#links for everyone so it's clear what we're all discussing

[kaziwi]

Heyyy, congratulations for the 100 followers 😍😍

I would like to ask for number 8 with Zoro, if that's okay. Thank you!!

Ugh i love Zoro sm, I hope you enjoy!!!

Link to Event

"I'll just stay behind."

Character(s): Zoro

WC: 727

CW: Sick fic, Zoro being a sweetie

It was cold....but also hot.....you wished your body would make up its mind already. Of course you were the first one on the ship to get the common Grandline Flu this year. But in all honestly you didn't mind being sick, the only issue was your crewmates avoiding you like the plague. Sickness spread easily on the ship, so no one wanted to take any chances. The only one who ever spent long periods of time with you in the infirmary was Chopper, who kept his distance and wore a mask to avoid getting sick. Other than him and Sanji dropping off your meals, you really didn't have any other company.

You didn't blame them, I mean you would do the same in their position, but thinking that didn't make you feel any better. Chopper said they all missed you dearly, but you wished you could hear it from then.

The Sunny had docked at an island earlier that morning, and now it was time for everyone to split up and stock up on supplies. The only issue was who was going to stay with you. Chopper had to run out and grab a few herbs only he could identify, so someone else would have to stay. Luckily for you, they were discussing this right in front of the thin infirmary door, so you could hear everything.

"I wish I could stay with Y/N swan, but I have to restock on food," Sanji said, dramatic sadness in his voice.

"Well I don't want to stay here!! I really don't want to get sick," Usopp pleaded.

"I thought the great captain Usopp didn't get sick?" Nami snickered at him as he rambled on to defend himself.

"I need to get cola so I can start some SUPERR repairs on the Sunny!!"

Everyone fought over who would stay, making you feel kinda sad. They really didn't want to stay with you?? Maybe you were a bit of a burden. Just before you could continue your negative thoughts, a voice caught your eye.

"I'll just stay behind."

The commotion stopped and you assumed everyone turned and stared at Zoro, but the shock didn't last long.

"Thanks Zoro-bro!"

"Yeah, thanks Zoro!!"

"Zoro!! Let me run you through what Y/N needs!!"

You couldn't help but laugh at Chopper's explanations, knowing Zoro wouldn't remember any of it. Slowly the commotion died down, and after a little Zoro entered your room.

"I'm assuming everyone else left?" You asked, not wanting to let him know you heard everything.

"Yeah, they won't be long, just restocking," Zoro said as he took Chopper's doctor chair and rolled it towards the side of the bed, sitting next to you. You then noticed that he wasn't wearing a mask, nor was he afraid to get close to you.

"Why aren't you wearing a mask? Aren't you afraid of catching what I have?"

"Eh, not really. I mean its a small ship, we're all gonna catch it eventually, so might as well catch it early."

You chuckled a little at his response...but you wondered why he of all people chose to stay behind...

"So...why did you stay behind? I mean, I'm assuming everyone else didn't want to cause they don't want to catch it...but why did you?" You asked after a bit of silence. He looked off to the side, and as he cleared his throat you swore you saw his cheeks turn red.

"Well...uh.." Zoro fumbled with his words a bit, which he never did, EVER, "I just didn't want you to be lonely...I know how annoying it can be stuck in the infirmary, and especially being sick and if someone else stayed they would keep their distance. And like I said I don't really care about getting sick so I didn't think there was any harm in staying."

It was cute, watching him ramble on, trying to give you a convincing explanation on while he volunteered to stay.

"Well thank you," you said, cutting him off, "It was a very nice gesture."

He almost looked like a tomato, his face turning red. You both talked for hours until everyone else came back. You were better in a few days, but that same day Zoro started showing symptoms. While everyone else again avoided Zoro, you stayed by his side, making sure his kindness was repaid.

[amethystfairy1]

I’ve been really worried about this for a while but haven’t figured out how to work tumbler tills now- Ao3 seems to be getting banned in the states already by next year and I’ve just been worried and wondering if this ban will be affecting your Ao3/writing or if you’re in the clear

I assume what you’re worried about is H.R 9495…which hasn’t passed and there is no guarantee of it passing…and even if it does pass there’s also no guarantee it’ll be used to threaten A03...actually, it's very unlikely that it will be. There’s no guarantee of anything so please don’t be stating these sorts of things as if they’re already set in stone when that is far from the case.

I stay willfully blind to/don't discuss a lot of political things because it’s not worth the severe damage to my mental health. I called/wrote my representatives asking them to vote against this bill and I encourage everyone else who cares about this issue to do the same.

I also encourage everyone to keep an eye on the News tab in A03. They keep it up to date. They have a post concerning this issue right here. The OTW has stated in multiple responses on this news post that they sincerely doubt A03 or the OTW will be affected by this bill, even if it does pass. And that's still a big if. This news post also includes links and instructions on how to write/call your rep. That’s all we can do for right now. I don’t intend to let it plague my mind until it actually becomes a problem…cross that bridge when you get too it, as they say.

I will find a way to continue writing if at all possible for me if anything does happen that makes it untenable for me to continue posting to A03, but again, that's very unlikely, I can at least insist on that. But for right now, do what you CAN do, and try not to let it drag on your mind otherwise…at least, that’s how I’m trying to handle it 😅

So yeah, please keep this all in mind, do your own reading/research, and don't let the scare tactics get to you! We're all gonna be ok! 💖

[codywanfirstkissbingo]

Codywan First Kiss Bingo 2025

Can't get enough of Cody and Obi-Wan's first kiss in any universe and situation? Well then we'd love to have you play our bingo!

How to Play

Once you've filled out the form to register, we'll email you your shiny bingo card. Every card is a shuffled assortment of prompts that will look something like this:

Below are all the rules you should know about before you join.

General Rules

We're sure you are familiar with the rules of bingo, but just to be certain everyone is on the same page, to get a bingo you must fill three prompts in a row. That row can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Fill all the prompts on your card and that's a blackout!

Get as creative with your kisses as you want, but they MUST BE A FIRST KISS between Obi-Wan and Cody in some capacity. 

Prompt fills should be new works, meaning that they should not be part of an ongoing work-in-progress that has not yet been posted as a complete work. Sequels and prequels to already-finished works are welcome! 

Posting Dates

Participants have the February 1 to February 14, 2025 to post bingo fills! Sign up around the time of this announcement and you will have a long creation window before posting time rolls around.

You are strongly encouraged to post to our collection on ao3 and we love to see your posts on tumblr, too– if you’re posting on tumblr, please tag us @codywanfirstkissbingo AND tag your post with #CWFKB2025.  We don’t want to miss anyone if tumblr drops the ball in our notifications.  Using #CWFKB2025 gives us another way to find your fill .  

If you’re posting on AO3, we will reblog your fill if you make a Tumblr post with the link,  @ us and tag your post with #CWFKB2025. We’ll be checking the AO3 collection when tracking fills and making round-up posts with bingos and blackouts, so your fills will be included there– but we will not cross-post every individual fill on AO3 as its own post if the creator has not made a tumblr post we can reblog to share.   

When posting on tumblr and/or on AO3, please include a screenshot of your bingo card with the prompt fill indicated so we know which square you’ve filled!

Specific Rules

Fic: 100 words minimum per prompt fill. To be clear, the kiss itself does not have to last 100 words, though we'd be delighted to see that.

Art: One drawing per fill (digital or traditional). Different drawings can be on the same canvas/page if you so wish. Go wild with your compositions.

Podfic: Same requirements as fic. You can collaborate with someone writing a fic specifically for the event or find an existing fic that fills your prompt.

Fanmix: One song per fill- we'd love to see what songs give you codywan first kiss vibes. Try to match lyrics to your prompt but instrumental songs are cool too.

Other: Send an ask with your inquiry! We're more than happy to discuss expanding the fanwork pool to maximize creativity.

Ratings

You can post any work with any rating, but please abide by the appropriate rating/archive warning/tags on AO3 when posting there. When posting on tumblr, please warn for potentially triggering content in the tags and the header to the post, so readers can filter as needed. 

Anything spicy or explicit should go under a read-more tag, and please use a read-more tag if you’re posting a fic that is longer than a drabble (100 words) so we’re not clogging people’s dashboards.

To help make this event safe for Codywan fans with any kind of photosensitivity, we do specifically request that you tag any and all flashing imagery with #flashing. If you're unsure what constitutes flashing, please see this article, or err on the side of caution for any image with: moving stripes or checkered patterns; strobe light, lightning, or explosion effects in any image or video; images of flickering light/sunlight on leaves/water; very fast cuts between images in a gif or video; rapidly moving images in an animation or gif set that stop and start or “stutter;” sparkle text or similar moving text effects; and images in an animation, gifset, or video that are in high color contrast to each other (for example, a gif set that cuts pink Barbie gifs with black & white Oppenheimer gifs to create a fast-moving contrast between the two styles.) 

To make this event accessible for Codywan fans who are low-vision, have visual processing disorders, or who otherwise find their fandom experience strongly enhanced when art, photographs, and photomanips have Alt-Text captions, we request that you consider adding Alt-Text to your posted image on tumblr, so that Codywan fans with screen-readers can enjoy your post along with everyone else.  This post at Perkins School for the Blind gives you some tips and tricks– the description doesn’t have to go into every detail a seeing person would see, but an example might be: “A full-color digital drawing of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody kissing under mistletoe.  Both Obi-Wan and Cody are smiling, and little cartoon hearts are floating around them.”

The CWFKB mods' decision is final on whether your post/entry requires a flashing warning; they will contact you to ask you to update your tags if you haven’t already noted in your tumblr or AO3 post that your fill contains #flashing content. If you are not willing to use the flashing tag, even after being contacted by the mods, the mods have the right to decide that under-tagged flashing fills will be disqualified from the event.

Finally– with exceptions for the NSFW or #spicy and #flashing tags on tumblr– you have the right to choose not to warn readers in accordance with AO3’s “choose not to warn” option, but posters whose tags or ratings are deceptive or misleading versus the actual content may have their fills disqualified.

When in doubt, please contact the mods! We will also contact you about any fill where the tags or ratings raise a concern.

Combining Prompts

This is a low stakes event and we just want people to have fun! If you want to combine prompts that's totally fine, but we ask that you give each fill its own scene within the larger work. This means there should be a separate kiss for each prompt, even if the 'scene' is a series of types of kisses all in a row.

Swapping Prompts

Nearly have a bingo but there's that one pesky prompt in your way you don't vibe with? Go ahead and swap it with another prompt on your card!  All the prompts are randomly selected and not handpicked for participants; we understand there's a chance some of the prompts may not inspire you, so we allow ONE and only ONE SWAP PER CARD. Use the swap, codywaners!  Use the swap!

Behind the Scenes

This bingo is modded by tumblr users @dontbelasagnax @lttrsfrmlnrrgby and @notthestarwar, who brought you #CWFKB2023.  This year we are also joined by the amazing helpers @biscuityskies @nhyhu and @bluemaskedkarma.  

Our adorable profile picture was drawn by @anaclastic-azurite!

You can actually find the public inception of this bingo event right here!

If you have any further questions after reading our rules, our askbox is open!

[alasse-earfalas]

Let’s clear some things up.

"omg you hate queer people!!" 

No, we don't. There's several queer people in the server and we've all gotten along just fine, in fact we've had some wonderful conversations discussing our different views. The reason we marketed our server as a “conservative Christian server” is because that’s primarily who we’re trying to find. Other people with different beliefs and ways of life are welcome to join so long as they’re respectful. 

"but you said you're anti-Pride!!"

Admittedly, this was due to a misunderstanding of what that term means to a lot of people. The "pride movement" and LGBT people are not the same thing to me. Clearly they are to a lot of people, so I understand the confusion. I used this terminology because I’ve seen others in the LGBT community make this distinction in terms, but I understand now that this distinction is not as widespread as I thought it was.

Allow me to clarify: When I say we "don't support the Pride movement", I'm talking specifically about the political movement that advocates for giving porn to young kids in school, putting them through medical procedures they are too young to consent to, and viciously attacking, harassing, and silencing anyone who brings up concerns about these things. Obviously this is not all of the LGBT community, nor would I ever insinuate that. But it is a very vocal and nasty subset of it, and it's a subset we want nothing to do with.

