hey! this is chance & here’s week 2’s prompt. pick one of your ocs. are they open to other people’s perspectives? do they go out of their way to learn new things?
I'll go ahead and talk about William since I'm writing a sort of origin story for him right now!
So William Byrne Jr is the son of William Byrne Sr, a fairly successful lawyer/notary in Rosemead. He was raised in a very traditional and conservative manner, but had an incident in his young teen years that really amped up that conservative upbringing (plot twist: it was a gay thing). So, naturally, he ended up being more closed-minded and comfortable with the status-quo.
Outwardly, at least.
Inwardly, William is livid. He's angry at himself and his family and his hometown. He hates how others look at him and how he has to put on a facade in order for the townspeople to treat him normally/fairly. It's through his sheer forced normalcy and his father's business/reputation that William was able to scrape by with a fairly neutral reputation. Once he started picking up his father's work and became a notary/lawyer himself, people started viewing him a teensy bit better.
Okay now that all that context is out of the way, onto the meat of the question:
William loves forgery.
He developed a strong sense of justice following the incident and isn't afraid to forge legal documents if he feels that the terms are unfair. He has a habit of going to taverns to listen in on gossip/idle chit chat and get to know the people in town both as a defense mechanism (how can I fit in here) and as a way to inform himself of what the situation is. "Okay I'm here for the Richardson Ranch acquisition, but is Lorry dealing with them fairly?"
While he's not going too far out of his way to learn new academic things like languages, history, art, etc, he's fairly invested in learning about the culture and laws (both legal and social) of where he's going. One, because it helps the business and two, because, again, youth trauma. He may be open to learning about new perspectives and the like, but it doesn't mean he'll agree with them. He might just nod politely and go "What an interesting perspective! I will be sure to not take that into account."
It's by doing this very thing that he ends up getting roped into becoming a pirate on the Ellina. When James and his crew dock in Stonesend, he ends up getting a taste of the "wild and reckless" freedom that Ellinacrew (as I affectionately call them) enjoy. For him, unapologetic and authentic self-expression was too intoxicating to turn down--as was Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome Emmanuel Cervantes. So, he does what any good 30yo repressed lawyer/notory Jr does: he runs away.
Anyways! Here's a little excerpt from the story:
They were knocking over the drinks without a care in the world, and William found himself once again enraptured. By now, the musicians had joined in as well, drumming and fluting away while the crowd supplemented it all with cheers and claps of their own. He fingers itched for his own fiddle to join in, and he cursed himself for leaving it at the inn. They weren’t supposed to be here anymore, so what were they doing still here and leaping from table to table?
He looked around their original table, hoping for some sort of explanation. There were four others still in their seats: a man with brown hair who seemed to hate the song just as much as William did, his seemingly-amused friend who pat the poor man’s shoulder in apology, a taller man with a shaved head that lamented his spilled drink, and lastly—
William wanted to throttle himself for not bringing his fiddle.
Emmanuel was sitting at the table as well, hands clapping along and his face somewhere between fond, exasperated, and unsurprised. He seemed to be watching the fiddler more intently than the singer, or the boy, and something akin to jealousy, or desperation flared up in William.
He looked around, searching for anyone that may have had a spare fiddle, or flute, or—or gods’ offcuts he would have even settled for a piano! Out of the corner of his eye, William saw the bartender put some cutlery away and, without thinking, he nearly lept over the bar and snatched two spoons from him. He ignored the bartender’s angry shouts and, steadying himself, quickly downed the rest of his cider.
If he made a fool of himself, well, he wouldn’t be coming back.
Taking the spoons in his hands, he took a moment to find the rhythm quietly to himself, before he began to play them loudly, in earnest. A few heads turned towards him, and he felt himself flush, but more importantly the table—Emmanuel’s table—still had not turned. He braced himself.
‘Oh gods William you must have dined with Seamus tonight,’ he thought to himself. Then, he leapt onto the nearest table and continued to play. Both the woman and the fiddler stopped, briefly, surprised that some outsider had joined their revelry, but William had almost forgotten about them. Emmanuel was looking at him, now, hands frozen just before a clap.
William kept the rhythm.
Emmanuel let out an errant laugh, and began his clapping once more. That seemed to tear the others out of their brief stasis, and their singing and dancing started up once more with even greater fervor.
I made some more D&D NPCs for a silly little sequel to Clam Island!! The Siren (he’s just james lol) is 100% new, but I edited Nudibranch and Sea Lion to 1) have a happy/fully haired alt version and 2) match the linework. I also gave Hermit a fully at rest position!
....... Im going to be embarrassing. Stenjames 1 through 10, and JamesAbel for 11-21 💕
Stenjames:
1. Who most initiates PDA?
James does, absolutely. That man cannot keep his hands to himself he's constantly grabbing Sten's arm/hand/waist and dragging him around everywhere.
