This is the ππππππππππππππππ ππππππππ, a place where I archive info-dumps about my multi-fandom OCs.
This thread will be full of lengthy character sheets, although for now it will be a WIP-filled ghost town.
OC LIST
Upcoming fandoms for OCs are as follows: ( OCs mentioned below have their form finished and are posted in this thread )
Avatar film series (David Cameron)
Avatar: The Last Airbender (tv series)
Harry Potter (films only, as I'm currently reading the second book)
Place of birth: Kilfinane town, County Limerick, the Republic of Ireland
Age: 20-30~ (Depends)
Gender: Cis female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Ethnicity: Irish traveller (also known as an lucht siΓΊil (βthe walking peopleβ) in Irish)
Nationality: Irish and American
Education: (home-schooled) Primary school, (traditionally-schooled) secondary school, and a two year college degree in fashion design
Occupation: Γde works as a shopkeeper and seamstress in her great-aunt Agatha Moran's haberdashery and styling services shop called Buttons and Bobbins.
Residence: Γde both lives and works in Buttons & Bobbins in St. John's, Newfoundland with her Aunt Agatha. The building is a narrow yet tall thing, tucked away in a little alleyway, and some pass it without knowing β not seeing the little sign on the high street.
Old Cellar (underground): Auntie has long had her bedroom in the old cellar. Auntie has the fridge in her bedroom, thanks to the absurdity of this building's layout, and that's a bonus in her opinion.
Ground floor: A labyrinth of shelves full of second-hand fabrics repurposed from reused clothes unable to be taken into charity shops, and unique, Γde-made clothes from thrifted clothes and ribbons, buttons, needles, bobbins, etc. Tucked away here, behind a little locked door, is the kitchen-come-living-room, with its own little window looking out into a small back garden of Aunt Agatha's cheeky garden gnomes and Γde's struggling vegetable patch.
First floor: The labyrinth of shelves continues up a curving, wooden staircase and into a tighter room that has a lockable door to its entrance. Once the door opens, two fitting cubicles meet your eyes, along with a little dais (for customers getting fitted or measured for clothes) with three full length mirrors of different fashions blocking the window's view. A little desk and chair is tucked to the side, along with a rail of half-made and finished clothes behind it. A folder of dimension notes, nagging ideas, and shopping lists sits on the desk, along with a chugging sewing machine and a pair of glasses. It's here that the customers can request a garment, have Γde take their dimensions, and, after a fortnight or two, have a fitting before taking the garment.
Second floor: It seems that the higher you go, the more crazed the layout of the shop gets. It seemed so reserved and neat on the outside. Here, the level stretches out backwards in the direction of the cramped back garden, making the single room of the second floor an extra foot in length. This extra space also allows it to have a nook to place a customer's toilet and washbasin. It's here that sewing machines are stored to be sold, and other purchases that are more expensive than the items sold on the ground floor.
Third floor (Attic): The most cramped of the levels despite only being one room β with its lower ceiling and a wall of boxes along the north and south side of the room, around Γde's personal belongings. It used to simply be a storage room β used for items her aunt hasn't gotten around to sell, old belongings, and past regrets β until Γde came along from Kilfinane. The attic is a simple bedroom-come-storage room now, with an old, thin wardrobe, a creaking, metal-framed bed with a patchwork quilt, a little bookshelf nailed to the far wall, and a chest of drawers all jumbled amongst the clutter of sealed and labelled boxes. The attic isn't terrible conditions in winter, only in summer, when the heat rises from the bottom of the building to it's very top, and Γde has to relocate for that season to sleeping on the camp bed on the kitchen's floor.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Personality: Γde is a striking mix of poise, wit, and gentle dominance. She carries herself with a forced elegance that seems effortless to unassuming eyes, yet her mind is always working β analysing, planning, creating. To strangers Γde appears reserved or even aloof thanks to her serious demeanour, lengthy vocabulary, and carefully measured words. However, those who spend time with her will discover that she is someone with a deep sense of empathy with a lack of knowing how to outwardly express it to those who are not used to her ways. Γde tends to keep her own struggles private, preferring to handle problems by herself than burden others. She sees beauty in the overlooked β from scraps of fabric that she turns into something exquisite, to the house spider living in the attic that she collects flies for.
