#turquoise scarab

[toyastales]

Egyptian Scarab Bracelet, from Tomb of Tutankhamun (1341-1323 BC), and was made with Gold, Lapis-lazuli, Carnelian, Turquoise and other semi-precious stones.

The scarab has been deified during Ancient Egypt. Its shape was related to the god Jepri in the graphic representation (human body and scarab face). However, normally, people referred to the scarab as Ra, the creator of the universe, one of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon.

[diamondsinthelibrary]

This Egyptian Revival necklace from Devil Wears Prada has a royal past.

When this Egyptian Revival necklace popped up in my email inbox, I thought, “oooh, pretty.” But when I read the accompanying press release and realized how cool its story really is, I knew I had to share it with you. This Egyptian Revival necklace from Devil Wears Prada has a royal past. Gorgeous, isn’t it?? I didn’t take much notice of this beautiful piece the first (or second, or third) times…

[cleopatrastruth]

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

twst x zoff glasses collection (post 1)

***Please note:*** Sharing merch images + news is not intended to encourage and/or to pressure anyone into making purchases. It is up to the individual consumer to be informed and to choose how they spend their money.

Tumblr only has an image limit of 30 per post; you can see the later 3 dorms' glasses designs in this post.

This is a collection of 7 glasses frames, each themed after one of NRC's dormitories and all the same price (14400 yen).

Each pair of glasses comes with an original case and a cloth to wipe your lenses. The original case is the same for every design, but you will get a cloth with a design unique to the dorm you selected.

Heartslabyul's roses are visible, and there are the 4 card suits (2 on either side) incorporated as well. A checkered pattern and Heartslabyul's half-colored heart logo are also in the design. Heartslabyul's roses are visible, and there are the 4 card suits (2 on either side) incorporated as well, representing each of the Heartslabyul boys (Ace, Deuce, Cater, Trey). A checkered pattern, crown (Riddle), and Heartslabyul's half-colored heart logo (foil-stamped) are also in the design.

The pattern on the temple is meant to resemble claw marks, perhaps of a lion like Leona. At the end of the temple, there is a foil-stamped hyena and wolf to represent Ruggie and Jack, respectively.

These glasses include turquoise cloisonne stone and engraving representative of the sea. The frames feature a wriggling octopus tentacle (Azul) and a spiral seashell on both sides. There are moray eels foil stamped on the frames, one for Jade and one for Floyd.

Kalim's turban was the inspiration for the hinge part. The temple, meanwhile, has a snaking cobra (Jamil) and a red cloisonne stone. The ends of the temples have foil-stamped scarabs.

[memories-of-ancients]

Scarab ring of Sithathoryunet. Crafted from gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and turquoise.

Egypt, 12th Dynasty, 1887-1813 BC

from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[noesqape]

khepera illustration to practice more with colours !

whenever i see him as a scarab he is a bright blue or turquoise, sometimes he's almost outlined in gold :)

[astra-ravana]

Working With Ptah

Demon God of Vision and Creativity

Other titles: Lord of Truth

Colors: Red, blue, green, black, white, gold

Herbs: Acacia, almond, blue lotus, cedar, frankincense, hops, turmeric, coffee, sun flower, copal, hemp/canabis, cumin, myyrh, aloe

Crystals: Lapis lazuli, turquoise, red jasper, pyrite, goldstone, obsidian, granite, chalcocite, nuummite, sapphire, hematite, sun stone, bumblebee jasper, herkimer diamond

Element: Fire/air

Planet: Mars/ths Sun

Zodiac: Aries

Metal: Gold, copper

Tarot: Temperance, Ace of Wands, 8 of Pentacles

Animals: The Apis Bull, vultures, rats, scarabs

Domains: Creativity, the arts, architecture, crafts (especially magickal crafts), guidance, inspiration, success, self improvement, spiritual growth, transformation, protection

Offerings: Artwork, handcrafted items, fine incense, bread, beer, precious stones and metals

Symbols: Potter's Wheel, Djed, Was, Ankh, skulls

[magistralucis]

"I'm right here." - Trazyn/Orikan (requested by @beril66)

(Drabble for a prompt fill challenge, prompts available here.)

