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Video | un: Stone

[A conversation that Jake recently had has him thinking about this--ruminating, really. Maybe he just misses Cassie and her telling him that magic wasn't all bad. For those that might know him, he's also suffering from just a bit--maybe not just a bit--of corruption itself, making him a little more volatile and irritable than usual. He looks like crap, like he hasn't slept in days, and his normally blue eyes look a little purple, and there's the slightest hint of a pointed canine or two.]

Do you think magic is inherently dangerous or corruptive?

Because in my world, it is, and it feels a lot like that here, too. Power corrupts, and even the most well-intentioned of people end up with terrible consequences or curses because of some fine print, because of not knowing how to wield the magic, because there's always something. That's why I study it, so that I can understand it, but it ain't easy, and people are usin' magic and superpowers left and right without any thought of how much worse it can get...

Maybe it's cause it's the easy way out sometimes. Who doesn't love the easy way out? Or maybe it's cause it's a way to feel safer, but is it really, when some spell you do to protect yourself has a cost, a price?

Everythin' always has a price.

[At one point he loved magic, honestly. Thought it was the coolest thing. Still does in a way, but what's fueling him is fear. And he's tired of that fear as much as he's scared of it.

He's that guy.]

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Dangerous, sure. Any power has the potential to be dangerous. And blood pollution makes the sort of magic native to here an extra level of inherently risky.

But I do believe with training, commitment, a community of other people with similar beliefs to help support you - power can be used wisely to help people. You're right that sometimes that means doing things in a way that isn't the quickest and easiest.

But that's not the same as never using an ability or magic at all.

Even in my world, that was possible. Using magic to help people, using magic for good. I agree, if you got a support system than can help you, you can do good things.

But the thing is knowin' when to use it and when not to use it.

The problem is, the magic here seems to be the kind that's better off not bein' used.

Well, not every bit of magic here requires blood letting.

Just...a lot of it.

I don't think anything is inherently dangerous or corruptive. PEOPLE are the ones that use what they have for good things or for bad. Magic. Science. Money, even. All of that can be used for good, but people just...don't. They like to keep the things they get and hold them over other people's heads.

I don't know what YOU'VE seen with magic, but the magic here is all different, because the worlds and the rules are different too. Like, I use magic and the last thing I'd ever say is that it's an easy way out of anything. Magic takes time and skill to learn, and if I'd ever said to any of my magical instructors that magic was easy they'd throw me out of class on my ear!

So, in short? Magic is one path to go! It's one I'm taking, and I use it to help people because I think that's why people ought to use it.

I have a friend who'd say the same thing as you do. And I ain't disagreein' with you on the fact that people can use anything with power for nefarious means.

But yeah, that's what I've seen with magic. Time and time again, magic corruptin' folks, especially people who don't know how to use magic, don't know all the consequences. Maybe that was the bad thing about magic in my world, it was easy to learn, and when people would use it for shortcuts, bad things would happen.

I just hope that you realize if bad things happen cause of your usin' magic, you can get out of it okay.

Thanks, because I've seen that happen all over the place, in my world on Earth and other worlds.

In the world I went to, magic is something you're born with, but how well you use it and what the people who have it can do with it is really what shapes the user. People in power there, they want to keep magic contained in a rigid system and anyone who tries to experiment with it are punished pretty brutally.

That would technically include me, since I wasn't born in that world and I use magic differently.

The way I use magic, that would mostly be impossible. At least, I think so, anyway.

[ Well, this sure is a topic that Ange has thought about a lot over time. Even though she doesn't recognize the person speaking, she can't help but have her attention drawn all the same - just because of the very topic itself. ]

I think it's possible, but not necessarily inherent.

[ If that makes sense. Thankfully she doesn't leave it at just that, continuing: ]

It's all about how you choose to use it. Some people only do the most wonderful things when they end up with magical powers. While it's possible for magic to corrupt, it's also very much possible to withstand that.

[ ... ]

Well, corruption in general, that is. It's another story entirely in this place. [ Since it's such a literal thing here, rather than corruption as a concept, which is what Ange was mostly talking about. ]

The thing is, how do I know if I'm the kinda person who can withstand that? Or if you are?

Or if anyone is?

I guess there's only one way to find out but the consequences to bein' wrong could be...disastrous.

Well, I know this is going to sound like a generalisation.

[ .. and yet Ange is apparently opting to say it anyway, since she continues on with zero hesitation. Her tone sounds so emotionless that it only makes the following statement sound even more harsh, though - thankfully - it doesn't seem to be directed at Jacob as a person. ]

But all the people I know who had that happen to them were pretty crappy people to begin with. [ T-Thanks, Ange... ]

You said it yourself; power corrupts. Magic isn't a requirement for that nor the culprit. Someone who is going to become driven by a lust for power will do so with or without it.

The problem about it is that I fear that magic itself is a corrupting force, that there are certain spells, certain ways of usin' magic that's insidious.

I guess I've seen too many curses to let my guard down, ever.

It's probably wise to be wary of something you've seen cause as much damage, even if the pattern doesn't hold true across all words. I've seen people try to claim lots of things are corrupting forces, some claim it of certain jutsus, but I think people are just easily corrupted by anything that gives them an edge over another. Some things just have more obvious and immediate damage than others.

Edited 2022-05-01 02:12 (UTC)

I don't think magic is inherently bad. Although, I guess the magic I have from back home isn't really that much power, either. It's just the power to turn into a human.

And that's the thing, it's different in different worlds. I think that's not the kind of magic that would be corruptive, it almost sounds like just part of who you are.

It is, yeah.

No. I don't.

[There we go, they've doubled their argument.]

I figured as much.

[A grumbly mumble.]

