#arthuriana fix it AU

[misskriemhilds]

wip

[mordredfuckingpendragon]

Submission: For Cukibola

@cukibola asked for an elaboration on my Fix-It AU, which I already talked about on the Fuckyeaharthuriana blog, but I left many things out. Since I can‘t submit it directly to them, I hope it‘s fine if I do it via this blog. Massive, massive wall of text incoming!

So the main story: Mordred is a pretty decent guy, thinks King Lot is his father and admires King Arthur. Then the priest tells him about his true parentage and what his destiny is. Additionally, Mordred also finds out his father wanted to drown him as a child and many other innocent babies actually did because he was told a child born on Mayday would kill him. Mordred is completely floored by these revelations, but he‘s sure he‘s not and never will be a monster and thus tries to defy destiny by trying to be as good as he can be.

Self-doubts, second-guessing of his choices and the temptation to just give in to evil still sneak in, however, driving him to be even more heroic to the point of recklessness. Other people interpret this as glory-hogging and Mordred feels he can‘t tell anybody the truth, so he suffers in silence. It‘s also not helping that his desillusionment with Arthur and other things are making him cynical and bitter and resentment towards his actual father is building up.

Arthur notices the change in Mordred and one day asks him in private what‘s wrong. This simple question is the last straw and Mordred has a breakdown right then and there. He tells his father what the priest told him, doubts if his efforts actually mean anything, that he might as well just accept the role fate has assigned him, wishes he didn‘t exist and other things. The sight is absolutely heart-wrenching, but Arthur can only stand there helplessly and doesn‘t know what to do, Mordred is inconsolable. He can only say that he didn‘t know Morgause was his sister and that the Mayday Massacre will haunt him for the rest of his life. Eventually, Arthur has to put sleeping powder into Mordred‘s wine to finally calm the poor man down.

After Mordred wakes up, Arthur apologizes again and explains that killing the babies was Merlin‘s idea and that he deeply regrets not having put his foot down in that situation. It‘s one reason why they have grown apart and he reassures Mordred he believes in him. He already knew who he really was and saw Mordred‘s survival as a small chance to atone for the deaths of the other children.

When Gawain finds out what happened, he‘s quick to offer his brother his support and the rest of the Orkney brothers follow suit, because family is family. The doubts and cynicism don‘t go away, but they are now much easier to deal with and reign in.

Then enter Galahad, Lancelot‘s illegitimate son. He takes his father‘s title as best knight in the world like usual and he and Mordred quickly become close due to their daddy issues and huge burdens of destiny hanging over their heads. Galahad suffers a bit of disillusionment with the world and being God‘s Chosen One puts huge pressure on him: He feels he has to hold himself to a far higher standard than everybody else, including the other Grail knights, and will chastise himself more for real or imagined mistakes, even if it‘s just bad thoughts/impulses. He doesn‘t like people treating him like a living saint and he often says: „If people could look into my mind, they wouldn‘t think of me like this.“ His relationship with Mordred and the general experiences he has at Camelot also further make him question if his life really only consists of achieving the Grail, doubts he already had at the abbey.

When the knights leave for the Grail Quest, Mordred begs Galahad not to go, because he fears he will never return, but he can‘t change his mind. When Galahad beholds they Grail at Sarras he has a chat with God where he decides the world isn‘t so bad after all and that he cherishes much there *cough*Mordred*cough*. He‘s in a deep sleep during that talk, though, so deep that people think he‘s dead and that is what the sailors tell everybody after leaving port without hearing that Galahad‘s actually fine. He leaves Sarras in Percival‘s capable hands and returns with Bors. Mordred, meanwhile, is devastated when he hears Galahad is dead, even when he had sort-of prepared himself for it. He had already started to resent Lancelot and Guinevere for their supposed affair, (they do have feelings for each other and both know it, but they have not actually acted on them, because they love and care for Arthur too much) because it‘s hypocritical and to him a symptom of a larger pattern of corruption. After Galahad‘s supposed death he falls into a deep hole, which makes him double down on trying to expose the corruption in Camelot, even if it will lead to war. When he finds out there is no true adultery going on and how close they got to a very destructive conflict, he has an epiphany and realizes he needs to get away from Camelot for a while.

