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vojir ok SO. Could I get... a fullbod of Alala here, the Greek goddess of the battlecry (yes, her name is literally the battlecry itself. thanks ancient Greece, thanks. literally: alalalalalala!).
She's one of Ares (bloodlust)'s daughters and you can mostly do what you want with her? I envision a punky, angry lookin warrior princess type. Somewhat similar to San/Princess Mononoke but with red hair? But I'm not rigid on anything at all - draw whatever you want, it will be wonderful. You can choose to incorporate or disregard her apparel as you like!
And secondly, I would like a waist-up (I think it would suit him more than knee-up) of Taliesen. Warning for length of description.
Ignore the hat, that's just for Halloween~
Taliesen is named for a legendary Welsh character who I'm quite fixated on. The legend goes that he was born of a grain of corn swallowed by the witch Ceridwen in the form of a hen - the grain of corn was a boy who accidentally ingested a magic potion meant for her son, and who had transfigured himself and hiding from her in a grain store. After eating the corn, she became pregnant.
She planned to drown Taliesen, but when he was born, he was too beautiful and radiant a child for her to kill. So she put him to see in a wicker basket sealed with a skin. He floated in the Irish sea (the bit between Wales and Ireland) for seven years, and was eventually caught in a salmon weir and fished out by Prince Elffin. He named him Taliesen for his 'radiant brow' - it literally means that - and took him back to his castle. It gets super gay from here.
Elffin was like, renowned for having terrible luck up until that point. His Dad gave him a castle and a title, and the day after, the sea washed the castle away completely. He lost every battle he was in, and his salmon weirs were always empty (a big deal in medieval Wales, obvs). But the minute he lifted the basket containing the - now fullgrown, picture that - Taliesen from the sea, his luck changed - his traps were full, his weirs were full, his people's crops came in all bountiful and the like.
Taliesen, meanwhile, became a renowned bard, scholar and magician, adored by the people for his amazing songs and poetry, and unearthly beauty. And Elffin and Taliesen were like, bonded together, and went everywhere together, and
were boyfriends.
But one day an evil English king (aren't they all!) launched a surprise attack on his castle, and captured Elffin and took him away to England and locked him in a dungeon. When Taliesen found out, he rode straight off to rescue him, and struck up a bargain with King Evil; if he could best the king's bards in a contest of poetry, Elffin would be released and his castle and lands returned to him.
And the king is like, hahaha sure, ok pretty boy, my bards were SUPER EXPENSIVE I got them in London. Try and beat them.
And Taliesen of course kicks *** in the poetry contest and makes the king weep with the beauty of his words, but also, for good measure, he casts magic on the competing bards as they step forward, so that all they can do is pull stupid faces at the king.
So Elffin is released. But, in a tragic twist, the king (who is evil) decides Tal is
so good, and his own bards s
o disappointing, that he will only fulfil his end of the bargain if he gets to keep Taliesen as his court bard forever. And because Taliesen
loves Elffin (and owes him his life I suppose), he agrees, and Elffin is freed but Taliesen is imprisoned as the king's bard forever.
In some traditions he actually becomes Merlin later in life, but I feel like that's more medieval fanfiction by an overexcited bard than it is reliable mythology.
Anyway. That's Taliesen. I'm sorry for rambling, but I thought an idea of the legend would help with the character? I don't know what else to say. He played the harp and had a ... radiant forehead, which sounds kinda silly, but was seen as a sign that he was all-knowing from birth.
I basically just see him as an absurdly pretty, black haired, black eyed Welsh boy with intelligence all over him. Short-ish hair (not floppy medieval costume drama hair, anyway). :D I hope that makes sense?
I'm sure everything will be beautiful!
