#with musicology people are like 'what even is that'

[supercantaloupe]

i guess it's somehow ironically fitting that as the only person in my family to be in a non-stem related field of study i compensated by going for the two most likely possible masters degrees to make people go "wait what even is that"

[mochinomnoms]

How would ptm jade react if Yuu told him about marine mushrooms?

I only know what wikipedia knows about marine mushrooms...unfortunately for yuu mind reading doesn't give them sudden infinite knowledge!

“You know, with as much as you...like mushrooms and stuff, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned anything about marine fungi.”

You felt a chill run down your spine and Jade's bi-colored eyes on you.

“Pardon?” Does my darling also love fungi? How could I have not known this?

You shifted in your seat, staring down at your notebook as you doodles between the margins. A small button mushroom that you'd absentmindedly drawn minded you of Jade.

And you just happened to be doing research with him for your group project in the library this day.

“Sorry, I just was thinking about it, and it's just surprising to me that you never had, like an aquarium type terrarium or something with them.”

You let out a nervous laugh, after all, it was just you two by yourselves. Riddle and Yev were busy with their dorms due to the Spelldrive Tournament, and your dorm still didn't technically qualify, since all your freshmen were officially in other dorms.

Such a wonderful laugh, I'd like to hear it more...

“Well, to my knowledge, they don't exist.” Jade leaned in, his eyes wide and full of excitement. “By chance, do such mushrooms exist in your world?”

Please tell me more! Tell me lies for all I care, so I may hear your voice...though you wouldn't lie about such things, would you?

You perked up. It was rare that you knew something Jade, or anyone at NRC, had no clue about. It probably wasn't intentional, but the way people would look at you when you had no clue about something make you feel dumb, even though you logically had no way of knowing even the most basic things of this world.

It was kinda nice to be the one to share knowledge with another person.

“Well, I don't know a lot, but they mostly exist in marine environments. I think a few hundred?” You leaned in closer, moving your notebook towards Jade as you started drawing again.

“I can't remember their names very well, but I've always been a more visual person anyways.” You drew a piece of driftwood, a snail, and a rock covered in lichen.

“This one grows in mangroves, usually on the places. But this one grows around the shell of a snail, who eats it. And sometimes lichen will grow with fungi, but I don't know a whole lot about them.”

You paused, pursing your lips in disappointment.

“Sorry, I don't know enough to tell you about them, I know how much you...”

Your words trailed off as you looked back up at Jade, who was resting his check against his palm. He was staring at you with faint smile, and soft, half lidded eyes and pink cheeks.

So beautiful...

Cheeks and chest going hot, you stared back, opening and closing your mouth as you tried to figure out how to respond.

“Uh, Jade, you're, uh, staring...”

Jade stiffened, straightening up and covering his mouth in embarrassment.

“My apologies. I was just....enraptured by your descriptions.” And you. “I don't mind that you aren't familiar, but I would like to heard more from you about marine fungi. Perhaps you can tell me all about your world's plant life? It never occurred to me that your world would evolve differently, but saying that now, it seems obvious.”

He smiled at you again, his teeth showing a bit more as he excitedly leaned in.

“You struggle in musicology, yes? Perhaps in exchange for your knowledge, I can help you with practice?”

Please say yes!

You paused. Various suggestive scenarios that seem more apt for a risqué site or story flashed through Jade's mind in giddy anticipation.

You know better. You know what Jade's hoping for. You shouldn't string him along, you're going to get embarrassed. You're going to get uncomfortable, you're...

Another daydream, one of you two curled over a book, as you leaned into Jade's side while his arm pulled you closer, invaded your mind like a parasite in your brain. He had a tender smile as you laughed at something he said, your free hand reached up to cradle his cheek.

Maybe parasite is a harsh word. When the thoughts Jade had were so sweet and soft, it almost made you want to give in.

Almost.

“It's okay, I'm just a choir member, so there's not much for me to improve on.” You could hear your more logical voice sigh in the back of your mind. “But I'm happy to share...if you help me figure out if the mushrooms growing behind Ramshackle are edible.”

I'm weak…

Jade blinked, processing what you said.

Really? “Really?” Even Jade seemed like he was anticipating your rejection.

“Yeah, why not.” You shrugged, Jade's internal excitement flooding into your subconscious and influencing your own emotions. “Means less money to spend on food, and I'm sure you know plenty of yummy recipes we can use if they do end up good!”

Jade rarely smiled, at least not genuine, bare-teethed smiles. Despite the sharpness of them, you weren't put off by them, or him, at all.

“I would be honored.”

[improvised-finish]

FFXIV Write 2024 - Prompt #22 - Free Day

Content Warnings: None

Spoiler Warnings: Mentions of the first hub city for Endwalker, no story events since this is an AU

Summary: In another life, two young foreign exchange students to Sharlayan meet and become fast friends on their first day of school. This is my Studium AU, where Lehon'a (rather than be the Warrior of Light) gets to venture off to the Studium to study Music & Cultures at the same time as G'raha Tia and Y'shtola. The three of them become friends and research partners, and perhaps more in the future! It's very loose, very tropey, and I don't have all the details ironed out, but I thought it would be fun to make a start at it! It's based on this GPose set from a while back.

Check it out below or on Ao3:

“Are you a new student as well?”

Lehon'a looked up from the book she'd been lazily attempting to read, an introductory tome on music theory. She'd seen it on the syllabus for a course in musicology that began later that day and figured she’d be better getting a head start, given her struggles with reading dense texts. Greeting her vision was a young Miqo'te boy with scarlet hair and mismatched eyes. 

“Yeah, pretty much. Just got off the boat a few days ago.” She hastily dog-eared the page she'd left off on and snapped the book shut, eagerly taking the first excuse to have a break. “How about yourself? Don't know I've seen you around.”

“Same story, just about. I've only just begun my studies at the Studium this year, after coming from–” The stranger cut himself off, as if remembering that something was supposed to be a secret. “From abroad.” 

Lehon'a sensed the hesitation and chose not to pry, despite her curiosity. She picked up her small pile of books off the bench and stood up, nearly matching the stranger in height. “My name's Lehon'a, by the way. Lehon'a Nhavareh.” As happened to many people who were familiar with Miqo'te tradition, she saw a bit of puzzlement in his face for just a moment as he tried to figure out what, if anything, that name might imply. Whatever conclusions he came to were left in the dust when he realized that he’d been standing in silence instead of reciprocating the introduction. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Lehon'a. G'raha Tia, at your service.” He bowed briefly as he spoke, and Lehon'a couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The formality was a bit dorky, but she also found it surprisingly charming.

“Well, G'raha Tia, it's been lovely, but I should be going to my next class so I'm not late.”

“Which course is that? I've got a history course of my own that I must attend shortly.”

Lehon'a fished the small notecard she'd prepared with her schedule on it out of her robes and squinted at the tiny print. “Looks like I've got history too, what are the odds?” She put the card back in her pocket. “Care to share the walk over?”

“I had just the same thought! I'd be happy to.”

They started off towards the Studium, an awkward silence lingering for a moment. Lehon'a decided to be the one to break it this time. 

“So what kind of study brought you all the way to Sharlayan?”

“History, as it happens. Mostly to do with the lost Allagan Empire that was in power during the Third Astral Era, many, many years ago. They had technology that's like nothing even close to what anyone has been able to recreate, and–” He stopped himself before launching into an extensive recounting of what he knew of Allagan history. “My apologies, I should leave the history lectures to the professionals.”

“Maybe when we have a bit more time, then,” Lehon'a countered, trying to show her interest more tangibly. “History has always fascinated me, though it's not what I'm here to study primarily.”

