#I do still love mtg though

[jeff-from-marketing]

Surprise! It’s not a TTRPG post! ... it’s just another tabletop game instead (I swear I’ll have other things at some point, but I do not control the brain)

In the midst of all the “Wizards of the Coast is the worst” fuckery (and a sentiment that is well justified might I add) I wanna talk about my favourite card game: Magic the Gathering.

I have a very long history with Magic the Gathering, I’ve been playing it since I was very young, usually by playing decks that family members and friends had put together. First set I got into was all the way back in Origins, and the store owner at the time (quick tangent to say: support your local tabletop stores) was kind enough to throw in an old battered box just filled with Tarkir cards to help me get into the game more. Sure at the end of the day they probably weren’t going to sell those cards anyway, and giving them to a newbie as a gesture of goodwill is still a business move, but it’s a kind one and one I support. 

Anyway, that nonsense preamble before the actual recipe aside: I’ve been playing for a long time, and I do genuinely love the game. As someone who absolutely fucking adores theory crafting builds in games and tweaking shit in just about every game I play, Magic is absolutely a dream for me in that regard. Combined with some absolutely gorgeous art, and you have a recipe for a game where I’m like “yup, I’m sold.” Even if I’m not building a deck that’s meta or competitive (because I’mma be honest, that ain’t my thing at all) I absolutely adore finding just one card and being like “oh, I could have some fun with this” and building up decks around a theme. 

Now I’m not 100% clueless on the issues Magic has. I’ll admit, I’m not as in touch with the community and the controversies around it as I am with D&D as of late, but I still keep an eye on things every now and then. But honestly the more recent things aren’t what’s giving me pause at the moment, but they did give me an excuse to sit down and think some things through.

I’ll preface this with one simple thing: I’m not going to stop playing MtG anytime soon. I still find the game very fun, and it’s still very important to me personally. However, I am changing how I’m engaging with it. While the recent controversies definitely don’t help their case, that’s not actually what’s making me pull the trigger. No, the reason for that can be described in two words:

Booster Packs.

I realise I’ve probably elicited one of two reactions from people. One is probably “ah yeah that checks out” and the other is probably “what the heck is wrong with booster packs?” Given how long they’ve been a staple in TCGs, and not just Magic, I would absolutely understand questioning that thought. In fact I would encourage that anyway. So, what’s my problem with booster packs then if they’re such a staple in the genre? Well, my answer is simple: they’re the original lootboxes. While the game industry was in a spot of bother about lootboxes when Blizzard popularised them (even though TF2 and CS:GO did it first) and EA villainised them, the TCG scene was doing basically the exact same thing for decades at that point. I’m not saying this to mean “oh lootboxes aren’t that bad because TCGs have had basically the same thing for decades,” if anything I’m saying the complete opposite. Lootboxes are fucking awful, they’re just straight up gambling at worst and a thinly veiled skinnerbox mechanic at best. If people are so upset at lootboxes, they should be just as upset at booster packs. But they’re not. There’s entire events based around them! 

So why am I only just now coming to this thought, at least a decade after I started playing? Well the recent WotC controversies have put a bit of a spotlight on their business practices in general, but no. What did it for me is their online platform for Magic, Magic Arena. In that game, the parallel between booster packs and lootboxes is even more cut and dry. Hell, they even do the Blizzard thing of “here, have some lootboxes every now and then for free as a reward for playing the game, keep playing to earn more!” as a skinnerbox mechanic, while also encouraging you to buy additional booster packs on top of that. Now you can do that with in game currency, but guess what? That’s more grinding, back to the skinnerbox you go! Plus it’s coupled with my most beloathed recent addition to shitty monetisation practices: a battle pass. Now don’t worry, even if you don’t get the exact cards you want from a booster pack, you can acquire individual cards of your choice... after you open a bunch of booster packs beforehand. Y’see where I’m going here? The entire game revolves around so many psychological hooks designed to get you to pay and keep playing well after you’ve stopped enjoying the game. And I did actually stop enjoying the game playing it like that. Grinding out game after game against opponents who almost entirely play whatever deck gets them the quickest win just to get their rewards (because you get literally nothing for losing). Even playing with friends became a struggle, because I’d often go “oh I have a great idea for a deck!” and then have my spirits crushed at how much I’d have to grind (or the obscene amounts of money I’d have to pay) just to even try it out to see if it works.

Booster packs absolutely suck the fun out of what should be a game that’s filled with fun things to do. I refuse to support lootboxes in games, so I have to do the same for booster packs. Luckily, it’s still entirely possible to play MtG without booster packs.

I recently discovered Tabletop Simulator works surprisingly well for MtG, and you can just import a deck you’ve made from any deck building website with little to no hassle. No need to open a bunch of boosters, no need to grind out games you don’t enjoy just to get an extra card or two to maybe finish a deck, you can just play right then and there! This has absolutely rekindled my love of the game. And besides, flipping the entire table is a lot more fun than just simply hitting concede if someone comes up with an absolutely ridiculous combo. I genuinely recommend it if you’re looking into ways to play Magic.

Though the big question to all this is: if booster packs are so awful (which they are) then what’s the solution?

Honestly... I don’t have one. Obviously companies aren’t going to just stop without someone else stepping in, but I don’t know what the best way to do that would be. I don’t know what to actually replace them with. I just know that, if they ever are replaced, they need to be replaced with something that doesn’t involve gambling; something where you can know exactly what you’re getting before you buy it. 

[scatterpatter]

What if I presented a whole complicated Megaman Classic AU except I didn't give a SHRED of context

Haha, just kidding!

... Unless?

No these aren't being presented in the order they were drawn in but they ARE presented in AU-timeline chronological order so like im at least a LITTLE kind with throwing these all at youse

[starlit-mansion]

after missing out on half of my plans in october. the lost caverns of ixalan prerelease event later this month is holding up so much load bearing weight for my social life

[markrosewater]

Hi Mark. With a lot of talk recently in the online space about the unreasonable outrage and horrendous death threats towards the Commander Rules Committee and Commander Advisory Group, I want to thank you for being the proverbial "shield" for some of the most heinous and grotesque backlash towards WOTC as the unofficial public representative for MTG. I know it can be absolutely draining for your mental health to receive harassment in this position, so I just want to say I am grateful and empathize that you are in this position. With that being said, as one of the most prominent faces of Magic, is it possible if you could say a word or two about the aforementioned harassment towards the RC and CAG to deter these harassers and possibly share your own experiences regarding unconstructive hate to help the victims of such depravity (if you're comfortable sharing)?

