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dresshistorynerd · 4 months

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Palestinian History Between Great Powers - Part 1

From Bronze Age to Ottoman Palestine

I started writing this article months ago but as it deserves proper research, it took me a long while, and at one point I started questioning is this helpful anymore. I thought it's obvious at this point to anyone not willfully ignorant that what we are seeing in real time is a genocide, and I'm not going to convince those who are willfully ignorant. I decided to finish it anyway since I do feel obligation to do something and maybe providing some accessible historical context is what I'm capable of doing. Even if I probably won't change any hearts and minds, I think the least we can do is not forget Palestinians and fall into apathy. And at the very least more understanding of the situation is always better even when we already oppose this genocide.

This is quite out of my area of focus, so I will be doing more of a general overview of the history and link in depth sources by more knowledgeable people than try to become an expert on this. My purpose is to offer an accessible starting point for the history of Palestine to help people put historical and current events into their proper context. I don't think the occupation and genocide in Palestine pose complex moral questions - it's pretty simple in my opinion that genocide, apartheid and colonialism are wrong and need to stop for peace to be possible - but the history is complex and it's understanding needs quite a lot of background. I will do my best to represent the complexity accurately and fairly while keeping this concise. Since there is a lot of history, even if this is very general overview, it's still very long, so I did need to cut this in two parts. First part will be covering everything to the beginning of WW1, second part the British Mandate period and Israel period.

Bibliography

I'm linking my sources and further reading here so it's easy to check some specific resources even if you don't want to/have time to read 5 000 years of history right now. Because there's so much misinformation and propaganda, I read as much as I could from academic sources, linked at the top here. They are really interesting and delve deeply into specific subjects so I do recommend checking out anything that peaks your interest (Sci-Hub is your friend against paywalled papers and in JSTOR you can make a free account to access most papers). Some of them I didn't really end up using, but I still linked them here since they provide some additional context that wouldn't fit in this overview. At the end there's some accessible resources (youtube videos, podcasts etc.) which are relevant and I think good.

Pre-Ottoman Era

On The Problem of Reconstructing Pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) History - Critique of Biblical historical narratives

Canaanites and Philistines

Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: Between Large Forces: Palestine in the Hellenistic Period - Everyday life in Hellenistic Palestine

Ottoman Era

Rediscovering Ottoman Palestine: Writing Palestinians into History - Critique of politics of Ottoman Palestine historiography

The Peasantry of Late Ottoman Palestine

Consequences of the Ottoman Land Law: Agrarian and Privatization Processes in Palestine, 1858–1918

The route from informal peasant landownership to formal tenancy and eviction in Palestine, 1800s–1947

The Ottoman Empire, Zionism, and the Question of Palestine (1880–1908)

Origins of Zionism

Christian Zionism and Victorian Culture

Zionism and Imperialism: The Historical Origins

The Non-Jewish Origin of Zionism

Zionism and Its Jewish "Assimilationist" Critics (1897-1948)

The Jewish-Ottoman Land Company: Herzl's Blueprint for the Colonization of Palestine

Books

Boundaries and Baraka - Chapter II of Muslims and Others in Sacred Space - Local syncretic religious beliefs of Muslim and Christian Arabs in Palestine

Further "reading"

Israelis Are Not 'Indigenous' (and other ridiculous pro-Israel arguments) - Properly cited youtube video on settler colonialism of Zionism (Indigenous is defined here in postcolonialist way, in contrast with the colonialist, the video doesn't argue that diaspora Jews didn't originate from the Palestine area)

Gaza: A Clear Case of Genocide - Detailed Legal Analysis - Youtube video detailing current evidence on the ongoing genocide and assessing them through international law

What the Netanyahu Family Did To Palestine: Part 1 , Part 2 - Two part podcast episode of Behind the Bastards about Israel's history and Netanyahu Family's involvement in it with an expert quest

History of Israeli/Palestinian conflict since 1799 - Timeline of Palestinian history by Al Jazeera with documentaries produced by Al Jazeera for most of the entries in the timeline

Ancient Era (33th-4th century BCE)

Palestine's location in the fertile crescent, the connecting land between Africa and Asia and the strip of land between Mediterranean and Red Sea means since the earliest emergence of civilizations it has been in the middle of great powers. Thorough it's history it has been conquered many, many times for it's strategic value. Despite the changing rulers and migrating groups there has been a continuous history history of a people, which has changed, split and evolved, but not fully disappeared or replaced at any point, which is quite rare of a history spanning thousands of years.

Speakers of Semitic languages are the first recorded inhabitants of Palestine. At least from Bronze Age (c. 3300-1200 BCE) onward they inhabited Levant, Arabian peninsula and Ethiopian highlands. Semitic languages belong in the Afroasiatic language group, which includes three other branches; ancient Egypt, Amazigh languages and Cushitic languages of African Horn. Most prominent theories of the origins of proto-Afroasiatic is in Levant, African side of Red Sea or Ethiopia. In the Bronze Age the Levant's Semitic speakers were called Canaanites and there was already urban settlements in Early Bronze Age. Egypt had been extending it's control over Canaan for a while and in Late Bronze Age, 1457 BCE, it took over Canaan. Gaza, which had had habitation for thousand years already, became the Egypt's administrative capital in Canaan. Canaan stayed as Egypt's province until the Late Bronze Age collapse c. 1200-1150 BCE, when Egypt started losing it's hold on Levant. Egypt eventually retreated from Canaan around 1100 BCE. The causes of Late Bronze Age collapse are unknown, but theories suggest some kind of environmental changes that caused destruction of cities and wide-spread mass migration all around the East Mediterranean Bronze Age civilizations.

Canaanites was not what most of the people called themselves, but rather what the surrounding empires, especially Egypt and Hittites in the north, called them. Philistines appear in Egyptian sources around the Late Bronze Age collapse as raiders against Egypt, who were likely populating southern parts of Canaan, the Palestine area. Several groups with mutually intelligble languages emerged after Egypt left the area: in Palestine area Philistines, Israelites, in Jordan are Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites, and in Lebanon area Canaanites, who were called by Phoenicians by Greeks. Israelites have been theorized to split from Philistines, possibly after Aegonean migrants during the Late Bronze Age collapse influenced the culture of the costal Philistine city states, and/or through Israelites development of monotheistic faith. During Iron Age these different groups descendant from Caananites had their own kingdoms. In the area of Palestine there was two Israelite kindgoms, Kingdom of Judah is the highlands of Judah, were Israelites likely originated, and Kindom of Israel or Samaria north to it, as well as Philistine city states in the coast around the area of current Gaza strip.

Earliest historical evidence of Israel is from mid 9th century BCE and of Judah from 7th century BCE, though Israelites as a group were mentioned earlier. It's entirely possible the kingdoms predate these mentions, but the archaeological evidence suggests likely not by much. Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian empire in 722 BC, so it's entirely possible kingdom of Judah was created by retreating Israelites of the earlier kingdom. The remaining Israelites under Assyrian rule came to be known as Samaritans, marking also the split of Jewish faith into Judaism and Samaritanism. Neo-Assyrian lingua franca was Aramaic, a Semitic language from southwest Syria, which became the major spoken language in Samaria. Judah became a vassal state of Assyrians and later Babylonians. After a rebellion Babylonians fully conquered Judah in 586-587 BCE and exiled the rebels, though more recent historical study suggests it targeted the rebelling population and was not a mass exile. In 539 BCE Babylon and by extension Judah was conquered by Persian Achaemenid empire, which allowed the exiles to return and rule Judah as their vassals. Persia also conquered Samaria and Philistines. Aramaic was also the official language of the both Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid empires and replaces Old Hebrew as spoken language in Judah too, though Old Hebrew continued to be written language of religious scripture and is known today as Biblical Hebrew. Otherwise in the Palestine area there were Edomites, who migrated to the southern parts of former Judah kingdom, and Qedarites, a nomadic Arabic tribal federation, in southern desert parts.

Biblical narratives tell this early history very differently, and for a long while, those were used as historical texts, but more recent historical study has cast a doubt on their usefulness in historical inquiry. Even more recent archaeological DNA studies (like this and this) have supported the historical narratives constructed from primary historical texts.

Antique Era (4th century BCE - 7th century CE)

Under Persian rule the people in the Palestine area had a relative amount of autonomy, which lasted about 200 years. In the 330s BCE Macedonians conquered Levant along with a lot of other places. The Macedonian empire broke down quickly after the death of Alexander the Great, and Levant was left under the control of the Seleucid empire, which included most of the Asian parts of the Macedonian empire. During this time the whole Palestine area was heavily Hellenized. In the 170s BCE the Seleucian emperor started a repression campaign against the Jewish religion, which led to a Maccabean Revolt in Judea, lasting from 167-160 BCE until the Seleucids were able to defeat the rebels. It started with guerilla violence in the countryside but evolved into a small civil war. Defeat of the rebelling Maccabees didn't curb the discontent and by 134 BCE Maccabees managed to take Judea and establish the Hasmonean dynasty. The dynasty ruled semi-autonomously under the Seleucian empire until it started disintegrating around 110 BCE, and Judea gained more independence and began to conquer the neighbouring areas. At most they controlled Samaria, Galilee, areas around Galilean Sea, Dead Sea and Jordan River between them, Idumea (formerly Kingdom of Edom) and Philistine city states. During the Hasmonean dynasty Judaism spread to some of the other Semitic peoples under their rule. It didn’t take long for the rising power of the Roman Republic to make Judea into their client state in 63 BCE. Next three decades the Roman Republic and Parthian Empire would fight over control of Judea, which ended by Rome gaining control and disposing of the Hasmonean dynasty from power. It was a client state until 6 CE Rome incorporated Judea proper, Samaria, Idumea and Philistine city states into the province of Judea.

The Jewish population was very much discontent under Roman rule and revolted frequently through the first century or so. It led to waves of Jewish migration around the Mediterranean area, which would eventually lead to the formation of European and North-African Jewish groups. The Roman emperor’s decision to build a Roman colony into Jerusalem, which they destroyed along with Second Temple while squashing the previous revolt, provoked a large-scale armed uprising from 132-136 among Judean Jews, which Rome suppressed brutally. Jerusalem was destroyed again, Jews and Christians were banned from there, and a lot of Judean Jews were killed, displaced and enslaved. Rome also suffered high losses. Jews and Christians hadn’t yet fully separated into different faiths yet, but this strained their relations as Christians hadn’t supported the uprising. Galilee and Judea was joined into one province, Syria Palaestina. Galilean Jews hadn’t participated in the revolt and had therefore survived it unscathed, so Galilee became the Jewish heartland. During the Constantine dynasty, in the first half of the 4th century, when Christianity was the Roman state religion, Jerusalem was rebuilt as very Christianized. After the Constantine dynasty the Jewish relations with Rome were briefly improved by a sympathetic emperor, until Justinian came into power in 527 and began authoritarian religious oppression of all non-Christians, casting the whole area into chaos. Samaritans rebelled repeatedly and were almost fully wiped out, while Jews joined forces with several foreign powers in an attempt to destabilize Byzantium rule. By 636 the first Muslim Caliphate emerged as victors over the control of Palestine.

Muslim Period and Crusades (636-1516)

For more than 300 years under the rule of Muslim Caliphate, Palestine saw a much more peaceful period, with relative freedom and economic prosperity. Christianity continued to be the majority religion and Christians, Jews and usually Samaritans were considered People of the Book, who were guaranteed religious freedom. Non-muslims though had to pay taxes and depending on the caliph had more or less restrictions posed upon them. The position of Samaritans as People of the Book was unstable and at points they were persecuted. For the position of Jews it was a marked improvement, and after the expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem by Rome in the 2nd century, they were finally allowed to return. Jerusalem became a religious center for the Muslims too, as it was considered the third most holy place of Islam. Cities, especially Jerusalem, saw Arab immigration. The rural agricultural population was mostly Aramaic speaking, though even while Palestinian Arabs had mostly been bedouins in the southern deserts, there were few Arabic villages from the Roman era. People of the Book were protected from forced conversions, but over time conversions among the Christian population slowly increased, until Islam became the majority religion. Cities became Arabicized and slowly Arabic (also Semitic language) replaced Aramaic as the majority language. Towards the end of the first millennium persecution of Christianity increased with the threat of Byzantium.