“And what might that be?”

“Music, and by extension, the traditions it gives rise to all over the world!” she replied, excitement tangible in her voice.

“I can see why history might still be of interest; it can certainly play a role in those types of cultural studies.”

“Mhm.” She nodded. “Playing music is something I've had a penchant for since I was small, but as I got older I grew more and more interested in documenting the traditions of my tribe. And then that got me thinking about what it might be like in other tribes, and everyone finally got tired enough of me asking a million questions that they collected enough gil to send me to school!” She let out a laugh. 

“What kind of music do you play? You'll have to show me sometime.” G'raha was trying to keep his enthusiasm contained, but it was plain to see that he seemed genuinely excited at the prospect.

“I'm a percussion player, mostly, so I doubt it would be terribly interesting to listen to by itself. Though I suppose if you knew anyone else who played an instrument, we might be able to have a little jam session of sorts.”

“I can't say I know anyone off hand, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open.”

Lehon'a tapped him on the shoulder in a moment of realization. “I almost forgot to mention; another fun side effect of playing drums most of my life is that I tend to “play” whatever surface happens to be nearby when my mind wanders, so if it ever bothers you, don't be shy about telling me.”

It was his turn to laugh a little. “I'll be sure to make you aware.”

They'd reached the door to the lecture hall, which G'raha dutifully opened for her, bowing again as he did so.

Lehon'a laughed again, with him and not at him. “You don't have to bow, G'raha. I'm just a student, same as you, not royalty or anything like that.”

He wrung his hands like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “Oh, uh… right.”

She noticed that it seemed to take the wind out of his sails a little. “I won't tell you to stop if it's what you want to do, that is. I just meant you shouldn't feel like you have to, on my account.”

He nodded and then followed her into the classroom, pointing out a couple of seats in the middle of the hall as a silent suggestion.

She gestured for him to lead on, and she followed right behind him to their seats, scanning the rest of the room as she did. Not much stuck out on a first pass, save for one thing: what looked like a case for an instrument of some sort. It was leaned up against one of the tables, next to where another Miqo'te with short white hair was sitting. Lehon'a made a mental note to try and catch them after the lecture to ask about it, and then sat down in the empty seat next to G'raha. 

She'd hardly had the time to get out a writing implement and a journal to take notes in before the professor had begun talking, getting the attention of the students. 

Lehon'a was a long way from the only people she'd ever known, but something about G'raha made her feel more at ease. Only the first day of class and I've already made a friend. Seems like a pretty good start to me. 

She began diligently copying the professor's words onto the page in front of her, and looked over to see G'raha doing the same, with a bit of added gusto that meant he'd already filled up a full page before Lehon'a had managed half of one. Maybe we can share notes too, she thought as she smiled to herself.

[stormbreaker101]

Music(ology) headcanons! Part 1

My headcanons fall under two main umbrellas: stuff that goes along with canon as is, and stuff that works specifically in the AU that I and a friend have been working on together for the past 9 months. I wanted to put the AU specific stuff in this post also but this post is long enough as is, so this post will just be based on the headcanons that I think are canon compliant.

I believe there is a subtle distinction between Music and Musicology.

Music is as primordial as Light and Shadow. If Light is the magic of order and existence as it currently is, and Shadow is the magic of chaos and change and entropy, the Music is the magic of creation, of making the new. Music is the harmonizing force that keeps Light and Shadow in balance.

(Quest: The End of Days, the quest at the very end of Empyrea in which the Wizard becomes the Divine Paradox)

Meanwhile Musicology is Music as mortals such as Maulwurf von Trap and the Old One are able to study and use, the way that all of the 7 main schools and the Astral schools are the subforms of Light magic most ordinary people can learn.

Because it does attempt to tap into such primal magic, Musicology is often unstable, which is why Maulwurf is so destruction-prone.

(Quest: Life is Like..., the now-retired Karamelle prequest that hints at Maulwurf)

(Quest: A Foundry Most Foul. Maulwurf used Musicology to defend himself from some Schismist soldiers... with extra consequences.)

However, with the right tools, even mortal Musicology can be INCREDIBLY powerful. The Old One was able to use his World Synthesizer to weave pieces of Spiral Worlds together, a smaller version of Bartleby singing the Song of Creation to weave all the worlds of the Spiral together into one cohesive universe after the First World split apart.

(Quest: Small World After All. The quest where the Arcanum debates what to do about Lemuria)

(Quest: Something Wicked That Way Goes, the quest where the Wizard goes to unformed Novus)

Note now music is lowercase here despite Nothing being capitalized. The music isn't divine Music, but rather Musicology, because Novus was made out of Dasein and the Old One's World Synthesizer in particular.

So, Musicology as the mortal form of Music. How does it manifest, aside from Maulwurf's arson and the World Synthesizer?

I think some spells are inherently Musicological despite falling under the canon schools. I think @astral-schools put this well in this post of theirs + response to my tags:

Spells that use the ideas of (lowercase) music in their theming. The techniques, how they manifest, their animations.

I wanted to list out every Musicological spell ingame but unfortunately the list of every spell in the game is like 70% beastmoon spells (exaggeration) so I never get far in my deep dive before getting bored of combing through the spells. Off the top of my head, the following spells are Musicological spells to me:

Imp (an imp playing a fiddle causes the damage. The spell animation has music notes fly at you)

Satyr (a satyr plays the pan pipes to heal you)

Earthquake (vibrations through the ground. music and physical vibration/frequencies go hand in hand to me. physics!)

Myth Imp (same as with regular imp)

Snake Charmer (the charmer uses their song to control the snake and make it deal damage)

Banshee (screams and noise as damage)

Sirens (sirens' songs are what lure sailors to their doom. Music notes fly at you in the animation as well)

Every Karamelle spell (Maulwurf says that the spell is made by the musicology syncopating with our inherent magic. Syncopation is a musical term that refers to when a melody intentionally dances around the rhythm of the piece.)

Every Lemuria spell (because Lemuria was made with Musicology)

Every Novus spell (because, like Lemuria, Novus was made with Musicology)

In a sense Music and Musicology is somewhat similar to how we see Shadow magic in-game. Pure Shadow magic is divine and unstable (which is why we suffer Backlash when using the pure Shadow spells from Khrysalis), but other spells are Shadow-enhanced, using Shadow magic alongside one of the other 7 schools to keep it more stable.

[moonrevolutions]

this is already-known inspiration by ppl who read my lil faclets but part of the inspiration behind virote’s personality is… prince!!!

i saw this man in concert in like… 2004 ish. the musicology tour yes i sure did get to hear purple rain live even tho i dont even like that song at all. yes, i own all 40+ of his albums and im very critical of his most popular songs i have surpassed a normal tier in that sense. it was still great lkjgdlgjfd. i was pretty close to the stage too. prince was like. 5′0” lol. but he ran shit… he walked planet earth like he owned it…. and he kinda did considering he can play every instrument known to man while wearing assless chaps and a glittery vest… gflkdjgdflgdffdsl;.

anyway such a small man… unlimited power. kind of insecure ( if u kno princes beef w. other people then ya kno lol. ) but he clearly knew what he was doing. all the time. and u were gonna listen to him speak… id never been more intimidated by another person than when i saw him in person… wow…..

i kind of internalized that approach for vi. it def shows…. short king energy with the spine of a sword…..

[yumeko2sevilla]

Mekakushi_ runaway medusa

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀᴀɴᴄᴇ

"When I try, the result was always the same: Failed."

