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myfandomrambles · 4 years ago

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Morgana Pendragon Character Analysis (pt1)

Introduction:

Morgana Pendragon is one of the most key characters in Merlin. Her role is integral to the character arc of all of the other leads. Her story is about how someone can let their pain consume them whole. As an abuse victim and a member of a marginalised community, she is set up for being isolated and fearful. This alienation is turned both inward and outward making her deeply dangerous to herself and others. She takes this alienation to push almost everyone out of her life and force others to suffer the same way she did. Her righteous anger at her treatment by her father and society goes to waste when none is put to constructive ends.

She allows emptiness, fear and anger to consume her. She replaced her core beliefs with those of “others are out to hurt me” and “the only way to live is through the acquisition of power”. Her ability for both affective and cognitive empathy becomes suppressed as any joy she can drive comes from exerting control over others. She is compelled into implementing her obsessions around revenge and survival. Depression, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, fear and anger fill all corners of her mind leaving her without access to flexible thought and internal peace.

Analysis:

At the start, she is living as a member of court and Uther’s ward. She continually butts heads with Uther. This is due to her being headstrong and fearless. This bravery and stubborn disposition causes more rifts as she is seen to be hysterical and as an object, leaving her subject to gaslighting and other forms of abuse. However, this rarely stops her from being involved when important. Morgana often works with Arthur and Merlin early on. The most key of these events being when they save Mordred. (1x08)

However, her stubbornness isn’t all-consuming, while resisting being forced to do things she dislikes she is smart enough to know when to lie and when to bend the knee. Partly because as a child and young-adult she holds a mix of respect, love and fear towards Uther. She shows skills in court life, this is deeply important to understand as it becomes a useful skill when she works against the kingdom. But in the beginning, it shows someone who lives in the duality of wanting to assert herself and someone who absorbed the social rules she was raised with.

Morgana shows great care for those around her wanting them to be safe and happy. Often stepping up to speak on behalf of them, and generally treating even Gwen and Merlin, people considered her inferiors socially, with respect. Standing up for Gwen's dad, helping protect Elador, helping feed peasants and trying to protect Gwen when they are attacked shows her kindness and loyalty. (1x03, 1x08, 1x10-12)

She doesn’t have a consuming desire for power, no particular plan to marry into or otherwise acquire power. Her later turn to power is reactive and less of an innate drive. It also a drive to be the one who determines her future.

When Morgana's powers start to grow we see the first shift in her character. The development of anxiety and depression colour the way she acts. It adds layers to her abuse and trauma. A great deal of gaslighting is used to convince her she is mistaken and to prevent the acknowledgement of her magic. Which we know Gaius has been hiding since she was a child visa via her prophetic nightmares.

This alienation is from the entire culture she grew up in. When she visits the druids in The Nightmare Begins (2x03) Morgana feels free and desires to stay, she just wants to be herself.

This is similar to the experience marginalised people experience in real life. She knows that if discovered her magic father figure/father would likely kill her. Morgana also believes her other loved ones would at the least disown her.

In reality, there is some nuance. Merlin acts as both an agent of the system while originally trying to help her and Gaius and Gwen would not wish harm on her. But Morgana is understandably afraid and full of anxiety to reach out for help. This anxiety, confusion, fear and alienation become the way she perceives the world. Life is Morgana, then everyone else. This pain drives a wedge between her and everyone she used to care for.

Outside of the gaslighting and threat of violence, she experiences from those close to her during The Witchfinder (2x07) we see her deal with mental assault from an outside force with no support from her family as they don’t understand. This makes her dysregulation, anxiety, depression and isolation worsen.

The next two key events in her first character transformation can be seen at the end of season two. First, Morgana meets Morgause (2x08) and automatically feels a connection to her. Second, Morgana is pushed to verbally disown Uther due to his treatment of Avalar and by extension the rest of the Druids and others born with magic. This is the final relational rupture between them:

Morgana: They are rising up against you! From this day forward, I do not know you. From this day forward, I disown you

King Uther: You will go to your chambers!

Morgana: And you, Uther, you will go to hell.

