#commander primary

[mockingnerd]

So when I was doing my Dragon Con lineup graphic earlier this week it briefly, accidentally, gloriously looked like this and cracked me up, and so this happened in the hotel room

get u a girl that does both

[titanomancy]

No further surprises with the updated Command Squad or Sternguard Veterans. Models all track closely with their discontinued Firstborn counterparts, aside from the typical Primaris detailing common to all modern Mk.X Space Marines.

I don't know that the range is really enhanced by the inclusion of a heavier heavy flamer, but there's no unringing that particular bell.

[gamora-borealis-jail]

I hit post limit and the night is still young. I believe in us 😭

[eldritchborn]

Maybe I should be concerned how many muses I've had whose aesthetic is singular large eye

[lunecycle]

Do not try to export Yao’s model worst mistake of my LIFE

Oh hey yao with chrono pauldrons! (STILL SUFFERING)

[transingthoseformers]

What do you think of the headcannon that some fans had, where tfe starscream's optics changed color depending on emotions?

Mmnn I remember seeing that a bunch, and while I personally didn't HC it (mine iicr was ex-autobot! Starscream??? That, or something to do with GHOST fucking around), it sounded cool!

[niuttuc]

Today’s recent commander sleeper is a three-for-one, all fulfilling the same purpose and all from the same set, our first foray in this series into Warhammer 40,000′s cards. Now, one of those got a bit more popularity than the others and is a bit more expensive, Necron Deathmark clocks in at a few dollars, currently, but I felt like if I was gonna talk about these, might as well include it.

Removal and interaction! Crucial to any self-respecting Commander deck, it’s always neat to have more options for it. More specifically, creature removal that comes stapled on creature etbs, which is a specific kind that is easy to synergize with to reuse, be it through reanimation, blinking, bouncing, cloning and more. None of these are quite as clean and cheap as a Ravenous Chupacabra, but they all come with some serious upside to justify the extra mana.

First of all, Callidus Assassin and Necron Deathmark both come in with Flash, a VERY valuable keyword on your interaction, since it can stop much more, and allows you to act with full information of what your opponent is doing. Callidus Assassin also gives you a clone of the creature it kills, more akin to an instant-speed Control Magic than a Chupacabra, which is a rare effect to get at that point. Supplant Form is not the best card ever printed, but it’s one I’ve considered playing, for the same cost, and only temporarily removes the card from the opponent. Necron Deathmark is not only a 5/3, but also mills (you, generally) a few cards, which in any deck with black mana, is likely quite an upside.

Our last card here is the only one at sorcery speed, but makes up for it by being way more flexible, being able to act at five mana like either a pinpoint removal or a targeted Massacre Wurm, clearing out a token player’s board getting out of control, killing utility creatures, killing creatures that blocked this turn, or making blocking much more awkward for a player. That flexibility is hard to match, and I think worth more than the one mana premium you’d pay on a Chupacabra or Nekrataal to get access to it.

All three of these are excellent options I encourage you to consider when building or updating your decks, giving some competition to chupacabras, and even shriekmaw sometimes.

[crimsononiarataki]

@reliquiicis (moved)

"Yeah, Shinobu, I'm sure. It took me a while to actually work up the courage to admit it, I do like ya, a lot."

The Oni would take a deep breath, a very small smile working its way across his visage. Shinobu knew he was by no means a coward but she'd also know that there was at least one group of humans who belittled him and threw beans at him essentially every time they saw him. The only reason those people didn't attack him was likely the fact that since the Vision Hunt was over, the Tenryou Commission was actually keeping an eye on stuff that went on in and around Inazuma City.

He didn't react when she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, at least, not initially. He'd eventually chuckle softly and one of his large hands would rub idly between her shoulder blades. He wasn't very good at recognizing when she was having a bad day, mostly because Shinobu was so good at hiding it. He'd likely learn the more time they spent alone together.

"Ya can sit there for however long ya want to, Shinobu, if you're comfortable."

When she asked if she could kiss him his eyes would widen and his face would heat up slightly, just the faintest dusting of pink over the bridge of his nose. Despite the fact that they'd kissed one another a few times before, the fact that she asked permission flustered him.

"I-if ya wanna kiss me you're welcome to do so. Can be before... or after ya say what boundaries ya wanna set."

