#Magic Fig

[jgthirlwell]

playlist 07.30.24

Bangladeafy Vulture (Nefarious Industries) Ekko Astral Pink Balloons (Topshelf Records) The Filibuster Saloon Going Off Topic (Bandcamp) Eucademix Farm Psychedelia (Bandcamp) Byron Westbrook Translucents (Shelter Press) Lip Critic Hex Dealer (Partisan) C.Gibbs Band 29 Over Me (Altlantic) Jim O’Rourke Happy Days (Revenant) Magic Fig Magic Fig (Silver Current) Chris Benstead The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare OST (Filmtrax) Noveller and Thisquietarmy Reveries (Shelter Press) Cowsills Best Of The Cowsills (Rebound) Spratley's Japs Pony (All My Eye) Beth Gibbons Lives Outgrown (Domino)

[bandcampsnoop]

5/15/24.

Magic Fig were featured on Bandcamp's "New and Notable". They referred to the group in two descriptive ways: (1) "An assemblage of San Francisco indie pop all-stars" and (2) A band trying "their hand at Canterbury scene-style psychedelia".

Proof for the all-star claim: Members of Almond Joy, Healing Potpourri, and The Umbrellas are key members of this band. Joel Robinow of Once and Future Band produced this.

As for the 2nd claim, I'll direct you back to an excellent Bandcamp article about the Canterbury sound.

Magic Fig's S/T debut is being released by Silver Currents.

[dustedmagazine]

Magic Fig — S-T (Silver Current)

Magic Fig is gooey sweet but epic, marshalling tidal waves of Moog-buzzing pop with Moon-like drum fills spilling out at the sides. Songs lead through fanciful, multicolored, fairytale landscapes, the tootle of circus pipes running over muscular constructions of bass and drums.

The band is made of Bay Area regulars, not exactly a super group, but an ensemble with a track record. Inna Showalter of Blades of Joy and Whitney’s Playland sings, an enticing entrée into complicated, often near-prog song architectures. Michael Ferrara is the bass player; you might know him from The Umbrellas. And Muzzy Moskowitz, the guitar player, has played in Almond Joy and Froogie’s Groovies. I’m not finding much of a trail Jon Chaney and Taylor Giffin, but both are key, Chaney on the multi-hued keyboards turn these songs into carnival rides, Giffin on the fractious, exuberant drums that explode in the margins.

The disc opens with “Goodbye Suzy,” a careening flying carpet of a song, its four-four beat limned in various varieties of keyboard, all other instruments executing elaborate, psychedelic arabesques around it. Magic Fig is often compared to Canterbury scene bands like Soft Machine and Caravan, and indeed, there’s something like in the way they splice pop accessibility to sprawling ambition. You could also make a connection to latter day bands like The Essex Green and the New Pornographers. The music is as easy as guitar pop can be, but more intricate.

Consider, for instance, the way that “Labyrinth”’s thudding, Tangerine Dream pulse morphs into a carnival organ melody, Krautish discipline melting into psychedelic daydreams. Or the way that languid “Obliteration” shimmers and shifts with layered keyboards, a string-like Moog-tone and vocal counterparts. It’s as soothing as a sunny day at the beach, but with darker currents underneath.

“Do you think you’ll capture a cloud?” Showalter asks amid the throes of “Goodbye Suzy,” as drums crash and guitars flare and keyboards kick up a joyful noise, and sure, they pretty much did in the pretty, fuzzy, rampage of the melody. But it’s a complicated cloud, as clouds go, full of changes, exploding with drums, not quite contained by pop conventions.

Jennifer Kelly

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Magic Fig

Six songs, 28 minutes ... does Magic Fig's debut count as an LP or an EP?! Who cares what we call it when it's as good as this. The Bay Area collective is fairly new, but they sound fully formed and instantly classic, conjuring up a sweet Venn diagram of pastoral prog-leaning Canterbury Scene moves, Syd-era Floyd and Broadcast-y retro-futurist pop, the marvelous vocals of Inna Showalter (Blades of Joy) floating over the top. With ace production from Once and Future Band's Joel Robinow, Magic Fig definitely leaves you wanting more — but that can be a good thing!

[bacchuschucklefuck]

sometimes I think abt how the months coming up to and the prom night in freshman year must feel to class swap sklonda. your perfect kid who has literally never gotten a single reprimand for anything does what can only be described as a quad crit crime combo and becomes a nerd punisher by the end of the night

[purrassicjet]

Aelwyn's Nemisis Ward for Adaine and Sandra Lynn's Hunter's Mark on Fig my beloved

[thejewitches]

Fish Head: Rosh Hashanah means head of the year. Rosh = head, ha = the, shanah = year. We eat the heads of various animals to symbolize the head of the new year. Vegans/vegetarians may also eat a head of cabbage or lettuce.

