#earth 802 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-cat-and-the-birdie · 8 months

Text

Inca-Spider - Moche Huapaya - Earth-802

Pronounced 'Mo-Chae HWA-Pa-ya' (Also goes by Mochi) - 24 - She/Her - 4'11 - Yes, I ship her with Miguel. - From Incan Year 802 (or our 1992) ______________________________________________

Bitten and blessed by The Fanged Spider-God - Aia Paec, Moche is the wall-crawling protector of Cusco. Along with the likes of Pavitr and Spider-man Noir, she's a part of a small class of Spider-people blessed and empowered of Gods.

Moche Huapaya:

Moche is best described as warm and independent. She's autistic, and spent most of her childhood weaving alone, or roaming the mountainous plains around her village with her family's pack of llamas. But Moche loves people, and has always found much community in her village's temples, her Aunt Mayu a great curandera (healer). Moche takes after her aunt, always eager to help. And she was raised by her aunt and Uncle Huacan to always serve the community, but always find strength within herself. Advice that'd become very useful the night her village was attacked. At 15, after centuries of peace, the Spanish army invaded her country, armed with new vibranium-made weaponry. Chased into the wilderness by Spanish soldiers, and stranded - Moche unknowingly came across Huachuma* [Hwa-chu-ma], a sacred psychedelic cactus, and ate it to avoid starvation. As she began to consume the plant, a spider crawled from the root and bit her - And as she fell under a spell of Huachuma and venom, she was faced with Aia Paec, The Fanged Spider-God. She returned to her village as The Inca-Spider, the Avatar and vessel of Aia Paec. And she has the fangs to prove it. For 9 years, Inca-Spider has served as the nation's protector, defending them through the intensive and ongoing war with the Spanish. The summer after her college graduation, Moche returned from Lima to her family home Cusco. The day before returning to the city, Moche's village is faced with a strange man - almost 7 foot tall, and speaking Spanish. And to her, Miguel is the strangest person she's ever met. But above all else - Moche's still just a 24 year old in 1992 and she acts like it. Sarcastic but lighthearted, she likes Quechuan soap operas, Q-Pop (Quechua Pop), riding her motorcycle and surfing off the coast of Lima.

The Inca-Spider:

The Provider of Water and Protection - Aia Paec has protected the Quechua people for centuries. Considered the Decapitator, his fanged mask sits in every Inti temple. Victorious against the first Spanish invasion, Aia Paec fell dormant - relegated to a bringer of rain. And so did the Inca-Spider. But when there is a need, Aia Paec is of service. Compassionate but not merciful, Aia Paec submits to no one - but his community. And he considers all Quechua people as his children. The newest living incarnation - Moche is no different. She's the village Curandera (a indigenous healer), responsible for spiritual brews, divination, and ceremony - a tradition taught to her by Aunt Mayu. After her aunt's passing, she also went on to become a Mamacona (Sun-god Inti's temple attendant) As a Mamacona she now lives at the Inti temple with the other 'nuns', and despite her loss, she considers her sisters as her found family. And they ALL have an opinion on Miguel. (They call him AncaApu or 'Blue Mountain' for how tall he is.)

[WARNING: This post is LONG. VERY LONG. Like..my longest so far. And very detailed. Below are more details about Moche's Style & Design, Origin, Powers, & Other Quechua cultural details.

Plus her relationship with Miguel, her role in ATSV and her friendship with Hobie. [There are mentions of colonization in this post - as well as how joining the Society and learning about Spanish colonization affected her. * - There are also mentions of the ceremonial psychedelic Huachuma Cactus, which is a real and practiced Andean ceremony to this day. I personally have sat in ceremony and would love to share my experience/knowledge - for more information on these medicines - check the very bottom. Thanks!]

Style:

When Moche is in her home city of Cusco, she will often wear the traditional Quechuan style of dress - a red sweater, a black and decorated skirt, and a wide brim hat. One of the only remnants of the Spanish's attempt at colonization - Quechuans in Tawanti instead see their dress as something completely reclaimed, a reflection of their resilience and art.

And because she spends most of her time between there and Spider Society - it's almost everyday that you can find Moche in a petticoat and red sweater, made from the wool of village's llamas. She's worn a hat and black skirt from childhood to college, and when she's back home, she has no plans of stopping. Because of this Moche prefers skirts, and never wears pants if she can help it. Thought that became a problem walking upside down at HQ. So now she sews her own harem pants with tiered lace around them, to give the same fluffy illusion. But when it comes to skirts, she likes them any length, any fluffiness. Even black jean skirts. She's from 1992 after all. However while on HQ, Moche likes to wear her hair out of her braids, knowing the older women at the Inti Temple would have a heart attack over it. As gold is sacred to her people, it's VERY fashionable back home, and Moche tries to wear it as much as she can. Just the same, when not in her everyday-Quechua clothing, she'll usually be caught wearing a red-top/black-skirt combo and a hat of some sort. She feels naked without them or a little gold.

Her Suit:

Not being able to wear a skirt while swinging was one of the main thoughts Moche kept in her mind during the designing process, and the solution - lace bloomers and a waist-cape! But unlike most Spider-people, Moche didn't make her suit at all. Aia did. Much like Miguel's, Moche's suit is a layer that manifests over her body when her web-gauntlets are on. Aia Paec manifested the suit based on what he perceived to be Moche's needs and tastes. The foot straps were her idea though. Moche's head-dress is directly inspired by the traditional headdress of Warrior Priests - When Moche hangs upside down, her headdress and cape forms her home flag. And although Moche is ace - that's not a LGBTQ+ flag! It's the actual Flag of Cusco, Peru -

[Sometimes the Cusco flag is also shown without the gold emblem! And the original (Gilbert Baker) pride flag has extra colors - so how do you tell them apart? LGBTQ+ flags usually have an even number of stripes. Cusco is always odd. Good rule of thumb: LGBTQ+ = queer, but Cusco = odd.] Though she gets questions about it on campus A LOT. Moche also grew up wearing sandals all the time, so running around in her suit barefoot felt a little wrong to her. Instead she ties leather straps at her ankles - to help her grip when clinging to mountainsides or cliff faces.

Face Claim(s): Quechua-rapper Renata Flores

History & Origin:

Living in the Andean year 802 (1992 for us), Moche was raised in the mountains outside of Cusco, a historical, bustling city teeming with Inca culture and religion. Tawantinsuyu (the indigenous name for Peru, Chile, Boliva, Ecuador etc) - or just Tawanti has known peace for 400 years. But when Moche is 15, her village is attacked, thrown into chaos as the Spanish unleash another war, backed with new vibranium weaponry. Moche's Auntie Mayu urged her to flee to the mountains, taking her families herd of llamas with her. Chased into the wilderness by Spanish soldiers, Moche - once a clever navigator - found herself disoriented and stranded among the deserted hills and plains. Facing starvation, Moche collapsed at the foot of a Huachuma Cactus - unknowing of the sacred plant teacher inside. Begging for mercy and to live, Moche ate the cactus to survive - unknowing of the plant's ceremonial and psychedelic nature - or the spider inside. Moche was faced with 'Aia Paec - The Decapitator' - a fanged spider-god in her religion. The protector of The Inca, Aia Paec presented Moche with her first premonition: the potential destruction of her people. Aia then presented Moche with a choice: become the Avatar of the Spider-God - or refuse, having no recollection of the event afterwards. Either way, she'd live another day. Moche accepted the role of Avatar, earning her fangs and web gauntlets. And she returned to her village as the Inca-Spider. Although her Uncle Huacan died in the fight, Moche arrived in time to fend off the first of many Spanish attacks. With fangs of her own to prove her title of Avatar, she was accepted by her community with open arms, her identity as Inca-Spider open and known. However, they do not revere her, instead seeing Moche more as a public servant than an idol. Moche lived in her village outside of historic and sacred Cusco until she was 18, before attending college in the futuristic city of Lima - near the pacific coast. - During the 16 century, a mine of gold near the city was found laced with Vibranium, catapulting the nation into a Wakanda-like surge of advancement. There Moche attended the University of Lima on a musical scholarship, for her cultural flute playing. At 24, she graduated Cum Laude with a dual degree in Cultural Studies and Computer Science (she's technically still from 1992). During this time, she learned English and Spanish. [However she does not speak Spanish natively at all, and speaks it like any other person who learned it in college. Considering this, the history of her nation, and confusion around Spanish gendered nouns (as Quechua has none) she prefers to speak English]

Powers and Abilities:

Moche has all the usual Spider-Powers - including a pair of fangs to prove her title of avatar. However, unlike Miguel, Moche's are purely ornamental, and she'll only really flash them to other Quechua people to prove her status. They're unretractable and noticeably shorter than his.

The niece of a textile weaver, Moche is a Weaver spider - like Pavitr, she focuses on maneuvers and flips that allow her to create webs and tangles. Her web-shooters easily cocoon opponents, and Moche often uses webs as wings and gliders instead of swinging, which is more convenient in the Andean mountains. Up-keep: To maintain her abilities, Moche must follow a thorough moral code and spiritual regimen - including things such as divination, meditation, formal ceremony, and occasionally fasting. One time throughout the year, Moche loses her powers. During this time she enters a period of isolation, fasting, meditation, and spiritual rest. All the while, she can only access her powers if she or her community is in direct danger, in which she has to call upon Aia. Otherwise, during this time she reverts to an average human, and focuses on self-reflection, devotion, and mindfulness. Once she's recharged and proves to Aia her duty to her great responsibility, she regains her great powers. This cycle usually takes 3 weeks out of the year. Web-shooters: Moche's Web-shooters are not mechanical or organic, but something in between. The second mark of the Avatar is her gauntlets, two relics given to her by Aia Paec. They're magical, spawning unlimited golden webs. However, they act like organic webs - because they spawn whenever she needs them. Moche's gauntlets can't be stolen or lost. When legitimate danger strikes, her cuffs will appear within her reach or bag immediately. Once they are on, however, they can't be taken off until the threat is dealt with or gone. Aia Paec sees fleeing as dishonorable, and so for Moche it's not an option. The Machu Blade: A real-life blade found at Machu Pichu, Moche weilds a golden ceremonial blade used like the one below. Used to farm Huachuma in Tawanti, she mainly uses it for farm work. The blade spawning from her gauntlet, Moche often uses it like a machete in battle - but the white of her suit will never stain with blood and the blade itself cannot pierce her. She usually combines it with her webs, throwing it over her head or swinging it at opponents before lassoing it back. Ever seen the use of the tomahawk in the movie 'Prey'? She's doing that.

