#pretty sure it might actually be genetic or at least inherited because pretty much everyone on my dads side of the family is the same

[valtsv]

i could get so much more done if i was less sleepy but unfortunately i have a terminal genetic case of teenager who thinks going to bed before midnight is for losers

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 301: All My Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: We learned that when a bunch of superpowered villains are suddenly set loose with nobody around to stop them, things get fucked pretty quickly. Old Man Samurai and a bunch of other useless people decided to make “I pretend I do not see it” their new mantra, and resigned. Endeavor had a moment of despair on account of being crushed by the guilt of having ruined the lives of himself, his family, and basically everyone else in the entire world. For various reasons the heretical notion of “person who has done bad things feels sorry for doing them” sent fandom spiraling into a meltdown, so that was fun. The chapter ended with the entire Todoroki clan descending upon Enji’s hospital room to have a dramatic chat about Touya and All That General Fuckery.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “here’s the story of how Baby Touya slowly went insane trying to win his father’s love.” It’s a tale full of subverted expectations and heartbreaking inevitability, and also like twenty panels of the cutest fucking kids who ever existed on planet earth, who are so fucking cute that I can’t stop thinking about their cuteness even with all of the horrifying family tragedy unfolding around them. It is absolutely ridiculous how cute they are. Touya is out here pushing his tiny body past its limits because he inherited the same obsession as his dad and neither of them can put it aside even though it’s destroying them, and yet all I can think about is Baby Shouto’s (。･o･｡) face. Anyways what a chapter.

so I have to confess that even though I managed to avoid being caught off-guard by the early leaks, the number of people reblogging my Endeavor posts from earlier this week and using the tag “bnha 301” kind of gave me an inkling that this chapter will include more Tododrama lol. that said, I don’t know anything else about it, so we’re still good spoiler-wise

AHHHHH FLAHSBAKC AHHHH. omg I know I typoed the shit out of that, but I’m just going to leave it lol I think it’s fitting

holy shit holy fuck. so this is Rei and Enji’s first meeting, then??

yepppp, oh shit

so wait, I know this is not even the slightest bit important, but are they meeting at Enji’s home or Rei’s? because I always figured that Enji was the one with the super-Japanese aesthetic, but maybe that was Rei’s side of the family all along

(ETA: from what I found during my very brief google search, omiai meetings are often held at fancy hotels or restaurants, so maybe that’s what this is.)

there’s such a period drama feel to this setting. like it’s so outrageously formal fff how can anyone stand this kind of atmosphere though seriously

OH THANK GOD

I mean they’re still stiff af but at least they’re not rigidly sitting in seiza and staring at each other unblinkingly anymore lol. Enji’s actually got his hands in his pockets now. why is this somehow almost cute

oh damn it’s the flowers

Rei seems so subdued and it’s so hard to get any idea of what she’s actually thinking. I want to see her side of this dammit

but anyway, so at least from Enji’s perspective it seems like even though the marriage was arranged and he picked her because of her quirk, he still loved his wife and wanted to do right by her. the fact that he was watching her and noticed that she liked the flowers, and remembered that detail for all these years -- there’s a reason why Horikoshi’s showing us this. we know what’s going to happen later on; we know how much fear and violence and breaking of trust is coming up ahead, and while it may seem like this scene is serving to soften Enji’s character further -- which to be fair it is -- it also helps drive home the full impact of his abuse. that it’s so terrible not only because of the trauma of the abuse itself, but also because of the way it retroactively destroys all of the good things as well. this could have potentially been such a sweet scene, but it’s inescapably tainted by the knowledge of what’s to come, at least for me. and that’s just brutal

anyways, shit. is the whole chapter going to be like this?? feel free to toss in something I can actually make a joke about sometime, Horikoshi

oop, back to the present

omfg lol

“are you all right” “NO I’M NOT ALL RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK.” “oh, right, because of all the stuff that’s happened with me abusing you and you having a mental breakdown and being hospitalized for ten years and then our son coming back to life and killing thirty people, right, right. I almost forgot.” whoops

omfg you guys I’m loving this new and improved steely-eyed Rei. I’m loving her a lot

and what do you mean “part one” fkjds how long is this going to be. TOO MUCH DRAMA FOR ONE CHAPTER TO HANDLE

oh, hello

yeah I’ll say you did. didn’t seem to bother you much at the time, though

HMMMMMMMMMMMM

Dabi Is A Noumu intensifies even further. anyways though would you fucking look at this boy lounging on this moth-eaten couch doing his best DRAW ME LIKE YOUR FRENCH GIRLS impression wtf

Dabi what if you actually had killed him??? what would you feel?? satisfaction?? regret?? anything at all?? tell me your secrets goddammit

who are you talking to buddy

Fuyumi-chan, Natsu-kun (is it common for brothers to address each other as -kun?? can’t recall seeing that in many other anime, but hey), and “dot dot dot,,,,,, SHOUTO” lol thank you so much for this bountiful heaping of Tododrama Horikoshi we are blessed

AH, WHAT DID I SAY THE OTHER DAY

ULTIMATE MELODRAMATIC THEATER CHILD. “I’M JUST GOING TO LIE ON THIS COUCH SHIRTLESS AND ALONE AND MAKE SPEECHES TO MY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO AREN’T THERE AND SAY THINGS LIKE ‘WATCH ME IN THE PITS OF HELL’ WITH A STRAIGHT FACE BECAUSE NO ONE’S THERE TO JUDGE ME.” WELL JOKE’S ON YOU MISTER CHATTERBOX BECAUSE I AM IN FACT JUDGING THE SHIT OUT OF YOU LOL

(ETA: and on a more serious note, it’s interesting to see that “look at me”/”watch me” theme being used again though, because we see that same sentiment uttered repeatedly by the younger Touya in the flashback. well kid, you definitely got your wish at last. don’t know what else to say.)

OKAY HORIKOSHI HAS DECIDED THAT’S ENOUGH FUN, TIME FOR MORE FLASHBACKS

oh my sweet precious lord

just as cute as we left him. giving us a child this cute when we all know full well what’s going to happen to him is just unspeakably cruel though

HOMG

I’m fucking speechless. you broke me, congratulations. what am I even supposed to do with this

I can’t get over this. moving forward my life will be split into two distinct parts, B.P. (Before the Pout) and A.P. (After the Pout)

and meanwhile there’s ALL THIS BACKGROUND ANGST BUILDING UP, AND I CAN’T EVEN FOCUS ON IT. Touya’s arm and cheek are covered in bandages (I’m guessing this is shortly after that “ouch!” panel we got some chapters back), and Enji is deliberately avoiding training with him because he doesn’t want him to hurt himself further. I can’t fucking get over the irony that all this time everyone thought Touya had died because Enji pushed him too far in his training, and it turns out that it’s the opposite -- the tragedy ultimately happened because he didn’t want to push him. but I’m jumping ahead of myself though I guess

by the way,

remember this?? just wanted to remind you that it exists just in case you forgot

so now someone is talking and basically saying that Touya is the exact opposite of what Enji was hoping for when he decided to start playing with quirk genetics

-- okay hold up

...lol no, never mind. for a second I thought “holy shit he looks kind of familiar WHAT IF IT’S UJIKO OMG” before I remembered that Enji would have recognized him during the hospital capture mission if that was the case. so NEVER MIND, PROCEED

IMAGINE THAT, ENJI DOESN’T QUITE SEEM SATISFIED WITH THIS SUGGESTION OF QUITTING NOW

(ETA: how the fuck did this man go around saving 62 towns in a single day what even is All Might.)

[clicks tongue several times] trouble a’brewin’

MEANWHILE BABY TOUYA HAS UNFORTUNATELY INHERITED HIS DAD’S STUBBORN STREAK

KLDIHWOEIJFL:KSDJ

!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god. oh my god. what is this chapter. WHAT IS IT

so now Touya is all “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY MANLY DESIRE TO BURN MYSELF ALIVE” well you got her there champ

THEY’RE TOO CUTE. OH MY GOD. HIS FURIOUS LITTLE TEARS. HER CHUBBY LIL FACE. HIS STUBBY LIL FISTS. SOMEONE HELP ME

also are they just home alone lol or what. “hey Touya, you’re what, like six now?? do us a favor and look after your baby sister for a couple hours for us would you? make sure not to set yourself on fire or anything.” WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!!

now it’s nighttime and Enji and Rei are arguing, presumably about his decision not to train Touya anymore

whew. okay. so, a couple of things here

1. first of all I think this conclusively shows that Enji really was trying to do the best he could for Touya. he stopped training him as soon as he realized it was hurting him, but Touya was still determined so he tried to make it work anyway, and even visited doctors to try and figure out if there was anything they could do. then, once they were absolutely sure that it wasn’t going to work, he tried multiple times to explain to Touya why they had to stop. he didn’t just abandon him out of the blue, which is really important to note. “no matter how much I tried telling him...”

so yeah, that debunks another common fandom accusation. so by the time he finally makes this decision, which we all know is going to turn out horribly, it’s basically because he’s already tried everything else he could think of. which, by the way, still doesn’t mean he handled this right. but at the very least he was taking Touya’s feelings into account and he was trying, and he didn’t just abruptly toss his son aside (at least not yet)

2. buuuut, then there’s this panel right below all that

which is the other side of it. if he’d just quit like the doctor person advised him to, that would have been the end of it. Touya would still have been upset, but he would have eventually gotten over it and the family would have moved on and possibly even been happy. but what happens next happens because Enji can’t let go. he still has this maddening urge to surpass All Might, and so he and Rei keep having more children, and then Shouto is born, and Enji finally has a kid he can start projecting all of his hysterical ambitions onto once again, and everything starts spiraling out of control soon after

though p.s. none of that is Shouto’s fault though!! he’s one of the few good things to come out of this whole mess and I’m very happy that he exists. the tragedy is that his dad fucking lost his mind over his quirk and fucked everything up. but that’s on him, not Touya or Shouto

anyways, SLKFJLSHGLKJL

I CAN’T FUCKING TAKE THIS YOU GUYS??? LOOK AT THAT LIL BUTTON OF A NOSE??? I’M LOSING IT HERE???

AND TOUYA JUST SEEMS DEVASTATED OMG

because children aren’t stupid, after all. he understands that his dad is still looking to surpass All Might. and so he feels like a failure, and feels like his dad is trying to replace him because he wasn’t good enough. and even now, isn’t that what the adult Touya is trying to prove?? that he was good enough after all?? “I’ll show you what happens when you give up on me, dad”?? “I’ll show you what I can do”?? fuck my life fuck everything

AND YOU CAN SEE THE TOLL THAT IT’S ALL TAKING ON REI GETTING WORSE AND WORSE AS WELL OH GOD

really nice touch here with the panel outlines becoming all shimmery from the heat of Endeavor’s flames (and/or becoming more unstable as the family gets closer and closer to their breaking point). but man, Horikoshi I can’t handle this, please show us more cute kids or something I can’t

GKELKWFJLDKSHFLKL

WITTLE BABE. BEEB. BUBS. SMOL. lkj; oh ouch a piece of my heart just detached and latched onto him huh look at that

TODOROKI “I’M SO SMALL AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON AND I DIDN’T ASK TO BE HERE” SHOUTO AHHHHH

crazy how they all just seem to know right off the bat lol. kid doesn’t even have object permanence yet, let alone a quirk. but do they care?? IT’S THE HAIR, RIGHT. WE’RE ALL THINKING IT, I’M JUST GONNA COME OUT AND SAY IT. they knew the minute they looked at him lol

AND MEANWHILE TOUYA IS OFF HAVING UNSUPERVISED TRAINING/CRYING SESSIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OR WHATEVER, AND, UH OH

are those blue flames yet?? they seem pretty close

(ETA: this is one of the few cases where the manga being in black and white is infuriating lol.)

OH MY GOD AND STILL

so it’s not like he was so disinterested that he didn’t notice what was happening, and he was still trying to stop it and get through to him. trying to reassure him that it wasn’t the end of the world and there were other things he could do with his life, but this one particular thing just wasn’t going to happen

fucking hell. it’s agonizing seeing how close they actually were to fixing it. if he’d only said the right words, or if he’d realized at this point how destructive his obsession could be to his kids, and backed off from putting that same pressure on Shouto. we came so close to possibly having a happy ending

AND ALSO THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING BUT PLEASE LOOK AT HOW TOUYA IS LIKE THREE AND A HALF FEET TALL AND HIS DAD IS LIKE NINE AND A HALF FEET. Touya barely comes past his knees flkjlkg. the Todoroki household must have been so filled with like plastic stepstools to reach the bathroom sink and all the little baby toothbrushes, and baby gates to keep the kiddos out of the important grown-up rooms and stuff. and also days-old half-empty cups of water and stale crackers and hot wheels and my little ponies strewn everywhere

“BUT EVERYONE AT SCHOOL SAYS THEY’RE GONNA BE HEROES” a wild Deku parallel appears?? how bout that

I know this is like a pivotal moment in the Todo Tragedy and all, but fucking look at this lil dumpling

“sup bro, it’s me, the manifestation of your fears of inadequacy and lack of fatherly affections. a GAAA. ba-baAA-baa [gurgling baby sounds]”

OHHHHH IT’S THE SOUND OF MY HEART BREAKING OH NO

HE WANTS TO BE LIKE YOU ENJI. good lord somebody please just get this family some therapy

“DAD YOU IGNITED IT IN ME” flkjslkj nope, nope. not ready for this pain here

baby Shouto, would you like to weigh in on this affair? “DA!! ba-ga-daaa, [pacifier chewing noises]” oh my, you don’t say. so insightful for one so young

OH MY GODDDDDD

IT’S SO DRAMATIC BUT ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT ARE THE SHOUNEN WOOSH LINES SURROUNDING FOUR-MONTH-OLD SHOUTO LOL HE WAS LIKE THIS FROM BIRTH OH MY GOD I AM DYING HELP

SHOUTO YOU’RE RUINING THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER!?!?!

“yo, the fuck kind of family was I fucking born into” oh, son. if you only knew. IF YOU ONLY KNEW!!

(ETA: lmao I got so distracted by the ridiculous cuteness that I glossed over the fact that Baby Touya seems to possibly be aiming at him?? it’s hard to tell because he’s also super out of it from heatstroke and may just be losing control in his attempt to show off his upgrade.)

ANYWAY THAT’S THE END EXCEPT WHAT’S THIS LAST LINE OMG

ffffff. and we’re in for ANOTHER chapter of this next week?? MORE drama?? MORE BABIES?? MORE OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TOUYA’S SLOW DESCENT INTO MADNESS. MY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT, BUT ALSO YES PLEASE SIGN ME UP

[meanautisticenbian]

Lilith Clawthorne has Borderline Personality Disorder: an essay

Content warnings: mentions of abuse, cults, and self harm

I don't have much of an intro but I need to get some things out of the way. 

First off, this is an essay that I made mostly for fun and because I feel like more people need to hear about this. I am not excusing Lilith's actions in any way, though hopefully this may explain some of them. 

Secondly, as you might know I have BPD myself. I'm self diagnosed yes, but I still have enough symptoms. I see a lot of myself in Lilith, as well as several traits, and I hope that this essay will be informative.

With all that being said, let's get into the analysis starting with the symptoms that are only hinted at. One of the hallmarks of Borderline Personality Disorder is an intense fear of abandonment, which Lilith seems to display disgusted as her desire to cure Eda's curse. If it's not clear enough, Eda's really the only thing Lilith cares about, which makes sense since she's clearly the only thing she has. We know that she isn't super close to Amity, despite what fans want to believe, we don't know if she's formed any positive relationships with anyone in the Emperor's Coven and it would say a lot of she didn't. With all that in mind, she is clearly very close to Eda and whenever she tries to get away from her, Lilith is always either pissed off or saddened. Sure, this could just be because she wants to heal Eda's curse and is most likely being punished by Belos, and that's why this is listed as something that's hinted at. Then again, Catra from She Ra is BPD coded as well and she mostly wanted to bring Adora back to the Horde because Shadow Weaver wanted her and was an abusive piece of shit, but it was pretty obvious that she also just wanted her crush and only friend back, so I don't see how this can't be applied to Lilith as well.

