Vote over at TWC and you can see very cute baby lesbian Marin in tomorrow's page, all colored and whatnot :) So, my theory is that Marin's parents named all ten of their kids with names that start with "M", so feel free to name them! This is also a self drag, because I keep giving characters M names and then not realizing until later that like, half the cast has names that start with M. It's just a good letter. I have no idea what denomination Marin's family is, and I don't plan to define it, honestly. They're Religious. I love studying fringe religious groups, especially Fundamentalist Mormons, but there are also a ton of Christian sects that go for the whole "long hair, long skirts, no make up, endless children" thing. Especially where I live! So I'm very familiar with families like this. Anyway, I'm not trying to drag religious conservatives (at least not here!), but I'm trying to set up Marin's situation. I think we're all very used to the "tragic backstory" trope generally meaning that someone you care about dies, like your parents or your significant other or your kid. I wanted to explore the tragic backstory in another way, in terms of missed opportunities and severed connections. And in case anyone is wondering, "What does all this have to do with werewolves?" Well, being a werewolf kind of "ruined" Malaya's life, but as we've already established in the last chapter, being a werewolf saved Marin's. Maybe in multiple ways. The point of this chapter, as a whole, is contrast. Malaya's fears contrasted to Aubrey's fears, Marin's life as a werewolf contrasted to Malaya's life as a werewolf, etc. So far, chapter 7 is 50 pages as of tomorrow, and I'm trying to keep it under 80. We'll see how that goes! The exciting news is that I've finally nailed down the general outline for Chapters 8, 9, and 10 thanks to rambling at my friend Maureen last week. Make good friends who were English majors, kids. They'll point out your plot holes for you :D.