#about archivist merlin

[justaz]

crying again over the tragedy that is bbc’s merlin

[moonlightsmasquerade]

What does being a wizard's apprentice actually mean in Weslyn?

Often it means two things:

The apprentice is trying to work a similar occupation to the wizard they are taken under the wing of ex: teacher/potion maker/spellbook writer/duelist

The wizard needs a bunch of people to do various jobs and needs to show an apprenctice how to properly complete a specific one, often these wizards will have more than 1 apprentice.

Apprentices are college aged, choosing to either continue studying via school or accept an apprenticeship (there are a few courses an apprentice is still required to complete, you can't skip courses entirely)

Apprenticeships are enticing because you are guarenteed a job once completed, you will either take the job your teacher has (they will retire after) or you can have that job in a different area. However that doesn't mean it's easy, the various tests an aspiring apprentice must take seem daunting and not worth it, but those who stick it out find it very very rewarding.

[mask131]

Ségurant, the Knight of the Dragon (1/4)

In order to do my posts about Ségurant, I will basically blatantly plagiarize the documentary I recently saw - especially since it will be removed at the end of next January. If you don't remember from my previous post, it is an Arte documentary that you can watch in French here. There's also a German version somewhere.

The documentary is organized very simply, by a superposition of research-exploration-explanation segments with semi-animated retellings of extracts of the lost roman.

0: The origin of it all

The documentary is led by and focused on the man behind the rediscovery of Ségurant, the Knight of the Dragon – Emanuele Arioli, presented simply as a researcher in the medieval domain, expert of the Arthurian romances, and deeply passionate by the Arthurian legend and chivalry. If you want to be more precise, a quick glimpse at his Wikipedia pages reveals that he is actually a Franco-Italian an archivist-paleographer, a doctor in medieval studies, and a master of conferences in the domain of medieval language and medieval literature.

It all began when Arioli was visiting the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, at Paris. There he checked a yet unstudied 15th century manuscript of “Les prophéties de Merlin”. Everybody knows Monmouth’s Prophetiae Merlini, but it is not this one – rather it is one of those many “Merlin’s Prophecies” that were written throughout the Middle-Ages, collecting various “political prophecies” interwoven with stories taken out of the legends of king Arthur and the Round Table. And while consulting this specific 15th century “Prophéties de Merlin”, Arioli stumbled upon a beautiful enluminure (I think English folks say “illumination”) of a knight facing a dragon. Interested, he read the story that went with it… And discovered the tale of Ségurant, a knight he had never heard about during the entirety of his studies.

Here we have the first fragment of Ségurant’s story: “Ségurant le Brun” (Ségurant the Brown, as in Brown-haired, you could call him Ségurant the Dark-haired, Ségurant the Brunet), a “most excellent and brave knight”, sent a servant to Camelot, court of king Arthur, and in front of the king the servant said – “A knight from a foreign land sends me there, and asks you to go in three days onto the plain of Winchester, with your knights of the Round Table, to joust. You will see there the greatest marvel you ever saw.”

Checking the rest of the manuscript, Arioli found several other episodes detailing Ségurant’s adventures, all beginning with illuminations of a knight facing a dragon. And this was the beginning of Arioli’s quest to reconstruct a roman that had been forgotten and ignored by everybody – a quest that took him ten years (and in the documentary he doesn’t hide that he ended up feeling himself a lot within Ségurant’s character who is also locked in an impossible quest).

I: Birth of king, birth of myth

The first quarter of the documentary or so is focused on Arioli’s first step in his quest for Ségurant: Great-Britain of course! However, slight spoiler alert, Arioli didn’t find anything there – and so the documentary spends a bit more time speaking about king Arthur than Ségurant, though it does fill in with various other extracts of Ségurant’s story.

Arioli’s first step was of course the National Library of Wales, where the most ancient resources about king Arthur are kept, and where old Celtic languages and traditions are still very much alive, or at least perfectly preserved. The documentary has Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan presenting the audience with the oldest record of the name Arthur in Welsh literature – if not in European literature as a whole. The “Y Gododdin”, where one of the characters described is explicitly compared to Arthur in negative, “even though he was not Arthur”. The Y Gododdin is extremely hard to date, though it is very likely it was written in the 7th century – and all in all, it proves that Arthur was known of Welsh folks at the time, probably throughout oral poems sung by bards, and already existed as a “good warrior” or “ideal leader” figure.

From there, we jump to a brief history lesson. Great-Britain used to be the province of the Roman Empire known as Britannia – and when the Romans left, it became the land of the Britons (in French we call them “Bretons” which is quite ironic because “Breton” is also the name of the inhabitants of the Britany region of France – Bretagne. This is why Great-Britain is called Great-Britain, the Britany of France was the “Little-Britain”, and this is also why the Britain-myth of Arthur spreads itself across both England and France – but anyway). However, ever since the 5th century, Great-Britain had fallen into social and political instability, as two Germanic tribes had invaded the lands: the Angles and the Saxons. In the year 600, the Angles and the Saxons were occupying two-thirds of Great-Britain, while the Britons had been pushed towards the most hostile lands – Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. This era was a harsh, cruel and dark world, something that the Y Gododdin perfectly translates – and thus it makes sense that the figure of Arthur would appear in such situation, as the mythical hero of the Briton resistance against the Anglo-Saxons.

However we had to wait until a Latin work of the 12th century for Arthur’s fate to finally be tied to the history of the kings of England: Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh bishop, wrote for the king of England of the time the “Historia Regum Britanniae”, “History of the Kings of Britain”, in which we find the first complete biography of Arthur as a king – twenty pages or so about “the most noble king of the Britons”. Geoffrey’s record was a mix of real and imagination, weaving together fictional tales with historical resources – it seems Geoffrey tried to make Arthur “more real” by including him into the actual History with a big H, and it is thanks to him that we have the legend of Arthur as we know it today ; even though his Arthur was a “proto-Arthur”, without any knight or Round Table. The tale begins in Cornwall, at Tintagel, where Arthur was conceived: one night, Uther Pendragon, with the help of Merlin, took the shape of the Duke of Cornwall to enter in his castle and sleep with his wife Igraine. This was how Arthur was born.

The documentary then has some presentations of the archeological work on Tintagel – filled with enigmatic and mysterious ruins. The current archeological research, and a scientific project in 2018, allowed for the discovery of proof that the area was occupied as early as 410, and then all the way to the 9th and 10th century, maybe even the years 1000. There are many elements indicating that Tintagel was inhabited during the post-Roman times when Arthur was supposed to have lived: post-Roman glass, and various fragments of pottery coming from Greece or Turkey and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea – overall the area clearly was heavily influenced by Mediterranean commerce and cultures. Couple that with the fact that we have the ruins of more than a hundred buildings built solidly with the stone of the island – that is to say more buildings than what London used to have during the same era – and with the fact that there are scribe-performed inscriptions for various families and third parties (meaning people were important or rich enough to buy a scribe to write things for them)… All of this proves that Tintagel was important, wealthy and connected, and so while it does not prove Arthur did exist, it proves that a royal court might have existed at Tintagel – and that Geoffrey of Monmouth probably selected Tintagel as the place of birth of Arthur because he precisely knew of how ancient and famous the area was, through a long oral tradition.

