#at one point morgana was her friend then she wanted to kill her then keep her loyalty while killing innocents to show power Tumblr posts
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title: the defector
Arthur & Merlin ● Gen ● Words: 548 (I am once again invoking the margin of goodwill) ● No Warnings ● Written for @merlinmicrofic 2024, for the August prompt: "Tell me."
Summary: Canon-era AU. In which Merlin met Morgana before he met Arthur — after she had already turned against Camelot.
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“Why should I let you live — let alone trust a word you say?” Arthur asks the sorcerer kneeling at his feet. He tips the boy's head up with the point of his sword. “Tell me.”
The boy doesn't look afraid. He should be, chained up and surrounded by enemies as he is. Then again, he did hand himself over.
It's still unclear what caused such disregard for his own life — if overconfidence, world-weariness or insanity. The last two wouldn’t surprise Arthur. Five years of war can do that to a man.
Yet the boy keeps his head very still.
“You shouldn't kill me because I can help you defeat Morgana,” he says. “As for trusting me… if I wanted to harm you, you would be dead already. I have no need for a ruse.”
Two of Arthur's men shift uneasily behind the boy. Leon places his hand on his sword.
Arthur lowers his.
“Bold claim from a man in chains. And these are no ordinary ones — they've held Nimueh herself. You think you're more powerful than her?”
There's a flash of defiance in the boy's eyes — and then of gold. The chains fall to the ground like withered leaves hit by a gust of wind.
“You tell me.”
All of Arthur's men draw their swords at once. Arthur points his too, his heart pounding.
The boy's bravado cracks. He staggers to his feet with his hands raised — an appeasing gesture, Arthur realises, but one easy to misconstrue.
Leon and Gwaine seize his arms — as if that could do anything to stop a sorcerer.
“I don't want to harm you!” the boy protests, alarmed, when Gwaine's sword presses against his throat.
Gwaine's eyes are fixed on Arthur's face, waiting for a signal. So are the boy's eyes, blue and pleading.
Slowly, Arthur lowers his sword again, gesturing at his men to do the same. They reluctantly obey, but Leon and Gwaine don't let go of the boy.
“Sire…” Leon starts, but he seems unsure how to finish his warning.
“You know she cannot be killed by any mortal weapon,” the boy says when Leon falls silent. “So did your father — it's why he kept the dragon alive. But he won't listen to you, will he?”
If he meant to get Arthur's attention, he succeeded.
It is true that, so far, Morgana has proved unkillable. Some say her sister sacrificed her own life to strengthen hers.
That's what they say. Arthur will give Morgana the benefit of the doubt for Morgause's murder — but Nimueh, he's fairly sure, was not complicit in her own killing.
Be that as it may, whatever depraved ritual Morgana performed has worked. And their only hope of victory — the wretched creature they keep bound in a cave; may it rot there — has been laughing at their defeats. It is no friend of Morgana, but it seems to hate all of Uther's blood equally.
“Why do you think it will listen to you?” Arthur asks.
The boy raises his chin. “Because he must.”
Dear God, let it not be insanity.
“And why would you help me?”
The boy's resolute expression turns earnest. “Because we both want the same thing — peace for our people.”
He sounds like he means it.
Arthur slides his sword back in its sheath.
#in a move that surprises no one i go for the dialogue prompt#i might expand this in future#but let's be real i probably won't#merlin micro fic#merlin fanfiction#merlin#*
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My thoughts on S3 of Merlin
aka me breaking down the characters this season cause that's how my brain works
Morgana- I've got mixed feelings. On one hand, I love seeing her grow into her identity with magic and be "evil" but I do miss her kindness. She has wanted to kill Merlin, Arthur, and Gwen multiple times and has become obsessed with power. But, her anger towards Uther is very fair.
Uther - This slime ball keeps getting chances to live that he doesn't deserve and quite frankly, I'm a bit sick of it. As Merlin pointed out, Uther is a huge hypocrite when it comes to magic. Also I hate that his first reaction to Alice using magic to HEAL people is that she needs to be killed. And it was revealed this season he cheated on his wife, as if I needed another reason to hate him. I hope he dies soon.
Merlin - my sweet boy, he's my favorite character. I love his kindness and effort to see the best in everyone. I also liked his moments with magical figures, like the fisher king and the king in the crystal cave. There's a sense of guidance and peace in those scenes. I think his relationship with the Dragon has changed too. They seem to respect each other more. I also love Merlin's banter with Gwaine, they've got a similar sense of humor. I really want him to tell Arthur about his magic and just list all the times he's saved him.
Arthur - He's so noble and genuinely cares about his people. His unwavering loyalty to his father is slightly annoying but that's the type of person Arthur is, loyal to a fault. I loved the episode when he and Gwen's love was discovered, Arthur's fierceness to protect her was great.
Gwen - She's also a very kind character. My poor girl had to get kidnapped AGAIN this season. I liked seeing her relationship with her brother. I am a bit worried about things now that Lancelot is back.
Gwaine- I really like his character; he's fun. I like how he's just willing to help Merlin and Arthur with whatever quest they're on because they're his friends and he has nothing better to do.
Cenred - I was mad when he was killed by Morgause. I figured it was going to happen but I wanted him to have more interactions with our main characters because he's this character that radiates evil and maliciousness that's very captivating to watch.
Tagging: @gay-for-zoya and @swans-chirping-in-the-distance
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I've been thinking about it lately and I wouldn't be shocked if at in four knights we maybe did see Mordred in the story and
I think the one way we could have it where Arthur is mordred's father is if not that him ending up with his sister like in all the various versions of the King Arthur stories but it
could be where if Arthur met his sister at some point and she passed away he adopted her son and became mordred's adopted father that would make sense
even though I don't think nakuba would do this I'm just trying to think of a solution were Mordred could be introduced and not be incest baby 🤔
Again it's nakuba so I now it may always do what he does best sadly 😮💨
oohhhhh that would actually be a fantastic solution to avoid incest in the 4KOTA continuity.
Morgan may not even have to be dead to begin with for that to happen, perhaps Arthur (as in canon) upon turning evil decided to keep his nephew as he was technically his only heir at the time and Morgan couldn't really do much to get him back.
This would have a lot of Angst potential! Imagine that Mordred, being raised by Arthur, tells him that Morgan is dead, lies to him about the "eternal kingdom" and when Mordred is eventually exposed to the real world, it is something totally different from how his uncle/father proposed it, or worse, He finds out that Arthur lied to him about his mother and begins to doubt his loyalty to Carmelot.
It could open the door to another reason for Morgan to want to kill Arthur, not only to recover his brother from the chaos, but also to save his son from becoming the next vessel, since of course, a child with the Pendragon genes, with Morgan's magical abilities and Arthur's durability and reach? If Chaos takes over Mordred, it would be UNSTOPPABLE.
YOU JUST GAVE ME A GREAT IDEA FOR ONE OF MY ORIGINAL PROJECTS FRIEND, THANK YOU ✨✨✨
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oohhhhh eso seria en realidad una solución fantastica para evitar en incesto en la continuidad de 4KOTA.
puede que Morgana nisiquiera tenga que estar muerta para empezar para que eso pase, talvez Arthur (como en canon) al volverse malvado decidio quedarse con su sobrino al ser técnicamente su unico heredero en el momento y Morgana realmente no podria hacer mucho para recuperarlo.
¡esto tendria mucho potencial de Angst! imagínate que Mordred siendo criado por Arthur el le diga que Morgana esta muerta, le mienta sobre el "reino eterno" y cuando Mordred eventualmente s exponga al mundo real, sea algo totalmente diferente a como su tio/padre se lo planteaba, o peor, enterarse de que Arthur le mintio sobre su madre y empiece a dudae sobre su lealtad hacia Carmelot..
podría abrir la puerta a otro motivo de Morgan para querer acabar con Arthur, no solo para recuperar a su hermano del caos, sino salvar a su hijo de convertirse en el proximo recipiente, ya que claro, un niño con los genes de los Pendragon, con las habilidades magicas de Morgan y la durabilidad y alcance de Arthur? si Caos de apodera de Mordred, seria IMPARABLE.
ME ACABAS DE DAR UNA IDEA GENIAL PARA UNO DE MIS PROYECTOS ORIGINALES AMIGO, GRACIAS ✨✨✨
#headcanons#español#spanish#4kota#4 knights of the apocalypse#mokushiroku no yonkishi#nnt#nanatsu no taizai arthur#4koa#arthur pendragon#arthur pendragon nnt
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Hihi! Could i request some yandere!morgana x fem! Reader headcanons? It could also be her in the star nemesis universe if you feel like it! (god i am in love with that woman) love ur works btw! Ur headcanons are always on point :3
Author's Notes: Of course! Actually I also liked writing the one-shot of Morgana Stellar Nemesis hehe.
Warnings!: Mention of physical torture, mention of mutilation, implied kidnapping, murder, deteriorating mental health, possible world destruction.
Yandere!Morgana x Fem! Reader headcanons
(Star Nemesis version)
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✯Probabilities that your loved ones will be murdered.
Killed? Nah
Tortured to the point that their existence is reduced to a mere rag doll with the ability to barely think? Yeah.
And, talking seriously, she seems like someone who wants to get the most "potential" out of someone instead of just "take care" of them.
✯First impressions
You were selected to be a star guardian. You were someone who wasn't very talkative, but who loved and cared for your team as if it were the last thing you did in all of your life.
You were especially affectionate with friends in your group, they were the people you trusted most in the entire world.
And it was more than obvious that you detested Morgana because of her love for tormenting your friends.
✯Fall in love
It was strange, but your first encounters with her, Morgana didn't torture you or chase you or threaten you, was especially strange, more so because you realized that… she knew you before.
She had taken several different forms to stalk you. You were the one who stayed away from the group the most due to personal problems, and she was surprised that you were quite cautious, and it was difficult for you to generate a bond of trust with unknown people.
Because of your constant state of alert, she began to consider it "fun" to bother you excessively. Therefore, she left the other guardians quite aside to stalk you.
✯Beginning of "Yanderism"
She slowly started to discover more things about you, and I don't mean just seeing who your best friends are.
Where you live, what food you like, where you usually go when you are bored, stressed or sad. Everything stopped being fun, and it became a pleasure or a hobby to stalk you to the extreme.
✯First murder or Yandere act.
The first act that she gonna to commit is going to be someone you hate. For she dont care if it's a teacher, a classmate who bothers you a lot, or even a family member with questionable attitudes, anything counts.
She doesn't jump straight to murder or kidnapping, she plays with her victim as if they were a limited-use toy. And when she gets bored, she simply throws it away, like a broken toy, without use or purpose.
✯Relationship or kidnapping
It is more than obvious that it will be kidnapping. Lets gonna say that is two different cases.
In the first case, she kidnaps you in the middle of the events of the graphic novel, holding you until the guardians return to save you from Morgana's hands.
But.... in the worst case, she has no mercy whatsoever.
If she sees your best friends as "too annoying", she will directly kill them, without games, without toys, just filling the battlefield with other people's blood, and decorating it with the corpses of those you love.
And you are the last one left standing, alone and with your last strength, you found yourself weak before her. And you couldn't do anything.
✯Coexistence
In both cases, for you it is hell, for her one of the most remarkable moments in her life.
You will always have something that keeps you in the house, whether it is a chain on your body, handcuffs on your wrists, a spell that always makes you return to her, or even a metal collar that ties you to wherever you are locked up.
As for her presence….She loves physical contact with you.
If you are smaller than her, she will hug you like a little girl hugging her teddy bear.
And if you are taller, she will hug you and snuggle into your chest or neck like a loving girlfriend.
There is no shortage of nicknames at any time. We talk about common nicknames like "honey", "baby", "sweetheart", "my love", etc… She loves to treat you as if you are always beneath her.
✯Marriage and family.
From minute 0 of the kidnapping, you are already her property. Family? Parents? Siblings? Why the HELL do you think they are still important in your life?
And in marriage….well, she's not interested, but she might see it as a possibility to have a wedding ceremony with you. Mostly because she loves the idea of putting you in a wedding dress ;).
↘In case it can, Children?
If we consider that we are talking about a woman who is capable of molding reality, I do not see the idea of "making" an heir between the two of you as impossible.
✯Bad ending
Taking the murder of all the star guardians and your confinement as a basis, her obsession with you becomes stronger and stronger.
Well, do you remember your partner? You know, your precious pet.
He/she was… the victim of Morgana's torments. His/her suffering depended solely on your obedience and behavior.
The more obedient and well-behaved you were, the more presence and health your pet would have.
But, if the opposite were to happen, we already know what happens, right?
Psychological torment to physical torture… Anything could happen to your pet, and that includes mutilations…
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✯Reasons to be Yandere:
-You already have a taste for what other people's agony is, what can happen if you fall in love?
-Basically, she exists solely to be the villain of the story, but… Does that excludes her from feeling… love?
-Adding on par with the previous one, has she ever even been able to allow herself to love someone? What if she allows it? Well, things would go from bad to worse…
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✯Extra data:
-She has a hard time understanding human relationships, and even more so the reactions you have to her displays of affection. It's so strange for her to see you whine or kick when she holds you in her arms.
