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[ghostlocked]

[Behold, a unicorn: Harlan making a public post that isn't text. What he's got in mind is more of a show don't tell thing, so it's necessary, although it's pretty clear he's not comfortable with this video thing. He's sitting on his couch with his phone propped up on the coffee table, and he's got a glass of water in his hands.]

Hey, good news, I have a spell that'll help everyone out while we're stuck here without gods. It's one of the first spells they teach you when you're a kid where I'm from. I'm thinking most of you should be able to pick it up pretty quick. It's called Prestidigitation.

[A beginner spell with like the most tongue-twistery name in the entire spell dictionary. He holds up the glass.]

It's your basic catch-all spell and you can do a ton of shit with it, but mainly, you're gonna be able to change the temperature of shit. Small shit, though. Your workable area is about a square foot, give or take, and it doesn't work on anything alive. Look.

[The water in the glass starts to boil. It doesn't look like he's done much to it—this spell is second nature to him anymore, so he doesn't need to put much effort into casting it. He sets the glass down on the table.]

Right, so... Go get your own thing of water, I guess? I don't fucking know. This is so much easier in person. Okay, uh, so magic is just another type of energy, like heat or electricity. The difference is that magic is malleable. You can control it. With a spell like this, it's all about visualization. You want hot water, so you're sort of willing the water to heat up by channeling the magic into it. It's not gonna work on the first try, but keep at it. It takes focus and confidence. If you're having trouble, scale it back, or try freezing the water instead of heating it.

[He belatedly realizes he's supposed to be demoing this, so he gestures to the glass and, ta da, there's a soft tinkling sound as the steam dissipates and the water freezes.]

Prestidigitation can clean stuff in a similar way too. If you're going insane because our showers are out of commission, this spell is gonna change your fucking life. Let's see, uh, you'll be able to start a fire, flavor your coffee, conjure hand-sized illusions... It all works on the same principle, though. Picture what you want to do and will the magic into doing it for you.

[He snaps his fingers and now there's a flame in his palm and he feels infinitely goofy for putting on a magic show on his couch. Hopefully it's helpful stuff, though.]

If you have questions, let me know. If you want to learn other shit, I'll link my spell list and we'll talk. Cool. Later.

[And he's shutting off the feed. Thank you for coming to his TED Talk. As promised, he does attach his spell list for anyone interested in further magical pursuits.]

Comments

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[kingforboth]

Would you be able to instruct me? I've had experience with fire and magic but the other magic I know can be....situational.

[Kelson is really quite interested in his spell list. Actually, he's a giant geek when it comes to magic and magical theory. He just has no one to really instruct him.]

You can heal! That's an incredibly rare gift where I'm from.

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[ghostlocked]

[Oh, a PM right off the bat. Interesting.

...Even more interesting is that he can't figure out why this message needed to be private. Huh. He'll go along with it, though. Maybe this is going somewhere.]

Yeah, sure. Situational how? And, uh, thanks. My healing spell's as basic as it gets, but it comes in handy.

[Video]

[lifetothefullest]

You mean before we lost power and everything I was wasting all that time heating water on the stove when I could've been doing this?

[He's totally joking, but he's also totally not. This is gonna get some serious use.]

video bc this is his life now apparently

[ghostlocked]

[He snorts.]

I figured we should rough it for a while to grow closer as a community. Get all neighborly and shit. Don't you know this spell already, anyway? Did Kyna not teach you, like, Magic 101?

[Get good, Lance.]

Honestly, I would've done this little magic school thing earlier if I'd remembered it wasn't a thing everyone can do. Being in the 1% comes with some intense blinders.

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[evocation]

[Yeah, okay, this is a good idea, but Kyna is still contractually obligated to tease him, complete with a shit eating grin.]

Prestidigitation? Don't you mean June Cleaver: the cantrip?

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[ghostlocked]

[It's smart of Kyna to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity to witness Harlan's realtime sass via video chat.]

Did you seriously just reference Leave It to Beaver? You're never allowed to call me old ever again.

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[toiletseat_girl]

[have a vaguely indignant George]

Hey, how come you hadn't taught me that one yet? Coulda saved me and mine a whole lotta trouble.

But I'll forgive you as long as you teach me healing magic today.