2: After birth, death

The next area visited by the documentary is Glastonbury. “On a Somerset hill formerly surrounded by swamps and bogs”, medieval tradition used to localize the fabulous island of Avalon – where Arthur, mortally wounded by his son Mordred, was taken by fairies. Healed there, he ever since rests under the hill, and will, the story says, return in the future to save the Britons when they need it the most… More interestingly fifty years after Monmouth’s writings, the actual grave of king Arthur was supposedly discovered in the cemetery of the abbey of Glastonbury, and can still be visited today. It is said that in 1191, the monks of the abbey were digging a large pit in their cemetery, 12 feet deep, when they find a rough wooden coffin with a great lead cross on which were written “Here lies king Arthur, on the island of Avalon”. Now, you might wonder, why were monks digging a pit in their cemetery? Sounds suspicious… Well it is said that Henry II was the one who told the monks that, if they dug in their cemetery, they might find “something interesting”… Why would Henry II order a research for the grave of king Arthur? Very simple – a political move. Henry II was a Plantagenet king, aka part of a Norman bloodline, from Normandy, and the House of Plantagenet had gained control of their territory through wars. The Plantagenet was a dynasty that won large chunks of territory through battles (or through marriage – Henri II married Aliénor d’Aquitaine in 1152, which allowed him to extend his empire so that it ended up covering not just all of Great-Britain but also three quarters of France). But as a result, the Plantagenet House had to actually “justify” themselves, prove their legitimacy – prove that they were not just ruling because they were conquerers that had beaten or seduced everybody. They needed to tie themselves to Briton traditions, to link themselves to the legends of Britain – and the “discovery” of king Arthur’s tomb was part of this political plan. And it was a huge success – Glastonbury became famous, and so did king Arthur, who went from a mere Briton war-chief that maybe existed, to a true legend and symbol of English royalty.

However, so far, there are no traces of Ségurant in the Welsh tradition, and here we get our second extract of Ségurant’s roman, which actually seems to be the beginning of his adventures.

Ségurant comes from a fictional island (or at least going by a fictional name): l’île Non-Sachante. There Ségurant le Brun was knighted on the day of the Pentecost by his own grandfather. There was great merriment and great joy, and after the party, Ségurant openly declared he wanted to see the court of king Arthur and all the great wonders in it that everybody kept talking about. He claimed he would go to Winchester – and thus it leads to the invitation mentioned above. Yep, he decided that the best way to go see king Arthur’s court and his wonders was to basically challenge the king and his knights…

3: No place at the Round Table

Of course, the next step of the documentary is Winchester, former capital of Saxon England. Some traditions claim that it was at Winchester that Camelot was located, king Arthur’s castle and the capital of his Royaume de Logres, Kingdom of Logres. Logres itself being actually clearly the dream of a land rebuilt and given back to the Britons, once all the Germanic invaders are kicked out.

The documentary goes to Winchester Castle, built by William the Conqueror, and takes a look at the famous “Round Table” kept within its Great Hall – a table on which are written the name of 24 Arthurian knights, with a painting of king Arthur at the center… Above the rose of the Tudors. Because, that’s the thing everybody knows – while the Round Table itself was built in the 13th century and presented as an “Arthurian relic”, it was repainted in the shape it is today during the 16th century, by Henry the Eight (you know, the wife-killer), who used it as yet another political tool to impose and legitimize the rule of the Tudor line – and he wasn’t subtle about it, since he had Arthur’s face painted to look like his… On this table you find the names of many of the famous Arthurian knights: Galahad, Lancelot of the Lake, Gawain, Perceval, Lionel, Mordred, Tristan, the Knight with the Ill-Fitting Coat… They were organized according to a hierarchy (despite the very principle of the table being there was no hierarchy): at the top are the most famous and well-known knights, with their own stories and quests, such as Galahad, Lancelot of Gawain. At the bottom are the less famous ones: Lucan, Palamedes, Lamorak, Bors de Ganis…

And Ségurant is, of course, absent. Which can be baffling when you consider what the story about Ségurant actually says…

NEW EXTRACT! We are on the field of Winchester. All the tents are prepared for the greatest tournament Logres ever knew. The tent of Ségurant is very easy to spot, because there is a precious stone at the top, that shines day and knight, constantly emitting light as if it was a flaming torch. In front of king Arthur, all the bravest and most courageous knights of the Round Table appear and joust between them: Lancelot and Gawain are explicitly named. Suddenly, Ségurant appears and defies them all in combat! One by one, the knights of the Round Table battle with Ségurant – but all their spears break themselves onto his shield, and in the end, no knight wants to defy him, realizing they could not possibly defeat him. And in the audience, a rumor start spreading… “For sure, it will be him, the knight who will find the Holy Grail!”

So we have a knight who managed to defeat all the knights of the Round Table, in front of king Arthur, and yet nobody talks about him? But as the documentary reminds the audience – the Winchester Round Table only contains knights that the British tradition is familiar with. There many Arthurian knights with their own story and quests, such as Erec or Yvain the Knight of the Lion, who are absent from it… Because they are part of the French tradition, and thus less popular if not frankly ignored by England (a specific mention goes to Erec who was only translated very recently into English apparently, and for centuries and centuries stayed unknown in the English-speaking world).

Anyway – the conclusion of this first part of the documentary is simple. Ségurant is not from Great-Britain, he is not British nor Welsh, and so his origins lie somewhere else.

ADDENDUM

In the first part of this documentary, they stay quite vague and allusive about the story of Ségurant (because the documentary is obviously about the quest and research behind the reconstruction of the roman, not about what the roman contains in every little details). So to flesh out a bit the various extracts above I will use some information from the very summary Wikipedia page about this recently rediscovered knight (I didn’t had the time to get my hands on the book yet).

In the version that is the “main” one reconstructed by Arioli and that is the basis for the documentary’s retelling, soon before being knighted, Ségurant had proved his worth by performing a successful “lion hunt” onto the Ile Non-Sachante. Said island is actually said to have originally been a wild and deserted island onto which his grand-father, Galehaut le Brun, and his grand-father’s brother, Hector le Brun, had arrived after a shipwreck – they had taken the sea to flee an usurper on the throne of Logres named Vertiger (it seems to be a variation of Vortigern?). Galehaut le Brun had a son, Hector le Jeune (Hector the Young), Ségurant’s father. However, unlike the documentary which presents Ségurant as immediately wishing to see Camelot and defy its knights as soon as he is knighted, the Wikipedia page explains there is apparently a missing episode between the two events: in the roman, Ségurant originally leave the Ile Non-Sachante to defeat his uncle (also named Galehaut, like his grandfather) on the mainland. After beating his uncle at jousting, rumors of his various feats and exploits reached Camelot, and it was king Arthur himself who decided to organize a tournament in Ségurant’s honor at Winchester, so that the Knights of the Round Table could admire Ségurant’s exploits.

The fact that the documentary presents a version of the story when the Knights of the Round Table are already in search for the Holy Grail when Ségurant arrives at Winchester is quite interesting because according to the Wikipedia article, Ségurant’s name is mentioned in a separate text (a late 15th century armorial) as one of the knights of the Round Table who was present “when they took the vow of undergoing the quest of the Holy Grail, on Pentecost Day”. The same armorial then goes on to add more elements about Ségurant’s character. Here, instead of being the son of “Hector the Young”, he is son of “Hector le Brun” (so the whole family is “Brown” then), and this title is explained by the color of his hair, which is actually of a brown so dark it is almost black. Ségurant is described here as a very tall man, “almost a giant”, and to answer this enormous height, he has an incredible and powerful strength, coupled with a great appetite making him eat like ten people. But he is actually a peaceful, gentle soul, as well as a lone wolf not very social. He also is said to have a beautiful face, and to be “well-proportioned” in body. A final element of this armorial, which is the most interesting when compared to the main story given by the documentary (where the dragon comes afterward) – in this armorial, Ségurant is actually said to have killed a dragon BEFORE being knighted, a “hideous and terrible” dragon, and this is why his coast of arms depict a black dragon with a green tongue over a gold background.

