#building camelot

[building-camelot]

Say hello to Judas Macchabée, the newest tower in my collection. This leaves only 2 more towers to go until Camelot's outer wall is finished! ✨

This is quite a fun tower, as it's shape is just a little different to what I've made so far. It's more symmetrical! I actually had to glue two flat pieces of paper to each other this time, to create a front an backside (luckily I managed to do so neatly! A mistake there wouldn't have been very forgiving).

The shape behind the upper roof reminds me of those Dutch canal houses, with the pyramid-shaped tops:

I can't wait to see what I'll have to attach to the other side of this tower. It will be a while before this view will be vastly different tho:

Still, very excited to see Camelot grow! 🌱 Current mood: energetic ⚡

[resu-w-ana]

It's been six days and I am losing my mind

[justaz]

post magic reveal, post magic ban lifted, arthur gets to see merlin in all his glory and somehow falls deeper in love with him than he ever thought possible. merlin who is free and accepted and loved and ecstatic by it all, but there's that thought lingering in the back of his mind that only half of their destiny has been fulfilled. magic has returned to camelot but albion is still fractured in many different kingdoms, many of which are still holding onto the hate that uther spread which is seeping into the very fabric of the earth itself. druids and magic users and even magic creatures are still persecuted all across the realm and yeah camelot opened her arms to them but not everyone trusts it (justifiably).

arthur who is choking on the sheer amount of love he has for merlin and promising himself that he'll tell merlin, he'll confess, even if he feelings aren't reciprocated. merlin will know. merlin who has been chewing on an idea for some time now and is planning on bringing it up to arthur. its night as merlin is dressing arthur for bed and they're both quiet and tense. they break at the same time and end up speaking over one another. arthur allows merlin to go first since his nerves are eating away at him. then merlin speaks of leaving.

arthur feels his nerves rot and decay and fall into a bottomless pit. merlin is rambling about how every magical being in albion is still being targeting by various kingdoms and as the prophesied emrys, magic incarnate, druid king, should he not be doing more to help? he doesn't want to leave arthur's side, but he does want to help his people. he's seen only a fraction of the atrocities committed against them and he wishes to protect them, give them somewhere completely safe, a kingdom of magic so to speak. he promises that he'll only be gone for as long as it takes to establish a kingdom (a year? two? three?) but he promises to write and visit often...as long as arthur gives him permission and allows him to leave his service for the time being.

arthur of course agrees, half unhappy about it but completely understanding. surely, out of everyone, he is the one who can understand the weight of responsibility weighing on merlin's shoulders. he mentions that merlin will need someone with experience wearing the crown to guide him. plus, balance. merlin was always there for arthur, guiding him on how to be a better man, a great king, someone worthy of the praise he constantly spewed. it's only right that arthur gets to return that by helping merlin establish a safe haven and home for his people. and politically, camelot being the first kingdom to recognize merlin's and establish some trade agreement or treaty with them will strengthen merlin's kingdom's status and send a message that camelot stands with magic.

merlin smiles wide and asks what arthur was going to say. the king hesitates before biting his tongue and requesting that merlin bring up the honey cakes that had been prepared earlier that night. two of them. since merlin was no longer in his service, he didn't have to stand by and watch arthur eat - not that he ever did, the idiot loved to steal his food. shamelessly!! he never even tried to hide it. they both sat at the table in his chambers until late in the night, nibbling away at the sweets, chasing it down with wine, and chatting away.

arthur wasn't able to confess, but it did not change his feelings. if anything, merlin's heart and the decision he made only added fuel to the raging inferno of love and devotion within arthur. he knows that merlin will keep in contact and will return to his side one day. he gets through the tough days/nights by rereading merlin's letters and imagining seeing him again in royal garb and donning a crown.

[sourtomatola]

And say hello the concept that started this whole comic series! I almost called this Kinglebells AU XD Original post to the start of this joke (Yes @chaoticgouda, you started this all XD)

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Camelot comic masterpost

[sic-vita]

don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as camelot

how it started // how it ends

[fantasticalrealmsandlands]

What kind of paladin do you play (Musicals Version)?

