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Here is a bar. At it is a girl, late teens - ? - dressed in wide bands of black silk tied ragged edge to ragged edge in a neat pattern. There's a small owl on her shoulder and a stack of napkins at her elbow and she's nursing a cup of something steaming and spicy.
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dark_light
"We didn't have that problem either," remarks Path, "although sometimes it comes up with mortals, I think."
the-nightmare-of-my-choice
"The trick is a light touch," Livingstone advises.
fortheliving
Harry pulls himself together. "Okay! We are entirely done talking about my sexuality. Isabella! I'm curious about witchcraft. What sort of things does it do."
"Pathalan, can you do witchcraft yourself?" Livingstone asks, unruffled.
"Pathalan, can you do witchcraft yourself?" Livingstone asks, unruffled.
dark_light
"No," says Path. "There are some spells where I need to stand in a certain place, but most of them Isabella does herself."
"Lots of stuff," says Isabella. "Healing, warding, the other day I blessed an apple tree, my dagger's enchanted, we're not as good with technological targets as we are with natural stuff but we can usually finagle something for any small to medium-sized result."
"Lots of stuff," says Isabella. "Healing, warding, the other day I blessed an apple tree, my dagger's enchanted, we're not as good with technological targets as we are with natural stuff but we can usually finagle something for any small to medium-sized result."
fortheliving
"Ah. Wizards are also... not good with technological targets. Actually we usually make them explode. By existing within less than five feet of them."
Livingstone nods. "I wonder..." He closes his eyes. Slowly, he intones, "Ventus."
A wind whips through the bar. Livingstone grins toothily.
Livingstone nods. "I wonder..." He closes his eyes. Slowly, he intones, "Ventus."
A wind whips through the bar. Livingstone grins toothily.
dark_light
"Oh, nice!" says Pathalan.
"Witches don't have that. Do I need to worry about my phone?"
Milliways blocks this effect, says Bar.
"Witches don't have that. Do I need to worry about my phone?"
Milliways blocks this effect, says Bar.
fortheliving
"Kind of you," Harry notes. "Incidentally, Livingstone, did you just totally confirm that you're a wizard?"
"I confirmed that I have magic. I am not, nor do I plan to become, 'a wizard'; you can keep your Council, ideally as far away from me as possible."
Harry snorts. "Oh, they'd just love you." (A quick flick of the wrist elicits a tongue of flame, confirming (as he had thought) that yes, he can still do magic himself.)
"I confirmed that I have magic. I am not, nor do I plan to become, 'a wizard'; you can keep your Council, ideally as far away from me as possible."
Harry snorts. "Oh, they'd just love you." (A quick flick of the wrist elicits a tongue of flame, confirming (as he had thought) that yes, he can still do magic himself.)
fortheliving
"Governing body of wizards. They- um. We, I guess, I forget I'm, you know, employed by them now. We make sure that wizards don't turn to evil magic and destroy the world, subjugate humans, drive people insane, that sort of thing. Also we serve as a sort of wizardly DMV, so that you can get educated and registered as a wizard if you're powerful and you need training."
fortheliving
"They're very strict," Harry says, as Livingstone says "They tried to cut his head off." Harry pauses; the wolf continues, "When he was fourteen. For killing his abusive foster father. In life-or-death self-defense."
Harry looks at the ground. "To be fair," Livingstone drawls, "he's not wrong so much as unspecific."
Harry looks at the ground. "To be fair," Livingstone drawls, "he's not wrong so much as unspecific."
dark_light
"What the hell kind of governing body doesn't allow self-defense?"
fortheliving
"The kind that's dealing with a form of magic that literally eats away at your soul if you use it to kill someone. It's not about punishment or morality, it's about safety."
Livingstone nods. "Which explains, of course, why everyone leapt to your defense and offered to educate you and keep you on the straight and narrow, instead of the only candidate being a personal friend of your mother's who was only even able to volunteer due to hasty political maneuvering."
"I didn't say they were perfect."
"And I did not say that they've committed more crimes against humanity than any spirit or demon we've ever had the pleasure to kill." He places a paw over his mouth. "Oh, I just did. Dear me."
Livingstone nods. "Which explains, of course, why everyone leapt to your defense and offered to educate you and keep you on the straight and narrow, instead of the only candidate being a personal friend of your mother's who was only even able to volunteer due to hasty political maneuvering."
"I didn't say they were perfect."
"And I did not say that they've committed more crimes against humanity than any spirit or demon we've ever had the pleasure to kill." He places a paw over his mouth. "Oh, I just did. Dear me."
dark_light
"Your soul doesn't look very eaten-away-at," Isabella points out. "Also, if they were concerned for your safety I agree with Livingstone that the correct reaction would be something other than decapitation."
fortheliving
"My soul has had more than fifteen years to recover. For the first five years or so, I was extremely emotionally unstable, objects near me would randomly catch on fire, and my first thought in any conflict was 'I could kill him,' followed by instinctually reaching for my magic to do that."
"You had PTSD," Livingstone growls.
