LIKE LORD VOLDEMORT from Harry Potter, “Made in China 2025” is an initiative which induces so much fear and loathing abroad that Chinese officials dare not speak its name. The plan, introduced a decade ago, called for pouring money and resources into dozens of industries. The goal was to turn China into a green and innovative “manufacturing power”, one that relied less on labour and Western supply chains, and more on automation and new home-grown technologies. This was Xi Jinping’s vision for the Chinese economy.

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[–] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 16 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I'm afraid not. It's an OC project. "Guy goes to magic community college and struggles to afford tuition." So he and his friends go on misadventures to try and scrape enough money together all the while he becomes increasingly upset with the capitalist society they inhabit.

[–] Enjoyer_of_Games@hexbear.net 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

is there some explanation for why wizards need money at all

[–] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

No, but there's headcanon and yet to be integrated bits. Which, in an OC, just means I forgot to write it into the rough draft. That was one of the first insights my critique group gave me, funnily enough.

A lot of mages aren't in the business of adventuring or creating 12th level spells on their floating islands to become gods. A lot of them, especially in Giliblanc, the home country of the MC, are more integrated into conventional society. For example, at an introductory performance at the college, there's a mage who graduated and went on to pioneer "Internal Fighting Systems Therapy" (a play on Internal Family Systems where one might talk to their inner child).

"You essentially break down your mental landscape into subpersonalities. You characterize them, imagine them, and talk to them. Once you’re at the end of your session, she will cast a simulacra of the subpersonality and give you guidance on how best to use martial arts to beat it in combat."

Others go on to be engineers, crafters, researchers, and notably members of the military. Seldom do people go off on adventures. Anybody is capable of learning the craft of magic as it is a pervasive field just like the electromagnetic field, but only a small subsection of the population ever get into particle physics and develop a relationship with electrons.