Nothing like a good review to make me feel better.

So far this week has been a never-ending litany of minor annoyances that have led to my being as irritated as a bear that's been kept awake from hibernation bay a bad tooth.

But I feel better, because someone I respect actually mentioned in LJ that he hadn't seen Avatar: the Last Airbender, and I got to do a glowing recommendation of it to him. Which makes me feel better, since it's good to have a chance to say nice things.

Here it is:

I have to admit that from seeing the initial pictures of it, I was dismissive of Avatar as some Yu-Gi-Oh or Dragonball clone, until someone who's opinon I trust forced me to sit down and watch the first episode. And then I was hooked.

Avatar, is literally, not only one of the best animated fantasy series I've ever seen, it's one of the best fantasy series I've ever seen in any media. Not only is the world building and plotting excellent, the character design, personalities and development is top notch. The series goes from somewhat light-hearted in the beginning, and becomes more and more series as the stakes are raised and the characters mature- and yet there is still a large dose of humor. One sign of the care involved in the series is that early on I had several questions raised about the home of two of the characters...which were answered in grim detail in the third season. Avatar also has one of my favorite villains; one who not only considers himself the hero of the story, has an excellent motivation to be doing what he's doing, and also really WOULD be the hero, if he didn't keep making the "wrong" decisions for all the best reasons.

The bottom line is this is a well crafted product, which has stretched the notion of what an American animated series is capable of, just as much, if not more so than Batman: the Animated Series did back in its day.

So my recommendation? Go on Amazon, and just grab the first season collection. It's well worth the price.

Under the Green Moon (long) Notes on Magic

Here's some notes about magic in UTGM.   this is a huge post, for a huge setting element, and I'd love to hear back from people with their reactions, thoughts, or suggestions.


MAGIC

Magic is a fairly recent art; it is generally believed that it was developed by the Lifemakers, several millenia ago, and may have been what enabled their civilization to reach the heights it did.  There is no good evidence for use of magic before that culture, outside of scattered old legends of dubious providence.  It is also generally recognized that the Lifemaker's grasp of magic was not as refined as currently, and advances in the theory and practise of magic are ongoing (there are of course researchers who dispute any and all of this, and the scholar who proved that say, magic existed before the Lifemakers, or that a new technique was actually a ressurected old one, would havehis reputation made).

In spite of centuries of use and experimentation, there are still any number of theories about what magic actually is. The more religious, philosophies call it a gift of the gods, or a present from the Sky People, or a connection with the great world-mind. Other, more inwardly focused or materialistic philosophies consider it a sign of the next stage of humanity's spiritual evolution, a mental power that's always existed to be tapped, or even the product of invisibly small machines that are omnipresent in the environment. In any case, a great deal of practical knowledge has accumulated regarding the practical parameters and usage of magic

(Note: think of the situation being like Newton-era astronomy. There's a huge amount known, and much that can be done, but still the causative elements are a mystery.)

Magic also has many names, depending on the tradition, many of which are variants of "The Power", ";The Talent", "The Gift", etc.. Common people without magic tend to just call it magic.


Of the nature of magic.

Magic Comes in Discrete Powers: The overall skill of using magic is separate from the actual powers, which are more like individual techniques, disciplines, or katas to be learned. A user who has learned fire shaping for instance, can next learn teleportation about as easily as they could learn fire blast. There are some powers that require other powers as prerequisites, (such as fire shaping for fire blast), but they are fairly rare, and often are combinations of two or more powers.

Overall magical ability is seen as the ability to impress one's force of personality and will on magic, and has both an inborn and a trained component. the strength of all powers are based on this ability, though it is possible to specialize in some powers.

Magic is Unintelligent: There are no spirits, deities, elementals or faeries involved in magic, outside of stories and metaphor. It obeys the users will and intelligence, annd the only factor involved is the effect on the user of using or abusing their power.

Magic Is Personal: Normally it does not requires focuses, rituals or elaborate gestures and incantations to create magic. Usually all that is needed is concentration and a simple gesture at best, though in some cases, rituals can be used as a focusuing element.. The concentration required for magic is also fatiguing; extensive use of magic can exhaust a magic user, and magic users tend to burn food like athletes (there is some speculation that this is one reason why the Daemons rarely get fat).

There are some drugs that enhance concentration, or conversely, make it difficult to use magic. The latter are commonly used as restraints. Otherwise it can be difficult to prevent a magic user from accessing their magic.

Magic is Universal: all races and cultures are able to use magic, even the sentient animals. Of course some races (like the Daemons) and cultures have an aptitude for it, or have developed the study to a more refined level. Magic users will be found in all races, though outside of the highly civilized empires, the users may specialize in magic according to their cultural or environmental needs.

Foci and Devices: Magic requires sentience, and a degree of training. There are no independently functioning magical devices; a user is always required. However, there are foci that either enhance or emulate a power, allowing a user who otherwise not have access to a power to use it. A focus is a complex combination of crystal and metal, and much of the theory behind their creation and usage is still being discovered, but progress is constantly being made. The newer foci can allow a barely trained user to emulate a very powerful ability, with only limited amounts of fatigue.

Magic is part of the world, not separate from it: Magic works along side natural laws, not instead of them, and so knowledge of the natural world is an excellent skill for a magic user. Several of the most advanced kingdoms and empires, particularly the Daemon dominated ones have had great success integrating magic and technology, making up for the difficulty in finding material and energy sources. Magic is used in machines to provide heat or cold, motion or force, and even to separate nd refine materials. The most advanced nations even use magic to create ground and sea vehicles, and even lighter-than-air craft.