-She is somewhat envious of your pet. You treat her so well and give her so much pampering, why don't you give that to her too?!
-She hates the idea of using physical torture on you. Maybe a manipulation here and there, but physically harming you is something she can't allow no matter how hard she tries.
-She likes the idea of exploring the world with you, for some reason, she wants to keep you safe while they observe what the world and the universe is like (This also applies to the possible destruction of your world)
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I'm gonna say that i loved to write this headcanons btw)
#yandere league of legends#league of legends#yandere#obsessive love#yandere headcanons#yandere female#yandere x you#morgana x reader#yandere morgana x reader#Fem reader#female x female#Poppa thoughs
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Arcane Order Eli has been on my mind for a few years. Eli is one of my favorite characters and has been since I joined the fandom sometime after season 2 aired; he's baby, yk? Bellroc and Skrael are sexy so full of potential that got crushed with the movie's release, which fuels my love for them. It's only natural I'd want to pair them up, which is challenging when Eli hasn't interacted with any of them in canon.
When it comes to Eli actually joining them, I've been stuck on what makes this twist of fate liable. The Arcane Order hates humanity, why would they accept this rando kid as one of them? Eli has probably the most sunny disposition of the cast, how on this green Earth would he get along with Bellroc and Skrael?
Now I'm at the point where I can post a concept that I agree with, though it surely needs some tweaks.
Eli's Side
• As we've seen at the ending of RotT, Toby isn't nearly as assertive against Steve's bullying and this continues for quite a bit even after becoming the Trollhunter. As a consequence, Steve doubles down on his bullying because no one has the nerve to humble him. Eli and Steve never become close enough to become the Creepslayerz and their relationship rots after they're paired together by Jim, who, missing the finer details of their friendship, assumes that they will become close eventually.
• Because they aren't friends, Eli doesn't bond with the Royals; he instead sees them as his bully's girlfriend/the girlfriend's brother, prompting him to keep them at arm's length for his own safety. Krel becomes the one to bond with Steve the most, though he vetos being called a Creepslayer lol.
• After being brought into the Guardians, his friendships don't seem to extend beyond talking at school. He obviously doesn't vibe with Steve, but Eli doesn't have a chance with the tight-knit Toby Trio. Douxie, Zoe, and Claire are the resident Wizards, and Eli obviously doesn't have magic(yet). Krel, being a tech genius, provides all the technological knowledge the group needs which makes his computer skills lackluster in comparison.
• Key events that previously led to Eli's discovery of the supernatural are disrupted; Jim already knows about Bular and the changelings using the museum, so there's no need to stake out Eli's house when he shows everyone the picture of the dead goblin. Toby can't keep a secret as cool as being able to form a suit of armor with a magical amulet (despite Jim's best effort lol) and manages to humble Steve sometime after Bular's defeat. Toby becomes Steve's go-to for reporting supernatural incidents, like the wild goblin in his garage. With no one believing him, Eli ultimately gives up on his conspiracy theories, instead opting for small self-improvement, like indulging in his love for scriptwriting or jogging at night.
• The supernatural worlds are gradually revealed to the public by Toby and Co., which leaves a bitter taste in Eli's mouth when he receives no credit for making his discoveries before them.
• All in all, Eli is left feeling unappreciated and isolated; Toby still entrusted a Troll Market key to him but Eli doesn't utilize it much and keeps his distance from their missions.
Arcane Order's Side
• Merlin, the only one aware of Jim's status as a time traveler, utilizes Jim's memories of the alternate universe to convince Morgana that she's on the wrong side of history so she deflects from the Order and kills her mind-broken brother to put him out of his misery. Whether time-travel shenanigans take place or not is in the air right now.
• Douxie levels up and KO's Bellroc and Skrael, the Guardians win, Merlin lives, the city remains under their protection, and the Arcane Order scurry away to plot for another 900 years...supposedly.
• Bellroc feels an odd connection to the town(actually the Heartstone below the town that they managed to briefly connect with in the movie) and risks their discovery to relocate their damaged ship behind the mountain and fix it up.
• Bellroc has generally been preoccupied with chasing Camelot around and has little time to indulge in hobbies; Skrael has slightly more freedom to chillax. As they hadn't quite written out the kinks in a wonky fixer-upper spell, Bellroc is drained after repairing the castle and comically tucks in for a week-long nap.
• Skrael takes it upon himself to explore their surroundings and perhaps find Nari in the town. Speaking of Nari, her magic signature is dulled with a device that Krel creates for her safety. Not even Merlin can track her while she wears the collar device so he decides that there's no need for her to flee while Douxie is around to keep his eye on her in the safety of Arcadia. Nari feels owned grateful for Merlin's wisdom and generosity and, while she has to keep a low profile and Merlin advises her against using her magic, she enjoys her time with the kiddos.
• The Arcane Order is now without a Champion and an Enforcer, while Nari shows no interest in returning to them; things 're tough for them at the moment.
• In hindsight, a mind-broken, undead king and a witch who worked for them on emotional impulse weren't the most ideal candidates to employ.
• What they really need is someone who's ready and willing to learn from them and fight for their cause with their own free will, but fat chance of that happening anytime soon lol.
Meeting
Their story starts after the battle between the Arcane Order and the Guardians of Arcadia, which happened around the same time as it happened in Wizards. Obviously, Eli doesn't become the ambassador of Akiridian-5 and only has surface-level knowledge of the events.
Eli finds Skrael entirely by accident while running in the forest, still habitually accustomed to staying up late working on his conspiracy board; when Skrael tries to leave, he grabs onto them and is teleported to the castle. This wakes Bellroc, who's a little peeved at being disturbed two days into their nap and is like "!!????"
Eli is not aware that they are the ones who caused a bunch of damage to the town recently. Seeing the majesty of their newly repaired castle is the tipping point Eli needs to finally geek out over something supernatural after restraining himself for months.
He fawns over the castle, strokes their egos a bit (which saves his life, because it's a smidge harder to kill someone who's being nice to them), and asks them if someone like him has any chance at learning magic.
Bellroc and Skrael are baffled at this twist of fate and while they certainly debate killing him, they drop it after Eli innocently tells them that he's a part-timer for the Guardians(and if they are lost wizards needing advice from the Great and All-Powerful Merlin then he can work something out blahblahblah).
Offing the guy would risk Merlin's suspicion and him striking them in a weakened state would be a major blow, like kicking a wasp's nest.
Sleepy Bellroc isn't really in their right mind but nonetheless has an idea and decides the best way to get rid of this human without homicide is by accepting his request to learn magic.
No, really.
Sleepy Bellroc plays along with his delusion of magical expertise and, after giving him a few dozen sheets that make up a single beginner's spell, makes him an offer: if he learns that spell within the week, less than five days at this point, entirely by himself, Bellroc will accept him as their apprentice. If he fails, however, he has to consent to a memory wipe of the past week and get lost. Eli accepts.
Skrael, in shock at Bellroc's supposed generosity, looks over this "beginner's spell" they gave to the boy. He quickly picks up on Bellroc's trickery and wishes Eli the best of luck before taking him back to the forest.
What Eli doesn't know is that the papers (translated to English for his convenience) are actually the directions for performing a combat spell that even young master wizards can have trouble with; about as far from the basics as a wizard can get. In other words, Eli will fail no matter how hard he tries and get his memory wiped and probably chucked off a small cliff to pass off his memory loss as an accident. Skrael can't wait to bear witness to the greatest prank ever.
Unfortunately, they severely underestimate Eli's reawakened enthusiasm for the supernatural and intense desire to belong in a group. Fueled on nothing but coffee, dreams, and that happy feeling of having passion for something new, he manages to awaken the magic inside him. Accident, or perhaps fate?
With a rough estimate from Douxie (who takes his secrecy at face value and innocently wants him to succeed) that a new spell on a beginner's level takes a few hours to around 3 days to learn, Eli manages to pull it off within 4 days, just hours before his deadline. All in all, Bellroc is pissed at his success but doesn't want to pull back on a promise. Skrael just thinks it's hysterical that Bellroc's trick completely backfired on them and is engaged in the progress of his companion's bizarre new apprentice.
Bellroc's method of "teaching", while unorthodox and not at all providing their desired result, has some basis in reality: not specifying to someone that a task is supposed to be "hard" can increase the likelihood that they can complete that task with little struggle. (Get Anyone To Do Anything! David J. Lieberman!) This doesn't work on everyone but it worked on Eli lol.
#ihateblocks#tales of arcadia#skrael of the north wind#bellroc keeper of the flame#eli pepperjack#bellroc#skrael#arcane order eli au
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Note: The beginning of next month is not convenient. I would like to post now in mid-June.(Change time post only this month)
Tsofph Season 11(Chapter2 Shadow Path(Butterfly Effect)) (the prime world timeline)
Homura: Tsubasa......he's dead......what are we going to do.....?
Danny: That's why I had to go. If I don't do something.....both you and Punch will be dead.
Homura: But it's impossible! No one could defeat that thing alone! You'll just be killed, too!
Danny: But if there were no other choice, I know I'd never have the courage to do something like that.
Homura: Stop, Daniel!! I already lost Madoka......I can't lose you! I made a promise to Sam that I will protect you! Please, don't sacrifice yourself for me!! Listen.......Daniel.......let's just run away........there's nothing we can do, so........no one will blame you...
Danny: Homura...I am no longer to be called alive anymore....L was a being so powerful that I had to be erased from the timeline entirely. Even that "meddling" agrees with that.
Homura: But you had us! Arthur, Punch, Tsubasa and me! We're your friends! Very preciously!
Danny: That's why......I won't to do something pointless for this world again......Homura....I'm really glad I became friends with you. Even now, the fact that we were in time to save you from that monster. It's one of my proudest accomplishments. You three accept me for who I am.....I don't have any grief or sadness to be vanish to this world once again.....
Homura: Daniel.......
Danny: I'm sorry and thank you for everything, Homura.
Homura: No! Don’t go, DANIEL!!
Tsofph season 11(Chapter2 Shadow Path)
Danny: Aren't you not going to be afraid of that witch?
Peter: You mean Morgana?
Danny: Even she's changed to become Punch allies but don't forget She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love. Someone a kind-hearted individual, Morgana changed entirely, becoming evil after being corrupted by Morgause and being betrayed by her former friend, Merlin. She subsequently turned against her family and friends, even helping to cause the death of her own father; she was ruthlessly determined to take over Camelot and allowed nothing to stand in her way. Aren't you thought she might chop your head off again, right? She betrayed both Syaoran and Sakura's trust when they were King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.
Peter: That's fine.
Danny: What?
Peter: I think if we don't give her a second chance, it will be more painful not being able to believe than to worry about betrayal.
Danny: .................................
Peter: "Don't disappoint me! Just keep believing in what you believe! Like you keep believing in Punch! What about your vow to protect Punch and your people!?" It was you who told me that. Because of that...I saved both Pit and Morgana thanks to you.
Danny: Peter......then I ask.....when you found out about Morgana behind all of this, the destruction of Camelot....what did you think?
Peter: Huh?
Danny: She never mentioned it once and left King Arthur alone. Doesn't that bother you?
Peter: Talking about out of the blue, Danny.
Danny: Answer me......you as the first King Arthur. She pointed a sword at you once........
Peter: If I am Syaoran...well....that did make me both angry and sad a lot, but I think Morgana had her own reasons for doing that even turning on the Pendragon family. What King Uther did in the past is wrong that's why it is right for her to be judged like that one wants to become evil if not to protect someone you dearest the most.
Danny: "Become evil if not to protect someone you dearest the most." huh.......
Peter: I've also come this far with my own reasons too. So for now I'll just do what I can do as best as I can!
Danny: Do your best......huh.....that phrase never suited to me at all. So Peter chose the same path as I do.....After all, it's natural to protect the ones you love, isn't that right, Syaoran.
Source Character:
Daniel or "Danny" Fenton, also known by his superhero codename Danny Phantom, is the titular protagonist of the television series Danny Phantom. Originally an unpopular high school student facing ordinary teenage problems, Danny becomes a half-human/half-ghost hybrid during a lab accident via stepping into and activating his parents' Ghost Portal. Since then, Danny has taken on the role of a ghostly superhero to protect Amity Park and the world from the dangerous ghosts that escape the Ghost Zone while ensuring his alter ego "Danny Phantom" remains secret from all save his best friends, Tucker and Samantha, and his older sister Jazz.
Homura Akemi is a New Transfer Student in Madoka's class and a stoic magical girl with unknown motives. For whatever reason, she will go to any length to prevent Madoka from striking a contract with Kyubey. The true nature of her magical powers is unknown at first, with hints being gradually dropped over the course of the series before being fully revealed in the last few episodes; however, beyond her magic, she also wields conventional weaponry such as handguns and explosives.
Samantha "Sam" Manson is Danny Fenton's closest and best friend and eventual girlfriend in the series finale. Responsible for the accident in which Danny gains his powers, she is also one of the first few people to know about Danny's ghost identity. She’s a self-proclaimed goth who’s fascinated with the subliminal and nether worldly and is a very outspoken ultra-recyclo-vegetarian.
