#what are the arguments for and against? does this meet any of the criteria I previously defined?

[acti-veg]

How do you argue against the exploitation of animals without central nervous systems? I made a comment against the keeping of pet jellyfish and someone responded that because they don't have a central nervous system they can't feel pain and therefore unnecessarily keeping them in captivity is moral.

The first thing to ask people making any argument like this is:

"If the absence of a central nervous system is what makes it okay to buy and exploit these animals, how do you feel about buying and exploiting animals who do have a central nervous system and are demonstrably sentient? Can I assume that you’re vegan?"

If they're not vegan, or are not against the live trade of animals (99% of the time they aren't), then suffering, sentience or the existence of a central nervous system is not the relevant distinction that makes it justifiable to exploit or kill animals. If that was the ethically relevant factor, they wouldn't already be supporting the exploitation and slaughter of thousands of animals who we know are sentient and do have central nervous systems.

If they actually are vegan, then the thing to recognise is that jellyfish are not just insensitive, simple organisms; they're classified as animals for a reason. Jellyfish don't have a central nervous system, but they do have a simple nervous system; in fact they have two of them. They lack a complex nervous system or a brain to process a pain response in the way we would understand it, but they do respond to touch and they do react as we would expect to negative stimuli.

We just don't fully understand the extent of the experiential capacities of animals who lack a central nervous system that resembles ours. Jellyfish lack a centralised brain for example, but they seem to have body-wide systems of signals that may operate closer to how a computer does. Regardless, it’s just not that hard to err on the side of caution and leave them alone, is it? Nobody needs a pet jellyfish.

Moreover, even discounting the capacity to suffer, animals like jellyfish, molluscs and bivalves clearly have preferences, they avoid negative experiences and are capable of pursuing their own interests. They should be allowed to do so rather than spending their life in a comparatively tiny enclosure with next to no stimulation or anything that meaningfully resembles their natural habitat. We also need to consider the not insignficant ecological damage caused by the live capture of wild animals.

To return to my original point, I just find it quite laughable that people offer arguments like this one to justify the exploitation of 'simpler' animals, while they also take part in the exploitation of more complex animals who meet all the criteria they pretend morally matters to them. It's a farce, these people aren't choosing to keep jellyfish or eat mussels because they don't think they feel pain, it's just them trying to justify the self-serving choices that they were already going to make.

[princeescaluswords]

One thing I don’t think I saw much of in the pushback against ‘the curtains are just blue’ refusal to analyze media is how much of those spaces had been filled with extremely forced meta. So much of tumblr had seen the ‘there’s going to be a REAL final episode/season of Sh3rlock here’s the clues!!!’ Bad faith analysis on here that it’s the least shocking thing to me that people turned against it. But I love analysis, and am so glad to see accounts discussing media, themes and characterization honestly.

Having said that, the intensity of st3rek shippers trying to force readings on the movie is… very indicative of why I distrust a lot of so called fandom academics.

I have two anecdotes that might provide insight into how I approach "bad meta" which might be useful to you.

In second grade in music class, I got into a meaningless argument with a classmate about the Bible -- I think it was about the proper day of worship; he was a Seventh Day Adventist -- and it got so loud that the teacher scolded us. After class, the teacher talked to me about the right way to argue, and she said something that stuck with me. I was complaining about how me and the other boy could see two different things in the same book, and she said "People can make the Bible or any book mean anything they want if they take a small enough piece of it by itself. You can only find the real meaning by looking at the book as a whole." In other words, context matters. The blue curtains cannot signify depression unless the narrative is at least partially about the evolution of mental states.

Flash forward to graduate school, and I'm taking a course in literary theory, and out of frustration with Derrida, I ask the teacher how anyone can possibly tell if a reading has any value or not. and he replied "Ask yourself if the interpretation holds up over the course of the narrative." In other words, if the blue curtains mean something specific in a particular scene, does that meaning remain consistent?

I use these ideas when looking at media criticism. Does the proffered meta fit within the overall context of the narrative and does the proffered meta remain reliably applicable?

Let me give you an example of a meta that simply fails to meet both criteria: "Stiles helped Derek, Peter, and Isaac search for Erica and Boyd over the summer between Seasons 2 and 3." This should have immediately been dismissed as fancy but it has become almost a given among Sterek shippers.

The idea doesn't fit within any aspect of the show. It doesn't fit within the context of Stiles's character. Even if you believe that he had a change of heart about leaving Erica and Boyd with the Argents as he did in Master Plan (2x12), why would he choose to try to find them with Derek (who got them into this as well as tried to kill Lydia), Isaac (who physically attacked him and wanted to kill Lydia), and Peter (who actually attacked Lydia and used her to resurrect himself)? Why wouldn't he ask Scott? And if he was convinced that Scott wouldn't help -- even though he had several conversations with Scott about helping in the past -- why would he not tell Scott about the threat of the Alpha Pack?

In addition, none of the other characters' actions make sense in that context either. Derek "Not you." Hale doesn't act like he welcomes or believes in Stiles's help. Peter "And yet you've only had an hour" Hale doesn't mention that in their scenes together. Isaac doesn't use it when he's fighting with Stiles for Scott's attention. Vernon "But we're not friends" Boyd doesn't seem grateful, unless you think that none of his pack mates would tell him about what Stiles did for him and Erica (or you think that Stiles wouldn't remind him.) The premise doesn't fit with anything we see on the screen.

So, it's just a meaningless, harmless head canon that people do for fun, right? Except this meta -- and others like it -- turned out not to be meaningless and absolutely not harmless.

This meta and other metas like it fed into the Sterek relationship but it also transformed that relationship into a scheme designed to undermine Scott McCall's place as lead protagonist. Alongside such meta as "Ultimate Sacrifice Stiles," "Spark Stiles," and "Sinister Tree Wizard Deaton," it created a phantom dichotomy -- that the true conflict of Teen Wolf was between the usurper Scott and the rightful rulers, the Hales, and that Stiles's loyalty was the key which would ultimately determine who came out on top. These bad metas justified worse metas such as the Schism (where the central relationship of the show would end in violence) and the Anakin Complex (where the essential themes of the show -- the power of compassion and the rejection of revenge -- would be revealed as sources of corruption). It culminated in the Unreliable Narrator Scott theory, which argued with an entirely straight face that everything we watched for 100 episodes was ... not actually what happened in the story.

And they caused harm. This meta complex's desire to decenter and delegitimize a hero of color played into every unjust trend that has ruled Hollywood since there was a Hollywood. It led people to dismiss entire seasons as incapable of value because a secondary antagonist-turned-protagonist wasn't in it and made people hate the movie vehemently before it even premiered. It caused Poseygate, where the lead actor of the heroic protagonist finally came out and said those interpretations were wrong and that wasn't what the story was about and certain viewers lost their fricking minds. No one can say that real people -- including Tyler Posey -- haven't been attacked socially by individuals supported and encouraged by this supersystem of bad meta.

So, yeah, there should be more pushback against bad faith meta, against the idea that 'head canons' can never cause problems, against racist (and sexist and homophobic and decadent) ideas being introduced into fandoms, against the idea that any and all fandom behavior is permissible. And it's not an onerous request to suggest that we test meta against the standards of context and consistency.

[catgriffin]

Just saw your post in the tag about the Vees being "irredeemable" and I'm curious as to why you feel that way. It's a pretty common sentiment so you have company, I just personally struggle to see the justification for it especially in a show where the main theme is that anyone can be redeemed/deserves a second chance (or at least that is Charlie's goal).

We know that 1.) Charlie wanted to spare Adam, an angel that had been committing a devastating genocide against her people for decades, 2.) Charlie tries to see the good in Alastor even though he's a psychopathic cannibal that she recognizes isn't completely on board with her goals (and actively participates in the oppressive soul ownership system) and 3.) Charlie forgave Vaggie who actively participated in the genocide against her people. I'd argue Angel Dust and Pentious are far more sympathetic characters (to both us, the audience, and Charlie herself) since we are told virtually nothing about their crimes that landed them in Hell and we meet them when they're both at their lowest.

While I understand everyone has their favorites and the show likely isn't interested in exploring its central theme too deeply, I do think it would be such a missed opportunity not to have Charlie confronted with the hypocrisy of offering salvation to some but not all - to stumble in her beliefs and be forced to claim some people are "irredeemable". What does that arbitrary determination criteria look like to her? How is she equipped to make those decisions?

And, if the criteria to get into Heaven, isn't to actually confront your past and current life but rather sacrifice yourself for others (based on Pentious and his ascension) then that's absolutely (in my opinion) something the Vees would be capable of. If Charlie can look past the crimes of Adam and Alastor and offer them grace then she should be capable of doing that for characters like Vox, Velvette, and even Valentino.

I personally think it would add a lot to Charlie's character if she had to actually stand firmly in her convictions that every sinner has the capacity to change OR for her to grapple with the fact she is biased and her ideology is inherently flawed.

But those are just my thoughts. Like I said, I see "the Vees are irredeemable" get echoed quite a bit but am always curious where it stems from. I think there are a lot of good arguments to be made, but the setting/core theme of the show really challenges them (for me anyway). I think a bigger issue you'd run into is certain characters not wanting redemption at all, but with some plot adjustment I think you could make it work since so many of the characters are still blank slates this early on. And I hope it goes without saying but I'm not excusing the actions of any of these characters, simply challenging the idea of who is really "irredeemable" in a show where every single person is bad and they are already in "Hell" facing judgment for their transgressions.

