#ask the mage of hope

[askthemageofhope]

In this Next post I will be classpecting the Mage of Hope.

it will be like any one other of my classpecting posts. Each of them 300-700 words, I will say some obvious things, some less obvious things, some things we've heard a million times about classes, aspects in general. etc. etc. etc.

But I refuse to write an autobiography about myself. I think that would be cringe.

[desultory-novice]

Kirby Characters + Poker

:guilty look: I, uh, completely and unrepentantly stole this ask from @stardustshimmer because I love card games so so very much! (Even though I myself am not all that great at them.)

Anyway, I just really wanted an excuse to write a about the Dream Team + Dream Friends various competitive poker abilities so I did. >.>

-

Kirby: Knows the basic rules but not much else. Has no poker face and plays absolutely no mind games but is blessed with amazing luck and will pull off hands that don't seem physically possible and as a result, they do decently in spite of everything. Whenever they're playing with Dedede, everyone tends to gather around to watch because without fail Dedede will lose. It's completely uncanny.

Bandanna Waddle Dee: Doesn't like to play mind games or bluff but always maintains a level head so he usually never ends up the biggest loser at the table. When he wins, it's almost always an honest win.

Meta Knight: Ostensibly has a great poker face, given his mask, but it's the rest of his body and posture that gives him away in the end. And while he always maintains his cool in the first half of the game, making wise decisions and analytical judgements about the deck, as the night goes on, he slowly begins giving away every.single.hand.

King Dedede: Competitive games are his thing! His poker face is to be SMUG CONSTANTLY. Great player who runs into problems only because it is monstrously easy to bait him. Also addicted to getting high card combos and will never settle for the "smaller" win. ("High card pair? HA! I bet I can get a straight flush!" :gets dealt nothing:)

Rick, Coo, Kine: These three are exactly your uncles / your dad's friends that you'll always find playing poker after dinner. They're very good on a casual level but generally speaking too relaxed to provide a lasting challenge for the best players. None of them has managed to take a significant lead over the other in all their years of play.

Gooey: No idea how to play. Likes the colorful cards though.

Marx: Insanely good at mind games. To the level that it's not fair. Even when you think you know all his tricks, he STILL manages to get you eating out of his hand. And that stupid, ever-constant GRIN of his! RGH! Bad loser though and if his luck runs out or if you see through his games, he'll be the first to leave the table with a "Tch."

Adeleine: Zero poker face. Smiles or blushes every time she gets a good hand. Gets nervous and bites her lip if she's got a bad hand. Like Bandee but less interested in challenging her friends. Tends to fold. Often the first out of the table unless you're playing with one of the more protective members of her found family, in which case, they will hand her a few wins just so she's not disappointed.

Ribbon: When she's playing alongside Adeleine, provides her with helpful advice and keeps her mood up. Calm, sweet, big sis vibes. If Adeleine ever has to leave the table for a game, she gets surprisingly vicious and Adeleine will come back to find her winnings doubled?!

Dark Meta Knight: Significantly worse poker face than Meta Knight. On the positive side, the fact that he only seems to have one single mood, that being aggression, means that he's got shockingly good immunity to several of the other players' mind games. Pulls out all the stops whenever Meta Knight is playing at the same table.

Daroach: No one can beat him. NO ONE CAN BEAT HIM?! They swear he's cheating. Is he? He must be! But no one's been able to prove it so far. How can he hide cards if he doesn't have any sleeves?! Also, Daroach is forbidden from dealing. His little rat hands aren't allowed to touch the deck anymore. Cards are handed TO him. Will do this infuriating thing where after the cards are dealt, he leaves his face down on the table and just taps the ones he's exchanging.

Magolor: Has a really good poker face - as long as he's somewhere comfortably in the middle. If he's at either extreme, his tells become more obvious. It's the laughter. The hand-wringing. He's a smart player, but he almost always has to rely on mind games because for some reason no one can figure out, he has the worst luck.

