#was also thinking of moving blue out of auras and into keywords

[jjaeong]

The Heiress, And The Twelve. Act I.

Episode IV: Courage, Is Not The Absence Of Fear.

Series: KPOP Girl Group: 이달의 소녀 (LOONA).

Pairing: OT12 & Mafia Heiress Female Reader.

Summary: The esteemed guests had finally paid the Y/L/N Family a visit, to which the members could have never expected the reason exactly as to why. But along with the confusion that their visitors had brought with them, was at the price of something shifting within Y/N at the situation she had been put up to.

[TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE, INVOLVES MENTION OF BLOOD AND WEAPONRY. READ UNTIL 9’S PHONE CALL IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS.]

“Have you ever heard of the story about felines predicting catastrophes before humans could even detect them?”

Hyunjin stared blankly at the man that walked in front of her with his hands held behind his back, a serene expression set on his features as his eyes gazed over to the blooming flowers that had surrounded his garden. At each exit of the field, several men in black suits had stood to guard them while the young girl with the oversized yellow cardigan tailed behind the tall man whom had graying strands on his hair, to which oddly made him seem much more wise than he was ought to be. But Hyunjin found that idea false, for the man that had stood in with his back turned to her had always spoke with a heavy tone in his voice—as if he had thoroughly picked through each of his sentences with extra thought, it was the exact reason why she’d allowed herself to become a part of their Family, after all.

“I’ve heard of it once, from Yves-unnie.. I think. When she was sitting by the courtyard.” the man hummed in response, stopping in his tracks and turning to face the thin tree that had stood next to him—eyes examining the flowers that had bloomed from them before smiling softly and looking down at Hyunjin.

“When I was around your age, my parents had always kept a few animals in the house—to the point of it looking almost like an animal sanctuary rather than a home to a Mafia Family,” Hyunjin’s eyes stayed locked on the tree as the man resumed his stroll, keeping enough distance to be able to listen to his story before she had rushed to follow after him, “it may sound odd—because what did you expect a house filled with hitmen roaming freely, fully armed at all times to look like—but you’d definitely not expect to find a deer to be standing by one of the ponds, drinking from it’s pool while a family of swans passes by and a butterfly sitting on top of one of it’s antlers..” the young girl tilted her head at the mention of the animals, feeling the weight that the memory had carried from how the man’s tone changed from simple reminiscing to the sudden somberness that had switched after he teased his Family’s lifestyle.

“One of my greatest friends, whom was also the Heir to his Family’s name always had this sparkle in his eyes whenever he’d visit, stating that how our Family had lived was so different compared to his—our home felt more of like a refuge than the active warzone that he had called his own,” Hyunjin’s lips pulled into a small smile just as the man peeked behind him to also smile at the girl, shrugging his shoulders before raising a hand to run his fingers through the flowers as the passed—something that Hyunjin followed as well but only by walking close to them and lifting her finger in an shy manner, “he’d always tell me that one day, he could only hope that he could build such peace with his Family—though he did wish that our Families had never split apart.”

“The separation between the Mun Family and Jin Family.” Hyunjin whispered, peeking over to catch a glimpse at the man as if he would confirm if her answer was correct—to which he did, nodding but pulling his hand back to rest behind him again as they strolled peacefully through the spring air.

“Our Families together ruled thousands of territories, commanded over millions of men—so much strength to which was soon overcome with overpowering ambition, the Jin Family never knew when to stop and so they brought it upon themselves to be left by another family whom had stayed true to their colors to this day.”

“Kim,” Hyunjin answered, more confidently this time. Her brows knitted in concentration as she recalled the notes that she had scattered all over her and Heejin’s bedroom floor, the older girl’s whining ringing in the back of her head as Hyunjin kept repeating keywords to herself as the other girl tried to sleep, “out of the three major Families, they’re the wealthiest when it comes to land and associates.”

“We don’t usually take sides, but if it comes to a war of some sort—they’d learn to lean on us, as we would to them.” the two then stopped in the middle of an empty pond, the only view from the structure was the flowing waterfall and several koi’s that had swam freely through the clear water.

“Before Jin had declared war against our Family—with Mother as the boss at the time—our home was attacked the night before, I was just about to go to bed after studying the entire day when this.. Yellow cat, a Maine Coon,” Hyunjin looked over to the man, finding his arms crossed but Hyunjin’s eyes locked onto the glimmering blue ring that was set in his finger—running a thumb on the gem as he looked at the pond as he recalled that night, “she had always sat on my Mother’s lap, but she’d always seem to have watched over me as I slept. And so on the night of the attack, she had woke me up by biting onto my finger until I had eventually awakened—with our people leading me out of my quarters just before I heard the gun shots start ringing.” the man turned to look down at the younger girl whom met his gaze half-way, the battered aura that the girl with wide eyes had usually carried was almost overshadowed by the amazement and curiosity that the girl had currently beheld.

“The yellow cat passed away just as I became boss, almost a year before my parents had passed due to old age. But those animals had aided me in my survival for my short-lived childhood, they were more of my allies than they were my parents’ pets.” Hyunjin tore her gaze away from the man to eye his ring that rested on his arm yet again, nodding in understanding before facing the pond with the man soon following after her.

“I see her in you, Kim Hyunjin,” the man couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh at how odd it sounded, the personification of the animal and to the child he had just been introduced to within the year—but he knew it to himself that he had to let the younger girl know, “I believe that you have the same gift as she did—though you haven’t entirely shown signs of it yet—you have the same spirit inside of you just waiting to be awakened. You’re a special girl, I hope you don’t ever forget that.”

Hyunjin felt her heart hammering against her chest as her eyes snapped back to what was currently happening in front of her, the voices she managed to tune out after they've entered through the doors, exchanged pleasantries pierced through her bubble of sudden recollection of the conversation between her and the past boss a few years ago. She scanned the men that had stood by the bottom of the steps, surrounded by over a thousand of your people as a man with a prince-like aura to him smiled cunningly at Haseul—almost trying his best to appeal to her for them to carry on with whatever they had wished to plead.

"My name is Joshua, and here standing beside me are my members—Jihoon, Mingyu, Jeonghan, Wonwoo—and our Heir, Lee Chan," Joshua gestured to the suit-clad men that stood behind him before placing a hand on Lee Chan's shoulder, the weight of his hand seemingly heavy as Joshua practically pulled him from where he stood to almost offer him to the Leader—something which Sooyoung visibly winced at and Haseul could only eye the group for, "he had ordered us to search the city, for a particular friend of ours that had been left.. Unhinged."

"Unhinged..? What do you mean?!" Sooyoung's commanding voice made Joshua falter in his position and had the Heir taking a step back, as if he was already cowering in fear when he felt a more gentler hands rest on his shoulders this time—the man with the long hair named Jeonghan smiled up at Sooyoung whom looked furious compared to the different sets of expressions that had been plastered on her members' features.

"We're not looking for any trouble, we're just here for our friend. We've come here to inform you of that."

"And you didn't consult us.. On the first day of your search?" Haseul slowly dragged, eyes moving from one member to another as she now had placed a hand on her hip, to which the tallest of the bunch—Mingyu—let out a nervous laugh that echoed through the tense atmosphere before making eye contact with Joshua who's eye could only twitch at him. He then shut his mouth and inched himself closer to a stone-faced Wonwoo, eyes dead set on Heejin who had refused to meet his gaze since they've entered the courtyard.

"And this friend of yours—you're certain that he's in this city?" Mingyu couldn't seem to keep himself neutral, nodding in an almost child-like manner as Haseul questioned them. Chan lifted his head to look grimly at Haseul's pondering gaze, he swallowed sharply just before pulling himself away from Jeonghan's hands, getting down to his knees and bowing down completely to the Leader, leaving everyone in shock at the pitiful scene.

"Dino—"

"Please help us, Y/L/N Boss! I'm begging you!" he cried, continuing to plead with his forehead against the gravel and his members stunned as they stood behind him. The smile plastered on Joshua's face slowly fell into a contemptuous expression as he stared down at his boss before he got down on his knees to completely face the man, placing his hands on his arms in attempt of getting him back up on his feet but the boss pushed him back with tears falling freely from his eyes.

"No! They'll kill him, Hyung! He's lost his mind but we can't just—he's still my brother!" Chan shouted at his member who slowly fumed at his boss' words, which made Mingyu quickly spring into action and grab ahold of Joshua as the man thrashed in his hold.

"That's what I'm trying to stop—you idiot! You think I want him dead!? He's as much of a brother to me as he was to you—"

"Shut up!" Sooyoung's voice cut through the heated argument before the boss and his member, leaving the two silenced in their positions as they glared harshly at one another. Sooyoung pinched the bridge of her nose before turning to Haseul who could only stare at the commotion in thought before she slowly ascended the steps and got onto Chan's level, the boss almost cowering in fear but the small smile that had graced Haseul's features had offered a slight ease to the man.

"This.. Brother of yours, do you have any idea where he could be right now?"

"Hyunjin!? What—hey! Unnie, help!" Sooyoung rushed to the other side of the entrance to where Heejin had practically held her best friend up on her feet, the men that had surrounded the meeting had pulled out their pistols and had them pointed at the members of the Lee Family. Haseul stood from her spot as Heejin and Sooyoung practically carried Hyunjin back into the Mansion with the Leader motioning for the goons to put their guns down—turning to look back down at the Lee Family with a completely blank expression on her face, asking them to follow her inside and talk to her about it in the lounge.

"Yah! Kim Hyunjin! You're crazy—get a grip!" Heejin's alarmed tone rang through Hyunjin's ears as the two members sat her down in the infirmary, one of the nurses that had been Kahei's pupil quickly excused herself at the sight of the three, knowing well enough that they were all capable of the same practices as she'd learnt from the Fifth girl—but if any of the three would be an exception in the art of medicine, it would be Ha Sooyoung.

"No, no—This isn't normal, Yves-unnie," Sooyoung placed her fingers over the girl's pulse on her throat as her other hand worked on checking her temperature then gently tugging down on the bottom lid of her eye, "Yves-unnie you have to listen to me, something's wrong—" Heejin had placed a bucket right next to Hyunjin just the girl looked just about ready to pass out. Sooyoung then told Heejin to grab the girl some water as she firmly held Hyunjin in place, not wanting to make the girl any dizzier in her already rattled state.

"Hyunjin, you need to breathe."

"I am! But please, call Jinsoul-unnie. Call her right now, this is—they're in danger! Unnie—just listen to me!" Sooyoung's eyes scanned the pleading girl's teary eyes, failing to find a hint of any uncertainty and so once Heejin had returned to the room, Sooyoung quickly instructed the girl to watch over her best friend before leaving the room and taking her phone out to dial Jinsol's number.

"Sol."

"Are you in the school right now?" Jinsol furrowed her brows at the question, pulling her phone away from her ear to stare at the caller ID that had clearly shown the number '9' before she pressed it back against her ear, looking down at the sandwich in hand and then the fast food place that had almost felt as if it was inviting her to buy more. Jinsol couldn't help but shake her head at the thought before sighing to herself, pulling the door open to let herself inside the car and shut the door behind her.

"No? It's my break time."

"Jinsoul—do you even know what the time is!?" the dark haired girl winced at Sooyoung's bitter tone as she started the engine and pairing her phone to the speakers, carelessly tossing it onto the empty passenger seat next to her before leaning back and unwrapping her meal.

"Isn’t it Y/N's third period? She's literally right across the hall from Gowon. She has it covered."

"That was over an hour ago! She's in the middle of fourth period right now!" Jinsol stared down at her meal for a moment before glancing at the clock on the dashboard that clearly said 11:12 instead of what she'd seen as 9:26 a few moments ago. The girl was slightly alarmed for a moment, only to remember that it basically meant you were in the middle of class—surrounded by civilians. 

They wouldn’t pick a fight with you there.. Right?

Jinsol quickly wrapped her sandwich before chucking it next to her phone and preparing to exit the driveway when Sooyoung told her that she was also on her way before she dropped the call.

Back in the school, Son Hyejoo was currently thinking about how she completely despised her Math teacher. Not only did the old lady had told her to stand in the back of the class when she asked Yerim if they had the same answers, but she also hated the woman for not letting her slide—not even once—about leaving her book behind when it was time for her class. Hyejoo could only walk down the halls of Blockberry High and make her way over to the lot, in hopes that her book was there—even if she didn't even do the damned assignment—just so she could continue sitting next to Yerim and watch the girl effortlessly solve the given problems, because watching the girl’s eyes light up was more entertaining than standing outside the hall until the class was dismissed.

The book had apparently manage to slide itself under her seat, most likely slipping out of her backpack that had always sat next to Yerim in the backseat—and though Hyejoo wouldn't call herself associated to any religion of some sort, she silently thanked whoever was watching her from up above as she shut the door of her car and started to make her way back to class.

And that's where she heard your voice.

“What do you want!?” you hissed harshly which made Hyejoo quickly duck against one of the cars closest to her, eyes setting on your fuming expression standing by the bench next to the vending machine as a tall figure wearing all black seemed to have took a slight step back, making him release your wrist that he had seemed to be holding as you clutched your arm to your chest, glaring at him. The man tilted his head to himself before looking back at you with an equally confused expression.

“What do.. I want?” he repeated slowly, furrowing his brows to himself as you stood there—not exactly knowing whether you should run or even attempt at a swing at the taller man—but you stood your ground, wanting to make sure he was gone before any of your members had caught up to what was happening and have the man even dare bring harm to any of them.

“I want power, of course. Enough for me and my members—and to command over fifty-thousand people..?”

“You’re stupid if you think killing a boss would mean you get to take over their Family.” you hissed as he looked at you like a kicked puppy, making him glance down—at what seemed to be a ring in his little finger that even Hyejoo can see from her hiding spot—before his expression snapped yet again to glare at you.

“You don’t know that! God, you all sound the same. You, Chan—I was the one that convinced them to let us go independent! Look where we are now!” his aggravated voice boomed through the lot, making you tense on your spot and take a cautious step back. Your eyes scanning the area for your members, finding Jungeun and Hyejoo’s cars that sat parked a few feet ahead of you which brought you an odd sense of comfort.

But it soon dissipated once it dawned into you that the owners were nowhere to be found.

One of them actually were, however.

“Alright then, I’ll take the lead.” your heart dropped the second your eyes followed the man's hand that had pulled a simple black pistol from behind him, his lips downturned as he popped the magazine to check if he had any bullets—giving you enough time to start running for your life—but instead, you stood there glued to your spot as he rolled his shoulders, smiling brightly at you and letting the nozzle rest in the middle of your temple.

“Now, be a good girl and take me to your members—” a blur of dark hair suddenly appeared from behind the unnamed man, the gun that was held against your forehead was quickly released into the air as the towering man flipped in his spot—falling head first onto the concrete behind him and was completely knocked unconscious before the gun slid a few feet away from him, with your eyes moving to settle on a familiar figure in front of you, eyes locked on the unconscious man with her hand gently holding onto your forearm as you stood there in shock.

"Hyejoo..? When did you..?" you barely even locked eyes with the younger girl when she was suddenly tackled onto the ground, the impact staggering you back in the process until you fell on your behind, watching the battle happening in front of you as you sat frozen in your spot. The supposed-to-be unconscious man had seemed to be aiming to grab ahold of Hyejoo by the neck, using his weight to keep the girl on the ground while his hands were being resisted by your member as she writhed under him. Your eyes quickly scanned for anything to help your member with—anything to knock the large figure that could’ve already ended the shorter girl under him if she weren’t trained—but as you did, your eyes kept flitting over to the pistol that had slipped from the man’s hold from earlier, your ears practically blocked out as the only thing you could clearly hear was the thudding of your heart in your chest.

"No! Y/N—look for Gowon-unnie! Gowon!" Hyejoo cried from her spot—as if the older girl was supposed to just appear out of nowhere once she called—when the man's fist had aggressively pulled back to swing itself onto the girl, aiming to hit her on the face but she managed to move her head the second it was supposed to land. His blood trickled down from his knuckles for them to meet Hyejoo’s cheek as she let out a piercing screech before starting to swing right back at him—landing a few solid strikes straight onto his dumbfounded state. You felt your heart falter at the possibility that the impact of his fist could've landed on the younger girl, making something inside of you snap and clambered to grab the pistol from the ground and stagger closer them, your hands shaking as you point pointed the weapon directly at the assailant with both hands supporting the weapon.

"Let go of her, or I swear—I will shoot." he stopped to look up at you from his position, the punches that Hyejoo had seemed to land on his face was evident at his busted brow and bloodied teeth as smiled ridiculously at you. Hyejoo had attempted another swing just as you had distracted him but he caught her fist without even looking down at her, continuing to maintain eye-contact with you in his bloodied state as he slowly started to laugh at the sight of you standing before him—hands shaking as you aimed his own weapon against him.

"You couldn't even move when I pointed a gun at you earlier—and you're telling me you'll shoot me? Go ahead, child, shoot me!” you swallowed thickly, clenching your jaw to will yourself into keeping the gun aimed at him but you couldn’t seem to ignore the sound of Hyejoo’s aggrieved grunts as she tried to get her hands out of his grip and the sight of her continued attempts at wriggling out of his weight.

“Hyejoo, I’ll get you out of there—”

“Shoot me or I swear—she’ll be unrecognizable by the time I’m done!” the last thing that had crossed your mind before you pulled the trigger was the members in your living room, the image of Sooyoung the first time she had told you that you could trust the members with your life—even though you’ve just met them. You could barely even feel the coldness of the weapon in your hands when several flashes of the members’ reassuring smiles directed to your clueless state when a bloodcurdling scream pierced through your senses, your eyes snapping over to the man you had managed to shoot just between his shoulder and his arm who had scrambled off of your member—panic setting in his features as he continuously muttered “no, no—I can’t die like this!” as he pressed a hand in his wound, shaken up by the sight of his own blood pooling across the sidewalk as he slowly seemed to be losing his consciousness in his spot.

"..Hey." your eyes snapped to the sight of a your bloodied member, the young girl eyeing you careful as you felt slight tug on the weapon you seemed to have kept in a tight grip. You let Hyejoo slip the weapon off your hands before watching the girl walk over to the frightened man—who raised a hand to beg for mercy—when the younger girl held the gun by the barrel to deliver a final blow through his insensible state, supposedly leaving him unconscious but it didn’t seem to be enough as he caught himself before he could fall on his front. Hyejoo then delivered a swift kick to his head that was surely enough knock him out for good just as a familiar blue car had just pulled over by the entrance of the school, the familiar figure of another one of your dark haired members quickly rushing over to the both of you with wide eyes as the pool of blood slowly spreading across the pavement.

"You're both.. Okay." Jinsol breathed in relief, a concerned expression on her face as Hyejoo wiped the drying blood stains on her cheek before turning to you and placing a hand on your forearm—cutting you out of your dazed state to look back at Jinsol’s uneasy gaze. You barely could move your head to nod in response but it seemed that the older girl got the idea, to which she just turned to face the unconscious man and reached over to grab his bloodstained hand— staring down at the ring in his finger with a indecipherable expression on her features before to whispering something under her breath just as several rushed footsteps made their way towards your group. You felt a hand pull you back and a figure quickly blocked you from the body in front of you, the blonde hair was enough for you to recognize that it was Jungeun as Jiwoo had seemed to have followed closely behind, turning to look at Hyejoo who wasn’t even looking at the the members—eyes directly trained on your still figure.

"Who did this!? Was it him!? Give me the gun Son Hyejoo!"

"No, Unnie—we're fine." the older girl moved to reach for Hyejoo’s face before deciding against it and pulling you in a tight embrace instead, the older girl cradling you at your motionless state. Chaewon, Yerim, and Yeojin had soon followed behind—the eldest of the three quickly grabbing ahold of Hyejoo by the shoulders to scan her for any injuries as the younger girl stood there with a pensive look on her face as she continued to stare at you.

"I don't understand—Hyejoo wasn't supposed to be here, if Hyejoo wasn't here.." Chaewon started, a gentle hand remained on Hyejoo's forearm before she turned to look at you with panic slowly settling in her features when Yerim gasped at the image that was set in front of you, her eyes moving to the gun that Hyejoo continued to hold by the barrel and piecing it together. She felt a slight tug on her shirt before turning to a guilt-ridden expression that had been on the youngest member’s state as she looked over to the vacant look that had set on your face as Jiwoo continued to hold you in her arms and tell you that you were alright.

"All of you, get yourselves back in Eden. Yves and I will get him medical attention when she gets here." Jinsol ordered from her spot, eyes moving to scan you and your members just as a familiar burgundy red sports car parked right next to Jinsol's at the front of the building. Sooyoung didn’t even shut her door before she had rushed over to where you stood in Jiwoo’s arms, the red-haired girl quickly taking you into her own as Jiwoo spotted her figure nearing the two of you. The older girl didn’t hesitate in reaching over and pulling Hyejoo in her other arm as well, just when her eyes started to tear up to which the younger girl couldn't help but groan at—slipping out of the older girl’s hold as you continued to be locked in Sooyoung's grip just as she had started to bawl her eyes out.

"Yves, he's bleeding out—we need to go."

"We'll be at Eden, Unnie. We'll be safe there! Please stop crying.." Jiwoo said from behind you, trying to console the older girl as she continued to stain your shoulder with her tears. Your arms gently reached over to pat the girl's back, your eyes finally willing themselves to take in your surroundings again as you watched Hyejoo and Chaewon walk over to Jinsol briefly—speaking to the woman whom had now held a hand against her forehead—before they nodding and making their way over to Hyejoo's car with Yerim and Yeojin. The two who you had just realized had been there the entire time held a disturbed expression in both of their faces, Yeojin looked just about as ready to leave with Hyejoo and the others.

They've most likely never experienced combat in a real setting before, just like you.

