Just so you know, there's an ENTIRE SECOND VIDEO about this topic over on our Nebula channel! curiositystream.com/talefoundry You can get Nebula for less than *any* other streaming platform on the internet by signing up for the Nebula/Curiosity Stream bundle. Check it out, and definitely come back to let us know what you thought of our OTHER video about crafting magic! I'm really eager to hear your thoughts.

The reason Glamdring and Sting glow near orcs is actually fascinating, the smith imbues the blade with his wrath and so causes it to react to that which the smith hated

Writing is definitely crafting as magic. Both the process and the product are magical, and I love it.

1:54 Not Enchanting 2:55 Magic for Crafting 8:30 Magic from Crafting 15:31 Magic as Crafting

These are some sick concepts that I haven't considered! This gives me a great idea for a group of npc's in my DnD campaign!

"Howl's Moving Castle" does a little bit of this! It's an interesting concept, Sophie makes hats and sews and fixes outfits and as she speaks to the clothes, they fill with her intention and be whatever she said they would be, positive or negative. While the magic isn't in the craft itself but is in Sophie, seeing her drawing it out via her hat making and sewing is really cool and I think fits this concept pretty well!

This reminds me of a manga that uses ink and any writing surface as the source of magic. Draw some runes enclose them in a circle and as the circle is completed the magic is invoked. Simple, but with added complexity when you find out that being skilled in calligraphy is what makes or breaks any spell cast. The flying shoes for example use wind runes in it but if the runes are uneven in placement or different in size the magic will strongly push the user in the direction of the area with biggest and/or closely packed runes making them hard to control, but that does not make those configurations undesirable. Since the main character uses that apparent fault in design to make a makeshift mast to fly through the air when her magic shoes she was lent became unusable when the circle and runes were damaged.

As a crafter and an artist and a writer, I loved this topic! I'm excited to read Circle of Magic now, too. One of my recent inspirations for imagining magical crafting is a book that isn't about magic and isn't even fiction. I recommend it for anyone interested in exploring the idea of craft and the crafting mind. It's called "Craeft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts," by historian/archeologist Alexander Langlands. His remarks about the mindset of the craftsperson, how fundamental craft is to human life, and how in tune the crafter must be to nature and their physical surroundings to develop a crafting mind, are particularly interesting. The chapter on beekeeping will probably trigger a LOT of story ideas, as will the chapter on sticks, especially the part about highly specialized tools being grown rather than made (spoiler: hay forks, in France). So thanks so much for this talk. However, I do have to mention there was one teeny bit of irony in the video: Our friend, Fiber Arts, the most mysterious of all processes to those who don't do them. Your descriptions of them were spot-on, but the animations... Okay, I saw three fiber crafts in the video, 2 animations of spinning, 1 of embroidery, and 1 of weaving. The weaving animation was correct enough - it was a proper type of loom, it looked right, and what tiny details it missed are too small to matter visually. So I applaud that, because I have seen some whackadoo representations of weaving out there in the world. So that one's good to go. The embroidery animation had a big error, but it is an error that people can actually make when they're learning to embroider. So, we have the crafter holding a piece of fabric stretched on a frame, and we see some stitches already in the fabric - all correct. And we see the crafter frowning down at her work - and no wonder she's having trouble because she is making her next stitch wrong. Look at the pretty, golden line of the thread in the animation. It goes from the bottom of the fabric to the eye of the needle - but then where it is going? The way it's animated, the crafter made her last stitch by pushing the needle down through the fabric, and now she has carried the needle up **around** the frame and is trying to push it down into the top of the fabric again. Look closely, and you'll see why that's a problem. She's going to have to figure that one out before she can start stitching up some magic. Finally, spinning. Outside of books about spinning, I don't think I have ever seen a correct representation of the craft of spinning. The video shows us the character from Circle of Magic using a spinning wheel, and the Moirai spinning the threads of fate. In both animations, there is one crucial piece missing, which makes the whole image nonsensical - the spindle. In both cases, the video shows the pretty golden thread somehow moving from the loose fiber to the wheel, and even into the wheel mechanism and around the wheel itself. Incorrect! In fact, it's the most common incorrect depiction of spinning I've seen. (Technically, the animation of the Moirai also missed the measuring and snipping parts, but who's counting?) What's missing is the spindle - a straight, pointy stick - it can be made of wood or metal. The spindle is mounted to the wheel. The wheel's job is to turn the spindle - to spin it, in fact, hence the name "spindle." The loose fiber gets attached to the spindle, and the spindle is what makes the thread. So the wheel turns, the spindle spins, and it causes the fibers attached to it to twist. That's where the craft comes in. The spinner must control how much of the fiber is pulled through their fingers to get caught up in the twist coming off the spinning spindle. That's what makes the thread. Then there's a whole bunch of technical stuff about how the thread gets wound up, and about tension and plying and whatnot, and that all varies by fiber and what kind of wheel you're using, etc. - it doesn't matter. The point is, you can be forgiven for not getting this right, because of all traditional crafts, spinning is arguably one of the most arcane and, yes, magical. No one gets it unless they've done a little of it. I used to demonstrate spinning at a living history museum, and it was one of the most fun parts of that job because most visitors were just wowed, like jaws hanging open, when they watched me do it. The constant questions were "what are you doing?", "how is it happening?", "what am I seeing?" This is because spinning is fast. It's based on a dynamic, kinetic force, rather than mechanical construction. The thread or yarn is created in literally seconds, and the moving parts spin so quickly, the eye can't follow what they are doing. Depending on the machine the spinner is using, it can literally look like thread is magically emerging from their fingertips. My favorite visitor a the museum was a physics professor, who became so engrossed by the spinning wheels, that his family left him behind to finish their tour. He peppered me with questions for over an hour, practically writing a paper in his head. I even let him try his hand at it with the drop spindle (probably the tool used by the Moirai, btw), which we used for teaching kids. That speed is why people who have never tried spinning cannot wrap their brains around what all the parts are and how they fit together, and why I have never seen a correct modern image of spinning made by anyone who isn't a spinner. And I think there's a clue here to the magical-ness of craft and its potential as a magic system, and the role of expertise, learning, and practice in magical craft. Anyone who truly masters a craft will end up with such an intimate understanding of the craft's processes that they can do things others simply cannot comprehend. One reason crafting may be uncommon as a magic system is because crafts, like spinning and weaving and metalurgy, etc., are extremely technical - arcanely technical - and if you don't know how they work, you won't be able to build an effective story around them. Plus, the world is full of people who do them in real life, and they will absolutely call out every error, just like I did - from a place of love and gratitude! I recommend that anyone seeking to explore crafting as magic should take up a craft as a hobby. At least take some classes in whatever craft you want to write about, even if the system you're planning won't have to be entirely realistic. That's probably why so many gods are depicted as craftspeople just magi-crafting mythical McGuffins into existence - because it's okay to just handwave craft into a story if the characters and audience aren't expected to understand how it was done. It's the old "a wizard [a crafter] did it" trope. But if you want to tell the story from the crafter's point of view, you should do some hands-on research.

