#common scroungers

[bluebelly-sun-serpentine]

Brewer's blackbird thinks he's sexy (the lady under the camelia isn't so sure). Euphagus cyanocephalus, March 30th, 2025.

[mochinomnoms]

You know how oranges are a common metaphor for love and forgiveness in literature? Yeah that's my weird way of flirting! Just peeling/spitting up an orange with ptm jade and listening as his thoughts go wild. Maybe even handfeeding him idk, that's be a cute moment. Very soft.

Just let him lay in my lap as I feed him an orange half. Not even leading to anything. Just a soft moment with my future husband. Mi media naranja, como te amo~

🦩

screams

I'm in soft mode rn cause of aceyuu madoka au… but oranges as a metaphor for love ���

I've never actually heard of that, though I've seen like that orange peel theory on tiktok, but fruit as metaphors for love…pomegranates and their seeds symbolizing closeness…opening them being messy and bloody…the traditional mythos with Hades and Persephone…

Apples as a metaphor for love…the forbidden fruit…trusting someone else even if it damns you…apples being given to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to demonstrate their love to her…

My thoughts are full and wonderful, like Jade's thoughts for Yuu. We tend to focus so much on the sly, sneaky, teasing eel that we forget, he is just a (mer)man. A man who is weak to the intimacy that inherently comes with domestic love. His heart yearns for the one that's grasped his heart, whether they're aware of it or not. Jade Leech is in fact his namesake, a scrounger for the scraps of affection he can get from Yuu. He's suffering, heart full of longing and aches for the person who has all the power to crush it, to kill him, in the palm of their hands.

So what does his mind do? What do the thoughts filling his brain do when Yuu decides to take the leap that he's too much of a coward to take, and starts hand feeding him? An action reserved for lovers in merculture? He is…momentarily freaking out. As Jade takes the first bite, eyes that he didn't realize had closed open, looking at Yuu's blushing face, he has a blanket of calm fall over him. His heart is still pounding, but it feels…sated. The infamous Jade Leech, full of emotions that even he didn't know he was capable of, and his heart are at peace with the object of their desires.

[flowercrowncrip]

I’m so stressed out at the moment.

I’m an openly trans youth worker at a queer org in the UK where it’s very common for people in power to say that the mere existence of trans people is an attack on children and young people.

I’m also disabled and claiming benefits under a government who thinks disabled people are scroungers and scammers.

And then there’s personal stuff, like my physical health playing up, trying to manage my new carers, losing my favourite carer, and my routine being totally changed because of care changes.

I’m also working too much (will be talking to my manager about reducing my hours tomorrow)

I’m trying to chill out, but it’s really hard. I just wish I was safe on my own. I wish I could have a shower myself, go for a walk on my own in the woods with headphones on. Do some guided meditation without having to think about whether it’s going to ask me to imagine walking.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Rock on with Rock Pigeons

Rock pigeons, also known as rock doves or common pigeons (Columba livia) are one of the most common species of bird in the world, with over 400 million pigeons spread over feral and wild populations. They can be found on every continent, and feral doves are particularly abundant in urban areas. Before their global distribution, the species was native only to southern Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia. However, due to their use as messengers, food, and pets, the species has been introduced to nearly every area humans inhabit.

Most urban populations are feral pigeons (C. livia domestica),  descendants of  domesticated individuals that either escaped or were freed when their use to humans fell out of fashion. These individuals tend to have more color and pattern variation in their plumage, but are otherwise identical to their wild relatives. In fact, as they are functionally a sub species of rock pigeon, feral and wild populations interbreed where they overlap, though wild pigeons more commonly nest along cliff faces closer to agriculture or open fields. In urban areas, pigeon nests are found nearly anywhere with a flat surface large enough for a nest; particularly window ledges, archways, and overpasses.

Generally speaking, the rock dove has dark plumage-- usually grey or black-- with white or iridescent markings along the neck and wings. The distinctive ‘moustache’ on their beaks is actually a piece of cartilage known as an operculum, which can help to reduce moisture loss. Healthy adults have a wingspan of 62 to 72 cm (24 to 28 in), and can weigh up to 380 g (13.4 oz). Females are nearly identical to males, especially among populations with mixed colors, but can be identified by their duller colors and smaller iridescent patches.

 C. livia breeds year round, so long as food is available, but peak nesting times are in the spring and summer. Courtship rituals begin with a male puffing out his feathers and strutting about on the ground. He then approaches the female while cooing, bowing, and spinning. If the female shows interest, he then feeds her regurgitated food before mounting. The female lays two eggs in a prepared nest  and both mates take turns incubating for 17-19 days. Hatchlings, also called squabs, are fed on a rich substance known as crop milk which is produced from the parents’ throat. Individuals take up to 4 months to become fully mature, though young typically leave the nest at only 30 days old.