[POV: You're dishonorable and with be dealt with swiftly] Eye of the Spider - Every battle is made equal and honorable with this ability. Moche will get visions that help her even the field in battle. She can't see hits coming, but if the enemy is planning on doing something that is considered dishonorable in battle, Moche will get a vision in warning. Example: If Moche gets into a fight she believes is one-on-one, but the person has a third party in hiding to ambush her, Aia will give her a vision in warning. - If instead, the other person discloses the third party before the fight, Aia Paec would consider that an honorable move, and Moche wouldn't get a vision. This extends to things such as concealed weapons, hidden doors/rooms, acts of cheating/slight - and if you're bluffing at Poker, she can see your cards. She can't help it, and it's technically NOT cheating. According to her. Aia took some convincing. Still that trick got her through college. Intentional lies always go noticed by her as well. The Big Guy Upstairs Aia Paec is considered both a provider and warrior for the Andean people. Ruthless in battle, Aia Paec is the creator god responsible for all food, water, and triumph in war. He is about balance, honor, and respect above of things. Fortunately for Moche, he's more agreeable than say - Venom or Khonsu - and he doesn't care much for Moche's personal life or interests. Sure, he cares about her well-being. But not her soap-ops. However when it comes to The Inca-Spider, Aia Paec can be demanding, and he'll never let Moche walk away from a 'worthy' or justified battle. He cares little about things like pride, but if he feels like someones basic respect or rights are being encroached on, or someone is being threatened by another stronger than them, he WILL make Moche step in. Either by pestering her, or if necessary, assuming control and getting her into a fight before leaving Moche to get out of it. ('That wasn't me, I swear. God made me smack you.') After witnessing Miguel attack Miles and assault both Gwen and Diane (while sending Gwen home), Aia Paec declares Miguel as dishonorable and compels Moche to battle him. Despite her deep care for Miguel, Moche chose to follow her oath to Aia Paec and oblige.

Moche & The Spider Society: And the trauma of joining -

Recruitment:

The summer after her graduation, Moche returned home to her family home Cusco. The day before returning to the city, Moche's village is faced with a strange man - almost 7 foot tall, and speaking Spanish. Moche is immediately skeptical and very suspicious of the man named Miguel - and she almost doesn't believe his story, concerned he may be a Spanish spy. That is, until she realizes that he's marked with fangs, the same way she is. Still, he has to earn her trust. And getting her to join is no easy feat. First, she must test his honor. The test took three days, a trek to the mountains and a meeting with Huachuma cactus and Ayahuasca brew that changed Miguel's life. Miguel passed Aia Paec's test in the Astral Plain, and so - as she'd promised - Moche joined the Spider Society, with him as her mentor.

"Integration":

To be honest, Moche's first few weeks on campus could be considered outright traumatic. However, it wasn't the Society or technology she found jarring - but the loss of her culture. During her induction process, it had been Miguel's job to tell her about the colonization of her people - in almost all other universes. Until this point, Moche had no understanding of Latin America, because to her - America had never become latin. Up until this point, she had only a vague idea of why Miguel spoke Spanish and not Yucatec, but it was only then that she was explained the full extent of the damage. Quechua culture, people, and language are still VERY much alive today, with 8 million native speakers (it's actually the indigenous language in the Americas with the most speakers) - but that does not understate the massive destruction and slaughter they endured at the hands of the Spanish - even down to the murder of their last emperor - nearly 600 years before 2099. In the multiverse, much of the culture and history Moche has been taught over her lifetime doesn't exist - the massive developments made in the last half century completely lost. To her, the country of Peru was foreign, despite her being 'from there'. It was a very sharp shock to the senses, and Moche went through a deep period of mourning. Even moreso, she became terrified of collapsing her universe - and the only trace of her culture. Induction periods are usually spent in the dorms, and Moche spent most of her time there alone. During that time she between talking to the Lyla in her watch, and the two became close friends. To Miguel this hardship was completely unexpected - and unintentional. A majority of his time went to rectifying this and trying to comfort Moche. Determined to avoid the trauma towards recruits in the future, Moche and Miguel directly developed The Spider Society Adjustment Course together (- in which vulnerable recruits live in a separate wing and receive services like therapy and a mix of mental health and multiversal culture courses) It took Moche a long while to adjust - and she still is, mostly working at Society HQs in administrative roles rather than active missions. Those she is great in the field. But she still has a LOT of problems with people constantly misrepresenting her because of her indigenous ancestry and unique universe. "Oh! A Peruvian Spider! We love a latina queen!" "No. I'm not Latin." "Sorry, 'Hispanic', then?" "No, I learned Spanish in college." "So, then what are you? Not to be rude." "Inca." "Those still exist?? Or are you from like 1500 or something like Webslinger? OMG Are you from El Dorado or something?" "El Dorado is Spanish. Also, it doesn't exist. Also no. I'm from 1992." "That doesn't make much sense cause the Spanish-" *Moche looking at a nearby Lyla like she's on The Office*

['There's a talking piece of fucking plastic and a sentient car here what is so mystical about an indigenous person to these people???????'] -Moche ranting to Lyla later

Moche & Her Job @ The Society:

Overall, Moche is clearheaded but a total 'Type A' personality. She loves to stay busy, consistently the only person on campus who gets up before Miguel. She is known as a 'Class A - Weaver' Spider under Society Specifications, and is usually called for missions that include large crowds of civilians - as she's great at making cocoons and hammocks to catch people. Recruited and mentored by Miguel, she's a graduate of the Spider Society Educational Program - with a concentration in a Multiversal Sociology and Data Input - basically learning and tracking the cultures of the incoming recruits. After revolutionizing the Societies' computer systems with a computerized version of Quechua Quipus (an ancient information system made of strings), Moche was promoted to Third-in-command, after Miguel and Jessica.

[A Quipu for reference. Imagine the base canon event of being bit as the central string, and all other canon events/canonical paths being the outward strings. She did that but in Lyla if that makes sense.]

She also works as Miguel's '2nd assistant' - the person who does all the things Lyla can't. Like getting Miguel coffee. Or making sure he eats, reminding him to drink water. Fetching parts and physical files for him, and reminding him the details of every recruit before a meeting. If something is going down on campus - If it involves talking to people, It's her Miguel's sending.

Moche & Miguel:

Yes. I ship them. (Also I'll write more in another post but)

Moche and Miguel aren't necessarily boyfriend and girlfriend. If you ask, they'll say they're 'seeing one another'. And then they'll quickly change the conversation because talking about relationships in the workplace in unprofessional and they're professionals (and shy).

In fact, their relationship could even be described as Non-conventional because they're extremely conventional.

As in, Moche and Miguel operate like a pair of 1950's teenagers that are 'going steady'. If anything, their relationship is a lot closer to 'courting' than dating. Whereas Diane and Hobie hardly ever go on dates, Miguel and Moche go on dinner dates a LOT. Usually accompanied by flowers and Miguel having to drop her off at the temple after. (He has to bring something gentlemanly or else the older Mamaconas are NOT letting her out). The two of them had to build up to holding hands before they ever kissed - if that gives you a better idea of what I mean. Before she fully joined the society, Miguel was almost embarrassed when he walked in on her and for the first time she wasn't wearing her braids - as if that were an intimate thing to see. He apologized profusely. She apologized profusely, telling him it was okay. Aia Paec was annoyed with the both of them.

When it comes to pet names, neither use Spanish terms. Just cause. The first time he called her 'mi amor' Moche was probably caught off guard a little.

Instead, they may call each other 'Chata', 'Muna', and 'Wayllu' or any other number of shortened Quechua terms. They also usually say I love you in Quechua, which is simply 'Kuyayki.' [Chata -> Chatashka - Lover / Muna -> Munashka - Darling / Wayllu -> Wayllushka - Beloved] Miguel's most common name for her is 'Cuy' or Guinea, which Moche HATES. In Quechua, 'Cuy' means Guinea pig. The Spanish were known for bringing over beef and cattle, and as a result for her, beef is hardly eaten in Tawanti. Instead, eating and raising Guinea Pig is more common (as is common in Peru). Moche was raised eating cuy. Miguel has never eaten it in his life. Considering cuy LOOKS like a fried guinea pig, he can't really take the thought. But back at her village, Moche was raised breeding and taking care of the cuy. Miguel finds them kind of adorable, and what's even more adorable is Moche looking after them. And since she's fairly small compared to him - he calls her Cuy. To many people - on campus - this is cute. To Miguel it's like calling her bunny or mouse. But to the people in her village, and probably the whole country, it's hilarious. To them cuy are not pets - It's like calling your girlfriend a chicken or turkey and expecting it to be romantic. Which he does. Her telling him to stop usually results in him kissing the side of the head (and doing it again). She'll usually call him AncuApu in return.

With Miguel's past loss and Moche's traditional upbringing, the two enjoy taking it slow. Like really slow. And since both of them are A-spec (Moche ace and Miguel demi) their relationship is mostly to completely romantic and emotional.

Moche's only interest in sex is starting a family one day. And Miguel is fine with that. It wasn't something they really talked or thought about. UNTIL Mayday. Having her around campus, has given Moche baby fever. And even if she's not running to jump in bed, she can't stop saying how much she LOVES Mayday's chunky cheeks and little arms and curly hair and- So when Jess got pregnant - It's like, okay - when's the other baby shoe dropping? Jess is like 'We twinning? Just kidding..We twinning though???' Instead they spend their time eating in downtown Lima (they're foodies), watching Quechua soaps (she got him hooked), or organizing things for the Society. Although those sound like old people married couple stuff, they LOVE it. The two of them see each other as rocks in the other's lives, but more than that, the two of them are most focused on feeling each other out, learning each other, and hopefully starting a future together.

[Lol just wait till you get to the ATSV section - PAIN]

Oh - and while Miguel's test Moche met Gabby face to face while the two of them were in Ayahuasca ceremony - and she was able to deliver a message from her to Miguel. But that's a long story.

Schedule:

Moche still lives back home in her village in Tawantinsuyu, taking over a lot of the spiritual and mundane needs of the village. She wakes up at dawn, tending to the llamas and spiritual herbs in the morning before heading to campus. After, she'll spend her 8-10 hours on Society Campus before returning home to bring in the animals and watchover the community during the night. It's usual for the other Mamaconas (temple assistants) to wait for her portal in the yard, and start talking her ear off right away. But by now, it's normalized. So long as she's not late or anything.

Moche & ATSV:

Moche does not join in on the chase - being physically unable to. Aia Paec declares the act as dishonorable, restricting her movement and 'forcing' her to hang back. She instead heads to the control room to aid Margo and update her on the situation.

When the Go-Home Machine began to go 'haywire', her 'Eye of the Spider' ability allows her to see Miles as soon as he steps in the room. However, Moche chooses not to acknowledge him at Aia Paec's order. Aia Paec also restricts her vocal chords at the time, making it impossible for her to rat Miles out - though she wouldn't either way.

Watching as Miguel assaults Gwen - and then Diane, who comes to her defense - Moche is completely shocked. And although she tries to calm him down - Miguel refuses to hear it.

So Aia compelled her, and she agreed. But terrified of fighting Miguel, Moche made the decision to let Aia Paec assume complete control for the first time - total possession. As Miguel ordered the rest of the Society to scour the multiverse - Aia Paec openly challenged him, citing him as no longer honorable and worthy of the fanged title. And although he is in Moche's body, he will not allow Miguel to go unchecked.

However as the fight stretched on, Moche's emotional state - mixed with the fear of seeing Miguel aggressive beyond her understanding - renders her unable to maintain the connection, weakening Aia's efforts. And the fight ends with Miguel almost badly wounding Moche after Aia refuses to relent.

Aia releases Moche just in time, so she can see Miguel's abuse and dishonorable behavior for herself. Terrified, she comes to with Miguel standing over her, and for the first time Moche finds herself frozen in fear - and she begged him not to wound her further.

Finally coming to the weight of his actions, Miguel however, is horrified. But before he can attempt an apology, Aia Paec resumed control, using the chance to escape through a portal.

However, understanding that her watch would be disabled from this point on - instead of her home universe, a wounded Moche finds herself of the bow of a boat she's never seen.

