【 BERTHINDEATH 】 an independent multi-muse roleplay blog with a heavily focused dedication to the original character ‘ gwendolyn minerva ingellvar ’ created from a combination of dragon age lore and original lore, please review my carrd for further explanation. curated by bree, 30+, they/she, central time zone - this blog is multi-ship and multi-verse.
MINORS & AI USERS DON'T INTERACT PERIOD; YOU WILL BE BLOCKED.
HAPPY GWENLIN DAY!!!!!!! one year ago @berthindeath sent me an ask which i answered and we've been inseparable, as our muses are. thank you for the gifts in the year — of knowing you and creating with you.
you arrive like warmth does, without asking permission. before you speak, before you settle into a chair, something in the room softens. conversations loosen their shoulders. silences stop feeling accusatory. people don’t always know why they feel safer around you; they just do. your presence is porous. you feel atmospheres the way skin feels temperature. joy clings to you easily. so does unease. you often carry emotions that were never formally handed to you - just left in the air, assumed you’d hold them. still, there is something grounding about you. you remind people that gentleness isn’t weakness, that openness can be steady.
colours: honey, warm amber, sunlit linen
scene: sitting cross-legged on the floor while others talk around you, quietly anchoring the room just by being there.
[ HERO ]: sender notices the receiver about to fall from a height, and manages to intervene just in time, catching them before they get hurt.
her footfalls are heavy, pins and needles in the heels of her feet as she walks with waning purpose. the underdark is an unforgiving place, the perpetual darkness shrouding more death than she, a necromancer, had ever prepared herself for. the arch druid had offered them two options and he'd made the underdark seem less treacherous than the overpass. it makes her shudder to think how dangerous the other path may have been had she chosen it first. even if the creche awaits on that overpass, she wanted to avoid as much of the shadow curse as possible. the creche would have to wait.
they should find a place to camp soon, the group wandering long after they'd face a bulette, a fiendish creature that had nearly knocked astarion clear off the side of a cliff into a chasm had he not been quick enough to counter. a fact she was quite aware of as the vampire continues to complain about it along with his own painful gait.
❝ fine, if you are so adamant, ❞ frustration bubbles and as she's about to swing about to order him to find somewhere for them to camp since he was so keen on the subject, she miscalculates the distance between her and a large crevice that split from he path and lead down deep into the cavern below.
she gasps, foot slipping and her frame begins its descent—until it doesn't. dark waves frame her face as she realizes she's being held aloft, a trunk-like arm looping her waist as halsin has managed to keep her from plummeting to a likely demise. the smell of sweat and tree moss has her head dizzying for a moment, gwendolyn's lilac eyes drifting to look up at the towering elf with a mixture of deep relief—and something else altogether.
❝ fancy those reflexes of yours, halsin. ❞ she gasps, her hands falling to rest on the arm still holding her in place as she swallows a lump growing in her throat. ❝ thank you. ❞
There were times where Chrissy couldn't stand the quiet. Couldn't handle how her mind would wander to such terrible images, or how the darkness seemed to slowly wrap around her. Sometimes the silence was so loud, deafening, even. It made her want to curl up and hide away from everything and everyone. But here, simply napping on her bed, curled up in Eddie's arms just listening to the rise and fall of his breath; it was the most blissful stillness she could ever wish for.
An arm drapes over the once cheerleader's hip as the metalhead remains in a light slumber, the warmth of her inviting a contentment he's not felt in a long time. Eddie wasn't familiar with calm, not really. Even before the horrors of this place had come to the bitter forefront, his life had been far from easy. Alan Munson had been sure to drain any possibility from his future with his weathervane loyalty to him. To his only son. To the only thing that he had left of the woman he'd claimed to love even as their home had burned to the ground, her records used as kindling along with everything else Eddie had. All for a quick score that had crumbled at their feet.
And only two years after that would he be shaking rigid shoulders, holding her clammy face between his palms begging her to come back to him as an supernatural being tried to take her from him. She, who now rests with her back to his chest, their fingers languidly entwined as he slowly stirs awake, trying to banish the frightening sight from his mind entirely. for her chest rises with her breath, hair stuck on her eyelashes bouncing with each blink of her eyes. it has him reaching with a calloused hand to brush the hair back and over the curve of her ear before the backs of his fingers drag down the delicate skin of her cheek.
❝ hey, how long have i been out? ❞ he groans, voice rasping with sleep as it ebbs away with his new wakefulness. it gives him a moment to bury his face into the sea of strawberry blonde, her perfume enough to ease a troubled mind as his arm around her tightens as the young man pulls her even closer to him.
as if any space between them was too much to bear.
get to know your mutuals! answer and tag six people you want to know better.
