#inspired by scraphim

[elains]

Make Me Choose Edits ❧ amren or the bone carver ↪ asked by @obsidianstudy​

‘Amren is a bedtime storythey told us as younglings to make us behave ‘

[starlitwritings]

ro • sa • lyn

/ a name chosen by a mother gone too soon. The memory of a better past and the hope of a kinder future /

1. A young girl carved from marble with storms in her eyes, fearless challenger of gods and monsters, walking on a tightrope high above the clouds. Below, people sing a requiem for useless warnings and broken promises, but she no longer hears them.

2. A princess made of broken obsidian and the ocean’s depthless dark, hands stained red and emptiness where there once was a heart. The mirror in her bedroom lays shattered on the wooden floor, one look at it reveals what was, what is and what is never gonna be again— she’s a reflection of her own sins, and memory cuts deeper than any glass shard.

3. Daughter of fire and darkness, desperate to make sense of lies all-encompassing. Queen of shadow and vengeance, the hopes of a future lost lying dead at her feet. The ancient dark whispers sweet, poisonous words in her ears, beckoning her to let go. She’s alone, and tired, and angry. War rages, summer turns to fall and fall to winter, and all she sees ahead is blood.

4. An Empress standing on the edge of a cliff as the waves break against the rocks down below, pale hair billowing in the harsh wind. The scars are gone, her nails are black and bloodied. She’s sorrow and emptiness and eternity; a hero and a villain and her own worst enemy. The war is won and all it demanded was what made her human.

5. Seasons past. Summer ends. A little girl walks toward her, green eyes alight with joy and a smile as bright as the sun. She’s a figure straight out of dreams, impossible and yet so, so real. There are tears in her stormy eyes, and words are forgotten as she pulls the child into her shaking arms.

6. “You’re my little star, and I’ll not fail you.”

[greenbriarcardan]

the @mythonetwork members as gods/goddesses 💯

@mythonetwork woohooo i love these let’s hope i do you all justice (huge shoutout to @meropegaunt for helping me out!!! i love you!!)

greek pantheon

anya @flthymudbloods - isis (egyptian; queen, motherly, protection, wisdom)hayden @poepls - loki (norse; deviation, trickery, playful, close)

norse pantheon

laura @tyblacktorn - nantosuelta (celtic; earth, fire, kindness, battlefield)lacie @nestha - hestia (greek; family, charitable, grounded)natalie @amcrtentias - diana (roman; independent, introvert, sorority)

egyptian pantheon

aiden @jasonscotts - xochipilli (aztec; art, games, beauty, dance)rosie @nowthatsheaven - benzaiten (japanese; beauty, music, eloquence)hazel @amjnyard - apollo (greek&roman; bright, lively, radiant, victorious)

roman pantheon

thea @meropegaunt - bastet (egyptian; warrior, guardian, moon)maddy @sorexx - hermes (greek; winged, swift, mischievous, dreamy)

hindu pantheon

riya @zabiniblaise - coatlicue (aztec; snakes, motherhood, night sky)isha @ninazenjik - hera (greek; queenly, women, noble, stately)katie @asphrodites - juventas (roman; giving, charming, remarkable)

celtic pantheon

bri @hermionejean - svarog (slavic; sunshine, handcraft, nobility)gracie @mythologyisapassion -  wangmu niangniang (chinese; happiness, magic, youth)faith @padmapatjl - kali (hindu; growth, fearless, strength)

slavic pantheon

karla (aka me) - persephone (greek; fair, proud, bittersweet)caspar @asteryia - anubis (egyptian; wise, level-headed, steady)luiza @scraphim - xochiquetzal (aztec; female power, protector, flowers)

chinese pantheon

mel @patroclusgf - bacchus (roman; drunken, giddy, shrewd)adira @icecourt - morana (slavic; trickery, vicious, sly)jocelyn @orpheuxs - cailleach (celtic; inspired, singular, natural)

japanese pantheon

reb @perfectchekov - thoth (egyptian; wisdom, great, divine, scribal)artemis @kanokas - baldr (norse; purity, reconciliation, friendly)tina @cxrstairss - freyja (norse; beauty, love, war, death)

[forever-and-almost-always]

ffnet members as myers briggs types? lol

First of all, nobody outside the net knows I’m a psych major, so I damn well know you’re in the net, Anon. And one of these days I’m gonna find out who you are. Second of all, not only is the MBTI test considered unreliable and outdated (doesn’t mean those traits aren’t real), it’s also a self-report. So, to give you my take on what I think people in the net are would be grossly inaccurate because I’m not them. However, despite my protests that the results should be accurate, and won’t be if I guess, my friends persuaded me to do it. 

