Dear Magisowo, id like some legal advice if you have any.

I’m a wizard and have recently acquired and renovated my home into a proper wizard tower. However problem is I’ve been getting harrased by the local HOA, them complaining that my tower is an “eyesore” and “disturbing” their neighborhoods image. My tower was built perfectly legally, I’ve got all the proper building permits and followed all local county tower laws. That still isn’t enough for them as they’ve sent countless “inspectors” who’ve found nothing, and have been sending threats of legal action. Is there any way to get them to stop and do their threats actually hold weight?

Good morning!

That sounds like a horrid situation and let us assure you: this so-called Homeowner Association hasn't got a leg to stand on. Of course neighbours are always free to band together for purposes of mutual support - like establishing a feral griffin watch or communal herb garden - but legal rights are only granted in the case a HOA of owners that share communal real estate. As is the case with apartment complexes where one buys an apartment instead of renting it.

If your home is a detached building and you obtained the proper planning permission, your tower construction is perfectly legal. I imagine these people are threatening to report your building to the urban aesthetics commission, but if you have your papers in order the municipality will have ran your plans by them already. Besides, wizard towers are protected under the Occult Habitat Provision, as studies have shown they are a requirement for performing certain types of magic and frequently attract endangered magical species.

We advise passing this information on to the individuals that are bothering you, asking them politely to stop, and if need be warn them that you will treat their actions as intentional harassment if they continue. We will send you an example of how to keep a log to build a harassment case, if worst comes to worst.

We absolutely can not recommend contacting the Wizard Orb Assistance Helpline (WOAH) and inquiring after the latest neighbour-repelling wards that they have on file under Occult Commons. That would be irresponsible from a community building perspective and as such we would under no circumstances advise you do such a thing.

All the best,

~ the MagISoWo Team  

Dear MagISoWo,

I am a human farmer raising chickens. Last night, I discovered that a kitsune went into the coop and took one of my chickens to eat. At first I thought it was a normal fox, but then I saw the multiple tails. I know that the kitsune has to eat too, but is it possible I could reason with the kitsune so that I can continue raising chickens?

Thank You,

Farmer

Dear Farmer,

We're very grateful that you are willing to reason with your unexpected visitor, it is only natural that you want to protect your chickens.

Kitsune can be challenging to deal with, because they are rather unpredictable. Some frequently take a human shape, others never do. Likewise some of them seem unable or unwilling to speak any human language and others are perfectly happy to have a conversation.

In general, however, it is appropriate to approach a kitsune in fox shape as an animal and a kitsune in human shape as a human. With the appropriate caution and respect, of course. This does not mean you have to allow them to harm your livestock. And if protection was your first priority, we would recommend a guard dog or magical wards.

But if you want to give a show of goodwill, you could try leaving the kitsune a gift. In our experience they are extremely partial to fried food, particularly meat and tofu. An offering of that kind might be a good way to secure an introduction.

If you'd like any further help, we can check in with the Lunar Institute. Being in the business of helping shapeshifters, they have some contacts in the Kitsune community as well.

Hope this is helpful to you!

~ the MagISoWo Team

Dear magisowo

I just moved into a new home, and, on paper, it had everything I needed: close to my university, walkable city, and no low hanging lights I can hit my horns on. On paper, that is.

See, the issue started the day I moved in. The landlord gave me my keys, and I went inside. The interior was nice, however, as I quickly discovered, my new home was already inhabited by a multitude of ghosts, who were, to their credit, just as confused as me.

They're not troublesome spirits, far from it, but i was under the impression that a landlord had to disclose things like this before you sign the lease. (But it is my first time renting, so i may be mistaken) Either way, the landlord isn't returning my phone calls.

According to Martha (oldest ghost in the house, very motherly) none of them were informed the house was even open to new tenants. We're willing to compromise and try to live together, but as of right now, it's.. crowded. I wasn't prepared for roommates and they weren't prepared for me. Do we have any legal options here? I'm not looking to get them kicked out, of course, just wondering if we could get compensation from the landlord.. or at the very least a second bathroom.

