weaverofbones

[rescuebotsoutofcontext]

[alpaca-clouds]

How to make the DnD Lore more accessible

I talked on Christmas about how Wizards of the Coast and generally Hasbro are mismanaging Dungeons & Dragons. And I want to go a bit more into one of the things I brought up in that blog. Which is: The inaccessibility of the Dungeons & Dragons lore, or specifically the Forgotten Realms Lore, which technically is the main lore for the game.

To sum up, what I said in that long essay once again:

While more and more people are playing DnD, a lot of them are playing it with original worlds. In of itself that is not really a bad thing, but the reason why so many opt for original worlds is. Because one of the main reasons is that the DnD Lore is very, very inaccessible. Sure, there are several wikis out there of varying quality. But even with the good wikis, there is just the fact that not all pages are of equal quality and there is just a lot of stuff that is just stubs.

Meanwhile the official stuff is fairly useless. Sure, there are quite a few books that give you some great lore - but actually finding the book for the lore that you are looking for is pretty much impossible without once again relying on Wikis. And of course, depending on the age of some of the sources, they might also just not generally be available unless someone uploaded them to the internet archive.

And yeah, sure, Ed Greenwood is a walking encyclopedia on his world - and will answer questions on Twitter. But...

Look, here is the thing: WotC wants to make money with this. So, excuse me for saying this, but... They should put some more effort into making this accessible. Just put some people down there that make a comprehensive write up off the lore.

Or to put it differently: Make a comprehensive Wiki on DnDBeyond.

See, here is the thing. When right now I wanna find out something about, let's say, Tymora, I can totally search for it on DnDBeyond.

But then the results look like this:

So, basically it just lists me source books in which Tymora is mentioned. Which does not necessarily tell me, how much I can actually gleam about Tymora and the worship of Tymora from each sourcebook. And if I click on one of the links, this is what I get:

Which, you might notice, tells me literally nothing about Tymora.

Now, I absolutely get that WotC needs to sell all those books and all of that. But... To keep it like that makes the entire Lore and background of the world completely inaccessible.

This goes double, of course, because each of the books does not necessarily give you a comprehensive writeup of who the goddess actually is or what her timeline is.

And this goes basically for everything. There is barely any information that they make actually accessible.

So, how could WotC actually fix this?

Well, simple: Make their own Wiki - and then use the Wiki as a jump-off point to sell your stuff. It does not have to be the most comprehensive thing ever, but give a general overview of the most important stuff: A timeline and a general idea of the major events (like the Time of Troubles, the Spellplague and the Second Sundering), an overview of the pantheon, an overview of the different cities, and some major characters (like Xanathar, Dagult Neverember and so on).

Because here is the thing: When you do not have a hook, you will not get people to actually buy your books.

To keep with my example: Let's say you are a person who has just gotten into DnD. Maybe because of an Actual Play Podcast, maybe because you liked the movie, or maybe because you just come off Baldur's Gate 3. And now you want to get into playing DnD and would like to do something with that world. So, you google "Play DnD" and get obviously the official side as a first result (with Roll20 coming in second).

But... You basically get not at all a primer on the world and the different settings you can have in it. Nothing.

The "story" thingie basically just also has links to "Buy" pages. No way to properly get a good hook into the story of DnD.

Again, all on its own it is not a big issue that people make their own worlds. You could argue that it is technically a good thing, because it allows people to be more creative. But there are two things you also have to keep in mind.

New players really do have a bigger hurdle to overcome when they want to start playing - because either getting into the lore or creating their own lore does pose a challenge to start with.

More people playing in the official game world, does create a bigger feeling of community, as people work on some connected lore.

WotC wants to sell those books, which does really not work, when you do not give a good hook for them.

People are just more likely to buy a book on details of a world, if they are already kinda familiar with the book - and if they know what they are actually looking for.

This... really isn't that hard or complicated.

So, what I would do is the following:

Create an official timeline (especially as there are contradictions in the timeline as off now).

Create an official encyclopedia featuring major locations, people, religions and the general pantheon.

Use those official encyclopedia pages to link to books and adventures working with that kinda stuff to sell them.

Maybe also create some fairly short official one shots to start with. Let's just say three or four of them. Offer them for free and very clearly available on the official website. (Even with all faults I see in how Catalyst handles Shadowrun, this is something they do very well.)

Also... Just maybe create some more official content like short stories, some good content on youtube... the likes of that. Heck, create an official Actual Play that is actually set in Toril!

Is that all going to cost some money? Yeah, it is. But I would argue that this would do the game good. While there are no official numbers some fan-made polls suggest that actually most people play without any official material. Meaning the game itself right now is super accessible - but only a few people are actually interested in the official stuff. And if WotC wants to make money... Well, they need to get people interested in the official stuff.

And that is of course without going into how the shoot themselves in the foot by trying to change the open game license and what not.

To put it differently: Right now DnD is actually super popular. So popular in fact that you could argue it is pretty much mainstream. And they... just fail to make proper money off it, because they are just too dumb to understand how to actually use it in their advantage.

[ask-a-bot]

Now, now, let’s not get too hasty. Throwing names (and insults) around won’t get us closer to the answer. Prime, Megs, do any of you recall any of your men being suspiciously, sporadically gone for an extensive period of time, and then having a semi-feeble reason why when asked? That could give us a lead to whoever sold you out.

Soundwave was the communications guy and he could send a cassette off with a message whenever he wanted. Buzzsaw wasn't around much.

That is enough!

You know it's true.

I trusted him.

I kept telling you you shouldn't but you never listened to me.

That means my #1 suspect should be Blaster. No, I can't see him doing something like that.

No, but Prowl was our security guy and he couldn't even see the need for us to worry about putting in a door.

Bumblebee... you know how I feel about tossing around accusations like that. Starscream has a lot of resentment and stuff to work out, but you have no excuse at all. What I see here are two young mechs trying to make two of their elders-

– Who may or may not be guilty of any wrongdoing –

Exactly. Trying to make others fit a crime they might not even know about.

No... Starscream is right about one thing: guilty or not, Soundwave would have known about it, if we had any kind of security leak.

Thank you! Finally!

And Prowl would have too!

I don't know... maybe. Without asking him, we can't be sure.

Asking him?!

Asking him what?

"Hey, Prowl, did you know the Autobots have had someone feeding Hasbro information?"

Yes! And add: "Was it you or are you so useless and incompetent that someone was able to do it right under your nose?"

Oh! Oh! "And have you flipped/tossed any good tables lately?"

Hahaha! Yes!

Give me strength.

[qualxon]

Please tell me more of Crossfire, and what Breakdown would think of her (I refuse to acknowledge that TFP killed him, lol)

Now it's been a hot minute since I watched any TFP, so apologies on advance for any gaps in my lore knowledge, but enjoy this brief run-down of the story u have for her!

Crossfire was the last predacon that Shockwave (re?)created before his lab was destroyed by Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack, and initially she seemed like just as much of a success as Predaking, Skylynx and Darksteel. However, due to ✨unforseen errors✨, she isn't "complete": she cannot transform into an alt mode, so as far as the 'cons are aware she can't speak, either - but that's fine, so long as she can still follow orders, right?

... Right?

Yeah, it didn't take long before she started lashing out at authority figures like Megatron and the other predacons. In the end, it got to a point where she'd actively try to tear the throat out of nearly everyone who came near her. After all, she's a predatory Cybertronian animal - just as zoos give their lions pumpkins filled with meat, the ship's science guy's Jurassic Park project also needs enrichment. But these outbursts just resulted in Crossfire being deemed insufficient for purpose, so Megatron gave the go-ahead for her to be terminated.

As for what happens next? Well, I've got some fun ideas lol

But to answer your question oh how she would get along with Breakdown (I am also in denial that Hasbro would do him dirty like that)

They're menaces to society aboard the Nemesis

[agent-chugway]

for the ask game >:3 🔪🍻💬

🔪- Character you would Kill if you could

GALVATRONNNNNN god he's so boring 😭 His fake abs look so stupid. Even Arcee didn't give a shit lmao

🍻- Character that deserves a year of free drinks at Maccadams

Pipes! Let something good happen to that poor guy for once. Bring him back just for that. He just wanted to have an adventure and date a hot triple changer. He didn't deserve this.

💬- Favorite Obscure TF fact!

Okay, I came up with a second fact lol. Kinda obsessed with the whole thing where Hasbro just did not care about Dion despite fans intently speculating for decades and how they legit just came out and made an official statement that he's dead 😂

Thanks for letting me answer more Transformers questions!!

[blueikeproductions]

So another EarthSpark thing that came to my attention was Ratchet and Drift were pitched into being in EarthSpark.

Neat.

They were pitched as having trying to look at the Cyber Sleeves the kids had, with Ratchet and Drift having scientific and philosophical thoughts on what they are despite not having a solid answer.

Also neat.

They were also pitched as being married.

Not neat.