When he rests in a forest he randomly meets Galahad, but he thinks it‘s just a desperate dream, which is only reinforced after falling asleep crying into Galahad‘s arms, only to wake up the next morning with nobody there (Galahad didn‘t realize Mordred thought it was only a dream and had to suddenly leave. When he returns, Mordred is gone and he can‘t find him anymore).

Mordred roams the land as a knight errant for a while, soul searching, coming to terms with Galahad‘s death, and discovering the true issues the people have that need to be adressed. When he returns to Camelot, him being shocked to see Galahad suddenly turning out to be alive is an understatement and he can‘t describe the complicated relief he feels. They work to bring postive change to the kingdom by trying to find solutions to the problems of the common people and become one of the happiest couples in Camelot. Turns out Merlin was wrong when he insisted fate is unavoidable.

Other better life decisions people make/other stuff I changed:

Arthur accepts Guinevere‘s and Lancelot‘s love because he can‘t really do anything about it and because have no affair going on, so Gareth doesn‘t die and no huge war.

Morgause realizes the destructiveness of her lust for revenge after finding out about her son‘s suffering and decides to let go of it once and for all

Morgaine realizes her actions have devastating consequences to the people around her and who she loves, so she no longer wants Arthur dead, too. People still don‘t know whose side she is on and what exactly she wants, though.

Gawain‘s a flawed, but principled knight who reigns his nastier tendencies like his lust for revenge in more. Killing the innocent maiden in his first adventure makes him realize to not let his hot-headedness and vengefulness get the better of him. When Pellinore accidentily kills his father, though, his grief and anger make him irrational and he kills the king in revenge, no matter how much the others tell him not to. When he realizes what he has done, he immediately feels deep regret and goes to Lamorak to put his life in his hands. He‘s made it clear to both his family and Lamorak that whatever he decides to do with him, this will end the feud once and for all. Lamorak, also because Arthur begged him to let go of this useless feud before more people die needlessly, decides that enough people have died and spares Gawain. Gawain is not thrilled when Lamorak hooks up with his mother, but he won‘t start another feud because of it, so Lamorak lives.

          When he sleeps with Lady Ettard and realizes how much    he‘s hurt Pelleas and her with it, he also realizes he needs better sexual ethics. When he falls for Ragnelle, his marriage to her ends his days as a ladies‘ man, though he is still the Maiden knight who fights for women.

When Pelleas almost dies from heartache, Ettard realizes she does love him after all without Nenive enchanting her, but it‘s too late. Pelleas has grown sick of her cold, harsh behaviour and doesn‘t want her love anymore. She doesn‘t die of desparation, but she will always live with the knowledge that she lost the man she loved through her own arrogance and cruelty and that he‘s now happy with another woman.

Lancelot feels very guilty about loving a married woman and tries to love another, to no avail. When he comes to the Grail Castle, in a fit of huge heartache and desperation, he has rebound sex with Elaine, trying so hard to make himself love her, but still imagining she‘s Guinevere. Elaine isn‘t innocent, either: She knew about the prophecy of Galahad‘s birth and did her duty, taking advantage of Lancelot‘s inner turmoil, but she still hoped they could become a couple. The morning after, Lancelot is ashamed of what he has done and leaves secretely. When Guinevere finds out he used a woman likes this, she is pissed and that‘s the reason why she bans him from court. After he‘s healed by the Grail, Lancelot apologizes to Elaine and she forgives him as does Guinevere. He comes to accept his feelings for the queen and learns to better deal with them, especially after Galahad arrives, the living reminder of his greatest shame. He tries to be a father to him, but fatherhood just isn‘t for him and their relationship remains awkward. Galahad wishes he could have a better relationship to his biological father, but he always finds comfort in God who he always saw as his true father. The other Elaine is less pushy about her desire for Lancelot, but he can‘t love anybody but Guinevere, but she‘s able to live with it.

