#polarisverse

[thethistlegirlwrites]

I saw an open tag from @dyrewrites and this looks super fun!

Rules: Pick an OC and post a song you relate to them, an image that represents them in some way (aesthetic, picrew, art, etc), and a quote of dialogue or narration from them. Totally feel free to expand and explain!

Going with Joey Quintero for this one because I want to share her song!

I really like this song for Joey because she's so incredibly unsure of herself when she comes into Chimera's vampire mentorship program. She desperately wants her family back in her life, but she thinks she's likely to be a danger to them. It takes the other people who can see her from the outside, like Shay and Nico, to help convince her this is possible and that there's more to her than the monstrous nature she didn't have a choice in being given.

I love Joey because I was working on some janitorial chores at my job and had the thought that I don't see janitors, cleaning service workers, or other similar characters in many stories, and decided I was going to change it! From there, she just took on a life of her own!

Inside the bag, on top, is the folder that holds her copies of the mentor program agreement, the list of expectations and terms, and her visitation plan. She pulls out the plan and pins it to the corkboard over the head of her bed. The first three weeks are solid red, but there’s a yellow bar halfway through week four. Conditional potential to see family members in a controlled environment.  She’ll take it. Video calls with Mauri and Via are more contact than she thought she’d ever be able to have again, but now that she knows there’s the possibility of more, waiting three weeks’ probation feels like an eternity. She tacks up the stained, creased photo of her family beside it. Over the years and miles, the corners have gotten blunted, the color has flaked away on the fold lines, and the faces have changed. But she’s held onto it this long, and it’s a reminder of what she’s going through all this for. She’s absurdly grateful someone chose to tuck it into her coffin with her.  Everything Josefina Quintero has done for the past six years has been to protect her siblings. Even, if necessary, from her.

Open tag for anyone who wants to participate!

(And if you liked the narration snippet I included, watch for day 14 of my Febuwhump posting because that's the day it's a teaser for!)

Tagging the Compass people for this one! @catwingsathena @nade2308 @the-one-and-only-valkyrie @telltaleclerk @ettawritesnstudies  @writeouswriter @whump-place

[ornyange]

ok. starverse brainstorming.

first, i wanna change the ‘verse name. to what? i don’t know. some kind of star-related name. polarisverse. atlasverse. canopusverse.

wait a minute.

anyways.

haedusverse. hydraverse. hydraeverse.

andromedaverse. phaedraverse. siriusverse. lesathverse. solarisverse. ophiuchusverse. lyraverse. orionverse. cygniverse.

yeah… i don’t know ❤️ i try not to use ‘verse names that people are already using so i’ve crossed those out

[liquidstar]

👁 but like. for the main characters in polarisverse (constellation guys)

THEM! their eyes...

polaris has big brown eyes! they're a lot more expressive than she thinks- she's not an ice queen no matter how hard she might try

saiph has dark red eyes with a bright red flame shape in the reflection. but the fire in his eyes literally goes away if he enters depression mode, gets replaced with more of a gradient

al has black eyes, with gray in the reflection. i almost gave him heterochromia but i thought it was /too much/ on the black and white pattern he has going on. i think having eyes that match and hair that doesnt grounds the design more

bella has brown eyes too, but hers have a slight redish tint to them to go w the pinks in the rest of her design

and mira has black eyes, though they're tinted slightly blue, and the reflection in her eyes is like a dark grayish pink to sort of pull it together with the rest of her look! and kind of like saiph they can get clouded. later on eyes become a bit of an important motif to her

[hmmmlo]

another redraw!! this time it’s Polaris!! I’ve been missing a bunch of my old OCs so i may redraw many more :)

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Paid in Full

Josefina stands outside the loading bay door and watches moths flitter around a flickering lamp. Drawn to danger, even if it burns them. Even if it kills them.

She hopes it’s not an omen.

This is the address that was scrawled on a napkin and slid along the bar to her with a shot of cheap tequila. The one man in this town who will take her and her siblings across the border for the paltry amount of cash still tucked away in the bottom of her purse.

And for a little something on the side.

All she could find out about that was that their transport is a secretive sort who doesn’t like people talking about his business.

