#oc — halley branson

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the Wistful Fabulist, during the time when they were still somewhat new to the Neath, when they were known as the Saccharine Balladeer, roughly 21 and with eyes like two ambers.

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Branson...oh boy where do I start. Either they would be classified as a cinnamon roll baby who can do no wrong or a bitch and a liar who's just using people and doesn't actually care about anyone or forced into the mother friend trope while also being infantilised because they dare to be shortand act childish and playful sometimes. and i'm sure people would be weird about him having multiple partners

with Pierce I think people would make them cold and uncaring and way more rude than they are and completely lean into their mad scientist aspect. and some would ignore their gender fuckery/ the fact that they use he/they pronouns.

also completely mischaracterise pierce and halley's relationship

Seeing it on th dash and now I am so curious abt it...if your OCs were popular enough to be a proper fandom, how do you think they would be mischaracterized by the fans at large? What tropes do they fall into? What tropes would they be forced into? Are there things you think would be picked up on accurately?

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decided to colour a sketch (as I often do since I unfortunately don't really have the patience to finish art).

kind of an introduction? (will eventually write a proper introduction and backstory, this is more like Branson from the point of view of what londoners think or know of her)

the Wistful Fabulist (or Storyteller), known as B. H. Branson (the B stands for Bruce, the H for Halley. Most just call them Branson), pictured here, along with their Luminous Neathglass Goggles lol. Any pronouns. An artist, a scholar, only of things they find interesting, like archaeology or (mostly ancient) religion(and magic! He's fascinated by things such as tarot cards) or some of the sciences. That includes the Red Science. A correspondent, a crimson engineer in fact. Sometimes a lady, or a gentleman, or neither, or both.

She's a fabulist because 1, she tell stories, often fables (but really, stories of all kinds. I suppose they also draw a little, but writing and telling stories is what they love to do, what they've always loved) and 2, because it's a big damn liar (affectionate). Not always, but for one, they are probably, most likely, eastern european(so the people of London that have heard of them speculate, some instead think she might be greek or some from some other place), though she uses an english name, but a vague accent does sometimee come out.

And when people ask, and he decides to answer, each time he makes up a different tale. The most common ones are: maiden that run away from a marriage with a man she didn't love, or she run away in order to be free from a controlling family, or she had been already married and left a husband she didn't love, or maybe her husband died and she couldn't bear to continue living on the Surface, everything reminding her of him(perhaps there's a little bit of truth in some of them?) Perhaps a commoner, perhaps a noble. No one really knows their history, except those who do. 25 years old, came to the Neath at the age of 21. And their eyes are like two ambers.

Rumours that they might have a child are also heard, perhaps left in someone's care on the surface. Maybe a daughter. And a brother, too, some man that has also come to the Neath. Little else is known about their family.

Despite their tendency to lie, they do have a good heart, and seem to be kind. Of the wistful sort, they're sort of always longing for something, half the time they don't even know for what. Hopefully by the time they win the Marvellous they'll know what their Heart's Desire is. Hopefully. A bit awkward at times. They're also very sentimental. With people they know better, they are more talkative and relaxed and witty.

(the badly-drawn flowers i drew them with? I did have a specific flower in mind, which I will reveal one day.)

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To talk more (because i love doing that) about the fabulist's voice, I still haven't decided if they're like an alto or contralto. i have a hard time picturing voices in my head, i'll think about it more later but here are some of my thoughts related to this manner.

He does sing, like not a lot, but it's something he loves....his voice isn't classically trained in any way, he might have gotten a few lessons along the years but nothing much, and so far he can't play any instruments, though maybe he'd like to learn one day. (Pierce knows how to play the piano, so I imagine on the surface sometimes he'd play the piano as Branson sang, entertaining their friends and family. Maybe they still do that sometimes in London, perhaps to entertain their kid, Lucy.)

Anyway, her voice isn't anything special on its own, but i think it's the way she uses it. Combined with its acting skills, it can put on quite a show, especially when singing lively and cheerful melodies and shanties and some slower ballads. Sometimes, when she's with those she considers family, he even sings in romanian (he is also able to speak french and german but he does not prefer to sing nor speak in those languages, he isn't very confident in his mastery of them).

their love for acting and singing came from when they were a kid, one of their brothers would sing her songs and tell her all kinds of stories before he, one day when he turned 18 left to work on a ship, for a captain. more like run away and never come back actually. she was 8 around then, and became the sole entertainer for her two younger siblings, as his older brothers were out of the house the whole day, so he'd sing them melodies and tell stories they'd heard or read, or make up fables of his own.

Sometimes, they sing soft, quiet lullabies, often for their daughter and for other children, rarely for people that that are older, and their voice is oddly calming.

