#which from a content standpoint makes sense

[ardri-na-bpiteog]

outing myself here but absolutely no game brings me more comfort than Classic WoW. Maybe it's largely the nostalgia but something about it, the art style, the slower pace of everything than most modern MMOs, but I just find it so peaceful.

[jemandrr]

Unironically, Ben Shapiro's greatest win against the left was turning left/centerleft laypeople off from the idea of a 'debate with facts and logic' because of his bad faith arguments. Like it's almost...triggering to people, and that leaves a lot of people with unsharpened ideas and an unwillingness to explain them in a rigorous manner.

One example phenomenon that this has fed into is a continuing degradation in the lines of thought people use to reach certain conclusions - so person A expresses opinion X that person B agrees with, but because person B never really sees the entire line of thought laid out by anyone else, their formulation of opinion X based on their own intuition might randomly lean on some idea Y which person A doesn't care about. As a result, if Idea Y lacks actual backing, person B might wrongly defend opinion X and give an impression that the entire thing is flimsy, or person B might lose their own footing and assuredness and change sides.

I also think that he so badly mangled the concept of debate in the casual public consciousness that it's a contributing factor to the vague anti-academic sentiment in recent years. (Which, while academia as an institution has problems, there's certainly an undercurrent of less directed discontent that is contributing to low public opinion of education as a whole - and a greater feeling expressed on social media that 'casual reference of marquee media' is in a way insulting to people who have not consumed it, rather than an invitation to partake or something you can pass by without caring. Not on tumblr though, where we see Dracula and then we read Dracula.)

tl;dr his pseudo-intellectualism meaningfully contributed to certain common sentiments of anti-intellectualism because of how badly and annoyingly he and the people who emulate(d) him did/do it.

[osakanone]

The steel battalion controller could fix me. Some company needs to make specialty mech controllers so i dont have to spend £350 on 2003 hardware (so i can spend £350 on 2025 hardware).

Mech game Controllers: Solving the unsolvable

I have put so much time into thinking about this and you've basically asked the perfect question.

I think there are really complex and important questions that nobody really has a good robust answer to but also that nobody is really asking those big questions in the first place either, so we're stuck on this issue.

My take is I genuinely think if we want big mecha controllers we have to think about this stuff deeply and profoundly. Like, why we need them and what they're for.

So… This has been tried many times.

NOK or NextOfKin Creatives did try this.

The Mek-Fu lopped horribly, and I was absoloutely fascinated by this at the time and wanted to understand exactly why it had failed. I think we must learn from this failure, so we don't make the same mistakes again.

The lesson I took from Mek-Fu was this: it didn't take because players had nothing to use it in where it was the best fit.

What does this mean?

1) For other games in the real world, it was inferior to keyboard and mouse in games which do not simulate a vehicle. 2) The design wasn't trying to meet some sort of pre-existing need from other games. 3) Steel Battalion emulation did not exist meaningfully yet, and in turn no equivalent game existed on the PC platform which would need it.

Therefor: There was no special environment where its employment made the best sense.

It had nowhere to excel and thrive.

So where have specialty controllers existed, and thrived?

Digital Combat Sim (DCS)

Star Citizen

Euro Truck Simulator

Farming Simulator

What do they all have in common?

They all have robust modding tools for user-created content

They all have some form of social experience or multiplayer

They all are highly accessible (PC, and are controller agnostic*)

They are all sandboxes in some capacity and let users find their own fun.

No mech game which exists at time of writing meets all these terms that I know of.

So what do these controllers look like?

In the case of real vehicles, you can simply ape the real vehicle 1:1, but for fictional vehicles, something special happens -- you see people approach and try to solve the problem in many different ways.

You see, control design in any area exists to solve a problem. The Mek Fu (a response to the VT controller) was a solution looking for a problem, and no problem existed.

From this, we learn that for specialty mech controllers to exist, you first need specialty mech games. Steel Battallion is limited, because it won't run on general hardware and doesn't network or mod easily so it isn't a good fit for this because it makes the game inaccessible and limited.

Let's actually think about the SB controller for a bit:

Steel Battalion approaches its problem from the standpoint of a robot. You might not realize this but a VT or Vertical Tank intentionally controls very similarly to a tractor.

It is influenced by a real thing. I know that sounds absurd, but let me show you what a modern tractor's task control console looks like:

Yeah, not what any of us would have expected.

If you wanna be a mech pilot in 2025, go drive a tractor. I'm not kidding.

Once you're on the field, your hands aren't on the wheel, they're on this thing:

The big stick controls the course in the computer, the little one controls your tool, the many buttons toggle states (or what the little stick is currently triggering) and through these inputs you drive the tractor.

Steel Battalion is very fun, but it won't hold your attention for more than around 100 hours unless you're a real freak about tractors and just don't know it yet.

What's more, Steel Batallion isn't playable to anybody without the controller which limits how many people will be playing it and it isn't social or moddable like the successful games we talked about earlier.

Okay, so what can we do about this?

I think the one feature here that nobody talks about is that of input-agnosticism: The ability to bind your own inputs to something in the game (directly or indirectly through some middle thing) and get good results… But not in some hugely "okay bind 100 things using our controller, or use a keyboard and mouse" binary.

The binary is still not input-agnosticism, and it still will not work.

It has to be granular.

Input agnosticism results in controller agnosticism:

You can bind as much or as little as you want, and you can pass features you don't want to bind directly to a helper subsystem middle-man like an assistant or instructor which will perform limited tasks for you - while you provide the helpers context by telling them which of a limited set of goals you want to achieve.

Say, face a target, or a direction, or aim at a thing. It saves you mental time, though if you did it manually you might get better results (incentivising you towards experimenting in that direction).

Let's touch on why controller agnostic design is really what's needed here, and why its important:

This is the omnithrottle, and and this is the Sublight Dynamics 6dof joystick.

The Omnithrottle tries to solve 6dof throttle management by adding an extra piece to a joystick at the bottom, turning the yaw z-axis-twist of the stick into a sort of vertical axis for direct up and down movement, ascending and descending.

The Sublight Dynamics 6dof joystick combines all six axis into a single device, and is an interesting experiment. I particularly like the puck switches ahead of the user's fingers, inspired likely by Evangelion which in turn was inspired by Sol Bianca's use of them.

We got great lessons in human factors for space dogfighting from both:

The omnithrottle produces huge fatigue if you use it in coupled mode (software assisted flight), because you have to hold the joystick base forward, fighting the springs. This is fine in decoupled mode (where you coast under newtonian force) but not everybody uses it. Likewise, if you remove that spring, you lose fine movement because you can no longer feel where the middle is anymore.

The SD6DOF creates a conflict in Fitt's law (speed and precision are enemies of each-other, and to get both you need a tool in the middle to help you) where some precision is lost due to the same muscles needing to drive more axis at once.

These are both many years old now, and over time we've seen many many solutions to this problem flop.

Well, VKB announced the Space Throttle Grip a few days ago, which rethinks the distribution of axis and combines the best features of both.

The key thing is, this is an evolutionary space with competing ideas. A healthy ecosystem.

And its only possible because the game's inputs are controller agnostic.

This doesn't just mean that it'll let you bind any input device directly to things, but that there are multiple ways to achieve your desired outcomes even on the software side with the helper middleman we talked about (in this case, coupling modes).

Does your machine turn to face an arbitrary vector which is the thing you actually steer or select (Warthunder)? Do you have direct input control? Do you haven an autopilot?

Here's a lecture by F22 Raptor test-pilot Randy Gordon talking about some of this stuff, giving you a frame of reference with a real vehicle which exists.

When you can pick between those goals them, you have what's called "a software" in human factors. Your two grips become arbitrary and are now called inceptors.

The software drives the machine, and you drive the software. You can override the software and provide a manual input, but the other elements you are not overriding will try to compensate to maintain a desired state. If you know how to manipulate this, it means you only need a small number of axis to achieve a very complex control action.

A great example is how long you hold the A-button in Mario changes how much power his jump has. The action is a versatile verb.

Imagine a person balancing. If their goal is to stay upright, and I push them, they translate across the ground and try to stay the right way up, turning that push force into horizontal force. They are following an instruction: remain upright.

If I make that person carry a very heavy thing, they compensate their body's balance accordingly. If I then use my finger and tell them to act as if I am pushing them with that gentle motion, they will respond but if they go too far they can say "hey, don't do that, I'll drop the heavy thing!" and ignore my pushing instruction -- because my directive telling them to remain upright superseded it.

We need to think of mecha in terms like these, and to do mecha, we need to make a standard of accessible rules like this which input devices can talk to via axis and buttons, with lots of middlemen.

Absolute (mouse-like) and relative (stick like) and accumiulated (driving a mouse with a stick by having a variable over time) and blended (driving a car with a d-pad with a simulated wheel that wants to return to zero all the time, replicating a stick) inputs must be middle-modes processing and digesting inputs in these ways. Curves matter. Biases and preferences must be accounted for.

This means finally solving "how" the giant robot works in software (even if its a design conceit), and then having systems which poke at the "how" to bias it in a direction toward an outcome.

My favourite version of this is a deliberately clumsy mech-game called Robot Alchemic Drive (RAD for short).

Playable on a regular PS2 controller, the triggers and bumpers drive the legs like a tank. The sticks drive the arms.

The robot's body has physics. You are controlling a thing.

There are no helpers to correct your motions other than when the robot stands up and to keep it upright (its otherwise 100% manual, playing back motion planning which gets fed into the physics) but yes, there is a simulated body here.

With helpers, this could get faster and way, way more fluent.

So how might these "helpers" in software work?

Think for example of how a body in motion continues to move. With a robot in a vacuum like space, you'd continue indefinitely. That's hard to control.

Do you automatically slow down and fake aerodynamic drag axially with your boosters to allow curved trajectories and soft stopping with a motion-control-decoupling-mode (as Star Citizen does), or do you have a breaking system a user can activate on a pedal or trigger, to apply those forces on different axis when they want them?

What are those axis bound to, the pelvis, the thorax, the head, the synthetic vision 3rd person camera?

These are really complicated questions, and this is just about how we make a vehicle come to a stop!

Now this might seem niche, but this exact same kind of thought also applies to how a robot balances, and how it digs its feet into the ground, creating torque or not situationally.

This isn't just fine grained motion like "moving our legs manually", but how and when we apply breaking force on the ground.

Do we apply it when we let go of the left stick?

Does the left stick prescribe a preferred velocity?

Does it prescribe input forces?

Do we change between these situationally, or maybe with a button?

Its important to think about these things.

"You're making this too complex!!"

"But why would we do this? What is the value? People are playing Armored Core 6 with a HOTAS!!"

Yeah, and that experience is not great, actually?

You're actually less capable than a keyboard and mouse-player, because Armored Core 6 isn't a game which simulates orientation over time (the body turns instantly as if by magic), so you're just driving relative inputs. You are literally disadvantaged.

Armored Core 6 has no "vehicle": This is an action-game's 3rd person control software. Its Elden Ring's horse, with a jetpack, and the roll replaced with a dash. Everything else is animations.

Its visually impressive, but there's something fundamentally missing:

Fahrvergnügen.

It means "driving pleasure" in German.

The feeling you get when you speed up going down hill, or you feel the give of the wheels against the road and the lean of the car when you take a corner.

When you bank against air in an aircraft, or turn faster than your velocity changes and you drift.

That good feeling, that's fahrvergnügen.

A game which really gets this I think is Armored Core: For Answer. I know many of you might have expected Mechwarrior here but the physics of Mechwarrior games are extremely simple, following an interpolative model.

