#let him have an epilogue

[arthursfuckinghat]

Thinking about how it feels like the world of RDR2 ended when Arthur died, how things would never be the same again, how bittersweet it is meeting the people you once were in a gang with, how much it hurts to play as a shadow of someone you lost. That's when most people stop playing.

But the world didn't end, the world carried on. The people you knew moved on, new people you meet spoke fondly of your brother. The world kept turning and showing you that Arthur may be gone, but his memory is all around you.

His name is etched on a memorial hall donation plaque, the beasts he hunted were hung proud on a veteran's wall, the widow he taught to hunt is now thriving, the strangers he helped on the side of the road talk about the man that saved them, and so much more, but most of all - his hat sits proudly on your head and his journal lays heavy in your satchel.

This part of the game has taught me a lot, but it has taught me to move on most of all.

[tacogoats]

Thinking about a Durge who has rejected Bhaal, and whatever person they used to be, but still secretly longs for their lost memories. A Durge that, despite the answers the man could give them, would never re-ignite that strange passion they were shown they once had for Gortash. A Durge that has, for all purposes to the others in their party, moved on. A Durge that, six months after that day atop the Netherbrain, at a party celebrating their new life, receives a strange letter with an even stranger gadget hidden inside.

The meeting at the inauguration was a strange one. Despite Gortash's very obvious elation at seeing what he'd called his 'dearest friend', the man had no hesitation very proudly detailing the Dark Urge's grand scheme; their grand design for the world to be.

In front of all their friends and 'new' lover, of course.

They were furious, and rightly so. Gortash must have known what he was doing. To isolate them, to bring them back to him. The person who accepted them for all they were, all they are, and all they could be - together.

It wasn't enough to win the Dark Urge back to him, and although they'd tentatively teamed up in the end - he had died. Not by the Urge's hand, but in some ways, his own. The group had left Gortash's body within the Prism, and simply moved on. There were bigger problems, and no one really was sad to see him go. Right?

The Urge remembers a letter found in Moonrise Towers. Gortash liked gadgets, according to Ketheric. Evidence was abundant enough with the Steel Watchers, among other things. The item is strangely shaped, entirely too small, and with a simple touch, comes to life.

It reminds them of the strange picture they had seen at the Iron Throne. Gortash's visage shone through a glass, moving, talking - warning them to leave. Answering them, praising them for listening.

What a strange contraption, they'd thought all those months ago.

And then, now, there he was again. A picture, in their hand. A moving picture. Speaking with his voice, wearing his weary face - so, so weary - but not the same as before.

This had passed already. The voice did not answer them this time. It was simply impossible - the man was dead, but not quite gone in this moment.

He speaks of the inauguration like it had just happened. His joy at seeing his favourite 'assassin' again, which he says with a sad smile and a moment of silence. A heavy sigh follows, rubbing at his eyes - which they can see are so much darker than they last remember.

He is tired.

Gortash speaks of their time together, before Orin - and how Orin torments him day and night now that they had both confirmed the Urge's return. She appears with their face, taunting him some days. Other days she sends assassins that wear the same, and he simply cannot let his guard down anymore. But he knew it was them that day.

They can see the exhaustion that pulls down his features, makes his words heavier. This is not the Archduke speaking to him in this moment - it is a tired, broken down man that has just seen a ghost.

Yet they cling to every word anyway, because even though this is a broken down man who is terrified of the ghost - the man still hopes the ghost will remember him, too.

They don't. But he doesn't know that, not this little picture of him, anyway.

The picture says that if they are seeing this recording, it means he is already dead - and although he had planned to sway them back to his side, he may not have been given the chance, and refuses to allow the opportunity to share what the two of them once had slip away.

He would gift unto them the memories that he could, even beyond death. The bloody ones, the happy ones, the painful ones.

And he talks, he smiles, he even cries.

And so do they.

[pippinscribs]

A sketch of how I imagine a smart looking Colin in the epilogue of Drinking

[aldenhan]

pierre being tolstoy’s self insert explains so much. like the several pages in the epilogue describing how happy everyone was to see him.

[merlinmerlot]

i finally finished bg3

and it only took me [looks at steam]

SIX HUNDRED HOURS

[silvermarmoset]

your tags are SO true like it was one thing to bring tennant back pre-ncuti, since the whole point of that was quite transparently to increase viewership FOR ncuti, but to be like "actually tennant!doctor gets to go have his own life and ncuti is a totally different offshoot" is like ....... well.

i'm screaming a lot in the tags but i'm guessing you meant these ones?

