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[pinks-wizards]

oh my god dasein means everything to me they are learning how to Be

[pinks-wizards]

On this day I am thinking about them

Tired of being in my tough era, time for my soft era and it starts with these

Since the cutesy moon mount is on the summer scroll of fortune im assuming we'll get this hoard pack around then

[pinks-wizards]

fuck it pink malistaire

imagine mali having a daughter and letting her dress him up in princess dresses for a tea party and painting his nails and he pretends he hates it and is miserable but everyone knows he’s having a blast 🫠

[pinks-wizards]

New wizards just dropped!

"Come on Thomas if we get good enough at magic we can make the dogs in Marleybone listen!" "I don't think we can-" "Sure we can!"

They are just about average for students of Ravenwood. They are having fun though and good for them to get out of there.

[pinks-wizards]

Imagine being a theologian in Lemuria when all that went down though

[pinks-wizards]

HEY GUYS. HERE’S A LONG ASS ESSAY ABOUT WIZ AND THE REAL LIFE THINGS THAT ITS MAGIC SYSTEM CAN BE TIED TO/MAY BE INSPIRED BY. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A YOUTUBE VIDEO SCRIPT AND IT MAY STILL BE BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T REALLY LIKE MY VOICE SO.

Wizard101 is a 2008 MMO developed by Kingsisle Entertainment. It's still going strong almost 16 years later, and at the age of 5 years old it ruined my life.

Today I want to talk about the magic - specifically how the schools of magic function. Everything about the magic system in wizard101 I want to dissect, analyze and see if we can't find any real world equivalents.

(Spoilers— a lot of this ties back to alchemy.)

Let's start at the beginning, which is probably the easiest place to start - The Song of Creation.

In lore, the Song of Creation was sung by Bartleby and Raven to save the first world. They sang this song, which wove together the spiral, which is where we currently live now.

Now, the easiest way to see this is in relation to the Big Bang, which is the most widely agreed upon scientific theory for how the universe began. The wisps we collect are confirmed to be leftovers, much like the leftovers of the Big Bang we can find in space. However I think it's a little bit deeper than that.

See, the Song of Creation is a literal song - and songs famously use sound waves. I think you can take this two ways - you can take this in the scientific route, which is that strong enough sound waves can cause objects to vibrate. The Song of Creation is just an extension of that idea, it didn't create anything new, but it did weave together the Spiral in its current shape.

However, in alchemy there is a concept called the third Hermetic law. Which is, "Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates."

Now, I'm not an Alchemy expert, but this is fascinating to me because, well, it's true! Atoms vibrate, nothing is ever “at rest.”

The Hermetic laws are the basis of a very very complicated philosophical and religious system based on the teachings of a hellenistic god called Hermes Trismegistus. It’s called hermeticism, and has a lot of basis in Alchemy according to my research.

So okay, you're sitting here and you're looking at me and you're going, “So what? The Song of Creation kind of lines up with the third law of some alchemic principle. who cares?”

And to that I say, there is another hermetic law that is visible within the world of the Spiral. And that is the principle of polarity.

The principle of polarity is, "Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled."

Fire and Ice, Storm and Myth, Life and Death. These are all polars. Even with this principal of schools of magic having opposites, there is balance, which has no opposing School. It's a paradox.

You could even say, since the system was created by Bartleby, it's a Divine Paradox.

No I'm, I'm kidding, the Divine Paradox is a completely different concept that I'll get into soon. I want to touch on one more thing.

The Philosopher's Stone is probably one of the most known and important concepts that has come out of alchemy. If you're a Fullmetal Alchemist fan, you're going to know where I'm going with this. and if you're not, what are you doing reading a post about Wizard101? Go witness peak fiction.

This is the symbol of the Philosopher's Stone. The shapes have meaning. The circles represent perfection and the eternal spirit realm - Alchemists believed that the universe was circular. The square represents Earth, and the four elements of matter - you know the answer if you’ve seen Avatar.

