#not this being this short im sorry

[turtletoria]

the krampus incident from the book of bill if it was out of character and stupid

[windydrawallday]

NOT OKAY TODAY / WORTHY

The comic I wanted to post was the last art of 2024, but because of a sudden power outage, it is now a hybrid that started the "past year" and finished on New Year's Day. The text is not mine! This beautiful poem belongs to the author Jarod K. Anderson, who writes about themes such as mental illness and how one can cope with the aid of nature's lessons. I found this poem on Pinterest when I was trying to distract myself from recent awful moments, and it resonated with me deeply. It reminded me how GOOD I felt when helping people I care about by listening to their doubts, when I treated them well, or when we shared ideas together etc. And it became MORE meaningful when I was the one in need of that help... and these people reached without hesitation 💝. You really get what you give! This poem reminded me my kindness is always worthy to be shared. I wished to portray it in the form of art for everyone who needed to read it too!

I hope this New Year brings more kindness to everyone 💞

Special mention to these peeps who brought me so many sweet moments, who let me be silly, who let me babble about art or vent together about adulting stuff: LUV U ALL TO THE MOON AND BACK AAA 🐾

@grinningghoulie @novalizinpeace @sildrae @ghostbulb @skullydrawsstuff @sug4r-melon @emisatea @frosty-tian @cometchasinglove @mariequitecontrary @spashahoney @nepetacataria-art @spiritshaydra @goobygnarp @ballpitbee @soothedcerberus @ninjakarkki @electricpez @akapen011 @lecanel @joonisstrange @tundra-tiger @lets-try-some-writing @myrablurple @ivycorp @confluencechimera @cerebrocentric-bullet @gelu-the-babosa-multiversal

IF I FORGOT SOMEONE SORRY! (... At which moment did this list grow? Life is made of many surprises)

[ruporas]

feast (ID in alt)

[cry-ptidd]

Laura trying out her new fit in 1995

[emmyrosee]

Hi Emmy! I hope you are doing great. I love your writing and it genuinely makes me smile through tough times. I am currently studying for the mcat and it is taking a toll on me mentally and really testing my academic abilities to the point where it is overwhelming and I can't push myself to study (ahh sorry for the rant 😭). Anyway, if it is okay, could you write a comfort fic with akaashi keiji and him comforting you (reader) through something like this? Obviously you are not obligated to do so, so do not feel any pressure!! Thank you for turning my gloomy days a little brighter with your brilliant work!

YOURE ACTUALLY THE SWEETEST EVER AND IM GLAD MY PIECES ARE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF COMFORT WHILE YOURE WORKING SO HARD 🥺❤️

---

Your eyes water as your palm comes up to rub at them for the nth time that hour, reminding you that you've been plopped in this chair for who knows how long.

Too long.

You would sit and ponder just how long you've been here, just staring, but when you let your mind go there, your eyes sting and your bottom lip wobbles, and you don't have the energy to cry, nor the time to, if the bright light of your phone that flashes with a notification every few minutes is anything to go by.

You offer a shaky sigh, then go back to your laptop, fingers fatigued and heavy from the hours you’ve spent typing your life away. Nothing can prepare you, however, for the gentle feeling of fingers slipping over your shoulder and gently massaging, fingertips rolling into the tense knots just under the surface of the skin. You hum in relief and flutter your eyes shut as you lean your head back, gently resting against Keiji’s stomach. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey,” you mewl, stretching softly. “Don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” he chuckles. His thumbs squash into your shoulder blades and you wince softly at the pressure. “Hows studying going?”

“Terrible,” you whimper, and god, the wobble in your lip returns, and your eyes screw shut to try and block out the sting of tears biting at your waterline. “I… don’t want to study anymore, Keiji…”

“So don’t, my love,” he whispers, leaning down to press a kiss to your head. “Just work your way out of focus mode and come be with me.”

“I can’t,” you sniffle. Then, your breathing escalates, “Keiji I can’t fail this, there’s no option there, I need to finish this, I need to pass-“

“Hey, hey,” he says, moving his hands up to gently cover your eyes with his hands, touch light and warm and the sudden weight across your exhausted vision welcome. “You’re going to do well, my love. You’re doing very well.”

“I don’t care,” you whimper. “I need to not fail.”

“You’re not going to fail,” he whispers, gently kissing your head again. “You’re just so tired, your brain is about to have a meltdown. You need to take a break.”

“I don’t have time for a break-“

“Make time,” he says, stern but loving. “Come on. Just some water. Let’s go drink some water, and then if you want to come back here and rot, I’ll let you.”

