#eye-out family story
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Unpopular Friendship (final) (short story)
First: https://www.tumblr.com/residents-of-the-darkforest/737215289814630400/unpopular-friendship-part-1-short-story?source=share
Previous: https://www.tumblr.com/residents-of-the-darkforest/738115228165980160/unpopular-friendship-part-3-short-story?source=share
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Poppykit’s heart pounded, thrumming through her veins down to her paws, making them beat rhythmically as she hurried silently across the brittle ground. It was not the cold, gut-squeezing heart-pound that would have her wondering if she would get caught. No, it was the thrilled, little bursts of energy as she thought how she’s doing it! She’s sneaking out, and not getting caught!
She had stalked away, then walked, and now was picking up her pace to a run. She knew it was only smart to have their meeting spot so far away from either of their parents and any watchful eyes that could tattle, but before long her legs ached and she had to resist the urge to curl down and rest. When she finally came to the small clearing sheltered by a ring of blackened holly bushes, she collapsed onto her belly with a dramatic sigh.
“Hemlockkiiiiit! Please tell me you’re here…”
“I am!” Hemlockkit announced from the shadows. Poppykit had no time to look around before she was pounced on and rolled onto her back. Hemlockkit smiled down at her, her unusually long fangs glinting in the dim light of the mushrooms that clung to the nearby trees, the only light that was offered. “Hi.”
Poppykit giggled and pushed her off. “Did anyone see you leave?”
Hemlockkit puffed out her chest proudly. “Not one! Well, Spottedtooth, but he promised not to tell a soul if I made it back before my parents wake up!”
Poppykit nodded. “Shiverkit promised not to tell no matter how long I’m gone! But I’ll probably have to cover for him someday. Anyway, no one saw me! My moms didn’t even twitch!”
Hemlockkit batted playfully at Poppykit’s tail while Poppykit settled onto her side, allowing her legs their much-needed rest. “I wish I had done that,” she replied. “I wonder how long I have…It already took so long getting here.”
Poppykit let out a breath. “You’re telling me!”
“Aw!” Hemlockkit nudged her. “Don’t tell me you’re too tired to play!”
“Am not! Just sore’s all.”
“Aww, did the long walk hurt your little toes?” Hemlockkit teased. If it were from anyone else, Poppykit’s hair would have stood in anger, but from her best friend, she smiled a challenging grin, moving into the position of a crouch, ready to jump.
“I’ll show you hurt toes!”
“I have an idea.” Hemlockkit proposed before Poppykit could leap at her.
“What?”
Hemlockkit gestured toward the massive karri tree five tail-lengths behind the bushes. Poppykit’s jaw dropped as she saw the massive tree for the first time. She hadn’t even noticed it in the black shadows! “Bet I can climb higher than you,” she challenged.
“But it’s huge!” Poppykit’s eyes were wide, still on the huge tree.
“Are you backing down?”
Poppykit glared at her. “Never!”
“Then come on!” Hemlockkit bounced excitedly on her paws. “We’re bound to learn this when we start our training, right? Wouldn’t it be cool to have a head start and surprise our mentors?’
“Yeah!” Poppykit agreed. The bursts of energy were returning to her.
“Then it’s on!”
Poppykit was, if nothing else, a very confident kit. She pushed herself up the bark, digging her claws in deep as inch by inch, she scooted up the slim trunk. Her eyes were fixed on the branch high above her. She just needed to reach that, and then she could take a break…but it was so high!
Beside her, Hemlockkit took in long breaths, struggling too as she moved upward.
Poppykit was a very confident kit, a great strength and a great flaw. When she turned her head and looked back to the ground, seeing how high from the safety of the grass she came, she let out a squeak and pressed as close to the bark as she could. Her confidence was slipping like her claws might start to–!
“Hurry up, slow-poke!”
Poppykit looked back up, and saw that Hemlockkit had gained distance. While Poppykit debated following or just going back, Hemlockkit was nearing the branch. Don’t be such a kit, she told herself. Hemlockkit was right, they were bound to do this training anyway, right? So it can’t be that bad…and when Hawkjay saw how skilled she was, she surely wouldn’t worry so much anymore!
Gritting her teeth, Poppykit pushed on. Closer…closer…she was almost there!
Hemlockkit had already made it to the branch and now sat on it, claws unsheathed for grip, watching and waiting for Poppykit to join her.
Poppykit’s breath left her in a long sigh of relief as she finally, finally clambered onto the branch. It took everything in her not to just let her muscles melt away and sink into the wood. She still had to hold on.
“Who do you think your mentor will be?” Hemlockkit asked.
“Are we talking up here?”
“If you want a distraction.”
“Good. Yeah. Uhm…maybe Scorchbeetle?” They were cousins, and Poppykit highly doubted that either of her mothers would be comfortable with non-kin watching over their kits. “Oh! Maybe Crowsage! She’s so cool, she lets me get away with everything!”
“Yeah, Hawkjay will love that.”
“Uh, right…Well, who do you think your mentor will be?”
Silence.
“Hemlockkit? Helloo?”
Poppykit blinked at her friend, and saw that she was busy staring down at the ground. “Hemlockkit? Hey, you’re not scared, are you?” Poppykit tried to make her voice sound teasing, but anxiety was swirling uncomfortably in her chest. If Hemlockkit was scared, too, then….
“Do you think it’s too high? If the branch breaks, or we slip–”
“Don’t say that!”
“What will happen to us when we land?”
“I don’t know.” Poppykit shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, and not like her heart was pounding painfully.
“Me neither. I think I need to see.”
“See? See how?” Before Poppykit could realize what was happening, she felt a pressure on her side, and the solid branch beneath her was suddenly gone. The wind was cold as ice, pulling violently at her fur while reaching deep into her bones. She yowled in terror, her legs swinging blindly through the air as she plummeted lower and lower. “Mommy!”
—-
No one knew of Hemlockkit’s deed.
She would climb down to safety and return to the warm belly of her mother, and start the next day as she would any other.
Hawkjay and Lilacheart were never quite the same after that. They never found out where their daughter went or why she had left. With each passing day, the idea that she was dead became an obvious reality, but the questions would always haunt them. What had happened to her? Did she suffer? Did someone hurt her, and if so, who? Any cat they met could have been their daughter’s killer.