Lilith seems to have a black–and–white view on the people around her and maybe even herself. Whenever Eda escapes her, she suddenly flips from being loving and caring to her and really acting like she cares about her to treating her like she just pissed on her waffles. Her way of viewing other people (mostly Eda) is another symptom of BPD, being a black–and–white view on everything and rapid changes in self image and views of everyone else. One moment she views Eda as a beautiful and loving sister, the next she's just an old woman slowing her down. One moment Belos is a trustworthy leader, next he's a monstrous tyrant. One moment Luz is an annoying child she can use as bait, next she's her only hope in saving Eda.

She seems to harbor some of these feelings to herself as well. One moment she acts like she's fully aware of the baddie she is, and next she seems to hate herself. Another valid explanation is that this could also be viewed as her hiding her insecurities since she is clearly one to hold back those emotions and she only ever seems to let Eda see this side of her (save for Luz in the season 1 finale) but this is still a common BPD trait that seems to fit her so it would make sense.

Now let's move on to the more explicit symptoms. If it's not obvious enough, Lilith has some major anger issues. She was ready to kill Eda after she did as much as annoy her in Covention and tell her how worthless her life is after she (actually Luz) escapes her in Once Upon a Swamp. It was certainly reasonable for her to be upset about Luz accidentally blowing up the side of a building, but she had a worse outburst over her sister rhyming.

Now we move on to what I think is her most obvious trait: her impulsiveness. Like I said before, Lilith tends to have sudden violent outbursts and act without thinking. It doesn't excuse anything she's done but it certainly does explain a LOT.

It could be a possible explanation for why her first instinct was to use Luz as a human shield while she was fighting Eda and threw Luz off a cliff in order to get Eda to use all her magic instead of making a new bubble for Luz or doing literally anything that WOULDN'T harm Luz. This could maybe (key word) also provide an explanation for why she cursed Eda instead of going and talking to her (assuming she didn't), but her disorder seems to stem more from trauma than it does genetics, both of which are ways BPD can manifest.

Mood swings are another symptom she definitely has, but that can easily be paired with the point about her changes in self image and how she views others, as well as the points about her anger and impulsivity, so I won't go into detail about that.

Depression, guilt, and ongoing feelings of emptiness are obvious traits that don't need much explaining.

The last major trait wanna bring up is self harm and self destructive and suicidal behavior. I couldn't really find any point in which she showed any suicidal tendencies or urges to hurt herself and it is most likely that she won't be showing those traits at any point in the future, though I do believe it is possible that the show may depict self destructive behaviors in her. Obviously, she wouldn't be shown cutting or burning herself, but maybe it could be displayed in a more PG fashion such as her not taking proper care of herself or having risky behaviors.

There are nine main traits of BPD and one needs to have at least five of them to get a diagnosis. Lilith seems to exhibit six and possibly seven of these traits. I could end it here by saying that Lilith definitely has BPD and needs a hug, but we're not done yet.

Despite what most people might say about borderline people and how we're depicted, we're more likely to be victims of abuse than we are abusers. Most of the time the trauma from the abuse is the cause of the disorder, for those who don't inherit it. Many people with the disorder have claimed to have been physically, sexually, psychologically or emotionally abused or neglected during their lifetime. We don't know the exact details of Lilith's time in the coven or what it was like for her, all we know is that it was basically a cult and she definitely experienced some form of abuse. We know that emotional and psychological abuse were definitely present in her and Belos's relationship, and there is definitely a possibility that there was some physical abuse as well. As for neglect, there isn't really anything that can support the claim even if it seems plausible, and logically speaking, she most likely wasn't sexually abused simply just because this is a family show, so unless Disney is ok with Dana going THERE, that one's a little too far out of the realm of possibility.

So, where does that leave us? Well if I'm being honest, she definitely seems to have a case of untreated and probably undiagnosed BPD caused by a series of traumatic events. And the thing is, she's only in 6/19 episodes in the series so far, and we've probably only really seen the tip of the iceberg. She could have a lot more going on with her that we will definitely see in season 2, I highly doubt she won't.

Lilith is definitely BPD coded, and whether the rep is intentional or not, it's still something I can consider good rep. It's super rare that you find borderline characters in the media that are not abusers, manipulators, or terrible, irredeemable people in general. Lilith is not a bad person whatsoever, and even if she's not much of a good person either, she's not irredeemable. She certainly has a long way to go, but with proper guidance and psychological help, she will get there eventually.

I would like to finish this off by saying I'm not trying to excuse or condone her actions, I am simply addressing how it's possible for her to be borderline, based on what screen time she has and my own experiences. I just want to express my appreciation for what rep we have, as well as analyzing her character a bit.

Thank you all for reading

- Sunny

[day-dreamsinthedark]

Kids with the Teen Wolf guys

I can NOT stop thinking about genetics and kids and what the outcome of having children with the Teen Wolf guys would be like. Bear with me pls 

I also like writing actual headcanons/imagines, but this is rlly more of a ramble.

Scott McCall: Right off the bat, Scott doesn’t seem to have any unsettling family history. Frankly, having Scott McCall’s children seems like a safe bet. No family history of psychological or physical health issues (at least that we know of.) Having werewolf children is also pretty great because it seems as though they are both healthier than the average child and significantly less likely to endure some traumatic life changing injury. I think Scott learned his moral compass from Melissa, but I am very sure that his conscientiousness and strength of character are inheritable. The wonky chin might be genetic, but it could also just be dependent on the way Scott was laid to sleep as a baby. Overall, Scott’s has some pretty great DNA to pass on. 

Stiles Stilinski: At a first glance, how could you NOT want to have Stiles Stilinski’s kids? Then I got to thinking.. and oh yeah, this has risk. To break it down-- Stiles seems pretty ideal. Some traits, like extraversion and agreeableness are inherited, and what is Stiles if not outgoing and agreeable? However, it is canon that Stiles carries the genetic mutation for frontotemporal dementia--which is highly hereditary. There is also the ADHD and anxiety, but those aren’t really big issues and can be handled pretty easily. Realistically though, if your kid/s end up inheriting the dementia, you know uncle Scott’s going to swoop in and save the day.  🥺 Anyhow, having children with Stiles Stilinski has many pros and one very scary game of Russian Roulette. 

Derek Hale: Once again I will vouch for werewolf genetics. It just seems right to want to pass on that strength and power, you know? Just imagine being pregnant and your maternal instinct kicks in and it’s just like, “Hey, my kids are significantly better off than almost everyone else’s. I don’t have to be constantly afraid that my baby is going to get horribly sick.” Of course, Derek isn’t very agreeable, but he’s not a bad guy. It just seems like the Hale’s are less open and a little overly aggressive until they find their pack. We see this in the way Peter, Derek, Cora, and Malia are all closed off and a little bendy with social/moral rules, but they always end up being good guys for the people they love. Overall, a great idea but you would definitely have a lot to show your kids when it comes to opening up and creating relationships. 

Isaac Lahey: Okay, so we know that Isaac’s dad had issues. This absolutely means that Isaac will raise his kids in a home where safety and comfort are priority--but that doesn’t stop the possible genetic aspect of what seems like pretty bad anxiety. Again, not a big issue. Realistically though, abuse can alter DNA and Mr. Lahey definitely changed Isaac in one way or another. Overall, Isaac (great guy AND werewolf) Lahey is pretty high on the list for good genes.

Aidan Steiner: Twins!! Well, only if Aidan and Ethan are identical, and it seems like they are. Honestly this seems like a great idea aside from the intense aggression and questionable ethics. Fun fact: the ability to have identical twins and fraternal twins are genetic, but in two completely different ways. Identical twins happen when a sperm penetrates an egg in a way so the egg splits in half, and ta-da, two kids. Fraternal twins happen when the ovary lets out two eggs instead of one. 

Liam Dunbar: Liam is sweet, loyal, and incredibly caring-- all great things to either teach or pass down to your kids. Sadly however, Intermittent Explosive Disorder is hereditary. Liam’s kids are another game of Russian Roulette. Honestly though, it seems like Liam handles it really well, so his kids more than likely would too (if they even get it.) So overall, pretty good genetics. 

Theo Raeken: There is so much to unpack with this one. We aren’t entirely sure whether Theo is a sociopath or a narcissist, but there is absolutely something more going on with his brain chemistry. Whatever it is, it is clearly something that he has been able to overcome with time, bonding, and a leader. I don’t think the shapeshifter mutations pass on here, but who knows?

[happikattwuzheere]

the one where gansey befriends a deer: the au

hey remember that time ronan dreamed up a deer that was described with language suspiciously similar to how adam’s described, because i sure do!!! anyway

OK.

ok. so. this au’s actually evolved a lot since its initial already-pretty-fleshed-out inception one sleepless night, so me talking about it’s gonna be more than one post, but here’s the first one well actually the second technically yesterday’s warmup doodles were also from this au but i didnt talk about it at all so

and I’m gonna start with more or less the same pitch I gave to a couple people on discord

SO. starting out: it’s standard fantasy times, vaguely medieval but no specific time period because I don’t care enough to be digging into that quite frankly, but it is somewhere in England where this is happening. Story starts with just Gansey, Ronan, and Noah. Fey are very real and known entities and there’s been a conflict in England between the fey and humans, if not in the whole country then at least in the lands that the Ganseys are the lords of but probably the whole island tbh, and Gansey’s not inherited the lands yet but he’s going to and wants to maybe find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. It’s not open warfare by any means but it’s been a big problem. 

To the effect of solving that, he heads to some little village that I haven’t named but it’s right next to a known fey forest called Cabeswater. This village has avoided being stomped by the local fey because, despite witches not being particularly liked by the nobility of the time, there’s a big old coven (the psychics of Fox Way, essentially) situated right by this village that’s kept things in check. Gansey’s made his excuses to his parents about why he’s officially going there but really he wants to talk to the witches and get a better grasp of the conflict from the people actually dealing with it.  He and Ronan set out from home together, pick up Noah along the way--who is not a ghost in this AU, he’s a fey who owes Gansey a life debt, that’s a whole other post and THIS post is mostly about gansey and adam--but anyway they get to this village and NOBODY gives gansey the time of day. 

the witches don’t let him into their house because they don’t like the nobility right back thanks and the next time he tries to visit Cabeswater won’t even let him get to the coven’s dwelling, the one witch’s daughter who regularly stops by the village for supplies and to check if anyone needs anything has a big argument with him the first time he talks to her so that’s going nowhere, and, well, the villagers are polite, but they clearly don’t take him seriously. He’s just the lordling playing at things and potentially meddling in their business to them.

So he starts hanging out just barely within Cabeswater, even though he knows that’s not wise, because he finds this perfect spot by a stream, and he’ll sit out there and think and work on the journal he keeps of all his thoughts and plans, and one day while he’s there has a straight up Disney princess experience when a deer stops by the stream and seems incredibly unafraid of him. he cherishes the experience but accepts that it probably won’t happen again.

and then it does. several times. gansey’s losing his mind. this deer??? apparently likes listening to him info dump?? it’s very therapeutic and also very magical and he’s amazed 

a few times in, he names the deer “Pryderi” after a character from a welsh legend, because “such a handsome creature deserves a princely name,” [[muffled blue laughing and whispering “princely” in the distance]], and he tells ronan and noah about this experience but ronan doesn’t believe him at ALL. 

one time after gansey’s particularly upset at how bad his attempts at getting along with the villagers, Pryderi actually lets Gansey touch him for the first time and gansey cannot shut up about it to ronan who’s finally like “i think you’re bullshitting me about this deer thing. im coming with you next time” and gansey’s like “well he’s a deer he might not show up if a stranger’s around and he doesn’t come every time i go down there anyway” and ronan’s like “this sounds like a lot of excuses, dick, you’re not making me believe you any more with this” and gansey’s like “>8\” 

but pryderi does show up, and gansey is delighted, and ronan stares really hard at him and then goes 

and gansey’s like what? nooo. but ronan keeps arguing it for the duration of the visit and the deer actually starts to look annoyed and at the end ganseys like ok maybe but i doubt it. and then hes like “well since you are a fey apparently (/sarcasm) i ought to say farewell with respect” and bows very mockingly and then the deer makes direct eye contact with ronan and bows back and gansey loses his shit

gansey continues meeting up with pryderi but even while his infodumping still happens it does so now with the knowledge that He Does Actually Understand What Im Saying, he may be a fey but he seems like a friendly one and hey that’s way more than gansey thought he would get out here, and also this deer is his friend now thanks, 

he, ronan, and noah (who’s amused by Pryderi but keeps his main thoughts to himself for now) make some excursions into cabeswater, but the thing is noah’s not really native to england, he’s from the european mainland, again i’ll get to it in another post sometime, but. he can sort of help navigate cabeswater but not all THAT well so they get lost a couple times, and every time it does happen pryderi shows up and helps guide them out. there’s some very funny moments of a very jealous ronan getting into weird conflict w/ a very smug deer 

anyWAY one day there’s like a festival, everyone’s drunk because its the middle ages and there’s not really a drinking age, gansey’s making another effort to make friends with anyone, and this one guy about his own age is like “ok look here i’ll teach you the folk dance everyone’s doing ok?” and gansey spends the night dancing w/ a handsome stranger, yes he will recognize the irony in the morning, but for now it goes. well badly because they’re both drunk but it’s fun, and then the guy says “ah, fuck it, i’ll finish teaching you next time we see each other” and gansey’s like “thats a little forward but ok!” and the guy (adam. its adam) panics and leaves while gansey’s back is turned and gansey doesn’t remember that last snippet of conversation the next day nor can he quite recall the stranger’s face. ronan does, because he was watching and not sure which of the two he was jealous of, but neither of them has any idea who the guy actually was. 

and then like, 3 days later, gansey falls asleep at the spot he usually hangs out in in cabeswater and wakes up in the early evening just in time to hear people yelling and for Pryderi to burst into view with an arrow in his flank. he collapses in a bush. gansey snaps into “protect friend” mode and gets the hunters off his trail by being all “oh a strange buck? i saw it pass that way over there friend!” and then when they’re gone he comes back and is all “alright pryderi they’re gone, let me just--” except pryderi’s not a deer anymore. it’s a boy. 

(Adam. its adam. the deer is adam.) 

gansey takes him home, gets the arrow out, noah’s like “i mean he’s not a fey, i dont know what turning into a deer is about but if he were fey the iron in that arrow would already have him dead. he might be partially fey but so little that he’s human in the ways that really matter”, over the next couple days they figure out that pryderi is in fact from the village and is a young man named adam parrish who’s been labelled a changeling and is assumed dead since he was yknow shot, gansey decides for now its probably best to keep him that way, but adam’s not getting better--apparently even having had the arrow in him as briefly as he did has poisoned him, he’s desperately ill and on the third day is finally like “get persephone” so gansey tries again (he’s tried several times over these days, they’d worked out that to have survived this long he must have someone else with a small degree of fey blood teaching him the ropes and the most likely suspects are the witches, but he’s hoping adam specifically asking him to will grant him permission enough to go in) and runs into a very frantic blue en route who as soon as he makes it clear he’s got adam is like “move your ass over on that horse im climbing on too” 

they get persephone, who turns into a fox rather than a deer, she saves adam, everythings cool except adam’s pissy now because he cant go back to the village and he has to give up on the attempts he had in the works to get out of town by working his way out and he takes it out on gansey who doesnt deserve it because this friendship is a mess, he’ll feel bad and take it back eventually but thats yet more posts ANYWAY YEAH theres our starting point 

(also worth noting: due to cabeswater being Right There,  p much everyone in this village actually has a small degree of fey blood, adam just won the genetic lottery) 

tl;dr adam’s a fey-blooded witch’s apprentice and he’s been the deer the whole time and thats the start of this au ty for coming to this ramble 

[fencesandfrogs]

cloudtail’s daughter au

so i decided to do a full write-up of this au instead of doing a second post to cover books 4-6 and then everything will be self-contained.

the essence of this au is pretty simple: dovewing does not, imo, fulfill the prophecy by being the granddaughter of firestar’s nephew, because that’s at least 3 “kin” away from him. so while i think she’d actually have to be princess’ daughter to fit, i’ll let her be firestar’s grandniece and call that “close enough” because it’s better.

anyway, there’s no real reason for this to change anything, but i think given who cloudtail and brightheart are, and how close dovewing and ivypool are to whitewing, it would probably change quite a few things.

