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Guide to the tags
A quick summary of the fanworks tags used in this blog and what can you expect from each one.
Star Trek
Guide and Recap to Hakka & Dragon's Star Trek Multiverse
To understand more about the numbers in the tags and what they mean.
Hakka & Dragoneyes Star Trek Mirror Reboot Info Post
Where to head to if you want to know how my headcanon mirror reboot looks and what happened to Jim and Spock there. Definitely useful, as half of the manips I've done or I'll do are placed in that universe.
( Star Trek fanfictions & headcanons )
( Star Trek manips )
( Star Trek graphics & edits )
( Star Trek misc works, meta, others )
BBC's Merlin
Guide to Hakka & Dragon's Merlin's ideas
If you want to know more about all the AUs we play with. You can expect that, whatever will pop up, will be related to any of the ideas listed above.
( BBCs Merlin fanfictions & headcanons )
( BBCs Merlin manips )
( BBCs Merlin graphics & edits )
X-Men
( X-Men fanfictions & headcanons )
( X-Men manips )
( X-Men graphics & edits )
Other fandoms
( Other fandoms fanfictions & headcanons )
( Other fandoms manips )
( Other fandoms graphics & edits )
Fandoms in Trek AUs series
( BBC's Merlin & Other fandoms text crews, edits and ships insigna )
Title: New Mutants Forever's Outback Armor Psylocke
Artist: Hakka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
prue84 )
Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Elizabeth Braddock
Rating: G
Tagline: Psylocke during the Outback X-Men era as if she went to the same fashion designer that dresses New Mutants Forever's Selene.
Notes: Byproduct of the More Captains Britain series.
Notes 2: The original art is a Selene Gallio from the cover of New Mutants Forever #1. I have initially used the art for a Vampire Betsy, and was colored to reflect Betsy's Outback Armour (and added some vampire features). Then I found better pics for that AU and the edited image was stored for a future use.
When I decided what to do with this piece, I ended up finding hair that would fit Caucasian Betsy.
Notes 3: There's a Captain Britain version too.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Other than recolors, I had to fix the deep cut of the neckline. The Outback Armor is pieces of armor worn on top of some kind of catsuit. I played a bit to get this same effect, and found a way to partially mask the boobs. I didn't manage to make it look like it's the same fabric on the legs, but I think the result is good.
And then... the hair issue happened. See rambles about this here.
I also had to hand-draw the mask. Once again, I failed to make it look like it's the same fabric of the catsuit, but... whatever.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Elizabeth Braddock
Rating: G
Tagline: Psylocke during the Outback X-Men era as if she went to the same fashion designer that dresses New Mutants Forever's Selene.
Notes: Byproduct of the More Captains Britain series.
Notes 2: The original art is a Selene Gallio from the cover of New Mutants Forever #1. I have initially used the art for a Vampire Betsy, and was colored to reflect Betsy's Outback Armour (and added some vampire features). Then I found better pics for that AU and the edited image was stored for a future use.
When I decided what to do with this piece, I ended up finding hair that would fit Caucasian Betsy.
Notes 3: There's a Captain Britain version too.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Other than recolors, I had to fix the deep cut of the neckline. The Outback Armor is pieces of armor worn on top of some kind of catsuit. I played a bit to get this same effect, and found a way to partially mask the boobs. I didn't manage to make it look like it's the same fabric on the legs, but I think the result is good.
And then... the hair issue happened. See rambles about this here.
I also had to hand-draw the mask. Once again, I failed to make it look like it's the same fabric of the catsuit, but... whatever.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Title: New Mutants Forever's Captain Britain
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Elizabeth Braddock
Rating: G
Tagline: Captain Britain as if she went to the same fashion designer that dresses New Mutants Forever's Selene.
Notes: Byproduct of the More Captains Britain series.
Notes 2: The original art is a Selene Gallio from the cover of New Mutants Forever #1. I have initially used the art for a Vampire Betsy, and was colored to reflect Betsy's Outback Armour (and added some vampire features). Then I found better pics for that AU and the edited image was stored for a future use.
Later, I decided that I could turn the image into a Vampire Captain Britain. But, once I finished, it dawned on me that I could make a quick edit of it to share the pic as a redesign of 616 Captain Britain. Other changes were made (both to the costume and the hair), to make the two versions different.
This is the result.
Notes 3: There will be an Outback Armor version too.
Update: It's here!
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): At first it was just a matter of recolor.
Then the project went out of control. First, I decided that I wanted to add the Union Jack to the sides part of the bodice where originally there's lace. Which meant wrap the flag and then redraw it to make it fit the style of the art, all the while masking the ink of the lace pattern itself (the pattern will be kept for the Vampire Captain Britain version).
Then there was the deep cut of the neckline. I thought Betsy would love some sexiness, but not at the cost of her boobs getting free any time she's fighting: Psylocke's (in)famous ninja costume has a lot of issues, but boobs peeking is not. While the Vampire Captain Britain will keep the deep neckline, 616 Betsy won't. So I had to play with some styles to reduce the neckline, but in the end I went for some kind of tulle/half-transparent fabric: I wouldn't know where to start to redraw the whole bodice to remove the deep neckline.
And then... the hair issue happened. Selene's hair are black, and it featured a lot of black ink, making it impossible to turn it purple: it would just look like black hair with violet highlights. Which fitted the Vampire Betsy aesthetics, but I wanted to do a different look for the alternate edit. So I decided to see if I could replace them with a blond head. Easier said than done, when working with comic arts, as you can spot the different pencil and the different coloring, so the best is search not only from the same artist but from the same comic book, hoping that the colorist is the same. I managed to select a couple of shots of Magma with her luscious blond hair and made an attempt with them. I had to cut and paste and redraw here and there but managed.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Elizabeth Braddock
Rating: G
Tagline: Captain Britain as if she went to the same fashion designer that dresses New Mutants Forever's Selene.
Notes: Byproduct of the More Captains Britain series.
Notes 2: The original art is a Selene Gallio from the cover of New Mutants Forever #1. I have initially used the art for a Vampire Betsy, and was colored to reflect Betsy's Outback Armour (and added some vampire features). Then I found better pics for that AU and the edited image was stored for a future use.
Later, I decided that I could turn the image into a Vampire Captain Britain. But, once I finished, it dawned on me that I could make a quick edit of it to share the pic as a redesign of 616 Captain Britain. Other changes were made (both to the costume and the hair), to make the two versions different.
This is the result.
Notes 3: There will be an Outback Armor version too.
Update: It's here!
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): At first it was just a matter of recolor.
Then the project went out of control. First, I decided that I wanted to add the Union Jack to the sides part of the bodice where originally there's lace. Which meant wrap the flag and then redraw it to make it fit the style of the art, all the while masking the ink of the lace pattern itself (the pattern will be kept for the Vampire Captain Britain version).
Then there was the deep cut of the neckline. I thought Betsy would love some sexiness, but not at the cost of her boobs getting free any time she's fighting: Psylocke's (in)famous ninja costume has a lot of issues, but boobs peeking is not. While the Vampire Captain Britain will keep the deep neckline, 616 Betsy won't. So I had to play with some styles to reduce the neckline, but in the end I went for some kind of tulle/half-transparent fabric: I wouldn't know where to start to redraw the whole bodice to remove the deep neckline.