Shiverkit hated himself for not telling them sooner, for letting his sister leave the safety of their den and walk into the darkness alone. He never told them that he knew. He swore on his life that he wouldn’t, and the deep fear that he, too, would disappear into nothingness kept him silent. As he grew into a warrior, that fear shrank, but still he kept his silence. Telling them now would only cause them to hate him. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he was selfish. They needed closure, but would they turn their backs on him?
He had asked Hemlockkit, but she seemed just as concerned and confused, claiming that Poppykit had never made it to their spot. He followed her to where they were supposed to meet, but there was no sign that either kit had ever been there.
You may be wondering: but why?
Why would Hemlockkit murder her best friend? Was she planning it all along? Was it an accident?
Maybe, and no.
Many cats kill those they hate, or those they don’t know at all. To kill a friend, someone one actually likes and cares for for no other reason than ‘why not?’, is ludicrous!
For Hemlockpine it isn’t. Hemlockpine kills equally, friends and foes, simply because she feels like it. Hemlockkit truly did like Poppykit. She saw the ginger-and-black kit as her best friend, and loved the time they had together. Maybe the thought to push her was a spur-of-the-moment thing, maybe she was planning it the moment she challenged Poppykit to climb, or before.
In either case, her reasoning is the same: because she could.
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SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE! YOU THOUGHT!
ME WRITING A NICE STORY? THINK AGAIN! IT WAS A VICTIMS TALE ALL ALONG FUCKERS!
--No one ever finds out about what Hemlock did.
--Hemlockpine kills anyone--but not kin. Kin is off limits, that's the family rule.
@starfalcon555
#dark tales#long post#long long post#dark forest tales#poppykit story#hemlockkit story#hemlockpine story#shiverkit#hawkjay#lilacheart#spottedtooth#eye-out family#eye-out#eye-out story#eye-out family story#eye-out tales#victim tales#dark forest oc#warriors oc#dark kits#wc dark kits#df dark kits
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I have to talk about Chester Arthur. His story makes me go crazy. A mediocre president from the 1880s who's completely forgotten today has one of the best redemption stories I've ever heard and I need to make people understand just how cool his story is.
So, like, he starts out as this idealist, okay? He's the son of an abolitionist minister and becomes famous as a New York lawyer who defends the North's version of Rosa Parks whose story desegregates New York City's trolley system.
Then he starts getting pulled into politics and becomes one of the grimiest pieces of the political machine. He wants money, power, prestige, and he gets it. He becomes the right-hand man of Roscoe Conkling, the most feared political boss in the nation, a guy who will throw his weight around and do the most ruthless things imaginable to keep his friends in power and destroy his enemies.
Because Arthur's this guy's top lackey, he gets to be Controller of the Port of New York--the best-paying political appointment in the country, because that port brings in, like, 70% of the federal government's funds in tariffs. He gets a huge salary plus a percentage of all the fines they levy on lawbreakers, and because he's not afraid to make up infractions to fine people over, he is absolutely raking in the dough. Making the rough equivalent of $1.3 million a year--absolutely insane amounts of money for a government position. He's spending ridiculous sums on clothes, buying huge amounts of alcohol and cigars to share with people as part of his job recruiting supporters to the party, going out nearly every night to wine and dine people as part of his work in the political machine. He's living the high life. Even when President Hayes pulls him from his position on suspicions of fraud, he's still living a great life of wealth, power, and prestige.
Then in 1880, his beloved wife dies. While he's out of town working for a political campaign. And he can't get back in time to say goodbye before she dies. Because he's a guy who has big emotions, it absolutely tears him up inside, especially because Nell resented how much his political work kept him away from home. He has huge regrets, but he just moves in with Roscoe Conkling and keeps working for the political machine.
And then he gets a chance to be vice president. The Republican Party has nominated James Garfield, a dark horse candidate who wants to reform the spoils system that has given Conking his power and gave Arthur his position as Port Controller. Conkling is pissed, and he controls New York, and since the party's not going to win the election without New York, they think that appointing Conkling's top lackey as vice-president will pacify him.
They're wrong--Conkling orders Arthur to refuse--but Arthur thinks this sounds like a great opportunity. The only political position he's ever held is Port Controller--a job he wasn't elected to and that he was pulled from in disgrace. Vice President is way more than he could ever have hoped for. It's a position with a lot of political pull and zero actual responsibilities. He'll get to spend four years living in up in Washington high society. It's the perfect job! Of course he accepts, and Conkling comes around when he figures out that he can use this to his advantage.
When Garfield becomes president, Arthur does everything he can to undermine him. He uses every dirty political trick he can think of to block everything that Garfield wants to do. He refuses to let the Senate elect a president pro tempore so he can stay there and influence every bill that comes through. He all but openly boasts of buying votes in the election. He's so much Conkling's lackey that he may as well be the henchman of a cartoon supervillain. On Conkling's orders, he drags one of Garfield's Cabinet members out of bed in the middle of the night--while the guy is ill--to drag him to Conkling's house so he can be forced to resign. He's just absolutely a thorn in the president's side, a henchman doing everything he can to maintain the corrupt spoils system.
Then in July 1881, when Arthur's in New York helping Conkling's campaign, the president gets shot. By a guy who shouts, "Now Arthur will be president!" just after he fires the gun. Arthur has just spent the past four months fighting the president tooth and nail. Everyone thinks he's behind the assassination. There are lynch mobs looking to take out him and Conkling. The papers are tearing him apart.
Arthur is absolutely distraught. He rushes to Washington to speak with the president and assure him of his innocence, but the doctors won't let him in the room. He gets choked up when talking to the First Lady. Reporters find him weeping in his house in Washington. Once again, death has torn his world apart and he's not getting a chance to make amends.
Arthur goes to New York while the president is getting medical treatment, and he refuses to come to Washington and take charge because he doesn't dare to give the impression that he's looking to take over. No one wants Arthur to be president and he doesn't want to be president, and the possibility that this corrupt political lackey is about to ascend to the highest office in the land is absolutely terrifying to everyone.
