#shes doing great! just about to give her her evening treat

[dadrielle]

I think part of why I find all the posts talking about how Campaign 3 supposedly had no consequences deeply tedious is because 1) they don't engage with the way consequence was embedded into the character arcs and motivations, and 2) they often treat outcomes that were the result of the players working really hard to prevent a worst case scenario as evidence that everything was handed to them.

The reason most of the Hells survived the campaign is because their battle strategy prioritized protecting one another above everything else. Laudna died and they put everything they had into getting her back. They CHOSE to not accept it. It took them five episodes, a huge boss battle, and a roll-for-it res ritual to get her back, and each of those things barely worked. They were so traumatized by the experience that they were trying to give her just about every potion and protection item even til the end, when she hadn't even gone down for something like what, 60 episodes? Because they chose to save her, they lost their patron to Otohan, and they became less tied to one city. Because Otohan terrified them so much, they never faced them on their own terms, and only finally escaped her with FCG's sacrifice. It is not a removal of consequence that Laudna was able to come back; it is a consequence of how much they were willing to pursue it, and it had consequences that echoed forward and forward and forward. It impacted the way they moved throughout the story a great, great deal, and it is just one example.

We don't know all the consequences of the god situation because they are, quite frankly, too big for an end of campaign. But of course there are HUGE consequences—the order of the world and the cosmos has been changed! We saw some glimmers of what that means on a personal and political level, to be explored later.

"Consequence" unequivocally does NOT mean "punishment." You may be disappointed that a character/group of characters is not punished for what you perceive to be their crimes, but that does not mean that the narrative is without consequence. And if that is the specific kind of consequence you think is necessary for a good story, if you think that it is superior storytelling to punish characters, that is your prerogative, but I personally do not agree and think that viewing the story through that lens deeply misunderstands the ethos of Critical Role.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Writing advice #?: When it comes to characterization, obligation > love.

What I mean by this: love is basically universal. It offers little variability. Almost everyone has a friend, sibling, etc for whom they'd do anything. Allegedly even Hitler loved his apocryphal dog, John Wilkes Booth was a good brother, yadda yadda so forth.

So if you want to have a story that makes us like your character Liv, and establishes interesting tension that will draw out who Liv is as a person... don't write about her rescuing her beloved mother. Write about what happens when someone she dislikes is in danger.

Two great examples I've read recently:

In The Drift by C.J. Tudor, Meg is trapped in a broken-down cable car with five other people and no way to call for help. She risks her life, performing a heroic physical feat that causes herself serious injury - to save a woman who accused her of murder, suggested leaving her to die, and generally treated her like dirt all week. Meg is heroic as hell.

In Dungeon Crawler Carl, the eponymous Carl ends up in the adventure because he ran outside in boxers in -10°F weather to save his ex-girlfriend's obnoxious, misanthropic cat. Carl might be a shlub, but he's a rock solid dude.

I could go on - would Shiloh saving Jeb be nearly as powerful if Jeb wasn't such an asshole? - but the point remains. Meg sacrificing so much to save her partner would be just what's expected. Carl rescuing a cat he chose to adopt is a non-event. Obligation is where the rubber hits the road. Where the ordinary people get sorted from the awesome ones. Where the character-defining moments occur. Over 99.9% of humans ever researched would sacrifice a stranger to save a loved one; a rare form of brain damage that causes people to value strangers and family the same is considered extremely aberrant.

I mention all of this because fan fiction is chock full of examples of characters dying (or killing, or walking through fire, or...) to save their best friends and their sisters and their fiancés. And if you want to write a story about Dean Winchester killing orphans or going to hell or destroying his car to save Sam Winchester, awesome. But there's not a ton of room for characterization in there.

If you want us to learn something about who this person Liv really is, show her forced to choose between rescuing a dog who just bit her and making it to a job interview on time. Let her see her loud neighbor with the bass-boosted music about to get a ticket for an expired meter. Give her a choice between saving 10 strangers or saving her wife. Have her walk by her sexist coworker and realize the guy is quietly sobbing. Literally anything she does next will be interesting, and say a lot about her as a person. If she's just choosing between her wife's life and her own, or her wife's life and the sexist coworker, then the scene might be poignant or sad - but it won't be surprising or tense or revelatory about Liv as a person. The big moments of heroism aren't driven by love, but by obligation.

