#progressive element

[gideonisms]

sorry but most books "for fans of gideon the ninth" do NOT engage with gothic lit themes are NOT that funny do NOT have half as many bonkers plot twists and largely do not even have the same number of lesbians either. to be fair it's difficult to physically fit in as many characters per book as tazmuir does so I can excuse this on the basis that not everyone wants to write a 400-page space opera. but if that's not what you're writing then commit to writing something else!!

[pickelda]

some outfits: warm casual // hunting

[theartingace]

one day late for Mermay, but it's fine I loved updating this character for the first time in a couple years and seeing the progress anyway 💜 Same character in past years for progress reference below the cut!

2022 and 2020 versions respectively! It's always so fun to revisit this character and see how my skills have come along! (Honestly 2020 remains my favorite tbh)

also for the first time since she was originally posted in 2009... the OG character!!! Horrifying to look back at art this old from my teen days..

[sneakydraws]

like i said. some kinda crack they put in the soma dynamic it cant just be nostalgia for my 2012 otp. it feels like straight yaoi somehow

[premade-username]

There’s something poetic about the body of a titan of earth being made home for people. Isn’t that what earth at its core is, over any other element? Dirt for animals to burrow, caves in which to find shelter, soil to cultivate countless habitats. What is dwelling within its skeleton but worship? What are flowers beds growing from its ribs, but an altar?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

you are so whimsical i qant to check out this mdzs (..??) because of your whimsical nature thank you sorry im very high and your art moved me emotionally

This is simultaneously the sweetest and funniest thing someone has sent me, thank you.

[codenamesazanka]

Saw some Spinaraki kid OCs so I decided to try my hand at it too. Though it's less happy family kidfic and more resentfully making Heroes and Deku face consequences post-canon. Sorry.

the Spinaraki lovechild:

Shirakata Masanori | 白方正憲

Age: 15

Appearance: Lizard heteromorph. Black hair, pink eyes, white scales.

Quirk: Adhesion. Decay's spreading effect + Gecko's sticking trait. Anything object Masanori touches and remain in contact with will adhere with anything the object is also touching. If he touches a sidewalk, everyone on it will be stuck and trapped, unable to move their feet.

result of Spinner and Shigaraki getting together post-Deika/pre-surgery. super unexpected.

three months after Shigaraki went in for surgery, Spinner pops out an egg (please go with it)

During Heroes' raid on the PLF Villa, Spinner entrusts egg to ReDestro. Unfortunately, when everyone got arrested, egg gets swept up in custody capture of MLA kids.

With no one to claim the egg, it is placed in orphanage; all contact is then lost.

Egg hatches after war, at end of August.

Spinner was never able to tell Shigaraki about their kid due to the possession.

He decides not to say anything to the Heroes either. Doesn't trust them after Shigaraki got killed, and better that the kid doesn't grow up stigmatized for having terrorists as parents.

But Spinner does leave a letter with his court-appointed lawyer, hoping that one day it will reach the kid, when they come of age.

Spinner dies early due to effects of having multiple quirks; dies ten years after war

The lawyer, deciding to just finish up this assignment cleanly, finds the kid 4 years later and delivers the letter despite the kid not reaching age of majority.

Despite half-assed mild societal change efforts, Masanori grows up an orphan in the system, with the additional stigma of being an PLF raid kid (and therefore very likely the child of dead/arrested Villains/criminals)

Abandoned, unnamed babies in Japan are named by the city/town's mayor. Masanori was named with the kanji "white-direction correct-law" in hopes that he would become a law-abiding citizen (unlike his unknown parents). The Mayor is an asshole.

(Though Shirakata is a real surname, and chosen because kid has white scales)

Early on, Masanori looked out into the world and realized it doesn't want him, made it clear he doesn't belong. So he accepted it.

However, he knows the path of Villainy only leads to doom.

His caretakers drilled that into the PLF raid kids. Quirk counseling emphasized it a lot. So did teachers. Everyone.

He’s (reluctantly) played the ‘Villain’ in enough playground games that ends with the ‘Heroes’ pretending to smash him to pieces or explode him to nothing, because everyone has seen the war footage.

And he’s known too many people who salivate over the satisfaction of proving his blood is irreparably criminal.

So he won't be a Villain.

He just wants to leave - leave the orphanage, leave the city, leave Japan. Maybe travel the world alone forever.

Masanori is: very solitary, utterly disinterested in people, self-reliant, pragmatic, opportunistic, clever enough but can bite off more than he can chew

Masanori doesn't really have any sentimental feelings about his parents; or rather, he feels there's no point to dwell on it

He always knew he was the son of criminals. Discovering that he's the son of the most notorious criminals is somewhat cool, but Spinner and Shigaraki are long dead and gone.