In 970 a competing dynasty, Fatimids, conquered Palestine beginning a new era of continuous warfare and conquest by foreign powers. In the beginning of the new millennium Palestine was conquered by the Turco-Persian Seljuk empire for a couple of decades, recaptured by Fatimids for only a year, until the Crusaders took Palestine in 1099. During the next two centuries Palestine exchanged hands several times between the Crusaders and the Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate. After internal struggle the Ayyubid dynasty was overthrown by the mamluk military caste and them in lead, the Sultanate secured Palestine. First they repelled the invading Mongol empire in 1260 and by 1291 they had defeated the remnants of the Cusaders and their Kingdom of Jerusalem. The period was devastating to the Palestinian populations, cities and economic life. The Crusaders especially committed numerous massacres against non-Christians and under Muslim rule Christians were persecuted and forcibly converted. The next two centuries under the Mamluk Sultanate were peaceful and Christian and Jewish communities were afforded some self-governance and relatively high religious freedom for being recognised as People of the Book again. The state had a more contentious relationship with Christians as the wars with the Crusaders were still looming between Christians and Muslims, and at some points Christians faced persecution and forced conversions.

Ottoman Period (1516-1917)

The Ottoman Empire gained dominance in western Asia over the Mamluk Sultanate during the late 15th century and conquered Palestine in 1516. It became a great imperial power in Asia and Europe for two centuries and in the 18th century started a slow decline, eventually becoming the "Sick man of Europe". The Ottoman Empire was very decentralized and under it Palestine was at first ruled by three Palestinian families semi-autonomously. The Ottoman state didn’t pay much attention to economic development, as they considered it contrary to their chivalric culture, so they instead attracted foreign businesses with the capitulation system. Capitulations were treaties between Ottomans and a foreign power by which the citizens of that foreign power were under their jurisdiction inside Ottoman borders. This guaranteed safety and religious freedom for non-Muslim merchants and exempted them from any additional taxes applying to foreigners and non-Muslims, which encouraged them to build businesses in the Ottoman Empire. Ottomans also intentionally attracted European Jews, who faced persecution and pogroms, and had built effective international trade networks through the tight knit diaspora communities. Jews and Christians had quite well secured position in the empire as People of the Book, but Samaritans were persecuted after they had sided with the Mamluk Sultanate against Ottomans and later for being considered "pagans". City elites adopted Turkish culture, while in rural areas peasant villages and Bedouin clans remained Arabic. The rural areas were very much self-governing as both villages and Bedouin clans were fairly self-reliant with their own political structures. Villages consisted of clan-like family groups, hamulas, and the village lands were distributed between their collective ownership.

In the 19th century the Ottoman Empire was leaving behind European imperial powers in economic and military development. With the rise of the international capitalist markets, capitulation approach, which had worked well for the empire in previous centuries, was extended to markets as a very laissez faire economic policy. This did not lead to hoped economic growth however, but rather deindustrialization. The Ottoman Empire opened itself to markets it couldn’t compete in and its resources were then easy to exploit by stronger economies. The other powers, such as the European powers, avoided this by first cultivating strong national industries with protectionist policies, and then opened to international markets. The capitulation system also became a political liability the way it interacted with the protégé system. The Ottoman Empire had agreed to allow some European powers to give their protection over certain minority religious groups (mostly Christian groups) in the Empire, allowing members of those groups to claim citizenship of their protectorate nation. This had allowed those Ottoman citizens to claim the benefits of the capitulation system and cultivated trade and business for the Empire. In the 19th century the European powers, notably France, British Empire, Germany and Russia, turned their interests towards Levant which was important for their access to their colonial interests in Asia and Africa. They had a vested interest in the continuing power of the weakening Ottoman Empire, which they believed they could control through economic dominance and the protégé system. It became a competition on who could gain the most influence in the Ottoman Empire. In Palestine this led to a change in class dynamics. Christian protégés of European imperial powers were given tax exemptions from the increasing taxes, which were implemented to balance the national deposit, and better opportunities to gain wealth from international trade, turning the urban Christian Arabs into elite.

In 1832 Egypt invaded Palestine, marking a point of more rapid decline of Ottoman rule. Egypt attempted to “modernize” Palestine, which was considered backward, but Egypt's policies, especially conscription, were considered intrusive. The local self-ruling clans and families were resistant to outside powers and with their sway over the population, they rose to a popular uprising after two years of Egyptian rule. The suppression of the uprising devastated many villages and Egypt still failed to enforce order and halt violence. In 1840 Britain intervened, returning its control back to the Ottomans. They didn’t yet have capitulations with the Ottomans and were concerned over the other European powers gaining influence over the aging empire, so in return for their military assistance, they gained capitulations and named Jews and Protestants as their protégés in Levant. Palestine rapidly opened to the international markets with the increase in capitulations combined with the laissez faire fiscal policies of the empire, allowing European powers to turn Palestinian cities, especially in the coast, to centers of trade. In 1858 the Ottoman Empire also attempted to privatize land ownership to increase agricultural production and profitability in order to help with their financial troubles. Most Palestinian land was public land, but in practice owned informally by the villagers cultivating it. As long as they paid taxes, they couldn’t be evicted, which rarely happened in those cases either, and their rights to the land were hereditary. The land reform codified and formalized land ownership and removed barriers to non-villagers gaining ownership of peasant land, laying groundwork for commodifying land. The Ottoman Empire also allowed foreigners to purchase private land. This didn’t immediately lead to large-scale transfer of land ownership, but increasing taxes impoverishing the peasantry and indebting them transferred land from its cultivators to urban absentee landlords. Peasants started to turn into landless tenants and a new type of large estates were established.

Birth of Zionism

The British pushed for more control over Levant, since they wanted to secure their access to India and their colonial ventures in Africa. They didn’t have much interest in colonizing Levant themselves, which is why they were interested in backing the Ottoman Empire and gaining stronger control over it via European Jewish immigrants. European Jews had been immigrating to Palestine in small numbers for a while for religious reasons, to escape persecution and to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by the Ottoman Empire. The British though also had religious interests in supporting Jewish migration to Palestine. Since the early 19th century, there had been a growing religious movement of Christian Zionism, who sought to restore Jews into Palestine and then convert them to Christianity to cause the second coming of Jesus and the end times. As you do. They were considered fanatics, even lunatics, for their literal interpretations of prophecy, but they were enthusiastic imperialists and when they expressed the idea of restoration of Jewish Palestine in imperial terms, it gained popular acceptance in Britain. Some of the common talking points originating from Christian Zionism were Jews had the right to Palestinian land for Biblical reasons, the only way to not let the “underdeveloped” agrarian land go to waste was colonialism, and Jews would be a civilizing force in Palestine. While the end goal of Christian Zionists was conversion of Jews, they had Orientalist reverence for Jews, but among the wider imperialist support for these ideas there was in addition an explicitly antisemitic aspect. The imperialists' idea was that Britain, and Europe more broadly, could this way also get rid of the Jews.

The trouble was that at the time there was no wide interest at all among Jews to colonize Palestine. The Jews who were migrating there during the first half of the 19th century did so with all intentions of integrating to the Palestinian society. European Jews had since Enlightenment and the French Revolution gained unprecedented levels of social acceptance and equality (which still wasn’t very much), and liberal assimilationism had become the dominant ideology especially among Jewish elites. Assimilationist Jews considered Judaism a religious identity, not an ethnic one, and they rather identified with their nationality. In the latter half of 19th century Jewish socialism was contesting the liberal Jewish idea that antisemitism could be overcome with individualist approach and instead demanded structural change. During the century it became increasingly clear that the assimilationist approach couldn’t fix antisemitism as racial ideology and exclusionist ethnonationalism were gaining traction and fueling antisemitism, which culminated in the 1880s pogroms in Russia and 1894 Dreyfus Affair in France. These events certainly promoted socialist approach among many Jews, but the Jewish elite were certainly not interested in socialist solutions, where they would lose their elite status, even if for white Christians they were all second class citizens. So instead, like many elites facing the threat of socialism, they turned to nationalism. To the question of how to build a nation from a diverse diaspora, they found the answer from Christian Zionism. Jewish Zionism was distinctly secular, so while they did adopt many religious and biblical narratives and goals of Christian Zionism, they put them in nationalist terms. Their end goal was of course different from that of the millennialist Christians so Jewish Zionism was presented as a practical and rational alternative to utopian fanaticism, but they were still natural allies. Zionism was opposed in the European Jewish communities by both assimilationists and socialists, who both viewed it as countering the efforts of opposing antisemitism, which Zionists saw as an inherently impossible endeavor, and also by Orthodox Jews from a religious standpoint. Orthodox Jews denounced the secularization of the Promised Land, which according to them could only be bestowed by God and couldn’t be a state with secular power.

Before Zionism was fully formalized as a movement, there were proto-Zionist movements in Eastern-Europe as a direct response to the pogroms, with the goal of settling Eastern Jewish refugees to Palestine from 1881 forward. This is considered to be the start of the First Aliyah, the explicitly Zionist mass migrations to Palestine. The funding was secured from the European Jews, and with it the Zionists bought land from the absentee urban landlords with large estates and evicted the tenants in order to form Zionist colonies. This raised concern among Ottoman officials, who had become vary of the European exploitation of their capitulation system, which increased European influence with the immigration of European Jews. They were also concerned about the rising Arab nationalism in Palestine provoked by the European economic exploitation and even more pressingly the peasant displacement. The Ottoman Empire was already facing massive difficulties with nationalist movements in different parts of the empire, like in Armenia. They attempted to restrict Zionist land purchases with legal restrictions and failed.

The 1880s settling to Palestine was still unorganized and leaderless until Theodor Herzl, who is considered to be the founder of Zionism, joined Zionist ranks in mid-1890s and began formulating a colonialist venture in earnest. The British were supportive of the Zionist project, but as long as the Ottoman Empire was in charge of Palestine and the British could extend control over it, they weren’t interested in establishing such a state themselves. So the Zionist movement with Herzl in the lead turned to the Ottoman Empire in 1901. He envisioned the Zionist colonial project as a land company, modeled after the British and Dutch East Indian Companies, which would under imperial blessing operate fairly independently and govern over colonized land. The end goal was to build an ethnonationalist Jewish state and expel the native population. There were even dreams of Jewish empire that would colonize neighbouring countries, “civilize” them and bring them “prosperity”. To persuade the Sultan, Herz proposed to pay for the Ottoman Empire’s depts with European Jewish investments in exchange for allowing the Zionists to settle and govern Palestine. The Ottoman government was well aware of Zionist movement’s end goals and their alliances with European Imperialism, rejecting their proposals.

The Zionists evaded Ottoman restrictions anyway and continued to settle Palestine with British backing. European powers then pressured Ottomans to abolish those restrictions allowing a new wave of Zionist colonialism. The violence and pogroms in Russia had convinced some of the Eastern European Jewish socialists that fighting antisemitism was impossible, so they created Labor Zionism and used the “untouched land” to experiment with utopian socialist communes. In the process they displaced indigenous peasant hamulas, which had often for centuries farmed the land in communal ownership. Mass migration and eviction quickly provoked a predictable opposition in the Palestinian population and spread of Arab nationalist thought. This second wave of Aliyah ended at the First World War, which was also the end of the Ottoman Empire.

