public channel - D148 - fae jargon 101

[kingsroads]

If anyone, older member or newer arrival, wants information on... [ oh lord, this is going to take a while. Strange sighs slightly before obviously reading off a list of terms he's written down. ] Arcadia, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, Nightshade, the Count of Crows, Frost, the Summer Court, the Winter Court, how faerie court hierarchies work, the Wyld Fae, or the Beast, then I'll be happy to tell you what I know. I picked up some knowledge from my time in Portland and through conversations with the fae here and, for obvious reasons, don't want to bore all of you with far too many details and speculations at once.

[ There's a pause, partly to catch his friggen breath, before Strange continues talking. ]

I can at least explain Portland, though--for our new arrivals, of course. It's a city where the carnival was recently trapped for a month. Many members had their memories altered and believed they lived in the city for their entire lives. It was a...trying experience.

[ Understatement of the century. Strange sighs, like he's steeling himself for what he's going to say next. ]

Portland had it's own set of fae, some of whom I mentioned in my previous list. Plenty of the carnival members have ill-will towards those fae, who seemed determined to vex us and ruin our lives during that month. And despite the fact that we've left that world, I've a feeling that we'll see those fae again. Now that the Severing's removed, they can travel to different worlds the same way the Ringmaster can. And it wouldn't surprise me if some tried to reclaim what or who they believe they lost.

[ how dramatic! And quite possibly the worst way to end a broadcast as Strange just flips the radio off then and there. He has absolutely no clue how to best END the broadcast so not being cryptic is officially for chumps. ]

Comments

[kingsroads]

I don't. Every time we have to deal with the internet or something "digital", something ridiculous happens!

[ The Mainframe, the Matrix...Strange is just a little bit bitter about the Internet. ]

[hippocarnival]

You know, I think everything we deal with is kind of ridiculous. [They're with a magical fairy carnival, it's kind of in the job description.] That's just what magic does, isn't it? Weird and impossible things.

[He just takes it at face value. Thinking about it doesn't help it make more sense.]

[kingsroads]

I'd beg to differ. I'll take magic over most of the nonsense we've had to deal with in different worlds any day.

[ Because magic is AMAZING and certainly not weird. ]

[hippocarnival]

But wasn't a lot of that because of magic? [Does Yuya just blame everything abnormal that isn't explicitly tech-looking on magic? Probably.]

[kingsroads]

Not entirely? The Pokemon weren't magic.

[ they're just real fucking weird. ]

[hippocarnival]

[Weird is probably an understatement for them.] I only saw them for a few days before we left. That feels like a really long time ago, but it was just a couple months.

[kingsroads]

It's odd how just a busy few months can make it seem like you've been somewhere forever. I feel the same.

[hippocarnival]

It wasn't months, was it? I thought it couldn't be longer than one?

[kingsroads]

No, you're right, it was just one month in Portland. It's just that depending on when people arrive, their first introduction to the carnival could be more chaotic than expected. I arrived in the middle of that damn Matrix, for example. Thankfully we had Atlantis next, which was a bit of a rest--but if I went from the Matrix to the Celebration to hell, I can only imagine how long that would feel even though it was about a month and a half in total.

[hippocarnival]

Huh... I haven't even heard of any of those places until now. [Well, except hell but even that was a very brief conversation.] Were some of them really that bad?

[He knows Vampire Hell was terrible, but if the carnival is in a major disaster every other month...]

[kingsroads]

The Matrix was horrible. [ Strange grumps. ] Of course, I was mad throughout most of it which didn't help matters, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd rather not go back there in the first place.

[ Just dropping that 'oh by the way, I used to be crazy' like it ain't no big deal. ]

[hippocarnival]

What were you so mad about? [Wrong mad. He's also still not sure what the Matrix even is...]

[kingsroads]

Not an 'angry' sort of mad. It was more of a 'lunatic' sort of mad. And I was mad because I drunk from my tonic of madness, of course.

[ Poor Yuya's slowly learning that Strange is absolutely awful at explaining things. ]

[hippocarnival]

[Strange's tonic of madness, as if that's just a normal thing. Which, for Strange, it probably is.]

... Why?

[kingsroads]

[ This is a little bit of Strange just being a shit to be a shit, trying to wig out Yuya because he can. ]

To broaden the scope of my magic, of course! At least in my world, madmen can naturally see faeries. I made myself mad in order to summon one.

[hippocarnival]

That's... [So real Strange's decision making is as terrible as Portland Strange's... should he be worried?] Has that ever actually turned out good for you?

[kingsroads]

It's led me to where I am now. I'd say that, at least in that regard, its turned out wonderfully.

[ Just......not in any other regard. Strange's track record is abysmal. ]

[hippocarnival]

That's not what I meant. [He grumbles a little, because after what Nightshade did he thinks that maybe Strange should stop meddling in completely random Fae at all. Not all of them were trustworthy, or safe.] You're not going to try summoning any more fae, are you?

[kingsroads]

I won't. [ And this, he says, 100% seriously. ] I gave my word that I wouldn't summon any more fae during my stay at the carnival and I intend to keep that. The only reason I summoned Nightshade was because I couldn't remember giving my word in the first place.

[hippocarnival]

That's good. [If it wasn't basically strike three, he'd be a lot less worried. But after what Nightshade did to him...] What made you so interested in fairies anyway?

[kingsroads]

They're an integral part of magic in my world. The Raven King, the man who helped bring magic to England, was raised in faerie. Likewise, magicians of old often had alliances with the fae or used faerie servants to help cast their magic. With the revival of English magic, my mentor sought to eradicate any mention of the Raven King or faeries from our methods. I disagreed.

[ An awkward pause before. ]

Though I still disagree with his reasoning, I can see it's merit now.

[ Something which he REALLY HATES TO ADMIT, b/c up yooooours Gilbert Norrell, this isn't Strange still being petty, not at all. ]

[hippocarnival]

[No wonder Strange seems to be Mr. Know It All for this stuff, if he's known about it that long. They weren't anything more than fiction in his world. The word 'servant' weighs a little more heavily to him, remembering what happened in Portland.]

There are nice fairies... [He relents. He's still got a good opinion of the Ringmaster after all.] But the bad ones are really dangerous, and pretending they're not there isn't going to make them go away. Right?

[So Strange running around driving himself crazy to talk to fairies was a horrible idea, but so was trying ignore their existence.] Maybe the problem is always trying to put each other in contracts and servitude, instead of getting along as people?

[kingsroads]

I'd say that's correct. [ After all, he gets along tremendously well with the Ringmaster...but also knows she's the exception to prove the rule.

Though that getting along thing...yeesh why is he dealing with so many idealists today. ]

Getting along, however, is harder than it seems. There aren't many examples of humans and faeries treating each other as equals to begin with. And because of that, any attempt at an alliance most likely involves both parties trying to one-up the other.

[hippocarnival]

But if we don't try and understand each other, nothing will change. [It'll just be cyclical conflict, and Yuya thinks that understanding someone's feelings does wonders for their ability to relate and co-exist.

There's a pause as he tries to find his words for this.] I don't think there needs to be any alliance or... trading, or proving ourselves. What if you just talked to them like you would anyone else? About things that they like and who they are, not just what they do.

[kingsroads]

A wonderful idea which again, would depend entirely on the fae one talks to. I know Nightshade wasn't the sort for idle conversation and I doubt the Rose Queen would be either.