#I mean bbc baby merlin but still

[adhd-merlin]

No one:

Me: can we talk about gaius and uther for a minute. like I do think their dynamic is meant to echo the dynamic of merlin and uther in the original Arthurian texts. like. guys who have made each other sooo much worse. one of them being complicit in the horrors tm but they are too codependent to break up so they just wallow in their guilt while the other spirals into tyranny. (did I just use ‘codependent’ and ‘break up’ in ref to uther and gaius. yes)

I don't know much about og uther and merlin but that's a fascinating thought. do you think it was intentional? probably not. but I love when you can perceive some flavour of the original arthurian texts in bbc merlin's characters/dynamics

[myfruitlessthorns]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬, 𝐅𝐎𝐌𝐎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥-𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬

as an 18-year-old, 2006 baby, most of my fandoms were in their prime long before i was even cognisant. i mean, merlin had finished by the time i had just started school, superwholock was thriving away as i obliviously flicked from the ludicrous image of matt smith dancing away in the tardis to sherlock babbling away to john on the bbc, and even by the time i'd hit secondary school, i was left with the tail ends of pretty little liars. i can just remember so desperately binging the entire show at the ripe age of 11, just to catch the shitty season finale and exactly on time for the enraged twitter afterparty. living like this, i've somewhat made peace with the fact that i am a sort of fangirl-archaeologist, sifting away happily through the dusty ruins of once great and mighty fandoms and finding the occasional relic hidden - fantastically written fanfiction.net smut hidden amidst the rubble of mid 2010s jhutch whistle edits.

however, bitter as i am, nothing - and i repeat - *nothing* has given me such enraging, all consuming FOMO as the ballad of songbirds and snakes. 

picture the scene. its 2020. a young, 14-year-old tisha has just finished the hunger games trilogy. she adores it, and to her luck, the brilliant suzanne collins has decidedly published a prequel just as she tucks mockingjay away, back into her bookshelf. perfect timing, right? i just remember the feeling of 'i cant wait to read it!' battling away with 'except it's covid so i cant' and one of my friends had pre-ordered it anyway, so i was determined to get my hands on a copy as soon as lockdown was over. 

except, after lockdown finished, came gcses and after gcses finished came a levels and it was then, amidst personal statements and entrance exams and oxbridge applications that *it* came out. the ballad of songbirds and snakes: the fucking film. i was long out of my hunger games phase; i dont think i considered even quickly flicking through the novel before going to the theatres. im a purist like that - book before film always - but i just didnt have time to read it and so, completely oblivious to the fact that i was alive and concious, missing the hunger games renaissance when every other teenager was obsessing over tom blyth and making fan edits of rachel zegler and listening to the soundtrack on repeat, i decided to save the book till after a levels.

and what a fucking mistake. 

the fact that i could’ve revelled in the prime of tbosas fandom in live time and been there at its peak!!! and that i fucking missed it???? everyone i knew watching that masterpiece play out in theatres and now, i have to sit and listen to you all reminiscing about november 2023 not knowing what that felt like, envying the fyp full of coriolanus snow edits and the fresh off the cut late night interviews with the cast that you all got to experience. in fact, the movie has aged just enough to be declared a ‘phase’ by everyone that was there in at its peak. and its driving me up the wall, because the worst part of all this is i have no one to talk to share my burning obsession with, knowing well, that 11 months ago, half the internet would’ve happily shared it with me.

so please, tbosas fans, if there are any of you still active, if you empathise with the plight of listening to ‘cant catch me now’ on repeat whilst pretending to be lucy gray - lets be mutuals. please.

-a girl going slightly insane.

(on a side note, i have sincerely learnt from my mistakes and will not, by ANY means, be leaving sunrise on the reaping to the last minute. i just hope its as good as tbosas!!!! in suzanne collins, we trust!)

[buttercupyellow]

BBC Merlin character ages & birthdays

Arthur

the only one even close to having a canon age is Arthur

at a minimum he's 20 - Uther in 1x01 says that Kilgharrah (the great dragon) was captured 20 years ago, which likely means that the Purge ended, or began to end 20 years ago. The Purge began shortly after Arthur's birth as Nimueh was thrown from the court and Uther began executing every magic user in Camelot.

We don't really have a max age, but I'd say 25 as that's how old Bradley James was at the time of S1 release.

So Arthur's age at the beginning of S1 is 20 - 25

Arthur also "comes of age" in S1 (which is slightly strange as medieval coming of age for boys would be more like 17 i think, plus he also goes on the heir's quest in S3 which is roughly 1 - 3 years later - which doesn't seem to correlate to any age in particular???). The only age of "coming of age" significance between 20 and 25 is 21, so while ridiculous for medieval period, it's highly likely that Arthur turns 21 in the first season.

Arthur's birthday is a little harder. The interpretation I lean towards is Areoway on Ao3's theory that his birthday is prior to Beltane (May 1st) sometime in late April, as in 4x03 we have Arthur's Birthday -> Uther's Death -> Arthur's coronation. and later in 5x03 we have Arthur's coronation -> visiting the Stones of Nemeton to contact Uther's spirit, which was said to be traditionally done on Beltane.

Since Arthur goes to the trouble of travelling to the Stones (at least 2 days ride with a small company aka Merlin) it stands to reason that he also obeyed the Beltane rule and it was just plot convenience that he learned this in time to travel there.

I counted the days and it seems to be Arthur's Birthday -> 2 days -> Arthur's coronation in 4x03. Arthur's coronation anniversary -> 1 day -> arriving at Nemeton on Beltane (May 1st) in 5x03.

Which would put Arthur's birthday on April 26th?

Merlin

Merlin has some canonical information, but less than Arthur.

Uther tricked the Dragonlords into bringing Kilgharrah (the great dragon) to Camelot where he then massacred the Dragonlords, save for Balinor who escaped. Kilgharrah is known to have been captured 20 years ago, so this happened 20 years from 1x01. Balinor then fled to Ealdor in Cenred's Kingdom which is roughly 2 - 3 days away from Camelot City.

This means that Merlin is at a maximum 20 years old in 1x01, more likely 19 to account for 9 months of pregnancy.

However, I think the more likely choice is that Balinor and Hunith spent at least a year together, to build a relationship strong enough that Hunith would never marry, and Balinor would still have affection for her (enough to take a strong interest in Hunith's love lofe aka whether she got married) at least 20 - 21 years later.

This would push Merlin back to 19 - 18 years old in 1x01.

However, since the only "coming of age" age that's viable in this fictional world is 21, and Merlin changes from "young boy" to "young man" in S4, and there's a 1 year gap between S3 & S4 + a 1 year gap between S2 & S3 + 1 year per season to complete 3 seasons worth of episodes... meaning roughly 5 years has passed once we reach S4 =

Merlin should be roughly 16 in 1x01.

So he's anywhere between 16 - 20 years old.

Colin Morgan was 22 at the time of filming, so his age cannot match regardless of how canon is twisted (he;s also got a bit of a baby face).

As for Merlin's birthday, it's never seen on screen, or mentioned as having happened aside from being born & becoming a "man" between S3 & S4. So it's kind of free space.

I once again very much like Areoway's theory that he was born to be the opposite of Arthur, so his birthday is on the opposite month to April, which is October.

For a more solid date, my sister chose October 4th as that was opposite the 26th (Arthur's birthday) on her calendar.

Morgana

Morgana is a little tricky to place.

Uther says she wasn't around 20 years ago, perhaps implying that she wasn't born 20 years ago. However that could imply a lot of things, such as she wasn't in Camelot City at the time, or she was too young to notice anything amiss (basically 0 - 6 yro).

In my opinion, it makes little sense for Morgana to be younger than Arthur, as she is also Uther's child.

Some may argue that Uther wouldn't cheat on Ygraine, but he was known to have gone behind her back, without her knowledge or consent, to conceive Arthur with magic (how else would he keep it secret between only himself, Nimueh and Gaius). So it's not strange for him to lie to Ygraine.

In the legends also, he concieves Arthur through deceit, disguising himself with magic to appear as Ygraine's husband, having sex with her and then later marrying her without her knowing that Arthur was ever biologically his.

Uther and Ygraine also seems to be a retelling of the Arthur/Guinevere infertility plot of the legends, as it's Guinevere, not Ygraine, that's unable to concieve. To prove that it was Guinevere's failing, and not Arthur's, Arthur then fathered multiple illegitimate children.

It seems more likely to me that Uther was unable to concieve with Ygraine (and as someone without strong ties to Camelot, as he states he wasn't from here in 1x01, he needs an heir to continue his legacy) so he sought out Vivienne to test if he was the infertile one. Vivienne was alone, likely as per Uther's doing via sending Gorlois into battle, of high birth, and was already friendly with the royal household, so she was a suitable match to have a make a back up heir with.

Morgana's birth proves that Uther wasn't infertile, and that Ygraine was. Causing Uther to turn to magic to force Ygraine to concieve.

So Morgana is older than Arthur by at least 9 months, making her roughly 20 - 21 in 1x01.

Katie McGrath's age when S1 released was 25, so I'd say Morgana's maximum 25.

So she's 20 - 25, much like Arthur.

(if she's at the older end, 25, and Merlin's at the younger end, 16 I'd argue that's ok bc he was crushing on a beautiful older woman and it was never reciprocated).

As for her birthday, we know that she has one birthday on screen in 3x05. There's no real events to connect this too, so it came down to a guess. On my timeline, which counts each day that passes in the each episode, her birthday landed in June. Specifically, June 10th.

Gwen

Gwen has literally nothing going for her.

She is a love interest of Merlin's in S1 so she should be similar in age to him. and she's also Arthur's love interest in S2+ so she should also be similar in age to him.

So at the extremes she's between 16 - 25 years old.

My preference is that she's 18 to fit between Merlin being 16 (so that once 5 years pass he's 21 & a "man" & Balinor had time to build a relationship with Hunith) and Arthur being 20 (about to turn 21) in 1x01.

Her birthday is even more up in the air.

Seeing as how Arhur's birthday fell in Spring, April. Merlin's fell in Autumn, October. and Morgana's fell in Summer, June. I think it's reasonable to give her a Winter birthday, December, January or February.

I personally chose January 17th to place her close to the middle of Winter, but it's a bit random tbh.

-

So that would put their ages in 1x01 as: Merlin, 16. Gwen, 18. Arthur, 20. Morgana, 22.

Making their ages in 5x13 roughly: Merlin, 27. Gwen, 28. Arthur, 31. Morgana 33.

[feral-and-chaotic]

Merlin ramble

Because I haven't really talked about it in years, a bit of background, I used to be absolutely obsessed with BBC Merlin. It was baby me's gateway into fantasy. I loved it.

Rewatching it now is fun cause most of the early seasons still hold up.

But the one thing I am furious about is how easily finished and badly handled the Nimueh plotline was.

Nimueh was such an interesting character. Arguably a lawful evil/neutral character who had tried to help her friends/allies to conceive a child. But despite her warnings and her help, not only did Uther turn on her but also used this as a justification to murder hundreds of people.

She is so angry about this she spirals into vengeance. She believes strongly in balance but Uther's actions push her over the edge.

Merlin helps Uther, so she tries to kill him but on realising who he is, she makes a last ditch attempt to reach out.

...

She's so fascinating. She's probably the only person with her specific knowledge left, who was... At least implied to be friends with Uther and Gauis (and I assume Ygraine too).

She mirrors Morgana, just as Merlin mirrors Gauis and Arthur mirrors Uther. And I wish wish wish we went into her more rather than just killing her.

There's a fascinating relationship between Merlin and Nimueh that could have been explored after they got over the initial antagonism.

ALSO!!

We know Morgause was brought up by the high priestesses... Does that mean Nimueh raised her? The idea of Nimueh trying desperately to school this child in the ruins of a temple she once lived in and still serves is tragic.

Can you tell I made up my own childhood lore headcanons based on the scraps we got🤣

This show will always be instrumental to me being interested in fantasy but it definitely has some gaping lore holes. (Affectionate)

[xviruserrorx]

Title: "To Slay The Dragon"

I totally didn't forget about doing these, nope. Uh, life got hectic but hey gotta have fanfic especially for @merlinmicrofic right? Anyways I always head cannon that Morgana is older than Arthur by like 3-5 years so yeah do with that what you will and enjoy!