Kay is a jerk, but he‘s like Wolfram von Eschenbach portrayed him: Testing new knights is part of his job and after meeting so many hot-headed wannabe-knights he‘s got zero patience for this attitude and is just tired, man. He‘s got a heart of gold, though. He‘s not so sure as Arthur about Mordred, because he‘s worried about his little brother, so he‘s watching him.

When Tristan ignores her and her letters, the French woman who loves him kills herself. When he finds out, he‘s devasted and blames himself because he could have let her down more gently and he can never fully get rid of this guilt. When he‘s with the other Isolde, he marries her because he‘s scared history will repeat, but realizes pretending to love someone to spare their feelings isn‘t the solution, either. They manage to part ways in good faith, however. Also, he and Palomides have some weird UST going on that neither wants to acknowledge.

King Mark, for all his shady character and ruthless actions, genuinely loves Isolde, even if these feelings are very twisted.

Palomides and Brangaine become friends and later lovers after he rescues her from her predicament at the tree. Initially, he thinks she loves Tristan and she‘s convinced he still loves Isolde, so neither says anything. Then they both think the other died and there‘s an overwhelmingly tearful reunion with mutual love confessions.

Pellinore is a bumbling idiot, but has a good heart. The sex with Tor‘s mother was consensual and he simply forgot and never knew she was pregnant from him. Aries married her to save her honour and loves Tor as his own. Tor also had his other brothers made knights and is concerned with social issues due to his peasant background. He ends up befriending Galahad and Mordred because of that.

Igraine hated Uther for all he did, but pretended to love him for safety. When she reunites with her son, she also meets his adoptive father Ector and they fall in love.

Merlin is insistent about prophecies being unavoidable and that they need to be followed, because he thinks they are God‘s will. Mordred being the sole survivor of the Mayday Massacre made that clear to him. He wants Britain to have a good king, prophecies cannot not be followed and if either involves doing unpleasant things, then so be it. He‘s so adamant about wanting to please God because of his half-succubus heritage. When he‘s proven wrong he‘s genuinely sorry and willing to take full responsibility.

[the-marron]

Tag Game

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!  

Thanks @verochkasnightmarecorner for tagging me! :D

I decided to include my works solo, not counting works I created with @dobranocka because a lot of these opening lines are not mine, even though I love them a lot. So, from the newest to the oldest:

1. The party is in the full swing, the mansion filled with laughter and not-so-secret business deals conducted on the expensive sofas and in the darkened hallways. (WIP, Weilan Derrivatives, LNS/LF mob au)

2. It started with a joke. (There Can Be Only One, Guardian, Weilan, crack)

3. Guo Changcheng is very confused about how he ended up here. (Come my love, be one with the sea, Guardian, Weilan + ChuGuo, POTC au)

4. When Shen Wei looks out of his window, the familiar black car is already there.  (Constant Vigilance, Guardian, Weilan, 1930s spy au crack)

5. Shen Wei had always assumed that he was used to pain. (The Once And Future Hei Pao Shi, Guardian, Weilan, post-canon crack )

6. Click. Click.

The eyes move, their brown irises catching light. (Deceive me kindly (while I'm still here), Guardian, Weilan, steampunk!au )

7. Everyone had their limits. (One Prize I'd Cheat to Win, Guardian, Weilan, no powers!au )

8. Shen Wei is not sure where they are heading. (When I walk past the mountain peak, it doesn’t speak, Guardian, Weilan, post-finale fix-it)

9. “No,” Lao Chu says and glares at them for good measure. (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Dragon City, Guardian, Weilan, crack )

10. It’s the beginning of their second week under when they finally have a breakthrough. (Jia Jia and The Guardian Lantern, Guardian, Weilan, canon compliant post-finale fix-it)

11. “Get him!” Those are the last words that leave Zhao Yunlan’s mouth as he disappears in the wormhole, and Shen Wei doesn’t have the time to wonder, to think, because if he doesn’t act now Zhao Yunlan might disappear forever. (Changed Course, Guardian, Weilan, fix-it )

12. "Let’s make a bet,” Shen Wei says, and his voice has this raw honesty to it that stops Zhao Yunlan from whatever goodbye he tried to formulate. (When I Make an Oath to the Flames, Guardian, Weilan, post-canon break-it and make it worse)

