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To my kids...

I don't know if this idea will go past the initial post here - I have ADHD, we weird like this - but I wanted to take a moment, and I hope I do this more than once. The best thing about being a parent is watching my kids become people. Hands down, not competition. Watching these little humans I'm stewarding figure stuff out - learn, grow, develop joys and interests and opinions. That's like, the best thing. The second best thing is REAL snuggles. When they melt into your embrace and you can tell they feel safe there in your arms. That's some real good shit too. Today was the solar eclipse. We're in the Seattle area right now and couldn't see SHIT. I had bought the special sunglasses just in case, handed them out to my kids, and let them try to see it. I'm not a Pinterest mom. I didn't make some big deal, I didn't tell them how rare these things are. I wasn't even thinking about the clouds or managing their joy - I'm just not that excited about it - but I knew they MIGHT care, or that school may have told them all this - and if I am anything, I am supportive. I was actually really proud of them. They didn't fuss or get disappointed that they couldn't see it. They enthusiastically went outside, looked around a bit, and when there was no break in the clouds or anything, they came back inside, shrugged, and played video games. I'm proud because they didn't let something out of their control ruin their day. Sometimes you just miss out on things, and while mourning such losses is valid, it's also valid to be okay with it. It's life. So, to my kids - you don't know I'm in my room typing this blog, and slightly misty-eyed over thinking about the people you're growing up to be or investing anything in your reaction here - but I wanted you to be able to find this and know some day when knowing this will bring you comfort or joy. I fucking love you little goblins so much, ~Mama (P.S. if you're not my kid, let me just say that there's awesome little things about you too - this weird internet person loves you and hopes you're having a good day. This post is public in the hopes that it spreads some warm fuzzies)

#motherhood #kids #love #to my kids

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Thoughts on Angel Crowley & Healing from Trauma

(Minor Good Omens S2 Spoilers)

As someone who’s endured my own Trauma and dealt with the resulting PTSD without any help, watching Crowley’s journey from a joyful, silly, and entirely innocent angel to a withdrawn, lonely, hyper-vigilant demon as a result of the Fall both shattered my heart and confronted me with the fact of myself, and I’d like to talk about it. 

When you* experience Trauma, you experience an existential disorientation and a profound sense of grief over the world you thought you knew–one where you were safe and nothing bad had ever happened to you. “Innocence died screaming,” and all that.

You're also therefore mourning the loss of who you were, and struggling to make sense of who you are now. Which is why this conversation is so gut-wrenching:

“I know you.” “You do not know me.” “I knew the angel you were.” “The angel you knew is not me.” 

This dialogue admittedly still makes my eyes swim. It’s reminiscent of the many conversations I’ve had with people close to me who knew me Before and After. Not only are you grieving the loss of your own innocence, so are those around you, and it feels like you’re wearing their loved one’s face like a mask.

And then underneath the grief, there’s a river of–what you’ll later discover is misplaced–guilt. They want you to be who you were. Fuck, you also want to be who you were -- to not have experienced what you did -- but you can’t.

And when they catch a glimpse of something that reminds them of Before-You -- because it's not like that you has just up and vanished, you've just changed -- they say things like, “I feel like I have you back!” Like the After-You is a consolation prize, something to be tolerated while they wait for the Before-You to return.

It’s not malicious. They love you. They want you to be happy. But it just serves as a reminder of your loss and suddenly you’re acutely aware of how alone you are with the Thing that hurt you.

After trauma, you’re lonely and you're afraid. But those emotions make you feel quite naked, because both of those things would require you to depend on other people to feel better and, at this point, the thought of doing that is far too scary, so to the world, you’re angry. Thus begins the cyclical self-fulfilling prophecy.

And that cycle goes a bit like this: People see the mistrust and the bitterness and the volatility (the shield that keeps people at an arm's length and helps you feel safe). They don't see the profound sustained fear underneath, the desperate need to feel seen and accepted. And so people pull away.

And that real or perceived abandonment feeds the monster that’s taken up permanent residence in your ribcage and screams at all hours that you’re not worthy of love, that you’re irreparably broken, and you’ll always be alone. And you pull away from the people that love you. And the cycle repeats. And you start to believe all of the bad things about yourself that the monster tells you.