Hobie's boathouse. Moche may not know him, or Diane, or even Gwen that well. But Aia Paec knows she'll be of use to them. So here she is.

RANDOM HEADCANONS about Moche: [We're almost done I PROMISE - not really lol]

When needed her suit can spawn a manta (called a Lliklla in Quechua).

It's a woven cloth worn over the shoulders to carry babies or literally anything else you need to. That's her 'suit purse'.

She will also carry children she rescued in her manta. Or just give them rides around Cusco.

Moche's best friend is Lyla - and she feels a little embarrassed by this. She has to keep telling herself that Lyla is real, she's just not human. Still, kinda weird being from 1992.

But they are very close and have discussed things about if Lyla is real or can feel and stuff - and to Moche it's very clear she can.

Moche is very hard to upset. She's rather calm, and usually expresses sadness more than anger. But for Spider-people that say Lyla isn't real or that she's not sentient -

Moche gets VERY upset very quickly. The both of them find it hurtful and Moche will not talk to you after if you say that. She will immediately leave the room to go be alone.

Being autistic, it can be daunting to make friends though Moche is friendly. She finds talking to Lyla a lot easier, plus Lyla is always in her watch.

Some of the chillest memories Moche has is hanging out with Miguel and Lyla in his office, listening to Spanish music and Q-pop and cracking jokes.

(Miguel can take a joke I promise and he's funny as hell. He tells the jokes that have you like 'damn he got my ass'.)

It usually turns into her and Miguel roasting each other playfully as Lyla keeps score.

Miguel doesn't understand how an AI HE MADE could like Moche MORE.

Because of this, losing access to her watch (and thus Lyla) after ATSV - combined with barely knowing anyone on the houseboat besides maybe Peter, Moche finds herself a bit lonely.

Mentioned by Miguel, Moche became a mentor herself.

She's Pavitr's mentor. When he joined, her and Aia were a large part of redesigning his suit to what it is today.

Since they share a swinging style, she trains him and he's her star pupil.

Pavitr can get really competitive though, and she often has to reel him in when he gets REALLY into it -

Like screaming at the top of his lungs during 4wallFootball or wanting to race people EVERYWHERE.

Pavi is also taller than her. She didn't notice until he brought it up because he's SO PROUD he's found 'someone to be short with'.

She prefers she/her when it's about her specifically - and they/them when referencing IncaSpider, as she considers her and Aia as two people, not one.

Another subtle mark of the Avatar, Moche's eyes glows gold/yellow in the darkness, similar to a cat's - a sign of her Spider-eyes and Aia's presence.

This feature also reduces the amount of glare Moche sees, a very needed thing in the sunny Andes mountains.

Because it can get so sunny and bright during the day, it's hell on earth for Miguel. Sunglasses all day.

But it's the altitude sickness that gets him. He's superhuman but still feels out of breath. And NO amount of chewing coca leaves is enough to help.

So now 4'11 Moche has to baby and look after this nauseous GIANT because she said 'I know a place' then started walking them up a mountain

Moche is a very talented musician and musician - exceptionally so - with a focus on indigenous music

She is a master pan-flute player - and currently one of the only women to reach such status.

Traditionally considered a 'man's instrument' - Moche was taught by her Uncle Huacan for her to aid in traditional ceremony.

As a Mamacona and Curandera she also knows traditional dance, and loves all other kinds of dancing too.

Moche was the first female flute player to be accepted into her universities Musical Program.

She also plays acoustic guitar (and the first time she saw Hobie swinging his she was like 'What's wrong with you??') and occasionally sings.

And she makes her own music - though it's not what most people expect.

Moche writes mainly Inca-rap and 'Runagae' - a blend of Runasimi (literally 'The people's language') and Reggae.

She's is from 1992 after all.

Runagae takes large influence from Reggae drums and rhythm, mixing it with traditional Andean instruments like flutes and percussion.

Like an indigenous version of Reggaeton and Rap.

Runagae is often in many languages, primarily Quechua, Aymara, and Yucatec - as well a indigenous languages from the Caribbean.

Miguel is a sleeper fan.

Don't ask what they're listening to - cause Miguel is gonna tell you some obscure ass Runagae rapper from Lake Titicaca

That's because Tawantisuyu is extremely multilingual.

Many because of the half dozen indigenous ethnic groups in the country.

Quechua and Aymara are the two primary languages - with Yucatec being a secondary language, and English an 'international' language.

Yucatec is usually taught in the place of what people usually take as Spanish. This is largely because of Tawanti's close ties to the Aztec Nation of Maya to the north.

Most people know in the cities know their local indigenous languages, as well as secondary Yucatec or English.

In fact less than 1% of people in Tawanti speak any kind of Spanish

Without colonization, Spanish lacks much of it's global influence and many people are surprised to hear Miguel speak it.

He gets questions about both parts of his name there.

Many Tawantins say his Spanish accent in Quechua is hard to understand, or 'unique'.

Miguel Quechua is good enough that he can probably get around without much help, but if he has to talk to someone more than five minutes he's gonna need Moche there.

'Excuse me, he said no pickles.'

One thing she loves just as much as music is her motorcycle.

You're not getting to the highlands with a sedan. Sorry. If you wanna make your way out of Cusco and to her village, you're better off with a bike.

And she rides hers from Lima back to Cusco every chance she gets - the ride shortened to only 6 hours.

The only thing-

Miguel looks ridiculous on the back of her bike. He's HUGE. Everytime he gets on the bike dips down.

And she goes "MI, YOU'RE HUGE."

The first time Miguel really thought she was gonna let him drive.

That might've been the first time in her life she's laughed in ANYONE'S face.

And considering their drastic height difference, she was looking UP and laughing in his face.

Though, as a motorcycle owner himself back in Neuva York, they just got Jess to teach them how to ride through portals.

The other Manaconas LOVE it when Miguel rides through on his bike. He gets a lot of squeals.

But not from Moche.

The two of love racing each other, or just riding together, and that's the biggest way they relieve stress. Just riding through the mountains and streets.

Their first kiss happened after a night of riding their cycles in Nueva York.

Moche kissed him (they were sitting next to each other - otherwise he's too tall)

And she immediately was like 'UH I HAVE TO GO. RIGHT NOW. I HAVE TO GO HOME.'

Considering she kissed a guy 8 years older than her AND HER BOSS

And of course Lyla was easedropping on all this.

To shocked to tell her it's alright, Moche takes off back to 802 before he can say anything.

As soon as she gets through the portal, Lyla is like 'OOOOOOHH, you've really done it now!' - 'Don't tell Jess.' - 'I already told Jess.' - 'Lyla, It JUST happened.' - 'She has her notifications on~'

MEANWHILE Lyla is talking to Miguel back at HQ and they're like 'Lyla, Did you se-' - 'I did.' - 'She-' - 'Uh-huh.' - '...' - 'Do you want me to play your 'too-many-emotions' playlist? - '...Yes.'

Miguel was the first to say I love you - story for another time

Prior to appearing on his boat, Moche had barely spoken to Hobie or Diane - though she knew who they were.

She honestly thought the two of them were literally crazy. She understands VERY little of what they do or how they act.

On one hand, Moche needs things to be very blunt, and is more fact minded. That's why her and Miguel get along.

On the other, Hobie is very cryptic and good at concealing things - everything he does having an extra layer of context.

Moche can't read that context AT ALL - and because Hobie isn't being dishonorable, only a weirdo, her power doesn't help.

But that combined with Hobie's accent, Moche can barely follow a conversation with him without saying "Elaborate." ten thousand times.

Or just flat out saying "What are you talking about?" - "Hobie, You're not making any sense." - or - "You're speaking gibberish right now."

His elaborations never help.

There's been many times in the past that Miguel and her have had conversations about his mysterious ways after he leaves the room.

'I swear, I'll never understand him.' - 'I've stopped trying.' - 'I don't think he wants to be understood.' - 'That's usually called being a pain in the ass.'

Though Hobie respects her on the whole 'Indigenous God Vessel' thing - but he's even more interested in Aia Paec.

He LOVES annoying him, knowing that Aia can't directly reply and that Moche is caught in between.

Sometimes though it gets to the point of Aia Paec consuming control to tell him some choice words.

Hobie loves this.

Though it isn't until Moche sees the workshop of his boathouse that her purpose with the team is revealed

Because of her work at The Society, her and Hobie work closely together on things like new watches and other multiverse technology.

After he realized that Moche had lost her best friend in Lyla, Hobie made it his mission to become her friend no matter what

And he finds they really grow through their love of music and composing. You might find it surprising, but Hobie doens't just play music - he KNOWS it

Scales, Majors & Minors, Tempo, the history behind classic composers, blues artists, everything

So even if they don't really listen to the same music, they talk about music like it's a science, how a key change can really give a song emotion, different kinds of singing the singer uses - etc

He's successful - and although they're basically opposites in every way, somehow Moche thinks he's an absolute goofball - plus he helps her get out of her shell more.

He's without a doubt her second best friend - after Lyla (Mayday is her third.)

Hobie completely understands why she may not get his jokes all the time and never looks him in the eye, he's super chill about it.

Eventually the two of them learn how to reactive her watch, and using the old parts, Hobie made Moche a new one with her own separate Lyla, with her old memories and all.

Their reunion was REALLY EMOTIONAL. They're literal bffs4ever.

Tawantins (citizens of Tawanti) don't call Moche Spider-woman

Instead, she's is usually called the AwaqMasi or simply Masi - Quechua for 'Weaver's Assistant'

In this case, Aia Paec is the Weaver - and Moche is considered the assistant.

Because of this, she's usually treated like a public servant - someone spiritual hired to do a job - rather than a 'chosen one'.

This extends to Miguel as well - if his fangs are showing. Which sucks, considering he's fairly clueless in her world.

Often, Tawantins who see his fangs will almost start ordering him around, expecting him to help. Like telling him to take the animals out, though he's never touched a llama in his life and doesn't know the difference from an alpaca.

Good thing his can retract and he can get out of it. Moche is very jealous.

Often for them to get in somewhere, like needing a place to sleep during travel, they'll be lengthy conversation in Quechua with someone before she turns to him and goes "Show the fangs."

Usually, that's enough.

People know Moche and Aia. They're not novel.

But when people see MIGUEL, a huge new fanged being, they treat him like he's a newborn on his first day home.

Moche often has to tell them he's 'empty-headed', as in he lacks a patron God.

Miguel always has to ask if she has to say it that way (she doesn't lol)

[LMAO I had to add a break here so tumblr wouldn't mess up the post formatting]

Now however, Tawantins know about Miguel, and 'Spider-man'.

Although the same way her people don't call her 'Spider-woman', they don't call Miguel 'Spider-man' either. In fact, they don't associate him with spiders at all.

Most Tawantins would identify him as a jaguar - a sacred animal in Andean culture

This is mainly because of the way Miguel's fangs, claws, the way he runs, and his long leaps.

Because of this, the hero 'Spider-man' is called Runa-utu-runcu, though they usually just say Runarun.

A 'Runa' is an indigenous person, and a 'UtuRuncu' is a jaguar - so the same way Moche & Aia are seen as a spirit and a human -

Most Twantins see Miguel as something akin to a werewolf. Or werecat rather.

They believe he is a man who turns into a spiritual 'panther' of sorts.