#honestly. horrible horrible flex to set ncuti up across from the most beloved doctor from the start?#like i (and im guessing a lot of other people!) will /always/ be drawn to 10 and feel like he's our doctor#don't set ncuti up like that!! deny us dt and MAKE US LOOK AT HIM. this is so SO weird rtd wtf did you do

because yeah. it actually makes me a bit furious because leaving a spare doctor hanging around and sending Ncuti off as a double is just handing the perfect excuse to every bigot who wants to claim that Ncuti isn't the real doctor, the real doctor is back on earth in Donna Noble's garden. Why do that? Why make it easy for fans who want to drop the show now and pretend it's always the old way, forever?

i can think of reasons for doing it this way—like i'm 95% certain this was just a convoluted way to give Donna her happy ending—but none of the possible reasons i can think of justify going about it like this. I love Ten, and Tennant, I could watch him go on adventures forever, but the point should be I DON'T GET TO because because here's A WHOLE NEW WONDERFUL DOCTOR to go on adventures with! The whole constant point in Who is that change and death DO happen, and one of the joys is grieving the old while embracing the new!

But this episode doing this weird little pivot where you can die but still live, where a separate form of you can rest* so you can go on adventures....idk what moral RTD was aiming for here but it feels like he just shot his own next era in the foot for no particular reason beyond "we love Ten" (and we do but. come on)

*(what does that even mean?? canonically we know the doctor is restless and always running into trouble so what was the point of that?? it's confirmed he's going to mars on fun little trips!! this is the same man and you gave him a tardis and apparently there's no sacrifice at all?? what is this!! why!!)

[birb--birb]

What kind of love are you?

Violet: Love as a Threshold

Your love does not ask for much. Your love does not take. Your love is free, and unquestioned, and here for wherever needs it. When you fall in love, it is as gentle as a breath in the night. It is quiet, and it is effortless. It is tender. If your love was a house, it would readily welcome all who come through. If your love was a hearth, it would warm the hands of whoever stopped by, whether for a day, a month, a year, or forever. When you fall for someone, it is without strings, without conditions, without need. You love for the sake of loving, for the sake of caring for those who need it. You love with a giver’s heart and a giver’s hands and are made so much stronger for it. Being loved by you is to always feel at home. Your love may not always be well-received by those unprepared to linger, but it is unforgettable all the same

The second I saw this answer for Violet I knew it was perfect. Their entire romance with Astarion was about patience. Waiting for him to realize that he's truly safe with them, that they doesn't expect anything from him, that he is in the lead here and they'll follow only when he's ready and okay. And waiting without judgement, Violet knows these things take time and they were more than willing to wait, to be there, to just sit and exist with him while he figures shit out. And when he truly let Violet in, I like to think it was like with a comforting sigh, the feeling of coming home, that feeling when all pressure is lifted and you can just *exist* without fear, without judgement.

Violet has seen violence and hatred and yet chooses to show up for those they love as a place of calm and stability, without judgement, without expectations. Violet's love is patient, it doesn't expect anything back but will give you everything just because we all deserve to feel warmth and safety. They feel so much warmth in their heart that they were able to help Astarion get to a place where he feels safe. I think even if they didn't fall in love or end up together, Violet would have still shown up for him in the same way. They know what suffering is like, they've gone through enough of it themselves and come out the other end alive. They know how much it hurts, but also how much easier it is with someone to lean on.

tagged by @cleric4vampire ty for enabling so many feelies about my bbys

Tagging: @justabiteofspite and @dragon--sage (I know yall were already tagged but doing so again for funzies cause I'd love to hear about your Tavs/Durges) and anyone who wants to join in, please do!!

[sparrowmoth]

Preview of a WIP follow-up to The Show Must Go On:

“Oh, absolutely not!” Nina’s voice rose out of nowhere, well and above the idle chatter and the ambience of the club. Jesper and Wylan broke breathlessly from their kiss as pounding footsteps approached to the tune of, “Jesper Fahey! You put him down!” “Saints, Nina…” Jesper groaned, as Wylan buried his face in his shoulder, muffling his own groan. “I’m not going to break him.” Nina stopped in front of them, her hands on her hips. “Down,” she insisted, chin dipping toward the floor. She challenged Jesper with a sharp look when he mumbled a sarcastic, “As her majesty wills it…” Wylan slid to the floor, Jesper’s arms still encircling him. He found his feet and Jesper’s hands moved to support him as he turned— He greeted Nina with a sheepish look and a very soft, “Um, hey.”