[angelsdean]

minor thing but i always kind of found amara's decision to bring mary back, without even asking mary, kind of fucked? like she brings back mary as a "gift" to dean, and mary is thrown in the middle of nowhere, with no information, specifically because amara wants to teach dean a lesson. like. what she did wasn't kind. and this isn't like when other characters are resurrected from hell or something, she's being pulled out of heaven in her nightgown without any shoes in front of dean.

Yup i just made an addition to my earlier post here, talking about Amara's decision and the issues I have with it, so I won't get into it all again, but yea, I don't think Amara was doing a kindness to anyone. She was doing what so many cosmic beings have already done throughout the show, which is "play god" with the Winchesters' lives, because she decided this is something Dean "needs." But she's wrong. Dean didn't need to confront the realities of who is mother is, because he'd already done that. And while I think sure, Mary deserved to live, since her death was also an unfair Heaven-and-Hell orchestrated plot point, dropping Mary into a strange new world with zero context, was not a kindness either.

Also she isn't even dropped right in front of Dean. I recently re-watch 11x23 because it was playing on TV, and I was shocked to realize I too had misremembered the scene. She is dropped in a clearing in the woods! Alone! And she is so confused and she is shouting "Help! Help me!" and that's what alerts Dean, and thinking someone is in trouble he goes looking for this person, and then finds Mary. Like what the hell, Amara? Bringing Mary back and leaving her scared and confused in the middle of nowhere at night for Dean to find her? Honestly it's giving "drops Dean back into his grave and makes him crawl out" vibes. Which isn't a criticism on Cas (I've stated why I think Dean was put in his grave here) but a criticism on Heaven / cosmic beings who seem to treat humans as pawns and playthings. Like it's just shows no care for Mary at all, to put her in such a scary, disorienting situation. It would have been kinder to have her materialize right in front of Dean, at least. But still, all of it was just kinda fucked on Amara's part. Her reasons for doing it make no sense and her methods were also not great.

[beescrafting]

So this is going off of what I've been talking to @panchulien about,

Which is Demon Nikolai and Price. I'll be copy and pasting a lot of it, so if you want to get to new content please go to ~~~ :3

Also some warning, I'm not religous, but I do enjoy the idea of angels and demons as reading and writing stuff... So if some of this is off then yeah.

---

So I was thinking that Price was either a priest or a regular church visitor after being in the army (he had to retire after a bad mission that took something or because of PTSD) this trauma is such a meal for any negative being, demonic anything truly... so one night during an bad episode when he was at a bar, this slick beefy man slides over and in a thick russian accent purrs into his ears, "are you an angel, because I wanna prey to you~" and that caught Price off guard so much it helped ground him!

the two start talking, and as the bar starts to close the russian gives his name, Nikolai, and his phone number before paying Price's uber to take the drunkened englishman home.

this goes on for a few weeks, them talking and getting closer, and then price invites him into his home.

And as per the vampire and demon rule, once you invite the entity in, they can come in with their power :3

everything still went on as normally, but as price slept their was a weight on his chest, worse nightmares start to inflict him more and more, it gets to the point he starts missing going to church due to how bad it gets.

Nikolai being the ever nice friend, makes sure he's okay, treating him to food, drinks, holding him during movies.. price feels calm around nik... falls asleep on his shoulder, and that's when the nightmares stop for a night....

they start spending even more time together, but price starts to notice some things, some things he picked up on from the army, such as eyes always on him, something lurking... Price mutters about it, and Nikolai suggest that he sticks around later at night to make sure he's okay, at first Price is against it because like, he was once a strong captain, he could handle this!

but it gets worse...

so eventually he gives in.

Nikolai becomes a common appearance at his home, making russian breakfast, babying price truly... and Price like it slightly...

and then nikolai starts talking on the phone more... it's Gaz.

