ooc Salem University OOC (Open)

[Duality 10,739]

This is a very interesting alternate history indeed, even with my limited historical knowledge. Nikola Tesla as a mage is definitely the most realistic feature. 

I do have a couple of caveats, however:

9 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

• 7000 years ago, existed the magic kingdom of Avalon, located in north western European peninsula known as doggerland. Exparaments of ancient mage kingdom results in geological disaster, flooding doggerland,  isolating the brittish isles and denmark, causing the ice age and scattering the magic community across ancient Europe. Myths of Atlantis and the Fairy kingdom of Avalon are begun.

This one is nigh-completely obfuscated in legend due to the age of the events in question, such that only a few fragmented pieces of evidence remain of the history behind the stories, and

9 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

• Surviving members of Avalon ruling class relocate to sanctum on the moon. Code of secracy established to prevent further magic catastrophies
• Threat of war over space race leads to the moon being declared off limits. All scientific exploration must be an interantionally backed endevor. Undermining of lunar exploration actually prompted by mge community to keep their secret moon base hidden. 

No secret moon base, as a continuously occupied moon base is most certainly outside of even modern magical capabilities. Magic has advanced over the course of history to reach where it is now just like all other fields, and the world population was so low 7000 years ago that there would've most likely been less half-decent mages around than I could count on my hand, barring other factors increasing the population odds. The international-only laws around lunar exploration could be a result of large-scale pelajae political movements, due to the cultural/religious significance they tend to place on the moon and the subsequent respect they want shown during exploration missions (gotta factor in their beliefs too), but a special secret 7000-year-old moon sanctum is definitely too out there.

9 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Present day: US is world superpower. Official languages are English & German.  Alaska & Hawaii are now Russian Confederation. Nova Scotia, New FInland & New England are now the Republic of Vinnland. All of Canada is basically Quebec. The German Kaiserreich is a world power. Japan has colonies in western South America. Russia is a divided feudal war zone. China has been divided under regional allied rule. Spain and France are "western bloc countires."

Also, what does this mean in people terms? Who hates who, who hates what, what sort of value clashes can one expect in a mishmash international school? It's easy to roleplay based on current politics, as most countries have been culturally/socially subjugated one way or another to Western values (capitalism, the extrovert ideal, etc.), but multiple dominant world cultures complicates matters.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

17 hours ago, Duality said:

This is a very interesting alternate history indeed, even with my limited historical knowledge. Nikola Tesla as a mage is definitely the most realistic feature. 

I do have a couple of caveats, however:

This one is nigh-completely obfuscated in legend due to the age of the events in question, such that only a few fragmented pieces of evidence remain of the history behind the stories, and

No secret moon base, as a continuously occupied moon base is most certainly outside of even modern magical capabilities. Magic has advanced over the course of history to reach where it is now just like all other fields, and the world population was so low 7000 years ago that there would've most likely been less half-decent mages around than I could count on my hand, barring other factors increasing the population odds. The international-only laws around lunar exploration could be a result of large-scale pelajae political movements, due to the cultural/religious significance they tend to place on the moon and the subsequent respect they want shown during exploration missions (gotta factor in their beliefs too), but a special secret 7000-year-old moon sanctum is definitely too out there.

Also, what does this mean in people terms? Who hates who, who hates what, what sort of value clashes can one expect in a mishmash international school? It's easy to roleplay based on current politics, as most countries have been culturally/socially subjugated one way or another to Western values (capitalism, the extrovert ideal, etc.), but multiple dominant world cultures complicates matters.

Sure, I'm okay with doing away with the pre-historic stuff and the moon base. And good call with the moon being off due to the cultural significance it has to various pelijae. Wouldn't have thought of that.

Though I'm a little lost on what you're asking. Are you asking for a list of potential conflicts from the different races, ethnicites, nationalities and beliefs of Salem and which ones will get along? 

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

@Duality still with me?

[Duality 10,739]

On 1/7/2020 at 3:42 PM, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Though I'm a little lost on what you're asking. Are you asking for a list of potential conflicts from the different races, ethnicites, nationalities and beliefs of Salem and which ones will get along? 

