#of reddish and pale gold shades

[valtsv]

eyeshadow palette but all the shades are called stuff like "pus" "lymph" "fascia" and "marrow"

[icanhearcolors]

Close Encounter

Summary: A conversation between my Tav and Astarion inspired me to write a short one-shot (I lied it's a series) reader insert about what I think would happen if they met before they were taken by the mind flayers

pt 2 | pt 3

This is pretty much my first attempt at reader insert so be nice to me pls ;-;

Lemme know if I made any grammar or spelling errors

Word count: 2.9k

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“I’ll take the most you can give me of whatever has the most alcohol in it” 

You announce, slapping some gold coins down on the scuffed wooden bar. The barkeep who probably hasn’t had any business for the past hour startles out of his daydream and glances at you in surprise. He’s a dwarf, with a braided beard and kind eyes, and if it weren’t for the creaky wooden step stool he climbs up on to take orders he would barely be able to see over the bar top.

“Bit early in the night for that wouldn’t you say?” He asks as he climbs a ladder to retrieve a glass from the shelf above his head. You glance out the window as the last few rays of the setting sun color the night a deep reddish purple before it fades into a comforting black. 

You slide another gold coin across the bar. The barkeep smiles,

“Perfect time for some chultun fireswill if I say so myself miss.” He winks, slides the hefty glass full of orange liquid your way, and swipes up the coins before turning to another customer making their way into the tavern. You hold the glass up to your nose and sniff its contents. The fumes coming off the heavily spiced spirit has your nose burning and your eyes watering- perfect. 

You tap the glass on the counter and knock it back. You manage to get a few swallows in before your brain catches up to you and the fireswill burns a searing path from your throat into your stomach, settling there and warming you from the inside out. You slam the glass down and cover your mouth with your hand, trying and failing to hold in a fit of coughs. 

“Easy now.”

A cold hand lands on your shoulder, cooling your heated skin, and you turn, bleary eyed, unprepared for what you find.

He’s an elf, a very very pale elf- but not sickly pale. He just looks like he hasn’t seen the sun in a century or two. His hair catches your eye, a shocking shade of pure white that makes his skin seem tan in comparison. It’s shorter than most elves keep their hair, and it curls in every direction, framing his face beautifully. Once you recover from your initial dazed attraction to him you attempt to level him with your meanest glare that you hope says piss off. He raises his hands in playful surrender and smiles disarmingly at you.

“Rough day?” He asks in a drawling voice. You take him in. He’s wearing a clean white shirt under a set of padded leather armor, and spotless black leather boots. He looks every bit a spoiled noble that has never seen a day of work in his life, but his hands are calloused, and his eyes look haunted. Speaking of his eyes, they’re quite an alluring shade of red. What an odd color for an elf-

His eyes narrow perceptively, as if he’s reading your thoughts as they flit across your face. He turns away, gesturing at your drink and turning your gaze away from his unique appearance.

“Most Baldurians don’t even touch that stuff until well past midnight, are we celebrating or forgetting?”

You turn your body away from the charming elf and stare into the last few sips of your drink. 

“We aren’t doing anything. I’m here to drink, not to talk.”

“Forgetting it is then. Excellent.”

From the corner of his eye you see him grin roguishly, the flash of his white teeth sending a curious spark of adrenaline through your system. Before you can discern why you suddenly went from warm and buzzed to fight or flight, he turns away, tossing a blue coin purse onto the bar and calling for the barkeep, allowing the alcohol to calm your frazzled nerves once more.

“Excuse me Lydon, I’d like to buy our grumpy friend here a drink that won’t burn a hole through her stomach,” He leans over the bar and drops his voice to a low murmur as if he were sharing a secret, “got anything good for me?” he practically purrs.

The dwarf, Lydon, flushes a deep red and grins coyly at the mysterious patron, “Maybe. But I don’t have enough for everyone Astarion, what if someone comes asking me how she got the good stuff and all I’m willing to sell them is stale ale and swill?”

Astarion’s answering grin is downright lethal. 

“It’ll be our little secret,” He winks. “I’ll take it to my grave.”

Lydon blushes even darker if that were possible and mumbles something about having a type before trodding off toward the old wooden door behind the bar. You’d never related to anything more. Astarion turns toward you and raises an expectant eyebrow.

“Waiting for a thank you?” You ask, wrestling with the instinct ingrained in you to be polite. Your tendency to people please is what landed you in this run down tavern in the first place. You don’t know this elf, and you don’t owe him anything.

“Well I wouldn’t say no to a little gratitude darling- especially not from you” his eyes trace a path from the top of your head to your scuffed leather boots and back up again, stopping at the blush on your cheeks, he smirks, and meets your eyes again. He steps closer to bump your shoulder with his teasingly, and stays there, close enough that your arm brushes his.

“But no my dear, I’m not waiting for a thank you. I’m waiting for a story.” 

“Oh yeah? Keep waiting.” You growl, and he tosses his head back, a genuine laugh bursting out of him. The sound of it is contagious, and you fight the urge to grin yourself. You nearly manage it, save for a slight twitch of your lips that he of course notices.

He tsks, shaking his head at you “I saw that. No use hiding that smile from me, love. The damage is already done.” 

You glare, this time with much less hostility. 

“Who are you? I’m morose and drunk on purpose, elf, and I will not let you wrestle me from it.”

“My name is Astarion” he says with a wink and a mock bow before he leans in, so close you can feel his breath on your skin, “and I’ll wager you’ll let me do a lot worse than that before the end of the night.”

Your breath catches, your pulse picks up, and you’re about to lose yourself in those strange eyes of his when a loud creeeeeaaak and a crash causes both of you to leap away from one another. The dwarven barkeep’s old step stool seems to have finally given in. He lay sprawled on the floor behind the bar, his foot caught in between the split wood.

“GODS DAMMIT” He howls, kicking off the stool. He sighs and hobbles up to you and your new… companion. You can see nothing but his angry eyes and the flushed red tips of his ears as he pours your drink and reaches up to hand it to you. When you grab for it he pulls it out of your grasp and stares at you with a threat in his eyes.

“You didn’t see that.” He snarls at both of you.

“See what?” Astarion feigns ignorance, looking around the room dramatically for whatever the dwarf could possibly be talking about. The barkeep rolls his eyes and hands the drink to you before limping off to find a chair to stand on.

You breathe slowly through your nose.

In.

Out.

In.

You will not laugh.

You have self control.

You take one glance at the pinched “I’m trying not to laugh” look on Astarions face, one that probably mirrors your own, and you explode in a fit of giggles so intense they make your stomach ache.

Astarion can’t hold it in either and slaps the table in his silent gasping laughter, the two of you making quite a scene, but somehow you really don’t care. 

You wipe tears from your eyes and sigh once your laughing fit subsides, your sour mood a distant memory despite your best efforts to cling to it.

“How dare you,” You whine half-heartedly. “I was so committed to my bad mood and you had to go and ruin it.”

Astarion’s eyebrows lower in confused amusement.

“Awww you poor sad little thing. I’d apologize, really I would, but unfortunately for you I’m not sorry.”

You take a swig of the drink he bought for you. It tastes of cherry and currant, and you have never had something so delicious from such a tiny little tavern.

“You should be” you murmur, hanging your head, the humor fading as you’re reminded of why you’re here in the first place.

Astarion notices your shift in demeanor and reaches down, lifting your chin with a cool finger and bringing your gaze to his.

“About that story,” He smiles encouragingly, and you give in.

The alcohol must really be getting to you now, there was no other explanation for the warm, safe feeling that hummed under your skin. Astarion was sweet, and attractive. His attention felt good, and before you could even make the decision to trust him you were already talking. You told him how you were a magistrate in the lower city, complained how the court system was broken and corrupt, and how the judge only appoints magistrates that unthinkingly obey his preferences, never allowing them to make their own judgements. You had tried for months to get on his good side but you think all you did was obliterate any meager scrap of respect he did have for you, and now every interaction you have with him he barks orders at you like you’re his dog and then dismisses you. You were thinking of finding a new profession altogether, but the lower city was plagued with crime, good people died every day because of it, and you had the power to help at least a little if only your boss wasn’t such an asshole. To your embarrassment you began to tear up as you finished your story.

Astarion for his part never interrupts you. He listens with rapt attention to your woeful tale, an indiscernible look on his handsome face. You try to turn your head away as a tear escapes your eye but his grip on your chin tightens, forcing you to stay right where you are. He wipes it away with his other hand and stares at you for a moment, seemingly deciding something.

He reaches up and drags a hand through his hair, releases a held breath, and plucks the glass from your hand, drinking what was left of its contents in two gulps. He brings the glass back down to the counter, a drop of the crimson wine dripping down his chin. The image gives you an odd feeling, like you’re missing a revelation that is only just out of your grasp. He glances behind you, and you turn and follow his gaze to another rather pale looking elf, this one with darker hair but similarly colored eyes watching the two of you with rapt attention. Goosebumps rise on your skin and that fight or flight instinct is back in full force. Your heart begins to pound against your chest, understanding the danger that you’re in even if you do not. 

