#(<<< has a fave knight of the round table (and it's by a Lot))

[c0rpsedemon]

insane 2 me that eiyuu senki has a translation b4 fate/stay night does

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Review: The Bright Sword (Lev Grossman)

Rating: ★★★★/5

“Stories never really ended, they just rolled one into the next. The past was never wholly lost, and the future was never quite found. We wander forever in a pathless forest, dropping with weariness, as home draws us back, and the grail draws us on, and we never arrive, and the quest never ends. Till the Last Day, and maybe not even then. Who knows what stories they tell in Heaven.”

This was a heck of a journey, with so many little side quests and things going on and history to absorb.

Collum has always dreamed of being a Knight of the Round Table. His adolescence has been rough, and at the first chance he gets, he sets out from the Out Isles for Camelot, sure that his destiny awaits there. And sure enough, it does, but the road will be anything but easy, and Camelot will be nothing like he expects, for King Arthur is dead, and the future of Britain is uneasy.

I have never felt a really intense pull towards King Arthur and the stories of Camelot, but like anyone, they've been a part of the media I've consumed for my entire life. I always enjoy the stories, but I don't have a super deep understanding of the lore. This book, and the historical note at the end, made me curious about it, more so than any other book or show or movie ever has. It made me want to know what the *real* story was, even knowing that there really isn't one, that Arthur is a legend that has morphed and changed over time so much that we can never really know what reality was.

The format of this one is really fun and, despite its high page count, made it feel like a quicker read. I absolutely LOVED learning about the knights and their stories, how they came to be who they are, and why they make the decisions they do in Collum's time. Nimue was a highlight for me, as was Palomides, and though I really enjoyed Collum's story too, it was those interspersed short stories that kept me reading.

I also felt like I could sense the Magicians in certain ways that this was written. Collum has a lot of little side things happen, and especially when he spends a year down the well, all I could think of was Quentin and Eliot. I loved that part of things, because it just shows that Lev can write pretty much anything and infuse it with that same heart and quirkiness and depth of character.

The meandering nature of the story + the high page count are the only thing that keep me from giving it a full 5 stars. I really enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't reach that level of fave for me. I think anyone who's a King Arthur buff should pick this up, and it will undoubtedly stick with me; I won't be able to read anything else about Camelot or Arthur without thinking of this tome.

[omgsuperstarg]

My Knight in a Shining Ferrari Racesuit-Lewis Hamilton x West Indian Black! Reader

The author's note-This is my response to the bombshell that occurred last week. Sir Lewis flipped the table, SET IT ON FIRE AND THREW IT IN THE DUMPSTER. Legendary moves yet again.

The bombshell decision heard round the world, the landscape to all who knew it will forever be altered. Lewis Hamilton is parting ways with the team he aided in building and carried on his back for over a decade. You knew that this decision hurt him, especially for the team and fans who love and look up to him.

As you scroll through the internet and its various sites reporting on the news, you can definitely say he broke the internet. You slowly step outside to the porch of the temporary dwelling you're both retiring in as your mind drifts off and the memories begin to play like a home movie. Your time with him has been a short one since you fell in love and became a couple in the golden age of his career and you couldn't help but worry for his mental health. The last few years at Mercedes haven't been kind but, he stuck out knowing his team could've pulled through this time, he just couldn't make it.

You suddenly smell his scent as you can feel his tattooed arms wrapped around your frame. Your orbs slowly opened and you whispered

"How are you feeling lewis" you inquired.

"As well as I can be. I spoke with Toto he understood but I can see that he's a bit heartbroken along with everyone back at Brackley," he responds solemnly.

"I don't blame them. Their golden boy and son is leaving the nest. Moving on to greener pastures and I can't help but be scared for you'', you respond concerned.

"You have nothing to be scared of darling. ill be fine,'' he speaks determinedly.

How do you know that, You're going into a completely different ballgame here. Learning everything from scratch as well as earning your favor with the Tifosi whose loyalty to the team and Charles runs deep. I dont want you to be spinning Top in Mud'', you express finally turning your gaze to your love.

"I want you to get that 8th title you've been fighting for and end this career ON A HIGH and enjoy this sport for a little while longer because we all know it's only a matter of time...........", your voice trails off after that.

"I know that you're scared, but I have a lot of strength and can do this . All I want to do know is try to get through this season the best way we can and have one last hurrah before departing and beginning a whole new chapter. Besides, we can visit the factory ever so often as well as Toto & Susie, who always have space for us to visit them." He says hopeful.

"Alright, I can't say no to my Knight in a Mercedes Racesuit, soon to be Ferrari. Now common, I have your fave vegan cupcakes to cheer you up and a new toy for Roscoe.", in which the mini icon pet comes racing in to join you two on the balcony.

This may be a continental shift,but you prayed that the future is somewhat kind to the little life you've developed with him.

[purenguyening]

N A O L I C E + Q T

This one will definitely be long, eheh..

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

Bellow mostly applies to Touhou Project:

More character analysis based on how they appear in the games. It doesn't happen often but I think talk centered round how Touhou characters express themselves through spell cards can add a lot of depth that doesn't come through in fanworks.

More fanworks that draw from their historical inspiration (this limits to a small cast of characters but I feel like Historical Touhou is very rare...I also understand why this doesn't happen much mostly due to high barrier of entry and in general requiring more work.)

Also a huge fan and will always welcome Touhou designs that pull from the artist's nationality. It's a fun twist and I'm always impressed when they incorporate design elements from the original outfit into the clothes.

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Sakuro and Cleru during my Summon Knight: Swordcraft Story playthrough made me laugh a lot. Sakuro is a very, very silly Craftlord. They have a very similar dynamic to Steven and Brendan's relationship from Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (though I feel like Emerlad is probably the better fit to their dynamic).

There's a few others but Giyuu/Tanjirou and Sabito/Tanjirou are on my mind because of [this fanart]

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

Alright, I had to have Youtube randomly shuffle my Summer Recap but it pulled up Fifty Fifty's Cupid and it just reminds me of Devil Survivor as a whole for the sole reason I read all eight volumes while listening to this song on loop at 1.25x speed. It's really funny of all the songs I put on loop throughout the summer, it happened to pick one I actually have some association with a fandom....

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

Major spoilers for Swordcraft Story: I really like Ureksa a lot as a character, he's portrayed in a pretty sympathetic manner and I think how he patches things up with Cleru/Pratty is really refreshing. While I don't love the suicide bait and switch, it really does feel clear to me even if he made some pretty bad decisions, I do think he's a kind person at heart. He's a very prickly person, but I think it makes sense from his design (a lot of spear specialists tend to not be very direct, which makes sense for their fighting style, the game specifically sets up spear users to fight at a range).

Now that I think about it, Matsuoka Rin (Free!), is also someone I warmed to eventually because I liked seeing him be a mentor to Aiichirou and Momotaro. I think that's part of his character design though...

As an aside, it is possible to send me this prompt multiple times since there's very few characters I actively hate and I always have something tucked away in the back of my mind. Most of the time is me wanting to comment their role in the story, but I think that can be read as me recognizing their purpose....

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

Not tumblr, but on Twitter, I do think it's really easy to lose interest in fandom because it's very easy to fall into negative spirals. There is a general shift in fandom overall that made me feel the need to keep my interests separate with side blogs and I tend to be more active through a very closed off account on Twitter.

Maybe one day I'll be courageous and blog about my interests from my one main blog, but that's still an option off the table for now.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Toyosatomimi no Miko/Soga no Tojiko the popular fandom portrayal just gets on my nerves and I find it really annoying when sometimes posts still appear because the ship name is not mentioned anywhere in the tweet. I do have a specific portrayal but I'm hesitant to say if's romantic, but i do think their dynamic is interesting, I just can't bring myself to think of it as romantic.

This might be more closer to me complaining I wish I had post block on Twitter/Tumblr Mobile.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

I think a long time ago I made a joke about how the fanon portrayal of Shinichi drinking coffee is a subtle way for him to drive away people bugging him. (Caffiene is a natural insecticide, hence the word play). Truth be told I'm not 100% sure now if that was the inspiration for this post I made...

I think maybe you can still find it in the KaiShin discord, but I felt like there's a lot of innuendo to be had knowing Toichi and Yuusaku having a back and forth with just a question mark and exclamation point. (The symbol that combines both the question mark and exclamation point is called an interrobang and it looks like this: ‽)

I don't think either of them spawned too much in the fandom, but I realize my sort of humor needs like a short essay just to explain the context and this is probably why I don't really share my more cracky/insane interpretations....

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

I think the only true fandom I've completely abandoned is Harry Potter? Aside from the obvious reasons, I've learned I still do really love the concept of magic, but I would rather have it manifest itself in different ways. I love fantasy and magic, but I think I end up preferring it to be a back drop or the setting rather than the primary focus. I guess it's more closer to, I like it more as an aesthetic, but dislike it when it becomes the center focus.

Even more controversial fandoms I never can quite fully bring myself to fully abandon (the one that mainly comes to mind is Hetalia). A lot of other fandoms that are less contentious I tend to just cast aside for a while but after a few years I end up picking it back up again for one reason or another.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

Listen, I know it's basically confirmed now that Futo killed Tojiko as of Strange Creators of Outer World, I still refuse to believe Futo actually did it. The closest thing I'll compromise on is Futo's definition of killing Tojiko is "she was not present to stop the murder." That's about it.

I'm basically a Futo apologist and I'm sorry you had to find out this way.

[midnight-in-town]

You have me intrigued, what is Kaamelot? From your tags, it seems related to the Arthurian legend. Feel free to ignore this if you're too busy.

Hey Anon! Ah, that's okay. :) Kaamelott is a French television series indeed based on the Arthurian Legends, which aired between 2005 and 2009. I think it’s probably the largest and most popular fictional work in France, with an enormous fandom. :))

To give you a bit of a background, the title of the series is a word play on both “Camelot”, King Arthur’s legendary court (also written “Kamaalot” in old French), and “camelote” a french word which means “worthless junk” because the series is mostly a comedy.

