#be it through death or otherwise

[entering--hyperspace]

Ascalon is so special to me I dont think Leo would've been the exact same guy had the astarting charr area not been Ascalon.

It's just, its hard to describe, its horrifying, and Im not even really talking about the charr's endless conflict with ghosts, im talking about the Ghosts Themselves.

They are reliving an eternal groundhogs day, theyre echos that cant return, unnatural to the cycle of life. Their hatred for the charr forever cemnted into their very souls by a desperate king who sacrificed an entire land for one final checkmate. They continue with the remainder of their lives, their fears. Does it repeat? Do they get to the end of their loop with a realization something is wrong? They always take the same route, they see the same faces, how long has it been since they heard the voices of their families? And then it's gone, reset by blind rage. Nevermind the illusion cast over their eyes, everyone not their own is a charr ready to strike, theyre puppets in a never-ending play. Cursed to dance to the same tune on the same sets. It has always gotten 2 me in a way I know im ready too deeply into but still feel strongly about regardless.

[captain-flint]

Ed leaning in for a kiss

[a2zillustration]

We lived.

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

[kiyomitakada]

"This isn't what I meant by 'bonding activities,'" Misa says.

L has his entire arm, up to the elbow, stuffed into the Jenga tower box. Light silently prays for his hand to get stuck. "Did you not say you wanted company, Amane-san?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean with you," Misa retorts. "I said I was lonely without Light around!"

"Yes, and Light-kun is attached to me," L explains patiently. He successfully withdraws from the box; the missing Jenga piece dangles between his thumb and index finger. Damn it. "Many couples play tabletop games together."

"I don't want to be in a couple with this creep," Misa says. "You don't either, right, Light?"

Light sighs. "Misa, you're a suspect in a murder investigation. It doesn't really matter if you want to or not."

"What?! What about consent?"

Since when have you cared about consent? Light does not say aloud. Instead he says, "Whatever," because he's a nice person. "Let's just get this over with."

"Beh," Misa mumbles, but she settles down on the sofa to peer at the Jenga tower pieces L has dumped onto the table. Light and L sit opposite her; L, with uncharacteristic grace, places the last wood block on top of the pile.

"You know," Light remarks, "I'm pretty sure the pieces are already arranged as a tower when you first buy them. You didn't have to scatter them all out."

"Oops," L says without a hint of remorse.

No one moves. Eventually Light, with another sigh, leans over and starts stacking the tower up himself.

-

Light has played Jenga before, obviously. With friends during recess when it was raining outside, yeah, but more often with Sayu and Mom over the holidays. Mom is brilliant at it; Sayu's alright, but takes too many risks. Light's no strategic master, but he's also never lost, as far as he can remember — he just plays it safe and goes for the loose blocks in the middle.

Suffice it to say that this round is going to kill him.

"This should not be standing," he says in a desperate plea to the rules of physics.

Misa grins. She's only been taking blocks from the left side of the tower (and putting them on the right side, to be fair, but that should not nearly be enough to balance this structure). Even one piece in the base level is gone. "But it is!"

"Ryuzaki," Light says, gesturing at their inadvertent creation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa's inferior cousin, "how is — how?"

"Amane-san is quite a good opponent," L muses, neatly dodging his question. He leans forward with a smile, pressing his thumb into his lip. "I am honored to be playing against her."

Misa brightens. "Hey, Ryuzaki, you're not so bad!"

"I'm here too," Light mutters.

"Hmm." L tilts his head, thumb digging deeper. Light watches the way the strands of his hair fall out of and into place. "Let's see…"

Five seconds pass. Then ten.

Light, all of a sudden, realizes he's been staring at the way L's hair curls just slightly when it brushes against the nape of his neck for far too long. He drops his gaze immediately; it lands on the chain between them instead.

The chain. The chain connected to L's hand. He could end this hell with just one tug —

No, too suspicious. If he cheats at Jenga, L will surely jail him (again) for mass murder.

"Can you hurry up?" Misa crosses her arms, leaning forward. "It's only supposed to take a minute, you know."

"Not all of us have your reality-manipulating powers, Amane-san," L murmurs. His thumb has not left his lip.

"Or maybe I'm just better than you."

L's gaze flickers upward. "Did you often play Jenga in the past?"

"Not really." Misa shrugs. "My friends weren't all that into it."

"Then I find that rather unlikely." L glances back down to the pieces he's considering; Light lets himself exhale.

"No, it just means I'm a natural talent!"