“Smart girl” Astarion murmurs, and you whip back around to face him.

He wipes his face with his sleeve and grabs you by the hand, pulling you off the bar stool.

“W-what are you-” He places a hand on your lower back and begins deftly guiding you through the raucous crowd of drunk Baldurians. One stumbling wizard in the crowd pats his pockets down and cries,

“Has anyone seen my coin purse? It’s blue!”

“Walk faster” Astarion says into your ear, his warm breath whispering across your neck. You do as he says.

After what feels like a lifetime of dodging drunk elbows and slipping through temporary openings in the crowd you reach the exit, and Astarion rushes you soberingly into the cold night air. 

“You stole that guy's money didn’t you?” You accuse.

He doesn’t even have the decency to deny it,

“What are you going to do darling? Arrest me?” is his reply.

He doesn’t slow down for a single second, ushering you into a dark alley near the tavern.

“Astarion what are we doing? You can’t just wander into abandoned alleyways at night! This is how people get kidnapped.”

His startled gaze clashes with yours in the dim light for a moment before he laughs. Not an amused genuine laugh, but a pained, choked sound that claws its way out of his throat involuntarily. He runs a hand through his hair once again and then turns away from you, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“It is indeed, darling,” He whispers so quietly you have to lean towards him to hear it. 

“You have no idea.”

You don’t have time to react, the alcohol slowing your reflexes, before his hand is around your throat and your back is against the brick wall of whatever building is behind you. You reach up and grab his wrist, eyes widening in panic. For a flash you see in your mind your body lying asphyxiated in the revealing light of morning, another victim to the merciless city of Baldur’s gate, and you prepare to fight like hell, when Astarion lunges for you and…

Kisses you?

Your brain short circuits, all thoughts drifting away with the sensation of Astarion’s mouth on yours. His hand around your throat gentles, his long fingers drifting over your skin until they press into your pulse point, feeling your racing heartbeat. 

You fist his shirt sleeve in your hand. Maybe it's because you’re smashed, maybe it’s because you can’t remember the last time someone kissed you, maybe it’s because you know no one that’s ever kissed you has been as good at it as this man- whatever the reason may be, you kiss him back. 

He tilts his head and deepens the kiss, stepping closer until his body is pressed against yours. You reach up to do what you’ve been dying to do since you first saw him and feel the soft strands of his hair.

He leans into your touch and it emboldens you to kiss him deeper, your tongue scraping against something… sharp?

He gasps and pulls back, just a few inches, staring into your eyes. He seems to be searching for something, almost desperately.

You stare back, equal parts terrified of and enraptured by this beautiful stranger.

Finally, he drops his hand from your neck and steps back, the cold air assaulting you once more as you crash back down to reality. You gaze at Astarion, confusion written all over your features.

“I can’t do this” He laughs. It sounds just as pained as the last one.

“Can’t do what?”

“I can’t bring you to him”

His head snaps up to the sky, studying the stars.

“I still have time to find another. Petras saw me with you, he’ll tell Cazador if I come back with someone else. But I can lie. I can say you knew what I was, escaped before I could lure you back. Maybe he won't question it. I’d spend a few weeks in the kennels but it could be worse. I can’t tell him I changed my mind, I can’t spend another year in that tomb.” He’s rambling now, not to you but to himself. 

He rubs his face in his hands and takes another stumbling step back.

“Go” Is all he says.

“Go? Go where?” You mumble, feeling cold and strangely a little hurt by his retreat into the shadows.

You don’t have dark vision, in the dim torch light much of his face is now hidden from you, but his eerily red eyes seem to glow like a cat’s now in the dark. The sight fills you with dread. Pieces begin to connect, the hundreds of unsolved missing person cases, the handful of eyewitness accounts claiming they saw the missing leave with someone. The descriptions varied, but a few details remained constant. The unknown person was always charming, flirtatious even, they tried to get their victims intoxicated in some way, and they always had a pallid complexion, red eyes, and sharp canines. Sifting sluggishly through your muddled memories you can even recall a couple of accounts of victims leaving taverns on the arm of a white haired pale elven man.

Astarion was a vampire.

“Go back to the courts,” He begins, “and never apologize to Judge Eruien. Stand up to him when he’s being an ass, he’ll never respect you otherwise. Go back home and lock your doors safely behind you. Never invite anyone in unless you trust them implicitly. Go back to your life in the sun, make Baldur’s gate a little better just by being in it, and if you ever-” He leans toward you, his face inches from yours once more. Now that you know what to look for, you catch glimpses of his uncomfortably long canines with every word that he speaks. 

“See anyone with eyes like mine again… run.”

With that he steps back into the shadows. They seem to swallow him whole, and you do run, a small voice in the back of your mind reminding you that you never told Astarion the name of that judge you were lamenting about.

In the years that follow you take his advice, and your work life drastically improves. Enough so that you feel comfortable asking the old elven judge about his former magistrates, a tear dripping down your cheek as he tells you what he can recall about a white haired elf with golden eyes and a promising future that was ripped away when he was murdered almost two centuries ago by a gang of Gur that didn’t appreciate his final ruling.

A month later you wake up in a nautiloid.

[blaiddfailcam]

The left eye of the demigods

A recurring pattern some may have noticed a ways back is the unusual trait of sealed or missing left eyes among some of the demigods—now reiterated once again with the newly revealed Messmer the Impaler, a demigod of yet unknown origin. Eyes in Elden Ring are diegetically symbolic, meaning their hue and other characteristics illustrate to the player and to the characters within the game world their purpose within the setting.

The "lesser" demigods

Among the demigods, several of their lineage possess two gold eyes of varying shades or heterogenous pigmentation (meaning they show two distinct pigments in a single iris). These include:

Godwyn the Golden ("sullied" gold left eye in story trailer, two clouded gold eyes as the Prince of Death)

Morgott the Grace-Given (reddish-gold)

Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy (gold with red "spokes")

Starscourge Radahn (same as Rykard's)

Godrick the Grafted (clouded gold)

Gold eyes are a common sight among the non-Tarnished denizens of the Lands Between, whether their irises are entirely golden or marked with a sort of golden crescent. The red markings within Rykard and Radahn's eyes aren't so unusual given their heritage as the sons of Radagon, and Morgott's peculiar shade of gold likely relates to the Crucible, the primordial being that gives rise to the accursed Omen.

In Godfrey, First Elden Lord's portraits at the Roundtable Hold, his right eye is noticeably golden as well, while his left is obscured. As he was divested of Grace by Queen Marika, this gold hue faded. He is still possessed of both eyes in his boss battle, so he most likely also counts among the above listed demigods.

The Empyreans

Strangely, this only accounts for a small fraction of the greater pantheon. Most notable about each of these demigods, however, is that none of them are Empyreans, a unique class of demigods elected by the Two Fingers to succeed Queen Marika as vessels for the Elden Ring. Among the confirmed Empyreans, only one ia depicted with their eyes showing, and just barely:

Lunar Princess Ranni (right eye of spectral face blue, left eye of spectral face/right eye of doll sealed, left eye of doll pale blue)

Miquella the Unalloyed (face not yet shown)

Malenia, Blade of Miquella (both eyes sealed by rotten scales)

Presumably, to become a god, one must be a chosen Empyrean, so we can likely add Marika, Queen Eternal to this list. Strangely, her eyes are never shown either when we encounter her within the Erdtree (her right eye is tightly shut, and her left eye and socket are carved out by a cavity that encompasses the entire left hemisphere of her cranium), nor within any portraiture or statuary throughout the game.

Other demigods

Radagon of the Golden Order is regarded Marika's other half. Though he was disregarded a mere human champion during the Liurnian Wars, he was elevated to the status of a demigod, along with his direct children, upon marrying Marika, and later become something of a god when the two fractured into one. Like Marika, his appearance within the Erdtree is missing its left eye as a result of fracturing. His right eyelid is open, but in place of eyes, fragments of golden, runic light trace where irises would be.

Strangely enough, Radagon is depicted in the Roundtable Hold within another portrait, but his right eye is entirely black, including even his sclera. This appears again in the Radagon Icon illustration. (The manga adaptation, the Road to the Erdtree, was also careful to maintain this peculiar detail.) It isn't exactly clear whether this waa an artistic choice to obscure his eye, or if he literally had black eyes.

This leaves a handful more of Marika's demigod children unaccounted for:

Mohg, Lord of Blood (gold right eye with faded pupil, left eye gouged by his own horns)

Messmer the Impaler (right eye gold with slit pupil, left eye sealed)

Melina (gold right eye, sealed left eye with three-fingered dragon-like marking; when the left eye opens, the iris is a violet whirl)

Melina's origins are rather hazy even to her own knowledge, owing to her as of yet unexplained amnesia. One thing is certain: she claims to be the direct daughter of Queen Marika, and was addressed a specific duty, but what it was is now forgotten. Upon arriving at the Elden Throne and finding the Erdtree sealed (presumably by Radagon), Melina determines to act as kindling and set the Erdtree ablaze. Whether this was Marika's intention is uncertain, but Melina insists it is her choice, regardless of her mother's designs.

