#hero in your story

[doriansbutt]

I wanna be the hero in your story

Even when the script gets boring

I wanna go and read the final chapter

Just to find out what comes after

Cuz when the villain’s finished

And there’s nothing to defend

I wanna be the hero in your story

And see what happens past the end

(Hero in Your Story, Vinny Marchi)

Ezra is my sweet strawberry son, broadway star, prince consort, hopeless romantic, idealistic optimist, grump tamer, and eternal ray of sunshine despite surviving (and not) many, many horrors. He loves telling stories, and this song is just so him. He nearly died trying to be the hero in his crush’s story before they were together, and that hasn’t changed since the second they reunited. 🥺🩷🍓

[virtuallyheroes]

(Dang, I need to post here more, lol) New TikTok just dropped! Please give it a look!

Song - "Hero In Your Story" by Vinny Marchi

VRChat World - Furality Luma: Crystal Forest

[sanguinesmi1e]

Danny's human form ages like normal, but his default form as Phantom is still the 14y/o he was at his time of death. Luckily he can change that with concentration, since his ghost form is malleable. But he has to a) have the time to enact the change and b) consciously maintain his form. His superhero colleagues don't know he's half alive, so he's typically got his adult ghost form firmly in place before they meet. While fighting a powerful enemy, Phantom's concentration slips and he reverts to child form. Doesn't matter, it's just aesthetics and the enemy is what's important. He’s equally strong in his 14 y/o form. Except, his colleagues are very concerned to “discover” that their teammate is a child who has been lying about his age all this time. So now Danny has to figure out how to convince them that he's just looked 14 for over a decade now, or bite the bullet and show them all his secret identity. Preferably before they demote him to a team of teen heroes, or he gets forcibly adopted.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

An unbothered queen has entered, and subsequently left.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[avelera]

Laois from Dungeon Meshi legit feels like someone said the generic blond main character guy in a fantasy story can never actually be an interesting character in his own right and Ryoko Kui went, “Oh, bet?”

[nutsack90]

just a normal girl

[venixthelorekeeper]

I always say "Hero in Your Story" by Vinny Marchi. Hope this helps :]

sTARDEW VALLEY FANs I NEED YALL well not really BUT WHAT SONG FITS ELLIOT

[hellohellowelcome]

Standard shonen endings have rotted some people's brains. I've seen so many dudebros disappointed that Izuku didn't at the very least "bag his girl" as some sort of reparation for losing his quirk. And so much Ochako slander for "ghosting" Izuku for 8 years for being quirkless (not true btw, leak mistranlastion) because she wasn't explicitly Izuku's endgame love interest in typical shonen fashion. I even saw a tweet doing crazy numbers (70k+ likes) suggesting that Izuku should've gotten with Hatsume because at least she spent 8 years working on his suit....? Ask yourself why you feel like Izuku needed a canon love interest post-time skip to be happy. And then ask yourself why you hate women and view them as the MC's "much-deserved" reward for saving the day.

[kikker-oma]

@skyloftian-nutcase I humbly offer you some Abel and Tilieth comfort🥺🥺

I wanted to draw what I hope happens in the next chapter of Blood of the Hero, cus both of these beans need love and sleep and comfort❤️

You also deserve love and sleep and comfort too, dear friend❤️

[the-modern-typewriter]

This is a continuation of the poll story. All winning bits so far included below.

The sands devoured the landscape in every direction, a gaping yawn of yellows and reds. The protagonist's throat scorched dry. The last drops of their water bottle had been drained two hours ago.

They staggered another step forward on the dunes, squeezing their eyes shut against the breeze that somehow did nothing to alleviate the heat. They raised a hand to shield their face.

When they opened their eyes again, the antagonist stood in front of them. They looked as cool as ever, untouched by blistering day or the surprisingly freezing night.

"How is your great escape going?" the antagonist asked. They flicked their fingers, magic summoning a sweet pool of water into the inviting cup of their palm. "Are you ready to come home yet, darling?"

The protagonist's breath caught.

"Do you really think?" The antagonist stepped closer, holding their watery hand up to the protagonist's lips. "That distance alone will be enough to shatter the connection between us? This is silly. You know I don't like to see you suffer."

