#finding magic

[annejoyblog]

Sometimes nature whispers to us in the most unexpected places... 🌿✨ While looking at this tree bark today, I found a surprise guest! 🧐 A little Easter Bunny seems to be watching over the neighborhood from his wooden hideout. 🐰hideout🌳🪵 What do you see in these mysterious shapes? 🔍✨ Imagination is a truly beautiful gift. 🎨💖 Happy Easter discovery to everyone! 🐣🌷

[abrighterspark]

like something from a book i'd like to write,

these places appear in life...

round a corner,

past a hilltop

or in a pool of light.

like magic of the mundane,

these places hide in sight,

but with our craft

of words and art,

we can work to capture its heart.

[anonymousdandelion]

Okay, but seriously, if you live somewhere with snowy winters that have lost their charm in comparison to the mundane discomfort of cold and shoveling and wet socks… go find yourself someone from another part of the country or world who has never seen snow before.

Watch them gape at the white-roofed cars and gaze at the snow-laden trees. Watch them gasp and laugh and whirl with wonder; watch them exclaim in astonishment over how much there is, and watch them disbelieve you when you tell them these couple inches are only a tiny taste of winter, hardly a real snow at all, just wait until next time. Watch them make their first snowman and see their first snowstorm and catch their first snowflake on their tongue.

Look through their eyes and see the magic of countless tiny, glittering crystals, each one intricate and unique, dancing in the air and collecting together to envelop the world in frozen fairy dust.

And if you don’t know someone who has never seen snow before, pretend that that someone is you.

I am shoveling raw magic off the sidewalk. I must go warm up inside because my socks are soaked through with melted enchantment.

[lailoken]

know a spell to summon a lost pet?

Summon Home a Lost Pet

—

Take a vessel of milk and five pennies with you to a Crossroads at a Time Betwixt (Twilight, Noon, and Midnight.) A taglock from the lost animal—preferably a biological taglock such as hair—should be placed within the vessel of milk, along with a drop of your own blood. Ideally, the pennies should have been minted any date prior to 1982–when Zinc became the primary metal in the standardized penny alloy.

Upon arrival—having raised and aligned your power—stand in the middle of the crossroads, with eyes cast up toward the sky, and ignite a fumigation of Pine Resin & Orris Root while giving an empowered call of convocation. Raise up this fumigation, saying:

“Hail to the Wights of this place! By the Old Ones of the Gloaming, and by line of Serpent Seed — the Cunning Flame of ages burning keenly in my blood — I give this supplication for the sake of a straying friend.”

Face East and say:

“Warden of the Eastern Way, I ask you heed my plea. Bring this (insert type of animal) back home with haste — unfollowed by threats of danger or strife”

Pour out some of the milk towards the East, and call out for the animal companion, saying:

“Come home, (Name!)”

Rotate dextrally until you’ve made a full circle, then turn to face South. Facing the South, say:

“Warden of the Southern Way, I ask you heed my plea. Bring this (insert type of animal) back home with haste — drawn back by my stalwart will.”

Pour out some of the milk towards the South, and call out for the animal again.

Rotate dextrally until you’ve made a full circle, and then turn to face West. Facing West, say:

“Warden of the Western Way, I ask you heed my plea. Bring this (insert type of animal) back home with haste — whole and hale from ills and ails."

Pour out some of the milk towards the West, and call out for the animal again.

Rotate dextrally once more, until you’ve made another full circle, and then turn to face North. Facing North, say:

“Warden of the Northern Way, I ask you heed my plea. Bring this (insert type of animal) back home with haste —safe and sound along the way.”

Pour out some of the milk towards the North, and call out for the animal once more.

Return to the nexus of the crossroads and then face inward again with eyes cast down toward the ground. Kneel in the center, pour out the rest of the milk upon the central point of the crossroads, and place the pennies one by one in a quincunx formation upon the milk-stained earth.

Ignite another fumigation of Pine Resin & Orris Root, wafting it over the pennies and saying as you do:

"By the fire that never dies; by the door that knows its kin; by house-luck and by Wentz-Ways, may (animal name) return to me." [Along with an affirmative call of power.]

Take five deliberate steps in the exact direction of the pet’s home (as the crow flies,) calling out for the animal one last time.

Then, thank and dismiss the Wights that were called forth with an empowered call of dispersal, and finish by leaving the scene without looking back.

