9centjefferson-blog

[9centjefferson-blog]

From the court today. Israel IS committing a genocide.

[9centjefferson-blog]

I got to hold a 500,000 year old hand axe at the museum today.

It's right-handed

I am right-handed

There are grooves for the thumb and knuckle to grip that fit my hand perfectly

I have calluses there from holding my stylus and pencils and the gardening tools.

There are sharper and blunter parts of the edge, for different types of cutting, as well as a point for piercing.

I know exactly how to use this to butcher a carcass.

A homo erectus made it

Some ancestor of mine, three species ago, made a tool that fits my hand perfectly, and that I still know how to use.

Who were you

A man? A woman? Did you even use those words?

Did you craft alone or were you with friends? Did you sing while you worked?

Did you find this stone yourself, or did you trade for it? Was it a gift?

Did you make it for yourself, or someone else, or does the distinction of personal property not really apply here?

Who were you?

What would you think today, seeing your descendant hold your tool and sob because it fits her hands as well?

What about your other descendant, the docent and caretaker of your tool, holding her hands under it the way you hold your hands under your baby's head when a stranger holds them.

Is it bizarre to you, that your most utilitarian object is now revered as holy?

Or has it always been divine?

Or is the divine in how I am watching videos on how to knap stone made by your other descendants, learning by example the way you did?

Tomorrow morning I am going to the local riverbed in search of the appropriate stones, and I will follow your example.

The first blood spilled on it will almost certainly be my own, as I learn the textures and rhythm of how it's done.

Did you have cuss words back then? Gods to blaspheme when the rock slips and you almost take your thumbnail off instead? Or did you just scream?

I'm not religious.

But if spilling my own blood to connect with a stranger who shared it isn't partaking in the divine

I don't know what is.

[9centjefferson-blog]

The wizards don’t want you to know that their premier card game can cost no more than the price of printer ink, paper, and an internet connection or even free with enough effort, sharpie, and imagination.

What if I want to play magic but don’t have money

Magic the Gathering tip: the average magic the gathering player can’t tell the difference between a Gaia’s Cradle and a basic forest in a sleeve with a piece of paper that says “Gaia’s Cradle” in front of it

[9centjefferson-blog]

A Vorthos Defense of Lukka

Sorry this response turned into a small essay (~1400 words) that doesn't really answer your question, but my Hot Take™ is that I don't think Lukka needs to be fixed.

I believe the problem doesn't lie in Lukka himself, but in the way both the narrative and the fandom treated him extremely unfairly. I'm not asking anyone to like Lukka. Personally, I don't even think anything about him is particularly likable. But I think as a character he deserves a lot more respect than he gets, and I'm tired of seeing other people hate on him without actually engaging with his story or understanding what his character is about.

Here's the thing: Lukka is basically the homeless veteran of planeswalkers.

He started his story in Sundered Bond (Ikoria ebook by Django Wexler) already successful in his military career, engaged to be married to Jirina, and having General Kudro's favor. He was a model citizen and his life was great. One day, a flying-hyper-murder-tiger killed Lukka's entire squad and people discovered Lukka was a monster Bonder because the tiger spared him. The rumors got to General Kudro, whose decision upon hearing Lukka might be a bonder was to have Lukka immediately executed.

Lukka didn't betray Drannith. Drannith betrayed Lukka.

Lukka escaped his execution and was rescued in the wilderness by Vivien, who traveled with him to the Ozolith, where a mysterious evil voice caused Lukka to unlock the full power of his monster bonding abilities. Through it all, Lukka still tried to hang onto his old life. His allegiance hadn't changed. At first, Lukka wanted to use the monsters he controlled to fight for Drannith, not against it. Lukka was convinced that the offer of a loyal monster army would be enough for the city to take him back, but he was no longer welcome in Drannith.

Lukka became increasingly unstable and spiraled into insanity because he had his life unexpectedly, completely ruined and wanted nothing more than to return home to his old life, but that wasn't possible because he now belonged to a class of people who were extremely stigmatized in Drannith's society. He had become an undesirable. Once the city's shining star, he was now the lowest of the low. He lost his loyalty and turned against the city when he realized Drannith didn't care about people, Drannith cared about keeping people in their places.

