#illusion magic

[dunmeshistash]

is there any additional information on the spell cithis casts on laios in ch 73 that makes him confess the party's intentions? kabru describes it as illusion magic, and we know that's her specialty, but i've always wondered what the actual effect was since illusion doesn't seem like it'd necessarily lead to compulsion

i usually imagine that it makes them believe that thousands of years have passed and that their plan is no longer viable/worth keeping secret, but i think that's just based on cithis saying "do you feel like talking now?" as if time has gone by

I thought it was just mind control

She does say emphasize "wait" here

But here it looks more like mind control tho, idk if time would make Mithrun do things.

Perhaps she used illusions on them because it was the easiest (most cruel?) way to get them to speak

Well at least they don't remember after

[dungeonmalcontent]

I really think that detecting illusions is a heavily underused mechanic in ttrpgs.

So try this. You make a dungeon. Everything in the dungeon is positioned and behaves as if there are walls. In reality, there are no walls. There are incredibly high level illusions if walls. The doors are real, the floor is real, all the items in the dungeon are real. Some of the doors are even locked. But there's no walls.

And the trick is, unless a player specifically says they touch a wall or they lean up against a wall or anything like that, you say nothin to give them even a hint that the walls aren't real. Because they're going to assume that there are walls, even if you don't have miniatures, or a VTT map, or you don't describe them. It's unreasonable to poke around at every aspect of your surroundings to see if they're real or not.

With perceptive skill alone, a player requires an absurdly high check. 35 or something along those lines.

So there are really only four ways to discover the walls aren't really there.

1) player touches the wall and realizes that it isn't there.

2) player uses magic to detect or see through an illusion. I'm considering extrasensory ability in this category as well, but sensory still has to be mostly intentional because they have to have a reason to distrust their eyes.

3) skill check. They try to look around them to find something. They might notice a slight improbable repeating perfection to the illusion.

4) they beat the dungeon and the illusion fades, revealing how silly they've been this whole time.

[the-enchanted-mistakes]

*tosses James for an hug* friends!

[[ @jamestheenderman ]]

"Wait..."

[random-dragon-exe]

I know I keep bringing up Raine and Adrian as a cool duo we could've gotten, but you gotta hear me out on this: it would've been a cool thing to see a rebel Raine and Adrian at the same time in the same timeline.

Think about it. It would've been such a cool concept to have two performative magics be used in conjunction with each other/ alongside each other.

Of course, I don't think Adrian would want to get rid of Belos because he's suddenly good or something. No.

I think a reason why he'd turn against Belos is because he'd hate being manipulated and deceived the entire time.

I mean think about it. Adrian is the Covenhead of illusion, where the main focus is about deceptive measures. (Of course he'd want to get back at Belos for that).

Kinda like "no one deceives me, I'm the master of deception here" mindset, so he'd want to see Belos go down for it.

Idk how or when he'd find out, but real fast can you imagine the dynamic of his addition to the rebellion?

Darius wouldn't trust him until he proves it or something. Once that's done, the bickering between him and Adrian will ensue over who has better plans (maybe even style too, who knows)

I imagine Eberwolf will try to get on Adrian’s nerves by biting his tail or his ankles every now and then.

Adrian will then resort to tricking Eberwolf with an illusion clone of himself any chance he can get.

Raine is like the straight person in the group who tries to mitigate the fighting.

Adrian would so try to order them around himself and come up with plans that need a person behind one of his illusions (with no one liking them unless they agree on a compromise for a plan)

And of course, (adding my HC here), Raine and Adrian just hate each other but will try to tolerate each other's presence for the sake of getting rid of Belos.

I'm just saying, can you imagine the potential that this has for them to interact and play off each other?

It'll be like a vibe, similar to a team rocket style, but actually competent.

[drachenfalter]

...I now wonder if Illusion Magic would be better described as Mind Magic.

Adrian Graye (who can only cast Illusion magic) uses it to read minds (or at least memories), and the whole "Illusions can't affect reality" makes perfect sense if they only affect perception.

And Gus picking up on that mind reading trick so quickly implies that this isn't some super obscure skill only Adrian knows. That it's maybe something all Illusionists know about.

