#merlin mahariel

[inverswayart]

very quick kinda experimental thing with merlin did you know that antivan crows routinely practice blood magic? he sure didn't (oh what would Marethari say.....)

seems like i finally figured out what his deal is. turns out marethari is so great at teaching and parenting that not one, but two of her pupils end up turning to blood magic. Merlin is neither a strong mage (he never even got into the line for being the First) or fighter - and he got thrown into the blight and leadership. so when his newfound teammate Zevran tells him he'll show Merlin some cool tricks to not die, Merlin eagerly agrees.. only to find out that he tapped into the power he was taught was the worst possible thing for mage to tap in

but there's blight to stop so he can't be picky

[illiumflower]

" do you know how it feels, to be a monster? " | for merrill, im sorry

bbc merlin prompts  /  accepting

“I -- “ Merrill paused at Anders’ words, staring blankly ahead of her as her clan came to mind. Monster, don’t belong her, a danger to us all. How many times had they said that to her face? Behind her back? No matter how much Merrill tried to deny it, it happened, and she couldn’t erase the past. Her mind flashed further, still, to the elven ruins in Ferelden, to Mahariel’s last moments with the clan and Tamlen’s body, never found. To the shard of the mirror that she took when leaving that ruin despite the destruction it dealt to Clan Sabre, and her obsession over it that drove her to the alienage in Kirkwall. Was it worth it? She still wasn’t sure.

“... yes. I think I do,” Merrill whispered, eyes glassy as she looked up at Anders. “I think I always will.”

[mistresstrevelyan]

FOLLOWER MILESTONE

As of today Persephone’s Parlour has reached 400 followers.

When I remade after that toxic breakup fiasco a few years ago I never could have imagined to find so many wonderful people who’d follow me when I’m blogging about my OCs, Fashion, Opera, Merlin and so on and so forth.

Some of you are friends going back all the way to the BSN (IE @knightofphoenix and @merilsell) others I’ve met on YT (IE @mloreley my fave LPer of all time) and one even dates back to my writing days on LJ (Hi @nikichidon). 

ALL of you are people I’m extremely proud to call my friends. ALL of you are incredibly patient with my multi-fandom blogging (Bless you @freifraufischer I’m still here for Regina, our queen!) ALL of you are incredibly kind, talented and loving people.

But none of this would have been possible without my friend @dandelion-warrior who not only was my rock and my protector in the difficult months and years after the breakup and who offered precious advice, hugs, love and support during that emotional roller coaster. It is thanks to her I was able to shed the abusive conditioning and create fan-ish stuff, esp. OCs, without wishing to please but because theirs are the stories I wish to tell. Without her, Desideria Hawke, Drusilla Trevelyan, Theresa Chiara Ryder and Olivia Rumaryn would not exist. Without her the Rhia ‘Verse would be so much emptier (Eluned Mahariel was created during that time and her role being given to one vacated by another OC who wasn’t mine and all but took over the ‘verse was a major step towards recovery) and important layers in the world building just wouldn’t exist. Myrna Tabris being the Hero of the Alienage rather than waiting for a shem to save the day for example. Tara Surana and Erlina being raised to the peerage is another. Eluned Mahariel marrying Queen Anora and thus becoming and elvhen Queen is yet another.

Also, a special shoutout must go to @imperiius my sweet Tumblr wife and the best friend a gal ever had.

And also a shoutout to the newest of the Parlour family @obvidalous. I’m delighted to be mutuals with you and can’t wait to gush about ME:A and our smuggler husband together!

All that said, I am just so thankful  and feel blessed that you guys are there with me. When I had an episode of depression after a pain attack I knew you guys would be there for me. There’s nothing I can ever do or say to repay all of your support, love for me and my OC daughters and staying by my side through thick and thin.

Today was rough (I’ll explain later in a separate post) but my Dash is such a comfort zone to me now like it never was before. I never have to deliver or perform, I can just be me, gushing about what or whom I love and you guys cheer me on with every Like, Reblog, tag and kind word.

As I can’t draw or write very well I don’t know if I can do a milestone giveaway but I might just to a story giveaway and promote a few mutuals who have been a lifeline of love and support.

I humbly want to offer thanks and if ever you need anything, even if it’s just a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, remember I have two of each available.

