Where is the strength; the centre or the extremity?
Ooo la la, aren't you clever?
There is strength in both. The strength in the centre holds, is firm, it does not sway from its course. It gives the extremity room to fly.
The extremity is the place where the flux ensues, the change happens.
I am of a school of magic that stands in the centre, and breaks the extremities. If you were at all curious.
SonnovaWitch
responded to ISpyThighHighs
on Tuesday 13 March, 2012 at 07:01
I just wanted to say thanks, everybody.
Ah, I'm so glad. I hope to see what expression they'll take as you further explore.
SonnovaWitch
responded to ISpyThighHighs
on Wednesday 14 March, 2012 at 10:36
What would I get if I made your psyche into a video game level?
A lengthy dialogue puzzle with Lucille Bluth.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Formspring
on Wednesday 14 March, 2012 at 10:36
What's your attitude today?
Chipper, dapper, hipper and rapper. Maybe not the last one.
SonnovaWitch
on Thursday 15 March, 2012 at 11:00
Hold the cheese or extra cheese?
I'm bigger than cheeses.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheAndrogyne
on Friday 30 March, 2012 at 03:14
Heyyy. Going off your askmeabouts I think Lock was trying to get me to come meet you a while back. I was like 'go on' but then he didn't. Is your last name pronounced Crag or Craw?
Yes!
In fact, it's also pronounced Craff, and if you're dealing with the old family up in Wales, it's pronounced Cratte. Mother keeps all the circulations cycling, so she can keep looking down her nose at people that use the 'wrong' one, or praise those who use the 'right,' one.
And this would be Lachlann Piers, right? Probably. I only bumped into him briefly - doing a delivery between him and Portal Corps. The joy of my work, really.
Anyway, glad to have gotten some attention. I'm perhaps a little prone to letting events work themselves out.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Friday 30 March, 2012 at 03:15
What was your last breakup like?
We'd been dating for about six months, when we both realised that if the other stopped existing, none of my friends would notice their absence, and none of their friends would notice me being gone.
Around that point we figured it was just sex. Shortly after that, I had to move, and well, that's how it goes from time to time. The lines come together, the lines spread apart.
Shame, really.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheAndrogyne
on Friday 30 March, 2012 at 03:38
F***-My-Friends Friday: Admit something you dislike or detest about an FSer no-one would expect you to say something negative about.
The absolute closest I can manage, because nobody here knows me worth a damn is to mention that women like @LadyDarkhealz have made my mother in a haze of gin when she's well into her cups around ten in the morning, profess 'wouldn't they just love some more trauma to talk about.'
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Friday 30 March, 2012 at 06:37
Inevomancy?
A broad term referring to the study of magic as it relates to destiny, inevitability, and fate, things that are seen conventionally as being unchangeable. 'Mancy' actually means 'to predict the future,' so an inevomancer is someone who predicts the future by looking at things that are guaranteed to happen, but what I mostly do is a little more messy than that.
If you've more specific questions I can happily answer.
SonnovaWitch
responded to CareAndControl
on Saturday 31 March, 2012 at 06:37
Check your callsign. Or your Formspring name if you wanna. Do you really do what it says or are you taking poetic license?
Here, it's completely true.
My callsign? Probably poetic.
SonnovaWitch
responded to CareAndControl
on Saturday 31 March, 2012 at 06:38
Hands. Probably because of my upbringing I've always had an appreciation for their work which has only ever increased. What's your take on hands, be it practical or metaphysical or whatever else you got?
They have the meaning people put in them; they hold some chakral centres by some traditions, they make gestures in others. I consider them the most important when they have no magic in them at all - the works of people without energies but simple agency, the act of a will most concrete.
SonnovaWitch
responded to letitglow
on Monday 2 April, 2012 at 02:41
Post an image that shows how you see yourself.
Words.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 2 April, 2012 at 07:33
Are you @ISpyThighHighs' magic instructor?
Guilty as charged, yes.
I'm sorry if there was an inconvenience about my keeping my identiy masked! @ISpyThighHighs is a particularly precocious sort - and by the way, I'm not really a teacher, just someone with some non-standard theories about magical practice - and if he knew /me/, he might start answering based on what he thought I wanted. And he's definitely sharp enough to work that out.
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Tuesday 3 April, 2012 at 04:29
Fill in the blanks: _______ is my business, and business is _______.
Destiny, ending
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Thursday 5 April, 2012 at 08:27
So what sort of general work do you do?
Usually, I do delivery work for magi. It's a sort of high-risk scenario where you need an item delivered with absolute certainty, and need it to be out of secure hands for as tiny an amount of time as possible. I don't pick up the item until I have a perfect solution, and when I do, it arrives without flaw. I don't mean to sound super arrogant, it really is just reducing the transition of objects to a sort of math.
It's a bit like using a MV-Augusta to do inner-city deliveries, and therefore the price is ludicrously high. On the other hand, if I take a contract I can guarantee that the item will be completely safe while it's in my possession and will absolutely arrive in the possession of the deliveree.
As you can imagine, my delivery fees are a bit outrageous. On the other hand, 0% failure rate, and I have delivered some very odd things.
SonnovaWitch
responded to ISpyThighHighs
on Wednesday 11 April, 2012 at 10:05
It's another Google game! What does Google "suggest" you might be searching for if you type in "is " and the first few letters of your name?
is colin lane gay? is cold water bad for you? OH COME ON is coldplay coming to Australia? is coles Australian owned?
