#luthyx

[thanksfornothinguselessreptile]

laurenbrightwing replied to your post “So while I do want to include elements of the third movie into...”

Personally, I’m in favor of redesigning her. Her design annoys me so much and anything would be an improvement.

Same here! They were definitely thinking only of making her look like Toothless’s girlfriend when they could’ve done so many cool things with her. My disappointment grows when I see other dragons with a Night Fury-like build, like the Sand Wraith and Wooly Howl: both similar and distinctive. While listing out appearance traits that one draft of the “Finding Another Way” redesign has, I realized that most of them were the exact opposite of what they’d done to her: longer, pointier muzzle, larger spines permanently split down the middle, longer claws, more apparent “fingers” on the wings...

The one thing I’m happy about her design is that it inspired so many artists to make their own redesigns, and each one I’ve seen yet is beautiful, imaginative, unique, and gorgeous. If some of these people end up working in character design posts in the future, we’re in good hands.

luthyx replied to your post “So while I do want to include elements of the third movie into...”

I’d say redesign. I’ve redesigned the Light Furies myself for the purpose of a RP forum and it’s made me much more pleased with the species as a whole. Also, I’d be happy to make a quick concept sketch for you if you can provide me a good enough description! I love dragon designing, and though I haven’t been reading the fic (lack of spare time, alas) I’d be happy to lend a hand!

Oh, thank you for the offer! I’m afraid I wouldn’t feel right accepting your offer, though, since I wouldn’t have a way to repay you. I’m  really anxious about paying for stuff online outside of business websites, and I’m awful at writing for other people’s specifications, so I can’t really offer to trade you a fanfic in exchange for your art. But your offer really made my day, so thank you!

A Response and Apology–>

[hungrytundras]

@luthyx replied to your photoset “The Second Four The Shadowbinder - Aspects: Darkness, Fate, Luck,...”

[slides in] Holy hell, I absolutely love these anthros and the aspect notes. Do you mind if I use these in my lore? If I ever post the lore anywhere, I'll make sure to give you proper credit!

Do it, my guy. Live your dreams

[haddorkible]

character trope time! You sorta remind me of the character from any movie where something weird is changing about the world (i.e. aliens discovered, magic unearthed, zombie apocalypse, etc.) who doesn't really understand what the hell is going on but is chill with going along for the ride anyway and manages to survive every encounter despite having no idea what they're doing. Also probably the character who winds up inadvertently becoming the fan favorite.

THAT’S A TERRIFYINGLY ACCURATE ASSESSMENT OF HOW I’D PROBABLY HANDLE SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

[howtodrawyourdragon]

I’m not the anon who suggested Ultra Instinct Toothless, but here’s my knowledge! The whole Ultra Instinct thing originated in an anime and recently resurfaced in the form of the Ultra Instinct Shaggy meme (you might’ve seen it floating around, it’s the one that jokes about Shaggy being a god). In this case Ultra Instinct Toothless would be a super-powerful Toothless with god-level powers.

Oh right! The Shaggy meme! That’s where I heard it from! Thank you for the reminder! :D

Honestly, I would be up for a God/Ultra Instinct!Toothless. That sounds like it’d be an interesting AU to explore.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Intimidation? I'd say 3. It's always a little intimidating to speak to somebody online, especially somebody whose posts are typically very well-articulated and put together, but all my impressions of you have been that of a friendly, open-minded person, so the intimidation is minimal!

on a scale of 1-10 how intimidating am I?

Ah thank you so much! And I get what you mean about the 3 and feeling a little intimidated to talk to people online. I get a feeling like you described when I want to contact many bloggers that I find interest in.

[aroworlds]

Aro-Spec Artist Profile: Luthyx

Our next aro-spec creator is @luthyx​, who also goes by Petrichlorine and MUSE-42. They’re better known on this blog for sharing snippets from an in-progress work called Sanction the Skies, celebrating all things a-spec and dragon!

Luthyx is a transmasculine, agender aro-ace creative with mental illnesses, specialising in speculative fiction and digital art, the latter both original and fancontent (primarily for How to Train Your Dragon). You can find their gorgeous art on their DeviantArt account and their writing at @sanctiontheskies​, currently featuring artwork, maps and a wealth of worldbuilding and characterisation teasers. Lastly, if you enjoy Flight Rising, you can check out their dragons under the name Luthyx!