Always an interesting topic and hope you don't see it as an attack or anything.

I appreciate that you asked this in a nice way, people often get very upset over it. Vox is actually one of my favorite characters. And if any of the vees were to get redeemed I think it'd be him. He is desperate to love, he loved alastor and now chases Valentino. And if sacrifice truly is the way to get to heaven, I can't really see Valentino being the one to sacrifice himself. At least, not how he currently is. I don't know enough about velvette to make a correct assumption. And to be fair we don't truly know how vox feels about angel. He may have called him a wh*re because he was trying to relate and calm down Valentino in that moment.

The only reason I feel they can't be redeemed is because they have the same mindset alastor currently does:

1) redemption isn't possible

2) I dont want to go to heaven if it was

[oqmemphis]

On the Section 35 order

The Scottish government recently passed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which would make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender. The UK government then issued an unprecedented Section 35 order, effectively vetoing the legislation. They originally cited 'effects on UK equalities law' as the motivation for the veto, and have now released the full text of the order, in which they attempt to defend their reasoning. I have read it. I am not impressed.

(Note: I am not trans. I just have nothing better to do with my time than read thirteen pages of transphobia coated in a thin veneer of legalese.)

For the purposes of this post, I will be working under the assumption that this order represents the genuine views of the UK government on the legal ramifications of the existence of trans people. An alternative, equally valid viewpoint is that the entire document is intended as a random assemblage of half-baked arguments and House-of-Leaves-esque footnote labyrinths, hastily thrown together and written on top of a layer of Tippex concealing the original one-sentence report: "Rishi Sunak wants to piss off the Scottish nationalists lol". (Note that these two possibilities are not mutually exclusive.)

In brief: it is a pile of horse shit.

Take, for example, paragraph 3, which states that the GRRB "will make it quicker and easier for Scottish applicants to obtain a full GRC [gender recognition certificate], removing a number of measures which the UK government regards as important safeguards". The paragraph then helpfully lists a number of these measures, such as:

A required diagnosis of gender dysphoria

A mandatory two-year waiting period

"the requirement for a Panel to be satisfied that the applicant meets the criteria"

I am curious to know what, precisely, the UK government considers these to be important safeguards against. Fortunately, the section does not burden us with such trivial matters before steamrolling onward: "Taken together, these amendments remove any requirement for third party verification or evidence from the process."

The order then claims that the GRRB cannot be enacted because it affects the 'reserved matter' of 'equal opportunities'. This is defined within the document as: "the prevention, elimination or regulation of discrimination between persons on grounds of sex or marital status, on racial grounds, or on grounds of disability, age, sexual orientation, language or social origin, or of other personal attributes, including beliefs or opinions, such as religious beliefs or political opinions." Perhaps forcing trans people onto a two-year waiting list to change one letter on their passport is what it means by "regulation of discrimination".

Things deteriorate further. Two different footnotes reference "the 1998 Act". This piece of legislation is important, presumably. It's a little hard to tell, because if you do a text search for '1998' in the document, you do not find the full title of the Act (nor, indeed, do you find it referenced anywhere outside those two footnotes in any way). I assume it's referring to the Scotland Act 1998 (the law that gives the UK government the power to issue this order in the first place), but this is nowhere explicitly stated.

The second of these two footnotes mention the Act in reference to two sections about fiscal policy and social security. Astute readers will notice that neither of these topics have anything whatsoever to do with transgender rights. The order claims that the GRRB "has practical consequences on the operation of the law as it applies to other reserved matters," notably including "the administration of tax, benefit and State pensions". As the GRRB makes no reference to any of these topics, the order must construct tenuous explanations to justify such an assertion:

"Existing IT infrastructure only allows one legal sex on any record and cannot change the marker for 16 to 17 year olds. Those responsible for these systems consider that it may be unmanageable, even with considerable time and expense, to build system capability to manage a dual identity for the same individual if someone’s legal sex could be different in Scots law and the law for England and Wales." For all its diplomatic wordiness, this argument essentially amounts to "Computer Says No". Regardless of your opinion of David Walliams, I very much doubt there is a single person in the country who believes he should be responsible for administrative tax policy.

The order goes on to point out that Scottish GRCs will have no effect in the rest of the UK, stating: "It is highly problematic both in principle and practically for a citizen of the UK to have a different gender, and legal sex... depending upon where they happen to be within the UK... It is practically and legally undesirable for all, including in particular the individual holder of the GRC, that a person will have one legal sex in Scotland and a different one in England, Wales and Northern Ireland."

These few paragraphs are, in fact, the closest that the document ever gets to a coherent argument. It even outright states: "the desirability of having a single coherent regime for obtaining a GRC which applie[s] uniformly across the UK... has not changed." I commend Rishi Sunak for this view, and therefore expect him in the coming days to follow Holyrood's lead and announce a progressive nationwide reform of gender recognition policy.

The preceding sentence was a lie, in case that wasn't obvious. Just in case anyone ever tries to quote me out of context saying the words "I commend Rishi Sunak". I fully expect him, a year from now, to sit in the middle of the incandescent burning remnants of the Union and continue to pretend that everything is fine. At least the fire will keep us all warm when the next winter blackouts start.

Starting at paragraph 22, things begin to derail entirely. This section is, apparently, intended to expand upon the 'safeguarding' issues mentioned above. It does not do this. What it does is devolve into a bizarre vortex of dream logic, self-referential paradoxes and fits of blind madness. It is a section that could only possibly have been written by someone high on a cocktail of LSD and crushed nutmeg, listening to the entire Sgt. Pepper album in reverse overlaid with a JK Rowling interview played at half speed. It claims that the GRRB will lead to "increased risk of fraudulent applications", and in the very same breath points out the bill's harsh penalty (up to two years imprisonment or an unlimited fine) for submitting such an application.

It then points out that the bill's reduced eligibility threshold "changes the nature of people eligible to apply and, in doing so, it is likely to significantly increase the number of people able to do so," as though enabling more trans people to be legally recognised as the correct gender is somehow not the intended effect of the bill. The lack of self-awareness on display in paragraph 25 rivals that of a drunk man in a bar attempting to flirt with a dartboard. It continues freewheeling in this pattern for another 200 words - spiralling as it does from an amusing misunderstanding of the bill's purpose to something altogether nastier. It repeatedly insists that an improved ability to be legally recognised as trans will lead to some kind of dangerous epidemic of (God forbid) applications. At the start of this post, I described the Section 35 order as 'thirteen pages of transphobia with a thin veneer of legalese'. That description is mostly accurate, but this particular part of the document has been aggressively sanded down, leaving the ugly, raw interior wood open and exposed. It would be difficult for the government to make its unadulterated disdain for the trans community more blatant than it is here.

It continues in this vein, delving into arguments about how recognising trans people will somehow lead to a fundamental breakdown of the definition of 'sex' for cisgender people, thus leading to increased rates of violence against women and girls. These arguments manage to be as absurd as they are clichéd, and they mark the collapse of any semblance of dignity that the document might once have possessed. It dedicates multiple paragraphs to explaining how private organisations with single-sex membership will not be legally entitled to deny access to trans people. It contains the sentence: "It is reasonable to assume that a liberalisation of the process for changing legal sex will create new challenges, problems or concerns." It rants and raves about how the existence of trans people somehow pollutes the data relating to gender-based pay disparities.

On and on and on it goes. The full document spends around half its length discussing the supposed negative effects not of the GRRB on any existing policies or procedures, but of the existence of trans people as a whole. Every single batshit transphobic argument I have ever seen, and many I have not, are somewhere in these thirteen pages. The sheer quantity of antagonistic numbskullery compressed into such little space would be almost impressive were it not so profoundly destructive. It is a black hole of bigotry, a vast burlap sack of shit. In the end, there is no meaningful conclusion I can give, beyond three simple words:

Fuck Rishi Sunak.

P.S. Keir Starmer has come out claiming that both the SNP (who passed the bill) and the Conservatives (who blocked it) are trying to use the issue as a political football, and he has refused to speak out openly against the veto. Fuck him too.

[tacticalhimbo]

we love to see the classic argument that affirmation has to come from a place of suffering (sarcastic).

the criteria for gender dysphoria are entirely irrelevant, as affirming one's gender (identity, expression, whatever term you wanna use) is simply that. doing/having access to what makes you as an individual feel more secure in yourself/your expression/your identity. it's not an exclusively trans concept at all, and i wish that perception would die.

sure, the concept largely and popularly associated/correlated with the trans community, but there is an equally popular saying:

correlation =/= causation.

cis people can do things that affirm their gender just as trans folks can.

the euphoria (feelings of confidence, importance, etc) that a cis man feels from doing traditionally masculine tasks is literally no different than the euphoria i feel from doing the same tasks as a nonbinary guy. we both feel more attuned to our masculinity.

likewise, a cis man and a transmasculine individual both can receive testicular implants to aid in their sexual ability. the exact same procedure, too: scrotoplasty. the reasons for receiving this care are different depending, as is... every other form of intervention, but it serves to achieve the same thing (relatively speaking; technicalities always apply, but again that's just the nature of medicine. shit impacts people differently).

it's separative thinking like this that paves the way for the fascism we see in the united states (and other places) currently. the othering and pathologization of the trans individual allows for the leash to be tightened.

just look into florida's recent laws to find the proof. our government did so much work creating the stark differences between cis and trans individuals that, now, adult care is up for bargain and doctors can turn down cis patients if they feel their expression/beliefs go against a doctor's personal "ethical and moral code".

and before it's said, two things can be true at once.

it is important to recognize and validate the feelings of folks with dysphoria and/or incongruence. however, it is also important to recognize that not every person under the trans umbrella will meet these criteria, and that does not make them any less valid in their identity/expression.

to insinuate it does is reductive and, frankly, fascist. the original sentiment of the post is 100% true and it is a hill i will die on.

edit: also that last line is so confusing to me. this isn't a matter of putting personal feelings over a patient's. the entire argument is structured around the idea that this language/narrative is inclusive of all patients. this is like saying the usage of "birthing parent" erases anybody who identifies with the term "mother". it doesn't, and it's naive to think it does. it simply gives people options. which, you know, should always be the case in patient-centered care.

normalize calling viagra and menopausal hormone treatments gender affirming care

[gravelilyaufgehoben]

I am so tired of the "It's not really a game" criticism. I'm not mad that it's gatekeep-y: it doesn't make any sense. It's always based on some contingent, unreflexive personal criterion. Far be it for everyone to be a philosopher, but if this stupidity could be eradicated from every culture I would have one less stake to pull out of my mind every time I read the steam reviews for something other than a roguelite.