SonnovaWitch
responded to ISpyThighHighs
on Wednesday 11 April, 2012 at 10:05
Does it bother you when people just assume they can call you by your first name/a nickname? How close do they need to be before it's acceptable?
I hate when people refer to me with my surname like I'm an upper-class private-school nitwit, usually because the people who do it are themselves upper-class private-school nitwits the likes of which I did my best to avoid during my time in an upper-class private school.
SonnovaWitch
responded to WhiteShader
on Wednesday 18 April, 2012 at 05:14
I just found out that I haven't fulfilled my phys ed requirements for school. Which sport do you think should I take up and why? (And I have to take this class at a different campus.)
Tennis.
Because it's low contact, it's not particularly physically strenuous, and it doesn't require a lot of people to do.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Tenebraxa
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 08:10
I need someone with good fundamentals in archaeology and a willingness to travel. Knowledge of north African languages wouldn't necessarily hurt. Indestructibility or something like that is probably a plus. Does anybody fit that bill?
Outside of my skillset but I may yet be able to help you out in that regard. I'm sending you some contact information and you can decide what to do with it.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Formspring
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 08:15
Long hair or short hair?
Long hair. I'm a sucker for ponytails, pigtails, hairbuns. Coloured hair is also saucy. Of course, it might just be that 'traditional' makes my teeth ache.
SonnovaWitch
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 10:24
SonnovaWitch
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 10:24
SonnovaWitch
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 10:24
SonnovaWitch
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 10:27
SonnovaWitch
responded to TechnoPepper
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 11:01
Finish this sentence - I never want to ____ again.
deal with my mother
And I say it every time.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TechnoPepper
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 11:02
Finish this sentence - There's always room for _______ !
I think that's an answer best saved for people who know me better.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TechnoPepper
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 11:03
Finish this sentence - Every time I __________ I feel awesome.
Ah, awesome. Such a wonderful word, so utterly bereft of meaning these days.
"stare beyond"
SonnovaWitch
responded to WhiteShader
on Friday 20 April, 2012 at 07:53
Friendly Friday: What was the last thing you did for a friend without being asked?
I helped out @ISpyThighHighs with his magical theory problems.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Sunday 22 April, 2012 at 06:26
What is inevomancy?
Inevomancy is the magical discipline that functions primarily by finding the magical resonance between past events and future events, then breaking that connection and using the resultant magical energy to effect change.
In magical terms, it is highly comparable to nuclear physics.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Sunday 22 April, 2012 at 06:29
What kinds of magical theory are you most familiar with?
I was raised in New England - it's one of those magical Witch lineages you might be familiar with - which means that while I travelled the world to a variety of magical types (a quick summary by memory, Sioux spiritualists, Inuit war-talkers, Omec runecraft, Toltec blood magic, Maori, Australian dreamtime introspection, a variety of Shinto traditions, a very, very brief excursion into tattoo magic amongst the Hmong, a brief visit to one of the Lesser Terribles in Russia, then through to Europe, where I did the typical Franco-Anglo set of studies), they were all filtered through the first studies I made.
I am familiar, mostly, with the art of unlearning magic and starting from scratch. Inevomancy is the kind of magic that does not tolerate mistakes, so before I ever did anything practical, I had to show I could do that.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 23 April, 2012 at 08:37
Narwhals?
Oh, yes, please. I mean, this tattoo had better be doing something other than filling my shoulder up.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 02:03
Okay..how did you get an interest in narwhals?
There's this viral video. And I'm sure you've seen it. And if you're a student of Chelis' hypothesis of Modern Totemisation, you might be able to put the pieces together from there.
Now, the thing that should concern you after this is that I am dreadfully serious in my appreciation of Narwhals after that point.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 02:22
Since magic use isn't seen as evil as much as it used to be, do you see its use becoming more widespread as time goes on?
Not at all! Magic is handy and all and it can do amazing things, but by and large, it's less useful than technology. If you don't believe that, then consider just what kind of force is being put out by every single iPod on the planet right now.
Technology is easier to mass produce, we have the infrastructure to do it, and magic isn't that useful. We don't have a long storied history of people with a serious, sensible approach to studying magic, either - mostly it's the purview of old families who have as much tradition as power, and it's so very crufty.
The idea of this... vast, elaborate program to try and craft a meaningful, scientific study of Magic was very appealing in the sixties, but it's so very slow. The way I see it, while it'd be nice for it to be studied and understood better, it's really not going to happen. Go with the flow, as it were.
I mean, we had the Paris Revolution in the 20s, did that lead to a new golden age? Have you even HEARD of it? I'm going to bet no.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 09:00
How would you begin to explain magic theory to someone who has absolutely no concept of what it is?
By talking about what it's not.
It's not unscientific. Most magical schools have a direct cause->effect relationship.
It's not infinite. Magical theory has very large areas of doubt and uncertainty and our research is not so well-funded or structured.
It doesn't have a universal language. Arabic, Hindi, Germanic and Celtic magi all came up with the idea of what I've called a tulpa in isolation. They all call them totally different things.
It's not limited in its scope. I'm an inevomancer. The magical theories I use could be equally applied to almost every other field of magic - just changing the input and output would change the effects.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 09:01
Where did you learn magic from? Was it a natural gift or did it take practice?
My family practices a style of magic that is comparable, again, to nuclear theory. Very, very dangerous, dealing with very large amounts of energy, and dire, catastrophic outcomes. I started studying at eleven, but I didn't actually execute any of what you'd consider 'family spells' until ten years later. In that time, I had travelled and studied in a variety of venues, too.