Again, this all comes from an armorial kept at the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal – which has a small biography and drawing of Ségurant over one page (used to illustrate the French Wikipedia article). It is apparently not in the “roman” that Arioli reconstructed – especially since in the comic book adaptation, and the children-illustrated-novel adaptations, not only is Ségurant depicted as of regular size, but he is also BLOND out of all things…

As for the name of the island Ségurant comes from, “l’île Non-Sachante”, it is quite a strange name that means “The Island Not-Knowing”, “The Unknowing island”, “The island that does not know”. This is quite interesting because, on one side it seems to evoke how this is an island not known by regular folks – this wild, uncharted, unmapped island on which Ségurant’s family ended up, and from which this mysterious all-powerful knight comes from (and you’ll see that the fact nobody knows Ségurant’s island is very important). But there is also the fact that the adjective “Sachante” is clearly at the female form, to match the female word “île”, “island”, meaning it is the island that does not “know”. And given it is supposed to be this wild place without civilization, it seems to evoke how the island doesn’t know of the rest of the world, or doesn’t know of humanity. (Again I am not sure, I haven’t got the book yet, I am just making basic theories and hypothetic reading based on the info I found)

[thesongistheriver]

Everything I've Dreamed About Is Coming On

My social media/Discord modern Merthur fic is finished! Featuring queer themes, other fandom references (including but not limited to Doctor Who, Heartstopper, Star Trek and LOTR), CEO Arthur, digital archivist Merlin, a cast of thousands, and all that jazz. (E rating for the final chapter. )

[forgetyoursingalongsandlullabies]

After I posted about how I love the TMA fanart I had a couple people ask about how I think the characters look. I can’t draw so here are some photos and descriptions. Note* I listened to the whole series before I even looked at the fandom. They’re stuck as who they are in my brain and I can’t change them anymore, they’re dug in there.

The Archivist Jon Sims - Ben Barnes

Shadow and Bone Ben Barnes where he’s in his late 30s and showing his grays a little, NOT twink Prince Caspian Ben Barnes.

Martin Blackwood - Luke Newberry

I know canonically Martin is on the bigger side but that sweet face, the big beautiful puppy eyes and the ginger hair! The 2nd photo is 100% the way I see him in S4. In S1-3 he wears a lot of color but by S4 he’s all gray suits and no smiles in his eyes.

Sasha James - Eva Noblezada

She has long hair and glasses and Not!Sasha has shorter Hadestown hair and no glasses and wears pretty much just black and white.

Tim Stoker - Tom Hopper

From his Merlin days when he was a little more baby than he is in Umbrella Academy. I love the Hawaiian shirt thing that’s going on with the art. I always just think of him in well fitted t-shirts.

Melanie King - Amanda Fuller

Except she has big fire orange hair and wears t-shirts and leather jackets.

Georgie Barker - H.E.R.

I’m obsessed with the idea that Georgie and Melanie both have enormous hair.

Daisy Tonner - Indira Varma

I don’t necessarily know why but she’s all I’ve ever seen Daisy as. Maybe because she has an incredible “don’t fuck with me” look.

Basira Hussein - I don’t have a specific actress in mind for her but she has a gorgeous round face dark pools for eyes and full lips. Idk if Basira wears a hijab all the time, I don’t think I have the right to headcanon one way or another, but if she isn’t wearing it she has curly black hair.

Elias Bouchard - Hear me out, I imagined him before I knew he was evil and hot. By the time I realized, it was too late for my brain to reliably change him. He’s a remolded memory of Uncle Jack in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia only a little younger and with a Vincent Price pencil mustache and a very nice suit. I won’t add a picture of the actor because it’s not exactly him.

Michael - Bill Skarsgard

It’s probably a gimme since he plays so many weird little guys but he’s beautiful and creepy at the same time and I like to imagine him with the long ringlets.

Helen - Nina Sosanya

I mean, it feels obvious to me. Her smile is even mischievous.

Peter Lukas - Cary Elwes

There is a 10 image limit and I am not dropping my 2nd Martin picture for Peter Lukas. But Cary Elwes as of 2019ish idk if he looks more or less the same now. But I have a complicated relationship with The Lonely and it is important to me that Peter looks older, evil and also kind of fuckable.

OKAY THANKS FOR LETTING ME SHARE!

[pickelda]

9 People You Want to Know Better

tagged by @dreadfutures

I feel like I don't know anyone, so here’s a smattering of yall if you want to join in :^) @inquisimer @warpedlegacy @bishicat @fadedsweater @threeletterepithet

@effelants @the-rebel-archivist @rosella-writes @wolfs-dawn

Three ships: F!Inquisitor x Cassandra 😍🤭 | Hawke x Fenris | Essek x Caleb (CR2)

First ship: That I went insane over? Merlin x Arthur from BBC Merlin LMAOOOOSJDFKLSJDF

Last song: Cico Buff, Cocteau Twins

Last movie: I just went to see Longlegs in theaters. I really liked it. Perhaps a little overhyped.

Currently reading: I recently finished Way of Kings and have the next book sitting on my nightstand, but I probably won’t get to it until I get myself out of the deepest pits of DA hyperfixation (improbable for at least the next few months)

Currently watching: CreepCast. In my case it’s ‘currently listening’ (I listen to podcasts on my long commute) but it's on YouTube too. The hosts read and discuss creepy pastas and internet horror stories, the guys can be a little crude at times but they're mostly funny and bring some levity. As a reformed scaredy cat, I'm really liking the introduction to internet horror :^) Some stories are dumb and funny, others are very fucking good. The latest was Feed the Pig, which I ended up really enjoying.

But if I'm gonna plug one, it's gotta be The Left Right Game (start at the CreepCast Pt 1 episode, or the original story can be read here). There's also a produced podcast version done by QCODE but I'm not a fan of it. The CreepCast videos are split into two parts, for a total of about 8 hours of watching/listening. My husband and I listened to it while we were roadtripping to Niagara Falls for the solar eclipse in April. Really really fucking cool kind of cosmic horror story. I still think about it all the time.

Currently eating: My lunch today: https://cookieandkate.com/sweet-potato-arugula-wild-rice-salad-recipe/ I make this a lot because it's easy to prep for when I don't have leftovers to bring to work.

Currently craving: For my writing brain to come back from war. Also chorizo tacos.

Blank template below!