(2x11)

We then see her move into helping Morgause try and destroy Camelot. At this point, it is driven by the anger she has for Uther and his treatment of others. It has yet to have the drive of becoming queen. Her connection to Morgause also plays a large role as she finally has a person to be close to without the artifice of court life over it. Morgause gives her a choice and with that an illusion of power. At this point, there is a more powerful member of their team. Morgana ends this attempt at Camelot almost being murdered by someone she considered a friend. (2x12)

We then have an interesting moment in her character arch in her year away from Camelot. This time away changes her from someone who while willing to hurt Uther didn’t seem driven for the destruction of Camelot, to one who will hurt everyone. There is also a reprieve from the fear-driven to more controlled anger by the assistance of Morgause.

We are never told what happened in the year. All we know is he stayed with her sister and likely had her hatred of Uther entrenched even further. Her worst tendencies towards vengeance over justice and ego over compassion are reinforced. This shifts her schema farther into negative ones and worsens her ability to think in shades of grey.

When she does return her previous ability to play the game of court life is stronger and utilised to great effect convincing everyone for a while that she is essentially the same person, except for Merlin and by extension Gaius. Gwen is the next to figure it out due to Morgana’s affect control dropping and her real emotion bleeding through over time. (3x08)

As she returns to Camelot she quickly moves to attempt another attack. This attempt is stopped again by Merlin, but in this attempt, we see new cruelty in her willingness to torture Uther and that her magic has grown. This is also the last time I believe her alienation and marginalization is her driving force. After this, I think she fully turns her internalized fear of her magic onto everyone else. Her exchange with Merlin during the battle feels genuine and not at all like manipulation or even just a justification as it becomes later, but a real motivation. She has not yet grown to shut off her empathy for everyone, only Uther and Arthur. (3x1-2)

Soon after her second attempt on the castle, we see another large shift in motivations. She almost dies and is severely injured which puts her in a vulnerable place and during this same time she learns she is Uther’s daughter in blood as well as circumstance. She learns that he never was willing to claim her or even tell her. This pushes her to act rashly, almost committing patricide. (3x05)

Her ability to be cruel in her aims continues to grow, to hurt Arthur she puts Gwen through terrible pain as well as Elyan. (3x07) We see her magic grow, her emotions grow but her ability to hide her intentions failing, at least around Gwen. Her attempts at her family's lives also continue to be cruel as she tries to kill Arthur and Uther in slow and painful ways. (3x08, 3x11)

When Morgana isn’t trying to kill the people she used to love she is trying to mess with their lives in more petty ways. This includes exposing the love Arthur and Gwen have for each other, putting their relationship in jeopardy and Gwen’s over well being. This is over her fear of Gwen being Queen when Arthur would become Queen, something that Morgana gains obsessive thoughts over throughout the rest of the story. (3x10)

Morgana is willing to kill a large number of the people at this point not only those she has a personal issue with. Though she does offer safety to Gwen thought it’s contingent on her considering Morgana to be the rightful queen. She is willing to rule by fear and threat, not understanding how to win over the people. (3x12-13). This attempt fails and Morgana loses her sister and the allies her sister made.

After being defeated and having to flee the castle with her dying sister she spends a year moving around with her ill sister while also gaining more strength and becoming a fully-fledged High Priestess of the Old Religion.

In an attempt to take the castle again she has to kill her sister. Something that caused her great distress as Morgana believed Morgause was the only person who understood and loved her. This event causes great suffering to all, it’s also when Morgana adds her obsession with Emrys along with her obsessive thoughts over Gwen and Uther.

During this first period of exile, she recruits Agravaine to be her spy and aid within the court. They seem to be united by a common cause but Morgana doesn’t treat him as equal, adopting the belief she hated so much from Uther, treating others as tools.

She also accepted a standard of living that is much below that of the ward of the king. Her way of dress and acting also shifts, she’s still cunning and driven but while now being the master of herself she is more erratic and seems to feel just as out of control and obsessed as she was when living a lie. Her affect control, impulse control, regulation and social regulation deteriorated. Fear also returns to being a driving force. (4x01-2)

Morgana succeeds in killing Uther in The Wicked Day (4x03) by cursing a necklace and Agravaine puts it on Uther so that when Arthur uses magic to try and bring back his father from a fatal injury he dies faster. Planning to finally kill her father she also wishes guilt and pain on her brother.

