#the fvv magic system

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: Quick Update on “An Introductory Guide To Magic”

Me: [copies over the snippet of Unseen University #11 I wrote for “Fixing You” into the document to use as a resource -- the one where Ponder starts talking about “thaums” as “the basic unit of magical energy”]

Me: [abruptly realizes this probably means I’m going to have to make a guess at how many thaums the spells I have listed requires you to use up to cast them, having never considered that before]

Me: . . .well, fuck.

(Not much else to report on -- didn’t really get a chance to poke at it last week because I was working on posting the latest chapter of “Secundus 2.” Hopefully this upcoming Saturday will be more fruitful! Even if I have to figure out my thaum counts. . .)

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #Vic you kept this sort of thing vague for a REASON #so you could reasonably say Victor and Alice could cast [x] spell #but it seems weird to mention the thaum and not put that in the spell write-ups #Ponder would NEVER skip that #played by my own Discworld reference! #*lies on floor* #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: An Introductory Guide To Magic -- Chapter One Rough Draft Done!

Yup, FINALLY wrestled that into submission. Mostly by just redoing a bunch of lists I’d already done before for my website, just with slightly different language. :p The chapter as a whole covers:

What magic is, roughly

How it’s measured (the “thaum” stuff I was discussing before)

Magical potency between places and people

How much and how little magic people can have

Magical burnout

Magical auras

Terms for magic users

What magic CANNOT do

I'm still not completely happy with it, of course, but -- well, it's a rough draft. I can clean it up in the editing passes. *nods*

Now I get to move onto Chapter Two and some more of the fun stuff, like how spellcasting actually works and how one makes wands and potions! Hopefully trying to find the right wording for things will not be so much of a struggle in this chapter. . .

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #I'm not sure WHY this fic has been so hard at times #though part of me suspects Fallout 4 as a distraction #it can be hard to concentrate on fantasy stuff when I've dove so deep into a sci-fi property #But I'm giving it my best shot! #maybe it'll be easier when I finish Secundus 2 and can concentrate on it a little more fully #but I suspect that won't be til the end of this year at the earliest #Secundus 2 doesn't have THAT many chapters left #but we're getting more into the 'long hauls' here #as you've probably noticed with Chapter 8 :p #on the plus side this fic should be much shorter #and should go up faster once it's ready #we'll see when that is! #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: An Introductory Guide To Magic -- Still Kinda Slow Going

Only managed a few paragraphs over the past couple of Saturdays -- covered magical "burnout" last week. Which -- I don't think I actually covered in any detail in the stories themselves, or here, so here, let me give you the bullet points version to keep you all entertained this Friday:

-->Burnout is a result of a mage managing to completely exhaust their magical reserves. This is hard to do, as magic is set up so you should always have at least one thaum's worth of magical energy after casting your spells, and magic generally regenerates pretty quickly (pretty much everyone, regardless of how big their magical reserves are, fills up after an hour of no magic cast), but if someone is casting a lot of spells in quick succession, or using other spells to artificially boost their magical reserves (like the "Draw Upon" spells for leeching magic from other people or the earth itself), it can happen.

-->Burnout is a very unpleasant experience for a mage -- they often complain of mild nausea, headaches, and general lethargy. Think of it like suddenly coming down with a cold, or a small case of stomach upset. The more magic the mage has expended, the worse the symptoms.

-->The only cure for burnout is rest and not using magic -- in fact, the affected mage can't use magic for two hours after burnout first occurs. Nobody's quite sure why the recovery period is longer, but it is. (Some people who subscribe to the idea that magic has some form of sentience call it a "punishment" for overworking yourself.) It's recommended to avoid magical activity for another hour afterward just to be on the safe side and not overexert yourself again!

. . .and since I came up with some of this just now, looks like this Saturday I'll be editing the burnout section a bit. XD Ah well, small steps forward, that's the ticket. . .

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #and lo putting it on tumblr helps me get my groove back #it's the wording that keeps tripping me up in the actual story #lists are easy #making something entertaining out of them is harder #but I DO want it to be more like a story and not just lists sooo #coming together slowly but surely #just gotta keep working at it #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: Still Wrestling With “An Introductory Guide To Magic”

Though I got more done last weekend than the one before -- a few paragraphs at least. Had the “book” borrow Fixxler’s metaphor for how magic works, with its “lake fed by a spring” imagery. Hey, if something got the point across in the main universe. . . Also, a bit amused by this snippet I came up with, talking about trying to explain exactly what magic is:

But what exactly is magic? If you asked our Archchancellor, Mustrum Ridcully, he would say that it's simply, "That lovely thing that gives you the ability to conjure up a plate of food on the go, or punch that bastard who took your favorite fishing spot so hard he goes flying into the water." (Note: Unseen University does not promote the use of magical violence against others. That includes you, Dean!)

