#but it was the literal only way of giving him a non overpowered card

[eldrbraus]

i find quite ironic that most if not all of the lilia cards have lots of hp because hes very old and has lived a long life but very low power because hes losing his magic

except his general card. it has lots of power, as he was on the most powerful point in his life, and not that high hp, as he wasnt that old back then

great storytelling device but it fucking sucks that most lilia cards are useless in terms of power rip

[restapesta]

"Remember when you tried to kill Frank?"

Mickey's head snaps up to look at Ian. His husband's sitting on the other side of the couch, legs propped up on the coffee table before it. He's holding his phone in his hand, thumbs paused in the air as if he was typing a text of some sort, and Mickey wonders what prompted him to even remember something from all those years ago.

Mickey doesn't press pause on the movie they were supposed to be watching. Instead, he just shrugs non-committaly, slightly hesitant of Ian's reaction to his reply. Frank's death was recent, and who knows if Ian's going down memory-lane, trying to find some parts of his life with Frank where he can reminisce.

"He caught us at the store," Ian continues, despite the fact that moments of silence had passed, and Mickey thought the subject would be dropped. "You were so scared he'd tell somebody, so you tried to kill him."

Mickey remembers it—perhaps not as vividly as Ian, but he does. The fear that had struck him after Frank announced his presence in the Kash and Grab while he and Ian were fucking. Mickey was terrified back then, and the desperate need to stop Terry from finding out overpowered any other sensible emotion he might've felt back then towards Ian.

Ian shuffles around on the couch, and Mickey observes the way he plays with his cuticles, picking at them. He soon moves on to fiddle with his ring, lower lip stuck between his teeth.

Mickey finally stops the movie, all attention diverted to the person next to him. "What's up?" He asks, aware that the gears in Ian's head are turning and taking him down a path he might not end up liking.

Ian shakes his head, still obviously deep in thought. "Nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?"

Their eyes meet, and for the first time in a long time, Mickey sees Ian's eyes are glossy, as if he's trying to hold in tears. He's breathing raggedly through his nose, and his fists are clenching, and it's all probably in the hardest of efforts not to cry.

Mickey scoots over so he's sitting closer. "Is this about Frank? Him dying?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I just remembered it." He gives Mickey a wobbly smile. "It was probably the only time I actually felt accepted by him."

Mickey doesn't understand. Had no idea what even happened with Frank and Ian during that time where he was gathering his brothers for man-slaughter. Ian had warned Frank, and Mickey's mind drifts back to that one conversation—that one sentence that would be disputed by all the years to come.

"He literally did not give a shit we were gay." Ian finally says, and his eyes seem to be clearing, no longer on the verge of breaking down. Mickey absentmindedly goes to grab his hand, stopping him from tearing at an already-bleeding scab. "He told me to fuck whoever I want to fuck. And after that, Monica..." He swallows. "Monica took me to a gay club. Told me to never be ashamed of who I was."

Mickey notices the parallel. That difference between him and Ian that was probably one of the reasons their relationship failed in those first couple of years—those detrimental, pre-bipolar years, where the sole reason for them not being together was Mickey. Ian's family never gave a shit. Mickey's did.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Ian."

He doesn't know why he feels compelled to say it, but he does, perhaps trying to finally apologize for everything that happened all those years ago. For what happened that one morning. For the wedding.

"Sorry for what?" Ian's confused, and Mickey pulls himself even closer to him, placing his head in the crook of his shoulder, letting Ian's arm envelope him. It's one way to hide his face, he guesses.

"For how I was back then. I just kept pushing you away. I was a real fucking asshole."

Ian snorts and kisses the top of Mickey's head. "It worked out, didn't it?"

"It was fucking painful."

"Yeah," Ian admits against his hair. "It was."

Mickey licks his lip, raises his head to look his husband in the eye. "You know I was in love with you, even back then?"

Ian smiles. Cards a hand through Mickey's hair. Runs a gentle palm over Mickey's cheek. Presses a small kiss to his lips. "I know."

They sit in silence for a while, the only sound in their apartment being the rumbling engines of cars coming from somewhere down below in the street.

Mickey breathes in, breathes out. "I regretted it as soon as I said it."

"Regretted what?"

"You were so much more than a warm mouth to me." He lets out a shaky chuckle. "I was a second away from shooting him. I really was. But then I remembered your face. How much I hurt you, and I couldn't fucking do it. All the time I spent in juvie, I spent regretting it."

"Not killing Frank?" Ian says dumbly, and Mickey scoffs, slapping the back of his hand against his chest.

"Hurting you, you dumbass."

They both smile at that, and the tension gets lifted suddenly, the pain replaced with the feeling of comfort that usually follows them being together. Ian holds Mickey tighter against him.

"I wouldn't change it for the world." He whispers, and Mickey feels a warmth spread through his chest.

Mickey agrees. No matter the pain, and suffering. No matter the homophobic piece-of-shit fathers, and bipolar diagnosis—it brought them here. Here, together.

Mickey lets himself grin. Grin at all the shit in their past. Ian grins back, and what more could Mickey want or need?

"I wouldn't either." He says, and means it.

Ian pulls him I'm closer, and they hit play on the movie and continue on with their night, snuggling together, playfully pushing each other for space as they did so.

The past would always fucking be there, but now, it was a reminder more than anything.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Come play with me Part 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, cursing, allusion to non-con.

Words: 2060.

Summary: Having to deal with Bucky Barnes, a talented head engineer who you have to convince cooperating with your boss, you suddenly discover his psychopathic tendencies. Worse, he has taken an eerie interest in you.

Part 1

P.S. More references to “Death Machine” movie I saw when I was a kid 🙈

_______________

Nervously glancing around a messy room full of odd equipment, screwdrivers, nails, military clothing like combat pants, and scary drawings hanging on the walls, you sat on an empty chair Barnes had offered you. In fact, it was the only empty chair in the room.

“Yeah, I need to clean up, I know.” He muttered under his breath, grabbing a pile of papers on his seat and dropping them to the floor close to his table as he started typing something on his laptop. “Never have time for this.”

You nodded, pretending you cared. Actually, the only thing you wanted was getting away as far as you could from Barnes, a man who had completely turned your life upside down in a matter of hours.

First, as you tried fighting him, he had blocked all your cards and literally stripped you of all your money - you couldn’t understand how the bank security overlooked the transfer, but all you had left were ten dollars on your account. When you got hysterical, crying and pleading Bucky to get it all back, he carefully explained to you that all you needed to do was to listen to him. You were still furious, remembering how he talked to you as if you were a child.

Then Barnes told you he would have what he wanted anyway, but he didn’t need to break you in the process. It wasn’t fun, he said, albeit having you cry under him as he sat on top of you laying on your bed. When you finally submitted, knowing you couldn’t overpower him, that bull of a man, Bucky returned you your money, adding a few thousand dollars “for the trouble”. You had never felt so humiliated in your entire life.

You chose not to think of what had happened after that.

“Shit, they fucked it up again.” Bucky growled in frustration, rubbing his eyes as he stared into one of several monitors on his desk. “Baby, can you make me coffee while I’m dealing with this shit?”

What? Coffee? Did he bring you here for this?

Clenching your fists, you kept your mouth shut as you glanced over the room, quickly finding a dirty coffee maker in the corner. Trying to convince yourself it was better than giving him a blowjob while he was working, you moved from your seat and went to have a look at the little glass kettle. It definitely needed a good wash, so you disconnected it and headed to the door. While passing beside Bucky’s back, you were abruptly stopped by him tugging on your pencil skirt.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He growled, narrowing his eyes at you. There was something carnivorous in his gaze as he watched you freezing in place.

Showing him the coffee maker, you nervously said, “It’s dirty. I want to clean it before making coffee for you.”

He blinked for a few times and let go of your skirt. Lifting his eyes to your face, he softened, motioning to you, “Kitchen’s on your left. Thanks.” As he turned back to the monitor, making no attempt to stop you, you carefully moved forward, stopping yourself from running away.

When the door closed beside you, you finally exhaled as if you escaped the death room with a deranged psycho with an axe in it. Well, the deranged psycho was actually there, but without a weapon, you hoped. Not that you saw any.

