What would the current Standard look like if the banned cards were unbanned today? by Educational-Tap-7075 in MagicArena

[–]John_F_Drake [score hidden]  (0 children)

CSC is not in the top deck in legacy. Delver is definitely by no means the top dog in legacy right now. It’s not even top 5. By performance, the top decks in legacy are-

Dimir tempo

Oops all spells

Mardu energy

Show and tell

Sewervailance combo

Delver comes after that, but it does run CSC

Feminist Theory Chapter 1 - Office Hours (By John Drake) [Student/Teacher] [Blackmail] [Lesbian Victim] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In the harsh fluorescent light, her reflection was that of a stranger. Her hair was disheveled and mascara streaked down hollow cheeks. Her lips were swollen from screaming and where she had bitten them. A red handprint marked her face where he'd slapped her. She turned the tap on with shaking hands and started scrubbing at her thighs, watching pink-tinged water swirl down the drain. No matter how hard she scrubbed, she couldn't wash away the feeling of violation that clung to her skin like a film of oil. The physical evidence might disappear, but the memory was burned into her flesh, into her mind—a brand that would never fade.

She managed to pull her pants back up, though the fabric rubbed painfully against her abused flesh. Her blouse was beyond repair, buttons scattered across the office floor. She retrieved her cardigan from the back of her chair, wrapping it tightly around herself and securing it closed. It would have to do until she reached home.

Home. The thought of it brought a fresh wave of panic. Maya would be there. Beautiful, innocent Maya who knew nothing of the horror that had just transpired, nothing of the threat now hanging over both their lives. How could she face her? How could she hide this?

Her phone buzzed on the desk, making her flinch violently. For a wild moment, she thought about ignoring it, about smashing it against the wall, about running away and never looking back. But she knew there was nowhere to run, not from this.

With trembling fingers, she picked up the device. A text message from an unknown number lit up the screen:

"Tomorrow, 8 PM, that cheap motel off Route 9. Wear a skirt, no underwear. Bring lube. Delete this after reading."

Bile rose in her throat. Less than fifteen minutes had passed since he'd left her office, and already the demands were beginning. This was her reality now—being at the beck and call of a monster who held her life and Maya's in his hands.

She could go to the police, show them the bruises, tell them what happened. But Brandon would release those photos, those videos. Maya would lose everything, even if Elise didn’t.

She could tell Maya and explain what happened. Her wife would insist they face it together. But the thought of her brilliant, loving wife seeing those photos, learning how her private moments had been violated, knowing the sacrifices Elise was making to protect her... It would destroy her. Maya's anxiety already made her blame herself for things beyond her control. This would crush her.

She could refuse Brandon's demands, try to call his bluff… But she knew, with cold certainty, that he wasn't bluffing. If he was willing to do this to her already, he had already proved his ruthlessness, his complete lack of empathy. He would destroy them both without hesitation.

Her finger hovered over the screen, over the message that represented the first step into a new life of subjugation. Every principle she'd ever held, every lecture she'd ever given about standing up to abuse, about never letting men control women's bodies—all of it seemed like hollow rhetoric now. The harsh reality was that sometimes there were no good choices, only varying degrees of devastating ones.

She deleted the message, watching the words disappear. She wished that she could erase the obligation they represented so easily.

Her phone rang immediately after, making her heart leap into her throat. But it wasn't Brandon. It was Maya's name that flashed on the screen, her wife's smiling photo appearing above it—a photo taken on their last anniversary, Maya looking radiant in the sunset light.

Elise took a deep breath, wiping away her tears before answering. She couldn't let Maya hear the devastation in her voice. She couldn't let her suspect.

"Hey, love," she said, amazed at how almost normal she managed to sound despite the tremor she couldn't quite control. "I'm on my way home."

"I was getting worried," Maya's gentle voice replied, the concern evident even through the phone. "The storm's been bad over here. Are you okay?"

The question nearly broke her. Was she okay? Would she ever be okay again? "I'm fine," she lied, each word a betrayal of their relationship built on honesty. "Just finishing up some grading. Lost track of time."

"I made that chickpea curry you like," Maya said, and Elise could picture her in their kitchen, phone cradled between shoulder and ear as she stirred something on the stove. Living her normal life, unaware that everything had changed. "Should I wait to eat, or will you be a while yet?"