2. Any sleep habits either had to get used to?
James drools. A lot. I doubt Sten was ready for waking up everyday as a wet t-shirt contestant. Also Sten big. James has to sleep on top of him, for survival purposes.
3. Hot and Steamy or Soft and Tender?
SOFT AND TENDER. AND ALSO KIND OF STEAMY.
4. How did they first meet?
sten slapped him with a fish
James just straight up walks into Sten's shop, steals something, and then decided to pay for it instead of threatening Sten with an island-wide boycott because he thought Sten was cute and, dare I say, ballsy to deny him his knick-knacks.
5. What is their love language?
These two cannot communicate clearly if their lives depended on it so they're like bower birds. Acts of service.....gift giving.....physical affection......Very much sending each other pictures "You" and turning the car AC down/up when they know the other's going to use it the next day.
6. When did they realize they loved each other?
Like, after three to five years of dating. In their defense, they only saw each other a grand total of like maybe 7 months during that time.
7. Who is more sentimental?
THAT'S HARD like the obvious choice is James. But honestly, I think it's Sten. He's very much house-husband "I miss my wife" sorta guy. James is too busy committing acts of terror and piracy on the Navy to focus on sentimentality.
8. What’s one way their personalities compliment one another?
James is super outgoing and charismatic so he drags Sten out to the taverns and parties and absorbs him into his circle of friends. Sten's more practical and pessimistic so honestly he keeps James from killing himself and also acting out various plans that will kill him.
9. How are their personalities different?
Have you ever heard of Bo Burnham's Left Brain, Right Brain? That's basically them.
10. What are some non-sexual activities they do together?
Look...........................James absolutely loves trying to teach Sten how to dance. It's his (secondary) life goal to get Sten to do a decent ceili or salsa before he dies.
J2:
11. Which member is more physically affectionate?
Both! They're a menace to polite society!
Really tho, James is the cuddler and Abel's the idle hands wanderer.
12. Which member is more verbally affectionate?
Again, both, but in different ways. Abel kind of comes off as condescending because he's always shortening James' name to other nicknames/"be a doll" sort of quips, but James loves it. James is more "sweetheart"/"darling"/"dearest" and he really does his best to let Abel know how much he loves him (since his parents never did).
13. Which member steals borrows the other ones clothing?
James. Abel cannot fit in James' clothes for the life of him, but he HAS taken a crop top from time 2 time.
14. Are they an introverted couple or an extroverted one—AKA would they prefer to go out to a party or event together or would they rather stay in?
Oh extroverted absolutely. Naval parties were their FAVORITE they could gather gossip and then wander off and just talk trash about everyone (and GET trashed).
15. Who is more likely to make an impulsive decision and who is the voice of reason?
...........Sten.
But no really, if I HAD to pick one, I would say James was the more impulsive with Abel being more the voice of reason, but Abel is also extremely impulsive too. Unfortunately, he doesn't consider James a voice of reason.
16. Who stays up way too late and who tries to drag them to bed?
Abel. He's a #gamer and James has to physically sit in his lap and fall asleep before Abel decides it's bedtime. Even in canon, while James is an insomniac currently, he wasn't when he and Abel were together. Abel's insomnia was always present and just got worse when they broke up; he needs a warm body to snuggle up against before he can fall asleep.
17. Who fell in love first?
Hang on I need to go rewatch my animatic to remember.
Okay, I'm going to say Abel. James falls quickly, yes, but man if James wasn't the first person Abel actually felt seen by. He was probably head-over-heels for James before he even realized it and made a jerk of himself at first because of it, but like. He really did truly love him. He definitely proposed.
18. What song fits them perfectly?
Oh there could be so many. What era? What point of their relationship? Is Sten included in there?
19. How do they deal with being away from each other for a long time?
All out of Tears Z Berg for James @ Abel a few years after James defects.
Wildflowers Caged Animals for Abel @ James years after that when he sees James successfully out of the game.
Scorpio Autoheart for both of them tbh
Burn Down This City Felix Hagan & the Family
Wolves Selena Gomez and Marshmello
20. Who holds a grudge the longest?
They're both horrible people. Abel tho. Absolutely Abel.
21. Which of the two is quick to speak and which one is quick to listen?
NEITHER OF THEM LISTENS THAT'S WHY THEY BROKE UP THE FIRST TIME!! THEY'RE BOTH TOO UP THEIR OWN VERSIONS OF SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT THEY CAN'T FATHOM A WORLD WHERE THEY'RE IN THE WRONG!!!!!!!! I'M CONSTANTLY HAUNTED BY THEIR POOR CHOICES AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
