#I don't remember biology well and I don't know how genes work

[syroyemyaso0]

Llorumi child???

I was just scrolling the internet and found this phrase: "According to Britt McKillip if Lloyd and Harumi had a child they would be named Esme"

And I'm like, "damn, I've got to think about what Lloyd and Rumi's child might look like." This is what Esme could look like

Aaaand yeah... Do they have one child? Or do they want more? I don't know, but yes

[springstarfangirl]

The Bizarre Genetics of the Todoroki Family

Following a discussion with @greenmoons in which she was about to get mad about MHA blood types, I decided to bring my research here as well. This is gonna be a long one, so continuation under the cut.

Let's start out with the basics. Blood types! There shouldn't be something too controversial here, right? WRONG.

Shoto Todoroki, as listed on his character profile, has type O blood. His father, Enji Todoroki, has type AB. According to fifth grade biology class and the Punnet squares we used to learn about dominant and recessive genes (not that those are the only types by a long shot, there are also codominant and incomplete dominant genes), this should be impossible.

See, here's the thing. Fifth grade biology is incredibly simplified, and you never know what's possible if you don't go looking for it. Not only is it possible for an AB parent to have an O child, there are actually two ways it can happen.

First off, the cis-AB gene.

Everyone remembers how ABO blood types work, right? O is recessive, and if you have the genes for both A and B, you have type AB blood.

Turns out it's not that simple. In East Asia, found most frequently in Koreans (3 in 100,000 people) and Japanese (1 in 100,000 people), there is a gene variant called cis-AB, which codes for both A and B at once. If you have this gene variant, you will have type AB blood no matter what the other gene codes for.

This means that if someone with AB blood has this gene, they could carry any other gene along with it and it could be expressed in the next generation.

Back to Enji and Shoto.

If Enji has type AB blood due to the cis-AB gene, it means he could be a carrier for the type O gene, which he could pass on to his son.

The second option is what's called the Bombay blood type.

ABO genes can code for two proteins, right? A and B.

So it turns out that's not entirely correct. Those genes actually code how to turn another protein, H, into A and B.

The Bombay blood type is caused by a mutation in the gene that produces the H protein, causing it to not work and creating a phenotype of type O blood. This means that no matter what your genes code for, whether you're actually type O or type A or B or even AB, you will wind up presenting with type O blood.

The biggest problem with Bombay type blood is that because the problem is with the H protein, the bloodstream carries antigens not only for the A and B proteins like regular type O blood, it also carries an antigen for the H protein. This means that Bombay type blood, while it can donate to the entire ABO blood spectrum, can only receive from other Bombay types. And Bombay type blood is incredibly rare, at a 4 per million occurrence rate in most places in the world.

Note that I said most places, though. The Bombay blood type is named for the city of Mumbai, India, where the occurrence of the blood type can be up to 1 in 10,000.

In this case, both Enji and Rei would need to carry the recessive gene for this blood type. It apparently appears more frequently in inbred families, which we know the Himuras are, so that answers one or two questions. Shoto, having received two copies of the recessive gene, would present with Bombay type O blood.

Funnily enough, even the Wikipedia page for the cis-AB gene calls this out as a possibility.

Now that the blood types are explained, I'm gonna go on a side tangent about genetic chimerism because I can.

I believe that Shoto Todoroki is a twin chimera, resulting from the fusion of a pair of fraternal twins in the womb.

Quirks don't always make sense. Neither do the hair colors in MHA, for that matter. How did Denki and Kyoka get their hair streaks in the shapes of a lightning bolt and the pulse of a heartbeat? But it's anime, so I'll roll with it.

Shoto, on the other hand, is a different story. It's not just a streak of another color like his classmates or even multiple streaks like Fuyumi. It's not even Marie Antoinette syndrome (looking at you, Touya.) No, his hair is split right down the middle. And his eyes too- he has complete heterochromia iridium, one turquoise eye like Enji and one brown/gray (depends on the image) eye like Rei.

Genetic heterochromia iridium can be caused by simple genetic inheritance, but that clearly isn't the case here, as it is caused by an autosomal dominant gene, which means that either Rei or Enji would have heterochromia as well. And they don't. The other option is mosaicism, which is when the two eyes have different genetics.

Now, why is he a twin chimera and not just a mosaic? That comes back to the hair. The eye colors align with the hair colors such that they match the parents. Shoto is split entirely down the middle. Mosaicism doesn't do that, and the possibility of absorbing just a few cells making it possible to combine such powerful quirks as Hellflame and Frost doesn't make sense.

Now, if there were twins, one with Enji's red hair and turquoise eyes and one with Rei's gray eyes and white hair, and they merged in the womb... The body would have adjusted to being able to utilize both fire and ice, and it would create the possibility of the split hair colors like Shoto has going on.

Yeah, genetics are weird, and the Todoroki family? Even weirder than most.

[saltymongoose]

Hihi! Im a bit new here (cough even though I’ve read like everything already cough) and i just wanna say i FUCKING, LOVE your depiction of grunts!!! Ive always felt they were more, animal like? With the paws and growling and purring and aaaa! /pos

But i do have a bit of a question for you!! You you don’t need to answer, and if you don’t want too you can just ignore this entirely! But i wanted your thoughts and opinions on this, do you think grunts have mating cycles? Aka, heats/ruts? Its been on my mind quite a bit, and as someone who doesn’t necessarily write fanfiction, i just wanted an opinion from someone who does on this little thought!!

Anyways!! I love your writing so much <3 and I’m glad you’re getting some more lenient time with uni and everything! Have a good day!!! And remember to drink some water or eat a snack <33

(If its alright, might I go by Pop Anon? :0 Or just Pop for short!)

(TW: A bit suggestive for the subject matter, but this reads more like a biology lesson/explanation than anything.)

Hello, Pop! Welcome to the blog, I'll make sure to add you to my Anon list. :) I'm also really happy you like the way I depict grunts; I've always tended to lean into a more non-human portrayal of them since I really like to explore the differences they'd have with us. (It also made enough sense to me with the paws they have and the purring hcs I'd seen before, etc.) Plus, I'm just a big fan of non-human characters and grunts can fit this really well, being the cross-faced homunculi that they are lol.

I'd also be more than happy to answer your question too. If we were to go even more into how animalistic grunts could be, to put it shortly, yes! I do in fact think that grunts would probably go through mating cycles. Or at least some of them would.

The reason I make this clarification is because of how generations and cloning work. Basically, my hc is that all Gens before G03s (G03LMs) would probably have these cycles, but after G03's, all of the new grunts are clones, which makes it more unlikely.