Which Moche finds hilarious. The head of Spider-Society getting called a cat? Genius.

When Jess told Moche that Gwen called Miguel 'Garfield' - another orange cat - she laughed until she was in tears.

Because of this, Moche will call him 'Runcu' as a way of calling him 'jaguar' - the same way MJ says 'tiger'.

She also calls him Garfield and makes cat jokes about him.

"His webs are red lasers so he can entertain himself like the housecat he is."

Tawanti is a communist nation - much of the culture based on the traditional Incan 'commune-like' village.

Miguel was astonished to find that if they flash people their fangs, they'll just - invite them in. They're happy to have them.

Because of the vibranium-laced gold found near Lima in the 1800's, the country is a large player in world politics and economy.

And citizens can enjoy things like basic income, rent-controlled housing, free university, and more.

Thanks to the vibranium, Lima is very 'Wakanda-like' in essence and New York in everything else.

The average Quechua woman is 5'0", and Moche is just under that at 4'11. Her and Miguel have a 22 inch height difference - almost 2 feet.

This she is fine with. What she ISN'T fine with us people making it out to be a HER thing.

'Awww you look so short next to him-' No, Moche INSISTS, she's average. He's just fucking gigantic.

He barely fits doorways in Tawanti. The village had to weave him new clothes cause nothing they had fit.

With Diane at 5'11" (6'4'' in skates) and Hobie at 6'5", Diane WISHES they had a height gap. And she hates it if you say they're the same height.

(Hobie always tells her they're the same height. No, we're not, She says while being almost exactly at eye level with him)

Meanwhile, Moche and Miguel are the opposite.

They'll look at you like it's bizarre you noticed, because well... It's not that they get anything out of it. Other than maybe neck pain.

It's not like Miguel finds her 'more cute' because she's 'small'. And if anything it's kinda annoying.

Especially when Moche is mad at him - so she makes him sit down during an argument so it's fair.

If you bring it up or say something like "Awww, he makes you look so tiny!'

She's likely to say "I know, he's a freak of nature isn't he?"

Or going further "He makes everyone look tiny. He's 6'9". Back home, you can see him from a block away. People crowd around him. Honestly it's kinda hard taking him in public-"

This is usually enough to get Miguel chuckling, as he loves a good roasting. Though he's the type to burst out laughing and then clear his throat, immediately try to hold it in.

They love roasting each other.

Just the same, Hobie towers over her as well - with an 18 inch height difference.

Moche speaks Spanish with a noticeable accent, and often drops certain parts of sentences on 'accident'.

Quechua doesn't have separate pronouns for genders - however both English and Spanish do. And in addition, Spanish genders objects as well. Which is very confusing for her.

She often leave out 'el' and 'la' in a sentence - but congregations are terrible for her, so she usually just switchs back to English.

However Miguel has spent enough time with her in Lima for her to mash Spanish and Quechua - usually for his sake and not hers.

Because of this, she prefers speaking English on campus.

Most of the time her and Miguel speak English to each other, or more recently, Quechua. But if they'd like their conversation private or are on a team with other Spanish-speaking Spider-people, then they'll use Spanish.

She still hangs with a lot of Latino community on campus, though she can't relate to a lot of cuisine, culture, or slang. And she's very close with all the Indigenous spiders.

When Aia Paec assumes control of Moche, a gold neon-like mask flashes dimmly over her face - in the emblem of Aia's face.

Because of her circumstance and her role as Avatar of The Decapitator, Moche is apart of the small number is Spider-people known to kill. She sees nothing wrong with this and finds it weird if someone does.

Aia's reasoning? He'd been killing long before the first Spider-man came to the first Earth, and he'll keep doing it after if need be.

Aia will immediately braid Moche's hair if it's unbraided and cover her head with a hat or cloth as soon as he gets the chance to - and this is a good indicator of when he's the one more present in the moment.

After work Miguel would often come to her universe, for Moche to teach him Quechua. He's almost conversational at it - thought they can't get through a lesson without the other Mamaconas whispering and giggling.

Her and Miguels favorite part-time though is slow dancing, which they usually talk during. It's relaxing and REALLY funny, considering Moche has to reach ALL THE WAY UP to even touch his shoulder. (4'11" and 6'9" is a sight to see)

They're the couple that always disappears to hang out together. Homebodies basically.

Miguel genuinely draws crowds in Tawanti. He's often a foot and a half taller than everyone - plus he's jacked. Seeing a mountain of a man who can't speak a lick of Quechua following their Protector around always gets stares.

In her country, people will often be outright shocked he speaks Spanish - often approaching him in Yucatec, the second largest language in Tawanti.

Moche's name comes from a culture that predates The Inca Empire - The Moche

Aia Paec (or Ai Apaec), the Fanged Spider-God is the Creator of The Moche people, so I saw it fit that Aia-Paec created my Moche - and IncaSpider as well

Moche - capital of the Moche people - is also a place in Peru to this day, in the province of Trujillo.

Because Andean art is typically related to pottery and textile, her universe is largely unstylized.

AIA PAEC ALMIGHTY WE MADE IT.

If you genuinely read this far THANK YOU SO MUCH. It genuinely does mean a lot to me. For me, I have never seen Quechua culture represented - anywhere. I've never seen a Quechua - or Incan - or Peruvian hero, so why not make one!

I hope I was able to share some of that culture with you and you found any of it interesting or new.

In this post I mentioned Huachuma Cactus (and Ayahuasca) and their ceremonial uses - and below is more information I'd like to offer for those curious. If not, no sweat!

THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN and as a Quechua-decedent and a follower of indigenous religion - I will always try my best to answer any questions.

Here's a picture of Miguel. You can imagine Moche standing in front of him - in this photo you would be able to see her anyway lol. (I checked)

Bye.

NOW LET'S GET INTO THE NERDY STUFF -

___________________________________

[ I am a Quechua decent as well as a follower of these practices. I personally have gone through ceremonies with plant medicines in the past and hope to dispel some misconceptions ]

DISCLAIMER: Huachuma and Ayahuasca are NOT closed practices - anyone can sit in ceremony regardless of religion or ancestry - as long as they are siting with the intention of spiritual growth or self help. And even today these plants are used in treatment of addiction, abuse, and mental illness.

These plants are NOT drugs. They are medicines are should be treated as such. Trust me. Huachuma and Ayahuasca trips aren't fun and they aren't supposed to be. They are made for healing.

ALSO - I am a practitioner of Andean Spirituality and Ancestor Worship. Although Aia Paec isn't apart of my practice - everything stated below IS. Please treat it with kindness, and do not call it things like a myth or cult or something.

These are sacred practices we are hoping to share with the world to promote mental healing. Please be respectful (ya'll always are) and thank you so much.

Huachuma Cactus / Ayahuasca & Plant Medicine:

[Hwa-Chew-Ma / Eye-ya-hwa-sca]

[Raw Huachuma Cactus and Ayahuasca Root]

Often called San Pedro Cactus - after the Spanish Saint - Huachuma Cactus is a vital part of Andean spirituality.

Huachuma & Ayahuasca are two of the most revered plant medicines - known for inducing extended psychedelic trips. However, these trips are not similar to LSD or Acid.

Used for literal centuries Huachuma Cactus & Ayahuasca Vine have been taken (separately or consecutively) through a bitter brew of medicinal plants.

[Ayahuasca above. Shit tastes GNARLY. Ayahuasca like coffee and licorice - Huachuma like Nickelodeon Slime. Huachuma is thicker and green.]

Huachuma & Ayahusaca is usually reserved for those within the practice - or those facing deep trauma, mental illness, or something to internally heal from. Huachuma and Ayahusaca are specifically used to bring buried emotions and memories to the surface - as well as a feeling of euphoric self-compassion - in a safe and sacred space in order to help the person grow mentally.

Huachuma & Ayahusaca trips are not pretty - and often involve sobbing, vomiting, and painful memories. Diarrhea too. These trips are not meant to be recreational, but psychological treatment.

These ceremonies require a large group of Curanderos - indigenous healers as well as trained mental health professionals. Many Plant Medicine ceremonies have a trained therapist or psychologist throughout the stay - and a long integration process to reflect and heal.

And while this might sound out there, recent science is showing the profound effects of Plant Medicine - and that Ayahuasca directly impacts many parts of the brain extremely positively.

Now, scientists have gleaned deep insights of their own by monitoring the brain on DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, the psychedelic compound found in Psychotria viridis, the flowering shrub that is mashed up and boiled in the Amazonian drink, ayahuasca. The recordings reveal a profound impact across the brain, particularly in areas that are highly evolved in humans and instrumental in planning, language, memory, complex decision-making and imagination. The regions from which we conjure reality become hyperconnected, with communication more chaotic, fluid and flexible.

[Source: The Guardian - also as for the first line in the article, people DO NOT have near-death experiences while in proper Ayahuasca ceremony - just listen to the medical stuff cause wtf]

Spirits & Plant Medicine:

[Left: Raw Huachuma Cactus - Right: A Curandero setting the Mesa (the red tablecloth in this case). You can see the jar of Huachuma (or Ayahuasca it looks like Aya in this case) in his right hand, as well as a cigarette. The smoke is blown into the brew to kinda 'wake up the spirits'. Being from the Andes - tobacco and coca leaves are traditionally used in ceremony a lot.

The table is covered with other offerings to the gods, stones to represent mountain spirits, and a number of other things used in the ceremony.]

I cannot stress this enough - In Andean practice, we believe each plant has a particular spirit associated with it. Like a fully-formed deity. And ceremony is often approached as if you were meeting someone you respected.

Often in ceremony, people may see and speak directly to these spirits. (Which is true in my experience but not everyone.)

Because Huachuma and Ayahuasca often go hand-in-hand, they are often referred to as the Grandfather (Huachuma) and the Grandmother (Ayahuasca - also called Mama Aya for short).

And we genuinely believe that the way you approach ceremony, your intentions, and your willingness to heal directly affects the way the Spirit will treat you or deal with you, but it is never in a malicious way.

The Grandfather - Huachuma is considered tamer, more milder - one of the reasons I chose Huachuma instead of Ayahuasca in this case.

Huachuma is centered on personal peace and emotion. While on it, your emotions are amplified, you feel a deeper connection to the Earth. But you also throw up too usually. The drink is grosss. (Sorry Grandpa)

Trips last 6-8 hours, but affects can linger for 14-18. Unlike Aya, Huachuma induces less visuals or 'trippiness', but a state of thoughtfulness - bordering joyful meditation. (As these do have neurological connections to the effects of long-term meditation.)

Huachuma can be consumed raw, or served as a drink. [I believe I was given a mixture of raw cactus, agave, and water. You're told to CHUG IT because it thickens a lot in like a minute and gets gross.]

That's largely why I chose Huachuma for Moche to experience first instead of Ayahuasca.

The Grandmother or Maya Aya is much more forthcoming and intense, and her work is centered more of personal healing and self reflection - and Ayahuasca is more akin to a 'trip'.

Typically, a trip lasts 8-12 hours and is taken overnight and sundown. Trips include things such as psychedelic visuals, flashbacks (and yeah, if I'm being honest, everyone I have sat in ceremony with regardless of religion reported a feeling of being close with the Source, God, family whathaveyou. So, the sensation of being elsewhere. In a way. I experienced this too and the feeling is very vivid. Of course what you experience is very personal to you.

