#i am Unwell

[cookieluverr]

[nerd-flash]

[01-36]

[vassothmercar]

Oh no, oh no, he is seducing me with his deep passion for his field of study and his genuine joy at teaching people about it

[t-hirstreview]

[preciouslittle-bhaalbabe]

Some notes about this that I think are interesting. In low approval he's unnaturally still and doesn't blink. Not even once. He's turned slightly away from them like he's ready to attack or run at any second. He's fully alert and on guard. He does NOT trust tav. In high approval he literally slow blinks like a cat and sways back and forth a little like he's giddy to talk to tav. He literally can't stop smiling even at the expense of looking a little silly :3 He shows complete trust and absolutely adores them. Either platonically or romantically. Just some details that I think are really cool and show how much thought the devs put into these interactions. Even though most of the time we can't even see the faces he makes when talking to him.

[part-time-pixie]

“I want to know what's going on with you two. I see the way you look up at her as she trots by.”

[ciphillan]

Alien franchise viewing experience

[full---ofstarlight]

minsc has this line when you talk to him after gale speaks to mystra where he's like back in my homeland, we hide young wizard boys away so that mystra doesn't snatch them up and. like. man. that really adds some more color to how fucked up gale's whole situation with her was huh

[thiswildernessismyhome]

just. the way that everyone wrote lilia off as some harmless unserious weirdo in the way so many older women get written off. when in fact she was an incredible brilliant badass

[cookieluverr]

[squidwujun]

"Hey how is it going?"

[unicornpopcorn14]

Everyone. Do you realize what this boy is begging for? Do you even fathom the weight of what he just asked?

This is the same boy who declared the lengths he'd go to in order to live wholeheartedly.

And now he's begging to die. Just to save his friends. The only people he can call family. Without even an ounce of hesitation.

The devastation in his eyes. The desperation in his voice. I can't take it anymore-

[xrk-art]

"I’m sorry"

[disgruntledpoptart]

...the heavens have closed and God has abandoned us (ao3 is down)

[certifiablyinsanez]

I am haunted by the detailed, completed map of Hell that Edwin took notes on. You don’t understand, it makes me sick. It’s one thing to have a basic layout, a vague idea, or a rudimentary map but it was meticulously detailed. Down to doors and what they do and where they go. Down to secret spaces in the walls. He even knew what ringing an innocuous bell would do. It can only mean one thing. We don’t know when Edwin began trying to escape, but assuming he started from the get go, it means that he spent all his decades in Hell trying to find a way out. He never stopped running. And that is assuming he never stopped. From his second trip, we could see he resorted to his old ways and ran. But he was eventually caught, reduced to pieces. Even when Charles showed up, he didn’t seem very optimistic about their chances. He could feel every second of those 70 years. There were likely many times he fell to hopelessness, trembling in the corner watching himself be desecrated knowing it was going to happen again and again. How long? How many times did he try to be so, so quiet, hoping he would have a few moments before the next round? How many times did he muster the ability to run, just one more time? How long did it take him to run, discovering the ends of each ring? How many times did he sprint up, down, north, south, east, west, trying to escape? And what happened when he finally escaped? How long did it take for him to be able to relax, even a little? Because he can never relax. He must always outrun Death and her constituents because he can’t count on them to be fair. How many times does he look over his shoulder, waiting for the monster to claim its eternal meal once again? His breath of fresh air, his first taste of companionship in ages not only keeps him company, but sticks by him. And then, in that blessing there comes a curse, because now you have something to lose. Because when you taste ambrosia how can you return to starvation? He feels safe with Charles. Happy and comfortable, but the threat always lingers. And he knows that Charles couldn’t fend off Death. He never considered he could fend off Hell beasts; after all, he’s just a ghost kid. He watches innocents be slaughtered on repeat, unphased by the level of violence but no less affected by it, because no one has even a clue what it takes to be this kind. Even at his most happy, he has so, so much to lose and he goes back to Hell when hope was dangled in his face like the fruit of Tantalus. When he returns, he’s subjected to Hell once again, sustaining through torture that obliterates souls, only to watch his best friend, his confidant, his platonic soulmate, die horrifically. This woman who gave him sea-glass courage, so powerful and yet so fragile. Allowed him to be himself, gave him permission to do so. Was the openness to his closed self, and now she is gone. And he retains his composure, his stiff, British posture because it is what has saved him from madness and Despair, protected him, and now the world is darker without Niko Sasaki in it. But surely he saw this coming. After all, humans are messy. And yet, he shows up for their souls, time and time again.

Edwin Payne is THE character.