ElfQuest Fan Art
Elfquest => Holts => Topic started by: Farscout on March 11, 2009, 06:21:19 PM
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with Foxeye's permission, I'm going to post a little about our club!
River Twine Holt is an active, old-fashioned "'zine" club, where folks participate through the creation of stories and artwork rather than through RP. The Holt is a traditional wolfriding tribe, and our world-building focus has been on building a rich, "realistic" world for our tribe to inhabit.
Membership in River Twine comes in two varieties: Player Members adopt one of the existing wolfriders of our tribe (no new "wanderer" characters are known to exist in our club's continuity), gain full access to the club including messageboards, polls and events, and are expected to participate through the creation of stories, poetry, artwork, and other projects to fulfill a quarterly participation requirement. Reader Members enjoy expanded access to our messageboards and the ability to comment on art and fiction, but do not control a persona, and are only required to leave one comment per quarter. While guests may not comment on art and fiction and have only partial MB access, they are welcome to enjoy our artwork and fiction, and even to submit their own.
(http://www.rivertwine.com/art/full/hol_holt_map_labeled.jpg)
Holt map by Holly Hutchison
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If I had time for a holt, Nightstorm sounds like the ideal elf-character for me to adopt. Artistic, moody, attention-hungry, jack of all trades with a tendency to shoot her opinionated mouth off...yup. :P Sounds like someone I know.
Unfortunately it's that very personality that makes me leery of joining holts. I hate to jump on board to something I can't commit to. I used to run a holt (before the internet), and it always frustrated me that so many members didn't contribute. I'd hate to *be* one of the people that I was frustrated by. :/
Anyhoo, you guys have a great thing going. I'm always impressed by how active you are....whenever I search on Deviantart for elfquest, there's usually something from your holt. ^_^
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Thanks for your kind words! I'm in awe of my fellow River Twine members -- there are just some great, fantastic, wildly imaginative people involved, who make the club a lot of fun to play in!
And hey -- we recently created our "Reader Member" membership category for folks who enjoyed the club, but who didn't want the headache of our quarterly annual character support requirements. For the price of one measly comment on fic or art each quarter, Reader Members can get involved, join in the discussions, join in the regular art & fic trades, etc. I think it's a nice way to really check things out and taste-test the group, without having to risk getting in over your head. ;)
(Although -- let me also say that our "Player Member" requirements to own and operate a character are just one piece of art or one fic of 500 words or more every three-month quarter of the year. That's pretty doable for most of us, most of the time, especially if you get involved in our regular Art Trades or Fic Trades.)
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FWIW, Foxeye -- one of the reasons RTH is structured the way it is, I think, is because it puts less pressure on folks for participation. Our minimums are designed to (hopefully) be manageable for folks who can't commit to the usual daily or weekly demands of an RP-type club.
(Our "one piece of art per quarter" thing counts pieces of any degree of complexity from a sketch to something fully finished.)
Naturally, the more involved someone is, the more prominent their character tends to be. But even a character just being owned, with a minimally-involved owner, can just result in more other members thinking to use the character, which is a nice feedback loop.
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Our adoptibles list has changed again. :)
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List of adoptables as of 9/12/09:
(see below)
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*sigh*
WHY am I NOT 15 ???
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There, there. You will be, soon. :)
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LOL !
that's true ! i'll wait patiently to my birthday :)
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God I wish I could get a map like that made for Danen. Pheonyx was going to make me one but I haven't heard from her in so long. I hope she's ok.
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Once again, RiverTwine has done a calendar for the group for 2010! It can be found here:
http://www.rivertwine.com/RTH_2010_Calendar.php
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Just as a general note: characters may become adoptable again if their owners leave the group. But also, next summer, we will have some new child characters becoming available (the group will be doing a time-jump next summer, which will bring several of our now-being-born kids up to adoptable age).
If you are ever interested in the possibility of adopting in the future at RTH, but no available character appeals to you, you might consider joining as a Reader Member. RMs get more access to the site and messageboard, and whenever a character becomes adoptable, they are given first crack at them. (The only requirement for being an RM is to leave 1 comment on a story or piece of art per quarter, so we can keep track of who's still around.)
