#mordred and Merlin’s relationship save me

[oleryn]

all merlin had to do to circumvent the prophecy of arthur’s death was take mordred in and turn him into a little arthur fanboy. it’s a win-win situation. merlin gets to gush about his man crush to this random ten year old and mordred gets a bunch of cool knights to love him and raise him. he’d hear about his destiny to kill arthur from someone and simply go “why the actual fuck would i do that.”

[fuckingfandomfreak]

lots of complaining underneath sorry I couldn’t fit everything in the tags like usual

I am genuinely convinced that so many Merthur shippers actually ship Arwen but identify more with Merlin, so they just recreate Arwen’s dynamic (simp, over-protective Arthur and I-can-take-care-of-myself!, always-right!, actual-saint! girlboss) and give it to Merthur. Reasons for this are racism (obviously), the fact that early seasons merlin likes to read (scholarly books on magic not a fucking romantasy mind you), early seasons Merlin being 12 lbs, and the fact that Merlin has magic (cool powers, gay allegory, and is oppressed). Other reasons, too, but these I think really contribute to people directly projecting onto him like they do Morgana. I think this makes people feel personally victimized when Arthur does anything to Merlin bc he’s blond jock and Merlin is bookish, sassy nerd.

But fanon merlin is nothing like actual merlin. Merlin is a MAN; he’s just as arrogant as every other MAN. He’s a bit of a fucking lit bro that thinks he’s underappreciated bc he’s into important, valuable things instead of sports (for idiots). He canonically an genius and he’s many times insufferably arrogant, too.

But only Arthur needs to fix his arrogant bc Arthur’s arrogance is jock bro, so it’s more immediately recognizable and disliked. Even tho, I don’t actually find Arthur that arrogant, or i just can’t forget that most of Arthur’s arrogance is a front for insecurity. He’s only sincerely arrogant about sword fighting (which I don’t mind bc he’s literally the best swordsman in the kingdom and it’s not bragging if it’s true) and little presumptuous bc he’s a wealthy royal.

But this is a long winded way to say that some Merlin fanfics feel like weird revenge fantasies (romantasies??? but not in the book genre way) of nerdy girls with their high school football players mixed with a little class anger (but in the most insincere way bc morgana is never criticized for being rich bc she’s mostly portrayed as a gay white woman, and people don’t understand, or don’t want to address, intersectionality).

Which means Merlin’s actions don’t get judged, but do get examined and then excused, until they are in relation to Morgana. Bc Morgana is ACTUALLY skinny, oppressed, gay allegory, cool powers, always right, sassy, genius, sword fighting, resistance fighter white girl that constantly wins every argument she has with Arthur and makes him look like an idiot. That’s why she gets way more forgiveness and grace than Arthur even tho she is a 1000x worse person. It’s also why she and Merlin are usually besties (especially over him and Gwen) even tho they canonically have a very big political fallout.

Even with the Lamia episode. I have seen so much discourse (and a good amount of fics) that criminalizes the knights (jocks) for their treatment of Merlin (and sometimes Gwen) with people wanting them to prostrate themselves in guilt and then get put into the infirmary by Arthur for daring to hurt Merlin when they were LITERALLY ENCHANTED. Obviously, they themselves would feel guilty, but that doesn’t mean they SHOULD. And Merlin is not fucking lectured or made to apologize when he is enchanted to, and attempts to, KILL Arthur. Like, yeah, okay, the knights grabbed him and were mean to him, but Merlin’s a grown fucking man, the most powerful sorcerer, and, by now, literally physically bigger than both Gwaine and Elyan. He’s fine.

I thank god everyday that Arthur wasn’t there during that fucking episode. Every fucking merthur fanfic would’ve been insufferable.

I will never forgive fandom how unfair it is about Arthur

Dark Merlin It's usually good angst. You know, Merlin had had enough. Dark Arthur? Arthur is a fucking rapist, a monster.

Merlin guilty? Merlin feeling guilty and comforted by the entire cast. Arthur guilty? Arthur doing the worst things possible and someone razing him to the ground

Merlin always gets these nice things. always flowers, courtship, everything. Found family? Everyone comforts Merlin because big bad Arthur. (literally almost every Merlin "found family" is everyone loves Merlin and treats Arthur like shit)

Merlin gets an apology. Arthur? My parents will love me faster than someone will apologize to Arthur in fanfiction.

"suicidal, self-harming Merlin" but Arthur has no right to have mental problems (a whole lot of people have wanted him dead since he was born)

Protectivr knights? Always about Merlin.

Even the fucking omegaverse. Alpha Merlin is a nice calm creature who pretends to be a beta. Alpha Arthur... wild animal, keep Merlin in a cage.

No. Just no.

(forever grateful to those stupid British people that arthur never told merlin he was fat. because the fandom understands that something is a comedy if merlin says it. if arthur it would be ,,abuse")

[tongjaitongjai]

An AU where Merlin is literally a God in Mordred’s eyes. Like, a genuine God.

In this AU Mordred and Merlin’s relationship is not fucked up by prophecy. So, everytime, kindhearted Merlin saved Mordred without hesitation. And Mordred grew up in a Druid camp that reinforced the idea that Emrys was a literal god. So naturally, HE WORSHIPPED MERLIN.

Once Arthur became king and magic was legalised, Mordred came to Camelot to become a knight because that was the best way to serve Emrys.

But when he arrived at Camelot, he struggled to comprehend the fact that Merlin was… human???? A very clumsy one, in fact. The rest of Camelot, though might know about Merlin magic, did not know how great ‘Emrys’ actually was so they were just confused, concerned, and/or entertained by Mordred’s ‘crush’ on Merlin.

He would stare at Merlin the entire first meal they had together, and people would be like: awww, Sir Mordred is crushing on Merlin so hard!!