Sort of, but not quite so extensive. Just any major cultural clashes/affinities that have the potential to play a significant part in the ensuing RP, if any such relationships exist.

[Loud Opinion 602]

I love settings like these! I'd like to apply if you don't mind. They could be a Villainous accomplice or a first year but I don't know if there are too many of one or which one is more called for.

[Duality 10,739]

8 hours ago, Loud Opinion said:

I love settings like these! I'd like to apply if you don't mind. They could be a Villainous accomplice or a first year but I don't know if there are too many of one or which one is more called for.

Why, hello! I'd be glad to have you and your character/s, but this RP is nearing the end of the middle of a reboot and will thus be shifted to a new thread once a few remaining logistical tweaks are undertaken. Feel free to stick around and see what's changing compared to the original, but otherwise the new and improved Salem 2.0 should be up and ready for roleplaying within a month or so. I can also tag you when I create the new thread if you'd like a heads up.

[Loud Opinion 602]

@Duality,

That would be lovely. To be honest, I was a little intimidated by how much reading I would have to do before jumping in. I look forward to applying for the reboot.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

On 1/13/2020 at 12:14 AM, Duality said:

Sort of, but not quite so extensive. Just any major cultural clashes/affinities that have the potential to play a significant part in the ensuing RP, if any such relationships exist.

Well depending on who plays what: 

• Christianity rubs most pelijae the wrong way. 
• Socialist/ Communist has very negative connotations.
• Rivalry between colonial empires and their former colonies. 
• Herd herbivores and predators jockey for dominance. 
• Domesticated breeds look down on their wild counterparts and vice versa. 
• Rift between those who practiced and established magic pre big reveal and those who took it up after. 
• Everyone argues over the importance of the moon. 
• Apex predators like wolves, big cats, and bears get along after being marginalized by humans. 
• Dog, cat, and most ungulate pelijae get along with the humans. 
• Depending on the faith, some occultist groups hold other pelejae in higher regard. Ex: The Nordic practitioners hold wolves in high regard, Egyptians worship cats, etc. 
• Human/pelijae marriage and relationships are a contentious topic, even more so than homosexuality. 
• Magic users tend to be stigmatized, either for having too much of an advantage over others or refusing the obligation to use their magic to change the world.
• Everyone has a different opinion on one Miko Tachibana and vehemently argue on whether or not she's a cautionary tale or a folk hero.

In addition to all that, our game should also have had some kind of event that causes a spike in magic users. I can't imagine millions of mages being taught in secret this entire time. 

We should probably come up with a proper lexicon of what the pelijae races are called instead of just referring to them as wolves, ponies, elephants, cats and foxes.

Oh and I'm retooling Miko's backstory. She'll be a student now, with a long history leading to her arrival, departure, return and disappearence from Salem. 

[Duality 10,739]

2 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Christianity rubs most pelijae the wrong way. 

The rest are fairly straightforward and understandable, but this one seems a little off. If it's due to the fact that Christianity is associated with Western culture and thus colonisation, there is also the fact to consider that whiteness is even more strongly associated with the west and thus colonisation, which would introduce active ethnic discrimination elements into an otherwise mild-mannered RP.

Christianity does have a history of alloying with local folk religions, as in the case of Roman religion (Catholicism), African religions (Vodou and Santeria), Brazilian religion (Candomble), and in a bunch of other regions like Gaelic Scotland, the Philippines, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Poland, and southern India (to plagiarise Wikipedia's list on the subject). I think a better point to substitute here would be 'organised religion rubs most Pelajae the wrong way', since in your visualisation of them they appear to have a thing for folk religions and/or radical independence.

2 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

In addition to all that, our game should also have had some kind of event that causes a spike in magic users. I can't imagine millions of mages being taught in secret this entire time. 

