☆ umberdawn’s grinning dorm leader! eccentric yet reliable, cat is insanely knowledgeable and knows every nook, cranny, and secret within the halls of WHA. she’s the perfect guide!
☆ cat is simultaneously book-smart and street-smart, using whatever information she can get her hands on to overcome any obstacles thrown at her. prepared for seemingly anything, it’s rare to see her fumble. except, when she’s alone with ali. she’ll allow herself to fumble plenty.
background snippet:
☆ cat spent a bit of her childhood with ali, the two of them two peas in a pod as the both of them were labeled as troublemakers. with ali unfortunately being sent off to an asylum, cathryn was whisked off to a behavioral boarding school, where she was *supposed to straighten up but alas, she did anything but that
school info:
school: @witchinghouracademy
year: 5th, upper course
dorm: umberdawn
club: literature club & board game club
favorite subject: regular & magical history
hobby: crossword puzzles
talents: lock picking, strangely specific trivia
likes: hanging out with ali
favorite food: takoyaki, raspberry tarts
unique magic: “ it’s a secret~”
trivia:
☆ cat started getting tattooed ( albeit not professionally at first ) around 14 as an act of rebellion and she hasn’t stopped since
☆ she borders neutral/chaotic neutral alignment. she’s learned all of the stuff she has for personal achievement
☆ rarely does cat ever stop smiling, even if overwhelmed by negative emotions
finally i posted her! been sitting on her for a while and she’s finally DONE. s/o to lulu ( @arcdiris ) for sitting down w/ me and helping me with her design a few months ago. she wouldn’t have looked so slay otherwise 🤞💕
WIP of a dorm based on American McGee's Alice / Alice: Madness Returns bc I don't have time to polish but 😳 here
Umberdawn
A dorm based on the awareness and imagination of the Wonderful Writer.
The Writer was known as a great but controversial author. A lot of her books were banned due to the macabre and dark themes they had, but many laud her treatment of such subjects and prose. They are specially popular with people suffering, able to see similar circumstances to their own in her works.
Students in the dorm tend to be a bit off, but they're greatly imaginative, as well as curious, perhaps even to a fault. They usually excel in writing and psychology.
It's color is a rusty, reddish brown. The dorm uniform is often modified by the students. While not directly rebellious it's hard to get them to "fit in", they simply can't help be themselves.
🫖-----------------------------
The current dorm leader is... not Ali. (Based off Alice)
The girl pictured above is just another student, thought certainly one of the oddest ones.
Simply known as Ali, she's often in her own head and dissociating. Even her suppsoed life, it's easy to see glimpses of the protagonists of books she read as a child, so who knows how true any of it is... It's gotten to a worrying extreme, where Ali will barely ever be present. Even the vice-principal Dr. Grimcrawl involved herself in giving Ali theraphy sessions. Not that they've advanced much. After being thrown into an asylum as a problem child, only to be neglected and simply given calming pills so she would quietly pass the time 'til she was 18 and her time there would be over did... a number on her to say the least.
That said, her magic is exceptional.
Her UM [Fall in the Rabbit Hole] lets her see the world in a whole different way. A sort of astral projection, Ali's mind detaches and is free to wander the world around her, seeing traces of magic that turn it into a fantastical adventure. Upside mushrooms, spirits of extinct beasts, secret paths, flying pigs... No one else can see her, but she can see shadows of the "real" world, and learn many things this way.
It's a world where minds take their "true" shape, so Ali's appearance changes to match her self-perception and subconcious. She is far more confident, present, decisive and clever. Her dark sense of humor let's her make the most of it all.
This UM activates on it's own. Ali has no control on it, having developed it as a escapism method. Tho she can bring people with her to this "world", as long as they are holding hands when it activates. Not while it's on course, but the moment it starts.
“Are you stupid? Everything has a moral, if only you could be bothered to find it.”
The cynical and uppity member of Umberdawn. Most students have never seen eye to eye with her, mostly because she is constantly looking down on others through her pointed nose. There is myth that she has a softer side to her, a doting side. But that side can be taken away as quickly as it is shown.
Name: Penelope Pepper.
Twisted from: The Duchess (Alice the Madness Returns)
Year: 4th.
Dorm: Umberdawn ( @witchinghouracademy )
Birthday: 10th May
Age: 19.
Height: 173 cm.
Dominant hand: Right.
Origin: Rose Kingdom.
Club: Cooking.
Hobby: Diorama making.
Bad with: Her temper.
