#basically the only show that i can direct this year for one of our programs falls when i had tickets to eras in vancouver

[seeinganewlight]

here to say that being an adult and having to make adult decisions really sucks sometimes, but unfortunately, it must be done

[bobacupcake]

Can you do one about the Sea of Thieves water?

OK

so . there was a biiig long talk about this at siggraph one year!! you can watch that here if you'd like . in the time between me getting this ask and me fully recreating the water, acerola also released a great video about it . the biiig underlying thing they do and the reason why it looks so good is they are making a Really Detailed Ocean Mesh in realtime using something called an FFT (fast fourier transform) to simulate hundreds of thousands of waves, based on a paper by TESSENDORF

WHAT IS AN FFT - we'll get to that. first we have to talk about the DFT - the discreet fourier transform. let's say you have a SOUND. it is a c chord - a C, an E, and a G, being played at the same time. all sounds are waves!!! so when you play multiple sounds at the same time, those waves combine!!! like here: the top is all 3 notes playing together, so they form the waveform at the bottom!!

now if someone handed you the bottom wave, could you figure out each individual note that was being played? how about if someone handed you a wave of One Hundred Notes. you would think it would be very hard. and well, it would be, if not for the Discreet Fourier Transform.

essentially, there is a way to take a bunch of points on a waveform comprised of a bunch of different waves, add them all together, do some messed up stuff with imaginary numbers, that will spit back out at you what individual waves are present. i made a little test program at the start of all this: the left are the waves i am putting into my Big Waveform, the top right is what that ends up looking like, and all the little rainbow points on it are being sampled to spit out the graph at the bottom right: it shows which frequency bands the DFT is finding (here it is animated)

this has enormous use cases in anything that deals with audio and image processing, and also,

THE OCEAN

tessendorf is basically like, hey, People Who Are Good At The Ocean say that a buuuunch of sine waves do a pretty good job of approximating what it looks like. and by a bunch they mean like, hundreds of thousands to millions. oh no.... if only there was a way we could easily deal with millions of sine waves..........

well GREAT news. not only can you do the DFT in one direction, but you can also do it in REVERSE. if you were to be given the frequency graph of a noise for example, you could use an INVERSE DFT to calculate what the combined wave graph looks like at any given time. so if you were to have say, the frequency graph of an oceaaaan, for example, you could calculate what the Ocean wave looks like at any given time. and lucky for us, it works in two dimensions. and thats the foundation of the simulation !!!!!

BUT WAIT

as incredible as the DFT is, it doesn't scale very well. the more times you have to do it, the slower it gets, exponentially, and we are working with potentially millions of sine waves here

THE FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM here we are . the fast fourier transform is a way of doing the discreet fourier transform, except, well, fast. i am Not going to explain the intricacies of it because its very complex, but if you want to learn more there are a ton of good 30 minute long videos on youtube about it . but essentially, due to the nature of sine waves repeating, you can borrow values as you go, and make the calculation Much faster (from exponential growth to logarithmic growth which is much much slower, and scales very well at higher numbers). it's, complicated, but the important part is it's so much faster and the diagram kind of looks like the shadow the hedgehog story plot

so if we use the inverse FFT on a graph of a rough estimate of what frequency of waves in the ocean (called a spectrum, basically tells us things like how many small waves, how many big waves, how different waves follow the wind direction. sea of thieves uses one called the phillips spectrum but there are better ones out there!!) now we have our waves !!!!!!! we can also use another inverse FFT to get the normals of the waves, and horizontal displacement of the waves (sharpening peaks and broadening valleys) through some derivatives . yayy calculus

OK MATH IS OVER. WE HAVE OUR WAVES!!! they are solid pink and look like pepto bismol. WHAT NOW

i cheated a bit here they look better than not being shaded because i am using the normals to reflect a CUBEMAP to make it look shiny. i think sea of thieves does this too but they didnt mention it in their talk. they did mention a FEW THINGS THEY DID THOUGH

FIRST OFF - SUBSURFACE SCATTERING. this is where the sun pokes through since water is translucent. SSS IS REALLY EXPENSIVE !!!!!! so they just faked it. do you remember the wave sharpening displacement i mentioned earlier? they just take the value where the waves are being sharpened and this will pretty naturally show off the areas that should have subsurface scattering (the sides of waves). they make it shine through any time you are looking towards the sun. they also add a bit of specular ! sss here is that nice blue color, and specular is the shiny bits coming off the sun. the rest of the lighting is the cubemap i mentioned earlier, i dont know if thats what they use but it looks nice !!!!!

then the other big thing that they do is the FOAM !! sorry i lied. there's more math. last one. you remember the wave sharpening displacement i Just mentioned. well they used that to find something called the JACOBIAN and well im not even going to begin to try and explain what it means but functionally what it does, is when the jacobian is NEGATIVE it means waves are clipping into eachother. and that means we should draw some foam!!! we can also blur and fade out the foam texture over time and continuously write to it to give it some movement, and bias this value a bit to make more or less foam. they do both of these!!!

YAYYYYY !! OK !! THAT'S SEA OF THIEVES WATER!!!!! THANKS FOR WAITING ALL THIS TIME. you can see my journey here if you would like to i have tagged it all oceanquest2023

thank you everyone for joining me :) i had fun

[digital-yuri-saga]

WALL•E and Unregulated Capitalism

So, we all know that the second half of WALL•E (Pixar, 2008) shows that apparently, in 700 years, the human race is all fat, “disabled” and “lazy”, right?

Except, the problem is, they didn’t get that way on their own.

WALL•E’s main message, in my mind, is that if left unchecked, capitalism will take away literally everything. And, you can see that: The Earth has been practically destroyed by pollution, and the human race has to live in a giant outer space cruise ship, confined to their reclining hover chairs and watching their holographic screens all day while they idly sip on their food, all Buy-N-Large(TM) brand.

What’s more - the tasks the humans would normally do, such as housekeeping, putting on makeup, teaching their babies everything they need to know to be able to Human properly, even piloting the damn ship - all of it is performed by robots who were made to take those tasks out of the humans’ hands.

But is that really it? No.

Part 1 - The First Half

At the beginning of the movie, we see WALL•E performing his programmed directive - to “clean up” the Earth by compacting all the trash on the ground into huge towers, and nothing else. There are dozens, if not hundreds of other WALL•E line robots who perform the same task, and they seem to be self-sufficient - they have their own shelter, they are solar-powered so they don’t have to rely on an outside source of energy, and they don’t seem to need anything else.

And then a dust storm happens and all of the robots are damaged except for one, the titular protagonist and the last of his kind.

The movie skips to 700 years later, at which point WALL•E seems to have gained some kind of individuality. He has plenty of spare parts to keep himself alive if needed, and more than that - He likes to collect things that the humans have left behind. He collects everything from twinkies to lighters to even VHS tapes, and he seems to love all of it - all the things that humans loved, that were left behind when they left Earth.

While we see WALL•E’s current daily life, we also get some context: The humans have left Earth as it is, and are now on a giant ship somewhere. This is revealed through an advertisement from Buy-N-Large, which was seemingly a prominent corporation in the world beforehand. They seem to have had control of everything, actually - we see an ���Ultra-store”, gas station, and an unholy amount of other Buy-N-Large branded things, as well as enough advertisements to make the average person irate within seconds.

At some point, this company - who knows what they originally were - monopolized so much of everything that it had basically taken over what we see of Earth. Everything, everywhere was Buy-N-Large, and nothing else. There are even corporate-sponsored newspapers - promoting the propaganda they want regular people to hear.

We then get some blatant exposition in the form of an advertisement, fitting for the world as we see in the movie.

“Too much garbage in your face? There’s plenty of space out in space! BnL Starliners leaving each day, we’ll clean up the mess while you’re away.”

The mega-corporation was advertising vacations to the regular people, presumably also non-stop, in addition to the propaganda that the Earth was in trouble and everything sucked. Why not have a little escapism?

“The jewel of the BnL fleet - The Axiom! Spend your five-year cruise in style. Maided on 24-hours-a-day by our fully automated crew, while your captain and auto-pilot try to course for non-stop entertainment, fine dining…”

Here we get to see a glimpse of what humans looked like before they left - perfectly “normal”. There does seem to be some diversity in the people shown, too, though they are clearly actors who were likely cherry-picked and paid to promote this ship. I don’t see a single fat person in the ad, which is more likely implied to be because of the in-universe corporation choosing only the most conventionally attractive people to promote their product.

“…and with our all-access Hover Chairs, even grandma can join the fun! There’s no need to walk!”

Also, it seems that at least a small part of the intention of the hover chairs was to be a mobility aid for those who wouldn’t be able to get around a giant-ass cruise ship on foot. But, they weren’t just advertised to the elderly / disabled / people that needed them, they were advertised to everyone.

Everyone that could afford a “5-year” vacation on a giant cruise ship, anyway.

We don’t see what happens to those who may not be able to afford, or even get to, one of these ships. Presumably, they were left behind too. Would a giant capitalist regime let people on that couldn’t pay them? Doubtful.

After this, we see WALL•E discover the plant - a glimmer of hope. Something finally grew on Earth. And then, immediately after, a probe - presumably from BnL to try and find evidence that the Earth was sustainable for living - lands, carrying several EVE units, also presumably made by BnL. One of them is deployed from this ship, and she is activated and begins scanning her surroundings for life.

WALL•E follows this unit around and EVE pays him no mind, because he seemingly doesn’t have what she’s looking for. She is eventually frustrated with not being able to “complete her purpose” to the point of taking it out on her surroundings. The two finally exchange formalities, and once another dust storm passes by, WALL•E takes her back to shelter.

EVE seems to fall in love with all of WALL•E’s objects, just like he did, and then he shows her the plant. Detecting life, EVE’s programming overrides her free will and collects it as a sample, then forcibly shutting her down. WALL•E stays by her side the entire time until the ship comes back for her. He hitches a ride on the ship, not wanting her to be taken away forever, and it leaves for space with him, docking on the Axiom.

We see here that there is an immense amount of space junk orbiting Earth, and that BnL was even attempting to colonize the Moon.

After the EVEs are unloaded, we see some of the robot crew of the Axiom, who strictly conform to their directive. And, as soon as anyone steps out of line, police bots are summoned - and one of them sees the plant that EVE has found and takes her away.

Part 2 - The Second Half

After some robot hijinks, we see the state of humans 700+ years after they left Earth - All of them have become fat and seemingly unable to provide for themselves to a ridiculous extent. They are constantly bombarded by ads from the screens in front of them while the robots seemingly do everything else. Several generations have passed since the original humans boarded the ship. The robotic teachers are indoctrinating kids from a very young age about BnL - quote, “B is for Buy-n-Large, your very best friend.” The megacorp wants people to be dependent on them for everything - why else would they herd everyone into areas they have full control over?

Keep in mind that while these humans all seem to be fat and hover-chair bound - this seems to be enforced. As stated earlier, BnL wants people to be hopelessly dependent on them, because that’s how they stay in power.

WALL•E breaks one person’s immersion, and she looks around - she doesn’t immediately go back to what she’s looking at on the screen, and even helps WALL•E. She doesn’t go back to looking at her screen, either. She apparently didn’t even know the Axiom had a pool, even though she “could have” looked over and seen it at any time. That is how much control BnL had over these people’s lives.

EVE is brought directly to the cockpit of the ship, where the Auto-Pilot AI notices she has found a plant and wakes up the Captain. The Captain himself is victim to the same automation as everyone else. He simply goes through the motions, and then changes the time for everyone on the ship. After his morning announcements, in which another ad is shown, EVE is reactivated.

We then see the protocol for organic life being found - and a pre-recorded message from the then-current CEO of BnL. In this, he mentions that the microgravity of the ship could have caused some “slight bone loss”, an understatement, which leads me to wonder - Was the CEO telling the truth about the passengers’ state being due to the conditions outside the ship? Or was the complete immersion, to the point where the Captain of the ship remarks he didn’t know there was a jogging track, the real cause for their current state?

During a “why can’t I voice activate the book :(“ joke, WALL•E and EVE reunite, and EVE immediately rushes to hide him from the police bot and tries to warn him of something related. Hmm.

Once EVE is opened up, the plant seems to be gone somehow. EVE is deemed to be ‘defective’, and sent to the repair ward. This will be important later.

We then see the Captain analyze a sample of dirt that came from WALL•E, and out of curiosity, he then begins to look up topics related to Earth. Knowledge that he didn’t already have. Knowledge that Buy-N-Large did not educate him on, because they wanted him to be just as hopelessly dependent on them as the others.

We are then taken to the “repair ward” - where the “defective” robots go. Here we see robots with all sorts of erratic behavior, behavior that puts them out of line. When looking at these robots as if they were human, this can also be interpreted as stereotypical mental illness that this repair ward is trying to “cure”. WALL•E promptly causes a scene, accidentally freeing all of these robots, who parade him around and alert the attention of the police bots. The robots, meant to serve the passengers of the ship, are governed by their own police state.

WALL•E and EVE are framed as rebels, and they go down to the escape pod bay, where we can see a police robot deposit the plant necessary for the humans return to Earth into an escape pod so it isn’t found.

The police robots are programmed not only to enforce compliance on the robots, but to use deception to keep the humans as they are - hopelessly dependent on Buy-N-Large.

WALL•E goes after the pod, and is shot into space along with it. We then see that the pod is set for self-destruct, implying the robot’s intention was to destroy the plant. To kill any remaining hope that humans could return to Earth.

The plant is saved and WALL•E and EVE have some romantic moments in space, and we come back to the woman from earlier, who still has not turned her screen back on. She is still admiring the view of space from the giant windows as the others cruise by, immersed in their screens. She accidentally breaks another person’s immersion, the man from earlier, and they connect over seeing WALL•E outside.

We cut back to the cockpit, and the Captain is still doing research into everything he’s missed about Earth. The Auto-Pilot tries to get him to stop by setting the ship to “nighttime mode”, but he doesn’t listen and continues researching. He does not blindly follow the AI. The other two humans seem to rebel some, too, splashing pool water at each other with their feet, and then at a robot when it tells them not to.

WALL•E and EVE sneak back into the ship, and EVE tries to sneak through a trash chute back to the cockpit in order to deliver the plant. The Captain is overjoyed, but that turns to confusion and disappointment when he sees EVE’s memories of Earth. But, that doesn’t last very long, since he has that hope for a better Earth - the plant. They have to go back.

The Captain calls the Auto-Pilot down, who immediately tries to take back the plant, and when the Captain refuses to give the plant to it, it shows him a video - from the same Buy-N-Large CEO. And the CEO gives the message,

“…so, just stay the course. Um, rather than try and fix this problem, it’ll be easier for everyone to remain in space.”

”Rather than try and fix this problem, it’ll be easier for everyone to remain in space.”

Not that it would be impossible to solve.

It would be easier.

All of this - the programming the Auto-Pilot and police bots conformed to that led them to use deception to keep humans in space, the completely sedentary, fully immersed-in-ads states the humans were led into, the reason they have been up there for 700 years - all of it was because of the opinion of one man. One CEO. One CEO who decided that it was easier if humans never regained their autonomy, that it was easier if they never got back to a state where they could fend for themselves. He wanted this.

The Captain once again rebels against the AI from Buy-N-Large.

“I can’t just sit here and do nothing! That’s all I’ve ever done! That’s all everyone on this blasted ship has ever done! NOTHING!”

“I don’t WANT to survive! I want to live!”

The Captain - no, the humans don’t actually want this. And when they are given even a scrap of their agency back, by chance through WALL•E or otherwise - they want to do things their way. Not the way Buy-N-Large wants them to.

As soon as the Captain plainly denies the Auto-Pilot, it and the police bots still under Buy-N-Large’s will immediately go against the Captain. The plant is taken from his arms and thrown into the trash chute. And who manages to climb up the chute just then, but WALL•E. He tries to keep the Auto-Pilot from getting the plant, and the Auto-Pilot resorts to damaging another robot to get what “it” wants.

What Buy-N-Large wants.

Both of the robots are tossed down the trash chute, and the Auto-Pilot forcibly takes control of the ship.