Would also be funny if ghost and soap were two fallen angels banished for the lone reason of loving one another, and then when they visit their human friend price they get met with two demons hanging out... THE TENSION!

~~~

Price is an Average human guy. just some poor retired captain who has horrible PTSD from watching so much death and being in so many battles...

Nikolai is a high ranking demon, like really fucking powerful. Around the rank of a Leviathan. He wasn't born a demon.

Perfect angst right there

Gaz is a demon as well, but is lower then Nikolai, most likely being trained by the elder demon. Rank: Iuvart.

Ghost is a fallen angel at the rank of Archangel

Soap is also a fallen angel of the rank of angels.

Laswell is human, of course she knows about the demons and angles because her wife is a fallen angel. Her wife fell in love with her and chose to fall to be by her side.

tempted to put roach in but Idk what he'd be, human, demon, angel??? I'll think about it...

Also some fun facts:

Demon's can only die from the hands of another demon in a rank battle, or by angelic means.

Angel's can only die from the hands of their creator, or a demonic sin blade used from the wars both heaven and hell have faced.

Fallen angels have some immunity towards the Sin blade, but over time they can die from it. if its a hard hit they will fall further into the void.

Blessed demons have some immunity towards angelic means but just as much as fallen angels their not immune to it. They can die from it.

-

Now to write about the relationships and thoughts about that person.

Price-

Nikolai: Friends (atm) --Their becoming great pals, getting very close, in fact a few times they've nearly kissed thanks to alcohol fueling their actions.

Gaz: Semi-friends(ATM)-- He seems like a nice lad, he a nikolai are very close, he's very strong for someone having never been in the army or going to the gym every day. He's cool.

Ghost: Friends (best coworkers ever)-- One of the best men I've fought along side. A real good soldier of a muppet.

Soap: friends (bloody muppet)--Bastard still owes him from the amount of times he's nearly died and price has had to drag him around.

Laswell: best friends (need a whisky..)-- they might be ex.coworkers but damn do they tend to bicker like a brother and a sister over ceral.

Nikolai-

Price: Friends (atm)-- He's a good human, strong, handsome, perfect for a human, the pain and misery in his mind clouds his thoughts making it such a buffet. He's got a nice ass too. Love this human, calls me Nik~ such a cute nickname I've been given!~

Gaz: Underling (Atm)-- little demon in training, got a nice face, would work wonderfully in the succubus or incubus division, but here he is, not that I mind this department needs prettier faces then Karen from HR.

Ghost: not mutals.-- Fucking angel.. fallen or not he and that other one could ruin what me and Kyle have with Price. Keep an eye on him.

Soap: Not mutals-- for a angel, he would have made a fine demon with how well he can fight. Same thing as ghost.

Laswell: Friends-- She actually trust me with Price. Both me and Kyle.

you should read the last one in a smug tone lol))

Gaz-

Price: Friends (atm)-- pretty handsome for a human, I see what Nikolai means by it, hope he becomes a demon instead of an angel or gets reborn, would be a shame to lose him.

Nikolai: Leader (Atm)-- I'm lucky to be able to work under him unlike other high ranking demons that just kill their underlings if they mess up. He's firm. I like when he pats me on the back while laughing, it makes me feel what humans would describe as... Giddy.

Ghost: unsure-- He's a fucking freaky ass fallen angel, but I like his jokes. I only talk to him when Price and Nikolai are around. He seems to be alert but won't act out unless given reason.

Soap: Friends-- We've gone drinking on our own time without the others, he's a pretty chill guy, gotta admit I love messing around with human lives with him around. So not all angels are blood thirsty god fearing lunitics. Fallen or not...

Laswell: Friends-- A real nice lady, I like her wife.

Ghost-

Price: Friends-- After falling down to earth, the first job as a human both I and Johnny had was fighting alongside this man. He's an amazing man and soldier. I hope he doesn't get a bad fate.

Nikolai: Not good...- Fucking demon, he's going to hurt Price's soul... damange him to the point he'll go into the void. I won't bloody allow that. Price is one of the only humans I'll make sure heads to narvana.

Gaz: Fine-- Not as bad as the higher ranked demon, clearly a fledgling demon. Not much of a threat and if anything could possibly be turned into a blessed demon.