(Further clarification below with a little weird biology stuff I know fsr, this response got pretty long. 😅 I do include a note where the complicated stuff ends tho, if you don't care for reading it. 👍)

This includes G04s and MAGs, according to the wiki. Given how dystopian the Nexus Core and AAHW are (specifically the AAHW, with how a majority of them are also S3LFless), I think population control might be an element they'd include. Or at least they'd try to get rid of heats/ruts because it makes grunts "unproductive" or some weird corporate nonsense like that. 🙄 So I can see some genetic manipulation going on to sort of "erase" the behavior for the cycles.

Whether the later generations even have the capability of experiencing them depends on how this behavior is altered. Though if we go with genetics, and use the logic of pseudogenes (genes that are not "used" but are still there in the genetic code), then technically one could have a G04 experience a heat cycle/rut by sort of "reawakening" the gene. This could be by grafting a part of from an earlier grunt to them, fiddling more with their genetics, etc.

And even with pseudogenes and "dormant" traits, some clones would still probably exhibit mating cycles as the product of a flawed development cycle. (Called "atavisms" in biology, where ancestral traits occasionally make a reappearance in new lines.) If you want to go really far, all of this biology stuff could probably be applied to fertility as well in later clones (because population control ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), but I digress.

(End of In-Depth Explanation)

As you can tell, I've probably put too much thought into this lol. Basically, what this means is the following grunts would have mating cycles: Phobos (G01), Hank (G02), Deimos (G02), Sanford (G02), and 2BDamned (G02).

With G03LMs, they're stitched together corpse parts so I am undecided (I still need to figure out how that works lmao), but with all gens after 3 it's probably pretty unlikely. But not impossible.

(P.S. Thank you so much for your kind words, Pop, and I hope you have a good day too! <3)

[thecraftwitchrachel]

I finally finished reading The Magic in Your Genes (2023) by Cairelle Crow. I found it at my local Barnes and Noble for $18.95 USD but I used my BN points for some money off.

I was interested in picking this book up for a few reasons; the artwork on the cover "Mothers Eve" (2013, Ramy Tadros) was beautiful and having a background in history along with an intense passion for genealogy and ancestral work in my practice. The book itself is 234 pages and has sections about the biology of our genes/DNA, ethics of genealogy, family trees (including examples), then going into the metaphysical properties of our genes and DNA, ancestral healing, crystals/herbs for genealogy magic and ending off with a section on remembrance and resources to help you start or expand on your journey.

What I liked about this book was how easy it was to digest for folks just starting off on their family history or genealogy journey but also being applicable to those of us that have already done some work with our ancestors and family trees. I also have a background knowledge in biology and DNA but didn't feel that folx without that knowledge would be confused. I ended up seeing our DNA and biology in a new light and as a magical part of each of us.

Something to note because as Crow notes throughout the book, family trees can be messy or confusing. Especially for those within the LGBTQIA+ community, those with family members who were enslaved or were enslavers, adoptees and people who are more connected with their Found Family. Crow spends a lot of time in the beginning of this book acknowledging that biology and DNA terms aren't inclusive to these groups as some people don't see those who contributed parts of their DNA as their mother or father. I respected that Crow went to members of the LGBTQIA+ community to ask about how to write about this in a affirming way, especially around the Trans Community.

Most, if not all sections comes with a spell/ritual that Crow has used for their ancestral magical practice and the end of the book in the resources section provides blank family trees to get you started along with a wide range of online or other media resources to help you find your ancestors.

Some impactful quotes from this book:

"It's important work, even for those who do not have genetic offspring and, instead, will one day become ancestors of influence" (pg. xii)

"While we cannot fully escape history, family dynamics, the documents of the past, or the facts of basic genetics, we can, and should, choose now to document and communicate in a way that shows an acceptance of all people, as well as demonstrate a sincere effort to be inclusive and to share what we know with those who have less information due to circumstances beyond their control" (pg. 20)

speaking of auras..."when I started working on my own genealogy, realized this energetic field was the obvious place for our non-inherited DNA to reside, and a way for those ancestors to share with use the essence of their wisdom and their experiences, both good and bad" (pg. 151)

"Remember that all our ancestors, even the ones from whom we inherited no physical DNA, are the people who are responsible for our existence. We carry them within us as a physical manifestation in our body, and as an energetic presence within our aura." (pg. 154)

"My physical DNA, and my energetic DNA, and the genetic memory it carries, were loaded with trauma and dysfunctional patterns from the moment I was born, even though I was born to parents who wanted me, and who loved me." (pg.172)

[stellocchia]

Thinking about how I would interpret the various people from the Dream smp winning the elytra contest:

Tubbo: Built the wings himself. They have a certain steampunk vibe to them. Really bulky, but also really cool looking.

Tommy: Moth wings. Screw everyone who says otherwise, man is a moth hybrid. But, well, insect wings are very fragile and he’s never felt safe enough to use them until now.

Ranboo: Recently received a gift from the council. It's a rare item that can be found only in the end. They hope it'll help him remember, it probably won't.

Georgenotfound: Got gifted some wings from DreamXD. He is not sure why or when, and he's not even entirely certain they're real. He may simply still be dreaming...

Sapnap: Lava wings. They're very droopy. He hasn't been maintaining them too well, and only recently got back into taking the lava baths he needs for them regularly.

Sam: He also built his own wings. They're lava-powered and look as if they were made of obsidian. They were initially meant to be part of the guard's uniform for the prison but... well. He's the only one working there, isn't he?

Ponk: Stitched them onto themselves as a medical experiment. They don't know how to take them off now, but they seem to work?

Bad: Huge af demon wings. He's 9'6 so his wings actually have to be enormous. Only reason why he hasn't used them before is that he was afraid to hit someone with them. Turns out he does that anyway even without using them, so there's really no reason anymore.

Fundy: The bird genes from his grandpa are finally manifesting. Perhaps biology does make some sense on the smp finally!

Wilbur: Pretty sure that's just a piece of the void sticking to him. Straight up ripped a piece of Limbo and brought it with him when he came back. Just another thing he hates about himself.

Punz: He knew someone high up who owed him a favor. Don't ask.

Purpled: Alien tech! He couldn't repair his ufo entirely, and those are his best bet to get off-server while he's working on his new one. They're meant to be a temporary solution, but they're pretty cool.

Eret: Flamingo wings. Ngl, they sort of forgot they had them.

Jack Manifold: similar to Wilbur's situation, but Jack's wings are very glitched. He was too afraid to die again to try and use them, but he's got to a point now where he doesn't care too much if that actually happens.

Niki: Hand-sewn wings that she made herself. It took ages for her to find a way to make them work, but having something like that to busy herself turned out to be really rewarding.

Quackity: He's a shapeshifter. He decided to change up his features a bit. Maybe he's getting ready for a fight he's certain will happen soon, who knows...

Karl Jacobs: Acquired them at some point during his travels. Much like George he's not sure how, when, or why that happened, but he's not complaining

HBomb: The power of anime bestowed them upon him. He did a full magical girl transformation and now they're there

Techno: Crafted them himself. They're not a marvel of engineering like they would be if Tubbo or Sam created them, but more so the result of months of him studying magic and alchemy for it. They were initially meant for Phil, but he screwed up the incantation.