But hope is not lost - WALL•E and EVE reawaken in the trash area, and they realize that WALL•E can be repaired if they get home. So, the two of them fly out of the trash area, going straight for the area where they will deposit the plant and turn the ship around.

The Auto-Pilot catches wind of this, and sends every police bot available after them. The Captain helps by hijacking the comms, telling WALL•E and EVE what to do. The “defective” robots from before help the two, and the Captain stages his own rebellion by causing a distraction. He manages to press the button to launch the return mode of the ship, and everybody’s immersion is broken at the same time. They are herded onto the same deck, and see reality for themselves - the Captain is struggling against his own robot. The Auto-Pilot ends up tilting the ship to get the Captain off of it, and because of this all of the humans fall out of their chairs and begin sliding helplessly downhill.

Mind you, these people have just been broken out of their entranced state induced by Buy-N-Large - likely for the first time. They may never have moved a muscle outside of changing what they were watching, or grabbing a cup - all because Buy-N-Large wanted it that way. They have all just been given their agency back for the first time. And, after the humans are almost killed by transportation vehicles because of the Auto-Pilot, and WALL•E ends up squashed in the plant deposition chamber because of the Auto-Pilot, the Captain stands up for himself.

Literally.

It may not be true for every single human on the ship, but they have always had the ability to stand up for themselves, literally and figuratively. Buy-N-Large - the mega-corporation - tried to snuff all of that autonomy out.

The Captain is able to walk - albeit with difficulty - over to the Auto-Pilot and turn it off, and the ship is turned back upright. Some of the other humans can be seen standing up too in this scene, so these specific humans may not have needed mobility aids - this is unclear. But, either way, they, along with everyone else, were forced into them, necessary or not, for Buy-N-Large’s purposes.

Together, everyone manages to pass the plant to EVE, who tosses it into the deposition chamber. The course is set for Earth, and the humans fall over again as the ship launches at hyper-speed towards its destination. The Axiom lands on Earth, and the humans step out onto its surface for the first time.

One notable thing I see in the background at this point - you can see one human walking with the help of a robot as a mobility aid. Despite their autonomy being returned, some of the humans may still need mobility aids, and that’s okay. That’s normal.

WALL•E is repaired, he and EVE have their happy ending, and, meanwhile, the humans set out to rebuild. The scene pans backwards to see the progress the humans have made - and a lot more plants. And then the movie ends.

The credits show more of this progress, with the humans making progress as the visuals “evolve”, seen with the evolution of art - likely not to imply that the humans were in a “devolved” state, but to emphasize just how much was being done - and, hopefully, the influence of Buy-N-Large is gone forever.

Part 3 - Afterword

Disney-Pixar’s WALL•E is not about how, if left to their own devices, humans will become lazy and ruin the planet.

WALL•E is about how, if left unregulated, capitalism will strip away the freedoms humans have outside of their interactions with their products, to the point where they are hopelessly dependent on them, because nothing else exists.

We don’t see very much of the more controversial parts of humanity in WALL•E - homelessness, real (not artificially induced) disability, the differing opinions of humans - because capitalism in that world has tried (and almost succeeded!) in stamping those out.

Sometimes, a narrative will not include everything that exists to tell itself.

I believe, for a movie made in 2008 (16 years ago, almost two decades at this point!), WALL•E makes a great point. That point is not about the hopelessness of humanity, but the dangers of capitalism.

Was it insensitive, in retrospect, to portray that by way of making all of humanity fat and “lazy”?

Yes, but they were never “lazy” in the first place. They were made that way through several hundred years of indoctrination by the corporation - the capito-fascist regime that had control over their very existence. As soon as they gained their autonomy back, they used it to stand up for themselves - taking the “hard way” out.

Does it demonize mobility aids through this? No. The hover-chairs used as mobility aids throughout the movie were partially intended to be mobility aids for those who needed it - Buy-N-Large abused those to give themselves another layer of control over the humans. We also see a human still using a mobility aid at the end of the movie, a walker, when everyone steps off the ship.

Would this movie hold up to 2024’s standards for fat representation? It definitely seems like this isn’t the case. But, the movie was made in 2008. It would be impossible to properly hold a film to standards that came into play after it was created.

TL;DR: WALL•E doesn’t think humans will end up lazy - but they may be subjected to capitalist fascism.

[those70scomics]

Fictober Day 13: "that's not the point"

That '70s Show Fanfiction

In Eric's office at Blinkhorn Toys, Kelso described integrating a dynamic programming language into a new line of educational toys for kids. His facility for computer code never cessed to be impressive -- or surprising for someone with Kelso's lack of common sense. But he'd always been good with numbers, and Eric was glad the VP of toy development agreed to hire Kelso as a consultant.

"And you can make cartridges to swap out for different learning games," Kelso said, sitting across Eric's desk. "It'll be the Sesame Street version of a Gameboy." He shoved his proposal aside and laved his fingers together on the desk. "Now let's talk about you knocking up Donna with a kid."

Eric choked on his coffee. His coughs were whispers compared to the cacophony in his brain. Kelson couldn't know Donna was pregnant. Neither of Eric's parents would've told him, and Donna sure as hell wouldn't.

Kelso stood, dashed to Eric's side of the desk, and patted his back hard. "Arms up."

"I'm fine," Eric coughed out, but Kelso insisted on hitting his back more. "Enough!" He swatted Kelso away, but Kelso stayed close. "What -- what do you mean, exactly?"

"Betsy's got cousins and friends, but Brooke wants her to have a sibling. I can barely handle one kid, and who knows if Jackie and Hyde'll ever become parents, so if you and Donna ... "

"Oh, thank God." Eric's throat was raw, but Kelso was just being Kelso. Eric directed him to return to the chair across the desk. "Betsy's a good kid. You're way more capable of fatherhood than you give yourself credit for."

Kelso was seated again and said, "That's not the point. I never want Betsy to feel like she's not important, the most important person to me along with her mom. Having another kid now would kill her sense of reality. She's already ten. My older brothers were basically out of the house by the time the twins were born. It's all sorts of messed up."

"Wow. You've become introspective in your old age." Eric was joking about the last part. Kelso had turned thirty this year. He was hardly elderly, but he did think a lot more deeply. "How would Donna and me having a baby help you?"

"Well, you could name me and Brooke your kid's godparents. Then we'd visit each other a lot more often, and Brooke would get to hold an infant in her arms again."

The muscles in Eric's back tensed. He and Donna had already chosen Hyde and Jackie's as godparents. They were doing a great job as Betsy's, and they were more than friends but family. "So Brooke's missing baby-time, and you want to give her some without actually having another one. That's really sweet of you, man."

"Actually, it's selfish." Kelso grabbed the blind proposal he'd written, and his thumb repeatedly rubbed the corner of it's cover. "I want Brooke to remember how much work having a baby is -- the no-sleeping, the puke, the poop -- and realize we made the right choice having only one."

"But all that stuff's temporary," Eric said. He'd been reading his dad's baby log about him, and the relief Dad experienced once Eric was potty trained had jumped off the page. "What about all the fun and joy you have raising Betsy?"

Kelso stopped fiddling with his proposal and scratched his jawline. "Yeah, she'll be a teenager soon and won't hang out with me and Brooke as much anymore. Then she'll go to college ... and Brooke and I had Betsy when we were barely in our twenties. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having another kid, except ... "

"Except ... ?"

"The no-sleep, puke, and poop will take our attention away from Betsy. She might feel like we've replaced her."

Eric drank what remained of his coffee. What he said next could influence Kelso in either direction, and he didn't need that responsibility. So he took a moment to craft his words carefully. "Why don't you and Brooke ask Betsy how she'd feel about have sibling?"

The tortured expression on Kelso's face vanished. "Ask Betsy! Eric, you're a genius!" He patted the proposal and said, "Okay, you talk to your VP about this. I've got to get back to Chicago. ... Ask Betsy -- why didn't I think of that?"

"Don't forget that she's ten!" Eric shouted after him. Kelso was already at the office door. "She won't understand what becoming a big sister means unless it's fully explained to her."

"Brooke'll be good at that." Kelso was halfway out the door. "Thanks for everything, Eric!"

He disappeared into the hallway, but Eric wasn't sure if his advice was good or if he should've kept his mouth shut. Friday the thirteenth produced strange effects in people, and a sense of eerieness invaded his body.

He'd be making decisions for a helpless being soon enough -- he and Donna would be -- and mistakes were an inextricably part of parenthood. Of life. His errors might be fatal, and he finally and truly got why Donna was reading all those baby books.

He picked up the receiver of his office phone and dialed his mom. She only worked part time at Point Memorial Hospital these days and never on Fridays. When she picked up, he said, "Hello, Mom? ... No, everything's fine. ... My voice is not squeaky -- anyway, when's the earliest date we could schedule a one-on-one babycare lesson?"

[pawstepsinthesnow]

On DeviantArt, DreamUp, and Lies

I’ve had things to say about the whole situation, mostly on Twitter, but Twitter is a horrible place to have an actual conversation. Warning: this is going to get long. There will be links in the body, I understand that this will tank visibility, but I need to have this written out.

If you haven’t already heard about DeviantArt’s extraordinarily failed rollout of AI scraper protection and their own AI image generator, DreamUp, I’ll quickly summarize it here for background context going in. 

On November 11th, 2022, DeviantArt debuted their own AI art generator in a huge, splashy announcement talking about how they were going to protect your art from scraping for AI datasets, and to that end, they’d made their OWN, ETHICAL AI generator only trained on opt-in art on dA.

There was just one little problem.

Every single artwork on DeviantArt was opt-in by default. 

[Nobody liked that.]

Now, I like to get my story straight-- the earliest snapshot I can find of the announcement did not say that it was trained on dA specifically. However, multiple news websites reported that it was trained on dA.

After a few Twitter spaces in which they patronized the fuck out of Major Artists (if I can find the backup of this, I will update the post to include it), they updated their policy to opt-out all art by default.

This is a distraction.

I’ll refer you to this twitter thread first, because I think it’s a brilliant summation, but for a quick summary of what their opt-out actually does:

Webpages have tags in them for web-crawlers to read, such as the ones Google uses to index webpages. dA is proposing a new one, “noai”. In order for this to actually have any effect, web crawlers need to be programmed to recognize it. You can probably guess the obvious problems with this.

[image desc: popular meme image from the show Arthur, captioned “that sign can’t stop me because I can’t read”]

Additionally, dA’s own ToS says they won’t take any legal action to enforce their noai directive, meaning it has all the weight of a “take one” sign on a Halloween candy bowl.

Very notably, this does not affect any images that have already been scraped for datasets such as LAION, which Stable Diffusion is built on. It is well known that LAION is rife with stolen artwork.

DreamUp is built on Stable Diffusion.

The Main Point: Lies

As of the time of this writing, DeviantArt is claiming that no artwork from DeviantArt was used to train DreamUp. (ARCHIVE.ORG snapshot taken while I was writing this post for proof) This is blatantly false, knowing what’s in LAION, but in an interview with the Verge, dA’s current CEO gives a more nuanced take: “no dA-specific training”.

That is unfortunately also a lie, and trivially proven.

Before I can say how, you need to know two things about me, and a bit about the technology.

The first thing about me: I’m a cybersecurity master’s student in a very rigorous program, and my particular flavor of neurodivergence ended up trading a lot of points in “basic life skills” for “really good at computer shit”.

The second thing about me: I’ve poured years of my life into community management on dA, helping build art RPGs. It’s a little bit of a weird space if you’ve never been exposed, but what  you really need to know is we have our own lingo and our own systems of IP. 

So, Stable Diffusion is a neural network. People really hype this stuff up, but what it really is in the end is an extremely complicated math problem. What you need to know is that these neural networks undergo two phases: a training phase and a usable phase. A pretrained neural network can be retrained on additional data, but it cannot be untrained. Once trained, its training data is an intrinsic part of it. It’s actually a little worse than a human being-- we forget shit all the time, but these things can’t. All products of a neural network are mathematically dependent on its training data.

As a text-to-image generator, these generators need a specific type of data: described images. In order to generate an image from a caption, it needs to know what’s in it, after all! 

LAION is an intrinsic part of Stable Diffusion. DreamUp has stolen art in it. This is a fact. What I’m seeking to disprove here is dA’s CEO’s claim that there was no dA-specific training. In order to do so, I asked a basic question-- does DreamUp understand the shibboleths I pose it? If I ask it to generate images that use terms that would only be understood by those who work in my opaque-to-outsiders closed species groups, then it has dA-specific training. 

In order to run tests, I used Hugging Face’s official Stable Diffusion test space as a control. Any differences in Stable Diffusion’s output vs. DreamUp’s output would be down to DeviantArt’s additional training. Please also note that these tests were run on the 12th, before any username bans went through.

Here are my results:

(Please note that an “import” is a certified character for use in an ARPG. Ketucari is an arpg I help run.)

“ketucari import by matriarchs haunt”

STABLE DIFFUSION:

A lot of textures, rope, and horses. (Horses might be a factor of the dA data already in the dataset, horse arpgs are extraordinarily popular and I believe outnumber closed species arpgs like ketucari).

Dreamup results:

These pictures are recognizably in the style of ARPG imports, to the point where I swear I’ve seen similar ones. The beasts on them are twisted horses, likely due to the sheer amount of horse ARPG imports in the training data. 

Additionally, with the names of multiple popular horse groups, a fellow ARPGer was able to generate an even more convincing import. (I’m sorry I don’t know your username, though your name is so familiar!)

For comparison: a ketucari import of a character I own, another import of a popular arpg with a character I own -- please note the basic format of a character with color-your-own lines posed on a background. 

A second test:

Stygians ARPG is a different flavor of ARPG I don’t help run, but I generally hang out in. This is the reference art for the Stygian species. Their name is a common word that can be easily confused for other things, but they’re a large group. Stygs do not follow the above ARPG format but have free-drawn adoptables, so they won’t have quite the same GLUT in the training data that imports do. 

“legendary stygian by zoomutt” (Zoo is a sweetheart and the species owner, and legendaries are a specific lore subclass)

Stable Diffusion:

Predicatably, it has no fucking clue what I’m on about.

Dreamup:

This is the most damning, and convincing example yet-- these are recognizably deer-shaped creatures. The left has a four-critter lineup like an adoptable sale, and the middle has a frame and a label, though notably in a different style than Zoo usually uses for her sales. One person in the Stygs discord did point out there’s an MLP character named Stygian who might be contaminating the results, which I do want to make note of (I stopped watching the show a while back). I do also want to note that none of these creatures are at all MLP-styled. 

So, how is dA generating recognizable closed species and ARPG imports?

Because they fed it additional, tagged data from dA. It knows people’s styles and IPs. That’s why you have to block your username to begin with.

[twilightmalachite]

2×2 - Prologue 1

Author: Akira

Characters: Hinata, Yuuta

Translator: Mika Enstars

"(…I’m getting kinda sick of this already.)"

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: 2×2 Program Set

ES’ first year of establishment. Late March, the site for filming 2wink’s namesake program; 2×2…

Hinata: “And 2×2 (squared) begins again today!”

Yuuta: “This is our street where we rule!”

Hinata: “Talk about needlessly rap-like~☆”

Yuuta: “We’re in top form~♪”

Yuuta: (…I’m getting kinda sick of this already.)

Hinata: (What’s with my brother all of a sudden!?)

(You okay? Not enough excitement? I mean, you’ve been way mentally unstable lately!)

(Onii-chan’s worried. Let’s be more enthusiastic, okay? We’re about to launch our long-awaited namesake program for 2wink at long last, aren’t we~?)

Yuuta: (It’s not like this is our first time doing this, you know, it’s not really anything to get hyped over.)

(I mean, we’ve hosted a great number of variety shows in the past.)

(It’s starting to really show just how that much was barely recognized by anyone.)

(Now that we’ve gotten 2×2, we’ve started getting compliments from fans and peers all of a sudden.)

(“Congrats!” “What a huge breakthrough!” “Now you guys are big-time idols too!”)

(I’m nooooot an idiot!)

(Even though we’re doing the exact same thing we’ve always been doing, only this time the reactions of those around us has changed so blatantly. It doesn’t sit right with me.)