"queered into oblivion"

If it's wrong to straightwash queer characters (and I believe that it is), then it's wrong to queerwash straight characters. Many of the Links are canonically straight in the games, and all of them are portrayed as straight in LU (I don't have the time to go into all the evidence for this right now, but it's there if you look). If you want more queer representation in media—which is totally valid!—go make your own queer characters and give them an engaging story. I've seen it done and it's great! Queerwashing established characters is lazy, disrespectful, and just as offensive as straightwashing. So we're not allowing that in our server. 

"youre banning people just because they're queer!! I was banned and I didn't break any of the rules!" 

If we banned people just for being queer, we wouldn't have any queer people in the server, and I've already debunked that.

As for the second point: Yes, I have banned people wrongly and I apologize for that. This is largely thanks to a constant bombardment of malicious trolls, many of whom pretend to come to us with good intentions, only to wreak havoc once they're granted access to the server. So I am being a bit overzealous with the ban hammer at the moment because we've been burned too many times. It's hard to tell anymore who wants to have a civil discussion and who's just biding their time. If you feel you were banned wrongfully, please reach out to me in dms and we can discuss the matter.

Another quick point I want to make is that our current server rules are due for revision. Now that we've spent some time open to the public, we have a better understanding of what kinds of rules our server needs. So, yes, we're not going to be strictly sticking to our rules right now because we're in the process of tweaking them. I understand that’s frustrating but there’s only so much we can juggle at once. 

"the people in your server are so mean! You don't even talk about loz stuff!"

It's kinda hard to relax and nerd out with your buddies when raiders are lighting your house on fire. We've been burned and we're on edge. I won't ask for anyone in the server to be excused for bad behavior, but I will ask for patience. 

Part of the reason I'm bothering to write this whole thing out in the first place is so we can stop repeating ourselves on these points. Many of the trolls we've dealt with have started out "respectfully disagreeing" with us only to turn nasty and crude. So now whenever there's a disagreement, it puts everyone on edge. 

Before we opened this server up to the public it was just a private little place for me and some friends, and we all happened to share similar beliefs so it turned into a bit of an echo chamber. Please don’t take our old conversations as representative of the current people in the server. We did talk about LoZ stuff, and we still do, but we’ve also got two general chats and a place to discuss controversial topics. And, as I already mentioned, we’re a little preoccupied with the trolling situation. 

Now that we’ve gotten all of that out of the way, here’s a non-exhaustive sampling of what we’ve been dealing with over the past few days: 

typical troll spam: inappropriate images, death threats, etc.

sleeper trolls: people who come into the server pretending to be there in good faith in order to gain access to the server, and then wreaking havoc. Several of these have been… obnoxiously “Christian”, to the point where I was in the middle of typing up a “knock it off” message when they decided to oust themselves. 

false accusations and even outright lies from people on tumblr who’ve “checked out” the server and then left. Idk why people do this. We’ve been baselessly accused of antisemitism among other things. 

vicious asks about this issue sent to tumblr blogs who have no affiliation with our server. 

I’d like to point out here that for being such a “hateful” server, none of the mods (I can’t speak for the other people in the server obviously) have ever done any of this, to anyone, nor would we. I’ve spoken about people using their (real or perceived) victim status as a cudgel to beat others with, and this is a fine example of that. You wonder why we’re trying to make a safe space? Because this is what happens when we share what we believe. You claim we have “institutional power” or whatever and yet we can’t set up and advertise a freaking discord server without people going on a witch hunt. 

I have had a few people reach out to me in kindness, and I want to let those people know that it’s really meant a lot to me. I expected trolls and some lashback but the maliciousness has been something else. I’m sorry to anyone on tumblr who’s been attacked over this, I don’t know why people are going after blogs that have no affiliation with this server, it’s disgraceful and disgusting. 

Hopefully what I’ve written here clears up some of the misunderstandings. We appreciate anyone who’s willing to hear us out rather than jumping to conclusions. Take care everyone.

[tavyliasin]

The Doors to the House of Hopeful Sinners are OPEN

Hello darlings~ The doors to my experimental server are now opening, following the success of the experiment~ (I know the banner isn't particularly original yet but we're open to submissions to replace it!)

The House of Hopeful Sinners is an open and inclusive 18+ FanServer for Baldur's Gate 3, with a focus on creative fanworks and supporting fellow fan creators!

To learn more about the server and what we hope to create together, please Read More below! (NSFW Content and Humour Follow)

HOHS Server Principles

A general summary of the server is that it is a space to allow creativity to flourish. We are LGBTQIA+ and NeuroDivergent Friendly, our motto is something along the lines of "Horny But Wholesome", or "Spicy Kindness". Do be aware we do not currently spoiler mark any storylines, endings, or game details, so you may wish to finish everything in the game unless you're fine with spoilers. Some of what we have to offer:

Almost all channels are NSFW, hornyposting 24/7 is free for all to enjoy if you so wish. No judgement! BE FREE!

Dedicated forums for FanArt and FanFiction, so you can share and search for your own works or those by others.

Forums for reference materials and lore discussion to use for fanworks.

Optional ping roles to be alerted to new content with your favourite characters!

Starboard including NSFW Channels!

Specific channels and threads for discussing niche and triggering kinks where those who enjoy them can engage safely.

Clear list of CWs and rules to tag and spoiler hide content containing potentially triggering content.

Voice Channels to stream games, art, or just chill with your fellow sinners.

A selection of custom emojis, stickers, and soundboards!

A community who will welcome you whether you only drop by a little or visit often. Lurkers welcome~ Enjoy the space however you wish.

Space to grow! We are more than willing to hear feedback and build our space around the needs of the community.

Simple age verification. Open a ticket to verbally confirm your age with a moderator, no photo ID needed. This is trust, and breaking it is an immediate lifetime ban. Having under 18s around is not safe for minors or for the adults. If you're too young, please respect this and wait. We will never knowingly allow a minor into this space.

Bots for AO3 link summaries and image/video embeds from Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, etc

Writing Sprint Channel and bot to write alongside friends and spur each other on!

Server Reviews!

You don't just have to take my word from it, listen to these reviews from satisfied community members!

1/5 stars. "Not enough Raphael." - A. Devilyoudo 5/5 stars. "Like 24/7 Horny Jail, now with a token SFW channel!" - I.C.U. Peekin 3/5 stars. "Server owner clearly needs more sleep." - B.D. Thyme 5/5 stars. "Finally, a place where I have threads for less common kinks!" - I.P. Freely 3/5 stars. "The creative energy gave me kinks I didn't know I had so now I have that to deal with." - Sweet E Pye 5/5 stars. "Everyone is so feral I'm making a fortune." Mr Phucks, Cage Chewer Dentistry 0/5 stars. "These degenerates have changed my brain chemistry and all I can think of is eating Gortass." - Tsun Derriere 5/5 stars. "I've accidentally become the Fairy Smutmother to a bunch of brats and couldn't be happier." - Tavylia of House Sin, first of her na- (script cuts off) 3/5 stars. "A good selection of smut content but I'm too scared to talk to everyone." - Lou King (respectfully) 2/5 stars. “I’ve seen less horny pornography. I had to turn off my message previews so I didn’t give my coworkers hypernatremia at the sheer volume of cum present.” - Michael Toris 5/5 Stars. “I think I’m growing a prostate where my frontal lobe used to be. Think Durge is into skullfucking?” - Illa D. Vized 5/5 stars. "A full range of penis emojis." - Forrest F. Cox 5/5 stars "There's a reason I'm here every day" - Leonardo DaVinci 5/5 stars. "I have learned things about prostates, cervical mucus, and fertility my health class never bothered with and there are big enough nerds here that there are NIH citations about it." - Prof G Dekarios

What Else is there in HOHS? Beta Readers

We have dedicated Beta Readers on a tag role - we would welcome more Beta Readers to help polish up our writers' works, though of course time is freely given and boundaries/CWs are always respected. You are under no pressure to beta. But what can that feedback look like? How does it help?

Editing is painful, but having useful feedback alongside fun and excited comments is a great way to make it a lot less horrible!

Treatos! WIP Feedback!

Sometimes to get things flowing we like to write "Treatos" - short paragraphs/drabbles not connected to full fics to help us get the creative mode moving again.

Most of all, we just welcome all Hopeful Sinners who share our values in fandom enjoyment~ I hope to see you there! - With Love, Tavylia Sin

Disclaimer - side effects of exposure to HOHS might include: - Gender Euphoria - Producing more creative works - Persistent feelings of self-worth - Hyperfixation go brr - Interest in characters you didn't look twice at before - Excessive Thirst

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

Rainbow High Littles: Indigo Bailey, Pt. 1

All right y'all, I said we'd do this so let's go. I was originally going to make this all one entry, but I decided to break off the hair discussion as a separate post, since this one was already way too long before I even got to that point XD Will link Pt. 2 once it's published.

Krystal Jr.: What the heck are we doing all the way over here? Krystal Sr.: We need to collect a delivery to take back to Rainbow Heights--a sister! KJ: I thought I was your sister? KS: No, you're a younger version of me from an alternate point in our shared timeline. We just say you're my sister so it's less confusing for everyone else. KJ: If I'm you from the past and we're both in the same place, shouldn't that create some sort of temporal paradox where you cease to exist? KS: The normal laws of physics don't apply in the doll universe, dear. It's best not to think on it too much. KJ: Okaaaaaaaaaay. But this one is NOT us, right? KS: …Probably not? Indigo: ((Maybe stop talking and let me out, please?))

Sooooooooo yeah, Indigo. Where to begin? For starters, I think the vitriol that's being dumped on these poor Littles is completely out of proportion to what they actually are--tiny dolls meant for small hands to play with. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I can see how they would be less appealing to adult collectors used to a more sophisticated product from this brand, but I personally will do my best to judge her by her own merits.

First impressions: I think she's cute! I pulled a few of her braids back with a rubber band to make her face more visible, but otherwise straight out of the box she's good to go.

Krystal Jr.: Are we a family? Are we clones? Honestly folks, it's anyone's guess. Indigo: Is she always this snarky? Krystal Sr.: Don't worry sweetie, it's just her being a tween, we grow out of it eventually. I: We? KS: It's complicated.

More detailed discussion of clothes & accessories under the cut--

Let's talk about the dress and that reviled plastic bodice. Honestly? I don't mind it! I can't speak for the rest of the line, but in Indigo's case at least it's clear there was some effort put into her overall design. I was especially delighted by the skirt portion of her dress, which is made of a lovely little textured woven fabric featuring a butterfly design, with a coordinating tulle ruffle trim. There's even an underskirt made from a plasticy fine-weave fabric. Both the main skirt and underskirt are sewn (that's right, not glued--there are STITCHES) to the base of the plastic top portion of the dress.

Ok so, no one loves plastic doll clothes. I get it. Not a fan myself. But for what this is, considering it's all one piece, I'm impressed by the amount of detail, and how well it reads as 'normal' clothing. The midsection has a sculpted raised texture that closely mirrors the design of the skirt fabric. The collar section is painted a lighter contrasting shade of purple that compliments her shoes (all the adult collectors who whine about lack of painted detail on molded plastic pieces, here you go), and the ruffle around the armholes compliments the trim on the skirt. Everything is held together neatly at the back with a piece of velcro at the top of the skirt.

Given how difficult it can be to sew fabric doll clothing in this scale that actually looks good, I think the plastic top is a fair compromise to increase ease of use for smaller hands.

The shoes! I was pleasantly surprised by the level of detail on these. The butterfly motif from the dress is carried on here, with sculpted decoration all the way around the tops and even on the soles. This was absolutely unnecessary, but I'm so happy they did it.

Indigo's official height is listed as 5.5 inches, which lands her somewhere between an old school Kelly doll and the closest MGA equivalent in my collection, a Dream Ella Extra Iconic Mini. I believe Magic Mixies Pixlings are also of a similar size, but I don't have one to include in this comparison.

Indigo's pet is...a thing that exists. Her product description says it's a 'magical fox'. Sure.

