#idk the ship name between their protos

[piratesexmachine420]

Been playing around with the "smudge" tool in GIMP, trying to improve this magazine cover I made a while back w/ Inkscape.

Obviously, it's a riff on Time magazine. I liked the idea of a publication of record with a "handprint" motif, since some of the oldest records of human civilization we have are handprint cave paintings, and there's kind of a poetic symmetry in the idea that the first and last records of our existence on Earth might be sort of the same.

The specifics are all part of one of my ongoing worldbuilding projects that I've been kicking around for a long time--some small bits I've posted before. The lore is in constant flux, but the gist is this:

On December 5th, 2012 an alien spacecraft crashes into Inner Mongolia at an appreciable speed of light. The collision is so violent it knocks the Earth partially off its axis and destroys most of East Asia. In addition, the collision produces some kind of global EMP that sets a lot of the world's electrical infrastructure on fire.

Everyone panics, things are very bad.

It's discovered that something the spacecraft did shortly before impact has eaten a hole into the Earth's magnetic field.

Two years later, another, similar spacecraft is detected. The United States manages to damage it with nuclear weapons before it crashes into the North Pole. There's no EMP pulse, 'cause of the damage inflicted, but the North Pole is melted and Earth's axis is further disrupted.

A lot of international politicking occurs. The UN forms an international military alliance (UNIMETS) to protect against further a potential Third Contact and any further Contacts. The United States and some other nations leave the UN and sort of mangle NATO into a second, competing international military alliance (GDTO).

A third spacecraft does indeed appear in early 2021, and the GDTO and UNIMETS are unable to coordinate sufficiently to destroy or damage it. It crashes into Fennoscandia, and the EMP from First Contact repeats itself. Much of Europe is destroyed.

UNIMETS and the GDTO merge into a single world military government for the purpose of planetary protection. This alliance is named SEGh, for the proto-indo-european word meaning "to hold" or "to overpower".

More spacecraft continue to appear, with a period of roughly five or so years. Not all of them target Earth--Fourth contact hits Mars, for example--and the world's nuclear weapons stocks are quickly depleted. North America is destroyed, SEGh headquarters retreat to Antarctica (now free of ice and much warmer, as the Earth tumbles in all three axes). The Bureau for Experimental Warfare (BXW)--SEGh's primary weapons R&D team, operating under the Department for Preservation of Life (DPoL)-- develop an interesting new technology allowing them to alter the relative rate of time within a small radius.

It is determined that very, very few people can withstand extremely high or low relative rates of time. Something about souls? IDK, I haven't worked it out yet. DPoL officials decide to kidnap conscript the three potential candidates they identify.

The rate of time altering technology (now called Time Optimizers) are put to use building special space combat suits (Strategic Time-Optimizing Powered Suits, also STOP Suits or occasionally STOPSes), and our three heroes are put to work trying to destroy the alien ships. Much drama, much tragedy. If this sounds a lot like I'm just ripping off Evangelion...yeah. Pretty much.

Eventually the last (Thirteenth) Contact is prevented, and then a lot of the lore starts to be very in-flux. There's a civil war between DPoL plus some other government organizations against the rest of SEGh when they refuse to stand down. Our heroes are made to pick a side. Eventually, the "rest of SEGh" side win, and our favorite global military dictatorship immediately dissolves itself in 2062.

Things are bad for a while. None of the newly-independent SEGh member states were prepared for autonomy or sovereignty, and things are even more bad for a couple of years. Lots of infrastructure failure.

Subsequently, the now-independent SEGh member states form a council to create a new--hopefully benevolent this time--world government. (Worth noting that the global population is way, way smaller now. Less than a billion. And a lot of land area is uninhabitable, either because it's just gone or because there's no magnetic field there anymore.) This is the first Working Group on Government.

More murky lore stuff I haven't decided yet. WGoG reforms once or twice, a space program begins (using an offshoot of Time Optimizers than alter distances instead of durations; these are called Space Optimizers) under the auspices of the Space Tele-Transport Board (STTB), Proxima Centauri b is terraformed, and most of humanity leaves Earth for it. Our heroes do... something.

The colony on the surface of Proxima Centauri b is named "Monument to the Living" and the orbiting space station supporting it is named "Monument to the Dead", thus the above magazine title.

Then it gets even murkier. I think I might have some kind of space war between the aerospace companies and the Space Board? 'Cause only the STTB is allowed to operate spacecraft with Space Optimizers and they want to start their own private colonization efforts? IDK. Our heroes are involved somewhere. Maybe they'll still have their STOP suits, maybe not. IDK.