Phil: They're prosthetics. He had to wait a long time for them because wing prosthetics are quite an expensive and complicated thing to obtain, but finally, he has them.

Ant: There's a whole lot of myths about cats with bird wings, so I'd say Ant finally ascended to his ultimate form of big ass cat with bog ass eagle wings.

Puffy: Went on an adventure after years of not sailing the sea and found an incredible treasure. She's pirating again and it's paying off, good for her honestly.

Foolish: Totems naturally have wings. He only stopped using them as a sign of respect for the rules of the server, but he's been shackled long enough now, wouldn't you say?

Hannah: Wings of thorny vines sprouted from her back as she started healing from the Egg's influence and reconnecting with nature.

Eryn: They just had them. They're probably an avian and we just didn't know yet.

Michael: Similarly to Eryn, he's just a winged hybrid.

Slimecicle: Well, once upon a time a little slime evolved in the course of thousands of years to become a human... what do you mean humans don't have wings? Oh well... he likes them now... maybe we can make an exception for him?

[icaruskeyartist]

*tugs your sleeve*

If you don’t mind… I saw a post “no part trans ideology makes any sense. How can they say they are trans if they don’t believe in sex/bioessentialism?”

And I recently talked to a cishet man about why I know I’m non-binary; he didn’t press but we basically left it at “so it’s an awareness of self but nobody really knows how/why that happens?”

I had sent him summaries and explanation posts but the talk still feels… ended unsatisfyingly. Any ideas?

I need you to know I accidentally bopped one of my bettas while feeding the fish tank because I was thinking about this question and thought he was part of the food cube I was trying to unclump.

So RIP him (he's fine we just scared the shit out of each other).

And I'm gonna probably oversimplify this a bit, so I'm sure there'll be good additions/corrections once I've posted it since yanno. A single human meatbag like me can't be arsed to remember everything lol. I depend on the trans hivemind to keep my head on straight.

But basically there's roughlyish 3 schools of thought in trans circles about why people are trans. It's all biology, it's all society, or it's somewhere inbetween.

Again, oversimplifying. But then again we sorta oversimplify the splintering of second wave feminism into three main schools of thought, so have at ye yeah?

First, the biological. Helloooo transmeds and Serano. Basically these folks think that the answer to why a person is trans has to do with genetics or your brain or w/e. It's all encoded in the meatsack, be it electric or proteins. That's why. you get assholes saying you can't be trans without dysphoria. It's why you got Serano talking about "subconscious sex" and claiming any non male/female identity is only a partial expression of one's "true" sex. I figured out I was trans on the tail end of this big scientific push to learn about how gender works in people's brainspaces, so I grew up knowing about male/female brains.

Mind you, I didn't learn I was trans until I was 19, so I'd read this Scientific Evidence for Trans and Cis and be confused because well, I'm Cis(TM) so why does my brain not feel Female? And then post-trans awakening, I still felt very dissatisfied by that answer.

Ok so that's your bioessentialist argument for The Trans. Some of it is born out of old rhetoric meant to force wider society to take trans people seriously (I was ALWAYS like this! I ALWAYS knew!) -- not saying there aren't people that didn't or don't feel like that to this day. We just know that it's a pretty narrow minded way of looking at gender identity with plenty of people not realizing until they're older. Even Old. Like 25. Or 60. You know, Old.

I'm in a mood today apparently. Hoping this still makes sense.

Okay, next one is "it's society". Pretty much the extreme end of this is the idea that Everything about Gender is because of society. Did you know babies come out of the womb with accents? Like, legit, my seahorse dad nurse friend told me that babies literally listen with their little not even ears yet holes and learn about shit around them. It's nuts.

So basically, we know that male and female sexes come about for fucking and making more of us, and we know that waaaay back in the throw rock collect berry days certain traits got associated with each sex. Men (generally) were more of the hunters and protectors and women (generally) were more of the gatherers and nurturers. So we as a Species sorta evolved down to make the Best of Each Sex cause the people who lived long enough to fuck and make more of us passed on their genes.

Fun fact, that's part of why after a certain amount of time parts of our bodies crap out early. We weren't genetically pressured to have a good back after 25. We'd already had like 10 kids and 2 survived to go and make more babies to fuck and have 2 more kids grow up and fuck and they all have bad backs by 30. It's just neat.

Anyway, after awhile, people decided Women were This and Men were That and suddenly what was an evolutionary thing was a Gender/Sex thing. Fast forward a whole lot and suddenly. Gender Roles. And if you didn't fit those roles you were a pariah.

So you got babies learning when they're still becoming babies what gender is, you got society telling you what gender is, but something isn't clicking inside. It's not your gender, but people are all "gender and sex are the same thing and you were born with a long enough dick and no internal gonads or a hole so you're a boy bleh"

And it's confusing and not right and you look across the aisle and there's a lot there you do like so you look in the mirror and you say "Okay I'm not Caleb anymore. I'm Alice and I'm a girl." And oh hey. Euphoria. It feels right?

And maybe you play with being feminine and it's for you. Or maybe it's not. Maybe you find you're not totally one thing or the other. Maybe you want HRT, just a little, or surgery, or you must have it ALL. The point is, you didn't fit the gender roles people expected you to fit into, you didn't like the body you were supposed to have, etc etc. You're trans.

You'll notice this kinda ignores the Intersex in the room. And that's because intersex makes things Complicated for Everybody.

So you're looking at these two ideas right? And you're just, but what makes that gender thing click in your head? Is it biology, is it society? Is it neither? And all I can say, and any sane trans or cis person will say is

shrug

It's really up to an individual to say where they think their own gender identity comes from. Because it's literally impossible to create a world where we could "test" people's gender identities. That shit is encoded in us to some extent when we're fetuses. We have a biologically sexually diverse array of people. There's so many fertile "cis" men and women who are actually intersex, be it through chromosomes or hormones or whatever (this is why hormone talk in sports is dumb).

So the reason why all this shit is so complicated and weird is because it just is? We may be able to map out the human genome and see what chemicals makes our brains do what, but that doesn't mean we fully understand the how or why of it all. And it's not really bioessentialism to say "hey, there's probably some biological component to this" because well, there's no definite No on the matter.

What do I think personally is the root of it alll? I'll let these iconic bi boys speak for me here.

