camp WRITING SONGS INSTEAD OF LETTERS BECAUSE I'M TOO AFRAID — return

He remembers the night he’d told Little Wolf goodbye. The moon had floated, full and solid and judgmental, behind the skeletal leafbare-stripped trees. Thin and bony shadows had sliced through the emptied clearing—but her eyes had been bright as stars, filmy with her tears. “My heart will always belong to you, no matter what,” she’d whispered, her head buried under his chin. He’d ached, both with the pain of impending loss and with the knowledge that the rest of his life would be without her.

“Could we spend one last night together,” she’d asked, and he’d not been able to refuse her. Against his better judgment, they’d ended their relationship beneath that ever-watchful eye of StarClan, and she had returned to ThunderClan, to her siblings, her mother, to Burnstorm and Moonwhisper, then barely out of the nursery.

And she had carried kits inside of her, kits with heavy names and burdened legacies. Blazestar has listened to Howlingstar speak of them at Gatherings since their birth, but the first time he’d touched his son was when his teeth had shorn his throat.

He’s cleaned the blood from his fur the best he’s able to, but his eyes are shadowed. Every step is a limp. When he stumbles back into camp, it’s clear something awful has happened. He’d broken the warrior code one cycle of seasons ago, and his weakness has stripped two of the lives StarClan had given him away from his body.

There’s a… a fox, by the ThunderClan border,” he rasps, sinking to paws that tremble. “I… I was attacked.” His blue eyes are dark and haunted—and he searches his Clanmates’ faces, wondering where and why he took the paths he’d taken to end up here.

I’m sorry, my kits. But I will not betray you. I will not abandon you, and I will not hurt you again.

[ mate tag @bobbie and medicine cat tags @DAWNGLARE @Fireflypaw but otherwise this is open to anyone in camp ^^ ]



, ”
 
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    orangeblossom | tags
    — she/her ; deputy of skyclan.
    — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
    "speech" ; thoughts
    — chibi by waluigipinball
    — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
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"Then we kill it." Orangeblossom decides without a moment of hesitation, appearing at her leader's side in a shorter, seething ball of fur. She spares Blazestar a long look, teeth pressed together even as tension rises in her throat. Had he died? The reek of blood, the exhaustion written all over his muzzle, tells her that he had. Her tail flicks, the back of her mind adding up how many times she'd seen it; how many times she'd known him to have come back. How many lives does he have left? How many would he waste going out alone?

As if he's one of her kits needing to be scolded she nudges the leader gently towards the medicine cats' den and meows to him tersely, "Go find Dawnglare. Rest."

No doubt Bobbie would stay by his side as long as he needed; she's sure she can see the familiar earthen pelt streaking across camp already towards her mangled mate. Orangeblossom, however, has a job to do. In lieu of a leader, a Clan has a deputy for a reason. Sometimes that reason is hunting down the fox that killed said leader.

" @SILVERSMOKE ! @SLATE ! @Johnnyflame !" She veers from Blazestar's side and calls for the familiar tomcats, though she hopes to spy more of Blazestar's council among his most experienced three.

"I want a patrol of healthy warriors ready as soon as possible. No apprentices. We make for the ThunderClan border." She informs them. She would not risk SkyClan's next generation on this venture: Blazestar had been felled, even if his claws are softer than most of his Clanmates'.

This shouldn't be the same fox as the last one that had killed their warriors ... they had made sure of that, hadn't they? But is this the same one who had killed him before, in defense of Butterflytuft? Would this beast try to take out more of their Clanmates on its way? She would not allow it. "If we're lucky, we can chase it into the unclaimed lands; otherwise, we'll wait for one of their patrols. No sense in letting more lives be lost. No one is to leave camp until we return."
 
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His name being expelled so urgently from the deputy's lips was more than enough to tear Slate away from his current focus, prompting the Maine Coon to hurry toward the entrance of camp to see what the matter was. A disheveled Blazestar, reeking of blood, as well as concerned murmurs floating about the air was enough for Slate to put the pieces together — their leader had been attacked. Why had Blazestar gone near the borders alone? In the back of his mind he wonders how many lives the Ragdoll tom even has left.