#history #palestine #palestinian genocide #palestinian history #colonization #colonial history #zionism #islamophobia #ottoman empire

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vidding · 5 months

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httplilyyy · 2 years

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𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐃𝐀𝐘 || 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐒

paring: alexia putellas x reader

summary: a halloween media day with a twist

warnings: a quick make out at the end but other than that its just pure fluff and the occasional swear word

word count: 3.4k

a/n: i almost got carried away and made the ending full blown smut but i think i'll save that for another day

woso masterlist

Today was media day. You were currently standing to the side with Alexia beside you as the two of you watched everyone get everything ready.

The camera crew was scattered all over the place, making sure the lights were right, the camera was at a good angle and so on.

Someone from the crew came over to the two of you and shyly held up two microphones for you both to put on.

You took both the microphones from the lady with a smile and handed one to Alexia whilst you put your one on.

What you didn’t notice, whilst you were putting on your mic, your shirt had ridden up a little and Alexia couldn’t help the shameful thoughts that flooded her brain.

As your shirt lifted, Alexia was just able to see the lower part of your abdomen, blushing profusely; she couldn't even begin to try and steer her eyes away from you.

You wouldn't want anyone else, other than Alexia, for you to do Media day with. She just made everything easier and she always managed to bring out the best side of you.

You were notoriously known as the jokester on the team but it was everyone else's turn to say the jokes when you were with Alexia. The two of you being dumped with the ‘power couple’ title even though you were only friends.

That's it. Just friends. Nothing more. Never.

But how you wished that would change.

“You okay?” You asked, noticing Alexia’s changed demeanour.

“Sí.” Alexia replied with a small nod.

“You ready to lose?” You teased, bumping your shoulder into hers.

“You’re going down, y/l/n.” Alexia smiled.

“Oh? It's like that, is it? We’re on last name basis now?”

“It's like that.”

“Oh, it’s on Putellas.”

When the crew was ready, they beckoned you over. They directed you to the seat on the right, whilst Alexia sat beside you on the left. The two of you were sitting behind a table, full of items for the video you were filming.

After the general overview of what you had to do and everything double checked over, a crew member gave you a thumbs up to signal that the camera was recording.

“Bonjour.” You smiled, looking at Alexia who shook her head with a smile. “I’m Alexia Putellas.”

“And I'm y/n y/l/n.” Alexia played along.

“Today we are doing a series of different challenges all having to do with halloween.”

“Now try and say that in spanish.” Alexia chuckled.

“Um, Hola?” You questioned.

“Spot on.” Alexia smiled, trying not to laugh.

“Right,” you laughed, “the first challenge is a timed one.” You ‘ooh’d’ for dramatic effect causing Alexia to look at you weirdly but you shrugged her off with a goofy grin.

“Who’s going first?” Alexia asked.

“Calm down, I haven't even said what the challenge is yet.”

“What is it?”

“Um, I don't actually know, hold on.” You nervously scratched the back of your neck as you looked around the table, trying to find a card that had all the challenges on it. “Ah, found it.” You grinned, holding up the card.

You quickly scanned over what was written down before placing it back on the table.

“So, seeing as we aren’t dressed appropriately, we have to get into the proper attire.”

“Oh god.” Alexia mumbled, putting her head in her hands.

“We have been given some costumes to get into and whoever does so in the shortest time will win.”

“What are the costumes like?”

“No idea.” You shrugged with a smile. “You ready to lose, Putellas?”

“It’s on, y/l/n.”

The two of you got into your positions and the camera panned to you both. You were now standing with your costume in front of you, hidden away in a bag and the same went for Alexia.

Someone from the camera crew gave you a countdown which neither of you listened to, meaning you essentially cheated, and put on your costumes as quickly as possible.

When you took your costume out of the bag the first thought that came to mind was that you’ve been stitched up. You looked to your left and saw Alexia hastily putting her costume on.

Huffing to yourself you took the costume out of your bag and began to put it on. It wasn't long before you were both finished. You turned to face Alexia again and the midfielder was curled in a ball on the floor dying with laughter.

“I’m a fucking banana.” You said, raising your arms in disbelief. “How am I a banana when Alexia is a vampire? That's not fair!”

“This is great.” Alexia laughed, making no attempt to stop.

“This is not even remotely halloween like.” You huffed. “I could be dressed as a pumpkin, not a shoddy banana.”

“Careful, y/n. Your inner Brit is showing.” Alexia chuckled as she got up off the floor, holding her stomach from laughing too much.

“Shut up.” You mumbled.

“Wait, who won?” Alexia asked as she looked between you and the camera crew.

“That would be you, Alexia.” Someone said.

“Great. Fan-fucking-tastic.” You said. “I dress up as a banana and don't even win.”

Whilst alexia was too busy celebrating her win in the first challenge she missed the way you looked at her. She looked so carefree and you couldn't help but smile, watching as she danced on the spot.

“I must say, your dancing could use a little improvement.” You chuckled causing Alexia to stop. “Hey, no. Don't stop on my account, I thought it was cute.”

Alexia couldn't help the blush that creeped up the back of her neck to the tips of her ears, trying to shield her face from you making you laugh even more. You placed an arm around her shoulders as the two of you walked back to the table.

Once you both sat back down you picked up the card which had the list of things to do on it. You looked at Alexia, silently asking if she was ready and she sent a nod with a smile back at you.

“Right, next up we have a painting challenge.”

“Oh, mierda.”

“A face paint challenge.”

“This is only going to go one way.”

“And that’s tits up.” You chuckled. “You better make me look sexy, even though I already am.”

“Keep thinking that.” Alexia smiled as she got her face paint ready.

“Wha- Hey!”

“Can I do you first?”

“Whoa, take me out for dinner first.” You smirked as you saw a crimson colour appear on Alexia's cheeks.

“I mean, can I paint your face first?”

“You sure can.”

“Alright, close your eyes.” Alexia said quietly and you did as you were told.

Alexia tried to shuffle her chair closer but she was struggling a little, trying not to knock the paint all over the floor so you slowly opened your eyes to look at Alexia’s chair before using one hand to pull her closer whilst the other held the face paint.

You sent Alexia a smile before closing your eyes again, waiting for her to do whatever design on your face.

The two of you sat so closely that one of your legs was in between Alexia’s whilst the other was on the outside, meaning Alexia had her leg between yours too. If either of you moved, you’d practically be sitting on top of one another.

You felt Alexia gently take a hold of your face whilst soft brush strokes were made. The Catelonian held your chin, moving your face for better access.

Alexia was concentrating so hard she didn't notice you had opened your eyes a little, watching as her eyes darted around your face or the way her tongue poked out of her mouth a tiny bit.

“Boo.” You shouted, breaking Alexia’s concentration for her to let out a loud scream.

“Dios mío, pequeña mierda.” Alexia shouted as she jumped away from you, an angry look in her eyes.

“Sorry,” you chuckled, “you looked too concentrated.”

“I hate you.” Alexia mumbled, holding a hand over her heart.

“Mhm, sure you do.” You smirked. “Come sit back down.”

Alexia took a minute to recompose herself before she sat in front of you once again.

“Don't do that again.” Alexia said, pointing the paint brush towards you.

“Yes ma’am.” You said as you held your hands up in surrender.

“Close your eyes.” Alexia said, shaking her head as she let a little smile slip past her lips.

It wasn’t long till Alexia had finished painting your face and she couldn't help but let out a triumphant smile at her finished product. You decided not to look at it just yet as you wanted to paint Alexia’s face.

“Your turn,” you smiled, “close your eyes.”

Alexia nodded as she closed her eyes and you couldn't help but notice how ethereal she looked. How her face was as if it was sculpted by the gods themselves.

Doing the same as what Alexia had done to you, you gently placed your forefinger and thumb on Alexia’s chin, tilting her head down a little.

With your other hand you picked up the paintbrush and dipped it into some red paint. You gently drew a scar above her eyebrow before pulling away, happy with your work and you were about to say you were finished before an ingenious idea came to mind.

You washed off the red paint on the brush before dipping it into some black paint. You carefully drew some circular glasses onto Alexia’s face before letting out a little snort at your finished product.

Saying Alexia could open her eyes, she did so and you had to cover your mouth with your hand trying to stop yourself from laughing.

“What have you done?”

“Have a look for yourself.” You chuckled, handing Alexia a mirror.

“Y/n! What the hell is this!”

“You're Harry Potter!”

“Oh my.”

“Well, what am I?” You questioned and Alexia handed you back the mirror.

“A pumpkin!” Alexia said happily, her smile reaching her ears.

“I’m a pumpkin wearing a banana.” You deadpanned, turning to face Alexia, whose expression changed thinking you weren’t happy.

“Yeah, I thought it was cool.” Alexia said, looking down and playing with her fingers that laid on her lap.

“It's great.” You smiled, noticing how her mood had gone down. “I must be the best looking pumpkin in the whole universe.”

“Oh, for sure.” Alexia said, sarcastically as she looked up with a smile.

“I definitely won this challenge.” You said smugly.

“No way!” Alexia shook her head, the two of you looking at the people behind the camera.

“I think, y/n will have to take this one.” Someone said.

“Yes!” You yelled triumphantly, jumping out of your seat.

“There is no way y/n won this round.” Alexia huffed, crossing her arms in disbelief.

“Don’t be a sore loser, la reina.” You teased, sitting back down.

“Don’t call me that.” Alexia mumbled, sounding like a small child.

“Alright, what about mi reina?” You smirked, watching as Alexia’s eyes went wide as well as the blush that crept onto her cheeks.

“What's the next challenge?” Alexia asked, trying to change the subject and ignore the fluttering feeling inside.

“The third and final round is..” You trailed off looking at the challenge card. “A pumpkin carving challenge.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Just make sure not to mix my face up with a real pumpkin.” You chuckled.

“I’ll try, you look like a replica even without the face paint on.”

“Oh, it's like that is it? You trash talking me?”

“Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?”

“Do you want me to do something about it?” You questioned, tilting your head to the side a little.

“Let’s do the next challenge.” Alexia said quietly, transfixed on how your voice sounded, sending shivers down her spine.

“First up we obviously need pumpkins.” You pointed out.

“No? Really?” Alexia asked sarcastically.

“Yes, Sergeant sarcastic.”

“Alright, Captain obvious.”

“Wait, is this my pumpkin?” You asked, looking at the small orange blob in front of you.

“It's cute.” Alexia giggled.

“Hold on a minute.” You said, looking between Alexia’s pumpkin and yours. “I’ve been stitched up here.”

“How come?”

“Look at the size of your pumpkin compared to mine. It's huge.”

“That's what she said.” Alexia whispered.

“Did you just say what I think you did?”

“You might have some hearing problems.”

“Uh huh.” You looked at Alexia with a smile.

“Yeah, you should get that checked out.” Alexia smiled and you shook your head trying not to laugh.

“Anyway, we have thirty minutes to carve our pumpkin and whoever is the best will be crowned something but I don't know what that something is yet.”

“Countdown from three?”

“Three-” Before you even finished the word Alexia had already started with a chuckle, getting all her things and beginning to carve the pumpkin.

Due to the miniscule pumpkin in front of you it didn't take long for you to take out all the pulp from inside.

You took a hold of a sharpie and began to draw your design all around your pumpkin, once you were happy with your base line you used a small knife to cut out certain parts.

Being extra careful, you didn’t take your eye’s off your pumpkin till you heard Alexia grunt, trying to scoop out all the pulp from inside her pumpkin.

You looked between your pumpkin, which was nearly done, and Alexia’s before putting down your knife and taking a hold of Alexia’s pumpkin. With a look of confusion, Alexia watched as you helped take out the pulp from her pumpkin.

It was a wordless interaction and Alexia watched your every move from your arm flexing to the way your veins crawled from your hand and up your arm.

You, completely oblivious to the way Alexia looked at you, continued to take the pulp out of Alexia’s pumpkin till it was empty. You slid Alexia’s pumpkin back towards her and continued on with your design.

