#Magic Building

[alexanderwales]

One of the dominant models of magic and superheroes is that everyone has their "thing", what I would call a bespoke magic system, but is mostly just a power that sits orthogonal to all other powers. This crops up all the time, because it's really really good for having dynamic fights, for characterizing people through their powers, for having new surprises and twists, and just generally keeping things going.

It's adaptable to all kinds of genres. Superheroes are the obvious one, whether it's canonized as Quirks or just an aspect of the setting. But I'm pretty sure that the basic concept was first invented in anime, with marital arts settings, where every character had their own jutsu or whatever, or the system in theory is all about ki manipulation or equivalent exchange but in practice everyone has their own particular niche. You can slot this into urban fantasy, giving every vampire their own special Power, or you can have some magical fantasy thing where everyone has their own unique Semblance.

So this is all well and good, but it leaves us with a narrative hole, which is progression. Having a unique power is cool, because you can think of new uses for it, have unique matchups, etc., but it doesn't give you that juicy sense of becoming more, and if you're facing down terrifying villains with their own powers, then a god-tier power is just kind of ... random. Luck of the draw, rather than the consequence of a powerful will or keen mind.

You can strip out limitations and amplify effects, and this is cool and good, or you can lean back away from uniqueness and toward uniformity, which I think is sometimes the right call, depending on your narrative needs.

So you say that actually the guy who can swap places with someone and the guy who can cut people from a distance are both unwitting hyperspecialists in the same field of magic or whatever, and that in theory, with unlimited time to train and experiment and explore, each could do what the other does.

This allows for a lot of snazzy narrative stuff. Two intense rivals "learn" each other's techniques, or at least adapt them into their own technique. Maybe the guy who does teleport swaps never learns to cut from a distance, but his teleport swap incorporates a cut into it, slashing at the person he's trading places with. A widower incorporates aspects of his dead wife's power, a mentor passes down elements of his technique to all his students, a young protagonist has some angst about using the aspect he got from his abusive father, etc.

If powers are a reflection of character, then you get to physically manifest a character's relationship with other people.

[puriteenism]

Magic system I'm working on, pls give some ideas :)

[ominous-faechild]

Just some writing snippets from my outlines,,,

XXX: (sighs, tension evaporating as he forces a weak smile instead) "of course not. Have any coffee around here?" XXX: (pointedly shakes his mostly-empty cup… which he'd apparated into existence from his own essence. As functional as it was… it didn't taste anywhere near as good as the real thing. Whether true or placebo, he couldn't tell--but facts were facts. He wanted real coffee.)

Redacted the character's name for spoiler reasons, but 👀

(He's a reality warper who can create just about any effect he wants to--both objects and otherwise. His identity is VERY spoilerific, however, haha.)

Writing this, I just KNOW there's people out there who'd see this and be like "HOW DARE YOU BE UNGRATEFUL FOR THE FACT THAT YOU CAN JUST MATERIALIZE COFFEE INTO EXISTENCE FOR YOURSELF!?!?" and I'm ngl--it amused the hell out of me.

Especially because I'm one of them LMAO--

[houndsofcorduff]

WTW Power Prompts - Culture

First of all, thank you to the folks at WelcomeToWriteblr for giving me an easy way to return to this blog! I'll be hopefully completing this event for my WIP Hounds of Corduff.

I've decided to explore each of the prompts through the lens of a textbook written for preliminary students around age 7 - 9 in the country of Rosen. Vocabulary words and other important words will be bolded and there will be reading checks at the end of each chapter. Most importantly there will be pictures. Also, expect a sprinkle of religious dogma because it's Rosen so it cannot be escaped. I made all the "textbook pages" in Canva.

Text under the cut:

In Rosen, many people are born with a special ability called SporeSense. About 70% of the people can sense and control spores. They are expected to use their gifts to help their country. Most become soldiers, but some choose to be healers or teachers. However, everyone with this ability must train as a soldier for their apprenticeship to learn how to use their powers to protect Rosen. An apprenticeship usually lasts about seven years. 

Every summer and winter, Rosen holds big tournaments to celebrate sporecasters. Every five years, there is an extra special Champions Tournament in the summer, where past winners compete to become the Champion of Champions. 