[nordlichtgeschichten]

I just finished the second draft of Finding Magic!! Can barely believe it, because it took me ages, but! Here I am! Having finished the 2nd draft! (Now draft 3 and 4 and then maybe I can consider letting other people read the damn thing, let's hope they don't take another 2+ years each xD)

[pendragyn]

Thanks Freddie!

Or: Inspiration From The Great Beyond

AKA: When Queen songs pop up on my very not Queen station on Pandora.

So in the long ago and far off land of 2019, I read this book, you probably haven’t heard of it, called “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, that was made into a 6 part miniseries. And it took over my life. I was reading fic and meta and all that when Joy ( @thebibliosphere​ ) posted something (at this point I don’t remember what) that sparked an idea: What if the Discworld Witches lived in the GO universe? I don’t imagine she’ll see this, but thanks Joy!

That was in maybe the beginning of June-ish ‘19? And I stewed on it for a while and finally started writing my very first fanfic at the end of June (the 23rd to be precise because I started tracking my progress). I called it “Ineffable Bastards”. It was going to be short. It was going to be light and fluffy. I wasn’t planning on posting it anywhere... Do you hear that? Faintly, in the distance? Yeah, sounds a bit like maniacal laughter, doesn’t it...

[image id: screenshot of the properties of the “Ineffable Bastards” Libre Office document showing the creation date at 06/23/2019, 13:57:20 and the last modified date as 06/23/2020, 08:50:34. Total editing time is 1410 hours, 40 minutes 54 seconds (that’s 58 days) and revisions is numbered at 18420. /end id]

So, having already failed utterly at short and angst free, I started a pre-fic fic for worldbuilding called “In The Garden” that also wasn’t going to be posted anywhere. (It’s going to have it’s one year anniversary on AO3 on July 22.)

ANYWAY, while writing I like to listen to music and the genre? I guess? I settled on was the P!atd and Fall Out Boy and 21P type music, AKA White Boys Yelling Politely. The stuff Pandora sorts into that genre sounds zero% like Queen IMO.

So, imagine my surprise when I’m writing on July 19, 2019 and a Queen song pops up. Not once, but twice. And I was like, weird but awesome, thanks Freddie! Then it happened again on the 22nd. And it kept happening. And I find this random happy little accident really inspiring.

I’m not looking for explanations why it’s happening. Honestly, while I’m sure it has perfectly mundane reasons, I prefer to see the magic of the situation. And no, I didn’t favorite any of the songs to make them more likely to pop up, you can see in the screenshots that they aren’t marked with a star like favorites are.

On the days when the “whybothers” are at their worst, having a Queen song pop up sometimes helps me get out of the funk. Last night was an extremely bad night. And I had 5 Queen songs pop up - I’ve never had 5 before. On the other hand, I hadn’t realized it was the one year anniversary of the first time a Queen song popped up.

[image ID: a screenshot and a gif. The still image is of an open file browser with a bunch of the screenshots in question, with the Pandora app open beside it, showing that Another One Bites The Dust by Queen is going to play. The gif is showing the file browser being scrolled to show that there are a lot of screenshots accumulated over the past year, all named “inspiration from the great beyond Queen” with a date at the end. /end id]

So here’s some Stats for other nerds:

it’s happened over 180 times in the past year, including one today while writing this post. I got screens of most but a couple were on my phone.

Killer Queen is top song at 60 plays

Don’t Stop Me Now is technically top song, if I add the 3 versions together at 91

DSMN = 21

DSMN (with long lost guitars) = 24

DSMN (...revisted) = 46

We Will Rock You trails in at 3rd with 15 plays

I Want To Break Free played 2 times

Hammer To Fall played 2 times

Seven Seas Of Rhye played 2 times

Keep Yourself Alive played twice, the first time June 1, 2020 which felt like A Statement

Single Plays:

I Was Born To Love You

The Millionaire Waltz

Flash

Love Of My Life (7/19/20)

Radio Ga Ga (7/19/20)

Another One Bites The Dust (7/20/20)

Here’s a couple of the screenshots. First time with Don’t Stop Me Now (...revisited) and We Will Rock You, the IB document open in the background:

The other songs in the screenshot below amused me with their serendipitous names. “The Crown” “The Fall” “Walk On Water”

If anyone is really curious, I can share a link to the screenshots uploaded to postimg.

