ancient-guardians 2014-07-30

[Aed]

Scary.

[Dave]

I have had a horrible dark thought, could this have been another project of Thup's?

There was some speculation that The Hate may have had further plans... and the final phraseology might just possibly be a bit of ominous foreshadowing?

[illiad]

Not sure "good guys" is the right term - sounds as if they were acting in self-interest, and not necessarily from "good" intentions.

Highly relative.... One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter!
and then totally screw it up with bad propaganda... some Afghans were told that the English eat their children.. even in the World War, propaganda was about as bad.... :/

[My2Cents]

Scary note: "These were plants known to Fae as guardians of mystical places and doorways". Again the mention of doorways.

Maybe those creating Castela were looking for a way to get around those protections.

[Opus the Poet]

I'm still thinking unstoppable fae-killing machine that didn't get fully programmed before it left the lab but did get some programming, and the orphanage was trying to bypass the fae-killing parts of her programming when Kath adopted her.

[MerchManDan]

Well, I was wondering when Pickle would lose coherence and revert to her thorny-vine form. I'm actually surprised it took this long, considering the rage & pain she'd been displaying so far.

Also, Major Kudos to Mark N for predicting this waaaay back in November. Hats off to you, sir!

[Grantwhy]

And why does Cricket know, anyway?

I'd guess she (over)heard her mother, Queen Foxglove, discussing the Castela affair with someone... which would suggest that Castea's "rescue" was an action sanctioned (or even commanded) by the ruling Fae.

Speculation: direct intervention by the Fae into human affairs might not be as commonplace these days as it was in the ancient past... the "paranormals, keep your heads down" rules that Phix spoke of, may well apply even to Fae. If so, the decision to free Castela from human control could have been a really big deal for the Fae, requiring a Royal authorization.

random plot twist 1: ... who says the scientists involved were human? Current^ human technology shouldn't be able to create Castela. And if if it does, surely if human scientists knew about 'sentient and wise' plants, making a 'walking/talking' hybrid would be way down the list of their to-do list?

The Fey don't seem well loved from within the paranormal community. Maybe some paranormals were researching ways of creating things (living weapons or otherwise) that could be used against the Fey.

^ random plot twist 2: *VERY* ancient human scientists on the other hand ..... maybe the Etheithians?

[KnightDelight]

Looks like someone had their own plant version of Golems in the works. But it should be pointed out the creators may not have been bad guys. The reputation and actual actions of the Fae could have easily been too much for some beings to cope with. But, unlike the priests who created the Golem Girls for world domination and ultimate protection, these scientists may have just been looking for a way to counter the threat posed by such powerful beings as the Fae. Not unlike the sphinxes are to the demons (Were they purposefully created for that task as well at some point?). Something to guard the world from the actions of psychopathic Fae. There are probably Fae who still practice the "old ways" when it comes to retribution, despite a new way of tolerance as may be fostered by the current Fae leadership. This, in an effort to join the community of paranormals with a conscience. Clearly, these Fae have a conscience as illustrated by Pickle's rescue as opposed to hiring some other powerful beings to simply exterminate her.

I think it's too early to judge the actions of her creators as to their motives. Think how you would feel if some Fae had done something really bad to you or yours and were afraid of repeat performances. Something well beyond one of the Fae creating proxies to engage in pubic demonstrations of hard core porn. Fear is a great motivator. Especially fear of something you are powerless to otherwise counter. The Fae were clearly too powerful for their own good.

[Elvis]

From yesterday:

Plot twist: they were only trying to guard her from something evil.

Twistier twist: the evil was Castela's own parents.

/me gives shadowinthelight a big big cookie.

[Yamara]

Scary note: "These were plants known to Fae as guardians of mystical places and doorways". Again the mention of doorways.

Maybe those creating Castela were looking for a way to get around those protections.

Oh I doubt that has anything to do with anything.

[Elvis]

I'd guess she (over)heard her mother, Queen Foxglove, discussing the Castela affair with someone... which would suggest that Castea's "rescue" was an action sanctioned (or even commanded) by the ruling Fae.

Speculation: direct intervention by the Fae into human affairs might not be as commonplace these days as it was in the ancient past... the "paranormals, keep your heads down" rules that Phix spoke of, may well apply even to Fae. If so, the decision to free Castela from human control could have been a really big deal for the Fae, requiring a Royal authorization.

random plot twist 1: ... who says the scientists involved were human? Current^ human technology shouldn't be able to create Castela. And if if it does, surely if human scientists knew about 'sentient and wise' plants, making a 'walking/talking' hybrid would be way down the list of their to-do list?