Merlin Micro Fic - Tumblr | Ao3 - [Prev <- • -> Next]

Fandom: BBC Merlin

Prompt(s): "Trust Me"

Relationship(s): Morgana Pendragon & Arthur Pendragon

Character(s): Morgana Pendragon, Arthur Pendragon

Important Tag(s): Pre-Canon, Siblings Morgana & Arthur, Older Sibling Morgana, Younger Sibling Arthur, Arthur is tween age, Morgana is mid-teen age sorta

Rating: Gen

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply, None

Word Count: 500

"You're nothing but that of a dog, Arthur.” He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. “A loyal obedient dog who does as he is told,” she continued. “Trained submission under your father's finger. You attack when he says to. You protect of your own instinct, but what is that worth when you're called off and told to behave?” Or Caught playing in the throne room by Morgana, and with all refusal of "Playing Pretend", Arthur and Morgana get into a little tiff of what it means for Arthur to get the crown.

Continue reading below or over on Ao3

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Morgana leaned back against the alcove into the throne room. The sounds of a fake battle with Arthur as the just-as-fake knight had caught her attention. She smiled as Arthur climbed all over the throne, wooden sword in hand as he fell victim to the dragon he'd yet to slay.

“Playing pretend, are we?”

He scrambled up, leaving his weapon behind. “I don't play pretend.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Right. She rounded the throne to stand in front of him.

“I'm the heir to the throne.” He moved his shoulder, adjusting his tunic. His newly fitted clothes were baggy in all the right places for him to grow into.

“You'll need to fill out your own armor first before you steal your father's.” 

“I fill out my armor just fine,” he protested. “I'll be crowned prince soon; then, I'll be king.”

“I hope you realize what would have to happen for you to be king.” She crossed her arms. “Camelot attacked; Uther Killed, and you king.” She leaned forward. “That is, if they don't kill you too,” she whispered.

“Stop!” He missed as he swatted at her.

She chuckled. “Uther would never give up the crown. It would have to be ripped from him, blood and all before you’d ever get it.” And she knew it would sit on Arthur's head just as blood soaked.

“Maybe he'll step down.”

“Do you even know your father?” She scoffed. “Trust me, he'll never let you have the crown.”

He straightened his posture but his facade of a hardened knight fell.

She shook her head. All her points missed by his desire for the crown and no more. “You're nothing but that of a dog, Arthur.”

He looked at her, eyebrows furrowed.

“A loyal obedient dog who does as he is told,” she continued. “Trained submission under your father's finger. You attack when he says to. You protect of your own instinct, but what is that worth when you're called off and told to behave?”

She stopped. Her eyes met his where despite his trained expression, tears threatened to well up. His knuckles palled around his tight grip on the arms of the throne.

She wanted his tears to mean something, he had shed enough tears from his father, but never to see just what he was. 

He tried to blink his tears away and sit up straighter. “That’s not true.” His lips were in a pout, eyes still glossy; and if he cried she knew she would be the one scolded later.

She rolled her eyes, and backed down. “Don’t be such a baby.”

“I’m not a baby,” he argued.

“Come.” She grabbed his upper arm and wooden sword and hauled him off the throne. “You know you're not supposed to play here.”

And despite all urge to shove him and his wooden sword in the right direction. Instead she found herself loosening her grip as he grabbed back his sword and ran off to pretend to slay the dragon once more.

[decaflondonfog]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers 💫

i was tagged by @nv-md (ali pls why does tumblr never let me tag you what have you done) and then sort of indirectly by @fluxweeed! as always i loved reading your thoughts and i'm v grateful you thought of me. as always, this is just me talking shite for 20 answers:

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

12 revealed, but I do have my @aftgthenandnow fic currently hiding so 13 technically

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

99,518 (which my heart was immediately keen on saying it's "not that much" but all these words were written in the last year 365-ish days, which makes me very very proud)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i'm still on my fandom whoring phase and loving it very much!!! i think it's mostly AFTG but I’ve dabbled in some Simon Snow and Check, Please! recently and have some more plans for those 🥰 honestly there is a RIDICULOUS amount of fandoms in my fic planning trello board, including: Call of Duty, The Raven Cycle, Red White and Royal Blue, BBC Merlin, and Our Flag Means Death. i love living in chaos!!!!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

oh it's these guys: the benefits of a broken air conditioning unit and other summer lessons (aftg/andreil, 3k, E) geometric equilibrium (aftg/kandreil, 10k, M) kaleidoscope (aftg/fem!andreil, 5k, M) growing pains (omgcp/bittyparse, 50k, E) celly (aftg/gen, 800 words, T)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Or I try to, anyway. Why? Uhhh. Because I want to, really. I'm not one of those people who feels like they have to, especially because as a commenter I don't expect writers to ever reply. But I love chatting fandom stuff and fic — mine or otherwise, so I always treat comments as an opportunity to do so. Sometimes I think I have a super random, like... reply style, I guess you'd call it? But I'd rather engage a fellow fan in genuine conversation rather than say just "thank you," which obviously is still what I end up doing like 70% of the time.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This is funny for me to think about because in former fandoms I was a bit of an Angst Guy lmao (mcd, unrequited love, cheating, miscommunication, you name it)... but I'm on a softer vibe now for sure. I think maybe a wreath of white lilies is my angstiest work but even that i wouldn't classify as angst? it's fucked up smut, if anything lmao

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhhhh, I guess growing pains? It's a very hopeful, very happy ending with a lot of closure for stuff happening both within the fic and before. So yeah! I think that one. Very romcom-y neat sort of happy ending!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i have in the past but not anymore! i'm not good enough nor bad enough to get hate jkfgjhd

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yeah, baby!!!! what kind...? uh. good question. i feel like i always end up writing porn with a ton of feelings — not just love/lust though! but i do love a Strong Emotion (hatred, grief, confusion, relief, obsession) to be the catalyst for fucking. I like it when characters are seriously into each other (again, not necessarily only in an attraction way), in a little insane way. it just makes things fun. so i guess... my smut is the Big Feelings kind of smut lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

oh i haven't... but i do have a bit of a wild one i've considered! not sure if i'd ever actually write it though, but it's planned out.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

in an earlier fandom existence, yes! it may even be around still, who knows? now... not that i know of?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

i don't think i have! would love it though! i grew up bilingual so i have a lot of love for translation :') i'd actually love to try my hand at translating one day!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have started co-writing fics with a couple of people before, but not something super serious and either times it never got finished. buuuuut i am actually in the process of co-writing not one but two fics atm! @skeptiquewrites and i are working on a zimbits flavoured little something, and @whataboutmyfries and i are very nearly done with our kandreil get-together fic, which is really exciting.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

hate this question actually LMAO i am a multishipper at heart. a good fic can convince me of ANYTHING. like my favourite ship when i stopped writing hp was two guys who weren't ever even alive at the same time so???? anything goes truly.

for the sake of nostalgia, it might still be remus/sirius, because they were my introduction to fandom and all its joys! but that fandom is kind of tainted these days >:(

hmmmm. probably zimbits actually? they invented true love, i think.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

hahaha so many!!! i have a catholic priest Neil fic that is a very fun idea but requires a ton of lore because it's so removed from canon... the kink is juicy but the laziness might be stronger. we shall see.

16. What are your writing strengths?

descriptions, baby!!!!! details!!! i want to say characterisation but i don't think that's always true... i just love thinking very deeply about the details of characterisation.. the little seemingly unimportant tidbits you can add in about a character that just tell you a ton about them without you having to spell it all out! i find that fun, even if it doesn't always work lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

dialogue... i hate it... i simply do not know how people talk... i don't know why they have to either LOL top ten most mortifying moments of my life was when a pal was beta reading a fic for me and said "hey there's no dialogue in this for the first like 5k at all... maybe we should do something about that" rip

i am also very bad at ensemble casts... while the weakness above is something i can't avoid, this one is a lot more avoidable but also something i am actively working on. i feel like my fics are very closed in on my MCs and their relationship but as a reader i love when the characters have meaningful interactions outside of that... so i'm trying to get better at that, even if it's really fucking hard. i'm lucky enough to have a couple of pals who are INCREDIBLE at this so i'm taking notes all the time.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

big fan!!!! i love all methods of doing this too! add it in and provide translation at the end, weave the translation into the text, make the character themselves translate it, etc. i think it's great! i think i've done it maybe a couple of times but should definitely do more...

19. First fandom you wrote for?

you already know what i'm gonna say... HP. i am of that specific generation and i'm just gonna have to live with that lol

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

hate this question hate it hate it hate itttttt do you mean favourite as in favourite final result, or favourite writing experience, or favourite prose, or favourite plot, or favourite characterisation, etc etc etc? i have a lot of love for growing pains, which i've already mentioned a couple times; and also for geometric equilibrium. for funsies, i'll say do not disturb the cats because i just love when an idea possesses me and i can't do anything else until i've written it LOL but yeah "favourite" is hard, sorry

uhhhh i've not seen this floating about a lot soooo sorry if i tag anyone who has already done it :/ but if you guys fancy doing this, i'm passing it along: @moondal514 @jaywalkers @mostlymaudlin @thetrojeans @ittyybittybaker @stabbyfoxandrew 💕 have funnnnnn

[igniferrus]

I can't believe the BBC's The Adventures of Merlin peaked at S01E04 "The Poisoned Chalice."

OBVIOUSLY I love the absolute absurdity of Merlin and Arthur trying to die for each other after knowing each other for like a week. Just for the vibes and for the Merthur implications, however; this episode is the one that does the characters and their interpersonal relationships the most justice, in my opinion.

Now with a read more, because this got out of hand, fast.

We start with the Gauis and Merlin father-son relationship, with them bantering in the hallways about work. Gwen and Merlin get to giggle together at the feast, and then we see their bond as Gwen worries over Merlin (and her blaming herself when he 'dies').

Merlin is also a wonderful sunshine boy in this episode. The weight of his destiny hasn't worn him down yet, he's still riding the high of finally understanding the reason he was born as he was. He perks up when Arthur tells him he's going to the feast, he treats the guests as guests (no immediate suspicion, trying to impress Kara/Nimueh), and we get to see some of his best cheeky moments - like calling Gaius out for making up a proverb, telling Kara he runs the castle, pestering Arthur about his smelly clothes and the food fights, and, of course, when he wakes up mock scolding Gaius for hugging Gwen, and then claiming not to be alive but his own ghost. He's still a silly boy, especially when he wakes up and says he doesn't remember what happened after drinking the wine.

But what I think this episode does particularly well is the Pendragons, especially Arthur.

We get Morgana ready to cut a bitch immediately when things go wrong at the feast, but also see her compassionate side when she allows Gwen to go tend to Merlin. Her relationships with Uther and Arthur are phenomenally well done. Uther scolds her (off-screen) for wanting to bash people about the head with ladles at the feast. But she also gets to stand up to him and show her displeasure at his choices.

When Uther rants at her after Arthur leaves, she agrees with his every point, sarcastically. His ordering Arthur to stay "worked like a charm" and "[her] lips are sealed" when he tells her to knock it off. She calls him out for oppressing Arthur and not letting him make his own choice, telling Uther "[He] can't chain [Arthur] up every time he disagrees with [Uther]" and "Arthur's old enough to make decisions for himself"

But Uther wins this argument (or is at least conceded to), because he asks Morgana if he should allow Arthur to make his own choices, if that means Arthur will die. And Morgana has no answer for him. Which is especially interesting as Morgana was the one to push for Arthur to go.

There is a lot to be said for Morgana and Arthur's relationship in the show as a whole, and this episode too. I could probably write a whole post about them just using The Poisoned Chalice. But I'll keep it to two main points here.

The first, and most important one, which I think is overlooked in a lot of people's take on their relationship, comes from a short line in a transition scene. There is a total of six pieces of dialogues, split between Morgana and Gwen, as Gwen fills Morgana in on the Merlin situation, which includes this bit:

MORGANA: Don't worry, I'm alright. How's Merlin? GUINEVERE: If Arthur comes back with the antidote in time, he'll be fine. MORGANA: Then he'll be fine.

Just like that. If Merlin's health relies on Arthur succeeding it is a forgone conclusion for Morgana. Arthur will not fail. She has enough faith in him that she is no longer worried about Merlin's fate. I don't think enough people consider this angle of their relationship. She knows who Arthur is. He is a good, capable man of honour. He will do what needs to be done. She never says this to his face, and actually implies the opposite when she thinks he won't go and rescue Gwen in a later episode, but that's sibling banter and desperation, baby! She's his older sister, she can't be seen hyping him up. Even when she gives him the chance to talk about his success at the end of the episode, she frames it as "bragging." C'mon. He just traveled to a place where few people come back from, defied his king, and still managed to save a man whose life was already deemed "worth less" that the cost of saving him. It's not bragging, it's a true achievement.

