Yeah, lol 800+ years old ghost SHOULD be scary and cool, it’s not only VERY rare to see a ghost survive that long, it’s even extremely rare to have an ancient ghost that was killed with animation magic…
I’m with you on this perspective @Eiwynn
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Oi @CorvusWitchcraft shouldn’t MC have a bit more knowledge 'bout the modern world and stuff, after all the ghost lived (kinda) for 800+ years through all that changes…
Watching and observing the changes from ancient times to the modern technological times…
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I understand. I apologize if I come across as argumentative or defensive; I’m just trying to explain the position I’m approaching the issue from, to try to better understand where our lines of thinking can intersect, if possible.
And I think I do understand better what you’re getting at here—and you do make a valid point.
I will say—again, just to address where I’m coming from, not to try to discount your argument—that in my mind, the MC’s gradual memory loss at least partially accounts for this; they have broad memories of various time periods, but probably not specific memories of the great figures of history you describe (the MC does not even remember a lot of the major events from their own life, keep in mind).
There is also no guarantee that they were actually around to see as many of them in action as you might imagine; even if they had an interest (which not all MCs would), it’s a big world, and until the internet came about, news traveled rather slowly.
I don’t really see the MC as somebody with a truly cumulative knowledge of 843 years; I see it more as somebody whose experience with the world has been forcibly stretched out over a long period of time, making their understanding of and engagement with each period of time shallow and thin, and in danger of tearing completely. If that’s not coming across, that might be a flaw in the narration back in Chapter I.
That all said, I do think there’s probably a middle ground to be found. I can definitely look into implementing more options where the MC isn’t impressed by Cortez’s antics, or appeals to their experience/longevity, flawed as it may be.
Thanks for the feedback; I’m aware that I can sometimes come across as obstinate or inflexible (like I said, I don’t mean to), but I really do appreciate hearing other points of view.
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yea i can see this perspective we are effectivly from a old time of constant danger as a frontline leader in a war. we did a lot of fighting, i can see how it might feel off.
but the book will be… 
a comment or acronyme like that needs to be in the game/book
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Again just a short note – where does my time go?
I think where we can intersect is if you allow the MC to be a bit more (maybe a lot more?) confident in themselves …
I’ll give you an example of where I feel you pulled this off well … when the detective comes to interview Valerie… the MC was there to help steady Valerie and be her support … it felt like the MC was using their experience and knowledge of dealing with people. Even if this is just “instinct” and “intuition” making its way through to the MC’s consciousness, everything they experienced and lived through should influence the MC somehow.
I truly think the MC is more than a projection of a “better” Valerie, but that is the exact feeling I get now… and it is a disconnect because they are not the same person and should not be projections of each other either way.
This contrasts with the way the MC acts once they start working with the circle.
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Got it—that makes sense to me, and I’ll keep it in mind for the future. At some point I’ll review II-1 and II-2 to see where I can touch that aspect up—maybe after the next update is out and I can look over Chapter II as a complete unit.
Thanks again for taking the time to explain this.
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My god, that was an awesome read…I can’t even get greedy & demand for more content since it’s feels like being gifted a full book & a half on its own already!
I even poured through all of the textbooks, though, breathers were needed in between to actually process all of that exposition. Completely baffling how much you committed to the world building though! Incredible.
Being more of a lurker, I don’t know really know how theories/spoilers are judged, so better safe than sorry…
Reincarnation was touched upon fleetingly in the story.
As there have been a couple of observations from the MC that get “flagged for later thought” and are indeed returned to at a later point…but the current textbook excerpts haven’t delved into the theory of it yet…
Point being, are the personality or situational likenesses between certain past & current characters intentional…? Admittedly, I don’t know if it’s only because of my MC’s build & relationships between the characters that makes it so easy to feed into the possibility…Is it safe to posit on the thread?
Please feel free to ignore if it’s asking too much though. Or if you just want a reader’s mind to go into theory overdrive for a giggle. Oh! I saw an earlier post saying that you were polling for Cortez stats, so just in case you needed more data - Fondness 18/Respect 57.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I can’t wait to see what’s to come.
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If reincarnation is a thing And if Camilia is reincarnated Callum. My MC would kill her in an instant. He is basically Guts with a nearly thousand years grudge that never went away festered and grew with no one to help him.