--------------

They debate the pros and cons for a while, but in the end Orikan gets his wish, as he must've always known he would. Trazyn feels some kind of way about it. It's odd - as he gathers the necessary tools and heads to Orikan's quarters, he feels not a single smidgen of hatred, only the weight of dread mixed with weary concern. This is not how he would've characterized his sentiments towards the Diviner before any of this happened. He feels out of himself, frustratingly passive, inadequate.

"Orikan."

But if the Overlord of Solemnace is not adequate for this task, no one else will be. He desires breath, deletes the notion from his engrams, and enters.

Orikan is lying silently on the ground. Sannet is watching over him. Outwardly the astromancer is closer to restored - his primary servomechanisms have regained their function and the necrodermis 93% regenerated, the scratches buffed out and his carapace polished a rich turquoise - but Trazyn doesn't need to scan him to know that little about Orikan's mental state has changed. He sends an interstitial greeting, receives but a tiny blip in return. Trazyn dismisses his Arch-Cryptek with a nod, then with some effort, kneels down beside Orikan.

"Don't suppose you want it done to the tiles." He says out loud, more to himself than the astromancer, then dares the slightest touch with a fingertip upon the other's blackened spine. Orikan tenses, a shiver passing through his circuits. "I'll be gilding below those (gesturing at the three orbucula along his spine), then your clavicle-collar, and your headpiece. Has Sannet updated you on my process?"

A small nod. Trazyn heaves a sigh-analogue. Three whole decans have passed since that fateful battle, and just as long their cohabitation in Solemnace - but Orikan is still so afraid, and refuses all attempts to clarify the problem. Hardly an encouraging atmosphere where hands-on work is necessary. Still, for Orikan, he will do his best.

"... Good. If you've no other qualms, dear colleague, I will begin."

-----

They don't talk. Not about each other, not even loosely to fill the time. Trazyn's working at the same speed as his living self once did, which is rather slow for necron engrams, and in the absence of Orikan's jabs and insults he finds himself dwelling on the strangeness of the other's request. No one among their kind has needed to hand-gild anything since biotransference. Few individuals remember the art at all, and besides, they have decorator-scarabs for the purpose. Trazyn certainly isn't painting on his own raiments whenever he's damaged or switches bodies, and he loved gilding with his hands, it was his finest skill among the scribal arts.

But even when Trazyn lived the practice was considered old-fashioned. It's not an art he imagined Orikan, with his dislike of the past, would be caught dead asking for. Their world has shifted about them and maybe it's everything Trazyn has ever wanted, except he knows they're not the things Orikan would've usually wanted, and the thought of the other's discomfort bothers him more than he'd admit.

(Then again they never thought all that seriously about being caught dead, full stop.)

The hand holding the brush trembles. He is thinking illogically again.

(Trazyn only foolishly thought they had.)

Enough of this. Trazyn forcibly focuses his oculars elsewhere and redirects extra core-flux to his fine-motor actuators. It's easier because he's not facing Orikan. The spaces between the orbs and his spine are narrow, and while Trazyn can zoom in visually for the little details, he has no choice but to physically lean in close to actually let his brush pass over those areas. He tries to be discreet about it, but ultimately he must hold Orikan against him as he works, or else lie beside him for a clearer view.

He's seldom been this up close and personal with Orikan without dying. Nor with anyone else, not in this context: the living Trazyn's handiwork belonged to books and scrolls foremost, stone second, with the occasional jewelry-burnishing for interest. And even if he were only working on those (and not Orikan's body), remembering how it was done before is not the same as putting the work to practice, especially since Trazyn's current technique is different to how it was done before. There's a brush and there is gold, and therein ends the similarity. Trazyn's pigments are no longer bound with gum, but with fluid living metal, which adheres directly upon Orikan's body once painted. There is no need for varnish, nor the bite of regal acid, nor heat produced from anywhere other than their cores. Trazyn's own nanoscarabs are following along, tidying up the edges and weaving the gold layers into necrodermis at a subatomic level. His artisan's pride suggests a filigree finish, though his rational side suspects Orikan won't care for it.

Nevertheless he ought to bring it up at some point. It's a pretty touch, a dignified thing. Trazyn finishes gilding the lowest orbuculum down Orikan's spine, sits up with the faintest creak of his knee-cabling, moves away.

