#collecting funny little posts

[owlfuntimes-blog]

Isnt the point to collect the things you like? And followers are just along for the ride?

You guys do know you're supposed to reblog things, right

[utilitycaster]

I've been a pretty harsh critic of Dr. Friedman and Polygon's general Critical Role coverage in the past, and while I think her latest article for them critiquing Campaign 3 is a fairly good one, it does in many ways cast an even harsher light on her kid-gloves handling of D20 and WBN. However, I want to talk about these two excerpts, because I think she hits on something I've increasingly noticed in Actual Play:

"This is where Critical Role’s strength — that Exandria often feels like a real, complex world — collided with the needs of a D&D campaign (a clear adversary, clear plans of action, forward momentum)."

and

"But the confused way D&D handles religion and divinity — polytheism as imagined by midwestern American Protestants — turned the question of how to handle this particular cosmic horror into a glue trap, paralyzing the players for dozens of hours of circular existential debates. Gods once mechanized (or digestible) become just another power bloc, and for players used to a system where in the end you are “basically gods,” the line gets blurrier still. And as D&D’s messy cosmology added friction to much of the campaign, D&D’s mechanics also don’t have the necessary friction for the interpersonal beats that make Critical Role compelling."

I agree with both these statements, as someone who, to be clear, enjoys D&D 5e. D&D supports a range of narratives, but all are ultimately a story of gaining power and fighting off or through a series of adversaries; if your characters are not doing that, it raises the question of why you picked a system that gives you few other options. (This is also, I should note, an increasingly loud question when it comes to Worlds Beyond Number; I fell behind for personal reasons after the Coven arc, but Brennan's initial statements about D&D as scaffolding were perhaps too true; almost every interesting mechanic, in a game with minimal combat that has thus far felt primarily focused on how the three protagonists have fundamentally different adversaries, has been homebrewed, to the point where the cosmology and baggage of D&D has felt like a liability rather than an asset).

D&D also has, in part due to such programs as D20, developed a reputation for being world-agnostic, and that ultimately isn't true. D&D does struggle to make the lines between "real divinity", an archfey or similarly powerful entity, and a L20 character feel sharply defined on a mechanical level; once you give a god a stat block, it can be killed (and on a metanarrative level, revealing the gods' statblocks in Downfall serves to make them both immense, yet also more fragile. The hit points are many, but still finite.) There are a number of questions most D&D worlds simply fail to address - and to be clear, this is not a flaw provided you have buy in. A level 2 warlock in D&D is, in most societies, an one-person lethal force unless the entire town swarms them at once, knowing that many of them will lose their lives in the effort; a level 2 warlock PC, however, is almost never, in-world, treated this way, and indeed is framed as an underdog in a harsh world despite usually having the ability to destroy the entire tavern.

D&D has also developed a (not undeserved) reputation as being The Dominant TTRPG put out by a massive corporation, and has developed a (not deserved) reputation as being itself uniquely problematic as a power fantasy, particularly by people who conveniently forget where Pathfinder came from. I've previously covered that, for all people demand non-D&D actual play, the viewership drops precipitously whenever a big AP show that made its name with D&D dares to branch out, and, related to that, I've seen an uptick in people who are excited for D&D to subvert itself. They wanted Campaign 3 to subvert these norms of divinity and heroic fantasy, cheered for it...and ultimately it was unable to do so. I don't think it's accurate to say that D&D's lack of interpersonal mechanics was the problem here, given that Campaigns 1 and 2 (and again, D20) have no such issue; but rather that since D&D's lack of interpersonal/RP mechanics require more effort from the players to initiate, the debates on the nature of divinity in a world and system that could not sustain them sapped any energy for the late-night watch conversations D&D can support when you're not fighting against it.

I think one of the many lessons we can learn from Critical Role Campaign 3 is that if you go up against D&D with an attempt to destroy it from within, your story will instead find itself conforming to the shape of its container, often to its detriment.

[northernfireart]

i swear I posted these. did i not????? anyways these are two months old but I still like them. since i SOMEHOW never posted these I'll just post this sketchbook batch of stuff from different times but I think all of them are okay enough to post.

[puppppppppy]

Childhood

[foundfamily-connoisseur]

When you try to teach the kid some manners and he just trauma dumps on you instead #relatable

Don: well ain’t you rude. What kind of mother would raise you to be such a dick?

Mac: none! The bitch died on me!

What about it, punk? (We’re using the nicer word here)

Don: …sorry

[barbielore]

Elvis Presley was enough of an icon that it was not simply enough for Mattel to produce Barbies and Kens themed after him.

Ken's little brother Tommy Carson has also appeared as an Elvis. In fact, he has appeared as three Elvises at once.

I have to really draw attention to the promotional photos of these Tommys, because I find them unsettling in some strange way. What is up with these little guys.

