#Mordred is very good if you want angst but just because people have a hard time looking away from train wrecks doesn’t mean it’s healthy

[taliesin-the-bored]

That would indeed be awesome. My first thought was that Melora would be the most competent of the siblings because of her better track record, but unless I’m mistaken, Amr and Loholt were pretty young when they died and never got much of a chance to prove themselves. It would be especially great and chaotic if instead of just having Bhalbhuaidh visit occasionally, they had a full-on exchange program with Alastrann’s court and, if you warp the timeline to its utmost, the Paladins. I would enjoy Bhalbhuaidh and Medoro confronting Bors and Roland and telling them off for being bigoted.

All the Canons, All at once

I am always thinking about the vast Arthurian Mythos and its various traditions and canons. All of them being mutually exclusive to each other...

...Aaaand I can't help but want to smash them together like playdough. Its my favorite past-time as of late.

Like, don't tell me no-one has ever amused themselves of the fact that the Celtic Gods like Gwyn ap Nudd and Manawydan just hanging out in Arthur's court with Palamedes, Dubricius, Galahad and Nasciens.

Or my very favorite concept of Guinevere being a giantess AND a sorceress while also being Morgan the fairy's ex-girlfriend Best-friend-turned-Arch-nemesis. Nevermind what this means for Lancelot, Arthur, Galehaut, Meleagant and the other abductors.

Or the various children that's been given to every character, including Palamedes, Merlin and Tristan. Even Freaking Lancelot and Guinevere have children together. They even have a grandson in Gargantua.

You could literally have your own next-gen version of the Round Table, led by Amr, Loholt and Melora. Staffed by: Guingalain, Ysaye, Lohengrin, Brisan, Bronsidel, Melehan, Munsolinos, Amren, Garanwyn, Kelemon, Andronia, Florismarte, Pantagruel, Vanoc, etc.

And then Dragon Knight Branor, (From Uther's Generation of Round Table Knights) shows up and kicks their asses.

[a-written-dream]

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 1,788

Fandom: Merlin (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Future, Gen or Pre-Slash, Rebellion, Arthur Knows About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), Cybernetics, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Captivity, Identity Reveal, Evil Uther Pendragon (Merlin), Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, pretty canon-typical though, POV Merlin (Merlin), The Merlin Melee Challenge 2021, Fights, Rebel Leader Arthur

Summary: Because they had been captured and suddenly Arthur was no longer just Arthur, he was Arthur Pendragon, son of everything they fought against.

Or: In a world years into the future, Merlin and Arthur fight against the tyranny of Uther Pendragon with an entire rebellion by their side. But Arthur hasn’t been entirely honest and even locked up in a cell Merlin can’t help the burning feelings of betrayal and anger. - For @merlin-fic-server’s Melee Challenge. Prompts: ‘I wish I’d told you’, punk, coin & Russian Violet

The metal is cold against Merlin’s back and against the skin of his wrists, even though he’s been pressed against it for the better part of an hour. He wonders briefly if it’s on purpose, if they keep the cell so cold to inflict more distress and discomfort. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

A florescent light flickers above their heads, and the only sound in the small space is their breaths bouncing off the walls. There are dents in the door from where Arthur tried to break it down, but even with his strength the door didn’t budge, and with the power-dampening cuffs around Merlin’s wrists, Merlin’s magic is all but useless. Arthur kept trying for a formidable amount of time, but when his hand gave off a sickening crunch of metal, he screamed in frustration and punched the wall for good measure before sinking down onto the floor.

Metal scraps still litter the floor around Arthur’s legs where he’s sitting in the corner now, a long time later, the fight all but drained out of him, head in his hands. The silence is heavy and thick and awkward, tense with Merlin’s anger and confusion, with Arthur’s guilt and anxiety.

“I wish I’d told you-“

Arthur’s voice is quiet and yet it seems to echo and boom within the metal box they’re locked into. It startles Merlin out of the apathetic calm he’d been lulled into by the silence. They’re waiting for their inevitable executions, and yet the sound of Arthur’s voice makes a white hot feeling of betrayal course through him.

“What,” he interrupts, “that you were leading a rebellion against your father? Believe me, Arthur, I wish you had too,” he snaps.

Because they had been captured and suddenly Arthur was no longer just Arthur, he was Arthur Pendragon, son of everything they fought against.

Arthur winces in his corner, running his hands through his hair. “No, I-“

Merlin doesn’t let him finish, too angry to keep the words bubbling to the surface down any longer. “How could you keep this from me? From all of us?” Merlin has been by Arthur’s side for years, fighting with him, protecting him, supporting him, and yet Arthur’s kept something as monumental as this a secret. “How could you not tell me?” Why did you not trust me?

“Why?” Arthur snaps, finally looking up to meet Merlin’s gaze. His blue eyes flash with anger, and Merlin is sure his own dark purple ones are just as angry. In Merlin’s fury, they unhelpfully provide him with the weaknesses in Arthur’s protective plating, with information on just where to send a spark of electricity and magic to shut down Arthur’s entire power system and deal the most damage.

Merlin blinks the detailed blueprints away. He has them memorised, but even betrayed and angry and hurt, he would never do anything to harm Arthur.

“Does it matter?” Arthur continues, voice hard and cold and wounded. “Does it matter that he raised me? That I grew up trying to be loved by a tyrant? That it took me years to finally understand the extent of his atrocities and his crimes? It sure doesn’t make me blind to them, now.” There are tears in his eyes and guilt in his voice. “Sure doesn’t make me blind to the horrific things I’ve done in his name, done to people like-“ you, he doesn’t finish. Like Morgana, like Mordred. To people with the ability to infuse their tech with magic. “I hate him, Merlin, and I hate that I still love him, but nothing, nothing, could ever make me see past the things he’s done, the things he is still doing to his own people, to my people, to our people.” He grits his teeth and clenches his eyes shut, brow furrowed in a painful frown. When he opens his eyes and looks at Merlin again, he looks so very tired.

“I tried to kill him on sight, when I first understood, really understood. I screamed my throat raw as I condemned him from the cell he put me in, and then I decided that I would do everything in my power to make sure his rule comes to an end. I can’t continue to watch people suffer under his hands, no matter how much my wretched heart still aches for his love and approval. I can’t let him continue to slaughter innocent people simply because they exist in a way that doesn’t appease him or because they disagree with him, even if I can never atone for what I’ve done. I will live with the guilt for all my life but I couldn’t, can’t, continue to live without trying to right the things he’s wronged.”

Merlin can’t do anything but stare at him, for a long stretching moment, watching as Arthur holds his gaze and swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. This, this is why they follow Arthur, why the whole rebellion would be willing to lay down their lives for him, because Arthur is a man who hurts with injustices he’s grown up never knowing but has intimate knowledge of, because he sees wrong and does anything he can to make it right, because he’s willing to go against everything he’s been taught to believe and everyone he’s been taught to love to save people he’s never met. Because he’s willing to kill his own father if it means the rest of the world gets to go on living.

“You should have still told me,” Merlin says quietly, his chest aching at the pain in Arthur’s eyes.

Arthur averts his gaze, clenching his hands into fists in front of him. The sound of metal grinding against metal fills their cell.

“I didn’t want you to see me any differently,” he admits quietly.

Merlin’s heart throbs with hurt. Does he not realise Merlin could never? Does he not know the world could turn and end and he would never see Arthur like anything other than the best, the most important person he knows?

“Arthur,” he says softly. He doesn’t continue until Arthur lifts his gaze to look at him. “When I look at you, I see a man who is honourable, compassionate, and kind. I see a man who would do anything to change the world for the better – even go against the father who raised him. I see my best friend,” Merlin watches Arthur grit his teeth and blink the wetness from his eyes, “and I couldn’t see you any differently even if I tried.”

Arthur gives him a hesitant, forced half-smile, hands relaxing against his bent knees.

“I’m hurt you didn’t trust me enough to tell me,” Merlin admits, and Arthur glances away, shame pinching his brows together. “But I’m not angry at you for being someone’s son.”

When Arthur looks back at him, Merlin smiles. “We cannot help who we are born as, only who we choose to become, and every day I have known you, Arthur, you have chosen a path that is good and just and right, that goes against everything you’ve been born into and raised to believe, to be someone who is kind and fair and understanding. And that makes you the greatest man I’ve ever known.”

Arthur’s eyes are brimming, but he’ll never let the tears fall. He never does. There’s a smile on his lips though, and this time it’s soft and small and real.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he says quietly.

Merlin smiles at him again, and he hopes it’s reassuring and forgiving. “The rebellion would do well to know.”

Arthur shakes his head. “They wouldn’t follow me if they did,” he says, as if he truly believes they wouldn’t, as if he doesn’t understand all the reasons each of them have to stand by his side.

