#the spellings and choice of types of dragons are weird as all hell | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

inventors-fair · 3 years ago

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First Name, Last Name, Occupation Commentary

You guys really swung for the fences for this one. I was inspired to run this by fun little cards like Cat Warriors, Goblin Assassin, and Dragon Turtle. Cards that do one type by way of another. You guys, for the most part, tried to get as weird as possible, more akin to Urza’s Saga. I purposefully left it open ended to allow non-creatures, but I did not expect about half the cards to be a type other than creature. Some people in the Discord tried to break the rules even more than that. Personally, I wish there were more simple creatures, but I’m happy with what I got.

So without further ado, here’s the commentary! They’re alphabetical by submitter’s tumblr name or preferred credit.

@alextfish - Fractal Fish

Holy moly that’s some fish, visually and mechanically. So let me try to parse this: the first time, you attack, get two fish, then next time you turn those two fish (which hopefully also got in for damage) into two counters. So every other turn it doubles the number of counters, assuming you get in with it every time. At a minimum, it’s a little Tana/Living Hive that can’t be used moe than once. It feels weird for this effect to be in blue, though I get why from a flavor perspective. This does feel like a fish, though, and it definitely feels like a fractal. This card feels top down, which is fine, but I’m just not super into it. It feels unnecessarily complex for an effect that you probably only want to trigger once, maybe twice. I still think it’s really cool.

Allie - Urza’s Treasure

It’s a bit of a stretch to have a land named “Urza’s Treasure” but it’s less of a stretch than urza’s saga, so you’re good. The idea of a treasure land in general is cool to me: it’s worse than Tendo Ice Bridge and Aether Hub, but the artifact synergy is notable. Then we get to the last ability: this card is a mox opal. Or maybe a glimmer void? There are a lot of comparisons, but I don’t know which is the most appropriate. A land that effectively doesn’t tap for mana unless you have metalcraft seems awful, but I’ve seen enough affinity to know that that won’t slow it down a bit. So this is essentially a card that’s only good for broken decks, and honestly, I don’t think they need the help. I think the fact that it’s so all or nothing is a bit of a deal breaker. Every part of this card is either massive downside, massive upside, or both. You could argue that makes it balanced, but I’d argue it just makes it broken. I also wish the “Urza’s” part of the typeline played into it more, but I realize the type doesn’t have much of a mechanical throughline.

@arixordragc - Warrior Dragon

Ooh, a bold choice. Dragon Warrior and Warrior Dragon send two completely different feels, and this one is definitely the cooler one. Six mana 6/6 flyer is a good rate, but not so good it doesn’t get good abilities. The abilities it gets are a ghostly prison and two circle of flames. I really like how they both have a similar feels: 2 damage and two mana. However, I think the two abilities are att odds. If you need one, you probably don’t need the other. If your opponent has a lot of 1/1 or 2/2 creatures, they won’t be able to pay 2 for each them, and if they do, they’d just die. The damage does have a little bit of meaning, though, because if they attack with a big creature you don’t have to deals as much damage to it. I also just would have expected a warrior dragon to be more offensive than defensive. This feels more like a guard or defender rather than a warrior. So it might be better to have one be offense and one be defensive. Perhaps one ability could affect blockers and one attackers? This is a good card, and a cool set of effects, I just think it needs to work on multiple angles. I also think this could be a rare: it’s not so powerful you wouldn’t want it appearing more often in packs, and it’s not too complex.

@bread-into-toast - Zombie Mole

I like the flavor of a zombie mole, since it’s already in the dirt. I do think this sounds better than your original entry, Graveborn Mole, but I think the old one told a more complete story. The card itself is pretty neat, it’s a classic red black aggro card with a big body and a risk payoff. There’s some stuff I don’t like about it. First, sacrificing a land is one of those things that players don’t realize how bad it is for you, so this could lead to a lot of players screwing themselves over, especially if it’s as uncommon. Second, the fact that it can be recast with it’s own trigger, such as when you attack, sac a land, let it die, and then get it back because you had a land die is a bit too synergistic, especially because it gets him back untapped. This means that you have a 5/5 on turn two that if you somehow get to kill by blocking they can just pay two to save and untap it. Again, at uncommon, this is very strong, even if the downside is also very strong. The design as a whole is pretty cool, but I think it’s going to lead to a lot of unhappy players on one or both sides of the field. As a final note, I really liked that you put some art direction in the submission (for those at home, it said “Mood: a giant undead mole attacks, startling the giant (living) moles and miners around it”). It’s a cool way to get a lot of the benefits of art without having to make your own or go hunting.

@charmera - Giant Golem Knight

I think the name here is pretty close. It feels a little awkward to say, but I’ve seen worse. The card is a little weak and a little poorly templated, but nothing that can’t be fixed. For the templating issue, I think telling a player they can’t do something then telling them they can in a different place doesn’t work. Cards like Manor Gargoyle that do this just remove Defender. Since this also says can’t block, though, you’d need something different. I might suggest just changing it to “~ can’t attack or block unless you sacrificed an artifact this turn.” It would power it up just a little in the process, but I think that’s called for. A 6 mana 6/7 is not really above the curve, and the activated ability is hard enough to activate that it doesn’t really pump up the power level of the card as a whole. Vigilance also seems weird on a card that needs to pay to both attack and block. I could see a specific format being able to break this card, but as something you’d see in a core set, it would need a lot of support to see play. I really like the design and concept, it just needs to be rebalanced a bit.

@col-seaker-of-the-memiest-legion - Arcane Trap

So, this one is interesting to me. The base rate on this card is good. Glimmer of Genius and Glimpse the multiverse are both super playable and both have a little something extra. In this case, the little something extra is the trap text, and the idea of repeating this card with arcane spells is pretty enticing for the decks that would play it. But there’s something missing here: the trap text doesn’t feel trappy. It’s a bonus, sure, but if you look at all of the existing traps in the game, the difference between hard casting and trap casting is usually massive, sometimes the entire cost! This instead reminds me more of “gotcha!” from unhinged, where the punishment for a player doing something is that you get a card back from your graveyard. It also doesn’t feel very trap-like because it doesn’t punish a player doing the trap-thing. Usually if an opponent is drawing cards it’s a good idea to out-draw them, and splicing helps with that, but it’s not like this is the “ha, you fool!” card that most traps are. It’s just a little bonus. Like when your opponent adds to your storm count. Functionally, I think this card is cool and feels unique, but doesn’t quite feel like it’s representing its types well. Also, nice job giving trap card art to a trap card.

@davriel-canes-tea-supplier - Hellion Demon

You did this for the pun and you know it. Demon straight out of hell...ion. I’d love to see what this guy would end up looking like (not gonna dock points for that or anything, just on my mind). So first, the templating. You don’t need to tell them to sacrifice a totla of X, since X is undefined at that point. You can just say “you may sacrifice any number of creatures. If you do, ~ gets +X/+X until end of turn and deals X damage to target creature you don’t control, where X is the total power of creatures sacrificed this way.” I also might suggest swapping it to a reflexive trigger, AKA swapping “if you do” with “when you do,” which means your opponent will be able to respond after knowing what you sacrificed. Right now, you could target one of their creatures on attacking, then they wouldn’t know what you’re sacing to do it until after they decide if they want to protect their creature. Then again, maybe that’s for the best, since it would also mean if they bounce their own creature in response, you don’t have to sacrifice anything because it wouldn’t do anything. And actually the trigger would be stifled anyway because it has no targets, which is awkward if you were planning to just use it as a pump. What I’m trying to say is that this card has an incredibly complex trigger with a lot of pieces going on. I think it might be worth it, though, because this is a cool effect. A mix between a fling and a nantuko shade effect. It’s a really cool concept, but it’s doing so much that it doesn’t do a great job at mimicking either, and in the end I just wish it had two different abilities that were linked or something easier to parse.

@Deg99 - Instant Trap

Okay, this is a silly card, and I’ll judge it as such. The blue = water is flavorfully pretty fun and funny, but color hate is always going to perform a little weird. But traps are famous for that! Usually, though, traps care about colors if they are built to be good against that color, and in this case, maybe? I don’t know if casting a free trap is particularly good against blue, so I’m firmly putting the trap text in trinket text land. The card itself does exactly what you’d expect. It tutors and plays a trap. Instantly. None of the traps in the game are super powerful, so you’re kind of avoiding the usual tutor issue of always searching for the same card / having exactly one tutor target that’s good. This is especially cool because the traps are by design extremely situational, so having this as a toolbox option is actually kind of useful. I think you’d usually end up getting needlebite trap, lavaball trap, or maybe mindbreak trap because it would be good in the matchup anyway. As a whole, this card is both kind of silly and kind of cool. I like it, but I wish there was some way to make this more interesting.

@demimonde-semigoddess - Droning Licid

Wait a second, did you just make licids make sense? Putting bestow on a licid makes it feel just like a licid. Turning drone into droning is pretty clever, though you got the types backwards on the typeline. Granting abilities not on the normal creature is something we saw just the barest amount of bestow cards back in OG Theros block. The eldraziness of it I wish was more relevant. I love the idea of using colorless as the alternate cost, since colorless is sort of treated like a bonus, not a given, especially in limited. But the two abilities need keywords. I played that block a lot, and even I kind of forgot what they did. It’s also weird that it grants devoid, but doesn’t have it itself. You could have even given it a colorless mana cost, since nothing it does is particularly black. Every ability on the card was in every color (yes, even devoid, you know what I mean). If this was a purely colorless card it’d be cool, but it’s fine in black. This card has a lot of things meant to make other things easier (enchantments for constellation, devoid for colorless matters, ingest for processing, bestow for heroic), so I’m super curious what set this would go in! But in a normal set, this is just a really weird card. I still think it’s neat, and again I’ll reiterate I’m happy you made a sensible licid, I’m just a little confused by its existence.

@dimestoretajic - Hag Fish

A hag fish is a real thing, and a hag that is a fish is what we have here. This card seems pretty powerful. It’s somewhere between a thallid and a tendershoot dryad and an ant queen. I wish the slime counters had some other use, like granting hexproof or unblockable or something. It would up the power level, which I don’t think this card needs, but it would make it feel more like it was slime on her rather than slime coming off of here. On a grander design level, I think this card requires a lot of paying attention for very little benefit. You get slime counters quickly enough you’ll rarely run out of them, but you will just often enough that you do. The tokens have evolve, which is a hard trigger to remember some times, especially on tokens that you might not have printed versions of. Plus, putting dice on tokens is also hard, since some players use dice for tokens. So while the card’s flavor and concept is pretty cool, I think it’s too complex for how simple it wants to be.

@fractured-infinity - Treasure Goblin

I’ve been told this is a reference, but sadly I don’t get it. Instead, I get golden goblins. The fail state on this card is still pretty good. A 2/1 haste for two mana ain’t nothing! And just using it as a bad skirk prospector can be useful too. I like the utility of it, too, in that once you are unable to attack with it as a 2/1, you can sacrifice it for mana to power out a flying dragon or something. This card isn’t super exciting, but it certainly gets the job done.

@gollumni - Gold Drake

Gold: the long lost parent of treasure. I didn’t even know that it had been errata'd to be its own artifact type. Anyway, the card itself is a reference to gilded drake. It even got hit by the card Gild! However, gilded drake is a super broken card! This is worse in the sense that it costs one extra mana and you ramp your opponent, but the artifact typing makes it easier to tutor and cheat into play, or to kill. Also, the way the last ability is phrased, I think you can sacrifice it to the gold ability and still get your opponent’s creature. If it said “exchange,” it wouldn’t, because exchanging needs both things in play. So this is a three mana permanent control magic that gives you one mana back immediately. I don’t think that was the intent.

@grornt - Skeleton Samurai

Now that is a skeleton samurai! It reanimates itself like a skeleton, it bushidos like a samurai. Three mana feels pretty good for it, since it fights as a 4/3. Now, normally, skeletons enter the battlefield tapped, but I understand not wanting to do that here. After all, it’s got bushido, blocking is a huge part of that! But the reason cards like this enter tapped is to stop you from blocking with it every turn and stonewalling your opponent. But how often is that? Well, this is where it gets tricky. Depending on the standard format, losing life on your own turn is either something you have to build around or effortless. In formats with shocklands, painlands, fetchlands, or even a single mana confluence, you’ll be casting this essentially for free. So assuming it’s in something like current standard, where it’s a little tough, maybe this guy is okay. I just worry about a 4/3 blocker that can’t be easily killed. But I guess that’s why you put it at rare, which was a good choice, but I think almost every player would be disappointed to find this creature as their rare. I do love the name and effects of this card as a pair, but I think it could lead to frustrating games.

@helloijustreadyourpost - Phyrexian Druid

This card has a lot of style and flair, but I’m a little cautious of it. A good comparison point for this card is Oasis Ritualist. Both can tap for one mana or two mana but at a higher cost. The mana cost and body are an important difference, and I think might balance each other out, as well as the fact that the phyrexian can only tap for green or green black. I do like that it implies that the set leans black, which feels right for return to new phyrexia. I’m having a little bit of difficulty judging power level: the life payment doesn’t really power down the card that much, but we’ve seen double ramp at 3 mana before, albeit never this versatile or at common. Still, maybe it’s fine in 2021 magic? After all, this is new phyrexia we’re talking about. Speaking of, I like how the life payment mimics phyrexian mana, and specifically phyrexian black mana. That’s a cool bonus for experienced players. I think this is a very well designed card, but I’d be very scared to print it unless I was certain there weren’t any green 6 drops at common that would be oppressive to the format when played on turn 3.

@hypexion - Skeleton Knight

Undead in white are something I wish we’d see more of. The idea of duty extending beyond life feels super white, but is only ever represented in spirits. But here we have a skeleton! I like the base body, and it does feel pretty skeletonny, though the knight aspect is a little weak. Vigilance is cool but at 1 toughness I don’t know how often it will be able to attack and still block. The reanimation clause is also a little funky, since it returns it to play on attacks, but doesn’t put it into play attacking as I’d expect. It’s also odd that it comes back tapped, though for gameplay reasons I understand. You don’t want to give players a creature that can block for free every turn. Templating-wise, I should also bring up that there needs to be and “if ~ is in your graveyard” between the words “knights” and “you may.” I’m using cards like Auntie’s Snitch and Master of Death for reference there. My final thoughts on the card is that it’s fine, but the two types don’t mesh as well together as I had hoped.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes - Spirit Shade

What a strange little creature. Shades are weird, because their signature ability is incredibly powerful and they need a pretty big downside to make them balanced. In your case, tying them to swamps is pretty clever! They already like swamps because of their heavy black costs, so this is a cool way to reinforce that. I still think this is pretty aggressive for a common, but I might be being a little too cautious. My bigger complaint is how awkwardly the sludge counters feel. This is a creature who’s already going to be tough to track since it’s constantly changing P/T, so having counters on it that change a bunch is a lot of complexity, especially at common. If there were also +1/+1 counters in this set, this card would be impossible to track in paper. I also think I would have preferred the name the other way around, but I’ll admit that’s a preference. I like this card in general, but I wish it were more player-friendly.

@loreholdlesbian - Sand Elemental

Sand is a creature type not a lot of people expected, but I have a friend with a Hazezon Tamar deck so I knew. It’s a really clever answer to the prompt, especially since you’re using the word “sand” as an adjective, but it is still also made out of sand! A colorless 3 mana 3/2 is good power level for a common I think, and the ability on it is tough enough to make work that it doesn’t push the card too hard. The fact that it’s asking you to pay 7 mana also means that, so long as you have at least a few deserts in your deck, you’re probably going to have one in play or in your graveyard. The graveyard clause fits the theme of other desert cards, but I don’t know if you’d need in a theoretical future set with deserts. Their inclusion in Amonkhet block was mostly so players wouldn’t feel bad for cycling their deserts in the early game. But hey, maybe that’s just what deserts are now! So as a whole I think this card is pretty well designed, if a bit bland, but it works well with the theme of the week and possibly the set it's in. Good work!

@morbidlyqueerious - Nightmare Spider

This card has a lot going on. The name feels okay. It’s a little odd, but it works in context. The ability feels creepy and scary, which is both a nightmare thing and a spider thing, but a spider without reach will always feel strange. As the for the ability, it needs a little work. There’s some strangeness with the revealing. It only really matters during a multiplayer game, otherwise just revealing every draw would be simpler and save some text, which I think this card needs. Second is the split payment: you lose 1 life, but you also pay two mana. One is optional, one isn’t, and one is 1 and one is 2. I could see this getting confusing to players. I could see swapping some things around to either make them all optional, all life, and/or all 2’s. Lastly, and this is the important one, this card isn’t fun. WotC is pretty solid on not wanting fateseal effects in the game. It makes what is already a frustrating part of the game (the variance of topdecking) into a more frustrating part. Because of the mana payment, is also means that both players will probably end up doing nothing on their turn. The fact that it can’t hit lands is actually kind of odd. Often that’s what you’ll be doing with this card anyway: forcing them to draw lands. I also sort of wish you would have swapped the P/T. I know spiders usually have higher toughnesses, but I’d like this card if it were easily killable but would end the game quickly if it really did take control of the game. Plus, the fact that you keep losing life regardless of if you pay the two means this kind of has a downside that would be more fitting on an aggro card. So while I think it fits the theme of the contest pretty well, and flavorfully it feels very nightmarish and spidery, I worry that it’s too complex and could lead to frustrating games.

@nicolbolas96 - Urza’s Fortification

This is… a weird one. So, you have made a land that can attach to other lands. I would be much more okay with that if it couldn’t still tap for mana. As is, it performs more like soulbond, since both things can still do the same stuff, they just get a little better. I’d also like it to turn off the original because the ability it’s granting is bonkers. Paying three mana to turn a land into a tolarian academy is an incredibly low cost. The land itself being an artifact also means you don’t even get the normal downside of tolarian academy not tapping for anything if you don’t have another artifact. You can even attach it to a land, tap that land for mana, then use some of that mana to tap another land. This means once you have four other artifacts, each of your lands tap for two mana or more. Being legendary and coming into play tapped isn’t enough of a downside for that. This would be strong even in a modern horizons set. I will say this: I do love the flavor. This really feels like an Urza’s land, which is not easy to do. The idea of a land that moves to other lands and is also a machine somehow feels cool and flavorful, too.

@nine-effing-hells - Constructed Cleric

Remember when they printed an artifact cleric in Guild of Ravnica and no one knows why? Well, here’s a robot cleric that feels more clericy. The name is a great fit, and I love the flavor of it. The twobrid mana symbols are a cool way to make it feel more artifacty, but I think they weren’t particularly necessary. No one is going to play this in a colorless deck, and splashing for it doesn’t seem worth the effort. The difference between 4 and 8 mana for the activated ability is huge. So yes, I think this card would see play almost exclusively in mono-white decks. And how is it there? Pretty good! Granting lifelink to your whole board every turn is very powerful, it makes it nearly impossible to race, but you do need at least a bit of a board. I think this is a solic card in a lot of decks, pretty well balanced, so far as I can tell, and the only real issue I have with it is how weird the twobrid is in it.

@pocketvikings - Hamster Advisor

What a pleasant little fellow. Not something I’d normally expect to see in MtG, but I’ll let it slide. I wish there were some flavor text explaining what he’s advising me on. Is he just telling me not to eat my food? So this card is very similar to the card Tajurur Preserver, what with being two green and preventing sac effects (primarily a counter to annihilator), but this guy has the upside of making a food but the downside of turning off your own food. I might suggest using that card’s templating or Angel of Jubilation’s templating. Maybe “You can’t sacrifice permanents or discard cards to activate abilities,” then on another ability the text from Tajurur preserver but with discard added on. It seems strange to see this card at uncommon, since it feels mostly like it’s protecting you from very specific effects that may or may not be in the format. It’s actually a pretty big downside in some decks, like turning off fetchlands, and of course if you’re playing this in a food deck you won’t want in play for long. That’s cool, and we’ve seen that on some black cards like Priest of the Blood Rite. I think this card feels out of place in a lot of formats and a lot of decks in particular, but I’m interested in the implications of it.