Mordred: Emrys??eats??food?Food??Is ?eaten?by? Emrys?emrys?consumes?meal????

Or when he saw Merlin tripped on the training field

Mordred: i think the area is cursed. Strongly cursed.

Leon: what—

Mordred: THEN WHY ELSE WOULD EMRYS TRIPPED?????

Arthur: So, how have you adjusted to life in Camelot so far? Is there anything that is bothering yo—

Mordred: Merlin

Arthur: what did my stupid manserva- I mean Court Sorcerer do-

Mordred: I saw him drank water today

Arthur:

Mordred: He just drinks water????? From glass?????? Like?? He drank?? Water???? You know??? Literal water????????????? For drinking???HE??needs??water?to??live?why??

Morgana: why did I saw Mordred ran out of the meeting room screaming that you guys are trying to ‘Destroy his faith in his religion’. You knights better not bully him because he is a druid and has magic—

Gwaine: I told him Merlin is not here because he needs to take a shit.

Lancelot: Hey, Mordred, I noticed that Merlin has not received the note I asked you to deliver to him yet.

Mordred: But I already send it to him?

Lancelot:

Lancelot: Tell me how

Mordred: I burned it at the altar

Lancelot: what altar—

Mordred: and pray to him, as one should???

Merlin: WHY IS THERE SOMEONE SCREAMING IN MY HEAD THAT I HAVE AN IMPORTANT MEETING TOMORROW AT NOON!?

Or when they went on a long mission or hunting and Merlin, out of his old habit, made food for the knights

Mordred: ‘this is the most excellent food ever had bestowed on me, I shall never forget about this Emrys. I will pray to you even harder. I am the luckiest Druid to ever live���- ‘

Percival: … is the stew that good?

part 1| part 2 | part 3

[the-pen-pot]

Have u ever thought about Arthur time travelling instead of Merlin?

Not one with just Arthur, no. Hiraeth almost entirely scratched my time travel itch. That said, I'm actually writing (slowly but enthusiastically) one called "What We Might Be where they both end up back at the start with all their memories intact. It's a huge amout of fun!

It's basically about how this time they work together and maybe find that golden age (and do it a lot sooner!) It's posting on my patreon very slowly right now, but you can read the first chapter here (warning for angst)

Here's the synopsis from my fic ideas page below the cut to spare you all!

I made this post on Tumblr and it did numbers (I was thinking 4 people would "hell yes" me, not 2000)

"Not me sitting here thinking about writing a fic where we start with Arthur dying in Merlin's arms after Camlaan and it's all tragedy and then the magic rises and they both end up back at that first day, in the marketplace, Merlin with "How long have you been training to be a prat, my lord?" dying on his lips as they stare at each other, fascinated, horrified, so fucking relieved because they both remember ALL of it and none of it's happened yet and this time they can maybe make it to a different, better ending.

And they can do it together."

BUT TO EXPAND

I want to explore how Arthur and Merlin would interact with each other having lived in one another's pockets for ten years, only to be sent right back to the beginning while retaining everything they are to each other. Merlin's magic newly revealed from the confession by the lakeside. The two of them standing there with every mistake in their future rather than their past and realising that maybe "two sides of the same coin" means "you need to work together, dumbass".

I want the two of them shocked by how young the other is. How different Camelot seems from what they're used to. How harsh Uther looks now that they know it can be different (though not as different as it should be, Arthur realises.) I want them correcting their mistakes (and each other's mistakes) and taking all that they know of each other and rebuilding their relationship (all their relationships, actually) on that honesty.

And the others don't remember. Morgana is still Morgana, still struggling but still hoping to be saved. Mordred's just a boy.  Lancelot never sacrificed himself and it's so clear in Arthur's eyes that Gwen loved them both but that she loved Lancelot first and best with all her heart.

The knights end up at Camelot earlier simply because Arthur and Merlin set out to find them earlier. 

("We need Gwaine." "Do we? Really?" "Yes, you great prat. Come on.")

And so much more.

[magicalmischel]

WIP TAG GAME 🌿

rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have wips

thanks for tagging me @regulusrules ! 💖

I have a lot of wips too 😂 most of these are for BBC Merlin, a few are for classic who. I hope I don't forget anything, I keep a list but I haven't updated it in like a year 😂

BBC MERLIN WIPS

The Crystal Hunters; 45k

a canon era time travel fic with merthur and morgwen, set during the Great Purge. There's lots of plot, magic, crystals, old castles and running.

Layers of Dusk; 17k

a darker fic where Arthur dies and so Merlin tries his hand at necromancy

Give Me Your Hand, I'll Give You Mine; 1300 words

canon era, merthur, magical injuries caused by the great purge and a magic reveal.

"the medieval roommates valentine fic" (untitled); 2500 words

merlin is forced to stay in arthur's chambers 24/7 bc of plot. Not sure if I'll ever finish this one tbh

Rhythm of Love; ??k

glastonbury festival fic where arthur returns + musician!merlin. I have no idea how many years ago I started this, definitely pre-2018 though. Idek if I still have the draft somewhere ;-;

Suddenly Flames Everywhere; 77k

;-; i think abt this fic every day and try to work on it at least once a week ;-; i wanted to post it for acbb 2023 but i ran out of time, and then once the deadline was gone, so was most of my motivation 😂 it's a merthur enemies to lovers dragon!merlin soulmate canon au that I care about very very much. pls ask me abt it if you want maybe it'll kick me into working on it more 😂

The Light of Knowledge; ?????k

oof this is an old one. started it way back in 2014 and I'm honestly not sure if I still have the draft saved somewhere. All I remember is a big maze, lots of bad poems that I wrote in like the 9th grade and merthur 😂

Falling into Empty Space (??); 400 words lmao

basically a s1!merlin vs s5!merlin epic fight with time travel to 1x08 bc obviously killing kid!mordred is wrong, right? Right??