Sporecasters are divided in groups based on how many types of casting they know:

Division 0 - new students who haven’t learned any casting yet

Division 1 - apprentices who can do one type of casting

Division 2 - apprentices who can do two types of casting

Division 3 - apprentices who can do three types of casting

Division 4 - apprentices who can do four types of casting

In Divisions 0 - 3 participants have one-on-one battles to see who is the best. Division 4 is different, it’s a team game, where one team tries to compete in a challenge while the other team tries to stop them. Each team competes on each side once. A panel of three judges picks the winner from Divsion 4, who is named the Champion. 

For new students in Division 0, the tournament is a chance to impress potential teachers (called masters) who might want to train them. Older apprentices compete to show off what they’ve learned or maybe to find a new master. If a master wants to train a student, they must send in a request. The student can say yes or no. If a student doesn’t get an offer or says no to all offers, they will be assigned a master. Students and masters can also switch at any tournament if they fill out a request. 

People from all over Rosen come to the tournaments, not just students and teachers, but also people who like to watch and place bets. It’s a fun and exciting time for everyone! The tournament and the festivities last a full week. People travel from all over Rosen to participate and watch the tournaments in summer and winter.

During the Champion’s Tournament, the best Cruth from past years compete to see who is the strongest. The Champion’s Tournament lasts an extra week after the Summer Tournament and usually draws an even larger crowd than normal. There’s also a dance at the end of the week just before the end of the Champion’s Tournament for everyone to celebrate together. 

Reading Check: 

How long does an apprenticeship usually last

When are the sporecaster tournaments held?

What is the Champion’s Tournament and how often does it happen?

How is Division 4 different from the other divisions?

What can happen at a tournament if a student impresses a master?

You finished the chapter! Great job!

The next chapter will be about Destiny and Fate.

[quilitain]

For the past year I have been expanding my Glyphic Magic Language, a conlang inspired by Necron glyphs from Warhammer 40k which has slowly morphed into it's own, wholely unique language and writing system, with a magical component!

And to test it's versatility, I have started constructing my own spells, inspired by common spells from D&D and other sources. As a fun project I am starting a little series exploring some common spells from the perspective of a Mistic researcher in my world, studying and exploring the secrets of the Glyphic language...

The first spell is a simple firebolt, or a Sho em Ra (literally sphere of flames) sending a streaking sphere of flames hurtling towards the caster's target:

Next, a controversial form of attack magic used by the Church of Light, and the Daughters of Ravi. Rasyth Ravi, or "The Burning Light" incinerates all with its divine radiance:

Finally, a Warding Sphere. "Sho em Lokhthor", the most common of defensive magic:

Humanity's understanding of the Glyphic Language is incomplete and there are errors in their translations, this is not meant as an official translation of the Glyphic language, but rather an in-univrese exploration of it. The notes are full of questions as our researcher tries to unravel the secrets behind the Glyphic script, perhaps you are able to answer some of them yourself?

[penguinistyping]

Night Whispers Magic System

Elements of Magic

There are five elements of magic: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Spirit. They are further divided into Positive, Neutral, and Negative forms. These are not necessarily good or evil, just the presence or absence of something. Neutral magic is the untransformed “base” state of the element.

Positive Water is Steam, and Negative Water is Ice.

Positive Earth is Life, Negative Earth is Metal.

Positive Fire is Light, while Negative Fire is Darkness.

Positive Air is Sound, while Negative Air is Silence.

Positive Spirit is Order, while Negative Spirit is Chaos.

General Rules

Magic works differently for different types of beings. However, some ground rules apply to all beings.

As magic is an expression of willpower, a spell can fail if a spellcaster has doubts about what they are trying to do.

Magic is like a muscle– it grows stronger with use and atrophies with disuse, and the stronger your “magic muscle” is, the bigger and more complex things you can do with magic.

Furthering the muscle metaphor, magic drains energy the same way physical exercise does. The fitter your “magic muscle” is, the more magic you can do without becoming tired.

Your metaphorical “magic muscle” is your soul (or at least part of your soul), so soulless beings such as vampires cannot use magic.

Human Magic

Humans, who evolved through natural selection instead of being born from magic, need methods to focus and channel their magic. Most spellcasters focus their magic through a wand– we’ll go over wands in a future post, but note for now that they’re basically hollow sticks filled with a magically conductive substance and tipped with a crystal.