Mage percentage is conventionally approximated as one in a million, so that would put them only in the tens of thousands. Population spiking is enough to spike the numbers of magic users quite considerably in the last few centuries:

2 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

We should probably come up with a proper lexicon of what the pelijae races are called instead of just referring to them as wolves, ponies, elephants, cats and foxes.

I've been calling them 'meta[X]', e.g., metawolves and metafelines. It seems quite tactful/modern as well as being easy to remember. A lexicon of Latin names would be novel and indeed an interesting addition to the RP, but I think this makes for a practical neutral default.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

10 hours ago, Duality said:

The rest are fairly straightforward and understandable, but this one seems a little off. If it's due to the fact that Christianity is associated with Western culture and thus colonisation, there is also the fact to consider that whiteness is even more strongly associated with the west and thus colonisation, which would introduce active ethnic discrimination elements into an otherwise mild-mannered RP.

Christianity does have a history of alloying with local folk religions, as in the case of Roman religion (Catholicism), African religions (Vodou and Santeria), Brazilian religion (Candomble), and in a bunch of other regions like Gaelic Scotland, the Philippines, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Poland, and southern India (to plagiarise Wikipedia's list on the subject). I think a better point to substitute here would be 'organised religion rubs most Pelajae the wrong way', since in your visualisation of them they appear to have a thing for folk religions and/or radical independence.

I was mostly going for the notion of humans using the "created in god's image", that "Jesus was a human" and "Animals don't have souls" arguments as an excuse to espouse racial superiority. Why I was also imagine other organized faiths like Judiasm, Baha'ism, Zoroastrianism and the Dharmic faiths having fair Pelijae minorities.  

10 hours ago, Duality said:

Mage percentage is conventionally approximated as one in a million, so that would put them only in the tens of thousands. Population spiking is enough to spike the numbers of magic users quite considerably in the last few centuries:

So how did they find young mages then, and what did they do when they were discovered? Did they just take them when they were young like the Jedi? Did they get invitations like in Hogwarts. What'd they do when someone said no? 

[Duality 10,739]

30 minutes ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

I was mostly going for the notion of humans using the "created in god's image", that "Jesus was a human" and "Animals don't have souls" arguments as an excuse to espouse racial superiority. Why I was also imagine other organized faiths like Judiasm, Baha'ism, Zoroastrianism and the Dharmic faiths having fair Pelijae minorities.  

By 'fair Pelajae minorities', do you mean fairly big or fairly minor?

If the former, most if not all organised religions (including all the ones you've listed) had founders who were human and subscribe to the ideas of humans being created in God's image and animals having either souls inferior to human souls or no souls at all. There doesn't seem to be much reason for singling out Christianity on such grounds.

If the latter, of course, then we have no disagreement. 

39 minutes ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

So how did they find young mages then, and what did they do when they were discovered? Did they just take them when they were young like the Jedi? Did they get invitations like in Hogwarts. What'd they do when someone said no? 

There were pre-existing loose networks of mages dotted across the globe. As for discovering additional mages, popular techniques include casting Detect Magic, keeping an ear to the ground for rumours, and, if the local climate permits, spreading subtle rumours of their own about 'covens' in so-and-so decoy locations to see who takes an interest.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

22 hours ago, Duality said:

By 'fair Pelajae minorities', do you mean fairly big or fairly minor?

If the former, most if not all organised religions (including all the ones you've listed) had founders who were human and subscribe to the ideas of humans being created in God's image and animals having either souls inferior to human souls or no souls at all. There doesn't seem to be much reason for singling out Christianity on such grounds.

If the latter, of course, then we have no disagreement. 

There were pre-existing loose networks of mages dotted across the globe. As for discovering additional mages, popular techniques include casting Detect Magic, keeping an ear to the ground for rumours, and, if the local climate permits, spreading subtle rumours of their own about 'covens' in so-and-so decoy locations to see who takes an interest.

Minor in that they had more then what Christianity and it's denominations would have had. But still minor, depending on how animals having souls was interpreted. The more it was believed pelijae could possess faith and reach the afterlife, the more they'd be welcomed into the fold. So I guess it isn't so much of a hard line blanket statement and more how the practitioners react.  

