#modal flavor

[happi-speech]

Which flavor modal u want 🍦🍦🍦

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than bellies

Does your opponent have an annoying blocker that's stopping your from murdering them? Just fucking eat it!

[markrosewater]

Maro’s “Look Inside the House”: A Duskmourn: House of Horrors Teaser

The new plane of Duskmourn is a perilous place, but if you can survive the horrors within you may come out stronger than ever. I’ve been there. I’ve seen the darkness and to that end, here are some hints of things to come – but will this information help or hinder your journey? Only time will tell. As with any good piece of horror media, you’re only receiving partial information and things are not always as they appear: 

 First up, here are some things you can expect:  

• A component of the set with a frame using technology first designed for an Un-set

• A tweak on an ability word that first appeared in the third set of a block

• Counters used in the set: +1/+1, -1/-1, finality, flying, lifelink, lore, loyalty, nest, possession, rev, stun, and time

• The first ability word to reference “second main phase”

• A 10/1 creature for UUU

• A variant on a mechanic that itself was a variant on another mechanic

• A modal three mana white mass removal spell

• A character returns as a legendary creature that first appeared in flavor text in Alpha

• A new ability word that cares about a card type and a (new) keyword action

• Creature tokens: 1/1 white Toy, 1/1 white Glimmer, 2/1 white Insect, 3/1 white Spirit, 4/4 white Beast, blue token copy, X/X blue Spirit, 2/2 black Horror, 6/6 black Demon, 1/1 red Gremlin, 1/1 red Balloon, 2/2 green Spider, 1/1 black and green Insect, and 0/0 green and blue Fractal

 Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:  

• “unlock a locked door”

• “Search your library for a Demon card,”

• “where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less.”

• “Exile any number of target instant, sorcery, and/or Tamiyo planeswalker cards from your graveyard.”

• “The same is true for creature spells you control and creature cards you own that aren’t on the battlefield.”

• “You have no maximum hand size and don’t lose the game for having 0 or less life.”

• “Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only a single creature you control, copy that spell.”

• “Shards you control become copies of it until the beginning of the next end step.”

• “of creatures you control that don’t have the same name as this creature.”

• “(2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, and 31 are prime numbers.)”

 Here are some creature type lines from the set: 

• Creature – Human Doctor

• Creature – Kor Survivor

• Creature – Goat

• Creature – Shark

• Creature – Eye

• Creature – Fish Insect

• Artifact Creature – Monkey Toy

• Creature – Human Clown Berserker

• Legendary Creature – Elder Demon

• Legendary Creature – Rat Ninja Wizard

 Finally, here are some names in the set: 

• Acrobatic Cheerleader

• Don’t Make a Sound

• Exorcise

• Friendly Ghost

• Jump Scare

• Let’s Play a Game

• Meathook Massacre II

• Orphans of the Wheat

• Split Up

• Unsettling Twins

 Tune into Duskmourn’s Debut at 2pm PT, August 31 – streaming live from PAX West – where the House will finally reveal more of its secrets.

[astrolovecosmos]

The April 8th 2024 Eclipse

There's been a LOT of information out there about the infamous April 8th eclipse. From a straightforward astrological perspective an eclipse represents repressed thoughts, feelings, and energy coming to the surface in a forceful way. While many cultures have deemed eclipses as bad luck or a sign of destruction and doom this isn't fully representative of a modern astrological standpoint. Karma and themes surrounding the collective can certainly exist within the eclipse in many ways. If the placements of the eclipse conjunct your placements, then you may be affected more than others. Those with the same modality (cardinal, mutable, fixed) as the sign of the eclipse can be influenced too. Don't forget to pay attention to the House your placements are in if you are influenced by it, this will give clues to the environment surrounding its effect.

The collective is always influenced by eclipses which is why many astrologers will speak about world or societal events surrounding them.

When there is a solar eclipse, this represents light of consciousness, life force, and vitality being blocked out by the subconscious, unseen, emotions, and potentially irrationality by the Moon. When there is a lunar eclipse it represents rationality, warmth, and giving (the Sun) overcoming the primal and emotional side of the Moon.

On April 8th the Sun and Moon will be in Aries, a sign of war, recklessness, competitiveness, anger, and passion. I am not making any predictions for the eclipse, but this can explain many of the intense claims out there. The fire element overall can disrupt energy flow, confidence, and activity. Aries also represents enthusiasm, enterprise, winning, leadership, adaptability, and new beginnings. Eclipses ultimately ask us to change and reevaluate, they bring thoughts and feelings to our attention.

There are other aspects and placements that have been adding extra "flavor" to this eclipse. Mercury will be retrograde in Aries during the eclipse which adds more challenges, especially to travel (a time where MILLIONS are traveling). Be mindful of emotional outbursts, harsh truths, and impulsive anger or communication from this retrograde.

Jupiter Conjunct Uranus is a major aspect for April and while the exact conjunction won't occur until later in the month many believe this will cause expansion, explosion, abruption, and/or a major shift in global events. With the two planets in Taurus most astrologers are predicting the aspect to influence finances, economies, the environment, food, the material world.

Sun Conjunct Chiron will be happening on the 8th, which can indicate the collective confrontation of wounds related to similar themes as the eclipse - a fresh start, assertion, force, bravery, initiative, selfishness, survival, impulse, self-expression, and identity.

It is important to remember that the eclipse's influence is not for one day or moment, there are debates about how long an eclipse's energy/influence will last but many will cite that the effect is at its height in the month leading up to the eclipse with influence being felt up to six months before or after the event.

I am not a Vedic astrologer but in Vedic astrology the eclipse is in Pisces which is a sign that represents endings, completion, returning to the whole vs. the newness of Aries. Pisces also has a strong connection to spirituality, an active imagination, is famous for intuition, empathy, and healing as well as illusions, addictions, isolation, guilt, blame, belief, and confusion. When an eclipse is in the water element it messes with our emotions, feelings of security, and attachments.

Whichever type of astrology you practice and follow I hope this gave you a big picture idea of how eclipses work.

[inventors-fair]

Bullet for my Storyline

What choice do you have?