Well, Blazestar was standing and talking, albeit weakly. Dawnglare and Fireflypaw would look him over promptly; meanwhile, the lead warrior had a job to do. As per Orangeblossom's orders, he would be recruited to slay Blazestar's attacker — an ugly, drooling, wily fox. His shredded ear nearly stings at the memory of his first-ever tussle with a vulpine. Could it be the same fox?

He mentally curses the twinge of anxiety that takes hold of his chest. Slate was not a fan of facing up against bigger predators with rows of sharp teeth, but then again, foxes were not like dogs. They were smaller in size; as long as there was a patrol to back him up, they could stand a chance at overpowering it. "Ready when you are." He looks only to Orangeblossom now, a soft scowl etched onto a broad maw.

  • SLATE
    —— he/him; lead warrior of skyclan; former rogue
    —— bisexual; single; not looking
    —— hulking, scarred charcoal-black colored maine coon with amber eyes
    —— "speech", thoughts, attack
    —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
    —— penned by beatles
 
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Sometimes, Fireflypaw thought idly to himself that not being able to see was a blessing- he didn't have to see the expressions on cats faces as they went through grief, the pain in their eyes as their life faded away. The other side of that was his darned hearing that forever haunted him- the sound of breaths leaving bodies, heartbeats hammering in chests from panic. His eyes shut momentarily as he shoves a feather away from himself, having been using it to quell his nonstop fidgeting. Dawnglare would want him to make himself useful, and so he would.

Rising to his paws, his ears perk at the sound of Orangeblossom's commanding voice and it isn't soon after that, that Fireflypaw pokes his head from the medicine den to listen out for wounded. His father speaks of a fox attack, and Fireflypaw looks back to the deepest parts of the medicine den to spy his mentor. "Blazestar is wounded." But the fox hadn't taken a life, had it? His father would survive, it was just.. Bite wounds that would heal, right? Right?

Fireflypaw rushes out of the medicine den to his father's side, listening to Orangeblossom and the other Lead Warriors begin to put together a search patrol for the fox. He presses against his father's side to comfort him, feeling the moisture of caking blood against his muzzle as he presses his nose into flame point fur. Panic ebbs into milky blue eyes, but he manages to keep his cool under pressuring anxiety. "You'll be okay.. You'll be okay. We're gonna get you some herbs on that wound- a poultice, yes.. I don't smell infection, but we can't be too sure. So- Medicine den." He mutters under his breath, head turning to the inevitable form of the High Priest- he would help his father. He had taught Fireflypaw how to treat wounds already, but he wouldn't make him work on his father alone, would he? Blind blues flick towards the direction of hazel-scent, leaf-bound bush not far from them. If his father couldn't walk further, he would look for help to aid him in leading Blazestar to the den.​
SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE ✦ 17 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS
 

He was so used to seeing his leader fall and rise like a phoenix that the sight of him returning once more lost the shock value it once had on the tom. Still, his heart thrummed at the explanation; a fox, Stars above it would be a fox, wouldn't it? Vicious beasts. Odd eyes locked onto Blazestar's, claws writhing in the snow at how vacant they looked. His fur bristled, uncomfortable; death had claimed the ragdoll so many times, why didn't he seem used to it by now? Past conversations made his blood run cold. "I hope you're telling the truth." The silver tom's tone was one of concern, accusatory, but not to undermine Blazestar but instead to figure out what needed to be done next. It was Leafbare, they could not search tirelessly for a beast that did not exist when one roamed just across the border, one he was increasingly suspicious of. "You didn't go to WindClan... did you?" Blazestar had been adamant that going there was the only way to save StarClan, that he would not sacrifice his warriors and would go alone if he needed to. Here the flame point stood now, alone and bloodied, and he couldn't help but wonder.