Should the player inherit the Frenzied Flame and usurp Melina's destiny without later curing their affliction, Melina will reappear in a secret ending. Her appearance is eerily altered, her hair now burnt and blackened, and her right eye clouded by pale gold. In swearing to hunt you to the ends of the earth, her left eye opens, revealing the violet whirl...

So what exactly is up with Melina's violet eye?

Shadows of the Empyreans

Oddly enough, Melina's violet eye isn't entirely unique. One other character in particular shares this trait—of all people, Blaidd the Half-Wolf is the only character with not just one, but two violet eyes.

Blaidd is the shadow of Lunar Princess Ranni, tailored by her Two Fingers to serve either as her devout guardian on her path to succeed Queen Marika, or her ruthless killer should she betray the Greater Will. He is one of two shadows encountered in the game, the other being Maliketh, who serves an identical function for Queen Marika. When the player encounters Maliketh under the guise of Gurranq, he bestows upon them the Beast Eye, a half-petrified, violet eyeball seemingly plucked from his own skull to aid them in weeding Deathroot. (One can infer the player is the second recipient of an eye, and that the other was previously gifted to D, Hunter of the Dead.)

Evidently, the violet eyes are likely a symbol of the shadows' nature as retainers for their Empyrean masters. Both Blaidd and Maliketh are regarded honorary brothers to their Empyreans, perhaps indicating the two were not born by any conventional means, but somehow fashioned from an aspect of the Empyreans, and especially designed by the Two Fingers to best fulfill their duty as vassals.

Seeing as Ranni's eye is sealed much like Melina's, one has to wonder... what color was it? Are all Empyreans marked with this violet eye? Why would they all be sealed? Was this some sort of countermeasure to prevent them from rebelling against the Greater Will?

While Maliketh wields the Rune of Death itself in the form of an obsidion blade, the baleful shadows that hunt Ranni in Blaidd's image possess blades infused with Destined Death. When Melina's left eye opens, it is precisely at the moment she vows to "return" Destined Death to the Tarnished. Might it be that shadows are created to withhold the Empyreans' ability to raise Destined Death against the gods...?

The Gloam-Eyed Queen

In the grand history of the Lands Between, one other Empyrean is said to have lived long before the current pantheon. This is, of course, the alluringly mysterious Gloam-Eyed Queen, commander of the Godskins who channeled Destined Death.

Before the Golden Order was founded, this enigmatic matriarch wielded the power of Blackflame to hunt the gods and fashion from their flesh the ghastly accoutrements worn by her mad followers. When Marika arrived in the Lands Between, her loyal shadow was tasked with sealing Destined Death and severing the bloodthirsty Empyrean's ability to slay the gods, at which point she either perished, or vanished into obscurity.

Naturally, the term "Gloam-Eyed Queen" conjurs the image of a violet-eyed matriarch. Her Godskin children bear great amethyst pendants, after all, and it's clear that violet eyes are representative of a unique cosmological function. Perhaps being the first known Empyrean besides Marika, the Gloam-Eyed Queen was directly responsible for the trend of bestowing the chosen candidates for the Elden Ring with their personal shadow? As far as can tell, the Gloam-Eyed Queen never had her own shadowbound knight...

Enter Messmer

Though it's obviously pointless to ponder when his story will be fully presented in a little under four months, it's difficult not to ponder his place in this "rule of eyes." Like Melina and Ranni, Messmer's left eye is sealed or missing. Could this illustrate that he is yet another Empyrean?

In any case, he appears to be a child of Marika as well, but whether directly or indirectly remains unclear. Considering the numerous, soulless demigods of the Wandering Mausoleums are each and all regarded the "unwanted children" of Marika, it's possible that the term "mother" is used rather loosely here.

(Contrary to popular belief, demigods do not need to be the direct offspring of Marika. After all, Enia divulges that Godrick is no more than a distant grandchild, his noble blood diluted over countless generations. Other demigods may include Millicent and the Sisters of Rot, as they are each targeted as potential vessels for the Outer God of Rot in Malenia's stead.)

If it should be revealed that Messmer, like Melina, is marked with a violet left eye in his second phase, or perhaps if we encounter yet another wolf-headed shadow... Well, that's as much as I'll allow myself to overhype my own theories, lol.

Miscellaneous

While obscured left eyes may designate the Empyreans among the demigods, I believe there is one exception: Mohg, Lord of Blood. Though his left eye is technically sealed, this was merely a result of his poor hygiene and allowing a cutaneous horn to drive itself into his eyeball. Nowhere is it ever remotely suggested he is an Empyrean.

Another peculiar case is Malenia, as both of her eyes are welded shut by dense scales of Scarlet Rot, akin to leporosy. This may not have always been the case, however, as with the limbs she lost to illness.

One other peculiar detail: in Melina's secret ending, her gold eye becomes clouded. Fascinatingly, this effect is shared by Vyke's Finger Maiden at the Church of Inhibition, but in both of her eyes. It is not, however, shared by the deceased Finger Maiden at the Church of Anticipation, nor Finger Maiden Therolina, so it seems to be a very deliberate choice. Could this relate to the theme of Frenzied Flame and the usurpation of the kindling maidens' destiny...?

(It's hard to get a clear picture of her, lol.)

[coffee-b]

so i decided my first attack for 2024 would be absolutely ridiculous

meet my 2302.5 point monstrosity, the artfight tarot!! i busted my ass for a solid week getting all of these out and i am so happy with how it turned out

credits and image description under the cut - it's a long one!!

Image ID: A collection of tarot cards, redone with characters from Artfight. The full major arcana is depicted.

The Fool. Siv by @houseplantcreature. He is a pale-skinned eladrin with dark hair, cropped to his shoulders. He wears a long blue robe. He is standing as though in motion on a cliffside.

2. The Magician. Lucinia by NearlyFinch on Artfight. She is a tiefling with deep purple skin and darker, wavy hair. She wears a blue vest and darker skirt over a beige top. She holds one hand up, brandishing a candle.

3. The High Priestess. Valkeres by @moondirge. She is a dark elf with light grey skin and white hair, cut to her shoulders. She wears a long red robe and sits facing the viewer.

4. The Empress. Nia by northwestnerd on Artfight. She is a human woman with brown skin and long, braided brown hair. She wears an elegant blue robe and sits, slightly askew, facing the viewer.

5. The Emperor. Fionn by coincidental on Artfight. He is a human man with pale skin and coiffed brown hair. He wears a regal blue and gold top over a white shirt and brown pants. He sits on a throne. While his body faces the viewer, his eyes look away.

6. The Hierophant. Emilios by Sun--Ray on Artfight. He is a revenant drow with neon teal skin and wild, light hair. He wears a loose white top over simple pants. He sits on a throne, one hand raised, the other clutching a staff.

7. The Lovers. Raphael by @halflngs. Rime and Ares by @mothymort. Raphael is an aasimar with dark skin and an afro undercut. He wears an open red robe and has broad wings. He holds his hands out as though in welcome. Rime is a tiefling with light blue skin, with tattoos on each shoulder. She wears tight-fitting purple clothing, revealing her midriff. Ares is a purple tiefling with darker hair. He wears an outfit that is mostly covered by a teal scarf. Rime and Ares look up at Raphael, their tails intertwining.

8. The Chariot. Vee by @saribrum. Cornelius by FleshEaterMike on Artfight. Chester by dwarjam on Artfight. Vee is an air genasi with light grey skin and long white hair, pulled into a ponytail. She wears plate armour and a maroon cape. She leans forward, glaring at the viewer. Cornelius is a brown horse with a white diamond on his face. Chester is a dappled horse in shades of brown with striking blue eyes and a curly mane. The horses face forward, appearing to pull the chariot.

9. Strength. Rofaren and Tralen by AmaraPopsicles on Artfight. Rofaren is an elf woman with pale skin and long blonde hair, which is pulled into a ponytail. She wears a red cloak. Tralen is a reddish-brown canine. Tralen bows while Rofaren strokes his head; his mouth is open.

10. The Hermit. Allisi by @seraviic. She is an aasimar with brown skin and dark, curly hair, which is pulled into a bun. She stands in profile, holding a lantern in one hand and a staff in the other. She is covered by a dark green cloak.

11. The Wheel of Fortune. Arwyn by @eidolonartt. Elizasviel by @faekeet. Raya by @longdoggo. Alfie by drawing_angie on Artfight. Zoryenne by @wyllora. Myou by alabaster-D on Artfight. Arwyn is an elf with pale skin and long red hair; he sits atop an orange wheel and gazes off to the left. Elizasviel is an Aneski elf with brown skin and long brown hair; she has cow-like ears and horns. She sits on her stomach, reading a book. Raya is an air genasi with teal-blue skin and airy white hair; she wears a bodysuit and sits with a book in her hands. Alfie is a half-elf man with pale skin and dark, curly hair, which falls to his mid-back; he wears a loose, white top and sits with a book in his hand, grinning. Zoryenne is a tiefling with pink skin and darker pink hair (fading into orange); she wears a loose-fitting white top and sits, holding a book, looking intently at Arwyn. Myou is a lamia with greenish-brown skin and long brown hair; the snake half of her body curls around the wheel in the centre of the card.