Be well everyone, be safe! /Persephone out

[queen-of-the-crows]

Three Fandoms

I was tagged by @dovahkiinshepardtrevelyan to give you more insight into my top 3 fandoms so here goes

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions, then tag people you wanna know better.

Three Fandoms:

Dragon Age / Game of Thrones / Arrowverse

The first character you loved:

Dragon Age: Alistair. I actually romanced him on accident cause I didn’t even know that was possible but he was so sweet and charming and funny and witty and so hopelessly romantic, I couldn’t help but love him and he still holds a special place in my heart

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow. Hands down. My sister kinda started me on this before I even watched the show because he’s one of her favorite characters and she started the show before I did. I liked that he wanted to be his own person and not just live as a bastard.

Arrowverse: Oliver Queen. kinda obvious since hes the main character and the first character you really know anything about. he grows so much just between when you meet him and the flashbacks you see and his attitude is just something i’ve always liked.

The character you never expected to love so much:

Dragon Age: This one is tough cause most of the characters I either love, hate, or am indifferent to. Probably Shale if I had to choose. I got the DLC cause it was free and I like to collect all the companions I can. I figured a golem would basically be good for fighting and that’s it but Shale’s dialogue is some of my favorite in the whole series and i adore her attitude. She’s basically me.

Game of Thrones: Tyrion. I didn’t expect to dislike him or anything like that but as the seasons go on, I just grow to love him more and more because he is truly an absolutely amazing character. 

Arrowverse: John Diggle. He starts off being Oliver’s bodyguard and is really more of an annoyance than anyone likable but when he joins him on his mission and they start to become friends and then almost like brothers. it’s really wholesome and they’re dynamic is one of my all time favorites. 

The character you relate to the most:

Dragon Age: Zevran. He keeps people at arm’s length because he doesn’t want to be hurt and sometimes doesn’t think he deserves it. He covers up his pain with humor and has a very loving heart even though he doesn’t show it. You truly have to gain his trust and his loyalty and break down his walls and that’s how I am.

Game of Thrones: Arya. The girl who doesn’t want to be a lady and would rather be a warrior, that’s 100% me. That’s why my own original character in my fic while being from a noble house abandons that to aid the Night’s Watch. Women who are just badass and don’t take anyone’s shit are my absolute favorite and very like my own personality about people. 

Arrowverse: Felicity Smoak. She loves Oliver despite his past, despite the things he’s done and how broken he can be. She’s supportive and loves him even when they aren’t together and she’s incredibly smart. She loves the way that I love when it comes to my own soulmate and I love seeing that. 

The character you’d slap:

Dragon Age: Solas. I do really like Solas as a character, don’t get me wrong. I think he’s very written and has a very cool story but there have to be better ways to restore what was lost to the elves or at least help out their lot in life without tearing apart the veil and killing everyone. Plus you know he lied to everyone and fucked some shit up. Also Loghain because I loved his character in The Stolen Throne and can’t believe he went so wrong in Origins. 

Game of Thrones: Jaime Lannister. I hated him at the beginning but after being kidnapped and traveling with Brienne I start to really like him and he really starts to change and become a better person and that’s something I love to see. But his unending devotion to Cersei pisses me off because despite all the horrible things she’s done including getting their children killed, he still loves her and stays with her up until the end of season 7 which did make me happy. But yeah, that’s why I’d slap him.

Arrowverse: Malcolm Merlin. I actually love Malcolm at least in Arrow, he pisses me the fuck off in Legends but anyway. He loves his daughter and wants to be in her life and for awhile she wants that and lets him but his greedy power hungry ass always fucks it up and loses her.

Three favourite characters (in order of preference):

Dragon Age: Fenris, Zevran, Morrigan

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister (it was Daenarys but she really bothered me last season with how power hungry she’s becoming)

Arrowverse: Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Sara Lance

A character you didn’t like at first but do now:

Dragon Age: Loghain would be the closest one to fit this category cause most of my character opinions don’t change. I played Origins first and of course hated him because he’s the bad guy and they want you to hate him but then when i read The Stolen Throne I loved his character in that, he was so relatable and his story and his romance with Rowen broke my heart. It made me feel bad for him in Origins instead of hating him and wanting to know what happened to make him change so much.