'I don't know why he'd lie though... to stop a war with WindClan? StarClan... I hope I am wrong, it gets ever harder to be a friend of Blazestar and a friend of justice.' Sometimes he wondered if it was even possible to love both, but his heart tried, Stars did it ever try. Whiskers twitched as Orangeblossom called him, a sharp nod was given at the command, eyes nervously flicking between both leader and Deputy. Even if he was suspicious, Orangeblossom wasn't, and her orders were ones he would follow to the best of his abilities. He moved closer until he stood to Slate's left, the irony of working with him not lost upon the Lead Warrior. They could bicker or agree later, a task needed doing, one that was more important than any hunting patrol or border patrol - they needed to eliminate a threat to SkyClan. "It will not live long enough to see the Loner Lands," he replied, voice abuzz with excited trills that he tried to swallow down. It had been moons since he'd been able to fight without injury slowing him down, he was ready to tear that fox's throat tenfold.
 

She is sat in the entrance of the nursery when Blazestar returns. Amber eyes watch as her kits play around with little Birdkit and Frostkit. The smell of blood hits her nose first, and the smile Howlfire had faded as she lifted her head to see the cause, features drooping when she sees her father's bloodied form.

Howlfire let's out a whimper, having to fight to keep the noise low lest she alert her kits. She longs to rush out to him, ask what has happened and help escort him into the medicine den. Wanting her kits to avoid a scene, Howlfire begins to round them up as quickly as she can, doing her best to shield them from the sight. As she leaves, she hears mutterings of a fox, and quietly condemns her father in her head, chastising him for being so foolish to have taken on a fox. Howlfire slips away into the den, one last look over she shoulder aimed at the cats surrounding her father, and a lingering glance toward Fireflypaw even though he would not have seen it.
 
Orangeblossom materializes by his side, her nose cold and brusque in his fur. “Then we kill it,” she says, and she’s on her paws, barking orders with ruthless efficiency. Blazestar’s pelt ripples uneasily; he stirs, blinking up at his deputy with hollow eyes. “It may have fled into ThunderClan territory,” he warns her vacantly. His lie catches like a burr in his throat, but stubbornly, he spits it out regardless.

Cats begin to stir at the commotion in camp. Slate slips from the opposite end of camp, expression creased into a gentle but fierce scowl. Blazestar can feel the Maine Coon’s amber gaze lingering on him, and guilt lashes at him like claws. They further rend him as Silversmoke appears, his mismatched gaze like chips of blue-green ice. They melt like snow down Blazestar’s spine as the senior lead warrior questions him, “Did you go to WindClan?”

A heartbeat skips by. Blazestar struggles to meet Silversmoke’s eyes, and he shakes his head. He’s weary down to his bones. “I did not. I swear it by StarClan.” And although he isn’t lying, the truth still lies buried, buried faster and faster as though driven beneath snow.

Fireflypaw snuffles against the wound in his throat, worry flickering through blind blue eyes. Blazestar brushes his son’s dark ear with his muzzle but otherwise does not distract him from his work. Fireflypaw will not know, but when Dawnglare sees him—he’ll know, he’ll know Blazestar is on his last life. He steels himself for the judgment that will flash from powder-blue eyes. “I can make it to my den, Fireflypaw, if you’ll help me.” In the periphery of his vision, he sees a mottled brown-and-ginger pelt, gleaming hazel eyes, and Blazestar feels a lump beginning to gather in his throat. “We should go now, before the kits see,” he murmurs, staggering to his paws.



, ”
 
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Her teeth come together with a click that reverbates a path of bone to the base of her spine and spreads into every muscle and tuft of unruly lilac fur. For the fourth, fifth time—who can keep track? Does it really matter?—her mate is stumbling into camp limping and hollow-eyed. When Bobbie steps across the camp, it's with her claws hooking into rumpled earth and upturned needles, canines locked in a death's embrace. She draws up to Blazestar's sinking form tasting blood—somewhere along the way she'd bitten her tongue.

"Did you—" Bobbie falls silent. Moonlit discussions of the past aside, Blazestar's lives—or lack thereof—are not common knowledge and she will not be the one to make them such. A fox by the ThunderClan border, and not for the first time, the tabby curses her mate's heroics. "I—" Once more, she cuts herself rapidly off, copper coating the back of her throat, caught between instinct and love.