This stranglehold IDW has over Transformers needs to end yesterday. I liked IDW, but it’s clear Hasbro wasn’t feeling it anymore, and the attempt at a reboot didn’t help. Not to mention, toys made with the IDW cast in mind don’t appear to sell well. Tarn appears to be the exception, because it’s Tarn, and he’s awesome, but I’ve also never personally seen him in person in stores. Fellow comics original Jhiaxus yes however, so take that as you will. It’s also why so many people were surprised two nobody IDW2 robots, an Autobot and an Acenticon, were getting toys. Even hard core fans have no idea who they are or much desire for these two, and I say that with my open fondness for Autobot Scrounge.

The couplings in IDW always felt kinda forced… I’ve often viewed them as crack ships, some working slightly better than others. I thought Chromedome and Rewind was handled the best, and I’d be very open to seeing them in EarthSpark as (one of) the gay couple(s) in the show.

Drift and Ratchet being a couple comes kind of out of nowhere. I get there was this opposites attract thing going on with an atheist and religious guy, but the joke got old quickly. Besides some implications Drift and Rodimus were more of a thing, age differences are a sticky point for me. A lot of the main couples amounted to twenty something kid hooking up with grandpa or grandma. I know age is more of a suggestion in TFs, but it always bothered me. Tailgate Cyclonus also fall into this for me, but I also preferred their dynamic being a plucky son and stand offish father learning to care for each other. The moment it became romantic I lost interest and felt kinda creeped out T’be honest. Same with Drift and Ratchet. Ratchet’s said to be super old, not quite Kup or Alpha Trion old, but he’s up there. Drift in comparison is about Hot Rod’s age, and met Ratchet at a clinic on Cybertron when Ratchet was already older than dirt… The two being a crusty grandpa who loved his grandson but doesn’t quite get his interests was a dynamic I liked.

I just think there’s better options romantically for Drift and Ratchet. Closer in age too. I imagine in the interest of fairness the EarthSpark versions would be closer in age. RiD15 Drift, to me at least, seemed a bit older than Bumblebee and was more of a stern but well meaning uncle/father to Sideswipe, Jetstorm and Slipstream. Prime Ratchet felt married to his job meanwhile…

Admittedly I’m surprised Drift was entertained at all. A lot of the IDW original characters seem to have been benched in media for the time being, and Drift’s role in Cyberverse was lauded as the most idiotic thing the show did for both supporters and detractors that even the writers regret using him that way. It kinda feels like that particular instant sorta sullied the character for some frankly…

If we do get Ratchet back in particular, since we have Steve Blum reprising Starscream, I say let’s get Jeffery Combs to reprise Ratchet. Drift I’m not sure. It’s easy for me to say Eric Bauza should return, but maybe there’s a better alternative for a potential EarthSpark Drift.

I don’t think you can really do the proposed plot anymore since that ship has sailed, but there’s a role for Ratchet and Drift, just not as a couple. Ideally, just make a new couple. Gears having a boyfriend would be funny, someone who can see through his sourball antics, or give Pipes an aquatic mode boyfriend he was wanting. -checks- Hmm I dunno have it be Pipes and Waverider, that could be fun.

[g5mlp]

The editor of the IDW My Little Pony comics, Riley Farmer, has been answering some questions on Twitter. You can ask her questions anonymously on her page on NGL.

This post contains her answers to MLP-related questions. You can read her other responses on Twitter or on archive.today.

Part 2 of this post

"Hasbro keeps me updated about [the future of G5] and gives me a rundown of what's going to happen each season". She obviously wouldn't be allowed to give a straight answer on whether Make Your Mark is coming back, so she doesn't.

"G5 isn't going anywhere!" She also doesn't think Hasbro would reboot G4 after the end of G5.

Discord's reappearance isn't currently planned, but it's "definitely a possibility! I would love to see him meet Misty".

Discord's "probably on vacation tbh"

"Even though they're all adults, I feel like they're all children" (referring to the Mane 5?) so she doesn't ship any of them. She likes Fluttercord and Appledash, though.

Cherry, a character from the My Little Pony: Bridlewoodstock comic, is non-binary, and is the first non-binary character in G5. "Representation is important to me and I'll always try to include queer characters. It is hard because we don't include romance a lot, but hopefully we can sprinkle it in."

IDW cannot accept unsolicited stories, ideas, or pitches. "Usually, you have to have an editor reach out to you! It's good to stay active in the community, on social media, and participate in anthologies if possible." (Many IDW artists for the Sonic and MLP franchises, especially cover artists, have been hired off Twitter and other social media. IDW artists and writers are typically freelancers.)

"I'll let everyone know when/if letter submissions are open. 🦄"

For legal reasons, she thinks Makaryo's animation "When Love Repeats" is not canon. She can think it is canon for fun, though.

Her favorite MLP villain is "the one that shows up in [issues 16–20]".

[serendertothesquad]

I can finally go off about the Odd Squad Season 3 pitch bible (AKA happy 9th anniversary to this big lil' franchise)

I had originally wanted to do a little analysis video on this thing, and maybe I will someday, but for now here's a text version of that video.

I have not found the overall series bible -- and oh you better believe me when I say I've tried, and oh you better believe me when I say I have found shit -- but if I die before it's unearthed, then it will be, perhaps, the greatest failure in my pseudo-career as Odd Squad fandom leader. We've had cast members reveal pink drafts of scripts, we've found deleted scenes in some episodes...I just wanna see the big old pitch bible for the entire show. (Why didn't Sinking Ship Entertainment give me that when they sent me a fan package in exchange for me not promoting watching the show via VPNs? The fan package was nice but if I got a copy of a nice thick happy show bible I think it'd cure my depression!)

"But Seren, you managed to get PBS's Metadata Bank wiped from public view of everyone on the Internet who isn't a PBS employee, won't the same thing happen aga-" Shhh. Shhhhhhh. The answer is no. Absolutely not. Not on your life. Worst-case scenario is that a Season 4 bible is decided to be kept locked in a vault that's tighter than anything Disney could ever craft.

Can we move on now? Right, cool. Then let's go.

Y'know, it's sad that they continue to uphold that Season 1 and Season 2 were set in Nondescript Town, Nondescript State despite any and all evidence pointing to both being set in Toronto. I don't care if it makes it seem more local to kids. Some kids don't really have a giant-ass replica of their town's name sitting in their town's main square.

"But it's in the backgro-" Shhhhh. We're talking about the demographic that weaponizes brutal honesty better than John Wick weaponizes his own two fists. Shhhhhh. I'm willing to bet some kid has noticed that sign.

Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman had the balls to put in a merch pitch that would have made Hasbro execs slam their hands on the table and then immediately go in for the deal-closing handshake.

No but seriously, they could have made bank on selling miniature vans. Osmerelda had a mini-van toy of her own in "Monumental Oddness", even! Odd Squad's already just slightly toyetic, one more injection won't hu- wait, the chance has passed now. Well, fuck. Never mind.

But ohhhh no, that's not even the most egregious part. The most egregious part is the fact that they called Creature Room employees...ah..."creature wranglers". Quite obviously, we know that's not all they do...I mean look at Ocean, as one example.

...Okay that's not so egregious.

Also, I, uh...well...they're not so much "roles" so much as they are "departments". You don't really go into a job interview at the local Target saying you'd like to apply for the role of part-time cashier like it's a school play and you really wanna strut your stuff. Odd Squad is a workplace. It has always been a workplace. Let's stick to the roots.

And while you guys do that, let's move on to the characters! This is one of the things I most want to see from an Odd Squad show bible, because if PBS can hike up their belts and declare Oprah to be physically seven years old right on the Wild Wild Internet, for all we know Olive could have been named Olivia somewhere in pre-production and they wanted to make her a hell of a lot more fucked-up than she turned out to be.

You know what's also sad? The fact that no one has the balls to admit that Odd Squad has precincts and it's not just smaller offices also named Odd Squad under a Big Office that's probably named, oh no you better not guess it, Odd Squad.

Let's be honest here, Opal is by far and away the most "we erased only the small smudges but she's otherwise polished" character in here. Everyone else has characterization that differs wildly from the final products. Opal...not so much. Pretty much everything said about her here is right on the money.

Except for, uh...that third paragraph. Let me word-vomit about that.

It does not matter how hard the franchise will try and make you believe Opal is not the leader. The fact of the matter is, she is the leader, de facto, and as such, she takes charge in all kinds of situations. However, that doesn't necessarily mean she's not keen on passing the buck to her teammates, as she's done it before (see, blugh, "Odd Squad in the Shadows") and she's more than willing to do it if she has to. This is a trait I honestly would have loved to have seen in her -- an Opal who decides to go-off-queen on her teammates by saying that she's the boss and what she says goes would have been more entertaining to watch than the final product we got. Opal's an enjoyable character, but she could have used a lot more polishing to make her as perfect of a character as her predecessors. Yes, even with the story arc.

Such a good example of this unused trait in action would be with a plotline similar to "O For a Day" -- Opal is forced to fill in for an Odd Squad Director after they get ill or sick in some way, and as a result, she slowly begins to get drunk on her own power until it becomes full-blown alcoholism and it gets to be at its utter detrimental peak for the precinct and the agents that work there. Maybe she micromanages like a boss bitch so that it's micro-micromanaging. Maybe she has her sanity go weeeeeaaaaaaaow down the drain. Maybe she becomes what CEOs of corporations aspire to become. Whatever the outcome, it could have served as wonderful character development for her and showed that being a leader is no easy task and choosing one is not a "pick a name outta a hat" method.

