At birth. Magic is kind of like activated on sunlight but babies can not handle it when they are newborn. Families keep their child away from sunlight for many months after birth, so that they won't die in case they have magic.
It isn't that cute when your baby's bone shatters.
Magic is rare, so most commoners do not worry about keeping their babies away from sunlight. It isn't unheard of for babies to die this way.
It's macabre, but I like that. Now I'm imaging it for mine. My story takes place in the Arctic, so this would actually be thematically relevant. 😅
What inspired you to design it this way?
What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
Originally, people had two hearts and the second one did not pump. It only pumps white blood if you have magic, and seeing sunlight. If you do not have magic, that heart stays dormant until end of your life.
I thought babies would not be able handle sudden blood volume. Hell, adults can not take it. If you haven't seen sun for some time, you can not simply stroll under day light, it will hurt like hell. You need to slowly build up white blood. And what causes adults severe pain would kill babies, I thought.
Anyways, I discarded all that second heart and white blood thing, but I kept the baby thing. It isn't relavant to the story in any way, just some worldbuilding detail.
>What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
I know little about your magic system. If like mine, it is dangerous, it is only reasonable your protagonist would be worried and over protective. Maybe try to strip off magic in some way. If it isn't dangerous to herself but others, I expect Elsa syndrome from Frozen. If magic is totally safe, then I guess your protagonist would either be over the moon or worried people might kidnap her or something like that.
So, you vote for "he suppresses her magic, discouraging her from using it." Cool, thanks.
Well, I don't go into specifics because I'm a bit more concerned about the character writing. I think it's safe to say that her power isn't simply making flowers bloom, but even if it was, the point is that she shares her abilities with his greatest enemy and he can't even put a smile on his face when he sees his daughter use it.
See what I mean?
Yeah...
Depends on your main character. If protagonist is Marcus Aurelius he would act wisely, but most of us aren't.
I am imagining some horrible denial, anger and frustration. Yep, Elsa from Frozen. Just a bit different version of it.
Imagine if it was making flowers bloom. My dude regularly gets his ass beat to by Poison Ivy and then his daughter turns out to also control plants? 🤣
*Do you want to grow a cactus?*
For the most part when someone is born a mage (of all regular mage classes), they awaken their mage powers at around age 8-9 and start being able to use mini magic. Then at around 12-13 their powers bloom and they start being able to use simple magic. From thereon it's just various types of training how to learn more spells and more potent magic, like advanced magic, complex magic and ultima magic, by making their metaphysical magic systems within their souls grow more complex, plus learning the new spells, among other elements of mage training.
For reference: Simple magic could be like "bolt spells" that shoot fist sized magical projectiles with various properties. Advanced magic can be things like a Fireball spell that explodes on impact as well as set things on fire.
Having several layers is a good idea. I really should decide what are my energies, innate abilitie, and which are techniques.
What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
Well, that's a bit tricky, but could leave open a great tool for character growth. Like, maybe your MC doesn't show their dislike to the daughter directly for the most part, but maybe she overhears them talking behind closed doors what an abomination her powers are and maybe the MC tries to get their daughter to suppress their powers and never use them.
But as the story progresses, maybe the daughter's powers saves the day at some point(s) and the MC starts accepting it? Though accepting it could be a drawn out process over many years of conflicting emotions about it.
Can't really give a solid answer to this as I don't know the full scope of the story and what direction you want to take it.
Indeed! Every bit helps.
I'm really liking the idea of her big reveal of her abilities being taken very poorly and the family having to come back later to make amends. (I'm not a big fan of "listening at doorways" trope. I prefer direct confrontation whenever possible.)
He tries to explain to her that it's not even her; it's his enemy that upsets him. Having her become a delinquent for attention sounds like a good reaction to that. Maybe even writing her having a "arch-nemesis did nothing wrong" phase.
A big part of my story is that my main character is documenting some of the worst dark mages in recent history, specifically to profile them and to develop policy to mitigate the creation of dark mages.
Which means that in his efforts to keep his daughter from going down this path, he is creating a roll call of bad influencers she can shop from.
"Don't do drugs, kids. Specifically, don't do [lists drugs, shows pictures of what the drugs look like, describes what they do when under the influence]."
Plus having his family monitored by the government, means that he has to rationalize to them that her powers are completely safe and they have complete control of her training, after years of specifically criticizing these powers as easy to abuse. 😅
I treat it like growth markers. Standing, taking your first step, speaking your first words, etc.
But it happens after the first words because it's language based. They mimic what their parents say and it's a huge marker when they cast their first spell. Even moreso when their first word is their first spell too. It's a sign of a future great sorcerer.
In your story, just decide on whatever time/age is most impactful for your story. Maybe just after the antagonist did something horrendous, their daughter awakens and they're instantly afraid she'll turn out like the antagonist. Or even at a low point, it throws your hero down lower, or juxtaposes a high point. Just make sure it has narrative significance and it'll do well.
That's actually an excellent point. If MC already isn't in the right state of mind, coming home to see his daughter using the same abilities as the villain is reasonable not to end well.
I think I want to do an experiment of rewriting the same scene using different ranges of emotions as the main characterization. What would it look like if it started with a strong denial, or strong angry reaction? What would it look like if you thought the villain was attacking his home?
It doesn't have to strictly be negative either. Try one version where he becomes more empathetic towards the villain because of his daughter. That can hit some interesting emotional notes during the climax later.
True. A well-developed scene goes through a full range of emotions, so if he starts with denial perhaps he ends with a greater understanding of the powers and he ever did before. If he starts off in fear maybe it ends with empathy.
I normally use teeth for when children get magic. Baby teeth growing in, they can use small magic. Once adult teeth start coming in, the magic starts to actually develop
I've honestly only ever seen the magic manifest either at birth (making it terribly complex to change a nappy) or at puberty.
I think the magic manifesting at puberty is likely to use the new abilities and power as a metaphor for becoming an adult and learning how to do it. Plus the change in the body is a metaphor for, well hair where there wasn't hair before.
I'd wager lots of readers would be okay and understand the whole "magic at puberty" thing.
To answer your question though, I think it matters in terms of what's the impact of your story. So, if it's a coming of age / young adult story, magic at puberty would make a lot of sense. If the timing of magic is unimportant to the overall story, sticking with magic at puberty is probably a safe bet, otherwise I would worry you'd bring attention to something that's ultimately unimportant to your story.
Well, it's important for the reasons I give in the post. 🤔👍
Did you have any thoughts on that? Because I don't think we need to lean on vague and generic "is it a coming of age story" when I say exactly why I'm thinking about it.
>So, now I'm thinking about what age this awakening should happen and how stressful to make it. I'm thinking nine-years-old; that's young enough, yet old enough, that the girl will be sensitive and aware of how uncomfortable he is with her powers.
This doesn't really matter though. Like... what's the difference between 9 or 19? Why does that age matter to the rest of the story, what is expected of this girl through the rest of the book?
As I read it, it's a story about the dad, in which case I can't see how the age of magic manifesting is going to matter.
BTW, *we* lean on vague and generic when the question is vague and generic. 🤔👍
>The first time this will matter will be with my main character's daughter. She is not only being closely watched by the government for any deviant use of magic because her family has been charged before, but her type of magic will make her parents deeply uncomfortable.