While on Ayahuasca you may experience nausea, and the visuals, memories, and emotions make it useless to really move around. You're a lot more in it than Huachuma. Essentially you take it, you set your intentions, you sit in the dark, and let Mama Aya 'work on you'.

Which is why I chose to put Miguel through an Ayahuasca ceremony at their meeting. [Mwah haha Miguel You WILL heal]

Ayahuasca vine cannot be consumed raw, and is a lengthy brewing process with a number of plants known to Curanderos.

Plant Medicine & Ancestors:

Both plants are also associated by many with Ancestral (or divine) contact, and/or visuals of past lives. Which is what drove the inspiration to have Moche partake in a ceremony.

MY EXPERIENCE: - in short - just incase someone is curious -

I've personally sat in official ceremony three times, in which I meet with Mama Aya twice, before meeting the Grandfather the day after. (Basically I drank Ayahuasca for two night and Huachuma on the third day as apart of the integration process.)

The traditions were done in a ceremonial space with a Curandera & Curandero of Peruvian tradition - as well as multiple mental health professionals.

Preparation for ceremony often takes days or weeks - and one is expected to focus on mindfulness and self-kindness all that days leading up to it. (As much as possible, as many Non-Andeans who go into ceremony usually do so for addiction, depression, mental illness, or a number of things).

In my ceremonies - The ceremony and the people I connected with there are pivotal to my path and life so far. Despite meeting people from literally anywhere, it was also one of the most trans-affirming spaces I have ever been in - which is saying a lot as a New Yorker.

Each ceremony was hard, with the second night of Ayahuasca being the most emotionally and visually intense. This was amplified be the ceremonial music. Thankfully, however I didn't get too much physical side effects. I don't even think I barfed the second night. Big win!

In all Ayahuasca helped me have a way deeper understanding of myself and my wants and it helped me gain closure on a situation I'd been struggling with for years.

My experience with Huachuma was more milder and calmer, although my emotions were hyper-sensitive as were my senses - which is why it's VERY important to do ceremony in a container (a safe space with professionals on stand-by)

The Huachuma ceremony was conducted outside during the day. Because you are more lucid and emotionally calm while under Huachuma, it was encouraged for us to be present in nature and move and walk around.

In all Huachuma helped me to focus more on compassion and was able to form deep bonds with the people around me in a shorter time. I was more present and rather than psychedelic visions, my surroundings were more vibrant and intense but in a comfortable way.

Overall, Ayahuasca and Huachuma are deeply sacred, deeply interesting plant medicines that have shaped Andean spirituality for centuries.

They are not typical 'drugs'. They are medicines and should be treated as such. (aka As prescribed, while under the watch of someone trained and understanding.)

So uhhhh yeah. That's a lot that's a lot lol

But if you made it this far THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME and giving me a chance to share this culture with others!! 💚

I hope you learned something from this little section here, as I genuinely hold the Grandparents dear and found my ceremonies exceptionally healing.

If you have any questions, let me know! Oh and if you really made it this far - uhhhhhhh QUESTION:

You can choose TWO people from ATSV to protect you - everyone else will try to jump you. Who you picking?

{I just wanna know if anyone got down here also the question is funny as hell - I'm picking Hobie and Miguel. But....they would bicker and probably get me killed. Oops. Maybe Hobie and Pavitr. Pavi has GREAT luck. So far. }

Bye.

241 notes · View notes

convertedzukaang · 2 months

Text

Title: There's No Reason -Also posted on Ao3

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Pairing: ZukAang (ATLA) Zuko x Aang

Warnings: Stockholm Syndrome, Mild Angst

Word count: 802

Zuko stared at Aang from outside his cell below the ship’s deck. They're approximately six days away from the Fire Nation Capital. Aang’s stomach turns at the sudden realization, it has been twenty-five days since Zuko has captured him and he has grown fond of the Prince’s presence in his tiny prison cell. They have shared intimate moments, and some days he finds the Prince lying next to him in the middle of the night, soundly asleep and breathing peacefully. Aang sighs and gets up from his chair, “Are you going to just stand there or are you going to come inside?”

He sounded discourteous, Aang didn’t mean to. But he was exhausted and being stuck in his diminutive cell did not help the suffocation he’s feeling. When Zuko opened the cell door and stepped in, he looked at Aang with apologetic eyes. He could almost hear Zuko’s unspoken words, his apologies, his confession, his cognizance. Aang simply takes his hand and places small and gentle kisses on Zuko’s fingertips, silently reassuring the Prince that everything will be alright.

“Would you like to..” Zuko started, staring intensely at Aang’s lips, “..come to the deck with me?”

Aang gasped at the question, shocked at how nonchalant Zuko suggested the activity. He smiled at the Prince as tears formed in his eyes, quietly asking, “Is this a test?”

The Prince laughed, the sound sending electricity down Aang’s spine. Zuko responds, “I trust you because..” He paused, holding his tongue from saying things he might regret later, he shakes his head and continues, “..because I just do.”

Zuko tugged at the airbender’s hand, leading him up to the deck of the ship. It seems that Zuko had planned to invite him out here all along because on the far end of the deck, Aang sees his glider perched on top of the crates. He was about to run off, however, a strong squeeze on his hand stopped him. Aang looked back at Zuko with a sad smile, “I’m sorry, I just got excited.”

“I know, I’m just.. Nervous, that’s all.” Zuko says as he lets go of Aang’s hand, “I said I trust you, and I do. I know you will always come back to me.”

With a nod from Zuko, Aang sprints to where his glider was, his bare feet feeling cold against the steel of the ship. He spends no time warming up, he whips his glider and soared through the clouds. Aang didn’t even notice how the sun burned his skin when he ascended to the sky, he took no notice of anything as he breathed in the salty and fresh air. Laughing as he passed through the mist, soaking his clothes. But Aang didn’t care. Realistically, he’s only been held captive for less than a month, it hasn’t been that long but his mind wandered around his friends. Katara, Sokka, Toph and Suki. Where are they now? Did they survive the Serpent’s Pass? That was the last time he saw them before he was captured by Zuko. The feeling of guilt buried deep inside him is now bubbling up, Aang has always thought he is responsible for his friend’s lives, and he left them alone, traveling through a deadly pass. But his friends are strong, surely they can survive without him. They might be in Ba Sing Se by now.

He flew as high up as he could until he could no longer see the Fire Nation ship below him, until he could no longer see Zuko. It’s as liberating as it is suffocating. He could fly away right now and spend his energy flying to the Earth Kingdom again, he could try to find his friends. Aang shakes his head and comes back to reality, he descends below the clouds just enough so Zuko can spot him and keep an eye on him. Reassuring the Prince that he’s here.

No matter how freeing this feeling of flying in the clouds is, he is still a prisoner. He can escape. He should escape, but something inside him, a mere whisper in his ears, telling him not to leave. Even if Aang knows that when they arrive at the Fire Nation, he will be offered to the Fire Lord as a reward, then Zuko will have his honor back, his home. But as he looked down, seeing Zuko smile warmly at him from his ship’s deck, trusting Aang that he would never stray too far and escape, the airbender can’t help but let a tear slip down from his eye to his cheek. The wetness immediately dried as he ascended further into the clouds, letting all his conflicted feelings plummet into the ocean below him. He thinks – there’s no reason for him to be falling in love with his captor like this.

#FFF242 Soaring Above #zukaang #zuko #aang #aang x zuko #atla #ok bye #why did i do this again?#fff242 #soaring above #flash fiction friday

18 notes · View notes

astranne · 1 year

Text

— ARES; FIRE IN OUR BLOOD

shidou ryusei x gn halfblood!reader

— HALFBLOOD MASTERLIST

— notes ;

second work of the series, woo!! sorry it took me so long, but i had much on my plate ;-; anyways, have this and enjoy :)

— genre ;

hint towards manager!reader x famous character au, meet cute but it's will be never meet cute with these idiots

— word count ;

802 words

— warnings ;

reader is fixated on fighting shidou, violent!reader (no acts, thoughts only), not edited, open ending

You saw him for the first time on the news. Japan's U20 playing against younger footballers, all strikers and part of an insane project called Blue Lock. And they lost. It's been in the international news, ever since Isagi Yoichi announced that Blue Lock will win the World Cup.

The whole thing smelled like a fight, a war, full of blood, tears, and shattered lives. Something that was in your genes. Your father was the goddamn God of War; he craved violence, despaired souls, and war. He was an asshole, just like all the other gods. It should be no surprise that some children are similar to him, violent, bloodthirsty and aggressive. Some were better, having their urges under tight control, but others...

You were one of those, who let their instincts run wild, following the call of violence. Your hands itched for a weapon, your blood was boiling, adrenaline was pumping through your body. All because you saw him.

Shidou Ryusei. Demon, some called him, completely nuts, said the others. But to you... to you he was a worthy mortal. Worthy of your presence, worthy to fight you, something that was very rare in this modern world. And so you decided to travel to Japan, find and fight him.

It was easy for you to do so. Sharing blood with one of the mightiest gods on earth opened many doors for you, and so it wasn't even a week later and you stood in front of the Blue Lock facility.

Of course you couldn't just waltz in and demand a fight, even if it was currently your biggest desire. Oh no, you wanted to be smart and relish in the fight, enjoy it and maybe... maybe even repeat it.

Standing at Ego Jinpaichi's side, you grinned at the innocent souls, taking in their growing egos and desire to destroy.

"Ah, I have something else to announce," Ego continued, his voice dripping with boredom, but his eyes spoke a different matter.

"This is my new manager. They will assist me and keep you under control when your own team captains can't. And of course, they will moderate... well, everything. Be nice to them, they can and will destroy your lives if you're not. That should be everything."

Yes, you could do that. But you're not here for that. You're here for him, Shidou Ryusei. Ever since you stepped into the facility, you kept an eye out on him, yet you didn't see him anywhere.

Until some of the U20 players moved, revealing Itoshi Sae. Itoshi Sae and Shidou, who was draping himself over him, babbling the bored middlefielder full, all while having a wide grin on his face.

Your eyes started to twitch. Hands itching, muscles tensing, whole body carving for spilled blood.

How dare he. How dare he touch what was yours-

Oh shit.

While the footballers started talking to themselves, picking their teams and slowly moving to their rooms, you started to panic. Ego was mumbling something about numbers, while you stared at Itoshi and Shidou, Shidou who should be yours but is not, losing your mind that your soul and heart has decided to pick a mortal, someone you didn't even know.

Cursed you are. Cursed to fall fast and hard, your love is passionate because war could have devastating consequences. And you fell for Shidou Ryusei, thinking you only wanted to fight him.

Gods, you still wished to fight him, to see him move, see his violence and feel it but- you also wished to hold him close, the harsh beauty, all tall and muscular, so similar to you.

You had to act fast. Before Shidou would fall for Itoshi and what if he already did or Itoshi would make his own move. Move quickly and love him with all your might; show him you were worthy of his love, and he was worthy to stand by your side as a god's child.

And so you decided to act, striding down the halls, closer and closer until you stood in front of them. A grin grew on your face, body poised to pounce, to hunt.

"Shidou Ryusei." He looked up, eyes growing wide when he saw you, feral and bloodthirsty, oh so similar to him. His limbs moved away from Itoshi, exactly as you desired, massive muscle mass approaching, closer and closer to you.

"Well if it isn't the new manager," he purred, tongue lolling and leaning closer, his whole focus on you and just you.