Several, actually. So we've done a modal contest or two before, but there's something to be said for how choices can make you feel. Obviously in the middle of a game you might choose the mode of a modal spell that's going to get you the furthest ahead in whatever state you're in. But when you read the choices, you understand why the card is presenting the act of choices being made at all. Each mode is made more meaningful because the modes have their own sense of presence. And what I want y'all to present is...

Design a flavor-focused modal card.

"And what do you mean by that, exactly?"

...elaborate?

"When you talk about flavor, do you just want a flavorful card that happens to have modes? Or do the modes need to have, like, AFR-style text to be flavored?"

Point of order: I despised the AFR-style flavor-ability thing is not what I want here. Instead, I want the choices themselves to demonstrate what the point of a card's flavor is. Aim for the Head is a great example of a simple situation. You, the archer, are either taking out a zombie completely, or you're sniping the heck out of someone's "brain" (re:hand), and either way, you're doing your job. A larger story example would be something like Crux of Fate—we know how the outcome was adjusted, but in the moment, there were only two possibilities, and it resulted in a powerful board wipe of a card with an tragic and epic confrontation being played out through the choices themselves.

"So should we go big or go small? Do you want story moments on a macro or micro scale?"

What a poignant and relevant question. What I'll say is that I want a connection to your card, and I want your card to tell a unique story that shows you want to do more than just put a bunch of text on a piece of paper. Think about different rarities and what's going to be concise vs. complex. Also think about the card types themselves:

Instants/Sorceries: This will be the broadest category, probably, so consider what'll make you stand out. Does your card represent a choice in the story's outcome, or the result of what happens in medias res? How are the modes decided? Why does that matter?

Creatures: Is the character the one making the choice, or are they affected by their environment? Are they in conversation with the player or with the world? Is there a repeated trigger, a singular trigger, or some activation? Again, why does that matter?

Artifacts/Enchantments: What kind of card do you want to use as a conduit for your story? Do you want to make an aura, an equipment, etc.? What kind of object or feeling makes your story moment resonate? How does this object tell its own story?

Lands: What would this look like with modes? There aren't that many modal lands, so with that in mind, how would the story of/with a land be able to be told? Is it about the place, or the people who encounter it? What's natural or unnatural about this feature?

Well, there we have it. Hope it's a good'un. Or maybe it's not! Again, what choice do you have but your own?

-@abelzumi

Choose one or both: -> Submit a >> CARD -> Join the >> DISCORD

[loreholdlesbian]

Thunder Junction Play Booster Challenge

Hey y'all! With every set I like to make a booster pack's worth of custom cards to play around with. This challenge is based on one from the 3rd Great Designer Search, so one thing I like to do is push the boundaries and find new innovations on the mechanics and themes as well as on the general mechanics of magic. However, I also want the cards to feel at home in the set so I need to balance novelty and boundry pushing with not feeling completely out of place. That all said, let's get into it!

Art links:

Crimson Bandit

Dawn Assault

Archon's Host

Aether Bombardment

Thunderhoof Phantom

Assemble the Crew

Atiin Nomad

Midnight Slinger

Thunder Wings

Killer Crewmember

Doomed Stormkin

Shepherd Raptor

Lawless Dunes

Rare

Crimson Bandit 1B Creature- Vampire Rogue Flying, lifelink Plot 1BB (You may pay 1BB and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.) At the beginning of your upkeep, if Crimson Bandit is plotted, draw a card and put a loot counter on this card, then you lose 1 life for each loot counter on it. 2/1

There were a few cards that have a triggered effect when you plot them, but I wanted to push that a step further and give you an effect while it's plotted. I gave this particular one a downside to encourage you to eventually cast it.

Bonus Sheet Card

Dawn Assault 4LL Enchantment [rare] (L can be paid with either R or by tapping an untapped red creature you control.) Whenever a creature you control becomes untapped, Dawn Assault deals 1 damage to any target. Constables Up All Night To Catch Sunrise Bandit!

This is a new mechanic that's kind of like phyrexian mana (Pretend that L has a red cast to it, and a better symbol while we're at it. Im very limited in what the card creator lets you put in mana costs), but with a much safer alternate cost. It's kinda convokey, but has a strong benefit in that it can be mixed with normal mana costs and used in activated abilities as well as spell costs. I decided to use it here, because it played in a somewhat similar space to mount using tapping creatures as a cost which means I could make a card like this that would synergize with what the set is doing. Makes for a good bonus sheet card.

Uncommons

Archon's Host 2W Enchantment- Aura Enchant creature Enchanted creature is an Archon in addition to its other types and has flying and “Whenever this creature attacks, return target permanent card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it.” If enchanted creature is a Mount, it’s saddled.

One fun thing I realized is that Magic has two species- Archons and Specters- that always are seen riding a mount. This card is part of a mirrored pair, the other being a 2 mana black card that makes a player discard. I thought that would be a fun thing to play around with in the set introducing mounts. The flavor here is that the archon manifests itself on a holy mount and the "It's saddled" text is a flavorful way to do that that also shows that there might be more you can do with the saddle mechanic using alternate ways to saddle. When it's on a non-Mount, the archon manifests more through possession than riding them.

Aether Bombardment U Instant Spree (Choose one or more additional costs.) + 1 - Tap or untap target nonland permanent. You may choose this mode more than once. + U - Draw a card. “Don’t worry, at least you’ll wake up. More than I can say for the poor fool you shot.”

This is technology I think would be useful on other kinds of modal cards too, letting specific modes have unique features, but I think it's especially useful on spree since it means you can make it more like multikicker on a card-by-card basis. This card is meant to be part of a cycle with a generic costing mode that can be used multiple times and a colored cost that can be used once.

Thunderhoof Phantom 1U Creature- Spirit Mercenary Flying Thunderhoof Phantom can block only creatures with flying. Whenever Thunderhoof Phantom deals combat damage to a player, until your next turn, you may cast spells as though they had flash. 2/1

This card doesn't have too much of a story behind it, I just thought a flash-granter would be a good way to synergies with the WU archetype and I liked the idea of it being on a combat trigger to encourage less of a draw-go style of play.

Assemble the Crew 3B Instant Mill five cards. Return an Assassin card from your graveyard to your hand, then do the same for Mercenary, Pirate, Rogue, and Warlock.

