Divided We Stand - Chat and Discussion

[Nellas]

A somewhat quick reply because I don't have a lot of time;

Mirage, I understand where you are coming from. I understand that you feel bad not posting, but it doesn't make you bad or less in any way. That's a perfectly valid reason. Just do what is best for you, and if writing is not that right now then that is okay!

I love the sketches Mirage, also EZZIE <3 I was also actually just thinking about Ginkho the other day- there's a new character that I've been having difficulty NOT writing a form for (do I need more characters? no, but, but.... there's this one concept) and I was considering this thing with a raven, but decided against it because I didn't want it to seem as if I were copying your character. I was really intrigued by her character and sorry that that rp ended before we got to see her in action more c:

About the sketches again, the one of Opal and Ruby is gorgeous. Their expressions, their differences and similarities, not to mention I just love the both of them. Seeing Ruby reminds me of when her Quinn went to the river to bathe together and how nice that was, I think it made Quinn realize that she'd like to get to know Ruby and some of the other pack members better than she does.

Aw, now I'm missing my smol Aami. I did use to have her and Sparrow really close, that was a really sweet way for Sparrow to let her guard down a bit. I wouldn't be against bringing Aami in at all, I did love playing out the interactions between the two pups <3 I would have to do some figuring out relating to how she comes to the pack, and Sparrow has evolved from who I had her as before. This is very interesting to think about.

Wolf; re your request for someone to interact with Amara from the other thread; I'd love for a character of mine to be able to interact with her at some point, though at the moment I don't have any free mountains characters.

Note to myself to check out my old characters

Sorry this is all over the place, I'm short on time and trying to be quick

Hope you are all doing well < 3

[*~WolfSoul~*]

Nellas; No problem, I'm sure we'll get a chance to get Amara interacting with one of your characters sometime. In fact, I hadn't realized that I really haven't got the chance to rp one on one with you, or really much at all. I read your posts very attentively I just love your writing.

Also, what's that tidbit about a raven? Because I've had a raven-inspired character lurking in my inspiration as of late (I recently read Edgar Allen Poe) and if we're both coincidentally working with ravens at the same time that's awesome.

Now, I don't know what all y'all planned on doing for the anniversary (and of course just because some of us are doing something doesn't mean that everyone else has to follow suit) or what the protocol for that is, but I have a little sketch I was wanting to do anyway and I think I'll make that my little present. I just have to put some finishing touches on it and I think I'll post it maybe later today or tomorrow, because if anybody else posts art I'll be super self conscious about posting afterwards. The thread's anniversary is the 29th if I remember correctly, so I'll still be within range

Anywho, hoping everyone is having a good day!

[The Royal Mirage]

Wolf; The raven thing is a reference to Ginkgo, she had a little baby crow companion (I miss Caw so much too). I really do miss the two of them though, I had this vision of Ginkgo raising Caw, and when he got older he would kinda protect the smol little freckle bun, but still act like a greedy baby. I have way too many characters, past and present, that I just love too much but can't handle all at once. That's why I love your posts Wolf, it really shows that you're able to fully concentrate on and develop your smaller character cast.

So I've been trying to get some words out of me for my characters, but it's been a legitimate struggle. I thought that trying to use new words would help, and it's sort of getting me back into it. Hopefully I'll have something new for you guys before the anniversary

Speaking of, I won't spoil my own plans for the anniversary, though I probably won't be able to get them finished quite on time Plan big, arrive late I suppose.

[*~WolfSoul~*]

"Plan big, arrive late" I like that, Mirage

Also I think it's super cute with Caw and Ginkgo, sometimes I wonder if Amara shouldn't have a lil companion of sorts like that, but I think she'd feel guilty about keeping one unless she was helping it somehow.

D'aww, thanks Mirage. I don't know if I get super caught up with my characters because I have so few, or if I have so few because I get so caught up in them. But either way, I adore all of them deeply and could write legit pages and pages of meta and headcanoning about them. I added Beau and Jesse partially to try to make myself span out from Amara and Saber, but obviously that backfired because I'm even more enthralled with all four now.

No rush to post, Mirage. We all understand it can be tough sometimes. I'm super excited to see what you're cooking up for the anniversary, though! Eeee xD

Anywho, I want this sketch off my hands (I'm super bad about giving presents on time. I'm either too eager and give them early or wind up giving them 6 months late) so here's my contribution to our little two year anniversary celebration:

http://w0lfsmiles.tumblr.com/post/13182 ... -cant-even

^^It's Amaros because what else would I draw, and since it's so close to Halloween I obviously had to make this Halloween-y so they're in doggy costumes :p

[Nellas]

The raven thing stemmed from me wanting to make another character for the mountains, I discovered he had this little raven companion he had rescued. Though the character ended up having a completely different backstory than I expected at first; he's now is a loner that, should I bring him in, would have traveled into the packs' territory looking for a group of wolves to shelter with over the winter. My thing with the raven was that it was a fledging who took too bad of a fall and fractured its wing, leaving it unable to get back up to the nest, and too easy of a prey item for nearby predators. The wolf who took care of it wasn't a skilled enough healer to be able to fix the wing completely, so the raven, though healed, will not be able to fly properly. Thus, it travels with the wolf and they help each other out. (and gives the wolf motive to learn healing more properly). Which is interesting to me, but I'm afraid of seeming to close to Ginkgo and her (precious) crow bab, so I'm not sure that I will have the raven.
That ended up being kind of long, my apologies!