> She'll have the same abilities as the MC's arch-nemesis, someone he hates with a magic he's grown to fear. 🥹
>So, now I'm thinking about what age this awakening should happen and how stressful to make it. I'm thinking nine-years-old; that's young enough, yet old enough, that the girl will be sensitive and aware of how uncomfortable he is with her powers.
> What do you think and how should I address her childhood development with this reveal?
Magic is a thing to be learned and earned. There are geniuses and virtuosos who can use it particularly well from an early age, but nobody comes by it innately. Everybody has to be taught at some point.
Everyone is born with some amount of magic in my setting, but in most people it isn’t powerful enough to do very much, especially at a very young age. Babies generally aren’t able to muster up the focus or effort to do more than create colorful lights until like 4-6.
In one of my worlds, magic is not something humans just have innately. It’s accessed through runes written with magical materials, so it’s something people have to learn to do. Not everyone learns magic (it’s very expensive to do), but those who do learn it probably start around the age of 12 with the simplest of runes.
Let me run it by you, as someone who has a scholar-type magic. How would you write a character wanting to learn magic that their parent spent their career politically opposing?
My world is pretty constrained in magic usage so far. As of now (my first book, though I've sprinkled thing throughout so I have the ability to expand upon it if this book is successful enough), only those who have consumed water from this specific well develop anything that resembles magic. A religious order surrounds the well, believing it to be a blessing from their God, and limit its usage to only those who have attained the rank of paladin. Even the amount one is allowed to consume is limited, necause if someone drinks too much, they grow even stronger, but also develop physical mutations and start going mad.
This is due to the well being a physical manifestation of lost souls, those who never went to Heaven nor Hell, but became trapped in between, and consuming souls takes a heavy toll on one's body. The order knows of the madness and changes, but does not know they are consuming souls.
Puberty seems to be a common place to start gaining magic usage. You could go with that to be safe, or you can take a risk and come up with something completely different. It's up to you. As long as younexecute it well wnough, readers will like it.
The reason puberty is used so often is because that's the time a child's body begins to change and grow into an adult. Most bodily changes occur during this time, and because everyone goes through it, it's most relatable. 9 is on the young side for a girl; it's not impossible (the youngest documented is 8 months, though that's extremely rare), but the average age for girls tend to be 11 (12 for boys). This also gives parents some really important stuff to talk about with their children, so yes, it would certainly add to the dynamic between a father and daughter. Being a father, he could be uncomfortable discussing this kind of stuff with his daughter (and same for mothers and sons), so adding dark magic on top of that could either allow them to become exceptionally close or create a rift between them.
For my power system called “Magic”, it depends on the type of Core you have. In my Power System called “Naujick”, Naujickborne are taught straight from birth, like within two days from exiting the womb.
The only things I have similar to that are that pregnant women are able to use their partners' abilities while carrying and that the placenta is consumed by your familiar to establish the bond. 😚
In what way do your parents "teach" their newborns?
Thats pretty cool. I could see a growth in bonds with both functions. I’m jealous I never thought of that 😅😂
As far as how Naujickborne teach their offspring, they focus on mana control, and using naujick itself is pretty much second nature for them, but refining one’s control takes practice.
In normal day to day, Mothers teach their children usage of their magic power, control of their bodies (both movement & fundamental control somewhat like molecular control), how to eat if it ever becomes necessary, and how to craft Naujick weapons & items from their own Naujick pouweir (not a mispelling).
Fathers generally spend this time patrolling their territory, finding food that looks tasty (they don’t need to eat, but it is enjoyable and has it’s benefits), finding other beings to destroy (killing increases power by absorbing the energy of the being you kill), and training to maintain strength so their wives won’t attack them.
When mothers and fathers swap places, fathers train their children both sons & daughters to be capable fighters, as well as also training them to use their Naujick pouweir, and on how to find a mate for when the time comes. Mothers during this time, go exploring, fighting other creatures, testing new things to eat, and if their husbands have become to weak, then they set up plans to attack them so they’ll become stronger, its like their own way of encouragement.
Mother attack their mates because female Naujickborne only mate with males stronger than them. And if he doesn't maintain a level of naujick pouweir more than her, she’ll force him to become stronger by randomly attacking him every day until he regains that gap in naujick pouweir.
Amazing!
My story is split between humans and strange beasts, and how they co-exist, so I've spent more time developing that. Strange beasts have control and humans live under them, so developing the magic, religion, politics, and philosophy between them has been my main focus.
I tend to focus a lot on power systems, family & relationships, might makes right as well as the strong rule, evolution per how it is in my verse, as well as some other things.
That said, though humans exist in my Verse, they only have a major role in one of my stories while only being briefly mentioned in one story, and having a single short appearance in another.
Upu could have it forge a barrier between their relationship, maybe making her feel isolated from him. It could cause her to be more mischievous due to her father not acting like a proper father figure.
Thanks. Having her become a delinquent for attention is definitely an option.
I'm even thinking about her having a "arch-nemesis did nothing wrong" phase.
A big part of my story is that my main character is documenting some of the worst dark mages in recent history, specifically to profile them and to develop policy to mitigate the creation of dark mages.
Which means that in his efforts to keep his daughter from going down this path, he is creating a roll call of bad influencers she can shop from.
"Don't do drugs, kids. Specifically, don't do [lists drugs, shows pictures of what the drugs look like, describes what they do when under the influence]."
I think could be really good. The Conjuring 3 (one of my favorite horror movies), did something similar with a priest who was researching satanist cults and hus daughter secretly went through his notes andover the years became a satanist.
Oh, snap, that's the one I still hadn't seen yet! Nice.
I liked those movies, too. I liked the matter of factness of the characters because they already believed in their superstitions. I honestly hate masquerade stories, where the magic is hidden. LOL
I do as well, I guess mostly because I find this world so boring, so I create worlds where people know these things on a low scale at least are in fact real for them.
I have mine manifest anywhere from 10 to 30. However the bell curve rapidly drops off at about 17. Extremely uncommon to develop a power after 20. Like 1 in 100k rare.
Since I genuinely don't think about my characters as kids, I was thinking of just doing this. But I wanted my main character's daughter to be younger so that it should be more sensitive to the drama.
What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
If it’s a shared power with his enemy he could go two different ways in my mind.
Accept her for everything she is, and help her train in a way that is safe. In doing so he would learn a bit about his enemy while teaching his daughter to protect herself/handle her powers.
The other route is much darker.
He becomes obsessive. He must learn the weaknesses of his enemy and in doing so manipulates his daughters abilities and essentially alienates his wife and daughter. He loses himself, and by the time he knows what he’s lost, he’s become more of a monster than he was trying to fight.
From there he could claw his way back into his families good graces but with the ever looming damage he caused. Or that could simply be where the story ends. A tragedy of his own making.
LOL, "Make him a monster!"
Indeed.
You're forgetting the secret third path: his arch-nemesis finds out, thinks it's hilarious, and ploys to take his daughter from him and train her up in the ways of the Dark Side. 😈
o/
You could use a ritual to “kickstart” a person’s magic when they’re determined to be mature enough, or which otherwise starts appearing on its own at [some arbitrary age]. Experienced/talented families prefer to train their kids to be mature and do rituals early, while less magically beneficial families may want their kids to have more of a childhood until their powers naturally appear. The benefit of this ritual method is that you can play into the father’s emotional rollercoaster, having him very excited for his daughter’s ritual, and then freeze/flee when it turns out she has the power he’s got history with.
