Archive & Oblivion War -- who knows?

[Arjan]

Molly has to think about it. I don't know it that would mean that you're wrong or that Molly is less solidly a fairy than we have been led to believe.

You do not get answers on questions you did not ask.

[CrusherJen]

And as a member of Winter, even if not a true fairy, Molly can't give away answers for free. There has to be a price to pay, a bargain struck...

[Avernite]

Molly has to think about it. I don't know it that would mean that you're wrong or that Molly is less solidly a fairy than we have been led to believe.

Well, I mean, can't have those nature spirits do their own thing. They need mighty whitey humans to oversee them and lead them

(no I don't think Jim was thinking that racist)

That said, I do believe the Queens are specifically not quite fairy. They have something more, to be able to do more. I believe they borrow from humanity to allow Faerie to grow in power (after all, human choice is the great unbalancer).

[morriswalters]

Toot Toot and his brethren brains are too small to support language. Their skills come from the cloud, on demand.  And if Molly goes to Mother Russia she'll speak Russian too.  Call it the Faerie Universal Translator.

As per usual Harry is the last to know.

One of the functions of the Outer Gates.

[g33k]

Molly has to think about it. I don't know it that would mean that you're wrong or that Molly is less solidly a fairy than we have been led to believe.

I think Bob said that the Lady's Mantles take a few years to really have their full effect.

After a decade -- for most new bearers of the Mantle -- it's hard to find any differences between the old Lady and the new Lady.  "Welcome to the new Aurora, same as the old Aurora."

So Molly probably is largely herself.  Still bound by Winter Law, because the Mantle is, but not really incorporating Winter the way Mab does.

I don't know that we EVER saw Maeve who was genuinely Winterfae -- Nemesis makes them able to break Winter Law.



Huh; it just occurred to me... would you take look at that...!

Ya know what else lets you break the Law?  The blackstaff.  It lets you cast Black Magic all day long, without the stain and corruption seeping into you.
 
Maybe we were wrong all along.  Maybe it isn't Mother Winter's Walking Stick.  Maybe it's a tool of the Outsiders...

[Bad Alias]

Maybe we were wrong all along.  Maybe it isn't Mother Winter's Walking Stick.  Maybe it's a tool of the Outsiders...

Jim said it had something to do with Celtic mythology.

Edit: Specifically around 1065.

[Arjan]

I think Bob said that the Lady's Mantles take a few years to really have their full effect.

After a decade -- for most new bearers of the Mantle -- it's hard to find any differences between the old Lady and the new Lady.  "Welcome to the new Aurora, same as the old Aurora."

So Molly probably is largely herself.  Still bound by Winter Law, because the Mantle is, but not really incorporating Winter the way Mab does.

I don't know that we EVER saw Maeve who was genuinely Winterfae -- Nemesis makes them able to break Winter Law.



Huh; it just occurred to me... would you take look at that...!

Ya know what else lets you break the Law?  The blackstaff.  It lets you cast Black Magic all day long, without the stain and corruption seeping into you.
 
Maybe we were wrong all along.  Maybe it isn't Mother Winter's Walking Stick.  Maybe it's a tool of the Outsiders...

I think you have to take Bob's words with a big heap of salt. Maeve was ignoring her duties for more than a century before Nemesis got her.

[g33k]

Jim said it had something to do with Celtic mythology.

Edit: Specifically around 1065.

Yeah, but that hardly rules-out it being an Outsider thing!

Isn't that the same timeframe of the big shake-up in the Queens' hierarchies, and another Starborn running around, and Winter taking over the Outer Gates (evidently from the Aesir & Vanir), and all that shit?

Sounds like a major Outsider incursion, and the fallout afterwards.

Sure, maybe Mother Winter lost her walking stick in the kerfuffle.  But maybe instead a Walker lost HIS stick ...

[Bad Alias]

Yeah, but that hardly rules-out it being an Outsider thing!

Agreed, but I do think it goes against it.

Isn't that the same timeframe of the big shake-up in the Queens' hierarchies, and another Starborn running around, and Winter taking over the Outer Gates (evidently from the Aesir & Vanir), and all that shit?

I wasn't around here when the whole "Winter taking over the Outer Gates" from some group theories seemed to be cemented in the collective. All I know is that Winter took over at some point. I don't know who had it before or when the switch happened. I don't know how reasonable any of those theories are other than what seems obvious.

Mab hasn't spoken to  Titania "since Hastings." Everyone assumes that is a reference to the Battle of Hastings. I agree, but I realize that it is an assumption. That doesn't mean there was a big shake-up. It could be that's when they became Ladies. It could be when they became Queens. (But see WoJ quoted below). It could be when one of them became a Queen.

Here's the quote about a Starborn running around:

How often do the Ladies’, Queens’ and Mothers’ mantles change?
Uh, the Ladies, Queens and Mothers, their mantles change very, very, very rarely in general. I mean, Mab’s been there for better than 1,000 years. And Maeve’s been there….there was a Winter Lady before Maeve, uh, in Mab’s time. And she didn’t fare so well the last time a Starborn was running around.

If the "there" where Mab's been for more than 1,000 years is Winter Queen, then she was the Winter Queen before the Battle of Hastings because it's still not 2065, much less "better than."

I think the "she" in the last sentence of the quote is the Winter Lady before Maeve. It could be Mab or Maeve, but I don't think so. That would place the last Starborn running around to somewhere during or after the lifetime of an Austrian composer who died young.

[g33k]

... an Austrian composer who died young.

That was probably a fellow named Mozart.

Apparently he knew music the way Shiro knew the sword (and we know how much the fae love their mortal musicians!).

[Bad Alias]

I'll take your word for it. He fits the description, and I'd be surprised if it was someone I've never heard of. I don't know enough about Austrian composers to venture a guess as to whether or not someone else fits.

[Avernite]

I think Bob said that the Lady's Mantles take a few years to really have their full effect.

After a decade -- for most new bearers of the Mantle -- it's hard to find any differences between the old Lady and the new Lady.  "Welcome to the new Aurora, same as the old Aurora."

So Molly probably is largely herself.  Still bound by Winter Law, because the Mantle is, but not really incorporating Winter the way Mab does.

I don't know that we EVER saw Maeve who was genuinely Winterfae -- Nemesis makes them able to break Winter Law.



Huh; it just occurred to me... would you take look at that...!

Ya know what else lets you break the Law?  The blackstaff.  It lets you cast Black Magic all day long, without the stain and corruption seeping into you.
 
Maybe we were wrong all along.  Maybe it isn't Mother Winter's Walking Stick.  Maybe it's a tool of the Outsiders...

Or maybe it was the one tool the Fae could use to skirt their rules; making Mother Winter the one Fae who isn't fully limited by Fae rules (hence being able to tolerate iron as we saw, and perhaps even lying).