"Yeah, yeah—just give me a second," Sooyoung breathed deeply before pulling herself together, sniffling as her hands rested firmly on your shoulders—with you eyeing the distraught girl that looked as if she was going through an inner turmoil about the situation—making you reach over to fix her hair and give her what you could have only hoped was a small smile through your emotionless state, with a reassuring hand placed on her arm in front of you, "we'll settle this, so don't worry about it. Alright, Y/N?" you nodded in reply, not finding it in you to speak at all.

Sooyoung pulled away from you to face Jinsol, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand and wiping the tears in attempt to stop the continuous flow down her cheeks, completely turned away from you just as you felt a hand interlace with you—finding the usual bright smile wiped clean from Jiwoo's face, only to be replaced with a careful look as if sensing your delicate state. Your two older members lead you to Jungeun's car, with Jiwoo slipping herself with you in the backseat to just take you in her arms as Jungeun pulled out of the lot—with your eyes stuck on the image of Sooyoung and Jinsol quickly lifting the man by his arms to bring him to Jinsol's car just before they disappeared from your view.

You could barely feel a thing since the man had caught you by surprise, the image of his menacing smile stuck on a loop in your head as he pressed the nozzle against your forehead—the sound of the air being knocked out of Hyejoo's lungs when he tackled her down, the shot ringing through the lot just before Hyejoo pulled the gun away from you. Something has shifted just from the bloodied encounter, something you had somehow knew that you were going to stumble upon since you’ve joined the group—but you didn’t expect it to be so soon, for the situation to put you in such a spot that you could barely process fast enough what was happening in front of you. You didn’t know what came onto you, what made you even dare point a gun at a man just when he threatened a person you barely even knew.

But you’ve seen it, the way the members would lay their own lives in your stead—even Hyejoo whom you’ve never really exchanged a word with—something inside of you just clicked, a subconscious promise to offer your own life in also protecting theirs just as they would do to you. 

For now, you’re free to feel the heavy burden of your shattered morals.

For now, you’re allowed to grieve the loss of justified actions and put the safety of your members above all else.

For now, you mourn the death of Ha Y/N and fully embrace who you truly were.

Y/N Y/L/N, The Heiress.

Hi,

Any Carats following along with this series? I was a Carat way back in 2018 and I was juggling between Seventeen and Blackpink at the time. Actually searching up the members’ names was trippy because it’s just something you’d think that would stick with you for years. I think I liked them just when Oh My just came out—I’m sure that they’re my first big member group.

Wonwoo was my bias but before I left my boy-group agenda, I’ve been into DK. I’m proud of where they are now, and I’m honestly contemplating going back but I’m just so into LOONA that I don’t know how I’ll cope if I even miss a single release from them—even news from some TV program Chuu gets invited to lmao (we love a booked and busy queen though).

Anyways, where are the other members of the Lee Family? And how exactly will this play out with this crazed lunatic that tackled Hyejoo once he gets sent back to the Mansion? I have a few ideas already in mind~ And if I finish Act I before this month finishes.. Then what?

It’s getting crazier and crazier~

Oh, and Hyunhye FOTM today—I was writing this so I completely missed it but I read from orrery-nim for translations anyways, but I feel more pumped to write after that, oh boy..

This update was meant for tomorrow, but since Hyunjin breathed today I'll keep writing lmao the grip~

Laters,

JJ.

>ovc: V COOKIE (200213)

https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-18290715

[raindropsduringthesunset]

Chances Few and Far Between (TSS Fateful Fae AU)

Ao3 ~~~ Wattpad

First Part, Last Part, Next Part

Characters: Remus, Virgil, Janus, Roman, Logan (for a moment)

Relationships: Dukexiety (Platonic), Dukexiety (Romantic), Anxciet (Platonic), Anxceit (Romantic?), Analogical (Implied- Momentarily) (Platonic)

TW: panic/fear, arguing/bickering (playful context), violence, drowning, trauma (flashbacks?), attempted murder

CW: Remus (mentioned) cursing, Janus (sympathetic), insecurity, slight non-con kissing (only on cheek, platonic), anger, monsters, water/swimming, embarrassment, talk of gods (Greek pantheon)