There are advantages and disadvantages of being one of the faces for Magic. When people like something we're doing, even when I had nothing to do with it, I get lots of praise. Most players only know a handful of Wizards employees, so they tend to assume that the people they know are responsible for the things that are happening.

There is, of course, a downside to that. When things happen people dislike, I'm also the light rod for complaint. Whether or not I had anything to do with the issue in question, I get the blame. I am Head Designer. Many times, I did have a hand or a say in what happened. And when I'm responsible, or partly responsible, for something, I try to own up to it.

Players are not a unified front though. When we do thing X, some of you will like it while others will not. I often will get complimented for the same thing I'm being yelled at for.

From time to time, we do something a majority are unhappy with. At times, we do things a majority are *very* unhappy with. That's when things can get a bit ugly. There are a lot of civilities built into daily life. There are just things you don't do or say to another human being. Most of that goes out the window online.

For some reason, the anonymity combined with just how social media has evolved has emboldened people to do and say things they never would in person (and I should also acknowledge society has changed in ways that even what's acceptable in person has changed).

What this means is I get a lot of negativity, some of it very personal. I'm not just talking about people criticizing the in-game choices I've made (or often didn't even make), but comments on me as a person, about who I am and what they think of me. People tell me that want bad things to happen to me. Not just getting fired (although that's a popular one), people vocalize, sometimes quite graphically, about things they want to happen to me.

The first few times this happened, I took it pretty hard. Having lots of people attack you online, saying horrible things about you, is tough. Humans look to other humans for approval. It's just built into our DNA to want others to like us. Having people attack you hurts. You have trouble sleeping, eating, it just weighs on you emotionally.

I was bullied as a kid. This really isn't much different except its much higher in volume and very public.

With time, I learned to adapt to it. It's not that I enjoy people saying nasty things about me. It still sucks, but I've found ways to process it. I came to realize that someone being nasty is more a commentary on them than me. And I adopted a philosophy of looking past the words to the message behind it. Most people complaining didn't like a choice we made about the game. I could focus on the feedback and less on the delivery method. But that took years, and it has a lot to do with who I am as a person. I enjoy the things I get to do with a public profile, so I accept what comes with it.

I've made the conscious choice to build a thick skin and weather social media, so I can continue doing what I love. It saddens me that I have to.

I say all this because I don't know if people really process the harm they're doing when they get negative online, especially towards another person. Most people do not have the years of processing angry messages like I do.

Words have an impact and that doesn't matter whether you're speaking them directly to someone's face or typing them in the privacy of your home.

Bullying is not okay. Cruelty is not okay. Making a conscious choice to belittle another human being, especially because they made a choice you disagree with about a game, is not okay.

When you use ugly words, you are doing harm to another human being (sometimes many human beings). Imagine if someone attacked you like that, or a loved one, or a friend. Don't do something to another human being that would cause pain if it was done to you.

That doesn't mean you can't communicate unhappiness. It doesn't mean you can't vocalize that you disagree with a decision made. I would stress two things. One, make it about the decision and not the person who made the decision. Explain why and how the decision impacts you, not what you think of the person because they made the decision.

Two, watch your language. As I said above, words have power. They can be used to build or to destroy. Is the language you're using designed to hurt? If so, don't use it. Use other language. If you need to take time to calm down, do so.

Community is what we as individuals choose for it to be. One of the things I love about the Magic community is how kind it can be, how accepting it can be, how uplifting it can be. But that's because we each individually choose to do that. The Magic community can get ugly, but only if we allow it to become so.

So please, the next time you're making a message designed to do something destructive rather than constructive, take a moment to reflect. Why are you doing this? What is your goal? Is it your intent to hurt someone? Because that's what negative language does.

I ask the Magic community to be better. I know we have the potential. I've seen it.

Be part of the solution, not the problem.

Thanks.

[littleplasticrat]

Behind the canvas: Painting 'Finally getting that drink'

This is a post about some of my thoughts while painting Rugan's pin-up for this month. Some technical ideas, rambling and mild nudity below the cut.

Inspo and references

The pin-ups of Gil Elvgren are on the left, and 'Elspeth Resplendent' by Anna Steinbauer is on the right.

Elvgren is one of my favourite artists and I spent some time looking through a book of his collected work to see what ideas I could take for this pin-up project. The things that jumped out at me were:

The women felt like 'subjects' rather than 'objects'. There's some implication of hobbies, an inner life. They're often in the middle of doing something when they're captured on the canvas.

The subjects know they're being looked at, and they are taking it as an opportunity to flirt (signalled through eye contact, coquettish facial expressions and body language). It feels like a conversation between viewer and viewed.

Parts of the body may be exposed, but the eye is drawn back and forth between the subject's face and more titillating parts of the image.

I knew that I wanted to show Rugan in a similar setup, then; in this case, he's halfway through dinner and then catches sight of the viewer. His eye contact and smirk are flirtatious and mirror what you see of him in Act 1.

I initially wanted the pose to mirror Elspeth's in this beautiful Magic the Gathering planeswalker art by Anna Steinbauer, whose work I am obsessed with. Since I started taking art seriously, it's been my goal to paint for MtG, so I often try to study from artists whose illustrations I admire.

However, I didn't want to copy her pose or the composition of the piece. Don't get me wrong, I'm not above doing this - but I felt it just didn't work with the subject. The horizon line (shown in red) is very low. This is a gnome-level view of Elspeth. And I didn't want to place the viewer at the eye level of Rugan's penis.

I kept the composition similar in some other aspects though - there's still a T shape (pale green) that draws the eye to the focal point (pink). I did some sketches where Rugan is leaning forwards/sideways in the same way as Elspeth is, but I feel that this final leaning-back pose demonstrates more dominant body language and allows me to paint the musculature of his torso in more detail. This acts almost as a 'ladder' that draws the viewer's eye up and down between the two focal points of the nude variant.

Painting

I've already said quite a lot on a post that was supposed to be short, so I'll keep it brief here and write more about the painting of Gortash and Raphael (February and March respectively).

It's been quite a while since I've tackled such a detailed painting, so I had to do some research/studies to remind myself of some helpful rendering rules:

Veins beneath pale skin might look blue, but they're actually just a desaturated version of the same colour. There are other parts of this image where the veins are particularly lovely. I'll leave that to your imagination.