I don't think there should be many cards in the set that treat outlaws more like party where you want diversity, but I think a little bit is fun. I wanted to cost the card where you were happy with it at about 3 or even 2.

Commons

Atiin Nomad 1W Creature- Human Nomad Whenever Atiin Nomad becomes tapped, untap it. This ability triggers only once each turn. 3/1 “I like this world. Much more fun than the last two.”

Here's a card that's good synergy for Mounts, you can saddle something and still attack with it, but you can also just use it as Pseudo-vigilance.

Midnight Slinger 2U Creature- Human Wizard Vigilance T: Add U. Spend this mana only to cast your second spell each turn. 2/3 “You, me, and our thunderweapons at Moon’s Height. Winner gets to walk away.”

Here's an exploration of what blue can do mana dork wise, that ties into the UR draft archetype and the plot shennanigans.

Thunder Wings 1U Enchantment- Aura Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has flying and ward 3. Plot 1U (You may pay 1U and exile this card from your hand. Cast it as a sorcery on a later turn without paying its mana cost. Plot only as a sorcery.)

Auras are a great card type for the plot mechanic, cause they really benefit from being able to go down before the creature you need to enchant does. Only one card plays around in that space so I wanted to do another; a protection mechanic felt like a good use cause cause that's something you really want to get on the creature as soon as it's down.

Killer Crewmember 2B Creature- Gorgon Assassin Deathtouch Killer Crewmember has menace as long as you control a non-Assassin outlaw. (Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, and Warlocks are outlaws.) 2/2

I wanted to explore what else you can do with the outlaw mechanic. Specifically, I looked into things you can do with outlaw that you can't just do with any old typal card, and this was what I came up with. It encourages playing a wider variety of outlaws, without needing you to go all out like party does. I intend this to be a cycle, with each color caring about a different type.

Doomed Stormkin 3R Creature- Elemental Trample, haste At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice Doomed Stormkin unless you committed a crime this turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.) 5/4 Those already attuned to storms must focus to avoid becoming one with the plane.

Crimes!!!!!! this was a difficult card to flavor but I like what i came up with. i couldn't really find anything novel to do with crimes beyond this

Shepherd Raptor 4G Creature- Dinosaur Mount Whenever one or more creatures you control attack while saddled, you gain 3 life. Saddle 1 (Tap any number of other creatures you control with total power 1 or more: This Mount becomes saddled until end of turn. Saddle only as a sorcery.) 5/4

Here's something just a little different with saddle. If you have no other mounts, you can trigger it for itself but this gets a lot better in a deck with other mounts like the GW one.

Lawless Dunes Land- Desert T: Add C. When Lawless Dunes enters the battlefield, if you control three or more lands that share a land type, create a 1/1 red Mercenary creature token with “T: Target creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.”

I wanted a desert reward and a desert and i was stuck at common, and that felt quite hard to do at common because the as-fan isn't high enough. What I came up with was this- it *can* be a desert reward, and it pushes you a bit toward that by being a desert itself, but it also works with basics.

[levi-venn]

The First Toothpick

Chapter 3: A Fistful of Carrots

Gen Fic - Mentor/Protege

Characters: Cad Bane, Crosshair (the kid), Jango (flashbacks).

Summary: Cad Bane teaches Crosshair how to be a sniper. The kid picks up some other habits as a result.

Chapter Summary: The kid experiences dry land for the first time. His reaction surprises Cad...but it also gives him an idea.

Chapters: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 |

Available on AO3 here

“It’s just grass.” 

“The hell it is,” Cad said, retreating back up the ramp of the Firespray.

“C’mon, Cad, have a little faith in me. Watch.” Jango hopped out of the ship, landing waist deep in the field of golden brown wheat…

…like a damn fool.

So much wheat…stretching for as far as his scarlet globular eyes could see.

And that much wheat meant that many more places to hide.

“There’s things in there,” Cad warned, pointing to something rustling near Jango’s leg. 

“Just critters. Predators don’t come out until nightfall and they prefer Fabools to humanoids. You’re safe, I promise.”

“Uh huh…” Cad took another step backwards. “...I’ll just stay here.”

It wasn’t that he missed his homeworld - fuck Duro - but at least he knew and accepted it for what it was: A world that had traded its soul for industry long before Cad was born.  Clouds weren’t supposed to be white and fluffy like this. They should be oily and black belched from rusty smokestacks.  Even the sky here was wrong, too blue, too bright, missing the stains of putrid orange and green.  He’d been on this planet for less than a minute and already had his fill of the buzzing insects and…where the hell was that croaking coming from anyway?

“We got work to do, Cad. Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder like a bag of meilooruns.”

Cad sighed and stood on the edge of the ramp, staring down the untamed wilderness of what was supposedly a very tame ranch. The wheat stalks swooned in the breeze, like long fingers coaxing Cad into unseen jaws.

He sank one boot into the grass.

Something shrieked and shot up into the air.

Cad stumbled backwards, drawing one blaster only to have it slip from his fingers, sliding noisily down the ramp and out of sight into the wheat field. He pulled the second blaster and fired at the monster.

The convor flew away, unscathed.

“Aaaand this is why we’re here,” Jango frowned, picking up fumbled blaster and handing it back to Cad. “You’re jumpy as hell and can’t shoot for shit. If you want to keep calling me boss, get your shit together, Cad.”

“Yeah, boss,” Cad mumbled, holstering both blasters, embarrassment warming his face.

“Alright, enough lollygagging. Let’s go check on the Fabools.”

“What the hell is a Fabool?”

Cad found the kid curled up asleep in Bossk’s chair, cheek pressed against the scope of his rifle and a half-eaten protein bar in his hand. 

Beneath the chair was the kid’s duffle bag, half-open. Cad nudged it with his boot. Jumpsuits, protein bars, packs of water purifying tablets. No toys, no music discs, no personality. Not a single candy bar.

Jango loved caramel Starsbars; always kept one on him, in a pouch next to his thermal dets. He also loved fried eggs and bacon, nerf stew with extra carrots, peach-flavored tihaar cocktails (though he always claimed he drank tihaar straight), and he bobbed his head to Figrin D'an And The Modal Nodes when he thought no one was looking. 

Did all his clones experience the same joys he did? Were they even given a chance?

He kicked Bossk’s chair. “Get up, kid. We’re here.”