“They would,” Merlin tells him, certain and sure. “Sure, there might be backlash from some, but most of them have followed you for long enough to know that it doesn’t matter. They trust you with their lives, Arthur, with the future. Not because of where you come from, but because of who you are. You have proven time and time again that you are willing to lay down your life for the cause just the same as the others, that you will sacrifice everything you have to give for a better world if you must, that you will not hesitate to go through hell to get us there. They don’t doubt your loyalty to them or to the world we’re trying to create, and it won’t change with this truth. They follow you because you are a thoughtful and caring leader, no matter the circumstances of your birth; the only thing that binds you to Uther is your blood and your name. They know that, just as well as I do,” he says. He’s grinning now, the edges of anger only a drop left simmering in his stomach. “You are the rightful heir to the throne, but more importantly, you are their chosen leader, and they will follow you because they choose to do so. Trust them like they trust you.” Merlin holds Arthur’s gaze with steady eyes, and he wonders if the fire he feels in his chest is as clear to Arthur as it is to Merlin. “It matters where you come from only because the world deserves to know that even the son of Uther Pendragon will not tolerate his tyranny or bow beneath him.”

Arthur swallows again. “I don’t know if I can do it.” He looks at Merlin, conflicted and uncertain and scared. But Merlin can see that he’s made up his mind, probably long before Merlin told him to. Perhaps he just isn’t ready to face it alone.

“I’ll be there every step of the way.”

Arthur’s smile is tentative and grateful.

“Thank you, Merlin.”

There’s a beat of silence where all they do is smile at each other, and then Arthur closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, flexing his broken fingers. When he opens his eyes again, the fight and the purpose that had first pulled Merlin in shines with the brightness of a hundred suns and Merlin grins so widely his cheeks hurt.

“So, how do we get out of here?”

Metal scraping against metal catches their attention as something slides underneath the door. The brass object on the floor is flat, thin, and round and they both look down at the coin, hundreds of years old and completely useless in a world where physical currency hasn’t existed for well over a century. They only know one person who still carries those around.

They turn to grin at each other.

“Gwaine.”

[gunpowdville]

BRIAN PLAYLIST TIME

SONG REASONING/EXPLANATIONS:

Just a warning: this playlist is mostly just me having Emotions about our beloved Drumbot and attempting to organize them into a vaguely coherent format.

Silver Platters // Les Gold - this is a pre-drumbotted Brian song to me. Like he's stuck in this place and he's kind of miserable but is just pushing through. I don't really know how to explain it. But it is very much pre-drumbot Brian.

Blood on My Name // the Brothers Bright - this is when everything starts to go wrong and the mob starts coming, and Brian starts considering the things he's done. I also very much have it on here for the 'oh lazarus' line, because symbolism.

Take Him Away // Dirt Poor Robins - this song is just. so very brian backstory. Like it's. it's the people on this planet seeing this man who they deem unnatural and something that doesn't belong, and them just sending him into the sky. it's so good it makes me feel so many things

Burn the Witch // Shawn James - BRANDED A WITCH FOR WHAT HE COULD DO,,, that's it. that's the entire reason this song is on here.

Body // Mother Mother - this is just. Brian getting mechanized. This song is literally just Brian getting mechanized. That's it.

Is There Anyone Out There? // Delta Rae - just mechanized Drumbot, he's lost and he has this new body that doesn't feel right and he can't really feel anymore and he honestly doesn't quite know who he is and he feels so lonely and I cry

Ordinarily Human // Aviators - ok not gonna lie this song is. kinda weird. BUT. FUCK DOES IT GIVE ME EMOTIONS ABOUT FRESHLY MECHANIZED BRIAN. 'artificially soulless, perceiving that i'm ordinarily human but programmed to seem too unnatural' ?? I CRY

Sleeping Sickness // City and Colour - Brian doesn't sleep anymore. so now he has all this time to sit and think and be alone with himself and his new metal body and he's not doing ok.

Mercy // Bo Baskoro - Brian has done. So many things. So many things that he regrets, and he knows he will keep doing more, but he's trying. He hates himself but he is trying so very hard not to and I love him.

Wretch // Autoheart - Brian is SAD. Brian is SO sad he is NOT ok and he feels so alone because while the others are dealing with similar stuff it's not quite the same. I also like to think of this as a Brian & Jonny song, not particularly as a ship but just... The two of them, one with a metal heart, one with a human one, both of them very much Not Okay.

Liar // the Arcadian Wild - Morality switch angst!!!

Immoral Men // AlicebanD - morality switch angst but fun!!

Pipes // Tom Milsom - this was recommended to me as a Brian song and it. Very much is a Brian song. In the context of this playlist I see it as Brian adjusting to his new situation and figuring out his body and how it works.

Be Calm // fun. - Brian is still not okay but he's figuring stuff out and sometimes it's overwhelming but he's trying not to let it get to him because it won't help to just wallow.

A New Mission // Josh Whitehouse - Brian has adjusted to everything, he's STILL not ok but he's decided to try and find the silver lining and make the most of it and be there for his crew.

Constellations // the Oh Hellos - Soft Brian song!! I don't particularly know why this is a Brian song, it just... Feels like him.

Strange World // Sugar Parks - 'i am just a wanderer rebuilt and torn apart'. this is just. this is just Brian. He's just wandering. He's seen so many things and he's done so many things and he feels set apart from the rest of the everything.

Sinners // Barns Courtney - ok at first listen this was a Jonny song, but I have recently realized that it is actually a Brian song. I can't really explain why it's just. Brian on a bad day.

Promiseland // MIKA - another song that was recommended to me! It's just a vibe that also happens to fit Brian very well. We've reached the section of this playlist which is just Songs That Are Definitely Brian Songs But I Can't Really Explain Why.

Hymn For a Scarecrow // Tally Hall - hanged man hours!!!!!

Stronger // Dirt Poor Robins - Hanged man hours pt 2! I often think that Brian has a collection of mantras he repeats to himself regularly, because he wants to feel like he's in control when he's not, and I think this is one that he sings to himself while on Camelot. This is kind of just very vaguely Brian, but when I think about it in that context, I cry. I love him your honor.

Scarecrows // Dirt Poor Robins - hanged man hours again!!! but this one is more I think at the end, when everything is going wrong and they're falling into the sun. it also gives me very much Mordred vibes.

Infinitesimal // Mother Mother - GOD THIS SONG IS SO BRIAN. I just. He's done so much. He has been through so much. And he's honestly a bit scared of himself. Like. This man does NOT like himself. He's tired of being who he is and he's trying but it isn't going anywhere and he just. Brian,,

The Ends and the Means // Robby Hecht- I.. don't really think there's much more to be said here. The title says it all.

Expiration Date // Ben Below - I couldn't make a Brian playlist without something by the lovely Ben Below himself now could I? This is Brian at the end of his immortal life, pretty much everyone else is gone and he has nothing left so he's just. Ready to go.

Golden Shore // Kyle Neal - off into the void Brian goes. maybe to see his friends in another place, maybe cursed to be forever alone. Either way, he's making his final journey and I am Sad.

Dummed Brian Botman... I love you

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

If Lily and Lenin had a child what do you suppose it would look like? (I'm very much looking forward to seeing the Egg from "Wearing the faces of men" hatch) Would Lenin even want to have children? Or would it be an Oopise? PS: I ship those two so much, you literally have no idea. I really hope that your main work has a happy ending (because I'm a basic bitch) but I would honestly just love reading it however it ends

Isn’t that the question of the hour?

So, first things first. It’s funny that you bring up the Lily/Lenin children scenario because for most of the other pairings I’ve written Lee/Lily with I have a very good idea of what this kids look like/their personalities/etc. 

Lee and Minato, a daughter named either Naruto or Hari depending if Kushina’s in the picture, because neither of them have any imagination. Looks and acts a lot like Minato, has Lee’s hair texture and some of her facial features.

Lee and Obito, well, for reasons called potential spoilers for “Finishing the Hat” I won’t get into it, but take my word for it that I know what the children are like almost embarrassingly well. 

Lily and Wizard Lenin though, honestly, that’s for some reason harder for me to picture and I can’t quite explain why. And it’s not the pairing, clearly, they’re the main deal in “Lily and the Art of Being Sisyphus”, they’re just hard to picture. But let’s try, it’ll be an adventure for all of us.

First, the easier question, does Wizard Lenin want children? No. First, being immortal, he has a) no need for a legacy/immortality in the form of children and b) he’s guaranteed to outlive said children unless they pull some seriously gnarly shit. I think having an heir would be the most compelling argument but since he intends to live and rule the world forever what’s the point of that? It’d just give everyone the wrong idea. Worse, the kid might get the wrong idea and try to kill him to take the throne. And then there’d have to be an execution and it’d all get very messy. 

More than that though, he would completely panic at the idea of fatherhood. He never had any family of his own, basically raised himself (and did a craptastic job at that), and has no idea what good fathers even do. More, he knows exactly how difficult he was as a child and teenager (especially since being forced to confront Wizard Trotsky). The idea of having to deal with a young Tom Riddle himself? He’d probably laugh and then he’d cry. 

Then of course, while Wizard Lenin is above such things as attachment to other human beings, I think he’d recognize that having this squishy, mortal thing, that will inevitably die while he reigns the cosmos would be really depressing. And if they have kids you’d get this long line of descendants to which Wizard Lenin is this weird ageless god uncle. Can you imagine those family reunions? Yikes.