[whales-are-gay]

just had an awesome awesome awesome ttrpg session where a character did something that she foreshadowed months ago. that player was our previous dm, and he just stole the fucking show

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Primaris Chaplain by Diego Gisbert Llorens

[havoc-warband]

Trahearne's first mission - the weapons test, that had Sivris so overly excited - was only a few days after the Order's removal of Risen from Lion's Arch. The brief that the sylvari had sent the day after said that it was in Rata Sum, and it wasn't expected to take more than a day, but he'd arranged accommodations for them through the Order anyway.

Vikaros supposed it could come in handy if something happened to one of them and they couldn't leave the city immediately after the mission. He'd never been to the city himself, but he'd heard that it was horribly warm and humid. With a bit of luck, their quarters would be ventilated, or maybe cooled with some asuran tech. Sivris'd assured him that it should be possible with their advancements in climate control - whatever that meant.

Anyway. It was the day-of, so he roused his warband early, earning a few complaints that he took with a grin and a threat to their rations, had them pack their bags, and led them out of the Chantry, to Lion's Arch, through the asura gate.

And by the Claw of the Khan-Ur, the city felt like it was intent on burning them alive.

The rest of his warband also noticed immediately, once they got through. They could barely start complaining before they heard a familiar voice say: "There you are! You're early."

Trahearne had been sitting on some stairs in view of the portal, and hastily stood up, packing away what looked like a book, back into a messenger bag.

"I told you, we're elite. That means timely service," Vikaros said.

"At the cost of my beauty sleep," growled Yurmia under her breath.

"What beauty?" muttered Akoviras, who promptly received a punch to their shoulder.

"Deserved," whispered Tavryn.

"Elite," Vikaros insisted, shooting a glare at the warband.

Trahearne seemed like he was trying his very best to not laugh. 

"Anyway," Vikaros continued, "you said you had accommodations? We can drop off our packs there, and then see what this weapons test is all about."

"Alright," Trahearne replied. "It's just this way..."

He led them to the barracks. Turns out they did have climate control, and Vikaros barely managed to wrench Sivris away from the poor asura she'd found and had cornered to ask all of her questions.

The scientist who was developing the weapons they'd be testing today was called Gorr, and his lab was down by the docks. Which meant even higher humidity. Vikaros was afraid he was going to have to request a towel for each of them by the time they got back to their quarters.

When they arrived, however, they found a slightly frantic-looking asura, in front of a set of see-through doors, that showed complicated laboratory equipment. The room was crawling with Risen. Thoughts of complaining about the weather evaporated as the warband immediately focused on the threat.

"You- are-" the asura sputtered.

"Shipment of apples," Trahearne said, "for professor Gorr."

"Oh! Oh, of course, the keyword- I'm supposed to say 'buckets of fun' in response to that, I think."

Vikaros snorted. "Yeah, we can work with that. What do you need us to do? Should we clear out the lab before we begin?"

"No!" the asura shouted. "Those are the test subjects! They managed to get away, you see.”

Vikaros blinked. They sure did. “Is the weapon also inside the lab, still?” he asked.

“Oh, no,” Gorr assured, “they’re right here, actually! Perhaps you could-”

“Clear out the lab with the weapon,” Sivris said, eyes shining bright. “How does it work, exactly?”

Gorr looked a little surprised, but only too happy to explain his invention. “It’s called the Vacuummagic Polarizer, and-”

Vikaros didn’t know much about asura, but he knew that if you got them going about their tech and inventions and magic or whatever, they wouldn’t stop easily. He walked up to the rack with experimental guns and grabbed one.

“How about you explain what the buttons do, first?” he interrupted, while gesturing for the rest of the warband to also take some, Tavryn dragging Sivris along.

“Oh, er, sure!” Gorr said, walking over to the weapons rack.

—

The lab was cleared with impressive efficiency. The Risen went down like butter under a flamesaw, and after some final checks, the warband exited the lab again. Outside of the building, Gorr was frantically speaking into some kind of device.

“-not what I said at all! Oh nooo,” was what Vikaros caught, before a portal flickered to life behind the professor, and Risen started crawling out of it. Bigger, tougher ones than those in the lab. “They sent in all of the remaining test subjects!” Gorr groaned.

“I can see that,” Vikaros growled, before he shouted: “Formation! Protect the civilians!”

Havoc moved as one. Gorr and Trahearne were shuffled behind their ranks, and they reopened fire on the undead. The weapon worked wonderfully, and the Risen were eliminated without complication.

When all the corpses were still once more, and they had satisfied their curiosity by poking some of them with the barrels of their guns to confirm they were definitely dead again, Trahearne spoke up.