And then... the hair issue happened. Selene's hair are black, and it featured a lot of black ink, making it impossible to turn it purple: it would just look like black hair with violet highlights. Which fitted the Vampire Betsy aesthetics, but I wanted to do a different look for the alternate edit. So I decided to see if I could replace them with a blond head. Easier said than done, when working with comic arts, as you can spot the different pencil and the different coloring, so the best is search not only from the same artist but from the same comic book, hoping that the colorist is the same. I managed to select a couple of shots of Magma with her luscious blond hair and made an attempt with them. I had to cut and paste and redraw here and there but managed.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Title: Archangel from Uncanny X-Men (2016) #7
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Warren Worthington III
Rating: G
Tagline: Full Archangel from the cover of Cullen Bunn's Uncanny X-Men #7.
Notes: An exercise that took way more time that it seems.
The original art features Warren as perfectly split in two, depicting his two sides (Angel on the left and Archangel on the right).
I turned it into a full Archangel.
Notes 2: This came out of a discussion over CBR forums, where a poster commented that something was "off" in the anatomy. To check where was the issue, I played with the two halves; while Angel's side is very off, and would need heavy reworking from navel down to fix it, Archangel worked, so I decided to work to make a finished art.
Notes 3: You can see the original cover here.
Notes 4: Greg Land did a similar cover with Betsy Braddock for Uncanny X-Men #509, where he again fucked up with the hips and legs proportions. I tried a couple of months ago to work on that art, but I couldn't fix the issue. I might give it another try in the future.
Or try a Warren-Betsy two pieces (Angel-Caucasian!Psylocke / Archangel-Ninja!Psylocke).
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): I took the original half (right) and flipped it. It was necessary to do some reconstruction/redraw to make the two parts blend, especially the decorations of the glass behind Warren.
Betsy's face too needed to be fixed. I moved her a little higher, so she aligned to Mystique, but that required some redraw too. Also, her colors needed a fixing to remove the sun/golden light.
The textless version I used had a portion of the legs covered, so I had to copy them from another source and blend the two parts.
Lastly, changed Archangel's eyes from yellow to red (as in canon), and made it more silver. Also added some light.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved. All made with a mouse, not pens involved (that would've have shortened the time). Just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Warren Worthington III
Rating: G
Tagline: Full Archangel from the cover of Cullen Bunn's Uncanny X-Men #7.
Notes: An exercise that took way more time that it seems.
The original art features Warren as perfectly split in two, depicting his two sides (Angel on the left and Archangel on the right).
I turned it into a full Archangel.
Notes 2: This came out of a discussion over CBR forums, where a poster commented that something was "off" in the anatomy. To check where was the issue, I played with the two halves; while Angel's side is very off, and would need heavy reworking from navel down to fix it, Archangel worked, so I decided to work to make a finished art.
Notes 3: You can see the original cover here.
Notes 4: Greg Land did a similar cover with Betsy Braddock for Uncanny X-Men #509, where he again fucked up with the hips and legs proportions. I tried a couple of months ago to work on that art, but I couldn't fix the issue. I might give it another try in the future.
Or try a Warren-Betsy two pieces (Angel-Caucasian!Psylocke / Archangel-Ninja!Psylocke).
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): I took the original half (right) and flipped it. It was necessary to do some reconstruction/redraw to make the two parts blend, especially the decorations of the glass behind Warren.
Betsy's face too needed to be fixed. I moved her a little higher, so she aligned to Mystique, but that required some redraw too. Also, her colors needed a fixing to remove the sun/golden light.
The textless version I used had a portion of the legs covered, so I had to copy them from another source and blend the two parts.
Lastly, changed Archangel's eyes from yellow to red (as in canon), and made it more silver. Also added some light.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved. All made with a mouse, not pens involved (that would've have shortened the time). Just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Addendum to More Captains Britain, ch2.
Annotations that had to be removed from the main post since it already was so long.
( names, timeline and annotations )
Annotations that had to be removed from the main post since it already was so long.
( names, timeline and annotations )
¯ omniverse [REALITIES] . . . . . . . . [NON]
captain [BRITAIN]. . . . . . . . . . . . [CANON]
¯ [More_Captains _ [02]
[Britain _ 2 [of ?]
┌ ┐
MORE CAPTAINS BRITAIN
CHAPTER 2
└ ┘
[Photo by Mike Collins.]
( Click to access datafile )
captain [BRITAIN]. . . . . . . . . . . . [CANON]
¯ [More_Captains _ [02]
[Britain _ 2 [of ?]
┌ ┐
MORE CAPTAINS BRITAIN
CHAPTER 2
└ ┘
( Click to access datafile )
Addendum to More Captains Britain, ch1 .
Annotations that had to be removed from the main post since it already was so long.
( names, timeline and annotations )
Annotations that had to be removed from the main post since it already was so long.
( names, timeline and annotations )
¯ omniverse [REALITIES] . . . . . . . . [NON]
captain [BRITAIN]. . . . . . . . . . . . [CANON]
¯ [More_Captains _ [01]
[Britain _ 1 [of ?]
┌ ┐
MORE CAPTAINS BRITAIN
CHAPTER 1
└ ┘
[Photo by Omar Zaldivar.]
( Click to access datafile )
captain [BRITAIN]. . . . . . . . . . . . [CANON]
¯ [More_Captains _ [01]
[Britain _ 1 [of ?]
┌ ┐
MORE CAPTAINS BRITAIN
CHAPTER 1
└ ┘
( Click to access datafile )
Title: OMS wives: Captain T'Pock
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: Star Trek (TOS)
Timeline: TOS Genderbend AU
Pairing: Kirk/Spock (implied)
Characters: Spock
Rating: G
Tagline: Anjelica Huston as Captain T'Pock, Stardate 2284.
Series: Rule 63 Trek
Notes: Still not satisfied but this is the best I could do.
Notes 2: The PSD file is dated May 2016 but it might predate the coping of the files on this new computer, so I might have started this in a previous date.
For the sake of anal archiving, I might update this note when/if I turn the old PC on and check the original creation date of the file.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Who remembers the hurdle of doing this! I can just say it was harder than it looks to change a lieutenant's unifom to the one of an captain (different colors of collar and other details).
While it's very hard to find decent pics of young Anjelica Huston to work with, a more recent Anjelica is easier so this wasn't much hard.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: Star Trek (TOS)
Timeline: TOS Genderbend AU
Pairing: Kirk/Spock (implied)
Characters: Spock
Rating: G
Tagline: Anjelica Huston as Captain T'Pock, Stardate 2284.
Series: Rule 63 Trek
Notes: Still not satisfied but this is the best I could do.
Notes 2: The PSD file is dated May 2016 but it might predate the coping of the files on this new computer, so I might have started this in a previous date.
For the sake of anal archiving, I might update this note when/if I turn the old PC on and check the original creation date of the file.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Who remembers the hurdle of doing this! I can just say it was harder than it looks to change a lieutenant's unifom to the one of an captain (different colors of collar and other details).