Being confronted with a character who you adore and who you also relate to closely is bittersweet in that it’s both immensely painful, but also offers you an opportunity to interrupt that cycle, to explore a different -- perhaps more forgiving -- lens through which to view yourself. To practice self-compassion by proxy, if you will. After all, we tend to extend far greater empathy and forgiveness to others than we do to ourselves.

Angel Crowley, "who squeaked and squealed when he was happy; who flailed his arms around and made explosion noises with his mouth to explain nebulas; who preened when told his stars were pretty,” (joycrispy) reminded me a lot of “Angel T,” or rather myself before Trauma.

And Crowley's story is tragic. I was heartbroken and angry for him; I felt the depth of the betrayal he experienced at the hands of someone he loved who he'd believed loved him; I found myself wanting to protect him, to comfort him. Crowley did not deserve what happened to him.

And, over a decade later, I realized that I’d finally accepted that I’d been an innocent, just like Crowley had, and I didn't deserve what happened to me, either.

And -- if you find yourself relating to this post -- neither did you.

Once we can tell ourselves that and actually believe it, we can start to lower the shield. We can allow people closer, including ourselves. We can bring the parts of ourselves we may have hidden away back to the surface. We can soften again. We can truly start to heal.

Crowley, at his core, remains the same. He is still kind, deeply loving, playful, silly, and – against all odds – hopeful. But his trauma has changed him; his innocence is gone.

He struggles to trust others; fears abandonment; engages in unhealthy coping mechanisms; finds it easier to prioritize and tend to Aziraphale's needs and desires than his own; and has difficulty expressing his emotions.

But he also gained an abundance of empathy, a deep love for humanity, and a strong sense of justice.

We adore Crowley exactly as he is now; we don't wish for him to be who he was before the Fall. And neither does Aziraphale.

In kind, we won’t be who we were — nor should we try to be — but we can be something new, a different version of ourselves that is equally good, equally worthy, and equally deserving of love. 

After over a decade, I think my Trauma wound has mostly healed, as much as Trauma wounds can, anyway; it’s a dull ache rather than an acute pain. Yet Crowley's story assuaged that remaining hurt like a salve I hadn’t realized I needed.

So thank you to @neil-gaiman for giving us such a beautiful story, and to David Tennant, Michael Sheen, and the rest of the cast and crew who bring the characters we love to life on screen.

Good Omens truly is a gift. May it continue to inspire us to offer kindness and love to ourselves and one another. 🖤

* I am aware that I say “you” when I should use the singular first-person “I,” but I still struggle with this when talking about my own trauma. So I’m using “you” and you, reader, will deal with it x

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My two paladins... are very different kinds of paladins...

Green background is Gierdre, the Str>Cha short stack half-elf paladin of the goddess of love, beauty and sex. Who is shy and virginal at the start of her story, hoping for love. Orange background is Clara, the 6ft tall part-celestial, privateer, paladin of the God of Battle and Revelry! Her story is still being worked out (in game, her boyfriend just perma-died 🥲)

#paladin #fantasy #doodles #ttrpg

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#youcabtfoolmethatsamuppet #somebodycalljimhensoncreaturecreaters #birdsareweird

What the fuck

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#princesspoutine

Reblog and put the species of the nearest stuffed animal

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I'm just so tired of these assholes who think women and men cannot be friends. It's always homophobic men who think interests are gendered, or fuckin' try-hard women who want those men. Cool, you can have each other.

It's just frustrating for me because 1) Most of my closest friends are dudes and 2) Most of my interests are things these assholes would say are for men. Nothing I say can possibly be correct, I'm lying or tricked!

I'm tired of assholes who want to dictate how I feel, what's allowed, etcetera, based on THEIR rules for what's in MY pants. Fuck off with your noise.

These people seem to forget that unattractive people exist too.

There's just SO MUCH contradicting their opinion it hurts my brain and makes me mad-sad. Fucking toxic masculinity hurting everybody again.