[4k words. 15 minute read. proper section headers.]

this is a big summary so i’m sure i’ll forget things, i’ve already had to add in the events caused by the dovewing/tigerheart romance/conflict that carries through the first three books, and that cloudtail being an atheist has a major effect on ivypaw. i know i wrote a detailed summary of the first arc, where i didn’t forget any of that, but nothing exists for the second arc. anyway this au is tagged cloudtail’s daughter and apparently i have a lot to say about it so i’m sure if you click on the tag you can find info about it. assuming this isn’t the first thing i post. which it might be.

section one: things that don’t happen

so i don’t want this to be a po3 rewrite, which means i’m going to take a moment to explicitly discuss what doesn’t change.

first, po3 stays pretty much exactly the same. i want jayfeather to be a warrior too. i also want him to be dovewing’s brother. but the au where brightheart gives birth to dovekit, anxiety child, and jaykit, blind, and feels like a failure despite the fact that its not like her half-blindness is genetic, is not this au. that is another au.

anyway, hollyleaf does keep herself more together, because she needs to be alive for some family drama. she’s in background character hell (BGCH) for a while, though, especially the first book.

she still goes to the tunnels, mind, she just comes out sooner.

but otherwise, despite my personal tastes, i’m not changing po3 very much.

section two: brightheart’s litters

okay so cloudtail and brightheart have four children, i believe, and my choice is either to replace whitewing, or to replace the others. now, i don’t particularly care for either of these options, but i’d rather they have their second litter younger, so we’re replacing amber/dew/snow. this still lets you have old queen drama, but not so much that you’re like “brightheart how on god’s green earth did you have 3 children with no issues”

instead, she’ll have dovekit and ivykit at about the same time whitewing had them.

now, for complicated cat genetic reasons, cloudtail could have been a black cat. now, here me out: what i mean is, if he wasn’t white, he could be black. basically, white is a masking color in cats, it goes on top of whatever pattern they would have displayed. both he and brightheart would have to inherit one dilute gene (princess was not dilute, so she had to carry it), and then either dovewing or brightheart are tortie, and that’s the best i can do for keeping dovewing grey.

i, personally, lean towards tortie brightheart, because i always pictured her that way, but i have seen some pretty cute tortie dovewing.

ivykit inherits red from her mother, and is tortie either way, because tortie ivypool is cute.

in fact, i’ve been tinkering with the idea that ivykit and dovekit have kind of mirrored grey and cream spots. not, like, perfectly mirrored, because that’s not how tortoiseshell/calico (they would technically be calico, since they have white) works, but close enough to be cute.

section three: arc one (summary)

these books are going to have six protagonists (dovekit, lionblaze, cinderheart, hollyleaf, jayfeather, ivypool, in that order) with a secondary character who gets less chapters but the most important b-plot (ivykit, hollyleaf, lionblaze, jayfeather, cinderheart, dovewing).

arc one focuses on “two braincells” i.e., dovewing, lionblaze, and cinderheart (sorry bb, ur not like the other two, but i’m putting you somewhere) and the main theme is dovepaw learning to manage her power. it’s a tug and pull between dovewing: glass canon, and dovewing: can’t do shit.

cinderheart and lionblaze also have a romance going on, which irritates ivypaw, who has a bit of a catalyst with the dark forest in the middle/end of the arc (like in the original). we only get this through external perspecives, though, because when this happens, lionblaze is in the secondary position.

one of the ways to fix this book series is to decouple it from ivy and dove, much as i love them. both the beavers and the dark forest make up a b-plot in this arc, while the quest for the third prophecy cat, as well as growing tensions between clans, take center stage, and lionblaze and cinderheart work in the second and third book to give us the adult perspective of the tension that dovekit and ivykit can’t in the first book.

mostly, this is fairly low stakes. part of that is because characters are having stakes appropriate for them, rather than smeared around in a book. (looking @ u, flametail buddy). so dovekit/paw spends her first book worried about apprentice things and doesn’t get to narrate again until the end of the series.

section four: book one — growing shadows

i think the fourth apprentice is a stupid name, okay?

so book one is dovekit and ivykit, for pretty obvious reasons.

although actually i’m pushing off the beavers in this to book two or three. i’m not 100% sure where i want that, yet.

so anyway, dovekit is born and wow is she anxiety child. (i call dovewing anxiety child a lot, because, well, she is? i feel like it’s sort of implicit in the books and i’m making it explicity.) anyway, she’s in sensory overload like 100% of the time. see, she was born late, and so she didn’t have her powers kick in over time like lionblaze and jayfeather. nope. she got the adult version right away.

so she spends a lot of time hiding with cloudtail because he’s big and fluffy and not complicated to look at. cloudtail and brightheart are understandibly pretty worried about her, because no one really knows what to do about it. she’s skittish and distractable and extremely sensitive. she hates going out in the rain, hates bright sun, etc.

(side note: dovekit’s powers extend to pretty much all her senses. she can see, hear, and smell much farther than she should, and she can taste and feel much more strongly than an other cat.)

ivykit doesn’t feel unloved, but she does know her sister is getting more attention, and that always kind of hurts, even if you’re understanding.

cloudtail and brightheart work to try to help dovekit get on her feet, but they’re not super successful. she learns to cope enough to be able to function as a kit, but she’s always kind of a strange, quiet kit. she doesn’t know how to talk about seeing too much because she doesn’t realize its too much.

dove is given to cinderheart, because lionblaze is a terrible mentor for small anxiety child, and ivy is given to lionblaze. this will also create drama later, just wait.

so the main plot of this book is keyed into dovepaw learning to hunt. the stakes are pretty low, honestly. they’re mounting around dovepaw and ivypaw, but the girls are too young to properly understand everything.

dovepaw is initially successful hunting due to some luck and being good at spotting prey, but she can’t replicate it. ivypaw only trains with her a bit at first, and she sees this success, and feels like her parents’ attention on dovepaw made dovepaw better than her.

this gets ivypaw into the dark forest. this is the b-plot: ivypaw training, realizing she made a mistake, and not knowing how to get out. plus, she doesn’t have to mind her sister. (ivypaw is raised by an atheist, so while she’s smart enough to eventually work out that these cats are evil, she doesn’t have a sunshine and rainbows view of starclan. that’s the only way i can justify her not being smart enough to nope the fuck out of there, even if she is really young and really angry.)

in clan life, ivypaw knows she needs to look out for dovepaw. she doesn’t mind, but she gets to experience a life without that in the dark forest.

dovepaw does mind how everyone treats her like she’s made of glass. she sees cinderheart talking to brightheart and jayfeather and firestar and feels like everyone thinks she’s useless. so she decides to go out on her own and prove she can function.

dovepaw starts sneaking out at night and she finds the tunnels. her senses dampened, she panicks, running deeper and deeper, getting lost. fallen leaves will find her, and help get her strength up and then get her out. kind of like with hollyleaf, who is out of the caves by now.

ivypaw sees everyone searching for dovepaw and starts to feel guilty about wanting more attention, and the fact that part of why she wants dovepaw back is so people pay attention to ivypaw again. she also feels responsible for this.

cinderheart is distraught, because she really did care about dovepaw, and it’s been three days, her scent tracked to the tunnels but it was raining and no one has seen her since, so she’s probably dead.

ivypaw, grieving, refuses to accept that dovepaw is dead and she hunts outside the tunnel mouth until she thinks she hears something.

dove and ivy reunite and return to the clan. ivypaw’s convictions that dovepaw needs to be protected are strengthened, and dovepaw knows she failed in her goal. everyone is happy to see them.

we get some fretting about how washed out everything is, how the rain didn’t even stick because the soil is so dry. that’s a cue to the drought, which will be a bigger deal next book.

section five: book two — fading echoes

honestly i’m not attached to book titles, but this works here too.

so this book is split between lionblaze and hollyleaf. i’m pretty sure hollyleaf is out of the caves by now, but i haven’t decided if she’s rejoined the clans. she feels strongly for fallen leaves: they’re listed as mates on the warrior cats wiki, and if hollyleaf and jayfeather are both going to have ancient dead ghost mates, she’s at least going to visit hers. her end goal is to get him to starclan so they can be together after her death.

anyway, this is beavers book. i don’t have a ton to say about it because it’s pretty much the same, except hollyleaf goes with dovepaw and cinderheart and she’s our pov as dovepaw falls for tigerheart because (and this is my understanding of her logic in the books to begin with): “big fluffy tom is safe fluffy tom.”

lionblaze feels the disconnect between him and ivypaw, but he can’t help that cinderheart is away. ivypaw is clearly preoccupied, but he can’t tell with what. his larger conflict is in finding the third cat.

this isn’t a filler book, per say. the tree falls and that happens, and lionblaze gets thrown into rebuilding camp. ivypaw feels doubly abandoned. lionblaze tries to win her affection, but he doesn’t know how.

beaver crew gets back. dovepaw has stars in her eyes. ivypaw is close to passing her warrior assessment, but lionblaze can tell she’s holding back because she doesn’t want to leave dovepaw. dovepaw can hunt by now, but she can’t really split her attention.

she’s scared of going into battle.

after a border skirmish where dovepaw just freezes, ideas of her being a medicine cat are raised.

ivypaw sees tigerheart in the dark forest, and she goes all bluefur being like “snowfur ur bf has rabies” on dovepaw, who is not happy with this. ivypaw pushes dovepaw to be a medicine cat because of this. the sisters are squabbling and barely talking.

book ends.

section six: book three — distant whispers

again not 100% sold on the names.

so this is cinderheart’s book, and she’s going to figure this out, because dovepaw and ivypaw are falling apart, and dovepaw deserves to be a warrior. so she convinces firestar to let her and lionblaze take ivypaw and dovepaw to the mountains. she believes, well, i’m not sure i haven’t worked that part out.

anyway, they go.

the tribe is like “yeah the world sure is a big place with a lot to look at. that’s why only half of us look.” (i know that’s not exactly how cave guard’s work but close enough.)

cinderheart is like “hm. what if, dovepaw, just a thought, what if you just, you know, avoid battles? i know it’s part of clan life but judging by the two souls crammed into my body, i’d say there’s been very few major conflicts over this and, reasonably, you should be able to avoid being chosen for battle control.”

dovepaw says, “but cinderheart, i’m a main character! unless i’m being punished or taught a lesson about duty, i’ll be automatically registered for every battle patrol until i die!”

cindheart says, “you’re right, i’m so sorry. hey ivypaw, [whoops yeah ivy and lion are here too sorry i forgot to mention that] what if you two learn to work as a team.”

dovepaw says, “i don’t want to work with her.”

ivypaw says, “that’s a great idea.”

because dovepaw talks very quietly (she forgets not everyone can hear as well as her), ivypaw wins.

they spend at least a month in the tribe, maybe longer, i’m not sure. eventually, they decide to go back. dovepaw is never happy in the tribe, it’s way too loud all the time, but she does manage to sort out her hunting issues, and so fighting is left.

so there’s still a big push for dovepaw to consider maybe being a medicine cat.

but that is not this au. this is the jaywing/dovefeather au where they basically switch roles. there’s a really good fic where dovepaw goes to riverclan for a while that i love and anyway this au is a as-close-as-possible to canon au for me to rectify my issues with dovewing in canon (nominally, i don’t have any, but i think her character was displayed…curiously, and i’m mad about the prophecy.)

ivypaw is team medicine cat. cinderheart and lionblaze are struggling. cinderheart eventually teaches dovepaw an extension of the techniques of the tribe, and they work out that dovepaw can kind of, track the cats she’s with to anchor herself in battle. this means dovepaw no longer is tied to ivypaw for her success, and so they both become warriors.

while they’re still in the tribe, ivypaw has time away from the dark forest and lionblaze finally puts two and two together, and that basically makes up the b-plot for the back half of the book, lionblaze trying to get ivypaw to admit what’s going on and then trying to help her.

dovewing’s senses begin to return but since they come back slowly she’s able to manage them. so she quickly excels in hunting.

ivypool cottons on to the dark forest breeding loyalty between its members, not to their original clans, and realizes that this is going to threaten all four of the clans.

end book with a bang, end first arc. we will now turn to the actually-have-more-than-two-braincells crew (sorry cinderheart, you don’t deserve to be in this group, but your prefix doesn’t end in -y, so you can’t be with jay/holly/ivy in the brainy crew.)

section seven: arc 2 (summary)

so this arc is when the main conflict (dark forest battle) becomes obvious. dovewing’s problems have been sorted out, so she’s pushed into BGCH for a little bit while the smart adults sort things out.

book three ends with ivypool realizing the dark forest isn’t a personal problem, but a clan-group (like, all of the clans together? not sure how to call it) sized problem. ivypool, jayfeather, and hollyleaf together manage to sort out a lot of the dark forest’s eventual plan, and they try to sort out a way to solve it. then the battle happens. that’s basically the summary?

in here, the clans start working together way sooner and the prophecy comes out way faster.

section eight: book 4 — the forgotten character

alright, hollyleaf is liberated from BGCH. actual title is still the forgotten warrior.

hollyleaf and ivypool start to bond, and hollyleaf is convinced all the clans need to know about what’s up.

ivypool disagrees, and they talk about it like rational people.

hollyleaf and fallen leaves are still cute.

jayfeather has his timetravel thing in this book so he can do flametail’s job in the next book. he gets to talk to hollyleaf and fallen leaves about it.

i don’t think i’d mess with jayfeather and briarlight’s relationship in this au, because i think it’s sweet in canon as is, but you know i have thoughts about half moon and briarlight. anyway, jayfeather gets his book next, this is about hollyleaf.

fallen leaves helps hollyleaf learn to control, idk, spirit dream travel? jayfeather helps with this too. hollyleaf has to share extra hard with jayfeather because she took up a disproportionate amount of time in lionblaze’s book.

so anyway, hollyleaf is learning to travel into the dark forest. similar to the way dark forest cats leave it? but in reverse. this is the main plot.

like the second book, it’s not really filler, so much as lower stakes, and like the second book, i don’t have a ton to say about it because the plot is self evident. unfortunately, hollyleaf has the two “chill” books. sorry bb.

anyway, this is building into jayfeather going all angry old man yells at sky at starclan next book, so the biggest conflict in this book is hollyleaf realizing she can just, leave. she can go back in time the way jayfeather did, but on purpose, save fallen leaves, and they can be alive.

i mean, that wouldn’t actually work, not the least because i’m not keen on hollyleaf being a reincarnation, espcially in the reincarnation-lite universe, but also because she can’t save fallen leaves, then he wouldn’t be a sharpclaw, not really, and like a whole host of other issues but anyway

at the end of power of three, hollyleaf runs away from her problems. this book is about her standing up to defend them.

i don’t know if she explicitly breaks up with fallen leaves, but they have a falling out that won’t get resolved until after the great battle. this is a mutual/not mutual thing where they both know that fallen leaves is stopping hollyleaf from fully committing to helping her clans now, but they love each other.

relationship conflict that isn’t forbidden romance.

speaking of, ivypool getting close to hollyleaf means that the two of them start to reconnect with their siblings. hollyleaf’s actions alienated her from jayfeather and lionblaze and she kind of just was sad and apologetic but they didn’t want to forgive her.