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ooh interesting ...
Next Summer, eh ?
:D
I'll be 15 in July !
*dance*
how do we join as Reader Member ?
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If you are interested in the group, consider joining as a Reader Member! Click here (http://www.rivertwine.com/membership.php) for more information. RMs have increased access to our messageboard, and lighter requirements than character-owners (just leaving 1 or more comments on our website stories or art each quarter, so that we know that people on our RM rolls are still interested). RMs are notified first of adoptables that become available, and get a week to consider them before they are made available to the public.
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12/30/10:
RTH has unveiled the art for its 2011 calendar. If you're interested in seeing it, it's been posted here. (http://www.rivertwine.com/artgallery.php?id=L) We'll be having a page put up soon that will offer downloads of printable copies, or desktop wallpaper versions of various sizes.
ETA: The webpage with downloadable versions (http://www.rivertwine.com/RTH_2011_Calendar.php) has now been posted.
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Ooh! Now I've taken an instant liking to this elf. :) Quiet, yet a troublemaker... >:P
You said, you only need to do one piece of at or 500+word story every three months? That seems very little... Is there an upward limit, and *gulp* is there any sort of "quality standard" for the art? *blush*
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Ooh! Now I've taken an instant liking to this elf. :) Quiet, yet a troublemaker... >:P
You said, you only need to do one piece of at or 500+word story every three months? That seems very little... Is there an upward limit, and *gulp* is there any sort of "quality standard" for the art? *blush*
I think that from what you've been posting here that your work would fit in just fine. :) And I think that the best way for one's art to improve is by doing a lot, steadily -- and for me, at least, belonging to a group like this is a real motivation to produce art steadily. We have a lot of organized trades and contests to give people ideas to keep them going, if they want to sign up.
Yes, our minimum requirements are one piece of art, or one 500+ word story per 3-month quarter. There isn't really an upper limit, though. We're happy for people to write and submit as much art as they want, and we always hope that people will be active above the minimum. We *do* expect people who own characters to be responsive to others, though -- to answer questions, have discussions, or give approval to others for art or stories -- on a fairly timely basis. It's not as time-intensive as RPG groups that ask members to post very regularly (daily or weekly?), but I would describe it as *sometimes* requiring daily or weekly responses. On a sporadic basis.
That's something else to be clear on: we're not structured like an RP group. Our shared storylines only develop through people writing stories, which go through a review process, or doing art. So it's a lot more "work at your own pace". Just want to emphasize that, because we've had folks join and then say, "so where's the RP?"
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Yup, that's actually a lot of what's drawing me to RTH in the first place. I used to participate in EQ RPGs a lot, as a teenager (wow, like 10 years ago...???) But eventually had to drop out. I'm pretty active as a fan-ficcer, and becoming active as a fan-artist again (due to this site in LARGE part, having somewhere to show my art!). I don't think I could handle coming up with RPG-posts once a week to ten times a day, but replying to message board posts, e-mails, etc, don't really require that kind of artistic touch. =P
I've been looking over the site since my last post, and I think I'm gonna go for this Holt! :D (Even if I *don't* get Chicory....awww.....!)
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Go for it! :) Follow the links on our Joining page to the sort of "interview questions", as it were, and send in an app. :) Some of our council is away at the moment, so we may take a bit longer to go over an app than usual, but we'll try to keep you apprised of things.
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Ooh! Now I've taken an instant liking to this elf. Smiley Quiet, yet a troublemaker... >Tongue
Yeeeesss, go for her!!! :D
I play her mate Rainpace and I would be really happy if she finally finds an active member who tries to develop her. She has lot`s of potential.
For example, the whole lovemating issue with Rainpace is not settled at all... there`s enough space to bring in own ideas and developments.
The owner of Glow is fun to play with, as well... so, you see, only nice people there. ;)
Well, have a look at her CIS... if any questions occur, just ask. :)
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Yay!! I sent in my application! **(nervousness)**
A bit of a wait is all right! =) Just hope my app doesn't flop. =P
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Wohooooo ;D
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I am oh-so-tempted, but I know I wouldn't have the time necessary to get fully into the play - I hope you find a new player for him soon, though. Sound like the poor lad needs a little (a lot) love. :-*
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Understandable, Icebird. :) I know that feeling of not having enough time for everything that catches one's interest.
