#I do sometimes wonder if Einar would have a lann-esque-

[rivilu]

Thinking about my Hawke and Mahariel is always such a trip because their familiar relations are both INSANE in wildly different directions. But the specific thing I can never get to stop spinning in my head is how both of them get compared to their fathers within their stories- and the effect that has? Implied blue Malcom was still not..perfect I would imagine, And especially given Einar is made to take over his role in many ways, none of which did he ever want nor felt fair, not to mention Leandra's wild statement of ''youre everything my mother wouldve wanted in an Amell grandchild'' on top of that- it's. all messy. Very messy. But there's still so much love among this chaos that even despite the pressure, I don't think I ever got a read that my Hawke resented his father for anything. Not anything he didn't share responsibility for with Leandra anyway. Contrast that with Mahariel's case of being a child of a keeper who-> was irresponsible, got involved with what must've been a much younger woman despite her own clan disapproving of it-> got her pregnant then kept sneaking off to interact with her rather than bite the bullet and deal with the consequences- which wound up getting them BOTH killed. And still Orion grows up and keeps getting compared to his father like it's a positive . Resentment doesnt begin to cover the level of responsibility complex this guy develops in retaliation.

The ghosts that haunt your narrative love you, even as they watch you fail, even as more join them VS The ghosts that haunt your narrative are ones you've never met but they've shaped your world regardless, that drive you in how much you want to be nothing like them. The dead that you reach for and reach for you vs the dead you turn away from, not once looking back