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illarian-rambling · 1 year ago

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can we get i an oc tour pretty please?

Sure!

Up first, we've got Izjik Meautammera, from Honor's Outcasts

(I'm so serious when I say these memes are the best refs I have)

She's 26 and a halawemavar selkie, which is just a selkie with catfish seasoning. Out of the four Outcasts, she's somehow both the most responsible and the most reckless. Her sense for emotion is keen, so she does her best to help everyone work through their pain, even when someone else might not notice they're upset. However, she's also the most likely to wrestle a greased elephant seal for a free beer. Let's call her the dad friend. She has a connection to a mysterious entity known as End as well, though she doesn't know much about it and would like to keep it that way. All she knows is that it gives her the ability to kill what shouldn't be able to die. Because of this ability, she was imprisoned in an undersea oubliette for eight years, alongside the man who would become her closest friend.

A man who's name is Sepo Kaiacynthus!

Sepo is a siren, though he can assume a human-like form as Izjik can. He was a priest to the god of song and drowned sailors until he burnt down the siren empress's palace and killed her daughter as revenge for the unfair execution of his brother. As punishment for this, his tongue was cut out (negating his vocal magic) and he was tossed into prison, where he met Izjik. Personality-wise, Sepo is prickly, easily aggravated, and generally grumpy. He loves to argue, even if he'd never admit it, and has a nobleman's sense of refinement tempered with a healthy dose of having lived in a pit for eight years. Together with Izjik, he took in a runaway sorcerer girl, by the name of...

Twenari Undetasib!

The daughter of the most successful smuggler on the Janazi sea, Twenari was raised as a tool more than a child due to her prodigious sorcery. When she finally broke under the strain, she ran away, pursued by her mother’s agents. She's a genius and not only a naturally talented sorcerer, but an ambitious one as well. She seeks to understand magic in all its facets, down to the most minute level. This can lead her down some dangerous paths, as she cares more about learning than her own wellbeing. Other than that though, she's a perfectly sensible and pragmatic girl (probably more so than the adult Outcasts). She can be rather awkward in social situations, as she's used to being a business asset, not a twelve-year-old. However, thankfully, she's not the face of the crew.

That distinction would go to one Djek Kagura

Djek is a 19 year old human who grew up on the streets of Fayuki after his parents abandoned him during a famine in an effort to save their six other children. This has left him with some pretty severe people pleasing problems, as he's terrified of being abandoned again. When he was fifteen, he fell in with the Tunnel Wasps (Twenari’s mother's smuggling operation), and was taken under the wing of a woman named Tyche, who forced him to commit many unsavory acts, including trying to recapture their boss's runaway daughter. Djek has a class clown sort of vibe. He's always trying to get a laugh, even if it's only as a distraction while he picks your pocket. Deep down though, he has a sensitive heart and longs for meaningful connections. He, like Twenari, is a sorcerer, though his magic is pretty measly compared to the average, and laughable compared to Twenari’s.

And that's the Outcasts quartet! They're a cute found family whose favorite hobbies include religious terrorism and uncovering maddening eldritch truths. The other group (just the MG crew, no catchy name) exists 20 years down the road from the adventures of the Outcasts, and though not directly connected, have a few similar encounters. Without further ado, here they are!

Up first is Astra DuClaire, the best witch of the borderlands

Or, at least, she says she's the best. Astra is a self-taught rune mage (hence the title witch, not mage, since she has no license) from humble beginnings. She seeks to pay off her mothers' debtor contracts, thereby releasing them from service in debtor's prison. Her personality might best be described as forceful. Astra is a loudmouthed braggart with an opinion on everything and a chip on her shoulder the size of a mountain. She believes deep down that she'll never be a truly good mage with her subpar education, so she covers this up with arrogance. Her story starts when she discovers a mysterious robot broken on the side of the road and decides to fix him up.

Said robot goes by the name of Mashal (surname Darezsho, but he doesn't know that at first)

Mashal doesn't remember anything before waking up in Astra's wagon. All he knows is his name, that he's lost, and that anything having to do with magic fills him with terrified paranoia and an urge towards violence. He seeks to discover what happened to him and who he is. Astra decides to aid him in this, and the two of them develop a friendship and later a romance on this quest. Mashal himself is rather soft-spoken, with a gentle heart that struggles to make sense of his violent instincts around magic. He has a talent for art and swordsmanship, and though his timidness can come across as weak, anyone who pushes him finds his morals are iron hard.