Ok folks, that's it for pt. 1. We're going to take a closer look at those braids in pt.2

[lefaystrent]

Me, Myself, and These Guys Who Kinda Look Like Me Ch. 6

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairings: Thomas/The Sides

Summary: It starts with dreams. Then Thomas starts seeing the dream people in the waking world.

Thomas doesn't know how to bring it up to anybody or if he even should at this point.

AKA, Thomas has to acknowledge the six colorful characters in the room, much to their long-awaited delight.

Ao3 Link: click here

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

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

The food goes in the microwave and the others sit in the living room. Logan sits leg over knee on one end of the couch. On the opposite end, Roman has both feet planted on the ground, forearms on knees. Patton folds himself on the ground and uses Roman's leg as a backrest. Virgil scales the back of the couch and sits above everyone, back to the wall.

Thomas takes a deep breath. He can do this.

He doesn't want to just stand before them. That'd feel too much like lecturing. Besides, this could take a while. He positions himself in the middle of the couch, situated in the corner of the L where he has a good view of everyone.

"First things first," he says, clearing his throat. "How do we get the others here?"

Roman shifts, mouth set in a serious line. He looks around the tv area as if they'll pop up there. "Remus? Can you come out?"

"We need you to come out," Patton chimes in. "Both of you? Please."

"Can they hear?" Thomas asks.

"Yes, with enough intent, we can hear each other from our rooms," Logan explains. "Whether they choose to respond is up to them."

"Don't you mean whether Remus has the choice to respond?"

To that, Logan doesn't answer. It's for the best. Thomas, usually so patient, struggles to find a happy medium amongst his roiling emotions. Thomas didn't have to sound so spiteful just then. He's not really proud of it. He doesn't want to keep going in that direction.

Virgil runs his hands through his hair, suddenly very aggravated. "Dude, he's right, let's just talk about this already and stop being super shady. Thomas isn't fragile and this is literally his life we're invading. He deserves to know."

"I wouldn't say invading, kiddo."

"Yeah? What would you say then?"

"Keeping him company? Look, I know this probably could have been handled better-"

"You think?"

"Stormcloud, please take a moment. You're lashing out."

"I wasn't even on board with it in the first place!" Virgil emphasizes, but he puts in the effort to pace his breathing and lessen the venom in his words. He pushes the agitated energy into bouncing his foot against the cushion. "He was the one who said it was for the best, and I said it was stupid, but I didn't want to push when all of this-" he gestures at everything and everyone, "is not a situation anyone can prepare for, so who the hell knows what's best? We don't, and we shouldn't pretend to know, and carrying on like that will just make Thomas hate us."

"While your concerns are valid, saying that Thomas will hate us falls under a cognitive distortion known as catastrophizing. Perhaps Thomas would not agree and feel frustrated; however, that does not mean he will figuratively jump straight to hate. In fact, I think his endeavor to discuss this with us now is a testament to his willingness to improve communication between us."

"That's exactly it," Thomas concedes, and he shares a look with Logan. Logan gives a nod, acknowledging his want for a truce. "It's not easy, but we need to talk and establish some boundaries. This... this doesn't seem to be going away. I'm still seeing you, and if we're going to live together, we can't be stepping on each other's toes or shutting each other out."

Roman nods along with his words. He laces his fingers together. "Yeah, okay. I'm on board."

"Me too," Patton says. "We want to show you more consideration, Thomas."

"Not just me, Patton," and if Thomas lets frustration seep into his voice, that just goes to show how much they're missing the point. "With each other too. I'm not the only person here. You're people too, you guys. You're real. I don't know how you're here, but you're real, and you're just as important. Which also means that I'll need to be considerate of you guys too."

"You don't owe us anything," Virgil rebuffs, and it's the way that it sounds stifled and stressed and self-deprecating, that it gets to Thomas.

"And you don't owe me anything either," Thomas urges. "Not beyond like, roommate courtesy. Because that's what we are now. Roommates in my one-bedroom apartment. Roommates that are stuck with each other whether we like it or not."

There are a couple of winces and Thomas backtracks.

"Okay, I shouldn't have said 'stuck with'. I don't like the connotations of that."

"Doesn't make it any less true," Roman says, but he smiles in sympathy.

Thomas shrugs. "Either way, no one got a choice in this. But the choices on how we handle it after? That's what matters. And while I understand where Bowler Hat is coming from, I don't think it's healthy for him to feel like he has to avoid me when we're going to have to learn how to live together. Whatever he looks like, he shouldn't have to be ashamed or scared of how I'll react. And as for Remus, he uh, okay he's exuberant and maybe got a little ahead of himself. But that's the kind of thing we need to talk about after, not just shove it away. Or shove him away."

"Aww, you do care!"

Thomas blinks and glances over. Behind the couch by Logan, Remus's top half if visible, his arms folded over the top of the couch. He appears completely unruffled by whatever treatment he received from Bowler Hat.

"Took you long enough," Roman snorts.

"Sorry, I had a little reptile dysfunction issue."

"Never mind, you can go back to the hole you crawled out of."

"No, no, no, we just talked about this," Thomas says. He turns to Remus. "Thank you for joining us."

Remus beams and hops over the back of the couch effortlessly to plop beside Thomas. Like right beside him. He slides an arm over Thomas's shoulders and presses up against the full-length of his side.

"Thank you for missing me," Remus purrs, eyes at half-mast, and a big part of Thomas's brain traffic jams. Remus is about as tall as Thomas is, maybe taller with his heeled boots. And his build isn't that much larger than Thomas's, and yet it feels like he's towering over him.

Thomas gulps and loses all ability to speak.

"Remus, you shouldn't-" Patton begins, but he never finishes. Likely, he's torn between reprimanding Remus and bearing in mind how upset Thomas was at Remus being pushed away.

This though? This is too much. Thomas can't think. What were they talking about?

"Remus, we were just having a conversation about personal boundaries," Logan says from somewhere far, far off from faraway land. He tugs on Remus's arm, not harshly, just pointed. "We would like you to join the conversation, after you remove yourself from Thomas. Consent is an important part of communication."

Remus's playful smirk diminishes. He gives Thomas a considering once over.

"Do you want me to remove myself?" Remus asks lowly, staring with rapt attention.

Did Thomas?

Okay, sue him for a moment's hesitation. Yes, yes he did want Remus to move. This is way too intimate and tossing his thoughts in a spin cycle.

Thomas nods his head vigorously.

"Then remove I shall," Remus says, sounding unbothered but slowly untangles himself. He scooches over closer to Logan, and Thomas feels like he can breathe again.

"Okay, um," Thomas starts eloquently. He feels himself blushing and curses himself internally. He's frazzled enough to blurt out, "I just want to put out there that I don't mind touch, but Logan's right, consent is important."

"Consent is sexy."

"Yes, Remus. Thank you. We shall all endeavor to be sexy- I mean important! I mean- Communication! We're communicating, damn it!"

"I don't endeavor to be sexy. I achieve," Roman says suavely because of course he does.

"More like overachiever," Virgil snarks.

"Are you calling me more than sexy?"

Virgil thinks back over his own words carefully and promptly shuts the fuck up. He throws his hood up over his head and the material swallows up his embarrassment. It's pretty adorable actually.

Thomas slaps lightly at his cheek as if that will suppress the gay inside him.

"We're getting off track," he notes. "What about Bowler Hat?"

"Oh, he's still in my room," Remus supplies. He stretches his long legs out and crosses them at the ankles. "He said we could carry on without him. He just wants us to give you the dirty deets beforehand. He'll pop up after."

"Oh, okay. Wait, you guys can go to each other's rooms?"

"Nah, just him."

The interdimensional pocket planes that Logan said were specific to each of them? That only they could go to? If Bowler Hat can move freely between all of them while the others can't, what does that mean?

Patton explains, "The rest of us can't, but J- I mean, Bowler Hat is the only one of us who has managed to come into our rooms. We're not sure how he does it, and he's not able to explain it well either. It's something he's always been able to do. We've tried before, but it's never worked."

The rest of them more or less nod to support the point. Thomas stows that knowledge away in a bin for later. He's not sure what he'll do with that information, but it seems noteworthy.

"So, what's his deal then?" Thomas asks. "Respectfully. What does he look like that you guys think he'll scare me?"

"He looks like part snake," comes Virgil's muffled voice. He's tightened his hoodie strings to the point that he looks a little ridiculous. "There, I said it."

"Part...snake?"

"It's um, this part of his face?" Patton trails his fingers over the left half of his face. "There are scales, and his eye is a different color."

"Ask how far the scales go," Remus challenges.

Thomas does not ask how far the scales go.

"Like legit scales?" Thomas asks for clarification. "Like a naga or something?"

Logan nods. "Vaguely similar to some depictions, just sans the snake tail bottom. He has fangs as well."

Fangs?

Thomas imagines Bowler Hat smiling.

Nope, not helping. Stop it.

"He's not like, evil or a monster or anything," Patton tells Thomas, mistaking his furrowed brows for apprehension. "He's a good person."

"He's just a snake boy," Roman agrees.

Thomas slaps his forehead. "Oh my gosh, that's why you guys kept making snake jokes about him! That's why you called him Bananaconda, oh my gosh, it makes so much sense now."

Roman preens. "Thank you, I'm quite proud of that one."

"Okay, he's a snake man. Part snake man. Why not?"

Virgil peers out skeptically from the hole of his hood. "That's it?"

"Why not? At this point, you guys could tell me pretty much anything and I'd probably believe you."

"I can fart fire."

Thomas points at Remus. "See there? Like that. Totally believable."

"Well this was terribly anticlimactic," Roman mutters. "You might as well get out here now, Fangilicious!"

"Who's she? Never heard of her," Bowler Hat announces, walking down the stairs. One hand glides down the banister in an unhurried motion. He carefully doesn't look in Thomas's direction.

"The gang's all here!" Patton cheers. Thomas wonders if he's trying to lighten the mood.

"I've never heard of gangs in my life," Bowler Hat says with an utmost grave expression that Thomas cannot take seriously. Not that Thomas is paying much attention to his words.

As they banter, Thomas watches enraptured. Because standing before them is very much a part snake man. His eyes trace over the left side of Bowler Hat's face, and his brain tries to tell him it must be make-up, and the slitted eye could be a contact lens. Also, Thomas could wake up any minute and this would all be a dream.

It's not a dream. It's scales cascading from temple to jaw and disappearing into his neckline. Green blends into yellow in a iridescent ombre, and the colors shimmer in the ceiling light. The line of his mouth extends further than it should on the left side, and as he talks, Thomas catches a glint of fang.

It's a compelling exhibit of fine jewelry that beckons him closer. Thomas rises to his feet and walks over. Bowler Hat is good at keeping a composed facade. However, he can't ignore Thomas when the man stands directly in front of him. He glances at Thomas, and wow. The left eye really is slitted and golden with flecks of green and amber brown. He's caught half in a transformation, as if any second he'll become a true snake.

"Would you like to take a picture? It will last longer," Bowler Hat comments airily.

Thomas wants to ask if they would even show up in a picture. He thinks they should do a science experiment and give it a go.

What comes out of his mouth is a string of unintelligible high-pitched trilling. Thomas flaps his hands and bounces up and down and finally shapes words in his vocalizations. "That's so cool!"

Bowler Hat flinches and stares at him critically. He looks either constipated or like he thinks Thomas has lost his mind. "I....totally knew you were going to say that. Please keep gawking like I'm an animal on display at the zoo."

"No, no, it's really cool," Thomas tries again. He doesn't know how to assure the man that he isn't trying to gawk, he's just excited. "That's so cool. You're cool!"

"What's cooler than being cool?" Patton asks.

"Ice cold!" Roman and Remus holler.

"Actually, we are most likely room temperature due to not being able to produce body heat."

Bowler Hat tuts at Logan. "You heard the man, I'm cool. The coolest. How does it feel to be less than in my presence?"

Virgil calls him a dork and Remus says something about whale anatomy, but Thomas is still too busy making star eyes at Bowler Hat.

"They're so pretty," Thomas coos, and by sheer impulse he reaches up and cups the side of his scaled face.