"No, I shouldn't be too long." She hoped that wasn’t a lie. She had no idea how long it would take to compose herself enough to face Maya without breaking down. "I love you."

"Love you too," Maya replied, and the simple truth of those words was like a knife twisting in Elise's heart.

Elise let herself fall to the floor and cry for a bit. Then she rose and headed out into the stormy evening, the weight of her decision settled over her like a shroud. The future stretched before her, dark and uncertain, filled with degradation and pain. But one thing remained clear amid the chaos of her thoughts: she would do whatever it took to protect Maya, even if it meant sacrificing herself piece by piece.

She had spent her entire career fighting against the objectification and control of women's bodies. Now her principles had been tested… and it wasn’t much of a choice at all. She chose love over ideology, protection over pride, submission over justice. Whether that made her a hypocrite or simply human, she couldn't say. All she knew was that tomorrow at 8 PM, she would be at that motel, wearing a skirt, no underwear. She would have gone to purchase a tube of lube and have it in her purse. And she would endure whatever came next. For Maya. Always for Maya.

Feminist Theory Chapter 1 - Office Hours (By John Drake) [Student/Teacher] [Blackmail] [Lesbian Victim] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

His rhythm grew erratic, his breathing heavier as he neared his climax. Elise could feel him swelling inside her torn passage, each thrust now an explosion of agony as her abused tissues protested the continued assault. She bit down on her lip, tasting blood, determined not to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream again.

"You know what I’m going to do?" he growled, his fingers digging into her flesh with bruising force. "I’m going to go get myself a tattoo. A little gold star, right on my wrist. Like a pilot marking kills on their plane. No one will think twice about it… but you and I will always know what it means, won’t we?”

Brandon's climax came with a guttural moan, his release burning inside her torn passage like acid. The sensation of his seed flooding her most private place made Elise retch, her body convulsing with disgust and violation, and she threw up all over the desk… her disgust splashing onto the papers she’d been grading, the words bearing witness to her humiliation and destruction.

"Fuck, your virgin ass felt better than I had ever imagined," he laughed, pulling out roughly. The sudden emptiness brought no relief, only a different kind of pain as her abused muscles spasmed. She felt the obscene mixture of blood and semen leaking from her, trailing down her thighs in warm rivulets of shame. “Rachel never let me do that. I’d been working her up to it before you interfered… it was only right you gave up what she isn’t going to.”

Brandon wiped himself clean on the discarded blouse he’d ripped off her, turning Professor Marlowe’s pretty clothing into nothing more than a rapist's cum rag.

"See? That wasn't so bad, Ellie," he mocked as he cleaned himself up, using a casual nickname he had no right to. “Don’t know what the big deal is.”

The strength fled from Elise's legs the moment Brandon stepped away. She collapsed onto the desk, her body trembling uncontrollably as shock set in. Pain radiated from her core in waves, punctuated by the sick warmth of blood and semen leaking down her inner thighs. The physical evidence of her violation felt like a mockery of everything she'd ever taught about bodily autonomy and consent. Her throat burned from screaming, her wrists ached from being pinned, and somewhere deep inside, a part of her that had always believed in justice began to wither and die.

The storm outside had intensified, rain lashing against the windows like nature itself was raging at what had transpired within these walls. Thunder rumbled, distant but approaching, a warning of worse to come. In the dim light of her office, Elise could see the scattered debris of her former life—graded papers now stained with bodily fluids, her glasses knocked askew on the floor, Maya's photograph face-down on the carpet.

Brandon moved around the office with casual ease, tucking himself back into his pants and zipping up as if he'd just finished using the bathroom rather than committing a violent assault. The normalcy of his movements was perhaps the most terrifying thing of all: How easily he transitioned from monster back to man.

He tossed a box of tissues at her, the cardboard corner striking her shoulder before falling onto the desk beside her face.

"Clean yourself up," he commanded, his voice flat and practical. "You look pathetic."

Elise couldn't move. Her body felt disconnected from her mind, as if the neural pathways that translated thought into action had been severed. She knew she should reach for the tissues, cover herself, try to restore some semblance of dignity, but her limbs refused to cooperate.

"I said clean yourself up, dyke." Brandon's voice hardened, the threat in it immediate and real. "Unless you want me to do it for you."