While it's very hard to find decent pics of young Anjelica Huston to work with, a more recent Anjelica is easier so this wasn't much hard.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Title: OMS wives: Admiral Jean Kirk
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: Star Trek (TOS)
Timeline: TOS Genderbend AU
Pairing: Kirk/Spock (implied)
Characters: Jim Kirk
Rating: G
Tagline: Grace Kelly as Admiral Jean Kirk, Stardate 2284.
Series: Rule 63 Trek
Notes: Just for nerds, apparently. In The Wrath of Khan, the braid was black/gold checks. From The Voyage Home, the braid was changed with a patterned ribbon that had been seen on admiral maroon since then. Despite working from a generic pre-Wrath of Khan timesetting, I decided to stick with the latter.
Notes 2: Final touches given back in July 2022 (7th). It was held back because I had the utopic dream of combine it with Spock's in an OMS Wives manip. Since it's akin to impossible with this specific pics I used...
Notes 3: The PSD file is dated May 2016 but it might predate the coping of the files on this new computer, so I might have started this in a previous date.
For the sake of anal archiving, I might update this note when/if I turn the old PC on and check the original creation date of the file.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Who remembers the hurdle of doing this! I can just say it was definitely harder to change a lieutenant's uniform to the one of an admiral (different colors of collar and other details).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: Star Trek (TOS)
Timeline: TOS Genderbend AU
Pairing: Kirk/Spock (implied)
Characters: Jim Kirk
Rating: G
Tagline: Grace Kelly as Admiral Jean Kirk, Stardate 2284.
Series: Rule 63 Trek
Notes: Just for nerds, apparently. In The Wrath of Khan, the braid was black/gold checks. From The Voyage Home, the braid was changed with a patterned ribbon that had been seen on admiral maroon since then. Despite working from a generic pre-Wrath of Khan timesetting, I decided to stick with the latter.
Notes 2: Final touches given back in July 2022 (7th). It was held back because I had the utopic dream of combine it with Spock's in an OMS Wives manip. Since it's akin to impossible with this specific pics I used...
Notes 3: The PSD file is dated May 2016 but it might predate the coping of the files on this new computer, so I might have started this in a previous date.
For the sake of anal archiving, I might update this note when/if I turn the old PC on and check the original creation date of the file.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Who remembers the hurdle of doing this! I can just say it was definitely harder to change a lieutenant's uniform to the one of an admiral (different colors of collar and other details).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Title: Siblings socials: The beast's lair
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: BBC's Merlin (canon era, post-canon modern magic) AU
AU: The Pendragon siblings return (sequel: modern magic)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Morgana.
Rating: G
Tagline: You thought Arthur, being a former king, would always be the master in any couple or pairing? Well, think better. Morgana is more than willing to prove the world that is Merlin the serval who commands between the two.
Series: Siblings socials
About the graphic: Morgana, the famed once Queen of Camelot and socials star, has taken her duties of chronicling her brother Arthur's adjusting to the modern world very seriously. If she has a chance to humiliate him, in face of the legendary epitome of noble warrior built around him during the centuries, she will do it gladly, not even hiding a smirking during the whole time.
As socials love cats, who is she to deprive the socials from pics of Merlin the grumpy serval? The fact that Arthur is sleeping in an idiotic pose on the background is just a bonus point.
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: Initially, this - the original screencap minus the serval - was supposed to be an Instagram-mock shared by the Merlin of the National Treasure instagram AU, but I didn't have the text ready and was thus stuck since 2018. Some months ago I decided to switch the poster from Merlin to the Morgana of this AU. It made no sense for Morgana to share a pic of her sleeping brother without Merlin the serval around, so the idea of putting a serval on the bed came.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): A nightmare. I couldn't find a serval pic that fit with the perspective required. And when I did, they came with dark shadows on their legs I couldn't fix. So I had to use the blankets to mask here and there, which came with another challenge on its own.
Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart (instagram post, photo #1, photo #2), Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: BBC's Merlin (canon era, post-canon modern magic) AU
AU: The Pendragon siblings return (sequel: modern magic)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Morgana.
Rating: G
Tagline: You thought Arthur, being a former king, would always be the master in any couple or pairing? Well, think better. Morgana is more than willing to prove the world that is Merlin the serval who commands between the two.
Series: Siblings socials
About the graphic: Morgana, the famed once Queen of Camelot and socials star, has taken her duties of chronicling her brother Arthur's adjusting to the modern world very seriously. If she has a chance to humiliate him, in face of the legendary epitome of noble warrior built around him during the centuries, she will do it gladly, not even hiding a smirking during the whole time.
As socials love cats, who is she to deprive the socials from pics of Merlin the grumpy serval? The fact that Arthur is sleeping in an idiotic pose on the background is just a bonus point.
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: Initially, this - the original screencap minus the serval - was supposed to be an Instagram-mock shared by the Merlin of the National Treasure instagram AU, but I didn't have the text ready and was thus stuck since 2018. Some months ago I decided to switch the poster from Merlin to the Morgana of this AU. It made no sense for Morgana to share a pic of her sleeping brother without Merlin the serval around, so the idea of putting a serval on the bed came.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): A nightmare. I couldn't find a serval pic that fit with the perspective required. And when I did, they came with dark shadows on their legs I couldn't fix. So I had to use the blankets to mask here and there, which came with another challenge on its own.
Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart (instagram post, photo #1, photo #2), Tumblr.
¯ omniverse [REALITIES] . . . . . . . . [NON]
captain [BRITAIN]. . . . . . . . . . . . [CANON]
( Click to access infopage )
captain [BRITAIN]. . . . . . . . . . . . [CANON]
( Click to access infopage )
Title: Hellfire Gala 2021, the carpet (design variant)
Artist: Hakka (prue84/prue84 )
Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Pairing: Warren/Elizabeth
Characters: Elizabeth Braddock, Warren Worthington III
Rating: G
Tagline: Who is escorting who to the Hellfire Gala? Is it Elizabeth Braddock the partner of X-Corp CXO Warren Worthington III, or is Angel the partner of Captain Britain at her first debut to an official event?
About the manip: There must be a timeline out there in which Krakoa happened and Warren and Betsy had the chance to heal their relationship after the return from the Age of X-Man, so they went to the first Hellfire Gala together, as the second power couple of Krakoa and mutantdom.
Notes: Since the last time I rambled about them in June 2021, not only Betsy and Warren didn't interact, but Betsy met and alternate!Warren who is engaged with an alternate!Betsy and then ended up in the arms of another, while Warren vanished after X-Corp was cancelled.
Notes 2: Most useless manip ever. But I've been in a very bad mood because of Warren current status in the X-Corner (well, last three years were a prolonged drought but Dark X-Men was the last straw) and I had the urging need to do something for him, since canon doesn't.
I'll die on the Warren/Betsy ship.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Took way more hours than it's worth wasting on an idiocy like this. The work behind the scenes is more than what you'd expect when you have to characters that you have to paste near each other.