Taranza: Always everyone's preference for dealer when playing together. Everyone also loves playing with Taranza because you can always score a win off him as, at least once a night without fail, he will completely bungle a fairly easy play. He's just as confused as everyone else. At least he laughs it off good-naturedly!

Susie: It always takes a little extra effort to convince Susie to play with everyone as she claims to have no interest in the game, but as soon as she sits down at the table, it is on. Acts like the queen of the universe whenever she has even a slight lead on her fellow players. Not as easy to bait as Dedede, but her confidence is her undoing.

Sisters: The inverse of the animal friends, as one of them has always bankrupted the other every weekend and it's usually Zan or Flam with the empty wallet. Fran plays her cards close to her chest and gets very tight-fisted with her bets when she's ahead. Flamberge doesn't have much of a poker face but her bluffs are still hard to decipher because she gets excited about even small hands. On the off chance that Zan is actually winning, all you need to do is casually mention Hyness's name, then peek at her hand while she has her head turned.

[not-5-rats]

I have had such a good fucking day, time to spread that positivity

My liege it is time for the Questions/Scenarios regarding your Bug 🙇📜

1) Fame! AU

What's the weirdest interaction they've ever had with a fan?

2) Royalty! AU

Uh oh, Bug is being pressured by their guardians to get married to a neighbouring royal. Problem is they don't wanna! Other problem is if they don't get married they will be forced to abdicate the throne!!!

What do they do? Do they push past their feelings and get married or give up the crown?

3) What is 'love' to them?

4) Did your Bug intend on harming Bodie when they first met him?

If yes, when did they realise they didn't want to hurt him?

If no, what was their first impression of Bodie when they met?

5) Scenario #1

It was like 11pm, Bug was asleep...y'know like a normal fucking person, when they felt a prod at their shoulder and a voice whisper-shouting at them in the dark

"*Bug*...*Bug*!!! Get up!!!"

They pried their eyes open to see Chester, trying to hide the grin that was threatening to split his face in two. They tried to question why he felt the need to wake them up at such a ridiculous time but he simply told them to stop complaining and get up

They reluctantly followed along, he waited outside as they got dressed and got some shoes on. He hurried them outside, dragging them to a small patch covered in white, cup shaped flowers with spider-like petals surrounding the stem just under the flower itself.

"Epiphyllum oxypetalum! Also known as Queen of the Night"

Bug told him whilst they respected his love for plants its crazy to wake them up at almost midnight for a fucking flower. In response he sighs and points at the flowers as he speaks

"No you don't get it! I have been working for months to get these little pests to grow and they finally have!!!"

They asked why he couldn't wait till morning, he finally looked over at them and behind the slight irritation there was a genuine love and admiration for these stupid plants. The shine in his eyes a clear indicator to how much these silly little flowers meant to him

"Cause they only bloom at night! They bloom at night then die in the day it's a very complex thing"

He went back to admiring the flowers

It's stupidly late and they're out here looking at some stupid flower, what do they say?

6) Scenario #2 (buckle up butterfucks, we got alot of reading to do)

It was the night of the escape, a team of 5 Bugs (& Marco) had left Bodies house that night, they had gotten into the arena no problem. From there verything had gone perfectly, every step happening exactly as they had planned.

The group (Your Bug, the 4 other Bugs and the escaped half-bloods) had finally gotten down into the main fighting space in the arena, admittedly many thought this was an odd choice of path but Bug had insisted it was the most efficient way.

"Right which way *Bug*?"

Chester spoke up from the back of the group, yet Bug did not respond. He asked again, still nothing. More people spoke up asking Bug what was going on. Finally Bug spoke, a bunch of words that made no sense. Like a code none of the group could understand

...and that's when the Hunters appeared.

They came from every direction, encircling the group. Every exit blocked, every path they could take covered by a Hunter with weapons galore. Finally somebody spoke everyone's thoughts

"What the fuck is going on!?"