We then see Morgana use both strength and her ability to manipulate to work Queen Annis to try and kill Arthur. Morgana is not against using her history to use another person. However, Annis sees through her when Arthur shows honour and points out that Morgana is much more like Uther than she realises, and in saying this it also refutes the point Morgana tried to make early in the episode that Gorlois was who was her true father. This is true in both the biological sense but also through the fact that Uther spent more time acting as her father and had generally known her own life. This statement also acts as a trigger causing her to show extreme emotions. (4x05)

One of the key lines of dialogue we have to see where Morgana’s mindset is at during this period is

Morgana: Don’t think I don’t understand loyalty because I’ve got no one left to be loyal to

This is important because it shows that the isolation that started by The Nightmare Begins has enveloped her. Now she is no longer even fighting with or for anyone she has devoted herself to revenge and survival.

We also see the fear that drives Morgana as at the site of Emrys her first reaction is flight. During their battle, we see that they are almost evenly matched in magical power, though Morgana only really gets through due to Merlin not being willing to act decisively still. (4x06)

Morgana's obsession with Emrys becomes almost all-consuming. Morgana gives away the most emotionally significant thing left of her sister to obtain information on Emrys. She tries desperately to find the information torturing a man who spent her childhood helping to take care of her. But a layer of contradictions exists as he also tried to make her doubt her reality and is helping the person destined to prevent her ascension to queen and to kill her. This complex relationship is important here for the emotional repercussions of what seems like a straightforward attempt to extract information. (4x07)

Morgana shows no regard for even the laws of life and death gain in her quest in Lancelot Du Lac (4x09) bringing Lancelot back to life. Morgana does not even to directly finish her quest to take the throne but to ruin her once friend, and closest confidant's chance at happiness. This is driven by an obsession with her past nightmare about Gwen becoming Queen. Though of course, it has the added benefit of breaking her brother's heart. The only show of emotional connection we see in her is the fear underlying her actions and her musings on the emptiness the shade Lancelot has.

During The Sword and The Stone (4x12-13), we see Morgana take over the castle by using Agravaine for treason. Morgana is not only ruthless in what would be considered warfare but takes initiative to be cruel to the peasants willing to let them starve to gain control. She then tortures Gawain, Elyan and Gaius not only for information but just because she gains pleasure from it. The ability to empathise with those she deemed her enemies is no longer existent, even those who have not directly harmed her. Her depressive states and emotional nubbing is only broken when she can exert control over other people. She is choosing to hurt others for her pleasure.

This is their first battle when both Morgana and Arthur understand who the other is. Morgana calls him as her “dear brother” as a taunt. We then have this exchange:

King Arthur: What happened to you, Morgana?

King Arthur: I thought we were friends

Morgana: As did I. But alas, we were both wrong.

King Arthur: You can't blame me for my father's sins.

Morgana: It's a little late for that. You’ve made it perfectly clear how you feel about me and my kind. You're not as different from Uther as you'd like to think.

King Arthur: Nor are you.

Morgana: I’m going to enjoy killing you, Arthur Pendragon. Not even Emrys can save you now.

We see Arthur is hurt by what happened and truly did love Morgana and doesn’t like having to fight her like this. And Morgana is consumed by the pain of the past to the inability to care for the present. Arthur, however, is not giving her the power of acknowledging her as his sister. He still says “my father”. He compares her to their father and triggers her anger. We see them attempt to fight, Morgana is unable to use her magic due to Merlin and panics.

She gathers herself, able to make her escape even coming close to killing Gwen. She then almost dies only being revived by Aithusa, who becomes her closest friend from this point on. (4x13)

We then have another time skip of over two years. Two of those years Morgana was being tortured in the pit by The Sarum. This has the effect of taking an already traumatised individual and layering two years of severe chronic trauma on top of it. She has less control of herself as a result of this and loses the little bit of impulse control she had.

We first see Morgana after this when she is searching for the Diamair to try and learn how to beat Arthur. Morgana can capture and lure Arthur to her by kidnapping his men and using spies. She almost finds what she seeks but the creature itself has no wish to be used by her making her search futile. We also see her not even consider a father being willing to do something dangerous to save his daughter, her own acquired lack of compassion colouring her judgement.