There has also been plenty said for Morgana being a guiding figure at first. When Arthur is stuck with indecision about going, when Uther has gotten into his head about this quest being an abandonment of his people, it is Morgana who encourages him to go, saying his people want and deserve a king who will do what is right. Which is all Arthur ever wants to do, despite the way Uther raised him.

Which brings us to the Uther and Arthur relationship. Uther prohibits Arthur from doing what is right. Calls into question his judgement ("jeopardise the future of this kingdom"? Realty, Uther?). Arrests his son. Locks him in the dungeon. Does his best to throw away all that Arthur sacrificed for to teach him a lesson about not doing things the "right" (Uther's) way. Continued to lie about Arthur's birth and magic, when given the perfect opportunity to come clean.

And yet.

Uther loves his boy. He wants to kill Bayard with his own hands, if it was true that he was going to harm Uther's son. Rants and raves to Morgana and Arthur leaving (and disobeying), putting himself in danger (could never say he's worried to his son's face, though). And in that moment, uses the exact justification he told Gaius wasn't good enough. When Merlin accuses Bayard of poison, Gaius claims "he's just a boy" and should be given leniency, which Uther refutes, saying Gaius should have taught him better. But when it's Uther's own (older) son, "he's just a boy" Morgana, not old enough to make his own decisions.

And at the end? When Uther does tell Arthur he's proud of him, despite it all? Arthur pulls this face, almost a kind of grimace. Like he doesn't know what to do with this information. How often does Uther say this? Not enough, obviously. Uther is a tyrant, a hypocrite, a terrible parent, and a father who cares so very deeply about his child(ren). The love is there, but it is not enough to redeem him. This, along with Beauty and the Beast (especially part two) are some of my top Uther episodes. Because they show how much he loves his boy, and it doesn't change anything. It cannot help either of them now.

Finally. Arthur Pendragon. My main man, in all forms, across all media.

He is at his best in this episode. In every conceivable way.

Aside from the excellent insight into his relationships with his family, in a way with more depth and nuance than most episodes, we get to see the Best Arthur, both physically and mentally.

As a man, he excels. He shows up for the diplomatic aspects of the position as Prince. His teases and needles Merlin, but it is less mean spirited than some episodes portray him. The silly hat is hilarious, but I also think putting Merlin in Pendragon red, with the family's crest emblazoned on his chest was a smart move. This is a new, incredibly untrained servant, with no idea of the decorum of the court. It wasn't Merlin's fault, but he really put himself in a bad light during the tournament by accusing Valiant and not being able to back up his claims, and he did recently confess to sorcery to the entire court...... Arthur all but putting his name on Merlin definitely would have afforded some protection if Merlin's trouble had been a little less dire. Calling Merlin an alcoholic may have been a bit harsh, but impugning Merlin's intelligence had already worked once in getting Uther to let him go, so I see why Arthur would stick with what works. Especially if defying Uther regularly gets him clapped in irons himself.

People routinely call Arthur honourable, and he really shows it in this episode. He tries to drink the poison himself to protect Merlin, after all his other attempts fail. He refuses to allow Merlin's sacrifice to go unrepaid. Even when he hears about how dangerous the quest will be, and that few who try it make it back alive, he says "Sounds like fun." There's no reality where Arthur doesn't want to go. Not even Uther pressing on Arthur's sore spots makes him want to abandon the quest, it just makes him wonder if he should. Also. On a time-sensitive quest that is more likely to kill him than not, he still stops to offer help to an apparently battered servant. It was the wrong choice, but the honourable one none the less.

He's so incredibly clever, too. I talked about my interpretation of his choice of Merlin's outfit already, but the scene with Gwen in the dungeon is so well-written. He's already in trouble. Uther has all but sentenced Merlin to die, twice. Once by forbidding Arthur from leaving the castle, and again when he crushes the flower to teach Arthur a lesson. The guards have to know this, along with the fact that the prince is out of favour enough to be in the dungeon for a week. And yet Arthur uses their perception of him, as a spoiled arrogant prince, to help Gwen smuggle the flower out. It is an exceptionally well-laid and executed plan. He has been studying to be a king (and kill) from birth. By necessity, Arthur is a skilled tactician. He wouldn't lead the army if he wasn't - Uther punishes failure harshly.

Arthur also gets to show off his physical skills in this episode. My man is STRONG and SKILLED. He carries Merlin from the hall to the physician's chambers. I don't know how long of a walk that it, but we've seen there are plenty of stairs up to Gaius' tower, and Arthur gets there without being out of breath. Incredible. Plus, in the cave, Arthur supports his entire body weight with one hand while hanging off a ledge AND waving a sword around to fight off a big spider. In chainmail. This man is Strong As Fuck. I don't think I could hang for very long, even using both hands, much less fight a monster.

We also get to see Arthur's skills with a sword. I've mentioned somewhere before that I understand Merlin was the protagonist and therefore got to be the hero most of the time, at the expense of Arthur. But damn. The cockatrice is the main reason why people don't return from this quest, a single drop of its venom is deadly. And Arthur takes care of it without a single thought. It lunges, he rolls under it, and then he THROWS HIS SWORD and spears it. How much did he have to practice to be able to throw a sword with accuracy, and enough power to be lethal? Absolute unit of a man. He fights off the spider mentioned above, and then climbs the cave wall to freedom. His arms must be so jacked. The only thing he can't carry is the weight of his father's disapproval.

This is also the only episode where we get to see Merlin and Arthur working perfectly together as they were meant to. In other episodes, Arthur is unconscious or unaware of Merlin's magic; or at the end, he is simply an audience to Merlin as the reveal at Camlann doesn't give them enough time to have a healthy Arthur and Merlin team up. Arthur only watches Merlin-as-Dragoon at the battle proper, or is too weak to do anything after.

But in this episode, Merlin, fever-ridden, dying, miles away in Camelot, is still able to provide Arthur magical aid in the cave. He lights the way, showing Arthur the spiders and the route to the exit. It is one of the few times Arthur is exposed to "good" magic. Could you imagine a world where the best swordsman in Albion and the most powerful warlock to walk the earth get to fight side-by-side? With Merlin providing magical support and Arthur the physical aspect? it would have been amazing, but this is the closest we come to it.

It also adds an interesting dimension to the idea of Merlin and Arthur being two sides of the same coin. Merlin's connection to Arthur despite the distance, knowing what Arthur is facing, should have been explored more. We only see it again when they are separated at Camlann, and Arthur wakes, seemingly knowing something isn't right with Merlin. Absolutely underused concept.

This has ended up criminally long, and didn't even cover everything I thought about during my rewatch of the episode. Thank you if you took the time to read all this.

[mrsmarymorstan]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Oh god, from ANY MEDIA EVER?! That's a lot! 28+ years worth of #Content to remember... I'm just gonna be totally random about it I think and this is not an actual ranking!!! Just who first springs to mind. I'll also try not to double up on franchises.

1) Misty (Pokémon) - She was The Girl One and also Not Like Other Girls! I was five, okay?

2) Kyo Sohma (Fruits Basket) The boy who set me down the path of Monster Hugging and Furrydom. If you want details my entire blog exists lol

3) Sir Gwaine (BBC Merlin) Baby's first Dose of Heteronomativity! Plus he helped introduce me to amazing crack ships and made me laugh and broke my heart!

4) Jadzia Dax (Star Trek DS9) - She's just SO COOL! She's semi-immortal, is both an expert on gender and doesn't believe in it, is canonically queer, snarky AF, knows all about Klignons, is very pretty, and does THE SCIENCE!!! Plus she marries Worf and I mean goals.

5) Grog Strongjaw (Critical Role) - He is the definition of Positive Masculinity. An Aromantic King. My precious Baby Boy who could rip me in half if he wanted to but wouldn't. The man who makes me laugh and makes me cry. I miss him so much, I just want more Grog in my life when will he return from the war Matthew???

6) Uncle Newt (John Finnemore's Souvenir Program S9) - A Canonical Asexual Icon, breaking and healing my heart all at once, hell yes to historical queers and elder queers helping to raise baby queers and the found family trope and LOOK JUST LISTEN TO SERIES 9 OKAY?! (They don't use the WORD Asexual but that's because Newt wouldn't KNOW that word but everything about him and his character descriptions and his arc SCREAMS Asexual)

7) Kanade Miyako (Twinkle Stars) - Takaya-sensei made a character so relateable to me I just sat there and cried the whole time. The Academic burn out? The pressure to conform to expectations? Not knowing what to do with your life? Seeing the way she had the narrative treat him as a guide to myself to just take care and take things one step at a time? That it doesn't matter what others say, taking baby steps to heal yourself important and you shouldn't dismiss that. URGH. TAKAYA-SENSEI!!! WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME?!

8) Stephanie Brown (DC Comics) - Purple Clad Icon who tries her hardest and doesn't always succeed but DAMN IT if she isn't gonna crawl back on her feet again no matter what!!! Every single shitty thing a male writer can do to a female character has been done to her, and she's STILL STANDING!!! I will defend her to my last breath.

9) Mary Morstan (Sherlock Holmes) Very few adaptions ever do my girl justice and it's SO FRUSTRATING!!! But god I love her. I love how she's so strong not in a badass Hashtag No Fear way but in the way she is terrified and scared and still goes forward anyway! She's also snarky and loves to tease her husband (and his boyfriend) and I just wish more adaptations understood her! I think the best version of her I've seen is the Ritchie Verse version? More like that please!

10) Gilbert (Being Human) He was in it for one episode and is an absolute Icon. All those years and the only thing he had to do to find his door was to fall in love unironically? He just had to be honest with himself and his feelings. Also this:

(I debated putting the Sarcastic Vicar here but decided upon Gilbert in the end 💜)

[notanotherinfjblog]

Do you ever find that you get characterized or stereotyped in certain ways by others, either negatively or positively?

Hi anon! :)

So you kind of mean, what are the reviews that I get to me as a person? Because there are absolutely trends in that respect.

What people usually agree on, no matter for how long they've known me, is that I'm quiet, nice, and pretty much impossible to read. Most strangers first think I'm shy, while my friends have learned that I'm not. I just don't talk much, but absolutely can monologue if so asked. Back in school, teachers often tended to forget me and said I hardly ever participated in class, even when that wasn't true. I could speak up like three times per class and they'd still say that I've never said a word in the entire semester. I always found that extremely annoying (especially since oral participation is 50-100% of your grade here, depending on the subject). I just always seem to fade into the background. But throughout my life, there have always been some extroverts who took one look at me and went "yeah, I'm gonna adopt that one." I remember when my ESTJ friend adopted me many years ago, she said "you are so cool when you talk, but you talk so little, so other people don't know how cool you really are. I'm going to tell them all about you!!" and so she (successfully) tried to make her friends befriend me because she (correctly) thought I wouldn't be socially adept enough to do that by myself. I appreciate this kind of behaviour a lot, but at the same time it's a bit infantilising, which is also something that keeps on happening. It's always very well meant, but it's like other people look at you and see a little baby that they need to protect. Funnily enough, the Video Diaries from BBC Merlin with all the comments about Colin Morgan (a fellow INFJ) by his co-stars always remind me a lot of how people tend talk about me when they first meet me. It's often a sort of bewilderment as to why everyone is so endeared by me when I'm actually a rather odd person, until they get to know me better and - oh, would you look at that? I've been adopted again. When you're perceived as nice and kind, but socially awkward, forgetful and completely detached from everyday life, apparently it makes you rather adorable in other people's eyes (or so I've been told). They do take you seriously, that's not an issue, but at the same time, it feels like they are cheering you on like a puppy that's chasing a motorbike. Similarly to Bradley James' (an ESFJ) little ironic rant in the video diaries linked above, where he goes "everyone loooves Colin, oh he's so nice, he's so innocent, aww Colin aww. Oh Bradley? Yeah, pff, don't worry about Bradley, he's fine, he's ... you know, whatever. Colin aww, look after Colin aww", people who know me actually really do talk about me like this, like I need to be looked after. For instance, when I recently got back from an international conference where I gave a presentation, I happened to meet my ENTJ colleague in the hallway and he immediately went "how was the conference? Were they nice to you?" Not "did you meet some nice people?", but "were they nice to you?" as in "do I need to get mad at people for not treating you right?" Similarly, I’ve had a student come up to me being genuinely worried about my workload and asking how I was going to grade all their term papers as if I hadn’t enough on my plate already and that I should take care of myself. So this can be very sweet, or occasionally a bit annoying.