The third piece of this puzzle is Detevtive Ivander Montane

Born to a wealthy banking family, Ivander was always intended to follow along into the family business. When he was sixteen, he learned the truth of his family's dominance over the city of Unity's finances; the Montanes had made a deal with the god of greed. The contract Ivander signed with this god gave him the ability to call on miracles in exchange for his service. Only, when he couldn't bear hawking payday loans and convincing desperate fathers to sell their children as factory indentures any longer, he ran away. This default on his divine contract caused a curse to befall him. Slowly, Ivander's flesh is being eaten away and turned into smoke. This leaves him in terrible pain, though he covers his disfigurement with an illusion. Now 30 years old and disillusioned, Ivander works for the Unity Bureau of Arcane Investigation. His last hope to not die and be condemned to hell lays in mysterious killer known to strip the magic from their victims. Despite the horrors he's endured, there's still some good deep down in Ivander's heart. He's an incorrigible gossip, a selfish fop, and avoids emotional intimacy like the plague, however, he still loosely holds his childhood dream of helping people.

The next two characters are introduced in book 2. Sadly, I don't have funny little portraits for them yet.

First up is Elsind Cavernsight!

Elsind is a 20 year old changeling working for the Salis Legion of the People (a Skysheerian revolutionary group) as an infiltrator and spy. In Skysheer, changelings are frequently exploited, and like many of her kind, Elsind was kidnapped from a life with her loving elven mother at 13 to be used as a marquis's court freak. When they were 18, an SLP cell robbed the mansion they were kept in, and Elsind took a chance and escaped with them. Since then, he's been a loyal soldier fighting for his nation's freedom from tyranny. You might expect such a figure to be tough and jaded, but Elsind is nothing of the sort. They're a chatterbox, cry when nervous, and can't help but empathize with nearly everyone. They also have a deep appreciation for cheap romance novels.

On the other side of the coin, we have Duchon Avymere Kalaphon Spearsong III

Avymere is the Duchon of Salis (gender neutral form of Duke/Duchess), only child of the Archduke Eluan Spearsong. They are 153 years old and have been expertly manipulating the Salis gentry for nearly all of that time. To the court, they are a kindhearted, if ditzy, noble, who seems content to spend the rest of their days making social calls and practicing their odd martial arts hobby. In private, however, Avymere is a peerless spy who uses their unassuming persona to gather information for their father, to whom they are faultlessly loyal. They view themself as a servant of their people - more a tool than a person with wants and dreams. Despite their good intentions though, there is a disconnect between Avymere and the reality of Skysheer. They would consider easing tariffs to be a generous act, when in truth, most Skysheerians couldn't care less about foreign goods, and are more concerned with not starving or freezing to death.

And that's all the main characters! This turned out to be longer than I expected, but please let me know if you have any questions or comments. I also have their full bios (not Avymere or Elsind though, still gotta get on that) linked in my intro post, if you'd like a more in-depth look at anyone. Thanks for the ask, and you have yourself a bitchin day!

#writing #writerscommunity #writblr #my ocs #writing asks #oc intro

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cleverhottubmiracle · 1 month ago