The instinct would be her usual simpering (she's self-aware enough to call it that) and sitting up by his nest, watching uselessly as Dawnglare tends to this and that. Her Clan would not be surprised by this. She is not stupid; she hears the occasional whispers, and Slate's poorly hidden implications of how she had ended up on this council. Weakness is innate with her. The love is not warm and swelling in her chest; it numbs her limbs and she fumbles to tense her forelimbs before she lashes out at something.

Orangeblossom's call decides it, bitterness drenching her back teeth. "I want to go," she proclaims simply, stepping from her mate's side with a glance tracing apology. She's half-sorry for mixing vengeance and unfair punishment; but couldn't he just stay alive? Bobbie grits her teeth and reiterates, "I want to help."

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    bobbie ; lead warrior of skyclan
    x. she/her ; 44 moons ; tags
    x. small, scarred lilac tabby and white she-cat with green eyes
    x. played by dejavu
    x. mother to lupinepaw, crowpaw, and drowsypaw. mate to blazestar.

 
❀‿ Lupinepaw wondered — perhaps cynically — if she had 9 lives to live if she would run face-first into danger as often as Blazestar did. She didn't think she would, but then again she didn't bear the star-given responsibility to protect the entire clan with all those extra lives, so what did she know?

She watches as the clan erupts into high gear, Orangeblossom barking orders as Blazestar limps to his den with Fireflypaw and Bobbie by his side. Danger was an ever-present facet of clan life, but that didn't make it any less disturbing knowing there was a bloodthirsty predator on the loose in the territory. Her chest tightens as her mother volunteers to go after the fox, but she stays in her place off to the side. Lupinepaw's eyes flicker to the members of the gathered party and she puts forth — perhaps uselessly — a request, "Come back safe." The experienced warriors would have no use for her meager words, but she offered them anyway, fixing her eyes to find Bobbie's in particular.

The dark-shaded girl turned her attention to the apprentices' den, walking briskly to poke her head into the chamber to make sure everyone was accounted for as camp went into lockdown. "Cherrypaw, Falconpaw, everyone...? Is anyone out of camp right now?"

  • OOC: Loopy's by the apprentice den trying to get a headcount lol
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  • lupinekit . lupinepaw
    — trans she/her. 8mo apprentice of skyclan
    — tall, long-haired black smoke with low white and green eyes
    — smells like sweet lupine flowers and young pine needles
    "speech", thoughts, attack
    — icon by antiigone, fullbody and chibi by nya
    — penned by eezy
 
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HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."


Johnny had tangled with a fox before, and he couldn't say they were pleasant creatures. They had the savagry of a dog but the agility of cat and he'd even glimpsed them climbing along fallen logs or crouched among rocky overhangs. The revelation that one was lurking on their side of the border had Johnnyflame quickly padding over to take his place among the other concerned cats surrounding the ragdoll, golden eyes ablaze with vengeance and concern. "Aye- if it crosses paths with us, it won't get the chance to jump another cat afterward." agreed the stocky bobtail.


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Only at Lupinepaw's call does Cherrypaw begin to stir from her nest. A sliver of amber light flickers to life on her face. "Wha...what's goin' on?" the girl mumbles. At first, clan's clamour is a distant sound, the buzzing of mayflies over a puddle or the chatter over a kitten spat. It grows as she pulls herself into a sitting, then standing position, unfurling in her ears like cattail fluff.

Concern darkens her brow, deepening into worried anger as she draws out of the den to stand alongside her best friend. "A fox?" she repeats, gaze darting from figure to bristling figure. A paw comes up and draws through her chest fur, unsheathed claws meticulously, unconsciously untangling the knots formed in her sleep.

The calico meets Lupinepaw's gaze darkly. "I don't know where Edenpaw is..." Her mother barks orders. Howlfire ushers her kittens and more back into the nursery. "It went to ThunderClan, right? If they're in their nest, they shouldn't run into it," she says slowly, as though trying to convince herself.