@partly-cloudy-partly-fuckoff - Aetherborn Angel

This is one I didn’t see coming, but not in abad way. This feels like a natural name, and immediately conjures an image in my mind. The fact that both angels and aetherborn are sort of non-natural creatures makes he combination feel fitting, but them being opposites of the color pie and origin intrigues me. The card? It feels alright. Artifact matters seems pretty aetherborn-y, though that’s mostly just because they're in Kaladesh. Counters feel pretty angelly, but that’s usually just because white has +1/+1 counter themes all the time and big white creatures are often angels. What I’m trying to say is that while this does feel like it’s an aetherborn angel, it doesn’t feel like it’s THE aetherborn angel. But I still think the card has a place in whatever set it’s for. It seems powerful, and I like that it’s usually the best place to put your counters, but has some utility, plus I’m sure there are ways to go infinite, but when you’re paying seven mana for it that seems fair. I love powerful commons because there’s nothing saying a common can’t be powerful, just not complex, and while this does add a little strategic complexity, it’s not gonna burn any brains. This is a well made card.

@reaperfromtheabyss - Goblin Knight

It sure is. This feels pretty right on the money, not just because the name feels real and the creature types fit well, but because the text on the card feels like how a goblin would be a knight. They aren’t particularly any better at fighting or better equipped, but it at least can scare some people or keep them at a distance. I very rarely ever say this but I think there was room for flavor text here. I’d like to know how this goblin got in this position, and what they’re doing to stop creatures from blocking. The cost also seems great, perfectly in between fervent cathar and voldaren duelist.

@shootingstarhunter - Island Turtle [the 0/4]

One of two island turtles this week. So it’s a 0 mana 0/4 (or U if you count coming into play tapped as paying a cost). I think with literally no other text, that would be a pretty cool card, if a touch strong. There’s also the issues with land creatures, which there are some weird rules for that mostly just annoys judges more than players. However, you decided to put on some… interesting text. It can turn another land into a creature, one with a little bit more power and toughness. That seems… okay? I think if it had just said something like “Adapt 1: sacrifice a land” it would be almost identical mechanically but far, far easier to understand. I think you made this card to fit a very specific idea you had in your head, but I think you needed to step back and look at the final card and see if there was some way to make it simpler, or if not, what that extra complexity would get you.

@snugz - Island Turtle [the 0/2]

Interesting. I like the simplicity of it on the surface. It’s just a Dryad Arbor but with a little more toughness, and it’s blue. A 0 mana 0/2 is on curve, I think, though I don’t know what kind of deck would want it. It doesn’t block anything but the smallest of creatures, which decks you’d need to block against probably aren’t playing. But it can chump, and doesn’t die to 1 damage from stuff like Chandra Pyromaster or Goblin Chainwhirler, so that’s something. The reminder text is appreciated, though the “isn’t a spell” feels less necessary considering the first line, but reminder text can be there anyway! The first line I feel like is trying to fix something, but most of the issues with land creatures are about integrating them into the comprehensive rules, which Dryad Arbor is already forcing WotC to do. But I guess it has it’s uses here and there. Rules aside, I think this card is fine. Like I said, I’m not sure what decks would want this, but it’s unique enough I think someone could find a use for it.

@starch255 - Enchantment Class Saga

Oh boy, what did I do to deserve this? First, the elephant in the room, no one at wizard’s would ever call this Enchantment Class Saga. Is it supposed to be the story of a class about enchantments? Mechanically I guess it’s at least tied to everything. I don’t think I have to tell you this is too complicated. This has more words on it than a pack of homelands. I also don’t know if it’s phrased right, because we don’t even have the comprehensive rules for classes out yet. Setting X to a certain number at the top of the card also may or may not work? We’ve yet to see a saga with a static effect like that. I also think just playing it and waiting till turn four to level it up gives you a crazy amount of advantage, digging 4 cards deep every turn if you have another saga, plus getting through those sagas even quicker. I’m having an extremely difficult time judging this one, but I can at least say it’s too complicated, and that’s enough to keep it out of the running.

@thedirtside - Treasured Clue

This is a really cute card, but I don’t think it quite hits the mark (pun intended?). One mana for a treasure is kind of weird. We saw a lot of people thinking like that for a while with golden goose, which generated a mana on turn one and rarely did anything else, but let you ramp out a three-drop on turn two, and doing this on a colorless card just feels kind of dangerous, especially because being common means you could crack two on turn three for a 5 drop two turns early. But I also like the combination of the two types, since if you don’t need the treasure then you probably need the card. Reminds me of the Horizon lands. The name is also really close, better than some this week, but feels kind of forced. I wish there were a little more you could do with this guy to make him worth tacking on an extra mana. As is, it’s just a little too swingy to be fun.

@wolkemesser - Orgg Hag

I actually had to double check to see that these were both existing creature types, but lo and behold, they were. And they’re both pretty thematic! Orggs are just like big 4 armed goblins, and hags are I guess like witches? But now witches are warlocks. Anyway, the card. I think it’s alright. Trample feels very Orgg, lifelink feels haggy, but that last ability just seems odd. Orgg itself had an ability that cared about size, and the sort of curse flavor of it feels haggy, but it just feels so out of nowhere. I feels like if you removed the white mana in the cost and the ability it would feel just as appropriate a card. Humility in general also has a lot of rules issues that don’t really make them worth it unless they are on big, swingy cards, which this isn’t quite. Still as a whole I think the card is perfectly fine, but a bit off for this week’s contest.

And that’s everybody! If you want to get a hold of me, you can contact me on the Discord. Thanks again for entering! Good luck next week!

-Mod Mr. ShinyObject

#same name #commentary #custom magic card #mtg #magic the gathering #inventor's fair

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grailfinders · 4 years ago

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Fate and Phantasms #106: Jeanne d’Arc (Alter)

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the burning dragon witch of France, Jeanne d’Arc (Alter)! Jalter’s pretty good- Fire, more fire, and bullying dragons into serving you- solid kit!

Check out Jalter’s build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: We’re really testing that “All Dogs Go to Heaven” theory, huh?

Race and Background

Like I said with Mash, Homunculus isn’t really a race in D&D, so we’ll have to keep things simple. While you are a magically made copy, you’re a copy of a Human, so we’ll have to stick with that. This gives you +1 to all abilities. Make up the Magic Doppelganger background (or just use Haunted One) for Arcana and Religion proficiencies. You’re made of magic, and you have to know about God in order to spit in His face.

Ability Scores

If that custom background wasn’t weird enough, we’re also using the Point Buy system for this build, because we need a lot of stuff right away. You were made by an evil wizard, so a little bit of minmaxing is probably fine. Unfortunately, we have to keep Intelligence at 8- I’d like to make it higher, but we need the points for other abilities. You don’t really go on a self-improvement kick until you’re a berserker anyway. After that, set Dexterity and Wisdom to 12- they’re needed for multiclassing. You can fight (and presumably dance) in a dress, and you can still pick people out in your Grondement du Haine, so they can’t be that bad. Set Constitution to 13 for some toughness-you’re a frontline fighter, and your Avenger class makes absorbing peoples’ hatred (read: their attacks) a bit easier. That leaves us just enough points to bring your Strength and Charisma up to 14. You have one of the highest attack stats in the game, and you’re damn scary when you want to be-and you always want to be scary.

Class Levels

1. Barbarian 1: Avengers are good at hitting things and taking hits, and so are barbarians! When you pick up the class, you get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two barbarian skills- Intimidation and Athletics. You’re strong and scary. (Pretty sure we said that already.)

Either way, barbarians can Rage as a bonus action, gaining extra attack damage, advantage on strength saves and checks, and resistance to the physical attack types. In exchange you can’t cast or concentrate on spells, and it ends early if you don’t attack or get attacked by something in a round.

You also get Unarmored Defense, giving you an AC based on your dexterity and constitution. I’d highly recommend not using that because yours is pretty bad, but it’s available if you really need to fight in a ballgown. Sometimes showing up the Ice Bitch Queen is worth the pain.

2. Sorcerer 1: A Jalter just wouldn’t be a Jalter without plenty of fire and draconic imagery, and that’s why you’re a Draconic Bloodline sorcerer. A black dragon would be more on brand, but we have to go with a Red Dragon Ancestor for the fire damage. This also lets you read and write draconic, and more importantly, your proficiency bonus is doubled for charisma checks against dragons. You may not have magical control over them yet, but you can probably keep the younger ones in line already.

Your Draconic Resilience gives you an extra hp per sorcerer level, as well as an AC of 13 + your dexterity modifier. That’s still not great, but it’s much better than what you had going before.

Finally, sorcerers can cast Spells using their Charisma as the casting ability. Control Flames, Green-Flame Blade, and Burning Hands should give you more than enough fire to start with. Friends will make it even easier to control dragons, while False Life will give you just a touch of healing. NP bars don’t exist in this game, so we had to represent your Self-Restoration somehow.

3. Barbarian 2: Hitting things with sticks powers up a lot faster though, so let’s stick with that for now. Second level barbarians can make Reckless Attacks, giving themselves advantage, but also giving enemies advantage against them. Your Danger Sense also gives you advantage on dexterity saves you can see coming. You don’t really care where your spells hit-this will help keep you out of your own fireballs.

4. Barbarian 3: You might have figured out where this was going with all that fire talk, but your subclass here’s the Storm Herald! When you rage (and as a bonus action each turn afterwards), you can use your Storm Aura to deal extra damage to enemies. The desert aura deals a bit of fire damage to all creatures within range save free! A perfect option for those fidgety monks and archers. You also gain Primal Knowledge, giving you proficiency in Animal Handling. I mean, for a given definition of “Animal”, I guess that works.

5. Ranger 1: You didn’t think we were done making this build weird, were you? I promise this will make more sense in a bit. For now though, you get Perception proficiency, as well as the ability to mark a Favored Foe with your bonus action. For a minute afterwards (or as long as you keep up concentration) you can add an extra 1d4 damage to any damage done to it once per turn. Also, while it does use your concentration, it technically isn’t a spell, so maybe it works with rage? (I’d rule it does, but I’m not your DM.)

A less complicated feature you get is Deft Explorer, specifically the Canny feature, which doubles your proficiency bonus in a single skill. Power up your Intimidation to become even scarier to everyone, but especially dragons. A +14 to intimidate means you can really turn heads, even at level 5.

6. Barbarian 4: We’re about to jump back into sorcerer now, but it might be a good idea to be skilled at casting spells before we do that. Use your Ability Score Improvement to nab the War Caster feat for advantage on concentration saves, the ability to cast cantrips as opportunity attacks, and most importantly, the ability to cast spells with full hands. Now you can upgrade to a proper flagpole pike!

7. Sorcerer 2: It’s been a while, but now that we’re back you’ve become a Font of Magic, giving you Sorcery Points that you can spend on metamagic (later) or more spell slots (right now). You also get another first level spell. Shield’s useful at least, but we’ll get something more “you” at a later level.

8. Sorcerer 3: Now that you’re level three, you get that Metamagic thing we just talked about. Casting an Empowered Spell will let you re-roll damage dice to make sure everything hurts as much as possible, while a Heightened Spell will make it harder for a target to resist. Trust me, you do not want a dragon breaking out of Charm Monster.

Speaking of spells, you get second level ones now, like Dragon’s Breath, which will let you turn anything you want into a smaller, less cool dragon. Other flavors are available, but why would you not pick fire breath?

9. Ranger 2: Bouncing around even more, you get a Fighting Style. Rangers don’t get any styles for big weapons, so we’re just grabbing Defense for an extra point of AC while wearing armor. You can go without, but you have a look to maintain, you know?

You also get another set of Spells that use Wisdom to cast. Your wisdom isn’t that powerful, but luckily Searing Smite and Absorb Elements don’t use it, so you’re set! I guess good things really do happen to bad people!

10. Sorcerer 4: We’ve had way too many odd numbers for way too long, it’s time we did something about it. Use this ASI to round up your Strength and Charisma for stronger hits and stronger spells.

You also get even more spells- Blade Ward gives you some defense without having to rage, and Aganazzar’s Scorcher got you covered on the offensive side. There’s a bit of a theme here, if you haven’t noticed.

11. Barbarian 5: It took us a while, but you finally get an Extra Attack for each attack action. You also get Fast Movement, adding 10 feet to your walking movement. It’s about time you got a little violent.

12. Barbarian 6: Our last level of barbarian unleashes your Storm Soul. The desert soul gives you resistance to fire damage, and you can also ignore extreme heat, which is super useful given how much black you wear. You can also set objects on fire by touching them.

13. Ranger 3: Now that we’re finally getting to this subclass, it’s time we justified this multiclass. You get Primeval Awareness to help you track down and “convince” dragons to help you, but if your DM is really uncooperative, you can also summon a dragon thanks to your subclass. (We know, we went ranger to make a build less situational. We think we just saw hell freeze over.

Surprisingly, there are still subclasses left in UA after Tasha’s blew through. The Drakewarden lets you cast Thaumaturgy thanks to your Draconic Gift. You can also summon a Drake Companion as an action once per long rest (or by spending a spell slot) You have to use your bonus action to command it, but it can always use its reaction to infuse weapon attacks with its element of choice. (Do I even have to say we’re picking fire?)

You also learn Entangle this level. Your Grondement du Haine leaves a lot of spears all over the place-it’d be pretty hard to pick your way through those.

14. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get third level spells, but they also get Magical Guidance, letting you spend 1 sorcery point to re-roll a failed ability check. I’d save those for something you’re really good at, like intimidation.

You also learn Erupting Earth at this level, in case you wanted to actually do damage with your noble phantasm. Sadly your spears are a bit dull, but bludgeoning damage is still better than no damage at all.

15. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level dragon sorcerers get an Elemental Affinity, adding their charisma to fire spells. You can also spend sorcery points to resist fire damage, but you’re already good on that front.

Speaking of things that aren’t really needed, you can cast Fear this level. You already have Expertise/Super Expertise in intimidation, but sometimes you just need magic.

16. Sorcerer 7: Seventh level sorcerers can cast 4th level spells, and you can finally cast Charm Monster to take control of a dragon of a dragon for up to an hour. We can also finally replace Shield with Wall of Fire to really set the scene for your dramatic confrontation with that goody-two-shoes you share a face with.

17. Ranger 4: Use your last ASI (they go by so fast, don’t they?) to become an Elemental Adept in fire. This means every die you roll for fire damage will always count as at least a 2. Also, your spells now ignore fire resistance! Just your spells though, your rage is out of luck.

18. Ranger 5: Your Extra Attack doesn’t do anything this level, but you do learn how to cast Spike Growth, for those times you want to sit back and let your enemies throw themselves on your spears.

19. Ranger 6: Your Favored Foe bumps up to a d6, and you become Roving! This adds 5 feet to your movement, and you can climb or swim at the same speed. Now nothing will be able to escape your wrath!

20. Ranger 7: Your capstone ability gives you a Bond of Fang and Scale, allowing your drake to fly and deal more damage with its bite. You also gain resistance to whatever damage type your drake deals, which can help your survivability against themed enemies (like you).

You can also cast Lesser Restoration this level. Memory correction is a little vague-status correction is a bit easier to implement.

Pros:

You’re good at burning things, and yes we count people in there. You can deal a lot of fire damage through rages, dragons, and spells. You also have multiple ways to make that fire even more dangerous, and can spread it at a touch. Great for property damage!

It can be pretty hard to escape you, thanks to your buffed movement speed and the ability to swim and climb faster than most people. Worst comes to worst, you also have a dragon you can sicc on people.

You’re pretty terrifying, especially towards dragons. Beyond having direct control over them, you can also intimidate them with advantage, a third die from sorcery, and a +27 to the roll. Barring an act of god, you can probably get most dragons to stand down, if not obey you outright.

Cons:

You have some power in your corner, but it’s all focused on fire, one of the most immune-to damage types in the game. When it’s good it’s great, but when it’s bad it’s awful. At least you can swap out your dragon damage each summon if you really need to.

Speaking of, your drake’s pretty weak, with only 40 HP at level 20. It’s probably best for you to think of it as a limited use feature than a companion, because it is absolutely not sticking around.

Really there’s a lot of multiclassing problems to go over here. Beyond the classic “spells and raging” thing, there’s also a severe lack of ASIs, several overlapping abilities, both your rage and drake using up all your bonus actions, and an overall lack of focus. You might not be great at doing any one thing, but nobody will have the nerve to criticize you.

#Fate and Phantasms #Fate Grand Order #FGO #D&D 5e #Jeanne d'Arc Alter

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radramblog · 3 years ago

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Ultimate^2

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate has finally unveiled its final DLC character, with reactions ranging fully across the spectrum. Hot takes abound.

I mean, statistically, just about every possible opinion is going to be represented. There were at least 500,000 people watching the reveal stream, and that’s not including those viewing through restreams. That’s insane for a trailer of any kind, let alone for a console-exclusive video game DLC.

Now that it’s been like… a day and a bit, I think most of the spciest takes have probably been made, which is the perfect time for me to chip in with my own milder opinion. More of a butter chicken, really.

(no images in this one i’m lazy tonight)

I figure I’m this late already, might as well drop some notes on the other ones first.

Piranha Plant was kind of the definition of an unexpected pick. Not only was it from an already well-represented franchise, being fucking Mario, it’s also just…not a character. As such it makes an odd choice for a DLC fighter…except for the part where it was free. If you owned the game in its first month. And frankly, I don’t think people would have been happy if it wasn’t. As it is, though, it’s a perfectly fine character- surprisingly cute, actually.

I’m unsurprised about Joker’s inclusion. With how huge Persona 5 became in both Japan and the west, capitalizing on it to make a shitload of money makes perfect sense. The character plays well enough, though the meter gimmick was kind of a daunting sign of things to come. All that in mind, though, the most surprising thing about Joker being in the game is that they still haven’t put P5 on the Switch. Atlus please.

Hero and Banjo/Kazooie were announced on the same night, and I distinctly recall someone saying that this was one for the Japanese audience and one for the Americans. I mean, I’ve never played Dragon Quest, so I guess I fell into the latter? Both series have a long, well-regarded pedigree (Banjo’s lack of recent offerings notwithstanding), so both arguably deserve their respective positions. Hero is the much more notable character gameplaywise, though, with the incredibly complex mana and spellcasting mechanics. Complaints about RNG in Smash aren’t completely unfounded- though it has existed in the past in the form of, say, Luigi’s misfiring side-B- but I know a lot of people think Hero took it too far. If I’m honest, though, the weirdest thing is just having Akira Toriyama-ass 3D models in the game. Banjo’s gameplay is…awkward. The kit is kind of a mess, but at least the gimmicks weren’t going too hard, you know?

Next was Terry, perhaps the most obscure character on the entire list in 2021. I actually really like Terry in this game- while he’s still trying to emulate a similar feel to Ryu/Ken, the difference feels more natural, if that makes sense. Maybe it’s because I’ve never really devoted significant time to them, but Terry’s kit feels easier to work within than the Shotos when going between characters.

Finally for the first Pass, we had Byleth. I think it’s for the best that they announced the second Fighter’s Pass before this released, because if both 4 and Ultimate had ended their run on Fire Emblem DLCs then people would have been pissed. I mean, people were already pissed, but like…moreso. As someone who has played Three Houses, I do think the game is worth celebrating, but having yet another Fire Emblem Protagonist (read: basically a blank slate) in the game over all the substantially more interesting characters 3H has to offer is just really frustrating. Also the final smash looks like dogshit, like FE3H has overall worse animations than Smash for obvious reasons but I’m pretty sure this attack looked better the first time around.

FP2 opened with Min Min, which brings ARMS to the table. ARMS. The only first-party fighting game Nintendo has outside of Smash, so it looks a bit less weird next to everything else but…come on, man. I think this was the most confusing pick of all of them- the game came out in 2017, and having Min Min in Smash would serve as promotion for a sequel…which hasn’t been announced. There was a graphic novel in the works, but it was cancelled earlier this year. Oops? At least the stage was fun.

As much as playing them is awkward and complex, the Minecraft addition was fitting. Only the best-selling game around. I think people weren’t sure if Microsoft would go for it, but they let us have Banjo, so sure. I’m mostly just annoyed that they couldn’t get any of the songs from the actual game in there- like, you got one in from the fucking mobile game, but you couldn’t just get C418 on the phone?

Sephiroth is definitely one of the hype-ier releases from this pass. The character is iconic, as is his theme and his home game. I’ve never played any Final Fantasy game, but I can still respect the name. Once I remember how to spell it. The whole bossfight aspect to his release was also quite cool, while it lasted.

On the other hand, I have no love for Pyra nor Mythra. There’s so much wrong with these ones, frankly. They’re another swordy character, immediately following Sephiroth too, and they go back on Smash’s very deliberate decision to split characters like Zelda/Sheik and Samus/ZSS up (Yes I know Pokemon Trainer does the same thing but I have a lot more leniency for them). Add in their being from a JRPG much less well-known or remembered than the previous couple characters and the designs being…questionable, I have a big issue with the whole thing. This was also around when I kinda stopped playing the game in general, and they definitely didn’t help pull me back in.