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Of all the Swiss watch brands, Omega is perhaps most adept at strategic leaks. (See: Daniel Craig showing off a new, unreleased Seamaster and Speedmaster.) So our antennas were raised when it was announced that actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson—one of the leading candidates to succeed Craig as 007—is now officially an Omega brand ambassador. It could merely be a huge coincidence or a sign of things to come…Of course, such a signing isn’t a sure thing re James Bond. Taylor-Johnson is a big deal in his own right and few brands are as aggressive as Omega when it comes to snapping up talent. The brand could very well have added him to its staple by simple virtue of his significant talent as a thespian. But given the Swiss watchmaker’s proclivity for teasing significant news via its brand ambassadors, we’re inclined to think otherwise.Taylor-Johnson has been rumored to take over as 007 for years now. His name has been throw around with such frequency that even Pierce Brosnan gave him a co-sign. Plus, Taylor-Johnson checks all the boxes: tall, British, handsome… and now he’s even got the right watches. Then again, the Bond role is perhaps the most important lead of any film franchise on the planet, and those leading the franchise, which is now under Amazon’s control, has a habit of picking what initially seem less than sure things. (It turned out beautifully with Craig, much to the chagrin of many who derided his…blondness.)Courtesy of OmegaOur only horological hint that ATJ is perhaps not the next fictional MI6 agent with a license to kill is the watch he wore to Omega’s manufacturer. The actor wore a Speedmaster First OMEGA in Space on a brown leather strap (ref. 310.32.40.50.06.002). The FOiS is a modern take on the ref. CK 2998, the first Speedmaster worn outside the Earth’s atmosphere back in 1962. It predates the “twisted-lug” case that debuted with the ref. 105.012 in 1964 and still graces nearly every Speedmaster through the modern era. (With notable exceptions, of course.)While this is an excellent, vintage-inspired Speedy with serious horological cred, Bond (the character) is an ex-Royal Navy man and a loyal Seamaster wearer. Perhaps outfitting Taylor-Johnson in a dive watch before any news is confirmed would’ve been too on the nose? With Amazon now in control of the Bond franchise, we’ll have to wait for official confirmation from Bezos & Co. as to Taylor-Johnson’s future as 007. In the meantime, however, watch this space—at the very least, we should expect some cool new watches teased on his wrist in the coming years.John Krasinki’s IWC IngenieurKristina Bumphrey/Getty ImagesCourtesy of Ilaria UrbinatiSpotted at the NYC premier of his new film, the Guy Ritchie-directed Fountain of Youth, John Krasinski rocked the new IWC Ingenieur Automatic 40 in 18K 5N gold. Having tried this thing on during its debut Watches and Wonders 2025, we can attest to the fact that it absolutely rocks. Measuring 40 mm in diameter and paired to a matching gold bracelet, it features a black dial with the collection’s signature “grid” pattern, a 3 o’clock date window, and the automatic IWC cal. 32111 movement with 120 hours of power reserve. Based roughly upon the original Ingenieur SL designed by Gérald Genta in the ‘70s, it marries tool watch bona fides with nearly $50K worth of gold. (Hey, if you’re gonna go looking for the Fountain of Youth, you may as well do it in style, no?)Steph Curry’s IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake TahoeEllen Schmidt/Getty ImagesSteph Curry’s injury during round two of the NBA playoffs had one small silver lining. Freed from shooting preposterous threes, the all-time guard was able to prove his horological bona fides on the bench. Exhibit A: his IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe Curry. This positively enormous, 46.5mm ceramic timepiece pairs the IWC pilot’s watch case shape and heritage with the sophistication of a perpetual calendar module accurate until the year 2100. Colored ceramics have become an increasingly huge deal in the watch industry in recent years and this all-white case remains one of the most stunning executions out there. This Lake Tahoe colorway celebrates the white uniforms of U.S. naval aviation personnel.Austin Butler’s Breitling Chronomat 32Daniele VenturelliCourtesy of BreitlingSince becoming a Breitling ambassador, Austin Butler keeps pushing things smaller. He started his tenure with the brand by introducing the Top Time B31, one of the smallest men’s pieces in the brand’s lineup. This week, at Cannes to celebrate the premiere of his new film Eddington, Butler wore the Chronomat 32, a small, quartz-powered version of a watch that the brand originally designed for the Italian Frecce Tricolori Jet team in the 1980s. Available in a wide variety of case sizes, metals, configurations, colors, and more, the Chronomat is notable for the four “rider tabs” that appear on its bezel, which serve to protect the crystal when handling the watch and make bezel manipulation easier with gloved hands. Butler’s Chronomat 32, in particular, features steel construction, a cream-colored dial, and a “Rouleaux” bracelet with a butterfly clasp. And while not necessarily a dress watch, it looked killer with his tux.ASAP Rocky’s Bvlgari Monete Catene High Jewellery Secret WatchDaniele VenturelliIt’s official: ASAP Rocky won Cannes by virtue of his timepiece, a Bvlgari Monete Catene High Jewellery Secret Watch. What’s so cool about it, you ask? Made of gold and absolutely frosted with diamonds, it hides its mother-of-pearl dial behind a nearly 2,000-year-old denarius of Caracalla, a Roman emperor from the second/third centuries AD. Furthermore, this is a mechanical piece powered by the brand’s Picolissimo hand-wound mechanical manufacture micro-movement. It’s jewelry; it's historical; it's beautiful; it's horologically compelling. It’s dope as hell. Hopefully we can expect more “secret” watches on the red carpet after this sartorial gauntlet drop! Source link

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polarized-here · 10 months ago

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POLAR I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR OCS AND SEE THEIR CONCEPT ART‼️ please I need food, I need to eat your art sjdhhsjdhsj /lh

GRAHH FINE SINCE YOU ASKED… my lore. Sorry this is so late gngahgahshsjsh… you literally caught me as dinner came home. Like. Oops… crazy… right after I knocked out shekhrkdbddmbd anyway! :)

Under the cut because it may or may not be a long thing, with most plot points just being little ideas—no fully fleshed story, just, erm. Ideas I like.

Update. It’s long. Also tumblr is so glitchy rn it kept making this saved post disappear and then reappear in my asks after I exited the app and opened it again what the fuck 😭😭

So, in this world, a majority of the population do. Not. Have powers, having them is seen as a blessing, But… It's a dystopian themed world—where these powers are incredibly monitored and regulated by the government—with some being minor, and some being full on changes to the physical body and how they manifest. (ie. My excuse for drawing anthros… or kemonomimi… shushhhh/also allows me to just dump all of my ocs which you may have seen before, in one little world and play with them like they’re my puppets :( I love them sm!! One of them sora is from DND they hold a special place in my heart...)

