likesfootnotes | 3rd summon [text]

There doesn't seem to be any understanding of manners on this boat. Twice now I've had people abruptly disconnect on me in the middle of a stirring discussion of how utterly imperfect their grasp of reality¹ or revenge² is.

Did your mothers never teach you it is impolite to hang up on a djinni?

If not that, then someone must have taught you it was unwise, surely.

Though there are beacons of hope amidst the sea of rude. A lupophobic, a well-mannered compulsive talker, and an anti-environmentalists who mocks the sanctity of marriage. ³ They have potential and there are sure to be others.

1 - This involved mock indignation for the sake of magicians. It could hardly be a serious sentiment as it came from an otherwise acceptable young woman. If she truly took offense, then my primary concern becomes the state of sanity that any on this boat possess.

2 - This being a disagreement about vengeance and patience. All I recall is something about claiming to be a God. He could be any magician, as I have known many to make that claim. They all end up the same way: Squished under some afrit or another.

3 - Being an affront to many mainstream religions simply by existing, I have a special place in my essence for anyone else that contravenes the religious norm.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Most of my abilities are intact and working here, this reality is unchanged. But the perceptions here are far too favourable towards magicians. That is the reality skew.

[You did not just-- patience, Bartimaeus. Ignorance can be cured.]

Say it with me correctly and you might earn an answer.

Jee-nee.

If your abilities are intact here, you're one of the lucky ones.
I can't say I know many magicians here, though. What's your problem with them?

*Pause*

Ooooh, a genie. Like from Aladdin? And the lamp and all of that.

Magicians are disgracefully rude creatures. You would take offense, if you had the same exposure to them as I have.

[That certainly sounds closer, but the reference is all wrong.]

An associate of mine was trapped into a lamp by the Indefinite Confinement spell. It is fortunate that someone had the sense to rub him out of it after a time. I have escaped that kind of discomfort for decades now.

[Not counting any close calls thanks to Mr. Mandrake.]

Maybe in your world. Some here seem nice enough.

Oh, so you're a...

*brb, trying not to picture Bart as similar to the genie in Disney's Aladdin. Or I Dream of Jeanie, for that matter*

I guess its good he got out or something. I don't know how any of that shit works.

They like to seem nice so that you don't notice it quite so much when they undercut you for success. Based on experience, I'm not holding my breath to see if there's an actual innocent magician out there.

[Give him a moment... okay, give him the word again. He seems to be struggling a little.]

A djinni, or a spirit. One forced into physical form at the moment, but one nonetheless.

Being confined to a lamp certainly beats being bound to the construction of a landmark. The likelihood of an ignorant passerby freeing you is exponentially higher indeed.

You would profit best from never knowing exactly how it works.

You could say that about a lot of different type of people. Or, uh, sentient beings or...whatever.

*Verbal shrug*

I guess I'll have to take your word for it.

In the essence of fair play, who are these magicians that you know of on board?

[This is Bartimaeus preparing to compile a list of people to possibly avoid. You're not currently on it, Marco; you seem helpful, if a bit absent in terms of facilities at the moment.]

*Marco laughs*

Sorry, buddy, that's not my list to give. You can try going over the logs of shipNET, though.

[Unhelpful as the remark is, can it be helped. Bartimaeus does add him to the list of "possibly find and shake them upside down until they tell me more" that he has been compiling. Being on that list is something of a compliment, because it says you have something worthwhile to him -- or he is convinced you do.]

I've been monitoring what passes for communication since my arrival, but there are remarkably few willing to constantly proclaim their status. They might almost be humble. Quite oxymoronic!

Perhaps they just like their privacy.

This is expected of most, but I also expected a few more bragging proclamations of things done. Especially in light of the strange events with that little girl and the wolf.

Doesn't take a wizard to fix those problems.

*Though it did help...a lot*

No need to brag about what everyone already knows, anyway.

This is an interesting contrast to the magicians I am familiar with. The more one knows, the more magicians must flaunt in where I am from. It greats a self-aggrandizing tedium.

Sounds pretty annoying.

Try being the djinni that actually did all the work and got none of the credit.

Mm, a lot of times the guys who do all the work get none of the recognition.

Pretty much all the time, in my case. There was an exception, but only one.

*Marco chuckles dryly*

Pretty similar to my world, then. Except without the genies and magicians...I think.

Drawn the short straw before, have you?

Regularly. It doesn't bother me that much anymore.

*Those working undercover can't really take credit for much without making themselves too vulnerable.*

[There's a shrug, pity it's silent.]

After the first few hundred years it stopped actually working my essence into a knot, but a djinni can be jaded for a great deal of time longer.

Huh.

*And...yeah, that's all he has to add.*

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