"Call me y/n," you simply said, followed by a "Fight me, once you're done here."

A laugh left his mouth, protests erupted around the both of you, but you ignored them, eyes only on him, the only worthy mortal to stand by your side and with that extend, by Ares' side.

— taglist. @stellumi , @keqism , @wanderersbell , @venexus , @lilikags , @kuminarim , @mael-0 , @dervaaas , @aly4a, @yanfei-kisser , @isentsworld , @tsukishiro-yue2402 , @him3ru , @horologiumwise , @aoi-turtle

-> if your name is bold, this means i can’t tag you!

-> if you wish to join the taglist, please read this infopost! thank you for reading

ASTRANNE 2023

#blue lock #shidou ryusei x reader #shidou ryusei x gn reader #shidou ryusei #shidou x reader #shidou x you #shidou ryusei x you #blue lock x you #blue lock x reader #blue lock x gn reader #blue lock x y/n #halfblood — the series

70 notes · View notes

jargonbyjulia · 11 months

Text

“It’s impossible!”

I’ve heard the saying, “Mums get no days off.” It’s true and it isn’t. I know a couple of mums that get plenty of days off, with health retreats throughout the year, child-free holidays, and so on. Sometimes days off seem IMPOSSIBLE. Even getting through some days seems impossible. I get a few hours to myself; I like to get my nails done, and tomorrow I have a first hair appointment in six months - shock horror!

I have a two and a five year old, and I work part time. On Thursdays I work at home, and I like to think of that as my day “off”. I work in peace, I play my own music, I answer only to the ding of Teams’ notifications, emails and my stomach rumbles. Today is Thursday, and I had my two year old home sick from daycare. It’s barely just winter, and we’ve been knocked out at least twice already. I did my best to keep her entertained while I caught up on the work I started Tuesday, where seven meetings had me pretty tied up. We were doing fine, and she was enjoying being home with me, watching Peppa Pig on repeat, and eating through the snack shelf of the pantry.

At 11:00am, my daughter’s school called asking if I could pick up my preppy as she had a headache, fever and sore tummy. So I alerted work, bundled up my toddler and ran to the rescue. She wasn’t well, at all. We made her warm and gave her medicine, and suddenly it was 11:30am, which means nap time for the little one. I quickly answered emails, started writing an article and reviewed some work. I made sure miss five was comfortable and then put miss two down for her nap. After that, I made a quick couple of sandwiches for us, and ate at my desk. While answering 785 questions, including “How do you spell chicken?” and “What is 78 plus 802?” (from my child, not a colleague), I worked through my list for the day, trying my hardest to focus on the tasks at hand. Suddenly it’s 1:45pm and my two year old is awake, and I break my focus. Now it’s time to prepare her food and get her playing happily with her sister. It’s much easier than I had thought, so I can get back to my work. By 3pm, she’s sitting on my lap tapping away at the keys on my computer, asking why I have a spare TV (my second computer monitor) and she just has a lousy plastic phone with dead batteries.

The dog is whining as he hasn’t had a walk all day. My husband left for work at 8:30am, and he won’t be back until we are asleep at 10pm. Miss five goes downhill as suddenly as Melbourne’s morning temperatures, and needs her fever brought down, so there’s no leaving the house. I’m starting to think getting through this day is impossible, but we push through with more snacks, YouTube kids and a cranked heater.

At 4:30pm I’m cooking lamb chops from Monday and drafting my weekly wrap-up for work.

My phone rings. My husband asks, “How was your day?” I sigh and say it was busy. I read some feedback about my work as the kids eat dinner in front of the fire I made by rubbing two sticks together because everyone is “SO COLD!” and I take a breath. Only a quick one though, as I need to run the bath for two girls who identify solely as mermaids and then hit send on one more message before the end of the working day. COB they call it; Close of Business. (Mums don’t really have a COB though, do they?!)

I haven’t had a shower all day, and it’s 6:20pm. My youngest just shut her head in the fridge trying to make imaginary apple pie for the dog, there’s a full basket of clean laundry waiting to be folded on the kitchen table and I think the wombok I was relying on to substitute as salad leaf for my dinner is growing babies. But gosh, somehow I feel accomplished. There’s ice cream on the couch slowly seeping into the earth under our home, the iPads are dead and I am tired, so tired. But I’ve nearly ticked everything off my work to-do list, and, apart from fridge-headgate, the girls are now content, warm, full, laughing, and nearly ready for bed.

Mums do get days off, but not me today. And that’s ok! We got through it. I’m forever grateful for an extremely supportive workplace who understand what people, and mums, go through on a daily basis. No one pressured me to hit unrealistic deadlines, and everyone understood what I was going through, or at least sympathised or empathised with me. And in the end, it just makes me want to work smarter, and harder. In all aspects of my life.

There will be a glass or four poured tonight, and I’d say they are well deserved. I’ve just realised baby mermaid is due for her antibiotics, so I’ll end with one of our favourite Peppa Pig quotes, “It’s impossible!”

But really Peppa, NOTHING is impossible.

#momlife #mumlife #life #love #peppa pig #kids #dailyquote

29 notes · View notes

takenbypeter · 2 years

Note

Hi! If it's possible, could you write a Thor x reader imagine where the reader cuts her hair really short and how Thor reacts to it? (Asgardian women don't really have short hair, so how he felt about the whole thing)

Long Time, No Hair

Thor x reader

Words: 802

~~~~~

So I actually didn’t write for Thor when I got this request but I rewatched the Thor movies and am absolutely ECSTATIC about Thor love and thunder so I decided for the month of July or from now till the end of July, I will be accepting Thor requests. If it’s not a phase I’ll keep him as another person you can request but for now just till the end of July. Anyways enough of that I hope you enjoy this scenario. Thanks for requesting 💛 (p.s. I know the name of this sucks, don't judge meeeeee)

~~~~~

You didn’t know why you were feeling this way. Your hand naturally came up tugging a little at the ends of your hair while you tried to keep calm. You knew he was the type to support each and every one of your decisions.

Straightening your spine, you shook your head forcing confidence as your thoughts ran through your head, really though who cares what anyone thinks, it’s your own hair. Still, with that thought you really did hope he liked it. In all honesty you were nervous. Not only was this the first time he’d see you with your significantly shorter hair but this was the first time he’d be seeing you after months of being apart. He’d been occupied off planet while you had been trying to keep busy on earth.

Nonetheless you heard Thor was back on earth and you were currently heading to where Nat had texted you where he would be waiting for you.

Although you tried to mentally prepare yourself, all of that went out the window the moment you saw those blonde locks. There he sat, at one of the side booths in the small diner. It took all your courage not to stall at the door.

You barely got a chance to even think about backing out because the moment the blond saw you, his eyes visibly widened and his cheeks quickly followed the motion, mouth spreading into a welcoming grin. You headed his way and he tried to stand up, legs slightly hitting the low table clumsily before he fully stood. Grin never disappearing from his face, he beamed down at you while you mirror him.

You thought it would be awkward.

He was gone for so long and sure you both agreed to do long distance but still, you hadn’t seen each other for awhile now and barely communicated during those few months.

But all he did was open his arms and you took your place between them.

His huge arms wrapped around your body squeezing you into a warm hug that you tried your best to reciprocate. You two stayed in a comfortable silence as the hug dragged on until eventually you had to push him off from you so you two didn’t seem like complete weirdos silently hugging each other in the middle of the diner.

You separated a little, his arms resting on your shoulders, as he looked down at you, “you look amazing,” he said with a tender smile on his face. “So do you!” You replied a little too enthusiastically before ushering him to sit down and taking the seat across from him.

As you comfortably chatted about the past few months you couldn’t not notice the way he kept looking at you. It wasn’t really even subtle, he was sort of just staring you with a silly expression on his face while you went on about what occurred the past few months until finally you had to ask him, “why are you looking at me like that?”

He shook his head slightly pulling himself out from the daze as he leaned back against his chair, “like what? I’m not looking at you like anything?” He retorts, not even trying to refrain the smile from his lips.

You mirrored his facial expression, “yes you are. You’re staring at me with this odd look on your face.”

You jokingly changed your expression into a silly face and he let out a laugh, while you pointed a finger at him, “now what is it.”

“It’s nothing.”

You shook your head rejecting his brush of the topic and he just shifted in his chair, grin widening, “no just, when I said you look amazing I really meant it.”

You felt a slight rush crawl up to your face, which you like to think you hid well, “well thank you.”

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little surprised when I saw your hair quite shorter than I remember it,” he said tilting his head to get a view of your hair. “But it suits you.”

Your arms subconsciously lift lightly touching your hair, “yeah it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do, so one day I just thought why not?”

“Well good, you look stunning.”

“Yeah yeah, but enough about me,” you wave a hand trying to change the topic that seemed suddenly all about you.

“I could never get enough about you.”

With all your might you forced yourself not to burst into laughter, but he always saw right through you.

“Corny?”

“Corny.”

“I noticed it after I said it,” he added with a small nod before clearing his throat, “but I meant it.”

You chuckle a little at his words before urging him to dish what he’s been up to since the last time you saw him.

#thor fanfiction #thor fanfic #thor imagine #thor x reader #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #avengers fanfiction #avengers fanfic #avengers imagine #avengers x reader #mcu fanfiction #mcu fanfic #mcu imagine #mcu x reader #requests #request

94 notes · View notes

cfenvs3000w24 · 3 months

Text

Nature Interpretation through Art and “The Gift of Beauty”

Hello!

Today I will be discussing my qualifications for interpreting nature through art, and how you can interpret nature through art as well! We will also discuss the idea of “The Gift of Beauty”, a principle set forth by Beck & Cable in 2011, which was based on Mills and Tilden’s previous works on the principles of interpretation (Beck, L., et al, 2018).

The phrase “interpret nature through art” seems daunting at first, because, for myself and possibly others, I do not know much about art! But, you do not need to have a formal education in art to understand its importance in the nature interpretation field. Interpreting nature in art should be done through an emotional and intellectual perspective, meaning you can describe how it makes you feel, but then also communicate what the image depicts and its importance. For example, if you were to take a photograph of a meadow, and say “This meadow brings me a feeling of comfort because it seems so tranquil, and I think that it can represent what we are striving to protect from climate change”, you have interpreted art! It is not necessarily about the specific qualifications you hold when interpreting nature in art, but more so a deeper understanding of the message and experience you are trying to convey to the audience you have. In Jan van Boeckel’s 2015 study, they found that an interpreter's specific process or skill set in arts-based environmental education did not change participants' ability to experience the natural world in new ways, proving that you do not necessarily have to fit a certain mould to interpret nature through art effectively.

The definition of “The Gift of Beauty” is based on the idea that interpretation should allow an individual to have the desire and initiative to find beauty in their surroundings, in turn, this experience will then uplift their spirits and encourage conservation (Beck, L., et al, 2018). When I hear “The Gift of Beauty”, I immediately think of how beauty is held in the eye of the beholder. I think that this idea came to my mind initially because everyone has the freedom to experience beauty how they choose, which is a beautiful thing! As well, different people may find different things beautiful, and this is all dependent on the unique experiences they hold. The process of receiving “The Gift of Beauty” can affect many people differently, for example, a beautiful forest when interpreted may instill feelings of homesickness, calmness or wonder!