"Paper magician" - oh boy I was gonna read that one! It appeared recently in our school library and I thought it looked really nice and was gonna be interesting but I forgot the name before I managed to borrow it. Well now that I know the name I have a few days of spring break to read it, also apparently there's more than just one book~

I love this robot dude. Also anyone else know that the black bits in his eyes are suppose to be the eyelids, but you just can’t unsee him being super tired or bored?

There is an old novel called "The King of Elfland's Daughter" (if I remember correctly the name) where a witch forged a special sword for the prince...and to make this sword she makes him go fetch from her cabbage patch some thunder stones (probably some meteoric ore), then draws the shape of the sword in the ground and arranges the thunder stones to reproduce It, and in the end she sings of the sword while she melts the ore...and it's one of the most fascinating passages of that novel. It was by a Lord Dunsany, and I vividly suggest you to look at it, it's a lovely short story

"Being empathetic toward a piece of string is going to do you much good if it can't feel anything." Who said the string had to do the feeling? I know a handful of artisans that extend their own senses into the material that they're working with, and am unlocking this capability myself. A spider can feel the vibrations along the length of its webs, we can find vacancies beneath the earth by sending shockwaves into it, and many more examples of sensing through a medium that isn't a part of yourself. The very languages we use require air to carry the vibration, or light the reflect off of us and into the eyes of another.

I remember an anime I watched, years ago now, where magic was used not directly for fireballs and lightning and such, but to create magical combat dolls and then further empower them with spells/runes as needed The dolls themselves could then sling destructive magic but it all came through their own core and their own abilities/the prowess of their creator It was fascinating to see how it handled the combos of creator and creation for each set of characters

This almost sounds like what the Mechanicus believes makes technology work in 40k. They believe this it is not the arrangement of parts, underlying scientific principles, and what not that makes things do what they do. They believe that by arranging these materials thusly, making them look just so, and offering sacrifices of words, oils, and prayers in precise ritualist ways make the machine work by awakening a machines inner spirit, encouraging the motive force to flow, and gaining approval from god. That it is the rituals, not the materials themselves, that make technology work. It makes me wonder how interesting it would be to make a series where this was the case, where what appears to be at first glance a modern or sci-fi civilization is in fact crafted magic where it is appeasement of gods and spirits that make things work and not an understanding of the forces of nature.

So.. Ok instead of connecting with a dragon to the point that you get magical benefits, You connect with your craft to the point you get magical benefits. The coolest part about this is that I think each and every person will have a different understanding and connection with each craft. Edited: and a different understanding and connection with the same craft to. Someone understand painting in way that... let's them walk on air...and another person understands painting in way that.... let's them turn solids to liquids. Ok I guess this might take more thought in order to give ppl perfect powers that makes the most sense but is still different for each person to signify subjectivity.

