#stratholmies

[shxwmaster]

— ♦ [ @stratholmies​ asked: 22, 29, 52, 87. ] ♦ — ○ 100 Random Character Development Questions ○

—

022. What is the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen? ( also asked by @middenwake & @lightsblade )

This isn’t an easy answer for Shaw (or me, for that matter) as he’s been deployed all around the world. There’s been notable sights he’s seen that have stuck with him, though.

The aurora borealis of Northrend in the early mornings. Frigid air that makes your breath foggy, the sun just peeking out and casting a vibrant, ethereal glow over the landscape and the rays through the tree leaves. He was very fond of Grizzly Hills

Laying eyes on Nordrassil for the first time had strangely moved him to near tears. Luckily, he was alone when he scouted the place. He’ll never be able to place the exact reason it moved him so.

Visiting Westfall as a young man, staying in this humble cottage of the Stonemason. “Here, hold her,” He told him, and suddenly Shaw was looking down at the swaddled newborn of grey eyes and black hair — Vanessa was the closest thing he would have had to a daughter, and he’d never forget her first steps, first words ( “Moth!” she’d cry excitedly to him when Pathonia allowed him to visit ), never forget her face, her resemblance, or what he’d done to her father ——

029. What sort of sense of humor does your character have?

Dry humor. Mathias is a very serious kind of guy, he’s careful not to emote unless he’s around someone he trusts but that 100% does not stop him from making an incredibly stupid quip now and then with a straight face. When not in situations such as being a shadow and listening in on meetings or on a stealth mission, (like on an assault or in combat or something that doesn’t require him to be quiet) he’ll often make remarks about the enemy or a situation, have a jab now and then that only an agent or adventurer nearby would have the honor of hearing. Turn and look at him like “did mathias fucking shaw just crack a joke” and his face gives you NOTHING.

But, if he’s at his wit’s end, tired or in the middle of heavy combat, he can get loud, defiant, aggressive, and hurls borderline comedic insults at an enemy, effectively making himself a tank rogue with how many taunts stored in this little man.

He’s also very sarcastic! In fact, anyone on a mission with him or anyone that works with him will often be on the receiving end of his colorful opinions. He usually feels more comfortable cracking deadpan one-liners or arrogant remarks at people he works with, moreso years ago. These days he’s a little... harder. Hasn’t quite been the same after Legion.

052. What is your character’s worst flaw?

He’s cold-blooded.

Not all the time, obviously. Peel off the layers of duty and loyalty to Stormwind and the Alliance and you’ll find just a normal man who desperately wants any connection he can get. ( oh, how starved he is for anything more than what he has )

But you can’t peel those off. He was born into this line of work, he’s learned what gets the job done. No Light, no faith, no righteousness or retribution, there’s no good or evil, there’s no “good war”, there’s no such thing as good — there is only progress. Success. You step on anyone it takes. You scrub the existence of your fallen agents clean, you hide your trail, hide your emotions, hide everything you are. You’re a dagger, a blade, a shadow, nothing more. Agents don’t get formal funerals, their deaths don’t get acknowledged, everyone is erased from history and redacted. Missions that are completed get no rewards, so expect no praise.

“oh, spare us, accursed rogues, won’t you have mercy?” will mercy get the intel? will mercy finish the mission at hand? will mercy ensure the future of the Alliance?

You shut off everything you are, everything you feel, you stand in the middle of a battlefield or excursion, you listen to the cries of suffering, to the shouts, you witness the blood, witness the destruction, and you numb yourself. Wipe off the blood, don’t even so much as twitch a brow. Numb yourself. Finish the mission.

For the Alliance.

087. How would your character describe themself in three words?

Master Of Assassins.

He’ll remind you, in case you forget.

[spiral-chronicler]

stratholmies said:  👀 + Immortality's a wretch on ethics. Harder to care for folks when they die in blinks. How are you fortifying against that?

💫—❝The war was over a thousand years old by the time I was delivered to the fight. Allies and enemies, they’ve always died in blinks.

  Before I was made immortal, they were dying in front of me. In blinks. I cared anyway. It was a crime to do it, too.❞

  Back then, the force and light had disoriented him. They had been cast all the way from the front lines to a distant beach, he hadn’t known where. His mecha was damaged and his body was ragged with the trauma and pain of the impact. He’d forced himself to move, anyway. He could see the massive, mangled cockpit where his Supreme General Adiane piloted her mecha from. It had narrowly missed sinking into the sea, but they had survived! They could always regroup and clash again, with those degenerate rebels. He’d stumbled to the heavy bulkhead, blood pounding in his ears; the first priority was to get Adiane clear of the wreckage. His hands had gripped the battered steel, and he’d wrenched at it until his shoulders wanted to tear. It opened, and yielded an uninterrupted view of the sea, beyond. The mecha had been completely gutted. Only that ragged shell had endured the enemy’s power.