I don’t talk to as many people as there are types, so this list won’t include all of the types. These definitions all come from https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types. I’m also only including the people I talk to often, or with some frequency. 

@ofmoonlightandthesun - INTJ/“The Architect”

•“Imaginative and strategic thinkers, with a plan for everything.”

@histcria - INTP/“The Logician” 

•“Innovative inventors with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.”

@tartts - ENTJ/“The Commander”

• “Bold, imaginative and strong-willed leaders, always finding a way – or making one.”

@penumbralluminance - ENTP/“The Debater” 

•“Smart and curious thinkers who cannot resist an intellectual challenge.”

@letolatona - INFJ/“The Advocate” 

•“Quiet and mystical, yet very inspiring and tireless idealists.”

@thewinedarksea - INFP/“The Mediator” 

•”Poetic, kind and altruistic people, always eager to help a good cause.”

@kanokas - ENFP/“The Campaigner”

•”Enthusiastic, creative and sociable free spirits, who can always find a reason to smile.”

@scottpilgvrim - ISFJ/“The Defender”

• “Very dedicated and warm protectors, always ready to defend their loved ones.”

@queeenpersephone - ESFJ/“The Consul” 

•”Extraordinarily caring, social and popular people, always eager to help.”

@mysticalmagicalpineapple - ISFP/“The Adventurer”

•“Flexible and charming artists, always ready to explore and experience something new.”

@andrxnmeda - ESFP/“The Entertainer” 

•“Spontaneous, energetic and enthusiastic people – life is never boring around them.”

@nestha @scraphim @lilttlebird @chaanv @daphnaea @primordialnyx @ringo-ichigo I don’t talk to you guys enough to put down an MBTI, so reply to the post and tell me yours

[thewinedarksea]

Is there someone on tumblr who inspires you for your creations?

i am…not super sure what you mean by this? i tend to get inspiration for what i want to make entirely because i want to see something made for it (example: the fae series). but if we’re talking edit makers that i deeply admire and who inspire me to keep working on edits of my own to one day reach their level of talent: @ibuzoo, @scraphim, @nestha, @veinus, and @oylmpians are all absolutely amazing edit makers

[goldentailedmermaids]

ten questions tag game

I was tagged by @thewinedarksea​ . GIRL!!!! I AM SHOOKT!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH??????? I ceased functioning for a while when I saw the tag!

do you prefer writing beginnings or endings? I love both. Although it is hard for me to really start or really end, so I tend to write prologues and epilogues

how did you get the idea for your current project? When I was a teenager, I made up loads of stories and the Sword of Stones (on which I am working) was actually part, with a part of Azar, of a whole heroic fantasy story I made up, inspired by famous french comics. When I was 19 I recalled the story and decided to change it, for it to fit my current interests and new tastes better. So I split that story in half; one, half-Azar and the other, half-tSoS; and I kept toying with the story, drawing maps, characters, expanding the universe, making up the story as characters just imposed themselves to me, until it began what it is today. Also, I changed skintones so instead of being a white blonde woman, my aelys is of brown complexion and has red hair.

do you have any common themes in your writing? I guess some of my most common themes are change, legacy, transmission, and connection. Also, in tSoS, a great deal of feminism is implied because it speaks to me, as well as LGBT stuff.

if you could meet one of your ocs, who would it be and why? I guess, I’d meet Mesyt, Mérérou and Bronwyn. Also, I’d love to have a drink with Eirik Eriksson!

where do you like to go to write? In the library, mostly. But then, I write well in my bed and on my desk. provided there is silence enough, I can be at ease to write.

what project of yours are you closest to? The Sword of Stones. Because it is expanding and also because I spent years perfecting it.

what’s your favorite part of the writing process? Worldbuilding, characters sheets, chapters outlines.... and when it is finished lol.

how do you handle writer’s block? I usually let it slip and try to write one sentence at a time. It usually works. Sometimes, I have to push myself through a difficult scene to write to arrive is calmer and easier waters.

which oc would you love to fight? I’d love to wrestle Magnhildr Leifdottir, but she’s kick my ass! I cannot fight Mahaut for the same reasons and I prefer never to cross path with Eirik and Einar. But I’d love to give Bertulf and Guimar a slap.

who do you talk to about your writing? I usually talk with Ran and Rê, two of my fanfic friends and whose support is everything to me. I also talk with a few friends at uni and with users and anons coming into my askbox.