More shortly, my mother.
SonnovaWitch
responded to FaigeHarrison
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 09:03
TMI Tueday! What's the grossest thing you've ever had to see a doctor for?
I had to explain to a doctor that the completely sterile wounds on my arms, hands, and feet, six inches across and one deep, were not, the result of me slashing myself with a scalpel for attention. As you can understand, he thought I was lying.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 09:05
If you could, would you give up your gifts for something mundane? What would it have to be?
Curious? In a lot of New England theories, 'mundane' refers to items that aren't influenced by or activated by magic. It's not really a precise term, it's practically slang, and it's used the way some people would use the word 'muggle' these days.
In the interest of pleasing two different witches, I guess I'd give up my powers for another X chromosome.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 09:07
Tell me something about yourself that most people wouldn't guess just by looking at you. It can be anything!
I'm one of the good guys? Or so I like to tell myself. And others. Perhaps too often.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TechnoPepper
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 07:13
You're standing on the gallows with a noose around your neck and you're asked for your last words - what are they?
I wonder what reason I had for this.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TechnoPepper
on Tuesday 24 April, 2012 at 07:14
TMI Tuesday: The best sex you ever had - where was it, who was it with, what were you on (drugs, alcohol, nothing?), why was it the best?
A hotel room, @ISpyThighHighs, an hour of flirting, he's astounding in bed.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 04:03
Is there any advice you regularly give to people just starting out with magic?
Don't rush, don't take shortcuts, don't presume you know better.
Yeah.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 04:54
Have you had many students?
Properly, only about four or five. Maybe six if stuff like Honeytrap and you count.
The thing is, whereas most magi have tried something risky, I had it impressed upon me at a young age just how badly things could go if I screwed up. So really, I've become something of a library for theory because well, the scope of the risks intimidated me, but I didn't want to shirk from the challenge I'd been given. In no small part, my mother being convinced I was worthless - because I'm male - helped a lot in driving me.
The really funny part of it is that if you saw me doing things directly, you'd probably be unimpressed. 'Oh, is that all?' and that's the nature of the style of magic.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 05:59
Are you around Paragon? I'd like to ask a few more specific questions but I can't really show you the magic I'm talking about on here and I don't want to flood your inbox so....
I am, in fact. I work for Magi - the easiest way to find me is to ask for something to be delivered to you, of high priority. Of course, that probably involves paying, or annoying, one way or another!
SonnovaWitch
responded to Hellwhip
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 08:05
When someone betrays you, revenge or forgiveness?
I avoid hard rules in this circumstance.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 10:04
If you could teach everyone one bit of magic, what would it be and why?
Two things; one, there's this cantrip popular in France called 'de sauter la clĂ´ture.' It's a short duration cantrip that changes the user's gender. Doesn't need any magical components, and barely needs much memorisation. What it does tend to require is a flexible mind, but students who learn it early invariably are much more flexible thinks throughout their lives.
Of course, the reason I'd want more people to know this trick is because if every man knew what it was like to have cramps, they wouldn't joke about them, and if every woman knew what it was like to be kicked in the balls, they'd stop acting like men are wimps for reacting to it.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 10:06
Do you feel that magic sometimes removes a bit of the challenge of life? Why or why not? Do you see it as another kind of mutation?
@ISpyThighHighs did make the astute point that natural talent plays into magical study, and it does. If nothing else, a good memory for phrases, intonations, timing and rhythm are important, and people cna be born with better memories and faster learning capacities.
In the end, though, while magic removes some challenge of life, so does indoor plumbing and I don't have a problem with that.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 10:07
Could you stop practicing magic without any horrible side effects, or is it something you have to get out?
In my case, I can't really stop the practice of magic that was started. It's something of a magical legacy and it's not safe to stop the back-and-forth of my particular method just yet. To use nuclear physics again, it would cause somtehing of a meltdown.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Formspring
on Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at 10:08
Can you type fast?
Oh goodness no. I have a question from @Stheras that really, shouldn't be more than a few paragraphs to answer and I still haven't gotten it done. Double-checking four textbooks in two languages can be quite a bear.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Cearmaid
on Thursday 26 April, 2012 at 02:56
How easily can you come up with $2,500 in two days?
I have a job that requires incredibly niche expertise and charge accordingly. I don't have much I need. So...
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Thursday 26 April, 2012 at 10:43
Can you describe the process of adapting a spell to use a different source of energy? How will using a different source effect the spell itself?
Simile, simile, simile. I have some paperwork on the topic. BUT, the most basic summary I can give you is that it's like learning to sing.
Most people breathe from their stomach, and that's the muscular motion they use to push air back and forth into their lungs. But many singers learn to breathe with their shoulders, which gives them more control over their breathing. This is what it would be like to do as an individual.
In some schools of magic, it won't make any change at all. Dipsomancy, for example, is completely ambivalent to how your body gets drunk, just that it does get drunk. Most of the orthodox families of magic, however, have as much effect bound up in their ritual as cause; and those are the places where things will get challenging to deal with.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Thursday 26 April, 2012 at 07:36
Do you feel as if there is a more potent stigma attached to magic than there are other powers these days? Do you feel people still try to link magic to evil?
I don't really think so. People link power to evil, and their way of determining power is through comparison. Such-and-such has more power than me, well, I don't think I can trust him with it. That sort of thing.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Thursday 26 April, 2012 at 11:31
What's your opinion on magic that depends on powerful entities?