So children for Wizard Lenin would definitely be an “oopsie”. An “oopsie” likely involving a copious amount of alcohol, suppressed feelings, and a much older Lily.

I picture maybe fifty or sixty years in the hypothetical future where everything goes Wizard Lenin’s way and he and Lily get over their current tiff. Wizard Lenin’s still ageless and Lily’s now a creepy adult who’s stopped aging and looks like an elf from Lord of the Rings. He’s been ruling forever, it’s boring, all his original followers are dead and his second generation followers (i.e. Draco Malfoy) are old men, and now becoming a Death Eater is a prestigious competitive ridiculous thing for eager eyed youngsters. Lily wanders the world/cosmos, is on speed dial but tries not to make messes too often for Wizard Lenin (which is hard because he now rules everything), and is desperately trying to keep busy despite the fact that she has nothing to do. Lily’s his pretty much wife except he’s never married her because god emperors don’t need wives (unless, of course, he got tired of people trying to get him to marry wizarding nobility and he just couldn’t take it anymore). They reminisce about the good old days, Wizard Lenin probably confess that it was a lot more fun chasing the car than actually reaching the car, Lily probably talks about all the traumatizing adventures she’s had with robots, alcohol gets involved, then unprotected sex then, SURPRISE!

But anyways, right, what the children look like.

First, we have the “what the fuck” option that always must be considered when mating with a god. Lily could give birth to herself in a very traumatizing experience for both her and Wizard Lenin. It could be just a giant ball of mysterious light. It could be Rabbit. It could be some mysterious green eyed shadow blob that eats children. It could just be a regular mysterious blob. It could be The Key/Dawn Summers and look/act like a perfectly normal child until Wizard Lenin discovers it’s actually something so horrifying and inhuman it’s been disguised as a human child by monks with too much time on their hands.

But let’s take this a little more seriously/get to what you were probably asking me for. Though the “what the fuck” option is always a hilarious one to consider. 

So appearance, the hair’s probably going to take after Wizard Lenin’s in color just because of how genetics work. They could have anywhere from auburn to black hair. I’m going to go with auburn because I enjoy red. It’s probably thick and probably curly. 

Eyes are probably going to be anywhere from green to blue but more likely to be blue for similar reasons. 

Since Wizard Lenin and Lily are both ungodly pale creatures the kids, sadly, will not be able to tan. However, being Wizard Lenin’s children and the heirs to his empire, they’re probably not allowed to do anything so pedantic as tan. 

My first thought was that any kid should not be good looking. They should have all the right bone structure, thick eyelashes, hair, etc. to be good looking but too much of Lily’s intrinsic weird seeps in and you just get these kids who look like they should have walked out of “Children of the Corn”. 

But since I promised we’d stray from the “what the fuck” option they’d likely be very good looking kids. Wizard Lenin’s gorgeous and I always imagine Lily grows up to be a very attractive adult.

But descriptions are boring, I can doodle.

Let’s say that the “oopsie” produces a set of twins. 

First, we have the daughter, who clearly takes a lot after Lily both in appearance and personality.

Likely, when Wizard Lenin got over his existential/fatherhood crisis he and Lily bickered for months over names. Both are convinced the other is terrible at naming children. Both of them are right.

In the end I imagine they flip coins for who gets the middle name vs. first name.

Wizard Lenin wins the coin toss and we get: Mab Luthien Riddle

Mab at first is a plucky young girl but shifts into a moody teenager. Despite being powerful she’s well aware that she has two monolith reputations to live up to: Wizard Lenin and Lily’s. More, she clearly has a role for her to live out and fill and she wants some independence! This causes a lot of teen angst.

She goes from wearing very expensive wizarding robes to whatever the equivalent of hipster is in the distant future. I just stuck her in plaid with shades because I have no imagination. 

She gets sorted into Gryffindor, because anyone who’s willing to be a punk to Wizard Lenin has guts. This, of course, is terrible for everyone. However, especially for Wizard Lenin, because can you imagine him dealing with a teenage daughter?

Second, we have a son, who has the K-pop/Legolas/Sasuke pretty boy good looks that have fourteen year old girls scribbling hearts with their names together in notebooks and writing some seriously bad fanfiction.

Continuing on with the atrocious/nerd name theme we have: Mordred Beren Riddle

He’s a far more sensitive soul, to the point where everyone wonders how the hell he fits into this disaster family/came from two giant assholes. Regardless, he is, he tries his best to please his father and live up to expectations. So he keeps his fancy robes, cries thanks to Wizard Lenin’s mean words, and eventually gets sorted into Hufflepuff.

Thanks to his sensitive nature and good looks he’s the tween heart throb of Hogwarts. His sister is dying.

These are all hypothetical kids of course. If I ever were to write something involving Lily and Wizard Lenin’s kids, I’m not sure it’d be these two that show up (in fact I’m 99% sure it won’t be).

But I hope you guys had as much fun on this brain storming journey as I did.

As for that happy ending in the main story, well, I think it’s happy. Whether the rest of you will agree with me I’ll leave to the end of the story. Whenever we get there.

[thegreymoon]

Salty Ask list: 9. Most disliked arc? Why?, 20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?, and 27. Least shippable character? The saltier the better!!!

Thank you for the ask, anon!! 💜💜

OK, I will answer both 9 and 10 (because the most disliked arc is no. 10 😅) I have already answered some of these earlier, so I will copy/paste those, if that’s OK! 

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

For Merlin:

Agravaine. He’s just the worst. So greasy and sleazy and just, yuck. Yuck, overall. He’s not even one of those characters one can love to hate, like, for example, Uther, who is also simply the worst, but who will preoccupy you in ways you never saw coming! When it comes to Agravaine, everything about him was so thoroughly hateful, frustrating and unenjoyable, the highlight of the entire season was finally watching him go splat against the wall! The second most hated is that girlfriend of Gwaine’s at the very end that was plying him for information. That entire sequence is just so mind-numbingly infuriating, I can’t even think of it without getting angry. It almost ruined Gwaine for me entirely.

For The Untamed:

Oh, finally an easy one!! 😂😂 Wen Chao, Wang Lingjiao and Wen Zhuliu are in a tight race for the first place here and who is winning depends entirely on who I’m looking at in that precise moment! Of course, Wen Ruohan and Wen Xu can get into the hate bucket too, but they were so bland and boring, they cannot really compare. Jin Guangshan is also the worst, I can’t stand him. The only reason I hate the Wens more is that Jin Guangshan is actually a competent villain on a higher scale of villainy than the previous lot. Jin Zixun is also awful, a ridiculously unredeemable character on every front and Su She can also have an honourable mention.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

For Merlin: 

Oooh! There are so many!! But I think the ones that I rant about the most often are those related to Gwen! Everything about Gwencelot makes me rage! I dislike him and how he treated her and just do not see this epic ~love~ there, at least not on his part, yet they kept bringing him back to mess up her life over and over again. 

Mind you, I am not the biggest fan of Arthur in this context either, he was a terrible boyfriend (though a somewhat better husband because Merlin picked up the slack), even though Arwen >>> Gwencelot by miles and miles. I hated how he would break up with her every five minutes over nonsense and then come crawling back. I hated how she always immediately forgave him, all grateful and relieved, and I always felt like she didn’t really have a choice because the power imbalance between them was staggering. Plus, the fact that she was the one who nursed Uther in his last months after everything he had done to her, and that Arthur had let it happen, infuriates me to no end. 

My loathing for that whole cheating arc is infinite. I hate how the writers could not make up their minds about what they wanted to do with her. On the one hand, they were such cowards in their attempts to keep her ideologically pure, they had already sacrificed a lot of her quirkiness and character to suit Arthur’s needs and wants and to make him look good, so they were reluctant to have her actually cheat because it would undermine him. I don’t understand why they even had to have that entire arc if they were so afraid to go there. She was supposed to be under mind-control, and then they pointed out that the spell works by bringing suppressed emotions to the forefront! Why was that necessary? I mean, you can’t have it both ways! Either do it and own it, or just leave it alone! It would have been so easy to have her choose Lancelot and develop a proper romance there, and then to have Lancelot die, and Gwen fall in love with Arthur afterwards, as he supports her while she grieves. But, no, they had to take this cheap shot at her and humiliate her and have her cleaning pigsties just so that Arthur can angst about it for a few episodes. I am forever mad. 

I also dislike the whole evil!Gwen arc (though a part of me did enjoy watching her go apeshit after quietly swallowing so much injustice throughout the entire five seasons of this show). I feel like they were intentionally undermining the character and her entire relationship with Arthur. The whole cheating nonsense so late into season 4 had already done so much damage, then they went and pulled this poorly-thought-out crap in the second half of season 5, when emotions were already running high and nobody was in the mood to be forgiving of someone trying at and almost succeeding in killing Arthur, who was so much more beloved among the viewers than her. Just imagine how much better spent that time would have been if they had... oh, I don’t know, developed Mordred more and given him a proper reason to turn against Arthur! 