[mixelation]

how likely/quickly do you think it is for new bloodline limits to form? i just have the feeling that mutations are more likely to happen in naruto (sorry for comparing magic to radiation 😭) and actually useful mutations seem pretty selected for (kiri nonwithstanding). or the villages probably make you donate your gametes to really ensure the mutation gets passed on idk. ok in reflection there’s no really canon evidence providing any sort of information but do you have insight on this theory as a biology professional

hmm well, we know from the diversity of bloodlines that we see in canon that the development of bloodline limits has to be fairly common, right? but if we're talking how FAST (how many generations) they go from no bloodline limit -> full bloodline limit, i think that would vary based on the nature of the bloodline limit.

for example, let's look at Haku's bloodline limit: ice release. if i remember my lore correctly, we're told ice release is a combination of wind release and water release. both wind and water release alignments were presumably already traits that existed within the population. all that really needed to happen was for someone with a dual wind/water alignment to gain a trait that let them combine it, and since other chakra transformation bloodline limits that just combine two elemental alignments also exist, this "combination" ability is probably pretty easy to gain.

what would make a trait easy to gain? usually if it's only controlled by a single gene that needs to mutate, or if the trait is already floating around in some population. if a bloodline limit is really complicated and needs a lot of new variants of genes across the genome, it will take much more time and be much rarer to accumulate the needed mutations, especially if the intermediate forms don't give you any advantage. often times for a mutation to be beneficial, it needs to not just be beneficial by itself, but also have appeared in a genetic background and in a specific environment where it has that selective advantage (or appear in a super small population where it might just go to fixation at random-- perhaps in a very insular clan; this is called genetic drift). for example, if the mutation to "combine" element releases appears in someone with only one natural alignment, or who isn't a ninja, then there's no advantage to having it. a village with advanced enough technology and a genetic screening program might be able to test for it, but i don't think that was possible for the vast majority of narutoland history. also keep in mind that the majority of mutations don't actually "do" anything, and that the mutations that do affect fitness are much more likely to be deleterious than beneficial

so, let's look at a more complicated case: doujutsu. at first i was trying to consider how quickly a sharigan could evolved (assuming vaguely genetics-based.... magic chakra bullshit).... in a world where chakra exists and has genetically determined properties, pumping more chakra into your sensory organs so you can see/hear/whatever the threat better might be a handy stress response. let's all people do this in narutoland, and you can be genetically predisposed to more chakra being sent places or to your senses being extra-boosted by the chakra stress response. you can imagine that some people might develop really good vision this way, develop family jutsu around this trait of theirs, and then there might be some selective mating where people who are especially good at that jutsu are encouraged to have more kids. but the path one would have to take to go from a normal eye to, say, a byakugan that can see through things would have to have so many steps and take so many generations i can't even comment on it. like, how does that even work? how are you ignoring how light-based vision works? hello???

the frustrating thing about the canon doujutsu that we see is that they can do so many things that have basically no grounding in any sort of real world biology that it's impossible to comment on how it might have evolved from regular eyeballs. i guess if we lean on mythos more, we can say that it's something about magic tree chakra that made kaguya's eyes develop into the rinnegan, and that all doujutsu are just evolved rinnegan. under this model, we're ignoring normal vision-related genes and focusing on freaky chakra bullshit genes. so for the sharingan to evolve form a rinnegan, you already have chakra that makes your eyeballs develop a certain way, and so what's changing is mostly whatever genes control that chakra. since we can make our own rules about freaky chakra bullshit genes, we can say there's some wild pleiotropies (one gene controlling multiple traits) and epistasis (more than one non-allelic genes interacting to control a trait) going on that make huge changes in phenotype with just a few mutations. i think this explanation works best for most bloodline limits we see, since it allows for a ton of phenotypic change from just a few genetic changes.

also i imagine having a bloodline limit would put pretty heavy selection on the rest of your body to be able to handle it. like just having a sharingan and being forced by circumstance to use it probably selects for brain plasticity to handle the information you're getting and high chakra reserves.

i'm actually surprised there aren't more fics about clans having frozen gametes hanging around. like i know arranged marriage (to make stronger babies) is a more popular plot and probably what was done historically, but i like the idea of modern villages having to have ethical discussions about freezing people's sperm/eggs or trying to "encourage" certain couples to have children. and by "ethical discussions" i do think this is the type of thing a dystopian magic military dictatorship would do regardless of ethical implications; it would just bother me if the writer seemed like genuinely hadn't considered any ethical nuance :P

[bloededhoine]

world building cause twn doesn't part 12: the hen ichaer

i realize i've been mentioning the hen ichaer without really explaining it, and for that i apologize. but without further ado, let's go

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

general

the hen ichaer is basically a magical gene that originated with the elven sorceress, scholar, and princess, lara dorren aep shiadhal

it can lie dormant or inactive for generations, but when someone is an activated carrier of the gene, they are called a source

sources have an insane capability for magic, it's so intense that without instruction they are a huge danger to themselves and/or others. remember pavetta's betrothal feast? hurricanes should not happen indoors

same thing with ciri's sonic scream.

obviously, the hen ichaer is highly weaponize-able, but it's difficult to put this into theory since the magic is so strong that it can easily kill the person who carries it

most important is that the hen ichaer can open ard gaeth, the gates between worlds. you may remember that the witcher is a multiverse, and the continent is just one of countless worlds

aen elle

the aen elle, elves who live in another world called tir ná lia, controlled at least one gate that they used to get slaves from other worlds

however, this was before the hen ichaer was seriously studied. unicorns are also capable of opening ard gaeth, and were present in tir ná lia, so the aen elle would kidnap them to be used as their world-hopping-genocide key. yeah, the aen elle are seriously fucked

the king of the aen elle was named auberon muircetach, and he was very well known for his wars with the unicorns, who weren't too keen on being enslaved for the purpose of conquering other worlds

the hen ichaer came into play when auberon noticed that his daughter, lara dorren, had pretty intense magical abilities. like, ard gaeth opening abilities.

auberon, lara, and a few other elves began studying the gene and trying to figure out how it works and how to use it.

through this study is how we got the title aen saevherne, which is used to distinguish an elven mage with extensive knowledge of history, science, magic, and, most importantly, the elder blood.

both lara and auberon were aen saevherne, as was lara's husband-to-be, avallac'h, and avallac'h's foster son, caranthir ar-feiniel

ithlinne's prophecy

ithlinne aegli aep aevenien was an elven prophet known for her incredibly dark prophecies that she delivered at totally random times. how dark were they? ithlinne's prophecies were almost exclusively about the death of all humanity and/or the end of the world. she was fun at parties.

anyway, when we talk about ithlinne we really only mean one specific prophecy, aen ithlinnespeath. to be confusing it's usually referred to as ithlinne's prophecy

here's the prophecy itself:

Verily I say unto you, the era of the sword and axe is nigh, the era of the wolf's blizzard. The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh, the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt: Tedd Deireádh, the Time of End. The world will die amidst frost and be reborn with the new sun. It will be reborn of Elder Blood, of Hen Ichaer, of the seed that has been sown. A seed which will not sprout but burst into flame. Ess'tuath esse! Thus it shall be! Watch for the signs! What signs these shall be, I say unto you: first the earth will flow with the blood of Aen Seidhe, the Blood of Elves...