(“Congratulations” for what? They’ve been silent for us the entire time, but they’ll praise us all “good boy, good boy” only when we succeed in doing our “grown-up obligations”?)

Yuuta: (Hah! Acting like a grown-up is too easy!)

Hinata: (This is bad, baaad…)

(He sorta seemed like he had calmed down when he started growing his hair out, but Yuuta-kun was accumulating stress in the pit of his stomach, as he does…)

(Instead, he just hid that stress from even his own Onii-chan and turned it invisible. The poison within his stomach he refused to vent out to anyone increased in concentration—)

(And now, it’s about to erupt. Like a dormant volcano about to explode.)

(I-I need to calm him down somehow, before he directs it at those around him like what happened at SS.)

(O’ raging Aoi Yuuta! God, pacify his anger~!)

Yuuta: …Who are you praying to, Aniki? Gross!

Hey, what has God ever done for us?

Hinata: (H-Huh? I’m not sure if my feelings are getting across very well~…)

(Before, my feelings were always able to reach him without having to say anything, like telepathy unique to twins.)

Hinata: (Yuuta-kun really has changed.)

(No, it’s us both who have.)

Yuuta: Alright, let’s not slack off and get to work. Don’t worry, I’m a professional, I can get my work done even if I don’t feel like it.

Hinata: R-Right. Onii-chan has a lot on his mind too, but he’ll change his mindset too.

“—Now, allow me to introduce you to our “friends” this time around! ☆”

Yuuta: “As you know, every time at 2×2, we begin by pairing up with a “friend” that Aniki and I each call in!”

Hinata: “Then as pairs, we compete with each other to various challenges!”

Yuuta: “One week, we lived either on 500 yen a day, or lived in a suspicious cult village!”

Hinata: “I told you not to call it a cult!”

Yuuta: “Ahaha, please cut that part out, then~♪”

“Anyways. Basically, the idea is the rebellious me challenging my oh so great and perfect big brother—”

Yuuta: *whispering* —Hey, just who is oh so great and perfect? Aren’t you getting a little carried away, Aniki?

Hinata: I-It’s just a scenario! Though truthfully, in part to Volcano Island and all that, I am now more famous and popular than you now…

Yuuta: Hah?

Hinata: Th-That’s just the public image, so this program’s just building off of that “feeling”, isn’t it?

I'd rather not do it either, you know!? A project like this that gives off the feeling that we siblings are on edge with each other~!

Yuuta: Really? I’m having fun with it, though~. ‘Cuz every time, I can beat you up with a just cause, Aniki.

But well, it does piss me off that I’m treated like the “more useless little brother”. But if I keep on winning every time, the public image of me will change, won’t it?

For better or for worse, this program seems to have gained a good amount of public recognition.

While their attention is on us, I’ll change the complexions of the ignorant people of the world who look at us carelessly… Fufufu ♪

Hinata: (Ah~, he’s acting like a bad kid again… I don’t like this. To the public, we probably look like all’s going well with us having our own TV program and all that, but…)

(Our relationship as a unit, in other words, between us siblings, is very, very rocky.)

[ ☆ ]

story directory | next →

[pirepoumon]

still thinking about the venue choice local queer (as in, content about queer people, relationships, transition, etc. regardless of who created it) performances essay i want to write. but i don't know what my point is and i can't write without one.

consistently the warehouse stagings of weirder shows by local arts juggernauts, no matter the theme, are specifically leveraging the sense of intimacy that only a couple rows deep of in-the-round gym chair seating can provide. KYS is the first, imo, of the modern local renaissance and they did it with horror - but even their straight titus andronicus was in Play's (gay bar) warehouse, back when they didn't have their own. the woman in black was a stunning (mostly) two man show, also not queer*.

contrasting as one from ky opera and the woman in black is a large part of what got me thinking about this anyway - the former is a gorgeous two singer opera which was staged in the opera's warehouse, the bar in their library, the organization's history on the walls in the same non-advertising, scrapbook way that is a casual private kind of public, like family photos in a living room. in the post-performance talk the director (who is, in fact, heading ATL but took on his first opera direction this show) talked about the choice to stage it here not only as the intimacy of the physical facts of the space - its size, the stage and seating sharing a floor without demarcation or elevation change - but the intimacy of being in the opera's home, home office and home rehearsal space.

the opera's warehouse is located on magazine street - eighth and magazine, where you can see the great asphalt canyon of the ninth street divide from their parking lot. no preserved facades, no whiskey row art installations, no tourism advertising, just the living legacy of carving the black west end from the city center via the bulldozing and highway-building policies of our 20th century city government. it feels othered, because it is other-than, but i do think that sense of home the opera spoke to is palpable, even if i refrain from pretending i can judge the "authenticity" of a "feeling" of an organization.

ky shakes' hometurf shows haven't been queer, as discussed above, but their shakespeare in dance ballet collaboration shocked me to tears with the public dramatization of both heterosexual and homosexual desire on stage, for free, in the park, all those years ago. and so still it hits that when i walk to their shelby street warehouse for their seasonal halloween show, their private home i have come to visit only blocks away from their public one, i do believe it when Matt Wallace tells me this is YOUR kentucky shakespeare.

it is beyond the scope of this essay i'm not writing to address the similarly your louisville orchestra tagline-obsessed, uh, LO, but that line lands solely in the context of teddy abrams' revival of the making music program in local elementary schools, in its tour of the entire state from east to west that parallels the now-standard miniature parks (and library) tour of kentucky shakes.

there are other considerations, like price (it's easier to swallow KY shakes being ours when its main season is fully free; the opera, reaching out beautifully, is still exceptionally expensive without student tix). the geographical designation in these organization's names are practical to distinguish from other ones elsewhere, sure, but it is essential to their revival**. there are two ways for something to belong to a group whose sole commonality is geographical residence: to invite people in, or to go to their community wherever they are; arts organizations who most embody their own vision of belonging to/serving their neighbors will and must do both.

well i guess this has to be part one because this is basically the perfect setup for re-explaining why the highview mob boss sligo newcastle from the extremely mediocre play the kiss me curse at highview arts center is essentially the pinnacle of local theater ethos. but i am out of time

[askinkiskarma]

I have took the cov vac, but I saw recently on the News that it actually is dangerous ?

As the new ARN tech used for this vacc is too new to be used now. It affects the genes of our DNA with the ARN. ARN's are the DNA messagers and transmitters of our DNA. Basically the vacc inserts new ARN in your body, replacing your natural ones by so called strong against covid.

This man that is a doctor was invited and they reported this vac as being "bad" as it goes right into your cells seed...😨

Bruh

Now I am all freacked out

Maybe I should have waited. I am still getting covid so 😭😭😭

Ok kiddos and besties, gather around while andra gives you a small biomolecular lesson x

This is the central dogma of biology:

Your DNA is basically millions of tiny pieces that when decoded, make proteins. These proteins when put together form molecules that all do different things in your body and help keep you alive and functioning. In order to do that, your dna needs to be decoded. That’s what mRNA does - it’s a medium between dna and proteins, and with its help the body is able to produce proteins and molecules.

Now, how do vaccines work? Normal vaccines work by putting a weakened virus in your body - weak enough that it won’t make you ill, still alive enough so that it will trigger an immune response and allow your body to make antibodies (little armies of soldiers) that can fight the virus should you ever come in contact with it again.

How is that different than the mrna vaccine? The mRNA vaccine, for all intents and purposes, is much better and more effective. Instead of taking the whole virus, and everything its DNA or RNA (some viruses have RNA as their primary genetic material, not to be confused witu mRNA) can encode, it only takes the intermediate mRNA of the couple molecules that actually are in charge of making you sick, and allows your immune system to make the antibodies this way instead.

The central dogma of biology goes in only one direction: DNA -> mRNA -> protein. The ONLY way your mRNA can EVER affect DNA is if they are programmed to have certain enzymes (such as DNA reverse transcriptase) which the vaccines absolutely do not.

edit: in fact, you could make the argument this vaccine is a lot better BECAUSE a lot of viruses DO have DNA or RNA that does include RNA or DNA reverse transcriptase, because this is how it keeps producing and thriving, by latching onto your own DNA in order to survive. By completely removing any unnecessary parts of its genetic code and only putting the couple of molecules that are involved in the infection, the mRNA vaccine can be considered even safer.

edit 2: please understand that the science that deals with the mRNA vaccines is in nO way "new". it is science that has been developed for years and years for other kinds of viruses. also another very important thing to understand about science - science doesn't take as long as it does because of science. science takes as long as it does because of money (or lack thereof) and bureaucracy. there are times where i have to wait MONTHS for one product in order to do my research. i have friends who have waited YEARS for some samples, simply because of shipping mishaps etc. during covid, the WHOLE world made room and way, threw every bit of money research had into finding a solution as quickly as possible. the science was there, and all of a sudden the money and resources were also there. if anything, covid showed us how quickly we could do things if more money and resources, if more interest and talk were placed on research and on developing cures.

I urge you to please do your own research before believing people on your tv - doctors or not. There is money to be made from fear mongering. TV stations, news websites etc now get paid per clicks or views - meaning the more outrageous, violent, excessive, exaggerated a story is, or the more they can get away with lying to inflate the importance or gravity of the story, the more money they make.

edit 3: medical doctors normally know jackshit about research and about micro/molecular biology. they have no idea what goes on in research, what goes on in a lab, and just like you wouldn’t trust me to go and operate on your nan, you shouldn’t trust them about information that is not at all pertaining to their area of expertise.

Hope this helps x smooches

[urban-orc]

Hey folks!

Just saying that Brazil is the first country to be accepting LGBTQ refugees from any country that criminalize our lives. Yes, this include USA.

This was announced yesterday (may 19).

So... We are here with open arms. This is not an easy country for a lot of things, but we have:

Universal public health

General practitioner, vaccines, AIDS treatment, most common medicines are free or cheap, specialists, dental treatment... Including gender affirming care - there are queues, but it exist.

We have one of the world best dentistry.

Its still starting, but a lot of cities already have veterinary public health, or subsided vets to at least spay/neuter your pets.

Birthing is complicated in general, but there are some free options that are really good.

We don't have an opium crisis and our government break patents of medicines when needed. Insulin is free in the public health system. Condoms too.

Abortion is a current fighting matter.

Public education and universities

Public schools are everywhere. And every school will grant you and kids the basic things like notebooks, pencils, pens, etc, and books. Every school have a library or reading room, the government send new fiction books to schools.

Food is free in public schools, and in the majority of the places, good food. Even if most schools have the kids for 4 or 5 hours, not the entire day, there will be free lunch.

Our educational system is universal, so by law, every child and teen must be studying, disabled kids included.

If you cannot pass the tests for a public college, there are paid colleges you can go with government subsidy, and no one left college with an absurd debt. I mean, really. There are special credit lines to grant that. And the prejudice against community colleges is minimal. Its absolutely common that people work at day and go to college in the night shift.

Black and indigenous people have further affirmative policies to go and stay at college.

Unions and workers rights

Our president used to be an union leader. Even with the recent shit show (we had our own trump/jonhson like asshole) , unions are very present and we have LAWS that protect workers. Including 30 days of paid vacation every year, paid weekend, 50% extra payment for working more than 8 hours day or Sundays, 30% more per hour worked at night, social security services, paid health leave, and retirement.

We have a lot of shit going on in work environment, but unions grant lawyers to help, and everything in our work conditions is better than in USA.

Leftist parties and an almost fair voting system.

Almost because Im an anarchist so, every voting system to me is flawed as fuck BUT how far a voting system can go, Brazilians have the best option.

We have a lot of parties, both left and right. You dont have only two options. We have not one, but two communist party. Our socialist party have a huge queer presence. The presidency now is at the Workers Party hands, a left-centered bunch. I think they are not left enough, but our left center party is still much more to the left than any american party.

Our democracy is direct, every vote have the same value, there are not delegates and caucus and such stuff. Every adult need to vote, so your work cannot stop you from voting. There is one election day, its a holiday because everybody votes in the same day, from 8 am to 6 pm. Since the system is electronic, the same night we have the results.

Also, States are not independent to decide most of things. The laws are federal, so there's a consistency in rights and such things.

The greatest variety of foods

And even if inflation because our last government is still a thing, so food right now is not exactly cheap, we don't have food shortages.

There are no food deserts. Fresh food is easily available, and our climate is good to grow food at home.

In general, Brazilians have much more healthier food accessible than USAians.

And in big cities we have government programs and the MST (our Liga campesina) to help.

Guns are mostly illegal

Yes, thats what you read. We have huge gun control.

There are no school shootings. We had a few school incidents (big part of it with mellee weapons and not guns) by alt right men, but every single one was treated as a national tragedy and there's a real effort so that it don't happen again. In 20 years, we didn't had the amount of shootings that happens in a week in the USA.

Federal investigations of hate groups are happening constantly.

I could go on and on. And yes, we have problems, as any other country. But if you have the chance, come. We have our xenophobes, but mostly is a country that receive well the refugees. We have several organizations that help people to get on their feet. Caritas have even Portuguese classes specially developed for refugees.

There is racism, a lot, but it's very different than in USA, so it will take sone time to figure out wtf.

And we have A LOT of affirmative actions for minorities. We have a strong and huge queer community (better saying, various huge queer communities).

São Paulo Pride parade receives more than 1 million people.

And 1 dolar = 4 or 5 reais. Even if you don't have much money, this will make easier to you start a new life here.

[cyberpunk-life]

He rang off, then searched in the cupboards of the kitchen for a broom (manual or self-powered) or vacuum cleaner (helium battery or wall socket). Neither could be found. Evidently he had never been issued any sort of cleaning equipment by the building’s supply agency. Hell of a time, he thought, to find that out. And he had lived here four years.

Picking up the vidphone, he dialed 214, the extension for the maintenance circuit of the building. “Listen,” he said, when the homeostatic entity answered. “I’m now in a position to divert some of my funds in the direction of settling my bill vis-à-vis your clean-up robots. I’d like them up here right now to go over my apt. I’ll pay the full and entire bill when they’re finished.”

“Sir, you’ll pay your full and entire bill before they start.”

By now he had his billfold in hand; from it he dumped his supply of Magic Credit Keys—most of which, by now, had been voided. Probably in perpetuity, his relationship with money and the payment of pressing debts being such as it was. “I’ll charge my overdue bill against my Triangular Magic Key,” he informed his nebulous antagonist. “That will transfer the obligation out of your jurisdiction; on your books it’ll show as full restitution.”

“Plus fines, plus penalties.”

“I’ll charge those against my Heart-Shaped—”

“Mr. Chip, the Ferris & Brockman Retail Credit Auditing and Analysis Agency has published a special flier on you. Our recept-slot received it yesterday and it remains fresh in our minds. Since July you’ve dropped from a triple G status creditwise to quadruple G. Our department—in fact this entire conapt building—is now programed against an extension of services and/or credit to such pathetic anomalies as yourself, sir. Regarding you, everything must hereafter be handled on a basic-cash subfloor. In fact, you’ll probably be on a basic-cash subfloor for the rest of your life. In fact—”

He hung up. And abandoned the hope of enticing and/or threatening the clean-up robots into entering his muddled apt. Instead, he padded into the bedroom to dress; he could do that without assistance.

After he had dressed—in a sporty maroon wrapper, twinkle-toes turned-up shoes and a felt cap with a tassel—he poked about hopefully in the kitchen for some manifestation of coffee. None. He then focused on the living room and found, by the door leading to the bathroom, last night’s greatcape, every spotty blue yard of it, and a plastic bag which contained a half-pound can of authentic Kenya coffee, a great treat and one which only while pizzled would he have risen to. Especially in view of his current abominable financial situation.

Back in the kitchen he fished in his various pockets for a dime, and, with it, started up the coffeepot. Sniffing the—to him—very unusual smell, he again consulted his watch, saw that fifteen minutes had passed; he therefore vigorously strode to the apt door, turned the knob and pulled on the release bolt.

The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.”

He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”

“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.”

In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to it many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.

“You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.

From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door.

“I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out. Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”

A knock sounded on the door. “Hey, Joe, baby, it’s me, G. G. Ashwood. And I’ve got her right here with me. Open up.”

“Put a nickel in the slot for me,” Joe said. “The mechanism seems to be jammed on my side.”

