[BBS/maaaybe action]

[haha_steelguard]

Got a question for you all out there... at least, the ones I've never asked this of before.

What's magic like on your worlds? Did it exist? Could anyone use it, or was it in the hands of just a few? Did it terrify people, like it does here? Was there a substitute for it?

No deep reason, just curious. My own world has a lot of similarities to this one, that way. Makes me wonder what other ones are like.

-Instructor Snow Villiers

Comments

[rewritethis]

Where does any kind of energy "come from"? It's not a meaningful question.

[haha_steelguard]

Meaningful if the fact that for some reason I can just wave a hand and ice shoots out, and other people can't... well, whatever the practical reason is, it still scares the hell out of them.

[rewritethis]

So you're talking about people, not mechanics. Kind of different.

Answer to your first question is there's no such thing. But it's pretty impressive what people will rush to slap the label onto anyway, if they don't want to understand it.

[haha_steelguard]

It kind of blurs together. Doing something with a manadrive is fine to people, because that's science. Doing something with magic scares the hell out of them, because magic is only used by people who have to destroy the world. So the source is important, even if how it works in detail isn't.

[rewritethis]

Still sounds like the problem is just the people, though. People can be scared of anything.

[haha_steelguard]

Well, only people who can use magic (on Cocoon) are l'cie. L'cie get branded by a fal'Cie, and the fal'Cie gives them a Focus, which is a task they have to complete. If it was a Pulse fal'Cie, the Focus is usually something about destroying Cocoon.

So, they have a pretty good reason to be scared.

[rewritethis]

Of the people who use it, not the thing itself.

It's kind of like where I'm from. Plenty of people who are scared of what science can do. Plenty of good reasons to hate it, even. But science is just a tool. You can't blame or defend it. Sooner or later, you'd forget about the humans involved.

[haha_steelguard]

Science is a bigger thing than magic. Magic is personal... science is something for everyone.

[rewritethis]

I guess you never had to work in someone else's lab.

[haha_steelguard]

Can't argue that. Studying science isn't my thing.{

[rewritethis]

Weird how common that is for people with opinions on it.

[haha_steelguard]

Hey, I just meant that anyone can use some sort of gadget, but magic only comes from the brand on a l'cie's arm.

[rewritethis]

How do you know it's not just some kind of technology you don't understand yet?

[haha_steelguard]

Cocoon had that technology. You can do pretty much everything with AMP that magic can do, one way or the other. Except for the Eidolons, but for magic spells, yeah. But magic and AMP aren't the same.