Did I hold your hand too tightly when we crossed the street?
Child,
when your father and I fought at night, did you mistake it for love-making?
Did I teach those fingers to pluck families apart
like flower petals?

Would I be forgiven for the sin I did not commit, but created?

When you were small, I told you,
you could grow up to be--anything.

~

Mother of my character, blames herself somewhat for the "tyrannic monarch" that Halberd's turned into as she leads her forum pack. I actually really like how this reference came out.

Got some inspiration from this slam poem. It's so sad.

Long-ass-description that you can rifle through if you feel like it:

"• Arc, the progenitor of the red-eyed children and the violent, tattooed sovereign, cultured noblewoman as much as vagabond. Years without her mate have been spent tracking down the elusive brood, a heartbroken attempt to collect the remnants of her family. Helpless to redirect the course their lives have taken, the dreamer nevertheless in some escapist corner of her mind truly believes that she can fix their broken family.

-- escapist; hides from the ugly truths and her own mortality of age in stories and fables, dreams and hopes, faith that things will improve against all odds. faith that people can change, and that people are good at heart. this is partially why she stayed so long with her lazy mate Cutlass.
-- ^ does not acknowledge this, rationalizes it instead in the same way that an alcoholic says they "just drink socially".
-- tormented by her failings, even as she further fails to deal with them.
-- overly empathic for the troubles of others; will worry over them and break over their pain more than they do themselves. truly cares, but just...cares too much.
-- genuinely loved her children, but in truth, she was a terrible mother. too inattentive, too self-absorbed, unable to care for them and protect them as they needed to be. couldn't stand to discipline her babies, sibling rivalries resolving with the general message of "fend for yourself, or nobody will; temperance is weakness and ensures losing the fight".
-- her determination to make up for everything extends to loyalties -- she would not support the fall of Saboro because, as much as she regrets the creation of this particular monstrosity, Arc recognizes it as Halberd's true child and understands that while Arc waited for fairytales, her daughter sacrificed everything for this dream. The dream itself is not the failure -- it is the ruthlessness that fueled its creation.

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• build: an aging beauty, perhaps a little too lanky and slender to be the perfect image of maternity, and yet fur falls in beautiful ripples and waves. Tight lines and planes of the face mark the regrets that drive Arc back into her own escapist fantasies of a better life, and yet -- there are some echoes of features passed down to the powerful child as well, strong forequarters and deep chest and a striking similarity of face in kinder features below that broad forehead. The thick tail."