The initial gist is pretty common (though the story later adds some pretty neat twists to the plot): Arthur frees Excalibur, becomes King and tries to follow the path of the Grail Quest that the Gods intended for him as their Chosen One, but some of his knights are quite idiotic and he is constantly exasperated by their shenanigans. xDD

However, the story starts to take a really dark turn after a few seasons, with King Arthur slowly losing sight of his path and being unable to deal with the pressure of being the Gods’ Chosen One, falling into a severe depression (I’m summarizing a lot here). During that time, he has a falling-out with Lancelot, his most trusted advisor and friend, who foils him on many aspects. 

Eventually, after trying to kill himself, King Arthur gives up on Excalibur and his throne and disappears, while Lancelot becomes the official King and also a terrifying tyrant, ravaging the country and destroying the Round Table. 

This series is known for its hilarious dialogues with slightly stupid characters who have a lot of strong qualities, making them very likable, as well as for serious reflections on themes like war and depression. 

Personal fave for probably most of the fandom as well as for me, with a lot of development over the seasons, is Guenièvre. She’s Arthur’s wife, who was forced into a political wedding with him at the beginning of the series and, while they are never physically intimate with each other (for a reason that is explained by the end of the TV series), they still develop a strong bond that Lancelot, who is obsessively in love with Guenièvre, is very jealous of. 

(look at her, she’s so adorable, I would fight for her)

Anyway, in July 2021, a movie called Kaamelott the first chapter (first part of a trilogy) was released. The story happens ten years after Lancelot becomes King: as he mercilessly still hunts for Arthur's former allies, bleeding the Kingdom dry with the help of the Saxons, a bounty hunter randomly comes across the man who helped Arthur escape ten years ago.

Arthur is finally brought back against his will to the kingdom, which his previous allies and the people take as an omen that he’s here to regain his throne, despite Arthur claiming that he doesn’t care and that he’s leaving once more. It’s eventually upon learning that Lancelot jailed Guenièvre away from the world that he begrudgingly gets involved with the rebellion taking place against Lancelot’s government.

That’s about it! The fandom was eagerly waiting for the first movie for a decade and the movie did fantastically well upon coming out in theaters, pleasing the series’ fans. I think the series is available with subtitles on Netflix America (or so I’ve read somewhere) if you’re from there or can use a VPN. :))

I hope I answered your question! Have a good weekend Anon!

[creacherkeeper]

happy sleepover saturday!! who's your fav character in arthurian legend? what's your favorite movie that makes no goddamn sense?

oh this one is Targeted

okay so first my fave and then my fave obscure/underappreciated character

fave is of course my boy gawain. i want to put him in a jar and shake him up until he cries. like. my man is so interesting. all the people close to him agree that he's super noble and kind and goodhearted and just. but also he has a sense of humor!! and even more interesting than that is he's willing to throw himself under the bus for the betterment of others

in sir gawain and the green knight, when the green knight comes to challenge someone in a duel to the death, gawain makes a big show about how he's Clearly the most suited one there and how it would be silly to challenge anyone else and no one could really take on the green knight except for him. he makes himself look like a completely pompous asshole. but also that spares literally everyone else from having to rise to the challenge of facing a very terrifying and clearly magical foe. everyone gets off scott free by saying "ugh big headed gawain showing off again, lets all watch him get his ass kicked" while they can secretly be relieved none of them had to step in, or WORSE say no to the challenge and make king arthur and his court look weak. by making himself look like a dick (something everyone there knows he isnt) he lets everyone save face while also protecting them from almost certain death and he does it SO well that the green knight is none the wiser. like. big brain moves only from my boy gawain

in a COMPLETELY different tone he's such a fucking horse girl and in one of the stories (i cant remember which one. yvain maybe???) gringolet his horse gets stolen and the man just like lies on the ground crying about it. he loves his horse so much!!!! and its so funny!!!! he's so strong and brave and his horse gets stolen and its full toddler hours from noble knight gawain. the other knights are like my man you gotta pull yourself together and gawain is like *snot and tears* MY BEST FRIEND GRINGOLET

now my favorite obscure/underappreciated character from the arthurian canon is moriaen. i dont blame people for not knowing him because his story is very rare and hard to find but more people should!! he's the only knight of the round table who's canonically black and he's really fascinating

its very clear in the text that, while there's some stuff thats obviously MMMM,,, today, it was the author at the times attempt to be really progressive and accepting. moriaen has very dark skin and a lot of the characters in the story have never met a black man before and are originally very scared of him. however in his story moriaen comes to be known as the MOST christian and noble of all the knights of the round table (in a time where christian = good and moral) and the people who were originally afraid of him are so impressed by his good heartedness, morality, and strength, that they come to value and praise him. also his father, who is a white knight of the round table, actually ends up going back to [unspecified country in northern africa] to pursue justice for his mother's kingdom. like its very elementary social justice kind of stuff today but for the medieval period this was RADICAL and its really really cool to me

on the topic, for the movie question, everyone should watch king arthur legend of the sword (2017) because like. is it good. no. does the story make any sense. no. is it historically accurate or faithful to the canon. god not even a little. does it fuck severely for no goddamn reason and go so fucking hard at every opportunity? GOD. YES. its genuinely a piece of ART and i mean that in the most derogatory and highly affectionate way possible. it makes no goddamn sense but its SUCH a good time everyone should watch it

[estrel]

(Okay well. Guess I don't need to put anon on when I send you asks now sjdjsjs)

bUt hi !! So you said you also finished Merlin yesterday, and I was wondering what your favorite part of the finale was, if you have one ! I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day, this show has ruined me :') oH ALSO, do you have a favorite Knight of The queer Round Table ?

I don't have a sign off anymore so uhh,, see ya :]

hey!! ooohhh god, favorite part. when i think 'favorite' i think good and happy but alas the finale was PAINFUL and HEARTBREAKING ddhcbhdbcjs but !! i think probably when gwen realized merlin was a sorcerer. i'd been missing their friendship in the last two seasons, and it felt like from the beginning she's always had this sort of unconditional love for him and i'm really glad that she reacted the way she did!! also all of arthur's lovesick looks @ merlin but i feel like that's a given. AND YES I DO HAVE A FAVORITE. GWAINE MY BELOVED. OOOUHGHHHSHH I'LL CRY. he's SO. he's. *clenches fists* yeah. i love him a lot, possibly like my fave character in the show like. out of all of them. also love and miss lancelot though ): tbh i think after lancelot died, gwaine should have known about merlin's powers and then he'd have a knight friend who Knows again, yknow? yeah. anyway

PS. PLS KEEP YOUR SIGN OFF 🥺 its fun (u dont gotta but!)

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

Um um I love your writing

Pls comfort hug for merlin and gaius ??

I love them v much. Trash dad and adopted son are my fave relationships always :)

Also can it be hurt/comfort also bc I Cannot be Stopped w the hurting merlin as long as someone HELPS him after

Pls and thank !!

🥺🥺🥺Thank you so much my dude!

Please know i do not agree with a lot of what Gaius says, especially about a certain knight, but after all he is, as you so excellently say, trash :)

Thank you for the prompt!

Read on Ao3!

Prompts are here

When Merlin came back from work, he stormed straight past Gaius with a face like stone, slamming the door to his room behind him with such force the walls shook.

Gaius decided it would be best to leave him for a while.

About half an hour later when he did knock gently and nudge the door open, Merlin sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall. The candle on his bedside table lit him oddly, casting his darkly glaring face in shadow and making him look far older than he was. The air around him seemed to crackle with barely contained energy.

“Merlin?” Gaius ventured cautiously, hating that he felt a little afraid of him. “Are you all right?”

A tight nod.

“Is everything all right?”

A snort.

“Is it Agravaine?”

A bitter, bitter laugh. “No, everything’s…” The warlock seemed to change his answer mid-sentence: “Shit, actually. Isn’t it Gaius?” He turned to him, a singularly humourless smile stretching across his face. “Tell me one thing that’s good.”

Gaius sighed sadly. Things had been very difficult for Merlin recently, what with Gwen’s banishment and the Lancelot incident. All the worry of Agravaine and Morgana, and now this new princess too. “May I sit down?” he asked, still cautious of his ward’s bristling power.

Merlin jerked a nod, and Gaius went over to him slowly and sat down beside him. “Well, there’s Arthur, isn’t there?” he offered, trying to cajole him into a fond eye-roll or good natured insult.

Instead Merlin let out a near hysterical laugh. The crackling seemed to intensify for a moment, and Gaius had to fight not to shift instinctively away from him. “Right. Of course.”

“Merlin, did something happen?”

Merlin continued staring grimly for a moment before something in his face cracked right down the middle, and he buried it in his hands.

“He- he threatened to banish me.”

Gaius sighed. “Oh Merlin.”

“Me. After all I’ve done for him.” His voice was as raw with emotion as it had been flat a minute ago. “Why am I here,” he demanded, lowering his hands. “Why? Gwen never did a thing wrong... It doesn’t make any sense.” Then, hopelessly: “But I can’t leave.”

“Lancelot didn’t die for you to abandon your destiny,” Gaius pointed out quietly.

Merlin exhaled a great, weary sigh. “No.” Tears glittered in his eyes. “He’s all I have left, you see,” he said quietly. “Without him I am no one, yet I am nothing to him.”

“That’s not true,” Gaius argued. “The king- he has a lot on his mind…” He trailed off, because he couldn’t really find a decent excuse.

“I’m not going to work tomorrow,” Merlin said abruptly. “If he- I don’t know what I’d- I’m not going to work tomorrow."

“Well, you’ve certainly earned a day off,” Gaius said, keeping his voice light even as he saw the unnerving hardness settle back over Merlin’s face. Gaius would tread very, very carefully if he were Arthur.

As quickly as it had returned, the hardness left again, and Merlin’s face crumpled. His magic stopped crackling, he had gone very quickly from an imposing warlock to an exhausted young man.

