#....VERY different from their dynamic in the undercity setting

[nagweon]

i've decided that in modern verse, byan & si-u share a room in the group home they both live in. they definitely have some issues but, because si-u doesn't snitch when byan comes home late, drinks, smokes, etc., it's still the most agreeable byan has ever been with a roommate.

the main reason si-u doesn't snitch is that he's afraid of what byan will do if he does. however, they do also share some of the snacks they steal with him, which is pretty decent encouragement to keep his mouth shut.

[practically-an-x-man]

Vi (arcane), Warren Worthington III, Padme Amidala, and Yelena Belova for the niche questions?

Thank you!!

Niche Questions (Character Asks)

Vi:

A song that reminds me of them: No Chances by Twenty One Pilots (Feet planted on grip tape With my shoulders square and my back straight Go a good base and a loose tongue Notorious in the octagon, now) What they smell like: Probably doesn't smell fantastic, given she's from the undercity and doesn't have the most consistent hygiene. Sweat, dirt, sometimes like metal or machinery (especially when she's done a lot of work with her gauntlets) An OTP: Caitvi for the win!! A NOTP: Anything that sets her up with a man tbh Favorite platonic/familial relationship: Vander acting as her father figure... makes my heart hurt A popular headcanon I disagree with: Honestly I'm not sure what the popular headcanons are for her... The position they sleep in: Changes around, since she's usually sore or injured and has to find a position that doesn't hurt too badly A crossover AU I'd love to see them in: Hm... again, sorry for the null answer, but I really don't know. I don't think about crossovers much Favorite outfit they've ever worn: She kinda only wears the one... but it is a killer fit, I must say. I love her little jacket

____

Warren:

A song that reminds me of them: Archangel by Amaranthe (for obvious reasons) What they smell like: Depends on which version of Warren we're talking about. He could be pomade and expensive cologne, he could be cheap booze and blood, he could be leather and that steely wet-metal smell... there are options lol. An OTP: Canon-wise, him and Psylocke. But obviously I'm going to pick my own OC if that's an option lol. A NOTP: Hm... him and Scott. Not like it gives me the ick or anything, it's just really not my thing. Favorite platonic/familial relationship: I just like the whole "X-Men as found family" dynamic, so I'm going with him and the rest of the original team. A popular headcanon I disagree with: Not one specifically, but I see a lot of people trying to up his powers after he becomes the Horseman of Death, or even just in general, and... no thank you. Part of his character is that he has a very limited power set, where he's outcast from humans but isn't as powerful as his teammates and so is always occupying this slightly "othered" space, so I don't agree with the headcanons that try and add significantly to his power set. The position they sleep in: Stomach sleeper, with his wings spread out to either side. He keeps them folded back/cooped up all day, it feels good to stretch out once he's in bed. A crossover AU I'd love to see them in: Technically it already happened, but... I do love him in Marvel 1602, and the whole idea of placing heroes from different Marvel properties into a historical context. Favorite outfit they've ever worn: I love the red-and-white suit and its variations (like in X-Men Blue with the red-and-white suit and his cosmic wings), and his black-and-silver Archangel suit with the metal wings.

____

Padme:

In all honesty I don't know enough/have strong enough opinions about her to answer these... sorry.

____

Yelena:

A song that reminds me of them: I'm Not An Angel by Halestorm What they smell like: Something pointedly nondescript, a standard mid-range women's perfume meant to help her blend in. An OTP: Bit fan of the Yelena/Kate Bishop ship tbh A NOTP: A lot like I said for Vi... anything that places her with a man, I do not see her being straight lol Favorite platonic/familial relationship: How could I say anything other than her and Nat?? A popular headcanon I disagree with: I've seen a lot of people on tumblr headcanoning her with this whole "is standoffish at first but would be emotionally vulnerable with her S/O" and I know that's just tumblr being tumblr but like... no? Maybe she'd try to be more open with someone she trusts, but she's still fairly closed-off and that wouldn't just magically change by putting her in a romantic relationship. The position they sleep in: On her side, always facing the door, usually with a weapon within arm's reach and a getaway bag tucked under the bed. She's used to making quick escapes. A crossover AU I'd love to see them in: I could see her meeting the Robins in a DC crossover, that could be cool Favorite outfit they've ever worn: I love her more casual outfits, like in Hawkeye when she appears in Kate's apartment the first time

[butterfliestothemoon]

Why I love Cait x Vi

From Lee Sana on Pinterest

OH MY I LOVE THIS DUO SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!! HERE IS WHY!!!!!

They have such a good dynamic. It’s a mix of “opposites attract” and just them working well together.

1. Opposites attract. I mean yeah Vi and Caitlyn are superficially different (oil and water 💔). Vi is from a poor background in Zaun, and Caitlyn comes from one of the richest homes in Piltover. Vi is sloppy, Caitlyn is very proper. This just makes them so fun to look at!!! But it also doesn’t mean that they are fundamentally different.

2. They are fundamentally the same. They both do things for the people that they care about. Vi obviously is doing a lot for Jinx, and Cait is doing a lot for Vi. Trading her gun, saving Vi from Sevika, etc. I mean Caits gun is really important to her but she traded it so that she could save Vi AND LEAVE HERSELF DEFENSELESS. They both are SO good at fighting, they both try to prove themselves, and they both want what’s best for Zaun and Piltover. ❤️❤️

3. They work well together. Vi is up close confrontation while Cait can handle the far away confrontation. Vi can represent the undercity and Cait, Piltover. They both have strengths that can be utilized in almost ever setting. There can not be a better couple to balance Piltover.

4. They keep coming back to each other!!!!!!!! “We are oil and water. Not meant to be.” Said Vi. AHEM?!?!?!? SO MEANT TO BE. Vi walks away and Cait can’t stop thinking of her (shower scene). And Vi CLEARLY can’t between her sister Jinx (who she has dedicated her whole life to protecting) and Caitlyn (someone she just got introduced to) hmmmmmm. You can’t tell me they weren’t meant to be!!! Though they had a little break up thing, they came back together in the last episode. LOOK

They came back together!! And in the trailer for season 2 they were together.!!!!

