#i had to add him i had to

[britcision]

:)

Guess who got to fuck with the party all session in my creepy little swamp town that was actually totally fine

:)

I scared the hell outta the party all the badasses kept trying to run away they didn’t even want to rescue the sacrifice it was soooo funny

So.

I stole the Trawler Man from the Silt Verses (excellent horror podcast 10/10 recommend) and the Bread Christ from here and had a whole adventure

The party had just finished their first big backstory quest, killing the hag who cursed the ranger’s brother into a direwolf, so they just had a couple sessions going through a spooky swamp

On the way out they crossed a river to find a spooky little swamp town, where all the kids came out to stare because New People

And the mayor came down to say hello and welcome travellers you have chosen such a good day to visit our town! It’s the River Rising festival and there’s a feast and sacrifices if you wanna stay :D

(Heads went Up)

(Both clerics rolled high enough to see two people carrying a long heavy bundle around a corner)

No further questions. The rest of the party caused a diversion by getting the adults to lead them to the inn while the clerics snuck off alone

(Splitting the party, great idea)

The ranger, bard, rogue, and ranger’s twin the former direwolf went upstairs with the enthusiastic inn keeper for special spa treatments that are on cheap because of the festival :)

Warlock went to “rest” and spy on the town through familiars

Barbarian who insists everything is fine went for a walk to try and get the others to calm down

Back to the clerics: they follow the bundle to an unlocked building and go inside to find lots of food and stuff being readied for the festival. Couldn’t find the right bundle before other people came in with a big heavy chest

Witnesses left, spotting the warlock’s familiar on the way out and alerting the clerics it was there. Clerics stealth boost the familiar, and tell the warlock to follow the people who brought the box

They then try to break into the box using the elf’s knife, because neither of them are rogues or have any lock picking abilities

(I had to pause them to go look up knife hit points when they decided the best idea to open a heavy, sealed box with an ornately carved flat plate instead of a lock was to force the knife in the crack and hit it with the mace when it did not move

I warned them they would break the knife before it worked. They insisted on doing it anyway.)

Back at the spa, everyone’s getting massages and nibbles and compliments on how soft their skin is :)

Barbarian’s having a lovely time in town, everyone is very nice and welcoming… until she sees a young elf dressed in flowing white surrounded by a gaggle of other young people all laughing and dancing and tossing flowers, keeping the white out of the ambient mud

(Elf looks a little reticent and is notably quieter)

Barbarian. Asks a question. Is told that’s the River Bride, part of the ceremony tonight

No further questions, the barbarian is freaking the fuck out and goes to find the others… not asking what that means

Clerics finally do a check on the symbol on the chest… and learn it’s the Church of Tide and Flesh (I love that podcast so much)

Key phrases: “the river rises”, a greeting the barbarian had heard a lot… and “A god must feed, a god must be fed.”

Nope nope nope they also wanna leave town at speed, hurrying away and nearly collide with the barbarian, but neatly scoop her into the speed walking

(Barbarian will not let go of either of them)

Warlock’s lost half the chest carriers but the other two are just going around picking up stuff for the feast

Party reconvenes and hurries upstairs to tell the spa date that It Is Time To Leave Town Now

Spa date are not convinced it’s been a little weird (lots of free snacks and fancy oils) but not run away weird

Bard thinks everything is super normal he’s a little weirdo

The party goes to get redressed and explains all the spooky they found

The entire outside portion except the elf cleric wanna just cut and run and get the fuck outta there as fast as possible

Elf cleric points out “well what about the sacrifice”

Party convenes and cast Zone of Truth to ask the innkeeper about the ceremony and are told “yup we have songs and food and make sacrifices and then the River Bride goes into the water and we see the next morning if they were taken”

No further questions, literally one word away from the most important piece that woulda made it all make sense

They left all their stuff at the river, so back they go right through the celebrations to leave… and see that long bundle on a table at the front

Kid runs to try and grab something from inside it and is chastened

Changeling cleric remembers she can go invisible and also goes Feral

Rolls a string of 10-and-under to try and sneak through the main part of the feast tables to the bundle, including a 3 investigation check to look at it

