Hey everyone.

It's hard to believe that 20 years ago on Thanksgiving weekend, something happened that changed my life. Normally my family and I would be getting the Christmas decorations down, but at that point in the year 2000, they were already down at the beginning of the month (a rare break from family tradition). So with school out that weekend, I had nothing to do, and I couldn't think of anything to shake that feeling of boredom loose... not even turning the PlayStation or N64 on.

So I did what I thought was the most random thing possible. Do a Yahoo search for giantess. I gasp. Websites dedicated entirely to giant women (in particular the old Giantess Zone website)? Brought a smile to my face, but I literally jumped off my chair and almost fainted when I saw one of the results: Video Game Giantesses, aka a Yahoo Club dedicated to women from video games as giantesses. Going back to my childhood I had a secret fantasy of digital gals like Princess Zelda and Chun-Li growing to massive sizes and doing as they pleased, and to find out other people shared that passion made me think I had died and gone to heaven, a feeling I'm sure you all had when you discovered A&C and VGGTS Worlds.

When the club threatened to shutdown due to inactivity sometime in January 2001, I rushed to the rescue by writing the first Mile-High Dream story. Everyone liked it and it got the club buzzing again. Eventually I took charge with the creation of VGGTS2 after Yahoo began transitioning from Clubs to Groups, but VGGTS1 it appeared wasn't going to make the move (it did two months afterwards, but it was too late by then). Then came the VGGTS World website, and three years later, Anime GTS World (later expanding to Anime & Cartoon GTS World), and the rest is history.

I can only shake my head in amazement that both websites have survived this many years. They've survived webhost changes (first Geocities, then Freehomepages, then TA-Host, to a virtual server in Germany today; the owner of which never demanded a penny from me, which I will be eternally thankful for). They've survived my busy college studies. They've survived divorcing parents. They've survived me having a mini heart attack back in 2010. They've survived many real life jobs I've had since 2007. By all accounts these sites should've died years ago, especially with the rise of many alternative sites to share giantess related stuff, including social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. It's been cool to see many more people like me feel much more comfortable sharing their love for something that unfortunately many people still see as a problematic kink worthy of psychological evaluation (but that's a debate for another day).

But on September 17th, 2020, something happened that served as the ultimate wakeup call. I tested positive for COVID-19. I had hoped I'd be like the majority of the virus's victims and that it would come and go and I'd be on my way, but it only took a few days for my health to rapidly deteriorate. Every time I would think I'm turning the corner, the virus would find a new flaw in my body to amplify, namely in my heart and lungs. I've always had a problem with hypertension (it runs in the family), and this virus did its very best to kill me with it, causing everything from blood clots in my lungs to increasing my heartbeat to dangerous levels. I won't lie... I cried almost every night thinking I was going to die. I begged to wake up alive the next day. To see my friends who hoped and prayed for my recovery. To see my Mom and Molly. To see my sister.

While I am alive and I have since tested negative for the virus, doctors have repeatedly warned of lingering aftereffects from it, such as dry cough and fatigue. Make no mistake, while I have been steadily returning to normal with each passing day, this virus has permanently altered the way I live. It's given me a whole new perspective on living, and it is therefore with mixed feelings, much of them sad, that I must announce that, due to my compromised health, I cannot continue updating A&C GTS and VGGTS Worlds. This mega update will be the final one. I simply do not have the strength or will anymore to keep up with the weekly grind.

I am NOT leaving the giantess community altogether. I plan on still being active on DeviantArt, Twitter, and other places, and contributing anyway I can. I've built too many valuable friendships to just pack everything and disappear. It just won't be with two websites being updated every week. But you know what? Despite shedding a few tears as I typed this, I'm at peace with that. I'm going out on my own terms, something not many in the giantess community have had the opportunity to do. I feel like I accomplished my mission years ago. Create websites to bring much needed attention to video game and anime & cartoon giantesses... and most importantly give a platform for fans of those subjects to congreate around until many others came around like DeviantArt, Pixiv, Twitter, and many others to make people feel more comfortable talking about giantesses as a whole.

As I close out this message, I realize this is like a dagger to the heart that is going to cripple a part of the giantess community, if not a part of your own internet life. But in the end... all good things must come to an end. It's never ever easy to accept, but it's a part of life. I won't say goodbye or till we meet again or something else overused in these kinds of messages. Just... thank you. Thank you to the thousands that made the last 20 years of my life the best they will ever be. I know some of you will turn around and thank me for all I've given you these past two decades, but believe me, without you, none of this would ever happen.

Be kind to each other,
Cubed Cinder

P.S.: The sites will remain open as archives for the forseeable future. Still, I wouldn't wait. Download any images you want to keep to your device before they potentially disappear forever (especially older images).

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