bakerstreet | I need a henchman.

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I need a henchman.

The Master/Familiar Meme

"In European folklore and folk-belief of the Medieval and Early Modern periods, familiar spirits (sometimes referred to simply as 'familiars') were supernatural entities believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to the records of the time, they would appear in numerous guises, often as an animal, but also at times as a human or humanoid figure, and were described as 'clearly defined, three-dimensional… forms, vivid with colour and animated with movement and sound' by those alleging to have come into contact with them, unlike later descriptions of ghosts with their 'smoky, undefined form[s]'."

Everybody needs a sidekick. This includes those who may have a little help of their own in the form of magic - witches, warlocks, mages, sages, casters, magicians...whatever you want to call them, they have a bit more juice than your average Joe. Luckily, the job comes with a built-in assistant: a familiar, or a helper spirit. The familiar serves as a guide to their magical "Master" of their choice, helping them out of tight spots and being their companion for life. Sometimes, they come in the form of animals, like dogs and especially cats. Some don't bother with this, though, and just stay in their true humanoid forms. The bond between familiar and master is one of intensity, and they know each other completely. Most familiars even have a telepathic link to their masters. That helps them keep an eye on them. Of course, given this closeness-beyond-closeness, it's easy to imagine a master and familiar as soulmates, and with familiars having a human form...well, intimacy seems like a natural option.

Too bad relationships of that kind between master and familiar are strictly forbidden. Surely, that rule is always followed.

HOW TO PLAY

Comment with your character, stating your preferences (ex: F/M, open to all, etc). Also, be sure to remember and put whether your character will be witch/master, familiar, or if they can serve as both. There is no "set" type for any of the roles. Masters don't have to be dominate (ineffectual witches have always been a cute trope), familiars aren't passive or submissive, and so on. It's not the same as BDSM...though your character could bring that into it if they'd like.
Comment around to other characters, playing out your forbidden master/familiar ~love~ or what have you.

PROMPTS

The Familiar Chooses the Master: The first meeting. You may be new to the craft (or someone who needs a new familiar), and someone has been drawn to you.
Setting the Ground Rules: You need to figure out how this is going to work. Where can you hide this woman/man in your apartment, if need be?
Getting to Know You: Magic/power isn't all fun and games. You need to find out how to work together so you don't accidentally blow everything up in your faces.
Helping Out: Familiars have a lot of neat powers that can be a boon around the house...and around the town.
Danger Zone: Your feelings for each other are blurring, which is a big no-no. Do you even realize that the bond is deepening to a new level?
Confession: Things have gotten heavy and you have to let your bond mate know you see them as more.
Bad Romance: The familiar in this relationship isn't treated as equal. They're a slave to their master!
Telepathy: The mental bond between. Explore it or use it to get out of trouble...
Trouble is a Friend of Mine: Speaking of! Your familiar/master is danger, and there's nothing that can keep you from saving them.
Intimacy: The obligatory smut option. Though romance between familiar and master is not allowed, many find the allure too much, and the bond does lend itself to members seeking comfort in each other. After all, they know you better than anyone else.
You're Taken?: You're in love with a master or a familiar...they're just not yours. Oops! Maybe you can find some way to break your bonds so you can be together.
Breaking Up is Hard to Do: It is hard, especially between master and familiar. In fact, it can be downright painful...physically and mentally!
Sending You Away for Your Own Good: You're distancing yourself from the other member of your bond, and it's because you're headed towards destruction.
Everybody Knows: The other members of your community have found out you've broken the ultimate taboo and are WITH your master/familiar. This is bad. This is very, very bad. Punishment bad. Separation bad. Perhaps even death bad.
Happy Ending: Somehow, you've escaped the confines of the world that doesn't understand, and you're able to live together without fear.
WILDCARD

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She'd definitely be the familiar ~~and debatably the more competent of the two~~.]

[Likely the familiar, but can take the 'master' role. Probably coming back from the dead changed him -- either he's a semi-corporeal creature (who can only sometimes take human form) brought back to help out you the witch, or his return to life granted him magic that he's got to learn to control.]

[No interest in smut, but the romance prompts are fine! Thank you.]

[He's a mage, so he'll fit more as the master.]

