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incorrectguardians · 9 months

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On Otulissa, and her similarities to the villains.

I don’t have to go into why she’s such a loved character, I could gush so much about Otulissa just in general, any day of the week, but there’s something curious about her growth and development throughout the series.

Otulissa is a very fun character, because she very much, more often than not, acts as a foil to the major and sometimes minor villains. Most notably to The Striga and Gemma, yet surprisingly, also to Nyra.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to call Otulissa and Nyra foils, they are connected and quite similar, Otulissa is the one who gave Nyra her scar, after all.

Here, so:

Nyra’s a very vengeful and vindictive owl, she’s named after an ancient tradition of Nyrolian Owls, and takes pride in it, reminding everyone of it when she can.

She believes that violence is the only way to achieve what she wants. Violence and conquering, to achieve full and total control of the owl kingdoms.

She loved Kludd cause he was the only one who could match her, they could create a powerful union together, and bring the Pure Ones to a new era. They were perfect for each other, complimented each other.

That sounds a little familiar, doesn’t it? At its core at least.

While I would not call Otulissa a vengeful owl as in that she believes in an “eye for an eye,” but she is vindictive as in, how to put it…

It’s partly due to the fact that Otulissa and the rest were only just ‘grown’ when the first whispers of the Pure Ones arose, they still had so much left to learn. The scar she gave Nyra was during the first official battle she ever fought, and it was out of revenge. Nyra had just killed her beloved mentor, Strix Struma.

Otulissa has a very strong sense of what is right, and what is wrong. When she feels she has been wronged, she’ll do whatever she can to make it right. This does lead to spats, disagreements, this can lead to violence. She's demonstrated moments of rage and anger when she has been wronged, but it’s not because she believes in an eye for an eye.

Otulissa is a very traditional name for a female spotted owl in the Northern Kingdoms, a mark of very distinguished heritage, and she takes a lot of pride in that fact.

But Otulissa is not from the Northern Kingdoms, she knew that her ancestors came from there to the south at some point (evidenced by the discovery of her beloved Strix Emerilla), but she’d barely have an idea of how many generations separate her from that era. Otulissa was born and grew up in the Southern Kingdoms. She was also orphaned very young, like the rest, it’s likely she only knew the tip of the iceberg regarding her family (added to what Audrey may have told her). Everything she knows about them is from her own research. She wanted to be just like her distinguished predecessors.

Nyra, however, is from the Northern Kingdoms, and she’s similarly named after an ancient tradition that spans back centuries, maybe even before the time of the legends. She carries the name of that first, ancient, Nyra. She also takes a lot of pride in that fact, naming her son after the same tradition. Nyra is just like her predecessors, born on the night of an eclipse, but she uses that power for evil. In comparison to Otulissa, she knows her heritage, grew up at her roots. She also describes herself as a very practical owl, much like Otulissa.

Regardless, Nyra thought she was better than everyone else.

But in Otulissa’s case, if her peers only thought that Otulissa thought that she was better than everyone else, it didn’t matter. Because whether or not she, at some point, actually believed so, very soon her and everyone else were going to get a shock that made them stop believing that. You can thank the Pure Ones.

There’s a dangerous slope there, between what is simply just pride in one’s heritage, and the great evil that Nyra was threatening.

Everyone is going through their own struggles, everyone is just like everyone else. Otulissa just needed to learn how to live with it.

Even so, Otulissa puts quite a bit of emphasis on this heritage of hers, something that I cannot accurately claim is unique to her, but is definitely brought to attention more through her than anyone else.

This gives her a contrast to other characters we meet, who are often instead proof that it is not someone’s origin that matters, it’s their actions that count. While Otulissa still knows this, she struggles with it at times, and is shown to be close minded, calling Soren treasonous when he had refused to train Skench and Sproon in The Burning.

When she met Cleve, she grew interested, they were much alike, he was perfect, such a distinguished gentleman, in her eyes. Like Nyra, It certainly felt like another match made in Glaumora (well, Hagsmire for Kludd and Nyra).

Otulissa was shocked to find out that he was a pacifist. Because he was a prince with such an illustrious history! From a long line of warriors! From the same hollow Strix Emerilla came from! For Glaux’s sake!