The kid sat upright, eyes still closed, a long, textured red line from the scope denting his cheek. “Where are we?”

“That’s classified,” Cad smirked.

“Haha, funny,” the kid yawned and slithered out of the chair. He took another bite of the protein bar, then tucked it back into his jumpsuit’s pocket.

I told him to find somethin’ to eat, Cad thought. Does he prefer his own rations?

“This hideout was Jango’s before it was mine. He taught me all I knew here n’ I’m gonna impart some of that know-how onto you.”

“I know how to shoot."

“Yeah, slower than molasses on Vandor,” Cad sneered. “We’re gonna fix that, but for now…” Cad activated the ramp. “...let’s just start with gettin’ out of the ship.”

The kid’s expression didn’t change.

Not when the door slid open.

Not when seeing, probably for the first time, an ocean of golden brown wheat, a clear sky, and a world alive with natural wonders.

Except that wasn’t exactly true. The kid's expression did change, if you knew where to look. Cad watched the kid's glassy brown eyes dart around the narrow view of the scenery, not like a frightened kid like Cad was all those years ago, but with a curious feline studying his new territory.

The kid ventured forward, standing on the edge of the ramp scanning the wheat field.  He didn’t move for a long moment.

Cad stood beside him, studying his face. The kid didn’t look scared, but something was holding him back. 

Finally, he looked up at Cad, brow knitted slightly.

Cad tilted his head. “What?”

“...is it safe?”

“C’mon, Cad, have a little faith in me,”

“Yeah, kid,” Cad said, Jango’s exasperated sigh burned in his memory. “It’s safe.”

As the kid took that first step forward, Cad leaned against the ship and popped a toothpick between his teeth. He expected to be here a while as the kid grew accustomed to the planet. 

But the kid jumped in with two feet. Literally. And then took off like a blaster bolt, running through the fields like a wild lothcat and twice as silent, maneuvered through the grass with practiced efficiency. 

Huh…engineered for stealth…created for war…

The kid chased some unseen varmint for a while before stopping to catch a butterfly in mid-air. As he cupped it in his hands, peeking through the fingers, a frog leapt onto his leg.  The kid gasped, but even that was subdued. He eyed the frog with round, emotional eyes, then lifted his leg to show Cad. 

Created for war…but still just a kid.

The frog disappeared into the kid’s pocket only to leap back out again as soon as the kid’s attention turned to a flock of ducks flying overhead.

“Believe it or not, Cad,” Jango said, arm draped loosely over Cad’s shoulder as they walked through the grass together. “There are some planets in this galaxy that aren’t a kriffing nightmare to live on.”

“Pretty planets can be dangerous too,” Cad mumbled.

“Hey,” Jango stopped in his tracks and made the sulking duros look him in the eye. Human eyes were always too emotional for Cad's liking. Jango's eyes weren't bad to look at though. Still, he scowled stubbornly. “I promised you a quiet place to train you and I meant it. You’re safe here. You’re safe with me.”

As the kid stood transfixed over a grasshopper crawling along his arm, Cad slung the kid’s rifle over his own shoulder, grabbed a few more bags, and exited the ship. He was halfway to the house when he realized the kid was following him, silent as the grave and his arm still extended giving the grasshopper a proper runway.

“Just goin’ to the house. Go play, kid.”

“I’m not playing,” the kid denied. “I’m here to learn.”

Cad sneered. “Like a good little soldier, huh?”

“I’m not just a soldier. I’m an elite-”

“Just be a kriffin’ kid today, okay?”

The kid’s neutral expression melted into something teetering on panic. He looked around again as if searching for something or someone to explain “playing” to him.

Made for war...

“How about this,” Cad sighed. “Do some recon. Get familiar with the territory. The perimeter extends to the barbed wire fence and the border of the lake. Report back when yer done.”

Seemingly satisfied with this “mission” he nodded and bounded off, the grasshopper flying behind him. 

Fuck you, Jango, for givin’ just one special little Boba a childhood and leavin’ the rest behind.

Cad headed to the house and hoped Todo 360 had ordered the extra carrots for the nerf stew.

***

Cad remembered being disappointed when he first arrived at the hideout. 

The word “hideout” made him think of a beaten up shack filled with illegal artillery, chests full of credits, and a bunch of mean-looking mercs he’d be glad to have on his side.

But this hideout was a farmhouse. A quaint home perched on a hill overlooking the wheat fields. Over the front door was a wooden sign with hand carved, flowery aurebesh reading: “The Stars Shine on This Home”. Rocking chairs moved with the cool breeze on the porch. Cheerful tulips welcomed bees in the front garden. Inside the house, there were floral quilts on the plush couches and horseshoes over every doorway. There was a ubiquitous scent of cinnamon and aged wood. 

“Doesn’t look like much of a hideout,” Cad sulked, eyeing the pie cooling on the windowsill. 

“And you don’t look like much of a mercenary,” Jango sneered, pulling out two plates and a pie server. “Looks can be deceiving.”

Three hours later, the kid showed up. Dirt caked his cheeks, burrs stuck to his jumpsuit. There was a scrape on his hand, and a few bugs and a frog peeked out of his pockets.

From the kitchen, Cad slid a heap of carrots into the simmering nerf stew and watched the kid carefully stalk the living room, eyeing everything, but touching nothing. 

Well, almost nothing.

Cad’s wide-brimmed hat hung on the rack near the door.

The kid reached up for it. 

“Take a seat, kid,” Cad said, his tone sharp. “Food’s almost ready.”

The kid snatched his hand back and scurried to the small table in the dining area. He sniffed the daisy bouquet centerpiece and looked shocked to realize it was real.  He put one of the grasshoppers on one of the flowers.  The grasshopper immediately hopped away.

Cad set the bowl of hearty nerf stew in front of the kid and brushed the grasshopper onto the floor. “Eat up. It’s tastier than those shitty protein bars ya got stowed away.”

The kid’s spoon poked experimentally at the stew.

“I like the protein bars,” he said, watching the hearty chunks of nerf bobbing in the sienna broth.

He took a bite of just broth at first, his face remaining neutral, but his brow rose a little lighter.

The second bite was a little more adventurous with a piece of nerf added to it.