The protagonist let the antagonist feed them a drop of water. A moment of weakness, perhaps. Or maybe just the familiarity of them, of the bond rattling in their chest. The thirst and the hunger.

"Then close your eyes, love," they replied. "Look away and you won't have to."

The antagonist snorted. Their hand moved, swiftly, to cup the nape of the protagonist's neck.

"As if I've ever been able to keep my eyes off you from the moment we met."

It was idiotic, but the protagonist still smiled at that. Pained. Heart-punched.

Even with all the miles upon miles between them, the protagonist felt the touch like something real. Solid. Like the antagonist could always step through time and space and be there, so long as they were twined together.

The protagonist forced themselves to pull back.

If they let themselves linger too long, they really would go back.

Home.

It would be so much easier if it didn't still feel like that was what it was.

The antagonist's expression hardened, at the distance, the quiet refusal. At least, they tried. "I don't want you to suffer. I don't want to send legions after you. You deserve better than to be hunted like a common criminal."

"Like a prized stag."

The antagonist swallowed, but didn't protest.

The protagonist shrugged, as if it were really that easy. "Then don't hunt me. I've already escaped. Let me go."

"I don't want to," the antagonist said, with a dreadful tenderness. "But I will."

The protagonist sucked in a sharp breath, even if they had already suspected as much.

"You know I'll catch you," the antagonist pressed. "Do you think this desert and all the shifting sands of the world would be enough to hide you from me? Do you think there's anywhere you can run where I can't follow?"

"No," the protagonist said. "But I bet I can get to where I'm going first."

The antagonist's jaw clenched. "This is a courtesy," they said. "Run fast. Run hard. Because when I catch you, you will never run again."

And then they vanished, like they'd never been there at all.

There were very few ways to break a soulmate bond. Such things were designed to last forever after all. The protagonist staggered their way across the desert until they reached the oasis.

It sounded nice, a little like paradise. The oasis. But the waters of the forbidden oasis were a dangerous thing; they changed a person, lured them in, took them if they could.

The pool before them was perfectly clear, beautifully blue, and yet it was a chasm, falling deep down into the sand until the light could no longer illuminate the water. Sloping trees provided a whisper of shade against the scorching sun and biting winds. Soft mounds of impossible moss and wildflowers invited any weary traveler to be welcome, sit, rest and stay a while.

The protagonist fell to their knees by the edge of the water.

Option A

The antagonist appeared next to them. It wasn't a surprise, but the protagonist still felt their heart beat a little faster.

"Where are your legions now?" the protagonist asked. "Your hunters and your cages? You're too late. I said you would be."

"Is being mine so terrible that you would rather die?" The antagonist returned. "Don't do it."

"I might not die."

"Please."

That, somehow, was a surprise. That single soft broken word.

Option B:

The antagonist found them - the protagonist wasn't sure how long later. Everything in them hurt like someone had scooped their heart out of their chest, diced it, and shoved the ruined pieces back inside in all the wrong order.

They had a vague approximation of a heart. They had a wound.

So why could they still see the antagonist? The phantom should have been impossible. They had sacrificed so much to be free. Too much, maybe.

The antagonist crouched down with a pitying sigh, stroking their fingers through the protagonist's hair. A wretched sob caught in the protagonist's throat and they lilted in.

There was no soul-comfort. No completion. No fuzzing bond. No...

The antagonist was really there.

The protagonist gasped, eyes that had eased closed snapping open once more. They struggled to force their pained body upright.

The antagonist's fingers tightened on their throat in an instant, considering.

"You really did it," the antagonist murmured. "I didn't think you'd actually go through with it. Tell me." They pressed a hand, nails digging in, where the protagonist's heart technically still was. "What do you imagine I'm going to do with you now?"

Option C:

Figures danced, miraged, in the reflection of the water. Memories swam before the protagonist's eyes.

The first time they had met the antagonist, when everything had just felt so right. A hand reaching out for them, drawing them close across a dance hall, never quite letting go since.

The protagonist trailed their fingers across the surface, shattering the past in a thousand ripples. They leaned in, raw want and terror, as they cupped the water in their palms.

The next moment, figures dropped from the trees. They leapt upon the protagonist in an instant, hands rough and cruel as they dragged them away from the pool and all its complicated promises.

The antagonist appeared in front of them, no tenderness left. No thing just for the two of them.