Hobbies: The Roaring Twenties and it's fashion history, embroidery, scrapbooking, reading historical detective fiction, basketball, and building her antique broach collection.
Skills: She has moderate first aid knowledge (due to her job needing that skill), is fluent in Irish sign language and is learning American sign language, has good deductive skills from her love of reading detective fiction, clothes making, and identifying birds (a skill passed down from her father).
Likes: Fashion design, make-up, playing solitaire on her phone, "creepy crawlies", karaoke bars, collecting knickknacks from charity shops, theatre performances, and trying to out-nice her petty neighbours.
Dislikes: Liars and fake people, being late to anything, flower bouquets ("Why not just gift a potted flower?"), neon colours, loud environments, and babies (she doesn't know how to relate to them).
PHYSICAL
In her finger-waved wig:
Out of her wig:
(A very rare sight for others to see, unless she is caught at 3am or is ill in bed and unable to properly put her wig on. Note that Γde has alopecia areata and will have large patches of hair loss on scalp, so the image below is not wholly what her appearance is.)
Appearance: Γde has a tall, slim build and yet also carries a wiry strength to her, standing at 6β2β (6β4β in her 20's heels). Her skin is pale with a cool undertone. She wears a dark brown wig styled in a short, 1920s finger-waved bob to match her antique aesthetic. She is meticulous about keeping her wig perfect. Itβs more costly than her entire hand-made wardrobe and thrifted accessories.
Her face is androgynous, with high cheekbones, a strong jawline, and an aquiline nose. Her eyes are deep-set and a cold grey-blue. Underneath her wig she has her patchy hair from her alopecia areata, which she keeps short for practicality and cleanliness. Her teeth are clean, sharp and crooked β not enough to cause a speech impediment, but enough to make Γde grow up self-conscious of her natural "wonky fangs".
Γde has her earlobes pierced and has a half-finished, faded stick and poke tattoo from her 18th birthday as a tramp stamp. She has three woodcut tattoos, all from her years spent living in St. John's.
Her first tattoo is of intertwined snowdrops. It is on the inside of her upper forearm, facing her. Snowdrops was her mother's favourite flower.
A significant quote from Macbeth, split into "fair is foul" and "foul is fair" curved on top and below her right knee.
A jackdaw on a branch on her left upper arm. She got it simply for aesthetics.
(It's funny to point out that none of her tattoos will probably ever be seen by other characters because of her fashion-taste, lmaoo )
Style: Γdeβs wardrobe is rooted in 1920s-inspired silhouettes β clean lines, dropped waists, and muted colour palettes (mainly light blues and creams). She leans toward practicality and always tailors them with her own hands. Accessories are subtle but meaningful β a scarf with hand-stitched details, or woollen gloves sheβs repaired herself. Her favourite hat is her blue cloche hat, fitted with a thrifted butterfly brooch.
When in the comfort of her own home and with no one seeing her but her aunt, Γde doesnβt wear her wig but (if itβs cold, which it often is in their home) a beanie.
Some examples of her casual dresses:
Summer and winter coat:
Her formal outfits that she wears to important events:
RELATIONSHIPS
Family:
Γdeβs mother passed away when Γde was just three years old, leaving behind little more than a few belongings and a single photograph β the one Γde keeps blue-tacked to her bedroom wall. The photograph is worn and curling at the edges, but to Γde, it is one of her most precious possessions. Eithne is smiling in the picture, her hair pinned back with a scarf. Γde has memorized every detail in the photo.
Ciar was born deaf and although life was not always easy, he made himself a grounding presence for Γde. His hands were rarely still. He had an artistβs soul and a deep appreciation for the beauty of everyday life, even if his own work rarely left the walls of their small home.
Ciarβs dream was always to leave behind something beautiful β a painting that might outlive him β but when he passed away from misdiagnosed sepsis Γde buried him with his favourite painting, dishonouring his wish to be remembered through his art. His grave lies beside Eithneβs in the quiet fields of Adare, marked by a simple stone and wildflowers their children planted before Γde left Ireland.