Hits a kid. Hits two of the people going to comfort the kid, taking all three of them down. Finally breaks free, gets to the head of the table to confirm… yeah it’s a body shaped bundle

Party is making an exit while the warlock watches with “I told you so” energy

Changeling cleric goes for the bundle hole the kid went for

Nat 20 to get their fingers in

I tell them it’s warm and crusty

They ask to break a piece off

Okay, I say; mental DC to identify the piece set at 19 because it’s dark, loud, distracting, and she’s under heavy stress

Her investigation is a -2

Rolls a 17

“It’s a toe. There’s no blood, and there’s something wrong with it. Do you stop to look?”

“Nope I throw it in my bag and run”

Evil glee. So much evil glee

Changeling cleric reaches the party on their house boat before they get out of town, leaps aboard and yeets their bag at the wall screaming

Everyone comes out to look, elf cleric comforts changeling cleric who is hysterical over this toe

Bard grabs the bag and looks in

Barbarian arrives from inside the house boat and asks for the bag

Bard instinctively clutches it tighter. And smells bread.

Barbarian tries to get the bag off him, changeling cleric bemoans the gross toe she touched

Bard stares her dead in the eye, pulls out the toe, fails a self-check against me whispering “eat it eat it eat it” in his ear

Throws it in his mouth and monches, then sticks his tongue out to show her crumbs

Changeling cleric. Stares at me. With hate.

So much evil glee.

Warlock sends her familiar back to watch the festival.

Starts with some songs and a speech about the first great sacrifice, the sacrifice the Trawler Man gives to them.

Men lower the mystery bundle and the children descend, revealing the bread man and tearing him apart to show his raspberry jam innards and dip their bread in

Warlock notes they may have been hasty

Bard grumbles about missing out on bread

Barbarian and changeling cleric insist the bread shaped like a person with fake blood is still super sinister, Actually

Warlock keeps watching. The feast begins with everyone adding something to a big ol stewing pot, then filling plates with the rest of the food while it cooks. Party eats cold rations

Stew is distributed, and the big chest is brought out and opened for sacrifices. People line up, more offering than not, and put in things like jam and jewellery and things they made themselves. A couple parents pretend to swing their small children up and in, children giggling and protesting heavily, then dropping the real sacrifice

Marjorie the aarakocra is being Extra again and offers a fan of her own feathers. Tacky bitch

Last guy waits til no one but the warlock’s familiar is watching, presses a hand to his heart and then to the inside of the chest, asking to sacrifice his pain, and if the Trawler Man takes it he’ll go to his garden

Warlock notes again, this is much less sinister than expected

But now it’s time for the river bride! Here come the dancing attendants, no longer holding the white dress out of the mud as the bride walks to the edge and steps out knee deep among floating baskets of other sacrifices. They hold two poles, and a cloak the colour of the river is wrapped around them to hide the white

Ceremony is performed, a gnarled and elderly halfling lady talking about the importance of sacrifice and giving of oneself for others

One of the attendants sneaks the bride a last drink, then all go back to the party to dance around the bonfires

Eventually the party ends, the halfling lady goes out to offer a last word to the bride and leaves too

Party “sneaks” back down the river through the fog so very poorly. Two natural 1s so we take a brief dip into the bride’s perspective of being cold and alone in the dark and the fog and then splashing and voices and the elf cleric goes HELLO THERE

Warlock asks if they’re out there of their own free will or are they being kidnapped and sacrificed and do they need rescuing?

Finally. The important question.

Bride is utterly confused and says the important part they all missed: “you can’t sacrifice something which doesn’t belong to you”

Party goes quiet

Then finally more questions

Bride explains about the ceremony and their part and actually it’s a lot less exciting than they thought it would be and it’s cold and dark and things are walking on them and it’s probably been long enough, right? You didn’t hear anyone else coming?

