#greathearts

[ritunn]

A Requiem for Rainbow Vale: On Playing Zedruu for 14 Years

Rainbow Vale is a 30 year old card that sees average play in a single deck on EDHREC, Zedruu the Greathearted at 20% playrate. Rainbow Vale is arguably a bad card. It puts your opponent ahead on mana more than you and in a multiplayer game, it's quite possible it'll never reach you again. Despite this, due to its status as a reserve list card and seeing play in Zedruu the Greathearted, it costs about the same as an Academy Manufactor (pictured behind) currently. Academy Manufactor is arguably a good card. In any deck that makes clues, treasures, or food, it makes more cardboard for you to do things with. Zedruu doesn't particularly care, however. It doesn't do any of that. Instead, it does an unorthodox strategy revolving around donating your cards to your opponents to reap the rewards. This is the only deck anyone would arguably play Rainbow Vale in.

Zedruu the Greathearted was one of the first decks introduced in the once yearly commander precon product line. It played into the idea of doing the one thing you can do in multiplayer formats you can't do in any other... politics. The deck was bad as most were back then, but Zedruu was perhaps the worst, though it introduced beloved removal spell, Chaos Warp, and storm counter, Flusterstorm. However, I was entranced with Zedruu back then. I had no idea the thought of "donate" strategy already existed that revolved around infamous cards Donate and Illusions of Grandeur, no, I liked Zedruu because she was weird, she was home for cards like Rainbow Vale, cards that pretty much just sucked.

Some have downsides so bad you'd never want to run them in a deck, while others just so happen to help your opponents a bit more than you. Zedruu doesn't mind. She's open to all these misfits who she shares with everyone. Mediocrity made into boons for you. I liked that about Zedruu. Playing cards that turn heads and you'd never see anywhere else or had forgotten about after decades of not playing against them. Funnily enough, Zedruu was expected to be a group hug commander that helped your opponents more than hindered, but people took her on quite a few funnier paths

These days, we have other options for donation strategies with Blim and Jon Irenicus as well. Both add black to the strategy, which has plenty of its own misfits with downsides. Arguably, Zedruu paved the way for these two by proving herself quite popular after all these years, and now has been taken over in popularity by Jon Irenicus. Neither really run Rainbow Vale, but they all carry its spirit of running weird and silly cards. I think that's what called to me about Zedruu over a decade ago in that old card shop in the mall. The silliness, the weirdness, the love for cards considered unplayable and bad. It's the will of Zedruu you have them after all! She cares about the outcasts and gives them a purpose in their own unique way. So, maybe next time you think about making a deck, take a look at Zedruu and her brothers. Maybe play a silly card like Rainbow Vale. That's the beauty of EDH after all. Being able to play the unorthodox, finding a home for the weird and wonderful cards you wouldn't play anywhere else.

If you're interested in seeing my Zedruu deck of nearly 15 years, feel free to check it out here.

Some Zedruu decks act like merchants, selling equipment. Some get a bit chaotic, changibg the state of the board in dramatic ways. Others fill up on enchantments that affect the whole board or do nothing after entering. Other ones play cards that focus on harming your opponent as described above. Plenty do help your opponents exclusively as well. That's the fun of Zedruu. She's got a home for lots of strange strategies that like sharing your cards.

[draconscious]

Just like that, the placid evening in Goldenrod has exploded in a flurry of frenzied activity. Swarms of errant Magnemite buzz around the train station like futuristic gnats, discharging aggressive snaps of electricity at frightened passerby.

Despite the hectic scenes, Whitney had surprisingly risen to the occasion, the young Leader quickly taking charge of the emergency and delegating the needed responsibilities. They've had their differences, but in this moment, Clair feels proud of her colleague and, dare she say it, friend--standing so tall under the crackling lightposts. Perhaps she's finally growing up.

"Keep moving! Hurry up, let's go...!" The Blackthorn Gym Leader's tone is snappy, harsh, but Clair is an efficient traffic herder for frightened passerby as she escorts another large group successfully from the station. Greatheart--her gentle, loving Dragonite--is dialed in beside his trainer, all muscle as he sends encroaching Magnemite cratering towards the floor with well-timed swats. There are still so many of them...