Which song speaks to the heart of what drives your paladin? 1. To Dream The Impossible Dream. From Man of La Mancha.

2. C'est Moi. Camelot.

3. Stars. Les Miserable.

Because I am a huge DnD and musicals nerd and for too long have questions like these boiled in my mind. And because it is me...I will make an item for the winner. Or the top two if it gets 100 interactions. Or all three if it gets 500. And a subclass for the winner if it gets over 1000.

[failing-thought]

I'm sorry, "For the kingdom you helped me build?" And they thought that was okay to write? My heart is shattered, SHATTERED I tell you

[kashilascorner]

What were the prose Tristan authors eating for lunch when they wrote Mark and Tristan's dynamics seriously it's so toxic but also like they keep hanging around each other? Toxic exes except family instead of lovers

[building-camelot]

TOWER TIME!

At this point, I've already made 3 of the 8 surrounding towers and started on the fourth. I think they're so cool! Every tower is unique, with its own details and side towers.

If you look at the back of the towers, you can see how it will connect to the rest of the model. 'A' is the base, 'B' are the walls and 'D' is part of the interior buildings. Also, EVERY TOWER HAS A NAME! The name corresponds with rectangular relief of each tower depicting an important leader of old/legend. The first tower I had to make was Artus, Arthur of course ✨

It's fun to try and recognize parts of the show in what I'm building. Below I put a tower next to a still from the series. I'm very sure they're not the same, but it's close! Maybe we'll find the still in another tower yet to come.

[resu-w-ana]

I finally finished with the exterior and natural terrain around it! Interior is in progress, the city to go.

[slaughter-books]

Day 26: JOMPBPC: Best World Building

[chipinabag]

I don't know if this if a fic already but building on that one trope. The one where after arthur dies they ALL get sent back to the day merlin comes to camelot.

That, but merlin is the only one who doesn't know what has happened in the last timeline. (To reverse time has to give up his memories.)

And everyone is acting weird like the prince is glaring at his father and father's ward and is being really nice to me.

The king is keeps glaring at me but everytime he tries to be mean to me the prince just puts his hand on his sword. Gwen my new best friend is trying to set me up with my employer. And I just met these nice (and good looking) men. I think gwaine and lancelot know about my magic. Maybe the king too but I'm not sure since the prince doesn't let him talk to me.

The king's ward is kinda avoiding me for some reason, but she's kinda warming up to me.

The other servant keep treating me like a lord for some reason.

When I went to visit my mother there was a man named balinor who is actually my father and is a fucking dragonlord.

The dragon under the castle is kinda weird, keeps wanting me to bring a sword or something.

I might do something with this in the future, it will take me while.

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

I know a lot of people don't like that Merlin is the one who helped Arthur pull the sword from the stone but I honestly feel it worked so perfectly in this universe. The fact that Arthur could not have pulled the sword from the stone without magic is so thematically in tune with how Merlin is behind him every step of the way, helping him build this new Camelot together. The fact that they work best as one — Merlin making up this story and using his magic to make the story come to life, and Arthur being the figurehead who the people want to follow and believe in, the one who cares and is willing to fight for the citizens of Camelot.

This isn't the story of Albion. It's Merlin and Arthur's story, about how THEY came together. They are two sides of the same coin, they are each other's destinies and one does not work without the other. It needed to be BOTH of them pulling the sword from the stone

[kairennart]

They think their job is done, but as magic is revealed to be re-emerging, and not all of it in the right hands, they must build a new Camelot in this modern world to deal with the emerging threats.

Our Stars Still Shine Together by @tansyuduri

[theroundbartable]

Since I'm currently moving, here a little concept about Merlin and Arthur moving in together.