Just as useful as any other kind. Most shamanic magic, for example, draws on the strength of the earth, which is rather a powerful thing. There are thousands of solar magi traditions - indeed, you want to find yourself a boy like that, because they hug very nicely. More bleakly, hecate had enough power that a drop of it's empowered the mu races.
I don't have a problem with it, but I'm a pragmatist.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Vertigirl
on Friday 27 April, 2012 at 01:13
hey u ever get any shit fer yer tag cole? aint no one in the dim dark name their kid cole less he cruisin fer a black eye
Yeah, no. I got more guff for having a penis than anything else.
SonnovaWitch
on Sunday 29 April, 2012 at 05:29
If you have tattoos, share your ink!
On my left shoulder!
SonnovaWitch
responded to SonneForce
on Sunday 29 April, 2012 at 07:33
I'm stealing that one - describe your sex life with a movie title.
The Deadly Bees.
SonnovaWitch
responded to totallywitchin
on Monday 30 April, 2012 at 05:23
How do you feel about people who take pictures of themselves in the mirror?
Totemically resonant.
SonnovaWitch
responded to SonneForce
on Monday 30 April, 2012 at 05:24
Has anyone ever done something nice for you for no reason? What was it?
Not me specifically - I see more causal links than most, and when I've dealt with people who are nice to me, there's usually an unrelated event that makes them think to do it - but I don't need to think that I'm special to appreciate the niceness.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 12:23
Write a letter to your future self.
I do that all the time.
SonnovaWitch
responded to ArcticAce
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 06:12
If you train, how do you do it? If you have powers, do you need special equipment or can you make do with ordinary stuff?
Much like a string theorist, if you give me a whiteboard and a calculator, I can produce an extremely densely-packed whiteboard full of stuff that means nothing of any consequence to a person who still has to buy milk.
SonnovaWitch
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 06:49
((For my first real OOC question: What reference materials or characters did you use to help define your character?))
(("Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But... there is, unseen by most, an underworld. A place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit... a dark side."
I have encountered players trying to bring the HP Lovecraft Cthuluesque horror to the world of City of Heroes. One of them is a developer. Almost all of them - no, fuck it, ALL of them - are completely incompetent at both evoking the lurching horror of Lovecraft's work, and correctly grasping the mythemes of superheroes. Rule of thumb? When you're talking about gore and kill counts and have a revolving door resuscitator, you've pretty much failed to grasp the point.
There's a challenge here; to bring the Lovecraftian themes (which are fundamentally about feelings of helplessness and worthlessness in a vast and uncaring universe), into contrast and connection with superhero themes (which are fundamentally about feelings of empowerment in the face of an uncaring world, scaling up normal problems) without diluting and ruining both of them.
I came to terms with this, squaring this circle by creating the mythos underneath Cole. It requires a unifying theory of magic, and creates the idea of these enormous, brooding, ancient elder evils, things that are beyond Mot as far as Mot is beyond mortals... and then for those things to genuinely have a reason to care about humanity. The notion then is that human hope, human aspiration, the human ideals that we create that have no chemical or practical realities, those things are dangerous to those creations.
The why? Well, okay, that's another thing.
Anyway, that's where the rest of the character flows! He's blurring together a Lovecraftian mythos with a superhero story, and requires vast, impressive, world-spanning magic, and that means he needs to know a lot about magic. Who studies magic? Well, it's got a strong New England tradition thanks to Croatoa and ITS historical implication, so it was easy to imagine him with an old-school traditionalist group. Not wanting to be too stodgy, I made him an outcast from that group, and this all brings us back to the name... which I took from this song.)) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVZaZ8yO6o
SonnovaWitch
responded to MuBahkeeth
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 08:09
So, "villain" asking you heroes out there. How do you keep a steady job and or other obligations and do hero work? Do the two ever get in the way of each other?
My job involves maximising security for hero work. I'm very rarely called upon to do anything more than that.
SonnovaWitch
responded to MuBahkeeth
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 08:10
Be honest, have any of you hero types ever looked the other way or ignored a crime because it was inconvenient at the time for you? Running late somewhere and just assume it'll work out. Something like that.
No.
Again, a curiosity of how I work.
SonnovaWitch
responded to MuBahkeeth
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 08:13
With all the different people, races, powers, and all that, are there any groups you just don't trust? I know a lot of people don't trust demons and psychics, but any others?
Men.
This is me, channelling my mother and Delia at the same time!
SonnovaWitch
responded to MuBahkeeth
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 08:14
What are some of your pet peeves? Things that just really drive you nuts.
Multiple types of cutlery for a meal. The salad went in my mouth, the fork went in my mouth, the steak went in my mouth, I don't need another fork for the cheese when it's going to wind up in my mouth.
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Tuesday 1 May, 2012 at 09:14
They say no man is an island. What about you?
I do feel somewhat outcast and disconnected. This is, I am told by a therapist, is quite understandable given my upbringing.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Wednesday 2 May, 2012 at 01:11
How do you really feel toward other men? Why do you think you feel that way?
Oh, really?
I'm fine with them. Men are nice, women are nice. My mother is an out-and-out misandrist of a legacy of misandrist. The choice she had was teach me, or let her particular wing of the family completely die and leave the legacy on to her sister.
You know the urban legends about New England lesbian covens? Well, some aren't urban legends.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Wednesday 2 May, 2012 at 11:03
What do you think of hazing?