Explanation 17(Analysis)
Danny’s been shot at by his own parents, hunted, tortured, brainwashed, threatened with experiments and even actually been experimented on (counting the cloning experiments), almost died several times, listened to his parents talk about wanting to dissect him, watched loved ones die (even if they ended up being alright), and that’s not even mentioning some of the other stuff Vlad puts him through or the fact that he was ruthlessly bullied long before any of this happened. As Homura, she will protect Madoka at any cost. This means Homura tunnel-visions on Madoka and regards everyone else as a nuisance, having no qualms with them dying so long as Madoka survives. This naturally conflicts with Madoka herself trying to save everyone she can.
Imagine being in middle school and your crush dies and you’re so upset that you kickstart a time loop and repeat the same month 100 times over trying to stop her from dying but unwittingly you make her more and more important to the universe’s continuation (because you have effectively created 100 timelines that are dependent only on the survival of your crush) and therefore her death becomes more and more devastating to the world as a whole in every new timeline and finally your crush sacrifices her life willingly to become a god and you’re the only one who remembers her and this depresses you so much that you construct a whole imaginary universe where your crush is alive and you trap yourself and the souls of your friends inside it and then when you realize it’s Not Real.
Anger in particular is often used to mask pain, sadness or other type of feelings. Dan or dark Danny carries that pre-existing sadness. Mix it with Danny's grief and you have a recipe for disaster. It seems the outer emotions consumed him and to fill that void he sought power. Homura is selfish. That is true and undeniable. However, all humans have moments of selfishness, and not all selfishness is inherently bad or wrong, same as not all selflessness is good. A person who puts themself first if they're going through a difficult time may be called selfish, but that does not make their actions bad. On the opposite end, spreading oneself so thin that they cannot care for themself may be called selfless, but that does not make what they are doing good. Both Danny and Homura does remake the world, which could be called selfish. But in doing so, they are selfless. They have the full ability to make the other do whatever they wants, but they did not. Homura erases some memories, yes, but does not exert full control over the others. If Homura wanted, she could use mind control to make them blindly love her. Instead, Homura's "selfish world" involves making Madoka human, something Madoka had previously asked for and something Homura believes she wants. As for Dark Danny, for "erases all memories" but he chooses not to control the others like Vlad but the opposite is destroying everything and resetting everything to zero like Homura did. Devil Homura and Dark Danny would have had to have broken themself inside, in order to continue with this self-indulgent new universe they created. So they constantly wears this expression like they are “dead inside”. Because they has to kill off their true nature in order to continue this uncharacteristic self-indulgence away from continuing to spritiually Fight.
Danny is part of a traumatized child that saw his own family and friends die, combine this with another ghost of a man who suffers from extreme loneliness and barely cares about others. Homura saw her friends die many times, suffers from extreme loneliness and barely cares about others as well. What you get is a very aggressive ghost who finds joy in hurting innocent and completely lacks empathy. But.. it´s there still one detail, they lack ¨humanity¨: They are not human. Dan mentions this a few times during the episode: about how he left his humanity behind.
" You know, if I had an ounce of humanity left in me, this would be a very touching little reunion. But of course, I surrendered my human half a long time ago."
In Tsofph Season 11(Chapter1 Secret Truth of the Past(Gilgamesh’s Journal))
“From the days of old there is no permanence. The sleeping and the dead, how alike they are, they are like a painted death.” ― The Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh himself causes much suffering by abusing his power as king and tormenting his subjects day and night. Enkidu is created to curb the king's energy and to alleviate the distress of the people. Gilgamesh's greatest joy in finding a true friend also turns into his greatest sorrow when Enkidu becomes ill and dies. Gilgamesh is inconsolable and his suffering drives him away from his palace and his city, in search of life everlasting. When a snake snatches away his last hope of living forever, he realises that life eternal is to be found in life here and now. The despair that Gilgamesh felt was because he saw death as an escape from his duty as the observer of humanity; in order to fulfill his mission completely, he was to observe humanity's path until its eventual end. Falling into depression and with his vigor gone, he sought out the Herb of Immortality, a spirit herb of perpetual youth and eternal life. He later also returned to the deep to retrieve the herb once more simply to complete his collection and for the off-chance he would ever be in a situation he could only tolerate as a child.
Homura: This is the herb you want so much...but then what will you do after that?
Gilgamesh: Maybe like you.....
Homura: But if you still go back......again and again.....
Gilgamesh: I chose to walk this path as King....even it would change me forever......I can't go back, Homura. Just like before.....together with Danny.
Homura: Punch.......
Gilgamesh: I won't rely on anyone anymore! I don't care if no one understands! I won't let Punch die like in Prime World timeline! I'll destroy everything by myself if I have to! And this time... I'll change the future...If the world wants to give me misfortune, I'll give misfortune back to the world!
Homura: Then I will help you.
Gilgamesh: What about Danny? He didn't remember what happened in the prime world timeline.
Homura: If we find Danny, he will gladly to join us and help us.
Gilgamesh: Are you sure? Maybe you will become an enemy of humanity.
Homura: Not maybe. We lack ¨humanity¨. We are not human. So this is mostly a show in order to make others avoid me, as well as a coping mechanism to avoid becoming attached to those whose deaths I saw many times.
Gilgamesh: That's right.....we already saw deaths so many times and maybe forever.......
The epic shows this through the repetition of the opening lines, and through its concurrent theme that to struggle against mortality and fate is a poor decision, one that causes harm to those around Gilgamesh and causes him to suffer. Mortality within the modern mindset is thus something against which humanity can fight, and one's fate is something that one can, and perhaps should, seek to change. (Source: https://scielo.org.za)
"I don't mind playing the villain role for a while"./"Syaoran....if you want to change the world, ultimately, you have to change yourself. If the world wants to give me misfortune, I'll give misfortune back to the world. That's all."
In Conclusion Relationships between Danny, Homura, Phantom and King Gilgamesh shortly(Announce10: Link)
Punch: Danny...Homura....I'm not like the rest of you.
Danny; Of course you are! But No! You're not! I'm serious. Back when we first met. I think maybe then I did think we were different. But I now I know that isn't true! You and I are alike in more ways than you know. You made me think of this and made me to accept my ghost form too.
Homura: Everyone has their own pain that can be hard for other people to understand. I get that you must have a lot circling around the head of yours. And that's okay, I am not like you. But regardless of all that, I'm......we're here for you, Punch. You're not alone.
Punch: Homura I.......
Danny: That goes for me too. We all want to be there for you. If you lose your way and can't find your dad and mom, I will guide them to you.
Punch: Umm.....but the earth's so big to find you know.
Danny: But they still stay on Earth and never vanish right? Even though the earth's so big the earth still has a place to return to unlike the universe, right?
Homura: I agree with this one. I can think of this place as home now because of you, Punch. I mean....that's what friends are supposed to do, right? I learned a lot from Madoka.
Danny: I'll always be with you, Punch. Remember, even we're not here in front of your eyes. You're not alone.
#sakuraswordly#analyze the characters#tsofph Season 11(Chapter2 Shadow Path(Butterfly Effect))#character analysis#homura akemi#danny phantom au#danny phantom#tsubasa of phantasia#tsofph spoilers#dp spoilers#pmmm spoilers#Tsofph Gilgamesh#Punch Whalen#Tsofph Danny Phantom#dark danny#tsofph season 11(chapter1 secret truth of the past)#Tsofph season 11(Chapter2 Shadow Path)#Tsofph peter pan
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Hello, I am already in love with with Morgan. I'd love to hear more about her, or know where I could read her story?
Also. In a world where men get their heads cut off and are fine, or grow to be as tall as trees, or hold their breath for nine days, I think we deserve some Mary Sue girlies. As a treat. :)
hiiii I haven't written anything for her (or arthuriana in general) but I have many thoughts that I'll put under a readmore
also you're SO right we do deserve some mary sue girlies. as a treat!!
some jumbled thoughts about morgan:
first off im the world's #1 supporter of arthur/guinevere/lancelot polyamory and also of playing with lancelot's gender, so in my version, lancelot is afab (possibly transmasc or nonbinary, I haven't fully decided) but presents as male so only a few people (arthur, guinevere, the lady of the lake (who raised him, let him dress masc and get trained as a knight, etc), maybe one or two others) know that he's not a cis man. also while arthur/guinevere/lancelot is very much a thing, they have to keep it secret, and there's still rumors that lancelot is sleeping with the queen (he is. he's also sleeping with the king. usually at the same time).
so at one point lancelot gets pregnant with arthur's child and they have problems because:
they can't exactly announce that their best knight is going on maternity leave
they want to acknowledge the baby as one of arthur's children
so the solution is to send lancelot "on a quest" where he just goes back to....the lady of the lake?? probably?? and chills with her for a while until he has baby morgan and he then secretly sends her to camelot
at the same time, guinevere fakes a pregnancy, and there's a bunch of rumors that lancelot is the father because of his conveniently timed "quest"
so when baby morgan arrives, arthur announces the baby to the court and the nobles/castle staff/etc are all clambering to see the baby to figure out if lancelot is the father. they all take one look and are like "oh. that's definitely arthur's child" (either through facial features, or im also thinking arthur and morgan have darker skin while both guinevere and lancelot have lighter skin) and some of them are a bit disappointed because they wanted to keep spreading rumors
morgan grows up in the castle and is friends with other nobles' kids, and she's jealous when the boys her age start to get knight training, so she watches the training from her window and tries to teach herself. when she's like 10, one of her friends' (still working on a name, calling her V for now) father (a knight?) dies (V's mother also died several years prior) and she's left destitute, but morgan sneaks her into the castle and hides her in her room and sneaks her food. (morgan's nanny catches on pretty quickly but doesn't say anything, she just makes sure there's always extra food left out in the room and plenty of clothes and toys)
by the time she's like 12, mordred can very clearly tell that his little sister is arthur's favorite and could pose a threat to his guaranteed succession to the throne, so he tries to kill her (poison?? maybe with the help of morgana or morgause?? or an "accident" when she's horseback riding??) and she's very sick for a few weeks. arthur strongly suspects it was mordred, but he doesn't have any evidence so he can't do anything about it.
to keep her safe, arthur decides to send her to a convent. she's upset about this and throws a fit because she doesn't realize she was poisoned, she just thinks she's being punished. she also realizes that she can't keep taking care of V if she's not living in the castle, so they hatch a Scheme™
when the knights come to escort morgan to the convent, she comes out of her room all ready to go with her hood pulled over her face and she's acting very pouty. the knights are all like "ugh why did we have to get stuck escorting the bratty princess" so they don't interact with her much, they just try to get this over with as soon as possible. they take her to the convent and introduce her to the nuns and get out of there. the nuns have never seen the princess so they don't realize that they're raising V instead of morgan
meanwhile morgan runs away, disguised as a boy, and starts training to be a knight for several years (possibly with the help of the lady of the lake)
after four years or so, arthur and guinevere send for morgan to come back to camelot to have a role in the court. when V shows up pretending to be morgan, no one knows the difference because they haven't seen her in four years and she looks close enough. V continues to live at court for several years doing princess things
eventually, lancelot and guinevere get caught, lancelot escapes, and guinevere is sentenced to be burnt at the stake. mordred knows lancelot is going to mount a rescue, so he plants a trap on the outskirts of camelot and captures him. being the dramatic Bitch™ that he is, he waits until the last minute (when they're leading guinevere to the stake) to tell arthur.
(I have this scene so clearly in my head. arthur is staring out the window at guinevere, he doesn't even turn when the big doors slam open, only looks when mordred begins speaking to him and tells him he has good news. his goons lead in a chained up knight with a bag over his head and force him onto his knees, then mordred says something like "I have captured the traitor knight" and pulls the bag off lancelot's head. lancelot and arthur lock eyes and lancelot is very clearly apologizing for failing while arthur just looks heartbroken, because not only does he have to watch guinevere burn now with no hope of her being rescued, but he'll also have to sentence the man he loves to death as well. arthur's forced to let the execution proceed and at the very last moment an army storms the square and a mysterious knight rescues guinevere and rides off with her. arthur and lancelot and relieved but also extremely confused because the knight's insignia is unfamiliar, and they have no idea what he intends to do with guinevere.)
surprise, the mysterious knight is morgan! she sends her army off to keep guinevere safe and goes to camelot under a flag of truce. she gets taken to arthur, but still wearing full armor with her visor down so no one knows who she is. she goes up to mordred and throws her glove down to challenge him to a duel to the death, claiming that he tried to kill her years ago. he doesn't deny it, saying he's tried to kill lots of people. they fight, she wins, while she has her sword to his throat she demands he withdraw the accusations against the queen and lancelot. he does, so she lets him live, but now lancelot and guinevere are free and can return to camelot.
morgan turns to arthur and pledges her loyalty and asks to be a knight of the round table, and he's so grateful that lancelot and guinevere are safe that he accepts. he asks her to stand and asks her name and to remove her helmet. she reveals that she's princess morgan, which V confirms (maybe morgan also shows a distinctive birthmark or something to further prove her identity)
yay! everyone's happy! morgan gets to be a knight and also be princess and also gets gay married to V.