Summary: Remus wants to be able to spend time with V. With a little convincing and a bit more time, he realizes a few things.

~~~

Humans were weird. Remus couldn’t tell if he liked or hated that. Judging by how his human was affected by other humans, he decided for the time being that yes, yes he should hate it. He was weird too- mortals didn’t seem to like that though. Good, he had thought to himself, let them hate me.

Mortals were cowardly. Remus despised that trait. Cowards were always too afraid to have fun- too afraid to just live a little. It was so fucking stupid to him. He hated cowards. Another thing humans and him had in common.

They hated cowards too. They ridiculed them, teased them, provoked them until they did what they wanted them to do. Remus hated cowards, but even he knew that was a line to simply not cross. Humans hated cowards, yet created them through trauma. Remus could see that when he looked at V. They tried so hard to make him a coward- to make him scared of everyone and everything.

But V wasn’t a coward.

Sure, V was afraid. He was scared and hesitant to do anything- keyword hesitant. But, as afraid as V was, he pushed through and did things he was scared of. Cowards didn’t do that. Remus admired him for that- though, he would admire him regardless of cowardice or fear. Remus admired that V had enough confidence to do things he was afraid of. He liked that in a being- mortal or not.

What he didn’t like was how everyone was babying V and not letting him near Remus. Sure, V was just hanging out with them, but Remus wanted a turn! He hadn’t gotten to spend any time with V past when they had met in the forest. He’d been hearing about and seeing V interact with everyone but him and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

He was aware that he was scary. He was large, he looked mean, he looked like he could kill- which in all fairness he could. It didn’t quite help that he was half chaos fae. I know, fucking wild, right? Now, with the knowledge that Remus had some chaos fae, it would probably be safe to assume that the Prince was also some sort of chaos fae, right? No actually. Fae children ‘laws’ were strange and made it so Princey- oh so conveniently- was not a chaos fae. Remus was always a little cross about that because that just wasn’t fair.

Being a chaos fae was annoying. He had retractable tentacles- though holding them in too long tended to make his back hurt. He also was more hyperactive and fidgety, L constantly quipping at him to sit still every time they had dinner. He also had a different aura than the rest of his clan.

Everyone else had an aura of something calming- or just in general something good. L had a calming and clarifying aura of a deep blue, Pat gave off a welcoming feeling every time he entered a room, the prince radiated confidence and gentle passion, and J… J’s aura was confusing. He gave off confidence and security, but it also always felt like he was up to something.

Remus gave off a chaotic aura. Being around him made people want to be reckless. He and his brother had broken far too many things for his effect to not be apparent. L would spiral into an infodump whenever Remus was around. Pat would be more reckless with his baking or foraging- Remus had once gotten him to eat a berry that he was 80% sure was poisonous; everything turned out fine but it was still worrying. J was more powerful so he wasn’t as affected as the others were, but Remus is sure he’s done something.

Remus didn’t like the idea of accidentally affecting V with his aura. He was too small, too influenceable. The human mind is so easily broken and he was not about to test its limits.

Still, he so desperately wanted to truly meet V. To just sit with him, to play games. V wasn’t his, he knew that from the beginning, but he just wanted a chance to see what it would be like to have him, if only for a second.

Linebreak

“No Re, you can't hang out with V!” Roman complained, wrestling with his brother in the dirt- thank the gods he could magic his clothes clean or he might actually have to kill Remus. Remus rolled his eyes and flipped them over, sitting on his brother’s back.

“Why not?! I can be civil!” Remus squawked as the prince grabbed his ankle and pressed down on the pressure point. He took the time to squirm out of the position to tackle him again.

“I’m not quite sure you can- hey!” Roman flicked his hand that Remus had licked before grabbing his forearm and using what momentum he had to scramble Remus onto his back. Remus cackled in his position, squirming a bit in an attempt to put Roman off balance.

“You're so possessive of V, I swear. It's like he's your lover or something.” Roman froze above him, his hold faltering just enough for Remus to flip him over and crawl away for a moment to catch his breath.

“What? Do you actually love him?” Remus asked, pushing some of his sweaty hair out of his eyes. Roman stared at him from across the dirt, breathing heavy and shaking slightly from exertion. Remus’s teasing smile faded as Ro looked away, pushing himself off the ground without a word.

“Wait, are you serious?” Remus scrambled up, stepping over to his brother quickly. Roman sighed and rubbed his hands across his face.

“I don’t know, I’m figuring that out. I- well I do love him but I don’t know if I love him like… like how I love you or like… love love him, you know?” Remus whistled and slung an arm around Roman’s shoulders.

“That’s… heavy. Sheesh, and I thought I was the emotionally burdened twin,” Remus joked, laughing when Roman rolled his eyes and pushed him off, “Oh come on, that was funny.”

“It was and I hate it.” Roman huffed, the corners of his lips twitching up. Remus counted that as a win.

“But really, can I please spend time with V today? I don’t care if someone supervises I just-” Remus took a deep breath, he hated admitting defeat just as much as his brother, “I just want to at least be able to know him.”

Roman blinked over to him for a moment, taking in his sullen state before pursing his lips. Remus glanced between Roman and the floor. A few moments passed of neither of them talking. That was long enough for Remus to sigh and open his mouth to throw in the towel.

“Fine-”

“Alright.”

“What?”

“Alright, but I’m sure everybody would prefer if you bright someone else along with you. I’m going to be busy tomorrow, so I suggest asking everyone else before supper for a chaperone and then asking V- at least then you can warn him who’s going to be tagging along.” Roman conceded, much to Remus’s surprise. Huh, who would have thought?

This was big. Nobody- and that means nobody- trusted Remus with V. He didn’t really think his guilt trip plan was going to work but… huh, nice.

Thank Tyche I guess.

“Thank you-”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Roman snipped, slightly deflating his own ego at the hurt expression on Remus’s face, “There’s no guarantee that everyone is going to be as… willing for you to be around V. I suggest asking J to go with you. V seems most comfortable around him and J also tends to be quite… possessive.” Remus smiled again, this time it was crooked but playful.

“Second most possessive to you.” He jabbed. Roman laughed a bit and looked down at the dirt.

“I can’t say you’re wrong dear brother.” Remus’s smile faded. He had a lot to compete with if he was going to spend time with V.

Timeskip

It, unsurprisingly, took several weeks to convince J- or anyone for that matter- to let him and V spend time together, even with supervision. Roman had listened to his complaining the night of the day he and Remus had the whole “You can spend the day with V if…” conversation.

“Eirene give me strength- FINE! Gods, if you could stop squawking at me while I’m trying to work that would be wonderful,” Janus groaned, his hands hovering over a plant that he had been attempting to grow for the past half hour. Remus whooped and did a little dance before leaning down to where Janus was knelt in front of the plant and placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek with a loud shmack.

“Thank youuuu! You’re the best J!” Remus shrieked, standing up and bouncing around, “I’m going to go ask V now- oh he’ll be so excited-”

“Ah-ah-ah, slow down there. Stay here until I’m done. We need some rules before you run off. Sit, I’ll only be a moment if you could not distract me for once.” Janus sent him a quick glare before looking back down and closing his eyes. Remus groaned loudly and flopped onto the floor, drawing little doodles into the dust and dirt.

After what felt like forever, Janus finally lifted his hands, frowning at the plant in front of him and petting its leaves before turning to look at Remus. J stood up swiftly and gestured for the other fae to follow, already moving by the time he was standing.

“Are you ready for the rules? I assume you understand that I will not be letting you near V without fully understanding what you can and cannot do with him,” Janus said, putting his hands behind his back. Remus nodded eagerly and walked directly next to him.

“Yes sir!”

“Do not call me sir,” He bit before sighing, “First rule is you are not to do anything to V without asking him first. If that thing you wish to do with him puts V in way of any harm, it must go through me first.”

A nod.

“Good. Second rule, if V says he doesn’t wish to do something or wishes to back out of something, you must abide by these wishes.”

A nod.

“Third rule,” Janus snapped his gaze to Remus, stopping in his track, “Do not break him. He is not a toy. He is not replaceable. He is a mortal, Duke. Mortals are fragile. We are not going to test the limits of mortality under any circumstances with V. Think of him like… like a glass.

“Glass breaks easily. V also breaks easily.”

Glass is pretty. V is also pretty.

“While glass is replaceable, V is not. Priceless, inimitable, one of a kind. If you break him, we will never have someone like him again. If you break V, it will be the last thing you do. Do you understand me?” Janus threatened. Remus nodded, stepping slightly away from him with his eyebrows raised. Janus nodded and continued walking.

“Good. Now run along and go ask V. He should be with your brother today.” Without another word, Remus turned on his heel and ran for the gateway. Janus sighed and shook his head fondly.

Timeskip

They decided to spend the day at the lake. Remus had some maintenance to perform in the water anyway so he took it as a blessing. Janus and V were sitting on the dock, V reaching his bare feet into the water every few moments. Remus popped out of the water intermediately, having a quick conversation before diving back down. Eventually, Remus popped up and used his tentacles to prop himself up high enough to rest his arms on the dock.

“Hey V,” Remus said, looking up at the human with a toothy smile, “do you maybe want to swim for a little?” V raised his eyebrows and looked to Janus as if asking permission.

“Darling, you can decide this for yourself. I’m not going to be the one to control everything you do.” Janus send a small smile to V and squeezed his hand for a moment. V looked at him, his eyes asking the silent question of ‘really?’ before he turned back to Remus.

“I… Sure? Can we-” Virgil hesitated, looking into the dark water, “Can we go somewhere more shallow first?”

“Yeah, it’s tiring swimming in deep water anyway.”

Remus used a spare tentacle to push himself up onto the dock, retracting them into his back with a gross squelch. V stared up at him with wide eyes as the appendages slotted into Remus’s back, otherwise invisible incisions closing up quickly with a green-tinted clear goo dripping down his back. Remus shuttered and shook his head to get water out of his hair.

Water droplets splashed onto V’s white shirt, leaving dark semi-translucent patches on the cloth. Janus frowned slightly and wiped a bit of water off of V’s face, smirking when he flushed against the touch. Remus rolled his eyes at the sight and placed his hands on his hips.

“Do you need to change clothing or are you fine to swim in your normal clothes?”

“I’ll be fine in this. It’s already wet anyway.” V paused for a moment before pushing himself to stand, stumbling slightly as he tried to gain balance. Remus reached forward and carefully grabbed his forearms, helping to ground him.

“Careful, wouldn’t want you falling,” Remus winked, far too smooth for how awkward he felt saying that. Janus sent him a small glare as V’s face heated up. A smug smile spread across Remus’s face.

V looked out onto the shore, a puddle of nervousness settling in his stomach. The water looked deep. He couldn’t swim in deep water. What if something grabbed his leg? What if he forgot how to swim? What if a storm was coming?

His breath sped up, catching Remus by surprise. Janus on the other hand simply walked over to V’s side, taking his hand and whispering in his ear for a moment. Remus would swear up and down that J used some sort of magic on him because there was no fucking way it was that easy to calm the mortal down.

“Are you ready to go in?” Janus asked, squeezing V’s hand. V looked to Janus for a moment before looking back at the water.

“Would you swim with us?”

“I apologize my darling, but I can’t at the moment. I’ll watch carefully though. If anything happens, I’m here.” Janus sent a look to Remus who suddenly felt very out of place.

Keep your things away from him. I don’t want them to pull him under.

I’d kill them if they even came close.

That’s a lie

J, we literally can’t lie, we’re fucking fae.

Oh, you get my point. Just be cautious. Remember what I said. V is-

Glass- yes, yes, I know. I promise it’ll be fine.

Remus walked into the water, turning around and offering a hand to V.

“Are you ready?” V looked between Janus and Remus before letting go of J’s hand. Remus smiled as V carefully placed their palms together. He gave a gentle squeeze and walked them deeper into the water.

V let out a shaky exhale at the cold water as it soaked into his shirt and shorts. Janus had gotten him to at least wear something that wouldn’t weigh him down. Weigh him down.

God- wait- fuck nono not yet. It’s fine just take a breath, V thought to himself freezing in his spot. Remus sent a worried look back to him, the water only at the waists. Before he could even say a word, V snapped out of it and continued walking forward.

The water was around their shoulders when Remus decided it was far enough for them. It was cold in the lake. One would have thought that one of them might have used their magic to warm it but no. Remus almost regretted not planning to warm the water first until V drifted closer to him, carefully slotting himself nearby to get what heat he was radiating.

It was… cute. Remus didn’t find many things cute, but dear god this was definitely one of the cutest things he’d seen. He could feel Janus’s eyes on them, boring into his head but for the time being, he couldn’t care less.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, an idea sprouted. For a moment- only a moment- he debated even doing it. But he never had much self-control.

Remus reached a hand under the water and reared it back before rushing it forward and splashing water all over V. He flinched and closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to shield himself from the wave going over him. Once the water stopped, V looked over to him, a dazed expression on his face. A beat passed, then two. Then a smile broke out across V’s face. Remus’s heart sped up. Oh.

V splashed the water back at him, laughing slightly when Remus flashed his teeth and copied his movements. Janus watched their antics with a fond stare, rolling his eyes when Remus sent V an offended look when he dumped water onto his hair.

At some point, the two had drifted farther into the water, them having to kick slightly to stay up. Every few seconds V could feel rocks graze over his toes, smooth and detailed. He bobbed slowly up and down, using his arms to steady himself between splashes- speaking of.

Remus dove under the water for a moment before springing out and splashing water all around them- absolutely drenching V and somehow managing to send a few droplets to Janus. V laughed and brought a hand up to push the water and some of his hair out of his face. Bad move.

Remus should have been paying attention.

V let out a gasp as something thin wrapped around his ankle, tugging to pull him under. The faes eyes widened, Remus reaching forward to grab V- but he was just out of reach.

Water surrounded V as he attempted to kick the thing away. A few bubbles escaped his mouth. He couldn’t breathe. Fuck fuck fuck he was there all over again. Kids had flipped him into the well- there was so much water. It was so cold. They laughed at him. He couldn’t breathe, he was drowning.

Look at the freak! Drowning as he should!

Maybe he won’t drown- then we would know he’s a witch!

Yeah! What are you going to do freak? Are you going to die? Are you going to drown?

Oh, stop that- as if your ‘mommy’ would even come for you. Just fucking die already- useless monster.

A hand wrapped itself against V’s forearm, tugging him roughly to the surface. He took in a sharp breath, the oxygen burning his lungs as he was pulled against someone’s chest. His breathing couldn’t slow down- was he breathing? Shit, he still couldn’t breathe. He was going to die here, in this person’s arms. He was going to die.

“Shh shh, little one it’s alright. It’s alright, breathe V,” The Duke's voice called- Duke? “It’s alright, I have you, you’re safe. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Just breathe V.” Water dripped heavily from his clothes, an extra pair of footsteps splashing through the shallow.

“You said you would keep your things away from him!” Janus yelled before reaching out and pulling V away from Remus. J’s eyebrows pinched together, his lips curling up into a snarl as he held V to his chest, rubbing his back gently.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Remus moved forward, ready to fuss over V and comfort him however he could. Janus flinched them away, tightening his hold on V.

“No, run along. I’ll handle this.” Janus hissed out. V was gasping sobs against his chest, shaking like a leaf from either the cold or the adrenaline-maybe both. Remus looked at V helplessly.

“Please, just let me-”

“You’ve done enough. Go.” Pain shot its way through Remus’s chest. Janus brought his coat around V, covering him completely.

“Please,” Remus begged, his hands still outstretched. J looked up and sent him a murderous glare.

“Leave.”

Remus let out a shaky exhale, clenching his fits before shoving them to his sides. A stew of emotion boiled in his stomach. He decided it would probably just be best to leave before it boiled over and he somehow managed to make things worse. He always managed to make things worse.

There was one less sea monster in the lake by the end of the day.

Timeskip

About a week passed after the incident. Everybody was- understandably- very pissed off with Remus. The only person who seemed to tolerate his presence at the moment was his brother- somehow. L was also fine with him being around but Remus could tell he was on thin ice around him.

He felt guilty- of course he did. Remus knew there were dangerous things in the waters and he wasn’t paying attention. He should have at least been aware of how far in V was pushed. The only thing he was glad about was that he got to V before he was pulled too deep in or ran out of air.

As much as he was angry with the animals in the lake, he knew there were plenty that were passive creatures and many more that knew well enough to not dare touch what wasn’t theirs. Remus decided to keep lake maintenance to be done strictly at nighttime. If anything picked a fight with him, there’d be extra room in the lake for more passive creatures.

The moon lit up enough of the terrain and most of the plants were bioluminescent- as were Remus’s tentacles. Hues of light greens and seafoam lit the pebbles and shells under the water. Every so often Remus would find a piece of sea glass and pick it up, putting it in his pocket as a reminder to leave it at V’s door.

He had been doing that every day since V and him had last spoken. He felt bad but gods he was bad at words. He took it as a win when he would leave his ‘room’ every morning and see that the glass he had left was picked up. Sometimes he would get lucky and find a piece that was- according to L- ultraviolet. V really liked those pieces from what he’d heard from Prince.

At the moment, Remus was cleaning up the bottom of the lake and getting rid of the remains that some of the carnivorous creatures would leave behind. When he broke the water’s surface to place the bones of yet another dead lake salamander, he was surprised to see a body sitting on the other side of the dock. He was even more surprised when he noticed the soft and oh so quiet crying and shaking of the figure’s shoulders. He watched them cry for a few moments more before it clicked.

“... V?” Remus called, waiting somewhat impatiently for him to turn around. When he never did, Remus dove under the dock and swam to resurface in front of him.

“Hey, hey V, are you alright?” V sniffled and looked up from where his head but buried in his legs, tears rushing down the sides of his face. He blinked at Remus for a moment, opening and closing his mouth before letting out a near-silent sob and putting his head back down. Remus cooed and pushed himself up and out of the water, the strain on the muscles in his tentacles causing them to shine just a little brighter.

“Little one, I need you to take a deep breath alright? Just in,” Remus exaggerated his breath, frowning when V just heaved and shook his shoulders harder, “Little one, hey, look at me- good. Can I touch you?”

V nodded and unwrapped his arms from his legs, making small grabby hands for a moment before pulling back. Remus caught them before he had taken them too far and moved closer, rubbing his knuckles with his callused and wrinkled hands. V let out a shuttered breath, the sobs fading slightly into cries and weak whines.

“I know, I know, take a deep breath for me- yes that’s it, perfect,” Remus breathed along with him, rubbing his thumb along V’s knuckles in time with when he should breathe, “Good job little one, just keep breathing like that. What’s wrong- what happened?”

V made eye contact with Remus, eyes still glossed over with a panicked sheen. The bags under his eyes were dark and bruised, the moon making his eyes look brighter- the color of his iris seeming to glow in the dark.

“I… I had a nightmare.” V mumbled, looking away. Remus’s lips tightened, his heart heavy as he drifted closer.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“Not… right now. I’m just- I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“I get that- that’s fine. I’ll get out of the water for you-”

“No! I mean- no I was um… I was thinking maybe uh…” Remus raised his eyebrows and gazed at V gently.

“Would you like to try swimming with me again?” He asked, rubbing his hands against his arms slowly. V paused before nodding, Remus giving him a warm smile. Nervousness settled in Remus’s chest, he can’t mess this up again.

“Hold on just a moment, I need to go check on something then we can swim.” Remus patted his arms before backing away and diving back under.

Swimming through, Remus glanced around for any of the more grabby monsters, sending a silent and rippling threat through the water. A threat of don’t touch what’s mine, if you do I’ll rip you limb from limb- I’ll make you an example. The vegetation squirmed and the creatures buried themselves below the dirt and rocks.

Remus sent a glare to a particularly brave monster and flashed his teeth, flexing his tentacles. It seemed to suffice but he used a bit of his magic to force the creature to bury itself in the rocks like the rest of them. Just in case.

Resurfacing, Remus looked to the mortal who was now standing up and lacking pants and his overcoat. He was shivering slightly, goosebumps all across his body. Remus smiled and offered him a hand, helping him slowly sink into the water.

Once he was completely in the water, Remus slid his hands up to V’s forearm. They were swimming only a few inches away from each other, Remus doing most of the work with his extra tentacles. V squeezed his eyes shut, gripping Remus’ arms tightly as he got used to the water’s temperature.

“Are you alright? Do you need anything?” Remus whispered, trying to read his face. Virgil opened his eyes and sent Remus a pleading look- and oh did that just make his heart break.

“Just- Just help me?” He begged, trying to pull Remus closer.

“I will, I will, I promise. You have my word my horror.” Remus pulled V against his chest, his heart racing. V felt a tentacle wrap underneath him, helping him sit up. He let out a distressed keen, holding Remus’s shoulder with a vice-like grip.

“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s me,” Remus pressed a kiss to V’s head, “I’m not letting anything touch you.” Remus pulled his head back, using his spare hand to wipe some tears- or water- from V’s cheek.

V looked up at Remus, the light from the moon reflecting off the water and onto V’s face. Remus drifted his hand up the side of his face, tangling his hand in V’s hair. He looked so… precious. Janus was right.

V was glass. He was precious, breakable, one of a kind. Remus realized why the Prince and J were so possessive of him. He understood why Roman wanted to steal him away. He understood why Janus wanted to hold him to the end of time. He understood.

“My horror?” Remus breathed, “May I kiss you my horror?” V nodded and wrapped his arms around Remus’s neck. He didn’t need any more of an invitation.

Remus leaned forward and captured V’s lips with his, pulling him impossibly closer. He could feel his pulse against his lips, he could feel his hands pull at his hair. He could feel so much.

V wasn’t fairing any better, trying to lose himself completely in the smoky taste of Remus’s lips. Gods, other people absolutely did not taste like this. He tasted just like fireside rum- smokey, warm, addicting. A shiver shot down V’s spine as Remus licked gently against his lips, asking a soft question. There was nothing insistent about the kiss, no pressure to move on.

“Well well, what’s going on here?” A new voice asked, making the two of them jump and pull their heads apart.

“L you’re such an asshole!” Remus cursed, his heart pounding, “Don’t scare us like that- holy shit I think I just died a little.” L rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“You aren’t going to die, Duke,” L looked to V, “Good evening V. Why are you awake? Aren’t you going to be busy tomorrow- both of you?” Remus sighed and loosened his grip on V, not quite letting go. He sent a glare to L, starting to push the two of them to the dock.

“V couldn’t sleep, I was working on the lake. Sue us for having fun why don’t you.”

“Oh, you seemed to be having more than fun. I’m sure J or the Prince would be thrilled to hear about this.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” L sent Remus a playful smirk.

“Wouldn’t I?” He looked back to V, “You should head to bed little one, it’s very late.”

Remus whispered a warning before raising both V and him to the dock, placing them carefully onto their feet. V shook the water from his hands, shaking his leg to the side to get what water that was still in pooled in his boxers to fall out. Remus ran a hand from his forehead to the back of his neck, squeezing out the excess water from his hair.

“I’ll go change and sleep in a moment L. Can you… go- please?” L huffed and rolled his eyes, turning his foot to start walking away.

“Alright, I’ll go. Sleep soon, good night.” L turned on his heel and left, disappearing in the brush a few meters away. Remus sighed and rubbed V’s back.

“L is right, you should go to bed.” Remus hummed, looking down slightly to make eye contact with V.

“If I sleep, will you wait by my door in the morning?”

“If the others don’t shoo me away, yes.” Remus chuckled. V nodded and bent down, picking up his clothes. He took a few steps away before pausing and turning around.

“Can you… can you walk me back to the clearing?” Remus smiled and outstretched his hand, allowing V to take it.

“Anything at your request, my love.”

Linebreak

Remus understood. He liked understanding. The others expressed their love for V constantly in gentle touches and soft words. Remus had the privilege of being able to be more intimate with him- to kiss him and hold him close- even if it was at a much lower rate than he would prefer. He understood why the others wanted to keep him. V was everything. Remus wanted to tear the world apart for V.

He didn’t want to keep V forever- honestly, he preferred sharing him. V seemed happy around the others and it made Remus happy to see him happy. There was nothing he loved more than V’s smile, nothing he adored more than his blush, nothing he wanted more than his taste.

Remus wasn’t afraid to say that he loved V- he would scream it to the gods themselves if he could. He thanked Eros for everything he blessed him with feeling and Aphrodite for how she had blessed V. V may be common folk, a mere mortal, but Remus would never hesitate to treat him like a king. He understood.

V was a precious glass and a gift from the gods. Remus would do anything and everything in his power to keep him together- to keep him alive and happy.

Taglist: @i-read-by-lamp

(^if you would like to be added just ask!)

[inventors-fair]

Three Cheese Commentary: An exercise in utility

I really shouldn’t complain about contests being popular with people.

Still, what a way for the year’s contests to start. A heckuva lot of entries for a very hard prompt makes me feel good, in an odd way. I have a hypothesis that the clarity of directions and the examples provided were enough to make it feel as though there was a low barrier to entry. It’s interesting and kind of my fault that a lot of mythic legendary creatures found their way in. Ah well. Lessons learned.

