#And I shall drag the entire fandom down the rabbit hole with me

[nobodysdaydreams]

Okay when making this poll, something occurred to me. In my fic I went with option 1, since it explains the honorary doctorates (because he would have a business degree, not a doctorate) and it would be theoretically possible for Curtain to get money quickly if he found himself in the right circles, unlike option 2 which would take a while and options 3 and 4, which would require Curtain to have some money first to build the inventions.

But I’m starting to like the all of the above option, because. If Curtain was on the streets as a kid, he’d likely resort to scamming people to make money. And if he got good enough at figuring out how to take advantage of people, he’d likely prefer to do it legally in a comfortable office through a series of business deals that brought in millions of dollars then on the streets as a magician, petty thief, and runaway trying to make just enough for his next meal.

But then when we jump into the series, there’s no mention of where Curtain gets money for his science projects, and he doesn’t seem to be running any sort of business. The Institute might have donors (it is a school with a lot of disadvantaged kids), but that likely wouldn’t be enough. So using the Whisperer and Brain sweeper would make sense. Then when Garrison runs off with them, he uses the happiness revolution to get everyone to buy his book.

This also explains why he went with the name “Ledroptha Curtain”. I’ve been imagining Nathaniel bitterly choosing it because he sees himself as the one revealing the truth to society, but what if it was just the silly stage name he made up for himself as a kid so he could do his magic tricks? And I’m not sure if the show ever actually calls him Ledroptha, just L.D. so he might have just kept the last name and made his first name something legit.