I'm thinking also maybe redemption arc for mordred where he comes around to caring for morgan, maybe throws himself in front of a sword for her and tells her she'll be a good queen or smth as his last words
#these are just thoughts ive had bouncing around my head since i read toafk#i would love to develop her more maybe even write something with her eventually#but for now im just happy to let her run around with a sword#anyway! meet my favorite girl morgan#arthurian ocs#arthuriana#ray.txt#asks#igniferrus
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OMG I'm so excited to see the drawings of all the characters!!!! For a prompt for the group;
"Where the hell did you come from?"
The Crux (Pt. 2)
In which a group of odd individuals meets another group of odd individuals.
The group of seven had been traveling together for a few weeks now, and they had gotten to know each other, for better or worse.
Natasha and Nico had grown quite accustomed to the other four, however Nathaniel was not as open to becoming friends.
Nathaniel stops walking alongside the group, “Seriously?! Pandora, we can’t stop and help every single village we see!”
The others stop and look at Nathan. As much as he hated to admit agreeing with the prick, Noah agreed that he had a point. He puts a hand on Pandora’s shoulder.
“He’s right, Pan. We’re going to waste all of the energy we need if we keep doing this.”
She swats his hand off of her shoulder, looking over at the others with a stern and frustrated look.
“Fine, if you all don’t want to help me, then fine. But I am never going to turn my back on the people that need me.”
She continued walking without the others, Noah begins following her at first, and reaches out, but draws his hand back and stops.
“Dumbass.” Nathan mumbles.
Noah turns and gives him a look that could’ve killed.
“What? You know I’m right. She’s wasting her time.”
“She may not know how the world works, but she’s not stupid.”
“She is if she thinks that everyone is going to sing her praises.”
“You both are wrong.” Natasha intervenes.
Nathan scoffs “How?!”
“Because she doesn’t want people to sing her praises Nathan. If you had actually spent the time to get to know her, you would’ve known that she hates attention and shies away from it.”
He rolls his eyes.
“And Noah, she does know how the world works, you know that better than I do. Just because she has a good heart, good intentions, and the most compassion I’ve ever seen in a person, doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how things in the world work.”
“But she is naive.”
“I’m not arguing that she’s not! I’m arguing that you both are making her out to be someone she isn’t! Now then, are we all just going to sit here and let her kill herself or are we going to help?”
Ambrose and Constance look at each other before nodding, Nico also nods, Noah reluctantly agrees, and Nathaniel says no.
“Fine, suit yourself, but do us a favor and keep watch over the outer area of the town.”
“Fine. Just go.”
Several shots are heard by the civilians, as they see a young woman helping them to kill the monsters.
After some time, all of the monsters have long since died or fled the area.
Pandora hears some slow clapping from behind her. As she turns around, she sees an old woman, dressed in black cowboy attire, with bright yellow eyes peering back at her.
“You’re not too bad with your gun, toots.” The woman says.
“Oh… yeah I’m not nearly as good as my siblings though-“
“Honey.”
“Yes…?”
“Take the compliment.”
“Okay…”
“Anyways, with what you just said, I’m assuming guns are a family affair with y’all?”
“Well of course, my mother is the one who made them after all.” She smiles.
“Ohh, you’re Lady Diana’s daughter. I was wonderin’ why you looked so noblely. Well then, needless to say I’ve got a lot of respect for y’all up in Morgana.”
“Really? But you’re-“
“From the borderlands? Yes ma’am. But I’ve always had respect for y’all because Morganians are the originals. The borderlands wouldn’t have guns without y’all.”
“Oh, I guess that’s right.”
“That being said.” The woman approaches her and holds out her hand.
“Name’s Barbara Monroe, it’s a pleasure to meet you hon.”
Pandora shakes her hand.
“I’m Pandora, Pandora De La Dáinn.”
“Ah you’re the youngest. So tell me, what’s little miss noble gal doin’ all the way out here?” She jokes.
“Well, I’m not sure if you keep up with Morganian news, but I’m looking for my brother.”
“Oh damn, He’s still missing?”
Pandora nods solemnly.
“Well, maybe I… could see about helping you out. I know people all over the place. Besides, me and my partners are trying to find some purpose and that could maybe help.”
“Thank you very much Barbara, I think I’d appreciate that greatly. So… who are your partners?”
Barbara smiles, and then turns around and yells for someone. Two similarly dressed people to her step out from behind a house. One is also in typical cowboy attire while the other looks more like a southern belle.
“Lookit what I found Chance!”
“What? A noble?”
“No you dumbass, a purpose. This young lady is on an adventure of her own, and she’s okay with us traveling with her.”
“Honey are you sure? I mean these two argue till they’re blue in the face.” The southern belle mumbles to her.
“It’s okay. I already have a bit of that myself with two of my traveling companions…”
“Ah… I see, anyways, my name is Amelia Hayes (or Boone), you can just call me Amy.”
“A pleasure to meet you! I’m Pandora.”
Barbara elbows the man next to her, he sputters out an apology and introduces himself, “I’m Chance, Chance Boone.”
“Pandora!” A familiar voice yells. She looks behind her to see almost all of her group behind her.
“Ah… and that’s my group…”
“You don’t sound too thrilled about it.” Barbara mentions.
“We had an argument just before I got here, so…”
Constance runs up to Pandora, “Are you okay? I know you can handle yourself but that was a lot of monsters!”
“I’m okay Connie. Um… do you guys care if we add some more members to the group?” She smiles nervously.
After a brief explanation of who the three borderlands dwellers are and why they’re here, the group agrees with the acceptance of them into the group.
Natasha shifts uncomfortably, “Nathan probably won’t be happy…”
“Who cares what Nathan thinks, he’s a dick.”
“Noah.” Ambrose looks at him.
“What?!”
He sighs, “You haven’t exactly been non dickish either.”
He scoffs before looking away and crossing his arms.
Pandora leans over to Amy, “About that “I already have a bit of that in my own group” thing…”
“Definitely see what you mean…”
The group grabs a quick bite to eat at one of the local taverns, and then sets off to begin traveling once more.
And no.
Nathan was not happy.
#bowl mixes#the tales of selcouth#the crux#writeblr#writing#writers on tumblr#original character#oc#original oc#original story#original writing#writeblr community#Pandora de la dáinn#Noah ripper#constance lockwood#Ambrose Lockwood#Nathaniel Woodwhisper#Nico woodwhisper#Natasha woodwhisper#Barbara Monroe#chance boone#amelia hayes
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top 5 merlin characters go !
AHHHH I LOVE THEM ALL I CAN'TTTTTT. bc i adore them all, i'll name them in no particular order depending on how compelling i think they are.
i can say that lancelot is my favourite in every way. listen. he's just so lovely and cool and softly spoken. and i just. i make jokes about him being perfect, but i honestly don't think he is. i might not like him if he was. he's sad and overly devoted to the point of self-ruin, and his humility and endless pursuit of nobility sometimes do more harm than good. e.g. when he left gwen bc arthur liked her without asking how she felt. he's "everything the knight's code stands for" so he's also something of an examination of the knight's code and its ethics?? where those ethics fail, where the rules must be bent for the sake of goodness (for instance, lance keeping merlin's secret even though he hates lying). which, of course, i want to see when watching a medieval chivalry show. he's just so compelling to me. he's just like me fr. i, in no way, shape or form, self-insert as sir lancelot. absolutely none. he was so underutilised. i was robbed of self-insert content. i am normal about him. not to mention his dynamic with every character he interacted with was gold. he deserved to spend time with more characters. e.g. morgana. i would KILL to have an arc about his response to the oppression of magic users and morgana's ideology. he trusts in systems of power and wants so desperately to be a knight of camelot - how would he respond when that quite possibly contradicts the righteous course of action?? which is more important to him?? would he be swayed by the allegiances of the people he loves, thereby showing a major chink in his nobility?? please. i need this to be explored more in fanon.
okay listen. gaius. it's widely acknowledged that his dynamic with uther is almost the grown-up version of merlin and arthur's. by the time season 5 rolls around, merlin has been groomed very well into becoming the next gaius. he would watch his kin burn at the stake for the sake of a "promised kingdom" "a better future" which he is convinced will be brought about by arthur even if he hates magic. literally what gaius did. he was kept alive despite practicing magic bc he was uther's friend and confidant. but he isn't just loyal to uther in the way that merlin becomes doggedly loyal to arthur. he also adores merlin. it's super interesting to think about where the hope for the chosen one who will help arthur unite albion ends and his devotion to his surrogate son begins. if he had to choose between merlin and arthur, who would he choose? has he been utterly sucked in by the prophecy like merlin eventually is or does he retain enough love for merlin that he would toss it aside? i need answers
morgana was done so, so unbelievably dirty. but she's so fucking interesting. i'm just gonna toss aside botched canon characterisation for a sec and talk about her arc like it was done well. she was uther's beloved ward, valued but (bc she didn't know she was his daughter) dispensable, unlike arthur. maybe uther would never execute his son, the crown prince and sole heir, but her? uther is so mad with hatred and emotionally withdrawn that she can't possibly know where she stands. she's plagued by haunting dreams which she swears show the future but can't discuss openly, with absolutely no one to turn to. her attempt to connect with the druids ends in their being slaughtered. when she finally knows she has magic, she is forced to watch her own father figure execute people like her, alone and scared. no one tells her anything, she is in the dark and utterly alone. she clings to the first person who tries to connect with her, who also happens to be her sister - a family relation who isn't, at least outwardly, pro murdering sorcerers. then her own friend, who tells her nothing, fucking poisons her. no explanation. the only one she receives is no doubt a twisted one from morgause. before, she was conflicted by her love for uther to the point that she couldn't go through with killing him, but when she finally reaches a stage where she must resolve to murder her own surrogate father because he's a horrible tyrant, she's the villain. she's told that it's not right to kill him, that she should stand by and watch him kill. by people she considered allies. then she learns that this bastard is actually her father ;_; and then the whole "mOrGanA wANtS tHe ThRonE" "sHe'S jUsT lIkE uThEr" arc begins and it all goes downhill. (it is absolute bullshit that morgana coveted power that badly 💀 she wanted to live in the woods with the druids before they were all murdered before her eyes. if she wants power, it's so she can change things, not for selfish reasons.) the writers had to make her do drastic, ooc things like shooting innocent citizens of camelot to turn her into a villain, bc she simply wasn't wrong lmaoooo. the girl who handed out food to the poor and rode out to defend a village outside of camelot's borders for her friend's sake suddenly despises both the people and her friends. feelings do not suddenly change that drastically, i'm afraid. if they added in something about morgause brainwashing her, it would make so much more sense, but if they did that then morgana would be a tragic antagonist and WE CAN'T HAVE THAT!!! SHE MUST MAKE POTIONS WITH BABIES' GUTS JUST BECAUSE!!!
nimueh was only around for one season but she was so interesting. she's kind of a mix between gaius and morgana. used to be uther's friend, but after being betrayed by him became vindictive. she, too, was labelled a villain for attempting to strike out at a nasty tyrant 💀 young women on this show are either arthur's love interests or villains, istg. instead of playing the "why did she go about hurting uther in an evil way?" card like i did with morgana, bc we never saw her before she turned "evil" and therefore cannot speak on the legitimacy of her characterisation, i'm just going to accept that she's willing to make innocent people suffer to hurt uther. in that way, the writers could have drawn a contrast between her and morgana; nimueh goes about bringing uther down in an immoral way, whereas morgana is righteous in her actions. but ofc. we can't have that. speaking again about her relationship with uther: she gives some level of insight into the person he was and the person he became. he wasn't brought up to hate magic but rather came to that - utterly illogical - conclusion on his own and was willing to toss aside a loyal friend and an entire group of people bc he could not bear the consequences of his own actions.
everything seems to come back to uther. he's at the centre of it all, the main driving force. without him the plot simply would not exist. he's irredeemable, literally a genocidal murderer. not to mention a man who betrays his friends and unfairly pressures his son and to an extent values his pride above his people. there is no redemption arc for him. which makes these little glimpses of something else so interesting. a broken husband mourning his wife, a father worried for his son, a man haunted by visions of what he did. the concept that he built camelot from the ground up commends him as a good ruler, and to an extent he is. he's jaded, and makes heartless but practical decisions, unlike arthur in the early seasons, but ultimately he cares for the kingdom over his own son. as time goes on and arthur's burden increases, even he - our lovable hero - becomes more like uther. how did uther's rise to power change him like arthur's did? i wonder if uther built camelot with magic and what tearing out that essential pillar of his kingdom felt like. if he feels lost without its support, if he regretted his decision but his pride and the weight of what he'd already done just caused him to double down harder to avoid holding himself accountable. again, he's irredeemable, but he deserves good faith character analysis which many people don't afford him in favour of calling him profanities. understandable - but still.
it genuinely caused me great amounts of pain to choose. i mean it when i say i love all of them, and could wax poetic about them as characters. i think the reason 3 of the core 4 aren't on the list is bc they were around for so long that the writers had plenty of time to botch their arcs and it was just so much more pronounced with them. the way arthur wasn't allowed to hold an intelligent thought for more than 2 seconds?? the way gwen was gradually reduced to just "star-crossed love interest"?? it frustrates me so much that i'm not naming them just to be petty tbh. morgana suffered the worst, imo. they did her so dirty that i just want to toss aside canon and talk about her potential.
anyway. apologies for that essay. thanks for asking!!!