Betsy's ribbons were cut on one side, so I had to replace them. Also, I changed a bit the pose of her legs, which are open wider in the original art.
In the first version, Warren and Betsy weren't this close, so I had to move Warren's right arm because it was seen behind Betsy - now the hand is just floating with no sense (even if you don't see it). General corrections here and there to mask spots that needed to be hidden (on wings and the inner jacket).
Also, I had to trace over all the borders.
Had fun in adding my and Mr. Dauterman's names in the background, as if we had been sponsors of the event. :D
Eventually I made another version in which I heavily modified Warren, but that will debut in the future (when, who knows).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved. All made with a mouse, not pens involved (that would've have shortened the time). Also not background removal apps or other apps involved. Just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84/prue84 )Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Pairing: Warren/Elizabeth
Characters: Elizabeth Braddock, Warren Worthington III
Rating: G
Tagline: Who is escorting who to the Hellfire Gala? Is it Elizabeth Braddock the partner of X-Corp CXO Warren Worthington III, or is Angel the partner of Captain Britain at her first debut to an official event?
About the manip: There must be a timeline out there in which Krakoa happened and Warren and Betsy had the chance to heal their relationship after the return from the Age of X-Man, so they went to the first Hellfire Gala together, as the second power couple of Krakoa and mutantdom.
Notes: Since the last time I rambled about them in June 2021, not only Betsy and Warren didn't interact, but Betsy met and alternate!Warren who is engaged with an alternate!Betsy and then ended up in the arms of another, while Warren vanished after X-Corp was cancelled.
Notes 2: Most useless manip ever. But I've been in a very bad mood because of Warren current status in the X-Corner (well, last three years were a prolonged drought but Dark X-Men was the last straw) and I had the urging need to do something for him, since canon doesn't.
I'll die on the Warren/Betsy ship.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Took way more hours than it's worth wasting on an idiocy like this. The work behind the scenes is more than what you'd expect when you have to characters that you have to paste near each other.
Betsy's ribbons were cut on one side, so I had to replace them. Also, I changed a bit the pose of her legs, which are open wider in the original art.
In the first version, Warren and Betsy weren't this close, so I had to move Warren's right arm because it was seen behind Betsy - now the hand is just floating with no sense (even if you don't see it). General corrections here and there to mask spots that needed to be hidden (on wings and the inner jacket).
Also, I had to trace over all the borders.
Had fun in adding my and Mr. Dauterman's names in the background, as if we had been sponsors of the event. :D
Eventually I made another version in which I heavily modified Warren, but that will debut in the future (when, who knows).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
No AI involved. All made with a mouse, not pens involved (that would've have shortened the time). Also not background removal apps or other apps involved. Just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Title: Merlin AUs: Royal husbands - Part I Chapter 01
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: BBC's Merlin (canon divergence, post-canon) AU
AU: The Royal Husbands
Pairing: Arthur/Guinevere, Lancelot/Guinevere, Arthur/Merlin (future)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot.
Rating: G
Tagline: 1st canon divergence, Lancelot du Lac. Lancelot's selfless sacrifice is rewarded.
Series: Merlin AUs
About the AU: AU in which a series of canon divergences lead to Arthur surviving the mortal wound inflicted him by Mordred at Camlann and, with the help of Merlin who then becomes his Prince Consort, bringing the golden age foretold by the prophecies.
About the chapter: Lancelot is returned by magic, instead of necromancy, to fulfil his destiny at Arthur's side. And what seemed to be the written fate of Camelot is changed.
Notes: This edit dates back to 2018/2019 but was hold back because, buckle up... I couldn't work out the text part. Yes. Embarrassing, isn't it? How hard could it be write a lengthy summary/synopsis, right? Four years. Four fucking years.
In the year of the lord 2022, with the yearly goal to publish as much wips and finished-but-held-back works as I can, I sat down and forced myself to give a sense to the years-old draft. But still, it took me another year to finish this.
Notes 2: This series consists of 6 planned parts. The first one, of which this post is part of, is made of 8 chapters that cover all the canon divergences that lead to Arthur healing from his battle wound. The other five parts follow his (and Merlin's) life, the coming of the Golden Age, the birth of the new Pendragon generation, Arthur's rest and what Merlin will build during his husband's long sleep.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): No manip nor modification required on this one, so nothing to report. Besides the fact that, when the edit was almost posted, I decided to add further scenes to better fit with the ficlet that was expanded.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr. Text/ficlet only also on AO3 and SquidgeWorld.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: BBC's Merlin (canon divergence, post-canon) AU
AU: The Royal Husbands
Pairing: Arthur/Guinevere, Lancelot/Guinevere, Arthur/Merlin (future)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot.
Rating: G
Tagline: 1st canon divergence, Lancelot du Lac. Lancelot's selfless sacrifice is rewarded.
Series: Merlin AUs
About the AU: AU in which a series of canon divergences lead to Arthur surviving the mortal wound inflicted him by Mordred at Camlann and, with the help of Merlin who then becomes his Prince Consort, bringing the golden age foretold by the prophecies.
About the chapter: Lancelot is returned by magic, instead of necromancy, to fulfil his destiny at Arthur's side. And what seemed to be the written fate of Camelot is changed.
Notes: This edit dates back to 2018/2019 but was hold back because, buckle up... I couldn't work out the text part. Yes. Embarrassing, isn't it? How hard could it be write a lengthy summary/synopsis, right? Four years. Four fucking years.
In the year of the lord 2022, with the yearly goal to publish as much wips and finished-but-held-back works as I can, I sat down and forced myself to give a sense to the years-old draft. But still, it took me another year to finish this.
Notes 2: This series consists of 6 planned parts. The first one, of which this post is part of, is made of 8 chapters that cover all the canon divergences that lead to Arthur healing from his battle wound. The other five parts follow his (and Merlin's) life, the coming of the Golden Age, the birth of the new Pendragon generation, Arthur's rest and what Merlin will build during his husband's long sleep.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): No manip nor modification required on this one, so nothing to report. Besides the fact that, when the edit was almost posted, I decided to add further scenes to better fit with the ficlet that was expanded.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr. Text/ficlet only also on AO3 and SquidgeWorld.
Colorize - Revanche
October 23rd, 2023 21:35Title: Kwannon as Revanche in X-Men #21
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Kwannon
Rating: G
Tagline:
About the fanwork: Katie McGrath as Revanche, as the character appeared in X-Men #21
Notes: In X-Men #21 for some reasons Revanche was drawn with curly hairs instead of the usual luscious wavy. When I stumbled upon this Katie McGrath's pic, this specific Revanche immediately came to my mind and I did this colorize.
Notes 2: Katie McGrath is my (dream) fancasting for Betsy. There'll never be any chance for her to ever play Betsy, not even for a photoshoot (sadly, she'd be considered too old by now), but she'll remain my "face" for British Betsy.
Still looking for the perfect Kwannon face.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Turn black hair in a specific vivid (and unnatural) colour such as Betsy Braddock's purples is... a test. Besides the hair dye, I applied some lipstick in the shade of the colour Revanche's lips were painted in the comic issue. Also, purple eyes, off course.