[spinogreen0iq]

Goretober Day 9 Candy gore

FINAL GORETOBER ILLUSTRATION LETS GOOOOO!!!!!!!!

also this is Rin doing some magical illusion type stuff dw she’s fine. This is her halloween costume (their friendgroup is hosting a halloween party), but idk if she should walk around the city like that lol. I mean… this is definitely not possible without magic. But Rin is pretty open about being a witch, not like most of her friends who hide it. Her main goal is reducing the magic user stigma so ig pulling a stunt like this is very much in character. Lacking some basic people skills is also pretty in character for her lol. Also I had a blast making this. (Finding new ways to frame art with her in it as photographs is a new hobby or smth)

ALSO depending on if I post again this week or not, HAPPY HALLOWEEENN!!!!

[randominternetartist]

Of the Fae - We're getting to the good bit

Thank you Mystical and Angel for beta-reading this fic

Tommy runs

Warnings: Minor Character Death, Depictions of Violence

Read on AO3

∘₊✧ : – ⭒ 𓆩✦𓆪 ⭒ – : ✧₊∘

“Burn the witch!”

A man steps closer to the wood that surrounds the stake; the witch; his mother.

A lit torch sits in his hand

Tommy screams. It’s shrill and loud and pierces the air.

A part of the crowd turns to face him as the chanting quiets. They freeze. A woman takes a step back as her eyes widen in surprise and horror. She points at him with trembling fingers.

“Witch’s child!” Her scream gets the attention of the other townsfolk as the chanting stops completely.

“No!” Another scream rings out. It’s his mother. “Tommy. Tommy run!” She thrashes against the bindings holding her. “Across the river, there’s someone–” She screams as someone digs a silver dagger into her ankle.

“Quiet, witch!” He yells at her, then turns to face Tommy.

It’s said that silver hurts witches.

Tommy turns and runs. The words witch’s child ring in his mind.

“Get him!” It’s the same man that screams the command, and Tommy hears the cascade of footsteps sound behind him as part of the crowd follows.

He can barely make out the sound of his mother screaming and sobbing his name, telling him to go the other way.

He runs back through the streets, reversing the twists and turns he made moments ago. He doesn’t know where he’s going. He just runs and runs, between wood and stone buildings, through fields of grass and flowers, under the shade of a blanket of leaves, he runs until his legs give out, and he falls on the forest floor.

A snapdragon stands in between his fingers, untouched by his hand. Its bright yellow coloration seems to shine with the way the sunlight hits it. But it’s not glowing, not really.

“There!” The scream startles Tommy.

He gets up and runs again. They still followed him. His heart pounds in his ears and his blood burns through his veins as it carries adrenaline and exhaustion to every part of his body. Tears fall from his eyes, but he doesn’t notice.

Neither does he notice a woman scream out, “Fae ring!” Or how the forest grows quiet after it. Neither he notices yells becoming fainter.

He does hear when someone yells, “Let’s kill it too!”

He closes his eyes. Weren’t they already planning to do that? The panicked thought arises, but Tommy does not give it any note. It doesn’t matter ; not now. They just confirmed he’s running for his life.

So he keeps running. And he doesn’t slow until he hits something solid.

He tries to step back but something grabs his forearm. It’s large and wraps itself around the limb as a similar thing snakes around his back from the opposite side and presses him up against the solid shape.

Tommy screams. They’ve caught him, he’s going to die. He fights, kicking and thrashing but it’s no use, the grip is relentless, though not bruising, and holds him firm.

The hand on his arm slowly snakes up to Tommy’s shoulder, making its way to his neck.

Tommy freezes.

Were they going to choke him until he passed out? Crush his neck and let him die? Torture him by cutting off the airflow until he almost blacks out but let him have a gulp of air to recover before repeating it again and again? He panics again at the thought and fights more. He tries, over and over, to pull himself away as he cries and begs for mercy, to be let go of, saying he didn’t know his mother was a witch.

The hand touches the back of his neck and he stops fighting. He cries instead, loud and powerful sobs piercing the air and shaking his whole body. It presses his face against the soft clothing Tommy’s captor’s wearing. A thumb rubs circles on the base of his skull.

“Calm down, runt. You’re safe.”

And against his wishes, Tommy relaxes into the hold. “Breathe, copy with me,” A rumbling voice sounds from above him. “Just breathe, calm down, I’m here, you’re safe.”

