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dalekofchaos · 6 years

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Reasons to side with The Stormcloaks

So I made a post on why I believe The Imperials is the right choice in The Skyrim Civil War. An anon requested I do some suggestions for why The Stormcloaks are right. To be fair. I believe that both The Imperials and Stormcloaks are right and wrong in their own way. I just think it’s smarter to side with the Imperials. With that out of the way, let’s start with the pros and cons of the Stormcloaks

Pros

The Stormcloaks are right to rebel. When The Great War ended and The White-Gold Concordat was signed and The Empire and The Aldmeri Dominion made peace. Not only was the worship of Talos banned, The Blades were disbanded, the cession by the Empire of a large portion of southern Hammerfell to the Aldmeri Dominion and the right for the Thalmor to move throughout the Empire after the Empire didn't enforce the White-Gold Concordat, to hunt down both worshipers of Talos. So not only was the worship of Talos banned. But The Blades who guarded The Emperors for generations were forcefully disbanded, The Empire allowed The Thalmor to take a limited control over a portion of Hammerfell, showing Hammerfell how weak the Empire became and causing resentment to the Empire and The Thalmor Justiciars kidnaps and rounds up anyone who dares to worship Talos in secret or openly. When you allow the very force that you were fighting in The Great war to kidnap innocent civilians in the dead of night from their own homes and for them to be tortured for their right to worship, you have shown Skyrim that you have failed her. The Stormcloaks are right to rebel

When The Empire made peace with The Aldmeri Dominion, the province of Hammerfell had to withdraw/be kicked out of The Empire and continue fighting on it’s own. The Thalmor has not managed to achieve their goals in Hammerfell, and the resistance is very much alive and well there. If they can do it, so can Skyrim.

Ralof is the first friend the Dragonborn makes regardless of what race you choose if you choose to go with him.

Yes The Stormcloaks and mostly the population of Windhelm are racist. But it’s not as black and white as it may seem. The Gray Quarter. The assumption is that Ulfric forces The Dunmer to live in The Gray Quarter. But with some research you would realize this to be quite untrue. The Dunmer are not forced to live anywhere. The live in nanny for the Cruel-Seas, and the owner of the Hlaalu farm do not. If Ulfric truly wanted to segregate them why do two Dunmer not live there? Consider this, the Dunmer probably moved to Windhelm right after the eruption of the Red Mountain or the Argonian invasion. Both of which happened before Ulfric was Jarl. So they must've lived in the Gray Quarter before Ulfric was in power. For whatever reason it must've fallen apart and became what it is today. You might be thinking, "Why doesn't Ulfric fix it?" He's in the middle of a war, it's a rebellion fighting an Empire, it's not going to be easy. Another reason is if they did ruin it on their own, it's not Ulfric's responsibility to fix it. If they destroyed it on their own, why would the Jarl have to spend tax payers dollers to fix something that's not even city property? The next is the Argonians, I actually don't think they are completely forbidden from entering the city. It's never said they can't go in at all? It's just said they can't live in it. Maybe they can't live in it because their is no room. Do you know four empty houses in Windhelm they could move into? Also, Shahvee bought an amulet of Zenithar. Where would she have gotten that from? Inside the city perhaps? Finallly, the Khajiit Caravans aren't allowed in any cities, Stormcloak or Imperial. So you can't just blame the Stormcloaks for that. Brunwulf Free-Winter says Ulfric only helps Nords who are in trouble as opposed to the other races. You can get a bounty form Jorleif to kill a giant that is attacking travelers. Which shows that Ulfric did do something for the non-Nords (I assume travelers are people foriegn to Skyrim). Also, even if he did do this he fails to consider something. That their are obviously more Nords in Skyrim then the other races. Meaning if a Nord village gets attacked a lot of innocent people will be hurt or die. While if a couple of Dunmer or Argonians are wondering around Skyrim less people would be hurt or killed. It's a needs of the many outweight the needs of the few sort of mentality.

There has not been a true High King Of Skyrim for several generations. Generally when the High King Of Skyrim dies, The Emperor picks somebody to be his pawn King Of Skyrim in order to ensure that the people of the province is under Imperial control. In other words, The High King is sure to be somebody who foremost looks after the interest of The Emperor instead of the interests of his own people.

The Markarth Incident is a pro-Stormcloak argument. The book written in the game was propaganda. The Markarth incident was started by the Empire, not Ulfric. They were the ones who promised free worship to the Nord militia led by Ulfric due to being desperate. Ulfric did not do this because he was asked by the Thalmor, or as a plot to start the civil war. He simply wanted Nords to be able to freely worship and not hide like daedra worshippers. Igmund himself. They made the deal, Ulfric did his part of the deal, and then when the elves find out about it, what did the Empire do? They went through this short checklist. Is the province in question Cyrodiil? (Y/N) Since it's not. they threw Ulfric under the bus and reneged on the deal that THEY themselves made. So the Markarth incident was actually another pro-Stormcloak argument showing how exactly the Empire treats any province that isnt Cyrodiil (sacrificial lambs).And, the funny thing is, the entire reason the Forsworn Uprising even happened is because, yet again in Igmund's(A Empire supporter) own words : "When the Aldmeri Dominion invaded the Imperial City, the Legion all but turned a blind eye to the other provinces. Many of the disgruntled natives of the Reach used the opportunity to depose the Empire, and founded what they called an independent kingdom. It was little more than a chaotic uprising, but the Reach was removed from Imperial authority for two years before we reclaimed it." So from the start until the end, everything was the Empire's fault yet again.

A unified Skyrim with all its fierce warriors will be a match for the Dominion. And with a probable alliance between Skyrim and the weak but still standing province of Hammerfell, The Aldmeri Dominion will have a real fight on their hands. The other provinces(Cyrodiil and High Rock) will have to either stand by and watch the war, or join this new “Alliance Of Tamriel” against The Dominion. Since everyone more or less knows that the war between Mer and Men could and will start any day now, these provinces will probably have to join in pretty soon in order to in longterm protect/save themselves. Cyrodiil will have to go back to being a kingdom when Skyrim becomes independent, since High Rock probably doesn’t want to be part of a two province only empire.

With The Stormcloaks in charge of Skyrim, the disbanded and scattered Blades now have a safehaven where they once again can gather and regrow, protected by the people and armies of Skyrim from The Thalmor who have been hunting them for decades within the very borders of The Empire. The Blades might play a big part in uniting the various armies against The Aldmeri Dominion.

You might be thinking that Skyrim and the Stormcloaks aren’t strong enough to fight The Thalmor, well no. First of all, the Nords have been fighting Elves for years. Why would the Dominion be any different? Most would say, “the whole Empire couldn’t beat them, how would only the Nords do it?”. Actually, though the Empire was wounded, the Dominion was also very weakened. Their main general was killed and every soldier in Cyordiil. That was one of the largest armies ever assmbled in Elven history. And since Elves reproduce slower, they would probably have a much harder time recovering. Hammerfell alone was able to beat them, and they were just as hurt as Cyordiil from the Great War, they also had a civil war between the Crowns and the Forbears before that. So Hammerfell was not in a good position and yet they still beat the Dominion. Why can’t Skyrim? Also, they could make an alliance with Hammerfell and the two of them could work together. Also, the Stormcloaks offered High Rock an allaince, they didn’t instantly reject them which shows that they might be thinking about it. These three nations would put up one hell of a fight for the Dominion.

Despite what the dossier of Ulfric said. Ulfric is not an agent of The Thalmor. The reason the Thalmor would consider him an asset is because he might help start a war in Skyrim. That's what the Thalmor want, a long drawn bloody war. They actually say in the Dossier "A Stormcloak victory is to be avoided". If the war is ended quickly the Thalmor won't get the benefit because little lives and resources will have been lost.