  In an instant, everything that Adiane had been -- all that she was, her fury, her strength, that which she loathed, that which she loved... it was gone. She would never be mentioned again, at the Capital City. It didn’t work like that. Beastmen didn’t mourn. They were expendable. Recyclable. The Spiral King only made clay soldiers and porcelain dolls - disposable. Beastmen didn’t remember. Yet he knew she also grieved Thymilph’s death, as he did. She was unique among their kind. Capable of love. Capable of grief. An exception.

  But who would make an exception for her?   

 Twenty-eight years after the last battle for his world, and he still remembered those details. Almost four decades had passed since the moment he lost her, and none of it had faded. His stomach still sank when he remembered the clear sky and empty seas where his beloved Adiane ought to have been. So it was that he made the exception; he remembered all of them. Perhaps Lordgenome had possessed a strange insight the day he charged him with the task of witnessing and chronicling all that he could of the Spiral throughout his eternal life. 

  The lives he touched now, throughout his travels... they would end, too. But their light would be preserved in those who remained, who sought their messages, and in the archives he filled to the brim with the wondrous moments of their existence that he witnessed, even shared. Some of those lights joined the ranks of those aboard the Chouginga, and added new entries to their own stories: so in a sense, no light really ever faded. Those connections were as eternal as himself, maybe even more so.

   ❝I don’t fortify against anything. As a soldier, it was a weakness, I know. But I’ve always brought my heart to the battle with me. On this side of it, I’m grateful for the flaw in my design. The sense of being connected to others, through suffering and through happiness... it’s revolutionary for someone like me. Miraculous, in a way.

  The ache of a loss is real, and excruciatingly sharp, takes me down to the bone every time. But the joys, the tenderness, and the hope are real, too. Just as overwhelming. I’ll gratefully experience all of them, for the sake of existing in full, too. I’ve never been the least bit afraid of pain.

 I think that’s the only way I can stomach eternity - is to be alive for it.❞

[spiral-chronicler]

stratholmies said:   Ash the stick, tap once - twice - thrice before he levels a look the captain's way. "Viral Teppelin, huh. Heard of you. Not sure that's a good thing yet."

💫—❝Oh? Have you now?

  Well, I couldn’t yet tell you one way or the other. It depends on who you strive to cause trouble for. Maybe we’ll agree on something.❞  

  He preferred allies to enemies, that was a fact. But there were few prospects as thrilling as a friendly rivalry. He wouldn’t discredit that possibility, either. This fellow exuded the air of a calm before a storm, and Viral liked him immediately. It was a simplistic fondness; call it a sort of bestial insight into a person of worth. But time and circumstance would determine the nature of their interaction.

   What had the fallow-skinned stranger heard? And who had ferried his name and likeness to his awareness? 

  ❝Unfortunately, I have to expose ignorance and ask - who might you be? And, if I may press further - what would condemn my presence in your opinion, hn? I don’t recall crossing you in the past, at least.❞  

[earthbinder-a]

𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄 @stratholmies asked :    ☢, ✧, ☀

☢ what fads/trends are you so over?   maybe this trend is already over or at least on the decline, but can we PLEASE move away from google docs being used for rules pages and dossiers. it’s like the least user friendly format available and there is nothing more awkward than opening someone’s doc and WATCHING THEM MAKE EDITS ... it’s not good for this for so many reasons. carrd is so SO much better, albeit harder to use.hell, i wouldnt even mind if we all went back to container themes, just not google docs.

✧ do you agree with reblog karma or is it forced interaction?   i think it depends on the meme, but overall i’ve never really liked reblog karma as an idea. it always makes me feel like people are sending in asks because they want to reblog the meme, not because they were actually sending one in the first place. but i also understand how frustrating it is when mutuals that dont interact with you still reblog your memes. i reblog from the source whenever possible to avoid it, but if someone prefers reblog karma and i have no choice but to reblog it from them, i will. so long as it isn’t like, a shipping meme or something with someone that i’m not shipping with. stuff like that.

☀ what’s your rp pet peeve?   when people don’t trim their posts!!! it takes literally two seconds. there is nothing that accurately describes the rage that i experience when a super long untrimmed post of any kind rolls up on my dash and i have to spend 8 years scrolling through it. it’s honestly the only formatting that i will ever care about.

[middenwake]

I think you're doing great with him! // ROAST ME // @stratholmies​

             i think YOU are very sweet !! ;---;              thank you for the kind words , i appreciate you sharing them ;; ♥♥

[spiral-chronicler]

stratholmies said: 👀 + " Thought cats hated water. Or does the shark make up for it? "

💫—❝Not that a cat’s general predilection or distaste for water carries any clout within my own opinions on it... 

    But tigers are characterized by a fondness for water, aren’t they? Obviously, if the preference is genetic, with tiger and shark, it’s pretty inescapable that I’d enjoy it.

   This is the only free shot you get, by the way.  Come at me with another housecat joke and you’ll regret it. My claws aren’t retractable.  ❞