Whereas Opal is a sort of weak expy of past characters (Olive/Otto) -- and even that could be a stretch -- Omar is explicitly referred to here as an expy of Olympia and Otto, which...well yeah, actually that's pretty accurate.

You know who he's also an expy of? Pinkie Pi- nah that joke got old fast in 2016, I'm not revivin' it again.

Omar is one agent out of the group whose personality remains largely the same, but also has something just a teeny-tiny bit...off. In this case, the thing that's off here is the fact that he's gullible. So let me word-vomit about this too, and throw some Pepto-Bismol into my Walmart shopping cart while I'm at it.

I'm going to be real with you guys, even though some of you might already be aware of this: Otto is not a gullible motherfucker. He's really not. If some random stranger on the street waddled on up to me and asked me what the first word I'd use to describe Otto would be, "gullible" would not be the first word that springs to mind. Has he had gullible moments? Oh abso-fuckin'-lutely without a doubt. He's a dum-dum blorbo sometimes and if I gotta be frank with Frank then I like him like that. But is he easily gullible? Yeah no.

Maybe Otto being gullible all the time was something that was planned for when he was nothing but an idea on paper. I've seen enough criticisms about his character development to where I could probably hang that guess out on a limb and pray to the oracle in "Nature of the Sandbeast" that I'm lucky.

But I digress. Omar's gullibility being exploited to hell and back by his teammates would have been amazing to see, but alas, it never really came to pass in Season 3. Would have made for great conflict with The Shadow when she didn't have an obsessive schtick for Opal and didn't decide to wake up and choose the "by proxy" option for her crimes.

Now where in the McFuck can I begin here? Can I start by going inside and telling the cook I'd like a McCrispy Lack of Facts with a side of large What the Fuck and a large WHOA AN ACTUAL ORIGINAL CHARACTER with no ice? Cool, thanks, card got approved and I'd like my receipt please.

To say Orla is a writers' pet is something that you could have some bobo respond to with "citation needed" and get citation...but not really enough citation. For a character that is no expy of any previous one in the franchise and is something birthed from the God of Originality in the Television Industry...well yeah, you could say that justifies it. But Orla is really a fantastic character through and through and she deserves all the love she can get. I mean it's not every day you get a character willing to make people spill their coffees by punching and kicking the ever-loving shit out of an octopus (for simplicity's sake, let's assume it's an octopus, okay? okay) on a network where physical violence can become weirdly memetic at best (I'm side-eyeing you, Arthur) and controversial at worst (I, uh...I can't name any controversies about that. I am sorry).

I'm not about to delve into the historical parts of that paragraph, largely because history is my worst subject. I can say for sure, however, that I see why they changed what she called cars. If we wanna get technical -- and I mean insufferably so -- then cars would technically be the carriage and the horse. The horse serves as the engine, and then you have the carriage as the main body of the vehicle. "Metal chariots" is a more broad term that is far more accurate, because when I, for one, think of a chariot, I think of the carriage and the horse.

Also, I'm pretty sure sandwiches were around back in her time...lemme see here...

Mmmmmhm. As I thought. And let me check the timeline of the show here...

...Oh! Well wouldja look at that! Not exactly 400 years, but close!

Yeah, something tells me a lot of writers on the crew might have gotten an A in comedy but got an F in history. That or they simply went "bitch, we don't give a fuck!"

Tim and Adam slipped in an absolutely beautiful burn that missed the show as much as that one guy who shows up to meetings several hours after conclusions.

Like I said before, and I will repeat: Orla is not an expy of any one character. She is an original character made from scratch like your mother's baked bread. I find it hard to believe that she's a copy of Otis in any aspect outside of "hey, both of our seasons have us as the feature of story arcs". I can kinda sorta see the "surprising skills" aspect, but not by much outside of the season premiere. (Which, to be fair, had her scaling a wall with the same strings the Zephyr Heights royalty used to pull themselves up, but did not have her saying anywhere that she tamed a jaguar. Nowhere does it say she tamed a jaguar. Wrestled alligators, but the fun stops with big cats that can eat your face off.)

Perhaps I can blame that on poor execution within Season 3 itself. After all, it tried to gamble with character development and it failed. And that's just one flaw out of many.

Shifting subjects, though, the most hilarious thing I find about this paragraph is her ability to come up with ideas that are out-of-the-box. Which, for those that have not watched the horror that was the second half of the season and miraculously lived, is Osmerelda's schtick. She is explicitly labeled as the out-of-the-box member of the group. They did a theft-not-theft of something from the pitch bible and slapped it onto Osmerelda and ohhhhhh maybe that's part of the reason why she's terrible as a character.

Wow. Eureka moment! How about that?!

Before I get started on tearin' apart Oswald like a huge-ass Thanksgiving turkey from the supermarket, I'd like to address what has to be one of my biggest pet peeves of the season.

"Librarian/museum worker" is not a thing. Stop trying to make "librarian/museum worker" a thing, Gretchen. It will never be a thing.

If you want to call Oswald by the correct terminology, then allow the Seren to educate you.

He is an Odd Squad Security agent first and foremost. He's got the uniform, he's got the position, he's got the duties, he's got the competence to make Owen eat dirt and live, it's all right there.

Second and backmost...he's a museum curator. A "Curator" is what you call people who work in museums. I know this because I punched it into Google because I'm a petty bitch who eats reruns of A&E shows for every meal.

For what it's worth, I will also accept "museum archivist" and "archives technician". That too.

Okay, have we got that settled? Cool beans. Let's move on.

Oswald as a character is, for all intents and purposes in existence, what happens when you take Oscar, suck every last inch of science out of him, and then replace it with an obscene level of bookbookbookbookBOOKBOOKBOOKBOOK. He's still got the same "sacrifice your lives to the devil that births oddness, here I shall stay in my safe zone" mentality that Oscar does, and he's the smart guy of the team, but that's about it as far as comparisons go. I never really pinned Oscar as a nerdy ol' bookworm anyway, though it would have been amazing and hilarious to see.

That being said, Oswald applying the power of the writing gods' hands to real life and failing tremendously would have been a great trait for him. You know the lil' man would read a book on overcoming social anxiety and pull off a Shocked Pikachu Face when it doesn't work. And then he'd read on why it didn't work, try again with the opposite, and pull off another Shocked Pikachu Face when that fails.

Ah, now, see? These are other traits I would have loved to see in Oswald.

Him being an insufferable jerk who goes "well eckshuelleh" every 5 minutes -- yes, including with exposition, that market of which Oprah had cornered for 8 years -- would have probably made Season 3 more enjoyable, at least for me.

You know what would be a good thing to add to that batter, though? Him being meta.

In Season 3, especially in the second "kids are more forgetful than a backwards elephant" half, Oswald makes a few callbacks to earlier seasons. Which is nice and all, but imagine if he pried through particular cases and nabbed specific events and relayed them to people like it's his job and livelihood. If they had enough balls to make Xavier and Xena utter jerkasses, they could have grown two more to make Oswald an utter jerk, but one with redeemable qualities. As an example of one: he's a jerk who goes "well eckshuelleh" on people, but he does it because he loves the show. He loves Odd Squad lore and history. He's a fanatic.

I mean...well...he loves it already. He's enough of a fanatic and that shit has been proven. But they don't really lean into it all that much. It might as well be more informed than anything else.

But jerking the subject away from that...what if God gave you a character with all the autism traits, and you decided to come out and say "nah, he's not autistic, he's a quirky lil' man"?

You're telling me you can't make the boy canonically autistic in the same way that, ohhhh, I dunno, AJ Gadgets is canonically autistic? Or that one Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood character whose name I forget? You're on a network that embraces diversity the same way wine moms embrace the triple-L of "Live, Laugh, Love" and you had an opportunity...and Tim and Adam both blew it. Out of the water. Nuclear explosion. Does autism exist in the world of Odd Squad? Is there air?! You don't know!

Okay, that's a dumb question. I was reminded that muscular dystrophy exists, along with whatever disability Xena has.

Instead, what they did with Oswald was make him so friendly and sociable with people you wouldn't believe he's been a hermit in the belly of the Big Apple for [REDACTED] years. Which is a waste, because I'd have liked for him to be canonically autistic. They spend so much time on gender and making sure girls and women triumph over men and boys that they forget about disability, y'know?

Ah well. There's always Season 4. But let's be honest, I'm fully prepared for them to laugh and say "there are no autistic people in Manchester, what a silly notion!"

Here's another pet peeve of mine when it comes to this show, and those who have followed me and my biz for a long time probably know this already.

I don't like the formality error on proud display here.

Let's set the record straight. You don't call your boss at work Manager, not unless they're one of those whoo-hoos who knows they're paying you minimum wage for busting your ass and is reveling in it. No one does. No one calls them that.

So exactly why call Oprah by Ms. O? Or even the Big O?

