad for prioritising self defense? For deciding they are morally the opposite of whoever the fuck these First Stoats are? They’ve been alive 20 YEARS! And all they’ve accomplished is training stoats to be LESS community oriented.

Maybe i just agree too much with Brennan’s approach to character motivation; but I have no issue at all with usurping ends-justifies-the-means assholes. Esp when they back us into a corner.

#feeling heated on main #couldn’t believe my eyes #what are you guys ON #burrow's end

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thisisnotthenerd · 5 months

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such a good episode of burrow's end. the progressive leveling of the battle? the swing of luck from the dice gods? the family being terrifying and yet having moments of pure kindness and feeling? so good. the undying reality of the first stoats and now ava and tula! phenomenal work, phenomenal worldbuilding, incredible. watching erika leave and come back to the dome? indescribable. also i called the stoats doing some genetic fuckery. the wolf, deeply saddening and also terrifying.

this feels like it has the tension and permadeath potential of acoc/trw as well as the family drama. roguish twins who've had their first real exposure to the dangers of society. tense interfamilial dynamics. with a side of increasing threat levels and radiation stoats for flavor. one of my favorite seasons to be sure.

in other news, i'm updating the spreadsheet with new classes from the level up. didn't realize exactly how much i would have to update until i started. jesus christ i've done a lot of stats work in the span of like 3 months.

fun notes:

jaysohn leveled in both monk and rogue, so he's now fast, able to stun, and super deadly. cunning action dash with monk movement? what a little guy.

thorn vale took a level of tempest cleric! so fun! really embracing the lightning and making it his own!

ava also kept to her classes but got some fun new manuevers plus mage slayer!! i'm sure she releveled after going into the blue, but that will have to wait until next week.

tula and viola stuck to their paladin levels, but i'm pretty sure took some kind of feats. viola's working the telekinesis.

and lila's a little wizard! our second bladesinger of d20, and the first wizard not to sit in the wizard chair.

i love that everyone who's multiclassing at this level is taking on more magic as they have more exposure to the blue. i'm assuming they're going to level up at least once more, so i'm excited to see the results!

all updates are in the spreadsheet if you want to look at them in chart form. i'll probably go back and look for feat uses and/or updates at some point.

#dimension 20 #burrow's end #dimension 20 spoilers #burrow's end spoilers #thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats

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conschintz · 6 months

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You obviously don't have to respond, feel free to delete my question entirely if you're not up to it, but I would love if you could talk about some ways the D20 fandom is being disrespectful about cults and how it could be better?

hi! thank you for asking this so respectfully. i want to be clear that this is not the whole of the d20 fandom, but only a very small minority of people!

for anyone new to my blog, wondering why i care about this, i grew up as a 4th generation jehovah's witness and escaped last year. i lost 20 years of my life and my entire family to the watchtower bible and tract society. educating people about cults and high-control groups is something that i'm very passionate about

the most common thing i've seen, across tumblr, reddit, and discord, is people making insensitive jokes/statements. anything that trivialises the cult, and/or thorn and viola's role in it. calling them your favourite cult couple is not cool. saying that you'd join the cult because of xyz reason (especially anything regarding "thorn/viola/jasper/rashawn is hot!") is not cool. making jokes at olliver and teedles' expense is not cool. this might seem nitpicky and harmless to most people, and in no way do i think that anyone is doing this maliciously—i want to make that really, really clear—but this kind of stuff is harmful to cult survivors. in general, it minimalises the impact of cults, of their leaders, of their victims etc. i think this is a flaw with the portrayal of cults in media at large, where they are generally sensationalised. the lukura doesn't seem like much of a cult when put up against others, especially if you're comparing it to real-life ones. but that's what's so scary; aabria and jasper are so subtle. they're really, really good at what they're doing

i'm rambling. but all of this is to ask to just be mindful of what you're posting/saying. it might not seem harmful to you, but it is exhausting to scroll through posts making light of something that is affecting my day-to-day. i am not getting shunned by my entire family for someone to joke around about joining a "cool" stoat cult, with little regard to the actual real-life consequences of actual cults that are far more prevalent in modern-day society than most people think

#nicki.txt #dimension 20 #burrow's end #thorn vale #jasper william cartwright #viola burrow's end #rashawn scott #olliver and teedles burrow's end #aabria iyengar #again: i DO NOT think people are doing this maliciously #it's just an honest oversight

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vixen-flame · 5 months

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GOD WHY MUST THE LAST EPISODE COMETH!!! I just love thinking about stoats and humans interacting and sharing information! And, tara steel reacting to pre-read? Absolutely beautiful! lmao

Honestly, I could watch an entire other season of the little guys just learning more and more crazy stuff about human society and the humans reacting to the stoats being Little Guys™

#dimension 20 #burrows end #burrow's end #brennan lee mulligan #aabria iyengar #aabria my beloved

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a-couple-of-notes · 6 months

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Burrow's End is tapping into one of my favorite things from EXU Prime and what I can tell of Aabria's storytelling style in general: the breakdown of a larger story and thematic question into acts.