Clair mutters a command to Greatheart, and the kind giant nods, suddenly stamping his feet and bellowing towards the evening sky. The earth and air shake--if people weren't aware of Clair's well-dressed presence in Goldenrod before, they're aware now.

With a huff of smoke, Greatheart--freshly Dragon Danced up and ready for more action--positions himself between the Magnemite and the straggling passengers following Clair's lead, fist glowing with burning flames. No innocent people are getting hurt on his watch.

[anghraine]

I originally compiled a set of quotes about how Elrond and his children are not identified exclusively as Elves a couple of years ago in a reblog, but I wanted an easier version of my post for reference, so here it is:

The distinction between Elves and half-Elves is most glaring with Elladan and Elrohir, but there’s an interesting description of Elrond as great among Elves and Men, as if (despite his fate lying with Elves) he’s both/neither. And, of course, when Aragorn wishes for Elrond as he goes about healing, he describes Elrond not as a better healer because he’s an Elf, but because “he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power” (ROTK, “The Houses of Healing”).

In addition, I think the language used around Elladan and Elrohir is really interesting. When they show up with the Dúnedain of the North, Legolas says of them, “they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell” (ROTK, “The Passing of the Grey Company”). They are like Elven-lords because they’re Elrond’s sons, but not actually called Elven-lords.

When we actually see Elladan and Elrohir, we hear: “So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair” (same chapter). They look as fair as Elves. But when the Grey Company, including Elladan and Elrohir, goes to the Paths of the Dead:

“The company halted, and there was not a heart among them that did not quail, unless it were the heart of Legolas of the Elves, for whom the ghosts of Men have no terror” (same chapter).

Later, as the armies of the west make their way to the Black Gate, we hear:

“And from that evening onward the Nazgûl came and followed every move of the army. They still flew high and out of sight of all save Legolas…” (ROTK, “The Black Gate Opens”).

Even the random minstrel of Gondor at the Field of Cormallen addresses those present at the victory celebrations with:

“Lo! lords and knights and men of valour unashamed, kings and princes, and fair people of Gondor, and Riders of Rohan, and ye sons of Elrond, and Dúnedain of the North, and Elf and Dwarf, and greathearts of the Shire…” (ROTK, “The Field of Cormallen”).

So the exceptional nature of Elrond and his children does seem a) accurate, given the exclusion of Elladan and Elrohir from generalizations about Elves, and b) very generally understood and accepted.

Oh, and there’s also Tolkien’s extratextual translation of Elladan and Elrohir’s names:

“Both signify elf+man. Elrohir might be translated ‘Elf-knight’; rohir being a later form (III 391) of rochir ‘horse-lord.’ Elladan might be translated ‘Elf-Númenórean’” (Letters 282).

Rohir is “a later form” of rochir because it’s Gondorian/Númenórean usage. The El- in both names and the suffixes indicating 'mortal man' clearly refer to Elrond’s family—so for instance, Elladan can only be considered a Númenórean of any kind through Elrond. If, as Elrond’s sons with a fully Elvish woman, they are not considered Elves, this can only be all the more true for Elrond himself.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Word List: Heart

beautiful words with "heart" to try to include in your poem/story

Blackheart - a plant disease in which the central tissues blacken

Disheartenment - to cause to lose hope, enthusiasm, or courage; to cause to lose spirit or morale

Freehearted - frank, unreserved; generous

Greathearted - characterized by bravery; courageous

Greenheart - a tropical South American evergreen tree (Ocotea rodiaei synonym Nectandra rodiaei) of the laurel family with a hard greenish wood

Halfhearted - lacking heart, spirit, or interest

Heart-free - not in love

Heartburning - intense or rancorous jealousy or resentment

Heartland - a central area

Heartleaf - any of several wild gingers that have distinctly cordate leaves and are usually included in the genus Asarum but are sometimes segregated in a separate genus

Heartnut - Japanese walnut

Heartpea - balloon vine i.e., a tropical American vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum) of the soapberry family bearing large ornamental pods