In Sundered Bond, Lukka loses literally everything. He loses his job. He loses all his friends. He loses his fiance. He loses his home. Everything. He even loses the cat. This all happens to him within like, a week.

Lukka experiences the same hostility in his second appearance, Strixhaven. At this point, he's still a new planeswalker, and he's been planeswalking blindly trying to find civilization again. He arrives on Arcavios thirsty and starving and tired and injured. When he finally finds a town, he visits an inn and asks only for food. But they don't give him any food! They won't allow him to wash up or to rest! This is a man who has nothing and has done nothing, and the townspeople are suspicious of Lukka and want to call the Dragonsguard –Strixhaven's magical cops– on him because he committed the crime of... existing near them while visibly having basic needs that are unmet.

=========

"Looking for something, stranger?" said the innkeeper, a round man with a head of robust curls.

"A hot meal," said Lukka. The innkeeper hesitated as though about to say something, then nodded and moved toward the kitchen.

"Haven't seen clothes like that before," came a voice behind Lukka. "You're not from around here, I imagine."

He turned. A tall man in the same rough clothing as the rest of the townsfolk had stood up from his table and was walking over.

[…]

He heard the man suck his teeth. The innkeeper still hadn't returned from the kitchen. Lukka was starting to doubt he ever would.

"Okay, Oriq, I think I've heard enough. We don't take kindly to meddlers in this town, or those who seek to disturb the peace. If we were a proper city, we'd get the closest, least busy Dragonsguard to sort you out. But we're just a small farming village—so we've learned to deal with strangers ourselves."

[Episode 2: Lessons - Adana Washington]

=========

Fans like to point at Lukka and make "ACAB" ("All Cops Are Bastards") jokes about him, but they don't understand that he's explicitly an anti-cop character. Lukka was formerly a cop, but he quit and fully turned his back on the entire concept of policing when he realized that the reason cops exist is not to protect people, but to rid society of undesirables like him.

=========

"These dragons," Lukka said, his voice a growl. "Those Dragonsguard. They've held power over these people for too long. They've made them fearful of every shadow, every unfamiliar face. What happens when it's not just the Oriq they're hunting down—when it's anyone who practices magic in a way they don't like?"

[Episode 3: Extracurriculars - Adana Washington]

=========

I know what many of you will say: "How can Lukka have such a based take when he's such a terrible person?" It's true– he is not a good person. He's an asshole and he's harmed / killed innocent people and animals. But he's been both a cop and a homeless man, and he knows that cops are far more dangerous. You don't need to be a "good" person to deserve food and shelter. It's cops who promote the idea that you can deny the basic rights of the people you think are "bad".

So on Arcavios, he's again forced out of civilization and back into the wilderness. His suffering seriously never ends. The way he was treated, it's no wonder he accepted when the Oriq kidnapped him and asked him to help attack Strixhaven. Why should he give a damn about society if they don't care about him? If their society is so fearful of others that they are unwilling to practice compassion, unwilling to provide for people's most basic needs even when they haven't done anything wrong, then doing wrong doesn't matter. They will share his pain. He will watch it all burn to the ground.

Lukka is an example of what happens when someone's basic humanity is repeatedly denied to the point that they can no longer feel anything but anger.

This line from the story Survival of the Fittest, by Roy Graham, expresses it perfectly:

=========

He had been a cruel man by the end, a villain in so many ways. But perhaps in his position, there was no way to become anything else."

=========

Lukka reaches out for stability and support and never truly finds it. He's a character who keeps getting punished over and over for having bad things happen *to* him, not because he *does* bad things. Most of the bad stuff he actually does is in response to others treating him like shit for no reason.

Despite everything, Vivien still cared for Lukka and wanted to help him get back on his feet. She thought Lukka's military expertise would be useful to the strike team against New Phyrexia, and she encouraged him to join. They both saw it as an opportunity for Lukka to regain some of his dignity and protect his home once more. How does the narrative reward him for his effort? By corrupting him, humiliating him, and having him be put down like an animal by the only person who showed him any compassion through all this.

What could Lukka have become if he survived to be rehabilitated? I guess we'll never know.

