hypoxic: (there's no way to buy peace)
Leo Fitz ([personal profile] hypoxic) wrote in [community profile] entrancelogs2017-06-24 10:56 pm

[open] Is it better to believe?

Who: Leo Fitz and YOU
Where: Around the Kindergarten
When: 23rd-27th (event catch-all)
Rating: Will edit this if threads move beyond PG13
Summary: When the scientist wakes up wielding magic, the first thing he wants to do is run three thousand tests. Something might accidentally get set on fire. He'll probably need help dealing with it.
The Story:
[ There are a few things Fitz understands about this event. He knows he's supposed to be some sort of wizard -- the word "evoker" springs to mind, even though he's not sure how to place it or what to do with that knowledge. But he does know that it's fascinating. It's a different sort of magic than the kind he'd had when Wonderland had transformed into that magic school. Then, he'd been seamlessly integrated into a society that took magic entirely for granted. He'd been a scholar, but at things that didn't require a frame of reference. None of it translated into anything particularly useful when the event ended and they returned to themselves.

But this is a different sort of magic. He's retained his faculties, and they've been transported to a world where mistakes probably won't end in something catastrophic. He'll spend his days working through the mechanics of what he innately knows, but hasn't yet examined. The trouble is that initiating the spell is more challenging when he's trying to slow down the process gained by forced muscle memory. He knows how to create a fire shield, but in trying to determine where the flames are actually coming from, he might start a few fires.

And as such, the bulk of his days will be entrenched in a different kind of experimentation. Settling in what he thinks is an uninhabited patch of land, he tests every spell he can think to test. It ranges from ice storms to fireballs, with the occasional acid arrow or gust of wind soaring over everyone's heads. He might need some help mitigating the ensuing disasters that come from it.

What he isn't prepared for is how exhausting it all is. Spellcasting is stressful, and a different sort of strain than what he's normally dealing with. (Perhaps it's symptomatic of a low constitution.) Every evening, he's tired enough to have a hard time standing upright for long periods. His notebook is increasingly full of data, but the headaches and nosebleeds are a terrible price to pay.

He knows he should probably stop. But it's all so interesting... Just one more. Just until the event ends. It's important data to compile, even if he thinks he might pass out after the tenth spell in a day (or earlier -- there's something about a freezing sphere that sucks everything out of him). ]
deathlessness: (and the raven of keys)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-17 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, take it from personal experience - you need to master the skill itself, before you can start multitasking.

[Otherwise, things can go horribly, horribly wrong. Like rings of birds falling dead around you wrong.]

If you're so intent on running an experiment, I can cast spells for you to measure.
deathlessness: (freya231)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-17 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[She pauses for a moment as she considers, because intense focus is kind of her jam, and being a scientist can lend itself to that, to a point.]

First, visualize what you would like the spell to do. Try to hone in on as many details as you can. For example if you were going to set those pieces of wood on fire, think of the color and the heat of the flame, the smell of wood burning, the thickness of the smoke. The more complete the image in your mind is, the stronger the spell will be.

[Witches where she's from normally use chanting to focus the mind, generating the proper intent and what have you, but the magic here doesn't seem to be quite as complicated.]
deathlessness: (the rose-owl spreads)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-17 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, imagining is part of the process.

[She tips her head to the side for a moment as she watches him.]

When you're inventing something, do you not visualize it first, before you begin building?
deathlessness: (is a place you want to go?)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-17 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yes, they are different, but the way his brain will process it is ultimately the same.]

It has, but every witch or caster is different. So while the basics are in the spell you have, you still have the bend that power to your will in your own way. The paper isn't going to do it for you.

[Learning another witch's magic is always a complicated balance of mixing your own style with someone else's. Sometimes Freya will rewrite the spells entirely, and sometimes she'll simply modify a thing here or there, depending on who wrote it.]

What may be more intuitive for some is less so for others, so it takes practice and honing that focus.
deathlessness: (freya212)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-21 01:09 pm (UTC)(link)
In a way, yes.

[Because it's true. There's a reason why witches pass down their grimmoires.]

There are some witches who push the limits of what they know capable by magic and some who don't. There are also different types of practitioners, from those that channel nature to those that channel the communal power of their ancestors.
deathlessness: (Default)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-21 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[She smirks a bit at that.]

Earth is of course the strongest element to channel in nature, but fire is more of a ... passionate force. It's easier to channel because it feeds on anger or excitement.
deathlessness: (Default)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-21 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, no one is saying fire isn't dangerous. But one would assume that if you are focusing on your spell with a clear mind, then you'll be able to have a controlled focus, rather than letting your emotions feed the spell.
deathlessness: (Default)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-21 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, you were all dismissing her actually having magic at first, so she didn't think he wanted to talk about it. She was waiting for you, Fitz.]

In a sense, yes. It's not something from nothing, it's taking one thing's energy, or your own energy, and turning it into something else.
deathlessness: (Default)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-24 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
[She shakes her head.]

No, I don't mind at all. I'm happy to help.

[She doesn't really care as much about hunting crystal creatures.]
deathlessness: (Default)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-24 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
Well, some spells are intended to be dangerous. They're not simply for creating things, some are for defense.

[Like, you know, her ability to melt vampire brains. She moves to sit next to the fire pit and closes her eyes to focus on a smaller spell. As one hand extends on front of her, flames begin to lick her fingers and forms a safe, tame ball of flame.]
deathlessness: (she had her fill of destinies)

[personal profile] deathlessness 2017-07-28 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
Perhaps.

[She gives a small shrug as she lets the flames go out, before glancing back to him.]

Mine do seem to be more nature oriented than some of the other spells I've seen.