#sir lancelot#gaius the physician#morgana pendragon#nimueh the high priestess#uther pendragon#bbcm meta#bbc merlin#mine#askbox
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OKAY I WENT BACK AND FIXED THE FLAG, lets roll
i'm gonna say it: futaba is the character that can go toe-to-toe with the casts of P3 and P4. she is so well written, so expansive, just the way she talks feels more alive, like allusions to her broader self. she's the one character who feels like she exists when she's not being observed on the screen.
she is Reverie's little sister and I love her to death.
Also when Reverie gives her a head pat (which is a thing I do to my mother to say hello) it's adorable, and it's clearly been so long since it's happened that it takes her off guard and she leaps away.
Baby steps, Futaba, you're getting there and I'm proud of you.
oh man i love how this game keeps making it agonizing as i turn people down!!!!
tho tbh none was worse than Ann, my god the Ann scene was so good I almost dated her just because the set-up.
but no, Futaba, i really thought about it, and you are a little sister.
(also, I am morbidly curious how the obligatory Christmas date goes without a romance. in P4G it was fucking delightful, but P5R has proven to be a fucking bastard if you don't romance someone. I wanna see if it can be worse than the Hawaii trip somehow.)
but jfc PERSONA! STOP THIS! LEMME SAY SOMETHING MORE PROFOUND! Lemme say "You're like a sibling to me" or "You're the best friend I could have hoped for," SOMETHING not just "Because we are teammates," it's so fucking cold!!!!!
yells
SEE
THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
I love that they have an in-joke. Futaba is absolutely Reverie's key item too.
okay so that's Hermit nearly a wrap, rank 9.
Time for the latest Beige News.
Akechi wants to go have a private conversation. Super private. No, even more private than that. He wants to have a chat in Mementos.
Morgana, I cannot BELIEVE you just let Reverie GO OFF TO MEMENTOS WITH AKECHI, who the fuck is gonna be around to drag Reverie's body back to the real world after? Someone needs to run up to Sojiro and meow like Lassie, okay.
But no, Morgana presumably is nervous about being an unwilling spectator to some hot makeouts so he's outie.
Points to Akechi's VA because my god it sounds like Akechi is actually having an emotion for the first time in the game.
For the curious, his emotion is Barely Restrained Murder Boner.
Unfortunately for you, bro, I just bribed Notigor with 60k yen to give me King Frost with Null Bless, so you are royally fucked. (Ba dum tish.)
This is so fucking horny I just stopped and laughed to myself for a while.
i'm fukcing cackling at this shit
Akechi would be like 50% more stable as a person if he just read Homestuck, honestly. The feeling that is burning in your chest/pants right now is called kismesissitude and it's totally fine, man. You are be max dramatic about your blackrom feels when you and Reverie could just be making out and leaving bruises on each other for fun.
But lets be real, if Akechi read Homestuck he'd unironically think Vriska did nothing wrong and then we'd have to kill him.
HE FUCKING THROWS HIS GLOVE AT REVERIE
He could be taking off a lot more than that if he stopped being weird about this blackrom thing but WHATEVER MAN, Y'ALL CAN HAVE HATE MAKEOUTS LATER I GUESS.
Pompous little windbag. I want to beat you up and make you wear something that isn't monochromatic to a hospital wall.
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I'm thinking of the parallels between BBC Morgana and Dororo's Hyakkimaru
Loved ones sacrificing them to protect their country and fulfill their destiny.
Them being revived and cared for by a "mother" figure before being sent back into the world
The more they reclaim what was theirs, the calamities and destruction happen to the country
They are blamed for the misfortune, and most people keep asking for them to die for the sake of the survival of the country
Both characters fight back for their right to live and their right to their heritage
Both took care of younger charges at some point, Hyakkimaru-Dororo, BBC Morgana-Mordred-Aithusa. The younger charges helped them retain/teach them back their humanity and made them protective of something
Both were still treated as villains by their own families and communites. Everyone wanted them to die.
Both were bitter and resentful of their circumstances.
Differences
Hyakkimaru's father, the daimyo is the main overarching villain for wanting to keep his power and his country
In BBC Merlin, Merlin is the protagonist who tried to keep Morgana dead so that Arthur (and Uther/Camelot) will live and fulfill the "destiny" the dragon promised him
BBC Morgana's was a story of revenge and punishment to the ones who hurt her and continue to her hurt or pose a threat to her kind
Hyakkimaru just wanted his body parts back gdi, why does he have to choose between the welfare of the people and his right to live? Everyone (the people and the ghouls) still wanted him dead so that gods will be appeased and the calamities will stop.
BBC Morgana eventually used anybody useful (regardless of them being magic or not) to overthrow the government and destroy the country regardless of who was in it
Hyakkimaru eventually did overthrow his father (the daimyo/government) but instead choose to live a quiet and peaceful life as a wanderer
Hurting people was out of Hyakkimaru's control. Morgana deliberately choose to cause maximum humiliation, hurt and devastation as part of her revenge
While Hyakkimaru's was a journey of finding love and kindness with every body part that he regained and every new friend he met, BBC Morgana's was a journey of losing that with every defeat and imprisonment and loss of an ally.
But unlike Morgana, Hyakkimaru was not trained in the "they bad so must destroy, we good so must protect and govern" propaganda that was prevalent on all sides in Merlin BBC.
My Takeaway from this
Survival is an ongoing and bitter struggle.
Both of them were justified in their causes
Trauma Victims can either be benevolent at the end or become the villain in their own right.
Having trauma isnt a reason to go hurting others BUT for that to not be the course of action of the traumatized, the trauma has to be addressed with honesty, accountability, healing and nuance too.
Hyakkimaru had that experience. Hyakkimaru got to hear from his family who gave him up too. Morgana didn't because no matter what she did they never reciprocated her truths and her struggles with their own accountability.
Both stories needed to be told. Hyakkimaru lived a long peaceful and happy life while Morgana was killed/executed for the continuous harm she caused.
Hyakkimaru fought fate and forged his own destiny. While BBC Morgana forged her destiny yet still succumbed to fate.
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Strange question, do you prefer when Star Guardians was more Sailor Moon or Madoka Magica? Or do you like both?
Oddly enough i prefer Sailor Moon.
Reason is that Riot keeps releasing skins (wich is not... bad, entirely) and those skins now need a plot/story. Point is that back when Lux team was the only one the skinline had, it was very Sailor Moon styled. They fight the baron, void creatures, they have silly school drama, lesbians, that's literally pretty much Sailor Moon. And it was great. Back on the day it was suggested that Janna, as she is the one that has been an star guardian for the longest time, has some secrets. Thats fine.
Then Ahri's team appeared, and it wasnt bad, either, but they started introducing a story that was more than just haha sparkles! And honestly, it was interesting! Problem is that, you back then realize 'Oh, no, this skinline is going to crash down in hell' cause now we have 3 mysterious star guardians that are dead/fallen/etc. Now Syndra exists, and its stated that she has dark secrets. Sarah is a lesbian (periodt and it has literally nothing to add to my point but regardless) and she has like conflict with Ahri so thats more school drama. This is kinda like when the Outer Senshi started to appear in Sailor Moon and they got added to the original team in a lot of the episodes? well.
Then Neeko, Zoe and Xayah/Rakan released. And oh man things were so good but everything started to crash eventually. Now we have the concept that star guardians can be corrupted! By desesperation/death/whatever. Do you guys remember when Janna said she had secrets? At this point in the lore, who the fuck cares about Janna??????? Who cares about the Lux team? What do they do? Do they just rescue kitties from trees while Ahri shows up like 'ok i can handle the sassy kid and my corrupted best friends with my chameleon bestie'.
Okay, the Kai'sa gang is what killed me and made me loose the focus on the story. I have opinions, and that is that i just think community has done a lot to make star guardian entretaining because i didnt understand half of the story on the event. Lux is dead or smth cause she has an statue, and i readed that and i just said 'Whatever' cause Lux dying is so meaningless to the plot. We literally know nothing about her in recent years, there's literally nothing to say 'omg i cant believe this happened'. They just say well Lux is dead. Well what about Jinx?? Lulu?? Poppy?? Janna??????? I hate Ezreal with my guts but that dude isnt like affected??? Where IS the people?!??! Completely understand that they added A LOT of characters to the story line but come on you cant just said 'oops she died, anyway here's Kaisa talking to a stone LOL'. I didnt get the villains and the corruption. The Harp being Fiddlesticks was like woah! Thats cool. Why is Zoe just Zoe but purple then? Why is Morgana purple then? Why are they sassy?????? I mean okay there are great villains that are sassy. these arent.
Okay i dont want to rip the lore apart. Thats what sentinels of light are for. they are my punching bag and i dont regret it. This is just what happens when you're a capitalist and you try to keep people interested but you keep stepping over your own story and messing it up just for the sake of adding more characters. If this was just Sailor Moon then we could have as many skins as we wanted without trouble and sassy villains! But i get the story keeps people interested, i cant blame aanyone and im happy they like it! I love what community has done for Star Guardian cause it what keeps my interest rather than the canon, keep writing keep creating cause im watching.
good thing Everything Goes On was released cause i wasnt understanding half of the story and put it to sleep but i went heheee this song is soooooo coooool.
#thank you porter robinson *thumbs up*#anyway#i respect everyones opinion sorry if i get mean#its not the intention#i only get mean with riot#not anyone on my tumbly#there were things i liked in the last kaisa team but i started loosing the thread and ended up just skipping#and then watching video resumes#anyway take a shot everytime star guardian lore pulls a deux ex machina
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Like BBC Merlin is so much of a we know what's going to happen but we can see it coming closer and closer as the seasons go on. Because we know Mordred is going to kill Arthur. But what's kinda cool is how Merlin kinda drives him to that point and we see Arthur's death and we can also see Merlin's declining mental health at the stage and how it also plays a role. And how Lancelot was so so important to him because he was his friend and he always supported Merlin and his loss isolates Merlin in a way that he hasn't been before. And the second loss, because Merlin can't even publicly mourn for Lancelot afterwards because of the shade's actions. And he doesn't have that relationship with the rest of the knights that he did with Lancelot because none of them know of his magic and he can't tell because magic is illegal. It's also really telling that after Arthur becomes king, he doesn't advance Merlin, but still leaves him a servant despite him being integral to the battle against Morgana. Like I would bump him up to advisor. Yeah... I do love Merlin. And Gwen. Don't get me started on Gwen. And Lancelot and Gwaine and Elyan. And even Arthur, but he is in a position of power and I'm going to judge him for not using it. Changing Fandoms!
So basically, Nancy cheating on Steve is what started making me get more critical of her and the show. Because I was a casual watcher at one point (I got into the show Dec 2020, because my cousin and my mother were watching it so I was too) and then Nancy cheated but it was never addressed and my brain went, This is wrong. And then season 3 happened and the Jancy stuff happened and more alarm bells were ringing. Because I was reading fic and simultaneously watching the show and fic portrayed her as this paragon. So I knew fandom wasn't addressing it either. And I got even more judgy because cheating is objectively bad, but most of it was saying it wasn't cheating or Steve deserved it. And yeah, that's how Nancy cheating got me into this position. Because we do not like cheating in this household.
Like yeah, the media puts all of Robin's work on Nancy's shoulders. Robin says that "Nancy's shot in the dark was a perfect bullseye!" but the narrative never acknowledges that Robin was the one to find that information. Like I agree that the narrative gives all the credit to Nancy and very little to Robin even though Robin is doing the heavy lifting.
yes this is all so true about BBC Merlin! also like it is a tragedy anyway and we know it's coming (which the execution may have not been the best but it's still a tragedy) Lancelot and Merlin's friendship means so much to me honestly - like it's so sad though that Lancelot was the only knight to really know merlin for his magic and etc. YES! it really is showing that arthur keeps merlin as a servant like idk why he didn't at least make merlin have higher status or something ya know? literally all of those characters are amazing and i love them too (also you are so valid about the arthur thing because also ngl i loved him first but a lot of his actions in canon are so yikes to me and i acknowledge that)
anyway lol change in fandoms. legit same about the cheating thing - ngl i really don't remember what my impression was of Nancy at the beginning but now she's just become such a meh character to me. omg i may have also started that year or maybe the year after (wait lol it might have been the year after thinking about it now) but anyway same I was such a causal viewer too. i can't believe that people said steve deserved it but also i can because legit the reactions with steve (especially in season 1) were so expressive that yeah i can see that honestly it's insane how long this ignoring of cheating and the cheating debate has gone on like people are STILL debating about it which is weird because even if people don't see her hooking up with joanthan cheating - SHE STILL EMOTIONALLY CHEATED ON STEVE BY KNOWING THAT SHE WANTED TO BE WITH JONATHAN THE WHOLE TIME IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP!!!! like she knew before she got back together with steve that she wanted to be with Jonathan - that's called EMOTIONAL CHEATING! like anyway that turned into a rant lol.
yeah they put so much of robin's work to nancy - and that line is insane because i believe when robin says that THEY STILL DON'T KNOW HOW IT FULLY CONNECTS TO WHAT IT HAPPENING!! a;lso sirry that i keep using caps lock but i like to use it to emphasize lol. but yeah you are so right
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how do you feel about morgwen's falling-out? haven't seen any talk about that
Ooooh yes good question anon😌
Short answer: their falling out gives me pain, but I also think it had potential to be even angstier.