If The Dragonborn aids The Stormcloaks. We have a likely chance of the story of Tiber Septim being paralleled with The Last Dragonborn. Right hand man to the High King Of Skyrim. Master Of The Voice eventually becoming Emperor. In Morrowind The Nerevarine unites the five houses of Morrowind and the Ashlanders, brings an end to The Tribunal, stops Dagoth Ur thus completing the Nerevarine Prophecy, completes the Bloodmoon Prophecy(in which he fucking fights The Daderic Prince Hircine!), kills the god Almalexia, gains the corpus disease and becomes immortal and goes on a expedition to Akavir. In Oblivion The Hero Of Kvatch/Champion Of Cyrodiil finds the heir to the Emperor, helps Martin Septim become Emperor, shuts down the Oblivion gates stopping the Dadera horde, Martin Septim sacrifices himself and becomes the avatar of Akatosh to stop Mehrunes Dagon and ends the Oblivion Crisis. The Hero Of Kvatch becomes The Champion Of Cyrodiil and is known and celebrated throughout Cyrodiil for what we did to stop the Oblivion Crisis. then finds the relics of the crusader, becomes the divine crusader and defeats Umaril the Unfeathered. And lastly The Hero Of Kvatch goes to The Shivering Isles, does the bidding of Sheogorath, ends The Greymarch, stops Jyggalag and becomes the new Sheogorath. As for Skyrim, The Last Dragonborn fulfills the prophecy as Dragonborn and stops Alduin from ending the world, stops Harkon from plunging the world in eternal darkness and travels to Solstheim to stop Miraak, The First Dragonborn. I feel that Miraak is the true climax of the story. The First Dragonborn fighting The Last Dragonborn. Fight to the death between Dragonborns. That for me is basically the ultimate culmination of the game. But I find it dissatisfying because it just doesn’t feel like anywhere near the level to The Shivering Isles or Tribunal. We don’t become a Daedric Prince or immortal. If anything I feel a new story DLC should be given where The Last Dragonborn becomes the new Emperor of Tamriel. Not High King, Emperor. Tidus Mede II is dead, we know nothing of heirs of The Meade Dynasty and it shouldn’t be unthinkable to assume that the Last Dragonborn can’t become The Emperor. Talos was Dragonborn and it was the Dragonblood that made the Septim Dynasty and a dragonborn who made Tamriel united. Skyrim was on the verge of seceding like Hammerfell did, most likely The Imperial side won canonically(which is for the best, Ulfric did exactly what The Thalmor wanted to divide and conquer so the Empire can fall easy in the next war) as for The Blades, the next duty of The Blades would be to guide The Dragonborn on the path of becoming Emperor because what else are they meant to do? What else can they do? Alduin is dead and it is the duty of The Blades to guide The Dragonborn and to protect The Emperor. The Dragonborn as Emperor can make the Empire stronger reunite Tamriel and unite a strong Tamriel against The Thalmor. Here’s why with The Dragonborn The Stormcloaks has a chance at stopping The Thalmor. Dragons. Depending if you choose to kill or spare Paarthurnax. You either gain Paarthurnax as an ally who spreads the way of the voice to the other Dovah or The Dragons recognize your Thu’um as the strongest and Alduin’s lordship is passed on to you. Either way after Miraak’s defeat, The Last Dragonborrn becomes the most powerful being in all of Tamriel. He is the Harbinger Of The Companions, so The Companions can aid The Stormcloaks with their most strongest warriors, The Dragonborn restores The Bllades to their former glory. Guildmaster of The Thieve’s Guild, so Thieves can steal powerful artifacts that benefit The Thalmor, Archmage Of The College Of Winterhold, while Nords do not trust Mages, they will trust their Archmage and The Mages’ power of the arcane can rival that of the High Elves. Listener Of The Dark Brotherhood. As The Listener The Dark Brotherhood, he can arrange the deaths of important and high up Thalmor in power. He is the new Lord of the Volkihar Clan(let’s face it, absolutely no one chose to side with the Dawnguard) The Dragonborn is Champion to the Daedra. And with The Dragonborn being in service to Hermaeus Mora, we have a chance to obtain Thalmor knowledge for our Daedric Prince of knowledge. Skyrim’s leadership needs to change. The current leadership of Skyrim needs to be destroyed. And that’s because Jarl Balgruuf can’t even maintain his own hold. It’s a crumbling piece of ruins, even before the dragons came back. Whiterun was a shadow of it’s former self. It used to be this massive trade hub, under Balgruuf, it’s garbage. Riften is a den of corruption and Jarl Lalia who has a carriage ready in case Riften falls to Imperials. It’s fitting that at least Riften’s leader survives but leaves it’s people to the mercy of Maven Black-Briar or the dragons. Each Jarl in Skyrim is equally incompetent. If Skyrim becomes independent, they will all be incompetent together meaning the province will fall that much faster. The only potential that Skyrim has to endure for a good period of time is get better leadership. The Thalmor do not want to conquer men. The Thalmor want to deactivate the towers, destroy the race of men and remake Nirn so that they can be gods again. And it is our duty to stop this. With the Civil War over, Aludin, Harkon and Miraak defeated, what is there for the Dragonborn to do? Become Emperor and bring an end to The Thalmor. In almost ever Elder Scrolls games, the guild questlines are canon, so The Dragonborn kills Emperor Titus Mede II. The Dragonborn would lead the Stormcloaks to victory and The Dragonborn declares himself the new Dragonborn Emperor of the true Empire of Tamriel. He began a war with the old Empire of Tamriel and conquered it. Let’s say The Dragonborn walks into the Elder Council chambers and declares he killed Titus Mede II and declares himself Emperor. And pretty much everyone is calling for the Dragonborn’s death. But guess what the Dragonborn does next? BEND WILL! The Dragonborn uses the Bend Will shout on the Elder Council and the Elder Council declares you the Emperor of Tamriel. Now not only do we get a new Dragonborn Emperor, but we also have an army of dragons to join us. Paarthurnax could be convinced to join and lead the dragons on the path to the way of the voice to fight for The Dragonborn or if you do kill Paarthurnax, you gain Alduin’s lordship and the dragons will follow you. So you have an army of dragons and Paarthurnax as your ally. Where Tiber Septim had his personal dragon Nafaalilargus, The Dragonborn has Odahving. So with the combined might of The Last Dragonborn, Dragons, the guilds and the Stormcloaks, The Thalmor will be stopped and The Summerset Isles will be burned to ashes.

Cons

Ulfric is power hungry and his bigoted nature and making Skyrim independent and isolationists will be a disaster. Ulfric does not care about Nords or Skyrim, all Ulfric cares about is Ulfric. and in his Thalmor Dossier, it is said that the war benefits the Thalmor, dragging it on bleeds the empire, divide and conquer.

The Stormcloak Jarls are either just dicks or generally incompetent. Skald is so dumb and arrogant to believe that Dragons have returned because of the Talos ban. Laila-Law Giver is so blind to the corruption and crime that Maven is behind it all and she turns a blind eye to it. The Silverbloods gain power in Markarth. The bastards who jailed us for asking questions become Jarl. They are responsible for the majority of deaths in the city and used the Forsworn as slaves. Korir is blinded by his hatred of the mages to see they weren’t responsible for the great collapse. Vignar may be an asshole but he is willing to fight for Whiterun. As far as I’m concerned, the only Stormcloak Jarls worth keeping in power are Sorli, and Dengeir

The mistreatment of non-Nords in Windhelm is bad enough(not even Imperial smith in Whiterun is allowed to do anything in a Stormcloak Whiterun), but for all the holds, that will just bite Ulfric on his ass.

A free and independent Skyrim sounds good on paper but not so convincing in practice. It would only last so long before some spin-off of the Empire got pissed at the Stormcloaks. Probably people who aren’t Nords who are sick of being treated as second-rate crap, so there’d likely be yet another Civil War that would further destabalize the northern province.

The fight between High King Torygg was not Traditional Nordic Duel, it was not the old way. Yes Ulfric did challenge Torygg to the old way. But The Voice was not a just and fair combat. The Greybeards forbid the use of the voice in combat and it is not The Nords’ way. Given what Torygg tells the player in Sovrnguard, he did have a chance to defend himself. "When Ulfric Stormcloak, with savage Shout, sent me here, my sole regret was fair Elisif, left forlorn and weeping." "I faced him fearlessly - my fate inescapable, yet my honor is unstained - can Ulfric say the same?" Now, with dialogue from Sybille Stentor, We can start to see the Duel/Murder of High King Torygg was unnecessary, and Ulfric was more into taking the throne than succeeding from the Empire. She states that Torygg, if asked by Ulfric, Torygg may have stood up against the Empire. Skyrim could have seceded peacefully, like Hammerfell did long ago. Instead, with the killing of Torygg, war sparked. The civil war began.

Skyrim seceding from the Empire would be bad. From Sybille Stentor you ask about Torygg and said he respected Ulfric and that why he killed him is because Ulfric needed a symbol and if Ulfric asked him to declare Skyrim’s independece he might have done so. But Torygg knew that would be a bad idea. Why didn't Torygg ever declare independence? "Because the Dominion is a sleeping beast that Skyrim cannot slay alone. Because many Nords are part of the Imperial army even now. Because the food and resources we get from the Empire are important to our people. Because even if we can't openly worship him, Talos the god was once Tiber Septim the man, and this is his Empire. And Torygg wasn't ready to let it fall apart."

A Stormcloak victory is pretty bad. Skyrim will no longer be part of the Empire. You now have a weak Empire and a weak Stormcloak rebellion. The Thalmor/Aldmeri Diminion will war with them, defeating the weakened Empire with ease. Though, unlike the Empire, the Stormcloaks have more of a chance to make allies, the Thalmor is large enough to defeat the singe-Provence rebellion.

#The Elder Scrolls #The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim #Skyrim Civil War #The Stormcloaks #Stormcloaks #Ulfric Stormcloak

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paladinsheadcanons · 6 years

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Here's a non-shipping request (albeit one that could be pretty time-consuming): Who does each champion like the least among their fellow champs? The idea that everyone get's along well enough to live in the same building together seems to be a widely accepted headcanon on this blog, but there must be SOME animosity between certain characters... This might sound a bit hypocritical after I just sent in such an extensive request, but please make sure to take some time off to prepare for finals

I went through every single champion’s voice lines and little available canon lore for this. Because I really had no idea how to answer for some of them. Just saying though, there are a lot of champions repeated through this list, as I wasn’t sure how a few characters could plausibly end up as another’s least favourite champion (YING). Also, please don’t take this as any kind of character bashing. It was just what I felt were the most fitting for each character.

-Mod Inara.

Makoa: Androxus. He legitimately believes Androxus to be a wicked soul for him to be cursed, and doesn’t trust him at all.