12. Justice. Euryale by Mariens_art on Artfight. Euryale is an orc/storm genasi with bluish skin and long, curly grey hair. They wear a blue gown and sit on a throne, glaring at the viewer. They hold a sword in one hand and scales in the other.

13. The Hanged Man. Sonya by saltyalien on Artfight. Sonya is a woman with pale skin and dark hair. She hangs upside down, tied by one ankle. She is wearing a long, purple-blue dress, and stares at the viewer.

14. Death. Laevanni by opera on Artfight. Belladonna by andromedajuice on Artfight. Belladonna is a large, black unicorn with a striking white star on her head and a long white horn. She rears backwards. Laevanni is an elf with pale skin and long, white hair, which flares out behind him. They wear a purple outfit with wide sleeves, and they are holding on to the bucking unicorn.

15. Temperance. Penance by @meowhusband. Penance is a tiefling with red skin and curly black hair. He wears an open, sheer top with golden accents. His eyes are closed, and he pours water from one cup into another.

16. The Devil. Nyria by @sunfloralchaos. Nyria is a tiefling with purplish-grey skin and long, white hair. She wears an open top, revealing tattoos of a sun and waves. She is crouching, one hand pointed up, the other down. In front of her, two featureless human figures are chained together by the necks.

17. The Tower. Marigold by @papyskellington. Davine by a_tired_witch on Artfight. The card depicts two figures leaping or falling from a tower, which is being struck by lightning. Marigold is a half-elf with tan skin and curly brown hair. She wears a red cape and blue armour, which billow behind her. Davine is an orange tiefling with long black hair. They wear a simple outfit of a white top and brown pants.

18. The Star. Ikarus by jocanooo on Artfight. He is an aasimar with lightly tanned skin and long blonde hair. He wears golden armour. He kneels before a pond, holding ewers in each hand. A collection of stars covers the sky above him.

19. The Moon. Fig by @magpips. Captain by @theelfdruid. Shadow by @cowboycatss. Fig, a changeling with light grey skin and hair, is depicted in profile, taking up the space of the moon. Captain, a green dog with a curled tail and pointed ears, looks up at them, appearing to bark. Shadow, a black and white dog looking similar to a border collie, sits in profile, gazing up at the moon.

20. The Sun. Bleating Sheep by WoodenToucans on Artfight. Taaf by @sp00n-planet. Bleating Sheep is a kenku wearing a white robe. He sits on the back of Taaf, a centaur with brown skin, darker brown hair, and a mahogany horse half. She looks back at him, arms raised, grinning. Bleating Sheep holds a long red flag.

21. Judgement. Ciel by demonicbird on Artfight. Ciel is an astral elf with pale blue skin and starry freckles. He wears a large blue hat and a purple vest. Appearing from behind the clouds, he blares a trumpet towards featureless people with arms outstretched.

22. The World. Farley by @erythaia. Farley is a half-elf man with brown skin and curly, dark hair. He wears an open white top and simple black pants. Around him is wrapped an orange cloth. He appears to be floating. End ID.

[0m3g4skanohiforge]

Well folks, it's been a fair few Mask Mondays since my last post, I just... really haven't had updates to share. Between getting a near full-time job, daily life complications, and of course the 810 event launch, I haven't been able to spend much time developing new colours or making cool effects. Figured I'd take this opportunity for another update, regardless.

I've still got a fair few colours to work on, of which I keep cycling through every so often when I can, because seeing variant shades of the same colour and going "okay this time is gonna be perfect" only to keep getting it wrong gets... pretty tiring. At least the variety is there with how many I have to work on, at the cost of all of them taking that much longer.

Lime is really close though! It's a tiny bit off, still, but close enough that my mom thinks I should count it. Maybe staring at these for so long is making me crazily picky 😄

Purple is... a pain in the ass, tbh. If I had a week of free time, I could get Dark Purple, Medium Lavender, and Lavender for sure, and still be no closer to Classic Purple. It's so different from the rest in how red it is but I haven't yet found a proper balance that doesn't overshoot it wildly.

Orange... y'all remember my Reddish-Orange update? Reddish-Orange is closer than Orange because I just can't seem to get this to saturate well enough while maintaining opacity, and again the camera seems to think both are far off.

Sand Blue and Medium Blue haven't been touched in a while, so I should probably get those going again once these batches for Etsy orders are done, but damn... I spent so much time on Sand Blue and just couldn't land it. Hopefully there's some info I got from the month and a half spent grinding out Silver that can finally get Sand Blue, at least. Medium currently feels closer to Light Azure, which is pretty but not the goal yet.

Not really sure what's been happening with teal, using my old resin it's the first colour I matched but with this new (arguably better) kind I'm either basically green or basically blue.

That all leaves Pearl Gold as the final colour in development. With the least progress currently, I'm hoping simply replacing the silver dyes with gold and whatnot will work for the otherwise same formula as silver, but I'll have to see if my pearling powder is too pale for that. In due time.

Also, I got a second pressure pot! Should have it all set up by the weekend, which will then basically double my output. Twice as many pieces made per day, even if that's just two batches instead of one (with a theoretical max output of 6 batches if I can afford the time and actually keep on schedule). So excited to get this running, and finally see some smoother progress! This wouldn't have been possible without everyone's incredible support, and I hope to have more exciting news soon!

[alaskan-wallflower]

i’m tired and blasting outsiders so here’s my explaination for what i see whenever one of them sings

With brody it’s kinda like…deep red? I don’t know why, it’s just a deep red. Warmer tones. The only cool color is like a navyish blue. It’s a spectrum honestly-it can kinda be a toss up? It really depends but usually it’s a nice shade of seeping red and navy blue with some warmer tones (yellows and oranges) in there as well. riffs are kinda fun because it’s like…i don’t know how to describe it but it’s like each note is an individual ring and it’s kinda like this gradient effect between either red and blue or red and yellow. It really depends. It kinda gets that silvery misty look with some of the higher notes.

Jason was kinda funny because if I didn’t have synesthesia I wouldn’t guess his voice would be a dark color but it’s like…kinda neon? Y’know how you watch those neon painting videos? That’s kinda what it’s like. Usually it’s uber bright colors on a black background. Kinda like bioluminescent light in a way. It sounds uglier than it is but trust me-it’s kinda got a more splashy feel to it. Like just splashes of chan and magenta against the black background. I dunno how to describe it lol

With Brent it’s kinda more woodsy? Shades of green and brown-kinda more earthy in a way. It’s kinda like going through the woods at sunset. Golden shimmering through leaves and lighting up a path iagaknst brown dirt in a way. It sounds weird but y’know. Even in his more aggressive tones it’s still that woodsy, earthy feeling. It’s never really dull but it’s never too bright. Like ai said it’s like a forest at sunset where the gold is just barely peeking through the green leaves. It’s prettier in retrospect.

Sky’s got a bit more f an orange/beige pallets? Like it’s kinda desert like in a way. sjust sandy and earthy-not quite in the same way as Brent but y’know-It’s also got some lavenders and violets in there? Like it really depends with him on the notes he’s singing but usually his voice is a rustic orange color with swirls of beige or tan and little flecks of purple. Think desert like with some purple in there. Sometimes the brown can kinda fade into a yellowish color; or a more muted gold. Just sandy colors. Desert hues.

Josh is purple. Alllll purple with some gold. Little Brother is SUCH a fun experience because it literally has such a strong grape purple to it and it just slowly bursts into more vibrant purples. It never goes beyond say a violet? But if randhes in spectrum. There can be some very dark red-darker than Brody’s voice but definitely still visibly red-or well, reddish pink. But it can also have little bits of gold or yellow. It’s like if you were stuck in grape jelly or something and the only thing visible was sunlight. It’s like that. Just smooth. Sometimes it can be midnight blue too but usually it’s shades of purple or something.

I don’t egg to hear much of Daryl’s voice but it’s definitely some form of yellowish brown. Not like Sky…think more sunrise colors. Pale. Sometimes muted. It really depends. Now again there’s not much audio I’ve heard of Daryl but he definitely has like dark orange/yellow vocals. Sprinkle a bit of sort of denim blue in there for good measure and boom. Sometimes he can have bursts of bright colors like bright pinkish red or bright orange but other than that it’s kinda hard to tell with such little audio lol

Emma’s all purples and pinks to me. Mostly light purples and pinks and kinda bubbly in a way? Like I just picture bubbles lol-white bubbles on a purple and pink gradient background kinda just floating around. During I Can Talk To You All Night it kinda also leads into a royal blue. But for the majority it tends to be pink and purple and kinda bubbly lol-kinda giving Sylveon vibes if I say so.

Anyway. I know this probably makes me sound high off my ass but figured it was worth a share.