Tommy’s shallow, hurried breaths gradually turn deep and slow, matching the rising and falling of the chest pressed against his skull.

“There we go,” Techno says and loosens his grip. “Are you alright?”

Tommy looks up at him. His vision is blurry and his body is shaking, but he sees the man’s worried expression clear as day.

Suddenly, all the feelings of the past few minutes bubbled up once more, stronger now that they were not being suppressed by the urge to just don’t die.

“I– Mom she– The village– I– Hunters, they–” The words clog up Tommy’s throat. His breathing is panicked again. The townsfolk they’re coming after him, he needs to tell Techno! His mouth opens and closes like a fish. The words don’t come out. They block his throat like a dam in a river.

Techno will be in danger because of me. The thought makes warm tears fall down his face. He doesn’t want to hurt Techno.

“Hey,” Techo says, pressing Tommy against his chest with a hug that wraps around his body like a warm blanket. “It’s alright, let's talk about this inside, yeah?” And then Tommy’s being picked up and carried towards the house.

He buries his head in Techno’s shirt and cries quietly. He’s too tired to make a sound or to move a finger. Exhaustion falls over him as the feelings of confusion, danger and hurt overwhelm him.

The townsfolk are coming. They’re gonna hurt Techno for protecting Tommy. Techno wouldn’t turn him in, Tommy knows it.

He cries a little harder at the thought. His body begins to shake again, just a slight tremble, but Techno notices. A large, warm hand strokes Tommy’s head. Techno’s nails are sharper than Tommy thought they’d be, but they are still gentle and comforting.

“It’s alright, runt, they won’t hurt you, not anymore.” Tommy can feel the rumble of Techno’s voice through his body.

A creek sounds through the house before Tommy is gently lowered down on a soft surface. Techno wraps the blankets around the boy tightly. Tommy looks at him. “There we go. Do you want some water?” Tommy nods his head as Techno gets up and walks out of sight.

Tommy’s thoughts go to the town, what he saw, what he heard, what happened after.

Techno returns with a cup of water in his hands. He offers it to Tommy and the boy takes it, not wasting a second before he drinks the water. The liquid is cool and tastes sweet. It soothes his aching muscles and Tommy relaxes with each sip.

Techno tilts his head to the side, making his earring (earrings?) dangle in the air and the metal and jewels shine in the light. He reaches out his hand to pet Tommy’s hair. “Everything’s alright. I’ll take care of them, they won’t hurt you.”

“Promise?” Tommy asks, tone uncertain.

“I promise.” Techno’s hand reaches behind Tommy’s head and he bumps their foreheads together. “Just rest, runt.”

Tommy nods as Techno pets his hair one more time before walking out of the house.

A part of Tommy wonders if the townspeople are going to accuse him of helping a witch. If they’re going to try and kill him. Or maybe if Techno’s going to side with them and hurt Tommy.

No, he wouldn’t do that. He will never hurt us, a part of Tommy whispers. And he won’t get hurt either. And it sounds right, so Tommy accepts it, even if it’s not logical.

What doesn’t make sense is why the townspeople think his mother is a witch. She isn’t! Tommy would have noticed if she was.

He tries to make a mental list of things witches do or have. They’re mean and make curses, and they make friends with faeries and merlings and they eat children. The baker told him that when he was watching her make bread. They also have crystals and knives and cauldrons and they make potions in jars. He remembers that from books his mother had. They were books about magic and spells and… Are books about magic something witches have?

But his mother isn’t mean, and she doesn’t make curses or eat children! But the baker also thought that bats were birds, which they aren’t because they don’t lay eggs. Tommy’s mother told him so when she took him to a cave to see little baby bats!

She had to tell the bats that Tommy was a friend and that he wouldn’t hurt their babies, and the most amazing thing is that they listened!

She told him that animals can understand people, and that we can talk to them if we really try. And that it doesn’t apply to just animals, but plants too! Which is why it was alright that she was taking a branch from a tree, or fur from a rabbit, because she asked them if she could and they said yes.

When Tommy told his friends that, they said his mother was weird. They said she was weird a lot.

Like when he told them that she said the only reason why people didn’t like witches was because they didn’t understand them. And when he told them that he wasn’t allowed to go into the woods or open the door in the kitchen that doesn’t lead outside or the tool shack or the living room or any other room in the house Tommy had been to.