In hindsight, they literally just had a conversation about the importance of consent. But a possessed fascination grips Thomas and draws him in. It isn't a conscious decision. His hand is suddenly there, and Thomas is transfixed at the smooth slide of scales under his fingertips. The cheekbone juts out a bit more than the other side, more angular like the jaw. There's much less of an eyebrow on this side too. It doesn't detract in the slightest. It's so pretty and lovely and feels nice.

"Oh."

Thomas comes back to himself enough that he takes in Bowler Hat's expression. His mouth hangs gently open and the composure from before is gone. He's looking back into Thomas's eyes, lost and yet like he's realized something of infinite importance.

The rest of the room melts away. The filter of thoughts running through Thomas's brain disconnects. He thinks he should step back, but physically he cannot move his hand. Strangely, it doesn't worry him as much as it should. He's more inclined to drink in the unreserved reverence in the other's eyes. A flush rises in the more human side. A flash of interest passes, an idea that maybe Thomas has seen him somewhere before. A familiarity that can't be placed.

Thomas's thumb caresses over the scales and brushes over the corner of his lips. Bowler Hat's eyelids flutter, and rather suddenly his knees buckle.

"Janus!" a couple of people exclaim. Roman has thrown himself forward and is at Thomas's elbow, but Thomas has managed to mostly catch the other before he falls completely.

"I'm fine, completely fine," Bowler Hat wheezes. He's gripping at the front of Thomas's shirt to steady himself. Thomas returns the hold and observes him worriedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me," Thomas apologizes profusely. He appreciates when Roman helps to stabilize the dazed snake man.

"I don't know what you're talking about, nothing happened," Bowler Hat...Janus? Is that what they just called him? He snaps at them and tries to push them away.

"You looked like you were fainting!" Roman argues.

"I was not!"

"I'm sorry," Thomas says again, not knowing what else to say.

Bowler Hat Janus jerks around to him. "Shut up! Damn you, Thomas!"

Then, much to everyone's shock, he begins to cry.

He quickly swipes at his face with shaking hands and turns away from them. "This is a completely normal reaction! Stop staring!"

Thomas looks to Roman for an explanation or an answer or just support in general. Roman seems just as perplexed, if not more so.

"I've never seen him cry before. Ever," Roman whispers. He looks more than baffled. There is fear in his eyes, like his world has tilted on its axis.

"What do we do?" Thomas hisses. This is his fault. He knows it is. And he has to make it better. He'll do anything. He can't stand it when people cry around him even more than when they argue. Especially people who are crying because Thomas made them cry somehow.

Remus appears on Thomas's other side. He prods at him, trying to silently coax Thomas in Janus's direction. His arms mime a hugging motion. There's no ounce of humor in the way he does it or in his face. He's not being silly or flirtatious. He looks just as rattled as Roman does.

Thomas listens to him and his instincts and steps around Janus to face him. The other's eyes are rimmed red and he's breathing in tiny hiccups and sniffles that he attempts in vain to contain. Thomas can't compare the person he sees before him here with the placid man from last night. It's night and day.

Thomas makes sure he sees him before holding out his arms. He doesn't take that last step. He waits with a patient smile and shows that he's there if he needs, if he wants the comfort. He'll let Janus make the choice this time.

And Janus does. He takes one look at Thomas and his lip wobbles.

Thomas finds his arms very full afterwards.

***

Holding someone while crying is probably on a list of top five trauma bonding exercises.

Janus's arms are wound around Thomas's torso and the force of his embrace punches the wind right out of his lungs. It's a desperate hold that says, "Don't you dare let go," as well as, "Please God, don't let me go." Janus's face lodges in Thomas's shoulder and refuses to move, and Thomas feels wetness trickle down against his neck along with stuttered breathing. Thomas just turns their bodies a little more away from everyone's startled gazes to help Janus hide better.

For Thomas's part, it's much easier to return the hug than he thought possible. There's a need in him to shelter, to bring close. He rubs at his cloaked back where it heaves, and he places his hand over a slightly scaled neck to provide warmth and comfort. Janus shudders at the skin-to-skin contact and merely tightens his hold. At some point, Janus's hat fell off and the hair left revealed is flat in some places and wispy in others. Thomas rests his brow against his head and whispers that it's okay, that everything is going to be okay and that he's not going anywhere.

The most baffling part is that Thomas is steadily leaking tears himself. A big softie he may be, but he's never been much of a sympathetic crier. Usually, he can keep better control over his tear ducts when he needs to be the one doing the comforting. So why is he crying? What is he feeling?

Well, he feels breath against his collar, intakes of air that grow increasingly longer and less strained. He feels Janus's weight almost boneless against him. Thomas feels glad that he has been to the gym some and that his arms are strong enough to humbly hold up a pretty scaled crying man.

He feels guilty? Yeah, he feels guilty that he made Janus cry. He feels relieved that he's letting Thomas comfort him now, because he'd feel even worse if he couldn't. He feels like there's more going on in Janus's head, in all of their heads, than Thomas can imagine.

He feels like his heart is swelling and if he lets go of Janus he might die.

This connection between him and the others...how deep does it go? The way they've interacted with him... Remus especially has been handsy today. Clingy?

Thomas squeezes his arms, testing the waters. Janus sighs at the pressure and relaxes further into him and the grounding pressure. The resulting surge of rightness dazzles Thomas and a fresh bout of tears escapes him.

Scared by his own reaction, Thomas swivels to look at the others. While they have been busy crying, the others had moved around some. Patton climbed up to sit beside Virgil, head resting against his shoulder. Virgil has a hoodie string clamped in his mouth. Not chewing, just holding it there while he stares at his hands. Roman and Remus sat back down on the couch, heads close together and whispering subtly. Oddly, they're holding hands.

Logan paces quietly behind the couch, walking back and forth from table to closet door. He's the first to notice Thomas's wide-eyed plea for help. He comes to an abrupt stop, assessing before he comes to some decision and strides over to them.

He looks Thomas over clinically and understands the priority here. Logan presses his palm against Janus's shoulder.

"Janus, if you're feeling any better, perhaps you would like to sit down? We can talk, if you are comfortable with that. We're all willing to listen. And if that seems too overwhelming at the moment, we can relocate to my room?"

It takes a solid minute until Janus gives any sign that he hears them. Slowly, ever so slowly, he eases his death grip on Thomas and retracts his arms. Finally, inch by careful inch, he lifts his head, no longer leaning against Thomas.

He avoids Thomas's gaze. His eyes flicker to the side. At least he's not crying anymore.

"I'll be alright," he says in a soft tone that Thomas has to strain to here. "Thank you for your concern. That will be unneccessary."

What a silly man. Of course it's necessary.

Thomas scoops up one of his hands and holds it until Janus glances up at him. When he gets a good look at him, he gasps.

"Why on earth are you crying?!" Janus shouts. It's not accusatory. It's rife with bafflement and worry and other emotions that Thomas cannot name.

"I dunno. I've just got a lot of emotions right now," Thomas sniffles meekly, feeling more traitorous tears leak. "I don't like that I made you cry. I'm sorry. I just want you to be okay."

"You absolutely silly man," Janus huffs in an echo of Thomas's own thoughts. It startles a little laugh out of him, and he lets Janus fuss over him. Gloved fingers wipe delicately at his cheeks and eyes, the material scratchy at his sensitive skin yet soothing in their sentiment. "Even when you're bawling your eyes out you can't help but be endearing, can you? It's criminal."

Thomas giggles and feels significantly lighter.

Janus takes charge of the situation and leads Thomas back to his spot on the couch. He goes so far as to retrieve a glass of water and a throw blanket, making sure that Thomas is well taken care of. Thomas wants to protest, but he thinks this is Janus's way of showing he forgives him while getting his own bearings straight.

"Now then." Janus stands with hands on hips, haughtiness masking the previous emotional vulnerability. He looks at Thomas expectantly. "I believe you wanted a conversation? Let's talk."

[agro-carnist]

Now that I'm slightly less in the spotlight, I'd like to talk about what has been going on and give my side. I'm sure you've all seen what has been said about me, but in case you haven't, this will include a discussion about zoophilia, zoosadism, pedophilia, and taboo kink/fetish.

I've taken several days to write this because I needed to clear my head so I could write something concise. I did not want to immediately write something too quickly that I couldn't think through.

I don't expect anyone to completely understand me or totally agree with my opinions, but I am writing this with full sincerity. I'd just like a little bit of faith when you read this. My positions are based on the science that I read, and I try to be someone that sticks to the side of evidence, not one of pure feelings or assumptions or what we think is common sense, even when it is difficult to understand or seems counterintuitive. I've always preached this principle on here, so I hope you all feel the same way. I ask that you read this with that in mind. Even if you don't reach the same conclusion as me, consider what I say and what I give with good faith.

All linked sources with restricted access can be read by copy/pasting the url or title into sci-hub

First, that twitter account is mine. The art contained on the twitter account is mine. Yes it is graphic. No I am not a zoophile, zoosadist, or pedophile. I understand this kind of art is disgusting and/or disturbing to many people. That is why I kept it on an account specifically for this kind of extreme art. It is why I don't advertise it. I am not secretive about my kinks/fetishes - I enjoy things like gore, noncon, and animal characters - but I know when and where these kinds of things are appropriate. Some of my art is not meant for a general audience. I won't advertise it to anyone and everyone to see because it can be upsetting to most people. That's also why I give plenty of content warnings and include the twitter censor that blurs the image and you have to click 'show' on to see. And that's why I believe posting screenshots of this material with my username, showing everyone exactly where to go to find this content, is irresponsible. I know the people that posted it think they're doing a service, but this is how children find content they shouldn't see. Callouts are how people find things they otherwise would never see. I, personally, don't think calling people out this way helps kids. I think it does more harm than good. My twitter was public but is now private because I don't want curious minors to look me up and look at what is on the account.

I understand that it can be hard to know why someone would enjoy erotic art of violence between animal characters without being a zoophile/zoosadist. But there are many reasons people enjoy taboo erotica without desiring it in the real world. About half of people experience paraphilic sexual fantasies, and the fantasies alone are not indicative of pathology. Deviant sexual fantasies are, in fact, "within the normal realm of human experience." There is little evidence that fantasy alone means someone wants to or will commit a sexual offense. Forced sex fantasies are extremely common. Violent sexual fantasies are not abnormal. Sex therapists and educators acknowledge that fantasies are not necessarily repressed desires. Sexual fantasy is not sexual desire. It's ok for our sexual interests to not reflect our moral code. Often taboo sexual fantasies are a way to explore how we feel about things, like repulsion. Humans are curious animals. We have morbid curiosities. Fantasies can be a way to experience something that would be immoral to act upon.

Why I am into taboo kink is hard to explain, and a lot of it I don't understand myself - human minds are very complex - but I can try to explain some of it. I enjoy exploring the darker parts of humanity. We're still animals and that means we still hold onto aspects that don't align with our morals. We have morbid curiosities. When we pass by a car crash, we want to see it, or when someone tells us something disturbing is spreading on the internet, we take interest in what it could be. Art is a way to fulfill that curiosity without any victims. Another thing is that it can be fun or therapeutic to imagine yourself in situations of bodily harm. That's probably confusing, but I like to explore what my body looks like on the inside, or what it would feel like to experience certain physical traumas, without the threat of dying. Fear and arousal are closely intertwined. The animal characters I draw are also very far removed from real world animals. They are sapient and behave very human. To me the only difference between them and an anthro furry character is the number of legs they walk on and the lack of clothes.