Unfortunately, there is absolutely no hope for a character who mistreats animals. Most fans will never ever get past that, and there's a part of me that honestly believes Lukka just got phyrexianized and killed off because the Magic narrative team realized they couldn't salvage his reputation and didn't know what to do with him. The fandom's overwhelming negative response to Lukka had irreparably damaged him as a character.

As my bespoke friend @xantchaslegacy said, "The only meaningful difference about Lukka and Gideon's cop-to-planeswalker journey is that the narrative let Gideon live long enough for other people to make him a better person. And Lukka got shanked before it could happen."

Again, I don't need people to like Lukka. I just want people to understand. I wish people were more willing to actually engage with the story and see the value in characters they dislike. There's no reason Lukka should've been treated like a punching bag the way he was. He was trapped in a cycle of being dunked on by the story and then dunked on by the fans, again and again. And people continue to push an understanding of Lukka that is just false.

The fandom reacted to Lukka the same way the strangers on Arcavios did: He'll never get a second chance because they wouldn't even give him a first chance.

[9centjefferson-blog]

Cavemen adorned in white coats & safety goggles working diligently with welding gear and beakers on PROJECT: WHEEL

[9centjefferson-blog]

I’ve put so much focus on my big OC that I’ve completely neglected to focus on the small pleasures in life, namely making original characters for every media franchise I have even a passing interest in. I figured Spider-Man OCs would be the perfect opportunity to return to form.

As far as unique twists that can be put on Spider-Man go, I think reimagining him as a Neolithic human in a dark fantasy world ripe with folkloric creatures, religious superstition, and a fundamental lack of understanding of the world and its ways is pretty unique.

I’ll add more details later; I need to get this posted first.

Name: Petos

- Peter but brutalized to give it a harsher sound and make it fit.

Alias: Spinthronmann

- My quasi-educated attempt to morph “The Spider-Man” into something like PIE. Hard to find an alias that makes sense with a world where secret identities neither exist nor have reason to.

Backstory: Hunter-Gatherer Cursed by a Spider Demon and Bound to a Ritual Site

Petos was a member of a nomadic hunter-gatherer tribe that fell prey to a giant spider monster. Petos was the only survivor, and after ritually burying the bodies, he set off to avenge them. He tracked the monster to a massive cave, but his confrontation was ill-fated, and he was ensnared, envenomed, and consumed. His rage, fear, and need for revenge, however, were too strong, and these kept his spirit tethered to the mortal plane. He wandered as a ghost, guided by spirits and fae creatures, back to the creature, where he used his new abilities to slay it and consume it, thus regaining a physical form imbued with spider powers and spiritual magic. Tethered to the graves of his family, the remains of his corpse, and the spot of his rebirth, Petos acts as a protector of humanity against the threats that seek to destroy humanity from within and without.

[9centjefferson-blog]

One thing I didn't expect from my new worldbuilding book is the author, roughly my dad's age, including his opinions on furries

[9centjefferson-blog]

DO NOT TELL ME THAT I’M ALREADY KNEE DEEP IN THE CREATIVE JUICES DREDGING UP IDEAS FOR A STAR WARS OC BECAUSE STARKILLER POWER LEVEL DISCOURSE ON TWITTER GOT ME BACK INTO THINKING ABOUT STAR WARS!

I DON’T WANNA GO! (I do)

Anyone know any good reference sheets or questionnaires to start with? Because I know shit about the Star Wars extended universe beyond there being a lot.

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OH MY GOD I JUST LEARNED THAT INGA AND ESIKA /AND/ DESPARKED TYVAR COUNTS THE MANA NIKYA AND KINNAN MAKE AS MANA FROM CREATURES. I DON’T KNOW— HOW DID I NOT—

I know this deck isn’t good, but man I have never felt more in love with a 60-card deck than I do right now. This is my child. A goofy kid, a punk centaur, two women in a cat chariot, and all of their friends.

[9centjefferson-blog]

GOD I LOVE ILLAOI SO MUCH!

It pains me endlessly that The Ruined King gave me a peak into an alternate world where Illaoi is a support. I love her juggernaut self, but I wish I could live in the world where I could bring Illaoi bot. When the Draven bug existed with her Vessel was the only time it was really possible, but I just want to be a tank that pulls souls and heals. She’d be so much fun if she could defy so many tropes whilst also embracing some others. Priestess who DOES heal and play enchantress but who ALSO beats the shit out of her enemies mercilessly whilst encouraging her allies to follow suit.