In EXU, the larger thematic question was power, and each act presented a different challenge to the party's viewpoint on power. Act 1 was the party vs. Poska: what do you do when you don't have power? Do you keep power when you find it, and who do you trust with it? Act 2 was the party vs. the Spider Queen: what could you do with enormous power? Do you resist the temptation or give in? What would the course of your life look like if you had more power? And Act 3 was the party vs. Muratta/Mud Ted: what would push you to accept this power and its consequences? What would you be willing to give up?

Six episodes in, I can see Burrow's End, similarly, breaking down into that same act structure. The larger thematic questions are around home, safety, family, violence: who do you protect, and what would you give to protect them?

Act 1 was our stupendous stoats vs. the wood/the outside world, seeking safety from external threats like the bear or lack of shelter and food. How do you make a home faced with these threats? How can you find safety when you're just a small group against this whole world? Does this new environment change the dynamics of your family? What kind of violence are you willing or able to enact to protect them?

Act 2 was our excellent ermines vs. the society of Last Bast, finding safety from external threats but facing internal tensions they're not prepared for. How do you make a home inside the threats of an institution? What does safety look like when you're lost in and expected to conform to this larger group? Does this new environment change the dynamics of your family? And how is the violence here similar or different to the kind you already know?

And Act 3? I think it's just starting as our capsizing creatures make their way into another environment (as far as I can tell, the creepy underground lair of the First Stoats). I don't know how it's going to wrap up, but I'm excited to see the other facets of these themes explored. Will it be the First Stoats' use of violence and exploitation for survival against the humans? Will it be tensions within the family rising and coming to a head? Will it just be more hats?

I guess we'll see. But I just love the way this structure allows us to build on the world and story progression in understandable, thematically-rich ways, and how it preserves the sense of narrative pacing and momentum. As Brennan said: this show rules.

#burrow’s end #burrow's end spoilers #exu prime #meta

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pb-dot · 6 months

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These Stoats, man

I really like the pace Aabria has our Magnificent Mustelids go in this season. Introducing our heroes to a brand new society and then having them learn that not everything is what it's cracked up to be in there can be a challenging hump to cross in postapocalypse fiction, but man do the stoats clear it with style. I like how last episode's preview was like "Oh, something's rotten in stoatland :o" and I go into the episode expecting two hours of relatively slow paranoia investigations time. Meanwhile, the actual episode's like "Ok, we're being watched and this place is probably actually terrible, fuck the police coppers let's go Indiana Jones some ancient secrets" with relative expediency.

I also love how good Aabria is at the vaguely threatening Very Specific DM Questions. She's great at ratcheting up the tension through lore and stakes and ongoing mysteries, honestly.

#d20 #d20 burrow's end #d20 spoilers

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bookgeekgrrl · 5 months

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My media this week (19-25 Nov 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Old Town Road (Singles series) (Chris Molanphy) - Part of Duke University Press' series Singles, chart geek/music historian Chris Molanphy dives deep into "Old Town Road" which he describes as a 'one of one' phenomenon. To quote the book blub, which sums it up nicely: Molanphy shows how “Old Town Road” channeled decades of Americana to point the way toward our cultural future. Fairly short and incredibly readable.

🥰 Ordinary Numbers (BootsnBlossoms, Kryptaria) - 44K, canon-divergent meeting for 00Q

🥰 The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh (Society of Gentlemen #0.5) (KJ Charles, author; , narrator) - short story, kicking off KJC's incredible romance series set in during the Regency and political unrest around the time of the Peterloo massacre

😍 [Podfic] Mr Webster's Wager (fahye, author; HowOldAreWe, narrator) - 29K, very slight canon-divergent expansion of The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh, expanding on Francis & Ash getting together - so well done I almost consider it a part of the series, at least for my own rereads - this is a really great podfic of it!