His death left Γde with a hollow ache she still carries. He had been her safe place, and her cheerleader, encouraging her creativity. Three months after his funeral, unable to bear the family caravanβs silence, Γde accepted her Aunt Agatha's asking for an aid in Button's and Bobbins and left Ireland β a choice that still feels bittersweet.
Auntie Agatha is Γdeβs great-aunt on her maternal grandmotherβs side β a woman of iron resilience and quiet tenderness who took Γde in after her fatherβs death. Although sheβs well into her nineties and her health is beginning to falter, Agatha still carries herself with a no-nonsense outlook. She's the head of Buttons and Bobbins despite what others may think when they see the pair Agatha and her great-niece make. Γde will not do anything about the haberdashery without asking of Agatha's opinion out of respect β even though Agatha has told Γde time and time again to "do it if it's necessary".
Γde worries constantly about Agathaβs health. She notices every cough, every moment when her aunt must sit to catch her breath, and the anxiety of it can suddenly gnaw at her while she is away doing the weekly shop or attending her basketball club. To Γde, Agatha represents a safe solidness β and losing her would feel like losing her entire past.
BACKSTORY
Γde O'Rinn was unintentionally born in a traditional Irish travellerβs caravan in 1998 to her parents Eithne (nee Prendergast) and Ciar OβRinn. Eithne, a primary school teacher, came from Kenmare and had gone against her strict familyβs wishes to marry the man of her dreams β Ciar, a partially deaf, self-identifying βadventurerβ who had promised βall the world [he could] giveβ to her. Despite this promise, however, Eithne passed away from the effects of lymphoma when Γde was three and Eithne was twenty-seven and Ciar twenty-six.
Although life was not always easy with one parent, Ciar made himself a grounding presence for Γde as she grew up. He had an artistβs soul and a deep appreciation for the beauty of everyday life, even if his personal paintings of nature rarely left the walls of their caravan home. He was patient and kind, with a dry sense of humour. Growing up as the only hearing person in their tiny family, Γde was his translator from a young age β often the cute, little haggler between her father and the farmer Ciar wanted to buy horse feed from.
Γde's early years were filled with daily home-schooling with her father as they slowly rode through Ireland's rural landscape in their bright, horse-pulled caravan. It wasn't a lot in monetary value, but it was home. Γde wouldn't have wanted anything else, even with the tribulations she had growing up and the prejudice that came with it.
When it came for Γde to begin secondary school, Ciar decided that moving to Dingle was best. Someplace stationary. There, Ciar was promised a weekly wage from a small, family-owned farm called Setting Sun Orchard if he worked as a farmhand. It offered a secure and better paying job, and he decided β after visiting the local secondary school with her β that it was the perfect fit for Γde.
The tiny family planned to only stay pitched up in Setting Sun Orchard until Γde left secondary, however, after she visited the local college, the two of them went on to continue to live on the farm during Γde's two year college degree in fashion design. It was during her years of college that she found her specific passion for wearing 1920's clothing.
The month after Christmas, months before Γde finished her college degree, Ciar suffered sepsis shock while working on the farm. It was misdiagnosed by the ambulance service as being the common cold. He passed away in hospital after being rushed in too late.
Ciarβs dream was always to leave behind something beautiful β a painting that might outlive him β but when he passed away from sepsis, a teenage Γde buried him with his favourite painting, dishonouring his wish to be remembered through his art. His grave lies beside Eithneβs in a quiet field of Kenmare, marked by a simple gravestone between them and a patch of wildflowers their daughter planted . . .
MISCELLANEOUS
Your grandmother very probably loves her
Γde has to write lists for everything due to how chaotic her work-life is.
She jokingly calls herself a lady while her sharp manners aren't far from it.
Despite Γde's formal personality, she has shown an occasional inclination for punching louts.
Growing up, Γde dreamt of becoming a fashion designer with her own brand. Now she simply wants her remaining family to stay safe.
Agatha Christie is Γde's favourite author, thanks to her 66 novels being set in her beloved roaring 1920's that are within the mystery genre.
She has a mild strawberries allergy (hives and mild swelling if ingested β uncomfortable but not life-threatening if treated quickly).
DYNAMIC IDEAS
Small haberdashery owner x major fashion owner β underdog x top dog / professional competition / rivals to lovers, rivals who are lovers
Jackson β As a butch woman, she goes by Jackson to further masculinise herself through her preferred name.