Ugh 😒

For The Untamed: 

I dislike the whole Yanli/JZX romance. I don’t know what he’s like in the novel and the other adaptations, but he gets on my very last nerve in the drama and I never actually saw him do anything meaningful to redeem himself for all the crap he pulled and all the humiliation he piled on to her. I also don’t like the whole Yin Iron nonsense. It just doesn’t tie in properly and the plot holes and inconsistencies it leaves behind are gaping and huge (but, happily, nobody is watching this for the Yin Iron plot 😆). There had to have been better things to do there, especially since it is something that does not exist in the source material. The worst parts of the drama for me somehow always tie back to the Yin Iron. 

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

For Merlin:

Hmmm… when it comes to the most popular ones, I think none of them, because they all get complicated and dark to some degree. But on a platonic level, when it comes to friendships, I would go with Merwen, Merlance and Merwaine. Merlin and Gwen are delightful together, but I have a hard time shipping them romantically without Arthur, there is just no path forward for me there that does not involve him too, and that tips the dynamic into something much more complicated (but still happy for all three of them because I am so not down for jealousy and competition between Merlin and Gwen, Arthur has two hands and he can damn well use them). 

I also think that Lancelot’s love for Merlin was pure, but I just don’t ship it at all and think that there was never anything there except for friendship (I can see Arlance going sexual, though). The same goes for Gwaine, I think that he loved Merlin unconditionally, and as far as friendship goes, it is pure, but if I ship them sexually, then all purity goes out of the window, not just as far as the sex is concerned (because the sex they would be having would be positively filthy) but also because I just can’t imagine a universe in which Merlin does not love and desire Arthur more. The angst, the pain and the darkness are off the charts.

As for the less popular ones, I think the purest is Percival/Elyan regardless of whether you see it as romantic or platonic. There is just so much mutual love, admiration and respect between them! No angst, no lies, no triangles, no drama, just taking care of and supporting each other and living in domestic bliss.

For The Untamed:

WangXian, no contest. They fell in love as kids and continued to love each other for the rest of their lives, even beyond death. The way they love each other is so absolute and so selfless! They both respect and admire the other, they are so supportive and accepting of each other, quirks, flaws and all, and they kind of set the gold standard as far as relationships go!

27. Least shippable character?

For Merlin: 

Eh... this is a tough one. I actually had to step away from this question and think about it and I didn’t come up with anything because the entire main and recurring cast is very shippable. There are, however, characters that aren’t shipped as much as they could be (Elyan, baby, you deserve better 😢), and then there are also characters that result in unsavory ships that are best left unmentioned (but because these are salty asks, I am going to mention them anyway). 

The first one that came to my mind was Gaius, but he is actually very shippable because there is no rule that says you have to ship him in the canon timeline. He has a serious canon het love interest, and a crack one as well. Also, let’s not forget Uther. I’ve seen the fandom float this one as a crack ship, but it is actually very serious and plausible. There is so much complicated history there, decades of it, and definitely a deep, albeit toxic relationship that can absolutely be (and likely even was) sexual. If I was less busy and more inclined to get anon hate, I would totally be open to writing it myself.

I have seen a lot of people list Uther as an answer here, but Uther is very, very shippable! Anthony Head is handsome and charismatic, and he has so much presence as Uther, he could have chemistry with drywall if the script called for it. Again, there is no rule stating that a ship should be wholesome and happy, so let me go over the most obvious ones. When it comes to m/m ships, I already mentioned Gaius, plus I definitely felt it whenever the neighbouring kings came over to visit Camelot (my personal favourite was Lord Godwyn). Uther also has three canon het ships (why, yes, I am counting the troll), most notably Ygraine and Viivienne, and he is 100% shippable with Nimueh (though I prefer Nimueh with Ygraine). Last but not least, there is Morgana. It is squicky incest, yes, but it is also very obvious, if you have the inclination to go there. My jaw was on the floor on my first watch when he confessed that she was his actual biological daughter, because up until then, I totally thought that things would get sexual between them in canon. 

Agravaine is also an obvious (I would even go as far as to say a semi-canon) ship for Morgana. Do I hate it? Yes. Do I think she slept with him to get him to deliver her Arthur’s head? Again, absolutely, yes. Even Kilgharrah is very shippable and he is a giant firebreathing lizard (obviously, laws of physics require transmorphing him into something smaller and (hopefully) human-shaped for the p0rn). 

For The Untamed: 

Jin Zixun and Jin Zixuan. I am forever mad Jin Zixuan (somehow) ends up having sex in canon anyway. My first thought for this was Wen Chao, but no, he is absolutely shippable. Like I said, the ship does not have to be nice, and Wen Chao is very nasty, but also very sexual (plus, there is always Wen Zhuliu).

The one character that I personally am the least inclined to ship is Wen Ning because he is so childlike and it feels like he never mentally developed into an adult. 

Salty Asks

[devillain]

𝐠𝐞𝐭      𝐭𝐨      𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰      𝐭𝐡𝐞      𝐦𝐮𝐧    ! !

———  BASICS  !  ♡

(PEN)NAME  :  bas

PRONOUNS  :  she / her

ZODIAC  SIGN  :  leo

TAKEN  OR  SINGLE  :  single

———  THREE  FACTS  ! ♡

I have a JD

I’m asexual

I was a competitive swimmer in high school

———  EXPERIENCE  !  ♡

I’ve  been roleplaying since around 2009ish. I started out doing character chats on a website called inkpop that allowed young authors to potentially get their work read by publishers and even get a publishing deal. The point was to get your book characters to interact with others so they could be expanded and seem more real. I moved to tumblr around 2010, and started off in a group RP for percy jackson where I played Luke for about five years. I also did regular group rps for OCs, and such. After that I joined the glee fandom and well that was a wild ride. I then attempted indie RP around 2012-13 where I played Adam Milligan and stopped cause the SPN fandom was hard to get into. Then I joined the glee fandom around the same time and did a bunch of RPs there, I also had a roleplay help blog at one point, i tried 1x1s with a few friends but those fizzled out, I also did a few group roleplays for the SPN fandom where I played Adam, and I went back to indie RPing in about 2015 but in the Merlin Fandom where I play Mordred (and still do), from then on its a bunch of different fandoms that i had indie blogs in from a crazy experience in the Kingsman fandom that made me put away my Eggsy muse, to the historic fandom where I play Philippe Duc d’Orleans (can you blame me my FC for him was my Mordred FC), I also had numerous other blogs all on sideblogs now, such as Ender Wiggin, Hugo Cabret, Adam Milligan again. It was playing Philippe that lead me to the descendants fandom in 2017 right after d2 came out. And if you know me I have joined new fandoms, and rejoined some old ones namely PJO as Luke and the Glee fandom.

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE  !  ♡

I have always preferred male muses. I just have never been able to write good females, even in the books I have I just find myself struggling to write females. I have a total of five female muses that I have written or plan to write. But I tend to gear towards males, who I often see as asexual. These males all vary I have no specific type, though bad pasts tends to be a common theme. I also tend to go with canon muses. I have done a total of three OCs, one was truly an OC of my own creation from a book I was working on he was a “magician” more or less. I still love him. But yeah I would say I tend to lean into fantasy stuff alot more than the mundane. Most of my muses have a supernatural or fantasy element to their world or person.

———  FLUFF  /  ANGST  /  SMUT  !  ♡

FLUFF   : I like fluff. However, I am not a fan of only writing fluff. Fluff is good in moderation for me. If every thread I have with someone is something I see as Fluff then I get bored really easily. And I am not just talking about cute dates, I am talking about fluff after angst where its all I love yous but the angst is never actually written. Fluff is fine, but there has to be some motivation to it, these threads for me tend to fizzle out the fastest because they get really boring. Its why I don’t like rom-coms the plot is fine but I find no real substance to it. That’s how fluff feels for me. If something actiony or adventury doesn’t happen the plot just seems dull and of no use to write.

ANGST   :   I love writing angst, it is one of the best ways for me to help me build character arcs. Not all angst is actual pain, but I love putting my characters in these situations because it helps them grow. From difficult decisions that impact more than just them, to actual pain and suffering. I like writing it because its interesting to me. I am not a fan of small talk in real life, and angst isn’t small talk its the nitty gritty shit. I think all angst should have an end, but I also am known for coming up with angsty plots upon angsty plots.

SMUT   :   I used to write smut a very very long time ago, when I was in the glee fandom specifically. I know I know, I was a stupid young person alright. And I wont lie writing the smut that I did, I met some very wonderful people who allowed me to explore my kinks in a very safe environment in a way that I would not have been able to otherwise. I was very sheltered growing up, to the point that I did not know what a hand job was which is important if you know my story, I learned through RP and fanfiction what one was, and what the right terms were. However, that is a time that is in my past, I don’t write it any more, I find it uncomfortable for me personally to write especially since many of my characters are on the ace/demi spectrum. I will write kissing, and steamy moments, but my rule is as soon as your hand goes below the belt the fade to black comes out. If you want to know more of my experience I will gladly share it in private but it is too much for this little meme.