She’d borrowed garish pink lipstick and the scuffed red heels from another woman in the tent city they’re calling home right now. It can’t hurt to make herself seem a little more appealing. They have to get to Tía Patricia in Los Angeles, so they can get a doctor for Olivia, a good one whose hands aren’t dirty and who isn’t half doubled-over from a smoker’s cough. 

The door creaks open, and a figure steps into its frame.

“Step into the light.” The lisp in his words makes his English even harder to understand. She steps under the lamp, ignoring the moths that now try to tangle themselves in her hair.

“I need to cross the border. Three people.” She doesn’t tell him two of them are less than 18. The less a sleazy man like this knows about her family, the better. “They gave me your name at the Soledad.” 

“Show me your arms.”

She frowns, but holds them out. What he wants from this, she doesn’t know. Maybe he doesn’t like to take his chances with drug users. Not with everything someone can get from a needle.

“They tell you my price?”

“They said you’re the only man in town who’ll do it for a hundred.”

“Not just the money.”

“Yes.”

A hand, nails long and grease-stained, shoots out of the doorway and drops a piece of paper in her palm. “Be here tomorrow at nightfall. Bring this with you.”

When she shows up, Mauri and Olivia’s hands clutched in hers, the sunset is painting the semi-truck parked outside the warehouse in blood-red. She knocks on the door, but no one answers, and instead, she paces the length of the cargo trailer for several minutes, wondering if this is all some kind of trap. If she’s led her siblings here to die, or worse. 

Just as the sun dips below the mountains, the door opens again. The same hand she saw the night before, twisted and clawlike, is extended, and she hands back the folded paper. 

The stranger, a grease-stained hat pulled low over sharp features, opens the back of the truck and settles them in behind a false front of the trailer. The space is small and stuffy, and even though Josefina can see the occasional street light through the few breathing holes, and smell the engine exhausts from passing cars, she feels like she’s been buried alive.

Olivia is shaking. She’s taken her meds already, but this can’t be good for her. Josefina pulls her close, resting her sister’s head in her lap and stroking her tangled, greasy hair. She hums softly, a song Mami used to sing. 

She stops only when the truck does, at the border. There’s lots of yelling in English and lights flashing around them, fists banging on the sides of the truck. She covers Olivia’s ears so she doesn’t panic and scream from the sound, and she sees Mauri covering his own. 

Then there’s another thud, and the truck rolls forward. Josefina releases a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. 

The truck travels on through the night, finally stopping somewhere pitch black. The doors are opened and then the false front too, and Josefina looks up, blinking in the dim moonlight. It feels too bright. 

The warehouse is almost a carbon copy of the one she visited in Mexico. Blacked out, boarded up windows, a lamp over the door surrounded by fluttering wings. 

The three of them stand on shaky legs, Olivia blinking awake as Josefina moves her off her lap, and stumble out of the truck.

“This is as far as I take you,” the driver says. His voice sounds strange, the lisp even more pronounced. “And now, you pay.”

“I pay for all three of us,” She says, firmly, not that it will do any good. He’s wiry, and taller than her, and she’s cramped and stiff and tired and weak from hunger and fear. 

“Of course.” 

“They don’t need to see this.”

He nods. “They can sit in the cab. Your boy might like to pretend he’s driving. The girl will probably sleep.”

Mauri is, as predicted, ecstatic about sitting in the driver’s seat, reaching for the horn pull and frowning when the driver unhooks it before he can make it make sound, but eventually content to pull on it and make fake honks himself. Olivia looks at Josefina sadly as she’s settled into the seat.

“Te vas?”

“No te estoy dejando. Cinco minutos, mi luz del sol.” 

Olivia leans back against the seat, breathing evening out, head falling sideways to rest on her shoulder.

“Okay. Time to go.” The man leads her toward the warehouse door.

Josefina takes a shaky breath. 

This is for her family. This is how they survive. What happens to her doesn’t matter. It can’t matter. 

She’s not quite sure what happens next. Only that between one breath and the next, hands have closed around her wrist, and then teeth, and then there’s a sharp pain and the hot wet sensation of a mouth locked around her arm. 

She barely has time to realize she’s misread the entire situation before her world narrows to the pinprick of light, and then it’s as if a whole swarm of moths collects around it and plunges it into blackness.