Nope

Okay cool untie me it is time for bed they’re giving up on being a sacrifice

And listen. On the one hand, I REALLY wanted them to stay for the feast, and be asked to give something to the pot and the chest. I really did. Or to try and make a rescue attempt and work it all out sooner. Or just ask one more question…

But they chickened out, so they also missed a couple other things:

1) River Bride is actually gender neutral this bride is nonbinary but “bride” rhymes with “tide” and “wide” and “abide” and lots of good river words, and “groom” rhymes with shit like “broom” and “doom” and is just depressing

2) one of the Trawler Man’s festivals in the actual podcast is the Fiddler Crab’s Feast, where they start by each breaking the leg off a cooked crab and offering it to the person beside them, saying “my flesh to your teeth”

Bard is known for biting and woulda been ecstatic if they’d actually gone to the feast

3) bard coulda also passed for a kid to join the descent on the bread man, he’s a Small creature and very sweet. Also dressed in white like the bride

Overall it was still good fun and I had a lovely time, especially since the bard’s asked for dibs on the halloween oneshot this year so I won’t be doing a spooky special and had to get all my spooky out early

I’d like to say it’ll teach ‘em not to ask questions, buuuuuuuuuut they’ve known me for years and really shoulda known by now 😈

[stealingpotatoes]

tried to tell my faithful eunuch Tucker that he was basically tumblr famous, but he was too focused on defending the homestead to care

[wrenchwenches]

[captainbee66]

I miss the era of the internet where everyone had an evil alter ego/character that would show up on their channel, just to be silly, that eventually got a lot of lore from the fandom for no reason. It was a simpler time.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael Afton gets owned in FNAF 4

[locusfandomtime]

compilation of all the iconic insane mumbo jumbo posts

wanted to get them all in one place. feel free to add

[egophiliac]

since Eng is getting 7.5 soon(?), I felt motivated to go back to my Meleanor rig and make her a couple of lesson animations! ...except for alchemy, because the cauldron bubbles proved too hard to photoshop around, whoops.

maybe she just got lost on her way to the classroom...?

(credit: backgrounds are from the game, I just put her on top of 'em)

(aside from the backgrounds, this is not an edit, I drew her from scratch! please do not tag or treat as an edit!)

[beekeeperspicnic]

It is the 1920s, and in a sleepy Sussex village, beekeeper and former world's greatest detective Sherlock Holmes (James Quinn, Apostasy), is trying to arrange a pleasant clifftop picnic for his lifelong companion Dr Watson (Andrew James Spooner, Muppets Most Wanted). The only problem is that a series of mysteries keep getting in the way!

Features

Explore a seaside town It’s the day of the village fete, a suspicious new neighbour has taken a lease on  a long-abandoned cottage and something strange is happening down on the  beach…

Interrogate and befriend a fully professionally voice-acted cast of eccentric characters including a clown with a tragic past (Felix Trench, Wooden Overcoats), the local leader of the women's institute (Alison Skilbeck, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, (yes that one)) budding young naturalist (Alice Osmanski, Sanditon), a wannabe showman (Layla Katib, Victoriocity) and a prickly police officer. And lots more. I love this cast to bits.

Make deductions and decisions. Puzzles have multiple solutions, some of which may please your neighbours more than others.  What path will you choose? Who will you enlist to help you?

Phone for help of you get stuck! Your older brother Mycroft (Richard Rycroft, Game of Thrones) is always ready to act as your consultant, just give him a call at his club if you need a hint. 

A  relaxing bespoke soundtrack by @sandygarnelle

🐝Full version now available for PC/Linux/Steamdeck!🐝

Want to play on macOS? Read this guide!

Hey so, I'm @jabbage, and I've spent the past few years and thousands of hours making the funny, poignant, cosy, queer game I always wanted to play. I can't wait to share it with all of you!

Steam | Itch.io | Discord | Press Kit

(Also feel free to ask me a question about it!)

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Ignorantia Neminem Excusat

(Ignorance excuses no one, lat.)

"Commissioner."

