Did something spooky happen to Vox?

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>>1768574
You pocket your phone and slip back into the dressing room where Fancy is still in her underwear you really should have expected that. She gives you a wry little smile and raises her eyebrows with a 'well?' kind of expression.

"Keeping in mind that I might die tomorrow?" you begin, carefully.

"How big a 'might' is that?" your friend asks, worried.

"...You ever read one of those articles talking about how scientists have a hard time telling normal people things because they have to use language that seems ambiguous?"

"It's like that?"

"It's like that," you agree. "I'm confident, just...realistic. Battle isn't safe."

"Go on then," the dancer prompts. You take a deep breath and lace your fingers together.

"There's a shop where I work glass, sometimes. I'd like to take you there, and to dinner after. As. Y'know. There's a word for this."

"A date?"

"That'stheone."

Fancy laughs, and she smiles, and your heart melts a little. "What does a gal wear to glassmaking?"

"Uhh...honestly, things that won't trail or light on fire? Do you. Do you have anything like that here?"

"Colors. This is a dressing room."

You step back outside to wait. Fancy leaves the room, eventually, in slacks and a short-sleeved shirt, with her purse over her shoulder and her hair pulled back into a bun. "I'm driving," she announces. "You just give me directions."

Fancy's car isn't anything to write home about; the old Chevy is only alive because she maintains it herself, a fact you had to see to believe if only because you could not reconcile 'bunny costume' and 'auto mechanics'. The bottom of the car fights an ongoing war with rust from the winter road salting, which it is barely managing to win with Fancy's help, but she rides smooth and makes decent mileage, and that's all a dancer's budget could really ask out of a car. You get into the passenger's side, buckle up, then tighten your seatbelt.

"You never did tell me why you don't drive," Fancy comments, as she gets into the car.

"I am not anywhere near drunk enough for that, and it's super depressing," you not-explain. She starts the car up, and the two of you drive off.

> Small talk. SMALL TALK
> So...how long have you been thinking about this, Fancy?
> Ask her about something (what?)
> Write-in?

Fucking cockblocked by writer's block, sorry this took so long. Tomorrow will be better.

>>1768954
>> So...how long have you been thinking about this, Fancy?

>>1768954
> Small talk. SMALL TALK
Starting off with something likely driven by worries about her being a pixie chaser is probably not the best idea. So small talk (likely inept, hopefully hilariously so) it is.

>>1768954
>Small talk. SMALL TALK
Conversation now, worry (a bit) later.

>>1768954
> Small talk. SMALL TALK
PREPARING TO DEPLOY SPAGHETTI!

>>1768953
Real Life(tm) sunk its nasty claws into our favorite coffee-lich.

>>1769076
Real Life is overpowered. Nerf plz.

>>1768954
> Small talk. SMALL. TALK.
Oh gods have mercy.

> Alright I'll get to this point and then update in the morning before work
> I'm even setting my alarm for eight hours of sleep!
> Alarm fails to go off
> Wake up late

So yeah votes are gonna be open for a bit. Ya'll have my apologies. In the meantime I'm still working on those short stories. I'll be back sometime around 10 PM EST.

>>1768954
> Awkward attempt to change the subject by flirting. Compliment her skin and how much you wish you had nice skin like hers.

>>1768954
> Small talk. SMALL TALK

And called, writing.

Prepare for a small dose of Elemental Problems: The Movie: The Game.

>>1771537
And here I was hoping for Spaghetti Elemental 2: Electric Boogaloo.

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>>1768954
Riding isn't as stressful as driving, though it's certainly not high on your list of things you'd like to do on purpose. You double-check your seatbelt and do your best to relax. "So...anything new coming up with your act?"

"Yeah, actually. We've been thinking about doing an actual musical at some point, just to switch things up a bit."

"...Huh. Which one?"

"Chicago," Fancy answers, with a wicked grin. She keeps her eyes on the road, thank the gods, and seems happy to keep the ride slow and smooth. "It's a classic. And it has a certain...aesthetic appeal."

You laugh. "Isn't that the one about a couple of murderesses who get off and start a jazz career?"

"Mmhm. Based on a true story. Loosely," she adds, with a certain reluctance. "It's got it all. Sex, seduction, death, corruption. Helluva show. You should come, you'll have a great time. Mind you, you coulda had a great time back there in that dressing room..."

You blush and sputter while Fancy laughs.

"I do not get you, Colors. I really don't."

"There's - you - I - there's procedures here!"

"You have oddly specific fetishes."

Fancy takes pity on your helpless expression and runs her fingers through your hair for a brief moment. The glass of it chimes and sings out. "I just. I haven't had a real relationship since I left Philly. And I don't even know if that's where this is going or not but, I mean, y'know?"

"You're way overthinking this, Colors," Fancy advises. "...But it's kinda cute. I'll keep it in mind. Now, um. Where do I park?"

The answer turns out to be 'in a garage, three blocks away', but that's not so bad. This late in the August evening the sun is finally starting to set, and you and Fancy walk together with a casual, friendly air. You grin, feeling like a kid again.

"So...favorite food?" Fancy offers.

"You're gonna laugh, but, um. Cheesesteak."

"With or without?"

"Wit," you answer, dropping for a moment into The Accent. She laughs in surprise. "My family never really had the whole...thing...going on but I picked it up from some friends. People never expect it."

"I love it! We should gooooooo," she swerves her sentence rapidly, "to someplace that makes a decent one sometime!"

"There are places in New Avalon that make a decent cheesesteak if you know who to talk to," you admit, guardedly. "...They are rare and precious things."

"I won't divulge your secret cheesesteak suppliers to others that won't appreciate them," Fancy promises. You almost bind the pledge, you're reaching for it without thinking about it, but you force it down. That's. Not the normal thing to do here.

>>1772085
> being so defensive of the precious cheesesteak that you almost make it a pledge
Colors a cute.

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>>1772085
"We're here," you announce. Alfie's shop here downtown is a lean thing, with a single broad window that displays art in glass, in metal, in painting, sculpture, and more, crowding in against itself in a bright display. You knock on the locked door, and Alfie himself comes to answer. The Wizened Smith walks with a distinct limp, on legs twisted from having been broken over and over in his Durance, but he beams a bright smile from his scarred face and bids the two of you welcome to his shop.

He doesn't bother flipping the sign from 'closed' to 'open'. Alfie is not actually open.

"It's beautiful in here," Fancy murmurs. The shop crowds with pieces made by Alfie or by his customers, left as displays or offered up for sale, made in almost every medium. Up at the front end are the spaces to paint, sculpt clay, and work with other things that don't throw up stone dust, involve things on fire, or otherwise present a threat to people walking through the space.

"The run of my shop is yours, Dame Eriksdotter, with compliments from Lady Rabbit," Alfie says formally. His long, droopy ears twitch. "Your delivery is in your locker. May I be of some assistance?"

"Am I going to surprise you by asking you to fire up the glass station?"

"It's already hot," Alfie admits. "But I am being rude. Young miss, I am Alphonse Smith of the Emerald Court." He bows low to Fancy. "Welcome to my shop."

"Fancy Miller, cabaret dancer." She shakes the smith's hand with a smile. "It's a pleasure. I used to paint, some, as a kid. Your store is wonderful!"

"I will leave you to it," Alfie invites. He vanishes into his back office, leaving the door propped ever-so-slightly, and you with a decision to make.

> Go ham. You can work glass by Contract alone, why not just go for it?
> Keep it subtle, but show off some. Just a touch of enchantment
> Do this the mortal way

AND

> Create a flower of glass for Fancy
> Sculpt a rabbit for her
> Blow and weave something delicate and strange
> Write-in?

>>1772106
> Keep it subtle, but show off some. Just a touch of enchantment
> Sculpt a rabbit for her

>>1772106
> Go ham. you can work glass by Contract alone, why not just go for it?

> Sculpt a rabbit for her

> Do this the mortal way
> Create a flower of glass for Fancy

Let´s give her something mundane to see how she reacts and finally see if she is a Pixie Chaser or something more (Could we use Cupid´s Eye?).

>>1772106
> Sculpt a rabbit for her

Any chance we could ask Colors start "the mortal way," to gauge Fancy's reaction, then gradually step up through subtlety into full ham if she reacts positively to "the mortal way"?

>>1772144

This looks like an interesting option. I will support it. What about we gauge her reaction with Cupid´s Eye?

>>1772106
>Do this the mortal way
>Sculpt a rabbit for her
>Write-in?
>If she likes it, enchant it afterwards to faintly glow with the colors of the four seasons, each in turn.

>>1772106
> Keep it subtle, but show off some. Just a touch of enchantment
> Sculpt a rabbit for her

This feel appropriate for a first date.

>>1772106
> Keep it subtle, but show off some. Just a touch of enchantment

> Craft a multi coloured glass dancer that seems to change position slightly depending on how the light hits it.

I can't believe you guys want to give her a token of another woman. One who is another Fae in Spring, and our Boss at that, and the gender we are attracted to.

Let's give her something that shows how we see her, that will remind her of us.

>>1772217
Fancy's theme is a white rabbit. Ramona's theme is a black rabbit.

>>1772106
>>1772217

Maybe even use it to tell her that as much as she might think we're/fae are magical and fascinating, so often too are mortals without even realizing it. Moreso maybe even, since they have to do it the hard way.

I must admit I'm kind of curious what we see in Fancy when she dances. A forceful sensuality? Seductive grace that leaves us mesmerized? A sense of freedom in her being her truest self? Or a sense of belonging, that then and there it's impossible to imagine her not dancing because it seems so right.

>>1772223
Well disregard that then I suck cocks.

For some reason Fancy hasn't left much of an impression on me. I keep getting stuff about her wrong.

The biggest thing that stuck with me is that she has an excessive fascination with the Fae.

Do you remember which thread we interacted with Fancy in? I only remember when we talked to her about the tours and such.

>>1772234
She's the burlesque dancer, probably not at all that obsessed with fae but was convinced to take a tour to the Hedge due to the organizer being a very persuasive little shit.

