#how did this happen part 4

[sparring-spirals]

hey remember how nydas okiro from exandria unlimited calamity used his very last breath to drive his sword through his best friends heart, in a desperate, last ditch attempt to save his soul? to save him from eternal suffering? remember how it didnt work . wild stuff.

[the--short--one]

The long awaited Part 4 ;)

Here’s Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 (you don’t need to read them, but they provide some angsty context)

There you go! I fixed the hurt, and gave you all the fluffiest of comfort.

Sorry it took a while, I was trying to figure out kissing.

[thegirlsarethriving]

just finished undertale. ok i see the vision. i now understand yall's Sans-to-Benrey obsession pipeline. and the Papyrus-to-Tommy Coolatta pipeline

[ao-xingyume1987]

They just got drunk, and now they are sleeping. Just let them have it for a moment, just for this moment.

reference below:

[bitchfitch]

I did some lino outfits bc I like dressing him up. Please ignore the fact that he should have 2 flesh legs in two of these.

[plumbob-pudding]

As Oliver stared down at the ring for the umpteenth time, he heard someone walk into the kitchen. He hoped to god it was someone else, he'd even take Connie but as luck would have it, it was Cata.

"What have you got there?" she asked. Oliver could hear the smirk in her voice; she had definitely seen the ring. Well, he thought to himself, this was finally his moment.

Oliver beckoned her over and squashed down all his nerves. He smiled his brightest most charming smile, knelt on one knee and asked the question.

Cata stood silent for a while and shame began to envelope Oliver.

"We can go to Oasis Springs, I hear they'll say yes to a marriage licence there and I know it's not the Church and I haven't much but-"

Cata cut him off with a kiss, "Of course I'll marry you, I've been waiting ages for you to finally ask."

Hearing that Oliver immediately made plans to hire a wagon to Oasis Springs where Cata could finally become his wife.

[thisisntreaver]

Woke up and all i can think about is how the fable games have 2 different characters named Penelope, didn't show either of them to us, but did let us know that they have both burned a mans house down.

[soft-serve-soymilk]

help I’ve started listening to my chemical romance 😭

[yeonban]

I love how 3/4 of my muses would die on the spot if the person they crushed on/liked/loved called them a pet name

[cathodic-clairvoyant]

There's a lot about discussion of hdwr that baffles me (not all discussion to be clear, because i do think there's a lot of good discussion about hdwr. But equally so are there the ones that make you wonder if you're reading the same story) and I think one that is especially annoying is the constant infantilization of miwa as this passive eternal victim. It drives me up a wall because this is quite literally an issue she's struggled with within the text of the story! She had an arc about how she dislikes how people treat her this way like towards the beginning of the story! And like even ignoring that, this story is about like nuanced and realistic portrayals of being in relationships and learning how to navigate them and so it's like what's the point if you're going to immediately reduce the characters to "the victim" and "the victimizers?" Is that even interesting? Is that a useful lens to look at interpersonal relationships?

[itwoodbeprefect]

inspired by my own 9-1-1 / bad buddy post, here's a bad buddy / starsky & hutch sequel about cutting ties with your past, polluting the ocean, throwing small shiny rectangular objects, etc. 🌊

[sparring-spirals]

I’m not great at explaining my thoughts but last episode it hit me that in C2 Caleb was almost perfectly built to help Veth and now I look at Imogen who’s life has been going into people’s heads and Laudna who in the end game needs a person out of their head and I am shocked at how these things just keep lining up seemingly perfectly because I don’t think the cast collaborates to that level with character creation.

First of all, lets all take a Moment™ to appreciate Caleb and Veth, Partners In Crime My Beloveds. Codependent and desperate and holding each other so close. <3 <3

Second of all- oh yeah, the parallel of voices in heads and diving in and pulling out- very nice. God dammit Imogen and Laudna. 🥺

But, ah, allowing me to get on my soapbox for a moment:

I will say, that more than just a thing of character creation OR things conveniently lining up, I think its a testament to the casts ability to do collaborative, character driven storytelling. To craft a character is one thing, but to have that character grow and be shaped by the forces and other characters around it, to have that starting point and then lean into everything that grows around it rather than adhering to What You Made This Character For, is very difficult to do, and also facilitates incredible stories.

Humans love looking for patterns and common threads and taking little coincidences and turning them into stories, letting them grow off of that. Humans love stories about connections and growth and lives colliding and intertwining.

Coincidences can just be that, coincidences, and there are millions of them that happen constantly. When you take the time to flesh those out, to ascribe meaning to them, to follow through and reinforce, thats when they start becoming themes, and parallels, and character motifs, and they become THINGS, and- it gets fun! But this approach also requires you provide that space and flexibility for the organic coincidences to flourish, for all those possibilities to spin out and breathe and grow without getting too wrapped up in telling your specific story, in a specific way.

I think the nice thing about extended media with downtime and fluff and character spaces like CR is that if you give it the space, a lot of stories tell themselves. People will pick out patterns and meanings and thoroughlines, and some of them are intentional and a lot of them won't be. And as a story progresses, not all of them will get realized, not all of them can get realized. And. IMO. Thats fine, and to be expected.

In my opinion, good storytelling in this kind of medium is about that balance- about providing the flexibility and openness where you let the stories and characters grow on their own, you work with the people and characters and environment and let those organically shape your character and story and landscape. But you also, as you progress, to pick and choose what threads to follow, what threads to reinforce, and making sure there's that consistency, that whatever you choose makes you look back and go oh. Oh. Of course. Of course.

Anyway this is a lot of personal opinions about how stories and crunchy characters can be told and made and I'm not claiming its the Only or Best way. But, IMO, I think characters like Veth and Caleb and Imogen and Laudna are lovely examples of fascinating coincidence, intentional creations and actions, and collaborative, thoughtful character work by the cast, and I'm thrilled by it. :D

[shoechoe]

Ghiaccio's White Album is probably a really convenient Stand to have around with Grateful Dead. I imagine he could keep the rest of the group from aging so it can specifically kill the target while keeping the members of La Squadra safe from harm's way. (I kinda wonder what the Grateful Dead fight would've looked like with Ghiaccio there or what missions would look like with him and Prosciutto paired up instead. There would be no need for the freakout over losing ice cubes and Bruno's group would probably try to use the freezing ability as refuge only for Ghiaccio to go "Ha! No, sucker!" and reverse the effect or just start freezing them to death or something)

[coldflasher]

not me thinking i'd finally started to find a good work/life balance where i could actually like. write and enjoy working on things that are fun and fulfilling while also keeping my head above water at work (aside from, y'know, minor details like the semi-frequent repetitive strain injuries and eye strain and also the fact my house is an absolute disaster 70% of the time) and then being violently humbled in my quarterly review by getting the worst quality score i've ever had in my 3 years working for the company...

[inlovewithaspiderguy]

i know that i committed to writing the follow up for my dune fic but fuuuuuuuuuuuuck

[yo9urt]

ball dur's gait 3 is ruining my life