[sassenach77yle]

||COUNTDOWN || SEASON 4 EPISODE 09 || THE BIRDS & THE BEES ||

#83daysofoutlander☆

The light outside was dazzling after the taproom’s gloom. Brianna blinked, eyes tearing at the shafts of sun that stabbed through the shifting greens of a screen of maples. Then a movement caught her eye, below the flickering leaves. He stood in the shade of the maples, half turned away from her, head bent in absorption. A tall man, long-legged, lean and graceful, with his shoulders broad under a white shirt. He wore a faded kilt in pale greens and browns, casually rucked up in front as he urinated against a tree. He finished and, letting the kilt fall, turned toward the post house. He saw her then, standing there staring at him, and tensed slightly, hands half curling. Then he saw past her men’s clothes, and the look of wary suspicion changed at once to surprise as he realized that she was a woman. There was no doubt in her mind, from the first glimpse. She was at once surprised and not surprised at all; he was not quite what she had imagined—he seemed smaller, only man-sized—but his face had the lines of her own; the long, straight nose and stubborn jaw, and the slanted cat-eyes, set in a frame of solid bone. He moved toward her out of the maples’ shadow, and the sun struck his hair with a spray of copper sparks. Half consciously she raised a hand and pushed a strand of hair back from her face, seeing from the corner of her eye the matching gleam of thick red-gold. “What d’ye want here, lassie?” he asked. Sharp, but not unkind. His voice was deeper than she had imagined; the Highland burr slight but distinct. “You,” she blurted. Her heart seemed to have wedged itself in her throat; she had trouble forcing any words past it. He was close enough that she caught the faint whiff of his sweat and the fresh smell of sawn wood; there was a golden scatter of sawdust caught in the rolled sleeves of his linen shirt. His eyes narrowed with amusement as he looked her up and down, taking in her costume. One reddish eyebrow rose, and he shook his head. “Sorry, lass,” he said, with a half-smile. “I’m a marrit man.” He made to pass by, and she made a small incoherent sound, putting out a hand to stop him, but not quite daring to touch his sleeve. He stopped and looked at her more closely. “No, I meant it; I’ve a wife at home, and home’s not far,” he said, evidently wishing to be courteous. “But—” He stopped, close enough now to take in the grubbiness of her clothes, the hole in the sleeve of her coat and the tattered ends of her stock.

“Och,” he said in a different tone, and reached for the small leather purse he wore tied at his waist. “Will ye be starved, then, lass? I’ve money, if you must eat.” She could scarcely breathe. His eyes were dark blue, soft with kindness. Her eyes fixed on the open collar of his shirt, where the curly hairs showed, bleached gold against his sunburnt skin. “Are you—you’re Jamie Fraser, aren’t you?” He glanced sharply at her face. “I am,” he said. The wariness had returned to his face; his eyes narrowed against the sun. He glanced quickly behind him, toward the tavern, but nothing stirred in the open doorway. He took a step closer to her. “Who asks?” he said softly. “Have you a message for me, lass?” She felt an absurd desire to laugh welling up in her throat. Did she have a message?

“My name is Brianna,” she said.

He frowned, uncertain, and something flickered in his eyes. He knew it! He’d heard the name and it meant something to him. She swallowed hard, feeling her cheeks blaze as though they’d been seared by a candle flame.

“I’m your daughter,” she said, her voice sounding choked to her own ears.

“Brianna.” He stood stock-still, not changing expression in the slightest. He had heard her, though; he went pale, and then a deep, painful red washed up his throat and into his face, sudden as a brushfire, matching her own vivid color. She felt a deep flash of joy at the sight, a rush through her midsection that echoed that blaze of blood, recognition of their fair-skinned kinship. Did it trouble him to blush so strongly? she wondered suddenly. Had he schooled his face to immobility, as she had learned to do, to mask that telltale surge? Her own face felt stiff, but she gave him a tentative smile. He blinked, and his eyes moved at last from her face, slowly taking in her appearance, and—with what seemed to her a new and horrified awareness—her height. “My God,” he croaked. “You’re huge.” Her own blush had subsided, but now came back with a vengeance. “And whose fault is that, do you think?” she snapped. She drew herself up straight and squared her shoulders, glaring. So close, at her full height, she could look him right in the eye, and did. He jerked back, and his face did change then, mask shattering in surprise. Without it, he looked younger; underneath were shock, surprise, and a dawning expression of half-painful eagerness. “Och, no, lassie!” he exclaimed. “I didna mean it that way, at all! It’s only—” He broke off, staring at her in fascination. His hand lifted, as though despite himself, and traced the air, outlining her cheek, her jaw and neck and shoulder, afraid to touch her directly. “It’s true?” he whispered. “It is you, Brianna?” He spoke her name with a queer accent—Breeanah—and she shivered at the sound. “It’s me,” she said, a little huskily. She made another attempt at a smile. “Can’t you tell?” His mouth was wide and full-lipped, but not like hers; wider, a bolder shape, that seemed to hide a smile in the corners of it, even in repose. It was twitching now, not certain what to do. “Aye,” he said. “Aye, I can.”

He did touch her then, his fingers drawing lightly down her face, brushing back the waves of ruddy hair from temple and ear, tracing the delicate line of her jaw. She shivered again, though his touch was noticeably warm; she could feel the heat of his palm against her cheek.

“I hadna thought of you as grown,” he said, letting his hand fall reluctantly away. “I saw the pictures, but still—I had ye in my mind somehow as a wee bairn always—as my babe. I never expected …”

His voice trailed off as he stared at her, the eyes like her own, deep blue and thick-lashed, wide in fascination. “Pictures,” she said, feeling breathless with happiness. “You’ve seen pictures of me? Mama found you, didn’t she? When you said you had a wife at home—”

“Claire,” he interrupted. The wide mouth had made its decision; it split into a smile that lit his eyes like the sun in the dancing tree leaves. He grabbed her arms, tight enough to startle her. “You’ll not have seen her, then? Christ, she’ll be mad wi’ joy!” The thought of her mother was overwhelming. Her face cracked, and the tears she had been holding back for days spilled down her cheeks in a flood of relief, half choking her as she laughed and cried together.

“Here, lassie, dinna weep!” he exclaimed in alarm. He let go of her arm and snatched a large, crumpled handkerchief from his sleeve. He patted tentatively at her cheeks, looking worried. “Dinna weep, a leannan, dinna be troubled,” he murmured. “It’s all right, m’ annsachd; it’s all right.”

“I’m all right; everything’s all right. I’m just—happy,” she said. She took the handkerchief, wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “What does that mean—a leannan? And the other thing you said?”

“You’ll not have the Gaelic, then?” he asked, and shook his head. “No, of course she wouldna have been taught,” he murmured, as though to himself. “I’ll learn,” she said firmly, giving her nose a last wipe.

“A leannan?” A slight smile reappeared on his face as he looked at her. “It means ‘darling,’ ” he said softly. “M’ annsachd—my blessing.”

41 JOURNEY’S END

[thelostgirl21]

So, I may have accidentally found the answer to Radovid (Hugh Skinner)'s eyes color when I was randomly suggested this article:

"Gray eyes may be called “blue” at first glance, but they tend to have flecks of gold and brown. And they may appear to “change color” from gray to blue to green depending on clothing, lighting, and mood (which may change the size of the pupil, compressing the colors of the iris)." (x)

The science behind it is really cool, too! But looking at different pictures and some of his scenes in "The Windsors" where we often get views of his eyes in more natural lighting than in "The Witcher", I think it really fits!

So, Radovid has the rarest type of magical color changing grey eyes that work like the droplets of water in clouds in the sky!

Edit: Also, I don't know if it's just me "seeing things" (those of you that have "The Windsors" on Netflix, feel free to help me investigate), but in scenes where he's angry/upset, his eyes seem to appear slightly greener.

Not only can't Radovid fake being drunk around Jaskier, should he notice (he likely already has) that his eyes keep changing color with his moods, poor prince won't even be able to hide how he feels from him!

Radovid: *Having successfully kept his tone perfectly relaxed and nonchalant* "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

Jaskier: "Like hell you are! Your eyes are this pale translucent green they get right before you go find yourself some corner to cry into! Now which of these lords upset you? And whose reputation do I need to utterly destroy? "

Radovid: "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

Since he started getting to know him, Jaskier has catalogued every single eye color shade they get, and tied them to specific corresponding emotions.

(Also, I tried to change Radovid's hair color from "ginger" to "reddish blonde" in the Wiki, since it seems everyone has a different name or definition to describe the actual shade of his hair (what I personally meant when I first wrote "ginger", is the color shade described as "ginger" here!)... And the moderator changed it back to RED, with the comment "that's still red (like Conan O'Brien's hair)". Yeah, but it's a light red that's either "strawberry blonde", or "ginger" or some other name given to that variation, rather than "copper red"! So anyway, Radovid's hair just became even redder than it was, and my apologies to the fandom. Turns out I should have left it alone!)

[crafty-nyctinasty]

Help me ID an entity !

alright, so I made this blog just in time to need to post about something. Its super new but I'll be adding actual stuff soon. But I had a dream that I want to write about and ask for help with ASAP, so here we go:

Main Question: does anyone know of a goddess(/lady-deity/mythic or folkloric figure) who either always is this way, or appears as a woman with a partly missing arm?

The missing arm is not fully gone, but severed somewhere near the elbow area. In the dream, it was on Her left side (so, facing each other, you'd see the missing arm on Your right side. Facing the same way as her, it's on her left.)