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Eyegyrn, on the RTH site at the top of Evervale's bio it says she is a Non-Adoptable NPC so I was wondering if it just hasn't been updated or whats going on?
If you haven't guessed she interests me. :P
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*forehead smack*! No, that's me being a doofus and forgetting to toggle both of them! :-[ Thanks for poking me about it; how annoying...
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Damn... Honey just happens to be my favorite character in the River Twine. (Yes, I lurk on your website...) Personally I'd love to adopt her, but aside from having a writers block, job applications and homework just has to be my main source of attention these days. :(
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That's understandable, Startear. Her last owner left because she was just starting a ph.d. program and realized she wouldn't have any free time for ANYthing for the foreseeable future. It's a pain when real life gets in the way... but it really, really does sometimes.
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10/25/11: updates!
Honey has been adopted! Congratulations to Icebird! :D
See most recent post for updates on available characters.
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12/28/11:
RTH recently unveiled the art for its 2012 calendar. If you'd like to see it, it's been posted here. (http://www.rivertwine.com/artgallery.php?id=L)
We'll be having a page put up soon that will offer downloads of printable copies, or desktop wallpaper versions of various sizes.
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Oh, what a joy to look at that calendar! You surely have a lot of talented artists in your holt. Thanks for posting this link! You have all done a beautiful job.
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Still lurking on your site in a sneaky way. 8)
The other day I noticed that Dreamflight has become non-adoptable. Out of curiosity's sake, how come? (If I'm being too nosy, just say so. :) )
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Characters become Non-adoptable when a player left for a while so they first can be offered to the Reader-only members. After some time's passed they are available for the public to be adopted. ;)
So to say to give Reader Members who probably joined as such while all characters were taken to call dips first ^^
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4/02/12: updates!
Dreamflight has been adopted! Congratulations to Sandi! :D
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I'd love to be able to join up here, but life is so hectic I just wouldn't be able to. I do love the site though when I can see it.
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4/02/12: updates!
Dreamflight has been adopted! Congratulations to Sandi! :D
Now, however, we have another character available for adoption:
Starskimmer
(http://www.rivertwine.com/images/portraits/p-Starskimmer.jpg)
One of the tribe's elders, Starskimmer is a mother of three (by three different fathers, one outside of Recognition), a brewer, a midwife and herbal-healer, more a lover than a fighter -- the tribe's most dedicated good-time girl. (When her third child, Otter, was born, the joke was that literally any male in the tribe except her son Notch could have been his father. Now that he is grown up, the tribe has reached a consensus about who his father really is, though.) She has a generous, cheerful, and flirtatious nature, and tends to be on good terms with just about everyone.
She is also currently the tribe's only rockshaper. Though not as powerful as some of her predecessors, she can use her rockshaping in a variety of clever ways, and with enough time and effort can achieve valuable results. Right at the moment, the tribe is going through a crisis storyline in which Starskimmer's powers play a supportive role.
Her full Information Sheet can be seen here (http://www.rivertwine.com/members/cisdisplay.php?id=4), including all stories and art related to the character.
If she interests you, visit our Joining page (http://www.rivertwine.com/membership.php) for more details on how to apply!
Finally, if the group appeals to you but the currently-available adoptable doesn't at the moment, there is always Reader Membership, which gives you more access to the group and puts you on a list for alerts when characters become adoptable in the future. See our Joining page (http://www.rivertwine.com/membership.php) for more info.
I love a slutty elf! ;D If only I could have two characters.
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Well, that is definitely an advantage of the way RTH works -- while the character's owner gets to call the shots for the character and approve what gets done with them, everybody in the group is really encouraged to do stuff with each other's characters, and a lot actually does get done that way. So you can definitely play with characters you don't own -- do art and stories about them. People tend to be very welcoming of it, so long as the owner's wishes are respected. And people tend to be pretty supportive; approvals don't tend to be hard to get.
Starskimmer is definitely a fun character. :) She has a built-in connection to most folks in the tribe, AND she's in charge of the booze!