Honestly, I'd say the only people who don't characterise me as a strange little puppy that needs protecting are ISFPs. Depending on their particular flavour of Fi, they usually look at me like "that's an alien. I don't trust her, keep her away from me." A lot of people don't really know what to do with me when they first meet me because no matter how emotive I can get, apparently I come across as an unreadable enigma so that you never know what I'm actually thinking or feeling at any given moment. Most people tend to stick around to find a way to peek beneath the mask they believe to be there (there isn't one), but 98% of ISFPs just go "Nope. Bye." Meanwhile, I often get the impression that I slightly terrify ISFJs like with an uncanny valley effect as in "I recognise that you have Fe like me, but there's something wrong with it. Why is there something wrong with it?"

So other people's types tend to play a role in their interpretation of me as well. For instance, when it comes to my sense of humour, it's always the same types that find it funny (ENTJ, ESTJ, INTJ, INFP, ESFJ, ENTP, ISTP), that know how to properly respond to it (ENTJ, INTJ, INFP, ENTP), and those who absolutely do not get it (ISFP, ENFP, ISTJ).

[its-all-ineffable]

Fandom Focus #27

Interview with the Vampire 2022 - I mean, there's no topping this show atm. It's just amazing, and I could talk about it forever. On 20 fics for it so far and counting, and hopefully will be able to write more once uni is finished in May time. It's just such a phenomenal show!!

Stranger Things - Yep, still on my bullshit for this, and I am reading so many Steddie fics it's insane. I just can't stop. God, I love this show! (Also Eddie is so cute, like, just, I love him)

Heartstopper - I re-watched the show yesterday, and I have finally started on the comics and...god this show is sweet, and the comics are even sweeter! I can't wait for series 2, hopefully soon!

Primeval - My childhood show (along with Merlin), I've started re-watching it and honestly it really is an amazing piece of television. Any sci-fi or dinosaur fans, this is a show for you! It's superb, and deserves way more love than it gets! Also the show that has my first TV crush (Professor Nick Cutter, played by Douglas Henshell, in the gif below).

BBC Merlin - My other childhood show. I finished my re-watch of it last week, and honestly, this show is just PERFECT. Like, it has it's flaws, but also, it's perfect. I adore it so much and the ending broke my heart as always. More people need to recognise how great this show is!

Also started a re-watch of Torchwood, and Ianto Jones is my precious baby! Also still working my way through The Vampire Chronicles books and enjoying them immensely!

[dontfightmecauseillcry]

DP X BBC Merlin

Let me just make this clear I’ve NEVER stopped being in the Merlin Fandom

But lately, there this surge of Merlin content on Tik Tok and Pintrest, I think someone said its cause the finally that broke us was on or near Christmas?(Haven’t been here THAT long) And I’ve also been reading timcharg’s Merlin rewrite on AO3 so that’s what happened to me for my brain to do this and the fact that crossovers have me in a choke hold

If you look at my stuff, you’ll see that I’m hipper fixated on DP so that’s self explanatory... anyways

------

Sooo We all know Danny is a sarcastic piece of **** right? Well so is Merlin, Now image the two of them be friends, Danny would cover for Merlin so much weither he’s a servant, knight or villager. The chaos Merlin could achieve would be glorious. No to mention him joining Merlin. Heck Danny could pass as Merlin’s back from traveling brother as some lame excuse (or rebirth) and Hunith would totally play along

The part I want to focus on is Knight. 

Danny bored out of his mind decides to pick a random portal in the GZ and go through it, he has nothing to lose, his friends and family have long since peacefully past away so why not. ( would like to point out he has not aged since he was lets say 25, his prime, so that he’s closer in age to the rest of them)

He ends up in the BBC Merlin world and finds out that the Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table are true if a little wrong from what he knows since he didn’t read those books, but everyone has heard to Excalibur (Imagine Danny reaction to Merlin pulling the story out of his ***). He decides to keep away from Camelot but fate hates him and he meets Gwiane while traveling. Daniel Nightingale, likes to be called Danny, reminds Gwiane of Merlin so much he can’t help but befriend him.

Danny realized that fate dragged him into this mess when Gwiane askes him for help one day and all of a sudden he’s helping prince Arthur? And then he’s being asked to fight and be knighted and he just can’t say no to Prince Arthur freaking Pendragon! 

After everything has settled down he feels something off about Merlin and Merlin feels something off about Danny. *Insert Big confrontation/ reveal* And Danny joins Lancelot in the “we know” club and they both tag team in covering for Merlin. Why doesn’t Danny tell Gwiane? He knows what its like to have that big of a secret and if Merlin doesn’t want him tell he won’t, though he does say it would be a good idea (insert the hc that the knights know and are pretending not to to make Merlin more comfortable)

Ok sooo now that Danny is here, lets save Lancelot! 

He calls bs on the veil NEEDING a sacrifice to close it. Sure a sacrifice would close it if there weren’t any alternatives (like him not being there) but would the veil needs is power to close, (and that’s what souls are, energy/fuel/power) luckily he has power. It would probably take a lot out of him and he would be in a short coma but no body dies! He wouldn’t tell anyone his plan either to not over complicate things. Merlin knocking out Arthur to stop him sacrificing himself, Lance sneaking away so Merlin doesn’t sacrifice himself, Danny pushing away Lance and closing the veil himself and knocking out. 

Danny makes up some bs excuse on why he’s still alive, “The veil needs a sacrifice, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a human one guys! The lady probably gets a kick out of killing people when they don’t need to die. Oh, how I figured it out? Ahhh- to be honest I didn’t know it would work,,, ummm I sacrificed my ability to read yeah totally, lady was so mad it worked too, ha! Even if I did die I would have gladly done it :)”

Danny says that since he never gave up his ability to learn, he could relearn how to read, loop holes baby! He uses this as the primary cover for Merlin. “Where were you last night””Teaching Sir Danny how to read”. Danny would love troll everyone. If Danny didn’t tell Merlin and Lancelot about being half dead he would have by now.

This is all my brain has got! Hope you enjoyed my brains shenanigans. I just think Danny would have fun in Camelot

[legends-of-time]

Amelia’s Story (BBC Merlin Story)

Chapter 50: A Servant of Two Masters

Masterlist

A/N: Chapter 50 🎉🎉🎉

——

Amelia's POV

Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Leon, and Percival had headed off the day before. They'd gone off on a simple journey, to inspect the defences along a certain area of the borders of the Kingdom. Arthur had reassured Amelia, Gwen and Anne, especially when Anne had wanted to go, that it was safe, and had brought up how the path they'd take is known only to them and not their enemies.

But that was yesterday and the group still has not returned. Anne had become increasingly distressed about where her husband is and is growing frustrated with the number of times everyone tells her to calm down for the sake of the baby. Amelia has avoided this as she knows there's no point and wants to avoid Anne's ire.

Instead, Amelia has resorted to pacing back and forth in the Council Chambers as a Council meeting going on behind her and not paying attention to them. The Council had been sympathetic while Agravaine had suspiciously been elsewhere since yesterday and only appears not long before the Council meeting in a hurry.

——

Merlin's POV

Merlin jolts awake when what feels like water is doused on him. He opens his eyes and quickly takes in his surroundings to find he's in some sort of Hovel, hanging from the ceiling by his wrists and Morgana standing in front of him. This isn't good.

"Good morning." The High Priestess greets smugly.

"Is it?" Merlin scoffs.

Morgana pouts as if she's hurt by his attitude. "Oh, don't be like that." She remarks mockingly. "We have a lot of catching up to do. After all, I haven't seen you since you condemned my sister to a slow and painful death, thwarted my plans to take over Camelot and turned my other sister away from me." She pauses and smirks. "Though perhaps not for long."

Merlin frowns, wondering what she means, but he dismisses it, for now, to focus on more pressing matters. Matters such as being Morgana's prisoner. "Couldn't do me a favour, could you? Let Arthur know he still thinks of me as an underachiever, but I'm quite proud of those accomplishments. I can die happy."

"Oh, you're not going to die. Oh, no. I'm not going to make it that easy." Morgana smirks at him before walking away, leaving Merlin frozen, fearful of what she's going to do.

——

Amelia's POV

Amelia is relieved when Arthur and the Knights soon return but that relief is taken away when, gathered in the Council Chambers with them, Gwen and the Council, they inform her that Merlin has been taken.

They had entered the Valley of the Fallen Kings when the group had been attacked by a large band of armed men. Merlin had become injured then he and Arthur had been separated from the Knights as they all hid out in the forest as the mercenaries continued to pursue them.

Arthur had become separated from the injured Merlin when, as Arthur had been fighting more mercenaries in a crevice, boulders fell into the crevice, cutting off the mercenaries from Arthur as well as Merlin.

Amelia immediately knows that Merlin had been the cause of the rock fall and had sacrificed himself so that Arthur could escape. Anne is going to give him a smack for that.

After this had all been explained, Anne and Gaius enter. Amelia looks on anxiously at her maid. Anne's stomach has been getting bigger and bigger every day and is now visible to everyone. It's not long before they'll have to get started on maternity dresses.

"Where's Merlin?" Gaius immediately questions.

"He's alive. Last I saw of him, he was still alive." Arthur replies.

Anne starts hyperventilating and tears build up in her eyes as she shakes her head.

Amelia immediately runs over to her and takes her into her arms. "Don't cry, Anne." Amelia pleads as she hugs Anne to her. Anne stays frozen in place.

Arthur turns to Leon. "Dispatch patrols at first light. Scour every inch of that forest." He orders.

"Yes, Sire." Leon and the Knights exit.

Arthur turns his attention back to Anne and Gaius as Amelia runs her hand along Anne's hair. "We'll find him, Anne, Gaius. We will." He puts a reassuring hand on Gaius' shoulder.

"I should've been there." Anne sobs against Amelia's chest.

"No." Arthur shakes his head. "Merlin would've never forgiven me if I had let you come."

"Then I shouldn't have let him go!" Anne cries.

Amelia pulls away from their hug and brushes Anne's tears away. "I promise we will find him. That is a promise not from a mistress but from a friend."

——

Anne retreats to her Chambers, refusing to come out until Merlin is found. Amelia worries for her friend and hopes they find Merlin alive otherwise Anne is just going to shut down.

The patrol returns and Agravaine and Leon give their report to Arthur, Amelia and the Council in the Council Chambers. It's not good news.

"We have scoured the forest." Agravaine tells them.

"Scour it again." Amelia snaps.

"My Lady, there is no sign of Merlin." Leon placates softly.

Agravaine approaches Arthur and Amelia, standing between their seats at the head of the table. "None...but...this." Agravaine places a scrap of Merlin's bloody jacket on the map in front of them. Arthur stares at it blankly while Amelia stares at it in disbelief. "I am sorry you've lost such a loyal and..."

Arthur holds up a hand, stopping him. At any other time, Amelia would feel smug at that. "The mercenaries, what news of them?"

"We found no trace." Leon replies.

"Surely sent by that snake Alinor." Agravaine remarks.

"It can't be." Arthur dismisses. "How? Our route was known only to a few within Camelot."

"Then there's only one conclusion we can draw." Leon has the Council's attention. "We have a traitor in our midst."

Amelia looks at Agravaine the moment he glances at her. They look straight into each other's eyes, knowing that the other knows.

——

Arthur had slipped out early morning, without telling Amelia or Anne, to search for Merlin himself with Gwaine in tow.

Amelia sighs and decides to take a break from the paperwork and go for a walk in the Castle. She's walking along one of the corridors when she glances out of one of the windows that overlooks the Main Square and stops when her eyes catch something.

It's Arthur and Gwaine riding back with Merlin! Amelia pulls up her skirts and runs to Anne and Merlin's Chambers to find Anne.

"Anne! Anne!" Amelia bangs on the door.

It's opened by a tired Anne who lets out an even more tired sigh. "What, Amelia? I told you I'm not—"

"They've found Merlin!" Amelia explains. "They're back!"

Life seems to return to Anne as she registers Amelia's words. The maid bolts out of the room as fast as she can to Gaius' Chambers with Amelia behind her. Amelia doesn't care what they look like running like mad through the corridors, servants rushing out of their way and nobles staring at them, Amelia really doesn't care.

They race around a corner and head right for the Physician's Chambers. Anne throws the door open causing those inside, to startle. Anne doesn't even stop and runs right for her husband and hugs him tightly.

"Merlin!" She cheers. Amelia smiles, watching them until she notices the look on Merlin's face. He is smiling but not grinning, there's something that's not right with his expression.

"Careful there." Merlin warns Anne. "You nearly knocked me over."

"I wasn't running that fast." Anne defends. "Can't really run with these skirts."

