#Inheritance at Birth

[crmsnmth]

Inheritance at Birth

We were born to be made of regrets It’s just the way it is We carry them deep in our chests and it hurts every time we exhale Forgetting to swallow and hanging on That’s just how the truth comes out

They did tell me it would be ugly

We were born just to live in misery Some of us claim it was always this way So is it survival of the fittest or will the meek inherit this earth I want to know which side I should claim I want to point fingers and place blame

It’s always looked so fuckin’ fun

We were born just to suffer That’s the human soul understanding and same say they don’t get it Then maybe there’s just nothing to get Maybe that’s been the answer all along Or maybe we’re still getting it wrong

I hate to think about but I’m sure that’s the truth I guess I’m just let down that it isn’t something profound

[completeoveranalysis]

[7]

OH NOW?

The dramatics of it all happening right away skipped over me for a moment but oh boy here we go. They’re being reincarnated NOW. 

And oh my goodness Syaoran’s little panic (mirrored in Sakura’s face) over the details - and Yuuko interrupting him to reassure him that it’s genuinely the best case scenario with no tricks or complications. (And honestly how often has she ever gotten to say that?) 

The little touch of the magic circles matching the person who gave up their life to make it happen is also very nice. I enjoy that. 

Also I think I mentioned Wish a little while ago and with that fresh in my mind it really feels like this is the much bigger version of what happened in that manga too. Tsubasa really was CLAMP's way of taking all the ideas they really wanted to properly explore and do them all and it works. 

[olasketches]

the fact that megumi was supposed to be the MC makes me giddy as hell. ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER GUYS

[serpentface]

Question about Couya! Since she is a bastard what are the reasons about her being brought into the main family by her father. Was it genuine care for his child or a way to save face politically/socially? Is her birth mother alive? Do you think she would have had a better life growing up anywhere else?

This is in large part due to how cultural perceptions and legal punishment of adultery varies between male and female citizens, looped into the very strictly patrilineal kinship system.

By legal definition, the word for 'adultery' applies only to situations where a man has an affair with a married woman, or a married woman has an affair with any man. Other forms of affairs (eg a married man having an affair with an unmarried woman) are wrapped into a broader set of sexual misdemeanors and aren't often charged or punished in practice, and the punishments are comparatively minor (if an unwed woman's father pursues charges, the man in the affair is likely to just pay a fine). On a social level, extramaritial affairs in general are certainly not Approved of and seen as lowly and dishonorable, but the average response is significantly less harsh/more willing to entertain Nuance with men than with women.

In this society there's differentiated shades of bastardry depending on the contexts of the child's birth, as well as a distinction for 'nameless bastards' (has not been claimed by their biological father or maternal grandfather, or claimed in adoption).

a) A child born to an unmarried woman via an unmarried man: non-issue for father, potentially serious social harm for the woman (especially if she has never been married and expected virginal, much less severe as a widow or divorcee). The child will not be notably disadvantaged in of themselves (their status will depend more on whether they are claimed and thus provided the social security of a family patriarch), the father will experience no hard disadvantages in claiming them.

b) A child born to an unmarried woman via a married man: mild sexual misdemeanor for the father carrying levels of social shame, even more serious social harm for the woman (often framed as not just loose but a manipulative Seductress of a married man). The child might experience minor to moderate social disadvantages, the consequences of the father claiming them are purely social and will not typically be severe. (Couya is this)

c) A child born to a married woman via an unmarried or married man: both man and woman have committed a crime and can be severely punished. The biological father can technically claim the child but will be disincentivized from doing so. This is the form of bastardry most comparable to the conventional definition, in that it is heavily stigmatized and has effects on concerns of kinship and inheritance.

In addendum to this, if the adulterous wife's legal husband claims the child, this may be punishable if determined to be active concealment of adultery (which is also a crime), and has EXTREME social consequences either way. (Either you're a cuckold too stupid to notice that your wife has been skipping out on you, or you're a MEGAcuckold adultery-accessory willingly rearing another man's child after being horribly shamed by him).