Favourite food: Neapolitan ice cream.
Disliked food: Black pepper.
Special skill: Croquet (She has never played but claims she is great at it)
Unique magic: Mind grinder: Penelope can create a black mist that temporarily immobilises her target, putting them in a haze. It can also be considered a double edged sword, as when casting it there is a slight chance Penelope will also be put in a haze, hitting both her and her target.
Fun facts:
Despite her poor upbringing, Penelope has taught herself to act like royalty, believing she is a duchess in disguise.
In actual fact she grew up in a orphanage with several other siblings. She often proclaimed herself as a higher power among the other children and had a fixed view on what was considered ‘fair’. She called herself a lost heir who was taken away from her family as a means to cope to what actually happened to them. The other children did tease her for this imagination, which is why she has a strong dislike for them.
In the orphanage there was a cook that taught her how to fend for herself. She see’s this woman as a mother figure and hopes to employ her when Penelope inherits her palace. The cook had a wild temper that Penelope also gained.
She truly believes everything has a moral, and will try to shoehorn one in, even if it doesn’t fit. Her latest one was telling a student to always carry a basket full of teeth. No one knows what that means.
Peppercorn causes her to sneeze an ungodly amount. She hates having it in any of her food.
She really enjoys picnics. However many students are reluctant to go on one with her given her demanding personality.
Pigs are one of the things that bring her great joy. What can she say? Those cute little snouts and floppy ears are just to die for!
“ madame obscura! rather strange gal with a determination to be swayed by no one! sounds like the perfect umberdawn student, if you ask me! you know, she took one look at my dashing smile and went on about how nice the alignment of my teeth are. most would find that strange as a first impression but for me, it was a nice compliment~ i wish she’d refrain from pouncing on ali for research purposes. that girl’s been prodded enough by doctors all her life. i’d much rather it be my brain and teeth being examined if it meant less stress for her. ”
Please Anna, I need to know, ∅ for Penelope about Celaeno and Asterope.
What does Penelope Pepper think of:
Celaeno:
“Aha~ She uses my title. My true title. I suppose I can give a little respect for that. She’s good company, I like her silence. But sadly the girl is doomed. Doomed I say! She’s smart, but fails to teach herself a valuable lesson. Those who don’t learn their own history are failed to repeat it.”
Asterope:
“Asterope. I would say I am curious about her, but I’m not. I admire her devotion to revenge, but what for? The girl is burdened with a looming shadow of someone she doesn’t even know. Not that I would know the feeling. At least I know who I am. But I would hold my tongue If I were her. Whoever lashes their tongue will have it cut off.”
🥰 Cela and Aste reaction to Ali tsumtsum, or if not that then Polpol with Conrad tsumtsum?
HEHEHE the white haired ladies reacting to mini!Ali !
It was unsurprisingly Asterope who squealed the loudest when she noticed the little Ali around Umberdawn, she was really curious on how and why such a cute creature was all alone, in the dorm. Did the little one belong to a bigger Ali ? She had to give her back to her friend, big Ali !
But before that, she took a photo with Mini!Ali and posted it on her groupchat with her fellow quintuplets, with the following text: "You wish you could hang out with someone as cute as her."
Her other siblings would answer much later, asking her if she was the one who turned her friend into a cute plushie or why Celaeno wasn't around to stop her.
Only Celaeno answered with a: "Where are you", followed by a "Where is Ali ???" when Celaeno arrived to see them. It was at that moment that the sisters understood that this mini!Ali was in fact their Ali.
Asterope quickly but carefully grabbed mini!Ali and proceeded to rush towards her laboratory, with Celaeno closely following behind.
" Worry not Ali ! With my genius intellect, and Cela's knowledge of magic, we will surely find a way to reverse the spell !" said reassuringly Asterope.
" May I hold her ?" it was Celaeno. " She is absolutely adorable in that form, but it would be troublesome for her if she stayed that way in the Astral Plane...Let's find a solution quickly."
The two of them ended up involving their other siblings via video-call to find a solution to the problem. And when the situation got resolved, those other siblings sent to Ali a plush version of the form she took that day.