With us Luthyx talks their confidence in their aromanticism, the need to live an authentic life on their terms, the way their characters and worlds become part of them, and writing spec fic as an aro. Their determination to craft and make as they need sparkles in every word and dragon scale, so please let’s give them all our love, encouragement, gratitude, kudos and follows for taking the time to explore what it is to be aromantic and creative.

Can you share with us your story in being aro-spec?

My tale is a fairly straightforward one. By the time I was of the age that most people started experiencing their first crushes, I’d moved to a different state and begun taking an online school, free of the peer pressure that lies ever-present in most traditional classrooms.

Even then, as I began to develop my skills and passion for writing, I’d already begun to see the influence of the omnipresent Romantic Subplot. It was everywhere: books, film, music, poems. I couldn’t so much as flip on the radio without hearing a disillusioned, autotuned cry for help healing a broken heart. I hated it. I still do.

It quickly became apparent to me that I wasn’t like the others. Every once and a while, my mom would drag me to her church, where I’d be forced to endure the company of undisciplined tween boys and catty, Twilight-obsessed girls. It was the girls especially that caught my attention: the sheer passion and fervency with which they discussed who they found hot, what Hogwarts house they were in, and their critiques and praise of The Hunger Games. I found it absurd to objectify people, fantasy or real, like that.

I think this was probably about the time I began to realize that I was agender, too, but that’s a story for another day. Thankfully, I’d already become a headstrong, independent teenager, and I was proud to say that I was different, that my interests were in something that, in my head, was much more important and much more intense than those of others my age.

I can’t recall the first time I heard the term aromantic or the first day that I applied it to myself. I think, deep down, I always knew, and I’ve always been astoundingly proud of it. To me, romance isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of things, but just another life experience I haven’t had, like owning fourteen chihuahuas or going on a warm summer vacation to the Middle East. Not everybody wants to experience those things, and society is completely fine with it - I see no reason as to why they should feel differently about romantic relationships, but I suppose they do. Dealing with the fallout of that bias is their problem.

I am me, and the me I know will not be held down by stereotypes, will not conform to any sort of life script I am handed, will not feel sorrow or remorse for a single experience lost. I’m here for a good time, and my idea of a good time involves doing what I love. Romance is not on that list.

Can you share with us the story behind your creativity?

My creative streak started young. For as long as I’ve known it, I’ve been drawing characters and writing stories. Mind you, the first stories were about Littlest Pet Shop figures and were written with the help of my parents, but it was a start nonetheless. Art, in its many different forms, has always been my form of self-expression. I often wandered off into my imaginary world when I got bored, and when I went to sleep every night, I’d often spend hours just imagining characters doing as they do before drifting off to sleep. I still do that every night - like clockwork.

I think it was when I was in my early teens - thirteen or fourteen, maybe - that I decided I wanted to be a writer. I recall turning to my mother one night and saying, “I wish I could write a book,” still believing that I was too young to attempt such a thing yet. “Nobody says you can’t do it right now!” were the words she gave back to me, and then off I started.

The project I started then is one that’s still ongoing now - a series of books I call Sanction the Skies, featuring dragons, wars, and a good hunk of divine intervention. I’ve worked and reworked it ever since that fateful day, improving the lore, changing the characters, watching my perspective of them evolve and change alongside me. They are a part of me, through and through.

It hasn’t been the easiest journey, but I’m still chipping away at it, ever-determined. It’s been doubly hard to follow my dream because of all of the messages about how impossible it is to be a writer in this day and age, and that you can’t do it without a well-paying side job. My stubborn self says, “To hell with you!” and works on it anyway. I want to write, to draw, to forge, to craft, and the world be damned if it tries to stand in my way.

Are there any particular ways your aro-spec experience is expressed in your art?

The only way it’s expressed is in my writing, where almost all of my characters are explicitly aro. The Romantic Subplot is a tiresome, often badly-done trope, and I’d like to steer away from it altogether. I want to show that a friendship is not worth less than a romance, and that a good story can still be told without the boy getting the girl - or the girl getting the girl for the sake of progressiveness.

What challenges do you face as an aro-spec artist?