Amelia is trying not to let on that something is wrong with Merlin. She can just feel it, but a quick glance at Gaius and Anne tells her that they feel it too.

"Well, it must be all that weight you've gained." Merlin then remarks.

Amelia's eyes bug out. What did Merlin just say?

——

Anne's POV

Anne looks at Merlin who sits across from her cautiously as Gaius serves them supper. The Physician had insisted that he cook them a meal to celebrate Merlin's miraculous return.

"Don't do that again, Merlin. My heart cannot take the strain." Gaius reprimands him.

"Yes, well, you are getting on a bit." Merlin remarks bluntly. Anne and Gaius look at Merlin in surprise. Merlin frowns as he looks at the meal in front of him. "What is this?"

Gaius looks at him confused but replies as he takes a seat next to Anne, "It's a special welcome home. Your favourite."

Merlin takes one sip of the soup and gags. "I think that you should stick to cooking up potions, Gaius. This tastes like the bog Arthur found me in." Gaius gives an uncertain chuckle.

Anne is sure there's something wrong with her husband but does not know what so she decides to dig for more information. "How did you escape?"

"With great skill." Merlin answers dismissively. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course. Anything." Gaius replies.

"What is the strongest poison that you possess?"

Anne frowns at that. "Why would you need to know that?"

"I had this great opportunity to lace the bandits' food with poison and nothing to do it with." Merlin gets up and walks over to a table full of potions.

Gaius looks as bewildered as Anne but replies to Merlin's bazaar question, "Well, that would be aconite."

"A..conite." Merlin spots it on the table and takes the bottle. "Well, I think I should take some of this with me from now on. You never know when you might need to kill someone." Merlin takes off and Anne stares after him, bewildered by his behaviour.

"Indeed." Gaius murmurs.

——

Amelia's POV

Percival and Amelia walk down the Phoenix Corridor when they bump into Merlin, who carries a plate of food.

"Ah Merlin. You scrub up well." Amelia says with a smile though she's still suspicious about Merlin's initial behaviour since returning.

"No time to talk, need to get this food to the King." Merlin replies snippily. Amelia and Percival share a surprised look at his tone.

Percival turns back to Merlin, who's seemingly bouncing on his feet, unable to stand still, frowning. "What's the rush? And shouldn't you be resting?"

Merlin looks at them with wild unfocused eyes. "I don't need to rest. I've got work to do."

"But you always complain to Arthur about how you want time off." Amelia points out.

Merlin shakes his head rapidly. "No time to waste!" He barges past them, down the corridor, leaving behind the shocked couple.

——

Merlin's odd behaviour is worse than they'd realised. Gwen finds what would've been Arthur's lunch, if the maidservant hadn't already brought the King some, lying in a pigsty, half-eaten and surrounded by dead pigs.

She brings it to Gaius who is already in discussion with Amelia and Anne in his Chambers about Merlin's odd behaviour. Percival doesn't join them as he has to prepare for the knighting ceremony.

Gaius holds the chicken from the discarded lunch up to his nose and sniffs it. "Aconite."

Anne looks at him in shock. "Didn't you say that was a deadly poison?"

"Indeed. The most deadly poison known to man." The Physician confirms.

"What was it doing on Arthur's food?" Amelia questions. It can't be who she thinks it is. Why would they?

"Merlin took some from here earlier." Anne tells her and Gwen. Oh, no.

It dawns on Gwen's face. "He was really angry when he realised Arthur wasn't going to eat it."

"He has been behaving very strangely." Gaius realises.

Anne huffs. "You're telling me. Normally, Merlin will be all frantic, asking me how me and the baby are doing but since he's been back, he has not asked once."

Gwen scoffs. "But why would Merlin want to kill Arthur?"

"Merlin wouldn't. Not if he was in his right mind." Gaius says.

"Where's he now?" Amelia asks. They need to find him now.

"Helping Arthur prepare for the knighting ceremony..." Anne begins to answer before her eyes widen.

They all immediately hurry from the room to find Merlin. On the way, they pass Leon in the corridor.

"Have you seen Merlin?" Gwen asks, stopping the Knight.

"He was in the Armoury." Leon replies.

"What did he want in there?" Gaius questions.

Leon chuckles. "A crossbow. I think Arthur must be getting on his nerves."

"Why?" Anne asks, concerned.

Leon checks the corridor, leaning in to whisper, "He said he was going to kill him." Leon bursts out laughing. Amelia joins in with a terrible fake laugh while Anne, Gwen and Gaius exchange worried looks. Leon walks away and they start rushing to Arthur's Chambers.

——

Merlin is raising the Ceremonial sword to strike just as Gwen, Anne, Amelia and Gaius burst in.

"I know, I'm late." Arthur says, completely unaware of what's happening behind him.

Merlin rushes forward to attack, but Arthur moves and Merlin runs into the column and falls over. Arthur turns around and sees Merlin on the floor unconscious. He picks up the ceremonial sword, considers Merlin for a moment, and then strolls out. The group gives Arthur fake smiles on his way out. Amelia spots Merlin waking and runs forward with a metal pitcher and smashes it over his head, knocking him out again.

"I really hope you have not given him brain damage." Anne remarks.

Amelia shrugs. "He'll be fine!"

——

Merlin is lying on a chair backwards so that his front rests on the back of the chair in Gaius' Chambers. Gaius is reading an entry in a book as Anne, Gwen and Amelia grimace at the creature crawling under Merlin's skin.

"I feared as much." Gaius says.

"What is it?" Amelia questions. Gaius hands her the book. The other two look over her shoulder to have a look. The image is a large body of a snake but it has multiple heads instead of one.

"It's a Fomorroh. Whoever put it there was very highly skilled." Gaius says.

Morgana.

"What does it do?" Gwen asks.

"In the days of the Old Religion, they were used by the High Priestess to enslave the minds of their enemies. Once a thought was planted, the victim would not stop till they'd accomplished it." Gaius explains. "First we must paralyse the serpent."

Gwen hands him a bowl and Gaius dabs a saturated pouch on Merlin's neck. The Fomorroh grows still.

"Is it dead?" Amelia questions hopefully.

"Sadly not. Merely dormant. Now for the tricky bit. Pass me the blade."

Gwen hands it to him. Amelia grimaces as Gaius cuts it out. Thankfully it's over soon and Gaius tosses it into the fire.

"That's it?" Gwen asks.

"I believe so."

Anne sighs in relief. "We have the old Merlin back. Arthur is safe once more."

"Let us hope so." Amelia comments.

——

Anne's POV

The next morning, Anne reaches out for Merlin in their bed while half asleep. He hadn't woken up yesterday, so they just moved him back to Anne and Merlin's Chambers. He was still unconscious when Anne went to bed last night, but when she feels for him under the covers, she comes up with nothing. Anne opens her eyes fully and sits up.

Merlin is walking about the room, getting ready for his work day. He looks over at Anne as he realises that she is watching him and he flashes her a smile that warms her insides.

Anne returns the smile as she feels relief flood her. "How do you feel?" Anne asks.

"Never better." Merlin says with a grin. Kissing her forehead and shrugging on his jacket.

Anne is a bit disappointed she doesn't get any more but shrugs it off. "Well, it's a relief to have you back. What do you remember?"

"About what?" Merlin asks, turning around.

"I take it that means nothing—" Anne stops speaking and her smile drops when spots the Fomorroh still wiggling in Merlin's neck as he straightens his jacket.

"I got a feeling today is going to be a good day," Merlin remarks and he leaves before Anne can stop him.

Anne looks down at her stomach. "Time for Mommy to save Daddy." Anne says as she scrambles out of bed. "Again."

——

Amelia's POV

Anne tells them that the Fomorroh is back. Amelia, Anne, Gwen and Gaius hurry towards Arthur's Chambers.

"Everyone has their own agenda." Arthur is saying as Amelia bursts in first, followed by Anne, Gwen and Gaius, and sees Merlin with a deformed sword, standing over a steaming bath that's bubbling and foaming while Arthur is changing behind a screen. "It feels like I can trust no one anymore."

Amelia rushes forward and knocks Merlin out with the same pitcher. Merlin falls back into Gaius and Gwen's arms with Anne looking over him frantically. They pull Merlin away but quickly hide him behind the column just as Arthur chooses to step out from behind the screen completely undressed.

"Is that how you see it, Merlin- Amelia!" Arthur cries, hurriedly covering himself.

"Arty, buddy, how ya doing?" Amelia says cheerfully, trying to act like there's nothing awry, then realises he's naked and averts her eyes. She does not need to see that much of her cousin, practically brother.

Arthur takes this chance to grab a pillow from his bed and cover himself more effectively, trying to act dignified. "Gaius, Guinevere, Anne." The King greets the others. The other three stand gathered around the column, holding Merlin up and out of sight.

There's a moment of silence as they all awkwardly stand there. Amelia, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on her heels, is trying to think of a way out of this but isn't sure what. Thankfully Arthur speaks.

"You're not Merlin."

"No!" Amelia replies, somewhat with a high pitch. "There was a problem with the bath water."

Arthur frowns, looking at the now still and unsuspecting water. "Really?"

"Yep!" Amelia says a bit too hurriedly. She doesn't know where her lying skills have gone, she used to be good at this. "It's cold. Very cold."

Arthur steps forward to look at it.

"Merlin's gone to remedy it." Arthur reaches forward to touch it. "I don't think you can have a bath today!" Amelia says quickly.

Arthur looks up sharply. Amelia tries to cover her panic with an awkward smile.

Arthur steps back. "Right... Good job I'm not very dirty, then."

"It's a good job indeed!" Amelia nervously laughs.

The others chuckle with her. Arthur nods awkwardly, waiting for them to leave. They don't. They really can't. He sidesteps awkwardly behind his dressing screen.

Amelia does a sigh of relief and turns to the others, frantically gesturing to them that they need to move.

——

They manage to drag Merlin to Gaius' Chambers and lie him face down on a table so Gaius can examine the revived Fomorroh.

"So, let me get this straight. If you kill one, another grows in its place." Gwen says after Gaius had explained to them how this is possible.

"I've heard such stories in the past, but never thought they were true." Gaius dabs Merlin's neck with the paralyser concoction. "That will silence it for a while." Gaius opens a smoking canister and holds it under Merlin's nose. He jerks awake, coughing.

"What is that? Arthur's socks?" Merlin splutters, sitting up on his knees, and holding his head. He looks at the four of them and then back to Anne. "She kicked, didn't she?" He asks. Anne looks at him in confusion. Merlin crawls forward and puts his hands on her stomach. "She kicked while I was gone! I can't believe I missed it!"

Now Amelia knows he is back.

Anne huffs. "No, he hasn't kicked yet. I told you, it's still a bit too early." She reassures him. The arguing over the sex of the baby hasn't stopped between these two.

"Then what is it?" Merlin asks as he sits up. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"I'm trying to stop you from killing the King." Gaius tells him.

"Heh. Ooh." Merlin staggers. Maybe Amelia hit him on the head too hard.

——

Amelia, Anne and Gaius watch as Merlin stuffs his face with berries. Turns out that while under the Fomorroh, Merlin had been so focused on his task that he hasn't eaten.

"So, you don't remember anything?" Gaius questions.

"I remember Morgana conjuring the snake, but...nothing more. No." Merlin replies. Anne rubs her husband's back comfortingly.

"Lucky for us you're such a bad assassin." Amelia remarks with a slight grin.

"Well, all is well now. I feel fine."

"For now, the serpent is dormant and when it wakes, your mind will be Morgana's once more and nothing will stop you from killing Arthur." Gaius warns him.

This causes Merlin to panic. "But how do we get rid of it, if it keeps growing back?"

"There's only one way, I'm afraid. You have to kill the mother beast."

Anne looks at Gaius in alarm and Amelia doesn't blame her. "But it's in Morgana's hut." The former reminds the Physician.

Gaius nods gravely.

"Great. How long have I got? How long before this thing wakes up?" Merlin questions.

"A day, no more."

"Please don't face her alone." Anne pleads.

Merlin gives his wife a reassuring smile, stroking her stomach. "Don't worry, I won't be there at all. Well, not exactly." Merlin then stands and picks up a potion bottle from another table. "She won't recognise me if I'm eighty years old." Merlin hurries off.

"Well, what should I say if Arthur asks for you?" Gaius calls after him.

"Er, tell him I'm anywhere." Merlin closes the door, then pops his head back in. "Anywhere but the Tavern."

After Merlin is gone, Amelia knows she needs to lighten the mood and turns to Gaius with a smirk. "You're going to say the Tavern, aren't you?"

"No!"