_Mekakushi- the test subject

Full Name: Mekakushi Kisaragi Hirohana

⤿Mekakushi (メカクシ): A name of Japanese origin, meaning 'blindfold.'

⤿Kisaragi (如月): A name of Japanese origin, meaning 'February'. It was supposed to refer to the Kisaragi Station myth.

⤿Hirohana (寛花): A name of Japanese origin, combine between '寛' meaning 'generous, tolerant' and '花' meaning 'flower'.

Japanese: 寛花 如月 メカクシ

Other Name(s):

↳Mekakushi-san/ Kisaragi-san_ By All

↳Little Medusa_By Tsukuyomi 'Shinonome'

↳Kushiragi/ Eki_ By First Years

↳Meka_ By Minako Sakamaki (@/queen-of-twisted)

↳Future Meat / Snake Freak_ By Yuzu Sakamaki (@/queen-of-twisted)

↳Monsieur Serpents / Monsieur Artiste_ By Rook Hunt

↳Sea Lotus_ Shīrōtasu_ By Floyd Leech

↳Child of Afterlife_ By Malleus Draconia

Twisted From: Shimomura Naoki_ Confession_Minato Kanae + Riishu_ The Apothecary Diaries+ Mahiru Shiinai_ Milgram

Voice Actor(s):

↳Japanese_ Shun Horie_ Haruka Sakurai_ Milgram

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

Age: 17 (Appearance Wise)_ Unknown

Gender: Non-Binary (He/Him Pronouns)

Birthday: February 5_ Pisces

Species: Undead Medusa

Height: 193 cm

Hair Color: Light (Gray-ish) Red-Pink

Eye Color: Crimson Red

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

Homeland:__

Family:...

Dormitory: Ramshackle

Grade: Freshman

Class: 1-A_ No. 28

Club: Art Club

Best Subject(s): Musicology, Alchemy, Art

Hobbies: Drawing, Reading, Hanging out with his friends, Drinking mint tea, Hairstyling, Napping.

Favorite Food: Chocolate Mint Icecream

Least Favorite Food: Meat

Talent(s): Singing, Hairstyling, Multilingualism, Weapon Mastery, Fashion Designing

❝Simply a Medusa that has been running away. A seemingly cold first year of Ramshackle who turns out to be very.. soft.❞

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ───╯

┌──═━┈━═──��

ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ

Mekakushi.. What a sweet boy he is.

Judging from his whole appearance, you may as well think him like someone who's hard to talk with. In some cases, it's correct somehow but that's the totally different case for him.

..Mekakushi may not be cold. At all.

To people, Mekakushi is a person who keep his voice slienced. But to others who knows him, he is a very naive guy who just want to see the world.

It's just that,, Mekakushi is quite the people-pleaser, no?

Doing others' works and helping people despise he doesn't want to.. That sounds quite uncomfortable isn't it? But to someone like Mekakushi, he has already adapted to this new personality of his. He has grew up like this, after all.

Mekakushi is described to be naive in human eyes. He always finds postive traits of even the worst people around him, even if that payed him a cost. But he seems to apologise often, for what he didn't do.

Mekakushi is very kind. That he gets taken advantage of his kindness by most people around him. Whilist he knew that he was being manipulated, that people were guilt tripping him, he couldn't say 'No.'

And that was a weakness of him, honestly.

Sometimes, Mekakushi felt an unexplainable anger inside him, one that burned his heart up alive.

But he couldn't release that outside. He can't.

†•°•══════ஓ๑✬๑ஓ══════•°•†

✬Unique Magic: Ultamarine Hymm (群青讃歌 )

'Since we've already said farewell to the us of yesterday, only the wonderful world has all the answers in its grasp. Ultamarine Hymm!'

↳ The user is capable of boosting others' UM. When using this ability, a faint blue light will be surrounding allies, that it will expand their UM's ability into someing greater. However, it can also debuff enemies and even the user themselves if they were on the verges of Overblot.

†•°•══════ஓ๑✬๑ஓ══════•°•†

↳Backstory: [TBA]

↳Main Theme: Tokyo Getto • Ultamarine Hymm_ Eve

↳Mekakushi used to be the test subject in the same project KAFU was involved. However, he ran away sooner than them for a month, and then got transported to Night Raven College through a gate.

↳He likes to refer himself as 'Mekakushi Kisaragi' rather than 'Mekakushi Hirohana.' The reason was because due to personal issues regarding his family. However, some said that 'Hirohana' was his mother's name.

↳Being a Medusa, Mekakushi also has the ability to open a timeloop called 'Kagerou Daze.' But until this time, he doesn't know it.

↳Mekakushi was SA by Yuzu Sakamaki multiple times.

↳He can speak Swedish, Japanese, Russian, English, and a few more languages.

↳Mekakushi is implied to have PTSD.

↳He has lifeless and cold eyes. Although that, he seems prefers to act than talks.

@queen-of-twisted @achy-boo @writing-heiress @yukii0nna @abyssthing198

[twistedsongstressofstarz]

🌠Kayliore Kathlena🌠

(she does have a general design, but i don't have time to finish the ref rn tho)

Name : Kayliore Amaria Kathlena

Nicknames : Kaylz, Kayli, Kiya, Mademoiselle Chanteuse D'Étoile, Lily (Rurianne)

Age : Undiscernibly fucking old (not even I know anymore)

Height : 5'5

Homeland : Briar Valley (Magic Kingdom Levianta too, somewhat)

Birthday : Jan 4

Species : Half-Fae (?)

◌☆————————————————☆◌

⟬••General••⟭

Hair Color : Purple (of different shades, but still purple anyway)

Eye Color : Right yellow, Left pink

Gender : Female (she/they/star)

Sexuality : Bisexual

Family : Thiz iz private information

Favorite Food : Shrimp (Not yall tho, I'm not Banica), Iced Tea, Cake

Least Favorite Food : Broccoli (Ew)

Likes : Music, Songs, Drawing, Writing, Sewing, Rhythm games, Creative work, Vil (<;3), Causing Chaos

Dislikes : Being interrupted, Crowley, Being called weak (or vurnerable in any capacity), Harsh Rain, Loneliness, Art block

Hobbies : Music composition, Drawing, Writing

Personality : Being Pomefiore's resident songstress, Kayliore appears intimidating on the outside, concentrated on one goal. That is, what she appears like to people who don't know her that well. If you do, however, prepare for one of the most chaotic people you've ever met. Whether it be openly simping for her own dorm leader in front of her friends, indiscriminately stalking people in other universes through a music box, or talking nonsense about another world star's been in, Kayliore is an enigma to the majority of the school. And not to mention how cryptic they speak when something weird is happening.

There is, however, another side to her that even fewer people know. Even the most dramatic of songstresses have their vulnerable moments.

Occupation : Student, Resident Songstress (and apprentice Butai Shoujo™️)

Twisted from : Technically Twilight Melody and Stage of SEKAI (not really tho)

◌☆————————————————☆◌

⟬••School Information••⟭

Dorm : Pomefiore

School Year : 2nd Year (Skipped several a grade!)

Class : 2-B

Best Subject : Ancient Magics, Musicology

Worst Subject : Flight

Club : Film Club <3

Dominant Hand : Right

◌☆————————————————☆◌

⟬••Unique Magic••⟭

Defy all doubts, by Twilight's Sound!

Twilight's Sound allows Kayliore to boost someone's mood, as well as their abilities connected to said mood. However, in return, Kayliore's own mood will go down. When the person they use this on goes about a mile away, the effect of the UM will stop, leaving both Kayliore and the person it was used on in a really, really bad mood.

They've only used it once before, and only save it for dire situations.