He hadn’t cried. Not when Gwen had left, not when he’d returned from burying Lancelot. But now sobs wracked his thin form, and Gaius wrapped his arms round him and held him as he wept.

“I’m all alone,” he sobbed. “I’ve got no one, no one.”

“Shhh Merlin, you know that’s not true,” Gaius soothed. “Whatever he says, you’ve got Arthur, and the knights-“ Though his greatest and surest protector was gone- “And, Merlin, whatever happens-“ He prised him gently away from him for a moment and set his hands on his shoulders, looking into his ward’s tearstained face- “Whatever happens, you’ve got me.”

[brw]

Do you have any Hank Pym comic recs 🥺🥺🥺

YES I DO! HANK PYM IS A PARTICULAR FAVE OF MINE HE'S. VERY NICE.

uh honestly i liked his early avengers stuff! though there's that Period Typical Sexism™ and once you get to his Mental Breakdown™ a lot of Period Typical Ableism™ and pseudo-psychology so fhdhhfhd it's kind of hit and miss tbh

i really liked him in west coast avengers, that's when he joined not as ant-man or giant-man or goliath or yellowjacket, but just as hank pym! issue 6 & 7 are particularly good, ultron is a Good Guy™ in it and tries to build a relationship w/ his dad and its honestly kind of sweet! also i enjoy his relationship with tiagra! trigger warning for issue #17 though, in it hank attempts s//icide so 😬 but yeah he was good there.

avengers a.i for sure! it's also one of my fave vision appearances and victor mancha is in it too and it's just generally fun chaos! it also has my favourite hank pym backstory, where his parents aren't abusive but they also don't know what to do with him or how to accommodate him and as a neurodiverse person it's really good and speaks to me! its also where he is portrayed as bipolar and tbh i think that in comic book standards? it's really well done and good rep as far as comics go :>

avengers academy is also really good! he's a teacher for kids and it's just very good and sweet and fun and i enjoy it, it doesn't always focus on hank but it's a good story and shows old and new superheros to get in to! laura kinney also features and it's where hank's son/godson william is introduced :>

he also plays a semi prominent role in avengers forever i believe? which is only 12 issues long so that's a good thing to read. it's been a Hot Sec but he has to work w/ his yellowjacket persona from back in the day (context; bc of the pseudo-psychology yellowjacket was like a fragmented personality of hank's, like originally they were going for a dissociative identity disorder which has since been changed into bipolar but yeah that's why they're Different People™ in comic world)

avengers: united they stand is an au based on one of the cartoons but they are focused on hank and are a good story! vision & ultron have some good moments in it too that are enjoyable. the outfits uh fucking suck tbh but its generally nice and lighthearted. and short if memory serves well djdjdjd only like 6 issues or something

hank appears in many tales to astonish issues, but issue 47 is my particular favourite! he's got some nice moments with jan & is shook up over an ant and yeah it's good fun!

and finally to stop this getting too long, ant-man: season one reintroduces his backstory for a modern age! i could be crazier abt some of the retcons it makes w/ his science and stuff but on a whole its a good reintroduction of hank for a modern time!

and um yeah!! that's it for hank pym, he's honestly A Vibe. um my advice is = stay away from remender & slott (slott is the one who did that stupid "it's on bitch" moment with reed which 🙄 they were friends in college they made a dorky club called "atomic knights of the round table" why would they fight!!!) and also some people liked him under byrne when he was a fully fledged member of the west coast avengers roster, i personally... detest everything byrne does but you may enjoy!!

[tomlinsun]

Girl can you please rec me your top 10 fics (larry) ?? I'm feeling nostalgic

ur wish is my command (sorry it literally took a week to answer this lmao)

first things first my fave fic ever in history has its own spot outside the list bc i can: Escapade by @haydolce. words can’t express how much i love that fic ok, i’ve read it so many times i can probs recite it in my sleep.

now on to my top 10 larry fics (in no particular order bc i can’t decide):

✰ walk my days on a wire (38k) ⇢ When actor Louis Tomlinson used to daydream about dating Harry Styles, this is not what he had in mind. (fake pretend relationship)

✰ with your love we could breathe underwater (28k) ⇢ AU where Harry is a mermaid, Louis is a human, and they both discover a lot more than they anticipated.

✰ feel the chemicals burn in my bloodstream (123k) ⇢ Harry is a journalist with a lot of secrets and Louis is the future king of the United Kingdom; they live together for 60 days.

✰ adore you (66k) ⇢ Against his wishes, Harry spends the holidays at his family’s summer estate, and is reluctantly pulled into a courtship he didn’t ask for. Harry doesn’t want to get married, but Louis does. They don’t fit, but then again they really, really do.

✰ say hallelujah, say goodnight (110k) ⇢ Louis is an angel who is just a little too bad to be good, Harry is a demon who is just a little too good to be bad, and they’re both a little too in love to be impartial when angels and demons go to war.

✰ in this light (99k) ⇢ Harry is a wardrobe stylist who likes to live in the moment, and Louis is a popstar who looks dreamy in double breasted jackets. Harry never stood a chance.

✰ to lure a hummingbird (you had me moonstruck) (81k) ⇢An enemies-to-lovers fic where Harry and Louis are neighbours who are forced to get along due to the inconvenience (or convenience) of a broken elevator.

✰ untangle me (103k) ⇢ The one where Harry and Louis finally get it right.

✰ my heart, in deadly rhythm (42k) ⇢ Spies!AU in which Liam is the Wade to Louis’ Kim Possible, Zayn seduces people for intel, Niall is an expert at blowing things up, and Harry is more than a bit famous in his particular field… or infamous, actually. And Louis? Well, Louis just wishes people would quit trying so bloody hard to kill him all the time.

✰ loathly (11k) ⇢ An Arthurian Legend/Faerie AU based on ‘The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle’, wherein Louis is a Knight of the Round Table and Harry is not what he seems.

[wernerherzogs]

there it is, finally! the list of my favourite hl fics of All Time.

disclaimer: some of these i have read only once and forever ago, but i’ve got them saved in a folder, and i vaguely remember them Meaning something to me when i read them, but basically -- if you read something from this list and end up not enjoying it, sorry not sorry! i operate on nostalgia sometimes, it’s possible i wouldn’t be that into some of them now, too, but whatevs!

i made myself stick to one work per author, otherwise this would be endless, but if an author’s nickname is bolded, it means i’ve had the time to read all of their works, and recommend them all.

i’m fairly certain i’m forgetting stuff (especially those stories that i’ve never saved/bookmarked), so i’ll try to keep this updated fairly regularly -- whenever i remember an old fave, or fall in love with something new. i’ll make sure to reblog this post then.

the order is completely random. this is a list where every work carries equal significance, even if not always for the same reasons. it was supposed to be alphabetical, but turns out i’m far too lazy for that. (shocker.) i took the liberty of shortening some of the original summaries, because this post is going to be Too Long anyway. rip.

enjoy! hopefully.

***

blackjacks running down my back | sequel by dangerbears (+ lj) (~10,000) 

AU. university stuff. best friend stuff. music stuff. sappy stuff.

try to not remember (rather than forget) by hereforlou (59,602)

He hadn’t left, but that’s what it had felt like most of the time. Just as if one day Harry had up and left him.

(Or, the one where Harry wakes up.)

Like Real People Do by moodlighting (58,469)

Harry is Louis' soulmate but Louis isn't Harry's - it takes Harry a while to figure it all out.

a prayer for which no words exist by Eliane (34,313)

Louis is a few seconds away from blowing up a rather important section of the New York subway when he sees Harry for the first time.

Who Painted the Moon Black by throughthedark (requires an ao3 account) (95,697)

“People died,” Harry whispers so quietly Louis strains to hear. “People died, and I killed some of them. How does life just go on after something like that?”

Louis shakes his head. “I don't know. It just does.”

hold on to your stars before they fade by adelagia (31,740)

The first time they meet, it is sunrise, and Harry is naked.

(Or, the one where Harry is a lost fairy, and Louis takes him in.)

Lambing Season by HelloAmHere (24,544)

“Shut up,” Louis says, an involuntary grin tugging at his mouth. It’s not every boy who will stand in the middle of a cold barn in a suit and play musician trivia. “I’m Louis.”

//lambing season brings sleep deprivation, noisy alarms, cold barns, demanding animals, and warm strangers.

Wild And Unruly by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews (123,655)

Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

Walk That Mile by purpledaisy (149,570)

A Route 66 AU where falling in love was never part of the plan.

the dead things we carry by MediaWhore (25,316)

“Oh,” Mrs. Padley says, clearly taken aback. “You two know each other?”

There are some things people never fully come home from. Until, one day, if they’re lucky, home comes to them.

i believe him when he tells of loving me by bitterlee (28,894)

louis doesn't remember harry. harry takes him home.

Come Along With Me by darkofthenights (28,032) (requires an ao3 account)

An AU where Harry is a magician and Louis doesn't believe in such a thing.

Dust Off My Wings by eravain (19,882) (+ download)

AU where the boys are cottage neighbours, Louis develops an obsession with the mysterious boy next door, and the end of summer is really just the start of everything else.

Boys of Summer by sharktoothedfawnskinned (49,545)

What he wants is for this to be a forever thing, not someplace Harry spent the summer once.  What he wants is for this to be more than a memory.

(New Jersey beach town AU.)

ever ever after by hattalove (22,645)

“Happily ever after, huh?” he can’t help asking, in a voice that’s softer than he’d like. Harry seems to sense the fragility of the moment. He settles down, containing the excited flailing of his hands, and mirrors Louis’s position. “Of course,” he says. “Don’t you have those here?” Louis bites his lip. “M’ afraid not. It doesn’t really work out that way for most people.”

or, an enchanted AU. sort of.

heroes of the orange skies by queenmcgonagall (30,656)

Louis likes bathroom walls and Sharpies, Harry likes metal, Zayn likes Liam and Liam likes Zayn, Niall is wise, and they all go to the zoo.

