[active] bitter branch

[birdhaus]

birdhaus quests

previous quests: swallow bridge

I hope reusing a thread over and over again is allowed...OTL

 

[birdhaus]

b i t t e r ✥ b r a n c h
YOUR PAIN LACED IN BONE-WHITE BRANCHES


name - bitter branch
gender - buck
inspiration - [ dried chinese lantern ] [ another ref ] + [ possible color pallet ]
edits - deer antlers
markings - the pattern of the outside of the chinese lantern, not the red berry, on his legs. how ever you want to incorporate it.
notes - the colors from the photo should focus on the dried chinese lantern branch and not the green background, the color palette does not need to be followed

theme - the winding road of fate

Bitter Branch's design concept revolves around the dried chinese lantern. The chinese lantern is a invasive plant, once in an area, its very hard to get rid of it completely. The red fruit can be eaten. When dried, the outer green casing is dried and 'rots' away to reveal a spiderweb of ivory around the red fruit.

His personality and dream are based on the French proverb: L’un rencontre souvent sa destinée en prenant le chemin pour l’éviter.

”You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it.”

your pain laced in bitter bone-white branches
the seasons long past won't return to the hearth once shared, now empty
so scratch your existence upon the stainless wall of sin

 

[birdhaus]

b i t t e r ✥ b r a n c h
THINGS THAT COULD NOT BE ERASED

honorable | cynical | snarky | responsible | vendetta

Bitter is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. He'll fight tooth and nail for it. He holds honor very highly, but despite this because of his past experiences, he's a cynical person. He doesn't trust the words of others and often makes snide remarks. He'll verbally rip you to shreds and might even get into a fight! He doesn't loose his temper easily, but when he does, beware! If you cross him, he'll remember it forever. Don't worry. Most of the time he's a stoic buck who has a very even temper.

His dream deeply affects him even to this day. The dream of regret and killing and blood haunts his every step, he doesn't want that scenario to come true so he wanders outside of the swamp straying towards the cold mountain regions.

your pain laced in bitter bone-white branches
the seasons long past won't return to the hearth once shared, now empty
so scratch your existence upon the stainless wall of sin

 

[birdhaus]

b i t t e r ✥ b r a n c h
EVEN WITH A LIFE, YOU COULD NOT ATONE


It drips. A silent echo against the sky.
It drips, falling from an elegant neck into the ground.
It drips, the gentle life blood slips away.

There is a doe on the ground, her eyes fast loosing light. Her neck arches towards him slightly and her mouth moves as if saying something but he hears nothing but gentle pitter-pattering.

Her head hits the ground with a resolute thud, words still lingering on her snout. She lets out a hazy breath, shudders and then it's quiet. All quiet and hush and not a sound except the beating of his own heart within the walls of his ribs.

-------

Dry grass and naked branches on the outskirts; where the mother swamp's waters do not reach and the ground is strictly solid. The wind blows, the grasses sway and the branches clatter against each other. In this kind of colorless world, blood stains brightly. It shines against thin spidery branches where the lantern bush stands deathly dry. "They had," he thought vaguely, "bitter berries."

------

Come. Home. Come. Back. Come back with me. Please!

------

Somewhere along the line, he reaches the foothills of great mountains. Where the soil is rough and frozen solid. There are rocks and grass and snow and in the midst of it all, fields upon fields of chinese lanterns. The red berries, glaring obvious against the gray landscape.

------

But, I can't. You don't understand; I want to see the world,

-----

He turns and runs as if his hooves can carry him away from her corpse when it will haunt him for lifetimes to come. He runs. He runs and then, the young buck's hoof slips through the sac and touches the earth. Soft. Moist. Earth.

your pain laced in bitter bone-white branches
the seasons long past won't return to the hearth once shared, now empty
so scratch your existence upon the stainless wall of sin