Y’know what, I do like the Ixalan story and the Jace/Vraska burgeoning romance is a fine thing - by itself. Two rivals learning mutual respect, opening up to each other over months of ship travel. The uncertainly of today’s cliff hanger. These are fine things, and certainly better than we’ve gotten in the past.
In the context of the rest of the Magic Story though, in keeping that past in mind, it is tiring and frustrating. We got the barest hints of Chandra and Nissa in the past two blocks and now we likely won’t for another year or so at least, depending on what happens after Dominaria.
Meanwhile, Jace is instantly hot with everyone and with Vraska currently working for Bolas this is getting worryingly close to Liliana 2.0. The current bit isn’t bad, but everything around it could be better.
If they played EDH, what Commanders might the Gatewatch use?
Gideon - Gideon I think, more than anyone else, just wants everyone to have a good time. For a while I waffled around him playing something like Rafiq of the Many, but really I think Gideon would be the Phelddagrif player. He’d enjoy the politics of group hug and do his best to make sure that the players themselves are all enjoying the game.
Jace - The truest Johnny of the group, Jace would want something that shows off how cleverly he can manipulate the rules. Something like Mannichi, the Fevered Dream, because LAYERS.
Liliana - She’s after absolute power, so naturally Liliana would play the strongest things in the format. Whatever’s top tier on a given week. I’m thinking a General Tazri Food Chain combo build.
Chandra - Chandra comes off as always wanting to get things done the simplest, most straightforward way, regardless of the cost to herself. With that thought in mind, I think she’d immediately go for the blunt instrument that is Heartless Hidetsugu. He does half your life at once! Surely that means fast games.
Nissa - Nissa is quiet and aloof. She’s very inward focused and typically (until very recently) not very interested in trying new things. I imagine she has one deck. Just one that she durdles away with until she blows everyone up with elementals. Titania, Protector of Argoth.
I can't recognize the one between Sarkhan and Sorin and the one between Vraska and Xenagos
Oh, sorry I missed this before.
Between Sarkhan and Sorin is Sifa Grent. She’s a villain from the IDW comics (and dead now).
Between Vraska and Xenagos is Vronos, another dead person. He was an inquisitor from Innistrad who was chasing Garruk.Nobody chases Garruk for very long before Garruk chases back though.
so now that ive got my shipping hat on, how would the origins 5 handle a polyamorous relationship according to their color pie? warning: nsfw
gideon/white would be concerned about rules and fairness. his big priority is making sure everyone’s emotional needs are taken care of and boundaries are made clear. unity, honor, duty, all that good white stuff. probably one of the hardest people to get ‘in the mood’, because he tends to get hung up over cultural baggage about what is 'right’ or 'appropriate’. but once you get his guard down, he’s great in bed because he puts his lovers’ pleasure far before his own. is very protective of his squad.
kink: praise, dirty talk
jace/blue i think would be interested in the logistics and exploring the politics of the situation. he’d have to be wary of trying to manipulate his partners and viewing the arrangement as a puzzle to be solved. he enjoys the challenge and stimulation of juggling multiple partners but sometimes feels drained dealing with all that emotion. probably spends a decent amount of time analyzing where everyone is in the relationship, and although empathy might not come easily to blue, it can at least see the emotional logic behind a scenario if you give blue long enough to ponder. probably doesn't relinquish control easily, which is why its so hot when he does. has the tendency to seem detached or cold, but given that this is jace, he's probably just really flustered underneath and is attempting to maintain a facade.
kink: watching/being watched.
chandra/red has lots of emotion and passion to spare and loves to spread it around. she can indulge her desires and explore new, varied intimacies with the people she resonates with without yoking herself to one person. she might get carried away and bulldoze right over someone’s boundries or emotional needs, but if you point her in the right direction, a more affectionate, passionate lover you wont find anywhere else. (although she might get a little tsundere about it if you press). and as revealed recently, also an adorably awkward blushy face who cant always find the words to express all these feels but will still try in a i-made-you-a-cookie-but-i-burneded-it kind of way.
kink: experimenting/novelty. rough sex
loves to let the imagination and emotions run wild, indulging in new fantasies, positions, toys, anything.
nissa/green is pretty accepting of the concept of polyamory; nature has its harems: the lion his pride and the queen her consorts. she’d be the first to think of them as a family, and be quietly affectionate with little acts of service: making food, draping blankets, cleaning clothes, etc. and she’d be interested in keeping the balance of the group, everyone well fed and rested and together. where i think she’d have trouble communicating her own needs & desires. a very forgiving lover, and once you get her instincts going…yowza >;3 in bed, she’s less concerned about climaxing and more enjoying the simple act of being intimate with one another, being raw and real and vulnerable. might eventually turn her thoughts towards having children. revels in the idea of bringing new life into the world and the joy of raising them with her pridemates UwU
kink: pregnancy, sex for the purpose of copulation. cuddles.
liliana/black (ok i confess i dont know liliana as well as the others but imma try) is delighted that she has all these powerful lovers at her whim to indulge her every desire. enjoys predicting and provoking reactions, trying to get everyone wrapped around her little finger. finds pride in her ability to have attracted and maintained such a prestigious harem. if gideon is protective, liliana would be possessive. this is HER harem, so she’s the only one who gets to exploit them. but its not like she likes them or anything, baka. probably enjoys exhibiting her prowess and skill in the bedroom, almost as much as being duly worshiped. enjoys the banter, tension and dynamic nature of a poly-amorous relationship. and the drama >:3
kink: bsdm/power play
edit; upon reading this weeks magic fiction i wanted to make a few edits, mostly in the jace & liliana sections. i almost wanted to flip their descriptions, because in the story, liliana was the one enjoying the politics between everyone, studying the group dynamics for future manipulation potential, while jace is in the thick of things, bemoaning his lack of quality time with the group. (or just hating the tedium of paperwork, but shippers gonna ship).
i thought jace was gonna be the one tempted to distance himself and be the cool analytical observer because Blue. but i think i must not have accounted for jace's personality outside his color. or perhaps jace is manifesting the blue ideal of self improvement; progress, growth, etc. blue does encourage people to seek and expand and learn, and jace has the capacity to want that for his lovers/family/comrades. he might still see the members as tools in his arsenal sometimes; chess pieces with unique abilities that can be deployed with variations of effectiveness in a variety of situation, but that doesn't mean he also doesn't CARE about them as people. i was pleasantly surprised how emotionally invested he is to everyone's well being, how loyal hes turning out to be. aww my awkward blue babbu has real friends *tear*
Liliana is holding herself aloof for obvious reasons, she doesn't want it to get messy if she ends up having to throw members of the gatewatch under the bus on the road to her personal goals. If she lets herself think of them as ‘hers’, connects the group’s success with her own, then I can see her reaping the emotional benefits from being in the relationship. pleasure, prestige, ego-stroking, sense of belonging, that sort of thing. but at the moment shes very deliberately keeping herself an outsider while keeping just enough of herself 'in' to take advantage of them should she need to. its a complex dance, but half the thrill is in the challenge itself.
nissa was also a bit of a surprise. i was hoping she would be the Team Mom the way Gideon is clearly Team Dad. i suppose i cant blame her, shes gone through some serious shit in the last few months. if some low-key PSTD wasnt enough she’s suffering from some city-scape agoraphobia; too much industry and crowds and not enough plants. hard to Mom other people when all you wanna do is bury yourself deep in the ground to regrow in peace.
ok but i have even more reason to ship gideon and chandra now becaude i realized that even if chandra gets too excited (like during sexy times?) and sets something on fire it pays to have an indestructable boyfriend >:3
