Fireside Chat for WWW ep7 "Kahuna"

Your LOTR is my WWW Children’s story. As a professional writer, your work has influenced me significantly in how I tell stories.

KoTOR mentioned 💜 I quite literally had the same moment at 9 years old. Tears in my eyes as i struck down Jolee and Juhani

Literally started crying at work when Uncie Deauk started softly singing to himself 😂

I’m listening to these fireside chats again and it’s been a delight, though I don’t remember the whole dog treat incident. I am laughing in tears…too funny!!

On a re-listen - past Brennan has no idea that he'll get to try fish go-gurt and how awful it is! (Adventuring Academy, season 6 - the ep with Izzy)

I had a Firefly moment when Eursulon asked how/why the chandelier is lit. There’s a bit of Mal Reynolds at a fancy party asking “I can see the how, I just ain’t gettin’ the why.” 😆

Y’all gotta back off of Brennan for accidentally eating a dog treat 😆 1) it’s a legit mistake when humans keep the dog treats near the human treats. 2) you’re gonna tell me you’ve NEVER, not ONCE, been tired, distracted, upset, or otherwise not all there and never put something in your mouth you didn’t mean to? Fie! A liar, I name you! 😝

I know I'm coming to this a lil late, but I've also accidentally eaten dog treats. They were called Pup corn and they looked like cheese puffed corn. I ate them and then I told my grandma I thought her cheese puffs went stale and that's when I learned they were dog treats. I was 18.. they were in the original packaging, but I just didn't look hard enough.

Not me looking up at the string lights in my apartment in growing horror

I have to say Brennan growing up a poor homeschooler means the world to me. As someone who grew up on food stamps whose friends believed nutritional yeast was the same as cheese and didn't allow phones to be on in the house, Brennan's disdain for ostententation and defense of dog treats is the most relatable thing.

Giving myself the treat of re-listening to the whole thing and play the firesides after, as we approach the end of book 1. So much to think about. But I got an ugly laugh with the dog treats

Hey, Brennan, if you’re reading this… I once accidentally ate a whole bunch of dog cookies. They weren’t bone shaped, and they were unfortunately pretty good. My brother got boutique dog biscuits that looked like chocolate chip cookies and were peanut butter flavored. I have no regrets.

I remember those days too, Brennan, and the way you described your mom talking with you about it was chilling.

This fireside was so unhinged xD I love it

I'm listening to Brennan talk about eating dog biscuits and all I can picture is a little fox eating dog biscuits

My cousins and I would steal dog kibble to continue to play outside and not bother my grandma that was watching us.

Smores need to mitigated by a meal first, around a campfire at night. Any other time of the day is a recipe for a tummy ache.

My favourite Fireside Chat up to this point! From the dog food, to the ponderings about wizards and the world, the bits you shared about your pasts and influences on storytelling, loved every minute! <3

My brother and I both ate dog food as a kid. I will happily stand with you in solidarity Brennan 😂

Morrow says he was, “given leave by the crown to begin” construction of the derrick. The guy who built it tells us who paid for it. I’m starting to wonder when our lovely GM will reveal literally anything about “the crown”

I’m doing a relisten and Uncie Deauk’s quiet “ain’t nobody gonna break-a-my stride” KILLED me just as hard the second time around

My mom was a health nut and I truly didn't know that carob and chocolate were different until middle school. I will never go back.

Hobbit got me into stories. It's amazing Tolkien's influence on creative types. He had to be some sort of a Wizard.

This is the funniest fireside yet

Lord of the rings was huge for me, I was 6 I think when my dad read them to me for the first time. We went to every opening night when the movies came out. Star Wars was another shift, I can still remember watch a new hope on this small ass like 15" TV and my world changed. Star Trek DS9 is one of those shows that can completely transform the way you think and how to tell stories. I still find my self having deep discussions about episodes with my dad. Most recently the TV show, The Expanse has massively changed my perspective on story telling. That you can tell new stories, we don't have to keep rehashing the old forms. Sometimes the chosen one can reject power in the end and give it to the right person.

