1shadowhole

[1shadowhole]

A few days ago I picked my sketchbook up after years of not drawing at all and now I have to relearn a lot but I enjoy it so much rn

Featuring mouse Arthur from the @merlinmylove 's fic Of Mice and Kings

[1shadowhole]

New monthly envelope 🌸

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[1shadowhole]

Merlin and Arthur

I was taking a short break from painting to work on a fanfic I’m writing. I drew this last month, and instead of painting another tarot card for the cartoon edition of my Merlin deck, I really wanted to get this painted. No idea what color I might end up splashing in the background, so for now, it’s just blank.

[1shadowhole]

Im sorry but it is so funny how people outside of tumblr view us. Like why are the tiktokers treating tumblr like some professional ass website you need to do extensive prep before you begin posting on. And the follower farming advice is so fucking funny to me when this is the website where people actively hate getting new followers

[1shadowhole]

Inspired by all those straight ppl wedding toppers lol

[1shadowhole]

it’s psychological horror to YOU. to me it’s a romcom

[1shadowhole]

Just got to a museum about the Arthurian legend what do you mean merlin is not a twink and Arthur is not in love with him ??

[1shadowhole]

Have a goofball

[1shadowhole]

running for their lives

[1shadowhole]

Chapter 1 of Void Noir out now

@konncreete coming in clutch with the wonderful art

[1shadowhole]

Reblogging for inspiration because I'm still working on this fan binding 😂

I was possessed with the sudden and irrepressible desire to bind a book last week, and I've been wanting to bind And like the cycle of the year, we begin again by @katherynefromphilly (sorry for tagging you but I wanted to share this). Link to the fic, which is my personal definitive Arthur returns fic, and also a fandom classic so you don't have to take my word for it. I have much to improve on this project, but please indulge me in the process details below...

Material details:

All the illustrations are by me, mostly done in clip studio paint. The header typefaces are fleisch and FairytaleJF. The book was typeset in adobe indesign.

The covers are Lama Li Lokta Paper in red and midnight blue from Blick, the spine is reinforced linen that I had leftover from making a dress (yes I do have a dress that now matches these books, lol). The end papers are hand marbled (suminagashi) on strathmore paper, and have been kicking around in my flat file since I made them at a class a while back. I added the gold to the marbling by hand with a gel pen (worked better than metallic paint, who knew?) The ribbon bookmarks are, similarly, from my material stash, as are the headbands, which are fabric rather than embroidery floss.

The dust jacket was printed at good ol' Staples.

Bit more about the illustrations:

For the jacket illustration, I wanted the title to feel like it was on top of patches of shining water, whether with gold from the hot sun above or power beneath. I used some gold leaf that's been sitting unused in my closet for years. Below the title is, of course, Excalibur, and on the spine is the lady of the lake's face. Her hand presses up against the surface of the water on the back.

The inner flap has the title and author again, plus the knotwork circle that I repeated throughout. I drew this to be full of symbols from the book: daisies for Eleanor, dragons, a merlin bird or else the bird of the Du Bois crest -- you decide, the whole knotwork pattern making a butterly, a sword that also looks like a tower above a solitary boat. I took big cues from Migration period art (link to a digitized Met Museum publication about the era in art, in case it is of interest). The ornamental "C" that starts "chapter" in particular incorporates some modified elements of the helmet from the Sutton Hoo Burial (I found out the eyebrows, nose, and forehead ornamentation on the helmet form a dragon! Link to visuals at British Museum here). The title page is meant to be the ring of monumental stones by the lake's edge.

Last but not least, the covers feature a gold leafed version of the knotwork circle, which took a tooon of trial and error. It's block printed using a linocut I made, with a little bit of gold leaf size mixed into the printing ink, onto which I put gold leaf. Some of the detail was lost, but I felt it was worth it for the effect. If you can't tell from this project, I love gold.

Looking at all the projects by Renegade Bindery members on @renegadepublishing was super inspiring, so go look there if you're in the mood to view some more sick stuff. (I'm not part of Renegade Publishing I just think they're neat)

[1shadowhole]

[1shadowhole]

how controversial would it be if I said the ending of merlin was good and exactly what it should've been. they wrote a masterful tragedy. it played out perfectly. what if I said that.

[1shadowhole]

I watched Merlin for the first time many years after it came out.

"That was fun!" I thought to myself, "I can't wait to check out the fan work, though I bet I missed the bandwagon."

Little did I know...

Our king may not be rising, but damn, we sure are on the Tumblr top 10 lists.

[1shadowhole]

FUUCK

Fuck

Fuck

Fuck

Fuck

GOD

The sound that came out of my mouth at the

Final Boss: MERLIN

ATK:0 DEF:0 HP:1

My God JESUS

Noooooooo

This hurts so bad

Since I've been on a roll with short au prompts recently, here's another one! This is an au where, during the battle of Camlann, Merlin manages to save Arthur and defeat Morgana and her army. However, it comes at the cost of revealing his magic and his identity as Emrys. Furious at the perceived betrayal, Arthur attempts to fight him, but Merlin doesn't want to fight.

Here's the twist though: the story is written like a video game boss battle from Arthur's perspective. Here's an example:

Final Boss: EMRYS ATK: 999999999 DEF: 999999999 HP: ∞

EMRYS: I don't want to fight you, Arthur.

What will you do? >Attack Talk Use Item Run

You attack with a steel sword! 0 damage!

EMRYS: Please, stop this. EMRYS chooses to spare you!

What will you do? Attack >Talk Use Item Run

What would you like to say? >Insult Question Appease

You call EMRYS a traitor. EMRYS looks guilty. EMRYS's DEF lowered!

EMRYS: I never wanted to hurt you. EMRYS chooses to spare you!

What will you do? Attack >Talk Use Item Run

What would you like to say? Insult >Question Appease

You ask EMRYS why he has magic. EMRYS: I was born with it. I use it only for you, Arthur. EMRYS's DEF lowered!

EMRYS: My life has always been yours. EMRYS chooses to spare you!

What will you do? Attack Talk >Use Item Run

What item would you like to use? Dagger Steel Sword >Excalibur

You draw Excalibur from its sheath! EMRYS's ATK, DEF, and HP lowered!

EMRYS: If that is what you want, then I will accept it. EMRYS chooses to spare you!

SECOND PHASE CONDITIONS MET!

Final Boss: MERLIN ATK: 0 DEF: 0 HP: 1

MERLIN looks at you with tears in his eyes. MERLIN: I will accept your judgement, Arthur.

What will you do? >Attack Talk Use Item Spare

…

What will you do? Attack Talk Use Item >Spare

[1shadowhole]

Love how we, as the Merlin fandom, have decided that Merlin's last name in Modern AU's is Emrys. Like, of course. What else would it be? And we all went with it. Incredible, 10/10 work, guys.