Instead of responding, L reaches and plucks a piece away. It happens so fast Light has no time to blink, exactly the same way L eats sweets.

The tower wobbles and —

No. Still standing.

"Jeez," Light mutters.

"Unhappy I'm winning, Light-kun?" L puts his piece down on the top level. He puts it down vertically. (He's already placed five other pieces this way, packed together in a geometry that is apparently conducive to structural support. Light wishes he could strangle him.)

"Who says you're winning?" Light and Misa say simultaneously.

They blink at each other. Then Misa beams, putting her hand up for a high-five. Light meets it hesitantly.

"I do," L says, unconcerned. He tugs the chain. "It's your turn, Light-kun."

"I know that." Light leans forward, narrowing his eyes. Despite everything, this shouldn't be difficult. All he has to do is find a loose block, and then this tortuous game will continue on as usual.

He briefly considers collapsing the tower on purpose.

No. Light Yagami does not lose. He taps at one of the pieces; nope, load-bearing. Another one. Nope. Another —

Suddenly he's falling — wind whistles in his ears — and then he hits something bony and angular with a thump.

Light stares. He'll deny this later but he stares and stares and stares, until he finally registers that he is lying in the lap of quite possibly the second worst man alive and jolts back upright, pushing him away. "What the fuck, Ryuzaki!"

L's laugh is low and slow and amused. "I only moved my hand a little," he says. "I didn't know Light-kun could tip over so easily."

"You are cheating," Light accuses. "You wanted me to lose!"

"The tower is perfectly intact," L says. "No evidence, no crime."

Light tears his glare away from L to check. Yes, the accursed tower is still standing. Damn it all.

"That's the whole problem, isn't it," L continues. "No evidence…"

Misa slams her hands down on the table, making the tower judder. Light startles; he'd almost forgotten she was there. "You locked us up for two months and didn't even have evidence?!"

"There is plenty of evidence in your case, Amane-san." L turns to look at her. The loss of his gaze feels a bit like a punch, but a mild one that Light is not affected by whatsoever. "And besides, I was referring to Jenga."

"Well, what about my boyfriend? He never—"

"Just drop it, Misa," Light says. "He's not changing his mind."

For a split second, Misa glares at him. Light almost flinches — and then it's gone again, replaced with a pout. "But he's insufferable!"

"You'll only have to suffer me until we catch Kira," L says dryly. "So I suppose we'd best do that as soon as possible."

(Aizawa, muttering from the control room: "Oh, really.")

"Yeah, well, we will," Misa says. "And I bet Light's going to beat you to it, 'cause he's so much smarter than you. Right, Light?"

"It's still my turn," Light says. "If you pull me again, I'll break your nose."

"Hmm. Ten percent."

Light steadies both feet on the ground, clenches his chained hand into a fist, and reaches for the tower again.

He taps. And keeps tapping. With growing horror, he realizes that there are no loose pieces. Every level is made of just the middle block and the right block now, and none of them are pullable. They’re just not enough on their own.

…Wait.

Light takes a long inhale and holds it, just in case a breath would disturb the structure. He squeezes his eyes shut, then open. He reaches for the level 75% of the way up.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Light uses his thumb and index finger to maneuver the middle piece into a diagonal —

There! The right piece slips out easier than butter.

Light does not indulge his first instinct, which is to yell FUCK YES!!!!!. Instead he leans back, exhales, inhales, and then puts the piece back on the top layer.

The tower does not fall.

"Your turn, Misa," Light says, attempting to school his smile from "deranged" to "enthusiastic."

Misa claps in delight. "That was amazing!"

"Interesting," L muses. "Interesting."

"What?"

"I was under the impression that moving a piece other than the one played was a rules violation," L says.

"Wh—" Light nobly does not punch him. He weighs the possibility of claiming he had never done that, but the middle block is indeed at a distinctly unnatural slant now. "That's not true. You made that up."

L leans over the side of the sofa and plucks the manual out, flipping through it carefully. "'Any blocks moved but not played should be replaced'—"

"—'unless doing so would make the tower fall,'" Light reads over his shoulder. "And it would!" The middle piece is clearly the only one holding up the entire layer. "Take that, Ryuzaki!"

L frowns. "You, Light Yagami, are a sore loser."

"I think you're the sore loser here, to be honest," Light says, faintly giddy. He could kiss someone right now.

"Your turn!" Misa says triumphantly.

They both turn to look at her. Misa has removed the other side of the base layer. The tower is now standing entirely on one block, wavering uncertainly in the faint air-con breeze.