Bug walked away from the group, standing infornt of the them yet refusing to look upon any of them. Knowing the glares and hurt gazes that they would find before them.

They spoke revealing this was their plan, they never intended on letting them out of there. They were all doomed to never leave the arena...they were all going to be thrown into the arena without any way of defending themself. They were all being sold to die.

The group tried to yell, tried to ask why but as soon as they did they were restrained by the Hunters surrounding them. Only then did Bug turn around, they saw all these people that they had ocne called their friends, tied up and trapped...and it was all their fault. They caused this.

Chester stared at them, his wrists were bound and he was being held between two of the Hunters. His eyes were filled with anger, a hatred so strong it was unlike anything Bug had seen before...but when he spoke his voice told a different tale. He was hurt, aching with sorrow from their betrayel

"*Bug*...what, why would you do this? Why would you lie to us?"

He got no answer causing him to writhe himself free, he threw the Hunters to the floor and stormed over to Bug. He grabbed their collar, throwing them to the floor, pain still echoing in his voice as he yelled

"ANSWER ME YOU BASTARD, WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO THIS?"

Hunters were already running to restrain him

Why did you do it Bug? Why did you hurt them all like this?

☆---------------☆

Tags -

@rozeliyawashereyall @willowve01 @kaiamtt @iistxrmyskyii @stxph-artist @aspenm00n @piffany666 @idontevenknow7878 @littlesiren79 @castbracelet240 @strayharmony943 @tiefling-chaos @diamondzoey @lightdragon789 @pinkcocopuff-aqualoid @astralbulldragon13 @ccstiles @puffin-smoke

[cain-e-brookman]

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! So, I know a little bit about the gods of your setting, but how does your average citizen worship? Which gods get the most attention and which are less well known?

ahh, thanks for the ask! i need you to know, every time i'm asked about world building i become this image

this is undoubtedly going to get long so answer under the cut

the the short answer is: it depends. i think i mentioned in my post about Raschic but i'm not sure, but there are the 8 main gods who give power to one of each of the Mage Kingdoms. (Light, Shadow, Fire, Water, Plant, Stone, Sky, and Force. This doesnt really matter for the context but there it is.)

So Mages are expected to be somewhat religious, but depending on the god they're tied to, it changes what that looks like. The Sea God isn't horribly concerned about day to day life of his Mages, but they must still do certain rituals and pay proper tribute to allow them to remain attached to him for their power and immortality. As such, the kingdom of the Water Mages as a whole isn't super immersed in religion. On the other hand, Shadow Mages are very devout, to the point where even those without magic are still incredibly religious because it's so steeped in the culture of the ruling Mages.

even when you get into human kingdoms, it's going to look different depending on who a person is and what they do. Uslaria, (the setting for my current WIP) has the most concentrated group of witches in the known world, so much so that one town is known for being the unofficial capitol for witches. everyone in Uslaria can tell you a bit about the Goddess Lythis, Grandmother of Witches, but few actually worship her. a farmer in Uslaria might pray to the Sky God to bring his godly children through with warm winds and generous rains, may also pray to the Goddess of Stone to bless his crops with good soil, may also attend festivals or holy days for the main pantheon if they live close enough to a city or town that might make a big to-do about it, but as far as most gods go, especially the main pantheon, they're so distant from the reality of most people. gods in the minor pantheon, like the Trickster, are more the topic of superstitions and tales to tell by a fire. day to day worship might be done for a lesser god residing in their area, or sometimes house gods that follow a family line, but the names of those gods are too intimate to the area to be remarked upon outside of that circle.

tl;dr: the average citizen (except maybe in the Marshes with the Shadow Mages,) only really cares about the gods that affect them and treat any others with a distant respect. (for the most part)

[villain-in-love]

I am of the opinion that Thistle is probably the most successful and competent dungeon lord in history - managing to hold this position for 1000 years is already wild, but there are many other elements in which he is better than the other dungeon lords we saw. But what stands out to me, and what must be one of the main reasons he managed to do all that, is his unusual relationship with the demon.