Because I draw this kind of content, many people are claiming that I am faking having ZOCD and my intrusive thoughts, or that my intrusive thoughts have turned into wanted thoughts. They say that if I really was distressed by these thoughts, I wouldn't engage with them through art. But my intrusive thoughts are about real people and animals. I do not have intrusive thoughts about characters. I watch movies and read books with murder, kidnapping, torture, disease, and freak accidents and enjoy these pieces of media. This does not negate the fact that I have intrusive thoughts about these things or the distress I feel regarding them. Someone getting hurt in a movie does not distress me. My intrusive thoughts include ideas of me or a loved one getting hurt, or me suddenly hurting someone. Intrusive thoughts target your fears and your morals. They make you question who you are as a person. That's why thoughts of real world violence are so distressing and depictions of violence in media are (usually) not. I fear losing someone I love, I fear losing a part of my mind or body, I fear losing control of my humanity and hurting someone, I fear loss of inhibition that makes me do things I wouldn't otherwise do. I don't fear hurting a character or a character doing a bad thing to another character. When I'm obsessing and becoming paranoid it's not over things that happen in fictional worlds. My therapist doesn't have to reassure me that I'll be ok if something bad happens in that fictional world. She does have to reassure me that the world isn't out to get me and that I don't have to act on a thought. Others with OCD might find media that resembles the content of their intrusive thoughts triggering, and that's normal, but not everyone will react the same. Not everyone copes with their mental illnesses the same way or has the same triggers. Most violent depictions just don't garner that same reaction from me because I don't have any moral qualms with fake people or animals getting hurt since they aren't real victims. It doesn't attack my moral beliefs that way. It may be upsetting to see, but doesn't make me fear for my or others' safety.

I love horror movies and haunted houses. I love the adrenaline and fear I experience during them. But I still metaphorically shit my pants at the thought of an actual serial killer stalking me and jumping out of a hiding spot. The difference is that the former exists in a safe space that I can leave and where I know it's a script. How I feel about a scenario in fiction does not dictate how I feel about it happening in the real world. To tell me that I don't actually have the disorder that I've been diagnosed with is extremely upsetting. So is to tell me I'm hiding secret bloodthirsty desires behind a mental illness or that I'm making OCD look bad by not having a moral conundrum about fake people or animals being hurt. I especially don't appreciate people that don't have OCD preaching about what "real" intrusive thoughts are or what I should or should not be doing while having OCD. The things that have been said to or about me have been undeniably ableist. And the distress that has caused me has just been brushed aside because I don't adhere to what people think I as a person with OCD "should" act like. I feel like I'm not being granted agency over my own experiences.

I am even being compared to some of the worst people like Kero the wolf or HypnotistSappho. I hope you believe me when I say that is truly disgusting and offensive. These were the kinds of people that belonged to groups for sharing material of real animals being tortured for sexual pleasure, or tried to start an organization to promote bestiality, or openly promoted zoophilia and pedophilia as normal sexual orientations, or actively abused children and animals. I have not done anything like that. My artistic expression is nothing like their real world, extensive and widespread levels of abuse. I am so offended that I'd spend years spreading animal welfare advocacy, including explicitly anti-bestiality rhetoric, only to be lumped in with monsters, like my art erases all the work I've done. How someone could believe I actually desire to torture animals baffles me. How someone could think all this work was just master manipulation to con everyone so I could secretly abuse leaves my head spinning.

I also haven't ever claimed that my nsfw art is a coping mechanism for my OCD/intrusive thoughts. This is an assumption people have made. Occasionally elements of my intrusive thoughts will make their way into my art as a way to confront them head on on my own terms, but almost always are not a factor in my nsfw art. Art based on my intrusive thoughts as catharsis I don't share publicly.

Yes, I enjoy hurting fictional characters. They exist in a world with no consequences. Nobody actually gets hurt. Anything can happen to them and nothing about the world changes. I have no desire to hurt an animal, because that impacts the real world. I have never looked at an animal and felt excitement at the idea of hurting it. I have never felt attraction to an animal. I have never felt the urge to make sexual contact with an animal. I have never experienced attraction to a child, either.

I am also being accused of being a pedophile. This is because I made a tweet saying I enjoy explicitly abusive relationships between adult and minor characters, but don't enjoy minor/adult ships depicted as cute or wholesome. People interpret this as me having a malicious desire to abuse a child. But here's the thing: you don't know why someone enjoys a certain dynamic. Many people that like to see abusive relationships depicted in stories or erotica are survivors of abuse themselves. Many people use kink as a coping mechanism, and the stigma of their kink play often hinders them from trauma recovery. Like I said before, kink and fantasy are not morality guidebooks. This also assumes every character drawn in ship art or erotica is an object of attraction to those that create or consume it. But even porn can serve a purpose other than arousal. Personally I just like these dynamics because they offer a compelling story and/or character interactions that can explore trauma and its effects and can feel therapeutic to work through.

Art does not exist in a vacuum. I don't argue it does. Art is influenced by its creator. But you can't look at the content of someone's kink or fantasy to judge the quality of someone's character. This is the position of professionals that study and counsel people. Whether or not someone commits a sexual offense is more influenced by that person's personality traits, moral positions, pre-existing positive beliefs about offending, environment, and negative emotional states. And, look, fiction does indeed effect reality, but there is little evidence that porn encourages someone to offend or results in more violent offenses. Availability of porn may even be associated with lower levels of sexual aggression. This professional report goes into great detail on sexual offending and concludes that there is no reason "scientific or otherwise" for criminalization of any type of virtual porn because it does not lead to offending, and may even provide a substitute for people that may otherwise offend. Even if you find that content reprehensible. Offensive art has its place and deserves to exist. That is the position I have come to based on the scientific evidence.

And I want to make another thing clear: I am not a proshipper. Disliking the position of one group does not make me a member of a different group. I have no desire to put myself in a category, I just have my own opinions. I also have plenty of issues with the proship community. I just now look at fiction and kink with more nuance than I used to. I don't participate in fearmongering based on knee-jerk reactions to media anymore.

Going forward I'm going to do my best to be more responsible with my nsfw accounts. Any interactions I've made with minors are honest mistakes. I genuinely don't want to expose minors to my nsfw or interact with them. I don't go out seeking minors to talk to. But I know interacting with minors through an nsfw account is serious, so I'm going to do better to police myself and always check that no one I'm interacting with is underage.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. Sadly I expect many people won't read this, they'll just continue to repeat "zoophile" and "pedophile." But I really appreciate you if you took the time to read. I know many people really do want to be good and believe they are protecting people by engaging in callouts against people for their fictional interests. I think most people have their hearts in the right place but are misguided by the current culture. And I don't mind if you disagree with me, but I always want people to take their positions with the most information. I want there to be honest discussions about these topics, not naming and shaming people.

I might make updates to this post if I think of things I forgot to address. Like I said, it's been many days of my head buzzing and this post is also very long. I welcome any good faith questions or concerns. People that come just to attack in bad faith will just be blocked. I won't humor that. Please meet me with the same honesty I came with. I want to continue to do good.

-Agro

[frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers]

Jennifer Lee on Frozen 3 and 4 in a podcast with Heart ♡︎

Exactly a week ago Heart dropped a podcast with Jennifer Lee discussing Wish, Disney and Frozen 3 and 4.

From 4:04 onwards they start talking about the upcoming Frozen movies. Here's the link or if you can't have a listen, have a read of what she says in response to the questions:

Heart: “And talking about characters, I have to talk about Frozen because I absolutely love Frozen... But are they coming back and will Elsa find love?”

Jen: “Well they are coming back. Big Iger himself leaked it, that we got so much story that we're working on now, it looks like it's gonna be two films. Cause it's so big where they're going next. And Elsa's got a lot to do, so, and I can't give anything away to say what's gonna happen but Anna as well. And Anna's you know, I feel very connected to her, the ordinary hero, I don't have any magic. But I'm really excited. The amazing thing to me is always how these two sisters as we start looking at their journey, they keep surprising us and telling us, showing us what they're capable of. So I'm definitely excited about where we're going.”

Heart: “So does Elsa find love?”

Jen: “I can't give anything away, I can't tell you anything. All I want to say is that anyone who thinks they've heard anything they are not true, there's no leak, nothing has left our vaulted story room and the only leak is what Bob Iger leaked himself.”

So it's clear that Frozen 3 and 4 will be one story split into two movies like previous franchises have done. That's because the story is so big and they don't want to rush it or cram it into one. This logically speaking is a very clever and wise thing to do. Everyone knows no one can enjoy a good story when it's rushed and not long enough. Disney would be the first to make its own projects, have a part 1 and 2. Marvel has done it before with Avengers Infinity War and Endgame and Sony has done it with its Spider-verse films, and there's Dune and more. I mean we all thought Frozen 2's events were big imagine what else is in store for us!

Jennifer Lee has not confirmed or denied the possibility of Elsa getting a love interest. Really we could say it's because she doesn't want to break the Hearst of those who ship Elsa with someone and those who don't, meaning the answer on whether or not she does or not will be in the movie.

Lee also tells us that Elsa and Anna will have a lot to do this time round which means we're in for a ride as the sisters themselves! Like it's exciting because this next big story is literally unpredictable. Frozen could go anywhere. So much ground is left to be explored. We can guess but I'm almost certain our guesses will be nothing like what they've got planned!

As far as leaks go there have been no leaks on either Frozen 3 or 4. So anything anyone says here or on twitter is not true! With this next story being so big to be split into two they're keeping their story room strictly sealed.

Slowly, Jennifer is keeping us fed with little details as well as subtle ones. Teasing us well but not revealing much, not even who this new director is, yet.

[crystalstunes]

crystal's tunes #2: WORRY. by Jeff Rosenstock (2016)

i was going to wait a while before talking about this album, but i mean come on, it's literally got a track called June 21st. if i was gonna do it any day it'd be today.

WORRY. is an album that's very special to me. i originally discovered it via James Acaster's book Perfect Sound Whatever (named after the closing track of the album), and in the years since it's become one of my most listened to albums of all time. i'm not going to link any specific songs here, because i feel like the album is meant to be listened to in its entirety.

this was the second studio album Jeff released after the end of his previous project, ska-punk collective Bomb the Music Industry!, which in itself was born out of the end of his previous-previous project The Arrogant Sons of Bitches. this album really feels like a culmination of all of his work leading up to this, refined to a T and bursting with energy.

"We're not stupid people but this financial oppression has got everyone believing all that we can do is nothing/'Cause we organise through avenues they lace with advertisements so the ones we rage against are still lining their pockets" - Festival Song (Track 3)

thematically, the album discusses a variety of issues with modern-day America, such as landlords/gentrification, the coroprate sponsors of festivals and culture, social media mining your data, police brutality, and how the world just keeps getting worse due to capitalism in general. this is especially evident on tracks such as Festival Song, Staring Out The Window at Your Old Apartment, Blast Damage Days, HELLLLHOOOOLE, and The Fuzz, but is present throughout the album. he also touches on some more personal issues, such as alcoholism and the struggles of being a DIY musician.

the production here is absolutely top-notch, every single element is balanced perfectly, guitars are clear and crushing when they need to be, drums are punchy, vocals cut through well and instruments such as saxophones, glockenspiels and synths are used in certain songs to offer various different sonic textures. its not just the instruments that are varied here though, he also travels across a number of styles such as his classic ska-punk on the 91 second track Rainbow, to more hardcore punk on 30 second track Planet Luxury.

the A-side of this album is fantastic, with tracks like We Begged 2 Explode, Pash Rash and Festival Song becoming fan favourites and staples of his live sets, but i think this album really comes into its own during it's B-side. every track from Blast Damage Days through to the final track Perfect Sound Whatever perfectly transition into each other, creating a medley of different punk subgenres that is absolutely incredible. it's cathartic and danceable all in one, and its one of my favourite things he's done on an album.

"Whenever we feel ashamed, being alive and awake in such an era of hate and military police/These are the mass murder days, we are the blast damage age, where we can't love anything, because they keep us afraid/Oh, I will be there, kicking, fighting, beating, screaming 'There's no fucking way I'm ever letting go of you!'" - Blast Damage Days (Track 9)

the album builds up in energy until its final anthemic, gang vocal repetitions of "Perfect always takes so long, because it don't exist/It doesn't exist!", which is one of Jeff's main mission statements creatively. the first Bomb the Music Industry! album Album Minus Band has anti-piracy hiss throughout from various plugins he used the demo versions of instead of buying, and a track that's project files corrupted so he couldnt mix it properly, but all of that just adds to the artistry of it all. nothing can ever truly be perfect, so just be honest and authentic and do what you want, because in both art and people, our imperfections are what make us whole. i'm not a perfect person, and that's alright. i may have my own anti-piracy demo plugin hiss in my brain, but that's just part of what makes me myself - i wouldn't truly be me without it, and that's beautiful.

i think this album is truly great because despite the overwhelmingly negative topics being discussed, in the end its hopeful, even if the world or your life seem like theyre fucked, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. the penultimate track ...While You're Alive, ends with the verse "And it's not like the love that they show us on TV/It's a home that can burn, it's a limb to freeze/It's worry/Love is worry". this can just be taken at face value as the fact that when you love someone you worry about them, but i interpret it a different way, especially with the context of the rest of the album.

when the government and systems are against you, you're fighting your own brain, and you're overwhelmed with worry, that worry is coming from a place of love, because you wouldnt worry about something you dont care about. you love yourself, you love the world, and in a way, your anxieties are really just a form of expressing your care and love even if it feels like fear, and anger, and sadness. and, for me at least, that's one of the most reassuring messages i've ever been given from an album. thanks, jeff.