When she wakes up, it’s to sunlight beating on her face, feeling like it’s scorching her eyelids. She rolls over and groans. Everything hurts.

Mauri. Olivia. 

She tries to call out for them, but the sound comes out of her dry mouth as a croak. I left them with that monster. That madman.

She’s failed. She wanted to protect them. And now, she’s lost them.

Burning tears slide down her face, searing her sun-inflamed skin. 

“Jose!” someone shouts.

She knows that voice.

Small hands tug and pull at her blouse and hair.

“Mauri?! Olivia?!” She reaches for them both, but her arms don’t seem to be working. “Dónde estabas?”

Mauri holds up the canteen he was given at one of the camps. “Necesitabas agua. Encontramos un arroyo.”

Water. She does need it. She doesn’t care where it came from. She feels parched. Like someone drained the water from her body like pulling the plug from a sink.

The man. The teeth. Her blood.

She looks down at her arm. It’s wrapped in a strip of cloth with dried brown stains.

Who was he? What was that? What is this?

She can hear a highway in the background, but faintly. Not as close as they were last night. 

She needs several sips from the canteen before she can ask Mauri if he knows how they got here. He tells her the man from the truck said she was tired, and that they needed to take her somewhere else. Mauri had followed him, holding Olivia’s hand, and they’d all walked to this place, some kind of field. The man had said something about the sun coming, and that they should walk west from here, follow the highway, and there would be a town with a building that had a red chicken on a window. He’d said there would be people there who could tell them where to go.

It’s all too strange. Josefina can’t understand what happened at all. She’d imagine she dreamed it, if not for the pain in her arm and the paper blowing across the field with its English words in black bold headlines. 

They’re in America.

But somehow, she feels like she’s crossed a border into another world entirely.

Because now that she can think, there’s only one thing that makes sense of what they encountered last night.

The man who brought them across the border was no man at all.

Un vampiro.

(You can read this story, as well as others from this universe, on my WorldAnvil here!)

@catwingsathena @nade2308 @the-one-and-only-valkyrie @telltaleclerk @ettawritesnstudies  @writeouswriter

[liquidstar]

*leaves food out for your OCs and gently pets them*

they appreciate it! i do too :)

ik i rbd the post abt putting them in mentally damaging scenarios but ultimately when i think abt their stories and how i want them to go i DO want them to have happy endings- with some acceptations but... well personally im not the kind of person who makes ocs just to create fucked up scenarios lol. but i do put them through the ringer only because i like making characters who are fucked up but get better <3

[hmmmlo]

It’s Splunge!! shes back!! also she’s my D&D character and i love her

(i made a video of this one so that’ll be out soon)

[liquidstar]

meowdy kitten 💖

Another oc for what im calling the Polarisverse for right now lol

Her name is Felis, after the star of the same name which literally means “cat”. She’s the guild’s barmaid and her power is that she has 9 lives (Maybe more like 6 or 7 at this point) because her biggest flaw is that she’s reckless and lacks care for her own well-being. When she’s not putting herself in danger for a thrill, you can find her teasing her guildmates, she’s mischievous and playful but you can tell it’s an act she puts on for fun, when she wants to get serious her entire tone will change and she will stop speaking in really bad cat puns, which is frankly a relief for everyone. 

[liquidstar]

I finished the final little polarisverse ocs I was working on from June, so now for the rest of July I can put my focus on artfight! And after that I’ll finish up the rest of their guild, maybe do a couple in-between too though!

These two kids are Alcor and Capella, they’re sort of the eager and overzealous kids of the guild, they’re both 12 but Capella is about 10 months older, both are kids who we’ve been in the guild since they were very little, so they see each other like siblings. Neither of them have any powers to speak of yet so they don’t really get to go on any sort of missions, despite their impatience to, especially on Alcor’s end. So the duo spend a lot of their time playing around in the guildhall, causing innocent mischief and sometimes annoyance to the older members, but kids will be kids. 