Speeding up, you found a kitchen on your left just as Barnes said, relieved no one was there - for some reason, you were afraid of his co-workers since none of them had reported Bucky before... Come to think of it, maybe they did. But HYDRA wiped everything out because Barnes was irreplaceable, and until he murdered someone the company was probably okay with pretty much everything he was doing if he continued to work for them. Or were there any boundaries at all? If Barnes was a murderer, would the company cover him up just because he was the one making billions for them?

You threw away the used filter and placed the kettle into the sink. You needed to find a way to leave him, but as careful as possible. No one knew what Barnes was capable of.

The smell of coffee made Bucky finally snap back to reality as he inhaled the aroma, stretching his arms while you watched his muscles flexing. Despite him looking pretty good, you were more scared rather than aroused.

“Here.” You said, placing a cup of black coffee in front of him - no milk, no sugar just like he instructed you.

Barnes grinned at you, tucking a strand of his dark hair behind the ear, and the next moment you ended up on his lap as he gripped you by the waist, then taking his coffee like it was something completely natural. Stilling, you squirmed uncomfortably, unwilling to be so close to him. He was acting as if you were his girlfriend, and you were not okay with it, but preferred being silent rather than having an argument that could lead to Barnes becoming violent.

“Thank you, doll.” He whispered, leaving a quick kiss on your cheek, and you winced from a sudden feeling of his three-days beard brushing against your sensitive skin. Bucky proceeded to sip his coffee and stare into the monitor, a dozen of blueprints opened at the same time didn’t bother him, seemingly.

You had been tense for a couple of minutes before you realized Barnes was completely absorbed by his work, caressing you through your clothes with his hand from time to time, but doing little else. All he saw were numerous reports and blueprints. Sometimes Bucky was getting upset when a small window with a chat popped up above his programs, and he hurriedly typed a message to some of his colleagues, you supposed.

Since there was nothing much left to do, you tried to understand what Bucky was working on. In the end, it was going to be your job - he had already submitted all the forms to get you a position of a project manager. You didn’t know how HYDRA’s executives was gonna react, but something told you Barnes could convince them to do as he pleased. Even the thought of that was frightening to you.

The more you watched, the more you thought the new project didn’t remind you the weapon control system but the weapon itself. Of course, you weren’t an engineer, but you had a good knowledge of HYDRA’s already existing active protection systems. This wasn’t it even in the slightest. It was more of some weird cyborg thing, you thought as you kept looking at what appeared to be biomechatronic body parts.

Was he working on some side project now? Was it even HYDRA’s project?

As you leaned closer to the monitor, trying to understand what this was and why Barnes was working on it, your heard the man chuckling.

“Interested?” He asked, making you lean back into him with his hand pressed to your chest.

“I thought you were working on the new weapon control system. What’s this?”

“Oh, this is the best thing I’ve ever done, baby. It will bring HYDRA to the top of the world.” Grinning, he closed the blueprint he was working on and opened a different one, a colored 3D model of a heavily armed man wearing something that almost looked like a futuristic military suit. “This is the Supersoldier project, the top-secret thing Pierce wants me to be the lead of.”

Pierce. Alexander Pierce, the new CEO of the corporation who took this position after Fury’s dismissal. Did he give Barnes a secret project? Why on Earth did he want HYDRA to be involved into weapon production? It was beyond corporation’s reach. They simply didn’t have the permission, never cooperating with military for this purpose. What Barnes was doing was illegal.

“So, is this why you don’t submit the new reports?” You asked, trembling slightly on his lap and almost missing a kiss Bucky left on the back of your neck. It was better not to ask too many questions.

“You don’t understand.” He laughed, making you turn your face to him as he caressed it with his gloved hand. “There can be no reports because there is no new weapon control system. It had never been planned. Your boss won’t have any details, because there are none.”

You felt your head spinning. What? What? How could it be? The Board of Directors wanted that project. You were sure most of them knew nothing about the thing Barnes was working on now. It was simply unbelievable. The head engineer of HYDRA’s Corp was involved in an illegal project to create a cybernetically-enhanced soldier, and no one knew of it.

You were becoming involved in something very, very dangerous. People like Alexander Pierce and the ones he was doing this project for were much scarier than a psychopathic genius Bucky Barnes.

Fuck. You were in deep, deep trouble.

“Mr. Simons will get fired then, I see.” You mumbled, trying to find words and talk about something that wouldn’t involve the Supersoldier project. The more you knew, the shorter your life would be, you feared.

“Sorry about that, doll.” Barnes’ smirk was irritating at best. “But I really need you here with me. This project is quite stressful, and when I’m stressed, I don’t work well. Last time I’ve fucked up my arm completely.”

“Your arm?”

“Huh, you didn’t see?”

Oh, you didn’t like it. You didn’t like it when Barnes lifted his arm and took his leather glove off, revealing a metal hand instead of a flesh one. He then rolled the sleeve of his thick hoodie further, and you realized his whole arm was made out of metal.

Barnes was experimenting on himself. He was that first supersoldier Pierce wanted.

As you looked at him with an expression of utter horror written on your face, Barnes chuckled, making you lean closer to him and kissing you deeply, his tongue licking the insides of your mouth shamelessly while you froze, unable to accept the truth. When you touched his metal fingers, they radiated heat as if they were of flesh and blood. How was it possible? Why Barnes was doing this? Didn’t he understand why Pierce wanted him to work on this project and what he was going to do with it once Bucky finished?

No, Barnes knew. He was anything but stupid. Maybe he wanted HYDRA to have its own supersoldiers. Maybe Bucky wanted this power.

“I’m a war vet, baby. I’ve lost my arm around ten years ago.” He said as he touched your skin with his metal hand. “Dealing with those shitty prostheses was a nightmare, believe me. But look at this - it’s perfect. I can draw with it - and I can crack Pierce’s skull just as easily. Isn’t a miracle? You didn’t even realize what I had there until I showed you.”

“I don’t think people will call it miracle when Mr. Pierce makes his personal cyborgs army.” You said quietly and shivered from the thought. It was unbelievable, like a plot of a sci-fi movie or something, yet you were staring at Barnes’ metal arm now. If anyone could make this horror a reality, it was him. “Why are you doing this? Don’t you understand what’s going to happen?”

“What? Like a war or something?” He asked with irritation, watching you frown. “Since I’ve returned home, there was not a year without a war somewhere on Earth. This peace pacifists are talking about exists only in their idle imagination. So why not to be prepared in advance, huh? Besides, it’s so much fun, baby. You’ll see soon.”

As you attempted to stand up, he squeezed you with his solid, beefy arms, bringing you closer so you sat back on his lap, spreading your legs while Bucky made you face him, caressing your thighs. Your face was burning hot as your skirt got up, baring your silk stockings.

“I’ll show you everything you want to know.” He breathed into your face, and you felt Barnes was becoming hard, his dick brushing against your core covered by pretty black laced panties as he made you roll your hips, touching your back. “But let’s do it after a small break, ok?”

_____________________

Tags: @finleyjayne​ @alexakeyloveloki​   ​@helenaeisenhower​ @villanellevi​ @hurricanerin​ ​@void-hoechlin​ @abyssaint​ @heeeyitskay​ @chris-evans-indian-fanfic​ @navegandoaciegas​ @rosalynshields​ @brattycherubwrites​ @sllooney​ @angrythingstarlight​ @iheartsebastianstan​ @soleil-dor​ @iheartsebastianstan​​ @lookiamtrying​​ @buckysbunny​​

[army-of-mai-lovers]

hello arthur!! tbh people are being terrible in your inbox and the last ask killed my brain cells so this is your free bingo card to talk about anything you like. also sometimes googling sharks with human teeth (exactly what it sounds like) helps!! much love <3

oh my gosh I’m OBSESSED with these photos they’re so cute!!!! and thank you for the bingo card Effie I appreciate it so much. I’m gonna rant about Deadly Class (a show I definitely don’t like and thus don’t run a fan blog for....smh) bc it’s on my mind and it looks like it’s just going to go quietly into that good night instead of being made fun of and dissected and I think that should change bc goodness gracious that show does not deserve a dignified death. also I’m gonna put this rant under a readmore bc this is gonna be long and it has nothing to do w atla. warnings for discussions of racism, callous mentions of murder and death, swearing, discussion of Nazis, discussion of gore, abuse ment

Okay so for those not in the know (which is probably everyone considering the show was on Syfy and it’s being canceled due to low viewership) Deadly Class is a teen murder drama set in the late ‘80s starring Lana Condor, which makes it sound like it was engineered in a lab to appeal to me. Literally my friend and I were in the middle of watching Schitt’s Creek, which I adore, and she was like “well I heard about this show called Deadly Class” and described it and I was like fuck Schitt’s Creek we’re watching this. It had a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, which usually makes me nervous, but I was literally like “I don’t care because I know I’m going to love it.” 

