Latest Posts by mightybog - Page 4

alas, poor knight

Pere Ginard

Art by Rolf Mellstrom, 1916

that "OKAY SO" before someone u love starts infodumping........ most blessed feeling in the world

There's a lot of pros to this, in my opinion:

Soup and blankets for me.

I have little magic at my disposal, therefore I am capable of less.

Pushing myself may result in even more magical exhaustion.

There are tried and tested things I can do to work through it or help prevent getting into this state, e.g. breathing, music, walking, finding a crystal cave or something.

Gives me permission, where possible, to temporarily expend less magic (take annual leave, ask for help with my tasks).

That's it, I'm reframing my anxiety, burnout and brainfog as magical exhaustion.

That's it, I'm reframing my anxiety, burnout and brainfog as magical exhaustion.

I feel so seen 🥺😈

For the ones that need it today

Constantly obsessed with the concept of a man forced to be a myth. What do you do when every step you take is embedded into the text. Every word you say prose to read. You're part of something bigger than yourself. The narrative tugs you along like water currents. There is no time to rest, to be human. You must be great, you must be legend

reblog to give the person you reblogged from the strength to complete The Task™

Golden Age King Arthur accidentally gets sent back in time to the beginning of his reign. While making his way to Camelot hoping to find Merlin and figure out how to get back to his own time he runs into Agravaine making his own way to Camelot for the first time. Knowing he was a traitor working for Morgana in his own timeline, Arthur kills him and decides to take his place. No one had seen Agravaine since Ygraine's death, there were no portraits of him in the castle, and Arthur's premature greying hair has to be good for something other than Merlin calling him a silver fox. He can pass as his own uncle and be the caring advisor that young him deserved damn it!

Damn I love this!

I can imagine older Arthur just being everything that his young self secretly wanted and needed, a supportive parent, a wise advisor, a role model.

Older Arthur would say things that would totally disarm young Arthur at first like, "you're doing the right thing," "I'm with you every step of the way" and "you look just like your mother."

In strategy meetings he'd use his experience saying, "the ground is too steep here," "you're vulnerable to ambush there," "never, and I repeat, never go near Camlann."

While he might have to step aside to let his young self learn those valuable lessons that were hard-earned, he might spare him from others, slowly helping him to realise the consequences of keeping up his father's war against magic (revenge, the death of innocents).

When young Arthur realises who this uncle really was, it helps him love and trust himself.

Meanwhile Merlin is relieved because the guilty crush he had on Arthur's uncle is in fact a not-so-guilty crush on the man he's in love with.

Golden Age King Arthur accidentally gets sent back in time to the beginning of his reign. While making his way to Camelot hoping to find Merlin and figure out how to get back to his own time he runs into Agravaine making his own way to Camelot for the first time. Knowing he was a traitor working for Morgana in his own timeline, Arthur kills him and decides to take his place. No one had seen Agravaine since Ygraine's death, there were no portraits of him in the castle, and Arthur's premature greying hair has to be good for something other than Merlin calling him a silver fox. He can pass as his own uncle and be the caring advisor that young him deserved damn it!

Llama Uther AU

Where everything's the same except Uther's a llama.

"So the king, he really is-"

"Yes Merlin, but I wouldn't recommend bringing it up while you're here."

"But Gaius, h-"

"Uther punished many magic users, including those who were unfortunate enough to be visiting here. One particular one cursed him to be a Llama before the fire overtook her."

"And the curse is unbreakable?"

"Oh no. Anyone with a basic knowledge on curses and magic could break it."

"Then why?"

"Because that would require magic. And the King knows that."

"the world" tarot card, 2023, inspired by excalibur (1981)

Angel Barrett

The Frost Queen by Dudley Hardy

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS UNDERRATED TRIO??

due to personal reasons, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

life is so ruthless so i must love you as hard as i can. basically

Seline Burn (Swiss, 1995) - Untitled (2024)

Юлия Гукова/Julia Gukova

So you know when you're writing a scene where the hero is carrying an injured person and you realize you've never been in this situation and have no idea how accurate the method of transportation actually is?

Oh boy, do I have a valuable resource for you!

Here is a PDF of the best ways to carry people depending on the situation and how conscious the injured person needs to be for the carrying position.

Literally a life saver.

(No pun intended.)

Thanks @liviapeleia for tagging me, your wip excerpts made me very curious to know what's next :D!

Rules: you will be given a word. Then you share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that starts with each letter of your word!

Tagging @breadkween, @achillesuwu and @futurepastme if you're interested! Your word should you choose to accept it is FISH!

Livia you gave me 'myth.'

M

“Merlin is a-” 

But he knew, he had known for a long time. 

Across from him his servant looked like a startled hare, wide-eyed, gaunt in the dim light. The thing they had not been saying had almost been said. Did Merlin think that just because it was said aloud that suddenly Arthur would change his mind, have him executed? 

Instead he made a show of sagging in relief and Merlin hesitated and then sagged with him. 

Y

“You’re lying. You have something you must do, something that might help me. Maybe it'll turn the tide of this battle.” 

“Arthur-”

“Whatever you're about to say, let it be the truth for once. I need to hear it, finally hear it. How many years has it been? We never spoke about your magic, not once, not really, not like we should have.” 