Honestly? Not much, at least not yet. I think I may face a bit of pushback in the future because my novel features no romance, but overall, I’ll probably be fine in that regard.

How do you connect to the aro-spec and a-spec communities as an aro-spec person?

I rarely connect with them at all, honestly. Most of the discussion I see is either people screaming about amatonormativity or people asking, “Am I asexual/aromantic if…?” Alternatively, there’s people discussing their experience being partially a-spec or aro-spec, none of which I can relate to. All I want is a place to revel in my identity, to be able to talk about anything BUT romance, to form strong friendships.

Sometimes it hurts me to think that the friends I have now will soon find romantic partners, and I’ll be left behind in the dust as a third wheel. I hope my friends won’t do that, that perhaps I can still make myself heard - but who knows? I’ve had no luck with finding any other aro-spec people in my region at all, unfortunately, so the internet is all I’ve got in that regard. I’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds!

How do you connect to your creative community as an aro-spec person?

I find I connect somewhat decently. I write fantasy and sci-fi, which generally seem to be more acceptable genres to have a lack of romance, especially when a pair of dragons are the main characters. It is alienating from many fandoms, though, because they often focus so much on the romantic partnerships and shipping. Almost every blocked tag in my dash concerns ships, kissing, hugging, romance, children, and anything related to those.

Can you share with us something about your current project?

Ohoho, this is a fun one! Well, right now, I’m working on re-writing Chapter One for the trillionth time after giving the town it takes place in a complete and utter overhaul. I’m also working on making a short comic that takes place in the universe of the book but is unrelated to the main plot, though it features characters and locations that may be explored in future books. I want to do the comic in the hopes of gaining some traction and interest in the books, since I’m rather horrible at advertising at the moment.

Have you any forthcoming works we should look forward to?

Again, the comic! It’s about a con artist who incurs the wrath of the demigodess of misfortune after a con resulted in the death of a sick hatchling. There’s also some stuff with an ancient, precursor species of dragons and one of their final remaining sanctuaries.

[fuzzy-collector-nacho-blog]

Hivemind Showcase!

More Dragon Sharing! The Hivemind is a subspecies created by the lovely @luthyx who let's me bother 'em all the time! I was drawn in by the really well written lore that still allows the people who join to personalize and mutate it in ways that fit their lore. (Graphic by me!)

The species is usually XXY Wasp/Bee/Basic (my personal favorite) but the thread outlines sub-categories within the species that work with other color combos and genes that fit with the lore really well.

Here are my pairs! I'm going to update the breeding cards later I want something neater in order to open up my own hatchery one day. Until then here they are!

The first page of my lair has them at the bottom since lore-wise they're not part of the main Clan, if you're interested in my dragons specific lore I would recommend looking at Roan/the guardian DRONE as he's the only one with any deviation from the usual Hivemind lore.

[silosene]

do you ever just wanna write a damn webcomic without the slightest inkling of how to actually properly write, draw, or advertise one

because that’s my current mood and I’m in pain

[m42-fr]

i got you fam. 1 and 19? :o

oh HELL yeah thank you

1. Tough choice, because I’ve fallen in love with a lot of my recent projects. At the end of the day, though, I think it’d have to go to Muse, my forever avatar dragon and dragon-ified version of my sona!

19. I have, actually! It used to be Luthyx. That was my go-to username way back when I first made my account. Pretty sure I began my rebranding as MUSE-42 on most websites about a year ago, if not sooner. I wound up going simply as M42 on Flight Rising because I liked how short and concise the username was. Plus, FR doesn’t allow dashes in usernames and MUSE42 just felt a bit weird.

[goldenmidna]

favourite 2017 Thundercrack Skin Submissions!

Coiled Conductor by  Kizmetto

Antique Cowboy by rooty

Divine Machine by  Demberant

Augsneak and Plasma Harness by Erithuet

Born to Make History by Solarian (it’s looking amazing!)