[the-4-horsegents]

Update after like 2 years

Hello!!! It's been a while since I so much as looked at this blog, I know, but I never forgot about it, I promise! Even though it's been collecting dust all this time, I want to update those still interested in the project; and if you are still interested, I definitely think you'll be pleased!

I always wanted to come back to these guys when I had my work more organized, was able to do things quickly at a quality I was satisfied with, and overall just improve upon the story. I barely scratched the surface when it came to the story I meant to tell, and while I can't promise that we'll for sure see the end of it, I am excited to say that it's coming back!!! I wanted to make a post to announce this while I reconstruct the blog's layout, redo the pinned post, and a few other miscellaneous things here and there.

I've been tinkering a lot with my timeline over the years and decided it best if I just start totally new. I'll keep the old posts up for archival purposes, but everything is being redone; the intro, the set up for the prologue, art direction, etc.

Another thing that will be different is the "askblog" portion of this story. While ask blog elements remain, I will be telling a very linear story that wont be dependant on asks at all. It's more of a webcomic with occasional breaks in the plot for asks as flavor text during downtime. I created a backlog of content way in advance before even posting this announcement, and I plan on updating the comic itself on a schedule, while asks and such will be posted more loosely depending on when I draw them. I'm not exactly sure on when I'll post the intro, but you can expect it to be within a few days of this post if nothing comes up to deter me!

TL;DR - The blog is coming back in the form of a comic with occasional askblog elements! I'll spend a a few days redecorating the blog itself before we begin completely anew!

Also, I'll keep asks open while I redecorate in case there's any questions or messages anyone would want to share regarding things.

With all that said, it's good to be back working on this again, and I'll see you all on the flipside! Thank you for reading. - Mod Shark

[scriv3lloirl]

I was s'pposed t' draw Skip Snip t'day—cus it's Aromantic Pride Day—but instead I drew Orin with a body pillow of Seymour per my boyfriends request.

Scribble Scrivello makes another appearance n I'm half asleep writin this so whoops. Guess we'll see how good of a job I did in the mornin hehe

[icewindandboringhorror]

Recent-ish things ~

[go-go-gadget-autism]

WHY DOES TUMBLR, ONE OF THE LIKE TOP 3 SITES KNOWN FOR INSANE FANART AND PORN AND STUFF LIKE THAT, JUST COLLECTIVELY DECIDE TORBEK IS A WET CAT AND NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED??? I JUST LOGGED ON AND GOT FIVE MORE ASKS ABOUT TORBEK AND HOW THEY WOULD GIVE THEIR LIFE FOR HIM AND KILL ANYONE AT HIS CONVENIENCE. GUYS YOU KNOW HES CANONICALLY A PERVERT RIGHT

[transfemzedaph]

yippee!!!!!!!! (bought from @kiwinatorwaffles )

[padfootastic]

v random rant ab next gen fics under the cut bc i wanted to get this out but also it’s just. very ridiculous and don’t want to subject unsuspecting people to it lol

i’m reading next gen fic and realising what it is that bothers me so much ab most of it. and just, many fics in general.

it’s the sheer thoughtlessness in the characterisation. i’m reading this potter kids at hogwarts thing and james is a horrific bully who turns on al as soon as he goes into slytherin. the rest of the weasley family is no better. rose is like hermione in first year but infinitely worse, with fanon!ron’s hatred of anything green and silver. all the kids are just. weird.

and it doesn’t make any sense???? like, on one hand you write harry and ginny as good, loving parents. if you take into account all the other adults, as well as the effects of the war and the collective history and experiences they all have, it stands to obvious reason that the kids would be raised differently. would have certain quirks. but won’t necessarily be the same archetypes ykno?

like, idk. it just falls into lazy characterisation for me, and that’s not a bad thing. it’s just so. annoying. bc these are literal blank slates and u can make things SO fun but just. don’t.

a lot of marauder era characterisation goes this way too. but i think i get so annoyed by the next gen stuff is bc i genuinely love all those little shits sm for characters who are essentially nonexistent. it is once again the same issue of me having extremely niche headcanons and getting pissy when everyone else doesn’t think so lol

[cyberdragoninfinity]

bit that doesnt stop being funny sorry

[fleshfictive]

being a system is a little bit funny sometimes. we forget that we're an ordained minister 99% of the time, up until "the one catholic alter" fronts for the first time in 10 months. like, oh yeah! i'm a holy man, i forgot!

[headfullof-ideas]

okay i did those character sheets! Next up on my list of drawing itches to overcome is a batch of next-gen interaction doodles :D

[overly-verbose]

So I might've actually gone ahead with setting up a discord server, it's pretty bare bones so far in terms of channels and roles, but it's a thing?

Oh wow, that's really cool of you! :DDDDD

I'm not sure how it works, does one need an invite code or link or something for it? :DDDD

(I've used Discord before but I haven't joined anything in a While lol)