“My-?” 

“It’s said now, I don't care, not anymore. I can't go into this battle without you, not unless I know it’s for a good cause and not unless I know that you’ll be safe.” 

T

“The spitting, what's that then?”

“To ward off curses! Anyone can do it!”

“The asphodel?” 

“The dead need appeasing!” Merlin threw his hands in the air and then towards Arthur. “You’ve seen the ghost of your father, you've fought the undead!” 

Arthur was throwing his hands too now. “The cabbage leaves? Prophetic dreams have to be sorcerery?!” 

“Yes but not the kind you get from cabbage leaves!” 

H

He is the custodian of our stories, the golden age we brought about together and he’ll be the custodian of the stories after I’m gone, learn them from him, help him to hold them and share them, I think some days he might find them too heavy to carry.

He’s the most powerful and the most precious thing to ever walk this Earth, it would be a tragedy too immense to imagine or bear thinking about if he lost what made him human. But more than that, I ask you to do this, to pass on this message to those who come after you because I love him and I cannot do all of these things myself. 

I'll never drop my sword.

scenes from my recent animation.

Observances

Merlin/Arthur | Mature | No Archive Warnings Apply | Word Count: 373

Historical AU | Festivals | Prophecies | Second Person POV (Merlin)

For the @merlinmicrofic prompts "feast" and "new year."

Will post to Ao3 once it's back up.

Arthur's halls are decorated for the birth of the sun, Saturnalia was a sennight ago, and you saw an ominous sign this morning in the movement of the birds.

small tw: for animal (bird) death

☾ ☾ ☾

Arthur’s hall is decorated with yew branches. Up and down the benches there is elaborate food upon decorated plates of a dull silver that he told you was called pewter. His hounds whine and beg for scraps from the revellers, having grown bored of the swan wing that had been tossed to them. Now it lay on the straw strewn floor, gnarled and upsetting. 

Your eyes are on him, but everyone’s eyes are on him, they always are. Warlord, lord, king. Tonight he wears an abolla that is a red as rich as blood (and you’ve seen plenty of blood, by now). His hair and eyes are pale against the colour but not diminished by them. 

But his eyes are on you. They shouldn't be on you, not as much as they are, they need not ever be on you, but they are. You’re a servant, what’s more you are of the Silures, reviled by his father, yet his eyes have been on you since you were crowned with oak leaves for saving his life.

What a strange mix of observances that he claims as his own. 

On Saturnalia he said that you could do anything, so you sat in his lap and had him feed you figs and almonds with his fingers.

But that was a sennight ago, now above his chair there is a bower of willow and ivy, now he raises his cup and you go to his side to pour him grape wine from across the sea. 

He would put you to death for your aurgury this morning. It was the flight of the hedge sparrows that alerted you just a breath before it happened; a peregrine claimed an ouzel, too slow to retreat to the coppice, right before your eyes. There are signs in everything, you are finding, even the strange prognostications of the Romans. Ouzel cock, black druid, guide to the otherworld. Your people go unmarked in death as they do in life. There are few left, even, to cry your name. Fewer still will survive to see the spring.  

The fire is making you sweat, causing the woad staining your arms to run. 

His cup goes up, the room stills.

“The sun is reborn,” Arthur says. 

New almanac side blog post. This has been really satisfying since I learned it. I'll look up and go, yup there's south, and then idk, feel like I've successfully touched grass for the day. Highly recommended.

Navigating with Orion

Orion is a highly recognisible constellation and is most visible in December and January. For this reason it's considered one of the Winter Constellations. The stars that make up Orion are usually still visible in areas of moderate of light pollution so it's a great constellation for practicing navigation.

Find South

The line of stars that will help us find south are known as Orion's sword. Imagining Orion is another person, you'll find it as a little line below his belt on his right side (your left). As Orion travels across the sky, his sword will point roughly south. This trick is more accurate the further from the horizon and the more upright Orion is.

Find East and West

Orion's belt can also be used to find the east and west. When Orion rises, the belt rises due-east (meaning exactly east) and due-west. The most northerly star on his belt/the star on his left side (called Mintaka) provides the most accuracy, rising and setting within just a single degree of these two compass points.

Bonus Info for Your Stargazing Pleasure

The middle star of Orion's sword is not, in fact, a star, but the Orion Nebula. The reddish star on his right shoulder is Betelgeuse and is showing signs of an impending supernova.

References and Further Reading:

Collins Night Sky (Wild Guide series published 2004)

Wild Signs and Star Paths by Tristan Gooley

Tristan Gooley's website, two pages on the topic: https://www.naturalnavigator.com/news/2010/09/finding-south-with-orions-sword/ and https://www.naturalnavigator.com/find-your-way-using/stars

Another Merlin sketch

Thanks @liviapeleia for the tag! I got Garden of Earthly Delights, which is correct. Compatible painting Water Lillies (look at us with our compatibility, Livia) and the Music Lesson.

My zero presh tags are @breadkween @bubblo @curveswithasideofhips @poetryqueer and @1665-meters-per-second!

Your perfect painting quiz.

[ Take the quiz and tag five people. ]

Tagging the artsy squad: @anglefish3008, @chiikaiser, @goldencranberries, @soleilonthesun, @yolkochan + anyone who wants to join.