I mean, just look at how other former dungeon lords talk about the demon:

And then there's Thistle:

Funny how Thistle's paranoia and autocratic tendencies, which are normally his vices, helped saving him from meeting his end in Lion's jaws. Well, at least until a bunch of idiots barged into his house and freed this abomination he had sealed away for good.

Anyways, I wonder why does he seem to be the only one who didn't give in to the demon's manipulations? Especially since knowing not to trust the demon from the start is not enough – Laios fell for the Lion's manipulation in just one conversation.

Maybe that gentle love and understanding demon was trying to give him was rejected because Thistle only ever wanted that from his adopted family, especially Delgal? Or is it because of the nature of his desires? Mithrun did put Thistle in the "epic" tier regarding the complexity of the desires. The other thing is that Thistle's desires are remarkably selfless and have more to do with what he wants to give other people and not what he wants for himself.

Or maybe he's really just so paranoid and hates other people getting in his business so much that even Winged Lion's influence was too weak in comparison.

Also. Look at Thistle with his hair down:

He's gorgeous (and stressed out).

[aaravos-answers]

So I heard that ur this extremely powerful, wise and hot (?) elf, so I seek ur wisdom

any tips on asking a girl out?

Tips? I even have a five step plan, starling.

Step 1: summon her with mysterious messages

Step 2: tell her that you have wanted her since the moment you first made contact, and that now that you have her before you, you crave her all the more. (This is best done in your deepest, most seductive voice)

Step 3: offer to teach her magic

Step 4: trap her in your prison with you

Step 5: enjoy the extended time the two of you have together, alone from the rest of the world

Best of luck, starling. As for additional tips, burning cities for her and slaughtering anyone who would do her harm should also help.

[tavtiers]

Have you done an analysis on a Mage of Hope? Because I'm considering Geno from Super Mario RPG to be one. What playlist would go best for a Mage of Hope?

The Mage of Hope [symbols: brain, angel wings]

The Mage class has its basis in the classic court magician. An example would be Merlin from Arthurian Legend.

The Hope aspect’s main theme is assurance. You can find its official description here.

A Mage of Hope is among those who explore faith in possibility. This is the “classpect group” they belong to. Members include: the Mage, Seer, Heir, and Witch of Hope/Rage. These classes are all opposites or inverses of each other that explore the Hope/Rage dichotomy (faith in possibility). A description of classpect groupings can be found here.

The Mage of Hope actively knows the Hope aspect. Active classes tell themselves what to do and do so for their own benefit. They are more likely to stand up for themselves, but more likely to be cruel. Mages and Seers possess great knowledge of their aspect and everything it symbolizes. Simplified, the Mage of Hope is motivated by themselves to know assurance.

In personality, the Mage of Hope has trouble forgiving their own mistakes and has big dreams. Personality descriptions can be found here.

Their archetype is the Genius Believer, defined by introspection and assurance. Archetypes are explained here.

Their opposite is the Seer of Rage, who passively knows defiance.

Their inverse is the Heir of Rage, who passively manipulates defiance.

A classpect or “god tier” is an individual’s best self. All classpects go through a journey from unrealized, to struggle, to realized. When a character is unrealized, they neutrally exist as their inverse. On their struggle, they will wildly flip back and forth between their inverse and true classpect. In their worst moments they will act as their inverse, in their best their true classpect. When realized, they will stabilize as their true classpect. They will still have room to grow, but will become happier, more successful people.

This means that the Mage of Hope begins life motivated by others to manipulate defiance. When their struggle arrives and they are at their worst, they will continue this behavior in negative extremes. However, when at their best, they will find purpose in instead knowing assurance for themselves. When realized, they will stabilize and continue to know the Hope aspect actively, in a positive way.

They share their archetype with the Page of Mind, the Believer Genius.