When Masanori first received the letter, there was a satisfaction to finally knowing, nearly a sense of destiny. So he read the League of Villains memoir. He read the manuscript drafts that he inherited from Spinner. He did a lot of research.

(In the letter, Spinner admits that the kid was a surprise, that Shigaraki never knew, and Spinner himself doesn't know anything about the kid and will likely go to his grave not knowing.

They dealt the kid a shit hand.

Saying something cliche like they loved the kid they never knew would be hollow; and besides, Spinner and Shigaraki were twisted and distorted people. Villains. So the truth is, the kid is likely better off without them.

But.

Spinner wishes he and Shigaraki could've known the kid, and he regrets that neither of them were able to stay alive and free.

Spinner also writes that if Shigaraki knew about the kid, he knows Shigaraki would've tried to give them the world.)

But eventually, for Masanori, the end result of all that is realizing that there's nothing to be done with this information. Spinner and Shigaraki don't know him, and he doesn't know them; never will. They were criminals, they were young and stupid, they picked a fight and lost, and they left him behind.

All he has is still just himself.

...and this new knowledge he might be able to use to his advantage.

Which is why Masanori decides to confront the Hero Deku and demand compensation for the death of his parents and other hardships

Age 15, Masanori arrives at Deku's agency, carrying Spinner's letter that is his only proof

But just looking at Masanori convinces Deku. Kid's appearance is basically Tenko in lizard heteromorph form, but even his demeanor reminds Deku of Shigaraki - aloof but intense, determined. (tho he is still younger, less hostile, a bit stiff in nervousness)

Deku is shocked, guilty, suspicious, already wants to help, appalled at the extortion attempt. Ready for a conflict.

At least until he hears Masanori's demands:

Guaranteed admission to UA's General Studies Program, a recommendation letter, as well as a stipend all three years that Masanori is in high school.

And that's it.

Masanori has only an okay school record.

He did not have an enriching school life.

He's been accused of delinquent behavior - mostly suspected small theft and 'incidents' with other students

(They could never actually prove he stole anything; and the incidents he get into are always with the more aggressive classmates. They're not so much fights as pranks, and the bullying usually ceases immediately afterwards.)

High school is not mandatory in Japan, and minors legally can start work at age 15, so Masanori has been "asked"/expected to leave the orphanage after middle school. Jin Scenario

Not a very bright future. But he was ready for it... until he received Spinner's letter.

Suddenly.

If Masanori gets into UA High School, an elite national school, with recommendation from a world-renowned and beloved Hero, it's leaving the orphanage, leaving his hometown, starting a new life.

(General Studies program because he has zero interest in being a Hero.)

Graduate and better prepared to leave everything behind and travel the world alone forever.

Opportunity of a lifetime. He will shamelessly seize it.

Masanori's not blackmailing Deku or anything - nothing to blackmail, since no one cares Deku killed Shigaraki, and admitting he's the son of terrorists is social death. He's relying entirely on Deku's heroism.

Even if his Shigaraki was a Villain that Deku had to kill for the good of the world, that was still his father. Deku will feel compassion and guilt for Masanori.

Because Deku is a hero.

Manipulative? Yes. Is he unqualified for UA? Yes. But Masanori wants a chance at having more to life.

And Deku has to face what he (and All Might, and OFA) never actually did: resolve the continued rejection and ostracization problem in quirk society, and the cycle of Shimura tragedy

Because it's quickly obvious Masanori is just like his parents: given up on the world, given up on people. He's just not dangerous about it.

But his heart is empty. He has never been saved. And he no longer wants to be.

In other words: this time, Deku has to truly save someone that's been failed and rejected by this society he upholds. even if easy mode too because Masanori is not a villain. but is less receptive than a seven-year-old. or someone already having Pro-Hero aspirations

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Bane of Progress

It sees shaped stone and carved wood as mutilations.

Artist: Lars Grant-West TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[theriverbeyond]

really sad to see nanowrimo™ fumble the bag so hard on this -- if their end point was supposed to be "we are neutral on AI, agree to disagree" then they could have literally said nothing instead of grossly insulting their entire target base like... I can't imagine how anyone thought that statement would go over well? IIRC their statement LAST year was that using generative AI would render the challenge meaningless, which is a true fact regardless of your personal thoughts on AI. the entire concept of the challenge month is that putting your words onto a page is good, even and especially when they are bad. you aren't writing a finished book, you're writing an intentionally shitty draft. making bad art is good for you. but more than that, nanowrimo was always a challenge within yourself. you could always copy-paste the bee movie into your doc and say you won. you could always lie and say you wrote more words than you actually wrote, whether that was because you were really SO close to the goal that it's probably okay to add enough to get you over the top, or maybe you weren't writing at all but wanted to impress your friends. it's like, whatever, because it's not about creating a product it's about doing the process even when that means doing it poorly. even their arguments about accessibility dont make sense because you were always able to make a lower wordcount goal to work twoards if the 50k goal specifically was not attainable, so you could still participate in the social fun of a writing challenge. I did that last year and it was still great fun and I didn't end up with a horrible repetitive stress injury. I mean I guess my expectations for nanowrimo™ as an organization were already rock bottom after last year but it's just. sad to see :/

[caelanthe]

Fanfiction is so goated actually

No monetary incentive, just writing in one's free time. Some incentive for like kudos and comments, because who doesn't want to hear that someone else enjoyed what they wrote. Just writing a story that is good and/or enjoyable, no real-life pressure to keep it going because god forbid you and other people are depending on it financially.