Alas, it took me half of the time of what it took me to do the signature.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: X-Men (comics)
Characters: Kwannon
Rating: G
Tagline:
About the fanwork: Katie McGrath as Revanche, as the character appeared in X-Men #21
Notes: In X-Men #21 for some reasons Revanche was drawn with curly hairs instead of the usual luscious wavy. When I stumbled upon this Katie McGrath's pic, this specific Revanche immediately came to my mind and I did this colorize.
Notes 2: Katie McGrath is my (dream) fancasting for Betsy. There'll never be any chance for her to ever play Betsy, not even for a photoshoot (sadly, she'd be considered too old by now), but she'll remain my "face" for British Betsy.
Still looking for the perfect Kwannon face.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Turn black hair in a specific vivid (and unnatural) colour such as Betsy Braddock's purples is... a test. Besides the hair dye, I applied some lipstick in the shade of the colour Revanche's lips were painted in the comic issue. Also, purple eyes, off course.
Alas, it took me half of the time of what it took me to do the signature.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
No AI involved, just Photoshop CS2.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Headcanons about the romantic and sexual life of the rich white (former) powercouple of the X-Men - namely Warren Worthington III, aka the Angel (or Archangel) and Elizabeth Braddock, aka Psylocke (now Captain Britain).
Also, headcanons about Betsy as a lover, what she likes and what she expects in a relationship.
Warren’s romantic/sexual headcanons have been already compiled here.
(It goes without saying, mature and text-explicit content below)
[Last update: 15 January 2025]
Posted also at Livejournal and Tumblr.
Also, headcanons about Betsy as a lover, what she likes and what she expects in a relationship.
Warren’s romantic/sexual headcanons have been already compiled here.
(It goes without saying, mature and text-explicit content below)
[Last update: 15 January 2025]
Posted also at Livejournal and Tumblr.
Romantic & sexual life | Status from Post-Dark Angel saga to Krakoa
Title: National Treasure instagram - Dragon photobombing
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: BBC's Merlin (post-canon, modern magic) AU
AU: National Treasure
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Aithusa, Merlin.
Rating: G
Tagline: Have you thought your children were the most stressful creatures on Earth? You never tried to be dad to a dragon.
Series: National Treasure instagram
About the graphic: It didn't take Aithusa, the albino dragonling good omen for Albion's future, much time outside of her egg before deciding that Arthur is just a different race of dragons - no scales, no wings, no fire, and ignorant in dragon language, but definitely still a dragon. After all, he's named Pendragon, so it means he is a dragon, right? And, since Arthur named himself "Chief of dragons" and she is the "Light of the Sun" that will bring forth a new age for dragons, it comes without saying that he's her father. Right right? The Aithusa-logic is flawless.
So this knee-high to a grasshopper dragonling has the power to impose her own vision on the mighty Once and Future King, forcing him to accept that he's meant to be the dragon daddy of an annoying creature that is a ferret software running on dragon hardware (well, Arthur isn't that much well versed in technology, but he saw a similar use of computer terms to describe foxes and thought it applied for Aithusa as well). The legendary warking has begrudgingly submitted himself to the responsibility of raising the dragonling as his own, but the task at times feels more draining that leading a war against the Saxons: the dragonling has too much energy for her own good!
Merlin had some errands to take care to, and left (dragon)dad and dragon daughter alone at the castle. This is what he found when he returned home.
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: Manip started in 2020. For some reason it was held back. I don't remember why.
Also, I was stuck with the text for the post. Which might be the reason of the whole holding back thing. The most challenging part of this was to fit my signature.
Notes 2: Originally, the post was meant to feature only one picture. The decision of making three was made in late August, when I wrapped up the Instagram portion of the project and decided that I didn't like how the full picture (now #2) looked.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart (instagram post, photo #1, photo #2, photo #3), Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: BBC's Merlin (post-canon, modern magic) AU
AU: National Treasure
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Aithusa, Merlin.
Rating: G
Tagline: Have you thought your children were the most stressful creatures on Earth? You never tried to be dad to a dragon.
Series: National Treasure instagram
About the graphic: It didn't take Aithusa, the albino dragonling good omen for Albion's future, much time outside of her egg before deciding that Arthur is just a different race of dragons - no scales, no wings, no fire, and ignorant in dragon language, but definitely still a dragon. After all, he's named Pendragon, so it means he is a dragon, right? And, since Arthur named himself "Chief of dragons" and she is the "Light of the Sun" that will bring forth a new age for dragons, it comes without saying that he's her father. Right right? The Aithusa-logic is flawless.
So this knee-high to a grasshopper dragonling has the power to impose her own vision on the mighty Once and Future King, forcing him to accept that he's meant to be the dragon daddy of an annoying creature that is a ferret software running on dragon hardware (well, Arthur isn't that much well versed in technology, but he saw a similar use of computer terms to describe foxes and thought it applied for Aithusa as well). The legendary warking has begrudgingly submitted himself to the responsibility of raising the dragonling as his own, but the task at times feels more draining that leading a war against the Saxons: the dragonling has too much energy for her own good!
Merlin had some errands to take care to, and left (dragon)dad and dragon daughter alone at the castle. This is what he found when he returned home.
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: Manip started in 2020. For some reason it was held back. I don't remember why.
Also, I was stuck with the text for the post. Which might be the reason of the whole holding back thing. The most challenging part of this was to fit my signature.
Notes 2: Originally, the post was meant to feature only one picture. The decision of making three was made in late August, when I wrapped up the Instagram portion of the project and decided that I didn't like how the full picture (now #2) looked.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart (instagram post, photo #1, photo #2, photo #3), Tumblr.
Further headcanons. In this part, a reflection of Warren’s most significant loves in a 5+1 parts format ficlet.
Krakoa-canon compliant, up to the date of the posting.
Posted also at Livejournal, Tumblr, AO3 and SquidgeWorld.
I don’t plan to update it, should Marvel remember that Warren is an A-character and (gods save us!) pair Warren with someone new, but never say never.
Krakoa-canon compliant, up to the date of the posting.
Posted also at Livejournal, Tumblr, AO3 and SquidgeWorld.
I don’t plan to update it, should Marvel remember that Warren is an A-character and (gods save us!) pair Warren with someone new, but never say never.
Title: National Treasure instagram - Merlin the merlin
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: BBC's Merlin (post-canon, modern magic) AU
AU: National Treasure
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Merlin, Arthur Pendragon.
Rating: G
Tagline: Arthur Pendragon gives the final answer to the centuries-old dilemma "which came first: Merlin or the merlin?".
Series: National Treasure instagram
About the graphic: There are times when Merlin has enough of hisprat clotepole king, and turns into his animal form. Which happens to be the more predictable form one could expect someone named Merlin could pick.
Arthur elected himself to reveal the world Merlin's secret, and answer a very ancient question Merlin never bothered to answer.
Well, Arthur did reveal the secret. After recovering his phone. Which happened to reach new heights when Merlin struck him with magic and sent Arthur on his ass. Merlin should've warned him that he could make magic even in his bird form. Arthur wasn't supposed to know!