Three Ships:

First Ship:

Last Movie:

Last Song:

Currently Reading:

Currently Watching:

Currently Eating:

Currently Craving:

[agent-toast]

tiny cyrus (the revenge of magic)

this is half a revision of my timeless one design and also a version of cyrus before he went to the carmathen academy (and before he knew he was trans [which is a hc btw]) so he's around 8-10 yo here

my thoughts/hcs on cyrus' backstory \\//

*a lot of stuff is NOT CANON*

to me, merlin is like his weird uncle who shows up, shows cyrus how to do some complicated time magic, says "don't trust your family" or some cool facts about atlantis then leaves for a year without explanation

but merlin always treats cyrus very matter-of-factly, not giving him that much praise or comfort, just playing the role of older, more knowledgeable self, and cyrus grows to resent him for that. oh yeah and also yknow merlin doesn't want the old ones to return and everything but cyrus only finds that out later

meanwhile, his family would shower cyrus with praise and support, saying he was the strongest of the eternal ones and would lead them anew to 'bring order to chaos' blah blah blah

(which is supposed to be a reference to this if you didn't catch it) \\//

so that's why cyrus was so loyal to his family, because they supposedly accepted and cared for him. but haha no goddamn backstabbing ketas; sierra was a better mind magic user than you ever will be-

also cyrus got his british accent from talking to merlin because at first cyrus admired him a lot (who wouldn't have gender envy for merlin??), but post TCO and he's stuck with the accent now oh no

tiny cyrus (that's what im calling him now.) is basically just the owl house collector. because shh they have similar backstories. and ketas is belos, or the old ones are the archivists. after all ketas is like belos, has a history of manipulating people, especially children (see also: a bunch of his family; michael; damian, kind of)

anyway here is more tiny cyrus

collector n raine reference. heehee

and every cyrus post has a meme now i guess

(was too lazy to draw a decent ketas i'm sorry-)

[again, most of the cyrus n merlin stuff said in this post is NOT CANON]

[thetulipfields]

☆Systober Days 1-4☆

I want to participate in systober, probably wont do all of the days, this post is all of the days so far ✨️ (using this as an opportunity to info-dump about the system lol)

1st: primary host

The primary and currently only host in our system is me, Clementine 🩷🩵💛. I use she/they pronouns, I think. Im the one most active on tumblr. I am a fusion of two previous parts Arden and Olivia.

Arden was the previous host, they were genderfluid, used any prns. They had quite severe anxiety and depression, but were very good at keeping up with school and responsibilities. She really enjoyed learning, reading, and was very good at finding cool pieces at a thrift.

Olivia was a middle (10-12) and a mood booster. She was a very bubbly personality, enjoyed indulging in our interests, like video games, cartoons, and toys. She's the reason we started collecting lps again.

I like to think that Im a good combination of the two of them. I am definitely much better at coping than Arden was, and more responsible than Olivia was. I dont know, the fusion is really new and Im still learning about myself 😊.

2nd: primary protector

Our primary protector is Rose 🥀, she/they. She used to be mainly a sexual protector but her role has evolved since some fusions. She helps alot with triggers, especially large crowds and alcohol. They really enjoy thrifting and customizing clothing.

3rd: primary persecutor

I dont want to talk about current persecutors on tumblr so this is about Morgan who is a recovered persecutor now protector.

Morgan 🕯, she/they, is a fictive of Morgana from BBC Merlin, she has been around since middle school. She used to be much more connected to source than she is now. When she formed she had psuedo-memories and trauma memories, she held a lot of anger and feelings of betrayal. She often took this out on people in our life, like friends. This was very damaging to our relationships, but we understand that she did this to protect us from bad stuff happening again. They have since learned better ways of protecting us and worked through a lot of feelings/memories in therapy.

She is source separated, has stopped viewing it as her and her life. She has existed for a long time and has had her own experiences and is her own person.

Morgan is now one of our most active protectors, and vocalizes for the system when others can not.

They enjoy spiritual practices, specifically pagan witchcraft, mainly intention work and protection. She doesnt have a lot of time to practice but we try and get them things and help where we can.

4th: primary gatekeeper

Iris 🌊, she/her, is the main gatekeeper of our system. She is a nonhuman alter, she appears as a mermaid/siren. She is very active around front but rarely fronts herself. I (Clem) dont fully know how her role works, and I dont think she'd come out just to explain stuff for tumblr. She has communication with most alters in our system and is able to block certain alters from fronting. She also functions as an "archivist", she helps fill out sp profiles and make sure that sp is accurate.

I dont know much about her personality either, from my perspective she is very quiet and secretive. I have never seen her overly emotional or particularly interested in irl stuff.

[agent-scotch]

TEAM EFFORT

Summary: Sora exploits some Kingsman resources to aid her in meeting Huck's family, with the help of Maria. However there are no lack of nosy people in the field, who need entertainment.

Characters: Maria Bloomsco @tealeavesandthorns; James Davenport, Charlie Dawson, Huck Wells @ohsolovingsouls; Sora and Joe Asai. Also Barney <3

Notes: I honestly had no idea of how to end and wanted to post it before I hyper fixate. It was hilarious to write. Love the idea of work place shenanigans, I hope i did all the characters justice. I imagine this to be like the mission control of Cabin in the woods. Excuse the grammar, this is honestly my first drabble so I tried. Kingsman. OCs. Drabble.

Maria massaged Barney’s neck as she watched the monitors at Mission Control. Being an overseer was never of much interest, too much responsibility for her anxiety to handle but she saw how it could be appealing. However this wasn’t any old run of the mill mission. No. This was an under the radar, top secret, her eyes only infiltration of the highest caliber - in the name of love. 

“Oh Huck has eyes just like his mother. How adorable! Is everyone in the family that….large?” Maria remarked into the comms observing through Sora’s glasses as she became acquainted with the Wells Family. Hearing a cough from Sora snapped Maria back into focus and looked at the clipboard before her. There was a partially finished family tree in the form of a flow chart to help aid in identifying each ‘target’....family member. 

“Bernadette! Or Bernie for short. She’s a wood sculptor. Didn’t you say Huck’s cabin used to be her’s?”, Maria said into the mic before releasing it. The day went on as she watched Sora go about the scenic family property, jotting a few notes in preparation for when Sora would attend her first major Wells Family gathering. 

A polite knock at the door broke the silence.

“Who is it?” she called out, pausing in the middle of writing. 

“Maria?” the doctor answered in confusion, “I-It’s me, Joe - Am I interrupting something?”

“Oh no no, not at all. Come in, Come in,” Shooting up from her chair. Quickly doing her best to hide the notes on the desk and the monitor by standing in front as Joe walked in. He paused seeing the mess on the desk and Maria standing in a rather tedious position.

“I….I didn’t expect you at the helm, what are you doing here?” He asked crossing his arms and tilting his head to see what she was hiding, if there was a person who could spot a lie it was him. Barney greeted him with a bark.

“Oh N-nothing, Merlin is away, which gave me opportunity to o-organize some things, office parties and uuumm archiving, yes, missions and doing….data,” the archivist said sheepishly. 

“Data, huh?” Joe laughed walking closer, placing his hands in his pockets, “And what data have you recovered from Huck's mother playing with Yuki?” 

Maria glanced at the monitor before smiling back at Joe with a blush. He raised his brows in a way that Maria couldn’t refuse. There was no point trying to cover it up. She looked at him in slight shame; this had to be some form of misuse of workplace resources. “Alright, you caught me. But in the name of true love -See, your sister is in seattle.“

“-Being introduced to Huck’s family?” Joe finished Maria's train of thought, making her smile.

Of course he knew, he was her brother after all. He walked up and examined the half finished flow chart of Huck’s family tree. Taking a seat next to Maria, he retrieved the silver pen from his breast pocket and put on his glasses. She watched as he filled in a few more names and added some of his own notes. Giving it a few more thoughts, he shrugged and handed the clipboard back to Maria.