The Fey don't seem well loved from within the paranormal community. Maybe some paranormals were researching ways of creating things (living weapons or otherwise) that could be used against the Fey.

^ random plot twist 2: *VERY* ancient human scientists on the other hand ..... maybe the Etheithians?

Perhaps it was not only sanctioned by the Royalty of Faes, but also by the MiB, Phix, Bia and the whole bunch of meddlers.

But i do hope it was human scientists that did create her, we could something else than an ancient conspiracy once in a while (i am pretty sure not only M has found a few ancient artifacts)

[sheik]

I take it that when Calista said the Fae made the scientists give Castela back to the paranormal world she implied the scientists were not paranormals themselves.
This implies that the research was being done by normals with a whole lot of outside support.
I'll have to agree with the two other posters that Castela's creation was Thup's doing.
That being said, it's a good bet that Thup arranged for the Fae to "rescue" Castela and had plans for her.
Things could get very nasty if things go The Hate's way.

[illiad]

I take it that when Calista said the Fae made the scientists give Castela back to the paranormal world..

but they sure messed up her psyche doing it, making her hate the Fae for 'throwing her away' ... :/

but back to the last frame: Is castela realising something, or worse????

[zachariah]

I take it that when Calista said the Fae made the scientists give Castela back to the paranormal world..

but they sure messed up her psyche doing it, making her hate the Fae for 'throwing her away' ... :/

but back to the last frame: Is castela realising something, or worse????

This points to suppression of memory on Pickles part. Being thrown away means she did have parents and fit in with the other kids in the orphanage. I doubt she thought that through but came up with it to fit in. Telling the other kids I was made in a lab and then put here would be the worst thing she could say. I also wonder how much she really understood of what happened.

Her hatred of the Fae probably stems from the fact who ever dropped her off told the orphanage "The Fae forced us to return her to your care. So here she is." Pickle over hearing this would naturally make the connection to the Fae being bad.

This also is why a Fae showed up at the orphanage at some point. It went to check up on Pickle and see how she was doing. It probably had no idea the trap that had been created in Pickles mind.

Pickles violent reaction against what Cricket is saying shows that deep down Pickle does know the truth but does not want to accept it in any way. She will try and hold on the the belief in face of any proof or statements. What I do worry about is that she may try and kill Cricket to keep her quiet so Pickle doesn't have to listen to it and confront the past.

[Aleister Crow]

How does Cricket know about this? Doesn't seem like something that would be common knowledge, even among Fae.

And does this mean there could be others like Castela out there?

[Julie]

So being a princess means you're in the know on some potentially top secret fae stuff I guess...which is handy since we've all been curious as hell about Castela's back story...

As for the whole thing about Castela's memories being repressed or coming up with an "acceptable" story that made her feel like she fit in at the orphanage...I think it's also possible that baby Castela actually believed that her creators were her "parents" and that they loved her. It wouldn't be hard to hide the truth of her creation and the intent of the creators from a very young baby/child. Their grasp of the world around them is limited to what they see and experience. It's not likely that she would question the adult figures who told her that they were her parents, and it's also not likely that she would have recognized their "love" as a facade hiding their intentions for her. After all...wouldn't it be easier to control a sentient weapon if that being believes that you love her and if she develops love for you in return? Having that taken away from her at a very early age also compounds the likelihood that she would cling to the more positive memories and possibly hyperbolize them to have something to comfort her as she grew up in an orphanage.

I sincerely hope that one of the bear twins or mermaids snapped out of their fear/shock long enough at this point to run for an adult who might be able to help regain control of this situation. Otherwise, I don't know how Castela will be restrained if she goes into full blackthorn-weapon-mode...which by the "skreee" noise at the end I'm assuming is what she's doing. Poor thing...and poor Cricket for having to be the bearer of the distasteful news. I'd offer to give Pickle a hug to make it better...but I think I'll wait until she's got the thorns under control.

[jwhouk]

Boy, this story is starting to sound familiar, isn't that right, Acacia?

Fae = Lanthians, Castela = Chimera.

[jwhouk]

Good intentions often have horrible side effects as well.

I seem to recall something someone said about road paving and good intentions.

[jwhouk]

So the only Gilchrist that had birth parents is Atsali. Good thing she had her mind flayed by soulmelded Etheithians. Wouldn't want her thinking she was special or anything.

Oooh, burn. But you forgot about Oscar.

[jwhouk]

Oh I doubt that has anything to do with anything.

(Sorry about multiple quoted posts, it's almost past my bedtime.)

This would imply the Fae were trying to create their own version of the Tree of Life - or the Time Forest?