As an Artisan myself, the idea of the passion and thought going into a project giving it magical properties is so wonderful. The work you put into a project, every cut, stitch, skive, and strike. It really feels like you've established a connection with the material/project, whether your wood has an ornery burr that you must work around, or a beautiful scar in a hide that you wish to accentuate. You know every last inch of your creation, every blemish and mistake, and every perfectly straight stitch, things people would never notice that are only visible to the maker's eye. The idea of intention and purpose giving a project magic properties is so much fun to think about. Careful continuous toil on a bow, working slowly to ensure it's made with utmost precision and in turn, the bow returning the deed by giving back that same precision into its shots. Armor crafted for a loved one, with confidence in their abilities yet concern for their wellbeing, in turn, creates an armor incredibly light without restricting the wearer's movements while remaining incredibly strong. Yet in turn, such a system could also turn sour. Crafting armor for someone out of fear for their health, in turn, makes the armor clunky and stiff, that same immobilizing fear the craftsmen had, is now settled deep within the armor itself. A weapon begrudgingly crafted, is now destined to fail at the worst of times. A tool made from frustration now ruins any projects it touches. I love this idea and would love to see more of it!

When I write, I often dislike what I create. But in that moment, between being mortal and flawed, and a creator of something enduring and divine, I feel only exultation in my craft. I enter a trance and speak with both my mind and my muse alike, listening to and contemplating them in every moment. I do not cease, I do not tire, and I do not exist beyond the words begging for form as I spin tales from fibres alone. It's nice to see that discussed as a form of and conduit for magic. I hadn't considered it much before, but now I want to redesign my current fantasy D&D world around the premise of "Magic is Crafting" and pieces of "Magic from Crafting", so thank you!

The only thing I could think of while watching this video is the part of The Icewind Dale Trilogy where Bruenor crafts the hammer for Wulfgar. The detail and time it goes over with the process of making, and the natural magic that seems to come just from making the hammer and carving the runes was awesome. It really put magical crafting in a new light for me. It's not an essential part of the magic system, it is in The Forgotten Realms after all, but it's a really cool piece of the overall puzzle.

The circle of magic series is one of my all times favorites! A quick nit pick though (as someone who got into spinning from the series) Sandry uses a drop spindle for her earliest work because spinning wheels are just the same work done faster and in bulk, if she couldn't bring the fibers together on a drop spindle she wasn't going to on a spinning wheel. I'm a little sad it wasn't shown/metioned because drop spindle work looks more like magic to me than spinning wheel work. Spinning wheels are big treadle machines that look like they could do something as fantastical as spinning in a fabricated and non magical manner, but drop spindles are just very oddly shaped tops that with a steady hand and a quick spin magically make thread out of a pile of wool fibers.

Quite fascinating, I’d say Kitchen magic can be an example of crafting itself being magical as oppose to the end object or in art art therapy you have the rock garden designs where the act of creating a design in the sand has an affect on the self, the design is immediately erased afterwards..

I love Circle of Magic so much, it's magic always was so cool to me, also that series was one of the ones I used for escapism when my mental health was really bad in middle school.

This is a timely video for me I'm taking a plunge on D&D with my friends, one of them is really, /really/ into crafting He's a hobbyist woodworker and blacksmith, so he wants to /make stuff/ ingame, and I want to enable that. Thank you, Tale Foundry

Michael A Stackpole wrote trilogy about becoming so good at any given skill that you can becoming magical in it. The Story focuses on a family of map makers during an age of discovery and how they can shape the landscape but mastering their skills, the first book is called a The Secret Atlus.

The Unwanteds is my favorite book series of all time and within it is my favorite magic system of all time! I really hope it gets talked about in this video. Edit: if Circle of Magic is the only book you've ever read where "making" and "creating" are magical, then I think you'd love the Unwanteds too!

There’s the magic engineers who knows how magic works fundamentally, and then there’s magic technicians who is experienced with what it does and knows how to fix it safely.

Vodoo dolls are my favorite magic thing they feel magic and have rules. Like you take a hair from somebody or DNA make a doll that looks like them, If you wisper in the dolls ear the person hears that if you drop the doll the person trips and hurts themself

I remember reading a book series called the unwanteds. Though it was basically magic from art, I think it would still be considered magic as crafting. Basically the people would imbue magical properties into different art pieces. Like a painting of a door that can be used as a portal, a poem that can make someone fall asleep instantly, or a ball of clay that when thrown at someone turns to stone hand cuffs just to name a few. If you haven't read it or heard i highly recommend it. It has a very interesting world with dystopia and mystical themes in it.

