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magicaljohan.bsky.social
Jasmine
@magicaljohan.bsky.social
130 followers 200 following 140 posts
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magicaljohan.bsky.social
First strawberry of the season
A large red strawberry sitting in the palm of a hand. The light is coming from the left and highlights the strawberry skin around each seed.
December 7, 2025 at 11:08 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
I wasn't expecting to find a story so deeply Aotearoa in this anthology. Walking down the same streets I walked as a student with this character was unlike anything I've experienced before. It's absolutely dripping in the familiarity of home, down to complex cultural questions. Beautifully written.
A photo of the first page of a short story by Lee Murray called "the bone eater". There is a picture of crossed bones to the left and the text starts on the right-hand page.
December 3, 2025 at 10:41 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
T-pose for the wings.

Zae Coprinus: ball gown edition.
It was nice to have a small event, even if the final LARP had to be moved to next year.
November 12, 2025 at 10:22 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
There's something about dragging a large delivery into the house and closing the screen door behind me that makes me feel like I understand the appeal of being a trapdoor spider
October 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
I'm reading a couple of Malazan chapters a week and other books in between. This week has been a weird sense of whiplash as I go from 242 pages, 50 chapters to 1035 pages, 26 chapters.
These chapter lengths are opposite ends of the scale.
October 29, 2025 at 4:18 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
My two current campaign LARP characters, portrayed using the Stardew portrait creater.

To the left we have Zae Coprinus, and to the right we have Cassie Marlow.
Both very different characters to play in terms of mindset and personality.
A fairy with blue hair and a blue-ish tinge to their skin. They have a silver headpiece and are wearing a purple top with straps that show the shoulders. They have purple eyes and a scar coming down over one eye. A gunslinging cowboy with a black hat and black coat. She's wearing a green shirt that brings out her blue eyes and bright ginger hair. There is a scar going across one cheek.
October 25, 2025 at 7:40 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
Such an excellent lad
A large white and grey rabbit eats a huge mouthful of long grass. There is a green fern to the left of the image. The foreground is focused on Big Ben's glorious whiskers.
October 9, 2025 at 1:51 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
Switching to a new phone on the eve of a long drive was not on my to-do list, yikes
October 1, 2025 at 1:04 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
Thank you, past me.
My nerf mastodon needed a quick fix to run. Reassembly was, thankfully, a breeze.
Several black screws lie on top of a lined notebook page. The outline of five different lengths of screw have been recorded on the pages with a written description of where on the nerf blaster they belong.
September 29, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Jasmine
rebeccarhelm.bsky.social
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
Important Hazel update
A tabby cat sniffs the lower fronds of a fern appreciatively
September 22, 2025 at 11:47 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
Some drawings from the market where I had my stall.
The rats were so, so lovely. Talking to them was my absolute highlight of the whole event 🐀🐀🐀
xtotl.bsky.social Toby Morris @xtotl.bsky.social · Sep 16
People Watching 100: Auckland LARP (Live action roleplaying) Faire, Panmure Community Centre, Saturday afternoon
September 17, 2025 at 2:20 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
An important vote has been cast
A blue background with the header Te Mani Rongonui o Te Tau. Bird of the Year 2025. Celebrating 20 years. Below, there are 5 birds with their name below a photo. From left to right, we have: Black Robin, Takahe, Westland Petrol, Antipodean albatross, New Zealand falcon.
September 16, 2025 at 8:31 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
First attempt at making mood boards. These are for a short story I'm working on and my novel project.
A spread of nine images, forming a mood board with the predominant colours blue, red, and orange-brown. In the top corner we see a wet pavement, lit with neon lights that highlight that it is old and ragged - not quite pot holed, but also not smooth. The next image is an aerial image of a city, looking down onto night time skyscrapers. The third image is a space nebula. It is red, with a pale white-ish line running at a right angle across it. In the next row down, the first image is a white space ship hovering above the clouds of a planet. The second image is two planets colliding. The third image is a close up of cut wires. In the final row, the first image is a highly stylised artwork of two woman in silhouette under a red umbrella. Their faces are covered by the umbrella. The background is grey with lighter grey rain streaks. The next image is a clean reflective hallway. The floor is dark and polished and the walls are white with wavy panels that stick out. It is very modern and very clean. The last image is a sterile white skyscraper with sterile white windows. A mood board spread of nine images. The predominant colours are forest green, warm autumnal oranges, and sky blues. The images are aligned so that the warm oranges are in the four corners, while the greens and blues form a cross in the middle. Each row is as follows: Autumn oak trees with orange leaves, warm light streams through the trees onto the soft grass. On the next image, a snowy mountain takes centre view between blue skies and a forest tinged with orange and yellow leaves. On the next image we see a castle at sunset. It is perched atop a cliff, so that we see forest stretching away beneath as far as the eye can see. The sky is warm and orange, tinting the stone of the castle and its towers. In the next row, the first image is a mossy green forest. Moss covered trees twist around a path that leads deeper into the forest. The next image is a wattle and daub house, the roof is reddish brown and the wall are whitewashed, but the cross crossed beams on the outside are a vibrant blue. There are other houses close to the main house, forming a street that is lined with white gravel. Plants cling to the corners of the houses and at the edge of the path. In the final image in this row, we have a mossy ruin. Steps lead down from an archway and we can see trees surrounding the structure. It probably once had a roof, but that is long gone. Moss clings to every surface. In the final row, the first image is a black metal lantern that glows warmly from the candle within. It sits on orange and red leaves and we can see branches in the background. The second image is a grey wolf, at ease with it's mouth slightly open in what could be considered a smile. The final image is of a candle burning on a silver candlestick beside a stack of pages. Both are nestled close to the bark of a tree, perhaps even resting in a cubbyhole in the tree itself.
September 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
This was a delightful first market experience. I met so many people, chatted with other stallholders, and a happy number of my creations were sold.