This is also the re-introduction of Mordred, a character that acts as the turning point in the rest of the narrative. Seeing Mordred shows some of the only real joy we see from Morgana since her sister died years back. She, however, pushes him away due to her display of rage and dysregulation. Mordred stabs her literally in the back. (5x01-2)

One of Morgana's most cruel attacks is used to try and turn Gwen into a weapon by torturing her for days, breaking down her psychological defences leaving her open to manipulation. This leaves her under control of Morgana thinking that Morgana cares for her. While this is mainly a spell able to be broken there is a part that relies on Gwen's psychology of being compassionate so she will be sympathetic to Morgana’s story and trauma. With the long psychological attacks and this play on Gwen's compassion, we see Morana essentially form a trauma bond. She manipulates Gwen’s perceptions and emotions in a way that is very similar to emotional abusers.

This act also kills Elyan in Morgana's attempt to harm Arthur (5x06) During this control we see how strongly Morgana used it to make Gwen not only a weapon but also they feel like they are friends again, being lonely might have been part of why he chose this method and less of a direct method like she did with Merlin. (5x07-8)

Once Arthur is aware of her curse on Gwen he sets out to break the magic but is almost thwarted by the Dochraid who tells Morgana of his plans to save Gwen. This is interesting as the Dochraid is one of the few magic beings who truly side with Morgana betting on her strength of will over Merlin’s. Morgana is then forced to face off against the one thing other than her dragon, Mordred. Mordred puts up a good fight even saving Merlin’s secret. She felt conflicted in harming him and ends up losing to his surprise attack. (5x09)

After her plan with Gwen fails he returns to her full-tilt hunt for Emrys. She hunts the Catha for information causing terror across multiple kingdoms, then excruciatingly tortures him to try and find out. Hunting anyone down who might know these plans however fail because Alator and Finna believed in something larger and were willing to suffer and die. Morgana no longer understands the bigger picture her idea of a world free for magic isn't her leading drive anymore. After this incident, Morgana is seen to have declared all-out war with Camelot. (5x10)

Mordred acts as the last domino to fall into place before the final battle between Morgana and Arthur Pendragon. When Kara is killed and Merlin and Arthur were the drivers behind her execution, Mordred becomes angry enough at the system of Camelot to move to side with someone he saw as dangerous and broken. He gives Morgana the information she needs on Emrys. (5x11)

With Mordred by her side, Morgana makes her final move, forging a sword just to kill Arthur and finalizing the amassment of an army. She clears the way by removing Emrys from the situation, giving her and Mordred a clean shot at Arthur and the army of Camelot. However, she underestimates Merlin and we see her lose much of her Army and Mordred. This causes Morgana despair as she has to bury the last person she loved. One of the few things that could even start to pierce her depression is ripped away.

This loss isn’t enough to stop the endless patterns of a compulsive need to take out revenge on Arthur.

The final moments of her life she taunts her brother in his death claiming a victory. It’s however short-lived as Merlin kills her with a dragon fire-forged blade right after she claims her immortality. Her pain consumed her, and as the death of her father there is no triumph in hurting her brother as all it does is open her up for her death. (5x12-13)

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symwinter · 5 years ago

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Making Descendants likeable to me and only me but maybe you if we have similar tastes?

Part One: Mal

The best way to ‘fix’ Mal, is to give a context to her actions, have her grow from them, and change for the better, a standard thing really.

In movie one the main thing Mal has to learn is to grow out of her mother’s shadow. A lot of what she does is to be like her mom, there’s a whole song about it, but to make it the driving force of her first step in her arc is a good way of going about it. Have her initially be against the date with Ben because her mother wasn’t the dating type. Have her interest in magic be because her mother is. Then her telling her mother off at the end of the third act all the more climatic.

The other thing is to remove the manipulation of Ben with the love potion. Instead, it would make more sense to infect Audrey with some kind of hatred spell. Audrey already doesn’t like the Core Four, so the spell just makes her more obsessed and spiteful of them, therefore Audrey has more reason to want revenge on Mal in movie three other than stealing her boyfriend when the spell breaks.

Movie two‘s main arc is trying to figure who she is by going back to her roots, magic and then the Isle. Her conflict with Uma is more a result of her pre and post Auradon side as she still cares about Ben, lovable puppy that he is, even when she’s trying to be the person she was before. However I am going to get rid of the whole love spell thing Uma does since magic doesn’t work on the Isle and it’s never explained how she got off the isle and did the spell

By the end of the movie, Mal embraces the better parts of her old self and the better parts of her new self and along with having one of my favourite movies endings with the dancing boat scene, she tells Ben her actual real faery name, a sign of utmost trust: Morgana.