Kazuya might have, though. With the exception of him and Sephiroth, all the characters from the Fighter’s Passes were pretty much protagonist-types, but this motherfucker pulses with the essence of bad guy. What I’m saying is that he’s fucking cool, and while he’s ludicrously complex, that makes perfect sense since…I mean just look at the combo lists from Tekken 7. His inclusion also kinda rounds out the list of biggest fighting game franchises out there being rep’d in the game, though I imagine now I’m going to have stans from Mortal Kombat or whatever on my back. They’re not going to put a fatality-capable character in Smash, guys!

Finally, this rounds us around to the original point of this article. Let’s talk about Sora. And by that I mean…I don’t really have a huge amount to say about him. Kingdom Hearts is a franchise that completely passed me by growing up, and I don’t think I have the time or energy to devote to it now. I’m sure it’s good, people seemed really excited for him to be in the game so they have to have gotten that love from somewhere, but I don’t share that feeling.

That’s not to say that I don’t think he deserves a slot. The idea of “deserving a slot” in Smash Bros is kind of an odd concept, even though it’s come up a lot so far this post. But a slot in this roster isn’t just a place in a popular fighting game, because at this point, Smash is kind of a museum of (mostly Nintendo) games- and so having representation is a forever acknowledgment that the franchise is, or has been, an icon to so many. Kingdom Hearts, to my knowledge, has 100% earned that position, and so Sora getting to be playable here makes perfect sense. He wasn’t my pick (Touhou representation never I guess), but I’m happy for those who wanted him.

As far as the actual gameplay looks, he reads like a character that kept in mind what people didn’t like about Hero when he released. It’s another sword-based character, which I think at this point speaks more about the demographic of video game characters than it does about Smash. But I appreciate that the Magic Bullshit is toned down, and that it’s also his only real gimmick (The 3-hit combo feature is A Thing, but other characters e.g. Bayonetta have already done that, so whatever). His recovery potential looks patently absurd- like he just gets Pikachu/Pichu’s Up-B as a Side-B that can also be chained with his actual Up-B? This guy better be light as hell or he’s going to be super hard to take out. I dunno, I think he looks solidly fun enough- more dynamic and aerial than the other swordfighters, at least- and that’s good enough for me.

And I guess that marks the end of Smash Ultimate. Not with a bang, but with a key…dude. It’s been a very solid run, the game managing to keep itself fresh across several years of development, even as other games have risen and fallen. Smash is kind of forever at this point, I think, though the finality of Ultimate’s ultimate character implies that this particular iteration may be coming to its end. And seeing as it is always one Smash per console, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Switch itself was nearing its endgame as well.

Okay but also it’s pretty funny how they heavily censored everything Disney out of Sora’s DLC except for that little Mickey charm on the trailer, like how much must that one shot have cost them, was it even remotely worth it, I don’t know but I kinda want to

#ramble #ssbu #ssbu spoilers #ssbu dlc #smash ultimate #video games #still mad they didn't put a song in with the doomguy costume

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blookmallow · 4 years ago

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time for some spooky cave adventures, moths, and That Week Where I Was A Vampire

also i realized you can wield a knife and fork like weapons

,,,oops

i. forgot neloth had a spell on me to see my memories so he could get my info on the briar heart warriors

while i went to do like 900 things that were not that

this. this is like 3 years worth of memory he’s going to have to go through trying to find the one single quest he had me on im crying

this is game hours not real world hours but boy that really puts in perspective how long things are actually taking in the game world lmfao

hey neloth remember that errand you asked me to run three years ago. well I’m back

hell yeah My Durnehviir

i kept trying to summon him mid-battle because i thought he would come help me but it turns out he just shows up to teach you dragon words. which is also cool, but like, My Dude... A Little Help Here,

anyway remember how i had to become a vampire to get into the soul cairn. turns out you start needing blood after a while. who could have predicted this

people actually don’t seem to be able to tell you’re a vampire on sight until you hit “blood starved vampire” levels (i assume. nobody gave me trouble and then i got a “as a blood starved vampire you are hated and feared” message after a while so i figured i better stay outta sight and managed to go undetected)

so i tried killing some bandits to eat their blood. as you do. but for some reason, this does not work. you have to steal blood like you’re pickpocketing someone who’s asleep. i dont know why this is the vampire rules but apparently, this is the vampire rules

i assumed this would kill them, and i didnt want to kill any named npcs for my newfound bloodlust, and didn’t want to go digging around crypts trying to happen upon bandits who were already asleep, so i figured nameless respawning guards were probably my best bet (i mean. i assume they respawn. is it possible to just kill every guard in a city. i dont want to try that)

so i sneak into the guard house in. falkreath i think

serana had resurrected a random dead vampire at some point, so it was... me, serana, and a zombie vampire who was audibly groaning at regular intervals, just sneaking around a decently lit building full of guards. here you can see that guy looking directly at me from across the room. and somehow nOBODY NOTICED ANY OF THIS. I GOT IN AND FOUND A VICTIM AND GOT MY BLOOD AND LEFT WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING A FUCKING THING

then as it turns out, feeding on someone apparently does not kill them or even, like. wake them up. i stole some poor guard’s blood and he didn’t even budge

so while i probably could have made a living as a vampire, i still didn’t want to have to deal with this for the rest of my life, so i went seeking a method of curing my vampirism before the dawnguard could find out. the game doesn’t lead you to do this, i just decided to do it bc i didnt want them to like, attack me on sight or some shit lmao

being a vampire is cool as shit but also i have like, a family, so i dont really want people to Know and didnt want to deal with the sunlight problem and the. y’know. needing to occasionally feed on people. so. i enjoyed my vampire trial run but all good things come to an end

this was presented as a really dramatic choice where i must decide whether to kill someone to use their soul to save mine or continue my life as a vampire but i just. already had like 5 black soul gems. that i just found various places. like sure it’s rare to find one with a soul already in it but i have... several... already

anyway im not a vampire anymore :’)

i sold him the elder scroll and then realized i needed it back so i had to buy it back from him which i felt TERRIBLE about to begin with, but why is my literal only dialogue option here the “fuck you I’m the arch mage” option. why couldn’t i be like “absolutely. in fact lets make it 10,000 coins bc i feel really bad about doing this to you” why do i HAVE to be rude to him. i also can’t give it back again now that the quest is done and i think its still flagged as a Quest Item so i guess i just. have an elder scroll forever now

i am the moth priestess

really into the like... deep sea creature type things way way at the bottom of this cave

h... hm. the falmer sure know their aesthetic huh

OHHH

the last snow elf...

or one of the last. still

yooOOOOO what is THAT

[ absolutely just stuffs my pockets full of as many gleamblossoms as i can find ]

i think i had like 60 of them by the end of this

i dont even do alchemy i dont need these. im just putting them all over my several houses

Mushroom Time Again

im SORRY it was an ACCIDENT :(

killed this guy and tried to shove him off the cliff but he just. wouldn’t fall. hes just hanging there by one foot

you cant really see this but i found this. underwater cavern thing just full of dead falmer corpses floating ominously in silence

then somewhere way deep in a cavern i found this MASSIVE FUCKING BUG????????????

it. it doesn’t Do anything. its just there. its clearly alive. but it. it’s just Here.

something about navigating way far underground and just seeing this. ungodly huge creature just There not moving not doing anything just Existing hit some weird uncanny “something is Wrong About This, this Should Not Be” corner of my brain i love this guy and i am deeply afraid of him

MINE????? THE????? BUG???? THE BUG????

I DONT WANT TO MINE THE BUG. THAT SEEMS INCREDIBLY RUDE

i dont know if it hurts it to. mine... the bug... but i didnt want to find out

i. guess this is where shellbug armor comes from. which would be cool to have but i just dont think i can bring myself to MINE a living. creature. that is alive. and apparently harmless

#lucy plays skyrim

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imagitory · 5 years ago

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HPHM Profile: Carewyn Cromwell

<<<updated: 12/6/2020 // original template by @hogwarts-misery >>>

“I can’t just live my life however I want! Maybe I want to — sometimes I want to — sometimes I want to so much that I think of just saying ‘forget the Cursed Vaults! Forget about R and their death threats and the fear and the not-knowing-what’s-coming!’ But...I can’t. As long as Jacob is out there — as long as I don’t know whether he’s alive or dead — whether he needs my help or not — how can I put myself first?! How can I justify chasing the Quidditch Cup, or joining the Dueling Club, or singing in the Frog Choir, when anything great I might do won’t mean a thing, without my brother there cheering me on whether I win or lose!? How can I fight for my dreams...while not knowing if Jacob will be able to share them with me? What sort of person would I be? What sort of disgusting — selfish — cowardly — terrible person would I be, if I abandoned him!? How could I face my mum again — face myself again — if I just threw my brother away?!”

[PROFILE]

NAME | Carewyn Lane Cromwell

NICKNAMES | Carey (by her friends, especially Bill, Charlie, and Tonks); Winnie (by her mother); Pip, Pippa (by Jacob); Cursebreaker (by Andre) [Note: In AUs, Jacob calls Carewyn “Wyn” instead of Pip, as “Pippa” is a reference to the Robert Browning poem “Pippa Passes,” which often doesn’t exist in other universes. XD]

GENDER | Female (cisgender)

SEXUAL / ROMANTIC ORIENTATION | Asexual / Panromantic

[PERSONALITY]

In some ways, Carewyn is an ideal heroine. A bright, compassionate girl, she often finds herself drawn to those less confident than her and feels the urge to protect and take care of them. Even when she was very little, she ended up “mothering” her older brother Jacob by encouraging him to eat and sleep more and offering advice, just as much as he often “fathered” her by inspiring her and shielding her from any perceived threats. But don’t mistake this young Cursebreaker for a saint -- Carewyn actually is an incredibly proud person who protects her fragile, sensitive heart with a hard shell of seemingly unbreakable confidence and cool insight. There is nothing she hates more than showing her insecurities and fears, and so she does her best to always look her best and put her best face forward no matter what, even around the people she cares about. This means that almost none of her many friends have any idea about the demons Carewyn is secretly fighting in her pursuit of the Cursed Vaults and her brother. Carewyn dresses the part for whatever situation she’s in, and she always feels most comfortable when she feels in control and believes she has the moral high ground -- admittedly her moral compass is pretty strong on its own, but she also buries any more selfish and meaner feelings she has as deep as she can, pushing herself to be the best, most moral person she can be, even if it’s difficult for her. She wants to be everything that everyone needs, and unfortunately that can result in Carewyn setting standards that are way too high for herself and secretly resenting and berating herself whenever she falls short, or worse not even participating in something she thinks she can’t put all of herself into or wouldn’t do well in. Her self-loathing is so strong that when something traumatic happens to her (such as Jacob’s disappearance or the death of Redacted), she can suffer from severe spells of depression where she neglects her own well-being and as a consequence forcibly removes herself from the people around her so as not to let others see her in such a terrible state. Because of her own high standards for herself, as well, Carewyn also can be judgmental of others, not being prone to change her mind about a person easily. When backed into a corner, Carewyn can freeze up, but when her own self-preservation or her loved ones are threatened, she can bite back really hard, though she’ll almost always regret losing control after the fact. Carewyn has a very organized mind and works best when she has a plan and knows where she’s going at any given time -- ambiguity and mystery are not this girl’s friends. This sadly can result in her being a real stick in the mud, which makes her an easy target for pranks and mischief. Fortunately, despite her overly serious attitude, Carewyn has a nice dry sense of humor and is a very passionate, driven person. In her fifth year, she was even made a Prefect largely due to her protective, nurturing instincts, though it’s good to note that that doesn’t make her a rule follower. Carewyn only respects rules and the people enforcing them if they have earned her respect and she sees the reasoning behind them. If there’s one thing Carewyn can’t stand, it’s condescension. Carewyn’s core interests are singing (her favorite wizard band is the Weird Sisters and her favorite Muggle band is the Eurythmics), Charms, magical history, and magical creatures.

[BIOGRAPHY]

DATE OF BIRTH | August 29, 1973 (Virgo)

BLOOD STATUS | Half-Blood

FAMILY INFO | Carewyn is the second child and only daughter of Evan Bach and Lane Cromwell. Carewyn’s mother Lane alienated her parents, younger brother, and older sisters -- a well-respected, but very overbearing magical family called the Cromwells -- upon moving to Wales and marrying Evan, who was a Muggle. Unfortunately Evan and Lane’s marriage took a turn for the worse after Jacob was born. Jacob’s magical abilities peeked through at an early age and were interpreted by Evan as deliberate misbehavior despite Lane’s best attempts to diffuse any tension. Nine years into their marriage, Evan and Lane were surprised by a late addition to the family -- their daughter, Carewyn. Rather than bringing Evan and Lane closer together, however, Carewyn’s arrival only seemed to drive Evan further away, as he already had had no instincts about how to be a father to Jacob and felt even less sure about how to raise a daughter. Deciding it was better to give up and just let Lane do what was best rather than mess up, Evan withdrew from Carewyn almost completely, leaving Lane and even his son Jacob to look after her. Fortunately Jacob, an nine-year-old boy at the time of Carewyn’s birth, adored his little sister immediately and went out of his way to coddle and protect her however he could. When Jacob turned 11 and received his Hogwarts letter, Lane was finally allowed by law to tell Evan about her magical heritage and the Wizarding World, but by that point, Evan and Lane’s marriage was so rocky that the revelation finally made it buckle and fall apart. Evan left his family that very night, leaving Lane heartbroken. Knowing her family would insist upon her returning to their estate in Yorkshire if she went to them for financial help, Lane instead charted out alone and raised her two children completely on her own while working as a magical historian and Runes expert. Although Lane, Jacob, and Carewyn lived in poverty for almost all of Jacob’s school career and Carewyn’s childhood, the Cromwells managed to dig their way out of debt a year before Jacob disappeared, now sitting on the perimeter of “lower-middle class.”

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE | INFJ “The Advocate”

[MAGICAL ABILITIES]

WAND | Hornbeam and dragon heartstring, 11 inches, inflexible (broken by Rakepick) // Laurel and phoenix feather, 12 inches, unyielding (nicknamed her “Excalibur wand”)

BOGGART | Voldemort [Carewyn’s greatest fear is a threat she has no hope of overcoming, fighting, escaping, or controlling...which, yeah, is Voldemort in a nutshell!]

ANIMAGUS FORM (IF ANY) | Robin

PATRONUS | Abraxan Winged Horse

[AFFILIATION]

HOUSE | Slytherin

QUIDDITCH POSITION (IF ANY) | She prefers playing Chaser in Quidditch friendlies, but she’s been reluctant to commit to the Slytherin team due to her extreme focus on finding her brother and fear of letting Orion and the others down.

PREFECT? | Yup!

[ACADEMICS]

BEST CLASS(ES) | Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic (thanks to her mum!)

WORST CLASS(ES) | Transfiguration, Divination

OWL SCORES |

Charms - O

Transfiguration - O

Potions - O

Herbology - O

History of Magic - O

Care of Magical Creatures - O

Defense Against the Dark Arts - O

[RELATIONSHIPS]

PARTNERS |

Andre — In the beginning, Carewyn was completely and totally dedicated romantically to Andre, having attended the Celestial Ball and gone on two dates with him. In the darkest part of her heart, though she was a bit afraid that she wouldn’t be “exciting” enough for Andre in the long term, given that he’s always been quite popular and outgoing and she’s only really gotten any esteem at Hogwarts for being a Cursebreaker, which she didn’t really ever want to be. Add onto this some tension brought on by the All-Wizard Tournament where Andre got so obsessed with winning that he took help from his girlfriend and then flat-out didn’t even consider helping her in return and Carewyn’s severe trust issues, and soon the two had a lot of trouble communicating properly. When times were good, they had a lot of fun together, but if they ever weren’t, the two just couldn’t seem to connect and fix it as a team. Not long after the All-Wizard Tournament, Carewyn finally told Andre she needed a break, and after a talk, they decided it was better to end their romantic relationship and try just being friends again. Despite the break-up, they both remain incredibly fond of each other and respect each other deeply.

Chiara — In the beginning of my game-playing journey, I had considered matching Carewyn with Chiara in the long-term. Ever since they first met, Carewyn has both identified with and greatly admired Chiara. Even if Chiara has had such a rough life, she remains ever gentle, kind, and forgiving -- everything, in essence, that Carewyn wants and tries to be -- all without seemingly even trying. She’s never expected anything from Carewyn, no matter how big her reputation as a Cursebreaker has grown, and is always supportive of her choices. She even wants to Heal others, even if her werewolf form is so hell-bent on destruction and harm. Chiara, meanwhile, identifies with and admires Carewyn just as much for her nurturing, sensitive heart, and thinks she’s one of the bravest people she knows. She understands Carewyn’s self-loathing from a first-hand perspective since she struggles with it herself, but she can’t understand it in the sense that she sees Carewyn as a truly wonderful, strong person who should be able to love herself just as much as she loves others. Carewyn frequently spends time with Chiara in her Animagus form during the full moon to keep her company, singing sweet songs to brighten her darker nights. A Chiara/Carewyn ending would’ve been what I considered the “Peaceful” ending, AKA the “Soft uwu” ending -- but it also sort of struck me that the two’s personalities and demons were similar enough that there wouldn’t be as much chance for growth for both of them, and there wouldn’t be as much action or engaging contrast in their interactions, as they would both be pretty universally supportive of each other except when they’re blocking the other out “for their own good.” Even if Carewyn doesn’t end up with Chiara romantically, though, she cherishes her as a friend and would do anything to make her happy.

Diego — This option sort of came out of nowhere, but quickly developed from a crackship into a genuine ship for me, given that like Chiara, Diego would be able to bring some sunlight into Carewyn’s life and be a dependable partner who wouldn’t put high expectations on Carewyn’s shoulders. As for Carewyn, she finds Diego’s flirting absolutely hysterical. Part of this is because Carewyn herself is asexual, but she also just isn’t the sort to actively “flirt” with people. Funnily enough, however, Diego’s charm does end up endearing him to Carewyn anyway, though not for the reason it might charm others! Although she does find his behavior funny, she can still tell he’s sincerely trying to compliment the people he’s talking to, and he’s also amazingly modest despite his clear talent at wizard dueling. Add onto this that he likes dancing, and music-loving!Carewyn has found he’s an all-around pretty fun guy to spend time with. Diego also isn’t turned off in the slightest by Carewyn finding amusement in his flirting, either -- if anything, he finds it rather endearing, as Carewyn is usually so serious and he thinks she should laugh more often. A Diego/Carewyn ending would’ve been what I considered the “Fun” ending, AKA the “Romcom” ending -- but it also felt as though it was an ending that could only come to be and work well in peaceful times, with Diego not being as well-equipped in dealing with Carewyn’s darker spells or in dealing with more serious issues or deep heart-to-heart conversations.

Orion — This, after a lot of deliberation, is the final end-game ship I’ve decided for Carewyn post-Second-Wizarding-War. Orion really wasn’t what Carewyn expected out of a Quidditch captain when they first met in her third year and his fourth, but being related to two Ravenclaws, she actually finds his vague, philosophical bent kind of refreshing. It can still frustrate her sometimes due to her desire to plan ahead, but she sees how his off-kilter affect keeps others on their toes and, therefore, can shift control over a situation his way. (Rather appropriate display of cleverness, for a Slytherin.) Learning his backstory prompts a lot of empathy from Carewyn as well, given that she also didn’t have any real friends before attending Hogwarts, and she greatly admires how wise Orion has become both about himself and about life, even after going through what he’s gone through. After being on his team for that short time, Carewyn’s developed a lot of respect for Orion, and even after leaving, she’s remained very supportive of her house team and especially of Orion as their leader. Even if Carewyn’s not on the team, she keeps up with Quidditch not just out of love for the sport, but because of her desire to see Orion’s team do well. As for Orion, he got the sense they were kindred spirits ever since they first played side-by-side in the match against Hufflepuff and quietly laments that she’s never been a permanent member of his team. He frequently cites that Carewyn has “more fire than a Firecrab” -- although he can find it a bit overpowering at times, her passion was the thing that first sparked his interest in her, and over the years, Orion has come to see her as an equal, admiring her not just for that passion, but for her determination, courage, and selflessness. Orion and Carewyn are also both incredibly insightful, thoughtful, sensitive people who have the tendency to “create a family” out of their friends that they support and nurture in an almost parental manner. After Carewyn left the Slytherin team after the match against Hufflepuff, Orion attempted to persuade Carewyn to rejoin several times over the years due to his lingering fondness for her, even though he’s always respected her decision not to. It’s only after Carewyn returns to the team to help Slytherin win the Quidditch Cup for the first time in ten years and gets injured in the process that Orion learns that he and Carewyn have the same Patronus -- an Abraxan Winged Horse -- which, according to the old wives’ tale, suggests that they are soul mates. By then, however, Orion is set to graduate within weeks and he knows that Carewyn’s life is of course consumed with dealing with the Vaults. And so he decides not to pursue the chance of a relationship solely based on a superstition, however much he regrets his lack of action later. As adults, the two reconnect after the end of the Second Wizarding War and an unconventional romance starts between the two. This endgame ship gives Carewyn both things I wanted for her while shipping Chiara/Carewyn and Diego/Carewyn -- peace and fun -- while also matching her with someone who can bring some balance and positivity to her life and help her let go of her inner demons and yet who she can also defend, protect, and love with all of her fire. And because of their differences -- Orion being so chill, passive, and philosophical and Carewyn being so sensible, perfectionistic, and passionate -- they’ll constantly contrast and challenge each other too.

