#the 5th magic
5th Magic Meta - Casey
Casey doesn’t like magic.
Casey wasn’t that different from his parents. He grew up with their views in mind and seeing Acacia’s fascination he was never loud about it, but he didn’t think all that much about magic. And when he met it outside of his family, it wasn’t in any positive way. People arguing about magic types and who is worth more, commotion in cities, attacks and confrontation in news about another mage scuffle…magic seemed not to bring any good to the table.
Casey was actually planning to give up his own magic altogether, just like his parents. He had it, and he didn’t care. He thought the world would be much better off without it. And he still does.
But Acacia couldn’t give it up. No, his sister had to be obsessed with it so much she became a genius with it.
Then the war broke out, soldiers requiring kids to join and because Acacia was so good, her parents tried to hide her affinity - and the sudden lack of Acacia’s magic in public was suspicious. Acacia was too rumored for her talent, she stood out from the start, so of course the soldiers that came for her didn’t quite believe it.
And when they tried to take him instead, his sister stood up for him and revealed herself and kicked all his plans to give up his own magic out the window with them. So of course, as a good brother, he had to follow her to the army, had to make sure she was okay.
And then the rebellion came, and the hideout came, and other mages came and and and…Casey was stuck with magic defining his life despite his internal aversion to it.
Now Casey isn’t above using magic. He is making the best out of the worst situation, playing with with kids, training to be better with it. He has to hold his own in this magic ruled world.
Then Acacia’s obsession with the myth of 5th magic came, this insanity that no one knew how to prove or disaffirm. Nothing tangible again other than Acacia’s detoriating condtion. This led Casey to really start hating magic altogether.
But he loves people. He sees mages as humans more than anything else, that’s why he has no trouble accepting other types. He is compassionate, loyal and protective. He took little Nicole as his own almost immediatly upon meeting her, and treated her as a little sister ever since. Then Mira came, and Jayden and all the other kids and mages looking for a home and Casey can’t do anything less than be there for them, fight for them, protect them.
The whole war seems like needless insanity to him. He can never understand Acacia and what she stands for in her belief to have magic be an art, but he could never leave her. He is defined by his relationships with the Circle, by how much he cares about his family, which cannot compare to how he resents magic. If anything he resents it even more for what it did to the Rogue Mages, to what it’s forcing people to become.
Casey is always torn between hating magic and his loyalty to the people he loves, but he will always choose his family above everything - and if magic is the way to do it, so be it.
Casey is such a good brother
I’m sure you’ve mentioned this somewhere but I can’t remember, what is the age difference between Acacia and Casey? How old is he in the story? Of course I understand that years have passed between Acacia first being taken to join the army and the rebellion but still, just curious
I really like how Casey is so not bothered about magic. Just kind of wanting to give it up, to wish no one had it because its creating so many problems. It’s such an interesting thing to think when most/all of?? the world has magic, but I do understand his reasons.
And yet, even with his indifference to magic, he doesn’t try to force this view of “never use magic” on anyone at all. So many fantasy stories that include magic always have stigmas of magic where it must be hidden or they exploit the use of magic (and do not get me wrong, I love a good bit of this trope as much as the next - just look at my love for Street Magic ) but I just mean it’s so good to see a subversion to the trope. Where magic is common and accepted in a way. Of course not all of it is accepted otherwise there wouldn’t be a war but you get the idea.
The point is that he doesn’t try to shame people for using magic when it is so destructive and so dividing. He accepts it, he accepts he and his sister have it, it’s a part of his life, and he still uses it from time to time. But he doesn’t try to force others not to use it.
5th Magic Meta - main trio character study
Standing there proudly, every bit herself took Kyler’s breath away. He was sure now - Acacia could never pretend to be something she wasn’t - and he really envied that.
Acacia represents the theme of being true to oneself the most. She is the epitome of this, but at the same time she isn’t irrational. She puts other people and the interests of the hideout in front of herself, she plans and strategies and keeps secrets that would hurt the people she loves. All her life she is fighting all her other desires for the simple wish to live true to herself, the girl that loves magic and art, connection and fun, never meaning to inspire so many people along the way.
