Kestrel's Aesthetic Board and Interview

Center image attribution:
The center image of Kestrel was made for me by the amazing Aschefall back in 2017 for the DotW Secret Santa. Reused here with their permission. Thanks again for capturing my girl's spirit so wonderfully.

Attributions clockwise from upper left:
photo by me,
photo by me,
www.flickr.com/photos/montereg…,
photo by me,
inn.spb.ru/free-wolf-wallpaper…, 
www.freepik.com/premium-photo/…, 
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil…,
www.maxpixel.net/Bubbles-Blue-…,
pixabay.com/de/photos/redwing-…,

Purple and green butterfly:
pixabay.com/de/illustrations/s…
Purple and blue butterflies: 
webstockreview.net/explore/ins… 

---

CHARACTER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (as character)

1. Let's start off with an easy one! How would you like to introduce yourself?

      "M-My name is K-Kestrel. I'm the A-Alph-phess of Heyl, a-and their B-Beta E-Envoy."

2. Fancy! Now... who do you consider family?

      "M-My m-mate, F-Fitu, i-is th-the f-first true f-family I've known, a-and I l-love him w-with all m-my heart. I ad-dopted his d-daughter, Nova, a l-long t-time ago... She's g-gone n-now... B-But I still miss her d-dearly. N-Now w-we h-have f-five more wonderful ch-children!"

3. What achievement are you most proud of?

     "F-Finding th-the c-courage to m-make H-Heyl my h-home after s-so long w-without one... a-and to f-further m-my rel-lationship w-with m-my mate. We h-had a pr-pretty r-rocky st-start, and it m-might h-have b-been all t-too easy to t-take the e-easy p-path and l-let h-him g-go. I w-was s-so sc-scared to t-tell him I l-loved him! I-It seems almost s-silly n-now, l-looking b-back, b-but th-that's the w-way I f-felt! "

4. Tell us what you consider your greatest flaw.

      "I h-have m-many fl-flaws... b-but I l-like t-to th-think I'm w-working on th-them as b-best I can. It u-used t-to b-be th-that I n-never st-stood up for m-myself, th-though ov-ver m-much t-time, I h-have g-gotten b-better at that... Now I think i-it's m-my t-tendency t-to d-doubt m-myself. I-It's a s-simil-lar f-flaw, I g-guess, haha! I h-have c-come s-so far, b-but even s-so I st-still often f-feel th-that I'm s-someh-how an imp-poster. Th-that I d-don't d-deserve the p-positions I h-hold... As Alphess, as Envoy, as mother... It interf-feres w-with m-my g-growth."

5. Talk about your closest friends or most respected mentors!

    "I m-m-married m-m b-best f-friend... hehe... F-Fitu i-is m-my c-closest c-confidant. I a-also h-highly respect all the other B-Betas of H-Heyl, Asterion, Samhradh, Laur, and H-Her - I m-mean, K-Kesta... th-though, to b-be h-honest, I-I'm working th-through some t-trust i-issue w-with th-that l-last o-one at the moment...
      "I a-also h-have an o-old f-friend, Alcatraz, f-from my e-earliest d-days as a l-loner... I w-was so young... I h-honestly d-don't know him th-that well but have alw-w-ways f-felt a c-connection t-to him, even th-though w-we w-were on opp-pos-site sides of a b-big c-conflict o-once... It w-wasn't p-person-nal, I w-was h-honestly s-so pr-proud of h-him for f-finding a h-home a-and a f-family in Aryn... I'm sorry, d-don't l-let m-me d-drag you d-down m-memory l-lane! H-Hopef-fully I'll s-see h-him ag-gain s-soon!"

6. And what about rivals? ...Enemies?

     "Oh m-my... I -don't th-think I h-have any r-rivals, a-as s-such... A-Anyone th-that th-threatens H-Heyl i-is m-my enemy. I m-may  n-not be m-much of a f-fighter, b-but I w-will alw-ways d-do my b-best to p-protect H-Heyl."