5. THEY ARE CUTE TOGETHER!!!!!

Thanks for listening :)

[scottiedeux]

CaitVi Fic Rec Friday - 4/15

Coming at you from my Ao3 Bookmarks List (Ao3 handle Scottie2) - It's Fic Rec Friday!

Read about the logic behind Fic Rec Friday here

This is the first EVER fic rec post so naturally I had to start with: Fic Name: Shades of Us by yourkilljoy

Ao3 Summary:

Reckless enforcer Vi and uptight sheriff Caitlyn have always been the perfect pair. How such an unlikely pairing came about is the subject of wild rumor and tavern speculation.

A series of vignettes all over Piltover and Zaun paint a picture of Piltover’s finest in an attempt to set the record straight– once and for all.

Keep reading for my gushing about this fic and Ao3 tags/details

Why this fic: This fic for me was a warm hug of an introduction into the CaitVi fandom. Back in December post watching s1 I was wading through a sea of fics that focused on immediate post s1 canon, or smutty hookups - and trust me I love that shit.

But Shades of Us was like - hey - take a closer look at this whole CaitVi thing.

We canonically have this established Sheriff & Deputy partnership with major hints of more than just a professional relationship. We then get a prequel Netflix show that gives us backround on relationship dynamics based on legitimate sources of tension - one being Rich Piltover Heiress vs Undercity Zaunite; one with unbroken optimistic drive to right wrongs vs one cynical but will do anything for their loved ones, etc. There is also a tension between the intensity of what Caitlyn and Vi have with one another vs all the outside expectations placed on them due to their status, position, circumstance, etc.

This fic opened my eyes to this meaty dynamic and did it with an EXCELLENT setup of looking at Caitlyn & Vi's relationship from the outside in. Then - its not just having a good idea like this one - but yourkilljoy NAILS the delivery.

After reading this fic i knew I was hooked on this fandom something fierce. There is depth to the Caitlyn Vi pairing and dynamic which is I'm sure why you are hooked like me and reading this long ass gush about a CaitVi fic.

Its got plenty of Kudos so many of ya'll have read it but if you somehow missed it please do NOT sleep on this fic.

More by this Author:

The very talented yourkilljoy has written some additional fics in this universe so after reading Shades of Us, check that out. She also has two other ongoing fic that will likely be on my bookmarks list once I get a chance to read or when they complete.

If anyone knows if yourkilljoy has a Tumblr handle please let me know so I can link! The author is on the Discord channel - so maybe say hi if you love this fic as much as I do 😁

Ao3 Details:

Chapters: 5/5 Fandom: League of Legends, Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends) Characters: Caitlyn (League of Legends), Vi (League of Legends) Additional Tags: Vignettes, Fluff, Piltover's Finest, Romance, basically a look at Caitlyn and Vi's relationship through different POVs, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Post canon, Slice of Life Series: Part 1 of Shades of Us

[thevindicativevordan]

My Superfamily Set-Up

By and large I’m fairly happy with the upcoming Infinite Frontier status quo for the Superfamily. Granted that’s in part because I’m still convinced Kara will get an ongoing or mini in 2021, probably to coincide with her show returning, and PKJ hinted at plans for Steel on Twitter. But Kon has escaped the Titans dumpsterfire for a little while, and I’ve heard good things about Thompson as a writer as well. Kenan is popping back up in a one shot written by Yang that will hopefully herald more appearances in Batman/Superman. Jon is still co-protagonist with Clark in the main books, Tanya is in the Future State Shazam book and also a candidate for the FS Justice League book, so hopefully she’ll be in Titans Academy, and Lois is poised to be a big player in the upcoming Checkmate mini by Bendis. So fingers crossed, all the core members of the Superfamily will be in stuff come end of 2021.

Now that said, were DC to suddenly realize that I alone can save Superman, and asked me what kind of status quo I would like (whether for a mainline or Elseworld book makes no difference to me), this is the basic set up that I would go with:

Superman - I’d do a traditional status quo. Superman is disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter, married to Lois Lane, etc. I’d have Ma and Pa go back to being dead since I still am not a fan of them being alive. Note that this isn’t a reaction against Bendis, I loved Bendis’ run, but I do want to play with the traditional status quo a little bit before diving into something different. Especially since so many Superman writers have traditionally completely wasted the potential of Superman’s status quo.

Lois Lane - Similar to Superman I’d go with a more traditional status quo at the start. She works at the Daily Planet, she and Clark are married, she’s the best reporter in town, etc. I would eventually have her take over as editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet from Perry, I thought that was a great idea the New 52 wasted, and I love the idea of her and Cat Grant being rivals with the Daily Planet and Catco competing. 

Jon Kent - I���d restore kid Jon and toss him back to the Super Sons, not because I think what’s been done with him has been bad, but mostly because I don’t want to write him as Superman, I want to write Clark. Jon seems to be being set up to be co-Superman, and I just don’t have any interest in writing that. To restore kid Jon without destroying Bendis’ run which I enjoyed, I’d explain that teen Jon is actually the “evil” Jon we saw from the Super Sons of Tomorrow future. He went back in time and rescued his kid self from Earth 3, and explained to him that he wanted to prevent that future from coming to pass, but that he needed to take his younger self’s place to do so. Kid Jon agreed, after all he was terrified of becoming evil in both Tomasi’s Super Sons of Tomorrow and Bendis The Man of Steel, and has basically been in hiding watching the events and also studying Hypertime so he can learn how to avoid ending up evil. 

Clark and Lois would blow up at the Jons for the lie when Teen Jon judges he’s changed things enough for his kid self to return, but both Jons could point out that both Clark and Lois have kept secrets when they deemed it necessary from each other and Jon. That would be a neat conversation to have, and a way to continue the untraditional family dynamic that Bendis set up. You could keep teen Jon as a time anomaly until Hypertime catches up with him and restores him to his timeline, with him continuing to be Superman as penance, while kid Jon goes and pals around with Damian in Williamson’s Robin or whatever.