I'm willing to look into other slight changes, like a different spot of severance or arm on the other side being the missing one. Dreams are messy. But the better the match, the better, of course.

(More under this line .......for the sake of anyone scrolling past !)

More Potential Identifiers:

Pale basically pure white hair, almost glowing

Not milk-pale skin but she's pretty pale. Light tan at most. Has a sort of golden tinge though.

Feels more white-gold or even silver than yellow gold as far as essence goes.

Blue grey eyes. Mostly grey but with a blue flash sort of magical shine.

Copper?? It was a danger but also seemed associated with her in a way.

She's a mother. Either within myths directly or many view her as a mother figure

She may be ghostly? Or died in myth? I glimpsed a more alive and full-armed vision of her at the end

She is some sort of ruler or rulers consort. She sat on a big important chair next to someone else.

She had darker wavier hair and flushed cheeks and a sturdy dress and copper jewelry and blue body paint in the brief vision version

She could be a deity or just a mythic figure. Some sort of spirit with a story. Maybe not a "goddess" per se. Maybe a goddess. But not necessarily. Please lmk if there's a human in a folktale or anything else that matches!!

Extra Dream Details

In the dream, during the important part, I had ended up sort of crashing through the roof of a shed, with live copper wiring all over. Some wasn't live but it was hard to tell. It was dangerous to touch. A toddler aged young boy came over and he didn't talk much. He's got light brown hair with a hint of reddish gold to it, and he's somewhat pale. Not white as a sheet but not any shade of brown really either. I was trying to stop him from touching the wires. He was in basic kid clothes, kinda blurry in a dream way. A woman, his mother, runs up to grab him, but trips on her way up a small incline to the shed. She's lightly tanned, mostly quite pale skinned, wearing a very clean white dress with a flowy skirt and a thin white linen shawl. Her hair is also pure white and very straight. Her eyes are grey or maybe slightly blue. I try to explain about the wires as she grabs the kid. She looks worried. Really worried. She pulls back the shawl from one arm and I see that it was severed at the elbow. It was ages ago, quite healed. But there's some copper wiring embedded in the nub at the end.

She makes intense eye contact. I feel like I'm supposed to know her. The grey flashes with an otherworldly blue. For a few moments I get glimpses of bronze or copper jewelry climbing her arm, both arms in fact, and both arms are fully formed...., her hair a deeper hue and wavier, a flush in her cheeks.... her eyes more alive, a deeper blue... And deep blue paint on her shoulders, a sturdier dress, a copper headpiece, crownlike, a seat on a throne, leaning forward, gesturing with a cup in hand while leaning to speak to someone next to her ...... And then she's just who I first saw again. Pale, scared for her child, almost speechless, missing part of the arm....

Summary

So dreams are weird and a lot of that is probably gibberish in meaning but there was a feeling to her presence similar to other dreams where I've met Deities and/or been pointed towards a relevant Story.

I'll post more about myself on this blog later but for now all you need to know is I believe some dreams are more real than others and that all deities are some sort of real. I believe in both sending visions and direct contact within dreams.... but dreams have limitations. Processing it gets weird.

I couldn't think of anyone immediately and of course the first bout of research just shows me stuff about Tyr, and the Silverhand.........

Lately I've been researching Norse mythology, as well as myths from the areas associated with Celts overall but especially Scotland Ireland and Wales. I've also been looking into indigenous stories from the area I moved to (wide range for not-fully-doxxing purposes : near the great lakes in the U.S. & a little bit between Toronto and Montreal horizontally, and down to Virginia vertically).

I also have a longer lasting previous affiliation with some Hindu and Kemetic deities. And a tad association with some Greek/Roman/Gaulish entities.

So those general pantheons/related entities would be most likely to be showing up in my dreamspace at the moment. Based on all the factors, in order of most to least likely, I'd probably say....(Norse>Welsh>Scottish>Irish>Gaulish>Greco-Roman>Local Indigenous>Hindu>Kemetic) but who knows! Could be something I never heard of as well tbh. Probably kinda possible seeing as I usually have a guess when this happens.

But I'm certainly not an academic or expert in any of this, and I can't find any clues so far. I feel like the one arm part should be an easy identifier but I'm having trouble searching.

(Also: yes, I have ties to the regions of deities etc I interact with. I also don't always engage in a whole practice, and sometimes receive messages meant for friends of mine who have less open godphones. Please dont interrogate me about why I listed so many different regions. I'll answer good faith questions tho if ppl are just curious.)

I would really appreciate any ideas! I'd like to start being more active on here anyway so this is where I'll start, I suppose. Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions and even just for reading all that 😅

I'll be adding a million random tags because I don't know what's most used on here and what is usually posted in each tag....

(P.S. if for some reason you are heavily reminded of an entity who isn't missing the arm , I'd still be curious if the other combined traits ring any bells! Just something to start pointing me in the direction of IDing her or maybe Related entities)

[dragonprincedrake]

Heyy finally managed to finish the Sandwing ref! (The past two months for me have been busy and not good, not much time or energy but I’m trying). Anyways this will act as a ref for Sandwings in my au.

Sandwings are masters at desert survival, able to go a long time without food or water, can withstand the intense heat from the desert sun much more then other tribes. Their sails help them stay cool and can come in different shapes or styles, some sandwings like to add piercings in their sail. Every Sandwing can breath fire and have a venomous barb on the end of their tail, which the barb can be curled inward to avoid unnecessary accidents. Scales are normally lightly colored in shades of pale gold and light brown, tho sometimes scales can be a darker brown. Speckle or diamond shaped patterns can also appear on some sandwings. Eyes are dark in color and usually dark brown or reddish brown. Sandwings also have the second best flying stamina (the first being Skywings of course), have exceptional eye sight sensitive to movement and can see far away. Can bury themselves in the desert sand to blend in or to cool down.

Shoutout to @one-mopeyboi for helping with coming up with ideas for the au. Hopefully this turned out alright.

Sandwings are a fairly big tribe but due to the war and the three way split, they have become less of the once very united tribe. The biggest group follow Princess Blaze who is allied with the icewings, she may not be the most qualified Queen ever, but she is far less cruel or menacing then her sisters. The second group loyally follow Princess Burn, allied with the skywings and mudwings, whom is the strongest sister and most likely to win in a physical fight between any of her siblings. A third group do follow Princess Blister, allied with the seawings, more due to fear then actual loyalty, but she’s very smart and cunning. There are rumors of a fourth princess, younger then the other three but no one knows where she went if she’s even still alive.

[merbear25]

Caesar

Costume party

Gn!reader

Truth or dare

Nsfw, but no intercourse, nsfw subjects will be discussed in the game's questions.

Hey, hey! Thanks for sending in a request for the event. I'm always thrilled to write for this goat, so I hope you like it. 💜🧡

Under the foggy nighttime sky, the party unfolding within the dimly lit house offered more than just friendly chatter. Among those festively dressed, the one who’d been creeping into your subconscious more and more frequently set his sights on you that night. Sneaking off together gave the both of you such a rush, one which you were keen on keeping pumping through your veins.

CW: NSFW, MDNI, gn!reader, no intercourse, dirty and extremely suggestive questions/actions, non established relationship, pining

Tell me everything (Caesar)

Blinking lights of purple and orange peaked through the mesh curtains. Their illumination of the windowsill complimented the dim lighting within the house. A reddish glow washed over the room. Cobwebs gently swayed from the faintest whispers and floating candles dimly lit the walls. 

Lively conversations that you weren’t a part of made the chilling house appear warm. Each joke that landed, each chuckle that shook their costumes brought life to an otherwise dead night. Howls of the creatures stalking the grounds were muffled by the music and animated stories. Pleasantries exchanged even with whom you’d never associate were made tolerable with the aid of celebratory drinks.

Long dark locks draped over your shoulders as you loitered in front of the beverage stand. The clear cups with fizzy red alcohol bubbled around the decorative plastic syringe and eyeball. Each burst and pop of the syrupy liquid created an illusion of blood splatters. As he leaned over you staring down the bridge of his nose, he hummed at the sight of you.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

You brought the cup up to your lips and allowed the bubbles to kiss them. “I could say the same about you.” Hints of disappointment were held in your words, in spite of your soft tone. 

Watching you swirling your drink, the slight splashes of sweet alcohol alluded to a heavy weight on your shoulders. “It’s been too long.” The sentence brushed against your ear. “We’ve got so much to catch up on, I’m sure.” 

His jet black coat sleeves and white cuffs of his shirt grazed your sides as he placed his pale palms firmly on the table. The gold clasps caught your eye as he pinned you against him. The raisin shaded waistcoat under the long cape hugged his slender build nicely. 

Those purple lips that had been appearing in your dreams for far longer than you cared to admit teased your ear. “I’ve got an idea. Why not play a harmless game to get reacquainted?” 

Gentle guidance in his voice lured you into agreeing. A dragged out “Good” spread a smile across his lips, while his prosthetic fangs lightly scraped across your ear. Offering you his hand, the swift change of environment left you a tad dizzy. In seclusion, he’d have his fill of picking that brain of yours. No interruptions. No unwarranted, bothersome drunkards stumbling in and crashing your fun.