[kiisaes]

i ❤️ you!!!

[dickytwister]

HEY do you maybe have like an oc page or could you tell me something about all your ocs because i'm Interested and you have my full attention :eyes:

AHSJDKGLHL that's so sweet i'm nfjghl???? i don't have an oc page bc i'm the embodiment of an old man being given an iphone after 50 years of using a rotary phone but !!! i can yell abt them a bit aaa thank you for asking abt them 🥺🥺💚

i put everything under the cut bc dear god i have a lot to say abt my kids and i'm not gonna make everyone scroll through that HHHHHH haw 🤠🤠

elliot fletcher

- he's my deputy in fc5!! he's from waverly in iowa and he's just...very tired nfjfkhl give my poor man a break

- everytime his radio crackles he ages 10 years and if it's john talking add another 10 years

- he keeps the three heralds alive but he doesn't care abt joseph <3

- gets in trouble bc he's impulsive af nfjghl when jacob is close to the cage?? ram his face in the bars. when john leans like rlly close in the confession scene?? headbutt 😌🙏🏼

- the only people who know abt his past are earl, grace, faith and john, the rest just kinda speculate and elliot lets them believe what they want bc not only does he rlly not want ppl to know the actual truth, it's also very funny to listen to the stuff they can come up with

- speaking of faith he often seeks her for advice and sometimes they get high together and he gets teary eyed bc she's just... very nice to him and when all you see everyday is violence it's overwhelming to be shown a little bit of kindness 🥲🙏🏼

- he's in love with john but also he'd kick him across the county if he could but also he'd give his life for him

- after the bombs and all he unlocks his final form and becomes A Husband™, complete with a beard, a scarf and bad jokes that make john want to officially marry him so he can divorce his ass

- fun fact i came up with the name elliot fletcher bc i thought it sounded neat but recently i found out there's a trans actor called elliot fletcher too??? like what were the odds ngl that's so cool

carter quill

- this is my character in the marvel dnd game my brother is dming!!

- his parents are peter quill and kitty pryde and he inherited his mom's powers (so he can become immaterial and stuff uwu) and his dad's tiny pebble brain~

- he grew up on a ship with the guardians so his family is just... a bunch of uncles, one of which is a tree

- he's part of an initiative called the peacekeepers with isaaq cage (luke cage's and jessica jones' son), finneas "zorn" reeves (brock rumlow's and sinthea shmidt's son), lu "highway star" khan (the mandarin's son), alexis "hex" pythagoras (doctor strange's protégé) and ev-lin (ronan the destroyer's daughter who also happens to be carter's bully when they were 11 HHHHHH)

- everyone agrees that carter is just... a puppy. a little labrador. so overexcited. head empty. he doesn't know what's going on but he's having fun with his friends and that's what matters <3

- he died once and went to hell for like 66 years bc he held a bomb while it was exploding but he got better and he doesn't remember most of his time in hell but also he's a lil traumatised

- he wears cute skirts sometimes and also froggie themed clothes 🥰🥰 he's terrible at applying nail polish and it ends up smudged most of the time bc he can't sit still for more than two minutes without going insane but he still likes it

- he has a pet bird called ink!! he thought it was a nice name bc his last name is quill so u know,,, ink,,, quill,,,, he inherited his dad's terrible humor also

- he's fruity and has a big fat crush on one of his teammates 😳😳👉🏼👈🏼

- he strictly refuses to kill, so he uses stunt energy guns and a three section staff to fight!! he accidentally killed someone once and threw up

- he knows asl and is fluent in it!! he's also very bad at reading measurements when cooking (and reading in general) so he relies on their proto-ai, dadji, to help him cook and he listens to audiobooks a lot!!

- idk what else to say abt him except like two games ago he was in the hospital bc lu got hurt and he wanted to get him muffins from a coffee shop across the streets but he panicked when faced with the selection so he bought one of each and came back to the hospital room with like,,,, twenty muffins

- i found this pic of his face claim and it honestly just radiates his vibe so here have it

thorgran galvish

- he's my dwarf enchanter from another homebrew dnd game!! in this universe (and maybe others idk shit abt actual dnd HHHH forgive me) enchanter dwarves are lowkey enslaved bc of their rare link with magic

- thorgran blew up a wall and ran away to the surface so now he's a fugitive and he's constantly on the run uwu trust issues ensue

- he loves the sky so much?? especially at night?? he knows abt constellations, but he thinks they're just whatever you see in the stars and doesn't know there are like,,, actual constellations so he sits on the roof of a tall building sometimes and finds his own constellations

- he also tries to draw them but he rlly sucks at it aslkdsgl that doesn't stop him from filling his journal with little stars and drawings!!