"You're right, of course," the antagonist said. "I can't get to where you're going faster than you can. But did you really think I would not guard against this possibility? Do you think I would underestimate you so? Understand you so poorly?"

The protagonist gasped, choking out a breath as a boot slammed into their gut.

"This is a trap," they managed. "You -"

"You should have ran." The antagonist blurred in and out of their vision. "You should have kept running, and running, never stopping, instead of trying to do this. Then maybe, just maybe, you could have won."

[poppy-s-rampage]

Once a Hero.

-Prologue-

Danny Phantom fought with the knowledge that at any given time he could be stricken dead. With the knowledge that his own parents, the people who brought him into this world, could be the ones to take him out permanently. The Job was already half done after all.

But no matter what, no matter his adversaries, Danny held strong. Despite the constant threat of the GIW and his parents, despites his rogues’ shenanigans and Vlad’s scheming, despite the citizen’s ungratefulness, he held his ground. Always staying true to his beliefs.

Yes, he made mistakes ,terrible ones. Yes, he has done things he would forever be ashamed of. But he never let others take responsibility for his actions. The very proof being his existence as Phantom.

There is no denying it, Danny Phantom/Fenton is a hero.

An existence to whom every victory comes hand to hand with tragedy.

An existence favored by fate.

And fate is known to be a cruel mistress.

~~~

He should have known something was up. It was too good to be true. He should have trusted his instinct. But he ignored it, choosing hope instead of the very thing that kept him alive all these years. All it took was one mistake for everything to domino into a nuclear warhead that quite literally took his everything.

And now, there he is on all four in the middle of a crater of what once was Amity Park and its surroundings. His ears ringing only able to hear the sounds of his own screams.

The once menace, once protector of a city too soon departed wailed in agony. Clutching at his wounds with a strength that reopened his sloppily made stitches. His devastated wails, only interrupted by his sobbed breath and hiccups. His throat was ripped to shreds, tainted ectoplasm pooling into his mouth and lungs while some got projected out with each wail.

Rivers of tears cascaded down his face burning his already bloodshot eyes. His unstable form glitching from ghost to human to something in between.

His once healthy balanced core was now struggling to remain whole. Cracks appearing all over, life and death fighting to preserve their precious Halfa’s existence. Danny felt his body and core beginning to give out. His consciousness finally fading. His body slowly being engulfed into the cold familiar embrace of death.

He fell on his back. His wails dying to choked wet sobs and coughs. Through his tears, Danny could only vaguely see the smoke covered nightsky. Ash falling slowly around him like snowflakes.

He could feel the cold creeping up his limbs then gripping his chest. His already dying heart being embraced by a type of cold even his core couldn’t dream to reproduce. Phantom finally fell silent, his unseeing eyes staring at the starless sky above.

Danny in his last few coherent thoughts felt the pain of his core shattering and reforming itself. It felt like his entire being was set on fire before being melded back together. He felt familiar arms cradling him close to their unbeating heart. The familiar ticking of a clock luring him into a dreamless rest.

--------------------------------------

Masterpost!

Chapter 1!

------------------------------------

Author notes:

My brain vomiting this at 3 am. I am sorry for any catastrophic grammar and english, that would be my brain short circuiting from lack of sleep. I intend to hopefully continue this story wherever it may go. You’re welcome to suggest anything or add yourself something to it.

[fluffypotatey]

just a quick thing bc it bothers me and i wanna get this off my chest

*pulls down presentation screen*

yes, both Miguel O’Hara and the Spot are antagonists to Miles

how-ever,

Miguel is an antagonist and a hero while the Spot is an antagonist and villain

that is all, thank you

[liteyagummy]

Quietly Obsessed part 1

TW: NSFW yandere behavior, cnc, r4pe, abductor and captor, (the characters are aged up let’s just act like they stayed in dorms so everyone is around 19-20) NSFW

Running in the wind as you’re hunted down crying filling the once silent streets, you bang on doors your feet slapping against the pavement seeing as you were barefoot you scream out for anyone, the screaming cut short as your mouth was covered by a manly hand these hands were strong with the callouses and roughness that come from rigorous training. as you go to scratch at his hands and turn around there he is.. your captor.. Eijiro Kirishima, your eyes start to swell again with tears as you kick and scream

