#padriac

Liam would’ve married Eilis and they would’ve been very happy together. I like to think they would’ve had two kids (like Eilis and Eamonn do)—a boy called Colum, and a girl called Aisling.

Diarmid and Cormack probably would’ve been warriors and died in an attempt to retake the Islands like in canon.

Conor would’ve still become a Druid, and sooner than in DotF because there’s no curse to delay him.

Finbar… hmm. I’m not sure about him! Maybe he would become a brithem? Or he could help Liam with stuff at Sevenwaters, maybe using his gift to provide advice? Who knows.

I think Padriac would definitely still leave Sevenwaters and go sailing. There’s nothing really for him to do in the forest. I can see him still running off and finding him own way in the world. Maybe he comes back to visit Sevenwaters more often than in canon, since Lady Oonagh never murdered his animals and cursed him in this version of events.

Sorcha is another tricky one… I suppose she would get married when she turns 16. Either Lord Colum would arrange a suitable marriage for her, or the Fair Folk meddle and ensure that she falls for a Briton in this timeline as well. Or actually, since Oonagh never arrives at Sevenwaters Sorcha’s brothers don’t forcibly remove her from Father Brien’s place and she finishes healing Simon. So I could see Sorcha falling for Simon, and the child of the prophecy could be kickstarted that way.

Padriac: Yes, I will warn you... every item comes with a price.

Some portraits of some of the boys

Some Sevenwaters fanart for @faewriter and @aryaofhousesnark (is it okay to tag you??) I was in a strong "The Wild Swans" mood and decided to sketch Sorcha, Finbar, and somehow Padriac made his way into the picture as well!

Finbar’s speech to Colum (and also his words to Sorcha) about trying to understand your enemy and make peace with them is so relevant, and I love how the Warrior Bards and Shadowfell series show this theme as well.

Colum really is a terrible father. He only pays attention to his sons once they’re finally old enough to take part in his campaigns. And his treatment of Finbar is abusive. Not to mention he’s been ignoring Sorcha and doesn’t even know how old she is. I know it’s because of his grief and trauma re Niamh’s death, but it doesn’t excuse his terrible parenting.

I love Sorcha, but her thinking Eilis is boring because she doesn’t like the same things as Sorcha is so unfair? Eilis seems like a really nice girl, her not liking to run around and play in the forest doesn’t make her a bad person. Even Oonagh dismisses her. Justice for Eilis!

“Padriac will go farther than any of us” is such good foreshadowing, I love it so much.

The whole period where Sorcha is looking after Simon is so interesting, because it’s clearly a turning point for her and marks the beginning of Sorcha’s loss of innocence and end of her childhood. Before meeting Simon, Sorcha very much is innocent and optimistic like a child usually is, and once she sees what the Sevenwaters men have done to Simon and hears what they do to other people on their campaigns, there is no going back. She can’t go back to pretending that darkness and cruelty don’t exist in the world.

And then we come to Lady Oonagh. Oonagh is such a great villain, so cold and manipulative and deceptive. The way she managed to bewitch Lord Colum and Diarmid is so 😭. I wonder how Diarmid managed to get under her sway though when all of his other siblings were able to resist her?

The way Oonagh asks questions to Sorcha about the brothers and Sorcha is compelled to answer is creepy. It looks like she’s gathering information to use against the Sevenwaters siblings, especially the brothers.

It’s interesting how, though Finbar talks of understanding the Britons and how they are people, he is extremely quick to judge Simon and assume he intends some harm by giving Sorcha the wooden carving. He is right though that destroying the carving would probably be the safest course of action, especially with Lady Oonagh around now.

Padriac’s such a friend to all animals. I love his outrage when seeing Linn’s injury. It’s so sweet. :’) Also him being furious with Cormack over it.

Poor Cormack. You can tell that he’s devastated and ashamed that he hurt his beloved dog.

Also my heart still breaks for Finbar, he didn’t deserve to be forced onto such a difficult and lonely path. And yet there is so much beauty in his part of the story.

In the beginning of DotF, Sorcha is a confident, innocent, happy girl who knows what she wants for her future. If Oonagh hadn’t interfered in the Sevenwaters’ siblings lives, I have no doubt that Sorcha would have grown up into a  tomboyish woman who refuses to go along with societal gender norms. 

But Oonagh did interfere, and so Sorcha didn’t become the adult she could have been. Yes, Sorcha is still strong and good and has a nice life in the books, but if Oonagh hadn’t cursed the brothers and forced Sorcha to go into hiding Sorcha would’ve been drastically more tomboyish, more confident and happy. Her future would’ve been so bright and I’m sure she would’ve been able to choose her own path in life no matter what her father said, she was that stubborn and determined. 

At its heart, Daughter of the Forest is essentially a tragedy. No one gets a truly happy ending, except maybe Padriac. Liam loses his one true love, Diarmid is consumed by guilt and self-hate, Finbar becomes part-swan and is forced to walk between worlds, etc.