And well. I did not love it. 

I truly do not understand how one fucks up “teenagers (mostly) of color go to murder boarding school in the late ‘80s” that bad (I mean the Russo brothers are involved and they fuck up everything they touch so perhaps it was just that). I haven’t read the comic the show is based on but it does appear that a *lot* of the issues of the show stem from the comic, which is...disappointing. Basically, our MC, Marcus, starts off the show homeless after his group home burned down (and it’s heavily implied that he was the one to do it) and gets hunted down by these elite teenage murderers who invite them to their murder school. 

Already, numerous problems are starting to show themselves. First of all, Marcus is Latino, which, yes, it’s very cool that the MC is Latino, except he is literally the white-passingest man I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen my dad. I didn’t realize that he was Latino until they showed his extremely stupid backstory in a shitty animated sequence and whoever was voicing his dad did this really, really thick Nicaraguan accent and I was like wait a damn minute. So then, I looked it up, and the guy playing Marcus is named Benjamin Wadsworth, which immediately made me think that they had pulled a Noah Centineo and made me think this fully white actor was half Latino (and yes, Latinos can be white, but I think Marcus is supposed to be a nonwhite Latino, and I thought Benjamin Wadsworth was both white and non-Latino). But you know, as an light skinned ethnically ambiguous mixed kid myself, I thought I owed it to him to dig a little deeper, and turns out our pal Ben is mixed (also, he’s like six months older than me and married, which is a trip). And like, okay, I guess I’m glad they didn’t get a white non-Latino man to play a Latino character, but they literally got the whitest looking Latino they could think of to play him. He originally auditioned for Billy. Billy’s the token white. And the producers were like “wait you have Latino ancestry?” (how they found that out I don’t fucking know) and let him go for Marcus. And like. Okay. The character in the comics is light-skinned but he does not look white, and Benjamin is not a good enough actor for them to just pass on the actors who surely auditioned for that role and were more visibly Latino but like. Okay, I guess. 

Second of all, this show is mega racist and it starts to reveal itself when you look at how the murder kids are styled in literally their first appearance. What struck me the most was the fact that the Latina (whose name is fucking Maria, for heaven’s sake) was wearing a sexy red dress and Day of the Dead makeup, which, I’m sorry, huh? That just so happens to be the Mexican girl’s murder outfit? I’ve tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and speculate that maybe she wears it to like, subvert people’s expectations, but at this point idk how this is subverting anyone’s expectations nor why she’d be so invested in that. Also, she’s supposed to be a teenager. It’s fucked up to sexualize any of your child characters but it really hits different when it’s your Latina character (and yeah, I know the actress playing Maria isn’t a teenager, but still, it’s the principle of the thing). And then of course, the Black guy, Willie (no he’s not related to Billy they were just like yeah two guys with rhyming names in our main cast sounds legit) is a gangbanger dude who talks the way that white people think Black people talk. I keep waiting for this guy to have one line that’s not complete garbage, but I’m five episodes deep and so far nada, which sucks so bad because there’s like, kernels of an interesting character buried in this horrible racist trope. Also, they had him sleep with a N*zi. I hate it here. Lana Condor (her character’s name is Saya) gets off fairly okay, at least in this first shot (they don’t have her wearing a kimono to go murder people, thank fuck), but the way she behaves is super weird, like kinda flirty towards Marcus, kinda badass but not enough to actually do anything, etc. Billy’s white so they couldn’t make him a racist caricature or anything but I have no idea why he’s here. See, instead of talking about the real politics of the real world, Deadly Class makes up fake prejudice that honestly makes the lok bender/nonbender bullshit look sensible. Maria, Willie, and Saya are Legacies, which means that their families are established murderers (fun fact: the N*zi girl is also a Legacy, because her father murdered hundreds of civil rights activists. And the characters of color align themselves with her. I don’t understand.) Billy, and later Marcus when he decides to go to murder school, are Rats, meaning they have no affiliation with established murder groups. So, in this show, the people of color have privilege over the (mostly white) Rats. Make it make sense. Further, this means that Maria, Saya, and Willie should have absolutely no reason to hang out with Billy, and yet they do because the Russo brothers have heard that the kids these days like the found family trope, so they put five unlikely friends in a room together and insinuated that they could all be besties. I swear, this show is the La Croix of found family tho, in that there is absolutely no flavor whatsoever. None of the characters develop into a found family. Saya is bound to care for Marcus for reasons, Maria is using him, Willie is also using him, and Billy is only his friend because they’re both Rats. Saya and Maria are already friends (and honestly their friendship is the most compelling thing in the whole show). There are no other connections between the characters. But they’re totes a found family!!!!/s

Also, they don’t let Saya be mean. Every character says “oh Saya’s such a bitch” but do we ever see Saya being a bitch??? No! Saya is literally just a nice girl who is kinda quiet sometimes and murders people and has a tragic backstory. There’s an argument to be made for Maria being more bitchy than her tbh. And like, fine, if you want Saya to be nice, she can be nice, but stop telling me she’s mean then!!! If you’re gonna tell me that I’m gonna get to see mean Lana Condor in a leather jacket in this show then deliver bitch. 

There’s truly so much more I could talk about (Chico??? What the fuck is Chico’s arc???? What in the actual hell were they thinking when they were writing anything to do with Chico????? my DUDES WHAT IN THE SAM HELL. also making Billy straight was so fucking stupid he’s literally gay come on now, also Master Lin is so fucking useless what is he even doing here) but instead I’m going to outline the version of Deadly Class my friend and I have been talking about while we watch the inferior real Deadly Class. 

lots of things are the same actually because there are some elements of the show that have potential. Marcus is still homeless at the beginning, everybody still thinks he burned down the group home but he didn’t, Willie is still a pacifist, he and Marcus are still partners for their first murder school assignment, Saya’s mean (but like actually), Billy still has green hair and is the token white of the group (although a Billy of color.....thinking), and they all hate Reagan

in an ideal world Willie and Maria would have different names (Willie bc his name rhymes with Billy’s and that’s fucking stupid, also Willie is just a terrible name in general, Maria partially because it sounds way too similar to Marcus and I don’t understand why the guy who wrote this couldn’t make his characters have different sounding names, and partially because no Latina character of mine is going to be named fucking Maria), but for the purposes of this outline I’ll keep their names the same for clarity.

Marcus doesn’t initially have his rep. He’s on the streets when he sees a girl his age (Saya) come out of this elevator in the back of a restaurant brandishing a sword, and decides to go into the elevator, sees the stash of weapons, and decides to steal one so he can fend for himself better. 

also keeping the detail of Rory murdering a bunch of homeless kids, but now Marcus knows that Rory is actively hunting him down. 

in the process of robbing the school’s weapons collection, Marcus figures out that it’s a murder school

Master Lin catches Marcus robbing the school, they fight, Master Lin overpowers Marcus and ties him up. He says the weapons are for students only, and Marcus says he’s applying. Lin asks what his qualifications are, and Marcus says “you know that group home that burned down three months ago? all the kids that died? I started the fire.” 

(also no shade to Benjamin Wadsworth but in this version he is not playing Marcus. Marcus is not white-passing)

Master Lin initially doesn’t believe him, but Marcus presses on and eventually convinces Master Lin that this is really what happened, and so Lin welcomes him to murder school. 

Marcus’s first class is Poisons, and his lab partner is Billy, who takes a shine to him and shows him around school. There’s no Legacy/Rat nonsense, but you do have normal high school drama adapted slightly for murder school. Maria is the prettiest and most popular girl in school, Saya is the mean girl/valedictorian, Willie is the jock, and Billy’s the punky weirdo. 