"Because it's June 21st, and this winter was the worst we've ever seen, but we made it through the freeze/And now it's June 21st, and this winter was the worst we've ever seen, now it's 84 degrees forever." - June 21st (Track 14)

[flower-sunflower-blog]

s!Ryan theory part 1/3 : Sun, keeper of the flame, breaker of the day

So, I’m finally getting on s!Ryan, what I’ve been figuring out so far, my theories and the different possibilities I could think of !

s!Ryan is a complex character that is giving me a hard time since a while, don’t get me wrong I really enjoy it - but still it’s hard xD Her story is conveyed through a multiformat storytelling and various hints spread around like pieces of puzzle. And everything is tying to a general story you need to figure out in order to connect everything.

That’s why it was so hard to share my thoughts about her, even small, compared to other characters. Because most of the time to understand my points you had to know about this one hint, connected to this other hint that made me think that, and could’ve explained this etc. My mind was a mess xD

BUT I tried to put everything into order, and through a 3 part theory, I'll try to go through everything as much as possible ! In order to give a better picture about her lore, the real mysteries about her, as well as a general context/timeline of event.

And yeah 3 parts, because s!Ryan is THAT much of a headache /lh

I hope we could be on a same page this way, so pay attention and follow me through this ! (if you're interested of course ;D)

This is the first part who will be discussing s!Ryan’s nature and powers, as well as her link with the sun.

The second part will be about her past, mostly based on her playlist "the origin story". And the last part will be about her connections with other people.

s!Ryan references and appearance

Let’s start with the “easiest” part. s!Ryan is looking like this : 

On her pinterest board, we can see references for her fairy-looking outfit. 

s!Ryan seems to like flowers/have a connection with it, she has a texture pack based on it. It looks like she’s a fairy, her connection with flowers and nature in general would make sense. 

Another interesting detail about her : she’s ginger. There are multiple references of ginger hair. 

I know this is shocking news for everyone xD BUT for realsies, keep in mind that s!Ryan has ginger hair on her pinterest board. More specifically, fully ginger-hair. It’s important for later.

Then something I noticed was various elements about fortune telling : crystal ball, tarot cards, palm reading. 

There is also this, that I found out to be "perfume". (Well at least that's what google told me)

It could be in line with fortune telling, it may even refer to something else unknown to us. But in general it just give up a certain vibe/aesthetic from her. 

s!Ryan and the sun

Omg guys, now we're getting onto the real deal, make sure to follow through everything xD

s!Ryan is heavily, heavily tied to the “sun”. There are so many hints about the sun, the light, the sunrays in general.

First when you look at her pinterest board you can notice them easily :

I also tend to think the sun has a divine essence in this world, i'll go more on that in a bit.

s!Ryan has a deep connection with the sun within herself. On twitter, she dropped 2 hints that highlighted it.

First there is this one :

Then there's this one : 

The description is a line coming from the song "The Moon will sing", and the next line is “I loved you like the sun”.

(note : it’s not the only time I’ll talk about these 2 hints, it will come up on later posts)

Finally, half of her hair became blonde at some point. Ryan said it was related to her lore, she didn't described it as something new, but as a part of her already existing but that she started to “show” little by little. And recently, her second eye started to glow.

Looking at it for a bit, I definitely think about the sun. We had hints and references, but it's almost like this eye and her blonde hair color is sort of physical mark of her connection with the sun.

The divine sun

So now it’s clear that s!Ryan is connected to the sun. But what kind of connection ? That’s where things get complicated for real. 

First of all, in order to have the slightest idea, we need to understand the nature of the sun to begin with. I said earlier that I think the sun has a divine essence, however I purposefully didn’t say that the sun was a god. Because nothing can be certain yet and that's even the whole question.

On a general note, I think the Shelter has a specific “theology” let's say, which was agreed upon everyone. Thus meaning that even if there is individual lore about member’s involvement with some gods, I think it’s still tied to this theology common to everyone, related to the specifics about the gods’ nature and everything, that is still unknown to us. 

Going back to the sun, what makes the question complicated and why.

We had confirmation that there are “gods” in plural. At one point s!Artea and s!Forest were discussing gods while the sun was up, and when they criticized them a lightning stroke on them. 

That means there were gods above them when the sun was up, and after all since we had the confirmation that there was a “moon entity”, why not a “sun entity” ?

However though, we have no certainty that was coming from the sun itself, it could always have been another god while the sun was up.

Then at another point, s!Cherry said that the sun was too bright and hurted her eyes, which s!Ryan found suspicious.

It really looked similar to when s!Artea was saying that the “moon” is “watching them”, not to mention that s!Cherry is particularly hostile to the gods. 

But the sun could also be a concept more abstract, holding a great power over everything and be an incarnation of a divine essence, while not being a “sentient” being. 

And even if the sun is a god, or at least related to a specific god, we know there is multiple gods.

Some of them are qualified as “dramatic” and “petty” by s!Cherry. However, there is no confirmation that all the gods and deities of this place are acting the same, and that the sun god is “among” the gods s!Cherry called petty.

On a general note, that's the main challenge about having multiple gods : we have no certainty all deities works the same, share a common nature, are on a similar scale etc

Not to mention that if you listen to s!Ryan playlist, there is a recurring theme about monotheistic religion : “hell”, “heaven”, “god", “devil” etc. Another reason to think the sun could possibly work on different rules. The sun may refer mainly to the "holiness" (you'll see I'll have the occasion to get on that later ^^).

But it’s also possible that the “sun entity” is indeed a sentient being with not-so-great morals too. That's also an interesting point to explore, but not on this post yet !

In conclusion, there is a whole lot of possibilities, and while we have some hints, there isn't much yet to tend to one more than another.

That's what you have to understand, and the reason why it makes it so challenging to theorise on.

But

I think there is definitely a form of cult around the sun, whether the sun is indeed a deity or an abstract/symbolic divine concept.

There is this picture that comes from s!Void’s board 

It makes me think that the cult with the sun tie to the general theology of Shelter.

 

s!Ryan’s powers and divinity

So you know now why the sun's nature is a complicated question. But so is s!Ryan’s, oh so is s!Ryan's.

For starters, Ryan confirmed her character isn't human neither an elf. I tend to think s!Ryan is a fairy, however it doesn’t end here.

Beyond the "specie's name", there is a question of "technicality". If s!Ryan is indeed a fairy, what does being a “fairy” in this world means exactly? After all, s!Cherry was also hinted to be a fairy, would it make them related in one way or another ? 

And since s!Cherry was hinted to be directly from the Shelter, would it also be the case for s!Ryan ? Are all the fairies related to the Shelter and magic tree in general ? That's also something that needs to be uncovered.

Going back to s!Ryan, her being a “fairy like” creature would be in line with the magic elements. She said her magic powers were lightning, light and fire-like elements.

But there's likely even more to it. At one point s!Ryan said “did they forget who I am, do they know the power that I have ?” hinting that her “true nature” is really powerful and that she didn't reach her full capacity yet :

Not to mention she said she “knows people with great power” while looking at the tree.

The tree, magic gods, you know xD

At one point, when s!Artea was shocked s!Ryan could fly, and asked how it was possible, she just answered she was “god’s favorite”. What could it mean ?

And now tying everything with s!Ryan's connection with the sun : s!Ryan is often directly compared to the sun. When we look at it, her powers (light, fire, lightning) seems related to the sun.

She's hinting having a great power, that she's starting to show her "true nature" through her current appearance. That when she started having half blonde hair, and recently had a glowing eye, who made me think of a physical mark of her connection with the sun.

Finally we have this coming from her board :

"Sun, keeper of flame, Breaker of day, I gave you my sword, my heart and my faith"

I think s!Ryan is holding her current powers from the sun, a kind of power that probably reaches a divine level.

But how comes ? What kind of link does s!Ryan have with divinity ?

That’s where there are multiple options possible, and we’ll go from the highest degree to lower degree : 

She could be the sun entity herself, thus a goddess. Maybe her having her “powers” coming from the sun means that she draws power from this divine essence, she “incarnate” its power. 

She could be related to the gods, either fully or partially. Maybe directly related to the sun deity, or to another deity while she would still worship the sun, no matter its nature. 

She could have made a “contact” with the deities which allowed her to “reach” this state and power, thus meaning her divine side recent. It could be either the sun deity, who would be an entity of its own in this case, either another kind of deity able to grant her powers from the sun.

She could not be divine, and her power would only come from what “gods” granted her. The subtle difference the previous case is that, while having divine powers, its not fully "hers" and the gods could take it back from her any time.

And among all those options, there may be even more I didn't think of yet. Again, there is so much possibilities.

There is various possibilities about the sun's real nature, as well as various possibilities about s!Ryan's. So figuring out s!Ryan's nature in parallel with her connection with the sun leaves us with soooo many option.

(When it comes to theorising, I think something important is avoiding to jump on the "obvious" conclusions, and instead try to think of all the possible interpretations possible :D)

There is one last thing I need to cover up :

The Ryans

It all started in the beginning of the Shelter. Ryan was turning people into clones on herself, chasing people around to submit them and "convert" them to the "Ryans cult"

And IF you don't believe me yet when I say that in this story, genuinely EVERYTHING can be lore, that should definitely proves you otherwise xD

Because at first, I didn't think it could be lore either, I thought it was just silly goofy fun. But then I discovered this :

Not only that, during one of s!Ryan lore stream, she referred to the Ryans again.

"The Ryans will attack, the Ryans will get them".

There is clearly something to uncover about the "Ryans" and what they truly are, and how it could possibly connects to s!Ryan's nature.

Changing who I was...

So ! We kinda covered everything about s!Ryan's powers, the hints and specifics, the mysteries and all the possible theories about her true nature. Well, "all the possible theories" not exactly yet :D

I talked about how s!Ryan could be a non divine fairy, or be divine through various degrees. But between a mere non divine and a divine being, there is one last option I didn't cover yet, an option in between. An option that I purposefully left at the end because it has interesting implications.

But before everything, there is some context to place. From now one, we'll try slowly but surely to introduce a timeline of event. The chronology from past s!Ryan, to s!Ryan coming from the tree until current s!Ryan.

There is something I wanted to bring your attention on. We know that s!Ryan has this sort of connection with the sun and hold her power from it. But since when ?

The first hint was posted before the stream where s!Ryan revealed her power, that she could fly. And if she had her half-blonde her since the trial, it's also where she revealed it was part of her lore.

And again, she did not described it as something "new" that appeared, but something already existing in her that she was "showing".

There is something to know about the description of her tweets : these are lyrics from the song "If I killed someone for you". Moreover, it's a song she has in her playlist ! And here, let me put you the full verse of the song :

You have to understand that The one I killed is me Changing what I was For what you wanted me to be I followed your direction Did everything you asked I hope that makes you happy 'Cause there's just no turning back

My interpretation is that, the power she has now, she didn't have it before, it's "recent". She had to do something in order to, there is something she had to "change".

But what was it ? And who is this "you" she may be referring to ? Again, there is a lot of possibilities. My main goal is to showcase everything and let you guys have your own prefered interpretation afterward :D

I said earlier that I think that her blonde hair, as well as her eye since recently, is a physical mark of her connection with the sun/power she holds from the "sun".

About her hair ! Do you remember how I said at the beginning that s!Ryan has ginger hair on her pinterest board ? And that it was something important ?