◌☆————————————————☆◌

⟬••Backstory••⟭

Something happened one day and I decided it'd be a good idea to record history through songz, whether that be of thiz world or many of the otherz. There'z more, but why would I tell you that right now?

[A Songstress' Tale of Origin]

◌☆————————————————☆◌

⟬••Trivia••⟭

Seemingly always knows where Aiyuu is

Knows things she isn't supposed to, but star really doesn't care.

Weirdly can change her voice to just about anything, like mimicking anyone's voice or making her's sound more robotic.

Stars magic seems to fluctuate in power sometimes, mostly because of her… trip.

[ramshackle-ramblings]

Chapter 5: Alise

In which Alise is found, and Tsunotaro learns something new

First Previous

Alise caught sight of a familiar face in one of the classrooms. The other kids in the room looked maybe a little older than her, but that one had cat ears, so it was hard to tell, and Lilia had to be her age, so this was probably a freshman class. She slipped into the classroom and commandeered the seat next to him.

"Hey, Bathrobe Boy," she said when he glanced over at her.

"Hey, Statue Girl."

"Your hair's pink," she informed him.

"Your hair's purple."

"What class is this?"

"Thaumaturgy."

Alise nodded like she knew what that meant.

He looked like he was going to follow up with something, but the professor came in then, and called for silence. He scanned the room, and his eyes fell on Alise. He scowled at her but said nothing, and she smiled sweetly back. It seemed like none of the professors had been informed of her arrival.

Class began, and she understood even less than she had in her first class.

The professor asked a question, and hands trickled up around the room. Out of curiousity, Alise raised her hand. Neither the surprised look on Lilia's face nor the one of disgust from the professor when she did so went unnoticed, but the professor called on a boy on the other side of the room. She raised her hand again for the next question, and once again was ignored. She raised her hand for the third question, and Lilia furiously scribbled something down on a scrap of paper and slid it across to her.

She glanced down. It said "Caliban's Rule of Three". That made absolutely no sense, but when the professor called on the cat-eared boy, who hadn't even raised his hand, and he answered "Caliban's Rule of Three", Alise grinned at her deskmate. He winked.

Lilia fed her the answers for the rest of class. Not once did the professor call on her, though, even when hers was the only hand raised.

Lilia went one way after class, and Alise went another, scanning the crowds in the hallways and the classrooms for familiar faces.

There were not any.

But there were familiar horns in that classroom.

She slipped into the room, and sat down next to him.

"Hey, Tsuno," she said, swinging her feet idly.

He looked down at her curiously. "Did you just give me a nickname for my nickname?"

She thought for a minute, before agreeing that yes, that was exactly what she had done.

"Are you sure you're supposed to be in this class?"

"No," she answered honestly, "but I'm not sure I'm not supposed to be, either."

"What class am I taking?" Alise pulled out a fresh notebook and clicked her pen idly.

Tsunotaro chuckled quietly, but answered. "Systematic Musicology."

"Oh, fun, I might be able to keep up with this one," she laughed. "The last one was entirely beyond me."

"What was your last class?"

"Thauma-something? Lilia fed me the answers, but it didn't matter, the teacher never called on me, anyway."

"Your ... last class was with Lilia?" he looked confused, and she nodded.

"What happened to Mouse? Were you not supposed to be going to classes with them?"

"I was. There was a crowd, and we got separated after first period. So," she smoothed the paper of her notebook, "I have been behaving and going to classes, instead of just wandering the halls."

Tsunotaro paused. "Going to ... just any classes?"

"No, that would be ridiculous. I'm going to classes with people I know."

"Ah. That is why you were in a class with Lilia."

"Exactly!"

He thought for a moment. "You and he have a very similar definition of 'behaving', I think."

"What," she asked innocently. "I am a student, students go to classes. I am behaving."

He hummed, staring down at her before letting out a low chuckle. "Yes. I suppose that is correct."

"Technically correct is the best kind of correct," Alise agreed.

The professor came in then, and started writing something on the board. Students quieted, and class began.

A couple of minutes in she wrote something down and slid it across to Tsunotaro.

Does the school store have music paper notebooks?

Tsunotaro half paid attention to the class, looking shocked as he noticed the paper slid his way and sending the girl a sideways glance before silently nodding.

She slid the paper back to herself, and wrote;

Nice. I'll have to pick some up. I think I'm going to keep taking this class.

and slid it back to him.

He looked down at the paper again, letting out a low chuckle. Shaking his head in amusement.

A little while later, the professor was explaining something, and Alise slid the paper back to herself, wrote

Where is the Queendom of Roses?

and slid it back to Tsunotaro.

He hummed quietly, before leaning down towards her to whisper.

"It's one of the countries here in Twisted Wonderland that follows most of the Queen of Hearts ideologies. Many of her tales come from there."

She looked at him curiously, and nodded her thanks.

Alise slowly slid the paper back to herself, still eyeing Tsunotaro. She wrote;

Do you not pass notes in dragon school? You write things down on paper and pass it back and forth so the teacher doesn't know you're talking. And it can be school related stuff, invitations to hang out later, gossip, or whatever.

She slowly slid it back to him, still watching him carefully.

He read the note once more, lifting his arm to stifle a dark chuckle that would've been ripped from his throat if there wasn't anything to muffle it. Shaking his head to himself before finally writing on the piece of paper below her own writing.

Dragon school?

Obviously.

A thought occured to her, and she doodled a baby dragon building a tower out of blocks before passing the paper back.

Again he covered his mouth to muffle yet another chuckle. A smile tugging on his usually stoic face. His response being to doodle a (badly) drawn imitation of Alise with the baby dragon before writing

I never went to a school. I was taught most of the things I know by the castle attendants or Lilia.

It was Alise's turn to stifle a giggle when she saw the drawing.

I thought you were older than Lilia. Also, jealous that you live in a castle.

No. Lilia is many years older than me.

He suddenly paused to take out a history book, flipping through the pages expertly until he got to a specific one and sliding it over to Alise.

There on the page was a familiar looking portrait, but if Lilia had much longer hair and had dyed it red instead of his telltale pink. But Tsunotaro continued to write, instead of checking to see if Alise had actually looked at the photo.

Why would I not? I am heir to the throne of Briar Valley.

He wrote it like it was everyday knowledge... Which in Twisted Wonderland - it was.

Alise spent several minutes reading the textbook Tsunotaro had passed her. She started to write a response, when the professor spoke up pointedly; "Is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"Not really," Alise answered, looking up.

"Do it anyway," he sighed.

Alise looked down at the paper they'd been passing back and forth and read; "I wrote, 'Where is the Queendom of Roses?" He replied, "It's one of the countries - "

"You don't know where the Queendom of Roses is?" One of the boys in the class scoffed.

"Do you know where Polynesia is?" Alise countered, balling up a piece of paper from her notebook in her free hand.

"No, I've never heard - "

Alise threw the wadded up paper at him. "Then we're even," she interrupted.

"Please don't throw things at your fellow students," the professor sighed.

"Yeah, show some respect for your upperclassman!"

"Upperclassman? Are you? Are we not taking the same class right now?"

"That's enough. As much as I appreciate your house warden's willingness to help, the next time you have a question, please raise your hand and ask me."

She nodded, and the professor turned back to the board.

She wrote;

Sorry I guess I got us caught.

Tsunotaro watched the whole ordeal, a tad confused as to why Alise had gotten in trouble for. His eyes darted over to the student that had mocked her before turning away to cover his chuckle at her response.

He turned back towards Alise, glancing down at the paper and shaking his head. Offering her a smile.

`No need. It was enjoyable.`

After writing it, he motioned towards the front of the class. Clearly amused. Alise turned her attention back to the lecture, grinning to herself.