If Nyra were here, she would have spat at something and called him a coward, yeepish, etc etc.

Otulissa? Otulissa did not say any of those things out loud.

She’s instead just, extremely confused. Because why wouldn’t she be. For one, she’s from The Great Tree, she’s been growing up and learning how to fight. At the moment she met Cleve in The Burning, she’s coming into her own, preparing for a war strategy that she came up with, that she knows is vital to stopping the Pure Ones and vanquishing the evil. She knows that there would be no simply talking to them, that there would be no ‘negotiating for peace’ with the Pure Ones, that war is the only option.

And for another, Cleve is from an aristocratic family that is drenched in a history of warfare. Otulissa herself is very proud of the weathertrixes in her own family. She doesn’t understand why he would still choose to be a pacifist, isn’t he proud?

On the other hand, a Nyrolian owl is always destined for great things. To Nyra’s credit, conquering the owl kingdoms believing it is their Glaux-given right as Barn Owls, is a ‘great’ thing indeed (Even if horrific). In fact, in her eyes, the only great thing worth striving for. As a Nyrolian Owl, shouldn’t her own son agree? Be striving for it as well?

But… back to Otulissa, if there’s one thing she’s been learning to do so far, it’s how to open her mind. So she and Cleve begin to understand one another, even if their differences are vast.

And then when Coryn, the son of Nyra, came to the Beyond and met Otulissa. It was part of a continuous lesson she’s been learning, that heritage doesn’t have to mean anything to you if you don’t want it to, and it dictates nothing.

It’s what you do with it, whether it’s in spite of, or with respect to, or in defiance of it, that matters from start to finish.

Gemma was the creator of the Guardians of the Guardians of the Ember, so otherwise, she’s not a major villain. There’s a bit of foreshadowing at the beginning of The Golden Tree, where she constantly mentioned Ezylryb and how she shares a kinship with him because they were both Whiskered Screeches. Trying to claim things about him that were completely incorrect, of course everyone in the moment who knew him personally had something to say about it. But again, it sounds familiar.

You could say that Gemma started out the same way as Otulissa, not knowing who she was, relying on how others similar to her, who came before her, were like. Gemma never knew her heritage face to face, neither did Otulissa, she likely read about it, just like Otulissa.

Like Otulissa, Gemma has a strong sense of what is right in her eyes, and what is wrong. But Gemma didn’t care whether or not what she was saying was factually correct or not, she was okay with lying as a means to getting her way. Because, according to Gemma, if she’s just like her ancestors, then clearly her ancestors were just like her and believed the same things she did. Otulissa however, all she did was read, read, read, and read, searching for what was fact and separating it from what was false. Otulissa leaves very little to assumptions, and further still has very little patience for what’s fictional.

However, I’m not sure if anyone tried to help Gemma or not, because it’s clear that she’s younger than Otulissa, or at the very least hasn’t been at the Great Tree for as long. But not young in general, because she’s in parliament.

Yet she remained as she did, and the events of The Golden Tree happened as they did. Gemma did not develop an open mind and instead let herself get consumed by her own fear and ignorance, and Otulissa didn’t.

Mostly because Otulissa was sitting in jail the entire time.

In general, Otulissa always hated anything and everything that could be considered flashy, vulgar, and completely unnecessary. Always has and won’t budge. No owl would need to wear clothes, that’s an Others thing. Her hollow only needs what is beneficial to her work, and of course, a perch and nest to sleep on. She’ll pursue her own comfort, evidenced by her keeping a coal grate in her hollow in The Hatchling. But she wouldn’t keep anything solely for its aesthetic value, and, when she was younger, actively scorned others when she saw that they did.

Of course, as an adult, she now mostly begrudges it, accepting that it’s just not for her, and would not deny an owl the right to have them. Even going as far as agreeing to hide Madame Plonk’s teacup for her during The Golden Tree.

Similarly, Otulissa despised joke books because she found them completely vulgar and they taught nothing. She didn’t mind, but could not find herself interested in fiction. She wanted to know what was real and true. But she loved poems and music, because they often reflected things like the writer’s personal life, the state of the world, and the feelings in one's gizzard, and that was real to her.