This mindset devalues unattractive people, non-hetero people, and trans people. So, if men and women can't be friends, then is a trans woman only really friends with men or women? If a woman is a lesbian, can SHE be friends with hetero men? What if somebody is a trans woman and a lesbian - who can they be friends with? What if any of these people are just ugly, but tell amazing jokes? If the best joke ever told is uttered by an ugly woman, is it still funny? (this is angry sarcasm)

This mindset genders interests and gatekeeps them. Really? No woman could possibly like football or hunting? No man can like fashion or romcoms? So, what about TTRPGs? What about video games? What about cooking? Are you going to tell me cooking is a woman's job- What about professional chefs? Whatever it is that's you're interested in Mr. Man, is it really impossible there isn't a woman who also likes this and you don't want to bone her? What about your mom? Do you not have ANYTHING you can talk about with your mom? Or maybe you want to bone your mom?

This mindset encourages rape culture - to their minds men are just too out of control to be expected to not want to bone ALL women! They can't possibly be a friend with one - women's interests are weak and females can't possibly enjoy masculine interests! When they say they do, they just want men to find them attractive!

It just depresses me and makes me angry. Because I have been good friends with men whom I was attracted to and who I was not - and both have led to great friendships. It's almost as if, hear me out, sex isn't the most important thing! And as if I saw them as human beings and not walking fuck-opportunities.

It makes me sad because how shallow are these people's lives??? There's so much they're missing out on!

There's no point in arguing with them. My goal would be for them to see women as peers so there's less oppression, AND so they can reap the benefits of friendship - but if they see my point, then they were wrong, and apparently being wrong is a huge sin or makes your dick smaller or something.

God forbid some nice woman on the internet tell you that ugly women are interesting or that hot women really can like model trains or cigars and whiskey. GOD FORBID they get to see women as peers and human beings instead of walking fuck opportunities!

#toxic masculinity

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Is it the fantasy setting these execs have a hard time understanding??? Maybe that's it?

Article: 'Former Lead BioWare Writer Says EA "Never Got" Dragon Age'

EA has apparently never understood why Dragon Age games have sold better than some Mass Effect titles.

[source]

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The main bundle has 69 (heh) games for $60. The sister bundle has 66 games for $10.

The sale runs Feb 10-24, 2023

Edited to add: the three games discluded from the $10 bundle are:

YOU ARE A WIZARD

Our Minerva, and

TOMBS: Toot on my balls skeleton

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Visible Mending

Introduction:

Visible mending is a decorative way to fix up an item. Instead of trying to make your mend as invisible as possible, the idea is to make it part of the garment's design.

Visual mending is not a single technique: it's more of a mindset. If you've got an item you love, it deserves to be mended, and if you're going to put that love into stitches, why not show them off?

That being said, there are some specific techniques that are popular with visible menders. Let's take a look!

Sashiko:

Sashiko is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery that is used to both decorate and reinforce fabric. In visible mending, sashiko is often used to cover up holes with patches or to reinforce thinning fabric. This technique uses a variation on the running stitch.

(Image source) [ID: sashiko stitch diagram: the distance between each stitch is 1/2 stitch in length.]

Some resources on sashiko:

SashiCo on YouTube: sashiko livestreams and information on the cultural aspect of sashiko.

Written tutorial by Upcycle Stitches.

Free sashiko templates by TheSpruceCrafts.

Fixing jeans with sashiko by Soluna Collective.

(Image source) [ID: three examples of sashiko embroidery on jeans fabric.]

(Image source) [ID: sashiko embroidery with white thread on blue jeans fabric.]

Embroidery:

Regular embroidery is also a popular technique to accentuate your mends. Check out my embroidery 101 post to learn how to get started. You can embroider patches, or use embroidery to hide or accentuate any stitches you've made to fix holes. Embroidery's also a great way to cover up stains.

(Image source) [ID: colourful embroidery floss covers a worn sleeve edge of a jeans jacket]

(Image source) [ID: colourful flower embroidery surrounds a hole in a pair of dark gray jeans. Fabric with a red and black flower print peaks out of the hole.]

Patches:

There are many ways to add patches to a garment. My tutorial on patches is a good place to start if you want to make custom-shaped patches to sew on top of your fabric. You can also sew your patch on the inside of your garment and have it peek out from beneath the hole you're trying to fix. Fun ideas for this are lace or superheroes.

(Image source) [ID: Spiderman peaking out of a rip in a pair of blue jeans.]

(Source) [ID: a red flannel heart-shaped elbow patch on a gray knitted sweater.]

Darning:

Darning is a technique used to repair holes in fabric by using running stitches to weave extra fabric over the hole as to fill it up again. While traditionally darning is done in an invisible way by using the same colour of thread as your fabric, you can also use contrasting colours to accentuate your fix. Check out this written tutorial on darning by TheSpruceCrafts.