It's modern era, they are reincarnated (Merlin isnt, he's still the same but never mentioned it), met in uni again etc. Etc. Eventually, because Merlin feels anxious that he might lose Arthur somehow, Merlin suggests they move in together and Arthur's eyes light up with excitement ✨

Merlin, who's had his own place for 1500+ years doesn't really feel it, but Arthur hasn't had his own place ever. (He was living with Uther and Camelot was what he inherited and that his servants were running.) Merlin picks the place, because he has the resources and already dreads all the work that needs to be done-

But Artur? Arthur loves going on Ikea dates with Merlin, loves picking out their furniture and make the place a home. He learns how to renovate a house, how to build shelves and beds and he feels so useful that he works on something new every day. Merlin is naturally exhausted from Arthur's energy and enthusiasm, especially because he has a Job and Arthur doesn't, but he likes seeing him all excited.

[neptunesyellowsands]

I don't know if this has been done before, but I've got a Merthur alt ending/prompt boring holes into my brain and I can't let it go. So, in DotD:

Merlin, realizing they won't make it to the lake in time, decides to try one last thing to save the king: to trade his own life for Arthur's via the power of life and death, a la Nimueh. It's a bold move, and it's unpredictable, but Merlin is both desperate and slightly ruthless when it comes to Arthur. Because he loves him.

However, since he wants to sacrifice himself, he needs a third party to work the magic. So when Morgana finds them, Merlin doesn't kill her. She's a High Priestess, like Nimueh. She could wield the magic herself. She might be the only one who can, actually, because Merlin has killed the only other two High Priestesses we know of - Nimueh and Morgause.

So he asks her to do it. He makes a convincing argument. She could be rid of him, Emrys, the bane of her existence, and they both know that he's the only thing keeping her from defeating Arthur. Once her army is rebuilt, she could return and take the kingdom for good, if she wanted. If not, she could live the rest of her life in peace, knowing she has defeated the greatest sorcerer of all time.

But Morgana is a seer. She sees that Arthur now knows about Merlin's magic and is accepting him. That Arthur is accepting Merlin, magic and all, because he loves him. That Arthur would likely, if he survived, return to Camelot and legalize magic, now that he knows. For Merlin. Because he loves him. For the first time, she looks in Arthur's eyes and believes he actually might have turned a corner, and in a wild fit of nostalgia and hope, she agrees -

But it doesn't work. The gods won't kill Emrys. It goes against the prophecy. Arthur and Merlin are to build the Golden Age together. One cannot exist without the other. They won't make the trade.

Instead, she explains, they demand something else in exchange for Arthur's life. Something that will allow them to replenish the dwindled population of magic-users without draining the earth's coffers and throwing off the balance once more. They will restore Arthur's life, but in return they will accept only one thing:

Merlin's magic.

In the end, it's not a hard decision for Merlin to make. Of course, he agrees. Of course, he would die for Arthur. He would kill for Arthur. But when he sacrifices his magic, it's something different altogether. As Morgana performs the spell, as the gods take back what they gave, as the golden magic pours out of Merlin's hands and ears and skin and trickles back into the earth to be dispersed elsewhere, Merlin gives away a part of himself he never thought could be separated. A connectivity that tied him to the ground. It's like going blind. It's like coming apart, atom by atom, and then being put back together with only half the pieces.

And Arthur watches it. He’s glad, at first. This will be easier anyway. None of them have to die today, and Arthur can keep Merlin’s secret. They can forget about the magic. They can go back to the way things were before. It might be hard, but their friendship might survive. And Arthur won’t have to protect Merlin. He’ll be safer, really.

He’ll be normal.

But then the thing happens, and Arthur watches, and he’s horrified. He's seen death. He's seen injury. But he's never seen this rending of a person from their essence, never seen the torment and pain of someone's magic being ripped from their body. He's never seen Merlin looking so gray as he does now. The golden light that he was taught to despise flickers in Merlin's eyes, like it's alive and trying to hold on, like it wants to stay, and then it's gone, and Merlin's tears aren’t rivers of gold anymore. They run tired and clear, and Merlin is a shell on the ground, fragile and hollow.