Heartsease - peace of mind; tranquility

Heartsome - giving spirit or vigor; animating, enlivening

Hearthrug - a rug for the front of the hearth

Heartseed - a plant of the genus Cardiospermum

Hearthstone - home

Hearts-and-flowers - show of sentiment or sentimentality; cloying expressions of endearment

Heartrending - heartbreaking

Heartsick - very despondent; depressed; heartsore

Heartstring - obsolete: a nerve once believed to sustain the heart; the deepest emotions or affections—usually used in plural

Heartwise - in the shape or manner of a heart

Heartwood - the older harder nonliving central wood of trees that is usually darker, denser, less permeable, and more durable than the surrounding sapwood

Heavyhearted - despondent, saddened

Lighthearted - free from care, anxiety, or seriousness; easygoing

Oxheart - any of various large sweet cherries

Purpleheart - a strong durable purplish wood that is obtained from various leguminous trees (genus Peltogyne) of Central and South America

Softhearted - emotionally responsive; sympathetic

Stouthearted - having a stout heart or spirit; courageous; stubborn

Truehearted - faithful, loyal

If any of these words inspire your writing, do tag me or send me a link. I'd love to read your work!

More: Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[incorrect-mtg]

Flavor Text Highlights - Lorwyn

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

Cool - Kithkin Greatheart

Sometimes a curious giant singles out a “little one” to follow for a few days, never realizing the effect it will have on the little one’s life.

Funny - Ingot Chewer

Elementals are ideas given form. This one is the idea of “smashitude.”

Worldbuilding - Exiled Boggart

Among the boggarts, there is only one real rule: all new treasures and experiences must be shared. Those who hoard their gifts commit the one truly unforgivable sin.

Worldbuilding - Lys Alana Scarblade

In beauty-obsessed Lys Alana, one cut of her blade means the difference between a high society feast and raking through the dungheap for scraps.

<- Previous Set | Next Set ->

[thelastrenaissance]

Liberté

Paul Eluard

On my school notebooks

On my desk and on the trees

On the sands of snow

I write your name

On the pages I have read

On all the white pages

Stone, blood, paper or ash

I write your name

On the images of gold

On the weapons of the warriors

On the crown of the king

I write your name

On the jungle and the desert

On the nest and on the brier

On the echo of my childhood

I write your name

On all my scarves of blue

On the moist sunlit swamps

On the living lake of moonlight

I write your name

On the fields, on the horizon

On the birds’ wings

And on the mill of shadows

I write your name

On each whiff of daybreak

On the sea, on the boats

On the demented mountaintop

I write your name

On the froth of the cloud

On the sweat of the storm

On the dense rain and the flat

I write your name

On the flickering figures

On the bells of colors

On the natural truth

I write your name

On the high paths

On the deployed routes

On the crowd-thronged square

I write your name

On the lamp which is lit

On the lamp which isn���t

On my reunited thoughts

I write your name

On a fruit cut in two

Of my mirror and my chamber

On my bed, an empty shell

I write your name

On my dog, greathearted and greedy

On his pricked-up ears

On his blundering paws

I write your name

On the latch of my door

On those familiar objects

On the torrents of a good fire

I write your name

On the harmony of the flesh

On the faces of my friends

On each outstretched hand

I write your name

On the window of surprises

On a pair of expectant lips

In a state far deeper than silence

I write your name

On my crumbled hiding-places

On my sunken lighthouses

On my walls and my ennui

I write your name

On abstraction without desire

On naked solitude

On the marches of death

I write your name

And for the want of a word

I renew my life

For I was born to know you

To name you

Liberty.

[deejadabbles]

She fell in love with Greatheart almost immedately, and claims he is why the force wouldn't allow her to be a Jedi Knight.

Oh my goodness I'm crying that's so beautiful!!!!!

When Isa left the order she left behind the saber she had built as a youngling, but was permitted to keep her crystal. She wore it as a necklace everyday until she gave it to Greatheart, who now wears it.

okAY NOW I'M SOBBING! @sunshinesdaydream we need a whole romance novel written about them they're amazing

Isa Mio Matchmaker OC & Greatheart Clone OC

I putting these two together because, well they belong together.