FAVORITE COLORS: black, rich purple
LAST SONG ON REPEAT: tempest by ethel cain
CURRENTLY READING: flight of icarus by caitlin schneiderhan (character study of eddie munson whoops)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: rewatching righteous gemstones, vice principals, and yellowjackets
CURRENTLY CRAVING: diet coke
TAGGED BY: @wvlfthorned, @unhirsch
TAGGING: its been making the rounds so if you see this and haven't done it, tag me so i can see!
blog direction under the cut to avoid an overly winded explanation being forced on the dash.
the tl;dr - i am starting over with interactions. nothing is being carried over. i wiped my drafts and inbox clean, prioritizing new interactions moving forward. things got really hectic in my life and i am doing this for my brain to be okay.
for the explanation:
i experienced a massive breaking point in my mental health journey. apart from two weeks in between, i have not been working since august of last year. it has been extremely difficult, but i am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. along with that, my mother had a recent medical scare that we thought we were going to lose her entirely, but she's thankfully on a better path. and to punctuate it all, i moved to a state that is currently being invaded by ICE agents and horrible things are happening left and right. things are complicated in my home, as i live with an immigrant who is petrified of going to work everyday in fear. to say things are tense is a joke, but i am doing my part for my new family to protect them.
all this to say that i need a fresh start.
i hope you guys understand where i'm coming from, and if not, i understand that too. but this is what i need to move forward. i hope you guys understand and still want to continue writing with me.
i will prioritize short-form writing more than long-form, just for my brain's sake, as this is a hobby that i want to do when i can spare the time for it. i return to full duty (with no training wheels) on friday. no fmla left, no ways to dip out if i need to, because i need to focus on rebuilding my life in this new place. as time goes, i may be able to get back to my normal output but i don't want to put too much pressure on myself to do it, either.
this is too long, but it is where i'm at. if you read all of this, please know that i love and adore you, and it means the world to me. things are going to get better, my priorities more adequately in order. and i do look forward to writing with you again. and thank you for sticking beside me despite my long absence. it means everything.
(this list is mainly ways non-locals can donate but by extension offers a lot of resources and places to volunteer in the Twin Cities + there are specific ways to donate time under the cut which can be adjusted to your local neighborhood)
full credit to cataloo from r/minnesota [x]
🩵Immigrant support
Immigrant Defense Network – coalition of 90+ groups organizing rapid response and collecting evidence.
Immigrant Law Center of MN – free immigration legal representation to low-income immigrants and refugees.
COPAL – advocacy, organizing, phone hotline. Focus on Latine community.
Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) – education and protest organizing.
Interfaith Coalition on Immigration – advocacy, aid, events.
Monarca MN – training and phone hotline.
Unidos MN – education, protests, advocacy.
Center for Victims of Torture – advocacy and mental health services for immigrants and refugees.
International Institute of Minnesota – refugee resettlement group that provides support and legal help to vulnerable new-to-country families.
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota – offers services to refugees, including legal aid to non-citizens.
🩵Food support
If local, food donations are welcome, otherwise monetary donations help these types of orgs source what is most needed
VEAP
Second Harvest Heartland
Every Meal
The Food Group
Meals on Wheels MN
Find a local food shelf
🩵Mutual aid funds & community support
Community Aid Network
Twin Cities Trans Mutual Aid
Leo's Tow (Venmo @leostowingmn) is towing cars back to families if a car is stranded when someone is detained.
🩵More links
MN50501 Mutual Aid Linktree – well-organized list of various Twin Cities groups.
Mplsmutualaid Linktree – many neighborhood and individual GoFundMes listed here.
Mpls.St.Paul Magazine – see Food Drives and Fundraisers.
Stand with Minnesota – extensive list of organizations, mutual aid, and crowdfunding campaigns.
🩵Donate blood
Memorial Blood Center declared a blood emergency on Tuesday, Jan 13. MBC is the blood supplier for both tier 1 trauma hospitals in the metro area (Hennepin County Medical Center and North Memorial Health).
American Red Cross
🩵Donate food or other goods
Mpls.St.Paul Magazine – see Food Drives and Fundraisers.
Volunteer your time (under the cut)
🩵Mutual aid
Reach out to your neighbors – especially if you know they are staying home right now – and ask if they need groceries or toiletry items. Offer to pick up prescriptions, give rides, or shovel their driveway. If you know them well, bring them a treat that you know they'll enjoy. Or just ask them how they're doing and let them know you are there to support.
Connect with any of the orgs above and see if they are looking for volunteers.
Connect with a church or mosque in your area. From u/MuddieMaeSuggins: "I know a lot of regular Redditors are not religious (myself included) but like it or not this is a where a lot of community organizing happens, especially in immigrant communities."