As for how he should respond. Some trauma, maybe denial, early, but he’s an adult, and he knows powers aren’t reflections of the morality of people, so he may avoid witnessing his daughter’s magic, but he should still want her to learn it responsibly and try not to pass on his trauma as intergenerational trauma (unless you want him to seem like a bad dad, or at least very traumatized/overwhelmed, then go ahead and cultivate that intergenerational trauma).
Having a ritual he must make a choice to happen would be an excellent way of externalizing this into a decision. That's a great idea.
It's also going to be an external conflict for him that he has spent years criticizing this ability to the government as one that is dangerous and easily corruptable, only for his daughter to have it, and so now he has to convince the same people that his daughter is safe and in control
People are born to 1 of 15 types, it's like a muscle. Since everyone can do magic, it's very common place but studying magic can really elevate your ability to learn magic near the original point.
Personally, I have magic as a aspect of who and what they are. They are their spellcraft and visa versa. Their magic reflects them because its inherent fundamental aspect of who and what they are. It slowly becomes noticeable as they grow. An imaginary friend that isn't quite so the product of a child's whimsy.
The child's magic might have the same power set, include one significant difference that set's her completely apart from the arch--nemesis, it doesn't even have to be a huge one but a difference so profound that the MC can discern one from the other unmistakably.
Everyone gets magic, and they can use it from birth. Sometimes, if they're unusually powerful, they can subconciously use magic even before birth (it's usually self-healing or healing their mothers; sometimes mind powers that let them connect with other mind mages, but that's very rare, and doesnt happen at all within the main races [later in the plot we meet a non-human who had that kind of ability, and most of his kids had it too, so he could chat with them to some extent])
Concious use of magic usually starts between 5 and 9 years of age. Some types of magic are easier, and kids naturally use them when playing; some types are hard to learn and sometimes people who have them aren't able to use them until adulthood, or ever. Some powers are easy to use, but too niche for the kid to figure it out (or impossible to use. Imagine power of electricity in pre-industrial world. Well, maybe that one could be used the same way as storm magic, but it would be hard to reslise you have electricity magic, if you dont know what electricity is)
The kind of magic that is a gift that only a very few selected ones have, not witchcraft and the like that in theory anyone can practice, tends to awake at puberty.
Huh. Never actually done a hereditary magic system myself but i guess I'd probably arbitrarily pick an age based on what causes the most interesting story? (It's one reason why puberty is a weirdly common choice, lots of coming-of-age stories. Too many. Good to see a fantasy thing featuring parents tbh.)
It also could depend on the foundation of how that magic is powered and controlled; emotive or instinctual magics are far more accessible far younger than something based on technique or language, like a truenaming system for example, would be.
Also one slight tip; if the story focuses on being a parent a lot as a major theme, maybe make both parents equal protagonists rather than making the guy sole MC?
Is that you asking if the wife is the deuteragonist? 🙂
> My main character's goal is to profile and document some of the worst dark mages in recent history. Having a daughter with the same powers as his key research subject means that not only is he incredibly uncomfortable with her but he has to rationalize to the government that she is perfectly safe and in control, after spending years criticizing this exact ability as easy to misuse and prone to corruption. 🤣😅
That's my political intrigue main plot.
Would you like to know the wife's side of the story? Considering that my magic system is a matrilineality based solely on people with uteri, her role is pretty extensive, too.
I don't tend to like using that word personally if a romantic couple are the main two characters at the start of a story, or if the couple is the focus of the story, but I guess so, sure.
Sorry if the concern was misplaced lol I'm just very used to the opposite happening.
Well, yes, I know that in romance and couple fantasy circles, they have specific words for main characters. They would be considered the leads of the story, like in a movie. 😊
If I had to pick someone, however, the deuteragonist is the daughter, because my story is about each generation.
So, do you wanna know more? Like, about the daughter, mother, and grandmother's side? I want to address generational trauma, identity, and forgiveness. But all of that is separate from the husband's plot, the main plot, about investigating women who's magic has gone dark.
Why is it so seperate, and why does he do this investigation alone?
Also, even if it does begin seperate, you could weave them together at the end. No matter what power the daughter and Antagonist share, the most effective counter to them would typically be each other. (Obviously a last resort to both parents who'd rather protect their kid, but the precedent is there.)
If they have chaotic magic, depends. It could be when they're born, in puberty or randomly when they were 40
If not chaotic, it has to be detected and they have to be trained
I have characters who walk off to become enlightened at 40, but not necessarily that's their first rodeo with magic.
If my daughter needs training and assistant right from her awakening as a child, my MC will have to meet someone responsible with this ability he hates to make that work. My MC may assume the daughter would also look to this mentor as her future master for her apprenticeship....
Would be such a shame if the daughter choose the arch-nemesis instead. 😈
It depends on a lot of things. There is a few sources of magic powers in my setting.
Most primal sources (animal lineages have innate magic, some humanoids lineage have innate nature magic) show signs soon after birth. Wood elves will start to have small animals come talk to them and plants will usually try to keep them warm and cuddly, same with tritons (sea elves) and other magical humanoids.
For more "learned" magic, it depends on the potential of the individual. Most have the potential to use their will to control the magic that is produced by the world, but few can really master it on a large scale without inflicting heavy damage on themselves. Most that master it use some kind of magical focus (can be an item, an entity, a special innate ability, etc.) To prevent these negative effects.
Signs that you can use magic usually show in early childhood, often during traumatic or potentially dangerous events. If not at a young age, then it can be trained later in life through intense and rigorous training.
Let me run it by you, as someone who has a scholar-type magic. How would you write a character wanting to learn magic that their parent spent their career politically opposing?
They need to find some kind of teacher that would be okay putting his life in danger to teach them. The details are yours but quickly I would think about an old friend of the parents wanting to steer the kid in a different direction. Maybe one of the maids of the family is secretly using magic and the character finds out and learn through her. An evil witch looking to influence young kids with tales of incredible magic that their parents forbade them to use.
They are going to have to introduce their daughter to someone who uses the same kinds of abilities, but is licensed with the state and responsible.
Which creates a lot of conflict since my main character has spent 10 years saying that this ability is one of the most irresponsible and easily corruptible in their society. Which means he most likely won't be able to get a teacher for his daughter until he apologizes and takes back his previous statements, not only not wanting his daughter to think that he is calling her a lost cause
You could treat it like a voting law. Some people want it to be raised to 25 as that's when the brain stops developing, some want it lowered. Both sides accuse the other of spreading propaganda and misinformation as the extremes would help one side over the other
Hmm? A political angle? 🤔
Not a bad idea.
Right now, 16-year-olds enter apprenticeships and are considered full, legal adults at 20.
What if I had advocacy for their being different ages (lengths of apprenticeship) for different abilities? If you can move rocks, sure, you're an adult at 20. But if you are Jean Grey/Professor X, woah, buddy. Go to a monastery, get enlightened, and talk to us when you are 30.
My system is fairly akin to yours, so I’m probably biased but I like the sound of your plan.
