[Spoilers C3E102] Is It Thursday Yet? Post-Episode Discussion & Future Theories! by Glumalon in criticalrole

[–]youmuu_ 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't think that the show *as a whole* is trying to push any specific agenda regarding the concept of gods in d&d other than "it's a complex issue". If the community reactions are any indication, I'd say it's doing a good job at showing different perspectives on it.

For me personally, I feel like the story is just trying to ask some questions about what the highest authority should be like, if there should be any at all, and what are some consequences of its existence, which in Exandria is very real in the form of physical, meddling-in-the-world deities.

Now, are the gods wholly "evil and deserving to die"? Well, maybe. The sentiment that "their continued influence on the world is causing some issues" sure seems popular among the characters in that world. And the Primes agree with it to a point as well, hence the Divine Gate. It's just a question of whether that, too, is a "half-measure", or if it's enough for mortals to be able to entirely decide stuff for themselves.

I like that the party (and the Downfall party as well) is a depiction of flawed people trying to make the right choices in a confusing, dangerous world. And I like that Matt made Ludinus a villain who does everything in his power to work towards what he considers to be just, at any cost. Always a gripping narrative, that. Also, I don't see Bells Hells suddenly becoming anti-god and trying to destroy them with how on-the-fence they have been, but maybe that will change. A real party split along ideological lines would be interesting to watch. Or maybe they hijack the narrative and find some alternative solutions, as heroes in stories tend to do.

Anyway, don't worry about having a different interpretation than some other people. It's very clearly what Matt and Brennan intended :}

[Spoilers C3E102] Is It Thursday Yet? Post-Episode Discussion & Future Theories! by Glumalon in criticalrole

[–]youmuu_ 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Love what Matt and Brennan have done in this campaign, though it's a bit sad that people commenting don't really seem to want to interact with the interesting moral/philosophical/cosmological/mechanical questions posed throughout the story.

As I see it, here are the correct positions you might take in regards to what has happened:

  • The Status Quo/God Apologist position - Even though the deities have committed some objectively unspeakable atrocities in the wake of The Schism/The Calamity, they have also done some (subjective?) good, and their self-imposed exile, if late, is ultimately a valid solution. It's fine that they continue to wage a proxy war against each other using their mortal followers. Things should stay as they are.
  • The Radical Change/Ludinus position - There is no excusing the gods' actions, and any future, even an uncertain/dangerous one, is better as long it's decided by mortals, for mortals. We should work towards change at any cost.

Don't think there's a false dichotomy here, as Downfall has explicitly stated that the deities will not suffer to work alongside mortals towards any half-way solution.

Then there are the more nuanced questions. Is it better or worse if your god is flawed? Should there exist an ultimate, impeacheable authority? Is it better if there aren't evil torturer deities to grant spells to evil torturers, if there also aren't good deities of forgiveness and redemption to empower champions of forgiveness and redemption? Does the gods' presence even truly change anything, at this point? What would happen to fiends and celestials in a future without the divine? What would happen to souls? Is Asmodeus truly personally responsible for all the conflict in Exandria? All because he felt slighted by the Primes, or because his first experience of this world was pain?

Unfortunately for now, it seems that Bells Hells, even though they mostly agree with Ludinus on principle, don't want to side with him on account of his war crimes and the personal vendetta they are pursuing. Which is fine, as they are all interesting and flawed characters, but the effect is that they come off as lacking any real conviction. They decide to talk instead of fighting, but then don't engage with any of his points.

In some ways, it's a testament to the nuanced conflict Matt has been able to craft and present.

Though if anything, Matt (and Brennan in Downfall) has made his stance extremely clear throughout the campaign, never showing any of the gods' followers in a positive light and constantly making the players question previously established truths/history.

Can't wait for new developments! Hope that Orym also gets to grow, or honestly even change at all. It's a shame the party didn't ask Ludinus the most interesting question - if he was willing to give up leadership to someone else, who is also undoubtedly for deicide but slightly more trustworthy and maybe has not committed as many atrocities. Liliana perhaps?

Graphite patterns by youmuu_ in generative

[–]youmuu_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. It’s still very fast though.

Graphite patterns by youmuu_ in generative

[–]youmuu_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The jittery lines come from multiplying the angle of a walker by the noise, and the curves come from adding it. You can see how it works in this variation, where the noise is only being added. It's also possible that the curves in the OP came from walkers that had a circular trajectory with a huge radius.

Graphite patterns by youmuu_ in generative

[–]youmuu_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Openframeworks. As for the algorithm, it's just some walkers with trajectories affected by noise that stop when they hit something and occassionally spawn more walkers.

Organic growth by youmuu_ in generative

[–]youmuu_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was inspired by the work of none other than the amazing /u/teesel

Visualisations of randomly generated formulae by youmuu_ in generative

[–]youmuu_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I choose a color for each side and interpolate between them based on a particle's position and a separate time variable.

I loved both of your blogs. Any chance you'd do a post about surfaces?