It wasn’t long till you finished up your pumpkin and all you were doing was watching Alexia finish off her design. Once Alexia finally finished she looked up from her pumpkin and at you with a grin plastered on her face.

“Happy?” You asked, smiling at the Catalonian’s reaction.

“Sí.” Alexia nodded her head.

“Turn them around in three?” You suggested, gesturing to the pumpkins.

“Three, two, one..” Alexia counted and when she said one the two of you turned your pumpkins around to show each other.

You had the traditional pumpkin design on yours whereas Alexia went all out on hers. Your tiny little pumpkin was severely outdone by Alexia and you couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at your lack of effort.

“I think we know who won this round.” You huffed out a laugh and pointed to Alexia’s pumpkin.

“Really?” Alexia questioned, practically bouncing up and down on her seat.

“Yeah.” You smiled, looking at her with nothing but pure affection.

You realised you were staring but you just couldn't take your eyes off her and you didn’t want to either.

“What?” Alexia questioned, quickly catching on that you were looking at her.

“Nothing.” You shook your head with a dumb smile written across your face.

The two of you finished up the video and after crowning Alexia the halloween challenge queen you both said the outro and someone from the camera crew yelled ‘cut’.

You stood up and walked over to the camera crew, taking off your banana costume and mic before turning to Alexia who was doing the same thing.

The camera crew handed you some things to remove the face paint and you waited for Alexia before walking to a bathroom.

Once the two of you were inside, Alexia shut the door after her whilst you placed everything down by the sink.

Sharing the items between the two of you, you both began to clear the face paint from your faces. Alexia was done in a matter of minutes but you, however, were struggling to clear it all off.

“You’ve missed a couple spots.” Alexia chuckled, pointing to the small parts of face paint remaining on your face.

“It just won't come off.” You laughed along.

“Here, let me help.” Alexia said, taking the wipe from your hand, going to stand in front of you.

Alexia gently placed her hand under your chin to manoeuvre your head so she was able to get all the face paint off you.

Once Alexia was done she stepped back from you a little but you were still in close proximity.

“Thanks.” You whispered.

“No problem.” Alexia replied in a hushed tone, her breath fanning over your lips and the both of your chests rising up and down in tandem.

Neither of you moved, trying to resist the urge to do something you’d probably both regret.

“I really want to kiss you.” Alexia whispered, her lips ghosting yours.

“Then do it.” You replied.

Alexia slowly leaned in, her lips millimetres away from touching yours, silently asking if you were sure about this. The corner of your lips curved upwards as you tilted your head to the side, your lips ever so close to touching Alexia’s in front of you.

“Come on,” you said, “kiss me.”

Alexia moved in closer, her gaze fell to your lips before pressing her lips onto yours. Your hands went to cup Alexia’s cheeks whilst hers gripped onto the fabric at the bottom of your shirt, tugging you closer.

Lost in the passionate kiss everything around you started to slip away. Totally lost in the moment.

You felt Alexia slide her tongue across your bottom lip but you didn't grant her access, causing her to let out a small huff between kisses.

You chuckled before walking her backwards till her back hit the cold material of the counter. A soft gasp left her lips and you slid your tongue into her mouth, exploring every bit you could.

Alexia moved her hands from fisting your shirt up to your shoulders and you slowly moved yours down from her cheeks to rest your right hand on her waist and your left supporting you on the counter.

Alexia was trapped between you and the counter behind her, her mind fogged with thoughts of you.

Gently, you lifted Alexia onto the counter leading her to wrap her legs around your waist pulling you impossibly closer.

You trailed your kisses from Alexia’s lips and down to her neck. The Catalonian grinning as a soft hum escaped her lips.

Smirking, you felt Alexia shiver under your touch once you nipped at her pulse point, just below her ear.

Alexia craned her neck to the side so you could continue to kiss her warm, smooth skin, making Alexia sigh in content.

You pressed feather-like kisses up her neck, over her jaw and placed one more kiss on Alexia’s lips before finally pulling away to look at her.

“Why’d you stop?” Alexia questioned, trying to bring you back in for another kiss.

“Because I want to take you out before anything goes further.” You smiled, giving in and giving Alexia another kiss. “I want to do this properly.”

Alexia’s heart practically exploded, butterflies swarming her stomach.

“You really mean that?”

“Of course, I really like you.”

“I like you too, so much.”

“How about a date tomorrow? If you're free?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Okay.” You smiled, bringing Alexia into another quick kiss, one full of tenderness and care.

“I can't wait.”

The two of you rested your foreheads against each other, basking in the tranquillity that surrounded the both of you.

“You still have some face paint on your cheek.” Alexia chuckled, licking her thumb before wiping it off.

“Anywhere else?” You questioned with a smile.

“Oh yeah, just right here..” Alexia trailed off as she placed a kiss on your cheek.

“I think you missed a spot.” You said, wiggling your eyebrows.

“Did I?”

“Mhm.”

“How foolish of me.” Alexia grinned, leaning in once more and planting a kiss on your lips. It was short and sweet, leaving you both smiling like little kids at christmas.

It was safe to say, the two of you weren't in any rush to be getting out of the bathroom. Kisses after kisses leading you both to become more infatuated with each other.

if this was the result of media day, you could wait for more ones like it.

#alexia putellas imagine #alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas imagines #alexia putellas #woso imagine #woso x reader

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stormbreaker101 · 6 months

Text

Music(ology) headcanons! Part 2

My friend @klaraflamez and I have been writing a shared story based upon the wizard101 AUs we made independently. Things go somewhat off the rails, and so these headcanons that we made for Music absolutely do not work for canon, which is part of why I'm making this post separate.

An overview of our AUs:

In both Corrupted Spiral (my AU) and the Cleaved AU (Klara's), the Spiral learned so heavily on its dependency upon its Wizard that it led to the Wizards' demises. In CS, before Arc 4 could properly begin, Nora lashed out in fury, sick of being Nothing but a title and weapon, and abandons the Spiral. In Cleaved, Scarlet was killed in the final fight of Lemuria, a 1v8, abandoned and alone because the Spiral assumed she would have handled it.

The main characters of the next generation after the two Wizards (~0-5 years after Nora's departure and 25 years after Scarlet's death) each realize that even though they're not The Wizard, they still have a duty to serve the good of the Spiral.

Overall there's a major theme of destiny and responsibility not falling on just one person's shoulders. The Wizard is not the only Paradox, and the primordial magics of Light, Shadow, and Music are no longer reserved for the Wizard and the gods. They become proper schools, integrated with the other ten (7 playable schools + 3 Astrals).

I've written and come up with spells for the Music school, as one of the characters I'm writing ends up as the Scion of Music, while Klara's writing the revamped Shadow and Light schools because her OCs become the Scions for those.

More details on Music as its own school in CCSAU (both lorewise and mechanicswise because i am gamerpilled), and all the spells themselves plus their explanations (where I derived inspiration from) are under the cut!

Music is the magic of creation. 'Outgoing' mechanics are the name of the game. It is a major hitter like Fire and Storm, but also has access to heals like the more defensive Life magic that came from the Song of Creation. Music's greatest weakness is that it is a major glass cannon, with no spells in its repertoire able to mitigate incoming damage.

The reason Music is tied to Fire and Storm alongside Life lorewise is because the Scion of Music first studied Fire and Storm magic alongside Musicology, before Music was its own school. Our Scion shaped Music as much as Music shaped him.

Now onto the spells themselves!

MAINLINE (primarily ATTACKING) SPELLS:

1 pip - Lyrebird - 90-130 damage. Based on the lyre instrument, and also a nod to Lyra, the fanon Music school tree in the Cleaved AU.

2 pip - Trombun - 220-260 damage. A pun on trombone and bunny.

3 pip - Earworm - 500 damage over 3 turns. Colloquially, earworms are catchy bits of song that just stay in your head and WON'T GET OUT, which is the inspiration for making this spell a pesky overtime. Also, taken from the Earworm/Brainworm mobs in Empyrea.

4 pip - Melodeer - 465-525, + 20% heal OR damage blade to self. Melody + deer. Here we begin to see some utility and niche poke its way into spells so that they're not plain and pure damage. Also, just to balance Music against the other 'hitter' schools a little bit more, it doesn't get a 4-pip AoE.

5 pip - Volta Bracken - 400 damage AND 400 health to self. A reference to volta brackets (an element in musical notation), with language nodding at Storm and Life magic (volt as in electricity, bracken as in a kind of plant). Yes this spell is an objectively better version of Beary Surprise. I hate Beary Surprise so much why is the bear both anthro and nude. why does he fucking smile like that. why can i see the whites of his eyes. WHY THE HUG?

6 pip - Resonance - 525-610 damage + remove all blades on 1 target. A single-target version of Myth's dreaded Earthquake.

7 pip - Horschestra - 700 damage to all enemies. Your classic 7-pip AOE. Horse + Orchestra, taken from a song in the Homestuck OST because it made me laugh tbh.

8 pip - Revivace - 1200 Heal to all allies. Name derived from Revive (synonym of Rebirth) and Vivace (musical mood). Meant to be a parallel to Life’s Rebirth spell, since Bartleby is the closest thing to a Music school tree in CS. However Rebirth gives an absorb-shield, which counts as temporary HP even if the spell heals someone to full, while Revivace has no extra defense.

9 pip - Crescendo! - 100 damage turn 1, then a DoT for 200, 300, then 400 damage, to all enemies. Crescendo is a musical term for "get gradually louder"

10 pip (Azteca) - Ceramic Drake - 1000 damage to 1 target, then 625 damage to all enemies over 3 rounds. The first of Music's spells that take on aesthetics derived from the world they're learned in. It takes inspiration from the tlapitzalli, an Aztec flute-like instrument made of ceramic.

5 pip + Shadow (Darkmoor) - Rehubution - 810 damage + 25% Music trap to all enemies. The spell's name comes from the word Retribution and the rehu, an instrument made by the Māori of Aotearoa. All of the canon Darkmoor spells are actually Khrysalis themed, and @chrono101 (now deactivated) made a really cool post about how the Hoppers had Aotearoan references that I remembered while coming up with this post. The effect in combat is derived from Fire from Above before it was nerfed and then slaughtered.

6 pip + Shadow (Polaris) - Luphilymn - 1260 damage, +1 turn to Damage over Times (DoTs) on enemy and +1 turn to Heal over Times (HoTs) on self. Luphilim + Hymn.

4 pip + Shadow (Mirage) - Spirit of the Groove - 900 damage, divided between targets (like all other Mirage spells). This spell is less a reference to something Miragian, and more a nod to a character who had a major impact on the Scion of Music's development. Ceramic Drake, Luphilhymn, and the upcoming spells of Ramalong and Jungle Drum Jam also are nods to characters that the Scion of Music was greatly supported by.

X-pip + Shadow (Karamelle) - Ramalong - 220 damage per pip. A blend of sing-along and the candy rams. This spell is an X-pip because there are a handful of songs/lullabies about counting sheep. Count your pips up!

6 pip + Shadow (Lemuria) - Jungle Drum Jam - 850 damage to all enemies, +40% Music blade AND +40% heal blade to self. Taken from this once-off moment in Lemuria where Bantam says that he and the Koolakamba just casually use advanced musicology for the sake of boogieing.

The effect is taken DIRECTLY from the far superior path of the Life Lemuria spell, Lord of the Jungle, before KI nerfed it to bits. I am so fucking mad about the nerf. I fucking liked having a decent shadow AoE on my Life and now it's useless again. <- had to get my gamer rage out sorry.

1 pip + Fire pip + Storm pip (Novus) - Tempo Inferno - 800 damage, gambit 1 blade into a DoT for 500 over 4 turns, gambit 1 trap into a HoT for 500 HP over 4 turns. Tempo refers to the speed of a musical piece, and both pieces of this spell's name are nods to Storm and Fire as well (Temp- for tempest, Storm's most iconic spell, Inferno for fire). This spell would also hold visual reference to that one sidequest about how clocks don't work on Novus.