Movie 3 is more like a tv show with an A plot and a B plot. A plot is “actions have consequences” primarily focusing on what she did to Audrey. B plot is “how to keep her deal with Uma without endangering the people she cares about” because in case anyone forgot the Isle holds people like: attempted murderers, actual murderers, abusive parental figures, people who have committed high treason, people who have attempted regicide and/or identity theft, attempted animal murderers, people who are willing to manipulate a teenage girl who’s stuff got destroyed to gain power, a jock, whatever the fuck Captain Hook was trying to do. It isn’t safe to release them onto Auradon and just assume their grudges will go away.

By the end of the movie when Hades, who isn’t her dad in my version, gets on his high horse, Mal rightfully admits it was her fault Audrey went this far but also that Audrey is like seventeen, nobody died, and that there was little to no collateral damage. As for the whole villain kid parent thing, Mal and Ben reinstate something I’m calling the “Villain Rehabilitation Act” which is basically a rehab/help centre type thing that allows villains who want to change the opportunity to change in things like a larger scale Remedial Goodness class, finding jobs where their skills come in handy, and finding Auradon citizens who are willingly to help them get better.

Also due to fairy physiology, Mal should have wings. The basics for me is that a fairy’s shoulder blades are more pronounced to act as the breaking point for wings, but because Mal was on the island the anti-magic prevented them from growing out properly but also technically hid the pain so when she reaches Auradon she has back problems and what looks to be fractals from the damage her lack of wings has caused. It also acts as a catalyst in the first movie when she goes to Fairy Godmother for help and kind of experiences genuine motherly affection as Fairy Godmother breaks the unofficial rule not to use magic to break Mal’s wings out of her back with as little pain as possible. Like all wings they’re translucent with fairy magic in a physical form being the sparkles/glitter, but hers are dragon shaped.

Part Two: Evie

Since I can’t just make Evie the protagonist without doing a bunch of movie rewriting, we shall keep Evie as the deuteragonist/tritagonist that she is. Also like the others, her character arc is handled in the movie and then she’s fairly stable for the rest. Evie’s major character arc in movie one is to not trade her passions to get the guy. This is dealt with through her two most defining relationships in Auradon: Doug and Ben. While Jay is her best friend, more on that in a the next part, it’s those two that basically help Evie to ditch the persona she had put on. She’s still boy crazy and wants a nice castle, but she should be herself. Evie is fashion savvy, empathetic, and genuinely smart and she shouldn’t throw it out. By the time two and three roll around, she’s got an upcoming business, a sick boat party to look forward to, and is making bank by embracing and sharing her fashion. Her time on the Isle isn’t ever really discussed because for a good portion of it, she was locked in her house for not inviting Mal to her birthday party, so she actually knows the least about the Isle. However, that is unimportant as she acts as the bridge between Mal’s old and new self having figured out how to be her best self without getting rid of the person she was, and in movie three she’s legit done with all the fighting because she is the most emotionally mature which is why she suggests the ice breakers because Audrey is clearing a danger to herself and others and we don’t have time for your power trips.

Part Three: Jay and Carlos

You know when we reach the “and” I’m running out of stuff to do. This is probably where we reach the point where it’s primarily background or aesthetics that change more than a storyline.

Jay is the only member of the Core Four to be born in Auradon. His mother is alive and well. Just before our gang was born, the Villain Rehabilitation Act happened, and Jafar decided why not in a ploy to get power, but then befriended and fell in love with Jay’s mom, but the act was revoked for unknown reasons and Jafar, as well as baby Jay were sent back to the Isle, even though Jafar was one of the least dangerous villains at the time. So technically for Jay, Auradon is a chance to meet his mom. Which he does on Family Day before the whole Queen Leah drama. THe other notable thing about Jay’s past is his friendship with Evei, which began when he broke into the castle to hide after stealing some stuff for his dad and Evie hiding him from her mom. Friendship blossomed from there and the two will often hang out because of this.

Carlos is both easy and hard to work with. For example, appearance wise he would have movie two hair, the peak hairstyle honestly, but everything about him personality wise is a lot more… poised. He still likes tech, but fall out of the limo he does not. However he’s not great at talking to people without being kinda bitchy. His main issue with Jane is her lack of self confidence, so even after the hairstyle upgrade in movie one he still kinda sees her as spineless though he’d never say it outloud.