"ghost!merlin canon au fic" (untitled); 9k

exactly what it says in the title. damn i need to return to this ;-;

"cat!merlin fic" (untitled), 1000 words

canon era, merthur, magic reveal. Merlin transforms himself into a cat bc of course that is the absolute best way to get arthur to accept magic. it only makes sense in his head lmao

Burn Us Away (But Keep Me in Your Heart); 11.8k

canon soulmate au with a LOT of angst and a magic reveal

"the bird!merlin fic"; 1000 words

first written for merlin bingo 2021 but I never finished it ;-;

No Doubt in My Mind Where You Belong; 12k

a canon era trans!merlin fic with established relationship merthur

"cuddle fic" (untitled); 1300 words

written for fluffalooza 2023 but never finished ;-;

"one bed fic" (untitled); 1900 words

also written for fluffalooza but never finished bc it felt too ridiculous/cracky/ooc, but it might be worth reworking

"the weird tarot crack fic" (untitled); 2.8k

written for tarot fest 2023 but abandoned bc i came up with a better idea for the fest. I remember it was very cracky, I might return to it. Canon era merthur.

i might be forgetting some tbh, I've written a lot of drabbles that I later wanted to expand but never did ;-;

CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO WIPS

"jamie/10 + 11 fic" (untitled); 3.5k

the 10th doctor visits all his companions before regenerating into 11 including jamie <3

"twojamie war games "make it worse" fic" (untitled); 849 words

this is theoretically a fix-it but also i make it much worse first lmao, and i'm not sure yet how it ends either, so is it really a fix-it??

ok and I think that's it!! ;-; i did write a little something for each of the titles but hopefully not too much so if anyone sees this and wants to know more feel free to dm me

i'm not gonna tag 18 people though that's way too many 😂 I'll tag @insane-ohwhyfandoms (good luck) @lair-of-the-dragon @lesbianlefay @invisibility-superiority @queerofthedagger @wolfiery @haventacluewhatimdoing and @twojamie-o-clock <3

absolutely no pressure to do this though of course! 💖

[swans-chirping-in-the-distance]

hope you're doing okay!

mayhaps you tell us all about your favorite things in Merlin to get your mind off of things? I know like the smallest lore about the show dhfbfbfb and I want to know your thoughts on different characters and such.

Again I hope you're doing alright <33

Aww thank you that's so sweet 😭😭

I love love LOVE the desperation in Morgana's eyes when Mordred comes to her and tells her he knows where Emrys is. The way she brushes off his betrayal and rushes him to get to the point. Just the utter insanity in her eyes and the way she grips the arms of her thrown. She's completely lost it and it's amazing.

I love how close Mordred felt to Arthur and Merlin. He kept trying to prove himself to Merlin and saw them as kin ("she's one of US"). And he wanted to prove himself to Arthur too. He had faith in both of them. The way he fell to his knees to ask Arthur to spare Kara. He felt so close to them. He felt confident that he could open up to them and be vulnerable. Confident that they'd save her. And the sheer pain in his eyes, the tears mixing with his anger and shock as he breaks open his cell because he TRUSTED them. Mordred's story is so heartbreaking.

I will never not be mad at the wasted potential of Gwen. She was a compassionate servant/ blacksmith's daughter who fell in love with a guy who originally was a total prick, and she also gets into chaotic adventures with Merlin without even knowing his magic. I feel like we should've seen more of her being a good and much more understanding queen, more of her changing Camelot for the better. Arthur didn't want a wife who would walk around agreeing with everything he said, so why didn't we get to see more of that? There are multiple scenes with queen Gwen just sitting there the entire scene and not saying a word. And I felt personally robbed of more Gwen with weapons. She's a blacksmith's daughter guys please. And what about her being best friends with Morgana? She knows more about her than anyone else. I wish we could've seen more of her and her character because she's just so interesting.

I hate the Lancelot du Lac episode so much. Merlin knew that Lancelot was a shade or whatever you call it. Instead of figuring out WHY, it was just "Oh huh that's weird whatever" and they never figured it out. It makes Gwen and Arthur seem like a bad relationship because even when she betrayed him, a simple sorry was enough for him to ignore it and never bring it up again. Of course, he could see the guilt in her eyes, but still. No one realizing that she was enchanted gives such a bad spin on everything. How did no one put it together? Looking back at other Lancelot clips, he was NOT the same. How many insecurities did this cause in their relationship?

I would've loved Freya to actually be more relevant as Lady of the Lake. Merlin being able to talk to her and go to her. Gauis eventually meeting her. What if Gwen comes across Freya one day after Arthur's death, injured and alone, and meets an old friend of an old friend? Gets to know Freya and actually help the magic community. She knew Merlin had magic and was proud of him. She would trust the magic community, or at least parts of it. Freya reaching out to Merlin through a lake near where he's been waiting for Arthur and updating him about everyone. I'm rambling but I miss Freya and I love her.

Can we all talk about Mithian. She's so incredible to me. She walked up to a servant and just respectfully asked him to give her a chance. She valued Arthur and Merlin's friendship. When Arthur told her he wanted to be with another girl that wasn't even royalty, she just said she wanted to be that loved. Didn't judge her. You can't tell me her and Gwen wouldn't be friends.

Why did the writers seemingly forget that Merlin tried to kill kid Mordred, and Mordred said he wouldn't forget it. Looks like he did.

Also, wasn't The Great Dragon (I can't spell his name) supposed to take care of Aithusa?

[adhd-merlin]

merlin S1 rewatch: episode 6

it’s been a hot minute! today’s commentary is about episode 1x06, A Remedy to Cure All Ills. which I re-watched more than a month ago actually, but I’ve been busy.

just some random comments and thoughts (as usual), and not an actual review or analysis.