My question to you is; “Have you ever had an experience where you found a setting particularly beautiful, and a peer did not? If so, what were the differences in your emotional connection to that setting?”

Thanks for reading!

Sandra :)

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). In Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage For A Better World (pp. 84–85). essay, Sagamore-Venture Publishing LLC.

van Boeckel, J. (2015). At the heart of art and earth: An exploration of practices in arts-based Environmental Education. Environmental Education Research, 21(5), 801–802. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2014.959474

3 notes · View notes

milkydraws8 · 5 months

Text

vocab lesson

#marvel #nightcrawler #x men #kurt wagner #hank mccoy #beast xmen #mystique #raven darkholme #my art #earth 802

234 notes · View notes

autisticsupervillain · 1 year

Text

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

The Batter vs Vegeta!

Conditions:

Speed Equalized. Cell Saga Vegeta Post Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Scenario:

After The Batter finishes purifying his home reality, he decides to move on to purifying others, coming across the Dragon Ball universe. Vegeta, fresh out of the time chamber with Trunks, comes across The Batter on his way to confront Cell and decides to take this opportunity to test out his newfound strength on a powerful foe.

Analysis: The Batter

There's something about the word "purity" that just makes me uncomfortable. Unless it's referring to minerals or chemicals, the word definitely has a distubring undercurrent to it. It just seems so... absolute. Unyielding. And oh so very... fanatical. And for the entity known only as The Batter, no undertone could be more fitting.

The Batter is the physical embodiment of purity. As such, he has no patience for the corrupt and suffering state of the world around him. That's why he intends to make it all Pure.... by obliterating it completely.

The Batter is cold and unrelenting in his quest and wields a variety of unnerving powers to achieve his goals. He can hurt and kill ghosts with any of his abilities, as well as sense their presence from miles away. He possesses standard RPG healing items and has elemental attacks at his disposal, but the elements he uses are anything but ordinary. The inhabitants of The Batter's world breath smoke, so he uses smoke attacks in place of air attacks, as well as meat, plastic, and metal based elemental attacks. With these elements, he can poison, blind, or even mute his enemies, the latter of which giving him the ability to nullify his opponent's powers entirely.

In order to best utilize these powers, The Batter uses his Wide Angle proficiency to analyze his opponent, learning their strengths and weaknesses, as well as elements of their backstory. He can then use this information to strategize, determining which items and "proficiencies" (basically skills) would best aide him. The Secret Day gives him resistance to Blindness, Poison, and Mute, while Thursday allows him to resist emotion altering powers, such as fury or madness. He can also inflict Palsy to paralyze enemies with his helpers, the Add Ons.

Add Ons are three rings that fly around the Batter, aiding him in combat by serving as his party. They cannot be seen by anyone but the Batter and they can heal and revive him if he goes down, with the Batter being able to do the same vice versa. While they share many of the same abilities as the Batter, they have some of their own. Photographic Blur can ignore durability outright, while Gaussian Blur can absorb an opponent's CP to keep them from using their skills.

With these skills, The Batter is able to destroy all the Zones of the world, killing their Guardians so that they're reduced to uninhabitable wastelands, unable to be held together without the Guardian's power. The Batter would even go on the kill Hugo, the child god who created him to begin with, and The Queen. The Queen in particular was capable of holding together The Room, a small pocket reality with three Suns inside of it.

I've previously dismissed this feat as unquantifiable, as you cannot scientifically create matter from nothing. However, I think I may have found a way to mathematically quantify the creation of stars. We can do this be calculating the Gravitational Binding Energy needed to keep that star together. The creation of one star and Earth would require a GBE of 267.320913002 Tenatons. Simply multiply that by three for Hugo's feat and The Batter would scale above 802 tenatons.

Source:

The Batter does have one weakness. He knows he's a video game character, or at least, knows he's being controlled by The Player, and knows he needs the Player's help to continue his mission. If the Player abandons him, that's it, he's done. But if the Player does not, The Batter will succeed in destroying reality, literally flipping a switch and turning it off. Nothing left but a pure void. Perfectly pure in all the worst ways.

Analysis: Prince Vegeta

Pride. If there was one cardinal sin the bloodthirsty, world conquering saiyan empire was guilty of above all others, above even their wrath and their rage, it would be pride. There is no single member of their species who exemplifies this better than Prince Vegeta the 4th.

Prince Vegeta was orphaned from the rest of his species at an early age when the interplanetary tyrant, Frieza, annihilated his home of Planet Vegeta, killing his father, Vegeta the 3rd, and destroying most of his species. This left Prince Vegeta alone and trapped beneath Frieza's cruel bootheel, doing his dirtywork and destroying planets at his leisure.

Until the day that Vegeta went to Earth and found another survivor of his species: Kakarot. Better known to us as Son Goku. Goku managed to defeat not only Vegeta, but even Frieza himself, avenging the Saiyan race on Vegeta's behalf. From there, Vegeta had a new goal: to become stronger than Goku by any means necessary.

And Vegeta had more than enough fire in him to become Goku's most longstanding rival. As a Saiyan, Vegeta was trained in the art of combat and conquest from birth, having slaughtered and destroyed numerous planets of Frieza's behest even as a child. As such, he can easily keep up with martial arts prodigies like Goku, who is skilled enough to perfectly copy martial arts techniques after seeing them in action only once. Furthermore, his Saiyan lifespan is longer than that of a human's, ensuring he can stay in his physical prime for decades, while his enhaced Saiyan senses can allow him to fight perfectly even in pitch black conditions by sensing air vibrations to detect movement. Finally, he does naturally grow stronger in the midst of combat and will gain an exponential power boost whenever he's mortally injured.

On top of that, Vegeta is a master at manipulating and using Ki, the life force that all things have that gets stronger the more physically powerful you are. He even taught himself to sense Ki without the use of a scouter to track foes he otherwise can't detect and sense how powerful they are. He can use ki to strengthen his skin, create defensive barriers, generate massive explosions, fire homing attacks, and generate a whole host of projectiles, from giant lasers to omnidirectional explosions with several Kilometers of range. And, of course, he can fly.

Vegeta may not have been the one to destroy Frieza, but he has long surpassed the tyrant by this point in the series. Frieza blowing up Planet Vegeta would've required him to expend energy roughly equivalent to 5 tenatons of TNT. Goku increases his power twenty fold to keep up with final form Frieza and then got a fifty fold increase from going Super Saiyan. 245 Tenatons. The Androids are at least twice as strong as that and Semi-Perfect Cell absorbs one of them and adds their power to his own. Seeing as Vegeta then goes on to crush Cell, that means that Vegeta is, by this point in the series as a Super Saiyan, at the very least comparable to 989 Tenatons, not even counting the numerous unspecified power boosts within that scaling chain.

Sources:

Of course, despite his literally word shattering strength, Vegeta is not perfect. While he may easily be strong enough to destroy the entire planet, he cannot breathe is space, so the vacuum left behind would be lethal to him. Furthermore, he has a massive pride complex that makes him very overconfident and very prone to error. Especially at this point in the series, where he lets Cell become Perfect just to prove he can still beat him and then promptly gets his ass kicked.

Despite that, his pride is still well earned. He's easily one of the strongest beings to ever set foot on Earth and stands proud as one of the few to ever realize the legendary transformation of Super Saiyan, taping into the mythical power that his people once revered as divine.

Throwdown Mashup:

youtube

Throwdown Breakdown:

Stats wise, Vegeta does have a comfortable strength advantage going in. While The Batter does upscale from the 802 Tenaton feat, Vegeta scales even farther above his own 989 Tenaton scaling chain, due to the various unspecified power gaps within it that I glossed over. Not an insurmountable advantage, but certainly a considerable one when considering Vegeta's considerable skill advantage.

The Batter does have significant advantages of his own, however. Vegeta likely cannot sense the Add Ons with his Ki, as they aren't living creatures in their own right, just items acting on The Batter's behalf. As such, he'd have to rely on his ability to sense air vibrations to dodge them, which he may not do right off the bat due to his cockyness and the fact that he can sense he's stronger than The Batter. This would give The Batter the opportunity to inflict his Status Effects, which he would likely do after using Wide Angle to see what he's up against.

Blindness isn't much of an issue. As Vegeta can just sense The Batter's Ki regardless and is able to fight in pitch black areas already, he should be able to adapt easily enough through skill alone. The other status effects however, are much more troublesome. Palsy can straight up Paralyze Vegeta in place, while Mute would nullify Vegeta's ki abilities entirely, both of which would almost automatically spell game over for Vegeta if The Batter manages to land them. Palsy is obvious, because once Vegeta is paralyzed, The Batter can just walk over and beat him to death at his leisure, and Mute would nullify Vegeta's ki, leaving him unable to utilize flight or ranged attacks. It may even disable his Super Saiyan transformation, at which point he's completely screwed, as Vegeta has to win a four on one against people who are now stronger than him, three of which he can only detect by air vibrations.

Vegeta, however, does have a reliable win condition of his own. He vastly outranges The Batter and his flight gives him far more maneuverability, allowing him to just fly outside The Batter's range and nuke him from miles away. In fact, I'd say this is the solution Vegeta would likely come to once he realized how much of a threat The Batter's Add Ons posed to him, as he's often shown to be more than happy to just nuke his enemies from a distance once they start to frustrate him.

The one issue for Vegeta here that makes this The Batter's game is Vegeta's sheer cockyness. His comfortable edge in strength works against him here because it'll cause him to underestimate The Batter. Even against opponents who definitively outclass him, like Frieza and Perfect Cell, it can take Vegeta a minute to realize how out of his depth he is, so it's entirely in character for him to underestimate The Batter and let him get critical hits in. And as The Batter is both very no-nonsense and has the ability to analyze his opponent's strengths and weaknesses on the spot, he's likely to open with something that completely devestates Vegeta, such as Palsy, Mute, or Poison, none of which Vegeta has any resistance to.

Vegeta has the smarts, skills, and powers he needs to win... but he's not going to start with them like The Batter will.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

The Batter!

#fictional throwdown fridays #the batter #off game #prince vegeta #dragon ball #Youtube

6 notes · View notes

kcenvs3000w24 · 3 months

Text

Blog 04: Nature Interpretation Through Art

Hey everyone, and welcome back for another blog post. This week we are focusing on the topic of nature interpretation through art. Personally, I have always been interested in both art and nature but never took the time to deeply analyze the connection they share. Both art and nature provide a medium where an interpreter can share their inner thoughts and feelings, and I believe this demonstrates the “gift of beauty”. Seeking the wonders of the natural world gives us the opportunity to reconnect, and develop an open artistic mindset (Boeckel, 2015). The alluring quality of art is that it is timeless. Paintings designed by the Group of Seven in Canada were painted in the years 1920-1933. However, when looking at the paintings, it is difficult to tell that they were created almost 100 years ago!

Artists can become heavily influenced by nature, and some may even use it as their canvas. An artist that I have always admired is Claude Monet. Many of his paintings depict natural scenes. My favourite paintings of his would be those of water lilies. Water lilies are known to symbolize purity and innocence, and I applaud the way he is able to exude this imagery in his work.

