History Fridge / Drowtales

* So you've got Ariel and Faen, and they have some similarities, but there's another that's not so obvious until you get into spoilers. One of their parents is [[spoiler:a dark elf]], meaning they're both [[spoiler:second generation drow]] on at least one side of their family.
** Ariel and Chirinide also have similar backgrounds, [[spoiler: both being second generation drow on their fathers' sides]], and both having one drow and one [[spoiler:surface-born elven]] parent.
* Ariel's reaction to [[spoiler:finding out Mel is her mother]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7849 at first looks]] like just another case of naivety or refusing to believe it, but considering that she's a shapeshifter it's not that far fetched, especially since she's never actually seen [[spoiler:Mel and Quain]] standing next to each other, but she ''did'' see Mel shapeshift [[spoiler: right before throwing Syphille down the stairs.]]
* Sil'lice's decision to ask [[spoiler: Liriel / Diva]] to become the "ice twins" playmate, and [[spoiler: Diva]]'s decision to accept. From Sil'lice's point of view, what better playmate than a palace insider still loyal to her mother, and from [[spoiler: Diva]]'s, she's building a network of [[spoiler: children with a high probability of becoming important politically]] one day.
** Sil'lice sees a chance to reinforce clean Val'Sharen values via a palace insider. [[spoiler: Diva]] gets to do that, sure; but, she also gets to attempt some atonement for past mistakes by getting to raise, as far as she's aware, her clan's only remaining untainted kids. Also, matriarchs (recognised or not) love them some grandkids. She's right to invest in them, too, given what the tainting has done to the Vel side of the family.
* The fact that Balsii [[spoiler:stabs Nega'fanea in the throat]] is actually even more of an insult when you think about it. [[spoiler:The sword went through Nega's tongue, so even though it didn't work the plan likely was to take her spellsong away if it didn't kill her, and given that it's the Illhar'dro's signature ability it's even more of a diss to Nega]].

** To count it off, the warrior queen who wishes for nothing but to be free of the system of nobles and commoners has found herself a noble, unable to take the field of battle, and has lost her chosen heir to demons, and left barren and thus unable to make a new one. Her remaining heirs are a daughter who hates her guts, another who lacked the killer instinct Quain desires in an heir [[spoiler:who betrays her to the Sharen,]] an overly ambitious advisor's daughter, and Ariel [[spoiler:her granddaughter.]] In ''Drowtales'' motherhood is very important and Quain'tana's barrenness makes her even more of an outsider to other nobles.
* Kalki's hair looks like a combination of [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune's and Mel'arnach's]] which makes perfect sense since they're her parents. It might even been an InvokedTrope since she's implied to naturally have white hair given what we see of her as a baby.

* The fact that the inside of the Sullisin'rune dome looks like the Surface makes a lot more sense in light of the fact that [[spoiler:Ash'waren was born there]]. Add to that the fact that the naga servants look like Dark Elves and you start to get the sense that [[BrokenBird there's a lot more to her than we thought]], and chapter 36 pretty much confirms this.
* Lulianne's wardrobe change after the timeskip from full armor to low riding pants with a CleavageWindow [[spoiler:thanks to Khaless' possession]] actually makes a lot of sense. [[spoiler:She's a demon, she doesn't ''need'' armor anymore]]. The fact that immediately after [[spoiler:Khaless initially possesses her]] Lulianne starts [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=6905 shedding her armor]] may in fact be symbolic of [[spoiler:Khaless taking her over]].

