Please steal this. I think it has a lot of potential, and I want to see what kind of cool/stupid/wacky things you people can do with it. Here's what I've thought of:

Chrys, Nyx-Honored Shepherd - The first way I thought to use this was to enable decks that currently don't have enough cards to work. For example, I like sheep, but there aren't enough sheep to make a sheep-themed deck. But if I can have any number of [[Nyx-Fleece Ram]] in my deck, then problem solved. I'm actually not super thrilled with how Chrys turned out, but I still wanted to include him for demonstrative purposes.

What other deck themes or archetypes just don't have enough cards?

Lekozil, It That Seeks The End - The next way I thought to use this was for cards that can buff themselves or stack with themselves, and [[It That Heralds the End]] jumped out at me immediately. The more of them you have in play, the bigger they all are, and the less expensive your big, colorless spells are. Lekozil itself plays into all of that with its 0/0 stat line and weirdly high X-cost. I can't say I'm confident on the balance, but I think it works as an extreme example of the mechanical synergies this could allow.

What other cards stack or synergize well with several copies of themselves?

Hareld, Rulebreaker Apparent - But the best way I thought to use this was for some stupid fun. This whole thing was inspired by [[Hare Apparent]], so I had to double down on the rabbits, and [[Tempt with Bunnies]] sounded like an interesting choice for a group-hug commander. Do your opponents have enough bunnies that you can't tempt them with more? Bring out Herald and see if Treasures change their minds.

I also had a few other ideas, mostly involving self-referential cards like [[Rite of Flame]] or [[Say Its Name]], but I wasn't happy with anything I came up with for those. Maybe you'll have better luck!

So, what do you think? Does this use of Rulebreaker have any potential merit? What would you do with it?

This is from the same writer/director as I Saw the TV Glow, which I was not a fan of (no hate, I just didn't get it), so I was a bit skeptical going in, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Camp Miasma kind of reminds me of The Substance in how surreal, campy, and thematically layered it is. There's a lot that's very on-the-nose, like how the "villain" is called Little Death, but there's also a lot of sexuality that I don't think I've seen as effectively explored in film before.

Would love to hear other peoples thoughts on it. Maybe get into more spoiler-y discussions in the comments. :)

All existing prepared spells have the same color identity as the creature they're on. But is there any good reason that needs to be the case?

Not sure of the balance on Geologic Authority here, but it's just meant to be an example of the sort of situation where I think this could be appropriate. The creature's protection, preparation trigger, and stats are solidly white, not red. But the prepared spell is solidly red, not white.

Ray's quirk is called Visible Light. His eyes harmlessly absorb all light, and this improves his vision in a few different ways. He can see perfectly clearly even in total darkness, he's completely unfazed by blindingly bright light, he can see in infrared and ultraviolet, and he even has an ultimate move where, with enough focus, he can see x-rays.

"I can see things you can’t even imagine. The spots that dance across the sun. Animals that only come out to play on moonless nights. The ultraviolet markings on flowers. More stars in the night sky than you can believe. More colors than you have words for. Your face heating up as you get angry or flustered…”

It's been interesting writing a character that sees others differently from how they see themselves. Tsuyu looks different in infrared because frogs are cold-blooded. Hagakure can easily be identified by the warmth of her breath. Camie's illusions are dull and hollow. Tetsutetsu's body is impenetrable to x-rays. Yanagi's poltergeist chills the air around whatever she's moving.

So, how does Ray see your OC? This was inspired by an interesting interaction I had with another OC here. I'm curious to see what other OCs Ray might have unique interactions with.

Troller (noun) One who fishes by trailing a lure or baited hook from a moving boat.

I heard Satan's call. He was very sexy, and he prompted me to make a counterspell-focused commander. How'd I do?

The third ability's purposes is twofold. As a blue player, it's disappointing when I leave untapped mana for a counterspell but then nobody plays anything worth countering, so I think it'd be neat to have another ability I could use that mana for. And also, it'd be nice to be able to bluff having a counterspell without actually losing that mana.

"Public perception is a fickle thing," Ms. Takami began. "Take it from me. One day, citizens are thrilled to have you looking out for them. The next, they're calling you an agent of the surveillance state.

"That's why community engagement is so important. The more that you participate in public life, the better citizens know you. The more that you engage with your communities, the more citizens trust you. Now, who can tell me, what is the #1 way that Pro Heroes publicly engage with their communities?"

Sabrina immediately raised her hand. "Patrol," she answered.

"Correct. There are certainly bigger, flashier opportunities, such as community events, and many Pro Heroes do rely on those. But, you'll spend more time on Patrol than anything else, so you had better utilize that time wisely. Who can give me an example of something a Pro Hero can do to engage with their communities while out on patrol?"

