Caroline does have friends, at least on paper, (as I haven’t wanted to make the sims yet, though I will and we’ll see some of them at Elizabet’s birthday event) but they’re more a posse than the real friendships that Marianne shares with Elizabet and Vivianne. They’d all pretty much cut their friends to the bone for an advantage and someone gets thrown in front of a bus on average of once a month.

Marianne should sometimes say those things she’s holding back. I am sure that it has never occurred to Katherine that the constant being on their cases is why her sisters won’t speak to her. (Or if it has occurred to her, she dismissed it within a half-heartbeat of thinking it.) As for Caroline and the laces, she could use to hear it, but I’m not sure she’d really listen to it.

Yes. She is a direct descendant of Babette and Aglovale. I see the original noble lines having sometimes had their cadet branches twined back around them, so there’s probably more Gwynedd in them than just that, but Katherine definitely shows what branch she came off.

Yup, yup he does. Thanks, Van!

But, yes, she does have all those people who like her and they’re nothing to sneeze at.

No plans, right now, for a Willoughby to annoy her. But I will keep in mind that you want one. Still, Brandon does need to work on his timing. Or maybe not… I mean after all, Marianne might kinda want someone (Severus) to like her, but she’s not really sure she’s ready for it.

Oh, I’m sure there’ll be other moments. Severus has a huge-ass crush on Marianne, her brother appearing at one inopportune moment is not going to make that crush go away.

The whole thing about Katherine and Caroline being “true Gwynedds” was mostly meant in irony, because being intellectual, good-hearted, and doing the right thing because it is right is pretty much the core of the original Gwynedd family. At least on some level, for all of them, they have some or all of those traits. But Katherine is the product of her mother who is a lot like Caroline is. (And she wasn’t even a Gwynedd.)

The impression was the Chipmunk. She hangs around in shrines and wishing wells. And the rule of thumb will be if it’s a clear sort of vision or clear speech, it’s probably a visitation from the Demigoddess. If it’s an impression of something, it’s probably the Chipmunk, who is less powerful, but more intrusive than the Demigoddess.

Thanks, Morgaine!

(Frankly, I suspect the only reason she pesters Marianne is because she’s jealous of her, though she’s probably not self-aware enough to realize it. Brandon obviously prefers Marianne, and I suspect Henry does too, and I’m sure the younger children will once they’ve matured enough to read people accurately. And while we haven’t seen Leo much, his interactions seem quite routine and ho-hum in regards to arranged marital prospects, so who knows if he has any real feelings for Caroline–and meanwhile, Severus is fairly obviously dead gone on Marianne. And Marianne has good friends! Does Caroline have any, or at least any who aren’t more of a “posse”? The only person who prefers Caroline to Marianne at this point is her mother, and frankly, Katherine seems like the sort of person whose opinion should be taken with a grain of salt.)

I really hope that one day, Marianne finds it in herself to call her mother and sister out. I think Katherine needs that prod about why her sisters don’t talk to her. Caroline definitely needs that prod about Marianne getting her laces tighter than she does, even with cream and sugar.

And yeah, I think if any of the original Gwynedd ladies can hear Katherine just now, they’re rolling on their clouds laughing, and maybe wondering if the midwife pulled a switch. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Katherine comes from the Aglovale/Babette line?

Loved the library, and the wishing shrine at the end!

(Though, oh, Brandon–I like you, but you need to work on your timing!)

… And let me see … I think there might be somebody else … his name starts with an S …

Still, I have to say, as much as I was happy throughout the beginning of this post with Brandon for standing up for Marianne (and HOW APPROPRIATE that Brandon is Marianne’s special protector! All she needs is a Willoughby to annoy her …), I kind of wanted to hit him with a wet noodle at the end. Way to ruin the moment, Brandon!

But I have every hope that there will be other moments. As long as we keep Katherine and Caroline out of the room.

… Oh, and Katherine? I don’t know where you’re getting your ideas about Gwynedd women from. Because I know the original ones, and the only one who would care as much about posture as you do would be Dindrane. And Dindrane would only care about it insofar as it increased blood flow to her brain. (And maybe, with her kids, she wouldn’t want their spines getting out of whack. But beyond that, she wouldn’t give a hoot.)

One last thing. That voice, that impression … was it the Demigoddess, or was it the Chipmunk?