I’m hoping people who also enjoy Discworld find that bit amusing too. XD But yeah, it continues to be slow going. Still plugging away, though! (Have not touched the subject of how many thaums any particular spell should be yet. -.- Though, thinking about it, maybe instead I should define how many thaums of magical energy Victor and Alice have, and use THAT as a basic for assigning “power levels” to spells. Purely to make sure the spells they canonically can cast are not out of their reach. :p)

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #Discworld #I remember the Dean as being rather gung-ho to get wizardly on problems XD #and yes that is exactly the sort of thing Ridcully would use magic for #Ponder is like 'why do I put with you people seriously' #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: A Sidebar From “An Introductory Guide To Magic”

Progress was unfortunately less than I wanted last week, though I did get another decent-sized chunk written. So long as I’m not spending like five minutes agonizing over the choice of one word, I’ll call it good, frankly. *nods* And, much like I’m sharing little bits and pieces of Chapter 8 of “Secundus 2″ to keep you all entertained while I power through that, here’s a quick chunk from the fic as it currently stands -- a “sidebar” on how human belief affects the magical potency of certain places. . .

-----

[Sidebar – Belief and Magical Potency: For reasons currently unknown to us, human imagination and belief seems to have a very strong effect on the magical potential inherent in any given place on earth. Studies by the Unseen University into the local folklore of various places around the United Kingdom, along with examining records of the magical potency of the areas around them, have shown that, as stories of ghosts, goblins, and fae rise and fall in popularity, so too does the magical energy inherent in the surrounding environs. A certain forest on the edge of a superstitious village may start out with very little magical energy for mages to draw upon – but as the villagers spread rumors of it being haunted by the spirits of the restless dead, its magical potency grows, and it may actually become a place where the dead can more easily contact the living. Conversely, a lake situated near a city full of men who believe in nothing but science may have vast amounts of magical energy, only for that energy to slowly bleed out into the surrounding area as the nearby residents insist that it is nothing but a mundane body of water.

The most dramatic examples of how belief can affect the magical potency of places is seen in the fluxes that result from certain holidays and times of day. Halloween, for instance, has been celebrated for centuries as a holiday that helps reunite the living and the dead. The ongoing strength of that belief has resulted in a magical surge in every place that celebrates the holiday (or something like it) from dusk on Halloween night to dawn on All Saint's Day, leading to a certain spell that is normally only available to casters with high magical reserves suddenly being able to be mass-casted by everyone. There are also smaller but still noticeable spikes in magical potential on the first and last stroke of midnight every day in areas that have spread fairy tales where either of those times has special magical significance. Spells cast to coincide with these moments almost never fail – and often work better than anticipated! So, if you want to use a certain place as a source of extra magical energy to draw from, it would be very much worth making up a story about it to start the ball rolling in the public consciousness!]

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #if you're wondering why I'm calling it a 'sidebar' #I keep picturing this thing like one of those joke books you'd get #that styles itself as a manual to being a sorcerer or a superhero or whatever #I had a couple of those myself #and those always have stuff set off to the side in boxes or what not #hence 'sidebar' #I don't think I could manage it as an actual formatting trick on AO3 #except maybe by using the line separator creatively? #but I dunno #it feels like it adds something to the experience #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: “Introductory Guide” Going A Bit Better

Yeah, after a few false starts, the writing is FINALLY starting to flow properly -- I actually made some decent progress last Saturday! Which is good, as I was starting to get quite frustrated with my inability to put what I wanted to say into proper words. :p I’m still only at the beginning, but now I’m feeling like the darn story is going get done sometime this year.

And in regards to “thaums” (the basic unit of magical energy I have borrowed from the Discworld along with the Unseen University) and having to come up with “thaum requirements” for each spell -- well, I think I might be able to manage it. If I remember a few key rules:

1. The “Protection” spell costs one thaum and is the absolute lowest-ranked spell, according to that snippet from the Unseen University magazine I put into “Finding You”

2. From that same snippet, average thaums per person is 7 (okay, Ponder put it at 6.87528, but -- let’s round up, shall we?), and they can do about four to six low-cost spells

3. In this universe, you can’t learn a spell that would blow all your magical energy in one go -- burnout is unpleasant and the system is set up to avoid it whenever possible. Extrapolation -- you can learn any spell that leaves you at least one thaum of magical energy to spare after casting

4. People also have a maximum number of spells they can learn, based on how much magical energy they have -- to make it simple, say that it’s one or two less than their thaums per person (thaumic number?)