Julie's hand shot up. "Fight villains and save people in trouble!" she answered confidently.

"Incorrect."

"What!?" Julie asked confused. "But, isn't that our job?"

"Exactly," Ms. Takami answered. "Apprehending villains and rescuing people from danger is your job. It is the most baseline expectation, the bare minimum. And nobody has ever built trust and community by doing the bare minimum."

Ruby raised her hand before turning to Julie. "You gotta talk to people while you're out on patrol. Smile, ask them how their day's going, ask old people if they need help carrying their groceries or crossing the street, that sort of stuff."

"That's a good start," Ms. Takami confirmed, "But your assignment today is to take it a step further. Any Pro Hero can make small talk, but I want to know what you can do. What sets you apart? What's going to make citizens remember you and not the last mediocre Pro Hero who retired from this jurisdiction?"

Aiden raised his hand excitedly. "Oh! Like, Ray's sunblock thing?"

"Sunblock thing?" Ms. Takami turned her gaze toward Ray. "Explain."

Ray began nervously. "Oh, uh, I always carry sunblock to share. I can see UV light, which I guess other people can't, so it's always kinda felt like it should be my job to protect people from it."

Ms. Takami recalled having seen Ray pass sunblock around to all of his classmates during outdoor activities. "That's a perfect example then. Sharing sunblock with your community is a small, casual act. But, it reminds people what you do, and it reminds people that you're looking out for them, in the ways that only you can."

And so, Ms. Takami turned to the rest of the class. "Now, you all have fifteen minutes to brainstorm and discuss amongst yourselves, and then I'd like to hear from all of you. When you're out on patrol, engaging with members of your community, what do you do that sets you apart?"

Realizing it's been like a year since I posting anything about my main OC here. This was his introduction post, but I feel like posting his full origin/backstory, so here it is! This is an excerpt from a fic I wrote, so it's long, but I'll post a TL;DR version in the comments.

Raymond Fresnel: Origin

Lana met back up with her husband in the dark living room. “No luck, I take it?” she asked as she lowered her hands, soft lights beaming from the devices in each of her palms.

>Civilian: Svetlana Turner
Elementary School Teacher
Quirk: Illumination. She can produce flashlight-like lenses anywhere on her body.

Melvin shook his head. “No, not yet. He is way too good at hide-and-seek. It’s not fair,” he joked. As the only member of the family whose quirk didn’t let him see in the dark, Melvin was at a considerable disadvantage during this power outage. His wife had her flashlights, and their son had his nightvision, but all that he had was the light from his cellphone.

>Civilian: Melvin Fresnel
Power Plant Technician
Quirk: Radiosynthesis. His body absorbs dangerous radiation and turns it into sustenance.

A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the living room, soon followed by the crash of thunder. The storm was projected to last well into the AM, and the downpour showed no signs of letting up.

“You don’t think he went outside, do you?” Melvin asked, starting to become concerned.

“No, he knows better than that,” Lana reassured him. Besides, she thought, their son didn’t need to break the rules to be good at this game. “It has been a good half hour, though… Maybe we should throw in the towel?”

“Aww, but it’s his favorite game…” It was times like these that Melvin was thankful his son didn’t need screens to have fun, unlike some of the other kids in his class. The blackout barely bothered him. No reason to ruin that. “Besides, we’re having fun, right? And what would we even do instead?”

“Dinner? Not all of us filled up at work, you know,” Lana reminded him.

“Oh, right,” he conceded sheepishly.

“But a little longer won’t hurt. Let’s turn the tables on him,” she said before yelling through the first floor in a sing-song tone. “Ra-ay! You win this round, honey! Your dad and I are going to hide now, ok?” She then turned back to her husband, “If he doesn’t find one of us in five minutes, then we can worry. Deal?”

“Deal,” he agreed before making his way upstairs, loudly repeating his wife’s message, in case their son hadn’t heard it over the rainfall.

But Ray had heard it all. After taking his turn counting, he slowly emerged from behind the living room couch, pleased with himself for having remained hidden right under his parents’ noses. He couldn’t stop himself from giggling through some of their conversation, but thankfully the sounds of the storm had drowned him out.

>Civilian: Raymond Fresnel
Elementary School Student
Quirk: Visible Light. His eyes totally absorb light, allowing him to see in the dark and in infrared and ultraviolet.

Ray first looked around the living room. So, this was what a blackout looked like. It was hard to understand what the big deal was. Sure, he could tell that it was darker than usual, but so what? He could still see just fine. After dinner, maybe he could draw and then read before bed. Other than the loud storm outside, it was just another night to him.