Interpolative here means, a bit of calculus is used to ensure a smooth arching curve is how you go from zero to a high speed at all times, or a rotation, so on and so forth. This "smoothness" is the same smoothness present in Armored Core 6.

Armored Core For Answer on the other hand, is additive in how it calculates velocity per second, meaning your AC's velocity curve is inconsistent. The game has hidden stats calculating aerodynamic drag per part, it has a simplified model of angular momentum, and it has ground friction and its boosting system is different on each axis.

All of your inputs are analogue, including the angle of your boosters on left stick, and two booster-types: Your main booster handling like a motor-cycle throttle curve, and the other not only having many stages of output for flashes of thrust via contexts (combining motion and direction together to produce an intent) but also combos and even cancels. Its VERY sophisticated!

That's a lot of different factors to control. A lot of fahrvergnügen to be experienced when you master them, and feel ownership of them.

Lots of areas for skill expression.

This, combined with a rich weapon balance and a complex combat geometry (the emergent spatial and pressure rules of motion, aspects, angles and motions similar to the aircraft dogfighting) are why people are still playing this game today.

The match I uploaded was from four days ago, as of time of writing. People are still modding a game from 2008, limited to console by hacking the rom file's patches. Yeah.

I know among many game reviewers, "smooth" and "smoothness" is considered a compliment in game design (its easy to control), but interpolative motion really is the opposite of fahrvergnügen:

Interpolative suffers from feeling "zippy" and "hollow" when its fast, which is why lots of players and designers insist on slowing games down so they recover their fahrvergnügen.

You don't have to do things this way. A good mech sandbox should reward both fast and slow movement in its design!

There should be room for everybody to play!

In interpolative movement games, motion is already solved, to sell you the superficial power-fantasy (that you're good, despite not having learned how to be good) instead of giving you the experience.

Interpolation is insisting the burger you got at McDonalds is the same as the burger on the commercial. Like the burger at McDonalds, its also way way easier to make, and in today's market yeah, you take what's easy and known because you have economic pressures to get things done quickly.

You can't make a five star meal in a McDonalds kitchen, and the AAA games industry is the McDonalds kitchen of gaming.

So, what is a three star michelin meal, in terms of inputs, with additive movement?

You incentivise people with the cheaper stuff on the menu. That's robust helper tools which let keyboard and mouse players, or gamepads interact fluently.

Its affordable, and easy and gets people invested in your experience.

Then when people use fancy controllers, you get better response-rate. Because everybody buys into the mecha fantasy when they play, being beaten by someone who is controlling more complex control factors more directly at once (making them a better pilot) feels fairer.

They are negotiating the machine's limits better than you are.

You both know they more "an char" than you are:

It becomes aspirational, rather than annoying, which is how the culture of space-simming, and flight-sims, and other vehicle sims express this. It also fits the mecha fantasy, because those with basic controls are your grunt units.

We see this if we look at cockpit controls in Gundam: A Jegan's control inceptor is way simpler than say, Unicorn's.

It is just part of the fantasy.

So let's talk about these limits we negotiate.

It means, some kind of vehicle must be simulated in software, even if its a very simple abstraction purely enough so it feels good for players.

Also, I say "a software" or "helpers" what do I mean?

I don't just mean the simulated vehicle, but a robust modular middle system in the "player controller" part of the game simulation which interprets desired outcomes from a pilot user or operator and tries to achieve them.

Here's an example, let's talk about Armored Core's lockon system, which uses a software stack to turn your intention into an outcome in exactly this way.

Your robot's simulated sensors (radar, visual, etc) detects a list of potential targets…

Which uses camera orientation of a synthetic vision system to give you comprehensive 3d awareness to determine which target is interesting to you…

After selecting the target, it passes that information to the fire control system which computes a trajectory from its position and velocity…

This then talks to your weapons which know how fast your bullets go…

and this picks where to lead along that trajectory…

then that location is sent to the arms to execute that command…

Which then sends the state of this command chain to your HUD, so you understand what the body of your robot is currently trying to achieve.

Each step is influenced by ingame statistics and simulated mechanical limits -- meaning, how well you can lock up, or even select a target is very important.

You can't instantly put a cursor on something and bot a game, because everybody already has a deliberately limited aimbot, it came with your robot, to negotiate its deliberately limited body.

The key thing is, this is much much faster and more effective than you could as a human select the target manually and hit accurate than you could with round velocities -- with most videogames hiding this with hitscan (instantaneous bullet) weapons meaning whatever you click on is hit right away.

When the round takes time to get there, things are far more difficult. This is why almost nobody uses manual aiming unless they're throwing explosives at big bulky targets in AC.

From limitations like this, booster performance, turn-rate, and so on and so forth -- the negotiation of limits produces a combat geometry and how well you understand that combat geometry, and how well you understand your abilities to your opponents abilities dictates how the fight will go.

We see something somewhat similar in Steel Batallion with the lockon system but we also have a lot of deep manual control over our VT's orientations which change its balance and so on. Steel Batallion is in fact, one of the few games where your robot can fall over and get back up.

This is exactly how DCS and Star Citizen also work, and very similar principles apply in Eurotruck Simulator and Farming Simulator via the fuel, cooling, air, combustion cycle, and transmission, and shock absorbsion systems of your vehicle.

Okay, so now what?

I've been thinking for a while now about writing what I think would be the mech-game equivalent of the paper Tim Berners Lee wrote for the web (Information Management: A proposal) going into what I think the simulation would really need, what the software would need, what the controller would need and some suggested practical strategies for solving these problems based in real research I and others have done.

The system I've already built solves for fire control, fine arm motion, head movement, independent pelvis and foot motion, the operation of boosters and other similar systems in a 6dof environment which accounts for gravity, aerodynamics, balancing, alignment and full motion control -- all on a standard game controller. Its not modular yet, simply because I am not a skilled programmer, and would need real help to do this.

There's also game-design research here, which would ensure the combat geometry would reward skill expression via investing in that agnostic game design, so the control skill aligns with the power-fantasy through skill expression. This means no one strategy becomes overwhelming.

It likewise, also has the "for gamepad and keyboard/mouse" solve which would be needed to ensure its accessible for those who aren't ready yet for custom controllers.

In turn, it also has considerations and proposals for such likely controller designs and probable strategies of employment which of course translate and map to two big sticks, in a HOSAS (Hands on Stick and Stick) layout.

So what's your ideal controller?

Less a controller, and more a principle:

Key to the proposal is you can scale up the amount of control bindings, or scale it down passing automation to helper subsystems which take your intention and act on it in a useful way.

You could have just two plain sticks with foot pedals, or you could go ham and have some complex force feedback device with tons of inputs -- because of this input agnosticism.

The secret sauce I think to the highest end control is the use of software defined force-feedback not only for the two big sticks, but also four smaller ones: one each for your thumb, and one each for your finger on each hand, and an analogue trigger. I've seen this solved in open source projects, so its entirely doable.

What does this actually mean?

Source: KAIST-HCIL/FS-Pad

The purpose of a force-feedback stick is software defined -- driving the camera, pelvis, upper body, boosters, walking etc variably, with the feedback not necessarily telling you about the environment -- but also by providing what amounts to new input devices.

To explain, force feedback works by providing input to the stick like a robot arm and is not at all like a rumble feedback device. This means the position the stick "wants to return to" at any given time is not defined by springs like it is in a conventional controller, but by active software which can update in real-time.

This means resistance can be different in different directions, or the stick can even hold a position you give it in one axis but not another, replicating a hat switch or a flight throttle.

I've looked at many different open source projects which achieve these outcomes both on thumb-sticks and main sticks with great outcomes, and I think a prototype could be made if I had a team, or other people to work with.

If interest is expressed, I'll produce a specification proposal for what this input agnostic design in software needs to be (eg, how the robot is controlling) in strictly defined terms which can be implemented.

You can already see it on my Tumblr account as TOMINO, NAGANO, etc where I go into some of this -- all of which works on a standard controller, but adapts extremely well to a large HOSAS.

Likewise, I'd (eventually) also produce a proposal for a controller design which meets this specification.

I've been testing this concept on and off for many years now in Unreal Engine (I'm not a skilled programmer, not skilled with CAD or electronics, depression limits my effective outcome returns -- but I'm still getting very promising outcomes).

Ultimately what I'd really want access to is expertise and help, since my background is mainly thinking about and designing solutions for problems not necessarily implementing them -- and I'm essentially on disability, so I have unlimited time to think about this.

I don't want to ask for money, which I figure is the thing everybody is anticipating: I'd rather get this done than make money from it.

In conclusion?

To solve this what's needed isn't some figure of brilliance in a basement or garage somewhere, but an organic ecosystem of designers and builders responding to pressures, and we've already see that work many times very well.

In our case, nobody has defined the vehicle or the modular helpers in a way robust enough to capture every fantasy effectively.

That's the issue.

tl;dr coming away from this:

For the controller to exist, you first must have something to control.

To be a pilot, you first need a vehicle.

--

Live forever, Apes.

[beau-bunny]

I’m so happy to see Laurance get a new voice actor, welcome DJ Hansen to the team!! I was SO worried that Laurance would get cut from Mystreet Season 7 and never feature in Aphmau content again, or at least not in a large role, now that Sebastian’s………nnnnot part of the picture anymore, to put it politely. I have no idea how much losing his original VA could have affected Mystreet Season 7’s production, but I imagine his voice actor stirring up such an ugly mess could’ve caused quite a disaster behind the scenes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they just cut Laurance entirely.

But this is great news!! He has a new voice actor now!! I’m so relieved and happy and very excited to see what DJ Hansen does for Laurance’s character in the future, he sounds extremely similar to the original voice of Laurance, which is awesome, but I also hope he incorporates a new flair to his character that’s unique to his portrayal, something that could make him even better than Sebastian was. We’ve only seen such a tiny snippet of his work so far, so means there isn’t much I can go off of to judge what he’ll be like for Laurance just yet. So I look forward to seeing how he grows into the character over the course of Mystreet season 7 (and if any future cocomau videos feature Laurance again)! I’m so excited!!! I can die happy now.

I loved loved loved seeing the anniversary video, it’s so sweet to see a blast to the past with all these references honoring the original series. I fully expected Aphmau to not do anything for the anniversary at all, not even a post acknowledging its existence. But it’s so nice to see that she still hasn’t forgotten about mcd and instead sent out a love letter for the series saying “thank you for everything, thank you for all the memories, for the years we spent, the time we had, and all that came from it.” A big message about change, comparing the drastic differences in tone, speed, age rating, and production quality between MCD and Aphmau’s newer content. Aphmau’s come so far and changed so much in these last ten years, there’s a night and day difference between the old, MCD days, with its more mature, slower, serious tone, and the new cocomau content, with all its high-speed, brightly colored, whimsical, “audhd if it was an acid trip” glory. And honestly, it was pretty fun to see how MCD would translate into the newer cocomau style, and how batshit insane the contrasting combination turned out to be lol. Fast-paced MCD is one hell of a whiplash.

But the references!!! Reference heaven!! Each a shocking and wonderful homage to the original series!! The golden wyverns!! Malachi’s castle!! The font!! The music!!! Gene and Ivan!! Donna and Vylad!! They even included Kawaii~Chan’s maids!!!!! The maids!! How awesome is that?!?! I literally never thought I’d see those again in my life! Plus, from a lore standpoint, between the two new “evil Irenes” discussing “the void” sending people to other worlds, and all the new lore introduced in her Silent Hill video, it looks like Jess is returning to focusing a bit more on not only Mystreet, but the greater Aphverse as a whole (and how the Cocomau universe might connect to it all…). And that is a huge relief too, considering I was expecting her to just kinda leave all of her old roleplays behind in favor of this new setup and the main cast she’s focusing on now. But no, she’s not leaving it behind! She’s throwing new lore to the pot and stirring it up!! She even referenced/mentioned Void Paradox in the anniversary video!! Void paradox is becoming crucially relevant again!! Void Paradox!!