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: I remember I was searching for pics of merlins, for fanfic reference, and stumbled upon this one... and went immediately "this is Merlin about to use magic in his hawk form". The pic clearly asked to be used. This in 2017, the idea of the manip came in 2019.
Notes 2: Meh. This one has been held back since ages because I wasn't satisfied. Additionally, I couldn't figure out the text - like, blank head.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): The manip was made in January 2019 in one go (the harder part was actually to find a Pierrefond pic where to place the hawk). In May 2021 I retouched it because I noticed that I had been wrong with the bird's size compared to the lion statue (the bird was looking too bigger than it should), but other than that, the manip was the easier part.
In July 2023 I played I bit further with effects to give the pic an "Instagram look", wrote the text and then went and published before I could change mind again.
Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits under the graphic.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart (instagram post, photo #1, photo #2), Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: BBC's Merlin (post-canon, modern magic) AU
AU: National Treasure
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Merlin, Arthur Pendragon.
Rating: G
Tagline: Arthur Pendragon gives the final answer to the centuries-old dilemma "which came first: Merlin or the merlin?".
Series: National Treasure instagram
About the graphic: There are times when Merlin has enough of his
Arthur elected himself to reveal the world Merlin's secret, and answer a very ancient question Merlin never bothered to answer.
Well, Arthur did reveal the secret. After recovering his phone. Which happened to reach new heights when Merlin struck him with magic and sent Arthur on his ass. Merlin should've warned him that he could make magic even in his bird form. Arthur wasn't supposed to know!
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: I remember I was searching for pics of merlins, for fanfic reference, and stumbled upon this one... and went immediately "this is Merlin about to use magic in his hawk form". The pic clearly asked to be used. This in 2017, the idea of the manip came in 2019.
Notes 2: Meh. This one has been held back since ages because I wasn't satisfied. Additionally, I couldn't figure out the text - like, blank head.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): The manip was made in January 2019 in one go (the harder part was actually to find a Pierrefond pic where to place the hawk). In May 2021 I retouched it because I noticed that I had been wrong with the bird's size compared to the lion statue (the bird was looking too bigger than it should), but other than that, the manip was the easier part.
In July 2023 I played I bit further with effects to give the pic an "Instagram look", wrote the text and then went and published before I could change mind again.
Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits under the graphic.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart (instagram post, photo #1, photo #2), Tumblr.
Title: The Current and Future Pendragons
Artist: Hakka (prue84 )
Fandom: BBC's Merlin (canon divergence, post-canon) AU
AU: The Royal Husbands (Aithusa Pendragon)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Mithian
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Mithian, Peter (OC-ish), Susan (OC-ish), Aithusa.
Rating: G
Tagline: High King Arthur Pendragon and the royal family of Camelot.
About the manip: Arthur Pendragon, king of Camelot and High King of Albion. He successfully reunited the lands as the prophecies said, and also brought back magic.
Few years after the victory of Camlann he married Merlin, who has become prince consort and second ruler of the kingdom. But, since unfortunately Merlin might be many things, but a woman with a womb he's not, Arthur (with Merlin) had to find a way to conceive a heir while being married to a man. Cue in Mithian, crown princess of Nemeth, equally saddled with the duty to give the throne a heir but uninterested in finding a husband trustful enough to sit at her side without potentially become a danger to her right to the throne.
Together, the three of them reach an agreement that satisfies them all and they've been tight-close since. Their peculiar settlement initially was met with confusion and diffidence, but Mithian earned herself the thrust of everyone, and eventually the title of Queen of Camelot, third in line after Merlin.
Peter is the first born of this union and rightful heir to the throne of Camelot. He's a talented swordsman but he suffered through all his teen years because of the never-ending comparisons with his warrior father who is on another fighting level. With age he learned to accept that he'll never be a war king and nobody ever asked him to become one either. He isn't his father, his name isn't part of legends or prophecies; he wasn't born to unite Albion but to keep it united once the Age of the Once and Future King sees its dawn. He will be a good and fair king for the peaceful times of the golden age, and his duty will be to make sure all his father - and his father's husband - sacrifices won't be wasted, that what they built is preserved.
Susan was conceived because Mithian wanted both a heir for her to entrust Nemeth and a daughter. She's stubborn and strong but also capable of great empathy and kindness, as her mother and the Pendragon women (when they not meet High Priestesses who manipulate them). She's a formidable archer. Handsome Caspian, the son of Gwaine and Lady Vivian, is courting her and she welcomes this game, but Susan is enjoying too much her freedom to settle for a marriage and a family of her own. She has time though.
Aithusa is the cute, small thing of the family, although she's actually the oldest of the new Pendragon generation - not counting the centuries spent in the egg that make her older than the castle of Camelot itself. As per usual with the dragon race, Aithusa's growth is stunned by her remaining with her parents. Only by being left on their own to tend to themselves, a dragonling is forced to grow. Thus, despite she was hatched on the dawn of the golden age, before Arthur married Mithian, she's still a dragonling that can fit Arthur's shoulders - her second favorite spot after the sling she made Arthur wear for years under his shirt. She learned the human language and can talk with her half-dragon impaired siblings Peter and Susan, but her speech pattern still needs some work. She doesn't care though. She's not so eager to leave the nest.
About the AU: AU in which a series of canon divergences lead to Arthur surviving the mortal wound inflicted him by Mordred at Camlann and, with the help of Merlin who then becomes his Prince Consort, bringing the golden age foretold by the prophecies.
More under the manip itself. Also at the AU edit.
Notes: Manip planned few years ago, but started on the prompt of![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
tavernfest on Tumblr. It's all papysanzo's fault on Tumblr for reblogging the May round. Also merthurotica, but their post on my RSS feed turned up later.
Notes 2: Aithusa, (officially the ward of the king, unofficially considered by anyone in the court his scales-covered, flame-breathing daughter) is actually the eldest, since she was the first to come to the family.
So yes, she's the older sibling. Make of this knowledge what you want.
She also is firm that Arthur is a dragon, just one kind that looks like humans. But he's totally dragon. And if he doesn't breath fire or doesn't understand the dragon language, is all Uther's fault who didn't teach him his dragon gifts.
Since Arthur is clearly a dragon, while Mithian sadly isn't, Peter and Susan are to her half-dragons. She still claims that it's because of the half human blood in their veins that they are impaired and don't have any dragon skill.
Notes 3: There's a fanfic for Aithusa as the (still only) daughter of the royal husbands during Father's Day, if you're interested.
Notes 4: When the time comes, and Arthur retires to Avalon to sleep, Peter will ascend as new king of Camelot, whose court will be moved to the renovated Castle of the Old Kings (or a new castle - still have to decide on this). Susan will succeed to Mithian on the throne of Nemeth. Aithusa will inherit the nest itself, the castle of Camelot, to own and protect until Merlin will be ready to make use of it.
Notes 5: I decided that Caspian would be Gwaine's (and Vivian's) son out of looks alone, and out of a (wrong) belief that he was meant to be Susan's love in Narnia. I never watched the second movie, and by the time I finally read the books, I didn't want to change it.
