#doom gladiator

[psychotic-nonsense]

"I'm sorry."

It's the first thing Steve says after everything.

After getting Vecna Cursed. After nearly dying. After a hallucination of Eddie saved him. After running through a looped forest. After finding sanctuary in Steve's memory of that Starcourt bathroom. After Eddie reveals himself as Eddie.

It's the only thing he can think of. It's not big enough to fit everything, but it's the only thing that fits in his mouth.

"Don't be."

Maybe that's the only thing Eddie can think of too. The only thing Eddie can bear to say.

Because don't be can't stop Steve's eyes from watering when he sees the vest in his closet. Don't be can't stop Steve's feet from dragging him to the cemetery every evening to clean Eddie's graffiti-covered tombstone. Don't be can't stop Steve from sitting beside Wayne and listening to him talk about the Eddie he remembers. Don't be can't stop Eddie's body from showing up in Steve's dreams, nor Eddie's corpse from his nightmares. Don't be couldn't keep the pain away enough, didn't stop Vecna from latching onto it while Steve was walking alone in the woods.

Don't be isn't enough for what Steve wants to hear. But even stuck here waiting, hoping, for someone to get Steve out, there just isn't enough time.

"I miss you."

"...Why?"

Eddie says it back so quickly, so quietly, like it's just unfathomable to him. Maybe it is, considering their last memories. But their eyes meet and he looks just as sad, just as longing, as Steve.

"You were my friend."

Steve can't help but say it like that. Like they were friends for years instead of days. Like Eddie was that important to him in their final moments. Like his heart really aches for Eddie every second of the apocalypse.

Can't help but say it like he means it.

"I wish we could've had more time..."

Steve's voice cracks a little there as he turns away, hiding. It's all he wants. It's all Vecna used to entice him with. It's all that's keeping him going, to finally fulfill the last request Eddie made. It's all he has left to feel close to Eddie.

The Eddie that's sitting right next to him, silent, his sight weighing on Steve's skin. Conscious and aware and the real Eddie. Trapped in Vecna's head as a backup power source, yet who still risked everything to come save Steve. Who Steve will never see again because killing Vecna means killing Eddie for good, and his heart doesn't want it, is begging for another solution...

But for once, his broken head overpowers his shattered heart.

"Maybe we did."

Eddie takes Steve's hand. Meets Steve's surprised look with his own small smile of hope. They're both suddenly tearing up, eyes glistening with life in this gray stall.

"Maybe in another world, we got a second first chance. A first second chance. Maybe even a third, or fourth. Maybe in a different life, we had everything we wanted. Because you, Steve Harrington, are too good for me to be doomed to meet just once."

And for a moment, Steve sees it. Feels it. Versions of them connected through the universe.

Little kids playing in the lake. One with bruised skin and shaved hair, loud but unfathomably lonely. One with a bruised heart and soft eyes, timid but stubbornly hopeful.

A rockstar with glittering chains, center stage in the spotlight. A set of eyes in the crowd or behind the curtain, watching only him.

A werewolf and a vampire, two cryptids of horror, meeting in the dead of a full moon night to feel safe with the only other one who understands.

A future where they won, where the only death was the one that mattered. A process of healing and learning, coming home to a family every single day.

A world without pain, without their hell, where two high schoolers found freedom from their shackles and company in each other. Hiding away together in the dark corners of the town.

Steve even sees other versions of them. Versions that he knows were originally never supposed to meet, yet forces so much greater than them pulled them together.

A metalhead drug dealer, constantly getting into trouble with one nail-bat-weilding cop.

A criminal's fugitive nature leading him to a rugged trailer park, and the dangerous owner within one such home.

An eccentric king in an old coliseum, always choosing one particular warrior as his champion.

A young programmer being pulled away from his work by sobs above his apartment, running upstairs to check on the law student that recently moved in.

Two actors, finding an easy friendship in the months of filming one season of a show that would change their lives.

In that moment, Steve's overwhelmed by the closeness he suddenly feels with the soul beside him. Falling into tears, he pulls Eddie into a tight hug, holding him so so close to convey everything he can't say. Feeling Eddie hold him back, hearing everything Eddie can't say in return.

Familiar music comes on outside the stall. Robin's voice calls out to him, telling him to come home.

And when he does leave, Steve hopes that someone out there will understand that he never can. Because here in Eddie's arms is the only place that will ever truly feel like home.

"Thank you... for everything, Eddie."

Thank you, Steve. For everything and more..."

--------------------

- List of AUs, in order, after, "Versions of them connected through the universe": Childhood Friends / Rockstar!Eddie / Werewolf!Steve & Vampire!Eddie / Eddie Survives / No Upside Down & High School

- List of Multiverse Steddie AUs, in order, after, "...yet forces so much greater than them pulled them together": Eddie x Gator / Baron x Michael / Geta x Sean / Keys x Eric / Quinn and Keery

[wastrelwoods]

When the crack sounds in the wood You will know, old friend, that I'm down for good

[losthavenmine]

7 COMFORT MOVIES (in no particular order) ↳ tagged by @talesfromthecrypts @hellboys @pascow @ethan-hawke and @animusrox (thank you all!)