Empty Skies by green_feelings (134,048)

For three years, Harry has been running from his past. Now, he is moving to London and pledges to fulfil his only dream -- making it big in the music industry. Not everyone has a place, though, and the competition is tough. As is his past catching up on him.

Louis is part of the biggest boy band of the world, and getting there had meant a lot of hard work, as well as sacrificing parts of his heart and soul. He's still happy. Maybe not as happy as he could be, but who is he to complain?

nocturne in silver and blue by tinyweirdloves (97,594)

louis is a fallen star and harry brings him home. told over the course of fourteen years.

life does not go backward, nor does it tarry in yesterday by bottomlinsons (4568)

Louis and Harry are Knights of the Round Table and Camelot has a dragon problem. (Arthurian AU)

In This Light by exhilarated (99,234)

Harry is a wardrobe stylist who likes to live in the moment, and Louis is a popstar who looks dreamy in double breasted jackets. Harry never stood a chance.

our little corner of the world by brownheadedstranger (29,913)

AU. Louis is stuck in his mom's diner for the summer. Harry is the line cook with a pickup truck.

Every Arrow That I Aim Is True by estrella30 (24,890)

Louis doesn’t say anything again so Harry whispers, “Just stay here with me for a while, yeah? I’ll take care of you.”

Louis is quiet. He never picks his head up, but Harry can see the pillow move from where he’s nodding and his fingers tighten around Harry’s. “Yeah,” Louis says. “Yeah, all right.”

i'm not calling you a liar (just don't lie to me) by hazmesentir (33625) (requires an ao3 account)

Louis can't stop lying. Harry runs a farm. Somehow, he squeezes the truth out of him.

An Eternal Enigma by goldenquill (67,478) (+ download)

Louis is a reluctant king with a head full of fairy tales, and Harry is an emotionally challenged musical prodigy. Zayn is a hopelessly romantic painter, Liam is the castle’s resident ghost with sporadic amnesia, and Niall is the accidental head of the kingdom’s most prevalent spy ring. Very loosely based on the lives of Ludwig II of Bavaria and Richard Wagner.

all my love was down in a frozen ground by navigator (16,033)

Louis goes to the woods.

AU very loosely inspired by the creation of Bon Iver's first record.

walk my days on a wire by sunshiner (38,586)

“We’re here because we have inventive managers,” Louis says, giving Harry’s leg a little nudge with his knee, but all that’s going around in his head is, I think I'd be in the same spot in every possible universe.

or, when actor Louis Tomlinson used to daydream about dating Harry Styles, this is not what he had in mind.

take my hand (and my heart and soul) by bananasandboots (45,623)

"I – yeah. Hi," Louis finally answers, slowly, awkwardly. "I um. Sorry. I heard about your accident. You're alright?"

Or, the one where Harry hasn't spoken to his best friend in sixteen months and can't remember why.

These Inconvenient Fireworks by wontsitstill (190,000) (+ download)

Future AU in which nobody tries out for X Factor but the boys end up finding one another eventually anyway. Louis is a jaded bastard who owns a cat named Duchess and teaches drama to teenagers, Harry is an idealistic aspiring photographer/part-time footy coach, Zayn teaches English lit and wears leather jackets, Liam saves people from burning buildings, and Niall is Niall.

things have gotten closer to the sun by starseas (49,276)

when a solar flare is announced to end the world in twelve days, harry reunites with the people that he used to know better than the back of his own hand.

Harry Styles Cooks... by sunsetmog (ongoing)

In which Louis Tomlinson can’t cook, there’s a very special shower curtain, and Harry Styles used to be a baker.

Or: Louis owns all of Harry Styles’ cookbooks, and he never intends to cook a single thing out of any of them.

101 Uses For Dragon Eggs by colazitron (42,249)

Louis just got back from a three week assignment yesterday and today was only supposed to be paperwork he needs to do to finish that up, before he was going to leave early and enjoy the weekend. And then Zayn, the traitor, emailed him about a bloke who was rumoured to have found a dragon egg and apparently live tweeting the whole thing.

Don't Want Shelter by FullOnLarrie (ongoing)

Louis and Harry have known each other all their lives. Friends as children, they danced around each other as teenagers, and have spent the last twenty-five years either screaming at each other or not speaking at all. Except for that one time ten years ago…

When Hurricane Nicole threatens the coast, they end up stuck together in their families' old vacation home that they begrudgingly co-own.

Escapade by dolce_piccante (requires an ao3 account) (146,241) (+ download)

In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He's rich. He's handsome. He's reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for.

Whether Clouds or Clear Skies by onewasturning (25,861)

“Harry,” Louis says, “last night I had an experience bordering on profound.”

“You’re making it sound like you did something sexual with my muffin,” Harry says.

Or, Louis gets into the habit of stealing baked goods while Harry’s busy keeping tabs on the weather.

the dead of july by whimsicule (117,446)

Being an Avenger means continuing to be Captain America and smiling and being honorable for the public and Harry does his best. But it doesn’t give him time to figure out who he is supposed to be once he takes off his uniform and puts the shield to the side. Just being Harry had always involved Louis, and Harry fears he doesn’t know how to exist without him.

or: Harry is Captain America, and Louis’ been dead for 70 years.

In the Clear by aclosetlarryshipper (80,751)

After Princess Gemma and her fiance Niall are captured by the witch from across the land, Harry and Louis are forced on a journey together to save them.

Featuring Lumberjack Liam, Magical Zayn, unsolicited tattoos, and untangling the past.

Also known as The Larrietale.

a house built out of stone by robpatFF (22,486)

Louis has a used bookshop and Harry has a habit of claiming things that don't belong to him.

out of the blue corner by fallingaway (85,422)

Louis is a boxer banned because of doping. Harry is a journalist following the story.

with your love we could breathe underwater by luminescents (28,542)

Harry’s brow furrows, a look of confusion spreading over his face. “But I am real. I exist, see,” he says, raising a hand out of the water and wiggling his fingers at Louis.

AU where Harry is a mermaid, Louis is a human, and they both discover a lot more than they anticipated.

dancing in the dark by clairdeloune (74,709)

Harry comes out and it brings more than he's expected.

Untangle Me by suicxne (103,000) (requires an ao3 account)

Or the one where Harry and Louis finally get it right.

California Sold by isthatyoularry (123,536)

Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever.

A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends.

you came into my life by disgruntledkittenface (57,180)

When the Queer Eye cast and crew sweep into Louis’ small town and fire station to make over his best friend and coworker Liam, Louis’ carefully constructed walls start to fall down and he has to face his fears – and the only guy he’s ever been able to see a future with.

like cabbages and kings by you_explode (60,875)

When Louis was a kid, he had a series of very vivid dreams about a place called Wonderland.

Loyal Knight and True by rainbowninja167 (51,569)

Oh, Harry thinks, mouth open on a silent gasp. This is how it happens.

In contemporary Oxford, Harry Styles and Niall Horan run a magical bookshop, unbowed by an entire academic establishment that insists magic doesn't even exist.

for now (and forever) by orphan_account (sadly can’t remember the actual author) (83,283)

"Listen to yourself," Harry laughs, shaking Louis' shoulders. "Don't you think it's a bit weird to con the country you're supposed to be serving?"

Louis is going into the Army, Harry is going nowhere, and there's nothing like a little identity fraud between friends.

Say You'll Remember by whisperdlullaby (93,521)

au. louis and harry are best mates that are only half aware that they're also soulmates. alternatively, louis goes to university and harry travels the world, and they always manage to find their way back to each other.

takes place over nine years, in which they love and hurt, make mistakes and learn, and above all, grow.

Faking It by TheCellarDoor (46,173)

A uni AU in which Louis has been Harry’s best friend since he offered him cubed fruit on the playground, and they spend more time cuddling in their dorm beds than they do apart, but it’s not like that. Or is it?

Battle Cry by Velvetoscar (21,377)

Harry's got a heart, a soul, and a band. And with that, obviously, comes a future paved in great success, right? So all he has to do is win the Battle of the Bands, right? Simple.

What's not so simple is the fact that Louis Tomlinson is his biggest competition. And also happens to be made of everything that Harry's ever wanted.

Take Me Where I Cannot Stand by LoadedGunn (13,988)

Harry can agree that being husbands in space presents some challenges. Sometimes they have to escape mindless cannibals, sometimes they're being held hostage, sometimes Louis doesn't want Harry to get pregnant, and sometimes someone slips on a banana peel. But that's all part of the fun, isn't it? They could have been juggling geese.

(Firefly AU where Harry and Louis are co-pilots in life.)

Just Me, You, And This Box of Matches by tomlinsunshine (87,020) (requires an ao3 account)

Louis is fairly sure that his new neighbour is going to destroy him. And also their apartment building, and the dumpsters outside, and all the forests within a thirty mile radius. But. Mostly him.

you're an egg if im an egg by giraffesaretall (1252)

au where one direction are eggs.

[omgbrainstorming]

John Rogers’ Facebook Live

For those of you who didn’t know, this evening on the UPtv Facebook page, John Rogers (writer and producer of The Librarians and Leverage) did a Live and answered fans’ questions.

Here’s a recap of what happened (it’s a freaking poem, sorry!):

The comments in square brackets [like these] are my comments.

It started with some good old awkward silence (because few people were there and UPtv wanted for him to wait).

He said hi to everyone and marvelled at the fact that he had The Librarians fans watching him from all over the world (Please don’t ask me what time is it where I live). Someone had mistaken him for an actor and he thanked them, but said that they were mistaking him for someone way cooler than him.

In the meantime, he had a record on the wall behind him and someone asked him about it, he proudly took it in front of the camera to show that it was a 45 Bohemian Rapsody record (he’s a big Queen fan).

He reminded all of you lucky folks in the US that UPtv is not only showing all the episodes with new material every Wednesday, this weekend there will be a The Librarian marathon (the 3 movies plus the pilot and interviews with the cast), so don’t forget!