So that’s pretty cool, I’m excited to see where all this new Aphlore goes. Right now it looks like we’re just being fed highly mysterious, vague breadcrumbs, with none of the exposition to make sense of them yet, so I’m excited to see the eventual payoff that does explain the breadcrumbs. Maybe we might be getting more than just Mystreet Season 7 in the future…? Something about the larger Aphmau multiverse…? Even if it’s all done in the cocomau style, I don’t care, Aphmau is Aphmau and I am more than happy with that. I can’t wait to be fed more content like this in the future.

Hooray to 10 years of Aphmau!!! Happy anniversary Minecraft Diaries!!

[loveissupernatural]

Hicctooth Rant 🩷

I started watching the How to Train Your Dragon movies again and have even gotten into the series this time around (childhood nostalgia 🩷) and dammit if Toothless and Hiccup’s beautiful relationship doesn’t make me cry like a baby!

I was also reminded of how heartbreaking the ending of THW was and started digging into post-epilogue information. Because my fragile little heart couldn’t take the idea that Hiccup and Toothless didn’t visit post-epilogue.

Besides the fact that all previous HTTYD movies, shorts, and series established how deep and unbreakable their bond was, so it wouldn’t be logical for them to have this emotional reunion and that be “the end” - I mean, why would they introduce their families to one another just to go “Yeah, I know that was amazing - sorry, peace out” - but from a logical standpoint, Toothless’s tail prosthetic is going to need maintenance. They don’t make prosthetics today that last a *human* lifetime, so it wouldn’t make sense to assume that Toothless’s would last potentially hundreds of years with Viking technology. Sure, it’s fireproof now, but there’s still gears, mechanical elements, etc. that will be exposed to all kinds of environments and wear and tear. Hiccup is constantly remaking and improving Toothless’s tail fins throughout the series and movies.

Hiccup even mentions in the epilogue “How’s the tail holding up? Need any oil, some fine-tuning?” If that thing breaks, Toothless, as alpha and protector of not only his family, but the Hidden World, is screwed. A downed dragon is a dead dragon.

I love that with the release of the holiday special “HTTYD: Homecoming”, we see that even a decade after they parted ways, they still miss each other. Toothless drawing Hiccup in the sand, then Berk, then himself, and drawing a line from himself to Hiccup - it was beautiful. And so in-character for their relationship 🩷 And Hiccup building a mechanical Toothless costume that breathes fire and is so hard to function in that he falls off a cliff and Toothless saves him? Oh my heart ATE IT UP!

Toothless never saw bearded Hiccup, but he could hear and smell him, and was licking and cuddling that suit 🥺 Oh the “almost” of it all killed me, but it had to make sense with the epilogue. Toothless seeing Hiccup’s daughter and going goo-goo over her immediately melted my heart. His eyes were shining!

I’m glad that Hiccup saw Toothless and family flying away, and called out, so he knew they were indeed there. Then Astrid saying “maybe it’s our turn to visit them��. Oh I just love all of the implications!

Then “Snoggletog Log” - Toothless and his whole family in Hiccup and Astrid’s house for the holidays? SIGN ME TF UP! I’d like to think this was the Snoggletog after the epilogue. I think there’s evidence for this too, if you look at the size of Toothless’s babies. When Hiccup goes to carry off a sleeping baby, from head to tail, it looks longer than they did in “Homecoming”.

Then comes the newest piece of media - “Dragons: The Nine Realms”. I haven’t watched it because the animation looks horrifically baby-ish, but I did try to see what was mentioned about Hiccup/Toothless/etc. They found a cave painting in the Hidden World of Toothless with Hiccup and his family (inside the cave where the Night Lights, Toothless’s descendants, stay) and they also found Hiccup’s artificial leg, a working desk, books, etc. So at some point, our boys came back together and explored the Hidden World (can we get content on this please??)

There’s even a story in the book that Hiccup wrote about he and Toothless (and likely the other dragon riders, because that cage was huge) working together to build a cage and trap this enormous apex predator Snake-like creature - which was eating dragons whole. Apparently it’s the whole reason dragons are afraid of eels. The lock mechanism could only be unlocked by a fury with retractable teeth. Hiccup even used his mom’s staff to lure it into the cage. I loved this detail. Then the book illustration shows us a close-up of a bearded Hiccup and Toothless touching noses, and then their silhouettes watching the cage from far away. Also, all of Hiccup’s artifacts having a Night Fury on them? My heart!

There are mixed opinions on what’s “canon” and what’s not - in my opinion, if DreamWorks released it and said it’s in the HTTYD universe, then it’s canon (they own the ip). “Homecoming” and the HTTYD 3 epilogue strongly hinted at Hiccup and Toothless returning to each others’ lives in some capacity, even if it’s only occasional visits. It lines up much more with their relationship than the alternative (I’m looking at you, Dean - I fully believe he just wanted everyone to be as sad as humanly possible even though the character behaviors he’d established thus far didn’t align with the ending he was determined to have).

A lot of people feel that way, and it cracks me up that DreamWorks appears to agree. Everything they’ve released after HTTYD 3 is encouraging the idea of a post-epilogue relationship between the families. Then 9 Realms releases and we get official confirmation that Toothless and Hiccup kept having adventures, and being in each others’ lives, and it just made my little heart glow. Because THAT aligns with the “we are stronger together, our love can endure anything” message that all HTTYD content was about (until the end of THW🙄).

I’m so glad they came back together. It just makes sense for the characters and the strong relationship they built between them. I’d really love a movie or series explaining why Hiccup had to go down to the Hidden World again - did Toothless come ask for his help? How soon was this after the epilogue? How long did they stay down there, who was with them, and what all did they have to do? Did Hiccup and Toothless stay together until the end? I have a headcanon of them exploring Valhalla together 😭

[roo-bastmoon]

Off My Chest

Rant about Hybe under the cut. I give you my word I will try to post a majority of positive content, because the world (and my mental health) doesn't need more negativity, but sometimes you just gotta vent.

Folks, if you've known me for a hot second, you've realized I am a Jimin-biased Jikooker... but I am OT7, and I sincerely love and support BTS.

I believe Jimin is a grown man who can advocate for himself and I believe Jungkook absolutely supports and adores him, whatever their relationship status is.

I always try to accentuate the positive and avoid online drama and negativity as much as possible, but I need to get this off my chest.

I will never be gas-lit into believing that the way Jimin was treated in solo era was fair, or equitable, or even made any kind of business-sense. I've genuinely tried to entertain other people's points of view and listen to people who claim to have industry expertise, but...

I will never forget his mail being tampered with four times, his leaked insurance information, denial of more music videos, overlapped solo release, only 9 days of promotion, split title tracks, no radio or play-listing, no bio for his Spotify for months, no restock of his single CD for months, hundreds of thousands of frozen and deleted sales, millions of culled streams, shady articles in WeVerse and Billboard, insulting dialogue in In the Seom, failure to submit to RIAA certification for months, only a paywall documentary on WeVerse, zero official acknowledgement of his Hot 100 #1, 1 billion streams on Spotify, or wins for The Fact, MAMA, and two Webbys, plus broken in-ears, anemic little balloons and a sad background tarp as decorations for his fan events… and the company telling him how doing more would just be impossible.

I compare all that to the push that other members and other groups got, and I know it just isn't true. It wasn't impossible.

Hell, Jeon Jungkook put in more effort to promote Jimin’s work and showed more respect for Jimin as an artist during his at-home lives than that whole company did, which honestly makes no sense from a profit standpoint.

I will never forget it, and I will not entertain arguments that say I’m a solo or an anti or jealous about it. I have eyes.

I am not out to shade any other members nor put forth any conspiracy theories. I simply want all our boys to get everything they justly deserve.

And yes, other members have suffered mishaps and neglect, but nothing of this scale, this consistently. It baffles me, I cannot understand it, and I'm done trying. Something strange was going on behind the scenes and we may never be privy to the details.

In trying to put this awful feeling behind me, I will say I am elated that Jikook are serving together and can support each other. I am glad there will be a Jikook travel show. I'm continually impressed with all of Jimin's success (in the military and professionally) despite all odds. I will always love and support all of BTS with my full heart.

And I sincerely hope the company has been taking notes and course-corrects for PJM2, even if it rubs some higher ups the wrong way if they had a different vision. Considering Jimin’s unique talents and his amazing star power—even his ability to bring Paris and New York to a screaming standstill just for the opportunity to see him exit a car—I would hope the company will “do their best to promote all labels and artists without discrimination” going forward.

But what happened truly sucked, and I needed to get that off my chest. I am not interested in further discussion or debate. I am now going to do my best to shift my focus and energy on to the things I want to manifest, instead of the things that enrage me.

So let me end on a positive and hopeful note: I put all my trust in Jimin, who signed a new contract with Hybe and who unfailingly adores all his members. There can be no love without trust. I will always do my best to trust BTS.

But I'm watching carefully. For Jimin and all our boys.

Love, Roo

[tswhiisftteedr]

ANYTHING Lute x Reader, i just need to see more of this perfect gal whose had like 3 minutes total of screentime

Girls ☆ One Shot

☆ Lute x Human Soul!Fem!Reader:

After having met you on your first day in heaven, your life and lute’s would change for the better as you had found your other half despite your original predicaments.

Words: 4228

Warnings: Mature Content, Explicit/Graphic Language, Honestly Nothing Kinky, It’s just plain girl on girl smut. Homophobia. Lute might be ooc. NOT PROOFREAD.

Notes: Okay right off the bat, some bullshit logic about angels being able to tell if someone is queer, also lute is gay but has some major internalized homophobia so for a good chunk of this she’s rude to the reader just because they’re gay.

☆ more under the cut. ☆

Frankly, the scenario felt weird, especially given the fact that both of you were, well, 'you.'

From a logical standpoint, it didn't add up, not in the slightest. However, in the grand scheme of things, ‘does love really need to make sense?’

The response to that question was unquestionably, no, when observing your relationship with Lute.

It all began when your seemingly stable life abruptly crumbled. While crossing the street, mind you, at a red light, fate took a dark turn as a truck with faulty brakes struck you, ending your life on the spot.

There was no reincarnation into another world after this encounter with truck-kun; you were flat out dead.

In the blink of an eye, you found yourself standing before the gates of Heaven, where Saint Peter meticulously inspected his book, akin to the VIP list of an exclusive nightclub – or so it seemed.

However, instead of the typical club scene with artificial lights, drugs, unpleasant odours, drunk individuals, and a sense of desperation, you were enveloped in a heavenly realm. Fluffy clouds, savoury food, sweet fragrances, joyful company, and an overwhelming sense of acceptance surrounded you.

This was truly paradise, and you were relieved that your life wasn't too problematic. After being shown your potential residence—a beautiful house with a spacious garden—and touring 'Heaven city' with a friendly Angel couple, you enjoyed exploring your surroundings.

However, the perfection took a turn when you accidentally encountered the first unfriendly 'individual' in Heaven.

"Watch it," the woman with white hair warned you, and after scanning you from head to toe (much like her golden-winged companion), she remarked, "I guess they really let anybody in these days, even people like you."

With those words, she walked away accompanied by the non-human-looking 'man,' which seemed to be the norm in this place. However, you couldn't shake off the unease caused by her reference to 'people like you.'

Soon, you discovered the meaning behind her comment. Apparently, angels here could distinguish between cis-straight and queer individuals.

