#literally anything pendleton ward has worked on

[bipolarbarbarian]

CRATERLAND synopsis pt.1

While it's still VERY much a work in progress, I have a set name, rough world structure, and the races I want to be native to what will be my upcoming campaign setting.

I have taken cracks at homebrew worlds before, but this is my first time adding homebrew classes or real in-game content like possibly mechanics or magic items.

There are maybe 3 or 4 inspirations that have really informed my beginning to create CRATERLAND (CL for short).

But the basis for the whole idea was I just wanted a giant, kitchen sink, playground of a world. So a big focus in creating it thus far has been shedding directed and linear writing, and instead literally just putting into it what I think is cool, neat, and odd, kind of in that order.

That spirit of anything goes and the more the merrier is what I have always loved about D&D specifically.

I remember seeing warforged in 3.5 for the first time and my eyes rolling back in my head, like holy fuck you can play a robot barbarian, still to this day that is mind numbinglt cool to me. Thats the attitude I want for CL, if I think its cool and something I would want, regardless of theme or genre, its in.

So back to those 3 or 4 influences, I wanted to list them out so that people can maybe see where I'm coming from with these ideas. So here they are!

Adventure Time

Eberron (Specifically the 3.5 version)

The art of Mike Mignola

Final Fantasy and JRPG stories (Like FFXII and FFVII)

Joseph Campbell and his books on mythology

These things have over the last two months, which is the period I've been working on this for, become ingrained as solid things that I look to for inspiration and fun bullshit. I think Eberron especially because it is my brothers favorite campaign setting. And that it really was that first holy shit, kick in the face, fantasy can be like this experience for me.

Adventure Time and Pendleton Wards penchant for balls to the wall insanity and psychedelia have been very instrumental to me as a creative as well, I mean the dude made candy a primal element, that guys the shit.

I have a series of posts planned for exploring my affection for each of those individually at some point as well.

And finally (for today) the class/races of CL. I wanted something different and weird, that at the very least wasn't just halflings, elves, dwarves, and humans.

There's a sort of rhyme and reason to these races, albeit a messy one. They are each going to correspond to a color, and colors are going to play a central role in the world fiction.

Thats going to be my next couple posts is just writing those races and fleshing them out, and fleshing out bits of the lore.

So without further adieu the race are going to be Gargoyles, Floranomes (psychedelic cactus gnomes that gained consciousness from the influence of a dead god on nature), Primmkin (Like monkey bugbear elves), Jellytons (Skeletons possessed by intelligent jelly that all recently animated and function as a semi hive mind), and the only Humans native to CL, the Daughters of Yonn that I posted yesterday.

I will have more in Part 2 as soon as its written!

#dnd homebrew #oldschoolessentials #d&d homebrew #campaign #dungeons and dragons #gaming #indie games #rpg

[damianimated]

Pardon me, I dunno if you've already talked about this elsewhere or if you'd rather not say, but I hope it's okay to ask, were you an animation major in college and where did you study for your bachelors? and if it's not that intrusive, are you working in a studio right now? I've been contemplating getting a second bachelor's in animation and wanted to know if you feel it's helpful to get into the industry or if you feel alternative methods like online schools could be just as good? thank you!

I actually kind of avoid talking about animation because I feel like I’m somewhat of a downer. I don’t work in an animation studio, though I wish I did. I’ve been continuously applying to internships since I was in my undergrad. 

Short Story: I wasn’t able to afford any of the schools I got into. And I don’t currently work in the animation industry, though I would like to.

Long Story: I was accepted into the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), School of Visual Arts (SVA), and several others during my senior year of high school. Though my heart was dead set on CalArts because essentially if you want to pursue a career in the animation industry that’s where you need to go. The animation industry has a history of hiring primarily from CalArts, partially because it’s right near Walt Disney Animation Studios, DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon, and other top tier companies. So it’s easy for them to do student outreach.

Anyone who’s anyone has gone there: Tim Burton, Henry Selick, Pendleton Ward…literally everyone. Look up any major TV show and its creator came from CalArts. But it’s almost as expensive as Harvard.

This is why I think the majority of animated series come from upper class white men and why TV is slanted to present a certain perspective. People from low income areas will struggle to afford these schools.

