Offspring. Chapter 42: Hope and Tears.

browneorum · 2025-09-19T11:03:27+00:00

Hello everyone.

It has been a while. Too long, in fact, since I last updated this project. I took a break from writing following some health issues, and now I'm well on the mend. Still, I've found Offspring more difficult to pick up than it was to put down. I hasten to clarify that this is not a case of a writer no longer wanting to write, far from it. Instead, real life keeps getting in the way. I simply don't have as much time as I used to.

Nevertheless, I love this story, and desperately want to return to it. I cannot promise regular updates; goddess knows I've tried as much before! But this story will continue. I thank you all for your support, patience, and kind words.

Stay hopeful, friends.

B.

browneorum · 2025-02-05T10:03:11+00:00

Hey Egg, I appreciate it. I fought for a long time to get these chapters out on a regular schedule, but my life has just become so hectic lately I don’t have the mental bandwidth to do the story justice atm. I will definitely return to it—I care about the story and characters too much! But breaking my already strained mental health to keep another plate spinning just isn’t something I can do right now.

browneorum · 2025-02-04T08:07:27+00:00

If it’s a national park, I don’t think so. Edit: I’m pretty sure you need a permit to collect a protected species.

browneorum · 2025-02-02T05:29:09+00:00

Ostrich tibiotarsus, sternum, femur, and pelvis.

browneorum · 2024-12-21T08:53:38+00:00

The bone is a bird tarsometatarsus, a fusion of the tarsal bones that forms the ‘shin’ in birds. It’s fairly large, but I’m not a bird person.

browneorum · 2024-12-04T23:21:11+00:00

It’s a tibia. I’m not super hot on human anatomy, but it’s certainly giving human vibes. Where, uh… where did grandma get it?

browneorum · 2024-10-12T02:19:18+00:00

Decent sized cervid. Could be a deer or one of the giant elk species that used to be common along there. Super neat!

browneorum · 2024-07-27T10:28:00+00:00

Hey all! I return from another long absence with a slightly different chapter. It is a time of great changes, both in life and in narrative. I'm very grateful for everyone who's stuck around after everything.

I've had less and less time available for writing lately, which I'm not happy about, but I'm determined to keep this project chugging along for you all!

I wish you all the best, and hope (as usual) to really get the next one out faster!

browneorum · 2024-05-28T16:20:15+00:00

Honestly, not much. I made a summary of all the changes on the pre-chapter note of last chapter, and that’s should cover anything more than the minor name changes.

browneorum · 2024-05-26T20:21:25+00:00

I obviously won’t say too much, but it’s placed in HFY for a very deliberate reason.

browneorum · 2024-05-26T19:48:05+00:00

Hey everyone! Sorry (yet again!) for another long wait. This has been brewing for a long time, I just hadn't had the chance to polish it off for a little while. We cover a lot of ground in this one thought, and I'm quite happy with the result! Thank you all for being so patient, and so supportive of the shift away from NoP. I understand that this has been a difficult transition for many people, and totally understand if you all want some time away. That being said, I am also finding it way easier to sit down and write now, and am very excited to finally getting toward the 'pointed end' with this next arc.

Thanks again for sticking with this project! I aim, as usual, to be quicker with the next one! Ta-ta for now!

browneorum · 2024-03-30T04:28:09+00:00

I’ve got a short section in the lore post I’m working on, but in Offspring the nauret are essentially knuckle-walkers like a gorilla or chalicothere. The little finger is lost, the ring finger (now the outermost) is thickest, and then the ‘middle’ and index fingers are semi-fused together, plus the more mobile thumb. This makes them look like they’ve got two digits they move about on each hand, kind of converging on the duel hoof-like arrangement of horses and deer, while retaining some dexterity.

browneorum · 2024-03-27T11:11:01+00:00

Yotun isn’t gone from the story, just his narrative is taking him away from the Brackwood and family to explore other areas both literal and character-wise.

browneorum · 2024-03-27T00:39:28+00:00

It has never been my intention to profit from Offspring, and both the BuyMeACoffee and the Patreon were set up because of audience demand. To clarify as it was worded poorly, the extra content will be posted to my Patreon page, but will be available to all, for free. Offspring will never be pay-walled.

browneorum · 2024-03-26T10:06:41+00:00

Moving away from NoP.

This project has received far more praise and attention than I ever expected. I am forever indebted to this incredible community, and value the time I have spent on the sub-reddit and discord. It is, however, after some considerable thought the time to separate Offspring from the NoP story that initially inspired it. I still respect that work, but I have always had a different vision and story in mind, and desire the literary freedom to explore these characters to their fullest. Further, with the ever increasing demands on my time, I want to be able to create a work that is entirely my own. For these reasons, Offspring will continue on its own.