I think one of my favorite examples of crafting as magic is from the Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett, that one witch that teaches her to make shambles from all the random bits and bobs in her pocket - the items don't have any magic in them, nor really does the end product, the magic lies in the crafting itself.

This was like an eerie walk through of all the niche fantasy books I’ve read and no one I know has heard of. Thanks for the weird experience of feeling so seen and validated for appreciating these books and magic systems!

Tamora Peirce? Awesome circle of magic is one of my personal fav and what got me interested in magic systems Crafting as a form of magic can be seen in both Sandri and Daja, Briar, and Tris and how they bound themselves to each other because of Sandri

I feel like that the magical empathy link has a parental tone. For myself, becoming a new dad makes me feel like we are going through a magical-like process. Harnessing the most intense emotions of joy, saddness, excitement, fear, etc, into forming a functioning little person and a family unit. It is truly harrowing and yet beautiful. No expression can fully explain or describe. A breaking and remaking that is only something one can live through.

This is what I get most into with crafting my book series. The magic systems are so versatile and compatible that I need to be very very aware of how people would live ordinary lives with magic that is highly accessible.

A neat magic system that uses this kind of thing is about half of the stuff done in Mage: The Ascension. In the game magick is mostly through a combination of sheer Willpower and the fact mages are reality manipulators. The problem, besides paradox, is that they typically need a way to focus it. Like, they do activity A and through their Will and Arete the effect is Z when it should have been B. The neat thing is that when they do it the effects stick around so they slap stuff like that onto objects called Wounders. The Wounders can get to the point of the high scale where if *anyone* uses the object then it could still do magical stuff.

One magic system in my world basically gives users the ability to craft magical clockwork devices. I originally had it as a power you're born with, but after watching this video, I'm considering making it more of a skill you can learn.

I am Reminded how Sophie in Howls Moving Castle would speak to her crafts imbuing them with a sort of purpose and intention.

For a long time I've felt that ancient artefacts, like vases, pots, and books, but also ephemeral things like stories and songs, are unique because of all the people they went through. Everyone who interacted with those things put a little bit of themselves into it, esp with stories and songs, so they're are like the culminations of (parts of) people's souls.

I stumbled upon Tale Foundry a few weeks ago and I am OBSESSED. I am working on a novel series and I hope that in maybe 5 years, or 10, or 50, it would get featured by Tale Foundry. Magic systems have always been a fascinating topic for me and this particular video has only made this fascination grow. Thank you for such an incredible experience

Another thing mentioned in the first Young Wizard book, _So You Want To Be A Wizard,_ it is mentioned that doing everyday things has magic. Paying bills on time, E.g. And a friend of mine, a Wiccan, said there are power items she puts around different places in her home to discover. She said it's a common thing and people do it when they have favorite items. A favorite pen or piece of jewelry (expensive or costume doesn't matter). A favorite keyboard or mug. Lucky socks. You imbue things with magic simply by living and putting importance on them through your love. And toys become real, like in _The Velveteen Rabbit._ Are you sure you read the right books when you grew up? (Yes of course you're a robot.) Since you are an autonomous being, I think you can choose to read _Frederick_ by Leo Lioni, _The Flying Hockey Stick_ (Roger Bradfield), _The Phantom Tollbooth_ (Norton Juster), and various origami books that have the magic of Japanese paper folding experts in them as much as the folds themselves.

As always, Tale foundry comes back with an amazing video. Keep up the good work!

There was an interesting bit in Mists of Avalon where Morgan does a spell while weaving. The simple and repetitive act puts her in a kind of trance. She builds the spell at he same time she makes the cloth, but they have nothing to do with one another. It's just what she happens to be doing while she decides to kill a guy. It was kind of a throwback to earlier in the story when she got really high while enchanting the scabbard for Excalibur by embroidery. I like that combination of magic and crafts associated with women, especially boring and repetitive crafts.

The Circle of Magic series has been my favorite book series since I was ten (and I'm in my thirties now) and the magic system is one of many reasons why. I'm fascinated by the crafting magic in CoM, and I enjoy seeing other takes too. This video got to a lot of why I love that angle so much. And for a bonus, brought up the Old Kingdom and Charter Magic, another of my favorites. It's a bit silly, but I got genuinely emotional that CoM was the core for you doing this video. Those books mean a lot to me (as does Tamora Pierce's other series, the Tortall universe) and I rarely ever see anyone out of the smallish Pierce fandom circles even know about them, much less talk about them.

I always thought a cool magic system would be that it acts like cellular data where they have towers that radiate magic and depending on location your magic could be weak or strong and maybe even different magic providers could make the world seem relatable and light

The Circle Opens by Tamora Pierce is one of my favorite fantasy series. Picked them up at a thrift store. Just got the Circle of Magic series, and I'm excited to read it.