7. Do you believe in any higher powers? Gods or spirits? Tell us about it!

      "Th-that's a bit of a-a t-touchy subj-ject f-for me... I'm n-not s-sure... F-Fitu d-does, a-and I a-am of c-course alr-right with that, a-and h-he s-says h-he s-supports a-all beliefs as l-long a-as a w-wolf can f-follow the r-rules of H-Heyl... But, as s-support-tive as h-he i-is of m-me, I c-can't h-help b-but think h-he w-wishes I f-felt the s-same w-way about Icad-dorityl as h-he d-does... I w-wish I could g-give him th-that, but I c-can't."

8. What do you think a wolf should value the most?

      "W-Well, d-different w-wolves d-don't a-all h-have to h-have the same v-values... a-all b-beliefs are w-welcome in H-Heyl... b-but, I d-do th-think that i-if a-all w-wolves v-valued th-the w-well b-being of o-others a-as h-highly a-as their o-own, w-well.... b-but, I s-suppose th-that's n-naive."

9. You must have dreams. What is it you want out of life?

      "I-I'm not s-sure wh-what else I c-could a-ask f-for! I w-want t-to k-keep l-living my l-life w-with my mate, t-to w-watch m-my ch-children g-grow, and t-to k-keep s-serving H-Heyl."

10. If you could change one thing about the past, what would it be?

      "M-My p-past has b-brought me t-t-to wh-where I am, s-so I-I c-cant c-complain... b-but, i-if I h-had n-never g-gotten m-mixed u-up in w-with B-Blutw-wald... I m-might b-be better off."


Mentioning FrostedCanid's Fitu, UKthewhitewolf's Samhradh, LunarShadowCreations's Asterion, nakaiii's Laur, and SaskedieJagerin's Kesta, and Wildfire-Tama's Alcatraz (because Kestrel doesn't yet know he's dead so yeahhh )

---

CHARACTER MUSE QUESTIONS (as creator)

1. What external character/song/idea/etc provided the biggest inspiration for your character?

     When I first joined DotW almost five years ago (holy crap she's been here for a long time!), I didn't make Kestrel with any real character choices in mind so much as she was an excuse to join a cool group. I had done only done text-based RPs via email before that time (lol) and was just so excited to join a group where I could do that. That being said, it didn't take long for me to get really attached to her and start developing her. I first heard the song "Pioneer" by The Band Perry (www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8OP8…) probably a year after I joined DotW and it's become Kestrel's anthem; I hear so much of her in it, and it's even inspired me to push her through challenges to be a more interesting character.

2. What part of yourself is most visible in your character?

      My anxiety and my self-doubt. She was a half-assed self-insert when I joined. At that time I thought of myself as an "Omega:" a person who has very little to offer except in the way of loyalty to someone better. That was her defining personality trait in the beginning. In retrospect that's not a particularly healthy outlook, haha... I'm still very non-confrontational, but I believe in my own worth a little more now... I'm working on it. Her growth and maturity these last five years has honestly mirrored my own in more ways than I even realized until I actually thought about it, literally because of this MSE, lol.

3. In general, what goals do you have for your character's future?

      She's come so far, I honestly don't have any huge goals for her right now, and I may never again. She's met and exceeded my goals already.

4. What aspect of your character has surprised you the most throughout their development?

     How strong she has become! Like I said, when she first joined the group, her main character traits were "submissive," "omega," etc. and she stayed that way for quite a while. And now she's an Alphess, a mother and so much more and honestly it's crazy to me, but I love it. And I'm pretty proud that most of that growth has actually happened organically, through her experiences in the group, over time, like a real person more so than a character!

5. What is something your character didn't get the chance to talk about (or maybe left out) in their interview, that's worth knowing?

      I guess I personally find this kind of interesting... if Blutwald hadn't disbanded when it did, Kestrel's life would have turned out very different! She was a "Guardian," which essentially meant that she looked after pups and mothers, and I actually had plans for her to become the sworn servant of a specific manipulative female of that pack when the pack disbanded. If she had ended up in a position that validated her feelings of inferiority rather than having to become a loner and actually learn that she is capable of more, well, she sure as hell wouldn't be an Alphess now lemme tell ya