Long answer:
Ok so season 1 & 2 we have our morgwen happy as can be. They are the best of friends despite status and we have been shown that they will do anything for the other.
Season 3 happens, and we see our lovely morgwen start to fall apart and oh the pain.
Personally, I feel upset about Morgana and Gwen’s falling out because of how close they were to each other in the previous seasons, but then in season 3, suddenly, it’s not as important anymore until the season finale.
Also, I feel like Morgana framing Gwen as a sorcerer just to get her out of the picture w/o an ounce of hesitation or regret was a little ooc. This is just me of course, but after seeing how much they cared and how far Morgana was willing to go to protect and care for Gwen (for example hiring an assassin to kill Uther after he killed Gwen’s dad and begging Uther to save Gwen in s2 when bandits kidnapped her instead of Morgana)....Morgana being okay to have Gwen be accused of sorcery just because she saw a vision of her on the throne with Arthur feels off. And then she expects Gwen to still be loyal to her once it is found out that it was Morgana who was the one that almost had her executed.
What I’m saying is that based on their dynamic and relationship shown previously to be very close, Morgana should not have been as determined to kill Gwen as she was in Queen of Hearts (ep 3x10). Personally, I feel like Morgana would try to sway Gwen to her side rather than kill her (like she did in the season 3 finale, but that just ended up feeling empty after what happened to Gwen only two episodes before). Gwen already has a vendetta against Uther. He killed her father solely because he housed a sorcerer without knowing said guest was a sorcerer. I highly doubt that Gwen ever forgave him for that. Also, Gwen had already been accused of sorcery in s1, so Morgana could use that to sway Gwen in a way.
I know that by s3 Morgana didn’t care about Uther or Arthur or Merlin, but she still cared about Gwen. Gwen was a constant in her life. Her only friend for a long time, so I doubt she would be so quick as to frame Gwen of using magic.
Anyway, I do think the falling out of morgwen had potential, but I feel like it needed some work. I always get really upset about friendships falling out just because these are people who have been so close to each other for who knows how long, but soon their dynamic changes and they can’t seem to click anymore. It’s angsty, it’s tragic, but it’s a really good relationship arc to see.
In s4’s finale, we can hear the anguish in Gwen’s voice when she asks what she has done to make Morgana hate her. And Morgana only says it’s what Gwen will do that makes her hate her once dear friend. (edit: which is a fucking gut punch of angst and would be even more impactful if s3 gave more focus on morgwen’s falling out).
By s5, Morgana and Gwen are no longer friends. They are far from it, actually, and I doubt that anything from their relationship would ever mend now. Morgana tortured Gwen until she was a helpless pawn for Morgana’s plans. Looking from there to where they started is just tragic, and should have been explore more.
Personally again, I think if we saw more of their relationship drifting apart in season 3 it wouldn’t feel as unnatural and off kilter as it felt in the show. For example:
Morgana starts noticing how close Gwen is getting with Arthur. This is something that confuses her because Arthur, to her, is enemy by association. Uther is his father and is anti-magic and Arthur has shown not enough proof that he is any different from him. She starts to asks her friend questions. They are subtle at first but as the season goes on they get a little more nosy, a little more accusatory.
Morgana doesn’t understand. How can Gwen even begin to like someone who’s father is the reason why her own is dead? Arthur stood by and did nothing! It was Morgana who fought for her. It was always Morgana who spoke against such atrocities. Never Arthur.
Gwen is upset with Morgana’s questioning. She doesn’t understand why this has bothered her so much. Doesn’t she know that the faults of someone’s father does not mean that they too are at the same fault? They start having mini arguments that soon become heated and loud, and eventually, the room is always stifled whenever they’re together. Gwen stops answering her questions.
Morgana sees the vision of Gwen on the throne (this time a little earlier than the queen of hearts episode). It’s not terrible. She looks happy. It’s been a long time since Morgana has been privy to one of her maidservant’s bright smiles. Then dream Gwen looks to her right, and Morgana sees Arthur on the throne next to Gwen’s. She wakes up screaming.
From then on, Morgana does everything in her power to stop the two of them from being together. She tells Morgause that it’s because the throne should be hers and hers alone. She doesn’t tell her sister the second reason.
She begins by seeding doubt in Arthur. He was always insecure about many things. It had frustrated Morgana before. How one little word from his father caused him to shut down. She had always wanted to scream and shake his shoulders to make him understand how wrong Uther was. Before, she would try her best to tell him, to show him that he can be someone worthy of great feats without his father’s approval. Now, she’s glad the cracks are there, and she prods into him like she always does, but this time it’s not to help him. This time, she wants to see him crumble and fall.
This time she plants more doubt instead of that passionate reassurance and self-righteous will. She tells him about whether he’s truly sure he can love Gwen. Could he really put away his responsibilities of Camelot for a serving girl? That’s not fair to Gwen is it. To string her around while Arthur is still a prince only to drop her once he’s king. It’s not honorable and in no way noble. She plants those seeds the best way she can and waits for them to fester and grow. However, she forgot one thing in her plan for making Arthur doubt. He isn’t alone anymore.
She tries the same for Gwen, but her maid is too confident, too strong willed to let doubt enter her mind now. Morgana always admired that about her, but now it’s just frustrating. Not even a threat from Uther to the both of them seemed to deter their relationship. They’ve just become more secretive.
Gwen doesn’t talk to Morgana like she usually did. Their relationship is a professional one, and Morgana can feel her rage festering. (She doesn’t know that Gwen feels the same pain she does, but Gwen just can’t be close to her like before. Morgana has changed, and Gwen fears it’s too late to stop it.)
Morgana begins to hate Arthur more. No longer just by association. He took Gwen from her. He took her closest friend. How dare he! Gwen is hers. Forever her bright sun, forever loyal. What he has done is unforgivable.
When she and Morgause take over Camelot, Morgana tries again. She tries to show Gwen that what she’s doing isn’t bad. Who’s bad is Uther. Uther Pendragon is the cause, and she’s only bringing justice. Gwen fears Morgana has already lost that goal, but she stays silent. She allows Morgana believe Gwen is still loyal until she and Leon flee to where Arthur is and take back the kingdom.
Gwen....her sweet, darling sunshine...Gwen left her. And Morgana cracks.
So yeah....uh, that’s how I personally feel like what would make their falling out a little better since it definitely had the potential but not everything was there, in my opinion.
I do get really upset about their falling out only because of how close the show had them be. So, if they really want us to believe that Morgana would want to hurt Gwen, maybe they could have drawn out them drifting apart.
And those are me thoughts. I do apologize anon that I sort of went off on a tangent there soooo😅. I just wanted to show how I would have done their falling out in s3. I also apologize if it’s a little incoherent and rambly.
#thanks for the ask anon!#i also mostly focused on morgana and how she felt soooo sorry about that#gwen definitely did not have it easy either#at one point morgana was her friend then she wanted to kill her then keep her loyalty while killing innocents to show power#then try to kill her again then torture her into submission.....her relationship with morgana towards the end is not a friendly one#i wouldn’t be surprised if gwen had nightmares about morgana coming to kill her#gwen never actually knew why morgana came to hate her so much#to her it was more of a whiplash that to the audience#it’s really sad when you just sit and think about it#to add more angst by s3 morgwen is an unrequited love on morgana’s side#i do think morgana loved gwen a lot but when learning about gwen’s affections for arthur she became confused#add on that she was ambitious for the throne and was obsessed with achieving that goal#i bet that morgana was obsessed with keeping things and people that are ‘hers’ away from anyone else which included gwen#to learn that arthur was taking away someone she valued would probably make her go insane and try to stop them#but anyway that’s just me and adding my own morgwen angst into the mix plus my own interpretation on how they’re falling out could have gone#bbc merlin#morgwen#merlin meta#long post#i hope some of this makes sense in a way
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Merlin Week Day 2: Favorite story arc(s) or themes -- Morgana’s Bastardization Arc
Also crossposted to ao3
Okay so this one might be a bit controversial, but my favorite character arc in Merlin, is Morgana’s. I think it was incredibly well done.
It all comes down to one line that she says to Arthur as early as season 1, “Sometimes you have to do what’s right and damn the consequences”. In the first two seasons, we see only the positive aspects of that belief. It makes Morgana one of the most outspoken and determined characters in the show. She disregards the risks to herself in order to help people.
In Season 1, Episode 3, she risks herself twice to do what she thinks is the right thing, and the audience would agree is the right thing. First, she stands up to Uther on Gwen’s behalf, and argues a pro sorcery stance. She claims that even if Gwen were responsible for healing her father, it doesn’t make Gwen evil. It makes Gwen kind, someone who doesn’t wish someone she cares about suffer. Given Uther’s attitudes on magic, and his power over her, that is an incredibly risky point to argue. She does it anyway because it could save Gwen. Later in the same episode she risks her life in a more visceral way by going after the Afanc with Arthur and Merlin. At the time, she did not yet have her magic, but she knew Arthur would need all the help he could get, and she was willing to risk herself to give it to him. In Season 1, Episode 8, she rescues young Mordred, gets caught, and still helps. It doesn’t matter to her that Uther is threatening to execute the person helping Mordred, she knows that leaving a child to die is wrong, so she helps concoct a plan to get him away from Camelot at great risk to herself. She goes with Merlin to Ealdor in Season 1, episode 10 though she would be facing down armed bandits, simply because Merlin is her friend, and it isn’t right to leave him to fight alone. He’d helped her, so she wants to help him even if it means a risking herself.
She has an argument with Uther in Season1, Episode 12 that eerily parallels the argument she had in Episode 3. Once again, she argues for mercy on behalf of someone accused of sorcery. In this case, it’s Gwen’s father. This episode marks the first time we see the shadows on the edges of her belief in “Do what’s right and damn the consequences”. This is where she first turns against Uther and allies herself with Toren. As an audience, we bring our personal ethics to this situation. It is hard to disagree with Morgana’s motivations for wanting to assassinate Uther, which makes it difficult to disagree with the action of assassinating him. (In this case, Merlin’s internal conflict stands in for the audience is experiencing.) Importantly, Gaius provides insight on how destructive Morgana’s self-righteous actions can be. He makes the very important point that Arthur is not ready to be king. He is young and still unexperienced. Killing Uther would cause Camelot to erupt in chaos, and an unexperienced king on the throne at a time when peace treaties are not well upheld, could lead to war. (And though Gaius does not explicitly say that it would lose countless lives, we as an audience know that soldiers aren’t the only people who die in war). This is the first instances in which it is shown that Morgana’s focus on personal consequences ignores societal consequences. This marks the beginning of Morgana’s descent into madness.
In Season 2, Uther’s actions further turn her against him. Once again, it’s difficult to argue against her desire to see him removed from power by any means necessary. He’s caused untold harm in his time as king. However, her justifiable hatred of Uther, also blinds her to Arthur’s virtues. In Season 2, Episode 4, she truly believes that Arthur isn’t going after Gwen when she is kidnapped. Despite knowing that Arthur has already defied Uther in order to save Merlin’s life, she sees Arthur not arguing with Uther as a betrayal of their friend, rather than what it actually is. A tactic to keep Uther’s eyes off of him while he prepares to go after her anyway. In a scene that will parallel her relationship to Arthur for the rest of the series, Arthur says, “If you would stop shouting at me, you would notice that I am packing!” She is so caught up in her righteousness that she can’t see that Arthur is doing the best with the situations he is given. For the rest of the series she believes that he is not fit to be king because he does not legalize magic, while ignoring that he inherited Uther’s enemies, magical and non-magical alike.
Season 2 is also where Morgana allies herself with Morgause. She is so relieved to find someone else like her, she once again doesn’t stop to think about the greater social consequences of Morgause’s plan. She doesn’t stop to think that the Knights of Medhir will kill anyone in their way to get to Uther, and once again doesn’t consider how killing Uther with no plan for after could lead to more deaths than Uther causes. By Season 3, her righteousness has condemned not just Uther, but Camelot as a whole. She wants to burn it all down and leave the rubble behind. She thinks that action is morally correct and if she gets caught and killed for her actions, then so be it. It will still have laid a ground work for magical freedom. What she does not stop to consider, when she is animating skeletons to kill people, is that there are people who live in Camelot who might be on her side concerning magic, but have no way of standing up to the king. She doesn’t care that they might be killed in her war on Uther, to her they are an invisible block of people. Which considering that she doesn’t know Merlin has magic, but does know he agrees with her that magic isn’t evil, is especially foolish. She is still doing what is right, and damn the consequences, but not considering all the consequences.