If you’re reading this, I want to give you a little hint: we love hard decisions. If your cards really are brilliant, if you do your best to improve with each and every entry, if you listen to the commentary and submit the best possible card, then our jobs as judges would be nail-bitingly hard. And I love that. I love having to sigh wistfully and move a card from “winners” to “runners-up.” I love praising cards that contest for coolness in their spaces. In short: you don’t have to listen to us specifically because, well, we’re not professionals, but if you tweak the tweaks and polish on your polish, then—well, the goal is that you grow as designers and in your understanding of the game. And that you’ll have fun along the way. 

For every card, I’m going to converse with the intent, talk about where improvements can be made and what might have gone wrong, and then go through wording nitpicks (another part of what makes cards hard, heh. You gotta do design AND cost AND flavor without committee). Cards with JUDGE PICK are personal favorites that for whatever reason either didn’t meet the criteria for winners or just tickled my fancy despite being some kind of not-there-in-certain-ways. Or maybe they just got pushed out of runners-up because of space. See? Hard decisions.

Let’s talk about some cards:

@aethernalstars — Anurid Matriarch

Intent: The Matriarch feels like a casual build-around-me keyword card with some connection to the Anurids of Dominaria. There are only two frogs with reach (and none with first strike) to date but this isn’t supposed to be a tribal card, is it. Not like that, anyway. Giving keywords those ups makes sense. Token generation is pretty solidly GW, giving them flying is WU, sure. First strike to double feels distinctly white. I imagine this card as a casual build-around-me or a token generator. Five mana for a 1/1 token ain’t bad.

Improvement: I have no idea what this card really wants to be. First strike doesn’t see anything outside of white, and reach doesn’t see much inside white. Or blue, for that matter. The flying makes sense for blue but this whole card doesn’t feel cohesive in terms of colors or identity. I did my Anurid research and I don’t see any precedent for this. Frog beasts are cool but… Well, this card answers the question of “why” with “just because.” I don’t fully understand the niche it’s trying to fill or the environment in which it wants to exist. If you’re gonna make a Frog build-around-me, lean into that. If you’re gonna make a keyword tribal card, focus on just one. If you want to make it color-balanced, look at what everything could do together for a flavorful feel.

Nitpicks: Flying comes before double strike.

Amarinthe — Rashmi, Enlivened Artificer

Intent: Temur has a pseudo-foothold in Kaladesh mechanically, so I’m not surprised that Rashmi’s here doing her thing. Giving your cards Jump-start is interesting, as UR has a sort of flashback mechanic, plus the lands from the graveyard work into green quite well. What I really like is the way that the Crucible effect interacts with jump-start. That’s pretty cool design chops. I can see this in a supplemental Commander sphere or even as a Standard mythic for a three-color archetype. It doesn’t seem exceptionally broken on either front. From a purely mechanical perspective, I think you made an awesome card.

Improvement: This card perhaps feels RUG, but it 100% doesn’t feel like Rashmi or a druid. Elves can be artificers on Kaladesh, and that’s not an issue, but you call her an artificer, you type her as a druid (which yes, was her original type when she was more druidic), and you give her a primary ability that’s got basically nothing to do with artifacts or druidic principles. The lands work great with the druid part, but the flavor could be sorted out. I would take out “jump-start” as a keyword and just work in the wording “you may cast from your graveyard” etc., make a new character, and flavor them appropriately. The flavor text should complement the mechanics; as it is, I’m not certain.

Nitpicks: “jump-start” should be lowercase, but it doesn’t really matter if you do end up taking it out. 

@arashisann — Yurlok’s Conflux

Intent: With Yurlok being a new commander hotness, I can see the intent of this card as a Jundian standard/supplemental addendum. The lava flow makes mountains, then the second ability...represents something predatory? And the last is Jund destruction. The R>B>G makes sense there.

Improvement: I don’t know if this card is necessary salvageable as-is; you might be better off making two or three separate cards if you want to show this character. When making a saga, you have to tell a story in a limited form, and it’s hard, absolutely! You represented the lava flow in the first ability quite well, and I do like that a lot. The creature and artifact sacrifice isn’t indicative of anything that I can follow story-wise. Reading the wiki I understand the way that you might want to represent the Thrash dying or Esper being invaded. I don’t believe this is the way to do it. With the very last sentence not doing anything when you’re sacrificing anyway, I don’t believe the best card for you is a saga at all. How could you tell this in an instant or sorcery card, perhaps? The moment that Yurlok comes over the Esper border?

Nitpicks: “non-Mountain;” the land type should be capitalized in both parts, see Quicksilver Fountain. The ability should also be one word. As I mentioned, removing the counters doesn’t do anything mechanically because it’s sacrificed after resolution. Check the MSE Discord if you want to get your text fixed, BTW. I know how frustrating that can be.

@askkrenko — Etherium Restoration

Intent: You know, even without Ed being there, I’m getting a Bruna-ish feel. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just that UW expensive returning stuff kinda has those associations. The fact that the creature is being restored with etherium though is pretty awesome, and you know what, that alone (the return plus the re-artifacting) is a great way to convey what Esper does and wants to do. 

Improvement: The aura and equipment stuff doesn’t grab me, honestly. What do auras have to do with Esper? And the only equipment that I could find that fit was Mask of Riddles. So I’m going to stop here because the obvious answer is that you’re exploring new story design space for what Esper might be. I respect that. With the information we have now, it’s middle-of-the-road. My vote would be to make this (3)(B/W)(U) and make an argument for UW reanimation to artifice overall, then completely drop the aura/equipment part. Plus, gotta say, I know the flavor text is a pop culture thing but you’re messin’ with my favorite plane! Show some respect! /j

Nitpicks: If you do keep that second part, “Aura” and “Equipment” should be capitalized.

@bread-into-toast — Krofor, Corpse Hauler

Intent: It’s a nightmare insect? I’m down. Even without that particular piece of art I can see how people might be afraid of a giant bug. This is pretty evidently a Commander-geared card although I can see how casual brewers might want to throw it down in a combo match and do some graveyard hate. GW graveyard exile and black ability scavaging is pretty cool, so I can see where your intent was with that. Good catch putting “Nightmare” first, too. I almost suggested mixing it around. I like how aggressive this card can be.

Improvement: Firstly, Corpse Hauler is literally another card which already had a self-evident mechanical ability to get creatures back to the hand. Even if it’s an homage, I would distinguish it; besides, it’s not so much “hauling” corpses as it is eating them. Presumably. “All abilities” is a bit of a slippery slope, too. Activated abilities is one thing, but all abilities whatsoever? I’m uncertain if that’s design space you want to tap into, but don’t pull the trigger. My main issue is that you have the activated ability cost “X and W, B or G.” I understand what you were trying to do but that that point you might as well just have it be “1X.” There wouldn’t be anything stopping you from making that mana already. In short, rectify the name to fit flavor, change the ability cost, and be wary of weird interactions with abilities.

Nitpicks: “Lifelink” and “Vigilance” should be lowercase ‘l’ and ‘v’ respectively. The X in the rules text of the activated ability should also be spelled out and not a mana symbol. You can change this in MSE by highlighting, then going to the star next to the bold/italic toggle and turning it off.

@col-seaker-of-the-memiest-legion — Sevala, Exiled Naturalist

Intent: I read up on what happened with Selvala after the events of the first Conspiracy set, and I see how you set off to mimic that, but then I saw the note about the Timeshifting, and yeah, I guess that works.. The green landfall, the red flashback and the white Path come across well. I suppose this is more of an eternal-themed card, although I could be wrong.

Improvement: Yeah, technically there’s nothing stopping you from having a noncreature card as a partnerable card. I’m trying to be diplomatic about the implications, though. Okay. So Selvala’s white aspect was introduced in the first Conspiracy set as she was heavily connected to the citizens of Paliano and worked as a community diplomat against the establishment. She forged a stronger connection to nature and thus became more green in her overhaul of the city. Path to Exile is not in her wheelhouse. She does not exile; she parlays, communes with creatures, seeks out new futures. What exiling magic does she have? What judgement? It doesn’t exist in her character, nor does the redness. Frankly landfall doesn’t really fit her character as well. The point is that even if a character could have a partner that’s a concept (which is antithetical to the mechanic as a whole), the spell you have chosen contrasts with Selvala instead of complementing her. And what does she have to do with flashback anyway? To improve this card, completely restart the conceptual process.

Nitpicks: The character’s name is misspelled. 

@deafeningsandwichpeach — Ilharg, the Craze-Boar

Intent: Ha, I get it. I’m going to go out on a huge limb here, because I mean as much as I like all of this I get the feeling that either the name or art came before the full concept. Nothing wrong with that, because ultimately the card is good. SO. Either this is designed for a Timeshifted set where something really awful happens to our poor Boar God, or, well, something really bad DID happen to him somehow. I’m not sure what the land return represents flavorfully but it’s fine mechanically. The creature return as well is BR and I’m down for that, strong as it is. This card evokes the colors in a way that makes it slightly different than Jund; maybe it’s the art but I’m getting Innistrad vibes from him, the madness returning, the pain going on inside his head. It’s neat. Again, massive stretch though, let’s be real.

Improvement: And with that in mind, I wouldn’t have made him Ilharg. Honestly, this should’ve been a new character, and I would have been a lot more generous. I don’t really get what Ilharg as a whole even in an alternate timeline has to do with lands returning considering that he’s a big ol’ nasty city destroyer. Mechanically, this card needs to cost like EIGHT mana. The card you return from your graveyard to the battlefield stays there, and with a big enough graveyard you don’t have to worry about getting things from your hand anymore. Turns 1-4 dump all your creatures, turn five get the best of them if not earlier? Pretty busted in any format. For eight mana I wouldn’t complain.

Nitpicks: “up to two land cards,” not “lands.” Question: why isn’t he a God?

@deg99 — Radiant Return (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: Black reanimation, white attachment, red hastiness. All the colors are definitely there! There’s something Mardu-not-Mardu about this RWB card, and I think I like it. I could see it as a standard card, definitely, or as a commander staple for a really interesting commander. I’m honestly not sure exactly what kind of deck would really appreciate this card right now! Keskit/Akiri? The Auras part is a little more interesting. Ardenn/Vial...Smasher? The fact that it defies current archetypes but still makes sense is very cool to me. I also wonder what a standard expansion in which RWB auraquipment is an archetype would look like now.

Improvement: A little flavor text could make this work one degree better. It’s really on me that  you went into the future with this card, isn’t it. There’s no major improvement to be made besides that. Consider contextualizing for future contests, perhaps? When necessary, anyway.

Nitpicks: “Return target...to the battlefield, then attach any number of Auras and/or Equipment you control to it...etc.” Don’t need the trigger.

@demimonde-semigoddess — Seaglide Whaler

Intent: A pirate’s life for me! So we got an aggressive tempo-y pirate person with a decent couple of sharpshooter abilities. Blue sirens are certainly reasonable, as are Grixis pirates. I like the notion that it has to attack to “survey” and then take whatever shots it makes. I don’t think Ixalan could have had this card but honestly the future is a place where anything could happen.

Improvement: The problem with these colors is that in practical terms, the second mode is strictly black and yet can be played in an Izzet deck. Hybrid is a weird mistress. As much as these abilities might neatly tie into the three colors, hybrid makes deck construction nearly impossible. You can have a pinger in UB or a Fatal Blow in UR, both of which are either severe bends or breaks. Making this a straight UBR 3/1 flier could have been okay, perhaps, or having on-color activations, but as it is now, hybrid makes things hard. Consider looking at a Venn diagram between UB and UR to consider more appropriate abilities?

Nitpicks: Kathari Bomber implies the second mode to be “...damage this turn and sacrifice Seaglide Whaler.”

@dimestoretajic — The Dark Tendril

Intent: Sultai skulk-lord could be a fun card to open and build around in limited, and a BUG defender-y deck could have some fun application. I like how you’ve made the new character and sort of done another take on treefolk.

Improvement: For this contest, I don’t feel a strong color balance in this card. Skulk was a weird black/blue centered mechanic, sure, and green assigns the toughness, but… This feels like it’s trying to make skulk look cool rather than address the issue that skulk was just plain not a good mechanic. I get where the color weight is supposed to be but the whole thing is shadowed by that underlying desire. If this card had just been “Creatures you control can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power” and the other stuff, on a name/type that was more resonant, then I think it could have been a stronger contender. I don’t understand the world in which “The Dark Tendril” lives. I don’t understand why it’s a treefolk. I would get rid of naming skulk, make the type more apparent, and give the character some character.

Nitpicks: Three-colored cards really should have a gold border, not a hybrid one. Also, promo frames tend not to have flavor text (with exceptions for cards with no rules text like Memnite).

@driftingthruthecosmos — Ulti, Sudden Conjurer

Intent: I like that triggered ability because it’s got some smooth flow over it. GU has its flash aspect, but black also likes destructive instants, and then the Disentomb-effect fits nicely into a payoff that feels black for sure. I also like how you’re using the three colors to push the card into a really neat 3/3 aggressive creature. Flash and deathtouch literally only show up together in these three colors but not together—and here you are changing that on a powerful legend!

Improvement: But the fact that she can only return creatures with flash is kind of a bummer. Sure there are plenty of cards that could work with her, and having some Ambush Viper casual tribal wouldn’t be too bad, but it’s still limiting. I would have implied that she works with flash, or let players work with flash, without being so specific about it, and I feel that the card would be improved with implied flash tribal over explicit in this case. Additionally, what on earth is that last ability doing? Each end step, you have to sacrifice a creature or lose one of your potential targets for her trigger? I have the feeling that you may have been too cautious to push power levels here. If you want to limit her, have it be “Whenever you cast your first spell during each opponent’s turn…” or something, and axe that last part.

Nitpicks: “unless you sacrifice a nontoken creature.” Full stop, you can never sacrifice creatures you don’t control so adding “you control” is redundant.

@dumbellsndragons — Gorvax, Lich of the Horde

Intent: It’s a Mardu zombie orc wizard. At this point, you’re already doing something right for the Timmies out there. The first ability has Tainted Remedy plus some crazy draw after that, and oh man, it’s begging to be punishing. “I’m gonna Heliod’s Intervention you. Deck yourself. Runeflare Trap. Molten Psyche.” But also, that second ability? You can Bolt during an opponent’s turn and turn it into a one-red-mana Ancient Craving. For mythic, to build around? I honestly think that that’s perfectly fine. And insanely powerful.

Improvement: There’s weird stuff going on, but the hard part is that I don’t know if there’s things to improve. Giving your spells lifelink has Jeskai precedent, but it’s not NOT black. Doing a little digging, I can see that there are indeed zombies and even liches on Tarkir, but only in Sultai… But there’s no reason that the Mardu wouldn’t have them, right? Hm, maybe “Victory or Death” gets muddled here. Wizard, though, that’s a sticking point. And frankly, the whole “Lich” thing. I don’t see the lichiness in the abilities or the wizardry in the Mardu. You know what would be dumb fun? Ditching the Mardu aspect and making this WUBR. Wouldn’t fit the contest but what a friggin’ commander.

Nitpicks: None!

@emmypupcake — Knight of Summer’s Vigor

Intent: I was surprised to see that there are actually quite a few green Knights. It makes sense, of course, considering both Eldraine and Bant and Selesnya. So yeah, an elf knight who makes more knights? This is a powerful card with some crazy abilities if it gets out of control at all, but the color restrictions and the lack of substantial evasion ensure that it’s not busted out of the gate. The name’s pretty good, too! Oh, Knight of New Alara...

Improvement: For this contest, I don’t feel color blending as much. Tokens with GW and knights with R(W) are fine, yeah, but aside from that, the colors of the tokens and the general feeling of the card isn’t enough to really excite me. I do want to see a set in which this card could exist, perhaps, with multicolored knights and elves and whatnot. I don’t have any real improvements for this card; I just don’t think it stands out against some of the weirdness. Keep it around and add some flavor text. Consider: what would you like for this set to be? In what world would these knights exist? Why is summer important?

Nitpicks: “Whenever,” not “when.” See Pollenbright Wings

@evscfa1 — Estrid, the Unmasker

Intent: The Commander sets with shard Planeswalkers did give us a lot to work with but not a lot of extra stuff, so it makes sense that people might pick up on them for the contest. White auras, exile, and taxing all make sense mechanically. I feel that this is more standard than supplemental, a little weirdness for the way that the specific tokens and all would want to work. I don’t mind that part, honestly. Bringing Estrid back would be fine by me, even as monocolored. 

Improvement: Because, well, this is a mono-white card. The +1 creates white Auras (that don’t do anything, so that’s an issue), the -2 is close to Generous Gift, and the -8 is an enchantment-oriented Hum of the Radix, like a twist between Sphere of Safety and Aura of Silence. None of these abilities feel anything but white. The emblem is arguably UW, but not by much. With Auras that don’t do anything and a color identity that doesn’t mechanically contribute to the card, I feel that you can either keep her and buff some of the abilities or try to make her feel more in line with the contest, which you don’t really have to do at this point. I’m also worried about the name and the ability tie-ins. Estrid doesn’t “unmask” at all, does she? She’s a mask user, not a revealer of truth or any of the things “unmasking” would imply. Why would she make a False Mask? Is this some alternate storyline? If so, I don’t really understand what changed, or why.

Nitpicks: “*Its controller” in the -2, “*get an emblem” in the -8.

@fractured-infinity — Rhythm of Death (rare)

Intent: Red (/black) gains first strike, black (/green) has deathtouch, green (/red kind of) has lure. Everything’s coming together in a kind of keyword soup, so that’s all well and good! In limited someone who opens this will be very, very happy to make people cry. In casual Commander, it’s sure to help make negotiations.

Improvement: In terms of this contest, yeah, this isn’t really buttering my radishes. It’s there, it’s pretty standard, and it makes sense. There are two cards that have first strike and deathtouch and four more that can gain it naturally and all but one are in those colors. And that wouldn’t be a problem if this card was presented differently. I’m ignoring the art for now because it’s actually distracting here. What is the “rhythm?” Is something being given the rhythm? What’s repeating, cycled, constant? What about a rhythm gives the creature these abilities? Change the name, flavor it up, get some text in there, and use blank art. 

Nitpicks: “Enchant creature (lowercase) >> Enchanted creature has first strike and deathtouch, and must be blocked if able.” Take that with a grain of salt, though. Protective Bubble might have it say “Enchanted creature must be blocked if able and has first strike and deathtouch.” Or you can cut the middleman and make it two lines: “Enchanted creature has first strike and deathtouch. // Enchanted creature must be blocked if able.”

@gollumni — Exotic Wings

Intent: It’s interesting that we have two back-to-back “must be blocked” cards (hm, no shorthand?) in a row, both Auras no less, but very different. I like your flavor use with the wings being a status symbol, bright and glittery, and therefore turning the creature into irresistible prey of sorts. Aura colors are good, and the solid green effect is in there as well. The mechanics fit a pretty standard-ly powerful draft uncommon that can be used for beating down when necessary. 

Improvement: I’m 90% sure that right now GW doesn’t get flying by itself anymore, or at least very rarely. Pollenbright Wings and Shield of the Oversoul exist, so I’m on the fence. Maybe I’m biased with recent printings, but for two mana I’m not sure it’s what GW would need. That said, I’m sure there’s dissent and arguments to be made, and yes, I know its full color identity includes blue; this is pragmatic. I think this could have been solidly WUG with another buff, perhaps, but that just would have made it favorable for this contest and honestly it’s up to playtesting to see if those colors need a cheap flying aura. But the wings. The flavor. I… So these wings belong to birds, naturally? Who is summing this enchantment for mating? This is some kind of buff or boon that most any creature could have so in what world is some enchant-o-mancer giving “do me” wings to Mx. Passerby?? But, this may be just a quirk of the game, yeh?

Nitpicks: None!

@hiygamer — Etherium Replicator (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: Major kudos for making my look up Prototype Portal and seeing that my gut was wrong and that you DID use the right wording! This is a super-Esper card, more than any of the imprinted cards and honestly a great use of the art. Thopter Foundry is a great card but this one isn’t a bad use and would kind of make sense. Now, I’m not going to put this in improvements, because I want to ask a question: could this card be just plain UW? Possibly, but also consider: this card could be just a straight-up artifact as well, and it feels better how it is now. Why? Because the black invokes a different feeling. It invokes consumption, recycling, progress, larceny, calculation. It’s a very blue side of black. And it also feels, well, Esper! Its an established use of theme!... Honestly it’s probably more that. But I like it anyway. I’d say my bias was showing but none of the winners necessarily invoked Alara straight-up so thpt.

Improvement: There are mostly just wording errors. To be honest, if you’re getting something big, could this card be three mana? That’s probably pushing it, but worth testing. Multicolor custom cube time.

Nitpicks: “enterS the battlefield” (tense), “artifact or creature” (instead of the other way around), and most importantly: “Create a token that’s a copy of A CARD exiled with Etherium Replicator” etc. Because you can copy the ETB trigger and/or use shenanigans to exile other cards.

@hypexion — Ferrari, Sharp Scrapper

Intent: Well if my eyes don’t deceive me, it’s another Esper card! And an artifact-y card? Hm, artifact-enchant-y card. It’s easy to see the designation between colors, with self-mill and the lifegain going into black but leaning towards all three colors, the second ability being straight Disenchant, and the last one being an interesting UB pseudo-reanimation on the cheap, which is super interesting and aggressive. I can see this card intended as either a standard staple or being used as a supplemental planeswalker face card. There’d be a heavy amount of artifacts and enchantments for sure, probably artifact creatures.

Improvement: Did I miss something? When did WUB start caring about enchantments as a multicolor wedge identity? Alela and Zur have their thing, sure, but are those the baseline now? I’m more head-scratching and 0% mad, honestly. As a flavorful card, though, I’m not sure what you’re conveying exactly. So they get rid of stuff and they’re happy when they find garbage, but sometimes they want to scrap things they don’t like, but then they can recreate some of your garbage? Let’s back up and say that this card isn’t a Scrapper and that they’re an artifact/enchantment person. In the most general sense, I don’t really feel a harmony of ideas. The card feels one-note, like there’s very little to do besides abuse the -2 ability and maybe the -1 to get rid of some big thing on the table. The +1 exists to serve the -2, and the -1 feels like it’s trying to be protective for protection’s sake. I don’t know why this character does the things they do through the card. As utility planeswalkers become more abundant, the things they do have to be more resonant; imagine a fully-built world and put your card in the middle. No card is a metaphorical island.

Nitpicks: I think (maybe) that the +1 could be: “Mill up to three cards, then you gain 3 life for each artifact and/or enchantment card milled this way.”

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Corpse Spell

Intent: I think you made this very apparent. As a counterspell, it does the job well, and then it lets you get an idea for free! The choice of casting a noncreature spell is particularly interesting, as it plays into this weird and not-really-that-common theme of transfiguration. Obviously polymorphing appears in blue and red but it feels black because of the flavor you’ve chosen to convey. That’s a great job.

Improvement: The big mechanical thing is that I would 100% make this let you case an instant, sorcery or creature instead of just a “noncreature spell.” These colors don’t really feel like they could transmute a creature into something that’s not an idea or, well, a corpse, and it really seems as though that’s the idea you’re going for. The big flavor thing, though, is the name. I really and truly don’t know what you’re trying to convey. Now, I’m aware that English isn’t your first language, and that’s a barrier that I’m not sure how to cross for this kind of criticism. “Corpse Spell” seems like a playtest name. As a concept, this card is great. As a submission, I’m still having to extrapolate a lot; most importantly, it doesn’t tell me how the caster is using the magic to turn a creature into something else. Work on telling that story, and when possible, use native speakers to help get ideas across.

Nitpicks: I think the wording would be: “Counter target creature spell. You may cast target noncreature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to that spell’s converted mana cost  from your graveyard without paying its mana cost, and if that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.” Because if you exile it as it resolves and it’s, like, an artifact or planeswalker, what’s the point? Hence my note about instants/sorceries and maybe other creatures.

@ignorantturtlegaming — Draxys, Scourge Eternal

Intent: This card absolutely fits the elemental shell. It feels to me like a standard or CMR-style bomb mythic that hits the table and kinda goes nuts. I mean, it wouldn’t be your commander probably, but in Conspiracy-style? Man. Multiplayer draft, that’s what I mean. It gets cards, it gets counters, it deals damage, then Blitz Hellion-s away. It does indeed feel like a blend of all the crazy things that come in these colors, and you did that much very well. It’s not broken, but it’s powerful, and it’s repeatedly monstrous (not the mechanic, lol) with the fear that it’ll return (until someone Doom Blades it, but that’s the game for ya). Great feeling of a massive beautiful monster.

Improvement: Really, the one thing I would do to improve it would be to consolidate the second and third triggers into “When Draxys enters the battlefield, draw four cards, put four +1/+1 counters on it, then it deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of creatures and/or planeswalkers.” No, wait—why not make it an 8/8 and just have it draw cards and deal damage? Because of its massive cost, you’re not gonna play it and then activate Wheel of Fortune in the same turn unless you’re playing some crazy massive game, and then it just shuffles away anyway! So, my suggestion would be to make this one massive bomb when it hits and really get the Timmy out of it.

Nitpicks: None!