I’ll put more specific info about each under the cut once more ^^

Alcor was named after the star in Ursa Major, the star’s meaning is “faint one” or “neglected one” due to being so unnoticeable next to the star Mizar. Alcor was taken in by the guild at around age 5 due to his family situation, even at a young age like that he wasn’t the wanted child. He found a new home with everyone at the guild though, he was very welcomed and always had a friend to turn to, and watching these amazing people take care of him as he grew up made him want to be just like them. He’s incredibly eager to get his power (without understanding the full implications of such a development) and get to go on cool missions and be an awesome hero, but for right now he’s still just the faint one. One day he knows he’s going to be someone amazing though, he’ll make it happen no matter what. Everyone wants someone amazing after all, and he wants to be wanted and important, a bright shining star!

Capella was named after the brightest star in the Auriga consolation, the star’s name means “Little goat” and she has cute little goat horns on her headband, and generally is an animal lover. Her father was in the guild since he was a young man, and Capella was born and raised in the guild because of him. He chose to stay in it because even if he ends up away on missions that take a long time she’d always be in an environment with people who will take care of her and love her, so she’d never be lonely. Still she’s incredibly eager to get to go and work with her dad one day, she wants to show him what she can do! She even has a slingshot as a weapon, which is like a baby version of his bow, she emulates him a lot. Still, between her and Alcor she’s the more relaxed one about this type of stuff. She’s sort of go-with-the-flow, if Alcor wants to get into some hijinks she’ll come along happily, but if not she’s fine just relaxing for the day, she’s not in as much of a rush. 

[liquidstar]

I finished another OC for the Polarisverse lineup (I should really think of somekind of real title to call the whole project soon). Her name is Ain, named for the star that literally means “Eye”, she’s sort of the mysterious loner of the guild, the type who tends to take on missions on her own, but she’s still very friendly and willing to cooperate with her guildmates. She actually likes spending time with them, but going solo is easier for her, because she’s the type who prefers to have a good grasp on everything going on. The less variables the better. Because she overthinks, to the point of incredible stress about things yet to happen, and self-blame for things that could have gone better in hindsight. This flaw of hers manifested in her power, the ability to see every variable at once and predict the actions of others ahead of time, a probability-based foresight.

Nothing is set in stone, and the less likely paths are often some of the scariest, because those are the ones we’re the least prepared for. So her guard is always up, she does her best to make the right choices to lead to the right outcome. Her actions end up being very meticulous and careful, like she’s following her own script. Despite her anxious over-analysis, Ain is still one of the most capable members of the guild, her ability to take everything on solo and still gain the rank of a 5 star is proof of that. She’s a genius at both strategy and combat, even without her power (Though her ability to predict her opponents every move as well as everything going on around them certainly helps), and she tries her best to keep her head on her shoulders even when new variables pop up, she’s still not prone to panic.

[liquidstar]

hi finn :) 27 bc you've mentioned multiple times that you judge songs' listenability based on whether you can make oc amvs in your head set to them. 14 for a polarisverse oc! and 40!

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

gelis and her powers were totally inspired by “the faulty feline philosophy”!

though generally speaking i think i tend to listen to songs w characters i already have in mind, you know? like. ill listen to echo by the hush sound and think “yeah thats a polaris song” lol

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

ok since it says introduce im not gonna talk abt any character ive properly made a post on before! instead im gonna focus on a character not from the main guild, but rather from their biggest rival guild, the one currently ranked as the #1 guild in the country, gladiatorium.

his name is antares and well, hes an asshole. like, a total jerk, but beyond his personality he doesnt tend to do anything all that bad. Its not completely his fault, after all, his grandfather is the guildmaster of gladiatorium, mars, named for the planet/god of war. its an incredibly militant guild that rose to the top incredibly quickly because of its harsh disciplining of its members… and antares was raised by the guy at the helm of it, after losing his parents on their own mission.

his power is an incredibly hot blue flame, its to reflect his fury of course, but theres a tint of sadness in that too. sure, hes an anrgy jerk, but he didnt have to be.

he’s actually a character meant to show the contrast between a guild thats loving family like stella nova, and one thats soley focused on results like gladiatorium, and to do this he directly foils saiph, another character with fire powers born from anger, who was raised in a guild by his grandparent-figure. but the difference is that when saiph was going through a rough patch, he got help and support from his found family. but for antares his blood family is the problem.