"What the fuck," Light manages.

Misa grins. "Good luck, Ryuzaki!"

[ @deathnotetober day 21: games ]

[brolcagno]

Going home after a tiring case, as you do Redraw- Original below!

[dxxtruction]

Louis' "You're boring!" Could mean so many things, but I think what's most apparent about that line is that Armand takes no initiative just for himself. He's not really anybody, because he never goes out and finds himself or gets attached to anyone but Louis. Without Louis as his guide he's literally just sitting on a couch picking lint! That's the thing.

He orbits constantly around what would make Louis happy, and never really fully going what would make me happy? Ultimately that drive to please Louis is what drives him to torturing Daniel, not so much that he'd care to just do it. Ultimately, not giving proper care to Louis is just a way to make sure Louis knows he has to orbit around him as well, with shoving Lestat onto him just that other nail on the coffin. So, even if he fails to figure out how to make Louis happy with him, he still knows what Armand is good for, and better than.

That dependency is what drives Armand's abuse. It really just comes down to that. Armand doesn't even realize how suffocated he is by his own dependency. This is just how life is to him. (It shouldn't be lost either that dependency is a theme considering this episode also deals with addiction).

Daniel's fascinating because he's just so driven to be somebody. He's largely independent, he seeks things because he wants them. It's his drug to poke and prod at all the things that he shouldn't. Daniel's exciting because he lets Louis in to something different, lets him in to all this potential in another person that he can also do the same with for himself. It's a real connection. A two way street. It's easy to tell how Armand can be smothering then because he's never introducing him to anything really new, and most the ways both of them connect are all painful and traumatic. It's never just fun because there's always that layer of that pain. Fun died with Claudia.

50 years on they've gotten to a lot better place, both of them, but it's still that same shit. No seriously, "How is this any different from last time, Louis?"

Well... Because Armand's going to be, at the very least, making one [1] decision only for himself - and that's to hold power over Daniel's life. Fucking sick foreshadowing.

They aren't driving each other to the brink anymore but "The vampire is bored" STILL. Maybe it's even worse, despite being in better places, because Louis' sort of just been defeated by it. (I mean, can he even really leave this either?). He's accepting the dependancy cause he kind of has to. He'd literally ended up letting all the enjoyment be up where he can't reach [The book shelves]. Armand so desperately wants Louis happiness but what really ends up happening is that Louis ends up having to give Armand all his own. He's got no one or anything else to get it from. But like an iPad and an over the top eating ritual. Two extremes of what's just more lint picking.

This whole relationship is one I find just tragic inside and out. You have to just pity it, really. There's ways in which you can find yourself feeling bad for both of them. But you can only really be mad at Armand for any of it. Armand, who isn't even 'free' in any sense, having so little concept of his own independence, but is at the same time so controlling over other's. It's a tragic cycle. It's an infuriating one.

Louis at least has the mind to know when enough is enough. If just needing that extra push to get there. Armand's too scared of it being over to even try.

[mia-martian]

Maturity and growing up is realizing Light Yagami is a dumbass

Because tell me why when I was 12 I thought that mf was pulling a flawless strat buying the porn mags to prove he's normal and straight, wasting $30 dollars in early 2000's yen on a mini TV to put in a chip bag with a tiny pencil and resealing it, and putting a WHOLE ASS BOMB in his home. I saw him take out the ink cartridge of his bic pen, and I was hyping him up like he solved a 5000 × 5000 × 5000000 rubix cube.

[diseaseriddencube]

how cute, they thought they could stop me from screenshotting the gallery sections >:) too bad, he's gonna be my wallpaper now, impregnating him too

[tardxsblues]

Doctor Who | 8.12 Death in Heaven

[killcodesashes]

BLOODMOON IS AN ONLY CHILD NOW

Or we'll kinda

HAVE HUMAN[?] AU COMIC I DID I'M SOBBING I CANT I MISS THEM SO MUCH

Straight up I was grieving and crying the whole time I was doing this

I hope that the brother that remained is handled well by the writers in the future

Fingers crossed T.T

[dreamyyesenia]

Always Keep Simming - In this Life, and all Lives after

It was already early afternoon when Colin and Aileen arrived in Willow Creek. Aileen embraced Colin tightly. „It’s over, Colin. You’re home. You’re home“, she whispered softly. Colin was too exhausted to even stand upright. They went inside and sat in their living room.

„Where are the kids? Grandpa?“, Colin asked. „Safe. At my mum‘s. We revived the MOTHER and asked for her protection. I just have to construct the wormhole generator and bring her Bizarre Fruit to Sixam.“, Aileen told him.