** Additionally, Mel's reaction [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=6850 here]] to Snadhya revealing [[spoiler:that she tricked Mel into giving one of her eggs to make Kalki]] suggests that Mel recognizes on some level how similar they are, but is choosing to ignore it, especially the line about how she "doesn't want to hate anymore" indicating that she realizes that she ''should'' be upset about it, but is choosing not to be. It also explains why she [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1260 flipped out as much as she did]] when Snadhya told her that [[spoiler:Kalki's "father"]] was a Sarghress, when just a few pages before she was [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1254 thrilled to hear that Snadhya had a daughter of her own]]. Her complete 180 in mood as soon as she finds out that Snadhya kept it a secret from her suggests that what Snadhya did hit a little too close to home for poor Mel.
* And a Fridge SugarWiki/{{Funny|Moments}} in this page: Now that we know that [[spoiler:Kalki's Mel's daughter]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=981 this scene]] becomes especially hilarious if you notice how big the dress Kalki (barely) has on is on her, so it's very likely that it's actually ''Mel's'' old dress, meaning that Mel walked in on [[spoiler:Kalki playing dressup with one of mommy's dresses]].
** Also if you take one Daydream story as canon, those dresses actually belonged to [[spoiler: Snadhya'rune]] in the first place -before she passed them onto Mel'arnach- making it a double SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}. No wonder Mel states that she was ''surprised'' that Snadhya'rune had "kept some of her old clothes". It's probably an in-joke between them.
** Post chapter 46 it also takes on a somewhat sadder implication, since if that was actually [[spoiler:Mel's]] dress Kalki might've worn it to feel some connection to her. Also notice her hair is down, not unlike how [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune]] usually styles it. She probably ''was'' actually playing dressup and the fact it doesn't fit even sadder in light of what happened later.

* In the Sharen alliance [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=8105 group picture]] you'll note that Shinae is standing with her back to the audience, and despite being on the wallpaper doesn't actually appear in that arc. But now that she's shown up in the story proper we know why: [[spoiler:She's pregnant]]. So it turns out to have been a clever and meta bit of [[spoiler:HideYourPregnancy]].
* People who tend to lash out at Ariel for [[spoiler:not accepting that Mel is her real mother immediately after being told]] tend to forget the whole matter with Jer'kol, which set an unfortunate precedent as far as [[spoiler:people claiming to be her real parents]] goes. And even worse, if you compare [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=4421 the language used]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7849 it's almost identical]], and Ariel's body language is defensive, so she recognizes the similarity. And it's implied that she had begun to buy Jer'kol's story at least a little bit before she realized it was a ploy, so no wonder she has a hard time trusting [[spoiler:Mel]], and even flat out asks "are you a Jer'kol?" when [[spoiler:Mel]] helps her earlier. The way the entire sequence of events in chapter 32 went down was set up ''well'' beforehand.
* The entire layout of the Kyorl's leadership makes a lot more sense once you find out that [[spoiler:the Judicators are mostly Light Elves]] so the fact that most of the Judicators are male while the Ill'haress is both elected and (at best) a [[PuppetKing Puppet Queen]] is because [[spoiler:the Light Elves are patriarchal, and most likely wouldn't change things all that much from when they were on the surface]]. In fact, a cynic could even look at the public nature of the Ill'haress' position as being a deliberate misdirection, since most people outside the Kyorl probably assume she has as much power as the other Ill'haresses in other clans. [[spoiler: Chapter 44 indirectly confirms this, as Snadhya'rune suggests poisoning Vala'drielle to stop the Kyorl persecution of the tainted, not seeming to realise that the Judicators are the ones who choose Kyorl illharesses.]]
* Remember [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive/20100708c25p019.jpg Snadhya'rune's conversation with Sarv'swati here]] in Chapter 25? Like Sarv'swati, readers assumed that Snadhya'rune was referring all along to Zala'ess squandering her allies and severely reducing her bloodline with Sarv'swati being left to pick up the pieces in the Sharen/Sarghress War but [[spoiler: by Chapter 44's end, the situations have been reversed, with Sarv'swati being the one left broken and Zala'ess in the stronger position]]. How do we know that Snadhya'rune hadn't planned this all along with what has been revealed in-comic about her character? She probably [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive/20100710c25p021.jpg decided to sell out Sarv'swati]] the minute the latter mentioned that she wanted to [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive/20100709c25p020.jpg "avoid butchering her family"]]. YIKES.