I think this episode is extremely underrated – I loved it the first time I watched it, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it on my rewatch. yes, it’s kind of a filler episode with a very traditional Villain of the Week format – but it's a great villain.

Julian Rhind-Tutt’s performance as Edwin is great and I love a suave, smooth-talking, scheming villain as much as the next person. The way he manipulates people, never suggesting anything outright but playing on people’s fears and biases, only saying just enough to make them reach the conclusion he wants. Something very Richard III about it. Very Iago.

EDWIN: “No… I shan’t say”

Another thing I love about this episode is the rare (unique?) instance of Merlin showing his magic to another sorcerer whom he isn't suspicious of (the audience knows Edwin is the Bad Guy, of course, but at this point Merlin doesn't).

I can’t think of another moment like this in the series. Freya didn’t actually have magic. There is Gilli, but when Merlin reveals his magic to him he already knows of the boy's intention to kill Uther, and it is a last attempt to stop Gilli from committing regicide without putting him in harm’s way. Merlin's relationship with Mordred and the Druids was always complicated by prophecies and by his role as Emrys.

But there’s none of that here. Edwin tells Merlin that magic can be used for good, and that it can be ENJOYED! which is all Merlin ever wanted to hear. And it’s a bit heartbreaking to see the hope on Merlin's face, knowing all that is going to happen later in the series.

I also loved the previous interaction between Merlin and Edwin:

“It can’t explain love”!! He’s a romantic. He loves love 🥺🥺🥺

I think the writers lost sight of Edwin’s motive a bit by the time they got to the ending. He’s not content with just killing Uther, he also wants to… rule the kingdom? And he tells Merlin they can do it together? (a concept revisited in the Cornelius Sigan episode). I don't think it works well.

I think Edwin’s final evil speech would have been way more impactful if he had tried to appeal to Merlin’s empathetic side, instead of his non-existent thirst for power, and reminded him of all the suffering Uther caused and why he deserved to die. I guess that would be a moral dilemma that deserves more than a few minutes of screen time to be resolved satisfactorily, and we’re already at the end of the episode at this point.

The series does dwell on it in To Kill the King, to be fair, but I think the “why not just let Uther die?” dilemma could have been presented before then. (Merlin's momentarily hesitation at healing Uther at the end is more to do with his fear of being seen using magic by Uther than by an actual reluctance to save the king.)

Anyway. I still think this is a very good episode overall, even with its relatively weak ending.

Other random thoughts:

The random-ass reference to alchemy. Something that wasn’t elaborated on, nor ever mentioned again (??) Missed opportunity imo.

Gaius is made "a free man of Camelot", whatever that means. (Does it mean that he, like Merlin, is not from Camelot? Or is it some kind of special privilege? We don’t know. I think maybe in Love at the Time of Dragons Gaius mentions something about he and Alice coming to Camelot but I can’t remember and I can’t be bothered to check now)

Some excellent display of brotherly concern from Arthur when Morgana falls sick. He's the one pushing for Uther to call for Edwin. We love to see it

Merlin and Gaius all but call each other father and son. DON’T TOUCH ME.

Gaius was 100% ready to let Uther die if it meant saving Merlin’s life. btw.

Gaius and Uther. WHAT ARE THEY

All the heavy hints at Gaius’s acting as a Category Traitor in the Great Purge + the only instance of Gaius talking to Kilgharrah (!!!) I am obsessed with it

The paralles between Uther & Gaius and Arthur & Merlin. I feel absolutely normal about it

“Now, open your eyes, My Lord. I want my face to be the last face you ever see.” -> I don’t care if it’s cliched, this line fucks

MERLIN CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM, AT LAST!! I was starting to worry but finally my baby is back to killing people :)

[someguyinc]

thinking about merlin's fucked up relationship with mordred and magic by s5,,

merlin as we know even in s1 would and has killed multiple times to protect and keep arthur safe with little remorse seeing as the end goal of having arthur alive was achieved like you could say that merlin did it out of duty, for the safety and future of all magical creatures,, but his relationship with mordred disproved that ten times over

mordred in s5,, was not a good man,, like when we find him he is working with what we can assume to be slave traders or at least people that deal in selling POWs or the like,, but as he said to merlin "we all do what we need to survive" (i'm paraphrasing),, he saves arthur and merlin from morgana and at the end is knighted

(how arthur forgot that mordred was the little druid boy i don't fucking know tbh talk to the writers on that one)

but mordred for all intents and purposes represents the potential future of camelot,, he is a druid and a knight,, a sorcerer and a protector of the king,, he knows and believes in the prophecy and want to bring forward a future where albion is united under king arthur,,

but merlin knows that he's also destined to kill arthur as well (now... if that is even true is another story bc why is kilgahrah the only one who has heard this part of the prophecy?? he's the only source on dragons we have, and if mordred raised knowing of the prophecy and emrys hadn't heard that where tf is kilgahrah getting is from?? but again another post another time)

and he doesn't trust mordred, he isn't kind, he doesn't show him any inch of grace, he waits for mordred to slip up and expose himself as a traitor, but ofc in doing so he furthers the prophecy and help creates the man who will eventually murder arthur (iron sharpens iron) but still cannot bring himself to directly murder mordred for whatever reason

and it's just fascinating to me because they have these moments where merlin does see glimpses of the future in mordred, ("until then we go unmarked in death as in life") and his heart softens, but he's so preoccupied with keeping arthur safe that in doing so he helps creates the blade that will run him through in the end and is literally fighting the symbol of the future that arthur is prophecied to bring about (a druid knight of camelot) based on the word of a dragon who outright admitted to manipulating him and visions of the future which he knows are fickle at best

[forsakenmissives]

I know nothing about football but I'd still like to hear about the au :3

see bc i complain and then i don't even know where to start LOL

ok so ig i'll start with the title From the Sidelines and a little description i have, to pique interest heh

Arthur is Camelot FC's star striker and captain. Merlin is the kitman. Life is hardly ever fair.

anyway . i suppose that's. a little misleading. that being said i think this grew into something waaaaay larger than i originally planned @.@ like it was supposed to be a fun little addition to the surprisingly small amt of footballer arthur fics we have but now this fic has double daddy issues (balinor my beloved...), coming out, sports injuries, shitty coaches (aredick die by my sword) and never making the national team. HUH??? i just wanted merthur to fuck on the pitch... (joke) (just in time for fuck him on the field friday)

also there's side stories. like one is when the players get handcuffed tgt for 24hrs but they've got an uneven amt for it and merlin gets roped in

and then there's the valentine's day arwen special that i somehow accidentally made into a statement about arthur's attitude toward his sexuality?? and feelings for merlin??? through his anxiety about his date with gwen????