The reason of ‘why?’ remained unknown to you, but what became clear was that, in her opinion, you didn't deserve Heaven—not based on your actions but solely due to your sexuality, ‘and that pissed you off.’

You had planned to confront her the next time your paths crossed, and that moment arrived three months later, long after you had moved on from the incident;

Now, you were patiently waiting in line to sample drinks at the recently opened smoothie bar. The atmosphere was serene and heavenly, as expected.

Just as it was about to be your turn to order, you were rudely jolted by the announcement, "Move it, bitches, Adam’s in the houuuse."

You found yourself pushed aside, forced to witness the obnoxious Angel now placing his order.

Midway through his order “Pineapple smoothie with extra pineapple, tapioca, grass jelly, make it an extra-large with extra sugar, then she’ll have-“ it suddenly dawned on you that he was the guy with the white-haired companion from last time. Before you could fully process it, you turned around to find the white-haired woman right beside you.

Upon noticing you, she shot a disgusted glare and 'tsk' your way. Frustrated, you thought, 'That rude bitch- Not only did she cut in line, but she also gave you a look like you were a turd on the incredibly clean streets of heaven!'

This time, you were determined to speak your mind to her;

"Whats your problem?" you question her with frustration evident in your tone.

"Excuse me?" she retorts, disdain dripping from her voice.

"I'm asking, what's your issue with me? Our first encounter, you flat out implied I didn't belong in heaven. Seriously, for what, for being gay? Firstly, that's bullshit because my worth as a person shouldn't be based on my sexuality. Secondly, it's just plain homophobic. Isn't heaven supposed to be all about accepting thy neighbour? So instead of treating me like I'm beneath you, how about an apology for our last interaction, Miss off-brand Kanade?" You lay it all out, determined not to let her disrespect slide this time. She was to blame before, but allowing it again would be on you, ‘and that wasn't going to happen.’

"Oooooh, cat fight!" remarked the golden-winged Angel, treating your dispute as some form of entertainment. Also 'cat fight', was he fucking serious?! That term left you thinking, 'misogynistic asshole!' in response to his words.

"Do you even know who you're speaking to?" the woman questioned, exuding a sense of superiority.

"Yeah, tear that bitch a new on, Lute!" the golden-winged Angel chimed in.

"I don't 'lute,' and if you were truly that significant, I would’ve. But it sure as hell doesn't seem to be the case!" you retorted with a touch of spite, placing extra emphasis on her name.

The shop as a hole gasped at the mention of the ‘H word’.

"I’ll have you on that I hold the title of Lieutenant of��� in the Heavenly Army. And as one of God's warriors, I deserve respect from someone of your, let's say, slightly above dreadful mortal soul status," she declares, almost slipping up and inadvertently revealing the existence of exterminators.

"Sure thing, 'heaven warrior.' Firstly, when did we ever need an angel like you? It's been peaceful here. Secondly, I couldn't help but notice that slip-up. I don't know your real occupation, probably still military judging by your mannerisms, but certainly not some simple member of this 'heaven’s army,'" you respond, now sure that she's concealing her true job from most of Heaven's population.

"You insolent, miserable, lower life form! Consider yourself fortunate that your meager good deeds in your pathetic human life landed you here. Otherwise, I would have had the pleasure to—" she began, but was abruptly interrupted by her 'companion' or perhaps 'boss.' "Chill out, danger tits," he calmly stated in a tone vastly different from his earlier goofiness. The shift in his demeanor was genuinely unsettling.

And her attitude swiftly transformed; she composed herself and turned to face him. "I apologize, Adam, sir. I allowed my emotions to take over and stepped out of line," she said, directing her apology not to you but to her boss.

With that, the two individuals departed, leaving you to independently apologize to your fellow angels for the disturbance.

Was that the final occasion you heard or saw them? No, because not even a month later, here you were;

Another fun aspect of heaven was its schools, designed for souls who aspired to study on Earth but lacked the opportunity or had their lives cut too short to complete their educations.

Another facet of this scenario allowed the souls of teachers or individuals aspiring to aid in unfulfilled dreams to volunteer for assisting with the children's education.

That's why you found yourself present today, supporting Miss Asiimwe with her fourth-grade anglophone class during a spelling bee. Just as the classroom door swung open, an unmistakably loud and obnoxious voice rang out, "What up turds, big bro Adam's in the house!"

Your day took a turn from a wholesome one contributing to kids' education to a shitty one, because if that ‘pompous jerk Adam was here, she sure would also be—‘ "Oh, it's you again," Lute remarks to you, her voice less harsh than the last encounter but still carrying a hint of bitterness.

Truly, ‘It was a waste for her to be so beautiful with that kind of attitude’. Despite her rude remarks about your sexual orientation, you may or may not find her attractive—perhaps not the wisest choice, and you were aware of such. But hey, after all, dominatrix existed, and they get paid handsomely to insult people. So, ‘is it really that unconventional to be into her?’

Yes, it very much so was. However, before having the chance to delve into those thoughts, Lute abruptly snapped her fingers right in front of your face to divert your attention.

"What are you doing here?! And a quit staring at me like that!" she demanded, replacing her fingers with her face, now uncomfortably close, and you could feel her breath on your face.

"Um, well— I'm assisting this classroom's teacher, something I've been doing since week one in heaven, so you're not kicking me out," you replied with a defensive tone, slightly taken aback by her question but drawing from your previous interactions.

"I never claimed I would, chill out, mortal soul. You shouldn't project the stress of your inadequacy as an inferior being into this classroom's atmosphere. Stress spreads easily, and you wouldn't want it affecting the children," she declares with authority, though her tone and gaze had some gentleness in it.

Truth be told, she might have found herself drawn to you. It was a difficult pill to swallow, given her blatant homophobia and the fact she found the thought of ‘her’ being attracted to a woman absolutely absurd.

Upon initially glimpsing your figure and sensing a certain fire within her, her instinctive response was to be rude to you.

"You mentioned you've been assisting here since your first week. How frequently do you come by?" she inquires, attempting to initiate casual conversations with you. By now, she had acknowledged that you weren't to blame for her attraction. While you might be the source, her draw toward women wasn't dependent on whether she found you hot or not.

"Well, I try to stop by at least twice a week. I believe having familiar faces during learning helps children feel safer and more supported," you admitted, surprised that she's engaging in small talk.

"I completely agree. Having a trusted adult present during learning builds a strong foundation for children's education, especially for the younger ones," she adds, gazing ahead at the classroom where the children have transitioned from spelling to playing with Adam.

"Leave it to the man-child to get along with kids," you joke to yourself, watching how effortlessly Adam bonds with the children. They're engrossed in a game involving knights and kings, with Adam, of course, playing the role of the king.

To your surprise, Lute chuckles at your remark before quickly composing herself. "Well, he is the father of humanity," she states, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

"I guess I can't argue with facts," you reply, your own face lighting up with a smile at the sight of the joyful children.

After that day, your meetings with Lute became a regular occurrence. Whether it was the joyful atmosphere of children immersed in learning or something else, she grew quite friendly with you over the course of two months. Your interactions even extended beyond the school, evolving into outings to cafes and amusement parks.

Today was one of Lute's off-duty days. You weren't exactly sure why heaven required an army, but you refrained from probing too much, especially during your hangouts, which were focused on enjoying each other's company rather than discussing work.

Currently, you were at CheeLand, the largest amusement park in all of heaven, offering rides for both the faint-hearted and adrenaline junkies alike.

You leaned towards the gentler side when it came to this type of amusement, while Lute embraced the thrill. That's why you found yourself anxiously gripping your seat’s restrains as the cart ascended the rails, anticipating the impending drop.

Your white-haired friend had successfully egged you on, convincing you to join her on the ride. Despite calming yourself in line, once the ride began, all your anxiety rushed back;

Lute, growing excited as the carts continued to climb up, remarked, "This is going to be so fucking fun! Can't believe you were such a baby about it in line." Her teasing tone shifted as she noticed your terrified expression.

Softening, she grabbed your hand and reassured you, "Listen, you'll be alright. The rides are completely safe and secure. Plus, I'm here with you." Her last sentence was emphasized by a comforting squeeze of your hand, prompting you to turn and look at her. "And worst case scenario, you're already dead, so there's nothing to be truly afraid of," she joked, easing the tension slightly.

But then came her next words, reigniting panic. "Okay, get ready, we're almost there." Glancing forward, you realized, "Oh, shit." She was right, and in an instant, the drop arrived. Both of you screamed at the top of your lungs throughout the entire ride…

You emerged from the ride, your head still a bit foggy and your voice hoarse from screaming, with Lute holding your hand.

As you both walk towards a nearby bench for a moment of composure, she remarks, "See, wasn't so bad."

"The fuck it wasn't!" you retort. Just as she's about to tease you for your reaction, you abruptly pull her into a tight hug in a serge of emotions. "But thanks for being with me. I doubt I could have even mustered the courage to join the ride lineup if you weren't here. I'm really grateful you're with me," you whisper softly.

She was startled by the contact, causing her to freeze momentarily. Although her initial instinct was to pull away due to nervousness, she recognized this as a vulnerable moment for you. Awkwardly, she hugged you back and gradually melted into the embrace.

After 5 minutes, the reality of the position hit her, and nerves kicked in. "You're welcome, now get off me, you weirdo," she insists, pulling away from the hug. However, all you can do is smile at her. Despite her attempt to maintain a front, she can't help but crack a smile too. 'She actually enjoyed how close you just were,' but that was something she kept to herself.

At some point in time, you had even overheard her referring to you as her friend to her boss, Adam, who questioned her sudden shift from his side to yours. Her face turned beet red as she defended you—a sight you wouldn't have expected from her at all.

However, that flushed look she harbored became increasingly frequent over time. You had become accustomed to her mannerisms and the way she expressed emotions, often lashing out due to difficulty in self-expression.

You had grown familiar with what brought a smile to her face, what upset her, and especially what left her flustered. By then, you had realized she liked you based on her behaviours, yet it seemed she hadn't recognized the romantic nature of her feelings.

Aware of her confusion, especially considering her upbringing and training, you knew the absence of romance in her education left her clueless about such emotions. Despite this, you chose to let her navigate these feelings on her own. It wasn't your place to impose that you were better aware of her own emotions than she was.

Yet, you played a role in guiding her toward this realization by incorporating more physical gestures, of course, always within her comfort boundaries: holding her hand more often, offering more frequent hugs, ensuring there was some form of touch between you two.

A common occurrence was when you walked together, either with your arm around her or your pinkies linked.

Her flushed face became so habitual that seeing her without it seemed unusual; the red tint became her typical expression when spending time with you.

Take, for instance, that day when you visited the newly opened restaurant on 'Holy Avenue.';

Opting for a Caesar salad, Lute aimed to play it safe in case the other offered dish didn't appeal to her taste. However, as she munched on her food, her gaze kept wandering to your dish, which seemed quite appetizing.

She attempted to deny her desire for a bite, but after spending so much time together, you had become adept at reading her emotions.

Acknowledging her unspoken request, you picked up a small portion with your fork, gesturing for her to join in. Initially embarrassed, she hesitated to refuse, but a single pleading look and she relented.

Her face flushed from the intimate gesture, the question of ‘why was she getting so worked up over your friendly act’ lingered in her mind as she finally took the bite-size food portion. The fact that she found you visually pleasing wasn't the answer she sought. Her feelings were deeper than mere physical attraction.

This realization was further confirmed as she spent the entire night unable to sleep, her mind consumed by thoughts of your hangout and the fact that you had fed her.

Tossing and turning, she found herself questioning the nature of your relationship: were you friends? Yes, that was obvious. Were you a couple? No, definitely not. Did she want you to be more than friends, an item perhaps? "Uuh, fuck," she groaned into her pillow as the realization hit her that she had developed feelings for you.