5. I don’t know that I ever mentioned in in-story (a quick skim of the relevant chapter of “Fixing You” didn’t have it from what I could see), but my intention for Victor and Alice was for them to always be able to cast about 25 spells (with Alice having a “slot” taken up already by “False Flesh”), with some mid-to-high level stuff. So their thaumic number would be about 27 or so, and the most thaums “Travel Into Fantasy” (the spell I think is ranked highest for them) can cost is 26.

Yeah, I think that’ll provide some good baselines. :D Now I just have to remember all this when I’m actually writing. . .

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #actually let me just copy all this into the document #I've got the rest of my notes in there already sooooo #but yeah it's starting to come together #and I think I've tackled the business with thaums #w0000 look at me go :D #'thaumic number' is good I'm definitely gonna use that #finally getting all of this into a proper order #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: “Introductory Guide To Magic” -- It’s A Start

Yeah, still muddling my way through this -- look, trying to get all this information into the form of an in-universe book is proving harder than anticipated. Not in the least because it involves rereading some of my own stuff to “fact check” it, and -- well, I’m not immune to getting caught up in reading multiple chapters of my own work. (Which -- is that a good thing or not, when it comes to my writing?) I’m hoping to make better progress this weekend. With less “oh hey I remember writing this scene, it’s one of my favorites, gotta read through that” moments. :p

However, I DO have the very beginning of the story completed! It’s only a few paragraphs, and I don’t want to start posting on AO3 until I have more done, buuut in the interest of keeping you all entertained, here is “An Introductory Guide To Magic’s” opening:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings! If you are in possession of this book, then you are one of those lucky few people in England who have become privy to one of life's great secrets – magic is real. Indeed, magic is an integral part of the proper functioning of life, the universe, and everything! And of course, those of us who know about magic naturally want to use magic. But, like most things, magic can be exceedingly dangerous when used improperly. And a new inductee to the magical world is unlikely to know their limits – or, depending on how they found out about magic, much of anything at all.

We at Unseen University Magazine want to take the guesswork out of being a mage. To that end, we have published this Introductory Guide To Magic – a basic primer of all things magical. This book strives to answer as many of your questions as we can think of, such as:

What exactly is magic? (And what is the best metaphor for describing it?)

How does one cast spells? (There is always a price to pay!)

Are there any limits to my magical abilities? (There are. Don't get cocky.)

How can I keep myself from being burned at the stake? (Or suffering any other ill-fated mishap from running your mouth about your mystical abilities.)

In addition, we provide a selection of example spell lists for categories such as "Travel," "Animals," and "General Use," ranging from minor effects (making your pen float) to major ones (visiting the past in spectral form). And we include an entire chapter on the topic of the afterlife. Death may come to us all, but now you may take comfort in having some idea of what's waiting for you on the other side!

We at the Unseen University hope you find this book informative and enjoyable. Please remember – an informed mage is a living mage!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thoughts?

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #fanfic #*shrug* submitted for your approval #I was trying to be funny in the vein of certain parody books I've read in the past #I'm not sure if I hit the mark #starting to think that might be why I'm struggling so much #I mean I know I can DO funny but I'm concerned I'm forcing it #might be me looking at 'Unseen University' and thinking I have to live up to a certain author's legacy #now you see why I get nervous when it comes to playing around with Discworld? #anyway it's not a BAD opener #hopefully I can just find my stride when it comes to the actual chapters #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: Victor and Alice’s Favorite Spells

Welp, I’ve started my project to turn the magic system I previously came up with into something resembling a story for posting on AO3, and it looks like it’s going to take longer than anticipated. ^^; Look, there’s a lot of information there I have to organize, update, and make at least somewhat amusing to read! And I’m doing it all solely on Saturdays! Cut me some slack here!

While we’re waiting, though, I figured I could at least share with you a hopefully-interesting tidbit of information -- what Victor and Alice’s favorite spells are. I’ve probably done this before at some point in the far past, but if I’m updating the magic system, I can update this as well. (I mean, we’ve already seen how far my takes on Victor’s Otherland have come. . .) So, without further ado:

Victor’s absolute favorite spell is, without a doubt, Glowing Orb -- a simple spell where you can create a ball of light just by snapping a bit of wood, like a matchstick, in half. Yeah, it’s not particularly flashy or anything like that, but for someone who is terrified of absolute darkness (and even more so now after Bumby), having a simple way to make light (that won’t ever involve burning his fingers) is tops. He also likes --

Nile’s Blessing (yes, spitting into a cup to make liquid is gross, but it’s an easy way to get a drink!)