1 pip + Death pip + Myth pip (Wallaru) - Crab Grave - 575 damage to all enemies. A reference to the extinct Juggernaut crabs of Wallaru, the still living Tasmanian giant crab, and the legendary Crab Rave meme. Given that all of the Wallaru spells' archmastery pips are the ones backwards from the Novus spells' pips, it made sense to make Crab Grave's pips the roshambo opposite to Tempo Inferno's. Myth is the roshambo opposite of Storm, and Death is the roshambo opposite of Fire. Don't believe me on Death and Fire? Look at how Balance's Novus gear has 3 variants that pair Ice-Life, Storm-Myth, and Fire-Death as its archschools. No I don't know why the Balance Wallaru spell is Death-Storm instead of Death-Fire I don't get it <- gamer raging again.

UTILITY SPELLS:

There are some utility spells that every school gets access to, simply changed per school: the basic Blade and Trap and Shield are simply named Music Blade, Music Trap, and Music Shield, because they're standardized for all the schools (Except Ice Shield, which is actually Snow Shield, for whatever reason?). Though, to put a wrinkle into things and keep with Music's theming as hyper-outgoing, Music Trap is the only ward spell (a spell that affects incoming damage rather than outgoing) that Music gets permanent access to. Music Shield would be TC only. Traps get special treatment because of Maulwurf von Trap existing. I like the guy don't @ me.

Then there's the utility spells that are just about the same for each school but with unique names. These include:

the 2 pip damage bubble - Circle of Fifths, after an important element in music theory. +25% damage to all outgoing Music spells AND +25% to all outgoing Music heals (the boost to healing alongside damage is unique to Music. Life gets Circle of Thorns (+25% damage) and Sanctuary (+60% healing) as two different bubbles.)

the 4-pip critical and pierce bubble - Acoustic Arena, +15% Music critical and +20% Music pierce.

the dispel - Mute

the Taunt/Pacify - Soloist, Taunts the enemy for 2 turns, making you the only target they can hit. Yes, having a glass cannon school gain taunt is a bit poor in game design, typically you want your glass cannons to have some form of Pacify so that they're not killed as quickly, but thematically Music becoming a loud center of attention makes more sense to me.

the complementary triad shield - Eclipse Shield, -70% incoming Light and Shadow damage. The parallel to Storm's Thermic Shield (-70% Fire and Ice) or Death's Dream Shield (-70% Life and Myth). Like Music Shield, because this spell is both a staple piece of utility that every school should have access to and a defensive ward that goes against Music's school identity, it would only exist as a treasure card.

The level 75 minion from The Professor - Baronness Webberfeld - 5 pips, summon a minion of Music. She is a reference to Baronness Elberfeld, a minor character from the Sound of Music. Because I had to get a reference to that in. Because I am normal about Maulwurf von Trap and his source media.

And then we get to the unique utility spells, the gimmicks that gives Music its identity in-game or give it thematic support.

Tune Up - 0 pips, +20% accuracy to the next outgoing Music spell. A parallel to Storm's Lightning Strike (which back in my day only gave +10% accuracy, not +25%). Music spells have a base accuracy of 70% like Storm, so the accuracy buff would be greatly needed at lower levels.

Bangsnap! - 2 pips, Confuse or stun each enemy for 1 turn.

Gurdy-hurdy - 3 pips, Confuse or stun each enemy for 2 turns.

Bangsnap and Gurdyhurdy go together, I'm thinking of them being from the Grizzleheim and Wintertusk spell quests at level 35 and 55. Bang snaps are small explosives that only release a loud sound but do no damage. Gurdy-hurdy is a reference to another in-game moment.

(The hurdy-gurdy, un-reversed, is a kind of musical instrument.)

And, yep! Myth is no longer the only school with the Confusion mechanic! Yippee! (I can hear the gamerbro players scream.) This is because before Music became a standalone school in CCSAU, Klara had the idea that, the way some Wizard101 spells are musicological despite not being in the school of Music, some Pirate101 abilities are inherently musicological as well, namely Blast of Discord.

And this is an ability that our Scion of Music was able to learn before Music became an independent school, so rather than take that ability away from him, we decided to incorporate it into Music's entire repertoire.

Leitmotif - 2 pips, 305 HP to 1 target, then 305 more HP 3 turns later. A leitmotif is a snippet of a musical melody that comes back later in a piece or in another piece (Toby Fox, one of my favorite composers, uses leitmotifs to the MAX.)

Sonatyr - 4 pip, 650 Health + 30% Healing Blade to all. Satyr + Sonata. Does less health than Life's Satyr because I don't want to completely upstage Life, but giving an extra blade to everyone is useful. It buffs every healer, and would count for any blade-based gambits/secondary effects.

Adagio - 1 pip, +1 turn to a HoT on an ally or to a DoT on an enemy. Adagio means for a piece of music to slow down.

Allegro - 1 pip, -1 turn to a HoT on an enemy or to a DoT on an ally. Allegro means for a piece of music to speed up.

Adagio and Allegro are spells that go together. If they were to be implemented in-game, I'd have them be learned at the same time. Having a spell that does different things depending on whether it's on an ally or enemy is really interesting to me, though it would be a pain in the ass to code.

Encore - 5 pips, force your target to cast the same spell for the next 2 turns. Encore, of course, means "to play again". Taken directly from Pokemon because why not?

Baton Pass - X pips, give your blades to an ally, universal and at half-value, (1 pip per blade). Also derived from Pokemon because why not? The half-value gimmick comes from Bantam's cheat of "I'll be taking that, thanks!" Where he replaces a blade you cast on someone else with a universal blade of half value. The devs intended that cheat to be annoying and discourage buffing one player to the max, but it's actually a REALLY HANDY mechanic when used correctly. The half-value blade would count as a unique blade that therefore stacks with whatever other blades your ally has.

Perfect Pitch - 1 pip, +20% accuracy to all allies. Perfect pitch is defined as the ability to tell exactly what note(s) a sound is without any reference. This spell would be copy-pasted over from Life, and also derived from the Pirate101 abilities Call to Arms and Esprit de Corps, which both boost your team's accuracy. (Esprit also gives dodge, a stat that I cannot find any way to translate into Wizard101 that wouldn't be a defensive ward, which Music does not do). The animations for those two powers feature musical instruments (a drum and a trumpet), which makes it feel very musicological to me and therefore fitting for Music itself.

Fortissimo! - 2 pips, +15% Critical chance to all allies. Fortissimo is music speak for "BE FUCKING LOUD!" This spell is derived from the Pirate101 abilities Discipline and Enduring Discipline, which (are supposed to) give +5% and +10% critical chance to all allies. (I have heard that the abilities that purely increase critical chance rather than another stat simply don't work because Pirate101's code is made out of silly string, but that's besides the point). There are very few spells that affect critical, so it's a niche that Music could fill in if it wanted to.

This probably isn't even enough utility, Wizard101 has a SURPRISING amount of spells it throws at you. It's such an in-depth game. I love it. I am normal about Wizard101.

Also, Klara was absolutely AMAZING and drew some of the spells!

#wizard101 #headcanon #musicology #i wrote this all through yesterday up until like. 12:30 am and then wrote some more this morning.#i got incredibly rambly and jargony and for that i am sorry #i am unfortunately a gamer and i know wiz mechanics #i have THOUGHTS #i am. so normal. <- lie #corrupted spiral #cleaved au #CCSAU #leah speaks :3

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ut-poppy-askblog · 1 year

Note

What's the layout of the omega timeline?

Alright so this question made me dig into my files to see if I could find a thing I was making- a map with at least a generous view of the OT as it is now. And I found it!

So what we see here is a fairly underdetailed map of the OT. And there's also a sideview I used in the Underevent 2022 trailer.

Eventually, I want to provide a full index of all the locations within it, but for now I'll give a brief overview off the top of my head.

The OT in Omega Timeline: Poppy's Story is comprised of three islands:

South Island - The first Island to be built, and the second smallest. This is the closest island with generally speaking the most activity in visitors. The Door area exists around this island. And the door area is ever-changing in amounts of doors (those dots there are doors, but even then, there is probably many than I can realistically draw on). Within exist a handful of landmarks such as the Timeline Plaza, Coofus Garden, and a Lake. Admittedly, I haven't come up with a cool name. Mr. Asgore lives here, notably.

North Island - The youngest of the islands, but no less important. In this island, there exist a few foundational buildings such as the Power Plant, a BIG laboratory facility (which is where people like Fling Ding work at, for instance), and a smaller settlement town (which Fling Ding also lives in).

West Island - The second of the islands, but ostensibly the most populated. This is the island where most of the actual, permanent residents of the Omega Timeline live. It's the largest of the islands, with farmland, a great forest expanse (with a few secret locations within), the Mirror lake, the Colliseum, and the NewHomeTown... Town. That's where people the likes of Fasha, Cadence, and Poppy live.

Oh, and let's not forget the Mountain, which on the outside holds the weather facility (that facilitates clouds and weather to the whole Omega Timeline), and within exists an entire underground subsection of the OT population, with likely its own climates and whatnot. (No barrier keeping people inside the mountain, mind you).

Again, admittedly don't recall having tapped into what cool names could be, but if I remember them, I'll eventually add it in the proper post.

All of the islands have everything a city could need (hospitals, schooling facilities, so on and so forth). And all of the locations in the Omega Timeline are kept in place by walls buit around them. These walls tend to have different colors depending from where you're standing.

I'd imagine it might be more varied than this, but again, these are for roughly demonstrating stuff.

But yeah that's a general look at the layout of the OT.

#ooc ask #ot poppy story #omega timeline #undertale #undertale au #anon #ask

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marlo-noni · 29 days

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Thank you @cynosurus for asking if I've ever written about my Mandarin learning journey, because I haven't, and I have stuff to say about it!

So, why and how did this middle-aged white lady learn Chinese? Here's the first part of that story, which focuses on why and how I started, and gets pretty introspective.

First of all, I was born and raised in the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada, and I've lived in Vancouver proper since 2003. We have a very large Chinese-Canadian population. As of 2009, about 30% of people in Vancouver have some Chinese ancestry.

I've always been really into languages. In my first year of university, I studied Latin, and the grammar was so difficult that I wasn't motivated to continue studying a dead language.

So in my second year, in 1999, I started studying Mandarin. I thought (1) it would be a challenge, (2) it's a very useful language to know in Vancouver, (3) I grew up around a lot of overt anti-Asian racism and wanted to combat that, and (4) I wanted to learn more about the Chinese culture that was always around me but that I knew practically nothing about. It also helped that my grandmother, always a free thinker, had been practicing tai chi since 1980 (the year I was born), and my grandparents went on a trip to China in the mid-90s and came back with interesting photos and stories.

I think it also must have been in the zeitgeist in the 90s that Asian culture was cool, and white people wanted to appropriate it. I was certainly into J-pop and anime by then, and I actually wore a qipao to grad (Canadian equivalent of senior prom) that I bought in Chinatown. If you've seen or read Scott Pilgrim, which takes place in Toronto (which also has a very large Chinese population) in the 90s, that gives you a bit of an idea of white Canadians' relationship with Chinese-Canadians at that time.

I say all this just to make it clear that although very few white people in my community studied Chinese back then, and one of the reasons I started studying it was anti-racism, I wasn't some galaxy-brained politically pure being. I had good intentions, but I still lived in that time and did a lot of the same ignorant stuff other white people did. I had Chinese friends, but I cringe when I think of some of the things I said to them and did back then. It has been a decades-long learning process for me.

