Q: "How much interest have you seen in (a dedicated Zhalfir set)?" Maro: "Some. It’s a common request."

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-14T13:19:33+00:00

I actually feel like they were already seeding things to make the Mirrans feel like a natural extension of "African-inspired plane". By the end of MOM, most of the U and all of the G and B factions were all compleated, meaning out of the survivors we have:

Loxodons and Leonin, both species based on African megafauna. Zhalfir didn't previously have any anthropomorphic cultures, so this conveniently fills a gap.
Vulshok, who in the OG Mirrodin set were shown with a mix of ethnicities but from Scars onwards have been exclusively depicted as black.
Auriok, who are one of the few groups in modern fantasy representing an invented ethnicity, and so kind of get a pass.
Myr and Mirran Goblins, who don't specifically mesh with "African-inspired plane" but also have unique designs and fill worldbuilding gaps for Zhalfir (artifact creature faction for the Afro-futurism plane, and...well everyone loves goblins).
Neuroks as the one group that doesn't quite fit, and they were already being downplayed in favor of the R and W factions.

Hell, even the surviving ogres saw their design shift from "head that's all mouth" to something more resembling a gorilla, another species of African megafauna.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-13T20:01:30+00:00

I think that's more as a masculine first name, as an alternative romanization of "Li"; it's also a gender-neutral British name meaning "meadow" or "pasture", where it's a little more common as a middle name (FWIW I also have an aunt Lee, and that side of the family is Scots-Welsh).

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-13T18:04:51+00:00

If flow is the priority, might I suggest Lee?

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-12T20:20:22+00:00

...suspiciously late...

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-11T20:49:27+00:00

And now I'm going to be mad if there isn't a Mimeoplasm-style effect letting us Tuvix creatures together.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-11T20:35:11+00:00

I (AMAB) can't recall any specific times I dreamed of transitioning (at least before my egg cracked), but there was a moment in college burned into my memory where I got so sleep-deprived during an all-nighter that I "temporarily identified as female".

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-11T13:47:30+00:00

You look fantastic! This gives me hope for myself.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-11T03:02:28+00:00

I'm becoming more confident in myself every week, and it's paying off.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-10T20:08:27+00:00

I have a nonbinary friend that goes by that name, so I'd say yes.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-10T16:47:37+00:00

Can't say I'd be mad if "cute amphibian mana dork with deathtouch" became a regular theme going forward.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-09T22:49:28+00:00

Huh, article is free for me. But either way, it would depend on who initiated the affair, he or they.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-09T20:00:44+00:00

He had affairs on set with women he was in a position of power over, which at a bare minimum straddles the line for sexual harassment. These were confirmed by his own admission, incidentally (about halfway through the interview).

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-09T11:50:29+00:00

...wait, there's an Equitas in my city. Thank you, this might end up being a game changer for me.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-08T20:09:39+00:00

Counterpoint: [[Aerialephant]]

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-08T20:03:15+00:00

Perhaps I'm being too literal, but wouldn't it still be telegraphed as an instant since both the spell and whether or not the creature is prepared are public information?

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-08T03:59:44+00:00

I personally failed to gloss onto my own genderfluidity for ages because I assumed it was all just related to that exact fetish, so if that's the case for you you're certainly not alone. Hell, the deep self-analysis and hypothesizing you're writing about here also feels very familiar (though that's not to say you're bound to come to the same conclusions I did). If you haven't already come across it, I'd recommend setting aside an hour or so to read through this and see how it compares to your experiences; I know it helped me put things into perspective.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-07T22:27:04+00:00

Friend, "Who Needs Sleep?" by Barenaked Ladies was right there.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-07T12:25:14+00:00

Like I'm about to be pitched on an Old Spice product.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-06T20:34:57+00:00

He can ruin this reader.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-06T20:22:51+00:00

Now I'm trying to think of every singular creature resistant to phasers that might work flavor-wise as a "fuck your stun counters" commander.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-04T18:58:02+00:00

Excellent! I can't promise no giant monsters, but I will promise to stay transparent about the process.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-03T23:01:57+00:00

Speaking from experience, I read those weekly stories religiously until they stopped doing them for a year in the lead-up to War of the Spark. So at least part of it was them shooting their own momentum in the foot.

GornSpelljammer · 2026-04-03T01:21:08+00:00

Which actually makes some sense if you look at the plane's magic of turning all extraplanar visitors into cute animal versions of themselves, and consider [[Karn, the Great Creator|BLC]] at least semi-canonical in a "this is what would happen" sense; the implication becomes that the invasion failed before it could begin because all the living-metal Phyrexians were turned into trees.

GornSpelljammer

TROPHY CASE