Mend the Shattered (having a magical way to fix things he’s broken is useful)

Flower’s Blush (. . .as is having a magical way to fix himself -- look, he’s never going to stop walking into things when he’s distracted)

Forward And Away (the spell he was playing with in “A Wedding, A Wedding, We’re Going To Have A Wedding” -- he thinks it’s fun, and it’s great for getting things he’s dropped more easily)

Fall’s Feast (once he gets into gardening, he happily uses this to make sure all his crops thrive)

Raven’s Wings (it’s a spell that allows flight, you think he’s not all over it once he learns he’s got JUST enough magical power to cast it? Main reason he’d ever go back to Burtonsville is to get raven feathers for this)

Alice, meanwhile, naturally loves playing with False Flesh -- admittedly, it helps that she has a natural affinity for the spell! But even if she didn’t, she’d still use it regularly -- it’s just nice to be able to bring her Wonderland look into reality without having to worry about having the dresses made or anything like that. Plus she likes that it allowed her to scare the crap out of Bumby before she killed him, even if she didn’t realize it at the time. >D She also favors:

Warmth & Chill (adjusting her personal temperature is nice after spending so long in clothes that never kept out the chill -- and living through that one wretched super-hot summer)

Scrub & Shine (someone who spent her first job doing a lot of cleaning up after busy children, and ends up a busy mother with four of her own, knows the value in a quick cleaning spell!)

Shield the Flesh (a simple protection spell for people -- Alice, naturally, casts it on everyone she loves regularly)

Shield the Earth (a similar spell for places -- guess what, Alice regularly wards their house too)

Write Across The Miles (great way to send letters without having to bother with the newly-made post office)

Dance Upon The Air (it’s like having her Wonderland quad-jump in real life! Victor likes this one too, obviously -- he just thinks Raven’s Wings is even better)

And their mutual favorite spell of all? Travel Into Fantasy, of course. :) There’s a period where they’re using it nightly to explore Wonderland and Victor’s Otherland -- they only cut it down to three times a week after they accidentally burn themselves out with the repeated magic drains.

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #I AM pretty sure I have done this before #but probably back in 2014 or something #so it was more than due for an update #a couple of these both of them know #like Victor also has Dance Upon The Air and Write Across the Miles #and Alice uses Nile's Blessing and Mend the Shattered #but they try to keep from overlapping too much since you know #limited 'spell slots' #but yeah they both tend to like fairly practical spells #with some less practical but still fun ones thrown in #and Travel Into Fantasy is always a mainstay #it's kind of the signature spell of 'Fixing You' soooo XD #and of 'In A World of His Own' once I write it #again so many stories so little time #queued

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: The Return Of The Magic System

Been exchanging messages with my friend DarkCountess over on FF.net, as I do, and one of the things we’ve been recently discussing is side stories we’ve written/are planning to write for our current projects. She mentioned that, while she loves the main arc of the Forgotten Vows Verse, it was the side stories and stuff like my magic system over on my website that really helped draw her into the world and its lore. I admitted that I wasn’t even thinking in terms of creating “lore” for my world there, but I’m glad she liked it all nonetheless --

And then had a thought. “Actually, hang on a second. All of that magic system information is STILL on my website. Which I don’t really use anymore. Maybe I should bring it over to AO3?”

So that’s what I’ve decided to do! :D Yeah, I know, I have actual stories to write in this verse -- I haven’t forgotten I owe you “In A World Of His Own” (the “exploring Victor’s Otherland domains” story), among others! But, given that my primary focus right now is editing and posting “Secundus 2: Weird Weird West,” and my secondary focus is writing “Londerland Bloodlines,” this feels like the best FVV project to tackle right now. Something relatively simple that I can do once a week on Saturdays (which is my “free day” when it comes to my writing schedule). Plus, I do intend to try and make the old infodump look more like a story, by rewriting some of my explanations and such so it resembles an in-universe “introductory spellbook” or something. Hey, I’ve already established that they have the “Unseen University” magazine!

So yeah, you can expect that to pop up on AO3 in the coming weeks -- can’t GUARANTEE that the first bit will be ready next Friday, but I’ll keep you apprised of my progress! And, in the meantime, if you want to check out the version up on the website, you can do so here: Magic and Death (since I decided to cover the afterlife in the same section). Be forewarned, it has a fancy “old paper” background, so it may be a little hard to read. (Another reason to bring it over to AO3!)

#forgotten vows friday #forgotten vows verse #the fvv magic system #also I came up with it ages ago #and I've probably contradicted some of the old write-ups with what actually made it in-story #I'm pretty sure I used the standard mailing spell as one for contacting the dead as well for starters #ah well that's what updating this is all for #I'm actually kinda looking forward to this #I haven't touched the magic system in ages #it'll be fun to update it and clean it up and make it like a story you know? #and like I said it's a project that suits being worked on only once a week #allows me to keep dedicating the bulk of my time to Secundus 2 and Londerland Bloodlines #once I'm done with the former THEN we'll go back to real stories in the Forgotten Vows Verse #because yeah I DO want to write Victor in his Wonderland #and all the other stuff too #I am cursed with too many ideas that take a lot of time to write #queued