Fernando: Drogoz. He really doesn’t mind pretty much anyone, but he really, really, really, hates it when Drogoz Dragon Punches him through his shield, which he is very proud of.

Ruckus: Grohk. It’s not really a hate or anything, but the goblin really doesn’t like it when the orc short-circuits Bolt with his lightning. Bolt doesn’t mind though. Let him rest.

Barik: Pip and Skye. Barik already doesn’t like the Vulpins nor the Elves (I’m not kidding his voice lines to them are so mean), but he has a particular dislike for the two who keeps throwing annoying bombs at him and his inventions.

Ash: Fernando. She finds him a disgrace to knights in general, and hates his flirtatious and seemingly carefree attitude.

Torvald: Buck. Long story short, he thinks Buck isn’t intelligent, and doesn’t fully trust him to be on the same team. He doesn’t ever voice this though.

Inara: Barik and Zhin. She doesn’t hate them, but she is extremely against the way the two treat nature, with Barik carving up mountains for his inventions and Zhin burning down forests for what seems to be no more than sadistic fun.

Drogoz: This was hard Drogoz seems to hate everyone. Kinessa. Having someone who constantly slows him even in the air then shooting him out of his place in the skies had really ticked this dragon off enough times.

Bomb King: Willo. He can’t help but find her a little annoying, and he doesn’t find it amusing how her seedlings are technically bombs. It’s petty, but what kind of bomb doesn’t have a fuse and proper explosions?

Cassie: Drogoz. He tried to eat Zigs. Multiple times. As a joke. Yeah she’s not doing him any favours anytime soon.

Lian: Jenos. He pulls off the white hair better than she does. She doesn’t like Jenos’s arrogance and doesn’t believe he’s truly a god. Also Zhin, who she finds extremely dishonorable as a fellow leader of somewhat noble standing.

Kinessa: Strix. Their relationship is extremely strained due to Kinessa walking out on him while he was still her mentor. She’s not eager to try and repair that relationship.

Sha Lin: Maeve. She keeps mocking him and stealing from him, cuz he’s apparently an “easy target” for her and his pride lowkey hates her for it.

Viktor: Lian. He strongly dislikes her arrogant attitude, and hates how she seems to believe him cowardly even though he views his escapes as tactical retreats and finds it foolish for her to lead troops into battles where they can only “win or die”.

Tyra: Pip. Honestly just doesn’t see him as anymore than another hunted animal that isn’t worth her time and energy. Doesn’t pay him much mind at all.

Willo: Fernando. She really didn’t like it when she stepped on that one flower in front of her that one time.

Evie: Tyra. Evie simply hates the way Tyra keeps throwing Fire Bombs, which affect her more than most, and their personalities don’t exactly match up well either.

Skye: Drogoz. That stupid flying lizard attacked and knocked her out for a single gold coin, then left her there alone in the middle of an empty temple. Of course she’s still mad.

Androxus: Seris. Honestly Androxus doesn’t like anyone, but Seris is the only fellow champion he feels genuinely uneasy with. Yes, she helped him out of the Abyss, but he cannot help but slightly fear the true extent of her powers linked directly to his place of torment.

Buck: Barik. Buck finds Barik too grumpy and rude to some of the others, especially those who weren’t of the human or dwarven species, such as the elves. Besides, Barik clearly thinks Buck’s an idiot, which does cause reasonable conflicts.

Maeve: Lex. While the two have somewhat formed a truce and have a pretty decent relationship overall, Maeve still cannot help but harbour a fierce resentment towards Lex, as he keeps telling her how her thieving actions were wrong when it was literally the only reason she survived after being thrown out onto the streets as a child.

Zhin: Mal’Damba. Zhin has unstable relationships with most of his fellow Paladins, but he secretly resents Mal’Damba especially for the support’s ability to invoke fear into others at will, as Zhin hates to ever feel scared in any way.

Lex: Zhin. The guy’s literally against everything Lex stands for as a lawman. Of course he hates Zhin.

Mal’Damba: Evie. He strongly feels that Evie has gravely disrespected the spirits by forcefully binding her soul to one. He does not bother ever showing his displeasure though, satisfied with knowing that her actions had led her to spending eternity in a weak form.

Pip: Bomb King. Pip really doesn’t like how the guy just throws his active bombs everywhere, because they could easily set off Pip’s own potions or severely damage his fur. He always feels like he’s walking around broken glass when BK is around as a result.

Grover: Drogoz and Zhin. Grover absolutely hates fire, and hates how reckless and destructive the two are with it, particularly with Zhin, who actively likes watching things burn. He’s fine with Fernando though, as the knight only ever uses his fire in a fight and still tries to be careful with it in forest areas.

Grohk: Willo. He and her might share the same love for flowers, but that’s where their similarities end. As far as Grohk is concerned, a tiny fairy with a temper tantrum wasn’t on his list of people he was interested in becoming friends with.

Seris: Maeve. Seris generally has a very neutral relationship to everyone else, but every time she looks Maeve in the eyes…something never feels right.

Ying: Terminus. It’s less of a dislike, and more of a sense of pity and fear of said person. Ying cannot help but feel uncomfortable knowing that Terminus is essentially a reanimated, hollow body with a soul forcefully attached to it, though she still tries to be as caring and friendly to him as much as she does with everyone else.

Jenos: Skye. Jenos thinks himself far above her annoying and persistent flirting, as well as the mocking she gives out whenever she kills him in matches. He hates how he cannot see her coming most of the time even outside matches, and her poisons were always a serious pain both literally and figuratively.

Strix: Lian. While Strix doesn’t harbour as much resentment towards her as Viktor does, he can’t bring himself to trust her or work well with her. Kinessa as well, as he feels she abandoned him and their duties. He avoids her most of all.

Talus: Torvald. Talus is extremely suspicious of where Torvald got the knowledge of runic magic and refuses to trust him despite Torvald’s attempts to befriend him.

Terminus: Ash. It was her fault he ended up the way he did in the first place.

#all champions #paladins #paladins champions of the realm #paladins headcanons #long post

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comic-critic-squad · 6 years

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Someone asked earlier what could be done to fix Home. I had some thoughts about the subject and I figured I might as well share.

Non-native speaker so sorry for any mangled language.

And obviously all of this would need a complete revamp for the comic and an actual script, but I am basically working with events that did occur in the comic and how to make them less… Bad. GENERAL THINGS/WORLDBUILDING

Remove the whole “dogs are immortal here” thing, since it affects absolutely no one, except allowing Meteor tribe to have a really old leader, which didn’t factor to anything anyway. Most old characters we meet are still well within the natural lifespan of a dog. Hell, they are intelligent dogs, they could live to be somewhat older than real dogs to begin with – I’d much rather have a doubled lifespan for these humans with paws than just make them straight up immortal ageless elves for no reason. Seems like this only exists to make people feel less creeped by the age difference between Roamer and Kargo (or any future pairings…)

Make it so that the Aedra natives have been there a lot longer. This would allow for deeper worldbuilding, but also make better explain why they have switched from packs to tribes, as they would have had more time to “evolve” to meet the challenges of Aedra.

Make the tribes more distinct beyond “these guys are evil rapists”, “these guys do stuff with antlers” and so on. Spend some actual time on them, especially the ones who will feature in the story – give them their own ways of life and relations with other tribes. I find it unlikely that there is no trade between tribes and that all tribes have the exact same products and ways of feeding themselves.

Remove the human made items or give them a proper explanation. It’s a fantasy comic. If you must stick with the current stuff, make the items more scarce and valuable, rather than giving everyone a set of armor, a bunch of knives, leg wraps and weird antler hats. One would assume that if they were given to them by sky gods, there would be a fairly limited number of each item.

Either commit to the spirit thing, or don’t involve them. Adding random ex machina spirits into your story only makes the rules more muddled.

Same with the nightbeasts. I like them, but they need to be a clearer threat with real, well established rules. The characters don’t need to know the rules, they can just assume, but the author does need to know how they actually work. It makes sense they would be more dangerous to newcomers who don’t expect them, but currently they are just totally pointless. If they are inconvenient to write around, perhaps make them inhabit only certain areas. Give them rules. Don’t make everyone absolutely safe from them with a single torch if you are going to use them.

Actually establish the size of Aedra. Make it bigger and decide from the start how long it takes to go from one place to another. Retcons and conveniences with the size have caused some really interesting time warps, and make the whole world feel tiny as hell.

Stop introducing so many characters. It’s a mess. We can meet new tribes without having each of them feature twenty random dudes.

Most importantly, if living in Aedra is supposed to be hard, make it hard. Allow characters to be seriously hurt and not magically healed in the next scene. Not everything needs to be life or death, but consequences should be clear.

PLOT

Make the Meteor Tribe smaller to begin with, but make them tougher and don’t end every conflict with them with Meteor casualties and nothing paid on the side of the Heroes.

Change the entire Meteor plotline. Arenak and Ranach can still be assholes, but don’t make it a tribe of rapists if you plan to convert them to good guys later. Perhaps they have issues with food (they do live high up north) and must practice population control, meaning they’d do selective breeding and tough training. Maybe Arenak is a tyrannical asshole and Ranach is personally bitter at Kargo and Ferah, instead of having no redeeming qualities or real motivations. Maybe Ferah and Kargo rebelled because they didn’t fit the mold of a productive member of society, or Kargo tried to challenge Arenak and failed. Let there be an actual reason for most meteors to want K&F dead, or at least far away from them.

