I want to talk about The Winslow.

He was a very formative idea for me.

See, the Winslow appears in a lot of Phil Foglio's stories. Whether as a cameo, or even (like in Buck Godot) an indestructible plot device that existed since the beginning of time, and will exist when all civilizations are gone; and is even worshiped and revered, though it is a simple little plushie that goes "Hi!"

https://witches.town/media/EzwL8iMcpeZMJgIjdYw

What was The Winslow when Phil met him, first?

A discarded plushie in a trashcan.

No purpose. A thrown out children's toy. To be forgotten like so much waste. Gone, faded, and forgotten.

Phil decided to help the Winslow be known. Felt others had to see this creature he saw and the magic he saw in it.

So he made the Winslow powerful. Unforgettable. Timeless.

There was no objective reason to do so. No scientific reason to do so. It was a thing he wanted to do; so he imparted upon this plush an identity, and gave that plush recognition and lovability that made it known.

As long as Foglio's works exist, so does the Winslow.

That is magic.

Plushes themselves are a form of magic. Stuffing and threads forming something endearing (or, in some cases, terrifying).

An image put on basic material, and then that material can form a plush, and that plush can form an obvious thing different than other things, a toy to children.

And that toy can adopt a name.

And maybe a child, like myself, once wished so hard their wolf plush was alive.

That even today they write stories (or intend to, sometime) about a plush that becomes a real guardian.

All from threads and stuffing.

@Ulfra_Wolfe I've done this myself, to a few plushies. Not all of them, but...
Of a particular power to me is that I've managed to recover the plushies I had that were my first. They are as old as I am. They've aged with me. :-}

There's also a snow leopard plush that guards my pillow and my dreams at night. I knew her name very quickly after I got her out of the box. I give her some petting attention every night before sleep. :-}

@emanate I think the spirit of Wolfy (was a husky plush but I wanted a wolf, so he was a wolf with a curly tail) moved on into Sir Fluffy.

That seems right, to me.

Wolfy is gone now, but.... he seemed a shell when I last met him. Sir Fluffy feels vibrant to me. Yet... similar.

@Ulfra_Wolfe Mmm. It makes sense that can happen. :-}

I... someday I may have to transplant Diablo, my rottweiler puppy plush, into a new pelt. I've slept with him every night on my left arm, for... maybe a decade? May eventually wear down or need to be repaired. :-}

@emanate Relatedly (somewhat), It's kinda cheating to sacrifice symbols when they can be made anew, but I've done that~. Imagination is a powerful tool.

I brought back my childhood sword, too.

The mask is borrowed from a fiction so strong it felt reality, too.

The rabbit skull necklace hasn't existed in the physical world. I don't feel my ensemble is finished without it tho. Will need it soon.

https://witches.town/media/HGOlZkit0YK0W6CcESE https://witches.town/media/0dUxnC6E8NpJKEy97yM

@Ulfra_Wolfe
Hey, I'm a phoenix. (Well, one of me is, but it's a strong one.)
I understand the process of destroying something so it can be rebuilt. I do it to /myself/. :-}

That's really neat! I still have a /lot/ of related things from my childhood that I've refused to get rid of. For various reasons.

@emanate I do, too, in my own way. Ritualistically devoured and reborn, with the ritual changing for each person I form a bond with.

I have the collected energy of a lot of people I have helped awaken, and they have some of mine.

Phoenix does not seem the appropriate image, but I admit, the image of fire does... I burned too, in my own way (Art by Picolo Kun)

https://witches.town/media/qpFLbON0Os_QzPQ72zs

@emanate I call that side of me the Firecaster, and I haven't done much with her.

She is afraid of burning the innocent.

@Ulfra_Wolfe Mmm. That's an understandable sentiment, yeah.