There! I added Aoife's appearance and background, and added a summary paragraph at the end of her personality. I hope you like her!
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Name: Aoife Fitzgerald
Age: 27
Appearance: At 5' 2" (157 cm), Aoife is a little bit on the short side. She has green eyes, a small nose, and glasses, which give her a bookish appearance; she typically wears her brown hair in a long braid draped over her right shoulder. Her fashion sense could be described as preppy; she favors sundresses when it's warm and sweaters when it's not. She's cute, in a "girl next door" sort of way, but often has a withdrawn or even nervous attitude; her movements are very direct and efficient, and she doesn't tend to gesture much in conversation, although she's more animated when teaching.Overall, Aoife is most at home in a library or coffee shop, and she likes her appearance to match.
Personality: Thoughtful, reserved, attractive, and with an exotic-sounding accent, Aoife is often seen as hard to approach. This perception has some truth to it, but not for the reasons people think. Her cool, borderline aloof demeanor has less to do with disliking or not caring for people, and more to do with being deeply awkward and insecure. Aoife feels that she doesn't understand people very well, which isn't helped by a degree of social anxiety, nor by her naturally introverted nature. She's been compared (and compares herself) to a cat - she keeps her own company, it's possible to win her over, if you're patient and respect her boundaries. That said, Aoife's uncertainty in social situations is a fairly deep issue, and not helped by her presence in the very male-dominated field of computer science.
Intelligent and technically minded, Aoife has high standards for herself; she can often be heard scolding herself over relatively benign mistakes in a proof, piece of creative writing, or something she's baking. While self-doubt is a chronic problem for Aoife, she's also aware of her successes, and prides herself on her lateral thinking and creativity as much as she does her technical skills. While she has no problem applying her standard for herself to people who should know better, as a TA, she's known for being empathetic and skilled at breaking down complex topics into something understandable; to a large extent, this is a reflection of how she herself learns by breaking things down in the same way. Many of the friendships she does hold have started when someone asked an insightful question during her office hours.
Aoife is acutely aware of how few women there are in her chosen field, and it bothers her more than she'd care to admit. She feels a constant pressure to perform and a scrutiny that isn't applied to her peers. She's determined enough to tolerate it, and maintains other interests when she needs to unwind. She enjoys creative writing, and has published several stories online - both fanfic and original works - largely with a focus on science fiction, exploration, and the unknown; her characters are often reflections or idealizations of herself. She also enjoys baking, and will usually bring in something sweet when running a class discussion or exam. Aoife often presents herself as disinterested in romance, but the truth is that she's deep in the closet. She doesn't make a big deal of her Irish origins, but doesn't hide them, either; jokes about Irish stereotypes are as sure a way to earn her ire as jokes about women in the sciences are.
Overall, Aoife is someone who's self-image is largely tied up in her intelligence. She's quick-witted, creative, and insightful, but held back by self-doubt. Comfort and familiarity are very important to her, even as another, deeper part of her craves new experiences and challenges. She can be standoffish around people she doesn't know well, but it's more to do with not getting them than anything; however, she's not afraid to speak her mind if she perceives someone as acting badly, especially in a way that attacks her identity in some way. While introverted and not very people-oriented, Aoife does value the few strong friendships she does have. Today, she might be considered autistic.
Background: If her name doesn't give it away, Aoife (pronounce "EE-fe") hails from the city of Galway in the Republic of Ireland. Her parents, Aidan and Deirdre Fitzgerald, moved to America when she was fourteen when her father's company asked him to oversee their new American branch, bringing Aiofe, her older brother Eamon, younger brother Finn, and two cats with them. She's currently enrolled at Sanctuary Hills as a grad student.
An awkward, geeky child, Aoife struggled to make connections with her peers, although not for lack of trying. She found more fulfilment in more solitary creative pursuits, and she excelled in her art and literature classes. At first, she didn't care for math, since she found the pace of the class glacially slow; however, she was fortunate enough to have passionate, proactive teachers, who reached out to her parents and helped her get into a newly formed advanced class. Soon enough, she found that math and logic could be just as expressive as art, and fell in love - although it was another way that she was unlike her peers, and at the time, she didn't have the emotional intelligence not to brag about it.