(Image source) [ID: vintage instructions on how to darn a hole.]

(Image source) [ID: four examples of darning on blue fabric with colourful contrasting thread.]

Conclusion:

Visible mending is a creative way to fix up your clothes and give them some personality at the same time.

You should be proud of the fact that you took the time and learned the necessary skills needed to mend your clothes! Show off what you did!

A fun side effect of wearing these obvious mends is that people will notice them. They'll remember your fixes the next time they're faced with a hole in their wardrobe, and it will make them more likely to try it for themselves.

These are just a few ways to visibly mend your garments. Want more inspiration? Check out Pinterest or r/Visiblemending on Reddit.

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Let's talk about AI "Art"

I was watching a comment section spiral into arguments about what is or isn't wrong with AI "Art" and I have thoughts. You've been warned! I'm going to address all the pro-AI argument points people were making and my thoughts.

(I'm assuming you know what AI "art" is for this)

"It's just automation, you just don't like it because of capitalism

No, even if I don't need the money from my skills, I still feel like the title of Artist and Art matters to me. This leads into the next one-

"It's a tool - if you can be an artist as a photographer, then you can call people making AI art artists." This is a weird one and super rude to photographers - see, if you take a photo that doesn't make you a photographer. You have to develop some kind of skill here. Even if you're using a digital camera, you have to understand what you're doing, and be able to produce these good results over and over - one good photo doesn't make you a photographer. If AI image generation continues to be wonky, then I'm ready to call a person who is good at producing NON-wonky images with AI an AI Artist. But if you just say, "gimme a blue duck." and it spits out a blue duck - no. Just like I'm not going to call a person who builds flatpack furniture a Carpenter. That's rude to the craft. Let's stop calling it art.

"It's just leveling the playing field/making art accessible to all." Art is already accessible to all- you just haven't put in as much work as me. I know plenty of differently-abled people who are artists- this isn't about that kind of access. I can't speak for them, but I'm fairly certain they aren't on your side of this either. This isn't a stylus holder for somebody who doesn't have hands. "Leveling the Playing Field" is also disingenuous. We aren't talking about making Drawful or Pictionary with your artist friend more fair. We're talking about big companies not hiring an artist and using AI images instead, we're talking about people circumventing commissioning an artist to get AI to make images in their style. The problem isn't with your GM who has no money getting the AI to make them a quick portrait for the BBEG - This is a much deeper problem than that, and I'll cover the actual issues I have with AI generated images in a moment.

"It's just a tool - like a stylus, the undo button, or a camera."

It is - but it's also not. I've played with AI image generators and they're great for concepting, or making a quick image when I don't have time to draw it myself (for personal use, not monetization). I'm not completely against AI Art, and I don't think other artists should be either - BUT I believe our concerns over it are very valid. Let's use photography as an example because I think it does well in this instance - the big complaint artists had when photography became more widely available is that this would take their jobs, and it did. They weren't wrong. The good thing about photography is no one was trying to pass off photos as being drawn by humans and the title for humans who took the photos is Photographer - they don't get considered an artist without a level of skill in the photography.

Capitalism makes this issue suck- but if I offer you a photo-realistic painting vs. a photograph, you understand the difference in value. AI image generation is going to take jobs away. Just like photos did. We artists will be okay so long as the same level of understanding and respect is applied like it is between a photo vs. something drawn or painted by a human.

Some Thoughts: The problem isn't a one off image. It's not somebody playing with their own photo in an AI generator. It's not the GM making a quick portrait for an NPC, or a commissioner making a quick reference to show an artist they're paying to make them something custom. It's not the little guy that's the problem. The problem isn't even necessarily the shitty companies who are now going to use AI instead of hiring an artist - they weren't going to pay them well anyway.

The problem is that getting people to actually value what it takes to make art, to be an artist, is already a problem for a lot of us. The problem is people trying to pass off AI images as art they created. The problem is a person developing a unique art style and having that reproduced by an AI and either having these fakes passed off as their work, OR having people decide they don't want to pay. The problem is in art budgets getting cut as large companies devalue art because the machines can just do it. The problem is the terrible art that's going to get slapped on things as a result of greedy upper management not valuing a job well done.