2. Highlights on leather are not as saturated as you'd expect until you get to the most reflective part of the material. Also, a good texture brush can work wonders.

3. I try to use as few layers as possible when painting, but I remembered the importance of putting design detail on a separate Multiply layer. Multiply allows the layer to modify/darken the layers below, so you can more easily add detail that follows the shape of the object. For example, the body hair or the snake's head going over the chest. If I were painting traditionally, I'd have had to put in a lot more effort. With Multiply layers, it's one colour. Nice! I got a great tip from @dustdeepsea about the blue-ish tint that tattoos, particularly older ones, can get. I felt like this massive tat is not something that Rugan has had done recently, so I added a Gaussian blur as well.

Well, if you got this far, thanks for reading! This is a great way for me to reflect and record what I've learned from the painting. I want to paint sexy stuff, but I also want to keep improving as an artist!

Keep an eye out for updates on my next pin-up, who will be Lord Enver Gortash. Time to practice using my hair/fur brushes 🥵🥵

[inventors-fair]

Settling at the Top: Hybrid Legend Winners ~

Our winners this week are @grornt, @horsecrash, and @izzet-always-r-versus-u!

@grornt — Vhati en-Dal

Someone never read the Weatherlight saga story—and that someone is me. Whoops. Hard to imagine a point at which novels were the main way to consume MTG lore and whatnot, but that hardly matters now that we have this moment of defection. I guess the only issue is that this card feels split from the timeline more than it is an alternate timeline—i.e. this is the card that could've followed instead of Diabolic Edict. That said, there's the placement of where a timeline truly becomes an alternate one, and I really don't want to get into the semantics of it. Vhati deserves differently.

And what a card you've made of it, too. The lifelink overlap is pretty low-hanging fruit for WB hybrid but that doesn't mean that it ain't still awesome. Utilizing tokens is one of the ways that this becomes significantly better, and Ball Lightning-types would absolutely love to have this card in their arsenal. With the card draw, it's definitely a bend in white, but not so much a bend that it's not understandable. Limited draw with something that white cares about is more than enough to see it through. As both a potential commander, a good limited build-around/utility card, and a neat mechanical callback, I'm really happy with the design sensibilities on display here.

@horsecrash — Sythis, Havoc's Hand

I think the shorthand works here, because honestly, the only thing throwing me off is the fact that some cards like Karametra's Blessing add a whole lot of words in there. Not that this card is hard to grok my any means, but it's a lot of text and there's only so much I'm willing to encourage adding for the sake of specificity. Let's back up. Mechanically, this is a limited powerhouse and I can imagine the work that it would do in a heroic-style standard/pioneer shell for sure. Double strike is rather powerful, but in-pie for both colors, and ramping up auras, flash enchantments, upper-curve creatures—pretty crazy powerful but only as much as a body can be.

What's interesting here is the difference in the flavor from Theros' usual fare. I can picture this moment where schwoop, planeswalkers gets taken to an alternate timeline or something, and the once-peaceful Sythis was created with a little too much wildness in her. Touching the monstrous wilds imbued her with the power to protect through force. It's a bit of a departure from Akroan valor, and yet there's a cool concept there about everything in Theros being topsy-turvy. What happened to the rest of the plane and the gods? What happened to that devotion to have the Nyxian entities suddenly change their form? Great use of the prompt.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Winota, Martial Force

You, on the other hand, can go to your room and think about what you've done. Good grief, this card is heartbreaking. Like, in terms of alternate universes or whatever, there's now a world where the once-revered bonder Winota is a stoic, severe, militant figure who uses her powers to destroy the creatures that she once would have loved. That activated ability... I'm honestly a little unsettled! Perhaps Winota still has that bonding ability, turning monsters against each other for the sake of Drannith. Unless I'm reading that very wrong, anyway. Our timeline's Vivian meeting this timeline's Winota wouldn't end well.

I don't think that much is going to end well for your opponent if you manage to land a Winota on board either. Creating non-Human tokens with things like Resolute Reinforcements or Anim Pakal ensures that the sacrifice will get all the indestructible that you need (except for Winota herself, good balance) in the competitive Human shell. Limited will make almost all your humans so much better, and on-board removal is always incredibly powerful. Mythic legends are both of those things for a reason, though. I think that this is pushed but far from unbalanced. I also appreciate how the similar abilities/triggers utilize completely different play patterns than the original Winota.

Great job, everyone. Runners coming up. @abelzumi

[thecursivej]

SOTU - 2024

Well, I'm forcing myself to watch the State of the Union while I grade speeches, so I figured I'd record my reactions and thoughts here.

Do I hope for the words "Immediate Ceasefire"? Absolutely. Will we get them? Looking at the track record, probably not. But I remain optimistic because otherwise I'd be six feet under by now; ANYWHO here is a list of my reactions/thoughts/general feelings of the evening's watch.

I do want to give a point of clarity: I technically am identified as a democrat; truly, I'm a socialist, but seeing as how the U.S. is stuck in this godforsaken two-party-system, that is where I am. Though both sides have me feeling very french-revolutionary-esque.

Of course the first thing I see if MTG rifling through her purse on screen. I quite literally despise her.

AP is discussing Ukraine's need for weapons and funding; I would truly rather us align with Ukraine than Isr@el. I will stand unapologetically firm for Palestine and Ukraine.

Who is actually in the cabinet? I know Blinken, Garland, and Buttiegeg. Damn, wish he was running again. Would rather have him than Biden.

How insane is it that the Sec. of Defense didn't even let the White House know that he had to go in for surgery because of cancer. Like, that's just bonkers to me.

Republicans truly look like fucking robots right now. No warm greetings, no hellos, simple nods.

Republicans out here wasting fucking time with that impeachment of Mayorkas. Like how about we house the homeless populations with the money they wasted on this circus.

Oh funky fresh look at the Ultra-Mormon(TM) Mitt Romney.

MTG with that stupid fucking MAGA hat on is just... disgusting. Like this bitch is crazy.

Okay Joe, speed it up down the fucking aisle please. I got papers to grade.

Lowkey Joe looks like he might have had a five-hour energy drink with that big-ole look in his eyes.

I do appreciate that Joe still smiles and is kind to MTG. She truly doesn't deserve it.