[ oooOOOH OOOH let him be your familiar! Maybe he can come back as an actual black cat this time instead of the personification of one. ]

[ooc: If OCs happen to be okay, I have a very lovely witch OC who would just absolutely LOVE a familiar. o:]

[ooc; either role. very open to au's.]

[Any point in Untamed canon, either role, but if you choose him as a familiar- well... you'll have to wonder if you're *really* the one in charge.]

[Let me know which canon you want. He's open to either master or familiar.]

[Look who is trying to self-teach herself magecraft from the flotsam books she finds in the Rain Castle's library.]

[New year, new me. No longer God of Lies but the more ~~gentle~~ persuasive God of Stories. As we all know, stories have much more power, much more longevity than lies. And this story begins with a hook ~~not a shackle~~, the directive from a ~~tyrant~~ ~~king~~ father to ~~assist~~ ~~become beholden~~ help a ~~poor unfortunate soul~~ timid little thing in need of a guiding hand.

So tada abracadabra, here he is.

If you can't learn from it, you could at least use it as a bludgeon against your enemies. [He nods at the book she's reading, half sitting/half leaning on the table, smiling winsomely.]

[ It always rains in the Furthest Ends of Orkney. But it's a soft and gentle rainfall, filling the air with a crispy and refreshing sensation. Aesc loves to spend the afternoons in her mother's library and read about other worlds, other times from the many stories washed into their fantasy lands.

(Oh she knows what this place is, even before her other self sends her feelings and memories; she has heard the voice of Paradise).

Sometimes, reading isn't enough. When she stumbles upon a magic tome, she has to try it. Although her immature fairy markings throb, she is determined this time it works. For the sake of her parents' prayers. "Aesc" needs to fulfill her role. As she starts the chanting, she can't longer listen to the soothing sound of the rain, she can only hear her voice and, then-

Someone else? ]

Uwahh!

[ Aesc nearly drops her book, startled. It actually worked!? Wait! He's not in the magic circle she traced on the floor. ]

Oh, greetings, sir! [ Still startled, she tries to curtsy, book and willow-staff floating around her as she does. ] Bludgeon my enemies...? You mean to use my book for that?

I mean for you to use your book like that if you can't master the spells in it.

[He looks at the magic circle, then at her, then raises an eyebrow.] Ohhh, is that where I was meant to appear? Perhaps your accent was off. Or you used the wrong name. Happens to the best of us.

[He's going to stand up, then and poke around the circle with the toe of his black Converse sneaker.] Mmm. [He looks at he with a razor thin smile full of teeth. But the question is why oh why would you want to summon me into a circle? Were you trying to call something dangerous?

B-But that would be violent! I am not a boar-type fairy!

[ Aesc protests, almost scandalized. Her parents have taught her to be a prim and proper princess for the people. She can't go around beating other fae with her books and tarnish the Rain Clan's reputation!

(The idea does have some merits, a corner of her mind whispers). ]

I— [ When he mentions the steps she could have messed up. The girl looks down, a flush spreading on her cheeks as she mumbles. ] haven't used any name, actually.

[ She didn't decide what she could summon. All the names listed were as good as fiction in this place. She snaps out of her downcast embarrassment (basically hiding underneath her oversized brim of a witch hat) to take a good look at him. ]

Are you dangerous?

[ She adjusts her glasses and looks him up and down with skeptical eyes. ] You are just trying to scare me, aren't you?

Sometimes violence is the answer.

[He might be teasing her with that.]

Tsk tsk [He clucks his tongue at her, crossing his arms and resting his chin on thumb and forefinger.] That's a little dangerous, don't you think? Reaching out into the universe asking for... [He narrows eyes at her] What were you asking for...?

[At her question, he tips his head, genuinely considering it for a moment before giving her a genuine and rather serious answer.] Anyone can be dangerous under the right circumstances.

[ Aesc's expression falters and shakes her head; with a quiet voice, she replies. ]

I think there's enough violence in this land.

[ I think there's something wrong with my familiar, she thinks while he's questioning her the reasons for doing summons at all. She's very sure they don't do that. The interrogation. But she has not sorted out the information her counterpart crammed in her head when she fused with her. She'll know what to do when she matures. That's all she's certain. But when will that be? It could take centuries or thousands of years! ]

I was just... trying to learn a new spell.