Red Sprites by Pecha

Etched Motherboard  by  Luthyx

Bionic and Kinetic by  SolarRush

Rusted Cowboy by akitcougar

Mechanical Enhancement by Ichamo

Arcstrider by Ikora

Circuit Queen by kolacky

Cacti Circuitry by staticmcawesome

Bogmentation by Wilko

Mysterious lightning by YECHEN

Silver engine and Lightning Ring by a27594111

Circuited by Allunar

OverCharged Fighter and Solar Charged Warrior by Zaborna

Supercharged Succulent by Riimi

Tropical AI by Anba

Stormsurge Systems Failure by Vikusen

Flash knight by Pinle

Plasmatronicoatl by Doomslayer

Thunder Beat by TheDarkestDream

Circuit Promotion by Raire

Exposed Wires by FelixEgadrik

Shockua by  crowcorvidae

Bioelectric by citrinebumblebee

Inner Spark by Twiss

Mesafeet by joybare

Cybernetic by kitersi

Electric Fledge by fortune3698

Supercharge Surge by Longneckllama

Brass Centurion by houseteeth

Electronic Bionics by Electronic Bionics

Badlands Gladiator by Everowl

Starlit Cyberpunk by fleets

Haywire by Auries

Cyberpunker by Haywire

Succulent Thundersnap by protowilson

Gears in Motion by Drytil

Power Outage by TropicalPancakes

Digital You by JohannaMason

Piercing Shock by NexusEden

Derelict Reactor by bioluminosity

craze for flight by tunatuna

Voltaic Sibyl by Wise ( I also like the other version with less lightnings)

Lurker by LizzaBissa

Plasma Caster and Hack the Planet  by Endivinity

Storm Battery by RowdyChicken

Synthia by Eriferret

Virtual Spireality by dr090909

Fully Charged by Talatari

Code Electric by Rangsky

Eyes of the Cyberghost by Grovey

Sparkwing by arcaneidolriots

Holo-light Feathers by Piney

[slutsandgutscom]

No one can hear you scream in space Jon by Luthyx. #alien #alienmovies pic.twitter.com/EeP8VDt4W6

— Sluts and Guts (@sluts_guts) April 9, 2019

No one can hear you scream in space Jon by Luthyx. #alien #alienmovies https://t.co/EeP8VDt4W6 View On Twitter!

[haddorkible]

Something on the horizon

Me and @luthyx have been plotting and planning a Roleplay forum set after httyd3 that’s somewhat au and slightly re-writes the story(mostly to make it a continuing thing rather than a full stop ending), I’m not going to post the link yet because

1. It’s not finished.

2. SPOILERS. I want to give people a chance to see the movie lmao

This is more of an interest check/something coming teaser, it’s a forum that mixed canons and OCs, pretty much literally every canon character is open except Hiccup(I’m so sorry everyone I’m garbage), but OCs are going to be super welcome too! Gonna be new clans and new continents, cults, political strife. SHOULD BE GOOD.

A link will go up once we’re fully finished and the release date has passed!

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Okay, since you've requested random asks: what's your preferred playstyle in RPGs, if you like to play them?

I always go for the offensive. Unless enemies are strong. Then I either stock up on health items to stay on the offensive or I’ll try a strategy with a little bit more defense instead.

[aroworlds]

Hello! First time submitting here, so I apologize if I’m doing anything wrong.

But! Onto the subject at hand. A while back, I made mention here (via ask) that I was working on a book series about dragons that had two ace/aro protagonists, who are now pictured above. I’m finally ready to start working a lot more on the book and to engage in my blog more, so I’m starting by posting here!

The novels take place in the world of Vahaar, a continent of magic and gods. On Vahaar, dragons are the dominant species, and humans don’t exist. The magic that dragons wield - unoriginally named Elements - is basic and clunky. You can’t conjure up demons or shoot lightning, but you can manipulate the basic threads of the world, such as fire, air, earth, rot, so on and so forth. The Elements you have are based upon the elements your parents had.

Four large kingdoms dominate the continent, and they’re where the action happens. As of right now, there’s been a war raging for about three hundred years between the oldest kingdom and the youngest, and some people are starting to get tired of all the fighting. Much of the plot revolves around secret puppetmasters and the vying for control, but I can’t say much else without spoilers.

The two protagonists, pictured above, are Invictus and Hadratu. Invictus (bottom right) is an incredible rarity in the dragon world: a dragon with no Elements. Elements are the reason why every dragon looks unique, and they’re also what cause dragons to grow wings, so not having them is really, really damn sucky. Secondly, most regions have superstitions regarding Elementless dragons. Needless to say, Invictus has had a really crappy life thus far. She’s quiet, more intelligent than she shows, and considerably cowardly.