(sorry hollybush, says jayfeather,

that’s not my name, says hollyleaf,

oh, says jayfeather, guess i forget. well anyway, i have a new sister now. her name is dovewing.

dovewing?, says hollyleaf. but you don’t like her.

it’s okay, says jayfeather, she never tore my family to shreds and then abandoned me to deal with the fallout.)

(jayfeather and hollyleaf always seemed closer to me than lionblaze and either of them, until hollyleaf’s whole event. anyway he remains petty about everything and lionblaze stands by him because, well, he’s not wrong, also dovewing is important to cinderheart so he feels like he should be on her side on this which means jayfeather’s side. even though cinderheart is friends with hollyleaf look i said lionblaze is a loveable dumbass already, didn’t i?)

so anyway hollyleaf is sad and ivypool sees that and is like “hm maybe i shouldn’t be a petty bitch for no reason” and this is fine until after this series is over when dovewing and tigerheart are like “bitch we gon b together”

dovewing’s emotions get jayfeather to, well, not go back on his actions, but recognize hollyleaf is the most effective person to work with. because lionblaze and dovewing are just. so dumb.

and yeah this book ends with things feeling almost hopeful.

section nine: book 5 — sign of the moon

i cannot overstate how little i care about the titles of these books.

anyway, jayfeather and cinderheart.

i don’t have a ton of thoughts about this one. jayfeather reunites starclan, cinderheart helps convince ivypool and dovewing to work together. this is the book where clans find out about the propechy but not the dark forest that is for next book

they know something is coming, but everyone agrees not to give ivypool away yet. they like her, you know, alive.

anyway, i don’t have much to say because it’s pretty obvious what happens, because this is just a bunch of events from other books crammed into this book, now, and they’ve been written and i don’t see the need to make many changes.

cinderheart and lionblaze have kit drama, maybe? cinderheart counsels dovewing about tigerheart, maybe? my point is it’s not super important.

the book ends with the two warriors to every camp. and dovewing, jayfeather, and lionblaze, are going to get split up.

this is my biggest change so far imo because it’s the most plot relevant.

dovewing is going to shadowclan with ivypool. jayfeather is going to windclan with…i’m not sure yet? i don’t want him going to riverclan because leafpool has ties to riverclan and, well, i want jayfeather to get a chance to stand on his own. and lionblaze goes to riverclan, with either cinderheart or hollyleaf.

jayfeather is super grumbly about this, but admits that it’s important as a show of unity, and also, he’s pretty functional in wind clan? like they’re all playing to their strengths.

jayfeather learns to navigate pretty quickly, dovewing appreciates quiet and also not being that-strange-cat who everyone is super careful around, and lionblaze is big and gregarious and enjoys riverclan being chill and friendly. so yeah, people get a chance to chill and be happy.

ivypool is in position to be angsty next book.

end book.

section ten: book 6 — the last hope

despite my claim that the biggest change is sending the three to different clans, i don’t have a lot to say about it.

basically, well, okay

first, we see ivypool and dovewing again. reminder that last time we were in one of their heads, they were apprentices. in book one.

dovewing couldn’t even hunt last time we had her pov.

so there’s a few chapters to some characterization that happens. dovewing is no longer anxiety child. she’s somewhat shy, she’s soft spoken, but she’s not skittish. you can’t surprise her. and she’s intense. she’ll just stare at you with wide eyes if you come talk to her until you say something she wants to respond to.

ivypool sees why dovewing and tigerheart are good together. she’s still not supportive, but, like, he understands her. he doesn’t treat her like she’s fragile, but he also is kind and forgiving and soft to her.

plus he’s a total simp for dovewing. that helps.

anyway, ivypool gets along fairly well in shadowclan. i don’t have ton of thoughts about this.

ivypool, hollyleaf/cinderheart, and jayfeather’s companion, as well as half of the other cats away on missions, are acting as messengers between their host clans and their home clans. that’s how ivypool gets to find out about info. they meet on the island every morning. or something.

anyway, this bit is where i most hate the set up of this with two pov per book hard cap because it’d be cool to see into everyone else’s head but that’s for novellas and side stories.

the battle happens.

everything sucks. dovewing has basically committed to tigerheart, but bramblestar’s storm messes with the timeline.

and that’s pretty much it.

section eleven: what’s next?

so i swore i wasn’t starting new fic and then i thought of this and now i do want to write it so, maybe?

the most important thing is:

tl/dr: the reason dovewing shouldn’t have been a prophecy cat is because she’s not the kin of firestar’s kin.

[alteritymonster]

Dig Dug

ST s02e05

I’ve been feeling a little icky so this might be briefer than usual. I’m still really picking up a lot I didn’t the first time I saw ST2. Maybe my habit of watching a thing only once isn’t working for me (at least if it’s a thing I care about). I hope everyone’s week is going okay!

Season 3 is missing a major Byers home interior transformation.

“We won’t let him.”

Mike actually isn’t doing much in this episode (apart from caring about Will). I guess there isn’t anywhere else in the story it makes sense for him to be right now, but I’m thinking about alternatives because if any of them makes sense then putting him here is definitely a choice.

Lucas’s parents seem pretty wholesome.

The contrast with Dustin’s relationship with his mom is a little whiplash-y. I’m maybe less comfortable with their whole thing every time I see them.

Protective lying again...

“I’m sorry. You ate my cat.”

El’s hitchhike driver: “Five-fifteen, sure.” Really they’re still doing this.

Mom and daughter find refuge in TV.

Jonathan and Nancy’s arrival at Murray’s reminds me of The Wizard of Oz.

Lucas tells Max everything. “Had to” lie to her first. A lot being made of good reasons for lying in s2.

Both of Joyce’s suitors figured out the map. She likes smart guys.

Terry’s sister mentions a “crazy aunt Shirley,” who would believe the lights flickering is the house being haunted. Is this implying the powers are definitely hereditary? My understanding’s always been that the lab did something to people that was the start of their super-abilities. (And in El’s case, that they were passed to her because of the timing of Terry’s pregnancy, not because something genetic was going on.)

This might or might not be a big deal, but I think the backstory is less interesting if everyone with these special powers is just inheriting them.

“Maybe if it was Margaret Thatcher.” I assume this means Karen is not impressed by Geraldine Ferraro?

The party neglecting Dustin really didn’t start in s3 at all, did it :\

Slotichnaya? Is there a reason for the fictionalized name? ST’s got a million references to real-world brands in it.

The “water it down” thing is clever.

The reveal of what Terry’s repeated words mean is spoiled a little for me by resemblance to Hodor’s story in Game of Thrones :|

VINES

Bob is game. Bob is a mensch.

“Hey Bob.” “Hi Jim.”

Will 😭😭😭😭😭

[fleur-de-leap]

Adopted Sidon Headcanon

Okay so! Thanks to a conversation with @singingdeepinme , I got the idea that Sidon might be / could be adopted into the royal family in BOTW, and have at least some ‘evidence’ of it. I’m putting it under the cut since it got kind of long (and this is trimmed down some XD)

But the TL;DR is that we’re missing a pretty crucial piece of information for genetics (Mom???), the difference between LADY Mipha and PRINCE Sidon caught my eye, and Sidon’s optimistic and validating attitude might stem from insecurities. 

Started with me wondering how Whale (King Dorephan) + ??? (Queen Mom) = Dolphin (Mipha) and Shark (Sidon). So I figured either A) Dorephan isn’t ACTUALLY their dad, or B) one or both of them are adopted. 

Sidon, if he knows he’s adopted, is so gung-ho and eager to help due to a small insecurity of “I need to prove that I belong here, that I deserve my title as prince, that Mipha made a good choice”. 

Mipha is the reason that Sidon was adopted, she ‘chose’ him so to speak. Young Mipha maybe wanting a sibling because she’s lonely, and her parents want a male heir (especially if she starts showing signs of being romantically interested in Link early on, because the Zora would probably oppose to a non-Zora king). Mipha finds Sidon and is like “I want this one.” as she brings him to her parents, with baby Sidon nomming on her arm or something. 

We realized that Mipha was called Lady instead of Princess, and with no mentions of Queen, we weren’t too sure what’s up with that. So Set-chan looked into the japanese title for her, finding that it’s -sama instead of -hime. Still an acceptable way to address a princess, simply more gender neutral, but still could imply a patriarchal society. Especially since Prince/Princess are often viewed as a level above Lord/Lady. 

Following this headcanon, Sidon would have a lot of pressure on him, especially after Mipha’s death. Both from the outside and pressure he’s putting on himself. He knows that she chose him, and he wants to prove that she chose well to honor her memory. He had a lot of pressure growing up with the royal family, having to learn how to behave, all of the things he’d need to learn to eventually rule the Zora. Mipha would do her best to help him still at least somewhat enjoy his childhood, loving him and doting over him so he still has someone who is soft to him since pretty much everyone else is likely very strict at first to get him ‘in shape’. And when Mipha dies, he doesn’t have anyone to turn to as he tries to cope with that and the realization that he will end up inheriting the throne at some point. And he won’t have Mipha there to guide him, to let him know that he’s doing a good job. To help him remember to take a breather and enjoy being himself. So he throws himself into his role as Prince, helping his people however he can, especially those most in need or likely overlooked, since he’s been there. Alone, no no one looking out for him, so he wants to be there for everyone. Even if it spreads himself thin. This would also tie in to how he seeks her counsel. 

This also makes Dorephan’s declaration of being proud of Sidon after the battle with Vah Ruta much more meaningful. Sidon off to the side puffing up proudly while also fighting down lots of tears and emotions because he feels so validated. He helped save his people. The king is proud of him. His father and his people are proud of him. And he knows that Mipha would be proud of him. 

That could also partly explain his optimism and reassurance in lines like “You can do it!” and “I believe in you!” He used to get it from Mipha, but now he doesn’t get it from anyone since it’s just expected. So he makes sure to always give other people that confidence and reassurance, since you never know who needs to hear it.

[skvaderarts]

Apocrypha Chapter Seventeen: Dialogue

Masterlist can be found Here! Thanks!

Chapter Seventeen: Dialogue

Note: Thanks for your feedback on the last chapter, and sorry that this one is several hours late. It seems that I'm more than capable of writing this chapter four days early, but I'm not very good at not sleeping until well past seven in the afternoon. FML. At least I got Wednesday's chapter done today!

(-~-)

The lights in the lobby were dim, providing a soft backdrop to the approaching sunset that was due to settle across the horizon. The shimmering water glistened like a bed of stars, reflecting the menagerie of colors that had just begun to stretch across the sky. Vibrant oranges and reds were paired with docile blues and purples, while white fluffy clouds seemed to rise from the sea itself, reaching towards the very edge of endless skies like mountains composed of white cotton and snow.

Nero paused for a moment as he placed his hand on the door handle. All he had to do was pull it open and go inside, but he wasn't even sure what he was going to do once he was inside of the building. He knew where he needed to go and why, but he didn't have the slightest idea what he was going to say to V once got there. And he didn't even have the key to the room. While he was positive that he could just knock on the door and ask to be let in, he still didn't have a plan of action. Should he just ask V what was going on and then go from there? It was as good a plan as any at this point. 

It was worth a shot.

With a sigh, Nero pulled the door open and stepped into the building, letting the door go as he scanned the room. In all honesty, he's forgotten what side of the building V's room was on. He knew where he and the children would be sleeping that night, but he hadn't had much of a reason to keep track of where everyone else was, especially since there were two wings to the building. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily depending on who you asked) Nero wasn't actually alone in the room. 

The young demon hunter did a double take as he caught sight of Vergil sitting in a chair relatively close to the stairs. He was flipping through a book, but Nero knew for a fact based solely off of the look on his father's face that he wasn't actually reading it. That entire half of the room radiated a level of discomfort and -was that anxiety- that was practically suffocating, and yet Vergil didn't display any of this on his face. He simply looked… bored as if he found the novel he was flipping through thoroughly uninteresting.  Was he actually that adept at hiding his emotions? That would actually explain an awful lot. Maybe Vergil wasn't as emotionless as he had originally guessed.

Well wasn't that a nice big slice of humble pie…

As Nero approached Vergil, he abruptly closed the book with an almost startling snap with not so much as a glance in his direction. He realized then that the older devil slayer had known that he was there from the very second that he had entered the building. Nero had to admit, he was kind pissed at how easily Vergil and V seemed to notice shit like that. And how utterly hard they were to detect in turn. Demons the size of mountains regularly failed to sneak up on him. No problems there. But V walking around his house at night? No dice. That shit scared him literally every time. He'd even managed to sneak up on him in the middle of his fight with Goliath in Redgrave, and he'd been walking around with a metal cane at the time! How the hell were they both so incognito? Was it genetic? Because if so, he hadn't inherited that gene.  He was perfectly willing to believe that Vergil was just that light on his feet. After all, he was pretty graceful and well coordinated as a general rule. As much as it loathed him to admit it, Vergil just had a way of making difficult shit look effortless? And the easy stuff? Total overkill. 

But V?

Well…

"You're going to tell me that I shouldn't have done that. Clearly I didn't know." Vergil leaned over and placed the book down, hovering over his legs for a moment as he planted his elbows on his knees. He had a distant look on his face as he glanced in his direction as though he had been through this conversation exhaustively and expected such a statement."  But regardless…  your right. I suppose my response was unwarranted for the most part.

Nero felt a wave of confusion hit him as he literally gave him a sideways look. What had Vergil just said to him? "Yea, I guess. Um… are you okay?"

Vergil shot him a vaguely disapproving, his brow furrowing slightly. Nothing about this situation was humorous to him. "I didn't know you found this predicament entertaining."

The younger demon hunter waived him off, shaking his head. The last thing he needed right now was to get thrown through the front window. If there was one thing he'd figured out it the short time he'd known Vergil it was that he tended to convert any of his negative emotions directly into unbridled rage, a response that he could only assume was involuntary considering that it seemed to directly clash with his otherwise calm, cool, and collected demeanor. Hell, if he was more mellow and less overtly intimidating, he and V could pass off as…

Oh god, were they really that much alike?

It was actually somewhat disconcerting.

"No, no, hey, I don't start. I was being serious! You seem kinda… I donno, upset?" Nero shrugged uncomfortably, unsure of how to describe his intent without seeming purposefully contrary. He wasn't used to really being concerned about Vergil. It was strange." The way I see it, this is both of our faults. I came up with that stupid plan in the firs place. If I hadn't asked him to help me…"

Vergil straightened slightly, giving him a curious look. He didn't seem upset. In fact, his demeanor actually seemed more at ease. It occurred to him that Vergil probably already knew that, but might be surprised that he was actually willing to admit it. He probably wasn't used to that. Or used to having an actual conversation with someone.

 "I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everything bad you're involved in is entirely your fault, ya know?" Nero said with a sigh. He wasn't sure he was very good at this sort of thing, but he was trying. And he was hoping that Vergil was at least willing to do that much." Look… what are you doing sitting down here? Did you even try talking to him, or did ya just follow him to the hotel?"

The older of the two glanced away for a moment before staring up at the ceiling fan for a moment. He seemed to be considering what Nero had said to him. Was there actually a universe where everything wasn't his fault? Did Nero actually think that?

"... Is this about your brother, or about me?" The Darkslayer gave him a serious and unrelenting stare, but it wasn't laced by the cool, barely concealed irritation anger that had been there so frequently when Nero had first encountered him. He'd just asked him a genuine question, and Nero wasn't actually sure what to say to that. He knew what he thought, but how to articulate it? That was a different matter entirely.

