Triple Trouble Tree

It’s a fully branched family tree for the entire Throuple! Let’s learn a little more about our secondary heroines in triplicate.

I’m not going to repeat much about Clan MacGowd, as I already gave you the lowdown on this herd of pugnacious pigs from bonnie Sowsgow. I will, however, introduce you to Red’s porcine progenitor, Boudica (to whom some would refer as the Queen). It was suggested to me that calling her Boudica was rather on the snout, but if you can think of a more appropriate name for Red’s caber-tossing, n@zi-crushing grandmother who looks like her, I’d love to hear it.

A word about wartime activities in the WwF universe: battling on the front lines is not limited to the male sex, as that would be a waste of good muscle in these circumstances. The armed forces will court any “powerful” species, man or woman, as long as you can kick a bunch of ass and at least pretend to be cis-het. Boudica was a fine squadron leader in WW2 who propelled her troops to bloody and terrible victory every chance she got, surviving to pass down her legacy to her son and daughter. The latter, Sarah, had a tendency to glowingly compare Red and her big personality to Boudica, whilst Sarah and her husband Manny cast many a withering stare upon their gentler son Will. Told you the poor lad was long suffering.

Another word: I tried to research Scottish involvement in WW2, but came up with very little. If you have any knowledge on this rather specific topic and would like to educate me, by all means chime in.

Now for Valerie’s roots. I’ve mentioned before that she and her twin sister Delphi were raised in poverty, and some of you have asked why her maternal family did not intervene with assistance. Well, here’s the skinny on that.

Bugs (insects, arachnids, isopods and some crustaceans) are practically a world unto themselves. There’s a lot of them, they often possess high levels of wealth and/or influence, they’re a little too strong and resilient for their size, they tend towards atheism, and they are distinctly hive-centric. This means that they almost never legally marry (though some do maintain loving relationships with favorite partners), and their mother’s name and legacy are their priorities, eclipsing all else.

Delve Tritonis was, in her time, a gold-winning Olympiad in the aquatic arenas (being a diving beetle probably didn’t hurt). She and her hive were swimmers and divers and they damn well won all the awards and accolades for same, because they were the best of the best. Unfortunately, Delve’s daughter and scion, Marina, was only…kinda good. Try as she may, Marina could never measure up to the rest of her hive and their incredible talent. Delve blamed this failure at least partially on the distraction of Marina’s weird little artsy mammal boyfriend, Roger. Marina decided that she was no good at being a Tritonis and threw her lot in with her beloved, marrying him and even taking his surname. Delve, not knowing what to do with Marina, cut her losses.

Roger, meanwhile, was a creative guy and a talented painter. Unfortunately for him, nobody cared, and he went through life in artistic obscurity (to this day he’s still largely undiscovered). Roger and Marina tried to promote the sale of his paintings, but nothing much came of it. To make ends just barely meet, he worked in a gallery and she as a gym teacher and swim coach at a middle school in Bradydale. They tried, and failed, to avoid bringing any children into their shabby little world; although Valerie and her twin Delphi were adored by both parents, the girls often suffered from hunger, cold and fear.

While Valerie recognizes her parents’ good hearts and forgives them for her rough childhood, Delphi absolutely does not. She fiercely resents all those years of not having enough food, wearing thrift store clothes and being forced to fight off bullies, junkies and predators that posed a threat to her and Valerie. Upon reaching adulthood Delphi would turn her back on her parents and sister, moving away and reclaiming the Tritonis name (not sure if grandma Delve actually condoned that or not). Delphi would stay away for decades, until her own cherished daughter, River, showed a budding personality that distinctly resembled Valerie’s…could a reunion be in order?

Incidentally, River is older than her cousin Miles, but I’ve drawn him as an adult and I’ve only pictured her as a child. By child I mean diving beetle nymph; you can’t see River’s tail from this angle, but it’s there!

Kittiwake’s summary will be somewhat shorter, as the less described about her youth, the better. Our sweet eagle was dumped into foster care at an early age and was not treated well by her erstwhile guardians or siblings, often putting herself in harm’s way to protect the younger kids from violence and humiliation. When the abuse peaked, Kittiwake’s involvement in Big Brothers and Sisters of St. Charlies would save her life. Her mentors, married gulls Gene and Sally, would adopt Kittiwake and provide her with the help and therapy she desperately needed. Fortunately, Kittiwake responded well to Sally and Gene’s honest, loving care, and she thrived as her kind and courageous personality shone through. She wishes henceforth to live a life of positivity, dismissing her early years as a gruesome time far behind her. Kittiwake, as you may know, is not her original name; she asked her adoptive parents to give her a new one, hence the gullish nature of her moniker.

Gene and Sally both had too much respect for their original flocks to change their surnames for nuptial purposes, and they provided their daughter with both names, because the more the merrier! The pair are do-it-yourselfers who taught Kittiwake all kids of useful life skills, from carpentry to home maintenance to making her own clothes, which helped net her primary gig as a costume repair specialist at the Sous La Mer Theatre.

And then one day, Red met Kittiwake at a church thing and brought her home to perform odd jobs around the house and pool for her and Valerie. It just got odder from there.

When We Fly (c)Kae