The third bite was all carrots…

…and the kid immediately spat them out in his napkin, wrinkling his nose.

Cad nearly snickered.

Under any normal circumstance he would’ve found it funny.

But the disappointment hit his gut like a cheap shot.

It was just carrots.  What would he care if the kid hated carrots and Jango ate them like candy?

Because this ain’t about carrots. If these clones ain’t like Jango, then they got free will, don’t they?

And if they got free will…

…what happens if they decide they don’t wanna be soldiers?

Questions far above his pay grade, but like Jango always said: “The day you stop asking questions is the day They win.”

Is that what you did, Jango? Cad wondered, bringing his own bowl of stew to the table. Did ya just stop askin’ questions?

Halfway through the quiet meal, Cad realized the kid was staring at him.

“Somethin’ on yer mind, kid?” He asked, not looking up.

The kid silently picked another carrot off his spoon and added it to the orange pile on his napkin. 

“I asked ya a question.”

“I didn’t find any Fabool,” the kid murmured.

“Didja know where to look?”

“No.”

Cad raised his brow ridge. “Didja ask where they were?”

The kid shook his head.

“So? Ask me.”

“Where are they?”

“Behind the house. Finish your stew and I’ll show y-”

The kid dropped his spoon, grabbed the bowl and, in record time, gulped down the rest of the stew, chewing the last bits noisily and spitting out a final piece of carrot.

“Ready.” he said, deadpan, though his eyes sparkled as bright as Jango’s whenever Cad handed him a Starsbar.

Need Todo to order more Starsbar, Cad reminded himself. Just in case.

***

Behind the house was a square, quarter acre of land, sectioned off with a two meter high fence covered in thick brown wool. From the outside, it just looked like an extra storage shed, but as Cad and the kid drew nearer, it was evident something was moving around inside the enclosure.  

The kid pressed his face against the fabric barrier trying to see through it without any luck. The Fabools snuffled inquisitively on the other side.

“Whats with the blankets?” 

Huh…first question I didn’t have to pry outta him, Cad mused. 

“Fabools are about as sensitive as they are stupid. In the wild they’re liable to get stuck on thorn bushes n' deflate, makin' 'em easy pickin's for predators. The goal is to keep ‘em safe n’ happy in here so they produce more eggs."

"Eggs?"

"These eggs ain't for eatin'. Not for us anyway. They fetch a pretty price on the black market since the egg whites got hallucinatory properties to 'em.” He unlocked the door but held it closed, his eyes narrowing at the kid. “Walk carefully n’ don’t bring anythin’ sharp in here. You deflate ‘em, I deflate you, got it?”

“Okay,” the kid said, with enough earnestness to ease Cad's mind. "Wait," he added suddenly, pulling out a small vibroblade from his boot, and stuck it in the ground outside the enclosure. "Okay, ready."

“Good kid,” Cad nodded.

The kid immediately looked away, but not before Cad noted the faintest trace of a smile in his cheeks. 

Soon as the gate opened, the kid slipped through it and was immediately overwhelmed, disappearing beneath a bouncing avalanche of furry Fabools.

Fabools were balloon-like creatures in every way imaginable, perfectly round, airy and gentle, and navigated the world through bouncing and floating with vague intent on their destination. Short gray fur covered their bodies, and their two webbed feet may have once been used for swimming eons ago, but that evolutionary branch had long since broken off. Their flippers remained as an imperfect guidance system, and Fabools tended to flap out of sheer excitement than for propulsion.

While they didn't exactly have heads, their face was located flush against the upper hemisphere of their round form, a tiny upturned mouth sandwiched between two, round black eyes which blinked adoringly at the kid.  

The kid sank into the grass in wide-eyed wonderment, opening his arms to gently hug however many Fabools he could while the rest rolled and bounced all around him.

Cad couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard the kid hiss out a small, brief laugh.

“What the fuck, Jango?” Cad growled, backing up as the creatures bounced closer and closer. “Get ‘em away from me.”

“They’re harmless.”

“Then why’re they chasin’ me?” He climbed up the fence, the little monsters hopping in the air obviously trying to bite him.

“They don’t even have teeth. I promise you, they're not dangerous, just curious. Trust me.”

"Trust me..."

Something clicked in Cad’s mind.

…Well shit. Now I know why Jango asked me to train this kid. Snipin’ isn’t this kid’s problem. Trust is.

Not trust in other people. This kid seemed to have an abundance of blind trust for authority figures…something Cad would train out of him in a heartbeat if he wasn’t getting paid for this job. 

The thing is, the kid had trust for everyone outside of himself. 

That’s why he shoots so slow. That’s why he’s so damn hesitant to speak his mind. He’s got that spark in him, but Jango hired me for one specific reason: I got trust for no one but myself. 

“They’re so…helpless,” The kid said, watching one of the males roll by, webbed feet kicking uselessly in the air. The kid gave him a little push to help him to his feet.

So are you, kid, Cad thought, popping a toothpick in his mouth. But don’t worry. We’re gonna fix that. You may hate me afterwards…

…but either way you’ll be stronger for it, and I’ll get paid either way.

[brazenautomaton]

also, for those unfamiliar with the series Devil Arms are the new weapons you get, and they're made out of defeated bosses or enemies, literally -- a demon who is defeated and acknowledges it either willingly or unwillingly becomes a weapon. you defeat the lightning witch Nevan and she says she will help you on your journey by turning into a fucking electric guitar that shoots bats. this would be a great source of creatures for DMC commander decks to have. the best way to model this is

A: Devil Arms are modal double-faced cards with the boss on the front as a creature and the weapon on the back as equipment. the boss version is overcosted and when it dies it returns transformed, but it doesn't go the other way around. so you can just bring out the weapon, or you can get the boss and THEN the weapon. pro: closest to what it's emulating, has the most space to work with. con: most complex.

B: Devil Arms are equipment artifact creatures with Reconfigure, to represent boss form and Devil Arm form. The bonus they give while an equipment might not have anything to do with what they do as a creature. pro: simpler and more versatile, more options in play con: contradicts flavor by going back and forth, have to fit a lot of text into one text box

C: Devil Arms are equipment with a new mechanic like / a mechanic that's a reskin of For Mirrodin!, where they come into play equipped to a token creature. Pro: simplest and easiest to track by far. con: least flavorful, least variety (you can't have the boss do something different from the Devil Arm

(no matter what, Agni and Rudra will have reconfigure, because the bosses literally are the weapons and they just get picked up by a golem or by Dante.)

