Departure of the Ravens

   Laeviss remembers his father.
   He was a kind, generous, gentle man, with a good heart and a weakness for very bad jokes. My early childhood is filled with memories of the times I spent with him. He would give rides to neighborhood children in the trailer pulled by his tractor. He took me ice skating and swimming and horseback riding. We would go on walks together. He liked to sing me funny songs.

   When he became ill, I was too young to know that he would never recover. I only knew that we had to hide the car keys, lest he try to drive, and that he had to be watched constantly to make sure he didn't accidentally cause a fire, or himself an injury.
   Eventually, he was confined to a nursing home, where we would visit him. Except it was no longer him. The man we went to visit one day gave me a puzzled look and couldn't remember my name. He thought he was his own nine-year-old self again. He thought I was one of his siblings, maybe. But he wasn't sure.
   Then, one day, he never noticed me at all, he just stared into space. The ravens had gone.
   There is nothing more heart-wrenching than looking into the eyes of someone you love, knowing them, and remembering all of that shared history, and all of the feeling behind it, and finding that this beloved person does not remember who you are anymore.
   Odin says remember who you are.

 
  

You Made Me Believe in Magic

Is magic real? Yes. 
Well, prove it.
Laeviss can only say with a great deal of certainty in this regard that the magic he performs is not only real, but he has seen the proof of its working.
When he was about seven years old, Laeviss had a dream. In this dream, Laeviss met a man with a top hat (referred to as the Doctor, though Laeviss is quite sure he was *not* a Time Lord) who explained to him the sort of pain he would be subjected to in this lifetime.  This pain was referenced symbolically, but Laeviss has no doubt as to the reality of the lecture he was given. It would, the kind Doctor explained, begin here and end there and both Laeviss' father and Laeviss would have to agree to the manner of it. This we both did, as we were supposed to do. Laeviss has played this game often enough before, you see.
And then Laeviss lived his life, and played that game of Snakes and Ladders. He made sure the client got the ladders, and Laeviss himself took those snakes. (He has always had a fondness for snakes.)
Laeviss has had no doubt about the veracity of the information he was given by the gods later in his life, because it corresponds with memories of past existence. "This is how the magic works, this is what you specialize in, and this is what you do."
Yes, creepy little dog though he may be, the Earth-wyrm that is Laeviss worked his magic with the help of his earthy cohorts, the Dwarves. And then saw the proof of its working with his own eyes, and heard the story of its working with his own ears. Success! And the Earth is a better place, even for old Laeviss.
The Dwarves will take any kind of energy in payment. Not only the "usual and customary" sort that a skratta might employ. It pays to be creative when, in Midgard, all time is of the essence and all space is not here.

Transformers

   Way back in the day, Laeviss had a witchy friend, who would cackle and conjure and do all of the sorts of things witches do. And she'd often look at Laeviss and say, "Little Wren, there is more to you than meets the eye."
   Laeviss is so much more than meets the eye, in almost every way imaginable. In fact, what the eye sees of Laeviss is the worst possible judge of what Laeviss is, but is what most people use to base their versions of Laeviss reality on.
   Unfortunately, the perceptions of the eye guide all with the ability to visually perceive things in ways that deeply affect their lives. Foods that don't *look* appealing to us are often not tried, no matter how tasty they might actually be. I know Laeviss certainly won't try foods that don't look appealing to him.
   It's all in the visual presentation. If things aren't attractive to our personal sight, then they just aren't attractive. And there's not much we can do about it.
   Like one person who would like very much for Laeviss to be attracted to her. Or him. Or whoever s/he is at any given moment. And Laeviss can't force it.
   The person knows the rules about sexual attraction. They have recited them to Laeviss in rants on numerous occasions. ("If one more person tells me that being gay is a choice, I'm going to punch them in the face," s/he has told me.) One either *is* attracted, or is *not* attracted. There is no "choice" involved. One can't choose the persons to whom they feel an attraction.
   But still, hope endures.
   "I want to do what your boyfriend does for you," s/he tells Laeviss.
   "You can't do what my boyfriend does for me," Laeviss responds honestly.
   "Yes, I can!" S/he says. "Just tell me what he does for you, and I'll do it."
   "You can't do what he does for me. It's not possible, because I'm not attracted to you in that way."
   "You just haven't opened your mind, yet," s/he answers. To which Laeviss responds, kindly but firmly, "You can't force someone to want to f*ck you."

   Yes. It is a Universal Law. You can't force sexual attraction. You can't change it. You can't control it. It isn't a "choice." It just *is.* Or it is *not.*
   When there is more to you than meets the eye, it can be difficult to find partners with whom one shares a sexual attraction.  (And, in Laeviss' experience, usually the attraction is all on one side or the other, almost never is it mutual. And it always, always - however much else spiritually and mentally and emotionally is involved - depends on the physical appearance.) And when you find such a mutually-agreeable partner, what do you tell them about yourself? How much do you tell them? Is the physical perception of who one is amounting to false advertising? Or is a verbal assertion a false truth?
   Laeviss is more than meets the eye, indeed. But most people will never know. Because you can't force someone to want to f*ck you.