Once again, despite her reservations, she would never prevent another owl from reading any sort of book.

She couldn’t stand it when others would mess around and make unprofessional what an important outing with the chaw was going to be, especially when it’s her own teacher perpetuating and encouraging it. It’s very undignified, nothing like her.

So when The Striga was welcomed to the Great Tree and began talking about ‘vanity,’ Otulissa, now grown, found that she could agree, to an extent. But what The Striga was suggesting bordered on dangerous.

At a glance, The Striga assumed that he and Otulissa were very much alike, two birds of a feather, but the feeling was absolutely not mutual.

When he met Otulissa in the library, The Striga claimed that only the practical studies were free of vanity, that anything else was “anti-glaux,” and that he approved of Otulissa’s choice of book at the moment (a book on atmospheric pressure, by Strix Emerilla, of course). But added on that one should never be too prideful, that pride was another vanity.

Otulissa was very proud of her ancestors, but was never one who did something for the approval of someone else. Everyone is different, going through their own struggles, just like everyone else. Due to previous events in her life, Otulissa was also instinctually wary of any owl that attempted to preach an ideal Owl World based on quantities of “purity.” Even if The Striga had tried to call it “true owlness.”

The Striga then attempted to use this encounter to get Otulissa out of the Great Tree, along with the band, but he clearly underestimated her, since she elected to stay behind. The encounter also later gave Otulissa what she needed to make the decision to smuggle books out of the Great Tree, the ones she felt were at risk of disappearing thanks to The Striga.

Then later, when she lost her eye, she went one step further to separate herself just a little bit more from The Striga’s ideals. With Trader Mags’ help, someone who she historically never got along with, she picked out a rather “jaunty” bandana for herself to wear over the injury. Saying that there was nothing wrong with a bit of vanity.

I don’t believe that were Otulissa left to her own devices, she’d grow up to be something evil. Likely only just bitter, snooty, stuck-up, and snobbish and a ryb who was a horrible teacher that everyone hated and would celebrate when she died. Much like Dewlap, who I omitted from this analysis because …. I forgot, my bad, because this is long enough as it is.

But she had friends and rybs who taught her as much as she taught them, and instead she grew up to be a, still a bit snooty, ryb whose a great teacher… despite the mixed opinions of her students.

I just think it’s very interesting that she’s had so many similarities to the villains that seem purposeful.

Because Otulissa was never something to be fixed, there was never anything wrong with her, she didn’t have to get a new personality. Everything she grew into was something she did herself, she just needed someone to see who she truly was, what she could do.

#guardians of ga'hoole #gahoole #ga'hoole #guardians of gahoole #otulissa #nyra #the striga #gemma #analysis #I started crying a little at the end there #mostly because this is an edited version of the one I wrote in a notebook #underneath a nightlight at 3 am #yknow how it is

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st-ev-ie · 2 years

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Being Harry’s best friend would include…

| headcanon |

female reader • grew up with Harry • latinabsf!

masterlist🪐

Pt. II

Requests: open!

Please note this is all made up from MY imagination. Imagine the character as anyone you want. I picture someone that’s Hispanic but it’s up to you. The events are not correct at all.

Before X-Factor…

Working at the bakery together - you were definitely the better chef between the two and teased him for it all the time

The lovely old ladies favored her over Harry

She would definitely add some of her Colombian heritage into baking : ex; menu would now include buñuelos, pan de bono, chocoramo - Spanish music would be heard from the kitchen when she was working

Being in White Eskimo with Harry. You were maybe the substitute drummer every once in a while

Going pottery painting together whenever you had free time

Making Harry watch NCIS with you as well as criminal minds and greys anatomy

Little friend picnic dates down by the lake

Talking to Gemma about fashion and or clothes

Anne absolutely adores her and teaches her how to plant flowers when she gets new one for her garden

She might have a single mother so Robin was there when she wanted to tryout for any sport helping her practice

Pulling pranks on Harry with the rest of the White Eskimo members

Begging Harry to keep his clothes on as you got older

Harry buying her chocolate when she was on her period

Never paying attention in class when they were sat together

Because of her, Harry got the final push to audition for X-Factor

She was one of the people backstage when Harry auditioned so when he was asked who he was with he definitely gushed over his best friend a bit