¡I NEED IT!

[9centjefferson-blog]

I realize I’ve been slacking on the reason I made this account. I blame it on poor discipline and trying to research and write an SCP article to finally contribute to a 10+ year interest, but that’s beside the point. What I want to do right now is a quick little update on my thoughts about new Group Hug cards in MOM and MOC, because B R O T H E R M A N B O Y do we have some good ones! Let’s go!

———

1. Pain Distributor

Single-handedly THE card I’m most excited about. This kind of overlap between helpful and harmful effects is exactly the kind of thing I believe Group Hug needs to develop it’s identity beyond “the silly archetype people play to feel mischievous” and other such stereotypes. Giving players resources they want to use while also pushing life totals towards an end point is just chef’s kiss w/ flourish. This goes right next to Overabundance and Spiteful Visions as pillars of my arguments.

Definitely comes in at number 1 with no notes.

2. Excise the Imperfect

I’m excited for this card because it’s an incredibly good removal spell that—much like Fateful Absence—requires the controller to pay mana to get the compensation, but it’s such a blatantly good removal spell it’s gonna go the way of Beast Within and Arcane Denial and be generic, and that will bother me for no good reason.

Solid number 2, not number 1 because it’s so generally good.

3. Cutthroat Negotiator

Expanding a noticed trend of my favorite mechanics (impulsive draw and theft, group hug, & treasures) all being things pirates do, we get Cutthroat Negotiator to not only put Parrrlay into rightful hands but also provide a pretty good effect. Lack of Haste or any evasive keyword makes it far less powerful than it should be (I’m biased.), and I originally thought it had a Phabine style effect of an effect for both lands and nonlands, but even without any of those, it’s still a perfectly fine card. I like it more than I should, but it does do a lot of fun things, which is most important for effects like these.

Number 3 because it’s good is the enemy of my perfect.

4. Firemane Commando

We all love card draw, and I love effects that reward opponents for attacking other players, so this is a very solid combination of the two. Goes well with Goad and Pillowfort, brings a solid body with evasion, and it looks cool. Doesn’t do anything for 1v1, but at this point I think it’s a pipe dream to ever think this archetype will be good there.

Number 4 because all it does at the end of the day is draw 1 card, but it does do things I want, so it’s saved from the bottom.

5. Rankle and Torbran

I love this alternate art, but I hate the book crease in the center. I love Rankle, so it makes me extremely happy to se him again. I’m disappointed it was a team up with Torbran, but Eldraine only really had Rankle and Kenrith as legendary characters with group hug effects, so I guess it can’t be helped. Effect-wise, It’s a solid card. The body and keywords are fine for the cost, and the effects are pretty solid. Reminds me of second Drana. It’s much more combat focused than OG Rankle, but that’s probably good all my durdle considered.

Number 5 because all it really does it just make a treasure for everyone, but from a sluggy perspective it does a lot.

———

In all, I love these sets for Pain Distributor and Faerie Mastermind alone, but the couple other cards included are worth mentioning.

[9centjefferson-blog]

I am collecting like-named individuals of fiction for the purpose of a funny little list (numbered but not in any order). So far, I have found the following characters enjoyable enough for one reason or another to include:

1. Nash from Lawbreakers

Look at this little robot! He’s got a big shotgun I can’t find any good pictures of that fires in a 3x3 grid. He’s basically just Chappie but reprogrammed by an action movie line lover instead of Ninja and Yo-Landi (honestly that gives him less personality). I love him. He’s trans(humanist)ition goals.

2. Charlie Nash

I don’t like Guile. I don’t like how Nash plays. But I like his look, so I like him. He’s not even really called Nash, but hell, I still like him.

3. Nash Bridges

The man, the myth, the unfortunately a cop from a 90’s police procedural, Nash Bridges drives a car I don’t personally care for, but I owe him the name, so oh well. Nashman is pretty cool I will admit.

4. Walter Nash (Valkriya Chronicles)

I love him. I love him. He wants to open a bakery. He’s an optimistic nihilist. He carries a big anti-tank bazooka. He has a charming accent. I love Walter.