The triangle represents the three alchemical elements, sulfur, representing the soul, mercury, the spirit, and salt, the body. The smaller circle represents the fifth element, which is like… sort of also the spirit, but a different kind. The fifth element was believed to be a substance that would permeate all things and connect everything together.

Now if you look at the schools of magic symbol seen on the Wizard101 website…

There is this.

Look familiar?

It should.

Obviously this isn't a one-to-one recreation of the Philosopher's Stone symbol. but it's really, shockingly close. Now, maybe this is because this is just a neat and cool way to arrange your seven classes for your silly little game you made in 2008. But, the elemental schools are on the outside, and the spiritual schools are on the inside. Now the issue here does come with the fact that while the elements are on the outside, and you could argue that represents the Earth, which would line up with the fact the circle on the Philosopher's Stone symbol represented Earth, the spiritual schools and their placement on the inside doesn't 100% seem to line up with how the spirit is portrayed on the Philosopher's Stone symbol, but it's close enough for my observation to hold water, I think.

I think you can make the argument that the spiral seen on the illustration behind the spiritual schools could be your replacement for the circle seen on the Philosopher's Stone symbol.

I couldn't find anything super concrete on what the spiral could possibly symbolize in alchemy - I found a lot of things saying that it represented going from being focused on oneself in their internal world to connecting with the world around you and spiritual ascension. Take this with a grain of salt because I found a lot of spiritual websites, but I couldn't find any historical context for it. Personally, I would say that the spiral symbol, within the context of THE Spiral, would either simply act as more of like how a symbol of Earth would for us here in reality, or as some sort of symbol of binding. even then I would be hesitant to say that because a spiral symbol is seen in all runes that come with the magic schools.

Bear in mind that alchemy was never an exact science and it did seem to be more based on philosophy and stuff. Though it did lead into our understanding of chemistry here in the modern day and was essentially a pre-science, just keep in mind that theories and beliefs varied, if you go out and do your own research you might find information completely different to what I shared.

So the seven schools of magic are at least somewhat based on alchemy - cool. Everyone who's played past Malistare knows that there's a lot more to Wizard101’s magic system.

The next concept that you're introduced to in the game are the astral schools. I could talk about how celestial bodies were important to Alchemy as well, such as how the sun represented the divine spark in man, but as far as I can tell, any connections are loose.

The schools of Sun, Moon, and Star are obviously related to astrology. Now I'm sure all of you here have heard of astrology - It's essentially divination and the belief that stars and celestial bodies can influence human affairs. Celestia is full of astrology references, and even has its own set of star signs, which I could honestly go through and make this video 10 times longer, but I'm not going to for the sake of ease.

We know so little about the astral schools individually that I can't really make any connections at this point in time. Supposedly they're harder to grasp than other schools of magic - and Incredibly powerful, most likely because they draw from forces outside of the Spiral. It’s debatable whether or not the Spiral even has a sun??? Either way, outside of gameplay function, all we really know is that Star magic and Sun magic focus on auras - yourself - and enhancing your spells - external - respectively.

I could then wax poetic about how Sun and Star are essentially the same practice, but that Star has a more introspective approach while Sun has a more physical approach, but that doesn't really tie back to any real world Inspirations so I won't.

I can't really even begin to find anything for Moon Magic. Moon in the game is related to change but polymorphing is, one, kind of useless in normal gameplay, and two, an entirely separate thing from astrology.

So let's move on - to Shadow Magic.

There is a type of psychotherapy(?) called Shadow work, which originates from the concept of a Shadow Self, an idea developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Jung believed that the Shadow Self was a repressed part of someone's psyche - their unwanted thoughts, emotions, impulses, feelings - pretty much anything they didn't want to outwardly acknowledge, that is what was stored in the Shadow Self.

Your time with Shadow Magic involves you reconciling the Shadows with the light, which is… almost literally the purpose of Shadow work. When you are introduced to Shadow Magic in the game, it is presented to you as simply a spooky evil dark magic that the villain is using. But once you obtain it yourself you start to learn that it's not evil, it's only chaotic.