PLOT  /  MEMES   :   I love both. I am absolute shit at plotting though. Like we plot, and then I never know who will write the starter. I love plotting though because I love building relationships and characters through plots. When it comes to memes those are honestly the best way to roleplay with me. I may forget them from time to time, and not know how to answer them if they are first interactions, but I try to get to all my memes eventually. They are great ice breakers, and honestly some of my favorite threads come from memes. So send them in.

tagged   by   :   @tiderider​ (thanks love) tagging   :   YOU

[kiwikipedia]

Oooo thank you for the tag !!

How many works do you have on AO3? 110!!

What’s your total AO3 word count? 465,687

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

If we don’t count the different spin off series/branches to a series as separate then 12:

- Star Wars 

- Fate

- Avatar: The Last Airbender

- Good Omens

- The Hobbit

- Rise of the Guardians

- Fullmetal Alchemist

- Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia

- Supernatural

- Death Parade

- Kimetsu no Yaiba/Demon Slayer

- Jujitsu Kaisen

If we dont then uh. More than you want to know (looks at the Fate series in all its complicated twists and turns)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Breath of the Void (KnY x Fate Crossover)

What Once Was Now Moving Forwards ( Plo Survived Order 66 + Mandalorian AU)

Those Are My Kids Don’t Stare (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Sagittarius (BnHA x Fate Crossover)

And The Red Dragon Came (The Hobbit x Fate Crossover)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do! Mostly because if I don’t respond it makes me anxious and there’s so few comments it’d be weird not to. 

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Um. I have a lot of just angst oneshots via flashfiction but it’s probably “Because it Burns and Burns” or “Take A Moment And Surface For Air”— both of which are Plo centeric with whump and hurt (and no comfort :’) )

Do you write crossovers? 

Fuck yeah i do, but most of the crossovers you’ll see are gonna be Fate because a.) that’s my main hyperfixation that’s just always there ™ and b.) its... it’s not easy but there’s a lot of Characters.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Mmmm, on Fanfiction.net i got some people just being dicks but not on AO3 that i remember

Do you write smut? If so what kind? 

Um, yes. It... varies. 

Have you ever had a fic stolen? 

Not that I’m aware of, though people have asked to borrow ideas... I usually allow it, as long as it doesn’t go against my rules

Have you ever had a fic translated? 

Nope

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Beowulf and Li Shuwen from Fate, and also Mordred and Fran from Fate as well. Adult Da Vinci and Holmes is pretty cute.... and ofc PloKit and TiAllIn from SW. Kimblee and Heinkel because its funny. It’s very hard for me to just choose one oops 

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

[Sighs in unfinished fics]

- Wind Beneath Our Wings is another Fate and Hobbit Crossover that’s Circe centric

- The Sith Detection Method which is a star wars Crack Taken Seriously fic

- And They Call Themselves The Muunilinst 10 which is the M10 was assigned the mission TBB was but TBB tags along and its just the M10 being cool

- Take The Shot which is Sniper Temple Guards stopping Operation Knightfall

- Taking A Running Leap Into The Arms Of Oblivion which is a third installment to Night Fall (Knightfall AU)

There’s also a ton of others

What are your writing strengths?

Exposition and world building i think

What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing, loosing track of details, making original plots and lines I guess

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Mmmm, as long as it’s not overused, I think? I mean, I use the made up Kel Dor language a lot, I used a lot of Elvish in my hobbit fics, some mando here and there, for Fate I often use the language of the Servant for small things (ie: Li Shuwen is called “grandfather” in Chinese once or twice while Circe calls Elrond “brother” in greek).

With language barriers its a bit hard because like, anime and japanglish (yikes). I don’t want to talk about that part of my life.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? 

Bleach on FFN

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Unpublished one: Wind Beneath Our Wings

Published: Breath of the Void or For Their Hands Are So Small In Mine (SW). I do love all of my Guard work

Bonus: Turning Tides (FMA AU)

I don’t know who of y’all have ao3 accounts so i did put the ones that I know do, but also no pressure tags (and open to anyone i left out):  @marshthat @bassuwun @mercurydancer @justsimplymeagain @spoofymcgee

AO3 Tag Game

How many works do you have on AO3? 10!

What’s your total AO3 word count? 214,764

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Technically 2 because I wrote fanfic for the Hunger Games when I was 12 and published it on a site that has long since died and literally been taken down At the moment, my AO3 is all Star Wars!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Disconnected Conduit

Broken Beads

Gold and Silver

Cold Fire

Finishing Promises

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to! But I’m so bad at replying and sometimes I get overwhelmed and just read it and end up never replying oop

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

//Probably// Cold Fire? I think Echoes of Zyggeria gives it a run for its money in terms of angst but that one ends with a slightly more hopeful ending

Do you write crossovers? Nope.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not hate about the writing, but I did indeed get an Islamophobic comment once that tried to dismiss and insult my muslim mutuals/friends…

Do you write smut? If so what kind? Nope.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yup. Someone stole Fractured Twists word for word, put it on their wattpad, and was replying to comments as if they had so much fun writing the whole thing, and when I called them out on it they deleted it.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope!

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Not Star Wars related but probably Hiccstrid from HTTYD?

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I’ve got an idea for a political intrigue/grimdark fic that centers around a ROTS where Empress Amidala rises to power unwillingly and goes through a corruption arc. As the Bendu says - even the desire to do good can lead to great evil. I wanted to address issues such as her privilege as a former Queen and Senator on a wealthy planet, the privilege that Obi and Ani hold as Jedi and as humans, and how this could lead to them talking over those who don’t hold the same thing…. it’d end up being a commentary on power and politics and privilege, but I don’t think I have the time/effort to ever truly pull it off right.

What are your writing strengths?

I //think// dialogue? And imagery+phrasing?

What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably pacing, and sometimes losing track of details.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Uhhhhhhhhh

What was the first fandom you wrote for? The Hunger Games!

What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Honestly, an unpublished one (that’s coming out soon in the Hope zine!) - it’s a piece that centers around Baze and Chirrut and I wove a fuck ton of Chinese culture into that one, and it came out pretty solid, I think.

Tagging: @lightasthesun @katierosefun @nibeul @puirell

[coe-lilium]

Would you be willing to rank the major Apocrypha characters (Masters and Servants) from best to worst? I'm curious as to how you would rank them

Gladly :D

Be warned that this will be 90% tastes and maybe 10% narrative/objective analysis. And sorry for taking so long to answer. Also, it got long ^^’

A concise, condensed ver before the cut

- 10+/10, tie between Mordred, Jeanne e Shirou

-  9.5/10: Semirams and Shishigou Kairi

- 8-7.5/10: Vlad, Achilles, Shakespeare, Caules 

- 7: Chiron, Fran, Atalanta, Karna, Fiore, Darnic

- 6, I start not caring: Gordes

- “wasted” and “still bitter after 5 years”, no numbers: Avicebron and Siegfried

- 5-4, it’s complicated: Astolfo

- 4: Sieg (and it might go down to 0, I’m serious)

- 3 to 0: Jack, Reika, Celenike 

Btw, I kept them vague, but spoilers/hints up to vol4 and 5

Rank “will fight the world for them, forever in Higashide’s debt, I wish one day for Nasu to write them himself because I trust the mushroom man to make me love them even more than I already do, 10+/10″: 

Mordred: SHE. Higashide’s best accomplishment in winning me over no matter other flaws. Tie with Gilgamesh as my favorite Nasuverse character ever.

There isn’t a single thing I don’t love about her (bar that atrocious “dress” under the armor, delete that). The armored and casual character design. The backstory as abused and exploited child who tries to break free of her mother influence and plots but ends up following them anyway because of her other parent rejection and, ultimately, how Morgan life lasting damage could not be undone without support. Her snarky, bratty, selfish and ferocious personality she show to the outside world and the hidden insecurities, the good heart and the ability to reflect on her flaws. Her loyalty and her desperate need for parental love and recognition as her own person. Her fighting style that is a delight to read or watch, truly a beast. Her chemistry and relationship with Shishigou, all of it. How it start in that cemetery, how develops over the course of the story, how she manage to open, connect and trust him and ultimately find a real father in him.

If I have to find a “wish this was expanded on” is her written in but not recognised by canon issues with gender/presentation which wasn’t a real issue for me until I read metas here and I’m now quite confused especially on how to write her (him?) in the future, when I’ll hopefully get at it.

The only reason I don’t completely wish for her and her Master to have been made MCs is the love I have for the following two guys and this couple steal too much of a spotlight from other characters.

Still, while theirs is a story more focused on personal growth and healing then deciding the fate of a great number of people or the world, in the end Mordred and Kairi saved each other so it could’ve still meshed neatly with the overall salvation theme. Sadly it was not meant to be but I’m more than content for what we got.

Jeanne: She. Who gets only second place and no caps lock because, a surprisingly good portrayal none withstanding, she could’ve been even better had Higashide done a bit more research (in his favour, I don’t know what kind of books on her are translated in Japanese and if the processes transcripts are among them).