I'm from New England. We haze our waiters. It's how we know we're not like the barbarians from the south.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Wednesday 2 May, 2012 at 05:19
If the right person for a job is the one with the best ability - regardless of class/race/gender/ect - what do you think will happen when cybernetics/genetic therapy are made available to the public, but are expensive?
Nothing much. The right person for a job almost never finds that job.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Thursday 3 May, 2012 at 06:28
What is a man?
A social construct full of misunderstandings and mistakes we've come to interpret as virtues.
SonnovaWitch
responded to MuBahkeeth
on Thursday 3 May, 2012 at 07:47
So, I'm gonna try and sneak into Paragon, preferably without getting shot or arrested on sight. Anyone have any tips to avoid unpleasantness? Last time I was there, people saw Mu and kinda just shot first.
Try taking the sign off your forehead that says 'Mu.'
SonnovaWitch
responded to jouleaux
on Friday 4 May, 2012 at 09:03
Public question time: Pick one word to describe yourself. Now take that same word and apply it to someone else from your connections without changing the definition of it. Who was it? What was the word/definition?
Indefatigable.
@LadyDarkhealz
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Friday 4 May, 2012 at 09:18
How do you make space for yourself in your life when you need it?
I have nothing but space.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Formspring
on Sunday 6 May, 2012 at 07:49
Would it be awesome if animals could talk?
They can. They're called humans.
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Sunday 6 May, 2012 at 07:50
What sets you above your peers -- and what sets your role models above you?
Not much. My peers are quite happy to point out their superiority to me. Also, not much - I don't really have many pedestals.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Sunday 6 May, 2012 at 07:50
Is there anything mundane that never fails to distract you? How do you retain focus?
I find oragami quite enchanting, but I wouldn't say it distracts me. I'm afraid this might be a problem more to your mind than mine.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Sunday 6 May, 2012 at 07:51
What do you value?
Consistency, patience, openmindedness, intellect.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Sunday 6 May, 2012 at 11:58
How hard is it for you to socialize?
It's a little more challenging than it should be. I handle parties, for example.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 12:00
What was the hardest kind of magic for you to grasp?
Besides Inevomancy, the hardest type of magic for me to grasp was a form of Mu magic. Mostly it focuses on using the body as a channel - but the most common training practice for it is to literally bind the body and deny the senses. I understand that in some schools of mu, touching other people is a form of apostacy, and in extremely fundamentalist movements, it's considered wrong to touch yourself - at all, like holding your own wrist!
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 12:00
Have you ever been to Chano's?
Nope!
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 02:58
Do you find it hard to relate to most people?
Oddly, I have a problem associating with most men. I don't mean anything ill by it, it's just that I wasn't raised around them, and I learned most of what I did in my world tours from books and from yogi or magi that were themselves, basically hermits.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 09:54
How did you end up working for MAGI?
I turned up and handed in my resume. It really is that simple.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 07:30
When is your birthday? If you do not know it officially, do you hate a date you celebrate anyway?
Drawing lines between points, are we?
SonnovaWitch
responded to Cearmaid
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 07:31
((What's something about your character that connects them to someone else's character, some backstory or thematic element you can point directly to someone else? A race another player invented, a place or event another character's story started?))
((The entire idea of Cole's family was inspired by someone saying to me that Delia was a terrible misandrist. It occurred to me that if people encountered a real misandrist, they'd probably realise how quickly Delia wasn't as bad as they thought.))
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 07:31
"Fear, doubt, and guilt have the potential to be our greatest allies in becoming better people." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
In the same way a chain around your neck can make you a better swimmer.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 07:33
What do you hope for most about the future?
I daresay you and I hold similar perspectives on the nature of the future.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 07:33
Looking back on your life, do you have a favorite memory? If so, can you share it?
I can't say I do. A momentary pang of embarassment at being so dull, I suppose.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 7 May, 2012 at 07:34
For those of you who are able to consider it, what would you like to do when you retire?
Cruise around in a turtleneck with a ponytail and tiny glasses.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 12:12
Thanks to your invomancy, is it hard to surprise you or does it happen more than people might think?
Oh it happens very often. Inevomancy isn't like precognition. It's more like a formula that I can punch into a set of variables and find a proven end point.
It's a lot of head work. It's why I need time frames for my work. I can't do emergency courier work. What I can do is entirely and perfectly guarantee delivery and safety.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 04:18
Do you think you'll have some free time tonight?
Should do.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 05:16
I find this question makes for an interesting mirror:
Do you believe that you are a good person?
You'll find a similar moment of dissonance if you ask a person 'Are you conscious right now?'
SonnovaWitch
responded to juusan
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 05:19
A fingertip, a palm, a fist, a foot; with what do you change your world?
Thoughts.
SonnovaWitch
responded to SnaredJr
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 05:20
Backrub, footrub, long bath, or sex?
Nothing compares in its innate power, or its enjoyable nature, to sex.
SonnovaWitch
responded to pressdotexe
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 05:25
Do you like physical letters?
Oh yes. They pass through hands, they are stampled with symbols, writ with the subject's mind, and the effort of their hand. A letter if a fascinating thing that connects you very strongly to others.
SonnovaWitch
responded to juusan
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 05:26
If I were to come to you and ask you to show me the art of your people, what would you show me?
Boston.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Tuesday 8 May, 2012 at 05:26
Just to compare notes with everyone else, what do you think Nemesis was up to during his recent attacks?