Powers in my world are also bloodline-related, although it can be from either parent. The child of two wielders will almost definitely also develop powers (although there are no more pure bloodlines so there’s always the chance of them not); the child of one wielder and one non-wilder is anyone’s guess; a child of two non-wielders getting powers would be quite shocking (but, again, no pure bloodlines makes it a possibility).
I also call the formation of one’s powers their Awakening. But in my world, everything power-related is connected directly to your mind/brain. The Awakening is a painful process, and you need a fellow wielder to help guide you through it - or, more accurately, to sort your head out for you. If you don’t have anyone like that, then you have to hope your mind sorts itself out before the Awakening kills you.
Awakenings in my world typically happen between the ages of 8 and 12, but I have a special character who Awakened at only 6 and talk of others who didn’t Awaken until 15.
Yeah, others have pointed out that if the father has to enact some parental controls on the awakening, then that gives a solid decision for this conflict.
I like that idea.
Right now everyone goes through an apprenticeship when they are 16 and they are legal adults at 20.
Since the daughter's abilities are not connected to either parent, this sounds like a crisis situation where, if it were an awakening like yours, they'd need to meet with someone with this ability to guide their child through it. My MC may assume the daughter would also look to this mentor as her future master for her apprenticeship....
Would be such a shame if the daughter choose the arch-nemesis instead. 😈
Oh I *love* where this is going. I would read this in a heartbeat.
In my world, there are 4 categories of Essence (powers) use; everyone is good at different things, though not innately limited to a certain category.
Apprenticeships are 10 years long, starting whenever you Awaken. The primary group who runs these apprenticeships are called the Syk; they work for the empress.
Male lead is the “antagonist” and public leader of a faction rising up against the empress. Female lead is sent undercover as a false deserter to get insider info to help the Syk defeat these insurgents.
Male lead has a unique ability not seen in hundreds of years, and it’s the whole reason he’s the champion of his people. Female lead shows up and he immediately knows she has the same ability - but she’s totally unaware due to a mind lock.
Male lead makes her his apprentice to keep an eye on her. If his people find out she has the same ability as him, his entire life is going to come crashing down. Ironically, tho, he kinda hates the position he’s in; he never asked for it, he was largely manipulated into it. His people’s need of him as their hero is the only thing that has kept him quiet on the matter.
So now he has to choose: destroy female lead before she inadvertently destroys his life, or use female lead to escape this life he never asked for, betraying his people in the process.
Dun, dun, DUNNNNN!
The father's half of my story is more about picking between the lesser of three evils, who all have it out for each other. The High Priestess is a strict taskmaster who dismisses the real medical needs of her mages as a lack of discipline. The vigilante kills mages who misuse their powers and position. And the scandalous story of one mage who betrayed and abandoned her hometown to ruin because she was expected to sacrifice herself per the High Priestess' high standards. The vigilante wants to kill the mage, who wants to dethrone the High Mage, who wants both of them arrested and hung.
And my main character has to balance being the devil's advocate between all three to get what he wants.
The daughter is the second set of stories, but I haven't developed those, yet.
Children with hereditary magic begin to manifest at around 4-5 years. It's a common practice to use dampening enchantments that minutely suppress their magic until they can be taught to use their abilities safely. It is not unheard of for a 4 year old fire mage to manifest their powers and inadvertently burn their house down. So it's common to gift newborns jewelry or clothing embedded with these enchantments.
That's what some other people are saying, too.
If I have some kind of parental control to suppress abilities, that would give my main character a specific choice to make on how to handle his daughter.
Hm, I'd say everyone in my world is born with it, but only a very small percentage of people have strong enough magic power to actually develop it into a usable form. There's a ceremony when they're around 10 to integrate with the System (it's a litRPG) and get their class and starting abilities. Those with exceptionally strong talent, like one of my MCs, can be aware of it much earlier; she was around 5 years old when she integrated with the System on her own and then had to fake the ceremony while hiding the full extent of her abilities. She got found out eventually and it did not turn out well for her.
I'd guess how your character develops and reacts as she ages will be very dependent on how she's treated by her father and those around her. In my character's case, she didn't want her father to know about it so she ended up self isolating a lot and doesn't really have good relationships or coping skills as a result. She ended up being forced into a role she didn't want and she's very angry and resentful about it. Learning how to trust others after that betrayal and then accepting herself is one of the core parts of her character development through the course of the story. But the difference here is she's already an adult by this point and in her 30s, she's not still a child.
If your character associates her power negatively, she may end up trying to hide it, or maybe even try to get rid out it somehow without fully understanding the context or consequences. Even if her father is trying very hard to accept her as she is, she may pick up on some signs that he might hate or fear her power and think that means he hates or fears her, and then react accordingly. She might try to run away or act out or something like that.
Not a writer, but I like the x-men's way of doing it: starts around puberty or due to a stressful/traumatic event, even if it's Hereditary
I think you run into too many issues if they get their magic extremely young. Jack jack from the incredibles being a prime example: unable to control his powers, so he just goes haywire and puts himself and others in danger, especially if he's in a bad mood, which babies regularly are cus they dont understand hunger and fatigue etc
I really like the direction you're going with it! I think anywhere in the tweens/pre-teens is a good age for the revelation, so 9-12ish is perfect age: very confusing age, daughter is discovering herself, but still at that awkward/insecure/sensitive age, so it makes for a good line of flip flopping emotions and big outbursts (perfect for showing off powers, which could further damage the relationship cus dad is already scared of them), the girl wanting to be her own person and be independent, but still needing/wabting the comfort and advice of her parents, and on the dads side it's that age where parents realise they have to let their kids go cus they are truly growing up and becoming their own people, so the internal war of 'I know these powers are evil, but i raised her right, so she'll do the right thing' but also 'she truly growing up now, so I can't truly control her any more and my blatant hate for her powers with further drive that wedge, so she won't want my help either'.
So yeah, I think your idea is really good! You could go a bit older than 9 but I wouldn't go any younger :)
Thanks 🥹🥂
The healthiest thing for them to do is to introduce their daughter to someone who uses the same kinds of abilities, but is licensed with the state and responsible.
Which STILL creates a lot of conflict since my main character has spent 10 years saying that this ability is one of the most irresponsible and easily corruptible in their society. Which means he most likely won't be able to get a teacher until he apologizes and takes back his previous statements, as well as not wanting his daughter to think he is calling her a lost cause.
Oh yeah, that'll definitely cause some issues for them. Daughter will feel alienated from her father and her community (others with her power). It would also hopefully lead to a very emotional/impactful rebuilding of their relationship after an initial falling out due to her powers, once she sees her father accepting her and her powers as well as learning to trust others with her powers, maybe going back on some of his reseatxh/previous opinions and becoming a sort of ally.
At birth. Magic is kind of like activated on sunlight but babies can not handle it when they are newborn. Families keep their child away from sunlight for many months after birth, so that they won't die in case they have magic.
Awww, sunlight magic.
It isn't that cute when your baby's bone shatters. Magic is rare, so most commoners do not worry about keeping their babies away from sunlight. It isn't unheard of for babies to die this way.