What finally condemns her to her destined path is not her desire to bring magic back to Camelot, it is her desire for power. When people complain about Morgana being the villain for trying to help people, they miss that Morgana’s motivations changed. Morgana doesn’t seem to realize it either, which is a lovely bit of commentary on how her righteousness blinded portions of the audience too. When she finds out she is Uther’s daughter and has a rightful claim to the throne, her motivation is no longer the desire to bring magic back. It is her slogan to get people on her side, but that isn’t why she’s doing it. She’s attacking Arthur for the throne because she subconsciously wants the power, she thinks she deserves it. In Season 3 and 4, when she speaks to Agravaine and Morgause about Gwen ascending to the throne, she does not express frustration that she cannot use the power the throne gives her to bring magic back if Gwen is queen. She expresses disgust over Gwen ascending at all, saying, “In my dreams that peasant sits upon my throne”. Morgana might think she plans to use the throne as a tool to bring magic back, but the two times she manages to capture Camelot, she makes no moves towards that goal. Instead, she spends her time terrorizing the knights and the commoners.
She has been living in her righteousness for so long that she has twisted herself into thinking that anything she does is right, and therefore any consequences that happen are a necessary evil. Season 1 Morgana would never have thought to fire into a crowd of innocent people to punish the knights. If Uther had tried anything half as heinous as that, Morgana would have gotten herself thrown in the dungeons or killed from arguing with him. Yet, Season 3 Morgana takes the action unprompted to try to solidify support for her claim to her throne. Season 1 Morgana would have been horrified at the thought of starving prisoners and making them fight against well-armed soldiers while they had nothing but a wooden sword to defend themselves. Yet, Season 4 Morgana does exactly that to Gwaine, for no other reason than she hates him. To her, these are the consequences others must face for doing what they think is right.
Queen Annis said in best in Season 4, Episode 4, “I am afraid you are more like Uther than you want to admit”.
Morgana’s devotion to doing what’s right but damn the consequences is exactly what leads her down her dark path. She loses her heart in her self-righteousness. She cannot see the shades of grey the way she used to, she can only see right.
#merlinweek2022#merlin#bbc merlin#merlin bbc#morgana pendragon#morgana#merlin meta#bbc merlin meta#merlin bbc meta#morgana meta#morgana pendragon meta#my meta#merlin week 2022
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Camlann, except no one is being held back by stupid destinies;
Merlin manages to keep Morgana and Mordred on the side of the light, which has a few rather influential knock-on effects.
Morgause leads her army onto the barren fields of Camlann, her hair and eyes wild, but her sword and focus sharp. Opposite stands her traitor sister’s half brother, the Boy-King of Camelot, surrounded by his precious knights. Today, they would all die, she would make certain of that.
Arthur struggles to keep his hands from trembling, he’s well aware that this battle will likely be his, and subsequently Camelot’s, downfall, but his nerves are settled slightly by Merlin’s comforting presence at his side. Which he feels immensely guilty at.
He’d done his best to urge Merlin to run, to take Gwen and Gaius and maybe even Morgana, to go to Ealdor to pick up his mother and run even further, just in case. Merlin had refused of course; Gwen and Morgana had squawked at Arthur’s stupid chivalry and planted their feet firmly in the throne room, a symbolic last line of defence, and Gaius rolled his eyes and reaffirmed that he would be in the infirmary tent, as planned.
He’d given his men his speech and they all seemed content to die for the cause, for one last desperate attempt to keep their home safe, but that didn’t stop the freezing claw of guilt from shredding Arthur’s lungs every time he took a breath. They were just waiting now. For someone to make the first move, for Morgause to get a little closer, for someone to send a messenger.
Arthur’s broken from his stare when a warm, soft, steady hand takes his gently. His head whips to the side to see Merlin, stood without armour (oh, how The King despaired) staring at him with a slight frown. A frown, Arthur thinks, that should be much deeper, and much more afraid. He’s grateful it isn’t. He’s not sure he could cope with seeing Merlin scared:
“Arthur, if... if I knew a way to win this, once and for all, with not a drop of Camelot blood spilt... would you let me?”
It takes Arthur a few moments to process what Merlin had said, on account of his brain focusing on how grateful he is to hear his voice and feel the warmth of his hand instead of actually listening to him speak, but when he does, he copies his servant’s frown, though his is slightly more confused. He doesn’t let go of Merlin’s hand as he responds, instead tightening his grip:
“What on Earth are you talking about?”
Merlin gulps and looks away briefly, a look of guilt if Arthur ever saw one, but he finds he doesn’t really care. They’re all about to die, he’d forgive Merlin anything:
“If I could win this battle, and the war, right here, right now. Would you let me?-”
At Arthur’s continued perplexed look, Merlin rolls his eyes and huffs, smirking slightly as he adds on:
“-Just humour me.”
Arthur gulps, glancing towards the slowly advancing army before once again squeezing Merlin’s hand and looking back at him:
“It would... depend on the consequences, I suppose. Would you get hurt?”
Merlin shakes his head, then stops, and tilts it sideways as though he’s considering something he’d really rather not think about. He can’t meet Arthur’s gaze as he responds:
“I... might need a few hours to rest, afterwards, but any... long term consequences would depend on your reaction.”
Arthur recoils slightly at that, frown deepening as he shakes his head, completely oblivious to the keen listening ears of his six most loyal knights, and another, hidden towards the back of the group. If he’d turned to see them, Arthur would’ve noticed the blank looks of steely determination on Lancelot and Mordred’s faces:
“Well we would never have to worry about that. I... I could never see you hurt, Merlin.”
The King’s voice cracks as he mentions Merlin getting hurt, and the servant’s gaze softens, knowing that Arthur was thinking of their inevitable demise, creeping closer and closer. He squeezes his hand, giving him a soft smile as his other hand lifts up to rest on his shoulder; his question comes out soft and pleading:
“Do you trust me?”
Arthur has to use all of his self control not to yell his answer across Camlann:
“More than anyone.”
Merlin smiles sadly and steps back, dropping both of his still-steady hands to his sides; Arthur feels the gap between them more heavily than he feels the armour on his back. Merlin goes to turn away without another word, but before he can take even one step, a figure is pushing through to the front, gripping his wrist and pulling him back:
“I’m coming too.”
Arthur’s eyes go comically large as he hears Morgana’s voice come from under the hood. He steps forward to rip it down, and she only spares him an annoyed glance before she’s back to staring purposefully at Merlin. A gasp goes up around the group from all bar two, and Mordred dismounts his horse, walking forward to be in line with Morgana. The three of them entirely ignore Arthur’s outraged words:
“Morgana, what the hell are you doing here? You need to be safe at the castle, you’re meant to take the crown what the hell are you doing here?!”
Merlin meets Morgana’s determined glare with a resigned one of his own:
“No, this is my-”
Mordred interrupts him, his voice strong in a way that Arthur had never heard from the youngest knight before:
“No. No, it’s not. You’re not just fighting for Camelot, Merlin, you’re fighting or us, for our people.”
Merlin looks like he wants to argue, but Morgana crosses her arms and holds her head high as she speaks:
“You’re making a stand and you have no right to stop us from doing the same. This is bigger than you, bigger than all three of us, this is our fight just as much as it is yours.”
Merlin can only hold their stare for so long before he sighs and looks to the floor, entirely oblivious to the knights panicking (bar Lancelot, of course). He looks up with a small, relaxed smile on his face, and if Arthur weren’t so preoccupied with the fact that Morgana was definitely not supposed to be here, he would’ve found Merlin’s almost-nonchalance calming. The servant holds both his hands out:
“Together?”
Mordred grins widely, taking one of Merlin’s wrists as he responds confidently:
“For Camelot.”
Morgana does the same, a sudden wind whipping her hair behind her wildly:
“For our people.”
Without another moment’s of hesitation, Merlin turns and marches towards Morgause and her army. His steps are purposeful and strong, and Arthur can’t bring himself to stop him, no matter how desperately his brain is screaming at him. Morgana turns to him with a not-quite-cruel smirk:
“This has been a long time coming, brother. Enjoy the show.”
Arthur can only blink in surprise as she turns and walks towards Merlin. Mordred looks to him next, though the young knight’s smile is a lot softer, a lot more pitying:
“You should consider yourself lucky, Arthur,-”
Arthur barely registers the use of his first name:
“-my Lord gave up his throne in favour of serving you, buried his crown in favour of polishing yours.”
Arthur shakes his head slightly, his voice quiet and confused and strained as he asks:
“Your Lord?”
Mordred looks to Merlin, still marching across the seemingly never-ending field, with an awed smile; his voice is quiet and holds notes of what almost sound like worship:
“He’s more than you know.”
Before Arthur can respond, Merlin and Morgana stop, turning to look at Mordred expectantly. Merlin stares blankly, his brows slightly furrowed, but Morgana sports a wild grin as she yells back:
“I though you wanted to join in on the fun, Mordred?”
The young knight grins in response, turning to Arthur and giving him one last short bow as he cheerfully says, not a trace of worry in his voice:
“Lady Morgana is right My Lord, enjoy the show.”
He turns away quickly, jogging to catch up with the other two before anyone can say anything. Gwaine is the first to react, jumping off his horse and starting forward, to catch up with them, to pull them back, to ask them what the fuck was going on, but Lance quickly lands behind him, grabbing his shoulder:
“Wait, don’t. You trust them right?-”
He casts his gaze around the others, all looking slightly confused but mostly panicked as they dismount their horses. Mordred, Merlin, and Morgana make their journey to the centre of the field, but Lancelot’s eyes focuses on Arthur:
“-You said you trusted him, so just... this is what he does, Arthur. Please, just trust him, everything’s going to be ok.”
Arthur is desperate to question his knight, to demand that he explain what’s going on and give up anything, everything he knows, but before he can say anything, Elyan gasps and points somewhere beyond their friends. The whole army seems to resume their earlier jitters as Morgause differentiates herself from her soldiers.
~
The three magic users spread out slightly as they come to a stop, Mordred on the left, Morgana on the right, and Merlin, of course, in the middle.
A storm seems to be fast approaching and the loud wind makes hearing each other difficult, but they don’t need words to speak, and Mordred’s question echoes in Merlin’s head as all of their gazes focus on Morgause stepping forward:
“Are the other two coming?”
The Warlock nods, tapping his finger to his temple briefly as he replies:
“I called for them hours ago, they’re almost-”
~
Arthur is distracted from all that’s in front of him when a desperate and terrified voice screeches out from the back of his army:
“DRAGONS!!”
He, and all the other knights, whip their heads around in panic, only to see exactly what had been yelled about. The Dragon that Arthur had supposedly killed years ago is flying towards them like a hurricane, golden scales shining bright even in the shadows of the approaching storm. Next to him flies a much smaller dragon, pure white and clearly young, unstable in the air but still graceful, still terrifying.
Arthur’s heart sinks even impossibly further as they both fly straight over them, aiming for the other side of the field. If Morgause had two Dragons at her beck and call somehow, there was no hope, no matter what ridiculous plan Merlin had. Arthur felt the tears fill his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall. If this was to end in fire, then he’d sprint to Merlin, just so he could see him, hold his hands, beg him for a smile, one last time.
Lancelot holds him back with a hand on his shoulder and a soft smile:
“I know this doesn’t make sense, but just... trust him.”
He turns back to Merlin just to see the great beasts land in front of them, almost acting as a barrier between the three of them and the opposing army.
~
“-Took you long enough.”
Kilgharrah does his best imitation of rolled eyes before dipping his head in a bow:
“Where would you like us, young Warlock?”
Merlin grins, allowing Aithusa to push her head into his hands as he answers:
“I want you somewhere off to the side looking vaguely threatening. Only intervene if you have to, I don’t want the Camelot knights getting twitchy and skewering you, you’re an old man after all, I’m not sure you could take it.-”
Morgana laughs aloud and Mordred snorts behind his hand, but Kilgharrah just rolls his eyes again, giving another bow that this time somehow seems sarcastic before clomping off to the side, prowling up and down the edge of the field and huffing the occasional puffs of smoke in the opposition’s direction. Merlin looks down to Aithusa next, scratching her chin and using a much softer voice:
“Go watch over Arthur, keep him safe but don’t let him or any of the others hurt you, I’m sure Lance will explain. Try to stay out of the fighting and don’t let Morgause get anywhere near Arthur or the knights, you understand?”
The creature purrs and nods, stepping around her master and beginning an impossibly fast sprint towards Arthur.
~
Arthur stares with wide eyes at the gathering in the middle of the field, letting out a deep breath when the Great Dragon bows down to Merlin’s confident stance. The smaller creature bounds to him as he... exchanges words with the beasts, and all Arthur can do is stare as his brain argues over which emotion should be at the forefront. Fear? Confusion? Betrayal? Some kind of guilt? Pride, maybe?
Lancelot definitely looks proud, worried, but proud, and Arthur spares him a questioning glance; before he can say anything, Leon lets out a quiet yelp, pointing across the field and drawing his sword on instinct. Arthur whips his head around to see the white Dragon speeding towards them, eyes bright, teeth bared, and sharp claws ripping up the ground with every step.
He draws his own sword, panic clawing at his gut, but before he can step forward in some pointless attempt to protect his men, Lancelot pulls him back again, stepping in between Arthur and the approaching Dragon with a placating hand held out to each of them; his voice comes out quickly and desperate:
“No, no, she’s on our side, don’t hurt her. Merlin sent her here to protect us, don’t hurt her.”