If AI images get the same value as a photo or an Ikea chair - if the title of Artist is respected, and people still value it, then I have no problem making room in my heart/life/whatever for AI Images- but right now it doesn't. It prowls the internet looking for images to add to it's database without the consent or at least consideration of the person who made them.

This brings me to my last point-

"Human artists study each others work all the time and copy from it - that's all the AI is doing."

Only it's not. If somebody see's my work online and goes, "Oh, I like how she draws -insert aspect here-" and copies that, then I don't care. If somebody looks at my style and wants to emulate that themselves? Well, it's going to take them learning the skills to do that at least - though generally speaking, a fan learning from me is going to add their own spin to differentiate us from each other. I don't know enough about AI image generators to tell you -exactly- how they're making their images. Some study data points I'm told, but some straight up mix images together - and if a human took some of our art, mixed it together, and just presented it as their own art without acknowledging us in any way- we wouldn't like that.

Ultimately I think what I want from AI developers and the people who want to use the AI to make images is 2 things; honesty and consent.

Call it what it is- AI generated images. And stop pulling from the whole of the internet without the consent of artists. Let's add available for AI or something to the creative commons licensing types. Let's have open submissions. Let's have searchable AI resource databases so we can see if somebody submitted our art without our permission. I'd be happy to teach an AI how to draw- so long as I consented to it. I bet I'm not alone here.

Is this too much work? Well, guess what - this is the price of being an artist. You want the title? Work for it.

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“My biggest mistake was trying to protect you by changing this beautiful, good witch into something she wasn’t.”

Redraw of this scene because it was so important and so good and i love them ;v;

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We Won - For Now

Newest news on OGL - WotC has backed off. They're leaving the OGL 1.0a in place, and they're putting the SRD 5.1 into the Creative Commons.

Thank you all who did your part and kept saying something, who canceled your DnD Beyond Accounts, who have swapped to other systems - you did it! You told a huge company where they could stick it and they backed off.

I still don't know for sure if VTTS competition is safe - one of the posts I read said they're backing off of that too? (that was such a slimy move to try- make a better one and let THAT win us over- FFS)

I'm still going to make my post about alternatives, but it's nice to breath a little easier knowing that some huge company hasn't threatened the creative works of so many.

If anything else comes across my radar, I'll be sure to blog about it, but I am taking a mental break from that fight for now.

If you feel like this change is enough and want to go back to WotC, I feel like this is a big enough olive branch to support your decision - but I'm not sure I'm going back, and you should stay wary. Hopefully the Exec level people have learned that we won't let them hurt our community. They made this an adversarial relationship- treat it like one.

I think exploring other games will be good for the DnD Community, there are other systems out there that might fit you better. Other worlds and more GM support, and Indie Publishers who do it for the love of the game. I will always love DnD, but that doesn't mean I have to support WotC.

Thanks for all the notes on my other blogs about this- I'm super small time, so it was really nice!

#ogl 1.0a #ogl 1.1 #dnd drama #dungeons and dragons #ttrpg #ttrpg community

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I wanted to do some fan art, for this blog, but I wasn't sure what to draw...

A Mom Blog

I just love this show so much.

I started watching it on my own, because so many people were saying good things about it. I saw the first episode and nearly teared up - this girl, Luz - this was my daughter!

I stopped the show, and called to her (she was actually staying home for a mental health day). I told her I thought she'd like this show. I didn't tell her anything else, she curled up on the floor at my legs and watched episode 1 with me.

She was floored. Her: "Wow, this is good!" Me: "I know!" Her: "She's into books, and - " Me: *unable to contain excitement* "She reminded me of you!!!" Her: "Yeah? Yeah! I can see it!"

We laughed and binged several episodes. I got busy with work, and she watched without me.

Recently I decided I wanted to actually know the story better instead of just casually enjoying people's fan art (November, maybe?) I've been sick a lot, so it really helped passing the time and I loved the show even more.

*Spoiler-ish Stuff Incoming!*

Being a weirdo, fan-girl myself, I'm no stranger to not fitting in or feeling understood. So I do enjoy the show on the level of seeing some of me in the characters and understanding some of their struggle.

As a middle-aged weirdo who is a mom though - I really vibe with Eda and Camila. Eda's playfulness and confidence in parts of herself but not all of it, Camilla trying to do what's right for her kid so she has it better than she did - hits me hard!

