I have to say that Hinterlands was one hell of an unforgettable journey in its first iteration and The Feathered Line cements that further. There were already hints of some dark history with Pedro and Oscar and the people directly and tangentially related to them and this really reveals more when you delve into the new content while also adding new elements that just left me bewildered but wanting to solve the mystery. Originally the shed scene left me to ponder if Pedro was abducted in his childhood as another victim of the plague of disappearing children and was rescued by this grandpa and now, I'm fairly certain that is likely the case. I'm still not clear as to what adult Pedro experienced at the shed, whether it was some shadow of the past he relived, a repressed memory coming to the surface or if part of his inheritance from grandpa P, Percy, is recalling a memory with a strong emotional connection without the use of a feather. Maybe even a rite master and student connection? I still have no idea what Pedro saw that he described as God.
I find it interesting that much of this new content brings out what a neglectful father and grandfather Percy was/could be when most of Pedro’s memories of him being positive with most of the negative being more from family history and mostly brought about by grandpa's obsession with finding the hotel. It seems Percy had other obsessions and vices. It goes to paint Percy as more complex and flawed than just someone who was correct about the hotel but who no one believes with just a streak of misfortunes. Though I can't help but recall what Mrs. Piedade said lying to oneself (Pedro) that the Hinterlands was the home of great men or wise women and that can easily apply to grandpa P.
This also sheds more light on Peleus’, P’s father, anger at the nun cheese as a reminder of the hinterlands. Not only was it Percy’s futile hunt for the hotel but him being neglectful as a father in general, especially in a dangerous land. Leaving him vulnerable to be tormented, possibly abused by the cabra cabriola that seem to stalk the hinterlands. Same with Pedro though why neither seem to share the same fate as the human children is unknown. Maybe it is as Mrs. Piedade speculates and the cabras don’t like the taste of mythicals. Though maybe they still get something out of instilling fear, trauma and torment into children? The feather that tells of Carol’s story leaves implications that Percy and Zeze were friends though if I had to take a guess, I don’t think Percy knew that Zeze was a mythical. It might explain why Pedro doesn’t remember him as someone who probably babysat him. And chilling, I think the implication is that, even if they’re not hungry for mythical meat, he might have sexually abused Pedro as a kid. The explanation is the charm and/or repressing trauma. I still don’t know why they would go after Carol as presumably an adult. She seemed to always be afraid that when she eventually did leave the brothel, it was disguised as a man. She and Percy must have been very close for a long time since she did have some comforting relationship with Peleus and Peleus did later check up on her after she left the Hinterlands.
The Feathered Line also raises a major question that I don’t know if many people have asked themselves. How is that neither Percy nor Nini knew of Oscar? I sort of just assumed that it was just Percy’s really bad luck and recursion that conspired to even learn of Oscar’s existence even as false hope. However, it seems to come up more and more that Percy had to have known about Oscar. Mrs. Piedade knew about him and if Percy was looking into the child disappearances on and off, he would have as well. Most damning of all is the feather story of Helen and of Storm’s conception. Percy knew her and seemed to warn be trying to warn her. For as much as Pedro was sure that his grandfather would have helped Oscar out and prevented much of his childhood suffering based on his appearance, Pedro is wrong. His grandfather, for as much as Pedro talks him up was a piece of shit through and through. The question is why? Was Percy also using Oscar as bait for either the children nappers or for a hotel owning minotaur? Maybe he didn’t want to associate with Oscar because he knew that he was cursed and he had burnt his bridge with Skinless Tapir previously.
The tapirs themselves are something I’d like to learn more of. Who are they? They’re described as dreameaters which is interesting because that’s a myth that’s tied to Asian Tapirs. I’m not aware of any cultural indigenous myths in the Americas that describe them as dreameaters as well but I’m not knowledgeable in the matter. I don’t know the history of the dispersal of tapirs it if all tapirs have a common ancestor, for Minotaur Hotel to imply, if the Asian myth that tapirs eat dreams, which Brazilian tapir mythicals native to the land have the same ability and are related to likely Asian tapir mythicals that spawn the myth is a nice touch. Like they were once of the same tribe that spread and were separated in the distant past and much like humans, we’re all still one people, despite living in different parts of the world. Though, what is up with that god in the cave? I don’t think it was the Skinless God though I wouldn’t put it past him to fuck with Pedro some more. Could it be the same god that Pedro sees at the Shed? They both require the salt curse to be lifted so they could be the same. Though I’m pretty sure it was the Skinless God that cursed Valéria/Helen into having Oscar the way he was born and it makes his apology for Oscar’s life make more sense. And there’s so many little details where with Oscar with what he says in some lines in TFL with previous content and in chapter 18 with details given in the cave that I could ramble about.
Lastly, there are the curses that are added. I think the one inflicting the Coronal’s remains is likely because of eating the dreameaters, now he’s trapped in some waking dream. Then the olive tree which I still don’t fully understand. There’s some connection to everything that’s happening but I’m still not clear as to how. The dead baby (child?) tapir mythical is clear though I’m not sure how it got there. Did someone find it eventually and bury it or did the Cabras find it, chewed on it a little and just hid it there? Was it hiding there and that’s where it died? Then there’s that snail, why a snail? Symbolic of a thing that should be easily killed with all the salt around somehow still being alive and biting? Also, what was Oscar looking for? What connection could he have to a missing child from decades ago? Maybe someone related to his mother but I wouldn’t think he cared.
Those are some of those major things that stuck out to me from The Feathered Line content. I know most of this is likely incoherent rambling but I just wanted to put my thoughts out there.