* Post chapter 46 [[spoiler:when Femi dies]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=8276 this scene]] gains some new context, since the trapped commoner slings the insult "motherkiller" at Wafay as she leaves, and she can be seen looking distressed and clinging onto Sata's hand. Whether intended or not, [[spoiler:Wafay is now effectively a literal motherkiller, since her TheStoolPigeon actions led directly to her mother's death]]. And worse, Wafay probably ''knows'' this, hence her use of "[[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=8354 someone I know]]" when describing what's going on to Suu'be instead of "my mother", suggesting she's aware on some level exactly what she's asking for and is trying to get some emotional distance.

* [[spoiler:Snadhya having Kalki torn apart by summons does come off as a showing of how much of a monster she really is.]] But think about Snadhya's ideology. Snadhya has been consistent in opposing the clan system and wishing to burn it to ashes for a new order to rise. [[spoiler: Word of God confirmed that Kalki was never Snadhya's heir to any of her holdings besides possibly Orthorbbae, nor was she the heir to the Nidraa'chal. Kalki had repeatedly shown herself to embody the negative habits of Vals, especially when one considers her insolence. She acted as a girl who knew she would get special treatment no matter how horrific or foolish she behaved. By having her only daughter torn apart, Snadhya in her bloody way demonstrated that she's committed to shifting society away from the hereditary focused clan system with its Vals.]]

* A discussion on the Headscratchers page pointed out that Faen's attack on Nihi'liir was probably done using the same method as her healing powers, only attacking the nerves, and that the teacher probably died from having her brain overloaded. Now think about Ash'waren does [[spoiler:to hide that she's a Dark Elf]] combined with how the Kyorl use Empaths to "cleanse (i.e. brainwash) people and let it sink in that she's basically ''hacking your brain''. No wonder Quain'tana told her to stop doing it as soon as they were alone.

* Syphile's [[spoiler:suicide attack on Quain'tana]]. Think about what we now know about [[spoiler:Snadhya's faulty seeds]]. Syphile was tainted while she was at Orthorbbae, and Snadhya was there. It's not hard to imagine that Snadhya [[spoiler:gave Syphile an intentionally faulty seed, hoping she'd take out some of the Sarghress when it went haywire, and later on Zala just [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=5976 exploited this]] by loosening it further]]. So more or less [[spoiler:Quain'tana actually gave her a MercyKill, since she was doomed anyway]].
** Additionally, the recipients of [[spoiler:Snadhya's faulty seeds]] are stated to only have [[spoiler:twenty five to fifty years, if they're lucky, before their seed overtakes them]]. Syphile was tainted right before Ariel was born, so about 15-16 years. There's about to be a 15 year time skip in the story. [[spoiler:Syphile probably wouldn't have survived past the time skip had she lived]]. Poor girl was doomed no matter what.
*** Also, even her ''name'' has a level of either HarsherInHindsight or HilariousInHindsight when you think about it, considering that her name originates from Syphilis, an STD, and tainting has several similarities to an STD [[spoiler:especially now that we know that most taints are intentionally designed to kill the recipient]] and hell, even the ''word'' tainting has, as Snadhya put it, a "delicious depravity." When you think about it that way Snadhya'rune becomes even worse since she's doing the equivalent of [[spoiler:''intentionally infecting children with AIDS'']]. The troper who realized this was rocking back and forth in shock for a few minutes after making this connection.
** Relatedly, that teacher whose seed [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=3134 went haywire and took out most of the Beldrobbaen girls and tainted Naal]]? [[spoiler:Probably an early test case for those faulty seeds]].
* How does Khaless feed as a demon? If she still needed to eat then the question is What or WHO? Maybe students who accidentally stumbled across things that they shouldn't have... [[spoiler: like possibly poor Sael]]

* Look closely at the last panel of [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1597 this page]]. What's Taisei doing? He's funneling off extra nether from Chrys'tel. The last time we saw someone do that was when [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7103 Snadhya did that to Naal]]. And what happened later in that chapter? [[spoiler:Naal's seed took her over]]. The FridgeHorror kicks in when you realize that Taisei doing that to Chrys suggests that [[spoiler:''Chrys' seed was about to go haywire'', so we very possibly witnessed her almost dying, and she probably didn't even know!]] This is especially horrifying after the [[spoiler:faulty seeds]] revelation.