“That’s as much as I got,” the doctor replied with amusement. He too found it entertaining that someone of Sora’s reputation was having such trouble with the ordeal. “She was burning a hole into my office floor last week worrying about this specific visit.” 

Maria laughed having also witnessed what he described, “Would you like some tea, Joe?” 

“That would be lovely, Maria,” Joe replied softly with a simple nod, he never could refuse a cup from her. 

Pouring him a cup and they watched the scenario play out on the monitor. As people appeared, Joe wordlessly pointed at the name out and some information for Maria to relay to Sora, not wanting his sister to know he too was on the other end. Joe didn’t want to admit it but manning mission control with Maria was rather enjoyable.

After an hour a knock interrupted them but before they could answer the door swung open followed by the sound of heels. 

“There you are, Joe; I’ve been looking all over for you”, Charlie exclaimed with a hand on her hip before walking over to him with a rather hefty file. 

“Why, Thank you,” he said before flipping through the contents. 

“What’s all going on here,” Charlie inquired, squinting at the screens.

Reaching, Charlie stole a biscuit from Maria’s tea tray. Maria fumbled on her words, struggling to decide whether it would be wise to tell the truth or breeze over it to someone in an administrative position. Joe on the other hand knew Charlie and her friendship with Sora enough to know that she would find out what was happening whether someone liked it or not. They were in the field of intelligence gathering after all. 

“Sora’s shitting herself meeting Huck’s cartoonishly huge family for thanksgiving in Seattle. So Maria is manning the helm. It’s like watching Full house,” Joe said bluntly while still flipping through the files. 

“Joseph!” Maria gasped, elbowing his side. 

“What? Charlie would find out sooner or later, it’s more effort to lie than to tell the truth,” Joe chuckled and placed the file aside to return to the ‘mission’ at hand.

“Oh this I have to see!” Charlie said pulling a chair next to Joe who flashed a ‘told you so’ look at Maria. 

“You see the couple over there,” he pointed at a couple in the living room, Maria zoomed in. “Huck told me he’s not a fan of them. They are not going to last this to the end of Thanksgiving from what I recall. My hunch is one of them is having an affair - and it’s the man.”

“I bet it’s the woman,” Charlie added, observing the couple.

“What makes you think that?” Maria questioned with a head tilt.

“She’s been awfully friendly to the other spouses. I know a homewrecker when I see one.” Charlie answered, confidently crossing her arms. 

“You that confident eh?”Joe smirked before taking a sip of his tea, “Enough to bet on it? Say… 60£?”

“45,” Charlie clapped back. 

“55,” Joe bargained. 

“50. And a bottle of wine,” she challenged.

“Fine,” Joe caved with amusement before reaching into his pants for his wallet. The both of them placed the money on the table. Maria also added to the pool earning a look for both of them. At some point Charlie had left briefly and came back with a bottle of wine. 

“The children are adorable. So far I’ve counted 6, there should be more arriving tomorrow I believe.” Maria remmarked, taking a bite of a biscuit as Sora spoke to one of his sisters. Time had passed and in the corner of the screen Huck could be seen pacing around and pulled out his phone. 

Joe sighed and fished out his phone. Within a matter of seconds the screen lit up with a message, like clockwork. Both Charlie and Maria leaned into Joe to see the message:

J, my throat’s feelin a bit itchy after eating my ma’s pineapple upside down.

“I’m not an allergist.”Joe rolled his eyes and groaned, “It’s mild though, some Reactine will clear it up.”

“Good idea - Sora, sweetheart,” Maria advised into the mic, “Perhaps it’s best to check on Huck. He may have helped himself to too much of his mother’s pineapple upside down cake.”

“Text Huck to keep an eye on Sora as well, liquor and stress might exacerbate what impulses may be going through her,” Charlie said from experience. Joe nodded in agreement and responded to Huck’s text. They watched the couple convene, where Sora luckily had remembered to pack Reactine for Huck.

“Oh my!” interrupted a voice from behind the three of them, two hours later.It was all too recognizable.” I don’t remember seeing any late night stake outs scheduled.” 

”James!” Charlie and Maria greeted in-sync. 

“Ladies!” James said brightly,”......Doctor Asai.”

“Is there not a lock on that door?” Joe furrowed, glancing back.

“What do we have here? Three unlikely people at mission control and not Merlin. Must be something very serious,” he remarked, walking over charismatically.

“Scotch and Rum are in Seattle to meet his family for the first time, ever. I have been tasked to assist with this precarious mission to successfully plant her in the hearts of the Wells Family as Huck’s beau,” Maria answered like summarizing a novel. Leaning James looked at the ever growing notes and family tree they have been continually adding to. “….Sora is unaware of these two”

“This ought to be interesting,” James chuckled as it sparked his interest. “And the 150 quid on the table?”

“Joe says this couple here are on the verge, due to an affair……and put money down on who….as well as me and Charlie” Maria explained, batting her eyes innocently then showing the couple on the monitor. James gave a squint and studied the two. 

Reaching into his coat he pulled out a 50£ bill and added to Charlie’s side, “It’s the woman, I’ve been on enough missions to read the body language of a woman on the prowl.”

“Wine anyone?” Charlie offered, holding a bottle. Without a hesitation all three raised their hands. Joe gulped the last of his tea and held his cup as did Maria. Luckily there was an extra glass for James who perched himself on the desk. They were in it for the long run it seems.

“Does anyone have the time for Seattle?” Maria inquired looking at the monitors where it seemed like everyone was convening into the dining area. “because that is quite the feast Huck’s mother has made for someone her age.”

“The Wells family take family meals very seriously. This isn’t even the thanksgiving dinner, that’s tomorrow” Joe said looking at his phone,”Huck knows his way around a kitchen.”

“Remind me to ask him for some recipes when they’re back,” Maria swooned, studying the spread before them. 

“Isn’t that the 8th drink Sora‘s had,” Charlie giggled.

“Depending on how long Huck’s arm has been around her. There seems to be only so many plausible outcomes.” James said. 

“Stop, please”, Joe interrupted with his head in his hands, sinking into his chair. Maria gave his shoulder a rub while trying to stifle her laughter. 

“20£, during the main course,” James challenged cheekily.

“No! We are not! Not on my sister” Joe exclaimed sitting up and stopped James from starting placing another dollar bill down “There are kids around, this is a family gathering”. 

“20£, dessert,” Charlie stated. 

“Do you not have work to do, James?” Joe hissed. But despite the death glare from Joe -  It was too late, another pool was created. “I’m taking it if they don’t.”

“Alyssa and Shirley have been at each other’s throats this entire evening,” Maria remarked in frustration before pressing the microphone once again. “Sora, Huck’s looking a bit tense with your sisters at arms with each other.” 

Three of them watched as Sora looked at Huck and exchanged a few words before drawing into a tender kiss. 

“Now you’re just rigging the results,” Joe mumbled, taking a hefty gulp of his wine.

“You three maybe in it for the money, but I was tasked with this originally in the name of true love,” Maria prided herself with her chin held high.

“True love, Indeed. Lord did you see how Alyssa and her husband have been glaring at them, those two haven’t had sex in at least three months and in need of couples counseling” Charlie snorted. 

“It could be that,” Joe replied before loosening his tie, “could also be something about the family business and their competitors”.