what does that mean? well, the white chill (aka the white frost) is a massive ice age that has been approaching the continent for years. don't believe me? the white frost has destroyed countless worlds in the past, and it literally cannot be stopped. the only way to save the world is by the power of the hen ichaer.

here's a perfectly frightening visual of the white frost

ithlinne didn't elaborate on the how, but we now know that the only to survive the white frost is by finding a new world and massively evacuating the continent through ard gaeth, which can only be opened by the power of the hen ichaer.

genetics

clearly, the hen ichaer is important enough to literally save, or end, the world, but the aen elle did a famously terrible job of studying it. like, you'd think they'd be good at that, but no. to their credit, it is a bit complicated

first, there are multiple types of elder blood genes, the main gene, the latent gene, and the activator gene. to actually show the powers of the hen ichaer, someone would need to either have one latent and one activator, or the main gene.

let's go back to secondary school biology for a second, remember punnet squares? these fuckers

the letters in a punnet square represent a genotype, or the two alleles that are inherited from the parents. phenotypes, on the other hand, are what you see on the outside. for example, a genotype would be Aa but a phenotype would be brown eyes.

while the main gene is a simple dominant allele (shown by a capital letter on a punnet square), both the latent and activator genes are semi-dominant, meaning that when they meet they create a new phenotype: the innate magical ability that makes you a source.

it gets a little less scientific here so bear with me; this new phenotype is so powerful that it sometimes creates a whole new genotype. so instead of having one activator gene and one latent gene, the two would merge and you'd be left with only one (very powerful) main gene. this is the only single gene that actually has magic and it's a dominant gene, so you only need to have one to have the power.

but, the latent and activator genes don't always combine. you still have the full powers when they stay separate, but it is then less likely to pass the hen ichaer your children.

complicated? very much so. but in practice it's a lot easier.

for simplicity's sake i'll call the activator gene g/a, latent gene g/L, main gene g/m and a regular nonmutated gene g/r. to be a source, the genes you inherit would be g/a g/L, but they may combine to be just g/m. your average person would be g/r g/r and a carrier would be either g/a g/r or g/L g/r.

clearly, this makes tracking it pretty messy, since generations of people can be carriers without having a single source

tracking the hen ichaer

for now, let's do what those elven sages couldn't and track then hen ichaer, starting with lara dorren

eventually, lara met an exceptionally talented human mage, cregennan of lod, and they were lab partners (oh my god they were lab partners) in the study of the hen ichaer.

eventually, lara met an exceptionally talented human mage, cregennan of lod, and they were lab partners (oh my god they were lab partners) in the study of the hen ichaer.

for all the studying, lara and cregennan's own genes have always been something of a mystery. elven mages don't tend to have any issues with using themselves as lab rats, so it's entirely possible that lara and cregennan, knowingly or not, mutated their own genes in their research.

ultimately, it doesn't matter what lara and cregennan's genes originally were. by some happy little accident, the two eventually ended up with at least one activator gene and at least one latent gene between them.

later, when lara and cregennan made their own happy little accident, riannon, she inherited one of each gene (g/a g/L), making her a source. however, riannon's genes did not combine as the elves expected, which made her a little harder to study.

riannon eventually met king goidemar of temeria (g/r g/r), and they had two children named fiona and amavet. i'll start with fiona, who the aen elle managed to figure out had the latent gene, making her g/L r

fiona ended up having a baby with king coram II of cintra (g/r g/r), they named him corbett, and he inherited fiona's g/L and one of coram's g/r.

the aen elle lost track of the hen ichaer when they studied riannon's other kid amavet. see, amavet was kind of a whore. he had twins, muriel and crispin, with the married countess anna kameny. obviously, these children weren't legitimate, and when the angry count kameny murdered amavet a few months later, he was officially childless

the elves did, however, manage to figure out that amavet had riannon's g/a gene and goidemar's g/r gene. anna kameny was just g/r g/r, and crispin ended up being g/r g/r as well. destiny does favour the hen ichaer, but sometimes it's just not meant to be. muriel, on the other hand, did inherit her father's activator gene and was g/a g/r.

let's hop back to corbett, fiona and coram's g/L g/r son. he and princess elen of kaedwen (g/r g/r) had a son, dagorad, who got corbett's latent gene and one of elen's regular ones, meaning he was g/L g/r

muriel married robert of garramore (g/r g/r), and their daughter adalia, the dramatically posed lady right there, had the same genetic combination as her mother, g/a g/r

this is where it gets even weirder

the lovely adalia married dagorad. her second cousin. they shared riannon as their great grandmother. feel better in the fact that it was not intentional, adalia's mother, muriel, was not officially riannon's granddaughter. no one would have even known, but adalia's g/a met up with dagorad's g/L in their daughter, calanthe

for the first time since riannon, the hen ichaer was back, and calanthe's parents genes combined to give her g/m g/r

while it took generations of destiny and accidental incest to make the hen ichaer happen again, now that calanthe had the main gene there was a 50% chance she would pass it to her child, which, of course, she did

calanthe and her husband roegner (g/r g/r) had pavetta, who inherited the g/m from her mother. no one knew about this until pavetta literally created a source hurricane, and was already pregnant

pavetta and duny's (g/r g/r) daughter, ciri, inherited the main gene from her mother and was a source.

sources

it's important to note that a source is not necessarily an incredibly powerful sorcerer, merely a person who has the genetic predisposition required to channel very intense magic

sources, like anyone else, can be bad students, allergic to potions, or just generally averse to magic on all levels except heredity. there is also no way to guarantee that even the most willing source will be good at using magic, in fact it's far more common that they will be really really bad at it. sources are extra susceptible to the chaotic state of magic in the world, and many end up pretty seriously harmed by it.

magical talent tends to make itself known in very emotional situations, like the death of a parent or a war. the same applies for sources, but they have an extra rule: their full powers are off limits until they lose their virginities

now, netflix has not mentioned that rule to be true or false, but i'm going to think of it as strictly book/game/etc canon, because ciri is 10 years old when netflix shows her using her source powers for the first time

the virginity rule makes things even more complicated, as customs about premarital sex are pretty strict in the witcher world (well, among nobility), and the dudes didn't seem to have fast reflexes. what i'm saying is that getting pregnant the first time you had sex was not uncommon. sources couldn't even use, and likely weren't aware of, their powers until they were already passing them on to another generation.

and even still, there is no guarantee that someone who is a source will ever actually show their powers. calanthe had the genetics, but she wasn't a mage. what happened? we don't really know. after calanthe married, cintra was pretty peaceful; there were no invasions or massive upheavals that could put enough stress on her to show her powers. plus, her parents didn't know she had any magical powers, so they didn't give her the training that would develop them, and she was a very level headed person who would likely be unaffected by many of the things that would make another source lose their shit.