What was his fave moment from the show?

One of his fave was the videogame episode written for John Kim, the idea of the episode wasn’t new, but it was supposed to be a sort of redemption arc for Ezekiel. John Kim wasn’t a seasoned actor when he came from Australia to film the show and he really gave his best in this episode, thanks to - John Rogers added - the help of John Larroquette (Jenkins) and Rebecca Romijn (Eve Baird) who really helped him a lot. 

He added that every single moment spent watching John Larroquette was a great moment [and can’t we Larroquetthishes understand], also watching Rebecca and Noah interact was really funny because Flynn had been really unlucky, romantically speaking, on the show and watching him being pulled out of his shell because of Eve, his equal, was a gift, especially when they figured out that Rebecca had a lot of comedian potential and they learned to tap into that. He liked working with Jonathan Frakes, and when Christian Kane finally got to fight in season 3 and 4 (they intentionally held him back). Overall too many great moments because it was a great cast. 

Please talk about your experience as a writer and producer for The Librarians.

He wasn’t one of the original writers, he just hopped on the first and third movie of The Librarian because Flynn is a polymath and he (John Rogers) has a degree in phisics and could help with lots of science and cool knowledge stuff. After Leverage ended they managed to get the rights to make a tv show out of The Librarian, they had schedule problems because Noah was on Falling Skies, so they needed to make it quickly, they couldn’t replace him because he was a franchise character, so they came up with the idea of a team looking back at the first movie [when there’s that loooooooooong queue of people on the stairs that are trying to get the job like Flynn] and thought “Who are these people who had a shot of living this magical life?” and just one replacement Librarian would have been constantly compared to Flynn, while a team gave them the possibility to have the format change they were looking for. So then they sat down to think how Flynn would change and how these new characters would change. John Rogers thought about the fact that throughout the movies a big theme was loneliness, because this dream job made you isolated, and Noah was all for playing a Flynn who had been through a lot of action in those 10 years and was a different guy. 

What was your inspiration for the episodes you wrote?

They put togethere a lot of ideas, mainly thinking “What is a great myth, urban legend, urban lore, etc.? And how do we twist it?” Because us, the fans, watch a lot of genre entertainment, so we were probably ahead of them in terms of knowing the subject. So they decided to start with “something like the 90s X-Files, something that the audience’s expecting, and twist it!”. He makes the example of the “witchcraft episode” [1x07 The Librarians and the Rule of Three, the one with Morgan Le Fay] “so in the 90s the kids.. it would’ve been a goth cult doing satanic practices, how do we twist it? Well, it turns out it’s actually the parents and it’s with good intentions. And also we brought in Morgan le Fay, fantastic character”. They sit down, think about the themes, do a lot of research, have fun with weird historical stuff and then twist it. Then he added that beside all of this, they listened to whatever John Larroquette would say/point out because “whatever John Larroquette says is super super interesting!” [Preach.]

How did you decide the villains of each season?

Since they didn’t know if they were going to be renewed (this for each season), they always tried to give us closure, they didn’t want to leave us hanging too much, they tried to make each season like a book with only one big villain. Since the first season was a reboot of the movies they used the original villain, The Serpent Brotherhood, to ease us in a new mythology. By the second season they were really fascinated with how books and narrative works, so Geoffrey Thorne came up with the idea of the fictionals. For season 3 and 4 they found an interesting historical path to follow and explore. So they actually decided first what they wanted to talk about in that season and then picked a villain that would fit. 

Where does the story of What Lies Beneath the Stones come from?

[Can I say that this question is getting old?] Jacob Stone comes from a place where he’s uncomfortable with himself and that’s mostly because of the expectations that are put upon us by others, so they wanted to tell you where those expectations came from, in this case from his father. John Rogers was quick to assure us that Christian actually has a great relationship with his father, but they wanted to show what happens when you leave home, when you go out of a “redneck” situation like that. 

If there could have been only one Librarian in the end, which of the LITs would you have chosen?

“Well that’s not fair!” He says that there’s a reason for which he wrote the season 1 finale like that, to show you what all of them would have been like as the ultimate Librarian, partially because they didn’t know if they were getting a season 2 (they filmed it all before airing) and he “has no desire to revisit that nightmare”, he likes to think that “Ezekiel is annoying the hell out of Stone” somewhere, somehow, still all happily together. [Is John Rogers a Jazekiel shipper? Yes, he is]

Had you been able to do a 5th season, what ideas would you have liked to explore?

He thinks that the show had a lot more seasons in it than what they actually got, and they were leaning toward the idea that you can’t keep a secret forever, they would have to go public, they would have to address the fact that magic is in the world and the world would find out and that would have been a whole new mess. 

How did you come up with Galahad and the other immortals?

A lot of it was looking back at the movies, and once they established that Jenkins was immortal and Excalibur was there as a character, “a real character, he made us all cry when he died! I mean, probably my favourite thing in my entire career, is that I made a bunch of people cry when a sword died on tv!”, it made sense to look at the Knights of the Round Table for immortals (with the help of historians on staff, like Kate Rorick) and other immortals too are just “what are other cool myths and how do we integrate them with our story?”

Why otters?!

Always in the Morgan Le Fay episode, they were researching projects to put in the background and they stumbled upon the fact that otters are actually really dangerous, and “when you’re a bunch of writers locked in one room with each other for ten hours a day... you get a little sneaky, and so... deadly otters just became a recurring joke and we just never let it go!”

Which of the cast members could you see as a librarian, working the books and stuff?

Surprisingly for us, he says, Christian Kane, because he had a real interest in history, and he or Lindy Booth would have had a natural inclination towards it. 

When did you decide Charlene and Judson were an item? I ask since in the movies it was never really hinted at.

Bob [Newhart, Judson] was retiring and Jane [Curtin, Charlene] was on a CBS show and they had just enough time to shoot that first episode of season 1 with them, so they had to tie them together to say goodbye at the same time. They first tied them together with her being his Guardian - there was actually a cool sword fight with Jane Curtin we never got to see because there wasn’t enough time - and when they brought her back they got to throw Jenkins in the mix (they liked their banter and decided to up their relationship) [dumbest decision ever], they created a backstory and properly said goodbye to her. 

About the death of Excalibur,

 on the first edit Dean put in the dog whines sound without warning him and when it played he told him it was too heartbreaking, take that out, but Dean loved it.

Did you keep anything from the set?

No, because they were still shooting when he left. Everyone wanted the Globe, but Dean kept it. 

So who was Charlene married to prior to Judson?

Actually, it was after Judson. But he said “think of Higlander, once you realise Judson will never be able to settle down you think, well, maybe you should have a human relationship to have a real life”

What do you think was the secret sauce that made the show so special?

“Honestly, I think it was love”. And the fact that they could literally tap into any subject, and “they could all hit a joke!”, they [the cast] really liked each other, “Rebecca and Lindy were inseparable, everyone adopted John [Kim] as their little brother” so that showed on camera. On a business side nobody else was making a family show. 

How did you keep pace with the episodes so that nothing would happen too quickly?

In the first season they were lucky to be able to write it all before filming it, so they had a solid background, and he says that it’s important, for the emotional growth of the characters, to see the episodes in the order they were intended to, not like they are on DVD, especially “Jake and Cassie are kinda screwed up if you watch them in the DVD order”. The first season is about how you build trust, welcome to the magical world and see them rise to the occasion. In the second season it was how do you change, you’ve been introduced to this world, how do you become a different person. He loves writing about characters who don’t have a choice but to change. The actors really helped (they came up with “Jacob’s dad, the fact that Cassandra had never really dated so she was not aware of her sexual orientation, John [Kim] wanted to talk about his family. So it was very much talkig to them, looking at the emotional story we wanted to tell over the season and then split it into ten and figure out how to pace that”

How much ad libbing space was the cast allowed?

A lot. He knew Christian very well, kinda knew Lindy, “Rebecca was fantastic, John Larroquette has... nine Emmy’s! John Larroquette won so many Emmy’s he had to ask them to stop giving them to him! So, yeah, you let him do what he wants”. John Kim is a natural talent and Noah knows Flynn inside out. So they all go through reharsal (when they ask “oh, can I change this, can I change that?” and you’re like “yeah, sure” unless it’s a piece of information that is needed for later) and then they ask the directors “can I try this? Can I try that?”, sometimes they just go for it and you keep rolling. In the time loop episode (Ezekiel’s videogame) Christian Kane had to say “Some thief!” a billion times in one day and he tried to make it funny and new every single time.

Did you prefer writing more mythical/historical based stories or more science fiction based stories?

Fifty fifty. The mythical stories were funny because they had to find the real story and then find the magic tweak, science fiction is easier because you have control and people assume that what you’re saying is real, it feels easier. He likes the fact that in the historical ones you think “oh wow! That’s really weird, then you Google it and go like, oh wow! That’s true!”, both cool and sometimes disturbing, he says, what more could you want?

 Was it important for you to be working on a family friendly show?

Yes, very much so. Because there wasn’t much you could watch together with your kids back then. It was a beautiful challenge to make a show with deeply emotional stories and characters with real problems, real arcs, and do it in a family friendly setting. Raise subjects that were relevant, like in the Morgan Le Fay episode where a lot of the staff had kids in highschool and they talked about the fact that kids these days are under so much pressure, so much homework and still need to have lives! And they approached that through the metaphor of magic. 

Which tv shows and movies inspired you as a writer?

Old action shows, con shows, Doctor Who, historical shows, The Rocket Files [?? sorry, I’m really not sure about the name, English is not my first language], Raiders of the Lost Ark, old pulps (they structured the episodes titles to be like old pulps). Probably more books. Alastor MaClaine [??], Isaac Asimov, Robert Howard.

If the show had continued, what other mythologies would you have drawn from for ideas?