Here we are now : there is only ginger hair on her board, there isn’t ginger-blonde hair.

And just in case, I looked it up, and there are reference pictures for ginger-blonde hair on pinterest. Ryan could have put a reference for this, but she didn't. Why ?

Maybe she didn't think about it, or just didn't want to for no particular reason. But I have a possible interpretation that it was a purpose, and that there is actually a reason why.

I think the board focuses either on non temporal/general elements (reference outfits, fortune telling elements, powers etc), either element specifically from the past.

My theory :

Past s!Ryan= ginger --> Current s!Ryan= ginger-blonde

And having that in mind, it may show us that in the past, s!Ryan didn't have these hair, thus possibly meaning she didn't have powers from the sun at that time as she does right now.

But since when she had these power from the sun ? Again, s!Ryan said she was showing something "existing" in her through her hair, not something new.

But "existing" since when ?

Nothing is sure. Because right now, I'm only talking about the powers she has "now", that she hinted to go through a "change" to reach.

Maybe she didn't have powers at all before this "change" ? Maybe she had powers before but became more powerful ? Maybe she always had access to these power but decide now to use it ? (After all, at one point s!Ryan mention "my potential, what I possibly could be")

But that's not all I have to say. Because there is actually something I ended up being certain of.

There is at least one key event when we can be sure she "at the very least" hold these powers since then.

It's the "change" she's talking about.

And what is it ?

Her death

This hint mention a "slumber" that she woke up from. I saw it as a glince of the moment when she was brought in the Shelter by the tree. But the important part is that she "woke up" in general and what it actually mean :

s!Ryan died and was ressurected.

Let me put you again the lyrics from the song "If I killed someone for you"

You have to understand that The one I killed is me Changing what I was For what you wanted me to be

So, there is 2 thing to add to this :

I was certain that s!Ryan "death" was in the metaphorical sense"of "killing her old self", "changing" who she was before. And then I evoked the possibility that it was also in the litteral sense. But now I'm *convinced* it is ALSO in the litteral sense. And I'll have the occasion to tell you more about it later.

Past s!Ryan (ginger hair)

⬇️

s!Ryan's death ("change")

⬇️

Current s!Ryan (ginger-blonde hair)

Even tho I think s!Ryan's "death" is litteral, I think that the most impactful aspect is still the fact that her death was "metaphorical". In fact, this is for me the all core of s!Ryan's character, and something that allow us to understand more her current personnality.

The Saint

So ! I think s!Ryan holding the current power she has is something recent that we can date at least since her death. But what about her connection with the sun in general ?

I think s!Ryan always had this connection with the sun. And if it's not in a magical way, it is at a very least in the metaphorical way.

And I finally get into the possibility I was talking earlier, the possibility about s!Ryan being something "in between" a divine and a non divine being :

This are hints about the sun, again. But these one are really particular in the "aesthetic", it’s giving up a symbolic about “saint” and “holiness”.

You know how I said that there is a cult around the sun’s deity ? Maybe s!Ryan would have been part of it, and even more ?

This is the last option, something that I think is similar to s!Ana : the fact that s!Ryan would be a priestess of the sun, a “saint” in it's cult, even an angel ?

She wouldn’t be a god, but would be above the mere “non divine” beings.

-> That’s where getting it to tie to a “general theology” would make a change, because it would allow us to figure out the different role anybody could occupy in this.

The gold element is something common to s!Ana's board. And it would explain this quote !

Her being a “saint” would have allowed her to reach a deeper connection with the sun, and would explain why her nature is so tied to it.

One last minute element I could think of : You know how s!Ryan call s!Pomme "sister Pomme" ? Well, it also happen that s!Pomme is hinting to be an angel/saint, and related to "monotheistic" element like "heaven" just like s!Ryan. It may be something relevent ?

It wouldn't mean there are sisters in the "litteral" since, but it would be a hint to the fact that they share a similar nature ?

And on a /meta note, I know there is a context to the "sister Pomme" nickname. But Lumi and Ryan could've talk about it behind the scenes and be like "oh yeah let's make it fit with the lore". It would fit both of their way of storytelling xD

But if she was indeed a prietress/saint/angel/you get me, was it from her own will ? Of from birth ? Does she still consider herself this way ?

I also said earlier that s!Ryan has a connection with the sun within herself. But maybe this connection is to take metaphorically, as an allegory ?

There could be a symbolic about her being similar to the sun, "like the sun". This idea of being "holy", being a sunshine angel.

And we're finally getting to it. The reason why I wanted to develop this point at the end of the post, the one implication I ended up being certain about past s!Ryan :

s!Ryan was a saint before.

And whether or not she was a saint in the literal sense, I mean that I'm pretty certain she was metaphorically a saint, an incarnation of a perfect girl who was acting like a beacon of light for people around her.

But then she died, she "killed" her old self and she changed, going from a saint to a devil.

And this will be for part 2 !

Thanks for your attention :D

[hispieceofcake]

🪲My opinions and thoughts about the costume of the main character in the Beetlejuice sequel trailer🕸️ — (and the upcoming film)

I want to make it clear that these are just my opinions and thoughts, this post has no intention of provoking discussion or offending other people's opinions, it's just what I think and what I observe.

Okay, firstly about the choice of actor for the main character, I think the actress Jenna Ortega more than DESERVED this role, She was undoubtedly a great choice of actress, a friend and I talked about it and realized that Jenna really gives off the vibe of the movie Beetlejuice. It really fits into films with more gothic and horror themes, things like that, but then there's a small problem...

The problem itself is that they took away that gothic vibe like Lidya had in the first film, "Ah but she's Lidya's daughter, she doesn't necessarily need to be goth", That's it, Beetlejuice is a film with a more gothic feel, death, ghosts, bats, afterlife, things like that.

And I think it was kind of annoying that they took away this essence from the main character, Jenna is an AMAZING actress and fits in beautifully with gothic characters (Wednesday is an example).

Here we have an image I made comparing Lidya in the first film, and Jenna's character's outfit, and it honestly looks like she's dressed like a grunge teenager from TikTok.

"Ah, but there was a passage of time between the first film and the two"

Yes, there was, so much so that Lidya got married and had a daughter, but I don't know, they could have tried to keep the character a bit Gothic.

Now about the wedding dress on the official poster...

Guys, I even understand wanting to change the character's style and so on because well, it's been more or less 26 or 27 years and the style of the time has changed, but that's where the issue comes in. In the first film, it's Beetlejuice who makes the dress appear on Lidya, and he'll probably be the one to make Jenna's character's dress appear too and he was kind of stuck in that waiting room all that time, that is, the time has changed but he hasn't. Where I want to get to is the following

Here's a photo of Lidya's dress, and comparing it to Jenna's character's dress... I don't think Beetlejuice would make her wear a "simple" dress like that, man, we're talking about BEETLEJUICE, do you really think he would make his bride wear something simple?

Not to say anything bad, but the design on the top of the dress seems very simple, like something most people wear nowadays, I may be taking a shot in the dark for not having seen the rest of the dress but I'm talking about the top itself.

I made a picture of what in my head missing screws would make more sense or look better on the iconic wedding dress.

Like, it's okay for the top to be simple but the veil could make a big difference too, like in the image, I put two examples that I think would be perfect.

And remembering again people, it's just my opinion and my thoughts during a sleepless night, don't come and show up at my window in the middle of the night. 😥

Leaving that topic, we discovered that there will be a musical number in the film and honestly I'm quite excited and anxious to see what it will be like, and I'll be able to have a new song for my Beetlejuice playlist, so I'm very happy.☺️

Well people, that's all, I'm writing this at 3:36 in the morning and I haven't slept yet, so I decided to write this because I've been having these thoughts for a while. I also wanted to ask for something, as I've been saying in several posts, I'm making a Beetlejuice Masterlist, and it has things from the first film, the cartoon, the musical and now the sequel.

It's been a lot of work, and there's one thing I've been looking for for days and can't find, it's the 1992 Beetlejuice Cartoon Annual, so if anyone has it or has the link please share with me, I would be grateful.💗

Well, that's it, kisses to everyone's hearts and be careful with Beetlejuice in your room. *Beetlejuice jumpscare*

[overlyimmersed]

So Helbram's power is kinda interesting actually...

I'm rewatching 7ds...again... and I just listened to Helbram describe his Magical Ability "Link". And I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but it is interesting. Not just as a power, but for what it says about him as a person?

Now for anyone who hasn't seen it in a while, "Link" let's Helbram borrow the magical powers of other people, like how Ban can steal other people's magic, but for Helbram is specifically has to be willing. The person he's borrowing from has to allied with him and has to consent to sharing their power with him.

That's interesting for a character like Helbram. Not necessarily after we know who who he really is, but the version of him we're introduced to at first. Cuz this cardinal holy knight who works for big, bad Hendrickson seems like...not a great person, so it's weird for him to have such a kind and teamwork dependent power. You assume that he has to reply on emotionally manipulating the people around him to convince them to share power with him.

There's also the matter of "Blind Follow" that we see in the manga, which seems to totally negate the point of needing consent. But it's not really clear if "Blind Follow" is something Helbram can do, or a power he borrowed from one of those knights and turned back on them.

But anyway... So what does it say about the real Helbram then? Well it's pretty perfect for him actually. Helbram actually cares a lot about what his friends think of him, and I think that's pretty obvious if you've ever known anyone like Helbram. Which I think he we all have. There was probably always that one kid in class, right? Maybe you weren't personally friends with him, but you knew him, everyone knew him cuz he was ALWAYS trying to get attention. He seemed popular, but also kind of a jackass at the same time, class clown type, the teach probably wasn't the biggest fan. And once you grew enough to have the emotional intelligence to notice, it became obvious that the guy was actually kinda lonely and insecure?

That's who Helbram is. He's loud and he makes a clown of himself for attention, but inside he's pretty insecure and worried about what other's think. This is evidenced by his "complex" from the databook(s)

Having a different value system from his friends bothers him.

So it makes a lot of sense that he'd have a power that depends on if other people like him or not.

[codywanfirstkissbingo]

Codywan First Kiss Bingo

Can't get enough of Cody and Obi-Wan's first kiss in any universe and situation? Well then we'd love to have you play our bingo!

How to Play

Fill out this form and we'll email you your shiny bingo card. Every card is a shuffled assortment of prompts that will look something like this:

Below are all the rules you should know about before you join.

General Rules

We're sure you are familiar with the rules of bingo, but just to be certain everyone is on the same page, to get a bingo you must fill five prompts in a row. That row can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Fill all the prompts on your card and that's a blackout!

Get as creative with your kisses as you want but they MUST BE A FIRST KISS between Obi-Wan and Cody in some capacity. 

Prompt fills should be new works, meaning that they should not be part of an ongoing work-in-progress. Sequels and prequels to already-finished works are welcome! 

Posting Dates

Participants have the entire month of December to post bingo fills! Sign up around the time of this announcement and you will have a two month creation window before December 1st rolls around.

You can either post to our collection on ao3 and/or on tumblr but we do ask that you please tag us @codywanfirstkissbingo AND tag your post with #CWFKB2023 as we don’t want to miss anyone if tumblr drops the ball. 

If you’re posting on AO3 but want us to reblog your fill, please make a Tumblr post with the link and make sure to @ us and tag your post with #CWFKB2023. We’ll be checking the collection when tracking fills and making round-up posts with bingos and blackouts, but we will not be cross-posting every individual fill on AO3 ourselves if the creator has not made a tumblr post.   

Please include a screenshot of your bingo tag with the prompt fill indicated so we know which square you’ve filled!

Specific Rules

Fic: 100 words minimum per prompt fill. To be clear, the kiss itself does not have to last 100 words, though we'd be delighted to see that.

Art: One drawing per fill (digital or traditional). Different drawings can be on the same canvas/page if you so wish. Go wild with your compositions.

Podfic: Same requirements as fic. You can collaborate with someone writing a fic specifically for the event or find an existing fic that fills your prompt.

Fanmix: One song per fill- we'd love to see what songs give you codywan first kiss vibes. Try to match lyrics to your prompt but instrumental songs are cool too.

Other: Send an ask with your inquiry! We're more than happy to discuss expanding the fanwork pool to maximize creativity.