“All good?” Merlin asks. “Never better,” Arthur replies, then pivots and walks directly into his closet. He stares at his barren shoe rack before he feels hands on his shoulders, and Merlin is turning him around and guiding him back out. “Wrong way,” he hears him say. “Right.” This time, Arthur marches out his room then down the hall to the front door. “I’ll be back.”

i'm allowed to give this info bc i don't know if i'll ever actually post the extras. i dont' even know when i'm gonna finish the main story sjkdfhgjkf

oh yeah another side story takes place in 2007 (that might be the title for it idk) and it's about uther buying camelot fc for arthur's tenth birthday LOL dont question the legaltiy of arthur playing for his father's club. i dont know and i dont care. this is fiction SIMILARLY dont say shit abt arthur being a striker and captain. it's happened before. it's literally fine. dont even worry about it

there's like. ik i rly only talked about the side stories but u have to realize just how much has already gone into this fic and i wouldn't even say i'm halfway done. i don't think i've written out a single match which is also funny bc i've been keeping up with the prem and actually think i can do it now. i just keep dragging my feet abt it lol

i think the hardest part for me is when im gonna have to seriously injure arthur. i didnt want to but i think it's an important way for his and merlin's relationship to progress and also would explain merlin's attitude toward him in january. its less abt injuring him and more abt him having to sit out of games not for like. lineup stats/compatibility reasons

oh my god typing this all out made me realize we haven't met like. half of the guys on the team yet. i was sitting here like "i need to rewatch eps with all the knights bc i dont trust myself to write percy and elyan accurately" but now i just realized i dont even know if mordred is on the like. squad yet or if he's still with the u18s (after a brief check with my info page he is. i'm gonna be sick)

like i said there is a LOT of info on this . sorry this was so long i just needed to ramble a bit and it also made me realize some info i still need to include so yayyy :3 thank you nonny if u have anything u wanna know in specific like fr anything PLEASE ask. i'd love it so much if u asked. u saved my life <3

[ambriel-angstwitch]

She Calls Me Back Arthur’s perspective

So I’ve already analyzed the original version through the lens of Merthur and it was very much Merlin’s perspective and I’m so happy that Kacey’s verse is applicable to Arthur.

I'm runnin' out of tears to cry They’re gone before they hit my cheeks

Near the end Arthur’s no longer the prince he once was in some ways that’s good but he’s also somewhat jaded. He’s been turned against again and again. It still upsets him but he’s not going to cry over his lost relationship with Morgana, Gwen or Mordred. He gets angry, confused and other emotions but he’s not allowed to show weakness like crying. The same applied to when he felt like Merlin betrayed him in the reveal.

Maybe it's the air out here Or maybe something's changin' me

Like I said Arthur changed over time. Though this also makes me think of Arthur’s death like I discussed so much in my first analysis. Arthur’s view on magic changes as they ride to attempt to save his life. Maybe it’s air the life that Merlin described the first time he considered accepting magic or maybe the something that’s changing him is love. If Merlin is magic it can’t possibly be evil.

If you think that you could wake me up Then you don't know how well I sleep

Arthur is stubborn this could be him thinking that Merlin can’t change his mind once he’s been decided.

You love me and I don't know why I only call you once a week

Arthur doesn’t make Merlin a priority. He doesn’t understand why Merlin cares about him so much. He brushes him off. He chose Gwen but Merlin’s still here. After the reveal he realizes it’s even worse than that he perpetuates a rule that would see all that Merlin is destroyed.

Does it bite at your edges? Do you lie awake restless?

Before the reveal Arthur wonders if Merlin worries about Camelot as much as he does, if he feels some of the burden that Arthur carried as his closest confident. After the reveal Arthur wondered if Merlin’s secret constantly ripped him apart. If Merlin laid awake wondering if it was his last. If Merlin worried not only death by his enemies but befalling it by those he cared for the most.

Why are you so obsessive? Hangin' on to every sentence? This town's the same as I left it My page is blank, but you read it You still dial 822-993-167

Arthur wondered why Merlin cared so much, why he was so devoted. He wondered how Merlin could read him like an open book, how he could provide the right words and advice.

[livvyofthelake]

1, 4, 8, 18, 19 <333 a lot but I love the way you hate 🫂

1) the character everyone gets wrong

i already said arthur but since you didn’t specify a fandom i will use this space to complain about the shadowhunter chronicles <3 nobody on earth understands my girl isabelle lightwood it’s sick and twisted. i can’t even think about how bad the tv show fumbled her it makes me so angry i want to start screaming. like. congratulations everyone you fell for the femme fatale front she was putting up… even the people who were supposed to be writing her and understanding her character it’s ridiculous like none of that is what cassie wrote and i read…

4) what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

again i already answered this but one time i blocked someone because their icon looked really weird and they spam liked and it freaked me out seeing their icon so much. me when i’m so normal and nice i guess.

