Almost Eternal - updated 11th August

Okay so this entire piece here are my assumptions and questions. Feel free to correct any part because eck Imma get a headache with the many possibilities and directions each question has. Totally messed up my head. :lol:

Caleb has become more interesting for me. The chapter doesn't give enough reason for his whiny-ness, but I'm liking the amazing lore you build around vamps and how turning halts their development.

Ok so I’m assuming because vampires are considered dead hence if one were to turn when they were a baby their brain wouldn’t have developed the mental capacity required for emotional intelligence. But the fact that Caleb can question “”Am I a monster Lil?”” would mean that although infant-turned vampires start off with deprived emotional capacity, they can learn emotional intelligence, just at an extremely low rate. Right?

This brings me to my next question. (Is this halting of development exclusive to children? Or is it a general application towards all turned vampires? i.e. Our brains only fully mature around age 24-26, so will a freshly turned 21 y.o. vampire struggle with the final bit of emotional development, perhaps only reaching maturity during much later years of 30 or 35? Or would they still reach emotional maturity at the same rate? If I'm right to assume that vampirism halts biological growth, then emotional processing and depth may stop there, but the vampire already has enough reasoning skill and EQ to develop emotional maturity further. I suppose the summary of my question is "Do vampires in your lore continue to grow EQ and capacity after they've been turned, so Lilith could theoretically have the EQ of a 300++ y.o. vampire?" (I know she doesn't, just theoretically, under pure uninterupted, optimum conditions and best variables lol.)

Caleb's compromised emotional growth makes me worry for April and Caleb’s happiness as a couple in the future. There’s a possibility that April may develop her EQ much faster than Caleb would. That may cause a disparity in their needs and wants in a partner in the future.

This also means that whatever and however we perceive Caleb’s current condition/development, without intervention, Caleb’s innate characteristics would be similar to Seth or rogue vampires. I can’t help thinking Seth is the one who killed Charlotte and whatever Lilith’s dog of a father is called. (I mean, look at those pirate boots Charlotte was facing when she breathed her last breath!) Did Seth caught a stray bite when he was slaying vamps?

Anyway back to Caleb, this chapter makes me admire Lilith in a new way in that although Caleb struggles with restraint and emotional perception, she has imparted in him a strong sense of morality. And for all his confusion around why he should care, he took it upon himself to try anyway. So Caleb is admirable too. Although I have to say this is a terrible double edged sword as pointed out in your story since Caleb knows clearly how important morality is to his sister and the world, but cannot feel it nor apply it onto himself. He can develop a learned understanding of it, but it will never be as deep nor will he ever experience it himself. Hence, adopting Lilith's morality is an added layer of torment that he will think himself innately flawed and 'lacking'.

Lilith
A strong question I got though, is that: Is Lilith truly numb when she provided us this chapter? She lost her humanity along the way so arguably yes. But there’s a possibility that the narration/narrator of this chapter is unreliable considering we’re looking at this from Lilith’s point of view. Parts that I expected her to rage or cry, or become aggressive or at least passive aggressive towards Caleb are glossed over. So I am wondering if she simply numbed her feelings, or because it is in her perception hence, she is recounting where she did ‘well’ and ignoring her ‘mistakes’. She grew up in an extremely abusive household. Am wondering if she internalised some of it, embodied some of it and applied it to Caleb. Her recount seems too good to be true.

Read the next chapter and surprise surprise, Seth claims Lilith has the least humanity out of all of them. But Seth can dive into minds so much deeper than Lilith can? And he 'gave her everything'? So she surpassed him? Oops. Stick to chapter 40, Foamy! :lol:

By the way, Lilith is hands down DA BOSS. Yes yes, she has no humanity according to Seth and makes Caleb look really bad. But to be treated like cattle, abused and tortured in so many ways, then care for Caleb even though he is the chosen one unlike her the unwanted extra, teach him restraint, care for all the broken girls in his stead, find him food, believe him good even though she has every reason to think him "irreformable". Even parents have their moments of giving up on their child. But even when Caleb killed Nathaniel, Lilith continued to find a way for them. When Caleb abandoned himself, Lilith still hasn't abandoned him. Lilith's resilience and perseverance is admirable. Like what the plum.. she's amazing.

(Am still waiting for Caleb's POV where he reveals her teachings and care to be punctuated with passive aggressiveness and hidden hate for all that Caleb stands for and takes after. Especially after Nathaniel's death. I also have another theory where I think she was so numb at that point that she taught and cared for Caleb without love. That she herself is so numb to emotions that it was simply an obligation or that she was merely used him to prove her own worth. Geez that's really sad. I'm hoping what you reveal is far better! Considering how my prediction is that Lilith almost killed Caleb, maybe my mind is simply geared towards the icky. :lol: )

And one last thing!
What does it mean to be bound? Mel and Faith took from April so they are ‘unbound vampires’. So is April bound to Caleb? Why can’t Mel and Faith be bound to April? How does this work? Or is it a ‘social’ bound than ‘blood’ bound so it’s simply a patriarchal practice and not a magic one so there's no such thing as bonds now that vamps have become progressive too?