(This is separate from adoption- a man who marries a woman with an unclaimed child after the fact (whether it was a product of adultery or just a general out of wedlock birth) and claims the child is an adoptive father, he is not concealing adultery or being cuckolded.)

A child born in an affair can be considered an heir to their biological fathers (descent and kinship is fully patrilineal and on a Basic level it doesn't matter who the mother is), and can very smoothly and legally be claimed when the affair was not considered criminal adultery. The concern on that front is social perception rather than material legal consequences or kinship issues.

Couya's birth mother was an unwed servant working as a housekeeper for her father Saizen, so the Crime of adultery did not take place. It would be considered a minor sexual misdemeanor, and the woman's father was not about to pursue charges against a nobleman who could Ruin him (and had also formally expressed that he would claim the child, which meant he would not be saddled with a nameless bastard granddaughter). So the concerns here were entirely social.

The affair might have started beforehand but the pregnancy that produced Couya occurred after his wife's third viable pregnancy ended in the premature birth of a underdeveloped boy deemed necessary to euthanize (and tbr would Not have survived either way). This was after Livya Haidamane had a couple early term miscarriages, two viable but very difficult pregnancies wherein one child was very weak and sickly for the first several years of life, and struggled to conceive every time. A lot of people are going to be at least a little sympathetic to a married man having an affair and claiming a bastard in this context. It's definitely ideal and practical to have more than two children, and his wife (while not outright infertile) clearly could not reliably bear healthy children. (The average response is going to be "Well he shouldn't have done it but like, I get it")

Couya being claimed by her father was a mix of genuine care and saving face. Initially it was MUCH more the latter than the former. Saizen made attempts to hide the servant's pregnancy and to keep his own wife out of sight during the late term (to prevent the baby appearing after his wife had been seen Extremely not pregnant). But there's some levels of care involved, he could very easily have fired the pregnant servant and had nothing to do with his bastard and she would have no recompense whatsoever. The choice to keep and claim the baby and ensure its entrance into the world bore as little social scrutiny as possible is an act of care for his own progeny.

This was Not an act of care for Couya's birth mother (beyond the fact that concealing her pregnancy would benefit her in hiding that she is not only Not a virgin prior to marriage but had a child). She probably would have been about 17-19 at the time and was fired a few months after giving birth, and most likely never saw Couya again after this point (if she did, it would most likely be in the context of seeing her as an adult Odonii in public and noting her to look Scarily familiar). She has an Okayish chance at still being alive, she'd be around 50 (and a person who survives the high infant mortality and birth casualty rates stands a good chance of hitting their 60s), though she could very well be a casualty of the drought+famine.

Whether or not Couya's life would have been better is kind of a mixed bag. She had an awful fucking childhood in large part because her adoptive mother Livya Haidamane hated her. (Livya was ultimately a pretty horrible person but not just like. An Evil Bitch. She had A Lot going on and Couya was a living breathing insult to her and reminder of like, every one of her dashed hopes and dreams). Couya is also autistic and presented very intense symptoms as a child in a society that is Not equipped for a mass-understanding and support of cognitive differences. But she still did have an immensely privileged life with profound physical/economic levels of security inaccessible to the vast majority of people in this region, including her birth mother. Saizen also actually Liked her and cared about her, he just wasn't a routine physical presence in any of his children's lives.

Had she been left with her biological mother, she would be in a very disadvantaged situation as a nameless bastard to an unwed mother. Her biological grandfather may or may not have been willing to claim her, and her mother would have great difficulties in finding a husband (which is ultimately necessary for the security of women in this society). I think her mother was a relatively kind person but not like, a perfect angel. She would probably have complicated feelings about her bastard daughter, especially one whose very existence materially disadvantages her and was very, very difficult as a child. So this probably would not have been a good situation for Couya either.

If you broaden the question to ANY other family completely divorced from the circumstances of her birth, yeah it definitely could have been better. But in her case it's like either "Life of grotesque socioeconomic privilege but in an abusive household" or "Life of profound socioeconomic disadvantages in a household that Probably wouldn't have been this abusive but certainly wouldn't be healthy". There wasn't really a good option for her.

[elegie0-0]

Gil-galad: atar why u have black hair, Maitimo has red hair while i have blonde… am i adopted?

