Barbabyan- Some PCs Start Early

I'm a sucker for animation featuring barbarian-style characters. It's why one of my earliest installments on Moon Pope Monday was the pilot for Korgoth of Barbaria, and why it wasn't long before I shared The Starbarians as well. If you missed when my Monday posts were more about cartoons and fun Kickstarters than about super-serious DM advice, then you can consider this week's post to be a throwback.

Allow me to present a short from Nick Animation... Barbabyan!

Sadly, I can't link the video directly, as it's not on YouTube. Just click the above link.

What Is Barbabyan?

Created by Paul and Patrick Noth, Barbabyan is a just-over-three-minute short story about an uncivilized toddler who finds himself being escorted to a daycare and finishing school by his older brother. Barbabyan is having none of it, though, and his sheer uncivilized nature leads him to discover his destiny atop the climbing wall.

There isn't much to the episode, but what there is proves to be a lot of fun. And for those who enjoy Barbabyan, there are a lot more shows where that came from on the Nick Animated Shorts Facebook page. While I'm still hoping this gets turned into a regular cartoon, I'm not going to hold my breath. It seems my barbarians rarely get past shorts and pilots these days.

That's all for this installment of Moon Pope Monday. It's short and sweet, but I just wanted to share a little laugh with everyone out there. For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I help out from time to time. If you want to stay on top of all my latest releases, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to help support all my endeavors here, drop some change in my cup at The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, or Buy Me A Ko-Fi! Either way, both my eternal gratitude and some sweet gaming swag shall be yours!

Check Out Chaotic Animations For Classic Animation With Attitude

So, as a resident of the stranger corners of the Internet, I run into a lot of cool projects that no one's heard of. Recently I came across a small animation group who's trying to provide all of us with stories we want to hear, and to present them in a tone that will jangle our nostalgia bells. If you've ever been a fan of old-fashioned Disney cartoons, then you need to check out The Forgotten Toon.

Now, that little video is just a proof of concept from Chaotic Animations. And while they'd love to do more with both this story, and with others they have waiting on their drawing boards, it takes a lot of time, effort, and support to create full-fledged animation. Way more than it takes for almost any other kind of project out there. Which is why I'm doing my part to help boost their signal, and asking my readers to check them out. If you like what you see, then become a subscriber to stay on top of their latest offerings. If you find their videos amusing, rate them, and share them with a few friends. If you're feeling particularly daring, say something nice in the comments. Trust me, it takes serious fortitude to step out onto that no-man's-land with a positive attitude.

We have someone offering encouragement... permission to engage?

For those of you who really want to see where Chaotic Animations is going, though, you can also check out their Patreon page. Every little bit helps, as I like to remind folks.

Speaking of helping, if you'd like to keep Improved Initiative going, then stop on by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page as well. As little as $1 a month will keep my posts coming right to you, and I never charge for these little Monday updates. Also, if you want to stay on top of all my latest updates, then be sure to follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, too.

Daffy Duck Shows You How To Be An EPIC Wizard!

Fantasy roleplaying games have steadily wormed their way into common culture over several decades. From movies and novels to television shows and video games fantasy RPGs have left indelible marks everywhere, and on practically everything.

If you needed further proof of this fact, here is Daffy Duck as an epic level wizard.

This clip is taken from the 17th episode of this particular run on Merrie Melodies, a show which has never been shy about paying homage to pop culture. If you are from a younger generation you might not remember the starts of the silver screen like Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre showing up in every other cartoon, but you might remember similar celebrity cameos in Tiny Tunes.

We've come that far. Daffy being an epic wizard on a mind quest is something that the writers and animators never even considered the audience wouldn't get. In short my fellow culture warriors, we have won.

Mostly with the aid of a Daffy wizard.

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"Slaughter Your World," A Hilarious Video From "Looking For Group"

"Looking For Group," is both a phrase for gamers looking for a table to join, and the title of an extremely popular comic. If any of that was new information to you then please take a minute and make sure that you're in the right place, and that you weren't looking for another blog.

Still with me? Lovely.

For those of you who haven't read the comic check out the Looking For Group homepage right here. If you have been there before, and if you're a fan, then chances are good you saw the 2007 video "Slaughter Your World" parodying the Little Mermaid. In case you didn't see it (or in case you'd forgotten about it till this very moment and now really want to see it) check out the official Blind Ferret clip here.

As always thanks for stopping in. As you know Improved Initiative is always in need of help, so if you'd like to become one of our valued patrons then stop by my Patreon page today! If you'd prefer to just leave a tip, then click the "Bribe the DM" button on the top right. As always if you want to keep up on Improved Initiative's updates just enter your email address into the box on the top right, or follow me on Tumblr and/or Facebook, whichever you prefer.

Korgoth of Barbaria!

For the past few weeks Moon Pope Monday has been putting on its academic cap and trying to give our readers some interesting history that ties in with gaming. This week we take a break from all that foolishness and instead give you something fun to watch that, if you haven't seen it before, we sincerely hope you'll enjoy.

This week we present Korgoth of Barbaria!

For those of you who've never heard of this show, it originally debuted in 2006 on Adult Swim. A parody of the sword and sorcery genre as a whole, this first (and only) episode includes Dungeons and Dragons references, anachronistic jokes, a destroyed post-apocalyptic world, heavy metal, and general fantasy ridiculousness. Though it remains a cult classic among lovers of animation and all the things this show makes fun of, the animation style was too costly and the audience simply too small for it to become a regular part of the Adult Swim lineup.

At least we got one good one, though.

That's it for this week! Make sure to follow us by joining out email list in the upper right hand corner to get all of our updates, or follow us on Facebook or Tumblr. If you'd like to keep Improved Initiative going then check out our Patreon page, or just leave a donation by clicking the "Bribe the DM" button on the top right.