By now, it seemed like everyone and their mothers were aware of Lute's feelings, evident in her actions toward you. Not only had she begun reciprocating your physical advances, but she also initiated some herself.

Whether it was greeting you with a warm hug after a week apart, including you in her imposed outings with Adam, or playfully wrapping an arm around your waist during these occasions, her actions spoke volumes.

She'd whisper sweet jabs about her boss into your ear, leading to fits of laughter. Adam, in response, would roll his eyes at your intimate gestures, teasing Lute for being too obvious about her affection.

Despite her embarrassment and denials of any romantic feelings, you knew better than to take those at face value.

Yet besides the deep connection you shared, she struggled to express her feelings toward you. Accepting that she liked you had already been a significant challenge. Therefore, the idea of asking you out was currently off the table.

She needed to communicate her sentiments without uttering a word, and that's where today came into play—Valentine's Day.

Lute had dedicated the entire previous day and night to baking the perfect sweet, chocolaty treat for you. Not being accustomed to baking, she faced numerous trials and errors before getting it just right. Now, the moment had arrived for her to present these treats to you.

Having texted you to meet her at 'Wings Caffe' around 10, she patiently occupied a table since 9:30 a.m. following your confirmation text.

Initially, her plan was to simply hand you the chocolate, letting you make assumptions and agreeing when you eventually concluded that she liked you. However, things didn't go as planned, and nerves took over;

"Aww, that's so sweet, Lute. Thank you, really. I didn't get anything today, since y’a know, single as a Pringle," you remarked, pointing to yourself. "These chocolates mean a lot. By the way, they look fantastic. Where did you get them? I'd love to buy more for a snack," you inquired, holding the heart-shaped box.

"Made them," she mumbled, visibly embarrassed by your compliments.

"Really? Wow, I didn't know you baked. Maybe I'll come over to your place more often and have you whip something up for me," you begin. The implication of spending more time together tugs at Lute's chest, but your last sentence hits her hard. "I'm so grateful to have a friend who's skilled at baking and willing to make me things," you say as you start munching on the treats.

'Friends'—that's right, nothing more. It appears she couldn't rely on the heart-shaped box or the chocolate with words of affirmation in pink sprinkles to convey her feelings. If she desired more than friendship, she would have to be honest about her feelings this time.

However, true to her defensive nature, instead of clarifying the true reason behind giving chocolate on the day of love, she merely went along with your characterization of it as a friendly gesture.

"Yeah, I guess you're lucky to have a friend like me, someone so good at everything," she boasted, her voice proud, yet her expression betraying a hint of sadness.

Noticing the inconsistency, you set the box down on the table to free your hands and gently took hers. Meeting her gaze directly, you squeezed her hands for reassurance. "I wanted to let you work things out at your own pace, but we're not making any progress," you began, and she looked at you wide-eyed.

"I like you, Lute, and I know you like me too," you stated frankly. Before she could employ her defense mechanism, you added, "I'm not saying we have to start dating right away. I understand if you're not ready for that. But please keep in mind, as long as you don't outright reject me, I'll keep trying to pursue a relationship with you."

Upon hearing those words, Lute sensed the release of all the built-up stress and fear of rejection.

A newfound confidence surged within her, making her bold enough to grab your face and plant a bold kiss in plain sight for everyone at the café to witness. "Fuck yes, I'll be your girlfriend," she declared as she pulled away.

With a simple "Now, let's get out of here," the two of you stood up from your seats, leaving the café behind as her apartment became your new destination.

Upon reaching her place, things escalated rapidly—like, really rapidly. Mere seconds after stepping through the door, she was all over you.

Passionate kisses, hands exploring every inch of your body, fingers grabbing at whatever they could find. Nails scratching and digging, teeth occasionally biting at your skin when her mouth left yours.

Given the speed with which she undressed you, it seemed like she had envisioned this scenario for quite some time.

Before you knew it, you were lying on her bed, completely devoid of clothing, and that's when she began to work her magic;

Squirming within her grasp, she held your thighs down while eating you out. Breathless, you questioned, "I thought you were a homophobe before we met. How are you so good at this??" The overwhelming sensation of her tongue left you in awe.

You can practically feel her grin against your lips as she responds, "Yep, I was. But after developing a crush on you, I did my homework. Figured it be useful at one point or another. Though, ‘didn't think I'd be that good on my first actual trial.”

"Please don’t stop" you croak out between pants.

“Don’t worry, I won’t." she promised, increasing her rhythm and pressure.

As she continued to please you, you couldn't help but wonder what changed in her. This was way different from her usual flustered self. ‘Was it the time spent together? Or maybe the touch? The combination of both?’

Regardless, you decided to focus solely on the present moment, losing yourself in the sensations coursing through your body. Lute showed no signs of slowing down, proving her dedication to satisfying you.

Eventually, you reached climax, shouting her name as you finally released, your wings fluttered and your essence coated her tongue. Her response? She swallowed it down greedily, moaning around your pussy. When you finally fell back onto the bed, panting heavily, she climbed up beside you, her breasts pressing against your chest.

"That was... intense," you managed to utter between breaths.

"Glad you enjoyed it," she whispered, nibbling on your earlobe.

As you settled down together, Lute traced gentle circles on your stomach before trailing her fingers along your inner thighs. Her thumb brushed against your sensitive folds again, teasingly circling your tight entrance. "Do you want more?" she asked softly, her voice husky with desire.

You nodded weakly, unable to speak coherently yet.

Without further delay, Lute positioned herself between your spread legs again, positioning her own pussy just inches away from where she had been earlier. Lowering herself slowly, she began to rub your clits together, creating a new wave of pleasure that reverberated throughout both of them.

With each thrust of her hips, she increased the pace until you were moving in sync, your moans growing louder as you neared another orgasmic peak.

Your bodies intertwined, united in shared ecstasy, leaving neither wanting nor regretting your decision to explore the concept of a sexual relationship together.

Lute's hands grabbed onto your hips, holding you steady as she picked up speed, driving them both closer to climax. Your nails dug into her shoulders, leaving shallow crescent marks in the soft flesh; evidence of your shared intensity.

You could feel the familiar buildup starting again, your entire body tensing up in anticipation. With one final powerful thrust, Lute groaned loudly, her orgasm crashing over both of you like waves crashing onto shore. In response, you let out a high-pitched cry, joining her in blissful release.

Breathing heavily, you stayed in the same position for several moments longer than necessary, savouring the afterglow of your passionate union.

Eventually, you separated, both panting heavily. Lute rolled off of you, lying next to you on the bed, her chest heaving rapidly.

"That was... incredible," she panted out, reaching over to grab a nearby water bottle and handing it to you.

"Yeah, it was... Although I have to admit, having sex on the first day of making it official is pretty needy," you playfully tease her.

"Oh, shut up," she retorts before planting a kiss on your lips once you've swallowed your sip of water.

This relationship was going to be wilder than what you had anticipated…

Thanks anon for requesting!

©tswhiisfttedr. dn translate, or plagiarize.

Tip Me (Ko-Fi) & And support my art account @maviscarlettie

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Tag list for Lute: @sunflower-lilly @charlott30045 (I still used your request because it was one that fit with what I had already received)

Reblogs help!!! (Request Are On Pause)

[ailesswhumptober]

Hi. I definitely felt refreshed reading your hard stance and information on ai in your pinned, but irrelevant to that, I only found your blog today and I feel like I missed something with AI and whumptober. Can I learn about that? I hope my language makes sense.

In the late summer of 2023, an anonymous user asked the Whumptober blog if AI-generated content would be allowed for the event. This anon did not come from any of us, nor do we know who originally send this ask, but one of us did see Whumptober's response which kickstarted this entire thing.

Whumptober responded that they would not be disallowing AI because they "do not want to police how other people create things" and "didn't want to exclude anybody" but that they would "discourage" AI-generated content "because it feels like cheating" (all direct quotes).

Myself, the other mods, and several more people, were very disappointed in this stance. several of us started replying to the post and got into a back-and-forth with the Whumptober mods about why AI-generated content is harmful and bad. These posts and replies have since been mostly deleted by the Whumptober blog, nor do we want to rehash the entire thing, but some of the stances that Whumptober took that really rubbed us wrong were (again with direct quotes):

"AI-generated content is not art theft". When pointed out that these sorts of applications very much scrape content without consent, Whumptober claimed that it's the AI that steals then, not the person who uses the AI. They also claimed that since the AI already scraped the content, you "might as well use it", that defending against AI scraping is "going down on an already burning hill" and that "if you don't want your content scraped/stolen, just don't post it online". We found these very concerning statements from an event made by and for creators.

"AI-generated content is a fandom issue and nobody in the real world is harmed by it". This is, obviously, factually incorrect. When we pointed out real creators in many creative industries are being hit hard because of AI-generation, they said "that's capitalism's fault, not AI-generation" (???) and they also told us to "touch grass".

"These sort of AIs are an accessibility tool for the disabled, so disliking them is ableism". Again, this is incorrect. They tried to liken it to predictive text or spell check. We pointed out that there's a vast difference between those machine learning tools and actually generative AI that subsides on scraped content. We said disabled people (many of whom were involved in the back-and-forth) are sick of being used as a strawman by tech bros. They then said "real disabled people probably feel differently" which was a slap in the face, and honestly the thing that still is the most horrible to me about this whole thing.

This is the point where Whumptober started to block a bunch of us and delete asks/replies. They made a post that falsely made it seem like we were harassing and bullying them for saying that they "couldn't check every single entry for AI-generated content". We pointed out multiple times that we absolutely did not expect them to, since we're very aware that with the size of the Whumptober event, it would be impossible. We'd just like them to say 'AI-generated content is not allowed and it's art theft' but apparently they didn't want to.

After this one of the mods DMed me and asked me to send them some resources on why AI-generated content and scraping AI is bad, so they could educate themselves. We spent several minutes collecting sources (some linked in our pinned). They said the Whumptober mods would read them, and then come to a standpoint. But then within less than a minute of us sending the links, they deleted the remaining posts involved in the debate, and just told us they were sticking to their standpoint that "We will not police how people create things, we'll just discourage people by not reblogging it". They also added to their pinned that they won't ever respond to any asks about AI-generated content again. So that was that.

Somewhere during the argument, the Whumptober mods told us that if we disliked their stance so much, we should just make our own event. So we did.

(Edit to add: regardless on if whumptober does change their policy, we never received any sort of acknowledgement or apology of the above and we will keep running this event for whoever wants to.)

[marciaillust]

hey, i hope you're doing great! i feel this may be unorthodox, but i really wanted to reach out to extend my engagement?— awe?— solidarity?— (some variant of those, anyways) with your most recent "workposting" art. i don't normally do this. I've maybe sent 3 asks in my whole life. there's no pressure to respond to this, as i mostly just wanted to cheer you on. also, I'm really sorry this is so long.

i only just recently landed my very first freelance art job, at a start-up company dedicated to making comics + DND inspired art content. I've always felt that "Its nothing to call home about", and so i really resonated with your feelings regarding your work for Brawl Stars. I felt kind of ashamed of my job, that its just a small start up— that I'm not enough and that i should be trying harder, or something like that. Specifically i resonated with your comment of "presenting brawl stars art feels like showing my anime girl oc to an art teacher" and i don't think i could have solidified any better.