Now, to find his parents. Dining room? No. Kitchen? No. Laundry? No. Garage?

The two-car garage was a good bit cooler than the rest of the house, closer to the temperature outside. And that made Ray’s mother even easier to spot. She was hiding behind the truck, the big car Ray’s father took to work. She crouched so that she couldn’t be seen through the windows, and she stood on her toes behind one of the wheels so that Ray wouldn’t be able to see her feet if he looked under the cars. But her breath still gave her away. The air above the other side of the garage was clearly warmer than everywhere else, and it rose quicker in this chill.

“Found you!” Ray sang excitedly as he skipped around to the other side of the family car.

Lana used her quirk to shine a headlamp lens from her forehead, leaving her hands free to hug her son. “Oh, you got me!” she grumbled playfully, already making plans to try hiding inside the car next time. “Alright, go find your father, and I’ll start getting dinner ready, ok?”

“Can I have cereal?” Ray asked hopefully.

“Hmm…” she considered. Her son had gotten it into his head that eating wheaties would make him grow big and strong. “We’ll see what your father thinks when you find him.” In the meantime, she could start preparing a deli platter, since that wouldn’t require any of the kitchen appliances…

Meanwhile upstairs, Ray’s father was up to new tricks.

When walking up the stairs to the second floor hallway, the first door immediately on the left was the master bedroom. Then, further down the hallway, the second door on the left was the upstairs bathroom. There was also, of course, a door directly between the master bedroom and the upstairs bathroom.

So, Melvin’s plan was simple: He would stand in the bathroom and listen for his son. If Ray sounded like he was coming from the hallway, then Melvin would sneak into the bedroom. If Ray sounded like he was coming from the bedroom, then Melvin would sneak into the hallway. And then, Melvin would keep on listening and sneaking around between the three rooms to remain out of his son’s sights. He almost wondered whether it was unfair, too clever a scheme to play against a child. But, hide-and-seek was Ray’s favorite game, so his father felt an obligation to keep it interestin-

“Found you!” Ray shouted in delight as he hugged his father’s leg, taking him completely by surprise.

“Oh, hey!” Melvin laughed as he pulled out his phone flashlight. Why hadn’t he heard Ray approaching? Oh, the rain! The rain must surely be to blame, he told himself. “Where’d you come from?”

“From mommy. She said if I find you maybe I can have cereal for dinner?” Ray asked gleefully, looking directly up at the bright light without so much as flinching.

“Oh, did she?” Mevin looked down at his son’s hopeful grin. “Ok, you can have cereal for dinner, if…” he paused for dramatic emphasis, “...if you tell me where you were hiding.”

Ray was all too happy to accept this bargain. “First I hid in the, um, the cupboard…,” Ray began, “but then when you and mommy went upstairs, I went and hid behind the couch.” The child beamed, pleased with himself. Since his parents had gone upstairs after checking behind the couch but before coming back down and checking the cupboard, they’d missed him entirely.

“You little ninja!” Melvin commended his son as he picked him up.

“What’s ninja?” Ray asked.

“Well, it’s-”

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG

The explanation was interrupted by loud banging at the front door. Melvin hurried downstairs, still carrying his son. “Who in the world could that be in this weather?” he wondered aloud as another crash of thunder boomed through the house.

But Lana reached the front door and opened it first.

Out in the pouring rain stood Mrs. Brown, clutching a large flashlight in one hand and clasping her raincoat with the other. “Have you seen my son?” she blurted out, her glasses fogged up.

“Oh my goodness, Mary, please come inside!” Lana urged the poor woman. The cold wind was already blowing rain into the house.

“I’m so sorry to bother you, but I just can’t find my son!” she cried out, refusing to accept the invitation. “Please, have you seen him? I’m asking everyone!”

“No, not since this afternoon in class,” she answered before looking back towards the stairwell at Ray and his father, softly illuminating them with a beam of light from her shoulder. “Ray, honey? Do you know Henry Brown?”

Ray nodded his head yes. The boys were in different grades, Ray in 3rd and Henry in 4th, but they had met a few times on the school playground.

“When did you last see Henry?” Ray’s mother asked seriously.

The school wasn’t too far away, only about a 30 minute walk, and that was where Ray’s mother taught English. When the weather was nice, Ray and his mom would walk to and from the school together. A lot of the other families that lived in their neighborhood did the same, and some of the other kids like Henry were even allowed to walk alone. Today though, with the big storm fast-approaching, most of the parents had either sent their children home by bus or picked them up themselves.