Starting with Celaeno (the one on the left) first,
Full name: Celaeno Ottaviii De Nostredame
Also known as: Celaeno, no.8
Species: Human clone
Family: Léonidas De Nostredame (creator), Apostoleo, Napoleon (older siblings), Asterope, Arcadia and Calixte De Nostredame (younger siblings), Nephthys Carat (cousin)
Age: 19
Twisted from: The Vorpal Blade
Status: Student of Witching Hour Academy, Member of Umberdawn, model for jewelry
Dislikes: history lessons, admitting she likes desserts and being caught eating them
Backstory: Celaeno's generation of clones was created as part of an experiment of Prof Leonidas on inserting the memory of dead people into clones. So that way, famous mysteries would be solved. However, the whole experiment was deemed a failure. In her case, she was one of the most successful of the bunch since she received the memories of the OG version.
Celaeno was the 8th clone that was created, based on a fae from the time of the War, famous for dying after having defeated an overblot all by herself... She revealed to Leonidas that the one who had overblotted so many years ago had been a lover.
Personality: A solemn and chivalrous lady, haunted by memories that aren't hers. She would like to not be like the original Celaeno but doesn't know which traits she developed herself and which traits aren't. Celaeno acts older than she actually is because of the memories, and she tends to easily resort to using magic when provoked.
Celaeno also has a great sense of responsibility, and is very protective of everyone she considers hers. Luckily, with her lack of social skills, she doesn't have much people she cares about outside of her family. But with friends, she would be so unselfish, to a worrying degree.
Unique Magic: "Ready for Service" an UM that actually belonged to an old foe (...or lover if you ask others) of the original Celaeno. Only the name changed.
Celaeno or the target of her spell will be able to move at the same speed as their thoughts, with lightning speed reactions.
She could, for example, move her body fast enough to avoid the fastest balls during dodgeball.
Trivia:
She's a frequent visitor at Desicora, who tries to get her older cousin to hang out with people more, instead of focusing on projects all the time.
Her middle name, Ottaviii, is written as such to represent the order in which she was created: VIII (or 8) in roman numbers.
She likes seeking out Headmistress Mim to learn forbidden knowledge. And because she feels familiar.
For a look at her Astral Plane form
Like the rest of her siblings, Celaeno always smell good.
The original Celaeno is known as a famous figure of the history of Briar Valley and she knew Lilia Vanrouge from before.
And now, about Asterope (the lady on the right)!
Full name: Asterope Viatrix De Nostredame
Also known as: Asterope, Silly Pony, no.9
Species: Human Clone
Age: 19
Twisted from: The Hobby Horse
Status: Student of WHA, Member of Umberdawn, lab assistant for her creator
Backstory: Asterope is the 9th clone of the De Nostredame Family, created to solve the mystery of how several important figures of her homeland died under suspicious circumstances. However, Asterope remembers nothing relevant and her case was deemed a failure.
She is one of her creator's favorite children because he personally knew her original version, the mentor of an old friend of his.
Personality: Asterope grew up hearing about the many achievements of her original version, and how her personality was similar to hers. This is why she tries to follow her example....and get revenge for the woman she started idolizing. How could someone kill such an amazing woman ?
Unlike the merciful original version, no.9 can be quite cold and has no problem being harsh when needed. She could hurt your feelings with a few words while still smiling.
Unique Magic: "I'll break you" an UM that is derived from her original version. Specifically, the last words OG Asterope said to the one who ended her life, it's the only words the clone remembers vividly.
It's an UM that takes time to cast and it tires her fast, but it allows her to crush anything she wants with any of her body parts.
Trivia:
She has a lot of books about esoteric stuff and other unexplained phenomenon in her room. She intends to solve as many as possible, to be as famous as her original version.
Asterope is very close to her father and shares many traits with him. Mainly curiosity and lack of ethics.
She owns an horse she named after herself, Sterope III.
It can be surprising when she starts acting lady-like, but it's something she practiced to be more like the OG her.
In her middle name, Viatrix, the last two letters represent the roman number IX (9) which is also her position in the order where the clones were created.
THE OTHER OC FOR UMBERDAWN ( Fandorm belongs to @witchinghouracademy )
Miss Celaeno De Nostredame (19) , twisted from the Vorpal Blade from American McGee's Alice and Madness Returns !
Since I have finished the sprites of the two sisters, I will try to make their profiles soon ! But now, I leave you with a little bit of info about her:
" The 8th clone made by Leonidas De Nostredame, Celaeno's original version was a fae who fought under Lilia's command during the Old War. She became famous for being one of the rare people to have defeated an overblot alone, at the price of her life.
This version of Celaeno is haunted by the memories of her past version, to the point of acting exactly like her. It doesn't help that she saw familiar faces at WHA, who unconsciously make her act like her "past self".
There are moments when she resents that part of her and wonders if there are some traits that she didn't receive from the original version."