and the path hes going down is going to lead him down a very similar route has his grandfather. antares means “like mars.” but i think theres hope for him still

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

this isnt related to my main group of ocs at all, or any that ive ever posted abt here, but i remember in 7th grade i had a friend who i would always talk abt my little pony with and at lunch and during class we would make up random my little pony ocs. wed sort of just pick a theme and go with it!i It was so much fun i wish i still had those little pony doodles

[liquidstar]

i drew like 14 new entire characters for the polarisverse, the one where everyone is named after celestial bodies and consolations and all that, but the catch is that that set was the zodiac characters and i never ever properly posted them despite wanting to because i dont want people who think homestuck invented astrology to compare them to start posting that “the nature of the universe bla bla bla” tweet under my ocs 😭 this is my hell

[liquidstar]

do u have any ideas for specific culturez or traditionz or different countriez in polarisverse bc thatz my shit when it comez to worldbuilding -@mizuchiya

so far not really, nothing i could say is fleshed out. the main important things so far are just that

the main part of the story is set in a magical realist setting, none of their powers are even considered "magic" in-universe

the kingdom theyre in is a monarchy, the current ruler is fairly militant and his heir is reclusive

polaris is from the north which, as you would imagine has a much harsher cold environment, i think the inspo for it will probably be more nordic

theres a huge uninhabitable desert that shares boarders with serval counties though none technically own it

these are all things that are important but i havent fully fleshed out because not all the things have quite "clicked" yet w the worlds history, this is a fairly new idea after all

[liquidstar]

5, 14, 40!!!

oh i just answered 40!! thank you still though ^_^ ill do the others ofc!

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

hmmm... its hard to say since theyre all part of bigger stories that sort of rely on context from other characters, but... im gonna go with crocus because he only rly has one important character relationship but more importantly i think it would be REALLY funny if he was a tumblr sexyman. i think he could be.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

ok well this says introduce so im gonna talk abt a character i havent actually properly talked abt at all (im gonna post a drawing of him + one other character soon though! so look out for that i guess lol)

new oc in the main guild in the polarisverse, his name is juno. he doesnt have many memories and (as far as he knows) he does not have any particular power. one day he just woke up in an old abandoned building in the middle of no where, with 0 memories and no idea who he was. he left, wandered around aimlessly for a while before he was found by some members of the guild, barely able to stand. they brought him back with them, and slowly he started to recall bits and pieces. he hazelly recalls that he used to have a father(?) who he was very close with, but had to go away for unknown reasons. then he was sent to live with another man who didnt treat him well, he said this was alright because juno wasnt human, and thus didnt have real emotions, so it didnt matter how badly he was treated.

[liquidstar]

i just talked a little bit w a friend about how the polarisverse ocs each ended up in the guild so i decided i would make a post summarizing how they each ended up there :)

Polaris is the newest recruit! She joined after meeting Saiph, who kind of just dragged her along to make friends, even though she internally just wanted a stable place to stay after traveling for so long. 

Saiph was raised in Nova Stella, he was left on it’s doorstep as a baby, basket and all. He was also left with some small objects from his birth parents, but he doesn’t remember them.

Bella ran away from home when she was just 14. She showed up to the guild asking if its true that they’ll let anyone join, no questions asked, and so she did. 

Al was signed up for Nova Stella by his father when he was 11, since his father would be away so often he needed somewhere where he could stay, and also learn to use his newfound powers.

Mira, like Saiph, was raised by the guild. Unlike Saiph though, she has nothing from her previous family, Nova Stella is the only family she’s ever known.

Venus is the current guildmaster, she joined Nova Stella ages ago, when she was just a plucky young teenager looking for a way to make a name for herself.

Felis was in an accident that killed the rest of her family when she was just 7 years old. It left her unable to speak or react to things, so she was placed in the care of Vesta as a healer to get potential treatment, and by extent she was taken in by Nova Stella.

Noctua was an orphan who developed mindreading abilities that the orphanage didn’t know how to deal with, so they handed him over to a guild.

Sirius is the town’s blacksmith, and by extent they became the default blacksmith for Nova Stella! This pretty much made them an honorary member until they decided to make it official. 

