outer_divide | 3 ۞ [Video/Text]

[As per usual, though you can't see Jack will be getting a video of nothing other than the scenery outside of Poseidon, those you can, will see him, of course! Text below follows soon after, even if he does want to say something but this wasn't really for the people who already knew him.]

Probably should have expected all the new faces but I really didn't. New timeline, new faces, gotta keep remembering that. In any case, I'm numero tres on the Spirit That Needs to be Believed In list. I'm Jack Frost.

[A pause in the typing...]

Yes, that Jack Frost. No, my parents weren't being weird or anything. The name I had before I became Jack Frost doesn't have much in common other than my first name. I know I'm not as popular as Tooth or North... er, Santa to you guys. But I really do exist and contrary to what some people say, no I'm not an invisible mutant kid with ice powers. I don't have the X-Gene, nor does it actually occur on my version of Earth. I'm just your common nature spirit that happens to be the one bringing Winter to you guys and working double time lately because of global warming.

But I doubt you want to hear me rant about that. If anything else, I would really appreciate it if you guys put aside your disbelief and actually believe in Tooth, Akito, and I. I know it seems simple, since I am here typing this all out but it's not as simple as you think. You really have to truly believe I'm Jack Frost, I'm the Spirit of Winter who nips at your nose. Tooth is the Tooth Fairy who leaves behind goodies after taking the tooth/teeth you left under your pillow, and Akito is a Wind Spirit, responsible for keeping the winds in check. It really shouldn't be that hard but some of you guys are surprisingly stubborn than most adults.

And adults are unknown territory. Especially for me. I usually deal with kids, after all. Guardian of Fun and responsible for all those awesome snow days that have been existing for a few hundred years now, thank you very much. But seriously, just bear with me. I'm not... used to trying to make adults believe in me. Since you got all that science and logic getting in the way of actually seeing what's, literally, right in front of you.

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[There's a small pause before the letters come out in a fury, the camera is probably even shaking with how hard and fast he is typing. But honestly. He's actually really close to tears.]

I'm not being passive-aggressive nor am I browbeating people. I'm not some... some religion! I'm not asking for faith or worship or anything. I'm just asking for people to believe that I exist.

I'm not the one stopping you from believing that the dude you're talking to right now is actually a nature spirit, YOU ARE. Do you think it's thrilling and fun to be invisible to anyone who isn't a Norse god or a child? Do you think it's fun BEING INVISIBLE for 300 years?

Do you think I actually WANT this? If I could find some other way of you seeing me, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I can't. And as much as I love being Jack Frost, I didn't ask for this when I became Jack Frost. No one could see me at home, not unless you were already a spirit or were a kid who actually remembered that there was some guy named Jack Frost out there.

And now I'm on some world with mostly adults and I can't help as much as I would like to because I'm dealing with adults with issues in believing in things they did when they were kids. You KNOW I'm here but none of you are willing to believe that I am who I say I am. Some of you have even see PROOF and it's not working.

...what else am I suppose to do? I can't even rely on Manny and he barely spoke to me before.

Edited 2013-07-13 03:47 (UTC)

[Unfortunately, bereft of anything but text, Pepper has only the written word to go on. By the flexed hands and the sudden rake of one through her hair, and the bright points rising to her cheeks as she reads it... the text isn't helping. But by the end, Pepper just shakes her head, her expression going neutral-to-disappointed as it's done so many times during the bad spots in her previous life of Stark-keeping.]

You really just don't get it, do you? [Her voice has gone almost wistful.]

Belief, real belief doesn't work like that. You can't... will yourself to do it. You can't just flip a switch. Telling me that I'm stopping myself is about as useful as telling an atheist they could believe in a god if they'd just try hard enough. Because yes, you are sounding pretty religious from where I'm sitting.

Jack... why are you so caught up in the 40-something people awake and from the ship? If you need believers, if children make better ones, there are millions of children on this planet. You don't need to be visible to us all to help, and all you're doing is alienating people who can't see you, but don't need to just to appreciate assistance. You're telling us we're not good enough as we are, and you're making it sound like we're just being stubborn. If you're not being passive-aggressive, then you're being, well--

[She stops, and her smile skews dry.]