And the disconnect that @Eiwynn is something I agree with him 100%. It’s likeI’m being pushed into playing one specific type of character instead of the character that I want to play as.
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Do you believe me if I say this took me maybe an hour of read through the first time reading it. Gosh that was a read, “I think I’m jesting lmao I was playing hella fAst on the first play through. I quite enjoyed this, I’m currently up at 4:am will be 5 in a while because I can’t seem to sleep. I re-read, replayed, that’s how much I loved this wip, glad to see that it’s ongoing and being updated I hope you keep it up cause I have bookmarked and will be following it’s progress.
Now on to my rant: Callum, you barstard, and yes I’ll not even bother with the right spelling with the word bastrrd. Can I just say that for my first playthrough that I was acutually in love with this narcissistic piece of shit, and that the !Betrayal in the prologue betrayal in the prologue! did not brother my MC from chossing the “we were in love” option. Yes I was in love With him but after restarting and replaying I chose to confess my undying love to him in the festival scene Only to be and I concur to be ruthlessly rejected and sneered at, he fucking sneered at my MC feelings what a bastRd. lol I think I’m petty I think I’ll replay latter and disagree with him on every option i feel quite sorry for my girl Charlotte even though I didn’t like her but it’s not fair to her that she’s in love with him the same way my MC was , I kinda feel sorry for now that he was two-timing her with the MC. She deserves better.
I don’t like Camila or her and the head mage Family and all about the fire that burned half her face off , about taking control , not limiting ones magic, not being restrained, I screen bullshit, the entire passage to me felt like she was indoctrinating Valerie into her cult so yeah I don’t trust her. yeh like people were saying the only trustable so Is Cortez.
Anyways great anti-Climatic end. I’ll stay toned and god it’s 5am. I need to sleep sigh 
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…as a Mc that was in love I’d say my Mc kisses callum then says “I forgive you now” as they stab callum in the gut, “but I won’t forget, goodby for another thousand years”
Mcs that were not in love probably would bury them alive or worse.
Maybe one version would have moved on
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Are there legends from the past about the MC? Any paintings or writings at all that are still around, or are they truly forgotten?
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I think it’s already established that almost all of the ancient times/history was either forgotten or rewritten according to their convenience…
So, I don’t think there will be any legends 'bout MC…
But lol I don’t think MC is truly forgotten either…
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Maybe Camilla felt that MC is familiar (recognises) cause of that animation magic medallion that Callum used to kill MC…
Eh, for all we know that medallion might be influencing those who wears/uses it…
Lol 
just like the Schrödinger’s cat experiment we don’t know anything for sure until @CorvusWitchcraft writes/posts it for us…
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Hey, so there’s some bad news on the horizon.
The short version
I have no ETA on the next update. I also have no ETA on when I will have an ETA on the next update. Life is suffering. Embrace the void.
The less short (but still frustratingly vague) version
Malevolent forces—the specifics of which I shall spare you, lest you go mad from the revelation—have conspired to shackle and restrain the progression of this project. My original plan was to update on the 24th—the date of Rowan and Camilla Arcturus’s birth—which would have fit quite neatly with my usual “update on relevant dates” gimmick.
That’s not gonna happen at this point.
To be clear, this isn’t me abandoning the project or officially putting it on hiatus or anything, just a heads up that it may be a while before the next update comes, for a lot of stupid personal reasons that I would prefer not to get into. I have no solid idea of when this will change; it could be tomorrow or it could be in a month.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get back in the proverbial saddle sometime in the foreseeable future, but sadly I can’t promise anything right at the moment.
In the meantime: it’s been…a long time since we did a poll. So long, in fact, that I sort of forgot how to do them.
But apparently I have nothing else of substance to offer you right now, so I may as well relearn it!
So, since we just got a lengthy elaboration about the various schools of magic (which I know everyone definitely read all the way through 
), it’s come to my attention that some people actually find some of them interesting! (The ones that don’t will, uh, hopefully at least find one of the following short descriptions vaguely intriguing.) With that in mind:
If you could be a mage in real life, which school would you specialize in?