13. Zhang Chengling was aware that he wasn’t exactly an average kid. (There's Nothing in This World I Wouldn't Do, Word of Honor, Wenzhou, modern au crack)

14. “I would really like it if you came,” said Chengling, his voice gradually getting quieter with each word. (Journey's Homeward Bound, WoH, Wenzhou, modern au crack)

15. This is the last one for tonight. (We Watch and Burn and Reign , DC Comics, TimJay, Talon au )

16. It started as a joke. Or rather, it started as a genuine need for information that got turned into a joke because, well, Jason. (Red Robin and Red Hood’s Comprehensive Guide To Bat Romance, DC Comics, TimJay + others, crack. Longer quote because wtf, I started two separate fics the same way???)

17. When Jason wakes up, he wishes he hadn’t. (Stones of Fear, Stones of Doubt, DC Comics, TimJay, canon-compliant? )

18. “We need Grindelwald,” Albus Dumbledore, the Marshall of the last base ready to fight the Kaiju had never anticipated having to say this out loud. (To Fight Monsters, We Created Monsters, Fantastic Beasts franchise, Grindeldore, Pacific Rim au)

19. Being a hero is easy. You beat up the bad guys, save innocent citizens, earn the love of a beautiful lady, preferably a journalist, and become a beacon of hope to everyone. (Face to Face, My Lovely Foe, Haikyuu!!, Bokuaka, superhero au, once again a longer quote because wow, are they brief)

20. Hinata had heard stories about strange creatures living in the forest. (Sword in the Stone, Haikyuu!!, Bokuaka + Kagehina, Arthuriana au)

Soooo... I apparently have the unfortunate tendency to start out with short setences that tell the reader absolutely nothing at all. This, or dialogues. And I managed to repeat the exact same sentence in two separate fics, wow.

I think my favourite opening line so far is from the steampunk au, mostly because I actually like the whole beginning of this fic and I enjoy the fragment that follows the opening line, aside from that, the WIP one is the most enjoyable for me, I think.

Interesting experience, really, I like this tag game, it changed my perspective a bit, and I remember doing this a few years ago and the openings looked completely different and I had different observations, so yay progress?

Tagging @flamboyantlycriminal, @dobranocka, @the-cookie-of-doom, @wyfto2812, @flsongbird722, if you feel up to it, it’s fun :)

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

Top arthurian tv shows in preference order (26 entries)

Now that “Cursed” is in the game, I decided to re-order my favorite tv shows!

This was my god tier/not good shows list:

So welcome to the slighty updated list, now with Cursed, and small explanations

GOD TIER

01. The Legend of King Arthur (BBC): BEST arthurian show ever. It is the closest to Malory. It has a scheming, pleasant, smart Morgana who still manages to be sympathetic (I was rooting for her), some very nice scheming Mordred, some heartbreaking scenes, and I cried because of Bors, so be warned. The show goes a bit quickly for some parts because it tries to tell the whole story from baby Arthur to his death, so some characters end up becoming secondary (ex. Gawain or Lancelot and Guinevere and their love, which I didn’t mind too much).

02. Kaamelott: This tv show is amazingly heartbreaking? It starts slow, mostly comedic sketches (and I am not even sure the first seasons are subtitled), but continues quite strongly by adding more and more drama. I’d suggest starting from season 4 if you are here for the plot more than the comedy! The main character is Arthur, who plays the role of the classic straight man in comedy, at least at the beginning, but ends up on a character development journey that I loved to pieces.

03. Arthur et les enfants de la Table Ronde: this animated series is absolutely adorable (and I am slowly making subtitles here). The story revolves around young Arthur (only a few know of his destiny) and his friends: princess Guinevere, Gawain, Morgana and Tristan. Mordred and Morgause are also in the show as the classic mayhem villains, and Uther is the king... and pretty awful for a kids show! Every episode is lovely.

04. The Adventures of Sir Lancelot: I am probably biased, because this was one of my first arthurian tv shows, but this is a great fun family show with episodic stories where Lancelot just saves the day! There is nothing too deep (not even the Lancelot and Guinevere story), but each episode is fun and independent from the others.