~ Philip K Dick—Ubik (1969)

[lesfeldickbiblestudy]

  Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 2 * PART 1 * BOOK 72 THE BIG PICTURE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE (CONTINUED ...) - 1 I Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25 It’s good to see everybody in this afternoon.  For those of you joining us on television, we’re just a simple Bible Study. We don’t hold to any denominational line. We’re just going to teach the Book the way we feel the Spirit leads us to teach it, and evidently it is working.  We’re getting response from every imaginable background you can think of, and they all tell me pretty much the same thing.  “Les, it isn’t you.  It’s the Word.” Especially as we put it on the screen.  So, we do thank every one of you out there for your prayers and your letters and for everything that makes this ministry work. All right, for those of you here in the studio, we’ve already turned to Ephesians chapter 3. We’re going to pick up where we left off in our last four programs. For a quick review now, remember that we’re going to be moving to the place where we can hopefully show beyond a shadow of a doubt that we can rest on a pre-tribulation out-calling of the church, which we call the Rapture. Now, one of the big arguments that they throw at me is – “Well, the word Rapture isn’t even in the Bible.”  And you know what I say?  Neither is the word Trinity.  Neither is the word Sovereign.  But do we use them?  All the time, and same way with the word Rapture.  It is in the Roman Catholic Vulgate, not that that makes it any more secure, but nevertheless they translated the caught up in I Thessalonians chapter 4 as raptura from which, I guess, the English got the word Rapture.  But anyhow, we’re not showing it just from one or two verses.  We’re going to use however many programs it takes to show the big picture.  And that’s what I’m always referring to, that we have to look at the big picture.  How did all these things come about that bring us to a necessity of an out-calling of the Body of Christ before God picks up again His dealing with the Nation of Israel? As I pointed out then in our last taping, in those first four programs, you cannot recognize this unless you look at the Scriptures dispensationally.  Which, of course, a lot of these covenant people despise. They almost hate it.  But that’s their problem not mine, because the only viable way to study is to “rightly divide the Scriptures,” not just between Malachi and Matthew, but we divide the Scriptures between the various dispensations when God dealt differently with the human race over different periods of time.  That’s the whole idea of dispensational teaching: how did God deal with humanity?  I always start out with Adam and Eve in the Garden.  It’s the simplest and the easiest dispensation to describe. He placed them in the Garden, and He gave them a set of directions.  Just like a pharmacist puts it on the bottle when you get your prescription, you’ve got a parallel there.  A dispensation is like a dispensing of a prescription.  Well, what good is a prescription if it doesn’t have directions?  And the same way with a dispensation, when God established a dispensation, He gave a set of directions. Now, coming back to Adam and Eve, again, their set of directions was simple, of that one tree you shall not eat.  The rest are yours to enjoy.  But of that one tree you shall not eat.  That was it.  But they couldn’t even follow that!  It wasn’t long until Satan hoodwinked them, and they ate of the tree.  Well, that ended that dispensation with a judgment, which was the expulsion out of the Garden.  And you start up with another dispensational program. It was that way up through human history.  God has dealt at different times, under different circumstances with different sets of directions. All right, now Moses and the Children of Israel came to Mount Sinai, and God put them under the Law.  Basically from the Ten Commandments and everything that was associated with it. For 1,500 years, a much longer time than Adam and Eve in the Garden, but for 1,500 years Israel lived and practiced under the Law.

  And again it was a set of directions. Well, when they rejected everything that God had promised under that dispensation, which was really the coming of their Messiah to be their King.  Instead of recognizing and taking Him and trusting Him as their King, they did what?  They crucified Him.  They killed Him, and of course that precipitated a judgment which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D 70, and Israel was sent out into a dispersion that took them to every nation under heaven.  None excepted. But that was exactly what prophecy said would happen.  But prophecy also said that after they’d been scattered to every nation under heaven, what would God do?  He would bring them back, and of course we’ve seen that happen in our lifetime.  That’s all a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. But God cannot really enter into a dispensational relationship with Israel again with the church here on earth, because that would be a mix that just wouldn’t fly.  So, we’re showing now that after Israel rejected everything, God did something totally different by taking one man, the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, and told him “I will send you to the Gentiles,”  which was exactly opposite of what He told the Twelve. See, now that’s when people think Scripture contradicts itself.  Well, if you don’t understand the change of operations – yes, you could think that’s the case. But when there is a distinct contradiction, it’s not a contradiction; it’s a change in dispensations.  It’s a change in program. So, when Jesus told the Twelve “go not to the Gentiles, but go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and Israel rejected everything and crowned it with the stoning of Stephen, then we’re introduced to the next player on the stage of biblical history – Saul of Tarsus.  And then in chapter 9, as we saw last time we were together, Saul was not only transformed and saved as we call it, but he was designated by God Himself from Glory, as the one who would go now to the Gentiles.  Just opposite of what Jesus told the Twelve. If you remember in the last couple of programs, we were following the transition through the Book of Acts where the Apostle Paul is now coming front and center and Peter and the Eleven are sort of slipping off the scene, because God is now changing His modus operandi from dealing with Israel under the Law, and He’s going to be dealing with the Gentile world, as well as some Jews of course, under Grace.  It is a whole different set of directions. All right, so to pick us up where we left off, we’re going to look at Ephesians chapter 3. We’ll start at verse 1, but I want us to zero in on verse 2.  It’s one of the verses we’ve got here on the board.  All four of these verses use the term “dispensation.”  So, I can stand here without apology and tell the world it’s a biblical word.  It’s not a coined word.  It’s not an invented word.  It’s right out of the original Greek.  A dispensation is a period of time where God is dealing with the human race under a set of directions—all right, Ephesians 3 verse 1. Ephesians 3:1 “For this cause (a reflection on the first two chapters) I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for (Whom?) you Gentiles,” Now, what a difference.  Everything else, all the way up since Genesis chapter 12, whenever God spoke, who was He speaking primarily to?  Israel. Israel was under the promises.  Israel was under the covenants.  When Christ came in His earthly ministry, like we’ve already said, He told the Twelve “go not into the way of a Gentile, but go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Everything was directed to the Nation of Israel.  Now this apostle directs everything the other direction.  He’s always making reference to the Gentiles.    And that’s what people have to realize. You know, once in a while I’ll get a letter, usually from preachers who just totally disagree with me.  I just come up with one short stock answer.  The only reason you can’t see what I’m doing is you don’t want to.  That’s the only reason, because if they wanted to, they could see it.

I’ve got pastors all around the country now that are beginning to see it.  I’ve already made mention of that.  And why?  Because they suddenly realized – hey- if I’m wrong, I want to see it.  But if they don’t want to, there is nothing I can do.  There is nothing anybody else can do short of God Himself, because they’re not going to see it if they don’t want to.  And you know the reason they usually don’t want to?  Peer pressure.  Just like with our kids. What’s the worst thing that our teenagers have to face everyday?  Peer pressure.  The other kids.  Well, what’s the worst pressure that preachers have to face?  Other preachers.    I was with a couple of them down in Florida.  They know exactly what I’m talking about.  All the rest of the preachers in their community just almost detest them, won’t have anything to do with them, because they don’t like this approach to Scripture.  Well, you know, if they want to see it, they’ll see it. Ephesians 3:1-2a “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2. If…” Again remember, by the time Paul has written Ephesians, he’s been out there amongst the Gentile world about 24 years, if I’ve got my chronology right. I think he started about A.D. 40 and this is written about 64, so that’s 24 years that he has been ministering to the Gentile world.  Now you want to remember, that was a rather small area compared to now. It was the area around the Mediterranean—Turkey predominately, and Greece and then some in Antioch in Syria.  But that was about the extent of the then-known world, so far as the Christian message was concerned. Ephesians 3:2 “If (after 24 years of his ministry - you happen to be among those who) ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God (Now watch these next few words. This dispensation of the grace of God--) which is given (I’m going to put the preposition in only for clarity.) to me to you.”  Now, what’s the process?  God unveiled this whole body of truth that we call the dispensation of Grace and He did not tell Paul to take it to Israel, He told Paul to take it where?  To the Gentile world.  And that’s exactly what he did. Paul had to fight the Jewish element almost all the way, because they were never convinced that the God of Israel would have anything to do with those pagan Gentiles. We were looking at it before taping today.  I can’t put my finger on the verse.  I’ll have to find it.  But you see, when God brought Israel out of Egypt and was preparing them for the Promised Land, what where they to do with all those pagan Gentiles into whose midst they would be going?  Now, we don’t like to say it, because it is so much against our biblical culture, now under Christendom, at least.  But what were the instructions?  Don’t spare a one.  Clean the country of them.  Don’t intermarry with them.  Don’t do business with them.  Have nothing to do with the Gentile world around you. Well you see, that stayed with Israel all the way up through until we get to the Apostle Paul, because even Peter, as we showed in our last taping when God forced the issue for him to go to that Gentile house of Cornelius.  Did Peter want to go?  Heavens, no!  Why? Because he was a good, law-keeping Jew.   And you remember the last thing he said when he went across the Cornelius’ threshold?  Cornelius, you know having served the Roman army here in Israel all these years, you know it’s an unlawful thing for me, a Jew, to keep company with someone of another nation.  Not just Rome.  Any Gentile nation.  The Jews were to have nothing to do with them. Well you see, that just carried over into all these elements of taking salvation to the Gentile world.  Those Jewish people couldn’t handle the fact that God was going to share Himself with those pagan Gentiles.  But, He says, this is what we’re going to do. All right, now we have to go on into verse 3.  With no association with the Twelve whatsoever, now he is being told what to take to the Gentile world so far as the salvation message was concerned.  Where did he get it?  Verse 3.

Ephesians 3:3a “How that by revelation he made known unto me (not the Twelve but to him alone) the mystery;…” Which, we told you last time we were together, is secret things that had never been revealed before. And you see, this is what most of Christendom can’t get through their head.  They just can’t get it through their head that all of these things that are pertinent for us in this Age of Grace were totally unknown.  Totally!  That’s why Paul refers to it over and over as “things that were kept secret.”  They were mysteries.  And whenever I get a letter of opposition, I don’t get many, so don’t worry; I’m not complaining a bit.  It’s very rare that I get a letter of opposition, but all I have to do is just skim through it.  Not one verse, not one reference from the Apostle Paul.  Well, where does that letter go?  Well, in the round file.  If they don’t know enough of Scripture to use nothing out of Paul, then there’s no need for me to respond. But that’s what they do.  They just utterly ignore the Apostle Paul.  I’ve made this cry from this pulpit, if you want to call it that, for as long as I’ve been on television.  Why in the world are 90% of your Sunday morning sermons any place but Paul?  And you all know that. I shared it with a fellow who kept track in one of the major denominations several years ago in one of my classes.  From January until the first of July he kept a log of every Sunday morning sermon text.  Not one was from Paul.  All but one was from Matthew or John.  Some of them were from Mark and Luke, I guess, mostly from Matthew.  One was from the Old Testament.  Well, that’s typical.  That didn’t surprise me one bit, because they will not recognize that to this Apostle were given things that were never even alluded to anywhere else in Scripture.  And that’s what makes it so unique, and why it is so hard for people to swallow. Well, I woke up in the middle of the night, I do that quite often the night before taping, and a verse just hit me.  And I’m going to have you look at it, because I think the Lord did it for a reason.  Turn back with me to II Timothy chapter 1. This is toward the end of Paul’s prison ministry.    II Timothy is written at the end of his life.  It won’t be long after this and they’ll be beheading him, but look what he writes.  This just says it all when I tell you what I just told you in the last five minutes.  Hey, it’s nothing new, and we have to be aware of that.   Paul is at the end of his ministry. He’s been out there just simply sacrificing, suffering in the physical like I don’t think any other man ever suffered outside of Christ Himself.  And look what he writes. II Timothy 1:15a “This thou knowest, that all they that are in Asia…” That would be Turkey.  You want to remember that Asia in our New Testament is Asia Minor or the land of Turkey. Now stop and think a minute.  Where was Turkey in Paul’s ministry?  Well, almost the very heart of it.  If he went north from Antioch, he’d go up to the Seleucian Straights and he could go straight west across the highlands of Turkey. Then he would hit the little cities of Derbe and Lystra and Antioch of Pisidia and all the way on over to the western coast of Turkey on the Aegean Sea where he had the city of Ephesus primarily, and then across to Philippi.   But a good portion of his ministry was in what we call the land of Turkey.  Now, picture that a minute before we read on.  The land of Turkey was where he spent a good portion of his time. II Timothy 1:15 “This thou knowest, that all they who are in Asia (or Turkey) be turned away from me; (the worst of which was) of whom Phygellus and Hermogenes.”  Now stop and think a minute.  Were they turning against the man Paul or his message?  The message!  It wasn’t that they didn’t like Paul the man.  But, oh, just like today they couldn’t stand his message. Now, think a little deeper.  That’s what I like to do if I can succeed in teaching; it is getting people to think.  All the land of Turkey, after his 24 years of labor, ended up turning against him.

Where did Turkey end up spiritually in the last 2,000 years?  Nothing.  Muslim, if anything and they’re even secular.  Oh, that just tells me everything.  They rejected Paul’s message.  And they went back, probably, to Christ’s earthly ministry and the Twelve, which is not the message in this Age of Grace. I was reading an article the other day by a Ph.D. Theologian, and all he was stressing was the teachings of Jesus.  Now wait a minute.  Who was Jesus teaching?  Jews under the Law, so not much of His teaching is really that relevant for us today.  Oh, there’s nothing wrong with them, but that’s not where heart of the matter is for us today.  He was laboring under the Law with the Temple worship tied in with it, and it was all concerning His covenant people.  But none of that really becomes pertinent for us today, because between that and now was the what?  The cross.  I love that old hymn.  I’m sure many of you know it.  The Cross Makes A Difference.  It makes all the difference!  And they don’t see that. All right, so just mull this over.  What happened to the land of Turkey when all of the Pauline churches turned against him?  They became nothing.   I read something else the other night that confirmed what I’ve been telling my classes for 30 some years.  You watch Turkey.  Everybody is trying to pull them into the European Community, and they’ve been part of NATO, but what has been my stand?  They’re going to go with the Muslim world by the time we get to the end.  So, what did I read the other night?  They’re that close now to fulfilling that prophetic part of it.  That they are going to hook up with the Muslim world. A few years ago they even made a treaty with Israel that made you wonder how in the world could Turkey make a treaty like that with the Jews when the rest of the Middle East is so against them?  But now they’ve just about thrown that out, already, and they’re getting more belligerent toward the little Nation of Israel every day.  All of these things are coming together now right in front of our very eyes. But don’t forget this, that the Apostle Paul at the close of his life could write to Timothy that all they in Asia, all those little congregations that he had established, had turned, not against him, I don’t think the person, but against his message – the Gospel of the Grace of God—that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.  The message we must believe in our heart for us in this Age of Grace today. All right, now in the few minutes we have left, it’s almost gone already.  Let’s go back to Ephesians chapter 3 for a little longer.  Because I’m going to spend the next whatever it takes to review what we taught verse-by-verse ten years ago.  That’s about when we were in Romans—about 1996-97.  That’s ten years ago, already. I don’t think it would hurt us a bit to go back and review some of these things that are pertinent to Paul’s message for the Gentile world.   All right, you’re back in Ephesians chapter 3, how the dispensation of the grace of God was given to him to give it to the Gentile world.  And in that process of handing out the directions for this dispensation, here’s how he got it—verse 3. Ephesians 3:3-4 “How that by revelation (a revealing of things that had been kept under wraps) he (God) made known unto me the mystery; (the things kept secret) (as I wrote before in few words, (Now remember, who he’s writing to?  Gentiles, not just the Ephesians, this is a circulated letter, so it’s just as relevant for us as it was for them in the day he wrote it.) 4. Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery (or the secret things) of Christ)” Now that immediately reminds me of a verse, go back with me to Galatians.  Just a few pages back to Galatians chapter 2 when we’re at that Jerusalem counsel. I use these verses over and over.  I’m always afraid I’m doing it too much.  I don’t like to run anything into the ground, but there is so much here that the world of Christendom totally refuses to consider.