His arc is friendship through the doggo and like compliment sandwiches. Taking care of Dude and having to give positive critiques teaches him empathy, constructive criticism, and a better way of complimenting people by pointing out the effort a person put into something, even if the result isn’t great. There’d be a part of the dance in movie one where Carlos tells Jane that her problem isn’t her appearance, but her lack of confidence and offers to help her figure it out. Also his crush on Jane stays but the whole having trouble asking her out is either ignored or dealt with very quickly. Like they’re about to go to the Isle to get Mal back and Carlos spots Jane and asks if she’ll be his date to Cotillion if he gets back in time for it.

Part Four: Ben

The gist is that a single strand of his dad’s curse is in his DNA and fairy magic can strengthen it, so for movie one, other than the whole Audrey thing, his major conflict is that he’s in love with a woman who can legit turn him into a beast. I mean there’s magic water and true love, but it’s still a terrifying thought to him, especially since Ben is a total sweetheart and doesn’t deserve it. Interestingly enough, he finds that nothing actually happens when he’s with Mal until movie two when we learn Fairy Godmother was requested to bury the curse so on the Isle, where magic doesn’t work, he’s basically a ticking time bomb since the beast curse was still gaining strength from Mal’s untamed magic and since it’s also genetic, it can affect him on the Isle. It mainly takes the form of claws and being a bit more on edge. By the time they return home, the spell is placed back on him, and is subsequently broken again in movie three. Ben can’t catch a break, but once the whole enchanted water puts him at a halfway point, he learns of Mal’s deal and brings up the old Villain Rehabilitation Act since it’s what he based his exchange program on and is able to find the moving fairy cottage by following the smell of Audrey’s perfume. Movie three’s whole thing is the acceptance that his curse is kinda cool and that fangs are fun.

Part Five: Antagonists

Movie two has Uma as the antagonist with Harry and Gil as like lackeys. Uma does not hate just Mal. Evie, Jay and Carlos all got to leave the Isle and get a better life, but Mal had power on the Isle and even though Uma rose when she left, she still feels it was just given to her. Her goal is to truly beat Mal so her power feels justified. Harry goes along cause he’s like lowkey in love with Uma, but like he just has a general thing for confident women and gravitated to Uma due to shared interests, and Gil had nothing better to do. That’s why he’s the odd one out. Somehow after the whole Ben kidnap fails, Uma escapes the Isle but rather than mind control Ben cause no thanks, she decides to ruin cotillion. Unlike before, Uma has been humiliated by Mal, so attacking the boat with her octopus tentacles is a pretty big fuck you. When that fails she hides out in her mother’s old lair until movie three. Meanwhile Harry and Gil are left with trying to hold the crew together but by movie three it’s broken up which is why Harry and Gil decide to break out and are less then excited to see Uma initially since she abandoned them. But again, they’re happy that she’s back. Harry does kinda break away from Uma such as complimenting Evie back after she compliments his accent, but it’s Gil who has the best character arc as he becomes part of a himbo duo with Jay. Gil honestly doesn’t need to change, he's great as he is.

So we’ve already covered movie one’s antagonist, Audrey who was a means to an end created by Mal and while Mal does break it, I don’t imagine she apologized for it. So she vanishes before the dance sequence and goes to deal with every that’s happened and also probably to be a witch on the Charmed reboot, I don’t know for sure. But movie three Audrey is a different story ignoring the end, which was talked about as well. Audrey’s primary goal in movie three is to get back at Mal which is deserved, and Queen of Mean is a bop so it’s staying. The downside is Audrey is so invested in revenge she doesn’t think to stop using Maleficent’s wand which was created to be used by a fairy. Fairy wings basically act as a magic battery, constantly replenishing the magic used by spells, so when a human, like Audrey, uses it, when it runs out of magic, it’ll use Audrey’s life as energy ie. it puts her in a coma. When Audrey does wake up thanks to Hades, she finally gets her apology from Mal and while they aren’t friends, they don’t hate each other. She also trades the pink for blue as pink reminds her of things like activating the curse on her ex-boyfriend or locking Chad in a closet.