Superwoman/Kara Zor-El - I like the idea of Kara “graduating” to the Superwoman name. It’s open right now given Lana’s retirement, and I think it would suit Kara. I would keep Kara in National, it’s her own little corner to play in, but I would keep that development from (I believe it was) Andrea Shea, where Kara gets fired from Catco because she’s a terrible intern due to always running off to be a heroine. She and Kal talk, Kara admits she doesn’t really want to be a journalist, and so she goes and interns at STAR Labs. I hate how DC keeps turning all the members of the Superfamily into Clark clones. It’s goddamn stupid and I want them to please STOP. Why the hell would Kara want to go into journalism anyway? We’ve never even seen a damn journalist on Krypton! It’s a stupid thing they did on the TV show because they wanted to swipe Clark’s stuff. Let Kara be the scientist of the Els, the one who carries on the family tradition. What form that takes is something I’m open too, I liked Venditti making her interested in history in his annual, maybe make Kara an anthropologist? That would be hilarious. 

Also give Lena to Supergirl, they can be best friends, enemies, lovers, I don’t care. But Lena is wasting away in a vault under Lexcorp last we saw, and that’s a damn shame considering how popular CW Lena is. I’d also add Natasha Irons (who I’d rename Mastersmith) and Tanya Spears (Powerhouse) to Supergirl’s supporting cast, they could play off each other as three supergenuis women).

Kon-El/Conner Kent/Scion - I’m really excited to see what Thompson is going to do with Kon on the Suicide Squad, but here’s what I would do with him. Kon would finally be able to shake off the Superboy moniker and leave that to Jon. Instead he’d take the name “Scion” as a reflection of his origins, and a tie-in to his new status quo. In the wake of Death Metal, Lex Luthor would abruptly step down as head of Lexcorp, stating that he needs time to redefine himself in the wake of his latest attempt to justify himself as the true hero by serving Perpetua, ending up with him needing Superman to save the day again. While he is away, he’s turned over complete control of Lexcorp to his sole heir: Conner. Conner is now head of one of the evilest megacorps in existence, and is one of the wealthiest men alive. Conner knows this is just another maneuver by Lex in his neverending crusade against Superman, but he’s determined to not just be another pawn. He accepts control, renames Lexcorp Superman, Inc. His mission will be to transform the megacorp into the force for good it pretends to be. Conner will have to take on not only Lex loyalists and traitorous underlings who would love to be CEO themselves within Lexcorp, but new megacorps who have flocked to Metropolis in hope of establishing themselves, now that the former Master of Metropolis has abdicated his throne. Threats within and threats without, but armed with the powers/morals of Superman and the charm/brains of Lex Luthor, Kon is just cocky enough to think he can handle it.

John Henry Irons/Steel - It will be a big year for John Henry Irons. His private company Steelworks is about to go public and make him a billionaire. Lana Lang has accepted his marriage proposal and they’re due to be wed. His niece Natasha has left the nest and is off working at STAR Labs. Irons is posed to finally resurrect the decrepit Suicide Slum and allow it to catch up to the rest of the City of Tomorrow. However there are problems: new megacorps are moving into the city in the wake of Lex Luthor leaving, people are disappearing from Suicide Slum with dark rumors are spreading about the reasons why, and the people of Suicide Slum are accusing Irons of planning to gentrify the borough. Making matters worse, weapons that Irons designed as a young man are appearing on the streets of Metropolis, attracting negative attention from the media and putting Steelworks at risk. Irons is going to have to suit up and take up the fight all over Metropolis, from the darkest levels of the Undercity, to the bright deceptive board rooms at the top of skyscrapers in the city’s heart. Irons will have to reckon with his past to secure his future, and confront the evil Metropolis would rather pretend doesn’t exist.

Kenan Kong/New Super-Man - Look just give Yang a damn Kenan book and let him go wild. Right now is either the best or worst time to give Kenan a book given the situation with Hong Kong, but if anyone is equipped to deal with it, it’s Yang. I’ll just add that I would love to see Kenan on a Global Guardians team, but I’d also love to see Justice League of China as a spinoff book of the main Justice League. Kenan is as close as DC has come to their own Spider-Man/Invincible take on Superman, Jon sadly hasn’t really differentiated himself from his dad while Kenan is VERY different. I would love to see Kenan pushed more and would buy a new book in a heartbeat. Also put out a damn New Super-Man omnibus Jim Lee, for God’s sake can’t you abuse your power to push the character you wanted created and is actually good unlike most of Wildstorm? You’re shoving Grifter back into everything but not Kenan? Christ.

So yeah that’s the Superfamily status quo I’d establish. Keeping my Clark and Lois ideas close to my chest for now, but I might go into more detail later.

[shamanair-jpg]

Mumbai: A Case in Urban Studies

They call it the city that never sleeps; the city where dreams come true – they call this city a lot of things. They call it addictive, fascinating; they call it brutal. They call it vibrant; they call it tough and often overwhelming; they call it Bombay; they call it Mumbai. 

 Home to over 22 million people, it is currently one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Diversity and dynamism are two features that are most characteristic of the commercial capital of India – well, those are definitely the two elements that stand out the most; those that are often picked up by various filmmakers, writers and poets when they choose to make Bombay the subject of their art. They create stories - which indeed hold a lot of truth - about struggling migrants striving to make it big, about underground mafias and about the glitzy, scandalous world of Bollywood. Over the years, countless films have been made and novels have been written about this sprawling metropolis with special focus on the undercity of Bombay, the urban poor – the side of the city we have managed to put into a box, looking at it as one whole and failing to take into account its multiple layers and the intricacies of the various networks and sub communities it holds. 

Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and Katherine Boo’s Behind The Beautiful Forevers are both such projects that try to capture the essence of the shantytowns, slum areas and street life in Mumbai as closely as possible. Both, the film and the book, attempt to provide an alternate perspective of the relationship between urban poverty and the city of Mumbai that steers away from the overgeneralized, romantic notion of the great struggle. The former talks about the story of a young village boy, lost and abandoned with nowhere to go. With whatever little money he has managed to collect, he asks for a ticket to a city – any big city. Just this one instance in the film is a representation of the idea that millions in our country hold. The city to them is synonymous with hope and success. It is only later that this young boy discovers that the ticket he receives is one that would get him to Bombay – a city believed to make dreams come true. The film unfolds to take us into the lives of the street children and the wide network of individuals they engage with. 

The book too, is unlike any other of its kind. It takes the reader through the alleys and huts of Annawadi – a slum settlement in close proximity to the Mumbai International airport, surrounded by luxury hotels. Having taken birth from the journalistic account of Katherine Boo’s experiences in the slum, it talks about very real people and very real stories. The book brilliantly strings together the myriad of fragments that gives a city its character and constitutes the urban attitude – it talks about the dual city and draws parallels between the urban poor, informal labour systems and the global market. Every page of the book, although masked by stories and emotions, opens the door to a much larger, far more practical picture that a lot of other works of literature based on the city of Mumbai have failed to accomplish. Boo helps the audience move away from the one-dimensional view of urban poverty as a state of hopelessness and despair, where everyone is at the same level. 

I’ve always known Bombay to be big, dynamic and bursting at the seams with opportunity. And this is the perception a lot of people in our country share. Salaam Bombay shows us this right at the start. It also shows us that for those who come from a rural setting, any big city - not just Bombay - is synonymous with hope and upward mobility. 

It will always amaze me how, every year, hundreds of thousands of people migrate to Bombay. The influx of migrants that get accommodated into the rat race leads to a significant loss of identity, or the homogenisation of identities amongst people with common struggles. 

 Mobility or the dream of upward mobility is what essentially lures individuals, especially rural migrants, to the city in the first place. Regardless of the harsh living conditions of the slums and shantytowns, migrants continue to pour in for this sole reason. There are numerous stories that give hope to the millions that struggle to make it through the day; stories of finally making their way into the middle class. Unfortunately, the truth remains that a majority of those who join the lower strata of the urban labour system, usually tend to remain there. Due to the rapid increase in population and the subsequent increase in competition coupled with various restrictions within the socio-economic network, capturing a place in the labour market becomes all the more difficult. Mobility then becomes highly relative. With widening of inequalities and what can be referred to as an imbalance of power, poverty is highly heterogeneous. Take the locality of Annawadi for instance; ideas of success and ideal statuses vary from hut to hut. Salaam Bombay shows us economic differences between the pimp and the drug dealer; yet to the layperson they all fall under the same category of the poor. For the individuals who find themselves to be a part of the great struggle, the only way they gain their sense of upward mobility, is as Katherine Boo rightly said – is by contrasting their lot with that of their less fortunate neighbours.  

Mumbai, if nothing else, is a city – like a lot of other big cities - that shapes an individual to become that way. It deprives an individual of the easy-way-out; it leaves the individual no choice but to struggle, that very soon he or she becomes indifferent to it. As harsh as the city life may be, it provides ample opportunity for migrants to reinvent their identity - Mumbai is no exception. Often, people find comfort in anonymity. It numbs them to the chaos around them and gives them a chance to form new connections and explore their options. For many, the aim is to persist, and to continue persisting. 

Most often, leaving Mumbai isn’t something they consider. And all too often, the city doesn’t allow it to be their choice.

[bubonickitten]

What are your favourite/most reccomended skyrim mods for someone who's only played vanilla?

Okay, so I went through my Nexus Mods Manager and Steam Workshop mods lists and picked out some of my favorites. (Note that some of them require SKSE.)

General:

ETA: Forgot to mention the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, which is honestly something worth having even if you don’t use mods, because there are a lot of broken quests and glitches even in the vanilla game and this makes it so you encounter less of that. 

SkyUI - Takes a little while to get used to, but once I did, I definitely prefer it to the vanilla UI. Also adds a Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) that a lot of other mods use to toggle different options offered by those mods.

Sounds of Skyrim - There are three: The Wilds, Civilization, and The Dungeons. Adds a ton of new sound effects to the game and lets you toggle which ones you do/don’t want.

Climates of Tamriel - New weather patterns, sounds, lighting, etc.

Run For Your Lives and When Vampires Attack - If you’re tired of unarmored, unarmed NPCs rushing at incredibly lethal creatures and expecting good results.

Better Stealth AI for Followers - Because it’s really annoying when you’re trying to sneak and your follower is carrying a damn torch.

Mods for your convenience:

Detailed Mine Map Markers - Adds the type of ore that can be found in the mine in parenthesis after the mine’s name on the map. VERY convenient.

House Markers - Adds map markers to player homes that are available in the base game.

Return Home Teleport Spells - Adds spellbooks to each of the houses you can get in the main game, plus the Ragged Flagon and Archmage Quarters.

Teleportation Books and Teleportation Books (Dawnguard) - More teleportation spellbooks.

Lock Picking Chalk Marks - I wish I found this mod twelve playthroughs ago. It makes lockpicking a lot more tolerable.

Infinite Gold for Merchants - Gives each merchant 20,000 gold to barter with. Useful if you’re like me and like crafting and stealing and hoarding but then have trouble selling it all without having to travel to five different cities.  

Lightweight Potions and Poisons - Adjusts potion/poison weight to 0.1 instead of 0.5 so you can carry more stuff.

Earring of Unburden Lite - Earring that significantly increases your carry weight. Thank god.

Bandolier Bags and Pouches - If you still need more carry weight (I know I do) and/or love accessorizing.

Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers - If you’ve ever done this quest, you know how useful this would be.

Jiub’s Opus Quest Markers - Why this wasn’t in the base game is beyond me. 