The Mage of Hope would quest on a planet similar to the Land of Thought [Mage] and Hope [Aspect]. An example would be the Land of Memory and Spirits. An explanation of planet naming conventions can be found here.

Two possible gods, or denizens, to reign over their planet would be Dionysus (God of Revelry) or Abraxas (the Great Archon). Other Hope aspect denizens can be found here.

When the Mage of Hope completes their planet quests and dies on their quest bed, they would rise to ascension on the wings of doves (symbols of peace). A list of soul animals can be found here.

The characters that I have currently classpected as Mages of Hope are: Solas from Dragon Age, Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Angel from X-Men.

If any of the links not connected to my blog break, the content can be found on my Google Drive.

Official Aspect Descriptions Personality Descriptions Aspect Denizens

Songs for a Mage of Hope:

Thirteen (13.ogg) by C418

Sugilite Returns by aivi and surasshu

Sublime Weakness by AK, Mapps, & October Child

Nothing But The Water by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Blue by Troye Sivan ft. Alex Hope

Pompeii by Bastille

Wings by HAERTS

[midnightwind]

why is everyone so pissy at me after the Fade!! the Inquisitor just physically fought through hell and all I hear is whining afterwards

[revvethasmythh]

15 for the DA ask game please

15. preferred weapon of choice?

Warden: Bow. classic Dalish archer. that's heartwood bow from awakening fucked hard

Hawke: Duel wield daggers! Though, actually I technically used the two hand-axes that came with the DLC gear in the game (Bard's Honor and Fiona)

Inquisitor: Ah, my only mage. I went out of my way to use the lightning mage staffs, specifically

ask me about my canon DA world state!

[mizziix]

thoughts on this for mage distribution for mage the awakening in the US? Plus bonus order percentages on the side! :D https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LVdqhsMk0QPYuIGWfP3X8oqQVuPFhz0AcvxhWxSlfuA/edit?usp=sharing

Interesting! This is gonna be a long post, mostly cuz I added my own rambles on top of this, I hope you don't mind lol.

All of the math you've done makes sense and it's definitely an interesting way to calculate general size. I'm curious how you calculated your global population number. Originally I thought the seer percentage was high, but then I remembered that that's all seers compared to the Pentacle orders individually. I actually really like these numbers, especially for leaning on a small theme in Awakening I don't think gets brought up enough, isolation.

For fun, if I were going to calculate percentages I'd go by two things. One, the only concrete metric I've found for how often Awakenings occur is in the Guardian of the Veil book, where it mentions that the Guardian Labyrinths might go months if not years monitoring people without an Awakening occurring.

(Guardians of the Veil, pg 89)

This give us the metric of 17/20 recruits failing, so about 3/20 do manage to awaken. That's 15%. However, keep in mind that this is 15% of the most specifically selected, most likely to awaken sleepers over a matter of years. 3 Awakenings over 5 years is a fucking minuscule volume.

Something that corroborates this is the Consilium. In this regard Awakening is surprisingly consistent in both the size and scope of most Consilium, with two important factors. First a consilium more often than not has at least a few representative members from each order, most often at least one full Cabal, sometimes an order isn't fully represented or represented at all, but usually it's one full cabal. Second, a Consilium usually covers a rather large area, often the size of a large city's greater reach. There's one LA Consilium, and one Consilium for all of greater New York City as seen in Tome of the Pentacle.

From both of these, when you consider that a cabal is typically four or five mages, the quote unquote minimum functional size for a consilia is 20-25 mages. Now, you could probably do some math and track how many major cities a specific state has, extrapolate that out, etc etc etc but that's a lot of work I don't feel like doing, and also doesn't incorporate a lot of other factors like apostates and seers, both of which are notably less common. In general, if we assume that there are an equal number of Pentacle and Seer mages in a city, we get roughly 1 in 100,000 people are mages, giving a rough estimate of a global population of about 80,000. That's fucking tiny. That's the population of Germany. There are more

----

As a fun aside, in Ascension using similar statistics, the bare minimum functional population for a single tradition is about 20 to 30. Given that there are nine Traditions and the Technocratic Union at least matches them, that's HUNDREDS of mages per city, not to mention their retinues of Sleepwalkers (which are even rarer than mages in Awakening!), Cult members, and other participants, it's no surprise that Ascension mages have global conspiracies controlling governments and whole quests for reality, and it's REALLY no surprise that the Tremere lost the second Massassa war of the 90's badly.