They both work at Right To Love and feature in the last third of "The Power of Love", my Hardcase X Reader fic. They both make brief appearances in "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", my Rex X Reader fic. Both a part of the @tcwmatchmakingau

Isa Mio is a rare(ish) case. She was raised in the Jedi temple, but as a youngling she did not agree with how strict Knights were expected to follow "no attachments" and interpreted the phrase in other ways. And she had little interest in lightsabers, another thing that would entice younglings.

As a result, instead of accepting an offer to become a padawan to a master, she went into the Jedi Service Corp. She learned her real talent for healing in general, with some in mind healing.

When the clone wars began she worked aboard a medical cruiser, where she made many friends. Some very close ones.

This is also where she met the very injured medic, Greatheart, when he was evacced from battle. Due to his injuries he recovered onboard and stayed as opposed to being shipped back out with his original battalion.

She fell in love with Greatheart almost immedately, and claims he is why the force wouldn't allow her to be a Jedi Knight.

Isa desires everyone to be happy and fulfilled. While working as a Matchmaker at Right to Love she volunteers to get war veterans the support they need.

After the war she has a much lower tolerance for attending to injury on an emotional level and has stepped away from the more physical side of healing.

Greatheart was a medic in the early days of the war. He was severely injured while protecting an injured brother he was caring for on the battlefield. Greatheart recovered, but not without needing two prosthetic legs and his back covered in scars.

While he could return to the field with the prosthetics he was given the option to remain on board and continue serving as attached to the ship. He frequently helped with planetside evacs and triage among other things.

He met Isa during his recovery and fell in love with her. When Isa left the order she left behind the saber she had built as a youngling, but was permitted to keep her crystal. She wore it as a necklace everyday until she gave it to Greatheart, who now wears it.

While on the medical ship he gained an interest in "Mind Healing" as the Jedi Service corp on board called it. He had a natural talent for calming people, which is how he got his name from his brothers.

While he works at Right to Love he also is taking courses to become a proper therapist and is also volunteering to help organize therapy and emotional and medical support animals for brothers that need them.

Thanks for reading!

❤️Love & Wrecker Hugs❤️

[ansreth]

So one of my goals this year was to create my own Magic card alter for a commander deck with my OC. So I created a version of Zedruu the Greathearted, my first and favorite commander deck ever :3

So... Wanna make a deal? 😏

[ritunn]

Got some stickers of my fave legends leading my favorite commander decks of which I've played for over or nearly a decade up on my magnet board. All the designs are by MegaChibi.

Though Círdan and Light-Paws are both more recent, their decks (Simic Politics and MonoW Auras) were originally led by Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Sram, Senior Edificer. Both the old commanders are still in the decks, but I loved these two quite a lot more. Círdan's deck was first made in 2014 and Light-Paws in 2018. Zedruu is actually the original precon I purchased when I was 10 in 2011 that's been heavily upgraded over the past 13 yesrs. If you want to give each deck a look, you can! I've iterated on them a lot over the years and a good few of the original cards I included in the decks are still key pieces.

Decks Lists:

Círdan, the Shipwright (Gifts From the Grey Havens)

Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice (Kitsune Tricks)

Zedruu, the Greathearted (Delusions of Grandeur)

[draconscious]

He plonks one of those elementary school valentines cards into the box. 5/10 rating, could visit viridian more. here's 5$ for some chocolate on me -lance

happy (belated) valentines day! / clair confession box

"Wow...harsh. 5/10 is pretty low, hey? Are you two fighting again...?"

Gym Trainer Lola lets out a squeak of laughter as a very disgruntled Clair elbows her looming figure away. "No. And even if we were, I definitely wouldn't tell you," she huffs, her cheeks turning an embarrassed shade of pink. "You'd better watch it...you're already on the thinnest of ice for setting this whole debacle up in the first place--" (Clair pinches her fingers close for emphasis.)

"Yeeeeah, guilty," Lola retorts nonchalantly, that eternally-teasing grin still on her face. "You're welcome, by the way. Look at all the much-deserved love you've been getting! Blackthorn's favorite leader and hardest worker...!"