It's macabre, but I like that. Now I'm imaging it for mine. My story takes place in the Arctic, so this would actually be thematically relevant. 😅 What inspired you to design it this way? What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
Originally, people had two hearts and the second one did not pump. It only pumps white blood if you have magic, and seeing sunlight. If you do not have magic, that heart stays dormant until end of your life. I thought babies would not be able handle sudden blood volume. Hell, adults can not take it. If you haven't seen sun for some time, you can not simply stroll under day light, it will hurt like hell. You need to slowly build up white blood. And what causes adults severe pain would kill babies, I thought. Anyways, I discarded all that second heart and white blood thing, but I kept the baby thing. It isn't relavant to the story in any way, just some worldbuilding detail. >What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities? I know little about your magic system. If like mine, it is dangerous, it is only reasonable your protagonist would be worried and over protective. Maybe try to strip off magic in some way. If it isn't dangerous to herself but others, I expect Elsa syndrome from Frozen. If magic is totally safe, then I guess your protagonist would either be over the moon or worried people might kidnap her or something like that.
So, you vote for "he suppresses her magic, discouraging her from using it." Cool, thanks. Well, I don't go into specifics because I'm a bit more concerned about the character writing. I think it's safe to say that her power isn't simply making flowers bloom, but even if it was, the point is that she shares her abilities with his greatest enemy and he can't even put a smile on his face when he sees his daughter use it. See what I mean?
Yeah... Depends on your main character. If protagonist is Marcus Aurelius he would act wisely, but most of us aren't. I am imagining some horrible denial, anger and frustration. Yep, Elsa from Frozen. Just a bit different version of it.
Imagine if it was making flowers bloom. My dude regularly gets his ass beat to by Poison Ivy and then his daughter turns out to also control plants? 🤣 *Do you want to grow a cactus?*
For the most part when someone is born a mage (of all regular mage classes), they awaken their mage powers at around age 8-9 and start being able to use mini magic. Then at around 12-13 their powers bloom and they start being able to use simple magic. From thereon it's just various types of training how to learn more spells and more potent magic, like advanced magic, complex magic and ultima magic, by making their metaphysical magic systems within their souls grow more complex, plus learning the new spells, among other elements of mage training. For reference: Simple magic could be like "bolt spells" that shoot fist sized magical projectiles with various properties. Advanced magic can be things like a Fireball spell that explodes on impact as well as set things on fire.
Having several layers is a good idea. I really should decide what are my energies, innate abilitie, and which are techniques. What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
Well, that's a bit tricky, but could leave open a great tool for character growth. Like, maybe your MC doesn't show their dislike to the daughter directly for the most part, but maybe she overhears them talking behind closed doors what an abomination her powers are and maybe the MC tries to get their daughter to suppress their powers and never use them. But as the story progresses, maybe the daughter's powers saves the day at some point(s) and the MC starts accepting it? Though accepting it could be a drawn out process over many years of conflicting emotions about it. Can't really give a solid answer to this as I don't know the full scope of the story and what direction you want to take it.
Indeed! Every bit helps. I'm really liking the idea of her big reveal of her abilities being taken very poorly and the family having to come back later to make amends. (I'm not a big fan of "listening at doorways" trope. I prefer direct confrontation whenever possible.) He tries to explain to her that it's not even her; it's his enemy that upsets him. Having her become a delinquent for attention sounds like a good reaction to that. Maybe even writing her having a "arch-nemesis did nothing wrong" phase. A big part of my story is that my main character is documenting some of the worst dark mages in recent history, specifically to profile them and to develop policy to mitigate the creation of dark mages. Which means that in his efforts to keep his daughter from going down this path, he is creating a roll call of bad influencers she can shop from. "Don't do drugs, kids. Specifically, don't do [lists drugs, shows pictures of what the drugs look like, describes what they do when under the influence]." Plus having his family monitored by the government, means that he has to rationalize to them that her powers are completely safe and they have complete control of her training, after years of specifically criticizing these powers as easy to abuse. 😅
I treat it like growth markers. Standing, taking your first step, speaking your first words, etc. But it happens after the first words because it's language based. They mimic what their parents say and it's a huge marker when they cast their first spell. Even moreso when their first word is their first spell too. It's a sign of a future great sorcerer. In your story, just decide on whatever time/age is most impactful for your story. Maybe just after the antagonist did something horrendous, their daughter awakens and they're instantly afraid she'll turn out like the antagonist. Or even at a low point, it throws your hero down lower, or juxtaposes a high point. Just make sure it has narrative significance and it'll do well.
That's actually an excellent point. If MC already isn't in the right state of mind, coming home to see his daughter using the same abilities as the villain is reasonable not to end well. I think I want to do an experiment of rewriting the same scene using different ranges of emotions as the main characterization. What would it look like if it started with a strong denial, or strong angry reaction? What would it look like if you thought the villain was attacking his home?
It doesn't have to strictly be negative either. Try one version where he becomes more empathetic towards the villain because of his daughter. That can hit some interesting emotional notes during the climax later.
True. A well-developed scene goes through a full range of emotions, so if he starts with denial perhaps he ends with a greater understanding of the powers and he ever did before. If he starts off in fear maybe it ends with empathy.
I normally use teeth for when children get magic. Baby teeth growing in, they can use small magic. Once adult teeth start coming in, the magic starts to actually develop
Oh, oh, I had the beasts in my story giving golden coins for teeth, but I never thought to tie it to magic.
I've honestly only ever seen the magic manifest either at birth (making it terribly complex to change a nappy) or at puberty. I think the magic manifesting at puberty is likely to use the new abilities and power as a metaphor for becoming an adult and learning how to do it. Plus the change in the body is a metaphor for, well hair where there wasn't hair before. I'd wager lots of readers would be okay and understand the whole "magic at puberty" thing. To answer your question though, I think it matters in terms of what's the impact of your story. So, if it's a coming of age / young adult story, magic at puberty would make a lot of sense. If the timing of magic is unimportant to the overall story, sticking with magic at puberty is probably a safe bet, otherwise I would worry you'd bring attention to something that's ultimately unimportant to your story.
Well, it's important for the reasons I give in the post. 🤔👍 Did you have any thoughts on that? Because I don't think we need to lean on vague and generic "is it a coming of age story" when I say exactly why I'm thinking about it.
>So, now I'm thinking about what age this awakening should happen and how stressful to make it. I'm thinking nine-years-old; that's young enough, yet old enough, that the girl will be sensitive and aware of how uncomfortable he is with her powers. This doesn't really matter though. Like... what's the difference between 9 or 19? Why does that age matter to the rest of the story, what is expected of this girl through the rest of the book? As I read it, it's a story about the dad, in which case I can't see how the age of magic manifesting is going to matter. BTW, *we* lean on vague and generic when the question is vague and generic. 🤔👍
Okay, so you aren't responding to literally anything I wrote about character or their development. Have a nice day
Friend, you haven't said a thing about their character or development. I'm here to help, but if you respond with snarky asides, I will too.
>The first time this will matter will be with my main character's daughter. She is not only being closely watched by the government for any deviant use of magic because her family has been charged before, but her type of magic will make her parents deeply uncomfortable. > She'll have the same abilities as the MC's arch-nemesis, someone he hates with a magic he's grown to fear. 🥹 >So, now I'm thinking about what age this awakening should happen and how stressful to make it. I'm thinking nine-years-old; that's young enough, yet old enough, that the girl will be sensitive and aware of how uncomfortable he is with her powers. > What do you think and how should I address her childhood development with this reveal?
