Something I've been thinking about
Dec. 21st, 2021 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missizzyWhen Kith & Kin first came out, I decided the occasion called for watching the Vex and Vax episode of Mighty Vibes again. But combining that with the book's flashback chapters, and now I'm dwelling on the angstiness of the backstory from that college AU.
Because we knew Vex worked hard enough at school that even though being half-elf no doubt had a negative impact on her grades, Syldor was no doubt convinced he could get her into a prestigious school. Except Vex wasn't going anywhere without Vax, and might have refused to even apply to any school Vax didn't have a chance of getting into. (Or at least rejected whichever early decision application he demanded she make.) It might have been the biggest way she'd ever defied him up to that point, and his reaction was probably terrible, and when Vax tried to intervene, he got an earful from him about how if he hadn't slacked off, he wouldn't now be holding his sister back.
Which no doubt was already echoing in Vax's head. He probably did apply himself harder during his final years of school, once he realized he needed to get into as good a school as could still be managed so Vex could at least go there. But he still felt guilty about it, and might have even told Vex she shouldn't pass up the better opportunities available to her for his sake. He might have even offered to not go to college, to instead find a job and support them both, especially since while Vex might've gotten scholarship money, Vax almost certainly didn't.
But really, the only reason they didn't leave Syngorn at 15 in this universe was the thought that college would be an escape. When his father found out Vax was writing his application essay about all they'd endured in Syngorn, there were words from him about all the elven colleges that wouldn't get him into, some of which might've taken him otherwise. One of Vax's favorite moments was telling him, with Vex backing him up, that they wanted nothing to do with such places anyway. Vex wrote hers about her mother instead; Syldor likely wasn't able to keep the attack on Byroden and her death from them in this universe, though he no doubt barred them from attending the funeral.
When they sent back their acceptance of places at a university far away from Syngorn, they only told their father they'd done so after everything was safely in the mail. He told Vex to the end she was throwing herself away, and might have even refused to pay for anything. I think Percy probably paid off their student loans and other debts eventually, but those hung over their heads for years before that.
It got better for them, of course; they found a place where being half-elf didn't hold them back, and new friends that became their family, most of whom their father would've hated for some reason or another. (And I don't know how long Vax lived; but I refuse to believe he died before graduation.) But their new friends were appalled when they heard the story of how they got there.
Because we knew Vex worked hard enough at school that even though being half-elf no doubt had a negative impact on her grades, Syldor was no doubt convinced he could get her into a prestigious school. Except Vex wasn't going anywhere without Vax, and might have refused to even apply to any school Vax didn't have a chance of getting into. (Or at least rejected whichever early decision application he demanded she make.) It might have been the biggest way she'd ever defied him up to that point, and his reaction was probably terrible, and when Vax tried to intervene, he got an earful from him about how if he hadn't slacked off, he wouldn't now be holding his sister back.
Which no doubt was already echoing in Vax's head. He probably did apply himself harder during his final years of school, once he realized he needed to get into as good a school as could still be managed so Vex could at least go there. But he still felt guilty about it, and might have even told Vex she shouldn't pass up the better opportunities available to her for his sake. He might have even offered to not go to college, to instead find a job and support them both, especially since while Vex might've gotten scholarship money, Vax almost certainly didn't.
But really, the only reason they didn't leave Syngorn at 15 in this universe was the thought that college would be an escape. When his father found out Vax was writing his application essay about all they'd endured in Syngorn, there were words from him about all the elven colleges that wouldn't get him into, some of which might've taken him otherwise. One of Vax's favorite moments was telling him, with Vex backing him up, that they wanted nothing to do with such places anyway. Vex wrote hers about her mother instead; Syldor likely wasn't able to keep the attack on Byroden and her death from them in this universe, though he no doubt barred them from attending the funeral.
When they sent back their acceptance of places at a university far away from Syngorn, they only told their father they'd done so after everything was safely in the mail. He told Vex to the end she was throwing herself away, and might have even refused to pay for anything. I think Percy probably paid off their student loans and other debts eventually, but those hung over their heads for years before that.
It got better for them, of course; they found a place where being half-elf didn't hold them back, and new friends that became their family, most of whom their father would've hated for some reason or another. (And I don't know how long Vax lived; but I refuse to believe he died before graduation.) But their new friends were appalled when they heard the story of how they got there.