You sniffle. You try to think your exhausted brain back to the last time you even looked at a glass of water, let alone did anything, and you offer him a shaky sigh and slowly push out your chair. He steps aside to give you some room, and as you make a move to stand up, your knees buckle slightly.

“Woah,” he says, chuckling softly. “Get your legs back. Then we’ll go, yeah?” You nod and take a deep breath, trying to force your knees to stop being jelly and stand up straight. You feel ridiculous, unable to even stand properly, and frustration brews inside of you again as you struggle step by step.

“Let me go, Keiji.”

“Not until you can stand.”

“I can stand fine!”

“No, you can’t,” he says calmly. “And that’s okay. I’ll always be here to help you up.”

With that, a dam breaks. You let out a shaky sob and wail into the air, letting out hours of agony and despair from lack of confidence and determination, beating yourself up for not fully grasping a topic and cursing yourself for the field you picked. It’s not fair, this isn’t fair, and-

“Hey,” he says softly, snapping you out of your spiral. “What’s 2+2?”

“What?”

“What’s 2+2?”

“Uh…. 4?”

“Okay- what’s 3x3?”

“9?”

“Okay. So what’s 6x4?”

“Keiji, what’re you doing?”

“Helping your brain rewire itself,” he says firmly. “You’re so deep in your head that you can’t think of anything other than your spiral, so im guiding you out of it. What’s 6x4?”

“Uhm… 24.”

You hate to admit it, but it’s working. The basic math helps your brain focus on answering him, rather than the screams and howls in your brain. You sniffle and rest against him, legs slowly coming to life as you straighten up, little whispers of math questions helping you get your footing and mind back to a semi-stable state. You sigh shakily and answer each math problem calmly, and with time, you finally look up at him and sigh, “I don’t want to study anymore.”

“Let’s call it a night, okay?” He offers. “I’ll stop working too. We’ll have something to eat, drink some water, and take it one step at a time, okay?”

“Together?”

“Together.”

[kirabasai]

svsss au where there's a system glitch that happens as shen yuan saves liu qingge from his qi deviation, resulting in sy's system being linked to lqg as well. aka, they share a system account. they share quests and points and everything. this... Changes things. such as well, the implications and fallout of an early system/identity reveal to one person, someone that hated the original shen qingque. but also, lqg being forced to have to work together and cooperate with an "imposter"! like in my head i can see lqg being rlly conflicted abt everything that's going on at the start. sy will get over it somewhat quickly i think because sure, why not, fuck you system!! but also in pidw lqg isn't a major character so i can see him having less hangups abt working w him. like his experience w lqg is basically a blank slate. but lqg? he has history w sqq. he simultaneously is on a blank slate and a huge monolith of history/shared experiences/past. he needs to not only adapt to that but also his new situation of sharing sy's system.

i've been microwaving this idea in my head for the last day or so and mmmm yes.s i love lqg. i haven't read svsss in like 4 or 5 years maybe so my memory of certain things is kinda fuzzy but i Cannot get this au idea out of my head

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Baizhu design :V ? For funsies totally not going to draw him or anything

had way too much fun with this one hahah

[kyurochurro]

HELP!!! ....its so cold!! ❄️🧣🧤☃️

referenceee! i know its flipped but thats how i found it HSJAHJAS

[laswells-ashtray]

I read mean Rudy and instantly started foaming at the mouth PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEWSEPLEASE- /ref

It's no secret that Alejandro likes them mean, if he wanted someone who treated him with the bare minimum of respect during sex then he'd pick one of the many people who keep openly thirsting after him.

He doesn't want that, he hasn't wanted that since the day they were in their twenties and he watched Rodolfo spit at a man who was getting handsy with women in a bar and had spent the next few months pathetically jerking off to the memory.

Somewhere between adjusting his knee on the bed to get a better angle and Rudy gutting at him for daring to make a noise as he fucked the man within an inch of his life, Alejandro wondered what it would take to get the other man to spit on him.

It wasn't the first time they'd done this and it was far from the last given how much enjoyment they both got from it.

Rodolfo was lying on his front, a book resting on the pillow in front of him as he lazily flipped through the pages. Alejandro had no idea if he was actually reading it or if it was just an act but knowing the other man, he probably was. The only indication that Rudy was even enjoying himself was the halfhearted rolling of his hips against the sheets as he sought out some feeling of friction against his cock.

Alejandro had no idea how the sergeant major could do it, act so uninterested and stay so fucking quiet when just last night he'd been moaning so loudly that Alejandro had slapped a hand over his mouth to keep anyone walking in on their superior fucking his second in command bent over his desk.