Then in August, when it's becoming clear that the president is unlikely to recover, he gets a letter. From a 31-year-old invalid from New York named Julia Sand. A woman from a very politically-minded family who has been following Arthur's career for years. And she writes him this astounding letter that takes him to task for his corrupt, conniving ways, and the obsession with worldly power and prestige that has brought him wealth and fame at the cost of his own soul--and she tells him that he can do better. In the midst of a nationwide press that's tearing him apart, this one woman writes to tell him that she believes he has the capacity to be a good president and a good man if he changes his ways.
And then he does. After Garfield dies, people come to Arthur's house and find servants who tell them that Arthur is in his room weeping like a child (I told you he had big emotions), but he takes the oath of office and ascends to the presidency. And he becomes a completely different man. His first speech as president mentions that one of his top priorities is reforming the spoils system so that people will be appointed based on merit rather than getting appointed as political favors with each change in the administration. Even though this system made him president. When Conkling comes to Arthur's office telling him to appoint his people to important government positions, Arthur calls his demands outrageous, throws him out, and keeps Garfield's appointees in the positions. "He's not Chet Arthur anymore," one of his former political friends laments. "He's the president."
He loses all his former political friends. He's never trusted by the other side. Yet he sticks to his guns and continues to support spoils system reform. He prosecutes a postal service corruption case that everyone thought he would drop. He's the one who signs into law the first civil service reform bill, even though presidents have been trying to do this for more than ten years, and he's the person who's gained all his power through the spoils system. He immediately takes action to enforce this bill when he could have just dropped it. He becomes a champion of this issue even though it's the last thing anyone would have expected of him.
He oversees naval reform. He oversees a renovation of the White House. He still prefers the social duties of the presidency, but he's respectable in a way that no one expected. Possibly because Julia Sand keeps sending him letters of encouragement and advice over the next two years. But also because he's dying.
Not long after ascending to the presidency, he learns he's suffering from a terminal kidney disease. And he tells no one. He keeps going about his daily life, fulfilling his duties as president, and keeps his health problems hidden. Once again, death is upending his life, and this time it's his own death. He's lived a life he's ashamed of, and he doesn't have much time left to change. He enters the presidency as an example of the absolute worst of the political system, and leaves it as a respectable man.
He makes a token effort to seek re-election, but because of his health problems, he doesn't mind at all when someone else gets the nomination. He dies a couple of years after leaving office. The day before his death, he orders most of his papers burned, because he's ashamed of his old life--but among the things that are saved are the letters from Julia Sand, the woman who encouraged him to change his ways.
This is an astounding story full of so many twists and turns and dramatic moments. A man who falls from idealism into the worst kind of corruption and then claws his way back up to decency because of a series of devastating personal losses and unexpected opportunities to do more than he could have ever hoped to do. I just go crazy thinking about it and I need you all to understand just how amazing this story is.
#history is awesome#presidential talk#i thought about his story again this morning#and was once again struck by the desire to chase people down and make them understand just how amazing this story is#and instead of harassing random strangers i decided to inflict it on tumblr again#my original essay was rather too long and dry and tangled up in too many other details#and didn't quite capture the 'i want to chase you down and look you in the eye and make you freak out about this with me' vibe of this stor#this still doesn't quite capture it but at least it's shorter#and prevents me from rambling to unsuspecting family members#sorry for inflicting this on you again but what else am i supposed to do?
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see everyone worried and fretted and panicked and yet quesadilla island looked at pepito and went
#qsmp#qsmp pepito#this post is not about roier's parenting i PROMISE you don't need to defend your cubito#this is literally about pepito being bobbled between caretakers#bad etoiles foolish forever bagi pac and more that i just haven't seen#just. people who have shown an interest and desire to hang out with pepito and keep pepito safe#pepito went to find parents and look!! look!!!#listen. listen. to me the qsmp is about love. not mystery not roleplay not drama not plot.#the qsmp is at its ABSOLUTE best when it is People Talking To Each Other#purgatory was AMAZING for me as a bolas viewer bc if bolas was in the server THEY WERE IN A CALL they were CONSTANTLY talking and i THRIVED#people adopting each other into their fake families in the most middle school childlike wondrous form of love there is#when you like your friend so much they're your fake spouse. your fake child. your fake parent. your fake sibling.#eggs and parents that's LOVE tubbo and fred that's LOVE tazercraft and walter bob that's LOVE; cellbit and roier; phil and missa#baghera and bad and forever; bad and bagi; pierre and maxo; maxo and EVERYTHING his son his daughter his partner the theory bros#favela six that's LOVE LOOK AT THIS FUCKING SERVER EVEN ELENA WHO WE'VE KNOWN FOR AN HOUR IS ABOUT LOVE. HER PARTNER IS HER DRIVE.#jaiden's story is driven by LOVE the hole from the love of her son and chasing cucurucho's 'love' in return it's LOVE it's UNDERSTANDING#there's so much love and i'm biased to my povs but holy shit i will repeat it until y'all roll your eyes seeing me on the dash#like NOT THIS ANIME POWER OF FRIENDSHIP BULLSHIT AGAIN no i'm right u can't fight me#block game brainrot#shut up vic
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wasn’t able to doodle as much as I'd like to lately from projects (and totally bc I didn’t get absorbed into a rarepair which i may or may not post later) but here’s my take on a hypothetical ancestor for lance on his appreciation week! a grandpa who has a lot of gyarados theming around him 🐉🌊
#kagoodles#ChampionLanceWeek2023#champion lance#lance pokemon#a bit of clair (blue hair + ponytail) a bit of lance (the spikes + the eye color and gsc shoulder pad things) its their peepaw!!!#honestly. stumped on a name for hypothetical peepaw#my first thought was Sloe based on the blackthorn berry (and it’s gin is even a red color) but I’m still workshopping it#also kudos to the hc of lance being the shiny gyarados of the family that’s just canon to me now#peepaw got a prosthetic hand bc training ain’t easy but kindness is not without effort#but he’s chill and gets along with a lot of village kids#he's a guy who would have a bunch of stories to tell people and draws a lot of crowds for it#in a game setting he'd be like. funny mentor who's also one of the big late game opponents to overcome as a test of strength#otherwise he'd probably give the player a funny item of importance or just something out of the blue like a rare candy or a star piece#“you like candy kiddo? so do pokemon! why not spread the fun around? :D”
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The Old Guard.