Which for me…was incredibly disheartening. The end of my senior year of high school was spent crying over my acceptance letter. I couldn’t even scrounge together the massive startup fees. I was devastated because it had been my dream school since I was twelve. Then slowly I went down the latter and found myself unable to afford any of the schools. I fell into a deep deep deep depression and no longer cared about graduating or anything. I just stopped caring about everything.

I finally ended up getting enough energy to apply to a regular nobody state school In Massachusetts (it’s actually right near where J.K. Rowling’s American wizarding school Ilvermorny is located). 

I majored in psychology and writing (because I figured my dreams of doing art were ruined). Then I started taking art classes (because I couldn’t help myself) and switched to sociology and writing. Then I dropped sociology and became an art and writing major. I transferred to another state school that was closer to my home (close to where the Dr Seuss museum is) and that’s where I ended up graduating. While there I got really into children’s books. I had always been a writer so I focussed on that instead.

Currently I’m in my final year at Simmons College program in Writing for Children MFA, and I freelance write while working on my children’s books and graphic novels.

Anyway, in this day of social media I don’t think these incredibly expensive schools like CalArts have the same power they once did. You see, they honestly were all about social networking and being in the right place at the right time. Half of the top tier artists and show creators have less talent than people I’ve seen come out of schools you’ve never heard of. And a lot of storyboard artists and visual development artists are starting to come from schools that were seen as “less than” CalArts.

Rebecca Sugar went to the School of Visual Arts program in comic arts and she created Steven Universe which was a first. Carrie Lao is a story board artist at Disney Animation who went to California State University-Fullerton. Fawn Veerasunthorn is a story board artist and Disney who went to Columbus College of Art and Design. And there are artists who couldn’t afford school who did there own thing online. Like Naomi Romero who is a boss at social media and does her own stuff, picking up jobs from major studios. 

A lot of jobs are even given to people who go to ordinary state schools, or wherever, simply because they keep posting on social media. I have quite a few friends this has worked out for. I would advise against shady online classes or “for profit” schools like the Art Institutes. They are bad and just take your money and leave you with nothing.

My bit of advice is find a school you can afford. If it had a reputable program than that’s all the more better. And then draw, draw and draw some more. Keep drawing as much as you can and you’ll keep getting better. Draw from inspiration. Draw from others. Doodle. Scribble. Not everything needs to be perfect. Post it. Post it to social media and build a portfolio. AND don’t wait for jobs and opportunities to come to you. Interact with major players on social media, go to conventions, network. Whether in life or online. It might take some effort but you can get where you want, and maybe save yourself 200k along the way!

Anyway I have to wrap this up because I still have no pants on and I have class in an hour. Hope I could help a bit!

#ask

[shirtlesssammy]

Abandon All Hope...: 5x10 Recap

Then:

Jo and Ellen! Whaaaa.

Now:

We open to Generic City, USA, where a fancy man in a fancy suit exits a fancy car under a highway, and buries a small box in the gravel. “Mr. Pendleton, I presume.” Ah, the first words uttered by our previously only mentioned friend, Crowley. The man is surprised Crowley isn’t a woman, since this deal will be sealed with a kiss. Get over your homophobia dude. (Ha, Boris is typing this up as she watches and loves that Crowley calls him out on this as well. Oh Crowley, how we’ll miss you.) Crowley starts counting and the dude agrees, and our favorite King of the Cross Roads swoops in to seal the deal. (Boris is just going to pause right here and admit she doesn’t rewatch this episode. It’s too painful, so I didn't remember how long this kiss lasted. I know this isn’t romantic and my thoughts are way off topic, blah, blah, blah, but uh, yeah, I’m not going to settle for anything less than a kiss when Destiel does eventually exist.) Anyway, the crossroads deal is witnessed by our favorite flying badass in a trenchcoat. Castiel has tracked down Crowley.

Cas is on the phone with Dean, filling him in with the deal. Ah! This is the episode where Dean calls Cas Huggy Bear (ok, my half of the recap will just be be reminiscing on quotes, etc. that I didn’t realize happened in this episode.#sorrynotsorry) Crowley tells the man to enjoy his new wealth and that he’ll see him in 10 years. (crying noise, crying noise) Crowley takes off, with Cas in hot pursuit. Cas tracks him to a place that’s warded with Enochian magic, which means Cas can’t enter. Sam and Dean are on the case!