During One Direction…

Harry went off setting out the first album for One Direction

He definitely asked for your help when he tried writing a few songs

You called as much as you could

Harry introducing you to all the boys but mostly getting along with Zayn - talking about all the different family recipes you had to which Niall would beg you both to make for him

Bonding with Zayn over art and fashion while Harry would try embarrassing you

Helping with pranks on the boys when they were around

Being there for all the concert you possibly could attend

After finishing school, going off to study forensics and a minor in art and business

Harry showing up for your graduation along with Anne, Gemma, Robin and your mom

Being there for Harry when Robin unfortunately passed

Later on you took a break from school and went on tour with the boys, making fans believe you were dating one of the boys later on after being annoyed by news magazines

Someone in the band definitely liking you

CUDDLES !!! And taking care of H when he would get sick on tour

Paul trusting you to wake the boys up but never saying anything when you helped Harry escape from soundcheck

Dressing up in disguises when wanting to do something outside with Harry

Getting a lot of hate for being best friends with Harry so he wrote ‘Diana’ for her

‘Night Changes’ definitely had a few hints towards the toxicity between her and her mom

Attending the Brit’s as Harry’s date so he wouldn’t have to go with some “lame model who can’t hold a proper conversation” as he would’ve said

——————————————————————————

Ok it’s kind of long but feedback ?? I’d appreciate it ! Like + reblog it would mean a lot and let me know if I should do a part two !!

#harry styles #stevie talks 🍊#stevie writes 🍊#main masterlist🍊#one direction #one direction x sixth member #headcanon #hslot 2022 #harry styles fluff #best friend!harry #zayn malik imagine #niall james horan #louis tomlinson #liam payne #latinabsf!

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youngfcs · 6 months

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Hi dear! Hope you’re doing well! I was wondering do you have some fc suggestions for an older version for Lola Tung FC ? Like 30’s-40’s maybe? Thank you so much in advance!❤️

Hello there ❤️ Hope you're well too! Of course! Her mother is of Chinese and Swedish descent and her father is of Eastern European descent. I don't know anyone with the same heritage, but I'll try to give you good options :)

Chloe Bennet (27-32)

Gemma Chan (32-40)

Genevieve Kang (26-34)

Kristin Kreuk (33-40)

Lucy Liu (45-50)

(cib)

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pbjelly90art · 2 months

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Here's another batch of Spaceverse art, this time including some older pieces from before we officially started the RP. This batch includes characters on the Vault, where the whole RP started, and some other Interstellar Police (ISP) characters not previously included in past posts.

In order, we have: Ramiro, Tracey, Jia Mei, Josefa with Martim, then some sketches that predate this RP, including a past picture of Jose and Martim, Martim solo, then Bogdan, Rayen, Samora, Philippe, Ace, Mei, Gemma, Ruth, Josefa, Petra, then Petra again, her son Nikki, Ace, Mark, Jax, Rigo, Grace (not adapted yet), Boyd (not adapted yet), Jin Sidao (not part of the ISP, but a major criminal) and Tony one of his lieutenants.

All of these older sketches but Jose still need Spaceverse AU sketches, but these were worth archiving for reference. One difference for example will be that Philippe is part ice Fae/oighear in Spaceverse, in addition to his fox shifter heritage, so whenever I draw him a new portrait, he'll have pointed Fae ears.

Jax belongs to Cookie and I need to adapt a different character to fill the role I have set up for him. Mark belongs to Sakume (and needs a new sketch of his cyborg self.) The rest of these characters belong to me.

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pysksos · 2 years

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Hi! Okay. So. I preface this with the fact that I don’t use my tumblr anymore except to browse, but I came across your blog in trying to research Cornish polytheism/Bucca. You mention in your pinned post about not really liking/trusting Gemma Gary’s stuff, which is valid, but she’s one of the only people I’ve been able to find actually talking about Cornish craft and Celtic deity stuff specific to Cornwall. My family is Cornish for generations on my mother’s side (I was born in the US) and as a witch I deeply deeply want to connect to my actual culture and find resources for learning about it. Would you be able to share any of where you’re learning from? Again, the only Cornish polytheism stuff I’ve seen discusses the Bucca (as the Devil), and then it’s only Gary and her contemporaries. Are there other gods? Is all the evidence in folktales or are others publishing about it? Also if you’d rather not answer publicly that’s okay!