FRIENDS |

Bill — The Weasley family overall filled the void in Carewyn’s heart that Jacob left behind, none more so than Bill. Carewyn adores Bill like few others and supports him in his Cursebreaking 110%, to the extent that she probably would help him do it even if it didn’t involve the Cursed Vaults. Bill quasi-“adopts” Carewyn into his family pretty early on, but only grows closer to and fonder of her over time, as she’s the first person who he’s ever been able to lean on the way he always let his siblings lean on him. Bill’s accompanied Carewyn to every single Cursed Vault, and he is her right-hand man when it comes to who she’d pick to help her with something dangerous. By the time Bill’s graduated, the two stand on relatively equal footing despite their age gap, and after the death of Redacted, Bill and Carewyn solidly become each other’s best friend and confidante, leaning on and supporting each other more than anyone else. The rest of Carewyn’s friend group likes to jokingly refer to her and Bill as the “Mum” and “Dad” of the group, given their shared tendency to “parent” the others. Bill was the one who coined the nickname “Carey” for Carewyn, and the rest of her friend group has totally run with it since, none more so than Charlie and Tonks.

Charlie — If Bill is Carewyn’s surrogate big brother, Charlie is Carewyn’s twin brother from another mother. Carewyn loves talking about dragons with Charlie. (They’re just so cool!) Charlie and Carewyn also like playing in Quidditch friendlies together, even if they’re in different houses, and they can often be seen handling Prefect duties together. Ever since Charlie, Bill, and Carewyn went into the Portrait Vault with Ben and Merula, the two Weasley boys and Carewyn have been closer than ever. Charlie and Carewyn in particular have latched onto each other in Bill’s absence, given how close both of them were to him. As adults post-Hogwarts, Charlie frequently crashes on Carewyn’s couch whenever he flies in for a visit from Romania, if his mother doesn’t insist upon him staying at the Burrow. Charlie and Carewyn refer to themselves as a pair as “Fireballs,” because Chinese Fireballs are the only dragons known to live among their own kind -- and so the word represents how Charlie and Carewyn see each other as kindred spirits.

Rowan — Rowan was Carewyn’s first friend at Hogwarts, but recently they’ve sort of been growing apart, due to Rowan’s extreme focus on academics and Carewyn’s extreme focus on finding her brother. For Carewyn, it feels like she’s changed a lot in five years -- starting as the shunned younger sister of the delinquent Jacob Cromwell and growing into a renowned Cursebreaker who has learned so much and made so many different friends and now tries to protect Hogwarts and her fellow students however she can -- while Rowan has rigidly stayed put where she was, remaining as studious and socially awkward as ever. Carewyn doesn’t resent Rowan for this -- on the contrary, she’s always admired Rowan’s single-minded ambition to be the youngest professor in Hogwarts history, damn what anyone else says, and wishes she had the luxury of chasing her own dreams that doggedly. But at the same time, Carewyn wouldn’t have felt good about herself, if she’d stayed the way she’d been when she first arrived. She sees herself as having been weaker, less competent, and less capable back then, while Rowan was always so brilliant and both emotionally and intellectually ahead of everyone else. Rowan and Carewyn have grown into very different people over the last five years, but Carewyn still loves and treasures Rowan like few people in the world as her first real friend and the friend that in some ways she wishes she could be more like.

Talbott — The two at first didn’t see eye-to-eye at all, given that Talbott tends to hide most of his positive emotions at first and Carewyn hides her negative emotions constantly --- but once the ice broke between them, the two really connected and became good friends. Carewyn loves Talbott’s sense of humor and was also pleasantly surprised to find out what a great writer he is! She often volunteers to read whatever he’s working on, which kind of weirds Talbott out, but he secretly is happy she likes his stuff. When Carewyn wants some peace, she’ll take some time to fly around in her robin Animagus form, and she always loves it when Talbott joins her for a flight around the grounds. Carewyn often sings little tweeted songs the entire way, and even if Talbott teases her for it, he does actually really enjoy it. Post-Hogwarts they work together a lot, as Talbott is an Auror and Carewyn is a lawyer.

Ben — Ben was one of the very first people who Carewyn took under her wing, and even now, she remains a bit protective of him. She was always really proud whenever he expressed more courage and initiative in the past, but with the advent of sixth year, Ben has grown a lot more reckless and blunt, to the extent he could easily get himself into a dangerous situation and get hurt. Carewyn isn’t sure at all how to react to the development, but she doesn’t like it -- not one bit. Ben himself is struggling with how much Carewyn wants to look at him as someone to protect while never letting anyone else do the same for her. Because he’s known her longer than most, he’s seen Carewyn’s own dramatic transformation from a quiet, but overemotional little girl into a micromanaging, fussing, stoic, confident Mama Bear, and as much as he’s glad Carewyn’s gotten more confidence, he laments being on equal footing with his friend and feeling like he could help her as much as she helps him. Once they get their emotions and issues sorted, Ben and Carewyn become closer than ever, to the point that he, Merula, Charlie, and Bill are co-leader of the Circle of Khanna with Carewyn.

Barnaby — At first Carewyn couldn’t help but look down on Barnaby a bit given how dim he could be, but once he agreed to help her, she was surprised by how sincere and sweet he really was. Soon enough she felt her protective instincts kick in, and now she’s incredibly encouraging and supportive of him. These days you can usually see them chatting excitedly about magical creatures together in class -- Carewyn’s really happy to see Barnaby succeeding in Care of Magical Creatures as well as enjoying it, and Barnaby loves it whenever Carewyn sings to the creatures they’re working with in order to soothe them.

Jae — Although their personalities are pretty diametrically opposed, even down to house placement, Carewyn gets along pretty well with Jae. She doesn’t entirely see the appeal of him dealing with shadier merchandise, but he still agreed to help her when she needed to go to Knockturn Alley despite the risks and he’s a pretty sharp, resourceful person. Carewyn mostly just thinks he should push himself more, rather than just be content with where he’s at. After learning how much Jae likes cooking, Carewyn has enjoyed spending time with him in the kitchens whenever she wants to try out a new recipe.

Penny — Carewyn was actually a bit startled when popular Penny first took an interest in her in their first year. In their fifth year, Carewyn grew a bit more protective of Penny with the Portrait Curse capturing her younger sister, Beatrice -- now that Beatrice and Penny have started to grow apart, however, Carewyn now finds herself stuck between them, feeling sympathy for Beatrice’s position but still valuing her friendship with Penny.

Liz — Carewyn and Liz’s friendship is a bit more casual than others, but they’ve really connected well thanks to their shared interest in magical creatures. You can usually see Carewyn hanging out with her, Charlie, and Barnaby in Care of Magical Creatures.

Badeea — Art buddies! Carewyn is very encouraging of Badeea’s artistic talent, and the two love talking about music and Charms together.

Tonks — Carewyn greatly admires Tonks’s wish to be an Auror and loves how funny her imitations can be, but more often than not ends up being the butt of one of Tonks’s pranks.

Tulip — Like Tonks, Tulip loves pranking Carewyn. A LOT. Carewyn doesn’t find most of her jokes that funny, but can’t stay that mad at her.

Fred and George — Carewyn has only just met the twins, but she can already tell they’re going to be a handful. But they’re Bill and Charlie’s brothers, so in Carewyn’s mind, they are already family, so she feels a bit of protectiveness toward them.

Cedric — When Carewyn met Cedric, her first reaction was immense pity, given how much attention he’d managed to accrue in his first year alone when he clearly didn’t feel like he deserved it. Cedric reminds Carewyn of herself in first and second year, when she was still so shy and insecure whenever people would talk about her, so the Slytherin Prefect feels a lot of compassion for Cedric. She sort of hopes everyone will lay off him a bit so he can just have a normal school life without so much pressure.

Percy — Carewyn hadn’t thought she’d ever encounter someone that she would consider a stick-in-the-mud...until she met Percy Weasley. His rat Scabbers is kind of cute, though -- when he doesn’t bite!

Skye — Carewyn appreciates all of the help Skye gave her when she first started playing in Quidditch friendlies, but at present, she’s not talking to Skye, thanks to her going off and starting unfounded rumors about the Ravenclaw Beater, Erika Rath, the way that people spread rumors about Carewyn when she first started at Hogwarts. NOT COOL, SKYE. Orion deserves better than to deal with that sort of drama!!

Murphy — Both he and Carewyn are planners, and that’s great...but Murphy only plays Wizard Chess, a game he’s great at and Carewyn is terrible at, and that’s not so great.

Professor McGonagall — The Deputy Headmistress is by far the professor Carewyn respects above all others. Even if she finds her class very challenging, she gives every assignment her all because of how much she respects McGonagall and wants to impress her. McGonagall herself nurtures a soft spot for Carewyn, even despite her being in Slytherin, due to her strong moral streak and desire to protect others.

Professor Flitwick — Charms is Carewyn’s best and favorite class, and Flitwick is a large reason why. Carewyn also really admires Flitwick’s talent in wizard dueling and is always thrilled to learn new dueling spells from him. Flitwick had a soft spot for Carewyn’s brother Jacob back in the day, since Jacob was in his house, and he’s nurtured a similar soft spot for Carewyn because of her great talent in and enthusiasm for Charms.

Professor Kettleburn — Carewyn adores Care of Magical Creatures and, by extension, Professor Kettleburn. She just really doesn’t want to lose as many body parts or clothing pieces as he has. Kettleburn always enjoys when Carewyn sings to the creatures in his class -- he finds it incredibly creative and entertaining.

Hagrid — Carewyn loves Fang SO MUCH. And Hagrid too. Just not his rock cakes. And Hagrid...well, Carewyn’s just so tiny, but with such a big heart!

FOES |

Rakepick — Pre-Portrait Vault, Carewyn didn’t trust Rakepick as far as she can throw her, largely because she couldn’t get a good fix on her. Even Snape, who Carewyn clashes with at times, seems to have a wonky code of honor (META: largely because she is a Slytherin and -- more notably -- is at school before she could see how terribly he treats Harry and Neville!), but Carewyn wasn’t even sure if she could ascribe that to Rakepick. Her initial judgment seems to have been justified, given how Rakepick acted in the Portrait Vault -- but Rakepick’s betrayal, which was somehow even worse than Carewyn could’ve imagined, has only served to make the young Slytherin feel less sure on her feet, as she’s started to connect the dots and realize that her comrades may have trusted Rakepick for the some of the same reasons that they’ve trusted Carewyn herself. Rakepick and Carewyn have encouraged the others, but have also never trusted them with their true feelings or motives, and they both led them into danger all because of their desire to get to the Cursed Vaults. Although they pursued the Vaults for different reasons, they were both relentless, resourceful, stubborn and proud in their pursuit -- and in enlisting others to help them in that pursuit, they were both responsible for every terrible thing that ensued from it.

Ismelda — Carewyn really doesn’t like her intense interest in pain and suffering -- like...at all. Even if she might put on a strong, unflappable face, Carewyn is way too big of a bleeding heart to enjoy death or pain. Ismelda also considering using a Love Potion on Barnaby soured Carewyn to her quite a bit, though Carewyn is glad Ismelda changed her mind and they were able to come to some sort of a truce.

Merula — Their rivalry was much more intense when they were younger and Merula was actively bullying Ben and Rowan -- nowadays Carewyn just uses her help when it’s useful and ignores her when she’s being her usual awful self. After seeking counsel from her mother and Rowan, Carewyn was even nice enough to give Merula her spot on the Frog Choir, even if she’d really wanted it herself. Although Rowan staying constant and unchanging throughout the years is something Carewyn admires in her, however, she absolutely loathes the quality when it’s expressed in Merula. At the end of year 5, she and Merula came to something of a truce, but with the start of their sixth year, Merula’s taken a couple giant steps back in her evolution, which greatly frustrates and disappoints Carewyn. Carewyn wouldn’t ever call Merula her friend, but...well, she’d still been happy to see Merula had actually been able to prove her a little wrong and become a slightly better person. It’s awful to see her regress after going through that slight improvement.

Professor Dumbledore — Although Dumbledore is an amazingly powerful wizard with a very amiable attitude, over the years Carewyn has gotten very, very frustrated with how much she’s told to stop trying to deal with the Vaults. On top of that, the Headmaster of Hogwarts frequently obfuscates things a bit too much for Carewyn’s liking. She can sense that he is trying to be helpful, but that in a way makes things all the more frustrating, as she finds his methods so phenomenally misguided. Carewyn tries to conceal just how low her opinion of the man has fallen, but in truth she’s become rather resentful of him.

Emily — Oh gosh. Given how fond Carewyn is of Bill and how ridiculously condescending and prone to bullying Emily can be, Carewyn understandably despises her. She hates her more than she ever hated Merula.

PETS (IF ANY) | Mimi (orange tabby cat), Sir Robin the Brave (toad), Lune (bat), Balto (Cruppy)

ANIMAL PRESERVE (IF ANY) | Wicket the Niffler; Tumnus the Porlock; Arjuna the Abraxan; Belle the Fairy; Esmeralda the Welsh Green; Leila the Thestral, Peter Quill the Knarl; Apollo the Hippogriff; Barnaby Jr. the Bowtruckle

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enchantment1385 · 5 years ago

Text

My most magnificent mega must (have) mods memo.

So, I’ve been putting this off (big surprise!), but the time has come! I am going to try and provide some recommendations of my favorite mods. Mods I will not play the game without, or mods I love so much, I can’t recommend them highly enough! Hopefully some of you will find a new excuse to play one of these games again! I will split the list up into games so you skip if you don’t play a certain game. Again, these are my personal recommendations, so please don’t get all bent out of shape over this people. I also won’t be adding the very amazing utility mods (such as SkyUI or mcm or mod organizers) as I feel these are required mods. Today's installment -

~Skyrim~

VIGILANT + VIGILANT Voiced - English Addon Okay, where do I start with the amazingingness of the mod? It’s massive, compelling, scary (chapter 3 holy fucking shitballs, batman!), and just absolutely perfectly executed on every level horror mod! This is not a mod you complete in a couple of hours, this you need to put aside a day or 2 and go through all 5 chapters! 1 guy made this. 1 awesome japanese dovha, alas it’s not as adored as it should be as, when originally released, the english subtitles (literally translations from Google) didn’t really translate well... or at all at some points. Hence why you need the voiced addon which makes this mod a 15+ hour, fully awesomely voiced adventure to seek out daedra, and be physically, and morally tested by the one and only Daedric Prince of domination, Molag Bal. Your choices WILL affect the outcome. This mod gives you everything you want from a mod. New weapons, new armour, new enemies, dark soul like boss battles, new places, new people, new land. With Halloween quickly approaching, this is the perfect time to give this a shot!

Legacy of the Dragonborn

I stayed away from this mod for SO long thinking it was just a massive oversize player home to put all your crap on display. I was wrong. I was SO wrong. This mod is the ultimate scavenger hunt turned up to 11. It adds some of the best mods out there and puts them all together to make you WANT to go find that bloody staff, or helm, because A, it now looks amazing, and B, there’s a place for EVERYTHING in the museum, it must be filled! It adds old relics, new quests, a very gorgeous fair sized player home, you get to go to Elsweyr, and even get an airship you CAN use later! And trust me when I say, there is nothing that looks quite as impressive as your dovah walking around a city with your massive ass airship looming overhead. The way everything gets placed into the world is fucking flawless, and if you’re bored or just want more out of Skyrim, this is the mod that does that, and WAY more. Also a massive bonus, it has several patches for other mods that didn’t get incorporated (vigilant being among them) to add extra wings for you to display the items from other mods!

Interesting NPCs

Another mod I stupidly avoided to begin with. So as we know, vanilla followers are... meh. But now with all these new battles and exploring you have to do, you might want someone watching your back, right? Forget vanilla, time to go interesting! This mod adds -

• 250+ Voiced NPCs • 25+ Followers with Location Based Commentary • 15+ Marriage NPCs

This mod makes Skyrim feel inhabited, but with REAL people. People who you can, should, and will want to talk to. The voice acting is just fantastic, the characters are an absolute joy, they fit into the world so perfectly you’d never know they weren’t there all along! Well... Except for the fact they’re actually interesting, and have more than 5 things to say! It also has something called ‘Super Followers’. These followers actually comment on what’s happening in your story. Just about to go kill your first dragon? They have something to say about it. Just joined the college of mages? Have a chat to see what they think! I can not express how much this will change your game, but 151% for the fucking better! Oh! And just in case you were running short on things to do, this also adds 50+ more quests! *(footnote) Pleaaassssee go to Soljund's Sinkhole and take Rumarin with you. What he says when you clear that place out has me laughing my ass off every time.

Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul

Are you tired of being the only one is Skyrim who actually seems to DO anything? Are you weirded out by the fact when you walk into an inn at 4am everyone is doing the same thing as they were at 2pm last week? Confused as hell by the comment ‘Do you hunt? The plains outside Whiterun are ripe with game.’ How the fuck would you know, Anoriath?! You never leave Whiterun, dude! EVER! That ends with this mod. Now people have routines. They sleep, they eat, they walk around, they don’t just stay in one place all the time! It makes the npc’s go from a static feature and changes them into actual people, or goes a long way to help! Even people like carriage drivers now have a lil tent near the carriage, and will even take shelter under cover if it starts raining. (if it’s not too far from the carriage!) Random people will now not try and fight the big dragon who is burning everything to a crisp, but instead run away and take shelter, you know, like a normal person would? Which is helpful, as I tend to hit them with a stray spell then get into shit for accidentally electrocuting the blacksmith or someone who shouldn’t have stood in the way of the MASSIVE FUCKING DRAGON IN THE FIRST PLACE! Anyway... This mod is awesome and makes all the vanilla npc’s less static and weird!

Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO

Don’t know about you but, I’m kinda bored with the dialogue in this game. The same 5 lines on repeat, over and over and OVER again. I want people who hate me to say something a bit more nasty that ‘What do YOU want?’ This mod adds over 5000 lines of dialog that was never used. Braith finally has more insults to throw at you! Which is great, because I hate that kid and now you will too! Your rivals will be rude to you. Your friends will compliment you. And your spouse will finally say more than a handful of lines to you! With this and the AI overhaul Skyrim will finally feel like it’s come alive. It seems like such a small addition, but it makes a huge impact when you hear lines that you’ve never heard before!

PC Head Tracking and Voice Type & Expressive Facial Animation (M) (F)

So we’ve finally got a living breathing Skyrim, and holy shit, it’s a beautiful thing, right? Time to focus on bringing you to life. Don’t know about you, but I found it plain fucking odd that I didn’t ever look at the person who’s talking to me. Like, not even accidently. I also found it creepy the only time I ever made any sound whatsoever was when I shouted. So the first mod is going to fix that shit. You’ll finally look at the person talking to you, or at that dagger you’re just about to steal. What's more, you’ll be able to assign a voice to yourself, so you’ll greet people who talk to you. Fun doesn’t stop there! You can download voice packs such as, Ciri, Yenifer and loads of others! But... What if you know who you want them to sound like and there isn’t a pack for them? Well, make your own! The page is really good and explains how. So we’re not a clueless goon anymore, we look and talk, but that basically makes us no better than the T 800 terminator. The second mod will make you actually have emotions, instead of constant blank face. You’ll smile at friends and loved ones, and scowl at people who you hate, like you Elrindir. For the last time, I didn’t mean to steal the fucking apple pie! But I think me spending HUNDREDS of gold should have made up for that and did NOT warrant you sending a group of thugs to come kick the shit out of me! Sorry. Just... Some unfinished business between me and that bastard bosmer.