[dreamstorym]

A few artists that I follow are jumping on the world-building train and I thought I would too! I've been wanting to share some species lore on centaurs for quite some time but just haven't gotten to it.

What you are about to read applies to centaurs in my universe, you may use my lore but please remember to give credit!

This has proven more difficult than I had anticipated though...

Anywho, if you can get through this upcoming word vomit, I hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Centaurs are a demi-human race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of an animal though, this is not limited to horses. This lore post is primarily referring to horse centaurs.

The hair on their head is usually the same color as their tail. A centaur’s lower body varies in the same color patterns of any horse from base colors of bay, chestnut, black to duns, appaloosa patterns, roans, champagne variations, pinto patterns, and greys. The hair on their body tends to gently fade out when meeting with their raised torso. Most Centaurs' upper bodies are hairless, excluding facial hair and the hair on their heads. Few male centaurs have chest hair.

Centaurs are herbivores; Their diet mostly consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and eggs. Meats are hard on their stomachs.

They particularly love anything salty and adult centaurs love wine.

Biology -

The average height of a centaur is 8.8 ft. but heights can vary drastically between different subcultures, genders, breeds and species. So it's not really an average.

The average lifespan of a centaur is 70-100 years of age. They are commonly air longevity is caused by and toned their diet and healthy lifestyle.

If a Centaur were to gain too much weight, they wouldn't be able to wipe their own bottoms after using the toilet.

There are many different kinds of centaurs: Ponies, deer, zebras, horses, donkeys, ponies, etc.

There are also more mythical variations such as unicorn centaurs, aka Centicorns. Scientists aren't entirely sure if there are pegasus and alicorn centaurs though.

The following terminology is used to describe centaurs of various ages:

-Foal: Offspring of either sex from birth to 4 years old

-Colt: A male centaur from the age of 4 to 17 years of age. Yep, it's a pretty wide gap

-Filly: A female centaur from the age of 4 to 17 years of age.

-Mare: A female centaur 18 years and older

-Stallion: A male centaur 18 years and older

History -

For centuries, centaurs were a violent, militaristic race that lived around the art of combat. While Stallions developed into being muscular, vulgar, violent beasts who only saw raw strength as valuable, Mares favoured technique and became refined, though prideful, warriors.

When they were first discovered by humans, they were quickly enslaved

In history, they were mostly unconsidered as humans in society and were commonly treated like enslaved farm workers and mounts.

In later years, they took deep pride in the art of archery. Colts often used it as a way to show off their skills and strength in front of potential mates.

Centaurs also served as soldiers and knights. They also continued to work on farmers even when they weren’t in captivity.

Clothing -

Now, the age old question: Should Centaurs wear pants? And if they should, how would they put them on? Well, for all of you who have been wondering and still haven't gotten your answer, this video(youtu.be/n5ESSI2U48g- you only need to watch till 0:22) demonstrates a centaur filly successfully putting on her pants.

Centaurs commonly prefer to online shop for their clothing because shops that tailor to Centaurs aren’t very common.

Centaurs can wear tops from any store as their upper bodies are human and they can therefore fit human shirts and jackets..

The most common choice when it comes to bottoms are shorts and skirts as they still offer enough liberty to run, unlike pants that cover the joints and dresses that they may trip on

For horseshoes, the most common, everyday material is rubber. Elders and more old-fashioned centaurs may wear metal horseshoes and there are gold horse shoes for special occasions. Centaurs are also capable of wearing special centaur boots that come up to the knee.

Centaur Equestrian -

The sport of Centaur Equestrian is much more popular nowadays that regular equestrian.

Equestrian is very common and more popular than traditional equestrian. Most Centaurs get into sports when they’re young and compete in teams of 2, the mount and the rider.

Riders and Mounts generally tend to be in close relationships such as best friends or lovers.

Equestrian organizations are very wary when it comes to teams made up of an adult and a minor and generally don’t allow such combinations. If a team like that were trying to compete, they would organize an investigation to look into the matter and make sure there was no slavery or traficking invovled.

Though these sorts of situations are more common when colts or fillies are involved, they still may organize investigations for suspicious activity even when two adults are involved.

There are 3 subcultures of Centaurs: Stags, Countryfolk, and Wilds

Stag Customs-

One of the questions I'm most frequently asked(for Special Week in particular) is: Can I ride her?

The answer is a big, fat NO! Stags see the act of riding(especially bareback) as a sacred thing, as sacred as sexual intercourse. If word got out that a Stag was bribed into letting a biped ride them bareback, they would be labeled as a whore or a pimp.

They believe that only a bipedal spouse should be able to ride bareback and if riding for sport, there must be a saddle separating the rider and the mount.

Stags are the most domestic, civilized, and modern of the centaur subcultures. They are the smallest subculture of all the groups.

Males are required to wear bottoms to cover their manhood(if they don't want to go to jail).

Females are a different story though. If a female's tail is long and voluminous enough to cover her womanhood, she is not required to wear bottoms. Though if her tail is cut short or her menstrual menstrual period is on, she will then wear bottoms., usually pants.

Most stags work as soldiers in the military, compete as as equestrian athletes or in centaur pageants, or join a breeding program and mares may become wet nurses. They do perform modern jobs as well.

Countryfolk Customs-

Countryfolk are more southern, traditional centaurs. They are the largest subculture of the Centaur race.

The countryfolk filly shown is @hubedihubbe 's OC, btw.

Now as for countryfolk, they don't see riding as such a big deal. In the country, any biped can ride as long the centaur is okay with it.

Countryfolk commonly live on farms in the countryside.They usually work as farmers and/or pull wagons and carriages.

Centaurs from this subculture make up the majority of the athletes in the centaur equestrian circuit, especially in rodeo.

They wear shirts and other tops but go bottomless. They most commonly wear old-fashioned metal horseshoes.

They are firmly set on traditions of hard work and can be pretty stubborn at times and look down upon beings who are lazy.

Countryfolk and stags don't primarily get along as they live by different values and beliefs. Countryfolk scoff at the stuck-up, hoity-toity stags that become lazy and too domesticated.

Countryfolk courtship traditionally involves gifts. As they value the harvest, gifts tend to be flowers or food. To give a present you grew or made yourself is a very meaningful gift indeed. Centaurs in love may bake treats, write songs, arrange bouquets, plant gardens or build houses-- all specials gifts for that special somebody that's caught there eye!

Wild Centaur Customs -

Wilds are, as their name suggests, wild centaurs. They're the second largest of the Centaur subcultures in the world.

Wilds are somewhat hostile towards outsiders who aren't centaurs, especially scientists.

The knowledge that is currently known about Wilds is commonly provided by centaurs who grew up in wild herds but then became Stags in adulthood.

They greet others with subtle nods and gracious bows to the highly admired.