But the man under him lets out another sigh of annoyance as Alejandro groans, a wordless warning to shut the fuck up. The only thing it achieves is leaving Alejandro's hips stuttering as he grinds his cock into his partner's hole.

His hand squeezes Rodolfo's hip so tightly that he'd likely leave finger-shaped bruises along the tanned skin. Some men would see it as a claim, Rudy would look at them and shake his head before calling Alejandro a needy, desperate thing and Alejandro would pretend that neither of them had noticed how obviously hard his cock is in his pants.

Rudy turns to glance at him, looking at him with disinterest that borders on blatant disdain and Alejandro almost cums right there. He knows deep down it's an act, Rodolfo plays bored well and uses it to his advantage but he looks like he wants to bite Alejandro and it's almost too much.

He can feel the tension build in his legs as his thrusts start to become almost frantic in nature, splaying a hand out flat over Rudy's back to keep him where he wants him as his hips meet the plump meat of Rodolfo's ass.

When he hears the faint hitch in Rudy's breath he knows they're both close, the other man clenches tightly around him and gives up any pretence of caring about the book under his hands.

He's growling out the other man's name in quiet bursts before he realises it, nails digging into his hip as he pushes them both closer to the edge. He just needs that little bit more.

He gets it when Rodolfo's hand grabs at the pillow, knuckles whitening and he hears the sharp bite in the other man's voice.

"I don't remember giving you permission to speak, colonel."

Somewhere in the minutes fucked out bliss after he cums he'll ask Rudy if he wants Alejandro to blow him and the other man will turn to lie on his back, wordlessly showing his partner the drying cum on his abdomen in response.

[buwheal]

OH!!!!! HAVE YOU CHECKED THE CYBER CAFÉ DUMPSTER by any chance? there HAS to be some leftover cake there!!!! i heard there was an event recently!!

[baoxie]

you ache and tug. you rip my skin

[shakingparadigm]

what is the theory that ivan manipulated the event where till and mizi met the wagyein?

It's not a theory, actually! It's confirmed that Ivan orchestrated the whole event. The true reason as to why however is still unknown. The information provides more context to this scene, though:

During the earlier times of ALNST the most rational explanation for this scene was that Till ran after a flower crown (presumably Mizi's) and Ivan followed him in out of curiosity. Now we know that Ivan was conveniently just standing there because he was waiting.

Side note, I find it heartbreaking (and maybe a little funny, sorry) that Till most likely didn't notice Ivan in this scene. That's just like him, isn't it. Always too busy running after Mizi while Ivan trails behind, an ever-present shadow.

I'm not sure how Ivan manipulated the circumstances for both of them to end up there, but it is confirmed that everything was intentional. What strikes me most is how they describe this particular scene:

I can't copy down what they said word-for-word (Patreon info), but they described Ivan watching "creepily" as Till and Mizi are faced with danger. We know that Ivan was familiar with the Cerberus wagyein beforehand, enough to touch its teeth and even to rest himself inside its maw. To Ivan, the wagyein is not dangerous, but to Till and Mizi, it could be. Ivan prepared the wagyein, led them there, and watched "creepily" from afar as Till fell on his knees, seemingly injured.

The closest I can get to making sense of Ivan's "scheme" is that he wanted to see how other children would react in a dangerous situation. Ivan's always been an observer, after all, and he's learned to survive by copying the more "normal" behaviors of his peers. This situation occured when Ivan was still young and had not yet developed his more charming mask, so perhaps he staged this encounter to study a situational response, to learn and mimic the emotion of fear. And what better subjects for the experiment than two of the most expressive and reactive humans of their batch? It helps that he was already fixated on Till beforehand, too. I think Ivan became irreversibly obssessed after this incident, especially since it's framed as a turning point in Ivan's life, comparing Till to the stars.

This is just my attempt at an interpretation, though. It could very well be for another reason. He most likely chose Till and Mizi specifically for personal reasons, not just for reaction. I'm still not sure on the purpose behind the whole thing.

The team wanted to capture Ivan's "dark emotions" through the shot of his stalking, which could relate to his more sinister intentions. His gaze can be read in a few different ways, though. Curiosity, interest, fear, etc. Maybe that's why they decided to redraw the shot in ROUND 6.

I think this better sells the feeling they were trying to convey.

[pitchswift]

ok but this is so on brand for them 😂

[cent-scratchnsniff]

I'm leaking.