Aoife grew up as a good Catholic girl, the sort of person who never missed Mass, who said her prayers every night, and who was deeply afraid of Hell even from a young age. As she grew up, her blind acceptance of Catholic doctrine gave way to skepticism, questioning, and doubt, and as a teenager, she officially declared that she was leaving the Church. While her family generally tolerated her personality quirks, this was a bit hard for them, and they frequently argued about it. Aoife still values her connections with her family, but now that she's living on her own, pursuing a degree, and generally independent, she finds herself wondering why.
Magic Specialty: Aoife has always been fascinated by computers and the potential they represented. She sees a fundamental similarity between algorithms and spells, and she hopes one day to earn her doctorate in the emerging field of algorithmic spellcraft. ("What Admiral Hopper did for computer programs, I hope to do for magic," as Aoife puts it.) She's acquainted enough with magical theory to perform some basic workings, mostly simple things convenient in the day-to-day life of a busy academic.
Age: 27
Appearance: At 5' 2" (157 cm), Aoife is a little bit on the short side. She has green eyes, a small nose, and glasses, which give her a bookish appearance; she typically wears her brown hair in a long braid draped over her right shoulder. Her fashion sense could be described as preppy; she favors sundresses when it's warm and sweaters when it's not. She's cute, in a "girl next door" sort of way, but often has a withdrawn or even nervous attitude; her movements are very direct and efficient, and she doesn't tend to gesture much in conversation, although she's more animated when teaching.Overall, Aoife is most at home in a library or coffee shop, and she likes her appearance to match.
Personality: Thoughtful, reserved, attractive, and with an exotic-sounding accent, Aoife is often seen as hard to approach. This perception has some truth to it, but not for the reasons people think. Her cool, borderline aloof demeanor has less to do with disliking or not caring for people, and more to do with being deeply awkward and insecure. Aoife feels that she doesn't understand people very well, which isn't helped by a degree of social anxiety, nor by her naturally introverted nature. She's been compared (and compares herself) to a cat - she keeps her own company, it's possible to win her over, if you're patient and respect her boundaries. That said, Aoife's uncertainty in social situations is a fairly deep issue, and not helped by her presence in the very male-dominated field of computer science.
Intelligent and technically minded, Aoife has high standards for herself; she can often be heard scolding herself over relatively benign mistakes in a proof, piece of creative writing, or something she's baking. While self-doubt is a chronic problem for Aoife, she's also aware of her successes, and prides herself on her lateral thinking and creativity as much as she does her technical skills. While she has no problem applying her standard for herself to people who should know better, as a TA, she's known for being empathetic and skilled at breaking down complex topics into something understandable; to a large extent, this is a reflection of how she herself learns by breaking things down in the same way. Many of the friendships she does hold have started when someone asked an insightful question during her office hours.
Aoife is acutely aware of how few women there are in her chosen field, and it bothers her more than she'd care to admit. She feels a constant pressure to perform and a scrutiny that isn't applied to her peers. She's determined enough to tolerate it, and maintains other interests when she needs to unwind. She enjoys creative writing, and has published several stories online - both fanfic and original works - largely with a focus on science fiction, exploration, and the unknown; her characters are often reflections or idealizations of herself. She also enjoys baking, and will usually bring in something sweet when running a class discussion or exam. Aoife often presents herself as disinterested in romance, but the truth is that she's deep in the closet. She doesn't make a big deal of her Irish origins, but doesn't hide them, either; jokes about Irish stereotypes are as sure a way to earn her ire as jokes about women in the sciences are.
Overall, Aoife is someone who's self-image is largely tied up in her intelligence. She's quick-witted, creative, and insightful, but held back by self-doubt. Comfort and familiarity are very important to her, even as another, deeper part of her craves new experiences and challenges. She can be standoffish around people she doesn't know well, but it's more to do with not getting them than anything; however, she's not afraid to speak her mind if she perceives someone as acting badly, especially in a way that attacks her identity in some way. While introverted and not very people-oriented, Aoife does value the few strong friendships she does have. Today, she might be considered autistic.