Marcus is, of course, the new kid with a reputation to live up to. 

Things kind of fall apart when Willie and Marcus are paired up for an assignment: to seek revenge on somebody. 

also Willie’s backstory is extremely different. his dad was a Black Panther, and he was murdered by the FBI when Willie was a kid. distraught, his mom moved to Texas, where she started working a corporate job and rose really high in the ranks. To maintain her status in the company, she had to do some really horrible things, including working with the FBI to take down other civil rights activists. Willie found out about this and was absolutely horrified. his mother insisted she was doing this so that he could have a better life, but he refused to listen to her, and ran away, and ended up at murder school. 

Willie got into murder school because Lin knows who his mom is, and assumes that Willie is just as cutthroat as she is. he gains a reputation as well. 

also, Willie’s extremely wealthy, and this shows in the way he dresses (preppy jock vibes)

you don’t find out about this backstory for a minute tho bc unlike Albert Kim and the Russo Brothers, I can wait until the right opportunity presents itself for a backstory drop. 

ok anyway back to what I was saying earlier

they have to seek revenge on somebody. Marcus asks Willie if there’s anybody he wants revenge on, and Willie very sincerely says no. Marcus scoffs at him and says he’s clearly had a very easy life, to which Willie replies, “Well, who do you want revenge on?” 

Marcus immediately says, “Rory.” 

So they track Rory down, and since Marcus hasn’t actually killed anybody, he hands the weapons over to Willie. Willie frowns and says that he has nothing against this dude he’s never met before, so Marcus should be the one to hurt him. Marcus says that this is a group project and Willie’s got to pull his weight, and they get into an argument

the argument gets loud, and Rory hears them fighting and starts chasing them. 

in the midst of the chase, both of them divulge their secrets to one another. Willie laughs hysterically and says that they deserve each other bc they both lied to get where they are, and now they’re going to die because of it

Rory backs them into a corner, and Marcus uses one of the swords he tried to steal earlier to shank Rory

They throw the body in a dumpster, and after this, they’re friends, and Marcus decides he’ll fit right in at murder school. 

ok so that was only one episode but things to look forward to in the version of Deadly Class that only exists in me and my friend’s heads: Marcus dealing with the emotional and moral fallout of his first murder, Willie trying to figure out what it means to be a pacifist in a world so hellbent on doing violence towards him, Saya being mean to everyone except Maria, Maria convincing Saya to relax and have fun, the gang bonding in a Breakfast Club style situation adapted for murder school and making a joke about how this is like the Breakfast Club because it’s the 80s and the movie just came out, Saya and Maria falling in lesbians, Marcus and Saya being depressing edgelord besties, Billy being gay and fighting his abusive father, Marcus and Billy being uncool weirdo bffs, Willie and Maria rolling their eyes at Marcus and Saya’s cynicism, Billy coming out to Marcus and talking about his experiences being gay, which makes Marcus think “hang on, why do I relate to that?”, Willie seeing Marcus make a sarcastic comment about kissing a guy and having a crisis, Marcus and Willie falling in love, the gang taking a road trip to Vegas to murder Billy’s dad and giving Billy a gnc thrift store makeover on the way, and eventually the gang murdering the shit out of Ronald Reagan. 

[diregate]

Elsword Job Paths, but the storyline gets rewritten by me because I’m bored Pt 1/2

Hi this is me I’m doing this because why not

Also first disclaimer I’ve only played so much Elsword which in general involves me only playing up to 3rd job, non transcendent, so anything from transcendence onwards is just baseless assumption from me

Also I’m picking out all job titles that are really similar because this game tries to be original but we all know that’s false because Add is basically Geas The Character and Elesis is A FakeTM

-

Elsword, the Knight who really likes smacking things in the head with a flat sword, really, who does that

After a long training session, he goes back to his home and what he picks up next will determine his fate:

Sword Knight > Lord Knight > Knight Emperor*

*:Not to be confused with Knight or Emperor, which is Elsword’s first job and Jin’s fourth job respectively

He picks up a picture of his sister, whom had magically disappeared an hour prior. Developing a hard onee-chan complex because he really aspires to grow and become just like her (minus the hair), he vigorously trains in the sword, and also starts using swords with sharper ends, good on you Elsword.

Magic Knight* > Rune Slayer > Rune Master^

*: Not to be confused with Spell Knight, which is Ronan’s first job

^: Not to be confused with Rune Caster, which is Mari’s first job

He picks up Aisha’s bag of supplies while she isn’t around and takes out the first thing, which was a pair of runed gloves. With the power of robbery gone unnoticed he develops the ability to use! Runes! Wow! Who could have guessed from that job title!

Sheath Knight (really?) > Infinity Blade* > Immortal (god why)

*:Not to be confused with the hot selling mobile app game Infinity Blade

He picks up Aisha’s bag of supplies while she isn’t around and takes out the first thing, which is apparently an entire box set of anime discs and manga which were completely misarranged. Elsword decided to do her a favor by rearranging everything, after he went through her entire Shoujou series. Now with the power of god and anime on his side, he decides to smack people with sword sheaths instead. Wonderful. I don’t know where to begin.

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Aisha, the Magician whom is clearly in any form not completely identical to a specific girl named Arme Glenstid, as she has the ability to cast multiple fireballs instead of just one at a time (plowed fire doesn’t count).

After going out to shop for supplies and magical items and trinkets she realize her bag wasn’t with her. What she does next will forever change her path:

High Magician > Elemental Master > Aether Sage

She decides that everything in her hackysack wasn’t important anyway, her magic power was lost! She couldn’t be sitting around watching anime. She gets a little antsy and fidgety and starts taking it out by trying to have fun smacking enemies but eventually becomes a full fledged Sage by her own capabilities, twice. A wonderful girl.

Dark Magician* > Void Princess > Oz Soceress

*:Not to be confused with Dark Magician, the monster card that Atem summons in almost every duel episode ever

She decided that she really needs to get her stuff back. After discovering Elsword rummaging through it, she starts being absolutely pouty and learns how to channel her angsty emotion into destructive power. Eventually she learns how to channel any emotion into destructive power and now she’s literally rewritten the story of Oz into a manual of her road to (re)power.

Battle Magician* > Dimension Witch > Metamorphy

*:Not to be confused with Battle Mage, which is Arme’s fourth job, but it’s pretty friggin’ close to it anyway so really what’s the difference

She decided that she really needs to get her stuff back. After discovering Elsword rummaging through it and looking through her Shoujou anime and manga, she decides to join him. Nothing like anime to de stress, right? Eventually like Elsword, she becomes suffused with the power of god and anime and is now literally a Madoka Shoujou, and also as overpowered.

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Rena, the Ranger whom really likes her shape and really likes flaunting it. Even if she has a very close resemblance to a certain Eryuelian archer, the inhumanly oversized chest of abundance really points out a difference. And also her spine is really goddamn flexible like yeesh. (Also whoever shittalks me about Rena for describing her like this really needs to play her because unless you’re going Sniping path, you are getting a lot of skimpy wear)

She embarks on her journey to Elrios (Gee where had I heard of this before) and decides that if she were going to have to fight through demons, that she’d have to pick a specific school of combat to major in:

Combat Ranger > Wind Sneaker > Anemos

Rena decides that her diet will now be calcium and protein based, and her bones grow strong and her muscles bulge from the daily workout of a commando. Her kicks prove to be insanely painful and she performs backflips and soumersalts, and occasionally performs for the poor. She also communes with the wind elemental to give her feet their blessings, so she basically becomes someone that is definitely not from a certain anime named DGrayman.

Sniping Ranger > Grand Archer > Daybreak

Rena decides that her arrows were too blunt and she spends almost all of her free time fletching new, super sharp ones. Also she gets the wind elementals to bless them too. Coupled with her flexible spine, she is able to haul a rain of arrows to end people before they could even look up after being downed by her. It’s useful when you can turn things to your advantage.

Trapping Ranger > Night Watcher > Twilight

Rena decides it’s time she used that stolen blade she snuck out of the shrine because she’s secretly a kleptomaniac. The blade Eldrassil is also super magical and gives her the power of nature while simultaneously sap her positive, then negative emotions. Eventually she becomes Not Batman, wearing a hoodie and for some reason deciding only covering majority of her upper parts alone was good enough to carry on her edgy aura. She also comes with a free bowl of sass and a ton of cuts.

