Patch the Orphan

[Lancewing]

Okay, we all know that Patch was adopted, but that's all they told us, other than her birth date. I know it's not important to know all of her backstory, but you know how we fans get. 

So anyway, what's your take on her backstory and what were her birth parents like? If you can talk a little about her birth parents too, then that would be a sweet bonus.

[Notes]

You know full well that I don't have an answer for this elusive question! Nobody knows, and only ideas are floating around, mainly on the Brightglow thread.) No headcanons, hypotheses or theories on the manner, and as far as I can tell from Patch's healthy outlook on life she isn't traumatized by it.

That said, I don't think she thinks about it a lot. If she really thought about it around her friends all the time, she'd be seriously unhealthy in the neurological region, thanks to its irrelevance at the time, and besides that she would be a lot more reserved and sad.

I think she thinks of her adoptive parents as her parents, hence I write 'Patch's mom said' as a possible boring dialogue tag, though it depends on the point of view. First off, she calls them 'mom' and 'dad.' Second, thinking of them as adoptive all the time is, again, mentally ill. Third, she'd be a lot sadder if she did constantly think of them as not her 'real' parents.

I don't know whether she was orphaned through magical means or mundane means. She has some rare alleles for two thirds of her body 'structures' so, there's that.

My favorite idea that I haven't played with was 'Brightglow is Patch's real mother.' It explains her saving her, their similar color schemes, and as a whole, a lot.

Also, thanks guest who stuck around for 33 minutes, and those of you who tried to stick it out. It means a lot. 8)

[Kat]

I think, given her devotion to helping fix up the orphanage, she must have been there for at least a few years. I can't remember if she says anything about how long she was there during the episode? But she's familiar with Rosie, and wants to spruce the playground up, so clearly she must have memories associated with being there.

Given how well adjusted she is, she's clearly been with her adopted parents for at least a few years, enough time for her to formulate the association as them being her "real parents". This, coupled with her disinterest in learning anything about her birth parents (from what we've seen at least) leads me to believe that she was given up very early on, and has no memories of her birth parents. Speaking as an adopted child (who was adopted at birth and told I was adopted when I was around 7 or 8) - as long as your adoptive parents are good people and tell you they love you, as a kid you don't really think about your birth parents (this would probably be different if you have actual memories of being with them). It's not until your teen years that you start to wonder about them (which has nothing to do with how well you get along with them - just natural curiosity about yourself and who you are that comes along with being a teenager).

Hence I'm pretty sure Patch was definitely given up very early. Given how popular babies are in terms of adoption, I'm thinking she must have gone to the orphanage around 2 years of age. So in terms of my headcanon, I view her parents as being rather young (somewhere around 18-21) and highly irresponsible to the point where friends report them for neglect. So Patch gets taken away from them, and they never smarten up enough to get her back. She spends a few years at the orphanage until her parents come along and adopt her when she's around 5. That gives her enough time to have memories of the orphanage and the others who live there, but also gives her enough time to bond with her adoptive parents so she feels completely settled with them by the time of the show.


On another note - I've actually written a story that broaches the topic of her dealing with the subject of her adoption (it's a sequel to The Midnight Game; not sure if you read it, Notes; not even sure if I posted it publicly or just privately in my LJ).

[Notes]

Sounds like you got the nail there, Kat. She didn't actually mention how long she was there in the show, and her relations with Rosy (which were, I think, very sister-like at times) really cemented what you said.

That said, you're also right about the adjustment thing. And the lack of interest in her birth parents. I don't know whether it's the fact you've thought about these types of things a lot Sounds like you got the nail there, Kat. She didn't actually mention how long she was there in the show, and her relations with Rosy (which were, I think, very sister-like at times) really cemented what you said.

That said, you're also right about the adjustment thing. And the lack of interest in her birth parents. I don't know whether it's the fact that you have lots and lots of backstories dreamed up about various characters or your being adopted that makes you get this so accurate. At least, it matches up with my ideas pretty well, so yay.

And interesting idea for Patch's biological parents! I always used to think of her past as being mundane before I saw the Brightglow thread because tragic pasts hadn't worked out for me in the past. Now I don't know what to think, but it's good to know someone has a solid idea.

Game of Kings, I think it was called. Interesting little stint into psychology, if I may say so myself! Plus the end was pretty funny.

EDIT: Whoops; it was the Why is Patch so special board, not the Brightglow one. X.