His discipline was of range she has never seen before. It was more than desire, more than need, more than love. His willpower was absolute. He could achieve anything he would set his mind to and it scared her and excited her at the same time.
NowKyler represents in many ways the opposite to Acacia. He is defined by his discipline and willpower, by how much he can overcome himself and who he is to adapt to his circumstances, to survive. He sees the truth, doesn’t fight what he can’t change and accepts what doesn’t align with how he sees life. In a way he can see the world the most objectively, because his desires always come last to him. Which is also the cause of most of his grief.
Wes cared easily, felt intensly and shined brightly in his lose canon way. A complete opposite of him, but Kyler found himself drawn to his reckless passion. It was that kind of life he gave up by rationalizing his feelings, the kind of living he never dared to imagine, but sometimes secretly wanted more than anything else.
Consequently he is drawn to people like Wes. Wes seeks freedom, the freedom to care and feel and do whatever he wants. Now he isn’t actually free, because the power he has combined with such intense passionate feelings come with a prize for a spirit like him, but he acts like it. He dares. Challenges the world and life for the rules set on him. In a way he is the most selfish of the trio, since he doesn’t have any scruples, no loved ones to hold him back, no responsibilities he considers. What he doesn’t realize is that giving himself the space to feel so much for everything, he irreversibly binds himself to it. He cares too much, and he can’t escape the impact of that.
I mean you already know how much I love themes of identity and true selves so this is an incredible breakdown of the main trio
Having them all have different uses of their emotions to their advantage. Acacia’s loving caring side being slightly tactical with what information she does and does not share. Kyler’s reluctance to Emote ™ and how this does allow him an objective view of the world. Wes using his passions to get his views across.
I just love the depth you have with them
I was tagged by @fields-of-ink, thanks!
He promised her he wouldn’t lie. He also promised himself to never hurt her again.
But it seemed these two were mutually exclusive. There was no way to do both.
Tagging:@thewalkingnerdx@stories-by-rie@cilly-the-writer@kosmosian-quills
What have you DONE
Kyler can’t open up to Grayson the same way he can with Acacia and Wes. Now this isn’t weird at first, when he arrives into the hideout with the mission to kill his brother.
His dynamic with Grayson will become a problem, when Kyler does change, admits to his mistaken views and adapts to a different kind of life the Rogue Mages stand for, but it doesn’t really solve anything between the two.
One thing is Grayson and his misdirected anger and hate at Kyler he used as his fuel for years. I will adress this in another post, since this is a pretty big part of what makes Grayson himself in the 5th Magic universe in comparison to the Street Magic Spinoff version of him, where he doesn’t have anyone in particular to hate.
Kyler has another qualms. In a way it’s easier for him to open up to Wes, whom he doesn’t see as human at first and Acacia that gets under his skin with their mutual respect. Now Acacia and Wes accept him.
But Grayson knew Kyler before all this. They were two innocent boys manufactured as General’s clones, but they had no idea of the war or their role. It was just this big institute with kids that all looked alike, looking for their roles and meaning, but really just exploring, training, having fun. Every clone starts a little boy with a healthy spectrum of emotions.
Kyler had to abondon that in the Heir Trials, cut that part of himself to move on. Because if he acted emotionally, he wouldn’t be able to. Grayson is the epitome of everything Kyler hates about himself, every feeling, passion and anger that Grayson fosters in himself, Kyler lets go.
Grayson survives against the rules though, against what Kyler thinks should be possible with so much emotional baggage. Cutting it off, not feeling is Kyler’s solution and Grayson’s very existence contradicts that.
Accepting Grayson would mean accepting the other way was possible. It would mean Grayson managed, what Kyler didn’t, while knowing Kyler started the same and could have chosen.
Acacia and Wes accept him, seeing him now for who he is. But Grayson saw what he was before, what he could have been and what he decided not to be, and that’s a whole new level of terryfying.
Their entire dynamic is amazing and I love them just the idea that these brothers - who are practically identical (in a genetic sense) but raised differently, with one using their lack of emotion to continue their way in the world, and the other using their anger to do exactly the same thing.