Before we even went there, someone (I forgot who, might have been Rook) told us to follow the white rabbit, Forum asked if they meant Ramona, we told them Ramona is black and that we knew actually know of a white rabbit.
Sources:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1643258/
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1668718/

HOKAY SO the next couple of days are gonna be hectic but like, good-hectic? I'm getting a new bed in which means I have to perform the complicated money-summoning ritual that one does when one's bank is like eight million miles from oneself. So, here's what's going down:

> I work until 9:30 EST today, after which I will do my level best to update in a sane fashion
> I will then go to bed early so I can hitch a ride to my bank at ass o' clock in the fucking morning
> Having hitched said ride I will be at a friend's house until after 5 PM tomorrow. Updates may happen during that time, and they may not
> Somewhere in here I need to construct my new bed
> Praise Imhotep, God of Architecture
> Fistfight Brenden Frasier over understandable confusion
> Normal service resumes

In the meantime, votes remain open, and I'll be available via phone for Q&A alllllll day. Thank you for your patience folks.

>>1772265
Sounds reasonable boss, better sleep lies ahead!

>>1772239
Thanks man! Those links were useful.

I still feel it did look like Colours was concerned though. I mean this isn't a museum "tour". It's going into the Hedge, to Wonderland, something Colours specifically warned Fancy not to do.

And how did she reply?

> But I had to see at least somethin' for myself. You know? Something real, that I could treasure for myself.

I would imagine that Colours would pick up on how ignorant mortals are of "Wonderland" to think that anything about it is real.

It's been a common theme in the quest that Mortals tend to romanticize the Other Side. They even call it Wonderland.

And while I'm not too sure of how it is in this setting given that Vox has it so that the Mask has dropped, in the core Changeling canon exposure to magic fucks mortals and changeling up. P. 92 in the core book, using magic in front of a mortal causes loss of clarity in the Changeling and insanity in the Mortal. Clarity is the "humanity/morality" mechanism, the less you have the harder it is to tell what's real and what's supernatural. The mortal might write it off as a dream or delusion or choose to forget, or they might spend the rest of their life chasing it.

Which we're kind of seeing here with the Mask dropping, some people are just getting on with their lives. Others are chasing Wonderland. Then there's Valkyrie, and I'm sure there's people who take it one step further from being wary of the fae and are actively hostile.

While the Lost are now forced to decide for themselves what being "human" is. They can't just play the Role anymore.

>>1772272
>>1772345

Whew! That kind of got away from me.

Maybe I'm reading too much into how alienated the Lost must feel at times trying to fit back in. At how frustrating it must be to hear mortals talk about their private hell like it's a paradise, to ignore the fact that what the see as beautiful about the Lost is what the Lost see as what's broken. Like. We're a woman made of glass because that was what our owner replaced our organs with when we failed. It's like complementing a Holocaust survivors "awesome tattoo" or a starving person on how skinny they are.

So personally, when dealing with Fancy, I feel Colours would be both aware and a little insecure about just what it is about us Fancy finds interesting.

Are we just another taste of Wonderland? Who does she see when she looks at us? What do we see in her, do we want a lover, or are we just giving in to our Vice in a roundabout fashion to avoid the issue of us feeding off emotions and dreams of mortals, or are we looking for an anchor as if we can say "Look, this human treats me like I am also Human, so I am.".

Like. Those are just baseline concerns before even considering that Fancy went on the tour into Wonderland. She wasn't convinced by the organizer being a persuasive little shit really either.

> There was this guy, with your Freehold tattoo on, he was offering tours. Him and his motley, of the World Inside the Mirror, the place you call the Hedge.

She was already yearning for it, and when the opportunity came she took it. Nothing bad even happened to her from it That we know of. but still it shows that she either didn't understand when we warned her since if she did the thought of a returned Changeling going back would be sketchy. Or she was willing to risk the danger for a taste of magic.

Then we have Colours herself being even more insecure than baseline Changeling because she is Forsworn, in a new court, with a traumatic past, and the old court she left was not just super regimented but her role was a Hound.

So she doesn't just have a shaky identity as a "person" but she also doesn't have a stable identity of herself as a fae, and her main support is from Ramona and that Mortal family the Millers, and somewhat Vicky, and Fancy. And she wants to bone all of them because they're all women. And her main support Ramona is Spring, so her support is at a distance. I'm also factoring in how we treated the Ms. Miller when we chose to not give into Vice, and how Colours was over thinking in >>1772085


I'm not saying I'm trying to answer these questions right now. Or that there is a right answer or anything. Everyone I'm sure has their own personal interpretation of Colours and I don't want to force my opinion on the quest.

I just really like the Changeling setting and what Vox has done with the character, so I feel she has a lot of depth. And insecurity.

>>1772375
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1744605/#p1759636
>""...I'm real sorry," the dancer murmurs. "I really am. I canceled my next tour and got the other girls not to go too. That Kennedy girl was really selling them up - oh boy that was the wrong thing to say wasn't it?""

She took to heart what we told her about what happens when you get taken, I'm not saying we should not be paranoid, just saying that we should not to let it rule us. same goes for our lust, which we've been doing quite well at.

>>1772106
> Keep it subtle, but show off some. Just a touch of enchantment
> Create a flower of glass for Fancy

>>1772345
>>1772375
You have quite literally made my day, Anon. I don't suppose I could persuade you to offer your thoughts on the New Avalon Freehold? I've been worried about sticking that landing, the moreso because the one example Freehold in the entire game line (Miami) is the exact opposite of normal or healthy.

>>1772689
> he one example Freehold in the entire game line (Miami) is the exact opposite of normal or healthy.
So pretty much your usual bunch of changelings then.

>>1772716
Less healthy than usual. The King of Summer, Grandfather Thunder, broke the founding oath of the Freehold and took over, denying the procession of seasons. Many died, and the survivors hate each other with a passion.

>>1772875
How would he even go about doing such a thing without essentially enslaving anyone who wasn't Summer? And why didn't other Freeholds step in to aid their fellow Court members?

>>1772689
Aw man I would have to read the other quests to do it justice really.

I just kind of hopped in with this one.

Gotta get the factions down.

But I mean. Just from this quest we can already see that the Freeholds are no longer the only option for fae in the world. With you mentioning that some were actually working with Valkyrie, and the potential for the Militia groups to recruit more or less openly compared to before when the Mask was still up, I feel there's a definite clash coming. The State (being America in this case) can't tolerate having a separate set of laws for some citizens.

So fae are going to have to decide if they are fae first, or Americans. Right now it's a matter of realpolitik. The State simply doesn't have the ability to enforce law among they fae. However that state won't last, already they can detect magic use I recall and like I said they have Fae working for them now.

Still, the fae work on an entirely separate set of values and rules. Almost like a religion, but one where violating the rules has definite objective outcomes - ironic, given the tenuous nature of magic. Bend the rules all you want, but break them and the universe itself comes down like a ton of bricks. So this is going to hurt people, both fae and mortal. Like how Colours almost made a contract for the meatloaf secret.

That's not even dealing with issues like the existence of the Fae with a capital F. The Lords and Ladies.

Are governments going to negotiate with them? What if a mortal terrorist group reaches out to them to trade people for magical weapons? Do the Courts have the legal authority to use deadly force against rogue fae, or the Militias? Do Mortal courts have the authority, much less the experience and knowledge to deal with matters between fae and mortals? Slavery is illegal, does that make Pledges a crime since they can effectively enslave a person?

What about Fetch rights? Are they people, and if so are they citizens? The fae can claim they're parts of themselves left behind, but that's going to be hard to prove when your neighbour Steve is begging you to not let the monster kill him.

The Freehold seems to be working at the moment because Arthur and Ramon are working together and form a solid power bloc within the fae community.

But the seasons change.

Right now I see the stability in the freehold lasting in the short term as the Fae and dealing with the American government is a higher priority for everyone in power. Nobody wants a war.

Except that maybe some people do. Rachel for instance already considers herself above mortal law and morality, and would probably be willing to wreck shit if Autumn required it.

I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we picked courtless, because I can't help but feel that a new changling in Valk would have been an option.

A knight changling is rad, don't get me wrong, but a noir (or lose cannon or true patriot) changling would have been similarly rad.

No real what ifs, I guess, but man the story would have been incredibly different from a Call perspective.

>>1773182

I wouldn't be surprised to see individual fae as well who feel guilty for any harm caused to mortals, who view themselves as monsters who can't even pretend to be human any more. Especially for low Clarity fae. They might think it's best to create a sort of fae Israel and isolate themselves. Or even that they should pass back through the Hedge to Arcadia and carve out a place for themselves there.

Not to mention the fact that they can now approach the Government for support if they have to fight the Fae.

Then there's the fae who might consider the Courts themselves oppressive at best, or even outright dangerous. They're back *home* again. They want to get a 9 - 5, vote, get a mortgage paid for with money and not a pledge. Changeling below 5 glamour don't need it to survive, why would they continue to use the same system of pledges with terrible consequences that their Fae masters used to enslave them? They might see the Courts as being tainted by Arcadia to the point that they're more like their old masters than "proper humans" which they desperately want to be.

And what OF the high glamour fae who need glamour to survive? Are they going to be considered sick - hah America. There's a very real concern that they will be treated as criminals if not monsters. Or maybe some like Rachel will be treated as celebrities or even worshipped, which in a way could be even worse seeing as Rachel really IS a monster. The best they can hope for is to monitored and restricted, but their very nature will make that difficult for Mortals. But once again that runs into the issue of having separate laws if it's just left to the Courts.

So the Freehold is going to be facing challenges not to its Rulers, but its very reason for existing. Those challenges will probably stabilize the Freehold for a while as most fae, being paradoxical creatures of impulse bound by obligation, will want to avoid triggering those crises by playing power struggles within the Freehold so long as Arthur and Ramona appear to be on top of things. Hopefully that will give the Courts time to figure out how to handle the inevitable dissent, the growing intrusion of the State as a regulatory body, the ongoing threat of the Fae, the public reaction to being told that they have to live beside magic now but no they can't go off into Arcadia to get some of their own, figuring out how to live as people without being mortal, etc.

Like. The Mask has fucking dropped. The fae actually have bigger concerns as well as distractions from Court politics.

>>1773245
From a valk perspective. Fucking...

>>1773246
>>1772689

So really the issue of the stability of the Freehold is going to able to perform as a regulatory / overseeing body for the fae community WITHOUT presenting itself as a competitor to the mortal Government.