Soap: Lovers-- My love, the man I have fallen in love with and from heaven with. I would take gods heart out of he asked.

Laswell-- Friends: a good amazing lady who knows how to do her job. Her wife makes a mean pasta.

Soap-

Price: Friends-- A bloody great bloke to be around, if I were to fall down again i'd do everything the same. He has some bloody pipes on him when ever he thinks I'm in danger and risk of dying!

Nikolai: Unsure-- A high ranking demon, bloody hell... He's not good enough to be around Price >:[

Gaz: Friends-- A bloody great bloke! Wish he was a blessed demon. But he's fine the way he is. He's fun to mess around with. Drinking is quite fun.

Ghost: Lovers-- fucking love you Si... Would move the moon and earth for you and more.

Laswell: Friends-- she's cool, but mean, but cool.

Laswell-

Price: Friends-- Annoying prick in my side... Would kill for him though.

Nikolai: Mutals-- He's fine, hasn't done anything bad on earth yet... So he's fine in my books.

Gaz: Friends-- He's good kid. Hard working, I can see him becoming a blessed angel. And if not, That'll be fine as well.

Ghost: Friends-- He's a good man, hard working, devoted to his husband. Needs to wear a bell though. Appers out of the shadows often.

Soap: Friends-- he's a good man. Bloody annoying with how many times he's given Price heart attacks...

{{REDACTED}} (Mrs. Laswell the wife): Lovers- The missus, love her so much... Her beauty is more then heaven and the earth.

-

For design's I'll doodle some stuff, I have idea's and I've been meaning to redraw a past failed project (angel ghost)

But I do have some firm idea's...

Nikolai's demon form has refrances to bull's and bears...

Gaz's demon form has refrances to bat and horse (this one is iffy.)

i think i'll have more firm idea's later on when I'm doodling them.

:3

--

When Nikolai confesses what he and gaz are to Price I see it in a small library store owned by the demon. And Price just goes: "Had a bloody feeling..."

And Nikolai is just shocked from that, so is Gaz who falls form the ceiling.

They both shout, "HOW?!"

And Price just goes: "ye both bloody avoid spilt salt like it insulted your mother... and your eyes... they glow in the dark slightly with a red hue... unlike johnny's and simon's who have a white hue... had a bloody feeling."

And Nik and Gaz just turn to one another, before looking at price and Gaz asks, "and you love us both still?"

And Price goes and pulls them both into some heated kissing.

Lets just say when they got back to Price's house that night, not even the screams of hell could be that loud. AHA!

Anywayyyy thank you for my reading my rambling and ted talk.. Imma write some little stuff about this au when I'm not writing my other fics, and the designs will come when I'm not doodling my oc's and my friends (cause GOD one of my friends oc's is so fine. 😔)

If I do ad roach, it'll be another post and Imma learn how to link the two together... CAUSE GOD DAMN IT I LOVE ROACH, Roach and Graves... 😔

[ask-postcrash-curly]

HEY!(I hope that didn’t hurt you:)) my lovely darling captain! I wanna hug you so bad. That would hurt right? Sad? Really do love you. So uh- back to a couple of questions? You don’t mind answering questions for me right? I know they might be weird at times…… I’ll stop if you want me too.

Crew questions

1: Jimmy……. How has been he treating you? Terrible I would think so, but still also I’m not sayings it your fault that this happened. Even though I- it’s not I promise. But did you see signs that he was well….going rather insane? Maybe if you helped get therapy it wouldn’t happened right?

2:Anya! You love her right?(not in that way weirdo.) does she ever spend time talking to you anymore? If she does must really suck not being able to respond hahaha why am I laughing? Apologies.

3: Swansea, does he ever come to you anymore?

4: Daisuke do you want him on this ship?

I did say I would grab you an audio book…. I promise I will! I just need to find it. Do you hate me captain? You can I did some bad things to you before…… I’m really sorry about that…..oh also I spawned something. *I hold out a pink chubby little thing with a tail it kinda reminds him of a hairless cat.* I don’t how I did it? So um what do I do with it? What should I name it.

Oh also to answer your question why I’m so nice to you right well…… I was bored of being mean.

Hey. You’re all right. Hugging would hurt, yeah. Happy to answer more questions, but try to keep them normal if that’s okay.

One: Hasn’t hit me again. Came close though. Anya stopped asking him to give me pills after how angry he got at her last time, but he keeps offering, so that’s a pain because he’s always so rough about it. Not even on purpose. He’s just not a nurse. …No, I didn’t expect him to try to kill us all. I was afraid of what he’d do but I never expected something that drastic.