silence.. on the drive back home, kirishima had taken you as his property a while ago, snatching you up on a walk alone at night.. you thought your quirk would be able to keep you protected or at least give you some edge to your ability to pay attention to your surroundings but no.. nothing that night helped nor would it have, it was a way you’ve never seen kiri before

——FLASHBACK———

kirishima stepped closer to you as you made the wrong turn down a street, knowing someone was following you, you thought it’d be smart not to go home.. truthfully it would’ve been smarter to call the cops as you walked but that didn’t cross your mind in the moment

coming up upon a dead end on the side walk the last thing you would’ve thought to see is a dead end, foot steps coming up behind you then stopping you felt the feeling of eyes.. a glare burning through your skin

you turn around to see kiri.. lovable, sweet kiri.. tall muscular kiri.. sinister look sharp teeth kiri.. wearing a dark hoodie and clothes with a flimsy mask kiri.. what was he doing??

“y/n.. you shouldn’t be out this late.. what if i didn’t have the time to watch you tonight.. ensure your safety..?” he took a step forward as you took a step back

his face started to change to a softer look “ah who am i kidding “ he paused “never will there be a day i don’t have time to watch my princess..” the words the tone something wasn’t right and you couldn’t figure it out.. nor did kirishima give you time to. with haste he ran full speed at you, seconds past before your feet could finally move around you ran in this neighborhood

“KIRISHIMA WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!” you scream your question falling upon deaf ears

he finally cut you off in your tracks when coming from running behind a house or two.

he pinned you on the tall picket fenced gate

“i’ve been watching you every since you transferred into the hero course y/n please don’t make this hard.. why can’t you see that im in love with you.. i want you to be with me- be mine!” he pulled his mask down

“im the manliest you could ever be with ill give you everything you can want and more! i know we’re still in training but i mean this with my heart don’t.. don’t make my actions from this point forward be negative..”

by this point tears rushed down your cheek you hadn’t seen kiri this side of kiri. he loves you?? he watches you?? sure this is- well fuck it’s a joke right??

but by the looks of it he was dead serious

“eijiro please stop this.. i-i im- im not even interested in dating besides! we don’t have anything in common we don’t l-“

“ah bullshit!” kirishima answered “sorry. im sorry but from what i’ve heard.. seen.. you’re perfect for me there’s nothing left for you to do but accept me y/n” he pushed his body closer to yours as his grip on your wrist tightened his voice was so convincing and soft.. it was hard to think you were in danger with the way he spoke to you

after going quiet you turn away obviously standing on your answer he starts to grow angry but not at you no he could never be mad at his sweet little cutie no it was clearly the fault of the men before you- i mean breaking your heart and leaving you? of course you wouldn’t trust true love all the pieces were connecting now, at least in kirishimas mind, he smiled finally and grabbed you hoisting you over his shoulders like a large pack of waters and walking as you fought back he ignored these hits making sure you both didn’t make any bigger of a scene

“i’ll show you my word is true babe. even if i have to show you by force.”

——-END OF FLASHBACK——

that night replayed in your head on loops for the following days kirishima had you trapped in his dorm.. almight had insisted on sound proofing each dorms so something like- a loud tv wouldn’t ring through the halls or a microwave wont stop everyone from sleeping because one person wanted a late night snack

nobody heard your screams nobody heard your cries. for months to make matters worse kiri had make up a story for the hero’s and your friends and family telling them you went to study under a hero for some time and had to go no contact because this hero wanted no outside devices in their home and or workspace.. this was a rocky lie but it came from kirishima why would he lie?

he had often told you how he would let you go to classes again once he could trust you to come back to your man after classes were done and if he could trust you to keep what was going on a secret.. no matter how many times you tried to tell him you wouldn’t tell he knew you like the back of his hand, even the slightest eye moment he knew you were lying

it took months of begging, trying to do good with his trust and letting him do what he needed in the bedroom for you both to finally get to the point you were at today.. he was taking you on a cute little date.. a drive in movie date but as he left to get snacks you took it upon yourself to bolt. find any escape you could, no one opened their doors, no one came out to help nobody called ANYONE you were alone on that street except you weren’t.. because there was one man who wouldn’t let you DIE alone. let alone run the streets

—-back to the present time—-

you sat in the car with this silence. tension so thick a knife from Gordon Ramsay’s kitchen couldn’t cut kirishima drove with one hand on the wheel and the other gripping your thigh.. not sweetly- tightly it let you know when you both got back to dorms you wouldn’t hear the end of it