They dared him to open the door when he told them that, and he did because he was a Big Man and he wasn’t scared of his mom or what was behind the door.

The room had been filled with books, jars, candles, pots, and other things. Some of the books were glowing.

That was when he heard his mom open the door of her room. Which was weird because it was night and she was always asleep at night. So Tommy pretended to have come down to the kitchen to have a snack. He lied to his friends the next day.

Wait- that… Those weren’t normal things to have. He knew that but he kind of just accepted that it was part of his mom being not-normal which was fine with him. She was still a great mom, a better mom than normal moms because she taught him stuff normal moms didn’t know about.

But looking back now, with everything else. Those were probably witch stuff. Fuck. His mother was a witch! But Tommy still didn’t understand why the townspeople… did what they did to her because she was nice! She didn’t hurt or curse people and she wasn’t friends with fae creatures, she didn’t like them!

Tommy doesn’t understand. He wants to. It doesn’t make sense, couldn’t they see that her being a witch didn’t change the fact that it was still her?  

His eyes start watering.

Tommy shakes his head. No, he doesn’t want to cry. He’ll just think about something else.

But his mind is filled with memories of his mom and feelings of confusion, so Tommy looks around the house instead.

It’s not very exciting. To his left is the front door with a window that shows the porch, a garden and the tree line. In front of Tommy is the kitchen counter, filled with cupboards and drawers and hanging pans, with the fireplace and pot to the right. To the right is a plain wall with a passageway that has two doors facing each other. One leads to Tommy’s room, the other leads to Techno’s room. Behind Tommy is another wall, this one with windows and a door that leads to the outhouse.

Tommy looks back at the fireplace.

The pot of soup is still there, being heated by the fire and Tommy wonders if it’s a hunter’s stew.

He gets up and walks closer. When he is standing in front of the pot, he looks down. It looks like the same soup he ate yesterday.

It smells delicious and Tommy suddenly wants to eat some.

Techno wouldn’t mind, right? Besides, he’s hungry.

Tommy turns to the counter and opens some of the cupboards. He takes out the bread and a knife and places them on the cutting board. He cuts two slices (and knicks his finger while at it), then dips them in the soup before eating them.

He hums in bliss when the taste reaches his tongue. It’s even better than it was yesterday.

When he is finished eating, Tommy looks around again.

He’s never seen Techno’s room, has he?

He wants to know what it looks like.

Tommy puts the bread away, places the knife back in the knife block thingy and makes his way to the hallway.

He walks until he reaches the door to Techno’s room.

He grabs the handle and twists.

The door opens soundlessly.

Tommy steps inside.

It’s a normal-looking room.

There is a bed and some shelves. There is also a desk with papers and a golden bracelet with emerald jewels.

Tommy decides to look at it more carefully later.

Then Tommy spots a mirror.

The reflection is wrong. The layout of the reflected room is similar, but they look nothing alike. The reflection has gold, marble and patterned wood, while the cottage Tommy is in has plain planks and simple furniture.

“Faeries are tricksters,” his mother had said. “ They are powerful and use illusions to trap their victims. But in their illusions, there will always be an object that reflects the truth of the spell.”

Tommy thinks about the previous day. What strange things happened yesterday?

The feeling at sunrise, the way it called him to the woods. How he got lost, and how Techno seemed to have just the right things for Tommy. A bed his size, his favourite stew, knowing the right words to calm him down. 

Wait, wasn’t the hallway to the left of the front door when he was here the first time? And so was the outhouse!

The place changed.

Techno’s a faery and he knows Tommy’s name. Tommy ate his food!

“Fuck.”

He needs to get out of here.

[bookwormscififan]

Illusions

Read on AO3!

A/N: I'm on a secret quest to surround Phantom with references to the other songs on Nate's Paid In Exposure album, and for some reason this story kind of followed a plot twist we saw in WandaVision.

Oh well.

--

“I’m sorry, what are the people you’re looking for convicted of again?” Phantom looked incredulously at Jackie, eyeing the paper held in the hero’s hands as he set his coffee mug down.

“Stealing hearts and crushing souls, apparently,” Jackie replied, frowning as he scratched his head. “Why? Does it not sound right?” He looked up as Phantom spluttered, eyes wide as he stared at Jackie like he’d sprouted wings.