As usual, Ray and his mother had remained at the school until all of the buses left and the car line died down, meaning that most of the other children had gone home. By that time today, the rain had just started to pour. The storm clouds already darkening the skies, Ray’s mother hadn’t been able to see. But Ray had.

“At school. Before we got in the car and came home. I saw him running alone outside,” Ray answered.

Ray’s mother, already wet despite not having set foot outside, turned back to Mrs. Brown. “Did you check at the school? What did they tell you?”

“The school is closed, nobody’s there,” she lamented. “Oh god, I was supposed to pick him up, but I got held up by a villain attack on the highway. That’s why I don’t have my car.”

“What about the police?” Lana asked, “Or the pro heroes?”

“The police are helping me ask around the neighborhood, but with the villain and the storm and the blackout…”

Ray’s father had heard enough. If the police and heroes were spread too thin, then he had to do something. “I’ll help,” he insisted. “I can’t let you walk around outside in this storm. Let me drive you.” His work truck could handle the weather better than the police cruisers, he was sure.

“You’re not going anywhere without brighter lights. It’s pitch black out there,” Ray’s mother argued. Her husband’s phone light and Mrs. Brown’s flashlight just wouldn't do, but her own quirk would. “We’ll take the car. You stay here with Ray.”

“I don’t trust the car in this storm. There’s a lantern in the truck, and you can’t drive stick,” he insisted. He’d already set Ray down and was putting on his raincoat. “You stay here with Ray.”

Ray tried to keep up with the commotion, but he lost track as soon as his parents started talking over one another. He looked back at Mrs. Brown. She looked so scared.

“I wanna help!” Ray finally yelled out.

His parents paused to look down at him and then back at one another.

Another flash of lightning and crash of thunder later, Ray’s mother broke the silence. “Ray, sweetie, I’m sorry, but we can’t take you out in this weather.”

“But if you want to help…” his father started, “do you think you can stay home alone? Just for a little while?”

“Melvin!” His mother was surprised.

“I can do it!” Ray nodded. He’d stayed home alone before while his parents ran short errands. He knew where all of the emergency phone numbers were. And the blackout everyone was so scared of didn’t bother him at all.

Ray’s father was already putting on his rainboots when his mother finally nodded in agreement. “Ok, then I want you to go make yourself a bowl of cereal and then you can draw or read until we get back home.”

Ray nodded again and then immediately went to the kitchen, to make himself a bowl of wheaties like he’d been sent on a mission.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Brown had finally stepped inside, just for a moment. “I can’t thank you enough,” she sobbed, her mind still racing with so many terrible possibilities. Anybody willing to help her find her son was an angel.

“Henry can’t be far,” Melvin tried to reassure her. “He’ll turn up, I’m sure of it.”

“I’d bet anything he’s at one of his friends’ houses,” Lana added as she threw on her own raincoat and boots. “They probably just can’t reach you because of the weather.”

Before long, Ray’s parents and Mrs. Brown had left in the truck to find Henry, and Ray was home alone with his cereal.

------------

Finally finished with his bowl of wheaties, Ray used a straw to slowly slurp up the leftover milk. As another flash of lightning shimmered through the kitchen, the young boy wondered: Could other people see lightning?

It might have been a silly question, but there was much that Ray still didn’t understand about how normal people saw the world. He couldn’t turn his quirk off to see like everyone else, so it was still difficult for him to guess what kinds of brightness and darkness they were comfortable with.

Take the Sun, for example. Why couldn’t other people look at the Sun without hurting their eyes? They needed the Sun’s daylight to see outside, and it was constantly above them, but they couldn’t look at it? How silly.

Was lightning the same? Could other people look at lightning, or would that hurt their eyes too much? It wasn’t as bright as the Sun, but it was definitely brighter than a lightbulb, and people used lampshades so they wouldn’t need to look at those… Ray would need to ask his parents when they returned.

On the flip side, exactly how dark was too dark? A blackout during an evening storm was easy; as soon as the lights had gone out, he’d confidently assumed that his parents couldn’t see anymore. But he still had trouble with sources of shade, especially ones outside.

The woods behind the school were a good example. The other kids at school all talked about how creepy the woods were, and they sometimes dared one another to venture through them, even though that wasn’t allowed. For years, Rays had assumed they thought the woods were creepy because there could be things hiding behind the trees. It hadn’t even occurred to him that it was also because the woods were dark.

The woods…

Ray slowly came to a realization.

When he and his mom had left the school, when he had seen Henry running alone outside… Henry hadn’t been running towards the sidewalk home. He had been running around the building. Why? The only thing back there was…

The woods.