For the same reason, I don't have a woman for Peter. A potential daughter of Gwen and Lancelot wouldn't be bad, but not necessary.
(The AU idea ends with Arthur's travel to Avalon for his sleep and a mention of Peter moving the court to another castle, to then a time skip focusing on Merlin, so I didn't really focus on Peter's or Susan's life.)
Notes 6: While I'm writing this I wondered if Merlin wouldn't want to have a child so to kickstart the dragonlords kind (although, unless Magic changes its rules, the child would never inherit the dragonlord powers, since Merlin doesn't die). It never occurred to me before.
I'm not sure he'd feel like having children, if he already knew that he would be immortal and he would then be forced to see his children grow old and frail and then die. But who knows.
He could have one or more with Mithian, especially once Arthur is gone to Avalon. In case, Edward Pensive is there for the picking. Also Lucy.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Both a challenge and a nightmare.
The original picture is four people. I needed five. Now, onto the specific characters - in order of making.
Mithian, who had to be moved to make space for Merlin, was surprisingly easy to make. I wished to delete the lions on the dress, and replace them with either the Pendragon dragon or the Nemeth bull, but it was too much even for me, so I gave up. Removing them altogether felt odd - the dress is black with little movement, and without the lions it felt just one blotch of black.
Susan. I'm not satisfied. The actress picture was perfect in pose but it has something in colors/lights that makes it stand out and look a bit more fake. Whatever.
Peter. It took me a while to find the picture that would fit the body. Initially I kept the original body's curly hair, for I didn't feel like William Moseley's hairstyle would acceptable in a Medieval setting. But then I changed my mind, and remade it. He might be a bit too stocky for my liking but the body is that and making him less bulkier is out of option. On the chest the costume featured a cross: I erased it to be replaced it with the Pendragon dragon in the same style. Quite proud of how that turned out. Can't say the same for the sword. Yes, Arthur's son has a name sword which is coincidentally the sword of Peter Pensive. But the change was a given.
Merlin was one challenge. I planned to use another body for his (the same king from Vikings but with another costume) but the picture just didn't work out. The one I chose... featured the man from the knees above. Which meant reconstruction for legs (which meant stealing the legs from Arthur's base - coincidentally it's always the same character!)... and the cloak. That was the true challenge! Also. I like how it turned out, but it just irks me that Colin doesn't look in the camera. But that picture was perfect and the result is fine. It did take me some tinkering to place the circlet but all in all I'm satisfied in how prince Merlin turned out. Bonus point for my headcanon marriage ring that didn't look good (the manip is too small for decent rings renderings), but I managed to add another from a jewelry maker that does rings in a style very similar to Ygraine's canon ring. Be sure to visit their Etsy and die. Ygraine's sigil, that replace the medallion the original body was wearing, is a given as well. Too bad we don't have a decent prop pic of it.
Now. Arthur. Bloody Arthur. Tinkering with the original body to change colors from blue to red was funny. The rest NOT. Replacing the original sword with Excalibur, which was mandatory, gave a mild result. Ygraine's ring is there but, given the small size, isn't looking good enough. And those were the easy things!
Because then it came the time to place bearded Bradley. Now. We do have few nice bearded Bradley pics, courtesy of the man himself, but they were mostly too small to work with in this manip - and/or in poses that wouldn't fit the body. You might say: there's Vikings: Valhalla. No, my friend. I downloaded ALL the screencaps available and very few worked, and - given the costume the character wears, there was never a inch of Bradley's bearded neck. In the end I worked with one of the pics Bradley released on Instagram. A pic with a black background in which bear and hair blended in. And an hard shadow on the right side of the face. A nightmare to cut, a nightmare to fix. And then the crown. The crown comes from The Hollow Crown. It looks similar but it isn't the same refurbished prop (different decorations, slightly different proportions of the fleur-de-lis). Years ago, when I saw the pics, I decided this would be older!Arthur's crown, for it's more regal with its fake gems and golden coating. There wasn't a pic with the proper perspective, so I had to tweak it a bit. It doesn't look awful, mind me, but I feel something's off with how it's placed on Bradley's head. I can't tell what, though - I used one of Arthur's coronation pics as reference while working, but still I can't fix what's wrong. In hindsight I wonder if I should've used a crowned Arthur pic with the original crown and be done with it.
And then Aithusa. We literally have two pics of her, unless you want to work with night/dark screencaps. I knew where I wanted to have her, no idea how to. Still not happy. Does she looks fake? Yes. But at this time I just gave up. Whatever. (Besides, the other options didn't work. Her standing promo pic at Arthur's feet? Her fore legs are in a different perspective. Her standing promo pic on Arthur's shoulders? There was enough space, her head would be cut out from the picture and there was no way to extend the base pic by 50px, that specific background is a bitch to work with).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits with links below the manip itself.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
Artist: Hakka (
prue84 )Fandom: BBC's Merlin (canon divergence, post-canon) AU
AU: The Royal Husbands (Aithusa Pendragon)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Mithian
Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin, Mithian, Peter (OC-ish), Susan (OC-ish), Aithusa.
Rating: G
Tagline: High King Arthur Pendragon and the royal family of Camelot.
About the manip: Arthur Pendragon, king of Camelot and High King of Albion. He successfully reunited the lands as the prophecies said, and also brought back magic.
Few years after the victory of Camlann he married Merlin, who has become prince consort and second ruler of the kingdom. But, since unfortunately Merlin might be many things, but a woman with a womb he's not, Arthur (with Merlin) had to find a way to conceive a heir while being married to a man. Cue in Mithian, crown princess of Nemeth, equally saddled with the duty to give the throne a heir but uninterested in finding a husband trustful enough to sit at her side without potentially become a danger to her right to the throne.
Together, the three of them reach an agreement that satisfies them all and they've been tight-close since. Their peculiar settlement initially was met with confusion and diffidence, but Mithian earned herself the thrust of everyone, and eventually the title of Queen of Camelot, third in line after Merlin.
Peter is the first born of this union and rightful heir to the throne of Camelot. He's a talented swordsman but he suffered through all his teen years because of the never-ending comparisons with his warrior father who is on another fighting level. With age he learned to accept that he'll never be a war king and nobody ever asked him to become one either. He isn't his father, his name isn't part of legends or prophecies; he wasn't born to unite Albion but to keep it united once the Age of the Once and Future King sees its dawn. He will be a good and fair king for the peaceful times of the golden age, and his duty will be to make sure all his father - and his father's husband - sacrifices won't be wasted, that what they built is preserved.
Susan was conceived because Mithian wanted both a heir for her to entrust Nemeth and a daughter. She's stubborn and strong but also capable of great empathy and kindness, as her mother and the Pendragon women (when they not meet High Priestesses who manipulate them). She's a formidable archer. Handsome Caspian, the son of Gwaine and Lady Vivian, is courting her and she welcomes this game, but Susan is enjoying too much her freedom to settle for a marriage and a family of her own. She has time though.