I think it was the actions of a particularly idiotic fake nemesis. All that manpower spent, all that resources stockpiled and blown for seemingly no reason.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Cearmaid
on Thursday 10 May, 2012 at 06:25
((If you were on a IC RP team of 4+ Formspringers, all packing Maneuvers and Assault, what would you want to be playing?))
((You fishing for interest, boy?))
SonnovaWitch
responded to AGreenDragon
on Thursday 10 May, 2012 at 07:24
I don't understand why some people seem set on being negative about everything no matter how good it is. Is there anything I can do to help them? Please help!
Try not to say 'Cheer up, emo kid.' They'll use that as an excuse to think you don't respect them. In fact, if you say anything that indicates that you think they should cheer up, they'll say that that's what you're saying.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Thursday 10 May, 2012 at 07:25
What do you know right now that you wish you knew ten years ago?
That it doesn't matter if people love me, or even like me.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Thursday 10 May, 2012 at 07:31
"Nobody can hurt me without my permission." How much of this quote do you agree with? Why?
God, I'd love to be able to deny bullets permission.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Thursday 10 May, 2012 at 07:31
If nothing about you survived the passage of history aside from a single material item dug up by some future archeologist, what would you want it to be and what do you think it would show about who you were?
A single titanium coin, upon which is inscribed without machining, the poem Ozymandias.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Thursday 10 May, 2012 at 07:33
Friends and enemies are often very transient things. Do you have a friend who has become an enemy or an enemy that has become a friend? What happened to shift them from one to the other?
Well, first I was born...
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Friday 11 May, 2012 at 12:52
Do you believe in free will?
Of course we have free will! We haven't got a choice!
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Friday 11 May, 2012 at 09:38
How do you feel about the idea of marriage? Is it the ceremony or the symbolism, or do you truly feel there's a necessity for the paper work in case of division of assets? Why?
At its finest, marriage is just making a public notary aware of what you have written already on your heart.
At its worst, marriage is an excuse to exclude others from love.
SonnovaWitch
responded to rnaway
on Friday 11 May, 2012 at 09:40
In our lives there are defining moments, whether big or small. Tell me one of yours, please?
You may have noticed I don't exactly spout a lot of personal anecdotes about my magical work or my study in specific ways here. It's because most of what I do is very dangerous and of limited useful application in its metaphors and symbolism to other people. People do not like imagining that there is a destiny or a fate for them, and usually, believe in those things, too intense, is seen as a sign of a mental illness.
When I was quite young, I at one point insisted, then demanded, to my mother, that I be taken seriously as a student, that she train me. It was a small act of defiance that had been persisting for years, and she began only in the belief that it would break me.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Friday 11 May, 2012 at 09:47
What's in a name: What is your first name, and what language or culture does it come from? What does your first name mean? If you would prefer I do the research for you, just respond with your first name and I will respond in a comment.
Interestingly, Cole is supposedly a Greek name that means 'victory.' I was named Cole because my father was black-haired. I turned out quite fair, taking after my mother.
Cragh is one of those unpelasant names that's fallen between multiple cultural cracks; I believe it might be Welsh or Cornish or Irish in its derivations or its respellings.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Cearmaid
on Tuesday 15 May, 2012 at 08:54
What did YOU get up to today?
A delivery, weaving, a date, more weaving, early to bed, early to rise.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Friday 18 May, 2012 at 10:28
What do you consider to be the greatest gap or weakness in your knowledge, skills, abilities, or powers?
I foresee many very useful and meaningful answers to this.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Friday 18 May, 2012 at 10:28
Do your skills or abilities come with any complications that you wish you could do without? (This can even include the need for daily training.)
It comes with twin temptations towards omniscient morality license, and the superman complex. I carefully avoid both.
SonnovaWitch
responded to FaigeHarrison
on Saturday 19 May, 2012 at 08:01
If you had a secret admirer would you find that cute or creepy?
There's nothing creepy about admiring secrets!
SonnovaWitch
responded to FaigeHarrison
on Sunday 20 May, 2012 at 05:26
If you really wanted to be with somebody but knew it was a bad idea what would you do?
I plan ahead, so these sorts of problems are, and I am sorry for being smug about it, less common for me.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Halfmine
on Sunday 20 May, 2012 at 05:27
What is something positively decadent that you love?
Really expensive sheets.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 22 May, 2012 at 04:12
Can I get a hint on the time and date?
Do you want one, now?
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Wednesday 23 May, 2012 at 07:15
How are you remembering May 23rd?
Staying at home and touching as few things as possible.
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 12:09
My flight was delayed (so there's time for more stuff yet). What's one waiting-based element of your work you wish you could change?
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheAndrogyne
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 06:56
How is/was your relationship with your parents?
My mother's beard I don't know, ever since IVF, they've become less necessary to keep around. As for my mother, she and I don't get along.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheAndrogyne
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 06:57
Which of your parents do you take after most in terms of temperament? In appearance?
I can't see a way to answer this. It's not my place to say who I am like.
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheAndrogyne
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 06:57
Are your parents, or would they be, proud of the person you are today?
No, I have a Y chromosome.
SonnovaWitch
responded to FaigeHarrison
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 06:58
[OOC question! I'd love to see you be able to select one aura for out of combat and one aura for combat only. What is one thing you wish the game would add? ]
((Level 50 to provide 5 slots, not 3.))
SonnovaWitch
responded to juusan
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 06:58
How are your teeth?
This is just a weird question.
