Ah it's all good, there's a lot to get mixed up, Ocean does it too. I'm mixing it up myself trying to straighten it out.
- Ocean doesn't have to make their lineage a plot point, but it's an easy way to avoid uncertainty. Half the theories in SG are Nika or Summer or Sasha being victims of mob warfare and being fostered out anyway (regardless of whether they're right or wrong). I kinda suspect there will be a personal angle to the antagonist in some fashion, the way the religious camps are mentioned with the grandma (well, who they thought was their grandma), the weirdness of Helen being targeted rather than Leia (much easier to go for the throat), even Willi recognises the spiders are a weird and dumb intimidation tactic. It suggests to me there's some connection pre-existing Leia's businesses.
- I don't think we're seeing the real Leia 100% either, but she is a character owned by her resentment of William (and to some extent Katie). That switch she can't control, which implies her self control is fragile. Not just because of William - whatever she cares about the way she cares for William will become a weak point. She acts disinterested and cold to hide what she cares about. However, the fight with Miru shows that she can learn, and her backing down regarding Mon suggests she can accept her own prejudice. If she can overcome her prejudicial thinking, she'll have better success. Her business doesn't affect her sense of self control, because she doesn't care about it for itself, it's a means, so it's more telling to see how she reacts to what affects her personally.
- Yep, William is generally characterised negatively because of the way decade-ago-teen-William acted as though a decade (partially spent in prison and working to better himself) won't have any significant change. Who at 25 doesn't cringe when they think of themselves at 15? The problem isn't that William is so bad, but the circumstances were extreme. The point that he has won the loyalty of two very good women (Miru and Daphne both seem to be 'good' in a morally ambivalent universe and they both supported William through his bad times) I think gets lost. Daphne's character really points this out - she's acting like it's a break up, despite not having ever had any of WIlliam's loving, at least not for 5 years. At their age, 5 years is a long time to wait if she's hoping William will leave Miru.
- Baby math - if Wiab is 20 years before SG, the oldest child conceived by Willi (during WiaB) can be 19 and 3 months from the start of WiaB (the first sex scene). We're assuming everyone in the SG class is 18 or older (ToS). If Ayua is the same age as Nika (given 20 years between the games), She's have to be conceived no later than 6 months after Adri's born, in order to be ToS compliant. There is no time for any further sisters that are older than 18. Maybe Miru is pregnant at the start of WiaB and doesn't know, given her physical shape, that would add maybe 3 months at most? That would mean she could breed three is she's kept pregnant the whole time. Of course, all the other characters could be Willilings, but they are the same age as Ayua - remember Jeff saying they all went to the same highschool, that's how they know each other, and they're all starting college at the same time. This timeline makes Vanessa, Nami and Adri 9 months to a year older. Vanessa then can't be William's unless he meets Nick and cucks him pretty darn soon. Again, that would mean that Vanessa's mom stays pregnant for two kids. Vanessa might already be born at the start of WiaB.
If they are all connected in some way, Ocean needs to have a greater than 20 year gap. It's currently pretty implausible as Leia's not in a relationship (implied) and Willi doesn't know that he has any wild oats yet. Also, Vanessa and Nika being Willi or Leia's offspring is mutually exclusive to Vanessa being a LI in SG - if either one has 'Zane' heritage (I guess that's what we'll call it until we find out in Ch4 what's going on), it precludes Vanessa being a LI.
- The earrings are a plot point, because they're mentioned in multiple chapters by different people. Back when WiaB was first done, Leia's earring stood out (once she got them). Ocean used them on another character that is no longer in WiaB, but they've become part of Leia's identity in WiaB. in SG:
- Nami mentions she was given it by a female stranger, so not someone she knew, like SUmmer's mom, or aunt.
- Sasha wants to know about it, if it was common, she'd not be interested. She has money enough to know they're not common earrings
- Ayua stops Sasha from questioning Nami about them
- Vanessa also knows a lot about jewellery, and knows they are uncommon, and thinks she's seen them before.
- None of the other girls comment, because to Nia, Vic, Mila Sonya, the earring means nothing, it's just an earring.
I agree that clothing models and hairstyles generally aren't clues (except for potentially Leia's buns in the old flashback compared to early Summer's, coupled with the bibi word which was Leia, William and Katie's word first).