Aithusa is the cute, small thing of the family, although she's actually the oldest of the new Pendragon generation - not counting the centuries spent in the egg that make her older than the castle of Camelot itself. As per usual with the dragon race, Aithusa's growth is stunned by her remaining with her parents. Only by being left on their own to tend to themselves, a dragonling is forced to grow. Thus, despite she was hatched on the dawn of the golden age, before Arthur married Mithian, she's still a dragonling that can fit Arthur's shoulders - her second favorite spot after the sling she made Arthur wear for years under his shirt. She learned the human language and can talk with her half-dragon impaired siblings Peter and Susan, but her speech pattern still needs some work. She doesn't care though. She's not so eager to leave the nest.
About the AU: AU in which a series of canon divergences lead to Arthur surviving the mortal wound inflicted him by Mordred at Camlann and, with the help of Merlin who then becomes his Prince Consort, bringing the golden age foretold by the prophecies.
More under the manip itself. Also at the AU edit.
Notes: Manip planned few years ago, but started on the prompt of
Notes 2: Aithusa, (officially the ward of the king, unofficially considered by anyone in the court his scales-covered, flame-breathing daughter) is actually the eldest, since she was the first to come to the family.
So yes, she's the older sibling. Make of this knowledge what you want.
She also is firm that Arthur is a dragon, just one kind that looks like humans. But he's totally dragon. And if he doesn't breath fire or doesn't understand the dragon language, is all Uther's fault who didn't teach him his dragon gifts.
Since Arthur is clearly a dragon, while Mithian sadly isn't, Peter and Susan are to her half-dragons. She still claims that it's because of the half human blood in their veins that they are impaired and don't have any dragon skill.
Notes 3: There's a fanfic for Aithusa as the (still only) daughter of the royal husbands during Father's Day, if you're interested.
Notes 4: When the time comes, and Arthur retires to Avalon to sleep, Peter will ascend as new king of Camelot, whose court will be moved to the renovated Castle of the Old Kings (or a new castle - still have to decide on this). Susan will succeed to Mithian on the throne of Nemeth. Aithusa will inherit the nest itself, the castle of Camelot, to own and protect until Merlin will be ready to make use of it.
Notes 5: I decided that Caspian would be Gwaine's (and Vivian's) son out of looks alone, and out of a (wrong) belief that he was meant to be Susan's love in Narnia. I never watched the second movie, and by the time I finally read the books, I didn't want to change it.
For the same reason, I don't have a woman for Peter. A potential daughter of Gwen and Lancelot wouldn't be bad, but not necessary.
(The AU idea ends with Arthur's travel to Avalon for his sleep and a mention of Peter moving the court to another castle, to then a time skip focusing on Merlin, so I didn't really focus on Peter's or Susan's life.)
Notes 6: While I'm writing this I wondered if Merlin wouldn't want to have a child so to kickstart the dragonlords kind (although, unless Magic changes its rules, the child would never inherit the dragonlord powers, since Merlin doesn't die). It never occurred to me before.
I'm not sure he'd feel like having children, if he already knew that he would be immortal and he would then be forced to see his children grow old and frail and then die. But who knows.
He could have one or more with Mithian, especially once Arthur is gone to Avalon. In case, Edward Pensive is there for the picking. Also Lucy.
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Both a challenge and a nightmare.
The original picture is four people. I needed five. Now, onto the specific characters - in order of making.
Mithian, who had to be moved to make space for Merlin, was surprisingly easy to make. I wished to delete the lions on the dress, and replace them with either the Pendragon dragon or the Nemeth bull, but it was too much even for me, so I gave up. Removing them altogether felt odd - the dress is black with little movement, and without the lions it felt just one blotch of black.
Susan. I'm not satisfied. The actress picture was perfect in pose but it has something in colors/lights that makes it stand out and look a bit more fake. Whatever.
Peter. It took me a while to find the picture that would fit the body. Initially I kept the original body's curly hair, for I didn't feel like William Moseley's hairstyle would acceptable in a Medieval setting. But then I changed my mind, and remade it. He might be a bit too stocky for my liking but the body is that and making him less bulkier is out of option. On the chest the costume featured a cross: I erased it to be replaced it with the Pendragon dragon in the same style. Quite proud of how that turned out. Can't say the same for the sword. Yes, Arthur's son has a name sword which is coincidentally the sword of Peter Pensive. But the change was a given.
Merlin was one challenge. I planned to use another body for his (the same king from Vikings but with another costume) but the picture just didn't work out. The one I chose... featured the man from the knees above. Which meant reconstruction for legs (which meant stealing the legs from Arthur's base - coincidentally it's always the same character!)... and the cloak. That was the true challenge! Also. I like how it turned out, but it just irks me that Colin doesn't look in the camera. But that picture was perfect and the result is fine. It did take me some tinkering to place the circlet but all in all I'm satisfied in how prince Merlin turned out. Bonus point for my headcanon marriage ring that didn't look good (the manip is too small for decent rings renderings), but I managed to add another from a jewelry maker that does rings in a style very similar to Ygraine's canon ring. Be sure to visit their Etsy and die. Ygraine's sigil, that replace the medallion the original body was wearing, is a given as well. Too bad we don't have a decent prop pic of it.
Now. Arthur. Bloody Arthur. Tinkering with the original body to change colors from blue to red was funny. The rest NOT. Replacing the original sword with Excalibur, which was mandatory, gave a mild result. Ygraine's ring is there but, given the small size, isn't looking good enough. And those were the easy things!
Because then it came the time to place bearded Bradley. Now. We do have few nice bearded Bradley pics, courtesy of the man himself, but they were mostly too small to work with in this manip - and/or in poses that wouldn't fit the body. You might say: there's Vikings: Valhalla. No, my friend. I downloaded ALL the screencaps available and very few worked, and - given the costume the character wears, there was never a inch of Bradley's bearded neck. In the end I worked with one of the pics Bradley released on Instagram. A pic with a black background in which bear and hair blended in. And an hard shadow on the right side of the face. A nightmare to cut, a nightmare to fix. And then the crown. The crown comes from The Hollow Crown. It looks similar but it isn't the same refurbished prop (different decorations, slightly different proportions of the fleur-de-lis). Years ago, when I saw the pics, I decided this would be older!Arthur's crown, for it's more regal with its fake gems and golden coating. There wasn't a pic with the proper perspective, so I had to tweak it a bit. It doesn't look awful, mind me, but I feel something's off with how it's placed on Bradley's head. I can't tell what, though - I used one of Arthur's coronation pics as reference while working, but still I can't fix what's wrong. In hindsight I wonder if I should've used a crowned Arthur pic with the original crown and be done with it.
And then Aithusa. We literally have two pics of her, unless you want to work with night/dark screencaps. I knew where I wanted to have her, no idea how to. Still not happy. Does she looks fake? Yes. But at this time I just gave up. Whatever. (Besides, the other options didn't work. Her standing promo pic at Arthur's feet? Her fore legs are in a different perspective. Her standing promo pic on Arthur's shoulders? There was enough space, her head would be cut out from the picture and there was no way to extend the base pic by 50px, that specific background is a bitch to work with).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits with links below the manip itself.
Crossposted: Livejournal, Deviantart, Tumblr.
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