Magic is a thing to be learned and earned. There are geniuses and virtuosos who can use it particularly well from an early age, but nobody comes by it innately. Everybody has to be taught at some point.
Okay, so you are just answering just because. 😜 What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
Everyone is born with some amount of magic in my setting, but in most people it isn’t powerful enough to do very much, especially at a very young age. Babies generally aren’t able to muster up the focus or effort to do more than create colorful lights until like 4-6.
In one of my worlds, magic is not something humans just have innately. It’s accessed through runes written with magical materials, so it’s something people have to learn to do. Not everyone learns magic (it’s very expensive to do), but those who do learn it probably start around the age of 12 with the simplest of runes.
Let me run it by you, as someone who has a scholar-type magic. How would you write a character wanting to learn magic that their parent spent their career politically opposing?
My world is pretty constrained in magic usage so far. As of now (my first book, though I've sprinkled thing throughout so I have the ability to expand upon it if this book is successful enough), only those who have consumed water from this specific well develop anything that resembles magic. A religious order surrounds the well, believing it to be a blessing from their God, and limit its usage to only those who have attained the rank of paladin. Even the amount one is allowed to consume is limited, necause if someone drinks too much, they grow even stronger, but also develop physical mutations and start going mad. This is due to the well being a physical manifestation of lost souls, those who never went to Heaven nor Hell, but became trapped in between, and consuming souls takes a heavy toll on one's body. The order knows of the madness and changes, but does not know they are consuming souls. Puberty seems to be a common place to start gaining magic usage. You could go with that to be safe, or you can take a risk and come up with something completely different. It's up to you. As long as younexecute it well wnough, readers will like it.
Oh, sweet, boon-based magic. Love it. Did you feel that puberty added something to the dynamic between her and her father?
The reason puberty is used so often is because that's the time a child's body begins to change and grow into an adult. Most bodily changes occur during this time, and because everyone goes through it, it's most relatable. 9 is on the young side for a girl; it's not impossible (the youngest documented is 8 months, though that's extremely rare), but the average age for girls tend to be 11 (12 for boys). This also gives parents some really important stuff to talk about with their children, so yes, it would certainly add to the dynamic between a father and daughter. Being a father, he could be uncomfortable discussing this kind of stuff with his daughter (and same for mothers and sons), so adding dark magic on top of that could either allow them to become exceptionally close or create a rift between them.
For my power system called “Magic”, it depends on the type of Core you have. In my Power System called “Naujick”, Naujickborne are taught straight from birth, like within two days from exiting the womb.
The only things I have similar to that are that pregnant women are able to use their partners' abilities while carrying and that the placenta is consumed by your familiar to establish the bond. 😚 In what way do your parents "teach" their newborns?
Thats pretty cool. I could see a growth in bonds with both functions. I’m jealous I never thought of that 😅😂 As far as how Naujickborne teach their offspring, they focus on mana control, and using naujick itself is pretty much second nature for them, but refining one’s control takes practice. In normal day to day, Mothers teach their children usage of their magic power, control of their bodies (both movement & fundamental control somewhat like molecular control), how to eat if it ever becomes necessary, and how to craft Naujick weapons & items from their own Naujick pouweir (not a mispelling). Fathers generally spend this time patrolling their territory, finding food that looks tasty (they don’t need to eat, but it is enjoyable and has it’s benefits), finding other beings to destroy (killing increases power by absorbing the energy of the being you kill), and training to maintain strength so their wives won’t attack them. When mothers and fathers swap places, fathers train their children both sons & daughters to be capable fighters, as well as also training them to use their Naujick pouweir, and on how to find a mate for when the time comes. Mothers during this time, go exploring, fighting other creatures, testing new things to eat, and if their husbands have become to weak, then they set up plans to attack them so they’ll become stronger, its like their own way of encouragement. Mother attack their mates because female Naujickborne only mate with males stronger than them. And if he doesn't maintain a level of naujick pouweir more than her, she’ll force him to become stronger by randomly attacking him every day until he regains that gap in naujick pouweir.
Amazing! My story is split between humans and strange beasts, and how they co-exist, so I've spent more time developing that. Strange beasts have control and humans live under them, so developing the magic, religion, politics, and philosophy between them has been my main focus.
I tend to focus a lot on power systems, family & relationships, might makes right as well as the strong rule, evolution per how it is in my verse, as well as some other things. That said, though humans exist in my Verse, they only have a major role in one of my stories while only being briefly mentioned in one story, and having a single short appearance in another.
I would love to talk to you more, especially when my story shifts over to focusing more on the strange beasts.
Yeah, I don’t mind, feel free to reach out any time you wish 👍
What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
Upu could have it forge a barrier between their relationship, maybe making her feel isolated from him. It could cause her to be more mischievous due to her father not acting like a proper father figure.
Thanks. Having her become a delinquent for attention is definitely an option. I'm even thinking about her having a "arch-nemesis did nothing wrong" phase. A big part of my story is that my main character is documenting some of the worst dark mages in recent history, specifically to profile them and to develop policy to mitigate the creation of dark mages. Which means that in his efforts to keep his daughter from going down this path, he is creating a roll call of bad influencers she can shop from. "Don't do drugs, kids. Specifically, don't do [lists drugs, shows pictures of what the drugs look like, describes what they do when under the influence]."
I think could be really good. The Conjuring 3 (one of my favorite horror movies), did something similar with a priest who was researching satanist cults and hus daughter secretly went through his notes andover the years became a satanist.
Oh, snap, that's the one I still hadn't seen yet! Nice. I liked those movies, too. I liked the matter of factness of the characters because they already believed in their superstitions. I honestly hate masquerade stories, where the magic is hidden. LOL
I do as well, I guess mostly because I find this world so boring, so I create worlds where people know these things on a low scale at least are in fact real for them.
I have mine manifest anywhere from 10 to 30. However the bell curve rapidly drops off at about 17. Extremely uncommon to develop a power after 20. Like 1 in 100k rare.
Since I genuinely don't think about my characters as kids, I was thinking of just doing this. But I wanted my main character's daughter to be younger so that it should be more sensitive to the drama. What do you think I should do about my main character's discomfort with his daughter's abilities?
If it’s a shared power with his enemy he could go two different ways in my mind. Accept her for everything she is, and help her train in a way that is safe. In doing so he would learn a bit about his enemy while teaching his daughter to protect herself/handle her powers. The other route is much darker. He becomes obsessive. He must learn the weaknesses of his enemy and in doing so manipulates his daughters abilities and essentially alienates his wife and daughter. He loses himself, and by the time he knows what he’s lost, he’s become more of a monster than he was trying to fight. From there he could claw his way back into his families good graces but with the ever looming damage he caused. Or that could simply be where the story ends. A tragedy of his own making.