Can fae vote even? If they can't that's actually better in a wa, since they can then claim to not have representation in the Government and therefore not necessarily be subject to its laws. Kind of neatly handles the issue of Fetches, if a fae is considered to be a citizen by virtue of their fetch being one, then they're legally recognized as one entity and it can't be murder. If they aren't, then they aren't beholden to the laws of the USA and the Court laws take precedence. If they were given Citizenship status when they entered the USA and we're recognized, then they have to deal with the issue of the Courts predating the formation of the USA - much like Native Americans - so it can't be argued that they aren't in Court territory.

Essentially it's such a mess that until the issue is brought up and resolved it's a political and legal "no harm no foul". So there's time to decide what type of resolution they want to work towards. The trick will be timing it so that the resolution occurs after Arthur and Ramona have established the Court as not just an association of fae, but an authority.

So in my mind, that's the crux of the quest here. Yes, for Colours it's saving fools and innocents from being used while trying to figure out who she is.

But the real issue is that the Militias are operating independently, and causing harm to the mortal citizens, which undermines the Courts authority as being able to negotiate on behalf of the fae. The Militias need to be dealt with by either folding them into the Freehold and establishing an official role for them, with both privileges and obligations that they are able to tolerate, or they have to be denounced and removed by . . . I was going to say other means but its just gonna be war. A quick and vicious war to completely wipe them out, because the Freehold can't risk mortals being caught in the crossfire being used as a rallying cry. If that happens they won't just be saying the Freehold has to go, they'll want to get rid of fae altogether.

Sort of how Palestine can't get shit done because not all factions adhere to treaties. The goal here is to not become Palestine.

>>1773182
>>1773246
>>1773287
That's..a lotta words, but I definitely agree with it. And you've probably pleased Vox's undead lust for critique, which is also good.

>>1772689

Also, writing this out made me shadow run a little. What if the Militia ARE getting help from someone or a faction in the Government? From a certain angle, it could seem like an opportunity to "clean up the streets" of the homeless, the anti-social, and the mentally ill. Since the Militia are all about fighting the Fae it also provides a measure of security while at the same time preventing the conscripts from simply going out and coming back with magical abilities.

And if they DO cause problems, it can be blamed on the Courts not being able to handle the Militias / rogue Fae. That could even be a secondary goal, to weaken the Freehold by strengthening the Militias and then kicking them out to Arcadia by providing "support".

You could even use them to "mine" magic from Arcadia by only accepting magical items in exchange for American Dollars when they rotate out of their shift in Arcadia to go to their "Freehold" which would be more of a reservation, with fae needing documents to leave it and travel in America. Of course companies would be able to bid on contracts to provide goods and services in the "Freehold" itself so really the fae wouldn't even need to leave except for personal reasons. Naturally the prices would be separately negotiated by the company's with the "Freehold" as the State wouldn't want to infringe on their local laws and customs. If there's concern about possible abuse by the companies creating Monopolies, well, the fae being autonomous in their "freehold" would be more than capable of creating their own competing industry, or choosing to refuse to deal with the companies.

Of course, they can't expect the companies to get paid in songs and pledges. American dollars please, I'm sure they would be happy to pay fae citizens for magical goods and crafts that they could sell outside the "freehold" for them.

. . . . So yeah. That moment when you read what you wrote and realize that not only are you pretty good at being evil, but it starts to sound more plausible as you write it as something that could happen.

I hope I didn't just create a "Neutralize and contain the fae" faction in the Government.

But honestly, after writing that out I can't see how there wouldn't be one.

>>1773323
TL;DR

The militias needed to be stopped regardless, but the conscripting is a convenient excuse to cracking down on them.

Ideally Arthur and the Courts would hit the one Militia hard. As. Fuck. Justifying it as the specific Militia is harming mortals instead of protecting them at this point.

Then they would turn around to the other Militias and say that with the Mask dropping, what we need now is an army. The war isn't in the shadows anymore, so the Court can not only provide logistic support, but they can act as a liason to get support from the American Government.

Instead of drafting desperate people who come with a whole bunch of problems, they can be supported by trained professionals who have already made the decision to fight for their Country and fellow citizens. Who are less likely to be unable to handle the wyrd of Arcadia, or misuse it for personal gain, or go mad from being in an already fragile state. It's like they're already starting at reduced Clarity, and all fae know how important it is to keep clarity if they don't want to become an imitation of the Lords and Lady's. Using mortals callously for their own ends. Abandoning morality as they become lost in their power, justifying any horror as being in their nature.

When fighting monsters, you have to be wary of becoming a Monster yourself. The Mask dropping has been hard for fae and mortal, and we have to face the side of us that could become monstrous head on now. We can't be part time people, part time monsters when necessary anymore - and it should never have been done when simply convenient.

But as painful as it is to face our different nature, there's also an anchor available for us now. A path has opened up for us to walk, not skulking along as pretend mortals, not crashing off it and getting lost in becoming creatures of the wyrd. But a path that we can walk besides mortal's as people. People with different situations, but people where it counts. To not just fight to protect the world from the fae, but to truly be part of it. To be appreciated for our struggle, to be aided in it.

Some fae will still choose to step down, and live as Mortals do. But in return, Mortals will step up and fight not as conscripts, not as tools to be used, or as raw material to create fae touched soldiers. They won't stand beside us as allies, but as neighbours and lovers and friends and rivals.

The Militias already had something to fight for, but now they can build something to return to when the fighting is done.

We don't have to continue hiding, trying to be mortal. Or hiding, losing ourselves to the wyrd to try and forget. We don't have to be *alone* any more.

Well. At least that's the argument I would make to the surviving militias.

>>1772106
>go ham
>make something strange

>>1772106
>> Keep it subtle, but show off some. Just a touch of enchantment
AND
>> Write-in: Make a tick tock glass clock.

>>1772901
There's a lot of answers I could give here, but the most accurate one is that before the fall of the Mask (and now, in its aftermath, in the present), the Lost are largely local creatures, for a lot of reasons. While they don't burn in sunlight or have to sleep in the soil of their homeland or anything, the Lost are called home by powerful memories, generally of places and people they love enough to be able to come through the Hedge to reunite with, and those emotions don't just go away. As well, oaths bind the Lost to their Freeholds, and no certification exists that another town or city has any other Lost, or that those Lost are friendly. A Changeling's subconscious thoughts about a strange city are full of privateers and loyalists lurking, strange cults to the Strangers that throw screaming victims over altars filled with Thorns, and worse.

I'm gonna touch some on other factors in replying to some other posts but this combination of desire (wanting to be near family, wanting to stay near your beloved memories) and fear (privateers, betrayal, not being able to find your way back home if you get kidnapped again) help compel the Lost to stay local, even if they would otherwise be inclined to leave. It takes extraordinary circumstances to push most Changelings out of their stomping grounds, and Lost willing and able to travel long distances are rare enough that losing access to them, or simply not having any, can leave a Freehold with precisely zero intelligence about their fellows even in the next town over. But that's also getting into...

>>1773182
>>1773246
>>1773287
>>1773332
>>1773378
This is interesting stuff, and some excellent theorizing, but it also kinda makes the mistake of seeing Freeholds and by extension Courts as solely political/mystical factions, and that, while a common mistake, is a vital one to be making. They're a lot more than that.

Changelings tend to gather beneath these rather undemocratic institutions of power in part out of collective (and completely justified fear), but also because as individuals, the Lost each emerge from Arcadia with a pile of baggage going from the Earth's surface all the way to the fucking Moon, and even one blessed with extraordinarily lucky circumstances might spend most of the rest of their magically-extended life sorting through their own shit. Consider Zoe Morris, the woman who will be Queen of Autumn here on September 31st. She came back to a stranger wearing her face and living her life, addicted to the power fire gives her over other people and to the act of fiery sacrifice, missing years of time during which anything might have happened to her loved ones, fleeing her Keeper, trying to pick up the trailing threads of her aspirations and dreams. Imagine the paralysis of the first few months. Does she try to go back to school? Does she take up fire dancing again, like she used to? What about her Fetch?

>>1774152
What about her family?

What about the fact that she wakes up screaming or crying most nights, but she can't bear to live alone? What about the colors that have no names, there in her dreams? What about the voices that might be madness or Contract or both, and the tug of the Wyrd, and the things she has no words for unless you already know what she's talking about?

Signing on to the power structure of a Freehold gives you someone else to handle the 'AH GOD GOBLINS ARE COMING TO STEAL ME FROM MY FUCKING BED' problem so that you can at least start to deal with 'someone else is living my life and honestly they're a better person than I am'. Moreover, they help you cover your bases. Maybe you didn't learn a lot about oneirmancy in Arcadia while you were busy being used as a living mirror in your Keeper's personal restroom, but Doc Ripples knows a lot, and he can help you keep your mind safe. Maybe you don't know how to fight, but Vickie Reeds does. Maybe you can't handle money, but Venus Kennedy can. Freeholds are societies with all that implies, and the services they provide cater to the public good of the unique situation the Lost find themselves in, helping you step back into your normal life without having to hang your ass out to get snatched while you learn how to survive as a free person again.

Now, it's true that Pledges help bind Lost society together, but it's also true that these people are still at least partially human and prefer to think of themselves as mostly human. The ties that initially bind a Changeling to their society and community are those of the Wyrd but eventually those ties, while still maintained for the public good and benefit, give way to ones of love, trust, rivalry, fury, sorrow, and the connections one builds when one lives a life with and for and around and against other people. A Freehold isn't just a power structure, it's a tradition, not just a magical contract, but a home. For a lot of Lost, like Zoe, like Colors, who can't really just reclaim their old lives, a place to belong and be themselves and be understood as themselves is something they can't get anywhere else, and that they still, even now, cannot get anywhere else. Politics aside, you can't just confide your shit to a mortal and expect them to ever really understand, and as a result you have no right to expect them to ever really accept.

At the end of the day, there's words and ideas that just mean things to the Lost that they can't for mortals, and vice versa.