Back to the Future III (1990) Gladiator (2000) The Lost Boys (1987) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) The Quick and the Dead (1995) Willow (1988) Dog Soldiers (2002)

Tagging: @zombooyah @peterccapaldi @jdeanmorgan @bonojour @mystery-star @anthonysperkins @crumb @leotanaka @xenobites @davidlynch and anyone else seeing this and wants to :)

[robin33r]

Uhh warning this gets p detail-e

Warning for just mainly getting in detail w abusive relationships

Tired of pretending saurtis / tauram would've been healthy ngl. They are fr eachothers nightmares in the best way possible "Sam's insane and looney" okay but idk if you realized it was TAURTIS who was unhinged first. HE encourages Sam's shenanigans too. He influences it so so much.

I've seen people say Sam took after Yuki by resorting his problems using violence however.. Taurtis even at the start of the series suggested violence even for sam to use violence to get love. He tells Sam that he should be doing "chop chop" to make Sookie love him and he even thought it was too far at the time. I feel like now that's partially influencing his behavior in the reboot and how he's spreading the ideals onto his friends just like how taurtis influenced him subtly.

Now this isn't saying taurtis doesn't care and is only tryna negatively influence Sam. Taurtis cares about Sam but they're both codependent and they both reflect off of eachother, however Sam's a LOT more dependent and reflects off of taurtis much more than he does to Sam. Sam physically needs taurtis, almost like a dog and it's owner.

Sam and taurtis both have normalized unhinged thoughts that for ANY normal person would find it intrusive. They've straight up bathed in eachothers blood fir fun and normalized it. To anyone who thinks their love would be gentle and romantic I HEAVILY doubt that realistically it'd be that. They'd be the triple C's, cannibalism, confinement, and codepdency. They'd hurt eachother for the ballistic fun of it and ngl I even forget how often those two fight or hit eachother. They'd probably even carve out little shapes off if eachother even if it's immature, why? Because they can! There's no "gentle talking" with them, it's straight to the point and sometimes even mockery, if it isn't it's stern. They both love so roughly they almost *cant* be gentle, neither of them wanted to be either, they're just there for the fun and sake of it. Taurtis can be just as sadistic if not MORE sadistic than Sam sometimes even and ngl it's such an underrated thought of how much of a little shit he is.

Sam copied so much of previous behaviors from Yuki and Taurtis and it's so funny to me how the impact is so obviously hard. Sam would give taurtis EVERYTHING if jt meant to be with him, dead or alive. That desire could even probably lead Sam into grabbing his dead body and finding ways to bring it back alive/delude himself into believing the body. Most of the time he was unstable it was because of taurtis not being there and he's canonly always uneasy without taurtis, in which this could DEFINITELY Influence his behavior in the reboot.

The way he acts in the reboot is definitely twisted as ro how he normally acts without taurtis or when he's seemingly unstable and he pushes those ideals onto coolment and sometimes even owl. He's physically unable to handle himself holding the memories of what he had with taurtis yet not having him around. The absolute pain kf losing your favorite person and then having tk restart at the same place where hell went down and when things went down. Good lord only knows he probably hallucinates taurtis ' voice

This is a bit of a stretch but because of how little those two take eachothers mental health, injuries and pain seriously I'd even argue that hell maybe they'd even encourage ut and/or do it together or just laugh awkwardly st it. At MOST is the fact that taurtis did seem genuinely concerned at Sam's alcoholism but I don't know. This is just a huge stretch but god I love saurtis/tauram I sure wish toxic and doomed yaoi was real.

[doomstonee]

After seeing too many ship posts of various characters, I did one of my favorite rarepair:

Chicken parm

I used joke art I’ve made months ago because I don’t feel like making good art rn so have mewing doom stone and front facing eagle free ranger

Also I really like Madoka Magica and the Madoka or Homura thing is that Homura is obsessed with Madoka and I see it as doomed yuri.

[littlemissskuld]

Late at night:

Me; I think I want Marcus and Medusa to be really good friends. He treats her like a person, even though she is held captive under the colosium.

Brain: .....You know Marcus would worship her like a Goddess so she would know what it's like to be loved instead of feard.

Me: ... How dare you tell me this now.

[doom-nerdo-666]

I just remembered the marble wall texture of Baron's face and the demon's art by Adrian.

One reason was the nose, like it has 3 nostrils mixed up.

Because the Gladiator from DE doesn't have this and some other details are different.

Like the eyebrow area and some stuff that seem "seperate" since it's part of the modern art style.

Not saying it's bad, just me pointing out stuff.

After all, the Gladiator is pretty much an off-spring of these types of demons.

This also shows the many ways to reinterpret old designs.

[wildsaltair]

I will never argue with a man in armor. like whatever you say, handsome

[nothingbysomebody]

[slicksquid]

we back

[zegoldensombrero]

🌞🌞🌞JULY🌞🌞🌞 Grenadine “blood vial” ftw

[themidnightcircusshow]

The special fandom woe of really not liking the original, but losing your damn mind over the prequel

[ginge1962]

Silver Age Daredevils featuring the superb pencils of Gene Colan.

[monkey-network]

MF DOOM MOVIE?!!

[kilamonster]

Oh but we’ll have to survive the Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Joseph Quinn bromance 🥪first!

how are we going to survive the power of the joseph quinn 🤝 pedro pascal bromance??