Incantations and gestures are not standardized, as they’re just verbal/physical expressions of a spellcaster’s willpower. Most American and Canadian spellcasters, especially young ones in training, use the Morrison Standard, invented by Virgil Morrison, a Maine spellcaster. However, other standards exist, and it’s not uncommon to see human spellcasters make up new, personalized gestures and incantations. Things like the Morrison Standard exist mainly to teach new spellcasters; it’s easier to learn when you don’t have to make something up for every new spell.

Typically, humans can use Water, Fire, Earth, and Air magic just fine (although individual humans have their specialties), but struggle with Spirit magic due to its divine nature.

Fae/Angel/Demon Magic

Due to being born of magic, Fae, Angels, and Demons don’t need focuses to channel their magic. However, they may use informal gestures and incantations to expedite their magic use.

Angels focus almost entirely on Order magic (Positive Spirit magic), while demons likewise focus on Chaos (Negative Spirit) magic. Demons find it easier to deviate from Spirit magic than angels, although this may be due to cultural differences rather than anything else.

The fae, as demoted angels, likewise have their specialties. They are divided into four Courts based on their element: the Summer Court is Fire, the Autumn Court is Earth, the Winter Court is Water, and the Spring Court is Air.

[emptymanuscript]

Messy Magic

This is a particularly excellent video on Magic Building / World Building:

I would add the warning that this WILL require more work and skill.

What he's talking about does make for better world building but there really is a reason that this is rare. There is a HIGH cost for what he is calling messy. And the truth is that even most skilled professionals can't pay the price for very much of it. Neat is simply cheaper in terms of the effort and care you, as the writer, will need to put into the story.

This is because it isn't YOU, the writer, that has to get this stuff. Yes, you have to get it FIRST, but the real challenge is SHOWING this to your audience in a way that they get it.

As the writer, you act as the window of information the audience perceives the story through.

If you lie to the reader, the reader doesn't know it is a lie because the what they experience, the lie, consists only of what information you give them.

To make an unreliable narrator, it isn't enough for them to lie, you have to have them lie in a way that implies their dishonesty and the truth behind what they say. That's what makes an unreliable narrator more difficult to write than a reliable narrator, you simply have to put more, both amount of information and sophistication of that information, into the same amount of information carrying space.

This is the same issue.

To write Messy Magic instead of Neat Magic, you have to imply the truth of the mess to the reader in the same way as an unreliable narration requires the implication of the truth inside the lie that is being told. Whether it is Hard or Soft, whether the characters know or not, you have to let the audience know that some of the Magic isn't what they would call magic but is instead what they would define as superstition and cultural affect. This gets harder the softer the "actual" Magic is presented because the world itself will distinguish less between the known and the unknown. At a high enough point of softness and mess, without a profound amount of work, the reader simply won't be able to tell the difference. At which point you have to decide if you're ok with that or not.

At which point, I would encourage you to return to the beginning of this entire discussion around WHY hard vs soft and this messy vs neat matters: Sanderson's First Law of Magic.

It doesn't matter simply because it matters.

It matters in proportion to how you intend to use that particular element of magic in your story for effect.

The truth is that you can have lots of very messy and soft magic with barely any order or reason to it at all, so long as the reader does understand the reasoning behind WHY the story is able to solve a specific problem with the specific magic it eventually does in the specific way it is used to solve the problem. That's it.

Which is one of my problems with the idea behind Hard vs Soft Magic, as it has developed away from Sanderson's initial pitch. The line between the two in a story, as a whole, can often be extremely fuzzy. I suspect the stronger, though more difficult, technique is to think of it more along the lines of: I need this particular set of effects to be defined in a hard way to the reader in order to use it to solve a problem. AND I need to keep how I treat magic relatively consistent so that deviations between sets - the set I need clear for problem solving and the set I need muddy for a sense of wonder - isn't noticeable enough to tip my hand to the reader before I want them to get it.

So, more like laying in evidence for solving a mystery. This piece of evidence is necessary to solve the crime, the rest aren't so much. We need to present the evidence in such a way that the reader doesn't realize the pieces are substantially different from each other, let alone that we've told them the answer right away. It's the risk that the person who is in our own range of intellect will solve the puzzle before we want them to in exchange for everyone, including them, believing that solution when it is finally presented late in the story when everyone has very firm ideas about what is going on and the writer faces a lot more resistance from the reader to changes in the reader's perceptions.