She watches Bobbie stride towards her mate, love and vengeance muddling together in the set of her eyes. For once, she understands. A couple of moons ago, she would've been yapping on the heels of the warriors about how she should be allowed to go. There are some things best left to others, she thinks. Important ones, fueled by feeling and not spur-of-the-moment heroic impulse. Cherrypaw looks at Lupinepaw again, without turning her head so the girl doesn't notice. She should be thinking of her father when it comes to replacing the figure caught in russet jaws, but instead she imagines smoky black fur tangling its teeth, jade eyes rolling dull.

"C'mon, let's go see if the kits are okay," she meows to Lupinepaw, aiming to push her shoulder into hers. She probably wouldn't stand there all day, but Cherrypaw fears her spiraling back into her own head.​
 
STILL DON'T KNOW MY NAME

the smell of blood is always so revolting. he can't stand it, and every day he is glad he is not the medicine cat apprentice. he just doesn't think he could do it. his gaze falls onto blazestar, tail twitching as he holds back the yawn that threatens him. he's not bored of this, he is just exhausted and seeing something like thisnmakes him want to go back to sleep, in his dreams where he's safe. he's safe there, he believes. and his mama wants to go and suddenly... he has the urge to, as well. he isn't a good fighter, he hates even thinking about it but... he needed to do something. briefly he looks towards the apprentice den where lulu is and he decides. he needs to go.

"can i go, too? I want to help. i need to help."

he hopes he's not denied. he wants to be useful for once, and he wants to protect his mama. no one could fault him for that, right?

 
Premonition. Dawnglare is bristling before he truly understands why. In the recesses of his den, he is left teeming with seemingly pointless anxieties; a stature slouched and eyes dry as he pours over stars know what. Something that has become meaningless, the moment nails began scratching along his spine. The moment he sees visions of the sun, dead on the horizon it sits atop. What it wears is no crown, but it's heart, warm and blistering as it was. It lacks the caution it desperately needs. Storms would be no bother to anything with a greater mind. But it lets them fester and fester. Weather it down until—

There is a bustle in the clearing, and oh, already, he knew what he would see. The medicine cat is left dead - eyed at the herbs strewn across his floor. Anger like a puncture wound, fear, like the curl of the hook. He does not let nausea overtake him, for who else would make him cease this carelessness?

If no other moment made him certain of Fireflypaw's unreadiness— it was this. That they would not be ready to bear this thing that he knew.

And calling toward him, now. Blazestar is wounded.

" I know! " he bites out at once. Like a beast in a tantrum, he storms around his den— if only to snap up the necessities. Marigold and wintergreen, no poppy seeds to soothe his aches, so that he could feel them for as long as he needs to never need to again. So pain could puncture his intrepid skull—!

Fury is visible and vicious across his twisted maw, even past his damp oak leaf, held as tersely as could be without it crumbling to dust. Chattering of foxes is ignored, ignored. It is likely he bumps a body or two, on his way to the blazing sun. Blue eyes stare pointedly, temper held behind teeth, but he would say nothing to him, nothing here. " Fireflypaw, " head on a pike, his meow cuts to his apprentice. The pause is short, to place his herbs onto the ground. " You will help Blazestar to his den, and then you will leave, and you will not return until I say so, Understand? "

The anger is not for him, but for his mouse - brained father. For a moment there is something, something like remorse, but he is shaking his head and walking away, snatching up his oak bundle of herbs once again. And if Blazestar so needed it, Dawnglare would come to his other side, keeping his words behind his bitten tongue.
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  • ( I'M AS ALIVE AS HER BEARD IS LONG ) DAWNGLARE Medicine Cat of SkyClan. Mentoring Fireflypaw
    𓆩♡𓆪 He / him , deeply confused by the use of other pronouns
    𓆩♡𓆪 Currently 60 moons old as of 12.05.23. Mated to Mallowlark

    Unsettling and strange, Dawnglare bears a unique perception to the world and stars above on top of a generally unpleasant disposition. Holds others to uniquely impossible standards and himself undeniably above the rest.
    Mood is decided by dice - rolls per thread, with the exception of some important threads
 