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Yes, Starskimmer is one of my favorites. Now, I still have to think about whenether I can adopt an elf eventhough I don't have a job and failed my exam this winter, but so very tempting.
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I'm sorry you don't have the time, Startear. :( But that's definitely a good question to be asking yourself about stuff like this. Hopefully when you do have time in the future, a character you like will become available. :)
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9/27/12: updates!
Linn switched from Starskimmer to Rill, and Kyna rejoined the group with Starskimmer!
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Aw and he's so cute, how could anyone put him up for adoption. I'll say again, it is too bad you can't have more than one character at RTH. ;D
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I'll say again, it is too bad you can't have more than one character at RTH. ;D
I totally agree. I have always been interested in Goldspice (though simply because I like her style) but cannot and will not give up Rainpace. But still, Goldspice has lots of potential...
On the other hand, I doubt I would have the energy to play more than one. ;)
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Wow ! ! . . . there are some interesting Characters here for adoption. Both Goldspice and Starskimmer seem fully developed and fun.
Computer skills seem to be very important and usually have stopped me from Tech-Holt ing. I lack the skill and patience to deal well with technology. Just think of me as the 'Gibbs' of EQ Elf Fandom. (NCEQ?) I want to play, but would have to have everything explained twice or thrice.
Thank you for the many links to your Page @ River Twine. I plan on reading everything ! !
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Awe, I was wondering who took up Rainpace when I left (I'm Gina Simpson/Schroeder). Wish I had more time right about now. Darn you River Twine with your consistent awesomeness.
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Awe, I was wondering who took up Rainpace when I left (I'm Gina Simpson/Schroeder). Wish I had more time right about now. Darn you River Twine with your consistent awesomeness.
I did!!! :)
Hi Gina, always enjoyed your art at RTH.
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Aw, Gina -- it's good to see you around! We miss you! :-*
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01/10/13: Some much-needed updates:
Congratulations to Tah-marien, who adopted Goldspice! ;D
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Hey guys i just think i thought up a horrible but neat story about poor GreenWeave. Which I am thinking about adopting...still thinking... sigh I do not know about the commitment. He looks like a neat elf and her sounds a lot like one of my other elves that I made for Kay Holt (another part that was SweetWater) May be I will just write it and send it to your council of five and see what they think. Read the rules that's why i do not know if I what to be a play member. Sigh..he is cute so is his lifemate:) lol
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02/19/13: congratulations to Ca-Twin, who adopted Greenweave! ;D
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I really wish you could have more than one character, I would love to adopt Pathmark.
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LOL ya i was looking at both of them. If you could get two he would be fun. But the other one was louder to me, even tough his personally is NOT loud. Think it was the hair fetish that got me. I love elves with long hair....look at Cloudfren yes he is cute...lol
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02/27/13: congratulations to Fey, who adopted Pathmark! ;D
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10/17/13: update! Rill has been adopted -- welcome back, Daria! :)
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10/20/13: update! Nightstorm has been adopted -- welcome, Tessa! :)
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I'm the 25,000 view.
:)
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w00t!
(omg, does anyone even SAY "w00t" anymore? :o it's from the 90s! This weekend brought to you by "making Eregyrn feel old".)
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I stlll say it sometimes, Eregym. I wonder if a male can play a female character the right way...
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Oops I just noticed the gap. Sorry Eregyrn. This elf need glasses :lol
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I wonder if a male can play a female character the right way...
I think that's a question that only you can answer. :) I've known several guys who liked to play female characters, and who were good at it. Just as we have plenty of women who play male characters (*cough*), and often prefer that.
The bigger question, I think, is whether the style of "play" at RTH would appeal to you. I think you've mentioned (here and elsewhere, like at SoC) that you have primarily been a roleplayer. But, I would caution, RTH is *not* a RP group in the usual sense of the term. We usually talk in terms of "players" and people owning and operating a character, but our style of play is quite different from the way I understand most RP groups to operate. We don't do play-by-post or other types of "live" storylines.