Hello,

A few notes on Gary's work to clarify myself – her general books are interesting and a useful starting point as, to my knowledge, she does live and practice in the region, and her cited works (while sometimes...mis-cited) are useful for further research. For me her work falls short in that it doesn't recognise Cornwall as region with Celtic heritage, history and culture which has lead to her conflating Cornish traditional & folk practices with wider English traditional and folk practices. Hence Bucca's conflation with the Folk Devil. This is something to be aware of in all facets of researching anything pagan/occult/pre-Christian to do with Cornwall. It was one of the earliest regions to have assimilation attempted.

Cornish ancestry is not a requirement for Cornish polytheism or paganism, as a heads up, and generally Cornish polytheism & paganism is focused on bioreigonality & the Cornish landscape. This extends to deities – practitioners & pagans from the USA I talk with that follow other paths have experienced some difficulty in contacting the Bucca without any hitches. This is certainly something to keep in mind along with engaging with your ancestors culture should include engaging with the regions current struggles & political issues respectfully and putting the voices of Cornish people first (I'd argue this is important for anyone engaging with their ancestors culture) - without a current day Cornwall doing well, how can it's land-tied deities and spirits be honoured and beloved.

The main resources I can recommend are folkloric ones – here is a drive of Cornish folkloric resources that I have (includes some language ones & Cornish Arthurian Legends). Not included is The Cornish Traditional Year by Simon Reed, which I would also strongly recommend because it has a good basis for a calendar for Cornish polytheism. They are unconverted to PDF but I also currently reccomend Cornwall's Pagan Heritage by Richard A. Courtney. There's also this list.

Cornish folklore is an important part of Cornish polytheism for the dual reason of 1 – there are no texts or central record of pre-Christian pagan practices that are easily accessible and 2 – Cornish folklore was largely oral and spread by droll tellers, making it hard to censor or remove any leftover pre-Christian pagan figures or narratives. Of course, don’t take folkloric sources at face value. I use them as starting off points for ‘direct’ research (astral journeying, putting out feelers to communicate or set up a line of contact, ask the Bucca to expand on folkloric stories, etc) along side note taking to seek other resources (I’m unaware if Kresen Kernow has any online resources available internationally, but it’s worth having a look).

In terms of other deities there is a very narrow pantheon (entirely due to above assimilation). Ankow is a shared figure between Breton & Cornwall (spelt differently, of course), an attendant related to death that escorts people from the land of living to the world of the dead (psychpomp would be an appropriate category). It is also easy to extrapolate from the sister region Wales that a lot of deified or deific figures would be, on some level, heroes elevated to that status.

In my personal practice I venerate a pair of deified lovers from the Zennor Mermaid myth and an unverified deity related to land fertility specifically. I’m aware these things may not translate to a polytheist in the USA though. Of course the Bucca is a currently central figure, and if you’re interested in experiences of Them outside of the folk devil lens, let me know and I can collect my notes and type them up for you. I'm also working on my own resource for/of Cornish polytheism for sharing, and I can also let you know when that is finished if you would like.

Thank you for your ask :-) I hope this has been helpful!

#cornish polytheism #cornish polytheist #cornish pagan #brythonic polytheism #consortish #Bucca #some pdfs are still uploading as I post this

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dollypopinspiration · 9 months

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mickimagnum · 2 years

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International

Day Twenty Three of the Barbie CAS Challenge by @sea-cross featuring Gemma Miller.

All CC is listed under the cut.

For International, I've chosen Germany. As a daughter of a German immigrant, I wanted to honor that heritage with by showcasing a traditional dirndl.