- sincerely, one very cramped were-goat

(With the supervision of Martha, Daniel, Priya, Micah, Suki, and Horace, amiable ghost-roomies)

Hello!

We’re sorry to hear you were taken by surprise in such a way! Let us first assure you that your landlord should indeed have told you that the building you were renting is haunted. Not doing so is a violation of the duty to disclose that every landlord has towards their tenants.

Even if your landlord was not aware of the haunting (which, though unlikely, is possible if they lack all second sight) it is still their responsibility to have their property inspected for such things. Considering you are Sighted yourself and are not opposed to sharing with the ghosts, we are guessing you’re not looking to get out of your lease, but it is certainly grounds to renegotiate your rent.

When it comes to the rights of your ghostly housemates, that is rather more tricky. Our current laws still state that the incorporeal cannot have legal possession of physical property, but there are various provisions in place to protect their well-being. The following people may be able to help you:

The Dial-a-Ghost Agency, experts in (re)housing haunting spirits. In case any of your housemates wish to relocate.

The neighbourhood mediums of our Medium-ation Programme. They usually mediate between people like yourself and the spirits haunting them, but they also have a great deal of knowledge on the ghostly and will be able to communicate with your housemates.

If necessary we can help you find a lawyer specialising in tenancy law, or an Incorporeal Entity Advocate that can look into your housemates' options.

Sincerely,

~ the MagISoWo Team  

Dear MagiSoWo

I'm a teen born to a vampire father and human mother. I live with my father, though. I show no vampiric traits yet, which upsets him occasionally and means he's extremely overprotective of me, so overprotective that I'm almost always stuck at home or I'm at school. He lets me go out with friends sometimes, but not as often as I would like. I just want to be able to have fun with someone who isn't him once in a while. He also wants me to be like him once I'm in my early 20s, but I don't know if I want that. It seems scary, and I'm just unsure of how to broach either of these topics with him. Any help would be awesome.

Thanks.

- A confused halfbreed(?)

Hello,

Thank you for writing to us. It sounds like you're in a very difficult situation. We can imagine why you feel confused.

From what you've written it seems like your father wants to protect you, but your wish to spend time with friends and your doubts about being turned are completely reasonable.

You are always welcome at any of our offices and community centers. Also outside of walk-in hours. But perhaps the solution to bridging the gap between you and your father lies in our local vampire community.

Fanged, Fledged and Future-proof is the biggest vampire-led nonprofit around and they offer peer-support groups of all kinds. There are support groups for half-vampires like yourself, but also for the parents of vampiric children. If your father is worried about your lack of vampiric traits (which is very common in your phase of existence), he might benefit from speaking to other vampire-parents in the community. And perhaps he will be more comfortable contacting a fully vampire focussed organisation like F3. Speaking to other (half) vampires about your situation, might help you both talk to each other as well.

Hopefully this is helpful to you. If it isn't, please don't hesitate to contact us again. We shall enclose our overview of local MagISoWo support numbers, in case you ever want to call or text.

~ the MagISoWo Team

Dear MagiSoWo,

I guess I have more of a human etiquette question. I'm an Exchangeling student here to learn mortal knowledge (and eat baked goods) and some of the human students invited me to a party. The theme is Away With the Fairies (don't worry, I read the pamphlet, I know that's not literally a request to be stolen away) so I'm wondering... would it be cool to show up in full barkskin, antlers, the works, or would that be showing up my hosts who have none of that?

Thanks for your advice!

- Party Pixie

Dear Party Pixie,

Always a pleasure to hear from someone in the Exchangeling Program! We're glad to hear you're settling in well.

If your fellow students already know you are fae, or you are comfortable with them finding out, then you can feel absolutely free to go for "the works". Humans are very fond on going all out for costume parties and everyone can put as much or as little effort in as they wish.

We would only advise you not to decorate yourself with live animals. Many humans are allergic and some animals can cause great commotion in a crowd, especially when they show up near food. Of course there are certain precautions necessary when using glamour or awe inspiring transformations around non-fae, but we trust you are already aware of those.

We hope you have a lovely time!

