Eight ★ Video

[wasthemaster]

[Draco Malfoy has absolutely no reason to be outside right now. His hands are both still cut up pretty badly, he's fighting off a cold, and to top things off…

…well. He lost Jade Harley. Sort of. Jade sort of lost herself by leaving her bracelet on his bathroom counter. So today Draco's out and flying around the city of Asgard, Jade's bracelet in his pocket and bundled up against the cold. It's only when he's outside of his room that he really notices all of the lights going off in the city, twinkling against the darkness. He stops long enough to examine a few displays of light, raising an eyebrow.

It really must be close to Christmas then. Fantastic. Just one more thing to remind him of things he doesn't want to think about. Christmas reminds him of home, and lights remind him of a certain girl with long blond hair that he can't seem to stop thinking about. Ridiculous. After a few hours of flying back and forth hoping for some sign of Jade, anything that might indicate she's around, he gives up and lands to head into the Great Library if only for a distraction and maybe to pick up a few books to help with his current research for potions.

…and thus he finds himself curled up in a chair fifteen minutes later, trying to warm up and staring at a book in his hands. It's a small book, worn out and old in appearance. It's also a book he most certainly wasn't expecting to find here in Asgard, but then again it made sense. Why wouldn't the gods pull things from their own worlds to entertain them? When he turns on the bracelet's video feed, he's casually flipping through the book, reading and mumbling to himself. He's holding the book gingerly as though it's hard to bend his hands around it, but his eyes are narrowed in concentration.]

Babbity Rabbitty will never not be a strange name, and that's saying something [Flip. Flip. Flip.]

Granted, this shouldn't be a surprise. [And he looks up then, facing the camera.]

Here's a new question for anyone awake, something a bit lighter than the last. [Which he's still pondering on, thank you. His wall of notes may be folded up and in a box under his bed, but he still references them quite a bit.]

With the lights all around the city and with the discovery of this book--[He lifts it up, revealing the title to be the Tales of Beedle the Bard]--do you believe that something as simplistic as a fairy tale can actually have some truth behind it? Or, in other words, what determines if they're made up or if they're based on real people and real events?

And before anyone asks, no, there's no motive behind this question. Just genuine curiosity. [Which as we all know is the biggest lie of them all.]

Comments

Video - Private

[samantha_grey]

You're seriously asking us this question? Really?

[She's pointing at the horns and leaning back in a chair, just kind of giving Draco a 'seriously' kind of look.]

I suppose the answer is 'If they're based on real events.' And yes, I know that's a dumb answer.

Video - Private

[wasthemaster]

...I'm a wizard, remember? [That is to say that's kind of irrelevant to him, Sam. Nice try though.] Why should that mean I can't ask the question?

[Audio]

[occulthymns]

Just about all the stories back home are based on what happened in the past. What's the one you're reading about?

[Audio]

[wasthemaster]

Hm? [He looks down at the page he's on.] Oh. This one isss...The Fountain of Fair Fortune. The whole book's just a small collection of stories from home. Anyway, the Fountain's...complicated. Essentially in the story there's a fountain of fair fortune, obviously. But only one person a year can bathe in it and fix their problems. So there are three witches, right? And they're traveling to the fountain together but come across loads of obstacles they have to solve to get there. That's the basic idea, anyway.

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[deputychief]

["No motive." Something he'll believe when he sees it. Probably not then, either. Of course, it's not even technically a coherent claim, since there could hardly be no motive -- but oh well. He can do lighter, after all.]

Mr. Malfoy. [He inclines his head.] I rather think fairy tales may have a great deal of truth to them. They are part of the distilled wisdom of many ages, after all, much like what others call old wives' tales and cliches. They tend to be useful both in that they contain a great deal that can be unpacked, in terms of symbolism, meaning, and advice, and in that they can be used to compactly convey complicated messages by allusion or reference to them.

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[wasthemaster]

[It's natural that Itsuki sees right through it, but Draco's totally unaware.]