>>1774220
The Courts themselves are also time-honored traditions, harking back to ancient times. The Seasonal Courts pre-date Rome's conversion from a republic to an empire; the Directional Courts of the East may be older, and the Day and Night Courts of Eastern Europe definitely are. They persist to this day not just because they form mystical defenses against the Fae, though they do form such defenses, but because as ideologies and traditions they are loved, valued, nurtured, and brought close to the hearts of their adherents, who then pass them along to a new generation of practitioners. And sure, there's the practical considerations, the Glamour and Contracts and the underpinnings of magical defiance and defense, but again, for someone with no place to belong, no purpose to take up, the Courts offer such a place, such a purpose, something to strive for and covet, to protect or fight for. Look at the Rook's political ambitions, or Colors searching for her identity in Spring (where she starves amidst plenty, asked that horrible question - "Who do you want to be?"). You might not be able to go back to being a cop or a principal but you can be the Minister of Doors and do good, vital work that gets you the praise and adulation due you, now can't you?

Your outline assumes that Freeholds only exist for practical, political reasons, but they exist for a lot more reasons than that. They're homes, not bomb shelters. The idea that they might stop existing would require the newly returned Lost that supplement them to believe that the mortals that are just as blinkered and unsure as the Changelings can protect them from the Fae, from hobgoblins, from dream-things, from sapient plays that murder by resonant sympathy, that those mortals can understand them, help them, support them, guide them. And regardless of good intentions or bad ones, those mortals just...can't. You know?

Also called, tallying, writing.

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>>1772106
You beckon for Fancy to follow you and push up your sleeves as you go, because while you're sorta-kinda fireproof for this you have never exactly felt the need to tempt fate. You brush the fulgarite pendant around your neck and feel Glass stir a little sluggishly in response to your summons.

Working, are you? I suppose I'd best deliver.

My endless gratitude you think back at Glass, and you feel the warm embrace of its power, rising out of your artificial flesh to shield and protect you in accordance with your agreement.

"You know, I've known for awhile that glass is sand you light on fire, but somehow I didn't expect it to be this hot?" Fancy breaks out in sweat as the two of you enter the protected back room where the hot, dangerous shit - the saws and anvils, the forges and kilns and blades, the hammers, the tongs, and the jackhammers - are kept. She puts on a pair of safety goggles and a thick apron without having to be prompted, and you do the same.

Again, it pays to be sure. Glass understands.

"So how do you work glass?" Fancy asks. She stays a respectful distance away, but the dancer watches with rapt fascination while you pour sand and get out the long rod used to hold the resulting glob in place while it is worked. You give her a cheeky grin and start to melt the sand.

"Not," you tell her, primly, "like this."

Molten sand is Glass, regardless of its temperature. You discovered this particular loophole ages ago, before you signed on with Summer even, and you revel in Fancy's gasp of shock, wonder, and concern when she sees you take the blob of hot glass off of its holder with your bare hands. You show it to her, grinning like a fiend, and start working the cooling substance.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of doing this by hand. It is both like and unlike sculpting with clay; the glass molds like putty, but it grows ever-harder as it cools, gaining a feeling of weight and solidity. You form the body by rolling it between your palms, something sleek and comfy, and give the legs definition with a combination of gentle strokes and fingernail scrapes that form lines and toes. A small metal tool from the table, more of a needle than anything else, helps you form the wide, soulful eyes, and gives depth and definition to the ears you pull-pull-pull from the head.

You have to work fast, but also be gentle, to be decisive without digging too deep or too hard and shattering what you've made. Fancy watches in rapt fascination, her lips parted in astonishment and wonder. You rub the rabbit's body with your thumb and flick the needle behind it, creating frozen fur that fluffs out from the cooling mass, before you finally sign the rabbit with a small but clear thumbprint, right on the bottom of her little rabbit heel. The statuette is the picture of a curious bunny, up on her hind legs with her nose twitching, little whiskers caught mid-bob.

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>>1774454
"That was amazing," Fancy says, ecstatically. "Where did you learn to sculpt like that? I didn't - I never pinned you as an artist!"

You blush, a little guiltily. "I learned glassblowing after I came back. I wanted...I dunno, I wanted to do something productive, and express myself, and...and lots of things. At first this whole thing was just an interesting thought experiment but then it was super fun so I kept doing it and kept getting better at it. Alfie owns a loooooooot of my money. I come by here whenever I'm stressed, or feeling creative, or, y'know, just because. Sometimes I do clay or try to paint but I always end up back here with the blacksmiths and welders, y'know? Here, she's for you." You offer the rabbit out to Fancy, who takes it gingerly. "Alfie will wrap and package her for you, so you can take her home safe."

"I love it," the dancer murmurs, her eyes on her gift. "...I've been a bad friend. I never even knew this about you and it's such an important part of your life. I'm sorry, Colors."

> It's...okay? Possibly? I sorta expect people to keep secrets by habit or omission...
> Apology accepted, Fancy. We, um. We could keep talking? I think we were on cheesesteak, before.
> Yeah, you have been. And it feels weird, because...well, because you know why.
> Write-in?

>>1774478
> It's...okay? Possibly? I sorta expect people to keep secrets by habit or omission...
> Apology accepted, Fancy. We, um. We could keep talking? I think we were on cheesesteak, before.
> While were on apologies, I also owe you one. I should have been more open, and shown a little more of the trust that a friend is due. Did you make me mad, and scared? Yeah, you did. But maybe if I'd taken the time to show why why we do things they way do, and who we do it for, you wouldn't have been tempted. So...I'm sorry.
Not sure if this gets my point across, but whatever. It is after 2 AM and I am the living dead.

>>1774478
> Apology accepted, Fancy. We, um. We could keep talking? I think we were on cheesesteak, before.

>>1774238
I'm gonna handle the easiest issue first. There's a world of difference between not wanting to leave your local area, and not being allowed to.

> Changelings can protect them from the Fae, from hobgoblins, from dream-things, from sapient plays that murder by resonant sympathy, that those mortals can understand them, help them, support them, guide them. And regardless of good intentions or bad ones, those mortals just...can't. You know?

Well that's the crux of the issue isn't it? That's why I said *most* of the fae will be working to stabilize the Freehold instead of playing politics. They might argue over where their ship is sailing, but only a madman would drill a hole in the boat.

But I can't believe there aren't madmen among the Fae. Heck the Militias themselves are independent of the court.

It's more that in order for the Court to function as a community, it has to also have authority to handle the things mortals just . . . Can't.

You don't see Jewish people, for instance, having little enclaves where they have extra-judicial powers. Their religious laws aren't allowed to supercede the laws of the State.

Tthe big issue is validating their authority to the Mortal government. Otherwise they'll find their ability to protect their community crippled. Or have a war.

I did touch on how they have a claim to moral authority, both by virtue of capability and also by virtue of predating the current Government.

And that they provide many vital social functions is something I didn't deny. But the problem is that the Courts are going to have to reconcile that with mortal values and mortal ignorance.

> I assume the courts only exist for practical reasons

> They're homes, not bomb shelters. The idea that they might stop existing would require the newly returned Lost that supplement them to believe that the mortals that are just as blinkered and unsure as the Changelings can protect them from the Fae, from hobgoblins, from dream-things, from sapient plays that murder by resonant sympathy, that those mortals can understand them, help them, support them, guide them

These aren't practical reasons? The big issue, like I said, isn't proving this to the fae. It's proving it to the Mortals. To do that, they're going to have to deal with the inevitable madmen that will pop up. The Courts are a time honored tradition - to the Fae. They're some sudden, alien thing to Mortals.

And absolutely the Militias who operate outside of the Courts, so I mean it's not like they're the only option for the Lost.

It's simply not enough to only be accepted and comfortable in the Courts now that the Mask has dropped. They can't continue to isolate themselves from Mortals. That shit doesn't end well.

You asked me about the state of the Freehold. Well, the state is that it's going to face a bunch of criticism and be seen as a potential threat as much as a resource.

>>1774875
Fair 'nough. I didn't mean to come off as combative or anything, I just had that whole thing stuck in my head for the last part of my shift.

>>1774875
> You don't see Jewish people, for instance, having little enclaves where they have extra-judicial powers. Their religious laws aren't allowed to supercede the laws of the State.
That really varies based on how friendly the enclave group is with the government. For example, in Israel, ultra-orthodox Jews are in fact allowed their little enclaves in which religious laws practically supersede the laws of the state. In the US, there are places where religious groups that are favored enough by the locals are de-facto allowed to break the law since a ton of the people who you need to arrest/charge/prosecute/convict them simply won't do it.

If you're part of a group that either has a lot of pull with the government or is otherwise favored by the populace, you can get away with a lot of things, including having your own laws.

Now, none of that applies to Changelings, since they certainly don't have the support of the populace the way that those other groups do, and it's more likely that extension the US government will just continue on with their usual policy of "use them when they're useful, kill them when they're not" that they have toward most supernaturals. Still, for the government, the courts represent a visible point of contact, and that makes them useful. They're people the Valks can go to and threaten, cajole, bribe, or just complain to and maybe get a result they want. It's much easier to control a group with a hierarchy than one without one, since you can just go after the leaders and get them to do most of the leg work of controlling their subordinates. Control the lead horse, control the herd that follows it. For example, the FBI crippled the KKK by basically subverting everyone in any position of authority by just buying them off. They didn't really destroy the organization, it's still there, it's just not a serious player anymore like it was in the early to mid 20th century.

Break up the courts and end up with even worse groups like the militias stepping in to fill the gap. So either they kill/enslave all Changelings (which basically was plan A, but with the mask gone that's shot to hell) or they can try to co-opt the courts to use as a tool to control Changelings.

>>1774478
>Apology accepted, Fancy. We, um. We could keep talking? I think we were on cheesesteak, before.
>Write-in?
>I am sorry as well, I'm not very good with emotions, it kinda comes with being an elemental. We have a tendency to react a bit extremely when under stress. I would also like to know more about you.

Because I can't recall us talking much, but if I'm wrong, feel free to omit that.

>>1774916
That's exactly what I'm saying. The Court has to justify its position of Authority if they want to be in charge of the far creatures.

They have to be able to point at the Courts and say "this works". If the Court can't control the militias, if they can't control dissident and dangerous individuals, then they lose being a legitimate point of contact.

And once they co-opt the Court, the next step is to prevent them from gaining any more influence than necessary. Valk squads with Court "Observers" enforcing the law. Government appointed litigators to ensure Pledges adhere to American values. Three strikes rules for fae using magic illegally. Requiring consent before harvesting Glamour.

The problem is that Mortals aren't really equipped as a society to deal with fae, so any co-opting has to be done with the Courts already in a strong position of both moral and practical authority.