“Are you looking for magicians? Cultists?” Phantom waved his arm in a wide arc, looking around their dining room and shaking his head. “What world are we living in, where heroes go searching for heart thieves and soul crushers?”

“Maybe it’s metaphorical,” Jackie mused, tilting his head as he looked at the paper again. “Maybe I’m looking for some crazy human traffickers or something.”

“Where did you even get that wanted poster?”

“Place called Sleight of Hand.”

“Jackie!” Phantom raised his voice, pulling at his hair in frustration. “That is a magician’s hub! Hasn’t Marvin mentioned it to you, like, ever?”

“I don’t know why you’re so upset,” Jackie stated, setting the paper down and meeting Phantom’s gaze. “Can’t you believe in something you can’t even see?”

“That’s not the point, honey,” Phantom forced his voice to lower, taking deep breaths to calm down. “The point is that the people that place is looking for are not the kind of people I want you dealing with. They’re dangerous.”

“If you don’t want me to find them,” Jackie said softly, turning on a burner on the stove and holding the paper to the flame, watching it burn. “I won’t find them. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, or put you in danger.”

“I’m losing it,” Phantom chuckled bitterly, shaking his head and walking to stand in front of Jackie. “My sanity. The illusion of a normal life. I’m so sick of it.” Snapping his fingers, the world around them dissolved into red smoke, revealing the ramshackle old cabin that Phantom had enchanted to be their home, the overgrown garden outside the window, and the tiny camp stove Jackie was holding the paper over.

“We’ll find somewhere eventually,” Jackie stated, flicking the final piece of paper onto the stove before smiling at Phantom. “For now, we’ve still got the bar.”

“We do,” Phantom agreed, linking his arm through Jackie’s. “But I’ll always throw up a nice place for you.”

--------------

@iamvegorott @brokentimewatch @dungeon-dragons-dragons

Please note that unless I feel different, I probably won't ever reference this story again in PhantomHero stories.

[joncronshawauthor]

The Fascinating World of Fantasy Magic: The 10 Types You Need to Know

Fantasy literature is filled with a wide variety of magical powers and abilities. From spells and incantations to magical creatures and artifacts, the fantasy genre is rich with imagination and wonder. Here are ten of the most common types of magic found in fantasy: 1. Elemental Magic. This type of magic allows the user to control and manipulate the elements of nature such as fire, water,…

[wanderrealms]

My contemporary fantasy characters are getting weirder since I decided illusion magic is a thing.

[red-pencil]

Got somethin' to say this #AniMonday ?

Another concept test for Foster/Superfan while at Blue Sky studios . We were playing around with a magical race whose magic was all illusion based. They were flashy and over the top, and their costumes/clothes would constantly change and shift depending on their mood/feelings/attitude. I thought the Chris Tucker from Fifth Element bit would be perfect for the test. Tried to get some Genie from Aladdin energy in there as well. Had a lot of fun with this one!

[random-dragon-exe]

OK hot take, (probably) but I think that Adrian Graye is actually a powerful witch just like the rest of the covenheads.

I say this because there's a lot of people who think that Adrian is a lot weaker than the rest of the Covenheads because of Gus beating him in Labyrinth Runners.

I will say that granted, his magic is illusions and yeah illusions have no physical aspect to them, but there's two things I'd like to add here:

Even though illusions aren't a physical magic, they're more about deceptive measures and at most psychological in nature.

Adrian finds a way around the lack of the physical aspect by hiding the scouts he has under his illusions to have them interact with people. (So when you think about it, he's quite clever for doing that since he could focus on keeping up the illusion and keeping himself safe)

Technically a third but when you think about it, if Gus can make it look like a witch's powers aren't working, as shown in Through the Looking Glass Ruins:

Then, Adrian could do that too however, with way more ease than Gus as he said it took him a lot of concentration to maintain it.

Of course, since Gus has the ability to force people to see their worst memories, so can Adrian.

If we want to go further with it, Adrian can totally make an entire illusion labyrinth just like Gus too but it'd be more controlled since he's more experienced than Gus.