- Conjuration (spinning matter into physical objects)
- Dispersion (pulling physical objects apart into particles)
- Transmutation (transforming matter into other forms)
- Manipulation (controlling forces and energy)
- Disruption (canceling forces and energy, including other magic)
- Conversion (shifting one form of energy into another)
- Divination (coalescing and deciphering information)
- Vexation (disrupting another’s mental processes)
- Apparition (altering someone’s sensory perception)
- Amplification (enhancing and emboldening the body and soul)
- Affliction (exhausting and draining a soul)
- Animation (altering the magical essence of a soul)
0 voters
Feel free to explain your reasoning in a comment! …Or just leave me to fester in uncertainty at why my favorite options aren’t on top. That is also fine.
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Any time a story has mind control or it’s near-equivalent, I immediately gravitate toward that lol.
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Totally understandable. Take your time and please take care of yourself. Your health and wellbeing are important!
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If after death, my miserable little ghost could choose any of them (which appear not to be the case but is funny to wonder) the picked one would be Disruption.
The main points behind the decision are:
(i) the moral aspect. While Will and Wight can be used with altruistic intentions, my MC would be reluctant/uncomfortable to deal or perceive in such intimate ways other beings. He would feel like he is invading their privacy - as even when alive he was hesitant with intimacy (both of him and others. Basically, stoic kind of guy);
(ii) he was already wary of magic on life, now after the lovely surprise Callum prepared and the impact of that magical prodigy woman, I am not sure if he would trust himself to have the arcane power - or even care to, depending on the context and historical moment - if it was an option to receive it.
That registered, as he is already doomed, the defensive potentialities and the innate wane-ish nature of the school would attract him.
(iii) Plus, as tactic is his main stat, I think that, in spite of himself, he would be intrigued and would explore and try to master this other aspect of the branch:
Disruption’s applications are not limited to the countering of other magics, of course; a skilled Disruptor may use his or her power to disturb an electrical current, or guard against an explosion.
Perhaps because Disruption is so commonly perceived as defensive in nature, it is sometimes overlooked that it is a school of the Wane discipline—often stereotyped as a method of force or conflict. A keen examination of the underlying principles of Disruption, however, make it clear that it is, if anything, the most quintessential embodiment of the Wane out of all the schools of magic. After all, what better manifestation of opposition can there be, than the power to cancel and counteract other forces entirely?
(iv) This is a longshot, and would not be so impactful as the other points, however, as Whelm seems to be the branch related to space and time - and, as my MC’ is more focused on the past - there is the “time” aspect as well. I know time travel demands spatial magic, but, uh, dunno.
Now, if my MC could specialize in any of those branches when he was alive - disregarding his aversion for magic for in this context I am supposing he was gifted since he was born - Will and Wight are still non-go, for the point (i).
Conversion is too flashy, I think he would lean towards Weave or Manipulation due to the practical potentialities of them - to help his parents on the farm. Probably Transmutation.
Now, let’s talk about real life
Obs: In spite of what seems to be the usual in Spellbound’s universe - by what I mean, the typical way of being a mage is being born as one - I’m considering I would acquire the ability right now, not have being born as as a mage for if I were I would not be boring, and could we call a version of me that doesn’t have the core trait of my identity still as - “me”? (this is just me trying to achieve humor, btw, don’t give me money to go into a psychologist, I am good, I swear… kind of, I mean)
Whatever, Will is the branch that sounds less powerful, so, I would not pick that. Plus, I would not enjoy having to deal with the stereotype of suspicion that that branch seems to inspire.
While I can see a rogue dnd character picking Weave (dispersion, for example), in my point of view, Whelm and Wight are cooler in general.
Manipulation is probably the one I would use the most - to pick stuff without having to move. Yeah, this is kinda meh, but I would totally keep it as a secret and use it in this boring - yet amazingly handy way. Also transmutation sounds so fun. Yeah, I would go for transmutation. I guess, because sounds cool. And money
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You mean the “magical surprise” and “lovely prodigy woman” right? My MC found himself bound to her in more than just the magical way.
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that was a fun game! I like Cortez alot 
I honestly wish Callum was an RO, going from good to bad to good
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At least you can try to experience it a lil bit, I wanted Charlotte to be an RO (ಥ﹏ಥ)
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