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

WHEN BBC MERLIN FANS. actually i could finish this answer right there couldn’t i… no i’ll finish for real. when bbc merlin fans are like ohhhh why did the show do (insert widely known story beat from centuries of legends) like girl it was ALWAYS going to happen that way that’s the point….. mordred was always going to turn on arthur, morgana was always going to become evil, etc. yes there are issues with HOW the show did that stuff (meaning they did it in such stupid ways it’s laughable) but that’s the story… it’s BEEN set come on…

18) it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

can i say that i think all fandoms (on tumblr) really sleep on straight ships or is that an insane thing to say. like sometimes i don’t care if that man was homoerotic with his pal and it’s insane that you care more about that than his awesomely written relationship with his girlfriend/ex fiancée/some kind of love interest. ok this is about izombie this is about liv and major. i don’t care about major and ravi!!!!!!! major and liv are literally endgame grow up!!!! but no this is also true for every fandom ever. the way people ignore a man’s canonical female love interest if he has even one ounce of gay tension with some other dude in the show is ridiculous idk

19) you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

i guess i’m supposed to say ben barnes shadow and bone here or whatever. but i’m not actually mad about it because i’m a born apologist and knew this would happen. but i feel like i’m supposed to not like him. or i’m supposed to like him but righteous fandom people think it’s activism to not like him and therefore they would hate me sooo much because i formulate my own opinions with nuance and depth or whatever. also rumplestiltskin once upon a time. robert carlyle you got to me man… i could write essay length posts about that character actually don’t get me started. also i finished this question, saved the draft, and then another ask reminded me of the wilds, so i should also add that in hindsight i’m very embarrassed about the way i acted about the wilds season 2…. like i can’t believe you all let me act like that about men. in the feminist lord of the flies show…. why was i allowed to do that seriously that was sick….

[springs-hurts]

Seriously that's all i want🥲 like why tf people like to ignore Arthur and Mordred? I get you want him to have good relationship with Merlin but Mordred. Had. Good. Relationship. WITH ARTHUR???? Did you not see the way Arthur said Mordred would be his best??? The way he picked him up? The way he was contemplating bringing magic back, to save Mordred? Like please give me some good fics I beg y'all 😭😭

Arthur and Mordred friendship is very underutilized in fics. I’m not surprised half the fandom hates him for killing Arthur and the other half want to see Merlin and morderd have a good relationship but still. Their few episodes of friendship were adorable and it makes me sad people don’t write it into fics.

[weakforarwen]

Thinking about how Morgana directly or indirectly killed all of Gwen's family.

Uther sentenced Tom to die but any hopes of proving his innocence and saving him were shattered when Morgana helped him break out of his cell. It was Tom's choice to try to escape, and I can't fault him or Morgana for their choices, but Morgana's good intentions expedited Tom's death, something I hadn't even noticed until it was pointed out by @groundbreakingdot872 in a post.

Elyan obviously died because of Morgana. Either him or Arthur were meant to die by the magical sword in the room with Gwen and Elyan got to Gwen first (for some reason it took Arthur ages to reach them when he hadn't been far behind Elyan...)

Arthur, Gwen's remaining family, died because of Morgana too, by Mordred's hand but with her enchanted blade.

It's insane to me how Gwen suffered more at Morgana's hands than Arthur did. I blame that first and foremost on the writers' racism and misogyny, but it's also a reflection of the kind of person Morgana became - someone who thought herself better than a mere servant without any magic.

It's also worth remembering everything Gwen had to face and endure to be with Arthur, all that she risked and sacrificed for him:

Even before Morgana, Gwen risked her life being loved by Arthur. She knew how Uther would react if he learned of her and Arthur. She had already been sentenced to die once, yet it wasn't Uther's wrath she feared; she feared coming between Uther and Arthur and weakening Camelot, because Arthur had to be King and she wasn't Queen material (or so she thought). She feared that Arthur wouldn't be able to choose her and she feared that he would.

When Morgana found out about Gwen and Arthur, she had Elyan and Gwen kidnapped. Gwen didn't learn of Morgana's involvement (she probably guessed eventually), but despite Merlin's words to her, she knew she'd been targeted for her relationship with Arthur. Her life, and her brother's life, were threatened but she didn't think for one second to blame Arthur or reassess their relationship. If anything, she became more certain of her and Arthur's future.

In 3.10, Gwen was again sentenced to die but she only thought of Arthur. She worried about how he would cope after her death. She also told Arthur he should never abandon Camelot for her. She put him, his future, and the future of Camelot, above herself.

Uther sentenced Gwen to die twice, tried to banish her, slapped her, killed her father, showed time and time again he thought her life was worthless, and still she took care of him. For Arthur. Her love for Arthur and her compassionate nature, who pitied Uther despite everything he'd done, was stronger than any hatred and resentment she harbored for the King. She was stronger than fear or hatred - she never let it consume her.

Gwen asked Lancelot to protect Arthur when she knew he planned to risk his life for them all. It mustn't have been easy to ask a man who perhaps still had feelings for her to protect the man she loved with his life. It was a Knight's duty to protect and give his life for their King but Gwen still specifically asked Lancelot to bring Arthur home. She believed Lancelot had died keeping his promise to her and she lived with that guilt. No matter what happened, she never reconsidered her relationship with Arthur, thought it would have been much easier to date a normal man.

She told Arthur not to look for Merlin in 4.06 and was grateful that Mordred was hurt instead of Arthur in 5.05. Gwen loved Merlin and didn't wish any harm on Mordred, but she loved Arthur to the point where she would risk anything and anyone for Arthur.

Gwen endured Agravaine's disapproval and likely the disapproval of many others who didn't wish for a servant to become Queen. She must've had her doubts and insecurities but she never showed them, because she wanted to marry Arthur and to support him.

Arthur banished Gwen but she still risked her life returning to Camelot to warn him of Morgana's plans and Agravaine's betrayal. She nearly died for it too.

