text; siri how do i tell everyone i know i'm a werewolf but like, casually

[woofdad]

So, I was wondering - what's something from your world that's been really weird to find out isn't universal? For example, I'm a werewolf and I've been kind of surprised by how many worlds we apparently don't exist in. It's a weird feeling.

Related, is cats having extra eyes a thing where you're from or not, asking for both me and my boyfriend.

Comments

[woofdad]

That's totally fine. If you want, I can start from more of the roots of how magic works where I'm from? Or we can just leave it if you'd rather not get into all that, whichever works.

[epitaffio]

It's fine by me either way, since this kind of stuff is pretty neat to talk about.
I just don't have much of a frame of reference... but you can probably tell.

[woofdad]

I'm glad you think so! I definitely agree, but I know not everyone does, so it's always good to hear I'm *not* bothering someone with it, haha.

That's alright; just a matter of adjusting where to start from. Let me know if you need me to elaborate on anything.

So, where I'm from, "magic" is a category that covers several types of energy. Each type originates on a different plane of reality, of which there are four: Earth, the Beyond, the Below, and the Wilds.

Each type of magic impacts reality in a different way, and each is referred to by a color, based on what it's associated with: Earth's magic, "red", manipulates matter and the physical world. The Wilds' magic, "green", affects perception and the mind. "White" and "black" magic, which originate in the Beyond and the Below respectively, have to do with the soul or the "self".

Is all this making sense so far?

[epitaffio]

[Oh boy. This is immediately So Much.]

So it's kind of like the four elements people used to believe in...
But with different elements?

[woofdad]

Ah... not quite, sorry. Unless you just mean in that there are four parts with different associations attached to them.

[Hmmm.]

For now, maybe think of them more like... forces, if that makes sense?

[epitaffio]

[...]

So... More like gravity?

[Wait.]

Or is it more like time and space?

[woofdad]

Kiiind of along the lines of gravity, you could say... actually, let's go with that comparison; it's not scientifically exact, but it works as a point of comparison, since part of the important thing here is to think of it in terms of an ever-present factor that effects everything around it, more noticeably in some cases than others.

A key difference, though, is that magic can be manipulated in ways gravity can't - at least if you look at it from a technical perspective, thinking of birds and airplanes as manipulating air rather than gravity itself, etc.

[epitaffio]

Okay... I think I'm following.
What does this have to do with the eye thing, though?

[woofdad]

Right, so - the thing about magic is that it works largely in concepts and perception; I could REALLY simplify it by saying that ritual spells, for example, work because we expect their components to do something, and while that's a pretty significant oversimplification, it's also not totally untrue.

While that element isn't quite as directly relevant to biology, since it's not being intentionally "cast", it's still kind of... a thing. To some degree, magic effects that crop up natually in animals are usually connected in some way; it's very often just a matter of finding out how.

Hence, cats' extra eyes might be directly related to their being lucky, or there could be a third factor here - that being the root mode of interaction between the magic and their bodies. ...Which would get into a level of understanding of the esoteric sciences that I didn't quite hit in community college.

[epitaffio]

[Yeah, nope. Definitely can't follow this, after all. But at least it sounds like this guy doesn't fully get it either...?]





So how did people figure out cats are lucky?