Monet's Water Lilies

This week, we are also examining who we are to interpret nature through art. In my opinion, everyone has the ability to tell a story through their artwork. Art can be unique to each and every person, and does not have to follow a specific pattern. It can be straightforward, or it can be complex, depending on whoever decides to interpret it. It may also just simply be a moment captured in time. That is the beauty of art. As described in the textbook Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For a Better World, artists can use tangible objects in their work to convey an intangible message (Beck et al., 2018). This motivates me to spend more time portraying the natural world through realistic paintings, drawings, or sculptures. In order to create powerful artwork, it is important to find your own “flow”. As mentioned by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his 2004 TED Talk: Flow, the Secret to Happiness, art is mentioned as a state of flow. Flow can be described as a state of heightened immersion and focus. Moments of flow help to contribute to our overall well being and happiness. As a growing interpreter, by immersing myself in a state of flow, I can easily develop ideas and inspiration to use in my artwork.

Thanks for reading!

References

At the Heart of Art and Earth: An Exploration of Practices in Arts-based Environmental Education. (2015). Environmental Education Research, 21(5), 801–802. http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/13504622/v21i0005/801_athoaaopiaee.xml

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.

#nature #interpretation

1 note · View note

the-cat-and-the-birdie · 8 months

Text

Mornings with Moche & Miguel (and Baby Rosalia)

---------------------🌤🩸🏵🩸🌤---------------------

CEMICHE - Miguel O'hara x Inca-Spider Moche Huapaya

Mama Moche is a true Matriarch. And Miguel loves it.

The O'Hara-Huapaya Household can be a bit unconventional.

Raised in Earth 802 - a futuristic version of the Inca Empire, Moche's culture is known for having big families. My nana had 13 siblings. My father had 9.

Moche & Miguel have a sensible EIGHT.

And Miguel couldn't ask for more. (Literally. He can't take anymore, he's gonna lose his mind)

The Babies:

A daughter, two sets of twins - identical AND fraternal, and a trio of baby girls their babies are named - Rosalia, Diego & Mateo, Miguel Jr & Gabriel Jr, Isabella, Camilla, & Valinda aka Rosa, Di-O, Maddy, Junior, Riel, Bella, Cam, and Linda

[Below is more info on Moche, Miguel Rosalia, their babies and a little bit about their births.

This post is MEDIUM length. I'm gonna write another post soon on the kids' personality, futures, and Cemiche's parenting style

For more info on Moche and her culture, click here.]

Rosalia O'Hara-Huapaya

Their oldest - Rosalia - is the apple of Miguel's eye, and a little terror. Almost the exact opposite from Gabriella, Rosa is a loud, talkative, rambunctious tasmanian devil of a child (in the best way possible), and she enjoys playing in creeks, talking to Lyla, and rawr-ing at things. Born with Miguel's unstable DNA - paired with having a dual-universe coded DNA similar to Miles' - Rosalia (as well as all of their children) must take stabilizing shots, the same as their dad. Each child experiences the effects to a different degree. As a result, Rosalia possesses retractable fangs, red eyes and super strength, the same as her father. And as she grows older, Rosa even develops her own venom - one known for causing excruciating pain in addition to paralyzation. Conceived almost immediately after their marriage, Rosalia has always looked up to her dad. And although they have a complicated relationship for much of her life (mainly due to the fear of living in Gabriella's shadow), Rosalia and Miguel are extremely close, and extremely alike - Trained by her father at Spider HQ for most of her life, Rosalia one day grows up to be 'Viper' - a snake themed anti-hero.

Up-Bringing:

Raising their children in Moche's village back on 802 - Moche and Miguel's have a traditional and loving Quechua family with Moche as their mami and Miguel as their taita (dad in Quechua). Their kids speak Moche's native language - Quechua, and Spanish as their first languages (with English after that). And all of their kids were born in the traditional Quechua sense - homebirths with only Moche, and Miguel as her midwife. Being from a communal and communist culture, raising eight kids is a lot less hectic than it sounds, and it's not usual to have all the kids in one place unless it's night time. Different kids are integrated into different places in the community, with multiple people watching one or two kids at a time. [Ex: Miguel might take Rosalia and Diego with him to HQ, while Mateo stays at the Inti temple back on 802. MJ watches Miguel & Gabriel Jr., while Moche is at home with the triplets. After, Moche goes to the temple to get Mateo, and Miguel picks up the fraternal juniors on his way home from work.] With each kid affected by Miguel's mutated DNA, combined with having parents of two different universes, each of their eight kids experience a different level of effect and treatment. Trained by their mother and father as an elite unit, most of their kids goes on to be a hero, anti-hero, or agent in some capacity. Rosalia goes on to become the anti-hero, Viper. Diego & Mateo go on to become twin-heros Katari & Kuntur a.k.a Tari & Tur - Katari meaning 'Snake' (Diego), and Kuntur meaning 'Condor' (Mateo). The snake and condor being two sacred animals in Andean religion (symbolizing the underworld and overworld respectively) Miguel & Gabriel become experts in AI and multiverse technologies. Isabella becomes a healer - taking her mothers mantle as Avatar, gaining her powers comparable to Rosalia. Camilla & Valinda are not heros - Cam is a Boxer/Private Investigator & Valinda is a professional gymnast.

The Timeline:

Rosalia - their first - was conceived almost immediately after their wedding. Though having grown up an only child herself, Moche feared Rosalia being an only child, and Miguel agreed, so they tried for another. Diego & Mateo - their second and third - are identical twins. Miguel's first boys, and his first set of multiples. Having boys, plural, was definitely and adjustment, but everyday Miguel fell in love with being a dad more and more, even when the days got hectic. So when Moche accidentally got pregnant again - he thought 'What's one more, four's a good number.' When the village elder told them she'd be having twins again - boys again - Miguel didn't believe her. I mean, the mystic woman was reading coca leaves and river stones - so how much could she really know? A lot. Cause she was right. Miguel & Gabriel - their fourth and fifth - are fraternal twins. Named after Miguel and his late brother Gabriel, the two often go by 'Riel' and 'Junior'. Five kids. Five kids Miguel adores. But FIVE KIDS. ONE girl and FOUR BOYS. ALL CLOSE IN AGE (Like within 4/5 years of each other) ALL SUPER-POWERED. Miguel loves it - Miguel is EXHAUSTED. But they're like super-parents. And they finally have the family they want. But more than anything, Miguel wants one more girl - a sister for Rosalia. And with Rosalia not showing interest in the path of curandera (a healer) - they both figured, 'hey, why not ONE more'. One more was okay. Six was good - six was Miguel's LIMIT. And like - the chances of Moche having twins AGAIN is next to zero. So they agreed to try for one more. They went to the Inti temple together, to pray to Mama Allpa - the fertility god of Moche's people - for a daughter. Seeing the sincerity and desire in their hearts, Mama Allpa received their prayer - and gave them triplets. This time, Miguel believed the village elder. He passed out when he heard. Isabella, Camilla, & Valinda are identical triplet girls, their youngest (and LAST Miguel swears), bringing the total up to eight. Just like Moche wanted. She's very happy with this outcome. And so is Miguel.

Pregnancy:

Moche & Miguel pride themselves on having traditional Inca pregnancies, according to the traditions of her country. For the Incas, pregnancy was the ultimate test of marriage and commitment - with the husband expected the utmost attention and care to his wife. Needless to say, this is something Miguel loves - an excuse to treat his wife like a big softie. Usually a tough cookie and a workaholic, Miguel gets to act like his 4'11 warrior of a wife is a fragile, glowing queen for 9 months straight. Which, paired with Moche's pregnancy irritability can usually result in what Miguel likes to call 'Matriarch Moche'.

Having been through 4 pregnancies throughout their marriage, during this time Miguel often becomes Moche's caretaker - a role her village takes very seriously (they've got their eye on him). A time where a couple is almost inseparable, Moche & Miguel are no different. And it can extend to everything from making her meals to opening doors for her.

Unlike Jessica though, Moche does NOT do Inca-Spider stuff while pregnant. (Even Miguel was like 'yeah not happening')

And since her and Miguel are always together, that usually results in an irritable and hangry Moche padding around Miguel's lair barefoot with food court food while he does his usual work.

He'll continue his work of being boss and handling missions - while occassionally stop to dote over his wife he just wants to watch soap operas in peace.

The two usually trade responsibilities around this time - with Moche handling most of the Society administrative work, while Miguel handles most of the active mission work, and watching over her universe.

Usually a formidable fighter and a fiercely independent, Pregnancy one of the rare times Moche feels like she can put her self in someone else's hands - knowing that she should reserve her spiritual energy for her baby.

And Miguel is more than happy to oblige (most of the time).

Miguel: *Giving an mission briefing to the Spidey-teens* I need you all to FOCUS, I'm serious. Every detail of this mission must be followed to- Moche: *from Miguel's platform* Miguel, I'm getting heartburn. Also, I can't find the remote. Miguel:.....ask Lyla to change the channel. Moche:..Migggueeell, where's the garbage bag? I'm feeling the nausea again. Why did you give me queso? Eating that queso was a horrible idea- Lyla: Miguel, you better hustle. Last time she barfed on your desktop my server was out for 2 hours. Miguel:....*sighs* If you'll excuse me.. I- just a minute.

Birth:

All of the O'Hara-Huapaya children were born in the traditional Incan way - by their parents, with no extra assistance. In Moche's tradition, there is no midwife or doctor - that responsibility falls unto the husband, to educate himself and support the mother of his child. This is what Moche wanted, wanting the moment to be shared solely by them. Admittedly, the days leading up to Rosalia's birth were terrifying for Miguel, and he did exhaustive research. And as her husband, it was his responsibility to prepare the space for her, deliver the baby, and help ease her pain - with aid just a call away if they needed. Rosalia's birth was not an easy one, with Moche choosing to give birth in the upright position - but Rosalia is born healthy and safe, and Miguel doing so well, that they gave birth to the other seven just the same (thought with the triplets, it did require a little help, that's SO many babies). After the birth, Rosalia was bathed and dressed by her godparents (Asa & Jess) before spending the night with Miguel while Moche recovered. The morning after Moche was prepared by the Mamaconas to meet her daughter. Miguel and Moche love this - Moche feels like it helps her shoulder the responsibility of pregnancy, and their babies' health. And with Miguel directly involved with every step, it allows him to understand her and their baby on a deeper level. Although Miguel had only asked for one, the first night alone with Rosalia, he knew he wanted as many as Moche would give him.

About Moche's Maternity Outfit:

Moche's outfit takes inspiration from a number of actual Moche, Inca, or Quechua sources - including this outfit of a Moche girl from an exhibit in Peru.(left). Moche's forearm tattoos are also inspired directly from the tattoos found on The Lady of Cao - a mummy found in Peru. The Lady of Cao was thought to be a potential priestess or ruler - and as Moche holds the title of village healer, she has similar ink. Moche wears a headdress similar to a rising sun. As a Mamacona (priestess of The Sun God Inti), the sun holds a lot of significance for her. Moche wears the headdress throughout her pregnancy as a signal to others the 'rising of a new sun' - or rather the in-coming birth of her child. The sash at her waist is woven, and underneath embroidered with symbols in order to spiritually protect and shield the babies.

#no proofread per usu #I WILL give Miguel numerous kids SO HELP ME GOD #I ALMOST GAVE THEM NINE #spiderman #atsv #marvel #spider man #across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #miguel ohara #Miguel x oc #Miguel O'hara x oc #Miguel Ohara x oc #spiderman 2099 #spidersona #spidersonas #ocs #Inca Spider #IncaSpider

78 notes · View notes