Yes, it's an easy identifier for popularity purposes. Yes, it's her title that everyone calls her by except for a few close pals.

But that's just it -- it's a title. It's not her actual name. It's not like her mom delivered her cesarean-style and decided to name her Ms. O to compete with Elon Musk and whatever gibberish he's named his kid this time. It's not like Oprah decided to get a legal name change to go with her meal of a free promotion. Oprah is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, her actual name, and to insinuate it's not puts you in a silly delusion with a silly mind that might not be so silly.

But, y'know...I've screamed this at people for nearly 9 years now and no one's listened. I was friends with Joshua Kilimnik and had the crew watch my stuff and still no one's listened.

...Maybe I'm the one who's deluded...

...Um.

...

Yeah okay, maybe I might have a point if they're not even bothering with title capitalization anymore.

Not much to spice up here, but if you're wondering where in the blue hell Onika came from: she's from Season 2 of OddTube. Is not an Odd Squad explorer or an oddness finder, but rather, she built an entire 2015 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, threw some Odd Squad stuff on it, and called it half of a day, all with her own two hands.

Okay, it's hilarious that they're using teamwork and perseverance as an example of "broader themes". Yes, they are broader themes, but you also have:

Bullying

Trauma

Stop being like your family. You are not your family. You are you.

Friendship (is magic!)

Why going to work sucks ass on a daily basis

I could keep going, but I think I've made my point well with just these 5.

Nice justification for the set piece that is Oprah's office, though. That's clever. But...and it's a but bigger than any but Sir Mix-a-Lot has ever sung about in his career...this just highlights one of the problems with kids live-action shows. Had the show been animated in full, there would be no "I'll take seven slices of pizza and you can stuff your faces with the rest" to be found. Instead I must suffer in agony as I get whined at that "Odd Squad is not a cartoon".

One of the Odd Squad God's biggest mysteries is why, exactly, they axed Omar, yoted him into a single episode and a shitty-ass clickbait thumbnail, and decided to replace him with Orla.

...

No, no...actually I might know why. It may or may not have anything to do with the discussion of whether Orla is a "writers' pet" or not. No one @ me, I have theories.

But let me lay down Chris's crispy McNugget of truth for you all: while Orla does have appeal in her not understanding how technology works to save her life, Omar has somewhat equal appeal in him being a lover of traveling and buying souvenirs. Hell, if they wanted to grow balls that would make AC/DC weep, they could have cohosted the series. But alas, it was simply not meant to be.

Given how PBS Kids is planning to go the short-form route as a means of cutting costs while still aiming for quality, I'm kind of sad this never came to fruition. Imagine numerous seasons of OddTube, one for each country. All they would need to do was account for every Canadian in each country because if not then the bad guys have won.

...I mean it could come to fruition. Maybe. It might not. Maybe. Hopefully. It could be with Orli or something I dunno. She could shoot the shit or however British people say the phrase!

When I tell you folks this aged like milk, lemme tell you it aged like fucking milk. Like you could hear it churning at the grocery store while the manager does fuck-all about it.

Anyone who has absorbed enough of this franchise knows that episodes have absolutely been no stranger to rehashing mathematical concepts. And that's fine by me, because the episodes themselves aren't derivative outside of that regard. Each Season 1 and Season 2 episode is hand-crafted so it doesn't feel like a painfully obvious Xerox copy of a previous episode. Key word being "painfully obvious", keyer word being "painfully", because there are episode copies out there (see "The Trouble with Centigurps" and its mid little brother "Worst First Day Ever") that are obvious but don't actively make you say "I'm going to buy some Clorox and pour it into every facial orifice known to scientists who study human life".

Season 3 was absolutely no exception. However, instead of creating new plots and just sticking with that, they created new plots and also rehashed old ones in addition to reusing math (and science) concepts. Like plopping new pasta sauce on old shittily-cooked spaghett'. Is shit, tastes like shit.

One of the most glaring examples is with the infamous clip show episode, "Welcome to Odd Squad". Anyone can clearly see it's a rehash of "Odd Squad Needs You" from Season 2, just with new elements (a B-plot, Orpita instead of Oprah...No-Name who's essentially relatability personified). And, I mean, y'know...it's a clip show, which, in most cases, spells bad news for a series and/or a franchise. That too.

All in all, these comments are hilarious to me. Even if they are a stark reminder that in a show where comedy comes first and education comes second...there's still education.

If your first thought upon reading this wasn't "this seems more of a better fit for Wild Kratts or Cyberchase than Odd Squad" THEN WHAT THE MCFFFFFFFFFUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU GET BACK IN THE HOUSE. YOUR LITERACY IS O F F JIM YA GOTTA READ IT AGAIN.

Okay, but I digress. In a world where the rules of scientific concepts like biology and anatomy go completely out the fucking window and land right onto your uncle's Corvette, this is a very stupid lesson and I'm honestly glad they didn't go through with it. We don't need lessons on the ecosystem in a world that explicitly defies the rules of ecosystems as we know them in real life.

I just did an audible groan at that stupid-ass pun. "Mathience"? Really? Suck a peanut. Like 90% of the "odd" puns are better than that trash. Be the fuck for real.

This is a nice plot, really, but I dunno...something about it just doesn't sit right with me. Let's be realer than real here, one of the climates would have had to be the Arctic. Another one might have been in the Amazon somewhere, or another place that's humid. And the third one...yeah I dunno about that one. But this plot isn't sitting right with me. Like a bruised coccyx.

...Okay, my brain got fried there for a moment. Let's move on.

I guess it's time I air out my ire with this episode -- which is a good episode, but let me just take the time to talk about one of the things that bothers me about it.

The 44-Leaf Clover is supposed to grant whoever finds it magical powers. So where in the holy God of McFUCK are the magical powers of the Mobile Unit?

Let's be realer than realer than real here: the Mobile Unit having magical powers would have really spiced up Season 3. If not the entire Unit, then at the very least Opal and Omar, who initially went on the adventure. But that part of the Clover's lore is just dropped clear straight away like my dinner from last night. We have four normal humans with no powers who pissed off that one guy who called them politically correct. Which honestly sucks and is yet another thing we can throw into the "Odd Squad Missed Opportunities" bucket. Wow is that bucket getting full. Shall we dump it in preparation for Season 4?

...Yeh but oddness struck like a long-ass time ago. You don't get two of the same snowflakes and not find it odd. Confetti Betty's a step up, sure, but oddness is oddness. Let's try and keep continuity, hmm?

---------------------------------------

So that's it. The Odd Squad Season 3 pitch bible, properly dissected and torn through and ripped to utter shreds like a dog to a slipper. Sorry not sorry. Had to be done.

Still holding out hope for an entire series pitch bible to unearth somewhere in life. Preferably sometime before my death. Preferably on the 'Net. Preferably stored on my computer somewhere. I can and will tear into that too if it ever pops up.

But for now...we wait for Season 4 news. Since I don't want to do anything big this year for the franchise's 9th anniversary because ADD and depression and ADD, you all can have this instead. You're welcome. This has rotted in my drafts for at least two months. Take it.

[kanohimineka]

The Murder of the Power Rangers: A Conspiracy

This post requires brief context of this one: https://www.tumblr.com/kanohimineka/729314732989874176/i-would-like-to-add-i-also-posted-this-to-my?source=share

I didn't want to reblog it, since this is more of its own thing, but whatever, read it anyways.

So, Cosmic Fury is now out, and it seems that our friend Simon has completely let loose. In a brief Twitter Space thingy, he took in questions from fans, where he would eventually answer them. Most of it was pretty innocuous, basic production stuff. However, there were a few moments of Hasbro heavily limiting what could be done with Cosmic Fury. The two biggest examples of this are the first two posts, with Hasbro being the ones to limit Cosmic Fury to a measly 10 episodes, despite Netflix being interested in more, the seeming circular production hell of Once and Always, and the fact that, for some reason, they only had 2 weeks to film the action footage. Of course, there is still some issues on the production's end, but they seem to have interest in continuing Power Rangers, that's just being stopped by Hasbro's Reboot plans, plans that have been in talks since 2019, Both Cosmic Fury and Dino Fury 2 being stopgaps. This fills into a continual issue that I briefly touched upon before. So, let's talk about the economics of the Power Rangers.

Power Rangers started as a massive success, a series designed on the cheap, basically only filming half a show's worth of generic sit com footage, licensing out some weird Japanese show, and ADRing your new actors over it is an extremely inexpensive production for the kind of action show it is, all things considered. Then, the series got massively popular, selling reprints of pre existing Japanese toys with some new branding, ensuring extreme profits for everyone involved, Toei, Bandai, and Saban. However, after some time, the series starts to slump in popularity, it happens to the best of us. However, Power Rangers, being, again, relatively inexpensive, and still having some cultural relevance, allowed it to stay in some form of existence for the past 30 years. It is a series that has been able to coast, staying financially viable, while still not being a gangbuster success. It persisted, giving a decent living to those around it, and allowing artists to create something fun.