Later that night we’re introduced to Crowley’s domicile, and one of my very favorite musical quasi-introductions of a character ever on this show. Crowley’s making cocktails, watching Hitler videos, listening to the Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays the Fool”. (Fun fact: Cuba Gooding Sr. is the lead singer of this band.)

A woman buzzes the main gate. In distress, she asks for help with her car that’s broken down. The woman turns to the camera, and it’s Jo! The demon guards are condescending and gross, but Jo’s a professional hunter and plays with them long enough for Sam to stick a demon blade in each of them. Along with Dean, the trio head inside to find Crowley.

Once inside, Sam and Dean confront Crowley. They’re smart, but he’s Crowley, so their hidden devil’s trap idea doesn’t work. Instead, they’re captured by Crowley’s minions. He knows exactly why they’re visiting him: The Colt. He promptly shoots both his demons with the gun. Plot Twist!

Crowley leads the brothers deeper into his inner sanctum, informing them that without his rumors about the Colt, they wouldn’t have had the gun at all. He had it well hidden. Sam wonders why he would share it with them at all. “I want you to take this thing to Lucifer, and empty it into his face.” Crowley’s loathing for that particular fallen angel dates way back. Crowley understands that if Lucifer succeeds in destroying humankind, demons are next. “So what do you say if I give you this thing, and you go kill the devil?” IT’S A PLAN! What can possibly go wrong?! NOTHING. WE WIN. YAY! Crowley even tells them that Lucifer’s got an appointment in Carthage, MO.

Omg, Sam gets the Colt and then tries to shoot Crowley with it? Lol. Barely batting an eye, Crowley gets them some more ammunition. And tells them that they better not fuck this up, MORONS!

*Classic Drinking Alert*

Back at Bobby’s, Ellen and Jo are trying to upstage Cas with their drinking prowess. And fail. 

After 5 shots, Cas admits, “I think I’m starting to feel something.”

Sam and Dean discuss the probability that this is all a trap. It is a trap, but the devil is in Missouri. Dean tells Sam that he can’t come --there’s no way they’re just going to hand his vessel over to the devil. Sam insists they’re doing this as a team. Dean relents.

Dean, resigned to his probable death in the morning, decides to give Jo his best “last night on Earth” line (you know, the one he gave Anna --AND CAS), but is shut down. Dude, you shouldn’t have sister-zoned her in season 2. Bobby calls everybody over for a group photo. (crying noise, crying noise)

The group enters Carthage, and Sam’s internal wi-fi is faulty.

I also really enjoy the set design’s juxtapositions sometimes:

The boys head off to check out a different part of town, while Jo, Ellen, and Cas (Boris asks: Why was he with them? Answer revealed two seconds later.) scope out the downtown. It looks empty, but Cas reveals that it’s full of reapers. 

Cas informs them that reapers only gather like this in times of great catastrophe (and then mentions the Chicago fire. *Puts on Wisconsin Nerd Glasses* The Peshtigo fire, which happened on the same exact night, was actually a far more devastating fire.) Cas wanders off to find out why the reapers are there (man, I miss these creepy ass reapers. I mean, if April was anything like these weirdos, human!Cas would have avoided her at all costs, love of PB&J or not.)

Cas follows one reaper into a building, and is trapped by Lucifer (ok, fine, maybe he wouldn’t have avoided April).

Dean, Sam, Jo, and Ellen meet back up. Cas is missing.

Cas is currently trapped in a fire ring of holy oil. Ok, guys, things are about to get heavy, so take a quick breather:

Lucifer questions Cas’s loyalty to the Winchesters, and marvels at what a peculiar thing he is. You idiot, he’s just like you, only he rebelled against Heaven because he loves humanity too much. Cas notices Lucifer's vessel is failing. He tells Lucifer that he will not take Sam Winchester as his vessel; Cas won’t let him. Lucifer then points out how similar they are, but Cas will not serve Lucifer. He’ll die first. (crying noise, crying noise)

Meanwhile, back with Team Anti-Lucifer, Dean’s missing the angel. As they walk down the street, they’re greeted by Meg, and her faithful hell hounds. We still hate Meg at this point. Dean is particularly stressed about the invisible hell hounds. He shoots one, and they all take off running. Dean goes down and Jo goes back to protect him, but is attacked herself. SON OF A BITCH. This does not get easier on a rewatch. Dean scoops her up and they all run into a store. Sam and Dean secure the perimeter, while Ellen assesses her daughter’s wounds. GODDAMMIT, WHERE'S THE ANGEL!?! It’s bad, folks, and they all know it.