Rock doves are largely monogamous and mate for life, though separations are not uncommon. Pairs regularly preen each other, and once mated build a semi-permanent nest together. They are also highly social and typically live in flocks of 50 to 500 individuals, with members often moving between nearby groups. Social organization is kept by pecking order-- disputes over territory, food, or mating rights are solved by two individuals pecking each other until the loser retreats. Flocks are also divided by foraging ability; one group, the producers, are responsible for locating food while scroungers feed on what the producers find.

One of the reasons for the common pigeon’s broad distribution is their diet; C. livia are omnivores. In the wild their main staple are seeds and fruits, but wild and feral populations can subsist on a wide variety of plant matter, as well as insects and human food waste. Interestingly, rock pigeons are one of the few birds that can drink continuously from a water source, as opposed to taking only small sips. Groups forage during the day when those on the outer edge of the flock can keep an eye out for predators like birds of prey. Other animals like opossums or raccoons are also known to steal eggs and squabs from  undefended nests.

Conservation status: The feral C. livia domestica has a large and growing population, and is considered Least Concern by the IUCN. However, many urban populations are considered healthy due to poor diet and abundance of diseases and parasites. The wild populations of rock pigeon are functionally considered Least Concern, but their populations are decreasing due to habitat loss and genetic intermingling, and they truly wild rock doves are extinct in many places in Europe.

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Photos

David Lin

Donald Trounson

Jim Rathert

[confessionofanardentheart]

1.1 Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov

"Karamazov" comes from two words: the Turkish word "Kara", meaning "black", and the Russian word "mazat", meaning "to smear". The family is a black stain, and there's nothing the blot won't smear to ensure its own comfort in the sludge.

Fyodor Pavlovich is quite a common type of man, in all his strangeness. His peculiarities are what make him a "national" type, similarly to how the strangeness of his third son, Alexey, carries its generation. Haven't we all met at least one Fyodor Pavlovich? I can say I've heard of a few old opportunists who fit in his category. He's the insolent jester and scrounger who irritates and scandalizes us all, but the ideas he carries are not so strange.

On the other side of the coin: Adelaida Ivanovna Miusova, of the romantic generation, irritated by a feeling of captivity. The referenced poem says much about her character:

This romantic heroine whose short life could be a novel lasts no more than four pages out of a thousand, slapstick violence and tragic end included. Their romantic elopement was a lie from the start, with each looking for what they lacked and the other had: her wealth, his freedom from social expectations.

However, Adelaida's freedom and lofty ideas can only go so far when she finds herself in poverty, running from a house in which she must look at her future staring back at her with a mocking smile. Did Fyodor still weep even though he rejoiced at her death, or not? Can these contradictions coexist? Was he more naive than we think, or are we the naive ones for possibly thinking such man would over a wife who only brought him conflict?

All that's certain is that a child born from greed is what remained.

--------

Links:

Lermontov's poem, "Don't trust in self" translated into English // Original

@keepingupwiththekaramazovs

[thessalian]

Thess vs the Tenakth

Yeah, so, finally go to No Man's Land, and this has been a tiiiiiiiime...

Right. I should go deal with that bunch of former Shadow Carja. Because they're not in a great place and Oseram asshole guy just wants to make their lives even harder.

Sir, I would be more forceful about making you go down the mountain but you are in no shape to go down the mountain. Just ... stay there while I harvest things.

...Well. Fuck. Fine, maybe the nice lady will be a smarter leader than you. And I have satellite dish thing.

Hey, sir? Oseram Asshole, sir? You reaaaaaally don't want to fuck with me. Now go away. Yeah, there you go. And you, ma'am? Go take this ludicrous amount of money and go make a life where you're not one breath away from dying of exposure, starvation, and ... well, frankly depression. Shoo.

Right. On we go to... Oh, hey, hunting stuff! You want me to rip the power cores off Scroungers? Cool. Done. Now what? ...Oh. You want me to herd a bunch of these things together so I can shock them to death. How about "no"? Does "no" work for you? Blegh. I am a hunter, not a herder, kthxbai.

Right. Barren Light. ...Oh, wait, green exclamation point. ...Carja Dude, you are an asshole. If we were going to rebuild the world after the machine plague, could we at least have found a cure for 'asshole'? No? Fine, I'll do your fucking job.

Ah. Machines. Bye, machines.

Oh, hey, hi! You want these things I've been pulling off satellite dishes? Please, take them. I am tired of lugging the damn things around. And you want that one up there. Cool. I needed more practice at grapple hooking anyway.

And now, Barren Light. Oh. Hi, sir. What do you need? ...The gates open. Right. ME TOO. LET ME GET RIGHT ON THAT. Just lemme make sure I'm adequately supplied, and... You think Eclipse are still around, Prisoner Kid? Well, lemme deal with the gate thing and-- Oh. Hi Erend. How're you doing? ...Drunk, injured, and with your fee-fees hurt as much as your ribs. Great. Okay. No, seriously, I'd have you with me if I could but while I do care about your fee-fees, I also care about your ribs, so please just stay there and self-medicate. You want to come with me? Come with me uninjured and sober.