>>1775017
> If the Court can't control the militias, if they can't control dissident and dangerous individuals, then they lose being a legitimate point of contact.
Not really, because they're still the single point of contact if you're looking to control people within the court hierarchy. Militias are rival groups, ones that are substantially worse from the perspective of the government.

The courts are still largest, most well established, and generally the more moderate organization of Changelings compared to other Changeling groups. The existence of rivals doesn't change that. The point is not that the courts control all Changelings, the point is that they are the top of a fairly large pyramid and thus are a way of asserting control over a large swath of the Changeling population all in one go. There are going to be people not under that, sure, and you have to deal with them individually because there isn't any other way, but that doesn't mean that co-opting the court system isn't extremely useful for gaining control over all the rest.

Finally got home. I have had like four hours of sleep. I'll update in the morning, with my apologies for the delay, but 100% of the shit I needed to get done is done and now I just need my bed to arrive so I can build that shit and put in two scoops of soil from my homeland & maybe get a good night's sleep.

Still around to answer questions.

>>1775818
How close are the differing Courts (not just the Seasonal Courts of the Americas, but all around the world)? Do they cooperate often, or is it a once in a century sort of deal? Are there any rivalries or friendships that have survived the years (and now, the Fall of the Mask)? How well or poorly received are those few traveling Lost?

I know you said that Changelings tend to stay in the areas that were either important or familiar to them before they were taken, but for those who don't really have such roots, is immigration common? I mean, by traveling to a new place (whether that's just over the state line or on the other side of the planet), they can begin trying to build themselves a new life. I can also see technology being a huge boon to the Lost, as it can allow them to communicate and exchange knowledge over large distances. Can a pledge or oath even be performed properly in such a manner?

Also, how often do Changelings switch Courts? I imagine that most of the Lost of age in most Freeholds have served in at least two Courts.

How difficult is it to form treaties/agreements with Hob settlements in the Hedge? Are non-aggression and trade pacts common? Can any particular towns or villages in the Hedge be considered friendly or at least neutral territory?

Are there any legendary figures in the Changeling society, aside from the great King Raven himself? Are there any particular figures in the modern era who stand out (again, aside from the mighty Thunder-Shit in Miami, and the current reigning monarchs of Avalon)?

How common or uncommon was it for a human to be introduced to the Changeling community, at least before the Mask collapsed? Is there a trial or gauntlet that the particular Mortal has to go through before they are entrusted with the guarded knowledge of the Lost?

If the Gods are made 'real' by the Wyrd, are there places in the world where their power can still manifest? Take for example the Aesir; if Colors were to travel back to the birthplace of that pantheon, would she hear their voices, feel their presence, more strongly? Are there True Fae who, in essence, ARE the magnificent and terrible gods of old?

Why can't Changelings seem to have kids? Is it a matter of the Wyrd and the changes inflicted by their varying Durances causing them to be infertile, or is there some secret fear that they have been changed so deeply that their offspring will be Changed too?

>>1775818
Why do you put coffee in your bed?
Silly Vox, coffee goes in cups and then in you.

>>1775980
Sweet Jesus that's definitely a stack of questions.

> How close are the differing Courts (not just the Seasonal Courts of the Americas, but all around the world)? Do they cooperate often, or is it a once in a century sort of deal? Are there any rivalries or friendships that have survived the years (and now, the Fall of the Mask)? How well or poorly received are those few traveling Lost?

Most of this is a 'depends on where you are' sort of question. While the Seasonal Courts as magical institutions began in Rome and spread with the Empire (and are thus strong in Europe and in much of North & South America), there's not necessarily a strong or even existent relationship between any one, say, Summer Court, and another, mostly for reasons already outlined. What does the Wroth Imperatrix of Rome know about Hollywood, or Stockholm? She has problems at home and even if she didn't have problems at home it's not like anyone's logging onto lost.hedge and bitching about their local Court.

When it comes to how Freeholds interact with encountering differing Court systems, there have been both alliances and misunderstandings. In the unusually populous (well, at least until current events unleashed a glut of Changelings) Four Luck Freehold, the Seasonal and Directional Courts both rule, each bound to one of the others by an alliance of marriage. Conversely, one example of cassus belli in Swords at Dawn is a misunderstanding in San Francisco when Winter reaches out to the Freehold across the Bay, looking for an alliance of Winter to enrich both, only to discover a different Court system and panic in the misbelief that those Lost are held in tyranny without a pact to defend them from the Gentry.

>>1777660
You can talk a bit about how each of the Courts feels about the others in general, because of how the ideals they teach can clash, but even that's far from a universal truth. Spring and Winter seem like opposites until you remember that the one is hiding in the flash of bright lights and the other in the comfort of dark shadows; Summer and Autumn fight actively, but with different weapons and tactics. Summer's direct approach clashes with Winter's stealth and discretion, but at the same time Summer's logistics depend on Winter agents to help provide pathways, money, supplies, while Winter's businesses sometimes need muscle or someone to kick in the door and rescue an agent. The relationship between any two Courts tends to be a local affair, defined in part by the leadership of the various people involved, the emotional and seasonal temperament of the region, and the mutual histories and rivalries thereof. New Avalon is a very functional Freehold, in a lot of ways an idealized relationship between the Courts, but a lot of that stems from the example laid down by its founders (including King Raven) which became virtues to be upheld by their followers and successors. New Avalon's Courts get along so well because they like and want to get along, and actively strive to do so.

And, I mean, even then the Rook tried to kill two people using each other as the weapon. Small-town politics are a bitch.

As for the traveling Lost, the default attitude in most Freeholds is suspicion, but there's ways around that. Making contact with the local Freehold, offering up your purpose and duties under a pledge of truth, and/or presaging your arrival by making some manner of preliminary contact (admittedly that last one is super hard for purely practical reasons; many Lost are bad with computers and they don't exactly list a public Freehold phone number) all help ease tensions. Membership in various Entitlements that encourage travel also helps to explain your purpose. The obvious one is the Sacred Couriers, who are sworn to carry messages and packages between Freeholds and to high standards of trust and discretion in their private delivery dealings, but you also get the Legion of the Iron Wall (who go from Freehold to Freehold offering their services as trainers in combat, strategists, war engineers, and tacticians), the Duchy of Truth and Loss (fetch-hunters that roam looking for the simulacra so that they can 'disappear' them, leaving a place for the original to step back into), and more. If you show up in Seattle with an armored chef's coat on saying that you're on a quest for the legendary bean in the local Hedge from whom you will make the Neversleep Brew and they can confirm that you're a Knight of the Knowledge of the Tongue, you've at least gotten past the stage where your alibi sounds like ass.

>>1777673
> I know you said that Changelings tend to stay in the areas that were either important or familiar to them before they were taken, but for those who don't really have such roots, is immigration common? I mean, by traveling to a new place (whether that's just over the state line or on the other side of the planet), they can begin trying to build themselves a new life. I can also see technology being a huge boon to the Lost, as it can allow them to communicate and exchange knowledge over large distances. Can a pledge or oath even be performed properly in such a manner?

Lost leave their homes for a variety of reasons, even if the actual act is rare. Some can't stand to be near the life they've lost and bounce someplace else rather than deal with their Fetch or the years they've lost. Others move because of exile from their Freehold, or because they're members of a Freehold that itself travels.

Many Changelings are, as has been alluded to, bad with computers. This isn't anything to do with the Wyrd, most were just born or taken well before the rise of the Internet. A Changeling that comes back through the Hedge right now may have been taken as far back as the summer of 1967. Couple this with extended lifespans and the odd relationship between Arcadia and Earth, time-wise, and the greater body of Lost are people that at best think of a Commodore 64 when they think 'computers', with skill sets like the Rook's or Forum's being a valuable rarity.

While a Pledge or Oath can be put in writing, it must be sealed in the physical presence of all that will be bound by it. Freehold pledges, as well as memberships in various societies and contracts between the Lost, are often sealed in writing. The Freehold of Manhattan tends to prefer written Pledges that are layered with clauses, contingencies, and the like.

> Also, how often do Changelings switch Courts? I imagine that most of the Lost of age in most Freeholds have served in at least two Courts.

The source material vacillates somewhat on this, but in general - especially at weak Mantle, meaning you have a smaller magical connection to your Court - changing can be more common. Many fresh Lost try to sign on with Winter at first because running and hiding sounds good, only to recognize different sympathies once they feel some kind of safe again. Leaving one's Court because of changing sympathies, mystical resonance, or even politics also happens. This is sometimes, but not often, dangerous. Autumn, for instance, tends to trust its departing members with the secrets they know because the person leaving knows damn well what Autumn is like and what they'll do to them if the Changeling blabs.

Winter, on the other hand, has this quiet cutoff point past which you know too much and they'll end you rather than risk the breach of your silence.

>>1777710
> How difficult is it to form treaties/agreements with Hob settlements in the Hedge? Are non-aggression and trade pacts common? Can any particular towns or villages in the Hedge be considered friendly or at least neutral territory?

This is complicated enough that it got space in two different supplements (Autumn Nightmares and Dancers in the Dusk), an entire supplement to itself (Goblin Markets), not one, not two, but three Noble Orders (the Barony of the Lesser Ones, the Hedge Wardens, and the Legacy of the Black Apple), another half a Noble Order (the Magi of the Gilded Thorn), and at least part of a published adventure. In general, Changelings see Hobs as less than human, something you can negotiate with but never trust, and which you put down or drive out if you have to. This is not universally true, but in general a treaty with a community of hobs is for either the benefit of the Freehold, as the result of suing for peace, or because someone got fucked on a pact.

> Are there any legendary figures in the Changeling society, aside from the great King Raven himself? Are there any particular figures in the modern era who stand out (again, aside from the mighty Thunder-Shit in Miami, and the current reigning monarchs of Avalon)?

Quite a few. Raven is a legend in New Avalon but local legends, myths, and prophecies abound in just about all Freeholds. In the UK they tell the story of Bran the Raven, who once ruled the Courts of the Isles, and who will one day return from death to reclaim his kingdom. The most universal legendary figures are the founders of the four Seasonal Courts - Mother Susan (Spring), Sam Noblood (Summer), Clay Ariel (Autumn), and Snowflake John (Winter).