Somewhat related to what's mentioned here: Sometimes the magic at work during the crafting process may be inadvertent, or purposely done. But in the process of crafting an object, the crafter puts part of themself into their creations. Usually not physically (although the phrase 'blood, sweat, and tears" comes to mind), but more along the lines of the metaphysical. A sword forged with the intent that it'll be used only for protection of others may actually give off this sort of feeling, while one that looks identical but was forged by someone bent on revenge might give off a more foreboding feeling, both to people who never knew the crafters' intents. We even find this in real life at times. Sometimes being drawn to an object in an antique shop or flea market, without knowing its history, and later finding out it was lovingly made by someone's great-great-great grandpa as a birthday gift or something.

I have an example of crafting as magic: in "The Mists of Avalon," there was a scene where one of the women was weaving a banner for King Arthur, and she was putting magic into every warp and weft of the weave for his success in battle.

As someone currently writing a fantasy story in which crafting *is* the magic system, this was such a helpful video! I've got so many new ideas now for how to better develop the world's magic/crafting system. Thank you!

You had such an incredible insight on this one! In fact, in the anthropological research, there's a whole topic dedicated to study of techniques, and most of what you've said is really close to the arguments and conclusions we made about techniques and how much we learn about ourselves and the world when we move our attention to the process, the gestures, as you said, the crafting. Even the connections you made between hammering a piece of metal and typing on a keyboard were very interesting! And I truly empathize with your sense of awe when you looked back at crafting. Paying attention to the process of making can truly be such an inspiration to magic system, because there's so much involved on "making": the way we perceive things, values, preferences, influences, notions of self and much more! Anyway, an awesome video you made, as always!

Thank you guys... Somehow, something clicked on me while I was watching this video. I actually read the title wrong and I entered thinking that it was a video about crafting magic systems xD And I do think that the surprise of finding another theme and the curiosity that awakened on me helped me to reconnect with something that I have been trying to fix... You know, I write, a lot, but I never liked writing. I was always lost in the world of art because I never liked to do a specific art, I don't like writing, drawing, sculpting, dancing, interpreting, composing both music and poems... yet I tried them all. Frustrated with me being unable to find a channel to actually express my creations... I ended up writing, just because it was "easier" for me to show a bigger picture with that technique of communication, I'm a person that never stops creating, so I always end up creating worlds instead of stories, and I do never stop creating. That is not an exaggeration, in fact I actually have psychological problems because I'm never able to stop creating, so my mind never stops, and I end up falling in depression, and I had dysthymia most of my life because of it. I ended up hating writing, it's too slow to keep up with my mind... everything is too slow. I never write because I want to write, but because I want to be read, not to be heard specifically, but more because I want people that love stories to have some they love. You can see how can that combo can be very toxic for yourself. But lately, and thanks to therapy, I'm able to see worth in my work, worth that makes me deal with the slowness of the creative progress. I must say that this video about what crafting is, and associating it with my craft made me realize how beautiful my craft is and now, for the first time... I want to write for myself. TLDR: This video was the last perspective that I needed in order to start loving my craft after 30 years of hating it.

The little part that you described from circle of magic basically perfectly encapsulates what I want to achieve in a magic system, many stories throw around words like training, research, or skill, but often it gets shown as a montage of a character's efforts, uncovering a magical item, or just being told how magic works and then being able to do it better than everyone else - and that's not wrong, but it feels like how a movie needs the story to progress, either a sudden moment of change or a montage of strenuous activity that would've been interesting to show, but not worth the time - some stories have magic as a bond that increases over time, but this often takes the same approach as a montage or surge in power - learning how one connects to magic almost like a self discovery feels like what I want to do, maybe some aspects might be cliché, like the wind-magic person having a stormy personality, but if learning to reign the powers of our own self was innately magical, wouldn't self discovery and understanding be so much more prevalent? Also I just like it when mundane materials have magic properties - this isn't new for silver, the writer's pet of magic materials, but perhaps there being a reason for why gold and lead are viewed as opposites but also connected - or merely making something with many alloys like copper have actual magic properties that change with each alloy - and magic fantasy metals won't ever get old (other than the fairly boring 'this metal is very shiny and told to be sacred but is just glorified gold')

That intro was peak comedy. It won't get better. Comedians can only watch in awe

I love the metaphor of magical crafting directed at writing itself. I can plan and plan and plan but nothing generates ideas for my stories as well as the simple process of writing the narrative itself. Its sparks such interesting and valuable questions seemingly out of nowhere.

I found this on Tumblr and I found it to somewhat work with this episode: "For a thousand years, mages have imbued wands with their power. They have enchanted rings, amulets, swords, staves, armor, and all manner of shining bauble. However, to your knowledge, you are the first to use... a pocket watch. Why? Well, frankly, you just thought it would be neat" -writing-prompt-s

Directional compass as a magic artifact? 🤔 Enjoyed this video as well.