Regardless, all of this is a moot point unless we have an OC with a spiritual back ground. 

 

And I guess I'm still as to what exactly sparked the magical community to break their silence and reach out to the governments of the world. Supposedly there was some magical phenomena that broke the cover in the 80s. But the spike in population and mages makes it sound like that it should've happened much sooner. 

Also in terms of names for pelijae, I think going with just Meta (animal) name is a bit lazy. I imagine we all have ideas on what we would call the anthro equivalents to real world animals, so we should incorporate those. Anyone who has reccomendations or what they want their species to be called can chip in. Because the whole  Meta- thing can br used by humans but I doubt everyone else calls themselves that. Heck, I'd imagine soem pelijaewould be offended, humans seeing themselves as normal and all pelijae as abnormal. 

[Passion 3,484]

On 1/18/2020 at 7:09 AM, Lunas Secret Lover said:

1. Everyone argues over the importance of the moon. 

2. Everyone has a different opinion on one Miko Tachibana and vehemently argue on whether or not she's a cautionary tale or a folk hero.

1. I'm sorry but seeing how you are clinging to this case, I must ask. Why is the moon important? You mentioned a base before which was rejected. But you are still keeping it in game, so I need to know the reason.

2. 

Define "everyone" first and I can afterwards formulate my concerns properly if I will have any.

 

The time-travel based characters will entirely wreck Ley's backstory in terms of its usefulness for character interction, but I will elaborate on this later. I also object against the person manipulating the time to be a playable character period. Even for villain time manipulation would be broken no matter how you define it.

[dragon4111 914]

@Passion

Well in a way Ghalan was broken.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

9 hours ago, Passion said:

1. I'm sorry but seeing how you are clinging to this case, I must ask. Why is the moon important? You mentioned a base before which was rejected. But you are still keeping it in game, so I need to know the reason.

2. 

Define "everyone" first and I can afterwards formulate my concerns properly if I will have any.

 

The time-travel based characters will entirely wreck Ley's backstory in terms of its usefulness for character interction, but I will elaborate on this later. I also object against the person manipulating the time to be a playable character period. Even for villain time manipulation would be broken no matter how you define it.

1. The moon holds great cultural and spiritual significance to most Pelijae as well as many of the earths occultist religions. 

 

2.  Since it was cleared in the last game for the Kitsune to be an ageless race, I planed on Miko having lived an extremely accomplished life throughout the 21st century.

So super short version:  World famous before entering Salem. World infamous upon leaving it, when she became the first student to be dropped out/ kicked out of Salem, proclaiming she wasn't going to be a mage. For that, she was treated as a pariah for years until begrudgingly returning to the academy. There where she amassed a cult like following, giving her own education on how to endure a mundane world and resist the demands of the magic community. Magic was a choice. Not an obligation. Some believe that this radical philosophy is what lead to her 'disappearance'.

After that she became a polarizing figure. An agitator and a coward for refusing a higher calling, set as an example of what happens to those who defy the needs of the many. Or a revolutionary and a martyr for the right to choose your destiny, remembered as a tragic figure for her treatment.

Imagine if everyone knew Clark Kent had superpowers, but all he wanted to do was be a journalist. Is he obliged to use his powers for the greater good? Is he too powerful to be among mortals? Does freedom to use ones powers include the freedom not to? That's the debate Miko sparked. 

 

3. Oh and I sorta agree on the whole time travel thing. My original intent was that it was some kind of accident which led to students and staff being abducted through time. 

[Duality 10,739]

On 1/19/2020 at 10:53 AM, Lunas Secret Lover said:

And I guess I'm still as to what exactly sparked the magical community to break their silence and reach out to the governments of the world. Supposedly there was some magical phenomena that broke the cover in the 80s. But the spike in population and mages makes it sound like that it should've happened much sooner. 

