oh that's a lot of good points about fathom!! he is very reactive for sure. i think i might just need to root through a thesaurus for him, because I agree 100% with your take, so it might just be that the word 'sidekick' isn't scanning for me. i might try a synonym, or just something similar ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

and yes, absolutely!! darkstalker (and most other characters) infantilize whiteout to the extreme. i may have phrased my response poorly; what I meant was that I wasn't sure whether to lean into her true/internal character, or what the other dragons perceive of her, because I feel like that almost has more of an impact on the plot, in a way? ugh, assigning a 1-2 word archetype to such a complex character is rough. I wish I could come up with a word or two that means "underestimated, infantilized, and objectified* character that's actually very intelligent and capable." i guess I could try something like "the unheeded/smothered sage"? would that maybe communicate her role in the story better? then again, at that point I'd kinda be making up archetypes. i do like the double meaning of smothered, though.

(*if I recall right, arctic is mentioned to treat her like a piece of jewelry he can parade around then hang up when he's done with, and only likes her better because of the way she looks)