"I didn't...you're being so dumb," Clair snaps back childishly, turning the card over in a gloved hand. There's a beat of stubborn silence. "...But you know, 5/10 is low--considering all the cover that I've provided for him here. And also, you'd think the champion would be able to afford to send his dear cousin a nicer card."

Lola laughs, and--despite her good-natured grousing--Clair can't help but smile...just a little. It's been...pretty nice to see more of Lance around lately, as unpredictable as he could be. The dragoness opts to pocket the fiver--she doesn't eat chocolate anymore, but her Dragonite certainly does.

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Honour "Beauty" Huston (Robin McKinley's "Beauty")

No one requested this. I just finished rereading the book and felt like discussing it.

Favorite thing about them: How human and relatable she is, especially compared to the idealized fairy tale heroines of tradition. She makes the parallels between Beauty and the Beast and Jane Eyre more obvious than ever, since she's not a physical beauty (or at least doesn't think she is until the end), nor is she the traditional sweet and gentle figure, but a no-nonsense, stubborn, intellectual bookworm and horse girl, who only gradually attunes to magic and romance as she lives in the castle. These differences from the traditional Beauty make her more of a kindred spirit to the Beast (since they're both kind-hearted yet slightly rough around the edges, and both insecure about their looks), and they humanize her too. So do many details in the way she's written. For example, the sheer physicality of her first-person narration – her emphasis on smells, tastes, and tactile sensations, her mentions of aching feet or hands raw with work, her dislike of dainty teacups and preference for a big mug of tea, etc. – enhance the sense of her grounded personality and make her seem all the more real. Or the fact that she doesn't ask her father for a single, pretty but ephemeral rose, but makes a more practical request for rose seeds, with which she can plant a garden full of roses that will last. Now, of course, the idea of reimagining a classic fairy tale heroine as plain, strong-willed and down-to-earth rather than sweet, gentle and beautiful is nothing new anymore. Neither is a YA heroine with low self-esteem because she thinks she's not pretty. But those tropes were obviously fresher and newer in 1978, when this novel was first published, so I feel free to consider them effective in Beauty's case without calling them clichés.

Least favorite thing about them: The very brief moment when she loses her temper and shouts some nasty things at her horse Greatheart when he panics at the sight of the Beast and almost throws her. I understand that she's struggling not to fall and break her neck, but it still seems harsh and faintly out of character for a girl who's usually so level-headed. But then, her level-headedness also disappears at other important points, like when when she goes into hysterics and faints at the reveal that she can never leave the castle. I suppose the key to understanding these moments is that she doesn't often let her emotions flow freely, but when she does, whether in anger, anguish, or fear, she goes all-out.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I love books.

*I'm sometimes insecure about my appearance.

*I like spice cake and hot chocolate.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I don't have any sisters.

*I have very little experience with horses.

*I'm not allergic to dogs, as she mentions in passing that she is.

Favorite line:

To her sister Hope, when the latter worries that their father won't approve of her love for a blacksmith:

"If you think you'll be happiest scrubbing tar out of burlap aprons, Father won't say nay. And he will probably buy you several maids to do the scrubbing."

When her invisible maids are trying to force her into a fancy gown that she thinks is much too beautiful for a plain girl like her:

"It's a beautiful dress, and that's why I won't wear it; if you put a peacock's tail on a sparrow, he's still a brown little, wretched little, drab little sparrow."

After she saves the Beast from dying at the climax, and is nearly swooning from exhaustion, and the Beast urges her to rest:

"Not yet. I have to see to Greatheart – I'd still be in the forest without him – but I had to find you first – and then there's something I must tell you... I can't sleep now. It's daylight. What I want is breakfast."

Attuned though she is now with the castle's magic and her own love, she's still her old, down-to-earth self. Even when she's near collapse after journeying for twelve hours through the forest, finding the Beast near death, and then miraculously reviving him, she talks about tending to her horse and getting something to eat.

brOTP: Her father, her sisters Grace and Hope, her brother-in-law Ger, and if non-sentient animals count, her horse Greatheart.