Barnard is Vesta’s grandson, though he wasn’t raised in Nova Stella. Instead he lived at home with his parents and sisters until he decided himself that he wanted to join a guild, and of course he chose the one his grandma is in!

Vela was a pirate who lost everything, her ship, her crew, even her leg and eye. Most other guilds would have persecuted them as an outlaw, but Nova Stella welcomed her into it’s family.

Ran is another runaway, (She RAN away lol) in fact she was a stowaway on Vela’s ship. Of course, at first Vela wasn’t happy about this, after Ran joined Nova Stella they developed a parental relationship with Ran as their new first mate!

Ain joined the guild as an older teen, she just showed up, looked around, and decided the odds were that this guild would be a great fit!

Itonda and Eirene were found by Ain on a mission, they were among the only survivors of a now destroyed village, and as the older brother, Itonda decided it would be best for his baby sister, only 6 years old, to come back with Ain to the guild.

Shaula is another orphan raised by Nova Stella! She knows of her family, but only vaguely. She prefers it in the guild anyway. 

Io used to go to a very elite prep school, until one day Itonda and Shaula went on a mission that happened to be at the school. Io ended up helping them, and she decided to drop out and join the guild because it’s the first time in her life she actually had real fun.

Imai joined the guild in her teens, she was an excitable kid looking for some adventure and thought this would be a good place to start.

Tondra was taken in by the guild when they were 9, before that they were being raised by their grandma, who was apparently a former member herself. 

Euphie joined Nova Stella as a teenager, in search of something, but Nova Stella’s policy isn’t to ask questions. 

Lilii was raised by an aristocratic family, but one that sadly doesn’t have much time for her, so they allowed her to spend time in the nearby town’s guild, and eventually allowed her to join. She always gets what she wants after a good tantrum, after all. 

Vesta is the the first person to ever be raised in the guild, she was taken in by the old master around 70 years ago. She’s the initial reason Nova Stella’s values lay in family above all else. She may just be the guilds healer, but she’s also it’s heart. Even if she isn’t a bubbly little girl anymore.

Pyxis joined the guild as a teenager, which was also a very long time ago. He was absolutely certain he would be an amazing and glorious hero, so this was a natural first step.

Mneme joined in her 20s, at first she just saw it as a place to hang out and get some work but it quickly became a family to her too.

Nix joined after they met Mneme, initially mesmerized by her abilities, they had to listen to her invitation back. 

Orion used to be an independent hunter, but he decided to join a guild after the death of his wife so his daughter would have a stable family around her, Nova Stella’s reputation made it the obvious choice.

Capella is the aforementioned daughter, raised in the guild like many others, but with her father still around for her too.

Alcor was raised by the guild too, another baby left in a basket by its doorstep and welcomed to the family.

Lacerta decided to join when she turned 16, though she had a fairly normal life before she wanted to leave home and join the real world as quickly as possible, she knew she could handle it.

Regulus joined when he was 21, he’s a dialectic noble who wanted to experience the world for himself, though in a bit of a self-serving way. He chose a relatively small guild in order to do this, and he’s certainly enjoying himself.

Juno was found by serval members of Nova Stella while on a mission, he was just roaming the forest with no memory of how he got there or who he is, aside from his name. They chose to bring him back to the guild, and he ended up choosing to stay since he had no where else to go.

[liquidstar]

6, 21, 32!

oops i just answered 32 too! And im not even sure if i did it right lol :p but thank you anon!!

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

well i think my artstyle is fairly simple but i still try to have as much variation as possible where i can, though when i was designing al and ain i was afraid their color palettes made them look like they were related somehow, aside from being guildmates. i simply think black and white look cool… its abt the simple contrast lol

21. Your most artistic OC

oh well, similarly to the question about singers, i have characters whose entire gimmick is based on art! In the antheaverse its primrose, whose magic lets her make her drawings real (as long as theyre not sentient). and in the polarisverse theres an entire guild, lunar flare, that houses artists and creatives, so i dont think i can pick just one! but just for fun the characters in it are:

erinome, a 12 year old poet

pictor, a traditional painter

oberon, an over-the-top actor

syrma, a fashion-minded seamstress

aoede, an heavy metal musician

caelum, a work-obsessed sculptor

and volta, a hyperactive comedian