The astromancer's hand darts out of nowhere to grab his wrist.

Trazyn bristles. Literally bristles, the epidermic layer of his necrodermis rippling visibly as his subconscious prepares for an attack. It dies down as soon as he regards Orikan, and the immensity of the panic radiating from him; no need to run a diagnostic scry, nor even ask what's wrong, since the Diviner is incandescent with alarm-patterns from every functional node. Without a word Orikan drags himself to kneeling, crawls forwards - then collapses right against Trazyn's ribcage, clinging on for dear life, or whatever passes for its illusion nowadays.

"Orikan!" Trazyn's voice crackles, then fuzzes out of his vocal emitters entirely. It comes back dampened, soft, despite his best efforts. "What are you... oh... oh, damn it all."

There's no answer. But the point is loud and clear: Orikan needs his company, he won't be left alone. This was never about mere gilding - something happened to Orikan during the brief moments of his godhood, and Trazyn's presence is the only thing that's been grounding him ever since, for he's the one other proof Orikan has that the interdimensional horrors could be overcome. "I was only going to move to the other side, you know I wasn't going away." Trazyn says quietly as he puts down the brush, sitting up as straight as his back will allow. He supports the other's frail body in his arms and drapes one half of his cloak over him. "I'm right here, Orikan. It's all right."

They're pressed turquoise against turquoise, core-flux burning hot. Trazyn would not have believed, once upon a time, that such a happenstance could've occurred in any other context than his unfailing triumph over Orikan: he'd have been all too happy to see the Diviner crushed, made centrepiece or vassal or a slave, the gold and turquoise proof of his ownership more than anything else. Those fantasies feel distant now, like they're a different lifetime and a dozen different Trazyns away. In the present day Trazyn the Infinite is merely staring down at their hands, two charred and two unblemished, his oculars dim and sad as he clasps their fingers in comfort.

Fleetingly the archaeovist recalls this was how the Nihilakh nobility welcomed additions to the dynasty. The newcomer, usually a child or a foreign spouse, would be granted a ceremonial robing of the dynastic colours followed by gifts of gold and turquoise goods. Seal-rings for a new groom, hairpins for a bride, amulets and jeweled rattles and gold-embroidered toys for the newborn babes. Trazyn has never had cause to perform this ceremony himself and remembers nothing else about it, and he certainly doesn't think Orikan had anything like this in mind - but as far as welcoming Orikan to his household goes, he supposes this is the most benign way they could've gone about it.

"My dear Orikan." He soothes, watching the glimmer of Orikan's discharge nodes slowing to a quiet blink, and rests a warm palm atop the other's cranium. "I will not leave you. Take as long as you like."

-------------------

(Notes: This is a piece exploring a headcanon that Orikan wears Nihilakh colours because Trazyn gifted it to him post-TIATD, presumably during a recuperating period on or near Solemnace. Orikan got battered to hell and back during that battle, it's doubtful Trazyn would've let him go in that state; since I also enjoyed writing about necrontyr!Trazyn's scribal duties in Unravel recently, I've brought back the chrysography/hand-gilding angle for this piece. 🥰 It struck me as a low-key but very intimate image.)

[wildwheatfields]

My next messy reference!! Details down below

Cleo de Nile -

Her mummy attributes are the mummy wrappings around her arm n leg. I feel like she’d have minimal wrapping cuz she preserves her skin so well. There would be decay under the wrappings that she doesn’t find too cute! Her eyes have gone gold from her powers. She has a giant scar where her organs were removed!! I like to think her scarabs crawl inside that opening or her mouth cuz how horrifying is that.

Her hair is now naturally a dark blue but she likes turquoise highlights and braiding in gold strands

She’s (ancient) Egyptian and has some arm hair, side burns n tummy hair. She waxes her legs. Shout out to my fellow hairy peeps who only do their legs! You’re valid

Lagoona Blue -

Her sea monster attributes are slippery pink skin, scales, fins, sharp teeth and multicolor hair. Her colors are real tropical coral and I love that for her. Her skin is mad slippery like an eel so she’s just so fast in the water. She has fish scales in placement of body hair cuz I’m apparently obsessed with that aspect I’ve created in MH.