> How common or uncommon was it for a human to be introduced to the Changeling community, at least before the Mask collapsed? Is there a trial or gauntlet that the particular Mortal has to go through before they are entrusted with the guarded knowledge of the Lost?

Changelings are passionate people. Ensorcelling a loved one so you can prove who and what you are is somewhat common, to the point where there's a fairly universal oath (the Oath of Rose and Thorn) for it. Others are ensorcelled because the Lost want the use of their skills, because of oaths of love and honor, or even as a punishment for snooping around in Freehold business. Expectations of secrecy are built into these Pledges, as are - often - service or the use of the mortal's skills and resources, in exchange for the protection and support of the Lost themselves. Ensorcelled mortals were a vital resource in most Freeholds, what with their legal identities, lack of murderous soul-doubles, and possession of conventional sanity.

>>1777739
> If the Gods are made 'real' by the Wyrd, are there places in the world where their power can still manifest? Take for example the Aesir; if Colors were to travel back to the birthplace of that pantheon, would she hear their voices, feel their presence, more strongly? Are there True Fae who, in essence, ARE the magnificent and terrible gods of old?

I have no idea where you got this impression. There are True Fae who choose to wear the masks of gods (and many arrogant enough to simply declare themselves to be gods, regardless of if they resemble existing mortal ideas of the same), but the Wyrd does not create gods or empower them. The question of faith is still as much a question for the Lost as it is for mortals. Colors embraced hers for reasons unrelated to the hot bright flash of fate & time doing duty for the parts of her soul she never got back.

>
Why can't Changelings seem to have kids? Is it a matter of the Wyrd and the changes inflicted by their varying Durances causing them to be infertile, or is there some secret fear that they have been changed so deeply that their offspring will be Changed too?

Exposure to Arcadia has a negative effect on both the literal and metaphorical fertility of mortals. The True Fae cannot invent at all, only modify, steal, pillage, combine, corrupt, twist. Changelings often have similar issues, and inventions & creations made with the Wyrd often display subtle flaws or mistakes that could have been avoided if you did not use magic.

It's rare, but sometimes, just sometimes, Changelings come back still able to sire or birth children. It typically comes as a great and panic-inducing surprise to them. The child of a Changeling is human, though admittedly sometimes a little odd.

Hokay, life finally in order, called, writing.

>>1778555
> life finally in order
Who are you and what have you done with Vox.

>>1778719
It's clearly temporary.

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>>1774478
At least a little unsure if this is the right thing to do, you brush Fancy's blonde hair back from her face; her eyes go up to meet yours, and you can see the colored light that filters through your head reflected on the whites of her eyes.

"Apology accepted, Fancy. I...can be sort of bad at this too. Folks like me often are, Elementals, that is. It's. Hard to explain," you finish a little lamely, accepting defeat. "Lots about this is hard to explain, and...hard to talk about."

Fancy nods and rubs her cheek against your hand before she looks down at the rabbit in her hands. "I should get this wrapped," she says, smiling faintly at it. "Where's the rest of your work?"

You pull your hand back and affect a cough. "I, um. Keep it at my house."

"Why not display it?" your friend asks. You look at the supplies, then back to Fancy. It feels weird to leave after making just one piece but...well, it's not exactly a normal trip either. You nod at the door instead of answering; Fancy sets the statuette down so the two of you can get out of the safety gear and get back into the front of the shop. Alfie is behind the counter on his little stool, and the Wizened offers a smile at the statuette.

"You always have the most interesting eye for details, Dame Eriksdotter," Alfie offers. "Those whiskers will be interesting to transport. Miss Miller, I have arrangements with a Winter courier for pieces such as this, if you have no objections to delivery?"

"None at all," she says, graciously. "I don't suppose I can pay you for the courtesy?"

"I might be open to it," Alfie teases. You try to figure out what's bugging you about the 'Miss Miller' thing while the two of them politely make arrangements.

You hit on it when Fancy hands her money over and gives Alfie a firm handshake.

"Are you related to an Ethel Miller?"

"No?" Fancy says. "Who's she?"

"Friend of mine," you admit. "She's a grandmother, lives with her husband, their daughter, their daughter's husband, and their grandchildren. But I guess Miller's a pretty common name."

Fancy shrugs. "Didn't you have a delivery?"

Right, that!

The locker you rent here doesn't have a whole awful lot in it. Most of the space is taken up with drawings taped to the inside walls, designs for pieces you're trying to make work without having to enchant them, not because you're adverse to Hedgespun art but because it feels more challenging to make 'em stand on their own without falling apart. You also have an emergency water bottle (the number of times you've forgotten to bring something to drink in the heat of the forge...), a half-eaten package of trail mix (same reason), and a small envelope with your name on it in Ramona's handwriting. Inside is about three hundred dollars in mostly 20s and a handwritten note stamped with her sigil, the black rabbit.

'Try to have some fun. Don't forget to rest up before tomorrow, but live in the moment. It's nice to see you getting out and about.'

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>>1779097
You smile at the note and get the money into the wallet inside of your purse. Distantly, you remember the Rook's seething jealousy of your access to the monarchy; your smile flickers, but you resolve to look into it later if everyone's still around. Maybe sit him down with a drink or two and figure out what his deal is.

"We wanna continue our conversation from earlier? I think we were on cheesesteak," you propose. "There's a diner nearby, in walking distance."

"Your walking distance or my walking distance?" Fancy asks, dubiously.

"I mean, feed the meter, but your walking distance. Wait. You're parked in a garage."

"How long has it been since you drove?" Fancy asks, delicately.

"I've never driven," you admit. "And bicycles are, ah. Not my speed, so there's that."

"How depressing is the story of you and personal transportation?" Fancy asks, while the two of you take your leave.Your last sight of Alfie is him slipping into the back to take care of his equipment and turn off the heat.

"It's pretty depressing, but...from before the Fairest of Lands," you admit. "But can we not? Like...I dunno, how'd you get into dancing?"

"The Nutcracker," Fancy admits. "Well...sort of the Nutcracker. My uncle's a history professor, and he always had this pet theory that he'd bring out at holidays or if he'd had a couple of beers. He'd tell me, Fancy, every author and playwright and artist has one piece they go to their grave cursing and wishing they'd never done." You can see her getting into it, gesturing to go with the story.

"Oh?" you ask, fascinated.

"Yeah. Like, for Shakespeare it was Romeo and Juliet, because he writes this big tragedy about two assholes that get all their friends killed, but then everyone says it's a love story about two people too pure for this sinful Earth. And then later, when I was old enough to read it, he told me about how much Alan Moore hates fucking Rorschach because of how many people read his work and then idolize the guy. And the Nutcracker was Tchaikovsky's. The guy got paid to write it on a pretty specific commission, but, y'know, artists have to eat too, so you say 'yessir' and do the thing."

Fancy pulls her hair from her bun while the two of you walk so she can redo it into a loose ponytail, but you can't stop looking at her eyes, the interest and fascination and the happiness at being able to share her story. She usually only looks like this when she's dancing.

"Was his client abusive or something?" you ask.

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>>1779402
"Not that I know of, but Tchaikovsky despised the actual work. He felt it was overly mathematical, derivative, lacking in a real plot, in real emotion, in real art. And then the horrible part is, it became famous! Everyone loved the Nutcracker, everyone wanted to see it, and it totally overshadowed all of his other works. Most people can't name even one other play by him, and Tchaikovsky went to his grave just full of hate for everyone that loved it and for the guy that paid him for it and for the ballet itself."

"That's so sad...and painfully accurate," you admit, keenly embarrassed. "I don't know any other ballets he did either."

Fancy gives you a grin. "Didn't expect you to. Anyway, of all the stories my uncle ever told me about artists that hated their own work, that's the one that stuck with me. I dunno why, maybe because it became Tchaikovsky's most enduring legacy, this thing he wished he'd never done. And, well, my family was never rich exactly but we have the sort of money where I could afford to look into hobbies and stuff on a whim, so I decided to learn to dance the Nutcracker. Mom signed me up for ballet lessons the week after I asked her to. I wanted to know what it was about the work that made its creator hate it and everyone else love it."

"Do you love it?" you ask. You reach for Fancy's hand, and she takes yours with a soft smile. Her expression is wistful, contemplative.

"I still don't know," she admits. "It's a lot of fun, on both sides of the stage, but...I dunno. I don't know if I can forgive it for eating its siblings alive. His other ballets and operas are fun too, and they don't get the love they deserve."

"How'd you get from ballet to cabaret?"

"Great recession." She laughs, then shakes her head. "Had to leave the ballet company when it, um. Went under, and cabaret pays the bills. And honestly, I like the work? It's a different feeling, but it's still art. Even if it has folks by the glands. I do miss the ballet, though. Maybe one of these days I'll see about trying out again, but maybe not. I like it here in New Avalon. You meet a more interesting class of person."

"Like?" you ask, fishing.

"I gave dance lessons to the son of a Russian mobster and his dad showed up to every one," Fancy offers. "Which was an experience, let me tell you. So...your turn. Where'd you learn to fight?"

"The Fairest of Lands," you answer, flatly. "And I'd rather not."

"Oof...hey, is that the diner?" she rallies.

It is, thank the gods. When the rail system got redone eighty years back in New Avalon, someone bought one of the disconnected sections, built a train on it, and opened the Midnight Train. You found it wandering around your new home in the first three months or so, and you've been coming here ever since.

Among other things, they do a killer Reuben, though almost all of their pressed sandwiches are amazing.

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>>1779467
"You know how dancers eat, right?" Fancy asks, just a whisper of nervousness in her voice. "Like. I've had dates leave on me at this stage."

You blink. "For eating like you exercise?"

"Pretty much," your friend admits. "Forgot who I was talking to for a moment. The whole swordswoman thing has to take it out of you, not to mention walking everywhere."

"I won an eating contest with an Ogre once," you admit. "After you?"

The Midnight Train is a snapshot of a bygone era, done up like the passenger cars of the Gilded Age. Swing music plays over the speakers, joining the gentle tinkling of the chandeliers and the clickity-clack of the devices under the train that rattle and rumble it like it was moving. A stewardess - Marcy, she's the one with the missing tip of her pinky finger - welcomes you by name and gets the two of you a window booth out of the slanting light of the sunset.

"How have I never heard of this?" Fancy asks, amazed.