I remember watching about 10 years ago a video discussing the topic (what counts as a video game?). The presenter was making the argument that a video game is something which meets a set of criteria, i.e., what is commonly understood by the word "game" (if analytical philosophy could also be eradicated off the face of the planet I would be grateful). One of the criteria was that a game should be competitive, involving an opposing side, as in soccer — which would make solitare I don't know what. This is the only point I remember: the rest, as well as the entire decade-long debate, is equally stupid I'm sure.

This complaint is usually waged against visual novels — for which I have already written a vindication. A bit more can be said, however, and that is a reflection on what then a book is. Did I not write something like "interaction = gameplay"? When I then turn the pages of a book, am I playing a game?: the answer is yes — don't be so smug about it. What makes a video game what it is, is almost just that it is digital. This is a difference in its material conditions. The mode of interaction possible for a book is thus the turning of the page and for the visual novel the clicking of a mouse. That you find the mechanisms of new forms of technology already existing and prefigured in the old should not be so shocking — nothing has fallen from heaven. The digital space does allow for more and more complex forms of interaction, including a degree of responsiveness approaching unrecognisability. It should be remembered, however, that what marks the qualitative distinction is the material basis, the medium and its possibilities, not quantities of interactivity or responsiveness, etc.

The "game" part of "video game" is perhaps more difficult to understand. Its contemporary meaning I'm sure is something which co-instantiates with digitisation and grows with it as its standard form. The marketing (and Reddit) gimmick of "gamification" is only a relatively recent corporate expression of the trend. I do not know why the game form comes to dominate the cultural formation around digital technology — maybe it's Nietzsche's fault — but it does seem to dominate. Ender's Game, Ready Player One, the representations of the future are like this — and I do hope it is an illusion — I find it irritating (including software developers as a people and culture). At least it seems China is poised to take over the space. A thousand years of Genshin Impact... very occasionally a Path to Nowhere — and we can all rejoice. Hopefully, all of their MGTOW types are killed by then, but I'm not an optimist.

(I got bored with the original point of this post about five sentences ago apparently, and now my big final sentence coming up doesn't close it properly — damn. Why word processing software is not a video game... it's considered purely instrumental, etc...)

Why am I getting mad at the vacuous drivel which leaks out of the open mouths of the plebian masses populating popular criticism? — a good point.

[mimisempai]

I made a wish and you came true

Summary:

Sylvie asks to see what the prince of Loki looks like. When he shows her she laughs at him. Count on Professor Loki to give her a lecture about his Prince.

🌈 Happy Pride month ! 🌈

To celebrate, 1 day, 1 story.

Be ready for smiles, laugh, fluff, tooth rotthing fluff, positive vibes and a lot of love!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32183185

1731 words - Rating G

In storm-black mountains, I wander alone

Over the glacier I make my way

In the apple garden stands the maiden fair and sings,

"When will you come home?"

Loki had to stop, overwhelmed by emotion.

Sylvie, her eyes devoid of all mockery, said softly, "So there is a would-be-princess somewhere..."

Loki chuckled sadly before replying, "I like metaphors you know, in this instance, it's not a princess, it's a prince, and I don't know if he's waiting for me or hoping to see me again, it's not even really my home, but..."

"...but you'd like to believe it, right?"

Loki could only nod.

"Show me your prince."

"No way," Loki replied, shaking his head.

"Come on, please Loki!" she paused before continuing, "If you show it to me I'll tell you in detail how I enchant people!

Loki couldn't resist, so he turned his hand and there appeared a mini hologram of Mobius.

Sylvie approached and looked at him closely before sitting down again.

Loki made Mobius disappear.

"Don't tell me that that little man with no stature, no class is YOUR prince?!"

Loki wished he had his brother's hammer to blast her with lightning bolts.

"Yes this is my prince! And your impudence has earned you a lecture on the definition of Prince Charming by Professor Loki!"

Sylvie snorted and told the passing maid to bring her a glass of champagne, because finally she was going to need it.

"First of all, you should know that the charming prince doesn't exist only in fairy tales.

In real life, he is not perfect but he has many qualities that are essential to be wonderful. Is Mobius my Prince Charming?" He didn't wait for an answer.

"To find out, I'll show you point by point that he meets all the criteria that make him a prince for me."

Sylvie settled back in her chair to enjoy the show.

"First, the Prince Charming is generous. He is generous in every sense of the word. He doesn't hesitate to invite you to an excellent restaurant and to offer you a gift you've been dreaming of. Ok, ok, I agree, I didn't have time to fully test that point. But that's not all! He is also generous in giving you all the time you need. He is also able to have an attention that will brighten your day. And Mobius devoted an enormous amount of time to me, when nothing required him to."

Loki thought back to the time Mobius had spent with him just before they left for the mission. He had taken the time to show Loki that he wasn't the villain he thought he was. Nothing forced him to.It wasn't necessary for the mission. In a place where everything was about time, Mobius hadn't hesitated to give him time.

Sylvie simply nodded and waved her hand impatiently for Loki to continue his «  lecture."

He took a sip, cleared his throat and continued.

"Second, the Prince Charming committed. He knows what he wants. He gets up every morning knowing exactly where he is going and what he wants to do. He is also resolute, he has goals in life and intends to achieve them. What is touching is that he is not bragging. Humility is his middle name. Quite my Mobius."

Sylvie noted, fondly, the possessive pronoun, but said nothing.

"Even though he pisses me off, because he is narrow-minded about the TVA,  what he thinks is real. Nevertheless, he still manages to impress me because he believes that what he does is his reality and that he does it for a better world, he does it with all his heart. And when he talks about it there is so much candor that even I have a hard time getting him to see the reality of things."

Loki remembered their discussion in the cafeteria.

Loki had asked him completely sincerely, because he wanted to know what made Mobius go on, "I mean, you really believe in all this stuff, don't you?"

Mobius had replied simply, "I don't get hung up on, 'Believe, not believe.' I just accept what is."

Loki had tried to show him the absurdity of a world ruled by the 3 time keepers and Mobius had replied by telling him that his story, Asgard, mystical realm, beyond the stars, Frost Giants was the same thing.

He remembered Mobius' words perfectly, "Actually it's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose."

Loki had chuckled, to hide the fact that he was disturbed by the accuracy of Mobius' argument.

Mobius concluded by saying, determined, "Cause the TVA is my life. And it's real because I believe it's real."

Committed, yes, his prince was. Loki realized that he missed their discussion. Rarely had he met someone who could resist him intellectually.

"Hey! Loki! Are you there? "Sylvie was waving her hand, seeing that he was lost in his thoughts.

Loki regained his composure and moved on to his next point.

"Third, the Prince Charming for me must be smart but not pretentious, yes because there can only be one pretentious and that is me of course. Who wouldn't want a smart, educated man? Mobius is extremely smart! Can you believe that he knows hundreds of languages more than I do because he has been working in the multiverse for so long! And best of all, when I tried to manipulate him on my first consulting assignment, he figured me out. He almost knew right away that I was trying to play for my own side. Okay, it's a little humiliating. But that's the charm of him."

If Loki was honest, that was when he started to fall under Mobius' spell.

He had been so sure that he could get what he wanted from him. He was sure he had hooked the fish and then Mobius had blurted out, "He's lying. Just playing games. There's no one out there."

Loki blushed slightly as he thought about how he had been found out by Mobius at that moment. That's when his interest had been piqued, because Loki couldn't resist a challenge.

"You know Loki, it's almost cute how you have it bad."

"There's nothing funny about that." retorted Loki before resuming, "Fourth, my prince is someone I can lean on. He is a pillar on which you can rest. Imagine, Sylvie, we were working at the same desk and I fell asleep. And on top of that he let me sleep. You know he has this quiet strength. That thing that makes me know that with him I don't have to pretend anymore. But anyway, I was talking about Mobius, not me."

Sylvie moved closer to Loki and said with a smile, "From my point of view it's the same thing."

"What?"

"Nothing, go on."

Loki looked at her strangely before continuing.

"Fifth, my prince is listening. You know I talk a lot and three quarters of the time to say nothing important. But Mobius, even if I tell him something stupid, he listens to me as if it were the most important thing in the world. And most importantly, he really hears me. He can read between my lines and my metaphors, which he also loves. He's much better at getting people to talk than I am. He was able to see and make me say things about myself that no one had heard before. Sometimes I feel like he's the only one who knows who I really am."