* The fact that we haven't yet seen Sabbror after the timeskip is pretty worrying, as is the fact that [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=6875 the last time we saw him]] was the same page where [[spoiler:Sha'sana described the faulty seeds]] and Zala looks very concerned in that page.
** Also, concept art of a Sharen character references [[http://www.drowtales.com/wordpress/?p=4440 second stage tainting sickness]], and she's a member of Sarv'swati's bloodline. Just how many Sharen [[spoiler:got those faulty seeds]]? If so, [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune, YouMonster]].'
** More or less confirmed with what happened to [[spoiler:Shinae's baby]] and WordOfGod is that almost all of the Sharen [[spoiler:have those faulty seeds]].
** Further confirmed by [[spoiler:Chrys'tel]] having what WordOfGod referred to as an early miscarriage. What's even worse about this case is that in humans miscarriages of this sort are sometimes mistaken for a particularly heavy period and the woman doesn't even know she was pregnant, but since fae don't menstruate [[spoiler:Chrys]] has to know exactly what it means.
** Sabbror shows up later, and he's not doing so well. [[spoiler:It's clear he doesn't have much time before his taint overwhelms him.]]
* The true horror of Snadhya's [[spoiler:faulty seeds]] really becomes apparent with what happened to [[spoiler:Shinae's baby]], and even though it has the same net effect of Quain'tana's [[spoiler:injury to her womb in that those affected cannot have children]] it's actually ''even worse'': [[spoiler:It's implied that Quain'tana's injury has left her unable to conceive, while those with Snadhya's seeds can conceive and carry the baby to term, only to have the baby be stillborn and mutated at birth]]. It goes from sad to downright horrifying since [[spoiler:the mother has no idea until the birth that anything is wrong and has to mentally cope with the fact that she was carrying something so horribly deformed in her own body]]. Pure NightmareFuel.
* Check out what Erin'yasa says [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=9177 here]] (panel 7). Exactly how many [[spoiler:Diva'ratrika {{Body Double}}s]] have they gone through over the timeskip? And if so, where exactly are they getting so many [[spoiler:dark elves (or at least people who can pass for them)]]? Suddenly the Sharen surface colonies taken on an even more unsettling light...
* Wafay is presumably very soon finding out that [[spoiler:her mother Femi is dead]] thanks directly to Wafay's TheStoolPigeon actions. Hard enough for a little girl, but look at [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=8299 the golem]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=9921 the Sarghress find in Femi's lab]] and realize it is probably one of the UterineReplicator types. So in other words [[spoiler:Wafay not only had a hand in the death of her mother, but also potentially that of her unborn sibling]] however unintentionally.

* Snadhya'rune [[spoiler:deliberately placing faulty seeds in her own clan]] becomes even more disturbing when she later reveals a way to supposedly remove the negative aspects of tainting. [[spoiler:She's been preparing her PoisonAndCureGambit for a very long time, right under her sisters' noses. This means she was already plotting against them even when they first betrayed their mother.]]

! Fridge Brilliance

* Snadhya and Quain are actually [[NotSoDifferent a lot more similar]] than Mel either realizes or acknowledges. Which is kind of sad in a way, since she's ultimately fallen in love with someone who's quite a bit like the person she hates, and [[LikeParentLikeSpouse this pattern crops up with real life people as well]]. Because really, when you think about it:

* Zala'ess' ExpositoryHairstyle change after the timeskip has her with plain white hair, i.e. she looks more like a drow instead of a dark elf. And Snadhya'rune's goal is to have [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1359 drow ruled by drow]], so it's probably not a coincidence that Zala's styling her hair that way.