With the Meteor tribe less evil, and more an, you know, actual culture with reasons for the shit they do, the conflict between them and K&F becomes more interesting and less black and white. Allow K&F to be selfish and not perfect. Let Roamer be naïve and just believe what they say, and regret it later when he realizes everything they said wasn’t true. Let this truth bomb come from Ronja when Roamer comes to “rescue her”. These changes make it feel less jarring when Ronja becomes the leader of Meteor Tribe and we are suddenly forced to emphasize with them.

If Meteor’s are supposed to be the main villains instead of a group we come to follow later, make them a lot stronger and allow them to return some damage, not die the moment they see Kargo. Killing Zilas does not count as returning damage.

Remove the entirety of the Aira subplot. Since her appearance, all Aira has accomplished is throwing Ferah off a cliff, and moping around. She isn’t doing anything, or providing us with any knowledge, she can go.

Remove the entirety of the Origin Orion subplot. It’s been almost a 100 pages since we last saw them, and I don’t see how they are going to factor into anything. Skip.

With Aira and Origin Orion gone, make Keirr and Jahla go along with either Roamer and co, or the Asmundr group. This way, we only have three plots: Roamer, Ronja, and Asmundr. This lessens the constant two page jumps into one group just to leave them again.

Let at least some of the main characters die. For real. We are 300+ pages in, with two fake out deaths. Rogio is contributing nothing, let him go.

Give each group clearly established roles and plots. Actually bring the plot threads together sometimes. Even if they want to make Home never end (oh gods), it could at least have bookends, seasons. Something to give it structure, rather than just dogs talking and strolling from one location to another

Not everyone needs to have a romantic partner. I know a lot of the readers are excited for shipping, but that doesn’t mean you need to pair everyone up

Make characters stay on task for more than five seconds. - Agreed 100% with everything above. - Dr. Salt

#critique #opinion #submission

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punk-rock-pixie · 6 years

Note

ALL THE WITCH ASKS (careful what you ask for) 😋

Fuck me gently with a chainsaw. I feel like i didnt totally answer these as best I could but yknow

1. Are you solitary or in a coven?Solitary- used to be in a coven but they moved

2. Do you consider yourself Wiccan, Pagan, witch, or other?Witch

3. What is your zodiac sign?Scorpio

4. Do you have a Patron God/dess?Moon goddess

5. Do you work with a Pantheon?Nope

6. Do you use tarot, palmistry, or any other kind of divination?Tarot a little

7. What are some of your favorite herbs to use in your practice? (if any)Sage and rosemary

8. How would you define your craft?Screaming literal and verbal salt

9. Do you curse? If not, do you accept others who do?Sometimes I do but only in certain points

10. How long have you been practicing?About 1-2 years???

11. Do you currently or have you ever had any familiars? Yeah!

12. Do you believe in Karma or Reincarnation?Both a little yeh!

13. Do you have a magical name?Nope

14. Are you “out of the broom closet”?To a few people yes

15. What was the last spell you performed?It was to purify my workspace so I could work on an art project in peace

16. Would you consider yourself knowledgeable?Somewhat

17. Do you write your own spells?Yeah

18. Do you have a book of shadows? If so, how is it written and/or set up?I don’t

19. Do you worship nature? Yes!

20. What is your favorite gemstone?Snowflake obsidian and black tourmaline

21. Do you use feathers, claws, fur, pelt, skeletons/bones, or any other animal body part for magical work?I do not. I do most of my work using crystals, candles, and intention

22. Do you have an altar?I do!

23. What is your preferred element?Fire

24. Do you consider yourself an Alchemist?Not really

25. Are you any other type of magical practitioner besides a witch?Nope

26. What got you interested in witchcraft?I first got interested way back in sixth grade but people bullied me about it. Then a few years ago I found a coven in my neighborhood practicing in a secluded area during Halloween. They welcomed me with open arms

27. Have you ever performed a spell or ritual with the company of anyone who was not a witch?Nope

28. Have you ever used ouija?Yeah. But I try to stay away now

29. Do you consider yourself a psychic?Not exactly

30. Do you have a spirit guide? If so, what is it?I do not

31. What is something you wish someone had told you when you first started?It’s ok to not have all the materials- especially if you’re on a budget. Just feel the energy of nature or whatever element(s) you use.

32. Do you celebrate the Sabbats? If so which one is your favorite?I don’t celebrate too many no

33. Would you ever teach witchcraft to your children?Would I ever have children?

34. Do you meditate?A lot yes.

35. What is your favorite season?Fall/winter

36. What is your favorite type of magick to preform?Cleansing and empowering meditation

37. How do you incorporate your spirituality into your daily life? Yeah.

38. What is your favorite witchy movie?Hocus Pocus is an all-time fave

39. What is your favorite witchy book, both fiction and non-fiction. Why?Fiction- I have non. Non-fiction I love Wiccapedia since it serves as a good beginners guide for witches.

40. What is the first spell you ever preformed? Successful or not. No success. I tried to charm my looks, but I was really low on spoons

41. What’s the craziest witchcraft-related thing that’s happened to you?Using ouija I found out a spirit had been following me since I visited Europe- a young, quite tortured man from 1805. He saw I was “ tortured “ too I guess??? At any rate, he was causing a bunch of problems but I was able to banish him at some point last summer after seeking guidance from a shop owner in downtown Sedona.

42. What is your favourite type of candle to use?Scented and also white or black

43. What is your favorite witchy tool?Healing crystals

44. Do you or have you ever made your own witchy tools?I made moon water at some point but other than that, no

45. Have you ever worked with any magical creatures such as the fea or spirits?Spirits yes

46. Do you practice color magic?Not regularly

47. Do you or have you ever had a witchy teacher or mentor of any kind?Not currently.

48. What is your preferred way of shopping for witchcraft supplies?Etsy from other witches or going to the shop by my school

49. Do you believe in predestination or fate?Yes, but I feel fate can be changed

50. What do you do to reconnect when you are feeling out of touch with your practice?Meditate with candles and crystals and do several mindfulness exercises

51. Have you ever had any supernatural experiences?The crazy thing that happened with witchcraft

52. What is your biggest witchy pet peeve?People that don’t respect the practice and use things from closed cultures

53. Do you like incense? If so what’s your favorite scent?I don’t but I want more

54. Do you keep a dream journal of any kind?I do keep a dream journal, yes

55. What has been your biggest witchcraft disaster?Almost releasing a demon in my house

56. What has been your biggest witchcraft success?Getting in touch with crystals and tuning them into what I do

57. What in your practice do you do that you may feel silly or embarrassed about?Talking to my tools

58. Do you believe that you can be an atheist, Christian, Muslim or some other faith and still be a witch too?Absolutely! I’m a Jewish witch actually!

59. Do you ever feel insecure, unsure or even scared of spell work?Sometimes I’m a little fearful when I try something new but that’s about it

60. Do you ever hold yourself to a standard in your witchcraft that you feel you may never obtain?I’m not OVERLY devoted like some people, but I think we all have a happy level we can reach.

61. What is something witch related that you want right now?More materials

62. What is your rune of choice?I dont have one

63. What is your tarot card of choice?It’s a death card, but I love it cuz death can just mean the end of something and the beginning of something new.

64. Do you use essential oils? If so what is your favorite?I don’t usually.

65. Have you ever taken any kind of witchcraft or pagan courses?I have not, but I want too!

66. Do you wear pagan jewelry in public?So many crystals….

67. Have you ever been discriminated against because of your faith or being a witch?Not really. Most people are just kinda intrigued and weirded out

68. Do you read or subscribe to any pagan magazines?I should

69. Do you think it’s important to know the history of paganism and witchcraft?It’s good to know definitely.

70. What are your favorite things about being a witch?Feeling a place of belonging with my work, it helps me get in tune with myself and I met some good friends because of the practice

71. What are your least favorite things about being a witch?Discourse of also being Jewish

72. Do you listen to any pagan music? If so who is your favorite singer/band?I do not actually

73. Do you celebrate the Esbbats? If so, how?I don’t

74. Do you ever work skyclad?Not usually

75. Do you think witchcraft has improved your life? If so, how?Yeah, it helps with my dissociating and mindfulness.

76. Where do you draw inspiration from for your practice?Just energies and sometimes I’ll do little fandom things like Harry Potter-inspired spells

77. Do you believe in ‘fantasy’ creatures? (Unicorns, fairies, elves, gnomes, ghosts, etc)I believe in demons, ghosts, faeries and hobgoblins

78. What’s your favorite sigil/symbol?I can’t explain but I have this sigil to aid with my anxiety and the intention I use is “I am fearless and can do anything I set my mind to”79. Do you use blood magick in your practice? Why or why not?I don’t. Mostly cuz I have a low pain tolerance and do everything out of intention

80. Could you ever be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t support your practice?I was in a relationship with a harcore catholic before if that answers your quesrion

81. In what area or subject would you most like your craft to grow?Getting more involved in the craft. I’m generally running on low spoons and can’t do much.