Well, then you're being kind've a jerk.

[The camera moves by a tree, lowering as though someone was sitting down. Jack is, in fact, leaning against the tree and now sliding down so he could rest his arms on his knees, staff across his lap.]

Because the children of this planet have nothing to go on. They... don't even know what spirits are. And I've gotten a few of them to believe, with the help of some of the ship people who can see me. But how is getting children seeing me going to help when you and I and the rest of us from the ship were brought here for a reason? I can't just keep communicating with you guys via text nor having a translator, so to speak.

We would be much better help if you could actually see us. We wouldn't be so intangible either. I just... I feel like I could be better help if I could be seen. It has nothing to do with how you guys are, even if I know I'm being biased against adults.

[But can you blame him? Besides...]

You'd be a jerk about it too if all the other spirits hated you for being a winter spirit and all the humans couldn't see you because you're just some blip on a Christmas song for 300 years.

Although this time I'm not sure I qualify as a jerk since you're the only person I talked to about this stuff. Everyone else I spoke to sort of took it as it is and either believed or didn't or waited for proof when it came up.

I'm just saying you might get a better response if you didn't pitch it like it's as simple as changing your clothing. Seriously?

[Pepper sighs again, looking like she'd like to have a headache, if only she had the time to deal with having one.]

Telling us why we can't see you, and what would be involved in it? That's good. Implying like the only reason we don't believe is that we just quite casually don't feel like it is doing a disservice to the people you claim to want to help. Belief is an incredibly powerful, incredibly personal, and deeply-rooted thing, Jack. You're asking people to flip a switch when it's more like the shift of a glacier.

That's how easy it was for a lot of kids. Even some of the teens, after they realized it wasn't a prank, too. Adult logic is a lot harder than I thought. Sorry.

But for some adults, back home on my Earth, it is because they don't feel like it. How do they explain the extra presents that they never bought under the tree? They probably just forgot they bought some more. How do they explain the extra eggs that aren't made of plastic in the bushes? Oh, they probably forgot. The extra quarter under the pillow? Forgot.

That's all the experience I've got, so I'm sorry that I assumed too much. But after centuries of trying and trying... I only just now got people to see me at home. And even, then was only like... five kids. Who didn't need much persuading. This world is the first time I've had access to this... network thing that isn't Facebook and stuff.

Edited 2013-07-14 16:20 (UTC)

If you have a Facebook account, will you show up in pictures tagged with you-- and wow, that question is so beside the point, sorry.

[But c'mon, the thought of nature spirits using social media is certainly worth a second look. Pepper smiles slightly, letting go of the burst of irritation with a soft sigh and a frank expression as she settles back against the charter plane seat she's buckled into.]

Apology accepted. I know you want to help, and I think you may underestimate the kind of help you've been, even as you are. You and Akito were invaluable when we were back in time.

If I had a Facebook account people would probably thing I'm playing Dungeons and Dragons or something. And all my pictures would be of frost on windows or something.

[Well, she is right. It is funny. But he's not about to get a Facebook even when he goes back home. It wouldn't work as well as this network did.]

Thanks. But I doubt it was easy on you since you couldn't see us.

Edited 2013-07-17 01:30 (UTC)

If I lived my life by what was easiest for me, I'd still be an accountant.

[Pepper's smile shifts crooked.]

I can appreciate wanting to be visible to as many people as possible, but please don't be offended that I'm not one of them, or think that I don't want to work with you. I do a lot of work with a disembodied presence back home, I'm used to it.

It's not that it offends me. It's hard to take offense at it at this point. It's just... something that I've always wanted, is all.

Then I hope you get it. And I am sorry I can't just flip that switch any more.

[She pauses then, looking dryly amused at something.]

Not... that I was ever all that good at it, even when I was a kid. I think we're about to hit some turbulence here, so I've got to sign off. But good luck.

Alright, take care.

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