Game of Thrones: Jaime Lannister. Pretty much most people who watch the show can relate to this. His character development is so great and he changes so much you go from hating his guts and wishing his death to rooting for him. Also the Hound, I love the Hound now. I never really hated him but i didn’t really like him at first either. 

Arrowverse: Laurel Lance. I hated her basically the entire time until she picked up her sister’s mantle as Black Canary. She was an annoyance and a whiny bitch who I literally just couldn’t stand any scene she was in and wished she would die. its ironic that they killed her once she got likable. Also like Black Siren and i didn’t think I would. 

Three OTPs:

Dragon Age: Zevran/Mahariel, Isabela/Merrill, Fenris/Hawke

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow/Ygritte, Daenarys/Khal Drogo, Gendry/Arya

Arrowverse: Oliver/Felicity, Nathaniel/Amaya, Sara/Captain Cold

I tag @sassylavellen @annorarutherford @a-shakespearean-in-paris @enchantment1385 @heraldofwho

[a-gay-bloodmage]

Yes I do! Thank you so much for the ask!!

Orest Mahariel: I have two faceclaims for Orest, one being Sutan Amrull, a.k.a. Raja Gemini, and Willy Cartier, a french model. I didn’t intend to have Orest look so much like Raja, but I’m quite happy he does because he’s just got such a drag queen spirit~

Andrea Eleanor Donella Cousland: The faceclaim I have for Andrea is Katie McGrath, namely as Morgana in Merlin, who I didn’t even mean to model her after! It just sorta happened, and I am very glad it did! Damn those icy noblewomen, stealing my heart!

Faelyn Tabris: The faceclaim I have for Faelyn is Georgia May Jagger, a beautiful buck-toothed woman! God, she’s so cute... Her body’s pretty similar, too, generally quite slim and waif-y! (Sorry about the almost-boobs lol)

Gemma Brosca: I love Gemma’s faceclaim since it’s so ironic! Her faceclaim is the only one that not an irl person, but is instead the anime character of Diane, from the Seven Deadly sins! Modeling a teeny tiny dwarf after a literal giant? Yes please!

Hundir Aeducan: It took me a while to find a good faceclaim for Hundir, but I think John Rhys-Davies as Gimli from Lord of the Rings! Not as blond as my tiny ball of bear, but he’s small and covered in scruff, just like my boy!

The only character I don’t have a faceclaim for is Redren, since he’s completely original and I couldn’t find anybody androgynous enough! But please, if you have any suggestions, send ‘em my way!

[inverswayart]

i now belatedly realise - i might have forgotten to actually introduce, like, half of my warden characters outside of brief mentions and tags :.D so to not confuse good people further - here's the other 3 wardens that i think about the most - Merlin Mahariel, Julie Caron and Sunburst Andras aka The French Asshole wish there was a template for orlesian warden in awakening... aaand while i was making this post i suddenly decided to make a super-quick template for Harrier just because. there's also templates for hyacinth, bernard and marinette under cut if you need a quick refreshment

btw there's still an ask game going on in pinned post! feel free to ask me anything about any of my dragon age goofers, i want to talk about them so badly it's kinda embarassing :.....D

[inverswayart]

related to the previous post - i wonder what demon might manifest as a swarm? i'm trying to tie ranger tree to demons (cause all jokes aside but merlin had to summon them in the deep roads somehow)

first three are pretty easy - wolves are either rage/hunger, bears are sloth (the kind to inspire a feeling but not embody it) and spiders are fear. but we never saw swarm-like demons so i'm left to wonder....

if you have any ideas, please share them in replies!

[inverswayart]

also couple of screenshot studies for merlin's face look at him, he's such a kitten (and yeah i used the first one for the protag template)

[inverswayart]

suddenly got some mahariel thoughts, gotta let them out while they are still there (gentle reminder but if you want to know something in particular there's an ask game in pinned post! hurry while i'm still on the dragon age wave, it might not last that long)

you know how in da2 if you import mahariel as alive hof merrill says they never contacted the clan after they left? seems kinda weird, but i think it kinda works for merlin in particular, and here's why

you see, he spend his whole life leading to the dao with an underlying feeling that everyone around (exept maybe merrill) is merely tolerating his presense underneath all the nice stuff - not only he is a result of something so vile and abominable that everyone refuses to even mention it (yeah he did not pass that persuasion check with ashalle), he is also just a terrible burden: he failed to be both his father's (his magic is laughably weak, almost like it's not even there) and mother's (he has none of her hunter provess or any inclination towards fighting at all) son, he is unsuitable for proper bonding (sorry but there's no way dalish have no cultural hang-ups about sexualities, and merlin is so terribly gay) and he makes keeper sad with all of that