Enhanced Lights and FX

I have a potato as a laptop, as such a lot of these amazing ENB’s are totally off the table for me. But... We all deserve a pretty Skyrim, right? Fuck yes we do! And this is the mod that does that for me. So there are two versions of this bad boy, and you will really want to think about which one you want to go for. You’ve got standard, or hardcore. The MAIN difference is, the hardcore version will make dungeons dark. No, I mean pitch black darkness. Really think you know bleak fall barrow? Install hardcore then go run through it. It make sense that it would be dark down in these places, but fuck me dark is now really dark, which I personally love, but you might not. Install at least the main file and the weather mod and I guarantee when you boot your game back up you’ll be saying ‘wow’.

Enhanced Character Edit OR RaceMenu

Okay, first off you only need one or the other NOT both. Here’s the difference. If you want to make a character that looks like they’re from FFXV or korean mmo, you’ll want to get Enhanced character edit. They’re all so damn pretty! Even the men are pretty! If you want something a little less cute looking and maybe more mature, Racemenu is character creator for you. Both give you a TON more customization when creating your new oc, down to finger and toe length and what’s not to love about that??

Enhanced Camera

You finally have a body in first person mode. not just hands when attacking. Which FYI Bethesda, is creepy as fuck. Next mod.

Familiar Faces

Right, last one as we could be here forever, but I need to do more of these things for other games so let's finish with something stupid, but awesome, shall we? You know who’d make the best companion? That spellsword character you made. Or the sneaky archer. Or that tanky as fuck warrior, but they’re on that other save.. No more! When you fire up the game with this mod installed, you get a portal stone placed in your inventory. Use it and get get warped into this empty hall. Go to any of the books on the pedestals and hit yes when prompted. You, your abilities, spells, shouts, game progress and inventory has just been recorded. Load up another save and do the same in a different book, then you can go recruit... you! You can even make yourself marribale! Got that perfect otp? Create them both and have them travel around with you! Want them to use their shouts? No problem! Want them to not use shouts? That’s fine too! Isn’t that overpowered? Who gives a flying fuck?!

Now go have fun in Tamriel, Bahlaan fahdonne!

#skyrim #tesv #skyrim mods #i tried to keep it short #there are so many good mods #but tried to keep it to stuff that will make your game better #and not add things that are really down to personal preference #like body mods #or armour #i may have rambled a bit #all of these mods are available on oldrim and special edition #the links are for oldrim

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itsadragonaesthetic · 6 years ago

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Some otherkin/therian/copinglink/other-hearted video game suggestions

For most types of therians. Includes playable animals such as a fox, goat, badger, lynx, baby bear, frog, rabbit, and some other ones I’m probably forgetting.

It’s an online game where you do nothing else but explore and collect with other people in an amazing environment, and you only communicate through emoticons, body language, and sound. You start out as a badger and unlock new animals and skins as you explore. The aesthetic of the game itself is too amazing to miss.

Shelter, and Shelter 2

I can’t talk about Meadow without mentioning its two predecessors.

Shelter is a game where you play as a mother badger with her cubs, simply looking to live and survive. The game is pretty linear and has a bit of a distinct story line, but it’s worthwhile experience nonetheless, and it will probably leave you in tears.

Shelter 2 is the same sort of concept, except you are a mother lynx. The game is a lot less linear and lets you choose your own adventure in a way. Every playthrough of the game won’t be the same, not to mention that you can play as your kids who survive a generation. Hunting and fighting off other animals for your kids is almost an emotional experience. There’s a certain power you feel when you play as one of the most rare and magnificent cats in the world.

Definitely a wolf/canine therian kind of game. You start out as a (customizable) two year old gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park who has just left their pack to learn to live on their own, and eventually form their own pack. The game is super educational and is currently being remade to be less linear, more open world, and more accurate to the lives of the wolves of Yellowstone. It also has an multiplayer feature and a forum where many people love to discuss wolves, and roleplay in their own stories. There is hardly any doubt you won’t find another therian in the community. I’ve met plenty. Not to mention that most people in the community are very like minded and stretch to more than just the game and the forums.

The Guardians of Ga’Hoole video game

I know, a kinda weird choice for this list but hear me out. This game follows a very linear story in the world of Ga’Hoole about a young owl rescued by guardians of The Great Tree when he was orphaned. This owl’s name is Shard, and he is trained in the art of being a guardian of the tree. You can choose your species of owl (great gray, barn owl, horned owl, or spotted owl) and it is so much fun to play regardless of the slightly mediocre graphics. But hey you might be one of those people who doesn’t give two racdrops about The Guardians of Ga’Hoole, or the thrill of shredding other birds in aerial dogfights, but once you have cleared a series of levels, you get to fly around that map and do whatever the hell you want. This game is kinda therapeutic for me in the idea that sometimes I just wanna be a bird, and sometimes I want to throw my foes into pools of lava.

A simple, unfinished, and FREE game. You get three levels to fly around as a dragon, burn towns to the ground, and eat humans alive. Such a cool game for when you just wanna be a dragon, I just wish the developer would pick it up again.

The Endless Forest

God has this game gotten so much shit for being boring, laggy, weird, and even scary. They couldn’t be more wrong. Yeah the game is simple and has pretty outdated graphics and controls, but there is too much to love. You are simply a deer with a human face who wonders and endless forest, wielding magic that allows you to change the appearance of other deer. It’s an online game and you communicate with others through sound and body language; your truest distinction is a glowing glyph above your head. You bond over playing chase, dancing, and casting spells. Other than that, you can just sit and look pretty, and listen to the birds and array of sounds in the forest. This game also has a forum and a decent community who all love art and deer of various kinds. This game is also being remade in Unreal Engine and has an indiegogo to fund more projects for the game.

I’d also love to mention that this game has something called Abiogenisis, which are events where the two creators come into the game and put on shows. Did I mention it’s free?

Again, a bit of an odd choice for this list but seriously. This is a game where, in the vanilla version, is a game where you make your own zoo. Pretty cool and simple, but being a long time player of this game, there’s a lot more to it. You kinda have to play with mods (which are easy to download) in order to really enjoy this game, but this game has the capacity for you to have a little spot of land where you can put down any biomes you want, any plants, and any animals that act on their own accord. Each time you open it up, it’s an investment kinda like the sims, but it’s a cool way to build natural environments and just kinda see what everything does, as long as nothing goes wrong.

A pretty ancient game that I only played for a portion of my life, but this is what I remember; you play as a selection of three dragons who all have their own abilities, and you defend a land from an ancient evil with the help from some human friends. I remember the controls being weird and being a bit on the uninteresting side, but still a decent game where you play as a powerful dragon in a large world.

The remainder of these games I haven’t played for myself yet, but I sure do wanna

Dragon: The Game

An early access alpha game where you play as a customizable dragon (crazy right?) in an open world where you choose your path of benevolence or destruction. The environment is destructible and has human settlements. You can claim territory and grow in size. There is also multiplayer, co-op, and PvP. The game is pretty simple at the moment, but it is community driven and will only get better with more support. If you want an ACTUAL dragon simulator, (not these sad fkn mobile games) please support this game.

Fugl

A simplistic game designed to simulate the thrill of flying. Explore an endless and diverse environment as a shapeshifting bird where you can literally shapeshift into any animal you see in bird form, as well as natural birds. The voxel world of Fugl is described as liberating and therapeutic. This game is also early access at the moment.

#therian #otherkin #other hearted #copinglink #wolfkin #dragonkin #deerkin #foxkin #bearkin #catkin #rabbitkin #badgerkin #birdkin #owlkin #felinekin #caninekin

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lethesomething · 6 years ago

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Utapri boys as DnD characters

Because sometimes you gotta combine obsessions into an AU, yaknow.

Otoya, the Rogue. This guy has a classic 'street urchin with a heart of gold' type backstory. Grew up in rough circumstances and learned to be quick on his feet, and quicker with his fingers, to survive. Incredibly bubbly and friendly, in an almost naive way, despite his experiences. Specializes in relieving the rich of their coin, and giving it to the poor, which sometimes means himself, but not always. Definitely has a weak spot for helping the downtrodden.

Masato, the Ranger: The scion of a very strict clan of holy warriors up in the mountains, Masato has undertaken a journey to see the world and prove himself, before he heads back to become chief. He is almost laughably serious in anything he does, despite hiding what appears to be a soft side, and definitely a large number of repressed feelings. Wears elegant hide armor and wields a beautiful carved bow, inherited from his mother. He has a surprisingly delicate touch when it comes to crafts, be it making arrows or sewing clothes.

Natsuki: Multiclass Druid-Barbarian (no, listen). Natsuki is the meekest of gentle giants, the soft protector of the Grove, whose favourite spell is Speak with Animals. His Herbalism mastery means he makes very effective potions, but somehow they always taste like utter crap. It doesn't help that he keeps trying to 'improve' the flavor. No one really knows how he got two levels in Barbarian and why, and he certainly doesn't talk about it. This part of him only seems to come out when he or his loved ones are attacked.

Tokiya, the Wizard. Nothing delights this book lover more than tomes of ancient knowledge. He can usually be found studying in some forgotten library, with nothing but his cat familiar to keep him company. It is advised to not bother him when he's doing this. Specialises mostly in Divination and Enchantment. He's been chipping away at his craft since a very young age, and you could say he was a child prodigy, much to the chagrin of his parents, who had hoped for a more religious career. A bit aloof, and not exactly happy about being stuck on a quest with *these weirdos*.

Ren, the Bard. (Obviously) This dude is a natural at shmoozing people to gather information, and he's definitely the type to try seducing his way out of a dragon encounter. Ren is incredibly perceptive, seeing through most people while putting on plenty of masks himself, which aids him greatly in this class. His instrument of choice, particularly for performing counterspells and Vicious Mockery, is the shawm. Part of him is definitely doing all of this, just to piss off his family of lower nobles.

Syo, the Monk. Drifted into Natsuki's Grove some years back and kinda stuck around as a weird soft of bodyguard/companion. His lithe, small frame doesn't make it seem like he's be good at hand-to-hand combat, but that's before you notice just how friggin fast this guy is. He's pretty much impossible to hit. His craft is leatherwork, and he has a whole array of colorful and aesthetic wrappings and boots and hats to suit his moods.

Cecil, the Paladin: Cecil is an actual prince from a far-flung, starting out on a quest to find himself a princess. In doing this, he does not seem burdened by much wordly knowledge or even common sense in some cases. The fact that he didn't get robbed at the first stop is probably due to his protection from his god. Not the most diplomatic, but certainly the most earnest of warriors, he wears gleaming fullplate armor, fights with a rapier and has an honest to god white horse.

Reiji, the Cleric. One of the calmest and most… sociable dudes in the party and therefore usually the peace keeper, despite his array of bad jokes and an overly flirtatious nature. He's surprisingly unreligious, for, ya know, a cleric. He just has a chill relationship with his trickster god, who he 'sacrifices' lunch to. A serviceable cook, raised by a single mom, who's just trying to make the world a little better, and have some fun in the meantime.

Ranmaru, the Fighter: Ran is, predictably, the more gritty of the troupe. He carries a two-handed sword and wears scuffed halfplate, a reminder to the battle that saw his family lose their lands. He's been trying to get them back ever since, gaining allies and fighting for coin with a single-minded determination that can, at times, be a little scary. It's hard to gain his trust, but once you do, he'll lighten up. If only a little.

Ai, the Sorcerer: Ai surrounds himself in mystery, but it's undeniable that he can bank on some innate, buit in talent that makes him a formidable magic user. This is the type of perceptive guy who can learn to perform a spell, just by watching someone else use it. A very studious person, Ai does look at the world with an oddly detached, almost clinical eye. He serves as the unofficial chronicler of the group, writing down everything that happens in an ever -expanding journal.

Camus, the Warlock. A noble from one of the northern kingdoms. This guys has a bit of a dark side that not a lot of people know about. He is, on the surface, a very friendly and charismatic man, almost submissive in his mannerisms. His friends or party members, however, know him to be occasionally cold and aloof. He serves someone called the Queen, but it's not clear who the hell that's supposed to be. He, too, has a familiar, an oddly elegant stark white hell hound named Alexander.

Personalities based mostly on the mobile game

Yes, I'm aware of the rules and several of these are bad builds, don't @ me.

#utapri #uta no prince sama #Dungeons and Dragons #dnd #au #lethey writes

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nottswitch · 7 years ago

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Love Letters

I don’t really know if this has been done before but I this idea has been sitting in my head for quite a while now. I hope you will like it :)

Word count: 2,080

(yep, adding a word count from now on, thought it might be useful for someone)

“Oh my god, Y/N, is it yours?”

An excited voice of someone who your sleepy mind identified as Lily Evans reached your ears.

“How the hell did it get here?”

Another voice of no one but Marlene.

“And most importantly — what’s inside?”

It was Mary as far as you could understand. All three girls you shared the dorm with gathered near your bed and were discussing something that apparently didn’t belong here, in girls’ room, and was apparently yours.

You pushed the bed canopy aside and sat up, rubbing your eyes.

“What’s going on?” you mumbled hardly understandable, loudly yawning.

Three heads turned to you at the same time.

“Morning,” girls said to you synchronously.

“Yeah, morning,” you muttered, reluctantly getting out of the bed and coming up to them. “Isn’t it Sunday?”

“It is,” answered Marlene, staring at you.

“Why are you awake so early then?” you asked, frowning and looking from one face to another. “And why are you all gawping at me?”

Instead of replying girls gestured at something. You came closer to have a better look at what they pointed at and let out a surprised gasp. A white envelope was floating in the air, emitting small pink hearts around itself.

“What the hell?”

“Asking the same question,” said Lily, raising her eyebrow. “Seems like you have an admirer, huh?” she mockingly winked at you, in response to which you rolled your eyes.

When you took the envelope in your hand, you felt a light scent of caramel and mint. Someone who sent this must have learned everything about you, including your favourite smells.

“So… Open it?” suggested Marlene, who was burning with impatience by that moment.

The four of you bent over, head to head, as you carefully, not to damage what’s inside, ripped the edge of the envelope off. You noticed a corner of a paper sticking out and pulled it out, revealing sparkly golden letters.

“Someone made efforts…” mumbled Lily, looking at the gorgeous handwriting you’ve never seen before in amusement.

When you took a closer look at what was written, a gasp escaped your lips. You turned away from the girls and rushed to the window to see it clearer and make sure you saw what you saw. Yes, no doubts.

Your smile is beautiful. You should wear it more.

A little heart was drawn below.

“What? What’s there?”

You heard girls’ voices behind you but weren’t hurrying to satisfy their wish of seeing the letter. Instead you merely stared at it with a silly smile on your face. At this point you didn’t really care about who sent it and how they did it. Whoever it was, these words were the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard in your direction.

“Come on! Show us!”

Even Mary, usually calm, was willing to see it with burning passion. You gave up, turning the paper for the girls to see.

“Oh my!”

“How sweet!”

“Awww!”

Three voices sounded in sync and you chuckled, fiercely blushing when they almost tore the poor thing from your hands and stared at it, then looked up at you and at it again.

“Okay, now give it to me,” you said after some good minutes. Reluctantly girls returned it, amusement still in their eyes.

You carefully folded the piece of paper just as it initially was, put it back in the envelope and in your bedside drawer. Now you wished with your whole heart to find out who did such an amazing surprise for you.

When you woke up the next morning, you had to admit — you were a little bit disappointed not to find a letter again. You sadly looked at the area it was floating in yesterday and, heaving a sigh, headed to take a shower. But as you opened the door of the bathroom, a scent of caramel and mint reached your nose.

Near the mirror that same white envelope, emitting small pink hearts around, was floating.

“Are you for real?” Lily asked you when you came back to the room. Everyone was awake by then and gathered around you to have a look at a wondrous paper again.

“I mean, if it wasn’t real…” you muttered, ripping the edge.

Your laugh is the best sound in the world. Being the one to cause it is an honour.

And another little heart.

You couldn’t help but giggled, your cheeks instantly turning bright red.

“Well, I can argue with that,” Marlene said but you hardly paid any attention.

Who is this person who makes you laugh, you thought, biting your lower lip. There are plenty of people who made you laugh for the past years of studying at Hogwarts… No, this hint didn’t help at all.

The same question was asked by Mary while you were making your way down to the common room.

“I wish I knew…” you said in frustration, looking around and meanwhile searching for anyone who might have been a potential sender. The whole Marauders crew were the only people you noticed. While following Lily, who, of course, immediately ran to embrace her dear James, you attentively checked others’ faces.

Was it Peter? No, not at all, you brushed this thought straight away. He was a nice friend, a good listener who was always ready to provide a shoulder to cry on, but… No, as much as you liked him, you didn’t think he could come up with an idea like this.

You looked at Remus, sitting next to Peter. Was it him? You slightly frowned, sitting down at a couch along with the others. No. No, not Remus. You’ve never thought of him as a kind of a person to send such elaborate and romantic letters. It wasn’t his type of communication. In your opinion, if he was to confess his feelings, he would say it directly to that someone of his choice.

The last boy to be a potential suspect was Sirius. When you came up a minute ago, he eagerly said hi and offered you to take a seat near him. Could it be him?

Oh, you wished it was him…

During your last year you would laugh in the face of the one who said you’d have a crush on Sirius Black. No though all that was left was to laugh in the mirror. You were in love with one of your friends, if not best then close for sure, and there was no way of going back. So yeah, you wished it was him sending two letters in a row already.

While everyone was chatting, you sat silently, trying to think rationally. Sending love letters was in Sirius’ style, no denial to that. He was a kind of guy to play around. Sirius could’ve easily come up with something like that as well — indeed he was very creative, floating hearts, sparkly writing… He knew you pretty well too which explained your favourite scents. But how unfortunate that they were all your fantasies…

“Have I mentioned that our girl Y/N has a secret admirer?”

Lily’s voice got you back to reality. You shivered under six looks thrown at you right after her words.

“What?” you asked, shrugging.

“An admirer?” James mocked you, winking. At the back of your head you chuckled, thinking “Oh, that’s where Lily’s habit came from”.

“And a super romantic one,” Marlene continued, playfully raising her eyebrow. “If you could see what he sent her… Show it, will you?” she said to you.

You hesitated for a second but opened your school bag anyway, where you put the letter to keep. It won’t hurt if the boys will see.

“I wonder who’s this genius now!” exclaimed James when everyone had a look. “I mean, these hearts… I wish I knew how to make them!” For some reason he sounded rather sarcastic, you weren’t sure if anyone caught this tone in his voice as well.

“Yeah, never heard of such a spell,” added Remus, grinning all of a sudden. When you looked at Peter, he was barely holding himself from laughing.

“What’s so funny?” you wondered, puzzled.

“No, it’s… nothing,” James mumbled under his breath, bursting out laughing. “This thing is great, isn’t it, Sirius?”

It was the first time when you Sirius wasn’t the one to be dying from laughter. On the contrary, he was hiding his face and barely a smile hit corners of his lips.

Apparently Remus noticed a weird look you gave Sirius because he tried to explain his behavior.

“He’s just jealous it’s not him who made this masterpiece,” he pretended to whisper as if he was telling you a big secret.

You heart skipped a beat. So it wasn’t him. A sad expression was set on your face for the rest of your day.

“Will it be better as "your walk reminds me of a swan swimming along the river” or “of a doe running along the prairie”?“

"Honestly, Pads, where do you find these?”

“Here,” Sirius tapped his finger against his forehead. “A swan or a doe?”

“Mm… A swan,” James answered, pretending to thoughtfully frown. “This one’s too cheesy though.”

“D'you reckon?” Sirius hesitantly asked, putting his wand down. “I have to compliment her walk anyway.”

“You can still do that without animal references,” Remus noted, turning his head to Sirius, who was sitting at the table, bending above a piece of paper.

“Out of ideas then,” he answered, leaning on the back of his chair and closing his eyes. “It’s not that easy, Moony! Don’t laugh!”

“Alright, alright, chill.” Remus raised his hands in defense and returned to the book he was reading.

“What should I do?” Sirius mumbled in the air.

“Um, everything except waking us up at three in the morning.” James made a prayerful gesture.

“When did he do this?” Peter got into the conversation, raising his eyebrow. “I never woke up.”

“No surprise, you snore like a dragon,” James mocked him.

“Oh, shut up! Dragons don’t snore, for your knowledge.”

“When did you become a Remus?”

“Stop!” Sirius exclaimed, raising his hand. “I think I have an idea.”

“Listen, genius has an idea!”

“James!”

“Yeah, guys, stop, I’d like to hear his idea as well.”