pulling you in the dorms and slamming the front door shut locking it with the extra deadbolts he installed just for you to be locked inside, you nearly fell as you caught yourself on a wall looking up to him he’s already stripping his clothes off, that look of lust and love coming back it always made you sick not knowing which side of kirishima was genuine

“strip. and i swear to god sweetheart if you try to pull any shit im getting the cuffs and chains so strip.” he said in a cold tone clearly angry

you shook where you stood taking off your outfit one by one, the sound of a belt being undone and pulled out its loops caught your ears as you were naked kiri grabbed you and tossed you on the bed you turn your head away as he pulls it back to face him

“you ran away. let’s fucking start there you ran away!” he shouted

you closed your eyes tightly at his yelling

“no you don’t get to curl up and be all scared you- i do something nice for us.” he leans in kissing on your neck and rubbing the warm leather against your skin

“i take us on our first date after months of begging to get out the house.. “ his hand carrying the belt stopped as he bit down on your shoulder leaving a mark of his teeth not hard enough to draw blood but the markings definitely not fading anytime soon, lately kiri had been on this high of doing it raw, one of his friends told him it felt better it WAS better in a ‘boys will be boys’ conversation amongst themselves and the group and kiri took it and ran with it. thanks denki. kirishima picked up his dick that he’d been letting get harder at your soft sounds with just his teeth being on you,

he debated on fucking you dry or letting you get a little wet but anger just starting to flood back over him as he remembered how you ran way.. you ran away from his safe cozy arms into the darkness of the streets, the darkness of the world! that stung. he lined his cock up with your pussy hole looking down at you “ you need to be punished.. so that this. never. EVER. happens again” he slammed his cock into his hips slapping against your skin already as he let out a groan “ah fuck baby..” he said in his low rumble of a voice he always got this way during sex as much as you hated your body for it.. it always made your pussy clench a bit hearing him speak to you this way

kirishima started to move his hips as he got in position pushing your legs wide open as his thrust picks up speed, within seconds he’s hitting your sweet spot repeatedly with the speed of a jackhammer you scratched on his back and cried out as you wrapped your legs around his wait your toes curled, you tried to squirm so his dick didn’t hit your spot anymore but then there was a quick painful strong slap to your pussy you gasped , “ you’re gonna take me. and love it. no squirming off my dick who told you running was gonna get you anywhere??“ he said darkly into your ear this making his thrusts get more aggressive your tits now bouncing in circles, you arched your chest up pressing it against his, trying to handle his massive size inside of you just stretching your velvet walls your screams getting louder after a while he’d flipped you onto your stomach and started fucking you in doggy style slapping the belt against your ass after every three thrusts

“you’re not leaving me!! get that thought out of your mind y/n you belong to nobody but me!! you’re gonna take-“ he groaned out louder as your pussy squeezed and gripped on his dick he rolled his eyes back slamming and forth in every angle you couldn’t catch a break “youre so pretty when you take me babe.. it’s too bad i have to punish you. i was looking forward to a sweet fuck after the date..” he kissed up your back and used his hand to grip and rub on your boobs pinching and rolling your nipples between his fingers your body shook in overstimulation his other hand now unpinning you and reaching over grabbing something in his dresser you didn’t really see it nor knew what he was doing till a click was heard and a harsh vibration was at your clit, you jolted up but kiri followed your clit wherever you moved it the toy was right there ontop only growing in strength you only cried for kiri begging him to slowdown “oh i wish i could you know.. this hurts me much worse than it hurts you” he tried holding back his smile as he obliterated inside of you your legs started to shake as you neared your orgasm he denied you from doing it so ever so often he would pull the vibrator up and slow his thrusts to edge you this going on for over an hour.. when he finally let you cum your body was so tired it flowed out as you tensed and released repeatedly kiri could tell you were cumming on his cock and with that, the prime moment to fuck his sweet babe into submission right after you’ve gotten ‘so sensitive down there’ he pushed your head onto the pillow pulling your ass up and banging the hell out of you continuously like a rabbit he just couldn’t get off you, this continued for about a day nd. a half taking his own breaks for water but never resting since he had classes coming up otherwise he would’ve spent more time filling your belly with every single drop from his cock he’d filled you 99% of the time from that punishment and one facial but you were hiding your faces so you deserved it.