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[ghostlocked]

Prestidigitation is basically breathing to me at this point. Can you blame me for forgetting that other people don't know how to breathe?

[He does feel like a bit of an idiot for forgetting, but better late than never, right?]

Deal. Get over here. I'm at my place. I'd come to you but I'm about to make dinner.

[Prestidigitation also means hot meals so you're about to get some bang for your buck, George.]

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[unphase]

[she looks curious, but is trying to not get her hopes up]

This is something anyone can learn? Even people who'd never tried magic before?

[ghostlocked]

Definitely. I've taught it to a few people who've never tried magic before, in fact.

[Well, not this spell specifically, but still.]

[hellosirs]

Sir! Um, this is a little off topic, but are you from Faerun? It's just, a lot of your spells are very familiar!

[ghostlocked]

Nope, sorry. Never heard of it. I'm from Earth. New York, if that means anything to you. But I've heard there's some other people in town with magic similar to mine even though we're not from the same place.

[Looking at you, Taaco twins.]

Are you a mage too?

[redlikerose]

Dude this is so cool!!!!

I kinda wanna see it in action up close. Got a minute? I'll come see you!

[ghostlocked]

[OH thank god someone who wants to use text.]

lol. ty.
yeah im free. im in spire 4. 401.
u know where that is?

[Video]

[imhisaunt]

You can do such amazing things, Harley.

[Starry eyes McGee chiming in]

[ghostlocked]

And with the help of this handy guide, so can you.

[ video ]

[hardwearing]

[ This would have been so useful like two days ago. It'll still be useful, but holy crap does he wish they'd had it before now. ]

I can't believe Kyna didn't know this one already. Can you be any more specific than "picture what you want" though? It helped me finally pick things up when she described what they felt like when it worked.

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[ghostlocked]

She doesn't? I can never keep track of what all she's got. Fucking wizards, man.

[She'll have it now, though. Wizards learn shit at lightning speed compared to Harlan.]

Hm. What other spells do you know already?

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[pocketspa]

Sooo what are you charging for said spell learning?

[There's no way he's actually going to hit him up for services; Taako is a very accomplished wizard and confident in his spells, plus he has his book with him. But also he's a businessman and is sussing out the competition.]

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[ghostlocked]

[Harlan is picking up that "competitive businessman" vibe. He cocks an eyebrow.]

Nothing. I'm not going to try to make a profit when the city's been fucked hard by the new planet and the missing gods.

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[outofthefire]

Holy shit, Harlan. If I can pull this off, I'm gonna be the most popular girl in my house for sure.

So, step one is, I get water. Step two is...?

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[ghostlocked]

[He laughs.]

You can definitely pull this off. Step two is, uh, make it boil.

[You know. Step one is write out the complicated math equation and step two is solve it, nerd.

He knows this is not helpful. Give him a second.]

All you're doing with this spell is adding heat to the water, and you do that by manipulating the energy that already exists in the world. You're just speeding up the atoms and shit, which expends energy and gives off heat.

[...He thinks? Science, man.]

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[ragnarsson]

Is it really that easy to learn magic?

[He sound skeptical, but not for the reasons one would think. Ivar believes in magic, the tales of the Norse gods are full of magic, and even great Norse legendary heroes used it upon occasion. He just always thought it would take a bit more effort than what's being shown.]

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[ghostlocked]

Well, everyone can learn it. It's easier for some than others. The biggest hurdle seems to be wrapping your head around magic as a concept, since it's not a thing where a lot of people are from.

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[knifecollecting]

Should you really be trying to teach everyone magic?

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[ghostlocked]

This spell isn't dangerous. You can't hurt people with it, I promise.

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[sciencelizard]

[She watches with rapt attention with the way he makes this look so simple, clicking in a little after he's done after wrestling with the idea of actually doing it. When she does answer, she's shy, considering their last conversation was-- well, not the best!]

I, uhm... what if your world has different magic? Would that stop someone...?

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[ghostlocked]

[Yeah, their last encounter didn't go super well, but he doesn't hold it against her. It was a while ago at this point, and he's had plenty of other shit to worry about. He's friendly enough when he responds.]

It hasn't so far. I can't guarantee that it'll work across the board, but everyone I've tried to teach has been able to learn.