Instead, RTH builds storylines through members writing largely stand-alone stories (sometimes, serialized if they are longer). Some members are writers, while others are artists. Unlike most RP groups, you may not only write for / draw for your own character, but others -- in fact, it's rather expected. (A character's owner always gets to see a story or art and approve it, or ask for whatever changes they want, before it is publicly posted.) Members who are primarily artists can often trade art to others to get stories written. (Or their characters may wind up being involved in others' stories anyway.) Both writers and artists may write in the "present" (we do have a timeline that advances at the rate of 1=1 in-story to real-life year), but may also explore any point in a character's history, or write about the tribe's ancestors.
This is the style of play I have been used to since I joined a fandom at age 12, back in the early 80s. ;) But I gather it can be an adjustment for some folks who are used to RP, and thus aren't used to writing full stories, or writing for the characters of others.
RTH is also "moderated" in the sense of having a council (or board) that makes sure players stay within the group's guidelines, and having a Story Approval Team that subjects submitted stories to an editing process -- something that can also be an adjustment for some folks. Stories are reviewed both for grammar/spelling, and also for how they fit into the world's guidelines. (Which are very similar to general ElfQuest guidelines, but in some cases refined for our particular group.)
All of this means that if you haven't experienced a group like RTH before... you might be better off joining as a Reader Member, and getting a feel for it, before taking the plunge of adopting a character (and being subjected to participation requirements and so on). Reader Members essentially are like "lurkers with benefits", get a bit more access to our forums, and they are allowed to make creative contributions (for any current character or ancestor; with the usual approval process). So it can be a way to test whether you like the way the group operates, without pressure. Also, RMs get first crack when characters become adoptable (which is unpredictable).
So, for example, if you think you prefer to play a male character, you might join as an RM; do some reading; make submissions for some of the existing male characters; and if/when a male becomes available for adoption, you'd be in a very good position to apply. On the other hand, you could find that the way the group operates doesn't work for you -- which is fine! we know it isn't going to work for everyone -- in which case, you won't have had the frustration of dealing with the pressure that comes with owning a character.
Long story short: if you're unsure, I'd suggest Reader Membership for a bit, to explore further. :)
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Thank you for your input Eregyrn. I can see RTH is not the holt for me.
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No problem! I don't know what their status is at the moment, with taking new players, but you might check out Oakleaf Holt, which I think is more of an RP style group.
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03/03/14: Congratulations to Ally, who has adopted Chicory! Remaining adoptables (at the moment) listed below.
04/04/14: new character available for adoption, Thornbow!
07/06/14: congrats to Mira, who adopted Beetle!
11/13/14: congrats to Ingrid, who adopted Dreamflight! And to Angie, who adopted Thornbow!
Honey
(http://www.rivertwine.com/images/portraits/p-Honey.jpg)
Aged 315. The sister of Thornbow; mother of Dreamflight (see above) and Recognized of Greenweave, from whom she is somewhat estranged; Honey spent 30 years in wrapstuff, awaiting the time when the tribe would have a healer who could cure her fatal pneumonia. When she was wrapped, she had an apparently-happy family life with Greenweave and Dreamflight. When she came out of wrapstuf, she found that Greenweave had gone back to his previous lover, Cloudfern, and that her daughter was a bit of a mess over the dissolution of her family. Previously someone who concentrated on fishing, Honey decided to remake herself as a hunter, finding that she would be happiest when she kept herself active and within the wolfsong and the Now. She is sweet of nature, and can be generous and kind, but she is so prone to strong feelings and romantic ideals that she can become mercurial and subtly manipulative when trying to make things come out the way she wants. Honey's more grounded and centered these days although she can still be prone to social anxiety.
Her full Information Sheet can be seen
here (http://www.rivertwine.com/members/cisdisplay.php?id=12),
including all stories and art related to the character.
If this of these character interests you, visit our
Joining page (http://www.rivertwine.com/membership.php) for
more details on how to apply!
Finally, if the group appeals to you but the currently-available adoptables don't at the moment, there is always Reader Membership, which gives you more access to the group and puts you on a list for alerts when characters become adoptable in the future. See our Joining page (http://www.rivertwine.com/membership.php) for more info.
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7/10: and, Beetle's been adopted! Congrats, Mira!
11/13: now Dreamflight (congrats Ingrid) and Thornbow (congrats Angie) have been adopted!
Adoptables above have been updated. :)