#come to the downside

[inventors-fair]

The Upside to Downsides

Let’s talk some more about downsides! They are an important staple of MTG, having existed since the very first days of Alpha. Their existence ebbs and flows, but drawbacks are an important tool in any designers Balance Belt™. Let’s break it down!

Synergy

One thing you always want to pay attention to when putting a drawback on a card is synergy. Does the drawback play into the rest of the card? If the creature has to attack each turn, then is it the type of creature that wants to attack? It may sound odd to say that drawbacks should fit the card- what with them being drawbacks- but the reverse leads to cards without purpose or place. A high-cost creature that enters the battlefield tapped is incredibly difficult to put in a deck, since it won’t be able to block the turn it’s cast and you won’t be able to do anything else that turn, so you’ll just end up dying. Make sure the drawback feels appropriate for the card.

Too Much Synergy

Counterpoint: it’s easy to steer too far in the other direction. After all, a downside still needs to be a downside, and if it plays into the rest of the card too well, what’s it playing against? If you have a creature that attacks each turn if able, but it’s unblockable and has one toughness, then it’s not like you want to hold it up as a blocker anyways! If you’re giving a card a downside in order to temper out the design, make sure that the rest of the card doesn’t render the downside irrelevant.

That’s not a REAL Drawback!

This is an argument you hear sometimes. Is Decayed really a drawback when it lets you trigger morbid? Is  a downside if it lets you bluff a pump spell more easily? The short answer is yes. Don’t get blinded by potential. While synergy is cool and important, so long as a downside has situations where it is unfavourable for you, then that’s all it takes to be considered one. Ultimately, the term is colloquial and lacks a strict definition, but in most cases, it’s pretty clear one way or another. As for the corner cases? Well, we’ll look at those if they come up.

But the Flavor

Something we see a lot is drawbacks that play into card flavor. A peaceful warrior who can’t deal damage, a spell that can only be cast at night, or a demon that eats your own creatures. Downsides are a great way to really hammer home the connection between flavor and mechanics, as it forces a particular event instead of leaving the choice up to the player. This is a great tool in your arsenal, but it can be dangerous. If the downside doesn’t match up flavorfully, or the rest of the card is pulling too hard in another direction, you end up in a bit of a discombobulated puddle. Use the flavour to inform the downside (and the rest of the card), but don’t allow it to dictate everything. After all, as we know, mechanics trump flavor. This is, first and foremost, a game.

Symmetry

There is also the argument to be made that giving an opponent an upside is the same as giving yourself a downside. Totally true! If you play a creature that allows your opponent to make a bunch of tokens, that’s a downside! Where it gets a little murkier is a perfectly symmetrical effect. Is “Each player draws a card” a downside to “you draw a card”? Technically, sure. I’m definitely not gonna disqualify a card that does that this week. But ask yourself how it’s using that downside as an effective part of the design. If the card just does the symmetric effect and nothing else, well then it feels less like a downside and more just like that version of the ability. How does the downside inform the rest of the card? That’s what you should ask yourself here. 

A Note on Color

There are a few exceptions, but typically speaking, you don’t have to worry about downsides breaking the color pie. The color pie is concerned with allowing too much mixing of beneficial abilities, but downsides are almost always fair game for whatever card needs them. Since you can always choose to block with a creature, a creature that forces itself to block can be any color that it needs to be (depending on the rest of the design, of course). Any color can force you to sacrifice one of your own permanents, even if some colors lean into it a little more. However, just because there’s a mechanical justification doesn’t mean there aren’t still limitations. After all, you are limited by player expectations. Why is black the color with the most downside cards? Because black’s whole deal is “power at any cost”, which lends itself naturally to these designs. Sure, Abyssal Persecutor isn’t technically a pie break in green, but would it make sense? Not at all! So don’t worry about breaking the color pie with your downside, but make sure that your card as a whole still feels right at home in the color(s) you put it into.