😍 A Fashionable Indulgence (Society of Gentlemen #1) (KJ Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator) - exquisite Julian finds purpose and love transforming young radical Harry into a gentleman. Plus there's the Peterloo massacre and personal murder plots

😍 A Seditious Affair (Society of Gentlemen #2) (KJ Charles, author; Matthew Lloyd Davies, narrator) - Tory/Radical romance with some incredible digging in to what it means to be a man of principle ('Wednesday by Wednesday, I have loved you')

💖💖 +75K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Art Nouveau (voluptuous_panic) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 12K - reread, forever fave - Cap!Steve has a disastrous first date at a hipster cider bar but luckily the hot, tattooed bartender is there to distract him. Short & very, very hot.

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Melissa McCarthy

Screen Rant - Siobhan Thompson Talks Dimension 20 Burrow's End & Fantasy High Junior Year

Screen Rant - Brennan Lee Mulligan Talks Dimension 20 Burrow's End & Fantasy High: Junior Year

QI - series S, ep 1

Dirty Laundry - s3, e6

D20: Burrow's End - "Five" (s20, e8)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Everything, Every Stoat, All at Once" (s15, e8)

D20: Fantasy High: Freshman Year - e1-10

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

What Next: TBD - Bedbugs Are Back, Baby!

⭐ Endless Thread - The Grand Can-Spiracy

Song Exploder - Paramore "Liar"

⭐ Hit Parade - Ride ’til I Can’t No More Edition

⭐ Hit Parade - The Bridge: Can’t Tell Me Nothin’

Shedunnit - Death at the Club

You're Dead to Me - Shakespeare

Desert Island Discs - Patrick Grant, designer and broadcaster

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - A Gaga Tour of the Town

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Julia Gets Wise with Carol Burnett

NPR's Book of the Day - Jamie Loftus' 'Raw Dog' investigates the social and culinary history of the hot dog

Cautionary Tales - Photographing Fairies

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Julia Gets Wise with Isabel Allende

What Next: TBD - Inside OpenAI's Implosion

The Allusionist - 185. Gems and Patties

Cautionary Tales - The Art Forger, the Nazi, and "The Pope"

Today, Explained - How Cassie sued Diddy

99% Invisible #561 - Long Strange Tape

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

One Year - 1990: Pizzastroika

Ologies with Alie Ward - Abstract Mathematology (UH, IS MATH REAL?) with Eugenia Cheng

⭐ Off Menu - Ep 215: Paul Rudd

⭐ Pop Culture Happy Hour - Rethinking Killers Of The Flower Moon

NPR's Book of the Day - In 'Blackouts,' Justin Torres shines a light on silenced LGBTQ history

What Next: TBD - Where Scams Are Born

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Rockstar [Dolly Parton] {2023}

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols 1 & 2 [Ray Charles] {1962}

Presenting Massive Attack

Presenting Nine Inch Nails

New Blue Sun [André 3000] {2023}

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uniquezombiedestiny · 4 months

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⚔️ and 🎩 for the ask game!

🎩 — What would an Exceptional Story featuring this character be about?

oooh.. likely something focusing on the dichotomy of her love for urchins, cats, and other flit-things, but also her once being in the university and other like. sophisticated things ig. mae could be actively involved in something like the university or high society while also being involved in some silly urchin stuff under the hood (maybe like what the stoats do. aka silly prank war shit lmao). you could be a mediator or on a specific side, trying to get them out of the other. maybe somebody in society is suspicious of her or just wants some scandal on her name, or the urchins find their game to be much more worthwhile/dont want the rest of society getting involved in their business. the cats would be good info-givers or guides, and would have the ability to fit in on either side, which makes them useful...

though thats a more lighthearted option - another could be a delve into her relationship with the eye, since it's pretty unique to her. i do feel like i focus too much on the starved war though, so that specific part would be on backpedal. itd more focus on the lasting effects and the hunt for knowledge. you'd be involved with her on some kind of case or other mission. perhaps mae knows this will make her go mad with nightmares, and she's trusted you to be her decision-maker once they come. you'd have to make some moral decisions, and maybe even save her from the knowledge she's seeking (or dont! let her face the consequences!)

making the moral choice would keep you both on the right path, but you'd be missing out on the knowledge you could gain if you let things get worse. if you went too deep into a certain place, or chose to look at what you know you shouldn't. knowledge is powerful, after all. they keep their secrets and nightmares highly guarded, talking about them vaguely and esoterically, but on high nightmares those walls degrade. you'd get to know more about her relationship with the eye and how it affects her, and just know what she's actually talking about, what she hides from others. if you took that path, you'd be delving into their exact same madness, but you would so intimately know everything. you would know and see what noone else does.