Mages generally lived hidden and in isolation, with only a few taking the risk of forming a group devoted to their shared magic. The fact that they're only one in a million meant that the extremely few of them who tried to use their magic to exert their will over others ended up dead/incarcerated and either covered up by the local authorities or forgotten in the constant streams of criminal events that characterise human history. A few higher-ups in various governments could've probably put the pieces together, but they generally had too much politicking going on to devote much time to hunches and rumours.

In the '80s, there was the much-lored daemon incursion that messed up bits of reality across the planet and in some places tore outright holes through it. Several of the most influential mage groups eventually made a collective decision to put an end to it (at the cost of irrevocably revealing themselves to the world at large) by doing a big flashy ritual to seal the whole daemon realm away. Gabriel Lazel stepped up to the PR plate and acted as an honorary worldwide diplomat between mages and mundanes, eventually succeeding in getting mages recognised as citizens of most of their respective countries and founding Salem on the same arcane island that they performed the daemon-sealing ritual on.

On 1/19/2020 at 10:53 AM, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Also in terms of names for pelijae, I think going with just Meta (animal) name is a bit lazy. I imagine we all have ideas on what we would call the anthro equivalents to real world animals, so we should incorporate those. Anyone who has reccomendations or what they want their species to be called can chip in. Because the whole  Meta- thing can br used by humans but I doubt everyone else calls themselves that. Heck, I'd imagine soem pelijaewould be offended, humans seeing themselves as normal and all pelijae as abnormal.

To be fair, if you also referred to humans as metamonkeys I doubt anybody could accuse you of discrimination. 

11 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Since it was cleared in the last game for the Kitsune to be an ageless race, I planed on Miko having lived an extremely accomplished life throughout the 21st century.

So super short version:  World famous before entering Salem. World infamous upon leaving it, when she became the first student to be dropped out/ kicked out of Salem, proclaiming she wasn't going to be a mage. For that, she was treated as a pariah for years until begrudgingly returning to the academy. There where she amassed a cult like following, giving her own education on how to endure a mundane world and resist the demands of the magic community. Magic was a choice. Not an obligation. Some believe that this radical philosophy is what lead to her 'disappearance'.

After that she became a polarizing figure. An agitator and a coward for refusing a higher calling, set as an example of what happens to those who defy the needs of the many. Or a revolutionary and a martyr for the right to choose your destiny, remembered as a tragic figure for her treatment.

Imagine if everyone knew Clark Kent had superpowers, but all he wanted to do was be a journalist. Is he obliged to use his powers for the greater good? Is he too powerful to be among mortals? Does freedom to use ones powers include the freedom not to? That's the debate Miko sparked. 

No sirree. I initially agreed on immortality being allowed into the RP on the clear understanding that it wasn't going to be abused to justify character power and renown and 'extremely accomplished' and 'a cult like following' and 'world famous' and 'world infamous' and yada yada yada. Put it this way:

• World famous before entering Salem - how? Mages have lived in secrecy for literally forever before the '80s.
• First student to be kicked out of Salem - did she get kicked out on the first day? Salem has had to kick out a lot of students who try to kill someone or steal magicks for world conquest or something, especially in its early years. Mages have a thing for extreme independence and don't always take well to even a system designed by mages for mages (example: Miko in every permutation of her personality).
• Treated as a pariah for not wanting to be a mage - not feasible in this setting, given the percentage of mages who didn't want to use their powers early on (and often still don't) because of all the risks/danger/whatnot that they've always been told that their magic holds for everyone and sundry. Even now in some countries magic can get you and your whole family executed, and plenty of Salem folks have experienced that first-hand. Nobody is judging anyone on abstinence grounds.
• Cult following - mages invariably have an independent streak the size of their personality, as per the example of Miko again. If you can't imagine any of the player characters joining a 'cult' worshipping someone who knows how to 'endure the mundane world' (do taxes on time? ignore weird looks? call the police if pitchfork mobs start chasing you?), then odds are not many others in the University will do likewise.
• Gave her own education on how to endure a mundane world and resist the demands of the magic community - nigh everyone at Salem has experienced more of the mundane world than anything else in life, given that Salem doesn't have a birthing clinic and the combined size of every magical community in the world is dwindlingly small in comparison to mundane population size. Furthermore, the magical community generally only makes demands on you if you want to become a productive part of it. Salem doesn't force anyone to join, full stop.
• "After that she became a polarizing figure. An agitator and a coward for refusing a higher calling, set as an example of what happens to those who defy the needs of the many. Or a revolutionary and a martyr for the right to choose your destiny, remembered as a tragic figure for her treatment." - more realistically, she'd go off and do her thing while Salem shrugged and moved on. It's hard to be more attention-grabbing than a magic university on a magic island training magic people to make the world a more magical place, and plenty of mages decide that a system isn't for them.