...Okay, how the fuck did you override a Charger without a doohickey, Varl? Did I leave an overriden one lying around for you to find? What? (Also how many raccoons did you run over on the way here? I would like to feel less alone about having done that.)

Look, will you OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR BEFORE MY STUPID FRIEND FOLLOWS ME INTO-- Thank you, Erend. Also ... well, fuck.

"Marshals - an ancient name for protectors"-- Yeah, okay, dunno if military or municipal, but I take it that none of the Old World relics had any ACAB graffiti. "But now judge, jury, and executioner"-- Municipal, then. I'd say ACAB but you seem pretty decent. Wait... is this why so much of the Carja military is made of asshole - because their common sense basically joined up with the Tenakth? Well, good to have you back, sir.

Okay, so I have right of passage and yet you want me to be at your Embassy anyway? Do I look like a diplomat to you? And please, please keep joining the rest of the planet in rubbing my need for allies in my face. It's been ... what, a whole five minutes?

Okay, Vuadis, you can do your job now-- Waitwut.

WUT.

Oh, fuck a bunch of this.

SYLENS, YOU ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF DOUCHE-CANOE! (I will be madder at you if I am not allowed to ride the big metal dilophosaurus. I don't normally bother with riding the machines but I will make an exception for big metal dilophosaurus.)

...Okay, did we have to have quite that level of gore?

Oh, hey, I beat your stupid shield to death! Really not liking them forcing me into melee combat, mind you. Even if I am better at it than I thought I was going to be.

So ... that ... was not an Embassy; that was a slaughter. Not that I'm not used to those, given how the machines attacked the Nora. And of course we can't have the Carja come to the Tenakth and go, "Look, we see you have an enemy and they murdered the family of the Sun-King, so let's join forces and obliterate these assholes". Because Politics. So instead there's me. Yay.

"Time for some salvage boys", my entire ass; I KILLED THE FUCKING THINGS. YOU CAN HAVE WHAT I LEAVE.

I ... beat your stupid shield to death and now it is a glider. Awesome.

Okay, that all happened, and now I have access to the Forbidden West! ...Shame I have to go back and investigate that dude's claims of an Eclipse resurgence, but eh, at least I have a campfire past the gate now.

But for the time being, I need a screen break. Well, also to check IMDB. Chris McKenna, you are awesome; how the fuck have you done relatively little bar B-movies and soap opera spots? Angela Bassett - always a pleasure. Okay, who voiced Vuadis? Keythe Farley. I know that name-- Oh. OH. Dude, Keythe Farley has range. That whimpering little piece of self-importance is THANE FUCKING KRIOS. I knew there was something bugging me about that voice.

Right. Break, painkillers, and then a little more of this. I keep forgetting how much the Horizon games are basically entirely my jam. If I need Zen, I can Zen-hunt. If I need problem-solving, I can do climbing things. But if someone doesn't give me a way to ignite Firegleam so I can go further exploring soon, I am going to throttle somebody.

[envihellbender]

And like a couple of these aren’t as common as people think they are

Having a drivers license in your teens is significantly less common in the U.K. than the US especially in towns and cities

Living with your parents in adulthood is extremely common in a lot lot lot of countries, it’s super common to have multiple generations in one house

A lot of people raised in fundamentalist households of varying kinds would’ve been forced not to graduate high school if they were even allowed to attend. And outside of the US in a lot of places dropping out of high school is basically impossible unless you have severe mental or physical health conditions

Unemployed… having a job is not your life’s purpose and anything insulting anyone based on how their unemployed just sounds like “lazy benefit scrounger” daily mail gammon nonsense to me

Can we stop using "still lives with their parents" or "unemployed" or "doesn't have a drivers license" or "didn't graduate high school" as an insult or evidence that someone is a bad person? Struggling with independence or meeting milestones is not a moral failing.

[paperanddice]

Erina

Erina are a species of humanoid hedgehog folks, whose origins are so far a mystery. Natural diggers, they so far live in only a few known extended burrows, several families working together to create mazelike tunnel systems for defense. These small spaces confuse intruders and get them lost, funneled into narrow choke points or dead end tunnels where the burrow's defenders can be delayed while noncombatants are brought to safety. As part of remaining hidden in these tunnels, they do not farm, as they are far harder to keep out of sight, and so erina mostly rely on foraging the surrounding area to feed their communities. Those who find their way into cities often end up as scroungers and thieves, continuing to live off of what they can find and hiding in sewers, alleys, or warrens.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Erina Scrounger Creature 0 Small, Erina, Humanoid Perception +6; darkvision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet Languages Common, Erina Skills Acrobatics +5, Nature +4, Stealth +5, Survival +4 Str -1, Dex +1, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +1 Items dagger, leather armor, sling (10 bullets) AC 14; Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +4; +1 status to all saves vs. poison HP 18; Resistances poison 3 Spines A creature that hits the erina scrounger with an unarmed Strike takes 1d4 piercing damage. Speed 20 feet, burrow 10 feet Melee dagger +5 (agile, finesse, versatile S), Damage 1d4+1 piercing Ranged sling +5 (propulsive, range increment 50 feet, reload 1), Damage 1d6+1 bludgeoning