As my own crummy example, in The Hidden and the Maiden, one of the magic powers I use as a solution in the final battle, is literally used the first time the character who uses it shows up. It's part of their introductory scene. It's just very small and has a more plausible alternative explanation from the audience's untrained experience. So it (hopefully) stick in their memory/subconscious for later retrieval while being generally ignored consciously as meaningless because I haven't told them it means anything yet. But then, as I go through the story, I keep bringing that magic back. Again, never in a way that has a bright neon sign flashing: "HEY, THIS IS A MAGIC POWER, THIS IS WHAT IT DOES, THIS IS HOW IT WORKS!" Just repeating it to establish the pattern of expectation that a certain type of action is often paired with a particular type of effect.

All so when I finally whip out that power as a BIG FAT CRACKLING POWER OF THE GODS that can solve an otherwise impossible problem, the reader will (hopefully) go, "ohhhhhhh, I get it!" and not, "nope, I don't buy it, nuh, uh, where the heck did that come from?!?!?!"

And in spite of James trying to explain and define everything in sight, because he is a magic "expert," everything else really pretty much adds up to bupkis, that they don't know how magic works. Because I don't need people to know. I only need people to know how the power I want to use works. It's just so it doesn't feel cheap or unbelievable. That's it. That's all. Because that's all that is needed.

That's the basic power of WHY. It changes "do this" to knowing what to do and how to do it.

There really are only three rules of writing. Make your audience understand what they need to understand as much as they need to understand it, otherwise they won't read the story you are trying to tell. Make your audience believe what they need to believe as much as they need to believe it, otherwise they will reject your story and not listen to you tell it. Make your audience care about what they need to care about as much as they need to care to keep reading, otherwise they'll go do something else.

Nearly every story problem eventually boils down to one or more of those three problems: I'm confused, I don't buy it, and/or I just don't care.

Which means that nearly everything you need to know about story is eventually nothing but trying to solve those issues.

Hard vs Soft Magic, Messy vs Neat, red herrings, clues, mysteries, revelations, foreshadowing, etc., etc., etc. They're all to deal with getting the audience to care enough about information to retain it, to understand enough about the information to be able to keep up with how you use it, and to not just put the story down because THAT'S STUPID!

Everything else you can fudge as much as you want and can get away with inside those barriers of understanding, willingness, and care. You don't have to let this definitions limit you beyond them.

[infinite-xerath]

A lot of Xerath's more dangerous spells actually come not from him, but his ability to influence spirits. Spirits are, as far as we understand them, entities that exist all over Runeterra, but many of them lack a strong enough sense of self to properly take form.

Xerath can use his magic to exploit these formless spirits, briefly imbuing them with a sense of purpose and emotion (namely his own) to have them enact his will. It is through their connection to the natural world that Xerath can bid these spirits to summon storms, or track people down far across the desert.

In truth, much of Xerath's magic can be seen as him imposing his will onto others, be they mortals or spirits...))

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

so the synopsis of The Ring is: you will die 7 days after watching this videotape. my question is does that apply to rewatching the tape. let's say I watch the tape, wait 6 days, and watch it again. does the timer reset to 7 days? can I do this indefinitely? can I become functionally immortal by watching the evil videotape on a weekly basis?

[rosieandthemoon]

[bamsara]

Narilamb dancing doodles I made on art streams this last week, mainly trying to get the motion in mind for the Anchordeep Ballroom scene (its a lot easier writing motion and movement when you have a visual reference)

Also ngl I keep listening to 'Forbidden Friendship' from HTTYD for this scene because the build up from ' mock dance invitation' to 'timidly testing the waters' to 'actually having tons of fun dancing' to 'climatic pause after the dip + tension' fits REALLY well

also little bonus:

[sibbydoo]

RESONANCE!!

So…I recently got obsessed with Soul Eater….