** Also if you take one Day Dream story as canon, those dresses actually belonged to [[spoiler: Snadhya'rune]] in the first place -before she passed them onto Mel'arnach- making it a double SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}. No wonder Mel states that she was ''surprised'' that Snadhya'rune had "kept some of her old clothes". It's probably an in-joke between them.

** Also if you take one daydream story as canon, those dresses actually belonged to [[spoiler: Snadhya'rune]] in the first place -before she passed them onto Mel'arnach- making it a double SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}. No wonder Mel states that she was ''surprised'' that Snadhya'rune had "kept some of her old clothes". It's probably an in-joke between them.

** Also if you take one DayDream story as canon, those dresses actually belonged to [[spoiler: Snadhya'rune]] in the first place -before she passed them onto Mel'arnach- making it a double SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}. No wonder Mel states that she was ''surprised'' that Snadhya'rune had "kept some of her old clothes". It's probably an in-joke between them.

* [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7085 This whole scene]] where Snadhya'rune twists Mel's arm to go back to the Sarghress was probably because Snadhya realized that there was still a part of Mel who was holding out for Ariel, and the whole "I'll make a bloodline claim on her" frankly reads really false. The [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7061 scene earlier]] where Mel seems hesitant to throw her lot in with Snadhya all the way is likely where she made this decision, and I don't believe for a second she didn't know what sending Mel back would mean and what Quain would do to her. It was PLANNED to completely break down what little Mel had keeping her there. And the worst part is that ''it worked'' and Snadhya's [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=9634 smug little smile here]] seems to confirm it. No matter what she's done to Mel she will ''still'' run back to her because Snadhya at least treats her well, even if it's as a pet, and [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=10043 even Mel seems to get this]] on some level. It's not for nothing Snadhya's methods have been compared to a DomesticAbuser.

** Also if you take one DayDream story as canon, those dresses actually belonged to [[spoiler: Snadhya'rune]] in the first place -before she passed them onto Mel'arnach- making it a double {{crowning moment of funny}}. No wonder Mel states that she was ''surprised'' that Snadhya'rune had "kept some of her old clothes". It's probably an in-joke between them.

* And a Fridge CrowningMomentOfFunny in this page: Now that we know that [[spoiler:Kalki's Mel's daughter]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=981 this scene]] becomes especially hilarious if you notice how big the dress Kalki (barely) has on is on her, so it's very likely that it's actually ''Mel's'' old dress, meaning that Mel walked in on [[spoiler:Kalki playing dressup with one of mommy's dresses]].

** To count it off, the warrior queen who wishes for nothing but to be free of the system of nobles and commoners has found herself a noble, unable to take the field of battle, and has lost her chosen heir to demons, and left barren and thus unable to make a new one. Her remaining heirs are a daughter who hates her guts, another who lacked the killer instinct Quain desires in an heir [[spoiler:who betrays her to the Sharen,]] an overly ambitious advisor's daughter, and Ariel [[spoiler:her granddaughter.]] In DrowTales motherhood is very important and Quain'tana's barrenness makes her even more of an outsider to other nobles.

* Sillice's decision to ask [[spoiler: Liriel / Diva]] to become the "ice twins" playmate, and [[spoiler: Diva]]'s decision to accept. From Sillice's point of view, what better playmate than a palace insider still loyal to her mother, and from [[spoiler: Diva]]'s, she's building a network of [[spoiler: children with a high probability of becoming important politically]] one day.
** Sillice sees a chance to reinforce "clean" Val'Sharen values via a palace insider. [[spoiler: Diva]] gets to do that, sure; but, she also gets to attempt some atonement for past mistakes by getting to raise, as far as she's aware, her clan's only remaining untainted kids. Also, matriarchs, recognised or not, love them some grandkids. She's right to invest in them, too, given what the tainting has done to the Vel side of the family.

* Ariel's reaction to [[spoiler:finding out Mel is her mother]] [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=7849 at first looks]] like just another case of naivety or refusing to believe it, but considering that she's a shapeshifter it's not that far fetched, especially since she's never actually seen [[spoiler:Mel and Quain]] standing next to each other.