Erina Defender Creature 1 Small, Erina, Humanoid Perception +6; darkvision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet Languages Common, Erina Skills Acrobatics +7, Athletics +5, Survival +6 Str +0, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +1 Items chain shirt, short bow (20 arrows), shortsword, wooden shield (Hardness 3; HP 12; BT 6) AC 17; Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +6; +1 status to all saves vs. poison HP 24; Resistances poison 3 Protect [reaction] Trigger An enemy attacks the erina defender's alliy with a weapon Strike and both are within 5 feet of the erina; Effect The attacker takes a -2 circumstance penalty on the attack. Shield Block [reaction] Spines A creature that hits the erina defender with an unarmed Strike takes 1d4 piercing damage. Speed 20 feet, burrow 10 feet Melee shortsword +7 (agile, finesse, versatile S), Damage 1d6+2 piercing Ranged shortbow +7 (deadly d10, range increment 60 feet, reload 0), Damage 1d6 piercing

13th Age

Erina Scrounger 1st level mook [humanoid] Initiative: +3 Dagger +5 vs. AC – 3 damage. R: Sling +5 vs. AC (one nearby enemy, or one far-away enemy at -2 atk) – 3 damage. Spines: When an enemy engaged with the erina scrounger attacks it and rolls a natural odd attack roll, the attacker takes 1 damage. Resist Poison 12+. AC 17 PD 16 MD 10 HP 8 (mook) Mook: Kill one erina scrounger mook for every 8 damage dealt to the mob.

Erina Defender 1st level blocker [humanoid] Initiative: +4 Shortsword +6 vs. AC – 4 damage. R: Shortbow +6 vs. AC (one nearby enemy, or one far-away enemy at -2 atk) – 3 damage. Protector: 1/turn, as an interrupt action, when a nearby enemy attacks one of the erina defender’s allies, the defender can impose a -4 penalty on that attack roll. Spines: When an enemy engaged with the erina defender attacks it and rolls a natural odd attack roll, the attacker takes 1d4 damage. Resist Poison 14+. AC 18 PD 16 MD 10 HP 22

[radioactivism]

anyway like I said I started new vegas again for the first time in a couple years and I'm getting a lot of mileage out of laughing at the differences between my courier and my non-player-character oc noel. Noel's a chef-- self proclaimed anyway-- who specializes in human flesh and who left home in Louisiana to travel north looking for famous prewar restaurants in hopes of salvaging and improving upon their recipes. he also looks like a huge lumberjack complete with red flannel and bloody sweaty undershirt but that's a different post. Bakr (courier 6) on the other hand is a survivalist and all around scrounger (also a cannibal so they have that in common) and knows 10000 different ways to use wasteland ingredients HOWEVER has no time for or interest in cooking as an art and is completely focused on nutrition and easy meals. he'll eat plain boiled radroach and uncooked weeds. he'll eat raw molerat coated in protein powder. and, most importantly, noel would hate being around him for this I think. Noel is like if senshi dunmeshi was a cannibal and Bakr is cooking every meal like laios' shitty scorpion water from the first episode.

[papercherries]

I've been having strange nightmares recently. I've always been cursed with them, runs in my family. My sister takes medication for hers. My mum believes it's because we can commune with the dead, mediums. I think it's because we all have genetic bipolar disorder and/or crippling depression. We don't talk about this though. We don't talk about anything sensitive. It might be because we are incapable. We all silently know what we all are. Besides me but that's because they haven't found out about my outbursts and my depression. They think I'm just autistic and bisexual. They don't know about the depression, violence, bipolar, therapy, alcoholism (though they must have an inkling of that one) and being gender queer (though they probably have reservations about that as well). We're all fucked up and we continue to fuck up whoever's next.

I don't say this because I hate my family. I do love my family, though it is mostly due to the fact they are my family. I'm very independent, physically and emotionally. I'm always broke but I'm a scrounger. I refuse to ask for money, unless I am truly and utterly desperate. Plus my family doesn't have any money to begin with.