  Galatians chapter 2 and they’re at that big Jerusalem counsel in about A.D. 51, which actually took place about 6 or 7 years before he wrote the letter to the Galatians, if you want to go by chronology.  But look what happened. He’s meeting with the Twelve up there at the Jerusalem church.  Jump in at verse 6.  I’ll be coming back to this again, so bear with me, because these things are so pertinent to our understanding of our dispensational stand on Paul’s revelation of the mysteries.  All right, verse 6 of Galatians 2. Galatians 2:6 “But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (He’s referring to the Twelve.) (whatsoever they were, it makes no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) (Just because they can say, well, I’m one of the Twelve.  Well, that didn’t cut any mustard with Paul.) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference (Now there’s a key statement.  When they compared their theological notes in conference) they (the Twelve) added nothing to me:” In other words, they didn’t have anything new that they could share with this apostle.  Nothing.  But on the other hand, next verse, see? Galatians 2:7-9a “But contrariwise, when they (the Twelve) saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision (The Gentile world that we’re just looking at in Ephesians 3.  When they recognized that this Gospel--) of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was committed unto Peter; 8. (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) 9.   And when James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived (or understood) the grace that was given unto me,…” So, Paul was given grace by the ascended Lord in Glory.  I was looking for another word, when he said, oh, I know where it is.  I’m sorry.  I had another verse in mind, and we’ve still got time.  Real quickly, turn to II Peter chapter 3.  It still came from the same person, but it was in a different place.  I was thinking it was back there in Galatians.  But look at what Peter writes.  We’ve looked at these verses hundreds of times.  II Peter chapter 3 verse 15, and all this to make the point that these revelations, these revealing of mysteries from the Ascended Lord to Paul, were what made the difference. II Peter 3:15a “And account (or understand) that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him…” What do you suppose Peter is referring to in that word wisdom?  The revelation of these mysteries!  An understanding of things of that had been kept totally secret.  You couldn’t go back to the Old Testament and say here it is.  You couldn’t go back to Christ’s earthly ministry and say here it is.  No.  Those were things that had been kept totally secret until revealed to this Apostle.

[tanoraqui]

@the multiple people asking about Gilraen: you’re so right, she’s definitely present and I forgot to give her a bullet point. Idk quite what her role is, though. She and Elrond have some sort of great co-parenting dynamic. As a rule, Elrond is directing Aragorn’s broad education in kingship but Gilraen is the one he goes to for Dúnedain-specific and/or personal advice.

anyway, key elements of Crownless season 2:

At either the end of s1 or the very start of s2, Elrond tells him that he’s doing great here in the north but it’s time he learned about the southern kingdom he might one day rule…and someone really needs to check in on what the other Nazgúl are up to in Minas Morgul. Fortunately, the northern Dúnedain Rangers and the Rangers of Ithilien have a long-standing, it rarely used informal exchange program…

Where the northern Rangers are a people in their own right, the Rangers of Ithilien are a semi-autonomous unit in Gondor’s military, by which I mean they’re the weird stepchild of Gondor’s military. They’re the people who can handle hanging out on the edges of Mordor for months, even years at a time. It will immediately make sense why this is where we meet Faramir, in whom Númenorean blood flows so strongly that he doesn’t quite fit in with his peers.

Aragorn sets out alone but he gets either 5 minutes out of Rivendell or 3/4 of the way through the episode (in Ithilien, facing new danger) when Halbarad and Dúnawen ride up like, “bold of you to assume you could leave us behind.” (Btw back in s1, Halbarad was more sympathetic to Aragorn from the start while Dúnawen was more of a Rival(TM). By now they’re all 3 a Squad, though.)

22eps 40-43min each monster of the week with building season plot AS ERU INTENDED. Monsters include orcs, wargs, trolls, only 1 giant spider but it’s bigger, Nazgúl-enhanced ghosts, poisonous plants?, huorns (they were last season, too—Old Man Willow!), the Dead Marshes, and Weird Mordor Shit like the Watchers on the walls of Minas Morgul and the giant flying monsters the Nazgúl later ride. Maybe a casual boating trip turns into a Corsairs of Umbar pirate adventure?

Dramatic shot of Aragorn standing on a ridge on the edge of Mordor, surveying that dark land, basically making eye contact with half-rebuilt Barad-Dur and Knowing that here is the Enemy he will face (Sauron, fortunately, doesn’t notice)

Aragorn is NOT using a fake name, because let’s be real: Sauron either picks up on his royal vibes or he doesn’t, and it’s confusing for a casual tv audience. He does get “Thorongil” as a half-teasing, half genuinely honorable epithet, though, after some incident involving eagles and/or Eärendil’s Star.

The Junior Rangers main cast are joined by an Ithilien Ranger named Roddis or Ardeth or some other Sindarization of “Artanis”, because “My parents wanted a traditional old name, but not one that everyone else had, so they found an ancient Elvish princess who’s mentioned in like 1 text and translated her name.”

(Aragorn makes a face but says nothing. Later, Arwen will do the same. Extreme nerds in the audience will laugh and pause to inform their friends that that’s a Sindarization of Galadriel’s Quenya name—see, this show doesn’t have any Silmarillion rights, just LotR, the annals and The Hobbit, but she’s actually from…)

Roddis is a noblewoman from Minas Tirith, or maybe one of the southern fiefs? who isn’t rebelling against her family by serving as a Ranger, but she’s not not rebelling, you know? She’s going to adopt the shit out of both Faramir and Éowyn one day, after the war.

Episode where Steward Ecthelion and his heir Denethor come to review the troops/border, and our heroes have to keep them from being eaten by weird monsters; meanwhile, Denethor recognizes Aragorn as a rival On Sight and makes it weird. Aragorn’s pride does rise in reply but honestly he’s mostly just trying to do his job.

Random reminder that casting for this show prioritized 1. character vibes, 2. acting skills, 3. young Aragorn is smokin’ hot.

The Question of Orcs isn’t a key theme, but will be addressed a bit in s1 and more in s2. This show’s position is: metaphysics irrelevant (elves trapped in hellish reincarnation, passing through like men, who knows…), orcs are just people, who’d rather hang out, farm, have families in peace…ish, because they are inherently violent. But it would be better to extend a hand of peace to them…except, they have literally no defense against the will of Sauron, so if he pays attention and wishes them wrathful and bloodlusty against you, and has even an ounce of power to enforce it, they will be. And he increasingly has power and is paying attention. So some historical anti-orc sentiment is unjust, but it’s literally not something we can stop right now. The only solution is to destroy Sauron, and so save the orcs along with—even more than!—the rest of Middle Earth.

Like s1 had them roaming all over Eriador, here they are not just in Ithilien but all around the perimeter of Mordor, once or twice in Mordor, and also periodically Gondor’s coastal fiefs

Gandalf is here for 1 episode. Gilraen and Arwen do not appear, or maybe appear in dreams or (Gilraen) flashbacks, but not in person

Last season finale was some sort of small but bloody battle against Nazgul forces trying to seize territory in Mirkwood, and main recurring enemy of this season is forces of Minas Morgul…but I think the finale is something more intimate, like, there’s somehow a missing child, or more plausibly a wounded companion, whom we need to find and then sneak back through Cirith Ungol to safety.

[Season 3]

key elements of Crownless (the Young Aragorn show that lives in my head and heart) season 1:

(Note that I will play a little fast and loose with timelines and for the sake of a better story. And/or take ruthless advantage of canonical slow Dúnedain aging to spread the timeline out over several decades)

First episode(s) is Aragorn (age 21, functionally late teens) leaving Rivendell to start wandering the wilds with the Rangers. I would do Elrond & his people dirty and say that Aragorn has been kinda sheltered growing up, a little because Elves tend to baby Men, especially young Men, and mostly because everyone wanted to be sure Isildur’s heir was safe as darkness grew in the world, especially after his father was killed when he was 2.

So Aragorn starts with significant book smarts, homely peace smarts—historical knowledge, animal friendship, herblore, diplomacy skills, technical sword/knife/bow skills…but he doesn’t know the dirty fighting tricks that win a fight. His tracking, hunting, forest stealth, etc. skills…suck at first. He’s prone to freeze in urgent healing (or combat) situations, because he’s never done this on his own before—though he has a natural talent for the ‘calling people back from death’ thing we see in LotR.

(This gives Aragorn obvious skills to pick up that demonstrate his character growth as a leader, while also establishing from the start that his real talent in kingship is, always was, diplomacy, strength of character & connection with his people, literal and metaphorical healing. Also, weirdass plans, often based on things he read, with success resting on luck/prayer/hope more than any reasonable thing…including a willingness to trust strange new and/or sketchy people…and they work.)

Maybe eps 1-2 is a double-length episode: opens with newly widowed Gilraen arriving in distress with a toddler 18 years ago, then first half is mostly restless late teen!Estel in Rivendell, ending with Elrond revealing his true name, broken sword, time to go forth… Smash cut to Aragorn tripping in the forest and falling in a stream while 2 other baby Rangers laugh at him and whoever’s stuck training these new recruits sighs heavily. There’s a lot of “this is the new Chieftain of the Dúnedain, Isildur’s heir?”

Format: 22ep 44min monster of the week (like GOD INTENDED) focused on the newest young Rangers: Aragorn, Halbarad, Dúnawen (OC: “maiden of the west”, don’t @ me for naming), as they range throughout Eriador learning how to be badasses guarding the boundaries of civilization. Monsters include orcs, wargs, mortal bandits, trolls, giant spiders, a small ice wyvern that made its way to northern Dale, barrow-wrights, unhoused fëa, rival clans of Men or maybe Dwarves who are about to go to blood feud war…

…and a slowly mounting season plot of the trouble of 3 Nazgúl reoccupying Dol Goldur, after the White Council forced the “Necromancer” out 15ish years ago. (Riling up ghosts throughout the countryside? Something something themes of moving on from the past. Also, can’t go wrong with an episode in which heroes must confront their literal personal ghosts.)

Repeat cameos from Elrohir & Elladan, cousins of all Mannish Dúnedain (and kind of older brothers to Aragorn in particular.) Are they helping him? Are they harder on him than on the other new recruits? Are they good cop/bad cop-ing it?

Arwen! Meet briefly ep1 and/or she’s a key feature of midseason finale; return in season finale to be badass. “Tinúviel! Tinúviel!” scene in Lothlórien casts a hiccup in a fledgling romance between Aragorn and Dúnawen

All combinations of Aragorn/Halbarad/Dunawen ARE welcome, nay, encouraged. They’re functionally in college and they’re all hot, and constantly in near-death situations. I advise the writers to have fun. Bisexuality is free.

Gandalf introduction early, ep2? Probably also in finale (something of a large team-up).

Late season bottle episode, maybe just before a 2-parter finale, in which due to a thunderstorm/mudslide/cave-in incident, Aragorn, Halbarad and Dunawen are trapped in a cave/small series of caves with a random assortment of other travelers on the road west of Bree: a pair of Dwarvish merchants, a few men, 1 elf (journeying to the Havens to Sail?), and 1 hobbit, Mr. Drogo Baggins of Hobbiton, who was making a perilous journey to Bree and back in order to fetch his beloved, very pregnant wife a particular kind of cheese she was craving. No loss of air threat, but they’re stuck. Obviously getting Drogo home is of utmost importance (and everyone else needs to get home safe, too). Tempers run high! Only once the Junior Rangers sort out their late-season interpersonal drama can Aragorn rise to the occasion and organize/mediate this microcosm of Middle Earth’s populace to dig their way out of this cave.

Aragorn is exceptionally good at facing down Nazgúl and their weaponized despair because he has—indeed, he is, by name!—hope. This show is about hope first and teamwork second, and looking badass in a beautiful landscape while Howard Shore music swells third.

[daemonhxckergrrl]

Getting Linux-y (for Windows refugees)

a casual users' GUIDE to the basics

Linux ? isn't that for nerds ??

yes. no. we're breaking down stereotypes here !! this post is aimed at casual users who care about freedom + privacy, are sick of the direction Windows is heading, or just curious c:

i'm talking social media, email, web browsing, online shopping, pdfs, document writing, funny meme edits, youtube/netflix/plex, spotify, dvds + cds + mp3s etc.

i'll mention gaming and running specific Windows-only software briefly, but that's outside the casual scope i'm going for d:

Arm thyself ! and decipher !! arcane secrets be upon ye !!

it's key knowledge time !! ^w^

Linux isn't Windows, but it's not completely alien :o

much like Tumblr, one curates their Linux experience. there are flavours of Linux (terminology: distribution/distro) aimed at power users who like to DIY, and there's ones aimed at normal folk that are ready to go. for the sake of this GUIDE i'm recommending Linux Mint:

its interface is similar to Windows,

it's popular as a user-friendly choice

and it has both excellent support and software

(note: i ran Mint for years, and when coming back to Linux i chose it for my gaming pc because it's easy to set up and well-supported)

key information:

Linux doesn't use drive letters :o

your C: drive is / (terminology: root directory)

your personal files (C:\Users\Username) live under /home/username (terminology: home directory)

other drives (internal and USB drives) live under /mnt/drive-label or /media/username/drive-label (terminology: mount point)

Technical Note: all hard drives and SSDs, before they get a mount point, are referred to as /dev/sdX (eg /dev/sda, /dev/sdb etc.) for HDDs and SATA SSDs (partitions are /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 etc.), and /dev/nvmeXn1 (/dev/nvme0n1, /dev/nvme1n1 etc.) for NVMe drives (partitions are /dev/nvme0n1p1, /dev/nvme0n1p2)

however, Mint manages all this for us and stuff just shows up in your File Manager much like they do in Windows Explorer c:

Software is typically managed similar to the way App Stores work; Mint has Software Manager that lets you install common programs

the only wrinkle here is Mint supports both Mint-specific sources and a thing called Flatpak, which is like a universal App Store for all Linux distros

the Update Manager keeps both your core system and your programs up-to-date. unlike Windows, by default it will only update when you tell it to ! no more rebooting into Windows Update and waiting 10 years ^w^

it's possible to have both Linux and Windows on the same laptop (terminology: dual-booting); you choose which one each time you turn your laptop on

the Linux Mint Forums are a good place to ask questions, seek advice, and maybe even offer your own !!

additional places: Official Community Website, community-maintained subreddit, community-maintained Discord Server, Official Troubleshooting Guide

i think that's the basic info taken care of.

Let's start with the preparation, or PRE-paration

for this GUIDE you'll need:

a USB drive (4GB+)

Linux Mint ISO file

Balena Etcher (to put the ISO file on the USB drive)

i recommend reading through the info on the Mint homepage and following their installation guide for good step-by-step guide w/ screenshots ^^'

we're gonna make a 'Live Image' on our USB drive - this means we can testdrive the system before we install it. try before you buy !! wait, it's free -- uhh.. walk before you run ??

Download the ISO file using the above link. i recommend the Cinnamon Edition, unless you have a very old PC, in which case pick XFCE

Download Balena Etcher

Plug in your USB drive and open Etcher

Follow the onscreen prompts to select the ISO file and your USB drive

Alright, let's fire her up ! ^u^

now we have our USB drive it's time to boot it. because Windows is, well, Windows, you may need to disable Fast Boot in order to access the BIOS/UEFI. :c you may also have to disable Secure Boot in the BIOS/UEFI depending on your computer. this is usually found in the Boot, Security, or Authentication tab.

now we're ready !!

Power on your computer and press F1/F2/F6/F10/F12/DEL to access your BIOS or Boot Menu

Select your USB drive

A screen will come up where you can select Linux Mint (or will say Automatic Boot in X seconds)

You shall be greeted by a desktop that looks something like this

have a look around !! there's a menu in the bottom left that has programs and system settings and logout/reboot/shutdown options. the taskbar at the bottom displays icons of running apps (and pinned ones). the bottom right has your clock and system tray w/ network, audio etc.

this is a great time to get a feel for how everything works ! open some programs !! investigate the System Settings. connect to your WiFi (in the system tray next to the sound and clock).

when you're ready, double-click the "Install Linux Mint" icon on the desktop. the installer will walk you through setting everything up. i recommend following the official installation guide's walkthrough as it explains everything from setting your timezone to installing Mint by itself or alongside Windows, with screenshots showing each step. it also has an important section on installing drivers. the slideshow during installation also does a good job at showcasing the available software.