Okay this is getting just a wee bit too monarchy for me.

MTG holds up a button saying "Laken Riley..." (couldn't read the rest). Riley was a 14 year old girl murdered by a man who was an illegal immigrant of venezuela, and instead of handling this situation with grace, empathy, and love; MTG and others seem to be capitalizing on her death to push their anti-immigration rhetoric.

Okay, cool selfie skills Joe, but let's get on with it.

ALSO HOW IS JOE BIDEN GONNA BE SO IN DEPTH WITH TECH AND "Savvy" WITH IT WHEN MOTHERFUCKER WANTS TO BAN TIKTOK!? Hello?!

BERNIE AND RAPHAEL! I feel like I haven't seen these guys in 10 million years.

Oh thank god we're starting.

Aww the little hand shake thingy he does with Kamala makes my heart happy.

Did Joe just yell "tony"?!

Wow, even got some republicans clapping for him (probs not a good thing but here we are)

Okay, good bit of humor at the top; and a throwback to the 40s. Funky fresh.

Yeah we ain't living in ordinary times for damn sure.

Interesting point of democracy being attacked here in the U.S. AND Internationally. (Mentions Ukraine and Putin; no word on Gaza yet).

Someone busted out a Ukrainian flag and shook it; rock on.

OH SHIT HE GOT MIKE JOHNSON TO CLAP!

Appreciate the insistance that the U.S. won't send troops to UKR.

Good use of Reagan to connect with the Repubs; and compare to the predecessor (aka Tr*mp).

Mike Johnson nodding instead of clapping about the predecessor comment, trying to save his ass in Orange Man's eyes.

Welcome to NATO, Sweden!

If there is one thing that should connect Democrats and Republicans; it's hatred for Putin. Yet there's a mix of Repubs standing in agreement and sitting to back up the predecessor's comment on Putin doing "whatever the hell he wants"

Talking about Jan 6. What breaks my heart? My parents still believe it wasn't an insurrection. Yikes on Bikes for me.

The line "You can't love your country only when you win" hits hard and even got Mike Johnson to applaud in agreement.

Foreign AND Domestic. Need a hefty focus on that with the right-wing republican group (@ MTG, Gaetz, Cruz, etc.)

Discussing IVF in Alabama; good connection to the overturning of Rowe v. Wade. It sucks that Republicans HAVE THE POWER to protect IVF nationally but shot the damn bill down not even a week ago.

ABORTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT. BODILY AUTONOMY IS A HUMAN. FUCKING. RIGHT. (@ The Missouri Senators who support taking away bodily autonomy).

WOMEN AREN'T WITHOUT ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL POWER; WE ABOUT TO TURN UP IN FORCE MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Bring back the strats from the 1900s; time to use our power and go bonkers.

Someone get Joe a glass of water please. Motherfucker looks a bit parched and keeps coughing. I get that when my throat goes dryyy

Can Biden not restore RvW? Can he not by an executive order make RvW the law of the land already?

Revisiting COVID's start from 2020 (Next week is the four year anniversary since the global pandemic).

PFFT idk who just yelled "LIES" but that was comical AF.

Well, the pandemic still controls a big part of our lives... so...don't agree with that shit.

Man, everyone sitting-and-standing must be getting a HELLA calf work out.

Sure, unemployment is down and new jobs are built; but corporate greed is quite literally killing us. Can Congress or Biden do something, damn it?!

Are we beginning to feel it, though? Are we feeling good economics? I doubt we are.

Good job pointing out how both parties have failed to buy american products, but how this admin has established that.

There's a good two rows of Republicans who stand in applause; but the rest just... sit there. Like robots. It's freaky as fuck.

Joe is actually doing pretty great with the flow of this speech. Only a couple of stumbles, but overall pretty gucci. (He'd get a 9/10 on delivery in my public speaking class).

God these fuckers are really gonna make me run for office at this damn point.

Removing poisonous lead pipes... but there's still a water crisis in Flint, Biden. Like, what the fuckeroni do you mean?

Yes, let's invest in family farms; lets stop selling our farmland (especially in Missouri) to foreign countries (@ China buying up TONS of Missouri Farmland).

I love that the UAW president is here, because he straight up is my kind of people. Dude wears eat-the-rich shirts and calls out the unethical-ness of billionaires.

UAW President pointing to Biden saying "It's you!"; nah dawg, it's you Sean.

MIDDLE CLASS DID BUILD THE COUNTRY AND UNIONS BUILT THE MIDDLE CLASS MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

Yes we get back up but right now...we might be getting more french revolutionary-esque if y'all don't stop PLAYING WITH OUR LIVES.

Oh jesus not the 4-more-years chants.

Oh now we talking about the future

YES PLEASE END TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMIES.

Says he's not anti-corp; but points out how trickle down economics has only helped the wealthy.

Yeah, how the fuck does it hurt the wealthy to pay just a weeee bit more in taxes? Like dawg, what are you gonna do with another million? What's the point?

Ooooh is Biden about to rope the repubs into some bipartisan shit? Please do.

What is Republicans huge issue with capping insulin? Truly? Who does it harm? Billionaires still get billions.

[mk-writes-stuff]

Get to Know the Writeblr Questionnaire

Rules: answer the questions!

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks and @willtheweaver for the tags :)

Basics

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I’ve had a tumblr for like… six months now? It’s been a writeblr for four or five of those

What led you to create it?

I don’t remember why I made the account originally. I made it into a writeblr because I wanted someplace to ramble about my first original WIP in like five years

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

Y’all are so friendly and supportive! I love how nice people are and every comment I get :)

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I jump around between projects more than I’d like. I swear I am still working on Seven Stations, I’m just also doing a bit of other stuff and being hella busy, which is why I haven’t made much progress on it. I haven’t forgotten it, I swear!

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

Can’t think of much, I’m pretty happy. I do love polls though. Something about clicking buttons makes the brain go brrrrrr

WIPs

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Always Seven Stations and Pirates’ Roost. They never leave me. I do also have another fanfic short I’m working on because it possessed my brain, but that’s a very short-term project

How long have you been working on them?