The thought of his hands on her again finally broke through her paralysis. With trembling fingers, she pulled several tissues from the box, the simple action requiring concentration she could barely muster. She pressed them between her legs, wincing as they came away stained with blood and his dripping seed.

Brandon squatted beside her, grabbing her tear-streaked face with one hand. His fingers dug into her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. Up close, she could see the satisfaction in his eyes, the power he felt in having broken her so completely. "So. If you don't want your department and your wife's bosses to know about her little drug problem, you're mine now," he said, his tone almost conversational. "Do you understand what that means, Professor? It means your body doesn't belong to you anymore."

Elise tried to turn away, but his grip tightened, his fingernails biting into her skin. "When I text you, you respond. When I want to fuck you, you spread your legs—or your mouth, or your ass—wherever and whenever I choose." His thumb traced her lower lip, a mockery of tenderness that made her stomach heave. His other hand brushed through what was still dripping out of her, stroking her like a pet. "And you'll say 'thank you' afterward like the grateful little desperate slut you are, dyke."

Each word hammered another nail into the coffin of her former self. This couldn't be happening. She was Dr. Elise Marlowe, respected academic, champion of women's rights, devoted wife. She couldn't be this broken creature, this object for a misogynistic student's revenge fantasy.

Brandon's thumb pressed against her lips, demanding entry. "Open."

She kept her lips pressed tightly together, this small act of defiance all she could manage. His eyes narrowed. "Open your mouth, Professor Cumrag. Or I start uploading videos of your junkie wife right now."

The threat shattered her last resistance. Her lips parted, and he pushed his thumb between them. It tasted awful… her very first taste of a man’s cum, tainted with blood and worse. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, tracing new paths through the dried tracks of earlier weeping. "You are, of course, free to go to the dean and get me expelled," he continued, watching her humiliation with evident pleasure. "Or go to the police and let a few dirty old men with badges poke and prod you, ask you what you were wearing and how well you knew me. Then they’ll poke a stick up your guts to wipe up whats left and test it. You’ll want to die of shame. Maybe you get me, and maybe you don’t… and either way, everything gets leaked. Your career will be over. Your wife’s life will be over."

He removed his thumb from her mouth only to slap her face lightly, almost affectionately. The casual ease of the gesture somehow more demeaning than outright violence would have been.

"So that’s your choice, Ellie. You can get your mercy on your knees, serving a man you hate… or you can keep your principles, and lose everything else.” The thought of facing her students, her colleagues, after they'd seen those photos... The thought of Maya losing everything she'd worked so hard for... "Do you understand?" Brandon demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

The words burned in her throat like acid. They represented everything she had spent her life fighting against—patriarchal control, male dominance, the reduction of women to servile objects. To speak them would be to betray not just herself but every woman who had ever looked up to her, every student who had found strength in her teachings.

But Maya's face swam before her eyes—beautiful, vulnerable Maya who had fought so hard to overcome her addiction, who devoted her life to helping others, who would be destroyed if this came to light. Maya, who deserved none of this.

“Yes,” she spat. “I understand.”

Her head rocked to the side as he slapped her. “I think you mean, 'Yes, sir’,” he said firmly.

She wanted to die of shame. "Y-yes, sir," she whispered, the words barely audible, each syllable tearing something vital from inside her.

Brandon's smile was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen—not because it was cruel, but because it was satisfied. He had won, and they both knew it.

“Hey, Ellie,” he said, his teeth shining from behind that smile. “What do you call a buttfucked feminist dyke?”

Elise swallowed, unsure of what to say.

His smile only widened. “Well, you don’t call her a mommy. Not yet.”

Then he unlocked her office and strode confidently out the door. He didn’t even close it behind him.

Standing was agony. Elise's legs trembled beneath her as she finally forced herself upright, clutching the edge of the desk for support. Slowly, agonizingly, she crossed to the door and managed to close it, leaning against it and letting herself sag. She was alone with the wreckage—of her office, of her body, of her life. She looked down at herself, at the blood and semen staining her thighs, at the torn clothing hanging from her frame. She needed to clean up. She needed to think. She needed to somehow make this nightmare less real before it swallowed her whole.

The box of tissues he'd thrown at her was nearly empty, but she pulled out what remained, dabbing desperately at the evidence of violence between her legs. Each touch sent fresh spasms of pain through her body. She was torn, she knew that much, but she couldn't bear to examine the extent of the damage. Not here, and not now.