by the time you were done he was holding you.. if there’s one thing kirishima could do was after care

he held you in his arms kissing any skin his lips could reach “you did so good baby~” he sad in a tone proving he was rather pleased with himself aswell he let you lay there for a while as tou feel the warmth from kiri drain.. why was he getting up? you notice its kiri running a bath for you..

he wasn’t a cold captor what he said was true.. he gives you everything you could want and need.. you just don’t trust him after all this.

despite your little run away a few weeks ago kirishima was no monster so he woke you up this morning with plans in mind

“y/n get up! you’re going to classes” he smiled as he had either arms on the side of you and held himself above you, you rubbed your eyes and looked to him. were you dreaming..? he was finally letting you out to classes!!

he got off you and you raced to the bathroom to get ready before he could tell you if it was a joke or not, your own movement being a little too fast for you so you grip onto the bathroom counter and walk towards the toilet “it’s just a feeling right surely “a thought in your head said as you held your stomach and your grip tightened on the counter down you flew to the toilet throwing up liquids since you hadn’t even had breakfast yet just the bedside flavored water kiri always left for you to pour yourself

he rushed in “baby?” he held your hair back and rubbed your back his cold hands comforting you a bit as your body temperature rose and your stomach squeezed

you wiped your mouth with tissue tossing that in the toilet to flush too, chills sent down your body. you hated throwing up “y/n are you okay??” kiri asked

“ im fine- i just.. i don’t know maybe it was something i ate- yesterday? im not sure but i’d rather never do it again..” you’d rather have the sorest throat in the world, the stuffiest nose on the planet, itchiest eyes in the human race than to ever have to throw up once more

you rinse your mouth out with water spitting into the toilet giving another flush then brushed- scrubbed your teeth clean then around you turned to flick on the nozzle of the shower

you got in after stripping your clothes down and putting them in the hamper a lukewarm mist bringing you some clarity after being so winded, kirishima sighing regretting his choice to let you go to classes today of all days.. he worried, but not too much obviously because the sight of your naked body giving him clarity of his own, he watched every inch of your body never dropping focus only growing need. he dropped his clothes and got in right behind you you felt him getting in and his arms wrapping around you leaning more into the coldness to calm you down your body felt like it was on fire as the cold water rushed down your skin to your finger tips and kiris warm neck kisses bringing you back from bliss just enough you never wanted to leave this. -..shower that is you never wanted to leave the shower- pretty tiles nice soft lights..

ramble.

part two?

[sometimesmaybespoof]

When she Half on my Life till I 2

[bisclavret]

like many who have suffered at the hands of bbc merlin before me, i recently indulged in a thought experiment in which i outlined my own version of seasons 3-5 that stay thematically and tonally in line with the show (except they're less fucking stupid). but then i quickly realized that focusing on details is pointless: all you need is to solve the one Big Problem the show has, and the rest will follow. the problem in question? ✨morgana✨

i like the first two seasons. s1 achieves what it sets out to do and has fun while doing it, and s2, while flawed, sets up a ton of potential that the following seasons unfortunately squander, beginning with the insidious season 3. you can only distract me with cute knights and goblins and fart jokes for so long before i start seeing through you, evil, evil season of television.

my hypothesis is that if the writers had crafted s3 morgana into anything more sympathetic than a violent half-alive poltergeist that can never be reasoned with because she's suddenly terminally off her rocker, everything would've fallen into place. a sympathetic morgana would've made real, valid arguments against uther (and arthur) that wouldn't just be the ramblings of a woman possessed. her betrayal of arthur would have stemmed from her feeling increasingly morally superior to him because of his complacency in the face of their father's tyranny. under morgause's guidance she would stop believing that arthur is capable of change, and the whole point would be that she might actually be right. arthur would have to actively try and prove her wrong, instead of getting praised for doing the bare minimum because the bar is on the floor.

