OOC
Ovid isn't the easiest of people to understand and I don't think many out there would have come across his book. So... A Handy Guide to Ovid! Nothing to do with me having too much time on my hands at the moment. Nope. Needless to say, it will contain lots and lots of spoilers.
Ovid, Hadfield and Felix aren't exactly human. They're not exactly ghosts either. The books leaves a lot open to interpretation along the way, so much of this will be conclusions I've drawn. The brothers are best described as being living embodiments of different aspects of a young man that died, Teddy Carnival. Ovid is described as being the head, Felix is the heart and Hadfield is instinct. Ovid is/was the most prominent aspect.
Ovid's domain is anything to do with the mind. He indulges in mind games [Felix says he 'likes to play chess with people'], word play and does have a tendancy to use people as his own personal sock puppet theatre. He prefers chaos to balance, and instigating it. He is the only one to openly perform tricks though it's said that all three of them are conjurers. He is a 'showman, and when he has nothing to show he forces something to show itself'.
He can be very charming or a bastard. It depends on his whims. He's very protective of his brothers and grows jealous and angry at the idea of one of them being 'taken away' from him. He is sort of in the middle when it comes to emotions. He's rarely remorseful when it comes to his actions. However, it's not as simple as he's purely a mean nasty man. Felix being the heart, emotions are his domain. The brother's traits can rub off on each other if they spend a lot of time in each other's company but they will never fully be the other. Ovid did develop feelings for a girl, Christobel, but described himself a being 'a citadel'. There are walls he, and his brothers, can't break down.
Ovid is short for a man [he's on eye level with Harry so I'm putting him at about 5'6"], fair and green eyed. Felix and Hadfield are taller with dark hair and light brown eyes. All three bear an identical silvery scar along their hairline.
Teddy Carnival was the son of Edward Carnival. He had an older sister called Minerva, and his mother, Ann, died during the birth of a third child. As children Teddy and Minerva dubbed themselves the Boy Enchanter and The Goddess of Wisdom, their father was the Black King. The two of them were cut off from other children and only had each other. Edward was a stern man that refused to let them go to school. They created mythological lives for themselves, the focus of which being their garden. They named all their garden tools, King Trowley, Lord Rake-Rake, Raven and Sylvestina the Fork sisters, Bagnold the hoe and Suriel the Spade, the angel of death, and created their own kingdom where they'd dream of overthrowing their father and running off together.
Edward blamed passion and loving for his wife's death and punished himself through his children. He was easier on Minerva but hard on Teddy. According to Minerva, Teddy was their father's favourite and so the more he loved the boy, the more cold he was towards him. Passion, excitment, all things wild and lacking control were described as being Too Far [or the Kingdom of Too Far], and Ovid was the one that longed for these things more than the others.
As he got older, Teddy became too much for his sister and eventually his father to handle. He started to 'work by instinct rather than thought'. When he was thirteen, they had started entertaining visitors, and Teddy was very good at manipulating them.
We cam to exist all split up in Teddy. I [Felix] was the sickly one in those days. No one ever dreamed of me, though they knew Ovid - and Hadfield sometimes. My father could encourage Ovid and counternance Hadfield, but he couldn't stand it when I showed.
He doesn't say how old Teddy was when he died. I'm assuming he was around seventeen or eighteen. According to his sister, Teddy had grown 'strong and furious' and would have torn their father to bits. Edward struck Teddy with Suriel the Spade then forced him into his bathing suit and released him into the sea.
Teddy's death is said to be his 'triumph' over his father. He/the brothers wanted revenge on him. Ovid and Hadfield mocking and taunted him over his wife's death. It's implied that Teddy did drive his father to killing him. Ovid wanted Edward to suffer most of all, and after Teddy's death he did. Without his son to vent his guilt and anger through, he was brought face to face with his despair.
Edward built a house known as Carnival's Hide, now owned by Jack and Naomi. They have five children, Charlie, Christobel, Harry [Ariadne], Serena and Benny. Staying with them is an English visitor, Anthony Hesketh, Charlie's friend Robert, Christo's friend Emma and her daughter Tibby.
Harry is a bookish writer, overlooked by her family. She spends most of her time in the attic working on her novel, a romantic fantasy focusing on Lady Jessica and the winged villian Belen.
Christo is a bright, beautiful young woman that's rather tied up in herself. She's quite fickle romantically, extroverted and dramatic.
The story of Teddy drowning surrounds the Hide. It goes that Edward saw Teddy dive into the water then never return. Throughout the years the children have gone down to the spot where Teddy disappeared and 'called' him. Harry, Serena and Benny go down to Carnival's beach to perform the little ritual and Harry catches sight of a man that appears to be flickering in and out of sight, soaking wet. When she looks again, there's no sign of him.