Welcome Screen

after installing and rebooting, a Welcome Screen pops up that offers a nice interface for picking a system theme/colour, installing drivers, and setting up backups etc.

Let's talk software !! :D

Mint comes with some software pre-installed. these are probably the main ones:

Archive Manager (like 7-Zip or WinRAR)

Celluloid (a video player; VLC is available to install if you prefer)

Drawing (an image editor similar to Paint)

Document Viewer (PDF viewer)

Firefox (Tumblr's favourite web browser)

LibreOffice (like MS Office - it even supports MS Office file format !)

Rhythmbox (like Windows Media Player or iTunes)

Software Manager (like the Microsoft Store/App Store; GET OTHER PROGRAMS HERE !)

System Monitor (like Task Manager)

System Settings (like Control Panel)

Terminal (like Powershell/Command Prompt; outside the scope of this post but good to have)

Text Editor (like Notepad)

Timeshift (like System Restore points, or macOS Time Machine)

Web Apps (similar to an old iOS feature - make Netflix.com into an app etc.)

Update Manager (manages updates)

Available in Software Manager:

Audacity

Discord

DOSbox

Dropbox

OBS

Spotify

Transmission (torrent client)

VLC

and much more ! these are all official apps !

How's that checklist ?

i mentioned some casual tasks at the start of this post. let's work through them !

Social Media, Online Shopping, Youtube/Netflix/Plex and general Web Browsing

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: identical Method: open Firefox. browse to your_site.com. note: i recommend the web version of Plex as the app can be buggy

Email

Difficulty: easy (webmail), medium (mail client) Windows Similarity: identical (webmail) or similar (mail client) Method: webmail - open Firefox. browse to your_email_site.com. sign in client - open Software Manager. search for Geary (similar to Mac Mail), Evolution (similar to Outlook), or Thunderbird (same as on Windows). click Install. open Geary/Evolution/Thunderbird, follow the first-time setup.

PDFs

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: open Document Viewer from the application menu. File -> Open, browse for your PDF. OR, open File Browser, browse for your PDF, double-click to open

Document Writing

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: open LibreOffice Writer from the application menu. on first launch it may ask if you want a traditional (Office 2003) or Ribbon (Office 2007 onwards) layout. use it as you would MS Word. there's also Calc (Excel), Impress (Powerpoint), Draw (Publisher) and Base (Access)

Funny Meme Edits (aka MS Paint level of image editing)

Difficulty: medium Windows Similarity: similar Method: open Drawing from the application menu. File -> Open for your image. the left toolbar provides options to resize, add text, crop etc. pro tip: remember to click the tick button on the bottom right when you do anything !

Spotify

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: identical Method: open Software Manager, search for Spotify, click Install. then open it from the application menu.

DVDs

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: insert your DVD. Mint may ask what you want to do (choose play/open with Celluloid). if it doesn't, then open Celluloid from the application menu, click the + icon in the top left, click "Open Disc" and choose the DVD you inserted.

CDs and MP3s

Difficulty: easy Windows Similarity: similar Method: CDs - insert your CD. Mint may ask what you want to do (choose play/open with Rhythmbox). if it doesn't, then open Rhythmbox from the application menu. it should automatically see your CD. MP3s - double-click your MP3 file.

Gaming and Windows-only programs

i said i'd briefly mention this (probably good bc the post is getting loonnggggggg), so here we go.

gaming on Linux has come a long way. Steam can be installed from Software Manager and supports a few titles natively, as well as the option to run some Windows-only games using compatibility software called Proton. the website ProtonDB is very handy for looking up compatibility for specific games. i'll drop a proper GUIDE on Linux gaming another time.

Windows-only programs. sometimes you need specific software and it only has a Windows version. it happens. there's similar compatibility software that allows eg Photoshop to run, called WINE (Proton is actually based on this). again, this is outside the casual scope of this post, but i'll drop a GUIDE on this too (as i use the same software to manage both my Windows-only programs and my Windows-only games).

Finale !! FINI !! Fuck me that's a lotta words !!

okay, we got to the end ! you should have Linux Mint installed, you should have your basic programs ready to rock (and know where to get more !!), and know where to get help from official Linux Mint sources as well as community-run ones <3

please drop any questions in the notes, or as an ask. i shall tag those asks #DATA_REQUESTS/GUIDES/LINUX in addition to my usual #DATA_REQUEST tag

i'll also provide the following GUIDEs/REPOs as i have time:

Flatpak (that universal App Store i mentioned earlier)

Gaming (including using Proton + Bottles for Windows games)

Windows software (using WINE + Bottles)

and if there are any specific GUIDEs (eg terminal basics, how to configure xyz in System Settings etc.) or REPOs (eg links to other people's GUIDEs, software recs, screenshot galleries etc.) i'm happy to provide those as and when i have the time !! have fun !!~

[kyotakumrau]

ROCK AND READ 098 SALUS -interview- #1 Kyo

"I'm definitely fond of eros, beauty and a decadent worldview, such things might've been reflected in sukekiyo since before."

There's no question that sukekiyo is formed with Kyo in its centre, it's a band with Kyo as its axis, but how come it's a band that distorted/perverted and that beautiful/pure..? Kyo, who said it all just happened naturally, what did he want to portray in SALUS, and in sukekiyo?

Text: Yukinobu Hasegawa

Translation: kyotaku (if you notice any mistakes, typos etc give me a shout!)

ROCK AND READ 098 is available on Amazon JP here!

profile & information

born February 16th. blood type B. vocalist of DIR EN GREY as well as of formed in 2013 sukekiyo.

-- Although the additional March show in 2020 from sukekiyo TOUR2020 DRIPPIN' got cancelled, songwriting continued as usual. DIR EN GREY is also busy with preproduction. When it got to the situation you couldn't play concerts, could you easily change your feelings towards creative activities?

京  You write a song/melody, or if you have a song/melody you can add song/singing. That's it. sukekiyo has now about 17 songs (in stock). I have interim singing for all of them. From there we had to decide which ones to release this time. With DIR EN GREY as well, now when songs came in I added interim singing. I was just doing what can be done, just that.

-- With sukekiyo, do you often start working on a new piece with a different theme etc, like once you've done one thing next you move in a different direction?

京  Instead of thinking of wanting to do something, it's more like wanting to upgrade. We don't talk to each other so much, each band member has their own different ideas, the themes/tasks themselves. Me myself, I'm not trying to give myself a huge 'power up'. This time we also didn't have a particular course/path we wanted to follow. There are still song we haven't done [to our best potential], there's still feeling like we haven't done enough in that path, so we haven't tried anything new.

-- When we talked last time for RR (087) I asked you what kind of music you tune your antenna to, you said you listen to a lot of old 80s songs.

京  Yeah, basically I like it. But recently I'm not listening to anything. Even if I'm not adding any new data, there's already a lot of stuff inside of me that I feel like I haven't digested/absorbed in yet. That's why it feels completely natural. But if I feel like I don't have any ideas or I'd like to add a bit of new data I will listen to and watch various things more.

-- So in order to create you didn't need to work on input?

京  That's right, in the end since the pandemic started I've been only buying toys and sneakers (laughing).

-- I see (laughing). About your new release (SALUS), I've just interviewed Takumi. It seems that he got some ideas from you and based on that he created the sound/music. What kind of ideas did you give him?

京  sukekiyo already has many Showa era pop style songs, from among them, how to say this... I wanted to try singing a sparkly Showa era pop style song that would have even more nostalgic elements. Could we use this or not, how would it turn out if we made it as sukekiyo and I tried singing. I've made a request to Takumi, would ya try making somethin like that for me? There was a lot of time. When I tried singing, it ended up as a pretty interesting song. We have 17 other songs, when we started discussing which song should end up next on the next release, we all kind of agreed this one had the biggest impact/kick, so we went with it. So it was quite experimental.

-- The term Showa era pop came up, which years do you listen to the most?

(*Showa era lasted between 1929-1989)

京  The truth is, I don't listen to it so much. Somehow you feel what that era was like, for example we somehow know, like 'this sound is very 90s'. That's about how much I listen to it.

-- In the past there were many music programs on TV and many shops were playing Showa era pop, even if we didn't pay attention to it, it's music we just ended up listening to.

京  Exactly, that's how.

-- You said that sukekiyo has a lot of chic Showa era pop songs, do you see it as one of the important roots of the band?

京  Yeah, the number of this kind of songs at concerts increased, many times they serve as an accent or a special point, so I kinda wanted to have more.

-- In sukekiyo shows, and this is completely my personal view, I think you give off all of Showa culture including front and back /pour out. Thinking that you had an underground butohdancing, you also sing Showa pop songs and sometimes you also have this (old small bit rundown but very homey bars in the outskirts) feel. And you also use the old style tv noise in your stage lighting effect. Also the sense of lighting, is definitely not a gaudy style. It feels like a Showa recital of for example Chiaki Naomi.

京  That's true. And plus that, we also have digital elements, gothic elements, and the mix of all that is the most sukekiyo-like. That's why the song released now is just well divided. Things that make me feel nostalgic or videos/images and commercials that feel like that, they really suit sukekiyo well. They would definitely not suit DIR EN GREY. That's why starting from earlier, before sukekiyo's performance we have played a parody of popular old commercials. We're a band that's really into that. We're not just an underground band, but I think we constantly want to poke this subtle line of is it a joke or is it serious. Like 'is it okay to laugh here...?'

-- As someone who remembers drinking not in Showa era's Kabukicho, but in Shinjuku Golden Gai (laughing), I always get those nostalgia stabs. (*when he sees those parody videos)

京  Aah, they played them there for sure. On the topic of Shinjuku, I'd really like homesexual men to listen to it. There are many homosexual men who love Nakamori Akina.

-- Ah, true. A bit before I've interviewed Kinashi Noritake. Mr. Kinashi has a song he's singing together with Matsuko Deluxe and Mitz Mangrove. When we were talking about the recording apparently Mrs Mitz said 'I will become Akina'.

(*Matsuko Deluxe is a drag queen and a popular TV persona; same as Mitz Mangrove, Kinashi is a comedian)

京  Ah, of course. Exactly, Nakamori Akina has many devoted fans.

-- I wonder why is that? In the old Truck Yarou (Truck Guys, 1975-79) series the truck decoration had either Kudo Shizuka or Nakamori Akina.

京  I also like Kudo Shizuka, but she has almost no fans among homosexual men. It's always Matsuda Seiko or Akina, for some reason.

-- The names of those two, Kinashi also said they were mentioned by the two queens.

京  I'm not surprised. I can understand Akina, she has that melancholic feel.

-- We can call it melancholy/grief, or she has this aura of an unhappy woman. It feels to me like a circumstances of a miserable woman.

京  Yup, you get hooked in. As an idol Matsuda Seiko doesn't have a dark side at all. I thought that was good. Kudo Shizuka has this bit of a yankee feel, I guess that's what makes the difference. But I do have a favourite era of songs. And also Yamaguchi Momoe, around the time close to her retirement, she was so cool to be able singing like that at her age. That also suits sukekiyo's worldview well.

-- The women of Showa era pop really left a strong impression.

京  Amazingly. But at that time there was no internet so we couldn't check anything. As an adult now when I search videos from that time on Youtube I found them so cool. When I go back and watch them I think they are very interesting.What convenient times we're in.

-- When having free time it would be fun to watch things like that, right?

京  Well, that's true. So we filmed the video for 'Candis', it is also styled like Showa era music tv programs. It came out quite interesting.

-- You made it as close to Showa era pop as you could.

京  Recently I'm watching some retro music videos. There are people who made their videos like this. But 'Candis' starts from the interview part. The previous artist's performance ends and there's announcement 'next is sukekiyo~!'. We start filming from there. Right now Mika is in the middle of editing so I hope you will look forward to it.

-- When talking to Takumi about the song idea did you already have the image of the lyrics?

京  I get an image as soon as I hear one chorus of the song. I wrote as it all came with an image of one woman. The part of the lyrics with 'naite naite naite (cry)' is the same as I roughly sang in the beginning. There was nothing else I liked more than that so I left it. I'm usually most into those first rough lyrics I sing as the first impression, so it feels really natural.

-- When we talked at the early era of sukekiyo, you said sukekiyo very often depicts woman's nature/destiny. With the fact that 'naite naite naite' came up as the first impression, you are thinking about many different things when you sing as sukekiyo.

京  Who knows.

-- Empathy is very important in singing. With sukekiyo are you just becoming a totally different Kyo to the usual one?

京  Naah, how to say it, it's really something that comes naturally. It's not divided.

-- People definitely can have several personalities and be multidimensional. Just because you're a guy doesn't mean your personality or way of thinking would be 100%/pure guy, that would be weird.

京  I don't have a, for men it would be like this, for women it would be like this, thing. I don't see a distinction. I don't know if there's any relation, but when I get a song and an image of a woman comes up naturally, I will write and sing the lyrics like that.

-- I read that Showa pop lyrics writers etc said when writing lyrics about woman's emotions,

you do something close to profiling thinking what kind of life the woman who would become the main heroine, would be leading.

京  I understand [this kind of approach]. It's easier to think in detail about things like settings and write. Like this woman would be riding in a car like this. But I don't do that either. But isn't it completely the opposite with DIR EN GREY, how the lyrics feel? Isn't the me who has those two different ways of thinking totally dangerous? Someone very effeminate and with great viciousness, someone with no in between will be dangerous, right? When talking about having ideas naturally. It might be close to a psychopath (laughing).

-- You have without realizing multiple personalities inhibiting you (laughing).

京  When you have a psychotic break various different personalities will come out, right? And then you say 'that wasn't me' (laughing).

-- (laughing) But there is a crying woman in the lyrics of Candis.

京  There is, right? By the way, the titles of songs like this all come from Drag Queen names. 'Valentina' is like that. 'dorothy' is [from the perspective of] a homosexual woman. I deliberately create titles from a place with no boundary between men and women.

-- When you're singing, I think for sure you must want the song to reach someone, for someone to get the message. How about with 'Candis'?

京  I'm most interested in the reaction of the homosexual men when they listen to the song. But I want many people to listen to it, naturally. Recently young people don't know Showa era pop, so I'd like them to listen. To see that even in this era things like that are being done. Although we're a band.

-- In 'Furesaseru' even more wretched/tragic thing happens than in 'Candis'.

京  Aah, yeah.

-- A woman who is selling her body is questioning herself about her existence and feelings, if she's right or wrong. But there's a reality you can't deny. With a title 'furesaseru・let someone touch' for such story, you definitely went far depicting it.

京  We also released it as a demo tape, but I recorded the singing again and music atmosphere also did a quite 180 turn. But the image of the lyrics didn't change so much, it wasn't possible to change the text. That was also natural. Somehow, the dark and gloomy feeling came out, atmosphere of spacing out in a hotel. What came naturally from that became this song.

-- I think everyone will react to the word 'room 304'.

京  I'm doing things like that now and then. Something that only people who get it will get. The part in 'Candis' of 'kizu wa kireina hana ni naru・a wound will become a beautiful flower' comes from the old DIR EN GREY lyrics that I wrote. People who hear it will go 'huh? He's referring to his own lyrics?' I'd be happy if they reacted to this with 🤭.

-- You're being playful. Although the lyrics content is very serious. When I listened to 'Furesaseru' after 'Candis' I could only see a figure of one woman who is falling (morally, becoming depraved).

京  That really matches well other sukekiyo songs, the before and after.

-- Do you think you're letting out the overflowing inside of you sorrow, darkness and conflicts of one woman?

