#bbc responds

[safedistancefrombeingsmart]

The lovely @khorazir generously bid on me for FTH 2024 and gave me an amazing prompt that immediately excited me: combine Martin's characters Chris from The Responder and John from Sherlock and let them meet each other. The 1st ideas came quickly, but in the end it wasn't until September (!) until I finally knew what exactly I wanted to do.

What if John never properly disposed of the gun he shot the cabbie with?

(template)

Thanks to @meandhisjohn for her encouragement when I was doubting myself and was stuck. This is probably the most complex thing I have ever done. 🙈

[noeavoiding]

Adam Nagaitis as Franny || The Responder Series 2

[dollopole]

Today, I offer you:

Dirty Dancing Merthur AU (if you haven’t watched Dirty Dancing, you go watch it now, you child of the most corrupted thing on earth—)

Just joking.

It’s perfect. Frances even gets called “Baby” in the movie, so Arthur can be called “Arthie”. Imagine him falling in love with Merlin, the broke, attractive Cha Cha dancer in the Summer resort he, Morgana, Uther and Ygraine go to to spend their holiday in, and having to keep the relationship a secret, because it’s the 1963—

Morgana gets to dance with Merlin, and Arthur’s jealousy ensue, and UGH, the yearning that can come out from this.

Everything can be a Merthur fic @achillesuwu

[emotinalsupportturtle]

David Tennant: doesn’t want to add fuel to the fire;

David Tennant’s representative: no he doesn’t want to comment

BBC: but what does he think? Surely he wants to tell his side?

David Tennant’s representative: ….no

BBC: just a quote??

David Tennant’s representative: he’s very busy at the moment

BBC: but what is he doing?

David Tennant’s representative: …..he’s uh… painting his nails

[thinwhitedoc]

losing my mind over his dilfness

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

22 (?) Give us a headcanon for Merlin :)

ok I have a few that are so commonly accepted that they're basically canon, like that he has a thing for knights, or that he hooked up with Will as a teenager

this one isn't that noteable either, but I strongly believe that Merlin is a really talented artist. he has those drawings above his desk and he was able to perfectly replicate Finna's tattoo after only seeing it very briefly. that's super impressive

he wouldn't often have a chance to draw in Camelot, but would relish in the opportunity whenever it arises. He would be like 'oh Gaius needs an illustration of this special plant for his medical archives? I'm on it'

and yeah he could do it with magic, like how he copies a seal of nobility for Lancelot in 1x05, but he wouldn't. he just likes drawing

I especially imagine immortal Merlin being ridiculously skilled at art. almost anyone can become a good artist with enough practice, and Merlin has centuries of it. as much as I love the idea of Merlin being contemporaries with every major historical artist (and a bunch of uncredited artworks being his own work) I don't personally think he would have strayed too far from the UK. but I love in like the cycle of the year, we begin again where he paints a few portraits of Arthur from memory and is pen pals with Leonardo da Vinci

now I'm just rambling about art history, but I think he would have loved the drama of the Baroque period, but would hold a vindictive grudge against the Pre-Raphaelites because 'fuck u Edward Burne-Jones you made me look like a creep'

[icenchrome]

The Last Greatest Franny (2 of 6)

[meandhisjohn]

"Give in to it," says Father Liam.

And this time , I followed his advice.

Our blog on Episode 5 of the Responder. ( S2)

[im-still-a-robot]

The biggest problem with listening to a british podcast as an american is that you end up saying british-isms for a week afterwards. The second biggest issue is having to stop in the middle of a car scene and mirror your mental image because you forgor

[justaz]

immortal merlin and leon spending thousands of years together, supporting one another, and keeping each other's memories of the past alive. merlin slowly, slowly, slowly healing from arthur's death until he finally laughs loud and unweighted at one of leon's stupid jokes. leon watches merlin with a mix of pride and relief because he hasn't seen that merlin since he first stumbled into camelot. merlin looks up at the soft look on leon's face and his mind begins to blur past and present. he mutters something stupid in return and leon grins wide before reaching out to lightly cuff him around the ear. merlin stares at leon's blond hair and blue eyes and sees the ghost of armor donning his skin and finds himself staring at arthur's face instead

[corpyburd]

Myanna Buring as Kate Carson in The Responder S2 with Martin Freeman

[safedistancefrombeingsmart]

@giftober 2024 | Day 27: Blue.

It's a good colour on him.

[roomsofmyheart]

Saw that you wanted to answer these in the rbs of the Merlin ask game, so I wanted to ask you some! Hope it's good even tho I don't know you!

29, 32, 36

29. Knight death that makes you the saddest?

Lancelot.

It was bad enough that he died in the first place but he died TWICE. And the second time he was being used by Morgana and everybody thought it was actually him acting on his own will :(

He died with a ruined image because, for some reason, the show writers never had Merlin explain to Arthur that it wasn’t really Lancelot.