[poutpoutlilith]

The recent discussion about celebrity fandom and kink I reposted has me thinking about a similar question. Some teases that I find on this app I read over and over again. Others just don’t do it and I might not even read past the first couple lines.

I think the main difference in how personal they are and what the focus is, at least for me. Not a super big fan of “I’m gonna…” language most of the time. Who are you? That matters to me.

I think this shows up when I write tickle fic. I will spend 2,000 words talking about where the characters are and what their intentions are and how they feel about it after and let maybe 200 words be spent on actual tickling.

At least when reading, it’s way important to me to tap into the Why than the How. We know and can imagine how tickling works.

Related, this is also probably why aside from the obvious masturbatory convenience, I don’t really give tickle machines lots of mental energy. I don’t read about them much. And I’m a freak for the logistics behind my porn.

I can visualize tickling. I can hear the laughter. But I want to know Why. It’s about human connection for me, first and foremost. One thing my flavor of asexuality did to me is that tickling Is my sexual intercourse.

I want to spend an order of magnitude more on how to feel about the tickles I’m reading. When I do read them in such a literal, step-by-step way, I want there to be a larger purpose.

The same goes for teases. That you’re just gonna tickle my ribs is boring. If I know it’s because you’re cheering me up or just love my laugh, we’re getting there. But now I wonder how I relate to the ‘you’ character. And why did I need cheering up? And how did I respond to the tickling on the inside? What sort of aftercare will we both need?

Unless I have all of those other ones, reading tickles basically isn’t going to be super enjoyable or productive. I think my asexuality plays a role. Tickling isn’t just an act that can be done to a person, but a modality for connection.

Given all this information, it is probably hard to imagine how I can let go, be present, and be a lee. I believe it is because to be comfortable consenting, I need to have all this information filled in in my brain.

[unovampire]

Here's some 𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 headcanons

Grimsley's vampirism requires him to imbibe a pint of human blood at least three times a week, or once if he chooses to binge on a larger quantity.

The flavor and 'feeling' he experiences from feeding varies on the blood quality. Quality depends on the health of the individual, their hormone levels, personality, diet, and blood type.

In his younger years as a vampiric fledgling, Grimsley required heavier feedings, consisting of blood rich in adrenaline to help indulge his predatory instincts. Nowadays, he prefers a solid AB+ with low cortisol, and a healthy amount of oxytocin, for the sense of relaxation and pleasure. When feeling fatigued or depressed, he will seek out blood with higher levels of norepinephrine.

There are two different modalities to serve blood: live, or chilled. To consume live blood simply means that the vampire drains it from a donor directly, drinking either directly from the vein through the puncture wound, or by emptying it into a glass. Consuming chilled blood involves harvesting the liquid from a donor (live or not), bottling it, and drinking it at a later date.

Grimsley has a preference for drinking from live donors, but he also has a stockpile of various ethically harvested "drops", so to speak, in his wine cellar.

It is not unusual for a vampire to capture and kill a target with sought after, rare blood qualities, in order to drain and harvest the entire body for bottling. Certain eccentric personalities, or those with exceptional health, produce high quality food for vampires, and can enhance their quality of life. For others, some of these more "strange" flavor profiles are treated like medication, performance enhancers, or to encourage a state of frenzy before hunting or partying.

Grimsley hosts auctions for exceptionally rare bottles of harvested blood at his winery, where others of vampiric persuasion can get their hands on these elusive drops. He hosts these auctions about once a year, boasting collections that include celebrities, politicians, and other controversial public figures.

Those who volunteer as donors are put on a proper, sustainable schedule, where they are required to keep to a clean diet, and are usually taking supplements to increase red blood cell count.

[theunwellkingdom]

Design Deep-Dive #10: From Concept to Card

Iteration is crucial to good design. Your first ideas are rarely your best, and especially when designing an entire set of cards, it's impossible to know exactly how everything will interact until you actually sit down and play with it. One of the clearest examples of this is the card Mesmir's Betrayal, which required a drastic overhaul to find its niche!

Let's take a look at how this card went from rough concept, to one of the most exciting cards in the set!

1. Concept

Mesmir's Betrayal is a top-down design, meaning I started from the theming and flavor and had to build mechanics to fit (as opposed to bottom-up design, where the mechanical effects come first and narrative theming is decided later). In this case, I knew three things:

Mesmir was a powerful NPC wizard who betrayed our heroes at the end of a pivotal arc.

I'd already drawn art of this story beat that would be perfect for a card.

In this set, Red and Blue are all about Wizards, so this card should be a big, flashy payoff in those colors! Ideally, if you're playing lots of Wizards, this card should be able to close out the game.

2. First Draft

After a bit of thought, this was the first version of the card I printed out:

{2}🔥 Instant Rare

Until end of turn, target Wizard gains +3/+0, first strike, trample, and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a creature, exile that creature."

Cycling 💧 (💧, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

I really wanted to lean into the idea of a Wizard turning around and becoming a lethal threat! So this first draft operated as a combat trick that gives a scary stack of keywords a la Kaldra Compleat.

However, the way it's written, it would do absolutely nothing without a Wizard already in play. I decided this would be a good opportunity to split the Red and Blue identities of the card into two modal effects -- you could spend 🔥 for the aggressive combat trick, and 💧 to simply cycle the card away and draw a new one, if the situation didn't line up. It didn't feel like a perfect compromise, but it was good enough for the testing phase.

3. Playtesting

After several playtests, I began to realize that this card didn't operate the way I'd hoped. Frankly, it didn't operate at all -- even in tests where players had access to the card and were playing lots of Wizards in their deck, this card just wasn't making the cut. Instead, I focused on what was working with those decks, to see why this didn't fit into the gameplan and came away with several insights:

A combat trick feels useless to a non-combat-focused deck. The Izzet Wizards archetype wants to sling spells, not rely on pushing damage through combat. While it's important for those decks to have Wizards on board, their main role is to enhance other instants and sorceries, and to provide good targets for Concentration auras.

