#ockham ref

[viric-dreams]

Thinking about her (the Wellspring).

[viric-dreams]

Updated.

After several months of stumbling around Fallen London, I finally figured out who my character is and threw together a reference.

[the-clay-quarters]

Woe, 1000 blorbo refs upon ye

I've been making these reference boards for all the ocs I've been drawing! Everyone I've shown them to so far thought they were neat, so I figured I'd share them here too :3 They're fun to make and also really useful for me personally, otherwise I'd just keep swapping between tumblr tabs </3

I put these together in pureref, which is made for stuff like this and works wonderfully imo! It does all the resizing and aligning easily, so the only "work" is grabbing the images and rearranging them. It also saves the actual files as vector images I think, so you can zoom in super close in the program and not lose any details. ..okay I'm done, # not sponsored

Anyway, if anyone's interested, I have both the pngs and the pureref files in a gdrive! I already have most of my pc backing up there, so I might as well share this folder :3 Since this is literally a live backup of my main folder, it'll also update whenever I change these or make new ones yippee

Pings for everyone under the cut again!

@thedeafprophet 's Aurora

@gmalaart 's Cavendish

@capn-twitchery 's Grace

@waterlogged-detective 's Doe

@viric-dreams 's Ockham

@house-of-mirrors 's Orsino

@violant-apologia 's Apologist

@the-masterless-press 's Mathilde

@anomaly-beans 's Merry

@msbeanfl 's Ms Bean

@lord-emerson 's Oswald

@pacmanthepeach 's Raz

@peliginspeaks 's Hallowrove

@cosmogone-spectacles 's Oversol

@zeebreezin 's Shaw

@neathyingenue 's Silvia

@dualclock 's Scrimshander

[viric-dreams]

Still thinking about her (the Wellspring). Spiritual successor to this piece.

[viric-dreams]

«But how did the Reflection even get here? »

«We’re not sure, but we think one of the guests may have brought a mirror to the Third Coil. »

«Careless. This is just what we need—another mouth to feed. The Boss doesn't pay us enough to deal with this crap. »

[viric-dreams]

A wander through the Waswood.

[viric-dreams]

Weekly Wellspring.

[incorrect-ulster-cycle]

i think hull probably uses keating iirc ?? which would make sense, most 19th cent and similar versions use early modern + later sources not 12th cent partly bc language partly bc manuscript availability

there is a song by ockham's razor called "deirdre's dream" which directly refs that later story (deirdre dreaming of bad omens re: conchobar) and i spent years confused by it bc i only knew the older one and that scene isn't in it and when i found it, it was a revelation haha.

i think with that story in particular the later versions are more well known in part bc cú chulainn is in them whereas he isn't in the earliest one at all. they have all sorts of interesting variants i just don't know them as well as the 12th cent one bc that's the one i've worked with most, so cannot comment on character motivation or explain their oddities with any confidence

Sorry, I confused url. That was for a jim butcher blog. My bad. Thank you so much for answering, Oh but I do have a question for you. I just read a post about the legend of Naoise and their brothers from @tainbocualinge and in the end they let themselves being decapitated by a King friend/guest of conchobar after, like, slaughtering armies for days. They just even fight who will have their head cut first and I was so confused. Where they under geass? Was the king so badass? Why just give up?

umm that’s very much not what happens in the versions of the story i know, in longes mac nuislenn as i know it, naoise gets, like, fucking impaled in the world’s worst greeting ever when he gets home and then all-out slaughter breaks out and everyone else dies too

see @finnlongman’s video for details:

https://youtu.be/qnb6xNX3YTU (part ii since that’s the part where they die)

idk if the beheading is like… a weird modern variant version since i only know the medieval version well and to a lesser extent the early modern version, but this is the story i’m working with here

[viric-dreams]

Reference Montage.

There's something odd about Ockham. Ockham seems cordial enough when you meet at a society soirée, or in the crowded lobby after a theatrical performance, even if Ockham seems to say very little. It's not until you get out into the crisp night air that you feel suddenly awake and refreshed, and the haziness of your encounter truly sets in. What were you talking about anyway? Did she say something important? Was it she? Or maybe it was he... you seemed to have known at the time. The longer you think on the encounter, the more nonsensical it seems. What did Ockham even look like? Your memory of him... them(?)... doesn't seem right, like trying to remember a dream... Perhaps it's best not to think too hard.

Though it would be many months before Ockham himherthemself would catch wind of it, Ockham is not the original sailor who fell into the mirrored surface of the sea, but rather his Parabolan reflection, and an amalgamation of memories and identity from both the original, as well as many from the Fingerkings in possession of said body for the better part of a century. Something like this is not unheard of in Parabola, but a creature native to the Is-Not should not have been able to escape to the Is.

The transition is not seamless. Ockham seems to give off significant viric radiation when outside of Parabola, and it tends to affect anyone who tries to interact with himherthem.

Ockham did eventually manage to track down the body of the Original, still possessed by Fingerkings. The interaction did not go well. This has left Ockham at something of a loss at what to do about it, that would not endanger hishertheir existence. Ockham wants some sort of revenge on the Cacophony, but cannot risk their retaliation to hishertheir counterpart, due to the very real risk that it would affect himherthem too. Expelling the Fingerkings, however, might also have negative effects, should the majority of hishertheir memories then return to their original host. It's a quandary.