[galacticlamps]

ok I have A Lot of thoughts about the staircase confession (well really about Edwin's whole character arc, but all roads lead to rome) but for now I just wanna say that, yes, I was bracing myself for something to go terribly wrong when I first watched it, and yes, part of me was initially worried its placement might be an uncharacteristically foolish choice made in the name of Drama or Pacing or Making a Compelling Episode of Television but at the expense of narrative sense--

But I wanna say that having taken all that into account, and watched it play out, and sat with it - and honestly become rather transfixed by it - I really think it's a beautifully crafted moment and truly the only way that arc could've arrived at such a satisfying conclusion.

And if I had to pinpoint why I not only buy it but also have come to really treasure it, I'd have to put it down to the fact that it genuinely is a confession, and nothing else.

That moment is an announcement of what Edwin has come to understand about himself, but because it takes the form of a character admitting romantic feelings for such a close friend, I think it can be very easy, when writing that kind of thing, to imbue it with other elements like a plea or a request or even the start of a new relationship that, intentionally or not, would change the shape of the moment and can quickly overshadow what a huge deal the telling is all on its own. But that's not the case here. Since it is only a confession, unaccompanied by anything else, and since we see afterward how it was enough, evidently, to fix the strangeness that had grown between him & Charles, we're forced to understand that it was never Edwin's feelings that were actually making things difficult for him - it was not being able to tell Charles about them. 'Terrified' as he's been of this, Edwin learns that his feelings don't need to either disappear completely or be totally reciprocated in order for him to be able to return to the peace, stability, and security of the relationship with which he defines his existence - and the scale of that relief a) tells us a hell of a lot about Edwin as a character and b) totally justifies the way his declaration just bursts out of him at what would otherwise be such a poorly chosen moment, in my opinion.

Whether or not they are or ever could be reciprocated, Edwin's feelings are definitively proven not to be the problem here - only his potential choice to bottle it up - his repression - is. And where that repression had once been mainly involuntary, a product of what he'd been through, now that he's got this new awareness of himself, if he still fails to admit what he's found either to himself or to the one person he's so unambiguously close with, then that repression will be by his own choice and actions.

And he won't do that. Among other things, he's coming into this scene having just (unknowingly) absolved the soul of his own school bully and accidental killer by pointing out a fact that is every bit as central to his self-discovery as anything about his sexuality or his attraction to Charles is: the idea that "If you punish yourself, everywhere becomes Hell"

So narratively speaking, of course it makes sense that Edwin literally cannot get out of Hell until he stops punishing himself - and right now, the thing that's torturing him is something he has control over. It's not who he is or what he feels, but what he chooses to do with those feelings that's hurting him, and he's even already made the conscious choice to tell Charles about them, he was just interrupted. But now that they're back together and he's literally in the middle of an attempt to escape Hell, there is absolutely no way he can so much as stop for breath without telling Charles the truth. Even the stopping for breath is so loaded - because they're ghosts, they don't need to breathe, but also they're in Hell, so the one thing they can feel is pain, however nonsensical. And Edwin certainly is in pain. But whether he knows what he's about to do or not when he says he 'just needs a tick,' a breather is absolutely not what's gonna give him enough relief to keep climbing - it's fixing that other hurt, though, that will.

Like everything else in that scene, there's a lot of layers to him promising Charles "You don't have to feel the same way, I just needed you to know" - but I don't think that means it isn't also true on a surface level. It's the act of telling Charles that matters so much more than whatever follows it, and while that might have gone unnoticed if anything else major had happened in the same conversation, now we're forced to acknowledge its staggering and singular importance for what it is. The moment is well-earned and properly built up to, but until we see it happen in all its wonderful simplicity, and we see the aftermath (or lack thereof, even), we couldn't properly anticipate how much of a weight off Edwin's shoulders merely getting to share the truth with Charles was going to be, why he couldn't wait for a better, safer opportunity before giving in to that desire, or how badly he needed to say it and nothing else - and I really, really love the weight that act of just being honest, seen, and known is given in their story/relationship.

[allastoredeer]

*Turns on megaphone* Lucifer Morningstar is a Service Top! ...That is all.

THANK YOU!

Can we all readdress the fact that Lucifer is a canonical switch? I understand liking bottom!Lucifer, I really do, but let this man top. As a RadioApple fan, is it really too much to want Alastor to get properly railed 😩

I suppose I'll have to be the change I want to see in the world, but I still wanna read/see it.

I'm pretty sure this is why I've been consuming so much RadioStatic content lately. Their dynamic is amazing AND Alastor gets to bottom. It's perfect.