The dog treat story is killing me!!! 😂 My sister once at a whole tin of cat treats. They were shaped like fish and the tin had a cat's face on it. The design clearly marketed toward cats themselves, but she did not hesitate.

My dad makes his own dog treats with blueberries and oats, he keeps them in the fridge, i too have accidentally eaten a dog biscuit, Brennan, you aren't alone

This is why the group needs Aabria- this went completely OFF the rails.

Our kitties absolutely love their 'kitty 'gogurt'

Hey Brennan i chose to eat dog food out of the bowl next to our dog many many times when i was a toddler because the dog was my best friend and whats good for him is good for me!

I’m not even done but Unky Deauk softly beginning to sing that song BROKE me - I don’t know why it was the perfect choice but I cackled. Also Hobnobs are amazing and if those dog biscuits tasted like that I would’ve eaten like eight as a thirteen year old.

Warlocks are absolute scabs who are selling their soul to skip being good at their job for the worst contract imaginable just by scamming with a good smile. On the other hand hard working wizards had to work their way and be smart into getting magic unlike the sorcerers who got mone-i mean magic in their veins from birth. Bards are just the actors guild or grifters and artificers are the engineers Elon mu-i mean shitty bards take all the credit from

Lotr and Kotor being two of the most influential media's during my childhood also, crazy

I've definitely done the same thing as Brennan on accident. I feel attacked lol

Strongest Man in Silbry carries intense Prince of Shoeburg energy and I'm here for it.

On the storytelling question I was fully expecting someone to mention Tamora Pierce

The books that changed how I viewed story telling and were "Anne of Green Gables", "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and "Of Mice and Men". As much as I love fantastic settings, the stories of ordinary, simple people enraptured me.

Man, I am SO with Brennan on the dog biscuit thing - a bone shape is NOT inherently indicative of a dog treat, I would not expect every bone-shaped treat to not be for happens (we have bones, too!!), and a savoryish weird biscuit is acceptable to eat among lots of bad snacks!

i feel like scooby snacks wouldve been the perfect out for Brennan and, as a mid-twenties individual, i did grow up with butterfly-shaped cinnamon cookies. perfectly justifiable

When I was a kid they'd always give us two dog treats at the bank if we had a dog in the car. I don't know why two but my parents would give one to me and one to my dog. Is that me accidentally eating dog treats? Or my parents intentionally feeding me dog treats? Both?

A core memory I have now is hearing Lou, in The Ravening War, yell "You LIED!" Changed my idea of what funny DnD games could be.

What is "sleep no more" that Erika mentioned?

Thanks from the deepest part of my heart for the storytelling in LotR love. It was A Time. One that I've kept extremely closely guarded for years. This conversation was an amazing and exuberant reminder of that love. What a delightful conversation!!!

I had to stop listening to add this comment. I am a professional equestrian and let me tell you, I’ve tried ALLLLLL the horse treats. There are rankings—a list in fact. It doesn’t come up often, but it does come up.

The dog biscuits made me smile so much. Back in high school, we were sitting around working on our beer can pyramid, and we dared my buddy to try a "Sausage". He did, and said it wasn't bad. Cut to a few hours and many beers later - and we all noticed he was snacking on something, and we had no snacks. We then realized he was now munching on them!

Lou singing incoherently while Brennan and Erika sidebar made me laugh so hard, I adore these people

Where is your bulb now, Brennan?! 💡

I'm catching up, and just wanted to drop in the media that changed my brain about storytelling: the tv show Babylon 5. It was my first experience with a intricate, tightly planned story that took place over 5 years, and it blew my teenage mind that had only ever seen episodic tv before that.

Brennan’s dog treat scandal 2023

A 20 minute Lord of the Rings hype fest is just proof that y'all are my favorite creators period. (Sorry Aabria, you're just as incredible for other reasons)

You can really, really tell that the Little Guy part of the lord of the rings is central to Brennan's storytelling. I'm just Little but I'm here so I guess I'm gonna do this. Big vibe in Calamity and much D20!

The MBMBaM energy of the first 15 minutes of this was stellar.

Do you guys keep up with any contemporary fantasy authors? If so, what ideas have you taken from them and incorporated into your own creative works?