@jsands84 — Quarrel, Tariff Enforcer

Intent: The colors are obvious enough, right? A sphinx (blue) based on taxing and punishing (white) to make your opponents lose life (black). Couldn’t be simpler. The color weight is reminiscent of standard cards like Ultimatum cycles but heck, we’ve seen weirder commander cards in the past. I like the fact that even though the color weight is really heavy, the keywords support that kind of aggression without being too overbearing like we’ve seen in other chase rares and mythics.

Improvement: That said, I don’t think it needs that weight at all. 3WUB would have done the exact same and it wouldn’t have looked awkward. Why would it need that weight in the first place? Well, perhaps if it entered the battlefield with an amazing immediate effect. And this card, well, it doesn’t. You have a great eye for flavor and the fact that a legendary (read:uniquely adept) sphinx is enforcing the tax laws of the universe? 10/10. But it doesn’t need that kind of punishment, especially considering, like, the effect really doesn’t come up outside of vintage. So yeah, reduce the weight.

Nitpicks: In the flavor text, “their” referring to the universe is kind of an odd pronoun. With most cases IIRC the concept is objectified instead of personalized, see Aether Adept. (Also there aren’t many cards with ‘universe’ in the flavor text, surprisingly.)

@justincase-1012 — Startling Wisp

Intent: Illusions are almost entirely blue (and one of only two illusions with zero blue in its box is Esper-centric, funnily enough) so that’s all interesting, but this is definitely breaking from the artifact theme and going for color flavor. The fact that it is the one doing the startling is somewhat black, but the discard definitely is. Because of the narrowness of this ability, I feel that it’s intended to be a draft/standard oriented card as opposed to eternal breadth. A 1/1 flying indestructible spirit in these colors is honestly pretty fair and ghostly!

Improvement: This card is too narrow to be common but definitely too specific to be rare, and that narrowness really is...weird. It doesn’t just require noncombat damage, but it requires noncombat damage from creatures. Why? “The next time a source would deal noncombat damage to you or another creature you control this turn” would be perfectly reasonable. Also, why the next phase? Just have it say “Then, if ~ is on the battlefield, return it to its owner’s hand.” The timing doesn’t feel necessary. And honestly, I don’t find this card “startling” much. It’s alluring, certainly, but not startling. Consider renaming and tightening the focus. Too narrow and things just get ugly.

Nitpicks: So you do need “this turn” as I said above, and then looking at other printed oracle text: “that damage is dealt to ~ instead” etc. etc. 

@kytheon4-4 — Surrak of New Atarka

Intent: Surrak was a three-color monster the last time we saw him, and he’s back in action now and reclaiming his colors. This is definitely meant to be a commander of sorts, hyper-aggressive with some awesome combat to boot. The first ability’s Gleam of Battle is really aggressively costed here but it makes sense in a timeline when he’s reclaimed some kind of new unity. And of course, the callbacks to both Tarkir timelines is there and well and good. Color-wise, your choice to then go ahead and make a future new timeline is really interesting and I can feel that sort of “new ‘Naya’” blood pumping in Surrak’s veins.

Improvement: The first damage trigger is great, if pretty pushed for Naya colors. The second clause is… Well, call it a “winmore” if you want, but it really is a winmore. Big creatures are big and that’s okay, but if they’re that big and dealing damage, then an indestructible counter is kind of adding insult to injury. And frankly, why not combine these all into one trigger, so that the Gleam ability is just a little less pushed? Whenever the creature deals damage, THEN it gets a counter, and IF it’s four or greater THEN you draw a card, and THEN if it’s eight or greater, something weird happens.

Nitpicks: None!

@mardu-lesbian — Contentious Pair

Intent: A white Soldier, a red Goblin, and a deathtouch counter, and yep, the gang’s all here. Token-making in red and white is pretty standard, a little less for BR and more heavily in the white part of WB, but all the same there’s nothing wrong with that appearing in the three-color combo. It’s interesting you went for a post-Conflux kind of deal with Alara...wedges? Really unique. This is most definitely designed to be a common card for a standard expansion, meant to be drafted and whatnot. It implies a lot about the potential future!

Improvement: I’m unsure how you came up with these colors and creature types. Bant, the shard of soldiers, and Jund, of Goblins, do have one shared color: green. But then this card would have been what, white-green-red? And that’s problematic in another way, and I get that. As it stands, though, this feels heavily weighted towards BR and less towards white, and honestly, this feels definitely uncommon. You get two bodies at instant speed, one of which will most likely destroy an attacking creature. Instant deathtouch isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it’s been in standard for a bit. The bodies and potential permanent deathtouch when you have an empty board is what raises the complexity. My flavor question: why are they contentious? Makes me feel like we’re seeing the start of the story more than a split-second moment; this card might feel better as an uncommon sorcery.

(Also, I’m just imagining them coming over a mountain at instant-speed during combat, and the soldier and the goblin are just talking about their differences and the goblin is showing off their poison dagger when a beast just WHAMS into them and they both instantly die as the soldier looks on in shock and horror. I do love it when cards tell weird stories.)

Nitpicks: None, I don’t think.

@misterstingyjack — Galtiber, Segovian Titan

Intent: Ah, the memes. Well, still, 1/1 tribal is an interesting take on the whole build-around-me dealio. I can honestly say I’m unsure where this card would fit, but that’s not a bad thing. It feels build-around me, but could it work in a limited environment? You’d need a higher as-fan of 1/1s or tokens, and that’s not a bad thing. Honestly, this card doesn’t feel too bad. He’s a protector and he makes them all work together. It’s a neat little design that captures the diligence, unity and edification of these citizens.

Improvement: I really can’t think of a place where this card would see play, though, and the issue is? There’s no real way to improve that past putting this in a pretty bonkers set where it can either go nuts or be mediocre. There are a lot of cool things you can do with this card, but where does he fit? Segovia is a weird plane and designing for it is hard. I love this card and would love to build with it but the fact is that it’s just going to be weird. I’ll put this in nitpicks, but there’s wording issues. Additionally, talking about the character by name in the flavor text is a little off-putting to me. I’m sure it’s happened before but the story feels like a moment being described more than a character.

Nitpicks: “Creatures you control with base power and toughness 1/1” is the correct way to word these things, Iiii think.

@morbidlyqueerious — Ricantha, Ribbon-Dancer (mythic) (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: As much as this technically could be someone’s general, I like this card as a standard-legal mythic, like Kethis or Yarok. It’s surprisingly easy to understand while being quite powerful in its own way. I wouldn’t call it a Voltron card so much as I would call it a control bomb, certainly for limited. The white-blue deals with the tapping, more the blue with the freezing, and the alluring aspect and keywords fill in the green. It brings a lot of the multicolored feel even with a monocolor activated ability. 

Improvement: You know, the flavor almost outshines the color aspect. Looking back I do see the intent, but I’m also mostly seeing an interesting take on the dancing and the enchanting aspect. They’re vigilant, they ‘tie down’ the creatures, and they make other creatures follow them. Honestly, this is a case of “right card wrong contest,” where you made a great card to convey the specific act of ribbon-dancing and a dance leader so much that it overtakes the intent of color. The jokingly biting way of saying this is that you didn’t pander to me as a judge enough (/s). I don’t know about reach; first strike, maybe, to show their agility?

Nitpicks: The combat trigger should be one sentence, see the oracle on Kamigawa snakes.

@mtg-ds — Majak, Revival Instigator (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: Now I wouldn’t call this a gimmick card but I would say that there’s a lot going on here, again, with the flavor. Sacrificing each other creature actually feels white in a Cataclysmic way but with a black edge of making all the zombies. Hasty zombies fills in the red and plays into the instigative aspect, and man, getting everyone out onto the dance floor? I’ll admit that this card is kind of silly with the art, but there’s something unusually cathartic about it. He enters, turns them all into zombies, makes them dance, then whenever someone else dies they join the dance, and when he leaves the music stops. Like, it’s kind of brilliant, how the zombies can’t dance without him. As a flavorful card for a supplemental set I think that you did a fantastic job.

Improvement: My first small note is that the art is again really distracting, and like, I understand that that might’ve been the purpose but “zombie dance party” out of context feels a little unusual, and the name “Revival Instigator” is a touch on the nose. But those are small concerns next to the fact that this card really could have been black/red and wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. Could’ve even kept the Cleric typing. Again, I need to also say that this card is downright fantastic mechanically, but just not quite white there for the purposes of this contest. Keep this card as-is, maybe make him a Human IMO. I don’t have any significant improvements.

Nitpicks: None!

@naban-dean-of-irritation — Tamakoma, Spectral Shiver (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: Clever clogs, I looked up that name and it is indeed fitting! Very clever you are, just as clever as giving the UB flash ninja ETB feeling that strikes fear into the heart of those who don’t know she’s coming. White’s got the spirit flash and indestructible, black’s got deathtouch, flash, AND indestructible, and blue’s got the ninja feeling. Something tells me this would totally be a supplemental card unless Kamigawa goes three-colors, but to be honest I get a MH1 vibe more, and that’s okay too. Major kudos for making me double-check cards like Ambuscade Shaman for this weird wording.

Improvement: I can see how this card would be white flavorfully; I think its just precedent working against you. Because of the way that black has been encroaching upon indestructible in the past couple years, this card could just be blue-black and fit into the ninja feeling just as well. I personally like the white spirit aspect. It’s just not as present here as I would have liked for this contest. Great card, no mechanical improvements.

Nitpicks: I don’t know if “the hollows of the night” are, like, a thing? I don’t know, just as a writer it reads weird to me. One day I’ll be accredited and that won’t seem like such a jackass comment too.

@nine-effing-hells —  Llanlaia Rywh, the Inmost Eye

Intent: I like your take on elves here, using the focus and mood to turn the ordinarily green elves into some warrior monastery funky stuff. I’m getting the sense of a cave world, or some kind of twisted plane where expectations are thwarted and the different races of Magic have to find their own kind of way around. Definitely a face card for the tribe in whatever set it’s based in. 

Improvement: There’s no blue and black here, or at least I’m not feeling it mechanically, and for this contest that’s the most important thing. Giving a Runed Halo effect on a pump is really darn powerful, and to have this dismiss any damage or removal at instant speed is definitely powerful and definitely white. The concept of looking within for meditation is a bit blue, sure, but I don’t see that expressed on this card as much. I do have some major presentation issues. The name is almost completely unpronounceable, so consider shortening it and cleaning it significantly. The flavor text is also in need of shortening and edits. “Look within to look around.” With a hint that the elves are blind, boom, you’re golden. So: name change, flavor paring, and consider that this card feels overall white. That said, for flavor and balance reasons for this card, keeping those colors is fine. Also consider that this is a really damn powerful beater.

Nitpicks: None that I can tell.

@partlycloudy-partlyfuckoff — Everlasting Forefather

Intent: Here’s the thing: I’ll get to stuff in the ‘improvements’ section but mechanically, this card is really interesting for a number of flavorful reasons. Three-mana 4/3 with mentor is perfectly powerful in these colors, that’s great, flavorfully fine as a forefather. Creating two spirits upon death, awesome, those are the embodiments of his students and ideals, and most importantly, play into the embalm, where his zombie can teach the spirits after death and makes for great flying beaters, AND that Zombie token will make more spirits in remembrance. The use of flavorful mechanics gives it an interesting edge even if all these individual mechanics could be in mono-white.

Improvement: One, I would personally make this a warrior, but that’s super minor. Two… I can’t think of any reason outside a custom set where you’d have three non-evergreen mechanics from three different sets and two different planes on the same card. It feels like a custom card, not in the sense that it’s at all thoughtless or amateurish, because it’s not, but because there’s no way of making these pieces come together in a meaningful way; it feels like you’re removing the restrictions on what can go together for the sake of it. MH1 did have some mechanical mashups and we’ve explored that before. This feels like a bit too much for what we’re looking for. Honestly, for a custom multicolor cube or w/e, keep this card. But you might also want to consider MSE or having someone render for you, because with the VERY necessary rules text, this one takes up a lot of text; no room for flavor, and no need, ‘cause you do it all naturally anyway.

Nitpicks: Mm, none, I don’t think!

@reaperfromtheabyss — Glorified Minddrinker (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: This is definitely asking to be in a standard/draftable set as a tribal beater. You give it evasion, you use other vampires/warlocks to mess stuff up, you get in, and you drink. BW vampire lifegain meets the milling, and there you have it. What I really like is the fact that it’s “any card,” like Bloodchief Ascension, but that feels blue, because they’re drinking from the mind and not just the body, and I dunno, I REALLY like that kind of neat flavor niche. I also love how this makes a really roundabout already-exploited infinite combo with Sanguine Bond and Mindcrank, both of which are halves of other better combos.

Improvement: Mechanically, there’s nothing to improve here, except you might want to consider some kind of evasion. I think there’s just the nitpick of having “Glorified” in there without any understanding of what makes this creature glorified or why. A snippet of flavor could have helped with that, and with only two abilities. I don’t know, this one just didn’t pop to me for some reason. It’s a perfectly fine submission, and it just needs a little more pop.

Nitpicks: None! Nice and clear.

@shootingstarhunter — Storm Key

Intent: I find it interesting that the mana made from sacrificing is red but the abilities have a central Riku-like fascination. This feels like a supplemental card for sure, although I’m sure there are standard shenanigans. It would require a set in which RUG/Temur has an artifact theme and in which giving things storm is on the table. I have the feeling that in a genuinely competitive Maelstrom Wanderer deck that this card could turn a possible win into a guaranteed win. It’s there to help big things be bigger, but without a win-more feel, and I like that.

Improvement: In terms of this contest, it lacks elegance in its cohesion. The flavors don’t necessarily blend as well as they could. There’s a lot of rules text that emphasizes the separation rather than blending it together. My suggestions: Make it just cost RUG, no generic, reword the first ability to be: “When ~ is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, add R for each spell you’ve cast this turn,” and the second ability to “5, T, Sacrifice ~: When you cast your next instant, sorcery or creature spell this turn, copy it for each spell you’ve cast before it this turn.” And then add reminder text about targets and permanents. A tiny bit more flexible and less text, and you can add in some flavor. Personally I don’t really get the “Key” aspect. It feels more like a big machine of sorts.

Nitpicks: Remember to capitalize “Sacrifice” in the ability costs. Second reminder text should be “You don’t choose new targets for the copies.” I think, there’s not much precedent. Check the MSE Discord for tech help in getting your name/type text straightened out if you’d like.

@snugz — Erratic Polymorph (JUDGE PICK)

Intent: This does feel very wild, more of the Temur frontier or even the Ketria triome. Either one of those sets getting a return could have this, or a supplemental draft set on that world, or a commander product aimed at those timelines. This card’s pretty flexible in that sense! The red lack of control over twisty magic is definitely evident, with the green bear and the blue otters as representative of those sides of the wild. I like how you took blue’s natural sense and made it river/forest oriented. Big boys and little boys do different kinds of cool damage. I can dig it! (Although I’m more inclined to bears than otters myself…)

Improvement: I wouldn’t call this “elegant” as a primary adjective for its color balance, even though it’s very neat still overall. The obviousness of green being bears and blue being otters doesn’t take away from the fact that both of them make sense. The long and short is that I don’t have card improvements, and this card’s just for a different contest.

Nitpicks: None-zo

@starch255 — Dopplicant

Intent: Very clever, I see. You used white’s enchantment base for the card type even though it’s a strictly red and blue ability. Copying any spells is on the table now with Lithoform Engine so that makes sense. This could be in just about any set with these colors, and you know what, that’s perfectly fine. Jeskai, Raugrin (ugh), or otherwise, there’s cool stuff happening.

Improvement: With a vague name and flavor, it’s easy to have this card be a thumbs-up mechanically, but what...exactly is it? It’s name makes me think of the creature Duplicant, which is fine, makes sense, although it’s not a creature here like any of the other “-cant” cards. I just can’t place it, which is obviously a presentation thing over a mechanical issue. For the Fair, presentation is somewhat important, and also contextualizes your cards. It might just be a “me” thing to keep in mind for when I’m judging, so don’t take it personally at all. I think the idea is sound and all we need is polish.

Nitpicks: None~

@stormtide-leviathan — Jeskai Confluence

Intent: Like the confluences of C15, this is a charm-like modal spell with three pretty standard modes for the colors: blue draw, red damage, white erase. I can see this being part of either a standard return to that other timeline or as part of a “clan clash” supplemental set for sure. 

Improvement: In the main post, there were examples like Shattergang Brothers that were posted as technically fine but not elegant. Totally separating your colors and abilities was part of that, breaking the cohesion. Unfortunately, charm effects were most definitely part of that area. I know that Magic design space isn’t eternally open, and I hate to say this, but because this card uses 2/3 abilities already found on the printed confluences and only minorly changes the damage, this feels somewhat derivative. I would go back to the drawing board and look at overlap rather than individualization, what the colors could have done together to make a card that creates something unique.

Nitpicks: There should be a period after “once” instead of an emdash.

@thedirtside — Twisted Design

Intent: I think that with Tezzeret being who he is and with the cool trend of colored artifacts, this card could absolutely find play in a variety of places. It feels almost like a story card, someone’s terrible (well, twisted) creation. That much is absolutely apparent. The counter/exile is definitely blue and black-ish but I like how the theft kind of ends up being red as well and the artifact typing helps with that. Flavor text is pretty okay too. Short, simple.

Improvement: That...second ability. Are you choose a card as part of a cost? I’m no rules guru but I’m almost certain that you can’t do that. And it doesn’t specify the speed, so you can basically pay the (very fair) cost to exile the spell, but then very unfairly get it back anytime you want. Why random, too? What if that spell has other random restrictions or no legal targets? There’s a lot to unpack from that with no printed precedent because, to put it bluntly, it doesn’t work within the rules. I really like the idea of having a card where you can somehow steal, twist, or morph their spells into new nightmares or futures. Work with that idea to make something URBy that, well, works rules-wise.

Nitpicks: It took me a bit to find your source photo with your source link (X), and I don’t even think that blog’s using proper permission. Here’s the gist: if you can’t find the original photographer, either go stock or don’t use art, OR find a source that’s more easily traceable. Pretend that you’re someone who has to find the source working backwards.

@walker-of-the-yellow-path — Ziziphus, the Lotus Eater

Intent: I could never be like him, I could never talk like that. Also, thank you for making this explicitly commander-based, heh. Food tokens are interesting, and I can see the token art already as well as the kind of person you might imagine Ziziphus to be. Oddly enough, they feel Therosian, considering the “lotus eaters” in the Odyssey, and that’s not a bad thing I suppose. Food’s sort of in the green area, with blue-white profiteering, and the general combat lull sort of encapsulating the whole GWU-ish control feeling. Turbo-fog ahoy.

Improvement: Competitive commander gets shut down pretty easily and casual commander becomes almost instantly unfun. It’s an instant-speed everyone-gets-it nigh-uncounterable Pacifism array that’s flavorfully understandable but puts a target on you as the one person to kill if anyone wants this game to ever end. I understand the top-down design but it’s impractical and I don’t see a game where this being your commander would make the gameplay better. So like Gwafa Hazid, consider your design: what would entice people to take the food? What’s the payoff? How often do you want this to happen to improve gameplay without causing staleness? Is food where you want to go, using lifegain to then further prolong the game?... Oh. Oh, someone can also just lorus-ify Ziziphus itself and then nothing happens in this version. That’s something to consider.

Nitpicks: The name’s really similar to “Sisyphus” in pronunciation. I was distracted.

@whuh-oh — Tainted Lightninghorn

Intent: Some day, I think we’re gonna get a five-color Lightning Blankemental kind of card, and I can’t wait for it. So yeah, it’s an aggressive predatory insect elemental with nasty sauce, and I feel this in a supplemental set for sure. 

Improvement: So as an uncommon, it’s already pretty pushed, too much so. Ball Lightning set a precedent, and it’s a rare for a reason, honestly. That much power even for four mana with the abilities you’ve given it is a but much. For this card, most importantly, I need to be as clear as I can: The interaction between deathtouch and trample is an unintuitive quirk of the game. They do not belong on the same card with zero restrictions, especially not on an uncommon. Sometimes it’s okay to just make a cool card because it’s cool. I like my weird cards, I like my weird interactions. Forcing them feels like choosing indulgence over good design. I’m not feeling the uniqueness of the colors, I’m not feeling the flavor (why does lightning leave decay?), and I’m not feeling the gameplay. Where do we go from here? I think this general concept is fine for a personal set or a supplemental concept. Contextualize it for that area, look at environmental answers, and then see if you want to play with what the colors do.

Nitpicks: I’m 90% sure it’d go “Deathtouch, haste, menace, trample.” Also, I’m sure someone pointed out the whole flying-without-flying thing for the art, that’s very mildly distracting.

@wolkemesser — Murmurs of the Bosk

Intent: Yeah, this is very much a Lorwyn-inspired card, and I’m happy for that. Both the treefolk flavor and the permanent return are green, returning to the battlefield is white and black, and the white enchantment plus toughness matters (also in green) gives this card a magnificent flow of feeling, the trees returning. I can see this in any set, but especially a standard return to Lorwyn, and yet it could have a home in several cool recursion decks! It’s a nice little addition for both lovers of slow return and for treefolk fans.

Improvement: This card was going to be a runner-up or even a judge pick, but the severity of nitpicks grew until I realized that there were just too many problems to give it full commendation. I’ll put the revised wording in the ‘nitpicks’ bar and get to the big ones: the name, and the flavor text. The name is obviously an homage to Murmuring Bosk, right? That’s understandable, but the name is literally so close that I can’t think of anything else. The difference between being honoring and being derivative is enigmatic at times. This particular case is more evident. And the flavor text is almost completely ripped off from Doran’s card itself. Literally, it keeps the order and adds four words that don’t add sense or depth to the character. For future submissions, keep that in mind. As a mechanical suggestion, you could just have it be the greatest toughness without targeting, and it does need to target the card in the graveyard.

Nitpicks: “At the beginning of your upkeep, you may return target permanent card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is the greatest toughness among creatures you control.”

Join us tomorrow, for a new contest, and a brush...with DEATH.

- @abelzumi​

[ihititwithmyaxe]

How to teach someone Magic: the Gathering

I got asked to explain how to teach someone Magic: the Gathering. I have taught many players, and here’s what I found works best when you’re starting from literally nothing. I hope you find this guide useful.

Magic is a hyper-dense game. There are 10x as many rules to teach as a starting player needs to know. If you’re introducing someone with zero experience with Magic, start with the bare minimum. The hardest thing about learning Magic is the sheer volume of rules. It is much harder than you’d think to present the game as too simple, but it is incredibly easy to overwhelm someone new with a barrage of rules and mechanics and vocabulary and interactions and and and and and. Magic is really complex, so the key is starting slow and simple.

Lesson 1: The most basic fundamentals Make two 30-card monocolor decks with only basic lands, creatures, and sorceries. No other card types to start with! You want the decks to be pretty low power level, evenly matched, with a good mana curve, have some simple ways to draw more cards, and include a few exciting but simple cards (Pelaka Wurm, Goliath Sphinx, Sunblast Angel, Rune-Scarred Demon, Thunder Dragon). Use those decks to teach the major essentials:

-parts of a card -turn structure -the mana system -the different zones (except exile and the stack. save those for later!) -how to cast spells and execute other common game actions -very basic rules (one land per turn, how to attack and block, etc) -essential vocabulary (destroy, untap, discard, draw, sacrifice, damage, target, etc)

Keep creatures simple: mostly vanilla and french vanilla, and a very few with enter the battlefield triggers. Avoid repeatable triggers. Use only one or two different keyword abilities per deck and stick to the really easily understood ones that don't break other rules: trample, lifelink, deathtouch, flying, defender, and reach are great introductory keywords. Avoid cards and mechanics that are exceptions to normal rules--as simple as they seem to experienced players, using vigilance, haste, first strike, hexproof, prowess, protection, menace, indestructible, and other creature mechanics make it harder to learn the essential game rules and get the hang of everything 'normal' these mechanics disrupt (tapping, timing, combat damage, targeting, lethal damage, power/toughness, etc). Don't even mention the stack. Don't use any creatures with activated abilities. Only teach the three card types in the starting deck. Use clear, straightforward, flavorfully resonant sorceries: Concentrate, Enlarge, Sever Soul, Righteous Charge, Flame Wave.

It is actually pretty useful to stack the top 10 or 11 cards of their deck the first game so they get a reasonable good flow of lands and spells they can cast on the first few turns (don't let mana screw or flood be their *very* first experience with the game, lol). Practice a few games with those decks, let the newbie stop whenever they want, try to let them win at least one game. Offer to switch decks so they can get a feel for the other deck they’ve seen you play and because seeing how an experienced player uses the same cards they were just using can be helpful, too. Unless the new player is super eager to keep playing, take a break here and call it a day before moving on to the next lesson.