“It's gonna be alright,” Ellen murmurs over her mortally wounded daughter. Sam approaches Dean in despair but Dean bolsters him as he toils over an old radio. Meg has confirmed that Lucifer is in town. They can't give up now.

Back at Bobby's, his CB radio turns on. It's Dean. “Is everyone alright?” Bobby asks.

“No,” Dean tells him, shaking. “It's Jo. It's pretty bad.”

*Wraps Dean in a blanket*

Bobby can tell that Dean is breaking apart and he calmly prompts him for the next step. Dean tries to reign in his despair to refocus on the mission. “Tell me what you got,” Bobby asks.

They tell Bobby that Cas saw over a dozen reapers at least before he went missing.

Bobby: I don't like the sound of that.

Dean: Nobody likes the sound of that, Bobby. But what does that sound like?

Bobby thinks that Lucifer is in town to raise a new horseman. He's going to raise Death, the “pale horseman in the flesh.” (Me: takes some time out of HARD CORE MOURNING to chuckle at the use of “in the flesh” to describe an oft-skeletal being.) The last time Death walked the world was the great floods of Noah's time. While the team has been out on their mission, Bobby's been researching the town. He discovered an old battle ground on a farm dubbed the “Devil's Hell Hole” where hundreds of soldiers died. Hmm, sounds haunty.

Meanwhile, Lucifer's still smirking at Cas when Meg arrives with a report. The Winchesters are pinned down by their hell hound guards. Lucifer tells her to leave them for now and counsels her to have patience when she wishes for bloodier orders. Lucifer offers Cas the gift of time in his little fire circle. He can sit in his corner and think about Lucifer's offer to join his side.

Back at the shop, the boys go over their to-do list. They've got to sneak past several hell hounds, take Jo and Ellen to safety, and then make it out to the farm before Lucifer raises Death. Noooo problem. Sam heads off to find a stretcher for Jo when she stops them and begs them to be realistic. She can't move her legs, her guts are an ace bandage away from spilling to the floor... She's toast. Ellen begs her not to give up but Jo rattles off her own to-do list. They've got everything in the store they need to build a bomb. “Those are hell hounds out there. They've got all of our scents. Those bitches will never stop coming after you.” She tells them to head to the roof and she'll take them out when they storm the store.

Ellen begs her not to do this, not to give up. But Jo doesn't see it as giving up. She's a fighter and, “This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. Might wanna take it?” Fucking KNIFE twist, Jo.

Ellen wrestles her tears under control. “You heard her,” she tells the boys. “Get to work.”

Enter a bomb making montage:

Dean lays the final wires and brings the trigger to Jo. “See you on the other side,” he says. “Probably sooner than later.”

“Make it later,” Jo smiles at him.

Dean presses one final kiss to Jo's forehead, then to her lips. It holds all the weight of what might have been, all the weight of her young life cut short. Ellen crouches as though to deliver her final goodbye. The two women exchange looks, their expressions alone writing volumes, and realization comes over Jo. Ellen doesn't plan on leaving her daughter. “Somebody's gotta let them in.” Ellen tells the boys to get moving. “Dean, kick it in the ass. Don't miss.”

FUCK.

The boys head out and Jo and Ellen listen to the hell hounds snarling outside. Ellen wipes the salt from the door, removes the chains, and turns the gas on in the bomb. She cradles Jo in her arms. “I will always love you,” she tells Jo.

Okay, listen. I often joke about needing to take a break from recapping for a bout of crying but I seriously needed to take a crying break. This scene gets me every damn time. The delicate way their relationship is portrayed in this episode, the beautiful potential they both held, followed by their horrific loss hurts so badly. This episode is so well written but fucking OUCH.

