This post's authors have general content warnings that might apply to the current post.
View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
It is a lovely Saturday morning. Feathered children are watching cartoons; furred adults are eating brunch; scaled teenagers - one scaled teenager in particular, actually - is arguing with the proprietor of a magic shop.
"How did these items get made if there's no way to learn magic? Are the magicians homeschooling their children and not writing any books? How did you learn?"
"Half this stuff is antiques," says the shopkeep. "Look, asking me a dozen times isn't gonna make the answer more to your liking. I don't have Hogwarts in the basement, deal with it."
"But where do you get the stuff that isn't antique - who made the Avalon itself? - isn't anybody panicking about the medallion supply? -"
"Kid, nobody knows how to make medallions."
"But some people apparently know how to make luck charms and protection amulets!"
"I'm not going to give out my suppliers' personal information. I wouldn't do it even if you weren't annoying."
"There have to be books -"
"Does this look like a library to you?"
maybeso
maybeso
And she was trying to do too much with incantation and picks up a couple runes that she'd been planning to cover with extra French nouns.
"This look about right?" she asks, when they've merged the sets into something agreeable.
"This look about right?" she asks, when they've merged the sets into something agreeable.
asteptotheright
"I think so. It would be better if there was a third party to look it over for us, of course, but..."
maybeso
"But. I mean, I guess we could wait until Jaromira or Daphne gets around to reading through the textbook? Are they likely to?"
maybeso
"When do you think they'll be through the chapters on the meanings so they could triangulate?"
asteptotheright
"By...Wednesday, I think. Those two allocate their mental resources differently because they're more social than we are, but they're both still very intelligent and they read fairly fast."
maybeso
"Hm. We weren't too far off from each other. What say we go from here and try to work out - a few different ways to diagram a spell out of the meanings, take our time, but not cast it until they do some homework? We don't want to be a statistic. We wouldn't even be accessible enough as a statistic to deter anyone on the margin."
maybeso
"How convenient. Okay, lemme show you my spreadsheet."
Her spreadsheet is huge. It has rows for runes (page number and letter orderings) and columns for meanings (all the dozens of them). Sorted correctly, it will provide lists of options and their amounts in each meaning for everything on their consensus list.
"You start with 43-B and I'll start with 77-A and we go from there?" she suggests, indicating the most important meaning and two runes that are stronger in that than anything else.
Her spreadsheet is huge. It has rows for runes (page number and letter orderings) and columns for meanings (all the dozens of them). Sorted correctly, it will provide lists of options and their amounts in each meaning for everything on their consensus list.
"You start with 43-B and I'll start with 77-A and we go from there?" she suggests, indicating the most important meaning and two runes that are stronger in that than anything else.
maybeso
"I don't have all the dictionary runes in there just yet because data entry is tedious as hell and I checked everything in there twice," May mentions, "so the dictionary will still be useful if none of the combinations in the sheet suit us."
And she gets to work starting from 77-A. It covers two meanings she wants and four she doesn't; she will need to add some things and subtract some things... Scribble scribble.
And she gets to work starting from 77-A. It covers two meanings she wants and four she doesn't; she will need to add some things and subtract some things... Scribble scribble.
maybeso
Nerrrrrrrrds.
This takes a long time, much consultation of the spreadsheet, and routine use of May's calculator.
"At least once we have a working spell we can just copy it," she remarks.
This takes a long time, much consultation of the spreadsheet, and routine use of May's calculator.
"At least once we have a working spell we can just copy it," she remarks.
maybeso
"Yeah. If we had to do this from scratch every single time... well, I'd probably still learn it but I wouldn't build my life plans around it."
maybeso
"Maybe there aren't a lot of wizards because even this is enough complexity to put most people off."
maybeso
"But I think it should be possible to automate almost the entire process. Maybe not with a spreadsheet alone, but still. And this wouldn't have been possible before, so the field languished, but maybe we are in fact catching the early stage of its possible revival."
asteptotheright
"...The modern world is a miraculous place." Pause. "I wonder if recorded incantations would work."
maybeso
"Ooh, good question! Lemme see if this thing came with any recording software, you copy out a water boiling. I don't have the kettle anymore but I forgot to unpack the teacups so I have those."
asteptotheright
"I actually brought the wax tablet, just in case," he says a little smugly. "Let me have one of the teacups so I can fill it again."
maybeso
She hands him a cup, pecks him on the cheek, and then hunts through her applications for something to record her voice.