Jackie β A nickname that can be reasoned to be from both her birth name, Jaqueline, but also Jackson.
Alias: Jackson Turnbull β 'Turnbull' is an English surname that means "bull-turner"; someone who is strong enough to steer a bull in the correct direction. Jackson uses this alias in the boxing ring to badly hide her legal name.
Date of birth: 12th December 2002
Place of birth: Dust (a fictional small, incorporated town), Texas, U.S.A.
Age: 23
Gender: Cis female
Orientation: Bisexual
Ethnicity: European-American
Nationality: American
Occupation: Bartender for The Tumbleweed (an underground boxer in The Tumbleweed's downstairs ring)
Residence: Jackson lives with her old adopted cat in an old caravan parked in a lay-by. She opens her front door to a concrete field of metal waste. Opposite her lay-by and a five minutes walk down the road, the outskirts of Dust are found, along with The Tumbleweed, where she works.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Personality: Jackson's personality is best described as a discarded firework yearning for a carelessly dropped, half-smoked cigarette. She is someone who's energy that gets them through life isn't other's laughter or anything of the sweet sort but their own anger. She's brash, with a loud personality to match. She's not one to wait patiently and quietly. It seems that everyone acts too slow for Jackson. Her easily angered, socially-withdrawn nature has lost her many friends but has also gained her a few peculiar ones. To the few promises she makes, Jackson never break them. She is as stubborn as they come β the kind of person who will set out to do whatever nonsense she said she'd do while drunk. Secretly a softie with a truck-load of trauma, anyone trying to get close to Jackson needs the patience of all the saints and any minor gods.
Hobbies: Playing cheap indie horror games (they're always peak), weightlifting, cooking hearty meals, (secretly) crochet, (attempts at) song-writing, spoiling her old cat rotten
Skills: She has strong build and mindset, is always good to have on hand in a fight, can play the guitar (a past hobby), can make a mean crochet scarf, handling spicey food decently well
Adores: Denim on denim, being braless, stormy nights, folk songs, crocs, long walks, nine-banded armadillos, listening to the radio
Detests: Summer, horses (has a deep fear of them that has origins in her childhood), snobbish people, forced smiles (she doesn't smile unless she genuinely feels it), gossip
PHYSICAL
Appearance: Jackson has a tall, chubby-muscular build, with an inverted-triangle body shape, her shoulder's wider than her hips. She stands at 5'10". Her skin has strong tan lines on her neckline, arms and knees from wearing a tank top and 3/4 shorts in the burning hot months. Her hair is a rich brown that falls in thick curls, which she often styles loose and wild. Jackson has two piercings in both of her earlobes, which are always decorated with little stud jewellery.
Trigger warning: This transgender OC is set in a dystopian future, so there will be canon-aligned transphobia mentioned in this form, however I do not endorse hate of any kind to trans people.
ANN TASKER
Ann's photograph taken for her Selection application,
dressed in borrowed clothes and earrings.
She was meant to look in the camera lens and smile,
however she didn't know which camera
and she didn't want to smile either.
BASICS
Full name: Ann Joan Tasker
Nickname: Bones β given to her by her old high school friends for her love of palaeontology and archaeology
Date of birth: September 25th 21XX
Place of birth: Unknown due to her being adopted, although it is assumed she was born in Hansport
Age: 20-25
Gender: Transgender female
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Ethnicity: European-Illean
Nationality: Illean
Occupation: A jill-of-all-trades in brick-laying, scaffolding, and being a hireable gardener
Residence: Lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her mom and ma in a mass flat
'THE SELECTION' FANDOM CONTEXT
Caste: Seven
Province: Hansport
Reason(s) for entering the Selection: Ann is a woman you would have bet money on that she wasn't going to apply for the Selection, however she did. Not under the general reasons of ballgowns, riches, and happily ever afters, but for the money. It makes her sound greedy, Ann knows, however there is no other way to both climb up Illea's caste system (for Atropos* to have more opportunity to grow) and gain money from it the longer she is there (for her savings towards top surgery, for Ann personally cannot survive on non-medical transitioning alone). Other selected will think her selfish (and treasonous!) if they found out her initial reasons for joining this competition for the prince's hand as a "cash grab" from a "rebel sympathiser".
