#i just had to make it more tragic

[gdn019283]

Arthur’s last wish was to comfort Merlin as he died

Arthur couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Merlin knowing that he would be sad.

Arthur cradled Merlin’s head in his hand, with a small smile on his chapped lips, trying to reassure Merlin, knowing what was to come, and aware that Merlin would have been destroyed by Arthur’s death.

So not only Arthur let himself be held, because he wanted to, because, finally, he could ask that of Merlin, but he gently caressed Merlin’s hair too, and we can see how much Merlin had longed for Arthur’s tender touch.

Merlin rolled his head back to feel Arthur’s palm on his scalp, although the hand was covered by the glove.

Merlin knew, in that moment, when he finally had Arthur in his arms like he had always wanted him, but couldn’t have him and only stared at him from afar, when he let himself be touched like he had craved for all those years, that Arthur wouldn’t have been able to caress him anymore.

So Merlin leaned in the touch like his life depended on it, and we can see him wavering by the tiny, yet enormous gesture.

And Merlin knew he wouldn’t have had the hand in his hair ever again.

It wasn’t only Arthur’s wish.

All Merlin had ever wanted of Arthur was to be held by him too.

[pokimoko]

haunting the narrative -> haunted by the narrative -> haunting the narrative -> haunted by

[royalarchivist]

Pac: I don't know if you remember, we left Cell on an island with just a bullet and a revolver at his disposal and we fled. So, theoretically, we outsmarted* Cell and gave him what he deserved, understand? So, my headcanon, understand? You know? But the drawing was really cool.

[ *passar a perna – literally to deceive, but the direct translation is like a leg sweep, which is why Chat responds with "What leg?" ]

Pac: [Reading chat] What leg? Yeah, not the right one. Wait– not the right. Exactly. The left. Is it the left? Wait, which leg did I lose? [...] No, wait– the left, because my dominant leg is the right. So I will choose the left. [Reading chat] "You chose?" I like to think I had the power to choose.

—

Pac talks about Fuga Impossível lore and implies that Cell let him decide which leg he'd lose. 🔪

[ Full transcript / translation ↓ ]

—

Pac: Guys, it's not the other way around, in my headcanon– in my headcanon– you have to know how to respect my headcanon. In my headcanon– because, I don't know if you remember, we left Cell on an island with just a bullet and a revolver at his disposal and we fled. So, theoretically, we outsmarted* Cell and gave him what he deserved, understand? So, my headcanon, understand? You know? But the drawing was really cool.

[ *passar a perna – literally to deceive, but the direct translation is like a leg sweep, which is why Chat responds with "What leg?" ]

Pac: [Reading chat] What leg? Yeah, not the right one. Wait– not the right. Exactly. The left. Is it the left? Wait, which leg did I lose? Oh sht... [Long pause] I don't remember, man. Oh, I don't know guys, I don't know. Did I decide? Oh, man. None? I'm kidding–

Pac: Well, if I have to decide? The right? I don't know. Nobody knows, right? But this drawing was really cool, it was really cool. You choose one there and I choose the right one. No, wait– the left, because my dominant leg is the right. So I will choose the left. Because like, I'm thinking like this, look what came into my head: Which leg would go away? Wow, I thought "So, if I'm going to kick a ball, I'm going to shoot it with my right leg. If I didn't have a right leg, I wouldn't be able to shoot the ball properly. So I prefer the left." That was my line of thinking, you know? I don't know. It's a bad example, right? And that's it, right? [Reading chat] "You chose?" Yeah, I like to think I had the power to choose.

[witchofthemidlands]

everytime i watch anything that has paul mcgann in it i always sit there afterwards thinking what a fucking tragedy it was that he never got seasons as the doctor.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

years later someone buys the plot, turns on the lights and is suddenly worshipped as a sun god by a bunch of puppets falling apart at the seams

pov you break into the spooky abandoned Playfellow Studios building for shits and giggles

[mintypsii]

excuses

[lloydfrontera]

i can't get over how cute javier is when he introduces himself to ppodong. he's so serious about it that lloyd thinks he's about to question his cover story for how ppodong was summoned but no. he was just thinking really hard about how he should call him or if he had a name. and then when lloyd gives him the go ahead to call ppodong however he wants he just. calls him sir ppodong and fucking shakes hands with him. he introduces himself and shakes hands with the hamster like c'mon that's so fucking cute i cannot stop thinking about it just look at him

it's adorable.

and it's also one of the first times in the novel that you get the sense that 'oh. that's a kid.' it's subtle and lowkey but you can kinda feel that javier is actually excited about ppodong, he's curious about him and really gentle when he meets him. like. he's just a kid. a kid that probably never had a pet before and is now in close proximity with a cute and fluffy little hamster and just. wants to know his name.

it's just. it's very cute.

