It’s been a week since Fated launched, so now it’s finally time to unleash the Magiford themed/spoiler-filled posts! Warning: if you haven’t read the entire Pack of Dawn and Destiny trilogy yet, don’t read on!
Now, let’s talk bout the two characters you meet in Fated who are near and dear to my heart: Dale and Tom.
Friends–despite supporting different football teams, which is nigh impossible–Tom and Dale are two Alphas who break the typical werewolf stereotypes given their chill personalities, hidden strength, and age. Besides taking down scruffy Alphas with ease and being able to spot Greyson and Pip as mates, you can see glimpses of their great strength in don’t-care-attitudes and their hobbies, namely, fishing.
While wild wolves are not opposed to splashing in rivers, werewolves aren’t super fond of big bodies of water like lakes, but Tom and Dale’s biggest hobby is fishing, something now other wolf besides Young Jack shares with them.
Tom and Dale also take great pride in their almost-junk vehicles, are ardent fish fry connoisseurs, and avid football fans. (In case you aren’t aware the Packers are an American Football team from Wisconsin and the Vikings are a team from Minnesota. There has historically been a fierce rivalry between these teams, but people aren’t always loyal to whichever State they live in. Hence the good natured ribbing between Dale and Tom regarding their team loyalty.)
These two characters are essentially my homage to rural and Northern Wisconsin (and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). Having been born and raised in Wisconsin I wanted to introduce a couple of side characters who really show off the charm of the culture unique to this area–like fish fries, supper clubs, fishing, football, etc. Also…I wanted to share some of the funny stuff/sayings we use here! 😉
I have a feeling many of you think I highly exaggerated Tom and Dale, but in reality I kept them true to the source, and some of their lines are direct quotes from one of my uncles. 🙂
But don’t take my word for it! There is a Youtuber who specializes in exposing the humor of this exact way of life, so I wanted to share a few of his videos with you. He is exaggerating the accent a bit, but you might find it helpful to watch so you can understand how Tom and Dale sound when then talk.
This first video pulls double duty and gives you an idea of what it’s like to live in a small Midwestern town. Although in reality Timber Ridge is more cutesy looking then this and has more stop lights since the pack has worked hard with the city (and Mayor Pearl) to promote tourism
This particular video is great since it explores the expression “Ope!” which has made an appearance in other Magiford books as well.