The Carnivals arrive at the Hide, claiming to be relations of Edward and Teddy. Ovid fascinates and worries people in equal measures by making roses out of thin air, rainbows and his general Ovid-ness. He and Christo become rather fond of each other and Christo eventually confesses that she's in love with him.
Felix and Harry grow steadily more and more attached to each other and fall in love, much to Ovid's displeasure. Felix confides a lot of the Carnival's secrets in Harry. Ovid seeks her out to warn her off him. He tells her that if she continues to see him, he will destroy her family and use her to do it.
Determined to overcome Ovid, she doesn't listen. And he comes good on his threat. But not yet.
It's revealed the Anthony Hesketh is the great grandchild of Minerva. He tells the Naomi all the stories she told him, about Teddy and his murder. Felix relates the same stories to Harry whilst they're out walking.
We were tied to the strip of beach, struggling between each other, head, heart and that instinct. Then, this year, all the things came right - first, the invocations, and perhaps there was a feeling of Minerva in the air too, and the time of year was right, and there was a vehicle - you [Harry]. He tried to come back all of a piece, but you pushed him out, you filled your head with images connected with Teddy but not Teddy, as it were. We were caught up in your storybook people, but it didn't matter. It suited us to argue as seperate men, rather than argue as one.
The two return to the rest of the family to find Christo reading aloud from Harry's notebook with her, Charlie and Robert mocking it. Hadfield found it in the attic and brought it down to share. Ovid turns the focus on to Harry, who then admits she wrote it.
It's the straw that breaks her. The more Christo critiques, the more Harry snaps back at her, saying she's too used to seeing herself everywhere to notice anyone else. How she doesn't notice what's going on around her and, most prominently, doesn't recognize Tibby.
Harry realises she's fallen right into Ovid's trap. That she has destroyed her family, at least in part, by drawing attention to the fact that Jack is Tibby's father. Christo loses it, yelling at Emma then screaming over and over. Ovid stands on the sidelines, watching and telling them how 'tremendous' they all are.
Felix tells his brother they've reached the Kingdom of Too Far, but Ovid is nothing but it's special effects man. Hadfield, Robert and Charlie begin to fight. Felix announces how mind and instinct become servants of the heart and then the Carnivals are no more. They dissolve and vanish in the middle of the chaos.
Well, wasn't that a thrilling ride? :p
Ovid, Hadfield and Felix aren't exactly human. They're not exactly ghosts either. The books leaves a lot open to interpretation along the way, so much of this will be conclusions I've drawn. The brothers are best described as being living embodiments of different aspects of a young man that died, Teddy Carnival. Ovid is described as being the head, Felix is the heart and Hadfield is instinct. Ovid is/was the most prominent aspect.
Ovid's domain is anything to do with the mind. He indulges in mind games [Felix says he 'likes to play chess with people'], word play and does have a tendancy to use people as his own personal sock puppet theatre. He prefers chaos to balance, and instigating it. He is the only one to openly perform tricks though it's said that all three of them are conjurers. He is a 'showman, and when he has nothing to show he forces something to show itself'.
He can be very charming or a bastard. It depends on his whims. He's very protective of his brothers and grows jealous and angry at the idea of one of them being 'taken away' from him. He is sort of in the middle when it comes to emotions. He's rarely remorseful when it comes to his actions. However, it's not as simple as he's purely a mean nasty man. Felix being the heart, emotions are his domain. The brother's traits can rub off on each other if they spend a lot of time in each other's company but they will never fully be the other. Ovid did develop feelings for a girl, Christobel, but described himself a being 'a citadel'. There are walls he, and his brothers, can't break down.
Ovid is short for a man [he's on eye level with Harry so I'm putting him at about 5'6"], fair and green eyed. Felix and Hadfield are taller with dark hair and light brown eyes. All three bear an identical silvery scar along their hairline.
Teddy Carnival was the son of Edward Carnival. He had an older sister called Minerva, and his mother, Ann, died during the birth of a third child. As children Teddy and Minerva dubbed themselves the Boy Enchanter and The Goddess of Wisdom, their father was the Black King. The two of them were cut off from other children and only had each other. Edward was a stern man that refused to let them go to school. They created mythological lives for themselves, the focus of which being their garden. They named all their garden tools, King Trowley, Lord Rake-Rake, Raven and Sylvestina the Fork sisters, Bagnold the hoe and Suriel the Spade, the angel of death, and created their own kingdom where they'd dream of overthrowing their father and running off together.