I hope it continues, and that I’m able to keep writing in spite of everything. It’s a little bit of magic in my life and I’m very grateful for it. I like to imagine Terry and Freddie petting cats and sipping banana daiquiris in a very curious library somewhere. Or perhaps it’s an odd old book store with an even odder owner.

Thanks Freddie. Thanks Terry.

[awkwardplantwrites]

Finding Magic Chapter Five

Chapter 5: 2470 words / Reading time: 11 minutes

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action

Find the chapter on wattpad (Bippick is my wattpad username)

New to the story? Missed some updates? Find all the chapters here on tumblr

(Artwork by @pe-ersona ~ Feel free to let me know if you enjoy the story!)

The forest grew more dense the further they walked in. Moss grew on rocks, branches swayed above them, and leaves and flowers littered the ground. A dirt path worn into the ground by previous travellers was nowhere to be seen, as if they were the first people to enter this forest. Pepi looked at Renato. The rope still bound them at the wrist, unable be cut it apart without magic.

Renato looked like he'd seen better days. His middle parted, dark brown hair had grass stuck in it, mud covered his favourite navy blue cloak, and he had a bruised eye that seemed to throb with every step they took. Renato tightened his lips, rubbing his wrist where the rope hung.

Pepi overheard some of the conversation between Renato and Helaine that morning. From what he understood: Renato felt like Pepi wasn't telling the whole truth. Which - if you remember a certain cousin Rupert from Chapter 3 - was true. Though Renato wasn't honest either. He hadn't said a word about his injuries, as usual.

Pepi patted him on the back. "How're you feeling? It's not even afternoon and we've already had quite a day, huh?"

Renato perked his head up, a glisten of interest within his tired eyes. "I'm alright, how are you?" Pepi rolled his eyes at the automatic response.

"We've lost our wagon. You won't be able to rest if you become weak. Might I remind you you're ill? Do you want me to carry your bag?"

"Oh, uh," Renato stammered, fumbling with the bag straps on his shoulders. "No need, I can carry it." His eyes wandered to Pepi's with a question in them, but he blinked it away. "I'm tired," Renato admitted.

"We went to bed late last night."

Renato furrowed his brow. "It's not… It's a different type of tired. I don't think you'd understand."

Glancing down at his own black boots as they trode on wildflowers and grass, Pepi combed his fingers through his hair. "The kind of tired where you feel as though you're dragging the entire world on your shoulders, and it's heavier with every step you take. Something like that?"

"… Something like that, yes." Renato fiddled with the clasp of his cloak.

The trees had become so dense that they had to walk in a single file line. Birds sang no songs. No deer or rabbits or foxes strolled around. Even the breeze had silenced and the trees now showed no movement. Their footsteps seemed to make no sound either. Pepi bit his bottom lip, heart beginning to race, and his breathing hitched. He scrambled into his backpack with shaking fingers, pulling out two small loaves of bread.

"Let's eat! We- we skipped breakfast and boooy am I hungry after all that running!" He stuffed some into his mouth and passed the other to Renato.

Renato took the bread from Pepi with his free hand and tutted. "Pepi, I know you love the sound of your own voice. However, it's possible to have a period of silent tranquillity." He nibbled into the crust.

Looking around for any sound, movement, any life at all in the forest, Pepi's heart beat a little harder. "D-dont you find it s-strange that it's this quiet?" He wiped the sweat off his brow. "To be honest, I… I can't stand being in a place with no noise. It really scares me."

"Oh. I like the quiet. I don't understand what's frightening you. We can talk though. I might space out but I'll do me best to distract you."

"Finally, Renato the Entertainer. That's all I've ever wanted."

"If you want entertainment, I can tell you stories. Me mam says I get me storytelling skills from me dad. I like reading about folklore and history," Renato spoke softly. "You know, I enjoyed getting to know Kater and Helaine. Hearing about their lives was like listening to tales from history books. Less extravagant, but still interesting."

"I guess so, yeah. Save your stories for when we're at a campfire and there're others who can listen. Most people never learn to read and I bet they'd love to hear them."

"True. Helaine was also telling me about Spirit's Eve. It sounded fascinating. People hung up decorations, they were playing games, dressing up… She also told me about holidays. Where you celebrate. Have a feast Take a day off. I'd like to bring that to Llantry."