Wolf I am so intrigued in that raven-inspired character of yours- birds are just. my thing, and ye that is really awesome.
Your sketch of Amara and Amos is adorable???? I love Amara and her little flower, that is so sweet!
And Wolf, that is a very high compliment to me. I never know how to properly respond because I just. Thank you. Yes that is strange to realize we haven't really done that before, it will happen sooner or later though c:

I understand that, Mirage. It can be very hard to do these things, and I feel very similarly to that a lot. Take your time. I'm really glad we are all still chatting on here c: I'm really glad we have this discussion thread actually, it's really nice to have these group conversations and staying in touch and stuff.

I wanted to do some things for the anniversary as well, though I'm afraid they will have to be late, as I'm currently a bit swamped with everything. I'll try to do what I can though to make it soon.

(edited to make one of the sentences more clear)

[*~WolfSoul~*]

Ah Nellas this new character sounds very interesting I'm excited to see them when/if you bring them in.

Thank you so much for your compliments Nellas uvu That drawing took me quite a while. It's obviously pretty AU-ish but what can I say. Amara as a flower is so darn cute and Amos is super adorable and I'm just trash ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for the raven-inspired character, there's a lot going on. I'm not even fully certain I want to bring this guy in, but I'm taking inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," so whoever he might turn out to be would deal with grief and death. But the Raven in the poem also has a very ominous element to him, I'm fiddling around with that, wondering if I can make him a harbinger of sorts. I can't decide which pack I'd want him in either, or what occupation I'd like him to have. I'm not sure if graveyard keeper or cemetery worker is a thing here -

Mirage, did you happen to consider what these packs might do for wolves who pass away?

I don't want to reveal too much, but he'd be quite the dreary character (or so I envision. They always change.)

Ramble ramble

[The Royal Mirage]

You already know how I feel about that Amaros sketch <33333

I haven't given much thought to how the packs deal with death or grief, the thought never came up while I was doing pack cultures so it didn't get written in there. But now, I think it could be an interesting (if not seldom used) tidbit for the packs, especially with Nutmeg's death looming (noooooo).

I feel like death would be dealt with in very different ways in each of the three packs; the forests would likely have elaborate burial traditions, with wolves being buried by their loved ones (if they have none, the duty would fall to the alphas and betas) in ceremonial gear - I'm somewhat caught between having them be buried with an adornment made from every kill token they've collected over the years, or being buried with tokens from their family and loved ones, while the dead wolf's tokens would go to them, like a sort of spirit exchange? If so, it would explain why Gemini has the wolverine cloak with all the kill tokens on it, it would be something passed down from alpha to alpha, with tokens added along the way with each death.

For the shores I also envision something family-based, but a bit more symmetrical to what humans would do. The dead would be prepared, likely by someone whose job it was to do so, in their finery and cleaned up to be presentable. A service would be held with the family and friends, and the body would be buried at a familial burial ground. So for Aron and Mel's mother, she would be buried at their father's familial grave site, which would be outside the pack some ways, probably directly north from the pack where I envision most of them would be (seeing as it is out of the way and would not be indirectly traversed over often). Wolves who have had loved ones pass on would be able to visit these grave sites, where a marker or gravestone of some sort would have the wolf's name, rank and family at the time of passing inscribed.

I think the mountains would be the most different out of the three packs, oddly enough. For some reason, I keep feeling like mountain wolves would traditionally wander off on their own to die, should they sense that their time in the living world is growing short. If they simply fail to return to camp, it can be assumed by those in the pack that the wolf has passed on and their spirit has found its own peace, so no ceremonies or burials would be necessary. The pack would go into a mourning period where no prey is hunted and a sense of community is encouraged by getting together each night of the mourning period and telling stories, playing games, or working together on tasks around camp.

What do you guys think of these ideas, as I'm considering making them canon with some tweaking (I really wanna rp Aron and Mel visiting their mother's gravesite now, just pass me the feelios)

[Nellas]

I do think that I will eventually bring the new character in, though probably closer around to when the winter gathering happens, so it might be a while.

Your raven inspired character sounds very intriguing! Going with what Mirage said, there could be a job opportunity for that one in the shores. Not that you have to do that! But it also could be interesting to see how some of the shores wolves act around one so much more drearier/more somber. (Katrina, for instance, I can envision being thrown slightly for a loop. Though I have a feeling my Blackbird might get along a bit more well with them)

Mirage, it was very interesting to read what you said about the possible ways that the different packs handle deaths. I like the symbolic exchange of tokens in the forests. And the mountains are very different but I feel like it suits them well. For the shores, I'm seeing pictures of these grassy gentle places filled with young trees, though I imagine that each burial ground would be different.

(I would read that in a heartbeat)

[The Royal Mirage]

Sooo I got something done on time for the anniversary, though it was part of my first plan and not my more recent plan (hopefully I'll still get the recent one done). At first, I had wanted to draw some of my favourite scenes from the rp, but I only ended up doing one before my new idea hit me, and some of my favourite scenes are a bit more.. subjective than this one.

But I have to say, as much of a piece of Amaros trash I am, I just absolutely loved that scene where Amos first sees Sparrow in the moonlight, I just.. it's one of my favourites

And I know the picture doesn't do it justice. But happy anniversary anyways guys, thanks for a year (and for most of you, more than that) of awesome roleplaying!

[*~WolfSoul~*]

I have to make this quick because my class is about to start but oh gosh mirage that is awesome <3 Different from your usual style, but I love the darkness of it (the tones and background, not necessarily the content). Awesome as always

I try not to do feels too often but since it's our two year anniversary, I just gotta say that I feel so incredibly lucky to have found this place and such an AMAZING group of writers here. I never could have imagined I would be able to form such deep and well-paced characters of my own, let alone meet so many others. We've really got something special here

As for the anniversary, I'm busy today (going to help care for cats at the local humane society later, then selling hot dogs to drunk people to raise money for the canines) but maybe just maybe I'll be able to post a lil something? If not today, probably this weekend.

<3