For example I’ll forever maintain that, while the whole “romance” thing has a historical base (funny that, uh?), it required a way better realisation and as it’s written in Apocrypha does her character a disservice. Laeticia too, who was a potentially interesting “device” and could’ve been our outsider perspective, got derailed into more nonsense romance and aww poor Sieg and oh man, who-gives-a-damn: not me.

Also, not enough of a sarcastic spitfire or military prowess (“just waved the flag”, now that’s a funny way to write “half of Charles’ court was impressed by how good she was with every damn weapon”) for my tastes but I guess historical Jeanne is just that irreplaceable or TM chose to emphasise her piety and “sainthood” over other traits in order to avoid an Arturia 2.0.

Not a single mention to her mentors either, in 5 volumes (which is bad, extremely bad, Higashide why) and too much of Gilles de Rais nonsense but unfortunately Type Moon is committed to roll with it. Dunois, La Hire and d’Alencon never, poor me. 

That said, Fate!Jeanne is really a good interpretation, firmly rooted in history and I love, love her. 

Her faith and lack of hate are spot-on and are treated with respect instead of mocked. 

She’s allowed to have a no-nonsense and even ruthless soldier like attitude, a protective streak (which always remind me of that promise she made to a young noblewoman to keep her husband safe and bring him back to her, or how she took care of her young squire. Both survived her) and loth of empathy at the same time. 

She’s down to earth but can also be immature and have flaws and be tempted. 

This post is already long as it is, so here’s some more reasons I love Apo Jeanne: 

Novel Jeanne musing 1       

Jeanne meta from the manga 1

Jeanne meta from the manga 2

My eternal greatest disappointment will forever be the lack of a satisfying confrontation with Shirou. You write someone able to shake Jeanne d’Arc convictions, make her doubt her conduct and moral standing when the threat of torture and the Rouen process weren’t able do so... and you don’t follow on it? Unforgivable.   

Shirou: This guy. This absolute mess of a human being. I need more and no, GO, “evil alternative self” isn’t what I mean (but yeah, gimme him too). After discovering him in Apocrypha I started digging my university library to hunt down his IRL self story and there is no higher accomplishment for a Fateverse character for me.                                                                                    Fascinating person and fascinating take by TM, double so since I discovered dude’s still being vilified in contemporary Jp stories/entertainment and man do that enrage me.

It’s like someone mixed up a character I love (Kirei), one I loathe (Kiritsugu), shaked it and the result it’s the best possible one I could ask for. 

I like the character design (both), the historical and post 3HGW backstory and how it shaped him into a Jeanne opposite (for excellent reasons), the most “Kotomine” traits like the snark and trollish attitude and how they cover all the suffering, despair and hate boiling under the constant smirk. How Higashide avoided the “turned evil” interpretation that’s prevalent in jp entertainment and made him a good person and a hero, if a misguided one and also the trapping of a “void/hollow inside” personality and instead gave him those fragments where you see he’s still a 17yo kid. 

He’s not just interesting, he’s funny to read, even with all the angst going on.  

The interactions with Shakespeare are great and... his relationship with Semiramis. Man, that’s excellent, excellent stuff. Can’t gush enough about how much I love them together

My only great complaint -for now, until I see a certain late discovery with my own eyes- is that all the narrative build up and comparisons between him and Jeanne (done in-universe and acknowledged within the text mind you, I’m not headcanoning here) went wasted. 

How can you write two characters who mirror each other so perfectly, put them as “head” of their factions, in the same role both... and not deliver with a confrontation? The only thing that tried to do so was -ironically- the anime in ep #13, as their confrontation in the novels wasn’t as personal and as good as the anime.      

Rank “good, excellent civilisation, never get tired of them”, 9.5/10

Shishigou: best father ever, 100% should legally adopt Mordred. He was/is extremely enjoyable to read about, snarky, smart, his fucked-up magus backstory had long lasting effects but managed not to destroy him, on the outside your tough, broody mercenary making hard decision but actually a good, moral person with a caring nature and, again, a great father. 

As already said, his and Mordred narrative is less tied to the different views of salvation theme and more to the “people making their wishes come true” and they’re bit of outliers for the whole duration of the story but I wouldn’t change a thing (except one T_T). 

His relationship with Mordred is one of the absolute highlights of Apocrypha for me, in every medium.

Semiramis: shallow reason first: charming, scheming, hot asshole-ish royalty in league with a Kotomine troll, what more could’ve I asked for?                        That she was an interesting char in her own right, which is what I got.          

More in-depth, she’s another character I never have enough of. Begrudging sole responsible adult of red team, I couldn’t help but grin every time she had to deal with AKA team or single members, not to speak of her scenes with Shakespeare, which are both amusing and very good for characterisation. 

She may not have that much of screen time compared to other faves but earned her place by making what she had memorable. 

Her backstory is simple: abandoned child learns to exploit her society view on women to rise to the top and get everything she wants and fuck everything else. Which not only neatly establish how and why she became what she is but also why this broken kid, which is a sort of her exact opposite, fascinate her so much. 

Speaking about our broken resident Kotomine, her chemistry with Shirou is simply great, all of their scenes are a joy to read. They have fun plotting together, they (she, dude’s either too young to notice or just let it go) casually flirts, have a functioning, mostly open relationship from the get-go that works no matter how messed up they really are and get each other’s back until the very end. Most of the more lighthearted stuff is in vol 1-2, then things gets more interesting. 

See, as much as she seems to be (and like to present herself as such to enemies) the perfectly devoted Servant and is aiding Shirou… she’s also truly villainous, cold and ruthless as hell and is also very conflicted and switch back and forth on what she wants, not much as out of the War as instead from her Master in particular (don’t think bad… okay, do) for the whole series. Vol3 and 4 are a godsend for her character and you dunno how I wish we had more than a bare bone summary for vol 5 because god damn some things in that summary. 

With the many, many stay night or Zero parallels and homages in Apocrypha, she come off as a sort of reverse Zero Gilgamesh and Gilles in being, respectively, the devilish member of the  Kotomine - Servant pair and the “personal involvement/interest in the saint figure, sometimes verging on the creep-ish, predatory behaviour" one (Gilles was 100% full on creepy mode, Semiramis keeps her thoughts for herself and is just tempted. I strongly appreciate), “reverse” for being conflicted, but in the end being a better person than both dudes above and respecting and knowing her partner enough to let go of her worst desires/frustrations. There’s some really good stuff in these two’s relationship, let me tell you. 

If Mordred-Shishigou take the cake for best platonic relationship in Apo, Semiramis and Shirou single handy destroy every competition for the romantic one. 

Rank “You. I like you”, 8-7.5/10

Vlad: here’s someone I’m pretty content with how he’s written (I wouldn’t change a thing), but really wish had had more space just because I enjoyed him a lot. Higashide nailed him and I wanted more of a historical Vlad III who is a hero, a good ruler caring for his country and a ruthless warrior and executioner and none of this aspects negate the others. Plus, it was refreshing to see a Vlad III being so clearly separated from the “vampire” twist that his wish for the Grail was to erase book and legacy from existence.

Achilles: a simil Alexander, I dislike the IRL/myth dude but can’t stay mad with their Fate incarnations. I like his personality, his quirks, his relationships with Chiron and Atalanta. Loved the mocking duel (and the anime committee will hear me scream from the other side of the world if I get robbed of it  yeah, I wrote this part before ep17. Fuck you A1). 

I don’t even think he needed more screen time, he’s really fine with what’s shown. Not every character need to be a main one and Achilles manage to be a good secondary one, with enough development and characterisation.

Shakespeare: here’s an enjoyable dude I like to hate. Amusing character, his interactions with Semiramis and Shirou are a joy to read or watch, but, fuck this guy. May Moriarty and Saber Gilles have their way with you in Chaldea.

Caules: one of those rare beasts known as “perfectly functioning siblings” of the Nasuverese. Respect his Servant and tries to do her right till the end. A good dude.

Rank “could’ve shined more in a longer and more focused series, but okay” aka those who served their purpose, 7/10 

Chiron                                                                                                            Atalanta                                                                                                          Karna                                                                                                                Fran                                                                                                                  Fiore                                                                                                                Darnic

Not really anything to say about each one here. They’re fine as they are.            

Could’ve used more Darnic, the 3HGW is a fascinating subject no matter who the Einzbern decide to summon and his actions shaped the whole world of Apo. Personally I’d have cut the Jack business and expanded him as a character/treat, maybe to shed light into CT politics and magus society fuckery (because if there’s something the Yggdmillennia as a whole and each one of them in particular show is how the magi society is an aberration that twist and corrupt everything it touch). But in the end I know it was either Ygg vs CT as promised or Rulers against each other and I’ll gladly take the latter.  A longer series could’ve had space for both, who knows.

Rank “nice arc. There are more interesting people but I’ve come to appreciate you” 

Gordes: Probably the human character who experience more growth in the series.