[ruporas]

and together we set out on a journey to find treasure! (id in alt)

[elodieunderglass]

And one amang, an Iyrysch man,

Uppone his hoby swyftly ran…

WAIT HANG ON - slamming the brakes on drawing this stupid picture - do you nerds even KNOW the etymology of the word “hobby”? The thing you do for pleasure? The thing you have too many of? The thing you spend too much money on and share with your friends? The thing tumblr probably is to you? Those hobbies?

It comes from a now-kind-of-extinct breed of Irish pony-horse. It was called the Irish Hobby. Supposedly the hobby got its name from the Gaelic word obann, or swift. They definitely were. They’d obann your pants clean off.

Fast tough little bastards, built for rough terrain and renowned for their speed and stamina, hobby horses belonged to the Celts, and their highly annoying style of mounted warfare. but their conquerors liked hobby horses a lot, kept them, used them for themselves, and found them useful enough, despite the fact that they also had famously useful things like mounted knights or horse archers. A lightweight Irish warrior, mounted on a hobby horse, was called a hobelar.

Reportedly and in depictions, hobelars rode without stirrups. Or saddles. Or bridles. Or - well - this is all sounding very improbable, because the hobelars COULDNT have just been charging around basically bare-assed on naked ponies, screaming, and somehow in the process undoing the composure of actual mounted armoured knights. Knights who, I remind you, had stirrups. Stirrups are useful! It’s quite likely the hobelars had some gear. And clothes. and weapons. And the ponies probably had some tack - I am picturing a bellyband that you could at least hang a saddlebag on, and a neck rope for catching the bloody thing, even if not a saddle. But the overall impression, somehow created by people on darling little ponies, was apparently quite striking and fearful.

I mean. God Forbid People Have Hobbies.

Anyway after a while, whatever people became the British had eventually conquered all of the rough terrain that hobbies were best at, and horse archers just got sexier, and mounted knights became aristos, and all the bog and forest people had been subdued, so it was time to sunset the hobelars. but WAIT! Hobby horses are still tremendously fun and appealing! They’re so fast! and you can ride them without a saddle! Sure, they’re not up to the weight of a mounted knight, or indeed a lot of guys… but surely we can still find a use for a hobby or two? In the back garden? Somewhere?

At which point an English king decided to keep hobby horses just for fun. No military application. No further development of the technology. Not for fun. Just as expensive, pleasurable, pets. Just for the joy of the thing.

And that is how hobby (activity done purely for pleasure) comes from hobby horse (small horse) possibly from obann (swift.) they’re very interesting and you should look all this up for yourself! because it sure sounds like Elodie doing a bit, doesn’t it?

Today, Irish Hobbies are functionally nonexistent. References for drawing include the Kerry Bog Pony, the Connemara, and (I personally think) Dartmoors and Exmoors. They’re said to have lent their speed to the Irish Hunter/Sport Horse and from there to the Thoroughbred, but every damn horse in the world claims relation to the Thoroughbred, and they can’t be THAT thoroughly bred.

At any rate - you can never have enough hobbies. Just be glad that yours aren’t expensive beasts with minds of their own, eating their heads off in the pasture! …Unless they are. In which case, you’re part of a proud tradition.

[houndsofcorduff]

WTW Power Prompts - Symbolism

First of all, thank you to the folks at WelcomeToWriteblr for giving me an easy way to return to this blog! I'll be hopefully completing this event for my WIP Hounds of Corduff.

I've decided to explore each of the prompts through the lens of a textbook written for preliminary students around age 7 - 9 in the country of Rosen. Vocabulary words and other important words will be bolded and there will be reading checks at the end of each chapter. Most importantly there will be pictures. Also, expect a sprinkle of religious dogma because it's Rosen so it cannot be escaped. I made all the "textbook pages" in Canva.

Since this section is much shorter I've made it more of a "break" in the middle of the chapters for the students and instead of having reading comprehension questions it has a place to draw their own symbol! Sorry for the quality of the pictures on this one, I drew them myself so they're a little blurry. They were originally designed for me by a friend of mine.

Text under the cut:

The seven major nations of Isfyd all use the same symbols to show different types of sporecasting. In Rosen, Cruth often get a special tattoo when they become really skilled at sporecasting. The tattoo is a combination of all the different types of casting that they’ve learned. Each Cruth’s tattoo is unique. Most people add their own special designs to make it personal. It’s like a signature that shows who they are.