Writing a story because you want to write a good story, so you can write what they want the way you want, at a pace that is realistic for you, with exactly the plot pacing you want there to be.

[splookiee]

Shi Qingxuan sketch im working on, but i cant decide who is reaching out >-<

[valcaine]

drops a, a piggy on you and runs

[shadowslocked]

“Rook should be allowing to be an asshole to their companions”

“You just want to enslave/murder people”

No.

Firstly, being an asshole isn’t just committing overly evil crimes like murder or selling/buying people into slavery. Though, if the writers were clever enough, they could ways to let Rook get away with murder visa “it’s for the greater good” creating another parallel with Solas…

I want Rook to be an asshole so they can actively play a role in making their companions worse. I want Rook to have a negative effect on the world as a whole, furthering Solas’ belief that it’s better to see the world burn then allow someone like Rook to continue existing.

I want a Varric who is disappointed in you at the reveal of his death, who wonders if he’d been around things could have turned out differently.

People wanting Rook to be meaner aren’t people who want wanton destruction and death, they want to be able to effect the world in multiple ways as they were allowed in the previous games. They want the ability to play different characters, to be the goody two shoes in one world and then an asshole in the next and then some mixture of the two. Even if the argument is that stuff like that doesn’t actually impact the world, it’s important to help the player build the character they want to see as they were allowed to do in previous installments. As it stands, game wise Rook is always Rook, with no variation in between aside from race, background and gender.

Changing that play style NOW, in the fourth game to a series meant to follow up the previous three, was always going to recieve negative reactions from people. Asking them to not be upset with the direction the devs chose to go is basically asking them not to engage in a way you don’t like with Veilguard.

“But you can be mean! If you only focus on the story quests all your companions will die in the end!”

And that would be really interesting if it also wasn’t written so weakly.

It’s a fine ending, playing into the supposed themes Veilguard wants to have about kindness and caring about others having a greater positive impact on the world.

And yet none of your companions react to this. Nobody, from what I’ve seen, calls you out on not helping them with their quests. Especially Davrin and Lucanis who’s goals from the beginning of joining your merry band is to chase after a threat while working alongside you. Especially not when they start talking about needing to focus on their personal matters in order to get anything done.

Varric isn’t disappointed in you for not being the leader he thought you were, Solas isn’t displeased but convinced further it’s better to focus solely on his goal. Neither of them have any reaction to your decisions.

And the frustrating thing is: being meaner wouldn’t detract from Veilguards message about kindness and caring for companions making the world better. If anything it would actually strengthen the message as, sure, you defeat Solas but you’ve left the world worse than when you found it. That’s just, if not more, interesting than simply not engaging with parts of the game.

In the end it all comes down to feeling like there is no response to your actions or words, your impact feels unimportant because the game will continue forward without challenging you directly about your choices and instead waits until the very end to try to give the illusion to your choices mattering. It’s a game that wants to be an RPG like the previous games but also pulls its punches on letting your character interact with the world in a way that isn’t solely positive or nothing.

[spacestation-l7]

(WIP) AU where everything is set in the universe of MCR's "Danger Days" album, The Beatles is a Killjoys crew

[sosadraws]

Treating myself by drawing big robot girls

[crystal-verse]

god i want. an au where it dosn't work. where it's just arr g'raha who's woken up, and he doesn't have all these memories and all these people keep looking at him like they're mourning someone. the world has changed and time has changed and all the people he knows have changed, but he hasn't changed, he was just sleeping, just sleeping, and the world nearly ended several times and apparently he helped prevent yet another end but he has no memory of this. they want him to join the scions. he does not know these people. (he barely knows the warrior of light, now, but did he ever truly know them in the first place?) his little sister is alive and well. she looks at him like a ghost. she's changed, and she's older than him now. he acts bratty and loud and brash to cover up the fact that he does not know anything it seems, and he is tired but he was sleeping for so long, so how could he be tired?

he doesn't know these people. they seem to know him. he wonders if he'd killed someone, when it was him and not that exarch who woke up. he wonders if it should have been him who was "killed" in that way, if it is him that lives and not that man who had known and become friends with all these figures from legend. he wonders if he'll always be fated to be a historian one step back from everything, because he simply cannot be a hero.