Jim Gordon doesn't jump. They are years and years into this rodeo, he's stopped actually jumping at Batman's silent approach a long time ago. Yet, Bruce still notices the way his shoulders twitch just the tiniest bit, and his hand makes an aborted motion to his gun holster. Still got it.

The man turns around. Bruce can see the 'must you always do that?' in his slightly narrowed eyes. He presses his lips tightly together in order to not smirk: Batman doesn't do that, even if it's admittedly funny to see the seasoned Commissioner get spooked every time.

"There's a kid that wants to speak with you."

Bruce frowns. A kid that warranted a BatSignal? Not that he minds, but this is highly unusual for several reasons; however, Jim is not the kind of man that would fall for puppy eyes of any level, so it must be something more important than an autograph session or a victim of any of the recent cases.

Besides, the way Commissioner worded it implies that the kid, whoever they are, requested Batman specifically.

"He is a hacker," Jim puts both his hands in the pockets of his coat — he is either cold or uncomfortable, and Bruce highly suspects it's both. What's more, he starts to understand why. "I'm sure you're aware we were trying to track the person responsible for the few recent cyber attacks on GCPD servers," Jim glances at him, and Bruce nods. He is aware, yes, but the case was low-priority — it wasn't even an attack, really, someone just accessed the system foregoing the passwords and clearance levels, went through a few files, seemingly at random, and did a fairly decent job of hiding their traces. Bruce would have even thought it was Tim, if this happened a few years ago, when the boy was just learning the ropes.

Commissioner sighs and looks away, "But when we brought him in, the boy said he will only speak to you, and none of us have been able to make him say a word since." He pauses, a grim kind of expression on his face, "This was six hours ago."

Bruce is grateful for the way his cowl hides how his eyebrows raise. There are hundreds of scripts officers, detectives, and social workers can use to establish contact. Quite a lot of them could be attempted in the span of six hours.

Whatever the kid wants to tell him, Bruce decides it's worth a try. If not anything else, he can at least admire the sheer stubbornness.

—×—×—×—

The kid sitting in the interrogation room looks... younger than Bruce expected. Fifteen, maybe sixteen. He is dressed like any other homeless kid in Gotham — a hoodie and a jacket over it, jeans that look a size too big on him, sneakers with mismatched shoelaces — but he clearly hasn't been out in the streets for that long. His hair is braided into cornrows, and it looks professional, even if the roots have grown out so now it's just messy. What's more, he is missing that telltale wariness in his posture that Bruce has seen in every other street kid that has been brought into a police station. They always slouch and curl into themselves.

This boy is sitting with his back straight. Yet, there's a tension in his body that Bruce can only associate with a battle stance — give him the slightest reason, and the kid will lunge.

He steps into the room.

The boy — he hadn't given a name, and there wasn't a single ID on him — zeroes on him instantly. His eyes are a very pale, almost translucent green: a rather strange feature for a black-skinned person, genetically speaking, but Bruce doesn't dwell on it. Yet.

But then, the face recognition program comes up empty.

As in, 'there's not a trace of this person's prior existence' empty. Not a single camera footage, no records or reports of missing, no pictures, no social media, nothing. Bruce frowns.

"Hi," the kid says, his voice raspy, "My name is Tucker Foley. According to the government, I don't exist, so if your recognition program doesn't find anything on me, that's why."

Bruce doesn't say anything. Tucker wanted to speak with him, and previously, he was only merely intrigued by that request. However, as of right now, he wants to hear everything the kid has to say before asking any follow-up questions.

Because that always present, cautious and bordering on paranoid voice in the back of his mind tells him he is about to get into something way more serious than he expected.

Tucker moves — he kept both his hands on the table, palms open and visible, but now he closes one into a fist. Although, before Bruce can react to it, he opens it again. A small, the size of a flash-drive, dimly glowing green object rests inside.

"Do you know what this is?" The boy asks. He hasn't looked away from Batman's face once; Bruce is not even sure he blinked at all since he entered the room. Come to think of it, even with his tense, rigid posture, Tucker is too still, almost unnervingly so.

Bruce glances down to the boy's hand.