It has been hot potatoed between multiple rights holders, who all eventually saw value in the way it was made. However, we jump to today. Now, Hasbro is cancelling that, as mentioned, moderate success to form a reboot of it, helmed by Jonathan Entwistle, a creator who seems like a decent fit, his two big breaks being focused on teens in small towns doing stuff, a decent fit for at least half of the Power Rangers Pipeline. It is yet to be seen how he will do in the more action heavy elements of Rangers, as again, most of his projects are smaller, but he at least seems interested, also working on some sort of Karate Kid reboot. However, it seems they want it to be bigger in scale. They want it to fit that Netflix Limited Series High Budget, Short Length structure, targeting a slightly more mature audience. However, a lot of this seems to come from one main desire. They want the Power Rangers that was there in the 90's

I don't just mean, "They Want MMPR!" though that is a symptom of this issue. What they really want is the size and growth that MMPR had back in the day. Therefore, they're going to pump their whole ass into this project, shifting it to be whatever would be seen as following the popular Hollywood trends. This, to me, is a secret side reason to hire Johnny E. He fits into that MCU Formula of hiring a relative unknown known for a few smaller, personal projects and getting them to make some big action blockbuster. And part of this is to reboot to MMPR. It is the recognizable iconography. It's the version of the Rangers my Grandma would know.

Now, it seems neat that Hasbro would want to invest into Rangers. However, they aren't really investing into what Rangers is. That has been going already, and it is only a moderate success. That's not enough. It needs to be a massive success. It needs to be the next big billion dollar hit. Which means, while they are risking the money, since they are a business, they will be trying to mitigate risk. Which, again, means they will be trying to make the safest choices possible. This means taking the old iconography, taking out the weird unique ideas and grafting on more conventional ideas. You know, making it like the MCU 5 years too late. This is an infinitely deep hole caused by the visualization of art as capital

Now, of course, most art, when made in capitalism, needs to be somewhat financially viable. This is more extreme in things like Power Rangers as they are toy vehicles, ways to sell other products, a practice heavily strengthened by the deregulation of children's television under the Reagan administration. A lot of what is going on with Rangers right now reads as the hyper extreme of this concept. At least before, Rangers was able to fit in that weird little corner of the toy shelf that had its own campy vibe, flowing with new ideas every year, staying viable through the Power Rangers brand. It is this perfect creative balance where new ideas can be forged while also staying to a single IP. Yes, Sentai footage limits this, but sticking to whatever weird ideas Toei makes forced the writers to push Power Rangers further. However, now, Hasbro is bucking away from the Sentai footage, not to be able to be more creative with the brand, but to be less creative. Bringing it to be the old Power Rangers, rather than anything new. That's why I am sceptical. And a lot of what has been discussed has only cemented that in my mind.

If anything, thanks to Simon Bennet for keeping with Rangers for so long, for making one last ride, even through Hasbro can suck. And thank you for liking my silly, pessimistic tweets. And godspeed to Johnny E, I hope you can make something good.

[ultraflavour]

While Hasbro continues to shoot themselves in the dick, the MCDM crowdfunder continues to climb.

In less than two weeks, they've already hit ~$3.3M in total funds and are steadily approaching the 20k backer mark. The current average spend is little over $170 per backer.

It's tempting to make grand, sweeping proclamations about what all of this means for the tabletop RPG industry. I don't know what ends up happening here.

But to me, what that number represents is a healthier, stronger Tabletop ecosystem for the laid-off D&D team members to land in. Those 19k backers and counting represent a population that's sorely needed in tabletop right now: People who are willing to make a big bet on something new, not just the big-money corporate product.

There needs to be more of that, and not just for the MCDM game. Those 19k backers? That's a good start, but that's just one company.

What needs to happen for the tabletop industry to be healthy is to prop up more independent and third-party creators, so that they can create jobs and make the industry a safer bet for people to land in.

A boycott of D&D is not the answer. That doesn't send the message we want to send. What we need, for Hasbro to choose to invest in D&D in the way they did before, is to gas up their competition.

And they have legitimate competitors. Aside from what's coming down the pipe, there's already Fabula Ultima, Blades in the Dark, Lancer, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu. All of these games have proven their own viability, and clearly show that you don't have to be the product of a massive corporation to make a fully-realized tabletop RPG.

Pathfinder in particular is a really interesting case. According to industry insiders, Pathfinder never actually beat 4th Edition in total sales. But that didn't matter for its overall perception. Even if Pathfinder never outsold 4th Edition, it created the perception that it was the "winner" of that generation.

That should go to show you that even though D&D sold a lot of books this generation and seems to be continuously running up the scoreboard with huge successes like Baldur's Gate 3, it's never been invincible. And it's not outside of the realm of the possibility for the nerdiest parts of the D&D community to choose to walk away from it. That's how edition changes start.

That's what gives me hope for the immediate future. The thing that does need to change, in my mind, is the idea that there's no sense trying to beat D&D. Just because it's likely that nobody will ever truly "beat" D&D doesn't mean that we should dismiss any attempts to do so. As we've already seen, there are real competitors out there.

There's still a lot to be done, and we still don't know how things are going to shake out. But there is clearly an appetite out there for a bigger, more diverse ecosystem of RPGs. All we need to do as players is to stop being unpaid brand ambassadors for Hasbro and instead start propping up smaller game studios so they can become First-Party.

That's what it all comes down to. We all, even longtime D&D players, have a vested interest in ensuring the health of the broader tabletop RPG industry.

[saritamanyalu]

Optimus was in his office fiddling with his computer, talking to a new recruit who was sending him messages and a ready-to-hire form. Leader Autobot was evaluating your notes on your form. '' Description: Hot Rod Gender: Male - A young bot who studied at the Cybertron Academy, earning higher marks in certain areas. His qualities were highlighted in being self-confident but naive. His combat skills have not gone unnoticed in terms of agility and quick action. '' Soon the eager new recruit sent him another message. Waiting for the leader’s reply: '' Here is the form ready with everything you requested. I know you can’t reveal your name because of the Decepticons, but I need to know if I’m accepted or if this will be passed on to some board to evaluate to give the answer. '' Optimus Prime moved his digits key by key, writing its message. '' Your form will be evaluated. But first I need you to answer me something. '' '' What would it be? '' '' Why do you want to join the Autobots? '' '' ... Well. Once I heard about Megatron’s tyranny, I didn’t agree at all and found it unfair for every Cybertronian. Manipulating everything and everyone, causing a war for nothing but taking lives. And I want to join because I can be of great help to erase the Decepticons once and for all. '' ... '' I understand. Good luck, I'll soon give the final answer. ''

And cycles later, away from the Cybertron's city, a red and orange car raced along the empty road at twilight. His destination stopped in the middle of a '' metallic desert''. He went out of his vehicle mode, turning a Mech of the same color. The only thing that was flashy was a drawing of ember on his chassis. His face plates showed a sketch of confusion. He looked at his device, where the exact location was. '' Uh? I don’t understand. It was supposed to be here, but I don’t see anything. '' Suddenly he hears a metallic hiss and sees the ground opening, they were huge gates hidden beneath him that instantly revealed a staircase that led to deeper lighted by lights that were possible to be seen. Eager Hot rod came down the stairs. When came down he saw an elevator, curious approached and opened the doors then without even pressing a button. He entered and waited until he arrived at the exact place where the enigmatic elevator gave. Halfway there, Hot rod was thinking about the conversation a while back, he wanted to know who the Autobots are and who was leading them, wanted to meet them personally.. Until.. The elevator stops and the doors open again, the bluish optics of the novice widened to see a large robust Mech of blue and red colors. He had a scar on his nose and a very small scar on his optic ridge, leaving his mouth open to see him. He left the elevator slightly to introduce his self. '' H-hello! My designation is- '' '' Hot rod, right? '' - Interrupted the great Autobot. With a smile on his face plate. '' Y-yes! It’s a pleasure to meet you. I mean, what’s your name? '' '' I’m Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. You are very welcome, Hot rod. I brought you this. '' - He handed over to the Hot rod, the official Autobot insignia. The rookie without hesitation took it and put it in his chassis. Looking at his leader and saying: ''Thank you, sir! '' -------------------------------- X - X ---------------------------------- ( I don't know if the text is really good, but i hope you all like it! )

Hot rod, Optimus Prime (c) Hasbro

[keep-it-krispy]

MK was an Interesting person.

Malin had spent the previous week drawing out a plan to ingratiate themselves with his group. The Mayor, as he requested they call him, had opened to them to a brand new avenue of thought; an avenue they had to admit to never before considering.

Friendship was a rarity for Malin; A rarity they never truly noticed in their day to day. After all, they had plenty of people to talk to and spend time with: Acquaintances, business partners, collaborators, other artists and content creators. Impersonal, platonic relationships that held them aloft in a manageable bubble of personal interest.

It's not like they were inclined to avoid social situations, or keep strangers at a distance. They quite enjoyed the company of other people, even sought it out often and openly. But true friendship? The type of bond they hoped to achieve with this endeavor? That was something they've only ever managed to find in Milton.

