The Dresden Fillies 214 members · 27 stories
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So this was something that got me thinking, Hexing works the way it does because the great human consciousness believes it works the way it does. I think so at least.

How would Hexing work in other settings?

I'm fairly certain if a Wizard was to end up in the Fallout or S.T.A.L.K.E.R universe, Hexing wouldn't foul up tech, it does that fine enough on its own, but would instead take the form of pulses of radiation, or mini-events, which Wizards would be "mostly" immune to. I mean they're not going to be able to walk into Vault 87 from the main door, but scavving in Ghoul tunnels would be a little less dangerous.

Anybody got any idea how it would work in other settings, like Borderlands, Dark Souls, Command and Conquer, His Dark Materials, the Discworld.

D48

5898673 I suspect it's at least a little more personal than that since groups have a way of self-reinforcing those kinds of beliefs. I would expect Dresden to keep disrupting technology in another setting since he still believes he does that so he's constantly subconsciously using his magic to fuck up technology around himself. The effect might be weaker in another setting due to the lack of other wizards reinforcing his beliefs and possibly effects, and some settings like BattleTech would tend to be more resistant due to their habit of overbuilding and generally Ragnarok-proofing all their tech (seriously, they can usually start up war machines that have sat abandoned for several centuries without any trouble, that's got to count for something), but without time for his own beliefs to evolve I would expect more or less the same results.

Incidentally, this is at least tangentially supported by some of the younger magic users he knows who don't seem to have any problems with even highly sophisticated computers. Dresden may write it off as them not having enough power to do it, but I suspect it has more to do with the younger generation having different beliefs and growing up around technology. After all, there's a very clear parallel between wizards fucking up technology and old people who think computers are something strange and impossible because they refuse to learn about it, and I highly doubt that's a coincidence.

5899219

I'd argue that point because I remember at some point in the stories it was mentioned that Hexing during the Victorian/Georgian era's would cause hallucinations, earlier nearby dairy products would spoil, and before that Magic users would grow warts and the like. Yet Ebenezar, who is at least 180 years old minimum (well into victorian times) is mentioned as having the same problems with tech as Harry, rather than doing an older Hexing effect, and let's not discount Molly who, up until the end of Cold Days, makes it so that Michael and Charity have to do constant upkeep and maintenance on their household amenities.

From the Dresden Files wiki

Because the metaphysical principles governing the operation of magic are continuously changing (albeit very slowly), the side effects of mortal magic also change. For example, during the eighteenth century, exposure to magic caused dairy products to spoil.

If Harry, or any other Wizard got dragged straight out to another universe, there'd most likely be a period of transisition, but for a Wizard who was born, and developed their talent in these universes, the Hexing would most likely be different.

D48

5899297 Maybe, but group belief is very much a real thing which doesn't need any basis in reality to exist. You can probably think up plenty of examples on your own, but I'm not going to provide any here because calling them out causes cognitive dissonance for members of that group which translates into anger and personal attacks which I don't feel like opening myself up to. This belief does have a tendency to change over time, even within the same individual, and will definitely impress on young members of the group due social pressure so you can't give too much credence to those examples. I would expect Ebenezer's views to change with the rest of the group as younger wizards stop having problem with milk due to lack of exposure to that belief and more of that confusing newfangled technology comes along for them to be confused by. As for Molly, she's growing up with a Knight of the Cross who is about as immersed in the magical world as it's possible to be for a father, a magic-capable mother, and Harry Dresden stopping by on a semi-regular basis, all of whom hold that group belief that magic fucks up technology so it's not surprising that she picked it up as well.

5899624

Fairy nuff, I think we're getting a little off topic though. It's not would Harry's hexing change specifically? It's would the wizards who grew up in those universes have different hexing compared to the Dresden Files universe, and if so, what would it be?

D48

5900587 To be honest, I doubt natives of another setting would have a problem at all since it's not a mechanic commonly seen in other settings. There certainly don't seem to be any problems like that in MLP for example, and I can't see the ponies suddenly acquiring walking techbane status if they jumped into the Dresden Files setting (although they'd have a hell of a time with keyboards :rainbowlaugh:). I'm reluctant to make any sweeping claims here since every setting has its own rules and you will have to work to reconcile them on a case-by-case basis, but generally speaking you should expect to see characters either hold to their personal rules or the rules of the world they are placed into depending on the details of the rule in question.

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