The bell rang, and Alise began to pack up her things. She tucked the paper with the drawings on it carefully inside a notebook so it wouldn't get crushed and gave Tsunotaro back his history textbook. She waited for the room to clear out, and Tsunotaro didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, either.

There were two boys waiting for him when he left the classroom, with Alise trailing behind him. One, tall, with pale green hair, greeted Tsunotaro loudly. Tsunotaro nodded at him, greeting him cooly but with a hint of fondness in his voice. "Hello, Sebek."

The other one, silver haired and eyes colored like the northern lights, stopped her as she slipped by. "I know you," he said slowly.

Tsunotaro then turned to Silver, a bit shocked when the human spoke to Alise. He tilted his head to the side. "Silver, is something wrong?"

Alise stopped, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"No," Silver responded. "I believe I have just found something Mouse was looking for, is all."

"Ah, I see." The dragon made a sound of recognition, looking down at Alise with a slight gleam in his eyes. "I'd guess that they're quite worried about her, yes?"

He phrased it like a question, but it hardly needed any proper answer. He knew Mouse enough to know that they were most definitely worried for the new student.

"Why don't you walk with us, Alise?" Tsunotaro offered, before stepping to the side and motioning to Sebek. "It would give you ample time to acquaint yourself with a fellow freshmen."

Alise nodded hello to the imposing freshman. She had the distinct impression that, though it was phrased as question, between Tsunotaro on one side of her and Silver on the other, she had no choice but to walk with them, wherever they were going.

Tsunotaro smiled some more as he turned to start walking down the hall without warning. Paying no mind to the students who scrambled to get out of his way as he walked. Sebek gave the tiny human a disdainful look, and followed in Tsunotaro's wake. Silver politely waited for her to start walking and fell into step beside her.

They hadn't gone more than a dozen steps when face suddenly appeared, upside down, in front of Alise. The rest of Lilia was also there, suspended upside down in the air in front of her. The rest of the party seemed unphased by this turn of events, and Alise did the only thing she could think of. She gently tapped his upside down nose and said "Boop."

Tsunotaro turned at the sound of Alise's voice. He was confused that she was booping that was not him. (He was very much used to Mouse and Lilia booping his nose when he was alone with either.) His eyes landed on Lilia almost immediately and he hummed in acknowledgement. "Ah, Lilia. Trying to frighten your classmate?" he asked, his tone amused.

"Never," Lilia lied, righting himself with a laugh and offering Alise his arm. "I am usually the booper, not the boopee. It is a novel experience. I see you have met Silver and Sebek. How was the rest of your morning?"

Alise took his arm, not feeling any less railroaded into joining the group wherever they were going. "It was fun," she nodded in Tsunotaro's direction. "We passed notes, got caught, I pelted a boy with paper and got in trouble."

Tsunotaro turned to continue walking towards the cafeteria, crossing his arms as he engaged with the conversation somewhat. "It was a valuable learning experience I'll have to say. For both of us, I believe."

He then glanced over to Sebek, before quickly looking straight again. "I've suggested that Alise and Sebek get acquainted, so that she may drop in on his classes instead. Of course, I do not intend on telling Mouse about her antics this morning." He spoke mainly to Lilia. His tone holding no room for argument on the topic, though it still had a small taste of amusement. As if he was plotting something.

"I have engaged in zero antics," Alise protested. "I simply got lost and sought solace with familiar faces."

Sebek had been holding his tongue this entire time, but shot a glare at Alise at her protest. His voice booming as he spoke.

"YOU DARE ARGUE WITH MY LIEGE??? HOW INSOLENT CAN YOU BE, HUMAN??" He hissed out “human” with a profusion of venom, the distaste as sour as his expression. Tsunotaro hummed, not saying anything - not yet at least - at Sebek's not unusual outburst.

Alise stopped walking, looking hard at Sebek. He towered a foot and a half over her, and could squash her without even trying.

"I dare," she said slowly, matching his venom, "to argue with my friend." She disentangled herself from Lilia and advanced toward Sebek.

Sebek stopped walking as well, his expression growing less sour and more dark with anger. His arms crossed in front of his chest as the small girl approached him.

He let out a scoff, a small snarl ripping out of his throat afterwards. "WATCH YOUR TONE WITH ME, HUMAN!!"

Tsunotaro stopped, turning to watch the two argue - his smile dropped and he simply observed, intrigued by how Alise was reacting but also overjoyed to be referred to as a friend by her - though he didn't show either.

"I've chosen my tone very carefully," she told him, as quiet as he was loud. She was smiling, but it held no trace of warmth.

Silver crossed his arms, head cocked to the side and watched. He was beginning to understand what Mouse had said earlier.

Sebek growled again, much louder and more darkly. No words left his mouth as he glared down the small girl - as if daring her to start something. He bared his teeth, his canines longer than a human's - but shorter than Tsunotaro's or Lilia's. Pupils in thin slits as he stood in the window, allowing light to pour in on him, making his eyes a lot more golden than the green they were in shadowy places.

The more Sebek glowered, the broader she grinned. She stood directly in front of him, meeting his eyes steadily, returning the dare. She was tiny, and fragile, and terrified, and damned if she was going to be intimidated by this very large, very loud man.

Then Tsunotaro reacted, or well, did something other than observe. He reached over to grab at something in Sebek's hair, right next to his ears and flicked whatever it was to the side. There was nothing there, Tsunotaro certainly wasn't going to say.

Suddenly, he backed off - turning abruptly and walking off, much to Tsunotaro's amusement.

"I believe you two will get along swimmingly." Tsunotaro joked, following after the green haired student.

"Oh, I agree," Lilia put in, wrapping one arm around Alise's waist and sweeping her along with the group. "That was the start of a beautiful friendship."

"A little murderous," Silver said to himself, bringing up the rear.

Alise, for her part, allowed herself to be carried along, confused by the interaction, and everyone else's response to it.

Sebek continued to walk ahead of the group, the air around him crackling with his anger.

Tsunotaro turned to Lilia, slowing his steps to keep up with the shortest two. "I do hope that they'll grow as students as the school year proceeds,” he commented, letting out a chuckle.

Wait Tsunotaro refused to say out loud, however, was that he also hoped Alise would beat out the... refusal to get along-ness that Baur had taught Sebek. He knew full well that Lilia, Silver, Mouse, and even himself were much to light on the boy.

"I've given up hope of growing any more," Alise said sadly.

Tsunotaro looked at her shocked, unsure on how to respond to such a statement. Before looking over to Lilia as if he would have the answer. Lilia was trying desperately not to laugh. One look at Tsunotaro's face, and his resolved crumbled.

Tsunotaro only looked more confused, now turning to look at Silver for answers. His expression pleading for the human to help him.

Silver smiled gently. "She made a joke about how short she is, and that she won't get any taller," he explained patiently.

He looked even more shocked, as if he had expected her to be able to get taller (which he did) - asking in a slightly panicked voice. "Is that truly as small as she will stay?"

Silver nodded. "I think it very likely that that is all of her there will ever be."

He turned forwards again, placing a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "I see... How interesting..."

"She is uncommonly small," Silver allowed. Tsunotaro nodded, thinking to himself before looking over to Sebek. His eyes narrowing before mumbling something to himself.

Next

[gremlins-stuff]

Chapter 1 🟢

Sabrina Jones is known for being the life of the party. Any given Friday night you can find her at any one of the local clubs or bars in Melbourne, but this story isnt about Sabrina.

