bit of conceptionalizing.

so instead of, you know, actually writing the dang fic, my mind's been crafting some background detail that i'll never get to be part of the actual text.

so i was thinking 'if there are tocks, shouldn't there be ticks?'

and i thought, instead of a competing family (cause that'll just be too predictable, and be grounds for actually interesting writing), perhaps they alternate the last name with every generation (grandfather ___ Tick, father ___ Tock, son ___ Tick, and so on).

'but what about sepia's dad? you've already established his last name is also tock!'

sepia, in his youth, also wondered about this, and asked his dad, who shrugged it off and said something to the effect of 'it happens'.

so, young sepia, unsatisfied, did what every child does when their dad is being difficult: he asked his mom, who told him, 'when he found out he was going to be a father, your dad said his heart skipped a beat. he thought your name name should reflect his joy.'

and so, that's how i work in my concepts when previously established canon doesn't make it work properly.