I'm blown away!

Your writing never ceases to amaze me! Not only did you once again perfectly nail the personalities of all three wolves (with those added details I adore so much!), the summaries themselves are an absolute joy to read! Thank you SO MUCH again! 8D

EMILY

You may say that I am a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

In the bright sunlight, purple owl's clover and yellow sunflowers and a swathe of rich delphiniums sway: this is the first moment Emily can recall in perfect clarity. It was the day she was found, alone and without a guardian, by a pack scout, Leliana. For Emily, the beauty and intense colour of those wildflowers is synonymous with the feeling of security, of rescue, a feeling she chases and cherishes, collecting bright trinkets and artefacts that remind her of the day she was brought into the safety of Gotham.

Having been raised by a good-hearted and compassionate pack, Emily has always been encouraged to see the world with a sense of wonder and awe. For her, each day is a gift to be cherished, a belief compounded perhaps by the knowledge that her life could have been very different if she hadn't been found by Leliana that day. As such, she treats others with the kindness she was given so freely, but nonetheless spends more time in her own head than interacting with others. It's described as whimsical by some, shyness by others.

But there's nothing shy about Emily: she always prefers to spend time with her packmates than by herself. Perhaps she is not the most talkative of creatures, but she certainly loves to listen and look. The stories of others are endlessly fascinating to her, fuelling her daydreaming and thoughts about the world. While unlikely to waste her breath talking about the weather or idly gossiping, Emily can easily be brought out of her shell with deep conversations about spirituality and the nature of the world. Her endless curiosity makes her adept at getting others to open up, and many of her pack mates confide in her, appreciating her sweet and non-judgemental nature.

Beneath it all, Emily has an uncertain sense of identity. Her life before Gotham is lost to her, encountered only in snatches of sensation and emotion: urgency, panic, movement. She often wonders about her life before, and whether she can ever really fully inhabit herself without that piece of her, but life in Gotham is pleasant enough that she never feels truly unhappy — only, at times, incomplete. Thus she dreams, she searches; she fills in the cracks in her memory with her vivid, colourful imagination, finds distraction in immersing herself in others. Perhaps one day she will not feel the need to sequester herself away in her own daydreams, but until then, she is perfectly content to be the only self she knows how to be.

(By vulcanthropy #32381)

421 words = 210 SC

ILMESTYS

"Don't carry the mountains you've climbed"

When the Starlight Society's first leader, Taisto, passed over to the next realm, the pack turned to his natural successor for guidance. With no surviving pups of his own, Taisto had taken young Ilmestys under his wing, teaching him to be as unyielding as the mountain and twice as calm. It's clear to onlookers that this mentoring paid off, as Ilmestys is every bit as stoic and sage as their beloved blue-eyed guardian, yet the young leader finds his back weary with the weight of legacy. As a pup, he recalls his fellow packmates telling grand stories of the bravery, wisdom, and chivalry of previous monarchs; stories that followed him into adulthood, or rather, that he followed. These great tales are to him like the North Star to a lost traveller: a bright, guiding light in the darkness.

But anyone who has been lost in the darkness will tell you: a guiding light is not a destination. It can never be reached, nor touched; its dizzying heights unobtainable to mere mortals. The accomplishments of leaders past are both Ilmestys' greatest ally and his worst enemy. He fears he will always fall short of his forebears, yet he is determined to prove that this is not the case, working himself to the bone if it means single-handedly securing his pack one more fresh carcass in winter, digging a warmer den for a shivering mother, or neglecting sleep to carry out one more perimeter check.

Of course, nobody can be an exact replica of their forebears. While Taisto had been logical and level-headed, he also possessed a warmth that Ilmestys cannot match. He is always willing to lend an ear to a packmate in need, but they often find his responses cold and clinical, focused as he is on practicality and problem-solving even when the situation calls for comfort. Where Taisto had been well-attuned to the emotions of others, Ilmestys is less tactful. This extends beyond interpersonal relationships and into interpersonal conflicts within the pack, where he is sometimes too harsh or quick to judge. His innate sense of justice and egalitarianism drive him to be stern and strict at times, but despite appearances, this stems from a place of love for his pack and a desire to ensure the happiness of everyone in it.

At this core, Ilmestys has a good heart and, despite his slight social difficulties, he is a patient and altruistic King whose dedication to his peers knows no bounds. While they may not go to him with every hurt feeling and sad story, his subjects trust him implicitly to protect them and keep their best interests at heart, no matter the cost.

(Written by Vulcanthropy #32381)

445 = 222 SC