#additional btw

[justaz]

BIG fan of two sides of the same coin running incredibly hot and the other running incredibly cold.

people who brush hands with merlin wincing bc holy fuck that was like touching ice and merlin just smiles and wanders off. he’s like a cat, he likes to lounge in the sun and soak up the heat. he’s always been a huge fan of summer bc it was the time when the sun was out the most and there were rarely storms or clouds to block out the heat. he like farming with him mom bc of this bc he got to spend time with her while being in the sun. he never tanned tho. for some reason. he always remained as pale as the snow.

the knights are training during a hot summer day and merlin is cleaning a blade so he’s taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves so they don’t get dirty. gwaine wanders over to grab and drink and makes conversation with merlin and nudges his arm and pauses before placing his hands on his arm. he looks up at merlin who is staring at him in confusion. gwaine asks if he’s feeling alright and merlin’s like ?? yeah?? and gwaine just keeps touching him bc fuck its hot out today and merlin is freezing cold to the touch despite sitting in the sun and it’s offering him a bit of relief. arthur ofc barks at gwaine to get back to training and he forces himself to leave. he does make a note to cuddle up to merlin when it gets too hot bc merlin can definitely make him feel better.

no one really touches arthur as he’s the crown prince and all his servants did their best to not touch him directly and if they did it was really quick and professional. gaius always had a hard time figuring when arthur would get a fever bc he always ran hot so it always felt like he had a fever. arthur loved winter bc the snow and cool temperature. his nursemaids and servants would insist on bundling him up but often times arthur would just tear it off when he was outside, he never froze or got sick from it either.

when arthur takes the knights out on an expedition during winter and they’re all bundled up and shivering while arthur is just enjoying the cool air. merlin is shivering the most tho despite being wrapped in about fifty layers of fabric so arthur sheds his cape and hands it to merlin who wraps it around himself with a slight gasp and comment about how its so warm. the knights start a bidding war about who gets to sleep next to arthur when they stop to rest. it doesn’t matter who won. they all just piled on/around arthur and steal his warmth. merlin resides in the middle though bc he’s the coldest so arthur was willing to offer all his warmth to him while the rest stole it.

after they get married, merthur cuddle all night. merlin is freezing and arthur is burning so merlin cools arthur down while arthur warms merlin up. it’s an equal exchange. they’re also touching all the time no matter the temperature. if its summer and most people think its too hot to so much as be looked at? arthur has an arm up merlin’s tunic and wrapped around his waist cooling down while merlin is stealing him warmth. in winter, merlin is the koala and is stealing arthur’s warmth which he doesn’t mind bc merlin’s touch just reminds him of his favorite season.

[faestorian]

"came back wrong" you could not come back wrong even if you tried. you've changed, beyond recognition, but while my eyes may not know you, my heart still does. i love you.

[mmhue]

they r driving me insane btw

[nem0-nee]

"Forgiving who you are, for what you stand to gain Just know that if you hide, it doesn't go away When you get out of bed, don't end up stranded Horrified with each stone on the stage, my little dark age"

Shameless twitter plug

[drolta]

gifsets don’t do it justice 😭

[piierogis]

Have you ever had an urge to put this man in a plastic container? And perhaps shake violently?

Here it is - an opportunity to make him into an action figure. Dive deep into the Javert Lives AU and pick out a new career path for him.

✨World's Worst Career Barbie is here!✨

[Disclaimer: sharing your results is not only allowed but also encouraged. Post him, edit him, draw on him, deep fry him, bite him, have fun.]

PLAY IT HERE

[use desktop or horizontal mode on mobile]

[nkhluu]

I hope this doesn't flop

[filurig]

soo this little silly is kind of a thing i made cuz of a class in uni. but yes a silly lindwurm but they have been Realed... head and feet are 3d printed/painted with acrylics while the body is needle felted!

theyre not a super solid character or anything but actually they sort of are bcs they are a minor character in pareidolia. But i just thought it would be funny to make a lindwurm model especially with their weird long face

[karizipan]

Ig the context for that Enki post. Modern gym au 🫶🫶🫶

[whimzycle]

Bunny taking care of a bunny

[melmedardaapologist]

ambessa costume design analysis: war and family

*rubs hands together* Alright let’s do this

I think we forget that, before season 1 episode 8 “Oil and Water,” we didn’t have a reference for the Medarda standards that Mel supposedly failed—this is why Ambessa’s first appearance is so striking. While Mel has completely scrubbed red from her wardrobe, red is the first thing that jumps out with the cape and the accents—a bold color that is associated with passion and violence and decisiveness, all traits that Ambessa proudly boasts

The grey and black then point to functionality and metals like iron, which are used more for warfare, in contrast to gold, which is a softer metal

The immediate next observation is the functionality of the outfit—the shoulder and hip guards, the belt and abdomen armor, the pants, the boots. While in good condition, the immediate conclusion that we get is that, like Sevika and Vi, this is a character who likes a free range of movement to dish out violence, and the casual way with which she wears this outfit shows how at ease she is with this violence, how she values her physical strength

(hilariously, in the art book screenshot below, the top right draft for Ambessa’s outfit shows her in a symmetrical white waistcoat with gold and black accents like Mel’s Piltover outfit, which I’m glad that they didn’t use in the end, but I think Ambessa would’ve worn it at least once to freak Mel out)

Her hair is free and wild, almost careless, again in contrast to Mel’s carefully groomed braids (keep this in mind for later)—where Mel lets her put together appearance speak of her character, Ambessa’s not carelessness, but her confidence

