You keep using that word...
Mar. 11th, 2019 09:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonesparkSpoilers for The Dragon Prince, including S2,
CN: kiling animals, drug addiction
I dislike the way the creators of The Dragon Prince keep referring to the Glowy Lifeforce Magic as "easy."
Easy for whom? Compared to what?
Random people can't just do it. You have to learn. In general, you have to study a lot, and develop skills mixing ingredients, tracing runes, making your voice do the weird backward echo-y thing, focusing your concentration. And then, oh yeah, if you do it enough it starts messing up your body and presumably also your mind and soul. I don't call that easy.
In addition, to do a lot of spells, at least the first time, you might have to kill a living creature. If not, you have to deal with magical creature body parts, and possibly non-magical creature parts as well? These parts are confusing to me. It's presented like it's both the magical nature of the creature's body and the death that's required, but that's not really consistently shown. But my point here is that
1. It's gross, so definitely not for everyone, and
2. It takes an emotional and spiritual toll. Killing is not something that's easy for most people. You can get used to it. And we're all used to benefiting from the death of animals (and people) indirectly. But if we had to kill animals for food or clothing or to get their fancy clot-fighting blood or in self-defense or even to put them out of their misery, that would be difficult for many of us.
But yeah, the learning thing
It's kind of easy for Callum, in the sense that he picks it up quickly just from watching someone else do it and after a few basics were explained. So, kind of like my brother being able to play tunes on the piano by ear or people being able to learn dance moves just by watching, if those things sickened you physically and spiritually and possibly put you in danger of your soul and body dying. Which they don't, so the analogy is strained.
It's easy, now, for Claudia, the way things come easily when you've grown up practicing them, and yeah, having talent. It's rewarding, but it's hard work. And in the extreme, it takes a big toll.
Viren we don't know as much about, in terms of his path to using magic in general and this type of magic in particular. All that research doesn't seem real easy, though. Plus someone is doing work acquiring all these magical ingredients...
Added in with the drug metaphor there's this implication that people who self-medicate with what's available are taking the "easy way," and that's just... UGH! But I don't think that's a good metaphor, since drug use doesn't have that much of a directed effect on the wider world.
I feel like it makes a lot more sense to talk about stuff like pollution or fossil fuels or something. And there again, it's not bad because it's easy. Mining coal or drillng oil isn't easy. Using fossil fuels only seem quick or easy or cheap when we ignore the massive costs and deny that it's the user's problem. At the same time, blaming people who rely on widely available technology to make their lives better is bad and wrong. And the issue is a bit confused here since a lot of the harm is being done to the people directly involved in the questionable thing, tho of course that can be true in real life. Just because you're also poisoning yourself doesn't mean you should get to expose others...
There seems to be the implication that it's easier than using primal magic, but humans either aren't able to connect with that or believe they aren't, so WTF? And if the way to get there is passing through some dark-night-of-the-soul spiritual ordeal thing...
1. Dark magic use seems to involve that, too, at least somewhat? and
2. What about all the people who don't get there? They shouldn't have access to power that might be needed as a last resort defense or...
It does make sense to have some kind of psycho-spiritual test for people going on to master powerful magic and use it. I bet they would have had stuff like that in a Xadian society where elves and humans studied magic. And they should have something like that in magic training for humans.
But that's all about using power responsibly. It really doesn't have anything to do with things being "easy" or "shortcuts.' I guess I sort of see those terms being used to mean "not thinking about the consequences," but that's not what the words themselves mean. And who does stuff without thinking about the consequences in the flashback? Not the dark magic user.
This reminds me of things like Star Wars, and VLD as someone else mentioned yesterday. Where people whose traumatic lives have led them to have more fear and less trust are turned away from magic power because their souls are corrupted or whatever. And I don't have too much of a problem with the idea that fear and rage make your magic iffy and your soul vulnerable. Just be clear that those things aren't the fault of the abused person, and there should be a clear path to healing and learning that's worth taking.