"And I was a Lawbreaker! We've Seen warlocks. They're broken. It's not the danger to them we're worried about, it's the danger to everyone within a mile when they snap."
Livingstone rumbles ominously and lies mutinously on the floor. "One death does not a warlock make. Thankfully, McCoy knew that before you did."
"You had PTSD," Livingstone growls.
"And I was a Lawbreaker! We've Seen warlocks. They're broken. It's not the danger to them we're worried about, it's the danger to everyone within a mile when they snap."
Livingstone rumbles ominously and lies mutinously on the floor. "One death does not a warlock make. Thankfully, McCoy knew that before you did."
fortheliving
The wolf in question waves a paw in acknowledgement. "Yes, thank you. Fortunately Harry's being a hypocrite again. In practice, he'd storm the gates of Hell for any child in his situation."
"I'm beginning to rethink this external soul thing," Harry sighs.
"Because I explain that you're not an asshole and make you marginally less repulsive to women? How predictable."
"I'm beginning to rethink this external soul thing," Harry sighs.
"Because I explain that you're not an asshole and make you marginally less repulsive to women? How predictable."
dark_light
Path giggles again and pats Livingstone on the nose with a wing.
the-nightmare-of-my-choice
Livingstone nuzzles him in a friendly manner. "It's not as though the Council is- well, actually, I'm going to rephrase that. The Council is an unadulterated shitshow, but it's founded on good principles. The Seven Laws of Magic - thou shalt not kill by the Arte, thou shalt not transform another, thou shalt not invade the mind of another, thou shalt not enthrall another, thou shalt not reach past the veil of Death, thou shalt not swim against the currents of Time, thou shalt not seek that which is past the Outer Gates. That's all bad news. I approve of the Laws. The Council, however, can shove their nice shiny swords up their collective wrinkled ass."
dark_light
"Why shalt thou not reach past the veil of Death? And how exactly does killing by the Arte do any harm worse than killing via decapitation?"
fortheliving
"The last three aren't a morality thing, they just rip holes in the fabric of the universe. It's an awful pity, I know. And as to the latter - Harry, would you like to take this one?"
Harry rolls his eyes. "Yes, this is my little rant. To use magic is to focus your entire being into believing in what you're doing. You can't do magic without really, really believing in yourself, and believing that your task is right and good - or, uh, not harmful, let's say, there's a little bit of flexibility there for if you just want to light a cigar or something. But to kill with magic, or to force someone into a form not their own, or to control their mind - you have to drop into this state of thinking where that's not just okay, it's good, it's the way things should be. You twist up your soul, and it can't just spring back."
He takes a deep breath. "The hatred I felt when I was burning M- Justin. When I killed him..." He grimaces. "I've shot people. Hell, I killed a man with my bare hands. But to want that death enough to realize it, even just for a moment, I had to turn into a monster. And it felt beautiful. And I can never do that again."
Harry rolls his eyes. "Yes, this is my little rant. To use magic is to focus your entire being into believing in what you're doing. You can't do magic without really, really believing in yourself, and believing that your task is right and good - or, uh, not harmful, let's say, there's a little bit of flexibility there for if you just want to light a cigar or something. But to kill with magic, or to force someone into a form not their own, or to control their mind - you have to drop into this state of thinking where that's not just okay, it's good, it's the way things should be. You twist up your soul, and it can't just spring back."
He takes a deep breath. "The hatred I felt when I was burning M- Justin. When I killed him..." He grimaces. "I've shot people. Hell, I killed a man with my bare hands. But to want that death enough to realize it, even just for a moment, I had to turn into a monster. And it felt beautiful. And I can never do that again."
dark_light
"Huh. My magic isn't like that. I'd have a sort of hard time killing someone by outright accident, but I don't have to feel any particular way to cast any spell. Still, why does the believing-this-is-how-things-should-be expand to cover killing-in-general and not just the relatively specific case of self-defense, or killing of abusive jerks, or something?"
the-nightmare-of-my-choice
Livingstone coughs genteelly. "The body of research into the precise mechanics of lawbreaker morality is... lacking. The Council mostly sticks with 'don't do it'; the lawbreakers tend not to give a damn whether they turn into moustache-twirling murder addicts, and if one of them did chance to gather that kind of data, the Council probably burned it as part of their actually very sensible 'don't leave warlocks' grimoires lying around where people can use them to break the Laws more effectively' initiative. The theories that do exist include 'murder is for some reason abhorrent to magic in any context whatsoever, and so the act of killing actively corrupts the soul whether justified or not,' 'killing for a good reason opens a slippery slope towards killing for any reason,' and my personal favorite, the previous option combined with 'but actually if you had a good reason it really isn't going to turn you into a raving maniac unless you keep killing people'. Hence why Harry is not a raving maniac who can't stop killing people, as opposed to say Victor Sells, who killed for stupid and petty reasons like money and power, and who was a raving maniac who couldn't stop killing people."
dark_light
"I see. I mean, I can see why it would be hard to do direct research on this but the observational evidence - as I said, you don't look very eaten-away-at..."