[askthemageofhope]

MAGE OF HOPE

Sorry for the wait everybody.

The roadmap that I do for this title will be the same four course meal I suspect I will give to all titles I analyze, which will be:

Class --> then aspect --> leading into the title --> and we'll finish off with a large desert! which will be powers, land elaboration, recommended weaponry, Life advice, etc. 

So, without further ado, we're finally doing this!

Mage

The Mage is known as the Active Knowledge class, They are the Understanding class, the Comprehension class. Where other classes may have no idea what their class is or even how it works, we have an intuition or innate understanding of how our class is, how cruel it can be, how good it can be, it's failings and it's importance in the lives of every person for themselves... Their challenge is to share their understanding with others, and do something about it. Talk the talk and walk the walk. Doing so will bring even greater understanding. We must advocate for the aspect we reside in, give a defense for how all of us throughout space and time how to treat their aspect, how it should be used and protected in others. It's as if every aspect is a tool. Meant to be used for recreation, and not war. though... All aspects may be used to hurt others... It is for this reason why Mages exist. 

To tell people how to use their aspect, how it should be treated, and how it can be used to help others. Making this world a better place, comes first through Knowledge.

Hope

Faith, belief, imagination, truth, sincerity, authenticity, optimism, moving forward even in the worst of circumstances, for some it's the feeling of unconditional love... even for your worst enemies.

That's the good side of Hope.

Blind faith, false belief, hypocrisy, naivety, overzealous, "Being a bit much"

That's also Hope.

It's the feeling that there's more to the world than just us. It's the thought aliens exist, its you looking at the end of the street toward home waiting for your ride to arrive, it's the reason why you go to the casino and blow your last paycheck. Hope drives us to theorize, to fill in the gaps, take risks, sail seas.

It leads people to join cults, or join different faiths.

It even leads people to Philosophy.

It's knowing something is true so hard that you felt as if you just believed in it hard enough it WOULD become true. 

What if something was true, that everyone thinks its wrong, fake, a phony. Hope will believe through the madness.

  Which leads me to talk about the very reason as to why we're all here. 

Mage of Hope 

 "What if something was true, that everyone thinks its wrong, fake, a phony. Hope will believe through the madness."

Now what if that person not only believed that something was true, but knew that it was so?

Like, nobody merely believes in gravity, they know it's woven into the very fabric of the universe, from the sun to black holes. From Jupiter to planet Earth and the soil we tread upon we know life exists because Gravity is not just possible but it's here "It's already here." (You could theorize that a Lord is the reason as to why an aspect exists in the first place, but I digress)

A Mage of Hope is that person, the one who believes not just because they're obligated, or incited. They wouldn't ever believe in a god just if someone was talking about said god... a Mage could study that god their whole lives, know every last joint of knowledge. And would never really, truly believe. Because to the Mage of Hope, belief doesn't change the world. and a god is meant to change the world. This Mage doesn't have to see to believe, they don't have to hear, they wouldn't have to taste, smell, or even touch... When they begin to hope in something is when that thing becomes undeniable, to them. You can't deny gravity, haha I mean, one can sure try. But it's still ever presently gonna pull you closer to the earth

One of the biggest milestones in a Mage of Hope's journey is to find that authenticity. That authentic thing, be it gravity, a philosophy, a person, place or thing.

It's going to take a lot of rifling through this mess we call planet earth to really find that spark, to find that thing. And ever if that thing fails you? It would sway them so definitely, because to them at that point? That perfect philosophy they have always followed, has proven to have a notch, a kink, or maybe a big giant hole in that faith would put an equally sized hole in their hope for that thing they thought was so authentic.