Nimona.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Blue Eye Samurai.
Motherland: Fort Salem.
Warrior Nun.
We've been given some excellent potential franchises here. Two of them--the most explicitly queer/subversive--were cancelled, though each of them feature queer or queer-coded characters.
No idea if/when we'll see the follow-up to The Old Guard, but the setup had potential for realizing the relationship between Andy/Quynh.
Nimona is one of the most no-apologies trans characters ever.
D&D and Blue Eye Samurai conveniently skirt queer themes even as central characters appear coded.
In fact, one of the more regressive(?) elements of Samurai is that the main (male) villains are openly queer, but only ever seen being sexually serviced by women. This is a show that, at first, kept it's protagonist on a seemingly asexual path, only to discard it toward the end in a flashback (where she, for reasons that seem entirely out of character, agrees to marry a man and eventually enjoys sex and possibly falls in love with him).
It also setup what might have been a moment of queerbaiting in the long/suggestive stare between Mizu and Akemi, only to drop that hard in Taigen's lap, so to speak. Spinning away from that potentiality to setup a possible future romance with her childhood bully? uh
Netflix cancelled Warrior Nun in its second, acclaimed hit season, after it made its protagonist openly queer.
Not saying Samurai got the memo, but I wouldn't count on it courting a queer audience with an openly queer character or relationship (do I dare them? Yeah).
Will TOG2 or D&D2 follow a similar memo? Will Nimona, should it get a return? Not holding a breath, but it would be nice if they threw that memo away. Ripped it to shreds. Burn in the Black Cauldron. Something.
Because each of these stories are all brilliantly queer at their heart (whether intentional or not, mostly intentional), and we've been written out of pretty much everything, which only makes it easier to spread lies and hate in the real world. Care about us? Include us. No coding. No metaphors.
Motherland, Warrior Nun, Nimona (even The Old Guard) made it a priority. The rest could, too. Here's hoping they all return gayer than ever.
like Bob always said
#the old guard#nimona#warrior nun#motherland fort salem#blue eye samurai#dungeons and dragons : honor among thieves#queer media#queer characters#spoilers#all found family stories#guess what we gravitate to#that was picard season 1/2 too#but then they found the old family and decided to boot everyone else out so yeah not on this list
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Need low stakes DLC Psychonauts 2 levels in, at this point, anyone’s mind. Fuck shit up and kick ass in the interns brains? Hell yeah. Otto? Sasha round 2? Milla round 2? ANY Aquato? I’d eat it up om nom nom. I’m begging. As a treat for me please.
#psychonauts 2#psychonauts#double fine#and listen. fucking. it gets more and more obvious that Otto has Something going on with every playthrough#first play through I was thinking about literally anything else and I didn’t catch it#but going back and doing all the dialogue and keeping an eye on him?#Otto was sus as HELL#Like fully unresolved I think canonically he’s still up to some shit#he didnt mind wipe a family to stop a genocide a la putting tape over a cracking dam#but he’s still shady#and I think they kinda wrote him as a red herring#which is wild bc I did not give a fuck about Otto my first time through I was trying to connect so many other puzzle pieces#but yeah DLC content would be good but also… Psychonauts three???#it’s be too surface level for it to be just straight plot line Otto is the big bad tho so idk.#psychonauts 1+2 tells such a tight well thought out story that’s been cooking for two decades. I wouldn’t want a third game if it didn’t#lovingly expand the world and characters and story. but damn I got questions.#hence: low stakes dlc please and thank you have a good day 👍
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I think what might have been better (for me) would be if they hadn't skipped ahead quite so far in the last scene and instead Alison and Mike were returning only a few years later with Mia. Still the "usual room" and still all the old decor kept around the building, but Alison walks into the room holding Mia's hand and "introduces" her to the ghosts, the idea being that she's old enough now even if she can't see them to know they're there, to know that Alison not only gives the ghosts that allowance in her life on her own terms but also perhaps that she can tell Mia stories about the funny dead people who became her family
#bbc ghosts#bbc ghosts spoilers#nothing is so important to me right now as knowing that Mia knows about the ghosts#she should know#they're her family after all#the idea of alison telling mia stories about 'uncle julian' or 'grandma fanny' while mike rolls his eyes#mia asking mike wide-eyed if the ghosts are real and mike telling her wryly that yes they're real#mia asking if there are any ghosts around every time they walk down the street#mia passing on questions for alison to ask the ghosts about this historical event or that#or getting them to tell her the hotel gossip through her mother#and alison going 'oh robin i can't tell her that' and mia BEGGING alison to tell her what the caveman said#the ghosts gushing over mia every time they see her even though she can't hear or see them#and alison being so so proud#sigh#i do appreciate the longevity of alison and mike's holiday tradition being confirmed#even if in the moment i had reservations#only so much story you can tell in half an hour with what budget they had#oh#mia coming with alison in those later years when its harder for her to make it out#mia coming in her stead when alison is gone and having to tell the ghosts#not knowing if they're even there to hear her#oh god now i'm a different kind of sad#goddam
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I swear I wrote this down before, but I cant find it in any of my notes so here's a little fun idea! When the world gets recreated so its no longer Arda Marred, I think the Valar got together and Looked at the Finwe problem and shrugged and decided to make all of Miriel and her descendants Maiar to slove that tricky little problem of Remarriage.
Because the Feanorians are now Maiar, they aren't technically born, meaning they aren't really siblings and part of the same family so there is no real issue in separating them now is there?
Miriel is one of Vaire's weavers of course, and Feanor is one of Aule's most talented smiths, but that is understandable as he is the spirit of Hearth Fire itself. There are others within Aule's Halls, but their knowledge of each other is passing, for Celebrimbor tends to stay with the jewelry makers and Curufin likes creating hunting gear for Orome's hunt
Orome is almost never seen without his most prized hunter, Celegorm, who prefers a form that looks more wolf than Elf.
Vana, Orome's wife, herself has a pair of giggling and twittering songbirds that follow her around as she follows her husband's Hunt. They dance and sing and twirl in sync that many often just call the pair of them by a singular name, Ambarussa.
Irmo within his forest full of Song and Music has a very talented Maia that is so in tune with thr Song that they can play with it however they choose. Maglor only uses this ability to give the Elves good dreams, of course.