*Look at 'Political views' for explanation of what Atropos is
Why was she selected by the king?: Ann became a selected due to the king seeing her as the perfect scapegoat if anything went wrong / the selected who can be used and abused for the forced dramatics of the Selection (which are very vital because the Selection is how the royal family hypnotise a new generation of their citizens into liking them) / the only caste seven in the royal palace, let alone this royal love competition.
(Note: Ann's transgender identity very probably isn't known in the Selection application because the king, to put it bluntly, probably didn't realise that either A) any trans women would bother applying or, worst of both scenarios, B) the king doesn't believe that trans people exist, because he's the freaking king of a dystopian nation)
Attitude towards the Selection: She sees the Selection as a means to an end. She's not enamoured by the hoarded wealth of the palace β more like disturbed. At first, Ann does only what she must (e.g. going on dates with the prince, eating at the royal dinner table, sleeping in a suite the size of her living room back home) to continue being in the Selection . . . however, disastrously, she begins to get little flutters in her stomach whenever she makes the prince smile.
Thoughts on the Royal family: Hates them. Next question.
Political views: Ann is anti-caste and anti-monarchy. She believes that monarchical rule is too imbalanced between the powerful and the people people for it to be natural. She's partaken in peaceful protests that have turned sour when police came with guns. Yes, Ann may have been amongst the crowd, her face painted and dressed in baggy, all black clothes to obscure her identity from drones, but she never threw a punch β only getting punched.
Atropos is a monthly pamphlet that is anonymously printed and placed in letterboxes around Halifax by a network of Ann's supporters. Atropos is named after one of the Greek Fates (Moirai), she who determined people's destiny. The name means 'unalterable, inflexible' β which represents Ann's opinions to a T. This pamphlet is non-profit and more awareness based around the severe negatives of the caste system, Illea's royal family, and how democracy is a needed staple in this kingdom.
Public image: At first, Ann is seen as a background character in the romantic competition for the prince. She is quiet, awkward, and revealed to be nerdy in the Women's room thanks to the hidden CCTV (for the Selection TV series the royal family broadcast) when another selected interacts with her. However, with her eccentricities and lack of visual emotion, Ann becomes a niche favourite amongst the Selection fans who feel represented through this Seven from Hansport.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Personality: Not unfriendly however also privacy-conscious and undiagnosed autistic, reserved in outward expressions of emotions, has adaptable confidence, to upper-caste standards she is impolite in manners, writes lists for everything, quietly rebellious since she was little, highly observant with high street smarts but little educational skill beyond her hobbies or jobs.
Hobbies: Reading (from the local library), palaeontology, archaeology, flowers, knitting, small scale "gardening" (she has two plant pot children . . . And yes, they have names.)
Skills: Photographic memory, her ability to identify dinosaurs and plants, can write (fluently) in Sindarin (often cannot speak it with proper inflection though), knitting her own outfits and "jewellery" (which is a necessity when yarn becomes cheaper than tailored clothing)
Likes: Organisation, dark chocolate, journaling her feelings (and thoughts on next month's Atropos edition) in Sindarin (to nosey people's dismay), dancing (she's neither good nor trained though ), riding her bicycle (named Gringolet, after Sir Gawain's horse)
Dislikes: Hoarders, liars, seafood, horror (she already finds the world enough of a horror story ), having to organise another person's mess, being late / others being late, surprises, being in constricting crowds
PHYSICAL
Goddamn! Her back . . .
Appearance: Ann stands at 5'11 and is slender yet muscular from her various jobs, with long limbs and a commonly sharp expression.
Style: Both outside and inside the Selection, Ann wears knitted clothing she made herself, thrifted, or politely asked the seamstress to make out of thrifted clothes. She is one of the selected who wears her outfits β both casual to formal β in the palace multiple times. She doesn't care about fashion trends. She likes what she likes, and that is enough.
RELATIONSHIPS
Family: WIP
text
text
Extended family: WIP
Pet:
Pebble prematurely fell from the nest as a chick, and Ann was the one who found, fed, bathed, and took care of her until she was an adult β and at that point, Pebble didn't want to leave (and neither did Ann want her to). Pebble is currently six years old β being able to outlive her non-pet relatives through being a loved pet who's fed and kept warm.