Anyways. all's to say. I really found your work quite jaw-dropping. I was shocked when i read it was for Brawl Stars. I didn't know anything about it, but when i did some research i was even more amazed. they're really, really compositionally beautiful... i mean, i know its just "work" to you ultimately, but it really does feel lively, and everything about it makes it feel like you care. I think sometimes you're just able to tell when an artist genuinely cares about their work; about its end outcome. there's so many intricacies. and a lot of attention to detail. you kept the style that was necessary of you but i also can feel the warmth and the care of the artist behind it— its not corporate, or stale, it doesn't come across as "just work".

since you mentioned League, i genuinely do think it serves an equal purpose and weight to what League of Legends would produce. from a biased standpoint, i would actually value your work more. Its not even that its "more obtainable"/"more realistic" but that there's genuinely more feeling to it. Compositionally/artistically, yeah, League makes great stuff, but occasionally, the feeling or the sense of warmth and care from the creator of the art is lost along the way. I value seeing the artist within their own art a lot, which is why I've admitted to a degree of bias. either way. what you put out there is really gorgeous, and crazy impressive.

I know a stranger with a dumb, fandom-oriented art blog cant solve the self-indited art elitism (you and me both, man💀) and that you've already received plenty of love/reblogs saying similar things, but i wanted to extend my feelings anyways. Its really heart-warming, i guess. It brings me hopefulness, and deep adoration for the craft. I'm not very good with words. Anyways. don't undersell yourself. seeing your work meant more to me than you can imagine. I'm obviously nowhere near your skill level, but it meant more to me as an aspiration. i think that regardless of who you work for, your work is really valuable and downright incredible. because you bring that sense of warmth, care, time, and patience regardless of the media it portrays. and you're able to do that while being objectively talented— utilizing great compositions, colour pallets, shading, characterization, mood, etc. That is more valuable. That is much much cooler than working for Riot. imo.

Initially, i also wanted to ask you some questions about how you assembled your portfolio, if you went to school, (if so) what it did/didn't provide for you going into the art field, and just how you landed the job in general. But i respect you and your time, and wouldnt want to be a burden or anything. If you ever have time for it, i would love to ask them, among others, and we can chat in DM if you'd prefer. Absolutely no pressure. Im happy just watching from the sidelines. I dont anticipate anything from you to begin with! I just hope youll know how influential your post was to read & see, to someone like me!

Oh man. I. How. Where do I even start except

This is one of the most uplifting, touching and encouraging messages I received in my life. I read it thrice. And I still can't believe how full of love it is. This is such high praise, I want you to know I will cherish it and carry it with me for a long long time. It's not often that an artist gets to learn how their art is perceived, not to mention in such a positive light. It really means a lot to me.

It makes me so happy to hear that my work illustrations retain a piece of me that is visible to others. I myself can't see it, but I imagine my closeness to the matter at hand heavily impacts my ability to see objectively at all. There was a time where I was worried that work was overriding the me that makes my art mine, that I was becoming a corporate rendering machine and that what I did at work (the shape language and style) was bleeding into my personal art. There is a part of me that is now breathing easier after reading your message. I would love to answer any questions you have, it's the least I can do to repay you! Feel free to send an ask or even an email, I'll try to be as thorough as I can be with my answers. I wish you happy holidays! Take care! And again thank you so much for taking the time to write this message!

[jodeeeart]

Hi Jodee! do you consider to use glaze or nightshade? (what's your opinion about ai "art"?)

Hi Nonny!

Thanks for the ask, sorry I am just getting to it now! To answer your question about Glaze, Nightshade and AI as it pertains to art, I support the poisoning! At the rate this technology is advancing, there needs to be a quick footed defence against the greedy reach of corporations that feel entitled to just help themselves. I am not really looking forward to the glut of mediocre ‘content’ sludge that’s inevitably going to be sold back to us either. It was already getting kind of unbearable in volume before the great churning began.

Ethics and morality aside, from a purely creative standpoint as an artist, it couldn’t appeal to me less. I can see how it might speed up the process and help with idea generation, which makes sense in a commercial environment where everything needs to be delivered yesterday but that’s not why I make art. It’s an expression of self and it’s deeply personal, connected and rooted in me. I love the process; I love learning and the feeling when I see or feel slight improvement.  The sense of accomplishment when I solve a problem. The meditative state it puts me in. Why on earth would anyone sacrifice that part of the process? Reward without effort seems deeply unfulfilling and down right depressing to me not to mention the atrophy of a skill set I have poured so much time into. There is a deep value in learning a skill, it goes way beyond the final piece or the money that can be made from it. Thanks again for the ask <3!

[yuurei20]

Hello! I just wanted to know if Yana Toboso have ever said that there will be a continuation after all books are released? I remember she ever stated that she is thinking of a 4th-year or RSA book, but I might be wrong though.

Hello hello! ^^ Thank you for this question!

This was touched upon in an earlier ask (I am very sorry for the poor organization of this page 💦) but, in short, Yana has never said that there will be a 4th-year or RSA continuation of the story ^^

From what I can tell this rumor seems to be a common misconception from a 2023 Apple Store interview where she says:

Going forward things are going to be on a much larger scale, incorporating not only the vertical and horizontal axes of the story but also expanding upon elements such as a present, past and future. Look forward to Book 7 (currently on chapter 2)!

EN did not have any Book 7 content at the time the interview was released, which is maybe why people started to assume that she must mean RSA or 4th year student stories? But she has never said so ^^ Which makes sense!

Even if those may actually be plans for future plotlines, mobile game development is a very volatile industry: Yana herself has talked about making significant changes to a character even after approvals had already been received and development had begun (re: the creation of Riddle Rosehearts), so promising anything at all for the future of the game would be most unwise from a professional standpoint, running the risk of disappointing players if something unavoidable arose and/or a different direction ultimately ended up being taken.

It would be very strange for the developers to be sharing plans for the direction the game is to take years, months or even just weeks in advance, as one never knows what may happen--so they have not ^^

On the topic of what Yana has actually said about the future, in the Magical Archives Game Guide (2020) she is asked, "What new outfits or styles would you like to add in the future?" and responds:

I would like to add a summer uniform for Night Raven College, and a designated winter coat at some point. The design for the winter coat was completed before the game’s release, but we missed the window to introduce it. Also, I would like to draw casual, personal clothes for all of the characters someday, but that is a huge project.

So maybe summer uniforms, winter coats or personal clothes?

It has been four years since Yana shared that there are existing designs of winter coat uniforms for all the students prepared and completed, and unfortunately no sign of them yet :< But maybe one day!

[votive-candle]

So I've been considering a rebrand on this blog for a long time for "professional" reasons... like changing my username, making an official portfolio with my name to it elsewhere, etc.

This idea has been mostly motivated by this deep insecurity I have surrounding what I would say is either NSFW work, suggestive art, "fangirl" energy, all that. And it's... frustrating, to say the least. And difficult express in a way that's coherent. Because my personal feelings are that art, even art that within the sphere of industry that I want to approach (ie. game art & story design, character writing and so on), should not have to be confined within this box of "sensibilities" that I'm told it should be.

If I was doing fine art like painting, or making installations, or sculpture, I get a sense that this puritanical ideology of self-censorship would not be expected of me. I also get a sense that if I was born male and lived as a man, there would be different industry expectations of me also. If I was a cis dude I don't think a game director would mind if I had a portfolio full to the brim with borderline naked, hypersexualised women and girls with big swords and huge racks (no shade, big boobs and big swords are fun and cool). But -- and again I don't have evidence of this, it's just a hunch -- I somehow get this idea that the way I approach drawing masculine figures? The way I write and express myself through, and speak about characters? The sexually explicit artwork I've drawn over the years, which majoritively does not even show genitalia? I get this gut feeling that this would be much less... palatable (?) in the industry for commercial, media focused art.

I've been drawing sexual content since I was a teen fangirl and I think it's really strange that somehow, as I get older and more mature (and I'm serious here, like really, let that sink in? I was told directly "you're not a kid anymore, potential employers won't like this" in response to shipping art an old tutor saw me post online a few years back?), it's considered in many ways less appropriate for me to produce explicit or sexually themed artwork. Particularly when that art has that air of "fangirl" (or "fan-person" in regards to myself) around it. Because "fangirls" aren't professional, are they? They're vapid, of course. They don't consume art meaningfully, not like strong, stoic men do. No, they just want their shipping and their coffeeshop AU's and their moodboards, and there's nothing creative in that, is there? No "professional practice" there.

I just find that... baffling

I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who is borderline asexual on that spectrum, and always has been. Somehow, professionalism is partly hinged on making your art less exploratory of adult themes, once you become an adult, once you're old enough to understand and properly illustrate the importance of adult themes. Isn't that strange to anyone else? Because to me it feels wrong.

Like I said, I'm borderline asexual. I don't draw sexual content to get my rocks off. I draw it because I find physical intimacy to be one of the most multifascited expressions of humanity between people. Sex and sexuality are so dynamic in their capacity for storytelling. With it (and safely so through fiction, if you're careful about it), you can express and explore so much; passion obviously, love, but also sadness and grief and condolence, malice and rage, heartbreak, self-destruction, self-improvement, excitement, fun, even just friendship.

Sex is beautifully dynamic from a humanistic standpoint. It shouldn't need to be considered this looming force of demonitisation, or an industry blockade. And I understand I have drawings that are too graphic, too NSFW to put in a professional portfolio, to leave online for employers to see. But I'm not even talking about smut here.

Majoritively, I really don't want to distance myself from a lot of this work I've created. It means something to me dude, because these characters and stories mean something to me. Sometimes the drawing itself is just... a technically well executed drawing. I don't want to revoke that because there's an implication of "ooh, someone's touching ass, breast and dick in there!"

Yet by expressing my excitement over that, I do feel cornered. Like I'll never get hired anywhere. Which isn't easy given the struggles I already have with disability, mental health, etc. So I feel a need to sort of give in and retcon a lot of my posts.

I don't like that finding work in the fields I'm interested in kind of hinges on a lack of self-expression, I suppose. I find it bitterly ironic since I want to work in creative fields. It feels like a betrayal of the self and of the purpose of art and good media for grown individuals.

But hey, I guess that's capitalism, baby.

This blog might change a bit in the near or semi-near future. Maybe a new username or profile pic, I'm not sure yet. Maybe a second blog will pop up somewhere. I just wanted to vent a bit on my disdain in having to make these decisions. Beg your pardon.

[misterbenzadrine]

♡ day 7: kenny payne ♡

oh em gee chat one week ! so we're in the final stretch starting with kennyyyy i'm gonna try not to yap too much this time since i went so overboard with devon :,(

so much like devon, kenny has been very special to me since he was introduced.

something that could be said for the whole younger cast is that the writers definitely crammed too many characters into the show halfway through and got stuck with a dozen half-baked characters BUT that doesn't mean they're not still cool, that just means the fandom gets to create personalities for them !

so kenny BEFORE his brainwashing was so cutie, his dr. scribblebottoms cosplay was precious, 100% convinced lia would've loved it if it was really her and not anthony.

one thing i notice a lot with kenny is people comparing him to hawk, and i do think he's a lot like if eli didn't have demetri. hawk gets his villain arc either way but how much would he have been able to take had he not had demetri by his side? how much sooner would he have snapped? that's kind of the answer with kenny.

obviously they aren't perfect parallels, and i personally associate kenny with demetri more, but they work bc this was probably the writers' main intention.

with demetri, eli's kind of content to let him do the talking and at least has someone who he can call a friend. in all the time we saw kenny as a new kid, lia seemed to be the only person that was nice to him (which is meant to parallel daniel obvi but still). and TECHNICALLY, since the writers hate me, demetri and eli were never romantic (i call bullshit but i can pretend to not see chemistry for this purpose) so kenny's only friend is also his crush which makes things all the more complicated in trying to talk to her and spend time with her bc he's nervous ! and flustered ! so he doesn't have that same support system that eli did (what little he had anyway) so it's a lot easier for him to do that 180 instead of the gradual one we saw with hawk. (this is also me rationalizing the speed run of kenny's arc for the sake of getting him in that cobra kai headspace by the end of the season but i digress)

i hope the writers give us more soft kenny moments, like the scenes he had in s6 so far are so cute and i love them. he deserves to be happy, petition for more scenes with shawn, would love for his parents to make one last cameo at the all-valley/sekai taikai

also his relationship with robby is so important to me and i hope we get a moment in this last part where they talk one last time (like i'm hoping for with devon/tory) THE KEENRY KIDS NEED TO HAVE ONE LAST HEART TO HEART WITH THEIR PARENTS

also the fact that he's canonically one of the best fighters (i genuinely think with more time and training, he's going to be the best fighter, even better than the core four) and he wasn't even training that long.