Henry was one of the brave ones. Ray had seen him sneak out into the woods all the time. It had just started raining when Ray last saw him, so if he was running to get home as fast as he could, but he wasn’t taking the sidewalk… Henry must know a shortcut through the woods. The woods were directly between the school and their neighborhood, so that made sense.

Of course, Ray thought. Henry must have gotten lost in the “dark” woods. After all, with the storm clouds overhead, those woods were even darker than usual. Other people get lost in the dark all the time.

Then Ray thought back to what poor Mrs. Brown had said. She’d looked for Henry at the school, she’d been asking all of the neighbors, and she’d even asked the police for help. But, she hadn’t said anything about the woods.

Ray rushed over to the old-fashioned landline phone and dialed his mothers phone number. No ringing, just beeping. Then he tried his father’s phone number. Again, no ringing, just beeping. Then he tried dialing 9-1-1. Still no ringing, just beeping. This was bad. He needed to tell Mrs. Brown to look for Henry in the woods, but the phone wasn’t working.

In that case, Ray thought, he would just need to catch up to his parents so he could tell Mrs. Brown in person. He rushed to the coat closet and donned his raincoat and boots before heading out. As he opened the front door, he was blasted by a chilling wind, but a cold shower wouldn’t be enough to deter him.

When Ray reached the end of his driveway, he turned to his left, looking up the street. Nothing. Then he turned to his right, looking down the street. Nothing. Then he looked up to the sky. Nothing. Which way had the truck gone? Or were there any nearby police cars? Or were there any Heroes flying around? Ray couldn’t tell. Even though the darkness didn’t bother him, the pouring rain still reduced visibility. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, its light shimmering through the raindrops, but it didn’t help.

Ray didn’t know what else to do. So, he would just need to look for Henry himself.

------------

“HENRY!” Ray tried calling out into the woods, but there was no way that anyone could hear him over this downpour.

It hadn’t taken Ray long to get from his house to the end of Persica Street. This was the one place in the neighborhood where the woods met a long stretch of sidewalk, rather than a fence behind a backyard. So, if Henry was lost in the woods, this was definitely where he was headed.

“It’ll be ok,” Ray told himself as he stepped into the woods. If Henry was lost in here and couldn’t hear him, then Ray would just need to go looking for him. No problem, he thought. It would be just like hide-and-seek, and he was really good at hide-and-seek.

“HENRY!” Ray tried calling out again several times as he slowly made his way through the muddy forest.

“HENRY! WHERE ARE YOU?” Ray continued as he looked behind trees, around bushes, over logs, and through the veils of heavy rain that had trickled down through the treetops.

“YOUR MOM’S LOOKING FOR YOU, HENRY!” Ray called.

As Ray finally started realizing how cold he was, he tried to remember how long he’d been searching. Maybe this had been a bad idea. What if he was wrong? What if his parents and Mrs. Brown already found Henry? What if his parents were already back home, wondering where he was? This had definitely been a bad idea. Disheartened, Ray was about to turn around…

But then he noticed something. A tiny bit of air, barely warmer than the air around it. A breath.

It was coming up from near a big log. Or, not a log exactly. The other logs Ray had inspected out here were all much older than this one. Most were also smaller.

Ray pulled back a pair of the downed tree’s branches, and there, pinned under it, motionless, was Henry.

“Henry!” Ray yelled excitedly. He had done it! He had found Henry!

But Henry didn’t respond. As Ray realized that Henry was unconscious, his excitement quickly turned to fear.

“Henry! Wake up!” Ray yelled, his eyes welling up, tears mixing with the rain as he tried to pull back more of the tree branches. But it was no good. Henry wasn’t waking up. And Ray wasn’t big enough or strong enough to lift these heavy branches.

“HENRY! PLEASE WAKE UP!” Ray cried. Why wasn’t he waking up? Ray could see that Henry’s body was colder than usual, but he could also see that he was still breathing. It was slow, like how people breathe in their sleep, but he was breathing.

Unable to think of anything else, Ray fell to his knees and started digging through the mud, hoping that the other boy might wake up if he could just slide him out from under the tree.

“I’ll get you out, Henry!” But Ray’s hands were so small, and the mud was so thick. He grunted with effort as he tried to claw through the tightly-packed dirt, but the cold rainwater had made it much heavier than expected.

Ray paused to catch his breath and looked down at his muddy hands, already sore even though he’d barely made any progress. This wasn’t working. “Hang on. I’m gonna find something to dig you out.” he said aloud, even though he was sure the other boy couldn’t hear him. He just needed a good stick to use as a shovel or a lever.