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I think everytime both Flav and Bran are at the same party/social event (did they go together? did they simply run into eachoter?) they eventually end up bitching about some of the other people there in romanian.

just picturing them in the corner of some ball, talking and laughing about some of the socialites there lol

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my flondon PCs' signs of the Chiropteromantic Zodiac and their opinion on them

Branson -> the spider (much as the spier spins webs, they spin yarns and stories...and they are indeed sentimental and kind), they claim to believe in it more or less, and in general their belief in magic seems pretty genuine.

Pierce -> the lovers (he achieves his goals, as love conquers all. strong and immovable as a mountain. full of integrity). They do Not believe in the signs and will mention that everytime someone talks about. The Chiropteromantic Zodiac has no basis in science and he doesn't even think the lovers suits him. (still went and got his sign read because of Branson)

Flaviu -> the rose (intuitive and insightful, emotional and sensitive, attractive to others and clever enough to make use of it) He doesn't really believe in it that much, he got his sign read cause it was something to do. will use it to charm people who believe in it.

Cindy -> the crow (creative, easily inspired, intelligent, quick-witted, much like crows themselves). Believes in it because it seems fun and cool and she was really happy to find out her sign was the crow!! he loves crows :) although he'll claim not to actually believe in it when he wants to be taken as more serious and stuff.

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this picrew is so cute,,,,,,,,

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anyway I love the difference between what a character could be, should be if they weren't under stress or affected by the horrible things happening to them.

For Branson, they lie and cheat and do rather terrible things sometimes in the name of protecting their loved ones, but especially herself(to be free, to be in control, to be safe) and Pierce and Lucy. When she came to the Neath, only those things mattered the most. Of course, her circle of companions grew. How much of their capricious personality is an act? They do not know either, and it eats them up inside. But lying and keeping people at a distance is the only way they know to protect themself and they dont really know how not to do it even when it doesnt matter.

But...when they're not actively under stress, playing a role, they're...silly and playful and smart and very clingy and they do genuinely love storytelling and music and all kinds of art. They love so deeply and once they get attached to someone (aka they don't leave before they get attached), they hold onto a relationship forever. These parts of them are real and not just an act.

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Hariclea isn't really Halley's deadname, they don't really think of it that way nor would they think of it as such in a modern setting. The way they see it, they were born and given the name Hariclea, and lived under that name until they came to London. Then they took the name Halley as they took a new identity, and they are Halley, sometimes. But sometimes they're still Hariclea too. They can be both.

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Pierce and Branson with pre-relationship 1, general 10, and domestic 4?

THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!! <333

1.How did they first meet?

They were children(Bran was 12 and Pierce was 13-14ish), first of all, and their fathers were involved in some sort of business. They had met in Pierce's home, as Bran(well. Hariclea at the time), bored of waiting by her father's side, and in an unfamiliar environment where a language she didn't understand very well yet was spoken, went on her own to explore (and perhaps find some peace and quiet).

She stumbles upon Pierce, the youngest child of his father (and close in age to her, just a tad bit older). They didn't even speak that much with eachoter(because of the language barrier, I mean Halley knew some words in english but not a lot and Pierce was just very quiet around strangers), but they got along fairly well, finding other ways to communicate and ending up finding games to play. Pierce also probably showed off illustrations from books he owned.

10. What do they like best about each other?

Bran: one of the things that fascinated him about Pierce at first was how intelligent he was. Even if when they had just met, he seemed to know a lot of things and would answer Halley's questions no matter how dumb he worried they were, never made fun of their struggles with math for example. And again, he knew so many things! Taught them a lot about biology and physics and the like. He'll always be the most brilliant person that Branson's ever met.

But another thing they really like about him is how nice and sweet and patient he was with them, how much he cared and cares about his opinion. He was sort of the first person(after his siblings) to ever...care about what he wanted, who he really was(even if he himself didn't know who he was, at the time Pierce felt like his only friend and the only person who really made the effort to get to know them). Halley was the first to propose marriage when they were 16 and 18 respectively after [lore i haven't revealed yet] and Pierce asked them repeatedly if they were sure of it. Because he loved them so much, he wanted them to be sure, to be married to someone they really did love.

Pierce: From the first moment they met, Halley was an enigma. Strange and compelling and new and very hard to understand and unpredictable. The first thing they really liked about her was the mystery that she was.

But what I think he really likes about them, similar to Bran, is that she cares so much. Loves very deeply. How she always looks with so much love in her eyes at him. How she loved him so much she promised him they'd never let him be alone. And her creativity too, how she had always been so talented in the arts.

4. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like as parents? What are the kids like?

LUCYYYYY (slightly old sketch of her)!!!!