My questions: How do you name your OCs? Are you a visual kind of person when it comes to scenery and writing? What kind of scene do you like to write? Who is your biggest influence when it comes to writing? Why do you write? Who are your favorite OCs? What are some recurring tropes in your writing? Who was your first OC? Tell us about a story you are dying to write? What is your organisation writing-wise?

Tagging: @amkatepet @m4rloe5 @ceridwenofwales @dreamywritingdragon @scraphim and @ktwrites

[solaskoroleva]

congrats on 1k and thank you for being such an amazing source of inspiration and beautiful content! i voted scraphim & would really love a name edit 🎀 hugs

thank you for this!!! Your words are simply too kind! ✨i can’t thank you enough after reading this message, so I can only hope that you like the edit I made for your beautiful name💕

🎀 a name edit

You can find it here! 

[elains]

 ◇ relationship aesthetics — cheryl di’hérbzt & gavriel lantgrin

…all ended with her eyes, Hell, Purgatory, Paradise. [x]

[elains]

TERRIBLE AND PROUD, BEAUTIFUL AS THE A WINTER SUNRISE

How the wind moans her name. Can you hear it too? Nesta. Nesta. Nesta."

[elains]

one word moodboard for @tartts​​  — D E C A D E N C E

1. moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury. 2. Luxurious self-indulgence.

want one?

[elains]

BOOK REVIEW: HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD, Crescent City Book I, by Sarah J. Maas.

First off, my sincerest thanks to @scraphim, who listened to my comments and rants with the patience of a saint and encourage me to put them down. Second, english is not my first language, so my apologies if there's anything confusing or awkward.

General Rating: ★★ 1/2

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CUT HERE OUT OF COURTESY BUT TUMBLR MOBILE IS BEING ITS IMPOSSIBLE SELF SO DO MIND THE RATING BEFORE CONTINUING.

Congratulations, Sarah J. Maas. You got me to sit down and write a review for a book, something I hadn't done (officially, anyway, might as well count the endless conversations with my friends) in a long while. Unfortunately, House of Earth and Blood was one more disappointment in an ever-growing list, and this review was born not out of pure, simple enjoyment, but of how much reading this bothered me.

Let me start by saying that I wanted to like this book. I did. I don't buy books which I don't think there's a chance I will not enjoy, I have way too much to do with my life and little money to spare on that. I hoped Sarah would go back to the early days of ToG, when the writing wasn't so choppy I kept questioning what is her problem with commas and when the characters weren't more and more of the same. Or perhaps that she would go back to ACoMaF, which at the time I loved reading.

Silly, silly me. The thing about having an eye-opener to something is that you can't go back. It's not so simple to close your eyes and pretend the bad doesn't exist, doing so feels irresponssible. I'm not sure her books have changed much, perhaps it was just me, the reader, whose perspective changed.

Let's go into the detail, then. Warning for spoilers of her previous books:

• THE LENGTH. It. Is. Ridiculosly. Long. I would say that length itself it's not necessarily a bad thing, something can be long but engaging. HoEaB's problem is that it drags on, to the point I had to put it down I don't know how many times out of frustration that nothing relevant happened. The infodumps do not help AT ALL, making the whole experience even more tiresome. I'll talk about worldbuilding separately, but jesus, so much unecessary information whose only purpose was to add to the wordcount and could have been woven into the story more organically. Readers are not dumb, they can make simple inferences, you don't need to explain every little detail.

The story only picks up and runs like the devil itself is chasing it in the last like, 20 chapters or so. Considering there are 97 of them... Yeah. It could have been a shorter, more direct and overall just more engaging.