Este is forever thankful of her assistant Caranthir, who keeps all her medical necessities and books in order, so she is always prepared to help those in need, even if he himself doesn't have the best beside manner.
Lady Nienna’s Maia, Maedhros is a bit more of a recluse. He is charming when spoken too, but there is something distant, some type of lingering melancholy that clings to him, like a weak dawn in the deepest days of winter. He tends to hide himself away in the forests surrounding Formenos, helping those who are lost find their way back home.
Then there are Finwe and his beautiful wife Indis, their children, and many grandchildren. They are a stunning example of a happy family, and all the citizens of Tirion love having them as their royal family. Nothing is ever wrong, even when Fingolfin’s daughter Aredhel got lost during a hunt, she was lucky enough to be escorted back to her worried brothers' camp.
Fingon, who had never felt the degree of terror that flooded his veins at the thought of his sister lost in the woods, terror that was much stronger than what was called for because what could befell her in their peaceful land of Valinor?
She was being ferried on the back of a behemoth of a horse, pristine and laughing at the antics of the silver wolf-like Maia walking at her side. The horse was being led by a silent Maia, who smiled softly at the pair but made no move to include himself.
Fingon looked up at the tall Maia, and felt something in his fea shatter. He always had felt like something was missing, that he would havr an urge to go looking for someone he could never find, catch himself looking up to share an idea with someone who must have been taller than him only to look up at empty air. His bed felt so cold, but no matter how high he tended the hearth flames he knew it was because it was empty. He would look to the distant mountains and see a dawn peaking over their tops and weep as something in his fea ached.
Everything felt so overwhelming when he looked at this Maia, this being that looked cold, who wore furs and had snow dusting his shoulders even though it was a warm sunny summer day. Fingon was so lost in the sensations swirling within him that he was too slow to act before the Maia helped Aredhel off his horse, swung up himself and was out of the clearing. That wolfish Maia giving his sister a laughing twirl before bounding off into the thicket, chasing after the distant horn call.
Fingon’s knees felt weak, he found himself sinking to the forest floor. This world may be Arda Remade, but he still felt Marred.
#amber rambles#Silmarillion#maedhros#Feanorians#fingon#there was more to this that i thought i wrote down#basically the story is in Arda Remade fingon finds that he is the only one in his family that feels Off#he doesnt knkw why. no one has memories of arda marred but fingon knows he lost something precious to him in the remaking#finwe is worried for his eldest grandson. he doenst know why seeing someone he loves turn so melancholic makes him afraid#it just does. so he urges fingon to visit Lorien to soothe his Fea and heal#here he meets Caranthir and Maglor and he feels a connection to both and spends a lot of his time he#there bothering the both of them and he shares his feelings with maglor who just humms and agrees with him#that the Music within his fea is missing something.maybe someone? maybe hes supposed to go out and find them#maglor tells him to let the Music guide him and Caranthir gives him supplies and then fingon is off#he travels around Valinor by himself. where he meets the other non-Feanorians and feels pieces slot together#his most eye opening experience was meeting with the Maia Feanor and his Elf lover Nerdanel up in Formenos#she agrees with him that what hes feeling is valid as she also lost something in the Remaking#she cannot have children and this aches as she has dreams of a full house and 7 perfect sons that are no longer hers#she shows him her sculptures and as he looks he realizes he has met most of them on his journey! not elves like she has created#but Maiar who under their unnatural differneces look almost identical to these sculptures#he pauses at the last one. the unfamiliar one. Nerdanel sighs and says she feels like this one was her first born#the one she lost even before the Remaking. Fingon feels the same. this face makes him ache.#he wanders the forest that night haunted by these people. these elves he feels like he should know but doesnt. hes so in his thoughts#he doesnt realize hes lost. he calls out into the woods and hears nothing call back but his echos. a chill crawls up his spine#his breath begins to fog and there is a sound behind him and he twirls and there is rhat sculpture. his missing piece#Dont Worry. the figure of Winter and Memory says to him. I Found You#You Found Me. Fingon replies
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Hi Kelsey!! How was yesterday? I hope today is nice 🥰
hi, ashley! happy tuesday! even though it's semi-approaching it's end...!
yesterday was fine!! i just worked. nothing really interesting there. and then i got home and established that it was time to start another book, so...i started the ground research for that!
today, similar. just worked <3. i went to the library and picked up some books on catholicism today so, lol, i'm making my way through those. i'm just skimming and jumping through so i can form a foundation and give things flesh so nothing comes off as an info-dump and/or procedural. this is interesting to nobody but me, but i'm excited !!!
how are you? how was yesterday? i hope today has been nice!!
#my cousins' family#notably evangelical#have been side-eyeing me all night and it's just like if only u all knew what this story was actually about#anyway i feel the younger version of me who would devour books on niche topics coming out again#ashley ❤︎#✉︎ — confessions.
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sorry i know i cant stop people from having their headcanons or aus or whatever but i find it kinda silly when people present the idea of silver being shadows son as if its an actual plausible theory.... because all the "evidence" for it is very minor stuff thats easily explained away . and then theres also the fact that in the 06 timeline shadow was put back into stasis shortly after iblis destroyed the world because humanity was looking for someone to blame for it. and silver also says that iblis has been around since before he was born. im aware that the future is always changing so a future where an adult shadow is around to interact with a tiny little baby silver isnt entirely out of the question but wouldnt this plot detail make shadow being silvers biological father very unlikely if not outright impossible??
#also the evidence is always stuff like ''they both have chest fur and arms that match the rest of their body''#okay. well sonic and amy both have green eyes and arms that match their muzzle color. and im pretty sure thyere not related#''theyre lancelot and galahad in sonic and the black knight'' its funny how people use this as evdience that shadow and silver are related#but nobody every acknowledges that nimue the character amy plays (who is actually relevant and appears in the story mode unlike galahad)#is lancelots mom in the original stories or tries to use that as evidence that amy and shadow are related ...#and yes i know that that would make zero sense from a timeline perspective bc amy is younger than shadow#among other reasons and this relationship isnt implied at all either in satbk or outside of satbk#im not trying to argue that theyre related. just pointing out that satbk isnt exactly an authority on main timeline family relationships#satbk is literlaly just the characters playing dressup not every aspect of the lives of the characters from the original stories#are meant to apply to the sonic characters that were used to portray them in satbk#also to be clear im specifically talking about the idea of shadow being silvers dad in the future#not the present version of shadow who is still a teenager barely older than silver being a father figure to him.#i actively hate that second option its so weird and would be a different conversation entirely
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Be Smarter (short story)
Marigoldpaw wheezed as she walked, and she wondered if they had ever travelled so far before for a training session. “What…what are we here for?” She asked when they finally came to a stop.