As Ray looked around, trying to find anything that might work, he wondered what his parents would do. His dad was big and strong, so he would just pick the tree up off of Henry and carry him back to Mrs. Brown. His mom would make some big, bright emergency beacons to signal for help. But Ray couldn’t do any of that.

Ray knew what his parents would want him to do, though: Get an adult. But that would take so long. He would need to go all the way back to the neighborhood, knock on doors, ask for police, and then bring the police back here. Ray was confident that he knew the way back, but it was so far, and Henry was already breathing so slowly.

As Ray finally found a suitable stick, he came to a realization. His mind had been racing so frantically that he hadn’t noticed before, but it was a bit brighter now, and the rain was lighter too. Was the storm ending early? He looked up, through the hole in the woodland canopy left by the downed tree. The edges of the dark storm clouds passed quickly overhead, the light of the full moon emerging from behind them. And, silhouetted against the moonlight, was exactly who Henry needed.

“A Hero!” Ray cried out in awe. He’d never seen anything like it. A Hero was flying high above, parting the clouds, fighting the storm. “Henry, a Hero is coming to save you!” he called out to the other boy.

“HEY, MR. HERO!” Ray yelled up into the sky as loud as he could.

But the tiny figure in the distance didn’t stray from its path.

“MR. HERO! WE NEED HELP!” Ray jumped up and down and waved around the stick he’d found.

But the faraway figure continued on its course.

Ray didn’t understand. He could see the hero, so why couldn’t they see him? “PLEASE!” He continued jumping around and waving his arms. “WE’RE DOWN HERE! PLEASE HELP!”

It was no good. The Hero couldn’t hear him.

“WHY CAN’T YOU-...” Ray’s voice broke as he realized it was no use. “Why can’t you see me?” he started to cry. “What am I doing wrong?”

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Ray saw on the news all the time, when his parents would let him watch. Heroes saved people. They helped people. They were always where they needed to be.

“WAIT!” Ray called out again. The flying Hero had crossed overhead. Soon they would disappear out of view behind the treeline.

“WAIT, PLEASE!” He cried out. There had to be something he could do.

“PLEASE!” Ray had to keep trying. He fixed his gaze on the hero and took a deep breath to scream as loud as he could.

“PLEASE, SEE ME!”

>Civilian: Raymond Fresnel
Elementary School Student
Quirk: Visible Light. His eyes totally absorb light. He can also emit light from his eyes, of any wavelength they've absorbed.

Across Ray’s entire field of vision, everything suddenly got brighter, like the trees were bathed in harsh daylight but from below. Ray had never felt anything like it, like he was letting go of something he’d never realized he was holding onto.

After a couple of seconds, the light subsided. Ray was surprised, confused, a bit terrified even. But none of that was important. What was important was that the flying figure in the sky had stopped.

Ray tried to do it again, tried to let go, and once again his field of vision was illuminated by harsh light. It worked! And the Hero had noticed him!

“He sees us, Henry!” Ray yelled excitedly.

Whatever Ray was doing, he just needed to keep doing it. Fortunately, the next part was easy. Ray had learned this from his mother:

Short flash.
Short flash.
Short flash.

Long flash...

Long flash...

Long flash...

Short flash.
Short flash.
Short flash.

Ray had barely finished the S.O.S. signal, and the Hero was already closing in fast.

Mere seconds later, a tall, muscular woman in an American flag costume touched down next to Ray. She looked down at the small boy, his clothes drenched and his hands muddy. What in the world was he doing out here in the woods during this storm?

“Please, help my friend Henry!” Ray cried out before she had the chance to ask. “He’s stuck under there!” He pointed at the downed tree before leading the hero towards it.

“I’ll help him. What’s his name?” the Hero asked urgently as she followed.

“Henry,” Ray answered as he pulled back the tree branches to reveal the other boy, “Henry Brown.”

Without skipping a beat, the Hero touched her palm to the back of Henry’s head and spoke. “Henry Brown… Henry Brown will not succumb to his injuries.”

“H-He’s gonna be ok?” Ray asked through tears of relief.

“He’s gonna be ok, little bro,” the Hero smiled down at Ray before effortlessly lifting up the tree and pulling the injured Henry out from under it. “Now, let’s get you two to a hospital.”

------------

When the adults reached the hospital, Mrs. Brown was immediately escorted to a separate waiting area, finally allowing Melvin and Lana to worry about their own son. But as they rushed, quickly as they were allowed through the pristine hospital hallway, they found themselves still unsure of what to say.