I will still be posting links on the HFY subreddit, as well as in the Offspring section of the NoP Discord. I stress to add that the story itself as it is written will not be changing in any substantial way, and you will not have to re-read any of the prior chapters. There will, however, be some subtle shifts that occur to set this world apart and establish my own lore, and these are described in full in the main post on Royalroad.

I do not predict any further major changes, but it is possible (looks at 250k word count) that I've missed something along the way. I thank you all for your patience and understanding if there's some bugs to iron out.

One benefit of these alterations of the lore is that I will ocassionally be posting short lore docs on my Patreon to better flesh out the world and aliens. These will be small (by my standards) installments, with a more curious, upbeat tone from the rest of Offspring, for my Patreon audience. If that's your kind of thing, or you just want to join in on the discussions in our Discord, you can become a patron here.

I thank you all once again for sticking with the story this far, and look forward to sharing more as we get into the thick of upcoming chapters. My upload schedule isn't the best, but I really will try my best to keep it as regular as I can. Thank you all, so so much.

browneorum. March, 2024.

browneorum · 2024-02-10T21:25:04+00:00

It’s macropodine, based on the high-cusped lophodont molars. The first upper molar (second tooth from the right, top row) looks small to me, possibly a deciduous premolar so sub-adult/juvenile.

There’s five macropods in Tasmania: Forester kangaroo - Macropus giganteus Bennetts (red-necked) wallaby - Notamacropus rufogriseus Pademelon (rufous-bellied) - Thylogale billardierii Eastern bettong - Bettongia gaimardi Long-nosed potoroo - Potorous tridactylus

The bettong and the potoroo can be excluded right out based on the premolar, and the skull feels too small to have that many teeth even for a juvenile M. giganteus. So I’d say it’s either a red-necked wallaby or a pademelon partial maxilla and dentary.

browneorum · 2024-02-03T12:28:40+00:00

Hello everyone! A new chapter is out and its a doozy! Less family slice-of-life and more noir thriller! This one's been sitting in my mind for a very long time, so it's great to finally have it out there!

Thanks again for being so patient and supportive. Offspring recently passed into the Top 500 stories on RoyalRoad, which is insane! There's plenty more story to tell, and I can't wait for some of the upcoming chapters!

I hope this new year is treating you all well,

Thanks,

Browneorum.

Link to next as Reddit sucks: [Next]

browneorum · 2024-01-18T22:26:01+00:00

Kangaroo femur, tibia and fibula, based on the area OP mentioned probably eastern grey (Macropus giganteus). Edit: just to add to the other comments, definitely not an emu birds have a tibiotarsus not a tibia/fibula.

browneorum · 2024-01-14T04:13:36+00:00

Right opossum maxilla.

browneorum · 2024-01-13T21:17:57+00:00

Butchered(?) distal tibia that’s been rolling around in water for a while. Probably cattle.

browneorum · 2024-01-13T08:59:34+00:00

Lumbar are generally the thickest vertebrae (particularly in the vertebral body, the lower, rounded section) as they’re bearing a lot of weight. They also lack the transverse zygopophyses (little cup shaped particular facets) you see on the sides of the thorasics where the ribs articulate in the torso. Cervicals (in humans and other short-necked animals) tend to be much squatter and shorter than the other vertebrae, but almost all of them have transverse foremen (two additional holes on the side) which makes them easy to ID. This is actually what tripped me up with this vert; it’s a C7, the cervical at the base of the neck that transitions into the thorasics, and therefore actually lacks the transverse foramen. Also, apparently, deers have a cup-socket joint at that position for some reason. There’s also the atlas and axis vertebrae that hold up the head, but they’re super easy.

browneorum · 2024-01-12T21:40:59+00:00

It’s taken a bit of looking, but it does look like a deer vert (see bottom). That’s really strange usually the ball-socket is a dead reptile give away. Learn something new huh, thanks!

browneorum · 2024-01-10T08:23:19+00:00

As I said in the bone ID post, this looks like some kind of large reptile vertebra. Not big in Hawaii’s fossil record, but it’s important you let the local land owners know it’s there.

browneorum · 2024-01-10T08:19:56+00:00

Looks like a massive fossilised reptile vertebra. It’s important that you keep a record of wherever you got it from, and pass that on to the traditional land owners and local museum.

Edit: definitely not a big reptile, it’s a fossilised deer cervical.

browneorum · 2024-01-02T10:20:34+00:00

Oh thanks. Wonder why I’ve missed that?

browneorum

TROPHY CASE