Lesson 2: Enchantments and new Keywords When the new player is ready to play again, play a game to refresh the skills, vocabulary, and information from the first lesson. After a refresher game or two with the basic decks, if it seems like they mostly get the rudimentary game mechanics (not strategy--that’ll come later), explain enchantments by showing some auras and non-aura enchantments, add about 3 of each and 3 lands to both decks, add one sorcery or creature that can destroy enchantments to both decks, then shuffle up and play some more games. After creature, land, and sorcery, the easiest card type to explain using flavor is enchantment, and they are a very helpful bridge to understanding artifacts and equipment. Play a couple games with the decks until the new player gets some hands-on experience using enchantments and figures out how both types work. Then swap out a few vanilla creatures for ones with new keyword abilities that come up a lot: haste, vigilance, first strike, hexproof, menace/intimidate/fear (depending on what era of cards you have). Play a few more games with these decks, then probably take a break before advancing to the third lesson.

Lesson 3: Instants and the Stack Next time you play, if things so far are going well, play another game or two to refresh their memory of what they learned so far, then introduce instants. Instants are a fundamental step up in how games flow and open up a lot of strategy doors. Start with very simple but useful, interactive instants: giant growth, disperse, murder, lightning strike, disenchant. This is when you finally introduce the stack, and it will probably take some getting used to because it’s just a weird game mechanic, but necessary to how the game truly works. Some things have easy flavor to help you explain: “things with deathtouch are extra deadly,” or “things with wings can fly over things without wings.” The stack has no flavor to help you explain, it’s purely a bunch of game rules. This is also a good point to swap out the simplest vanilla creatures for a few slightly more complicated ones that can help players get excited and interested, cards that are easy to fall in love with and show off the most iconic things a color does: Overrun, Vampire Nighthawk, Mind Control, Ghostly Prison, Flametongue Kavu. Play a few games with just simple instants, sorceries, enchantments, creatures, and basic lands. The mechanics and strategies and gameplay here represents a huge amount of what Magic is about, and after a few games with these decks, your protege should have a pretty good foundation.

Recapping what you taught them Take a few minutes to talk through what they’ve been learning and put it into context. Ask them if they are seeing how the three major tangible resources (mana, cards, and life) interact. By now they probably are starting to ask strategy questions, which is great! Explain in simple terms the single most fundamental pillar of Magic strategy: card advantage. Illustrate with different kinds of card advantage: Divination & Mind Rot, Flametongue Kavu, Second Thoughts, Cloudkin Seer, etc. Give some general pointers they can apply in most games, like the more mana you use during each of your turns the better, and think through what creatures live or die in combat if you attack or block a certain way before you decide to do so.

If your pupil is really showing interest in the strategy, now is a fine time to explain the essence of the five colors and basic strategy of the five major deck archetypes. I’ve outlined a really simplified version of each below. But if they aren’t especially showing interest in this, it’s fine to save these explanations for later:

White wins because it’s tougher than you. Blue wins because it’s smarter than you. Red wins because it’s faster than you. Green wins because it’s bigger than you. Black wins because it wants it more than you.

Aggro (aggressive) decks deploy as many cheap, fast threats as early as possible to kill the opponent before they can get set up. They excel in the early turns of the game. Control decks prevent and disrupt the opponent’s game plan, build up card advantage, and win with just one or a few powerful, expensive threats. They excel in games that go long. Midrange decks deploy a mix of mid-sized threats and efficient answers, out-classing aggro decks and pressuring control decks. They’re at their best in the midgame. Ramp decks seek to increase their mana supply faster than the opponent in order to dominate them with more powerful spells than their opponent can afford. They effectively reach the later turns of the game sooner than the opponent. Combo decks combine cards that interact to generate an effect more powerful than the sum of their separate pieces, often winning immediately. They want to find assemble their combo pieces as fast as possible before dying to more conventional strategies.

Where to go from here If they are on board, learning well, and enjoying the game so far then it’s probably you have successfully recruited another Magic fan! If your card collection allows, there are some very common but tricky game elements it’s best if you’ve avoided until now: activated abilities and artifacts, +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters, and multicolor cards. If lessons 1, 2, and 3 went well, it doesn’t matter much which order you introduce these four new game elements. But consider if anything is giving them trouble. If your padawan is struggling with the instants and stack, more practice with that is helpful before introducing activated abilities. Similarly, someone having a hard time with combat math might benefit from more practice with that before learning counters that modify power/toughness. For someone not totally comfortable with how the mana system works, hold off before you introduce multicolor cards and 2-color decks.

The game mechanics I’d suggest learning after these are a teeny bit more complicated, but very common and just about essential for getting into the game at this point: the exile zone, tokens, and cards that care about creature type. It’s also a good time to start slowly introducing mechanics that make the actual gameplay better and more enjoyable: scry, cycling, modal cards, cantrips, tutoring, and color fixing. Getting mana screwed/flooded, not having useful cards, and not having the right colors of mana can make a game very frustrating. These mechanics make those common unfun situations in Magic much more avoidable by helping your rookie player draw the right cards in the right order in more games, which will in turn make learning the game a much happier experience.

Things new players don’t need to worry about Some parts of the game are just too complicated to bring up with someone just learning Magic. You will make learning the game easier for a rookie if you just don’t even bring these up until they really have the hang of the game. -Planeswalkers: They are so much more complicated than any other card type, but they are very cool. -Legendary: this adds so little from a game-play standpoint and is (just in mechanics) basically all downside and extra rules for negligible payoff. -Layers: while necessary for the game to work, put off explaining the layer system as long as you can. It boggles and frustrates, and is a pain to remember, even for people playing for a year or longer. -Formats: it’s easy for new players to worry about card legality and formats, but just focusing on what cards and gameplay are exciting and fun will reel someone in better without touching on this for a while. Compounding a new player’s efforts to learn basic rules with format-specific rules like Planechase, Archenemy, Commander, etc won’t help either. -Multiplayer: As tempting as it is to throw people into multiplayer games to play up the social aspect, many new players can find this overwhelming. A common new player response is to just give up trying to understand what’s happening in a game if there are too many cards to read and track, or play is moving too quickly. Patience on this. -Infrequent, retired, or complex mechanics: stay focused on practicing the basics and the evergreen mechanics (the ones in every or almost every set). Learning the core of the game is easier when you aren’t overloaded with new vocabulary. You can teach someone better without adding in proliferate, exalted, flashback, bushido, hybrid, escalate, or suspend. Protection has come back to the game and is starting to show up more, and regenerate is on tons of old cards that show up in reprint sets and Commander, but both of those mechanics are much denser than mechanics like double strike or scry. -Deckbuilding: this can be a daunting challenge that turns many new players away and often rubs in their face the parts of the game they are the least proficient in. You should do most or all of the deckbuilding or use precons for someone just learning the ropes unless they express a lot of interest in doing this themself.

I hope this guide helps you, but it is only a guide. Remember to teach following the interest and excitement of a new player. Magic is an awesome game, but lots of people find different things to love about it. Finding what your newbie loves is what will hook them into the game, so look out for that as they learn. And when you find things that especially delight them, show them more so they know whatever it is they love is something Magic is full of!

[annaraebananawriter]

(Part Two/Final) Was it Only a Lie?

Yellow again everyone! Here is the (not so long) awaited Part Two! You can read the previous one here.

Fandom: Undertale, but specifically Dreamtale

Characters: Dream and Nightmare (mostly) (Who both belong to Joku), Blue  (Who belongs to P0pcornPr1nce)

Warnings: Language, and I think that’s it? Let me know!

Word Count: 2382

~oOo~

Nightmare, for the lack of a better word, was conflicted.

He had thought (keyword: thought) that he was sure of his decision to basically disown Dream. The look on his brother’s face was like music to his ears, even! So, why was it, now, back at home in his castle, staring through the window and at the setting sun, that the statement felt so…wrong?

For as long as he remembers, Dream had always been this childish and naïve person. The younger always wanted to help everyone, even if those people were selfish people. Even if those people took him away from his brother.

Nightmare, on the other hand, had no other friends besides his brother. He tried to let Dream know that he wanted to hang out without saying it directly, which he probably should’ve in the long run, but Dream never caught on. This always made him wonder if he even cared. If all he really wanted was to hang out with the villagers.

And eventually, it all grew to be too much. So, he snapped and tried to hold a golden apple, tried to prove that he was good too. It didn’t work.

Now here they were. Nightmare, with everything he ever wanted: power, respect, freedom and so many more things. Dream, with…well, he didn’t really know what the other had. He just assumed that he was happy as always.

Maybe…he was wrong?

No, he couldn’t be. That meant he had hurt the one person who never looked at him with anything but love. And he can’t have done that. It would mean he had become just as bad as his bullies, which he despised with all of his heart.

No. His mind was wrong. He was right, as he always was. Dream would get over it. He always did. Soon enough, they would be back to fighting, with Dream saying over and over that he doesn’t want to fight. The other would still call him brother despite what he had said today. Yeah. That’s what will happen.

Nightmare sighed and went back to sit at his desk. As soon as he sat down, there was a knock. He paused and glared at the wood before blinking. There were some new souls in his castle. Souls he didn’t invite in.

“Come in,” he said, pushing aside his papers and resting his hands together on the desk.

The door creaked open and a shadow Papyrus was there, looking quite nervous. It took a step into the office and stopped, gulping. It didn’t say anything. Nightmare shot it a look and it gulped again, this time starting to speak.

“Um, Lord Nightmare, s-sir,” it started, stuttering. The fear from it amused Nightmare slightly. “The, uh, the Star Sanses Blue and Ink are, uh…are in the throne room. They’re looking for, um…they’re looking for you.”

Nightmare blinked. He didn’t expect that.

…Why wasn’t Dream with them?

Something…something was wrong.

He could feel it. He narrowed his eyes and dismissed the Papyrus. He sat there for a few more minutes, mulling over what could be wrong before standing up and heading to meet his guests.

~oOo~

The throne room was quite grand and one of the best things about the castle, in his opinion. The black structure with the purple and blue interior made it a place you expected to radiate negativity. It was the exact place you expected a king to be in.

Usually, he would take a few minutes to admire the room. However, today he didn’t have the time. He could tell that as soon as got into proximity and the yelling made itself known. Honestly, it was quite a miracle that he hadn’t heard the yelling sooner. Especially with all the swears.

As soon as he entered the room, he paused for a few minutes, almost amused with the scene in front of him.

Blue (who, in his opinion, was very well the weakest of the Star Sanses) was struggling fiercely in the arms of two guards, who had to hold on tight to keep his restrained, and he was cursing at them with all kinds of swears. Nightmare almost believed that some were in another language.

Ink, on the other hand, was standing back with his own guards, who were watching the struggle with him. The protector had a grin on his face and looked to be a second away from laughing.

Nightmare sighed. “Let him go.”

Everyone in the room turned to him. Blue stopped struggling and instead opted to glare at him. Something about the glare gave him an uneasy feeling. He ignored it. The Papyri holding the Underswap Sans shared an uneasy look and let him go.

Nightmare nodded and waved his hand, talking to the guards in the room. “You are all dismissed. Go.”

The guards shared a look and didn’t move.

“I said GO!” Nightmare snapped, his voice echoing in the room. The guards jumped and scurried out of the room, leaving their king with his guests.

It was silent for a bit.

Then, Blue stomped up to Nightmare and shoved a finger in his face. “YOU! YOU FUCKING OCTOPUS OF A JERK!”

Nightmare, who had leaned away from the invasive maneuver, gave the other a look. He didn’t show how taken aback by this he was. “Don’t shout. You’ll kill my hearing.”

Blue intensified his glare but obeyed anyway. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Nightmare blinked. The low tone of the other’s voice paired up with his glare gave him a bad feeling. “What are you talking about?”

Blue laughed. It was bitter and hollow. “Don’t you fucking dare play this game with me, Nightmare.” He spat out Nightmare’s name like it disgusted him. “I know you know what I’m talking about.” He gave Nightmare an unimpressed look. “What you said to Dream today.”

Oh. So that’s what this was about. Interesting. “That’s what you came here for? Because of a simple insult that doesn’t matter?”

Blue’s eyes widened in disbelief. He shook his head slowly. “I…” The glare came back in a snap. “I can’t believe you.” The other turned to Ink. “Can you believe him?” He turned back to Nightmare without waiting for an answer. “Do you honestly think that it didn’t matter? He’s your fucking brother, Nightmare, and you just disowned him.”

Nightmare rolled his eyes. “So what? He’ll get over it.” He glared back at Blue in return. “He was a lousy brother, anyway.”

Blue’s eye twitched. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Nightmare laughed coldly. “He never once stood up for me. He never cared to try.”

“Nightmare—”

“You may think he’s oh so perfect,” Nightmare barreled over Blue, stuck in his rant. “but he’s not. He’ll never care about you. He’ll never care about anyone but himself. He just wants to have all the attention on him and be praised, no matter the price it takes.”

“You—”

“That’s all he’s ever done and that’s all he’ll ever do. He—”

One minute Nightmare was ranting about Dream and the next he’s on the floor, with a bruise forming on his cheek, not that it would be able to be seen. Blue…Blue had punched him. He looked up at the Star Sans, slowly reaching up to hold his cheek. He was taken aback by what he saw.

Blue was crying and shaking in rage. “DREAM COULDN’T STAND UP FOR YOU BECAUSE HE KNEW THINGS WOULD ONLY GET WORSE!”

It was silent, the only sounds being Blue’s panting, Nightmare’s shuffling as he stood back up and strangely enough the crunch of some popcorn.

Nightmare was…confused by what Blue had yelled. What was he talking about?

Blue noticed Nightmare’s confusion and scoffed. “Of course. You don’t know.” He laughed, which almost sounded like a sob and reached up, rubbing his eyes. “Honestly, you both are gonna be the death of me.” He gave a sad smile. “You both hide things from the other in hopes that they won’t worry. What you fail to see, though, is that it will only hurt you in the long run.”

Nightmare narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Blue sighed. “In short?” He locked his gaze with Nightmares. “Nightmare, you weren’t the only one who was hurt—sorry, abused—by the village.”

Nightmare froze. Blue laughed. He sounded defeated. “Yeah. Shocker, I’m sure.” He shook his head. “You were abused mostly physically by the village. Dream, on the other hand, …he was mostly abused emotionally. Both of you were abused mentally.”

Nightmare clenched teeth and shook his head. “No, that can’t…”

Blue smiled sadly again. “It’s true. That’s all I can say, though. Because I shouldn’t be the one to tell you these things. Dream should.” Blue grew serious at this time. “Only, he can’t. Dream’s missing.”

Nightmare inhaled sharply. “What.”

“Dream’s missing. He disappeared soon after the battle and we—I—can’t find him.” Blue gazed at Nightmare, desperation radiating off of him. “For the longest time, he had the hope that you would listen to him. That you still cared about him. That you were still brothers. And today…” He trailed off, but Nightmare understood.

“…I ripped that hope away from him.” He murmured, becoming lost in his thoughts. Blue hummed in agreement, though Nightmare barely heard him. Some part of him still held onto the belief that Blue was wrong. Blue was misunderstanding things. That he was deluded.

But…

Nightmare knew, on some level, that Blue was right.

It made sense. God, it made so much sense.

He knows that he can’t just…change his mind in a snap and forgive Dream. He could, however, make the effort to try. It would take time, perhaps even years, but they would get there. They would take small steps at first.

Starting with finding his brother.

~oOo~

Nightmare found Dream standing on a cliff in one pirate AU.

He had left pretty quickly after Blue had knocked some sense into him. The two Star Sanses were welcome to stay in the castle until he got back with his brother. He had told them that himself.

Now, though…

He stared at Dream’s back. The other was shivering a bit, even though there wasn’t any wind. He couldn’t see his face, but he knew that the other was crying. He could also feel the other’s aura, which was drenched with negativity. It felt like it had been that way for a long time. That made him wonder how he didn’t feel it sooner.

Nightmare glanced down at the cliff. Dream was close to the edge…too close for it to be on purpose. The realization about why Dream was here gave him a sour taste in his mouth. His mouth moved before he could fully know what he was going to say.

“…Dream…?”

Both brothers tensed up for different reasons. Nightmare, because he spoke without thinking. Dream, because someone caught him. The negative twin held his breath as he watched Dream shift and turn to face him.

He felt his gaze soften despite himself.

Dream looked terrible. Tears were streaming down the other’s face and it looked like they had just decided to stop, frozen in place. And his eyes. His eyes, which were always so happy and bright were now dull and almost…hopeless. The eyes stared at Nightmare, emotions overwhelming them.

Nightmare wared with himself over what to say. This was a delicate situation and he had headed into the waters without making sure if he was prepared. That was always a dangerous thing. When Dream took half a step back, Nightmare decided to just throw away caution and talk.

“Dream,” he started, looking back up into the other’s eyes, making sure their gazes were locked. He also made sure his voice was calm and didn’t reveal his nervousness. “I need to talk to you.”

Dream blinked, clearly taken aback. His eyes narrowed and Nightmare knew that his brother was wary, looking for the tell-tale sign that this was a trap. When he spoke, his voice was weak and felt like a physical blow against Nightmare’s soul. “…What about?”

Nightmare took a deep breath. He had to play this correctly. “Things.” He forced himself to relax, leaning back with his hands in his pockets. “Y’know. The weather. This AU.” He paused here and decided to just dive right into the matter at hand. “The fight earlier.”

Dream flinched. He looked like he was holding himself back from taking another step backwards. Which was good. If he took another step back, then he would be dead. Which was not good. The Guardian opened his mouth but nothing came out. He repeated this action a few more times.

Nightmare sighed and struggled to remain carefree. “I’m…” He found himself struggling with the words, like they were stuck in his throat. He scowled to himself, gazing at the ground below him. “I’m sorry.”

He looked back at his brother. Dream was frozen, most likely with shock. He stared at Nightmare with wide eyes, hand held to his chest.

“What…?” Dream whispered, stepping forward a bit.

A feeling that felt akin to hope appeared in Nightmare’s chest at the action. “Yeah. I’m sorry. For what I said.” He shifted his stance awkwardly. “I didn’t mean it. Not really.” He paused and went back. “Well, I did, but…your friends appeared in my castle and showed me that I didn’t mean it.”

Dream was silent, staring at Nightmare.

Nightmare continued. “I can’t quite…forgive you. Not yet. But…your friend Blue told me a few things that made me think that I might be able to. Eventually.” He looked Dream in the eye and held his hand out. “But in order to do that, you have to come with me. Back to my castle.” He hesitated before finishing. “Back home.”

Dream looked down. Nightmare knew that he had crushed any hope before it was formed fully by his words. He stopped the foolish hope, at least. The unhealthy kind. He also knew that he had sparked a new hope. A healthy hope.

Dream slowly looked back up and Nightmare could see the resolve in his eyes. The other was also willing to try. No matter how long it took.

The Guardian of Positivity took the offered hand of the King of Negativity.

[strife-and-discord]

Here Kitty, Kitty - Chapter Two: The Gang Finds Out

Read on Ao3 here | First Chapter | Next Chapter

Characters: Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Dedue Molinaro, Byleth Eisner, Mercedes Von Martritz, Sylvain Jose Gautier, Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Ashe Ubert/Duran

Summary: Dedue announces the news to the rest of the former Blue Lions.

A/N: Okay so this chap was a lil bit difficult to get out, I kept getting stuck, I didn't know how to end it, I don't feel like it has a nice flow but! I feel like it does at least have some funny parts so I hope you enjoy! I usually have a bit to say but this is all for now so enjoy I guess

“Your Highness, we are having an announcement in the war room. Would you like to attend?”

“Does it have anything to do with our plans to march on Enbarr?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“Then I have no interest. Leave me alone.”

Dedue sighs, “Yes… Your Highness.”

Dedue does this for every meeting of the Blue Lions. And for every meeting, the conversation goes pretty much exactly the same. That won’t stop Dedue from trying though and this particular news involves his Highness’s oldest and, once, closest friend. He has a right to at least be invited. Although he will find out about this particular change as soon as they gather for battle. Whether he will acknowledge it is an entirely different matter.

Dedue is in charge of making the announcement of Felix’s magical mishap. Lysithea, Annette, and Felix all agree that he is the best when it comes to delivering news and this particular news will just sound ridiculous coming from anyone else. However, despite his calm demeanour, he can’t deny that this whole situation is… weird. It’s weird. There’s no other way to think about it and Dedue is nervous to explain things to the rest of their former class. he sighs again. It seems to be becoming a habit for him these days. With his Highness’s dismissal heads back across the bridge and towards the war council room.

_____________

“Greetings... everyone,” Dedue sweeps his gaze across the room. “I have asked you all here today to discuss a… particular incident… that took place yesterday.”

Hushed whispers spread through the group, speculations about what this could be about, and concern over Dedue’s uncharacteristic nervousness. Amongst the quiet chatter only Lysithea, Annette, and the Professor remain in silence. Felix is also silent but mostly because it’s obvious that the incident involved him due to the fact that he’s sitting there with his hood on. It’s subtle but Dedue thinks he can see his cat ears twitching.

Dedue clears his throat before continuing, “As some of you may be aware, Seteth granted us the keys to the restricted section of the library and Lysithea and Annette were searching this section for any old information or magic that may be of use to the war efforts.”

“However…” Dedue takes a deep breath, by the goddess this is painful. “An unknown spell was accidentally fired leading too some… changes that will exist indefinitely unless a reversal is found.”

Dedue doesn’t actually have a way to explain what happened in words so instead he just nods at Felix, who glares back at him. At least some things never change.

_____________

Felix glares at Dedue desperately hoping that killing with a look is something he developed through his transformation. Unfortunately, Dedue doesn’t show any signs that his rage-filled stare is doing anything so Instead Felix is just going to have to go along with him. Ugh, he despises having everyone’s eyes on him like this, if it were up to him he wouldn’t be in the room for this at all.

Felix takes a deep breath, clenches his jaw to keep from saying anything too scathing, for once, and braces himself for the inevitable onslaught of foolishness as he finally takes off his hood, revealing his ears. Just as well, the hood was starting to get really uncomfortable, he might actually have to take Dedue up on his offer to sew some holes in. How annoying.

The room is the quietest Felix has ever heard it as his former classmates take in his new features. The weight of their stares is heavier than ever and Felix puts all of his self-control into schooling his emotions. Something that is a lot more difficult when he has when his new features and instincts seem keen to announce how he’s feeling to the entire freaking monastery. Sylvain, in particular, is staring slack-jawed, as though he’s seen a ghost, and Felix wants nothing more than to tell him to shut his damn mouth.

The silence seems to stretch on forever and Felix’s agitation increases with every second of it to the point that he knows his ears must be twitching by now. No one knows what to say until their professor, in the same monotone voice they use to explain they’re lessons, asks, “Will this have any significant impact on your combat ability?”

Felix looks down at the table, to drained at this point to even attempt making eye contact, “I don’t know for sure yet but I doubt it.”

Byleth simply nods at him then gets up from the table, “Then I see no reason why anyone needs to make a big deal out of this. If that’s all, I am going to return to my work now.” They walk to the door and they’re final words before leaving hit Felix in the face like a slap and leaves his cheeks just as red, “You look very cute Felix.” Distantly Felix thinks he hears Dedue choking.

“Well uhh… Meeting dismissed. Sorry for taking up your time.” With that Dedue leaves just as promptly as the professor did with Felix not far behind.

______________

Felix has made it as far as the dining hall and has taken a seat in the back corner, where he’ll be mostly hidden when his former classmates seem to think it’s a good idea to all join him. It’s a cacophony of foolishness as they all try- keyword being try- to be inconspicuous about sitting and Felix desperately prays to the Sothis that she’ll make the ground open up and swallow him.

Unfortunately, the Goddess lets him down and he makes a note to bring it up with the Professor later, seeing as they seem to be the go-to for religion these days. Finally, his classmates settle into their seats but they give him barely a moment of peace before launching into their interrogations.

“Does it feel weird?”

“How did this happen?”

“Did you grow any fur in other places?”

“Do you have a craving for fish or milk?”

“Is your hearing better now?”

Felix doesn’t answer but yes, yes his hearing was better and right now his new ears are being completely overloaded! He’s tempted to run away but there’s not really anywhere he can go to avoid this right now so he just sinks lower in his seat and hopes everyone takes his silence as a hint to leave him alone.

Just when Felix is seriously considering getting violent the voice of an angel suddenly pierces through the ruckus.