This Story is about an introverted homebody, Zoe Burns to be exact. Zoe works hard to come home and sleep hard. She's happy with her Calm waters. She had the Power to make waves, but thats not her style. Even When others had something to Say, She didnt Care. Its her life, she Should do as she pleases right?

Zoe first met Sabrina when they were 19 and freshman in College. When Zoe Walked into her first lecture, it was Packed. There were very few seats open, indicating Musicology is a very popular course. Her eyes scanned the room, there were very few Open seats. One next to 3 boys slouched into their chairs, seeming to clutch their small fanny packs over their chests. Weird. They all looked like douchebaggy soccer players.

"Hell no " Zoe Whispers to herself. As she wandered further into the lecture hall, another seat became visible. Next to the empty seat there were 4 girls talking about Choreography and lyrics. Feeling confident, Zoe introduces herself and asked to sit down. All of their heads whipped around, their eyes scraping over Zoe head to toe.

"we're good.”

Said one of the girls before they all turned back to whatever they were doing. Zoe not comptetely sure of what just happened, turns and continues looking for a seat, She knew there was a reason for being early.

Just as Zoe was ready to admit defeat and just sit on the floor for the rest of the semester, a small girl with dark hair popped up from her seat, frantically waving Zoe over. The girl was stunning! She had hazel eyes and Small freckles littered all over her round Cheeks and the brightest smile Zoe had ever seen.

"Over here!" She Called. Zoe was caught off gaurd by the girts excitment. After the last interaction she had with her class mates Zoe didn’t expect much from the strangers in her class. Regardless, She squeezed past a few People to Claim her seat. As Zoe sits down the girl introduces herself as Sabrina Jones. Zoe returns the Sabrina’s kindness and introduced herself to Sabrina. That was the beginning of an unbreakable bond.

The girls never spent much time apart after becoming friends. After graduating from RMIT together, they moved into an apartment in Sabrina's hometown, Melvern. Felix, Sabrina's boyfriend moved in a few months after the girls had settled in. Sabrina met Felix at Some Club in Melbourne and says they “Zinged”.

Zoe only had 1 boyfriend throughout College. She didnt See that going very far so she broke it off. All he ever did was play video games and cheat off other students come exam time. The cheaters always disgusted Zoe…

Boys and dating were never her strong suit. She tried but always found herself more interested in her kdrama or book. When they would text it would be hours before there would be a reply. Zoe knew she sucked at dating so she just never really put effort into it. She was happy with herself.

Although working and watching TV doesn’t apeal to all, it apeals to her. After Coming home from a long day as a vocal coach for local Chair groups and organizations. She’ll immediately B line to the bathroom so she can relax in a hot bath with all of her favorite body oils and scents, Or she’ll be wrapped up in her warm comfy bed with her teddy bear David, a hot cup of coffee and a couple candles burning. Her career isn’t exactly what she wants but she’s happy to lend a hand when it’s needed. It also pays really well.

Zoe's little life pleases her. She loves her people and take pride in the fact that they are genine. They way she sees it her life is perfect as is.

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Authors Notes:

AHHHHH!!! I hope you guys like it. The 2nd chapter is already in the making and this is just the top of the iceberg. Let me know what you think!! I love you all very much 😭🫶🏻

Taglist:

@straykeedz @imastraykidsfan

(If you would like to be tagged in new chapters and progress updates please let me know in the notes)

[silverraes]

Get To Know Me Tag

tagged by @befuddledcinnamonroll & @infinitelyprecious ty <3

Do you make your bed?

Only if visitors are coming over lol. My sleep schedule is kinda very fucked so you never know when I'm just gonna fall into bed and pass out anyway

What’s your favorite number?

I don't think I really have a favorite number? 13 maybe?

What is your job?

Uni student. Communication and media studies with a minor in musicology. Though I'm not taking any musicology classes rn and plan to change that to art-media-aesthetic education next semester

If you could go back to school, would you?

Depends. If it's the school I went to from grade 5-10? Hell no. Some of my experiences there were funny looking back but the place was kind of a hellhole. But the school I did my Abitur at? Sure, why not. It was very art and design oriented so the people there were pretty chill and I had some fun classes.

Can you parallel park?

I can't even drive lmao

A job you had that would surprise people?

Well the only job I ever really had was a minijob at a distribution center where I packed boxes for about three years. Which I'd say is a pretty basic job for a uni student so there's nothing really surprising on my resume yet

Though I guess some people might be surprised that I studied biology for a bit before switching to something more media related?

Do you think aliens are real?

That kind of depends on the definition of "aliens" here. Do I think there's life on other planets, however small it may be? Absolutely. I think it'd be more unrealistic to expect that there is not a single other planet with at least some microorganisms in the entire universe. Intelligent life though? Not sure. The universe is huge so I wouldn't count it out but if other intelligent life is out there, I don't think we'll ever find it.

Can you drive a manual car?

Again: I can't even drive haha

What’s your guilty pleasure?

I don't really have one. If I like something, I like it, nothing guilty about that. I think with the kinda hellhole school I went to, I learned pretty quickly that sometimes you just have to be yourself and the people who don't like that can just stay the hell away from you lol

Tattoos?

None. I'd love to get some but I'm kinda afraid of that commitment (and also I don't have that kinda money lmao)

Favorite color?

Black, purples, light blues & greens, pink and anything pastel, really

Favorite type of music?

Ohhh if you've seen me talk about music on here before, you likely know that most of my playlists are pretty whiplash inducing lmao. I'm not really picky about genres so I kinda just listen to anything? If I vibe with it, it goes in the playlist so sometimes you end up jumping from metal to a ballad to dubstep lol. I guess my favorite genres would be kpop, metal & rock?

My favorite band ever is BMTH, my current #1 kpop group is Ateez and my favorite singers are DPR Ian and Crywolf and I actually think that sums up my taste in music pretty well haha

Do you like puzzles?

Used to love 'em as a kid but haven't really done one in ages. I did actually consider buying one just a couple of days ago but I promised myself to keep my spending that day below 20€ and I ended up buying a book about Caspar David Friedrich instead... maybe next time haha

Any phobias?

Heights. And wasps, kind of, but I've gotten much better at dealing weith those. Heights though, I absolutely can not deal with. I guess a fear of falling is also a big part of that bc ladders are too much for me already but I'm fine on airplanes lol

Favorite childhood sport?

I was the "I'll take the bad grade for forgetting my sports clothes again if it keeps me away from any kind of ball" kinda kid so.. none haha. Unless you count Just Dance as a sport

Do you talk to yourself?

All the time

What movies do you adore?

Movies are much like music for me, I'm not really picky about genres. If it keeps me entertained I like it and I'm pretty easily entertained haha. But I'd have to say my favorite movies are The Fifth Element and Scream (the 1996 one ofc). I'm also a big fan of the Halloween movies but I don't think I really have a favorite one out of those.

Coffee or tea?

Tea all the way. I like coffee too but if I had to choose I'd pick tea every time.

First thing you wanted to be growing up?

Hmm, I went through a couple of different dream jobs as a kid but the first thing I remember wanting to be was a fashion designer haha

Idk who's been tagged in this yet so... no pressure and feel free to ignore this if you've done it already lol @sparklyeyedhimbo @buddhamethods @supanuts @aylinaliens @nozunhinged @bunnakit @zoinkssc00b @lukaherehelp

[weirdcore-fantasy]

brother and bestie... I'mma start bothering u to post again instead of just reblogging stuff >:33 Drop Kris, Morgan and Moira lore!! Plzzzz <:33 silly stuff like their fave classes, their fave teachers (including our fan ones) and their clubs/club work? luv u bbyeeeee (I will reblog this)

UAHAGHAGSUFSIWGFJGAUDFQJRGHWHUEHEUEHEUHE.... U DONT KNOW WHAT U JUST IGNITED IN MEEEEEEEEEE

Also btw yall ill post some arts of them so yall can see how they look like!