Probably expand the Arthurian mythology, Asian mythology, Russian mythology, etc. He would have liked a more diverse casting with the new mythologies to make it even more inclusive as a show, because The Librarians are the Guardians of the world and you should have world cultures and world mythologies represented. 

What were some of your favourite ideas put into the show?

Santa Claus. He thinks it came up because they knew they were going to be a winter show, so they had a Christmas episode, and he said “well, we can just do Santa Claus!” and then someone said “he’d be a friend of Jenkins because he’s immortal!” and then “but who do you get to play Santa Claus?!” and Bruce Campbell had just conveniently moved to Oregon. He was a delight, everyone loved him and he broke their hearts when later his schedule never allowed him to be back on the show. Jeff Thone’s fictionals as well, the vampire quest with Cassie and Jenkins and Clara Lago (Estrella) because of Cassie’s sexuality that was set out at the end of season 1 and had to roll out, basically they figured out who she had chemistry with, “Honestly, I was kinda going for her [Cassie] and Baird, but we never got there. Yeah, Noah kept coming back and he’s a charming bastard! Ops! I’m not supposed to swear, sorry” [John Rogers is a wild fanboy and I love him]. “Most of my favourite things were not mine”

About Nicole coming back:

They had to be careful, because it wasn’t something that could have happened in season 1, the story had to progress before her [you could have just... not brought her back? Just saying], the show needed to be able to stand alone and only then they could bring a character from the original movies back [yeah, but like, why Nicole?? Why not Emily? Better yet, why not Simone?? And don’t you dare tell me “Simone died” because guess what, Nicole was dead too.] 

Which character was the most fun to write?

It’s a tie, but Lindy because he had fun with maths, all the calculations she does they (espacially he) did them, in the pilot when she’s in Stonehenge, John Rogers went there and had fun calculating the actual height of the sun in Germany at that particular time, and then Rebecca because she’s a gifted comedian ancd actor, like with the story that Eve tells Ezekiel in the time loop episode that was the anchor to that episode. 

Who’s your fave director to work with?

They were all great, probably Mark Roskin and Jonathan Frakes. 

About the pilot:

The pilot was a challenge because in the middle of it they found out they could not have Jane Curtin for the second half, so her part was rushed. 

Did you ever have to deal with writers block trying to create such intricate arcs? How did you or would you deal with it?

There’s the writers’ room, so hopefully when you’re stuck, the others are not. That’s why it’s important to rely on your writers, because even if you don’t have a way to approach something, they will. There’s an old saying that goes “you don’t think your way out of a writing block, you write your way out of a thinking block”, if you are stuck you just start writing, even if it’s bad, till you hit one interesting line, one interesting moment and you hook on that and realise that that was what your brain was trying to get to. 

It was action packed, but was it hard to keep it family friendly?

No, lots of them had kids so they knew the right tone. Action doesn’t mean brutal violence, the most challenging thing was how to do the emotional stories that are mature but still resonates with, like, 12yo. 

Did you ever start working on an episode and find it wasn’t working? How did you change in the fly?

It happened only once to him. The physical sets weren’t lining up, they were trying to go for a dream sequence (later on they made something similar with the Wonderland episode), so they changed it with the “deal with the Devil in a small town with Baird’s old friend”. 

Was there ever a storyline that you wanted to do and didn't get to do?

He would have liked to do something more with the “the Government has found out that magic is real”, especially because the idea of magic in the show is not “weeeeee, we can do magic now! Hardwork is what pays off and magic is a short cut and is dangerous”, Jenkins is saying it constantly, they wanted to blow up some myths “everyone loves talking about kings and queens, but everyone forget that that means you don’t have any rights, that’s why Jenkins had that speech at the end of episode 10″ [season 1, Loom of Fate]

Who was the best poker player?

Not John Kim because he has no poker face “I love the boy but you can see everything that he’s thinking crossing his face at all times”.

After the time line resetted in the last couple of episodes, do you think Jenkins still has his D&D games with Jeff?

As you may have noticed from episode 10, season 1, Baird points out that the thing she did with Santa that enables her to remember all the other timelines did not come from the Clippings Book, it came from Jenkins, so the assumption is that Jenkins can at least see other timelines and certainly as immortal he’s aware of them, he’s a different relationship with time, so even if during the timeline reset maybe Jeff doesn’t remember, he [John Rogers] likes to think that Jenkins found his way back to them, if that was something that he enjoyed doing (and John Rogers thinks he does), “but Jenkins definitely remembers all of the timelines, wheter he admits it or not”. [Like, be still my Casskins heart, he remembers, he remember Tea Time in the Annex, I’m cool, I’m calm. Fine. Someone call an ambulance]

Which character relationship was your favourite? Eg. Eve/Jenkins, Jake/Ezekiel etc.

He says that the question is which characters do you prefer to write, because that’s how they exist, with dialogue. He loved Eve/Jenkins because they were “the old guys”, they’ve been through a lot, a lot of pain, loss, so there was a lot of bonding ground in those scenes, and Cassandra and Jacob because they both didn’t have a chance to live their best life, “because Ezekiel is living his best life, it’s just a shallow one”, and then as Lindy and Rebecca became friends they just let them ride with it. And then Flynn/Everybody because when Flynn shows up they can torture him and have fun. 

In the first episode there’s a conversation between Jenkins and Eve about Flynn’s mental state that i just LOVE. It made me fall in love with Jenkins.

That’s the idea of Jenkins, he’s been through A LOT, he’s known pain, has lost a lot and he’ll help you to help other people the way he couldn’t. [I’m crying, someone needs to hug Jenkins for like, a whole new season. I volunteer]

Did you have a favourite artefact?

They were trying to distance themselves from the movies by stopping the show from being all about artefacts. He can’t choose. But he really loved Frankenstein, loved that everyone forgets that in the book he’s actually really literate and wanted to bring him back to show his relationship with Ezekiel but the actor wasn’t available. 

What are you up to currently?

After The Librarians and The Player on MBC he’s adapting the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss for the tv.

Was the storybook episode easier or harder to write?

It was really easy once they figured out the archetypes, they wanted to subvert the tropes because they didn’t want Jacob as Prince Charming and they knew Ezekiel was Jack, so Cassandra being Prince Charming was a great clue of what would happen later on “and also, she nailed it! She was amazing, everyone was amazing”. It was very easy to write but very hard to produce. 

I remember reading about an abandoned "Black Mask" idea. What was up with that?

They were thinking about doing a much more complicated time travel story (for season 1), where Eve, instead of being thrown into parallel dimensions, would be thrown back through time, and they’d later reveal that each time the “mysterious hero” that Jenkins was supposed to tell them about, appeared in time of need was actually one of the Librarians going back wearing the mask to save the day, and that Jenkins himself originally had that role. 

In the episode with Dorian Grey, how difficult was it to turn the classic art story into the electronic version.

The idea came very easily, from selfies to narcissism, from that to Dorian, that’s done. 

I loved your blog posts as we went through first season - thank you for that!

He said thank you.

What a great storyline that would be - the black mask - maybe if you get to do reunion movie!!?

He said that instead of looking back he’d like to move forward, what would it be like for them not to have to hide anymore. 

I think the darkest episode was the Bender House, but it was really cool.

Perfect example of twisting classic stories.

Would Ezekiel have ever found aliens?

No, never! They find it too funny, in a world were everything is true, aliens are not. 

Did you ever think about having a kind of "flashback" episode of Jenkins' Arthurian times? [This was mine]

[Ignoring the fact that he though I was Spanish just because I told him who played Estrella - I just Googled it, I’m weak] They did think about it, it was going to be in the season 2 finale, when Eve and Flynn go back in time, it was supposed to be a King Arthur episode, when they were to find out that Shakespeare was Merlin, find him and give him their statue so he would be the guardian of it, but then they thought it’d be cooler - and John [Larroquette] himself liked this better - if even he didn’t know what was going on and they could talk more about his longing and the loss for Flynn and Eve like everybody else, they didn’t want him to be like “let the LITs suffer thinking they’ve lost them while I know better”. [So either the episode didn’t make sense or like... Galahad was just hanging out with Merlin in the Elizabethan period?? So it wouldn’t have been “his Arthurians time”, just “hanging out with almost the only remaining buddy from Camelot”, still cool, but I meant like, middle ages]

Who came up with the Serpent Brotherhood?

It was the original writers. 

He finished reminding averyone about the marathon, to tweet along because the actors will be active (he’ll personally bog John Kim so he’ll remember), he’ll be on the hashtag too. Thanked us fans and closed hoping for new The Librarians material.

Now I’m knackered, it’s stupid early in the morning here, I have yet to go to sleep, send help. (If you see any errors, please let me know!)

[092219archive]

i don’t see myself going to bed anytime soon and i have no real impulse control, i’m gonna... toss a bunch of headcanons here!!

so, because i got arash to 10/10/10 which if you didn’t see it, here it is again because i’m proud of him and love him very much:

just need to get his bond level to lv. 10!

at first, i didn’t really feel anything for arash? i knew i had him, i knew that he was in my chaldea because of how easy he was to summon.

but then i saw him so frequently used in fgo videos, whether it by for farming or for an actual strategy, and i noticed that he had more much more potential than i first thought.

i decided to look into his voice lines and study his character a little more, because i’m just a sucker for that kind of stuff. if you’re new here, it’s all i ever post or think about besides the incoherent, key-smash filled post.

and i thought he was your generic anime boy (he certainly looked the part) with a kind and playful personality, which he kinda is, but i realized that he’s a little? more than just that.

of course, don’t take my word for it because i haven’t studied his character that much as i don’t actively look for content of arash.

there’s also the fact that he appears in content with ozymandias so frequently that it’s hard for me not to think about him. i know there’s some backstory regarding them, both in prototype and in camelot, but i’ve yet to find a full translation of prototype and i haven’t gotten that far in camelot.

no, i won’t be watching a playthrough like i normally would because i want to experience camelot personally, even if it means fighting the knights of the round table and wanting to pull my hair out because i keep dying.

anyways, i read a particular comic where arash was fighting ozy, and he’s always described as a “hero of valor” (by ozy anyways), and he said something veeery specific that really struck a cord in me.

and that line was something like, “to be the one to shoot the sun down... i’m excited!” and at that moment, i knew, all platonic feelings i had for this man crashed. i hate it, but i’m also okay with it?

i’m still on the fence of just how my relationship with arash is and it’s borderline platonic (by my personal definition of a platonic relationship anyways).

in fact, i’ve realized that i’m much more touchy-feely with arash than i am with ozy. especially in my art. i’ve made it a joke.