SonnovaWitch
responded to FaigeHarrison
on Thursday 24 May, 2012 at 08:44
Nomnom - What's for breakfast today?
A new england mixed grill, which is to say, a mixed grill with gin on the side.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Saturday 26 May, 2012 at 07:58
Could you describe weaving for me?
Well, I suppose you had a chance to see the process now.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Halfmine
on Saturday 26 May, 2012 at 07:58
You're kinda neat. I know not a question.
Thank you!
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Sunday 27 May, 2012 at 02:50
Did I mention how much fun I had?
Nope, but it's okay! I'm glad you had fun. It was a nice night for a walk, you know?
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheChthonian
on Sunday 27 May, 2012 at 06:50
Alcohol can turn the nicest man into a slavering beast, yes? So, what sort of drunk are you? Or, without proper experience, what sort of drunk do you *think* you are?
Depends on what I'm drinking, of course.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Halfmine
on Monday 28 May, 2012 at 06:08
Did you know that goat's milk is actually closer to human milk than cow's milk?
Does this conversation lead to samples, because it seems very odd a thing to bring up.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Wednesday 30 May, 2012 at 09:41
Did you choose this life or do you feel that it chose you?
I chose it. I damn near skinned my knuckles knocking on its door.
SonnovaWitch
responded to ChargedWolf
on Thursday 31 May, 2012 at 02:47
I'm a little curious. And it randomly came up.
If you could engage in sexual relations with @laylaward, would you? I wanna see how many yeses this can score.
Assuming you were both available and there were no negative reactions. Be honest.
"Engage in sexual relations" makes me imagine a very archaic way of being dirty, like swapping handwritten notes, sealed with kisses, full of blisteringly graphic depictions of sex acts and inappropriateness. Yes.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Thursday 31 May, 2012 at 02:47
What is the single bravest thing you have ever witnessed, but not been a part of yourself?
Almost everything brave.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Thursday 31 May, 2012 at 09:52
I'd like to introduce you to a friend or two sometime. When is a good time for you?
Go ahead and call me and we'll work something out.
This is a tease that's meant to make you smile. But asking an inevomancer about his schedule is like asking a windsock about its relation to the breeze. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_Qp2BGrC4
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Friday 1 June, 2012 at 10:29
Do you have an opinion on divine beings? God/Gods? Why do you believe this? What separates them from mortals?
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Friday 1 June, 2012 at 10:36
Do you multitask well? Can you provide an example?
Either dizzyingly well - in that I can turn all variables in a situation into a very small, very narrow set of outcomes and take into account the way a robin banks on one morning even unto the moment where the earth's axis shifts due to the sloshing of the water on our surface - or quite poorly in that I plan ahead for everything.
"So you understand the idea. Congratulations, Bill. Now multiply that by infinity, take that to the depth of forever, and you still will barely have a glimpse of what I'm talking about."
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Friday 1 June, 2012 at 10:37
How do you deal with confusion?
From the outside in, bit by bit, finding the pieces that do fit and looking at the shadows that they cast.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Friday 1 June, 2012 at 10:37
"A faith is a necessity to a man. Woe to him who believes in nothing." Do you agree or disagree with the sentiment of this quote? Why or why not?
Things that exist will impact me whether or not I believe in them, and the things that don't exist will likely not do anything for me I could not do myself.
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Saturday 2 June, 2012 at 01:01
Either dizzyingly well - in that I can turn all variables in a situation into a very small, very narrow set of outcomes and take into account the way a robin banks on one morning even unto the moment where the earth's axis shifts due to the sloshing of the water on our surface - or quite poorly in that I plan ahead for everything.
"So you understand the idea. Congratulations, Bill. Now multiply that by infinity, take that to the depth of forever, and you still will barely have a glimpse of what I'm talking about."
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 4 June, 2012 at 05:42
If you could design a society or civilization what would you promote as the primary social virtue or value? Freedom? Knowledge? Oppurtunity? Why do you think that particular value or set of values are so important?
Diversity.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 4 June, 2012 at 05:44
How many times does someone have to make the same mistake before you start considering them a fool? How about if they continue to make the same mistake even when warned by everyone else before each instance?
I don't consider people a fool based on making mistakes.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 4 June, 2012 at 05:44
If you could eliminate one task from your life by automating it, what would it be and why?
The practice of constructing the weave, and yes, I've tried it, and oh my word no.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Monday 4 June, 2012 at 05:47
What's the worst thing you've done that someone can hold against you?
Told them that their relationship was going to fail, and when, and how. Knowing the Weave the way I do, that kind of insight tends to create excess resonance - basically, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Zexecutioner
on Monday 4 June, 2012 at 05:48
Do you value physical affection very much? Why?
I don't, actually; it's very nice, but if I have to do without, I'm okay with it.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Tuesday 5 June, 2012 at 05:14
Do you think you are good at making difficult decisions? Why or why not? Do you have a particular process that works for you that you can describe for most difficult choices?
Not really. Part of my job is about gathering enormous amounts of data before making decisions. There really aren't that many decisions TO make.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Cearmaid
on Wednesday 6 June, 2012 at 02:00
How happy with your current job are you?
I'm adequately compensated, considering the skills involved.
I wonder why you ask.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Wednesday 6 June, 2012 at 08:07
What forms the core of your ethics?
Cause and Effect.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Monday 18 June, 2012 at 08:05
How trusting are you of your friends?
At this point I have in this town two!
I'm pretty trusting.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 18 June, 2012 at 08:06
What do you think motivates you to keep going? Has it always been your motivation?