But again, having these powers is seen as a blessing from a God of some sort—and a curse, as while they’re regulated by the national government heavily, some individuals still manage to slip by, or cause harm to the general public, so from this, they (the gov) took advantage of this to instill a system of ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ there’s a few ‘vigilantes’ but most either become heroes (through turning themselves in and doing plenty of community service work, and discussing a contract with some government representatives—most who become heroes are never the same. They always have a look in their eyes, as if valor to help their nation has blinded them), but some may become villains.

Heroes are those who just have a license and have signed a contract with the government—most get these contracts renewed or take a small few month break in between contract renewals. They’re unable to use their powers in these circumstances, unless it’s out of self defense. Civilians can too (those not heroes, are regulated by the government heavily, and choose not to pursue it. But it’s like US NAVAL contracts too. you can join programs in the gov that give you supplemental access and benefits to college/pay it off, etc etc etc. like the national guard but more celebritized), but they (civilians) need to find a GOOD lawyer. There’s so many laws that heroes are naturally given a smalllllll pass over, that it’s just best to run away, or be a hero in that small instance.

(This has sm mha influence. As sad as it is, that show influenced me sm. Got me into trying art. Fr fr/on digital. PLA is just where it improved a weeee bit).

OKAYYY ENOUGH AGOUT THE SET UP!! THE CHARACTERS… I’m so sorry idk why I’m rambling this much, I’m not even hyperfixated on my own OCs. Like what the fuck.

Anyways! A key note is that having bright colored hair is a key identification that you probably have powers that haven’t manifested yet, and the hair is always a bright color, unless, you’re Astor!

He’s got so much trauma *slaps roof of car.* You can fit so much trauma in this one bad boy. And despite it all he remains a good person. Dawg. You have more strength then I’d ever have. But igggg the want and need to help people because you were hurt and want to make a change does seem motivation enough… anyways. They’re so marysue coreee

The main character & a small-time vigilante going to the new school that’s just been set up. His hair only really turns those bright colors when she’s using their powers—but in the ref it’s just for convenience sake. She has so many skeletons in her closet, that they can’t risk being caught. But they love helping people too much. They’re a bit altruistic.

Here’s their vigilante suit ref :)

For ease of mind, they always have a small bit of static on their hands—both to stun new people meeting them. To make the air feel charged with thunder and electricity—a warning to her presence, and because it means their hair stays that color. No matter the charge. His eyes stay the same color though. Again. These are some old doodles from last year of some characters. Notably, that I also revamped. Heroes, villains, and vigilantes stories always hold a special place in my heart,,,

Next up is Anzu! Silly goober!!! Please give him head pats!!!! He loves it!!! This is Astor’s only… real friend. Since Astor likes his solitude. But tolerates Anzu’s silly behavior. Utter dichotomy between them!!! <333 I haven’t decided if they’d get together or nah, but! <3333

Yeah, this guy (and Astor) both have autism (I didn’t even realize that him liking trains was an autistic stereotype… oops. Mb gang. But like. Seriously. Ywah didn’t mean anything by it. I’m autistic myself and I’m possibly pursuing physics or engineering 💪💪 I think it’s alr if I project onto a character I made 🔥🔥🙏)

Yes, he’s based on the irl dinosaur. Yes, he’s autistic, hear me out. I just put lots of things together. And he just ended up with major tism 🔥🙏

And finally, a hero I designed :) I changed her a weeee bit. But she’s mostly the same sand manipulation :) villains dislike her since she puts sand in their shoes. Her big container is full of sand and stuff. She doesn’t have a weakness other then she needs to be a bit concentrated on making her sand creations—but they’re like second nature to her because of how long she’s been a hero. She’s an antagonist only because she’s trying to take Nexus in. She sees how sweet she can be to the native cats (from a distance. Never touching them, and she never knows why, they look at the native cats, longing to pet them but always stops) so she wants to take him in and make a case for him to join the government’s hero program.

Arizona! But her hero name is Sahara yk… Yeagh…. Anyways :) I love her lots. She does mean well. But she’s also blindly faithful in the government, or will see its problems and will deflect or try to be better to make things right. But she always holds rules above anything else. Even if she cares about someone who’s breaking them, a lot, so yeah… totally not talking about the mentor and mentee relationship between her and Nexus… where she pushes her morals aside just to listen to him seldom talk about his intrepid interests.

If Nexus didn’t have those powers—in her opinion—she would’ve made an excellent leader in whatever field he’d want to pursue. And she knows he’s got something up with them—some history. And that breaks her heart a little seeing how much pure joy Nexus gets at being able to try new things, like new foods, or try out purely common things that should be normal to a kid like herself.