Lana had gotten a call from Hero Public Safety almost immediately as the cellular signals returned. When they told her that Star & Stripe had rescued Ray and Henry, Melvin immediately turned the truck around towards South Piedmont Hospital. They were thankful to hear that their son was uninjured, but Mrs. Brown wasn’t so fortunate. HPS had reassured them that Henry’s condition was stable, but they did confirm that he had been injured and taken to the Emergency Room. And so, Ray’s parents had spent most of the drive trying to convince Mrs. Brown, and themselves, that Henry would be ok. After all, South Piedmont did have a Caduceus. [Note: The Caduceus are a large family, and they're famous for their powerful medical quirks.]

“This is all my fault,” Melvin finally said out loud. “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t suggested leaving Ray home alone.”

“No,” Lana objected immediately. “If you’re at fault, then so am I. I agreed, I thought it was a good idea.”

Nonsense, Melvin thought, but now wasn’t the time to argue about it. “Either way, I’m just glad Ray is alright…”

Indeed, Ray was perfectly safe. After the nurses confirmed he was uninjured, they’d gotten him out of his wet clothes and given him a hospital gown, a blanket, and some hot cocoa to warm up. He’d spent the last half hour drawing in the dedicated children’s section of the waiting room.

“Mommy! Daddy!” He dropped the crayons and leaped to his feet when he finally saw his parents arrive.

“Ray!” his parents both cried out in unison, overjoyed to finally see for themselves that their son was ok. As they took turns embracing him tightly, their minds raced with questions about whether he was sure he was ok and what exactly had happened after they left. But before they got the chance to ask anything…

“Look what I can do!” Ray announced proudly before emitting soft beams of light from his eyes, enough to get the whole waiting room’s attention. “I can make lights just like mommy!”

A nearby nurse interjected. “Excuse me, but there is no quirk use allowed in the waiting room, please,” she said politely but firmly.

“Sorry, ma’am,” Ray immediately shut off his light and apologized.

Finally recovering from her shocked speechlessness, Lana couldn’t help but be amazed. “That’s incredible, Ray. How did you learn to do that?”

Ray turned his gaze to behind his parents and pointed. “I needed to get Miss Hero to see me. She saved Henry!”

Ray’s parents turned around, and behind them towered America’s #1 Pro Hero, the one and only Star & Stripe. “You must be little bro’s parents,” she greeted them with a smile.

There was so much happening at once that Ray’s parents could hardly keep up, but Melvin felt immediately compelled to apologize to the hero. “Ms. Star & Stripe, thank you so much for saving our sons, please let me apologize, we never should have left Ray alone tonight, it’ll never happen again, and we’re so grateful-”

Star & Stripe interrupted the man’s rambling to try to calm him down. “Relax, you’re not in trouble. Little Ray here is fine, and it’s probably thanks to him that little Henry’s going to be ok. Good call teaching him how to signal S.O.S., by the way.”

That had been Lana’s doing, of course. She could have melted, being complemented by none other than Star & Stripe.

“Little bro says you were both out helping Mrs. Brown find her son,” the hero continued, “That was mighty neighborly of you. I see where he gets it from.”

A wave of relief washed over Melvin. He thought he had messed up so badly, but if Star & Stripe herself was saying he did something right…

“Miss Hero,” Ray came out from behind his parents and held up a picture, the one he’d been drawing since heed been in the waiting room. “I drew this picture of us,” he said proudly.

The crude, crayon drawing depicted Star & Stripe, picking up an entire tree with one arm while raising Henry up with the other. Henry had a frowny face and X’s over his eyes—the young Ray had clearly missed the mark on what those were usually meant to indicate—, and Ray stood beside her, with black outlines of searchlight-like beacons being emitted from his overly large eyes.

“Can I get your name?” Ray asked before realizing that was the wrong word. “I mean, um, your autograph?”

“Of course, give it here.” The Hero took the drawing from the young boy, as well as one of his crayons, and signed:

Shine on, little bro!
- Star & Stripe

Ray’s eyes beamed with delight at the signature, though not literally this time. He looked back up at the Hero with hope in his eyes: “Can I be a big, strong Hero like you someday?”

The Hero knelt down and put a hand on the young Ray’s shoulder. “Raymond Fresnel.” She paused and smiled. “Raymond Fresnel is already a hero.”

Koda keeps getting left out when people talk about canon quirk awakenings, and that confuses me. For a while, I assumed people just forgot about him because he’s a minor character. But, I’m starting to see that some people don’t think this is a quirk awakening.

So, what do you think? Is this a quirk awakening? Why or why not?

Personally, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be considered one. It’s a *drastic* change to how his quirk functions, *at least* as drastic a change as the ones Bakugo and Ururaka experienced.