The picture with Mel and Ambessa in front of the former’s painting is also interesting, because we can see how the red from the sails matches Ambessa’s red—unity with nation, as for the purposes of the story, Ambessa is Noxus, but then we see that the ambient coloring of the painting is gold—Mel’s color. The painting—Mel’s vision—is the closest we see mother and daughter aligned, with Ambessa just having invited Mel to come back, and the beautiful and almost dream-like scene behind them unites them briefly

Of course, this is Arcane so that never happens, which brings us to one of my favorite images of Ambessa:

Firstly, this is just mwah so sexy there’s the ambient red of the scene from the ashes and fire, adding to the association of red as violence, but more significantly:

It’s the first time she wears gold—and it’s in a war mask, already smeared with blood and green chems

So this outfit just—props to the design department. Just. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Outstanding. 100/10 villain outfit

So there’s a lot going down here, so I’ll start with real world inspirations: from this post by @hyperfixationcritter (it has so much more info, i would def recommend the whole thing!), we can see that the headdress could be inspired by Zulu isicholos and the red threading is similar to the Dahomey warriors, which I love, as they could’ve just gone with the Roman and/or medieval aesthetic natural to Noxus, but instead they went with African influences, so when we see the pinnacle of Medarda splendor, it’s distinct and unique

Also here’s some art book insights (my eternal thanks to @stealingpotatoes for the photo!)

So from the regal outfit drafts, we can see them cycling out different ideas of war-like aesthetic, from the more modern military aesthetic with the side cloak and clean lines which would be more like a cleaned up version of Ambessa’s first outfit, to the symmetrical wing-like gold breastplate that, interestingly, mimicks Mel’s back tattoo. I still like the version that they settled on the most, but I love how we can see what aspects they wanted to evoke through the process

The blood mask is definitely more Viking-like in aesthetic, but I feel this is something a younger Blood Sweat & Tears Ambessa would do

And going to the actual mask, it’s interesting to note that it looks more Noxian gray and iron than the final color, which brings me to my favorite point:

Firstly, I love how you can see the similarities in features in mother and daughter, but more than that, what jumps out?

Gold—Ambessa’s decadent earrings and lip ring, the breastplate, the accents on the outfit, except in contrast to Mel, Ambessa’s gold speaks of war—the earrings are triangular and pointed, the breastplate is a functional piece of armor

Narratively speaking, when Mel disappears, Ambessa is not only politically but also visually primed to take her place as the power in Piltover

Also I want to share insights from this post by the fabulous @melmedarda

And it leaves you to wonder, is it a Medarda custom to braid their hair when at war? To wear gold to war where all of Noxus wears red and black and silver?

Mel choses her battleground to be politics and subtlety and diplomacy. Ambessa choses the wolf and the blade

Furthermore, the coloring is primarily white, black and gold—Mel’s colors—showing how even if she did return, these signifiers of the identity she built for herself have been overtaken and their meaning inverted—in a way, her mother has stolen that from her, and that’s so twisted and incredibly interesting at the same time (also interesting to note that Mel seems to be primed to be Caitlyn’s support after Cassandra Kiramman’s death, but then Ambessa takes up that role, and then it returns to Mel during the final battle)

After this change, we really only see Ambessa in her workout martial arts outfit with Caitlyn, otherwise it’s variations on accessories on a basic theme, much like Mel’s season 1 outfit really only changes with the ratios of black and white, and while yes, I’ve said before that it would be cool to see some variation, story-wise giving a character a recognizable outfit works towards creating them as a recognizable and steady figure—Mel as the stable reference for wealth, Ambessa as the glory of war

I love this photo so much—firstly, the only change is the hair, which has been reworked from it’s complicated headdress into functional twin braids, and there’s a beautiful balance between the blade and the Medarda ring on her hand. This is probably the most gold we see her wearing, at the height of her military power, before the power of a butch with beautiful eyes compels Caitlyn to betray her

Here we can clearly see that the regal outfit is very easily turned into a functional outfit—even at her most decadent, it takes two seconds to lose the coat and have free range to wield weapons

Returning to the mask, in the final battle, we can see its iconic claw marks from Warwick—wear and tear from the war that we saw happen onscreen from a clash of two Wolf-coded figures (I have thoughts about the wolf metaphor in relation to social dynamics and the lone wolf idea as portrayed by Vander and Ambessa, but that’s a whole other discussion)

Design-wise, it’s also very smart to have the anti-magic runes be green—it makes them easy to spot against Ambessa’s usual design

But of course they can’t save her, and Ambessa dies, and in the final shot, she looks like this:

The lack of focus on gold or armor makes us focus on her face, and for a moment, there is such softness and tenderness there as she gazes at Mel. Because yes, she was the armor and the blade and the iron and gold, but in the end, she was just a mother who loved her daughter. She was a horrible parent and a violent warlord, but the love was there, and at the end of her life this is what we focus on, because everything else were just the expressions of the power she sought to protect them.

[saltpepperbeard]

So, kiss me. For @xoxoemynn 🎉💜💙. Happy Birthday my dearest clown to clown communicator, my fellow banana hater, my absolute beloved. I hope you have the most fantastic day; please enjoy our two darlings kissing over and over and over again. Love you so much!

[madspeed]

i FINALLY picked up re4 remake after not touching it since it launched and oh my god. the mods. the mods. the potential behind it all.

[p1ctur3]

@octdl-lee

Random captive TDL au lore dump and some behind the scenes stuff since you asked so nicely :]

Dark in captivity

victim did use dark as a way to train and get the mercs and him used to the box

victim and agent (i would probably explore their dynamic in this au also, mitsi would haunt this narrative because yes)

some behind the scenes things

additional art

[alenseress]

'Cause we'll dance together so close we're sharing breath

But now I'm leading, doesn't that just scare you to death?

[asmodeusamaryllis]

Special edition and the regular volume cover art