Because You Asked: Hiding.

[seanan_mcguire]

I have once again promised to make five posts answering questions about Toby's world to celebrate the release of an upcoming book. This is the last time I'm going to do this for Toby: the questions are getting too character and book-specific, which trends into spoiler territory. So if you had a burning world question, now would be the time to scroll back to my original entry and ask it.

This is post #4. I will make post #5 tomorrow.

enigmoid asks, "How do the fae remain hidden from the human world from cameras recording devices, and satellites? It only takes one mistake."

Ah, but you see, there are two assumptions here.

1) That fae illusions do not work on recording devices. They do.
2) That anyone would believe what they saw.

Mistakes have been made in the past, and I mean the recent past, not the old, dark, pre-hiding past. Illusions have slipped, things have been seen that shouldn't have been seen...and you know what? People shrugged it off. For every "I WANT TO BELIEVE!", there are ten "I do not want to live in a world where that is possible, and thus it is not possible." Consider the zombie walks, LARPs, comic book conventions, real-world superheroes, and Bigfoot seekers in our real, known world. Consider how few of those are reported as proof of the supernatural.

Now consider what an excellent source of camouflage they are.

Satellites are a different can of worms, and one with potentially more issues, since if the military spots a pod of Merrow, they're likely to respond...badly. But at the same time, that's where the fae predilection for hanging out in the Summerlands comes in handy. Most fae, if they're not indoors or playing human, are in knowes or the Summerlands. Why? Because they feel safer there, where there are no satellites.

So yes, it's a concern, and a good one. But willful blindness and basic caution do a lot to minimize it.

Comments

[beccastareyes]

A friend of mine will occasionally wear elf ears just because -- small ones, not the giant anime-elf ones. I think she's surprised sometimes how few people notice. (Of course, she also has long, loose hair, so...)

Actually, this makes me wonder if the more humanoid (and younger*) San Diego fae take advantage of SDCC to go out in groups without full illusions. The sort of thing that seems more daring than it is because they're doing it around thousands of humans dressed like superheroes and anime characters, and even talking about magic and the Sumemrlands openly isn't any weirder than mentioning Faerun or Eberron. (Or any large con where you have costumed people out and about in the area.)

* I assume older fae are a bit more cautious about humans, since they remember a time when humans believed in fairies... and would react badly to them.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

They don't as much, because the elders are so against it.

The cryptids over in Verity's world, on the other hand...

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

Many humans just don't want to see what they don't "believe" in. That works.

[jenfullmoon.livejournal.com]

Douglas Adams nailed that one in his books, for sure.

[peachtales.livejournal.com]

Yep, very true! <3 Douglas Adams. So very sad he's no longer around.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Yup.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

since if the military spots a pod of Merrow, they're likely to respond..

which totally explains why the Navy keeps experimenting with sonar off the coast and affecting marine mammals with it..

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

So true!

[ceitfianna]

This is so true, people see what they expect. My favorite Halloween costume is to paint the top half of my face to look like a red fox. I've done this for years and at conventions, most people don't really see it. Then when they do, they stare and go, wait, what's going on. I love it because its just small enough to make people go, oh I can't have seen that but when they get it, they love it.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome.

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

Sidewalk passer-by to Toby: "Hey, lady, you look totally fried. Was it a good con? 'Sleep is for the weak and sickly', heh!"

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

HA.

[alexander bennett (from livejournal.com)]

As a friend of mine pointed out recently, there is no media that cannot be forged, therefore it's very hard to state something is real or not. Take a look at Cracked.com's series on "images you won't believe aren't photoshopped", they're up to the seventeenth edition or something.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Sad but true.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I picked up my first Toby Daye book I think a week ago, because I'd loved the Newsflesh trilogy so much and I've been enjoying these posts on your journal.

I'm now well into One Salt Sea. I can't put them down. I am utterly enamored of Toby and Sylvester and Quentin and Tybalt and Connor and the Luidaeg and May and April and Luna and Lily and the rose goblin and ALL OF THEM. It was all I could do to make myself leave my Kindle at home when I came to work this morning.

Thank you so much for these books; they are delicious. I feel ever-so-slightly as though I've been enchanted, and I am in no way inclined to attempt to break the enchantment, because I am having so much fun.

(Also I love the way you're weaving this world.)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad. :)

[baimellon.livejournal.com]

Just finished Ashes of Honour. Kept me up all night so currently v tired but enjoyed it immensely. Can't help thinking that it is not going to be happy ever after for Toby and Tybalt though!!!

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!