Figs: Figs are one of the sacred foods.

Leeks: One of the Simanim, represents asking for protection and cutting our enemies off.

Pomegranates: One of the sacred foods, pomegranates are believed to contain 613 kernels, representing the mitzvot as well as fertility and bounty.

Apples: Eaten to bring sweetness to the new year, typically dipped in honey or baked into a cake.

Honey: While it was historically date honey, honey is believed to be a sacred food. It is eaten at the new year to bring in sweetness. Often baked into a cake.

Dates: One of our sacred foods, eaten to bring sweetness to the new year.

The Ocean: At Tashlikh, we cast our sins into the depths. We use living waters, like the great sea.

[tiphyrow]

Practicing drawing people interacting so I’m doing a bunch of D20 couples. 4 more on the way <3

[allthecastlesonclouds]

hi something something bad kids all magic users now something something everyone learning how to save each other something something they've all got friendship bracelets and they're gonna make it through this year if it KILLS them

[natjennie]

"and im gonna go buy party cups" awwww I do lowkey kind of feel bad for fabian this season like. obviously the more highly magical of the group have been favored while figuring out these god mysteries but. fabian's social maneuvering has been important too and his growth as a friend and his success on the owlbears. I don't think he's getting enough credit! especially with the election being so pivotal for the ritual!!! give him some praise!!!

[sillygeesedogaystuff]

Figuring this out at 3am Is the strangest feeling ever. AND THEY FIT SO WELL. The elements of harmony fit very well with most of them it’s scary

[healthydoseofhedonism]

my favourite moment in the whole show so far

[suguruslut]

why is there so much content that portrays Sebastian as possessive, obsessed, aggressive and overall dominant person???😩😩 Sure, he treads on a dark path throughout the game for the sake of his sick sister, but the boy is literally just a friendly, curious puppy with a mischievous side who loves to read and play with his friends🥹💚

I would kill for more fluffy, playful, HAPPY Sebastian content💕💕 my man deserves it!!

[huidol]

happy valentines 👍 day

[thatsoanjie]

When the wind settles

Sebastian Sallow x reader

Summary : After Ranrok was ended, a Goblin rebellion happened. This is 5 months after the rebellion, and everyone thought you were gone for good. Sebastian revisits Feldcroft in an attempt to find traces of you again, not knowing what's to come.

Word count : 1.5k

Notes : This one was a little heavier to write! Just had to get this one out of my mind.

TW : Mentions of su!c!dal ideation... read at your own discretion.

Read my disclaimer and fair use notice here

The ruins of Feldcroft lay still, a silent testament to the war that had ravaged the land. The village, once vibrant with life, was now a graveyard of memories, its cottages reduced to charred skeletons, its streets choked with debris. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and ashes, a grim reminder of all that had been lost. Snow had begun to fall again, soft and steady, as if the sky itself was mourning.

Sebastian Sallow stood in the center of what had once been his home, his heart as cold and lifeless as the stones scattered around him. It had been five months since the final battle of the Goblin Rebellion, five months since he had lost almost everything that mattered. Ominis and Anne were safe, and for that, he was grateful, but the knowledge did nothing to fill the void inside him.

Because you were gone.

The thought was a knife in his chest, a pain that had become as familiar as his own heartbeat. You had been his anchor, his hope, his everything. And now you were nothing more than a memory—a ghost that haunted his every waking moment. They had told him you were dead, that you had been lost in the chaos of the battle, your body never found. He had refused to believe it at first, had scoured the wreckage for any sign of you, but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, the terrible truth had settled in.

You were gone. And there was nothing he could do to change that.

The guilt was a constant companion, a weight he could never shake. You had been the best of them, the light that had kept him going through the darkest times. And now that light was extinguished, leaving him to stumble through the shadows alone.

He had come back to Feldcroft because there was nowhere else to go. The world outside was trying to rebuild, to move on, but Sebastian was stuck in the past, trapped in a moment that he couldn’t escape. The ruins of Feldcroft were all that was left of his old life, a desolate reflection of the emptiness he carried inside him. 

He wandered through the village, his steps slow and heavy, his mind lost in the memories of what had once been. He could still see it, as if the echoes of the past were imprinted on the air—the laughter of children playing in the streets, the warm glow of lanterns in the windows, the scent of freshly baked bread wafting from the cottages. But those memories were like ghosts, insubstantial and fleeting, impossible to hold on to.

Just like you.