"Look… I don't know. Both of you, I guess. What does that have to do with you not going up to talk to him?" Nero said, folding his arms and tilting his head in the direction of the stairs.

Vergil didn't move, but his gaze traveled towards the floor slightly, breaking the eye contact that Nero had inadvertently drawn him into. This conversation actually made him uncomfortable, didn't it? That was good. Maybe Vergil would actually give him a straight answer then.

"He has no desire to speak with me. I know that. I don't need to disturb him to confirm that." Vergil's tone quieted a few octaves as he spoke, but was still as firm and audible as it normally was.

Nero's slightly irritated glare softened some. There was a certain level of resigned despair and… was that regret in his voice? Vergil was actually sorry, wasn't he? He was capable of believing that he could regret something that he'd done. He got the distinct feeling that he regretted a lot of his past actions. But then why didn't he express that better? It wasn't easy to admit when you'd done something wrong, but for fuck sake…

How had Vergil and V turned out to be this bad a conversation and expressing their emotions? It was astoundingly sad. He had to do something about that. After Dante was better at…

Shit they were all like this, weren't they?

Fuck.

In an attempt to regain his father's attention, he leaned over him slightly, gripping the arm of the chair in an attempt to maintain his balance and keep himself from face planting through the glass coffee table and breaking his teeth on the floor. Vergil would probably flip his shit if he did that. Clearly he'd had enough child injury for one day.

"Or maybe that's exactly what he wants you to do? I mean do you ever ask other people for help?" Nero stared at him firmly. Vergil immediately stated back. He sensed a challenge.

"I have no desire to… I don't need-" Vergil was too irritated by the perceived accusation to ever respond properly. He seemed slightly flustered, and the fact that he couldn't hide that and that Nero could see right through him seemed to really piss him off.

"Oh, so you're just going to feed me a load of bullshit then, hu?" Nero said, keeping the mild amount of entertainment he'd derived from that statement at bay. He already knew Vergil was going to say something like that. No use in getting upset about it." Go up stairs and talk to V. It's not like you have somewhere else to go tonight anyway. You have to sleep at some point."

"No, he totally doesn't. Vergil basically never sleeps. It's pretty creepy."

Nero glanced over his shoulder, shooting Dante a startled glare mixed with a questioning look. When had he come in? Since when was Dante that sneaky? And why didn't Vergil say anything. Was he just going to let him eavesdrop? "So what the fuck were you planning to do all night, then? Just ignore him? How can you sleep with him at your office?!"

Dante shrugged. "Look, I don't know. He's already stabbed me several times, once with my own sword. Not much else he can really do that would surprise me at this point. I'm just kinda along for the ride." He glanced between them and then over towards the stairs, closing his eyes and then sighing." Look… you go talk to V. I'm gonna talk to my dear old brother here. Then you can do whatever you want with him. I just wanna go to bed sometime tonight. Hope V's alright."

Vergil seemed horrified by the prospect of having that conversation with Dante, his brow raising slightly as he shot him a disapproving glare. There was more concern and discomfort in his eyes than anger despite everything. It was as if both the father and son were wondering what Dante could possibly be aiming to add to this already dying conversation. After a moment, Nero shrugged and stood up all the way. Whatever. That probably wasn't an awful idea. While he didn't have the highest hopes for their ability to talk things out after seeing their track record in action, he knew that at the end of the day he could just kick both of their asses again if they decided to do something stupid or get in a huge brawl in the middle of the hotel lobby. And if all else failed, he could get Patty and Kyrie to come in and give them a stern talking to. They didn't seem to be able to resist that one.

Nero repressed the urge to ask both of them why they didn't just get up and go tell V how they both felt and groaned. They really were twins, weren't they? Equally insane but in different ways. He would go talk to V, and they would sit down here and hash it out. And there would be hell to pay if they didn't, vacation or no vacation.

(-~-)

Oh boy, I don't know if this is going to be more fun or more painful to write lol! But at least they are talking, right? Thanks for your comments on the last chapter! I'll see you all next week on Wednesday! Stay safe out there and make sure to take some time to decompress. Everything is insane right now.

[cabbagebender]

Keith's Galra Traits Headcanons (Spoilers Through S8)

Please note, I am not a biologist, and I am kinda b.s.ing a lot of this, though I did cursory research. Please correct me if you know better and I'm talking nonsense.

Based on Canon:

Retractable fangs.

Remember that time in s6 when Keith randomly sprouted fangs while he was screaming in pain? I actually think those might be his normal teeth, except usually they’re buried far enough in his gums to simply appear, maybe notably sharp, but still human-looking. Most Galra have pretty prominent fangs already, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of defense mechanism in response to extreme pain that makes them push out further. For a full Galra, this would probably turn the fangs into a formidable weapon; for Keith, it... probably just makes him better at eating steak.

Superhuman stamina.

Also, remember the Blade of Marmora Trials in Season 2? The Trials that pretty much consisted of Keith getting his ass kicked over and over again in increasingly outnumbered fights? And how he just... kept... going, even with an injured shoulder and no chance for rest or recuperation? Okay, yeah, sure, determination can do a lot, but earlier in the episode it's established that Keith and Shiro are down there for two quintents – roughly two days. Even if Keith isn't fighting the whole time, he's still fighting for like... at the very least, ten hours or so. And he messed up his shoulder in the first fight. Humans can do some crazy stuff in high stakes situations, but since he does have the option to stop fighting and doesn’t take it, I wouldn’t be surprised if his genetics are helping him out here.

(Note - this could come along with a reduced need for oxygen, since in s8 “The Grudge,” while all the full humans are collapsing from CO2 poisoning, Keith, Zethrid, and Acxa are doing just fine without their helmets -- though, this might not apply because the humans have had their helmets off for quite a bit longer when we see them)

Either A) no tear ducts, or B) no emotionally-linked tear process (neurologically).

While we've definitely seen Keith cry, we've never actually seen him shed tears. 7x1, “A Little Adventure,” (seen above) is a really good example. When Allura tells Keith that Shiro might not make it, Keith’s eyes start quivering, and his voice gets all choked up. The subtitles even say "[sobs]" – but his eyes remain totally dry. This show is very fond of making characters' eyes well up, so it isn't a matter of animation convention – of all the paladins, this dry-eyed crying is specifically a Keith thing. Since I can't remember ever seeing a Galran shed tears, I'm gonna go ahead and hypothesize that they just... can't (but if I'm forgetting something, please let me know).

Protective inner eyelid (translucent, yellow).

When I mentioned the 'no tear ducts' hc to my friend, he suggested that maybe Galra have a protective inner eyelid instead. My immediate thought was that maybe this was what gave their eyes the yellow tint. They could very well just have yellow scelera, but we know from 6x5 “Black Paladins” that Keith can blink his scelera from white to yellow to white again, and Zethrid's damaged eye in s7 is clouded over white instead of yellow – possibly suggesting the natural color of the eye beneath.

So if Keith has a physical inner eyelid, rather than some magical Galra-rage transformation that turns his eyes yellow, why don’t we see it before the fight with Shiro, and why do we never see it again?

Theory: The process of lowering the inner eyelid is manual, like winking, not automatic, like blinking. Most Galra learn how to do it as children, and find it effortlessly simple, but Keith grew up not even knowing the extra eyelid was there, much less how to use it. After spending time with other Galra (either the Blade, or his mother), he learned how, but he’s not very good at it. He can use it, sometimes, but he can’t quite keep it put the way other Galra do most of the time.

When Shiro punches his helmet off, they’re on a space station high up in the atmosphere; there’s dust and debris and all sorts of things flying about, and it makes sense that he would want to protect his eyes -- but the moment Shiro distracts him by calling out his aggression, he loses his focus, and his eyes blink back to their usual appearance.

(As an additional headcanon, the thickness of the third eyelid varies from Galran to Galran and can distort the appearance of the eyes, which is why some Galra, like Thace, appear to have no irises/pupils at all; some, like yellow-eyed Keith, appear to have narrower irises/pupils than in reality, and some, like Krolia, have similar irises/pupils to humans and Alteans)

Based on Science (Cross-Species Hybridization)

Can't have biological kids. Typically, offspring of two different species are not capable of reproducing, due to inheriting different numbers of chromosomes from each parent. There are some exceptions, but they tend to be in cases where the two parent species are very closely genetically related, and somehow I get the feeling that humans and Galra... aren't.

May or May Not Be Galra-Heritage / Species-Hybrid Related

No facial hair.

While I’m totally here for trans Keith hcs, if we strictly follow canon, we did see his parents naming him as a baby, so he’s probably dmab. Yet, after two years in the wilderness, from around ages 19-21, there isn’t a hint of stubble on his face -- which, like the dry crying, isn’t an animation convention, because Shiro and Sam both grew facial hair in “The Journey” and Sam’s time as a prisoner, respectively. Galra can grow beards - Warlod Ranveig has a spiky mutton chop situation going on -- but since Keith is a two-species hybrid, it’s possible he has some unusual chemical balances that mean he doesn’t present traits that both of his parent species do -- in this case, facial hair.

(I know not everyone can grow a full beard, but he has very dark hair and very light skin -- even the slightest bit of peach fuzz would leave a visual mark)

Psychic Powers. Keith is almost definitely at least a little psychic (I'll go into that more at some point, but short version – sensed the energy of a lion that wasn't his, often responds to things the moment before they happen, was able to pinpoint Macidus's next location by just closing his eyes and feeling for it), but I'm not sure if that's connected to his heritage in any way.

No Canon Basis (Just for Fun)

UV Vision. The Galra ships are so... dark. It's really not conducive to any kind of efficient work. They're also very purple. I think it'd be kinda neat if Galra can see further into the ultraviolet spectrum than humans can – so their ships look dark to us, but the Galra can see just fine. And it’s fun to imagine Keith growing up in the desert with UV vision although maybe not if he doesn’t know how to use his protective eyelid.

Birthmark. Listen, I would love to hc that Keith has some kind of purple vitiligo going on on his torso or legs, or maybe some kind of Galra-like three-toe situation going on, but thanks to the swimsuit episode in s2, we know this guy is human-looking pretty much all over. Still, I'm gonna claim the few square inches they didn't show and say that Keith has a purple birthmark on the side of his upper thigh. His Galra traits don’t all have to be entirely hidden -- Keith knew something was up when he went to the Blade of Marmora, he kept asking them to tell him “where I come from” -- so I like the idea of him having a trait that could, ostensibly, be explained away as a rare human mutation, but in the context of him having an alien knife, makes him start to wonder.

[catflowerqueen]

Oh, just now noticed your other writing prompts, but how about "the truth behind Laura's scary story"? If you still feel like doing those, of course!

The Truth Behind Laura’s Scary Story

So, this took me... a few hours. Hours in which I probably should have been working on my paper for Monday... but ah well. I’ll just do that after I eat dinner. 

It is extremely spoiler filled, so proceed with caution. It is also around fifteen pages long.

Enjoy.

All legends contain a kernel of truth, and this one is no different.

Once upon a time, there was a husband and wife. They were deeply in love, but still very unhappy, for they did not have children. While the goddess they worshipped only had domain over time and space, not fertility, there were other deities out there in the Pantheon, and there was no harm to praying to one that did. So the wife prayed every day for a miracle and was ecstatic when her wish was granted and she gave birth to triplets: A beautiful, eldest boy, and two little girls—identical twin sisters. Their parents were overjoyed, as the children seemed perfect in every way.

…Well, every way but one. Unfortunately, they had inherited their father’s bad genetics when it came to their eyes: they all had coloboma of the iris. They were a bit larger than usual, and the parents feared initially that it may be edging into aniridia territory, but, thankfully, the doctor determined that it just looked like that because the babies’ eyes were still small and developing. So while they would end up with some parts of their irises missing, it wouldn’t be enough that they would suffer too many vision problems—especially if their parents were careful and got them floppy hats and sunglasses to shade and protect their eyes (note—I am not an ophthalmologist or optometrist, I have no idea if this medically correct, though I do know those two conditions exist and cause some interesting and sometimes debilitating eye problems). It was a bit of a shame that it obscured their pretty, baby-blue eyes though. But their mother had the same blue eyes as an adult, so at least a bit of that beautiful color would probably stay with them for the rest of their lives.

 They named the boy Eugene, the youngest girl Jessica, and, the eldest girl… well, the eldest girl was to have a very special name. You see, Relatia’s people were in a period of transition. A few months after her 92nd birthday, the Previous Rainbow Child died peacefully in her sleep. No muss or fuss or overt tragedy—she was just old, and it was her time to go. But today, ah, today was the date that she always returned, and while seven months wasn’t quite long enough for a baby to grow to full term, it was still sufficient for a life to survive, and even thrive, under the right conditions, so she was guaranteed to be born somewhere in the world today. Sure, despite many girls being born among Relatia’s people on this day, none had the characteristic Rainbow eyes, but that happened sometimes. The last Rainbow Child, for instance, had been born in a place called “France,” and search parties had to be sent out to find her and bring her back to her true people, so that’s what would happen this time as well. …Hopefully the searchers that were sent this time would be smarter and kinder about it. Relatia had not been pleased when she found out that the searchers she had sent had basically grabbed the child from the middle of the park she was playing in—without informing her parents, or getting their permission. That… had not been pretty, especially since it took a few months for her to be informed of this since obviously the searchers weren’t going to tell her, and the nascent Rainbow Child could not speak English yet. The point was, today was a propitious day, as the period of tense waiting, almost a second mourning, was finally ended, and people could start transitioning into a more welcoming mode and prepare the new generation for the ascension in 13 years. And as it was such a propitious day, and the couple decide to gift their eldest daughter with the popular and propitious name of “Laura.”

 I feel it is important to note here that there are many signs that point towards a Rainbow Child. There are the obvious ones such as the Birthday and eye color, and, yes, even the name at times, depending on where she came from/who gave it to her, but those are not always the best ways to tell.  As evidenced here, many girls and boys can share a Birthday, and a name… and since eye color is dependent on the iris, even—at least partially, since high amounts of spiritual power/aura can also affect things—in the case of the Rainbow Child… if there is a physical problem with her eyes like, say, coloboma (or turning into a treecko, in one notable case), then one cannot depend on the obvious signs. The eyes may be the window to the soul, but it’s really hard to see things clearly if the window is dirty or broken. In this case, one has to depend on the invisible signs. Among them are the common—love of heights and painting—as well as the uncommon—i.e., the Dimensional Scream ability.

 So imagine the parents shock when, at age five, little Jessica came home from a day of play with her siblings, crying about something scary she saw earlier—one of their close neighbors tripping over a rock and getting a bloody gash on his forehead. Of course, the girl’s mother immediately went next door to check on him, and he was perfectly fine. So she scolded her little girl for telling falsehoods… and then had to apologize the next day when the man came home from the healer’s with a bandaged head from where he tripped over a rock and cut a bloody gash in it.

 So little Eugene, Laura, and Jessica’s parents immediately took Jessica to the high priest/ess, who called for Relatia, and, lo and behold, it was determined that Jessica was, in fact, the nascent Rainbow Child.

 At this point, any sane parent would tell their little girl what was going on, right? If not that she was the actual Rainbow Child—since that is, admittedly, a lot of responsibility to heap on a five year old who doesn’t even know how to read yet—then at least that they found out something special about her, and that in the future she would need some extra lessons in order to help her understand some things and make sure that things were easier for her when she was older, and that of course they loved and cared for her brother and sister just as much as they always had, and, y’know, it might not be a half bad idea to offer them some more lessons and training as well, since the bond between siblings is often very strong and this is going to have a big impact on them in future? Well, you would be right.

 Unfortunately, these were not any sane parents, and while there was no doubt that they loved their children, all their children, just as much has they did before, the prospect of having a famous child and more direct attention from their goddess went way, way to their heads. So they decided that their first course of action was to force their daughters to switch names. And then not tell them why. And then force the new Laura into some intensive training and classes… and not tell any of their kids why, or what they were for.