- during my very first game with him he found his rival, who turned out to be a 16 years old teenager?? millennial/gen z rivalry

- agh i don't have much abt him yet bc i've only just started to play him but he's my beefiest boy and also a dilf 🥰🥰

theadric "elder" montajay

- yet another character from the same universe as thorgran, but this time it's a funky little halfling bard

- his instrument is the violin!! he tried every other instrument and his mom was very supportive despite how bad he was at all of them. his community was raided and his father died, so he inherited his violin and that turned out to be the only instrument he could play

- took his love of the economy to the next level when he decided to fuck every gang leader he could find to control their operations and ruin their organizations so the money they hoarded could be put back in circulation

- accidentally fell in love with a half-orc gang leader and was abt to tell him the truth abt what he was doing but was exposed by the first person he'd cheated so he had to run without explaining himself to his lover smh ://

- "i don't wanna fall in the slutty bard cliché," i say before immediately giving elder the tightest leather pants and opening his shirt to show his majestic chest hair.

- surprisingly good with kids?? anyone younger than him who looks sad becomes His Child and he turns into a lil mama, tasting the food of an inn first to assure it's not poisoned, giving hugs, soft shit like that ngl he's just a mom 😔😔

- we abandoned the game he was in but we left off when he'd just escaped a dwarven prison with his new child and others owo anyway slutty bard with chest hair?? that's just the witcher's jaskier

scylla

- my gay pirate lady!! i don't have much abt her either bc AAA BRAINROT but !!! i still love her very much

- she's a hybrid between a human and a psaarinch (fish folks in our homebrew universe uwu) and she looks very human except she has like shark abilities?? she can smell blood, taste with her skin, breathe underwater for like two hours or smth, sharper teeth,,

- she started off as a privateer but like what was the kingdom gonna do?? track her down to make sure everything she did was legal?? nah man she got that sweet fleet and became a pirate

- she beats men up in inns and gives their wives a good time <3

- she's very close to her crew and they're kinda just a big family

- she fights with those s-shaped staffs?? but they're actually blades ngfhl she's very agile and looks like she's dancing when she's actually fighting

- fun fact she's my second shark oc the first one was called maito and she was a yellow lantern in a dc game we did (the main difference between them is that maito loved men while scylla is very much a lesbian 😌🙏🏼)

i have like so many more of them but that's already such a long post and i don't wanna do too much NGL if u wanna know more hmu i'll yell some more 😎😎🙏🏼🙏🏼

[vyrerus]

5.2 Story Impressions

Spoilers ahead for 5.2 MSQ and Ruby Weapon sidequest.

Well, a new ultima weapon huh? How’d they pull that one with the heart thingie from the first one? I guess maybe with Proto-Ultima parts and such from Azys Lla? Like that capital ship is still there stranded, but I’m sure they sent some dropships back to the homeland, maybe?

Ah yes, I’m the only one who can stop it, despite knowing quite intimately that Estinien was capable of destroying its prototype single handedly. I bet if they’d get him to team up with Gaius and Raubahn, and idk, fucking pull Merlwyb and Mistbeard out of retirement... bring Kann-e-padjali lady and her brethren as healers. Yeah, you can get it down. It’s not like it can temper people. You don’t even gotta wrangle the new primal task force, hot highlander knight and Fordola or anything. Jeez!

Ok fine, I’ll fight the FF7 reference... AFTER I GO CHECK ON THE MSQ!

Ok, they’ve got the right rock now, they’re certain. The shape kinda reminds me of a Soulstone from Diablo 2. It’d be much more realistic to assume video games from the past influence video games of the future, but I like to think this is another shared cross-culture humanity tale, like The Flood. Soul stones man. 

Hmm, Alisae is all, “I hope you don’t have to make a choice between fighting the ultimate weapon and helping out here.” Hmm, either it’s a one off plot joke or foreshadowing for whenever we get to fight Emerald Weapon. I’ll go with the latter. 

Everybody mad that crystalline catboi ain’t been sleeping... but do ya think they’re also making him bathe? Does he even sweat and get stinky anymore, being half golem? 

I wonder what the response was for, “Why not Alphinaud?” Hmm, maybe Mattoid can tell me.

Chap with an axe beat ya to it, huh? *flashback to Heavensward* Yeah, we in for some bullshit. I just hope this set of bullshit doesn’t involve Alisae getting shot with a poisoned arrow.