It was pride, at first. Now I'd say it's contentment. I can't help but imagine that one day this work's not going to be fun and I'll just start ignoring it.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 18 June, 2012 at 08:07
What do you think makes a person brave or gutsy?
The strings of our beings are taut and tuned, and we often know, with remarkable clarity, at those moments when we are going to die. To see those people, in that embrace, with their fates so obviously singing in their flesh, stand up and make those last minutes mean something, that is bravery. Bravery is committing that which you can not uncommit.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 18 June, 2012 at 08:08
What do you have faith in? Can you explain why you have faith in it?
Human cruelty, because it's edgy and dark to say so.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Monday 18 June, 2012 at 08:08
What is your single favorite color? What is your single least favorite color? Do you think that your choices say anything about your personality?
I don't know. I like my dark blue hoodie, but when I wear it with my jeans I look like a Levi Strauss representative.
SonnovaWitch
responded to WhatAccent
on Tuesday 19 June, 2012 at 02:36
I need magic people! And science people! Like space/time science people. Anyone available to give an elemental a hand?
Yes.
SonnovaWitch
responded to shrikespikes
on Wednesday 20 June, 2012 at 04:47
Who watches your back?
I plan ahead.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Withoutle
on Thursday 21 June, 2012 at 11:15
Hey, what's a dead reckoning
A dead reckoning is a form of divination which tries to triangulate on a thread of destiny by gathering data from a handful of other sources. In navigation, this could be done by taking your bearing, your speed, and the time, and you use that to mathematically calculate your positioning.
Using this same technique, what I want to do is gather some basic data about Elly, and see if I can give you a bearing to work with to find her.
The challenge with my inevomancy is that direct involvement - interacting with any of these things myself - pollutes the formula I can use. It's like the uncertainty principle - if I get involved, I diminish accuracy, often by huge degrees.
I am going to try and get you some readings by tonight, Dischord.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:28
What is the most damage you have intentionally done using your abilities? What was the reason behind it?
I suppose untethering a future could be considered awfully apocalyptic. And the reason behind that is because it was much, much worse than all the alternatives.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:29
How do you prefer to deal with hostage situations?
Anticipation.
SonnovaWitch
responded to DoctorDavidson
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:31
When investigating do you prefer overt or covert investigative methods? (It is recognized that both are useful; this question refers only to your personal preference.)
My form of investigation is so pragmatic and so covert that I doubt other people would even consider it a form of investigation.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Hellwhip
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:32
How do you deal with being dumped? Don't wanna get all emo and stuff, just honestly wanna know, yo.
Shrug, laugh, move on. It's an easy thing to have happen, it's an easier thing to get past.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:34
Given your neophilia how have you kept your job with MAGI from getting too boring?
It's work, it doesn't have to be entertaining. Plus, it pays ridiculously well. I may just be a product of my environment, but I have a clear division in my mind between the things I do because they're obligations and the things I do because I want to do them for my own enjoyment.
Still, maybe I could charge a bit less.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:34
Is there any kind of magic you'd like to explore more?
Abjuration, most typically.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:37
If you decided to leave Paragon and didn't have to go to a certain place, where would you go?
Switzerland, to check out the LHC. The Tunguska crater. The End of the World Gate in Timbuktu. Jerusalem. Belfast. The memorial to the Sucia Guerra in Argentina. And then I'd roll a dice and see where else to go.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:41
What's the most interesting 'unsolvable' to you?
Either the uncertainty principle - which has a parallel in inevomancy - or the extradimensional exchange of energy. It's possible, remotely, that inevomancy has a parallel in all other forms of magic - that other magics can borrow magic from the future, pull it back into the present, and for that energy to build on the magic OF the present, making a net GAIN in energy in the future.
Obviously, if that thing can be done we're going to have some messed up saturation points and we'd start getting wiled magic zones, and that'd be another kind of confusion. We DON'T, and inevomancy explains that by what we call the Arden Dissolution, but calling the Arden Dissolution a theory is really giving it a bit of credit when it's just a decent hypothesis. We can't prove or test it after all.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Tuesday 3 July, 2012 at 07:45
Who was the most remarkable person you met in your travels?
Well, you're the first snakeboy I've met. That's really worthy of comment. I've never met anyone as misandrist as my mother, even in the secret societies I've found. There was an Australian chronomancer whose entire magical study was intuitive - he had no idea what he was doing, but he was slicing time, making a few seconds into a few more seconds - and externalising the result in the desert as he travelled.
The result of it was that by my numbers, the guy - who was illiterate and innumerate and didn't really care much about white people's monuments - was something like four hundred years old with the body of a very weathered fifty year old. That was interesting.
Yogis in India, Triad Sorcerers, Korean Ancestromancers... It's really hard to SAY, every thought brings on another anecdote, brings on another memory. It's the joy of always looking out for interesting things, you start to have too many to sort in a clean order.
SonnovaWitch
responded to Stheras
on Sunday 8 July, 2012 at 08:56
How could you use your abilities to help people outside of fighting other people?
Hell, I barely use my abilities to fight other people!
SonnovaWitch
responded to TheAndrogyne
on Thursday 12 July, 2012 at 07:44
"It's alive! ALIIIIIIIIVE! ...I've always wanted to say that." What's something you've always wanted an excuse to say and mean?
Hess, what HAVE you gotten yourself into...?
SonnovaWitch
responded to SnaredJr
on Thursday 12 July, 2012 at 07:45