TOP TIER

05. Camelot (Starz): This show had the misfortune of coming out at the wrong time, as I believe it would be much more successful nowadays, so it is only one season. The story set up a great Morgana, both pleasant, sympathetic and ambitious, trying to kill the less charismatic Arthur (who is probably the weak point of the show). Other great characters are peppered around (a great Merlin, interesting Igraine, adorable Kay, interesting Gawain), but the show spends a little too much time on the Guinevere-Arthur-Guinevere’s husband triangle and it drags the show down. Still, all the scenes with Morgana were gold!

06. The Mists of Avalon: A good miniseries of a less good book. The miniseries ends up making Guinevere slightly more sympathetic, which helped a lot, and cutting some of the plot related to paganism vs Christianity (which also helped). The story is the classic (classic because Mists of Avalon made it popular!) Morgana’s journey, from her childhood to Arthur’s death, with some interesting wrapping up of Arthur’s destiny and Morgana desperately trying to fix things.

07. The Adventures of Sir Galahad: A very old fun show which is more like a very long movie (one single story over different episodes, I think 7? If I remember correctly?). The old age is quite prominent (the way the show handles the continuous “Galahad is in trouble... Galahad manages to escape!”), but it is still good content for the Galahad fans! Furthermore, there is a lot of Mordred too. Basically, Galahad has to guard Excalibur for a night, when the sword disappears, and Galahad has to look for it.

08. The Boy Merlin: A very underrated show, maybe because it is quite short, but this is pretty good. It’s just a season of young child Merlin growing up with his adoptive family (his mother had to give him away) and his grandmother teaching him magic. It is quite wholesome, so expect the fluffiest adorable family and young Merlin slowly learning about his own destiny and future (lady of the lake also makes an appearance).

09. Cursed (Netflix): A new tv show about Nimue (hopefully it will have a season 2) deciding to stand up and fight for her people (the fay) with the use of a mythical Sword. The Sword (cursed sword) concept is quite interesting and I greatly enjoyed that, Nimue is a bit bland as a character, but the show has some great secondary characters like Morgana, Arthur and other spoilery characters and all of them have their personal arc, as well. Also kudos for having the first queer character in a tv show with a wlw Morgana!

10. Prince Valiant (animated series): An animated series about Prince Valiant and how he arrived at King Arthur’s court to reclaim his own kingdom and name. This show is quite good, with some interesting arcs and doesn’t chicken out from rounding up the secondary characters, in particular Guinevere, Gawain and Merlin.

MID TIER

11. Arthur of the Britons: This show follows the adventures of Arthur and his adoptive brother Kay, in a very historical settings. Don’t expect medieval castles or knightly armors, but a Celtic village and Arthur going on different adventures to help his clan or fight Saxons (or compete with Kay, who is an amazing character in this show). Sadly, Ector, Arthur and Kay are the only arthurian characters in the whole show. 

12. Trollhunters: An animated series with three main parts (part 3: Wizards is coming out soon). The arthurian themes are secondary but will probably increase with the new season, and, in general, the show is quite enjoyable. It tells the adventures of human Jim Lake who is chosen to become a trollhunter and goes on various adventures to help “the good trolls” and defeat the villains, alongside his friends. Morgana is one of the main villains of the series, and Merlin instead works with Jim (but the show is not as black and white as it seems, and Merlin is definitely not a great character). 

13. The Librarians: This is another ancillary arthurian show, just like Trollhunters. It is based on the movies but focuses on new characters so you won’t need to watch the movies. It follows the adventures of a group of people (found family trope!) who have to protect The Library, a place that keeps all magical artifacts. Galahad is one of these people and a main character, and absolutely one of the best parts of the show. Morgana and Lancelot also make an appearance.

14. Fate/Apocrypha: an anime in the Fate universe, but can be watched independently from the others as this is an AU story. It follows the adventures of a group of characters who summons Servants (historical and mythical figures) to help them in a ritual war to find the Holy Grail. While the show is set in modern times, there are arthurian characters among these summoned Servants and Mordred is one of them. Mordred is a great character here and it is interesting to see the father/son relationship he develops with the guy who summoned him. Plus, there are some arthurian flashbacks from Mordred’s times!