The buff feels unnecessarily complex. All those stats and keywords can be difficult to parse and make the card easier to dismiss. It feels flashy and scary, which is great, but it might as well read "Target Wizard gets +3/+0 and unblockable."

The card feels small. Making this card a 3-drop doesn't give it the impression of a big finisher. As flashy as the buff is, it doesn't feel like an effect that's likely to end the game on the spot.

It ignores too many Blue subthemes. Blue decks in this set have a lot of support for completely different angles, especially hand and library manipulation. If this card could hook into those synergies somehow, it might be more attractive to players.

It's not really "betraying" anything. Sure, making a Wizard suddenly good at combat does a decent job of conveying Mesmir's sudden heel-turn, but it doesn't quite capture the scope of our story: a man throwing his entire community into ruin for a chance at personal gain, a desperate but calculated final gambit!

With all this in mind, I was ready to push Mesmir's Betrayal to the next level...

4. Iteration

{4}🔥🔥 Sorcery 198/275 Rare

Mesmir's Betrayal deals 2 damage to any target. Wizardstorm (When you cast this spell, exile any number of target Wizards you control and/or Wizard cards from your hand. Copy this spell for each Wizard exiled this way. You may choose new targets for the copies.) Wizardcycling {1}💧 ({1}💧, Discard this card: Search your library for a Wizard card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)

Deal 2 damage. Wizardstorm. Wizardcycling.

Now we're talking.

It's risky to commit an entire brand-new keyword for this single card, but I just couldn't pass up the chance to play on the infamous Storm mechanic of MtG past! Instead of copying the spell for each other card played this turn, Mesmir's Betrayal lets you trade off your Wizards for damage, either decimating your own board or cashing out your hand to potentially reach lethal levels of burn!

Wizardstorm also provides an extremely satisfying mirror for the Wizardcycling mode of the card. This technically isn't a new mechanic, thanks to the cheeky and experimental Future Sight era. But it's certainly a deep cut that fits the flavor of the card and makes the card way more interesting in the early game, if you're having trouble drawing your Wizards or before you're ready to go all in on the burn plan.

It also allowed me to design a fun nod to Mesmir himself, by giving the creature version of his card an ETB that shuffles some spells back into your library. So you can Wizardcycle to find Mesmir, and then play him to let your opponent know... his Betrayal could be just around the corner! But that's a Card Showcase for another day.

5. Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

In all, the revised version of this card is a massive improvement in every aspect, and it's already been used to great success in a playtest with its new text! Most importantly, the Izzet Spellslinger archetype, which has underperformed so far compared to more creature-combat strategies, finally has a proper build-around card to pull players into those colors in a draft!

But of course, I'll keep testing it to make sure it's right in that sweet spot. The key to iteration, after all, is to keep iterating.

[tennfan2]

do you like doing inductions? if so, what's your favourite induction you've ever done?

if inductions aren't your jam to write about, what's your favourite post hypnotic effect you've ever caused to happen?

Do I like putting people into trance? Hell yes.

Do I do a lot of “inductions” proper in the sense of like, Elman, butterfly, arm drop? Not so much these days!

When I’m hypnotizing someone for the first time or if it’s their first trance, I’ll probably do some flavor of an Elman induction because it plays to a lot of modalities and feels very “hypnosis is happening!” in its flow.

But generally, I do a lot fewer inductions now when I’m hypnotizing someone - my style has kind of veered into conversational/free form sorts of things, which I generally like. I also tend to have a lot of kinesthetic components (when it’s been consented to!) as I’m talking.

I definitely don’t disdain more formal inductions! I should probably do them more, honestly. There’s a satisfaction in that sense of doing a thing in that way.

Also, this for some reason makes me want to do a dual Elman induction, which I don’t think I’ve ever really seen done.

See?? Asks=inspiration!

[markrosewater]

Listening to your podcast today made me realize that Spree feels so enormously useful as to be an almost just better modal, design wise. 1. Is there a reason it was keyworded, given that you could have just done it as a new way to approach modal without having the flavor baggage? 2. Is it as broad as I think it is, where this could be evergreen, since it solves the main problem with modal spells, which are themselves evergreen? Incredible work on Spree. High five everybody.

We specifically chose spree because it's an open-ended term. It was originally called mission, then changed to bonanza. We moved away from bonanza because it was too "western" and we knew the mechanic was very useful, and we'd want to use it elsewhere.

[sonicmusicmusings]

Hey, gang! Let's move away from the rock sound, and back into some very 00's techno inspired flavors...

I keep thinking of the "Metropolis" track from Spyro 2 whenever I hear this, for some reason. It evokes the same kind of vibe. There is a very vague tropical feeling evoked in some of the auxiliary synths in the A section. I think it's because it sounds similar to steel drums. The B section is a modal groove that sits on one chord--when the chords don't move the song along, everything else has to! The focus becomes on the bass and drums, the latter being moved to the left and right sound spaces, while the bass sits right in the middle. Everything moves front and center when the A section comes back in, with crunching guitars and swirling sounds that bring the energy right back.

[justanothergeneralkrow]

CATHOLIC SCHOOL DRESS CODES SUCK MAJOR FUCKING ASS OOH THAT SHIT PISSES ME OFF AND ESPESCIALLY THE PEOPLE WHO JUSTIFY IT LIKE SHUT YOUR MOUTH BITCH OMG

Tw: transphobia

Cw: cis centric language because Cath School✨✨✨✨✨

Just a cute lil tiny petite rant about smt that pisses me off inspired by my MOTHER pissing me the fuck off by being WRONG and trying to justify her wrong opinion with fucking drag race of all things THAT FUCKING DKGNLDSKJGSND.