This took so long lol

Kristoffer Hartdager 🦌

Kris' best subject is astrology , BUT his Favorite subject is animal linguistics! Even though he is very great with constellations and star signs, he loves talking to the cutesy little animals! Even though hes not really great at that-

It's not really that easy to decide on a favorite teacher, but what I can say is that it used to be Crewel, bc of his style, but after The Blowtorch Incident, now it is Trein, bc of the cat.

Kris' in the Art & Crafts Club, his works and projects mostly remain centered on surrealism depicting his experiences as a trans man or animalistic imagery, BUT when he can, he likes to draw himself kissing his crush :3

A little fun fact about him! He has very silent steps, so bc of that he often ends up scaring people accidentally, or purposefully if hes feeling particularly vengeful that day >:)

Moirah Katsanos 🧵

Moirah's best subject is alchemy, but his favorite subject is musicology! Although he is very good with potions and such, musicology talks to him and allows him to express what he can't say properly, the rithyms and melodies are hypnotizing to him and makes him feel at at ease.

His favorite teacher is the botanics teacher Hans Gothel! Both of them share the same issue: not having the ability to facially express what they really mean and coming off as condescending, and so they kinda bond bc of it.

Moirah is in the sewing club, he loved sewing and creating clothing specifically, he ADORES making different types of dresses and suits, although, in his opinion feminine clothing is more fun and interesting to work with. He sometimes forces (affectionately) his friend to act as mannequins for him, it is not that bad actually.

He is actually very good at playing the violin, he almost got into the pop music club but he chose the sewing club instead.

Morgan Cephal 🐙

Morgan's best and favorite subject is Pratical Magic, its just so nice to know all these helpful things, he knew that he woudn't be someone big or successful once he graduated, since he lived only with his older sister.

His favorite teacher is Vargas, actually. He finds his obnoxiousness funny. Thats the only reason.

He is in the pop music club, his favorite type of music to play is mostly goth and indie rock, he usually plays with a keytar but isnt against playing different instruments.

He is actually a great baker, he created the dessert menu at Monstro Lounge and often creates various treats and sweets for his friends!

[moonspower]

so, my first concert was about like. 2004? it was prince’s musicology tour.

and overall, prince is a big inspiration for virote. i know people say he was like 5′3” but when i saw him he was like. 5ft even lol. that’s what i saw!

he’s a big inspiration for virote! very small, but the most powerful bitch in the room.

anyway...

honestly the most powerful being on planet earth and i channel his energy every day.

[stormbreaker101]

As per your recent bingo, I am asking about Maulwurf. He's a silly little guy and I hope musicology becomes something we can be taught in the future.

HI. YES. OKAY. SO. WARNING. THIS POST IS RAMBLY. MAULWURF IS MY BOINKY AND MY CHEW TOY. I HAVE BEEN VERY MEAN TO HIM. I LOVE HIM.

putting all my rambles under a readmore to spare the people.

First things first, my interpretation of Maulwurf has veered somewhat off from canon. This is because I started writing my AU Corrupted Spiral before Maulwurf was introduced, and so the scene has changed significantly and some aspects of Maulwurf's story changed with it.

Some completely original background for the guy: his father's side of the family had been involved with the Schismists for generations, and so it simply made SENSE for Maulwurf to follow his father's lead. Maulwurf's father also died when Maulwurf was young, which only pushed Maulwurf further into the Schismists because having the Old One as a father figure is totally not going to devastate his moral compass and emotional wellbeing in the long run, right? RIGHT? Under the Old One's teaching, Maulwurf became a brilliant musicologist and businessman. Creative, analytical, but loyal.

fast forward to the main time period of my AU. It's post Arc 3, but Arc 4 never happens properly because the Scion had what I officially call the Calamity (bc she's a storm wizard who isn't named Calamity herself but i had to get that name in somewhere) and unofficially call a divine meltdown/temper tantrum. Basically, she fucked up bigtime and now magic is running haywire, harming entire worlds (the why doesn't matter here). She also decided to LEAVE the Spiral for a time, so sorry fellas! No Savior figure no more!

Karamelle's taste of the Calamity is torrential storms that threaten to flood and dissolve the entire world. The Old One had been hoping to host his Summit with the Scion like in canon so he could get back to the Arcanum and his pet project Lemuria, but with the Scion going AWOL, that ISN'T a possibility anymore. So he sent loyal loyal Maulwurf to the Arcanum as a spy. The cover story was for Maulwurf to ask for aid fixing the Calamity.

Maulwurf ended up staying in the Arcanum for well over a year. And though he spied on the Arcanum, he also.... became genuine friends with the Arcanum folk. And he saw their consistent determination to save the present Spiral, rather than be complicit in its fate and destruction.

uh oh. smells like traitorhood.

ultimately, Maulwurf is a man who believes in the joys of existence and creation, be it music or magic or food or crafts. He'll create a tune, try to create something more with it, have it explode in his face, and laugh it off. For an explosion requires someTHING to explode, ja?

And the Arcanum were being better co-creators than the Old One and whatever remained of the Schismists were. And the Arcanum fought for existence, while the Schismists promised an eventual destruction of the Spiral and that said destruction is okay.

uh oh. smells like traitorhood.

Of course, it's hard to turn your back on the man who acted as your primary father figure for the majority of your life. But not impossible.

Maulwurf does eventually cut his loyalty to the Old One, and it is one HELL of an emotional Moment for him. However, he still hasn't told anybody but Stallion (yes Stallion happened to get out of the ice despite Arc 4 not happening normally. that's a WHOLE other loredump post) about his history and ties as a Schismist.

oh speaking of ties Maulwurf has to the Schismists. Maulwurf replaced the feather in his cap with a feather from Quake Charmer. They had been buddies. QC is dead now. That's just a small detail headcanon.

GODDDD THERE IS SO MUCH MORE I CAN SAY. All of this stuff doesn't even begin to really touch upon the kind of character he's become in the writing I've done with @klaraflamez. AND BELIEVE ME. HE'S. HE'S. I cant even fucking word right now lmao.

Ultimately, I try to keep Maulwurf someone who holds hopeful even with all the strain he had undergone. His loyalties and connections pull him one way, but he pushes the other way, determined for a brighter existent future. A man of whimsy and creation and depth.

Or in other words, I used to have this Maulwurf-

[nonbeas]

I really like music

Tuesday, October 8th 2024

My name is Bea Banis, and my name is an alliteration, which is only cool if you're a huge nerd and are into that kind of thing.

I don't think I have any kind of foresight. I don't know what I want my future to be like. I only would come up with scenarios because school would make you do it.

Freshman year we took a quiz instead of homeroom. It was supposed to help you explore careers. A lot of kids already had an idea of what they want to do, so the quiz didn't mean anything. For the kids who didn't, it was supposed to be helpful. It wasn't really helpful for me, it just made me more confused, in the end. I don't remember what the actual results were, all I knew is that I didn't want to do whatever it was. But at the end you could explore all the possibilities and it would tell you what you would need to do to have that career, like what kind of schooling you would need, what the hours and pay are like.

I looked at being an author first, because in fifth grade I was voted "most likely to write a best seller" and I really liked books. I liked reading and I liked writing fan fiction. I never wrote any original content. But that was freelance, and it was a lot of work for not a lot of money, unless you made it big like Stephanie Meyer.