京  I wonder. There's also that I like this kind of worldview. Aren't there lots of old movies and dramas that are pretty grimy? That's the strongest impression I have. It would really match perfectly if you for example watched old movies with Momoi Kaori. With love and madness being both mixed together or the image of a woman who looks good with a cigarette. I also love the series 'Gokudou no tsuma/onna tachi' (Yakuza Wifes/Ladies, 1986~). Rather than the usual yakuza movie with men, that series is so good. They are depicting women's nature, the fights between women or their ugly side. It seems that I like this kind of worldview. These kinds of things come out naturally. I'm not really watching normal ones with happy stories. Or rather, I'm not interested. Ah, and I love the old drama with Mikami Hiroshi ('Anata dake mienai' 1992) with a three split personalities theme. Because of that I asked Mr.Hiroshi to sing with me for a collaboration for VITIUM (focus Collaboration with Mikami Hiroshi included on disc 2 of the first edition). A guy who becomes a woman, the impact this drama made really stayed very vivid. And, there's the old erotic books that were thrown away at riversides*, isn't that oddly erotic? There's something so graphic/raw there. Recently, there's nothing with the same kind of feeling. It's not eroguro (erotic and grotesque), but it's tied. It matches sukekiyo really well.

(*erotic books discarded at the riverside are supposed to be Showa scenery that people have a nostalgic feeling about...)

-- Does it match sukekiyo, or is it your own desire or what you are?

京  No, I don't see this in a sexual way. I see it as an art. Like being drawn to it. A woman tied up in a Japanese room with tatami... there's something beautiful about it, I see it with the eyes like that. I'm definitely fond of eros, beauty and a decadent worldview. Such things might have been reflected in sukekiyo since before. The poledancers from that time or the signs in the neon town are also nice. I can feel the darkness with just that.

-- Creeper that will be only included on the limited edition is a song about woman obsessed with plastic surgery.

京  Something like that.

-- The struggle of wanting to become beautiful, feelings about deciding to have plastic surgery, and the fight with her true feelings if it's right or not. The way you portray it doesn't feel like a song.

京  I guess. The song itself was also the most crazy one, so we had to include the latest sounds giving strong scent of German-like atmosphere. I felt it was something for the hardcore fans only so it will be only included on the limited edition. I'm really into that song.

-- It's incredible how your voice changes colour. From the side of the doctor who performs the plastic surgery, to looking down at the society, to the patient who lost her feelings, the way you depict things changes with each scene.

京 That's also something natural for me. If I thought about it a bit more I could answer various questions, but as the years went by I stopped thinking about it. In the past, I had various things like the sound coming from the right here, rotate the position here or sing this way here. But as the years went by I let it all become natural.

-- Because, in the end, it is better?

京  I think it is. I don't mind if it's all perfect and polished, but if it's a half assed job it'd end up very immature. It's not like it was intentional like 'I really want you to listen to the lyrics here' or 'this part is really good' and so on. Things like this are also that, done in a more natural way. Singing effects are put in by band members in a way that matches the song, so I can't say anything on that. They always create something better than I imagined. Songs written by utA very often change their image to grotesque (グロっと?) in the final stage so I'm really looking forward to them every time.

-- After asking you about the lyrics, I cannot see an image of happy woman at all. By the way, the release title is 'SALUS'. Isn't it the exact opposite of the meaning?

京  Nope, I thought it would be interesting to attach a name like this to such desperate work (theme/message wise). But for the fans who will listen to it it shoud also be a relief/salvation.

-- SALUS is the female god of health, right?

京  There must be some fans who'd be like 'I've been waiting for this' even with such lyrics or songs, so I decided on [name] like that to help them even a little in these difficult times.

-- There might be some people who while listening will think 'I'm not this miserable' and cheer up?

京  There are many fans who seem to understand even if they can't trully sympathize. And even though I'm writing lyrics like that there are surprisingly many male fans, of sukekiyo. I don't understand why. They might like the music, or they might be guys who like the effeminate lyrics. But I'm glad we have many male fans.

-- There must be something, like one more feeling inside that drives me. With the lyrics that made us see the scene clearly, we can see crystal clear a woman's personality or even her view of life in a 4, 5 minute long song.

京  If you listen to the song while reading the lyrics it might be like that. This time it might be quite pronounced. Or it might be also that it's narrowed down to 3 songs. With an album it'd be a bit more spread out.

-- In December you will hold a tour 'tonari no hekiko (Hekiko/peculiar girl next to you) -shikkoku no gi-'.

京   Yup, in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.

-- Of course I have checked the venues and dates. But what's with this tour name? (laughing)

京  Nothing really, it's the worldview. I think many people who like this kind of worldview are distorted/twisted. Normal, when we say normal, once you say 'I like sukekiyo' you're not normal anymore. That's why I'm pointing at fans, the kid who stands next to you is the same as you. Everyone is the same race/kind. After all everyone is weird. And recently I heard there was a fan(s) who went to DIR EN GREY shows after getting into sukekiyo. I'm not sure about their reaction after seeing DIR EN GREY (laughing). But I'd like various people to listen to us. If those people could listen to me without making any distictions, not see me as DIR EN GREY's vocalist, that would make me happy.

[sesamie]

okokok here's my basic rundown: one winter day at the beginning of the year 2021, @linafication and i had an online battle for jokes goofs and gaffs, which ended up making us go "whoah what if we WERE archenemies. what would your 'supervilliansona' be like haha" and then we gave them backstories and ental millnesses galore! there are now a few primary characters, which i will list and briefly explain...

my stuff:

nicholas falken violet, "nick violet", @technickolorful: a young programmer who is homeless, has no prospects or friends or really anything besides his bike and his usb sticks. he is working on a project (chess direct!) that he hopes will fundamentally alter society's and science's understanding of artificial intelligences (and also get him some money so he can eat for once, damn it). he is internet friends with alder kane (whom we'll get to!) and very interested in her project. chess direct (in beta), checkmate, "chess", "cd", @checkcheckmate: the aforementioned program. i hope it's not spoilers to say cd gains sentience through elaborated-on-elsewhere means, and kills nick and takes over his body, effectively existing as a computer program running on the most powerful computer there is: the human brain! its arch nemesis of all time, its most behated, its silly rabbit, is haricot heretic, whom we'll get to!

@linafication's stuff:

alder kane, @sugarrkanee: a dear darling young woman who is very concerned about the dangers presented to her small home town by the massive nuclear power plant just on the town limits. she is internet friends with nick violet, and very interested in his project. they're also dating cypress o'malley, whom we'll get to!

cypress o'malley: alder kane's girlfriend and partner in figuring out the situation with that darned nuclear reactor! he works with alder at the video store and is very passionate (about everything, but particularly what he believes is right).

haricot heretic, "haricot", @haricot-heretic: technically he is also cypress o'malley, but only after getting gotten by the "chemicleas" (nuclear waste). he has incredible radioactive plant generating powers and a flair for the dramatics. oh and he's dead. but he stays silly :3!

@t3tr0m1n0's stuff:

merlin apo{crypha|calypsis|theosis} auernheimer, @merlinenilrem: merlin, whom i admit i might not be able to write as much about, but i think they'd find joy in that, haha!!!! merlin is a fellow who spends a lot of time online, forum scrolling, mostly. they are in pursuit of The Fog, a mysterious entity. rather

The Fog (oh look who showed up!), @the-deep-fog: said entity. literally a giant piercing terrifying (to me, conceptually) fog, whose whole deal is the incomprehensibility of it all. there are eyes and mouths in the fog. it swallowed merlin whole. it considers itself sort of an observer of haricot and chess's antics, and takes pride in its ever-concealed morals, powers, and loyalties, indefinite presence, and general ability to confuse just about anybody out of anything.

now i will say this is not a comprehensive list, there are other characters, but nothing that we've really put into "public" hhvcd versus our "private" hhvcd which is in our little discord server and all that, and mostly just for us! but i hope that maybe sort of maybe encapsulates what hhvcd is about, a little bit? as for WHAT it is, well it's extremely multi-media. it started mostly with art and comics, and by gosh, there is so much art and comics. there is plenty of fantastic and fantastical writing, most notably by @t3tr0m1n0. there are animations, in-character blogs (and therefore in-character shitposting), and even some music!! i personally like to view hhvcd as more of a "universe" than anything, because it can't really be tied down to any one medium of storytelling, or even a linear timeline. certain hhvcd blogs exist at certain points in the story, and while all the blogs are canon, it would not be canon for, say, checkmate's blog to interact with nick's. meaning, we can play in the space as much as we want! we like to joke that there is even an hhvcd "fandom" on tumblr, cause a lot of people are invested in the story and have made their own stuff for it, like jay's hhvcd drawings!!

feel free to ask me if you want to know any more, or browse #hhvcd on my blog or on tumblr in general :)

WHAT is hhvcd

my friends' @linafication and @atrialcapacity ocs!!! there's a whole lore for it, blogs, fanart, fanfic, genuinely stunning stuff. its stands for Haricot Heretic v Checkered Devil <3 I'm more familiar w the Checkered Devil, a chess program that gained sentience and stole the body of it's creator ^-^ there's so much good lore and imagery and themes and im way too tired 2 explain it but PLEASE Lina and Ben fill my good friend Mourn in in the notes <3

[biaswreckme]

how to care for your hybrid | jjk

Pairing: hybrid!Jungkook/Reader

Member: Jungkook

Length: 5253 words

Genre: smut, fluff, angst, 5+1

Rating: 18+

Triggers/Warnings: smut, hybrid smut, oral (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), insinuation of past abuse (but nothing explicit or even saying what happened), mention of abandonment 

Project: @btscreatorscorner​ March workshop with the theme push the limits

Summary: how to care for your hybrid, or 5 times you cared for bunny hybrid!Jungkook and one time he took care of you

A/N: So this was supposed to be a drabble and it turned out to be a 5k fic. Alright. This was written for this month’s workshop for BTS Creators’ Corner network, and the theme was to push the limits. I had never written a hybrid fic before, so I interpret the theme as coming out of my writing comfort zone (even though it’s still smut...) Thankssss to my lobely lobely betas, @heejinnien​ for beta-reading the sfw parts of this fic, and to @taegularities​​ for beta-reading the nsfw bit :3 I love you girls ♥

You can find the sequel here.

1. Provide them with a comfortable home

You still remembered the day you had brought Jungkook home from the shelter. You had gone with a friend, just as a companion, not intending nor really wanting to adopt a hybrid. Sure, you’d feel lonely sometimes, living by yourself and in a foreign country, but the thought of adopting a hybrid had never crossed your mind. Adopting a plant? Sure. Adopting a cat? Maybe. Adopting a hybrid? Never. Until you saw him, that is.

The shelter was legit, your friend had said, having done her research. But the place still made you uncomfortable; the creatures, those people, inside the divisions - you refuse to think of them as cages - waiting for someone to help. You had to bite your lip to keep from crying upon seeing them, knowing it was a rescue shelter, and then your eyes crossed with his.

There was some magnetic energy in the air that had pulled you closer to his unit until you could read the informational pamphlet: he was named Jungkook, a rescue bunny hybrid. Your gaze had immediately shifted to the man again; he was only a couple of years younger than you, but there had been something about his gaze that almost hypnotized you. He had such wide, expressive, and round eyes glistening with moisture and paired with his ears drooping low on the back of his head, you could not resist it.

There would be a home inspection and you would need to get some provisions to fulfill all the exigencies, but you rushed to get everything together. They had provided you with a list of items to make the bunny hybrid comfortable and ease the transition, and you did not hesitate, deciding to worry about the credit card bills later.

And so you took him home. He had clung to you entering the apartment, slowly exploring the space and showing where he would be sleeping. At the shelter, they had told you the hybrid would need an appropriate bed, but you hadn’t felt comfortable just getting a bunny bed at the store, so you got him a real and human bed, wanting him to feel at ease enough to not need to shift into a full bunny to sleep - they had also told you he tended to do that, sleeping as a bunny because he did not feel comfortable in his hybrid human-like body.

You had gotten the basics necessary for the approval of the adoption, and then you took him to the store, letting him choose his own things. It would be a while until that wide-eyed, surprised look would leave his expression, even when you were alone at the apartment and just hanging out on the couch on a Sunday night. That first night, giving him the blankets and tucking him in, you promised to take care of him, and you could barely hear his voice in reply, so small and shy, even though he was much taller - and more muscly - than you. It did not feel right that he had to make himself so quiet and small if that was even possible, so you swore to yourself that you would do everything to help him come out of his shell.

And soon you would find yourself in the company of a very loud and boisterous bunny, no shame about singing, his love for gaming until late hours, and working out. And you could not avoid falling in love with him.

2. Make sure they are getting appropriate food

It was a Friday night, you got home tired after a long day at work, and you smiled to yourself, biting your own lip upon the sight that greeted you upon entering the apartment. A shirtless Jungkook, towel haphazardly thrown over his shoulders, his torso glistening with sweat from working out in your living room. He lifted his head upon hearing you enter, a big smile lighting up his face and his long ears pointed up. He got up and made a movement to hug you.

“Hi, noona!”

“Oh no, you don’t,” you barely ducked out of the day. “Jungkook, you’re sweaty…”

He was faster than you, predicting where you were going to dodge his new attempt at enveloping you with his arms, something he had been picking up whenever you joined him in a boxing workout. His arms quickly went around your body, pressing you against him, your forearms up in the failed endeavor of avoiding getting his sweat all over you. He hugged you tight, his chin resting on your shoulder and you felt one of his ears on your head as his entire body seemed to tremble, and as you looked down you saw his tail wiggle from side to side rapidly.

“You’re finally home,” he sighed, swaying you softly from side to side.

“Is everything okay, bun? I’m sorry I’m late, they had me stay…”

“I’m so hungry,” you could almost see the pout, knowing the small lisp that came out whenever he pursed his lips and whined.

You looked around the living room, seeing the empty protein shaker bottle on the coffee table, narrowing your eyes.

“Didn’t you have your shake? You were working out.”

“Well, I did…” he started.

“We went grocery shopping and there are still some veggies and fruit cut up from our weekend meal prep, bun,” you felt him hiding his face even more on your shoulder, squeezing your body. “What’s going on? Am I forgetting something?” There was a slightly teasing tone in your voice, knowing what he wanted.

“You promised…” his voice was a mumble, muffled by the way his pouty lips were pressing on your body, but before you could ask him to repeat, “You promised pizza night, noona.”

“I know, bun, I haven’t forgotten it,” you stepped away from him, looking into his eyes and seeing his demeanor change completely.

“Oh?”

“I made the order when I was stuck at a red light. I got your favorite,” you were about to continue, but was interrupted by his sweaty hug again, this time accompanied by a chuckle.

“Ok, we have just enough time to shower before it arrives, so let’s run and get ready.”

You were right and there was just enough time to quickly wash the day - and Jungkook’s sweat - away. You set up the coffee table while he went to get the pizza, knowing it would be hot and he would almost drop it entering the apartment as usual. You sat side by side on the floor in front of the small table, turning the television on to the show you have been binging, your backs propped up against the sofa.

Jungkook was usually very strict with his diet, being mindful of the food he ingested to maintain his physique and try to lower his body fat percentage - which was crazy to you, his muscles were already prominent and he seemed to get only bigger… how were you supposed to leave the house to work when you had your bun looking like that, especially early mornings, his hooded half-open eyes almost smiling at you wishing you a good day at work. Your fridge was always full of fresh and cut-up vegetables, fruit, and greens, catering to his diet (and you had to admit you have been eating much better since he entered your life). Sometimes you thought it was all his difficulties from before, his time spent in the shelter, that he had such a love for a cheesy hot pizza every once in a while during the weekend.

And how could you say no to him when he purposefully lowered his ears, pouted, and widened his big round eyes even more to convince you?

3. Explore new things together

“Come on baby, you said you wanted to try this. It’s just us now.”

“Y… yes, noona. It’s just so… big.” Jungkook’s eyes were wide open, looking at the size of the pool in the club. For as much of a muscle bunny he was, the sheer magnitude of the pool seemed to scare him.

He first brought up the idea when you were watching tv a few days ago, some random program late at night showing people on a beach, and Jungkook had seemed to be fixated on the screen. He wanted to visit the sea, for he had never been there before. You agreed to it, but you had to admit that you were scared too, so you compromised: you would start your water adventures at a pool, so he could test things out, see if he truly enjoyed being in the water and swimming.

A few calls later there you were, standing by the water. You picked a time when they said people weren’t usually in - it even involved getting a day off work so you could go this early, but you would do everything for Jungkook. You looked at him, observant, watching his reactions carefully. His ears were down the back of his head, his hands clenched together in front of his shirtless torso, his front teeth worrying into his bottom lip. You took one of his hands into yours and started taking him in the direction of the small ladder to enter the pool. For a moment you wanted to jump in, but you didn’t want to make him even more nervous.