Loki had to stop because the scene was still so present in his mind.

"I can't go back, can I? Back to my timeline. I don't enjoy hurting people. I... I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to."

Mobius' tone, his look, his whole being turned toward Loki when he had said just that, "Okay, explain that to me.

Then Loki told him that he knew he was a villain.

Mobius' simple but straightforward answer was, "That's not how I see it."

"Hey Loki? You okay?" Sylvie had put her hand on his arm, looking concerned.

Loki pulled himself together.

"Yeah I'm fine."

He coughed and continued, "My Prince Mobius has an incredible number of qualities but I've summarized them for you because we don't have enough time. So I'm going to conclude this lesson by telling you that the quality that attracts me most to him is that he's surprising. He surprises me all the time. Which is paradoxical after all, I am supposed to be chaos and he is supposed to be order. But he surprises me. Where everyone else hates me, he is there and sees qualities in me that even I don't see. When everyone wants me gone, he doesn't hesitate to put his own head on the line so that I don't get erased. Mobius is not perfect, but he is perfect for me. Because precisely, he doesn't put me on a pedestal but he doesn't make me feel inferior either. He treats me as an equal."

"Okay, okay, okay, it's fine he's a Prince. But the mustache though..."

Loki looked mischievously at her and leaning in close to her ear, he said softly, "His moustache is very nice when he kisses me."

"Loki!" she moved back and flicked him on the forehead.

He took a sip of champagne and they remained silent for a few moments.

"And you told him all this, well not in so many words of course?"

Loki's smile disappeared.

"Because of you, I didn't have the time. And I hope that all of this won't have ruined this beginning of a relationship.Anyway, I'll tell him when we meet again, or at least I'll try to, as long as he wants to listen to me..."

Sylvie smiled softly, clinked her glass against Loki's and said softly, "You're insufferable to the core, but I sincerely wish you'd have the chance to talk to him. "

Loki nodded, this time he was determined to fight, because for the first time it was his own happiness that depended on it.

_______

The whole serie here : The story of Loki and Mobius

Not beta'd I hope you enjoyed it 🥰

[terence-this-is-stupidstuff]

@reasonsforhope Thanks for sharing! Ha my day job (I deal with these types of federal documents every day, though of a different department’s) almost never applies so directly to any post I’ve seen but it does here and I thought I might be able to help - takeaway though is this is good news still!

Adding a TL;DR because I just realized how deep into boring legal stuff the below got: this current doc for comment isn’t an executive order or a change to regulations as some of above wording makes it seem - but commenting still great to do because it helps support the steps the Biden admin is taking to set itself up to step in when a drug’s price is determined to be against public health or safety needs. And as a good news win overall for democratic procedures, the update that already happened to these regulations in Mar 2023 took public comments - 81000 of them! - into account on the pricing issue and as a direct result worked harder to make taking this step possible if required! Your opinions matter!!!!

More detail:

I just want to help anyone who clicks that link to the RFI (Request for Information) understand what they’re seeing:

1. That link takes you to where you can submit a comment about a guidance document, which is a nonbinding (but influential) set of guidelines agencies can issue. This one is directed at other agencies from NIST and clarifies the 4 criteria for exercising “march-in rights” (aka the topic at hand of stepping in to make a drug more available).

2. Those 4 criteria ARE in the regulations, and those regs were already updated by the Biden admin in Mar 2023 in what is a called a federal rulemaking. A lot of this particular rulemaking was technical in nature - corrections to outdated references, streamlining, etc, but it also provided new instructions to agencies for HOW to use march-in rights, which is a nice huge banner to companies that this admin (unlike all previous) would be willing to actually do it.

3. That’s a big deal because of course pharma is going to fight any actual exercise of these rights, so this guidance document (which I know sounds so boring lol…but hey they matter!) gives agencies credible, already vetted argument fodder for why they are stepping in and how they determined carefully before doing so that whatever drug patent is at issue meets one of those 4 criteria for this process.

4. Importantly and encouragingly, from reviewing the info NIST has available on this, the great news is that public will was already at work in the right direction on this! The draft version of the *rulemaking* had a line that basically said price alone does not meet the criteria, and most of the 81,000 comments received objected to that. They therefore removed it from the final rule and began drafting this just-announced guidance document instead, and the slides from their webinar on it show the following:

So this winds up helping on the price question since it clarifies that inflated prices could fall under “health or safety” needs!

5. Therefore commenting on it in support is still great to do, to counteract any shenanigans attempted by pharma to try and argue against the above clarification. But - to my original point my OCD brain just couldn’t let go - this is neither an executive order nor a rulemaking. (Guidance docs, btw are easier to undo than rulemakings unfortunately, but still involve a careful process by the agency. Given how many agencies collaborated on this one, reversing this would be quite annoying for a bad-willed future admin!)

"The Biden Administration last week [early December, 2023] announced it would be seizing patents for drugs and drug manufacturing procedures developed using government money.

A draft of the new law, seen by Reuters, said that the government will consider various factors including whether a medical situation is leading to increased prices of the drug at any given time, or whether only a small section of Americans can afford it.

The new executive order is the first exercise in what is called “march-in-rights” which allows relevant government agencies to redistribute patents if they were generated under government funding. The NIH has long maintained march-in-rights, but previous directors have been unwilling to use them, fearing consequences.

“We��ll make it clear that when drug companies won’t sell taxpayer funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less,” White House adviser Lael Brainard said on a press call.

But just how much taxpayer money is going toward funding drugs? A research paper from the Insitute for New Economic Thought showed that “NIH funding contributed to research associated with every new drug approved from 2010-2019, totaling $230 billion.”

The authors of the paper continue, writing “NIH funding also produced 22 thousand patents, which provided marketing exclusivity for 27 (8.6%) of the drugs approved [between] 2010-2019.”

How we do drug discovery and production in America has a number of fundamental flaws that have created problems in the health service industry.

It costs billions of dollars and sometimes as many as 5 to 10 years to bring a drug to market in the US, which means that only companies with massive financial muscle can do so with any regularity, and that smaller, more innovative companies can’t compete with these pharma giants.

This also means that if a company can’t recoup that loss, a single failed drug can result in massive disruptions to business. To protect themselves, pharmaceutical companies establish piles of patents on drugs and drug manufacturing procedures. Especially if the drug in question treats a rare or obscure disease, these patents essentially ensure the company has monoselective pricing regimes.

However, if a company can convince the NIH that a particular drug should be considered a public health priority, they can be almost entirely funded by the government, as the research paper showed.

Some market participants, in this case the famous billionaire investor Mark Cuban, have attempted to remedy the issue of drug costs in America by manufacturing generic versions of patented drugs sold for common diseases."

-via Good News Network, December 11, 2023

[pouncequick]

My main issue with the trials situation is that, shockingly, the requirements do not seem to have been clear.

It is not unreasonable that USAG would only take athletes who didn't show AA readiness if they hit their events and were high placing. This actually isn't new--for all the talk about how Nastia's bars were a mess in 2012, the fact she was 6th on beam gave justification for accepting her petition and giving her more time. Chellsie's 14th on beam and Morgan's 26th beam/23rd floor don't do that.

The problem is that it is very clear that was not the athlete expectation. According to this page (https://www.usagym.org/PDFs/Pressbox/Selection%20Procedures/w_20olympics.pdf) the petition rules are the same for Championships and Trials, so there was a reasonable expectation that if the petition was accepted for Championships, it would be accepted for Trials. The athletes do not seem to be have been told that the committee would be looking for anything different, what standards they needed to meet, etc. It would make sense for the organization to raise the standards athlete's need to meet from Championships to Trials, but if they do that needs to be clearly communicated to the athletes ahead of time, with the new standards, in rules that are also made available to the public. Even simply adding a clause that says "Standards for accepting petitions will be more stringent for Trials than Championships" would have been an improvement.

If an athlete is shocked their petition wasn't accepted, there is a huge problem. (If the face of the organization is lying to the media about if petitions have been processed, there is another huge problem.)

This is all secondary to the argument about what Trials are for. Is the primary purpose of Trials for picking the Olympic team from the most qualified candidates, based on performances at Championships?

If the answer is yes, then the selection is a bit strange. We wouldn't be having this argument at all if it were the top 13 competitors + Riley McCusker (whose uneven bar score means that there's no arguing about her petition). There's a clear break in scoring potential between Emily Lee's 108.250 and Amari Drayton's 107.1 There isn't that break between Zoe Miller's 106.4 and Sydney Barros' 105.85--but there is again between Kaylen Morgan (21st) 105.05 and Ciena Alipio's 103.950. It's a really weird place to have the cutoff, and it doesn't make a lot of sense.

If the answer is that the Trials field should be based off showings at Championships and prior success, then we need to know how far back they're looking. Is it just in the past year? Hurd's 10th and 11th at Classics aren't that convincing. Is it in the quad? Under this, Hurd absolutely should have qualified. She's one of the most decorated US gymnasts in the quad--I think she's the most successful gymnast this quad not named Simone. If it's overall, then Chellsie should have been accepted as well--3 time world champion, 6 time world medalist, and an Olympic medalist. This set of criteria is a pretty nasty one for younger athletes though, especially after the past year. The newer seniors have had almost no chance to get recent international success, and the athletes they were in 2019 would have been understandably--and SHOULD have been--very, very different from the athletes they are today.