My absolute favourite part were the people who came as a pack of rats (and one cat!)
They were genuinely so lovely.
magicaljohan.bsky.social Jasmine @magicaljohan.bsky.social · Aug 22
I will have a stall at the LARP Faire in the morning!
I will have candles, soap, crotchet, paintings, and enamel pins.

It's my first stall, so I'm looking forward to the learning experience and the chance to chat with people who pop in.
A yellow poster with red lines radiating out like the sun. In the round yellow center it reads "Saturday 23rd August, 10am - 2pm, Panmure Community Centre, Auckland LARP Faire. Costumes, accessories, trinkets, jewellery, dice, 3D prints, and more!"
September 4, 2025 at 9:42 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
It's BITE ON GRASS TIME
A tabby cat with a wide open mouth, actively about to chomp on a huge mouthful of grass. She has the eye closest to the grass closed, so it looks like she's winking. Her other eye is open and the light catches it just tight to highlight blue amongst the green A tabby cat who has just closed her mouth on several blade of grass. Her nose is puckered as she bites down and her whiskers splay out to the right and left of the photo
August 24, 2025 at 10:09 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
I will have a stall at the LARP Faire in the morning!
I will have candles, soap, crotchet, paintings, and enamel pins.

It's my first stall, so I'm looking forward to the learning experience and the chance to chat with people who pop in.
A yellow poster with red lines radiating out like the sun. In the round yellow center it reads "Saturday 23rd August, 10am - 2pm, Panmure Community Centre, Auckland LARP Faire. Costumes, accessories, trinkets, jewellery, dice, 3D prints, and more!"
August 22, 2025 at 10:37 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
The pleased face of someone who managed to get accidentally locked out all night
A tabby cat reclines in a cat tree. The photo is a close up with her front paw blurred in the foreground and her contented face resting on a fluffy raised cat bed in the background. She has very long white whiskers
August 18, 2025 at 11:50 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
Worldcon is all wrapped up. I feel like I got good value from the virtual experience, despite the streaming hitches early on and catching panels around my regular job.

I'm looking forward to watching some of the replays for panels I missed.
August 18, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Jasmine
elibalin.bsky.social
Lions that don't look like lions are one of my favorite subgenres of art.

(all from Met Cloisters, NYC)
Medieval stone carving of a lion for a column base at the Met Cloisters, NYC Medieval stone carving of a lion, supporting a funerary sarcophagous; at the Met Cloisters, NYC. Medieval stone carving of a lion; at the Met Cloisters, NYC Medieval bronze aquamanile (water pitcher) shaped like a lion; at the Met Cloisters, NYC
August 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
He's my wee lad in honour of black cat appreciation day
An old black cat with amber eyes. He is sitting in the sun at the bottom of a grey cat tree, with a toy mouse under his tail A skull cat cave, with a black trail draped put of the mouth
August 18, 2025 at 1:38 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
I'm deep into the @seattlein2025.org virtual experience and enjoying it!

So far, I've attended about the same number of panels per day as I did in Glasgow, plus some wonderful virtual-only readings.

People love my notes on Discord, which is mildly overwhelming but also nice.
August 16, 2025 at 2:47 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
I swear there's no dignified way to get off an assisted pull up machine
August 14, 2025 at 8:03 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
First batch is bottled. I'm really hoping nothing goes pop in the night.
Three bottles of what will hopefully be nice ginger beer in 1 week
August 7, 2025 at 8:03 AM
magicaljohan.bsky.social
I have 5 haiku in the recently published Ikusei anthology.
It's exciting to see my work hitting the digital shelves.
A promo poster. It shows a book called Ikusei (Nurture): A Carefully Curated Anthology of Haikus by Various Authors. The book is on a red background with the Quillkeepers Press logo in the top right. Text reads "Get your copy today" and "The book is available now exclusively on Amazon. Order now and enjoy the journey!"
August 7, 2025 at 12:31 AM