• THE WORLDBUILD. I'll give Sarah J. Maas a point: it is more elaborate and refined compared to ToG and ACoTaR, whose worldbuilding are in general quite shallow and in the later's case, nearly nonexistent. However, the use of names blatantly lifted from real-world mythology and places bothered me to NO END. In a book which is built around those mythologies as their main source of inspiration, I can understand. Not here. Look, Maas can come up with original fantasy names, there are even some in HoEaB itself. But unless it's meant to be purposeful and Crescent City is to be Earth All Along, it's just jarring and feels lazy. It's not something new— refer back to the Illyrians and the Myrmidons.

Archean? Valbara? Pangera? Hel? REALLY? And those are just place names. Might as well name something Proterozoic. Or Laurasia.

The Roman inspiration, which was supposed to be a big thing from all her talk felt extremely loose and barely there. Oh sure, there are legions, a governor, the SPQR/M, and some names which to me, a portuguese speaker, where so cringy I had to laugh (Like Gelos and Cervo. You know, literally Ices and Stag or in that case Hind), but they did not feel Roman to me, naming aside. You could literally have named them anything else and it'd still have worked.

We studied Rome (mostly the government and the legal system) in our first semester of College and it might be the student in me, but I kept wanting to see more of the government structure, the politcal system itself. In a book that dealt with law enforcement and figures in places of power, this was a part of the worldbuilding that felt lacking, and a wasted opportunity to expand on the Roman inspiration.

What gets me is that some interesting concepts could have been explored better. I kinda like the idea of the Asteri, the rifts, the summoning salts.

• HUMANITY'S PORTRAYAL. Ahahaha. Where do I even begin with this one? In KoA, I hated that Aelin loosing her human side was seen as such a big sacrifice when the Fae were repeatedly shown to be "superior": stronger, more beautiful, immortal, the list goes on. Aelin herself preferred the Fae-side, so it felt a completely pointless sacrifice. In Crescent City, it gets even worse. Humanity is oppressed, trying to fight for their freedom and their inherent rights as sentient beings, and the books keeps going on and on about the Vanir.

Forgive me, but I'm supposed to be sympathize with the Vanir? To see the Vanir main-characters go on and change the world and make it better for everyone? I'm sorry but I'm not here for that. Bryce's mother and stepfather and Briggs aside, the HoEaB could have definetely used a human PoV or just. You know. ONE THAT DOESN'T FAVOR THE VANIR IN EVERYTHING. So yeah, I'm here cheering for the humans.

• THE CHARACTERS. I like Ruhn. He read like a concerned older brother, I could relate to that, not a possessive alphahole and I was baffled when Bryce kept insisting that. Oh, he has his flaws, but overall, I like him and his friends. They're nice. Danika, too. I would have liked to see more of Juniper and Fury, and them together, instead of using their relationship as kind of a surprise. Hypaxia is another Yrene/Sorscha. I also liked Lehabah, she was a sweetheart (Also I'm sorry am I supposed to think Bryce witholding the news on her freedom to throw a party WASN'T a WTF move? That Lele just knew because she looked at the documents???)

Now, to our main duo. I found Hunt boring. Simple as that. There was nothing in him that I found captivating, nothing new in terms of SJM's Love Interests. How he kept sexualizing Bryce in the most inappropriate of moments pissed me off. His and Bryce's relationship felt to me as Rowaelin 2.0, just as they themselves read as another versions of them, and not very different ones. He is not supposed to be an "alphahole" but... I didn't feel it. Hunt felt as just more of the same.

Now, Bryce Adelaide Quinlan.. Is it so much to ask for a main character who isn't gorgeous, super special, and super-powerful? I get the appeal of the trope, I'm no so hypocritical as to say that I've not indulged in it myself, but with Sarah, it feels overdone. When all characters are beautiful, special, so powerful it... kinda loses its meaning. However, that's not what bothered me about Bryce, no, it's the fact that she could be read as PoC (Golden, Tanned skin, two very ambiguous terms. My white cousin gets golden skin when she stays too long outdoors ffs), and as a PoC myself, reading her into those situations bothered me so, so much I cannot even begin to tell you.