[autistic-katara]

ppl who genuinely think jancy isnt endgame r so funny to me 💀

[solcarow]

.

[astranauticus]

idk what is it about that one throwaway line from han sooyoung about her writing 10 chapters in one day that finally broke me but oh my fuckin god i love her so much

[ravelqueen]

Also can i just say I'm almost sad i managed to win against Raphael in the first try because the soundtrack for that was absolute FIRE I'll prob add it to my playlist because what an amazing song

[flower-gothic]

walk among us (eddie munson x fem!reader)

summary: it's been seven months since you lost Eddie in the upside-down. tonight is halloween, his favorite holiday, and it seems that your past has come back to haunt you...

cw: mentions of death, very slight mentions of gore/injuries, angst, supernatural shit?? idk

a/n: wow, I've been writing like crazy lately! as usual, I'm so so appreciative to everyone who's been giving my little fics some love. this one came to me after rewatching the Halloween episodes of AHS: Murder House and the concept is based off of that. love you all and please enjoy!!

You used to love Halloween. The entire month of October was often spent celebrating the holiday, chock-full of horror movies and haunted houses and pumpkin-flavored treats. You reveled in the ritual of designing your costume each year, never deterred by the judgments of those who thought it childish. You even loved the excuse to gorge yourself on fun-sized candies. 

The keyword, however, was used to. Because Halloween was also Eddie’s favorite time of year; it had been before he left, anyway. You still struggled with the d-word that most accurately described his current and eternal state. 

Eddie adored Halloween as much as you, if not more. He often coordinated a costume with you and pulled out his Misfits cassettes for the entire month to set the spooky tone of the season. With the most wickedly ravenous sweet tooth you’d ever seen on a human, Eddie consumed even more Halloween candy than you. You found it endearing when, each year, he groaned to you about the bellyache that ensued, making you promise not to let him eat so much candy next time, but Eddie never learned that lesson.

It had been seven months, now, since that fateful day in the upside-down. It had been seven months since the hordes of demobats tore the love of your life to shreds, leaving behind only a broken and bloodied shell. You still had nightmares about his final words, the blood dripping from his mouth as you and Dustin held his fading body in your laps. And in the end, what hurt the most was that you simply had to leave him there: your sweet, vibrant Eddie lying lifelessly in the cold and merciless expanse of the upside-down for the rest of time, all because he had to be the hero. 

There was a part of you, however ashamed you were of it, that was angry with him for sacrificing himself. Did he ever think of what this would do to you? You felt selfish for it; Eddie had died for something greater than your relationship. But sometimes, when you cried yourself to sleep at night, you wondered if anything was truly greater than the love you had for the scruffy metalhead. 

You had survived and mourned for seven months, and though the waves of paralyzing grief hit you more and more seldom, October 31st washed over you like a tsunami. You didn’t decorate your home, you didn’t make a costume, and you didn’t bake any of the pumpkin-flavored treats Eddie used to love so much. Instead, you made an excuse to all of your friends and holed up by yourself in your dark bedroom. Rather than a costume, you had draped your body in one of Eddie’s Hellfire t-shirts; rather than attend a party, you had rented Evil Dead 2 and picked through a big bowl filled with Milky Ways, Eddie’s favorite movie and candy. You knew this was irrational, and you tried to go about your life as normally as possible, but on a night like this, it was all you could do not to fall apart.

You had gotten about halfway through the cheesy movie that Eddie had so adored when you heard a faint rapping at your window. This caused you to jump: no one ever climbed to your second-story window. No one except Eddie.

It was a pretty sick prank for one of your friends to do this, especially on Halloween night. Anger bubbled up inside you as you prepared some choice words for whoever was on the other side of the glass. Nothing could have prepared you for who you saw peering through your window, though.

It was Eddie’s curious face looking back at you when you got there.

You let out a bloodcurdling shriek when you saw him, backing away from the window so quickly that you tripped over your bed. This was impossible; you had been there in Eddie’s final moments–had held him in your arms as he took his final breaths.

You were too terrified to look again, afraid that you were losing your mind, but afraid, as well, that it really was him. You were still cycling through these thoughts when you heard his muffled voice from outside the window: “Y/N, couldja let me in? It’s freezing out here,” you heard him say.