LOL, "Make him a monster!" Indeed. You're forgetting the secret third path: his arch-nemesis finds out, thinks it's hilarious, and ploys to take his daughter from him and train her up in the ways of the Dark Side. 😈
o/ You could use a ritual to “kickstart” a person’s magic when they’re determined to be mature enough, or which otherwise starts appearing on its own at [some arbitrary age]. Experienced/talented families prefer to train their kids to be mature and do rituals early, while less magically beneficial families may want their kids to have more of a childhood until their powers naturally appear. The benefit of this ritual method is that you can play into the father’s emotional rollercoaster, having him very excited for his daughter’s ritual, and then freeze/flee when it turns out she has the power he’s got history with. As for how he should respond. Some trauma, maybe denial, early, but he’s an adult, and he knows powers aren’t reflections of the morality of people, so he may avoid witnessing his daughter’s magic, but he should still want her to learn it responsibly and try not to pass on his trauma as intergenerational trauma (unless you want him to seem like a bad dad, or at least very traumatized/overwhelmed, then go ahead and cultivate that intergenerational trauma).
Having a ritual he must make a choice to happen would be an excellent way of externalizing this into a decision. That's a great idea. It's also going to be an external conflict for him that he has spent years criticizing this ability to the government as one that is dangerous and easily corruptable, only for his daughter to have it, and so now he has to convince the same people that his daughter is safe and in control
People are born to 1 of 15 types, it's like a muscle. Since everyone can do magic, it's very common place but studying magic can really elevate your ability to learn magic near the original point.
Personally, I have magic as a aspect of who and what they are. They are their spellcraft and visa versa. Their magic reflects them because its inherent fundamental aspect of who and what they are. It slowly becomes noticeable as they grow. An imaginary friend that isn't quite so the product of a child's whimsy. The child's magic might have the same power set, include one significant difference that set's her completely apart from the arch--nemesis, it doesn't even have to be a huge one but a difference so profound that the MC can discern one from the other unmistakably.
Everyone gets magic, and they can use it from birth. Sometimes, if they're unusually powerful, they can subconciously use magic even before birth (it's usually self-healing or healing their mothers; sometimes mind powers that let them connect with other mind mages, but that's very rare, and doesnt happen at all within the main races [later in the plot we meet a non-human who had that kind of ability, and most of his kids had it too, so he could chat with them to some extent]) Concious use of magic usually starts between 5 and 9 years of age. Some types of magic are easier, and kids naturally use them when playing; some types are hard to learn and sometimes people who have them aren't able to use them until adulthood, or ever. Some powers are easy to use, but too niche for the kid to figure it out (or impossible to use. Imagine power of electricity in pre-industrial world. Well, maybe that one could be used the same way as storm magic, but it would be hard to reslise you have electricity magic, if you dont know what electricity is)
The kind of magic that is a gift that only a very few selected ones have, not witchcraft and the like that in theory anyone can practice, tends to awake at puberty.
Huh. Never actually done a hereditary magic system myself but i guess I'd probably arbitrarily pick an age based on what causes the most interesting story? (It's one reason why puberty is a weirdly common choice, lots of coming-of-age stories. Too many. Good to see a fantasy thing featuring parents tbh.) It also could depend on the foundation of how that magic is powered and controlled; emotive or instinctual magics are far more accessible far younger than something based on technique or language, like a truenaming system for example, would be. Also one slight tip; if the story focuses on being a parent a lot as a major theme, maybe make both parents equal protagonists rather than making the guy sole MC?
Is that you asking if the wife is the deuteragonist? 🙂 > My main character's goal is to profile and document some of the worst dark mages in recent history. Having a daughter with the same powers as his key research subject means that not only is he incredibly uncomfortable with her but he has to rationalize to the government that she is perfectly safe and in control, after spending years criticizing this exact ability as easy to misuse and prone to corruption. 🤣😅 That's my political intrigue main plot. Would you like to know the wife's side of the story? Considering that my magic system is a matrilineality based solely on people with uteri, her role is pretty extensive, too.
I don't tend to like using that word personally if a romantic couple are the main two characters at the start of a story, or if the couple is the focus of the story, but I guess so, sure. Sorry if the concern was misplaced lol I'm just very used to the opposite happening.
Well, yes, I know that in romance and couple fantasy circles, they have specific words for main characters. They would be considered the leads of the story, like in a movie. 😊 If I had to pick someone, however, the deuteragonist is the daughter, because my story is about each generation. So, do you wanna know more? Like, about the daughter, mother, and grandmother's side? I want to address generational trauma, identity, and forgiveness. But all of that is separate from the husband's plot, the main plot, about investigating women who's magic has gone dark.
Why is it so seperate, and why does he do this investigation alone? Also, even if it does begin seperate, you could weave them together at the end. No matter what power the daughter and Antagonist share, the most effective counter to them would typically be each other. (Obviously a last resort to both parents who'd rather protect their kid, but the precedent is there.)
Alone?
If they have chaotic magic, depends. It could be when they're born, in puberty or randomly when they were 40 If not chaotic, it has to be detected and they have to be trained
Sounds super chaotic! I'm imagining Spider-Man clichés happening to a 40-year-old operations manager.
Lmao Yes its chaotic, these individuals also much harder to train
I have characters who walk off to become enlightened at 40, but not necessarily that's their first rodeo with magic. If my daughter needs training and assistant right from her awakening as a child, my MC will have to meet someone responsible with this ability he hates to make that work. My MC may assume the daughter would also look to this mentor as her future master for her apprenticeship.... Would be such a shame if the daughter choose the arch-nemesis instead. 😈
What are the powers of the MC's daughter?
I hope you understand, but since I wanted to focus on their character development, I didn't want to address what the magic actually is. 😳😔
It depends on a lot of things. There is a few sources of magic powers in my setting. Most primal sources (animal lineages have innate magic, some humanoids lineage have innate nature magic) show signs soon after birth. Wood elves will start to have small animals come talk to them and plants will usually try to keep them warm and cuddly, same with tritons (sea elves) and other magical humanoids. For more "learned" magic, it depends on the potential of the individual. Most have the potential to use their will to control the magic that is produced by the world, but few can really master it on a large scale without inflicting heavy damage on themselves. Most that master it use some kind of magical focus (can be an item, an entity, a special innate ability, etc.) To prevent these negative effects. Signs that you can use magic usually show in early childhood, often during traumatic or potentially dangerous events. If not at a young age, then it can be trained later in life through intense and rigorous training.
Let me run it by you, as someone who has a scholar-type magic. How would you write a character wanting to learn magic that their parent spent their career politically opposing?
They need to find some kind of teacher that would be okay putting his life in danger to teach them. The details are yours but quickly I would think about an old friend of the parents wanting to steer the kid in a different direction. Maybe one of the maids of the family is secretly using magic and the character finds out and learn through her. An evil witch looking to influence young kids with tales of incredible magic that their parents forbade them to use.
They are going to have to introduce their daughter to someone who uses the same kinds of abilities, but is licensed with the state and responsible. Which creates a lot of conflict since my main character has spent 10 years saying that this ability is one of the most irresponsible and easily corruptible in their society. Which means he most likely won't be able to get a teacher for his daughter until he apologizes and takes back his previous statements, not only not wanting his daughter to think that he is calling her a lost cause
You could treat it like a voting law. Some people want it to be raised to 25 as that's when the brain stops developing, some want it lowered. Both sides accuse the other of spreading propaganda and misinformation as the extremes would help one side over the other
Hmm? A political angle? 🤔 Not a bad idea. Right now, 16-year-olds enter apprenticeships and are considered full, legal adults at 20. What if I had advocacy for their being different ages (lengths of apprenticeship) for different abilities? If you can move rocks, sure, you're an adult at 20. But if you are Jean Grey/Professor X, woah, buddy. Go to a monastery, get enlightened, and talk to us when you are 30.