“Now now, everyone. Felix as been through a lot the last couple of days and I doubt all of you yelling at him is making him feel any better. Sit back down in your seats and give the poor man some space,” Mercedes gently scolds before taking a seat next to Felix himself.

The group quietens almost instantly while Mercedes gives him a smile and in his slightly shaken state, Felix feels as though he’s gazing on true divinity.

“Felix, would you like me to go and get you some lunch so you don’t have to talk to anyone?” Distracted, Felix only nods at her.

“Okay then, what would you like to eat?” He frowns at this. He knows exactly what he feels like he wants but if he says it out loud everyone will surely laugh.

Instead, he leans in and whispers what he wants into Mercedes’ ear. “Sure thing,” she smiles at him, “I’ll be right back so don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone.”

Felix panics as he suddenly realises that Mercedes going to get him lunch means she won’t be here to keep the others under control and he gazes after her with a look of helplessness before slowly turning back to the others while keeping his eyes firmly on the table.

No one’s talking right now but the atmosphere at the table feels like it’s smothering Felix. He knows they probably want him to say something but the fact of the matter he doesn’t really know what to say that wouldn’t be too personal for him to tell them. Magical accident or no Felix would still like to keep a certain amount of privacy.

“You know, to be honest, I can barely see any difference.” Of course. Of course, Sylvain would be the one to break the silence with such an asinine comment.

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” Felix glares at him.

Sylvain seems to be unaware of the potential threat to his life and limb at the moment and keeps barreling forward. “Well, what I mean is that you’ve always reminded me of a cat. Now you’ve just got the ears and tail to match!”

Not wanting to make a scene in the dining hall but fully intending to kick Sylvain’s ass in the training hall later, Felix grits his teeth and tells him, “For the last time… I. Am. Not. A. Cat.”

The rest of the table subtly moves a little further away from Felix as if being pushed back by the aura of rage that was surrounding him but unfortunately such things have never worked on Sylvain, who just chuckles at the angry look on Felix’s face, “Aww, your ears twitch when you’re cranky now! That’s kind of adorable.”

Suddenly, several things are happening at once. When asked about it later Felix would say the most of the event was a blur and he’s not even sure what happened. Sylvain’s hand is moving towards his face, presumably on a journey to scratch him between the ears, and Felix, full of anger at Sylvain and a lot of physical changes he doesn’t understand yet, acts on instinct.

In a blink, Felix goes from the sight of Sylvain’s hand reaching out to having his, now particularly sharp, teeth clamped on several of his fingers. Both men are frozen in place. Sylvain with a look of regret on his face and no idea how to react to his childhood friend biting his hand, and Felix trying to figure out why the hell he did that and why the hell wasn’t he letting go?

For a moment one could swear time has stopped as everyone at the table is frozen while they desperately try to process the events unfolding in front of them. Until, once again, Mercedes is the queen of good timing as she returns with their lunch.

“Felix, get those fingers out of your mouth, you have no idea where they could’ve been!”

That seems to be enough to break Felix out of his stupor and he can’t help but gag a little at the implication of Mercedes’ words. Sylvain is quick to withdraw his hand and Ingrid snatches it from him so she can peer at the bite marks, “He drew blood,” she whispers. Although if it’s in awe or horror, Felix isn’t sure.

Mercedes seems content to act as though nothing happened and proceeds to place the lunch she brought in front of Felix, with a smile, before settling down next to him with her own lunch. The smell of Fisherman’s Bounty instantly fills Felix’s nose and is powerful enough to almost have him drooling. He could apologise to Sylvain and make sure he’s ok, or he could start shovelling these various pieces of fish into his mouth as quickly as possible.

He can still feel the weight of everyone’s stares as he eats but the food is too good for him to really care. In the back of his mind, however, he does acknowledge that this is weird. While Felix is definitely known for being an avid meat eater, he can’t say he’s ever had any particular craving for fish before but right now this Fisherman’s Bounty tastes like the food of the Goddess herself.

“Ah fish, of course,” Sylvain remarks, not having learnt his lesson despite still cradling his wounded hand. Felix looks up just long enough to give him a pointed glare but quickly goes right back to inhaling his meal.

Ingrid pulls a face. “Goodness, you’re going through that even faster than I normally go at my food, and that’s saying something,”

“I’m glad you like it Felix but be careful you don’t choke,” Mercedes warns him, Felix only grunts in response and continues to eat his food as fast as possible.

“Seeing as we don’t have any way to reverse this at the moment, I guess this is just how things are going to be for the time being. I wonder if there will be many other changes.” Ashe chips in now that the initial drama has passed.

“Maybe we should like, do some tests, or something, to see what’s changed?” Sylvain says though a mouthful of food.

“That’s not a bad idea, although I doubt your intentions.” Ingrid frowns at him.

Ashe talks over the pair before they can start bickering, “It might be good to talk to Linhardt about this! Magical accidents, cats, and studying the unusual, it’s everything he’s interested in except crests!”

Felix comes up for air from his food, “That’s… actually not a bad idea. Could you ask him for me? I’ve never really spoken to him.”

Ashe nods enthusiastically, “Sure, I’d be happy too!”

The rest of lunch passes in relative quiet once everyone gets settled with their own meals and no one seems too interested in asking Felix any more questions after what happened to Sylvain. If nothing else, the incident gave a hint as to how much Felix has changed, and how he’s going to have to pay more attention to his new instincts.

[shsl-heck]

A (Currently) Untitled Custom MTG Set

Okay so, this is my second attempt at typing this all up since tumblr randomly ate the first one, but for the past while I’ve been attempting to create a custom mtg set in a new plane I am tentatively naming Ecumia. This has been an on and off project but I decided to start posting updates here because I think it will be interesting to see my thought process throughout the whole thing, and also because I’m hoping it’ll motivate me to keep going. My basic idea is that it takes place on a plane starved for mana where cities have been modified to become constructs that travel the plane scrounging for what little mana they can find. The rest is going to be below a read me because it’s a long post. It has a summary of the setting, draft archetypes, mechanics and just some random thoughts on where I may go.

First I want to go ahead and go into more detail about the cities. There are five main giant cities, each of them is based on a four color mana combination. They’re all based both literally and ideologically on what color mana they lack just as much as they’re based on the colors they do have. So I guess I’ll go ahead and list them out with some explanations since they’re one of the biggest features of the world. (Sidenote: they’re all meant to be in some way terrible and corrupt.)

Zezuklet is the WUBR aligned city. It positions itself as a meritocracy, to be a prodigy in Zezuklet is the expectation. Everyone works to improve themselves and their skills to serve the city in its never ending quest for expansion and fuel. They cooperate and work together like the cogs in a machine not like people who care coming together. Black and red provide the passion for self improvement no matter the cost, blue provides the forethought and efficiency with which everything is run, and white gives the system it’s strict laws and orderly conduct. Meanwhile despite the white aspect’s focus on cooperation the lack of green mana manifests in a lack of sense of community which gives the city it’s main theme of isolation and alienation, the embodiment of society as a cold machine.

Philael is the WUBG aligned city. It’s a cult run by a council of revered priests, prophets, and theologists. It’s not the rakdos style cult though, it’s much more of the sinister sort of banality like scientology, mormonism or selesnya. The modern new life fusion way style of cult if that makes sense. Everyone is part of the family, and you don’t betray your family. If you do, then anything is fair game. Don’t worry though, family forgives. White and green create a tightknit but highly stratified and strict sense of community. Blue manifests itself in the extreme degree of mental manipulation and veiled knowledge that goes on in the running of the cult, and we see black in the cult’s policy of brutal retaliation against those that break its rules. The lack of red mana is meant to provide a sense of lacking individual identity or the ability to express oneself.

Novaesium is the WURG aligned city. In concept it’s meant to be ruled by a lineage of wise and powerful philosopher kings, however in execution the monarchs are rarely as wise and fair as one would hope. They are a regressive society who desperately tries to cling to a mythical past version of Novaesium where it was the center of culture of commerce across the plane. Anything that threatens to interfere with the return of the kingdom’s golden age is essentially considered treason. As with many of the cities white manifests in Novaesium through it’s monarchy and sense of authoritarianism and strict but arbitrary rules. Blue shows itself through the focus on subjects like classicism and focus on analyzing the past, while red lends itself to the passion and zeal to return to that past. Green ties it all together with the sense that their community is all linked together and working towards a common supposedly noble goal. Black mana when appearing in characters that aren’t villains is typically reflective of self improvement and ambition, so Novaesium’s lack of black mana is meant to reflect an inability to move beyond the dreams of the past and create something new.

Raxfada is the WBRG aligned city. In Raxfada might makes right, which means that few warlords last long thanks to the frequent invocation of trials by combat to determine who should be in charge. Despite the bloody duels and lack of formal legal system Raxfada works on a strict honor system. Families are to take eye for eye and tooth for tooth. In order to keep the city running Raxfada is in a forever war, hunting down smaller weaker cities and draining the mana from them or integrating them into the city’s mass. White and black combine to create the honor system that substitutes for rule of law with it’s focus symmetrical but swift and brutal violence. Red represents the zeal and love for battle that citizens are raised to value in order to continue the forever war, and green the philosophy of might making right, and value of raw physical strength.

Quisith is the UBRG aligned city. It runs on a parliamentary system in which many small guilds and miscellaneous groups vye for control over the parliament. People are in general highly devoted to their individual parties but deeply suspicious of all others, believing them to be plotting to take over. These fears are of course justified since nearly every single guild, secret society, etc are all planning to take over in some manner. Quisith is unique in that because it’s made up of small factions sweeping statements about philosophy are a bit harder, but in general blue and black combine to produce a very dimir-esque aspect of subterfuge and subtle conflicts and plotting between organizations. Red is meant to reflect the intensity of conflicts and constantly flaring tempers between warring factions. The lack of white means that there’s a lack of centralized authority and unity between the whole of the factions.

Now I want to move on to the draft archetypes, each of which cover a two color pairing to make them flexible enough to build in limited formats.

Azorius Artifacts takes advantage of the color pairing’s ability to control the tempo of the game while giving it tools to buff, untap, and take advantage of artifacts they play in other ways. This is probably the most control oriented draft archetype for players who are a fan of that.

Orzhov Cycling is, as the name suggests focused on cycling. Specifically it uses cycling as a means to drain life from your opponents while maintaining card selection. I have the urge to say this is probably more of a midrange deck, but honestly I could see it being built in a couple different ways.

Boros Voltron/Go Tall focuses on applying powerful buffs to a single creature with cheap spells, making it one of the more aggro focused draft archetypes. There’s really not much more to say than that.

Selesnya Toughness Matters is my attempt to make a draft archetype that takes advantage of creature’s toughness with spells that set power equal to toughness and others that reward playing high toughness creatures. Because of the focus on more defensive creatures I think this archetype could potentially turn into a stall focused one, but it is also green so who knows what people could come up with.

Dimir Self Mill seems like pretty well trodden territory (it just appeared in Theros,) but it specifically seeks to take advantage of the two new custom mechanics, Trawl, and Repurpose which both have graveyard synergy and actually give Dimir the ability to ramp. I’ll explain both those mechanics in the next section though.

Izzet Auras is not something that is traditionally thought to fit the color pairing. However on this plane I wanted auras to be a sort of magical expression of an inner truth. Similarly to how the Prismari in strixhaven view their craft as artistry, auras are considered a deeply personal and artistic form of magic which I thought fit Izzet. (I actually came up with this before strixhaven was spoiled so it was a fun surprise.) Izzet auras do things like grant card draw, firebreathing and more, making them a sort of toolbox deck.

Simic Go Wide wants to overwhelm their opponents quickly with their efficiently costed creatures and overwhelming generation of tokens. Yes, this is an aggro Simic archetype, lord forgive me.

Rakdos Self Burn obviously deals direct damage to yourself as well as opponents and permanents they control while rewarding you for lowering your own life with benefits like card draw and buffed creatures.

Golgari Repurpose is fully based around the Repurpose mechanic which grants them exceptional temporary ramp, letting them cheat out giant creatures at the cost of exiling cards from their graveyard to help pay. This is yet another archetype aiming to use new mechanics, this time with sacrifice outlets and giant beaters.

Gruul Aggro is the mother of all aggro draft decks in this list. It has a focus on cheap but strong creatures with haste, and powerful enter the battlefield effects that defeat your opponent before they can begin to pull out their own strategy.

Finally, I want to finish off with a summary of the new mechanics, and a report of my progress as of writing this.

The two main mechanics unique to this set are Trawl and repurpose. Trawl lets you mill an amount of cards and then return any lands put into your graveyard that turn to your hand. I’m still ironing out the kinks in repurpose, but essentially repurpose is a keyword on permanents that lets you exile them from your graveyard (and maybe your hand, I haven’t decided) in order to add generic mana to your mana pool.

As of right now I have around 65 of the 101 magic cards found at common in each set completed. Rough drafts of white’s common cards in the set are finished and I plan to go back over an re-edit them to add some polish after I’m done with all the commons.

Thanks for reading and hopefully this was interesting!

[amahontl]

SINoALICE - Famitsu App Interview with Jino on Character Design

An interview with SINoALICE’s character designer, Jino

Published on August 25th 2017.

The untold story of the birth of the girls from the illustrator of “SINoALICE”, Jino! As well as info on a new character…..!?

Why are the girls so gorgeous?

“SINoALICE”, a mobile RPG that is the work of a collaboration between PokeLabo and Square Enix.

One of the reasons why this title became popular is because of its charming ‘character designs’. Jino, the illustrator who gave birth to the beautiful girls from the world of “SINoALICE”, of who you wouldn’t think at first glance that they would come from a dark tale spun by Yoko Taro.

▲ One of the concept art that Jino conceived. Jino possesses a rather unique touch which resonates well with the “NieR” series and the very essence of Yoko’s own world. This is truly ‘art’.

From the previous interview, we learned that Jino, with a professional mindset in place, visited a library and even looked up the story’s own setting of its era. Just how did he bring the 9 girls to life? We’ll unravel the truth!

The 9 girls brought to life by Jino

From here on, we will go through Jino’s creative process as well as some rough sketches. We hear the players asking questions about the design, such as “Why did you go with this design?” “Where is the point of focus?” and so on. Jino shares with us his comments regarding the matter.

Alice (CV: M.A.O)

Alice, you may call her the main character of SINoALICE. The keyword is “Restriction”, not to restrict someone in the game, rather, to restrict your own self. This trait of Alice’s shows one side of her largely mysterious character.

▲ Coupled with a large pocket watch and a distinctive sword, as well as an aura of blue, filled with valiant air. Completed with a frilly maid outfit, creating a gap that received much praise from the players.

Jino’s comment

The maid outfit was a proper request (from Yoko). There are gothic motifs in the sword as well, which was created faithfully to Yoko’s orders…. That’s my intention!

“In a scenario where her original flange broke off in a fierce battle and she fled off to somewhere, what weapon would she use as a substitute?”, which was the delusion I had which lead to me to the idea that she’d use a circular-shaped weapon. So I thought, slap a pocket watch on it! And so, that was the conclusion I arrived at.

There was also the “If the apron shoulder straps come off then I’ll fool em by wrapping it around” and “The scabbard was quickly lost so in order to put back the sword, I’ll give Alice a harness”, as well as “The knee socks look like it’ll tear apart so I’ll add in something simple instead” and etc, in addition with that sort of behaviour and combat style (which I simply made up myself) I imagined and I designed it from there.

▲ Underneath the maid outfit are the harness and its belt and even a ton of pocket watches. These are details you won’t be able to notice in the game, all mixed in with my tastes.

Snow White (CV: Ueda Reina)

The keyword for the titular character of her own story, ‘Snow White’, is “Justice”. In the story, she’s easily taken as self-centered, however, she strongly enforces her own twisted form of ‘Justice’.

Jino’s comment

Actually, her hair and clothes and all give off a very general looking silhouette, as per request. There’s a contrast between a katana and a greatsword, so I designed it in a way that would have the same difference between a samurai and a knight.

If you give her some clunky armor… Well, you wouldn’t be happy with it, would you? (darkly smirks) Which was what I thought, so I gave her a great sword that’s easy to wield, coupled with a light outfit. I tried to make it so that the armor would assemble as much as possible on the front part of the design.

▲ Adorned with a pure white dress, decorated with a bouquet of blood-smeared roses leaves quite the impression. She seems to have settled in with the dirt sullying the end of her dress.

Hansel and Gretel (CV: Uchida Maaya)

Gretel, a girl with a few screws loose who has a relentless obsession with her older brother. I’ve gotten a snippet that she has already laid her hands on him…… The keyword for her is “Delusion”.

Jino’s comment

I’ve gotten a request to implement a robe but that would’ve made Gretel’s silhouette to be similar to Red Riding Hood’s. I was troubled on how to make Gretel more distinct. I felt that I made a pretty good impression with it.

In the game, Gretel is shown to be messed-up so her clothes mimic that trait of hers. Her exposure is also sort of mismatched. The mismatch is a specialty of Gretel’s, I wonder if I conveyed that correctly, even my comment became mismatched.

▲ The cage that Gretel carries is her feature. This cage has a motif of teeth and gums.

Pinocchio (CV: Sanpei Yuuko)

Due to not knowing what to do on his own, Pinocchio sets out to revive his Author. In contrast, I didn’t think much about the verbally abusive staff-Pinocchio. His keyword is “Dependency”.

Jino’s comment

The request was to make him look like he was brought up with proper manners. The head that’s attached to the weapon was originally supposed to be eerie-looking, as if it’s cursed, there’s also the setting where it’s able to talk and the result of focusing on that gave birth to a rather charming chap.

My favourite is this mysterious flapping open bag. I think it’s actually hard to use but I wonder if that’s alright…..

▲ Pinocchio’s staff is able to grow limbs and is able to move freely. With the upcoming Job designs for Pinocchio, I’d like to fully utilize that setting.

Little Mermaid (CV: Noto Mamiko)

The Little Mermaid, a girl who expresses her own story as a ‘Tragedy’. She holds a twisted ideology where “Tragedy is Beauty”. Her keyword is “Sorrow”.

Jino’s comment

It was a setting where her hair would have fish fins protruding out, but, there wasn’t any twin-tailed character so far so. “The tail end will have fins then!” was what I went with and so she has an extremely thick tail fin extending from her head.

I tried reading the setting book again, but I have a feeling I’ve made a mistake. I think there was a request to make her look like Medusa…… N-nah, I’m able to present the final design like so, so that means I did the job! Yes I did!

▲ Her weapon has ocean motifs embroidered on it. “You can break coconuts with it”, according to Jino’s comment.

Princess Kaguya (CV: Itou Shizuka)

Princess Kaguya, she has the most mature physique amongst the 9 girls. In the game, she stands out with her masochistic trait where she seeks out a companion who will torment her. Her keyword is “Suffering”.

Jino’s comment

Her outfit originally was supposed to be that of a courtesan’s, but, when I looked up the fashion in the Heian-period to see how it looks like, I decided to go against the request. (What) Or so I thought, I had to implement her twelve-layered ceremonial kimono no matter what so I was put in a really tough spot. As a result of trying to find a solution, “A person who returns to the Moon is an Alien!” and with that, I mixed in Alien-like elements into a courtesan. (What)

It all looks pretty messy to me but, I’m truly grateful to Yoko’s big heart!

▲ The skull ornaments on the weapon and her clothes give out quite the impression. Her characteristic is her bewitching aura.

Briar Rose (CV: Hondo Kaede)

“Briar Rose”, a girl who wishes for a world of everlasting slumber. One who disturbs her from her sleep will be torn apart by her cage of thorns. Her keyword is “Slumber”.

Jino’s comment

The request what that for her to be sleeping in an encasement of thorns but, in terms of the game system, how is her sprite going to be animated was a problem. So, the Art Director and I pondered about it together. In the middle of all that, somehow, a certain famed post-apocalyptic game’s “that vehicle” popped into my head.

Thanks to that, we now have a bit of a firmly established character. And also thanks to having settled on the character, I was able to make the weapon more flashy, it was like killing two birds with one stone. Wasn’t she supposed to be a much more docile character? Uhh…...

▲ The doll that Briar holds in her hands can be associated with her “childishness”. But, the thorns surrounding her give off a sinister impression.

Red Riding Hood (CV: Imamura Ayaka)

“Red Riding Hood’, a girl who holds a psychopathic line of thinking no matter how much she kills, kills, and kills, will never be enough. In accordance with her keyword; “Violence”, she holds her greatest desire of slaughter with pride.

Jino’s comment

I had torture tools as the first image in mind but at the same time, her violent personality gives me the impression of “I don’t feel any sort of attachment to the tools themselves”, with that, I shifted the outfit and weapon design into a dicey manner.

Just like Jac◯y Chan where he picks up things that are around him and use it, if he likes it, he takes it home. I feel like I’m wrong about the comparison.

▲ The huge gap between a pure and innocent smile and a ferocious-looking weapon. It truly compliments the aspect of a psychopath.

Cinderella (CV: Kitamura Eri)

“Cinderella”, a strong-willed character. Her personality is rotten to the point that it feels good, you often see her being gleeful in-game when she sees others suffer. Her keyword is “Depravity”.

Jino’s comment

Truth is, the final design is radically different from the initial request. It seems I’ve added a lot of my tastes into it…..

I had a hunch where Cinderella’s colour palate and silhouette would look similar with the other characters, so I pretty much went with a discriminative approach, Cinderella is designed in a way when someone looks at her, they’ll go “Huh?”.

Small arms aren’t my specialty, so I had a quite a tough time.

▲ The combination of a rotten facial expression and a gun as a weapon goes hand in hand. Inside her skirt is another weapon cramped inside of it.

Jino’s Untold Story of Development

After the game launched, “SINoALICE” has gained a lot of responses of the players, I would like to hear your current impression of the game.

Jino: I’ve never had a career before this, I’m just but an inexperienced illustrator, so reality hasn’t quite set inside me just yet. This was the kind of work where I kept pondering on whether “Was this right?” during the long period of time before the game launched, but no matter how much I ponder, it’s tough to answer it. Honestly speaking, I feel quite relieved to see the huge reception for the designs. Thank you very much.

In addition to be the one to supervise the designs, what was the hardest thing about it? And also, what was it that bore in mind during the process?

Jino: The question was how to shape up Yoko’s worldview, which left me exhausted. The designs I made for the characters must match up entirely with the theme of the game or else we would’ve failed our goal. Characters are often regarded as the face of the game, likewise, I kept in mind that they are one part of the game. With regards to the comment from above, isn’t it absurd……? That was the impression I had but, I’m doing a proper job! A proper…. Job…. Especially receiving a piece of advice of having a consistent coloring style. If I’m not aware of what I’m doing, then there will be messy areas so this has been quite the learning experience for me.

We’d like to hear who your favourite character is and the reason for it.

Jino: It’s a bit of an unfair response but “Everyone!” is what I’d like to say. I did have a go at the game, saw some fan art and that’s when it came to me, the aspect I never thought possible and all the pairings, that’s when my indecisiveness struck. But of course, my impression might change along the course of development…..?

Could you spare us some details about the currently-under-development character?

Jino: It’s definitely a fairytale character! Even though it’s a fairytale character, it’s an old story yet also relatively new, the next character is quite new! I’m beating around the bush but I have a feeling people will quuuuickly figure it out! Yeah?

▲ A special acquisition of the silhouette of the 10th character! Of what seems to be hair braided into three and a coat that extends down to the knees…..!?

And finally, a word you’d like to say to the players?

Jino: Thank you very much for playing SINoALICE! We’ve only just begun so I’d like to give it my all for the road ahead. I’ll also beat the producer’s butt! To the people who are interested in this article, please give the game a try. Thank you!

Source: Famitsu App

[inventors-fair]

Art’s Second Chance - Group Commentary

There were a lot of great submissions this week, with every submission having some interesting things going for it! Let’s move on to the commentary! (It’s below the cut!)

@shandylamb​ - Essence Mage (Aura Extraction)

This is a very appealing design, and very strong as a potential three-for-one for just three mana. Flashing in a first-striking blocker isn’t a shabby backup plan, either. Limiting your ability to cast the spell to the lifespan of the creature is also a reasonable check on it.

The first strike may sort of be overkill on the card; I’m not sure if it was included to help make the card feel more red, but the card is already fairly potent without it.

Small formatting notes: Flash usually appears on its own line, and only the first word in a string of keywords is capitalized. Instant and sorcery don’t need to be capitalized either. “As long as you control ~, you may cast that card, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell” may be slightly more standard formatting.

Scorpio System - Queen of Putrefaction (Crawling Filth)

The delta on this card between the best case and the worst case is quite large; you need to be sacrificing several creatures to it for it to be okay, but past that it quickly becomes potentially game-ending. The home of this effect isn’t well-defined in the color pie, as there aren’t many cards that tap down multiple lands for an indefinite amount of time (for good reason). Black and green are plausible fits, as they can destroy lands, although generally on the rare occasions where mass land tapping has been a thing, it’s been in white or blue.