Connect with your local school's admin office and/or their PTA. It's ok to reach out even if you don't have kids at the school. PTAs are organizing mutual aid for school families, safe rides, school observers.
🩵Activism
Find an official protest or other event via Indivisible, 50501, FREE AMERICA, or MIRAC. Students at many high schools are staging walk-outs; if your local school is doing this, reach out to school leadership or the PTA and ask how you can support as a community member.
Join the effort to stop Hilton from housing ICE by booking hotel rooms and then cancelling at the last minute. This action can be done from home! The effort is being organized by Sunrise Movement, who are telling activists to target specific hotels one-by-one. More info: SHUT DOWN HILTON
Find people in your area who are actively monitoring ICE and/or stationing themselves in high-traffic areas and ask how you can help. Check for local FB events where people are organizing and just show up.
At minimum, read the COPAL Handbook before you go out to observe. The DFL, Monarca, and other orgs have been hosting online trainings for constitutional observers (though these fill up quickly).
When you see ICE in action, start recording. Be as loud and as disruptive as possible: honk your horn, set off your car alarm, blow your whistle. Let people know that ICE is in the area. If you see someone being detained, try to get their name and a phone number to call their emergency contact.
If you do not feel comfortable observing ICE in person, there are ways you can support from home. Just ask the people who are organizing in your area. I have social anxiety, and I had never participated in any kind of political action before this past Saturday. If I can do it, you can!
Local organizers are requesting that people who help monitor ICE DO NOT participate in 1-to-1 mutual aid efforts, as these can put the families you are helping at risk.
If you have friends/acquaintances who are sympathetic but not politically active, reach out to them. Show them that they're not alone in feeling helpless. Pick a few low-commitment actions from this list and do them together.
my dad passed away shortly after thanksgiving so this holiday really blows for me. so the next couple of weeks are going to be harder than normal. I appreciate you all while I power through this. I’ll try to get drafts up as inspiration hits.
IT WAS SAFE TO SAY SILAS' REPUTATION PRECEDED HIM. it was almost impossible to go somewhere where one did not know his name. or rather, the tale of the hero of ferelden and the fifth blight. while he at times appreciated people's praise, he was also often meet with scrutiny. though that tended not to phase him as much over the past few years. he had been much more focused on a more pressing matter. one which he hoped would help to save him and his fellow wardens from their doomed fates.
but, before he had even been able to set out on his quest, he found himself roped into yet another pressing matter. it seemed as though the world was facing peril once more. so much so that those who served the late divine had formed an inquisition. he had thought about going to assist them in the beginning but decided against it. but now? it had gotten to the point that the wardens were involved. and it was something he could not turn a blind eye to. not when he himself was responsible for most of the wardens that roamed ferelden.
the sound of a woman's voice was quick to shake him from his thoughts. he was tired, having not gotten a good night's sleep in days. though the excitement in her tone was enough to have the warden smiling a bit sheepishly. eyebrow raised, he looked at her sketch. a huff of laughter left his lips, his head shaking along with his dark curls as he regarded her and her artwork. ❛ i would say so, ❜ silas agreed, attempting to look thoughtful. though his gaze slowly trailed over to what appeared to be a rendering of himself. he couldn't mask his amusement even if he tried. ❛ maker, is that me? much more flattering than the real deal, i must say. ❜
it's fascinating, the subject of being in the right place, at the right time. or in her case, perhaps it was just a combination of a multitude of minute shifts that had culminated in her joining with the inquisition. she offers her talents both in and out of the field, while maintaining the most accurate accounting of events as they transpire. all in the name of history.
and that includes the hero of ferelden's arrival.
gwendolyn's cheeks flush when he draws attention to the drawing she'd made of him, his attention fleeting from the red templar all too quickly and is now focused on his own visage staring back at him on parchment.
❝ oh! ❞ she pulls her journal back toward her as she looks over her rendering of his features. it was hard not to put quill to paper when she'd seen him for the first time. a powerful mage in his own right, a living legend sat before her and chuckling. while she had no delusions of him being this larger than reality figure, it doesn't change the fact that she sits close to someone who had escaped the clutches of a circle that back in nevarra is lauded as inhumane. who went on to defeat an arch demon and lived to tell of it. to say she admired silas amell was an understatement. and when he has the less beautiful than her artistic touch, has the fellow mage smiling shyly.
❝ hardly think that's accurate, ser, though i accept your compliment all the same. i am the inquisition's historian—i must account for all happenings if i can help it. ❞ she explains as lilac hues glide over the page, then glances back to look upon him once more. there's a renewed softness to her as she crushes the book to her corseted chest, teeth tearing at her inner lip before she says, ❝ where are my manners—i'm gwendolyn ingellvar, of the mourn watch in nevarra. ❞ and offers her hand in a more formal greeting.