Very much love found families and going to the extreme for them :33

ANYWAYS!!! Those are the main 3. I have some others I’ll show. But yk. They look a wee bit different + have names labeling them and the key parts of them. I don’t think tumblr would like me dropping all their refs :,)

Actually :O hold on, their refs are here. Trust

I’m so smart for pasting them all here. Trust anyways. Those are my pookies, so sorry this took so long.. erm I like them a lot. Oh yeah, I made a comic with them for art class. Yeagh. They were mostly changed for ease of drawing but yeah. I did not want to do it but I had not wanted to do this 🚬🚬

But yeah, pookies…. Sorry you probably didn’t want this comprehensive lore about them grrr

#art #my art #polar’s art #not fanart #oc #ocs #my ocs #polar’s asks #answered #dem0nguy #crazy…#I typed this all on docs to explain the formatting but Yeagh… my sillies crushes rhem #so sorry this took a while. again. this is all older art and idk. I just like bright colors…#polar’s OCs

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halothenthehorns · 5 months ago

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Chapter 9: Blitz Took Rachel Shopping At Some Point

Percy wasn’t happy.

But after a very brief argument with Annabeth, he’d had to concede that it was like trying to find a red needle in a stack of mortals.

So they were heading off to Boston. Argus handed the keys over, only blinking a few suspicious eyes at them as Percy showed off his license. Percy had sadly understood the confusion, the lady before him that day had smelled way to suspicious of illegal substances and it had lingered, he looked like he was trying to smile, breathe through his mouth, and show off his teeth all at once while forgetting the question he’d just been asked. It wasn’t a face he was happy to repeat on inspection.

Someone had repainted the buses recently to draw in more business in the wintertime. They were now bright pink, the strawberries painted all over with adorable cartoon faces, some even had googly eyes jostling in place with sunshine smiles and green hats. Percy’s promise not to crash it had sounded like a lie to his own ears as he started the engine.

At least he got to drive, as the other two made no claims.

Jason had remained silent through the ordeal of them bickering over eclairs and coffee as the bus wound its way through mid-morning traffic.

“I’m going to rip that horn out if you do that again,” Annabeth groaned from the seat behind him, still swaying from the motion of his lane change. “The Harpies don’t use it half as much as you!”

“It was a valid call ref,” Percy shrugged, nearly taking the bumper off a little hamster car with him as he swerved behind to make his exit.

Jason waited until they were through the worst of it and the green tinge to Annabeth’s face had faded, as well as her cussing out half the universe to a dull mutter, to ask, “did you guys dream last night?”

“No,” Annabeth said with a miserable frown, toying with the beads of her necklace once more. There was a red coral pendent there that looked like a real ruby flashing about. He’d almost rather she finger the hilt of her knife strapped in place, that felt less ominous. Even though Jason had never seen them before, they looked right, made her look whole again.

“Nada,” Percy agreed, though he at least sounded relieved not to have any more twisted nightmares from his ‘not dad.’

“I dreamed I was back at the Wolf House,” it felt like a confession, though it was nothing to really hide. “I saw this enormous wolf, twice the size of any of them there. She promised me I was on the right path now, but she wouldn’t offer me any help.” He kept the craziest part to himself, worried they’d tell Thalia. She wouldn't take it well if she heard him refer to some animal as his mother, but that’s what he’d felt when he looked at Lupa. The she-wolf was the closest thing to family he’d had before he’d lost himself, he’d woken up sure of it.

“I’ve heard of Lupa,” Annabeth agreed, she’d already tried to get a bit of studying on Rome’s history in, if not as much as she liked. Curse her easy proneness to car sickness or she’d still be studying now. “It’s odd she got a message to you when the rest of the gods either can’t or won’t still.” Her nails ripped up some polyester when the bus went up on two wheels to make a hairpin turn. Neither of them looked out the window to see why Percy had made that decision.

They weren’t exactly sure what park they were looking for, and it was hard to believe anyone would be waiting there in this weather that constantly spat ice and rain down all day as they searched, but when they finally rumbled into the strange town of Boston, it only took them a few hours to hunt around all of them and find them. They sort of stuck out.

Percy barely took the time to throw the bus in park, and it still skidded a few feet on the ice and rested on the sidewalk anyways as he jumped out. “Rachel!”

She was in a downy teal jacket that somehow made her startling red curls a fashionable accessory for once, and the marker littered jeans seem artful instead of erratic. She was sitting on a duck statue just out of the stormy gloom and watching a stout man intently when she whipped around and went running to meet Percy.

They collided and went down in a pile of snow and laughter from the ice, but helped each other up quickly still hugging and trying to out talk the other, Annabeth and Jason smiling all the while.

“-found myself in Pakistan,” she was explaining, still a little breathless.

“What?” Percy asked blankly.

Rachel laughed again and clapped her hands together to chase the snow out of her matching gloves. Which was strange. She never wore anything matching unless she was in her school uniform. “So glad I still get to see that confused look, book or no book. It’s the largest dam in the world. I think Oceanus was aiming for the Hoover dam? Maybe he was listening in? Honestly Percy, who can say,” she rolled her eyes and didn’t seem particularly concerned at having found herself halfway across the world. “I only just got here this morning from all the flight connections I had to make.”