In summary, please stop trying to make Miko excessively special. Her personality is already overpoweringly strong, but you've also tried making her magic overpoweringly strong and now her reputation overpoweringly strong as well.

Secondarily, Salem is not a hill for Miko to die on. It was founded as a way to bring together mages into a unified community (who have lived in secrecy and oftentimes fear from the world and almost all of each other), to give mages a world identity and an ideal to look to where none existed before, to create a system that embraced, recognised and actually tried to help mages instead of trying to grind over the top of them with statutes and laws (a place that has a door for them instead of a hole in the ground), and to try and use the potential that the world had suppressed to make that self-same world a better place. It was designed by good people who knew even more acutely than most what it was like to be a magic user in a hostile world, and it was created to offer good things for those who need it, while also giving them freedom to choose their path (since freedom is one of the most important good things that the vast majority of mages needed). It is not a malicious institution (mages come across far too many of those already), it does its level best not to be oblivious ('knowledge is power' is a long-standing tenet of magekind), and there's frankly very little for Miko to morally crusade against, no matter how much she distrusts bureaucratically operated systems.

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Passion said:

I also object against the person manipulating the time to be a playable character period. Even for villain time manipulation would be broken no matter how you define it.

That particular piece of logistics is up to me, and I suspect time manipulators would be too overpowered even for a GM to profitably use. I have a few smatterings of lore in mind and they all involve an impersonal cause at this point, so no need for concern there.

Edited January 21, 2020 by Duality

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

@Duality well, looks lie I have to rethink some things.

Maybe you can figure out what'd work best. The crux of Miko's ire with the world is despite all that she does and accomplishes, everyone tells her she should be doing better. That she's not putting her god like smarts and talent to good use in their eyes, thus falling short of their high expectations. 

How do we incorporate that into your vision of Salem?

[Duality 10,739]

19 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Maybe you can figure out what'd work best. The crux of Miko's ire with the world is despite all that she does and accomplishes, everyone tells her she should be doing better. That she's not putting her god like smarts and talent to good use in their eyes, thus falling short of their high expectations. 

How do we incorporate that into your vision of Salem?

She works in magic theory rather than applied magic? That'd probably net her some general disappointment, especially if her magic is of half-decent power.

Otherwise I can't think of many logical reasons for what appears to be a generally illogical stance for people to take (easy on the 'god-like', though). Is it not possible to tweak her ire to focus on a more subjective issue?

Edited January 22, 2020 by Duality

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

9 hours ago, Duality said:

She works in magic theory rather than applied magic? That'd probably net her some general disappointment, especially if her magic is of half-decent power.

Otherwise I can't think of many logical reasons for what appears to be a generally illogical stance for people to take (easy on the 'god-like', though). Is it not possible to tweak her ire to focus on a more subjective issue?

Subjective in what way?

[Duality 10,739]

3 minutes ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Subjective in what way?

Subjective meaning an issue where it's not outright illogical to take either side. One that's open to opinion and interpretation. E.g., instead of the issue of whether she's doing satisfactory work given her abilities, the issue of whether her magical master project is ethical. She could be doing dodgy magic or even stuff that's traditionally been forbidden.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

1 hour ago, Duality said:

Subjective meaning an issue where it's not outright illogical to take either side. One that's open to opinion and interpretation. E.g., instead of the issue of whether she's doing satisfactory work given her abilities, the issue of whether her magical master project is ethical. She could be doing dodgy magic or even stuff that's traditionally been forbidden.