Rank “wasted” and “decent what little is there, perhaps, but still bitter after five years”

Avicebron: also know as the poor thing similar to the antagonist in background and wish that could’ve worked with the themes while also being a personal foil to the protagonist in being a golem/artificial life creator and user but the writer couldn’t/wouldn’t bother with him for some reason and he only got to be the “Gilles de Rais summon Chtlulu and heroes have to team up to bring him down” of Apocrypha, with no other purpose than being a Zero “homage”. 

To add insult to injury, the Adam threat does literally jack shit on a narrative point because “Servant goes stray and threaten the world, Servants form both factions have to team up to defeat him” already happened, 2 episodes before for the anime, end of vol2 vs beginning of vol3 for the novel version. And Mordred and Shishigou making an alliance with the surviving Black members was already going to be a thing after the Gardens mess. Shame, shame and shame.

Siegfried:  tainbocuailnge here has written some good meta about him lately and, yeah, perhaps all of that was intended, and I can kinda appreciate it. The point is that I couldn’t give a single crap over the OC when for him to come into being means sacrificing freaking Siegfried. I may not have read as much or being already attached to the literature/epic character like other cases but… no, just no. Siegfried deserved way better than what he got in Type Moon. 

Add more personal bitterness because with such numbers I thought it was finally time for the Heroes to shine and for the Masters to be sidelined and instead we got super special super powered MC. To hell with it.  

If anything, Siegfried may be the only character the anime did more good than damage. He’s still there and sometimes get to act as a mentor instead of being a useful power up and then fucking off for the remaining 4 volumes.

Rank “I tried to like you, I wish I could like you, but I cannot stand you no matter what”, 5-4

Astolfo: I’ve tried to like him but to no avail (rest assured, though, that I’ll deck anyone who’ll try use that t*ap or “girl” bullshit). 

It has to be that unholy combination of extremely airhead personality and mannerism, all the screen time he gets that could’ve gone to my favourites, that idiotic attempt at a “love triangle” (for the love of God, Higashide) and a voice acting that, I swear, even if I already didn’t like him from the novel the anime would’ve been the nail in the coffin. All these combined make him grates on my nerves like few other Fate characters. Perhaps part of my distaste comes from being unable to shake the feeling that the author himself don’t respect him.

I realise it’s quite… unfair, because on the page he has everything I usually like: he’s brave, he’s kind, he has morals and will maintain them in front of everything, he stand up to assholes, he save and inspire people, you can overpower him as much as you like and he still won’t care and will still fight you. 

Astolfo is a good, decently written character and I really wish the franchise would just stop using him as a joke and stop being so gross to him in order to cater to even more gross “fans”. 

If I were to put tastes/guts feelings aside, I could praise him for pages. I simply can’t bring myself closing the gaps from appreciating the undeniable qualities to actually like the character. 

Rank: fluctuating between “your concept should’ve been handled by a more experienced narrator” and “goddamn, does your very existence piss me off”, pending more on the second as we go on, less than 4

Sieg: on the page kid’s got a good arc. An homunculus, a magus’s tool, trash to be used and disposed off, gains consciousness and, shaped by what he witness and the actions and sacrifices of heroic figures, rise to free his kin from their slavers and then find himself fighting to “save the world”. How he attained freedom and have come to interpret it and his experiences put him in the path of the antagonist and the two and their “ideologies” makes for an interesting double face of the coin, forced salvation vs free offer and answer to actual prayers. Sounds pretty great. 

Unfortunately, Higashide aimed too high for his skills or didn’t learn well from Nasu and Shirou Emiya, or both. 

Otakus mad because he “got the waifu” aside, Sieg do come across as too damn lucky and overpowered and there is a limit on how much the in-universe reason “damn, the Counter Force had to work hard to give him a chance to stop a Heroic Spirit with hundreds time his experience” can go before the readers start getting annoyed at Heroes dropping dead or getting sidelined just to push him forward. 

I’m not a fan of these buzzwords, but the impression he’s a fan fiction OC that force the original and more interesting cast to revolve around/sacrifice for him or hijack their plots is damn strong. Scrap it, it’s not an impression, it’s exactly what happen. In at least 4 or 5 cases. 

There were also too many times he bore me to death so not really what you want from your protagonist. 

Another thing, more grave than personal preferences: his wish/fight firstly go nowhere, then get resolved too quickly without a fuss and then, once his goal has been effortlessly achieved, he proceeds to tag along and stole duels and confrontations from other characters, on which he had no stakes nor reason to be. What kind of writing is this?! He get the contract with Astolfo, walks in the castle and the Yggd agree on releasing the homunculi. And that’s it. Wow?

Also here’s my 100% personal reason for not having an ounce of interest in Sieg, godly writing skills or not: for once, just once, we could’ve got our first Fate solo female protagonist. An all-around badass but, at the same time, not an Arturia nor Shiki nor Arc nor Aoko clone. Who just happened to be my favourite historical figure ever.

Could’ve kept the same theme of opposing concepts of salvation, brought the Ruler vs Ruler/Saint vs Saint thing in the spotlight, with all their nice baggage of similar lives resulting in  opposite views by different regrets and traumas, faith or lack (that instead got all swept under the rug, and man if the self awareness of vol4 isn’t something to behold) and after five years I still feel personally robbed of all of this, especially when it became clear Apocrypha was yet another “male protagonist with the world revolving around him while the female heroine gets to be his support/sidekick. Oh, and as already said, he get the confrontation with whom the narrative builds as her rival”. Because of course he does. 

You don’t sideline Jeanne frigging d’Arc and expect me to forgive you for it.

Rank “why are you even here, why are we wasting anything on you”

Jack and Reika: ye god, why. The concept behind this Jack the Ripper? I find Fake ver superior but I’m on board. Then, first, that fucking character design. Sorry BL, reddit, MAL and whatever: putting a child in a thong is a revolting choice of character design and no, there’s no “well, she learned from prostitutes” that count.    I appreciate at least the connection made with Atalanta. But the execution. Their “plot” drag and drag on and goes nowhere (hilariously so in the anime. What was the point of Jack killing some random homunculi and disappearing for the whole arc, again?). Their only narrative purpose is doing ???? for roughly three volumes, *do that* to Atalanta and shaking Sieg’s worldview. At least they grant Jeanne some badass solo scenes and to us more insight on her character. Still the equivalent of a anime-only filler, and a bad one. 

Pity, really, because a child Jack who 1. is a child and act as one and 2. get heavily influenced by her/their Master and thus could either become a better person or be exploited wasn’t that bad of a twist for a famous figure but the pair was never allowed to be more than “Apo pair of rogue murderers”. 

Celenike: just… begone. I cheered when she died in the novel, cheered loudly when she died in the anime and will cheer even more loudly when she will die in the manga. 

[druiidboy]

REPOST  ,  NOT  REBLOG !  TAG  6  MUNS  YOU  WOULD  LIKE  TO  GET  TO  KNOW  BETTER  WHEN  YOU’RE  DONE !

NAME  : private NICKNAME  : Bas AGE  :  25 FACECLAIM  :  Asa Butterfield/Alex Vlahos (Avan Jogia) PRONOUNS  :  she   HEIGHT  :  5  ft  9 BIRTHDAY  :  august 11 AESTHETIC  :  dr pepper, wood burning in the winter, subtle fandom shirts from redbubble, and deep conditions at the salon LAST  SONG  YOU  LISTENED  TO  :  The World Will Know (Newsies 1992)

FAVOURITE  MUSE(S)  YOU’VE  WRITTEN  :  Philippe Duc d’Orleans, Athelstan, and Eggsy Unwin, and Ender Wiggin by far. All for very different reasons. Philippe is just a breath of fresh air and I am so happy on him, I am rarely as happy as I am when I get to just be Philippe. Athelstan is what I am in George Blagden character form, not to mention I talk to my Ragnar EVERY DAY. And Eggsy is my smol egg, I got to meet my Harry IRL over the summer when I was in England and that is something that I am forever going to remember. And then Ender, I made an amazing friend on him, River, is my other butt cheek and whenever I can talk to her it brightens my day.

WHAT  INSPIRED  YOU  TO  TAKE  ON  YOUR  CURRENT  MUSE  (  THAT  YOU  ARE  POSTING  THIS  ON  )  : So when I first got into Merlin, I followed two blogs on my personal, one being servinglies and the other being ardentlyarthur (now found at pugnamus), anyways they both inspired me to dive into the fandom initially. I started out with a verse on one of my other blogs, and met some really cool people, but who really inspired me was Ryan. They played Mordred and I made my Mordred, but I only played baby!Mordred at first. My dream was to do a thread with them, and like have my Baby!Mordred be there’s when he grew up. I will never be as good as them, but I like to try and reach that immortality status they have in my mind. I also decided on baby!mordred and yes he is the main focus of this blog still, because it was different and something NO one was doing. I thought it would help spring board me into the fandom because I was doing something a bit different. 

WHAT  ARE  YOUR  FAVOURITE  ASPECTS  OF  YOUR  CURRENT  MUSE  :  I shall only name a few for the sake of this post. But his inherent goodness. He doesn’t want to cause trouble, but it sort of finds him, he gets caught up in it especially as a boy. His complexity, he keeps you guessing, but you have to why he does that, and its because he is a bit mysterious but think about it he has a kind heart, and a view that not many in Camelot has. His life, lord almighty I could go on and on about his life. 