Seven Stations (the original idea) is about five months old now. Pirates’ Roost has existed in one form or another for about four years, and has existed in its current form for about two. My random short is a week old lol

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Seven Stations was inspired by the concept of “lesbian noblewoman and her bodyguard who hates her enemies to lovers in space fantasy.” Pirates’ Roost was inspired by my obsession with Magic: the Gathering and started taking shape in its current form when my gf introduced me to her OC Merry and decided to move him to Ixalan. My short is inspired by the fact that I can’t stop thinking about Star Wars: the Clone Wars

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Uh. A lot. My WIPs are my special interest, so probably at least several hours a day

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

“Fantasy and sci-fi.” Sometimes if we’re in a longer conversation I’ll give them a little Seven Stations blurb, although it rarely goes longer than “space fantasy political drama on a set of space stations”

Characters

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Oh boy, okay. This is interesting because my gf created or had such a strong creative influence on so many of the characters I write about that I can’t lay claim to a lot of them. But here’s some that I at least came up with the initial baseline for, although she’s probably had her influence on most of them too (I can’t exactly remember for sure but I’m pretty sure on these ones):

Seven Stations: Belladonna, Cassie, Cassiopeia, Stellaris, Ricinus, Goldenrod

Pirates’ Roost: Len, Favin, Finley Albertson, Julian, Kiali, Morrigan, Skipper

Other MTG: Amaranthe, Viveri “Viv” Evern, Andreia Kozlov, Salas Nivar, Tendrii Lenira, Sorcil, Adana, Estrill, Astrilla, Valentine, Remi, Kaine Belnatsky, Ettie Strubins

Other fandoms: Brin Damson, Baresh, Trax

Other original characters: Celestine, Maia, Fellise, Rhea, Ashlin, Medlar, Dravite, Rokku, Falcon, Jesker

There are definitely more but there’s a sampling :)

Who’s the most unhinged?

For Seven Stations, it’s Cassie. In general, Viv and Astrilla are probably vying for the top slot. I haven’t introduced y’all to them but they’re both CRACKED

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Once again it’s Cassie. And Stellaris, he’s very relatable

Do you ever cringe at them?

All the damn time

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

They refuse to cooperate on a semi-regular basis. I can usually tell when I’m fighting to justify the action I want them to do. That means it’s time for a change-up

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

Literally anytime for any reason. I love it. Asks and reblog dare my favourite, but I’m not picky :)

Interaction

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I follow writeblrs if I like the look of their stuff enough that I want it on my dash

What makes you decide against following?

Anything that makes me uncomfortable (ranging anywhere from weird takes to content I just don’t like). Or if I’m just not vibing with their stuff. But sometimes I miss cool blogs too because I don’t have time to check out everything

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Not super often because I don’t often see their stuff but I’m not opposed to it. Feel free to come chat with me even if you’re not my mutual :)

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Oh yeah. Both the people who tagged me in this have characters I think about. But also @illarian-rambling has phenomenal OCs - Sepo lives in my brain on the little shelf of my favourite traumatized fictional little guys

This was a fun game! @somethingclevermahogony @nixwithapen @touloserlautrec want to play? Blanks below the cut :)

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine! What led you to create it? What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community? What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you? Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash? Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately? How long have you been working on them? Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started? How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them? When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say? Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like! Who’s the most unhinged? Who comes the most naturally for you to write? Do you ever cringe at them? How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others? Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc. What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes? What makes you decide against following? Do you interact with non-mutuals often? Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

[syntheticmortal]

I got tagged by the lovely @crownedinmarigolds! Thank you so much mate!! I'm absolutely charmed 🥰

Now my rat bastard spouse stole most of my tagging options on their post so to not double-tag I will add:

@skaerdir, @klaciate, @tzimizce and @vamp-orwave!!

If anyone who sees this wants to be an honourary tagee, then go for it XD

For those who don't know - Hi I am Alex! (He/They) and I'm a writer and an English immigrant to the USA!

3 ships: oh mate all of these are OCxOC with @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n

Victor and Gloria – A Nos and his unbound Ghoulfriend. Making your touchstone one of your mission Ghouls is dangerous af but live fast love hard, lads.

Jeff and Lamb – Another of Vic's unbound Ghouls and the Thin Blood Nos that joined the Warren. Disgustingly fucking cute injected into the den of the rejected and disgruntled.

Ventan/Taakur Rig and Rozanin Rig – My and Daz's SWTOR PCs respectively. A Chiss Cipher Agent that ends up having to go hide with his Mandalorian hireling with her Clan and Roz's unrequited love becomes hella requited and suddenly Ventan/Cipher Five-now-Taakur has step kids??

I love it so much.

first ship: Oh god this takes me back to being little. Probably a Sonic one??

Shadow and Rouge if I had to take a guess??

last song: Temptation by Sean Paul! A proper bop

But honestly massive shout out to the second Nostalgia Synthwave mix by Odysseus on youtube

This thing keeps me sane, and has all the songs marked! – that opening one, Realign by Cerulean, can usually just melt my brain into peace whenever I hear it

last film: Snatch – Like VTMB it's a problematic fave that oozes style and characterisation throughout. Watched it as prep for a Setite I'm going to play in a V5 game >:D

currently reading: Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan as part of genre research. Finished The Vampyre recently too! Really I should pick AC up today, I've been working hard on my editing and outlining of my own pieces and neglecting the reading part of the craft for a few weeks >.>;

currently craving: So I'm drinking far less booze to save money whilst I'm out of work trying to get some Proper Writing done. So when I hit a good worthy milestone I'm getting a bottle of whiskey and I am ready.

fav color: Green! Sometimes purple!

relationship status: Maaarriiied to @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n

last google search: I had to double check the spelling of Taakur for the ship section, so it was 'mandoa' :')

and before that I'm pretty use I searched Scryfall last night to go look at MTG cards even though I have no one to play with right now :'D (at least it's saving me money >.>)

current obsessions: Was tempted to add my own work here but I'll tag that on the very end XD

There's a lot of fandoms I don't leave – World of Darkness and Warhammer 40k predominantly as settings I always have another angle I want to see explored in!

I do however have the Magic the Gathering bug, even though I haven't really played in years and years now – but card interaction as a generation for narrative has always kind of captivated me? Like there's a couple big mean Ogre cards that make Rats more dangerous, but due to the way the systems work they also empower the Ratfolk of Kamigawa, the Nezumi, as they count as 'Rat' cards still. So big Ogre spellcasters improving Rat people as part of a contained bit of narrative kind of fascinates me as a concept.