Okay now what do you mean by magical master project? 

[Duality 10,739]

3 hours ago, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Okay now what do you mean by magical master project? 

Anything she devotes special focus and effort towards independently of any external motivation. Intellectual types usually have plenty of weird hobby-projects going on in the sidelines.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

1 minute ago, Duality said:

Anything she devotes special focus and effort towards independently of any external motivation. Intellectual types usually have plenty of weird hobby-projects going on in the sidelines.

 

Oh. I thought it had something to do with the school. Does her passions for music and martial arts count? She wants to be both Bruce Lee and Eddie Van Halen rolled into one. That's what she wants to do with her life. Play some heavy metal. Make action movies doing her own stunts and win some martial arts tournaments. Not be stuffed in a lab full of weirdos staring at micro-scopes or being met with a lecture hall full of vacant stares after she just finished explaining something as simple as Hodge Conjecture. 

[Duality 10,739]

On 1/23/2020 at 11:59 AM, Lunas Secret Lover said:

Does her passions for music and martial arts count? She wants to be both Bruce Lee and Eddie Van Halen rolled into one. That's what she wants to do with her life. Play some heavy metal. Make action movies doing her own stunts and win some martial arts tournaments. Not be stuffed in a lab full of weirdos staring at micro-scopes or being met with a lecture hall full of vacant stares after she just finished explaining something as simple as Hodge Conjecture. 

If that's what she wants and she's sufficiently talented in those areas there doesn't seem to be much reason why she couldn't be doing something like that already. At any rate, magical study doesn't require many microscopes and there's not much application for algebraic geometry, so she should be fairly safe from such scenarios either way.

In fact, if she's genuinely sufficiently smart, talented, and passionate, she could quite believably be already living a contented life chasing her martial-metal dreams while teaching some form of magic on the side as a stable salary job to keep her bank account on the right side of zero - unless her parents are somehow suppressing her even in adulthood, although in this case that would border on illegality.

[Denim&Venöm 18,689]

12 minutes ago, Duality said:

If that's what she wants and she's sufficiently talented in those areas there doesn't seem to be much reason why she couldn't be doing something like that already. At any rate, magical study doesn't require many microscopes and there's not much application for algebraic geometry, so she should be fairly safe from such scenarios either way.

In fact, if she's genuinely sufficiently smart, talented, and passionate, she could quite believably be already living a contented life chasing her martial-metal dreams while teaching some form of magic on the side as a stable salary job to keep her bank account on the right side of zero - unless her parents are somehow suppressing her even in adulthood, although in this case that would border on illegality.

I thought I mentioned it before, but I plan on her being a student in this. so no teaching quite yet. Though the members of Salem faculty she hasn't rubbed the wrong way yet have said that she "Would make a great teacher if she wasn't insane." 

And since she enjoys following her dreams so much, she'd have little reason to pursue magic, right? She was invited to be part of Salem's first class even. But unfortunately for Miko, fame doesn't last. The interest in martial arts films tanked with the recession and new film regulations in mainland China. Metal fell out of favor with the rise of grunge, pop punk & alt.rock. Enchanted athletes were banned from all professional sports and local governments were putting pressure on the enchanted to have certification that they are trained in the use of their powers. So maybe learning the arcane arts wouldn't be such a bad idea with so much abundant free time?

I have toyed with the idea of her wealthy parents being potential antagonists. They paraded her around as their prized genius and wanted her to be an essential asset in their "family business."  Though she royally pissed them off when she not only didn't leave the family martial art to her "less gifted" siblings, but learned a rival art too and embarrassed them all in national competition, making her public enemy no.1 in the eyes of the wealthy families and government officials who had pride and money riding on the outcome. One of the reasons why she hightailed it out of their and sought the fast track to US citizenship via military service. Which is how I planned on her discovering her powers anyways. 

Speaking of powers, I imagine that some forms of magic are forbidden from practice due to the potential consequences of their use, regardless of whether or not a student has an affinity?