Hello Eorn,
An interesting topic, i'm going to break it down into a few small chunks and point out that perceptions are of course a personal things, not everyone agrees with me, and cultural/societal upbringings would of course provide a different context for each person. Warning, I will be going into slight spoilers of WHM/BLM/SUM/SCH lore as some of them touch on similar themes.
The stigma towards Black Magic comes from a number of sources, I would first point to the ancient "Mage Wars" talked about in the Scholar opening (lvl30) quest, as well as White Mage, to surmise, (according to the scholar quest) some 15 centuries ago, a war of magic users erupted, and the power they waged was mighty. Black mages and White mages both have moments in their quest line that mention how their magic draws from the land and can leave it barren. (Some hints towards this in mentions of Thanalans Era-lost vibrancy, and the burying of Sil'dih.)
A stigma can also be an evolution of the perception of Thaumaturgy, while in 2.0 the group is some what neutered of its moral ambiguity, at least in 1.0 the organization was clearly a gray area. For example during you're training you are sent across Eorzea to sell funeral rights to various people, and a Lalafell thaumaturge in training who is also setting upon the trial does not scruple to both sabotage you and she also uses some under handed tactics to see her mission done. I think, particularly outside of Ul'dah, agents of the Ossuary would not be treated as "welcomed guests" as much as some might have you believe.
You could also touch on the power. Its been said many different ways in many different scenes, but most people don't distinguish between "Light" and "Dark" power when it's so grand, or even more so they don't distinguish between a Good person with a seemingly Dark power and the reverse. They just see people with too much power running around doing what ever they want and damn the consequences. This also runs into what it looks like. If we assume that most outsiders don't comprehend the technical differences of Aether manipulation, you could point towards the fact that a Voidsent, during the Thaumaturgy quest line is the closest example of Blackmagic you see up to that point... A demon in a jar, not the best harbinger for good intentions (Eh, Hoenheim?)
Adventurers had proved themselves over a long stretch of time and great tribulations during 1.0 (IC) the group you see in the "End of an Era" video are arguably the "warriors of light" (yes yes, much discussion on this, not the point at the moment.) and had worked a great deal to aid Eorzea before the battle took place. I imagine the group that had bested Primals, and put down the White Raven had earned an immense amount of, if not respect, then at least acknowledgment. That and the leaders of each faction had not scrupled to utilize their seedier brethren in the fight for Eorzea up to that point anyways. It was a last ditch effort, no punches, how ever dirty, were going to be pulled.
I made a point in character of never mentioning my capacity as a Blackmage, though it does exist. Some of those i've met have been scorned, other are warily dealt with, but rarely (outside of scholarly organizations) treated as openly as some of the more "goodly" peoples. As far as running into "Other Black Mages" I am usually (being interested in Aether manipulation) interested in hearing that story, but am often cautious as to their validity and mental stability. An Eras old Magic practitioner would certainly garner some attention, in character I wonder if some Thaumaturge may not just be puffing themselves up. If their role is proven, i'm cautious...
I've even made a point of distancing myself from the Ossuary in character, Death obsessed, and potentially under the influence of monetarists, I try to make a point of explaining that I only interact with them so far as using them as a resource. Sadly this isn't something that has been explored in 2.0 nearly as much as I should like, it seems the Syndicates role has been down played since I met the up and coming in 1.0. I wouldn't go about screaming to the high heavens of your Black Magic also in part because they may relate you to Dalamunds fall and the Calamity.
I make an effort to not outright judge the title of the person, but the context of how it came about. For example, while I do use "Black Mage" as a title in character, I don't strictly adhere to the story line applied during the game. I use the similar vein, lost knowledge, unspeakable act, beast men, ritual, but i've diverged myself enough that with confidence I could have some one stick to the story line and not say "Hey, I met the same Amalj'aa!". I don't use the other jobs, IC, only touch on using a few of the classes, but I try to treat them along the same lines.
I hope that wall of rambling thought provides at least a little information you might find of use. Feel free to dissect it and ask for further clarification, I just enjoy rambling, especially about Magic.
EDIT:: just went back and corrected a few notes.
An interesting topic, i'm going to break it down into a few small chunks and point out that perceptions are of course a personal things, not everyone agrees with me, and cultural/societal upbringings would of course provide a different context for each person. Warning, I will be going into slight spoilers of WHM/BLM/SUM/SCH lore as some of them touch on similar themes.