OTP: The Beast/Prince.

nOTP: Her father.

Random headcanon: Her life story will inspire the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast as we know it today. But the telling-and-retelling process, combined with attempts by parents and governesses to make the story more didactic for young ladies, will distort the tale and result in all the familiar differences from the "true" story. For example, that Beauty was always physically beautiful, that her sisters were wicked and jealous rather than kind and loving, that she did all the cooking and cleaning in their cottage rather than the "boyish" outdoor work she really did, and that she asked her father to bring her a rose rather than rose seeds.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think Disney's Belle is as much of a knockoff of her as some people do. Yes, Disney did arguably borrow some details from this novel – even more in the 2017 remake than in the animated version – but apart from their shared love of books, which comes from Mme. de Beaumont's version of the original fairy tale, this Beauty is a very different person from Belle. For the most part, Beauty is a grounded, unromantic girl, whose love of books is intellectual (for example, she writes her own translations of Greek tragedies and dreams of becoming a scholar at a university), and who learns to embrace magic and passion in the Romantic world of the Beast's castle. Belle is a sensitive, "dazed and distracted" dreamer, who loves books for the adventure and romance they bring her, and she doesn't change as much as Beauty does by the end, but finds what she was always looking for, just in an unexpected way.

Song I associate with them: None.

Favorite picture of them:

This stylized silhouette from the cover of the book's 2018 edition.

[swordandsable]

Ajani, the Greathearted

[murmursdraconic]

Shay's gift finally arrives in front of the sanctuary: a handwoven basket loaded down with fragrant incense sticks, elegantly-packed tea...and a well-loved Dragonite plushie. Attached to the basket handle is a note written in Clair's unmistakable scrawl.

Happy birthday--sorry I haven't been able to visit lately, but I plan to once things calm down a bit. Hope the tea and incense help you relax in the meantime--went and picked them up directly from Ecruteak. Also, don't mind the plushie, that's just Greatheart's gift to you. That silly Dragonite misses you terribly and wanted to give you something once he found out the date. If you could just hold onto it for now, I'm sure it'd mean the world to him.

Here's to another year. Thanks as always for keeping watch--and stay safe up there, please. ~ Clair 🐉

Even with all of the annoying Shay did to Clair, there was a kind heart under her cold exterior. The note is met with a smile, and the plush was very cute. Greatheart would get a visit and she'd have to bring one of her Dragonites with her. There were few things worse than a sad Dragonite.

Tea and incense... perfect to take to one of her hide outs or one of the local onsens. Perhaps invite Clair one of these days so she could relax too.

She would have to find Clair and thank her. Shay could find a way to get her some time off, she was certain.

[markrosewater]

If I give my opponent control of a battle that they're defending (using zedruu the greathearted for instance) can they attack it? Do they get to cast the back side if it's defeated?

When they gain control of it, they choose a new person to defend it.

[dimestoretajic]

THE MAGIC THE GATHERING PLANESWALKER ULTIMATE BRACKET!

"Ugh, I'm so tired... I need to get my main post for round two up, but I can barely keep my eyes open... I've got all the battles saved, I'll just do it in the morning..."

"... wait... how did someone comment on the 3feri vs. Freyalise battle...? CRAP I HIT QUEUE INSTEAD OF DRAFT ON THAT ONE"

Welcome to round 2, everybody! We had a great first round, with some tight fights and some absolute outright curbstompings. I gotta feeling this field of eight is gonna be equally as fascinating to watch.

Here are the battles!

Teferi, Time Raveler vs. Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury

Dakkon, Shadow Slayer vs. Venser, the Sojourner

Teferi, Master of Time vs. Tamiyo, Collector of Tales

Domri, Anarch of Bolas vs. Narset Transcendent

Ajani, the Greathearted vs. Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools

Daretti, Scrap Savant vs. Liliana, Death's Majesty

Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge vs. Grist, the Hunger Tide

Ral, Storm Conduit vs. Nissa, Steward of Elements

Have fun, gang!

[mocha-gladiator]

Ok guys in true furry nature I have consulted the fantasy name generator and picked out a few fun ones. What should I name my unicorn??