Hadratu (top left) is a young hunter from a tiny swamp town. They eschew many of the conventions of society: a warm bed, gender, all manners of caution, that sort of thing. Though Hadratu’s had more luck in life than Invictus, they’re still kept under the iron heel of their aunt, Splintervine, who may be more than a little unstable.

After a freak storm blows through and completely destroys Invictus’s home, she finds herself on Hadratu’s doorstep, and the two quickly get swept up in a plot of godly games and subterfuge.

That’s all I can say for now! You can find more on these two over at @sanctiontheskies. I’m not too active over on there yet, but I plan on doing so soon, and I might also consider running an Ask the Characters sort-of deal with these two (and maybe some other major characters, too). Toodles!

Thank you so much for sharing with us such a fabulous submission, @luthyx! There’s nothing wrong with sharing your creative awesome with this blog!

Your dragons are adorable! I love the texture work in the eyes and their distinct and contrasting looks.

You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into your worldbuilding and magic, and I am always here for fantasy plots that are about ending wars and politics. Hadratu sounds like a dragon after my own heart (such a yay for eschewing gender, something I’d love to see fantasy do far more often than it does). It’s so nice to see characters here that are so much more than being a-spec, characters that are well-drawn and complex with personality and history.

I’ll say that I’m loving the combination of dragons and human cultural elements you’ve got going. I’m curious to see how the framing of dragons shapes and changes some of those elements we take for granted.

Best of luck with your creative process! I’m sure we’ll all be looking forward to seeing where these characters end up.

[silosene]

tiny PSA to my followers: I changed my blog url from Luthyx to MUSE-42, since Luthyx is an older username of mine and I got a little tired of it. Don’t panic, it’s still me!

[aroworlds]

Popping on by to say that I love this blog. I'd shoot you a PM saying that, but it keeps wacking out on me and won't let me send messages, whoop. Also just wanted to say that I'm writing a book series about dragons where both of the main characters are aromantic! Zero romance, just dragons, wars, and occasional divine intervention. I'm ace/aro/agender myself and really appreciate being able to see media here with other aro characters - thank you so much for that!

Thank you so much for the fabulous words! I think most of us know the feeling of being a Frustrated Aro who just wants to exist in narrative, and I really hope this blog leads to folks more easily finding that sense of place in others’ worlds.

I don’t know if other aro creatives have this experience, but as writer of fiction where nearly everybody is aro, I’ve also found it difficult to find an audience for my aro-specific works (when compared to my very occasional and long-ago forays into romance narratives, which have found readers without my much trying). So if this blog helps aro storytellers get in touch with the aros in desperate want of representation, that will be an amazing thing to me.

As an agender aro-ace fantasy reader myself who thinks dragons are awesome, please share with us your work when you’re ready to do so. If folks have complete works, snippets, teasers, accompanying art–whatever it is, please share! Let us salivate over the good things to come! I am always after zero-romance fantasy, ye gods. “Dragons” and “occasional divine intervention” is just good icing atop an already delicious-sounding cake!

I do apologise for the problem with PMing - I disabled them for this account, so that will be the reason why you’re having problems. Not because I don’t like talking to awesome people (I actually really do!) but because I have multiple blogs and I find it tough to keep up with everything from my chronic finger/wrist/shoulder pain. It’s easier for me if I can keep PM conversations to just my mutuals on my personal/main account, given that I struggle just to keep up with them, too.

I suppose I’m explaining it here so folks know that if I say I’ll do something and it doesn’t happen, or if things go unresponded to, chances are very high it’s from pain. I spent Sunday and Monday with my wrist splinted again because my brain decided that my Easter needed to come with extra pain. The piece I’ve been wanting to write about Clariel still only exists inside my head! Today, maybe?

(If folks really want to talk to me about something, I’m happy to give out my personal account on request, if you ask off-anon. I don’t have it linked because I’d prefer not to have my family and some offline-connected folks access my personal Tumblr, but if you’re neither and I can determine this, that’s not a problem.)

I hope that the writing process goes smoothly for you, and I am very much looking forward to your finished works. It’s so good to know that there’s so many creatives working on making sure that the future is aro!