“hero, why do they touch you more than me?” “haha, i don’t know. ☺”

because he really doesn’t.

i kinda have a bit of an au as well? and i might replace my archer in insertia to be arash instead, but... i haven’t been focusing too much on insertia as of late, primarily due to personal and time based reasons.

anyhow, i have a college au with most of my fate faves. it’s usually because my mind defaults to a college au whenever i think about arash and all that, for whatever reason.

basically, we’re roommates (oh my god, they were roommates) attending the same college. kiritsugu is my father figure, lancer cu is my older brother, ozy and i are? maybe in a relationship?, and arash is my Best Friend™.

those are the most important relationships! arthur is a good friend of mine, and we talk every now and then when we get the chance.

i’m also basing this off servants i’ve already summoned with the exception of ozy.

arash is extremely welcoming for when we first move in together. neither of us know what we’re doing, which is absolutely fantastic. but of course, when you put us together, arash is probably doing much better than i am in adulthood.

i don’t think i’d be that open about myself at first -- i’d be like.. approachable at most so that he doesn’t hate my company, especially if we’re gonna be living together like this. but he’s a fun guy, so it doesn’t take that long. i have an easier time talking to people who are more approachable and welcoming unless i’m intimidated by the person.

we talk and open up to each other more, and we kind of help each other with... whatever it is we need at the time. he’s a pretty motivated and hardworking dude, which is the complete opposite of me but he kinda pushes me to work on some things.

and eventually, i get really comfortable about him. i don’t know if you guys know this, but when i’m with people i’m just really comfortable with, i do the dumbest things. i tried to crack a joke while drinking something and ended up choking right in front of my friend for what felt like a long ass 2 minutes or something.

when i’m finished with classes, i go directly to arash and flop straight into his arms. he’s alright with it, and he kinda knows that it helps me feel a little more better. gives me energy! a much better alternative to consuming energy drinks and the not.

and i imagine i’d be like... a koala. you know. he’d be working but here i am, latched onto him like a baby koala.

a visual:

he doesn’t really mind and lets it happen, which i’m assuming is because he understands that i’m extremely comfortable around him? i don’t... touch people, or let people touch me regardless of what the relationship is like.

then i get back to work, of course. he kinda shows his own ways of showing his affection by giving head pats and the stuff, doing things with my hands, like measuring them for the 50th time.

“small hands! baby hands.”

he’s the epitome of surprised pikachu whenever i say some dumb shit.

i should draw that soon.

really supportive, especially on the harder days. he can go through times where he’s down because classes and life in general can get difficult. i try to be there for him whenever he’s feeling that way. it’s not bad where he forgets his basic needs like dinner and the not, but he has his moments.

overall, a really good roommate! i love arash a lot, and i’m really excited to read prototype and get through camelot to see him some more.

[artistiquereader]

Merlin Writer Month: Faves Week

So, I’ve been really looking forward to this week and I have a ton of recommendations. Hope I provide you with something new and that you enjoy it! This are in no particular order, they are just works that I love in equal measure for different reasons and that I feel everyone should read because they are amazing. Also, this is going to be long, so sorry (but not really) about that, so you’ll find everything after the cut.

Also, if the fic has a “*” beside it, it means it is a restricted work on AO3, so you’ll need to be logged in to read it.

The thing is, I need to start this list by putting my absolute favorite at the very beggining. After it, as I wrote above, they’re all equally beloved to me, but this first one is just it for me for various reasons.

The Sidewalks of New York by emmbrancsxx0 Lenght: 161,191 Summary:  New York City, 1925. Jazz, flappers, parties, and violence. In the midst of Prohibition, crime boss Arthur Pendragon and his gang, the Knights of the Round Table, arrive from London to open a speakeasy in Chelsea. Fearing they’ll lose their hold on Manhattan’s West Side, the Black Kings send Merlin Emrys to spy on the Knights. The two gangs quickly become rivals, and there is no place for love in war.

Comment: This fic is just absolutely brilliant in every sense. It picked my interest because of the time it is set in (which is my favorite time in history). I’ve always had a fascination with New York 1910-1930 and the whole Prohibition and gangs aspect of it. This is just so well balanced in every aspect that it offers: the romance, the betrayals, the rivalries between gangs, the characters and their personalitites and motivations are just fantastic. Arthur as a crime boss is just delightful as is Merlin as the charismatic bartender of the speakeasy (even tho he is so much more than that). It’s tense, it’s violent, it’s romantic and it has a happy ending, what more could I ask for? This author writes so freaking amazing and I love everything she’s written so if you like this one, you should totally check out all her other stuff because it’s just as amazing. Also, Arthur is known as the “Golden Knight” and for some reason that just made me love it even more. Arthur and Merlin are brilliant and she just gets the point across so well of how much they love and get each other and that’s one of the reaons why I love it so much, it’s just... they belong together and I love the journey (the hearthache and the love and everything in between) until they get to the point of actual happiness and understanding. 

1. True North by Kroki_Refur * Lenght: 6,752 Summary: Arthur is given a compass that is unable to tell north from south, but always points him to where Merlin is.

Comment: Oh, this fic. It follows Arthur and Melrin throughout the centuries, with Arthur always finding his way to Merlin. Soulmate-y of sorts and just lovely in the way this gets the point across that they belong together and that they’ll always find each other.  

2. The Reincarnation Situation by orphan_account Lenght: 16,591 Summary: My series finale gift to the Merlin fandom. Reincarnation. Merlin and Arthur only remember their past lives for one night a year - New Year's Eve. This is a quick tour (and it's not cracky like the title suggests, I swear). Merlin still thinks that perhaps the dragon was right and one day Arthur will return as a king destined to save the people of Albion, but that day has not yet come. Arthur has not missed a single moment of life since Merlin laid him to rest in the waters of Avalon but the lives he has lived have not been for his people or for the greater good, they have been just for Merlin.

Comment: SO, SO, SO much love for this one. Again, anothe bitter-sweet read but so worth it, it tugs at your heart but comforts you in the knowledge that they’ll always have each other. Fantastic narrative and I love each of the reincarnations shown. It also has a lovely podfic. Soulmates is something I’ve always been a sucker for and this fic is amazing in how it portrays them througout time and the intensity of remembering for one night, who they really are.

3. Tulips Are Better; Dragons Are Best by sweetiejelly Lenght: 58,627 Summary: Arthur loses a bet with Morgana and ends up on The Bachelor. As he identifies as bisexual, the pool of candidates is quite diverse and includes one Merlin Emrys, his ex. Arthur thinks it's fate. Merlin thinks it's bollocks. Thus begins (again) their courtship.

Comment: So delightful and fun and angsty. Arthur’s complete dismissal of anyone that isn’t Merlin is just so fun to read, how he wants to just send everyone home as soon as he realizes Merlin is there is just hilarious and shows how gone he is. A Modern AU with magic with boths sides wanting each other but with issues that need talking over and mending before they get together and Merlin’s magic being as in love with Arthur as he is, is just one of the things that make me love this as much as I do. Stupid and stubborn boys make my heart melt with their longing. The art is so lovely and adds so much to it. Read it, it’s fantastic. 

4. You bring music to my silent world by Balthamos  Lenght: 49,818 Summary:  Arthur and Merlin are thrown together as children when Merlin’s mother moves into the Pendragon Manor as the new housekeeper, bringing her deaf son Merlin with her. Arthur is a loud and obnoxious child, whereas Merlin is quiet but not as shy as everyone thinks. The two children become fast friends, but as they grow up together things begin to change, due to the pressure of wanting to be normal, and the growing lack of communication between the pair. Growing up is never easy and the graceful friendship they had as children gets lost as they reach their teenage years, but through their difficulties they develop a deeper, stronger relationship, one far more permanent.

Comment: I love, love, love, love this one. Like anything by this author is amazing, so you should totally check them out if you haven’t, but this one, gosh, it’s so lovely it hurts. 

5. Where the Hurt Is by undersomestairs Lenght: 12,349 Summary: For this Kink Me! Merlin prompt: They were childhood/teenage sweethearts but Arthur's family moved away (because Uther detested Merlin but Arthur doesn't know this) and they promise to write. After Uther's death Arthur finds all the letters from Merlin he never received. All the time he thought Merlin had forgotten him. Arthur seeks him out.   

Comment: Oh my god, this one made me cry. It takes your heart and stomps on it and then mends is back but not before it kind of destroys you. How you see Merlin losing hope, Arthur’s feelings after he realized Merlin didn’t forget him but that it was Uther and then his sorrow over what he thinks lost. Read it, it’s just beautiful. 

6. License to Thrill by lady_ragnell  Lenght: 14,174 Summary:  Merlin's employees bet him the recipe for the most addictive cocoa in the world that he can't find out what the hot blond who comes into his chocolate shop does for a living within the month. He ends up getting far more than he bargained for.

Comment: Arthur as James Bond (kind of) and Merlin as the chocolatier who steals his heart via his sweet tooth and shameless flirting from Arthur’s part because Merlin is lovely. So incredibly good and it has a podfic by wildwildwoods which is also incredibly lovely. Read/listen to it, you’lll feel better after.

7. Remember, Remember by winterstorrm Lenght: 16,480 Summary: Prince Arthur gives up the person he loves to do his duty, but Merlin's impossible to forget.

