Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-3257939-20131111020445/@comment-14909251-20131114010015

I presume they are half-sisters. The real question here should be whether Ruby and Yang have the same mother or the same father. Unless there are some cultural differences between the Schnee family and theirs, it seems likely that the last names for offspring of wedded couples are passed down patrilineally and not matrilineally. As a result we either have to presume they had the same mother, but not the same father, or that one of them was born out of wedlock and not given the father's name.

Scenarios:

1. Ruby was born out of wedlock as the product of an illicit affair between their father and another woman and Yang was born within wedlock. It could mean that, after Ruby's mother died as we presume is the case, Ruby ended up being raised by her father and Yang's mother. Interesting concern here would be if Yang's mother is still in the picture as Ruby, being the product of an affair, might not get along with her.

2. Yang was born out of wedlock and Ruby was born within wedlock. This could allow for them to be full-blooded sisters if their mother was not initially married to their father and Yang simply never took his name after their parents married. Least drama and confusion in the full-blooded sub-scenario, with the half-sister sub-scenario raising the question of what happened to Yang's mom.

3. Yang was born to their mother and a previous husband. This one would be pretty dramatic as, if we presume their mother died, it would mean Yang is being raised by a father to whom she has no blood relation. Raises the question of what happened to Yang's father.

4. Ruby was born to their mother as the product of an affair and took that man's name. This would put Ruby in the same bind as Yang in scenario 3 with the added difficulty of her being the product of an affair. Not to mention this would raise questions about whether her biological father is still around.

Personally, I consider the last two scenarios less likely than the first two.

Of course, we could assume that some names are passed down matrilineally and that they had different mothers but the same father with no one being the product of an affair. Still creates the question of what happened to Yang's mom.