The other argument is if Morgan and Chellsie should have accepted as a matter of respect. This is an argument that can get pretty ugly pretty quickly--how accomplished do you need to be before you earn this kind of respect from the organization? However, it's undoubtedly true that the way things ended for them was incredibly abrupt and gave no chance for them to say goodbye to the sport and their fans.

I don't think you necessarily need to have Trials be the competition you qualify to out of respect. The real problem here, to me, is that no one knew if they were going to make Trials, and the athletes themselves certainly seem to have been under the impression they would. Because no one knew what the standard was, no one knew to give Morgan the standing ovation she deserved after her last dismount, to honor what she had done and say goodbye. That's not a problem of her not being accepted to Trials--that's a problem of no one knowing that she wouldn't be.

Personally, if I were writing the rules, they'd probably be on the tight side. But no one's hired me to write the rules. There are good arguments to be made for a lot of different standards. The problem is that the standards were not made clear to the athletes or to the public. That the national team coordinator lied to the media about the process. That there is no logic in where the all around cutoffs were. I imagine Sydney Barros is as devastated as Morgan, and her exclusion makes the same amount of sense.

You can have a system where things are decided by the numbers, but you have to be very clear what numbers will be considered, how they will be weighted, and how they will be processed. Tom's said it will be mathematically the top scoring team, but there's no word if that's only looking at Trials, Trials and Championships, if the numbers will be averaged, if they'll look at high scores or drop them, if results from different days will be weighted, and how they'll handle it when the numbers are too close to make a realistic difference. You can make the same set of numbers spit out different teams, depending on how you handle them.

You can have a system where past accomplishments weigh into the decision. This system will always be even more subjective and, especially this year, biased against younger athletes. If you want a proven competition history, though, that last item won't bother you. And knowing that someone always hits or misses when the pressure is on, or in qualifications or for the team or in finals, is a smart thing to consider. If you're going this route, though, everyone needs to know this is an important set of criteria, roughly how important it is (is it the first thing you look at, or is it the tie breaker?), and how far back you'll be considering (does Chellsie's incredible performance under adverse circumstances in 2003 have any weight on her application to Trials in 2021?).

I adore both Chellsie and Morgan, and I have a huge amount of admiration and respect for what they've accomplished gymnastically and as advocates. I am so glad Chellsie is going for Worlds, and I can't wait to see what Morgan's doing next--she is part of the reason I have tickets for the tour!--I'd love to see her college no-hands floor routine, and I can't wait for everything she will accomplish outside of the sport. The way things ended for their Olympic journeys isn't right--because no one knew the rules.

[indigo-mayhem]

my thoughts on personality disorders and self diagnosis, part 1: introduction and cluster A

NOTE: I am NOT A PROFESSIONAL. all the information I use is drawn from the DSM-5 and all the conclusions I make are just that: mine. take everything you’re about to read with a grain of salt. 

to begin, everyone needs to know that personality disorders are mostly ego-syntonic. what does that mean? well, in the context of personality, it means a behavior not viewed as odd or wrong by the individual. this means most people with personality disorders don’t know anything is off at all. most people diagnosed with personality disorders originally begin seeking help for problems caused by their pathological personality traits, rather than the traits themselves.

essentially, just because you think your behavior is normal doesn’t mean it is. it might be normal for you, but if it causes significant impairment or distress, please see a professional if you have the ability to do so.

well, what if you don’t? today, i’m going to talk about the different personality disorders and why self diagnosis is much harder than you might think.

introduction

first of all, what is a personality disorder? a personality disorder is described as “an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture” (DSM-5, 646). 

this deviation can manifest in cognition (the way you perceive yourself and others), affectivity (the range, intensity, and appropriateness of emotional response), interpersonal functioning, and impulse control. according to the DSM-5, a diagnosis of a personality disorder can only be made when this deviation is present in at least two of the four areas listed.

a personality disorder also must be relatively pervasive and inflexible. if you only meet the criteria for a personality disorder when you’re in a specific situation or with specific people, you do not qualify for a diagnosis. it also has to cause “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” (DSM-5, 646). this criterion is present in every DSM-5 disorder and is meant to further implement the idea that mental disorders are clinically significant issues. 

personality disorders tend to first become recognizable in adolescence/early adulthood. 

the estimate for overall prevalence of any personality disorder is between 9.1% and 15%. this is probably higher than you would have guessed, and it means that you almost definitely know someone with a personality disorder.

cluster A

cluster A is defined as “odd” or “eccentric”. it is made up of paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders. people suffering from a cluster A personality disorder might suffer very brief psychotic episodes, lasting minutes to hours, and can be premorbid indications of a psychotic disorder.  

paranoid personality disorder (ppd)

the main characteristic of ppd is a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others, manifested by an unsupported belief that others are out to get them, doubts regarding the loyalty of friends or family, a tendency to interpret offhand remarks as attacks and jump to their own defense very quickly, and a reluctancy to confide in others out of fear that the information will be used against them.

these individuals might interpret genuine compliments as sarcastic and/or masked remarks judging them for various things. they might perceive an offer of help as a criticism that they aren’t doing well enough on their own. they also might gather vague, circumstantial, and/or insignificant “evidence” to prove their beliefs.

people who suffer from ppd might have few friends and be difficult to get along with, due to their tendency to be overly argumentative/complaintive/aloof. the reactions evoked by their bitter attitudes only serve as further evidence that others are against them.

this is a difficult disorder to diagnose because people suffering from ppd can be suspicious of those in healthcare that are trying to help them. most of the time, those with ppd won’t seek help because they don’t think their suspicions of others are a problem with them. 

schizoid personality disorder (szpd)

szpd is characterized by a willing detachment from social relationships and a decreased range of emotion. individuals with szpd do not desire or enjoy close relationships, including family. they prefer to do things on their own and take pleasure in very few things, if any. they tend to lack confidants (other than first degree relatives) and seem indifferent to praise or criticism. 

another important symptom is a lack of interest in sexual relationships with others. this is not the same as being asexual. while the lack of sexual interest is the same, one is a sexuality and the other is a pattern of pathological personality traits that negatively impact a person’s day to day function. some people with szpd might choose to identify as asexual, but not all people with szpd are asexual and not all asexual people have szpd. 

individuals with szpd also have a reduction in overall pleasure from sensory, bodily, or interpersonal experiences. they might appear to be indifferent to others’ opinions of them, or indifferent to subtle social cues, which in turn makes them seem self-absorbed or socially inept. even though individuals with szpd might not experience strong emotions on a day to day basis, some report rarely experiencing said emotions and, in rare occasions, they might even acknowledge and express having painful feelings, especially related to social interactions. these individuals might also lack strong goals or have inappropriate responses to significant life events. they tend to have few friendships and often do not date or marry. 

because they don’t feel strong emotions, those suffering from szpd often don’t realize that something is wrong with them, as stronger emotions are more often associated with mental instability. it might also be confused with depression, but the two disorders are distinguishable because people suffering from depression often have the ability to feel other emotions and sexual attraction to others. 

schizotypal personality disorder (stpd)

stpd is defined by a discomfort with and reduced capacity for close relationships, as well as cognitive or perceptual distortions and eccentricities in behavior. symptoms include ideas of reference (believing that a casual occurrence actually has a deeper meaning meant specifically for you), odd beliefs or superstitions that are incongruent with cultural norms, odd thinking and/or speech (i.e. overelaborate, vague, circumstantial, etc), suspiciousness or paranoia, odd or eccentric appearance or behavior, lack of close friends or confidants outside of first degree relatives, and social anxiety that is associated with paranoia about the situation rather than negative thoughts about one’s self.

while not classified as delusions or hallucinations, similar things may occur in those with stpd. for example, one might ‘sense’ that another person is present or hear a voice muttering their name. those with stpd may first seek treatment for associated anxiety and depression, only to find out that stpd was the root cause. this disorder may first appear in childhood or adolescence, manifested by social anxiety, poor peer relationships, underachievement in school, hypersensitivity, bizarre thoughts and language, and odd fantasies.

another important thing to note is that the aforementioned “odd appearance” is not “i only shop at hot topic and have never set foot in pacsun or hollister” but “the clothes i wear don’t fit me right and have stains on them but i don’t see a problem with it so i won’t buy new ones”. this feature alone is also not enough to warrant a diagnosis of stpd, and not everyone who wears ill-fitting or stained clothes has stpd; they might not have the money for new clothes or there might be some other unknown circumstance.

as stated before, those with stpd may first seek treatment for anxiety and depression, as they are common difficulties stpd sufferers might experience. however, these are not mutually exclusive; not every anxious/depressed person has stpd and not every person with stpd is anxious/depressed. this is difficult to self diagnose because, as stated in the introduction, personality disorders tend not to be seen as problematic to the individual.

part two with cluster B coming soon! until then, stay safe and take care of yourself <3

[mysterious-foxes]

Abortion is murder. One of the most common techniques is for the baby (yes, baby, because it's a HUMAN BEING) to be ripped apart and pulled from the mother. At 20 weeks of developing, a baby feels pain like any other human, and therefore feels every single second of being torn to pieces. You say you're for BLM, but you also support abortion. Black babies are aborted at a really high rate. Also, if you're for women's rights, then what about the girl babies who are aborted? Don't they have rights?

Lmao, a lot of misinformation to go over.

Abortion is not murder. Murder has specific criteria. Abortion does not meet the criteria to be murder. Use correct language if you want to make a good argument.