“Well, I think that concludes the test. Unless the rest of the staff has more undead behind a teleporter somewhere, professor?”

“No,” Gorr laughed, eyes sparkling, “that was all of them! That was fantastic, thank you so much for the testing! And for saving my life, I think, I’m not sure I’d have survived if it’d just been me, there.”

“Would have been tougher without the guns,” Vikaros nodded. “I think you’ve developed something really powerful here, Gorr.”

Formalities were still difficult for him. Fortunately, the asura seemed too excited to notice the lack of title. Or he didn’t care to begin with.

“Yes, it works even better than I’d expected! Oh, this is going to be so-”

“Professor,” Trahearne interrupted. “Now that the test is concluded, how fast can you produce these guns? I think they would be a huge asset in the fight against Zhaitan.”

Gorr jumped up in excitement. “Oh, do you really- When do you need them? I can put my apprentices to it in shifts, and-”

Vikaros tuned out the logistics chatter. He re-racked his gun and walked up to Tavryn, who was checking Akoviras over for wounds. “Report. Any injuries?”

“None whatsoever,” the guardian said, remaining focused on her task, her paw glowing blue as it ranged over the other soldier. “Those guns really were something.”

“They were,” he agreed. “If only we’d had them-”

“There’s no point continuing that sentence,” she warned. She was apparently done with her inspection, because her hand stopped glowing and she turned her full attention to Vikaros. Akoviras stood and walked away, dismissed. “Knowing how fast asura work, these probably were barely out of the drafting stage back then.”

Vikaros growled. “Fine, you’re right.” He dragged a hand down his muzzle, shaking the thought out of his skull.

“‘Course I am,” Tavryn said. “You want a check, too?”

“Nah,” he replied. “Nothing touched me, I’m good.”

“Alright,” she said, standing up. “Then we’re done here.”

Vikaros nodded. “I’ll debrief with Trahearne and Gorr, see if there’s anything else they need of us.”

Tavryn shot him a salute as she walked to join the rest of Havoc, who were gathered around one of the Risen, carefully poking and discussing it.

Trahearne seemed to just be done talking to Gorr, as the asura was hurriedly walking away and chattering into his - communications device? Might be useful for their own team, he’d have to look if they sold some in the city -

“Anything else to do?” Vikaros asked.

“I don’t think so, no,” Trahearne replied. “Your help really made the difference today.”

“Can’t wait to use the guns on more of these bastards,” the charr muttered. “Retaking Claw Island might actually be possible with these.”

Trahearne nodded. “About that,” he said, “it will still be incredibly difficult, but I have an idea to gain another advantage over them.”

Vikaros crossed his arms. “As long as it includes-”

“Food and lodgings, yes,” Trahearne smiled. “Have you heard about the Pale Tree?”

Vikaros blinked blankly at him, and he laughed. “She’s the mother of all Sylvari,” he said, “she has all the knowledge ever gathered by my people. Her wisdom may be invaluable for the coming battle.”

“Do you really need a team of mercenaries to go ask her for advice?” Vikaros asked, confused.

“Her advice does not always come in a straightforward way,” Trahearne said cryptically. “Besides, you seem much more knowledgeable on matters of the military than I am, so you might be able to ask questions I wouldn’t ever think of.”

Vikaros blinked, slightly thrown. Somehow, this felt significant. And it seemed like a fantastic opportunity to advance his revenge on the Elder Dragon.

He grinned. “Sure, alright,” he said, “when do we go?”

“The earlier, the better.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

[titanomancy]

Cheekiness aside, Commander Dante’s Primaris glowup continues the trend we’ve seen with Azrael, Mephiston and Ragnar Blackmane, faithfully adapting the iconic 2nd edition look with only superficial Primaris bling. In this case, the most notable change is the modern floating iron halo and Space Marine 2-style jump pack.

It’s a simple, effective update that doesn’t add a bunch of unnecessary flourishes like we’ve seen elsewhere in the Primaris range.

I think I’d still have preferred a winged jump pack, but overall I like it.

[rottenlittlefink]

I’m gonna make a better post at some point but I’m gonna go ahead cus I’m literally desperate to help make shifting easier for ppl. So here’s something that helped me in my shifting journey: Starting over with a blank slate, having a completely pragmatic approach, and then building my own truth upon that foundation. I’m so serious lmao

[sw5w]

High-Energy Shell

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 01:56:58

[maybeitsbassoon]

Hi if i could be disgustingly homosexual for a moment of your time

[suzannahnatters]

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!