Love Interest:
If you are wanting to roleplay Maxon (aged 20-25, of course!), feel free to message me. However, if you aren't that's fine too!
If you have a king / prince / noble / guard / fellow rebel or rebel-sympathiser / etc. please message me if interested in Ann! :)
MISCELLANOUS
Ann has a phobia of physical touch from being trampled over and near crushed in one of the first anti-caste protests she took part in. She'll accept physical contact eventually, however it will have to be in her own terms and time, and with an understanding partner.
She has a skill for writing and keeps a tiny, worn journal on her at all times, tucked in a pocket somewhere. You will very probably, if snooping for information in her journal, find your initials in her journal's pages ... in Sindarin, of all things ... Yeah.
Ann once punched a caste Five for insinuating that the only way she would get anywhere in life was through marrying him.
In her Atropos pamphlets Ann goes by the alias Vera (meaning "truth") and Doe (a reference to John and Jane Doe, representing how Ann feels like a nobody in the dystopian kingdom of Illea)
Setting: A historical (Regency, Victorian, Edwardian) fantasy AU of our world, in where creatures and humanoids of folklore exist, however they hide from the world due to the "modern age" of (e.g.) religion and science posing a threat to their lives (e.g. being deemed "satanical" or being experimented on or being dissected for their unique parts).
In this setting, the Lonely Isle is one of the safest places to live in the UK if you are a being of folklore, for the majority of the population are within this category either through being of local (Shetland, or Orkney), near (Scandinavian, UK, or Ireland), or abroad (the rest of the world) folklore. And, if human, they are either married to, adopted into, or have lived alongside folklore humanoids.
And the Lonely Isle is where this story begins . . .
(Look at me trying to be all dramatic )
OITHONA LITHGOW
of the Lonely Isle
BASICS
Full name: Oithona Ismene Marie Lithgow
Nicknames: Thona
Date of birth: 17th July XXXX (Depends on setting)
Place of birth: Unknown (the Shetland sea)
Age: 20-25
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Bisexual
Ethnicity: Scottish (debated by locals of her island home), a "Loner" of the Lonely Isle
Their human forms are adaptable to cold environments due to having thicker skin and the ability to thermoregulate as a seal does, with "excess" weight that, technically, isn't excess as it's a part of selkie's natural biology.
They are naturally gifted swimmers as both seals and humans (although: very fast by human standards in their human form, but slow compared to what they can do in their seal form)
They can see clearer and hear far better than "other" humans when underwater in their human form
Apart from their seal skin, Selkies can be identified by their non-existent external ears (as humans do).
I might add more to this in the future! :)
Occupation: One of two lighthouse keepers of Puffin Point Light lighthouse
The main lighthouse keeper (in spirit) being her adoptive father, Sawney Lithgow. He was the previous lighthouse keeper and helps if he can, but has to pace himself in the chores around the lighthouse due to his arthritis in his hands and feet.
Residence: Oithona lives near the hamlet Lundhvild*, in the lighthouse Puffin Point Light, on the Lonely Isle, in Scotland (highly debated by locals, who consider themselves .
*Lundhvild's name comes from the Old Norse lundi, meaning "puffin", and hvild, meaning "rest", which makes the hamlet's name mean "Puffin's Rest".
(The Lonely Isle is fictional, as are most other places I mention in this OCβs form)
The Lonely Isle is a harsh lump of dirt and rock (and ice and snow, come autumn to winter) found between the Shetland and Orkney Islands β although several hundred miles to the right, so it's not exactly between the two islands. The folk tales say that the Lonely isle was formed from two chips of Shetland and Orkney combining in the stormy sea, making the isle. This isle got it's name from its geographical location being isolated β with it being the eastern-most location of the UK. It's population is (Early Victorian) 2,100~, (Late Victorian) 1,900~, or (Edwardian) 1,700~.
The Lonely Isle is a fraction smaller than Orkney and has main features of large, wave-made caves, rocky beaches, patches of sharp cliff faces and fields of flat land that stretch down to the beaches, where the wildflowers grow in clumps. The isle mainly deals with fishing as its main job, for the fierce sea around it is swarming with sea life.