At the sound of your voice everyone jerked and synchronously turned their heads to the door.

“Oops…” James chuckled and covered his mouth. “Seems like we have an unexpectable guest…”

You merely heard what he said, staring at Sirius only. He sat at the same place, at the table, open-mouthed, his face red as a Gryffindor flag on the wall behind him.

“I guess we should leave,” Remus whispered and all three boys silently walked up to their dorm, glancing at you two from time to time until disappearing from your sight.

You walked forward, smiling and settling yourself on a comfortable couch and flapping your hand next to you, inviting Sirius to take a seat. He got up, still shocked and very confused. You couldn’t help but smiled at his blush. Never had you ever seen him this shy and, to be honest, it made him just adorable.

“How much you heard?” he asked, sitting near you.

“Pretty much everything,” you calmly answered, your smile getting bigger and bigger. It seemed to reassure Sirius a bit because his eyes instantly sparkled.

“And? What do you think?” he wondered with obvious interest.

“Of what exactly?”

“A swan or a doe?”

You raised your eyebrows, not getting where he was going at first, but when you did, you bursted out laughing. He did the same and if anyone walked in at that moment, they’d be surprised.

“I’m more into swans,” you answered, your cheeks hurting from grinning too much.

“Taking into account.”

“You don’t really need to write me letter anymore though, don’t you?”

To be honest, you would still like to receive them. You got only two but they made you extremely happy nevertheless.

“I can compliment you directly now, I assume.” Sirius moved closer, looking in your eyes with slight worry in his.

“Not that you couldn’t before,” you said, which caused him making a short laugh. “But letters are romantic as hell.”

“So you won’t mind another one of those? Another…”

“And another and another,” you finished his sentence. “I wouldn’t mind, like, at all. You have my bet.”

You both laughed again. And you weren’t surprised when tomorrow a white envelope, emitting pink hearts and a scent of caramel and mint, was floating above your bedside drawer.

Tag List: @padfootagain @giggleberts @starless-skyox @spontaniouslysomething

#sirius black #sirius black imagine #sirius black fic #sirius black x reader #sirius black fanfiction #marauders #marauders era #marauders fanfiction #marauders imagine #fanfiction #imagine

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fandomsfeelsandfanfics · 7 years ago

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Party At the Potters/// James Sirius Potter II x Reader

A/N: Update: I’m actually getting a lot of these done and I’m incredibly surprised. I know I keep talking about it and I’m super sorry but I’m just really excited. This one was originally one of my favs so i hope you guys like it. Enjoy!

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“Hey (Y/N).” You were on your way back to your dorm when you felt someone put their arm around your shoulder. You didn’t even have to look at him to know it was James.

“Hello James.”

“So Halloween’s this weekend and my family’s having this annual Halloween party and I was wondering if you wanted to come.” You looked up into his expectant hazel eyes.

“Thanks for inviting me but I was actually thinking about-”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt but let me rephrase that. I kinda really need you to come because my family kinda thinks we’re dating and I’ll look like a huge idiot if you don’t show.” You stopped walking. His arm fell away quickly and you turned towards them.

“Sorry James, I must be missing something. Why exactly does your family think we’re dating?”

“Okay okay so I kinda told my parents a long time ago that I had a girlfriend and they believed me of course. They never asked for a name but then randomly one day Lily said it was you because I guess she’s seen us hang out a lot and I didn’t know what to say so I just said it was true.” You stared at him in disbelief. You laughed.

“You are a huge idiot.” You continued forward and he followed.

“(Y/N), please.” You were all too prepared to tell him to piss off when suddenly an idea struck you.

“You know what? Why not? I’ll go.” He pumped his fist in the air in victory. “Under one condition.”

“You name it, I’ll do it.”

“All you’ve got to do is let me decide our costume.” Easy enough, or so James thought.

“Done.”

James stood in the mirror trying to adjust the costume. Every angle he looked at it got worse. There was another bang on the door.

“Hurry up James, we haven't got all night,” Teddy yelled from the hall/

“I’m doin my best alright!”

James turned his attention back to the mirror. Teddy knocked once more before opening the door. James stood there unable to hide. Teddy stared at him not knowing what to say. James was wearing a bright red leotard with feathers lining the hips and wings on the back. Teddy didn’t quite know how to react.

“Um...okay is this just like....is this how you’d like to dress because if it is then I completely-”

“This wasn’t my choice Teddy. (Y/N)’s trying to get back at me for lying about dating her.” Teddy burst out laughing.

“That’s a relief. Geez man this has got to be some kind of divine retribution. All those years of checking out chick’s arse’s and now yours is on display, this is perfect.” James flipped him off and stepped out of the room. Just as he entered the hallway he heard a knock at the door. He spotted his mom going to answer it.

“I’ve got it.” He walked in front of her and her eyes went wide.

“James what are you-” He looked back at her.

“It’s revenge mom. Not a choice.” He opened the door. You stood on the other side dressed as Dumbledore, beard and all. Even with the beard hiding your mouth he knew you were smiling.

“Yeah, I bet you think that’s hilarious.”

“Oh I definitely do.” You stepped past him in the living room.

“If you wanted to be a couples costume I could’ve been McGonagall. That would’ve been way funnier.”

“For you maybe.” You turned towards Ginny. “Hi Mrs. Potter, I’m-”

“(Y/N). Sorry I’m just really excited to meet you. James talks about you so often I just have to see what all of the craze is about.” You looked up at him.

“Oh okay, that’s a stretch. I don’t even talk about her that often-”

“Sometimes, I wish I could just tape his bloody mouth, not that i don’t love hearing about you but wow.”

“That’s enough!” James grabbed your arm and pulled you into the dinning room. You both sat down next to each other at the empty table. The room was silent for a while until you broke the silence.

“You talk about me?” James became even redder than he had been in the living room.

“No!” Everyone else flooded into the dining room sitting around the table. When everyone finally arrived, James stood up.

“As you all know this is my....” He cleared his throat. “Girlfriend. (Y/N).” It didn't sound completely unnatural when he said it which surprised you. “Yeah, so I’m really glad she could come and I just really hope we can all have a nice night and you can all be not embarrassing for just one-” Suddenly, there was a arg at the end of the table.

You all turned to see Harry with his head lying on the table. Everyone gasped besides James who sighed. “It seems there’s been a murder,” Ginny announced. You looked around the table and then your eyes feel on James’. He gave you a look that read ‘yes this is really happening’.

“Mom, I thought we agreed-”

“Sorry honey, murderers don’t care about those types of things and as it seems there is one among us.” Everyone gazed around the table. James sunk further into his chair.

“Just don’t embarrass me for one damn night, that’s all I ask,” James mumbled.

“As usual there will be four locations where you can look. The attic, where the victim was last seen. The bedroom where the victim has recently slept along with the attached bathroom. The dining room which is where the body was found and last but not least the kitchen, where witnesses spotted a suspect.” You smiled realizing just what was going on.

“You are to determine three things. 1. The murder. 2. The motive. 3. The cause of death/weapon. That’s all. You have one hour to investigate. Your hour starts now.”

James leaned against the wall, watching you look for clues. You crouched down on the ground with your flashlight looking for any type of clue.

“I’m sorry about all this. I begged my mom not to do this but she gets really into the whole Halloween thing. I know it’s lame.” You got back up and walked over to him.

“Please, this is a thousand times better than anything I’ve ever done for Halloween. It’s so much fun. However, it could possibly be more fun if you actually helped.” He sighed and turned his flashlight on.

“This is ridiculous.”

“Be quiet and keep looking.” You moved on from where you were to one of the corners in the room. It was empty but as you shined your flashlight on it you thought you saw some odd sort of glimmer. You reached into the corner and felt your hands wrap around some soft material. It was an invisibility cloak.

“James look.” You held the cloak up to him.

“What the hell? That’s mine.” Your hand lowered to your side.

“James...was it you?”

“No! I barely want to partake in this at all, trust me I’m not that engaged in this thing.” He grabbed it.

“Then who took it.” He raised it up to eye level.

“Someone who had the key to my trunk.” He threw it back into the corner. “I didn’t think anyone knew where I kept the key.”

“This means whoever killed your dad was watching him.” James looked up at you. One clue down.

Once the bedroom was finally empty you and James entered. He looked through the bedroom while you headed to the bathroom. You looked in the medicine cabinet and then under the sink. Nothing looked out of place. You looked again and then once more but there was nothing.

James stood in the doorway. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Me neither.” You stood up in defeat. “Maybe this was just something to throw us off.” James didn’t look satisfied with that.

“That doesn’t sound like mom.” You left the bathroom to let James look at it. Maybe he could find something that you couldn’t see. You return to the bedroom. You had never been in there but nothing looked to strange. You peered under the bed. It was completely empty.

You got back up and accidentally hit your head on the bedside table. “Shit,” you winced. You rubbed the top of your head, closing your eyes from the pain. You felt a gentle hand on top of yours.

“Are you alright?” James’ eyes were full of worry.

“Yeah, yeah. I just bumped into this.” You looked over at it. “What’s this anyways?”

“Just the nightstand. It’s always locked so-” Your eyes panned down. The very last drawer was open just a smidge. It wouldn’t have even been noticeable if you hadn’t been searching.

“What about this one?” You pulled it open and James leaned in.

“That’s weird.” The bottom drawer was full of books. High level magic books that you had never seen before. James pulled out one of them.

“Oh man! I bet they wouldn’t even allow this stuff in stuff in the forbidden section in the library.”

“Focus.” You picked up an all black one that felt like dragon skin. It was clearly a Dark Arts book. You flipped through it. You landed on a section where there were a few pages missing.

“Bingo.”

“There’s some missing in this one too.” You looked over at him.

“I think we’ve found our cause of death.”

You picked up the autopsy report. “ ‘Nothing of note physically wrong.’ Just like we thought, that sounds like magic.” The “body” had wasn’t there anymore. All that was left was the cup he was drinking out of and the autopsy report.

“So we’ll go with cause of death: dark arts spell .” You nodded. “We’ve still got suspect and motive to figure out.” You sat the report back down.

“Yeah, I haven’t gotten around to that yet.”

“We’ve still got another room, it’ll be fine.”

“Mhmm. I think we’ve got a fairly good shot at getting this right.” You looked down at the report one more time. You felt James’ eyes on you and slowly met his gaze. “It’s not polite to stare, Potter.” He laughed quietly.

“Sorry, I was just thinking...thanks for coming. I know I shouldn’t have told them we were dating but I’m glad you decided to come.” You stepped towards him and tugged at his feathers.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Yeah, I know you wouldn’t. Seriously though, I’ve had a great time tonight and I hope you have as well.” You suddenly became very aware of how close you were. You were so close to him that every time one of you took a breath in you almost touched.

“I’m having a great time.” And it would only get better. James moved closer and your lips connected. Or at least they almost did. James pulled back as soon as he came into contact with your fake beard. He laughed.

“Sorry.” James pulled the beard down to so that it wasn’t covering your lips.

“Much better.” The kitchen door flew open and Albus took a step out. You scrambled away from each other.

“Uh...” He looked between the two of you. “I’m done in there, it’s all yours.”

“Thanks, Al.” James ran his hand through his hair nervously. Albus left the room without another word. As soon as you entered the kitchen James made a b-line for the pantry.

“Where are you going?” He scavenged through the pantry.

“The book I had with the pages taken out was a potions book so I figured this must have something to do with potions of some sort. Yes! Look at this.” You joined him, trying to see what he was looking for.

“Dad was poisoned,” James exclaimed.

You shook your head. “All of the ingredient that could be used to make a good poison are still here.” He reached forward and picked up and empty jar.

“Yeah but all of the bezoar is gone. Whoever did it made sure that there could be no cure antidote. My dad always makes sure to keep a bezoar around, always. This is no coincidence.” James picked you up and spun you around. “We’ve done it.” He sat you back down and gazed into your eyes.

You knew he was going to kiss you again or you hoped he would. Suddenly, Ginny’s voice rang throughout the room. “Your hour is up. Go back to your rooms, you have ten minutes to come up with a final result.”

You followed James back to his room and paced next to his bed while he closed the door. You took off your hat. “It had to be someone who had access to your trunk. You said it was locked, who knew where the key was besides you?” He sat down on his bed.

“I didn’t think anyone did. I keep it secret cause I don’t want anyone going through my stuff. Albus is so quiet and observant, he picks up on things so it wouldn’t be hard for him to figure it out. It wouldn’t be that hard for Lily either, she’s so small and sneaky you barely notice she’s there half the time.” You thought about all of that for a moment. It didn’t really get you anywhere.

“The book was also kept in a locked space so the same thing applies for finding the key to that. There were dark arts books in there which is pretty straight forward. We still haven’t got motive.”

“We’ve barely got anything. All we have is some good guesses.” He was right. This whole thing was much more frustrating than you had originally thought. You had found all of the clues yet each and every one of them led to a dead end.

“Let’s just go with Albus. He’s clever and has a better understanding of these types of things so it wouldn’t have been that hard for him to have done it.”

“Motive?”

“I haven’t got one.” You sat down next to him, putting your head in your hands.

“We really did good though.” James placed his hand gently on your knee. There was a long moment where silence filled the room. “Hey, is it weird how incredibly hot I find you even in a beard?” You burst out laughing.

“Seriously, I may have some sort of issue.”

“You’re ridiculous.” He leaned closer to you casually.

“We’ve still got a few minutes in here alone. We could...” He trailed off, letting the sentence hang in the air. He leaned in even more. Just as he was about to close the gap between you, you stood up.

“Or we could get down to the dining room.” He fake pouted. You held your hand out to him and he took it. You led him out of the room and into the dining room.

It seemed like everyone else had the same idea because they were all already there. They all looked confident in themselves. Their gaze drifted around the room from person to person, accusingly.

Ginny smiled. “I was just about to call you two down. Now that everyone is here, are you guys ready to get started? I will admit, this one was a bit harder.”

“Mom! Can I go first,” Lily asked. Ginny nodded at her. She got to her feet. “Alright so at first I didn’t know at all but now I think I do. It was James. I found his cloak that dad gave him and he’s always trying to sneak books like that out of the forbidden section so it had to have been him.”

“How’d he do it?”

“Some spell, I dunno.”

“Do you know why?” She shook her head. “Alright. Thanks dear. Albus, you next.” Albus stood up.

“It was you mom. You’re the one who knows where everything is around here. It’s your house after all. You probably found the key too get into James’ case and already knew where the key to the beside table was. You must’ve cast some kind of very subtle spell but I don’t know which. The motive is something I haven’t figured out.”

“Very nice. Teddy?” Teddy cleared his throat.

“It was obviously Albus. You’re always sneaking around the house, who knows what kind of keys you’ve found. He did it because he was tired of his father putting James before him, which is evident in him stealing the cloak. I don’t know how he did it though.” Ginny nodded along. Finally, she gazed over at the two of you.

“Your turn.” As everyone talked you thought more about what you had found. Your mind was leaning in a slightly different direction. You didn’t know if it was right but maybe....

You both stood up. You looked at each other nervously. James was the first to speak. “We think it was A-”

“It was Teddy,” you interrupted. James looked at you in confusion. “It all makes sense now. Okay so we first thought it was Albus because he’s observant and smart he probably could’ve found the keys right? But that’s a lot of effort and a lot of chance luck. Teddy, however wouldn’t have needed a key. He’s 17 he could’ve just cast Alohomora and both would’ve unlocked.” James looked very impressed.

“He killed him with a poison which we knew because despite all of the ingredients needed to make one being in tact all of the bezoar had come up missing. So Teddy was clearly trying to make sure that he couldn’t be saved. Now the motive...we don’t know.”

“Actually, I think I might,” James chimed in. You looked at him in surprise. “It’s something I’ve been working out in my head. Dad doesn’t keep Dark Arts books in the house, he doesn’t want us anywhere near them, he keeps them all in his office. So those books couldn’t have been his. And why rip pages out of the book of someone your going to murder that has information about why you’re going to do it? They’d notice. There are better ways to go about it unless you don’t have much time and it wasn’t your book anyways. I think Dad took away Teddy’s dark arts books away and he wasn’t too happy about it.”

You both sat down. You tried to look like you had expected it to go that well but that wasn’t even close to the truth. You were so excited about how you had worked together and you thought you had cracked the case. You had your eyes fixed on Ginny ready to hear the results.

“One of you was right.” She gazed around the table. “And it was...James and (Y/N).” James grabbed you and pulled you into a tight hug.

“We did it,” he shouted. You hugged hm back with as much force.

“We did.” You closed your eyes savoring the hug.

BONUS:

Teddy and you were the last one left downstairs. “Good job, figuring it out. It was super hard.”

“Well, I had James with me and he was a huge help.” Teddy smiled at you kindly.

“I’m glad you made it. I know James was super excited to have you here tonight. You probably already know but he’s like super into you.” You were a bit surprised by this but didn’t let it show.

“I don’t know about that. James is James ya know. I only came cause I didn’t want him to get caught in his stupid lie.” Teddy’s eyebrow went up.

“What lie?”

“You know, he told all of you guys he was dating me.” Teddy looked confused. “He did tell you guys that right?”

“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about but have a great night.” He disappeared up the stairs and James almost immediately took his place.

“Here’s your hat, I couldn’t find it for the life of me.” You took it out of his hands. He slipped his hands in his pockets. “So...”

“You didn’t tell them we were dating.” He looked confused.

“What?”

“You said you told your family we were dating but that’s not trie at all. You lied. I think you lied just to get me here.” His face got red.

“I don’t...I don’t know what you mean.” You pulled your fake beard down and in one quick movement, kissed him.

“Just for the record I would’ve came anyways.” He gave you a goofy smile. He leaned in to kiss you again but at the last minute you turned your head so he kissed you on the cheek. "Goodnight James, and thank you for tonight.”

“Yeah...um...yeah anytime.” He was clearly flustered. He ran his hand through his hair once again and you could tell he was nervous. You laughed.

“Bye James.”

133 notes · View notes

inventors-fair · 4 years ago

Text

Recycling day: Commentary on “Unique Artifacts”

This contest went exactly how I was hoping it would go. A variety of artifacts, a whole slew of unique mechanical ideas, experimentation — what more could I ask for? I’m glad that people liked this one. I’ve been stewing with it for a little bit. I think there were a few wording issues that I’ll get around to, but I’m also a stickler for perfection. Y’all should know how pedantic I am at this point. I’m practically a vedalken.

Anyway. Commentary time!

@ajani — Devra Chai

I really like your callback to Indian inspiration and the nature of Kaladesh. Mechanically, this card’s got some chops. I also like the abstract use of energy here as it relates to food. There are a few easily fixable issues. Firstly, there should be a comma after “sacrificed.” Secondly, as this is a Food, the second ability should be “2, T, Sacrifice Devra Chai: You gain 3 life.” The “You” is super important. Lastly, and most pedantically, as great as the flavor text is, “it’s” should be “its” because English is certainly a language. Small issues aside, good idea overall.

@deafeningsandwichpeach — Ancient Stone of Greed

The power level here is really hard to judge. The draw on the first ability seems really strong. Did you base this on Coveted Jewel? Overall, I feel that this card is a fine idea but a little busted with any artifact untapping. Filigree Sages makes this an infinite draw combo, but it’s not broken wide open. Let’s fix the wording. The second ability should be “Spend this mana only to cast a Hydra or Dragon spell.” This should be four lines, with “Skip your draw step” and the death trigger being on separate lines. I’m 80% sure that “Skip your draw step” also should be the first line on the card, and with that, you can probably take off the flavor text.

@demimonde-semigoddess — Gilded Yarn

This is an interesting one. Personally, adding an activated ability onto the equipment itself that’s not an equip cost seems a little hard to grok for the average player. Flavorfully, I understand the first ability, but not the attack clause at all. I’m not connecting it to anything specific in mythological tropes. It’s not a bad card mechanically, but I’m a little lost. Did you shift+enter for the equip cost? It looks really close to the other line.

@dimestoretajic — The Steel Leaf

The one and only! I like the callback. From a cursory look, I don’t think there is an actual “steel leaf” on Dominaria, but the sentiment is appreciated. I’m a little iffy on the fact that it doesn’t exactly do anything if you don’t have the trigger, and it doesn’t really help itself to the trigger, but it’s okay to have cards that you need to build around. The last ability is a little awkward because the way it’s worded now you can return green creatures your opponents control to their owner’s hand and it gets around hexproof, which I’m sure wasn’t intentional. “you control” could fix that easily.