15. King Arthur (anime): I haven’t finished this anime yet (and I am slowly subtitleing it) but I love it! It flattens out a lot of arthurian plot points, and ends up mixing them up together to get a classic “Arthur goes on a quest with his arhturian friends” story. Arthur leaves to save his kingdom after finding out he is Uther’s son, and various arthurian characters join him (ex. Tristan, Percival, Lancelot). The Arthur and Lancelot relationship is particularly interesting as Arthur initially dislikes Lancelot, as he thinks Lancelot’s family caused Uther’s demise. The second season of the show ends up.... weirdly, with Arthur joining new non arthurian characters to have some more adventures, so I won’t subtitle that part.

16. Merlin (1998 miniseries): A miniseries about Merlin, from his childhood to Arthur’s death. While extremely popular, and with some amazing actors and actresses, I cannot say I am a big fan. The story has some good points (there are some prophecies that really wrap up the plot quite nicely at the end, plus the concept of gods kept alive by worship is interesting), but the story in some parts is accelerated to get to the point, and.... all female characters seem obsessed by beauty, which was annoying. I have to say, my main point of dislike was actually how female characters are good (Nimue) and subservient, or not good and vain (Morgana, Guinevere, Mab).

LOW TIER

17. Merlin (BBC): This is probably at the same level of Merlin 1998 for me. While the story starts with mixing up arthurian character to give us an interesting begin point, and show us the journey that would lead to Arthur and Guinevere as king and queen, the show seems to forget its initial premise. Instead of a character journey we have “character points”. For example, we start with Morgana being all about justice, then we have Morgana evil, just like that she forgets all her previous characterization. Furthermore, the show doesn’t let the main relationship of the show (Arthur and Merlin) grow and the two ends up stuck in the same dynamic till the end, because the show was too chicken to actually turn Arthur into a good king and change the status quo (he remains anti magic for all the 5 years of his kindgom, while the prophecy said he would create a great kingdom??). Still, on the good side, the episodes are pretty comedic and light, Guinevere actually has a character arc, and the scenery is always beautiful.

18. Stargate SG-1 (arthurian seasons): Vary vaguely arthurian, just a couple of characters and names. Still, the show is fun if you enjoy sci fi, and you can directly start from season 7 (I think that’s where the new team comes in and where the arthurian seasons start). Still, don’t expect a lot of arthuriana.

19. Sir Gadabout: Okay, this is actually funny. This is a parody about a goofy knight called Sir Gadabout, in King Arthur’s court. The reason why it is so low is because I was a bit disappointed by the lack of arthurian themes and characters (I remember only Guinevere and Arthur), and the dvds were also hard to find.

20. Fate Zero: I actually enjoyed this Fate series more than the original Fate Stay Night, and Arthur (Saber) is a bit more of a character here than the Fate Stay Night anime. Still, minimal arthuriana.

21. King Arthur’s Disasters: Comedy/parody animated series about Arthur ending up in various troubles trying to impress Guinevere, who is a bit of a sexist stereotype.

22. Seven Deadly Sins: A four seasons anime (with the new season coming out soon) about mythical knights considered both terrible villains and monsters, but clearly misunderstood by history. These knights are partially arthurian, as there is Meliodas (Tristan’s father), Ban (Lancelot’s father) and Merlin (a woman, in this show). Arthur also makes an appearance as the king of a nearby kingdom and Merlin’s friend and protegee. The show is fun and light, but even for an anime the sexism is high (Meliodas is a horrible protagonist).

SHIT TIER

23. Fate Stay Night: The original Fate anime where Saber (Arthur) is summoned as a servant to fight in the modern war for the Holy Grail. She is the only arthurian character.

24. Once Upon a Time (only the arthurian episodes): The arthurian season of Once Upon a Time was a disappointment full of plot holes, forgotten storylines and villain Arthur.

25. Merlin’s Apprentice (miniseries, sequel of the 1998 one): Nah. Please.

26. Alias the Jester (animated series): this is barely arthurian. Watching it was a mistake.