Next is Hades who isn’t Mal’s dad. That was kinda dumb. His plan is mostly the same, escape the Isle by making people feel bad for him, but again, Mal doesn’t fall for it at the end, not only by pointing out that she pushed Audrey into doing that while no one did to Hades, sure he was stuck in the underworld but he never tried to find a positive in it, and you know, people died during Hades’s titanomachy. By the end however, he is allowed to go back to the underworld rather than the Isle.

Part Six: any other characters that are primarily just minor fixes that don’t need their own section

Doug is fine. While he does have a crush on Evie, his primary goal in helping her is just that. There’s no ulterior motives. Also his season three hair is a yikes.

Chad is also fine. I like that he’s clearly got good self-preservation skills shown in movie three, and giving him claustrophobia helped me sympathize with him.

Jane is a top tier character, fight me. Major difference in movie one is that her following of Audrey in movie one is because she wants to be liked and thinks that’s the fastest way, but she doesn’t insult Mal, and actually asks to have her natural hair back after the whole dance thing.

Lonnie, proving mlm wlw solidarity is great. I like her friendship with Jay in movie two and her being a boss as bitch and also when she puts her foot on Chad’s back to make doing push ups harder because Chad still sucked in movie two.

The og parents are fine. Dizzy is great, wished we had more of her in D3.

Part Seven: should’ve been a show

And I don’t mean like Wicked World, which like the books is non-canon in this, but like an actual tv show. So much could’ve been done with the Isle that just wasn’t. Mal probably wouldn’t be such a contentious character if we didn’t have to cram the plot into a two hour movie. They wouldn’t even need to start the show with them meeting, since they could follow the format of Once Upon A Time and have each episode show things like how Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos became friends, or how the whole Shrimpy thing happened. Descendants, and Barbie Princess Charm School, would work better as a tv show over a movie. At least I think so.

There it’s done.

#symwinter’s trash writing #descendants #this is for you six people who wanted this

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snowbellewells · 5 years ago

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Face to Face in the Broad Daylight: Chapter Four

I really can’t apologize enough for the long wait between chapters here. There all sorts of plausible excuses, but I’ve basically just fallen behind with starting back to school and getting into the teaching routine again. Hopefully, I won’t keep you waiting on this story so long again, and that you will still enjoy what I’ve cooked up this time around...

Also, I still don’t think it quite needs an M rating, but fair warning, Emma and Killian do get up to a bit of mischief on a stakeout...

Thanks again to @branlovestowrite for the gorgeous story banner; I continue to just love it and smile every time I add it to the chapter post. And to @cssns for inspiring so many wonderful stories and such a fun community outlet. I’m so glad it gave my little werewolf story an outlet and a reason for me to finally get down to business and commit to it the page!

~chapter four: sinister stirrings, signs of life

Gold did not allow his accomplice’s taunt to hang in the air for long; instead, speculation lit his serpentine eyes with cunning curiosity. “And just what is your price, Morgana? What is it that a powerful witch like you cannot simply conjure for yourself with ease?”

“I seek vengeance,” she bit out, tone icy cold with the fierce utterance. “For my father’s life, for my mother’s pain… and what I have lost to that ingrate King… Arthur of Camelot.” She spat the famed appellation, which most spoke in reverence, with a venom that momentarily surprised even the Dark One.

A knowing, secretive smile crept over his sharp face; no other words necessary for him to understand what drove her. He had after all seen the quest for revenge bring many a man and woman to his door, willing to take his wretched deals whatever the cost, and then meet their doom, or at least soul’s ruin. He and the would-have-been Duchess of Cornwall had much in common, and always had. Both believed the world to have slighted them, and both plotting, scheming, grasping every bit of what they felt was their due wherever they could. Perhaps she would grow a bit too desperate, and he could then be certain of the upper hand in their arrangement. He would simply watch and wait to see.

Morgana, on the other hand, was not idle, even as she finally handed the contained hat over to Gold and began to move around his shop with mild interest as he examined the token ravenously. Just as her former mentor sensed her fervent desire and impatience, the seething rage pushing her forward, she could also read his extreme confidence, his discounting of the worthy mind and abilities she had cultivated since the time he had known her well. He thought she would be easy to manipulate; powerful enough to provide the assistance he needed, but not a true threat to his own mastery of the exchange.