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Raven, the Taker whom is apparently a man with a robot arm and what the hell does a Taker even mean anyway. Why are you an antagonist that dies super easily to an infinite stretch of combos that I juggle you with because you’re just that easy to lift. Obviously he’s edgy, and generally upset with himself, and constantly seeks redemption for deeds he could not control doing. Also the Nasods used him as a base to replicate more robots like him and honestly Rena, yeah I’m disturbed too.

He doesn’t do much, he just says he wants to atone and that he’s good with a sword and also his robot arm has some weird ways to turn energy into weird looking fire. When he is finally free from the mind control of capitalism, he decides that:

Sword Taker > Blade Master > Furious Blade*

*:Not to be confused with Unlimited Blade, which is apparently everyone’s 3MP attack

He hates being a robot and he hates his robotic arm with a passion. But not like, in the way where he’d rip his own Nasod arm off. Are you kidding? That thing has nerves in it. Now that he’s dedicated to destroying Nasod he starts wearing long sleeves and returning to his old self, which is apparently an emo man by first dyeing his hair fully black, and then keeping it down so that it almost always seems to obscure one eye. Yeah, very easy to kill things when you can’t see them too well, right? Also he gets a guy to rebuild his arm to look like his other one.

Over Taker (really?) > Reckless Fist > Rage Hearts* (?????)

*:Not to be confused with Burning Heart, which is one of Fake!Elesis’ 3rd job

He loves being a robot and he loves his robotic arm with a passion. But not like, in the way where he’d make love to his own Nasod arm anyway. Instead he focuses more on his burst potential. With his newfound fascination for pyrotechnics and white hair, he starts streaking his hair with white and also keeping it from his face for a grand total of one job before he feels the comforting embrace of his fringe between his eyes. 

Weapon Taker (yeah, what else are you going to take next) > Veteran Commander > Nova Imperator*

*:I swear they’re just making things up by this point

He doesn’t really care honestly. But not like, in the way where he’d use both of them together in a combination way. He just uses other weapons now. He also has so much gratitude for Elsword and his team for saving him that he streaks his hair red now, instead of his white, and attaining maximum edge hairstyle. Also he likes looking very judgmental and upset about things.

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Eve, the Another Code, whose introduction does not match the general sentence and has thusforth failed itself, is a Nasod. Elsword, you’re travelling with a Nasod, wake up your eyes. You’d think her slap would be good enough. But noooo, you had to give her feelings. YOU GAVE A ROBOT FEELINGS. THIS IS WHY SHE ENDS UP HAVING THESE THREE JOB PATHS:

Code: Exotic > Code: Nemesis > Code: Ultimate

Absolutely deciding that feelings is a very not okay thing in computation and artificial intelligence, she resolves to create the ability to wipe out all that stands in her way of her making her empire of Nasods. As such, she slaps that emotional circuitry out of her and starts developing the ability to make some additional machines to murderize both enemy robots and humans. And elves. But mostly robots apparently.

Code: Architect > Code: Empress > Code: Esencia

Absolutely deciding that feelings is a very okay and even important thing in computation and artificial intelligence, she decides to keep the emotional circuitry in herself. And because Elsword gave her feelings and then decide to watch anime instead of talking to her, she gets lonely. So she makes robots, and eventually after mingling with everyone she thinks that, well, maybe Nasods and humans can live together. And elves. But mostly humans apparently.

Code: Electra > Code: Battle Seraph > Code: Sariel

Absolutely unable to decide, her own emotional circuits start short circuiting and now she’s unable to control what she’s feeling, so she goes with the general method of ‘I’m a robot I can’t feel, hoooh’. Also the overloaded circuits start giving her power and pain, until it also short circuited her own pain circuits. In fact basically everything in her short circuits and she becomes a weapon herself to destroy both enemy robots and humans. And elves. But mostly elves apparently.

-

(Disclaimer: I played Chung for a grand total of 30 minutes)

Chung, the Guardian who apparently failed to guard his own city from demons. You had one job*. Also his surname is Seeker, and I’m almost sure that’s actually his job name in KR. You had one job. He has long hair, and in fact looks super androgynous, you could mistake him for a girl fairly easily. He’s also the heir of the throne. Like Ara. Like Lu. Like Eve. Boy, you are just one cog in a series of clockwork.

*:He actually has 3 job paths and 3 jobs in each so that’s actually 9 jobs, but details, details.

Eventually he runs into the El Search Party, whom apparently named themselves that because they’re the only goddamn people in the entire world of Elrios trying to save the entire world. Wow. Infatuated by a noble cause and in dire need for one himself because otherwise he’ll break down (and trust me you don’t want him to, his /cry is 13 seconds long), he joins in and decides to hone on his talent with a cannon on his back, or something else:

Fury Guardian > Iron Paladin > Comet Crusader

He loves his hair, he grows it longer like his cannon as he starts to make it stronger with little tinkering. He also loves shooting cannon balls and blowing things up. He ties it up in the end because the hair was getting so long it was starting to block his eyes (which miraculously affects his field of vision unlike every one else in this world). With the martial artist of Rena to help him, he swings that cannon round and round baby, round and round.

Shooting Guardian* > Deadly Chaser > Fatal Phantom

*:GEE WHAT ELSE IS NEW

He doesn’t like his hair, it reminds him of home, and probably the blood of several thousand citizens that he failed to save. So he cuts it, Mulan style, with his new weapon Go Go Geagles. Armed with two more pistols aside from his huge ass cannon he puts on his back, now he starts running around and yelling ‘FIRE’* so much you could swear he’s an audible fire alarm. In fact I’m almost pretty sure he hates fire and his cannon now too.

*: Actually I meant to put this link there but you get two links for the price of one!

Shelling Guardian > Tactical Trooper > Centurion

He likes his hair, but it could probably use a new addition. Flipping through some of Elsword’s (and Aisha’s as well, presumably) manga collection, he decided what he needs was some fox ears. So he asked Ara to see if Eun could bless him with some of her kitsune powers. So she did. Now he has fox ears. He also learns alchemy and ends up making his cannon less reliable, for more destructive purposes. Literally now his shots go everywhere. It’s almost like you don’t care to aim away from your new friends, Chung. Do you really want all of this to happen just because you want your fox ears?

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Ara-Ain will all be on a later post because holy crap this is long

[chacusha]

Bravely Default liveblogging (2/?)

Contains spoilers for Chapter 1.

Hm... both Savalon and Halcyonia have prisons that we can’t visit yet. I wonder if that might have something to do with the asterisk holders?

It’s good of Prince Castor to accompany me all the way to Halcyonia and this lake to the north of it. o_o;

Oh god, I almost ran out of MP due to these undead monsters in the ruin. Whenever they surprise attack me, they have multiple chances to inflict contagion on everyone. My white mage tries to heal it but they can only undo so much in one turn...

And then I tried attacking a non-undead monster to give myself a chance to recover MP (between Treating, Solar Powered, and the Black Mage’s Regenerative Default)... but the undead monster was in the mob again!! GRR! Anyway, I went back to Savalon to heal. This is almost as bad as the mobs on the beach that inflict silence on the whole party. (But at least I was able to get some White Veils to deal with that.)

The boss battle with Orpheus was a bit rough. I did not appreciate the amount of buffing he did. (WTF is he wearing now, though?)

Castor has such a puppydog crush on Gloria and it’s CUTE.

When Adelle goes ^_~ Reblog if you agree.

Adelle trying to scope out whether Elvis has a foot fetish and Elvis being too spacy to understand what is going on. WTF.

Me: I have too much money and not enough stuff to spend it on, so I need to STOP CUTTING THE GRASS. (10 minutes later) *cutting the grass*

After a lot of grinding, Elvis now has lunar- and solar-powered, so hopefully this makes him a spellcasting machine?

I was not expecting all this content in the casino. o_o I stopped playing the final demo before I got here because I was worried about spoilers. It’s nice to see Selene and Dag again (I hope former Asterisk-holders show up again and get more fleshing out -- always wanted more of that in BD and BS).