Born pretty soon after they married(and like. not planned lol), they were both so anxious to become parents (especially so young) but they were excited too. She was named Lucia after Pierce's mom (that died very soon after his birth), Lucía, but everyone calls her Lucy. I dont have a set age for her I just kinda have an idea of how old she is during certain events

I think they're like good parents. Pierce is honestly really affectionate and loves teaching her things and bringing her to the Laboratory when they're doing arguably safe experiments. He sucks at disciplining her however because he can't say no to her(especially when she's younger). How could he do that. He was absent for a few years of her childhood(and feels bad about it) and she's so tiny and cute and looks like his Halley far too much and and-

Bran loves her so much too but it is the parent that is better at saying no. it also loves singing her songs and bringing her to visit the orphanage it owns together where Lucy gets to play with the orphans, she's probably made a few friends among them.

Lucy's very creative and smart and loves asking questions and exploring, and is also very sweet.

Will they have more children? idk lol I wanna eventually get the Laconic Prodigy as a companion and I think one of them will def sorta adopt her in the future and they'll perhaps raise her together(idk yet, we'll see when I do manage to get the prodigy). I like to think that they look after urchins together and stuff (and pierce does go to the orphanage sometimes, to maybe teach the orphans). They're not married in the neath but not not married either.

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Yknow I feel like everytime Branson introduces itself it throws out a few different fancy middle names everytime. just because

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the fabulist is my screwed up little guy and I love them so much.

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I'm probably one of very few people who likes him but I love the struggling artist and I wish he was a marriagable npc like the model (who i love too).

I liked his romance in the game and I remember being like just mildly annoyed that I had to end my character's relationship with him back in the early game(but actually it worked out cause I imagine him and my PC, Branson have this unresolved kind of unrequited love thing going on and I love unrequited love lol). my cringe failboyfriend 💖💖💖

I remember that before Branson got his laboratory and hired the artist I would be like happy everytime I got his card cause hey thats the artist who is my friend whom i love!!! lmfao now i understand why people hate his card. I imagine that's how it is for Branson, the artist is is their friend(???) whom they love (i mean he is annoying and clingy and an airhead sometimes but like so is Branson) while a lot of people are really annoyed by him and she just doesn't see it lol

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finally trying to write a coherent timeline for my OCs on OneNote. and I am eventually gonna write introductions for them. eventually.

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List of OCs

Fallen London

The main 4!

-> Halley Branson (she/he/they/it) – the Wistful Fabulist/Faltering Correspondent; Heart's Desire // Profile // Introduction (sort of) // Tag (the main one)

I sometimes tag stuff that make me think of them as #branson core

Also #branson's journal for well... I think it's self explanatory.

-> Pierce Wilson (He/They) – the Pertinacious Researcher; Bag a Legend // Tag

-> Flaviu Constantinov (He/Him) – the Nonchalant Romantic; Nemesis // Introduction // Tag

-> Cinder 'Cindy' Corbin (She/He/It) – the Combustible Bandit; Light Fingers // Tag // Introduction

Others

-> Lucia 'Lucy' Rose Branson — The Golden Eyed Lass (she/her); 6ish years old; daughter of Branson and Pierce // Tag

-> Veronica 'Vy' Constantinov — The Inquisitive Rapscallion (she/they); 9ish years old; child of Flaviu and Edith // Tag

-> Edith — the Obstinate Huntress (she/her) // Tag // Vy's mom and Flaviu's dead wife. But she was more than that, once.

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Temporary Pinned Post

(till I have the time and energy to make a more detailed and organised pinned post. which might be never.)

Hello! You can call me Corin or Cory or Lee (or like. Cory Lee). I'm 18, I'm queer, I go by any pronouns, my main blog is @something-familiar-lost . i'm romanian (sort of.) (this is my fallen london sideblog essentially)

I've been playing fallen london for almost 4 years I think but on and off (to the point that I have not finished any of the ambitions on my accounts. god i'm very slow at this lol). (also i've been spoiled for a lot of things and I don't mind spoilers at all, at least not for Flondon)

I have a lot of OCs but my main and oldest account is the Wistful Storyteller, Bruce Halley Branson(She/He/It/They). They were...21 when they came to the neath, now they are in their mid 20s i suppose? I'm bad at math and as much as I love having consistent strict timelines with my FL OCs i don't bother (i don't even know which 1899 we are in atm lmfao). Not english, but that's the name they came up with essentially on the spot the first time someone asked them and they're not even that good at hiding their accent. I ship her with basically so many characters haha.

I did post a bit about it on my main blog a long time ago but I feel like I've matured and so has she as a character (and so have my other characters. i created her when I was 14 and I love her so much, one of my favourite OCs 💖💖💖). Will post more about her eventually I hope.

Also honestly I like the struggling artist a lot XD yes he is an annoying cringefail npc but he is MY cringefail annoying npc and I love him (or the version of him based on canon and headcanon that I have in my head). one of the many characters I ship Branson with. (i also love the artist's model!!!!!)

this whole post is kind of a hot mess but that's just how i am lol

(and yeah this post about mr wines is mine from my main blog)