She sentenced a young girl to death to flush out her father just to protect Arthur. That wasn't an easy decision for Gwen to make and she had truly cared for Sefa.

Elyan died and Gwen's agency was stolen from her - she murdered an innocent man and nearly killed her husband while not herself - because Morgana hated she was Queen and wanted to kill Arthur. But did she ever blame Arthur or resent all she'd been through and lost to be with him? Nope. Never. Not even a little.

Gwen also risked her life in the finale by accompanying Arthur to the battlefield and that wasn't the first time she fought for Camelot and for Arthur (4.13) despite not being a trained fighter.

All of that was already a lot and she never even learned of Agravaine's attempt on her life in 4.02. Gwen was completely devoted to Arthur and risked everything to be with him and to protect him. Still, the fandom doesn't seem to appreciate all she did because they believe she loved Lancelot more than Arthur, or because Merlin did more for Arthur or whatever.

[warriorprincesstramp]

top five morgana apologism moments… alternatively top five merlin anti hero moments

they are both my favourite little war criminals so i'll do both <3

can i just say the entirety of the tears of uther pendragon... she was literally right to do all of that and she looked good doing it... SPECIFICALLY the scene where she just hugged uther and we see the first evil little smirk... slay babygirl!!!

ACTUALLY in part two when she had that whole conversation with merlin and she was like there is no other way... this was always going to happen! she's the dragon! she's the bad guy in this play!!! she's got the script and the casting fits so she'll play her part... ok i'll stop quoting random shit now but literally conversations of all time she should've put that man's head on a spike and burned that whole place to the ground

when she tried to stab uther with the knife arthur gave her. um imagine finding out uther doesn't even have the common morality the basic traditional etiquette he pretends to maintain even as he apathetically genocides a group of people even as he made YOU hate yourself. actually he never respected your father as he told (LIED) to you he never ever will respect you as anything other than a bastard and a mistake. yeah you'd fucking kill him. of course you would.

idk exactly what we're counting as an apologism moment but something that makes ME forgive everything she has ever done ever is when she grabs merlin's wrist frantic and terrified and so so tired and he just. silently brushes her off and walks away. i mean fucking top merlin anti hero moment as well. unbearably fucked up. what's something else violent she could do. she should've gouged his eyes out and left him in the wilderness to starve. yeah

one of the only two good things in the lancelot du lac episode when she revives him but he's only a shade of his former self completely reliant on another and while he'll maintain relationships with the others they don't mean anything because they don't love him they love who he used to be. and he lives only to ruin his reputation forever when he would've been better off to everyone dead and gone. functionally dead, living past his myth, came back wrong, etc. he's only a weapon. and she just looks at him for a long long time knowing exactly what he is and what will happen. yeah 😐

oh this getting so long merlin anti-hero lightning round

getting rid of arthur's free will - i STILL cannot believe he did that

killing the magical being that told him how to save gwen in s5 for like no reason

him being just soooo mean to my buddy mordred :( the shrug. the shrug!! i literally have that gif saved on my phone just to look at sometimes. he's like if a dark gaping void were a boy who was a girl who was more like wet cement. you understand

POISONING MORGANA. WHATEVER I DON'T EVEN CARE 😐😐😐

killing agravaine and all his men and then turning around and constructing the sword in the stone myth for arthur in the same episode. because kings were not meant to drag their hems in this sort of filth. killing myself. ruining the whole story and taking control of the narrative for the worse because you loved not wisely but too well. KILLING MYSELF. that was such a fun agonised jaunt through memory lane thank u beth :)

[pendragonsclotpole]

it’s because 100% of merlin’s problems are caused by one person and one person only: merlin

what’s that? merlin’s crying about another one of his friend’s dying at the hands of one of camelot’s enemies. oh no, if only some overpowered character in this narrative could potentially wallop these enemies and pulverize them into dust! what’s that? he totally could but refuses to do so because it puts his place next to the love of his life/soulmate in jeopardy? wow, okay, thanks for that gut punch you useless clotpole.

what’s that? merlin’s crying over his best friend possibly marrying the wrong woman? and wait, it’s because said best friend’s wife was secretly enchanted by her sister-in-law and magically coerced to cheat on her husband/his best friend and even after finding out he chose to do nothing and never tell his best friend so said best friend spends episodes in emotional turmoil and heartbreak after banishing the love of his life? and double wait, best friend’s wife is also his best friend and her banishment gets her kidnapped by some neanderthal warlord with no concept of consent? wow, yeah merlin i totally feel bad for you.

what’s that? merlin’s crying over the death of his best friend, king, and soulmate??? wow how horrible it would be if i didn’t know that this was the consequences of his actions set in place three whole seasons ago after mercilessly poisoning his best friend’s sister and never telling her why, and then continuing not to tell her as he thwarted her attempts on their lives, killed her (secretly evil because he never told her the truth) sister, kept her best friend in the split despite actively/knowingly supporting their mentor’s gaslighting of his best friend’s sister for years, and then practically handing that best friend’s sister—oh wait, what merlin and morgana were also friends for two seasons? oh guess we should reword this all—handing the friend he gaslit and betrayed and made his enemy her best, most strongest ally aka mordred on a silver platter, which if we all recall, was a huge mistake once again caused by merlin doing the exact things everybody in the know (and sometimes not in the know) told him not to do: don’t listen to the dragon, don’t believe wholeheartedly in prophecy, don’t treat mordred cruelly, don’t betray him by hypocritically stopping him from doing the same exact thing you’ve done behind your best friend’s back for literal years just because you believe it’s the right thing to do, when it is in fact not because it’s just another instance of you putting your best friend above everyone else.

like come on! at some point in season 5 you as the audience realize that merlin, for all that he claimed to want to save arthur and bring back magic into the land, he was also very much willing to do everything it took to selfishly protect his own secret and never reveal it to arthur. every rewatch i become more convinced that merlin was so obsessed with protecting arthur and prioritizing him above everyone else that there was never any other option. at some point, merlin valued arthur over everything and everyone else. arthur’s safety and emotions were placed above everything else, hell, even more selfishly, merlin placed his relationship to arthur and closeness to the king above everything else.

the young man at the beginning of the series would have been horrified at the level of devotion the man at the end of the series held for arthur. sure arthur was a great man, but he wasn’t always a good man. he had the potential to be, if only merlin gave him the chance to be.

merlin, for me, is so anti-hero coded to arthur’s hero, morgause’s villain, and morgana’s anti-villain. and normally this would mean he’s someone you could instantly love, op, except that merlin kind of wrote himself into that role more than most characters. not to victim blame but like, what about merlin’s victims???