Two: Of course. She’s talked to me quite a lot today, honestly. She was quieter for a time after Jimmy yelled at her, but today she’s had a lot to say. Been telling me about her life back home. It’s nice. (Yeah. It sucks.)

Three: Hasn’t come in since the day he took the radio.

Four: I don’t want any of us on this ship. He’s a good guy, great for companionship, but if he hadn’t gotten on this ship he wouldn’t be trapped here now.

I told you I don’t hate you, yeah? Just… wary. Sorry. You should name it random creature in your walls.

…Oh. Okay. Won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Please do let me know if you’re bored of being nice so that I can make it more interesting for you.

[shipper4everships]

BuckTommy Fluffebruary: Day 8

~Surprise~

Tommy watches with great interest as Buck paces around the pet food aisle in the supermarket.

- Evan, could you tell me... what are we doing here? - Tommy raises an eyebrow.

- A dog wandered into the station yesterday. He’s huge and shaggy, but so cute and looks really friendly! - Buck excitedly recounts the chance encounter, already grabbing several packets of dog food. - And I didn’t have anything to give him, can you imagine? It was so upsetting! The next time he comes, I want to be ready! - Buck exclaims with genuine enthusiasm.

- Evan, but stray dogs can be dangerous...

- You haven’t seen him, Tommy! - Buck interrupts him emotionally. - He has big, kind eyes, and he practically begs you to pet him! I’ll take a picture when he comes back next time, and you’ll see, I was right!

After Buck's next shift, Tommy indeed saw an entire album of pictures of the dog on Buck's phone, and their whole dinner turned into a conversation about Buck's new friend at station 118. Tommy pondered.

A week later, Lucy invited Tommy and Buck over for a Saturday evening. What she forgot to mention was that she had a wonderful German Shepherd puppy named Jack at home, and Buck spent half the evening asking Lucy about him, then even persuaded her to let him take the dog for a walk. Lucy gave Tommy a meaningful look. Tommy made a mental note.

During a large fire operation, station 118 worked with station 217, and at the very end of the call, Tommy noticed Buck carrying a scared Yorkie wrapped in a cloth, calming it down until he found the dog's owner to hand him back. Tommy noticed Evan's sad expression. An idea started to form in Tommy’s mind.

- You know, I've always wanted a pet... but it never worked out. - Buck quietly says when they randomly (or not) bring it up. - When I was a kid, my parents were against it, and now... there’s not enough space in the loft, and with my job, I can't really afford it, you know?

And now, Buck had been living at Tommy’s place for several weeks, and Tommy’s plan had finally taken shape.

“Sorry, I’m running a bit late for dinner, the traffic before Christmas is just crazy.” - Evan texts Tommy while he's at a red light, and Tommy seizes the moment, convincing his “gift” to stay quietly in a box and takes it to the living room.

When Buck finally walks in, he immediately notices Tommy’s nervous face.

- Hey, Tommy, what’s going on?

- It’s nothing…yet. - Tommy avoids answering, - But something might happen soon.

- What do you mean? - Buck feels very confused.

- It’ll happen if you don’t open your gift now. - Tommy says, his voice trembling with excitement. - I know Christmas is tomorrow, but it can't wait.

Buck enters the living room, not knowing what to expect.

- Why? What’s the rush, Tommy? - Buck scans the room and spots a large box. He slowly approaches it and jumps back in surprise when the box starts moving.

- Tommy… - Buck kneels in front of the box, his fingers trembling. When he reaches for it, a squeak comes from inside. - No way, Tommy, what did you...

Buck opens the box and sees a tiny golden retriever puppy, who immediately starts barking loudly as soon as it sees him. Tears well up in Buck’s eyes - he had dreamed of this ever since he was five.

- Tommy, this is… - Buck’s voice cracks as he takes the little puppy in his arms and presses it to his chest.

- This is your baby now, Evan. - Tommy quietly sits next to him and gently places his warm hand on Buck's back.

- Are you okay?

- More than okay, Tommy. - Buck carefully holds the puppy, treating it like the most precious treasure, and buries his wet face into Tommy’s neck. - Thank you. = he whispers barely audibly.

- Everything for you, babe. - Tommy holds Buck and the puppy tighter. 

- Everything for you.

@bucktommyfluffebruary The party continues <3

[bitchthefuck1]