Their longtime ally and close companion was a notably special case. They had known each other since early childhood; And while the both of them didn't consider their bond to be in any way romantic or familial, neither of them could (or would) deny the trust they shared.

He took good care of them- socially, emotionally, financially- and Malin felt compelled to do the same; acting as his compass and using their skills and talents to grow his wealth and power. It was a give and take that ran deeper than mere favor. Their relationship was a different texture than that of a vlog squad, or an interesting conversation partner. It was something emotional. platonic, but intense. He meant something more.

To achieve a mutually sustaining, long lasting connection, Mk would have to mean something more. The Monkie Kids would have to mean something more. They needed to be close to get to Sun Wukong; And with force thoroughly removed from the table, the only option without risk was complete sincerity. And thus, the planning had begun.

Putting themselves on Mk's radar would be easy. It was simply a matter of memorizing his schedule and sporadically inserting Milton and themselves into his general area. To familiarize his subconscious with their likenesses would ensure that he remembered their faces after the first meeting.

Malin’s past experience and skill in establishing (business or otherwise) relations would ensure that the meeting itself would go smoothly. Pre-thought-out questions, answers, statements, and conversation extenders were easily customized to any and every possible situation, they even had a number of “Sorry for being weird” gifts ready for the worst case scenario.

They planned for everything. It was, after all, what they did best. Unfortunately- Or rather, very fortunately -Mk just seemed to have a way with derailing well though out plans.

Malin had finished their monthly product review earlier than expected, and was taking advantage of this newfound free time to indulge in their very private, very personal hobby: Model kits.

They've harboured a love for them for as long as they could remember. One of their mother's final gifts to them had been a model kit. It was a hasbro official limited edition transformable Unicron that had sold out months prior, the proud smile on her face as they jumped and shrieked for joy was one of their better memories of her.

The craft store they deemed worthy of their patronage was a medium sized, family owned spot just west of their college campus. They supplied all kinds of sets and materials, and the owners were happy to fill special orders and stock specific items upon request. Malin was salivating over a deluxe sized Lost Light set when they felt a light tap on their shoulder.

“Hey, uh. Excuse me, are you ‘Bone Meister’?”

They turned to the voice, ready to switch to their meet and greet persona, only to fall silent when they locked eyes with Mk himself.

He was wearing his standard outfit- one which appeared in nearly all of his pictures on social media -and a friendly smile on his face. One hand held a bundle of comics, and a basket full of art supplies occupied the other. Malin noted faint multi colored smears on the one holding the basket; the presence of paint pens and fine liners among the assortment inside told them that he’d spent a nominal amount of time in the pen testing isle before wandering over. He hadn't followed them in, then.

“Yes, that's me. Are you a fan?” Malin smiled, taking hold of the model kit they were looking at.

“Oh, no. Uh- Well- Not that I don't like your stuff, I mean-” he chuckled nervously “I uh, saw your performance at the lunar new year music deathmatch tournament two weeks ago. I don't know if you remember me, I- We performed too-”

Malin turned to face him better; displaying open interest with their body language, but keeping their face more aloof “Yes, I do remember you. ‘The Monkie Kids’, is that right?”

Mk’s smile lost a bit of the stress it held, relief etched into the subtle way his shoulders sagged “Yea, I'm the drummer.”

Malin was a bit surprised. They had considered the possibility of him remembering them from the competition, but it had seemed unlikely at the time. It was a big event, and there were a lot of contestants, so they didn't do much planning around this scenario. Luckily for them, Mk seemed just as interested in conversation as they were.

“It… Stings that I lost to you," Malin carefully admitted "But you guys were good.” They didn't even have to lie “Your sound is really something else, I might have to steal away your vocal coach."

Mk laughed “Yeah, well, yours was great too! I've never seen anyone dance like that before. You were like,” he made a flying gesture with his hand, turning Malin’s smile into something more genuine “The wind.”

Malin giggled, briefly surprised they didn't have to force it “Thank you. It was actually inspired by a mix of hip hop, ballet, and fighting forms shown in older material arts movies. I felt it would compliment the desperation and power in the lyrics while simultaneously tying them to the rhythm.”

“Yeah it did!” Mk perked up, balling up his fists and performing several showy air punches and wide kicks “It was so cool! The beat drop after the slow rise into the crescendo made my blood go crazy!” Malin watched, amused, as he did a jumping twirl and landed on one foot, singing out the part he was mentioning “And- and when you bought out that sythe???! Oh my gods! You were amazing! It was like I was actually in the scene!”

Observing the energy that filled him when just talking about their performance made Malin’s pride swell, the sweet nectar washing over them and carrying them out into sea.

“Your performance was nothing to sneeze at, either.” Malin pointed out “I would be lying if I said I wasn't moved myself. You guys really have a way with words.”

Mk looked positively ecstatic, his grin glimmering like sunlight itself. He stood straight, pulling out his phone and tapping on it a bit “We should totally colab! And hang out! Like, today. You hungry?”

As the pair walked out of the store clutching their purchased spoils, and later down the street with lunch in tow, they continued to talk until nightfall. Mk joked, Malin laughed; and in the fleeting moments after they went their separate ways, Malin couldn't help but wonder…

Malin gave him a grin of their own, taking the offered phone and entering in their number. Hook, line, and sinker.

‘That was so easy... Why hadn't I thought of doing this before?’

[demonac]

Hey, so there's some crap going on about D&D and the OGL scandal.

If you have not been following along, the OGL (Open Gaming License) is a legal thing where, about 20 years ago, WotC (the company who owns Dungeons and Dragons, now a subsidiary of Hasbro) promised that anyone could use a bunch of their content (spells, classes, etc), by adhering to some pretty basic, loose terms, and nobody would come after you for calling that content "D&D" whatever [gross oversimplification].

Well now, Hasbro/WotC feels D&D is "undermonetized" (according to their CEO who doesn't know or care about RPGs, and their head of digital, who IS a gamer, but doesn't play TTRPGs and wants to make D&D more like the various video games he's worked on), SO they are trying to "de-authorize" the old OGL and replace it with a new one that takes away all the security 3rd party creators thought they had, and gives WotC powers to cancel content... mostly so they can kill off other virtual tabletops (like Fantasy Grounds, roll20, etc) and charge big monthly fees/microtransactions for their new admittedly cool-looking service.

Anyhow, a lot of people argue that even the old (non-trash) OGL wasn't really necessary for 99% of creators between Free-Use and the fact that you can't copyright game rules, and even with their army of lawyers, they might not win court cases trying to go after content created before the new evil license goes live, but with big corporations and algorithmic enforcement, I don't trust that being right is a good enough defense (and you'd be a FOOL to trust them when they promise "we won't go after X and Y" after they tried to pull this crap in the first place).

Will this affect TDDC? Probably not - in fact, I never claimed to be using the OGL for any of my stuff, even if its existence was a comforting indication of what USED to be WotC's philosophy. But since I happen to be starting a whole new series right at this moment, this is the time to strip out mentions of WotC's copyrighted names, just in case. I was actually already leaning that direction for Warforged (calling them Mechs/Mechanicals) and Dragonborn (Drakks), but I'm going to go a step further, and get strict about not using those terms, nor the name "Dungeons and Dragons/D&D". So when I use the initials TDDC going forward, I'm referring to "Tales From Demonac's Deathfin Campaign". But the official title in the videos (and when I say those dreaded words: "Next Time") it's going to be Tales From My RPG Campaign". Hopefully the change won't be too annoying, trust me, it bothers me much more to stop saying Kua-Toa/KTs (too similar to Kuo-Toa, which IS one of the "product identity" terms they have identified and guard jealously). It's easy to refer to them as Deluvians and Illud most of the time, though I'm still waffling on what term (if any, but there sure OUGHT to be one) to use for their shared heritage. I'd go Children of Baal, but that makes the Sons of Baal monitors really sound like dumbasses...

Anyway, that's the update; I'm still working on the first episode of SoS (and despite my "tight 15 minute" guideline, it's probably going to be closer to 20min); I hope to get some little music reveal videos for the PCs in collaboration with my music person, Cool Boy Shane, so stay tuned for those.

If you're one of my Patrons, though, I posted the cold open - the first few seconds of Sea of Secrets, to grab viewers' attention, so you can check it out here. It will answer ZERO of your questions: https://www.patreon.com/posts/77653972

[tea-mew96]

Opinion on beast machines

Subjectively, I ended up liking this show. There's very few TF shows that make me think so much about what they're trying to say and make me come back to re-watch episodes. I'm the scientist and Beast Machines is the specimen that I put on a slide and analyze under a microscope to see all its layers and details.

Objectively, Beast Machines is a mixed bag and it doesn't shock me at all that people are divided on it and that Beast Machines failed to sell. As interesting as a lot of the ideas are and for as many answers the writers managed to provide us, there's A.) a lot of poor executions and B.) a lot of questions that the writers either didn't have the time to answer or didn't think about, but should've been addressed. This show could've really benefited from more time in the the brainstorming room and tuning out the finer details.