That voice belonged to Eddie, it was unmistakable. You heard it in your dreams most nights, and in your nightmares, too. It never left you. On shaking legs, you stumbled back over to the window and looked into the face that belonged to your late boyfriend. 

“Stop starin’ and let me in already! I swear I’ll explain everything,” Eddie pleaded. 

Before you could think, you were unlocking the window and weakly pulling it open. Eddie hopped through the same way he always did–shockingly graceful for his tall, lanky form. His smile was exactly the same. You were hypnotized by it until he spoke again. “Hi, pretty girl. I know this seems in-fucking-sane, but I promise I’ll explain. Oh, one other thing: don’t look down,” he instructed.

It was only a reflex that your eyes drifted downward at his statement. They landed on his torso. Eddie’s shirt was bloodstained and ripped open, revealing torn flesh in many places. “Oh, fuck!” you gasped. A wave of nausea overcame you and you found yourself sprinting to the bathroom at the sight which had haunted you for months.

As you retched into the toilet, footsteps approached. “Well, I told you not to look,” Eddie said in grim amusement. You felt his strong hands pulling your hair from your face; it made you shudder. When you had finished, you turned slowly toward him.

“How are you here? How is this possible? I…I watched you die,” you said weakly. Part of you still didn’t believe it was real. It must be a prank, something Dustin or Steve conjured up. That thought was discarded quickly; your friends would never dare be so heartless. 

Eddie nodded and sank down next to you on the bathroom floor. You were careful to look only at his face this time. “Funny story,” he began with a sigh. “After I, well, died, everything went dark for a while. But then, it was like I just…woke up. Part of me thought I was alive and I recovered, that you guys had forgotten me down there, but when I realized I couldn’t move beyond my trailer and the area around it, I knew it meant something else.”

“It meant what?” you asked. Everything that had already transpired seemed so crazy that you felt you would believe anything Eddie told you.

“Well, I know this is hard to believe, but…I’m a ghost, Y/N.”

You swallowed thickly. “But how could you be a ghost? I felt you touch me a few minutes ago,” you said.

Eddie shrugged. “Y’know how I used to read a lot, right? I read some lore and some occult shit, back then, instead of reading the things I was supposed to for school. It was still gonna be my year though, dammit, if I’d only been alive to graduate.” He laughed sadly. “Anyway, I’ve read about this. In some lore, it says that ghosts are tethered to the places they died in every day of the year except one: Halloween. On October 31st each year, the dead are free to walk the earth. And apparently it’s true,” he explained. 

You nodded as you processed his words. “So along with being able to be free, you regain a physical form?” you asked. 

He nodded in return. “That’s right. I’m as good as human, baby. For tonight, anyway.” He grinned his signature Eddie grin at you and your heart nearly burst from the ache of how much you’d missed it. 

“So can I…can I hug you?” you asked cautiously. 

“I’d love nothing more. I’ve dreamt of holding you again ever since the last time I saw you,” Eddie confessed. He spread his arms open for you.

Your eyes couldn’t help but gravitate to the open wounds that still littered his chest and torso, but the thought of being safe and warm in Eddie’s arms again won out over the reluctance you felt. You came to him slowly, wrapped your arms around him cautiously, as though he might break, but Eddie’s embrace was as strong and all-consuming as it always had been. It felt like coming home. 

The reluctance and the fear and the surrealness of it all no longer mattered, all that mattered was that very moment when the boy you had loved and fought for and stood beside so many times was finally able to hold you again. 

You pressed your face into Eddie’s chest and the tears began to fall: tears of happiness, tears of grief, tears of anger. “Why did you do it, Eddie? Why’d you have to go and be the hero and die because of it? Didn’t you ever think of what it would do to me, to lose you?” you sobbed into him. 

His arm ran soothingly up and down your back. “I know, sweet girl. I’m so, so sorry. In my dying breaths and every moment since then I’ve thought of you. The pain of being mauled by bats is nothing to the pain of losing you,” he said softly. 

“I wish you could take it back. Just take it back, Eddie, take it back and stay here with me,” you pleaded through your tears.

He was quiet for a brief moment. “I can’t take it back, though. And I don’t regret it. Saving you, saving our friends, was the most important thing I could ever do.” 

You looked up at him then, and the sobs racked your body even more violently. “How the fuck can you say that? I’m a mess without you.” Your face contorted into a tearful scowl as you landed a soft punch to the middle of Eddie’s chest before collapsing back into him. 