Saying a zef is a baby doesn't mean it actually is a baby (similar to calling abortion murder doesn't mean it really is) 🤷🏻‍♀️

A D&E procedure (which you say is one of the most common) is actually performed in less than 8% of abortions. 91% of abortions happen by week 13. Up until that point, the procedure is either medication abortion (the pregnant person takes some pills that cause a miscarriage) or vacuum aspiration (the doctor literally just sucks up the fetus and placenta and any other pregnancy tissue). D&E procedures generally aren't used past week 23. And 99% of abortions happen by week 20. So therefor, less than 8% of abortions are done through a D&E procedure.

Like I said, 99% of abortions happen by week 20. So through your logic of pain, 99% of abortions are okay because the fetus can't feel it. You should be happy to know that the parietal lobe (the part of the brain that perceives pain) doesn't develop until week 22-24. And even then, the fetus can't differentiate between pain and pleasure until at least 30 weeks (if not until they're born).

Yes, I am a huge advocate for BLM. Abortion being accessible isn't the reason that black people abort at higher rates. In fact, almost 70% of abortion clinics are located in neighborhoods that are predominantly white. Finances are a huge reason for why people choose abortion. Systemic racism is to blame for black people aborting at higher rates. I'm 100% for livable wages. If we had livable wages, we would see abortion rates decrease by a good chunk.

I'm for women's rights, yes. I'm also for LGBTQIA+ rights. I'm for human rights. The argument about "what about the baby girls that are aborted!" is dumb because it implies that girls are better than boys and we don't care about boys or men at all. I'm not a rad fem. I don't think that any girl or woman should be able to use someone else's body without their continuous consent either (not just men and boys). I do believe that baby girls have rights. Just like other infants who aren't girls. Did you know that not a single right is violated by abortion? Because right to life doesn't include being able to use someone else's body against their will. Right to bodily autonomy does include being able to remove someone/something from your body. Even by force if necessary.

Come up with some new arguments. These are all things I've talked about plenty of times on my blog. These are all things I've debunked many times. Yes, I'll debunk them again, but I can't remember the last time I heard an argument from anti choicers that wasn't spewing propoganda/misinformation/rhetoric that all of your fellow anti choicers also spread.

[hhjs]

rewind, revive. (all that we are.)

pairing. — kim sunwoo x reader.

genre. — angst.

alternatively. — wherein letting go is all but a reminder of why he seemed to hold on.

mystery trope!

word count. — 2.8 k

note. — inspired the nbhd's 'wdywfm' and 'reflections'. (impacting characters exactly in that order of the songs.) this is unedited so bear with me lmao

Regret is a funny thing.

One can feel it approaching light years before the realisation hits. Like squinting at dim headlights in the distance, before the vehicle picks up pace, before the tires skid against wet gravel, before it finally, finally occurs that it's too late, too late to go back and walk away, to stop oneself from facing the impact head on. From having the air knocked right out of one's lungs.

Sunwoo knows for a fact what he is doing fits that criteria.

Something about the prevailing silence that comes after heated arguments is utterly eerie; being an on and off couple for the longest time indicated that you recognised that much.

"I think we should take a break. Figure things out on our own."

He looks at the little scar you'd gotten from accidentally ramming your toe into the doorframe because you were too excited to see him. (It's healing.) No, that's not right. From this position, sat atop the sofa, when he's holding his head in his palms as your tone rises mid syllable, that's all he can see. No, he can't look at you. He can't look at himself in your eyes now, dropped way below all expectations you held to him once, silhouette of his peeved face in them leaves a rancid emotion inside his belly.

"Is that what you really want?" You ask, this time with a slight hint of surrender in your voice.

Sunwoo wants to say he doesn't exactly know what he wants, what he is feeling, perhaps it's the aftermath of working too hard, taking on too much stress, or so Changmin explained to him earlier that week, he doesn't quite perceive himself as someone who could lament his problems easily - however, it's very clear to him that he is pushing you away, sealing himself off suddenly, missing out on dates, calls and falling short in the department of being his usual affectionate self.

Or maybe, Sunwoo doesn't love you anymore.

What if he's never loved you at all? What if whatever you have is all a resultant of mere infatuation and he was too young to differentiate from the start?

Whatever it is, Sunwoo isn't too sure, but you... obviously notice. He's always finding excuses to distance himself and it's changing you, who you used to be when he fell in love with you. In fact, every day is a constant evidence of just how disconnected your relationship is from how it was in the beginning, in the 'honeymoon stage' or whatever. The way he tenses up when you throw an arm around him every night he plops down against your shared bed too late, only entertaining your comforting words with monosyllabic responses; he seems to test your patience, trying to find your breaking point.

And this is it, he thinks.

What you suggested as an innocent movie night with him, trying to get him to talk to you, about anything, anything at all, soon took a bad turn when you reached out to interlock your arms and he found himself brushing you off.

It was just the same little act that piled and piled atop all of his 'little acts' and this final blow sent everything tumbling down, all at once. The way you stared at your spread out, empty palm as you asked him why he was being like this is an image he finds difficult to forget.

Albeit he doesn't hesitate, asking you to stop nagging him, to stop overreacting. To just leave him alone.

Now, with the weight of his words absent inside, all he senses is blatant emptiness taking refuge in its place, an epiphany that he can't take back what he said.

You don't say a word when Sunwoo's reply comes in the form of an affirmative nod and what's worse, he thinks, is that you don't look surprised.

As if you saw it coming all along.

...

When he agrees to put up with one of the double dates Eric set, it's because his friends are convinced that the relationship has reached a dead end. Sunwoo ignores that idea and indulges in what he perceives as newfound freedom.

Even though the excitement of getting to know someone new is momentary, replaced by a strong underlying feeling that nauseates him. Whenever Sunwoo looks over the candlelight and watches his date smile back at him, it feels like he's doing something wrong. Something hypocritical.

Recently, every day feels the same. Every hour melding into the same old routine. This is boredom, Sunwoo tells himself, though he's positive it's anything but.

It's quite a surprise not having chanced upon you by accident, given years of dating has merged your social circles.

Really, when he thinks about it, Sunwoo's known you for the longest time.

Since he was sure he would fail a calculus pop quiz and he kicked your chair to gather correct answers, you were so shy, innocent and how that sparked a sense of adoration in him for the first time ever, since you ended up becoming best friends in spite of your essentially different personalities. Sunwoo tries to remember the exact feeling of snowflakes collecting on his cheeks, in your eyelashes, his cool fingers in his pockets, while a street light buzzed overhead - not every detail is clear - but the sight of your beaming face as he timidly confessed his feelings is unmistakable. As time passes, he tries thinking about it more and more, afraid someday he'll look back and miss out the most essential rudiments of the event. Or worse, forget altogether. It's such a distant, fleeting moment that elicits a bittersweet sensation in him. Sweet because some part of him will always be entwined with some part of you, bitter because you were no longer together.

Sunwoo shakes his head, as though the gesture ought to come in assistance in ridding himself of the aforementioned thoughts. He's the one who wanted this whole break thing, right?

He pushes his trolley around, leans on the handle like he used to as a kid and paces up through empty lanes after looking around to see that the seven eleven store is mostly empty. He successfully breezes through aisles and throws in packaged kimbap, frozen fried rice and crisps to his trolley; and then, suddenly, a juice extract shelf in the distance catches his eye.

Sunwoo focuses his vision and marks his next destination, all the while imitating low humming of a makeshift engine with his mouth.

But of course, much to his dismay, his trolley jams right into another that approached out of the aisle to his side that he hadn't kept an eye on in moving only forward.

He mutters a string of quiet apologies, bowing briefly and hoping to God that the person hadn't heard him swear under his breath. "It's alright."

Sunwoo looks up and blinks curiously recognition washing over him.

It's only been a few weeks but the sight of your face, the real thing, not instagram photos, not the ones in his money bag or photo frames in his drawer, hits him with the force of a bullet train.

Your face is bare, shadows splattered against your forehead and the tip of your nose because you're wearing his - and he only realises now - ridiculously big, pink bucket hat, a hand casually positioned into a jacket pocket, there's something so endearing about this.

"Hey." Sunwoo says.

"Hey."

You stare at him for a good second and then as if realising something, you blink rapidly, fishing out a pear extract juice to dump it in his trolley. "Here."

It is an unspoken gesture, to relay that you still remember what he likes and what he doesn't like, that you've unraveled the likes of Sunwoo, excavated all the little, measly, trivial quirks, secrets and lies buried deep inside the cavity of his chest.

"Thanks." Sunwoo just stares, entranced.

It is only when he's back home, nuzzled into the comfort of his favourite blanket that still smells a little like you, does he realise he misses you.

...

"I don't care."

Sunwoo thinks he means it, like this, when he has a hoodie pulled over his head and balances a controller with great expertise, looking perfectly unfazed by Chanhee's comment about whether or not he should invite you to his party, it almost sounds true. "I just wanna see them." He settles. Time apart only reminded him just how impatient he could be when he wanted something and wasn't getting it immediately. He is seeing clearly, you're the only constant in the overwhelming vicissitudes of his life, the only one who saw him at his worst as you did at his best and stayed. That comfort, that very familiarity, is far better than the infamous honeymoon stage or any stage, for that matter.

Sunwoo realises that now. Even if it's just a little late.

Rolling his eyes, Chanhee pushes a grocery bag containing the former's snack and tears open a packet of honey crisps.

Prior to this confession, no matter how much Sunwoo insisted that he was fine, that his stare didn't linger every time he mistook a stranger for you, that he definitely didn't pretend to do the dishes even though he refused to do the chore under any other circumstances just to overhear his friends talking about a new event in your life, or just... about you, Chanhee doesn't believe him.