AGAIN LIKE DEMETRI SAID cheap shot notwithstanding, but he's definitely fast and strong. and unlike demetri, he found a way to use his intelligence AND his speed to make him a really strong and incredible fighter that could for sure put up a good fight with any of the main six.

i personally don't love his dark era, it's really good from a character standpoint. like i stated before, he lacks that support system with his dad is serving, shawn is in juvie, his mom (if i remember correctly) is busy with work and obviously under a lot of stress without her oldest son and her husband. and he's the new kid at school that got ruthlessly picked on by anthony and his friends for pretty much no reason other than them being rich little jerks. and he's kind of a wimp, he's goofy, he likes spending his free time on dungeon lord, it made a lot of sense for terry to exploit that and for kenny to turn against robby in s5.

and his relationship with terry in general is so cool like i love that each sensei kind of has a favorite (kreese and silver through more...nefarious intentions) and i love that terry's is kenny bc like i said, the main intention with a lot of these characters is meant to parallel and emulate daniel and johnny. it's always brought back to daniel and johnny, that's like the number one rule of the ck writers room. TERRY exploits KENNY the same way he exploited DANIEL but instead of doing it for revenge on kenny, he does it for revenge on DANIEL. it's so perfect. it's the perfect full-circle moment. and it almost works too. terry, personally, is so truly evil and the fact that he molds kenny (and the other ck kids) into perfect child soldiers while ruining every aspect of daniel's life so he can target daniel and his kids is mind-blowingly wicked. tyring to elevate my hater game to terry silver level fr.

like i hate terry and kreese with a PASSION but lowkey terry did what kreese couldn't, and that deserves to be applauded bc yeah he had those kids not even really questioning things (mainly bc they're background extras) other than tory and devon. and he almost succeeded incredibly but he overlooked one tiny detail, the power of trauma-bonded gay teenagers (samtory, kiaz, and hawkmetri <3) if it weren't for the power of homosexuals the core six, daniel genuinely wouldn't have managed to overcome terry's mind games. johnny, chozen, and mike pushed him, sure, but that final kick at the flagship dojo wouldn't have happened without the kids breaking in and exposing silver. (i have a love-hate relationship with season five for this exact reason like why is it so complicated and evil but so basic? could i have written it better? probably not, but i can still criticize it)

but again personally i love his fighting and his softer moments, i hope we get like an epilogue of kenny and anthony being friends (lowkey ship kenthony too)

also the writers cooked SO HARD giving him the last name payne, they ate with that one little thing !!

!! headcanons !!

bc my fav characters are all the nerds, kenny's gotten a lot of overlap already between demetri, hawk, devon, and anthony; so for more hc, defo go check those lists out !! :3

kenny was obviously really close with his brother growing up; even when shawn made fun of his dorky stuff, he still knew all about it because kenny loved it

kenny doesn't know and never entirely will but a lot (if not all) of his presents when he was little were either bought or informed by shawn, since he knew him the best (robby like kind of knows about this but obviously never tells kenny)

daniel and johnny don't interact much with kenny at first, even after the sekai taikai, but amanda, robby, devon, and hawk keep pushing for him to get more acquainted with the rest of miyagi-do/the senseis and he eventually becomes just as cared for as everyone else

speaking of, amanda has basically adopted him and tory as her pseudo-children. (daniel has sam and robby, johnny has miguel and devon, chozen has hawk, amanda has tory and kenny)

while amanda isn't as big of a presence for kenny as she is for tory (since he still has his parents and his brother), she does frequently check in on him and invite his family to various events (which means so much to kenny's mom) (amanda and kenny's mom being besties, iktr)

he gets a few good months of bonding with hawk before he leaves for college (either he's moving away or he just takes time from the dojo because he's busy) and they both unintentionally help each other work through their complicated relationships with anthony and demetri (the unmentioned understanding of someone being your worst enemy and one of the people you care about most, mhmm)

there is one moment where they're joking around about nerdy stuff and hawk just stops like "dude you're so much like demetri, this is crazy" (meaning they have a lot of the same opinions and ideas on nerd crap) and kenny is personally so offended (hawk and demetri think this is the most hilarious thing ever)

while kenny never really talks to demetri one-on-one (mainly BECAUSE he's embarrassed he was compared to him), the few moments he does get alone with him are spent with demetri unintentionally showing him why mercy and pacifism are a better technique and strategy than force and violence. (these unintentional teachings are due to demetri's constant references to his favorite comics and game characters)

SPEAKING OF DEMETRI, while kenny doesn't seek him out, demetri (likely due to him being neurodivergent) doesn't seem fazed by this and often recommends different comics and games that remind him of kenny (he does this with everyone in the dojo but it makes kenny feel more comfortable in miyagi-do)

robby maintains a normal brotherly type of relationship with kenny and still sometimes talks to shawn (idk as of RIGHT NOW what the writers are gonna have robby do post-grad but whatever he's doing, he's keeping up with the paynes)

honestly, robby is second to shawn who kenny trusts the most. as he gets older, anthony and devon make their way behind robby.

he does develop a good friendship with anthony, hawk, and demetri through their dungeon lord obsession but is a little hesitant for a bit, since he's still a little embarrassed and uncomfortable being that vulnerable and nerdy again. after a while, he notices how dorky demetri is and how anthony and hawk don't judge him for it so he slowly opens up again.

he stays surprisingly close with anthony post-grad (either trauma-bonding, similar interests, or the fact that their moms are friends) and he'd probably even call anthony his best friend once they get to their 20s

gets along with miguel and hawk primarily bc of their music taste (do i mean kendrick lamar? obviously i mean kendrick lamar. but everything else too) (just hc all my favs as kendrick lamar fans bc i can)

PERSONALLY i think he'd win the next all-valley and anthony, like demetri, would be one of the semi-finalists (hawkmetri parallels~)

final thoughts: kenny my beloved, you really should be higher on this list if it weren't for my current obsession with other characters that have more screen time than you. if i'd made this last year, you'd be number three or four bookie. you deserve the world. 10000/10 valid crashout, you have done no wrong (shhh no wrong), and i'm glad you're FINALLY getting the recognition you deserve in miyagi-do, joining the team for one day and immediately propelling them out of elimination, you are the karate king ever. i wish we could get a spin-off of you and see how your skills progress the same way we saw the older kids but alas, this journey has been a long one together and i'm nevertheless proud of where you're signing off 🫡

[creature-wizard]

Quick rundown on my actual positions re: the Law of Assumption & reality shifting right now:

I think the practices associated with the Law of Assumption can provide a very real psychological benefit, and I think many practitioners have successfully used it to overcome problems stemming from anxiety, poor self-image, etc.

I am broadly in favor of people using these practices, insofar as they don't exacerbate other mental issues and insecurities, or create other problems. (Needing other people to feel jealous of you to feel good about yourself is inherently unhealthy. Revision is just lying to yourself or others. Everyone Is You Pushed Out is both dehumanizing and victim-blaming.)

I don't think "reality shifting" actually moves people into parallel universes or whatever. I think the manifestation type version works the same way I think the Law of Assumption works. I think the "travel to my favorite fictional world and meet my blorbos" version essentially works by inducing a kind of deep, intense dream state.

I also think confirmation bias leads people to interpret random coincidences and things that probably would've happened anyway as cases of successful manifestation.

I think many cases of successful manifestation can also be explained by the frequency illusion in action. I think they technically count as successes from a psychological standpoint, since it would mean practitioners have successfully trained their brains to hone in on things they want.

I genuinely don't care if you believe that a metaphysical element might be involved. That's fine with me. I draw the line at telling people that they can absolutely, 100% manifest anything at all if they just Do It Right, and at telling people that they are 100% responsible for literally everything that happens to them. There is no context in which claims like these do not lead to psychological and physical harm.

Maybe there are individual cases where Law of Assumption practitioners experienced an extraordinary healing of some kind. I have my own reasons to think that in some rare instances, these things actually do happen. But I also know that there is no reason to think that LOA practices were specifically responsible for it, and I also know that statistically speaking, faith healing kills.

I think a lot of people in this community are lying, because that's just human nature/the nature of the Internet. There's always people who lie.

I also can't rule out psychosis for some people, either.

I have learned from researching and studying scams, cults, and hoaxes that when someone refuses to provide solid evidence to back up their extraordinary claims, it's because they're lying, and that those who play the victim or vilify people when asked for solid evidence want to take advantage of others in some way.

I have also learned that all scammers, cultists/cult leaders, and hoaxters will try to make you think they're the Very Special Exception to this rule. They are not. They never are.

I think the practice of Living In The End is a potential incentive to make false claims. If you're living as if it's already fulfilled, it would only make sense to write a "success story," right?

People who claim they changed the color of their eyes might also not be aware that your eye color can look different under different lighting.

Use the void state or don't, I don't care. I don't think it's harmful. I think it might be beneficial for some. I just don't think it's going to enable you manifest new parents overnight or resurrect the dead or whatever. Again, I think the LOA's benefits are primarily psychological.

I think Neville Goddard was a liar. His ideas didn't come from Kabbalah, they came from Phineas Quimby. They don't derive from Jewish mysticism; they're a close relative of Prosperity Gospel.

I think "Edward Art" is yet another content farm channel.

Spiritual abuse dolled up as self-empowerment is still spiritual abuse. "But we're helping people!" Cool motive, still abuse.

If you're more upset by people calling out the toxic bullshit going on in the Law of Assumption community than you are by the toxic bullshit going on in the Law of Assumption community, you need to fix your heart.

For anyone reading this: If you are leaving or questioning the Law of Assumption and need help, please see this post.

[chevelleneech]

Chan and Felix’s dynamic is going to get sooooo interesting once the other members enlist. Because SKZ don’t have the “luxury” of enlisting one at a time really, since of the six who have to go: three are born in the same year, and it wouldn’t make sense for Minho and Changbin to go separately since they’re only a year apart, nor for I.N to all go last since he’s only a year younger than the three who have to go all at once. So it doesn’t make sense to stagger their enlistments starting either next year or 2026, all the way through to 2029. It makes the most sense for them to go by the end of 2025 if I’m being honest, because 1) BTS returns next year and that’s be there biggest competition.

They’re doing very very well and I don’t think that will change, but from a business standpoint, I’d want to give the most anticipated group comeback breathing room. I wouldn’t want to put my current moneymakers in the ring, so that I can also watch and see where their competition sinks or soars in terms of their big return. That way, when it’s time for me to bring my group back, I’ll know what key points to hit or sidestep. It will also help that Chan and Felix do not have to enlist, so encouraging the others to go sooner than later means using their current hype and whatever more they gain in 2025, to propel Chanlix into the western market. I’d try to get them more brand deals, collabs, film/tv roles, etc.