[This is such a foreign idea to her that she's frankly a bit baffled by the suggestion. Still, she flicks on her omni to put up a rebuttal.]

You say that people got hurt because they used magic without understanding it, or without using it responsibly. How much study has gone into truly understanding it and how to use it responsibly in your world? How publicly available are the results of these studies?

In my world, magic is everywhere. We use it to power cars, computers, all kinds of technology that has helped us immensely as a society. People use it for ill, but plenty of others use it for good. Healing, revival, construction, art, survival, heroism. It's the same as any other tool, only as dangerous as the person who uses it. I can bash someone's head in with a ladle as easily as I could kill them with a spell. That doesn't make ladles bad.

[That's not a real example, shut up.]

The magic in this place is dangerous, but I don't think the solution is to simply not use it. Magic is a fundemental part of who I am, who my people are. Taking it away from me would be like cutting off a limb and telling me I'm better off without it.

That's not to say that I think you're trying to do that but just as a hypothetical.

Edited 2022-04-30 04:49 (UTC)

Well, that's the kicker, ain't it? Magic is hidden in my world, it's my job along with the other Librarians to keep it safe and out of the hands of people that could use it to do terrible things with. And sometimes there's wild magic, and new artifacts, and people stumble across this stuff and have no idea the harm they're causin' with it.

I mean, I ain't gonna lie, that sounds pretty damn neat if it's somethin' that can solely be used for good.

The problem is that if magic is a corrupting force, then usin' it even for good will eventually be a net bad.

[She recalls having another conversation about this. It rings as quite bizarre to her, this idea that magic is something that needs to be kept securely out of the hands of people.]

Something not being used solely for good and something being a corrupting force are two very distinctly different things. There are a lot of evil wizards in the multiverse [Like her entire family, yes] - but there's billions of wizards that are good people or just neutral and interested in researching the world. It's not magic that corrupts people, it's corrupt people that misuse magic.

I understand why you would seek to keep it out of the hands of bad people, but I think that just leads to more fear and misunderstanding in the end. If you treat all magic like it's inherently corrupt and that nobody should use it, it just means that the people that do use it are going to be driven in that direction by fear and ignorance. How are they supposed to understand magic and how to use it if all the information about it is kept under lock and key?

[Have an answer muffled by very loud chewing.]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's the saying. It's about having all the power, not just some power. [A philosopher of his time.] As long as you still have weaknesses and an okay alignment, it's not inherently dangerous. It's just about the actions you choose to take, at that point.

[Or maybe he's just read a lot of D&D manuals.]

[This really does sound an awful lot like D&D dude.]

The problem is if the power itself is a source of corruption of any kind, then no matter the actions you choose, they will eventually turn out bad.

Okay but like, that's assuming it's inherently corruptive, and I'm saying it's not.

[He gestures with his pizza slice.]

You've got the big bad villain magicians, yeah, but then you've got the people who use it to stir their tea, or something. How's that supposed to lead to corruption?

Well, I'm sayin' it could be.

If magic itself ain't actually corruptive, and I'm sayin' that theoretically, then a person who uses magic for little things might be tempted to use them for other things that ain't so innocuous.

And magic's always got a price. At least in my experience. And it's startin' to seem like that here, too.

[ This was a tender subject for Sharon. She had an extensive and painful history with people who looked at magic as something inherently dangerous, as something to be stamped out because it was some sign of evil or sin or corruption. ]

No. [ Firmly. Perhaps a little more firm than she'd intended. ] It's that kind of fear-based thinking that got people burned alive where I'm from.

Sure, everything has a price, and power corrupts, but should people not use what they're born with because that possibility exists?

[She's right though, it is definitely fear-based thinking. What she's saying reminds him so much of what Cassie would say.]

I ain't sayin' I'm gonna burn witches at the stake or anythin' like that!

But what if the powers you're born with end up hurtin' people cause of unintended consequences? What about the price? Is the price worth it?

[ Not yet, she wants to say. ]

What if. [ There's a tightness to her words. She hates questions like that because they only serve to spread fear. ] What if your powers can save someone's life? What if they can stop someone with powers who has bad intentions?

It's one thing to consider the possible consequences of power, it's another to only consider the consequences. That's how people become afraid of what they can do, of what others can do, and that shit spreads. It's like a disease and it hurts every single person it touches.

[Maul looks very pensive as he answers, dwelling on old memories he doesn't often allow himself to revisit. The thought of his mother still makes him feel immense amounts of guilt and sadness.]

My mother wielded magic and there was always a price to be paid for using it. Eventually, it consumed her entire physical form, and she was left stranded in the spirit realm until almost the end of her life.

I don't know that anything is inherently corruptive. It does seem that people are inherently corruptible.

[in her experience, everything can be dangerous. even voicing an opinion in public is dangerous. sansa fears she has more to lose than she has to gain from having this conversation. but she had been powerless for so long, and silent.]

There are steps we can take to fight the corruption, and that takes magic too. Having known what it is to be powerless, I'll take my chances with the blood hounds and Night Walkers.

["Magic" is something that has been on Break's mind lately precisely because he has it now, and he's been struggling to come to terms with just how much harm he could do with it if he were to grow too careless or, indeed, "corrupt" in that special Trench sort of way. He's begun reaching out to learn how to control it as a safety measure, and some days he even has a little fun with it. Even so, his nervousness remains, and a discussion like this is always going to catch his attention.]

I suppose the first bit to get to the bottom of is whether it's the power or the magic itself that's "corruptive", isn't that so? I've certainly seen magic that could twist someone into insanity simply from exposure, or chip away at their health with every use. However, in types of magic that don't cause such damage, I would think it's the person wielding it who's the real problem, you know?

Because of that, a guy with a sword and a terrible personality is of far greater concern to me than a magic-user who is simply going about their magical day.

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