In retrospect, no one does. But Chanhee is least discreet about it.

"I don't suppose that's a good idea..." He pauses, swallowing, "What if things go south?"

Beneath an act of trying to untie the grocery bag, Sunwoo contemplates that he doesn't know how to respond to this inquiry, he had pictured your next meeting many a times, prepped himself to do or say very particular things, the way you always made up, time and time again forgiving each other in spite of all obstacles in your way, to a point where you friends got tired of you going back and forth, convinced that you could never really break up... - no, he is sure nothing can change, that's a blatant impossibility, Sunwoo knows you and you know him. No matter how much he fucks up - you know he'll always come back to you.

That's how it has always been.

"Figures, huh?"

Sunwoo scoffs, noting the way his friend's expression morphes to a confused furrowing of brows. He holds the yellow classic salted packet up instead whilst wrinkling his nose more than necessary, knowing the remark would prompt Chanhee to get annoyed and forget all about his own remark. “You got the wrong flavour again.”

The older male crumples a crisp in his palm and flicks it at Sunwoo.

The answer is simple, he'll never know if he never tries. Love is not chance but a decision, love is a choice, isn't it?

Well, Sunwoo chose you, he chooses you. He'll choose you over and over again.

...

"Can we talk?"

You nod slowly, a sigh escaping your parted lips. An expression on your face that Sunwoo can't put a finger on. But he doesn't have to, not when you comply so easily, joining him out into the balcony divorced from the apartment rife with noise and evidence of inebriation.

You lean over the railing, your eyes travelling far off into the impossibly dark scenery, the silence is imbued with a vague sense of eerie, the kind that ensues before something terrible happens.

All Sunwoo can think about is how beautiful you are. Suddenly, he feels guilty - see, he can't remember the last time he appreciated you, showered you with accolades you most certainly deserve. He mimics your position, turning his head slightly to take in every detail. Committing it all to memory. Things are different now. You look different.

Last time he saw you, he could map out the swollen quality of your eyes, nails bitten and chipped, the little characteristics that gave away you weren't doing well. Now, there's an indescribable glow to your face, something under the perfectly dolled up look, the red beret on your head, matched with an utterly fabulous coat that guards you from cool autums.

It's a new outfit. The discomfort is newer.

"You look great." He finally speaks and it's not the best way to start a conversation that's dangling by its last finger, akin to an inexperienced acrobat - he doesn't know what is.

You chuckle. "Is that what you wanted to say?"

"N-no...I just.." he pauses, the words all bundling up on his tongue into one big mess of sentences that don't make any sense. When you finally look at him, leaning back on your elbows now, Sunwoo gulps, this isn't a figment of his imagination, no, this is real. It's now or never. "I'm sorry." He starts, the mere utterance of those words seem to spark no change in your appearance. As if you're waiting for him to continue. Right now, apologies just aren't good enough. "This whole thing was so stupid. Baby I-I know I fucked up but... I love you. Okay? I promise I'll do anything to make it up to you. Whatever you want."

You stare at him for a long second, just letting his words sink in but also just seemingly allowing yourself to think. Then you push yourself up, standing straighter. "You dont have to." You say simply, a hint of finality laced into your tone. All Sunwoo finds himself thinking is how you don't reciprocate, uttering the same I love you like you always did. Out of habit.

He curls his fingers into fists, knuckles whitening and whitening under the strain. His vision is a blurring film against which you look like a faint silhouette, secluded by rivulets of raindrops racing down windows. It's embarrassing, how he feels, all those bubbling emotions reduced to that of a child being denied his favourite candy.

"W-What is that supposed to mean?" He blinks, finding that you're staring at your spread out palms. Like they're evidence for something you've done.

"Sunwoo." You say. It sounds like a warning, like a don't get any closer. "I don't like who I become when I'm with you."

At this point, Sunwoo just listens. In his mind, he hadn't foreseen this. He knew it wouldn't be easy, he knew he had to try his best but...this...losing you... that was out of question. Right?

No, he tells himself, he'll fix it, he'll get it together.

"You know, I was really angry at you for breaking up with me...but it was probably for the best." You produce a garbled laugh, lifting your face skyward, looking up at the glossy layers of pollution, of purplish clouds and the barely there moon behind, like you're reading off sentences from them. Sunwoo stares at you, he wants to reach out and trace the curves of your face without thinking twice, without holding back. "We did need time to think... and it made me realise that I've always loved you more than you've ever loved me. Heck, even more than I loved myself...and... I can't be that version of me again." You sniffle, "That's not love... That's devotion."

"Hey, don't say that!" He drags his fingers up from the railing and reaches out to touch your elbow, "Come on...we-we can work it out. We always do." These words , they come out all choked up and hoarse.

You stiffen up at the sound, "You're not listening to me." You shrug him off, adamantly piloting your gaze to linger away from him, your back's turned away from him but then you pause, just slightly looking over your shoulder and your gaze softens at the sight of him using his sleeve to dab at his cheeks. The gesture makes him feel hopeful, just for a second. 

Then you sigh, shaking your head, "Don't you get it?" You say, "We can't fix this...we can't fix each other.

Inexplicably, he thinks of a perfect world, where he could go back just once, where it all started, everything before, holding his head in his hands and the little scar on your toe and is that what you really want?

This time, Sunwoo would mutter a quick no. He'd flick on the television and snuggle into your side, talking mindlessly about something that makes you laugh.  To forget all about the stupid argument.

But in reality, he lets your words ricochet off of the walls, listening to the transient beats of music pouring into the balcony when you slide the door open to let yourself out. 

It shuts.

Everything goes quiet.

And this soundlessness, this solitude, he knows this, he's heard this, he's seen this, he's felt this, this... this is final,

 this is goodbye.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I never meant to imply that this was all there was to pro-shipping, and I’ll freely admit once again that I am not the most knowledgeable about any of this. I can only make my judgment calls based on what I know and hear about. By no means am I saying that the term exclusively applies to one thing. I’d also like to stress again that I consider myself neutral in this debate and, while I do ultimately side against pro-shipping, I don’t particularly want to take a side and this choice is mainly down to my gut feeling that there are some things that just shouldn’t be normalized. 

That being said, in no way am I trying to stand against the idea of “ship and let ship.” I do believe in that. I’ll use another well known example. A friend of mine ships Harry and Hermione. I ship Ron and Hermione and the Harry/Hermione ship bothers me because it is sometimes associated with the Anti-Ron sentiment and even if a shipper has nothing against Ron, it’s difficult to write a Harry x Hermione ending without him getting screwed over. Still, I have nothing against people who ship Harry and Hermione. I don’t get it, not one bit, but that’s their business. I would never claim the right to tell people who they can and cannot ship. 

You make a good point about what the terms were originally supposed to mean versus what they’re interpreted to mean in present day. And asking is a great idea, I think we could all stand to employ more communication. Like I said, I think pro-shipping is a good ideal on paper. But in practice, it can lead to some ships and stances (since some ships inherently come with problematic stances) that are potentially dangerous. That is not the fault of people who are pro-shippers by the traditional definition, but sadly, people hear pro-ship and their minds go right to the darkest stuff. Words can have their meanings change and evolve, and I would love to see this term reclaimed, but as of right now, it does have certain connotations. 

And I’m not even saying that people who meet the criteria of being “bad” pro-shippers are in the wrong. I won’t call anyone a bad person for what they ship. But there are certain ships where I simply find them horrible and if asked, I won’t sugarcoat that I feel this way, nor the reasons why. The two examples I most often use are Littlefinger x Sansa and Snape x Harry. Nor am I saying that “traditional” pro-shippers should be lumped in with these people. I can understand why you might feel attacked, but if it’s in any way a comfort, I want you to know that I simply was not talking about you. I apologize if I’ve offended you. 

This is what I mean when I say that it’s a messy subject. There’s a lot to this debate and it isn’t one that I want to take up the fight for on one side or the other. I just try to be nice to everyone when I can, but there’s also the argument that to be nice to certain people is to be cruel to others. I’m not saying that means you, just that these people do exist and navigating around them and where they populate in fandoms can be highly tricky. I don’t know if you’re the person who blocked me (someone reblogged my previous post and then appears to have done so) but either way, I wish you all the best. 

[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​

[king-of-wrath]

"They barely even know what their standards are!" Satan yelled, throwing his hands into the air. "The Princess asked the whole Seraphim Court and they struggled to give her a real answer!"

"It took their genocidal boss five fucking minutes to come up with three vague-ass qualities of a 'good' person---none of which he embodies: 'act selfless', 'don't steal', and 'stand up to the man'. But fucking guess what the big argument against redeeming that one spider dude was, in spite of him meeting all criteria? 'He does drugs and has lots of sex'."

"Well, I guess fuck everyone who's ever done a weed or did the horizontal Monster Mash for any reason besides baby-making and anyone not their opposite-gender spouse!"

> "Who wants to hear a controversial political opinion?"

[tanadrin]

Legal Systems Very Different From Ours (Because They Do Not Exist)

(I forgot Scott had already done this, lol)

AZAREN

There is the land of Azaren, far to the north; a rugged, windswept country, it was settled by hardy explorers in an ancient age of migration, who have always been disdainful of central authority, and permit themselves to be governed only to the most minimal extent. As a consequence of this skepticism of government, there is also a general skepticism of public law. All law in Azaren--except the few scraps of administrative and procedural law necessary to operate the government--is private, and there is no criminal law. All disputes between parties are resolved by what we would consider in other countries civil suits, governed by strict rules involving standing. Theft, arson, even murder may all go unpunished, unless there is an interested party willing to file suit to obtain redress. The Azarenes by and large consider this system exemplary of freedom and justice, and we cannot help but admit an attraction to the cleanness of its philosophy.