but back on the moral path, since that's not flesh out enough: the moral path would give you lore on other characters, as well as more precious or material rewards. choosing not to indulge in her madness will make the case or mission you're both on more successful, and the people around you happier. you could even try and balance these paths to get the best of both worlds.

did not think i had so much in me for a mae es but god damn i did!! and im quite happy with these concepts :3

⚔️ — Do they have a particular fighting style/signature weapon?

their fighting style is a mishmash of everything she's seen from others - particular tricks she's noticed around, ways of moving found outside of fighting (like in the flit for fast and quiet burglary), etc etc. she lost her memories before she went to the neath, so any old fighting style is now just instinct or a mostly-intact intuition.

her weapon is a notable lack of scars, which has 2 blades so her weapon is dual swords! as the name implies, they're evasive and can play the long game, enduring growing wounds until it's time to strike/you can't endure them.

#maethyl fallow #fl ocs #asks #violant-apologia #ty for the ask!! very fun to answer :3 #im down to answer more questions on her es' and stuff if anyones interested!

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unsleepingtales · 6 months

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Burrow’s End Episode Six Reactions! (And AP!)

Allow me to preface this by saying that my computer broke this week, I am doing all my schoolwork and real job work on my cellphone right now, and the following is transcribed from the reactions I wrote down in a real physical notebook while watching the episode on my phone.

If you’re wondering how I wrote emojis in my notebook. The small drawings are very bad. Onwards!

BUT SHE’S DEAD 💀

Some sort of mutation going on w/the giant thing?

Diversity Win! The threatening First Stoat uses they/them pronouns!

Bennett :D

She does tai chi 😎

Oh the twins! (So fun bc one of the main groups in my current home game is Also called the Twins)

Is this a dept head meeting or smth?

That’s. Creepy.

Ok.

OOP-

Blow up his spot lmaooo

I’m living for Brennan’s reality check analogies

Human ish teeth?

Erika Ishii I love you ❤️

Aabria the character voice you are doing for Kiran is Hot.

I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE???

I need Bennett to not be a bad guy ok? I need it.

What are you saying man

Brennan’s just Dying

That was pure Erika oh my god

Oh she’s full of it alright!

(‘Keep going’) oh Izzy <3

Y’know what if I was on the team to renter a nuclear power plant that had a reactor failure and I saw thousands of militant stoats I think I would just leave. Let them have it.

On the what, Ava?

Yeah no especially if those stoats were using the fucking nuclear power?? I’d just leave.

At least she remembers their hallway is blue.

I’m curious if everyone switching so quickly from calling it Blue to Light is a DnD/Improv/Adaptation thing or a characters assimilating thing? Maybe both? Maybe it’s conscious maybe not?

I’m still thinking about how smooth Aabria’s “Weap-Technology” was when introducing the departments

He’s not asking you to run. He’s asking you to stay.

I’m glad Aabria keeps pushing back when they read negative or nefarious intentions into things that one the face of it truly are just typical to this kind of situation and society

The family vibes are So correct.

Horrible. I hated that.

The most it’s possible to be.

Yeah, okay.

KIDS.

Oh god. Oh no.

Good GOD Tula

The SIDE EYE on that Jesus

Muahahahaha

Oh NO.

That went on for so long

I am Unnerved.

Hell Yes babe

GET HIS ASS I GUESS???

They’re like teenagers now right?

Well That was intense!

The casualness in Aabria’s asking for the stealth check while taking a sip. She does not give a fuck and I love her for it.

Check it out!

Do we not get to find out what happened to Ava with the Garage?

Oh that’s So creepy

MMHMM

I love Ava’s refusal to learn

YES THIEVES’ CANT MY BELOVED THIEVES’ CANT <3

I think what she said was “please help.” Which is different.

SIOBHAN.

Oh that’s gonna be merch.

The crack of noon is so true

THE COPPER PUN NICE ONE AABRIA

Ohohohohoho. The Dictator. Lovely.

🎶don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious🎶

Oh my GOD

Brennan of all people saying finally some action on this goddamn show

Also Brennan’s reactions to Izzy’s reactions… so funny to watch the face journeys happening at the table rn.

Love that for them

A population support state 😭

Oh god oh fuck

MAP???

Oh holy fucking shit

I can’t wait to rewatch this on my computer so I can actually see and appreciate the detail. Oh my god.

Ooh the puzzle of it all is intriguing

“I’m gonna kill him.”

Jabroni <3

OOF.

Oh my god <3

That was really cool Brennan.

Ooh just noticed the dome!

Hey Brennan? That was really cool.

Everyone’s got Thoughts.