My sister has recently had a baby. I can't stand children and for a long while I couldn't stand my sister. (For context, I have two sisters. One older and one younger). After my mum cheated on my dad and left us, she took up a lot of the "maternal responsibility". The issue was, she had no reason to do this. She would disagree, but I was old enough to do my own stuff and so was my younger sister. She took on way too much responsibility, not to mention her workaholic nature. Her mode of existence truly depresses me. She is incredibly smart, yet I have never met such a fool in my life. I don't mean it in the "smart person has no common sense" sense. I mean it in squandered potential, she could've had a life. Got out of that shithole of a town, (our shithole of a town) she could've experienced the world. However, she has now chose to settle, with someone she will divorce/break up with in a matter of less than a decade. (If they make it further than that though, I'll be genuinely impressed). Because, whilst I believe that a relationship can flower and bloom despite political beliefs. She is a steadfast feminist, not a ground-breaking one mind you but a supporter of the women's liberation movement and the procurement of women's rights in general. Her fiancé is a military man trump supporter. His achievements in the military are impressive, I'll give him that. But it's impressive in the same way that a punching bag can only take so many punches. He is strangely timid and shy. He is also an idiot. You could replace him with any fool. I hear he's quite good at chess though. I've been advised not to get into political conversation with him. My dad said I'd "wipe the floor with him". Which I'm not sure how to take as I believe political discussion should be lead with empathy in mind. The feeling for your fellow human, the replacement of numbers with faces. Does he truly not understand what he stands for politically? Follow masked men with faceless crowds?

The point being, this baby is being birthed into this incredibly complex situation. It will grow around this mangled set of people with destroyed brains and warped ideas. Is it up to me as a human being to teach this child about different perspectives? Am I the queer relative that has to be awkwardly explained about? We haven't had that yet. Must I teach this child about media literacy and how to truly enjoy life? Or do I only feel this responsibility because I know the environment to which it will grow. I know it is cruel and callous. I hope it is different, because my mind is just as warped as theirs, if not more. We have no scale. It is incredibly scary, I won't be around to do it anyway. I always have to be away, I can't deal with that town for more than a couple days anymore. It was once hell, I now see faces I used to know wandering the streets. People who went away, failed and came back. I refuse. I cannot commit to such a thing. I will fail. It is certain. But I will not return, I will scrounge and steal till my last breath. But it will not be on those spiked streets, where the local government is stealing and thieving. With no help from the major government as they continue building their concrete, brutalist jungles.

I hope the child at least misses out on the nightmares. It seems like a thing only me and my younger sister get but I don't know my older sister well enough to have that information. I got used to mine, my sister clearly didn't. I'm not sure my sister sees things though. I imagine she does sometimes but I dare not ask her. I'd sound crazy, "hey, do you have hallucinations as well! No way! Must be a genetic thing". My most recent nightmare was quite silly, I was at a music festival. The whole crowd got up on stage to dance and sing with the performers. Afterwards, I went and sat on a hill. As I left, a guy who was sat next to me tried to mug me. I woke up, laughed cause I had got a text saying I'd entered my overdraft. and went back to sleep.

There's always periods where I have strange and vivid dreams. There's usually a theme, this weak they're nightmares. Next week they could be otherworldly sexual fantasies. Though I never hallucinate anything other than ominous things. Dark figures and haunting sounds. Though, there is one sound that I hear everywhere. A small bell. This one has nothing to do with horror but rather conditioning. I had a cat in my hometown (she's still my little baby) and she used to wear a collar with a bell. I'd always hear it and it always would set me off. It's the same reason I'm a heavy sleeper, till I hear the meow of a cat. Then I'm up immediately. It's like a babies cry to me. However, the bells have gotten worse after Christmas. This is due to me getting a cat for where I currently live. A lovely little black kitten, fitted with a red collar and bell. Mostly because you can't see her in the dark so it's best to be able to hear her. My dad's girlfriend had slippers with bells on them and every time she'd walk or even nudge her feet. I'd hear a bell and my head would snap to wherever it came from. It was almost instinctual.

Anyway, my film rant and emotional rant are done for the day. I am tired. It is past my bedtime. I must sleep, though it's not my fault the clocks went forward an hour.

[scholarlyhobbit]

Eugenics and Social Darwinism are fantasies of population purification invented by Victorians who were certain they could breed a master race. I cannot stress that enough. They're ideas with identifiable origin points, not long-standing truths about human nature and society. Francis Galton was a statician who mathematically determined the way to make the perfect cup of tea and the way to breed for "genius" in the population, and published his ideas about heredity starting in 1869.

Eugenics as a movement explicitly endorsed purifying the population of a nation and also argued that improving social and material conditions for people was ineffective compared to ensuring good breeding stock. They believed that any improvement in housing or food or poverty was wasted on the unfit, as they could never appreciate them and it's just a waste of money on an undeserving natural underclass.

So when you hear shit about the cost of caring for the undeserving, for welfare queens (also an anti-Black racist stereotype) and benefits scroungers, when you hear people complaining about the burden of disabled people or people who fake disabilities for benefits, you're explicitly hearing eugenics. You're hearing Nazi bullshit that some people need to be executed by the state so that they stop draining resources and birthing defective, parasitic children. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Do not accept Nazi arguments because they seem like "common sense." They never are. They're just asking you to pretend that all humans everywhere are inherently cruel and that your cruelty is justified and sensible. Cruelty is not either of those things. Do not let Nazis seduce you into thinking the cruelty will only benefit you. It can and will always come home to roost and soon you're the undesirable who just needs to be eliminated for the greater good. Never lose sight of that.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE NEANDERTHAL CHILD WITH DOWN'S SYNDROME? Because they're all I've been thinking about when I'm sad for the past few days. Their existence makes me less sad.