2d animation, to me, magic. Every frame drawn creates life. A character can think and feel, make the audience laugh or cry, but it's the process of seeing the frames move as you draw with intent. Intent to bring out a feeling, a life. When animating on paper is so magic to see the frames animate and move as the paper is flipped to see the action and whether or not it's working. It's so so magical

I recently found your channel and I love it. Thanks for the fantastic content.

Crafting isn't just physical crafting, expand it to other froms of "craft", such as music. Orpheus was a great musician and could cause strange occurances, but it wasn't the songs themselves or his harp which was magic. He was powerful because the magic came from his skill AT playing and creating music. In the Elder Scrolls, the world of Nirn itself is a song, crafted and written by Magnus, with the tempo itself set by the beating of the Doom Drum Lorkhan, all couched within the sad and self-destructively nostalgic dream of Anu. And so and so on. Music itself is a craft, one that is different than other crafts, for what is made is not usually physical, but something intangible, ephemeral, and liminal, yet still all too real and moving, able to shatter a soul as hard as any hammer, heal a heart as well as any panacea, and weave imagery and stories more vibrant than any weavers loom, artist's brush, or poet's quill. Thusly, could there not be anything more magical than the musician's craft then?

I love the idea that you actually have to craft a spell, and what you craft it with and how determines it’s power. Seed and ash can create a small fireball. A perfectly round pebble rubbed in dirt can create invisibility etc

It's so funny, watching your animation of the spinning wheel towards the end of the video, with your narration about this topic, it occurred to me that this video is sort of an example of Crafting as Magic. Like, that animation looks to be a few images of the body, arms, wool, and wheel, and you have layered effects and motion on those images. Those began as somewhat "mundane" (I do think your art is lovely) components, but with the editing/animating skill you have turned it into a recognizable scene that I can understand as a person spinning yarn, and there is a magic to that craft for sure. It really struck me, and so I subscribed. Great video!

This is a really fascinating topic, because there are so many things a writer can do with the idea of making magic by making things! Honestly, if someone took the concept, and wrote a fictional encyclopedia that just showed how their crafting magic system worked (either a standalone thing or a companion piece to a series they wrote), I'd be open to reading it. (Since Talebot's a robot, I wonder if you could argue there's a kind of magic in him, since he would have been BUILT, which is a form of crafting too using metal and electricity to make life, hehe.) Also, Talebot broke that mirror AND that poor crystal ball!! D: Looks like we should never give him stuff made of glass!!

A crafting friend of mine said a friend she had said needle arts were magic. Magic in that something is created from nothing. Crafting imbued with magic happens, I think, in "Coraline," where the Beldam creates the different dolls that entice each character. At least in the movie. You see her taking apart the previous doll and re-sewing it with new materials and sending it back out again. No chicken blood, no incantations. In _Howl's Moving Castle,_ Sophie Hatter talks things into magic. That's her magic talent. So in sewing up Howl's jacket, while she talks to it, she is making it take on a less sexually attractive character. She has made hats different characters by talking to them as she sewed them. One she says it will be worn by someone who must marry into money. The one who buys it is her stepmother, and indeed she did marry money and the whole family is set for life. She even talks the Demon Calcificer into having a thousand years of life. If that's not crafting magic, I don't know what is. In the _Young Wizards_ series by Diane Duane, every wizard has access to some sort of grimoir that magically has whatever information they need to cast spells. But the wizards must create the circles, and the magic is in the determination of the parameters (like the amount of oxygen needed on the moon for each person visiting for the time they spend there). And the strengthening magic of character affirmations or changes made by naming what or whom they name In the Circle, even themselves.

This is the second video today and ever I've seen from this channel, and I'm already hooked. I'm a storyteller myself, I love to write, draw, and tell tales. I'm even a Dungeon Master. These videos have already started to make me think in entirely different ways about how I can tell my stories and run my campaigns. I'm honestly really glad I found these videos. (By the way, the Villains using Contracts was what I found first.) Keep up the great content! I'll be on the lookout for it.

Your art-style is really enjoyable

I've been fascinated with magical crafting ever since I read The Circle of Magic. Thank you so much for this video.

This is the first video I've seen from your channel, and I can say with certainty that I really enjoyed it. So captivating, in fact, I'm amazed I haven't seen it in my recommended feed sooner than today. I'm subscribing and definitely looking forward to more amazing content.