His arms around you grew tighter. “I know, doll, I know. Let it out. You have every right to be furious with me. I don’t blame you for feeling this way. I’m angry with myself all the time,” he said.

You didn’t say anything more for quite a while; instead, you simply let Eddie hold you as you wept against him. Eventually, your eyes dried out and the tears subsided. Your face was red and puffy when you finally looked up at Eddie again. He tucked a strand of hair, now damp and sticky, behind your ear. You sniffled wetly.

“Oh, my poor, pretty girl. Let’s get you into bed,” he said gently. Eddie picked you up with ease, the same way he always had. 

“Doesn’t it hurt? Walking around and even picking me up with all your…wounds?” you asked. 

Eddie smiled fondly as he set you down on the bed. “No, not usually. Only sometimes, when I have these sort of… episodes, I guess you could call them. The pain gets me then.” He seemed to shudder at the thought. 

“So, what’s it like? Being down there all the time, I mean. And being a ghost.” 

Eddie’s face became grim at your question. “It’s so lonely. I don’t have much to pass the time with, save for my guitar. Things are scary there, too. Lots of weird creatures and shit. But I know they can’t do anything to me. I’m dead already, after all.” He laughed a hollow laugh. The sound caused you to grimace.

“I’m so sorry, Eddie. I-I wish I could visit you, but….” you trailed off. Nothing about returning to the upside-down was safe or logical, despite the way you yearned to cure Eddie’s sentence to eternity there. 

He shook his head. “I don’t want you to think like that. It wouldn’t be safe, and I could never forgive myself if you ended up down there for all eternity with me, no matter how much the selfish part of me wishes I could have you,” he said.  Then, with a thoughtful pause, he asked, “Y/N? If you aren’t too upset by my being here, could I, maybe…stay? Until I have to go when the sun comes up, I mean.”

You smiled sadly at him and nodded. “Please, please stay, Eds.” 

As you cuddled back under your covers and held them open for him, Eddie turned to the paused movie on your tv. “Baby, this one’s my favorite!” His eyes lit up in childlike excitement that wrenched your heart. 

“I know it is. Look what else I have. Not sure if you can eat, but…” You gestured to the large bowl of fun-size Milky Way bars at the end of the bed and his eyes grew wide. 

“My favorite,” he breathed. “I don’t know if I can eat, but fuck if I’m not gonna try. I haven’t eaten in seven months.” Eddie grabbed a handful of the candies and found, to his delight, that he could eat them. 

The two of you laid in bed exactly the way you once had: horror movie on the tv, Eddie’s arm around you, and his chocolate-flavored lips on yours. You hadn’t been able to resist the urge to kiss your boyfriend after so many months apart; you did everything you could to resist the heat that coiled in your belly.

Much later, as you felt yourself getting sleepy and comfortable with Eddie back by your side, he spoke again. “I wish I could be here like this all the time. It’s so warm and cozy here. The upside-down is so…cold. I’m cold all the time, Y/N,” he told you sadly, and your heart broke. 

“I’d keep you here for the rest of time if I could, Eds.” He held onto you a little tighter.

Though you did all that you could to fight sleep and savor the time you had with Eddie, the warm embrace of sleep was too tempting. This night had exhausted you as much as it had overjoyed you, and the familiar smell and feel and sound of Eddie nearby gently lulled you into unconsciousness. 

When, through the haze of sleep,  you heard that familiar voice say, “Goodnight, princess. I’ll see you next year,” you couldn’t tell if it was real or only a dream. 

When your eyes cracked open to find the light of day, Eddie was no longer there. You looked around for him in a slight panic, and briefly, you wondered if it had all been a dream. There was no trace of his warmth in your bed; the scent of him was long-gone. But when you found a mess of Milky-Way wrappers arranged in the shape of a heart on your desk, you knew for certain that your Eddie had really been there–this was no dream.

Until next Halloween.

[devotedlystrangewizard]

when you agree to hang out with gale during the tiefling party in act 1 lae'zel says "ive no doubt hes as seductive as he is succint" but lae'zel. the whole using 300 words to express how he feels is so endearing lae'zel. lae'zel listen to me hes basically writing a book about how cool i am lae'zel

[camelliagwerm]

Magni/Anora has been making me go lowkey insane for the past 24hrs ngl lads.

[yo9urt]

bald gate.