#getting back into the lilytale swing with some substantive questions heheh

[nighttimepixels]

What if reader was a mage? And how do the lilytale girls feel about mages?

An excellent question! In general, I tend to not hc that humans as they are when monsters Surface have many mages, or that there’s a big snap of magic or some such that re-introduces magic immediately - not that I hate the idea, quite contrary, it’s super cool and I’ve seen people do rad stuff with it! I just like working with the fun constraints that nonmagic readers have when interacting/getting to know the cast.

That said, what I do like to imagine is that essentially, monsters are natural sources of magic; just like humans exhale CO2, and trees/plants make oxygen… monsters sort of ambiently exude magic!

Basically, for me, it plays out that the longer monsters are on the surface, the wider they spread and get to do their thing, the more ambient magic returns to the world at large. When monsters were sealed away, so too was magic; whatever ambient bits were left behind (fauna or flora) eventually faded away, no longer ‘encouraged’/’fed’ by a source of natural magic. Monsters just… inspire it in their surroundings, without conscious effort (but with conscious effort can exponentially increase it, eg magical farming).

So as time passes, and ideally as monsters are recognized as sentient beings with their own equitable rights and so on, magic slowly begins to be cultivated in the world again - including in humans! It’s not a given that a human/monster couple that has a kid together will be a mage, but it’s a higher chance… and there’s higher chances of humans developing mage-like powers, or tapping into some magic ability or other, at least a little.

(more below the cut, including actually answering your question, woops)

And again, the more it’s cultivated (and the more the human is around monsters in a positive way), the more likely it is to happen - but time =/= stronger powers or anything, just the likelihood that some sort of magical ability will develop, period. Think… magically green thumbs, or maybe someone with a knack for ‘healing’ (maybe not broken bones, but minor cuts/bruises, or a knack for mental health healing eg can help people in panic attacks/seizures/traumatic episodes…), or with certain helpful resistances to an element (cold & heat being the most noticeable ones), or empaths, etc etc. Stuff that won’t necessarily grow into WizardryTM, but is definitely magical at its core!

Basically, the more monsters around, the more magic as both external and internal resource can be recognized/felt/cultivated. To what degree will strongly depend, and time is needed to make it ‘common’!

… Woops, I kinda Went Off on this one. My bad, I love magic systems and general worldbuilding structural things, heheh.

(⊙ヮ⊙|||)… oh shit you had an actual question wait-

As for the lilytale crew’s reaction, haha:

In this case, it’d turn into ‘Reader spends so much time/positive intent exposure to the lilytale girls, that perhaps some magical abilities begin to unlock over time! Most of the crew would be intrigued, honestly, but Blade, Pepper, Crimson, and Serif would be… more wary. All the girls are a little uncertain- there’s been a few reports of curious instances, a bit of buzz in the magical science community about this possibly happening as what I described above seems to be true of the physical environment in particular, and monsters can’t help but think of the story of it being mages that erected the barrier, after all…

But!

They’re all hopeless nerds and at this point have spent a significant time around Reader, and ergo the wariness is tempered by enough Friendship Points that they’re not upset. The aforementioned girls will just be a bit more inclined to really figure out what your limits/effects are, heh. And Blade in particular will be blunt as she often is, and say she’d prefer to know what you’re capable of before you come around to visit Twist again, if the powers show up when you’re not around.

… Of course, all the girls are dead curious badumtsh, so prepare for a lot of weird tests that almost seem like strange pranks and/or tests of courage to see if you develop any ‘extra’ abilities besides what likely showed up - something like an accidental knack for growing plants with a magical boost, or a bit of tech-type magic, or maybe infusing whatever you cook with a natural bit of healing magic.

… It’s gonna be a very silly, and wild, few months until household hijinks settle back into their usual level, or rather, at least don’t primarily focus on you XD

And with any luck… you’ll be willing to talk at length to Serif, who is the most likely to tug you aside and explain the cultural… snags, as well as offer/request a bit of a scientific approach to nailing it down, if you’re willing. It might seem intimidating, however laidback she is about it, but if you accept not only will your bond with Serif grow, you’ll also find she’s actually a stellar teach with a knack for boiling down complicated topics and finding layman’s answers to any question you may have about magic/souls/etc.

#night answers #lilytale asks #oops i did a worldbuilding #again #*sweats* #thanks for this question though!! #I ended up saying more than I meant to woops #getting back into the lilytale swing with some substantive questions heheh #Anonymous