 This, of course, led to extreme jealousy and hurt in the new Jessica, who had liked her old name and didn’t understand why her sister got to take both it and a lot more of Mommy and Daddy’s attention, and confusion, jealousy, and hurt from the new Laura, who didn’t want a new name, and who wanted to be able to go and play outside all day like she used to, like her siblings still could, like they were all supposed to since Mommy and Daddy had said they wouldn’t start school until they were six. And poor, poor Eugene was pretty much shuffled off to the side—a bit jealous at the lack of attention, but mostly upset that it meant he was the only available target for the new Jessica’s anger and unhappiness since, again, his parents and other sister were now sequestered away a lot of the time.

 The siblings’ relationship only deteriorated from there—though there were some moments of unity and closeness, where they decided to just forgo their parents’ names altogether and call each other by special nicknames. Iris, for the new Jessica, because of the coloboma messing with her irises. Pupil for the new Laura, both because it was a play on the eye condition she shared with her sister and the alternate definition of the word—a student—because of how much of her time was now spent studying. Genie for Eugene, since they couldn’t think of any more eye puns and Pupil shared the same sorts of nicknaming conventions that her eventual successor would have—which, really, should have been another early indicator of who she was, as she had practically forced everyone to call her “Jessie” when her legal name had still been Jessica.

 But, again, though these small moments of unity existed, they were not enough to save the close relationship the siblings once had—one close enough that they used to count as her partners when it came to the Dimensional Scream. But gradually those slowed down as trust was lost. Jealously can lead people to act very badly, and, in a desperate bid for attention, Iris would often act out causing problems and then blaming them on her sister. One would think that it would be obvious who exactly was acting out… but biases can do strange things to people as well. It isn’t uncommon to assume that children in positions of power will act like spoiled brats sometimes, so everyone assumed that the position of Rainbow Child had just gone to Pupil’s head, and made her act bratty—so, really, punishing her was a good thing, as it would teach her the humility she would need when she actually grew into her power. Of course, because the adults all knew who she was, as did the children when they turned 13, they forgot that Pupil would not assume she was anything other than an average child—albeit one with the Dimensional Scream ability—and so would have no idea the scrutiny her actions were put under. Complaints about the unfair treatment would, of course, only further the idea that she was a good-for-nothing brat who needed to learn some responsibility, and that her sister—who was, in reality, the true perpetrator of the misdeeds—was a real trooper, a little angel, and it must be so hard for her to try and resist her sister’s temptations, so of course a little misbehavior here and there is acceptable. She probably just wants some attention.

 Genie, of course, was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because on the one hand, he actually bothered to check and differentiate between his sisters and knew who was really misbehaving—in part because Iris was quickly becoming a bully and would coerce him into helping her—so he knew that a lot of the treatment towards Pupil was unfair. On the other hand… going along with Iris’ plans still netted him some positive attention. And stopped her from punching him. So as much as he tried to play mediator or throw Pupil the occasional bone… he started to become a little bit of a bully as well. And yet… those occasional bones did let him continue to act as a Dimensional Scream partner, even if the resulting visions were far weaker than they should have been… but that only furthered the problems of the sibling dynamics.

 Of course, pretty much all of this went over Relatia’s head, because everyone was nothing but doting towards Pupil whenever the goddess was around—which definitely caused some emotional whiplash—and the siblings actually genuinely got along more-or-less when she was around, because she loved to spend time with all of them—even if she still favored Pupil. She thought it was great that this Rainbow Child had a built-in set of friends and allies, and that she didn’t have to be lonely when Relatia was away. And no one—not even the children—would ever dare tell her otherwise because… well, she was a goddess. And even though she was typically benevolent, there were tons of stories about how volatile her temper could get, and exactly what happened when she was unhappy, and even if the kids didn’t really understand her interest, they knew enough to read the room and mood and determine for themselves that it probably wouldn’t end well for the majority of the townsfolk if they found out exactly what was going on when she wasn’t around.

 But Relatia at least noticed enough to see that pupil was getting more stressed as she got older, even if she didn’t really know the cause, so when she and her siblings were about 12, she decided that she would take this nascent Rainbow Child on the traditional, at least once a lifetime Rainbow Child trip to the Pokémon World—maybe even extending the trip long enough for her to ascend there, if she seemed to be having a good time. So she packed everyone up and they headed to the pokemon world, arriving at the home of one of her liasons—a ninetales with an extremely powerful and potent grasp on the Dimensional Scream.

 She had the group stay there for a little bit since the trip was short notice and those worshippers who lived in the pokemon world—human and pokemon alike—weren’t prepared for such a big group. This… was probably a mistake. Well, it was definitely a mistake, especially given what would happen later, but what was more of a mistake is the fact that Relatia didn’t stick around for introductions or instructions beyond “Don’t let these people die or wander away into the freezing cold mountains,” so Ninetales had no idea that the nascent Rainbow Child was part of the group. Or that she had two siblings—one of whom was an identical twin. Or that said twin had a wildly different personality to her given their upbringing, and that the reason she no longer really went out of her way to try and talk to people or start conversations was because she didn’t really expect kindness or belief any more from anyone who wasn’t Relatia or—occasionally—her siblings (meaning her brother, typically). Least of all from a strange adult pokemon who looked intimidating (as both an adult and as a pokemon in general, since this was Pupil’s first time seeing one in real life) and was already annoyed at having to play host to a bunch of strangers. The kids’ bratty behavior did not endear them to her at all—in Iris’ case because she was the one actually acting bratty and rude and in Genie’s case because he wasn’t stopping her, and Ninetales was too proud to deign to look beneath the surface and realize that it was out of fear of his sister’s behavior. And Pupil was so quiet as to be beneath her notice—Ninetales literally had no idea she was there, as any glimpses she saw she attributed to actually being glimpses of Iris—in part because Pupil was too nervous to really venture far from her parents while Iris had no such compunctions and basically went wherever she pleased in the cave—and assumed that these moments of silent staring and not acknowledging her complaints, lectures, and warnings, were more bouts of rudeness rather than a completely separate person who had no idea what she was talking about. Ninetales was glad when Relatia finally came back for them and she was left alone. She never wanted them to come back, ever, and swore that she wouldn’t help them of her own volition if they ever did come back.

 Luckily, the group of people that Relatia took them to next had actually been prepped about the visitors’ identities and were very happy and willing to meet with everyone. They were also more open to people in general, and actually took the time to look beneath the surface and differentiate between the siblings. They didn’t put up with any of Iris’ nonsense, as they knew very well who was really causing all the trouble. But they still weren’t quite able to get to the bottom of the spoiled relationship or realize just how rotten it had become, nor did they bother to inform the parents about what was up—other than some raised eyebrows whenever the adults tried to claim that Pupil was in any way a brat.

 There were also some pokemon in the group who became especially close to the triplets. A shuppet at first became close friends with Pupil, a gardevoir would become close with Genie, and a haunter would initially be interested in Iris. She was not very happy with this, especially when the haunter realized what a jerk she was and started to keep more of a distance and the shuppet realized that Iris had way more jealously that Pupil did and became fixated on her due to out of fascination/mild hunger. The gardevoir friendship was extremely unexpected… at least as first. But it became clearer as Genie could afford to let his walls down more in this new world, and could actually escape from Iris for a bit and act like a real brother to Pupil without fear of retribution. And Gardevoir could sense that from the beginning. Pupil, of course, was enthralled to find people who actually liked her and were nice to her… but she was still shy and wary. The siblings had a lot more free time in general in this world, in part because the whole thing was basically being treated as a learning experience for Pupil anyways and she was so close to ascension that formal lessons could be held off for now… as well as the fact the pokemon were subtly keeping her parents and the others from the human world away from her as much as possible since they could tell that something was wrong. Relatia was also too busy to keep that many tabs on her, since she had taken the group to some of her worshippers who lived in a different region than the Golden Child did—meaning she hadn’t had as much contact with them as she probably should, and the smaller amount of Time Gears in the area made things a bit more volatile in general. It was something of a work in progress, and the Golden Child was too busy with other things to join them right away.

 This meant that it was fairly easy for Pupil to slip away to just hang out with her brother and gardevoir—and to start having Dimensional Screams again now that she could trust him better. She particularly liked hanging out on top of a cliff/bluff overlooking the sea—because the Rainbow Child is always fixated on tall things, the ocean, and combinations therof. This would eventually come back to bite her, hard, when Iris finally found out where she was going, about a week before their thirteenth birthday.

 She was not happy. At all. Not with the fact that she wasn’t invited, not with the way things were going in general, not with how unfair and terrible all three of her siblings’ lives had been up to that point. So she took it out on Pupil, Pupil finally gained enough confidence to fight back, Genie tried to intervene because, despite everything, he really did love both his sisters, and, well…

 The fact that they didn’t know whose fault it ultimately was would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Did Iris push her? Did Genie? Did she simply lose her footing? …Did she finally decide she couldn’t handle it any more and jump off herself?

 Whatever the cause, the effect was Pupil, lying at the bottom of the cliff, blood everywhere… unconscious, but not quite dead. Not yet. And the very world itself seemed frantic to keep it that way. A Rainbow Child had never yet died before ascension, after all, and no one knew quite what would happen if Pupil was the first.

 Iris freaked out and ran away, back to camp, both to try and hide the evidence and because she was horrified by what happened since, deep down, she still loved her sister dearly. But the others stayed. Haunter forced himself to evolve into Gengar so that he would be able to grab Pupil’s spirit and force it back if it tried to leave her body. Shuppet did his best to help. And Gardevoir somehow, someway used her powers to call for help—grabbing the greatest rescuer ever—a Lucario—from a distant time in order to help their group make it back to camp—not realizing at the time that she was actually creating a bit of a paradox, as it would be this rescue which would cement him in history as the greatest long before he was even born. As well as… one other effect, which would not become apparent until later, and which neither of them would probably realize the significance of in the aftermath. At least, not right away.

 But in any case, they made it back to camp after an arduous journey. The Lucario was sent to his proper time once more. Pupil remained clinging to life by the barest threads, but it was hard. And Gengar and Shuppet were exhausted from their efforts. But they couldn’t exactly hand the task off to anyone else at this point, because the thread was so delicate that an attempt would likely snap it. Instead, some sort of power-up or psychic boost would be more helpful. Which is when Shuppet remembered that he’d heard something about ninetales’ tails being full of psychic energy—even down to the smallest bit of fur, and Genie remembered where a ninetales lived, and Garevoir remembered where she could acquire the TM for the move Teleport.

 But none of them remembered that Ninetales all but hated Genie and his sister, nor did they realize that she had no idea that he had more than two.

 Genie made it back, holding some fur which was full of psychic energy—and also, though unknown to him, slightly cursed. Gardevoir did not. And Genie refused to tell anyone what happened. Just as he, Iris, and the

 But the fur worked, despite the curse. Though it did leave somewhat of an imprint of the events seared into Pupil’s unconscious psyche… a distorted version always staiying just in the back of mind, transcending all her lives in the form of a scary story. And she even woke up one last time, the morning of her thirteenth birthday, when energy coursed through her as she ascended. She didn’t have much time left, but what little time she did she used to bless her siblings.

 For, you see, all legends have kernels of truth within in them, even as they become distorted over time. According to legend, Relatia is the one who charged the Time Gears. According to legend, Relatia is the one who blessed the Rainbow Child with the gift of reincarnation. But the truth is that Relatia had nothing to do with it—the Rainbow Child did both things all on her own. And she could tell that there was curse nearby, even if she was too out of it to determine which sibling it had been laid on. And she wanted another chance to know them, when their relationship wasn’t so tainted by what had happened in this life. So… she gave them a blessing. A small twist on the curse. One chance at reincarnation. One hope that they would meet again. No knowledge if she had done enough to let them remember, or if she—or the curse—would leave their memories in a state similar to hers whenever she reincarnated. And then she died.

 And then her siblings found out that she was the Rainbow Child. And realized how much their lives had been ruined, despite knowing how much love persisted in their family, despite the rot. And Relatia took everyone home, and decided that it was too dangerous for the Rainbow Child to visit other worlds, and that she was too upset by this experience and wouldn’t come of her own volition anymore either—only if someone called her for help, like if Temporal Tower started to decay.

 So people in the pokemon world gradually forgot the legends, and no one thought to call her when Temporal Tower started crumbling. And the Spirit Trio forgot the true purpose of the Time Gears. And when a Rainbow Child did finally return, it was nearly a thousand years later—possibly longer, since it’s kind of hard to tell how many years have actually passed when the world is paralyzed and the pokemon in charge of time has gone insane.

 Meanwhile, upon return to the human world, Iris bolted pretty much immediately. She ran away from home and from her people as soon as she could, and no one really tried to stop her—beyond ensuring the typical protections so that Relatia’s people could remain secret and safe—and no one ever found out what happened to her. So her parents essentially lost both their daughters.

 Genie stayed. He actually became an acolyte and guard… and fourteen or so years later, he met a blonde girl with eyes like rainbows, on the day of her ascension as the Rainbow Child. She was looking for her little brother, who had run away during preparations for her and her family’s parade through the crowd as part of the ceremony, since he was embarrassed and ashamed to show his facial scars to everyone in the crowd—facial scars which he shared with his sister, from the fire that killed their parents and was started when their alcoholic cousin, who was visiting at the time, fell asleep on the couch while smoking a cigarette. She and her brother had been living with their grandparents when she was found, and her grandparents had actually been very happy to bring the remains of their little family over to join Relatia’s people, as they thought a bit of change would be good for their darling grandchildren after all the trauma they’d endured. But she was still trying to get used to things—especially the new language, and the fact that everyone’s first instinct was to call her by a different name, “Laura,” than the one she’d used all her life, and she knew that her brother would still be in the same boat, and now hopelessly lost on top of everything else, so if Genie could please help her, that would be really great.

 Genie asked if she recognized him. She said his outfit looked kind of familiar? Maybe she’d seen him around the temple? But that was it.

 He asked for a posting in a temple far away, maybe by the portals which the Rainbow Child was now forbidden to visit?

 His request was granted, and he lived a long, if quiet, life, and died peacefully in his sleep.

 And nearly a thousand years later, he was reincarnated as a ghastly, with no memories of his former life until he turned thirteen and began remembering more, little by little. Starting with the fact that he used to be human.

 And it wasn’t until the curse of Gardevoir—and the remnants on him which his former incarnation’s sister’s blessing couldn’t fully remove—that he started to remember he had siblings.

 And it wasn’t until much, much later, that he began to remember everything that happened that fateful day on the cliff.

 But he still never found out what caused his sister to fall.

 But by that point… it didn’t really matter any more.

[lemonysnidget]

The book’s cover

or “Some musings on the appearance of the Denouement brothers” 

Re-reading the series as a medical student, there are some parts of ASOUE that stick out to me as interesting or just wrong medically and scientifically. I’ve talked about how Kit’s decision isn’t actually what it seems to be when you look at it with a scientific understanding. I haven’t thought that it was worth pointing out in a separate post so I’ll just say it here - Sunny’s allergic reaction to peppermints is impossible since she was never previously exposed to peppermints. Etc. 