Unread Books Glow - Adds a glow to any books you haven’t read yet (including skill books). Helpful especially if you like collecting things.

Enemies-related mods:

Extended Encounters - The original that I have installed has been taken off Nexus Mods, but apparently there’s a similar one here.

Even More Dragons! - Adds significantly more encounters with dragons - I love it, but it’s hell when you’re still at a low level, so be careful. There are two other versions - More Dragons! (more encounters than usual, but less than Even More Dragons!) and Most Dragons! (which… I tried this one first and it’s great if you feel like fighting four dragons at once outside of a major city and then having to resurrect like 20+ NPCs when the dust settles just so you’re not walking around in a ghost town, but if you just want to casually complete quests without constantly being on fire, I recommend downgrading to More Dragons or Even More Dragons, lmao).

Extra Encounters and Extra Encounters (Dawnguard) - In case you still aren’t satisfied with the sheer number of people, places, and things that want to kill you in Skyrim.

Diverse Dragons Collection - Adds 14 new types of dragons to the game, so while you’re constantly being harassed by dragons, at least you get some variety.

More Enemies - Adds new types of enemies to the game. (Beware the bridge trolls, they’re dicks.)

(This is getting long, so I’ll put the rest under a cut.)

Factions:

Moonlight Tales - Customizable werewolves. Offers different pelt and eye options; a wolfkin alliance option (i.e. if you’re a werewolf, wolves and other werewolves aren’t hostile); and options for involuntary lunar transformations, which adds a new dynamic to the game.

All Thieves Guild Jobs Concurrently - Lets you take one of each type of job from Vex and Delvin simultaneously, which means less trips to and from the Ragged Flagon.

Localized Thieves Guild Jobs - Lets you choose which Hold you want a job for, rather than having it be randomized. Which means less saving and reloading and cursing in order to get a job in that last Hold you haven’t taken over yet. (Not compatible with All Thieves Guild Jobs Concurrently. I’ve tried both and both are good, it just depends on your playstyle which you might prefer.)

Improved Vampirism - Requires Dawnguard.

Aesthetics™:

Enhanced Blood Textures - [chanting] more blood! more blood! more blood!

Pure Waters - Really improves the appearance of rivers, lakes, etc.

Book Covers Skyrim - Adds really nice unique covers to all the books in the vanilla game and DLC.

Lanterns of Skyrim - Adds lanterns along the roads all throughout Skyrim. They turn on automatically when it starts to get dark (iirc you can customize the timing in the MCM).

Shadowmarks - Adds Shadowmarks to player homes. Because the Guild Master lives here.

Skills/Crafting/etc.:

Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade - Exactly what it says on the tin. Also very customizable depending on your specific preferences (requires SkyUI for its MCM feature).

Wintermyst Enchantments - Adds 124 new unique enchantments to the game. FUN.

Smithing Redesigned - Redesign of the smithing skill tree.

Smelting Plus - Melt more stuff.

NPCs:

Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions - Lets you adopt up to 6 kids. You need to couple it with player home mods that allow for 6 kids (there’s a list of compatible mods in the mod description).

Khajiit Child Ma’isha - Adorable Khajiit daughter. Just recently, a dragon was attacking me and she ran over and started wailing on it with a dagger I gave her. I love her. (Supplement with this mod, which lets her wear actual child clothes. Because sometimes with mods that add non-human children, the clothes are glitchy bc the mod uses the adult models of those races that already exist in the game, just… make them smaller, lmao.)  

Adopt Aventus Aretino - Because when he grows up he wants to be an assassin, just like you.

Lucy and Louis - Adoptable vampire children, because why the hell not.

Marriable Serana - Because why isn’t she romanceable already? (+ Hearthfire addon, to allow her to move into homes added by the Hearthfire DLC.)

Khajiit Black Market - Adds black market merchants to taverns across Skyrim. They sell useful stuff like spellbooks, all kinds of soul gems, rarer alchemy ingredients (e.g. nirnroot, daedra hearts), etc. - and, of course, skooma and moon sugar.

Kidmer - Adds a bunch of adoptable mer children to the game. Because it’s weird that only human children exist in Skyrim.

Beast Kids - Adds Argonian and Khajiit children to the game.

Adopt Beast Kids - More Argonian and Khajiit children, but adoptable.

Dominions More Khajiit - Just adds more Khajiit NPCs throughout Skyrim (and not just enemies - they’re NPCs with specific names and present in different factions, e.g. in the Companions and Dark Brotherhood).

Dovahbit of Caerbannog - Super cute immortal bunny follower that wears tiny helmets and carries all your stuff. Seriously.

Friendly Brynjolf - Makes it so he doesn’t keep blowing you off with the same one-liner after completing the main Thieves Guild questline. Also makes him marriable.

Quests:

The Paarthurnax Dilemma - Makes it so you can say “fuck off, I’m not killing the penitent dragon, he’s just minding his business on top of his mountain and talking at clouds” to the Blades and the quest won’t just indefinitely hang around in your quest journal forever because you refuse to kill Paarthurnax because who would want to do that. But also if you do want to kill Paarthurnax for some reason, this mod apparently adds dragons who will defend him from your treachery.

Wyrmstooth - This one adds a whole new region and questlines to the game, but it’s been taken off Nexus (it was the same author as Extended Encounters). I’m mentioning it bc it’s worth knowing about in case it ever gets put back up.

Falskaar - Adds a new region and questlines.

The Forgotten City - This one’s hard to explain so I’ll just say I highly recommend it and give you the description as provided by the mod creator: “a murder mystery investigation set in an ancient underground city. You’ll need to solve it using your wits, and the ability to travel through time. It has a dark, non-linear story in which you’ll interrogate suspects, explore the city and its many secrets, and navigate challenging moral dilemmas. It features multiple endings, an original orchestral score, and professionally voiced dialogue.”

Following Mercer: A Thieves Guild Quest - A short questline that takes place after the main Thieves Guilt questline. You kinda just follow clues to find Mercer’s hiding places for all the loot he stole, and also kick his now-ethereal ass a few more times.