Oh yeah jump into the nuclear juice. Great.

Ava.

YES

Awwww

PUZZLE

Oh no

I need to get the build details of this map

Oh. My god.

HE WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME

Knight to C4 😭

That’s a fucking human skull.

Oh what does That mean

Huzzah.

(Most dejected/exhausted huzzah of all time)

God the comedy we do get in this season is so so gooOH

Not the wisdom saves 😭

Izzy.

Sometimes the dice fell a STORY.

Yeah okay

Oh god

Oh Jasper

Oh the stress is insane. Losing Jaysohn would break this family.

This can’t be the end of the episode?

Oh ok

OH FOR FUCKS SAKE

I love when DMs get to play DnD

DAD ARM

Nice catch!

OH I did not register that that’s the fucking radiation hazard symbol

Everyone at that table is so close to tears

AVA AND THORNNNN

Thorn himself <3

DOME.

Oh FUCK.

Preview for next week reactions:

What the FUCK.

WOLF??

I love JWC oh my god.

Adventuring Party Reactions!

Oh they’re jokingly pissed at her lmao

Woooo chipotle

Erika <3

I gUeSs I MiSsEd HiM

Aabria.

Erika takes METHOD NOTES

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who went ‘diversity win!’

Brennan Lee “Animal Facts” Mulligan strikes again

Felt so happy about seeing the human skull.

Jasper that’s such a fascinating theory oh my god

The intense NY came out

Okay but after this season… CAN we get set tours?

Yeah I am so curious about the in-world justification for the giant stone puzzle on top of the reactor.

OKAY thank you Jasper and Aabria I am Also a big reactor in games and sometimes I worry about being disruptive

I wanna go back and figure out what noise he’s talking about

Voice actor things! (Happy SAG Deal day!!)

I love actors so much. They are all FRIENDS.

#burrow’s end #verbal component #reactions #adventuring party #burrow's end

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chaifootsteps · 1 year

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SO basically, the actor for the Chief Weasel, Neil McDermott, in the West End program wrote what's basically a backstory for the character. I won't type the whole thing here but here's a link if you'd like to read the transcript of it.

I honestly love how much more depth this gives to the weasels, especially the Chief. It makes them so much more than just a pack of predators who want to take over because "they're just evil." Or because of some big malicious scheme. The chief isn't some power hungry weasel whos fought his way to the top. He was, for most of his life, the bottom of the pecking order and an outcast that was bullied by his own kind just for being different. He had to watch most of his pack die, including his own parents, at the hands of Mr. Badger (which, on Badgers side, is perfectly reasonable) over something he didn't even do.

And when he comes back to what remains of his pack, having honed his talent of dancing to hunt, and he sees that his kind are slowly dying off, he doesn't hold a grudge for how they treated him. He hunted for them, taught them the new form of hunting he created, and brought them the hope they lost. It's possible he didn't even intend to become a leader. He just did what he could to save his pack, and in turn, they came to view him as a leader. In the end, he's not doing what he does out of malicious intent, he's doing it because he's tired of his kind and others like him are seen as weak and having to struggle to survive. He wanted them to finally have a taste of the sweet life.

Another line that hits me is when he asks not to be viewed as bad for eating and hunting other animals, because it's the circle of life. They're weasels and stoats and foxes. Animals that NEED to eat meat. That doesn't have a choice in the matter. And yet they're shunned by society for it. For just surviving.

I think that I like this version of the Weasel Chief the most, because the actor went the extra mile to make him more than just an evil predatory animal. He made him a lot more deep and interesting, even if it wasnt shown much in the production itself. He gave him motive and drive to make things happen, and in a way, I find this characterization easy to sympathise with.

I'm not saying he didn't do anything wrong, or that the foxes, stoats, and weasels are entirely innocent, but I do think that their motive what they're doing is understandable and can be sympathise with.

This is more lore than I ever knew existed for Wind in the Willows in all my years of life and I'm so very happy to have learned about it. Justice for the Chief.

#Anonymous #actual blog post

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underwaterbanshee · 5 months

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I read your post but got too excited so I had to drop it and come back to it later! I’m so flattered and excited that I’m your first ask!! I’m glad to know you can’t be normal about this because there is no way I can be either 😂

I think you’re totally on to something about the lie being mundane, since it’s true - adults lie to children all the time.

but I also think Brennan has something sneaky up his sleeve.

Brennan is good at playing the long game with these short episodes, especially when it comes to his characters having layers. What I can’t stop thinking about, is why did he choose the Tula to be a ‘oath of redemption’ paladin? It’s so on brand for her character, ‘the bleeding heart’ type of character, the tender mother that’s doing her best, etc.