Quote:However, in game, as a BLM, my story says that we're not looked on kindly. It's a bit of a stigma. Well that makes sense, 'black magic' never really did have a good ring to it.
The stigma towards Black Magic comes from a number of sources, I would first point to the ancient "Mage Wars" talked about in the Scholar opening (lvl30) quest, as well as White Mage, to surmise, (according to the scholar quest) some 15 centuries ago, a war of magic users erupted, and the power they waged was mighty. Black mages and White mages both have moments in their quest line that mention how their magic draws from the land and can leave it barren. (Some hints towards this in mentions of Thanalans Era-lost vibrancy, and the burying of Sil'dih.)
A stigma can also be an evolution of the perception of Thaumaturgy, while in 2.0 the group is some what neutered of its moral ambiguity, at least in 1.0 the organization was clearly a gray area. For example during you're training you are sent across Eorzea to sell funeral rights to various people, and a Lalafell thaumaturge in training who is also setting upon the trial does not scruple to both sabotage you and she also uses some under handed tactics to see her mission done. I think, particularly outside of Ul'dah, agents of the Ossuary would not be treated as "welcomed guests" as much as some might have you believe.
You could also touch on the power. Its been said many different ways in many different scenes, but most people don't distinguish between "Light" and "Dark" power when it's so grand, or even more so they don't distinguish between a Good person with a seemingly Dark power and the reverse. They just see people with too much power running around doing what ever they want and damn the consequences. This also runs into what it looks like. If we assume that most outsiders don't comprehend the technical differences of Aether manipulation, you could point towards the fact that a Voidsent, during the Thaumaturgy quest line is the closest example of Blackmagic you see up to that point... A demon in a jar, not the best harbinger for good intentions (Eh, Hoenheim?)
Quote:Except that, well, there was that one in the End of an Era video, waging war. Was he looked on poorly but allowed in because of the need of the many outweighing what he was?
Adventurers had proved themselves over a long stretch of time and great tribulations during 1.0 (IC) the group you see in the "End of an Era" video are arguably the "warriors of light" (yes yes, much discussion on this, not the point at the moment.) and had worked a great deal to aid Eorzea before the battle took place. I imagine the group that had bested Primals, and put down the White Raven had earned an immense amount of, if not respect, then at least acknowledgment. That and the leaders of each faction had not scrupled to utilize their seedier brethren in the fight for Eorzea up to that point anyways. It was a last ditch effort, no punches, how ever dirty, were going to be pulled.
Quote:My question is really that how are BLMs (and from what I've heard, though not seen yet, pretty much all jobs are a rare recurrence with history) perceived in RP / the accepted RP story? Are they feared, despised?
I made a point in character of never mentioning my capacity as a Blackmage, though it does exist. Some of those i've met have been scorned, other are warily dealt with, but rarely (outside of scholarly organizations) treated as openly as some of the more "goodly" peoples. As far as running into "Other Black Mages" I am usually (being interested in Aether manipulation) interested in hearing that story, but am often cautious as to their validity and mental stability. An Eras old Magic practitioner would certainly garner some attention, in character I wonder if some Thaumaturge may not just be puffing themselves up. If their role is proven, i'm cautious...
Quote:But should my character be protective of knowing he's more than a THM, or if he's found out as a BLM it's 'Eh, no biggie.'
I've even made a point of distancing myself from the Ossuary in character, Death obsessed, and potentially under the influence of monetarists, I try to make a point of explaining that I only interact with them so far as using them as a resource. Sadly this isn't something that has been explored in 2.0 nearly as much as I should like, it seems the Syndicates role has been down played since I met the up and coming in 1.0. I wouldn't go about screaming to the high heavens of your Black Magic also in part because they may relate you to Dalamunds fall and the Calamity.
Quote:but I'm curious about how it is for all classes.
I make an effort to not outright judge the title of the person, but the context of how it came about. For example, while I do use "Black Mage" as a title in character, I don't strictly adhere to the story line applied during the game. I use the similar vein, lost knowledge, unspeakable act, beast men, ritual, but i've diverged myself enough that with confidence I could have some one stick to the story line and not say "Hey, I met the same Amalj'aa!". I don't use the other jobs, IC, only touch on using a few of the classes, but I try to treat them along the same lines.
I hope that wall of rambling thought provides at least a little information you might find of use. Feel free to dissect it and ask for further clarification, I just enjoy rambling, especially about Magic.
EDIT:: just went back and corrected a few notes.