Colin was confused. „So, you won’t be abducted by aliens anymore?“ Aileen shook her head no. „What happened, Colin? What got you to this state?“, Aileen asked. Colin briefly told her about his time held hostage by his grandmother, being forced to fulfill her every wish. „I‘ll still have to go back. This is not over. If not me, she’ll come for Gavin or Gemma next. We need to beat her.“ „I don’t understand why she treated you so poorly. Aren’t you her holy grandson?“, Aileen asked. Colin shook his head. „She only cares about my blood, not me. And she didn’t want to hear about me overcharging. She kept saying that I’m making it up“, Colin explained.

Suddenly, he stood up. "Let me cast the protection spell I read about and bind it to our Crystal Tree. It won't wear off and we‘ll be safe from my grandmother, as long as the Crystal Tree is alive and growing.. This spell is linked to it.... I would have loved to show you the tome I read about the history of crystals, they are pretty powerful, if used correctly. My grandmother planted Crystal Trees all over the Headquarters to keep intruders out", he explained, while hurrying outside. Aileen followed him. "Love, you can do that later. You need to rest. You are still overcharged, this is not good!", Aileen warned him. "If it's the last thing I do, it's worth it", Colin said and before Aileen could protest more, he raised his wand and cast the spell upon their grounds.

However, it had been a very powerful spell, requiring a lot of energy. Which, at this point, he simply didn't have. The spell backfired and his entire body started to shake, the magic overpowering him.

TW: Almost Death / Serious Injury: This is just a precaution, rest assured everyone is going to be fine 🫶🏻 so skip if you feel troubled by the possibility of death/ serious injuries and having to stay in ICU!

Colin was on fire. His insides were burning and the heat was suffocating. He tried to cool himself down in the snow, but it was of no use. He had been overcharged too much and now he couldn’t contain the magic any longer. So, the magic burned him alive until it could be set free.

Colin couldn't get up again, his eyes were closed, he was breathing heavyily. Aileen sank to her knees, desperate. „Colin, no, no, this is not what was supposed to happen!!! You can't go, you can't leave me!!! Get up!! Get up!!!“, she cried out.

Surely enough, the Grim Reaper appeared when it just had gotten dark outside. Aileen pleaded for Colin… and the Grim Reaper listened!!

Colin had to stay in the hospital for a while though, but he was alive. Aileen would forever be grateful to her friend, the Grim Reaper. He stayed at their house all night while Aileen was in the hospital with Colin - playing video games as per usual…

[myokk]

18, 22, and 23, for the MC ask!! Hehehhh 😈 dying to know what she’s like sleep deprived, because imaging a sleepover is going chaotic in my head right now XDD

Hi!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for the ask🥹💓😙😙😙 I LOVED THINKING ABOUT THESE ANSWERS💓💓💓

18) How they sleep

Eloise is a DEEP sleeper. Since arriving at Hogwarts, she spends too much time studying to catch up with the rest of her peers (like I’ve said before, she will NEVER be caught again in the humiliating situation of not knowing anything😤😤). When she crashes, there is NOTHING that can wake her up. When she’s sleeping by herself (all the time bc she’s a PROPER YOUNG LADY😳🤨) she tends to just sleep rigidly but if she were to hypothetically share her bed, she likes to cuddle🥹 only once she falls asleep though…

She also tends to have Eventful dreams, but doesn’t remember them when she wakes up. The harder she tries to remember them the faster they slip away…for some reason the intense feelings she feels upon waking just disappear as quickly as they came on.

22) What they’re like on 2 hours of sleep

Bahahahahahahahaha first I’ll do the sleepover part!!!!!! I wish I had time to draw her and Inger in a sleepover…SOME DAY I PROMISE😤😤💓💓🥹🥹 Eloise tends to hold herself super rigidly and is always aware of how she’s being perceived by others. But…when she is sleep deprived and with goofy friends, it’s like all of these inhibitions leave her. Everything seems HILARIOUS to her and she has a lot of fun💓💓 I feel like even Anne and Imelda can talk her into pulling her OWN pranks…trying to sneak into the boys’ dormitories just to bother them, playing endless games of exploding snap, having contests to see who can get the most ridiculous statement from Sir Cadagon…all until she passes out suddenly and NOTHING they can do will wake her up😇😇