Edward blamed passion and loving for his wife's death and punished himself through his children. He was easier on Minerva but hard on Teddy. According to Minerva, Teddy was their father's favourite and so the more he loved the boy, the more cold he was towards him. Passion, excitment, all things wild and lacking control were described as being Too Far [or the Kingdom of Too Far], and Ovid was the one that longed for these things more than the others.
As he got older, Teddy became too much for his sister and eventually his father to handle. He started to 'work by instinct rather than thought'. When he was thirteen, they had started entertaining visitors, and Teddy was very good at manipulating them.
We cam to exist all split up in Teddy. I [Felix] was the sickly one in those days. No one ever dreamed of me, though they knew Ovid - and Hadfield sometimes. My father could encourage Ovid and counternance Hadfield, but he couldn't stand it when I showed.
He doesn't say how old Teddy was when he died. I'm assuming he was around seventeen or eighteen. According to his sister, Teddy had grown 'strong and furious' and would have torn their father to bits. Edward struck Teddy with Suriel the Spade then forced him into his bathing suit and released him into the sea.
Teddy's death is said to be his 'triumph' over his father. He/the brothers wanted revenge on him. Ovid and Hadfield mocking and taunted him over his wife's death. It's implied that Teddy did drive his father to killing him. Ovid wanted Edward to suffer most of all, and after Teddy's death he did. Without his son to vent his guilt and anger through, he was brought face to face with his despair.
Edward built a house known as Carnival's Hide, now owned by Jack and Naomi. They have five children, Charlie, Christobel, Harry [Ariadne], Serena and Benny. Staying with them is an English visitor, Anthony Hesketh, Charlie's friend Robert, Christo's friend Emma and her daughter Tibby.
Harry is a bookish writer, overlooked by her family. She spends most of her time in the attic working on her novel, a romantic fantasy focusing on Lady Jessica and the winged villian Belen.
Christo is a bright, beautiful young woman that's rather tied up in herself. She's quite fickle romantically, extroverted and dramatic.
The story of Teddy drowning surrounds the Hide. It goes that Edward saw Teddy dive into the water then never return. Throughout the years the children have gone down to the spot where Teddy disappeared and 'called' him. Harry, Serena and Benny go down to Carnival's beach to perform the little ritual and Harry catches sight of a man that appears to be flickering in and out of sight, soaking wet. When she looks again, there's no sign of him.
The Carnivals arrive at the Hide, claiming to be relations of Edward and Teddy. Ovid fascinates and worries people in equal measures by making roses out of thin air, rainbows and his general Ovid-ness. He and Christo become rather fond of each other and Christo eventually confesses that she's in love with him.
Felix and Harry grow steadily more and more attached to each other and fall in love, much to Ovid's displeasure. Felix confides a lot of the Carnival's secrets in Harry. Ovid seeks her out to warn her off him. He tells her that if she continues to see him, he will destroy her family and use her to do it.
Determined to overcome Ovid, she doesn't listen. And he comes good on his threat. But not yet.
It's revealed the Anthony Hesketh is the great grandchild of Minerva. He tells the Naomi all the stories she told him, about Teddy and his murder. Felix relates the same stories to Harry whilst they're out walking.
We were tied to the strip of beach, struggling between each other, head, heart and that instinct. Then, this year, all the things came right - first, the invocations, and perhaps there was a feeling of Minerva in the air too, and the time of year was right, and there was a vehicle - you [Harry]. He tried to come back all of a piece, but you pushed him out, you filled your head with images connected with Teddy but not Teddy, as it were. We were caught up in your storybook people, but it didn't matter. It suited us to argue as seperate men, rather than argue as one.
The two return to the rest of the family to find Christo reading aloud from Harry's notebook with her, Charlie and Robert mocking it. Hadfield found it in the attic and brought it down to share. Ovid turns the focus on to Harry, who then admits she wrote it.
It's the straw that breaks her. The more Christo critiques, the more Harry snaps back at her, saying she's too used to seeing herself everywhere to notice anyone else. How she doesn't notice what's going on around her and, most prominently, doesn't recognize Tibby.
Harry realises she's fallen right into Ovid's trap. That she has destroyed her family, at least in part, by drawing attention to the fact that Jack is Tibby's father. Christo loses it, yelling at Emma then screaming over and over. Ovid stands on the sidelines, watching and telling them how 'tremendous' they all are.
Felix tells his brother they've reached the Kingdom of Too Far, but Ovid is nothing but it's special effects man. Hadfield, Robert and Charlie begin to fight. Felix announces how mind and instinct become servants of the heart and then the Carnivals are no more. They dissolve and vanish in the middle of the chaos.
Well, wasn't that a thrilling ride? :p