I'm also very lucky that my university (the University of British Columbia, aka UBC) has an extremely robust Asian Studies program. My Chinese* classes were very intensive - 2 hours long, 4 times a week, with language labs on top of that (I can't remember anymore how long). We got 6 credits per semester instead of 3 because it was double the coursework and class time of a regular class. Because I intended to minor in Chinese, I also took Asian Studies classes, including a general overview of Asian history (2 semesters long), modern Chinese literature in translation, and early Chinese dynastic history.

I studied Chinese in university for 3 years. UBC had two Chinese language streams - one for "non-heritage" speakers, and one for "heritage speakers". They interviewed all the students beforehand to decide which stream we should be in. Being in the non-heritage stream made it nearly impossible to minor or major in Chinese, simply because it takes so long to learn. I would estimate we were only at HSK 2, approaching HSK 3, by the time my third year was done. But the fourth year, the last year, placed all the heritage and non-heritage students together, and the fourth-year classes were reading Chinese literature. One girl in my class, who'd lived in Taiwan before and was the best student in our class, went to speak with a fourth-year professor to ask if she could take his class because she wanted to minor in Chinese. He basically told her it would be impossible. I can understand the university's dilemma, though. I don't know how they teach it now - if they've ever come up with a solution. I think now there are probably more non-heritage students who studied Mandarin in high school. That simply wasn't an option when I was growing up.

The other thing is that I wasn't a great student in university, because I hadn't yet been diagnosed with depression and wouldn't be until my 5th year (I was also working part-time, so I did fewer classes and attended for an extra year). University was slowly making my mental illness worse until I finally had a breakdown in my final year. So my first year of studying Chinese, I got pretty good grades, but by my third year (fourth year of being in university), I was getting C+'s.

So by the time I was done university, I'd say I was at about HSK 2 level, and it was time for me to start working. From then on, any Chinese study I did would be self-study, and like many people's hobbies, my interest waxed and waned over time. More on that in future posts.

(*)at that time, UBC didn't teach Cantonese, even though the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora in Vancouver spoke it. I think that's been historically true for most West Coast cities in North America, although that has been changing. So the only option at that time was Mandarin. Also, we learned simplified characters.

#me #mandarin #中文

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k3fanblog · 8 months

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Best K3 song bracket: HKM edition!

Group stage overview

Round 1 overview

Round 2 overview

Round 3 overview

Quarter finals overview

Semi finals overview

Finals overview

We all had fun in the full K3 song bracket, but because the og songs were dominating I suggested to hold separate polls for the other 3 generations and over 20 people thought that was a fun idea. The first of those 3 competitions, the KKJ bracket, has been finished now so it is time to move on the the third generation: the HKM bracket!

HKM have 73 songs (unless I missed something) and a poll has shown a preference for a 64 song bracket. We hence need to lose 9 songs, which we'll do by dividing the non-singles over 9 polls of 5/6 songs. Only the song with the least amount of votes will not move on to the bracket, all other songs will get a chance!

(The colours indicate the different albums, as I wanted to divide them more or less evenly over the groups.)

The songs from the group stage will then be placed in the bracket corresponding to their placing in the groups*

FAQ:

What will you tag the polls?

All polls will be tagged #Best HKM song bracket

When does the tournament start?

I'm planning to start on October 13th

How many polls will you post per day?

I have found that about 4 polls a day is nice for me in both a preparing way and being able to listen to the songs before voting way, so I’ll do that. The group stage will be posted over 2 days with 5 polls on one of the days though.

How did you seed the bracket/make the groups?

I seeded the bracket based on the songs' performance in the big bracket. (See this post for a full ranking of all 128 songs.) I did a similar thing for the group stage, but that was more coarse, as many songs only got 1 vote in the original group stage, so I got to also shuffle them around a bit to get a proper division of the different albums.

How did you determine what songs are singles?

A combination of the Discografie van K3 Wikipedia page and looking at what songs have video clips. With clips from specials it was a bit confusing, because not all felt like they should be counted as singles? However the group stage should make sure all actual popular songs get through to the main bracket.

Why is this in English?

Because I want to leave the option open for non-Dutch speaking people to be(come) K3 fans.

What happens if a poll ends in a tie?

I will let them face off in a 1-day poll, if that doesn’t give a winner, both will continue.

What happens if multiple songs in the group stage get zero votes?

In this case I will let them face off in a 1-day poll to determine a loser.

*OP reserves the right to switch the order of the group-stage songs in the final bracket based on results in the groups/earlier rankings (Because Winner Group 9 has a better rank than Winner Group 1 right now (because of reasons), while maybe Winner Group 1 proves to be much more popular. Though this was probably a bigger problem in the original bracket, where Winner Poule 20 was up against Tele-Romeo, the later number 2, and Winner Poule 1 was up against Bubbel which ended in 75th place.)

#k3 #k3.2 #Best HKM song bracket #best k3 song bracket #dutch #flemish #belgium #I said early this week but it has become late this week #but! still this week

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theculturedmarxist · 7 months

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The principal news items on Russian state television this evening were the reception Vladimir Putin was given by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and the succession of meetings that he had with other heads of state who are participating in the 10th anniversary celebrations of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

You won’t find a word about the Russian President’s visit to Beijing in this evening’s online New York Times, but the paper’s editorial board is slow to post news about Putin, probably waiting for the State Department to suggest the proper ‘spin.’ However, The Financial Times online gives Putin ‘front page’ coverage in two articles: one is an overview of his scheduled meetings and the other focuses on his talks with one leader in particular, prime minister Viktor Orban of Hungary.

Let us stop for a moment to consider what the FT wants us to know about Putin in Beijing. And after that we can come back to the Russian coverage, which not only casts a different light on what you read in FT but provides a good deal more factual information to take in.

*****

In keeping with its regular propagandistic journalism, the FT cannot print an article about Putin without reminding its readers what a pariah he is, a man pursued by international courts, a man who is isolated and weak. The title itself already sets the tone: “Vladimir Putin visits Beijing for first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Yes, they concede in the first paragraph that he arrived in China “for a high-level meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping,” but then take the air out of that by saying it was the Kremlin which described Putin as the ‘main guest’ at the event, not their own reporter on the ground in Beijing.

Two lines down we read: “The Russian leader cut back his foreign travel after the war in Ukraine began and until last week had not left the country since a war crimes indictment from the International Criminal Court in March.” We are reminded that Putin skipped the G20 meetings in Indonesia and in India in September.

Thus, almost half the article is spent telling us about where Putin has not traveled to and nothing about this visit to Beijing.

Moving on, the authors speak about how “Russia had become increasingly dependent on China as an economic lifeline” ever since the launch of its Special Military Operation and imposition of sanctions by the West. This is a quote from a former political adviser at the European parliament who is now with a university in Taiwan. The same expert completes the downgrading of Russia by explaining that it is the ‘junior partner’ in the relationship with China.

After kicking the tires of the Belt and Road Initiative in general for having to renegotiate or write off $79 billion in bad loans, the authors give us four lines at the end that actually contain some news, of which I quote two below:

“Putin met Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban and Vietnamese president Vo Van Thuong on Tuesday, ahead of further meetings with Thai, Mongolian and Laotian leaders.”

The space allotted to the close-up photo of Putin and Xi smiling complacently to one another at the head of the article is six times bigger than the actual news in the text of the article.

The separate article “Orban meets Putin in bid to ‘save everything possible’ in bilateral relations” might be said to be marginally better journalism though the same Max Seddon in Riga is a co-author of both. The editors have done their best to spoil everything by giving it the subtitle “European head is first western leader to meet Russian president since issue of war crimes warrant for his arrest.” Once again the big photo of Orban and Putin, clasping hands at their meeting, tells more than the text.

There are some of the same general reminders here of Putin’s alleged isolation and pariah status, but they are given more force by a quotation from the U.S. ambassador to Hungary condemning the meeting: “…Orban chooses to stand with a man whose forces are responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine…”

The only neutral remarks in the article catalog the common business interests of Russia and Hungary, including natural gas supply and a nuclear power plant under construction by Rosatom.

*****

Russian television news support the view that Putin is the main guest at the BRI gathering in Beijing by videos showing the entry of the participants to the state banquet this evening: the procession is led by Putin and Xi side by side. Just behind them is Xi’s wife and Kazakhstan president Tokaev. The several dozen others follow behind. Similarly in the video of all the leaders lined up for their group photo, Putin and Xi are together in the very center chatting to one another. Questions anyone about who is who, and what is what?

Perhaps the Russians go overboard in stressing the great demand of other participants for one-on-one time with Putin at the large residence which the Chinese made available for holding these tête-à-têtes in discrete luxury. Pavel Zarubin, the host of the Sunday evening program Moskva, Kremlin, Putin is a master at showing off details like the line of limousines of leaders waiting outside for their time in the sun with Putin.

Aside from footage from the meeting with Orban, Russian television presented to viewers the public part of Putin’s meeting with the president of Laos, who opened the conversation speaking passable if heavily accented Russian. As we learned, he was studying at Leningrad University during the same years as Putin, though in a different department. The Vietnamese president also made reference to studies in the Soviet Union in their opening remarks for the cameras. His talks with Putin were likely about energy first of all since Gazprom is fairly active in the country. Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller is in the Russian delegation. As for the meeting that Putin had with the interim president of Pakistan, who is an English speaker, we know that they discussed energy projects and deliveries of more than a million tons of Russian grain to Pakistan, presumably paid for in yuan. With the Mongolian president, Vesti tells us they discussed a new gas pipeline which apparently is intended to supply Mongolia itself and not only serve as a transit route to China.

However, from the Russian perspective these side meetings with other BRI Forum participants are small beer. What they are awaiting with great anticipation is the several hours tomorrow that Putin and Xi will spend one-on-one and then are joined by their respective delegations. We know that the situation in the Middle East is at the top of their agenda, with a secondary focus on the Ukraine war and remaining time devoted to further development of economic ties.

The one tantalizing tidbit that Russian news (Sixty Minutes) threw out to viewers is that whereas Putin returns to Moscow tomorrow evening, Foreign Minister Lavrov flies to North Korea for a meeting with Kim.

#gilbert doctorow #vladimir putin #xi jinping #new york times #us propaganda #BRICS #belt and road initiative

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circa-specturgia · 2 years

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Writeblr Intro+ WIP Masterpost

Around time I got to this isn’t it…? I promised myself I’d do a proper re-intro once I had a bit more experience with this site and I’d say 3 months is a good! So, then, let the reintro commence! Starting with the WIPs! About The Author at the bottom!

Note: All bits without a link are posts I have yet to make but plan to! Maybe I’ll open asks to have y’all chose which you’d like to hear first! We’ll see…

Circa Specturgia

The planet of Istra is a mysterious one… The further you venture from civilization, more dangerous and wild the world get, with remnants of an ancient time now long passed, and yet, still echoing…

[Actual Plot Summary In-Progress]

Aesthetics, Asks & Assorted Others

Aesthetics and Intro to Istra Cas’ Favorites + Some Aesthetics On Vælan Ships Circa Specturgia Lootbox Istran Tech Tamara’s Guns Istra Map Designs A Few Historical Figures

Characters

The Cast Intro

Specturgy

Specturgy - Brief - A TL;DR overview of the system Specturgy - Introduction Specturgy - Specters Specturgy - Jynkaturgy & Viðumancy

Races

Race - Æris Race - Væla Race - Casian Race - Vestarii Race - Jihn Race - Eh’Sheyva Race - Tessekan Race - [Remains Unnamed]

Scenes & Snippets

In a red courtyard - 1.7K Comfort - 0.2K The stars were shining - 0.8K I'll carry you... - 0.4K ...when you've fallen asleep - 0.8K It's as good as - 0.5K Fratricidium - 1.1K

Fingertips and Shadows - 4.7K (smut)

In Endowment, Servitude - 0.7K (Crossover w/ @bloodlessheirbyjacques)

You’re a terrible influence on me - 3.7K (Part I of the crossover w/ @bloodlessheirbyjacques) (smut) (Previous part of this AU by Jacques here!)