One of the things that I noticed while reading TPP was the rather unusual descriptions of the physical appearance of the Denouement brothers:

He was very tall and skinny, and his arms and legs stuck out at odd angles, as if he were made of drinking straws instead of flesh and bone. He was dressed in a uniform similar to that of the Baudelaires', but with the word MANAGER printed in fancy script over one of the pockets of his coat. (12.3)

Before either Baudelaire sister could hazard a guess, a phrase which here means "attempt to answer Klaus's question," the tall, skinny manager reappeared at their sides. (12.3)

The door of the sauna swung open, and Klaus saw a tall, dim figure step into the steam. (12.5)

... but the siblings did not think of the objects they were fetching, or the guests who were waiting for them, or even the tall, skinny figure of either Frank or Ernest, who would occasionally rush by them on errands of his own. (12.7)

Faintly, they could see a shadowy shape lowering itself from the machinery of the clock using what looked like a thick rope. It was an eerie sight, like a spider lowering itself to the center of a web, but the Baudelaires could not help but admire the skill with which it was done. With only a slight shuffle, the shape drew closer and closer, until at last the children could see it was a man, tall and skinny, with his legs and arms sticking out at odd angles, as if he were made of drinking straws instead of flesh and bone. (12.7) 

... but all the Baudelaires heard was Dewey's pained, choking gasp, as he stumbled backward through the lobby, one hand on his chest, and the other clutching the tail end of the harpoon, which stuck out from his body at an odd angle, like a drinking straw, or a reflection of one of Dewey's skinny arms. (12.8)

There might be three Denouement brothers, but there are at least six references to their body shape, which seems a bit excessive. Most other characters who only appear in one book get a brief description about their appearance, if they get any at all, but Handler really, really is hammering it home that the Denouements are of the beanpole build, and it’s unusual to the Baudelaires and Lemony. 

Rereading the books and coming across these descriptions of the Denouement brothers, I can’t help but contemplate the possibility that the Denouements have a condition known as Marfan Syndrome. Those who have inherited the autosomal dominant mutation have alterations in their connective tissue (fibrillin, if you’re interested), and as a result, those with MFS have a pretty distinctive body shape.

You can see some pictures over at the Marfan Foundation’s website that they have put together to raise awareness of what MFS looks like. 

From the Marfan Foundation:

Every person’s experience with Marfan syndrome is slightly different. No one has every feature and people have different combinations of features. Some features of Marfan syndrome are easier to see than others. These include:

Long arms, legs and fingers Tall and thin body type Curved spine Chest sinks in or sticks out Flexible joints Flat feet Crowded teeth Stretch marks on the skin that are not related to weight gain or loss

Now, not everyone who gets the gene will have full blown MFS - severity varies. But almost everyone who inherits the AD mutation will have some degree of MFS. They might only have a few mild manifestations, but it’s commonly taught as an example of “complete penetrance but variable expressivity” in genetics courses. So, you can have someone with Marfans who has the “habitus” (aka build) from the gene, but they might not have some of the more concerning complications like increased risk of aortic aneurysm, for example. It’s entirely possible to have MFS and lead a basically normal life, except having a slightly unusual body shape. 

I therefore have to wonder if perhaps, the Denouements remarkable appearance is a result of MFS (there are a couple other conditions that can cause a ‘marfanoid body habitus’ but these also cause other symptoms that would make VFDing not an option). They could have a mild manifestation of the syndrome, but if they do, that’s some awesome diversity on the part of Handler. I don’t think there are many YA/Childrens Lit characters that have MFS. (Representation of all kinds matter!)

An interesting aside, if you take Helquist’s illustrations as canon and that the Denouements also are wearing sunglasses like the Baudelaires, then there’s actually a potential explanation for the sunglasses.

People with MFS frequently have problems with their eyes because fibrillin is important in the eye. These problems sometimes require surgical interventions. A consequence of a lot of eye surgeries is photophobia (in the sense of light being painful or uncomfortable for your eyes, not that you’re afraid of the light - think about how people with migraines can’t stand light). Sometimes this is a permanent state. 

If the Denouements have MFS, and one (or all) of them had an ocular problem that required surgery, the Denouements might have found it necessary to add sunglasses to their uniform in order to be able to tolerate light and go about daily life. 

While more likely than not, the sunglasses are supposed to function on a symbolic level - representing the “smoke and mirrors” and misrepresentation going on with VFD, and also the Baudelaires being ‘in the dark’ about a lot. It is undeniably interesting to consider that the Denouements are just finding ways to live their lives... and look completely badass while doing it. 

I’m not sure how intentional Handler was with this, but I think that there is enough evidence to support him wanting us to notice the triplet’s characteristic build. The descriptions provided by Handler allow the possibility that the Denouements are a very example of diversity and representation that doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, which after the ‘freaks’ in TCC, is actually a good counter example. And it makes Dewey’s reassurances to Hugo, Colette, and Kevin all the more resonant. 

[greyias]

☂️

☂   Gravestone lift malfunctions temporarily trapping OC and Lana, Theron, and/or Koth – from the SWTOR Style Prompt Meme.

Takes place sometime on the journey back to Odessen during KOTET Chapter V. Contains a small reference to part of Unsent Correspondence (although that’s probably not necessary reading to follow).

“Stupid piece of junk,” Theron snarled, punching at the button again. He had already been in a sore mood before the damn lift had malfunctioned and effectively trapped them there.

“That ‘piece of junk’ can probably hear you,” came the sage reply from the person responsible for his current mood. “You might want to speak with a little more respect.”

“It’s a spaceship,” he snapped, “I doubt it’s listening.”

“SCORPIO said that the Gravestone is very intellig—”

“Hang what that conniving bucket of bolts said!”

“Why are you yelling at me?”

“Why am I—?” 

He cut himself off, mouth shutting with an audible click before he turned back to the lift controls and savagely smashed his hand on the button again to take out his spike of aggression. Maybe if he hit it hard enough it the door would suddenly pop open. Or at the very least take away the red haze that tinted his vision. He’d been attempting to go walk off his foul mood in one of the many long, lonely corridors of the Gravestone when she’d joined him in the lift, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he didn’t want company. 

“Theron,” the Jedi’s voice dropped to a low, concerned tone, “why are you so angry? Did I do something that upset you?”

He pierced her with a glare, snorting out an angry breath as he tried to reel his temper back in. A cramped, broken lift was not the place to have this conversation, but apparently their semi-sentient spaceship had other ideas. Or, more likely, was suffering some unforeseen aftereffects from their recent escape from that deathtrap of a planet where it had been built.

She reached out to touch his arm in her typical gesture of conciliation and calm, but he jerked it away, although he couldn’t really escape in the small confined space. The action drew a small sound of surprise and her brows drew together in a mixture of guilt and hurt that almost penetrated the angry haze that had descended over him. Almost. 

He was not going to let this go, no matter how big of puppy dog eyes she flashed him.

When he finally thought he had a handle on his temper, he managed to grind out, “Did you do something? You mean other than order me to leave you to die?”

Grey swallowed hard at the sharp edge in his tone, eyes still a little too wide and blue for him to completely ignore. “I—I was trying to protect you and everyone else aboard the Gravestone. Considering the risks I thought it best that—”

“That you sacrifice yourself needlessly?”

“It’s not needless if everyone else survives. You had an opening to leave—”

“How is you playing martyr again an opening?”

She flinched at that. “Playing martyr? Is that what you think I do?”

“No, I… damn it!” He slammed his fist back against the sealed door. It didn’t budge, but he was pretty sure something in his hand did if the spike of pain that lanced up it was anything to go by. He couldn’t suppress the foul curse as he cradled it, but refused to turn around and face the concerned expression he could feel burning into his back. 

He could still very painfully remember the last time he’d been this pissed off, and the reason why was standing right behind him. At least that time he’d had an entire bottle of fine Corellian whiskey that he could blame for his destructive behavior—he could try to attribute his temper on genetics, say it was inherited from the Revan genes, or maybe even the Malcolm side of the family—but that would be a lie. This time it was all him. And unfortunately the reason for his angry outburst this time and the last was bearing full witness to his darker side.

It was an ugly part of him that he’d tried to control, tried to shove away ever since they started the Alliance. Considering the makeup of their motley crew back on Odessen, he’d found himself falling back on the old lessons of Master Zho more than he’d ever thought he would. He used to be much more practical, more ready to sacrifice pieces of the dejarik board if it meant things came out in the favor of his side. But somewhere along the line something had changed, and the dejarik pieces had started to resemble actual people instead of some abstract concept. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d taken a more hands-on approach than he had during his time with the SIS, brought on by the hard years as the Eternal Fleet flattened everything around him, or if it was due to the  influence of the woman currently staring a hole in his back. 

Either way, he didn’t want to slide back into the angry, despondent man he’d been after Ziost. After Zakuul.

But unfortunately want didn’t translate into action, and he could still feel the desperation and fury crawling under his skin like an iknayid scurrying through its web. Could feel it in every beat of his heart, every pulse of blood in his veins. As if his anger and sorrow was trying to break free from the chains he was desperately trying to lock down. He tried to swallow it back and focus on the pain in his hand. Unfortunately that surged on every thump of his heart, accentuated by the rise in his blood pressure.

This was the moment where he was supposed to take a breath. Supposed to calm down and reflect. Supposed to recite some ancient code that ultimately didn’t apply to him due to some fluke of genetics. All it did was amplify every sensation on every lungful he took in. Pull in every wave of fury on each cadence — until it was almost too much to ignore. Instead of calming down, he focused in on the pain in his hand, tried to hold on to each flare of it to anchor himself in the moment. He wanted to run out the doors barring his escape and lose himself in these ancient halls until he found himself again in the calm of solitude.

But he couldn’t escape his irrational anger — and neither could she.

“Theron…”

Her voice blended into the too sharp memory of their escape from Iokath, of the thoughtless words barked out over the comm. Forget about me, Theron. The Alliance can’t lose the Gravestone.

Forget… he’d never been able to forget. No matter how hard he’d tried. And oh, he had tried. With every shot of whiskey, every foolhardy mission, he’d tried so damn hard to forget it all, but he’d never been able to banish her face whenever he’d closed his eyes.

And I can’t lose you!

Because he’d already done that once—and it had nearly killed him. Some stupid ancient warship was a pale comparison to the most important thing in his life. Something he’d never imagined he’d have another chance with. Because it was only after she was gone that it had hit him in full. The full feeling of everything that they’d had, of everything that they’d lost. That acute sense of unfulfilled promise had haunted his every step, every waking moment forever a shadow of what could have been. An unending nightmare that had plagued him right up until the moment that he’d been told of his second chance.

A second chance that in the heat of battle she’d been willing to ignore—willing to throw away. For what? What survival did anyone have without her at the helm of their unsteady ship against Zakuul? What chance did he have each morning without her to remind him of what he was fighting for? He’d seen the cold and hollow expanse of the galaxy stretching before him endlessly — that path too long and full of shadows he’d long tired of fighting by himself.

He barely registered when he’d turned sharply on his heel, or how he’d crowded into her space as he’d cornered her against the wall. An action more forceful and bold than he usually took as indicated by her sharp inhale. The crush of his lips against hers was not an act of kindness but more something borne of desperation. He didn’t have the words for the tangle of emotions swirling around him. He never had the words no matter how desperately he wanted them. All he had was what he was able to put into action, as frantic and inarticulate as it was, he could only hope it somehow translated.

She should have pushed back against him, shoved him up against the doors he’d been uselessly pounding against in his attempt to escape as she was so very capable of. She could flatten him in an instant, without so much of a thought if she really wanted to. That she could have done that, but was ever so restrained somehow fueled his thirst further.

Her stillness, her hesitation, only lasted for the briefest of moments. Likely as she took in the action and tried to render the wordless struggle into some sort of logical equation. He felt her understanding kick in the moment her fingers curled into his neck, the pressure of her rough calluses against his soft, vulnerable skin almost painful. Her kiss in return was almost as hard as his, surprisingly unrelenting and powerful as if she couldn’t articulate something herself.

It wasn’t an apology. Not exactly. But Theron could swear that he tasted the regret on her tongue, even if her mouth never actually formed the word sorry.

He broke contact first, chest pounding wildly as his lungs heaved with the lack of air. He registered, almost barely, the feel of her forehead resting into the crook of his neck like a wilting flower going to rest. His throat was dry, and it took several swallows before he was able to speak properly.

“Don’t you ever ask me to do that again.” The firmness in voice wavered, cracking with an emotion he couldn’t suppress no matter how hard he tried. “Please.”

The last single word was almost as desperate and loud as the mad thumping of his heart trying to leap out of his chest. He would have tried to silence it, but his traitorous tongue had already stopped listening his commands.

“I… won’t.” Her speech was stuttered, although he couldn’t tell if it was because of the impromptu makeout session, or the emotion tinging her own voice.

Suddenly realizing how horribly awkward and imposing he’d been, he tried to put distance between he two to them but she held on to the collar of his jacket with a firm, unyielding grip. He swallowed, and looked down into her wide blue eyes. Some unquantifiable depth of emotion lurked there, but despite all his spy training he wasn’t able to decipher exactly what it meant. Just that it was meant for him.

“Do you think you can find out why the lift is broken?” The hushed tone of her question belied the intensity of the gaze she had him pinned with.

“Maybe,” he said hoarsely, “with a little time.”

“I don’t want to wait long,” she whispered. “Nor do I want to risk the rest of this being interrupted by an unwitting bystander.”

Somehow without actually speaking her intent, he understood what she meant all too clear. And the cramped quarters of a broken lift, while entertaining and thrilling for a brief amount of time, were not adequate to the emotions surging through him that he could freely express in the privacy of her quarters.

“Although,” she said after a moment, “we should probably find some kolto for your hand.”

“You have a little stowed away in your quarters, don’t you?” he asked, only half-joking.

“I might,” she said, “but wouldn’t you rather—”

“No,” he said firmly, “it can wait. Trust me.”

“Always.” The smile she graced him with lit up the cramped confines of the lift. “But I must insist on making sure you are cared for.”

Of course she did. It was one of the many reasons he couldn’t bear the thought of facing a day without her by his side. Despite the pain and everything else surging through him, he leaned forward and gave her a much gentler peck on the lips than he had before, earning the quiet smile he loved seeing so much. “Then let’s get out of here.”

“Yes,” she said, “lets.”

With another breath, this one much smoother and more controlled, he turned back to the stubborn controls that had so far eluded his control. It only took a few moments before he was able to isolate the problem and restore the programming. With a firm press of the finger from his good hand, the door swished open to the proper floor. She grasped his uninjured fingers firmly, pulling them free of their confines and leading him back towards the privacy of her quarters—where he could adequately express the full range of emotions he’d been trying to push away, and let her know exactly how needed she was over any warship or the needs of the galaxy.

The quiet, dimpled smile she flashed back at him as she led the way let him know that the need was more than mutual. And the last of his anger bled away, replaced with a much deeper, and more undeniable emotion that he’d be able to let loose once they reached the confines of her quarters. 

That.

That was something he’d gladly set free.

[sleepymarmot]

COUNTER/Weight liveblog, part 2

Episodes 23-40

Keith hasn't listened to the previous episode and Austin & Ali are cackling like “You got a big storm coming” lmao

…Look I understand the idea of making Tea an ally after the players and audience got to know her in the Kingdom game but the excuse is really thin

“A gift for his little brother” You guys are really bad at this gender neutrality thing huh

AuDy talking to Orth makes my head spin a bit now

Oh so Addax is the leader of the Angels? The person who has been watching the Chime from the shadows = the group that has been spying on them? Okay, I now feel dumb for not putting this together myself.

Wait I lost track again. Who were Jacq & Jill working for initially that gave them access to those immortality tanks? Iirc it was Odamas who had that technology and then gave Horizon access to it while imposing strict rules on them during the merge? So why does Jacqui get less fun assignments now if she was a part of the winning faction, not the losing one?

Oh cool, so Jamil wanted to hand over the virus to the Angels because they're both just from the Rapid Evening?

“A bard notices their enemy's heart isn't in the fight, so they stop fighting, fall in love” is such a specific thing. How the hell did it happen twice on the same show. Is this the new big gay trope now

Heeeey could you stop punching me in the stomach with intros

So, Jacqui was working for Horizon, which in turn was given this job by Petrichor? Still doesn't answer my question…

Do I have to mentally rewrite the entire holiday special so that in every scene on the Kingdom Come everyone is floating in zero gravity all the time?! I'm sorry but this makes no fucking sense!