Her freckles are blue!! She’s got fun lil dots on her face!! They prob look like many eyes in the dark of the sea yikes. Her hair is multicolored like that to blend in with the coral

She’s Honduran and grew up there but she got to move to the MH dorms n that was her first time outta the Honduran seas

Deuce Gorgon -

His gorgon attributes are his snake hair, fangs, forked tongue, claws and slippery green skin. He has no body hair! He is a slippery n slightly chubby snake! Y’all can rip his lil tummy from my bare hands I dare you.

He’s got scales on his head and as eyebrows in substitute of hair. He’s got the seven snake heads like in a show cuz I love those funky lil dudes. His eyes are that unnatural green cuz of gorgon powers so no one gets to admire those pretty eyes I’m so sorry my boy He’s also got a bunch of beauty marks all over him!!

I headcanon that he’s black and Greek. It just feels right to me

…

I really don’t know how to fix Deuce cuz he looks plain to me compared to the ghouls in my style. I think I kinda want his hair longer to do hair styles with his snakes?? Idk

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Egyptian Scarab Bracelet

The Egyptian Scarab Bracelet from the Tomb of Tutankhamun (1341-1323 BC) was made with Gold, Lapis-lazuli, Carnelian, Turquoise, and other semi-precious stones.

The scarab has been deified during Ancient Egypt.

Its shape was related to the god Jepri in the graphic representation (human body and scarab face).

However, normally, people referred to the scarab as Ra, the creator of the universe, one of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon.

The reason that the scarab is so often depicted in everything from hieroglyphs to jewelry, statues and engravings is due to the popular belief that it was an amulet of protection against disease and death.

It was also interpreted as a symbol of resurrection.

Not only did it protect those who wore it as an amulet while alive from illness, but when placed next to the dead, it meant that they could be resurrected and thus attain eternal life.

During mummification process, the heart of the deceased was often compared to a granite engraving in which several scarabs were carved.

As I have already mentioned, it was a true belief that the protection of this amulet continued after death, when the deceased would meet Osiris.

In this way, he could attain eternal life beyond the earthly one.

The scarab symbol is often engraved on the sarcophagi or tomb rooms in the Valley of the Kings and Queens at Luxor, as well as in other tombs around the country.

This is a clear example of how the protection of the scarab as an amulet was believed to function.

The cult of this symbol, framed within the cult of death itself, was represented by a scarab that was usually carved in greenstone and placed on the chest of the deceased.

The location was not an accident, as in this way the scarab could protect the heart and replace it during mummification.

The purpose of this symbol, also known as the “heart scarab,” was to ensure that the heart would not testify against the deceased at the judgment of the dead.

The texts on sarcophagi found with these amulets also state that the souls of the deceased could be reincarnated and thus reborn as humans, gods or birds.

Even today, it is still believed that the scarab functions as a good luck charm.

In many markets in Egypt, you can buy small scarabs carved from lapis lazuli or other stones (usually bluish), which are sold to hang around your neck or carry in your wallet.

📍: Egyptian National Museum, Cairo

[zalmoxis-the-great]

Love in full bloom ! - Short story - Orizyn

Trazyn was lying there motionless for the third month in a row. Attention is still fully focused on observing the future La'rua, the forming Tau Fire Warriors team, training under the vigilant, eye of an experienced Shas'Ui.

‘Orikan, I swear on the Galleries, if you get spotted and ruin this for me, I will put you in a tesseract labyrinth next to my Death Guards' attacks strategies displays’, he received from the unmoving overlord.

Orikan flicked his tail, curiosity replacing the anger at the rude, and frankly, disgusting remark.

His divinations found the archivist on a planet next to a battlefield Imotekh was heading to. The astromancer decided to bail on the mandatory activity the Stormlord was dragging him to, by summoning his right to the ancient feud, and rushing off course, before his phaeron decided to use his hekatic power to revoke it.

He found the overlord, covered with field emitters, witnessing what looked like every step of future Fire warrior's training.

Rather than going back to join his dynasty’s fight, a pointless endeavor, We would win this engagement, regardless of my presence. He decided to observe the observer before he deemed that enough time had passed for him to return to his proper studies, without invoking Imotekh’s wrath.