I go to a Catholic school and it has really strict rules on dress, hair and nails. For girls its the usual modesty rules they also can't have long nails, wear makeup (in a creative way, if you wear makeup to beautify yourself that's perfectly acceptable), and hair can't cover the face. The rules for boys is very long: no long nails or polish, no earrings or excessive accessorizing, pants can't be cut slim or too baggy, obv no makeup and hair has to be a barber's cut. Though I guess the last rule relaxed over the years cause now it's just advised to have a barber's cut the rule is just: no hair past the brows or touching the ear and the sideburns must be tamed. (Sidenote but the barber's cut looks literally so bad. Like the guys who looked good with it were the guys who already looked handsome and had flat hair. If you had wavy or god forbid curly hair you were walking around school looking like a kid who cut up a clown's wig and put it on their head. Like omg I hate my past pictures so much why'd they do that to us). Anyways all that to say that I have this acquaintance who I talk to very irregularly but I bump into her from time to time in the halls. She transitioned from male to female around the start of high school and for awhile she was allowed to keep her hair long. I guess it helped that it was pandemic times and the rules were very lax then and even I grew my hair out (can't exactly judge someone's moral worth based on aesthetics when you're judging them through a camera screen, you can do it but just not in a timely manner).

Eventually the school transitioned into a hybrid modality where sometimes we'd go to school and sometimes we'd go to school through a computer. She was still allowed to keep her hair, I unfortunately had to cut it (goodbye my sweet locks you served cunt without even much effort) and we still didn't have uniforms the school just told us to wear "respectable" civilian clothes, ew.

Then we went majority face to face classes and even had a prom and they were very strict again about the outfits. (which I will get into exhaustive detail don't you worry BECAUSE THIS IS MY RANT POST AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT). The girl's dresses could not be backless, have a slit higher than the knee, have a bodice lower than the topmost part of the armpit and if the dress did reveal the back it could only reveal as low as an inch or two lower than the top most part of the armpit. Girls were also not allowed to wear suits but we all complained enough that they eventually let them wear suits BUT the suits had to be feminine. Which was very funny to hear come out of our Student Head's mouth cause girlie been rocking that short haircut since I knew her and I have never seen that woman in a skirt.

For boys it had to be a suit, polo and pants. No makeup or nail art as usual. Oh and no crossdressing of course. I was excited to go to prom cause dancing with friends in a party scenario at a bougie fucking place is fun. IT IS VERY FUN. (tho you do have to get through hours of speeches and one really cringey heterosexual dance like omg the fucking cotillion was such trash also the forced dance between the prom king and queen BIG EWWWWWW and they weren't even into it and the prom king was such a basic flop and looked it too. Like there was someone who actually deserved the prom king title and they overlooked him cause he was a fruity flavor and the panel had a couch who wanted to shower his star player with attention, allegedly I do not know if anything I said in the last sentence is true all I know is multiple people said it and multiple people believed it and multiple people think the prom king award was a fucking sham).

So how does this relate to my acquaintance, well she wasn't allowed to wear a dress. Just full stop was told no and had to go to the prom in a suit, the suit was pink but still that's bullshit. Which is honestly so annoying cause no one even followed the dress code (and looked fucking stunnin', gorgeous, show-stopping, cuntalina doing it).

But yeah that was last year and now we're in the "attempting to return to normal with some new stuff" era and it's back to uniforms and the really strict dress code. YAY. They did hair inspections and the head of Student Discipline told me my hair was just a smidge too long and I'm going to be honest it took everything in me not to say the most vile insult I could think of.

The next day I saw that acquaintance of mine with her hood up in a sweater, my first thoughts were: "the hair inspections and dress code are dumb and based on archaic customs that aren't even native to our country but brought over by stinky colonizers" and "is she wearing...a dysphoria hoodie???". I left it alone cause I know how important hair can be to someone, even more so when you're a trans girl desperately trying to be comfortable with the body you were born in and we are not close enough for me to accidentally dig up her trauma.

Following day I find out she did cut her hair and I felt bad but didn't comment much cause I'm not good at being sincere with my and other people's emotions (its a problem and I am doing my best to change). It only annoyed me at first but I know now that slight annoyance was truly just the tip of that emotional iceberg.

When my mom and dad got home, my mom started asking me questions about my day and I complied cause I was in a good mood (which will very quickly dissipate in those next few minutes). It was average storytelling at first, told her about clubs etc. then she mentioned the hair thing and since she still thinks I keep in contact with all my friends in the past asks me about my acquaintance since she's the most visible trans person in our school and I told my mom she was forced to cut her hair and how the grooming rules are dumb.

This mountain of intellectualism looks to me and is like (and I am paraphrasing cause I did not nor will not save space in my brain for this), "well those are the rules boys hair should be short plus it looks better anyway since it looks fresh and clean". I immediately told my mom she was following the rules the school just doesn't respect her enough to apply the right ones and how the Student Discipline head is annoying cause he had the nerve to tell us that the school respects our "gender preference" when the school very much does not and he didn't even use the right words to explain his point.

My mom responded with something like, "Those are the rule and it does look better look at those queens on drag race when they're out of it they look nice and he's not a girl look at his birth certificate." Answered with that classic "her birth record would also say she's 10 pounds" and "don't start with that drag race stuff you know nothing of that art and community, you watched one season and it had a trans woman". She tried to continue reasoning and I remembered the sacred lesson of it not being worth it to educate bigoted or prejudiced people because they're reasons for being that way is non logical and any argument you bring up with only be met with skepticism or strawmen (also this is the same woman who brought up the woman are from venus and men are from mars bullshit in the year of our lord 2023 so I was not going to be her queer educator of the day. fuck that noise) I ditched the convo telling her she's wrong and I do not care what her opinion is on the matter and that my acquaintance is a girl period. Then I started writing this post cause the embers of rage still burn brightly and I am not willing to study and let it go till I finish writing this post.

Oh before I was able to fully leave she brought up how "well his parents were ok with it" and "if they don't like the rules they can go to a different school". Which have very clear obvious arguments: "HER parents may be ok with it, doesn't mean she is" and "You can't just switch schools cause the administration decided transphobia was cute. Switching schools takes time and money and you should know that as a parent stop acting ignorant to support your ignorance" but again I ain't spending more time on her bs so I just went with a catchy:

"The institution should support the individual."

Thank you for coming to Rant post...if you're even here or made it this part. Gift shop is down there somewhere you'll have to scroll for it tho. Also remember to support trans rights , bye bye.

[inventors-fair]

Flavor Modal Delays

Hey folks, no fancy images or announcements today. I had a small emergency after work/FNM (everything's fine now!) and have to head in to work. Winners, runners, and commentary will be posted as soon as I have the time to get to them.

Thanks for your patience, everyone. - @abelzumi