——

Gaius tells Arthur Merlin is in the Tavern.

——

Merlin thankfully makes his return after having destroyed the creature.

"This is becoming something of a habit." Gaius remarks as he cuts out the Fomorroh for the last time.

Merlin chuckles. "I hope not."

Gaius extracts the dead Fomorroh. "Don't worry. It cannot grow back again."

Merlin feels the back of his neck painfully.

"Does that mean he won't try to kill Arthur?" Anne questions.

"Don't worry, it's completely gone. I've no desire to kill Arthur." Merlin reassures them.

"That's great news. Although, I'm afraid right now he does want to kill you." Amelia warns him.

Merlin's smile turns into confusion.

Amelia winces at that. Yeah...

——

A/N: Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

[chaos-has-theories]

WIP ask game: ❔

I just remembered I had this draft!

❔- Choose a random WIP and talk about it.

It turns out that most of my favorite ML AUs right now are some kind of elaborate crossover. So: Here's hoping you know at least the basic gist of Frances Hodgson Burnett's Secret Garden, because the other ones are Locked Tomb and BBC Merlin respectively, and thus even more involved.

Please imagine the following: Chloé Bourgeois in the role of Mary Lennox.

Or don't, really, because you don't need to imagine anything to get there. Bad-tempered spoiled brat whose mother preferred going to parties over actually seeing her daughter... yeah.

Now imagine: Adrien Agreste in the role of Colin Craven.

By rights it should be Felix (guy who is a bit of a dick because he is told he's different than everyone else), but I'm too fond of Adrien to replace him. Besides, Secret Garden is baby's first gothic, and Adrien is so living in a gothic mystery. He just doesn't know it. (There is a monster in his house. There are secret passages. His mother's dead body is haunting these halls just as much as her memory is)

He never got to go to school, here, and is given even fewer freedoms than in canon. Chloé doesn't know him. Neither does the public; only through rumors and whispers. He acts out a bit, much like Felix in his titular episode. He knows he's a Sentimonster, and has been told all his life that that means he isn't fully human. Every difficulty he has feels like proof to him - though really, he's just never learned how to talk to people his own age.

Finally: Marinette as Dickon. For [reason], Master Fu had to renounce his Guardianship before finding an apprentice to pass it on to. Instead he released all the Kwamis into Paris, where for the most part, they're in hiding. Where possible, they've taken the form of the animals they represent: Just a fox, digging through the trash. Just a cat, slinking around corners.

(Some have chosen shapes that are at least similar to the ones they know. Tikki spends considerable time as a robin, where at least she's large enough not to be squished by a carelessly dropped textbook.)

Some have found people they're more interested in; whom they might allow to become their holders in the right circumstance. But they've all (slowly, slowly) been drawn to Marinettte.

Chloé's father is arrested for corruption just as the Hawkmoth attacks begin. Her mother informs everyone who's willing to listen that she's not going to come to Paris just to take care of unexceptional Claudette... Eh, Gabriel Agreste lives in Paris, right? He owes her. Send her there.

Chloé moves to the Agreste Mansion, and she hates everthying about it. She hates everything in it. Gabriel Agreste who refuses to talk to her, the bodyguard who doesn't talk to anyone; that secretary who just tells her not to stray in the house.

Who insists that the noises she hears when it's otherwise silent (and that house is always so, so silent) are nothing but the streets outside.

The only person Chloé doesn't feel like hating is Ladybug.

She spends her days reading the Ladyblog (A real heroine! in Paris! The Ladyblogger might be annoying, but at least it's something to do all day) and aimlessly strolling through the garden. There's a cat she gets to see sometimes... there's bees. Some birds. The silent bodyguard seems to like them.

She's sitting very, very still, letting a bee land on her nose, when one day she looks up and finds Ladybug sitting on the garden wall.

(She's sick and tired of the silence and the noises when she gets up at night and finds that she isn't the only child in the house.)

(It's much, much later that they all discover the secret garden in the basement.)

[tiodolma]

@tiodolma is this BBC Merlin and Morgana from the same Camelot x Merlin plot from those previous asks? Because if it is, that's hilarious as hell. 🤣

If not, I'm still howling! 😆

i just got the urge to smh frankenstein the two storylines (tbf i just woke up)

from the crossover we dropped off from here long after bbc morgana and morgause summoned camelot merlin and morgana

meanwhile in the other storyline, the events of starz camelot just proceeded and we got morgan's incest baby that's actually merlin's kid...

bbc merlin fckd up on the spell and landed on that normal camelot timeline hahahhaha (but still they all got memories abt everything thanks to seer and necromancy powers)

[dashboarddiaries]

Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen (@thelaurenshippen) and Cher McAnelly (@overchers). Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription by Laudable.

For bonus clips, ad-free episodes, and more, become a patron at patreon.com/dashboarddiaries

Transcript under the cut!

[intro music]

Lauren: Hello, Hyrulians. I’m Lauren Shippen, Professional Writer, who is making absolutely terrible explosive machines in Tears of the Kingdom.

Cher: And I’m Cher McAnelly, Head of Entertainment at Tumblr, and fan of fandoms.

Lauren: And this is Dashboard Diaries, a podcast for you – the folks who are in this internet bunker with us. We talk about what’s going on in our favorite hell site, get into what we like to call “tumbl-lore,” do fandom deep dives, and share the times when we’ve gone feral over a new ship.

Cher, what has your last week on Tumblr been like?

Cher: It has been a big week on Tumblr, as it always is. The final season of Never Have I Ever came out. So, obviously that’s been trending. I don’t know how many Daxton shippers we have versus Bevey shippers. I’m definitely a Bevey shipper.

Lauren: Same. Same. 

Cher: Or, excuse me. Bavey. But we did an answer time with the cast of Never Have I Ever which was really fun. That comes out in a few days. And also Merlin has randomly been trending. And I looked into why and no one seems to know. It seems to be that it’s trending because everyone is like, “Hey, why is Merlin trending?” Do you know why Merlin is trending?

Lauren: I’m so glad you brought this up because I had the exact same reaction this morning when I opened Tumblr and I went to the trending page and I saw Merlin was trending. And I was like Merlin tends to reliably trend on Christmas each year. Because Christmas is when the finale happened and everybody remembers it and stuff. But I was like is it just because Merlin is very gay and it’s pride month? I can’t figure it out. 

And that perfectly describes Tumblr for me, just a fandom for a show that was a BBC show ten years ago that ran for five seasons but I would not say it was a big show. It was not a well known show. It’s spontaneously trending in this year of our lord 2023. (laughs)

Cher: It’s like all the fandom’s on Tumblr once a show is off the air are embers or something and they’re just waiting for their moment to come back full force.

Lauren: That’s such a good way of describing it.

Cher: No fandom ever really dies on Tumblr. I can’t think of any that are fully nonexistent. Can you? That just kind of like the show ended, so did any conversation.

Lauren: No. I mean, it’s definitely ... you can always, always find stuff. I am definitely in some fandom’s for things that were not huge fandom shows at the time. But even now ten years later still have a decent amount of traffic just because people are still finding them and watching them. I mean, that’s been one of the really good things about streaming, right ... accessing these older shows is a lot easier than it used to be. And yeah, I mean, just this week I re-blogged a post that said, “On September 15th, 1967, Spock and Kirk gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named /fanfiction.” (laughs) 

And then I feel like it’s such a great encapsulation of both fandom and also like, yeah, 1967 ... that was so, so long ago and Kirk/Spock fan fiction and Star Trek original series fandom is still going strong. And of course there’s new stuff that is getting people into Star Trek. But even, yeah, a show like Merlin where there’s been no sequels, there have been no spin offs, there has been no expanding of the universe – it’s on a streaming site and people get into it and then come to be unhinged with people on Tumblr. And the people are still there to be unhinged with. Just wonderful!

Cher: Oh, I love it. What a beautiful place. Actually, I’m inspired to re-watch Merlin, which I haven’t watched since it was on the air. 

Lauren: That would be perfect because I feel like we should do a Merlin episode.

Cher: We absolutely should.

Lauren: We haven’t dived deep into an old fandom in like a bit. So, I feel like we’re due for a show that was really popular in 2012. You know? (laughs)

Cher: I love that. Yeah. Let’s do that. Okay. I’m going to add re-watching Merlin to the watch list.

Lauren: Hell yes.

Cher: Yeah. How was your last week on Tumblr?

Lauren: I mean, yeah, it was good. I have been enjoying the Merlin stuff. I’ve really been enjoying all of the absolutely incredible fan art of Across the Spiderverse, which I just saw yesterday. And so I have been diving really deep into that tag. All of the art in that movie is so extraordinary. And so getting to see all of the amazing fan artists that are on Tumblr take the incredible varied art styles in Spiderverse and put their own spin on it has been so fun. 

And Spider Man in general is just like one of my favorite characters. So, it’s just been really delightful to see everybody making memes and making great art and reacting to the movie which is I think universally beloved, as it should be. So, that’s been very, very fun.

Cher: I would love to go to a museum exhibit with all the art from Spiderverse. 

Lauren: YES.

Cher: A different room for each kind of Spider Man or Spider Person. I feel like that would be a really fun kind of experiential thing.

Lauren: That would be so cool.

Cher: Sony Pictures, if you’re listening ... 

Lauren: Yeah. Well, and I live in Seattle and in Seattle we’ve got the museum of popular culture. And they have a lot of really cool exhibits. The last exhibit I saw there was a while ago but it was Disney Villain Costumes. 

Cher: Oh, fun. 

Lauren: And they had this huge exhibit of all the costumes from all the movies of all the Disney Villains and stuff, and original sketches and designs, and things like that. And so I feel like MoPop would be the perfect ... and obviously this is selfish that I could go because I live in Seattle. But MoPop, if you’re listening ... contact Sony and see if you can do a Spiderverse exhibit.

Cher: Oh my gosh. It would be so cool. And there could be a fan art room or section, too. With kind of dynamic changing fan art. Look, I would go.

Lauren: Yes!

Cher: I would be in. (laughs)

Lauren: That would be amazing. I have another thing about the last couple of weeks on Tumblr which is that after we released our last episode, which was just about Yellowjackets, one of our delightful listeners reached out and shared this missing episode conspiracy. Were you aware of this!?

Cher: Yes. 

Lauren: Okay. Explain it to me.

Cher: So ... essentially there are photos from set that show someone who is portraying cabin daddy, as they’re calling them, the dead guy who they found in the cabin. So apparently there’s additional footage that did not happen during season two. And the theory among the Yellowjackets fandom is that this was this additional kind of capsule episode that was recorded to show what happened initially in the woods. And also ... so, this was only a nine episode season, right? And the finale was timed to still qualify for this year’s awards season. 

Lauren: Right.

Cher: So, that’s why there were only nine episodes. Season One was ten episodes. Season Two had ten episodes planned. So, also people have been posting about this. People were saying, “I’m staying up every Friday waiting.” And so the creator of the show, or one of the show runners shared this post and was like, “Please go to sleep. There will be an additional episode, but it’s going to be later.” So, the theory is that maybe it’s a Christmas special or something like that, that this capsule episode is going to be released. So, that the story of the missing episode, which by all accounts does exist. 

Lauren: That’s amazing. I don’t know A) how I missed this conspiracy in scrolling through the Yellowjackets’ tag when I was doing so for our episode. But also I can’t believe that it’s true! Because of course when we talked about the John Locke conspiracy in our second episode of this podcast, we talked about this rumored episode that was going to happen the week after what everyone thought was the finale and of course it was just a bunch of fans, myself included, hoping that the finale wasn’t actually the finale. Because it was not very good. 

So, the fact that this is actually true just makes my fan heart so happy. Especially just for all of the Yellowjackets fans. It’s like, oh man, you guys really like ... you get the thing that we all wanted ten years ago. And I’m so happy for you. And I’m so happy for me as a Yellowjackets fan that we have another episode coming sometime I guess between now and the next season.

Cher: Mm hmm. And I’m so excited for some cabin daddy back-story. I want to know where the symbol came from and what happened in the woods initially and I think, oh god, that’s going to be a great episode if that’s what the theory, if that’s actually what the episode is. Which it really seems like it is. Unless they’re using the cabin footage in Season Three. But I feel like, no, it’s for this episode. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: So, I’m really excited about that. We will definitely be talking about it as soon as it comes out.

Lauren: Absolutely. 

[guitar]

Let’s go on to our Dashboard Confessionals. Cher, what do you have from the archives this week? From your own archives, I should say.

Cher: I have a classic. I have a heritage post. I posted it or re-blogged it in June 2014. 

Lauren: I know exactly what this is. 