She had been coughing on and off since her birth, but slowly her scratched throat had healed over the past two moons, though her voice was still raspy and it hurt to talk. She felt a familiar pang of unease as she recalled hazy memories of her littermates: Lionkit, Peonykit, and Sunkit, who had all succumbed to the sickness that had gripped them all the day they were born. Should she remember them more?
Dullahan, her older brother and mentor, faced her with his naked scar-marked tail folded neatly around his paws. “Because you’re weak,” he told her bluntly. “You need to learn how to be strong.”
Marigoldpaw didn’t understand why that meant she had to travel so far, especially with her lungs still recovering and her legs weak enough to collapse under her should she stand for too long–a reason she was now laying on her stomach. “I can’t force my sickness to leave,” she pointed out.
Dullahan’s pupils, sharply purple, were as thin as the thorns that guarded their home, the colour behind them almost entirely clouded by black fog. He showed his long, crooked teeth in what most would consider a threat, a danger, a look of insanity. Maybe it was, but to Marigoldpaw and the rest of their family, it was simply a smile of amusement. “We can have a head start, teach your mind before you can teach your body.”
“H….How?” Marigoldpaw wheezed.
Dullahan stood, sweeping his scarred tail around at the undergrowth surrounding them. “Look around you! You’re small and weak–”
“I’ll get bigger!”
Dullahan continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “You are vulnerable to anyone who chooses to attack, and right now, anyone who chooses to attack you will be stronger than you. But what will you be?”
“Smarter?”
“Correct!” Dullahan grinned. “Look around,” he repeated, “what should you do?”
“Uh..” Marigoldpaw tried to think. She tried to look around, but the movement dizzied her. She closed her eyes, placing a paw on her head to still the spinning.
“If I attacked you right now, what will you do?”
Marigoldpaw blinked at him, trying to think. “I..Uh..”
Without warning, Dullahan leaped. He landed directly above her, placing his paws on either side of her, and digging a claw of a back leg into her tail, keeping her still. Marigoldpaw shrieked.
“What should you do?” Dullahan demanded, voice raising, jaws pressing closer to her face. “Look around!”
Marigoldpaw strained her neck as she took in the plants closest to her. She knew her brother wouldn’t hurt her–not hurt hurt, but even so, the situation still threw her heart into her throat and she struggled to breathe, while the pain in her tail crowded her thoughts.
Think think…Focus focus…
There!
Marigoldpaw stretched her neck out, bit around the stem of the plant, and swung it at Dullahan’s eyes.
“Argh!” Dullahan let go, backing away as he wiped at his eyes.
Marigoldpaw watched him with worry. She hadn’t blinded him, had she?
Then Dullahan began to shake, laughter booming through the clearing and making the hair on Marigoldpaw’s pelt stand on end. “Perfect! Oh, I was hoping you would go for it!”
“Dad told me it’s stinging nettle,” Marigoldpaw told her, recalling the plants Myrtlewing showed her while she still stayed in his medicine den. “He said the stem is fine to touch, but the leaves–”
“Sting?”
“Yeah.”
Dullahan wiped his eyes again. “He wasn’t wrong about that.”
Marigoldpaw leaned toward him. “Are you okay?”
Dullahan waved a dismissive paw. “Don’t be so soft!”
“I can be soft to family,” Marigoldpaw retorted. It was the way of their family. It didn’t matter how they treated non-kin, so long as those who share blood were cared for. “Lay down.”
Dullahan looked at her, then shrugged to himself and did as told. Marigoldpaw raised up and began to clean his eyes and the surrounding area–curling her lip and struggling against the horrible taste. When she was sure she reached every spot, she sat back. “Better?”
Dullahan blinked, feeling his face. “You take the fun out of getting hurt,” he joked.
Marigoldpaw nudged him playfully. “I’m your sister. I’m supposed to take the fun out of everything for you.”
Dullahan grunted. "I guess I should clean your tail."
===============
This is either Marigoldpaw's first training session as an apprentice or the second or third--definitely early.
Added the last part because I forgot about her tail lmao.
#wc dullahan#df dullahan#marigoldpaw#marigoldkit#lionkit#sunkit#peonykit#myrtlewing#dullahan story#marigoldpaw story#eye-out family#eye-out story#eye-out#eye-out family story#eye-out kits#dark tales#wc dark tales#dark forest tales
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more whinging bc i got negative hours of sleep last night and i need to stay awake somehow lol
cw: discussions of misogyny + abuse
god the more i think abt it the more exhausted i get by the gender politics of ted lasso.
like god i do genuinely think that rebecca's arc in s1 is one of the best depictions of a mean + cruel woman ive ever seen on TV specifically bc it manages to thread the needle so well? like they never tilt her balance too much and doom her to being either totally fucked up + evil OR totally soft and sweet and harmless. and ted's 'divorce makes u crazy' response to her apology STILL makes me crazy wrt the sheer. understanding and empathy there, and she's just. given so much more depth than ive come to expect, especially for an ensemble cast sitcom w a (then) p short run time.
but my fucking god. we literally don't learn a fucking thing about michelle. im pretty sure the one (1) concrete thing we know about her comes in the fucking finale, and it's that she's a teacher for... something. the two most important people in ted's life and we don't know anything abt them! they're literally just empty symbols representing the importance of Family™, and that vacancy does nothing but weigh ted's storyline down!
like, i liked michelle's episode/storyline in s1, bc the blinding novelty of a woman instigating a divorce not being the Actual Devil, as well as a just. generally very empathetic + nuanced take on how divorce shakes out between two ppl who really care for each other, was so 'WAIT TV CAN DO THIS??' that i felt satisfied with that being Her Arc™. divorce happens, life happens, people fall out of love, and it hurts but its ultimately okay. the show, at the time, was ultimately abt a football club and how caring abt that football club helped everyone around it.