Then 2) it’ll get the enlistment out the way before anyone in the group hits 30. They’re a fairly young group, and while Chan will be turning 30 the year they come back, the others will be 29-26. So they’ll mean they get to do a 30th birthday bash AND a welcome back, which is also really goo business.

Anyway, I got lost in my original point, lol. I think it’s going to be super interesting to see how Chan and Felix react regardless of when the others enlist, because I can’t imagine they’d go radio silent. They can’t, if they want to keep SKZ at the top of conversations, the same way BTS filmed a shitload of advance content and pre-recorded albums to be released while away. SKZ can and likely will do that too, they have a much better opportunity to promote in person, but they won’t be able to actually perform 8-piece songs. So I’m curious if we’ll get them doing a subunit album, and if so… what will that look like? Because their chemistry is actually insane, and they’ll have to figure out a way to Chanlix it up. Which is kind of impossible for them, lol.

So yeah, I’m truly very intrigued. Because the two of them really don’t know how to act normal about each other. And I’m not saying they are without a doubt dating, because they really do confound me on a daily basis, but I do genuinely think there is a vibe between them that they’re both well aware of, as is everyone else. The only way to avoid their vibe becoming significantly more obvious is by staggering enlistments or completely removing them from each others orbit during a full six enlistment, but I don’t see how either option benefits the group.

Pulling Chan and Felix apart for 18 months minimum would be ridiculous, because fate literally put them together, lol. Their home, work, and family lives overlap in both Seoul and Sydney, so what would be the excuse? For a year and a half, anyway? Six months? Sure, they’ve busy doing separate things in separate countries and their schedules overlapped whenever they were in the same country. Anything longer than that would be a serious reach, because we know for a fact how close they are. They’ve said not. Other members have said, so even if you narrow the group number down to three or four others they have to “share” each other with, it will still drastically change their dynamic.

I don’t know. I’m talking a lot here about a hypothetical scenario at the moment, but I think it’s I because I’m thinking of how Jimin and Jungkook’s enlistment went. They applied for and were chosen for the buddy system, but they also filmed a travel series to spend time together before leaving, and it showed a side of them that surprised me. Yes, I ship them and think they have something going on, but they were so comfortable with each other. So I guess I’m scared almost, if I’m being honest. Because again, I didn’t anticipate any of what was seen in Are You Sure? (Aside from their trip to Jeju), and walked away from it being like, “Damn. They really are comfortable-comfortable with each other.” Completely at peace just existing around one another, and I feel like that’s what we’ll see from Chan and Felix.

Because we see a lot of that ease and peace on Chan’s face in particular when he’s talking about Felix or simply looking at him exist. It’s almost overwhelming already the way you can feel his love and admiration, same from Felix. He’s more of a verbal guy than a stop and stare, but still. They have six other members to use to deflect such a blinding light, that I am intrigued, scared, and nervous about how their dynamic will come across when it’s just them. Traveling, working, or talking about each other without a buffer.

[colts-confused-ramblings]

Papa V Theories (RHRN Spoilers ahead)

So "soon" was tomorrow. Oops! Like many others, Ghost has consumed my brain for the past few months. I've seen a lot of good posts on here about Papa V theories and wanted to throw my hat in the ring! I tried to get my credits right, but they're based on where I saw them first, so if I get anything wrong please let me know!

What Do We Actually Know About Papa V?

Disregarding all theories, and only going off of what has been officially said/shown, this is what we know about Papa V and the upcoming tour. This is probably common information but everyone should be on the same page.

Papa V's last name is Perpetua, this was revealed in the digital "v-cards" given out on Valentine's Day. (This card also revealed a possible lyric or song title.)

Part of the valentine's day gift included a playlist of "unholy hymns" on Spotify. Reddit user RedMasqueMedia pointed out that the first word of the song titles spelled out "SATANIZED." Another possible track, album name, or even the name of the tour (with the narrator making an "ss" sound before it's redacted in Chapter 18.)

What We Might Know About Papa Perpetua?

This is for things that haven't been directly stated but are implied.

The tour poster is inspired by the Cape Fear movie poster. (Credits for this observation go to u/mummyyydust on Reddit)

Papa Perpetua seems pretty short, but it could also be the camera's height or angle.

Stuff That's Not About Papa V but is Probably Important to Know

Perpetua is a Christian Martyr, and the patron saint of mothers, expecting mothers, Ranchers, and Butchers within the Catholic Church.

Resurrection Theories.

To keep things simple, I want to tackle this in sections. In this section, I'm going to discuss the theories that the "new papa" is actually a resurrected old papa. If I miss any evidence, please let me know!

Papa II is Papa V

I have to admit, this is one I really like. Largely because when they announced the tour my immediate thought was Secondo. My first piece of evidence is that the mask revealed in the band's tour poster looks like Secondo's. You could make the same argument for the other dead papas, but what I think sets this apart is the nose.

The paint on Terzo's nose is almost straight while Secondo's reaches out, like the mask seems to do. Of course, all of this is under the assumption that Tobias Fordge doesn't try out a half-mask (another theory I'll talk about later.)

For my second(o) point, I want to go back to the Tour poster. On the r/ghostbc subreddit, the user mummyyydust pointed out that the tour poster took inspiration from Cape Fear. From the summaries I've read online, Cape Fear has an overarching theme of revenge. This is another argument that could be made for many papas, but for Secondo I think we get our reason for revenge in the "Papaganda" videos posted on Noisey's YouTube account. In it, a nameless ghoul and others describe Secondo as a bitter, wounded, old man who feels like he was dealt a bad hand but is too old to care. I imagine these negative comments and his general disinterest in being Papa (outside of the carnal and musical benefits) would cause resentment. For my smaller points, "Satanized" sounds a lot like "Satan's Eyes" which is from "Into the Depths of Satan's Eyes." And even the tour's new, chrome look matches up with Secondo's Papa robes.

However, this theory falls apart when you consider that Secondo doesn't care that much about his Papacy. In the Papaganda series he states that he's content "making the bed for the new guy." Not to say that Secondo didn't enjoy the music and benefits that came with being Papa, but I can't see Secondo bringing himself to care enough to be Papa again if he was resurrected. Much less taking revenge on the ministry. I also don't see it making sense from a non-lore standpoint. Secondo has fans, yes, but he wasn't as beloved as Terzo and never got any awards or nominations for his music.

Terzo is Papa V

Another very popular one. I don't personally think this theory has much ground, but I want to give it a fair shot since it makes some good points.

I mentioned in my Secondo Theory that Terzo's paint was straight on the nose and that's why he can't be Papa Perpetua. While that is right, there is another variation of the Terzo mask that doesn't have this paint.

In Terzo's first two shows, Terzo has this paint, which is much more akin to Secondo's. As well as Papa Perpetua's. According to Ghostpedia, the reason is that Tobias was sent the wrong mask and had to use that one. But I couldn't find a source that is still available. (It is important to note that this mask is not Secondo's. The cheek and eye paint are different. I'm only putting this because I got confused upon seeing it and thought others might have too.)

Another piece of evidence I see a lot is people pointing out the scratches on Terzo's glass coffin, and the fact that he is put in a different position than all the others. I think that the scratches are from traveling. These coffins have been moving a lot so it's only natural that something would happen. It's also unlikely that Terzo would survive traveling in the coffins and travel cases we see near the end of chapter 3. However, Terzo's coffin is the only one with scratches on it. And if intentional, having scratches on the coffin with the only brother to have clawed gloves is damning evidence. Plus, resurrection has been proven possible in the live shows with Papa Nihil.

Resurrecting Terzo also makes a lot of sense. He's not only a beloved Papa among fans but also the one credited with launching Ghost into popularity with Grammy wins. Assuming Cape Town's theme of revenge, Terzo has more than enough reasons to resent the ministry, and more importantly, Sister for forcing him to retire and picking a replacement he may have thought was unworthy. Out of spite, he may have picked a new name, one that made fun of Sister Imperator. However, if Sister had a say in choosing the next Papa, this is unlikely.

Honorable Mentions (Primo Is Papa V)

I wanted to put the possibility of Primo on here so no brothers were excluded. Tobias has stated that he gets nostalgic for performing before phones (which would've been pre-ghost, Primo era, and maybe the Secondo era), and as we have seen there will be no phones allowed on the new tour, so this could be a show that shows new fans what it was like in the beginning. "Satanized" would fit his music and the chrome could be a callback to the rhinestones on his Papa hat, I don't see this happening. Largely because there isn't much footage of him, meaning it's hard for newer fans like myself to get attached to him.

I have also seen some suggesting Mary Goore could be the new papa. This would be cool, and implied from Cape Town having themes about your past coming back. But I'm sure it wouldn't go over well with the other band members.

There's a New Guy(?) in Town.

This section will cover contenders for Papa outside of the Emeritus Brothers.

Papa V is a woman

I really, really want this to be canon. I think a female Papa would be super cool and could imply Mr. Ghost performing in drag. After doing some digging for this blog, I don't think this is true, but I want to put it here nonetheless. Also, this can work separately or with the twin theory.

For starters, Perpetua is a very feminine name, more so than Copia (which is a feminine noun in Latin). And with Perpetua being the patron saint of mothers and a woman herself, it would make sense for a Papa based on her to be a woman as well.

This theory falls apart with the only character who we can infer knows who Papa V is, Sister Imperator. If we assume the new papa was chosen before the Re-Imperatour, or just before Copia's last show, Sister would've been alive and as the head of the ministry, she would have picked the next Papa. But how does this stop Papa V from being a woman? Well, in the post-credits scene for Rite Here Rite Now sister says "Here he comes." This implies that the new Papa is male. After her death sister was no longer in charge of the ministry, which means that if the ministry so pleased they could have pulled a switch-a-roo at the last minute and have a different Papa. But seeing as she radios Mr. Salterian and he answers her, I don't think they would have done that.

Twin Theory

After watching Rite Here Rite Now, I have to say this theory is my pick. Largely because I feel like it has the most ground to stand on.

In Rite Here Rite Now, after Copia sees sister from the hot air balloon, we get images of sister and Nihil, a pregnant woman, a woman giving birth, then two babies, and two children. One frame that caught my eye was the statue of Romulus and Remus, which possibly implies that Copia's twin will kill Copia, or vice versa. Of course, this scene doesn't happen, as Copia wakes up right after, so it's free to any Retconning or excused from canon. But I think it would not only be disappointing to fans, but it makes no sense to put it in if doesn't mean anything. Unless it was setting up for a papa further down the line, but if so, why show us this now? The last name Perpetua could also be honoring the twin's mother, Sister Imperator.

I think the fact Copia sees flashes of twins when he's knocked out tells us that this is a repressed memory. Either because the ministry wanted it repressed or because Copia's brain didn't think it was important. But the song "Hunter's Moon" has a lot of lyrics that could be foreshadowing if this was the case. Specifically the lyrics "Though my memories have faded, they come back to haunt me once again," and "Under a headstone, sister. I'm dying to see you, my friend." I think the first lyric could be talking about how Copia has been getting these memories in bursts and the second lyric could reference how they could be meeting because of sister's death. It could also be supporting one of the resurrection theories since it specifically says "Under a headstone." This has a lot of holes though, especially since if that line was referencing Copia's repressed memories rising, we would've seen it in the late chapters as well.

Is Papa V going to be the last Papa?

This question comes from the fact that Perpetua also means "everlasting." But I don't think this is going to be our last Papa. One of the many appeals of Ghost is its storytelling, the evolution of the music and papas. Also, Tobias Fordge loves to push the limits, whether it's what classifies as metal or what he can do in concerts, Mr. Ghost pushes it to the limit. So I doubt he would be so willing to retire this idea of an evolving band to just one Papa.