Cher: And it is a gif of like five second countdown timer that says, “Gently blow on your screen” and then once it gets to one it shows a cow in a wig with its hair majestically blowing. Really classic gif. If you have been on Tumblr for more than a year or a week, depending on who you’re following you’ve probably seen this and can see it in your mind right now. So, yeah. A classic.

Lauren: Yeah. I love it. And I think one of the few posts that we’ve had from our archives that has over a million notes!

Cher: Oh, yes! Real heritage post territory. Yeah.

Lauren: Yeah, million plus is a real marker of a heritage post. For sure. 

Cher: I love it. This one and the shooting star one that you have to re-blog every time it goes by your dashboard. Yeah.

Lauren: Yes, exactly. (laughs) 

Cher: What do you have for us this week?

Lauren: So, I have something that I re-blogged in 2015. Although, wait, this is really interesting because the date sort of where the original post date says April 14th, 2021 ... but I definitely re-blogged this in 2015. (laughs) So, one of those weird little quirks sometimes of re-blogging.

Cher: Just Tumblr things. (laughs)

Lauren: Just Tumblr things, little Tumblr things. But it’s a post that says, “Someone: dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Me: crashes into work next day in a giant metal truck covered in hundreds of speakers while playing double necked guitar/flamethrower.”

Cher: Love it.

Lauren: Which, of course, is a Mad Max: Fury Road reference, which was one of my favorite movies of that year, one of my favorite movies of all time. And Doof the Warrior, who is the guy who plays this flame throwing guitar on the back of a rig is just one of the best characters ever made. So, it was fun to be reminded of him. And that is my dream job – playing guitar with flames coming out of it on the back of an enormous rig. Despite the fact that I do not play guitar.

Cher: Who doesn’t want that? Yeah. You’re almost there. I believe in you. 

Lauren: Actually, that is a perfect transition into our main topic-

Cher: Yes.

Lauren: ... in which you probably could make some sort of flame throwing massive truck rig and in fact that might be the point of the game. We are talking this week about:

[game show trill]

The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Let’s start with what do you know about this game? What is your experience with Zelda as a franchise?

Cher: Uh, my experience with Zelda as a franchise is purely through Tumblr and just kind of dashboard osmosis. I know that there was a first game that I only saw abbreviations of, and I think it’s like ONTB or something. I kept thinking of it as like Orange Is The New Black. I don’t know what the first game is because they’re calling it abbreviation II. I do know people are using TOTK as “Tears Of The Kingdom” tag or abbreviation. So, what I know about Zelda is that Zelda is a little dude in a little outfit. A cute little outfit with a little hat, who goes on adventures. With another little dude named Link. And little dude, I’m saying here completely gender neutrally, they’re just little guys, also gender neutral. 

And they just seem to have a great time. I think they’re shipped pretty extensively. I think that’s a lot of people’s OTP. And the Tears of the Kingdom trailer confirmed that they live together. And there’s only one bed in their house. And they were roommates. So, very I think ... the Zink/Linda shippers ... again, I know that’s not the ship name, that’s what I have written down. I can’t decide if I like Zink or Linda better, but I think they’re both great.

Lauren: Both strong choices. 

Cher: Right? (laughs) And so yeah, they go on little adventures. I think either Link or Zelda goes on a four-wheeler and people were wondering why whoever it was, was on that four-wheeler. And wait, I’m going to pop on over to ... I was really diving into the Zelda tag and I saved a bunch of posts about Zelda. So, I know that Link runs funny. And I think I’m not entirely sure what the goal of the game is. But I think it’s just to have fun and just be little guys. Where would you say I am on that?

Lauren: You’re not so far off. I like that you started with describing the way that you described Zelda, you sort of were just describing Link, actually. 

Cher: Okay. (laughs)

Lauren: [crosstalk 00:13:52] but that’s actually a mistake that I made for a long time, because I was not a Nintendo kid. I grew up with a Playstation. I’m still a Playstation kid. I think we’re both Playstation people. But my partner bought a Switch a couple of years ago and so I got into the Legends of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was the first game. So, BOTW was the abbreviation.

Cher: There it is.

Lauren: Yeah. And I loved it because it’s a massive open world game and you do play Link. So, Link is the character that you are playing. He uses he/him pronouns but we’ll get into the gender of it all in a little bit. And then Zelda is his girlfriend/bestfriend/wife/princess/collaborator ... it’s very unclear, they never ... as far as I know, there’s a million Zelda games. The Legend of Zelda has been a game since the ‘80s I think. And these are sort of the newest iterations of the story.

But yeah, Zelda is the princess of high rule. Link is her knight. Which is a great dynamic. And I don’t know that they’ve ever been-

Cher: We love shipping a princess with her knight.

Lauren: A princess and a knight. It’s so good! I don’t know if they ever actually are canonically a romantic couple very explicitly in any of the games. But they very well could be. In Breath of the Wild they are not, because basically in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda is like missing or unreachable for most of it. So, a lot of it is very sort of Mario rescuing Princess Peach sort of, except Zelda is usually off holding the entire fabric of the universe together while Link makes sandwiches and goes around on four-wheelers. (laughs)

Cher: I love it.

Lauren: Yeah. And yeah, the point of this particular game is to sort of fix things in Hyrule that have been broken by all of the stuff falling from the sky and the castle being lifted up into the air and this demon king being released from the basement of the castle. Link loses his arm in the first ten minutes of the game, so you just have a new arm for most of the game. And yeah, most of it is just sort of making contraptions and doing little side quests and exploring this open world which is delightful.

And I would love to hear what are some of your favorite posts on Tumblr have been for this game. Because I have loved ... there’s been so much great fan art and there’s been so much great discussion about Link’s appearance and his gender, because that’s a whole sort of topic. And also I really enjoyed seeing everybody’s videos of just absolutely eating it, dying with their contraptions. That is so relatable because I’ve made so many terrible contraptions that are so deadly ... and do not accomplish what I want them to accomplish and instead kill me. 

Cher: But you’re having fun!

Lauren: I’m having fun.

Cher: I do have one post that I really like which I’m dropping in the chat right now. It is a photo of Link on the four wheeler and it says, “Why does he have a four wheeler? That’s so funny. Who gave him that?” And then he’s circled and it says, “This twink does not have a driver’s license.” 

Lauren: (laughs) It’s true! (laughs)

Cher: So, I like that.

Lauren: That’s amazing. That’s so, so good. Yeah, so I guess to talk about Link as an LGBTQ icon, I guess ... What has been your impression of Link as a character and sort of scrolling through the Zelda tag?

Cher: I think that it is a happy coincidence that his name rhymes with Twink. 

Lauren: (laughs)

Cher: And he has ... I like his cute little outfits. I think that’s kind of ... he and Zelda ... everyone ships him with Zelda. Honestly, the vast majority of what I saw was fan art either of Link or of Zelda. Mostly of Link. I feel like people really ...

Lauren: Yeah, because he’s the player character. So, it’s like yeah.

Cher: Okay, that makes a lot of sense. But yeah, he’s just a little dude, honestly is a good example. I think he seems like a nice guy. I would hang out with Link. I would have a drink with Link. heh heh. What do you think? Where am I on that?

Lauren: Yeah, I think him being a little dude with “dude” being gender neutral is sort of the perfect way to describe it. So, yeah, like I said, Link uses he/him pronouns but there are lots of different interpretations of kind of who Link is. That he’s non binary. That he’s gender fluid. That he’s a trans man. And I think all of those interpretations are both interesting and correct and also canon compliant.

Because the creators of Link, the game designers and stuff have said before that they specifically designed him to be kind of gender ambiguous. So, they gave him long hair and he’s got sort of a small stature. But also a lot of his outfits are more masculine coded. And he never speaks. You never actually hear-

Cher: Oh, interesting.

Lauren: ... Link’s voice in any way. He never has any lines of dialogue. He’s completely silent. It’s implied that he speaks, but you never actually hear or see anything. And that was also so that the player can imagine themselves as Link. And so Link sort of being this catch-all avatar for whoever, regardless of your gender, regardless of the way you express your gender – because you can dress him in all sorts of outfits. 

Yeah, there’s one particular section of the map called “Gerudo” that is a city that is occupied only by one sort of species of humanoid people and they’re all female. And they do not allow men inside of their city walls. So, in the first game you just dress up as a woman and they let you in. And that sort of speaks to Link’s gender can be whatever he wants it to be on any given day. And so that’s one of the things I really love about the game, and I love about sort of Tumblr’s relationship to the game. Because kind of like we saw with Jesse Pinkman in our Breaking Bad episode, there’s all these different characters that people sort of adopt as trans icons and I think Link is such a strong trans icon because he is gender ambiguous and he is supposed to sort of be whoever you want to be. 

He is, yeah, mostly shipped with Zelda but also there is a fish prince named Prince Sidon who I know a lot of people ship with Link, which I totally see. Because they’re like best friends. Prince Sidon is sort of obsessed with Link. Whenever Link shows up he’s like, “My best friend!” He’s really exuberant. But ... Prince Sidon got a fiancé in this new game. So, little bit of a ...

Cher: Drama ... 

Lauren: Yeah, a little bit of drama. (laughs) 

Cher: This is the description of Zelda I found, which I think it sounds accurate to me and I would love to know if you think it’s accurate as well. Ipson’s castle posted, “I love this modern version of Zelda, because she’s just a girl in STEM who everyone knows and loves, but then she’s also an urban myth, a four dimensional entity, and a chupacabra.” 

Lauren: That’s accurate. There are so many great posts out there about ... Yeah, like I said, Zelda sort of holding the fabric of the universe together. I’m not really far into the game yet, but I’m fairly certain Zelda is just fully time traveling ... I think she is a fourth dimensional being in this particular game.

Cher: Oh, fun. Good for her! 

Lauren: Yeah, and then Link is just some guy. (laughs)

Cher: Some guy. (laughs) Good for him, too! 

Lauren: Whenever Zelda shows up in a place people are like, “Oh my god, Princess Zelda, you’re so amazing.” And it’s like, “Who’s this guy?” 

(laughter)

And there’s also been a lot of jokes made in-game that I’ve also seen people make very similar jokes on Tumblr of how Link shows up in places and people will talk about this legendary swordsman and how there’s a myth that this legendary swordsman did this and then they’ll describe something that you did in the first game. And it’ll take a while for you to be in conversation with that person for you to be like, “Oh, you’re the legendary swordsman!? Really? You’re kind of small.” And there are all these jokes made about how small Link is, which is just very funny to me. 

He’s pocket sized. 

Cher: That’s adorable. Also, I dropped another post in too which is the one about them being roommates from the trailer, which I thought was very cute.

Lauren: I had the exact same reaction. Because this house that Link is in, in this post, is a house that you can build as a side quest in Breath of the Wild. And so one of the first things I did was I went and I was like, I’m going to go find my old house and see if it’s still there. And it was, but it was full of Zelda’s stuff. (laughs) And so I’m like, “I guess Zelda moved in with Link?” 

Cher: That is so funny. Oh my gosh. You know that they game makers, which I know isn’t ... I feel like that’s not the correct name, that’s very Hunger Games, but ... game developers ... there it is ... are having a lot of fun with those little kind of Easter eggs and hidden things. 

Lauren: Totally.

Cher: Which is what I love and I want to play video games more because I love watching things to find little details or kind of the things you can find behind the scenes or in the background when you’re watching a movie or a show. In a video game you can literally explore and go find those things that you wouldn’t necessarily find if you just played straight through.

Lauren: Totally. And the Legend of Zelda games, these two games specifically for the Switch are like, they’re so open, completely open world. So, it’s like you just dictate everything that you’re doing and yeah there’s so many little clues to find. When you are in your house that Zelda has moved into and you read her diary she talks about the secret room that she’s built because she wants to make a surprise for Link and she needs to hide it. And it’s like that’s another fuel for the fire of, oh, they’re definitely living together. Because if she’s making a secret room in the house then presumably Link lives here and there is only one very small bed. So ... 

Cher: Yeah. I don’t know ... anyone who is active on Reddit ... there was this post that was about this guy who was building an art room for his best friend in his house. And it was an “Am I The Asshole” post. And everyone was like, “Dude, you’re in love with your friend. You don’t just make an art room in your home for someone.” And that’s what I’m thinking of here. 

Lauren: I love that. That’s exactly it. And Link I feel like would get on Reddit and be like, “My princess has done all of this stuff for me. What do you think she’s trying to say?” And Zelda would then look over his shoulder and be like, “Link, we’re married. What are you talking about?” I feel like that’s just their dynamic. Just like he’s not quite a himbo ...