THAT'S where a deep depression happens everyone.

But that's the journey of a Mage in general isn't it? We must suffer in order to know. And on top of that, we suffer from within our own selves. Our own hope, be it naivety, useless optimism, or otherwise. Though we may be the last person to join a cult (or at least sniff it out eventually)... The reason for that is that we hate hypocrisy so damn much it's insane, but most often we fear so in ourselves. For the thought of not being authentic, or sincere? Is so maddening that we could never hope to bear lying to save our own skin if it hurt somebody else.

Mages of Hope, are very honest people when the moment calls upon us to be.

______________________________________________________________

Powers

Know - When they know something is true, they can imitate it within themselves. Any aspect, any class, any classpect. But be it only if that Mage believes in them. It's like instead of Jake bringing brain ghost Dirk into reality? they would become Brain Ghost Dirk. And fight just as well, maybe even better...

Believe - A joint power with the power of knowing, and it works the same way but more as an amplifier than anything different. If a Mage of Hope has a heightened opinion about someone? And they Know them so well they can choose to even become them? The opinion will rule. If a Mage of Hope thinks the world of lets say, another classpect, and they were in danger. They will fight worlds for that person

Choose your Battles - Rather than Active, they choose to be Passive. Not unlike Taoism. They are neither ever a hero, nor a villain. So, say Jack Noir faces a Mage of Hope? Kills them. They would not fight. Because why should they? Why would they? A Mage of Hope, though powerful, can hardly face against the GREEN SUN. So? They would just get stabbed, as many times as it takes. For you see the tick tock on the clock. When you fight only for yourself, It cannot be a Just death nor a Heroic death. That is, Just as long as you've not done anything you haven't atoned for. Then the clock will know it isn't your time to die yet. You will keep resurrecting no matter how many times he kills you. And all you have to do is sit there.  Just hope he gets bored.

Battle of YOUR Choice - No More Holding Back. All of the times of choosing your battles is over. You would rather Justly die than to see the one you know get hurt. You. Will. WRECK! It would never be on par with a Page of Hope's final flash, but you best believe it will be the most gnarly fight. Your weapon will swing faster, You yourself will move faster. You will strike with the force and fury of all your hope manifested in each swing. 

Weaponry

Any Mage of Hope will likely choose their weapon based on the qualities of what they Hope most in. They may even choose no weapon if what they hope is evidently pacifism. 

I will define the lands of each Class in another post, I would like to go a little more in depth, I realize. And this post is already long enough.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

🔮 Crystal Ball- What kind of future does your OC want to have? What would they do to make it real? - for Eilis

🟢 Green- What is considered a weakness in your OC that is actually a strength? What is a strength in your character that can be twisted into a weakness? - for Finn

Thank you for the ask! From this ask game.

🔮 Crystal Ball- What kind of future does your OC want to have? What would they do to make it real? - for Eilis

Really, she just wants to live her life as it is now, with Finnian at her side. She obviously would never keep him from leaving if he wanted to, but to protect him, she would do anything, including murder (again! :D)

She would like some more financial security so they will always be sure to have enough food for the winter. She'd also like to figure out how to return to all her fabric crafts. The loom is unlikely to be a problem, but she can't use the drop spindle anymore, and a spinning wheel is expensive. Perhaps she'll even get a sheep or two! (But she'd have to make sure they can get enough hay n stuff for winter.)

She'll just have to work extra hard and sell what she can, and save as much as she can.

🟢 Green- What is considered a weakness in your OC that is actually a strength? What is a strength in your character that can be twisted into a weakness? - for Finn

Perhaps it is that because he could not use his magic and he has been on his own for years, he learned much more about traditional healing methods, and how to gather plants and prepare things someone at the temple would just call a herbalist for. He is good at traditional healing, just can't see it because he compares himself to an impossible standard.