Plus each deck presupposes a Planeswalker character who's casting those spells – and I was always intrigued by that notion and so most of my OCs are representative of decks I played (or wanted to :P) and then in turn each Planeswalker needs a Plane to come from, probably from a still existing culture on that Plane too, and so it can kind of wonderfully reverberate inspiration.

Like how every VTM Kindred OC presupposes a Sire!

BONUS ALEX SECTION

So if you want to get to know me, let me tell you about what writing I'm working on/have made recently.

Out now!

The Mutilation of Finley Reid

A short story of masculine horror, about a young man by the name of Finley who suffers in the pursuit of having his place as a man affirmed by his peers.

The world of Torranham Nights is an anachronistic reflection of England set in the coastal city state of Torranham, drawing from contemporary culture and folklore as well as the legends and reality of the cultures that came before – without being fetishistic about it like a lot of stories will.

Handle It

A short retail horror, about working the cash register of a butcher's counter, and the customer who orders increasing amounts of ground beef...

Inspired by my own work in a same spot, anyone who's done service work should get a kick out of this – plus it's free and only takes 20 minutes to read! XD

On the way!

Defector – name subject to change

A short story of grief, shame, suicidal ideation, alcoholism, and community. On the moon.

A Special Recon mech pilot, “Crash”, from Earth has defected to the Moon rebels, and now lives in Magnolia City, rotting away in her tiny apartment. Then the Provisional Government sends one of its elite commanders, a former enemy of Crash's, to pull her out.

Elhart: Arrival

The first of a short story fantasy anthology about a city of refugees at the edge of time and space, hiding from the end of the multi-planar universe. A super soldier has washed up with a near-fatal headwound and no memory, and she must learn to live in a far more peaceful world than the one her instincts suggest she came from. But who was she? And can she earn the trust of people who fear her potential to kill?

Neon Sun

A novel! Cyberpunk Vampires! If we're mutuals you can come ask about this but I'm not ready to share things too publicly for this one yet, but the outlining has gone beautifully in my opinion, and the worldbuilding is singing.

Speartip

I'm making a TTRPG!! It's a Powered by the Apocalypse engine game, about serving as the primary field agents of a faction of people who need your support and protection. Because if you're going to be a hero, who are you doing it for if not your kin?

Setting agnostic as hell, excluding some implicit need for magic in the class moves – I'm prepping to playtest this in sci-fi and fantasy settings to see how well my mechanics hold up in both swords and firearms based stories. Plus I'm going to explore a variety of perspectives of what the faction can be – from ethnic groups, to gangs, to guilds, to neighbourhoods.

I'm VERY excited about all this!!

[orinthered]

Minthara to me is a perfect character in a bad setting. I feel like only now that the game has been out long enough for people ( youtubers, guides etc ) to show case minthara that people are seeing how incredibly well written of a character she is. Yes she isn't a good person but she has so many shades of grey similar to what astarion and lazel are. People who were brought up in a terrible harsh world but deep down still want to love and be loved in return. I don't want her to be fixed in a way that takes away who she just so we can recruit her easier. But I do want the ability for the pc to recognize her as someone important to the story and have the ability to try for her. To much thought and effort went into her to be such a miss. And compared to halsin whos very empty and only there for sex basically its a crime that he gets more attention then her.

considering the fact she was never concepted as a companion (hell, her mtg card still has her old design + class) i'm amazed at how good minthara's writing actually is, tbh.

i wouldn't say that halsin is there only for sex, (though he definitely got the himbo rubdown in terms of his character backstory, lmfao. warrgh nature. warrgh i used to be a sex slave. warrgh i got my scar because a bear tried to fuck me. warrgh.) but as opposed to minthara, he doesn't really have many ties to the plot after act 2. minthara is probably the companion with the most ties to the plot, outside of lae'zel — she was literally in a relationship with one of the chosen and was manipulated by them! that's SUCH an interesting position for a companion to take, and far more interesting than i could have possibly dreamed of given what little we knew of her from early access!

i genuinely don't mind that you HAVE to be evil to recruit minthara, i like that and almost wish some of the 'evil' companions left you if you were too good, but it is strange that they made minthara so sympathetic after you explicitly have to side with the people who have been.... essentially abusing her? not to mention my constant annoyance at how her introduction was done. i mean, the fact that even she chastises you for doing murderhobo shit felt somewhat like a slap in the face after all of that. like yeah, of course i did murderhobo shit... the game wouldn't let me do anything else!

[iwriterobots]

Which MTG card do you think blurs the line on robot most? Like, which card do you think has the best arguments both for being a robot and for not being a robot?

Also related-ish question, how does multiple art printings of a card affect its robot status? Are there any cards that are definitely robots but have a Secret Lair printing that isn’t?

I loved your two videos, keep up the good work!

I don't know about a single most debated card for Robot vs. Not, but I do think the folks from Esper are heavily debated, and a lot of white Phyrexians also play with being in-between flesh/machine in a way that's hard to pin down. So something in one of those two realms.

I talk about the art changing our evaluation of a robot card in my Defining Robots video essay. My system only defines robots on a by-card basis, and because art is a major diagnostic criteria, a cards definition of being a robot can change from printing to printing depending on the artistic representation of the creature. The example I gave in the video is something like Juggernaut: original juggernaut is definitely not a robot in that art, whereas M19 juggernaut art sure is. This is a bad example though, because both cards still pass the robot test by virtue of being artifacts and Juggernauts.

But a better example (that also answers your question with secret lairs) is Solemn Simulacrum. Solemn has 10 arts now (with the just previewed MTG Foundations), and not all are the most robotic. Which means a different art for Solemn *can* disqualify it as a robot, because it's creature type is Golem. For example: this secret lair promo. Definitely not a robot, even though I'd consider other printings of the card to be.

Cards like this (non legends) don't have a "canon" appearance really (hell, even legends have flexibility in their design from artist to artist), so there isn't really any point trying to define whether *all* Solemn Simulacra are robots across all printings/planes/etc. It's much easier to look at one isolated card and make a judgment.