[queercontrarian]

i can't figure out what i think is worse

lucien and tamlin already being close friends by the time amarantha comes around and their friendship slowly deteriorating under the curse, the hopelessness, tamlin's issues and the unspoken guilt he feels for what amarantha did to lucien

or

lucien and tamlin barely knowing each other before the curse, being friendly but not overly familiar, lucien stepping up to defend the high lord who took a chance on him only to get beaten down so brutally, them slowly growing closer through the years as they watch their friends fall around them until all they have left is each other

[brucie-baby]

imagine you have such intense control issues that you plan for every scenario you possibly can in order to prevent feeling as helpless as you did at eight years old. imagine feeling like you need to create backup plans upon backup plans regarding both friend and foe alike because you can never be sure what the future will hold but you need to be prepared for it (not for your sake, but for theirs, and for the world's. you will not let them hurt people that do not deserve it. you will not let them experience that guilt, that grief. you will not let anybody else become that child staring at his parents' unblinking eyes).

imagine coming up with a plan that sits at the back of your mind in which you completely rewire someone's brain as a last resort, only to be used on the worst of the worst because you would never take away someone's autonomy unless you felt it absolutely necessary (you hope it will never be necessary because you believe in second third fourth chances. you believe that everybody can change for the better. you need to believe that everybody can change for the better. you hope it will never be necessary because to change someone so drastically is to kill who they once were).

imagine your mind is taken over by the worst version of yourself. imagine believing that you are in control of your every action but knowing that you are different somehow. imagine being convinced by the voice in your head that you are doing the right thing; that this will save him; that you can stop him from dying an awful, tragic death once again. imagine finally waking up, finally being free, and finding that not only had you brainwashed yourself, but you had brainwashed your son. that you had taken that lastresort-worstoftheworst-pleaseneverdothis plan and used it on your child, someone that you love more than you thought yourself capable.

imagine that all you wanted was to protect yourself and the ones you love and yet somehow you have made things worse than they have ever been.

you wanted control over the unpredictable. it was a flawed plan from the start. where do you go from here?

[arom-antix]

As part of a two-part reverse bang-bang, here's some more Valentines art to which @probablytoooldforthis wrote an amazing fic, Sweets for the Sweet! Please go check it out, I promise you won't regret it, and keep your eyes peeled for the second chapter - and artwork, of course - coming out on White Day aka the 14th of March!

Also, I this is an unrendered version, the finished version will be posted within about a week's time (hopefully) since I don't have access to digital drawing at the moment YuY

[turtleblogatlast]

I like to think alternate Leo was about 17 when he got ricocheted into the universe. I also like to think he turned 18 at some point as he was still away, becoming an adult and meeting that milestone in his life all alone.

[daemon-in-my-head]

As much as some of the stuff in Realms lore is messed up or has some very clear very outdated views on shit, the way they wrote evil cults and their motivations is actually pretty nice nd I'll give em that.

Like we've got Shar, lady of loss, who appeals to all those people who experienced something unimaginable and want to forget that experience.

Bane, a self made guy, who appeals to all those who came to resent the status quo nd were made to feel powerless, who's cult establishes the idea that everyone can become the game master and rise as long as they're dedicated enough but also gives excuses to the already powerful for abusing their power.

Myrkul who appeals to people in a similar way Shar does, but he has and grants the ability to reverse the loss. Reunite with those you lost before you arrive in the afterlife yourself. Don't fear death because your life will continue the same way it was before even if you die. Basically my guy offers a solution to the whole being afraid of death bit

But the most fucked up one is arguably Bhaal, who targets a very spefic group of people that deem life to be hopeless and death to be the better choice, and introduces them to the idea that this warped mindset is a fact and by killing someone you show them mercy and you can become their hero.

Like these are definitely not the healthiest claims those cults make, and any 'normal' individual would look at u like u have issues if you presented these ideas to them. Still, for a (not very) small group of people, these thoughts validate them in their feelings and struggles and offer a twisted understanding. And that is why recruitment works, and these definitely not-so-nice cults manage to survive and thrive at times. Because they very purposefully target individuals that could be easily manipulated if offered nothing more than some sort of understanding or recognition, and then they built on that. Very much like real life cults did and do in order to establish themselves and gain following.

Like very much fucked up but I can see very well why these cults work, why people join them and how they manage to manipulate their followers into blind loyalty and going above and beyond. The gods they serve and their lil libraries nd stuff may be dorky at times but the cults themselves are nothing besides absolutely terrifying. 11/10 no notes.

[stuckinapril]

One of the most gratifying things about getting older is being secure in both my American and Iraqi identities. Like I used to think that I had to compromise one for the other, or that being half of each would always make me “diluted,” but I’ve never been more comfortable in my Arabness while simultaneously not caring for the western gaze & just making peace with what it means to be Iraqi American. Like I feel so lucky for my Iraqi heritage every day and I know that’s sadly not a feeling all Arabs experience……. But I cannot imagine being anything else and nor would I ever want to be

[beatcroc]

"it's better to tear it all down than let things continue like this" just seems like such a big thing to be resigned to...do you think they talked about it

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Me, after watching Yasmine Nolastname aggressively perform heterosexuality for the 3rd season in a row, except now her act is slipping and she's desperately flailing around trying to figure out how the Standard Straight Girl™️ would act around the boy she's dating:

🎶AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD YOU WAKE UP NEXT TO HIIIIIIIIIM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIIIIIIIIIIGHT

WITH YOUR HEAD IN YOUR HAAAAAAANDS, YOU'RE NOTHING MOOOOORE THAN HIS WIFE

AND THEN YOU THINK ABOUT Moon, ALL OF THOSE YEARS AGO

YOU'RE STANDING FACE TO FACE WITH "I TOLD YOU SO"

You know, I hate to say it...BUT I TOLD YOU SOOOOOOO 🎶

[brionysea]

i see the potential for a dick and jason reverse robins au. jason staying on the good kid track from his childhood and being put on a pedestal despite still having so many issues, and then pre-teen dick grayson shows up; problem child, keeps running away from juvie and foster homes because he's lusting for murder, filled with rage and plastering a feral smile on top of it all--which jason can't even comprehend because he's so fundamentally authentic with his emotions at any given moment--and above all, making jason cry with laughter because of the look on bruce's face when he sees dick on the chandelier. it's perfectly backwards. i'm obsessed