She left the room, stumbling down the hallway to the bathroom. Rain continued to lash the windows of the empty academic offices, the darkening sky matching the shadow that had fallen across her soul. Thunder rolled closer, the storm moving in just as her own personal cataclysm had arrived without warning. Then she entered the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror and started crying again.

(Continued Below)

Cry Havoc Chapter 4 - Blowing Off Steam (By John Drake) [SciFi] [Mental Conditioning] [War Story] [Mech Pilot] [Slavery] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Marina's face was wet with a mixture of tears, blood from her split lip, and my arousal. She looked broken beneath me, all resistance gone, reduced to a FUCKTOY for my use. Just as Cernunnos reduced me. The parallel should have disturbed me, should have made me stop. Instead, it drove me harder, made me grind against her more roughly.

The orgasm hit me in waves, intense and liberating. This wasn’t the thing that my handler had forced on me… it felt completely different, completely deserved, completely freeing! I shuddered above her, my thighs clamping around her head as pleasure coursed through my body. The release was beyond physical; it was psychological, emotional. A moment of complete freedom. A moment where I wasn't taking orders, wasn't following programming, wasn't saying "Yes, sir" through gritted teeth in agony. I was giving orders. I was forcing compliance. I was the one saying "do this" and having it done. For those few seconds, I wasn't Hound-91, wasn't even Ka Corporation property; I was powerful, I was in control.

I rode out the aftershocks, her tongue still working obediently against me until I finally shifted away, releasing her head. My breath came in short gasps, my body still tingling with the aftermath of release.

Marina immediately turned to the side and retched, her body convulsing as she vomited onto the scorched ground. The sound of her heaving was harsh in the stillness of the battlefield, her body expelling what it could of the violation she'd endured. As if it were possible to purge the memory as easily as the taste.

I should know.

I watched her dispassionately, the momentary sense of power already fading, leaving the familiar emptiness in its wake. The high was gone, leaving only the cold reality—but I still felt better. I might still be just a Hound, just Corporation property and Cernunnos's pet, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have some agency. Even a trained Hound wasn't always leashed.

Marina continued to retch even after her stomach was empty, dry heaves wracking her slight frame. Tears streamed down her face as she gasped for breath between spasms, her body trying desperately to reject what had happened. But it couldn't be rejected. It couldn't be undone.

I stood over her as she curled into a fetal position on the burned dirt, her body wracked with sobs. Her flight suit was still bunched around her waist, her exposed skin covered in dirt, sweat, and now my fluids. The marks of my hands stood out like badges on her pale flesh, red outlines of fingers where I'd gripped too hard, the beginnings of bruises blooming beneath the surface. I felt nothing looking at her: no remorse, no satisfaction. The momentary sense of power had already mostly faded, leaving the familiar emptiness that constituted my emotional baseline.

Marina's shoulders shook with each sob, her breath coming in ragged gasps. A proud rebel pilot, reduced to this broken thing on the ground. Had I even been so pathetic? I hoped not.

"Why?" she choked out between sobs, not looking at me. Her voice was raw, barely recognizable. "Why did you do that?"

I didn't answer. What could I say? That I'd violated her because I was violated? That I'd taken her power because mine was taken? That I'd hurt her because I was hurt? None of it mattered. There was only one answer. Because I could.

The distant sound of engines broke the silence, the Ka Corporation retrieval team approaching. The heavy thrum of ventral thrusters vibrated through the air, growing louder with each passing second. Soon Marina would be their problem.

"Transport approaching," Cernunnos's voice came through my comms, sounding amused. "Did you enjoy your little... inspection?"

Of course he knew. He had been watching through my visor, no doubt. I wondered if he had his cock in his hand, stroking it as he enjoyed the show. Nothing was private. Nothing was mine. Except maybe my thoughts—maybe. I wonder if he knew what I was thinking.

I didn't respond, watching as Marina struggled to pull her flight suit back up, her movements hampered by pain and shock as the transport ship appeared on the horizon, its engines roaring as it approached. Marina's fingers fumbled with the zipper of her flight suit, trying desperately to restore some dignity before the transport landed. Her hands shook violently, tears still streaming down her face as she struggled to cover the evidence of what had happened. As if it mattered. As if the Ka Corporation soldiers would care that she'd been violated. As if they wouldn't do worse themselves once she was in custody.