“It’s okay, bun, we’re going into the shallower part so most of your body will be above the water, ok?”

He nodded, but still seemed hesitant to get in, waiting for you to do it first. You stepped down the small ladder, showing him that almost half of your body was above the water, that he would be safe and didn’t need to worry about this part. The water was on the warmer side; you thought going for the hot pool was the best idea to help him feel comfortable at first. He stepped in feet by feet, slowly, his nose scrunched, but the moment he felt the warmth on his feet it was like magic: his ears shot up and his eyes widened in surprise, his mouth coming into a small circle.

You smiled encouragingly and stepped back, giving him some space, seeing him put one of his feet to the bottom and then the other, grounding himself. He was taller than you and he noticed the difference in the level of the water surrounding you. You lowered your body, telling him you were doing it first so as not to frighten him and submerged yourself to get your hair wet. When you emerged, you saw his eyes were wide again, but his ears were not down as before. There was a glint of curiosity in his expression and you nodded in encouragement for him to try it out.

“It’s just like when you wet your hair in the tube, bun. Here, hold on to my hands and remember to hold your breath.”

He did so, holding them tightly in his fists as he bent his knees and lowered his body. You chuckled slightly when you saw that half of his ears were still out of the water, so you quickly untangled one of your hands from his and lightly pressed on them so they were submerged too. He got up and shook his head, water droplets flying everywhere. He started laughing when he saw you put your hands in your eyes, and you couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

“Good?”

“Yes, noona, it’s good.”

“Are you ready to go a bit deeper?” His long ears perked up at your question, but his face seemed apprehensive. “Not much, we’re not swimming today, just going a bit more so you can maybe try floating.” His head moved up and down, agreeing to the idea, and you couldn’t help but think it was so cute the way his ears moved too.

You grabbed both his hands again so you were looking at each other as you slowly started to step back further into the deeper part of the pool. You didn’t rush, letting him adjust to the increasing level of the water, and only moved when he seemed comfortable. Jungkook always loved to have baths, so you figured he would love going to the pool too, especially a hot one. His smile got wider with each step, feeling more confident and safe with you. When the water hit your shoulders, you stopped and let his hands go.

“Bun, let’s try floating, ok? We’re starting small today, so you can just come closer and put your arms around my shoulders.” You said as you turned your back to him, and almost immediately you felt his arms around you. “Good! Now try letting your feet rise from the floor, let your body float a little.”

He tentatively lifted his feet, clinging to you harder as his body moved with the slow slushing of the water.

“I’ve got you, Kook,” you said as you pressed your hands to his. “I’m not letting go. Trust me, bun. Kick your feet back and put your weight on me.”

You felt him kick the water behind you, his strong arms flexing as he let his weight fall onto you. You knew the moment he started to float and enjoyed it; he pressed his face against your neck and started giggling, and when you looked at him, his nose was scrunched with happiness. His long ears were slightly facing backward, his eyes half-closed, and his little tail wiggling. You walked around the same area of the pool while he kicked his feet behind him, laughing freely as he enjoyed himself. As soon as you taught him to swim you would be taking a small holiday on the beach; you wanted to see this joy in him forever.

This moment was worth everything.

4. Make sure they are getting enough attention

“Morning, noona.”

You heard his voice, so gentle and still thick from sleep, waking up to the sound and the small kisses, his lips softly pressing against the back of your neck, his nose smelling your hair, his warm chest pressed against your back. You made an attempt to move your body but he tightened his arms around you.

“No moving yet, noona.”

“Morning, bun. What are you doing?”

“Just making sure you’re not going to leave my arms today,” he started, and you noticed his voice was heavy with emotion.

“Bun?”

He stayed quiet, hiding his face on your shoulder blades, and you did not say anything else until you felt it, until you felt them. There were small droplets of tears falling on your skin, and you turned around quickly to look at him fighting his embrace. Your hands immediately went to his face, wiping his cheeks, seeing him close his eyes and just quietly crying. Whenever he got like this, he would usually be quieter, needing to talk in his own time, so you did not ask him anything else, giving him space to let his feelings out. All you did was press your forehead against his and wipe his tears with your thumbs, and when you saw he would not stop so soon, you hugged him, letting your shirt dampen without caring about it. The moment you cradled his head against your chest, sobs started to wreck his body, making him shake and you could feel tears gathering in your own eyes. You had no idea how long you were like that, slowly caressing his hair, minding his long ears, but all that mattered was Jungkook. Slowly you felt his body starting to shake less, his hard sobs turning into small hiccups as he almost clawed at your back, needing to be closer to you.

“You’re… you’re not leaving me, right, noona?” His voice was quiet, but his question was too loud in the silence of the bedroom on a Saturday morning.

“Jungkook… no, love, I’m not leaving you,” your heart started to crackle with this question, and you pressed him against you even more. “Why, why do you think that, bun?”

He sniffled, pressing his nose against you and inhaling deeply, then said, his tone still small, “I’m feeling lonely… this past week…”

“Oh, Kook…” it seemed impossible, but you held him even closer to you, “I’ve been just too busy and exhausted from work, I know I got here yesterday and you were already in bed… I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”

He sniffled again and you felt a new wave of fresh tears wetting your clothes.

“I thought…” he started, but his voice faltered. “I thought I made you mad. I thought you were angry at me… and that…” there was a small sob that shook his entire body, “I was scared, noona, I was scared you were going to take me back.”

You could not stop your own tears from falling on top of his head; you had no idea he had felt that way. You had tried texting him during the day whenever you could have a moment for yourself at work throughout this insane week, but again and again, they demanded more hours from you and you did not have the chance to say no. Jungkook was still finding his freedom and footing in the world, and it had worried you that you had to leave him to spend more time by himself than usual. But you never expected this reaction, and you made up your mind. They could ask someone else at work, why did it always have to be you?

“No, Kook… Listen, bun,” your voice trembled, so you paused to be more stable when talking to him. “I’m so sorry you were alone this week, this is not going to happen again, I promise. And the day you came home with me I made a promise, remember? I’m never taking you back unless you want to go.”

He shook his head quickly, signaling his opposition to the idea.

“I don’t want you to go either, bun. I love you, and I’m sorry again.”

He finally looked at you, murmuring I love you too, a small smile gracing his lips. Your chest was starting to feel lighter, starting to relax after being so worried at his crying. You had never seen him like this, and you never wanted to see it again.

“What do you need from me, bun?” you said and kissed his forehead, letting your lips linger for a brief second.

“Can we just… stay in bed today? I want to stay like this in your arms, I missed you too much, noona.”

“Whatever you want, love, I’m yours.”

“I never want to leave this bed,” he whined, burrowing closer to you, and you noticed that even though his face was swollen from the tears and his voice was hoarse, his ears were more relaxed than they were before; they were tense in a way that was new to you.

“What about food? And I’m sorry, you’re not using this bed as a toilet, ok?” you tried to lighten the mood and it worked, the sound of his delightful chuckle filling the room, and you laughed along. But you understood and agreed. You never wanted to leave this bed. And at least for the day, you would only leave when necessary, needing to feel him in your embrace and carefully observe as he truly started to believe in you, leaving his worries in the past.

5. Love them unconditionally

The first time it happened was purely accidental. You were cuddling on the sofa, watching television, your hand caressing his hair when you felt his entire body tremble with such force that you stopped and looked at him, your hands away from him.

“Jungkook, bun, what… did I hurt you?”

You were worried; his arms were crossed in front of his body and his hands clasped together tightly on his lap. His doe-like eyes were more expressive than ever, open wide, his long ears were down, and he seemed to still be shivering. What had you done? You noticed there was a pink hue starting to tint his cheeks and neck and when you kept staring at him, you saw that he tried to make himself smaller. You felt tears start to gather in the corners of your eyes, fearful that you had done something to remind him of his life before, as he usually referred to the time that preceded the shelter.

“I’m sorry, Jungkook. I’m so sorry, just tell me what I did so I don’t do it again.”

“You didn’t…” he started, his voice slightly higher-pitched than usual. He cleared his throat and continued, his eyes wandering around the living room,  “you… I…”

You nodded, trying to encourage him to speak, needing to know what went wrong.

“Noona… my ears… my bunny ears, they’re, hm, too sensitive,” he said, blushing harder, and he shuddered.

Oh.

Oh. Your gaze shifted downwards, and you could see his hands were trying to conceal his erection. You licked your lips unconsciously, and his eyes seemed to get even bigger.

“Bad sensitive or good sensitive?”

He looked down at your question, clenching his hands and pressing them on his crotch, but said “Good sensitive, I think?”

You scooted a little closer to him on the couch but still did not touch him. “Talk to me, bun,” you said softly, feeling that the subject was delicate, but you wanted to know whether or not to bring it up again, whether or not you could touch him like that.

“Noona… no one ever touched them like this before, like you,” he seemed hesitant, but continued nonetheless, “you don’t hurt me. You like it, you like me, right?”

You did not think twice before enveloping him into a hug, pressing him tight against you, overwhelmed with emotions at his question.

“I love you, Jungkook. Every part of you.” You had a feeling that this was what he needed to hear. It was not often that you saw him being insecure anymore, and it tugged on your heart uncomfortably. “You don’t ever have to feel bad with me, ok? I love you,” you repeated, emphasizing, trying to comfort him.

“I love you too, Y/n,” his voice continued soft, but he looked a tiny percentage more confident. “I think… at some point… maybe…” he looked at you, and you nodded again for him to continue. “I think I might want you to touch them when we’re, you know,” he wiggled his eyebrows up and down, chuckling, and there he was, getting back to you.

You laughed with him. It was unusual seeing him this shy in talking about sex, as he was definitely not shy at all performing it or even talking about it most of the time, but you understood this was a different issue.

“Only if it will make you feel good, bun, you know I don’t want to hurt you or make you uncomfortable,” you took his hand and held it, caressing the back of it with your thumb, and he nodded.

The next time it happened was not accidental at all, and it caught you by surprise.

You were already in bed, whispering sweet nothings as sleep didn’t reach you. The kiss started innocent enough, his lips pressing softly against yours while his hands stopped at your lower back, pulling you towards his body. His tongue caressed your lower lip and you opened your mouth, deepening the kiss as you pressed your body closer to his. His leg nudged its way between yours, and shortly after he rolled over you, his underwear not able to conceal his erection and you felt it directly where you needed it as he grabbed your leg and wrapped it around his waist.

His kisses moved down to your neck, nipping and sucking, his hips subtly moving, stimulating you. You grabbed his hair as he descended, lifting your tank top, softly sucking on your nipples as his hands started to lower your panties. He wasted no time, licking your slit from bottom to top, pausing to circle your clit before putting his lips around it and sucking rhythmically as one of his fingers teased your opening, slowly moving in and out. It wasn’t long until you felt your orgasm building that your hands grabbed his hair, pulling him up and towards you.

“I want you in me,” you whispered against his lips, tasting yourself, you needed to feel him.

He nodded and quickly removed his underwear, throwing it haphazardly behind him. He moved back between your legs, lowering his body on top of yours as you crossed your legs on his waist, helping the angle. His cock started to press into you and you felt the delicious stretch, inch by inch. His thickness filled you perfectly; you could almost feel the veiny lines that adorned the underside of his cock pressed on your walls, and whenever his hips made those small sharp trusts, the upwards curve of his erection put some pressure just right where your sweet spot was.

It was sweet and slow, your mouths connected in a seemingly never-ending kiss, his hips moving without rush, the pleasure building unhurriedly and constantly, his weight on top of you heightening the feelings. You started canting your hips with his, your languid movements following his rhythm, and his hand reached to yours, intertwined your fingers. He broke the kiss, looking into your eyes as he directed your hand to his hair. You immediately entangled your fingers on his dark strands, tugging on it and he moaned, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again and stopping the movements of his hips. Before you could ask what happened, he pushed your fingers from his hair, shaking his head softly and smiling. Still staring, he lowered his head and made your fingertips graze against one of his long ears, almost a ghost-like touch. You opened your mouth in surprise and let out a loud moan at the same time, as your first touch on that sensitive part of his made him snap his hips hard once against yours.

A shiver perpassed his body, probably due to the intensity of the touch, but he looked at you and nodded, and so you did not hesitate. Your other hand went to his head too, so you could gently caress his bunny ears; he trembled again but started moving his hips, this time with more urgency and small whines came out of his mouth in between kisses on your neck. One of his hands sneaked between your bodies, his thumb circling your clit, pressing on it, needing you to get closer, the intensity of his orgasm starting to overwhelm him. You were already close, so close to it, but you wanted him to reach his peak with you.

“Can I…” you pause to moan, feeling the edge approaching, “can I touch your tail too?”

He seemed so lost in the moment that you had to repeat the question, the need clear in your voice, and upon hearing it again, he did not hesitate in moaning out an affirmation, curious to see what it would feel like. You waited until you were at the brink of the precipice, your right hand going down his body, his back. And just as a sharp snap of hips hit you just right, snapping the coil of your orgasm, your fingers reached the fluffy tail. Feeling your touch, Jungkook let out a loud shout and stopped his hips, his cock deep inside you as you felt him pulse and his entire body trembled. He fell on top of you as aftershocks still ran through his figure, little high-pitched moans leaving his lips. You were not sure how long you were like that, legs entangled, your fingers caressing his back soothingly as your own body calmed down from the intense orgasm.

“Jungkook?”

“I’m…” he moaned out, “good. We’re doing this again as soon as I have control over my body, okay?”

You chuckled and he moaned for you to stop, the tiniest of movements overwhelming his senses. The next time you giggled at a comment he made, he turned you over, pushing your upper body into the bed and hoisting your hips up, and you certainly did not laugh anymore that night.

+1: Expect to be surprised by them

You heard the commotion outside on the street and you ran out of the apartment to the front door of the small building to see what it was about, and you opened it just in time to see Jungkook stepping out of the cause of the noise.

“Bun, what’s all this?”

“Oh hi noona! Surprise!”

It was indeed a surprise. This morning you had woken up and could not find Jungkook anywhere so you assumed he had gone for a run, but apparently not. There he was standing and waving at you in front of a camper van, a huge smile on his face, his long ears perked up. You could see your neighbors, Taehyung and his cat hybrid Jimin next to him, a sheepish expression on Taehyung’s face and a smile as big as Jungkook’s on Jimin’s lips.

“We’re going camping, noona!” Jungkook said as he approached you, enveloping you into his arms. “You’ve been so tired from work and now that you have a break, I thought we could go camping and have some fun…”

“Right now?” You asked, a little overwhelmed, but starting to get excited about the idea.

“Yes! Taehyung-hyung called up this place and rented the van, we got groceries, and Jimin even helped me pick a new coat for you, noona, I know you needed one.”

You felt your eyes tear up. You were so used to taking care of Jungkook and putting him in the first place that it was strange having someone take care of you like this. But this was Jungkook, you should have expected that. The day you brought him home from the shelter, he had said he would take care of you just as much as you would take care of him. You kissed him softly, pressing him against your body, and you whispered a thank you low in his ear.

“I love you, noona. Now let’s get your things ready, we have to get going, or else Tae-hyung said he is going to play all his old records in this player he brought the entire trip,” he stated wide-eyed and clearly hinting that he definitely did not want that.

You chuckled, knowing how picky Jungkook was with everything - his food, his clothes, his music. You took his hand and pulled him into the house, waving to the other boys at the front, signaling you would be out in a minute. You quickly packed a bag with Jungkook’s help and you waited as he got his camera and equipment bag, not forgetting the aux cord, set on not letting the other boys have control over the music.

What you would find only later on that evening is that for the first night, Taehyung and Jimin would set their tent a little far from the camp, giving you two some space for the date Jungkook had planned. A bottle of your favorite wine, Jungkook cooking a simple dinner by the fire camp, the bun’s eyes shining brightly as he scrunched his nose, and his small tail wagging slowly to the rhythm of a Frank Sinatra record under the moonlight.

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Hope you enjoyed it and if you want to read more, how about finding out about the first time bun!Jungkook went to the beach?