But even if the execution was perfect, I think the main failure of this show is that it didn't really understand the wants of its target demographic/market. I struggle to believe that most kids in the 5-12 age group that Hasbro usually aims at with their TF shows would want to spend their Saturday watching a cartoon that lectures them about its philosophies, themes, and lore after a week of school lectures and homework. Beast Wars fans at the time didn't care for, if not hated the change into a darker, more serious tone because they liked the more humorous, balanced tone of the original show, and I can only imagine that most 5-12 kids also like their shows to have some sense of humor/lightheartedness in them, which Beast Machines lacks. It's kinda the equivalent of serving a bitter coffee with only a bit of cream/milk to people that like the sugary Starbucks coffee drinks. And for those fans that wanted a darker Beast Wars sequel, I don't think this is the vision they would've had in mind or what they wanted out of a sequel.

I'm kinda curious about what the hell the other outlines for a Beast Wars sequel were cuz I wanna know what exactly made the show we got the most preferred outline, but I'm sure that info is likely lost to time.

That being said, Beast Machines does have its other positives. The origin of concepts we know of now like sparks and their abilities/lifecycle can be traced back to this show, as it either introduced or developed many of those concepts. Beast Machines is a fairly short watch, only 26 30-minute episodes, so even if you don't end up liking it, it's at least not as much of a time-consumer as other shows. I can say with confidence that despite the execution, the writers had a clear vision for the story and themes they wanted to present to viewers and were passionate about sharing that story, which is more than I can say for other TF shows. You also still get your quality, all-star voice cast from the original show, including the lovely voice direction of Susan Blu.

Beast Machines is average to me. Far from best, but I'll happily watch this over many other shows. I'd say read the short synopsis on TFWiki if you're unsure if you wanna watch the full show, cuz your reaction to reading it is likely going to be the same reaction you have once you're done watching the show. I can't guarantee that everyone will like Beast Machines, but I do encourage giving it a chance if it interests you in some way.

[t-cognoscente]

Thanks again for answering our questions I'm just wondering from your past posts you mentioned specific continuities is there one you consider if not the most cannon, the most important for a fledgling Transformers fan? Also I'd love to hear your personal favorite if that differs.

Answer below

There is no continuity which is more or less canon than the others. Each continuity has its own canon: while there is a multiverse and crossovers do happen, what's canon for one isn't necessarily canon for another.

(You will find that the Transformers world is very forgiving in what it does and does not consider canon! The wiki considers anything officially endorsed by Hasbro with the Transformers logo on it to be canon - which is how you end up with a wiki page for Pepsi Prime. )

As for what's most important for a fledgling Transformers fan, there's a real answer and a technical answer. The real answer is whatever you want, fandom is for fun. The technical answer, if you're talking purely in terms of understanding the lore on a meta level, is where it all began: the Generation 1 TV show and comic books. You'll get to see the origin for most of the big name characters, and you'll learn what stuff has been around since the beginning and what's been added since then.

You can find the show on YouTube. Be aware that there's a time skip in between seasons 2 and 3 which won't make sense unless you watch the 1986 movie in between. The comics can be bought off of Amazon for $12.

Transformers: Beast Wars also introduced a lot of new lore, and will be fun for you if you liked ROTB (and if you can tolerate really, really, really shitty animation). However you should definitely either watch or read at least some of G1 first because Beast Wars is a sequel.

Personally my favorite is IDW2005, specifically More Than Meets The Eye. It's like if the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia were crewmen on the starship Enterprise, homosexual, had Catholic guilt and also happened to be giant robots. Also there's 4 gay marriages. I'm not being hyperbolic here, there is literally actually for real 4 separate gay marriages. You can find the whole thing for free on readcomicsonline.com, but PLEASE send me another ask if you intend to read these because it can be very hard to figure out where to start. Also, I can give you a list of trigger warnings. IDW2005 is very adult.

I hope you have a fun time in the Transformers fandom! I've been greatly enjoying your asks!

[fancoloredglasses]

The (rebirth, death, and) rebirth of Optimus Prime (The things an Autobot has to do to generate toy sales!)

[All images are owned by Hasbro, Marvel, and Sunbow Productions. Please don’t sue me]

When Hasbro wanted to release a new line of Transformer toys and remove ones that weren’t selling as well, they came up with a reason for the change in the lineup for their advertising the animated series.

There was just one problem: the kids didn’t want to see Optimus Prime die (this is why, when G.I.Joe: the Movie was later released, Duke was merely critically wounded and not killed)

For those who have been long-time fans of Transformers in its many media representations, you will no doubt notice that Optimus Prime dies...a lot. Now, I’m not being cynical or anything, but his deaths (and later resurrections) seem to coincide with a new version of Optimus in the toy line.

In fact, Optimus died not once, but twice in the 80s animated series. So let’s turn the clocks back to the 1980s (or, in the series continuity, to the far-flung future of 2006) and cover 2 episodes (one in two parts)

If you would like to watch the first episode, it’s available on Pluto TV.

We open on a space battle, and the Autobots are losing. Meanwhile the Decepticons (led by Galvatron) have launched missiles that destroy the ship!

Fortunately, the Autobots launch a shuttle before the missiles connect. On the ship is the Usual Cast (Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Arcee, and Kup) along with Spike and Daniel Witwicky. With no communications and little air for the humans, Rodimus makes the executive decision to investigate an anomaly on their scanners, which appears to be some sort of space station.

Unfortunately, the Decepticons find it as well.

Kup identifies the station as a tomb for the Autobots who fell in the Cybertron War.

Daniel reads off the names of the toys that are not being restocked Autobots who have died (mostly in the movie) when suddenly…

(Optimus has looked better)

Daniel immediately runs screaming back to the others. Rodimus takes Daniel to investigate Optimus’s resting place…

…only it’s empty!

Rodimus then hears the Decepticons approach and rush to defend the dead. Unfortunately, the Autobots are outnumbered and they fall back into the tomb.

Fortunately…?

So now we’re dealing with zombie robots?

Having seen a ghost, Galvatron orders the Decepticons to retreat. So maybe the Autobots should move their base there?

With the Decepticons driven off, Optimus asks about the Matrix of Leadership, which Rodimus happily hands over (despite Ultra Magnus’s protests)

Only Optimus doesn’t seem to want it. Instead, he’s working on building a ship to leave the Tomb. However, Rodimus won’t take no for an answer.

So Rodimus just wanted to go back to slacking off, eh? However…

Optimus attacks the Autobots! He then sets the self-destruct and flies off, putting the tomb on a course for a sun!

Meanwhile, Optumus has flown to Cybertron, giving a bullshit story about what happened to the others, blaming the Quintessons. The Autobots immediately mobilize to attack.

Uh-oh. It turns out that Optimus coming back from the dead was part of a Quintesson plot to destroy the Autobots!

Meanwhile at the tomb…

The Autobots quickly build their own ship and escape before the tomb is destroyed, setting off to Cybertron. Unfortunately, their jury-rigged ship has issues trying to land when they get there.

After crashing landing on Cybertron, the Autobots are informed by the Dinobots the Optimus has taken everyone to attack the Quintessons (and yet they left Snarl and Sludge?)

As the Autobot fleet approaches the Quintessons’ base, they receive a message that Hot Rod and the others are en route and to stop the attack, but Optimus pushes onward.

As the Autobots approach, the Quintessons begin phase one of their trap.

About that time, Rodimus Hot Rod and the others arrive and try to halt the attack.

Unfortunately, whatever the Quintessons did to Optimus causes him to disbelieve and orders Hot Rod’s ship to be destroyed.

Fortunately, everyone abandons ship before it blows up. Even better…

...Perceptor gets visual proof that Hot Rod’s message was genuine!

As the rescue teams retrieve their wayward Autobots, the Quintessons discuss phase two: forcing the Autobot fleet toward a massive bomb that will destroy it!

Inside the Autobot flagship, Hot Rod tells the Autobots to halt the attack, then goes to take command from Optimus.

It’s almost like Optimus didn’t want leadership foisted on him by some punk kid who didn’t wanna grow up.

Unfortunately, despite not wanting command, Optimus fights back.

Never heard that complaint before.

Somehow, Hot Rod manages to subdue Optimus and takes back the Matrix, upgrading to Rodimus Prime once again.

The others manage to find Rodimus and informs him they’re abandoning ship and the rest of the fleet is retreating. However…

Optimus takes command of the flagship and flies it straight for the bomb, detonating it so it can’t be used against the Autobots again.

And so we got a tease as to the return of the best-selling greatest Autobot of the era.

This in and of itself would be a cruel joke on the part of the writers, but when this episode re-aired later, a voice-over was added…

(Thanks to inthepark002)

Oh, now THIS is too much! How many times are they gonna break our hearts?!

Let’s find out as we move to the final two episodes of season 3, which is a two-part episode. If you would like to see the first part, it’s available on Roku.

We open with a test flight of a spacecraft capable of withstanding high temperatures (you remember CNN covering this back in 2006, right?) when they see…

…another spaceship about to collide with an asteroid. They scan for life and discover…

Not again!

The pilot (Gregory) has a flashback to a fight between Optimus and Megatron that disfigured him.