Get Gemma's Outfit:

Hair: Dogsill, Patreon (free) Dress: Satterlly, Patreon (free) Stockings: Base Game Shoes: Arltos, TSR Earrings: Glitterberryfly, TSR

@dogsill @satterlly @arltos @glitterberrysims

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vs120shound · 2 years

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From top to bottom: 1). Ann Angel, an entrepreneurial American girl; 2). German girl whose name escapes me who is all over social media; 3). Only Yana, of Russian heritage living in Australia, not yet 20 y.o.; 4). IDK (your guess is as bad as mine); 5). Ann Angel; 6). Lucy Fox from Smoking-Models (U.K.); 7). Vero from Smoking Sweeties (Spain); 8). IDK, wish I knew; 9). Unknown/IDK, sorry; 10). Gemma Hiles (left) and Charlee Lynn (right) from Smoking-Models (U.K.). Added in late-June 2022. Sure that many of you will enjoy.

#SF

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ink-gemma · 2 months

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Foreword of Gemma Sorscha.

Within the glisten as her existence become a beam for herself, Gemma was born at the dawn of Edinburgh. The weight and every sound around her atmosphere waited for her born in a long time. She is the everyone’s crowd and hope in her bloodline, for her entity to filled their desire for having a daughter. That’s how the burden start going on her shoulder. Perfection wasn’t a goal; it was a mandate.

She was beautiful, pale, and serene. Her eyebrows were smooth and thin, and angular, as in all antique portraits. Her mouth was very small and scarlet, her teeth set close together. In my heart she roused terror. A terror which nothing can explain, a dark, malicious delight.

Zinandia Nikolaevna Gippius, from The Selected Works; “Fate,”

For her, living with relentless canonical to be recognized was a doleful. The picturesque being herself to have her own decision façade disintegrated. In her way to chase every quietude, she walked away from her palace; heritage that knot tightened in her family name.

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hyadesfm · 3 months

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+ FOUR wanted connections have been added!

jasper sullivan (charles melton) is seeking out their ride or die (platonic) who looks like avan jogia, courtney eaton, john boyega, natasha liu bordizzo or any faceclaim late twenties to early thirties. the mun does not need to be contacted about it. (@/ichorwrote - they would have known each other at camp half-blood before coming to hyades, possibly having fought in the second titan war together. they're thicker than thieves, and there for each other through both their ups and downs. jasper is outgoing and impulsive, and tends to get into trouble - whether y/m is the one helping get them into trouble or picking up the pieces, i'm open for anything!)

jasper sullivan (charles melton) is seeking out their half-siblings (familial) who looks like jennie kim, cha eunwoo, jung jinsoul, kim doyoung or any korean or half korean faceclaim early to late twenties. the mun does not need to be contacted about it. (@/ichorwrote - whether they be demigods or legacies, their mother is mortal. jasper has two half-siblings he hasn't really spoken with since the second titan war. before that, he was close with both his mother and his half siblings, but due to his own impulsive tendencies or his participation in the second titan war, the three siblings had a falling out. i'm very open to discussing more of the details between the three of them!)

augustus de leon (oscar isaac) is seeking out their ex-fiance (romantic) who looks like aishwarya rai, amy adams, lupita nyong'o, rachel weisz, or any faceclaim that fits. the mun does not need to be contacted about it. (@/ichorwrote - they would be augustus's second fiance, and his messiest breakup by far. the two would have bonded over their godly parentage, but their personalities clashed horribly. as of now, the two can barely stand to be in the same room as each other without fighting. their relationship ending is an early one, only being broken up for no longer than two years. i love the idea of them being a child of ares, athena, apollo or zeus, something that would either conflict with his heritage or someone with a short fuse - but anything goes! i'm down for either rekindling their relationship or leaving it entirely antagonistic at best.)

augustus de leon (oscar isaac) is seeking out their childhood friend (platonic) who looks like diego luna, gemma chan, lee pace, pedro pascal, sandra oh or any faceclaim mid forties to early fifties. the mun does not need to be contacted about it. (@/ichorwrote - the two would have been a close pair in their childhood, keeping contact through their adult years but not remaining as close as before. in the last twelve years, they reached out to augustus and the two have managed to rekindle their relationship from years before. they've been with him through his recent breakup, and his first fiancé's death. whether they be mortal, a legacy or a demigod is completely up to you!)

#appless rp #new rp #pjo rp #demigod rp #rp #okay good night for real my little almond joys

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