~ the MagISoWo Team

Dear MagISoWo,

Hello! I really appreciate all of the good work you do for our community! My three-year-old daughter just started this year at our town's public preschool program and is the only faun in her school. She does qualify for the free school breakfast and lunch program and it's been a godsend for me as a single dad on a delivery driver's wage, you know? Anyway, you might or might not know that fauns need significantly more of certain minerals such as sodium as compared to humans. Most of us, if we're eating human-style food, add a supplemental mineral mix -- salt mixed with granular forms of the other minerals we need. Given my daughter's young age, I arranged with her teachers to have her minerals added to her food when they give it her, and as of the time she enrolled none of them indicated that this might be a problem. However, the other day she came home from school with a stomachache and mentioned that her substitute teacher had told her that she wasn't allowed to have her minerals. I went to the principal hoping to get this cleared up, and apparently this was the first he'd heard of our arrangement, and he stated that the substitute had acted correctly in his view, and that her regular classroom teachers would also no longer be allowed to serve her the food with the mineral mix now that he'd been made aware. Apparently their nutritional guidelines forbid serving food with added sodium because of the health risks for human children, and they would be at risk of losing their federal food program funding. They told me that if I want to have more control over what my daughter eats at school I'm always welcome to send packed lunches from home, but grocery money is tight as it is and it would be a financial challenge to pull her out of the free meals program. Do I have any recourse here? Are there protections for magical children in situations like this?

Thank you

Hello,

We're very sorry to hear that you ran into trouble at your child's school. The School Meals program is meant to make life easier, not more stressful and it is definitely not meant to exclude non-human students. Providing this kind of service on a national schale is relatively new, however, and a lot of schools still have some trouble with the practical implementation. We hope your principal has simply misunderstood the regulations of the program, because there is definitely room to adapt meals according to a child's personal dietary needs.

Sadly there is not one clear statement in the program's terms we can point to for an immediate solution, because different solutions are suggested for different situations. Some children require very different food than their fellow students. (Such as uncooked meat, blood, coal, raw honey, etc.) And schools cannot be expected to provide meals suitable for every single diet.

Some children, like your daughter, only need small changes to a meal. Like eliminating a certain ingredient or adding a supplement. The School Meals program encourages schools to accomodate these students by having the parent or guardian of the child to provide an explicit instruction on how their child's meal is to be changed, and to sign this document to give the school permission to do so. We will enclose the link to the government page on the School Meals program where this suggestion is explained. If you provide such a document, plus the supplements your child needs, we expect the school will comply.

However, schools do have the option to refuse adding supplements or medications to children's meals, if they deem it too difficult a procedure to carry responsiblity for. It does not sound like this applies in your case, but if they choose to go this route you can always apply for Grocery Cards instead. These are also provided by the School Meals program, and function as coupons that can be used in most super markets, bakeries and farmers markets. They are mean especially for everyone who wants to ensure their children eat well, but cannot easily make use of the meals provided at their school. We will enclose a flyer on how to apply for them, should you want to look into that option. Considering your current situation, you should already qualify.

Best of luck and please don't hesitate to come to one of our local after school activities if you could use a hand with anything else!

~ the MagiSoWo Team

Dear MagISoWo, here's a silly question, but I was invited to a barbecue by the werewolf family in my apartment complex. I've heard it could be a huge sort of gathering, and that it's possibly a good sign to be invited to one, like they see me like almost family already. Am I expected to bring something, do you think? Is there a specific way I should act or some etiquette I should follow? Thanks, -Anxious Neighbor

Dear Anxious Neighbor,

What a wonderful message to get! We are always so happy to hear such great examples of our diverse community.

First of all, please don't worry. If you were invited to this gathering there is absolutely no need to alter your behaviour in any way, because you are clearly a valued neighbour to them already. Bringing food is always appreciated at barbecues and picknicks, but we are sure that whatever you can comfortably contribute will be gladly received.

As to the basics of cohabitating with werewolves, there will be very little that you haven't learned already: wearing silver is very inconsiderate, howling is usually not appreciated when young children who are not likely to stop are present, and someone's full moon transformations are too private to ask questions about without a clear invitation.