Background: If her name doesn't give it away, Aoife (pronounce "EE-fe") hails from the city of Galway in the Republic of Ireland. Her parents, Aidan and Deirdre Fitzgerald, moved to America when she was fourteen when her father's company asked him to oversee their new American branch, bringing Aiofe, her older brother Eamon, younger brother Finn, and two cats with them. She's currently enrolled at Sanctuary Hills as a grad student.
An awkward, geeky child, Aoife struggled to make connections with her peers, although not for lack of trying. She found more fulfilment in more solitary creative pursuits, and she excelled in her art and literature classes. At first, she didn't care for math, since she found the pace of the class glacially slow; however, she was fortunate enough to have passionate, proactive teachers, who reached out to her parents and helped her get into a newly formed advanced class. Soon enough, she found that math and logic could be just as expressive as art, and fell in love - although it was another way that she was unlike her peers, and at the time, she didn't have the emotional intelligence not to brag about it.
Aoife grew up as a good Catholic girl, the sort of person who never missed Mass, who said her prayers every night, and who was deeply afraid of Hell even from a young age. As she grew up, her blind acceptance of Catholic doctrine gave way to skepticism, questioning, and doubt, and as a teenager, she officially declared that she was leaving the Church. While her family generally tolerated her personality quirks, this was a bit hard for them, and they frequently argued about it. Aoife still values her connections with her family, but now that she's living on her own, pursuing a degree, and generally independent, she finds herself wondering why.
Magic Specialty: Aoife has always been fascinated by computers and the potential they represented. She sees a fundamental similarity between algorithms and spells, and she hopes one day to earn her doctorate in the emerging field of algorithmic spellcraft. ("What Admiral Hopper did for computer programs, I hope to do for magic," as Aoife puts it.) She's acquainted enough with magical theory to perform some basic workings, mostly simple things convenient in the day-to-day life of a busy academic.
Ah! Yes, sorry! It really did keep getting buried, my bad. It sounds great, algorithmic spellcraft is definitely a thing, too. If you need a spell to affect things differently depending on certain criteria, or to only affect certain targets etc.
I think I've brought up that there's some very real overlap between programming and spellwriting. But if I'm to understand correctly, this person isn't studying magic personally, are they?
Ah, that's a great question! She definitely knows the theory, being a grad student and all, and she can definitely perform workings with help from a computer - gotta test those theories, right? I think she probably knows some simple utility spells (moving small objects, illumination, that kind of thing) since she already knows the theory and they're convenient, but we'll see; I might adjust that based on the group dynamic.
On a different note, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think my character concept keeps getting buried. Gisk, how does this sound?
Oh, something I should ask - is everyone capable of working magic in the world, or is it a talent only some have? Typically along family lines (but talent doesn't always appear), but sometimes especially in the 60's, some children were born out of wedlock with the magic genes?
I think this came up on the first page:
I also think it's a skill like baking or working on cars. Obviously some people do it professionally, but a lot of people have some knowledge and skill in the subject that they've picked up here and there. Conversely, some people can't work a spell to save their life, and that's okay!
Naomi(is that an appropriate thing to call you?)
Yup!
Uh, fair point there. No fourth law but I stand by that Newton invented a lot of the math that magicians use to analyze their magic.
Hey, I'm a huge geek and like sharing what I know. If it came across like a callout or uhm, akshually, I'm sorry; that wasn't my intent. My thought process began and ended at "the laws of thermodynamics are neat".
I know magic is often the most interesting thing in a given setting, but I want to remind everyone that it's meant to be just background to an RP about a bunch of friends fucking around over the summer. It's fun to peak at it behind the curtain every once in a while, so I certainly won't put a stop to these discussions, but let's not get bogged down by details.
Good to know I wasn't entirely off base :) What did you think of my character concept? The permalink seems to be misbehaving, so I'll reproduce it here:
Busy few days, ahhhhh
OT a bit, but if you want to use real-world scientific principles, this is the first law of thermodynamics ("The energy of a closed system remains constant").
Building off kalanggam's college town staples, here're a few more things that could be fun or cool to explore. I love the idea of mysteries around the campus and town and that's definitely a factor in my picks here!
I know this was a rhetorical question, but I don't think it should be. "Magic as technology" is one approach, and many well-respected stories use it, but it's not the only way, and I don't think it's the approach @Gisk wants to take. As long as magic requires a witch, it will never replace electricity - no one's going to contract a witch every time they want to put the kettle on. To be clear, I'm not trying to argue for the superiority of either approach; I'm just not sure we're collectively on the same page about what sort of story we're trying to tell here.