Arthur stares between them with a mix of blood-curdling fear and endless confusion. But he trusts Merlin, and he trusts Lancelot, so much to Leon’s displeasure he lowers his sword, though he doesn’t sheath it, not yet.
The Dragon finally reaches them, coming to a skidding stop a few feet away. Arthur’s fear is overpowered by confusion, and an odd fondness in the back of his mind, when the creature almost topples over in it’s haste. She purrs loudly, and even Leon appears to relax slightly, even more so when she dips her head in what appears to be a bow to Arthur, before turning her attention to Lancelot and pushing her face into his hands.
The other knights all start forward on instinct, but when Lance lets out a low chuckle and begins... scratching the creature’s chin?? They step back again, watching as the Dragon begins purring even louder, almost bowling Lancelot over as it rubs it’s scaled body across his legs. It’s... acting like a cat...
Gwaine coughs very deliberately and Lancelot looks up with a blush, biting his lip before saying, his words awkward and stilted:
“Uh... guys, this is Aithusa, she’s... a Dragon. She can’t speak yet, but-”
Percival makes a confused noise in the back of his throat, shaking his head with wide eyes as he asks incredulously:
“Dragons are meant to be able to speak??”
Lancelot grimaces, but nods, but before he can say anything, Morgause’s crazed voice echoes over the field, and their attention is drawn back to the face off between Merlin, Morgana, Mordred, and the enemy.
~
“You can not beat me, not even with your precious pets!!”
The gang can hear Kilgharrah’s low growl at the insult and the sound vibrates across the ground and up into their very bones, even with the distance between them. Aithusa tenses in response, eyes narrowed and teeth bared as she detects the anger and insult swarming in her Kin, but Merlin holds a hand out to the Great Dragon, and both creatures relax as he monotonously responds:
“I’m giving you one chance, Morgause, do not send your followers to a pointless death.”
His tone is even and confident, his back straight, his head held high, and Arthur wonders how he’d never noticed Merlin’s obvious power before. Despite speaking normally, his voice is heard by everyone, even over the howling wind.
The knights can see Morgause’s hands shaking in her rage, her eyes wide and bright golden as she screeches her response, her anger showing through clearly:
“I am no coward!! You are nothing but a servant, a child soldier, and a pampered princess! What hope do you have against me?! I am a High Priestess, you are nothing!!!”
Merlin lowers his head, nodding slightly in resigned sadness. His muttered words, once again, somehow seem to echo across the field, and Arthur recoils at the grief in his tone:
“So be it.”
He slowly lifts his arm, holding it at a forty-five degree angle from the ground, his fingers splayed wide, and Elyan gasps, pointing wordlessly to the lightening dancing between his fingertips. Gwaine lets out a boisterous laugh, grinning as he realises with sudden clarity that Merlin is about to kick ass in a major way.
Arthur just gapes, struggling to process what was happening even as Gwaine whoops and Lancelot smiles proudly. The other knights are also staring, varying levels of confusion, awe, and happiness on their faces.
From where they’re standing, they can see Mordred and Morgana get into a fighting stance, though neither of them draw the swords they have hanging from their hips. Morgause lets out an ear piercing screech, this one wordless, giving the distinct impression that her mind had snapped under the weight of her fury. Her army begins their march forwards as she hurls a fireball the size of a horse straight for Merlin, but he simply twists his wrist sharply forwards. A bolt of lightening rips down from the sky, intercepting the fireball and forcing it to the ground where it explodes in a miniature storm of silver sparks and golden flames.
Morgause screams again, her and her army speeding up in their approach as Merlin gives some sort of unseen command. All of a sudden, Mordred gives a small leap forward, planting his feet firmly as he thrusts his hands towards the ground before ripping them up again; with the movement, the ground at his feet explodes, vines and rocks and roots bursting from the field in a sharp line heading straight for the army. Morgana, at the same time, swirls her arms gracefully around her head, a few sparks of fire lighting up in the darkness as if from the friction between her hands and the air. She brings her arms down again, completing the elegant flow, stepping forward as she blows harshly into her cupped hands. A great, hot fire bursts forth, huge and angry and writhing as it shoots towards the enemy.
A few feeble counter attacks are thrown from Morgause and the sorcerers she has in her ranks, but ultimately, the army can only look on in horror at their approaching deaths. After a few moments of Merlin staring proudly at Mordred and Morgana’s handy work as it rips apart the first few hundred soldiers, he takes his own step forward, raising his arm to the sky. Lightening dances between just his fingertips at first, then down his arm, then all over his body; he connects to the flashes in the sky, and he glows brighter and brighter until he thrusts both arms forward. A tornado of flashing, crackling light shoots out from his hands, striking down thousands of soldiers. Shards of lightening jump from enemy to enemy, leaving none untouched by magic, each being struck down by Mordred’s earth, Morgana’s fire, or Merlin’s sky.
The Camelot army can only stare on in shock and horror as the enemy is wiped out in minutes, screams of those being buried alive, burned as if on pyres, or fried from the inside out reverberating across the field. Arthur’s mouth hangs open, his eyes wide and frozen on Merlin as he conducts lightening as if it were what he was born to do. Something deep in Arthur’s soul tells him that this is what he was born to do.
Aithusa’s protection isn’t required; none of the enemy soldiers get within ten metres of Merlin and his pupils, let alone Arthur and the other knights, but she patrols the front edge of Camelot’s army regardless, nudging back those that step too far forward (everyone was too focused on The King’s manservant, knight, and half sister being... well... Godlike, to care about the fact that a Dragon was using her snout to gently push people around), always with one eye on Arthur, just like her master had asked.
Within minutes, the field goes almost silent; the only sounds to be heard are the gentle crackling of still-smouldering bodies, and the deep breaths of Morgause, Mordred, Morgana, and Arthur. Merlin seems entirely unbothered, his stance still strong and powerful where Mordred and Morgana sag slightly from the exertion.
Morgause falls to her knees, tears on her cheeks as she finally realises the power that she’s up against; Merlin tilts his head slightly before clicking his fingers. The four of them disappear in clouds of deep black smoke and Arthur struggles to stop himself from yelping and falling back when they reappear in front of him.
Morgause is still kneeling, Merlin in front of her with a blank expression on his face. Morgana stands to the side, her face an odd mix of sorrowfully defeated—Morgause was her sister after all—and vindictively victorious. Mordred stands at her shoulder, looking a lot more tired but still managing to stay upright as he gazes upon the scene with well put together indifference. Aithusa bounds over to be stood at her master’s side, and even Kilgharrah joins them, standing behind Aithusa a way’s off.
Morgause finally speaks through her deep breathing, staring up at Merlin in desperation:
“Who are you?”
Merlin just tilts his head and frowns slightly, crouching down to place a soft hand on her shoulder:
��Who do you think?”
Morgause sags even further, her tears streaming down her face as she almost whispers, her voice cracking:
“Emrys.”
Merlin nods slowly, looking to Arthur for the first time since the whole ordeal started. Arthur is taken aback at the shining gold of his eyes, but holds his gaze, gulping and waiting for his servant (?) to make the first move:
“Your orders, My Lord?”
Arthur takes a deep breath, looking first down at Morgause, who is staring at the floor blankly, then to Mordred and Morgana, who raise eyebrows at him, then Lancelot, who shrugs, and finally the other knights, who stare at him with wide eyes, waiting for his answer just as Merlin is. His hands clench at his side, but he looks back to the dark-haired man, his face determined and his voice strong:
“Your suggestion?”
Lancelot nods approvingly at Arthur’s obvious show of trust; the question is more than just a question, it’s a display that The King is treating Merlin like an advisor, asking for his counsel and trusting his allegiance in front of a crowd. Merlin smiles slightly, tightening his grip on Morgause’s shoulder, not that she notices:
“I’m not overly fond of execution, but we don’t have dungeons strong enough to hold her long term, and too many have suffered at her hand.”
Arthur nods, though he sheathes his sword. He takes a deep breath before his next instruction, knowing that this is... delicate, and important; a turning point in his Kingdom’s history:
“Make it merciful.”
Merlin holds in his proud smile and Morgause only has time to gasp quietly as his hand moves from her shoulder to her forehead. Her eyes roll back and she collapses to the floor, dead before she even hits the ground.
The Warlock spares the dead witch a quick, pitying glance, and the grief in his eyes, even after all she had done, is endearing, reminding everyone around them of the compassion Merlin is capable of. He stands quickly, but is careful not to make any of his moves too sudden, stepping away from the body and towards Arthur. His stance is strong once again, allowing some before unseen authority, confidence, power to shine through; Mordred and Morgana take their places either side of them, and even Aithusa sits up, tall and proud, as Kilgharrah edges forward slightly.
This is Merlin, showing off his army, presenting it to his King, offering it up for judgment. An army consisting of himself, his two apprentices, and two Dragons; not large, but likely the most powerful the land has ever known, and ever will know.
Arthur gulps, but meets Merlin’s golden gaze. The atmosphere is thick and charged and The King couldn’t pinpoint whether it was from the residual lightening still jumping between Merlin’s fingers, or the sheer power that was just displayed, seemingly effortlessly. He glances over the Warlock’s shoulder at the carnage behind him and can’t help but take a deep, fortifying breath. Merlin tilts his head, glancing at the massacre for just a moment before looking back with an almost repentant smile:
“I apologise for the theatrics,-”
He’s interrupted by Morgana’s whispered murmur of “I don’t, that was brilliant.” but ignores her:
“-but I can... fix that. If you like?”
Arthur frowns slightly, confused and so far out of his comfort zone that he doesn’t even want to hazard a guess at what Merlin might be implying. He feels a mould grow spontaneously in his gut, a horror with spores that spread throughout his bloodstream as he realises that... he doesn’t really know anything about magic, about how it works, about how Merlin is offering to use it. It had yet to occur to him to be afraid of Merlin, but the sudden realisation that he’d been persecuting his servant’s people with no real understanding of his own former hatred was... jarring.
The Warlock sees Arthur’s hesitation, widening his reassuring smile slightly as he repeats an earlier question, from a time that felt as though it had come years before, but was really only minutes. The discrepancy in timelines between Arthur’s head and the real world does not alter the King’s answer
“Do you trust me?”
“More than anyone.”
Merlin closes his eyes, holding his hands out to the side slightly as he lets out a deep breath. The storm, which Arthur and the knights had become entirely oblivious of despite it’s ruinous thunder and blinding flashes of lightening, quickly dissipates; blue sky and bright sun peek through the fading clouds. A gold shimmer ripples out across the ground from Merlin’s feet, spreading backwards like a wave over sand, turning pebbles and leaving the beach clean and fresh in it’s wake. The ground clears, bodies sinking into nothingness and fires being smothered by magic, even Morgause disappears into the dirt.
Arthur absentmindedly thinks that that could be seen as honorary or disgracing; he supposes it depends on what type of person you were before the end of your life. Merlin would see being entombed within the Earth itself as a blessing, he somehow thinks that Morgause, with her God complex and inflated feelings of infallibility, would find it... demeaning.
Merlin sags his head slightly, and when Arthur’s brain comes back into focus, mostly prompted by the gasping and widespread whispers of the uneasy army behind him, he sees that the barren fields of Camlann, soaked with blood and scorched by lightening, no longer exist. In their place was a vast meadow, bright with the colours of spring and summer; untameable wildflowers stood tall and crimson butterflies were the only reminders of the bloodshed that had watered this paradise before them.
Arthur feels the smile on his face before he had even made the conscious decision to smile, but he decides that today, of all days, he doesn’t mind accidentally wearing his heart on his sleeve. Trust Merlin to do something as unspeakable as rip an army to shreds with lightening, and then apologise for his dramatics by creating heaven on earth.
The King sighs before shaking his head slightly, letting out a short, disbelieving laugh. He can feel the sun on his skin, and his smile grows with the knowledge that the heat warming his cheeks was entirely unnatural for this time of year; Merlin really was pulling out all of the stops.
“You’re a gift to this world, Merlin.”
His voice comes out softly, as if he were afraid of ruining the peace, though he only adds to it; The King finally turns to his Warlock again and almost stumbles back at the immeasurable devotion shining from his now-blue-again eyes. His whispered response carries on the wind as if he were a part of it, and Arthur wonders just how much of this world Merlin has touched, just how much of this universe Merlin has created, extended himself to. Did the wind exist before Merlin? Did the sun? Did butterflies, or lightening, or the colour gold have any space in this universe before Merlin willed it? Gaius’ thick books say they have an answer, but Arthur thinks they might be lying:
“A gift to you, Arthur, only to you.”
~
THE END!
I’ve been looking forward to writing this one for a while, so I hope y’all liked it!! I LOVE writing BAMF!Merlin, (and BAMF!Mordred/Morgana as well so) :D
Same as always, you wanna extend it/write it properly/remix it, then that’s fine, but drop me message before hand and credit/tag me!! :)
#merthur#bbc merlin#good mordred#good morgana#bamf merlin#arthur pendragon#camlann#camlann fix it#powerful merlin#morgana#mordred#sir mordred#leon#sir leon#gwaine#sir gwaine#percival#sir percival#elyan#sir elyan#lancelot#sir lancelot#gaius#gwen#guinevere#morgause#emrys#camelot#knights#the knights of camelot
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