[baeddel]

playing mtg again (vintage, duh) after playing ygo again. i really like both games these days. its interesting to think about the different decisions they make. some of them are what i would consider aesthetic decisions; mtg does not want you playing out extremely long solitaire turns, and they consider eg. storm a mistake that they’ll never print again (except then they print storm enablers like Underworld Breach—who knows!), whereas yugioh really wants you playing extremely long solitaire turns, and they seem to make cards with that in mind (most archetypes are built on searchers that search other searchers and so on). wizards will make quite explicit realtime-related choices, like banning all the fetchlands from the pioneer format to reduce time spent shuffling. whereas almost all yugioh cards cause you to shuffle your deck after resolution.

something else is free spells. mtg went through a period of making a lot of free spells (force of will, git probe, gut shot, daze) but it seems to be something they regret. they banned almost all free spells from pauper and they don’t print them anymore except in sets exclusive to older formats. but they’re a huge part of vintage and legacy. ygo obviously makes every spell free, but you’re limited by other resources; one normal summon per turn, room on the mat, etc.—so things don’t cost anything but they all find limits. if you compare ygo’s handtraps to their mtg equivalents, the free counters (force of will, force of negation, daze) and free removal spells (snuff out, solitude, force of vigor), ygo’s handtraps are in all cases severely restricted and contextual. ash blossom stops (in mtg’s terminology which i find more useful) card draw, tutors, entombs and tinkers (in short it cares about cards in your deck), ghost belle stops regrowths, cards that return cards from the graveyard to the deck (’battefield scroungers’? not a common effect in magic), reanimates, and cards that banish from the graveyard (in short it cares about cards in your graveyard). ghost ogre destroys any card that activates on the field but doesn’t negate its effect, and nibiru is a sweeper on their turn that’s only active if they’ve summoned five or more monsters (a bit like mtg’s traps—mindbreak trap, ravenous trap). you can typically only use them once per turn (’once per turn’ is a very common clause in ygo). in comparison mtg’s free spells are generally much more universal, such as force of will which counters any spell. some are restricted to instants/sorceries, to enchantments, etc., but they’re generally agnostic about what the card they’re destroying does. they also don’t suffer from a once per turn restriction. instead, they tend to come with an alternative cost; force of will’s ‘exile another blue card’, daze’s ‘return an island to your hand.’ this constrains the kind of decks that can play them, and sometimes the cost won’t be worth it. i like both, but after playing both games recently i’ve come to feel like ygo’s situational, modal, free, once-per-turn handtraps are incredibly well designed.

[nobleburn]

@hallowleylines continued from here

"Oh, please," Nikolette grumbled, even as she stood up to mend the rips in her clothing with a cantrip, the magic stitching back together the fabric far more easily than it had her body. If Iona thought Nikolette not the sort of person to make such demands, she was sorely mistaken. "Every moment of one's life isn't mapped out." Otherwise, it would mean what happened to her was meant to happen, and of that, she could not abide.

"And that was not my point," she added, flicking her sword a few times to get the still-wet blood from its edge. "I have no qualms about being challenged. I'm a hero, after all." Yes, and quite a good one. Certainly, the coin-grubbing scroungers in their tattered rags, perpetually smelling of sweat and three week old dungeon musk who styled themselves adventurers would have crumpled entirely betwixt the beast's mandibles.

Once her sword was appropriately cleaned, Nikolette sheathed her sword and returned her attention to Iona. "But fighting local wildlife is not my idea of appropriate heroics." She gestured around to the relative emptiness of the space around them. "I don't see any terrified townsfolk, nor a village under siege. There's not even a respectable, but ill-prepared, traveler in need of rescue."

When she looked at it, the beast wasn't even particularly impressive. It was perhaps the size of a horse, so it didn't even cut a particularly imposing figure. Maybe had it been the size of a dragon, it would have felt a greater achievement. "So don't twist my words. I have no intentions of abandoning my quest, regardless of the obstacles in her way." Nikolette was a stubborn sort, ill-suited to changing her mind at the best of times, and 'the best of times' this empirically wasn't.

"All I'm suggesting is that you use your little soothsaying tricks to avoid pointless diversions and instead steer us towards somewhere in need of my assistance, and with the people present to properly appreciate it." Really, was that so much to ask? She was a paragon of heroism, the likes of which any person should feel honored to witness. That she would even lower herself to solving the problems of the common provincials made her, in her opinion, downright saintly.

Unable to whistle due to her gloves, Nikolette clapped twice and produced a magical chiming sound with another minor spell, leading Lamy to come trotting out from where she'd hidden during the fight. "I'm fine to continue." Planting one boot against the stirrups, she hoisted herself up onto her horse, looking down at Iona with a flat expression. "Are you?"