We would like to mention that there might be a lot more people there than just the family who invited you. If that is the case, it's very probable that you were invited to a pack gathering, which would mean that you are currently in the process of being adopted into said pack. To which we can only say: congratulations, you'll never lack for friends in this town.

We hope you have a great time!

~ the MagiSoWo Team

Dear, MagISoWo,

Greetings, I would like to inquire about a small problem that I am having. For you see, I’m a dragon folk and most humans have a bit of…fear when they are around me. I’m still new to the place that I’ve nested in but, I want to try and make some friends. Do you have any ideas on how I can be more approachable to the huma and other species around me? Do…they like gifts? Or is talking normally towards them helps?

(Apologize, My human language tongue is quite rusty)

Sincerely, A very lonely dragon.

Dear lonely dragon,

We're so glad you decided to settle in our community and that you found your way to us! We are sorry to hear you have noticed people might be afraid of you. Rest assured, you are certainly not the only one of your kind in this community, and we are certain there are plenty of people who'll be glad to meet you. It may be good to start in places where people who are used to associating with dragons get together though.

Just to make sure there is as litte confusion as possible, let us name some different terms those people may use around here:

• Dragon. Confusingly, this term is used for the animal and the sentient being. Though the physical similarity seems only due to convergent evolution, without any other connection between the two. Human language is sadly stuck on this point, but please do not assume any offence when the term you are used to using to describe yourself is also used by someone describing their pet.

• Dragonfolk. This term is commonly used for dragons who have chosen to take or were born with a bipedal, or - for lack of a better term - human-like appearance.

• Dragonish. Can also be applied to the above, as in "they are dragonish", but mostly used by the community of people who have some dragon blood in their ancestry.

• Draconic heritage. Often used interchangably with "dragonish" to say that someone is of mixed ancestry.

We have attatched a list of local establishments that are run by or specifically cater too dragonish people, but if you'd prefer to reach out online you could have a look at the forum run by Housing & Hoarding Inc. They are a commercial party, but their online forum is free to use and it's become a very good place to get to know other dragons who live among humans and the humans they hang out with.

And of course you are always welcome at any of our community centers! Do stop by whenever you feel like it and one us will be happy to welcome you.

~ the MagISoWo Team

Hello! Single selkie parent here, I was hoping you might have some resources to help me.

My pup is 7 years old now and has discovered her ability to walk on land, which is very exciting! Unfortunately, due to extremely negative past experiences on land, I don't feel safe or comfortable joining her, and even seeing her on land makes me feel anxious for her safety.

For now I watch her from the shallows with my sealskin on, and I've taught her basic safety rules, but I know she is growing curious about the world beyond the shores. Do you have any tips or resources you recommend? I don't want her to feel like she has to remain sheltered for my sake, but I do want her to be safe.

Thanks always!

— Beached

Dear Beached,

We can't imagine how hard it must be to encourage your child to explore something that brought you pain. Please believe us when we say we truly admire you for it, and we we would love to help.

You can of course request for an on-land guardian to be appointed for your child and we can help you go through the proper channels for that. But this might be a bit much for the current situation. So our first advice would be to contact the local selkie community initiative: Feet for Flippers. They're a small group, but very dedicated.

F for F organises a support group and social gatherings, but they also have a buddy program that might be interesting for you and your daughter. If there's someone among the group you find suitable, they might be matched to your daughter take her on a visit inland.

There is also quite a number of our landed sea-folk who form an active network meant to help each other out. They often provide people who still live in the sea but visit the land with a place to sleep if they run into any transformation issues or have to wait for the next high tide. This network includes merfolk and merrows and the like as well as selkies, so it might give you some more options than F3.

If you'd like our help contacting either group, or you want any other information, please don't hesitate to contact us again.

Best,

~ the MagISoWo Team

dear MagISoWo,

i recently washed ashore here and have no idea where I am or what to do. I'm not used to being among humans and tend to scare them off, but I also haven't seen any other selkies around.

can you give me some place to start either looking for kin or learning to adapt better to humans?

thanks in advance,

a confused (and kind of lost) selkie

Hello,

First of all, welcome on our shores! We're sorry it has been such a confusing experience arriving here.