All three of them looked at Joe, clearly he had tea to spill about the Wells family. 

It was an hour, perhaps two - Time flew. The Wells family tree which once spanned a single clipboard now dominated an entire white board. Somewhere Charlie found a second bottle of wine to share and stood with a marker at hand. Joe had caved to his appetite and ordered a pizza for the four of them, occasionally dropping a pepperoni for Barney. James had discarded his jacket at some point and made himself a cup of coffee to drink while laying on a nearby sofa.

“I’m not Ralph’s lawyer so I wouldn’t know the details of the Wells family fortune,” Joe remarked at the cascade of notes on the board as he washed the pizza down with some wine. “But with that many kids, there’s bound to be one stirring up drama.”

“They seem to be such a picturesque family, it’s a shame to have a bit of sibling rivalry and the neighboring estate ruining it,” Charlie said, writing in a few more notes to the nieces and nephews on the tree. 

“We have movement,” Maria chimed still at the comms, everyone hurried back to their spots with Joe in between Maria and Charlie, James perched himself on the desk . “It looks like….Oh-Sorry James, looks like you’ve lucked out. Dessert is being brought out.” 

Charlie cheered as she reached to pocket the money. Joe stopped her before they began to bicker about the fair results and how they weren’t positive until the end of the meal. On the monitor, however, Huck’s hand had traveled onto Sora’s thigh under the table. He too had his fair share of drinks and began to slide it teasingly upward. Maria went to intervene with the mic but was stopped by James. Huck teased Sora for a while until he excused them from the dinner table and led her away hand-in-hand. Huck led Sora to a powder room hastily, he was clearly more than eager for what was to come. Sora locked the door behind before Huck closed the space between. It pulled Joe and Charlie from their argument and Joe’s eyes widened.

Pinning Sora to the door, they kissed passionately. Sora removed her glasses and tossed them aside carelessly knowing Maria was on the other end. But it landed only gave the four a better view. 

“What’s…..happening”, Joe inquired, in denial of what was to come. 

“Oh, You know what, Doctor. You don't happen to this recorded do you, Maria?” James replied with a mischievous grin that earned him a slap in the arm.

The sound of kissing filled the room, fixating Maria, Charlie and James. Joe however squirmed and face began to turn a bright shade of red. He reached for the keyboard in hopes of ending this but yelped as Charlie swatted his hand away. 

Joe hid his eyes with his hand at the sound of Huck’s belt being undone. Maria and Charlie on either side of him did their best at covering his ears. 

“The Wells seem to be….endowed in more ways than one,” Charlie remarked while sipping her wine, unable to tear her eyes away. Her handed pocketing the 40£.

“My word, I could learn a thing or two from him”, James huffed seeing Huck lift Sora effortlessly with her leg over his shoulder. As the couple became more and more intimate on the monitor, the three shifted more and more forward as if it would offer a better view. 

The moaning became louder, Joe shot up from his seat with his eyes closed

“This is....unethical and I think Barney is need of a walk,” Joe announced in a hurry, turning around. Patting his leg, he made a quick walk towards the door with Barney happily trotting behind. 

Acknowledgement came in a collective and pre-occupied ‘Huh’ as the mission control door slammed shut.

[the-king-and-the-druidess]

My headcanons about the Merlin occupations in modern AUs:

Morgana. It depends on what kind of her facets we use in the fic. It can be: unemployed heiress, living on Uther or Vivienne's money. Artist. Medium. Naturopathic healer, everything related to the New age movement, goods for modern witchcraft, etc. A leading position in a city/state administration or in a charity. Activist of a non-governmental organisation, journalism. Owner of a clothing or jewelry shop, academy (feminist or socialist discourses) Or even a poor low classer living in some crumbling old house on welfare (a reference to S4)

Arthur: definitely, a leading position in Uther's business. Sports manager (a reference to the knights as members of his team), officer of the state army or UN peacekeeping missions. Architect, firefighter or policeman, engineering, an auto business.

Mordred: Criminal(but wants to get out of there). New age, nature retreats, music, programming, arborist, junior military positions, antique or bookstore, medical staff, security guard, gardener.

Gwen: office clerk, nurse, elementary school teacher, flower or craft supplies shop, hotel cleaning staff, children books illustrator, interior designer.

Merlin: writer, driver, traveler, doctor, archivist, secretary, consulting, animal welfare, actor.

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

i only spent like 30 minutes on these hence the quality but behold. mechs au doodles be upon ye. full list of what's going on in this au+the two mechs images i referenced below the cut

so the hermits are the mechs themselves in this au, and rn we have empires members in oautis (ouatis is where this even started and then it SPIRALED)

ouatis itself is empires season 1. the cast is:

snow-jimmy rose-lizzie cinders-joel briar rose-katherine king cole-sausage hansel+gretel-fwhip+gem gepetto-joey jack-shrub pix+scott are members of snow's crew from pump shanty, xornoth is the general white who betrays snow's crew cause we were originally gonna put him in the crew itself to fill up numbers before we Realized. the three little pigs are hesitently bubbles, sir carlos, and the general but lizzie doesn't kill them i'm not making her kill a dog. they just leave dw about it.

then we decided alice could be fun if we threw the season 2 characters into it so:

alice-pix comsat chesire-sausage caterpiller-oli hatter+hare-shelby+katherine door mouse-joey queen of hearts-lizzie knave of hearts-fwhip or jimmy (haven't quite decided)

and then the mechanisms themselves!

jonny-pearl nastya-false (we decided pearl+false would be the two mechs who show up in ouatis because it simply Made Sense for those to be the hermits who appear, y'know) ashes-cleo (look at me and tell me cleo wouldn't pull the shit ashes does. you can't) ivy-cub (archivist, bit of a bitch, what is their deal? who knows) brian-grumbot (the pun of drumbot brian to grumbot brian was too good to pass up) tim-tango (both tried to blow up the moon) ts-joe (again, tell me this doesn't work. you can't) raph-doc (mad scientist, has wings) marius-ren (simply vibes, has/had a prosthetic arm) carmilla-genericb, what with joe having done a coup to get hermitcraft s2 running (ts killed the doc in this universe) scuzz-etho (it just makes sense) the aurora is just the hermatrix in this au. and also yes she is still false's girlfriend. i think she deserves it.

i also had a third life hnoc au a bit ago that is very appropriate for this au. don’t worry about any repeat hermits here, it’s fine, don’t think about it too hard.

arthur-impulse lancelot-bdubs guinevere-cleo mordred-bigb (with the saxons being the other members of dogwarts) gawain-scott galahad-scar (listen to hellfire and tell me i’m wrong) empty trail singer-jimmy and then obviously merlin is grumbot still.

grian has a frankenstein moment and stranger moment going on, i could explain it but don’t worry about it, just know he’s in grumbot’s backstory somewhere.

scar (specifically swagon scar) also reappears as dr. pilchard later, because of course he does.

still no thoughts on tbi or udad in this au, but i’ll figure it out at some point.

[blue-cat-shitposts]

*cracks knuckles* this is the moment I've trained for all these years.

SO. A disclaimer to begin with: I am very much an amateur and my knowledge comes from various more-or-less reliable sources (the internet) which I can't list for the reason of I Do Not Remember And Do Not Care. One of them is a Cuphead fancomic. So if there's someone who is actually more knowledgeable about it and has more reliable citations, corrections are very much welcome. I'll do my best. This will be kinda vague.