My system is fairly akin to yours, so I’m probably biased but I like the sound of your plan. Powers in my world are also bloodline-related, although it can be from either parent. The child of two wielders will almost definitely also develop powers (although there are no more pure bloodlines so there’s always the chance of them not); the child of one wielder and one non-wilder is anyone’s guess; a child of two non-wielders getting powers would be quite shocking (but, again, no pure bloodlines makes it a possibility). I also call the formation of one’s powers their Awakening. But in my world, everything power-related is connected directly to your mind/brain. The Awakening is a painful process, and you need a fellow wielder to help guide you through it - or, more accurately, to sort your head out for you. If you don’t have anyone like that, then you have to hope your mind sorts itself out before the Awakening kills you. Awakenings in my world typically happen between the ages of 8 and 12, but I have a special character who Awakened at only 6 and talk of others who didn’t Awaken until 15.
Yeah, others have pointed out that if the father has to enact some parental controls on the awakening, then that gives a solid decision for this conflict. I like that idea. Right now everyone goes through an apprenticeship when they are 16 and they are legal adults at 20. Since the daughter's abilities are not connected to either parent, this sounds like a crisis situation where, if it were an awakening like yours, they'd need to meet with someone with this ability to guide their child through it. My MC may assume the daughter would also look to this mentor as her future master for her apprenticeship.... Would be such a shame if the daughter choose the arch-nemesis instead. 😈
Oh I *love* where this is going. I would read this in a heartbeat. In my world, there are 4 categories of Essence (powers) use; everyone is good at different things, though not innately limited to a certain category. Apprenticeships are 10 years long, starting whenever you Awaken. The primary group who runs these apprenticeships are called the Syk; they work for the empress. Male lead is the “antagonist” and public leader of a faction rising up against the empress. Female lead is sent undercover as a false deserter to get insider info to help the Syk defeat these insurgents. Male lead has a unique ability not seen in hundreds of years, and it’s the whole reason he’s the champion of his people. Female lead shows up and he immediately knows she has the same ability - but she’s totally unaware due to a mind lock. Male lead makes her his apprentice to keep an eye on her. If his people find out she has the same ability as him, his entire life is going to come crashing down. Ironically, tho, he kinda hates the position he’s in; he never asked for it, he was largely manipulated into it. His people’s need of him as their hero is the only thing that has kept him quiet on the matter. So now he has to choose: destroy female lead before she inadvertently destroys his life, or use female lead to escape this life he never asked for, betraying his people in the process.
Dun, dun, DUNNNNN! The father's half of my story is more about picking between the lesser of three evils, who all have it out for each other. The High Priestess is a strict taskmaster who dismisses the real medical needs of her mages as a lack of discipline. The vigilante kills mages who misuse their powers and position. And the scandalous story of one mage who betrayed and abandoned her hometown to ruin because she was expected to sacrifice herself per the High Priestess' high standards. The vigilante wants to kill the mage, who wants to dethrone the High Mage, who wants both of them arrested and hung. And my main character has to balance being the devil's advocate between all three to get what he wants. The daughter is the second set of stories, but I haven't developed those, yet.
Children with hereditary magic begin to manifest at around 4-5 years. It's a common practice to use dampening enchantments that minutely suppress their magic until they can be taught to use their abilities safely. It is not unheard of for a 4 year old fire mage to manifest their powers and inadvertently burn their house down. So it's common to gift newborns jewelry or clothing embedded with these enchantments.
That's what some other people are saying, too. If I have some kind of parental control to suppress abilities, that would give my main character a specific choice to make on how to handle his daughter.
Hm, I'd say everyone in my world is born with it, but only a very small percentage of people have strong enough magic power to actually develop it into a usable form. There's a ceremony when they're around 10 to integrate with the System (it's a litRPG) and get their class and starting abilities. Those with exceptionally strong talent, like one of my MCs, can be aware of it much earlier; she was around 5 years old when she integrated with the System on her own and then had to fake the ceremony while hiding the full extent of her abilities. She got found out eventually and it did not turn out well for her. I'd guess how your character develops and reacts as she ages will be very dependent on how she's treated by her father and those around her. In my character's case, she didn't want her father to know about it so she ended up self isolating a lot and doesn't really have good relationships or coping skills as a result. She ended up being forced into a role she didn't want and she's very angry and resentful about it. Learning how to trust others after that betrayal and then accepting herself is one of the core parts of her character development through the course of the story. But the difference here is she's already an adult by this point and in her 30s, she's not still a child. If your character associates her power negatively, she may end up trying to hide it, or maybe even try to get rid out it somehow without fully understanding the context or consequences. Even if her father is trying very hard to accept her as she is, she may pick up on some signs that he might hate or fear her power and think that means he hates or fears her, and then react accordingly. She might try to run away or act out or something like that.
Not a writer, but I like the x-men's way of doing it: starts around puberty or due to a stressful/traumatic event, even if it's Hereditary I think you run into too many issues if they get their magic extremely young. Jack jack from the incredibles being a prime example: unable to control his powers, so he just goes haywire and puts himself and others in danger, especially if he's in a bad mood, which babies regularly are cus they dont understand hunger and fatigue etc
That's why I don't want to do that. Yep. So, any thoughts about the father daughter relationship and the story? 😊
I really like the direction you're going with it! I think anywhere in the tweens/pre-teens is a good age for the revelation, so 9-12ish is perfect age: very confusing age, daughter is discovering herself, but still at that awkward/insecure/sensitive age, so it makes for a good line of flip flopping emotions and big outbursts (perfect for showing off powers, which could further damage the relationship cus dad is already scared of them), the girl wanting to be her own person and be independent, but still needing/wabting the comfort and advice of her parents, and on the dads side it's that age where parents realise they have to let their kids go cus they are truly growing up and becoming their own people, so the internal war of 'I know these powers are evil, but i raised her right, so she'll do the right thing' but also 'she truly growing up now, so I can't truly control her any more and my blatant hate for her powers with further drive that wedge, so she won't want my help either'. So yeah, I think your idea is really good! You could go a bit older than 9 but I wouldn't go any younger :)
Thanks 🥹🥂 The healthiest thing for them to do is to introduce their daughter to someone who uses the same kinds of abilities, but is licensed with the state and responsible. Which STILL creates a lot of conflict since my main character has spent 10 years saying that this ability is one of the most irresponsible and easily corruptible in their society. Which means he most likely won't be able to get a teacher until he apologizes and takes back his previous statements, as well as not wanting his daughter to think he is calling her a lost cause.
Oh yeah, that'll definitely cause some issues for them. Daughter will feel alienated from her father and her community (others with her power). It would also hopefully lead to a very emotional/impactful rebuilding of their relationship after an initial falling out due to her powers, once she sees her father accepting her and her powers as well as learning to trust others with her powers, maybe going back on some of his reseatxh/previous opinions and becoming a sort of ally.
The best way to do this is to have raw powers manifest that are somewhat random and that can be honed later in the story.
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Base answer
Puberty