Markarth Undercity - Really cool questline. In case you wanted to spend more time in Markarth, but underground this time.

New Markarth Adventures - Because hell is Markarth.

Helgen Reborn - I literally just installed this one for my newest playthrough so I don’t have much to say about it yet, but it looks interesting. Make sure you don’t have this one active until after you finish “Unbound” (the first quest in the game, where you escape from Helgen) because otherwise you get stuff like this.

Legacy of the Dragonborn - This is a HUGE mod. It adds a museum in Solitude for you to put all of your collectibles (including collectibles from several player-created mods that are either packaged with it or compatible with it), as well as its own questlines.

Moonpath to Elsweyr - Adds a new questline that lets you travel to Elsweyr. Can be a bit glitchy, though - like, in some of my previous playthroughs, it would make all sabre cats in the game invisible, lmao. It’s packaged with Legacy of the Dragonborn if you decide to use that one, and I don’t have the invisible-sabre-cat problem anymore ever since uninstalling the standalone Moonpath to Elsweyr and just using Legacy of the Dragonborn, so ymmv.

Missing Apprentices - This just fixes the unfinished Missing Apprentices quest in the vanilla game.

Armor/weapons/items:

Immersive Armors and Immersive Weapons - Both add a ton of new armor and weapons to the game.

PrivateEye’s Heavy Armory - Adds a ton of new weapons and variety to the game.

More Interesting Loot - What it says on the tin.

LC_Immersive Looting - More loot items, like above.

EK Ring Limiter - Toggle how many rings you want your character to be able to wear at once.

Cloaks of Skyrim - Cloaks! Cloaks everywhere!

Amulets of Skyrim - Now with more amulets!

Konahrik’s Accoutrements - Dragon Priest Armory - This is another one I just added and I’m not far enough along in my playthrough to be able to see any of the content yet, but supposedly it’s pretty good.

The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal - If you’re in for some Oblivion nostalgia.

Skyrim’s Unique Treasures - If you’re the collecting type.

Improved Closefaced Helmets - Better meshes for the closed-face headgear in the game.

Skill Book Overhaul - Adds more skill books to the game. I just added this one yesterday but so far I like it.

Royal Armory - Just added this one yesterday, too. Adds some unique weapons for certain prominent characters.

Unique Weapons Redone - Gives unique weapons actual unique appearances, rather than just looking like common weapons with added enchantments.

Recurve Longbows, Recurve Longbows - Dawnguard, Recurve Longbows - Dragonborn - Add longbows to the game. They do more damage and have a longer range, but the pullback time is longer, so it’s a nice balance. There’s also a really cool longbow you can get once you unlock the Dragonrend shout - it’s basically a longbow with an enchantment that has the same effect as the Dragonrend shout, and it’s great (especially if you have one of those More Dragons mods installed).

Diamond Smithing Collection - A series of mods for craftable gemstone weapons and armor.

Light Armor Hoods - Craftable hoods.

Thieves and Assassins - A Better Rewards and Treasure Mod - Makes it so the loot you find will be more oriented toward thief and assassin characters (light armor, daggers, bows, etc.). Nice if you’re like me and usually play the exact same type of character and have little use for heavy armor or two-handed weapons.

Player homes:

Elysium Estate - My favorite player home mod so far. It’s gorgeous and detailed, has toggle-able displays for unique items (Thieves Guild quest items, dragon claws, dragon priest masks, Daedric artifacts, etc.), a guest house for followers outside, planters outside for planting your own garden, tons of storage for specific items, a lot of bookshelves, a bunch of crafting stations in the basement (Skyforge/smelter/grindstone/workbench, alchemy and enchanting tables), its own cow and goat and chickens (they have names any everything and they’re coded as necessary NPCs, so you don’t have to worry about the constantly-spawning dragon in that area killing them). There’s a cute little backstory (it belonged to a gardener who worshiped Kynareth and is passing it on to the next worthy person) but there’s no quest to get it, you just have to read a note on the front door and find the key, so you can basically access it in the very beginning of the game. It’s also compatible with Hearthfire multiple adoptions, so there’s an option for six children’s beds.

Breezehome FullyUpgradable - This is my second-favorite player home mod, and it was my go-to before I found Elysium Estate. It adds a lot more storage, displays, etc., but my favorite thing about it was that it added a basement area with a library, a secret entrance accessible from a cave outside Whiterun, and crafting stations with autochests. Basically, when you access a specific storage container (smithing chest, alchemy ingredient bag, etc.) it automatically scans your inventory and gives you an option to automatically empty all applicable items into that container, rather than having to go through and put away each item yourself. It’s also hooked up to the crafting stations - so if you activate the forge/workbench/grindstone, it automatically adds everything from the smithing chest to your inventory, and then automatically puts it all back when you’re done. It’s pretty convenient.

Khajiit-related mods:

I basically always play a Khajiit, so I have a lot of mods specific to beast races.

Amazing Race Tweaks - Khajiit - Different passive race abilities for Khajiit. I also have this supplemental mod installed to cancel out the jumping bonus - jumping very high is fun but it takes twice as long to come back down and that was annoying for my impatient ass. (Amazing Race is a series btw, there are versions for other races besides Khajiit.) Also check out Passive Race Abilities.

Khajiit Speak - Complete Dialogue Overhaul - Makes playing as a Khajiit a LOT more immersive. It changes your dialogue choices to match the dialect of the rest of the Khajiit in the game (e.g. use of the third-person rather than the first-person), and also adds Khajiit-specific bits of lore (e.g. using the Khajiit names for the various gods). Also, lots of sarcasm - it’s pretty great.

Khajiit Ears Show - Headgear doesn’t hide the kitty ears. This is a TES5Edit script so it requires you to use that. I honestly have no clue what I’m doing with TES5Edit but I followed the instructions in the mod description and somehow got it to work, so… 

Coverkhajiits - More high res textures for Khajiit.