“Why are you here?” Annabeth asked with polite puzzlement, still studying her first elf with deep interest more than paying attention to the two; despite the fact she had half a dozen questions ready for Rachel on such a landmark in her back pocket.

“Don’t know,” she confessed. “I was making my way towards Camp, but I just had this hunch when I was at my last terminal.” She shrugged and looked back at the two. “I found them here, and we got to talking. They seemed to guess I wasn’t just another crazy art student somehow. I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is Blitz, and Hearth.”

“I’ve got a nose for that kind of thing,” the stouter of the two agreed, his dark skin and wild black beard hiding most of his face.

“Hey man, glad you’re okay, Magnus was pretty worried about you,” Percy grinned at Hearth. “Where’d you land?”

“Some all girls school,” Blitz answered, his voice remaining gruff as he studied Annabeth.

Rachel barely smothered a giggle as she explained, “mine, to be exact.”

“I’m going to kill that Titan,” Percy sighed. They never would have found him there!

Hearth signed something else. Not one of them had a clue what, but it didn’t look like he was offering to bring them to a taco joint as far as Percy could tell to explain how he’d wound up here next.

Then he waved his hand impatiently at them, and Blitz reluctantly seemed to ask a question that he knew the answer to as he kept studying the three of them. His voice was bleak. “Where's the kid?”

Annabeth’s tears froze in the corner of her eyes, her voice choked on nothing.

“We promised him you’d have a safe place to call home if you wanted,” Percy said. “I’m making good on that,” he gestured back to the bright bus, he’d only lost one googly eye on the ride, glad his girlfriend had a strong stomach and it wouldn’t smell like vomit, or strawberries.

The two exchanged a look, and their hopes plummeted like those stone ducks would if they were dumped in the pond even before they shook their heads.

“Please,” Annabeth stepped forward, offering out her hand. “I’m sorry, I want to explain, and we want to help you.”

“We don’t need help,” Blitz said not unkindly. “He was under our protection, and I’m glad you two got a chance to get to know each other.”

Hearth signed something and pointed at the tree. Blitz nodded and went back to studying Annabeth. “Did he die with a weapon in his hands?”

Annabeth looked down at her palm in confusion, before she shook her head.

This clearly troubled both of them more than the obvious news he was dead. Hearth signed something else, and Percy and Jason knew one of those. He was asking something about Alex.

“Alex did,” Jason said firmly. “He died protecting one of our friends.”

“Then that’s where we’ll start,” Blitz nodded his thanks and turned to walk off.

“At least come to camp for a few days, just, just so you know where to find it,” Annabeth tried, but there was defeat in her voice Percy loathed to hear.

“Oh, we’ve got our ways of finding places we need to,” Blitz assured. “You look after yourself Annabeth.”

“How did you-” but she stopped and smiled at Hearth, who nodded and waved farewell. They walked towards the tree, and then like the world bent out of shape to mess with them, suddenly the two were gone. They wanted to blame their exit on the Mist, but somehow they felt it was something else, something different than what they could even comprehend. Just like everything else about Alex and Magnus since the moment they’d met.

“They’re going to try and find him in their afterlife,” Percy said, a chill running down his spine that had nothing to do with the tree dripping ice down his jacket.

“I hope Nico’s back by now,” Jason said grimly. “We’ve got way too many people going underground when they couldn't possibly be doing it at the worst time.”

Percy put his arm around Annabeth and turned to Rachel. “Nice jacket.”

“Thanks, Blitz picked it out.” Rachel grinned. “He’s got an amazing sense of style, though according to him he’s a special dwarf.”

Nobody even blinked. It really just made too much sense at this rate. “How many days you got left for your winter break?” He asked instead.

“A week,” she said in relief. “It’s high time I get to enjoy some of it!”

“Yeah, about that,” Percy sighed as they began trudging back to the bus. Annabeth kept sniffing and looking over her shoulder, but tucked her hands into his pockets all the same. “We didn’t exactly get early parole for good behavior…”

#pjo #Hoo #Percy Jackson #Annabeth Chase #Jason Grace #rachel elizabeth dare #hearthstone #blitzen

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calicosnook · 1 year ago

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Tell me about Harper, your One piece oc!