What does Tula need redemption from? What made it so engraved in her core being, that redemption is that important to her?

And yes!! Aabria mentioned about a lie of omission, so what didn’t Tula say? Or imply? A lie of omission that is fundamentally important to Tula? It’s CONNECTED I just don’t know how. I feel like that conspiracy board meme guy with the red string. 😂

And I totally agree with you that Lila is in that teenager stage where you start to see through the cracks, the one where your world view is starting to shake. But her IMPLICIT trust in her mom is gonna crush me at some point, there’s some kind of heart break that’s gonna happen and I don’t know if I can handle it 😭

I think there’s some kind of parallel, what I want to fully say is at the tip of my tongue , but I don’t know the words to say it. It’s something about growing up as the eldest daughter, it’s a parallel from Tula and Viola, between Lila and Jaysohn. But the words are lost on me rn 😅

And oh MY I forgot about secrets of NIMH! I think it was stated before that’s who Tula was based off, I completely missed that. My memories from NIHM is kinda blurry, but going off the vibes from my memory, yea I do think Last Bast is more like the secret society than a secret cult, but I don’t know if it’s as good as a society as the rats were? I still get a sinister vibe. I think once we meet the First Stoats, it’ll really clarify what kinda place Last Bast is.

(Also also, would love love to see Tula and Bennet- but what I’d love more is to see Ava and Bennet. Not romantically or anything, their dynamic so funny to me, I can’t wait for the next ep.)

(Little martin also wanted love to win, the CHEMISTRY between these rodents)

I really can’t wait to see how it’ll all turn out, but with that said I also never want it to end.

Aside from Burrows end, what’s your fav D20 campaign? I alway go back and watch the seven for noise in the background, but Metropolis is up there for me, and Neverafter!

Full disclosure, I meant to answer this four episodes ago but real life decided to be rude. So all of my answers at the time are no longer relevant and I wish we could've gone back and forth on thoughts and theories because so much cool shit has happened.

But I can answer your last question!

I started watching d20 live during A Court of Fey and Flowers so it has a special place in my heart. I started watching d20 in general because I missed Lou, Aabria, and Brennan after EXU: Calamity. I immediately watched MisMag, followed by The Seven, (having seen exactly 0 episodes of Fantasy High), before eventually making my way through most of what d20 has to offer. There are just a few that I couldn't get into ^^;;

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be NeverAfter. I love faery tales and their retellings so much, that when they were coupled with another love of mine, alternate universes, those twenty weeks were my comfort actual play show and I want a second season yesterday ^^;;

Anyway, I really want Tula and Bennet to smash. There is one more episode left and maybe it isn't too much to hope for >.>

#g-martin #banshee replies

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maddgicalgirl · 3 years

Text

Paracosm Resources <3

Need help bringing your paracosm to life? Try these free resources!

⚠️ Updates always pending! Suggestions always welcome! Feel free to message me any tips or questions <3 ⚠️

(Cont. below cut, or with real time updates on this google doc!)

Art Programs

FireAlpaca - 2D Art Program, Animation. Where I make most of my digital art, and paint the frames for my animations :) It is free to use, and easy to learn and use! It can make basic animations as well, such as gifs. It requires download.

Krita - 2D Art Program. Professional, free digital paint software :) I have not used it before, though I have heard good things.

GIMP - 2D Art Program, Photo Manipulation. It's free to use, but I do not like it/recommend it highly. But! If FireAlpaca and Krita don't float your stoat, try Gimp! For 2D art, but also able to emulate Photoshop to a degree ^^

Inkscape - 2D Art Program. Free to use digital illustration software. Makes 2D art :)

Of course, who can forget classics like good old MS Paint, and the new and exciting 3D MS Paint, which can both be used to create some really neat things! Classic MS Paint is available here in browser form! If you need that. I just think it's neat!

Art AI

Petalica Paint - Coloring Software. An in browser, watercolor manga style coloring software, which can (almost) effortlessly color in any of your line art pieces! I've played around with it for my Thorn illustration style piece, and enjoyed it! It is free to use, and can take user input to make the colorations more precise.

ArtBreeder - 3D Realism Software. Using Artbreeder, you can create lifelike images of your paras, planets, or potentially even fursona, using the intricate AI they let you work with for free! A premium version exists, but most functions are fully usable without - though I recommend donating ^^ You can randomly generate, or prune and shape what you make until its perfect! Slow to use and get the hang of, but very worth it! Artbreeder is also pioneering an intriguing animation software to go alongside their product! Browser based.