‘They need another full Tau'cyr of training before the commander will no longer call them Shas’Saal, but Shas’La.’ Trazyn explained after another month. ‘I intend to capture the engramatic recording of the whole process. It’s beautiful isn’t it, them growing into their destiny?’.

Orikan moved his focus from the Tau to Trazyn.

The tropical weather on this planet was in its rainy season, with violent winds blowing water droplets everywhere. The emitters did little to protect Trazyn from the elements, and being completely motionless meant he endured the impromptu showers.

What was spectacular was the tiny dust or earth particles carried by the droplets, that, drop by drop, deposited the debris and dead plant matter into every crevice and nook on the archivist’s carapace.

Normally, mud or dirt would be cleaned by scarabs, but Trazyn was in an undercover mission, and dared not bring anything to be read by a passing scan. He looked like a muddy statue.

After another four months of sitting still, small orchid seeds seem to have found their way to those little dirt patches, and the warm, and humid weather allowed the epiphyte plant to grow there.

First, the little white air roots appeared, hugging the living metal, like silver jewelry, and after that a stem appeared.

For the last 3 days all the plants on Trazyn were in full bloom.

Some of them, blossoming with an insane amount of tiny white flowers, that hung heavy from Trazyn’s left arm, covering it like an exotic pelt.

On his torso, the orchids decided to grow horizontally, with beautiful blue flowers, deeper than the archivist's turquoise but similar enough that Orikan could imagine they grew from his necrodermis.

His cape and legs, as the archivist was kneeling to stay low enough to observe, were covered by plants with thick massive leaves, that covered him and gave the impression that Trazyn was sprouting from the earth itself. At first, a few rare red flowers popped up sporadically on his legs and rear, but the closer they were in proximity to the sun, they more they started multiplying. The top of Trazyn's hood looked like it was on fire with these bright red blossoms.

Orikan looked at his deathmask, endlessly fascinated by the yellow flowers, that managed to sneak into his hollowed cheeks and mouth, blooming upwards on their stems so that it looked like Trazyn was wearing a heavy crown made of gold, a noble regal scholar, and an academic so in love with his studies that he became part of it.

‘I agree’, he replied, looking at his colleague.

[egypt-museum]

Gold Scarab Ring

New Kingdom, 18th to 20th Dynasty, ca. 1550-1069 BC. Bequest of Eva Catherine Brown. Now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1936.653

Ancient Egyptian turquoise faience scarab (mounted on swivel bezel in modern gold ring). From the end of the third millennium B.C., the scarab beetle served as an amulet in Egypt where it represented the sun god.

The scarab integrated into a gold ring appears in the fourth century B.C. The articulation of the insect and the embellishment of the box reveal craftsmanship of the highest order.

Scarab rings with thicker hoops developed during the Second Intermediate Period. The scarab itself was mounted with a gold wire running through its centre on which it could swivel. As well as gold, silver and electrum were used. They were popular during the New Kingdom period and were worn by both men and women.

Read more

[artifacts-archive]

Scarab Ring

Egyptian, 1388-1351 BC (New Kingdom)

The hoop of this turquoise-colored faience ring ends in lotus blossoms; the bezel is in the form of a scarab.

[quirkthieves]

@enignoema from here

This was an unusual place to find the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, especially while alone. But it was also unusual for her to have the ability to see through time, or a doctorate at the age of 20, so it was par for the course that Ishizu Ishtar was a woman who did many unusual things.

She sat in Gotham's most nameless bar, a glass of beer with a few sips already gone still forming beads of condensation on the outside.

Despite her diminutive stature, like the rest of her family, she was both blessed and burdened by a strong presence. This was only bolstered by her manner of dress, sleeveless white fabric with a golden neckline only made brighter by the fact she was practically dripping with jewelry, ranging from golden cuffs and anklets to rings bearing turquoise scarabs and inlaid signets. A headdress topped with a familiar golden eye and sharp wings. Far flashier than what she wore for her official appearances. The embodiment of a tomb's hidden treasures.

And of course, the Necklace, which always gave off the impression that it was watching you, despite its inanimacy.

She had found him there, because she knew he would be there-- asking questions about things he very much shouldn't. So she had acted first.