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Obvious, so obvious- the way he shrinks down at Dawnglare's rattling breaths of frustration, already knowing by that point that Dawnglare was angry- as he should be, had his father wasted another life on a fox. He had enough left, didn't he? Fireflypaw hadn't been around for most of the lives being taken from him, but he hoped that his father had enough left. He blinks- You will help Blazestar to his den, and then you will leave, and you will not return until I say so, Understand? Dawnglare snaps out, and Fireflypaw numbly nods his head. He was thankful he wouldn't have to be the one to heal the wound on his father's neck, the one to make a mistake that could cause further bleeding or worse, infection.

"Yes, Dawnglare." Fireflypaw cannot find it in him to rebel against the High Priest- he is Mother's blessing, and he is always right. That was how things were meant to be, and Fi knew it. His tail sweeps over his father's side, letting the others get together to rally up a patrol. Fireflypaw feels an itching inside of him, and turns his head over to the direction of the nursery- momentarily meeting eyes with his sister by coincidence, then just past her. He will be okay. He thinks to the tree that the nursery makes its home near. He begins to walk with his father then, in the direction of the leader's den so he may rest.

And when he was done, he would leave almost just as fast- leaving his father with a lick to his ear to comfort him.​
SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE ✦ 17 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS
 
anger makes you stupid . stupid gets you killed .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
Duskpool remained silent throughout, listening with narrowing hues until Drowsypaw spoke, breaking that thinning silence, coming to a slow halt as caution played dangerously on a sandpaper tongue. With a low rumble, the smokey warrior tilted his helm toward the other apprentices, not urging, but quietly telling the other to stay with them. “I’ll come along if you’ll have me.” He added, glancing at Orangeblossom as he said this, not before his attention drifted to his apprentice, a frown tugging at scarred lips.

He couldn’t let anything happen, wouldn’t if he could help it, not if it escalated into a fight. “I know ya wanna help, kiddo.” He rumbled, low sounding. “I ain’t lettin’ ya go, ya hear? It ain’t safe.” He began slowly. “I want ya to keep a real good eye on the other apprentices, ya hear? Keep ‘em safe while that there patrol goes lookin’ for it.” He finished, wooly tail flickering. “Yer mother will be fine, kiddo. I’ll keep an eye out.” He finished, voice lowered for only Drowsypaw’s ears.
thought speech
 
Having been one of the few already awake Dogbite had first smelled the sickly iron tang of blood before the leader had limped into camp. Worry spiked the cinnamon and white tom's pelt as he made haste to catch up with deputy. Many cats had beaten him to the entrance as the battered ragdoll leaned into his son. Concern and anger quickly melded together in Dogbite's chest as Orangeblossom barked orders. Blasted Fox! He didn't care if they had to disturb their neighbors if it meant revenge on the damned thing that hurt his friend. Rarely did the warrior allow such heavy emotion to seep into his muzzle but Bobbie's proclamation enough to drive him forward.

Claws extended and scarred maw crinkling with heated annoyance he chimes in alongside Duskpool. "I'm ready to help with anything you need. Just point me in the right direction." Their blue gaze lands on the three toms mentioned. Waiting dutifully despite the furious lash to their feathery tail. He hadn't caught wind of Silversmoke's questioning but he did notice the Medicince Cats fury. Dismay settled on the tabby's mind as he watched the odd feline sulk away. Ignoring it he looks on patiently to see what Orangeblossom's next directive would be.

  • ———✧———​
    ✧ LH cinnamon tabby w/high white one blue eye
    ✧ child of npc x npc ; sibling to crescent and bear
    ✧ skyclan warrior ; ex-loner ; mentor to littlepaw
    ✧ 31 moons old ; birthday 07/01 ; ages realistically
    ✧ AFAB ; nonbinary ; he/they
    ✧ pansexual ; polyromantic ; single
    "speech", thought, attack, powerplay
    ✧ peaceful powerplay allowed
    ✧ penned by tasmagoric
    ———✧———​
 
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