3D Software

Blender - 3D Modeling, Animation. The best (in my opinion) free 3D modelling software.

MagicaVoxel - 3D Pixel Art. Free to use! Could be interesting :)

MikuMikuDance - 3D Rigging. Anime style rigging and animation software, free to use, and certified internet artefact! Has stood the test of time, and is still used and loved today. Can support ports of many kinds of assets, including, I believe, those from Blender, and of course those that are downloaded. DA has a bunch of old MMD communities you can raid for assets!

Animaze - Face Rigger. Use 3D models and a webcam to watch your paras talk! Models can be made in Blender, downloaded online, or even from CHARAT V, CHARAT GENESIS sister app!

Character Creators

CHARAT GENESIS - 2D Character Creator. Browser based anime style character creator, with multiple crops and poses, and infinitely customizable options. It is legitimately insane. Has a 3D function called CHARAT V which can apparently convert characters made in CHARAT GENESIS into 3D models compatible with Face Rig and Animaze!

V-Katsu - 3D Character Creator. Free on steam! Anime style, intensive character creator, by the same people who made Koikatsu, and Koikatsu Party, two amazingly detailed 3D hentai makers. While V-Katsu is a SFW VTuber maker, if you're looking for NSFW anime content, you could always spend roughly $70 on the full NSFW versions. V-Katsu requires a translation mod (free online as well) which you have to install, or the ability to read Kanji <3 Works with VR tech.

V-Roid Studios - 3D Character Creator. Free on steam! Anime style, fairly in depth character creator, that allows for some degree of digital 3D hand sculpting, particularly with their amazing hair engine, to get your paras looks perfect!

And, of course, Picrew has thousands of character creators of various styles and quality uploaded by the artists who made them! Also, honestly I think we as a society should embrace making dinky chibis in Gacha Life. IDK why everyone is mean to the gacha kids, like we weren't all cringe at some point,

World Design

HomeStyler - 3D and 2D Room Designer. Make a model of an interior for a home or building, using real 1:1 furniture of IRL brands! Apparently this is free to use, though there is a premium version, and it offers 3D and 2D models.

Map to World - 3D Planet Maker. Turn your fantasy world into a 3D model of the planet. Put maps directly on, or design the surface and textures of your world. Takes a lot of getting used to, but it is AMAZING. Free to use, and browser based!

PlanetMaker - 3D Planet Maker. Make a customized 3D planet! Free to use browser site! I have never used this, but I would love to mess around with it sometime! Allows you to add orbital rings, change textures, and more at the click of a mouse.

If on sale, I also recommend snagging a copy of the Sims, particularly 3 or 4, for character creation and world design. Maybe not the best gameplay without mods, but it's also a load of fun, and very easy to add custom content to! Minecraft also. But you just need Minecraft, in general. Beyond its ability to fairly faithfully recreate structures from your paracosms, it's just Good.

Game Creators

Maybe you wanna turn your paracosm into a cool game idk, just thought I'd put these here!

Construct 3 - 2D Game Creator. Beginner level game making :) Drag-and-drop if/then style programming.

GameSalad - Codeless 2D Game Creator. Drag and drop style/no coding, beginner friendly. Free version available!

Solpeo - 2D Game Creator. HTML5 based game engine for 2D and isometric game development. Some programming knowledge needed. Platforms supported: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9+. Free version available.

Stencyl - Codeless 2D Game Creator. Drag and drop style building/no coding skills needed. Has editable templates!

Scratch - 2D Game Creator. Very easy to use and totally free, though relatively basic!

Unity - 3D, 2D, and VR Game Creator. Make games with 3D software. Import your own assets (Blender compatible) or download free options, or buy the rights to models. Works for 3D and 2D games. Free version available, and now works with VR tech!

Unreal Engine - 3D Game Creator. Extremely advanced 3D game developer. Highly customizable. Free to use!

Twine - Text-based Game Creator. Use a map to make a branching paths text-based story game. Free to use.

Squiffy - Text-based Game Creator. have used Squiffy and it can make some really, truly incredible things. Can take a while to pick up, and learn how to use to its full potential. Free to use! Has an online and offline library of player creations you can get inspiration from!

Quest - Text-based Game Creator. I've never used this, but it seems cool! Use it to make interactive text-based DND game adventures in browser.

Ren'Py - Visual Novel Creator. Visual novel engine, that is well acclaimed, and of course, free to use!

Companion AI

Replika - 3D Companion.