Hope this answers your question :)

[bbarican]

october 21, 2023; 8:59 pm - weekend

hi tumblr, happy weekend! kamusta naman kayo? how are your weekends so far?

as usual, just dropping by to post some updates here (usually and mostly for myself but if you do end up reading these, thank you ♡)

personal:

today was super lovely, we ended up going to makati for lunch and a bit of shopping

my mom bought us new sunnies and im super happy kasi i have new pair to wear to our trips soon

we tried sunnies coffee's spanish latte and tbh sobrang sarap niya as in super high quality ng lasa niya not like pick up coffee or but first coffee (imo!) which i kind of expected na ganun yung lasa niya kasi theyre primarily not a brand that sells drinks talaga to begin with but it was a 10/10 for me; im excited to try their matcha tho

i decluttered my closet and i feel so light and happy about it kasi super konti nalang talaga yung natira and im 300% sure na yung mga tinira ko is sinusuot ko naman talaga

the clothes i took out, i plan on donating sa h&m since they do offer vouchers in return so im excited to do that too

food today was good too, we had shake shack for lunch, then i made my favorite cheesy bread with hot honey for dinner

im excited for tomorrow kasi my dad is finally back from japan!

im so excited for 1989 taylor's version too! i keep forgetting na i really like the songs on this album pala talaga

its my mom's birthday next week and im just excited to spend it with her; im sad na i dont have extra money to get her anything this year pero babawi nalang ako sakanya for sure

work:

i have quite a bit to do tomorrow to prep for my end of the month mtg on monday

again, for some reason kinakabahan ako pero i know naman na everything's gonna work out

we also have a sponty general assembly kasi we need all the help we can get from the designers na hindi masyadong loaded to help those who are busy to turnover their projects this and next month

im just always excited to see my office besties; i love how makulit we all are tapos nag tutugma talaga ugali naming lahat

oh my god you guys may kinaiinisan ako na officemate kol; tamad na ko to make another post about him pero long story short super tanga niya and i hate him

im so excited as in super super super excited for our company outing

friends:

this is a shocker even until now pero i really feel like 100% break na yung best friend ko and his boyfriend of 7 years

its really sad and heartbreaking kasi the guy even planned on proposing to my bestfriend na pero i know my bestfriend deserves better talaga especially with how theyve been these past few months

i miss them! noel and chesy are officially on their own and chevy is still doing her thing and i will forever be grateful na they are safe and happy

id love to meet new people though; i feel like meeting new people would be so exciting

love:

i still have bumble on my phone and the biggest update i can give yall is the fact na i just adjusted the ange range to 27-40 i think HAHA

cause i really dont want to date younger men UNLESS theyre super mature and not super bata pa talaga ng pagiisip

but yeah other than that wala as in wala akong kausap and sometimes it takes a toll on me but most of the time im fine

again, thank you for reading and caring about my updates, i love you ♡

[nyansense-the-nyanbinary]

Glacier (Ninjago, Zane/Cole) Sunflower (Omori, Sunny/Basil) Clover Cookie/Herb Cookie, CR:K Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens, Aziraphale/Crowley Jace/Vraska, MtG Tav/Astarion, BG3 Sauron/Celebrimbor, Shadows of Mordor/War

That's all I got off the top of my head! I'll be back with more if I remember any of my other obsessions lol

Okay, one by one

Glacier,,If memory serves it's pretty cute! I haven't done Ninjago in a longgg minute though lmao

Sunflower from Omori I fully don't know I'm afraid, though if one of my friends is to be believed it's very cute heehee

Clover Cookie and Herb Cookie seems pretty cute according to shippingwiki lol, love me some adorable plant nerds

Ineffable Husbands!! I still haven't watched or finished reading Good Omens but I'd kill for them. They're so!!! incredible, top notch

Jace and Vraska, I do love a "damn maybe life is cool actually you've convinced me" sorta ship, tasty

I'm afraid I'm trying to avoid too many BG3 spoilers in the hopes of getting to play it so I can't weigh in there, alas!

Sauron Celebrimbor...I need to read the silmarillion because I know I recognize that second name but it's not really ringing bells. Probably very fucked up and pretty as hell if I had to guess (positive)

[babyshrimpbun]

Inscryption Scrybe Caretaker Headcanons

(Because I have been hyperfixated on it lately and this idea has me by the ankles)

With moodboards!!

Leshy

This guy absolutely smothers you in whatever animal stuffies you want. Frog? Wolf? Bear? Who needs pillows?

You’re usually outside with him, taking walks, playing in the mud, and going on camping trips. He keeps a close eye on you but also mostly lets you do what you want during outside play time. You’ve come home covered in mud a lot, much to Grimora’s dismay

Bedtime always includes a story and Leshy is the best at telling improvised stories. He always makes you the main character

All the animal nicknames. Little bear cub, little duckling, et cetera

Playing the card game with him, he tunes down the difficulty a lot and makes sure you’re doing okay regularly

Maybe he sneaks a good card for you

“Oh, how’d that Mantis God get in there? Oh well, it’s in your deck now.”

Sad to say he’s not a good cook. Best he can do is microwave a TV dinner. But he does get you those cute Kids Cuisines

Or brings home kids meals with toys

Playing pretend with him is very fun because he commits to the bit

Even to his own detriment

Many a tea party has been had and P03 cannot help but laugh every time he comes to pick you up and he sees Leshy sitting at the tiny table, teacup in hand, pinky raised, garden hat on his head

P03

See, everyone thought he would be the ‘No fun allowed’ caretaker, but that’s not really true

He does make sure you follow the rules but that’s mostly on making sure Grimora doesn’t yell at him (that, and structure is important to him too)

He wasn’t the best at first but over time he got used to you and your routine, eventually

He buys games for you. Whatever you want, he shells the robobucks for. He cannot resist you asking. All it takes is a “pweeeeaaaase?” with those big eyes and he throws his wallet at the GameStop employee

He has a Minecraft server that the two of you play on. He is often coming to your rescue when you get caught in a bad situation. It is usually ‘I have gotten myself stuck in a hole’ or ‘There is a creeper near our house’. He lets you build all the pretty builds while he makes farms for materials.

While he does buy you regular games and kids’ games, if he’s working he’ll usually hand you the tablet loaded with baby games, and if the sound’s going on with speakers he can’t focus well. So he buys you cute and comfy headphones to wear while you use the tablet.

Calls you baby bot. He did not call you this in front of the other Scrybes for a very long time because he was embarrassed, until one day you started crying because he hadn’t called you baby bot in a long time and you’d thought you did something wrong.

“Am I not your baby bot anymore??”

“No no no, you’re still my baby bot- c’mere, you.”

Now that everyone already knows he calls you baby bot whenever.

The crank on his side does, in fact, play ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’.