82. What’s your favorite candle scent? Do you use it in your practice?Peppercorn. I use it a lot yeah.

83. Do you have a pre-ritual ritual? (I.e. Something you do before rituals to prepare yourself for them). If so what is it? Yeah. I do a lot of meditation before working

84. What real life witch most inspires your practice?@thatsprettyedgybruv and also my friends from the coven I was in

85. What is your favorite method of communicating with deity?Dreams

86. How do you like to organize all your witchy items and ingredients?I have a keepsake box for crystals, candles are just together generally

87. Do you have any witches in your family that you know of?No, but my mom used to be very into tarot and crystals

88. How have you created your path? What is unique about it?Intention and trial and error. It is something I do since I’m on low spoons a lot so it’s good to help me check in and feel different energies

89. Do you feel you have any natural gifts or affinities (premonitions, hearing spirits, etc.) that led you toward the craft? If so what are they?Probably sensing spirits and high empathy

90. Do you believe you can initiate yourself or do you have to be initiated by another witch or coven?It depends on how far into the practice you wanna go. I think anyone can begin to be a witch, but if you wanna go all in, you may wanna seek a professional

91. When you first started out in your path what was the first thing or things you bought?A rose quartz crystal

92. What is the most spiritual or magickal place you’ve been?Bell rock in Sedona, AZ. It’s full of New Age and good energies

93. What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone who is searching for their matron and patron deities?Trust your gut and listen to your intuition.

94. What techniques do you use to ‘get in the zone’ for meditation? Controlled breathing and muscle tensing and relaxing

95. Did visualization come easily to you or did you have to practice at it?Yeah it is very easy for me

96. Do you prefer day or night? Why?Night. There’s something magical about the quiet of night…. or nightlife when it’s not super chaotic. Plus, night is when the truth comes out sometimes. I have most of my “real talks” with people at night.

97. What do you think is the best time and place to do spell work?For me personally, in a place I can feel energies and usually during a full or new moon

98. How did you feel when you cast your first circle? Did you stumble or did it go smoothly?I stumble a lot. Like a looot I was super unsure of the whole thing

99. Do you believe witchcraft gets easier with time and practice?Definitely. You begin to get a hang of what youre doing and get better at being mindful of energies and surroundings

100. Do you believe in many gods or one God with many faces? Many gods

101. Do you eat meat, eggs and dairy?Yes

102. What is your favorite color and why?Blue, Black, and lavender. They’re comforting colors

103. What is the one question you get asked most by non-practitioners or non-pagans? How do you usually respond?“So like, is it like a Harry Potter thing or??” I kinda just roll my eyes mentally and answer with a general explanation of what I do. Also when they see the crystals it’s “so what do the crystals mean/do” and I am happy to explain it

104. Which of your five senses would you say is your strongest? Hearing

105. What is a pagan or witchcraft rule that you preach but don’t practice?I think I practice generally what I preach.

#pixie interrogation #punkrockpixie #anonymous #m’wife

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fedorasaurus · 6 years

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Sci-Fi D&D Idea: Setting

I will be writing up a series of ideas for the science-fiction “campaign” that I want to run for Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition). I say “campaign” in quotes because it will be more of a series of episodic oneshots rather than a single, ongoing adventure. As such, each session doesn’t necessarily have to include the same players and characters (or DM!), although there could be recurring locations, villains, and NPCs, and as the episodes will generally be chronological, the results of one group’s mission may play a part in future missions. Or, it could be something small, like rumors in the mess hall, “did you hear about Jane’s squad apprehending those outlaws on Planet X last week?”

This first post will cover basic information about the star system in which the campaign begins: the Bahamut System, home of the Chromatic Dragonborns and some other draconic species.

Part 1: Origin Story

According to legend, there was once a void where nothing existed but two immortal dragons: the kindly Bahamut and the wicked Tiamat. Tiamat, who wished to hoard the infinite void all to herself, challenged Bahamut to a duel. She was ultimately defeated, each of her five heads removed and sealed in great rocky spheres. Bahamut, gravely injured in the fight, his metallic scales shed in what was to become an asteroid belt, used the last of his magic to become a formless ball of fire in the center of the void. From here, he slowly heals and watches over the system, protecting it from Tiamat, whose entombed heads quietly plot their revenge. It is believed that her magic and trickery bubbled to the surface of each planet, manifesting as the Chromatic Dragonborn people in her image (although, if they embrace enough of Bahamut’s light, they are not destined to be filled with Tiamat’s wickedness).

Part 2: Star System Map

The Bahamut System is composed of five planets, each named Tiamat. For the sake of clarity, they are also named for the color of Tiamat’s head said to be at their core. Between the planets are artificial Space Stations built by sentients of the Bahamut System. The planets and space stations are listed below, in order by their proximity to Bahamut.

Tiamat-Red: An extremely hot planet, habitable by only the most heat-resistant species. The landscape is dry and with many canyons, but few mountains. T-Red is the Homeworld of the Red Dragonborns.

Space Station GOLD: Between T-Red and T-Green, it is the dwelling and official meeting hall of the High Elf Council (see Part 3 for more information on the Council). It is lavishly decorated and well-maintained, constructed from all-magical materials, with both form and function in mind.

Tiamat-Green: A lush, easily habitable planet with varied weather and ecosystems, primarily dense forests. T-Green is the Homeworld of the Green Dragonborns, although many sentient offworld species have colonized here as well, namely the Elves of the Feywild Galaxy. Although the High Elf Council handles matters that are strictly in a jurisdiction between planets, those who choose to live on Tiamat or its satellites are known as Wood Elves and Moon Elves, respectively, and have adapted over time to suit the environment.

T-Green has two moons inhabited by the Elves: Fey and Lolth. Fey has many beautiful city-structures powered by magic and imported resources from Tiamat, and is essentially a shopping hub. It is famous for its low rate of crime. Lolth, on the other hand, has few towns on the surface, but a vast network of underground structures. Here, magic and technology are closely intertwined in a complex, web-like network overseen by an artificial intelligence called LOLTH, who manifests as a spider-like feminine hologram. Although Lolth was originally established as a prison moon were criminals from Fey were banished, it has since become its own, free nation of “Drow” Elves, descendants of the original prison population. The people of Lolth are on peaceful but distrustful terms with the High Elf Council.

Space Station COPPER: Interplanetary Police Headquarters between T-Green and T-Blue. Also the location of the system’s largest entertainment venue, hosting a number of concerts, banquets, and conventions.

Tiamat-Blue: Electrical storms perpetually surround this planet, making non-magical access and communications difficult, but the planet itself is quite habitable, with a comfortable, static climate. A popular retreat and hideout spot for those who wish to live “off the grid.” T-Blue is the Homeworld of the Blue Dragonborns.

Space Station BRONZE: Between T-Blue and the Scales of Bahamut, this is a checkpoint for all ships coming and going through the Asteroid Belt. Mainly used to check for contraband, but is also a hub of hotels, fuel stations, and repair shops. Sort of a “rest stop” for travelers on long space journeys.

Scales of Bahamut (Asteroid Belt): The so-called Scales of Bahamut is a grouping of metallic asteroids said to be debris from the fight between Bahamut and Tiamat. The abundance of materials make it worth the risk to explore and mine in the region, although some consider it a spiritual site not to be tampered with. A special permit issued by the High Elf Council is required to legally extract materials from the Asteroids, and even then there is a limit to how much can be collected.

Space Station BRASS: Between the Scales of Bahamut and T-Black, this is the checkpoint for all ships coming and going through the Asteroid Belt. Mainly used to check for contraband, but is also a hub of hotels, fuel stations, and repair shops. Sort of a “rest stop” for travelers on long space journeys. Famous for its array of long-range teleporters that can transport people and goods directly to and from T-White. Note that unlike BRONZE, this station has a seedier reputation, with a number of districts catering to those of a dangerous lifestyle.

Tiamat-Black: A mountainous, acidic planet encased in a shield of dark clouds. There is something supernaturally terrifying about it. Even flying too close to its orbit will disrupt navigation systems (think of it like the Bermuda Triangle but in space). In the night sky, it appears as an empty void, visible from all planets in the Bahamut system. All efforts to terraform here have failed. T-Black is Homeworld of the Black Dragonborns and of Necrotic magic.

Tiamat-White: Furthest from the star, this planet is bitter cold year-round. T-White’s White Dragonborns have built many cities above ground, while Dwarven off-worlders have constructed colonies below, using machines to generate enough heat to sustain their way of life. Most supplies to T-White must be teleported in due to the frequency of ships being lost while flying past T-Black.

Space Station SILVER: Final stop on the “edge” of the Bahamut system. It is not a large station, but it is packed with food, maps, and other resources, stockpiled for trading to travelers in need or in the event of a great emergency. As its robotic caretakers deal in trades rather than money, Space Station SILVER has collected a number of exotic objects from distant worlds. Tourists are known to come here to see the “Museum of Curiosities” and hear tales of far-off galaxies and bizarre alien cultures.

Part 3: The High Elf Council

Curiously, sentient life on Tiamat developed at the same rate and with similar “Dragonborn” people across all five planets. However, the five subraces did not meet until the technology for space travel was provided to them by old and wise aliens known as Elves. The Elves did some colonization on Tiamat, but now mostly maintain order in the spaces between, such as to apprehend Orc pirates on their way to pillage ships.