The first Shadow spell you obtain is related to your school of magic - I, a storm wizard, got the spell Shadow Shrike, a hard hitting transformation that would punish me with severe backlash if I did anything but hit. My questing partner, on the other hand, is an ice wizard, and she received Shadow Sentinel, which wanted her to tank, and only tank.

Narratively, it makes complete sense why Shadow Magic is the way it is. In some respects, it is the result of Grandmother Raven sealing away Grandfather Spider and creating the Spiral the way she did. she repressed him, and she repressed herself by refusing to acknowledge her love for him, after what he did to the first world. In a higherish level narrative sense, this creates a world built on ignoring our problems until they fester to the point where they resurface. With us acknowledging our Shadow and reconciling with it before that point we go against the grain, going against the deities themself, as they forbade it for being too dangerous, and for touching the true essence of the Spiral.

I think we could tie this back to alchemy again.

The other hermetic law, the first law actually, is "The All is Mind; the Universe is Mental."

As I understand it, this means that our thoughts have a profound impact on reality. We can shape reality through our minds - by changing our thoughts the world can change. It’s related to the idea of a collective subconscious - if you’ve played through Arc 3, you know the Spiral has one of those, it’s known as the Reverie.

This is… also kind of the basis for a lot of psychotherapy methods. In the real world this kind of just means “think good thoughts, and you'll feel better, and things won't feel as bad”, which is easier said than done.

However, in the Spiral, that statement is incredibly literal, much more in line with the original way the law was presented. Shadow Magic reacts and has a more intimate relationship with the caster than any other school of magic. you have to fight a creation based on your own fears to access Shadow Magic and use it. If that's not literally the perfect manifestation of this concept, I don’t know what is.

Which segways nicely into another concept I want to talk about - what we are - the Child of Light and Shadow - the Divine Paradox.

There's a lot of things that are seemingly unrelated that talk about the Divine Paradox. One interpretation states that it's about God - such as, if God is able to do anything, can he make a mountain that he can't move? - I saw another interpretation that stated it was that one’s strength is born out of their weakest moments. I think the latter is a very interesting way to read the Divine Paradox moment in game, however the idea of a “Divine Paradox” does have basis in alchemy.

To my understanding, it is an aspect of the law of polarity. Two opposing things will always exist, and so reconciling those two things, combining them into truly one, then must be an act of divinity.

Obviously this is something really weird when you pair this with the concept of Shadow work - if you are the Divine Paradox, an act of divinity made manifest, made so by your relationship with the shadows - does that mean reconciling with the darker parts of yourself and achieving oneness with it is an act only God can do? That’s either incredibly defeatist in the mental health department or this game was accidentally WAY more religious than I thought it was.

Luckily, your relationship with Shadows as a Shadowmancer has very little to do with being the Divine Paradox and much more to do with Bartleby.

Switching mild amounts of gears here…

Bartleby's name comes from a short story about Wall Street - so literally nothing to do with magic or alchemy, or philosophy, or anything helpful. I have no idea why the developers named Bartleby Bartleby. However, Bartleby does resemble, in design and function, Yggdrasil.

Yggdrasil is the world tree from Norse mythology. It is the center of everything and connects the nine worlds - the realm of frost, the realm of fire, the realm of peace and prosperity, the realm of men, the realm of chaos and conflict, the realm of the Vanir, Norse gods associated with magic and fertility, the realm of the elves, who inspired music and the arts, the realm of dark elves, and the realm of the dead, which is part of the realm of frost.

Bartleby not only helped create the Spiral, but it is said that his roots - probably metaphysically - touch all corners of it.

Midgard, the realm of man, is located at the center of the world tree. Wizard City, similarly, is located at the center of the Spiral, with Bartleby right in the middle of it.

Bartleby is the source of all magic - it could be argued that every act of magic, no matter the source it draws from, runs through him. He connects all things in the Spiral.