"Ah I noticed, though I thought it wasn't the right time of year. Don't you get time off to be with your friends?"

"No. We work then go home. It's difficult to have friends in Llantry. You know what everyone in town's doing, because it's the same thing they've always done. There's never any need to make small talk. We're all like an old married couple, where they sit side by side all day without saying a word."

Pepi still knew of their eerie surroundings, however, Renato's voice calmed him. "This journey's quite the break of routine, then isn't it?"

"I've never left Llantry before, so yes."

The more Renato spoke, the more guilty Pepi felt. Renato was tired yet he saw to Pepi's needs without question. As expected of a healer and leader. The guilt doubled. Why should Renato comfort him when he got nothing in return? Renato earned Pepi's respect and gratitude but even then it wasn't a fair exchange. There were certain things Pepi felt too afraid to share about himself. But if Renato wanted the truth from him, for him to open up: it was the least he could do. If only a little.

"Did I ever tell you I come from a massive family?" Pepi asked.

Renato looked upwards in thought. "Don't think you have."

"I have way too many cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We're close to our extended family. Plus there's my nieces, nephews, brother, and sisters…"

"I'm surprised you have enough air in your lungs to list all those relatives!" Renato gave a small smile. "What's their names? How old are they? Are your siblings candy merchants too?"

Pepi chuckled, feeling a small weight lift off his chest at Renato's brightening expression. Then it fell right back where it left as it dawned on Pepi how much he'd been shutting Renato out. He answered Renato's questions, gushing over his youngest niece's first words, his brother's banter, and his uncle's farm.

"If it isn't obvious already, Uncle Wylas is my favourite uncle. I liked to run over to his place when I wanted to skip out on cleaning duty and get away from the house. He made a chicken coop that looked like a ship and we gave the chickens pirate names. One time we got an artist to draw Blackbeard, a chicken who just had to get the most corn in the mornings, wearing an eye-patch." He showed it to Renato.

They came across a clearing, with a river in the middle that had small waterfalls streaming into it. Pepi revelled in the sound. The area seemed to sparkle, with glowing yellow bugs sitting on long strands of grass, and luminescent butterflies flitting from flower to flower. Pepi and Renato sat on the riverbank, finishing the last of their bread. Pepi noticed Renato gazing at a flower beside him that looked like a wild daisy with red petals. Renato picked it with his free hand, bringing it to his nose to smell. The petals closed, reopening with a burst as smoky gas covered Renato's face. Pepi laughed as Renato coughed.

"That's what you get for picking a flower!" Pepi commented, taking the flower to put into his pocket.

Pepi took his boots off to dip his feet into the river, watching as colourful reeds drifted around his ankles. Renato lay down with a sigh.

"Do trees know where their next arm's going to come from?" Renato asked. "A tree starts growing a branch. It doesn't mind this new arm. It says, 'Hell yeah man, I got another arm so I can get more sunlight and live life!'"

"I don't know," Pepi replied. "You've got me thinking now. Do you have any other thoughts about trees?"

Renato dragged Pepi over to a low hanging tree branch, giggling as the leaves brushed over his head and fell to the ground. "It's petting me," he laughed. "Pet sounds like Pep. Pep-pep-pepepepep."

"By Lidion," Renato gasped. "What if people's hair was like tree roots? And people absorbed food and water through their hair? A moment ago y-you could've been sipping water from that river with your hairy legs!"

"You're being more amusing than usual." Pepi picked the leaves out of Renato's hair. "It worries me."

"Believe it or not I've a wealth of humour, I'm just very cheap." Renato pulled Pepi down as he lay face down and groaned. "Me head feels like it's buzzing." Renato clutched his head and smiled as though he couldn't force his muscles to frown. "Am I flying? Why is the grass so sharp?"

A rustling nearby made Pepi sit up in full alert. He peered around them. Finlay flew out his pocket pulsing yellow, but he was still concerned. Pepi put his boots back on.

"Who's there?"

Renato yawned. "Probably just an animal."

Standing in front of Renato, Pepi shook his head. "I haven't seen a single animal."

From a bush appeared small humanoid creatures.

"Fairies!" Renato gasped.

The fairies ran as fast as their little legs could carry them, shouting in high-pitched voices. "It's the human, he came back! Quick, get his instrument!" A few fairies darted back to the bush and returned with a string instrument that Pepi recognised.