[queerlyhalloween]

While the elon shitshow is funny I need y'all to understand it's ONLY funny because the guy's a big enough egotistical idiot to admit he fired the lad for being disabled

generally if you're disabled you're not getting hired in the first place, or if you ARE/ develop disabilities once hired it goes as any of the following:

You are fired for something 'unrelated' (the most common I've noticed is having your workload increased then recieving complaints for "not being able to do your job properly"

Your hours are slashed/ if on a zero hours contract you simply don't get shifts anymore

Not giving you the opportunity to seek doctor's appointments/ not making allowances for you (if they even bother) until you present them with a doctor's note signed by at least 5 doctors and a 2000 word essay on why you deserve a position in this wretched world (yeah. im exaggerating for comedic effect. Suck my nut)

Managers/ colleagues actively bully you until you quit (nothing that overtly screams "discrimination" on paper but heavy sighs when asking for the assistance they are LEGALLY required to give you/ treating you like you're useless/ if in a customer-facing role actively abandonning you during busy periods so Horrid Customers screech at you

The last one was the final straw that pushed me to quit working for wetherspoons when they decided RSI and no power in my dominant arm (CAUSED BY THE COMPANY'S SHIT STAFFING) was reaaaally inconvenient for them 🥺

So!

The bottom line is that if somebody tells you they were essentially fired being disabled it is not your position to go "um, technically-"

And if you're one of these bastards that bitches and moans about "benefit scroungers" or the "economic cost" of caring for the disabled OR! talks about how at a certain point disabled people should be fucking culled like what they're proposing in Canada I think you should straight up kill yourself *shrugs*

[serenata-your-neighborhood-lefty]

Taking this out of my replies because I’ve been wanting to say something on this topic for a while now. “Socialism won’t work because people are too selfish / corruptible / etc” is a common concern I see raised. 

The thing is, socialism will not require everyone to be morally magnificent all the time. It will not depend on its citizens being selfless, generous souls. This is because the mechanisms to achieve a successful socialist society will actually be built into social institutions themselves. It won’t rely in the first place on the goodwill of individuals. 

In fact, we can expect that socialist society will have its fair share of toadies, bullies, cheats, loafers, scroungers, freeloaders, and occasional psychopaths.  Envy, aggression and greed would still exist. It is just that they could not take the forms they assume under capitalism, due to a change in institutions. They would not be able to manifest in imperialist warfare, or child labour, or cutthroat economic competition, or $400 vials of insulin. Even in today’s society, there are moral ruffians everywhere you look, but only some are so placed as to be able to steal pension funds or bribe officials or pump the media full of lying propaganda. In a socialist society, nobody would be in a position to do so. This is not because they would be too saintly, but because there would be no private pension funds or Murdoch-owned propaganda outlets. You cannot be a bullying corporate magnate if there aren’t any corporations around.

Virtue, so to speak, will be built into the proceedings, not left to the vagaries of individual character. 

[loreholdlesbian]

Brothers’ War Draft Booster Challenge

Every set, I like to make a booster pack of custom cards that fit the design of that set. I try to be as innovative as I can, but my primary goals with this project are to make realistic, printable, and fun designs that fit within the structure of the set, and it’s difficult to be all that innovative with a set of mostly commons and also while staying true to how mechanics were used within the set. With that out of the way, let’s get started.

Rare

Ayd, Marshal of Production 1WU

Legendary Creature- Human Soldier

If you would create one or more artifact tokens, create twice that many tokens instead.

5: Create a tapped 1/1 colorless Soldier artifact creature token.

2/3

Here’s an old design I liked quite a bit that I adapted to the set. The second ability ups the floor by allowing this card, by itself, to make artifact tokens that it can double, but this card also doubles powerstone tokens and this rewards you for doing so by giving you an outlet for their mana.

Uncommons

Power Plating 3

Artifact- Equipment

Equipped permanent has base power and toughness 5/5 and is a Soldier artifact creature in addition to its other types.

Equip 3

Equip artifact 2U

Here’s a card in the legacy of Luxior. All the “colored” artifacts in this set are designed so that they have some kind of use outside of that color (being a creature, if nothing else), so I chose to make the normal equip cost colorless and only the animating cost require blue.

Conflict’s Genesis 4RR

Sorcery

Two target creatures fight. When either of those creatures die this turn, create a tapped Powerstone token.

I wanted to call this Sibling Rivalry, but a different card in the set already took that name. I like this card for it better though. I know neither Urza or Mishra died in that fight, but I think that was just mechanically better, and i think otherwise this is a great representation of the story. Two creatures on the same side fight, and two powerstones come out of it.

Steel Spinner 2

Artifact Creature- Spider

Reach

2G, T: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Activate only as a sorcery.

U: Untap ~.

1/3

The set has lots of colorless artifacts with colored abilities, and I thought it would be neat to have a cycle of cards with two different colors of activation, so that it can go in either deck but is best in one with both. I’m particularly happy with this design and how the untap effect combines with a tap ability, and then this also serves as a mana sink for GU’s manaramp archetype. I added the reach to make the untap effect a bit more useful on its own.