Starting with the hearts, my favorite suit. Hearts are of course (among other things) a symbol of love. The ace card apparently stands for attraction and desire. Fitting for Nastya, since she is Aurora's lover.

It's interesting that Brian's card is also an ace, because another thing it can symbolize is hope. Also, depending on what game you're playing, it can be either the strongest or the weakest number in the deck - just how Brian can be either the most or the least moral man, depending on the position of his switch. It puzzles me as to why he was assigned the clubs suit, though - it represents farmers/peasantry, the Earth element, agriculture, flowers, summer, youth, recklessness... it doesn't fit Brian very well in my opinion? But what do I know. Maybe because the suit is sometimes represented as wands, and it calls back to Brian's time as Merlin?

Then Ivy. Diamonds are a symbol of riches and merchants, quite predictably... The queen of diamonds is a symbol of success, wealth and power. I choose to take it as her being wealthy in knowledge, since Ivy is the Archivist, and her brain is a treasure trove of knowledge, and she's always looking for more of it. And knowledge is power.

Jack of diamonds is about new beginnings, apparently. I cannot speculate much more? Similarly to Brian, I'm unsure of why this suit was assigned to Toy Soldier. Perhaps because diamond symbolize the air element, and TS stole another person's vocal cords. It also apparently represents progress, ethics, stability, commitment. And I guess TS's commitment to pretending it is real for the sake of its friends is admirable.

Ashes! The King card just *feels* right for them, they were the King of the Underworld in a way after all. Maybe that is also why the clubs suit was chosen, as it is associated with the earth element. Though considering their arsonistic tendencies, maybe hearts (fire) would be more fitting for them, but unfortunately the King of Hearts is a card that has much more grim implications - it's called the Suicide King, which is a motif that doesn't really fit Ashes that well. King of Diamonds would be better, considering they've got all this gold lying around... it's for uh, tax purposes.

And last, but certainly not least, Jonny D'Ville, the Joker! The most fitting out of them all, for rather obvious reasons, as it is the wild card that changes purpose depending on the game, associated with chaos and unpredictability, but also wit and intelligence. What's interesting to me though, is that the Joker can replace any missing card in the deck. And Jonny tries (and fails) to replace Doctor Carmilla as the Captain of the Aurora. But he cannot *be* the missing card - a Joker is still a Joker, even if it fulfills the role of and is treated as another card.

Don't take this analysis too seriously though. The suits might've been assigned based on some personal tastes and what "felt right" rather than any basis of card meanings.

Mechtober Day 10: Doc Carmilla

I love how they’re all assigned playing cards for Who Killed Dr Carmilla

[jamiesugah]

15 questions 15 less than 15 mutuals

tagged by @buckybarnesss

1. Are you named after anyone? No, my parents just liked the name.

2. When was the last time you cried? Like 15 minutes ago, checking Gun's insta story, because his dog died.

3. Do you have kids? No.

4. What sports do you play/have you played? Softball (little league and JV).

5. Do you use sarcasm? No. Never. What's sarcasm?

6. What’s the first thing you notice about someone? Oh hell, I don't know. Outfit, I guess.

7. What’s your eye color? Dad always called it steel blue.

8. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings! The older I am, the more I just want everyone to live happily ever after.

9. Any talents? I can play the trumpet.

10. Where were you born? Altoona, Pennsylvania.

11. What are your hobbies? Reading, buying books (which is totes different from actually reading), listening to music, watching TV (mostly Thai dramas right now).

12. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a fat ball of fur named Merlin.

13. How tall are you? 5'4"

14. Favorite subject in school? English and history.

15. Dream job? My dream job is to not need a job. But I actually enjoy what I do now (news archivist), I just wish I got paid more for it.

Tagging: @heyholmesletsgo, @galauvant, @katnap414, @just-kat, @kindablackenedsuperhero, @boimlers-gonna-boim

[hpsaffics]

✨ WLW Wednesday: Andromeda gets some Action ✨

A biweekly HP femslash rec list made by the lovely members of the HP SAFFICS (18+) discord server. See all previous rec lists in the WLW Library.

Current focus: Andromeda Black Tonks Want more?: The Black Sisters (see list)

💫 - highly recc’d | 🌹 - sweet | 🌶 - spicy |🩸- sharp (mind the tags)

—

LESBIAN TEDROMEDA (Andromeda/fem!Ted Tonks)

💫💫 Andromeda Vincta Catenis by @thistlecatfics [M, 76.7k] 🩸

In which Andromeda Black cruelly betrays her sisters and sets in motion the total destruction of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black because she fell in love with a lesbian muggleborn. (Andromeda's 6th year)

Falling in love is easy by @emrldapplejuice [T, 7.3k] 🌹

On a hot summer day while working as an archivist at St. Mungo's, Theodora (Teddy) Tonks meets Andromeda Black for the first time. Teddy falls in love with her but is painfully aware that as a Muggle-born she has no chance with Andromeda. Or does she?

The Long Way Back to You by flowershop_girl [T, 1.7k]

A year after the war and Andromeda and Theodora (Ted) Tonks are struggling to raise their grandson and deal with their grief. How will they cope? Will their relationship survive?

(More works under the cut!)

MINDROMEDA (Minerva McGonagall/Andromeda)

💫 A Common Enemy by Yanana [G, 18.0k]

Minerva accompanies her great-niece to the Quidditch club each Saturday where she plays for the Thestrals. Andromeda chaperones Teddy who plays for the Hippogriffs. And both witches do not get along, at all. Or do they?

💫💫 It is you I crave, it is you I love by @emrldapplejuice [E, 15.7k]

It was simple: a tryst whenever they felt like it. No strings attached. No feelings. Stolen moments to escape the pressure. But the heart wants what it wants. Love is unpredictable, and Andromeda realises that sleeping with Minerva is not enough.

ma lionne by brightest_stars [G, 1.9k] 🌹

Andromeda and Narcissa start up an apothecary in Hogsmeade after the war. Minerva McGonagall is a regular customer.

💫 Witches of a Certain Age by Leela [E, 1.3k] 🌶

"I'm far too old for a young woman like you," Minerva had said when Andromeda was seventeen and Minerva in her forties. But Andromeda was about the same age as Minerva had been and had lived a full life since they'd parted. She wasn't about to let her use that excuse again.

Years Enough by Wolf_of_Lilacs [G, 1.2k]

They first met after the war at Harry's Order of Merlin ceremony.

💫 the bible didn't mention by brightest_stars [G, 1.0k]

Reflections on the life and loves of Andromeda Black.

MORE ANDROMEDA

I see a great deal of myself in you by @emrldapplejuice [Augusta Longbottom/Andromeda, T, 20.4k]

While reading her favourite magazine, Andromeda's eyes fall on a familiar name. There are many parallels between her life and Augusta Longbottom's. She decides to seek advice from grandmother to grandmother.

New Life's Resolutions by @le-amewzing [Astoria Greengrass/Andromeda, G, 4.6k]

Quite simply, Astoria hates. This. Life. And she figures it's high time to do something about it.

💫 Seeds by Mooniki [Andromeda/Emmeline Vance, G, 2.8k]

After the war, Emmeline reflects on her schooldays and the concept of allegiance.

Gryffindorish by tealeaf523 [Lily Evans/Andromeda, T, 2.6k]

A world where Andromeda Black is sorted into Gryffindor alongside Lily Evans.