Wilds wear no clothing at all, not even horseshoes but mares and fillies wear clothing on their chests to reduce movement if needed.

The wild filly shown up above is an example of the varied results that often occur between Centaurs as of result on a very wide gene pool. She is partially based off of Pocahontas and Rain from Spirit, you know, the horse movie about the wild mustang.

Wilds live in nomadic herds of 5-30 centaurs. The leader is the strongest of all the stallions and he protects the herd. The lead mare(either the lover of the lead stallion or the strongest mare) leads the herd and chooses locations.

Being the biggest and strongest, the leader has first pick when it comes to mares. Mares have the chance to decline if not interested, thought this rarely occurs.

Wilds encourage rogues and lone centaurs that may be roaming about to join their herds. They encourage the new blood and genes that the new centaurs bring.

New Stallion members are allowed to challenge the leader for his spot. They compete in a series of challenges and duels and the winner becomes/stays the leader.

If the new member loses, he is allowed to stay within the herd but most stallions don't in order to avoid embarrassment and hostility.

Male and female members of most herds may go as they please and some herds even allow them to return.

Wild herds do not have schools and fillies and colts are taught how to survive in the wild by an appointed instructor within the herd.

Mares most commonly find the strongest, largest stallions as the most attractive(usually the leader), though--as with all races--there are obviously different preferences between different mares.

Weddings -

Traditional Centaur weddings are very similar to modern ones. The slight difference is that instead of rings, the bride is given a headpiece and the groom receives an ear cuff that is permanent unless the couple should divorce.

Centaurs from all the subcultures usually incorporate these traditions in their ceremonies.

If there is a marriage within a wild herd, the honeymoon consists of the herd running behind the bride and groom as they choose different routes and locations.

A traditional honeymoon for countryfolk and more adventurous stags will consist of trekking in the countryside. Going camping, unplugging from electronics, living on the land for a few days. Going back to the roots of their wild ancestors. They usually have some sort of guide accompany them.

Most upper-class stags go for the traditional honeymoon of a cruise or going to a resort.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that’s all for now folks! I enjoyed doing this and if you got through all this info, thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed!

If you still have questions, feel free to ask something you may not be sure about in the comments!

If you have a race that you’re interested in knowing more about, write in the comments your suggestion for my next lore post!

[irepookie]

Infinity

Summary: QUEEN AU where Roger (akaRow) is a teen single dad and aspiring rock star

Warnings: fluff fluff fluff and some cursing.

Words: 2090

I changed the names Cause I feel more comfortable writing it that way (idk why) but I could re-change them if that'd help you getting more into the story.

Rowan Queen: (tho you can imagine Ben as well. This is my take)

Chapter 1: I'm here

Written from his mother's POV, which gives us some insight on the family background and history as the first day of the rest of their lives unravels.

Gina Marie Queen (neé Thomas) had always been ahead of her time. She was never a fearful woman. Not for men anyway. She hadn't had a father -that alcoholic piece of shit was nothing close to that.-

And for all she knew, she hadn't had a husband either -another waste of space-. She had finally kicked him out hers and her son's life after 10 years of hell when that drunk asshole's rehearsal fits had made her lose the daughter she had been longing for since she could remember.

He could throw plates at her, and she'd fight back burning his beloved match tapes. Or intoxicate his food. Those were her favorite paybacks.

He could verbally abuse their son, and wake up with pink hair the next day. (Rowan's idea when he was 10)

But the night he had pushed her and she had broken waters at month number 5, that was it.

It should have ended earlier, she knew. Her unborn daughter shouldn't have had to suffer the consequences for Gina to finally throw his shit out the window and soak them in the Jack Daniels bottle he hid under his side of the bed and light them with the lighter he'd switch his bloody cigars.

But unfortunately that's what it had taken.

And she would have strangled him in his sleep if she had known Rowan would be taken care of while in jail. But she wasn't. And someone had to think of the rebellious trouble maker too.

And when her son -yes, she decided that rebellious trouble maker was, more or less, worthy of the title despite being the spitting image of the his father- became a father, Gina feared her granddaughter would have the same fate. Row had it in his genes and , as much she had tried to raise him as best as she was capable of, that fear never faded.

So when the phone rang

"Rowan Queen?"

""I'm his mother"

"I'm from the Hospital's maternity aisle. We call to inform you that his daughter's mom has disappeared after giving birth..."

That was all she needed to hear before dropping the phone and leaving it hanging upside down

"ROWAN EUGENE QUEEN! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"I've got rehearsals with the band..."

"YOU GOT SOMEONE PREGNANT, YOU IDIOT??!"

"Me? No!"

"WELL THINK AGAIN!"

"Mum..."

"Just got a call from hospital saying your daughter's mother has disappeared after birth!!! And they called us!"

He was high school's infamous Playboy. Blonde, Blue Big eyes, and a charming smile. And on top of that, one of the four members of a wannabe rock band. The Hot Drummer, they call him .Gina knew. She didn't need to hear about his reputation to know the likelihood of him getting someone pregnant was high. But she had pictured it differently.

She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled, but he didn't move. He kept staring at nowhere.

"Rowan!!!"

No reaction.

She had to slap his cheek in order to get him out his shock

"What do you want?!"

"We're going to hospital, right now"

"What? Why?"

"To work this shit out!!"

"But we have to rehearse"

"Fuck that shit Rowan! They've just told us you got someone pregnant and she run off! That's the most important thing right now so get in that this instance!!"

He did as told. It was a tense car ride. And Gina remembered Elsa. Her baby girl. And how for her father's fault she wasn't there.

"So what now?" Row asked

"We're putting her up for adoption, unless they can contact the mother, although I don't think she should have a say. But if you're the so called father and your name is in the file, we can leave your part signed and then go home."

"Oh"

Gina thought she caught a hint of disappointment in his voice.

It had to be her imagination. Disappointment over what? Missing the wonderful experience of being a teen dad? Ha.

He did look thoughtful. He hadn't even turned on the radio.

Something was off.

But she figured he'd just want to get this whole thing over with, and that he'd sign her over to a better family. As anyone with minimum common sense would

Right?

Then, as they waited for the application, he asked if he could see her.

Her answer was immediate "No"

"Why?"

"How come Why? Why on Earth would you want to see her?"

"Well I'm here. You've been freaking out , and freaking me out as well. Might as well see who this fuss is about"

"A baby. That's it. You don't need to see one. They all look the same. Small, Wrinkly, like a large prune. There you have it"

"Well I wanna see my... That small wrinkled prune"

Damn. He had said <<mine>>. He already considered her his.

Gina changed her strategy.

"Your name is on the certificate, right. But that means nothing"

"Why would it be there otherwise?""

"A mistake. Or maybe the mother just wants to tangle you up."