Thus, we, the players, as his Scion, are the Divine Paradox in the same way he is. He is Myth and Storm as one, he is Fire and Ice burning and freezing together - because he is all magic.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say he is the fifth element, because I really do not think Wizard101 is following the practice of alchemy that closely. (And that has some really weird implications!)

One more thing I want to talk about really quickly, is the symbol associated with Bartleby, and by extension, his Scion.

If you’ve played the Catacombs, you have probably seen these symbols.

This is known as a triskelion. It’s a real symbol. Within the context of Wizard101, it represents Bartleby, and a type of magic - not school, more like a way of practice - done by his followers, the Treeminders.

Outside of Wizard101, It’s mainly attributed to Celtic religions, but it was used as far back as the Neolithic age. This symbol represents trinities such as life, death, and rebirth. Mainly, it’s seen as a symbol for growth and progression.

The concept of trinities makes sense for Bartleby - he isn’t the only deity within the Spiral. He is the balance between the two extremes of Raven and Spider, and you, as his Scion, are the extension of that idea - as early as arc 2 you were connecting two extremes, and since the beginning you have been uniting differences to create a better world.

I’m not sure how much of this was intended or researched in depth, but either way, this was REALLY fun to research, and I think it’s a pretty neat way to read the Spiral.

[pinks-wizards]

Hello denizens of the Spiral! I’m reopening wizard101 commissions! I’ve got a bunch of past examples here on my blog so feel free to peruse 𖦹

[pinks-wizards]

Fighting Doctor Jackall and he glitches out after casting his polymorph so instead of turning into a big scary monster he’s just stuck there screaming at the sky like this

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starting a petition to throw all defeat and collect quests into a meat grinder

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Hello young wizards!

Um

What the FUCK is going on in karamelle

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it's a good thing that most of the pirate's crew are dumb as rocks bc if any of them noticed that the entire map of el dorado is clearly visible in the photo the game would be over instantly

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The scars run deep...

Been reading “Forever Onward, Scion” by oldestenemy on ao3 and the characterization is so ✨chefs kiss✨

I love how they describe/incorporate shadow magic into it and wanted to sketch how I saw it :D

(please give it a read if you havent already its aaaa)

[pinks-wizards]

Call me out then why don't you

my dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😛 this strain is called "pirate101" 🏴‍☠️ you'll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

me: yeah whatever I don't feel shit

5 minutes later: dude I swear I saw the stormgate to el dorado

my firstmate pacing: captain avery is lying to us

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i love you doomed chosen ones. i love you child soldiers all grown up. i love you heroes burdened with the bad deeds they've done for the greater good. i love you war torn children who don't know how to connect with those who they've saved because they've ruined their own life to give others a sense of normalcy. i love you good people with stigmatized dark powers. i love you young wizards of wiz101 fame

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I'm thinking about my YW Roslyn and specifically about how she's a myth wizard. I imagine myth students are heavily encouraged to befriend their minions by Cyrus (or at least build a positive business relationship) and while Roslyn doesn't get those classes (busy saving the spiral) she naturally wants to know and befriend them. She's borrowing their power so it's only polite and when she spends so much time travelling and alone she wants someone to talk to.

Roslyn knows her minions well. She knows their names if they have ones, and named the ones who wanted them. She calls on them to help her often outside of battle. She's a 4'0" forever 11-year-old body she's going to need help reaching stuff and has a habit of calling them to sit on shoulders so she isn't always looking up. And importantly, when things go badly, she trusts them to keep people away from the fight. To protect people where they can. She might only have one in the dueling circle with her but she has many. The wooden minion is her go to when she needs a voice to yell in her place.

And like everything related to the YW, this can get sad. Because myth minions are less usable as time goes on. I basically never use them now in game. And I think Roslyn in lore doesn't include them in battles. She's grown protective of them. They trusted her, so she wants to prove they can. Their biggest notice of this is likely Azteca. Roslyn goes on a mad run across the entire world to guide everyone to the spiral door she's opened to wizard city. And she does it alone. She doesn't dare summon them both because her brain is racing and she's already exhausted from a fight but also because she doesn't want them to experience it. The death, the blood. The glass shattered around her. And because if they go hit, they are too weak to take it. Despite needing the help she does it alone.