I just - just like my child's life, it isn't about me. This show isn't about Camila. But including her and not falling into the terrible tropes of antagonistic parents - having a mom who gets it, is trying her best, that talks to her daughter? I'm almost crying writing this.

As a mother of a weird, queer kid who loves dragons, and tries her best to be everything that weird girl needs, it's nice to have representation too. It's nice to see a wholesome parent who can admit her mistakes and who can see herself in her child, and can see how she needs to balance protecting her with letting her go so she can be herself, learn, and grow. Giving her the gift she didn't have as a child - of being understood and accepted.

I thought I was already represented - I'm a white, nerdy, cis woman. I'm a mom - plenty of characters to point at and say I see myself - I didn't know I needed THIS one. I didn't know I needed a nerdy, wholesome, mama bear who communicates, and see's herself in her daughter and is worried her daughter will face the same hardships she did.

Daughter in question hasn't seen the latest episode. I'm going to get her and put it on tonight I think.

This show is such good food, but that's the part that had me tearing up. That Camila didn't fail her daughter in the moment. Watching Luz get it and have that moment of realization. This show keeps being all the things I hope it will be and most shows aren't.

#the owl house #camila noceda #mom who watches cartoons #i love this show

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D&D, WotC, and What You Should Know and Do

So a lot has happened since I posted my blog about how the OGL would affect you, the player. I have so many words about all this, but I think if I want to actually DO something for the community, I should stick to what I'm good at and that's breaking down big complicated things into easy to deal with things.

Background on What's Going On: No surprise here - the D&D community is huge and spends a lot of money. WotC owns the IP, Hasbro owns WotC, they want more of that money and don't understand how to get it. All this One D&D, new OGL, and the purchasing DND Beyond is ALL them trying to get the biggest share of the D&D pie they can. People at the executive level DO NOT CARE about the community- in fact, the 2 people pushing this the hardest don't even play. They want to turn D&D into a video-game-like monthly subscription model and keep others from doing it as well.

What's a TTRPG Nerd to do?

Do Fill Out The Surveys: You should fill out the surveys. Even if your words in the provided comment boxes don't get read, your feedback in the check boxes does get considered. The comments are filtered through for key words and statements - so commenting is good, but just know it's not likely a human will read it whole. Make clear statements that use clearly understood things like "VTTS" and "3rd Party Publishers" so when they filter through the comments they can find clear patterns. (I can explain why more if somebody asks)

Do NOT Stop Talking About This: The thing WotC is most mad about is how huge and loud the community backlash is. The thing they want to do with the surveys is shut us up. They want us all to forget and move on so they can squeak in the most easily exploitable OGL 2.0 they can. So you CANNOT stop talking about it and filling out their stupid surveys and calling them out - even if you plan on boycotting WotC, you should still be loud about why this is bad.

Understand Why This is Bad: I've said it before - even if we all turn our backs on WotC, this sets a dangerous precedent for large corporation and creative IP as well as licenses. (I'm going to break down all the bad parts of the most recent draft in another blog). If they succeed, other companies WILL use this as a model for what they can get away with, and most of us don't have lawyer money like that. Additionally, they're coming for the VTTS people. They want to lock them out and make it so you can't use FX or animations- the entire thing is WotC trying to set up rules that they can use to squash 3rd party creators, make themselves the only game in town, and charge you monthly for it.

Come Together As a Community: I know there's several points of discourse within the D&D community, but now isn't the time. This isn't the time to argue about editions, "wokeness", or what things about D&D lore are problematic. Those are all valid and worthy discussions to have during times of peace- this isn't a peaceful time. Don't let WotC using phrases like, "prevent hateful and discriminatory" fool you. The execs DO NOT CARE. The time for setting aside the arguments and debates is now - stand against this crap together.

