༺ All Roads Lead To Apocrypha ༻

If you haven't checked it out, Island Reverie is free to read here.

This took me 30 hours. I wish I had done more but I ran out of time. I hope y'all still like it! 💚💚

Apocrypha-era Miraak || pre-corruption Miraak

Here's close ups of their faces :)) The ring on Lilli's necklace is one of Miraak's old ones. She has a habit of creating him newer, stronger ones to use while she wears his old ones! The scar-like pattern on his face (and right hand) is the Apocrypha corruption he once had now scarred/healed in his freedom on Nirn.

Possessive claims in many ways! 🤭 One the left is close ups of their wedding rings. I'm still not positive what material they had them of, but all the same, I wanted to add them in! And the burned hand mark the right! Oh! That's just another claim — specifically Miraak's hand burned into her through magic (oh, she definitely asked for it 😩)

SHE'S FINALLY ARRIVED. Presenting my Dragonborn OC Bijou Mothelette, also known as Moth or my Bug, representing her birth sign the Lover at the @tes-gala !

After reading about gloves as a symbol of the Lover in the Cult of Stars, I had an image in my head of a Renaissance inspired gown made of gloves. I wanted her outfit to be sensual and reminiscent of courtly intrigue, with elements from lore and the fun campy charm of the Met Gala. The bodice is made up of caressing hands donned in jewellery, with a skirt composed of satin gloves that flutter as she moves around the party. She also wears cream coloured satin gloves, crowned on her upper arms by puffed fabric— these aren't paned sleeves, but a dramatic accent of the glove. On her fingers she wears matching jewellery to the hands on her bust. Green is the colour I associate with Bijou the most, and chose it for smaller accents like her jewellery to match the green of her tattoos. Originally I intended for her dress to be black and white, but opted for indigo and purple for rendering purposes. Her makeup is a more extravagant take on her usual war paint— moth antennae and wings in purples, yellows and pinks to match the other colours in her dress. Her dress is made of silk, an important textile for her family. Her father Anatole Mothelette comes from a family of textile manufacturers in High Rock, known for their uniquely bred silk moths. When he left that life behind to join the Stonelore Circle, his expertise mixed with new teachings from the Druids. Bijou grew up harvesting spent silk cocoons, spinning wool, making textiles, sewing garments, and knitting. (If you see Bijou or her companions in something knit or crochet, she almost definitely made it herself to keep them warm during Skyrim's harsh winters!)

This dress is unlike anything she's ever made before, but she relished the opportunity to make something extravagant and step out of her comfort zone. I'm also a wee bit nervous about it, I hope it's on theme and just the right amount of camp/costume/playful! Bijou's pose is referenced from a Kaia Gerber red carpet photo. Thank you for reading through my design inspirations and lore dump on my precious Bug! I had a couple other ideas for her gown's colours, so I figured I'd share those as well. One wasn't colourful enough and hid the details of the bodice, the other was too colourful. However I think it makes Bijou look like a fairy princess. Maybe I'll save the colour palette for next year's gala.