Comment: So, anything by this author is amazing (please, check out all of their other stories because they’re fantastic), but this one just breaks my heart. Arthur’s longing and regret is so palpable through every word. His love for Merlin is just so big and I always love to read something where I get to see how much Arthur feels for Merlin, how much Merlin means to him, how much he loves and needs Merlin. 

8. Mr. & Mr. Smith Series by Detochkina * Lenght: 101,837 Summary: Merlin Emrys is used to living life on the go. As an agent for the Agency of Magic, Merlin’s days are consumed by travel, exotic locations, and battling a faceless rival -- an officer from the competing Bureau of Corrections, who is always hot on his heels and ready to one-up him. When Merlin is sent on a mission to Las Vegas to secure a powerful artifact, he allows himself one night off. Just one, because he bloody deserves it. Drinks and foreplay lead to a bet with a hot financial advisor he just met. Merlin ends up as a newlywed. Oops.

Comment: This series has a special place in my heart because apart from being so bloody good it made my head spin and has me (still because it’s a WIP) on the edge of my seat, I was actually in Vegas and stayed in the hotel in which Arthur and Merlin are in the first two installments. Being able to read while on the locations described in it, made me feel an even bigger connection with the world. This is an absolutely addicting read that before you know it you’ll have read the 5 available works and will be eagerly awaiting the next.

9. So Are They All, All Honourable Men by seperis Lenght: 18,199 Summary: Considering Arthur's future wife will be chosen less for compatibility than for her political value, Merlin may be the only marriage he'll have that won't end in bloodshed or a great deal of fortifying wine.

Comment: Lovely, so very, very, lovely. SO many great lines and the old married couple dynamic and them being so in love is just brilliant. Canon Era, Magic Reveal and lots of love and pinining and getting together. Please do yourself a favor and read it if you haven’t, and if you have, do it again because it’s just amazing. There are moments here in which their love and worry is so palpable it hurts, I love it so much.

10. Oscilliate Wildly by suntipped Lenght: 11,246 Summary: Fucking Arthur, he thinks, pushing his head against the seat. It’s not so much that he’s breaking promises left and right by bringing up that thing between them in public again; it's just his ever-irritating sense of entitlement. It’s Arthur being a prick and thinking he can go around doing anything he wants sometimes, because obviously, obviously the entire world exists only to amuse him.

Comment: This is just one of my all time favorite fics ever. Oblivious, pining boys in love are my favorites. Also, pet-names. A lovely Modern AU with stupid boys who won’t talk to each other. I read this at least 3 times a year, yes, I love it that much.

11. These Feathered Breaths (a Handfasting remix) by Emjayelle Lenght: 3,580 Summary: There was at least a dozen reasons why Arthur, Prince of Wales, couldn't marry Merlin, bird-whisperer, but it didn't stop him from thinking it was the best idea in the world.

Comment: This is one of the most romantic, heart-wrenching and loved filled reads I’ve ever encountered. It’s so insanely beautiful and it tugs on my heartstrings because of the absolute love, devotion and longing that fills each word. The knights as little robins is one of the most adorable concepts ever and if there’s something I love is seeing Arthur not being able to cope with how much he loves Merlin and this conveys it in such a way that it puts fairytales to shame.

12. We Pull These Jobs To Make A Little Money (No One Gets Hurt If They Don’t Act Funny) by leashy_babes Lenght: 48,918 Summary: Arthur and his friends have been making their money this way for years. It's all they know and they're good enough to get away with it. Merlin grudgingly works in a bank, wishing his days away. Their worlds collide and everything changes.AKA: Bank robbers of the round table.

Comment: Arthur is so smitten with Merlin he almost forgets what he actually was there to do. If you haven’t noticied, besotted!Arthur is one of my most favorite things ever and this nails it. I love the concept and the development is fantastic, please read it if you haven’t it’s such an entertaining and lovely read and I love it a lot. 

[we-are-knight]

Which Arthurian film do you like the best?

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh you mean I have to pick ONE?

Hard, because I really like Arthurian movies in general. I find it hard to pick one as my fave.

Surprisingly, the 2004 Arthur movie does not rate highly to me because, despite it being technically “most historically close” (which it isn’t tbh but w/e) I’m not that thrilled by an Arthurian movie that is set in Rome, as I love the high medieval theme in Arthurian cycles.

As badly drawn out as it was, the most recent King Arthur: Legend of the Sword movie by Guy Ritchie was actually a lot of fun. Had a LOT of useless story-telling and a cast that was WAAAAY too big, but it was a good yarn. It was a 2 hour movie that had a good 45 minute story, if you get what I mean?

Excalibur holds a special place in my heart for telling all the major moments of Arthurian tales and condensing it all into one movie. I like the visuals and the drama, and while it tries to rush through things, it does a good job and portraying it all. This is probably my go-to for people wanting to get into Arthurian stories.

The Sword in the Stone by Disney also has a special place for me. I grew up as a child watching this, and Knight LOVED King Arthur as a child. Made my own cardboard and tin-foil armour and shields and stick-swords and everything. Adored King Arthur and his knights, and reading his stories, and having them read to me at night. This movie, aimed at children, based on The Once and Future King by White, is just an absolute delight and I hope to one day watch it with my own children.

First Knight. I’m probably biased here. I got sick of Lancelot after 20 minutes and stopped watching. Doesn’t help that the sword fights are utterly rediculous. ‘nuff said.

Quest for Camelot. Another animated, and one that sticks with me very well. Not strictly an Arthurian cycle movie, but in that setting. Definitely worth watching for the sake of a magical adventure set to the Arthurian backdrop.

Merlin (1998). Watch it. Just watch it, okay?

Sword of the Valiant. I hate the costume department for most of this, but Sean Connery does a great job and the Green Knight. Worth a watch.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I still giggle like a child and make references to this movie. Watch it. You owe it to yourself. It temporarily lifts my depression and waters my crops.

I think I also have to say that I actually hate how most movies with King Arthur are like: “What if...we take the Arthurian stories...and like, make them semi-historical/add stuff/change it entirely?”. Like, guys you don’t understand, I’m not watching this because of your creative input, I’m watching because I want to see Mallory on the big screen. Having Morgan le Fey hunt down the Knights of the round table with three dragons like evil Daenerys is a boring concept (*cough*Dragons of Camelot*cough*) and I can just watch Game of Thrones. If I wanted to watch a Celtic version of Arthur, I’d watch the 2004 version. If I wanted to watch a Roman Arthur, I could STILL watch the 2004 version, or just watch Gladiator. I literally don’t care about your take on it, m’kay?

Same with modern takes. I’m all for modern Arthurian cycles. But there’s so many POOR takes, like Avalon High. “Let’s put Arthur in an ALL AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL, and like, the Knights are all FOOTBALL PLAYERS! :D”How about fuck right off? c:Like, tbh, I’m pretty much dead to any American movie that dumps Arthurian legend in the god damn US. It may just be my personal loathing of the US here, but seriously, taking a British Isle myth and putting it in the US because you people can’t have any stories of your own is just fucking lazy. I want to rant about this in detail, but I am getting too furious just thinking about it, so moving on.

Modern takes that are GOOD include Avalon from 2001. You wouldn’t think this is an Arthurian movie beyond the name, as it’s a cyberpunk movie, but watching it makes it clear that it’s in fact pretty much a cyberpunk take on the legend, and the final scene has a lot of parallels to Arthur’s journey to Avalon. Not hard Arthurian, but worth a watch, it’s one of my fave cyberpunk movies.

[hufflepirate]

Voltron Round Table AU

Just some Traditional Arthurian Romance tropes and my fave bbys.

Keith is the greatest fighter in the realm, which means people have mostly stopped attacking him when he’s out and about.  This pisses him off and he steals Lance’s armor to go out and fight in because the bad guys will come after him that way. Lance is one part pissed off, one part relieved that he can finally go to the market without people crawling out of the woodwork to challenge him to a duel.

Hunk achieves the grail, because he is pure of heart.  He doesn’t make a big deal out of it, but everybody’s really proud.

Pidge turns up in disguise and ends up taking a job as a kitchen boy until a damsel rides through asking for help and she begs Shiro to let her take the quest.  The damsel seems sketchy and he isn’t sure, but she insists.  (The damsel turns out to be honest, but also grumpy, prickly, and demanding.  Luckily, Pidge is also grumpy, prickly, and demanding, and she can handle it.)

After Pidge liberates Allura’s castle and saves her besieged commander, Coran, Allura gets a lot nicer.  She won’t let Pidge keep her gender a secret, though, and outs her as soon as Shiro’s finished knighting her.  It’s not a great moment, but Pidge forgives her because it’s too late now - she’s already a knight, and the rest of the knights have already accepted her.

Lance accidentally beheads a lady while trying to kill her asshole boyfriend, who is a Legit Murderer And Criminal and also just tried to kill him.  He feels super bad about that and swears to always be a Defender Of Ladies.  Ladies sometimes take advantage of that and a lot of his quests get sidetracked because they’ll be like ‘Oh Lance, I need help!’

Shiro is mostly pretty good at being a king, but sometimes he does stupid things like fight a giant by himself wtf Shiro you could have died.

Also, one day Shiro’s out hunting when he stumbles onto a boat full of ladies and his horse throws a shoe and it starts raining and he has to stay there.  They turn out to be Evil and Magic and he wakes up in prison with 20 other prisoners, who say he has to either stay there or fight in defense of the bad guy who owns this castle and kill the guy’s brother.  He agrees to the fight, doesn’t kill the brother, and turns it around on the evil guy, making him give up all his lands.

Coran is a great fighter, but when he was young he swore to fight in 7 great battles before he joined a fellowship of knights.  Every time they meet him, he cheerfully informs them that he likes them, but he can’t join them yet because he isn’t done.  After the 7th great battle he gets re-knighted by Shiro then and there in the field and joins the fellowship.

Haggar is Morgan Le Fay.  I feel like that goes without saying but also I said it.

Maybe Alfor is Merlin and she shut him up in a rock?  Idk.