As the pain in Arthur's side begins to fade, as he takes the fullest breath he has in days and feels the vitality come back to his body, Arthur feels like he’s the monster here. Not Merlin. Not even Morgana. Him. His father. Everything he was taught to believe in.

Because he’s seen now what his father’s Purge did to his land. He’s watched Uther’s great vision for Camelot come to pass in the body of his best friend. The stripping away of magic. The destruction of this special, beautiful part of a person. 

And he’s seen what’s left. The shell. The empty gray.

Morgana disappears into a cloud of smoke. There is no place in Camelot for her now, but she has at least accomplished her goals. She's safe. She's free.

Arthur rises from the ground and picks up his sword. Merlin lies unconscious, and Arthur does the obvious: he carries him home.

Once he's back home, and Merlin is asleep in bed, and Gaius is digging out spellbooks and potions and all manner of incriminating truths, Arthur learns a few things:

Merlin is still Merlin. The magic was a tool, not his personality.

For those who possess it, magic functions like a sixth sense. Everything is learned and experienced through it, like any other sense. Everything. Moving through the world, seeing it, understanding it. 

Merlin was never actually clumsy.

Merlin was only ‘accident-prone’ because he had to suppress his magic so often. Sometimes, he played it up for his own advantage, but sometimes he just tripped because it wasn’t natural to walk around without reaching out with magic to find the floor first.

Now he has no magic.

Merlin is crippled, physically, once he wakes. He can move his body, but he can’t figure out where to put it.

He has no magic, but he is still Merlin. He’s still prone to fibbing, overwork, and sitting up late into the night to read. Still holds onto hope when he shouldn’t. Still tries and tries. And when he gives up, Arthur tells him he needs him, and he tries some more.

Because Arthur does need him. He wants to heal the rift in his land. He wants to stitch the wounds of his people put there by Uther. He never wants to see what happened to Merlin happen to anyone else. And he wants Merlin to be there, because he trusts him. Relies on him. Loves him.

Merlin has no magic, but he used to. He knows what’s needed by the people, the Druids, the land. When he drafts the documents needed to legalize magic, Arthur asks for Merlin’s help. And Merlin gives it. Of course he does. He’s still Merlin. He’s still too ready to give himself away. Still cheeky, to Arthur’s delight. 

Still wise.

Over time, Merlin learns to use utensils again. Two crutches come next, then one. Over the years, he is able to reduce it down to a staff, which he uses to find the floor. He trains a bird to go longer distances for him, across town or even just down the many flights of stairs in the castle. His mind rewires itself, relearns, but he will never have the wrist strength to buff armor again. 

Arthur wouldn’t have had him as a servant anyway. He makes him an advisor to the king, and he sits at the round table, at Arthur’s right hand. 

He sleeps, of course, in the king’s bed.

They call it the Golden Age, because all the magic Merlin poured into the earth comes back to the kingdom in waves. You can almost see it sparkling in the air sometimes, when the light hits it just right. Harvests are full and free of blight. Orchards blossom and hang heavy with fruit. More babes are born with magic in three years than have been in the last thirty. It’s Merlin, woven into every inch of the kingdom. It’s his gift to Arthur. To Camelot. To himself.

Merlin becomes a legend in his own right, known for his far-seeing eyes, his trusty staff, his surprisingly robust beard (Arthur is astonished and openly jealous). The kingdom benefits from his kindness and his ability to judge risk vs. reward. And the dragon helps, too, occasionally. 

Above all, Merlin is known for his wisdom, his council, and his unwavering love for Arthur.

Is it sad that Merlin had to give up his magic? Yes. But he never actually wanted it to begin with. Not really. Not to the extent he had it. He never wanted the burden of the prophecy. Like Arthur and his dream of relinquishing his reign and running off with Merlin to live on a farm, Merlin wanted to set aside the burden of being Emrys and return to himself. He wanted a life surrounded by love and peace. That was why he came to Camelot in the first place. He never, not once in his life, actually wanted power. He wanted the Golden Age. He wanted Arthur.

And he gets him.