We apologise for presuming if we are wrong, but from what you've written we are guessing you are still living in the sea but would possibly like to settle on land or at least to mingle with the people living ashore. If so we highly recommend contacting the local community initiative by landed selkies: Feet for Flippers. (The name sometimes causes some confusion. It's meant to refer to people who now have feet where they had flippers, but also that they are here to help people with (occasional) flippers.) They run a support group but also have a lot of useful contacts and information.

If you need a place to stay we can help you sort that out. It may take a while to find a permanent residence, if that's what you're looking for. But you do not have to stay in the sea if you don't want to.

Of course you don't have to tell us anything you don't want to, but the fact that you washed ashore here is a little worrying to us. If you would like to go back where you lived before or need help figuring out what happened to you, we will do our absolute best to assist you with that too. Our community centers and walk-in offices are always open!

~ the MagISoWo Team

I know they were not posted close together but I only just noticed that I have one MagISoWo question from a selkie who lost their coat and one from a human who found a selkie coat

Really should have done something with that

Dear MagISoWo,

My youngest son, who was born as a werewolf, just turned twelve, and at his last dentist appointment his dentist let us know that he would benefit from having orthodontic treatment. This wasn't a surprise, since all six of his older brothers also had braces, but we're concerned about the fact that his teeth of course change dramatically when he transforms. Is it possible for a werewolf child to have braces and still safely transform without damaging their teeth? Would they need to be taken off and then put back on every month? Or might there be removable options he could use instead?

Thank you

Hello,

Unfortunately this is a common problem for young shapeshifters, especially with the rise of modern orthodontics. There have been various experiments with magical braces, but as you probably know, teeth and the occult are a notoriously bad mix.

It is generally not safe for a werewolf to wear fixed braces. Luckily there are removable options, that are either modelled on the roof of the mouth or on the teeth themselves. These can be easily removed during eating, teeth brushing, and transformations. They are better suited to correct small things like small gaps between the teeth, and small open bites. Bigger issues like corssbites, overbites and underbites are hard to correct with removable braces.

So if your son is in need of more extensive correction, or if he experiences gradual transformation (induced by the waxing moon) or occasional partial tansformations influenced by emotion, these removable braces might still not work for him.

We are not experts, but various studies into the dental development of young werewolves suggests that their teeth and jaws tend to change much more over time than we see in humans. This needs to be taken into account by the person assessing their needs. So if your orthodontist is not used to werewolf patients, we advise you to take your son to a specialist for a second opinion. You an find a list of professionals in the field with werewolf experience on the website of the Lunar Foundation. For instance, many humans get braces for "crowded teeth", but for many werewolves this is simply a sign of the approaching full moon.

Best of luck!

~ the MagiSoWo Team

Greetings and Salutations, MagiSoWo. I am a young adult Great Northern Fire-Drake (Draco inflamatus ssp. americanus), and when recently it came time for me to venture out from my parents’ lair, I decided to abandon the “tradition” of stealing from dwarf-holds and instead become an urban dragon. I have been able to secure housing and employment in a local park, I have found of late that my Hoarding Instinct has grown increasingly concerning. With the economy the way it is, (1/2)

precious metals are far out of my financial reach. Is there some alternative which can be recommended? Or shall I be Doomed to suffer from hoard deprivation until circumstances change?

Hello!

Welcome to our community! We're honoured you decided to settle here. For many modern dragons and those with draconic heritage finding the right outlet for indulging their hoarding instict is a rather long process. Not everyone hoards precious metal or other traditional wealth and many change their preferred hoard several times over their lifetime.

We recommend investigating what objects tend to bring you most joy. There's a high chance that gathering several of them will statisfy your need to hoard. Of course financial situation and living space can still put a restraint on this, but most dragons luckily have an innate desire for a variety of material things.

Don't worry if you don't figure this out right away, you don't have to settle on one type of hoard for the rest of your life!