"It's a big city," you shrug. Your friend puts her elbows on the table and props her chin on her laced fingers, looking at you with a smile that's all mischief. You shiver when you feel her bare foot brush your ankle.

"You are too easy to tease," Fancy purrs.

Your phone rings. You swear under your breath and take it out of your purse, then answer when you see it's Vickie. "Colors."

"Hey. Um...so..." the Darkling clears her throat. "So, I was kinda wondering if maybe now's a good time for that whole tequila bit?"

You look at Fancy's expression of worried interest.

> Be honest; you're out on a date
> Hedge it; now's just not a good time
> Lie outright
> Maybe now IS a good time?
> Write-in?

>>1779491
>> Write-in?
>I'm on a date but....
Glance over to Fancy
>I've learned from experience that three's a crowd is bullshit. If you guys are up for it I know a place that would be pretty great

>>1779491
>Be honest; you're out on a date


Vox, this seems dangerously similar to japanese harem romcom "misunderstandings" antics. Should I be worried about the media you've been consuming lately?
Do you need an intervention?

>>1779532
I can say in complete honesty and without any omission whatsoever that I've never seen a work in that genre.

>>1779491
> Be honest; you're out on a date
She asked us to talk with Fancy. Hell, she was pretty forceful about that. Tell her we're doing that.

>>1779491
> Be honest; you're out on a date.
> But definitely later, after the mission is complete.
We're still up for a night of drunken rambling with Vickie. Just a little later. Don't want something sneaking up on us and biting us in the ass while we're still trying to stop the Peacock bastard.

>>1779532
This is Vox we're talking about. He's a lich, made of nothing but bones, spite and wit.

/spoiler/ But if somebody did/has done a doujin about a guy dating a sentient coffee bean, he'd probably be all over that. /spoiler/

>>1779491
> Be honest; you're out on a date

>>1779491
>>1779574
To emphasize this, I think we should focus on the fact that we're with Fancy, not that we're on a date.

>>1779491
>Be honest, you're on a date
>With Fancy specifically

We can, and should, talk to Vickie and help her get her shit together, but we also can and should sort our own shit out

is anyone opposed to Colors floating the idea of the three of them meeting up together?

>>1780258
Are you sure Fancy would be down for interrupting your date like that?

How sure are you that VICKIE would be down for that?

>>1780267
Well, the way I see it is Fancy is interested in changelings in general and Vickie isn't exactly the shy type. There's no harm in at least making the offer

>>1780280
I say instead that we float the idea of introducing the two of them later. Patience is a virtue, my friend. Barring another huuuuge crisis or time-sensitive mission, we should have time later to hang with everybody and shoot the shit.

>>1780267
ABORT ABORT ABORT

>>1780280
> Vickie isn't exactly the shy type
It's a little more complicated than that, in some respects she is painfully shy. Over all, I don't think it's a good idea. There is some harm in making the offer in that it makes Colors look like an insensitive tool.

Consider that Vickie's tequila talk is likely to be personal and have a lot to do with the difficulties around being a Changeling with the mask down. Not only is Fancy not going to understand that issue very well, she's in some ways part of the problem. Namely she's a mortal encountering the supernatural for the first time and amazed by it. Vickie would not feel anywhere near as comfortable with Fancy there as she would if it were just Vickie and Colors. Also, the idea that Colors might try to rope Fancy into that talk would tell Vickie that we don't take it nearly as seriously as we probably should and that Colors might not be the best person to approach with these issues if she's that insensitive about it.

Aside from that, on a date, there should not be any doubt that the person you're on a date with is the most important person at that point. Two is a good number. Four is a fine number too. Three is not.

Time with Vickie should be time with Vickie, not an attempt to balance attention between both her and Fancy. I'm looking forward to drunk Vickie, don't fuck it up.

Aight, called, writing.

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>>1781046
[Nervousness Intensifies]

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>>1779491
"It's actually not a good time," you tell Vickie, decisive but not harsh. "You caught me in the middle of a spontaneous date with Fancy."

"With - wow, really?"

"In my defense I showed up to apologize and the date thing happened later," you explain.

"Oh yeah, everyone's had those moments when you go to repair your wounded friendship and you end up on a journey of lesbian romance instead," Vickie teases, without malice. "I'll stop interrupting, then. I dunno, maybe go see the Rook about those gaming lessons. Maybe."

"You should," you encourage. "I know the two of you have your differences but everyone does? And you shouldn't spend the night before a fight stressing out. We'll do tequila later, when it's all said and done, okay?"

"Deal. Cya round, Fearless Leader."

You end the call and get your phone back into your purse. "Sorry about that. Vickie and I have been kinda trying to plan some excessive drinking and soul-baring."

"...Are you sure she's not sweet on you?" Fancy asks, blinking.

"Are you sure you want me to think about that while you're playing footsie with me under the table?"

"Definitely don't do that," Fancy agrees; her toes brush your calf, flooding your cheeks with a hot blush and making you cough to try and cover it up. "So, what's good here?"

"Pressed sandwiches," you say without a second thought. "They've got a whole chunk of the menu just for them." Marcy drifts over to your table, staying respectfully at the edge of your space. "Speak of the devil - Marcy, I'm gonna go ahead and dishonor my house."

"Sure thing," the stewardess agrees with a grin, jotting down your usual order. "And for you, miss?"

Fancy gives you a curious look. "Um. Y'know, I'll have what Colors is having, assuming her house can bear the dishonor."

"We'll make it through somehow."

Marcy laughs and shuts her notebook. She's going to go get coffee first, because you don't go to a diner and drink anything else.

"Okay, I have to know," Fancy says once the waitress is gone.

"Okay, so, you know how I'm from Philadelphia, right? City of Brotherly Love, home town of Benjamin Franklin, all that?"

"I might have heard of it," the dancer grants.

"Well, Dad was...is...kinda irrationally hung up on Philly and New York. Like, Philly lost it all, you know? It was supposed to be the capitol of the nation, that didn't happen. It was supposed to be a center of trade and industry, and New York City took that away, along with being the cultural center of the East Coast and then going and becoming the Capitol of the World and all. Dad would go on and on when he had a mood about all these glories Philly was supposed to have that got stolen from it by these 'ungrateful upstarts', in like, his best villain monologue voice. Really ham it up, you know? He did it for my class once when we were learning about melodrama in English."

"This is already one of the best stories I've ever heard," Fancy says in rapt fascination.

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>>1781214
"Oh just wait, it gets better. When I was little-little, like, eight or nine, I spent some of my allowance on a Reuben. I'd never had one before, so I get it, and it's so good, right? So I go home to tell Dad about it."

"Oh no!"

"Oh yeah. Dad gives me this look of horror, sinks to his knees, and just starts going at it, cryin' out 'Damn you New York, even my own daughter dishonors her family name for you?' Like, fifteen, twenty minutes of just him going full oath-of-vengeance on New York over this sandwich. Laughed so hard I cried and then got a history lesson about how it got invented."

"That's adorable," Fancy smiles at Marcy when the coffee arrives and starts opening sugar packets for hers. You can see her consider a follow-up question, her mouth opens to ask it, and then she thinks better of it.

Her foot brushes higher up your leg, and you have to squeeze your lips shut to avoid making a sound.

"You just gonna sit there and take that all night?" the dancer asks. Her eyes are alive with invitation again...

> You're not gonna get a better time to express your worries about her and you
> On the first date? Yeah you're going to just sit there and take it all night.
> ...No?
> Write-in?

>>1781229
>Attempt flirting reprisals in awkward Colors fashion

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>>1781229
I'm conflicted. On the one hand, pic related might mean go for it because sexy times. On the other hand, Fetch would probably council being a gentleman and keeping the first date to just flirting.

So I'll go for:
> On the first date? Yeah you're going to just sit there and take it all night.

Colors attempting to control herself as Fancy teases her mercilessly is just too good. Colors is adorable when she's struggling with lewdness.

>>1781229
>On the first date? Yeah you're going to just sit there and take it all night.
>Write-in?
>"I have no idea what you're talking about." Casually trap her (lovely and soft) foot between our legs. that'll teach her to mess with a knight!

The worry is there, but this thing we've got going right now, it's nice, and we've got some more getting to know each other to do still.

>>1781761
pretty sure dancers have tough, toned feet.

>>1781798
A man can dream.

Hokay so to no one's surprise I gotta go to work here. Updates will be delayed until about 11 PM EST or so, and in the meantime votes remain open.

How's this whole thing going anyway? I'm always nervous trying to write romance.

Questions, comments, discussion, feedback, and criticisms remain, as always, welcome and appreciated.

Thank you all for reading and participating!

>>1781921
>I'm always nervous trying to write romance.
For now? Like I expected it to based on DLQ.

>>1781949
> Based on DLQ

's'what?

>>1781953
Your previous quest? Dungeon Life Quest = DLQ
And if that didn't enlighten you on my opinion, you're doing good.

>>1781229
> Write-in?

"Wait until after you see ME eat before deciding how hungry you want to get me"

> Describe some of our worries by talking about how fae creatures have to deal with things like Vices.

>>1781981
I finally got what you were saying on the fifth reread. I need more coffee for English, which bites since I don't speak anything else.

>>1781921
Fancy is being fairly aggressive in her advances, I don't get the impression that this is purely pixie-chasing, though Colors being fae touched probably does have /some/ hand in the attraction. She wasn't put off by our more mundane sides which led to some lovely scenes.

What I'm trying to say is that I really hope it's genuine feelings developing and that I will be devastated if it turns out that the paranoia was right.

>>1782057
>And if that didn't enlighten you on my opinion, you're doing good.
This was a bit of a confusing sentence.

>>1782057
>For now? Like I expected it to, based on DLQ.
fixed it for you.

>>1781921
It's been super cute so far.

>>1781229
>> ...No?

This is our Vice, after all. We may /want/ to suppress it, but, y'know...we're only mumblesomethingnotquitehuman.

>>1781113
That baby owlet totally reminds me of the fluffy harpy chicks from DLQ and itssoadorablesIjustwanttorubitsfluffybellyohmyGod.

>>1781229
..I'm suddenly seeing Colors dad doing Will Shatner's bit from Star Trek, but instead of "KHAAAAAANNNN!!", it's "NNNEEEEWWWW YYYOOORRRRKKKKK!!!!"