Sebastian’s breath hitched as he reached the edge of the village, where the land sloped down toward the river. This had been your favorite spot, the place where you had always come to find peace, to escape from the burdens of the world. He could almost see you there, standing by the water, your hair catching the light as you turned to smile at him.

But it was just a memory. Just another ghost.

He closed his eyes, the ache in his chest unbearable. He didn’t know how to keep going without you, didn’t want to keep going. The world was a darker place without you in it, and he was so tired of stumbling through the shadows, of trying to find his way in a world that no longer made sense.

But then, through the silence, he heard it—a sound so soft, so faint, that at first, he thought it was just the wind. But it came again, more distinct this time, a footstep crunching in the snow behind him.

His heart stopped, his breath catching in his throat. He turned slowly, afraid to look, afraid to hope. And then he saw you.

You were standing just a few feet away, your figure half-hidden by the falling snow, your eyes wide with shock and something else—something that mirrored the grief and yearning that had been eating away at him for so long.

For a moment, he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His mind struggled to process what he was seeing, to reconcile the image of you standing before him with the brutal reality he had been living in. It couldn’t be real. You were gone. You were a ghost.

“Sebastian,” you whispered, your voice trembling as if you, too, were afraid that this was just a dream, that you might wake up at any moment and find yourself alone again.

He shook his head, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re not real,” he said, his voice breaking as he took a step back, his hands trembling at his sides. “You can’t be real.”

“Sebastian, it’s me,” you insisted, your voice thick with emotion as you took a step toward him, your hand reaching out as if to reassure him, to prove that you were real, that you were here.

He flinched, his heart pounding in his chest as he stared at you, his mind screaming that this couldn’t be happening, that you were just a figment of his imagination, conjured by his grief and longing. “You’re dead,” he whispered, his voice raw with the pain that had been festering inside him for months. “They told me you were dead.”

“I almost was,” you admitted, your voice barely more than a breath. “I was hurt, Sebastian—badly. But I survived. I made it to one of the camps, and they healed me. After that, I helped wherever I could—healing, rebuilding, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. But my work there was done, I had nothing keeping me there. I had to find you.”

He stared at you, his heart breaking all over again at the sight of the tears in your eyes, the grief and love that shone in them. “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered, his voice trembling with the weight of his emotions. “I thought you were gone, and I didn’t know how to keep going without you.”

You took another step closer, your hand brushing against his arm, warm and solid and so achingly real. “I’m here now,” you whispered, your voice filled with a quiet, unshakable determination. “We’re both here, Sebastian. We survived.”

He swallowed hard, his throat tight with the tears he had been holding back for so long. “It should’ve been me,” he choked out, the words slipping out before he could stop them. “You didn’t deserve this. You didn’t deserve to suffer like that. I should’ve been the one to die, not you.”

“No,” you said firmly, your voice laced with a fierce, desperate kind of love. “Don’t you ever say that, Sebastian. We both fought, we both survived. And now we’re here. Alive.”

He hesitated, his heart warring with his mind, his grief and guilt battling against the overwhelming relief of having you in his arms again. “I thought I’d lost you,” he repeated, his voice breaking as he finally let himself believe what he was seeing, let himself believe that you were really here, that this wasn’t just a cruel trick of his imagination.

You reached up, your hand cupping his cheek, your touch grounding him, anchoring him in the reality of the moment. “I’m right here,” you whispered, your voice trembling with the depth of your emotions. “And I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you, Sebastian. Not now. Not ever.”

He couldn’t hold back any longer. With a broken sob, he pulled you into his arms, holding you as tightly as he could, as if he could somehow make up for all the lost time, for all the moments he had thought he would never have with you again. You clung to him just as fiercely, your tears soaking into his shirt as you buried your face in his chest, your breath coming in ragged gasps as you tried to steady yourself.

“I love you,” he whispered, the words spilling out of him in a rush, as if he had been holding them back for too long. “I love you. I should have told you before, but I was too scared, too afraid of what might happen. But I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

“I love you too,” you whispered, your voice trembling with the weight of the words. “I always have, Sebastian. And I’m not going to let you go. Not now. Not ever.”

He kissed you then, slow and deep, pouring all of his love, all of his grief, all of his yearning into that one kiss. It was a kiss filled with the promise of tomorrow, with the hope of a future that he had thought was lost. And as he held you in his arms, surrounded by the ruins of Feldcroft, the wind swirling around you like a shroud, he knew that he had found you again.

And that was enough.

***

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Requests are open.

[wyyrmwood]

Gave her a messy scratchy coloring because it just felt right :) My first drawing of the Bad Kids is done!!

She's available here now! If you want to see more, check out my Dimension 20 collection for more art :P