Then I explored music. I didn't know what I liked about music at the time, all I knew was I liked being in band. I found out that the study of music is called "musicology" and that even that profession didn't really have that much going on. It's one of those professions that require a lot of schooling only for the end result to be a professor, and I consider that kind of thing to be an academic version of a pyramid scheme. If I could afford to just be a scholar, like if I was a rich man in the 1800s, that's certainly what I would do.

In the end, I kind of disregarded the results. I would tell people that the quiz said I'd be an author, but I didn't commit to it. I kind of forgot about it and just focused on getting good grades and being in band.

The two classes I really excelled at, other than band, was biology and world history. I got 5's on both the AP exams for those classes. I decided I might want to go to college for biology. I didn't know what for specifically, because even though I liked biology, I didn't do any actual research into what I would even do with it. When I did, I would get really anxious, or maybe bored.

I also went to music camp every summer, except for one year, when I went to Europe instead. I made a lot of higher achieving friends on that Europe trip, and I wanted to be like them, so I did things like try out for regionals, and make it, of course. That's when I really started getting into music. The last year I went to music camp, right before I was about to go to college for biology, I had a crisis and decided to minor in music.

During my first year of college, I joined marching band, joined a music sorority, and got a contract with a drum corps. So, I changed my major to music, because that made more sense in the moment. My professor tried to get me to do a performance degree, because I was actually just a really good performer. I could sight read, I could pick up technique, and I could memorize pretty fast. My musicality was pretty good because I liked to make up stories for every solo I played. But everyone else was saying that music education would give me a steady career after school, and I fell for it because of the stability.

Except I never actually wanted to teach children.

I mean, I can teach, and I like it. But I don't like classrooms.

So basically, I should've done a private studio as a performance major, and I maybe could've really gotten into things, like auditioning for symphonies, or putting together a band.

And right now, I like arranging and composing music.

But other than that, I'm not even doing anything.

So here I am in the future, and it's exactly like when I would try to envision it when I was in high school. Nothing.

[hunting-songs]

Disciplina: How disciplined are they? How good is their self-control?

Fama: What would they be most likely to be famous for? How do they feel when others talk about them?

Felicitas: Do they believe in luck? What do they consider their greatest success(es)?

Roman Deity Asks! Disciplina: How disciplined are they? How good is their self-control? Senritsu is very disciplined and inf act will forget to eat or sleep if she is focused in a task that is important to her. In the same manner she is also a rater hedonistic person and wil indulge in foods, music and other things outside of her hyperfocus on her work. To her self-control: It needed a night fill of drinking for her to indulge in listening to the SOnata of Darkness and till now, as someone who remembers every song she once heard, she had not yet played the Sonata herself and continued the curse. But even the strongest person, especiallywhen so proud of her skills as Senritsu, might eventually indulge. Fama: What would they be most likely to be famous for? How do they feel when others talk about them? For what Senritsu is most famous depends on the person one is asking: If one would ask a person working in musicology or at one of the museums Senritsu is regulary hired by, than Senritsu is a Hunter known for her masterful skill on the piano and western-concert-flute and a even more masterful hand in restoring wooden Musicinstruments. If one would ask a Hunter than Senritsu is just another dog who sold herself to work for the most paying to have a ast paycheck. And if one would ask one of her colleagues in the Mafia, than Senritsu would be that very kind but also very creepy little person that is good to trust in danger but is on normal days very uncomfortbale to be around as there is no privacy when in her hearingrange. Accordingly she is better off avoided. Senritsu has a very keen hearing, so she always knows when someone is talking about her. However, she also has through her keen hearing such a well grasp on other peoples emotions to know why they talk about her and most of the tiem she therefor knos that it is not because of malice and if it is out of malice, Senritsu does not care. She is ignoring most of the noises around her or she would be driven insane by them so what is another whispered line about her to ignore when she already has to ignore a whole town of beating hearts around her that keep her awake at every second. Felicitas: Do they believe in luck? What do they consider their greatest success(es)? Growing up between thiefs and robbers Senritsu does not belive in luck in the slightest. She however, believes in skill: She believes that dices thrown with a nimble hand in a certaine way will always land on the highst number of eyes. She believes that a silver tounge can turn the most misfortunate situation around in ones favour. She believes that there is no luck and if it is there, it should never be trusted because it is not to rely on. What is to rely on is ones own hard work and skill. And it is also this hard wotk and skill that Senritsu is the most proud of, so she would therefor name one of her greatest successes her master craftman's certificate in restoration of wind-instruments. Although she reached further on other instruments and continued to learn adn can therefor work on other instruments, she still find very much pride in her original Master-certificate, especially since she struggled so much in school. If she would have a hosue or a appartment, she would hang that certificate from her wall, but as she does not have a permanent home the certificate is save in a safe-deposit box.

[lutethebodies]

Lost Songs for Lost Singers, Pt. 1: Music is a Tool

By Ruy Acavés, the Realm’s Reckoner Spring, 537 AD

I’m writing this because I lost a bet with a scoundrel. I don’t gamble, but during the first conversation I had with Cannor Coth, the so-called “Lost Singer,” I said something offhand like “I don’t imagine I’ll ever do much voyaging.” We’d been talking about his many travels around the world of Nua, and he immediately bet “a future favor” that I would be proven wrong within a year. “In my experience, nobody who truly knows anything about the world ever stays in one place.” I’d been happy as I was, but somewhat to my surprise I found myself on an eastbound ship in ten months, far from the Nevelese tavern where we met. 

I never told him this, because the captain was an enemy of his. However, Cannor was as much a spy as a singer, so I’m sure he found out, even though I didn’t see the bard again after a moon’s turn. That absence didn’t affect our subsequent work together, but he was correct, and a favor is a favor, so that’s why you’re reading an essay by a cartographer about a singer you’ve likely never heard of. Well, that and posterity, which he and I both value, and maybe you will as well.

My specialty is in mapmaking and navigation, so I’m less familiar with the finer points of musicology, but I know these songs well. This collection, compiled at Nevela’s Frontier Academy, showcases seven of Cannor’s many compositions, performed in a style similar to how the Lost Singer did when he toured far and wide. And while the man was indeed creative, being a performer was a means to an end. “Music, songwriting, stories, poetry—those are tools,” he told me, “for clawing back some control from a world that constantly wants to take it away.” 

Cannor explained that creativity was essential for sanity and stability when dealing with reality. His song arrangements were considerably simplified from their various sources and influences, but his lyrics were compelling. He preferred to write and sing his own story “because I figured nobody else would” rather than perform traditionally popular heroic epics, romantic ballads, or other troubadour clichés. Predictably, this didn’t get him many gigs, so he had to fight “the war to make people care.”

As an unconventional bard, then, Cannor’s method involved no small amount of what other minstrels might dismiss as “amateur incompetence” or even “cheating.” I would argue he possessed different and more unique skills than most in his trade. Cannor happily employed simple magic to change his instrument’s octave, for example, or to make it echo and resonate within whatever space he performed.

That instrument, the Savansi bailágrima, is an oversized, teardrop-shaped ebony-and-rosewood cittern. It creates low and resonant tones emphasizing the percussive, rhythmic style of the Floodlands. Cannor eschewed extended instrumental passages—his “stone fingers” produced rudimentary plucking and strumming—but a basic accompaniment structure allowed for more improvisation and storytelling, which suited his “semi-autobiographical” lyrics much better. His own life experiences (adventure, love, loss, conflict, renown, power, glory, shame, infamy) became as engaging as any hero’s tale.

Continued in Part 2, next Monday. All content excerpted from the “Lost Songs for Lost Singers” liner notes, October 2023.