@fractured-infinity — Cold-Iron Skillet

This is a fascinating little equipment. I love the creativity here. Honestly, not a whole lot to say about this one. It’s niche, but flavorful enough. Maybe the second ability should somehow be tied into being equipped to a creature? After all, the skillet’s not gonna do anything by itself, right? Major notes: both “foods” and “faeries” should be capitalized.

@gollumni — Pontiff’s Coinbox

Now this is unique. I can perfectly imagine the art here, which is majorly cool. I’m not sure why you tied the untapping to each opponent’s upkeep rather than their untap step, which is the way things usually go. And based on the amount of massive counters you can gain fairly early on, “twice the number” might be a little too powerful. The last ability should have “YOU gain 3 life” as well. I’d add a “(1)” to it as well, personally. I’m a little iffy on this kind of white acceleration, but there’s only one way to find out, right?

@greensunzenith — Dust Bunny

It’s a super cute idea, for sure. I kinda like the idea that your opponent keeps having to sweep it away, and that it’ll keep coming back. The difficulty in removing it is a bit of a pain, but that’s the nature of the beast, I suppose. I wouldn’t call the design anything mind-blowing, and frankly, as a one-drop it’s a pain in the butt probably more than it should be, but it’s not bad. Might have to cost 2 or 3 mana, and I would add a little flavor if you can come up with something.

@grornt — Smothering Rug

Well, I didn’t expect a rug for this contest, so kudos there. It changes up combat in a really powerful way, and I’m worried about its power level in a limited format. It’s an anti-trampler, anti-first striker, and man, that makes combat complicated. This is a card that would have to see a significant amount of testing, considering that every deck can play it. Doesn’t blow me away, but it’s good enough. Again, might want to consider flavor text with the amount of rules text that you have here.

@hypexion — Spy Satellite

It’s unfortunate that we had two spy-oriented cards submitted here. Surveillance is a great concept, and I’m glad you used the name in a flavorful way. I don’t know how powerful the surveil is here considering that it’s harder to remove than other creatures which have repeatable surveil. It’s a good card, certainly. I don’t know if the second ability needs UU instead of 1U, but I guess I can see the reasoning. Flavor text is pretty good. Overall, it’s a fine enough card. Save it for a custom cube.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Press of Magic Knowledge

Ah, batching. I think that you were ambitious in the way that you designed this card, and I’m not sure the payoff is entirely worth it. Seven different creature types is a lot to ask for, and it implies that all these different types would be in a single set. I think that’s entirely too much to ask for. The card itself isn’t...bad? It’s incredibly powerful. The wording might be a little convoluted. Why does it give the ability to the spells, instead of having it just be a trigger? “Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may tap an untapped Spellcaster you control. When you do, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.” A little easier to grok. Name and flavor text could use a little work, too. Doesn’t excite me.

@illharg-the-rave-boar — Hunted Windmill

I’m still thinking about this card. The fact that is has menace and that it gives your opponent a single creature is kind of an “eff you” but in limited, it’s certainly a pain in the butt. The two toughness really makes it feel fragile, but maybe the eight power makes up for it? I think this card could be fine. I think it could even be good. It’s still asking a LOT of questions that only playtesting and the right environment could ask for.

Also tfw “Dawn Kijote.” Take your kudos and go.

@kavinika — Ace of Spades

This card is... Restrictive. Basically, it says that “for the rest of the game, I decide all coin flips,” and that’s not interactive. It’s not exactly fun. If it was a sacrifice effect with a secret kind of ETB, then I guess it would be okay, but unlike Krark’s Thumb, it’s getting rid of a key part of randomness with no time limit, and that’s not great. I liked the philosophy of your submission, but I don’t feel that this card is adherent to MTG principles.

@koth-of-the-hammerpants — Amphora of Ephara

Kudos for making me look up the word “amphora.” Yet another card I can easily visualize! So, in terms of power level. Man. This card is a pain in the butt. In the right deck, it can grind out aggro decks with even the smallest creatures, and I assume there would be enough artifact/enchantment removal to make it not busted, but holy cow this could be a potential pain. And you know what? That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I would call this card annoying, certainly, but not in a “win the game” way. Two things: One, there should be a comma after the blue mana symbol in the activated ability. Two... “a city?” Too vague. Gotta spice it up with worldbuilding and/or specificity, man.

@machine-elf-paladin — Headmaster’s Lectern

Another great choice for a unique artifact here. Love it. It’s a simple design, but it’s perfectly functional, and sometimes that’s all we can ask for. It’s a great uncommon. Doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a card that works, and that’s just plain fine. Flavor text 7/10. It’s a little hard to grok exactly what that immortalization looks like and where we are in the timeline. You set up a grand artifact, and then add a funny bit, and the two don’t exactly mesh perfectly. Both parts are fine. Again, good enough to worldbuild.

@mistershinyobject — Peace Table

Let’s get the good out of the way: I like how the middle ability gives a “swords to plowshares” kind of feel. That aspect works. That first ability, though, is missing a major wording. As it reads now, you can tap it and tap any number of creatures with different names — that you don’t control. And you can target those same creatures after. So, basically, for four mana your opponent never gets to attack again. I know that wasn’t your intention at all, but that’s the way the submission reads. Minor note: the flavor text should feel funny, but the art and concept is pretty serious, and it’s a little bit of a tonal clash.

@misterstingyjack — Unwanted Gift

Surprise! It’s horrible. Not the card, though, because I love this card. I can see it going into a set with Morph, and that works perfectly well. It might have to be mythic, because holy shit a reverse Immortal Sun is still awful to deal with. And I take a LOT of issue with that last ability. Just have it punish for every card draw! It’s totally functional without that weird restriction.

@nine-effing-hells — Beldam’s Mortar

This is my favorite artifact in terms of uniqueness. You added mythological aspects that are little-known but easy to grok, it feels magical, it seems cool, and it’s so unusual that you can’t help but to just plain love it. Now, the card. Using Bladed Bracers as a template, there should be one line for the equip buff, and another that says “As long as equipped creature is a Druid, Hag, Shaman or Warlock, it can’t be blocked.” I might take out either Druid or Shaman from that list, personally? Three might be the limit for batching. The flavor text could also talk a little bit more about the importance of the mortal itself as a means of transportation.

@nvijork — Scrying Dish

I have a soft spot for tutors. They are my absolute favorite cards. I love combo, control, unique synergy, all that crazy stuff. Additionally, I love randomness. So, there are two changes I would make to this card, one mechanical and two syntactically. The syntax one is that “3″ should be “three.” That’s just how Magic works. There should also be a comma after “(4).” Mechanically, I would also add that after you shuffle and put the cards on top, you draw a card. It’s the payoff to the scry, it bumps the power level up, and it justifies the cost. Overall, I really liked this card.

@real-aspen-hours — Nutrient slurry

I guess this card would be an uncommon? You gotta add rarity to text submissions. I think that for next week I’ll add an example post. Anyway, besides the name capitalization, I think that this card actually works really well. It feels green, it’s powerful enough, it’s synergistic with the game, and could see some pretty cool +1/+1 counter interaction. Not bad at all. The flavor text might need to be in quotes, because, well, it’s first-person. The card is pretty great, but the submission needs polish.

@reaperfromtheabyss — Resincase Relic

I really would have added imprint here. Although, would that imply that the card never comes back? It’s honestly not the worst price to pay. This is a perfectly functional mana rock, a theoretically budget version of Chrome Mox, and I’m okay with that. It should be “one mana” instead of “a mana,” looking at the Thriving lands and Chrome Mox itself. And two lines of flavor text wouldn’t have gone amiss here.

@scavenger98 — Storm Jar

I really want to like this card. For the first ability, I would absolutely make it a may ability — “you may have target creature gain or lose flying until end of turn.” Gotta simplify it. The second ability needs the “s” in “sacrifice” to be capitalized. This is a fun card mechanically, and very potentially powerful in limited! What’s with the flavor text, though? I don’t get it.

@shandylamb — Cursed Compass

So, major mechanical issue: You, as the player, don’t explore — the equipped creature explores. It would read: Equipped creature has “T, Pay 1 life: Scry 1, then this creature explores.” Easy enough fix, but needs to happen. Additionally, good lord, this should be at least an uncommon. Potential scrying and exploring each turn? Very powerful, moreso than I think you’re giving credit for. A great idea for sure, but NOT common, no sir. I like it, don’t get me wrong. Also, I assume this is from one of the Pirates movies. In the future, please clarify the specific piece of media.

@starch255 — Orb of Petrification

This is a card that I really spent a lot of time thinking about. I still don’t know what to feel about it. It’s evident that you spend a lot of time thinking about this card and putting it together, and I want to give you credit for that first and foremost. The second ability is really weird to me, because it prevents the orb itself from activating its abilities, and it shuts down all artifacts on board? I’m not positive how that works flavorfully. It’s not bad. It’s probably super powerful in commander, not gonna lie. Control magic out the wazoo. I’m still on the fence about this one. Fine in standard, fine in limited, probably part of a frustrating combo in eternal formats. Still gotta congratulate you for the design process.

@teaxch — Semaphore Flag

Another really cool choice for a unique artifact. Functionally fun as a build-around. The card needs some kind of basic flavor text, because man it’s looking blank as heck right now. But older cards do that sometimes. Maybe I’m just a stickler for these sorts of things. Overall: probably fine. Probably not gonna see play except for in that deck made by That Guy that copies a buttload of artifacts.

Thank you all for your submissions! New contest tomorrow. Get the creative juices flowing.

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #contest #entries #commentary #unique artifact #inventor's fair

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crystalelemental · 7 years ago

Text

Well, it’s finally done. After all these years of just refusing to play the damn game, I beat Dark Souls 2 in its entirety. Which means, I have now beaten the entire series to 100% completion, and it is time to make a decision.

I’ll start with the game itself. I know a lot of people identify it as the jankiest, and that it just doesn’t function right. I’m not quite sure I’d agree with that entirely? It’s definitely weird, though. Like, when adaptability is low and your roll sucks, you’ll be rolling through something but still take damage for reasons. That’s kinda shitty. And it’s only really fixable by keeping low weight and trying to allocate points there early on. So we hope you enjoy playing melee only for most of the game. Not that it makes sense to do anything else anyway.

What is a major problem is how many times your slow-ass character is surrounded by like 5 enemies. Look, the Souls series is weird. A single boss with big attacks is not really that threatening, but a room of three normal enemies is a death sentence if you aggro them all simultaneously. There are a ton of bosses where the only real difficulty is crowd control. Skeleton Lords, Ruin Sentinels, Looking Glass Knight, Twin Dragonriders, Throne Defender and Watcher, Duke’s Dear Freya, Executioner’s Chariot (which extra sucks because adds are infinite unless you kill the necromancers), Darklurker, the fucking Belfry Gargoyles, Royal Rat Authority. Then in NG+ you get Lost Sinner summoning help, and the DLC introduces all kinds of fresh hell for you, like Elana (who I actually love, but only from lore standpoint), Lud and Zallen, the Ivory King, and the ganksquad. So much of this game is difficulty by suddenly being surrounded by too many units, and there are locations that are outright impossible to get through without a bow or spells to draw one person at a time (the run to Velstadt and the Ancient Dragon most notably).

That said...this is probably the easiest of the games. Not for any sensible reason like bosses just being easier or anything. It’s because you can power-level like a motherfucker, and are almost encouraged to do so. Levels scale so minimally that, at around level 200, you still only need around 50,000 souls to level. That is not a high bar to set, and level 200 means you can pack a lot of different tools, including your melee weapon of choice, spells of choice, and still have a good HP pool and a solid roll. Not gonna lie: actually love this fact. I think that the series as a whole suffers from not really allowing you to mix-and-match sets. A lot of things require specification, and quality builds are notoriously Not That Good. So being able to fairly easily cap most relevant stats in the first playthrough is fantastic.

That said, then you have the negative: Soul Memory. So, in this game, you can be summoned to help a player fight a boss, to regain your humanity without using the finite consumable Effigies. This is good, because going hollow means your HP gets cut pretty sharply, up to 50% of your max life. Which is stupid as hell, but whatever. Now, to be summoned, you need to be in the right tier as other players. Meaning that, if you want to be summoned reliably to fight Old Iron King, you need to be...not at Soul Memory 800k. Otherwise it takes like 3 days to get your 30 sunlight medals you need for that spell to get the trophies. Not that I’m bitter. Basically, as you fight the boss, you gain more souls, which puts you at a higher soul memory, which puts you out of range of typical players, so you can’t really farm reliably or recover humanity reliably from easier bosses. I like the idea of encouraging co-op, but the soul memory system is awful. It probably also influences invasions, but fuck invaders. If you invade people, you’re a piece of shit and I hope your system bricks.

As the last thing to note: the major complain I often see is “why are so many bosses just armored sword man; what is this, Smash 4?” Which is super legit. There are a lot of bosses that are just different variants on knight. Especially in the main game, this made it really easy to reach Velstadt...and basically beat him no damage. Because you know what’s happening now. You know how the knight fight goes, and there’s nothing all that unique. It’s very same-y. Of course, this does nothing to stop me from getting my shit pushed in like 37 times against Fume Knight, but honestly fuck that asshole.

Lore-wise, I feel like this is the weakest of the games, but I also feel like it’s closest to what I would want out of a sequel. I’m serious. I think that DS1 presented a fairly complete story, that didn’t really have a need for continuation in this way. DS2′s focus on bringing all these references to DS1 back is obnoxious, and the thing that holds it back the most. Focus on kingdoms within the world all you want. Focus on this entirely separate place called Drangleic and have it focus on all this unique stuff, in a place that doesn’t even know what the hell Lordran is or why the curse is showing up. But keeping it separate was really what is lacking here. Why is Ornstein just here? Just hanging out? Why is the statue for the Warriors of Sunlight still here when nothing else remained, and why is it near fucking Earthen Peak of all damn places? Why do the four great lord souls from DS1 just show up on NG+ with the new four great souls? Just keep them separate. You didn’t have to do this.

There is, however, one thing I actually like that’s a tie-in, and that’s the queens. I like the idea of Manus’ defeat resulting in the creation of these beings of the abyss showing up, and trying in their own ways to bring things back to the Dark. It’s something that ties in nicely, but isn’t just a shallow reference without meaning. It also helps that they’re pretty cool. Elana is, as I mentioned, my favorite, which has a lot to do with her trying to poison a dragon to death. Fuck that dragon up, girl. Stupid bitch lizard ain’t got shit. She’s also just the most outright conniving of the four, I think.

Overall, it’s not a terrible game, but it does feel very different. I think the main thing I take away is that it’s still very much a Dark Souls game. It’s all focused around difficulty meaning dying a lot, but this time with added penalties in the form of hollowing, and soul memory fucking literally everything up by putting you out of summon range whenever you suck and have to re-do runs to the boss, or try to farm levels to handle a problem. Magic is still boring a shit, and this game is almost the worst offender considering all my best spell options were just throwing Dark Orb at shit until it stopped breathing because it was fast and had a stupidly high number of casts compared to everything else in the game. I still feel like boss health is way too goddamn high given how unforgiving the game is toward any mistake in a fight, and how little variation there often is in a moveset. I’ve said before that I enjoy this series largely because it’s an active playing process that lets you build up your character, and that stat allocations are something I adore above all else, but it’s just not doing it for me. I’ve played about every type of build I can, in every game. Magic is always boring and way less effective than heavy armor with a stick. Melee weapons function very differently, but every major boss still boils down to learn pattern, dodge or block, attack one or maybe two times then back to defense so you don’t eat shit, repeat for 15 minutes until dead. It’s...kinda boring by now.

Which leads me to this: I’m trading this entire series in for Etrian Odyssey V on Tuesday. I don’t hate the games, but I find there is no further enjoyment to be had here. I’m more invested in completing a build, which leads to a lot of time just spent grinding, and I experience more frustration with getting through a run than anything else, since the series has become more of a placeholder between games than something I actually want to play on its own. In a weird way, it’s almost become too effective of a placeholder, and I could probably accomplish more significant things or branch out a bit instead of just replaying these whenever I’m bored and waiting on something else to come out. So, I’m done. I’m trading it all in, and honestly, thank god.

#dark souls 2 #I'm finally done with this series #time to get rid of it and never look back

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beauzos · 7 years ago

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Please tell us about your punch out pokemon au!!

I APPRECIATE YOU ASKING… I wrote a post about it but I didn’t finish it so it’s just been in my drafts haha but I have a lot more stuff to say cause I’ve been thinking on it more

anyways this got long cause I have a lot to say so it’s under the cut!

now like the major question to be answered is how the whole thing works. like is this a Pokemon League?? is it still boxing?? is it a weird hybrid of both??

for sake of this I kinda think it’s like >pokemon battle >then a match

like idk I feel like they’d be into doing both. I’m not sure though, if there would have to be travelling involved, cause how would you obtain a team (aside from a starter which you’d get from Doc), unless maybe a challenge was you’d be given an option of like

anyhow I think Little Mac’s starter is a Mienfoo or a Tyrogue. tbh I just in general like Mienfoo more but Tyrogue makes sense cause it can evolve into Hitmonchan which has… you guessed it… fucking boxing gloves. he could have a Mienfoo later at some point.

OH YOU KNOW WHAT THEY COULD DO. if there wasn’t a travelling aspect (or even if there was), maybe after each fight you win, you can pick a (base) pokemon that your opponent had. not like, it’s not theirs, but the same species if you feel me. Little Mac is not kidnapping people’s pokemon. so like for example if you beat Piston Hondo and he had like, Mienshao, Samurott, and Dragonair, you could pick either a Mienfoo, Oshawott, or Dratini.

he wouldn’t have to use whatever he chose but yeah. he could probably still catch stuff but this is like… an incentive and maybe you only got the choice if you got a TKO or something. and these guys you know, sometimes they have some pretty rare or powerful pokes so it would be to his benefit. but you could choose.

and I think that the WVBA would be like a hybrid, sort of unofficial pokemon league. like if we were translating the universe to the Pokeverse, this would not be an official Pokemon League, like this would be an offshoot of the Unovan league. or. something. but like they still give out badges and shit (coincidentally there is the exact right amount of boxers to make a complete league) anf like if you became Champion it’d be a big deal but it wouldn’t be “official” as being a League Champ. I could imagine there being smaller offshoots of Leagues throughout the world, especially in a country as big as America/Unova, so it’d be still considering pretty important but also

Little Mac deserves to just be champ, but I think if the boxing element still exists then it’s like chill. imo the two (as a boxer/trainer) add up to make something really important, if that makes any sense.

oh, and evil teams.

the evil team is all the other Punch Out fighters who don’t appear and the boss is Gabby Jay (/s)

or you could just say that the bitterness of losing to Little Mac forced the boxers to come together and be dicks but idk. probably no villain if you ask me! or if there seriously is, Mr. Dream is the boss.

anyways enough about the baseline

probably something that’s just the Style™ of the WVBA is that everyone uses seals and each boxer has their own unique seal. Glass Joe probably just has like the letter A during his first fight cause it’s all he had, and Little Mac is like “what does the A stand for?” and Joe is like “…………it’s the only seal decoration I have”, but later has his actual name and then some sparkles to make up the French flag’s colors, Mr. Sandman has tan sparkles (like sand, obviously) and letters to spell out DREAMLAND, Disco Kid has a bunch of music notes, etc etc

And tbh in my opinion, no one specializes in one type which is what makes them distinct from a typical/”official” Pokemon League, though they can have multiple of the same type to the point of it dominating their team (Don Flamenco, for example, might have a lot of Fire types or Aran Ryan might have a lot of Dark types).

but IF THEY DID specialize in types, Joe wouldn’t specialize/Water, Von Kaiser is Normal, Disco Kid is uhh, King Hippo is UHHH Ground maybe, Hondo is maybe Dragon, Bear Hugger is Grass, Great Tiger is UHHHH Psychic, Don FLamenco is Fire, Aran Ryan is Dark, Soda Popinski is Ice, Bald Bull is…….. Rock maybe, Super Macho Man is Fighting, and Mr Sandman is anyn type he damn well pleases

I don’t know. I made some mock teams for everyone and tbh they all vary, it’s based on theme more than type. I couldn’t come up with full teams for everyone. it’s really hard and I can’t be assed to do it but generally, this. idk when these teams would be but like, this generally the pokemon they’d use, whether it’d be pre-evos or whatever depending on the time.

in Contender Joe has 5 Magikarp, one of which is shiny and his signature, and a Feebas, all level 15 during Contender. They all can’t do anything but Mac’s Pokemon is like level 5. so it takes a little to beat them and it’s like (7 hours later) AND THE WINNER IS LITTLE MAC. Boxing Glass Joe is considerably easier. Title Defense I think he has like, Magikarp (he likes Magikarp), Gyarados, Milotic, Furfrou, Blaziken. or if my shitposts are true at all it’s 6 level 100 Magikarp and he just stalls and all of them has Focus Sash. everyone hates him

Von Kaiser’s team (td, I guess, a lot of his pokes are just evos so it doesn’t need to be split into two) is like Staraptor, Octillery, Gogoat, Diggersby, and Stoutland as his signature. I always pictured Von Kaiser, like, during the contender he lets out his last Pokemon which is his sig Herdier, and the dog isn’t super well trained so it runs off and VK freaks out and Mac has to go catch the dog. He comes back like thirty minutes l8er exhausted with this pleased lookin pup. The dog just immediately goes to sleep and Mac wins but then like……. boy he’s lost a lot of physical energy for the fight. also Von Kaiser and the dog have the same exact mustache.