The High Elf Council is the main source of mission requests for the party within the Bahamut System. Despite their name, they also contain representatives from each of the Tiamat planets and are sort of a symbol of political unity between the worlds. The Council’s interest is mostly that of exploration and sharing space-travel capabilities with tech-savvy cultures who have yet to develop it. They have become more cautious with this second goal, however, ever since the Orcs chose to use space travel as a means of widespread theft, slaving, and other forms of cruelty.

The Council is made up of ten members: five Elves and five Dragonborn.

Final Notes

Player characters are not necessarily expected to be from the Bahamut System, but it is where they end up when they join the ship's crew. You could even play as a Dragonborn or Elf from a completely different galaxy or dimension, with no ties to the Bahamut System. It's space, man. There's infinite possibilities! This guide is more of a starting point for basic worldbuilding reference. The rest can be made up as we go along, based on ideas from players and guest writers/DMs.

My next post in this series will cover the fun stuff: the players' employment on the Starship Dragonlance.

#ideas #story ideas #D&D #Dungeons & Dragons #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #science fiction #sci-fi #science fantasy #personal project #but feel free to use any of this stuff in your own campaigns!#tell me all about it #long post #image heavy #also feel free to ask me any questions about this if you are curious or unsure

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icefang100 · 5 years

Text

Webcomic Recommendations

Since I figure there’s people out there always looking for new webcomics (like myself), I decided to make a list of the ones I’m reading/have read! They’re all free to access, and I’ll include the comic’s official “description” under its title, if it has one (also, the comics’ titles are links to the website hosting them). The list is below the cut, and separated into “Ongoing” (as of 3/15/2019) and “Complete/Never to be Continued" (for the latter, I’ll indicate which in the description). Note: These are not necessarily intended for young audiences!

Ongoing

Dog Eat Dog

“None are left without the influence of Man's unyielding, cruel hand. If given the choice, whose blood would stain your teeth if it meant you could finally be free?”

Home (Sequel to Asmundr, see “Completed”)

“Two years have passed since the plague of the Shield Wolf was defeated, but the increasing threat from an unknown source to the small family of Asmundr have left them no choice but to leave their home. In the new land, their prayers and questions to their gods are only answered in silence, as the dangers of this land become their new reality. Survival leads to some separating from their family for knowledge and adventure, but the trials and tribulations are ever daunting.”

Lackadaisy

[No description]

Mokepon

“He wants to be the very best! That no one ever was... uh, no. Scratch that. Adventures and friendship were never something that appealed to Atticus... Shame that it's a pokemon world he lives in, and so teenage boys living in Pallet Town are not expected to sit idly by. But the life of a hero is not one he's about to consider; too much hard work for little reward, and so instead he embarks on his quest not to become the greatest... But at least, the richest. Although the biggest challenge may be ignoring the adventures and friendships which may attempt to ensnare him along the way...”

Prague Race

“Prague Race is the story of a girl who’s always wanted more--she just didn’t expect it to come in the form of a handy parasite living in her back. With only one year left to live, she’s going to make the most of it in the strange secret world behind the veil.”

The Property of Hate

[No description]

Wilde Life

“Wilde Life is a supernatural adventure/horror series set in a small town in rural Oklahoma. It focuses on stories about creatures from Native American mythology as witnessed and documented by a journalist from Chicago, Illinois.”

DNA

“Sirius and his friends never asked to exist, and, really, none of them should. Despite this, here they are, and existing when you shouldn’t brings with it complications.”

The Glass Scientists

“The city of London is not the best place to be a mad scientist. Thirty years after the death of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein, its citizens have gotten awfully good at killing creatures, destroying laboratories, and generally wrecking anything new or strange-looking ... Together with his Society for Arcane Science, he can end the reign of fear and superstition that has held London captive for decades so long as no one discovers his one little secret, a secret that could ruin him and unravel the lives of everyone he knows.This man’s name is Dr. Henry Jekyll.”

Ghost of the Gulag

[No description]

Victory Fire

[No description]

Skin Deep

“Skin Deep was born out of an interest in mythology, folklore, music, world-building, and the idea that things are often more than they seem, and that it is easy to hide secrets when nobody is expecting them.”

How to be a Werewolf

“Since being bitten by a strange wolf as a child, Malaya Walters has attempted to live a quiet life… hopefully a life free of attempting to eat her family or the customers at her family’s coffee shop. Being the only werewolf she’s ever known, Malaya has managed her condition by keeping tight control on herself and the world around her, with lackluster results. That is, until a strange guy wanders into her shop one day and introduces her to a whole world she never knew existed…”

Daughter of the Lilies

“Daughter of the Lilies is a comic largely about the importance self-worth, the different forms love can take, how it can redeem and empower us, as well as issues relating to anxiety. (There are also unicorns, manticores, ghouls, goblins, cannibalistic elves, dragons, gods, fairies, ghosts, werewolves, demons, angels, and so on.)”

Paranatural

“Paranatural is a comedy/action comic about a group of superpowered middle schoolers fighting evil spirits and investigating paranormal activity in their hometown.”

Savestate

“Savestate is a comic written and drawn by Tim Weeks. It follows the misadventures of siblings Kade and Nicole.”

White Noise

“In the early 1900s, the nation of Aetheri came out of its long interdimensional isolation and revealed to the humans of the Symphony Archipelago that they were not alone in the multiverse. Things swiftly got ugly after that.In the early 1990s, Aetheri’s leadership changed, and in the Archipelago, a tiny broken family of half-siblings banded together in the face of the bile and hate that was boiling up between the humans and the non-humans.In the early 2000s, that family was split apart. Hawk Press and his sister Liya Kiski both begin a long and exhaustive journey towards understanding the difference between friend and enemy–and between the family you’re given, and the family you make.”

Emporium

“Nestled high in the mountains rests a strange little building, home to a vast collection of strange and unusual items, maintained by equally strange and unusual employees. Suddenly abandoned among these misfits, an unusually loquacious dog struggles to find her place alongside the mayhem and monsters housed within the mysterious Emporium.”

Doe of Deadwood

“A deer is indebted to a demon tree.”

Africa

“Africa tells the story of a female leopard, the struggles and challenges she has to face every day and her rivalry with a male leopard who threatens to take her land. Raised and educated the way of the leopards, Africa has learned that living alone is the best way of life, and that depending on someone else is a sign of weakness. This belief she has will be continuously tested, and she will have to prove herself to demonstrate its validity. Could a leopard actually live in a pride?”

Fragile

“A wolven woman and her one-winged traveling companion are searching for her long lost son, when they get dragged into something far bigger than the two of them.”

Complete/Never to be Continued

MS Paint Adventures

Jail Break (Incomplete)

“A guy tries to escape from prison. 134 pages.”

Bard Quest (Incomplete)

“A young bard's endeavor to slay some dragons. Branching ‘choose your own adventure’ style. 82 pages.”

Problem Sleuth (Complete)

“An adventure about a hard boiled detective in his office. About 1,700 pages.”

Homestuck (Complete)

“A tale about a boy and his friends and a game they play together. About 8,000 pages. Don't say we didn't warn you.”

Asmundr (Complete)

“Asmundr is a fantasy canine/feline comic, which follows the Rifle dog Kainan and his pack and their everyday struggle to survive among beasts and ancient secrets, all while a divine power is watching each step they take.”

Strays (Complete)

“Meela is a young, orphaned lupian (a race of people with wolf-like features) who is struggling to survive on her own. A chance encounter on less than pleasant terms teams her up with Feral, another lupian who happens to be a mute as well as one of the best mercenaries in the land, and who is not quite so welcoming of her forced company as she would like to believe. Fun, danger and plenty of humorous situations follow the two on their wayward adventures, however the seemingly peaceful world they reside in is not quite the paradise that its reputation makes it out to be. When a taboo topic and a dark secret collide, it may unravel their already tattered lives and force each of them to face the reality of the truth, requiring each to make decisions that could alter their lives forever.”

Snarlbear (Complete)

“SNARLBEAR is a comic about a girl's journey through the dangerous and colorful Rainbow Dimension. On the way she learns about the power of friendship and monster punching.”

Best of Bad Decisions (Complete)

[No description]

In Our Shadow (Complete)

[No description]

Twin Shadows

“Warriors: Twin Shadows explores a parallel universe wherein Rusty never left his twoleg home. Tigerstar successfully killed Bluestar and became ThunderClan's leader; destiny will not be so easily outdone, however, and StarClan has plans for everyone's favorite kittypet...”

#Comics #Other #Webcomics

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steampoweredstrawberry · 7 years

Note

Is it too much to ask you all those questions?

*Rubs hands together*

1. Your first OC ever?

I probably had OCs as a kid. Probably a Sailor Moon one or a Harry Potter OC (Most likely had a Harry Potter OC. The only one I can name for certain though was a witch named Caroline with an affinity for fire magic.

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Right now? Claudia Hawke. I love talking about her and drawing her and writing her. Plus, she has a super cute boyfriend who I also love talking about and drawing.

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Lol. Yeah. I have a few of @mikagesshoku‘s OCs now. The first was an ancient vampire named Mark (not his real name, but what he goes by in modern times). She liked how I wrote him and characterized him, so he became my son. Her Hawke, Quentin, is also now my Hawke (and Claudia’s big brother). She also prefers how I write her Mahariel.