Gisk, am I correct in understanding that you see the setting here as more or less like the real world?
e: Like, that's the vibe I get from things like this:
Newton's Fourth Law explains that in a given magical system, the energy applied in its effect will be equal to or less than the energy supplied to the system. There is complicated math to describe the loss of energy through inefficiencies in the spellcasting.
OT a bit, but if you want to use real-world scientific principles, this is the first law of thermodynamics ("The energy of a closed system remains constant").
Building off kalanggam's college town staples, here're a few more things that could be fun or cool to explore. I love the idea of mysteries around the campus and town and that's definitely a factor in my picks here!
- A comic and game shop, because what college town isn't prepared to cater to a geeky audience?
- An independent brewery, the sort of place frequented by quirky people and hipsters.
- An orchard off to the edge of town, run by a family who's been in the area for generations. They have money, but not as much as they used to.
- An underground weed den. It might operate under any of those places.
- A quirky local band or seven.
- A record store where you can pick up their music.
- A forested area on the edge of town. It's largely untouched, aside from the odd hiking trail and a few campsites. Urban legends claim there's a monster in the lake, but no one's managed to get it on camera.
- An abandoned quarry or mine.
Okay, magical alternate world scenario. What is the level of technology in this world? Keep in mind that most of the things in our lives were created out of need - ships, planes, cars, etc. Who needs electricity if you have magic?
I know this was a rhetorical question, but I don't think it should be. "Magic as technology" is one approach, and many well-respected stories use it, but it's not the only way, and I don't think it's the approach @Gisk wants to take. As long as magic requires a witch, it will never replace electricity - no one's going to contract a witch every time they want to put the kettle on. To be clear, I'm not trying to argue for the superiority of either approach; I'm just not sure we're collectively on the same page about what sort of story we're trying to tell here.
Gisk, am I correct in understanding that you see the setting here as more or less like the real world?
e: Like, that's the vibe I get from things like this:
Barring the fact of course that this is all up to Gisk, I also like these ideas. Fantasy being interwoven with daily life in a mundane way. Small-town mysteries, local incidents and scandals, petty social drama - rather than the grandiose adventures and magnanimous ambitions we're accustomed to from traditional fantasy.
Fwiw, this approach really spoke to me; it reminded me of The Scholomance (which is a fantastic series if you like your magic schools with a side of Lovecraftian horror):
One of my favorite descriptions of magic is in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susannah Clarke. It's deliberately vague, we rarely see a description of what magicians are actually doing to make magic happen. They talk a lot about formulas, and mention techniques by name without describing them. It makes for a fun, arcane "technobabble" that I personally really enjoy.
This is Gisk's game, I just made a suggestion.
And I thought it was a good one, that's all :)
As for me, I'm kind of leaning towards someone studying computer science. In the 90s, I think that'd put them in the math department... which is actually really interesting in a magical setting, I think. I'm debating a grad student, and if I go that route, they're going to TA a class called Elements of Algorithmic Spellcraft or something along those lines. If being a student there piques anyone's interest, lmk!
As a suggestion, why not have it going on over the summer? Just a handful of students present for a handful of classes, or having decided to stay in town instead of going home during the summer break?
The townies are happy because they can finally get downtown. Maybe now they can hit that diner that's always thronged with students during the fall and spring semesters? Fourth of July fireworks, art festivals, farmer markets, yard sales. Who knows what bit of elderich horror one might find in a pile of old books? Say an old diary that used to belong to a long dead professor?
Perhaps the gang are all members of a paranormal club - ghost hunting and the like?
The college is an old one, there are actual graves on campus where various members of the faculty were buried. Perhaps a few stories of strange things going on? Like rumors of strange beings in the stacks of the library at night? Or why the steam tunnels are all locked up and alarmed? Perhaps a few empty houses with hidden bunkers under them? Or a network of odd underground tunnels leading to hidden speakeasies long abandoned - or so you thought?
And let's not forget frats and secret societies.
Ngl, I'm really into this idea :) I've even got a character concept brewing at the back of my head.
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