#Screens: Oketra

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[ft. @candycryptids' Chuu]

Picture from their Post.

[askkrenko]

While I appreciate the attempt to have more and more ties between the Magic story and the actual cards, my discontent at inconsistencies between the two continues. While the War of the Spark novel has nothing so egregious as Rivals of Ixalan (which was an entirely different story in text than on the cards) there are still a handful of disparities.  I’ll put a keep reading line, but if you’ve seen the set there shouldn’t be anything here that’s really a spoiler.

The cards depict Angrath as working for Bolas and commanding eternals. In the story, he’s strictly a protagonist.

Finale of Devastation does not correspond to a story moment. There is no giant dinosaur. This wouldn’t be a big deal, but the other four are (even if FInale of Eternity is... not depicting it right.) 

Jace’s Triumph does not correspond to a story moment, though that’s probably because all of Jace’s ‘wins’ here come from talking to a room full of people and sending them in different directions.

The cards make it clear that Liliana gives Oketra and Bontu back some measure of control. In the story, she just puppets them directly.

A minor complaint: Ilharg isn’t in the novel. This wouldn’t normally warrant noting, because Massacre Girl, Feather, Fblthp and I aren’t in the novel either, but like with the FInale of Devastation, it’s part of a cycle that is. 

Dack Fayden is one of the main characters in the novel. Dack Fayden is not in the set. 

Well, at least they got Araithia’s card perfect.

Oh, and I actually find it hilarious that Tezzeret’s the BAB promo because he’s completely vital to the story but doesn’t once set foot on Ravnica (He’s on the Amonkhet side of the gate.)

Anyway, the story is... fine. It’s got a lot of problems, and it’s not actually any better written than the online stories. Going through different character viewpoints is fun, but there’s a lot of characters with a ‘and i’m here too!’ that do nothing with the story. It’s nice to see them, and a few characters get more screen time than I expected, but it’s clear that the narrative was more ambitious than they could handle even with 350+ pages, and there’s a lot that feels like it should have come up that didn’t (There’s no mention of the Raven Man, or Nissa’s prior interaction with Kefnet,  and we come in with some pretty big stuff having already happened... Seriously, where were the Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance stories...?  )

Look, it’s more Magic story. I read it. I’m glad I read it. I wish it was better. Such is the nature of Magic story.

There’s some smooching, though, so that’s nice.

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Happy Starlight everyone!

[He/She/They for catboy]

[They/Them for middie]

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Is this what it's like for Frog to stand next to U'nia..? @elizabethrobertajones

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Oketra/Krile pose set over at my Blue Sky.