"Yes," he answers curtly, and there it is, the smallest shift in Tucker's face: he clenches his jaw like he's trying to hold the words inside his mouth. Bruce doesn't like it.

"What is it?" Comes the next question, but it's not curiosity that prompts it. It's a test of some sort. Bruce likes that even less.

"A power source," he decides on a neutral answer, not entirely certain what the boy is expecting to hear.

It seems to be a wrong answer because for the first time, Tucker's emotions slip from under his mask, and he takes a sharp breath in, looking like Bruce had just slapped him across the face. It lasts only a moment — Tucker closes his eyes for a moment, slowly exhales, and speaks again, calm and focused once more.

"And what exactly powers it?"

It's an important question, judging by the desperate, searching look in Tucker's eyes. His hands are not shaking, and there are no visible signs of distress, but for some reason, Bruce just knows that the boy's whole life seems to depend on the answer.

But.

"It's classified." Bruce doesn't take his eyes off the boy, but he still fails to see when he gets to his feet; the movement is quicker than the blink of an eye. All he knows is the aftermath of it, the screech of the chair legs on the floor and the loud slam of Tucker's palms on the table.

"Fuck the classified!" The boy yells, his face twisting in an awful mix of anger, hurt and a broken, terrified sort of hopelessness that almost breaks Bruce from the inside. "I need to know what they've told you, I have to- Tell me you think it's just a battery! Tell me you've never broke one to see what's inside, tell me you believe in science! They've showed you the research, didn't they?" Tucker's voice, so agonizingly different from the composed way he was talking before, breaks into a sobbing, almost hysterical laugh. His pale eyes are wide open and almost panicked, searching Batman's face for something he is not sure he can find.

"Tell me you've never seen one being made," this time, the boy doesn't yell, he whispers, his breath hitching and his knuckles white. "Please," he adds a moment later, and Bruce knows this kind of plea.

It's the plea of someone who is begging for the world to have mercy on them. A plea of a boy standing on their parents' grave, a plea of a man kneeled in front of his son's corpse.

Bruce swallows the bitter taste on the back of his tongue and takes a step closer. He sees the boy in front of him lean back and bend his knees, like bracing for impact, but he answers before any more misunderstandings can occur.

"I have seen the research. It provided enough information that I've never investigated further," he offers, and Tucker's shoulders slump like months and months of living in a constant state of fight-or-flight leaving his body all at once. Then, the boy's hands start trembling just slightly.

"Really?" He quietly asks, his eyes still glued to Batman, and there it is, the hesitant, uncertain hint of hope in his voice.

Bruce suddenly feels like not only this talk will be much, much worse than he ever feared, but also like in the end this will be another one of the things he will be blaming himself for. Things he could have prevented if he just tried a little harder.

"Really," he nods, taking a seat opposite from Tucker. "So explain what I've missed."

The boy keeps looking at him for a few more seconds, like trying to x-ray his thoughts for any sign of a lie. But then he blinks — for the first time, maybe — and rubs his face with his palm before all but dropping back in his own seat.

"Okay," he breathes out, evidently trying to collect himself and go back to the strong, focused self, "Okay."

[ part 2 -> ]

[msmimundo]

Do you think Perry ever mixes up being mindless and sentient?

[wanderingibon]

THE ROOK

[thatonekimgirl]

let's pay some respect to these little moments

[cinemamind]

Might as well post this here for posterity, since Youtube has yet to resolve the matter.

A couple of weeks ago, my short film 'Pleasant Inn' got a false copyright strike from an individual named Kazi Zidane Mim. He has been striking any Youtube channel that reacted to my short film in the hopes of uploading his own stolen version titled 'Paradise Hell.'

For comparisons, here is my original short film:

[This is a horror animation and contains flashing lights, so viewer discretion is advised]

And here is Kazi Zidane's stolen version:

Kazi Zidane Mim has a history of just flat out stealing.

As an example, this is his 'Bloody Mary graphic novel,' which is actually a manga called 'Ibitsu,' with only the text/dialogue changed.