The Main Course - 2.3K (Part II of the crossover w/ @bloodlessheirbyjacques) (smut) (Previous part of this smut here!)

Lost & Found

Perception, dreams, ideas, concepts, nightmares, thoughts... These are the things that shape the world. Lily Maradona becomes aware of that on the day when a man who bends space comes for her imaginary friend.

A writing collaboration with the brilliant @agrimedena-drax! ✨ For more details on character check out her blog! ✨

Characters

Jehoel / Joel / Iahoel / יהואל Victor

Introduction

Memorandum

Lore & Worldbuilding

The Lost & Found Institute Overseers / Watchful Reality Bends Technology

Prometheus

46.5 Billion light years. The crew of the Prometheus II mission find themselves beyond the reaches of the Earths observable universe. Far beyond the safety of home. And yet, far from alone... Ancient alien civilizations, ancient ruins, an intergalactic mystery, ghosts and beings of the final frontier, which the seven of them must face, if they hold on to any hope of getting home.

Assorted Things

Intro to Prometheus Prometheus Lootbox

Scenes and Snippets

Prologue - Sol 180

A statue of ice stands alone in a field of silver Machine

Untitled WIP

The world has long since begun to heal. Generations have been born, and no one lives who still cries and recoils at the sight of fire. The world is green once more. Turns out the end of the world as we know it wasn't the same as the end of the world.

Assorted Posts

Brainstorming post (Ft. @jess-p-edits)

Snippets

Satellite Dishes Roofrunners Expedition

About The Author

And so, like a phoenix, I am reborn! Thoughts on the new colors y'all? But, onto the topic! I don't think I've gotten any better at this since last time, so I'll just go over the key notes:

Writing + Reading

Fantasy, from the high to the low and all of the stuff in between!

Contemporary fantasy, supernatural fiction, and urban fantasy are just great.

Anything Sci-Fi. Seriously. From the more energetic and hopeful daring explorations to the cosmic horror and soul-shaking solitude of the abyss, all of it is damn brilliant. Especially love me some science in my science fiction!

Sharing ideas! Talk about people’s WIPs, characters, and just hearing from all these brilliant and creative people! It’s just such a human experience to hear the excitement in someone voice or writing when they share things about something they put so much work and time and love into, y’know?

WORLDBUILDING. There’s just something about a world that’s well thought out with little details, or just unique, and vibrant, and creative that makes me happy, and, per what I said above? Hearing about people’s worlds is the BEST.

Mortally gray characters, Queer characters, Morally gray queer characters.

As for just general stuff:

Oversized anything, hoodies, sweaters, blankets, all of it is so cozy! Fireplaces, in snowed-in cabins in the woods are my jam.

Tea. (Currently love me some milky oolong.)

Drawing! I mainly do traditional art, pen and paper, been thinking about making a sideblog for it all...

D&D is just wild. If you write and haven’t ever played you’re missing out. If you just haven’t played in general, you’re missing out!

All pronouns are fine, lost me gender in Ye Olde Gender War, back in '69. Hovering in the general vicinity of being a bi/pan guy, so those also fit if you want.

Pretty much married to @agrimedena-drax 🖤✨

Lovely to meet y'all, new and old, and welcome to Writeblr!

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astroscientia · 2 years

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Astro-Forecast: Virgo New Moon🌙

Disclaimer: This is a general overview. I cannot cover everything and chose to focus on the most relevant info for each sign!

Date: August 27/28- depending on where you live in the world.

This new moon gives us the chance to focus on:

Our mental and physical health, how we organize our tasks to get things done, how we can be of service to others, and our habits.

This moon will be squared by the Gemini Mars and might generate tension if you want to start something new. How this plays out depends on your rising sign (SEE BELOW).

It is also important to manifest using pen and paper during this time because the earthy moon emphasizes the mechanical act which puts our desires (moon) on paper (mercurial quality of Virgo) through physical labor (earth).

On to the rising signs/placements:

🌸 Aries:

This new moon will be activating your 6th house of health, debt, service, and habits. Since Mars, your ruling planet will be making a square to this new moon, I anticipate that this might cause fighting in the home or minor physical illness that informs you of your lack of proper habits to take care of your health. I've noticed a lot of Aries risings are neglecting their health and this new moon might be a warning that you need to be more careful. It can also mean that you might suddenly need to make repairs to your devices or car, or that you need to pay a debt.

🌸 Taurus:

In your 5th house, this new moon is telling you to start a new hobby and make sure you can monetize it too! (Mars in the 2nd house for 7 months). Or it could indicate that you might be writing a book or becoming an author. You might gain public recognition for certain efforts- mostly literary or anything text-based. Knowing that not all Taurus placements will suddenly become famous, I'd say this might manifest in a good effort to write something or express yourself somehow in a way that makes you feel proud of yourself!

🌸 Gemini:

As a mutable sign, you'll be more impacted by this new moon. It'll be happening in your 4th house squaring Mars in your 1st house. It'll be a tumultuous yet productive time for you. You will be asserting yourself in the home and taking up the space that you deserve. This indicates to me that some of you have been feeling that you don't have a space for yourselves and you will be making it clear that no one gets to mess with that. Asserting yourself now will be fruitful for you, and I encourage you to do so.

🌸 Cancer:

With this new moon activating your 3rd house, generally a lucky house, and with the Mars transit activating your 12th house, things can get a bit tricky. This is looking like it might cause a lot of emotional turmoil to rise to the surface (your mind - 3H), and the best advice that I can provide is to use physical activity as a way to release negative emotions. The reason I say that this is an emotional time is that you also have Mercury transitting your 4th house. Use this energy to make changes in the home to make it a safer, more comfortable, and secure space for you.

🌸 Leo:

Leos, this new moon is happening in your 2nd house of finances, luxury, security, and sensuality, giving you the chance to think of what you want financially and how you can actually make that happen. With Venus in Leo, there is an amplified focus on Venusian elements in your life. Use this energy boost to plan for how you want to get financial gain and be mindful of any collaborations that might emerge during this time because they can become valuable partnerships or friendships in the future. You might find a way to make passive income even though that idea might be opposed by others at first. Caution: relationship tensions are highly likely but can be resolved.

🌸 Virgo:

Happening in your 1st house, you are the main character! The things that you've been thinking about throughout the last three weeks of August will have you planting seeds pertaining to your career. Initially, you might need to take bold action or put yourself out there, which might make you feel stressed at first, but it will lead to beautiful outcomes as the moon transits later degrees and forms. an earth grand trine involving Pluto and Uranus on the 28th. Though Pluto and Uranus aren't the most positive of planets, the grand trine allows your manifestations and efforts to be supported as long as you make sure you PLAN for the desired outcomes especially if it relates to your career, education/ travels, or hobbies. You've had a tough year but now you get the chance to see your efforts materialize as the rest of the year unfolds!

🌸 Libra:

Occurring in your 12th house, this new moon will be a bit more internal for you. It might unlock your true desires for your future plans, your vision, and your inspiration to keep moving forward in life (or friendships). It activates doubts or questions about what you plan to do in terms of your higher education, spiritual development, travels, and your guiding principles. For some people, you might think of changing your major! Or, you might consider going on a retreat to rethink some life choices. On another note, this new moon will really be causing some conflict with Mars transiting your 9th house and casting doubt over the validity of your recent choices. You will have the opportunity to make amends pertaining to that matter in the next 7th months as Mars transits Gemini and the effects of the new moon gradually unfold.

🌸 Scorpio:

Scorpios, this moon is focused on your long-term goals, vision for the future, desire for progress, friendships, humanitarian aspirations, technology, community-wide communication, social media, etc. It's a good time to check your friendships as you've been feeling a sense of loss because of a particular one of your friends or a group. You might choose to cut ties, fight, or simply ignore the problem and allow it to come to bite you when Mercury goes retrograde. Focus on healing, self-reflection, and journaling because your water houses are going to be most active (4th, 8th, and 12th house) which adds a sense of finality, nostalgia, and loss to the situation. Knowing you, you've had a lot to deal with and these changes are necessary to purge all the bad influences from your life.

🌸 Sagittarius:

During this new moon, there will be a focus on your career developments which will be squared by your relationship, and long-term commitments/promises. So, if you have plans to develop your career, they will be impeded by a long-term social commitment and you will need to make a choice that'll impact the next 7 months. The majority of you will be choosing to focus on your career and will acknowledge that this commitment was put in your life to teach relevant skills which would help your career down the line. Rest assured that things will be working out after a bit of a tense period. Just like Pisces, you are encouraged to merely observe and let the facts come to you instead of focusing too much on the principle of how things are playing out.

🌸 Capricorn:

This new moon is going to impact your 9th house. I suspect that it is part of a broader struggle you've had with your living circumstances and your sense of privacy. You might be reconsidering your major, or you might be considering relocating to facilitate your learning experience. This also indicates to me that you are planting seeds and educating yourself for the next 6 months or 1.5 years to reach a long-term goal related to travel, higher education, coaching, tutoring, publishing, international relations and affairs, international trade, or philosophy. This is a career-focused new moon with numerous decisions to be made. Plan accordingly and make sure that when the earth grand trine happens the following day, you are ready to release emotional baggage and limiting beliefs that you've let fester for too long.

🌸 Aquarius:

Much of a similar message to Capricorns is going to be relevant in your case as well. However, you need to release the emotional baggage you've held on to as a result of the harsh transits you've faced this year. Your health has suffered and you have distracted yourself through overindulgence in some cases. This new moon is telling you to focus on your mental health, and settle any debts (financial, emotional, moral) with yourself and others so that you can make the most of this transit.

🌸 Pisces:

A 7th house new moon tells me that you might enter a new phase in your relationship. You might resolve a conflict early on (Mars). This new moon also boosts your ability to socialize for the sake of getting a job or interview! With Neptune opposing this new moon and mars squaring it, I'd say that it'll be a bit of a tough one for you but it will illuminate lots of things that you have been wondering about for some time now. Stay indoors and observe. You're going to gain clarity.

Thank you for reading. My DMs are open for inquiries and feedback/criticism is always appreciated.

#virgo new moon #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces #transits #predictions #august astrology #astrology #august

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slverblood · 3 months

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NOTES ON LONG-TERM EFFECTS.

I'm not slapping a proper banner on this because it's . . . Listen, I'm not a medical professional of any sort, and I've never endured the torture Aylin has. I'll always attempt to research and approach matters respectfully, and for me, that means admitting shortcomings. This is only a bare overview of what Aylin endured while imprisoned and what long-term effects I find likely. Everything outlined below is subject to alteration in the future as I research more + continue developing her character. And of course, I'm always open to correction where needed. Trigger warnings for imprisonment, torture (psychological and physical), death, amputation, starvation, disordered eating, depression, anxiety, and related subjects. Under a read more for further discretion.

Firstly, we can assume that certain things affect Aylin differently. She's technically an aasimar or at least appears to be, but there's a great deal that's unusual about her even psychologically. However, it is abundantly clear that she is nevertheless a person and has been traumatized by her torment. She hasn't quite accepted that yet during the game, but it's there.

WHAT DID IMPRISONMENT ENTAIL?

Firstly, there was the trauma of Isobel's recent death and, in my headcanons, her own adventuring companions being sacrificed to create the soul cage.

She was confined to the very small area of that ritual circle for a century.

She was killed at least hundreds of times by prospective Dark Justiciars.

She had body parts harvested from her hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times by Balthazar.

She was never provided food or drink, both weakening her and causing her to die of thirst + starvation thousands of times.

She had no social interaction aside from those coming to torment her.

She experienced the feeling of constantly being watched and was subjected to disturbing visions of people / places important to her.

There was no night/day, no sense of time passing whatsoever.

Imprisonment itself was a sensory hell:

No physical touch aside from the spectral hands keeping her bound, Balthazar harvesting body parts from her, or prospective Dark Justiciars slaying her.