Fingon: how would u think like that! my sweet idiot, ur hair is inherited from my gold wire!

[thearunadragon]

You know what would be really funny

if elves had fugly babies

now, don’t get me wrong, I love babies. I’m afraid of them and they are not worthy of trust, but they’re adorable as long as I am not the one responsible for their well-being.

But EVERYTHING about the elves is all noble and beautiful.

At that point, their babies come out of the f**king womb with long, flowing golden locks, a harp, pre-diapered and wearing velvet robes, and like, wearing golden circlets over their sage faces.

Which is exactly why it would be absolutely hilarious if they just like

had super ugly babies. Even if the ugly phase only lasted like a week or two

give me something like this that the elves could be teased about. Because Orik would laugh his ass off with me and you know it.

[cantheykillmacbeth]

Could Saphira from the Inheritance Cycle books kill Macbeth?

Yes, Saphira from the Inheritance Cycle book series could kill Macbeth!

Being a female dragon hatched from an egg, she applies for the Gender Clause and Unconventional Birth Clause!

Thank you for your submission!

[elderscrollsconfessions]

Confession: If a High Elf (or any other Elf?) and a Breton had a baby would that mean they'd make a Breton²?

[swaglet]

i just put hydrocortisone cream on and took an itchy pill but can everyone itch me while i wait for them to kick in

[reyreadersblog]

Gray and Jamie are idiots, like why on earth would you wanna share a birthday with someone? WHY??? what's better than having your own day😭

[ask-nurse-curly]

it wasn't your fault, you know. little as it helps; she left you regardless.

can't say the same about the others. why is it, you think, that he is the only one who thinks about you? the only one who would care if you followed her?

What does it matter? What does any of it matter...

[mellifluousoctopus]

I am concerned to hear how many people who think the Apple and Raven were switched at birth theory is validated by the fact that Raven wanted to be good/Apple was selfish. As if people are inherently always good or evil because their family was and EAH isn't a story about questioning systems that maintain class and oppression on the basis of blood and inheritance

[juney-blues]

fist of the north star is super funny because it has a satisfying ending halfway through, but then it just kinda keeps going. and the actual ending it has kinda fucking sucks so every adaption ever just pretends it ended when it should've.

[kaurwreck]

You have beef with Christopher Paolini?

not beef; when I was 10-11 years old, I wrote him letters. at first, he responded (and was VERY sweet; I cannot emphasize enough how lovely he was to me).

but i kept writing until he politely said that he's very busy. which I honored until the movie came out, for which I wrote him again. he didn't respond, which is reasonable. i didn't write to him again, although I did send him an Instagram DM nearly 15 years later.

so, it is part of my canonical lore that Christopher Paoloni had to ask me to give him some space.

[death-rebirth-senshi]

I think a lot of bloodborne content takes the moniker of "god" too seriously and literally, ignoring what feels to me like a core point: "God" is a human word and a human projection onto the Great Ones.

Ultimately we don't know much about them; the ability to interact with the great ones is limited, and the results of trying to seems ultimately ruinous.

We the player of course can only ever interact with great ones to slay them, though notably both Rom and Ebrietas are initially nonhostile and killing them is *our* perogative.

Not that I don't think the theme of killing god and transcending aren't there - in Rom's case, we have to kill it because it blocks human insight - but I also think it's relevant that we supposedly "transcend" the flesh and the human condition with the same logic by which one becomes a beast: we kill and imbibe blood and we sacrifice until we kill the right thing and something miraculous happens.

Also feels relevant to me that the specific phrase "hunt the great ones" is used; the Choir and School of Mensis both look up to the great ones as gods and humans as stupid and inferior, but you the player meet them as creatures, and what plays out is mundane creature on creature violence.

[tired-fandom-ndn]

So I know that The Inheritance Cycle ends with Eragon leaving Alagaësia (to search for more dragons? or potential riders?) and Arya staying and it's strongly implied there and at other points that they will end up together eventually BUT Eragon is also told at the beginning by Angela that he was destined to leave Alagaësia and NEVER return so what is the truth?