Gods but somebody should help me understand why I hate merlin so much, I truly have no idea, and it's not even hatred, it's apathy, it's indifference to anything happening to him...

And I don't understand, I think it's quite simple, I should move on and forget about the show but Idc about show, I want to understand why I'm so disinterested in a character's plight, I used to love.

For some time I thought it was just me hating all the main characters, but I tried analyse my own feelings and, just no, I don't, I love other of my fav main characters, some of them I love too much even. It's just merlin... And I've no idea how this happened.

here's the thing tho, I love happy Merlin, but I hate when it's well "merlin whump" Ig? Idk man and I'm so confused.

[xviruserrorx]

Ask game that @bbcfandomsuniverse recently did (hope you don't mind me jumping in 😊)

Their post is over here in the larger font like above with the questions if they are easier for you to see! But from here on the text will be in the standard regular font, Thank you!

How many works do you have on AO3?

-Nine? And far too many WIPs that are like two paragraphs from being finished

What’s your total AO3 word count?

-92,277

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

-On AO3, 4 but In my little book of things and my docs a lot more...

BBC Merlin, Mortal instruments fandom, Durarara, The Umbrella Academy (*ones not posted* Penny dreadful, Robin of sherwood, BBC Atlantis... And other horribly written things for many many anime and manga series)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

• Rain Before The Rainbow- 146

• Snow and Powdered Sugar- 49

• Broken Raven- 39

• The Ingenuous- 21

• I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You- 20

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes! I always try to respond to comments and continue what whatever they talked about or just give my thanks.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

It's not currently posted but it's another one of my fics that is almost finished and pretty much is a retelling of the Diamond of the day of BBC Merlin if events had gone differently with saving a bunch of characters including mordred, daegal, kara, sefa, Gilli among many others and it's very angsty. Like tears and sobbing angsty...

Do you write crossovers? if so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I actually wrote ONE crossover that I never posted and it was a disaster... I will never mention it again.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I wouldn't call it hate but it was simply someone voicing their opinion on the fic which yeah... Kinda you know hurtful to me but i'm just a stranger to them that's writing fanfiction so...

Do you write smut? if so what kind?

Nope no nopitty no

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

To my knowledge no. And also who ever does steal my fics you picked the most worst person to do it from XD. (But in all seriousness if someone ever finds one of my fics posted anywhere else or under a different user name please message me here on Tumblr 😊)

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but again I'm completely open to it and would love for my fics to branch out to all of the non-english speaking audiences.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would love to work with another writer on a fic! I actually really want to but have no clue how to even go about it.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oooo, I'm gonna go back to my beginning fandom roots and say a platonic relationship I love is from an anime called Princess TuTu and it's Fakir & Muto... I watched the anime along with another one called Sugar Sugar Rune when I was like 4 and they will always hold a special place in my heart along with the Original Fruits basket and the Manga...

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Probably one of my Umbrella Academy fics that I had started to write. Mostly because when a lot of stuff happened with the very strong opinions in certain comments it made me loose inspiration and hope in writing for the fandom in a way. But it was my favourite idea and now I can barely look at it anymore...

What are your writing strengths?

Figurative language my beloved... I mold and bend works like clay to my will and abuse them for the sake of art. I sometimes place words that have no correlation besides each other but with their surrounding pears have all the meaning of everything I mean for them to say. My teachers all throughout school loved and hated my writing all the same but i always counted it as one of my strengths.

What are your writing weaknesses?

That I get distracted in words and go off on off topic tangents. I always do this and I have to stop myself. And like I've said before this just end up a old tangled yarn ball of metaphors that in another persons hands, the knots are yanked at and pulled so impossibly there's no chance to get it undone. But in mine, the twist and turns of yarn become limp and fall so incredibly loose between my fingers. So I want to make my writing able to be untangle without too much of a yank or tug.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've done it myself with Raphael Santiago from Mortal instruments in Spanish and Small dialogue bits I'm okay with. But if it's like a full speech I'm not too keen on it even if I understand the language.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Wait funny story real quick, I recently found my old notebook I used to write fanfiction in when I was like 8 and it's atrocious. But if I remember correctly the first fanfic in their is with Magi (another anime and manga series very dear to my heart) but if i'm correct the first piece of actual fanfic I wrote was a bit earlier and it was Pandora Hearts maybe? Or even around the time that shows like Avatar and Teen Titans aired...

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I have to go with "The Ingenuous" mostly because I remember many years ago thinking those two would be good friends but completely abandoned the idea because it was like 2015 and I thought the fandom was dead... And also because these two don't have a canon relationship I have taken free will with it and halfway through writing it I realized their relationship has elements of practically me and one of my friends I've known my whole life. And that person is very near and dear to me and I've always held them close to my heart... So really that fic just has everything of me and I've given my all into that fic.

I'm tagging

@zoingfandom and @ohanahoku-ao3 and thats It because I feel awkward tagging other people I know are Ao3 writers XD

Zoing & Ohana please save me from my awkwardness and tag more people please, I beg of you. But also Anyone else if free to join in!