so when the prologue happens and merlin is told to go with duncan, all his fears basically came true - he ultimately fucked up, he let tamlen die (there's very little difference between dissappearance and death after the mirror is shattered) and failed to fix it, and became even more of a burden than he was before, and so now even the keeper, who was always so patient and forgiving with him and asked everyone to treat him nicely in spite of terrible thing with his parents, is through with him and sends him away from everyone, going so far as to lie to grey warden that merlin is a hunter and warrior. but merlin always was a dutifull child and student, so he abides with marethari's wish and leaves

but it's not the end - he somehow survives the joining and the ostagar, and now has to stop the blight, but he is a herbalist and a homekeeper, he knows little of armies and fighting (and what little he does know he picked up only to impress tamlen and spend time with him, and we know how that went) - and so he lunges at every opportunity to be usefull, to not burden his comrades so terribly, and finds zevran's arts with poisons and traps, all so familliar, and dives into them - only to find blood magic, one thing that marethari warned him against, the worst things the mage can condemn themselves too - and he finds that he is good with it, so good he can call upon demons and they answer to his will, that he can expose blood in his enemies for him to spill. not only he was never good, never enough - now he is worse, he is objectively terrible and evil thing. sure, it helps him through the blight and even grants him the victory and life, but merlin was always nothing but dutifull, and now his duty is to save his clan by never touching it with his evil ways ever again.

[inverswayart]

@vaguely-concerned Part 2, Merlin Mahariel!

7. Do they have any unusual fears?

When Merlin was little, he used to dread a pretty specific scenario of “centipede crawling into my bed, biting the birthmark on my ear and killing me”. When he grew up and learned that damaging one’s birthmarks isn’t lethal, scene kinda lost it’s scary flavour (he’s still wary of centipedes tho)

14. Do they have a hard time opening up to people?

Yeah, definitely. For most of his life the few people close to him were Marethari, mentor and mother figure that Merlin tried his best not to disappoint, i.e. keep most of his troubles away from her; Ashalle - a bit warmer relationship but still strained by her refusal to talk about his parents; and Merrill, perhaps the only person he truly trusted and opened up too since they were basically in the same boat. Tamlen was getting close to get Merlin open up to him, but unfortunately a) Merlin had huge ass crush on him and would've rather let silvan stomp him to death than seem tiresome and ungrateful for Tamlen's attention b) the prologue happened :( 

So yeah, Merlin isn't the one to connect with people easily.

32. If they could change one thing about themselves what would it be?

Oh but how is he supposed to choose just one? :.D Sometimes he wishes he was never born and his parents were alive. Sometimes he wishes he had no magic and could be trained as a hunter instead. Sometimes he wishes he was into women and could be bonded with Merrill to everyone's relief… Oh, and also he would like to get rid of the birthmark on the back of his right ear - it looks like a smudge of dirt and he is tired of adults in the clan trying to wash it off every time.

37. Are they religious? If so do they have a strong sense of faith, are they uncertain, or are they somewhere in between?

He believes in Creators - it just makes sense to him, and before going to Ostagar Merlin never even considered that people could believe in something else. After getting attacked for his beliefs by Sisters and Mothers of Chantry he holds on to his beliefs even harder.

41. Do they learn from their mistakes?

Merlin tries his best, really, but considering the difficulty of actually communicating with people he might’ve offended, what he thinks is his mistake doesn’t always match his actual misstep (and he usually overestimates it’s gravity with rare exceptions)

42. Can they speak multiple languages? If yes which all do they speak and why?

Well, Merlin speaks King’s tongue and full recollection of Elvhen that clan Sabrae recovered plus whatever portions of Marcher’s variation of common Marethari found useful to teach him. So i guess it makes roughly two and a half languages in his arsenal.

50. What is your favorite thing about them?

This sad boy can fit soooo much mental baggage in him! And also he was my first rogue and second HoF after Hyacinth, and it’s fun to see how much he changed from his proto-version!