Ratings

You can post any work with any rating, but please abide by the appropriate rating/archive warning/tags on AO3 when posting there. When posting on tumblr, please warn for potentially triggering content in the tags and the header to the post, so readers can filter as needed. Anything spicy or explicit should go under a read-more tag, and please use a read-more tag if you’re posting a fic that is longer than a drabble (100 words) to be considerate of people’s dashboard feeds.

To help make this event a safe one for Codywan fans with any kind of photosensitivity, we do specifically request that you tag any and all flashing imagery with #flashing. If you're unsure what constitutes flashing, please see this article, or err on the side of caution for any image with: moving stripes or checkered patterns; strobe light, lightning, or explosion effects in any image or video; images of flickering light/sunlight on leaves/water; very fast cuts between images in a gif or video; rapidly moving images in an animation or gif set that stop and start or “stutter;” sparkle text or similar moving text effects; and images in an animation, gifset, or video that are in high color contrast to each other (for example, a gif set that cuts pink Barbie gifs with black & white Oppenheimer gifs to create a fast-moving contrast between the two styles.) 

The CWFKB mods' decision is final on whether your post/entry requires a flashing warning; they will contact you to ask you to update your tags if you haven’t already noted in your tumblr or AO3 post that your fill contains #flashing content. If you are not willing to use the flashing tag, even after being contacted by the mods, the mods have the right to decide that under-tagged flashing fills will be disqualified from the event.

Finally– with exceptions for the NSFW or #spicy and #flashing tags on tumblr– you have the right to choose not to warn readers in accordance with AO3’s “choose not to warn” option, but posters whose tags or ratings are deceptive or misleading versus the actual content may have their fills disqualified.

When in doubt, please contact the mods! The mods will contact you about any fill where the tags and ratings raise this concern, with a request that you revise and update your tags and warnings.

Combining Prompts

This is a low stakes event and we just want people to have fun! If you want to combine prompts that's totally fine, but we ask that you give each fill its own scene within the larger work. This means there should be a separate kiss for each prompt, even if the 'scene' is a series of types of kisses all in a row.

Swapping Prompts

Nearly have a bingo but there's that one pesky prompt in your way you don't vibe with? Go ahead and swap it with another prompt on your card. As all the prompts are randomly selected and not handpicked for participants; we understand there's a chance some of the prompts may not inspire you so we allow ONE and only ONE SWAP PER CARD. Use it carefully if you need it!

Behind the Scenes

This bingo is modded by tumblr users @dontbelasagnax @lttrsfrmlnrrgby and @notthestarwar. Since we're big fans of the previous codywan bingos, we felt the drive to bring the fun back for anyone else that has missed the event as much as us!

Our adorable profile picture was drawn by @anaclastic-azurite! 

You can actually find the public inception of this bingo event right here!

If you have any further questions after reading our rules, our askbox is open!

@swfandomevents

(NB: edited Oct. 9 to add "vertical.")

(NB: edited Nov. 10 to add "This means there should be a separate kiss for each prompt, even if the 'scene' is a series of types of kisses all in a row.")

[imabeautifulbutterfly]

The Gym Membership - Part 22 (Crosshair)

Summary: Avery finishes her discussion with Crosshair

A/N: Hello lovelies,

Welcome to 2024! Good bye 2023 and your trash nonsense.

I hope everyone is having a lovely 2024 now that we're two days in, I wish everyone a better year, and that nothing but good things happen for all of you.

Love oo

Italics - flashback

Warning: flash of anger, annoyance, flirtations, brief mention of casualties, banter, implication of killing, medical discussions, loss of person's character, tenderness, realizations of love, I think that's it, if I miss any please let me know.

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“I don’t need to know who you are. You stated your plans here” Crosshair picked up the packet waving it in front of her face before throwing it on her desk, followed by his hands slamming her desk to make a point. 

“Correction, what’s written in the packet, is the plan that was forced upon me, I had no choice but to put in. That is not my plan! But did you bother to ask that? NO! JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AROUND HERE, YOU JUST GO AHEAD AND IGNORE EVERYTHING I HAVE TO SAY AND RECOMMEND!”

Crosshair flinched at her raised voice, he wasn’t sure if it was the sheer frustration in her voice, the fact her face went red like a tomato when she was yelling at him, or maybe it had to do with her small, stout stature trying to appear tough, either way for the first time he felt sympathy for someone outside of his brothers. He let out a disappointed sigh as he looked down to her desk, partly because of her and the fact people ignored her recommendations, but also partly because he was no better than a bull in a china shop.

“Alright, I should’ve asked rather than just jump down your throat, however, why put the plan in there,” he motions to the packet “if you don’t want us to use it?” He looked back up at Avery, locking eyes with her. Noticing her own frustrations, and annoyance in them.

“Have you not listened to anything I just said?” Avery let out with a sigh of exhaustion as she leaned on her desk, “I’ll explain everything at the briefing. I have a plan, my plan that I believe we should use. The plan in the packet, is the one approved by the bigger ups, but we can make tweaks to it, that will greatly reduce the risk of casualties. How about next time, instead of barging in here looking for blood, you could try having a conversation with me and just build trust. Honestly, what kind of people have you dealt with?” 

“Why? You gonna hug me to make me feel better?” 

It wasn’t like him to flirt with a fellow officer, but Crosshair liked her fire, the passionate spirit within her. He smirked as he took a moment to really take her in, looking her up and down. He stood from his bent position, crossing his arms as he smiled at her, “Actually, I wouldn’t mind a hug from you if you were looking to make me feel better.”

“God, I want to punch you so bad right now” Avery responded as she righted herself as well.

Crosshair smirked, he didn’t know at which point he started to find her interesting and became more intrigued by her, but he was never one to shy away from a challenge, “You know a kiss is more advisable than a punch, less painful too.” He winked.

She wanted to hit him, but at the same time he was being quite adorable. She felt her face heat up, she cleared her throat, “You know Captain, that desire to punch you just increased.” She leaned forward smiling, hoping to push his buttons, “And for your information, it will be a cold day in hell when I kiss you”

Crosshair’s smile widened, “I love a good challenge.” 

He grabbed the packet, he so passionately tossed down on her desk and headed towards the door his hand hovered on the door knob, he turned back to look at her over his shoulder, “Do you know how a sniper like me became a Captain?”

“You shot your previous Captain” she sneered.

He couldn’t help chuckling at her statement, “No. Although, I probably should’ve.” He smirked at her look, “Story for another time, anyway it’s because no matter how far or difficult the angle might be to hit my target, I never miss.” He smiled once again, giving her a wink, “See you at the briefing, Captain Taylor.”

“I can see why my sister fell for you.” I smirked, shaking my head slightly, “You’re as much of a stubborn pain in the ass Officer, as she is. Was. Is.” I ran my hands over my hair, leaning back in my chair as the realization of how much of her I lost hit me. I looked up to the shell of what she used to be lying there in front of me, “I don’t know anymore.”

Crosshair nodded as he focused on Avery, his fingers still running through her hair, “She used to love it when I did this for her; when she was stressed or anxious, she’d put her head on my lap and start nagging until I started running my fingers through her hair.”

His unsolicited confession threw me for a loop, I never imagined he could’ve ever been that kind. I always imagined him as a ruthless and cold man. Yet seeing the way he looked at her, the smile he had on his face as he was recounting their first encounter, even the tender touches I was witnessing now, it made me realize how much in love they truly were, especially since she hated having people touch her hair. 

“Excuse me”

We both turned to look at the doctor standing at the door, “Doctor Williams” I responded as I subtly and quickly wiped a tear away.

“Layla, Crosshair” he nodded to both of them as he walked in, he was a middle aged man, capable in his job, as most doctors should be but usually weren’t. 

Crosshair didn’t particularly like him, he was a good enough doctor but there was something off about the man that he couldn’t exactly put his finger on, but at least he looked after Avery diligently and faithfully. 

“Layla was telling me you think it’s time we made the decision to turn off her ventilator” Crosshair’s question was more of a statement as he noticed the doctor stood a little too close to Layla. 

Not that he really cared, after all she was just his wife’s sister. 

He silently huffed at the phrase, it was one he repeated to himself ever since he met Layla. He didn’t quite understand why, but he never felt comfortable calling her his sister-in-law, and after meeting Mel, Zaina and Kamarie, he really didn’t feel comfortable calling her that. 

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[fancyfade]

I like your insight in Damian's related thing but I don't quite understand how you see Dick and Damian's relation. Would you expand more on it?

For me it was most of a parental figure (not exactly a dad)/mentor while Bruce was away and after he came back it went more to older-younger brothers/still mentor

Ok so how I see dick and damian's relationship:

Dick is definitely responsible for Damian, and he feels responsible (he like. directly says so in battle for the cowl #2). he also starts out generally... like... annoyed by Damian. He thinks in resurrection of ra's al ghul "all this trouble for Damian? The kid no one can stand?" and says out loud something along the lines of "saving him makes us feel good" to Tim, then we have even in Batman and Robin 2009:

and like just to be clear, this isn't me doing a "dick #cancelled' thing or whatever, just pointing out how the dynamic starts. it does start with Dick feeling mostly obligation and annoyance towards Damian.

I don't think Dick ever was trying to be a parent when he was Batman and Damian was Robin, and that's okay! Like some posts already reblogged there (link to discussion, link to post about rules, link to my guess on dick's thought process). I think Dick was in survival mode. He was dealing with becoming Batman, Gotham Underworld being in chaos, now suddenly in addition to the responsibility of being Batman, which he did not ask for and feels obligated to fulfill, he has to take care of Damian*, which is another responsibility he did not ask for but feels obligated to fulfill. His main concern with Damian seems to be making sure Damian is safe (as in rescuing him if/when he gets in trouble) and b) making sure that Damian is not going too far in the field, ex: killing someone (he's worried Damian will kill Zsasz, even tho Damian didn't try) or torturing someone**. Once those big concerns are done we see Dick trying to flesh out Damian's Robin training, in the Batman series he gives him various clues to work on as he works a case (ex: medicine to analyze) so that Damian learns detective skills.

I think part of the reason why parental probably sparks so much discussion is because... well parental is going to be different for everyone. some of the recent analysis in the convo i've been having has been about dick's lack of consequences, but well... there are parents who don't do consequences, or who do but make them inconsistent enough that they seem arbitrary and meaningless***. I'll also point out that in general, parentalness from Dick is not something Morrison cared to put in the comic, and that's what we're going off mostly. Like we do see hints that the characters clearly care about each other as their dynamic gets closer, but we don't see an authorial investment in a parental dynamic, and it's hard to just say 'imagine that happened behind the scenes'. heck, part of what I like about Dick and Damian's dynamic is how gradually they slowly grow to tolerate and then trust and care about each other.

I think Dick's role for Damian when Damian is Robin and he's Batman is very much a mentor role, more involved than if Damian didn't live in the same house as him, but not doing everything a parent would be expected to do for a child, especially since we don't really see dick caring about what Damian does in his off of Robin hours :P Obviously it's possible to extrapolate/guess, maybe Damian was in homeschool (I know that's how I interpreted it in my fanfic) but it doesn't mean we actually see it happening and can say it's canon (if I'm wrong, please correct me). and I think that the fact that Damian is pretty independent**** does probably contribute to this, because I think if he seemed more needy Dick would be like 'oh yeah I guess I should do get him something to do during the day'. and eventually, yeah, their dynamic gets more big brother/little brothery.

I guess I could ask you a follow up question, which is what makes it seem especially parental to you?

*because Talia is being written terribly

**damian does beat information out of someone in batman and robin #2... I know I got on a long conversation on another about how this comic makes a big difference between physically torturing someone and what Dick does, which is intimidating people by making them think they will die, which is treated as totally OK within the text. I personally think that either option is not good

***this was my parents :P

****which makes sense for him in both pre new 52 canon -- with him having inconsistent primary caretakers and not having known his parents, presumably he's used to not expecting much of them, and post new 52 canon, where he just got done on a year long extremely challenging mission in the form of the Year of Blood, often with adult supervision in the form of assassin minions, but we also do see them die and him carry on the mission w/o them sometimes, or him working alone.