It's the hardest of any island in Britain to take a boat to, due to the frequent storms that batter it's tall cliffs throughout all four seasons. In some rural places in England, it's become a talk of myth that there is a tiny island "up north" that "disappears under the waves, only to resurface again to ensnare more lost boats' unfortunate crew".
Puffin Point Light, also known as "Puffin Light", "The East(ern) Eye", or "Norway's guide", stands at seven, low-ceiling-stories high (eight when including the lantern room) and is built on McCaddonβs Hill, the third highest point on the island which falls to a sharp cliff face overlooking the east, where the cost of Norway can be seen on the horizon.
Down the left of each of the lighthouse rooms (apart from the ground floor and lantern room) is a square gap in the floor where a small elevator can pass up and down via a pulley system (although there are tight stairs available up the lighthouse). In Puffin Light lives Sawney Lithgow and his adoptive daughter, Oithona.
The first floor is mostly used as an entrance into the other floors above. Itβs also used as a pantry, having wonky cabinets to store food in along it's corner-less walls. In winter the ground floor is the best room to keep drinks cold and meat fresher for longer. Itβs the only room (apart from the watch room) that hasnβt got a small fireplace tucked somewhere.
The second floor is the kitchen. The tap doesnβt always work due to the pipes frequently freezing, so the large communal well in the nearest hamlet (Lundhvild) must be used instead. When not awkwardly intervening with the comings and goingβs in the Lonely Isle, you can often find Oithona in here cooking as he finds it enjoyable and stress-free (when the taps work).
The third floor is the dining room and where the family eat. Itβs cramped when more than two guests enter but the Lithgows make do and often have to eat shoulder to shoulder. The chairs are an assortment, each one having been hand picked from a local second-hand shop. The dinner tableβs roughly made from the wood of previous family membersβ dinner chairs who have passed away β their names carved into the grain. The most legible being "Dand", Sawney's brother.
The fourth floor is the living room and is where the family relaxes. The fireplace is the biggest on this floor, although "biggest" doesnβt mean much when itβs a small thing, hardly magnificent. Thereβs a lumpy sofa that faces the fireplace and Sawney's faded green armchair sits next to it. When not in the watch room, Sawney will be here, dozing off in his armchair. Above the mantlepiece is a fragment of a whale harpoon held in a hand-made metal rack thatβs nailed to the wall. Guests hosted in Puffin Light will find wooden pallets with straw mattresses and blankets lined up by the fireplace.
The fifth and sixth floors are the only ones to have two rooms each. Those being the one bathroom (on the fifth floor) and three cramped bedrooms between the two floors β the sole bedroom on the fifth floor is Sawney's, and those to found on the sixth floor are both Oithona's. Her and her father share her additional bedroom, turning it into a storage room for anything and everything that cannot be contained in any other room.
The seventh floor is the watch room and is where a Lithgow is found at night (every night) when not in the lantern room to fix the lens that is above. In this room there is a chalk board hanging on the wall and a desk littered with newspaper clippings about the weather predictions and possible storm warnings. The desk is positioned near one of the narrow windows, where, in the case of a storm, they often keep track the weather by the hour, writing notes in their storm diary.
The eighth floor is the lantern room, where the light turns around and around from last-light to first-light, all night, every night.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Personality: Oithona is a friendly soul who would be down for chatting over tea with another if her smile didn't scare most mainlanders (who come as tourists to the Lonely Isle and, for this, have no job to attend to, unlike the majority of Loners) fleeing. Her appearance often puts people off from talking to her and leaves her in solitude. She can be naΓ―ve at times to those she trusts, putting faith in the wrong ones only to find her back stabbed and her tobacco stash stolen. She often overlooks mean people by too readily accepting a scraped together apology. She's starting to prefer the sea's company to other folks, and although she does love her family, she often spends hours of her free time in local underwater caves. Undoubtedly, she's a shy selkie when left with strangers, but once she opens up to people and makes a friend she's- well- she's still a shy selkie, only a tad more chatty. She's an emotional person, and although that is seen as a positive thing now, it isn't in her era (Victorian / Edwardian) as she has cried over seemingly "minor" things before and it only confuses people β even those she has lived amongst for a decade.