The main argument that I’ve seen *against* it being an awakening is because his mom already knew about it. Personally, I think that’s a weak argument. Koda seems to have the exact same quirk as his mom, so it stands to reason he’d simply have the same awakening she did.

This is my attempt to create a 5c, basic-lands-matter commander. If it looks familiar, I have attempted this before, but it has been substantially revised.

First, how insane is Ward {WUBRG}?

There are obvious reasons that Ward {WUBRG} is a terrible idea, so let's get them out of the way:

1. Most decks are not 5c decks and will never have all the right colors of mana to pay for that Ward cost even if they wanted to. There's a good reason that all Ward mana costs are generic.
2. The devs have basically sworn off Ward costs this high. See here: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Ward#Gavin's_evaluation Basically, Ward {3+} is effectively Hexproof and no fun.

However, I believe that this design alleviates both of those issues. Lotus gives your opponents the ability to produce colors of mana they otherwise couldn't, alleviating the first issue. And, Lotus also gives your opponents a lot more mana to work with, alleviating the second issue.

But, why not just have Lotus cost {WUBRG}?

The first time I tried this, Lotus only cost 3 mana, so I needed to get it to 5c another way, and that's where the idea for this Ward cost came from. But this time it costs 5 mana anyway, so why even bother with this gimmick?

First, I think {WUBRG} is just too high a cost for this effect, especially when we're talking about a 5c commander that's being expected to utilize mostly basic lands. Obviously the whole mana base won't be basics (fetch lands will be super important), but still.

Second, color-pie-wise, this effect is solidly at home in mono-Green. There are some effects like this in Red, but the majority of them are Green, so I think it makes the most sense for this card to just be Green.

Finally, while there were problems with Lotus's first version, the Ward cost wasn't one of them. Folks largely seemed to agree that it was cool, so I kept it. Besides, when else could you possibly get away with this Ward cost, if not when paired with a mana-doubling/fixing group-hug effect like this?

So, is Lotus balanced?

The closest existing commander that I could find with a similar effect is [[Nikya of the Old Ways]], and that's why I set Lotus's cost to 5 to match. Lotus has access to WUB, has Ward, allows you to cast noncreature spells, and fixes mana. On the other hand, Nikya also affects nonbasic lands and never benefits your opponents.

I do think it's important to call out that Lotus's access to WUB does give it plenty of ways to avoid benefitting opponents, though. White and Blue have lots of ways to give Lotus Flash, so you can cast it on an opponent's end step and benefit from it first. White also has Airbend and other ways to temporarily exile Lotus, and Black has ways to sacrifice and then later reanimate Lotus, either way preventing her from being on the battlefield during opponents' turns. I can't think of any good reason why a Lotus deck wouldn't run these options.

So, I think Lotus might be the winner here. I'd like to believe that she could be balanced just by lowering her toughness, but I guess I could just increase her cost by one to {4GG}. What do you think?

I really like my Hydra deck, but I wish I had more ramp options that were synergistic or at least thematic with the rest of the deck. So, I came up with these.

Three-Headed Visitor is the one that I like the most, but it's also the one that I'm the most uncertain about, mostly because I've never made a card using the preparation mechanic before. As a 3-mana 3/4, it matches up pretty well with [[Emeritus of Abundance]], so that seems like a reasonable start. I would have made it a 0/0 base, like many other Hydras, but it needs at least 1 point of toughness to survive the removal of that last +1/+1 counter.

But, I'm not sure whether I'm under-costing the activated ability. As-is, if you play it on turn 2 with the help of a mana dork or something, then on turn 3 you can cast [[Three Visits]] three times to ramp up by three lands. It takes all of your first 3 turns, and your board only has a 0/1 and a mana dork on it, but you can still go into turn 4 with seven lands, and that seems pretty good for only having cast two spells from your hand. Maybe it should be a tap ability, to slow it down?

Llanowar Hydra is a mana dork that loosely follows the costing pattern set by the iconic [[Llanowar Elves]] and [[Llanowar Tribe]]. On its own, its value is behind-curve, but it can get pretty good in conjunction with the X-cost synergies and +1/+1 counter synergies already found in Hydra decks.

Hydrangeas is derived from [[Wild Growth]] and [[Utopia Sprawl]]. It's a bit boring, but I'm pretty sure that the balance is right on this one, and I also love the pun.

Two versions, with and without reminder text.

I just think Junk tokens are neat.

But also, it feels kind of lame to impulse-draw multiple lands, or even just one land if I've already dropped my land for the turn. The Junkyard will let you continue to be able to play those lands in the future, so those situations are no longer a total whiff.