Digitigrade Beast Races - Gives Khajiit proper paws for feet. Also gives Argonians raptor feet. Compatible with the armor in the main game and DLC, but not always compatible with new armor from other mods.

Better Claws and Gauntlets - Actually see the claws on Argonians and Khajiit. Like above, not always compatible with armor added by other mods. And if you’re not wearing gauntlets, the claws usually don’t show.

Dawnguard Glowing Vampire Eye Fix - Lets Orc, Argonian, and Khajiit vampires have glowy vampire eyes.

Beast Skeletons - Adds Mer, Khajiit, and Argonian skulls and skeletons. Because it gets boring seeing only human skeletons everywhere. (It’s mostly lore-friendly, so you won’t come across a bunch of nonhuman skeletons in the ancient Nord burial sites or anything like that.)

[housebeleren]

Guilds of Ravnica Reprints & New Art

Guilds of Ravnica is an exciting set for a number of reasons, and not the least of those reasons is a chance to get all new art for some reprinted cards. It’s always one of my favorite parts of preview season: seeing which cards they picked for reprint, and ogling over the new art.

This time around, three reprinted cards kept their old art, which is a break from tradition for non-core standard sets. Chromatic Lantern, Goblin Electromancer, and Wee Dragonauts are all welcome reprints (Lantern in particular), but they all have somewhat iconic art already set on Ravnica, so it makes sense that new art wasn’t necessary.

As always, it critical to note that all Magic art is wonderful, and my preference for any one over another is just that: preference.

Let’s start with possibly my favorite piece of new art in Guilds of Ravnica. Honestly, this feels like somewhat of a random inclusion in the set, given that it doesn’t synergize or even particularly play well with any of the mechanics or guild strategies. That said, I’m absolutely stunned by this gorgeous piece of art by Igor Kieryluk. Igor has done a number of pieces for MTG over the years, and, for me, this will join the ranks as one of the most memorable and iconic. There’s a softness to this that’s powerful, evocative, and haunting. It’s beautiful.

He’s really good at these mist effects, no? Really fits into the film noir styling of the set.

Previous art (From now on, I’m just doing chronological, without ranking, but I’ll bold particular favorites of mine):

Guilds of Ravnica

Magic 2011

Y’know, I always feel like this card goes back way further than it actually does. First printing was in Ixalan, but it feels like a staple, and for good reason. This type of modal removal has been making a lot of appearances in Standard over the past few years, and I think they’ve been great successes. As for this art, it’s really a cool design. I love the perspective, with all the detail of the different city layers just barely visible below. The Ixalan version more clearly depicts action, but in some ways, the opposite is what makes the Guilds version shine. The calm in this piece is ominous, waiting for the strike with bated breath. Really excellent.

Simon Dominic is relatively new to MTG art, with a couple of pieces from Hour of Devastation being the first I could find. Even so, I really enjoy what he brings to the style. He’s got definite whimsy in his pieces (Experimental Frenzy is another of his from this set), and beautiful use of bold accent colors. His pieces have tons of detail, often with layers and layers of background to explore. Really fantastic.

Guilds of Ravnica

Ixalan

Dead Weight is a card with already existing art that’s pretty well known by Randy Gallegos. As much as I love that version, I find this new one by Lake Hurwitz to be really compelling. The perspective, with the ball & chain taking up so much space in the foreground, is really unique. And I love how well this evokes the spirit of the Rakdos cult, even though they’re not a major presence in this set. It’s a nice touch.

Guilds of Ravnica

Innistrad

I love this card. It plays really well in Guilds Limited, what with all the big Golgari & Selesnya cards running around. As far as the art goes, this new depiction is really flavorful. The Dimir slicing right through an Azorius statute is somehow both literal and figurative at the same time. I also really love the detail of the cathedral in the background on the right side. Amazing what can be done with such a monochromatic palette. Deruchenko Alexander has worked with monochromatic palettes before, just look at the gorgeous green jungle of Ornery Kudu or the ethereal purple light in Entreat the Dead. He also did the phenomenal Spell Pierce from Ixalan, one of the highlights from that set.

I do still love the original Khans of Tarkir version this one by Svetlin Velinov, with the Sultai Naga slicing through the Mardu banner. You can really feel the “disdain” in it. 

Guilds of Ravnica

FNM 2015 Promo

Khans of Tarkir

Giant Spiders show up in basically every set, and there’s only so much variety in them. I do love the ominous nature of this one, with the skeleton remains of its previous victims in the foreground. Really sets the “recluse” tone of the piece, a little more so than the Magic Origins original.

Mike Bierek gets a piece or two in just about every Magic set, and with good reason. Many iconic pieces belong to him, perhaps none more so than the current version of Sol Ring you’ll find in every Commander deck. More recently, he’s done the fabulous Nexus of Fate Buy-a-Box promo, and one of my favorite Guilds of Ravnica pieces, Artful Takedown.

Guilds of Ravnica

Magic Origins

I’ll admit, this reprint completely flew under the radar for me, probably because I never played during Judgment. Ol’ Ironshell here gets his first treatment in modern borders. Kev Walker tends to prefer these close up perspectives, with very minimal, hazy backgrounds. Rather than detail a cathedral facade, as in Disdainful Stroke above, Kev merely suggests such a building in the upper-left corner of the background.

The focus on the beetle plays well with the flavor text, lending to the feeling of whimsy present in a lot of Kev’s recent pieces. This is the space where I think he truly shines.

Guilds of Ravnica

Judgment

Another recent reprint. Looks like they’ve settled on the White Pacifism effect they want for Standard at this point. This version, by Mark Behm, has a slightly fuzzy, almost impressionistic feel to it, particularly in the treatment of the floor in this room. Again, the flavor text enhances the fun & whimsy of the card, making it clear this is a theme they’re trying to play up when they have the creative space to do so. I love the idea of the Azorius trying to codify how to handle all the various bizarre Simic creatures they end up having to detain in this world.