On the other hand, he has a tendency to push through pain and exhaustion, and then crash that much harder afterwards, which, Finn, plz, stop. He also definitely had moments where he hated his magic for keeping him alive against his will, but that turned out well... eventually.

And of course the most cliche answer possible for both questions: he'd do absolutely anything for Eilis, even finding a will to live xD but if something happened to her. Well. That wouldn't be a happy end.

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

For White Mage!Noctis au: what were Regis' thoughts on Noctis having no talent for black magic, or his dislike of combat. Especially in light of the entire chosen king prophecy.

Ohhhh

That's an interesting one!

When Noctis fails his first magic lesson (the one the parent traditionally gives their child at age 6), Regis tries very hard not to be disappointed. But he is. A bit. And he very much does not like that about himself. But he is also worried. Because he has never heard about a Lucis Caelum who has failed that lesson.

(Wrong. He had heard about them. But they are stories. Tell tales. Cautionary horror stories dug out for story time around a campfire. He does not think about them.)

The first time Noctis conjures something that could very generously be called a fire ball, Regis is very relieved. His son will no longer have to deal with whispers behind his back about his legitimacy. Because here's the thing: despite Noctis looking like a Lucis Caelum, people thought him to be a bastard, because he did not show a spark of magical talent until he was, like, 8 or something. But now, Noctis won't have difficulty with inheriting the throne the prophecy

(He will not be a cautionary tale)

But even then Regis worries. He loves his son with all his being. He does. Still, the lack of talent in black magic is very worrying. So Regis worries, and prays. And tries so very hard to stiffle talk about his son. He tries to put people at Noctis's side who will help him. Be his friends. Keep him alive to fulfil the prophecy

The not liking to fight thing is less of a problem. Plenty of Lucis Caelums did not like to fight, or weren't very good at it. It's not exactly well recieved, but it's easier to compensate for than a lack of magical talent. It, however, means more work for the Amicitia who is the Shield.

(Gladio doesn't exactly appreciate that.)

Regis would probably take Noctis out of his fighting lessons, if he didn't need them. Partly because of tradition, but mostly because of the prophecy.

Regis loves his son. Very much so. He normally would never make Noctis do something he did not like. But this isn't normal circumstances. So Noctis remains in his lessons and hates every minute of them.

[elvesdragonsanddarkmagic]

I have a question about the dungeon, actually. You wrote that you relocated the dungeon to the right tower and you showed these two screenshots but isn't the first - the "official" dungeon and the second - Viren's secret dungeon? They'd probably be in different places

That's a good point actually, separating them would stop people from discovering Viren's secret dungeon. I kind of thought it's one big dungeon network and his parts are blocked off maybe? Maybe the couple of doors leading towards there are locked and only he has the key? Idk lmao

I've been really hung up on the 2nd entrance to Viren's dungeon (the one Viren came from to meet Gren) and whether that one also comes with the rock stone combination puzzle and drop down spiral staircase

Just for the satisfaction of piecing the 2 clusters of dungeons together in the end (and so I don't have to leave that second entrance leading to nowhere), I'm going to model it so they're connected, and the secret painting pathway in Viren's office is for convenience, not for secrecy

Tho having them be entirely separate from each other makes much much more sense but my brain hurts thinking about the loose ends I'm so sorry

[kcciny]

joely shit your style is PERFECT for Neuvillette like he was made for you to draw!!

THANK YOU ANON YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME!!!! 💕💕💕

[aaravos-answers]

Aaravos i think i have a crush on a guy what do i do i'm so lost 😭😭😭

Hm... I'm often lost on the occasions I've felt romantic attraction as well, given how rare it is for me... Perhaps you could use your unique arcane bond to bring him into a magical prison with you? Then you'd have plenty of time alone together. Or perhaps spend months in agonizing pining and growing affection until he shapeshifts into your former lover and you vent all your feelings at him?

That's what has generally worked for me.