#WGASolidarity !!!!

I come for the story telling and stay for the tangents!!! 🤣

If you grew up with the Scooby Doo graham crackers that were bone shaped, you will always look twice at dog treats! #IStandWithBrennan

Please drop the pinterest I'm begging

It's OK Brennan, please look up Scooby Snacks graham crackers

Is the next episode running late? There is still a new one today, right?

They do have Scooby-Doo branded graham cracker cookies shaped like bones, so it's not too far out there.

To be fair: they make real Scooby snacks, which are in fact shaped like dog bones.

I'm curious about the war that this Empire is waging. All the media I've been brought up would not just assume that "The Warlike Empire" are the good guys. And I know that Brennan wouldn't take that for granted. I suspect Suvie is going to be in for some upsetting revelations as the show goes on.

Just a shout-out to WBN's Taylor Moore, who is a guest on the wonderful Even More News podcast today. Long story short, Taylor *really* needs a nap! ;-)

It’s all because of the bulb above

I just wanna say... The Attack on Brennan about the treats is CHARACTER ASSASSINATION!

Hey yall, I'm not too good with Patreon and this question may have already been answered, but I'm curious why theres no download option for these episodes?

https://brennanleemulligan.com/if-you-had-gueesed/

I’m tired of the tropes in our stories that always seem to suggest rich people are deeply sad in a way unlike most people, as if their money gives them an elite sadness that’s even more heartbreaking than what us poors can afford. Brennan’s story was a refreshing reminder that real wealth exists in our world and would baffle most of us. Does anyone know where to find his short story on the catering event?

A lil late to the party but the correct taste ranking is fancy cat food > regular dog biscuits > wet dog food > regular cat food > fancy dog biscuits > dog kibble. Kibble is astoundingly bad. Everything else is mostly bland.

This is why I want to work with these guys, because Brennan is out here repeating something I got asked in my PhD defense about disallowing monocausal arguments and everyone on the pod (Unkie Deauk included) is already onboard.

I too have fallen victim to bone shaped snacks

Fun fact, last year my friend bought me some artisanal cookies and they were 100% bone shaped. And I was like “dude are you sure these aren’t dog treats?” And they weren’t. So it goes both ways 😂

Absolutely love these. always enjoy listening to both the deep and well-thought-out conversations and the insane rants

I love Lou's KOTOR Dilemma Jolee: Come on man, you really gonna kill me? You know there's only like five black people in the entire galaxy!

Actually the story about the dog treat was very relatable to me, unfortunately. They just look like cookies!

The way everyone talked about how important Lord of the Rings was for them was so beautiful. I’m from New Zealand and I would pay far too much money to get the WBN crew over here to see the hobbit hideaway, the Weta Workshop, and experience the Shire 😍

"It's a dangerous business, Eursulon, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you'll be swept off to." Don’t mind me, just customizing my favorite lotr quote for WBN 😍

KOTOR!!!!!!

Oh man do I relate to Brennan's catering story. I used to bartend private events for the super rich and was like these people are straight up living in an entirely different reality lol. (they were also the worlds worst tippers)

I was totally unprepared for Brennan to drop such a visceral, real world connection to Sam's "there's still good in this world", especially after Lou told his story about not being able to defeat the Sith Lord at the end of his game. Stories like this and the ones being told on this podcast are so important. Thanks for sharing with us ♡

I feel the story about eating the dog treat so hard. My friend once let me eat what I thought was a fancy oatmeal cookie, but turns out it was soap.

I absolutely love Sleep No More (saw the show 3 times in 2 week)

I worked catering to afford to do a City Year job in Boston. Flashbacks.

Talking about LOTR, and wanting to tell stories in a way that impacts listeners in the same way- HEY WORLDS BEYOND NUMBER YOU DO THAT!! You already do that. You have been doing that. Both with this podcast and with other work you’ve done.

I will freely admit to being tempted to eat dog treats knowing full well that it's a dog treat lolol

SO EXCITED FOR ERIKA'S CAMPAIGN

Not a single one of them has ever eaten a scoobie snack???