CN: kiling animals, drug addiction
I dislike the way the creators of The Dragon Prince keep referring to the Glowy Lifeforce Magic as "easy."
Easy for whom? Compared to what?
Random people can't just do it. You have to learn. In general, you have to study a lot, and develop skills mixing ingredients, tracing runes, making your voice do the weird backward echo-y thing, focusing your concentration. And then, oh yeah, if you do it enough it starts messing up your body and presumably also your mind and soul. I don't call that easy.
In addition, to do a lot of spells, at least the first time, you might have to kill a living creature. If not, you have to deal with magical creature body parts, and possibly non-magical creature parts as well? These parts are confusing to me. It's presented like it's both the magical nature of the creature's body and the death that's required, but that's not really consistently shown. But my point here is that
1. It's gross, so definitely not for everyone, and
2. It takes an emotional and spiritual toll. Killing is not something that's easy for most people. You can get used to it. And we're all used to benefiting from the death of animals (and people) indirectly. But if we had to kill animals for food or clothing or to get their fancy clot-fighting blood or in self-defense or even to put them out of their misery, that would be difficult for many of us.
But yeah, the learning thing
It's kind of easy for Callum, in the sense that he picks it up quickly just from watching someone else do it and after a few basics were explained. So, kind of like my brother being able to play tunes on the piano by ear or people being able to learn dance moves just by watching, if those things sickened you physically and spiritually and possibly put you in danger of your soul and body dying. Which they don't, so the analogy is strained.
It's easy, now, for Claudia, the way things come easily when you've grown up practicing them, and yeah, having talent. It's rewarding, but it's hard work. And in the extreme, it takes a big toll.
Viren we don't know as much about, in terms of his path to using magic in general and this type of magic in particular. All that research doesn't seem real easy, though. Plus someone is doing work acquiring all these magical ingredients...
Added in with the drug metaphor there's this implication that people who self-medicate with what's available are taking the "easy way," and that's just... UGH! But I don't think that's a good metaphor, since drug use doesn't have that much of a directed effect on the wider world.
I feel like it makes a lot more sense to talk about stuff like pollution or fossil fuels or something. And there again, it's not bad because it's easy. Mining coal or drillng oil isn't easy. Using fossil fuels only seem quick or easy or cheap when we ignore the massive costs and deny that it's the user's problem. At the same time, blaming people who rely on widely available technology to make their lives better is bad and wrong. And the issue is a bit confused here since a lot of the harm is being done to the people directly involved in the questionable thing, tho of course that can be true in real life. Just because you're also poisoning yourself doesn't mean you should get to expose others...
There seems to be the implication that it's easier than using primal magic, but humans either aren't able to connect with that or believe they aren't, so WTF? And if the way to get there is passing through some dark-night-of-the-soul spiritual ordeal thing...
1. Dark magic use seems to involve that, too, at least somewhat? and
2. What about all the people who don't get there? They shouldn't have access to power that might be needed as a last resort defense or...
It does make sense to have some kind of psycho-spiritual test for people going on to master powerful magic and use it. I bet they would have had stuff like that in a Xadian society where elves and humans studied magic. And they should have something like that in magic training for humans.
But that's all about using power responsibly. It really doesn't have anything to do with things being "easy" or "shortcuts.' I guess I sort of see those terms being used to mean "not thinking about the consequences," but that's not what the words themselves mean. And who does stuff without thinking about the consequences in the flashback? Not the dark magic user.
This reminds me of things like Star Wars, and VLD as someone else mentioned yesterday. Where people whose traumatic lives have led them to have more fear and less trust are turned away from magic power because their souls are corrupted or whatever. And I don't have too much of a problem with the idea that fear and rage make your magic iffy and your soul vulnerable. Just be clear that those things aren't the fault of the abused person, and there should be a clear path to healing and learning that's worth taking.
