#that is the extent of my accuracy wrt writing styles

[convexicalcrow]

Guess who finally got around to finishing these pages lmao. XD tbh the watercolour pencils I used to colour the illustrations aren't ... quite the right shade for Vexes, but it is what it is. The photos kind of make them look slightly better tbh.

There's part of me that's not entirely happy with the conclusions this piece comes to, but the best thing about an iterative grimoire like this, for those who have never kept a grimoire or have no idea what grimoires are and what they include, is that there is room to revisit a topic, and I do plan to do something on the masks later, so there will be more expansion on this and on my thinking and how that's changed since I wrote this piece. Which does tell you how long ago I wrote this lol.

Also a note on my approach to this: I'm attempting to emulate Scar and Cub's voices and energy and vibe through these pieces and the style of handwriting I have chosen to use for each of them, rather than do any kind of (weird stalkery tbh) form of copying their actual handwriting. And I think that approach is a good one, because it wouldn't matter how close my handwriting was if their voices didn't sound right. So that's the choice I've made here.

Alsoalso: Scar is the Vex with the tail, bc of how much he said he wanted one in that bit where they were setting up ConCorp in s6, and Cub was like, wtf would you want a tail? So it gives me an easy way to distinguish the two of them in their Vex forms.

The transcript below has been tidied up and spaced out a little more than it is in the book itself, just to make it easier to read and you don't have to have a wall of text to deal with.

Glamors Scar: Honestly I'm not convinced I should be writing in this book but Cub insisted that I had to write about how I do glamors. The problem is, I'm not sure I can explain it! It just happens! I think about what I want, and channel that through Vex magic. But it's not even something I really think about consciously, it just happens!

So much of it is about knowing what you want and who you are dealing with, and then you just project that outwards like you are wearing a mask or a costume. The clothes are just as important as the will and the magic. It's about set dressing! Immersing your target in the world you create in order to make them see your side of things.

Obviously you can do it without that, of course. But you need exceptional confidence and a sense that you will get your way. But it isn't just about that either. you can use glamors for all kinds of reasons. You can look like a wet puppy, or a clueless redstoner, or someone who has no idea what they're doing to disarm threats and make them come on side.

Projecting a face and an energy that you think will get you what you want. Like I said, it's hard to describe how to do it because so much of this is on you. It's about your will and desire and the image you want to project by lacing that with vex magic to make it work.

But the one thing to know is that the magic can only do so much. If you can't sell it, no amount of magic will help. Beware! And use carefully!

Oh! And you make be wondering why I call them glamors! it sounds like such a silly word, but I use it for a reason. These glamors are like masks. They change how people see you, but they don't change how you are at your core.

It's like when I wear the Vex mask. Kinda. It isn't a glamor, but it can be used like one. Do I want to make it clear the ConVex are in town? Then me and Cub wear the masks. They don't always have to transform us into our Vex forms or allow the vex to use our bodies.

Cub: Ehh, I wouldn't say the masks are like your glamors, Scar. Those masks serve quite a different function than you making someone think you're a wet cat. Those Vex masks are us, they aren't some fakery or pretense. The magic's different.

We are Vex at our core, the masks simply allow us to acess different magics, transformations, and powers. Plus, we don't really choose when to wear the masks, the Vex do that. It's just not the same, Scar, is all I'm saying. -- Cub.

Scar: Okay, look, it might be imperfect, but you know what I mean! I did tell you that I am bad at explaining these things! I did warn you! It's very difficult to explain something that I just do instinctively. It just happens, Cub, I can't teach it.

Also the Vex masks are definitely glamors! You can definitely use them that way. We just don't do that because the masks have different uses.

Cub: That is true, yo ucan use them like that. But the fact is we don't use the masks like that. They serve an entirely different purpose to simply being masks or glamors. They're sacred ritual objects that connect us to our power. It's very different!

Scar: OH hey Do you like my Vex drawings? I think they look so cute!

Cub: They're adorable, Scar, yeah!

Scar: I think I really brought out your mischevious face! Yeah!

Cub: For real, though, Scar, think about it. The masks reveal us, not conceal us. They reveal something true about us that most don't see, or want to see. These humanesque bodies? These visions or forms of who we used to be as players? Tht's not who we are anymore. Those are more the masks than the Vex heads are. The vex heads bring us back to our true form as Vexes.

Whereas what your glamors do is mask our true identities, and project something else that suits our needs and desires. It's a mask, nota mirror.

It's why the masks demand that we master them, not the other way around.

Scar: You know what, Cub? They're all masks, and that's about as much as I can be bothered with. I'll leave the deep thinking to you on this one! Goodbye!