Now i know what to do with the world I'm building. This is inspirational! I can never thank you enough!

eyyyy!!! i LOVE the circle of magic series! ( some extra background for those who don't know, its a quartet of books focusing on each of the perspective characters, with a second quartet called the circle opens taking place 4 years later) in one or two of the series, the main climax isn't in the use of a peice of magic, but in the crafting of it. plus the sequel series involves each character teaching one or more other users of craft magic, and one of them only has magic as craft, as they do not produce any physical endproduct. also: i'd love to see your take on a variation of magic materials- paradoxical crafting. for instance, norse dwarves used ingredients like the roots of a mountain or the noise of a cats' footfall to craft gleipnir, the rope that hold fenrir in place. to me, it can be interpreted as somehow crafting something physical out of impossible ideas( conjuring using paradoxes) or materials that magic must be used to capture and use. (this is doubly interesting if the gathering and crafting rely on mutually exclusive magic systems) sorrry for rambling a bit

When I started watching this one, I actually had circle of magic clearly in my mind, hoping there was a chance you'd talk about my favorite series that is the basis of my own witchery. so utterly happy it was the main discussion lead

I just discovered this channel and like wow, I'm absolutely amazed by the quality and the voice makes it so pleasant to listen to. Definitely going to be checking out some other videos, it might even help with inspiration. And if not it's still a nice thing to learn about

When I was in middle school I was obsessed with a book series called the Unwanteds, which is a sort of dystopia in which individuals who exercise creativity are labeled unwanted and sentenced to death. The one who is meant to execute them instead rescues them and brings them to a world made from art, and they learn that creating art can be a form of magic. I remember fantasizing endlessly about living in that world and the type of magic I could perform there

Great job! I'm obsessed with this!

Love all the books mentioned!

Mild correction, Hephaestus did not make Zues’s lightning bolts, those were the cyclopses. He DID make a giant robot to guard an island, and possibly a mechanical tree and the gods thrones.

I love this video. It actually got me to thinking about a new story idea. Thanks for the inspiration.

I read Circle of Magic as a kid, and it's always been one of my favorites. There's a followup quartet, which is also fantastic, and a novel that takes place after that, which I haven't gotten my hands on.

Hey! Loved Tamora Pierce's books when I was growing up! And funny thing on the magic from crafting thing, I actually have an entire magic system based on cooking, where the resulting "dish" becomes a spell that can then be fueled with caloric energy or expended entirely.

Inspiring video!! You make me want to get out there and write more every time i watch your stuff

This is so beautiful and inspiring, I can’t believe I haven’t watched more of this channel before

As a composer and weaver, this resonated A LOT with my experience of creating. Actually, in the case of composing music, it's the process itself I love best, the end result, albeit nice, is... somehow estranged from the raw emotion of the creating moment (I mean when the tune is performed again in the future). I think there are good examples of crafting as magic in Tolkien. Fëanor actually, and several others. His biggest feat are the Silmarils, but before them, he crafted many things. Same for Aulë and the Dwarves. What defines Fëanor and Aulë is that they are CRAFTERS. We also hear several times that the Silmarils just cannot be reproduced, ever. Nor can the Trees, for that matter. I've always been more fascinated by that archetype of the crafter achieving the deepest intimacy with the materials and techniques they use than by any result (although I recognise fully that magical artefacts are hella appealing).

One of my favorite ways to describe magic-embued objects is that , like a tome, the tome itself is not the source of the magic or spell making, but a channel for the caster to conduct magic through. While enchanting would probably give the tome some of its own magical qualities , or curses

I love love love love your videos! I know this video came out today but whenever I watch your videos I am always expecting to see at the very least 1million views. It is really cool to see how much content you guys can pump out and the quality of it. This video is super informative and helps a lot for developing world building skills, which are great for our dnd DM.

Youjo Senki has an odd magic system. Magical Aptitude is an inborn ability (and apparently a random one) to channel magic, but it normally is of limited utility. Wizards and Druids of old worked out ways to use it, but it required long and complex rituals (Tanya herself works out, with her limited memories of it being used WWI and WWII history, how to generate Amphetamines in her blood stream at will using it much as the actual German army, as a 'combat drug'. Eliminating fear, and keeping her going no matter the injuries). But in the pseudo WWI era of the light novel, manga, anime, they created the Operation Orb (also called a 'Computation Jewel') that magically replicated an analog computer as a differential engine to preform complex mathematical computing to allow the mage to affect the world with a much more immediate effect, even if its just powering other magical devices. (Most often a personal flight system, whose form seems to depend on country of origin.)

I love that you mentioned the Old Kingdom series 😊

This reminds me of the Dwarven chains of Norse Mythology that were used imprison the Great Wolf Fenrir. The end result was a binding as thin as spider silk and used to tie up the wolf, but the materials used were magical in nature. It was created with ingredients such as the stomping of a cat, the beards of women, the root of a mountain, spit of a bird, breath of a fish, and the nervousness of a bear. Basically the dwarves crafted into being a chain made nearly entirely of concepts, making it inherently magical.

I’ve been wanting to write a story about a crafter, but I’ve never been able to nail down how I want it to be done. This video is a literal godsend for me, because now I have so many ideas to throw into a hat and see what comes out.

Your voice is so calming, the animation is so beautiful, the insight inspiring - I love this channel.

Sabriel was one of my first approaches to fantasy as a teenager and I loved it.