The doppelganger thing started really creepy but now it just makes my head spin! Please stop it with the names, I'm too easily confused, especially with a show that has a record of passing characters back and forth between the GM and the players!

Re: that whole thing: aaaaAAAAA???

I don't understand what Austin and Jack are doing but it's pretty magical

God, the Aria/Jacqui scene is so… tender? Idk. Austin's gentle “PC's love interest” voice has murdered me again. I'm not sold on Jacqui by herself as a character but on the feelings between the two? Definitely. (Though I still wonder about Aria’s heroism vs Jacqui’s disregard for life. That’s a biiig value clash)

Okay, this was all very unsettling and I still understand so little

I really love that Sokrates' refusal to make that one nameless person take the fall, which seemed (at least to me) kinda stubborn and shortsighted, turned into a key moment, both because it demonstrates integrity, and now because that person becomes an actual NPC as an important asset in their faction

I love how the idea of moving Rigour to September comes up and everyone starts screaming and I do too! They sure love leaving horrifying surprises for the ground team to stumble upon lol

Is it too callous and unwise of me to react to Ibex overthrowing the Hands of Grace as “good riddance”?

Maryland's letter has strong Alyosha/Arrell vibes

I love the “reluctant alliance with an antagonist” trope and was hoping it'd happen with Ibex so I'm happy! Also in one of the early episodes Austin mentioned the Anders-Justice storyline and I'm glad to hear him finally deliver. (There was stuff about the pilot/Candidate->Divine influence with Order, but not about the other way around or fusion, like with Vengeance)

Okay thankfully things are clearer now (I'm reeeally glad I wasn't spoiled on this) but I still have so many questions. How were LD made in the first place? Why and how did they hide in/turn themselves into a simple robot? What are they – just software, like Righteousness, or is there some Divine hardware core inside the normal Automated Dynamics unit that nobody has noticed somehow, or is the hardware in a remote location they access through the mesh? Did Ibex know AuDy was LD the whole time – he didn't act very surprised? Why didn't Ibex rescue his brother, did he die really quickly? How will Mako be able to fog without Righteousness? Shouldn't AuDy be gamebreakingly powerful now? How and why do LD count as two Divines but have a single consciousness, are they like Garnet?

Lazer Ted feels like a fucking TAZ character lmao

The comic relief was welcome but at the same time I'm continuously like “What is AuDy thinking and feeling. Why are they acting like nothing happened. Where's the existential crisis. How do you realize you're a pair of ancient gods and just proceed with your life? Are they so impenetrable on purpose because they're a robot”. Like, it was chilling when they were suddenly chatting with Ibex like old friends, and now it's chilling that they're acting just in the early episodes.

I'm glad the robot incident made everyone realize it might be unwise to put the two charming extraverts in the same half of the party lol

Looks like they decided to permanently switch back to “he” for Cass… Probably for the best.

Jack keeps excitedly jumping at every opportunity for creepiness™. God, AuDy makes so much more sense as his character now after the Reveal

Is September just fucking Solaris now?

I think this is the first time I'm not excited to hear a faction game episode because I really didn't expect it at this point in the story. My reaction was “Wait what? Are you telling me everyone gets stuck on September waiting out that storm for a whole month?! I wanted to hear what that cliffhanger led to!” Idk, the September arc was generally kind of a let down after the intensity of the episodes leading up to it, and this further deflates the tension.

Speaking of tension and letdowns, I just have to complain… It's really disappointing when the show sets up really big dramatic hooks and then does practically nothing with them! I complained about Addax and Cass in the previous post and that point still stands. Case two: Mako and Righteousness/Voice. It's set up in a faction episode, and in the immediately following arc Mako indeed is in danger from something inside his own head, but it's a completely unrelated thing! At the end of the arc he finally finds out, but the threat immediately gets nullified with no consequences – no self-doubt or identity crisis, no diminished abilities in terms of game mechanics. Case three: Ibex himself. Out of the reasons the Kingdom game is what it is, the excuse for it happening in-universe was to give more details on Ibex, and at least half of it featured a collective effort to make him as central to the story and as threatening as possible. But as soon as that flashback ends, so, counterintuitively, does the role of Ibex as an active antagonist to the Chime -- the role which was literally just supposed to begin in earnest. So by this point I can barely recall why we were all so intimidated by this guy in the first place. I'm more like “This is a useful ally to have”. This is what I don't like about the world-ending threats like Rigor: all other interesting conflicts fade in their face.

Dang, I thought Isurus was a cooler name than Enhydra!

Sokrates, forced to shake Ibex's hand: *clenched fist meme*

Wait, I missed something, why is Rigor deep underground and has to dig itself out?

Okay, after the lore episode I'm also confused how Rigor ended up underground on Ionias after it was blown up 20000 years ago in a completely different place

I'm very distressed by the idea of Hieron as a future popular franchise!! No, it's supposed to be real when these people are talking about it!! Oh wait a fucking second, does this mean Jace's Panther was a deliberate reference in-universe?? Like you're fighting in a real serious terrible war and you model a giant war machine after, like, a thestral from the fucking Harry Potter and just call it “Thestral”??!

No, no, wait, do tell me who Cass and AuDy would cosplay!

Oh no, Rigour wants to talk to Voice(?), great

Hey Cass, your Hadrian is showing??

Speaking of Hadrian, I was caught off guard by description of Tower as a “hot young Hadrian”, for some reason Hadrian never struck me as a character who's supposed to be exceptionally attractive. But then again, I imagined him as very young until that letter to Hella, and then I imagined Cass as a young adult until I did the math, so I might just be bad at visualising Art's characters lol.

Austin is so generous and unsubtle about throwing hot gay NPCs right at the players. Too bad Mako doesn't sound as interested as Aria did.

I expected they'd find a room with one copy of everyone plugged into the mesh, that'd be even creepier. What's with the false memories though? This doesn't explain them.

So, how does this whole clone system work? How does time work? Why don't the real students like Tower or Maxine notice that there's a new guy who looks just like their friend, but doesn't know them – or, for that matter, why don't the other clones notice? Oh, maybe that's the purpose of the fake memory aura? So that Maritime-4 could continue right from where Maritime-3 left off?

When Cass saw Apokine's face I thought it meant that the humans had genetically engineered the Apostolosians and that's what “we made them look like us” meant, which would be two of my long-standing questions answering each other. And then it was just another giant mech.. :/

Wait, does Orth calling Cass “Apokine” mean that he pilots the mech now or that Sokrates died and Cass inherited his position?! I'm worried now…

I'm even more worried about Mako, because at first I of course reacted to the question about being in two places at once as “hah, Larry”, but it's probably the other thing, and on one hand that must mean that the rescue of clones was successful, but also that means that our Mako might be dead and the one in the intro is one of the clones… Considering that in the Winter post-mortem I caught Keith saying how emotional the C/w finale was for him before I started fast-forwarding in fear of spoilers, do I need to start mentally preparing to bury Mako already or what?

Speaking of spoilers… The farther I go, the less I understand the advice to skip Autumn. I thought that at least for C/w it wouldn't matter, given it's a whole different universe, but they keep referencing it, and then casually dropping major spoilers, and then referencing it again in a story-relevant way. (The Ordennan ships arrive on the screen as Rigor does, and the next episode is named “The Storm over September” and quotes Lem's poem in the description. That's really cool but I somehow feel vaguely irritated on behalf of my potential alternate self who skipped season 1.) I really hope they've grown more careful about this by now, because I'll probably not even begin Twilight Mirage by the time the next season starts, and I would really like to stay in the dark about the intense events they're all vague-tweeting about at the moment!

Why was AuDy alarmed by Voice's presence as “a” Divine accompanying Maxine? Shouldn't they be familiar with it already because of Mako? (And I don't want to even ask about the ontological difference/border between Righteousness and Voice. I'm tired and feel like a nitpicker. But just for the record, this still isn't clear.)

Well that's a sadder family reunion than I hoped for!

So AuDy does have a split personality to some degree?

Oh well. AuDy's got a fate worse than death: Liberty and Discovery, imprisoned indefinitely. Or devoured I guess, I didn't really get it. Great. Thanks. Fucking RIP I guess. Out of all ways I expected them to go, this wasn't one.

(By the way I still don't understand how the portal works. Where is this portal to? Why can't L&D fly out and take the slow way home, and why can't Rigor?)

There's still about ten minutes left in the episode and I don't understand how it isn't the finale. What's there to do for three more episodes now.

“With Rigor defeated so easily, so permanently, she thought” *Rigor screech*

Yeah, fuck Grace btw

Sounds like cultivating saplings is not a priority anymore for a certain someone… (Wait, btw, what happened to that patch/seed they left? Will it ever come back into play?)

“...Why they would put themselves into a body like yours? And I think, maybe, it's that they were curious about what it would be like for four years to feel like a long time” AAAAAA

Okay, things are better on September than it sounded initially, but still… Wtf's going to happen? Rigor repairs itself, takes over the survivors, takes off again? But what's the timeline on that? I genuinely have no idea wtf the finale is going to be about after this.

Oh, what happened to the clones btw? Did Larry manage to get them off the planet in time, despite the Minerva ships in orbit and, more importantly, Rigor? Or are they stuck on September, unable to continue reenacting the plot of Orphan Black?

From how it's been described in this episode, feels as if Liberty and Discovery are a candidate of AuDy… They didn't want a candidate but were curious to learn how it feels for the other side?

Paisley's dead-eyed, Tower's gone, and even Ibex, who is barely holding on himself, loses his ex… Everyone's love life takes a nosedive: the episode. At least Jacqui's okay… (And because of Jacqui, it was doubly sad and surprising to hear Aria still has feelings for Paisley…)

[guerrerosamantha]

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[imperialtrellis]

Please rattle off more interesting caste cases!

Anonymous said to imperialtrellis: Can you rattle off interesting caste cases from other countries too please, I want to hear them

{context}

somehow I knew this was going to happen.

(Preemptive note for anyone who’s about to come complaining about things being so rare it shouldn’t be countable: there are 13 billion people on our planet. Something with a one in a million chance has reasonably happened 13 thousand times just among people alive right now).

Alright,

Caste shenanigans: babies

So an actually comparatively common one is, anytime in a patrilineal country when someone who does the ‘two hookups with new people every day’ in spring thing gets pregnant and decides they want to keep the baby and go for an aftermarket credit and not only doesn’t know who the father actually is but doesn’t even know how to contact a good bit of the potentials so they can’t even do a test.

Obviously there’s an incentive around for the mother to just say it was the caste with the currently cheapest aftermarket credit (since the ordering of those doesn’t actually always track with the ordering of auction prices this can sometimes vary) (and some incentive to say something else if they want a kid of a particular caste for some reason and have figured out how to afford it). And then places divide between being fine with this vs going matrilineal for these cases. (There was a rather elaborate proposal at some point about genetic testing and trying to figure out the father’s caste that way, but it ran into a) medical issues and b) first you then have to figure all your standards out, and then no doubt someone’s going to try to take it to court…)

There’s one place where three part marriages are common enough and if it’s two husbands it’s considered really insulting to try and figure out who the ‘real’ father is. They’re matrilineal, but it means in a most mixed case you can have a kid having two parents of castes they’re not actually in one of whom they’re not genetically related to. And in a two-and-one case you can have a kid who’s similar to say a half yellow in terms of being raised even though they’re in fact all green.

There was the case in Voa where a couple who came in on tourist visas decided to try to have a kid while there and weren’t caught until they had the kid (no I have no idea how or why they thought this was going to work…). And their country was patrilineal so there was a bit of a debate (that was also all tangled up in the legal issues and who was supposed to deal with what and all).

There’s the completely bizarre case that’s I guess kind of the opposite of mine where the couple decided they were going to have a kid on a boat in international waters and, uh, just live there, and then that went about as well as you’d expect but somehow not in a way where anyone died and their countries also had different caste inheritance rules and it was a mess all around. (And someone wrote this op-ed about how if only one of them was from Tapa haha and then a bunch of people jumped on him and there was an extra mess too.)

If anyone’s familiar with intersexuality, ‘caste matches parent’ countries can have that come up, and there’s been stuff around changes caused by the fact that advances in medicine means there’s information we can tell now that we couldn’t longer ago.

Of course there’s always blues from whatever is -lineal in their countries who want to do the ‘side family’ thing anyway and try to arrange for their partners to pretend the other parent was whatever caste they want to buy a credit for. For obvious reason this tends to men, but there’s a non zero number of women who tried or succeeded at the ‘I’m going to take a long spring vacation at my isolated vacation home and oh look one of the staff has had a baby what happy news’ thing, and now a non zero number of women who try to finagle things with surrogacy.

(I’m actually pretty sure this one’s underreported - it’s in some ways even easier than the usual because you can arrange with a couple and then no one needs to make up excuses about where the missing parent is, the pregnant person does get to end the pregnancy with a baby to take care of, and the couple can often get a chunk of money toward their own baby a future year and can usually count on some amount of nice stuff for the kid down the line. And as long as the doctor’s discrete and there’s no really obvious blue hair incidents, it’s pretty unlikely anyone’s finding out.)

(Ever since I found out that Met officially does matrilineality by womb I’ve been very curious about this kind of thing going down there because it looks like you could get it done and not even have to do anything illegal or quasi-legal, though I haven’t gotten around to actually looking into it.)

Also people usually talk about this one with credits, but while it’s hard to get numbers you definitely have cases in permissions countries with blues who can grant kids to other castes but not themselves who, um, utilize this solution to that.

Oh, and while the stereotype about this is blues greens do sometimes do it too, especially in the places where greens are permissions too and other castes are credits.

Caste shenanigans: not babies

So with kids while as demonstrated things are not as straightforward as they might often be presented, in the end usually some decision gets made and the kid has a caste to be raised as and all that. This remains of a lot of interest to caste freedom type people re the arbitrary vs natural categories discussion, but it does often enough have that ultimate conclusion for those involved.

And - of course, sometimes it doesn’t.

Cases like Afen Kisantami where there’s no legal claim but it’s put through anyway are - I’m not going to say it never happens, I’m guessing there’ve been other cases where someone had the right combo of aptitude and influence to get it to stick, but there’s certainly not many, at least in recent history.

Cases like Afen’s kids where someone really wants something and decides to try to leverage having some claim come up a bit more.

For the side families case this is fairly rare with blues, which I think is generally because the blues have been doing this a while and have the organization to block things off, though there’s been a few cases where an only heir ends up dead or unable to have more kids and suddenly look a lovely grandchild materializes. Greens seem to have a slightly higher rate of trying to claim the kid later on, usually when ‘green has since ended up with more money’ and ‘kid is displaying aptitude the green parent is interested in’ intersect. Since greens generally have less ability to make inconvenient admissions to fraud go away, this is usually guys playing the ‘there was that night of passion right when she was trying to get pregnant and I just recently ran into her again and thought the kid’s eyes looked just like mine!’ card.

For the ‘yeah I’m not going to be able to round up everyone I slept with’ case there’s a few versions - kid grows up and has some trait that makes it in retrospect clearer who dad was, mom actually knew all along but wanted the cheaper credit and she plays the ‘I saw him and recognized his eyes’ card, someone or other actually runs into each other and recognizes eyes… If everyone around is fine with kid’s caste this will usually be left to lie; if someone isn’t you get stuff.

And of course intercaste cheating accusations are always… fun, but if the cheating comes up not right away and the -lineal’s in the right direction that’s also a thing.

(In as much as you can observe trends on such fairly small numbers, how these things then end up seems to mostly hinge on the judge of whatever court stuff goes up before, or else on the amount of either influence or indifference one has to avoid the judge route.)