video; un: stranger.things

[potentialed]

[ He wasn't really wanting to do something like this but since people keep comparing him to his... other self, he might as well clear this up on a larger scale.

He gets a sigh out before the video cuts on. He adjusts it to where he can address the camera directly but not in close-up. ]

I am Doctor Stephen Strange. I just arrived here a few days ago and I am aware that many of you already know of another Stephen Strange. Those of you I have met and have been here longer, at any rate.

I want to make this clear to people from here on: just approach me like someone you've never met. It doesn't matter if you know the other Strange here or have heard the name. I just got here. I have not lived his life, I have not done his deeds. Do not confuse me for him because I am not him.

I am sure all of you are well aware of the multiverse situation here so you know this is possible.

[ He does sigh through his nose now. He's kind of annoyed he has to do this at all. Before adding, ]

I hold a position at Riverview Hospital and am an Advisor at Gramarye Magic Research. If anyone needs help medically or... magically, I guess, I will do what I can. I just ask that my wishes be respected as well.

[ And with that, the feed ends. ]

Comments

[potentialed]

[ He gives a snort at that first remark, feeling like this moon shouldn't be able to survive all the doubles it already has.

But he does concede at the latter point: ]

Where I come from, there is something called the Multiverse. Worlds within worlds and worlds without end. So, in truth, there could very well be multiple versions of all of our worlds. We just haven't discovered them all yet.

[ragnarsson]

That's a hard concept for most people to understand.

[But Ivar gets it. Vikings believed in the different realms, places where things like giants, dwarves, and the dead resided. Multiple worlds wasn't that far off from the mark.]

[potentialed]

And even harder to accept.

[ Especially for someone like him who didn't even want to believe in the existence of a soul. ]

Do they have a similar concept where you're from?

[ragnarsson]

Somewhat. We believe there's different realms. Nine of them held together by the world tree Yggdrasil, with the one we come from called Midgard.

[The names, if Strange is familiar with them, will make it obvious that Ivar is Norse.]

[potentialed]

[ He is familiar with them somewhat. No expert in it but enough so to know what it is. He nods, ]

Norse mythology. So, you're from Earth? Or at least one version of Earth.

[ragnarsson]

Mythology implies it's not real.

[A correction he feels the need to make. It's a bit hard to ignore the evidence when there's three actual Norse gods walking around Riverview.]

Yes. From a long, long time ago, if you're from the time period most everyone else is. It seems I'm somewhat known after my time.

[Several people have told him that they've read or heard about him in history books. Quite the ego boost for a young Viking warrior.]

[potentialed]

[ A pause and a nod. A good point when he's talking to Thor himself. ]

I stand corrected. Where I come from, that's how it's normally referred to.

[ He nods again, ]

Your name does sound familiar.

[ Though his field was more in the medical sciences. ]

I do have a question to ask, though; your eyes, have they always been that color?

[ragnarsson]

[Odd, that he would mention Ivar's eyes. Most people tended to focus more on the obvious fact that he couldn't walk. Although he supposed the former trait was more apparent over video.]

Always. I was marked by the gods.

[That's how he'd always what he'd seen his condition as being.]

[potentialed]

[ Stephen nods again, ]

In a way, you were.

Have you had problems with your bones all your life? They break easily, difficulty walking?

[ Though he's thinking it might be a little worse than that considering the time the young man must be from. ]

[ragnarsson]

I can't walk at all. And yes, my legs break easily. It was a lot more frequent when I was a child.

[Ivar had been determined to keep up with his brothers, which had involved a lot of stumbling, falling, and general roughhousing that had left him with many painful fractures and breaks that would have crippled him if he already didn't have twisted, useless legs. Even now, they ached and throbbed on a daily basis.

He eyes Strange with a look of one part curiosity, one part suspicion.]

How did you know that?

[potentialed]

[ He nods as he listens, finding all that matched up and then some. ]

Your eyes - their color - are a primary and telling symptom of Osteogenesis imperfecta. Or more commonly known as "brittle bone disease". It's amazing you're even alive, considering the time you're from and the lack of medical knowledge back then.

Have you tried seeking any treatment since you arrived here?

[ragnarsson]

[The proper name for the condition goes over Ivar's head, but he can very well guess what the common one entails, considering the problems he's had with his legs his whole life.]

Trust me, I've surprised everyone for the past sixteen years with my continued existence. [No one thought he'd live more than a few months except his mother.]

This explains a lot. [He's actually not being sarcastic. It was better to be able to put a proper name to what he had and actually have something he could call beyond just being crippled.]

Considering I didn't even know I had a disease until now, that would be a no.

[potentialed]

[ There's another nod, though he had hoped he would seek out help if he had been injured during his time here. ]

There's no cure but there are treatments you can try. If you want.

I'm assuming you're seeking out medical help if you are injured here, however.

[ragnarsson]

What kind of treatments?

[He'll never admit it, seeing it as weakness, but it would be nice not to be in constant pain all the time.]

I've already landed in the hospital once. Not for my legs. Just a fight that went bad.

[He's hoping not to end up there again anytime soon.]

[potentialed]

[ He almost allows himself to be shocked by the other saying he was in a fight. Almost. Until he remembers: Viking. He tries to just focus on what treatments he can remember, instead. ]

Pain medication, for one. Physical therapy - though you sound like you've been doing that most of your life already - along with braces, using a wheelchair to get around to reduce weight on your bones. There is a surgery that can be done where metal rods can be inserted into your long bones to strengthen them. Bisphosphonates can be taken to increase bone mass and reduce fractures but it would need to be through an IV.

But again, there's no definite cure. Just ways to make it less hard on you. Improve quality of life.

[ And possibly increase it. ]

[ragnarsson]

I already do some of that, but pain medication would be helpful. [And probably do wonders for improving his mood. Hard to be pleasant when he's in constant pain all the time.] What are bio-bis- whatever you mentioned? [Yeah, he's not going to try and pronounce that word.]

Over a thousand years later and you people still haven't learned how to cure diseases? [He makes a tsking sound, completely unimpressed.]