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zlabyaTotally crazy ideas I got for the story because I heard Sarah Pinsker read an awesome, off the beaten path short story she wrote at the convention I attended, and have been reading Tillie Walden's On a Sunbeam half the evening and thought, " God, my story is so mundane! What can I do to weird it up? "
Not just for the sake of weirding it up but to all fit,. So, spoilery possibilities below. Read if you don't mind being "spoiled" in case I got with one or both of these...
Akka is of one of the Five Families. Why five? I don't know? Because it's alliterative? MEmbers of these families have magical abilities and are long lived, like 400-800 years, I don't know. (Ari is pretty old; has been protecting people in the Holy Land since the crusades and just dying now.) ARi's of one family, Akka is from the second, her Native friend Sam is of the third, the other two are Northish African and Australian Aboriginal ancestry. Akka's family moved to America to find another family to live near. Their relatives were being assholes, and Akka's first husband wanted to marry in because as she said "power"--but all that would happen would be his kids would be likely to be long lived as kids with mothers of the family are more likely to carry than kids with fathers. A kid with ancestry on both sides is likely to have it--her ex's dad may have had it.
The basic idea is it is a mutation--originating in Africa, as humans did, that spread. The long-lived people in the Hebrew Bible were all of the family. Ari is from that family.
Al's dad is from the family but isn't sure he has the gene. Tara's family did. He, Tara and Al's mom made arrangments for Tara to have Al hoping he'd carry the gene, I think. There's some good reason they pretend Al is genetically his mom's child. Either that or Al's mom was implanted with IVF (Tara's work didn't have insurance for procedures or maternity care, maybe? Or Tara didn't want to get pregnant for her own reason?) Al does not know this. He does know his mom and Tara have been together a long time but not as long as they have (since before his conception)
Yeah, I know, lots of genetic stuff. But twisty secrets are fun. Families know about each other because of stories passed along to families only though some things have gotten out (Heinlein picked it up, hence the Howard family Lazarus belongs to...)
Families make money on investments and selling antiques but money often goes to help others (Ari and relatives use theirs to do what they can with the nightmare that is the Holy Land conflicts. Yes, it could be worse).
Immunity to attacks on or breakdown of cells (telomeres stay long, cancer can't develop, etc.) No acne, no tooth decay (this tips off Akka and Al that he has the immunity. No tanning, maybe? Certainly no infected wounds. Still get mental illnesses, menstrual issues, menopause comes after 500 or so years to females. CAn fall victim to serious injury, heart disease (maybe? Usual means of death?) or does telomere breakup? Some people have one mutation (no telomere breakup/aging of cells) or the other (no breakdown to invaders/bad-copy problems>
Akka and Sam's family wanted them or Sam's son to link up because of genetic thing but no romance. Native American strain came across on boat (health and magic helped them get across--they were curious)
Not just for the sake of weirding it up but to all fit,. So, spoilery possibilities below. Read if you don't mind being "spoiled" in case I got with one or both of these...
Akka is of one of the Five Families. Why five? I don't know? Because it's alliterative? MEmbers of these families have magical abilities and are long lived, like 400-800 years, I don't know. (Ari is pretty old; has been protecting people in the Holy Land since the crusades and just dying now.) ARi's of one family, Akka is from the second, her Native friend Sam is of the third, the other two are Northish African and Australian Aboriginal ancestry. Akka's family moved to America to find another family to live near. Their relatives were being assholes, and Akka's first husband wanted to marry in because as she said "power"--but all that would happen would be his kids would be likely to be long lived as kids with mothers of the family are more likely to carry than kids with fathers. A kid with ancestry on both sides is likely to have it--her ex's dad may have had it.
The basic idea is it is a mutation--originating in Africa, as humans did, that spread. The long-lived people in the Hebrew Bible were all of the family. Ari is from that family.
Al's dad is from the family but isn't sure he has the gene. Tara's family did. He, Tara and Al's mom made arrangments for Tara to have Al hoping he'd carry the gene, I think. There's some good reason they pretend Al is genetically his mom's child. Either that or Al's mom was implanted with IVF (Tara's work didn't have insurance for procedures or maternity care, maybe? Or Tara didn't want to get pregnant for her own reason?) Al does not know this. He does know his mom and Tara have been together a long time but not as long as they have (since before his conception)
Yeah, I know, lots of genetic stuff. But twisty secrets are fun. Families know about each other because of stories passed along to families only though some things have gotten out (Heinlein picked it up, hence the Howard family Lazarus belongs to...)
Families make money on investments and selling antiques but money often goes to help others (Ari and relatives use theirs to do what they can with the nightmare that is the Holy Land conflicts. Yes, it could be worse).
Immunity to attacks on or breakdown of cells (telomeres stay long, cancer can't develop, etc.) No acne, no tooth decay (this tips off Akka and Al that he has the immunity. No tanning, maybe? Certainly no infected wounds. Still get mental illnesses, menstrual issues, menopause comes after 500 or so years to females. CAn fall victim to serious injury, heart disease (maybe? Usual means of death?) or does telomere breakup? Some people have one mutation (no telomere breakup/aging of cells) or the other (no breakdown to invaders/bad-copy problems>
Akka and Sam's family wanted them or Sam's son to link up because of genetic thing but no romance. Native American strain came across on boat (health and magic helped them get across--they were curious)