That was a whole chunk of text, but I hope you enjoyed reading, and I can’t wait to see your designs!

[napping-sapphic]

Dragging you outside to go stare at the moon and stars before kissing you

[tizeline]

Heuheeuhe turtlssss 🐢

[lifealteringtimesandwich]

WHITE BOY SAVE ME

[ddeck]

long lived sw races must be so extra about their hobbies. imagine you live for thousand years and a century of that time you decide to dedicate to making a single big af carpet

[tacagen]

one of the things that fascinate me about thawne: yes, he CAN be normal with kids! surprisingly normal!

((not at all times, though. his mental illness still spills through and as usual he, in trying to manipulate or hurt others, spits out at them the exact stuff that would hurt him (or have in his childhood/barry's rejection interpretation) the most in the first place lmao))

but at the same time. his like second instinct when doing his bullshit is FUCK THEM (as) KIDS

(and, well. whatever this classifies as)

[marlynnofmany]

Me: *tells a roomful of people about my adventures in marketing my books, which includes an enthusiastic description of my time on Tumblr*

Me: *wonders an hour later what I've reblogged recently, in case they look me up*

My Tumblr: "All good, boss. Aliens, words, fae bargains and humans being weird about food."

Me: "Oh good."

[isbergillustration]

Rare Pre-Death Portrait of The Boy

[fisherrprince]

various (including frills)

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Listen!! Brainrot!!

SAGAU Childe/Foul legacy finding out that his s/o(us) were a street racing back in our world!! And a great one at that yall!!

oh my goodness wait wait WAIT first you have to introduce him to vehicles in general!!!

listen, Childe does NOT know what a car is and neither does Foul Legacy. the only thing that comes close is the aquabus in Fontaine, and that's exclusively restricted to water travel (if you ask Childe, he thinks it's just a glorified high-tech boat) so to see a machine that easily take you where you need to go with just metal and a bit of gas, even more so one that's considered COMMON has your two boys completely in awe. unfortunately, Foul Legacy's too tall to fit inside, but Childe's more than willing to sit in the passenger's seat as you drive- it's absolutely exhilarating for him, especially when you go on the highway, and after you arrive at wherever you're driving to you have to sit for a few minutes because Childe's giddy and rapidly tapping his feet with a huge, wonderful grin

as for street racing, my goodness they both think you're so cool. genuinely, they think you're amazing because as much as they love the concept of cars, it also scares them a little because of how easily one wrong move can kill someone when driving, and the fact that you're handling your vehicle so easily is incredible. Childe REALLY wants to come along, but you refuse to let him put himself into danger even more, so he'll watch from the sidelines instead. Foul Legacy, on the other hand, is more concerned with making sure that you're safe. he'll mentally pull Childe away from the crowd and take control of their shared body, watching the cars from a distance until he can see yours, specifically keeping his eye trained on it for the entire race. he lets out a soft purr when it's done, shifting back into Childe to see you with other people. but don't worry, the moment you're home you'll feel claws wrap around your waist as you're scooped into Legacy's arms, rumbling and snuggling you as congratulations on a job well done

[valewritessss]

I’m hoping (I’m praying) that once the insecurities society has created for people—mainly women— becomes too much, the world will kind of reset and we’ll realize this is ridiculous and stop caring so much about appearance.

[eazy-peazy54]

i think it woudl be REALLY funny to write something based on that one premise that will and chris made during the weed episode and turn it into a full fledged story

this one i mean:

(IT WILL NOT INVOLVE ANY SHIPPING BECAUSE THAT IS REALLY FUCKING WEIRD AND THEY ARE REAL PEOPLE!!! I HAVE ENOUGH OF A CONSCIOUSNESS TO NOT DO THAT!! I MAY BE CRAZY BUT I AM NOT A CREEP!!!!!!)

also if they end up seeing it somehow i will actually be so scared (for my life)

[somnefarious]

To the Collector: Do your drones sleep? If so, do they have a room to rest in?