OMG this Orpheus scene. I don’t know who to root for, Orpheus or Shirley. A whole scene which is just Orpheus’s constant music/drama-reference way of speaking vs. Shirley’s constant flirtatious gambling-reference way of speaking omg. And then Orpheus just gives you a card with him on it??? WTF.

(But oh god a card game. I’m scared. This is going to ruin me.)

Oh cool, this is the first time I’ve had a boat trip go successfully. I still don’t really get how these work, but *shrug*

I finally looked up what causes Vanguard’s specials to activate -- it’s using Heroics 13 times. I guess that explains why Seth gets it during boss battles, because that’s when I start busting out the Heroics.

I just lost a card in this card game and then challenged two beginning characters to try to get it back. Not only did they not have the card, but I lost against them when that’s never happened before. I’m fucking done with this.

(By the way, some B ‘n’ D opponents in Halcyonia spoil what characters who haven’t been introduced yet look like! Grrr!)

I tried to go to the abandoned mansion but the monsters were too hard so nope. Went to Bernard’s mansion but found the enemies here similarly tedious. I got through a couple of rooms before just getting bored and deciding to head back into town. The “random encounter battles take 20 minutes” issue is happening. It’s quite a tedious experience because my damage output is so low.

Went back to challenge Shirley instead. I lost the first time and literally got a game over. Won the second time with a weaker deck and worse strategy, just because Shirley’s cards are overpowered and can easily flip like 3+ of your cards at once -- I literally just won because I went second (so I got the last flip...).

Shirley battle was just too hard without sleep protection on my White Mage. Ragequit after this point.

I do love the fact that we get a rematch against Orpheus (and his doublecross is hilarious) but I’m too pissed off at his sleep-inducing counter to fully appreciate it right now, grr.

It’s a new day and now I have Clothespins on my mages. LET’S DO THIS.

Was able to beat Shirley by using a Humanoid/Spirit deck and aggressively rubbing out her squares (and flipping when an opportunity presented itself). That’s actually not too bad.

Okay, that boss battle was a lot more manageable, especially since Elvis’s Poison spells procced. That really made the battle go much faster.

Shirley’s layman clothes are so cute!

Gloria wanting to play B ‘n’ D... And Adelle getting into it because Gloria showed her how to play... So darn cute!

Going back to Bernard’s mansion again.

Ooh now Gloria is glowing! Interesting that she makes her own decision, unlike Seth who is player-controlled.

Oh snap, Castor killed Bernard?? I’m a bit confused because we received the Thief asterisk from Bernard but he still had his Thief outfit. I wonder what’s up with that. I guess only people who survive get freelancer outfits...

I also appreciate this JRPG trope of being thrown in prison.

OMG Castor’s Berserker design is wild. I guess there’s got to be one “plot twist boss with ill-suiting asterisk” per chapter.

Doing this sidequest in the mansion. Apparently I’m now overleveled for it. Defeating the pot boss was a bit tedious because I removed Miscellany from my White Mage. I think I could have gone much more aggressive with magic if my White Mage could use some of his extra turns to restore other people’s MP.

Truff again, and now we’re onto Chapter 2!

[btwofftopic]

The Stack — First Thoughts

Hi! How are you doing? I don’t know if you know, but I’m new to this thing of writing my own stuff and exposing myself. Here’s a link to my public introduction.

In my MTG life, I’ve wrapped my head around an understanding of a Magic game as a conversation. The stack, a level of faster communication, narrower meanings and objective reactions, “yes” or “no”, with less time available to elaborate; less time for a dedicated interpretation.

Much of this understanding is due to reading Mark Rosewater’s writings. I identify a lot with him: he’s had a television and screenwriting background before coming to Magic, so he’s studied Communication and applies the acquired (and developed) knowledge as a public figure inside Wizards. I’m a film making major (”Cinema & audiovisual”). Now that I’m trying to reach a broad audience with written text about Magic, I see myself as an unofficial apprentice of MaRo.

But unlike him, I have no professional obligations to Wizards or Magic itself (yet, at least). So you’ll see me being more open and clear about this “link” between my background and what I say related to Magic. This text is a sample.

Communication is deliverance and reception of information. There’s objective and subjective information. There’s also enunciation, perception and interpretation playing their parts. What I say isn’t exactly what I think, but how I translate my thoughts into verbal expression. There are variable inefficiencies in the process. And what I say is subject to the receiver’s perception and interpretation, which also vary depending on that person’s disposition, background, education, personality, thought process, vocabulary and more.

I think MaRo’s dedicated background and professional activity in Communications is widely responsible for his articles and other writings being so resonant. He’s deeply attuned to the variance within his audience and knows how to adapt his speech to maximum reach. From casuals to pros, everyone understands what MaRo says. Not everyone may like/enjoy his content, (although I don’t know of anyone complaining) but his deliverance of information is pristine. Personal preferences aren’t the point here; if you enjoy learning about intricate rulings or reading techs and play tips, MaRo isn’t exactly your go-to guy.

Much has been said recently about Gavin Verhey as well, like “he has a Like Me superpower” (I’d love to find a quotable statement to link here. I couldn’t). He is adorable, yes. Even though he has a different skills set from MaRo, when he addresses a wide audience, he hits most successfully.

That’s all to say knowing how to express yourself is a thing. Knowing how to understand others is another. One doesn’t exclude the other. One isn’t better than the other. They’re both parts of communicating and as such, parts of living in society. When a public speaker “knows their audience”, they adapt their speech to that specific expected understanding.

Don’t fret: this is about the stack. I’m getting there.

Mark Rosewater has stated more than once that he avoids inducing awareness of the stack when introducing people to Magic. As a complex, intricate and extremely variable interaction, it’s just tough to burden with it a person already busy with turn structure, zones, card types, the mana system and combat rules.

This stance and similar ones within Wizards have affected Magic design over the years: mechanics that literally mention the stack are frowned upon and red flagged. Storm is probably the biggest problem ever, but Split Second is also “on the fridge”, for one. Counter spells were re-balanced to Cancel as basis for “hard counter”, instead of the overpowered Counterspell of yore.

I, for one, really really really love the stack. I think it is as responsible for Magic’s success as the mana system, which is by itself an embedded variance/replay value, power level balancing structure, catch up feature and more, all in one.

I’m 25 years old, just like our beloved game, and in all these years, Magic has been followed by numerous other card games with their own take on the genre and market. I don’t know your experience with or knowledge on those, but I have noticed that the vast majority avoids specifically these two features:

• “Mana” (basic resource essential to game actions) and similar elements are given naturally; acquisition and administration is effortless, simple. • The responsiveness of Instants is widely avoided. Many, many other card games are played solely in “Sorcery speed”.

Much of this is about marketing. Creators and producers “know their audience”, they know games that are difficult to learn, play and teach are also difficult to sell to the wide public. Challenging/demanding games hit only a subset of people.

MaRo has written more than once about how he’d get rid of Instant as a card type and make it a super type, given the opportunity. A super type is an attributable quality, so it is easier to design around, balance and innovate on. We’d have “Instant Creature” spells or “Instant Sorcery” spells, and Flash wouldn’t exist. I wonder how “Legendary Instant Creature  — Human Warrior” would ever fit in Garna’s type box, but it would’ve been an entirely different world anyway. Maybe creature types would become part of the rules text box?

Anyway, I digress; something I identify with Gavin Verhey.

Thing is, I’ve taught A LOT of Magic over the years. And many other games. With every new board game in my playgroups, I’m the guy with the rules book investigating and clarifying most doubts. I like being helpful, and I know people frequently dislike “studying” their games. So I step up to the task.

Stack play is “another level” of Magic, like an advanced lesson. Priority, permission, timing restrictions, spell resolution, state based action checks put a whole new weight on the game, strategically and tactically. But I’ve never consciously avoided it.

I wait and observe. Sometimes people are struggling with other concepts and stack isn’t even relevant to their learning experience. Sometimes someone asks “can I...?” and then, there’s an opportunity to an introduction to this level.

They’re reaching for the red pill.

It’s like a discovery. You’re revealing a new horizon, opening the door to new territory, new challenges. Imposing it on everyone wouldn’t make any sense; not everyone wants to be challenged “beyond their league” (or present disposition) all at once. But I’ve noticed those curious players who ask about the stack on their own feel deeply rewarded to find out they’re “on the right track”.

