Fairies are some of those mythical entities that have been depicted in folklore at all stops along the human behavioural chart.
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Some have been painted as sweet, kind, protective overseers; others mischievous, malevolent and mad.
In fact, if you dive deeper, which might be admitting you believe they actually exist, you’ll see them described as having an amoral nature, meaning they help or harm based on whether their own rules, property and taboos are respected or not, not whether something goes against ethics in a human world.
They are, apparently — if they actually exist — far too complex to be labelled with human categorisations.
Some darker, more ancient tales blame fairies for destroying crops, making livestock sick, disorienting travellers and stealing human babies, among other untoward deeds.
As a kid, I loved a good fantasy tale.
Willow was one of my favourite movies, in which its fairies were deeply aligned with forces of the light.
They were magical, not malicious.
Fairies, though, weren’t the main reason I loved the movie.
That was the improbable love story of Madmartigan and Sorsha, the daughter of evil queen Bavmorda.
Despite never being into fairies enough to want one added to my vastly varied and ever-growing tapestry of tattoos, I still think the idea of fairies is fun.
When I saw a new bar themed around fairies, named Arcane Fairies — where you can get cocktails delivered to your fairyland booth via a zipline across the ceiling — open in Melbourne earlier this year, I was compelled to check it out.
I believe it’s owned by the same person, people or company as fairytale-themed ‘hidden’ bar StoryVille (which literally backs onto Arcane Fairies).
If you’ve ever visited StoryVille, you’ll understand how extra — in the best possible way — that bar is.
Arcane Fairies is on the same magical level.
Inside the ‘nest’, a sea of Earthy tones greets guests with tan leather and wooden furnishing beneath delicate glass flower fittings encasing warm, glowing lights.
Larger than life-sized bronzed fairy sculptures ‘fly’ above head height, while archways made of bent branches separate the bar standing space from the booths, which are sporting centre tables made from large tree slices.
A cocktail menu inside a luxe embossed leather sleeve isn’t titled ‘cocktails’, rather ‘elixirs’.
Each is named after a fabled fairy from folklore.
And if you’re lucky enough to be in a booth, they will be ‘flown’ to you in a basketed tray that twinkles fittingly with fairy lights.
How do the standard glasses not fall over when being carried by a zipline, you ask.
Let’s just say, the zipline is as rigid as a ’roo in rigor mortis and its speed is not breaking any records unless it’s taking the place of a scratched hare in a race against a tortoise.
In fact, you might want to order your second before you’ve started your first to save any dehydration creeping in between drinks.
The novelty though is something unique.
I’d never been delivered a cocktail via zipline before going to Arcane Fairies, so there’s another tick against a bucket list item that last year didn’t exist.
The website says Arcane Fairies is born from mischief and made for indulgence, where rebellion reigns, elixirs tempt and the fairies play by their own rules.
Rebellion was not reigning during our visit, thankfully, but the tameness may have had something to do with our early evening visit before a show.
Who knows what might go on there after dark, when, let’s face it, fairies are probably more active. If they exist, of course.
The website goes on to say the bar at 185 Lonsdale St is where Melbourne comes to eat, drink and misbehave.
Turns out people from the country will make the trip if it’s tempting enough, too.