Gregory’s co-pilot (Jessica) tries talking sense into him as she suits up to attempt to save Optimus (how? It’s not like you can carry him to safety!) Despite his better judgement, Gregory follows.

I guess they’re doing to drag him to safety. They tie a cable abound Optimus and somehow (I know he’s weightless, but his mass is still a few thousand times that of the pilots combined!) drag him out of the ship before it collides (wouldn’t it be easier to put booster rockets on the ship to redirect its course?)

After the collision…

The humans’ ship is covered in some sort of red dust. Oh well, time to head back to Earth.

Back on Earth, it’s discovered that the “dust” is actually some sort of spore. They test the spores on some lab rats (seriously? I mean, I know that’s what lab rats are for, but you don’t even try running any sort of tests on them before introducing test subjects?) and discover…

The mice become aggressive when exposed. What’s more, the spores are passed from one to another by touch! They need to destroy that shit right away!

Unfortunately Jessica is the only one who realizes that, but before she can talk sense into the others…

Their lab falls under attack from the Terrorcons (each sold separately)!

Fortunately, the Technobots (also sold separately) arrive to defend the lab. Both sets of Transformers combine making the battle Abonimous vs. Computron (in case you were wondering why you needed to buy them all)

Unfortunately, the Terrorcons get what they came for, destroying the lab in the process (despite the Technobots’ best efforts)

And Jessica is injured! Jessica’s father (Mark) blames the Technobots (technically all Transformers, but the Technobots are the handy scapegoats)

Then Gregory (who, if you recall, also has an irrational hatred for All Things Transformer) comes up with an idea Jessica would not condone…

Gregory intends on somehow using Optimus’s body to spread the spores to the Transformers so they destroy one another (he does realize the Transformers are already trying to destroy one another, right?)

Eventually, Mark receives work that Jessica is awake. However…

…he’s not too happy that his daughter is now a cyborg.

When Mark and Jessica return to the lab, Gregory announces he’s been unable to revive Optimus (there they go again, getting our hopes up!)

THE MONSTERS!

Jessica manages to talk them out of melting Optimus down, but only so they can tell the Autobots where he is so they can be infected. They somehow get Jessica to go find an Autobot, despite her protests.

Jessica finds Ultra Magnus, who take her to Rodimus Prime.

Once Rodimus hears “Optimus”, he’s deaf to everything else (including Jessica warning that it’s a trap). He mobilizes the Protectobots (say it with me…”Each sold separately”), who merge into Defensor, as well as the Arielbots (you know the drill) who merge into Superion, and every other Autobot (including those who don’t combine…collect them all!)

Wow, Rodimus is going a bit overkill for two humans, isn’t he?

Unfortunately…

…Rodimus’s mobilization does not go unnoticed.

Ratbat returns to Soundwave, who plays back everything that happened in the last scene.

Looks like we may see the lab trashed again, only this time it will be the humans’ fault.

Later, the Autobots arrive at the lab as Rodimus lays out his plan to retrieve Optimus’s body.

You should’ve thought of that before you let Ratbat snoop.

Rodimus and Jessica enter the main lab while the rest of the Autobots sneak around back (they’re three stories tall and you expect them to be stealthy?) However…

…is in the front lab, meaning…

(Thanks to chatguy)

Infected with the spores, the Autobots turn the back lab into a demolition derby! Eventually, they break free of the lab, forcing the uninfected Autobots to escape.

Fortunately, Rodimus got Optimus’s body first (how the hell did he get Optimus up there? He has no arms in vehicle mode!)

Jessica leads Rodimus to the loading dock, however…

…Galvatron has other plans. Unfortunately for him…

…the infected Autobots have still other plans! With his troops infected by the spores, Galvatron retreats after Rodimus warns him what’s happening.

Meanwhile, the cops have arrived to try to stop the infected Superion (GOOD LUCK!) Fortunately, the Autobots are doing their best to help…

…but Superion infects Defensor! Jesus, this is turning into a zombie movie in a hurry!

Rodimus returns with Optimus to see if Wreck-Gar can do anything.

Then Optimus remembers that the Quintessons revived Optimus before, so he contacts Sky Lynx.

So Sky Lynx is off to the far reaches of the galaxy (his words, not mine) to retrieve a Quintesson (exactly how fast are those engines that he’ll get there and back before the zombie virus spores infect the planet?)

Rodimus then realizes that Autobot City is also a Transformer: Metroplex, so he shuts Metroplex down as the infected Autobots arrive!

Rodimus flees as Ultra Magnus tries to infect him.

Fortunately, Rodimus isn’t alone as Wreck-Gar lassos Ultra Magnus before he can infect Rodimus. However…

…and with a touch, Wreck-Gar is infected! Then…

Well, that’s all she wrote, I guess.

And if you think the spores would be happy with rats and Transformers…

…you’d be wrong. I hope Mark and Gregory (remember them?) are proud of themselves.

What’s worse…

…it’s spread to deep space as well! Fortunately for that Quintesson, Sky Lynx has arrived and offers a ride in exchange for Optimus’s life.

Later, the Quintesson is making sure Optimus is fully functional before restoring power, then asks how they’ll deal with the spores.

You guys put a lot of faith in an Autobot who has a major martyr complex.

Finally, all is ready.

Well, that’s not ominous at all! But there’s still the spores to deal with, so let’s get to the conclusion, also available on Roku.

Sky Lynx gives Optimus a rundown on what happened in the previous episode.

Fortunately, not all of the Autobots were infected by the zombie virus spores, but unfortunately most are injured.

Not much of a force, especially since they can’t touch anyone infected. Optimus drafts the Quintesson for repair duty.

Eventually, repairs are made, but Bumblebee needed a complete overhaul.

Optimus re-christens Bumblebee “Goldbug” (available now!)

Unfortunately, Optimus needs the Matrix of Leadership to come up with a way to beat the spores, and that’s currently in Rodimus’s possession (and given the last time he handed it over, Rodimus wouldn’t be too happy to do so again even if he wasn’t infected with murder spores)

Jessica offers a possible solution: coat Optimus with the alloy Mark and Gregory (remember them?) developed (remember that?). Since it’s heat and radiation resistant, it might protect Optimus from the spores (hey, I’ve heard worse BS Hail Mary plays). However, the Decepticons have the alloy following their raid in part 1. Guess it’s road trip time! However, Jessica wants to come along. After a bit of debate, Optimus reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile on the planet Charr…

…Galvatron is having issues controlling his infected followers.

Then the Autobots arrive to offer a truce with Galvatron. Together they drive the infected Decepticons back. Optimus explains they’re here for the alloy the Decepticons stole.

Galvatron leads the Autobots across a giant web. As Galvatron flies across…

…a giant spider attacks (wait, isn’t Sky Lynx with them? Can’t he fly everyone across?) However, the Autobots make short work of it.

Later, giant leeches drop from the ceiling!

After some coercing, Galvatron makes short work of the leeches (and this is why Optimus won’t tell him why they need the alloy; otherwise Galvatron might’ve left them to rust)

Unfortunately, the infected Decepticons have caught up…

… and infected the others! Only Jessica, Optimus, Galvatron, Sky Lynx, and Steeljaw are left!

They reach the alloy, but Jessica accidentally reveals the plan to Galvatron!

Guess the truce is over, but Galvatron is still outnumbered.

Y’know, for someone who was once voiced by Mr. Spock, Galvatron doesn’t think very logically.

Unfortunately…

…the infected Transformers have arrived and infect Jessica!

…who infects Galvatron (serves him right!)

Sky Lynx and Optimus escape with the alloy.

Once coated, Optimus sends Sky Lynx out to find Rodimus (y’know, there are flying Transformers. Isn’t Optimus worried one of them will infect Sky Lynx?), eventually finding him.

(silver-plated Optimus Prime sold separately)

Optimus tries to talk sense to Rodimus, but…

After shooting at Optimus, Rodimus TRANSFORMS AND ROLLS OUT! Optimus gives chase, cornering Rodimus in a junkyard. However…

So much for Sky Lynx!

Optimus finally subdues Rodimus and takes back the Matrix as Rodimus returns to being Hot Rod (collect them all!)

Now that Optimus has the Matrix, he sends his consciousness into it to find an answer.

Meanwhile, the infected have arrived, looking for Optimus.

Inside the Matrix, Optimus has found his answer.

Unfortunately, the ancient Autobots realized no one being had enough wisdom, especially as spread as it is now. Optimus realizes he’ll need the entirety of the Matrix to defeat the spores.

Outside…

(Thanks to sleeperagent)

Once everyone is back to normal, Mark and Gregory apologize for what they did (so they committed bio-terrorism and nearly destroyed the galaxy and they get off with an “I’m sorry”? He’s got a career in politics!)

And while the war isn’t over, Galvatron is willing to thank Optimus for what he did to save the Decepticons. (Wait, what happened to Optimus’s silver plating? Did he have to give the alloy back?)

Furthermore, the Matrix was drained from saving the galaxy, so it’s up to the Autobots to fill it again going forward.

This would’ve been a great series finale, but there was a miniseries that was technically season 4 so Hasbro could sell their new Head Masters line to the kids.