WHAT’S  YOUR  BIGGEST  INSPIRATION  WHEN  IT  COMES  TO  WRITING  :  The words that Alex and Asa have both used to describe him honestly. And some of the blogs I follow, some of which are abandoned and some are still going strong its the people around me. 

FAVOURITE  TYPES  OF  THREADS  :  ALL OF THEM. Especially when I get to do stuff with the main gang. one of my favorite threads was with a Gwaine and Mordred coerced him into fixing up one of his foster homes as a project when he was older, and it came from that breaking news meme. Like I love that kind of stuff, and give me all the angst of Mordred being a knight which is his worst nightmare. 

BIGGEST  STRUGGLE  IN  REGARDS  TO  YOUR  CURRENT  MUSE  :  Well.. first please don’t consider me a bitch when I say this. But is really hard to get interactions on him like at all. And so I try not to complain but then I vague about it, and its just a vicious circle. I honestly stopped coming on for a bit because I was tired of getting threads to go maybe two replies and then they would be dropped. Like that makes it a really tough atmosphere to RP in, and since I want to do those threads, I recycle ideas hoping someone will bite and do a full thread with me. Its hard for me to get my muse noticed, some people in the fandom refuse to acknowledge him, I saw one post completely ignoring him when describing characters that have done certain things, and I wanted to add HE DID THAT TOO, but didn’t. Its hard when you feel like no respects your muse as much as you do, and kind of throws him off to the side because he is a “villain” but then don’t do that for Morgana because she is too perfect and stuff. Like its hard to be in this fandom as Mordred, and I understand why I am the only one, while other characters in the main gang have at least two playing them actively as I write this up. I just kind of feel like he is a second thought, which discourages me from writing him, which is my big struggle. I want to do so much but I can’t garner the interest, and never really have, like I try to connect with the fandom, but I don’t know what else to do, because I am not mutuals with some people so I can’t like their starters, and people don’t like mine, and when I do like them, half they time they aren’t written for whatever reason, probably no muse or thread idea, But like I feel like I am trying and am just not seeing the fruits of my labors. Its a discouragement and that is my biggest struggle with him. 

TAGGED  BY  :  @etfuturus indirectly TAGGING  :  yo beautiful face 

[motherfuckingpriestessofhecate]

Ship that you have as an OTP: 🌹Ship that you're indifferent to: 😑Ship that makes you sad: 💔Ship that you find disgusting: 💩Ship that you find cute but don't ship: ✌Ship that you secretly like: 💚Ship that you used to have as an OTP: 💙Ship that you find most sexy: 👅Ship that you can never see happening: 👎Ship that is canon but you don't ship: 💤Ship that is unpopular but you still like: 💘Ship that is taboo: 💦Ship that pisses you off: 💣Ship you're curious about:

Controversial shipping asks

(( Judging by what you sent me over Discord, I’m guessing you didn’t mean to have the last few cut out so I’ll do those as well ovo/ ))

Ship that you have as an OTP: 🌹

(( Medea x Kuzuki tbh. At first I was kind of wary of it because the basis of her falling in love was just that he was one of the first men to be nice to her, but as I’ve read more and more of their stuff it’s just grown on me. They’re horribly mismatched, but at the same time they’re in love with each other to an extent that they’re willing to make things work. They’re not soulmates, they’re not perfect for each other, but they still love each other and are willing to do what it takes to make it work even if it’s not natural. I just really like that about them. ))

Ship that you’re indifferent to: 😑

(( Kirei x Kiritsugu, actually.A lot of people don’t like it and I get it, but I also get how people could ship it seeing as they both spent like half of Fate/Zero obsessing over the other. I guess I’m not entirely indifferent so much as I have slightly conflicting emotions that balance out to say “whatever, ship what you want to ship” ))

Ship that makes you sad: 💔

(( Julius x Mordred. Actually not really, I just wanted to make two of my friends suffer at least once with this ask. If I were to serious though, Kotomine x Claudia. At that point, Kirei was just trying his best and Claudia believed in him even though, in the end, there was nothing to believe in. And then Caren got completely screwed over gg disease mom. ))

Ship that you find disgusting: 💩

(( Pretty much all Avenger ships honestly. Avenger Angra Mainyu, that is. I like the dynamics that he shares with Bazett and Caren, but considering the things he talks about doing to Bazett and does do to Caren… Even if I don’t see that scene as canon, I just can’t ship him with either of them in good conscience. Friends, sure. But romantic partners? No thanks. ))

Ship that you find cute but don’t ship: ✌

(( Medea x Kojiro. I guess I ship it a tiny bit and would be willing to RP it someday, but for the most part I just like art of them. ))

Ship that you secretly like: 💚

(( I’m not so sure it’s ‘secret’ but Jeanne Alter and Saber Alter. Those two are just constantly antagonistic towards eachother and I love it. Another ship that I’ve basically never talked about is Saber Lily x Jeanne Alter, mostly because every interaction I’ve had between my Jalter and Saber Lily’s has been good shit… well besides for one with an AU Jalter but we don’t talk about that one when we’re also talking about shipping. ))

Ship that you used to have as an OTP: 💙

(( Medea x Julius. With my main verse for Medea, she sees him as a younger brother so it’s kind of hard for me to seriously ship them. I still think they’d make a kickass team in a Grail War together, but I don’t particularly desire romance between the two of them. ))

Ship that you find most sexy: 👅

(( I don’t really ship stuff for sex, so anything with Medb I guess. ))

Ship that you can never see happening: 👎

(( EMIYA x Saber, but in the sense of “they’ll never be a happy couple together” and not in the sense of “they’ll never have feelings for one another.” I can see them liking each other but actually getting together? lmao, good fucking luck you angst nuggets. ))

Ship that is canon but you don’t ship: 💤

(( Uhh… Rama x Sita I guess? I’m not saying I dislike the ship, just that all I’ve ever really heard about either of their personalities is how madly in love they are with one another. I’m just not capable of having interest in characters, or their relationship, when all I know about is that they love eachother a lot. It feels like I’m shipping Romeo and Juliet or some shit. I know they both have more to their personalities, but I haven’t heard enough about it in Fate to be interested enough to even try and find that more. Seriously, all I’ve heard about is their love for eachother. I know more about the first two Earthbenders’ personalities than I do these two smh ))

Ship that is unpopular but you still like: 💘

(( Unpopular in the sense that I’ve rarely seen anyone talk about it? Jeanne x Karna. They’re both fucking saints in their own right, let’s be honest here. Also both of them died horrible and unfair deaths but don’t show much anger over it, and in general their interactions from what I’ve seen are just… Nice. ))

Ship that is taboo: 💦

(( Medea x Jason in any way, shape, or form. Disgusting. Gross. Foul. Rotten. Though I wouldn’t mind RPing a Medea that’s still enchanted to be in love with Jason at some point. But actual Jason x Medea stuff? Dude couldn’t even thank her for chopping her little brother up into pieces, screw him. ))

Ship that pisses you off: 💣

(( Any incest ship, really. Illya x Shirou, Hakuno x Hakuno, Jeanne x Jeanne Alter, Mashu x Lancelot… I don’t care if they’re actually blood related or not, if they’re described as brothers/sisters or parents/children then please do Not…. selfcest is also kind of eh to me, but not to the same extent, so to each their own. ))

Ship you’re curious about: 👀

(( Caren x Saber Alter. On one hand there’s no way they’d be able to stay in the same room for more than five minutes without Caren being cut in two, but on the other hand I feel like they’d make a really good master-servant pair and possibly develop something other than mutual tolerance for eachother, even if it’s just respect. ))

Ship that needs more love: 💖

(( Jeanne Alter x the female FGO protagonist. I only ever see ship art of her and Gudao, none of her with Gudako. Well, very little of her with Gudako. Let them be gay, it’s not gonna be the first thing to cause either one of them angst considering they’re fighting to save humanity’s existence. ))

Ship that is most misunderstood: 💢

(( Sakura x Shirou, I think. I don’t want to go at length about it, but basically it’s more of Shirou’s character being misunderstood when it comes to this ship, due to the Heaven’s Feel route.I think they’d make a very cute couple and agree that Shirou would walk through all nine layers of hell for Sakura… But he wouldn’t betray his ideal, at least not like he does in Heaven’s Feel. Him deciding to prioritize Sakura over the hundreds of lives she was taking each night AND possibly all of humanity just feels like a slap in the face after Fate and UBW explore him trying to figure out how to stay true to his ideal without becoming a complete fucking mess. For him to throw away his ideal I can understand, but under those circumstances? Are we really sure that Sakura was the only character to go ‘Dark’ in Heaven’s Feel because jesus christ boy.

TL;DR: Mind of Steel is my personal ‘canon’ end to Heaven’s Feel, but I still think Shirou x Sakura is a great ship when it doesn’t endanger a shitton of other people. ))