but then the show sticks around, and her continued absence just... raises a lot of questions? how did the conversation abt ted going overseas happen? what conversations did they have abt henry? how long term was it intended to be? did money really not factor into it all? like it's one thing for a character's backstory to be vague when it's not really the focus of attention (s1 was ultimately rebecca's story before anyone else's), but when it's the load bearing stone of their '''''''arc''''''' in s3...????
like. god. and then it fucking infects every other woman on the show!
sassy + nora? well sure we'll give you a softball - you can have one (1) scene where a woman is able to resolutely and firmly reject a man asking her out without immediately being seen as cruel or gameplayey (not that the audience will see it that way! she's already a lecherous temptress for them!), but neither of them will ever be able to speak to rebecca onscreen again, even after the heart-wrenching scenes in s1 CLEARLY establishing them as a beating heart of rebecca's arc.
shandy? nope, don't even think abt her motivations/drives, just forget her. simi? LMAOOO imagine a black woman getting a personality beyond righteous anger. jack? three-four episodes, and we learn so little abt her that her conflict with keeley - which SHOULD'VE have been a huge emotional beat - just feels like a kick in the teeth (and while, yes, i absolutely agree that in a real world context, jack's rejection of keeley would be largely motivated by class, in Ted Lasso Land™ rebecca is just as rich - if not richer? - and we're never once encouraged to interrogate her priorities).
barbara's the one that really makes me miserable, bc i feel like on a show with less run time, she could've played REALLY well. she's a great contrast to keeley, has an amazing delivery, and the scene where keeley + her first discuss the snowglobes shows that she has the potential for some really moving vulnerability + pathos. but instead they give SO many of keeley's scenes to characters who ultimately get written out, so when barbara stays it's like... okay? sure? like, i was so stoked that barbara survived the Mass Exodus of side characters that i didn't wanna look the gift horse in the mouth but... wasn't the last thing we saw of her and keeley's relationship like. general resentment + distrust abt the shandy debacle? when did that improve? how???
i don't think i'll ever have enough mental real estate to explain how disappointed keeley + rebecca's 'arcs' in s3 made me, and at least there's the saving grace that. virtually no one other than jamie got a coherent arc this season, so at least it was on some levels an egalitarian screw up. but fuck dude. keeley was just forced to react to bad things that were happening to her, and we got to see her do her job (which, unbelievably, does actually involve things other than being an awkward manager!) precisely one (1) time.
i even like rebecca's arc on paper - i think it's really cool to see a character backslide so intensely in terms of obsessing over and struggling to come to terms w a past relationship, especially an abusive one, bc like. yeah! that shit sticks with you for longer than a season! and beyond that, seeing her regain her sense of self and what SHE actually gives a shit about was oftentimes just as sweet as s1. but her scenes were poorly connected, and she had to carry WAY too much of a burden as the Resident Speech Giver for any of her internal characterisation to make sense. like, sorry, but it's kind of hard to believe a character's Going Through It™ when they have to spent near 100% of their screen time giving Take It From Me, Kid, speeches. and then she's not even given a real opportunity TO fuck up + sabotage her relationships, even when she starts getting really weird w ted! it's all just so meaningless and like nothing that she does is ever going to matter. she never speaks to zava again, we don't get to see her interact w bex or kate, her pleas to ted get COMPLETELY shut down...
but the thing that REALLY makes me sick is this complete lack of interiority absolutely butchers the characters of jade + jane, who are otherwise RIFE with potential. like, jade is a completely unflinching, unapologetic asshole to nate + his family, and that's never interrogated. even in Sitcom Land™, it's more than reasonable to view jade's actions as racist, especially when she doesn't give the same treatment to others (at least not as i recall? honestly i usually watch the taste of athens scenes while peeking out behind my hands, so i could 100% be wrong here). and yet, suddenly, and completely inexplicably, she's charmed by nate. she wants to give him the time of day. she finds him attractive, and wants to date him, and generally take control of his life and force him into a decision that is literally the exact opposite of what he expressed wanting to do. except even that LAST thing isn't allowed to be interrogated, bc god FORBID a woman is enough of a fully realised creation to actually be culpable of the terrible shit they do!
and fucking jane??? beard's so head-over-heels for this woman that the emotional abuse + extremely controlling tendencies don't even make him bat an eye, and we don't get to know anything about her? she's literally just the suggestion of an alluring woman! good at sex! good at chess! fuck you if you wanna know more, even though the show ENDLESSLY hits you over the head with how painful their relationship is for beard - beard who is given virtually no other storyline. like, i literally can't read brendan's refusal to label jane as abusive as anything other than like. that bio-essentialism shit where ppl 'women are better than men <3' so hard that they end up genuinely and wholeheartedly arguing that someone's sex defines their morals - or worse, that their sex is a deciding factor in determining whether someone's actions are good or bad. not context, but a legitimate 'add points if woman, take away points if man' variable.
like that's so feminism 101 it's legitimately almost worse than nothing. that's like getting as far as 'hey so you know how we're all inundated with both implicit + explicit messaging abt what is Valued and Good for women vs men to-' before shoving ur earplugs in and going 'if you are oppressed by society we'll automatically stamp a 'good person' label on ur head and now we don't have to think abt any of our biases + internalised beliefs ever again <333'. the most useless and fucking pointless stand against the patriarchy ever, especially coming from the same show that ENDLESSLY slots characters into the 'loving gf/wife' archetype and then give them Literally Nothing Else. my comrades you have literally just done madonna/whore 2: oops all madonnas! this is not liberation!!!! this is a miserable cage!!!!!!!!!