[ It sounds so pitiful when she voices it aloud. But that's the truth. She didn't care which spell, she had to try one new. ]

I summoned you without a catalyst. When that happens, it's all down to compatibility. [ Even an amateur as she knows that. She grabs her staff and stands tall (as possible is permitted with her short height). Her voice sounds firmer and more certain than before. ] You could be dangerous, but you won't be.

You're looking for something more subtle? More clever?

[He thinks she seems terribly young and ... burned maybe? He picks up one of the books she has scattered about and thumbs through it. When she speaks, he looks up at her, raising one eyebrow deliberately.]

Oh? I won't be?

[He snaps the book shut and tosses it casually over his shoulder, moving into her space, bending down slightly so they're on eye level.] That's a very non-specific directive, you know. I won't be dangerous. Future tense. But I am dangerous- present tense. So, I might not be dangerous in the future, but it is currently the present. And when I am in the future, it will no longer be the future, it will be the present. So I would still be dangerous.

Edited 2024-07-30 01:15 (UTC)

I was hoping for a.... [ she whispers, cheeks burning in embarrassment as she refuses to meet his eye. ] cute animal. Um, like a talking black cat or a white owl.

[ There are fictional accounts of witches she's reading about. They have those familiars in the illustrations. She doesn't want to make one out of a corpse but have a living companion. Uncursed. Unlike the ones in this land.

Aesc has yet to be burned out by her experiences. Her life as the Rain clan princess is a gentle one with her doting foster family. But... she is a little disappointed and frustrated with how weak she feels. She might not remember her existence before she appeared in this land, but she knows she shouldn't feel this weak. Like she was once the endless ocean, but now she is reduced to a small muddy puddle that needs the rain to sustain herself. She is determined to get stronger, fulfilling her mother's expectations and honoring the name she bestowed on her ward.

(One day, she would have to ring the bell from the Tower and start her pilgrimage).

Her arms cross to stand her ground, staring at him with her chin up. Did she anger him? No, he seems like he is messing with her. She can tell these things, even if he isn't lying about being dangerous. ]

Sir, as long you're not dangerous to the Rain Clan, I won't revoke your summon.

[ Aesc argues politely but firmly, scrambling to keep herself from swallowing hard in anxiety when he leans closer. She itches to grab that book he tossed to place it next to the others of her mother's collection. Orderly, sorted by genre and authors. ]

Oh, may I know what do you want in return?

[ She has not even decided what she needs him to be here for. Or his name. But she prefers to hear his side of the "contract" before proceeding. ]

You don't think I'm cute? [He tips his head and gives her eyes that seem impossibly large, almost as if he's making them purposefully larger. Edging on grotesque for a moment, then he blinks and it's gone.]

And who is the rain clan? [A genuine question, he doesn't know much about where he is.

....he takes a slow minute to process her question. There's a faint moment of amusement in him as he slowly sits down on the table, legs folded impolitely.]

I don't know. I'll tell you when I figure it out? [There's humor in there, but behind the humor, truth.]

Um— [ She gives a short pause, ignoring his body manipulation's attempt (nice try, but she does not have that standard of grotesque or uncanny as humans do), to search for a good way to phrase her answer most politely. ] What I mean is that you are lacking the fluffy fur and the soft feathers.

[ Satisfied with that answer that gives Aesc a decent footing, steering away any diplomatic disaster, she feels a little confident until she realizes her rude omission.

Shouldn't the summon supply this? Well, the spell of that book was actually a fraud she could tell as much and was never meant to work. But she has corrected it with her innate talent. Unfortunately, she also committed a mistake. ]

Oh, you're...right. Ahahah...I forgot to introduce myself. [ Or the place. Or anything! She wants to push her hat down to hide her face. But she can't do that. It will be discourteous with a guest. Her mother would be disappointed if she were rude. So—

She takes a deep breath and bows her head before performing a neat, practiced curtsy. ]

Welcome to Orkney, the furthest ends and the land of the Rain Clan fairies. I am—

[ Her introduction is cut off when he moves to sit on her notes littered all over the table! Her posture straightens her back, rushing to rescue her research from being crushed under him. ]

Wait! You can't sit there! The ink is still fresh!

[ There might be the correction of the summoning circle she graphed a few minutes ago now stamped on his clothes. ]