Koizumi. [The same tense politeness is being returned today.] If that's the case, one must then wonder what people determine to be worthy of spinning into a tale. What facts and bits of wisdom stand out enough that a person would want them to be passed on for generations and generations? And further more, is it only one real life event that these stories are created from, or are they multiples?

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[selfestheim]

Well... the people who write those stories have to get their inspiration from somewhere, right? I'd guess there's some kind of truth in every story like that.

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[wasthemaster]

You don't believe it's possible for someone to only have an active imagination?

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[veneficus]

If there is anything I learned in this city is that one's life can easily become a legend, mostly without their knowledge. Many people in this city knew me and my friends even before we arrived. They knew our kingdom and our stories.

Or at the very least, they thought they did.

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[wasthemaster]

Really. [He's not sure how that's possible, but he's intrigued nevertheless.]

And what makes you and your kingdom so important that it can be considered legendary? [...well, Draco, if you just look at the name and see that it says 'Morgana' you might eat your own words.]

[video]

[ex_outofcontrol435]

Denying something before it's even questioned pretty much guarantees that it's true, y'know. [He looks deeply amused.]

So, what, did you meet Cinderella or something? Sounds like you can meet just about anyone here.

[video]

[wasthemaster]

Ah, but that's not the issue at hand here. Let's keep that in mind.

...who the hell is Cinderella?

[Video]

[comeonthensexy]

Nothing whatsoever determines it.

[ Definitely more direct than the answer to the last answer, and he sounds even more sure about this one. And he never did really sound as if he doubted the last one, so what does that say. ]

[Video]

[wasthemaster]

[Oh hey there Eleven. Draco actually likes hearing his opinions because they challenge his brain. However...]

Why not?

text;

[biifurcatiion]

ok iim curiiou2.
do you ju2t a2k phiilo2ophiical que2tiion2 all the tiime becau2e you thiink by doiing 2o you can iimiitate the experiience of actually beiing an iintelliigent per2on, or becau2e you have a burniing de2iire two be a pretentiiou2 fuckwad, or what.
or waiit, ii2 thii2 a ploy two look deep and emotiional and 2en2iitiive two get giirl2, becau2e that never actually work2 unle22 the giirl ii2 really, really 2tupiid.

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[wasthemaster]

[Goddamnit. The last person he really wanted to talk to, naturally. That's fine Sollux. You just keep going with your text, Draco can't text back.]

Well it's most certainly not the latter, so take your pick between the first two. Or, actually, can't we just assume it's because I genuinely care about what other people have to say?

...and furthermore, what do you even know about getting girls?

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[highstakesgame]

Belief. Belief is what separates fairy tales from reality.

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[wasthemaster]

How much belief?

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[tracings]

[The "internet," or at least this world's equivalent is as riveting as always, he sees. Fantastic.]

What determines if a story's based on real people? Whether it's based on real people or not.

[He gives a shrug]

Finding out which is real or not, that's more complicated.

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[wasthemaster]

But the question then is where's the proof that these people are real, and how hard is it to uncover the truth and the proof. Everything needs proof to be real, don't you agree?

[fiduspear]

I do. I believe that, fairy tales have a lot of truth to them and, even if they don't, believing in them makes them slightly less fake. [ He's so pleased with himself. ] And, I know that is true, because, I have seen it with my own eyes.

[wasthemaster]

[Well hey there Tavros. Long time no see. In any case, Draco's sort of amused by this answer but not surprised in the least.]

What do you mean you've seen it with your own eyes?

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[tumbled]

Of course. Myths, fairy tales...there's usually a grain of truth in there somewhere, however small it might be. Though just how much of it is based on reality, well, it all depends on the story.

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[wasthemaster]

So how many of the stories in your world have a lot of truth in them?

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[gandrtails]

Everything has a bit of truth behind it. We're influenced by the things we see, whether or not it's good or if it's bad. Some people choose to show how they are influenced by story telling. There are some deeper meanings in stories, for the most part.

Though, some tales are just a bit too exaggerated and silly.

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[wasthemaster]

But you still think even the exaggerated and silly ones have some truth?