you know what, I actually will talk about this because it's bothering me. The issue with focussing so heavily on syd and carmy's potential for a romantic relationship isn't that there's something inherently unintellectual about romance or whatever, it's that a lot of people seem incapable of doing that without immediately flattening the story and ignoring or intentionally misreading any and all nuance for the sake of that romance. Every scene suddenly becomes about how it impacts their relationship, every analysis is done through a romantic lens, every frame or line of dialogue becomes about finding some easter egg or hint that "proves" these people should start dating. Their dynamic is absolutely a fundamental part of this show, but if you can only see it as a will-they-won't-they, you miss so much of what the story is actually trying to say with these two.

There are good versions of this story where their relationship is romantic and there are good versions of this story where it isn't, but as soon as you decide them being together is "the point," you lose the ability to actually judge the story for what it is, not what you want it to be.

[massiff-daddy]

💀alright then

What is it like being the most attractive clone in the GAR?

Oh my, if you're trying to make me blush you're on a good start, anon ☺️

It doesn't effect my day to day life much, there's so few natborns around here to appreciate it. But when we're back on triple zero? It's very apparent who the prettiest one is ...even when @i-outrank-everyone is trying to claim the title for himself...

[deus-ex-mona]

such is the tale of a ✨chronically online hypocrite✨

[hirazuki]

Hira's year in medical review:

Me, August 2023: *experiencing extreme fatigue, fainting spells, mood swings, sudden and drastic increase of suicidal thoughts, and intense hair loss*

P.A: let's do blood work

Me: ok!

Bloodwork: *normal except for prolactin*

Doctor: sometimes that's a fluke so let's retest

Me: ok

Bloodwork: *exactly the same*

Doctor: your values are higher than normal range, but not high enough to be in range for a pituitary gland tumor.

(P.A: go see an endocrinologist and get an MRI, that might be indicative of a pituitary gland tumor.) <- bless this person and only this person in particular

Endocrinologist, seen earliest available which was January 2024: *wants to retest blood work instead of ordering an MRI*

Me: ... ok

Bloodwork: *the same*

Me: can we please do an MRI now?

Endocrinologist: Well. Your values are above the normal limit, but it's highly unlikely that's it's a pituitary gland tumor because they are not high enough for that. Let's retest blood work in four months.

Me: ...................... ok

Bloodwork, May 2024: *THE SAME*

Endocrinologist: hmm, I recommend an MRI

Me: *gesturing angrily*

MRI, June 2024: 🎉 pituitary gland tumor 🎉

Doctor, when I went in for something else: I doubt your endocrinologist will want to treat that, we typically don't treat adenomas that small

Endocrinologist, who took 3 weeks to review my results: I recommend just monitoring. It's highly unlikely that this is causing your symptoms, it's too small for that.

Me, July 2024:

[microwavestim]

what's the word for a best friend but like the kind that drains all your energy if you have to interact with them

[more-glitter-more-pizzazz]

These are the days in your life

When the price of time is free

Like your daddy said the world is yours

So let it flow naturally

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Masquerade

historical fiction set in 15th century West Africa

follows a young woman from Timbuktu, recently conquered by the the warrior king of Yorùbáland

her guild of blacksmiths were already shunned as witches, and their conditions worsen under Yorùbá rule - so when she’s kidnapped by the king to be his wife, she decides to accept that it’ll be a better life for her, as long as she can get her mother’s blessing

but as months go by without her mother being found, and political tensions rise, she must decide what she wants

[fideidefenswhore]

they really did write an entirely different character for s3, huh?

[ninjagotohell]

I just read a whole wacky thread of people arguing which parent was bad Garmadon or Misako and I’m no longer scared of the Misako defenders

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also quite the illustration in wags being like "'not asking permission' - wags" and plowing through someone expressing a physical boundary but he was already intending to use physical violence & violation & assumed corresponding distress as a tool to get his way....amidst the typicality, "correctness," permissibility of all that around here like five times an hour