im just. higgins' wife. mae. trent's daughter and anonymous 'her'. the women at the hotel and the restaurants and the firm and the fucking physios, fuck - dani's gfs! who are they? what do they want? where do they go when the camera stops rolling? can anyone hear me?? hello??? hello???? brendan hunt i am OUTSIDE YOUR HOUUUUUUSE
#ted lasso spoilers#ted lasso meta#ted lasso critical#dead girls by p.enelope s.cott has been stuck in my head for approximately a month bc of this fucking show#its so fucking nuts being treated to rebecca + keeley in s1 and then slowly realising w dawning horror that its literally only down from#here. and also listen nothing but respect to my comrades out there who can take michelle + henry as written#and immediately + painlessly extrapolate from their significance in ted's life to viewing them as like. important figures narratively#but to me they literally never got beyond the carboard cutout stage? like. yes thank you if u love ur family its sad when u leave them.#why'd he leave them then lol.#LIKE. if both michelle AND henry are just these. passive vessels who are neither invested in ted staying OR leaving london#and the only motivation we're EVER given for ted's move is 'michelle wanted space'. like sorry for wanting an actual deconstruction of ted'#motivations rather than the worst mystery box of all time! if i wanted a story abt 'man misses family :( please don't ask any questions abt#the family in question-' i could just close my eyes and imagine a stock image of a sad business man.#wagh. ted bud they gave you so much potential + so many demons and then just wiped them away w no exploration outside of like. two#scenes w sharon. u are also in this cage king but at least u got a good two seasons of mc character energy before they locked the door :(#something something sorry for having an ace attorney witness stand breakdown when the show i liked Was Bad. do u still want to be mutuals
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** several things you may wish to know about the wizard: a. the wizard is up past its bedtime b. the wizard has been drinking very delicious coffee c. the wizard has been reading dungeon meshi and is on the final chapters
#yu.txt#if you can imagine me. hair frizzed out and eyes the size of the moon and so much love in my heart. i want to eat this story its so good!!#also i was playing in stars and time and the change to calling their friends family was so!! siffrin i love you and we will get out of this#hand in lovable hand we will get out of this timeloop and you are going to get a group hug i am manifesting it for you siffrin!!
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When getting married, Kae's ideal wedding fit is something that heavily blurs his gender presentation. Is it a suit? A dress??? Is he the bride?? Groom??? Who knows? Definitely not anybody getting a good look at him-
#hc; kaeya#☆ ┆ ( .ooc. );#//Ambiguousness dialed up to the MAX#//The most important part is that he looks GOOD#//And leaves his partner mouth agape; that too ksjbgd#//If he can leave them breath and speechless; he'll be more than happy with his outfit choice#//Deffo WILL playfully tease them during the vows for sure#//Suuuubtly adjust the collar/opening at his chest to draw attention to it; or otherwise shimmying his shoulders ever so slightly to do so#//Cock his head and give them a coy little sultry look as they speak; batting his eyes as he purses his lips juuust a lil bit#//ESP if he Knows it's gonna make them wanna get back at him later#//Definitely would want to go All Out on the decadence; for accessories; materials; makeup#//He doesn't usually want to splurge so much on himself; even with his presentation on the daily#//But for his wedding; he would LOVE to go all out#//It's only one of the BIGGEST MOMENTS OF HIS LIFE; after all#//Esp considering how much it would take to actually GET him there and give in to actually marrying his partner; his anxieties considered#//It's IMPORTANT#//It's a different story if the wedding happens to be impromptu lmao#//Like the Potc scene with Will; Elizabeth; and Barbossa jbdgkg#//My favorite thing ever lol#//Propose to and marry him mid-battle; and he will be ECSTATIC#//Blood-spattered; bruised; disheveled and all; he wouldn't care; he'd be SO happy#//Might have to anticipate consummating the marriage IMMEDIATELY after the fight's been won tho kjdnbkgft#//He'd be so lax bc there aren't family and friends to present to; it's just him and his partner#//Which honestly may mean less stress for him in the long run; lbr#//Prolly the most ideal sort of wedding for him#//Where he doesn't have to think; lets himself get carried away by the emotions and his partner's joy/excitement#//Just FUN and THEM#//and a little chaos; that too lol
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Got my mom to watch the '86 movie but in doing so became completely gripped with Arcee, Springer, and Hot Rod's powerful sibling energy, more at 5!
#star athlete older brother#overachiever older sister#class clown baby brother#who is in fact an adult but nobody in the family will acknowledge that#because once someone's seen both your teething phase and your emo phase#there's no going back#Kup is of course their war stories grandpa#All three of his grandkids are trans and he doesn't bat an eye#but Hot Rod says he doesn't really think battle strategy is that important#and there is nearly a disowning#he's getting written out of the will for that one#or at least given some sort of elaborate gag instead
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What class and romance interests are your Warden, Hawke and Inquisitor?
omg thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about them
warden: matila amell is a blood mage / failed arcane warrior (bad at holding a sword), morally she's very good but interpersonally she's blunt and everyone is SO scared of her. she romances leliana but it's not actually super serious so she breaks up with her in a letter like a week after they agree to go long distance. she was also a little bit in love with morrigan though and will never actually get over it.
hawke: marcus hawke is a warrior and reaver, he only gets one specialisation because neither of the other two really make sense for him. he's very abrasive and rude and rivals everyone except isabela and the mages; he and varric have this really weird relationship where varric is obviously in love with him and marcus is trying to ignore it. and ofc he romances anders and they run off into the sunset to have a surprisingly normal relationship after the explosion.
inquisitor: mary trevelyan is a rogue archer. i think she's also a tempest but the rogue specialisations are weird in inq. she romances cullen because her family are very religious and she pretty much always assumed she was going to have to marry someone templar-related anyway. playing her is the only way i can feel bad for cullen because he's SO nice to her and she's just not feeling it at all. she absolutely leaves him the second she disbands the inquisition. sorry cullen.
#wisowind#ask#thank youu for the ask#also im realising theyre all kind of terrible people. marcus is so rude and mean how bad do you have to be to make him look nice#i think bc i find inq's story the least compelling i have the most lore for my character... meanwhile hawke is always fun to me so#theyre always just variations of each other and theres less to say. like oh yeah he grew up on the run protecting his family. thats just#every hawke. meanwhile not every inquisitor is mary trevelyan. her parents were so oppressive they didnt let her read tales of the champion#her mother got a censored copy printed for her and she thought it was the real thing. so she meets hawke and sounds insane#and do you know how bad she has to be for me to feel sorry for cullen? during wicked eyes and wicked hearts#he comes out to her and is like 'well done with the killing :) want to dance?' and she just looked at him and goes '-_- no.' GIRL.#i did feel a little guilty. but it was very funny.#also i saw your other ask im going to do that too..
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