I kinda wish the WoL had called out the Ardbert puppet body for what it was, right then and there. If Elidibus couldn’t beat us in Zenos’s body, then he sure as hell can’t beat us with an i80 weapon. I know the masses are dumb, but c’mon, we’re the savior, and they all know that the bodies of the old First WoLs were stolen and Sin Eater’d, explain and relate it to that. Just drive the puss from the wound now. Oh jeez, of course we’re not going to do what we should do... it wasn’t in the script.

Huh, does the purple bun insinuate that the pink haired bun is dildoing herself with her staff and imagining that it’s the WoL >__> now I feel bad for not paying super hard attention to these Buns when I did the MSQ. I blame Emet Selch for stealing the show from every zone! Except like, Lakeland.

Hmm riddle of the Sphinx? But that’s not a Sphinx.. it’s a wolf, owl, snake thing...

Hmm was this ancient Bunny lady with the echo a WoL of the past or were they a person strong in the Echo raised to the station of an Ascian? Like did they help to create the Ronkan civilization? I have many questions!

Aww, Runar is sad... but also hey, this moment has a lotta meme potential if you’re perverted and shipping your WoL with Yshtola.

I thought you were supposed to be good at this... actually I never thought you were good at this. Like, the first time we met you said you didn’t mean any harm, but you lead me on a chase and attacked me with swarms of gargoyles ya white robed wimp! Get out of that body and fight me like a SORCERER OF ELD!

Ryne thinks the Tempest is otherworldly hehe. Cute kid. :) 

Wheat is sharp? How I be feeling it through my full metal gauntlet? :O Holy shit what are the people’s stomachs like on The First?!

Uriangesus! Uh oh, his soul be straining... Thancred’s too. Oiiiii veiiiiiii

Awww, sad lonely immortal whale :( I wanna give him a hug.

I just got told to go quietly... but I don’t care enough about Ryne or think she’s cute enough to actually sway me... oh well, fishing trip with the other old men.

Aww man, another remix for Sastasha.

My friend said I should do this dungeon with Trusts, but I still don’t want to use Trusts.

Sea mobs and other shenanigans. Seems like a pretty cool place. Huh, the Sahagin are turning crystals into animals... seems like we’ve found the mother load. Should be able to get that rock to work right now!

Sahagin Queen is Thicc. I said this. I got no comms because of saying this. Q.Q

Hmm, so according to these holograms they had to do what they made the beastmen tribes do for the first rendition of Extreme primals back in the 2.1+ days. Does that mean these fellows who designed Hydaelyn designed her to specifically rip out Zodiark’s heart, as to not kill the original Elidibus( you know the whole, her attack enervate the target, sundering it rather than destroying it that Emet Selch was on about)? Hmm.... is the WoL the original Elidibus or Venat? Will Yshtola ever get his thing working, or does it only respond to the WoL?

Hmm ok, so we’re not technically tempered? but what is the blessing of light exactly then? And how does Elidibus expect these WoL Juniors to ever even want to kill us? Hmmmm, I don’t think they really thought this plot thread through.

Another silently nodding joke. Teehee.

Man, it may be because I’ve been awake for 26 hours due to work, and a meeting at 12, but it really feels like the game is telling me to take a break too! I guess RL me fits right in with all these busy body heroes after all!

I feel like it should be Cyella that shows up, but I understand they had to make it any of the NPCs because of the playerbase nature to only do one job/role and not do any of the sidequest. At least they let us pick!

Zenos having a dream while robed dude with Asaheeeee or whatever that little bimbo’s name was that was Yotsuyu’s half brother’s voice muses about what that means. Mutters stuff about Emet-selch. There were a lot of Emet-selch name drops this patch.

Ok, time to finally kill Ruby Weapon.

Oh, that was easier than expected, but I still got killed by the quicksand. Whoops. 

Also holy shit, did the pilot go crunchy crunchy for that to happen?! I mean I love callbacks to Nael, but holy shit... will I still find out who the pilot was?

Aww, Au Ra orphans. Raens at that. Huh. Daddy van Baelsar... huh... well he is certainly manly enough.

When’s Cid gonna cough up blood?! I was worried for nothing!?

Ok time to do Eden... *looks at clock* nevermind. It’s time for work again. Being a functioning member of society while trying to maintain my some semblance of my hikikomori habits is hard. And my old raid lead has is already beating Savage without me now too. OTL Well, I’ll have more time to work on my Sarg character, so there’s that. 

[artpharos]

Asbel and Sophie for the ask => Also Todoroki HAHAHAHA----

... why is it i gave you a choice and you gave me all three...