There is no light, color, or warmth in the Shadowfell aside from what people bring with them — and even that is almost entirely negated. Any she saw would have come with those intending to torment her.

The landscape of the Shadowfell is constantly shifting and unmappable, in addition to the darkness and lack of color.

She could never trust what her ears were hearing unless she made the sound herself. Sometimes she couldn't even trust that.

She was spared the emotional numbness that descends on those who linger over long there, but sometimes she wished for it, and a type of numbness did come as her mind attempted to cope with her situation.

NOTE ON PHYSICAL EFFECTS.

Due to her extreme regenerative abilities, she avoided any scarring from her many deaths. Even body parts harvested from her regrew as if she'd never lost them. Nevertheless, she was physically and spiritually weakened both by prolonged exposure to the Shadowfell (particular hell for the daughter of the Moonmaiden) and starvation / thirst. She is immune to diseases canonically, but I feel we can assume she has basic needs like food and water.

I would argue that she was at a higher level when she was imprisoned, but the combination of above factors nerfed her. The reason she is always the same level as the player when freed is freeing her from the soul cage also allows her to take some strength from them. Releasing her was always as simple as placing a hand on her in friendship, lending her your strength. But, no one would ever do it.

WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS?

On a generalized level, there is depression, anxiety, panic attacks, but that's not all.

She is initially very reluctant to be out of her armor and/or away from her sword. Nudity used to be a total non-issue for her; now she doesn't even want to remove her gauntlets. Isobel is the singular exception to this for a long time, and even then there are moments she can't bring herself to disarm.

She used to be a very physical person even with strangers. Now she finds she's extremely averse to it. Isobel is, again, the one exception for a long time, but there are, again, times where even that is too overwhelming.

She becomes overstimulated very easily for a long time. Light, sound, warmth, color, etc. — she's been without them for so long that now even the smallest whisper can be like a thunderous crash. She often hyperfixates on stimuli as well; she cannot simply ignore it or distract herself. This leads to irritability if not enragement at times.

On the other hand, she frequently struggles with brain fog that prevents her from focusing on anything. There are periods where she'll try to intentionally retreat into this because everything else is too overwhelming.

Her sense of time is completely destroyed. She'll rebuild some sense of this over time, but it will always be tenuous.

Honestly, her sense of direction has taken a hit, too. She's been confined to a ritual circle for a century within an ever-changing landscape. She has to relearn how to navigate. To the point that, if she walks away from the party's camp alone, she'll struggle to find her way back. She becomes lost very easily for a long while.

Additionally, although she's eager to throw herself back into the Selûnite community / world at large, she finds that reintegration is not that simple for her. She's gone so long without any social contact at all, let alone a sense of community. Throwing herself back in has a poor effect on her. She ultimately needs to keep her social circle small.

She's had a near perfect memory all her life but now will seem "forgetful" or "distracted". In reality, it's the result of short term memory loss and difficulty focusing.

She's extremely averse to being restrained or anything that reminds her of being restrained. Even a hand on her arm / wrist can prove a problem. Isobel is not an exception to this one.

Although light can be overstimulating, she's averse to total darkness. However, she's also averse to candles, lamps, etc. in the dark as it reminds her of Justiciars / Balthazar coming to harm her. She needs the sight of the moon and stars to be comforted. Motes of moonlight and possibly similar spells are a viable alternative.

She frequently forgets about personal hygiene. It wasn't an option for her for a century. Gentle reminders and setting a routine can help with this.

Same with food + drink. She will go so long without them that it endangers her life if not reminded. Setting a meal schedule and encouraging her to carry snacks + drinks helps.

She's overall hypervigilant and finds it difficult to relax. She doesn't quite exhibit paranoia in addition, but she is always on the alert, especially for anyone wishing to imprison or slay her again.

She displays some poor impulse control as well, especially where her temper and her well-being are concerned. Outside of impulses, she will throw herself into danger without a thought as, after dying thousands of times, pain and death mean nothing to her. She will always come back, regardless of whether she wants to. Why should she worry about something as trifling as her health?

In the beginning, it is sometimes difficult to know whether she saw / heard something. She spent so long being assaulted by the Shadowfell's visions that, once freed, she has to test whether x occurrence is real. I do think she was able to test the validity of visions in the Shadowfell (to a limited extent within her confines) and of course was armed with the knowledge that the Shadowfell does lie. Her perception of reality is not shattered by her imprisonment, but she still feels the need to be certain of some things in the beginning. The effect of these visions for her was more akin to being tortured with intrusive thoughts of evil befalling loved ones / places.

NOTE ON DENIAL.

Aylin has a hard time coming to grips with what she's endured. It's hard for her to realize let alone accept that there are long-term effects. She wants it all to be over: the helplessness, the pain, the fear. She feels that, since she is not scarred physically, she should not be scarred at all. Surely she is too mighty for that. Surely the Daughter of the Moonmaiden is above such things. Surely the touch of her tormentors is on her no longer. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that.

Her greatest obstacle is going to be simply admitting that she's not okay. She's going to keep trying to throw herself forward over and over until she's forced to admit there's something wrong. Then she'll try to handle it entirely on her own. She's never truly relied on anyone in her life; she has always been the rock, the bulwark, the shelter. She feels shame to admit she's struggling. Especially after all that's happened, even the slightest sense of weakness is unbearable to her. Building a support system is going to be important. And, not just Isobel — she runs the risk of being overly dependent on her. That's not healthy either.

#META / HC: PRIMARY.#torture tw #starvation tw #death tw #imprisonment tw #dismemberment tw #amputation tw #depression tw #anxiety tw #ask to tag #I'm almost certain I'm missing tags #if so I'm sorry and will gladly add it

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crystalelemental · 11 months

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Unit Teambuilding - Summer Tate

I still can’t get over this. Summer May was practically guaranteed. We all knew Jirachi was coming with the festival thing, but not a soul would’ve guessed Tate. It’s better this way. This should be the kind of thing we actually get on the regular.

General Overview Summer Tate and Jirachi come in as a Steel-type Tech unit, and is the next evolution of Palentine’s Dawn. You know how Dawn’s thing was Charm/Fake Tears for Atk/Sp Def debuffing, with Ripple Effect 4? And then we got Lucian with his Growl shenanigans that hit AoE at half the cost? Tate comes in, saying “I’ll hit both in one action, but it won’t spread.” Immediately, this solidifies Tate as a “better in Gauntlet than CS” kind of sync pair. He can do a lot of damage to a single target, but very little to spread. Moreover, his passive skill, Doom Desire, activates every two Pokemon moves (hence P-Moves, wonderfully awful naming convention we have going). This includes status, so even while you’re spamming Charm and Thunder Wave, you’ll be dishing out some serious damage, as Doom Desire is triple the damage of his Flash Cannon. Don’t get too excited, because Flash Cannon DPS is atrocious. It’s literally worse than base Jasmine’s Iron Tail. Which...we’ll get to that. His last passive increase a random stat among the seven for the entire team by 2 when Doom Desire activates, and he has a ton of grid passives that randomly boost his own stats too, which means there’s Gauntlet solo potential in here.

Now, about Doom Desire. On its own, Flash Cannon is atrocious, literally the worst DPS Steel can aim to provide as a damage source (things like Thorton Gyro Ball do not count, let’s be honest). However, Doom Desire would make it stronger than SS Giovanni’s Iron Tail. The problem is it’s every other action, which means you get around Raihan’s Steel Beam DPS per turn. But that’s an average. And the problem with averages is you lose the story in the variance. It’s every second hit, and anyone familiar with CS strats, particularly the art of Denial, will know why that’s a problem.

Turn 1, you buff. His trainer move gives almost everything he could need, so that’s free. After this, center acts. You then queue a move, probably Charm or T-Wave, depending on team comp. That’s attack 1, going while the right side acts. Attack 2 is likely another of those choices, followed by center. To perform a denial, Tate must now KO the left side. Doom Desire will not activate in any possible rotation, barring completely abandoning his trainer move. Meaning he has to use sync. And as a Tech unit with fairly awkward DPS, this can throw thing off a bit. The short is, Tate cannot make use of an EX support. He has to take first sync. The good news is, doing so puts him on track to easily perform a denial on the right as well, as the next two attacks will be center, then right. And his sync is his strongest point, so there’s legitimate value in just ignoring the EX support. But it’s a notable quantity: you cannot count on his DPS always being there. It has to be used strategically.

On the whole though, I really like this kit. I am always in favor of more debuffs, special defense in particular feels very rare. I love that he has so much buff support too. Gauntlet’s gonna be wild with how often he can get something buffed up. And he’s the new sync king for his type! That’s always exciting. Also despite my misgivings regarding P!Marnie being physical, her Growl support actually is very ideal for him in CS, so Marnie once again being surprisingly future-proofed as a Zone setter.

EX and Move Level? Given the rotation issue described above, EX feels almost mandatory. To perform a proper denial in CS, Tate must use his sync, he cannot rely on DPS, and the stronger the sync the more reliable this is. However, this depends on your utility for him. As a damage dealer, 3/5 EX is pretty required. But as a support with paralysis and a fast-acting single-target debuff, 1/5 will do just fine, and gets some nice DPS support every other action for free.

Team 1: Summer Tate, Roxanne/Lodge Dawn, Erika Let’s start cheap. Summer Tate works very well with Roxanne and Lodge Dawn, two sync pairs that boost his special attack to cap, and provide a wide array of relevant buffs for Rising Tide. Erika is chosen as the third partner, due to her ability to paralyze and potentially debuff special defense for him in CS. In Gauntlet, apply your relevant gimmick here.

Team 2: Summer Tate, SS Brendan/BP Janine, P!Marnie/C!Elesa On the more expensive end, SS Brendan is a good partner to Tate, thanks to the debuffing and the potential paralysis off Dragonbreath. Free Moves Next applications allow him to work well with the slower option of P!Marnie, who otherwise works well with Tate thanks to Zone and Growl. Note that Tate does have a stronger sync nuke than Marnie, so he’s not overshadowed. As an alternative, BP Janine offers better speed control at the cost of being frail and not providing paralysis, but does combo well with Classic Elesa, who has spread paralysis and spectrum debuffs that cover a lot of what Tate needs. BP Janine offering evasion and speed boosts is also very nice for Rising Tide.

Team 3: Summer Tate, Kali, Lucian Another potential option is Lucian. Lucian offers the same debuffs as Tate, but AoE, allowing for a much easier time setting up Tate’s multipliers in a CS context. The support partner is harder to determine. I opted for Kali as a suggestion, based on having another stack to randomly debuff a target, but in truth I don’t think she’s all that good. I thought about BP Surge for a paralysis bot, but he doesn’t do anything else for Tate. I couldn’t think of a good support that gives paralysis and +2 special attack that wasn’t just SS Brendan again, so...oops, I guess.

Team 4: Summer Tate, Melony/Lodge Morty, Ghetsis/Fantina Now for the 1/5 discussion of Tate’s supportive effects. Ghetsis. Ghetsis needs attack debuffs for his multipliers, and operates off special attack, making him a prime choice for Tate to support. I’ll also mention Fantina, who has her own need for rapid-fire debuffing of special defense, partnered with Lodge Morty, who appreciates the attack debuffs for a bit more safety.

Final Thoughts Tate seems really good. I love me a good debuffer, and in particular, I love a good special defense debuffer, I feel like those are a hot commodity. It’s tough when your only options are like...Lucian and P!Dawn. And SS Hilbert, but guess who skipped him like an idiot. Tate offers another good alternative, and I’m very pleased with his overall kit. And personally? I just love that it’s him and Liza. Like I’m sorry Wallace fans, I know your pain since I wanted Roxanne more than this, I hope you get your due soon, but good god this is the exact level of “emphasize the less popular with actual events” that I want to see.

#unit teambuilding #summer tate

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