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Of my DA OCs? Aeducan and Brosca. Nothing against dwarves, I just haven’t fleshed them out very well.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Claudia Hawke. Her being popular and people wanting me to write/draw her would come with the ulterior motive of getting to write/draw Anders.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

Claudia Hawke and Elira Bassat. Elira’s a bit taller and her hair is straight, but they’re both sassy, dual-wielding red heads. My old RP buddy actually confused one of my first drawings of Claudia for Elira (Claudia’s since had some cosmetic changes to make them look more different).

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Yes! I write for Claudia a lot.

You can find her here, here, and here. (Note: All of these contain graphic depictions of sex, so read at your own risk)

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

Elira Bassat was my OC that I RPed the longest as, but don’t anymore. She’s a sassy, dual-wielding red head, she’s nb, but generally prefers she/her or them/they pronouns (occasionally he/him). She’s also a big fan of vigilante justice.

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

Hypothetically, yes. I couldn’t name which one, but if their new parent was going to treat them well, I would.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

I generally try to keep them toned down or believable in appearance. But, there’s Rhyann Tabris, my tiny elf baby with snow-white hair (I say the quickening still effects elves and it made her hair go white as a child). She’s got a billion freckles and carries around a big sword.

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a "sunshine"?

So, an optimist? I don’t know if I have any of those with my DA OCs. Probably Solona Amell. She’s the most likely to keep her chin up and try to cheer up the others.

12. Name an OC that isn't yours but who you like a lot

I absolutely love @kirkwallgirl‘s Jay Hawke and @misterwiggums‘s Mads Hawke. They’re both super cute and love the mage!

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Claudia Hawke. She’s best friends with Isabela. They get into lots of trouble.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

I think of my DA OCs, I think Rhyann Tabris has a very tragic backstory. I relate to it on a personal level, which was why I chose her (they’ve all got super sad backstories, hers just resonates with me).

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

YES! Oh my God, if you guys want to ask me about my OCs, please do! I’d love to hear about all of yours, too!

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

Solona Amell. She’s a healer.

17. Any OC OTPs?

With other OCs? I don’t know. Neria Surana and Solona Amell (as part of a polymance with Jowan, but he’s not my OC). With non OC characters, Claudia Hawke x Anders and Rhyann Tabris x Alistair Theirin.

18. Any OC crackships?

I don’t have any with just OCs. With OC x canon, I’m planning on writing a Claudia Hawke/Karl Thekla/Anders bi polymance in the future. Not really a crack ship (though I guess it is if you HC Karl as being gay; I’m in the he’s bi/pan camp), but I never thought I’d be pairing Claudia up with Karl before the idea struck me.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

Rhyann Tabris means a lot to me because she was my first OC in a Dragon Age game, my first playthrough, and her origin really resonated with me.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Originally, Elira Bassat was a singer and she was supposed to sound a bit like Sara Taylor/Chibi from The Birthday Massacre, but I scrapped that.

Claudia Hawke enjoys singing, but she isn’t particularly good. I imagine she sings a little bit of everything, though I like the idea of her dramatically singing along to Helena by My Chemical Romance.

21. Your most artistic OC

Probably Elira Bassat. She isn’t an artist, but she’s pretty damn good at costume makeup.

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

I don’t think anyone mischaracterizes them.

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Sophie Cousland. I was originally going to romance Alistair with her, but I was too attached to Rhyann x Alistair, so Sophie became Aro/Ace.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Claudia Hawke, because she’d bring Anders with her.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

Elira Bassat shared my build, height, and hair color at the time (I’m no longer a red head). But, I’ve given Rhyann Tabris a lot of my facial features.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC's design or something else about them against your will?

I’ve renamed OCs in the past. Can’t think of any off the top of my head, though.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

Like, did I base them off a song? I don’t think I have any OCs like that.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Claudia Hawke or Rhyann Tabris.

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they're going?

Probably Solona Amell. She wouldn’t want to trouble anyone with her curiosity. Claudia would go too, but half of Kirkwall would know she was going.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Rhyann Tabris. In a modern AU, she probably saves every stuffed animal Alistair has ever gave her or won her at a carnival and loves them all.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Solona Amell’s would be a lot of quotes from book, pictures of pretty cups of tea/coffee, plants, and the occasional cute animal. Mostly aesthetic.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

In a survival/horror, Rhyann Tabris because she fits the personality archetype they use for those sorts of games (timid female protagonist).

33. Your shyest OC?

Rhyann Tabris. She’s extremely shy, and tends to avoid most human men until they earn her trust.

34. Do you have any twin characters?

Sophie Cousland has a twin brother named Jarak. He’s a bit flirty, but is overall a good person.

35. Any sibling characters?

Claudia Hawke has an older brother named Quentin. He’s a mage and she’s extremely protective over him.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

Rhyann Tabris is the cousin of @mikagesshoku‘s Lyna Mahariel and Misali Mahariel. Claudia Hawke is also friends with Lyna.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

All of my elves/dwarves/qunari? I’m in the mood to mention Thaliah Lavellan, though, given she’s a Dalish elf. She also hooks up with a Qunari.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

I say Claudia Hawke is a former ballet dancer in a modern AU. Though, I imagine Sophie and Jarak are pretty light on their feet, given they’re nobles.

39. Introduce any character you want

I’m world building for an original story in some of my free time, and the main character is named Lilika, though she goes by Lily for most of the story. She’s a seer raised by a wlw couple since she was around 10 years old and she’s blind in her right eye.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Whenever anyone leaves nice comments/tags on artwork I do of them! I’ve had a couple people comment that Claudia and Rhyann are very pretty, and it makes me so happy (especially with Rhyann because I gave her some of my features that I consider ugly).

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

I sadly don’t have any pictures on my current phone of it, but my nephew drew Claudia Hawke and one of his characters from the comic books he likes to draw hanging out. It was really cute.

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

I’m really tempted to say all of them and leaving it at that, but I’d bet money that Neria Surana went through a very intense Greek mythology period of her life.

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It's time to confess

YES. I like tall girls with red hair and who are also the more dominant partner in a relationship. I’ve been getting better with it. But I do have at least five red heads, most of which are tall, and most of which are the more dominant partner in a relationship.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I love them all and how they all have various facets of me. I try to make them all a little bit like me.

45. A character you no longer use?

I used to RP as Nikolai (a vampire) quite regularly, but I haven’t in years.

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Yes. My old RP buddy used to tell me all the time that I was being mean to our OCs, but in a you’re being mean, but it makes the story so good way.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

The same RP buddy from number 46 did. He’d call our OCs our “children”, so his were my children too.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Solona Amell. She’s a precious child who deserves love.

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Claudia Hawke, Quentin Hawke, Neria Surana, Jarak Cousland, Elira Bassat. Most of them.

50. Give me the good ol' OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

Claudia Hawke and Sophie Cousland are named after characters from The Chipmunk Adventure. Claudia was the name of the villain and Sophie was the name of her dog. Quentin is named after a character from a book and his appearance is based somewhat off the same character.