As the hell hounds approach the door, Jo dies in Ellen's arms. Tears fall and she just manages to reign in her sobs because there's work to do. The hell hounds burst in and stalk through the store. Ellen waits until one exhales into her face. “You can go straight back to Hell, you ugly bitch!”

The store blows and Dean and Sam run.

We cut to the farm where the townspeople have gathered. “Last words?” Sam asks.

“I think I'm good,” Dean says. Time to go out in a blaze of glory, just like Ellen and Jo.

Sam shouts at the Devil, interrupting his digging. Lucifer smirks at Sam. It's just the distraction they need because in the next moment, Dean has the Colt up against Lucifer's temple. He fires it and sends a bullet straight through his head.

Hooray! They did it! Hoor-- Oh wait, nope. Lucifer's eyes pop open. “Ow,” he seethes before jumping up again. He knocks Dean clear across the field and into the woods and turns to confront Sam, now alone. “There's only five things in all of creation that that gun can't kill, and I just happen to be one of them.”

Lucifer swiftly finishes his work, checks in to see if Sam's ready to say 'yes' yet, and tells him it'll happen in Detroit.

“I'm gonna rip your heart out,” Sam shouts.

“All that pent up rage?” Lucifer grins. “I'm gonna need it.”

Sam asks what Lucifer is up to. Well, you know. It's the basic plan. He ordered demons to possess every man in town, who then killed every woman and child. Lucifer tries to bond with Sam. “I was a son. A brother, like you, a younger brother, and I had an older brother who I loved. Idolized, in fact. And one day I went to him and I begged him to stand with me, and Michael—Michael turned on me. Called me a freak. A monster. And then he beat me down. All because I was different. Because I had a mind of my own. Tell me something, Sam. Any of this sound familiar?” Sam responds with the eyebrows of despair.

Lucifer performs the spell and as he does so the demon possessed townspeople fall dead. Dean and Sam look appalled. “What? They're just demons.”

Back in the fire circle, Castiel scowls at Meg. She's awfully happy and it's disconcerting. She thinks all the demons are headed to Heaven under the shelter of Lucifer's wing. Cas smiles at her. “Strange, because I heard a different theory from a demon named Crowley.” Cas uses the classic trick of exposition to distract Meg while he unscrews a girder telekinetically. The girder smacks into Meg and tosses her through the flaming circle and into Castiel's arms. He tries to smite her but she chuckles at him. Without Heaven's support he doesn't have enough mojo. Cas, being the out of the box thinker that he is, chucks her to the ground and uses her back as a bridge to cross the fire. Cas...you fucking BADASS.

Back at the farm, the ground shakes as Lucifer raises Death. Cas rescues Dean and Sam, flapping them to safety. “Well, hello Death,” Lucifer says with a smile.

In the wreckage of Bobby's kitchen which is still littered with empty shot glasses, Bobby watches the grim news coming out of Carthage. Dean and Sam look on as Bobby burns the photo they'd taken together.

Boris: I realize the symbolism and all, but why would you burn that photo!? Garrrr.

Tl:dr: I wasn’t around when this first aired, but I’m so curious what people thought of this episode. Like, in hindsight, it sucks that Jo and Ellen died. The show was supposed to end at the end of this season, but it didn’t. Their deaths were noble and heart wrenching, and would have meant so much more if there wasn’t 8+ more years of show to watch. Will we see AU Ellen and Jo in season 13?!

Quotes:

So, the Hardy Boys finally found me.

Rumors, innuendo, sent out on the grapevine.

I'm in sales, damn it!

Sam Winchester, having trust issues with a demon. Well, better late than never.

Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth.

What a peculiar thing you are.

Hasn't Death been tromping all over the place? Hell, I've died several times myself.

Even as we speak, it’s….going….down.

You’re functioning..morons.

#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 5x10 #abandon all hope #dean winchester #sam winchester #Ellen Harvell #Jo Harvell #bobby singer #castiel #cas #lucifer #meg masters #crowley

[newproletarians]

closing this chapter.

this tumblr helped me through a weird, murky, muddy time in my life. A time where I was saying way, *way* too much about my life (that i didn't actually know for sure) to people who surely didn't care that much. A time that isn't fully over, but I'm hoping mostly is.

this was an experiment. so what was the hypothesis? i guess, that writing about myself and my life in this medium, a blog, inspired of course by Dan Harmon's, that I would become better at expressing myself. or that i would become more clear about something.

here are some examples of unclarities, so to speak:

- throughout the pandemic, i sought multiple career paths, thinking for sure each new one was *the one*. the embarrassment of telling people about your new career interest just to never get a job and move onto something new is excruciating.

