Good question.

Question relating to "Spellsinger" and its titular power. by Laburnum on 2008-12-13 15:28:00 UTC Reply

Spellsinger is pretty obscure, so some explanation will be necessary. For those that don't know, it's the continuum briefly referenced in "Martin's First Time" which Laburnum got so mad about during the MST (the line about Mudge the otter and the "f***ing unicorn"). It's about a human college student named Jonathan Thomas Meriweather who is transported into a weird alternate universe inhabited by talking animals - sort of like Narnia but with rock music replacing the Christianity and the animals all use a lot more bad language. Jon-Tom, as he becomes known, discovers he has the power of a spellsinger, which means he can work magic through music as long as he picks the right lyrics.

My question is, if an agent with some musical talent went into the Spellsinger continuum for whatever reason, could they develop spellsinging powers? If they could, would those powers remain when they went back to HQ? Since Tawaki's character developed permanent Bloodwrath from taking the form of a badger during a mission and mine developed it from putting it down on the OFUR form during her student days (gotta write about them some time) I'd guess it would, but would they have to specifically put "spellsinger" into the Disguise Generator for it to start up in the first place?

And if they did, would it be too close to a Sue or Stu power? I think the inconvenience of having to pick exactly the right song and the ease with which it can go wrong, and the fact that s/he'd probably never be able to play and sing at the same time without causing weird effects again would outweigh the coolness, but I think I'd better ask. I might not do this anyway but I thought I should work out the specifics in case I did want to use it.

My two cents by Kd7sov on 2008-12-13 23:18:00 UTC Reply

It's been a while since I read those books, and I know I missed at least one later in the series, so this is not a fully-informed opinion.

My impression was that it takes three things to be a spellsinger - musical talent, a magical instrument, and what I'm going to call a magic-resonance; I seem to recall other, non-singing spellcasters. (To be a good spellsinger, of course, you need improvisational talent and/or a good supply of songs.)

So it seems to me that the agent in question would need to not only have musical talent, but also some magical ability, plus get ahold of one of the incredibly rare instruments that can handle magimusic.

As far as permanence, remember that in one of the books Jon-Tom's duar got broken, so he couldn't sing up anything until he got a replacement (and then a repair). Since it would be Severely Frowned Upon to take such a rare thing out of the source canon, and the Flowers aren't likely to supply Agents with magical instruments, it'd be pretty moot.

As far as Suvianity, let us again consider the source material. Due to being a fairly ordinary rock-interested college student, once he gets his duar he is able to get pretty close to the result he wants every time. Sure, it's never exactly right, and there are some side effects ("first mate, he got drunk", for instance), but it seems excessive to me.

-Kd7sov, who is by no means an authority person, and who rambles too much.

Good points. by Laburnum on 2008-12-14 00:40:00 UTC Reply

The character I was thinking of doing this with is already a good musician (legitimately so, not Sue-type) and in possession of an instrument which isn't exactly magical because his home continuum doesn't have "magic" but it seems to be very attuned - excuse pun - to him. (His original author did a ficlet showing him after death, finding his instrument also in the afterlife after it was destroyed because he'd put so much of himself into it.) If he did gain spellsinging abilities, he'd resent them deeply because it'd mean he could never simultaneously play and sing without causing weird side effects - for that matter, only singing or only playing also has weird side effects for a spellsinger because it attracts the gneechees.

I think I'll not give them to him under normal circumstances, but maybe during the Designated Yearly Emergency of the OFUR when reality is stretched wildly out of shape and the characters figure out a way to tap into it ...

Good question. by Neshomeh on 2008-12-13 17:34:00 UTC Reply

It may depend on the continuum. There's a precedent that you can't become a wizard just by entering the Harry Potter continuum, for example, though I think people have ignored this one. Generally, though, they have to use wands made by HFA or Makes-Things, which may come with a wizard disguise.

It sounds like this canon allows for extra-dimensional people to gain powers by showing up, though, so it could work in this case.

Also, I'm a music-lover and it sounds like fun. That said, you might want to wait for other people to weigh in before making a decision. ^_^;

~Neshomeh

the Force and Sues by Ugolino on 2008-12-15 03:04:00 UTC Reply

And the same rules apply to Force-sensitive disguises, yes?

Also, can Sues sense you on missions? If so, can they sense you as a void in the Force if you're from another universe?

Sues can see agents normally, canonicals can't ... by Laburnum on 2008-12-15 10:58:00 UTC Reply

... unless the agents draw attention to themselves. Presumably the same applies to non-visually sensing them.