I love these fireside chats so much, but would it be possible to have them be downloadable again? 😭 they're so nice for long car rides but I can't afford to blow through all my data to listen to them :(

You GOTTA love the 20 minute conversation about the new guest's name and how they are a very real human. every show

In Brennan's defense, I have also accidentally eaten dog treats, but they were homemade, in a tupperware container in my parents' fridge, so I thought they were just really bad peanut butter cookies. Which, technically, they were.

The LOTR chat resonated with me, when I was 7-8 or so we read The Hobbit in class one chapter at a time and then talked about it and made art and that is how I realised what high fantasy was and I fell in love and never stopped

Having also worked in catering, I have seen some vulgar wealthy shit. That job will definitely push you towards anti-capitalism.

Huge shoutout to Uncie Deauk for referencing KOTOR literally my absolute favorite video game of all time and one of my favorite stories ever. And shout out to Unc Jolee’s crazy ass living on the forest floor of kashyyyk. i shouted and scrome with joy so hard in my car my seat reclined

rashomon and KotoR such god tier shoutouts. Fantastic recs

Such a big Unky Deauk stan, may his feet be warmed by the fireside

Bwahaha! Brennan - I completely did the same thing. My wife had made home made dog bone shaped cookies. I thought they were cookies - cuz my daughter loves dogs. One bite I’ll never forget. And I was an adult! #youarenotalone

Drop that Pinterest board link asap pls

one, did brennan fully say shitass at the end or was i dreaming? two, brennan, you could have just said you thought they were scooby snacks and got got. three, love the guests yall keep bringing on while lou is away, truly such a fun experience i love hearing the outside perspective and commentary. four, erika continues to be hilarious and insightful and such a fucking treasure. five, well wishes to aabria, you were missed!

I’m with Erika 100% I tried beggin strips cause I had to know how bad they were. But I can’t imagine doin it on accident

Brennan's citation of Gandalf's quote from LotR... that's from the same part of the book of another one of his great quotes, where he says to Frodo, "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." That's a quote that means a lot to me, and there's another one I keep right next to it: Patrick from _Strong Female Protagonist_ saying, in not *too* different a context, "You just can't murder your way to a better world." I hope the connection between the two was intentional...

Someone search "Scooby Doo cookies" for Brennan, they are made for humans but they look like they SHOULD be dog treats. A client of mine has them and they seem like a trick every time I see them

Listening to y'all geek out about LOTR really got me in the feels because oh my goodness I love it so. Love all y'all also x

Crackle Crackle

The whole storytelling discussion, especially the Knights of the Old Republic part, hit me personally. Amazing Fireside.

I hate to be that guy but Um Actually, when the LOTR movies came out, A Game of Thrones and the next two books had already come out! Obviously the TV show is what Erika meant, but reading A Game of Thrones in middle school did similar things for me that the LOTR movies did for you all :)

I was in the same spot post college. I remember catering a grand opening for a dog hotel with hosted champagne, raffles of signed guitars, free dog nail painting, in Thousand Oaks. Then I went home and stole potato chips from my roommate cus I was hungry.

I genuinely teared up hearing about how formative lotr was for you all stories are really everything to humans!

Lou's story about playing KOTOR is sooo good! I love the way I can relate to these three about the power of stories from our teens.

I have seen homemade dog treats that I've had to ask if they were for dogs or people

If Erika has "never seen Lou laugh so hard" as in this upcoming mini-campaign, I can't wait, because watching Lou Wilson hysterically laughing/sobbing/gasping for breath is one of the joys of my life.

Dogfood CEO incoming

IF UR A SCAB GET THE FUCK OUTTTA HEEEREEE

Here’s a link to the short story Brennan wrote about catering! https://brennanleemulligan.com/if-you-had-gueesed/

Brennan expressing he would be down for tuna gogurt made me flashback to a childhood treat of mine, the Swiss brand Thomy makes Tuna Mayo which comes in a tube and is excellent on crackers. So just saying, it exists!

Uncie Deauk broke Brennan to the point where he had Hilda-Hilda-voice

I'm on Brennan's side for this. The Scooby snack graham cracker snacks are bone shaped so it's absolutely a possibility.