#yetanotherOCmeme #ask meme #ladyofgreenkirtle

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witch-cub-blog · 7 years

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105 Witchcraft Asks

1. Are you solitary or in a coven? Solitary! 2. Do you consider yourself Wiccan, Pagan, witch, or other? I don't know at this point... But I don't follow the Wiccan religion, I can tell you that much. 3. What is your zodiac sign? Leo Rising and Taurus Moon! 4. Do you have a Patron God/dess? Nah. 5. Do you work with a Pantheon? Nah. Used to, though! 6. Do you use tarot, palmistry, or any other kind of divination? Yes, I do! I use tarot cards, palmistry, pendulum divination, and Futhark runes! I also use coin divination, though I want to get into scrying. 7. What are some of your favorite herbs to use in your practice? (if any) Rosemary, sage, and bay leaves! 8. How would you define your craft? Messy? Haha. All over the place. 9. Do you curse? If not, do you accept others who do? Oh, yes I do. Names are power, and if you've pissed me off, you better hope I don't know yours. 10. How long have you been practicing? 13 months and 11 days! 11. Do you currently or have you ever had any familiars? Yes! I used to have a crow familiar, but he's since moved on, I think. Right now, I kind of consider a stuffed dragon of mine I enchanted my familiar. 12. Do you believe in Karma or Reincarnation? Reincarnation? Yes. Karma? /shrugs/ 13. Do you have a magical name? I don't know what that is, so I'm going to go with nah. 14. Are you “out of the broom closet”? To all family members and close friends. 15. What was the last spell you performed? I enchanted a plush to give to my mother for Valentine's Day! 16. Would you consider yourself knowledgeable? Not at all haha 17. Do you write your own spells? I do! Most of the spells I do are of my own creation, actually. Normally on the spot. 18. Do you have a book of shadows? If so, how is it written and/or set up? I call it my grimoire, and its a tag on my blog. 19. Do you worship nature? Worship? No. Honor? Yes. 20. What is your favorite gemstone? Rose quartz! 21. Do you use feathers, claws, fur, pelt, skeletons/bones, or any other animal body part for magical work? Not yet, but I want to so bad... 22. Do you have an altar? Yes! It's my favorite part of the bedroom. 23. What is your preferred element? Fire, but only because I'm a Leo and I'm biased. 24. Do you consider yourself an Alchemist? Nah. 25. Are you any other type of magical practitioner besides a witch? Not yet, though that might change if I research into it more. 26. What got you interested in witchcraft? It's kind of hereditary, actually? My step mom was a witch and she introduced it to me, and my eldest sister was a Wiccan. 27. Have you ever performed a spell or ritual with the company of anyone who was not a witch? Yes! I've made a charm for my sister while she was with me. (Not the Wiccan one.) 28. Have you ever used ouija? No, but I'd like to! 29. Do you consider yourself a psychic? I don't think my psychic skills are honed enough to give myself such a title, but I do have skills. 30. Do you have a spirit guide? If so, what is it? Everyone has one, but I don't know who or what they are yet. 31. What is something you wish someone had told you when you first started? "You don't have to rush into it." 32. Do you celebrate the Sabbats? If so which one is your favorite? Kind of? I acknowledge them and bake to celebrate, but I don't know enough yet to actually properly celebrate them. 33. Would you ever teach witchcraft to your children? If they asked me to, yes! But I wouldn't hide it from them, if that's what you mean. 34. Do you meditate? All the time. 35. What is your favorite season? Autumn or Spring! 36. What is your favorite type of magick to preform? Charms and enchantments! 37. How do you incorporate your spirituality into your daily life? I carry charms with me, pray at every oppurtunity, throw up wards and cleanse myself nearly anytime I feel I need to. 38. What is your favorite witchy movie? The Witches of Eastwick 39. What is your favorite witchy book, both fiction and non-fiction. Why? I don't think I have one? Every witchy fiction book I've read is super gimmicky and I haven't read a non-fiction one. 40. What is the first spell you ever preformed? Successful or not. I cleansed my room with essential oils and cleared out the bad energy! It was successful. 41. What’s the craziest witchcraft-related thing that’s happened to you? A spirit impersonated the gods I worshipped at the time. 42. What is your favourite type of candle to use? Plain white pillar candles! 43. What is your favorite witchy tool? My deck of tarot cards that I made <3 44. Do you or have you ever made your own witchy tools? ^^^ Also runes. 45. Have you ever worked with any magical creatures such as the fea or spirits? Spirits, yes! 46. Do you practice color magic? Trying to incorporate it into my practice, yes. 47. Do you or have you ever had a witchy teacher or mentor of any kind? Not really? I'm self-taught. 48. What is your preferred way of shopping for witchcraft supplies? Going to Dollar Tree, Walmart, thrift stores. Amazon is nice, too. 49. Do you believe in predestination or fate? Mmhm! 50. What do you do to reconnect when you are feeling out of touch with your practice? I just roll my sleeves up, blow the metaphorical dust off of my energetic center, and do a simple, low-spoons spell! Or I meditate and try to manipulate the energy of something around me or myself to keep those muscles strong. 51. Have you ever had any supernatural experiences? Mmhm! 52. What is your biggest witchy pet peeve? Gatekeeping witches or spirit workers. Pretentious people in general. Thinking witchcraft is a closed off, exclusive club. 53. Do you like incense? If so what’s your favorite scent? Haven't used it yet, but I'd like to! 54. Do you keep a dream journal of any kind? Mmhm! 55. What has been your biggest witchcraft disaster? Trying to conjure spirits on my own. Without wards. 56. What has been your biggest witchcraft success? Breeching my own expectations. 57. What in your practice do you do that you may feel silly or embarrassed about? Well, if you were to walk into my room, you would see dried candle wax. Ev. ery. Wh. Ere. Plus, how passionate I am about it. 58. Do you believe that you can be an atheist, Christian, Muslim or some other faith and still be a witch too? DUH! It's not an exclusive club! 59. Do you ever feel insecure, unsure or even scared of spell work? Oh yeah. It's to be feared and respected. 60. Do you ever hold yourself to a standard in your witchcraft that you feel you may never obtain? Nah. I am myself, and I am capable of anything I set my mind to. 61. What is something witch related that you want right now? The Wild Unknown tarot deck, more crystals, more altar decorations-- Lots of stuff. Also a faery garden! 62. What is your rune of choice? /clutches self-made bag of runes to my chest/ Don't make me choose. 63. What is your tarot card of choice? Death! Bet you saw that one coming. 64. Do you use essential oils? If so what is your favorite? Yes! I really love Mint. I love Mint everything. Or Patchouli! 65. Have you ever taken any kind of witchcraft or pagan courses? Nah. 66. Do you wear pagan jewelry in public? Used to! 67. Have you ever been discriminated against because of your faith or being a witch? Nah. 68. Do you read or subscribe to any pagan magazines? Nah, but I'd like to. 69. Do you think it’s important to know the history of paganism and witchcraft? Of course! Historical context is super important. 70. What are your favorite things about being a witch? The idea that I am not like everyone else, that I have a deeper understanding of the world around me. That I am capable of amazing things, things even the most intelligent mundane could never understand. 71. What are your least favorite things about being a witch? How expensive it can be :'( 72. Do you listen to any pagan music? If so who is your favorite singer/band? THERE IS PAGAN MUSIC. WHAT. SOMEONE GIVE ME RECCOMENDATIONS SCREAMS 73. Do you celebrate the Esbbats? If so, how? No? Those are a thing? Jeez I need to do more research. 74. Do you ever work skyclad? ???? No? What is that??? 75. Do you think witchcraft has improved your life? If so, how? Mmhm! I think it's helped me grow and better myself. It's helping to pull me out of my depression because I have something to do that's constructive! Plus, it just makes my house feel so much nicer. 76. Where do you draw inspiration from for your practice? Other witches here on Tumblr! :3c 77. Do you believe in ‘fantasy’ creatures? (Unicorns, fairies, elves, gnomes, ghosts, etc) Of course! 78. What’s your favorite sigil/symbol? Everytime I make a new one, I'm temporarily in love with it lmao 79. Do you use blood magick in your practice? Why or why not? No, but I want to try it one day! I think it would add a personal connection and increase the power of the spell, since we witches are such powerhouses. 80. Could you ever be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t support your practice? Oh, hell no. If you don't accept me for everything I am, you don't deserve me. /flips hair/ 81. In what area or subject would you most like your craft to grow? I want to be a better Death witch... :'( I want to be more involved in mortality and visit graveyards and take care of bones and hides and not just twiddle my thumbs and dream about it. 82. What’s your favorite candle scent? Do you use it in your practice? Pumpkin spice! No, not really. 83. Do you have a pre-ritual ritual? (I.e. Something you do before rituals to prepare yourself for them). If so what is it? Set up wards, cleanse myself and my space, and light some candles. 84. What real life witch most inspires your practice? All of you lovely witches on Tumblr! 85. What is your favorite method of communicating with deity? Divination! I like getting clear answers :/ 86. How do you like to organize all your witchy items and ingredients? I wish I organized them better tbh. I just keep it all on my altar, though I'm working on getting a spice rack or something. 87. Do you have any witches in your family that you know of? My old step mom and my eldest sister. 88. How have you created your path? What is unique about it? Trial and error, trying new things and applying what I liked. I think it's unique because I made it, really. I can only feel the way about it that I do, I can only do it exactly like I do. It's unique to me. 89. Do you feel you have any natural gifts or affinities (premonitions, hearing spirits, etc.) that led you toward the craft? If so what are they? I've always been sensitive to spirits and extremely empathetic. 90. Do you believe you can initiate yourself or do you have to be initiated by another witch or coven? You can initiate yourself. Don't be pretentious, guys. 91. When you first started out in your path what was the first thing or things you bought? A bunch of pretty rocks, herbs (sage and rosemary), and a bottle of mint essential oil. 92. What is the most spiritual or magickal place you’ve been? My eldest sister's house. I swear to God there had to be a faery ring or something nearby. 93. What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone who is searching for their matron and patron deities? Research, and trial and error! Just introduce yourself, spend some time researching and praying, find out what works for you. Not every deity is going to mesh with you, and you won't mesh with every deity. 94. What techniques do you use to ‘get in the zone’ for meditation? Binaural beats or music! I have to lay down, I can't sit up and meditate. 95. Did visualization come easily to you or did you have to practice at it? I'd say it came easily, though it takes a bit for me to concentrate and not let my ADD ass wander off. 96. Do you prefer day or night? Why? Night. Energy flows so much easier under the moon, and spirits are more abundant! 97. What do you think is the best time and place to do spell work? Whenever you feel like it, wherever you are most comfortable 98. How did you feel when you cast your first circle? Did you stumble or did it go smoothly? I felt a little giddy! I stumbled a bit, but it worked out. 99. Do you believe witchcraft gets easier with time and practice? Oh no way. It gets harder the more you learn, but its super rewarding. 100. Do you believe in many gods or one God with many faces? Hard to say, really. 101. Do you eat meat, eggs and dairy? Yep! 102. What is your favorite color and why? Mint or teal! Because its pleasing. 103. What is the one question you get asked most by non-practitioners or non-pagans? How do you usually respond? "Oh that's so interesting! What's it like?" I usually say: "Thank you! And it's not as crazy as it sounds. It's pretty simple, actually. Just a lot of salt slinging and shouting." 104. Which of your five senses would you say is your strongest? None of them are particularly strong, to be honest. I'm hindered by a lot of things, though I think that my intuition is pretty sharp. 105. What is a pagan or witchcraft rule that you preach but don’t practice? USE WARDS. I forget too often.

@prettyalice13

#me #words #long post

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inventors-fair · 3 years

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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

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #commentary #three cheese blend #inventor's fair #long post

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