Commons

Crystalized Prison 1W

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant artifact, creature, or planeswalker

Enchanted permanent is a Powerstone artifact with “T: Add C. This mana can’t be spent to cast a nonartifact spell,” and “6: Destroy Crystalized Prison” and loses all other types and abilities.

Here’s a weird pacifism variant. Since it turns something into a powerstone, I wanted to make sure they had something to spend that mana on, and I liked the gameplay of the expensive way to get rid of the enchantment. It let me cost this a little more aggressively.

Ruin Scrounger 2

Artifact Creature- Fox

Whenever a permanent enters the battlefield from a graveyard, surveil 1.

Unearth 1W

2/1

Here’s a common payoff for the RW unearth deck. Surveil in white may seem a bit odd, but I basically see surveil as useable anywhere scry would be, and this would absolutely be fine to scry, plus white even got a minor bit of self-milling so clearly this kind of thing is a bend they’re willing to make. I wanted surveil over scry for the unearth synergy, though I don’t love the amount of room it makes all the reminder text take up, and I can’t really skip out on a common. I think this’ll play great though.

Fluid Metamorph 5

Artifact Creature- Shapeshifter

Prototype 1/3 1U

1: ~ gets +1/-1 until end of turn.

3/5

This card was made because I had a) no prototype designs and b) no blue commons, so I tried to make a card that filled both holes. Technically, the common prototypes all came in a cycle so this breaks that pattern but. Eh. I might have done a bit more with prototype, it’s a neat mechanic, but I didn’t have a prototype frame and that annoys me.

Microtog 1B

Creature- Atog

1, Sacrifice another creature or artifact with mana value 3 or less: ~ gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

1/2

The first atog card was in antiquities, and it has been wayyy too long since we’ve gotten an atog so I thought making one would be a fun throwback. I took a look at set themes, and thought about what kind of atog I could make that hadn’t been done, and this is what I came up with, tying into the WB theme of caring about cheap stuff and of course, the RB sacrifice theme.

Fleshscrap Scavenger 4

Artifact Creature- Phyrexian

When ~ enters the battlefield, mill three cards.

Unearth 6B. This ability costs 1 less to cast for each other creature card in your graveyard.

3/3

Something I wanted to do with unearth was try out variable costs, and this was one of the simplest ways to do it, especially since other cards in the set care about the same thing. This might need a second black mana pip but I think ultimately, 1 mana for a very temporary 3/3 and milling three cards with a lot of setup is probably fine.

Intelligence Poacher 1R

Creature- Human Soldier

Menace

Prowess

Whenever ~ deals 2 or more combat damage to a player, scry 2.

1/3

Here’s a design I’m quite proud of, in terms of innovation at common. Having a threshold for the damage it needs to deal in order to trigger means you need to cast a spell to trigger prowess, or have some other means of boosting the power. I think it’s a really cool way of caring about noncreature spells on a prowess creature, by tying it to the prowess.

Traitor’s Banner 1

Artifact- Equipment

When ~ enters the battlefield, you may pay 2R. When you do, gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap it and attach ~ to it.

Equipped creature has haste.

Equip 1

This is another design I’m quite proud of, I like how the base effect of the equipment ties in with the kickeresque effect, since that effect needs haste to work. I’m really happy about this as a common, and how viable it is in either mode.

Power Surge 2G

Instant

Choose target creature you control. Create a tapped Powerstone token. That creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact that entered the battlefield under your control this turn and gains trample until end of turn.

Really not much to say here. There’s a GW theme of caring about artifacts entering the battlefield, and this plays into that and uses a Powerstone token to give it a base use case and the trample helps with that too.

Mishra’s Panther 3

Artifact Creature- Cat

When ~ enters the battlefield, you gain 3 life if mana produced by an artifact was spent to cast it.

3/2

I’ve always liked cards that care about artifact mana, I made a similar one in my booster for MH2, and with powerstones all over the place I wanted to revisit that here. Originally this scaled with each mana spent to cast it from an artifact, but I decided to make it a flat on/off instead for the sake of simplicity and being more usable in general decks, especially since “artifact mana” isn’t really a theme other commons care about.

Archive

Sigiled Wheel X2

Artifact [rare]

~ enters the battlefield with X charge counters on it.

Creatures you control have protection from the mana value equal to the number of charge counters on ~.

2, T: Add or remove a charge counter from ~.

Reprint slots are always hard for a project like this, since I have to make a new card. The conclusion I came to was to create a card that doesn’t feel like it would have been created for this set, and that fits in with the other reprints. One of the best ways to do this is to use a mechanic that isn’t really used in the set. Here I made a card that would have felt right at home in mirrodin block, but this set isn’t really doing much with charge counters, so it doesn’t quite fit in with what this set is doing, making it perfect for the reprint slot. I went with the mystical archive frame cause I didn’t have the old frame available.