ANYWAYUnder cut because long and possibly spoilers

Asbel Mamorenakatta Lhant

First impression

Ehhh he’s... okay I guess. He really wants to protect stuff and I expected more out of him given how much effort was spent to define his past with the childhood arc, but it kinda feels like they forgot about his character development until the last five minutes of the game... He didn’t leave that much of an impression on me. *shrug* 

Impression now

Idk how I ever thought any of the above; he’s a character with depth and struggles and he has his own failings to get over but when he does he tries to rise above all the hate and break the cycle of destruction and P R O T E C T  A S B E L   L H A N T  

Favorite moment

I have so many how dare you make me choose BUT hmm I’d guess when he suddenly pulls a potentially heroic sacrifice trying to ‘see if all Lambda wants to do is live’ and risks literally everything to save his enemy because it’s a culmination of his journey, his lessons, and because it defines who he is- a compassionate person that is always willing to help and give everyone a second chance. 

Idea for a story

I feel like as much as Graces did try to address it, Asbel still has a lot of unresolved feelings towards his father and vice versa so it’d be nice to have a story to explore that, I suppose... Especially if it’s concerning his own child and his own parenting abilities :P

Unpopular opinion

Apparently me saying Asbel Lhant is cool gets a lot of people protesting that sentence 

Favorite relationship

Lambda *shot* Sophie’s a close second, but I do feel like there’s a lot of mirroring between Asbel and Lambda’s characters/pasts so seeing how they interact with one another in terms of each being the other’s protagonist/antagonist, and Asbel ultimately redeeming Lambda makes me feel like I get a bit of insight as to who the two of them are.

Favorite headcanon

With Graces being what it is I’m not sure if this is canon or headcanon but I really like that Asbel realizes that being Lord of Lhant is a role that fits him as a person as it allows him to realize his dreams of protecting everyone he loves rather than being forced into that position. He becomes an incredible Lord of Lhant, not unlike his father, and while he occupies a position of national importance and uses it to his full advantage, he’s still the same quiet, simple man we know and love who cares for everyone he meets; and even those he doesn’t. 

Sophie

First impression

Urgh they’re making a twintail loli the heroine? Please don’t be a love interest please don’t be a love interest please don’t be a love interest please

Impression now

Best Girl. Will defend with my life. She’s so cute and precious and brave and strong and I love her character arc and there was a point of time after I first played Graces where I sorta resented Asbel because I thought she should have been the main character and the story would have been A+++ better. I love how the game gives her time to develop from being an innocent to revealing her past as Protos Heis and then culminating in her accepting both her past and who she is and still trying to fulfill her duty to save everyone she loves.

Favorite moment

As much as I know there’s plenty of epic Sophie moments to choose from, my favourite is that end of battle skit where she tells Malik that she’s come from the future and please stop sending monsters to us (complete with point off far into the distance)

Idea for a story

Hmm idk I mean I feel like Sophie’s already been through a lot so probably nothing too traumatic but I guess it’d be sweet of her to explore her place in the world and figure out daily life and stuff? Since all she’s known for a long time was battle and following orders, it’d be nice to see her decide what she wants to do with her life apart from her vague goal of protecting Asbel’s dreams. 

Unpopular opinion

... That I ship LambdaxSophie and think it’s beautiful??? 8′D

Favorite relationship

Lambda *shot* No honestly though, I do feel that Lambda defines Sophie just as much as Sophie defines him, because without him she wouldn’t be born and without her he might not have gone full dark demon lord of doom. More importantly, I love love love that they reconcile in f arc and that they decide to be friends and there’s so much potential between them, from who they used to be to who they can be that I’ve been stuck in Graces hell for the last 5 years or so and I can’t get out help 

Favorite headcanon

Oh my I wonder what could that possibly be 

Todoroki

First impression

First time I saw the scar, I thought of Zuko. Then I saw the fire powers and I thought of Zuko. And then I saw the dad issues and I thought of Zuko. 

Impression now

He’s a friggin dork that has 0 social skills but he’s trying so hard and I love how he’s so cool and amazing one moment and a complete moron the next. 

Favorite moment

I admit, I cheered a little inside when Todoroki was the first one who appeared to save Deku/Iida from Stain like he really cares about his friends 8D 8D 8D 8D 

Idea for a story

Hmmm I’m not quite sure. Maybe life and times of Todoroki being taught how not to be socially awkward??? 

Unpopular opinion

... Zuko’s still better than him I’m sorry 

Favorite relationship

I can’t say right now because I think as of now his only two developed positive relationships are with Deku and that girl whose name I can’t even remember who creates stuff???? 

Favorite headcanon

... That he’d probably like Zuko very much too???