A key component of Azaren justice is the principle that no entity is above the law; no entity, however powerful, is so majestic that it is immune from suit. This meant that gods, natural forces, even celestial bodies have been sued (though principally in more superstitious days long past), and where by the weight of evidence, or the simple failure to appear, have been duly issued fines, which remain on the public register of debts waiting to be paid. And naturally, Azaren countenances no doctrine of state or sovereign immunity. This principle, especially due to the absence of public law, extends also to relations between Azaren and other states. Naturally this principle extends to sublunary bodies like Azaren's own government: Azaren recognizes to doctrine of state or sovereign immunity, and not a few political revolutions have been wrought through cunning arguments in the courtroom. And note also that Azaren conducts no foreign policy as a unified whole--for that would require an intolerable tyranny imposed on her people, that is to say some form of tax to pay the salaries of a diplomatic corps--but what individuals and groups of individuals see fit to conduct. So from time to time, an individual or group of individuals together will decide some foreign state has wronged them, and, as is Azarene custom, will petition their courts for redress; and despite the diplomatic protestations of the representatives of that government, that any such proceeding is a clear violation of precedent in the community of nations, that by dint of its sovereignty no state may be sued in the courts of another, the Azarene court will hear the suit. And should the plaintiffs prevail, an order will be issued for the recovery of damages.

And it is for this reason and this reason alone that Azaren has any armed force: in case of a judgement entered against a foreign government, the militia of Azaren is authorized to confiscate property--in Azaren or abroad--belonging to that government (and if need be, its citizens) until enough has been seized to cover the amount owed. Whereupon, whatever the state of the field of battle, however close the foe is to total capitulation, they return to their ships instantly and retire to their home country.

GKNAI

The land of Gknai is ancient, possibly one of the longest-inhabited regions in the world; and as it is nestled deep in often-overlooked mountain valleys, it has enjoyed a history of uncommon peace and tranquility, well-fortified against the ambitions of neighboring princes; it has indeed earned its epithet of Many-Fortressed-Gknai; and in later millennia, this reputation for indomitability has served by itself to safeguard its borders.

As a consequence of its long, long history, it is said, Gknai is uncommonly bound by the pageantry of Tradition. Just as other countries have monarchies that have withered away into irrelevance, performing a few desultory functions of government under the strict control of their ministers, Gknai has its own titular kings and princes. Indeed, it has them by the wagonload. The difficulty of warfare in the region and the bombasticity of ancient aristocrats means that every valley is thick with Kings and Over-Kings, and Lords President, and Grand Dukes, and even Emperors. Most Sublime Hierophants tend their vegetable patches across the road from Thrice-Exalted Tyrants, and the multiplication of titles is not helped by the fact that under Gknaian traditions, every child inherits some share of the honors of their parents.

The Gknaians have never had a single political revolution to sweep the old order away, only centuries of incremential change. Therefore, each of these titles, in the abstract legal sense, still has some privilege attached to it, however slight it may be. Nor, if they wished to abolish their cumbersome system, is it clear how they might legally do so: there is no legislative authority in Gknai but custom, and for every amendment to the law some precedent, even if very weak, must be found that may be expanded and elaborated upon and carefully argued for until it is generally agreed upon in the whole land. Gnkaian legal codes incorporate much of this commentary, and a Gknaian law library is thus a fearsome thing indeed.

The most curious relic of Gknaian tradition is a form of trial, still in general use, called gopi-gai ogmo, or Trial By Endurance. It was argued by an ancient Gknaian scholar that wealth, strength, and even legal persuasiveness were poor proxies for the righteousness of a cause, and so poor criteria for deciding a lawsuit. For with wealth often comes prestige, and undue influence over the public; with strength, assured victory in the trials by combat; and a well-spoken orator might convince even the best of judges to decide a case in contravention of the law, if his eloquence and flattery are sufficient. Better, said this scholar, to align public interest with individual preference, and a hint of utilitarianism: clearly, the side that *wishes* to win more, should prevail. And how to decide that more efficiently, than with a test of endurance?

This is the form of the test: a hillside of a valley is chosen, one warm in the morning and cool in the evening, but not too hot or too cold; and the plaintiff and the defendant are seated upon it, gazing down at the valley below; and the judge and officers of the court withdraw to observe. That is all. Whomever remains seated and motionless the longest is judged to desire victory more. To stand, speak, cry out, laugh, smirk, or fall down is to forfeit the case. Neither of the parties may be spoken to; neither may be disturbed in any way. The only modification ever made is this: in matters deemed especially urgent, sometimes the parties are made to stand instead.

Judgement, naturally, usually takes days. One especially notable figure, Hrakal the Vexatious Litigant, widely feared for his tolerance of boredom and inclement weather, successfully lodged no less than three dozen lawsuits against his neighbors, until he met his match in Tatavru the Stubborn. That particular proceeding lasted more than two weeks, until an out-of-season snowfall gave Hrakal frostbite, and caused him to relent. I have also heard of a legendary conflict over a spite-fence in the valley of Upper Dabbar, where, it is said, the parties sat immobile for *three years*, sustained by surreptitious nighttime meals and the kind of intense mutual hatred known only by neighbors who share a property line. Another interlocutor I spoke with, an older woman, said that this was a corrupted version of an older tale, altered for believability's sake. In fact, she said, the dispute was *never* resolved. The parties sat immobile until the vegetation grew thick on their laps and shoulders; and if you visit a certain hilltop in Upper Dabbar, you can still see them, two seated figures covered in grass that have now become part of the hill.

BOSSUL

In the city of Bossul, all important questions must be settled by a consensus agreeable to all parties. Although apparently cumbersome, this system has many virtues. The government of Bossul enjoys approval ratings usually seen only in the most tyrannical of dictatorships, and though the city's martial fury has been inflamed many times, it has never actually gone to war, for there have always been one or two heads cool enough to refuse to support it. Alas, every occasion of government is nearly interminable as a result: even the most trivial meeting of the least prestigious committee can drag well into the night; and nothing about the culture or institutions of Bossul does anything to restrain the impulses of busybodies or know-it-alls who have, in every other culture on the planet, driven such consensus-driven systems into the dirt. Yet Bossul's persists, for uncertain reasons.

One, perhaps, might be the custom of Utabani-mo-Kalutabani, which might very roughly be translated into English as "Agreeing To Disagree." When a consensus *cannot* be reached--for instance, in an intractible legal case--a temporary truce may be enacted in the form of Utabani-mo-Kalutabani. In short, each side continues to live their life, pretending that they have won. Thus, from time to time, you may explore the city of Bossul and find such oddities as two different families, each on the opposite side of an inheritance dispute, living in the same apartment and pretending the other does not exist. You may find an employee, who has sued for wrongful termination, coming to work every day at a company that insists she does not work there. You may even, on occasion, find someone walking the street as a free man, whom the police insist that they currently have in their custody.

It is a strange custom, and one cannot help but wonder if it is of any practical use at all.

MOZICK

Mozick is a small island in the Hraspedain Sea, rainy in winter but temperate in summer, which like Gnkai has a deep respect for the usages of its past. In Mozick, this is something of a religious conviction, for their society is organized around the pronouncements of the Great Oracle of the Smoky Mirror, who lived and died more than a thousand years ago.

Such was the inerrancy of the Oracle's predictions (it was said), that the Oracle was trusted utterly in settling disputes and prosecuting criminals. Usually, the Oracle heard arguments before pronouncing judgements, but this was considered a formality; many times, a judgement could be given as soon as the parties entered the courtroom. And such was the faith the people had in their Oracle, that they feared what would become of their society when she died; so she set down in an enormous volume a list of judgements--thousands of them--in cases yet to come. They named no parties, nor any details of the case: only Guilty, Not Guilty, Liable for a sum of 400 Mozickian drachmas, etc.

The procedure in Mozick is thus: when cases are brought before the court, the time and order of each filing is carefully noted. Once a year, amid solemn ritual, the Book of Judgements is opened, and a judgement for each case is read off, in order. It is an article of faith in Mozickian law that the judgement is never wrong, though at times the wisdom of the Oracle has, the Mozickians admit, seemed... startling. There was, for instance, the legendary case of Uckmar the Arsonist, caught in the act of burning the Temple of Ytrabel-Sheh; the sentence read aloud before the prosecutors was "Defendant to go free, be compensated 10 drachmas." But, the legal scholars carefully explain, Ytrabel-Sheh was the god of rain, and an unusually wet summer that year had caused the slugs to flourish in Uckmar's garden, devouring his tomatoes. The arson was, perhaps, justified, or considered just compensation; the 10 drachmas were for emotional damages. So the careers of legal scholars in Mozick are made, harmonizing the decisions of the great Oracle with the principles of justice.

A careful accounting of judgements is important to the system--once it was discovered that one judgement had accidentally been used twice, necessitating a redistribution of three years' worth of punishments and fines; fortunately, no death penalties had been handed out. But the Book of Judgements is finite. And one day--a day that soon will be in the expected lifetime of Mozickian lawyers now practicing--those judgements will run out. What does this portend? Will Mozick be conquered? Sink beneath the sea? Will--as some quietly hope--the Oracle return? No one knows. But each year sees more of the judgements used up than the last, and soon the book will be empty.