On top of that, we get that heartbreaking scene of the real Lancelot thanking Merlin for putting him to rest and UGHH my heart can’t handle it.

32. Favorite Merlin fic you've read in recent memory?

Oh I’m really enjoying Make It Flow (Everything In the Afterglow) ! I eagerly await the next chapter of this Modern!Merthur fic about Merlin having recently inherited Gaius’s bookshop after his death. Merlin returns back to his hometown, Ealdor, to run the bookshop and meets lawyer Arthur and they kiss kiss fall in love (I assume atleast, it’s not finished yet).

36. Underrated friendship?

Hard to pick just one but Merlin and Gwen’s friendship is a big one for me. They were such cute besties in the earlier seasons and then Gwen becomes Queen and we hardly see their friendship anymore after that :(

[zenosanalytic]

Just saw this on Twitter:

Be careful, Dear Readers: there's misinformation out there EVERYWHERE right now, even from sources you might normally trust.

[sneakyboymerlin]

Gwaine does not seem to like magic much in the later seasons and happily hunts down sorcerers (dragoon, the guy from 5x05, finna) Thoughts on that?

I’ve answered similar questions before! Unfortunately, Tumblr’s search function doesn’t like me, or I’d link to my older analyses 😔

As early as 3x04 (Gwaine’s introductory episode!), Gwaine is implied to have some bias against magic. Not as severe as Arthur’s, but any bias can be dangerous. When Merlin goes to Gaius and Gwaine about the Stulorne blades, this is the reaction he gets:

Gwaine: I've seen those blades in action. They're forged using sorcery.

There’s quite a bit of emphasis on the word “sorcery” here, both in Gwaine’s speech and in the overall use/placement of it. The fact that the blades are forged using sorcery tells our protagonists why they’re capable of deceiving people’s eyes, but it does not in itself imply danger unless you see magic as a danger.

Later, in 3x08, Gwaine remarks on magic with a similar attitude:

Gwaine: Wyverns. Distant cousins of the dragon. They're creatures of magic, so be careful.

Again, Gwaine expresses their capacity for harm by bringing attention to their magical origins. But the worst is in 3x12, when Gwaine does nothing to stop Arthur from holding his sword against the throat of a child simply because he’s a Druid. Rather, Gwaine pulls his sword on the rest of the Druids when they come out to save the boy. It’s Merlin who has to tell Arthur to let him go. So, Gwaine not only sees magic as dangerous, but he believes that magic and innocence (not as in guilt, but as in youth and vulnerability) are mutually exclusive. He dangerously adultifies a kid who’s <10yo.

Thrice, in the introductory era of the character, pretty solidly confirms his perspective. However, Gwaine doesn’t seem to approach magic as an innate evil the way Arthur does. He more or less ignores Grettir, despite his flagrant use of magic to turn Gwaine’s sword into flowers. In season 5, he sees clearly that the Diamair is a creature of magic, but leaves with an understanding that he owes it his life.

Gwaine’s philosophy is openly stated in 3x04: “Nobility is defined by what you do, not by who you are.” If he’s to be true to this logic, then he has to accept that one’s actions/beliefs determine one’s character, rather than their birth circumstances. He has to apply this to magical people and creatures. And he seems to, in relation to Grettir and the Diamair.

Perhaps not so much to those who he believes “chose” magic, for what he may assume is to the end of greed and power—some of the very traits he hates nobles for. However, there is only one instance to go off of, and it takes place in 5x05, where Gwaine’s like, 2 lines are the one that implies this, and the one telling someone to respect Arthur because he’s a king (even though Gwaine only respects Arthur despite that fact), so I’m inclined to ignore it.

As far as Dragoon goes, Gwaine seems to be under the impression that assassinating Uther would be evil, even though he has no motive for this. Uther had him banished and even threatened to cut his tongue out. I suppose he might just think that killing = evil, but considering how he’s employed to do just that—and it’s what he threatens Dragoon with—it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Perhaps because he sees sorcerers as a danger, he doesn’t disapprove of the magic ban, and therefore finds Uther’s death to be unjust?

They never really offer an explanation. I think the safest bet is that Gwaine assumes this means that Dragoon would want Arthur—who still holds the ban on magic in place—dead also. “Dragoon” actually plays into this idea.

It would be the same reason for the Finna situation. Arthur has already decided that she’s a threat, and Gwaine is receiving this information through his word alone. Gwaine’s exact quote is: “There’s a dangerous sorcerer at large,” who he wants to protect Merlin from. (It would be a very different story if Gwaine knew that Merlin was her accomplice—or rather, she is Merlin’s accomplice, heehee.)

So, while Gwaine doesn’t “happily” hunt down sorcerers—seriously, more like—he does show a bias against magic, believing it to be dangerous. However, he is also shown to overlook this bias from time to time, and I think it’s safe to say that he would have been able to make a repeat for Merlin if it came to it.

[thinwhitedoc]

MARTIN FREEMAN as Chris Carson THE RESPONDER (2022-)