THERE IS SO MUCH LORE TO HER. OH MY GOD. also a lot of details i don't go over (primarily from age 8-10) since it's super sensitive and traumatic

!!! also general trigger warning brief drug mentions and for abuse of all kinds (including slavery and anything regarding the Celestial Dragons in One Piece) !!!

yapping below cut!!

okay so she's a harp seal fishman first off!

ref below! also in the corner is her (8) and her older sister Carrine! (whom i just realized i didn't add her spots...)

she is 6'9 feet tall and 20, she's a doctor (not licensed but what crew doc in one piece is licensed) and keeps track of a lot of stuff for her crew! (nobody follows her diet plans even when she asks nicely).

to go chronologically, she was born in the Ryugu Kingdom (aka Fishman Island). she was primarily taken care of by her older sister, Carrine as their mother was (and still is) an addict. Carrine had a necklace with a great white shark tooth attached to it, belonging to her childhood friend (Hody).

when the girls were 8 and 18, they were sold to a Celestial Dragon (and enslaved). soon after they were bought off by one of the Gorosei, Nusjuro.

when Carrine refused to do something for Nusjuro, she was shot in the face in front of Harper. all she got to keep was the necklace Carrine gave to Harper when they were first enslaved in case anything happened to Carrine.

after roughly 2 years, consisting of every kind of abuse, Harper was sent to the Marines when she was 10. she was put in a branch that my bf and i made called the Navy Seals, a branch made up mostly of enslaved seal fishmen.

there she met Leo, her future adoptive father and captain, and Ellen, a future crewmate. together, they escaped and formed their crew, the Seal Pirates. from then on, Harper studied medicine to help others!

!! regarding events / arcs / sagas in One piece !!

The Seal Pirates were working for the Donquixote Pirates, originally they were watching over Caesar Clown experiments on Punk Hazard, until the Strawhats showed up. they ran off to alert Doflamingo in Dressrosa, then staying on alert and on watch for the Strawhats. they made a quick escape when Doflamingo was fighting Luffy.

then the crew ran off to Wano, specifically Onigashima as Doflamingo was working with / for the Beast Pirates. they clashed a lot with the crew, but remained with them for protection until the Strawhats showed up (again), where then they had minor clashes with the Strawhats and the alliance they had, running out of Wano when the raid began.

after Wano, i'm not sure where they are going as the manga is still going ^_^! Harper generally works as a doctor for the crews her crew works for and teaches first aid / medical classes for people in the local area or said crew. While in Wano, Harper was stationed at the prison in Udon with All-Star Queen.

that's all for my yap session!

bonus seal pup! (not sure what seal though..)

#one piece oc #one piece #op oc #oc backstory #yapping #professional yapper

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norajworld · 1 month ago

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mmmbuttery · 2 years ago

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I just wanted to put in a couple of cents for claim 4 "England had a homophobic propaganda campaign against Italian tourism because Italy was turning their kids gay" but it's complicated and comes in a couple of parts.

There was a British propaganda campaign against Italian tourism but it was because of Catholicism:

In Our Time (radio show on BBC and is available online) has an episode called The Grand Tour from May 2002 which talks about some historic British anti-Italy propaganda. The show is mostly about cultural resonance of European travel to the British, but a speaker mentions a campaign against travel overseas (based mostly on xenophobia) mostly because of fears of Catholicism in Spain, France and Italy, which is the home of the Vatican and the Pope, hence ground zero for bad (~3:55 minutes in). It is in this section that the pamphlets and sermons are mentioned by Jeremy Black, Professor of History, University of Exeter (maybe he's got some references to the pamphlets and sermons in his book, The British Abroad: The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century which is mentioned on the show but I haven't read it).

2) Italy turning kids gay:

In Our Times doesn't discuss this.

There is further discussion about ignorant tourists behaving badly, aristocratic young men, gambling, sexually transmitted disease, drunkenness, and general sexual license while traveling which sounds like it's mostly heterosexual but homosexuality is is also mentioned. There is also discussion of people being sent abroad as way of having them behave badly outside Britain and hence using the Grand Tour a bit of a relief valve- so there was actively wanting these people to sin elsewhere, including Italy. (Like the old spring party week stereotype but Europe/Italy instead of Daytona Beach)

There is a passing reference to homosexuality as the 'Italian vice' (~19:30 but speakers did not go into why this vice is specifically considered Italian, perhaps in combination with the decriminalization of homosexuality mentioned in the Todd's video (?) but that happens toward a much later part of the period of history the show is talking about) and they refer to William Thomas Beckford, an aristocrat and writer who self-exiled after proof of his complicated sexual history appeared, and then traveled across Europe after 1784- so in this example, he was outed before he traveled to Italy and wasn't made gay by Italy (wikipedia ref).

Further, there’s a chapter in the book Italian Sexualities Uncovered, 1789–1914, called The ‘Italian Vice’: Male Homosexuality and British Tourism in Southern Italy, where the author writes that same-sex practices were thought to have originated in Italy and that "in some writings it [sodomy or pederasty] was linked to Catholicism" and maybe this connects up to the first bit but the reference here goes to an Italian document and I don't know Italian, so that's that. However, the chapter continues by claiming that British male homosexuals actively went to Italy for sex a lot (especially southern Italy, because of the social leniency before decriminalization and the lower cost of living and also the belief that because the climate is hot, so were the sexualities of the people who lived there), to the point where Italians considered pederasty “il vizio inglese” or (as google translate calls it) “the English vice.”