It was always frustrating when another Open House instructor answered “this is a complicated feature it’s better to avoid for now”. I mean, they aren’t lying. But the person feels diminished. They hear “you’re not prepared for this yet”, and they feel inferior, frustrated: they’ve found an appealing path in the labyrinth, but I (the instructor) came in and shut the door right in front of them and said “I have a key and I will decide if or when to give it to you”.

Dealing with a discovery this big in a learning experience is also different for each person. Primary students may be inquisitive and pester their professors with questions approaching more advanced knowledge, “irrelevant” to their grade. Other children may feel satisfied with their current victory learning what was presented, and fear the “need” to “learn even more” (for variable reasons).

So that’s that. I enjoy the challenge of introducing people to the stack before the point “the market” tells me to. I’m not advising any one to do the same nor claiming it to be “the” correct behavior. I enjoy myself trying to find ways and words to convey an effective interpretation of complex features. I have some affinity to matters of Communication. So it feels right for me.

This isn’t a confrontational stance. I don’t mean to say “the stack should be more present in basic design” or anything like that. Some introductory products such as Welcome Decks and Planeswalker Decks do include Instants. They don’t include counter spells though. So they hint at the stack, but don’t turn the lights on, so you might not even see the gap between the door and the frame, the opening, if you’re not looking for it. It’s a valid choice. Not the one I’d make, but I have no marketing experience, so what do I know?

I know I have faith in people and I like to avoid frustrations in my communication. I feel that reaching a seemingly dead end in a learning experience, finding a wall where a passage was expected, is “whatever” to many, stimulating to some, frustrating to others. Being challenged further and further is also a different experience to each. So balancing the variables led to the choice of minimizing imediate impact, with mild hints at the existence of deeper levels to explore.

So I think our 2018 Magic: the Gathering is too attached to an earlier audience experience. I think we can and maybe should try again. Newer generations learn more and do it faster than we did. The audience is constantly changing, and so is the game. However, the game is becoming more and more simple while the audience becomes more and more capable.

Anecdotal data: Dominaria’s apparent success and widely positive reception; even though the rarity/complexity ratio is skewed towards complexity with Uncommon Legendary Creatures. It is admittedly being factored in Wizards’s stance on the game’s basic complexity. Returning to Alpha terminology for targeting non combat damage is a great sign of this movement.

Simplifying the game is not a bad thing in itself. Eliminating redundant rules and text like the “Planeswalker Uniqueness Rule” is a positive change. The growth of the Magic community owes a lot to these efforts.

But maybe we could try to reach a middle ground. We can’t trust ALL people to learn about the stack on their own; but we can teach our Community in how to assist in this process, something I think is lacking nowadays.

The enfranchised, a group I identify with, are the most present in social medias. Casuals are the majority of buyers. Pros are the most respected figures. The enfranchised crowd often prioritizes learning from pros, aspiring to reach their level and further validating their content. But casuals are there as well. Maybe some aspire to become enfranchised, and they might need assistance.

Shouldn’t we be there? Shouldn’t we learn how to teach? Not everyone, of course. There are specific skills and personal preferences involved. But let’s try to keep this general scenario in mind, shall we? Of course the rules are available. There are basic rules cards in introductory products. Deck building tips in Pre Release packs. But written text has limitations which human interaction may be able to fill in for.

So I’ll find my way to say things. I’ll be mindful of who’s listening. I’ll try and see if my speech is adaptable to my audience. It often is. To be heard and understood is my responsibility as well, not just my interlocutor’s. When someone doesn’t understand a given expression, it might be an inability of the speaker.

First impressions are important. I’ll do my best to keep all aspects of those as enjoyable as possible.

How did you learn about the stack? Right from the start? Did you find it out on your own and dedicated yourself to the research? Did someone explain it to you? Do you feel like you’ve mastered its intricacies? How wide is the gap between awareness of the stack and advanced stack play? How essential is the stack to your Magic experience? Let’s talk!

[thenotoriousgib-blog]

Havin’ a Few Drinks and Watching: Judgment Day ‘08

The title of these posts are self-explanatory. Occasionally I will have a few adult beverages and watch an old PPV. All the writing (aside from this introductory paragraph) was written live by me throughout the night and unedited from its original form.

My first reaction of the night is that I already absolutely loathe this PPV’s theme song three minutes in. It is called “Take It All” by some Danish band called Zididada, and I’m convinced that it’s the same line over and over again. I hate it more than I hate myself.

According to research, the dark match for this show was World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly (what) defeating Carlito and Santino Marella. Can’t believe they didn’t air that sure-to-be greatness.

The show starts with JBL fighting John Cena in a match I already regret watching. If you’re curious what period of time we’re in, there’s a sign that says “JBL = EPIC FAIL!” so we’re right smackdab in the middle of when “fail” was A Thing. Another sign says JBL stands for “Judgment Day’s Biggest Loser.” Get fucking wrecked, Bradshaw. John Cena is wearing an NES Cover-inspired T shirt that I wish I owned. This match had some solid heat. The people love John Boy (I believe this is before the “JOHN CENA SUUUUUCKS” chants) and hate JBL (as everyone should). However, everything else is putting me to sleep. I’ve never really enjoyed Bradshaw in the ring, and this John Cena isn’t the Greatest In The World John Fucking Cena we’ve got 10 years later. JBL dominates most of the match with a slow pace. Cena’s selling really looks goofy as hell. JBL’s just destroying Cena at a really deliberate pace, and then out of nowhere Cena hits the FU for the win. Classic “Super Cena” that would get people to hate his overpowered characters before he became Actually Good in recent years. This match was bad and the ending being so sudden and nonsensical didn’t help matters. If we’re rating stuff it’s probably about *3/4.

We cut to Raw GM William Regal as the match is finished. He seems to have enjoyed the match just as much as I did.

We get clips from an episode of “The Dirt Sheet” (which you can see first every Sunday on WWE.com) with Miz and John Morrison. They’re going to face off against Kane (the ECW Champion) and CM Punk (Mr. Money in the Bank) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Miz-as-Kane and Morrison-as-Punk have potential, but goofy ass sound effects (FART!) take away from whatever comedic value the segment would have had. Miz is wearing a fedora, a “chick magnet” shirt and some goofy-ass short pants (long shorts?) and it’s nice to see an entirely different Miz have the same level of hate-ability. Mike Adamle keeps referring to Punk as just “CM” and it sounds weird. Punk gets taken to Slamtown with a Moonlight Drive after getting distracted by Kane chokeslaming Miz into oblivion. It’s a fine match. There’s not too much that stands out but I enjoyed the ride. **3/4-***.

Third match of the night is Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, so hopes are high. I’m not as big a Michaels fan as I used to be, but he was still a heck of a wrestler. Combine that with the GOAT Chris Jericho and you’ve got a stew goin’. That scumbag Shawn Michaels faked an injury to get the edge on Batista in a match where Jericho was reffing, which is how we got here. Jericho’s IC champion, but it’s non-title for whatever reason. Match starts out with some nearfall exchanges and Michaels’ smarmy, cocky ass pissing Y2J right off. Slightly off-topic, but no matter how many times I see them, I will never get used to Shawn Michaels’ Jesus-themed assless chaps. Match is fun, and it’s hard to be snarky or insightful when things are simply “fine.” Michaels tunes up the band right into a codebreaker OUTTA NOWHERE which was a fun moment. Ending is kinda weird. Jericho goes for Lionsault, but Michaels has double knees up. Jericho somehow sees that coming and prevents himself from landing on the knees but Michaels reverses into a pinfall. So that’s why it was non-title. This isn’t a classic match like these two could have, but it’s still very good, even great. **** overall methinks. Jericho and HBK shake hands as a show of respect. Regal reacts to the action by staring off into the distance some more.

JBL interrupts Todd Grisham and Mickie James by saying that actually he beat John Cena and not the other way around. Also he’s not mad, he’s actually laughing right now.