"My lyre! I thought I lost it… But how did you- why do you-"

"Do you just know everyone everywhere, Pep?" Renato pulled at Pepi's trouser leg.

"Uh, no, it's more like they all know me and I haven't the foggiest idea why they do." Pepi picked up the lyre and inspected it. It really was the one he'd lost, with the exact same wonky engraving of his name, the same scratches. He put it into his bag.

"Cast us a spell, human!" The fairies climbed onto Renato, poking Pepi in the leg. "We want to see you do the pretty lights again!"

"What are you talking about? I can't do magic," Pepi told them.

"The human doesn't know! Doesn't remember! Niklam erased his memory!" The fairies tittered. "What a trickster!"

Pepi brushed the fairies off his leg, who fell onto Renato's chest. "Wait, who's Niklam?"

The fairies ignored him, choosing to fly over to the flowers instead. The flowers were about the same size as them, and the fairies pulled at the petals, shoving their faces into the flower head, laughing when the petals closed over their heads and gas covered their faces.

Pepi rummaged in his bag with one hand then took out the job hiring poster from two months ago, showing it to the fairies. "Is Niklam the one who gave me this? Who are they?"

However, like Renato, the fairies were too busy being silly to notice him. Some attempted to fly but stumbled in their takeoff and fell down, laughing hysterically. Pepi put the poster away and groaned.

"They're so cuuute!" Renato laughed with them as some fairies made tiny braids in his hair.

Other fairies noticed the rope tying the two humans together and snapped it apart using a flame spell that singed Pepi's wrist.

"Ow! A simple magic knife would've cut it just fine."

A fairy wearing shorts and a garland of Autumn leaves flew clumsily up to Pepi's face. "Shay tanks to us! We helped yuh. Yuh should looshen up a liddle." The fairy raised their palms, shooting a spell in Pepi's face.

Pepi jumped up and began playing the lyre, then danced to his own music against his will.

"Oh no," Renato sat up, leaning on his elbows. "They used a charm spell on you!" His head fell back down and he laughed, causing the fairies dancing on his stomach to stumble.

Normally, Pepi loved playing music; in fact, he wanted to be a travelling minstrel one day. But something was wrong with Renato and Pepi had a spell cast on him that neither of them could reverse without magic. He'd been correct to be on edge the moment they stepped into this forest! Pepi tore the lyre from his own hands and stuffed it into his bag. A fairy shot another spell at him, forcing Pepi to sing as he continued dancing.

"Shoo little flies and get off my knight or you'll be in for a nasty surprise!" Pepi swatted the fairies off of Renato, who fired spells at Pepi that missed by a long shot. "Renato, we need to be on our way since we've got places to go and shouldn't stay!" Pepi sang and pulled a dizzy Renato up to his feet, jerking Renato because of his jig.

The fairies suddenly screamed and flew away into the forest upon seeing something. There was a crack of thunder. Pepi looked at the fairies’ line of sight and cried out in joy upon seeing a large black horse jumping down the waterfall and into the river. Finlay flew out of Pepi's pocket and hit him in the face, but Pepi ignored it and shoved Finlay back into his pocket.

"We're saved, we are! By a horse of the night, which can take us far until these fairies are out of sight!"

The horse stopped in the river, staring at Pepi with glowing white eyes, as water dripped down its massive mane that looked like a bundle of riverweed. For a second, Pepi thought back to his encounter with the dragon in Llantry, how it locked eyes with Pepi like this horse did. Rearing its head back, the horse let out a harsh neigh of chilling laughter. Then, galloping out of the river, it stood high above Pepi and Renato.

"That's a bad horsey…" Renato mumbled, holding onto Pepi's shoulder for support in standing while his mind spun.

"We need to break the spell or I'll dance forever and you'll never be well!" Pepi found a big rock to climb on, to make jumping onto the horse's back easier, and guided Renato up. Renato swung his legs over its back, slumping forward onto the mane as he complained about the smell.

"Let's go to the nearest town, hold on tight or you'll fall down!" Pepi warbled, grabbing their bags, and sat behind Renato on the horse while his legs bounced up and down like they had a mind of their own.

They rode out of the forest and time started again. Birds tweeted in bushes, the rain hammered down, and thunder rolled in the distance. The horse wailed. That's such a Mood, Pepi thought.

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