I do like that this design also produces a fairly large body in the circumstances where it does shut down the game, which can often serve as a finisher. The art is also a great fit for this effect.

@starch255​ - Lord of Lightning (Frantic Purification)

I’m not totally certain exactly how the mechanics of the card are supposed to work; choosing a number uniformly at random between zero and the number of legal targets and then choosing that many of them at random and flipping a coin for each possible target both result in each target having a 50% chance of taking damage, but produce different distributions. The former is a little closer to what the text of the card suggests, but would be something of a hassle to actually do in play. Either way, it doesn’t hugely affect the overall power level of the card.

This is a very funny use of this art, and recasts a piece that isn’t inherently comedic into a comedic piece of art without undercutting it.

@emmypupcake - Deduplicate (Stitch in Time)

This is an excellent use of this art, reconceptualizing what it represents while still making perfect sense.

Blue is a bit of an odd home for this effect, although Leyline of Singularity provides some precedent, and every color has gotten a little bit of duplicate punishment here and there over the years. That said, the core effect is creature destruction, which is very unusual in blue; I think this may border on a break, depending on how one feels about Leyline of Singularity’s place in the color pie. The implementation also feels a bit less blue than Leyline of Singularity, which is arguably nodding toward’s blue’s ability to mess with types.

The power level also feels a bit low; while it has the potential to be a many-for-one effect, especially against tokens, and can bypass hexproof and indestructible, it feels pretty weak compared to something like Winnow, which was not particularly remarkable. (It also compares poorly to Maelstrom Pulse, but that’s an exceptionally powerful card, so it’s not necessary to measure up to that standard to be good.)

An interesting twist on this card might be to allow you to choose a creature not controlled by the player you target; that would give it synergy with clone effects. As is, it’s a narrow enough hoser that I’m not sure where you’d fit it into a deck. (Even as a sideboard card against token strategies, there are probably other options.)

@ignorantturtlegaming​ - Form of the Leviathan (Amugaba)

This is a cool out-of-the-box use of this art. While there’s nothing that specifically suggests transformation into a leviathan as opposed to just a leviathan-like creature, that’s true to a degree of the original Form of the Dragon art.

Much like Form of the Dragon, this card is something that certain decks just won’t be able to beat, but it trades FotD’s clock for a much more challenging one-turn damage threshold to meet, especially given that the card will be able to lock down all but the widest boards after the first turn.

I suspect that many games that involve this card will tend to drag a bit, depending on its owner’s own board presence and what answers, if any the other player has.

@ghost31415926535 - Rhorkahn, the Unified (Sigiled Paladin)

This card is certainly exciting; tutoring for two cards every time it attacks is very powerful, even with some deckbuilding restrictions, and its ability to find additional copies of itself makes it hard to permanently deal with. (Legendary is a very important check on this card’s power.) It’s hard for a four mana card in three colors that doesn’t generate any immediate value to be too powerful, but this certainly is a strong effect if it gets going. Making the cat the knight is a clever inversion.

@misterstingyjack​ - Lummi, Formless Friend (Shapeshifter Token) 

Partner cards that interact with what they’re partnered with is an interesting design vein, and I like that this art feels like an actual friend. A card that only works if it’s your commander is a bit limited, but they’ve certainly printed cards before that make more sense as commanders than as part of the 99. (The entry specified that this card is for a Commander Legends-type set, where I think it makes a lot of sense.) The ability to sort of double-down on a single partner is also powerful and interesting, and the decision to make it a 1/1 rather than a full clone is also an interesting drawback.

This card is a bit of a design risk, as it potentially limits the space for very expensive partner creatures with powerful effects, but that’s probably nothing that the commander format can’t handle. Partner is an extremely powerful mechanic, and while  the breadth that a deck gets out of having two functionally different commanders likely often outweighs the benefits of being able to double down, but this is definitely a card that with the potential for impact at many levels of the format.

@nine-effing-hells​ - Yaran-Shesh, the Keeper of Silence (Gloom Sower) 

The first line of text is a somewhat risky one, but the ship has largely already sailed on it, and this card is somewhat safer than other cards with that text due to its high cost. The most comparable precedent for this card may be Novablast Wurm, but this comes with both a greater threat of coming down early and a greater risk of getting blown out. (As you lose your creatures first.) That it keeps creatures from being played productively effectively sells the hopelessness angle.

@milkandraspberry​ - Corpse Bride (Veiled Shade) 

I’m not completely sure that I completely understand the story being told by this card, but the flavor text is strong and evocative. 

While this can technically be a very large creature for just three mana with a little work, I don’t think that giving it a creature keyword or a slightly better base body would be out of line. 

I also think that the triggered ability could be simplified a bit, if it only works on angel cards. Angels tend to, with few exceptions, have pretty close to equal power and toughness; the card could just always check the power of the exiled card without affecting its overall power level too much.

@hypexion​ - Angel of Lamentations (Angel of Flight Alabaster) 

This is a great complete package, making great use of the art. It’s not a huge creative departure from either the concept of Angel of Flight Alabaster or the mechanics on existing cards like Ghoultree, but it makes a lot of sense together. At rare, given that it specifically counts creature cards in the graveyard, it could probably go to 5WW, but that’s very minor.

@dabudder​ - Peace-seeking Bracheweft (Briarhorn) 

This card exists in the space of being a brutal anti-aggro card in what would presumably be an archetype that’s already very strong against aggro decks, making it fairly polarizing. This is a great use of the Briarhorn art, which does have pacifist vibes in its interactions with the little birds.

@abzanhero​ - True Righteousness (Soul Parry) 

This card attempts to overcome the inherent weakness of auras with just brutal raw power. Even considering the limited range of legal targets, this card is almost unbeatable against many decks if it resolves, and if you’re on the play then your opponent may have as little as two mana with which to remove whatever you target with this before it does so. On the flip side, it still has many of the weaknesses that auras traditionally do.

This is a very nice use of this art, and does what I was hoping many entries would do (and what many entries did), which is to call attention to a cool piece of art that folks may not have seen.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ - Corpsedance Duo (Grave Exchange) 

There were many cards this week that interpreted a creature card’s art as a noncreature or vice versa, and, of them, this is one of the biggest reaches - it’s somewhat unusual for creature art, which makes the final product more striking. 

Mechanically, I feel like this card has a lot going for it. The second ability has never appeared in that precise form on a creature card before, and it’s a nice combo with the first ability without that combo specifically representing a huge spike in the card’s power level. The substantial mana cost on the ability hampers most of the easy combos you’d otherwise get out of this as well. This card only narrowly missed the winners’ circle.

@demimonde-semigoddess​ - Demon of Darkening Skies (Archdemon of Paliano) 

This card is a really cool concept, but I feel like it’s held back by the fact that in almost all circumstances, your opponents will just sacrifice lands. By the time you’re casting a six-mana creature spell, a land will often be pretty expendable for them, and it denies giving Demon of Darkening skies any protection. It’s still a decent card as a flying trampler that forces them to lose something on ETB, but the unique part of the ability will rarely come into play.

@sorustyitshines - Angel of Mourning (Defiling Tears, Original Full Art) 

I love this full art, and the card itself is powerful - a conditional Ravenous Chupacabra with an easier mana cost (and playable in monowhite) and substantial additional upside. In that regard, it might even be a little bit too powerful. The total package definitely services the art better than Defiling Tears does, and the flavor text is very clever.

@tmstage​ - Truesight Maskmaker (Agent of Masks) 

Very clever use of this art. I’m not certain whether “instead it doesn’t” is intended to keep the permanent from entering the battlefield at all, or allowing it to enter the battlefield, but not as a copy of anything, but the latter is cleaner rules-wise, and because most of the time a permanent would enter the battlefield as a copies of a thing, that permanent is a 0/0 creature or an otherwise blank permanent, this effectively blanks most such cards either way.

You note that this card is designed for a Commander supplemental product, and it certainly makes the most sense in a format where clone effects are fairly common. That said, this is a quite narrow hoser, and could likely have a more competitive statline for its cost. Hoser cards also tend to be fewer colors, to increase the number of decks they can be played in, although that’s far from a hard rule.

I very much like the flavor text and the overall theming.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ - Dungeon Follower - (Pay No Heed) 

Improbably, this week saw two entries built around the creature types used as part of Zendikar Rising’s Party mechanic, both designed to punish other players for using them. Counting creatures that your opponents control in general is relatively lightly used design space, and while there’s probably good reasons it doesn’t turn up too too often, this is an interesting application. (I’m assuming that, for the sake of this mechanic, “the enemy’s party” is defined by the rules to mean something like “the largest party of the parties of your opponents.”)

Given that it explicitly uses the Party mechanic, this card presumably exists in an environment where a substantial fraction of the creatures are one of the specified types, but even then, the power level on this card is fairly low. That’s totally fine for a common, however. The card could probably be mono-blue; while counting enemy creatures to determine your size doesn’t feel super blue, it doesn’t really have a defined home anywhere, and I don’t know that this card is powerful enough to justify the asks that multicolor cards make in a limited environment.

@gollumni​ - Death of a Comrade - (Funeral March) 

The second of the two cards this week that punish your opponents for playing cards of the Party creature types, this is a savage three-for-one removal much of the time. In an environment with Party (which I’m assuming this exists in), this will generally have a target of one of the appropriate types, and isn’t blank even if it doesn’t. This is probably a bit slow for constructed, but always makes the cut in limited.

@koth-of-the-hammerpants - Striking Enlightenment - (Idle Thoughts) 

Of all of the submissions this week, this card was one of the hardest to evaluate. The idea of a card where the Overload cost is a drawback because it does something that you wouldn’t want to hit all targets is an interesting ones, and very Modern Horizons-y.

On the play, this card has the potential to just end the game when cast on turn two, as it will often leave an instant-light opponent with one land in play and four random cards from their deck, which is a game-losing position much of the time. As this effectively undoes the mulligan process while mulliganing down to just a few cards, there’s a very good chance of mana flood or screw happening from such a position. This does carry some risk for the caster, but the caster at least has the benefit of getting to play a second land first. Ticking the overload cost up to three almost completely solves this issue, however.

@snugz​ - Faithful’s Respite - (Angelic Curator) 

Up until a few days ago, I would have said that this card was a bit of an issue because they don’t make cards that are just better than basic lands - that lacking a basic land type and being non-basic weren’t considered sufficient drawbacks to justify a land having upside over a basic land. They’ve since demonstrated a shift in that philosophy with the Pathway lands in Zendikar Rising. That said, I think this clean level of upside on what’s otherwise as good as a plains may be pushing things a bit. Lands don’t need a ton of upside to be playable over basics even with small downside, and this card significantly changes the way white decks play in formats that it’s in.

@shakeszx - Seedsinger - (Renewal) 

The power level on this card is high despite adding the mana at a somewhat awkward time purely for the draw power it represents. Generally, cards don’t add mana during your upkeep unless the card is an odd gimmick like Braid of Fire, although there’s nothing about doing so that isn’t functional. 

@dimestoretajic​ - Repay Evil (Evaporate) 

This is one of the most interesting submissions from an art-repurposing standpoint, as it’s a white spell that depicts a spell being cast by a character that is very far from how white-aligned characters are usually coded in Magic - it’s an orc or goblin-like character in dark robes. (That’s not to say that there aren’t white-aligned Magic characters that are slightly monstrous and wear dark robes, but it’s a less common look.) On one hand, it’s a bit jarring, but it’s also a bit imagination-stirring.

The technique of making a permanent extra-vulnerable by making it an aura when it otherwise has no reason to be isn’t one that Magic uses often, but it’s reasonable here, and the flavor text does a lot of work in tying the whole package together.

@socialpoison​ - Oath of Service (Commander’s Authority) 

Commander’s Authority was one of the cards that inspired this contest in the first place, so I was really excited to see it here. I like that the effect chosen is one that has above-average synergy with the Rancor recursion clause. 

@mardu-lesbian​ - Daring Defiance (Thunderous Might)

This card feels a smidge odd in red and perhaps odder in black, but the most interesting thing about this card to me is the decision to make it a sorcery, rather than an instant. The “obvious” version of this card is for it to be an instant, because that makes it much easier to engineer situations where you loot for a larger value than two, in several ways. Making it a sorcery makes it significantly more puzzle-y to try to get that extra value off.

--------------------------------

I had a lot of fun with the designs this week, and I’m looking forward to the next! I believe that I’m the last of your guest judges in the rotation, so I think we may be getting back to your regular hosts next week. Looking forward to it!

- @teaxch​

[loreholdlesbian]

Modern Horizons 2 Booster Challenge

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Modern Horizons 2 Booster Challenge! For the past few sets, a bit after release, I’ve been replicating this challenge from GDS3, in which contestants created a draft booster’s worth of cards that could feasibly be in their chosen set. I made a lot of designs for this one (I have 60 different cards made, and those are just the ones that are completely finished with art and everything), so choosing the best for this pack was quite hard. Some of them are definitely pushing the power level a bit, given the nature of the set, but I think that’s okay at least for designs like this. Now let’s jump into it!

Link to the full booster

Common #1

Servo Trainer 4W

Creature- Dwarf Artificer

Mentor

Fabricate 1

3/3

Modern Horizons sets are great, cause you get smash two mechanics together and see what happens. I was really surprised we didn’t get a fabricate card in the set, since it works well with several set themes, so I decided to make one and then looked to see what interesting things I could do with the mechanic. I scrounged fabricate + mentor from an old design of mine cause I really like the combo- it works well on multiple levels.

Common #2

Crusader’s Arrogance 2W

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant creature

Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on enchanted creature.

I wanted to make sure I had some designs that didn’t use keywords, and callback designs like this make for good candidates. This is a reference to [[Cathar’s Crusade]]

Common #3

Etherium Strix 2U

Artifact Creature- Bird

Flying

~ enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter as long as mana produced by an artifact was spent to cast it.

2/1

I’ve long been interested in cards that care about artifact mana, and Modern Horizons 2, with ten common artifact lands and a bunch of treasure running around seems like a great candidate.

Common #4

Unethical Experiments B

Sorcery

Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

Jump-start

With the various discard and graveyard themes of the set, jump-start seems like a great candidate to use. I wanted to put it in a color that didn’t already get it, and black seemed like the best candidate given draft themes. Creature recursion seemed like a good ability since neither red nor blue could have a card like this. My thought process went jump-start plus recursion, hmm sounds like frankenstein. So i made the card stitcher-themed.

Common #5

Reckless Search R

Instant

Draw a card.

Madness R

This is a colorshifted version of [[Obsessive Search]]. It’s a tiny bit weird, colorpie wise, but not by much. Every color gets cantrips, and while usually cards that are just cantrips tend to be blue, red gets discard then draw, so I think a madness cantrip like this makes a lot of sense in the color. And since blue doesn’t have access to madness in this set, only red black, I think this works well.

Common #6

Sigil of Speed 1R

Enchantment- Aura

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has haste.

Retrace

I had this spell as one mana for a bit, and I still think it could though it would definitely be kinda strong. I mainly just changed it cause there were already a decent amount of 1 drops in this booster, including the other red common. I really like putting retrace on permanents though, and Auras especially make for good candidates.

Common #7

Acorn Season 1G

Sorcery

Create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token.

2GG, Exile ~ and three other cards named ~ from your graveyard: Squirrels you control get +3/+3 and gain trample and haste until end of turn.

A deck may have any number of cards named ~.

I really liked the idea of a [[Relentless Rats]] style card for squirrels. So I made one. I played around with the numbers on this a lot, and I’m still not 100% sure if it’s at a good level. I know I wanted the card to cost two though, since at one mana you can fill your graveyard with these way too quickly. And since the card itself is pretty bad on cast, the big payoff could be stronger since it means you’re filling your deck with otherwise bad cards.

Common #8

Relentless Wolf 3G

Creature- Wolf

Undying

Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have trample.

2/2

I’ve played around with undying + counter synergy before, and liked the results so since this set has a +1/+1 counter theme this seemed like a really good place. The second ability is often used with these themes, in fact there was even one in this set, and I like how it plays on undying so I put one here- probably as a replacement for the one already in the set, since it doesn’t need two at common.

Common #9

Metallic Growth 2G

Instant

Search your library for a basic land card or artifact land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

Since the set has artifact land cards, I enjoy tacking them onto where we usually see “basic land”. This started out as a [[Lay of the Land]] but I think I prefer it as a ramp spell.

Common #10

Nyxhammer Golem 4

Enchantment Artifact Creature- Golem

Bestow 6

Enchanted creature gets +3/+3.

3/3

I wanted an enchantment artifact creature for the delirium archetype, cause a three type card does a lot for that. So I needed to justify why it was both of those types, and I think being a colorless card with bestow is a good way to do both.

Uncommon #1

Young Psychomancer 1U

Creature- Human Wizard

T: Draw a card then discard a card. If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, sacrifice ~ and draw an additional card.

0/2

I originally named this card Jace’s Prodigy as a reference to [[Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy]] that I copied used as inspiration, but I preferred the flavor of an imitator than a student of Jace since he isn’t really a teacher which made made Young ____ a good candidate. This is definitely a bit of a strong card though, quite possibly too much. It might be better to go for a different payoff than draw a card, but I liked the simplicity.

Uncommon #2

Wild Bewilderer 4R/G

Creature- Elemental

Cascade

Evoke R/G R/G R/G

3/3

This is a card intended to help the RG storm archetype, since it lets you cast two spells for cheap. It also just is a very fun combination of keywords that I’m surprised hasn’t ever been done.

Uncommon #3

Opal Spire

Artifact Land

Metalcraft- T: Add one mana of any color. Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.

Basic landcycling 1

Here’s one of the cards that’s really pushing it power-level wise. Is this wildly broken? Quite possibly. This is by far one of the cards I'm most worried about. Artifact lands are scary, particularly those that enter untapped. This card is, of course, a reference to [[Mox Opal]], but that’s an ability that’s much less scary on an artifact land than it is on a 0 mana normal artifact, so there’s a little room for something extra, I feel, and still be well within a safe power level. And since they generally don’t like to make lands that don’t unconditionally make some kind of mana (they sometimes do, but not often) that seemed like a good place for the extra. I tried “T: Add C” but that seemed like a bit much for artifact decks, so then I moved to basic land cycling which means you can still use it to get an unconditional mana land but the unconditional mana doesn’t get those same artifact synergies. This also adds discard and graveyard synergy, which works well in this set- I could see the UR delirium deck playing this and never intending to have it on the battlefield. The end result, though, is still something I’m incredibly scared of but I think it’s a cool design. So I’m choosing to stick with it, cause since these cards aren’t really gonna get played anywhere I generally tend toward the more exciting numbers.

“Reprint” Slot

Disgust 3B

Creature- Incarnation [r]

Menace

As long as ~ is in your graveyard and you control a Swamp, creatures you control have menace.

2/2

I ran into a similar problem with “reprint slots” with strixhaven’s mystical archive cards, but there I solved the problem by making a card that couldn’t be in Strixhaven by using the mechanic retrace. That approach doesn’t really work here. Separately from this problem, I realized that while the rest of the incarnation cycle fits well with modern design, [[Filth]] doesn’t as much since swampwalk isn’t really used much anymore, so I decided to make a version that used menace. Then I realized that would be a good candidate for a “reprint” here, so I stuck it in.

Rare

Phyrexian Profaner 6BBBB

Creature- Phyrexian Zombie

Delve

When ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. You lose life equal to that card’s mana value.

6/4

Here’s another card that’s pushing it, power levelwise. (As I said in the into, that’s a theme in this booster. That’s what happens when I try to make cool cards for modern being the most casual player out there.) MH2 had a joke where they took cards with “eternal” in the name, and gave them the eternalize mechanic. This is a similar reference to [[Phyrexian Delver]], but with delve. It definitely feels strong, and I’m sure it is, but I rationalized it like this- 4 mana reanimation is not gonna make a splash in modern, let alone reanimation with a downside and strict color requirements. So the draw here is that it also comes with a body, which leads to the question of just how pushed does that body need to be to make the card attractive? I decided to stick with the most melviny numbers, where the mana cost and the stats are both double that of delver. But as I’ve said, balancing is not my strong suit.

So there it is! How would you feel opening these cards from a pack? Are any of them wildly broken and going to ruin multiple formats? Let me know in the comments!!!

[inventors-fair]

One Thousand Comments pt. 2 ~

@mardu-lesbian - One Thousand Nanobots

So, a cuter version of something like Everdawn Champion? I gotta say, it’s kinda funny to have the pinnacle of modern machinery get Afflict-ed to death. But that’s Emrakul v. fifteen squirrels, I suppose. When you play it, I guess it’s fun in an artifact-heavy deck with lots of equipment and auras and stuff. Functionally, there’s nothing massive that really separates this from a creature with indestructible.

Max Burg - One Thousand Lives

Interesting indeed. Something makes me feel like this is either broken or unfun. I think it’s the lack of interaction with your opponent, or rather, the feeling that there’s no interaction. Basically, if you get a bunch of blockers with abilities that get around evasion, you force your opponent to build up the world’s biggest board and take you out in one swing before this can trigger. I don’t enjoy force-Fogging my creatures as well. I know this card isn’t “bad,” but I don’t feel the “fun factor” in my heart.

@mistershinyobject - A Thousand Secrets

Getting rid of the flavor text would help out the framing here immensely, and in the second ability, you can replace the name with “it,” a la Apocalypse Hydra and other templated abilities. But even still, this is a lot of card. I think I kind of get the flavor, and it’s very blue and all. In terms of abilities, well, I imagine that most of the time you’ll have a slightly less efficient 2/2 attackers that peeks at the top card and mills everyone for one. But I can see all the moving parts the more I look at it! Wow, okay... Y’know, I dunno what to tell you about this one. Perhaps it should just be unblockable and you can forget about the counters.

@misterstingyjack - Seven Thousand-Plane Army

I’ll be honest, maybe I just don’t “get” a need for five-color Amass tribal. The card itself functions okay, if a lottle wordy and complicated. Not broken, not useless. But I look at it and I really don’t feel the desire to brew or commentate or do anything besides acknowledge it. It feels like there’s no place for it in the established Magic card game, that there’s no need or niche that it can find with its cardboard siblings. Making new things for the sake of their newness undermines the strength of novelty in a game like Magic.

@monorayjak - Thousand Soul Redemption

“...and/or planeswalker cards from any number of graveyards,” for one, but the rest of it I’m having to do a double-take on. I feel that there’s a trick of some kind to just continuously discard and exile your opponents’ creatures without caring about your own board state, locking them down. But the moving parts here are pretty crazy. I grok it! And I like it! But it’s eleven lines of text and hoo boy there are quite a few things to keep track of. I think it’s a fine mythic and it’s a cool card. It’s just way, way too many words. Try to pare it down or simplify the objective

@mowu-moment - A Thousand Lives Lived

So, this card has two different targets in its rules text in the same paragraph. And that’s... Well, other cards have done it, but the targets are connected more specifically in some way. Also it would get kind of rules-confusing when someone asks if the creature you’re targeting in the second half makes the +X/+X bonus go up because it’s the same creature, or not because it all has to resolve in a certain way. Additionally, this ability is blue, and this card needs to have blue somewhere. BUT. I like the concept. I think it could work just fine as a Mirrorweave for graveyard creatures.

@nine-effing-hells -  Foe to a Thousand Generations

You really need to put reminder text on Haunt, man. If I gave this to one of my middle-school students and asked them to explain it, they’d have no clue. Conceptually, though, it’s hella good. I love Haunt. Regarding Haunt, though, I would ditch the hell out of keyword soup and go with an ETB trigger of some sort to make it solidified. Christ, can you imagine an ETB Bile Blight with Haunt? It works with the flavor...

@reaperfromtheabyss - Thousand Century Gloom

This card is good. I really don’t like the milling in mono-black there. If there is any secondary color, well, it IS black, but man, I think that this one really should have been an Urgoros ability. And definitely six mana - look at Curse of Death’s Hold and then look at this. But, not much more to say. Give it a tweak or two.