The white wooden door was shut, the lights still held that faint glow of the holiday’s charm, and the object of that night’s desire was sitting patiently for him: a perfect way to indulge in privacy. Slumping down on the sofa next to you, he lazily slung his arm over the back. His long fingers absentmindedly played with the loose fabric of your costume as he stretched his legs out.

“Such a headache, hmm? All those dolts chattering amongst themselves really makes one crave an escape, wouldn’t you agree?” That scheming smirk was propped up on his hand. The yellow eyes that both graced and haunted your dreams were looking straight through you—an anxious little plaything for him to toy with.

He crossed his legs in front of you, trapping you on the couch. A gentle twirl of your hair between his fingers made a flush bite at your cheeks. With such playfulness warming your body, it would be easy for anyone to forget this was a man bearing an atrocious reputation. That devilish charm was looked at through rose colored glasses. Their pinkish tint made even his most dastardly misdeeds seem justified.

“How about that little game?” The cool tone sent shivers over your body.

“What game exactly?” You fiddled with hands, when his gaze held a glimmer of mischief.

“Aren’t you dying to know what I’ve been up to? So, what better game than truth or dare?” A light chuckle passed his lips as he turned up his hands from the most obvious option.

Heat from the potential embarrassment and the close proximity flushed your face. Even under all that facepaint, there was no mistaking the blush dancing on your complexion. A hum of approval at your timid agreement swirled around you.

“Very well then,” he hissed with a slyness. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” you said in a shaky breath.

He tapped his finger on his chin, taking his time to think of a question. “Ah! What was your first impression of me?” Though the expectations were in the name of the game, he wouldn’t have accepted anything less than praise.

“I was blown away to say the least.” He nodded for you to continue. “How could I not? Working under one of -er… the greatest mind, well it’s like a dream.” In spite of him steering your answer towards the utmost flattery, each bit of your answer had your honest heart poured into it.

“Music to my ears, but such sweet words will only get you so far.” He winked.

Your sweaty hands gripped at your pants from his bolder attempts to make you flustered. The question was then directed at him. 

“Dare.” His smirk refused to leave his face, while he watched how you were already reacting to his idea of fun.

“Tell me what the biggest lie you’ve ever told was.”

Without hesitation, the answer was void of remorse. “‘I love you.’” Your next answer of ‘dare’ piqued his interest. 

He’d been holding onto a question but changed it into a command to suit a dare. “Tell me if you’ve ever had a wet dream about me.” The tip of his tongue traced his bottom lip as you stirred in your seat, your body language already giving him the answer.

“I have,” you admitted in an almost mousy voice. His chuckle came as a low rumble and was laced with dark pleasure. A sigh to soothe your own nerves did little to help you. His eyes were sparkling with intrigue the longer they laid on you.

“Dare,” he quickly answered your question. He sat up a little from the anticipation of what may come next, the game was getting more and more interesting.

“I dare you to act out a kinky action you’d like to see us do together.” There was a clear desire for more behind those eyes of yours. Such fervor was met with his own as he choked back a groan.

Pulling himself up to get more personal, he reveled in the sight of you already quaking in your seat. Two golden orbs now half-lidded kept your gaze, while he put three of his long digits into his mouth. A few pumps to lather them with his slick tongue was more than enough to get the idea across, but letting his tongue slide and flick between two of them as he finished demonstrating had your heart pounding. Your faint pants from the show he’d just put on for you made you that much more delectable to him.

“What’s the most unexpected thing that turns you on?” He leaned in closer.

“S-science.” With the image of him still fresh in your mind, you blurted out the first thing that came to mind. You felt like shrinking into yourself when he laughed. “Well, more specifically experiments.”

“Oh?” He hummed. “How much more fitting.”

He was practically on top of you, his large body trapping you in a cage of his own limbs. You wanted to feel more of him, properly feel him. “Truth or dare?”

In response to his ‘dare’, you couldn’t resist the opportunity. “I dare you to hug me for a full minute.” There was a sense of sweetness to your question, but given the nature of recent events, such a dare wasn’t intended to lead to anything innocent.

Cocking an eyebrow, he held onto his sly grin as he pulled you against his chest. He wrapped his arms around you, allowing you to fully melt into him. You responded with ‘truth’ for the next round, nearly lost in the sound of his heartbeat quickening as you nuzzled up against him.

“Would you be open to having a one-night stand?” His lips ghosted the shell of your ear. The nip of his fangs made your grip on his pant legs tighten, while your head spun from the overwhelming thrill prickling over your sensitive skin.

“I…I think so. Yes.” His arms wrapped around you more tightly and the deep sigh was laced with bliss.

“Give me another dare, darling.” A voice rough with need alluded to his waning patience.

Each subtle tremble in his body vibrated against you. “Act out your first kiss on me.” As soon as the final dare left those enticing lips, he grabbed your face and captured you in a greedy liplock. Abandoning adhering to the ‘first kiss’ part, he desired to have you feel every ounce of his ardor.

His hand cupped your face while the other roamed your body. Any soft gasps and whimpers you offered him were instantly devoured. As your tongues tangled, he paid no mind to his fangs. They pricked your soft skin, yanking more delicious sounds from you, each one sending you both into the abyss.

“I couldn’t care less about returning to that damn party.” You murmured against his lips.

“Then let’s stay up here and continue with our own idea of a good time.”

[classicalshorts]

Yellow Varieties

Welcome to this the sixth entry in Cool Colours. Yellow is wonderful and represents rather a unique case in this series' exploration. To look at the word at first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that our word yellow has no links to Latin whatsoever. You would be both right and wrong, however. There is a link and a rather neat and unusual one. The word yellow is more closely connected to German 'gelb'. But it doesn't look like that either, you say. So, here is a brief glimpse at this lovely colour name's history. It stems primarily from the early German word 'gelwaz', to which the Italian 'giallo' is also related. Both stem ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European (henceforth PIE) word 'ghel-' which meant 'to shine'. Now PIE, is now widely believed to have been an early, now extinct language, from which most European languages and Sanskrit were all born. Now, here comes the Latin link. Latin is also descended from PIE and its word for pale yellow, helvus, comes from the same parent stem as German 'gelb'. So, it is linked to the word, it is just a relative that evolved slightly differently. Also, if you read the Latin helvus, pronouncing the 'v' as a 'w' (as many argue it should be) the connection with our 'yellow' becomes clearer.

Our trip through the colour yellow does not stop there. I have three further Classical terms for yellow for you that bequeathed us words in English. Let us start with Latin.

Have you ever read that you should get more of the vitamin Riboflavin (B2) in your diet? Well, the 'flavin' part of the word comes from the Latin flavus, meaning 'yellow', often a golden or reddish shade of yellow. 'What's a vitamin got to do with 'yellow'?' ,you ask. Well, the flavins are a group of organic compounds, from which Riboflavin is derived, and their colour is, you've got it, YELLOW. They are very important to life. So green might be life, but it appears yellow is, too.

Could your hair be described as 'fulvous'? No, it does not mean it is voluminous (full-vous, get it? Never mind). Again, this rather old-fashioned and probably forgotten word comes from another Latin word for 'yellow', this time fulvus, which denotes a brownish, tawny yellow. It was often used to describe lions.

Lastly, can I ask you if your daffodils betray a xanthic hue? So, we head over to the ancient Greeks for our penultimate yellow word of today. The Greek word ξανθος (xanthos) could denote hair that was blonde or even auburn, so again it can denote a reddish gold.

Crocus is our final shade today. Now, we see crocuses that are pink, blue, and yellow, but Greek word (κροκος) originally referred to the saffron plant, which yields a famous rich yellow colouring. There is even rather a sweet instance of it being used in a Greek text to describe the colour of egg-yolks.

The bright, cheerful colour yellow therefore, not only has a great etymological (i.e. word family) history, but it also has many different variations in Classical terms. EGG-sellent! Okay, there's a reason I'm a classicist not a comedian. I hope you enjoyed this instalment. See you on the next one.