They do - the Collector actually treats his brainwashed minions pretty well (with the money he makes from his research and inventions, he can afford to relatively easily).

Full meals, a decent wage secretly sent to their accounts, proper work hours and rest, access to decent healthcare while 'employed'; honestly if the drones were aware at all while they were under his control, a fair few of them would probably willingly choose to stay on the job. Too bad the Collector never gives them the chance to find out before sending them back home.

[golden--doodler]

So I read the Coraline novella for the first time today and rewatched the movie (because why not), and the novella is actually excellent. The prose is so detailed that it's inspiring as a writer, and it's difficult to articulate how good it is, but it's fantastic. It sucked me in immediately and kept me engaged the whole time.

One of my favorite moments from the novella is this lovely monologue Coraline has near the end, where she recounts a memory of her dad, and I kind of wish it was in the movie (I kind of understand why it isn't, though, considering runtime and all that). She wanted to go exploring and he took her, but then they had to flee from a swarm of wasps. Without hesitation, her dad told her to run, staying behind so that the wasps would attack him and not his daughter.

However, later, he would say that he wasn't being brave in that moment because he wasn't scared. He was acting on pure parental instinct, so protecting Coraline was the only option in his mind (which is already so 🥺)

The time he believed he was exhibiting true bravery was when he went back to get his glasses, because he already knew how dangerous the wasps were, and was actually afraid in that moment. Because in his mind, and I believe this is absolutely true, one can only exhibit true bravery if they're scared to do something and yet do it anyway.

This lesson from her dad is what convinces Coraline to go back to save her parents (besides them being her parents and how much she loves them, obviously). She's terrified out of her mind, but she goes back to save them anyway because she wants to exhibit true bravery as her dad did. And she knows her parents would do the same for her (and already have in the past).

Also, this screenshot from the movie is so adorable, like look at them all being happy, and little Coraline holding a teddy bear 😭

[ottosbigtop]

Picking up psychonauts 2 once again and immediately just feeling infinitely better after a weird day. Game of all time.

[wazzappp]

ALRIGHT please ignore the half assed skeleton anatomy I have IDEAS.

Ok so a connection gem is what allows a familiar to channel magic to their person. From there theres sort of a secondary circulatory system that spreads across the whole body, except instead of pumping blood its pumping magic (extra fun idea I'm considering is that the gems pulse slightly like a heartbeat. it gets faster when they're using a lot of magic and exerting themselves just like a normal heart.)

Because in their magic forms they don't really have insides (she said casually [see below]), I was thinking that if an area gets hit or damaged enough while they're not transformed the area will infuse itself with more magic as a defense and to allow for faster healing. Like a magical scar! Below Robbies diagram is Frank. He's been at this for a WHILE and has had his fair share of injuries, so his body has adapted accordingly.

Plus theres the upside of being more familiar with constantly channeling that magic, which can allow them more experience and control for spellcasting later. ALSO. This adds some extra layer of urgency for Robbie because if he wants to get out of his deal and get this magic shit out of him then he had better do it before he becomes mostly composed of it. I mean. Theoretically. If a person got out of their deal with their familiar and the magic thats been composing them for a while just disappears... well. Id imagine it's a painful deterioration where they decay from the inside out. You don't get to leave.

So in their magic forms they don't really have INSIDES or BONES or ORGANS or BLOOD its JUST MAGIC and slightly more solid magic that acts like scaffolding. It's not skin or cloths or even metal really on the outside, its all just a glorified container for massive amounts of magic stored on the inside.

(ngl I mostly did this because OH? YOU WANT TO TAKE OFF YOUR STUPID HEELED BOOTS?? SORRY BRO THATS LIKE TRYING TO TEAR OFF YOUR OWN SKIN THERE AINT NO GETTING RID OF THAT)