I saw it and must share it. It is the way.

Several years ago, I started watching - for the first time - Avatar: The Last Airbender. I tweeted one react tweet per episode, and made it as far as the end of season 1. I think I need to paste that thread here and continue, especially given the upcoming Magic: The Gathering release.

All that is Italian in me wants to be angry at this, but…

Wizards of the Coast is hosting a Twitch stream to support Trans Lifeline, a hotline and non-profit organization offering direct support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.

Tune in to twitch.tv/magic on Oct 4th at 10am PT to play games with us and support!

There have been two hosts in the history of Reading Rainbow. The Legend of Literacy, LeVar Burton! And... me, Mychal Threets, a librarian 🥹🤯

I am a reader, a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow made us believe and see we belong in books, we belong everywhere ✨

youtu.be/e7es7qdWVnU

@hollyconrad.bsky.social , just shot you a DM. 🙂

If I read this right, I’m not a fit, as I’m a psychologist and not an LMHC. Thanks for thinking of me though!

CD: Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
Cassette: Invisible Touch - Genesis
Vinyl: Ernie’s Hits - Sesame Street

Hear me out: Boimler Commander deck.

Fact: There is a correlation between increased internet searches for “Tylenol” “acetaminophen” and Jimmy Kimmel’s return.

😈

I mean, you saw the Marvel Secret Lair stuff, yes? It’s pretty awesome!

Correct. My DayQuil-fueled rant was not about game balance. That said, I have questions.

“It's already proven to cause a lot of serious issues for the health of the game...” My sibling in Jesus, huh?! Name five UB cards that don’t start with the letter “Vivi” which prove all UB sets are a problem.

It’s such an old insult that it’s become new again. 😅

I’ll defer to friends like @futuredrjoan.bsky.social or @victoriatran.bsky.social who are actual experts on participatory culture and community management, respectively, but my hypothesis is that when the grognards start finding other grognards, and they’re not managed, they multiply like tribbles.

I’m not sure that’s fair. Every fandom has its problems (COUGH! COUGH! STAR WARS! COUGH! COUGH!)
Even if it’s only 1% of the people being a problem, if you have a million-person fandom, you have 10,000 grognards who ruin it for everyone else.

It may have turned into a similarly themed rant.

I’m not going to tell any of you to go touch some grass, because I think what you really need to do is learn to touch some hearts. Fandoms are social, and you never know who you’re about to dissuade by being an ass hat. I stopped playing for 25 years because of gatekeeping douchebaggery.

NOTE: none of the above applies to you if your response to the UB sets is, “You know, I tend to like the original Magic lore, so UB sets aren’t my thing, but I can see why others like them,” or, “I like the UB sets, but I do wish they were a little less frequent,” or some equivalent.

“Nobody I play with likes Universes Beyond!” Maybe if y’all went to a chiropractor for your acute cases of craniorectal inversion, you might get invited to the chill tables where people are just there to have fun. There are plenty of them.

I hate to break it to folks who instantly look at a Universes Beyond set and revile, Wizards wouldn’t keep doing them if they weren’t popular. Do me a solid and look up “false consensus effect.”

“Wizards just wants to profit!” I hear this a lot.

I’m all for nuanced critique of organizations and actions, but bluntly chanting accusations that a subsidiary of a publicly traded, multinational, non-benefit corporation of being profit-motivated is like repeatedly accusing water of being wet.

Once again, a Universes Beyond set prereleases for Magic: The Gathering, and once again the Real Fans™️ remind me that I apparently don’t like what I thought I liked, and the only way to properly like it is to hate it.

Y’all have way too much time on your hands if you police others’ enjoyment.

I have the Shield of Faith and it's beautiful. Always get compliments when I wear it!

I recently rewatched Living Single for the first time since its original run, and reading about the production background, I audible gasped, “She was only 23 when this aired?! Jesus!”