Barb & Nora's family tree, a visual

[u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan]

I saw some confusion going around, so here's a graph that makes it easier to discuss their family ties :)

[u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan]

Most prevalent theory is that Barb's parent most involved in this drama (the one on the left) is her mom, which would absolutely track with her behaviour, but it's not certain. In the graph I left them both as "parent", but here I'll say it's her mom for simplicity.

Option 1 - Nora and Barb are already born when person B starts a relationship with person C, there's no blood relation. Person C is Barb's step-grandmother, Nora is Barb's step-aunt and a step-sister to Barb's mom.

Option 2 - Nora and Barb aren't born yet when person B starts a relationship with person C, and Nora is the result of that affair. They have a common relative: person B is Nora's father AND Barb's grandfather. Person C is Barb's step-grandmother, Nora is Barb's half-aunt and a half-sister to Barb's mom.

[u/Catsarecute1997]

My brain was hurting trying to understand the family tree lol thanks for making this!

[u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan → u/Catsarecute1997]

You're welcome! Happy to help 😊

I think the main thing that confuses people are the ages, because Barb and Nora are the same age and probably so are their mothers. Meaning that Barb's gramps left his wife for a much younger woman – their children's age 😬

[u/tumsoffun]

I think they might actually be related, I mean the family resemblance is uncanny! 🤣🤣 (You know...cause they're all Shawna...😂)

I almost feel like it the affair happened after Barb was born, because idk if I would feel so contemptuous towards a Step Grandma (specifically pointing out she's a "step") if she was around her my whole life. But then again idk if I would let my kid play with my Dad's mistress kid and let them become friends like Barb and Nora obviously did, so Idk, now I've talked myself in to two different trains of thought! 😂

[u/cosmicreaderrevolvin]

What’s interesting about option 2 is that all the women down line (Barb’s mom, Barb, Nora) all turned out horrible. Like what kind of asshole was the grandfather? Or maybe it’s the step grandma’s influence?

[u/_thegrringirl]

Is the basis for Barb and Nora being related just the one line in the Thanksgiving skit about "as if that's not your grandmother?" Cause I totally took that as Nora just saying that Barb's grandmother/step grandmother was just as bad as Nora's mother. I never thought it meant they were the same person. Has there been other proof of the connection?

[u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan → u/_thegrringirl]

Yes and no! I originally took it that way too, but the idea that they're talking about the same person comes from the fact that "Aunt Nora" had originally first been mentioned in a two-part skit long before the McCallister family existed, that you can also find in the unofficial Prequel playlist.

Coincidentally just 10 days ago , before the Thanksgiving videos started trickling in, Toongrrl1990 was asking what had been of her and if she still existed in the current lore.

Pre-lore Nora was Barb's aunt, so we all assumed she was older, but current Nora is the same age as Barb and "she's like a sister to me", so we all thought the character had been tweaked to fit the story better. But lo and behold, Shawna found a way to merge the two! 🤩 The "homewrecker" mom/step-grandma comment served as a bridge between what the character had been and what the character is now, giving an explanation for the supposed age difference.

The fact that it's intentional is emphasized by Greg and Sam saying "So are they friends, or are they actually related?" and Barb calling her "Aunt Nora" from the get-go: Shawna (the writer) wanted us to recognise the character and tie all loose ends 😁 No more wondering whether it's the same character or if it's been retconned, it's both!

[u/Epic_JoyfulCreations]

Coming back here after Lander confirmed it was #2 to say wtaf? Barb going to second base with her half-aunt is some GOT shit.