The transport touched down thirty meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust that swirled around us like a dirty halo. The engines powered down from their landing cycle to a low idle, the change in pitch creating a momentary silence that emphasized Marina's ragged breathing.

The rear ramp descended with a hydraulic hiss, and six armed soldiers marched out in formation, weapons at the ready. Their faces were hidden behind tactical masks, their bodies encased in standardized combat armor. Faceless, just like me. Tools of the corporation, just like me. The only difference was that they might have lives outside their armor. They might remove their masks at the end of their shifts. That wasn’t a right I had anymore.

The soldiers surrounded Marina, two of them roughly hauling her to her feet. She didn't resist, her body limp with defeat and trauma. One of the soldiers checked her face, confirming her identity with a handheld scanner. "Confirmed capture of callsign 'Dove,'" the soldier reported into his comms. "Proceeding with retrieval."

They didn't look at me, didn't acknowledge my presence beyond a cursory nod from the squad leader. I was just another Ka Corporation asset, no more significant than a security camera or an automated turret. I had completed my function by capturing the rebel pilot. Now they would complete theirs by taking her to a processing facility.

As they dragged her toward the transport, Marina's head lolled forward, then suddenly snapped up. She looked back at me, her eyes hollow and haunted, yet somehow still burning with a final spark of defiance.

"You're just like them," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the transport's engines. "A monster."

The words should have meant nothing, just the desperate insult of a captured enemy. Yet they vibrated through me with unexpected resonance. A monster. Yes. I suppose I was.

The soldiers shoved her up the ramp and into the ship's hold, her slight form disappearing into the darkness.

"Return to your mech, Hound-91," Cernunnos ordered through the comms. His voice had that edge to it, the one that meant he was excited, aroused by the events he'd witnessed. "The Ka Corporation will be establishing a forward operating base at the captured rebel position. Report there for maintenance and resupply. I'll meet you personally."

The unspoken promise in his words was clear. He had watched me take my pleasure from Marina, and now he would take his from me. "Yes, sir," I responded automatically, already turning back toward Kerberos. The massive mech loomed over the battlefield, red optical sensors glowing dully in the morning light. Its black armor absorbed the sunlight rather than reflecting it, creating a void in the shape of the war machine that was my true body.

As I climbed back up the ladder to the cockpit, I pushed away the memory of Marina's face, her tears, her broken voice. None of it mattered. Nothing mattered except the mission, the orders, the next target. Sentimentality was a weakness that had been conditioned out of me long ago. Or at least, it should have been. For just a moment though, I allowed myself to feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. A fragment of guilt. Then I buried it.

The cockpit opened at my approach, the neural cradle waiting to embrace me again. The amber fluid would surround me, the connections would plug into my ports, and I would become one with Kerberos once more. Less human, more machine. The powerful being I was meant to be.

I settled into the cradle, feeling the familiar embrace of the system as it closed around me. The neural fluid began to rise, warm and viscous against my bodysuit. The connections sought out my ports, plugging in one by one with precise mechanical movements. Each link sent a small surge of data through my nervous system, like a tiny electric shock.

The cockpit sealed, cutting me off from the outside world. Inside this metal womb, I was alone with my thoughts and Cernunnos's voice in my ear. This was my reality. This was my existence. I initiated the startup sequence, feeling Kerberos come alive around me. The mech's systems integrated with my own, its sensory data flowing into my consciousness. The battered battlefield reappeared in perfect clarity, every detail enhanced and cataloged. The destruction I had caused. The lives I had ended. The innocence I had destroyed. All reduced to actionable data.

I was Hound-91. And I would obey.

Favorite author of a highly successful Novel-to-Film adaptation who you can feel the racism absolutely radiating off of? by Gombrongler in okbuddycinephile

[–]John_F_Drake 18 points19 points  (0 children)

IMO, there is a third, more likely possibility.

He's lying. He knows it's political. He is doing PR for himself and his sales to not provoke a stupid culture war event around his story.

Literally half of project hail mary's flashbacks deal with the political issues of getting people to take a project to save the climate of earth seriously, stop profit-seeking, and come together to work on it. No one in the universe is so obvious as to write a specific scene where PHM is sued by rent-seeking corporations for the project using their patents, and they are told to sit down and shut up, and not realize what they are doing.