Also, supporting this; >>1781236
WHAT IS THIS, ITALY? THERE'S SPAGHETTI EVERYWHERE!!

>>1781428
I miss Sir Fetch. He was handsome and daring and wise and the best birb a girl could ever ask for. FARE THEE WELL, NOBLE KNIGHT!

>>1781921
I'll tell you what I told you previously in DLQ; your characters feel like actual fucking people, with lives and stories and emotions and aspirations, so the romance feels natural.

I will admit that early on I felt shades of Brianna and Amy in Colors and Fancy, but that's dissipated as you've fleshed them out. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Rook; my impression from the previous one-shot made me think he was just a power-hungry asshole, but then you give us that lovely little scene in the Arcade, and he becomes this interesting, relatable and HUMAN character.

Keep doing what you're doing Vox.

>>1781812
A man can learn to live with disappointment as well, my friend.

>>1783116
You know, I was more worried about similarities between Colors and River? You may recall that I used this as River's theme, and it's not like there aren't parallels - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXvkTuMyZpM

I'm glad to hear that about the Rook though. It can be hard to show another side of a character that comes across as strongly as he did in his original two showings, though admittedly in Scarred by Thorns you didn't meet him personally and instead learned of him through Moira.

Called, writing. As far as I can tell our winner is some combination of:

>Attempt flirting reprisals in awkward Colors fashion

And

> On the first date? Yeah you're going to just sit there and take it all night.

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>>1781229
You swallow, hard. "It's our first date," you begin.

"That's not exactly an objection," the dancer teases.

"...Also we haven't exactly shared, y'know, clean bills of health."

"Well that's a bucket of cold water," Fancy sighs, a little wistfully. "...I guess you're right, though. Gotta be responsible."

"It's not that the thought hasn't repeatedly crossed my mind!" you protest. "Or dreams. Lucid drea-" you catch sight of Fancy's incredibly raised eyebrows, "fuckyoudidn'tknowthatpart."

"Lucid? You can do anything you want in your dreams and of all the folks you could pick out you have me dancin' through 'em with a fluffy tail on?" Fancy gives you a pleased grin before taking a long sip of her over-sugared (seriously, how do people in Atlanta survive this?) coffee. "I think I'm supposed to be mad here but honestly that's almost endearing, Colors."

"Is this normal for dates that aren't going to end in your bed?" you ask weakly.

"One, that's not for lack of trying," the dancer points out. "But two, I'm good at knowin' what I want. And you're so much fun to tease. What would you do if I brought my foot up higher?"

"Absolutely nothing," you murmur, heart pounding in your chest.

Freya protect you, her foot goes higher.

Marcy brings your meal. "You lovebirds doin' alright?"

"She always like this?" Fancy asks the stewardess, all mischief.

"Honey, I haven't seen a pretty smile that can't lay Colors out on the floor yet," Marcy tells her. "She reminds me of an old roommate I had in college, always trailin' after some shining damsel or moping away her broken heart. Of course, that was back in the seventies..."

"Now there's a topic," Fancy seizes on the moment and her foot is right between your thighs oh gods and gives you a roguish look. "I'll tell you my sob story if you'll tell me yours."

You cough. "I, um. Mainly haven't...since I came back, you know? I've had some flings, some, um, bedside furniture."

"What?" Marcy asks, hanging around from sheer fascination.

"One-night stands," Fancy explains. "She has English problems sometimes."

"Yeah those," you agree. "The, um, the Court encouraged me to explore my desires and...I mean..."

Marcy laughs. "Young people. I'll get you more coffee, Colors dear. Miss Fancy?"

"Keep it comin', thank'ee kindly," Fancy agrees. She goes to pull her foot back when Marcy drifts away but you close your legs and pin it gently in your thighs.

"That's some high-intensity footsie," you scold under your breath.

Fancy wiggles her toes against your jeans. "I'm a high-intensity sorta gal, Colors. Don't worry, I ain't gonna go for the goods in the middle of your favorite diner. Place seems nice, I'd hate to get thrown out."

"Thankyou. I'm gonna give you your foot back now. Could you, um. Put it in your shoe?"

"Too far?" Fancy asks, worry coloring her tone.

"I just kinda need a moment."

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>>1784434
Your friend takes her foot back with a small nod and the two of you take a moment of privacy with your sandwiches (punctuated by Fancy's muttered-around-her-food exclamation of 'It's good'). You can't quite suppress a shiver; usually by this point in the night you've ended up at the other woman's house, with Optional Background Movie and a distinct absence of clothing. Natalia's teased you, sorta, but she has things about touching people and you have things about letting the known soul-eater poke you with the soul-eating bits, so it's never amounted to much.

Not that you haven't been tempted anyway. That voice...

"You still with me there, Colors?" Fancy asks.

"Yeah! Yeah, sorry, kinda..."

"Lost in your own glands?" the dancer asks knowingly.

"Little bit. You, um. You said you had a sob story?"

"Yeah," Fancy admits, with a wistful sigh. "Her name was Jasmine, and she had it all going for her. Gorgeous, smart, talented, dedicated. Met her at a show, kinda like you, but she made the moves first, and we hit it off like fire. That was up north, when I lived in Ann Arbor for a spell while we were rehearsing and dancing at the Fox. It was a whirlwind, we couldn't stop touchin' and giving each other little gifts and playing hooky to fool around. She was studying, mathematics of some kind, she told me but I never really got it."

"What happened?" you ask softly, conscious of the distant, wistful sorrow in Fancy's eyes.

"...She fell in with a bad crowd," the dancer answers, after a moment. "Switched her major to study the history of the occult or some shit. Folklore, I think it was. Started doing acid. Pushed me away when I got concerned, and...I dunno. We finally had a big fight and that was it. I tore up the resignation letter I'd written, right in her face, and moved on with the ballet. She's doing time now, got caught passing out the drugs." Fancy sighs and picks up a fry, only to put it back down. "Why'd I even bring that up. Fuck me, we were having a good time."

"It's alright," you murmur, reaching across the table to take her hand. She laces her fingers with yours. "Thank you, for...for sharing."

"Yeah, I guess." Your friend looks up at the clock. "You should rest up before your big maybe-death tomorrow. I can drop you off at your place?"

> What? No! We can still have a good time!
> I mean...you're right. I /should/ rest up, but, are you gonna be okay?
> Write-in?

>>1784451

> What? No! We can still have a good time!

>>1784451
>What? No! We can still have a good time!
>Write-in?
>Has she ever really seen the stars?

>>1784451
I really like the interactions so far, and teased Colors is cute, I can see why Fancy and Natalie do it.

I am sadly not gonna have time to update before work. Votes remain open. It's kinda been slow going this thread anyway.

I'm sorry, I really am

>>1784451
> I mean...you're right. I /should/ rest up, but, are you gonna be okay?

>>1784451
> You're probably right, but we should definitely do this again. Pinkie promise?
> Next time we'll need a more appropriate environment for heavy conversation and some strong liquor.
Twas cute and fun, and full of neat little bits that made me like Fancy just as much as the other characters.

>>1784451
>> What? No! We can still have a good time!

>>1784697
>>1784451
> Seconding
Gotta get those cute dates on right before diving deep into the fray.

Also, is it me, or does this arc seem to be the focus of the quest? Like, rather than a smaller arc lile the previous one shots, now we get a fully fleshed out arc with this one character. Thing is, I don't exactly know what else we can do with Colors, unless of course More Shit Goes Down during this upcoming brawl and there's more of a mystery/what have you to uncover afterwards.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if I'd prefer a solid end to this arc (and possibly another character shift) or a more spiraling story, possibly with a whole 'nother arc. I suppose it depends on if we don't fuck things up and get Colors killed, eh?

>>1787577
> I suppose it depends on if we don't fuck things up and get Colors killed, eh?

Indeed. There ARE some loose ends to tie up, and a big giant hook in your complete control in the form of Misery Monroe's favor. None of the 36 potential main characters were designed as one-arc MCs.

I am not updating tonight. I have had possibly the worst working night of my life. I have honest-to-god had shifts where guns were pointed at me that were less disheartening and miserable than the parade of stress and fury I just went through. Votes remain open.

>>1787622
30. 30 possible. Fuck it, even my basic math skills have failed me.

>>1787622
When will we get the option to call on the favor?

>>1787722
Any time after you finish this job (assuming you survive), within a year and a day.

And like, there's other stuff to pursue here. Colors is still trying to decide who she is and who she wants to become. Does that mean trying to stay with her new motley, and if she does do you reach out to the other members and get up in their business? Try to bury the hatchet between Vickie and her mother? Dare to even broach the topic of the Rook's shit? What about her old family, and her exile from Philly?

There's Shit To Be Done, if you're of a mind.

>>1788077
So just to be clear, we won't be using the favor to prep for the confrontation with rainbow boy?

>>1788083
No, no you will not.

> What? No! We can still have a good time!

Since you took the time to write up 30 possible quest characters, I don't suppose you'll post the rest of the 3 courts since we'll probably be focusing on Colors and her circle of friends and problems in this quest.

And ask questions about them! I think I can guess Dash's terrible Dark Secret.

>>1789142
I'd be highly surprised if we didn't meet many of the other potential PCs over the course of the quest.

>>1789142
>>1789171
I think our entire party consists of possible MC characters, we had a choice between all four courts after all.
I wonder if Jesse would have been a choice, though we've played him already so that's lowers his chance a little.
Whatever happened to that key he retrieved?

>>1789142
I'll do this when I get home, but I must know: what is your guess?

Also keep in mind that not all the potential MCs necessarily exist now. Some do because they did before, others because I like them or they have ties with planned events or worldbuilding, but others - like Colors herself - were only to be real if you played them.

>>1787622
>parade of stress and fury I just went through
Would it unburden you if you shared with us a bit of what happened ?

>>1791610
Not really. I will start a new thread in the morning though. Finally had time to decompress. Thanks to everyone for your patience.

>>1789463
>I'll do this when I get home, but I must know: what is your guess?

My guess is that Crash is not Dash's twin, but his Fetch. I think it would be scandalous to have a fae construct so close to the seasonal leadership. I mean, despite what we see with Zoe and Jessie, I read that most changelings don't have a good relationship with their Fetches.

NEW THREAD

>>1792556
>>1792556
>>1792556
>>1792556