"The mother's gone"

"Yes. For now. It's called Baby Blues, and when it's gone She'll have you exactly where she wants to. Because I'm guessing she won't be no straight A student either, and you'll have to sustain them both -if you ever make it to college- and you'll end up getting married, and maybe you don't even love her, but divorce is even more tedious than getting married. That's why I've Never done it. So you'll both be stuck as cashiers in whatever low cost store, and then she'll confess that you were her high school crush but that the kid is actually her ex boyfriend's and then you'll throw a fit, and you'll get in a fight and you'll end up grabbing whatever is on your reach to hit whoever's on your reach...."

"Wait mom. I just... I just wanna see her." Row cut her off " Whoever the fuck she may actually be, I'm the one who's here. And I ain't signing anything without knowing who I'm making decisions for. That's all. I just want to see. I don't even want to touch her or whatever. Just knowing who's the reason I had to turn the boys down today. Then I'll sign the paper and we'll go home."

"She's in the NICU anyway. Doubt they'll let you in"

"What's NICU?" Gina caught genuine concern in his voice.

"Nothing bad." She reassured.

They handed the files, and she took them "I'll fill them"

She got through the first page, and he was gone.

Shit. That stubborn bastard.

She didn't want him to be a father. He was 19 for fucks shake. Had never had one of his own. He had only moved out a couple months ago. Nothing lasted much for him. Wether it was a girlfriend, a job, clothes... His longest pet had reached one year alive. And he couldn't go long without getting injured

Not even his drum kit had survived the move, and was litterally patched up. She'd consider herself guilty of murder if she allowed a baby to be on that list. Not to mention the alternative was that she'd be the one, sooner or later, to take over. Because he was never patient and would stress too much -if he didn't lose interest first- or get fed up and cause her shaken Baby syndrome. And just as she was too young to be a grandmother, she was too old to raise a second kid.

So she stormed inside the NICU aisle ready to get him out of there. And what she saw was quite breathtaking. The look in his eyes was priceless: such fondness and marvel... Only comparable to when he had first seen that red Ludwig drum set through the glass of the local music store.

"I've never seen something so awesome in my life!" He had said.

They had never been able to afford it. He had tried to get a job after school, to save up everything. But it hadn't been enough. And he'd go everyday to that street, and just stare at the shiny wonderful kit for hours, hands on the glass, knowing that the likelihood of ever owning it was almost non existent.

He ended up making acquaintance with the owner. They tried to bargain for it, but his lowest price was way too high for them. He did get to play it once tho, and it was an undescribable experience. Murray, the owner, let him give it a try out of pity when someone else bought it, as a farewell. And had never seen anything like it again.

Now this baby was, technically, his -regardless of what biology could say- and he was about to give it away.

Gina did know on first hand it was, having been a volunteer on midwife assistance with her aunt. And 10/10 woman who swore to never want anything to do with their child changed their minds as soon as they laid eyes on them. Only those who really followed through -take it away, I don't wanna see it- walked out there with empty arms.

Now Row was looking at that baby ad if she was a treasure, but that meant nothing in the long term. His father had done something similar to Elsa's sonogram.

Her poor little girl. So young.

So helpless. She had been so naive thinking he would ever change.

But she wasn't gonna make that mistake again. She loved her son, but he really wasn't good at anger management.

She couldn't expose another innocent child to such danger.

"Rowan, come here now. You've seen her. Got what you wanted. Met her. Now let's get this over with"

His hand was resting on the top of the incubators glass, even if he had unglued his eyes from the tiny being inside and nailed on her now, as if he had been staring at the sun for a long while and was now blinded.

"Why the hurry?"

Was she hearing correctly?

"How come Why the hurry? Because we both have things to do"

"I've already cancelled the one plan I had..."

"Well I still have an errand to get done."

He didn't reply, eyes back on the child

"Rowan" she approached him, making sure not to look at the kid. "Rowan Eugene Queen, look at me when I'm talking to you" she ordered in a strict tone

"What?"

"Papers. Signature. Now"

"I'm thinking about it"

"Thinking about...?! Thinking about what? What's there to think? Sign these and we'll go home, and we'll never have to look back at this! Nobody has to know."

"And what about the raisin?"

"The what?"

"Her. What about her?"

"She'll be fine. Adopting couples love newborns. She'll go to a fit, nice marriage and will be very happy. And we'll resume our lives"

"And I'll never see her again?"

"Why do you care?"

He just shrugged and turned his attention back to her. Gina watched him watch her. Goddamn. She was losing him.

"Are you the father?" A nurse asked, walking towards.

*Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it*

Gina prayed.

"I suppose I am" He said it so naturally, with such a bright genuine smile that Gina almost forgot how critical those words were.

"Well, I'm Callie, and I'm on charge tonight. Congratulations, Mr... Oh, Queen." Her eyes widened When reading the tag on the incubator. "We're glad at least someone's here"

"Yea, well..." He scratched the back of his head nervously

"Don't worry. Her mom will get over it." She turned to Gina "You must be Gran..."

"No I'm not" Gina snapped harshly before she could finish the sentence "We were leaving"

"We were not"

"Rowan, I will not repeat it. Sign those bloody papers and get your ass back in the car"

"What if I don't want to?"

"This is serious! There's no other way!"

"Yes there is!"

"You can't be serious!" What 19 year old would ever choose this?

"Well I am"

"You don't even know what serious means! You have no sense of responsibility! You've never finished anything you've ever started!"

"Maybe I want to change! Maybe I can grow up if you stop pestering the shit outta me day In day out! This is not your decision!"

"I'm not letting you do this Row!"

"Then go! Leave me the fuck alone and stop getting in my way!"

Before Gina could answer, a small cry came from the incubator.

And she found herself walking backwards.

It was right she couldn't stop him but she wasn't gonna take part on it.

So she turned around and left, as the nurse explained Row how to hold his newborn daughter.

"You're not gonna break her, I promise. You'll do fine. Because you're here. Just because you're here I know you're gonna be a great dad. You already are" Callie said, putting his trembling arms on the correct position before lifting the small white bundle out the incubator.

They usually didn't do it unless it was necessary for a feed or a change, but she thought this was even more important: they had to meet each other properly: The little one needed to hold on to someone after being abandoned. And there was something in the young boy's eyes that told her he needed just the same.

So with a reassuring smile Callie placed her on Rowan's arms, who brought her closer to his chest by instinct, a small smile already on his lips as he took in her features.

She was gorgeous. And he didn't know why, but he found her to be the most perfect thing he had ever seen. He instantly knew he was gonna protect that wrinkled prune at all costs.

"Hey there, lil'raisin. I'm..." He swallowed the lump in his throat "I'm your Dad and... I'm here now."

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Hope you guys liked it

It's my first fic on Tumblr so I still don't have the formatting completely handled and my phone won't let me select all the paragraphs at once to put it all in regular font.

Let me know what you think. Thank you all!!😍😍😍😍

~Pookie