Brennan just casually dropping that he catered the Eyes Wide Shut party...

I need a list of all of the occupations each of special guests sitting in for Lou has done. Personally I think Unky Deauk being fired is the rallying cry we should gather round to get him back on the air!

Scooby Snacks are full on a cinnamon graham cracker cookie shaped like a tiny bone. Young Brennan merely thought they were delicious Scooby snacks. 😤

I love the rants and tangents

I love how when Brennan's gone, they all scheme to call him a "nasty little man", yet when Aabria's gone it's only compliments and love for her playing. Love this group.

This episode gave us the first real inkling that the Citadel and the Crown/Empire are separate and not always aligned. Origin of why Suvi's parents bit it?

The question about media that influenced your storytelling is really fascinating! I'm a little bit older than the cast, but here are a few highlights from my list: Teen Wolf (Film - 1985) - The idea that the protagonist can be a bestial monster, and that doesn't make him inherently evil. This is one of the biggest ones for me, as I still gravitate toward monstrous/bestial characters who are not bad guys. Ender's Game (Book - 1985) - The military-industrial complex will use anyone and everyone, even children, to further the goals of the hegemony. War is, in fact, Hell. The Paradise War (Book - 1991) - You can take an average, normal human, plop him into a fantasy world, and chronicle how he reacts to his new surroundings. This one was huge for my development as a writer and a storyteller. I think it also taught me a lot about authenticity of setting, as Lawhead's research into the Celtic mythos was clearly exhaustive. Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Book - 1984) - I was not allowed to play D&D growing up because my mother was deeply affected by the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. I discovered DragonLance in the early 90s and it really cemented in me the concept of a complimentary party made up of unique individuals with personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, who can only succeed through teamwork. Also, Caramon Majere has been a template for every musclebound golden retriever himbo I've played since.

Only halfway so this may be answered, but any chance we could eventually - because timing is everything - see these Pinterest boards?

They're coming for Brennan way too hard about the dog biscuits.....not to incriminate myself but depending on the situation, it's not hard to accidentally eat a dog treat. And i will never forget the time I watched my sister's expression rapidly transform after she took a bit of what definitely appeared to be a delicious human snack that was on the counter

This FSC was hilarious. Had the biggest smile all the way through

Been there Brennan. Granted the one I "accidentally" ate was homemade and had a normal cookie shape. I also only ate 1 and spit it out right away. So... you lost me when you admitted to eating "a few".

Whenever I give my cat wet food with pork in it, ngl it smells like spam and I fucking love spam, so I've been tempted

I love how they never actually talk about the episode.

Omg can we please have a media inspiration list from you guys? As a writer (though mostly reader) I'd be fascinated to see what kind of stories were thrown into the melting pot to inspire this wonderful campaign. ...Also Players planning vs logical NPC Action is 10/10 comedy.

Listen, I work in a retail store that has a lot of different dog treats. Some are straight up packaged and designed to look so close to human food. I have had to stop a number of customers over the years to let them know it’s for dog. What is ever worse is the people who try to buy bags of wax melts thinking they are bags of candy. I stand with Brennan, super easy to accidentally eat a dog treat.

Brennan's story regarding catering definitely hits home. 'Money doesn't buy happiness' and 'starving artists produce better art' are things told by the ones who don't want you to have money or the ones who desperately want to convince themselves it's true. Sure, there's a point where it probably won't buy you *more* happiness - but that's a really, *really* high bar.

Ahooooo to you too on this fine day!

@Brennan I too have accidentally eaten bone shaped dog treats not realizing they were for dogs. Erika and Lou were way off base.... they gotta be. lol

I have accidentally eaten dog food twice in my life, so Brennan is not alone! I was like 8 yrs old and 12 yrs old, and both times I was fed said dog food by my mother (who also had no idea it wasn’t people food 😂)

"They're not dog shaped, they're bone shaped!" - Brennan in mid-realizing this does not help his argument. Also, of *course* Brennan wants tuna go-gurt.

Unky Deauk

Let the Crackle Crackle begin!

Can't believe I'm the first one. Crackle crackle!