"I am not a woman of violence, Mr. Riddler." Although she certainly could be. "And there are far worse things in this world than being killed."

Hauntingly familiar turn of phrase, wasn't it?

"I'm sure we can come to a suitable agreement, should you be willing to keep your weapons where they belong. I am also more than persistent enough to continue putting walls in your path, but it brings me no joy, and I have other matters to attend to."

[diamondcrownacademy]

DCA Info Part 37: Outfits from 2020 - 2021 (Part 2)

View Part 1

Art colored by @au-ni-ro

🐠 Cerule Oceana

🐙 Octo Extravagance Outfit

As shown by the image, this dress is designed for performances and appears to take inspiration from Ursula. The dress is purple and black in color and includes a sweetheart bodice, while the purple bubble skirt includes black skirt bustles, black strings arranged to resemble arches, and a dark purple overskirt. The footwear consists of a pair of black heels and a pair of grayish black stockings.

The accessories include a black headband with loops, a gold nautilus shell pin and black ruffles on the side, a gold nautilus shell necklace and a pair of black fingerless gloves with light purple details and gold bands.

🐚 Seashell Serenade Outfit

This ensemble is made for fun on the dance floor! This turquoise dress consists of a bodice that partially resembles a fan and a three layered asymmetrical skirt with yellow ruffle trim. The first and final layers of the skirt are turquoise while the center is a lighter shade and has a chain of pearls and purple nautilus shells. The footwear consists of a pair of lavender heels with turquoise ruffles, purple shells and pearls straps.

The accessories include a pearl headband attached to a purple shell clip over a pale turquoise ruffle, a pair of turquoise gloves with pearl strands, and a purple waist belt attached to a pair of pearl strands which are in turn attached to a gold nautilus shell with smaller purple shells.

🌊 Seahorse Rhapsody Outfit

Likely taking influence from dresses worn at bars, this fuchsia dress includes a bodice shaped like an upside down fan and is a light shade of pink and the dress's skirt has a strand of black pearls. Over the dress is a black bolero jacket with pale mauve ruffles and the cuffs have purple nautilus shells. The footwear consists of a pair of dark purple heels with light pink ruffles and black pearl strands. Additionally included is a pair of lavender stockings with designs that resemble octopus legs.

The accessories include a pink flower hair clips at the back of the wearer's head, a black pearl necklace with a purple pendant, a pair of black gloves, and a black waist belt and attached to the belt is a light pink ruffle ribbon with black filaments.

🏝 Vidya Nazari

🌺 Desert Flower Outfit

Inspired by Princess Jasmine, this outfit consists of a blue floral vest worn over a teal dress with the bodice having gold details and the skirt having navy teal blue upside down hearts with gold outlines as well as pale yellow lotus buds. The footwear consists of a pair of navy teal blue sandals with the straps being light teal and having magenta gems while the ankle strap has navy teal blue ruffles.

The accessories include a gold headband attached a light teal transparent veil with a gold outline and attached to the headband/veil are pink flowers and a gold pearl chain with a magenta gem, a gold collar and necklace with a magenta gem, a pair of "sleeves" that are navy blue and the light teal portions resemble angel sleeves, and a waist chain of gold pearl strands attached to magenta jewels on the skirt.

🐍 Golden Scarab Outfit

Inspired by the gold scarab that guided Jafar to the Cave of Wonders, this outfit consists of a orange puff sleeved top with the bodice having henna patterns and various gold trim throughout the top and a pair of light orange harem pants with an overskirt that features the same henna patterns as the bodice. The footwear consists of a pair of light orange heeled sandals with scarabs on the straps.

The accessories include a orange ruffle hair clip resembling a flower, a gold collar attached to a chain which is attached to a gold scarab charm, and a pair of gold bracelets with teardrop like charms on them.

💃 Dancing Ensemble

In this picture, Vidya is shown wearing a purple sleeveless tunic worn underneath a red sari with the top having a gold outline and the bottom being lined with scarlet fur.

The accessories include various jewelry with circular charms, including the headdress which has teardrop charms, the necklaces and bracelets. The only other accessory is the gold belt with the henna looking flower on it.

The man Vidya is dancing with would be the basis for Alejandro.