5. Nash (Starman)

I know very little about her because I have never cared for Starman, but she can turn into mist and she’s got a cool little haircut / goggles combo, so yeah. Also she’s canonically dead, so I can adopt her.

6. Brother Nash

I’m in the process of trying to acquire these comics so I can read them, but he’s a werewolf! I love werewolves. Plus, from what I’ve seen, his personality is fun. And he’s a trucker. Love a good and simple character who isn’t.

7. Nash Latkje (Suikoden)

Look at that scarf! Look at the stance! Look at his smile! Love him. I can barely find anything about him, but the sparse gameplay videos I’ve seen of him make him out to be pretty fun. If anyone could explain more about him, I’d appreciate it.

8. Nashi (Magic: the Gathering)

I don’t know where in the story he went from a teen or young adult to a little kid, but I’m just gonna kind of ignore that and focus on the art. Name’s a slight stretch, but I love my rat-boy-on-his-third-mom and all the weird shit he tinkers up.

9. Nash (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Have I ever really been into Yu-Gi-Oh? No. Have I watched any of the shows? I watched some scenes of Nash and that one episode with Pegasus, but otherwise no. Do I still love how he looks as well as the Yu-Gi-Oh duelist look in general? Obviously! Look at how cool he looks! Wish he didn’t use sea creatures, but beggars can’t be choosers when the presented option is this good.

———

That’s all I have right now, but I’m keeping an eye out for more.

[9centjefferson-blog]

Actually I think Tezzeret should just keep getting away with it. It's funnier that way.

[9centjefferson-blog]

shoutout to Tezzeret. Man caused literally every problem this arch. Got everything he wanted and then left, never to to make an appearance in the finale. hilarious, honestly

[9centjefferson-blog]

I can’t believe that the “Qrow and Raven were turned into birds” revelation was something I first learned from the JelloApocalypse video WITHOUT realizing it was a spoiler! Even on rewatch, I kinda just assumed he turned into a bird somewhere in there and I just missed it.

I love that video, but I can’t believe that I just assimilated it into my timeline memory. Plus the couple other “spoilers” in there that I didn’t even realize. God, I can’t believe how messed up my memory of this series is. Wonder how many random Twitter clips and Wiki reads will start sneaking their way in. Probably not the best way to consume a narrative story.

That said, it has been great to return to the series right after Bumblebee got confirmed, because now I’m noticing everything and I know what it means.

[9centjefferson-blog]

¡HA!

Turns out I watched the RWBY season 5 premier in theaters, not season 4. I somehow managed to combine all of season 4 into a single episode in my head and only as I’m finishing season 4 am I realizing this.

That’s so funny. I don’t know how that happened, but it does explain why I have the season 4 soundtrack.

[9centjefferson-blog]

I don’t even remember what it was that spurned it (I know I saw the announcement of season 9 and recently saw canon Bumblebee), but I’m getting back into RWBY after dropping off shortly after the season 4 premier. (I saw that in theaters with a friend btw. What a great memory that is.)

Even after I dropped it, I kept paying loose attention to big things, and I never stopped thinking about how cool the world and characters are. I think that absolutely speaks to the power of its core concepts. Almost 10 years later and the early seasons—despite being so janky and riddled with anime tropes I’m not particularly fond of—are still a joy to watch. I know I make jokes with my sister about how great RWBY is for making custom characters, but it genuinely feels like it was specifically made to accommodate that aspect of fan content. That’s always been my main way of engagement with an IP, but RWBY just has something magical to it that I haven’t found anywhere other than Magic: the Gathering and maybe League of Legends. Both of those are huge IPs with millions of dollars (allegedly) behind their character design and world building, which again is testament to RWBY’s fundamentals. Monty really struck gold in damn near every way.

But yeah, so, postulations aside, I’m about halfway through season 3 and both remembering how much I love this show and being bewildered by how weird the timeline feels from when I left off.

What the hell happens in seasons 4 through 7?

Additionally, I really need to re-engage with the custom character part of the fandom. But I feel like it’s pretty mandatory to get caught up before I can do that properly, what with the whole wonderland stuff going on right now