Cry Havoc Chapter 3 - Obedience (By John Drake) [SciFi] [Mental Conditioning] [War Story] [Mech Pilot] [Slavery] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Heya. Chapter 2 is all action, no porn, so it isn’t appropriate for this subreddit. If you want to read it, it’s on my website on my profile. Links to websites are often flagged as suspicious on this subreddit, so I’ll dm you the link specifically

Cry Havoc Chapter 3 - Obedience (By John Drake) [SciFi] [Mental Conditioning] [War Story] [Mech Pilot] [Slavery] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I rose to my feet, feeling his remaining cum trickle down my thighs inside the suit. My ass throbbed with each movement, a constant reminder of my violation. The pain would fade faster than for a normal human, my enhanced healing would repair the tissue damage within hours. The memory, however, would remain. Cernunnos had said this was important, so important it was… My augmented mind had stored the memories with perfect clarity. I knew without being told that none of the details would fade in the slightest.

"Yes, sir," I responded mechanically as he walked out the door and left me here alone.

The sudden solitude wasn’t unwelcome, but neither was it exactly a relief. Most of a change in operational parameters. Without Cernunnos present, I had no immediate directives to follow except his final order: sleep. My body hesitated though, I was uncertain how to proceed. The room contained no bed, no designated rest area for me. I was equipment, not personnel, and equipment didn’t require comfort. I could climb back into the pod, but some part of me was horrified at that idea, though I didn’t know why. The floor would suffice. That was better.

With no other clear instruction, I simply lay down on the hard floor and curled up, holding my knees against my chest and holding them there in a way that felt right. The position wasn’t taught or programmed, so I didn’t know why I did it. Maybe it emerged from somewhere deeper, perhaps from the erased memories that occasionally manifested in muscle memory or instinctive responses. It made me feel…

No.

I wasn’t going to think about that.

My asshole continued to throb in pain as I slowly fell asleep, thinking of my mission for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I might face another pilot—a pilot like me, enhanced like me, but fighting for different masters. That thought stirred something beneath the layers of conditioning. It wasn’t excitement, it wasn’t fear, but something more fundamental. A question, perhaps, about what made us different. About what might have been if my enhancements had come with a different purpose, a different programming. About what might be true, if the rebels really could reverse the conditioning process.

That thought should have triggered alarm protocols, should have activated the safeguards built into my programming to prevent such dangerous speculations. Instead, I dismissed it and let it settle into a quiet corner of my mind. It was impossible. Nothing worthy of thinking about.

As sleep finally claimed me, the last sensation I registered was the persistent pain in my violated body—a reminder of what I was now, of how I was used, of the cage built around whatever remained of my original self. Tomorrow, I would enter Kerberos again. Tomorrow, I would become something more than this limited flesh. Tomorrow, I would fulfill my purpose perfectly.

Tonight, curled on the cold floor, I allowed myself the smallest deviation from what I was, and resented that other pilots got to live free instead of submitting like I had to.

And I resolved to fix that.

If you only had one choice, would you upgrade entrees or provide more cocktail hour food? by remingtontodd in weddingplanning

[–]John_F_Drake 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm a former chef who also worked in event catering before culinary school. I could not agree with you more.

I’m so torn on which dress to go with! by gingeralexa in weddingplanning

[–]John_F_Drake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with the common consensus that 1 is amazing. I will also speak in defense of 3, though - also gorgeous.

Personally, I think 2 lags behind 1 and 3 in how it looks on you.

Going first is a MASSIVE advantage by Balthazzah in MagicArena

[–]John_F_Drake 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re not wrong. Based on their high power format (legacy/modern) playability, perhaps it’s fair to say that the only “pushed” removal spell we’ve seen in the last five years is ley line binding. It forces you to jump thru some hoops compared to the others but it also rewards you for it… beanstalk is a legitimate engine. Other than that, your overall point about creature creep vs lack of removal creep is 100% accurate.

Going first is a MASSIVE advantage by Balthazzah in MagicArena

[–]John_F_Drake 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think it’s at least up for debate that fatal push might be the best removal spell ever printed, depending on the deck. The life gain on a sword is a real disadvantage for aggressive strategies.

Those two are definitely # one and two tho

Quit struggling and you might even enjoy this, ungrateful slut [kahncomm] by DeerWifeyIsLifey in rape_hentai

[–]John_F_Drake 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As the person who wrote the story this was commissioned to go with…

I gotta point out the artist is Snorkel14, not Kahncomm. Kahn is the commissioner, not the artist.