Briar and Vidya Outfit Swap

Here, both girls are wearing outfits based on the opposite girl's cultures and aesthetics.

Vidya is wearing a teal medieval style dress with gold accents and deep purple sleeves. She accessorizes with a gold crown and transparent teal veil with a floral print.

Briar is wearing a light pink Arabian dance outfit with gold accents and transparent bishop sleeves. Much like Vidya, she also wears a gold crown and veil, but her veil is pink with a henna print.

[grizzlyofthesea]

I just want to give a quick shoutout to Haunt Couture Lagoona. I know she has a divisive design, but in my opinion, she doesn't get enough love.

She has so many cool details and aesthetic points that I really appreciate about her. A couple of other things, too.

Makeup aside, her face is pretty elaborate. Her eyes and lips have painted lines/segments that make her look just a little bit more "alive."

The slightly lighter, minty hue to the blue streaks in her hair is unique from other Lagoona dolls and gorgeous.

I have no idea what the spiderweb fascinator thing on her headband is supposed to be, but I like it.

People give her flack for not looking more like her basic/core design, but honestly, she has about as many references to her core design as the other HC ghouls do to theirs.*

I would also argue that the fanciness of the outfit is still in-character for her. She may lean toward casual clothes, but she has worn fancy/formal outfits before. She even says in her diary that she'll wear a little black dress every so often just to show everyone that she can pull off the look. She may be athletic and the de-facto tomboy of the group, but she's no stranger to dressing up.

Back to outfit appreciation. With its blue color and shiny PVC material, her jacket almost looks like it's made of water. It also gives me "cool, laid-back biker" vibes.

The shimmer on the pink parts of her dress adds to their scaly, fishy look. The fabric is also stretchy and smooth like a swimsuit. You know she's leaping into the pool immediately after the fashion show.

The fish inside her purse glows in the dark. I just think that's neat. No worries about it being Neptuna's remains, either; it's canonically a skeleton lionfish. Plus, the purse's handle (not strap) looks like coral. Also neat.

The mermaid dress may be a bit played out at the moment, but come on. Fish pun. Plus, HC Lagoona was one of the first skullectors with this silhouette, so I think she gets a pass.

Her midriff and socks have a fine mesh sort of material, almost like netting. Fishnetting.

The use of more unconventional sea creatures in the design, such as octopuses and living nautiluses (vs. just the shell), is honestly really cool. They give the outfit more of a monstrous, "deep sea" vibe than the typical "rainbow/pastel mermaid" aesthetic that you see with a lot of ocean-themed outfits.

Her shoes. Just...everything about her shoe design. The octopus on the heel, perched like a figurehead on a pirate ship, tentacles wrapped around like sandal straps. The shells and coral embedded at the bottom. The monochrome, glittery plastic (rainbow holo glitter, by the way) giving the shoe a "sandy" look. It's perfect. They're perfect.

You don't have to love her. It's all a matter of personal taste in the end. I just wanted to share my appreciation for this underrated doll.

*Elaboration here:

Frankie has the bits of plaid material on her skirt, the studded belt with a lightning bolt charm, the tulle underskirt, and the skullette earrings, but everything else is pretty different.

Draculaura has the netted black tights/sleeves, the lace sleeve cuffs, the pink vest/white blouse combo, and the pink necklace that has a bat charm like her core 2D artwork (but not on the actual doll). Again, pretty different otherwise.

Clawdeen has the pleated purple skirt, the hoop earrings (in one ear), the studded choker, the dual necklaces, and the purse that looks like her core jacket. Despite the overlap in accessories, though, her silhouette is still completely different from her core outfit, whether her fur coat is on or off.

Inversely, Cleo's HC silhouette is similar to her core outfit's, uses a banded fabric to imitate mummy wraps, and has her phone garter thing. However, her extra design elements are associated more with Nefera (turquoise, fringe, scarab beetles).

Lagoona has her pink scale-pattern fabric, her netting, a cropped jacket, a purse with a fish in it, a beaded bracelet on her left wrist, and a necklace with a sea creature charm. Her outfit in general is more formal than her core design, but the references are there.

I love all these designs, and the divergence from their core outfits isn't bad in any way. It creates variety. I just want to show that Lagoona really isn't that different from the others in terms of how much she diverges.