Her curvy, sensual, bug boobs and butts are easily one of the more sought after where I live. People would go to great lengths for such a body and no, it will not hinder your dancing career. We have a word for it roughly translates to Hot, but having men call you that as something laid out on a table for their pleasure, objectifying you is horrible. And that's what most characters do in HoEaB: sexualize Bryce again and again, playing into harmful stereotypes.

My skin crawled reading those passages. I felt uncomfortable. And it wasn't even just the nameless, countless side-characters: it was Hunt himself. Every single move Bryce made was sexualized and I hated, hated it. "She's a Queen who owns her body and doesn't care for anyone else's thoughts" is all well and good, but women like me already have the stereotype of whores, sluts, homewreckers, and it was handled in such a tone-deaf way that it touched ALL of my wrong buttons. It was just uncomfortable, and cringy.

Two and a half stars, like those bad movies we still watch god knows why.

[elains]

i've been looking through your edits and can you speak more about isabelle?? i tried looking your oc page but she wasn't there :(

I’m extremely happy you took an interest in Isabelle anon! Hooray!! My OC Page is currently undergoing a revamp so there’s not much of anything there right now, and it’ll stay like that for a while. However, I’ll do my best to describe my darling Belle for you.

Isabelle belongs to an RP I’ve been developing/playing with Luiza (aka @scraphim )for some years now — and the story itself also stretches for years. To be more specific, three generations, each with its own characters and story arcs. Belle belongs to the Third and as of now last generation, being the daughter of my character Perseus Hyperion and @scraphim‘s Melisend Arthendäin. You can see more about Mel in Luiza’s oc page. Also kudos and credits to her because I totally based this answer’s layout on hers ♥

Her full name is Isabelle Carina Arthëndain Hyperion and she comes from quite a unique background: Melisend, her mother, is from the world where stories unfolds, you may call it the world of fairy tales if you wish, and her role was of the Black Swan/The Evil Queen’s daughter. Her father? Lord Perseus Hyperion, a Duke from an once proud family which, after a bloodthirsty tyrant and a madman, was struggling to clear their tainted name. He succeeded. Isabelle is their firstborn child and heiress, and hers is the difficult challenge to set the new standard for House Hyperion.

My first inspiration for her was that of a poisonous rose, taking from her parents’ associations with thorns and scorpions. She’s beautiful to the eye, meant to be looked from afar, because beneath the petals are dark thorns drenched with poison. And true to her inspiration, those are ideas Isabelle not only embraced but actively enforces. She’s poised, elegant and more often than not, cold. Aside from a few select people, Belle shows little empathy, and don’t expect a compassionate word or a comforting gesture from her, because you’re more likely to get the exact opposite. Her tongue is barbed and she revels in dry, pointed remarks; aiming at people’s weaknesses and what they want to hide is one of her favourite past times. It’s little wonder people call her Ice Queen and Bitch. She makes no excuses for using her intelligence and observation skills as she pleases.

Despite the disdain she holds for nearly everyone, to her circle of friends Isabelle is nothing but a caring and devoted friend, always looking out for them and putting herself on the line without expecting anything in return. Though often striving to keep her deals as clean as possible, in regards to her friends and family all bets are off, and the raging inferno hiding beneath the cold exterior comes to surface. Belle is a deeply passionate young woman, who feels the need to act out on her emotions — and this terrifies her to no end. Why? Because her grandfather and great-grandfather were also ruled by their emotions, and they were monsters. Still, this constant need to shut down her feelings has left her with a sense of emptiness, and nothing can quite fill it.

◇   fun facts:

↝ She and her sister are named after Fairy Tales, more specifically the Beauty and the Beast (Isabelle) and Vasilisa the Beautiful (Vasilisa)

↝ Is utterly terrified of rats. Yes, she’ll use her powers to obliterate every blasted rodent that comes her way.

↝ Neither of her parents have her chocolate brown hair, being something Isabelle inherited from her grandmother, Lady Yerina.

↝ As the heiress to the Great House of Hyperion, a Dukedom and one of the most prominent families in the Kingdom of Ekalyon, she holds the courtesy title of Marchioness of Kenthri.

↝ Adores licorice sweets, has stashes of them in her room and gods have mercy upon your soul if you try to take them. Well, except if you’re Lissa, then take as many as you wish.

(her aesthetic board)