Yes there's the scene where he asks Gus "how" is he making the labyrinth, but this could just be him being surprised that an illusion that powerful is coming from a 12 year old as younger witches shouldn't be able to make complicated spells. (Gus is an extreme outlier in this)

(Not only that but Gus’s labyrinth was induced by his emotions getting out of hand and was therefore accidental)

Also real fast, I'm pretty sure being forced to see your worst/darkest memories would render anyone in the state that we see Adrian in last. So I don't think it's just "a him" thing.

Moving on and going further with this, Adrian could go full on Mysterio on his enemies asses. Anyone seen Spider-Man: Far From Home?

From tricking the target to using the real (unillusioned) environment against them:

To using psychological horror and using their emotions against them about a beloved person's death:

To faking his own death:

To making it look like someone close to the target is in danger:

To altering the entire perception of the playing field at a massive scale:

The person won't be able to figure out what's an illusion and what's reality until it's too late:

This is also not to mention the other post I have about the extensions of illusion magic and its effects (which I think both Gus and Adrian can do to varying extents based on their experience with illusions).

What I'm getting at is that Adrian is definitely powerful in his own right at illusion magic (and can very well do these things).

It's just that we don't get to see the full potential because of how the writing favored Gus's powers over Adrian's in Labyrinth Runners due to the shortening.

I'm not trying to diminish Gus’s abilities as an illusionist, I'm just saying both of them are powerful in their own ways (Gus having raw power for his age, yet needs to refine and control his powers and Adrian having experience and control with his magic yet his ego gets the best of him and he underestimates his opponents)

Not to mention his vague feedback to the scouts often works against him unknowingly.

Like honestly, if the show wasn't shortened there'd be more time allowed for him to be a more terrifying threat in Labyrinth Runners or other episodes with him.

TLDR: Ya'll are sleeping on what could've been an even more epic version of Labyrinth Runners and Adrian's powers. Like yes, we can still make fun of him being beaten by Gus, but let's just acknowledge that it would've been really cool to see two skilled illusionists fighting 1v1.

[random-dragon-exe]

Yo wait. Hold up. That sounds so cool! Why couldn't we get this in the show?

Gus’ Eye: Oracle magic?

I think I’ve found out what Gus’ eye is in Dana’s promo art!

Here’s Dana’s art:

Image description: a black and white drawing of Gus Porter from the Owl House. He has his right hand over his right eye, his fingers spread to reveal that eye’s pupil and iris are glowing white. Flapjack (Hunter’s Palisman) is perched on his right shoulder, and Gus’ palisman is on his left shoulder. The background is white and has handwritten text reading “Labyrinth Runners”. End description.

Then here’s the match:

Image description: Barcus from The Owl House episode The First Day. He is a dog with a humanoid face wearing glasses. The pupil and irises of Barcus’ eyes are glowing purple with a flame effect coming off of them. End description.

This is from the end of The First Day, where Barcus is reading the Basilisk’s palm to see it’s future. Usually when eyes glow in this show, it’s the whole eye, like when Willow goes into a trance. But this? This is the exact same type of glow. Besides, Dana’s drawing is black and white. Who’s to say it’s not glowing purple?

So Gus is diving into oracle magic for some reason… I don’t know what that means for the episode plot, but it fits perfectly with what we know about Gus! He’s insecure about being in the illusion track, his dad was in the oracle coven (like we saw in the background of Them’s the Breaks, Kid), and in Agony of a Witch, he didn’t go for the illusion relic. He went for the oracle coven.

Now, as for what that means for the episode… maybe Gus is going up against the illusion coven head! He can’t beat him illusionist to illusionist, but he’s learned that adding a little something extra can give him the winning hand, like in Through the Looking Glass Ruins! Or maybe he has some other reason for wanting to see the future…

Also worth noting is that Dana’s been laying on the angsty reveals lately. Oracle magic, we’re told, works by talking to spirits. We don’t know if Gus had another parent at some point, or what happened to them, but Gus only ever mentions his dad being around. Paired with the number of times Gus references death... perhaps he has a dead parent like Luz we might learn about.

Either way this would be super cool I would be so excited to see Gus mixing magic!!

[sailorsenshigifs]

[tartppola]

very specific au thought, silver if he was the shield instead ( read the tags to see explanations )

[illustratus]

Astolfo in his turn is lured to Atlante's Palace of Illusions (Orlando Furioso) by Gustave Doré