furthermore, morgana's prophetic dream about arthur and gwen becoming king and queen and her decision to prevent this however she can is a direct parallel to merlin learning about that same prophecy and making it happen by any means necessary. merlin's desires about his and arthur's futures are subtextually fueled by gay love and devotion, so why couldn't morgana's be? why couldn't she properly express her bitterness that arthur gets to be with gwen in a way she can't "took gwen away" from her, instead of suddenly declaring that gwen is nothing more than a servant, after two seasons of demonstrating again and again that she loves, values, and respects gwen more than anyone else in that godforsaken castle?

following this, an angry and emotionally volatile but still sensible morgana asking gwen to stay by her side during the coup of the castle in the s3 finale and gwen going behind her back to help arthur and the knights would've hurt like a bitch. double-sided betrayal! gwen having a real plot! the proper beginnings of a toxic yuri that would shape a generation!

then there's the utter hubris of having morgana shoot arrows at the same civilians she worried herself sick over for 2 seasons — even morgan, her medieval counterpart that was rooted in every sexist trope in existence, doesn't just go around killing senselessly but instead has (often petty!) personal vendettas against gwen, arthur, and the knights. morgana had every right to be sick of the pretensions around chivalry in camelot (she was always quick to mock it, even in s1), and to lash out at the knights and soldiers after years of feeling powerless in a castle full of armed men that blindly followed her oppressor. the show conveniently forgets that morgana was victimized as a woman as well as a sorcerer those first 2 seasons.

but like i said, this is not just about morgana. allowing her to remain a real and multifaceted character even as she betrays everyone in pursuit of her ambitions would've given the rest of the core four more interesting conflict to work with: merlin because he would have to experience real consequences to his actions, arthur because he would watch his sister go against his father (and his knights, and his birthright) and experience some actual internal dilemmas about it, and gwen because she would be forced to choose between morgana and arthur without the pretense that it's an obvious or easy choice for her to make.

even morgause and gaius would come off more interesting as mentors: neither one inherently evil or inherently good, both jaded by events that happened before our protagonists were even born, both heavily influencing morgana and merlin into fulfilling roles that they think are appropriate, but that morgana and merlin may not have chosen for themselves had they not been under their care.

you get the gist. if the show followed its own setup, morgana's mistakes wouldn't lie in cheap and senseless acts of violence but in alienating the people she loves because she is too hurt and jaded to trust them. meanwhile, everybody else would feel guilt over "failing" her and yet they would be too caught up in their own (sometimes flawed!) beliefs of right and wrong to truly see her point of view.

arthur would convince himself it was sorcery that corrupted her. merlin would know that isn't true but he wouldn't be able to argue without confessing everything, which is the defining conflict between him and morgana and it's cheapened when she's just an evil witch caricature and merlin is framed as inherently virtuous in contrast. gwen, too, would become a more active participant in her own life by choosing arthur over morgana and choosing to rule camelot with him instead of just waiting politely to see where things go.

and, of course, uther's downfall and death would be quick, final, and completely earned — when and why did the show even decide he of all people was the sympathetic villain, anyway?

lastly, and perhaps controversially, i think morgana should've learned merlin's true identity by season 4. her being the first of the main characters to find out makes perfect sense considering their shared history and their interconnected and mirrored arcs. even the show seems to agree, considering she does find out a little before arthur. but the narrative itself tried pointing flashing neon arrows towards this way earlier — there is a whole entire episode in s4 where merlin being emrys is repeatedly spelled out for morgana and she still isn't allowed to see it. that episode makes her look like the stupidest person to ever live, which is pretty funny im not gonna lie, but also another frustrating thing in the endless string of frustrating things that make up this show.

morgana learning that merlin has magic would've transformed the source of merlin's anxiety from a crippling fear of being outed someday to the crippling fear of knowing she could out him at any moment. this would make him want to beat her to the punch (perhaps he'd consider killing her for a minute and decide against it because she isn't a cartoonishly insane evil person in my version of events) and maybe he would even feel some tentative excitement at the idea of coming clean, now that it seems inevitable. after all, he always intended to tell arthur eventually! and i think gaius would have to admit outright that he does not want merlin to tell arthur he has magic because he, gaius, simply cannot risk such a gamble. it would be so interesting to see gaius and merlin clash and disagree once it becomes obvious that it's not merlin that isn't ready for the reveal, it's gaius. delicious!