I still think the claim as made by Somerton is wrong and it's a little complicated to pick it apart, but I wanted to give a reference (not saying any of these is the source of Somerton's claim or wherever the person he got it from got it from).

Note, I am not a historian but I happened to have heard this episode years ago and so I went back and dug around a little bit extra on the internet to figure out where this claim came from. If actual historians want to weigh in on this (I'm sure actual historians are actually busy with other stuff), I'm all ears.

youtube

This video is important.

We all watched the hbomb vid (or at least got a summary of it) explaining how Somerton stole much of his "research" word-for-word from other queer creators and writers.

Okay, so, we unsubscribe from his channel; we've done our part; everything is cool now, right?

Unfortunately, no. The biggest damage Somerton did may not have been to those he stole from. Rather, it was inventing large swathes of LGBTQ+ history out of whole cloth, tinged with his own incel-adjacent brand of misogyny and weird anti-establishment centrism.

Worse, many of the "facts" Somerton invented are freely circulating on the internet, even on this website, and they are coloring how queers - and especially young queers - understand our own history.

So it's not enough that Somerton's empire burns and he flees with his tail between his legs. We need to actively purge all of the nonsense he injected into the discourse - out of his own personal agendas and resentments - in the years he was posing as an intellectual authority (perhaps the intellectual authority) on our history and experiences.

So give it a watch. It's not nearly as long as the hbomb video and it's neatly organized as well. Save it as a reference for the next time someone pulls out a "Somerton fact" you need to debunk.

Let's work to preserve our history from liars and charlatans.

#james somerton #history #wrong #todd in the shadows #italy #in our time #the grand tour #a little bit of a correction #expanded comment from the video #commenting on this took a lot more time that I really wanted to spend but I wanted to make sure I got as much correct as I could

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alexbkrieger13 · 2 years ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/alexbkrieger13/730914324739244033/in-comparison-to-other-nations-that-currently-have

In addition we have the 51% rule in Sweden. It means clubs don't have one majority owner and is owned in majority by its members. The members have a big say in the clubs and the annual member meeting is the highest deciding body in the club organisation. Not the board, the club director or the chairman. The majority vote of the members can say yes or no to the board's suggestions. What is decided at the annual meetings is what the board will work with the coming year. They're accountable to the members and the members have the option to remove the board with a vote of no confidence. It's a bit more details and rules to it than this, but this is a simplified way to explain how the clubs function overall.

When Kopparbergs/Göteborg folded the women's team, the chairman and main sponsor Bronsman got offers from people who wanted to buy the club. When he explained how club football worked in Sweden, they lost interest 😂

The Swedish league is semi-professional. In some teams most players if not all play football full time, Rosengård for example. In others there's an even mix of full time paid players and those who have part time jobs or study. Some teams just have a few full time players while in others there are no full time players at all.

All head coaches are required to have a Uefa Pro license, the highest there is in Europe.

The double clubs in Sweden with both a men's and women's senior team have been slow to start investing in women's football. Häcken is the first to make the same resources available for both the men and women. Hammarby has come around in recent years but not too long ago, they were yoyo-ing between the top tier and the relegation league.

For the refs, we have 2 female refs who are full time refs. Tess Olofsson is the most known of the two. She reffed at the World cup and is a CL ref. She's also reffing men's elite football in Sweden.

The league was expanded from 12 to 14 teams a couple of years ago. Two teams are relegated and a third gets to play for survival. Compared to in England which is a 12 team league and where one team is relegated.

Yeah it's a very different kind of setup

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midnightfire1222 · 2 years ago

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Finally got a new WotH design ref to share! This time we have Blaze, princess of the Sol Tribe! Thanks so much to my co-writer for helping me come up with this beautiful design!

Also here's some more lore for her, so far:

Princess of the Sol Tribe, Blaze hails from a land shrouded in mystery that lies beyond the Requiem Mountains of Rhapsody. There was once a way through the mountains courtesy of the mines of the village of Elegy, but after a cave in due to a yeti moving in the town was abandoned. Blaze was young when this happened, but she was able to pick up the language thanks to a pair of siblings her tribe had taken in long ago that hailed from outside the Valley of the Sun - the area her people called home - and is fluent in both tongues.

A recent tragedy struck her home however when an umbra dragon belonging to the witch Ursula Belle attacked her home, and she's since been traveling with Sonic, Amy, and co. in order to help them stop this witch, and find her place in the world while she's lost. She's currently training under Amy to earn a full Huntress license while she figures things out. She dreams of one day bringing whatever is left of her scattered tribe back together again.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fandom #sonic girl #blaze the cat #blaze the cat fanart #sonic alternate universe #alternate universe #alternate history #ref sheet #magic #fire #pyromancer #wars of the heart #woth

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notebooknebula · 4 years ago

Video

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Flip Real Estate Virtually with Paul Lizell & Jay Conner

Jay Conner