We’ve got a Women’s Title match with Beth Phoenix vs. Melina vs. Mickie James. Because this is a women’s match in 2008, everything feels rushed. Even introductions. Lillian Garcia takes absolutely no pauses in the introductions. Just gets it done. You can tell all three women want to get as much of their stuff in as possible in their token 5 minutes of the show, and things are fast-paced but still pretty smooth and REALLY fun. Beth Phoenix lifts both Melina and Mickie for a backbreaker, and it gets one of the best reactions of the night. Mickie finishes Melina with a DDT in less than 5 minutes. They really made the most out of the time they had. They left me wanting more here. ***1/4

Next up is the World Heavyweight Title match, which was stripped from Taker by Vickie Guerrero. Vickie’s fiancée Edge is naturally the one in line for the shot. There’s a sign that says “I only came 4 Edge,” which… extremely same, IF YA KNOW WHAT I’M SAYIN HERE. There’s also a man in the first few rows wearing a very large, floppy sombrero, and I hope whoever was behind him beat the shit out of him after the show. As for the match? It’s an Edge vs. Undertaker match. So just imagine you’re seeing one of the many Edge vs. Undertaker matches, but not, like, one of the BEST ones. Just a good one with some shenanigans thrown in. LITTLE BABBY versions of Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder show up to distract Charles Robinson while Edge exposes a turnbuckle. Undertaker wins by countout, but Vickie makes sure to note that the title can’t be won on DQ or countout. So we get a countout finish and still no champ. Fun stuff! Match is like a ***1/4-***1/2 overall. Taker’s mad so he gives Edge a tombstone after the match for his troubles.

WWE only scheduled six matches for the night, so MVP is out to complain that he’s off the card. He challenges anyone who wants to fight. United States champion Matt Hardy comes out to accept the challenge for his Brother Nero. The crowd’s loving the impromptu Jeff appearance since he had just returned from a wellness suspension. Apparently MVP is the highest-paid athlete in Smackdown history. I like him just fine but that seems like a poor investment, doesn’t seem worth it. Like we just saw a match with Edge and Taker. You’re paying MVP more than them? Is everyone on like crazy cheap Steph Curry contracts where you didn’t know they’d be this good? Anyway, the match is mostly okay, but nothing too special. Weeeeeeeird ending though. Jeff misses the Swanton Bomb. MVP sets him up in the corner, misses the charge, and loses to a Whisper of the Wind literally like 20 seconds after the missed Swanton. Sloppy as hell there. **1/4.

There is nobody I hate more than Sombrero Guy. Seriously. Imagine paying hundreds of dollars to be sit up close at a PPV only for some dude in a floppy ass sombrero to block your view.

I am starting to feel very sleepy. It is 2:15 a.m. as I write this. All that remains is the main event. The main event is Triple H vs. Randy Orton in a steel cage match. There are few things that seem less appealing than this match in this moment. Lillian Garcia pronounces Randy’s last name as “Or-taaaaan.” It starts with a moment where Randy immediately rushes for the door and dives (heh) for the exit before it’s even closed as the bell rings. I’m not expecting too much more where either guy really rushes to do anything, though, because this is a Triple H and Randy Orton main event, and we’re gonna have to sit and suffer through it, dammit. There’s a comment about how these are the kind of matches that shorten careers, but really all this match is shortening is my patience am I right? You know what looks silly as hell? When Randy Orton’s selling submissions and just randomly starts flailing around like a Bayley buddy. When dude’s trying to reach for the ropes he looks like a cat trying to paw at a ball of yarn. A chair comes into play as Randy grabs one while being dragged back into the ring. We get a few spots based around that. Lots of cage-climbing spots down the stretch. I complain, but I do like the overall oldschool feel of the match in that they’re not going overboard and keeping it simple. Lots of focus on escape, no run-ins, only one weapon introduced outside of the cage. How well it works is obviously up to debate. But I give it some credit. The match isn’t bad, honestly. It’s just that Trips and Orton lack the chemistry to bring it a step above “good,” and it lacks consistency because Trips has gotta have his matches be more “epic” than they need to be. I’m tired. Triple H retains with a Pedigree. ***1/4

Overall, Judgment Day 2008 is a decently solid show. There’s only one match that’s too essential, which is the Jericho-Michaels match. However, the Women’s triple threat, Edge-Taker, tag team match and even the main event don’t make me regret watching too much. The MVP-Jeff Hardy match is easily skippable, and the JBL-Cena match is straight up bad. I’m not gonna rush to revisit even the better matches soon, but you could do much worse than this on the Network.

Overall Grade: C.

[mlbpowerrankings]

#1 - Detroit Tigers

City: Detroit: The coolest fucking place on earth. Seriously, let me give you a little bit of a rundown.  This is the place that created the middle class in America, the place that voted for George W. Bush and Donald Trump the least of any major city in America. Home to Motown Records, Judge Larry D. Williams of Tyvek, the Heidelberg Project, the Penobscot Building, Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry, Coleman A. Young, the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, square deep dish pizza, Vernors Ginger Ale and Faygo Rock and Rye, the Buck Dinner, Nemo's and the Hadituptoheres. Anthony Bordain said it best: “It’s where nearly everything American and great came from.”

Cool Historical Figures: Ty Cobb, Hughie Jennings, Harry Heilmann, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Schoolboy Rowe, Hal Newhouser, Al Kaline, Norm Cash, Ernie Harwell, Bill Freehan, Mickey Lolich, Gates Brown, Willie Horton, Ron LeFlore, Mark Fidrych, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, Bobby Higginson, Deivi Cruz, Miguel Cabrera, Víctor Martínez, José Iglesias, Daniel Norris & Michael Fulmer.

Lame Historical Figures: Walter Briggs (but Ty Cobb, Denny McClain, Bobby Higginson and Justin Verlander were all pretty close).

Stadium: Above Average. The best thing about Comerica Park is the gigantic outfield. It makes for lots of triples (the most exciting play in baseball) and can lead to some spectacular plays in center field.  The view of the city’s pretty great too, especially the Robert Wyland mural on the north side of Broderick Tower. The fact that you can watch part of a game for free from the sidewalk in the outfield is pretty solid too. The lack of bleacher culture is a real bummer though, as the Tigers’ old home was home to such wild behavior in the bleachers that ticket holders to that section were literally fenced in and could not leave the bleachers until after the 7th inning.

Uniform: The Best. With one exception in the year 1960, the Tigers have not changed their home jersey in any meaningful way sine the early 1930′s. And why would they? It’s simple, sleek and classy as hell. It’s like the Yankees’ uniform without the stupid pin-stripes. And today’s road jerseys are equally classy, using the orange trim without overpowering the navy blue. The Tigers have only made one uniform mistake in the modern era, a poor cap and piping scheme in the mid-1990′s that was rectified after only four years. And I love that the Old English D on the jersey is not the same as the one on the cap. Best of all, no alternate jerseys.

Broadcasters: Mixed Bag. Dan Dickerson is a real great mix of game calling and philosophizing about the game, and the conversation between he and Jim Price is easy most of the time, unless the Tigers’ season is shot, in which case Jim Price becomes unbearable. I mean, he’s sort of unbearable to begin with, but you put up with him to get Dickerson. Once the team’s losing, the personal stories and inside jokes get ramped up and you just want to tell him it’s time to retire. 

Ownership: Poor. Sorry to shit on Mike Ilitch right after he dies, but the dude was a slum-lord. And the club has had a long history of jerks in ownership. Before Ilitch, the Tigers were owned by Tom Monaghan, who used his money to build a town in Florida where he tried to ban the sale of contraceptives. Frank Navin spent money to tear down the existing stadium and built a new one on the same lot, naming it after himself, despite not wanting to pay players worth a damn. And the worst of the bunch, Walter Briggs who paid his automobile manufacturing employees a fraction of what Ford paid and whose company was a frequent target of UAW action. He kept the team all white until late into the 1950′s, which not only is despicable, but of course made the team totally non-competitive, averaging 24 games out of first in the 1950′s.

Intangibles: Slightly below average. Points deducted for being the last team to have an African American player on its roster. Points deducted for For Love of The Game. Especially since they cast Vin Scully as the broadcaster instead of Tiger’s legend Ernie Harwell. Then they had the audacity to cast Steve Lyons as Vin Scully’s color man... ugh. Points awarded for Bobby Higginson’s 1996 Score card and also for that drunk guy I saw climb onto the roof of the old Tiger Stadium in 1999. Hope he didn’t get hurt.