I imagine that hurts them. But they can't fault her either. They, like everyone close to Roslyn, just have to watch as she tears herself apart for failure. As she constantly pushes and pushes herself to the limit doing it all alone. She is still as nice to them as ever when she does see them. The breaks. She's always asking about them. Never letting them help her the same as they once did during the journey to Maliaster.

While I don't use shadow spells in game I imagine Roslyn does. She gets to know the shadows she calls. More hesitant, they are more likely to call her out on everything she represses, but still caring. Shadow Sentinel is her favourite, and is the one given the most chances to help Roslyn when she needs it. She calls them for others, to protect them, and after the fighting is done they take care of her. The backlash will only apply during duels, because carrying her (or dragging) her to the nearest healer isn't demanding work. I think myth wizards can befriend shadow casts more easily, if purely because befriending those they call the power of is part of what makes a good myth wizard.

Her minions are family and close friends. Be they myth or pure shadow. And they care for her too. So I imagine it hurts as even they can't keep up with her. As she grows stronger and faces stronger enemies she can't rely on them anymore. So they watch out for her in other ways. Warning (or threatening) those who could harm her. Seeking out those who can help her. They aren't always with her but they know her full story because her magic betrays it all.

[pinks-wizards]

speaking more from my last post about shadow magic and its just. so interesting tbh. like the first mention of shadow magic comes from khrysalis when we enter the eclipse tower and it gives us interesting looks into how shadow magic as a whole is regarded in the spiral…

its so insane to hear that its a forbidden magic and that grandmother raven and BARTLEBY of all people forbade it to be taught. raven i could probably understand, but considering we are now bartlebys scion… it’s hard to think about the possibility that he didn’t trust us before. an outsider from the spiral learning a forbidden magic…

i think what’s also interesting is the fact that the shadow magic the wizard learns is a wholly unique one. shadow magic corrupted the moon magic inside the tower, so there’s a possiblity that our wizard only knows this specific subset of shadow magic—one that’s been permanently altered by moon magic in the eclipse tower, and one that can only be taught by sofia darkside.

it makes me wonder if velma knows the same kind, or if hers and the wizard’s shadow magic is different… is one more volatile than the other? or if there’s no difference at all and im looking into it too much lolol

knowing this and knowing raven forbade anyone in the spiral from ever learning shadow magic, it would make a little bit of sense for how hostile she initially seems towards the wizard… if we take what we saw from the book of secrets, then we know that magic law states that nothing is an accident—magic is reactive and ‘sentient’ to a certain degree, so there was no mistake in the wizard freeing grandfather spider from his prison using magic, because that’s what they wanted.

granted it was for other reasons… but it doesn’t paint a pretty picture of any of us. the wizard learns shadow magic, the wizard frees spider, and then spider goes on to say that theyre his favorite.

i think what makes this particularly more tragic is the fact that the wizard didn’t even have a choice. sofia says this herself!

they need to learn it. the sword of kings isn’t enough. being a child of prophecy isn’t enough. they failed once before, and theyre not eager to fail again. theyll try anything, and everything, and that includes… freeing grandfather spider.

which, you know, speaking of backlash… sofia mentions it too lol.

which is interesting to me… i always complained that the morganthe fight needed a bit more oomph—which, i still believe it does, to some extent—but i think how she died was a fitting end to her. crushed underneath the weight of her own powers, her own shadow—her backlash. she was the instrument of her own defeat, and, well… that could have very well been the wizard. she’s our reflection, our parallel. i think it’s why the wizard never mentions or claims that theyre the one that did her in—because they technically… didn’t, but they also did. which is cool!

much to think about….

[pinks-wizards]

Guys day Hello to Elijah SparkKnight!! He is. So annoying