- new diets. "now i'm really going to start losing weight." lol.

- random life plans. in the moment, inaccurate articulations of what it is i think i am doing and where i think i am going that didn't amount to much.

- completely uncareful, sloppy communication across the board. half paying attention all the time. being myself at 20%. giving half of that to my loved ones.

(it should be noted that I understand I may be being a little hard on myself here. just because something is "understandable" or "natural" doesn't mean i want it for myself. just because failure is common, and mediocrity is fine, and being weird is tolerated, does not mean i want those things for myself, nor does it mean i should. i want to be good, by my own definition, and if that means i must endure a little bit of self-hardness [ha] then so be it! i can take it. it's how i feel anyway—not articulating these facts wouldn't make these feelings go away.)

anyway, just fucking weird. I don't know. i feel way more in tune with myself now. which brings me back to why i'm writing this, my last entry. i've said where i was, but where am i now? did my hypothesis hold true? was this all for naught?

here is the honest answer on my way out the door: i don't know. i still have a ton of anxieties and neuroses. i still find The Way I Feel about (mostly) anything to be an unhittably mobile target. i still don't know what i'm doing in life, and either the clock ticks are getting louder or i'm starting to get nervous. still, there are ways things have gotten better since i started writing this. i have a job. i moved to a new city where anything feels possible. i left a city that i felt stuck in. i have a beautiful new apartment and new (to me) car. i have more of a grip on my life in general. i am seeing a therapist. my self-esteem is better. things are, generally, better. but are they good?

one way that i can kind of judge my success is how similar to some of my role models i view myself as: arin hanson, dan harmon, bo burnham, donald glover, pendleton ward. there are a few ways i don't measure up, obviously in terms of the qualities i project onto these people i don't know but admire for one reason or another. confidence is one. work ethic is another. i think the rest more or less fall into those two.

i'd say things are better, but not great, or enough, especially in terms of those two things. i still have a lot to strive for. i don't think the answer is being hard on myself, but just being real with myself. i am not doing as much as i should be. "self confidence" is such an ugly term–I want style, panache, substance. i want lifestyle. i want fun. i want to be the captain of my ship. i want to be in charge of it all. i want to be the architect of my vibe.

these goals, difficult to articulate in their entirety as they are, are basically simple: i want to earn self-confidence.

now—that the fog has cleared a bit, the pandemic has stopped raging quite so hard, and i happened to have woken up from a bad dream at 5:30am—I am ready to say I can chase the things I want. so i guess that's why i'm leaving. endings are a good thing.

something i've toyed around with, with great results, is basically acting in a way that i'd be comfortable with other people knowing about. that, when run through my brain, turns out to just be "things i am confident in," ergo, "things i would do if i were confident," and therefore, "things i am currently doing as a confident person." Doing things you like, align with, vibe with, whatever, are what creates confidence. it's not about waking up in the morning and telling yourself you're beautiful. it's about doing things that make you feel beautiful. (which could very well include telling yourself you're beautiful)

i've also messed around with having a relationship with God, or the unknown, or the mysteries of the cosmos, or the great explosion, whatever. i've called it a lot of things to myself in my head. i think that relationship's important, though. i think that going through life with the certainty that the perception of the corporeal self is all there is to anything, or that it's mostly all there is, is not the move. that is a great way to scrooge your way through life, safe, but cut off from so much. it's important to me because it feels like the truest perspective i could have. my relationship with the unknown mostly just helps me see outside of myself. i literally kind of picture myself in the sky. it basically establishes perspective—i have a belief in a "higher power" that's more like a belief in More Than We Can Understand. i don't have a relationship with god so much as i try to have a relationship with this higher perspective.

I remember Pendleton Ward said once, "what if all the religions were right?" or something like that. It was the first time I heard something like that, and it blew my mind.

For now, I think it's better to maintain the perspective than to get myself hooked up with a host of articulable goals. And that's goodbye. Thanks for everything, website.

#byetumblr