Kajiwoto - Chatbot Companion. Customizable, learning AI you can shape into a personality. Communicates via Discord like chat box.

Organization

Toyhou.se - Character Gallery. A customizable library where you can upload all of your paras and characters for the public to view! Free to use, but requires a premium member to invite you!

Refsheet - Character Gallery. I haven't used it before, but I've heard good things, and that it's a suitable alternative to toyhou.se if you can't get an invite!

Notebook.AI - Character Gallery. I haven't used it before, but I've heard good things, and that it's a suitable alternative to toyhou.se if you can't get an invite!

World Anvil - World Building Toolset. Like character galleries, but for worlds and their lore :)

Scabard - World Building Toolset. Aimed at DnD campaigners, but I reckon it'll be useful for many!

YARPS - World Building Toolset. More focused around story and lore than Scabard or World Anvil, and looks beautiful! Still in its prototype stage, however.

Pinterest - Photo Organizer. Look at, collect, and sort images into boards. Personalizes your feed based on that, and is free to use and join! However, unlike their myriad of wonderful recipes, DIY tutorials, and the likes - a lot of the images are uploaded by second parties and not credited, so be careful reuploading anything you find! Also great for finding outfits and art inspo for your paras!

Generators

Fantasy Name Generator - Name Generators. Does what it says on the tin! Generates fantasy names. Is a lovely website, run by a purportedly lovely woman.

Fantasy Map Generator - Map Generator. Randomly generates a fictional map, which you can view in 2D or 3D.

Donjon RPG Generator - Multiple Generators. Can make maps, weapons, items, etc.

Seventh Sanctum - Multiple Generators. One of my favorites from high school! Does all kinds of things - the standard items, spells, and names - but also prompts, backstories, characters, and even comedy generators!

ShindanMaker - Multiple Generators. User created and uploaded, any kind of generator you can imagine, of varying complexity. And when I say any generator? I mean ANY generator.

Audio

Audacity - Record and Edit Audio. What can't Audacity do? I love Audacity to death. At surface level, it records audio. I've used it to record voices for my paras, and get audio for animations and games I've worked on. I cannot recommend it enough. Comprehensive editing, and with some investigation, it can do so, so much more than just record simple dialogue.

FL Studios - Compose. Compose music with an unlimited free trial. Upgrades available for purchase!

Indie Game Music - Royalty Free Music Library. Free to use Indie Game Music. What it says on the box!

AudioJungle - Royalty Free Music and Audio Library. Thousands of free to use audio clips!

Online Piano - Someone could use this, for recording, or just messing around. I've seen plenty of paras who play piano, this could just be used for fun!

Online Guitar - Same reasons as above, but this site looks kinda sketchy. Use at your own risk or reward! Audio

For real, if you ever need music, sound effects, or really any MP3 clips that can be used without infringing on copyright laws, just search 'royalty free' (music/audio/insert thing here) same applies for photos! Make sure the source is reputable, however.

Tutorials

W3Schools - Coding. Learn the basics of coding, for free, online!

Miscellaneous

Debut Video Capture - Screen Recorder. Record game footage and let's plays for free! Professional and home versions. I see a few of our community members have paras who run YouTube channels, and I thought these might help! It could be a nice way to connect your parames. YouTube quality <3

Pixton - Comic Maker. Comic making website. I have no experience with this at all, but some may find it useful!

Picfont - Image Editor. Puts customizable text on an image. I used these for @paraesthetics paracosm header edits <3 It has a premium version (???) but the free version has all functions, but it crashes regularly (honestly seems timed :/) but once you get it down, it's a very quick process, and you won't have to worry about that at all.

Itch.io - Publishing. You can publish your self made games here :)

Korsakow - ??? Described as, "The Future of Storytelling" and is apparently a way to create interactive films. I *just* found out about this, but thought I should include it for someone who may know how to use and appreciate it! Free? Unknown, at the moment.

Tips and Tricks

Animation Done Easy

Our forefather's of internet animation used MS Paint, Windows Movie Maker, and Audacity. All of these, or their equivalents, are free on standard computers. I, personally, use FireAlpaca - which works just as well, if not better, than MS Paint for animation - but takes longer, and definitely lacks that retro feeling. I also use my trackpad to draw and animate everything, so its doable, but probably not totally comfortable, to animate like this for most people :)

⚠️ Updates always pending! Suggestions always welcome! Feel free to message me any tips or questions <3 ⚠️

#immersive daydreaming #paraportal #paracosm #paracosms #paracosmonaut #madd art #art resources #masterpost #free resources

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