god do i. do i ever. the maria and khan dynamic to me hinges so beautifully on that post i cannot stop thinking about it. in pathologic siblings either cannot part/love each other saur saur much (clara & changeling for the "cannot part" one, both for the stamatwins) or have this growing distance between them (georgiy and simon, in their defense One is Dead [allegedly], maria and khan, vlad jr and capella...). i think maria never really wanted a sibling but Tough Luck baby girl. she liked having all of her parents' attention; she knew she was destined to greatness by blood, and having that blood be shared didn't sit well with her. khan is bound to be an heir in his own way, a "beloved son", "the family's hope" - maria wishes she could have all of this. but they navigate very different waters, the two of them. khan respects her - respects her because she can make herself be respected so easily, with such grace, whereas he still has to claw for it, even within his family (mostly by virtue of. being 15). she finds him a little cringe and like a little insect in many ways, but one ought to respect insects.

khan, within his own family is beloved in the way maria is feared - meaning he is also feared, and she is also beloved. they're both bound to heritage - whereas maria welcomes hers, and fully intends on filling the dark sky with her hair like her mother did before, khan is not particularly excited to become like his father.

living with nina was like living with a biblical angel, or a maddened night mare. she was feared, even by her own family members, and yet adored. they were never afraid she would like hit them or anything, it was closer to living with lightning, but a lightning that loves you, in its own way. i think she was tempestuous and groundswell-like with Maria, i think as a way to... incite her power to come through. earthquake-like to release the magma underneath... that didn't happen before her death (that happens closer to like day 9 bachelor route p1) but maria will be forever thankful her mom did that. it was like fencing... like Mensur maybe even. she was not like this with her son, because. well his ass is not becoming a mistress. she loved him dearly too, but might have been a little distant, engulfed in her Mistress ways, but always tried to stir up his fires for desire of power and greatness... and that manifested itself as he became a teenager.

victor's relationship with both his kids is... strained in the fact that he has neither the power, the fury, the fire or the hold that Nina had. his daughter is slipping away from him because she is molding a volcanic fire of her own, that he knew once in her mother but that he never truly understood, and his son he couldn't hold onto because he longs for freedom so much (possibly inherited from his mother). maria doesn't want his tenderness because she wants respect and knows herself to burn so much brighter than him, and khan doesn't want it either because he wants quite the same, but doesn't have the mistress inheritance, the mystery, the power that maria has inherited... so he has to forge his own.

tldr

women when they're about to become their mother: 🖤🗡️🔥🫀🫁🌩️♥️

men when they're about to become their father: 😬😟🙁☹️😰🫨😱

god do i (faints)

i'm gonna structure this like a collection of short headcanons because while i Think A Lot i got a lil eyestrain which is making hard for me to focus but you're getting stuff regardless

I have mentioned some stuff about katerina [here] because she's so special to me. other things i think for her:

i think she played instruments when she was younger. I'm thinking piano and harp? she stopped at some point, but when she met Victoria and heard her play the piano, she started wanting to play again. she did feel like it was a bit of a... "i can do that too", maybe a hint of jealousy, but Victoria didn't see it like that, and encouraged her to keep playing regardless. after Victoria's passing, Katerina started wanting to play the piano For Real in a way to fill the "blank" left by Victoria (her whole Problem in the games is that she's trying to fill the blank left by both and failing) but her declining mental state made it so playing any instrument was torturous and rang horribly aching

in my heart of hearts i know she needs to dance.... I've mentioned in the post i linked how i think she attempts to cozy up with the herb brides, & i truly think she needs to Dance like a maniac. pacing the halls of the residence. arms flailing running everywhere. petticoat slippin. jabot waving everywhere. necklaces and bracelets clanking. you know it yourself.

she catches me as a woman who doesn't eat very fancy. i think she has an inclination to eat very bland plain foods almost as "repentance" (for what? i don't think even she knows). drinks water with lemon. tea no sugar no milk. plain potatoes. i don't think she always was like that but i do think it came about after the other mistresses' passing.

victoria:

piano player it's so true. of course it is.

also into weaving, a knitting a little bit. i think she wove tapestries & i think some are dispersed a bit all across town (the Patterns of p1? the patterns you know the patterns? i think she wove some of these)

sang a little... i think Anna is haunted by chants of hers and it drives her nuts bc Anna lost her voice so hearing that makes her on edge

i think doves & pigeons flocked to her... i do i truly do

i think she loved waltzes and waltzing itself. i think very few men actually asked her to dance bc she was pretty tall (i think canonically around 6 ft tall) so she was intimidating but she did... she did

more of a floral+fruity tea type of woman. floral/fruity teas and infusions.

she does hauntings mostly related to sound: piano playing by itself, footsteps, singing voices, etc; & to moving objects, especially swaying curtains, her necklaces & rings appearing in places they were not, her shoes popping up by the doorways... things like those

nina:

organ player i know she was I KNOW SHE WAAAAS like sickass organ player

despite her being spooky scary and impressive i think her mellow side appeared when it came to kids, but not necessarily her own; for example i think (& this was implanted in my mind from someone so thank you. you were so so right) she started teaching notkin how to read when it came up that he couldn't.

she would have loooved tango and flamenco if she knew of them. i don't think she did formally but i think she danced inspired by them (i think the mistresses either danced or should dance... have you gotten it yet...)

very into plain teas, like sensha, gunpowder, earl grey, English breakfast... very strong teas no milk no sugar, not out of deprivation like katerina but because she just likes it like that

i think crows, ravens and lizards flocked to her. i know they did. victor would go up for an embrace and a salamander for crawl out of her sleeves. (if you fuck with the vision -> the stamatwins attached to this side of the Kains because salamanders/lizards.... that's their thang)

most of her hauntings are weather-related: sudden storms, winds, lightning strikes... + breaking mirrors, falling glass.

she loved to take women dancing in her youth... very forward about it