Definitely a video I needed to watch at the moment. I am a creative myself and I am in the process of creating my own world on and off for maybe 15 years. It's only recently that I have been able to refine certain aspects like how the overarching world appears and works. The language, the power system as well as the primary goals and malicious entities that's subject to change and circumstance. This video made me think more about the process of which my power system works a bit more in depth and I am all for it.

In the scarlet gospel’s, the hell priests most deadly magic is origami birds that come to life and make the cenobites bleed to death. Not exactly the craftsmanship as the end point but a good story does normally hinge on those types of conflicts.

Probably one of my favorite moments in the Inheritance cycle is the chapter dedicated to the creation of Brisingr, Eragon's new sword after his first sword was taken by Murtagh. How in order to make the fantastical blades that never break or dull or rust and can cut through all but the strongest of magics you must not only use special materials, you must also incorporate some amount of magic into the different processes themselves. Even the material, while exotic, is not inherently magical. It's just a particularly good steel for how it bends and maintains shape. But the use of singing the magic into the metal as it's being smelted, as the main bar is being formed. Using magic to guide the strokes of the hammer to where they need to be in order to move the metal properly. Its some of the best writing Paolini has done in that series. It really inspired me in my own writing to include the idea of craftsmen who are skilled enough in a magical world with very few direct magic users to imbue their craft with magic. Songs sung over hot steel flowing the intentions of the maker into the blade using hammers that themselves were crafted using magic in order for the smith to always strike where they intend to, runes stamped into crossguards that act to siphon the magic that permeates the world into the blade to maintain it's magic. And how a similar process might even be applied to other things, like the shaping of clay, the carving of wood, or even tattooing ink into living skin

After watching this and the video that pairs with it on nebula I was reminded of a character idea I had worked on that involved magic for crafting and life as crafting. There was a material that turned organic but inert matter (so dead things specifically) into a pure expression of itself immortalized in hard crystal, the idea of "pure expression" referring to either the essence of the person the matter once was or an expression of the art that went into changing it (for example a tool carved from wood or bone) the craftsmen who worked with this material spent their lives making things of course but also trying to live as beautiful a life as they could in whatever way that meant to them, then when they died their body would be submerged in the magic liquid and they would take on a new crystalline form in the shape of a pure representation of their soul. Life itself was their magnum opus

Your channel is AMAZING Thank You.

This video feels so dreamy Worldbuilding is one of my favorite parts of writing a story, especially the magic system. I like to get creative with it, even finding more ways to take things as magic (like science or arts or even psicology) Personally I like to base a lot of my stuff in irl witchcraft and wiccas. Things you can easily find on TikTok of all places. Not only it feels genuine since I'm taking elements from the real work, it is a very practical and easy practice the people make (yk, since witchcraft is something relatively "new" that's just getting more attention) and and easy one to follow. Simple stuff like making runes or things having some sort of special energy (like crystals or elements like water or fire), and many things you mentioned being "making stuff and putting your feelings on it" is one of the most prominent ideas I see witches do in many ways: when they eat or do homework they think about great results, or the whole idea of "manifesting", sharing "good vibes" everywhere so that same energy will be returned to you, or when they make potions or hexes they will set their intentions on them as they make them. And even when they *make* things such as potions or hexes, they're just tea or cakes or artworks, when they get less subtle is just flowers on a pond of mud or wearing yellow for a couple of days. They even take physical things like talismans from carefully crafted items made with stuff that carries the elements and energy that you want to get from the talisman to anything you can find (like a plushie or even a button) It's not as great as making ink move or throwing lighting from a stick, but it's a good start to write your own system and it just feels so euphoric thinking about it

I've read the old kingdom series and the circle of magic series as well!! I love them so much!!

Reminds me of thaumcraft, a mod for minecraft, where you mostly craft everything from what you get outside. You take mundane objects and extract their magical essence to create new artifacts that allow you to progress further in your research. Thanks to that, you can access magic in many different ways.

I think a very interesting take on magic items is shown in "a certain magical index"'s magic system where magicians make items that serve as replicas for something in legends and through trial and error they can make something that borrows some of the original's power. I think that's pretty interesting because the replicas themselves dont need to look exactly like the things they copy (mainly bc the mages don't always know what the original looks like) hell sometimes they can make items and then use them to create a different spell that still borrows power from something but uses it in a completely different way and I just think all that is neat

Ah, Tale Foundry and their content about magic systems is back, it's a combo of my favorite.

Honestly, the process of drawing is especially magical. The act of putting in so much time & effort just for something people just look at is frankly OH GOD DAMMIT WHY CAN'T I DRAW THIS THUMB *_aaaaaAAAAAHHH_*

The video I didn’t know I needed to watch, thank you. Many blessings

Isn't this just how it is in reality?

Circle of magic is one of my favorite series but never seen it mentioned it anywhere