Other than video games, he plays card games with you like MtG and ofc Inscryption. When he plays with you he tries to go easy even though it’s a bit hard because he’s programmed for optimization.

Grimora

Spooky mama spooky mama spooky mama-

She is very gentle and soft

Loves buying you cute and pretty outfits!! You look so precious, pumpkin!!

Always makes sure you have yummy food and are always clean

Is a bit of a worrier. Okay, a lot. She can’t stand to be apart from you for five minutes without worrying if you’re okay or not

At this point she trusts the other Scrybes to look after you but sometimes she will just show up to the other Scrybes’ domains even if she’s supposed to be working, which is usually followed by a startled Scrybe and you gleefully running over to her with a ‘hi Mama!’

“Leshy, please stop letting them play in the mud”

“P03, please make sure they cut down on screen time”

“Magnificus, please make sure they eat something other than candy”

Blankets always go in the dryer an hour before bed so you have toasty blanket to sleep with

She doesn’t have any particularly stand-out nicknames for you, defaults to ‘little one’ or ‘pumpkin’

You know when Halloween comes around she sews your costume. Trick-or-treat is the BEST with her

She is the best, gentlest singer. Will often hum you to sleep.

She also tries to make routines fun. Bathtime toys, turning chores into games, sticker charts

Magnificus

You know this guy keeps a mountain of coloring books for you

Not only coloring books but also just a ton of art supplies in general

Your art is automatically hung up for everyone to see. The fridge ran out of room a long time ago so now your art is hung up on the walls

Parallel art time, in particular, is fun because sometimes he’ll also paint what you’re drawing to surprise you

He cannot resist giving you candy, or sweets of any kind. He’ll bake cookies with you, he’ll sneak you a handful of candy to shove in your pocket before you go over to another Scrybes’ domain

Grimora has had to tell him to lay off the sugar before bedtime plenty of times already, and this will continue for forever

The other Scrybes other than Grimora do nothing to stop this. P03 just thinks it’s funny

He’s not particularly active so if you’re rowdy and want to play outside he’ll send Lonely Wizard out to play with you and keep an eye on you

Lonely Wizard is a great and fun sitter and play time with him will guarantee you’re wound down enough for your nap

(This is how he counteracts giving you too much sugar, see)

Of the group gives the best cuddles. He is very fluffy and will let you cuddle up into him during nap time

Royalty nicknames. Prince, Princess, Your Highness, My Liege, et cetera

[whentherewerebicycles]

good morning! it’s going to be a longish day and I’m trying not to be anxious about the meeting with redacted. all I can do is remain calm and try to remember that it’s not personal and has much more to do with her issues even though it feels intensely personal. good news is I slept pretty well, wrist/hand pain is manageable, baby is wide awake and kicking, and it looks like it’s going to be a really lovely day outside.

6-7:30 coffee, lounge, read a bit

7:30-8:30 shower/get ready, make breakfast

8:30-9ish drive to work

9-10 prep for DFG mtg

10-11 DFG mtg

11-1 meetings break—work on something tbd it should definitely be the mentor workshop but for some reason I’m still nervous about it

1-2 CB mtg

2-3 team mtg

3-4 break (schedule workshop reminder)

4-5:30 student focus group

drive home, quick grocery run, walk dogs, make dinner (recipe will depend on how my hands are doing)

sleep by 9ish lol zzz

[inventors-fair]

Sticking the Landing: Runners-up ~

Our runners-up this week are @bergdg, @hiygamer, and @hypexion!

@bergdg — Monument of the Guardian

You’re an absolute mad...person (Damn you, broken pronoun-bot!). Well! I love this card. Who knew that there were more ways to make shrines absolutely bonkers weird? You, clearly. Good that you didn’t specify the basic type, because that would make it harder in the five-color Shrine piles. You can activate it at instant speed, spending a mana for a combat trick, or pre-combat swingies. Totally fair there! Really enjoy the slightly slower payoff-kinda notion, and I imagine that if you have one other shrine, you can enchant your second color next turn  and then boom, your previously enchanted Plains can function as basically a free spell.

First small wording order, it should be “gain vigilance.” Second flavor order, I like your flavor text. Good punctuation impact. Second flavor order that’s not the good kind, monuments are really darn tangible, and as an aura, I don’t feel that “Monument” was the one you should’ve gone for here. There are quite a few others, but considering monuments in MTG’s history? It’s a small quibble and easily rectified, though. Overall? Supremely happy with this card from you.

@hiygamer — Siren Seacharter

I feel this card is printable. I’m not sure how I actually feel that impacts my judgment. When you have a card that’s great and understandable, it makes it really hard to weigh against cards in the same vein. In the end, this one’s definitely commendable, and also a beast to deal with in limited. The explore-on-attack clause means a lot of free pseudo-surveils, a lot of damage in the air, and a lot of card advantage when you build the deck right. Once more, it feels less flavor-focused, but the flavor of charting the islands is still there, which is pretty cool.

Is it too much? No, but I can imagine that this card comes down and it’s an answer-or-you-die kind of deal. If you have any extra pirate support, that’s just a bonus. I’m surprised that there were two explore-themed cards this week, actually. It’s a very popular mechanic and I totally get that. Perhaps the workshop gives ideas... Heh. No, yeah, all the same, it’s just plain good, and I would be remiss not to include it. Perhaps it’s not as weird as some of the other cards, but it’s not asking to be.

@hypexion — Light Mage’s Might

I’m honestly a little floored by this card. I had to think long and hard about the kind of deck you’re making with this, and how it would play in different formats. I’m a mono-white player in Pioneer (sometimes), and I considered the four-mana go-wide sorcery, and honestly, it’s not that overpowered, even though it seems it at times. The balance you made here is oddly fantastic. Even having a 3 or 4-creature brigade in limited would be awesome, but not too much, also depending on your deck.

I suppose that this is, uh... Gobakhan? That would make the most sense. “Geostorm” is a pretty crazy mechanic, and I don’t mind it. I wonder how it would be flavored for other land types, and I wonder how you would balance it. Honestly, it seems small in its design space to me, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a powerful mechanic for sure and this is a powerful card. The name’s not exactly blowing me away but whatever, I’m sure that an army of shieldmages will be the ones to do that if the sandstorm doesn’t do it first. Overall: quirky, pretty daring, and an excellent thought puzzle for me.

Commentary in the making~