If Eloise is sleep-deprived from studying too much (maybe a bit more likely let’s be honest😆) she is just a zombie. The scene I posted here of her playing chess and Sebastian causing chaos was during a particularly sleep-deprived time in her life. Her inhibitions are still lowered…she’s more likely to do things she’s wanted to do for a while and this scene was also while she was sleep deprived😇😇😇😇

23) How they act when they’re sick

Eloise is NEVER sick😤😤😤 if, in the hypothetical situation it COULD happen to her….she would have a hard time accepting help. Being that vulnerable in front of someone makes her deeply uncomfortable and it needs to be BAD for her to reach that point. Once she finally does accept help, though, I can see her LOVING all of the attention😇😇😇 it must be a relief to finally let go and just let someone else take care of her for a bit, let someone else in and realize she doesn’t have to do everything by herself🥹💓

[fishyartist]

[strawberryseeded]

i wish we had gotten more of kugisaki nobara. i just watched dis vid and all my contained RAGE abt dis topic suddenly HIT ME LIKE A TRAIN GOD IM UPSET

ive talked like 32893882 times already (and its still NOT ENOUGH) abt how upset i was abt nobara's death cos she was such a good character, with so much potential!! i really REALLY liked her. she was funny, strong, confident and kind!!!! i loved her char design!! her cursed technique and weapon were cool as hell!!!!!!

and her (recently SOMEWHAT(?) confirmed(?)) death sucked so fucking much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

she was just. fucking fridged. as much as it pains me to admit it. from a narrative standpoint, she died so yuuji would get upset and further develop his character & then move the plot along. even mahito admits that he wants her to die to make yuuji suffer. like yeah he also recognizes her a strong opponent (ofc. cos she is) but at the end of the day he wanted to kill her just to wreck yuuji. and he succeded.

nobara has no say on the way she dies. she's just.. slapped, kinda. its so sudden. its so... weird. not that she's accepting of it (we already know that she knows she can die at any moment and she's ready for it (cos she's a freak like the rest of the sorcerers lol)), but its weird bc its like its not a personal moment for her. yeah we get a flashback & her speech about how, even tho she always was a person who refused to let other people affect the way she is and decides to live, there still are people who, by being accepting of her, managed to gain a place in her heart... and she's happy for that. its rly beautiful.

but its the impact her death has on yuuji what the story really cares about here.

and like. thats fine! im not even saying killing nobara is a bad choice or that its bad if her death also developed yuuji's character. but the way it was done, its like her death only had that purpose. its a way too transparent device, that's what i dislike abt it. i dont mind being upset bc a character i love dies? i like feeling strong emotions when i engage emotionally with art/stories.

but i think she was killed off too soon. we didn't get to properly say goodbye to her. both her character arc and her death were rushed.

she could have been developed so much more! it feels like she was taken away way too soon in the story. i wanted her to fight sukuna along the others. i wanted her to use her cool technique to help yuuji nail sukuna's soul. i wanted to see just how much stronger she could get. i wanted her to finally meet saori. I WANTED HER TO HAVE A COOL EYE PATCH!!!!!!!!!!!

why is she barely mentioned after she dies??? she was one of the 3 main, dude, are u kidding me? yuuji's the only one who mentions her but he's almost afraid of talking about her. its like the whole world forgot about her!!!!! and what about maki?????? werent they girlfriends?

what is nobara's LEGACY? why did gege not make her death matter in the narrative? even if she (for whatever reason) came back(??) at the end, id still be rly mad & sad abt it cos i wanted to see her DO STUFF!! i wanted to see her kick some ass!!!! i wanted to see her grow!!!!! to open up with others!!!!! I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF HER. IM SO UPSET I WANT OUT

[ttaibhse]

i think because basically almost everyone at all times is trying to lose weight in some way or at least would like to lose weight and so even being a woman who isn't actively trying to lose weight makes you seem like a bit of a freak. and depending on what you look like you're either lucky you don't have to!! OR you're an idiot and you really should be trying. and you must be some kind of conceited either way. and so actively trying to stop having an eating disorder is like giving up because we should all be trying to lose weight and eat healthier and you're like almost doing the opposite of that. why should you get a pass to stop doing that. does this make sense. is this thing on. do you know what i mean

[sketching-shark]

In spite of all my complaining I do think Monkie Kid has it’s good points but on the other hand I also feel like it’s something of a gosh dern shame that in the west its “well-meaning failure” version of Sun Wukong is much more well known than og classic Sun Wukong if for no other reason than the sheer comedy of a tiny little monkey man being one of the most relentless, calculating, and ruthless mfers in the entire story.