He's literally just selling this on Google Books and Amazon without any push-back.

I also found out that he has a Sketchfab account.

Why is this important? Because Sketchfab offers a great library of 3D models made by other artists, such as this animated deer by Games in Motion Studios;

Look familiar?

I'm sure coincidences are possible, tho 🦌

Kazi Zidane even made a bogus IMDB page of my stolen short.

And to add insult to injury...

So far, Youtube hasn't done anything about this and I'm tired of waiting. Many channels have received false copyright strikes by Kazi Zidane Mim just for reacting to 'Pleasant Inn' since 2019.

[forgettable-au]

FORGETTABLE-AU (Page 53-56)

DELIVERED.

[BEGINNING] [PREVIOUS] [CONTINUE]

[batbabydamian]

A Quick Guide to Damian’s Furry/Feathered/Scaled Companions

LEFT: R:SOB #1 Cover RIGHT: R:SOB #6

GOLIATH THE BAT DRAGON

Introduced in: ROBIN: SON OF BATMAN (2015) #1

DAMIAN'S BABY AND BEASTY BESTIE!! On a mission during the Year of Blood, Damian kills the family of bat dragons guarding his objective. Goliath, despite being the youngest and last of his kind, forgives Damian. Goliath goes on to become one of Damian's most loyal companions, even featuring beside him in Batman Beyond (2016) #10, #11, #43-#47!

LEFT: B&R #13 RIGHT: B&R #4

TITUS THE DOG

Introduced in: BATMAN AND ROBIN (2011) #2

A Great Dane gifted to Damian from Bruce as an effort in fatherhood. Funny enough, Damian finds him a nuisance at first and briefly refers to him as "Dog". Titus is a good boy that follows Damian's every step, even joining Bruce on his mission to resurrect Damian!

LEFT: Batman Inc #1 RIGHT: Batman Inc #7

BAT-COW THE COW

Introduced in: BATMAN INCORPORATED (2012) #1

Bat-Cow, branded with a star signifying which cattle were contaminated, was saved from a slaughterhouse to run some tests (which they do find of a mind control variety). Damian declares himself a vegetarian, and calls her Bat-Cow! She also sorta has a running gag of literally standing in the face of danger to save the day.

LEFT: Batman Inc #6 RIGHT: Batman Inc #7

ALFRED THE CAT

Introduced in: BATMAN INCORPORATED (2012) #6

Considered a "hopeless case" by the animal shelter, Alfred gifts him to Damian. The cat is a bold lil guy, which Damian takes an immediate liking to, and names him Alfred (likely because tuxedo cat = butler lol). After hours of chicken, playtime, and scratches, Damian and Alfred become friends! He makes his first appearance alongside Damian’s first appearance as Batman in BATMAN (1940) #666

LEFT: Batman: Li'l Gotham #2/#1 RIGHT: Batman: Li'l Gotham #23/#12

*JERRY THE TURKEY

Introduced in: BATMAN LI'L GOTHAM (2012) #2 (Digital) #1 (Printed)

The Penguin unleashes an army of turkeys at the Gotham Thanksgiving parade which Damian turns into his own li'l turkey march by playing the trumpet. He ends up bringing one of them back for Thanksgiving dinner (as a friend), and Jerry becomes a fairly regular appearance in the world of Li'l Gotham!

*WIGGLES THE DRAGON

Introduced in: NIGHTWING (2016) #42

A sort of filler issue where Damian has been kidnapped for his blood by the "Crimson Kabuki" in Tokyo, and Dick goes through a series of boss battles to save him. The dragon's blood has been the group's main source of power, so it ends up teaming with the duo, and returns home with them.

Wiggles was originally named by a fan, "Shanootnoot" on Twitter!

*Goliath, Titus, Bat-Cow, and Alfred the cat have been Damian's main canon cast of furry companions, but SUPER-PETS SPECIAL: BITEDENTITY CRISIS (2024) may have just added Jerry and Wiggles!!

[a-compass-without-a-needle]

This is what happened after 3.1 isn't it?