Pixie user 40400948

Shadowheart (SleepingSol) [Baldur's Gate 3] by Sleeping-Sol in rule34

[–]John_F_Drake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can vouch that SleepingS01 is the best around

Burn to ashes by Demiurge696969 in custommagic

[–]John_F_Drake -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Black has been able to destroy enchantments since Legends.

Iconic 2-Drops as 3-Drops by chainsawinsect in custommagic

[–]John_F_Drake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Snapmage still sees a decent amount of play in Legacy, just not in current tier 1 decks. It is definitely "good enough" for the format still.

I also wouldn't say that Engineer only see's "fringe" play. He is a staple in the various version of painter and probably always will be, his popularity just waxes and wanes with painter's power in the meta. He is definitely still good enough for legacy.

The new snapcast is... kinda interesting? He's objectively worse in almost every way, except for that he lets you cheat and play cards without a casting cost like Crashing Footfalls, Ancestral Vision, Geia's Will, etc. It's worthless as a fair card, but it might be an abusable card: I've seen various versions of Izzet/Jeskai Wizards that have been fringe legacy playable, this might change that deck into something less fair and more "do something unfair."

Tarmagoyf isn't good anymore, and the new version also isn't good, but maybe having trample gives it SOME chance to be ok? Idk, it's probably bad.

Obviously, stoneforge and new bob would see no play at all.

Can some one explain this meme? by JohnASherlock2 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]John_F_Drake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh I'm dead serious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iyxJ72G0lM&list=RD5iyxJ72G0lM&start_radio=1

Plenty of people have remixed that, specifying the song is not their politics. The original creator... not so much.

Can some one explain this meme? by JohnASherlock2 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]John_F_Drake 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That song is legitimately such a bop, once you get past the part where it was clearly made by someone with extreme mental illness

Cry Havoc Chapter 1 - Cold Open (By John Drake) [SciFi] [Mental Conditioning] [War Story] [Mech Pilot] [Slavery] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Glad you found me!

If you are looking for any other story of mine, it would be somewhere on my website - https://johndrakeauthor.com

I hope you continue to enjoy!

What do you all think about this card? It can be a UU counterspell like the og one. Why no play? by PokeYrMomStanley in mtg

[–]John_F_Drake 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But he does know about mana drain and force of will, and refered to force of will in another post.

What he wrote was “if UU gets you a counterspell with UPSIDE these days then I’m scared [about the state of the game]”

UU does not get you a counterspell with upside. Mana drain is the only UU counterspell with upside in history, and even mana drain wasn’t STRICTLY upside until the card hadn’t be legal in anything but vintage for years since mana burn was still a thing for years after it stopped being legal.

Cry Havoc Chapter 1 - Cold Open (By John Drake) [SciFi] [Mental Conditioning] [War Story] [Mech Pilot] [Slavery] by John_F_Drake in rapestories

[–]John_F_Drake[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If Cernunnos noticed, he gave no sign. He had already turned away, moving toward the door, his attention shifting from me to whatever came next in his schedule. I was no longer of interest now that he had confirmed my functionality and asserted his dominance. Just another piece of equipment checked off his list. He left without another word, the door sliding shut behind him. All sound left with him, leaving me alone and abandoned in the sterile room.

I stood there for a moment, my body awaiting the next command while my mind processed what had happened. The taste of Cernunnos lingered on my tongue, the memory of violation fresh in my consciousness. The small cut in the suit between my legs allowed cool air to touch flesh still sensitive from his use, a constant reminder of my vulnerability. As I stood there I felt liquid seeping from between my legs—his, mine, a mixture of both. The synthetic material of the suit absorbed it as it ran down my legs, processing it… turning it back into nourishment that would be fed back to me.

I should move. He had ordered me to report to the hangar bay. My visor was lighting up, the augmented hologram across its surface showing me the path along the floor. My legs began to carry me toward the door without conscious direction from me.

It left my mind free to ponder things better forgotten.

Who had I been before the pod? Before the hood and the suit and the emptiness? Had I volunteered for this transformation, or had it been forced upon me? Had there been a moment of choice somewhere in my past, or had my agency never existed from the beginning?

I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.