[writingsofwesteros]

https://www.tumblr.com/writingsofwesteros/759618851366387712/httpswwwtumblrcomwritingsofwesteros759526207?source=share

Cannibal landed outside of the gates of King's Landing, letting out a shrill roar as he felt his rider's pain- Nora clung to the saddle and trusted her precious mount to take her where she needed to go. It had been hours of being kicked and beaten by Daemon, and the guards of Dragonstone- she was surprised that Jacaerys had not even gone to see her, but apparently she heard through whispers that Rhaenyra forbade him, a notion Baela apparently supported. By the time Cannibal landed she was purely exhausted, the physical toll along with the emotional one of Alicent's betrayal making her ache in all ways. It felt like hours had passed, until she head horses incoming closer, and Cannibal roared protectively. "Dohaeras, Cannibal!" Aemond called. "Nora!" Aegon shouted helplessly. "Sister!" Nora weakly whispered words of High Valyrian to Cannibal- without her, Cannibal would hurt others without hesitation, before she attempted to slide off her saddle. She landed in Aemond's strong arms, who breathed, "Thank the gods-" "Nora," Aegon practically flung himself onto them, tears freely falling down his cheeks when he saw her, and the state she was on- Oh, how he would see to it that those who laid hands on her paid dearly. She was too weak to speak, and Aemond told Aegon, "Come now, brother- we must get her back to the Keep...she needs to be seen to at once, and Hel will be aching to see her." The brothers rode their steeds through the city, back to the Red Keep. Hours later, Nora was in a large bathtub, with Helaena scrubbing her skin clean. The water was murky and reddish brown with her blood, and dirt, and Helaena said softly, "I will have the maids empty this water, and bring fresh water." Nora nodded wordlessly and stepped out, wrapped in a robe. Helaena sat beside her, and held her hand. She had not yet told anyone of their mother's betrayal, for fear that Aegon and Aemond would act recklessly. "We were so afraid," Helaena whispered. "Deathly afraid- we could not bear losing you. Mother prayed for you for hours on end." "Did she?" "She'd began to wear black and green, like Cannibal," Helaena confided. "She said that she wished to find ways to keep us with her always, and so she even wore gold for Sunfyre." Nora felt tears in her eyes- how could she tell them what their mother had done, when they all finally felt like they had Alicent's unwavering love, after all this time? Helaena kissed her cheek and whispered, "She even asked that I find her a shade of blue exactly like Dreamfyre." Images of standing in Dragonstone, watching her mother betray her flashed through her mind. "What?" She turned to Helaena, who nodded. "Tis' true." Helaena smiled sadly. Her heart clenched, as she put together the pieces. As she was dragged out of Dragonstone and she looked back at her mother, in her gown of pale blue, the candlelight caused the material to glimmer ever so slightly....it revealed a pattern...a pattern of dragonscales. "She didn't....she didn't betray us," Nora gasped softly. "No," Helaena whispered knowingly. "She did not. The dress was not her returning to Rhaenyra....it was keeping a piece of her children as she gave herself for Nora's freedom....because she knew that without Cannibal, they stood a greater chance against Rhaenyra and the dragonseeds.

POOR SWEET NORA! She's going through it thats for sure !!!

Also..the idea of Alicent having her children's dragon colours so close when she's so deathly afraid of them..

Aegon and Aemond would not leave their sisters' side whilst Daeron began to patrol. Otto was so glad his granddaughter was home safe even if he was subtle about it

[wolverina2002]

My notes on Strills

Strills are not actually solitary. They used to live in large colonies, with those nursing pups and elders remaining at the den site while other adults and adolescents hunt and forage

The rapid loss of reasources after the Dral Hran lead to colonies splitting up, forcing parents to leave their pups alone to forage and rapidly tanking survival rates

Strill pups are born blind and deaf and completely dependant on their parent. Strills nurse for two weeks and feed their young from a crop for up to a year

Strill pups need three to four years to mature, spending their first year completely at the den site, under the supervision of elders, youngsters and other parents while their own parents are hunting

After that first year, they become more independant, roaming around in bands of agemates and siblings, hunting insects and foraging

With two years and older, young strills acompany the other adults out to hunt and forage.

Strills are actually monogamous! Young strills older than four will either take a mate from a roaming pack of batchelors, find one among fellow batchelors or settle down in a different colony

Strill groups are separated into colonies, a stationary group of couples raising their pups at a shared den site, and packs, roaming groups of bachelors. In some areas, the ecosystem can only support wandering packs

Despite all being genetically close enough to interbreed across the entire planet, due to the high mobility of bachelor packs, strills are extremly dimorphic in their coloring

Or well, they used to be. After the Dral Hran, the pale golden or gray morphs had the best survival chances and thus dominate the planetary gene pool. However, off planet populations still produce other morphs, and you occassionally get differently colored strills on Mandalore as well

The most common coloring is an even base color in pale gold, shades of gray, shades of brown, and reddish brown with a darker ruff of fur. There´s also a melanistic morph that is completely black, a morph that has a silver ruff, rosettes and piebald spotting

Piebald spotting is a gene that unfortunately has high chances of deafness, blindness and other genetic problems. A double piebald is completely white with blue eyes and has very low survival chances. The only instances of double piebald pups surviving to adulthood is in tamed strills raised by people, and they generally have a low quality of life, a hightend chance of brain tumors and don´t grow old

During the current breeding program, piebald strills are neutered and spayed and those pups that present genetical problems are taken out of the to-be-released pool and given to loving homes

Despite currently being the apex predator in every ecosystem on Mandalore, strills are naturally scavangers and small game predators. They´re a keystone species the way hyenas are a keystone species, but currently, no ecosystem can support anything higher up the foodchain in sustainable population sizes

Despite a long time of cooperation, strills are not domesticated. Individuals are tamed and there is captive breeding, but as tame strills are not a different species

Strills are highly cooperative and communicative. They tend to hunt alone or in trios, but at the den site, they are incredibly social

Bachelor packs are actually capable of taking down large game, and do so if they have the opportunity

[strawberry-blondie]

In the end I opted to give her one silver eye and added a magnet to her chest so her gemstones can be interchangeable between the gold and black.

Though Eda's skin is white, or just really pale, I used reddish pastels for her facial shading to tie in with her warm colours and clothes.

As her accessories and ears were fairly simple I made them in super sculpey, the magnets being set into the gems during baking and her ears glued on once hard.

[animaginaryartblog]

[Image ID: six digital drawings of different designs for Sonic the Hedgehog, arranged in two rows. The background is plain white. Handwritten notes comment on certain aspects of the designs.

Starting from the top left is Sonic the Hedgecat (aka Daybreak Sonic). This is the Light Gaia counterpart to Sonic the Werehog. Hedgecat Sonic is lean and slender, with large ears, a long tufted tail, and sharp, insectoid green wings. His blue fur is several shades lighter and paler, though his muzzle, underbelly, and paws remain dark brown. His quills have turned a pale orange with white tips, turning up slightly at the ends. The tip of his tail and the tips of his claws are also orange. His eyes are a bright lime green, with white where his pupils should be.

To the right of the hedgecat is a soft redesign of the Werehog, now also known as Nightfall Sonic. In this form, Sonic's build is less slender and more bulky, with fluffier fur, broader shoulders, and thicker limbs. His quills are far thicker and fluffier. His ears are small and pointed, curving slightly inward. His eyes are dark green, and his pupils are enlarged, the black almost engulfing the green completely. His fur is a desaturated blue, and his quills are dark purple, with black spreading from their tips like ink. His large claws and short, wolf-like tail are tipped with the same black.

The rightmost design in the top row is Twilight Sonic, a fusion of hedgecat and werehog. Twilight Sonic's fur is darker than the hedgecat's, brighter than the werehog's, and more saturated than both. His green eyes, likewise, are somewhere between the hedgecat's bright lime and the werehog's dark forest. The Twilight form has the hedgecat's insectoid wings, but they are now a cooler green, and have a bend in the middle like an arm. The edges of the wings are worn and tattered. His tail is longer than the werehog's, but shorter and fluffier than the hedgecat's. His quills are dark blue, with pale blue on their bases near the head and on their upward-curving tips. His tail, similarly, has a pale blue tip with a ring of darker blue below.

In the bottom left is Super Sonic. His fur is a rich gold-orange. His quills are pale yellow and curve smoothly upwards, not just at the tips like the hedgecat's. His eyes are purple, with light purple pupils; text beside them notes that they can shift color depending on his mood, but are usually purple.

To the right of Super Sonic is Nega Sonic. Nega Sonic's colors are the inverse of regular Sonic. His fur is a rusty orange, and instead of dark brown, his muzzle and underbelly are a pale, icy blue. His quills are pale yellow, like Super Sonic's, but don't curve up. His eyes are pure black with magenta irises and white pupils, and his teeth are likewise black with white edging.

Finally, in the bottom right corner, there are two designs for Sonic as a toddler and a child. Behind them is a png of his teen design (said teen design can be seen here) for comparison, at a slightly lower opacity than the rest of the drawings. Toddler Sonic (in the 2-3 year age range) is very small, his head only reaching to just above teen Sonic's knee. He is chubbier than his older selves and has stubbier limbs. His ears, on the other hand, look far too big for him. His fur is paler than teen Sonic's, while his eyes are much darker, almost black.

Child Sonic, who is somewhere in the 7-11 year age range, has richer colors than Child Sonic, but still lighter than teen Sonic's. His eyes are more obviously green, but still darker than his teenage self. He is brown markings have a reddish hue. He is much taller and leaner than toddler Sonic, but still a head shorter than his teenage self. His ears still look oversized. /end ID]

can't make a redesign of Gaia AU Sonic without taking his transformations into account. these are all still rough drafts, mostly so I could test how the new, still developing design would fit with his different forms. it was also a chance to play around with colors. shout out to my brother for giving my feedback despite knowing full well I would go with the opposite of whatever he said. you're a real one Iz.

another big sketch dump below, with some bonus Blazes and Pretzels because you know I love my cat girls. Mario might also be in there, dunno what that was about. once again not ID'ing the sketches because they're just. a lot. there's a lot of them and they're repetitive. don't worry about it.