Hobbies: Reading, crab fishing with small scraps of meat hung on string down in rock pools, making literal scrap books from newspaper and card left overs, writing stories, doodling in her weather diary, swimming in the near sea caves in the summer for dumped fishing nets and drift wood (it gives an excuse to explore the caves), collecting unique rocks and seashells from the beaches
Skills: Sheβs great at repairing items, like the frensel lens of the lighthouse (and doing other technical maintaining of the lighthouse beyond the light), and her wild imagination and ability to draw.
Likes: Foraging, travelling (even if itβs just to the nearby hamlet to inquire about a missing package her father bought, or something equally a bore), foggy days (for the beauty of it, not the hassle it puts her job under), cooking, learning new sea shanties on the docks, wildlife, the sound of a ticking clock.
Dislikes: Whaling, violence, arguments, the gossiping circles in the Drunken Duck inn, sudden loud noises, being recommended a book to read (she has enough to read already and she knows she'll never finish the pile), hot weather and summer, fishing hooks, forced organisation (for everything is where it should be according to her), the low ceilings of the lighthouse.
PHYSICAL
Appearance: Oithna has a short, chubby human figure that stands at 5'6". She has pale skin, with a round face and soft jawline. Her thick brown hair falls to the middle of her back and is silken when clean, like dry seal fur. Her eyes in human form retain the appearance of a seal's β mainly made up of her large, black irises and pupils, which makes it look like she has no whites to her eyes until she glances left or right. Oithona's teeth are sharp, perfect for splicing through fish-flesh. Her nails are long and thick and appear more like a seal's than a human's. She has webbed hands and feet, and no outer ear shell (she hides this fact with her long hair pinned around her ear holes), only seal-like ear holes.
Her seal form is that of the local harbour seal (also known as the common seal, but if she is called this within her earshot, Oithona gets upset at being called "common"). Her seal form is the same height as her human form β at 5'6.
Style: The clothes Oithona wears are all second-hand and frayed in places from constant wear β but very warm. She loves wearing thick layers, especially knitted shawls and her oilskin coat. She also wears trousers under her skirt β both for modesty in the Lonely Isle's severe winter winds and so she can move more freely during all other seasons. For shoes she has two pairs: her scruffy bests (that arenβt even for Sundays as she wears them when guests are hosted in Puffin Light. Theyβre slightly less worn than her other pair and make less noise.) and scuffed work boots that help her clump about noisily. She owns socks but only one pair and she has long forgotten their colour due to how many times she has darned them with many different colours of yarn.
RELATIONSHIPS
Family:
Their relationship is a solid one and itβs foundation is built on the bilions of hours they spend together inside the lighthouse during storms when itβs unsafe to go outside β card games in the living room by the fire, Oithona sharing her tobacco in the watch room and listening to her father's passionate talks about his favoured subjects (whales). Their "adventures" used to find themselves all the way on the mainland when Oithona was a toddler, but Sawney's arthritis has gotten worse and Oithona doesn't want to leave him alone for long these days in case he needs her.
Sawney can't find a place in his heart to scold Oithona for her regular day dreams and fantasies beyond their island, for he fed them to her as a child. He may not understand his daughter entire β with all her quirks and all β but he loves her truly as his own.
BACKSTORY
Oithona was found one early morning, nestled in a bed of seaweed, by her future father when he was coming back to the Lonely Isle after an unsuccessful night of fishing . . .
MISCELLANOUS
Oithona's favourite food is fish pie, of course (!), with peas and mash on the side (and carrots on the special occasions).
She struggles to read at times because of the (non-diagnosed) eye strain she gets when reading for too long or in bad lighting. She definitely needs glasses but doesn't know it yet.
DYNAMIC IDEAS
(Lost) Explorer x Selkie
Traveller x Selkie
"Freakshow" collector x Selkie
Pirate x Selkie (17-18th century AU)
Royal / noble x the Selkie they were given as a grand gesture / peace gift from Scotland (Dark romance route?)
"Fish out of water" - one (or both) characters must adapt to be in the other's environment
)
), riding her bicycle (named Gringolet, after Sir Gawain's horse)
), having to organise another person's mess, being late / others being late, surprises, being in constricting crowds
)