Annoy WotC: I can't emphasize THIS part enough - DO NOT be mean to the staff. However, you SHOULD totally call and tell the company what you think. You should totally email them. You should say things on ALL your social media. These are things the execs hate and pay attention to. BE NICE to the employees you may end up talking to. This isn't any of their fault. (I don't have the email to Chris Cao, but this is the guy who is being a jerk to his employees and pushing D&D being a monthly thing). WotC Customer Service: 1 [phone] DNDBeyond Support: [email protected] WotC's Physical Address: 1600 Lind Ave SW Ste 400, Renton, Washington, 98057, United States [I REALLY like the idea of sending physical mail - I think I'll be sending some cards that say thanks to the employees, let the execs know they lost a customer]

What Should I Say? Ultimately, tell them why you won't be buying anymore WotC products/services and why. Do your best to make it clear that it's decisions being made by Execs who don't understand the product or community that have made you angry/disappointed. Tell them that the only way you'll forgive/forget is if they make the OGL friendly to the competition. It doesn't have to be complex- there's a chance it won't be read/heard at all - the important thing is numbers. Give the people working for WotC something to report to the execs. A lot of them are on our side.

Final Thoughts: I'm tired. This isn't the only fight I'm fighting, and I'm sure it's the same for you - this is another reason we can't give up. If we're going to be able to take breaks from this fight, then we all need to be fighting. Enough big corporations want to squeeze us all for as much as they can and I'll be damned if they're taking this away from me too. If it weren't for the harming of 3rd party creators, I would just walk away from WotC and not say another thing - but as I keep saying - this sets a dangerous precedent legally speaking. Most creators don't have the ability to fight big corps- so even if their case might very well win, it could still harm them financially.

Hang in there guys - stay mad, stay loud, and support each other.

#ttrpg #dnd drama #one dnd #ogl 1.0a #ogl 1.1 #call to action #dungeons and dragons #vtt #wotc #boycott wotc

[canigetacupofugh]

Stay mad about OGL guys -

I'll probably write a post about this later, but here, watch this to know what I mean - Wizards' Apology: A Desperate Mess of Manipulation and Distraction

Bottom Line - inside sources say not only do they not read player feedback, they don't provide that information to game designers when they ASK for it. They're just trying to put out fires on social media.

Keep getting mad, keep making blogs and tweets and telling your friends to cancel DnDBeyond because that's all they have said they care about.

I think I'll be making a post about other systems since I have played quite a few and give break downs based off of what they offer insofar as crunch or RP. Stay angry my lovelies!

#ttrpg community #dnd drama #one dnd #ogl 1.1 #wotc #canceldndbeyond #no really screw wotc youd think they would have learned with the GSL #I haven't felt this rage-inspired in years #TTRPG

[canigetacupofugh]

Vivi the chaos muppet doin' a little dance.

Her style is lovingly lifted from the halflings over in the Homebrood world, though only the looks.

I don't remember if I covered this last time I posted some Vivi art - In the world of Madroia, there aren't halflings or goblins- there are, instead, the Vedi. The Vedi are inspired by real world folklore of Danish trolls - when my Husbeast, the worlds creator, said he wanted to do something with a Danish spin I immediately latched on.

Vedi live on many continents in Madroia, but in the one where the game is set, Vedi are from the Northern Mountains - they worship The Far Wanderer and lots of them love to travel- and they do! So there are little Vedi sections in large cities!

Opinions of the Vedi range from land to land - some think of them as pests and tricksters, others think of them as hospitable and friendly. No one thinks of them as a threat - they're merely a curiosity or nuisance but not taken seriously. They are often farmers and favor nature magics and peaceful neighbors, so they've never been the target of oppression or war - though they have been affected by it.

Vivi embraces the chaotic nuisance archetype - she came from a more farm-and-nature place and felt out of place with the kind of magic that came natural to her.

The other players don't know it, but I'm helping my Husbeast further develop the lore of the land Vivi hails from - we're going to add other troll types from other cultures! I'm pretty excited about this idea and want to draw some more stuff for it- being American it's been fun learning more about other cultures folklore that didn't make it into the popular media here.

But anyway - I have Homebrood and MXQuill to thank for helping me find a style for these guys. Here's some links if you want to check them out or support the artist Artist kofi - https://ko-fi.com/mxquill

Campaign's Carrd - https://thehomebrood.carrd.co/

#the homebrood #halflings #halflingswithtails #home brew #ttrpg #dnd art #fantasy art #doodles #sketches #i don't know what tags to use

[canigetacupofugh]

Stay mad, cancel your DnD Beyond subs and show them this isn't how it works.

#wotc #ogl 1.1 #seriously what a bunch of bullshit #I'm never gunna financially recover from this #canceldndbeyond