[inverswayart]

BACK FOR OC MEME ROUND 2 BABEY LET'S GOOO! Julie Caron 2, 5 10, 17, 18, 20, 50! Merlin Mahariel 7, 14, 32, 37, 41, 42, 50! Marinette Hawke 7, 15, 21, 32, 50! Harrier Hawke 44, 35, 32, 34, 21, 6 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), 50! And most importantly of all... Sunburst Andras 28 (and 50 if you want fhsdkja)

28. Are they a #gamer?

only that one

50. What is your favorite thing about them?

He's so fucking funny to think about. :.D He's so sincere in his beliefs but also such a moody jerk. He puls his "um, actually" card every time he speaks with andrastian clergy. He experimented on his comrades and they were really into that. He wishes he was the one to discover the Temple of Sacred Ashes soooo badly. He would fuck Andraste if she asked.

Aaand that's it for this batch! Once again thank you dearly for asking, I had so much fun thinking about those little guys (gender-neutral)

[inverswayart]

@vaguely-concerned Part 2, Hyacinth Surana

15. What kind of sense of humor do they have? Or do they have one at all?

She sincerely likes Alistair's jokes :D

I guess her sense of humor depends more on her mental state rather than on some fixed preference - at her best she is pretty easy to make laugh; at her worst she would barely react to the best jokes ever conceived (she still can differentiate when one is supposed to react, she's just barely able to and so defaults to polite remark). On her own she usually adapts to the sense of humor of whoever she speaks with - she does gravitate a little to dry, very matter-of-fact kind of wit though.

20. Do they have a strong connection to their culture?

Depends on which culture to speak of! While she lived as a city, or rather country elf in the beginning of her life she didn't even identify herself as one; while in circle, she, of course, thought herself as circle mage only and was as circle-y as possible. Tho not from the start, but after joining the Wardens she eventually found herself drawn to order’s ideals and purpose, and eventually connection to Wardens overpowered connection to the circle - from Paragon of her Kind and forwards (roughly) she thinks of herself as Warden first and circle mage second (in contrast with Bernard - he is always a circle mage first).

But she is also half-Dalish, and while she longs to learn and touch her mother’s culture, she is painfully aware that she is very, very far from it - at least until she meets Velanna. By teaching her Arcane Warrior ways (and realizing exactly what kind of knowledge it is for Dalish) and being taught some Keeper spells Hyacinth slowly moves closer to connecting with her heritage. It happens even faster in multi-warden AUs where she gets to meet Mahariel - not only Merlin, while wary, is more approachable than Velanna, his vallaslin matches the one Hyacinth’s mother had, and with his aid she starts looking for her (it won’t come to fruition until Inquisition comes around, but they would reunite eventually) 

35. Do they believe in fate or do they believe they are in charge of their own destiny?

Latter! And to the point she feels like Everything that happens around (and beyond) her is at least somewhat depends on her - cue her micromanaging team climate in Origins where she puts way too much thought into team composition, does a lot of helping random people, etc. It bites her very badly after the Battle of Denerim - not only is she left grieving for Alistair, she feels like it's the fault of hers and hers only. She gets a bit better after Awakening - but more in the sense of "stops beating herself up faster" rather then "realizes not literally everything is the result of her actions" She is actually kinda similar with Marinette in that regard - except that with Marinette it manifests as “I have a purpose and I don’t give a shit whatever fate or Maker or anything else decided is supposed to happen, I’m gonna do what i need to do regardless”, i.e. while they both consider themselves fully responsible for everything that happens to them, Hyacinth does not believe in fate and cares about very wide variety of people and things, Marinette cares only about her family and doesn’t even bother to take any predestination into consideration. 

38. What are their dreams like? Do they have any recurring dreams/nightmares?

Before the Broken Circle it’s nothing special - a mix of unremarkable fleeing impressions and occasional tomfoolery by some spirits - tho she did used to have nightmares about being separated from her mother the first few years after arriving in the circle. After Broken Circle, however, she is terrified of the possibility of becoming an abomination, and spends months dreamless sleeping amongst wards (her increasing proficiency in spirit school doesn’t help matters). Only after meeting the ancient spirit in the amulet does she start to relax a bit about it and slowly starts to go back to normal sleep.. and then Alistair dies and it all starts again, now to ward off recurring dreams of him and his death. She gets rid of wards roughly six years later after finally finding peace with her loss.