Happy hoarding,

~ the MagiSoWo Team

MagiSoWo,

I’m in love with a vampire. They tell me the sweetest things… and before them I was not happy with my life. Should I just… give myself to them?

Thank you for your help,

BewitchedWitch

Dear BewitchedWitch,

You are the only one that can decide what will make you happy in a relationship. But since you come to us for advice, if you are thinking about being turned, we really recommend talking to someone at Fanged, Fledged and Future-proof first. F3 has a lot of information on their website too, if contacting them feels a step too far. But they have great community counselors and excellent peer-support groups for newly fledged vampires.

In general we do think it's very unwise to consent to become a vampire if the only vampire you know is the person turning you. Especially if you are in a relationship with them. We don't need to tell you this is a serious decision and while it can definitely be part of a conversation on the future of your relationship, it is absolutely not the only thing worth discussing.

For an expert’s insight on healthy relationships and (occult) intimacy, we’d like to refer you to our Australian colleague Dr. Olivia Seabrooke, sexologist and folklorist, who hosts the advice programme Supernatural Sexuality.

If you ever feel like chatting, about anything at all, you are always welcome at our community centre.

~ the MagiSoWo Team

Magisowo, one month ago me and my wife had our beautiful daughter. Last week, we noticed that the child had been swapped by a fae, and did the steps to demand our baby back. The problem is that I, perhaps foolishly, came to love the changeling, and demanded to keep both of the children. The fae who gave birth to our child demands that she be given back, but we are of the opinion that she gave up that right willingly. What to do? Is there even any lawyer who can help? Thank you, Whiplashed Mom.

Dear Whiplashed Mom,

We're very sorry you went through all that, it must have been an awful experience to lose your baby. From a human perspective we also completely understand the standpoint that the changeling is now also your own. When it comes to the culture and traditions of the fae, however, the matter is not quite so straightforward.

It is absolutely within your rights to report the theft of your child to the legal authorities, and there are several rulings of the High Court of Magical Justice that support granting at least shared custody over a changeling to both the fae and the human parents. But, if we may make a suggestion, consider contacting the Under the Hill outreach program first.

The fae connected to this effort have worked tirelessly for many years to improve human-fae relations, make cohabitation possible, and reduce the amount of incidents like the one you sadly went through. If the fae you are dealing with are at all inclined to listen to reason, there is a good chance the mediators at Under the Hill will be able to help you come to an agreement without having to go to court.

If you do want to go the legal route, we quite understand. In that case we can provide you a list of layers who are specialized in disputes such as this. But we really hope you are willing to try mediation first.

~ the MagiSoWo Team

MagiSoWo,

I am a human cursed to turn into a demon at night. My eyes turn red, my pupils become slitted, my canines turn into fangs, and my nails become claws, and my hair changes. Any suggestions on how I can stop scratching the wood flooring in my house? Also, any support groups willing to accept a cursed human? I’ve been having difficulty storing all the steaks I eat as a demon.

Hello,

Thank you so much for contacting us, this sounds like a very difficult situation and we'd love to help you. We understand this is a very delicate situation and the knowledge of being cursed, as well as the effects itself, can be a great burden. We do not want to detract from your experiences in any way. But we do want to mention that when people speak of someone as being under a "demonic curse" or "tainted by demonic influence" this is hardly ever the case.

Demonic heritage, however, is more common than people realise, and can have a lot of physiological occult effects that can easily be mistaken for a curse. Especially if they become more pronounced as the individual grows in age and power. If that is something you want to look into, we can help you with that.

When they do happen, curses that involve some sort of transformation are fairly common, but the physical changes are almost always superficial. These curses can almost always be broken by a magical professional. If you have not seen a specialised healer before and you would like to, we have a list available of professionals with the right qualifications.

Regardless of the above, if you feel comfortable coming to one of our afternoon walk-ins, we'd love to sit down with you and talk about ways to make your life easier. Several of our caseworkers are from the anthropo-demonic community and they have a lot of knowledge on resources, from the best steel-toe boots to affordable ways to keep a raw protein diet.

~ the MagiSoWo Team