Guilds of Ravnica

Rivals of Ixalan

This is another card that goes way back, all the way back to Tempest block. I love when they can reprint cards like this as periodic staple effects, decades later. The art is a first-time inclusion by Heonhwa Choe, and it’s beautifully done. I love this look at the Gruul, and a taste of what we can expect more of in Ravnica Allegiance. This is probably my favorite version of this card, and I hope we see more from Heonhwa Choe in the future.

Guilds of Ravnica

Conflux

Invasion

Exodus

This card makes a ton of inclusion in this set, so win for whoever put it in the card file. This new art really evokes the concept of the art, that all the members of the Conclave are lending their power to a single champion in a time of need. The color scheme of rich greens with the pops of purple is really gorgeous, and reminds me of Alex Konstad’s Merfolk from Ixalan (check out Jade Bearer for a sense of what I mean.) But what I especially love about his work is the incredible sense of motion. Just browse through his card art, and it’s really amazing how dynamic his pieces feel, so you can really get a sense of the action that is taking place.

Guilds of Ravnica

Rise of the Eldrazi

Of all the cards I expected to see reprints in standard formats, Narcomoeba was never one I really considered. And yet, it’s a perfect fit for Guilds of Ravnica, thanks to the Surveil mechanic. While the original art was intentional in its ambiguous location & time, the new one puts the architecture of Ravnica on gorgeous display. Howard Lyon is a master, and it shows in this piece. This art looks like it’s taken directly out of dreams. It has the quality of a beautiful piece of art from children’s literature, and I mean that in all wonderful ways. I particularly love the inclusion of the fishing person and his cat, which enhance the dream-like quality of the piece. I kinda want everything in my life to be done in this color palette.

Guilds of Ravnica

Future Sight

And yet again, the grand saga of Creature A vs. Creature B on Prey Upon art continues! This time, it’s some sort of Faerie vs a Giant Spider! (Maybe a Hitchclaw Recluse?) I do love the perspective on this one, staring up from the deepest bowels of the undercity. G-Host Lee has only done a handful of pieces for Magic (1 each set starting with Rivals of Ixalan), but they’re all excellent. One common threat I see with them is a great use of distance & perspective. Check out Storm Fleet Sprinter to really get a sense of what I mean. I definitely hope to see more G-Host art in the coming sets. As for Prey Upon, I like just about every version of this staple, but this one is one of my favorites.

Guilds of Ravnica

Explorers of Ixalan

Aether Revolt

Eldritch Moon

Innistrad

Righteous Blow is a card we haven’t seen in a while, though there are a lot of similar effects running around. This art by Izzy is really interesting, with the light source seemingly emanating from the weapon strike itself, as if they’re fighting in an otherwise dark space. I love a lot of Izzy’s art (such as the fabulous Radical Idea for this very set), but for this particular piece, I think I prefer the original by Clint Cleary.

Guilds of Ravnica

Avacyn Restored

Wizards seems to have taken the “Penis Wurm” issue seriously, since all the Wurms in Guilds of Ravnica have a decidedly less penis-like design to them. Siege Wurm showed up first in the Original Ravnica, and has been the poster-child for Convoke ever since. I really like this version by Filip Burburan, and it’s consistent with his “all of the teeth” aesthetic. (Seriously, the new Tarmogoyf for UMA is peak Burburan at its best.) Again, this piece also ties in nicely with the flavor text to create that more lighthearted tone that permeates the set.

Guilds of Ravnica

Ravnica: City of Guilds

Skyknight has been the signature Boros Common since its debut, and that’s not going to change this time around. It’s great to see Chase Stone making a Limited Common, since he is frequently tapped for Mythics, iconic characters & story moments. I love the vista of the city that you see here, though it didn’t read super well on card size, so it’s great to see the larger image here. The action of the knight, standing in the stirrups, gives the piece a ton of energy and excitement. One other thing I particularly like is the color palette of the piece. Previous Skyknights were aggressively Red/Orange in their artwork. Sometimes I like the art clearly evoking the “card color,” but sometimes it looks contrived. Here, he lets the Red & White of the Knight’s armor, the rooftops, & the Roc do the color-indicating work, while keeping the sky & clouds in a realistic palette. It really just elevates the whole piece. My only wish would be to see just a touch more of the mount he’s on, but I get that the focus is intentionally on the rider. 

Guilds of Ravnica

Gatecrash

Ravnica: City of Guilds

The whimsy is real. Someone did a really great job pairing the art descriptions & flavor text in this set. This art gets better the longer I look at it. No surprise, Steve Argyle is the shit. Nuff said.

Guilds of Ravnica

Ixalan

Battle for Zendikar

Wall of Mist is a relatively new card, but it seems poised for staple status. This new art, by Tianhua X, has that surreal, dream-like quality that permeates this set. I love the tall spires climbing out of the mist. Tianhua X is relatively new to Magic Art, starting with some exquisite lands from Battle for Zendikar. He excels at creating pieces with unique perspectives, often slanted or climbing up at extreme angles. They heighten the sense of the fantastical in pieces like this, when at its core it’s simply fog in a city. Beautifully done.

Guilds of Ravnica

Core Set 2019

The Guildgates are all excellent this time around. I love the “front door/back door” design, as it helps to showcase different aspects of each of the guilds. They’re all really gorgeously done.

Guilds of Ravnica

Return to Ravnica

And finally, the shock lands. What trip to Ravnica would be complete without these? The art keeps getting better and better, and I don’t think any two exemplify this better than Temple Garden & Overgrown Tomb. The rich autumn colors in the Selesnya art is absolutely stunning, and I love the stone statues in the tomb, signaling the era of Vraska. Really beautiful pieces all around.

Guilds of Ravnica

Return to Ravnica

Ravnica: City of Guilds

Whew. So that’s it. Those are the reprints that got new art in Guilds of Ravnica. I’ll try to touch on some of the other noteworthy art on new cards in a future post.