Flying Lessons by @phantomato [Rolanda Hooch/Andromeda, T, 2.0k]

Andromeda takes Teddy to flying lessons so Harry doesn’t get that, too.

Beloved Any by FairyQueen [Daphne Greengrass/Andromeda, T, 2.0k] 🌹

It all begins with an encounter of Andromeda Black and Daphne Greengrass at a dinner party, and several letters.

—

🌙 Where can I find more Andromeda femslash? 🌙

@womenofthehouseofblack | AO3

Andromeda: Tag on AO3

WLW Library: Tumblr | Tag | AO3

[parttimeghost]

Here she is! The oft-talked about, but seldom worked upon, WIP Reintroduction for An Ode to the Destined (and just in time for NaNoWriMo)! So, without further ado, let's crack in. Character Bios, Taglist, and Transcript below the cut <3

THE BASICS —

arthurian retelling / rewrite (second draft) / dual timelines / aroace morgan le fay / the love triangle to poly relationship pipeline / refusal of the call (villain edition) / a weaving-based magic system

THE SYNOPSIS —

The prophecies of Taliesin will not come to pass. Twenty years after the Purge; twenty years after she was spirited away from the citadel by the Lady of the Lake, Morgan returns to Camelot in an attempt to make sense of her own vision and finds herself faced with the consequences of another's.

Cast in the role of the villain, Morgan works to prove herself to her allies and enemies alike. But when the line between prophecy and reality becomes blurred, and the veil is spread thin, will Morgan be able to forge her own path? Or will she be doomed to tread the well-worn path of Taliesin's bloody prophecy?

THE CHARACTERS —

MORGAN OF AVALON is a seer plagued with visions of an infinite possible futures. But when each thread she follows leads to a single moment in time (one that she, disconcertingly, cannot see beyond), Morgan travels to Camelot to seek the truth behind her visions.

PRINCE AURELIUS ARTHUR PENDRAGON OF CAMELOT is not his father. Kept hidden in the depths of the palace like a precious jewel, Arthur finds kinship in the Archivist's adopted son, a young warlock by the name of Merlin. Under the cover of night, Merlin tells Arthur of Taliesin's prophecies, and he finds himself dreading and longing, in equal measure, for the day he will finally meet his twin sister.

GUINEVERE OF CAMELOT is invisible, not blind. The daughter of an archivist who is charged more often with the destruction of knowledge than the preservation of it, she learnt to hide precious books from prying eyes before she learnt to read them. Learnt to write in code before she learnt to write in cursive. Approached by a mysterious member of Camelot's Court, Gwen takes her first steps into a wider resistance.

MERLIN OF CAMELOT is a warlock haunted by echoes of a former life and a prophecy dictating the course of his current one. Once resigned to a life of infinite sadness and death, Merlin finds himself faced with a choice: kill the Witch of prophecy and fulfil his duty or aid her in her quest to save Albion?

LANCELOT OF EIRALORR DU LAC is the heir to a kingdom of ghosts and rubble. Having sacrificed herself to close a tear in the veil and save her kingdom nearly six hundred years ago, only for it to fall to civil war four years later, Lancelot finds herself wrapped in the tangled, fraying threads of an event thousands of years in the making.

MORDRED OF THE KRAIGH WILDES is a young warlock with a terrible destiny. Exiled from his home due to the machinations of a seer and a prophecy he wants no part in, Mordred seeks to bring justice to those that would target his people in the hopes that he might one day be allowed to return home.

THE TAGLIST (message/ask to be added/removed <3)—

@lockejhaven @marinesocks @andromedatalksaboutstuff @midnight-and-his-melodiverse

THE TRANSCRIPT —

Nyneve tore her way through the empty stone halls, a cloak woven of sorrow and stolen shadows whispering around her ankles as she muttered charm after charm beneath her breath, her voice steady despite the grief clawing at her heart and throat, demanding her attention. Because Ygraine was dead.

[levaagrace]

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE

To preface this, I need to address that I am aware that the genre and audience of both series are vastly different. Likewise, the way they go about showing the themes I'm mentioning will be vastly different. However, I don't care.

First off. Lets talk about power, knowledge, and consent.

Jon and Jim were given incredible powers and responsibilities; Jon as the Archivist and Jim as the Trollhunter. Jon and Jim were given both limited and unlimited information regarding those powers and responsibilities; Jon was being groomed and lead around while Jim was being trained and mentored. Neither Jon nor Jim knew what would happen when they took on those powers and responsibilities; Jon wasn't aware that he would become the kind of thing that traumatized him as a child and Jim wasn't aware that by picking up Merlin's amulet that he was signing up for a hidden war. The main difference between the two's powers and responsibilities is simply that while Jon's were sinister in nature, Jim's weren't. Jon, despite his clear desire to Do Good, did damage. Jim, on the other hand, took on a mantle of Good and succeeded in that effort.

Before I progress to the discussion of how Merlin's Evil Bath Bomb is parallel to Jonah's Evil Chain Email, let's talk about them.

Jonah Magnus is the titular Magnus who's archive Jon works as Head Archivist. Merlin is who Jim fights for the glory of, calling his name to don his armor. For a lengthy duration of both series, while the implications of the two are brought up at times, we're not under the impression that we'll ever interact with or learn much more than we do of either or their reasons for what they did. At least until the final seasons of both series, thereby coloring everything prior. Jonah made his Institute, we learn, to effectively become immortal. He dabbled in eldritch things he shouldn't have and became corrupted from his lust of immortality and power. Merlin, as he is the Arthurian figure, was a wizard who ostensibly Did Good. His goals were to protect both Trolls and Humans from powerful threats.

To facilitate their goals, Jonah and Merlin used Jon and Jim as pawns. Chess pieces in a game neither knew the rules to until it was too late. Whatever evil Jonah sowed and whatever good Merlin did was through them and their numerous predecessors.

Throughout The Magnus Archives, Jonah (through his possessing of Elias Bouchard's body) tells Jon that he has choices. That Jon is the only one who is responsible for the choices he makes with or without the information given to him. Starting with him accepting the position of Head Archivist of The Magnus Institute. A title he didn't know would lead him down a path of doing inhumane things. A title he didn't know would mean he was, in effect, no longer human at all.

Once Merlin come on the scene towards the middle of season three of Trollhunters, it's clear that he has ulterior motives and plans for Jim. That Jim, as the first human Trollhunter, was never supposed to stay human. During the aforementioned episode, Merlin espouses on Jim's choices. Saying that this final decision was his and his alone, that he couldn't force him to even if he tried. In the end, Jim does go along with the plan of shirking his humanity to end the war for good.

This? Is bullshit.

Neither of them would or could have ANY idea what would happen after those pivotal moments. In what world is becoming an eldritch being that eats peoples fear an expected outcome to taking a promotion? And why would him reading a world-ending statement, like he was forced to do under the likelihood of death, be in any way his fault? In what world is leaving the choice to become more capable of preventing an Eternal Night to a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD, in any way okay? In that same vein, why would the power to stop a war be given to a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD anyway?

So what I'm saying, what summarizes this all, is that Jon and Jim were groomed into what they became and I can't fault Jon for anything he did as a result of that.

I think much of my reactions regarding Jon Sims is colored by the tenth episode of the third season of the Trollhunters series of the Tales of Arcadia saga.