Disco Kid is a bit tough to pick out but he’s got like… Wigglytuff, Chatot, Bouffalant, Oricorio (Pom-Pom), Ludicolo, and maybe Primarina. Meloetta would be super fitting but it’s a fucking Legendary but let’s say he had it, it’d be his sig for sure. idk which of these would be his sig otherwise, maybe Oricorio since it was like the first one I thought of for him. Not terribly remarkable because I can’t think of SHIT I’m sorry I’ve failed you Disco Kid

King Hippo has Toucannon, Passimian, Alolan Exeggutor, Loudred, Snorlax, and his sig is Hippowdon. Hippowdon is fucking terrifying. It’s like clear King Hippo and the Pokemon are having a conversation and it is horrific and Little Mac is alarmed. Hippowdon creates a sand pit in the ring that makes it hard for Mac’s pokes to move, and it eventually takes uprooting the hippo from its sandpile to knock it out. King Hippo is fucking rough too, its pretty much like fighting an upright Hippowdon. Mac wins by the normal means but also by King Hippo slipping on the sand and fucking wiping.

then comes Piston Hondo. He takes his Pokemons very seriously, Leagues originated there after all. He probably was a brief champ of Kanto or some shit, and it kind of shows where shit starts getting real or w/e. He’s got Oricorio (Sensu), Mienshao, Gallade, Dragonair, Ninetales, and Samurott as his sig. He’s got a hard-hitting style, but he also strikes me as the type to be a staller just to fuck with people. I figure that KOing a whole team isn’t always reasonable, so sometimes the best option is to stall, and at the end of the Trainer match they figure out who wins based on the number of fainted Pokes (and how much helath the other pokes have) but idk. I’m not sure his Pokemon are terribly good for stalling but you kno what I mean.

Bear Hugger’s team is Swanna, Pachirisu, Bibarel, Stantler and Beartic as his sig. Little Mac watched him physically fight the Beartic once it was terrifying. The Pachirisu helps BH fight in td. I think his Pachirisu is reminiscent of that Pachirisu that was super badass in that pokemon tourney. Se Jun Park’s Pachirisu. yeah that one. so it’s like “oh ok– OH GOD NO” because it is Powerful™ so like overall I feel like Bear Hugger’s style is extremely unpredictable, he always goes against the grain and does stuff unexpected to catch you off guard.

Great Tiger specializes in…….. yes, you guessed it: cat Pokemon. He’s got Persian, Purugly, Liepard, Luxray, Incineroar as his sig, and… Medicham. because why not. idk how many of these fucks can learn Double Team but yep that’s like 90% of his strategy is just using Double Team 500 times and then fucking you up cause you can’t hit them. regardless you kno he’s cheatin so they ALL know it. his style is also, Double Team-ing Medicham and then spamming Focus Punch. Better stock up on tms for moves that always hit!

Don Flamenco was probably one of the easiest to make a team for. He’s def got Tauros, Oricorio (Baile), Pyroar, Talonflame, and Roserade as his sig. Not sure about the 6th slot. Oh maybe Luvdisc. It’s useless but maybe Carmen likes Luvdisc so he uses one in honor of her. That’s so adorable I feel good just thinking about it! dnsjfndjk what if his team got Super Edgy™ for TD. Gothitelle, Pangoro, Charizard X, Bisharp, Absol, shiny Roserade lol. He’s one of the only people who violently changes his team cause he’s gotta show that he’s not like the other boxers!!11!!!!

Aran Ryan is a cheatsy motherfucker. this must be established first and foremost. His Pokemon, in and of themselves, are not cheatsy. But he probably cheats like hell during. His team is Sawsbuck, Crobat, Muk, Midnight Lycanroc, Gengar, and his sig is Zoroark. Zoroark, of course, transforms into other Pokemon. Probably what he does is put Muk or Crobat in the last slot so Zoro will transform into one of those. There’s a likelihood Mac will switch to a Psychic pokemon to fight the Poison, but JOKES ON YOU MAC!!! IT’S DARK TYPE AND IMMUNE TO PSYCHIC!!! this is not a cheatsy strategy tho. but he probably teaches his Pokemon to do dirty tricks and like, try to legitimately injure the other pokes. it’s total bs. why won’t anyone stop this mean fuck (because it’s fun). i also imagine he might try and have the Zoroark pretend it’s him for the first bit of a match for NO reason other than because it’s hilarious

So for Soda Popinski we’ve got Arcanine, Midday Lycanroc, Stantler, Mamoswine, Mandibuzz, and Ursaring as his sig. Not super set on that but yeah. His strat is just Hyper Potions, Hyper Potions, Hyper Potions! Mamoswine also has lots of hp, and I wanted to give him more pokes with huge amounts of hp but they just weren’t fitting. but wouldn’t it be cute if he had a Blissey or something? but he just heals relentlessly and it is infuriating. JUST LET THEM FAINT!! You’ve got to go with hard-hitting moves and stop him from healing!

Bald Bull’s got Feraligatr, Dusk Lycanroc, Kabutops, Gyarados, Hydreigon, and Tauros as his sig (of course!). Generally lots of strong, vicious Pokemon! His only strategy is hard-hitting physical damage. If you’ve got a physical wall then you’re in business! But still you’ve got to be careful. This dude ain’t fuckin around and his Pokemon are strong. He probably also uses Bide and Rage a lot, those are quite useful for his set up.

For Super Macho Man I bet his theme is Pokemon that are considered status symbols. But I don’t really know a lot of Pokemon like that off the top of my head! So maybe just in general, Pokemon that aren’t easy to obtain! He def has Alolan Persian (this is just a status symbol Poke), Milotic, Volcarona, Machamp (his signature), Porygon-Z, Dragonite. stuff like that. But his Pokemon are still decent, but they are his because they’re rare and they made him feel special! you can’t afford these pokes! get fucked! He’s a very flashy style of battler, focusing more on how cool moves look, but he’s still a huge threat! don’t underestimate him! (I feel like I’m starting to sound like Doc Louis with these tips haha)

Mr Sandman is almost a bit tough to pick Pokemon out for. He needs tough guys but also some Pokemon that he’d like to attach to his whole sleep/dream theme! He def has Hypno, just cause he likes Hypno!! But then he’s got Pokemon like Slaking, Garchomp, Lucario, maybe Spiritomb, and Scizor. all of the pokemon that can mega evolve have a mega stone, and depending on which is the most beneficial he’ll use that one, but he often goes to mega Garchomp. he relies on status conditions and hard-hitting moves and Pokemon.

whew!! and once Mac beats them all, he’s the Champ! idk what his team would be, I never really though about it aside from like… Hitmonchan (maybe), Mienshao (maybe). but yeah! this is generally kinda what I was thinking. I hope this all makes sense, I ramble a lot and sometimes I’m not super clear! thanks for asking!!!!

#asks #anon #Anonymous #pokemon tag #punch out tag #punchmon au #thanks!!!#I got really into this in case you couldn't tell haha...

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leaughrilke · 8 years ago

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(wriggles eyebrows) superbabies at hogwarts

BRUH

so kara’s a muggle born hufflepuff and lena’s a pure blood slytherin (who like......easily could have gone to ravenclaw if she wasnt so terrified of what lillian would say or do if she didn’t end up in the luthor’s typical house) and they’re p sure the kiddos are going to have magic (like 90% on finn and maia?? stella’s a lil more murky bc they’re p sure that her birth mom was a witch but its not as if they’ve got like.......Offical Records on her or anything)

so finn and maia show magic p early?? from like toddlers tbh so they’re expecting their letters and then stella’s like nine and hasn’t shown any inclination to magic and she’s starting to ask when she’ll get her letter, if she can get a cat for a pet instead of an owl like finn and maia did and like?? they’ll obviously love her exactly as they always have but like they’re like lowkey worried she’ll be destroyed if she doesn’t get a letter

so they’re gearing up to sit down with her and talk to her about the possibility of her maybe not having magic and then one day she sneezes and sets the curtains on fire

finn!!! is the first, the oldest, and he like straight up cries when his letter comes bc he’s so excited?? but he’s also dreading being away from his moms, being away from his sisters, but kara wraps him up in a big hug and tells him all about how scared and sad she was when she got her letter, how much she desperately didnt want to go but she went and it was amazing and he’s going to have a wonderful time, she knows it.

the whole family goes to diagon alley and like the kiddos have been before, kara and lena take them p regularly for ice cream or for birthdays or hell just for funsies but now it’s Big and Important

his wand is alder, unyielding, with unicorn hair as the core. twelve inches even and like.......when he matches with it he literally makes flowers grow in every nook and cranny of ollivanders and stella’s literally six but she’s so entirely entranced, so finn just sort of thinks flowers and then she’s got a little bloom behind her ear, braided into her hair and she’s grinning and maybe she finally stops crying at the thought of her big brother going off to school for the year

meanwhile maia’s pretending like she’s not at all upset about this, bc she’s excited for finn?? she is!!! but he’s her best friend and she’s not ready to lose him for nine months out of the year, but by the time they make it to the owl shop, she’s grinning and talking about what type of owl she thinks finn ought to get, what type of owl she’ll get bc she’s not pleased with finn’s final choice (a small, sleek little barn owl that he stares at and finally decides to name spock bc he’s a nerd just like lena tbh)

so he goes!!!!! and he is a hufflepuff!!!!! a giant soft sweet hufflepuff!!!!!!! kara sends him her old scarf from when she was in school when he gets sorted, sends a rlly embarrassing howler that’s basically her and lena just crying and saying they’re so proud of him, they love him so much, call home as soon as you can and tell us everything! and he’s blushing a little bit but his house is full of kids with similar howlers and they’re all blushing a little, all making bashful eye contact with one another

and jesus does he belong in hufflepuff like. he is so happy, like he’s homesick for the first few weeks?? but it helps that lena does guest lectures for muggle studies on how magic and muggle technology can be combined, helps that he can see one of his moms every few weeks or so, helps that he has a smartphone bc this is the 21st century and he’s able to facetime his family a lot. but once the homesickness passes, once he falls into the rhythm of hogwarts, he just begins to belong u know?? like he makes friends across the board, in every house, in every year, often volunteers down in the infirmary when there’s need

jesus he writes his sisters so many letters bc they’re still young enough that getting mail is like A Thing. like?? he asks his moms for a camera, just so he can send maia a picture of the giant squid in the lake bc she’s so fascinated by it, just so he can send stella a series of photos of the quidditch matches his new friends bring him out to bc she watches the matches on tv and is so entranced

so his first year is so awesome and quite frankly so is his second year and then!!!!!! it’s his third year and maia’s coming and he legit cannot wait, like he knows all the secret passages and shortcuts and which house elf (no longer kept, but actually employed by the school !!! bc mcfuck off thats why) is the easiest to persuade for a midnight snack and he cant wait to share that all with maia

so maia!!!! she gets her letter and she literally screams, scares the fuck out of her moms and siblings but she’s like FUCK YES WHERE’S MY WAND WHERE’S MY GIANT SCREECH OWL SOMEONE GET ME SOME CHOCOLATE FROGS TO CELEBRATE like she’s been counting down the days to hogwarts since finn got his letter

her wand!!! is dogwood with dragon heartstring, rigid, twelve and a quarter inches and is a bit, well. it looks like a branch with a handle tbh but its kind of wild?? like a thing of nature and the minute it hits maia’s hand, she’s enthralled and there’s like a hum in the air?? like something’s clicked into place and she’s READY like hand her some SPELLS lets get this MAGIC HAPPENING

and she gets her giant ass screech owl, names it gene simmons bc why not (genie for short, obviously), gets her books and her supplies and asks if they can stop by weasley’s to grab a few things and her moms set her with a look and kara’s like maia you can’t prank any of the professors and lena’s like on that subject, you can’t prank any of your housemates until at least second term and maia’s kind of like fiiiiinnneeee but definitely slips in a few things that are definitely prank-worthy and grins when her moms pointedly look in the other direction as theyre paying

so then she gets to hogwarts and she’s sitting under the sorting hat for a solid ten minutes as it hems and haws between sorting her into gryffindor or ravenclaw and she’s a little sad she’s not even being considered for finn’s house, but she also knows she’d never fit in there, not ever. and this goes on for a bit bc maia’s wildly smart, and she loves learning but she’s also hard headed and reckless and intensely committed to the idea of justice, fairness, always steps up to a fight, never away. so FINALLY the sorting hat calls out GRYFFINDOR and then maia’s swept up in the celebration, catches finn’s eye as he gives her the biggest proud big brother smile and a thumbs up (meanwhile he’s secretly facetiming kara and lena so they can see this and what, they’re totally not crying)

and kara, secret old lady that she is, tries to knit maia a gryffindor scarf but its kind of terrible so they also buy her one but (and maia will never admit this) she sleeps with the fucked up one kara made her, tucked up next to her ratty old teddy bear from when she was a baby.

what?? it makes her feel safe, reminds her of home

so she doesnt have that same adjustment period as finn did?? like she’s not super sad for the first few weeks, its more protracted than that, lasts a little longer but doesnt hit as hard, and it’s a lot of help that finn’s there, pulls her over to eat at his table when she doesnt have friends to eat with the first few days, who invites her round to his common room to eat the sweets their moms have sent them and to catch up on tv on his laptop. but mostly??? she loves hogwarts. she LOVES it

she excels at potions, in the same way that finn excels at herbology, great at defense against the dark arts, and shit if she’s not even better dueling, like she gets an actual invitation to join the dueling club on parchment and everything

and like??? she’s on the choir and gets her friends to dare her to explore the forbidden forest and quite frankly she’s having the time of her life

and then little stella!!!!! she gets her owl and like. just stares at it for a bit, trying to believe its real and then lena’s coming downstairs and sees stella sitting in front of the big kitchen window and sees what she’s staring at and shes like !!!!! stella!!!! cmon sweetheart, lets go get that letter!!!! and stella’s so??? happy???? like its been weird like she’s basically been an only child in the three years since maia went to hogwarts, been on her own and now she’ll be back with her siblings and she’s so so happy oh my god

she very nearly cries when she finds her wand bc she takes the longest of all the kiddos. no wand feels right, feels like home and she’s nearly at her wits end with it, just about to say nevermind, take me home and then, well, she finds it. its pine, supple, fourteen and a half inches long with a dragon heartstring; god, it looks a little ridiculous when ollivander hands it to her, almost like its too long for such a small girl but then she’s holding it, then a hush is falling over the room and then there’s just light, everywhere and it feels right??? feels good, grounded

and she picks out a little black kitten!!! its the runt of the litter and maia kind of knocks her shoulder and says awwww just like you and their moms fix her with a look but stella’s smiling, nodding, saying that one, i want that one and that’s the end of that

what does she name the cat, you ask? well

she names it carmilla bc she’s a giant baby lesbian ok, like hell she didnt sneak the novella from lena’s bookshelf and struggle through it only to watch the series and then develop an as of yet unnamed crush on carmilla

so she finally gets to hogwarts, kind of terrified (she cried a lot on the train, only sort of soothed by her siblings refusing to go sit with their friends, instead squishing into the same bench and playing sudoku with her) but finn’s grinning at her from the hufflepuff table and maia’s giving her this steady look like you got this from gryffindor and stella’s like??? ok. i’ll be happy in either of those houses

but then the sorting hat barely touches her hair before its screaming SLYTHERIN and stella’s like um what.

this isnt to say any of the kiddos have that assbackwards belief that slytherin = evil bc like?? lena was slytherin and yeah, there’s some shit tied up with that but she did truly have a decent time and aunt alex was slytherin too and she’s good, the greatest, like none of them have grown up with that messed up idea

but at the same time stella’s like um. i am the softest bitch here. what the fuck bc while she knows slytherins arent evil, she also knows her mom and aunt alex, knows there’s an edge to slytherins that she can’t hope to ever match??? like ambition?? cunning/?? bitch WHERE

but its done, she’s sorted and she’s kind of in shock and most of slytherin is as well, kind of looking at her and then looking back to her siblings, kind of like??? the fuck???? the danvers kids are like........the Softest. why do we have this one???? and maia’s the first to holler her name, whoop and clap and stamp her feet and celebrate her baby sister getting sorted and then finn’s joining and then the whole of slytherin is doing the same and stella kind of smiles a little bc when she sits down, the girl next to her gives her this appraising look then sticks out her hand and says i’m ari, we’re friends now before shoving a plate of food at her

and lena’s like??? worried that stella doesnt want to be in slytherin but also incredibly proud and excited??? like shit, ok, all my weird trivia abt the slytherin dorms can finally come in handy and she digs out all her old stuff, packs it up with a weepy howler that’s literally her and kara just crying about how much they love and miss stella and stella literally wears that scarf basically every cold day for the rest of her life tbh

stella feels the homesickness more?? like a Lot more, bc she had a lot more one on one time with kara and lena after maia left, isnt used to not being around them in the slightest and she’s kind of inconsolable for a while after lena’s lectures, but maia sometimes sneaks her into the gryffindor dorms so she doesnt have to feel so alone at night and that helps a lot, helps that she finds some good friends p early on as well

OH SHIT it also helps that stella’s like. terrifyingly good at transfiguration and charms, and, later, divination and legilimancy (heh u see what i did there). probably also helps that she’s scary good at most curses and hexes like.........she’ll Fuck U Up. maia fights with her fists but stella doesnt hesitate to use her wand. like ppl are a lil tiny bit scared of her but she’s tiny and adorable and v sweet, sweet enough that most ppl get over their fear p quickly

so the kiddos do alright?? finn never joins the quidditch team even though kara played and he’s never quite as fond of flying as stella; in fact, its only stella that joins quidditch for anything longer than one season, as a chaser (stella MAY be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie and MAY have the time of her life dodging bludgers). maia joins as a beater for one season when gryffindor’s normal beater came down with dragon pox and had to go home to recuperate but she quits at the end of the season bc she hits a bludger that ends up knocking stella off her broom and like.......Fuck That ya know

hmmmmmm what shenanigans do they get up to

well finn’s like every professors favorite student like he’s there on time and prepared for class every day and god help every professor the day maia comes to hogwarts like they’re all expecting another mild mannered danvers kiddo (like?? even their moms were so well behaved.........that said. it shouldnt be a surprise bc alex was hell on wheels) but then maia sweeps into her first class, probably trailing glitter or something equally dramatic and like. professor snapper looks like he wants to die tbh. like just drop dead

i dont blame him tbh, maia is also hell on wheels, like constantly calling teachers out when they fuck up and starting fights when some punk kid starts saying shit about blood traitors like hey. fuck u buddy

so then after maia’s torn through, everyone’s a lil cautious with stella but she’s like........a small bunny or something. a small bunny that could probably murder you with some tricky non-verbal magic but a small bunny nonetheless

finn’s a prefect and eventually head boy!!! like he’s so proud of that and his sisters roll their eyes but theyre proud of him too and maybe kara and lena just.........dont shut up about how their son is head boy, their eldest daughter got an o in potions, how their youngest was the first in her class to cast a patronus charm successfully like they’re B R I M M I N G with pride tbh

hmmmm what else what else

finn goes on to be a healer!! one of the best at st. mungos, the one you’d want caring for you after you’ve been blasted with some curse or the other. maia first works for the ministry, in their muggle science department, but then decides to train as an auror (like why not, she’s got the grades and the grit for it). stella bounces around for a bit before eventually opening her own little shop in diagon alley. it’s a bit of an odds and ends sort of shop, somewhere halfway between an antique shop and a toy store tbh

and maybe she helps out on some of maia’s raids/cases

its not like there’s anyone more qualified to help, she is one of the foremost experts in legilimancy

#supergirl #supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #superbabies #hp!superbabies #triwiizard #human interaction

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