Cher: Oh my gosh. He’s on R:Ask Reddit. 

Lauren: But yeah, I don’t know, I feel like he’s not necessarily totally with it all the time with what Zelda is up to. 

Cher: That is so funny. I would love that as a little fun side bit. Ooh, I wonder what they would have Tumblr’s about if they were on Tumblr, you know?

Lauren: Oh my gosh. Yeah. 

Cher: I want to see that blog.

Lauren: Absolutely. The other thing that I’ve been seeing a lot on Tumblr that I didn’t understand at first was that there’s these little tree creatures called Koroks that are throughout the game that you can pick up and help bring to their friend. And you first encounter it in the tutorial and I was like, “That’s kind of cute.” And then I went on Tumblr and people were doing horrible things to these Koroks. 

Just quite literally crucifying them. Making a cross-

Cher: No!

Lauren: ... putting them on the cross and then putting the cross into lava. 

Cher: Noooo. Little guys! 

Lauren: I was like, how could you do that to the Koroks? They’re so sweet! Now that I’ve encountered so many Koroks in the map that are like, “I need to reach my friend,” I’m like, I kind of get it. They’re everywhere. 

Cher: I’ve saved enough of you. 

Lauren: Because their backpacks are so heavy. So, yeah, there’s a lot of Korok crucifixion on Tumblr as well, which is dark but sort of understandable. 

Cher: I see. Wow. I love ... that’s the dark Zelda side of Tumblr. (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah, seriously. And the other thing that I’ve been appreciating, especially in the last day since I’ve seen Spiderverse is that there’s been a lot of sort of comparisons of Spiderverse and Tears of the Kingdom. I don’t know if you’ve seen this at all?

Cher: Interesting. I have not.

Lauren: Yeah, there’s been a lot of posts that are sort of about both of those things. And I think it’s just because they’re both sequels that have come out around the same time and sequels for properties that had an exceptionally good first thing. And then the second being released and it’s like just as good if not better. And so there’s been a lot of good sort of discussion around that, around both Nintendo and Sony have just really nailed the sequel. This fan art is both beautiful and sad. 

It’s fan art of Link and Miles Morales, both grabbing their head and kneeling on the ground. It says, “Great year to be a Zelda or Spiderverse fan. Pretty bad year to be Link or Miles.” 

Cher: Oh man. 

Lauren: And that is accurate. 

Cher: Are they good? What’s going on? (laughs) 

Lauren: You know, they’re just trying to hold together the fabric of the universe, as it’s being ripped apart.

Cher: Oh, I hate it when that happens!

Lauren: Right? I hate it when that happens.

Cher: Peter Parker just had to do that. You know? And now-

Lauren: Exactly.

Cher: Well, wait ... this is so dumb. This is so dumb, but I was like – Peter Parker just had to do that and I was like, oh, because Peter Parker is Spider Man. ... yeah. 

(laughter)

Lauren: Yeah, well, and for whatever reason the Spider Men/People seem to be handed the responsibility of keeping together the universe a lot.

Cher: Maybe it’s because their webs are so sticky. They’re good at-

Lauren: Sticky ... exactly.

Cher: ... keeping everything.

Lauren: Well, actually, one of Link’s magic hand powers is sticking things to other things. So, you know what, Link and Spider Man, there’s more in common than they have not in common.

Cher: What other magic hand powers does Link have? 

Lauren: Oh, yeah, I think he has one that I haven’t unlocked yet because it’s sort of in the skill wheel. I’ve got one blank spot. 

Cher: Yeah.

Lauren: But he can stick some things to other things. He can ascend through anything. So, if he’s under a roof or under a cliff face or whatever and there’s enough of a rock jutting out, he can just ascend right through it, go through the rock. 

Cher: Helpful.

Lauren: He can turn back time. But only on objects and only briefly. (laughs)

Cher: Okay. 

Lauren: And then I’m trying to remember what ... I feel like there was one ... Oh, and he can also fuse things to his weapons to make them more powerful, which is fun. You can fuse a flamethrower to your sword and create a flame throwing sword. So, if there were guitars in the game, I could make the entire set up from Mad Max, really.

Cher: Oh my god.

Lauren: Because that’s how we also build the contraptions is with all the sticking power stuff. 

Cher: I want that for you. 

Lauren: Thank you. There’s not any musical instruments that Link can possess in the game, unfortunately. 

Cher: If you could have any of those powers yourself, which one would you want?

Lauren: Ooh. Good question. I think the ascend power would be pretty cool. What would you pick?

Cher: I think the ascend one as well, because the turning back time one has too many rules tied to it. I would say. And the sticking things to other things and melding things is helpful but is also a thing that you can do with tools.

Lauren: Yeah. Exactly.

Cher: As cool as it would be to be able to do it all the time. I think yeah, the ascending. I don’t know what I would use it for, but instead of going upstairs in your home, you could just kind of bop on up.

Lauren: Exactly!

Cher: Yeah. I would be into it.

Lauren: That would be nice. Yeah. I think that would be good. (laughs) 

And with that, we will take a quick ad break and then come back to do our Feels Corner. 

[synth]

Lauren: This weeks’ Tumblr Vibe is the feeling of being perfectly hydrated at all times at a Pride parade and having just the right amount of sunscreen. Happy Pride, everybody!

[gentle music]

All right, Cher. Before we wrap up, what has you in your feels right now?

Cher: The finale and reunion of the Ultimatum Queer Love. I don’t know if you’ve been watching this or heard of it?

Lauren: I have literally never heard of this. Explain everything to me!

Cher: Oh my gosh. Lauren. Oh my gosh. I’m just so excited to introduce you to this world. Okay. (clears throat) So, the Ultimatum is a spin-off of Love Is Blind. And the plot of the show is essentially couples who have been together a while and are not yet married. One person may want to get married and the other is dragging their feet. So, someone gave the other person an ultimatum and the ultimatum is a whole bunch of these couples who are kind of in this weird in-between phase have to come together, spend three weeks in a trial marriage with a random other person from this group that they pick. And then spend three more weeks with their partner. And then decide if they want to stay with their partner and get married, if they want to get with this other person, and decide to be in a relationship with this other person, or if they want to break up altogether. 

Lauren: Oh my god!

Cher: This season was the ... there’s been two seasons previously and they’re both straight seasons. And this one is queer. Mostly but not entirely lesbian season. There are some non binary relationships. It’s the first queer dating show I’ve seen beyond Double Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, which I do not count. (laughs)

Lauren: That’s right, I forgot about that show.

Cher: But it is such a mess, Lauren. And it is just so -. 

(laughter)

If you’re not familiar with the joke, the joke is that what does a lesbian bring to a second date? A U-Haul. 

So, it’s just everyone falls in love with everyone else so fast and it’s just such a mess. And the reunion was a mess. All ten episodes are on Netflix now. I highly recommend watching it. I would love to know your thoughts. Because yeah I just watched the reunion and it was ... wow. What a show.

Lauren: That’s amazing. 

Cher: I can’t wait for the next season.

Lauren: I have to ask – did you have ... I mean, I guess it’s kind of a spoilery question, but did you have any couples that you were particularly rooting for that did end up together? Or the reverse? Couples that you were like, these people should not be together and they broke up? 

Cher: A lot of those. A lot of these people should not have been together. (laughs) 

Lauren: Did anybody stay together that shouldn’t have?

Cher: I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but I feel like there are a lot of people ... this is a really mostly wonderful group of people who I don’t think are with the partner that is meant for them. And there were a couple of relationships that when they were in their kind of little trial period ... first off, there was “I love you” said by more than one couple in their three week trial period.

Lauren: That’s bonkers.

Cher: You know? And there were a couple where I was like, huh, do you? Hmm? But none of the ones that I was really rooting for went the way I expected, but I will say watching it through the season who I was rooting for at the beginning I wasn’t really rooting for them to stay together.

Lauren: Interesting.

Cher: My overall pitch for this would be single and therapy for most of the people. (laughs)

Lauren: I feel like that should probably be applied to most dating shows.

Cher: I agree. I hope, I know Love Island for example has therapists on staff. I think it would be great ... I don’t think it’s common practice in US based dating shows, but I think that is so necessary.

Lauren: Yeah. 

Cher: Because people are ... what is more vulnerable than relationships and dating and love and putting yourself out there and doing it for everyone to see?

Lauren: Seriously. 

Cher: All the time. Oh my gosh. I feel like I would absolutely need therapy. Yeah, so anyway. Yeah. Ultimatum: Queer Love. Let me know what you think if you watch it.

Lauren: I love it. 

Cher: What has you in your feels this week?

Lauren: Oh gosh. Definitely Spiderverse, I think. I loved the first movie. I thought the second movie was great. Without giving any spoilers, it just really understands the character of Spider Man really well, I think. Whether they’re portraying Peter Parker or Miles Morales or Gwen or some of the other folks who are spider people. Spider Man is just one of my favorite characters of all time. I think that he’s the only character, they’re the only type of character that you can do something like this with where you have so many versions of them and it’s still interesting. 

And I think just what really struck me about the movie was just the fact that they somehow stepped up the art style from the first movie, which felt impossible. But they just added so many new elements and they experimented and it was all so, so beautiful and there’s all these tiny little visual jokes. It’s one of those things that you have to watch over and over again to understand everything. 

That stuff just makes me really emotional, because you just get to see something where every person on it just put all of their effort into their craft and is so good at their craft and there’s just something so delightful and encouraging about getting to see that play out all together and sort of everything working in harmony. Because as somebody who is a creative and who collaborates a lot and who directs things and works with other writers and works with a bunch of different types of creative’s, it’s hard to do that. It’s hard to make sure that everybody has the resources that they need and has the creative freedom that they deserve while still making something cohesive. 

And so I’m always just really blown away when somebody does it really, really well. And I think Lord and Miller are doing an incredible job directing those movies. Yeah, seeing creative collaboration work in that way is just really inspiring. So, I hope that it actually was genuinely a good experience for all of those artists, because of course you never know but I’m going to choose to believe that it was a delightful collaborative experience.

Cher: Have you watched Love, Death, and Robots?

Lauren: I have not. 

Cher: I think you’d really like it. 

Lauren: It’s a Netflix show, right?

Cher: Yeah, it’s a Netflix anthology series. Every episode has something to do with either Love, Death, or Robots. 

Lauren: Nice.

Cher: And every episode they run from five minutes to 30 minutes and each one is written by a different author or a different screenwriter. And they are paired with a different artist to do the animation.

Lauren: Oh, cool.

Cher: And it’s just ... there’s I think three seasons, every episode is completely stand alone. And it’s really a beautiful show. And there are so many ... just the art styles, the creativity, the stories ... just such a wide range from just completely beautiful and deep and emotional to just hilarious. I highly recommend you watch it if you like those kinds of anthology or collaborative creative content.

Lauren: Yeah, that sounds awesome. I mean, Star Wars has done that with Star Wars Visions where they’ve-

Cher: Yeah.

Lauren: ... gotten all of these different animation houses to do these single episodes and so that sounds very up my alley.

Cher: And What If as well I think.

Lauren: Yes. Yeah, yeah. Totally.

Cher: I haven’t had a chance to watch it, did you watch that?

Lauren: I watched, I’ve seen a couple of episodes but I haven’t watched the whole thing. Because that’s the thing about anthologies, you know ... sometimes I’ll watch an episode here or there. And yeah.

Cher: You can just pop it on. Yeah. 

Lauren: But amazing. Okay, I’m going to add that to my list. 

Cher: Yeah, let me know what you think. 

Lauren: And with that ... I am Lauren Shippen, and you can find me at TheLaurenShippen.Tumblr.com.

Cher: And I’m Cher McAnelly. You can find me at OverChers.Tumblr.com. 

This has been Dashboard Diaries. And ... 

[outtro music]

Lauren: May your anons always be loving.

Cher: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cher: And your ships always canon.

Lauren: May the fics you’re reading always be finished.

Cher: And the answers you seek always in the re-blogs.Lauren: Thanks for scrolling with us!

If you were given a weird magic hand, what magic hand power would you want? That's right, this week we're talking The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom. Plus, we discuss the missing secret episode of Yellowjackets, messy queer dating shows, and the spiderverse. And this week in bonus clips - Cher gives us a Supernatural viewing update, including an almost mystery about a ~ missing episode ~ so join our Patreon if you want to hear that!

Credits and transcript in our reblog. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

[olderthannetfic]

My People

I’m trying to fill out a google form to vote on panels for a tiny online con, and it just gives me so many warm and fuzzy feelings.

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