with morgana's knowledge looming, things would inevitably spiral into a magic reveal by the end of season 4. i picture this season as an absolute mess of miscommunication between everyone at camelot, which is, y'know, canon. growing increasingly cunning and vengeful, morgana would use this tension to her advantage, destabilizing the court from the outside while she creates alliances with other sorcerers outside of camelot (instead of living alone in a hovel for no reason — morgana le fay i'm sorry i'm so sorry they gave you agravaine instead of your all-female entourage oh my god).

and here's where the events would change beyond recognition (aka here's where the meta becomes the fanfic i refuse to write). picture it with me: a militia of sorcerers infiltrates camelot and arthur and gwen have to set aside their differences (assuming gwen kissing lancelot and arthur overreacting happens, which it should) for the good of the kingdom as well as for love. picture high priestess morgana in her element, side by side with a bunch of misfit sorcerers that aren't so easily vilified, chopping down camelot's soldiers and knights and assuredly making their way to the newly-minted king.

then, just as it starts to seem that all hope is lost, in swoops merlin (the actual merlin, not his old fart disguise) on dragonback (kilgharrah hates morgana so much i know his sexist ass would stoop to anything to stop her)!!! imagine merlin showing off the extent of his powers in front of everyone and preventing the sorcerers from getting any further, declaring loud and clear that camelot is protected by him, by emrys. imagine that display of power alone being enough to send everyone home.

imagine the loyalties clearly drawn: merlin on arthur's side, morgana on the sorcerers'. imagine arthur, feeling confused and betrayed by everyone at this point, banishing merlin despite everything he's done for him in the angstiest, most emotionally dysregulated scene the show had ever put to screen. imagine merlin starting season 5 free at last but very lonesome, an embittered dragonlord like his father. imagine the absolute mess camelot would become without him, even with gwen — now queen guinevere — there to pick up the slack. imagine arthur actually earning merlin back, finally growing into his role as king as he does so. imagine the reunion.

all this and more could've been not just possible but inevitable if morgana was allowed to remain a complex character that is neither inherently good nor inherently evil: it was undeniably the biased and one-note treatment of morgana's downfall by the writers that set the precedent for literally everything else that happened after merlin chose to poison her. the show wouldn't have even had to jeopardize its tone or the monster-of-the-week vibe, all it would've had to do is admit that even the "good guys" are capable of mistakes and what makes them good is the ability to feel remorse and change for the better. (as opposed to uther, who was miles beyond redemption since way before the pilot and deserved to lose everything and die alone. OBVIOUSLY???)

in a world where morgana remains multifaceted and sympathetic, mordred would get a better arc as well, so if we really wanted to, we could still end on the same tragic note that the show ended on. with so much harm inflicted onto so many innocent people by the pendragons for so long (including mordred and the many druids and sorcerers that raised him), it could realistically end up being a little too late for anything more than one shining glimpse of king arthur and the sorcerer merlin's short-lived golden age before fate catches up to them. glimpsing that reality just to immediately lose it would've been far more satisfying and far more tragic than whatever the writers thought they were doing with all that pointless carrot-dangling.

and finally, an ending in line with morgana's new and improved arc. in this version, rather than bleeding out on the forest floor alone, she would channel the morgan le fay we know from the legends: sobered up by the reality of her brother dying, she would use her high priestess status (and perhaps also her pendragon status) to be granted passage over to avalon alongside arthur on the boat — a one-way ride — just to make sure he gets there safely. this is her penance for the harm she has caused, the same way arthur's penance is to die and leave the true ruler of camelot (gwen) behind to achieve everything he was too slow and indecisive to build while he still had time.

merlin's penance, then, would be to stay behind and watch them cross over without him, waiting and waiting and waiting until they come back or until he can finally join them. which is a bit fucking harsh if i'm honest, so i'd at least make it slightly more faithful to the legends by having him return as an old man and letting him take a long nap under a tree by the shore, his body slowly enveloped by vines like the cobwebbed fisher king in 3x08, never fully sure if he's dreaming or if there really are strange shapes fading in and out of the fog over the lake. still tragic, but nevertheless a little more open-ended and whimsical than [TRUCK NOISES] THE END!