-

Ockham speaks several languages (primarily Flemish and French, but also German and to a lesser extent Spanish and Portuguese). English falls near the middle of this range, though it's not a language that Ockham willingly learned or has any interest in improving (courtesy of being impressed into the Royal Navy, and now living in London). It's a language heshethey's been forced to use, and Ockham refuses to respect it. As a result, there is a very large gap between what Ockham might think, versus what heshethey would actually say aloud (this is partially due to linguistic difficulties, but also because Ockham doesn't often feel the need to voice most of hishertheir thoughts).

Ockham is very blunt and direct. Heshethey doesn't care much for etiquette rules and will cut right to the point. Ockham also finds a lot of the social stigma around certain topics in Victorian society silly, and has no compunction walking right over those taboos and discussing or acting on them. This occasionally leads to trouble.

Ockham is also stubborn, often to hishertheir own detriment. A certain degree of spitefulness also goes hand in hand with this. Ockham can and will hold very petty grudges. Heshethey can also be cruel or truly nasty at times, but never without provocation.

Heshethey is a quick judge of character, and steadfast to those who pass the vibe check, with a high breaking point for when an acquaintance would fall out of hishertheir good graces.

Ockham doesn't really have close friends. The language barrier and the difficulty being perceived don't make it easy. This doesn't bother Ockham much, since heshethey's used to and doesn't mind it. Ockham often seeks out busy spaces, just to spend time in and bask in the ambiance. Romantic encounters also often don't seem to have much depth, when some other priority inevitably catches Ockham's attention and heshethey doesn't have the time and energy to maintain an in-depth interpersonal relationship. Ockham is happy to enter a romantic or sexual relationship, as long as all parties are in accordance over its likely intermittent nature.

Ockham's clothing choices tend to favour practicality over aesthetic (practical to the mind of a working class 18th century sailor, at least), often dropping the respectable amount of layers when the weather grows too warm, without much care for the signals it sends off. Most of hishertheir clothing is in neutral colours, though heshethey is not impartial to a nice green. Ockham's hair was a long-standing point of contention with the Navy, and therefore out of principle extremely unlikely to change. Heshethey normally plaits it out of the way, though does occasionally wear it loose.

-

Ockham's original plans to work as a zailor were thrown out almost immediately after coming to the Neath. The Zee is a horrible place. There are creatures in there. Ockham set fire to hishertheir ship and has not looked back.

Though technically a Silverer, Ockham does not spend any time trying to attract clients. Most of hishertheir work nowadays is in tracking creatures in Parabola and collecting bounties for them. Ockham's also considering expanding into Parabolan imports and exports.

[viric-dreams]

Look into the mirror and you may be surprised by what looks back.

A.k.a., what 87 years of fingerking possession does to a mofo.

[viric-dreams]

Salvage diving off of Mutton Island is not going swimmingly. Sometimes you just need to stare at the cavern roof and contemplate your life choices.

[viric-dreams]

Viric, What Is Up With Your OC?, an Ocksplainer:

Ockham (heshethey/mirrored pronouns), the player character, is a Parabolan reflection inexplicably spit into the Neath. Hishertheir memories are an amalgamation of both that of hishertheir original body, and also those belonging to the Cacophony possessing the original Ockham (Snockham).

Because Ockham is a reflection, heshethey struggles to manifest entirely properly outside of Parabola. Ockham gives off intense levels of viric radiation, making any conversation or interaction feel fuzzy and difficult to recall after the fact, like trying to recall a dream.

This effect is entirely negated when wearing Cosmogone Goggles. In fact, Ockham appears incredibly vivid in those goggles. There's one silverer in Ockham's social circle who wanders around with goggles on in London and they've yet to comment on the fact that there's anything unusual afoot.

The viric radiation effect is also entirely negated when in Parabola, as with any creature of the Is-Not.

All this time, there's a possessed Snockham (he/him, though nobody's yet asked the Cacophony's pronouns) running around devoid of memories and looking marginally worse for wear.

Not included here, but any time Ockham shows up in a reflective surface, the reflection is visible and of Snockham.

[viric-dreams]

1812: A sailor takes a routine trip to London, unaware that this would be the last time he'd ever see Flanders. Many lasts were soon to follow.

1861: A boy proudly joins on with the Royal Navy, signing his new name for the very first time. This is a first of many ill-advised decisions.

I can lie and say that the last ES has me thinking about what my characters looked like back on the surface, but it's actually because of a WIP sent to me by an artist I will not name.

[viric-dreams]

What @capn-twitchery surely knows by now is that I am, if nothing else, incredibly dedicated to the bit.

An Ockham that will set your Scandal instantly to 8 below the cut.

[viric-dreams]

Ockham tries to get along with Twitch's friends, even if Ockham thinks they're sad losers (Grace's naval affiliation did not put them on the right foot when they first met). But Ockham tries. Even if heshethey can't be sure that Grace isn't having himherthem on when they speak.

[viric-dreams]

Since both Parabolan reflection talk and framed portraits were in the air I decided to hit two birds with one stone. Images below the cut.

Technically Ockham is the Parabolan reflection. The original creature of the Is doesn't really do much when not piloted by Fingerkings, just goes through the basic motions of living and stares vacantly into the middle distance. It's hard to say if the lights are even on in there, or if the Fingerkings had completely cleared out everything that once was human. Other than the silver eyes, the original looks far more gaunt and haggard than reflection Ockham.