The Apathy Pokémon

carver is your surviving sibling because you chose to be a mage, but carver is also carver because his siblings were both mages. i'm not here to tell anyone what to think, if you think carver would have been the same person regardless, that's totally fine, but i think the carver who grew up with an "ally", a non-mage sibling who was like him is a fundamentally different person than the carver who grew up having to protect two mages.

similarly, the bethany who grew up with self-loathing isolation... i think that's a different person than a bethany who grew up with a mage sibling, particularly if that sibling felt differently about their magic. that's a bethany who couldn't blame only herself for the family's situation, who wasn't always the odd one out, the one with the biggest and worst secret.

i love that the narrative bends around hawke, creates an arc where the defining feature of the surviving sibling is isolation. loneliness.

Their faces are elongated, their features more delicate, they look softer. Meanwhile, Garrett is all sharp angles, unruly hair, and untrimmed beard. The black sheep of the family. A real dog lord.

And you know what's the best part of it? It's the fact that since he doesn't look like his mother and the siblings who took after her (they have Leandra's blue eyes and her features), it means he takes after Malcolm.

Not only does he have his father's temper and coping mechanisms, but he also has his looks.

Imagine being Leandra in this situation. Every day your dead husband, the man you loved the most in your life (enough to say goodbye to your family and your cushy life in the mansion and go on the run with him), looks at you from your son's face, constantly reminding you of what you lost.

Imagine being Garrett in that situation. Because no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you will never be your father, the man who protected his wife and children from harm, the man who created a safe life for them, the man who died and simply because of that can do no wrong.

Carver can never be Garrett, but Garrett can never be Malcolm, and that's the problem, right? Right??

The last four weeks have seen it all: cheers, defeat, arguments, celebrations – all in the name of this very moment.

Over 30,000 votes were cast in this tournament, and we wanted to say thank you so much for your participation! We couldn't have done it without you.

With that being said, your winner of Our Life March Madness is.....

🎉 ROADTRIP! 🎉