He misjudged both her magical strength - and her loyalty. She had learned that no one could be trusted but herself. Though she was willing to side with him while it proved beneficial, she would not sacrifice her own goal, nor confuse a healthy respect with true devotion. Rumplestiltskin foolishly believed her indebted to him, simply because he had discovered where to summon the hat from Merlin’s safekeeping. That mattered little when she was the one who had retrieved it; she was the one he had needed to complete his task. Their purposes were not truthfully as aligned as he thought, yet she felt no qualms at playing along until it was too late for even the Dark One himself to stop her or ruin her plans. He saw her as a willing and able pawn, and she would let him do so for the time being. As long as he gave her the hat as promised when he was done, and she could increase her power, take it back to Camelot, usurp Arthur, and gain her revenge, she cared little how Gold’s plan worked out. His power would be the first she would harness for her own devices - his and all the other Dark Ones who had come before - once the time was right.

“That seems only fair,” Rumplestiltskin spoke in his slick, indulgent tones that might fool someone who didn’t know him as well as Morgana did. Though neither fully trusted the other - nor any beyond themselves - the sorceror before her did seem near tittering with subdued malevolent glee. He really was an imp to his core, delighting in the fall of those who took might and control by vicious means, even if that downfall was not of his own making. “King Uther, Arthur’s father, did indeed wrong your family greatly.”

“I know that,” she snapped, eyes burning as they swung to his in sudden anger. “You needn’t recount the injustices! I remember them well.” Her fine, white hands clenched and unclenched, as her deceptively thin shoulders heaved. She was practically seething from every pore.

Unfazed, the Dark One stepped nearer, cradling his precious talisman in one hand as he wagged his forefinger at her teasingly. She wanted to snap the digit at its joint, but instead held her tongue stonily. “Easy there, Dearie,” Gold chided in his infuriating manner of jest. “Flying off the handle like that can lead to dangerous mistakes.” He winked at her before turning to leave, clearly unconcerned with her alone in his shop to wreck it if the desire took her.

Morgana’s voice rang out quickly, before he could vanish in a puff of his magic, stopping him with the sort of ringing command he couldn’t ignore. “Midnight, a week from now, when the moon is at its fullest… If you wish for my help, you will bring the Sorceror’s Hat to the lakeside when the lunar orbit reaches the zenith. We will perform the ceremony, and then the hat will be mine once it has served its purpose for you. Do we have an accord?”

“Certainly, certainly,” Gold chimed, and though his tone was soft and sibilant, Morgana could hear the eagerness, the urgency for his full freedom and command of his power running beneath. She wasn’t the only one whose need for retribution had them chomping at the bit.

All that remained, she considered saying as the bell tinkled after Rumplestiltskin’s exit, was to see who would allow their quest to be their undoing. Then, without another moment’s hesitation, she vanished from the spot as well in her own column of cobalt blue smoke.

~~***~~***~~***~~

Once again nighttime darkness reigned over the quiet streets of Storybrooke. The main street, lined with storefronts, the Sheriff’s station, and the cheerily butter-yellow Town Hall, was so still and calm by 9:30 that one might think the place either deserted or inhabited entirely by senior citizens, Emma thought with a wry shake of her head and exhaled breath as she sat watching the scene before them from her usual work parking space. Apparently, fairy tale characters exiled in the “real world” adhered to a similar early bird schedule. She was in the more roomy back seat of her Bug, not expecting to see much of anything that would require her to pull out quickly, and needing to sit somewhat turned in the seat to keep her eyes on Gold’s shop, a Thermos of hot chocolate on hand to warm her insides as the night grew more chilled, and Killian cuddled against her side assuringly, something in his lupine makeup keeping him always a few degrees warmer than the average human.

Reading her mild amusement as easily as he seemed to do with all her changes in mood and emotion, Killian leaned in to whisper against her ear, his scruffy whiskers raking deliciously across her cheek and neck. “What is it, Swan? Did I miss something humorous?”

Emma shook her head with a chuckle, swiveling a bit to look at his quirked brow and curious face more clearly. His crystalline, sea-blue eyes twinkled as if he could already anticipate her answer, and in that moment, Emma genuinely wanted nothing more than to kiss him senseless, plant little pecks all over his forehead and cheeks and chin, just for sitting there with her, for always being by her side, and for being her ridiculous, handsome, dependable companion, whatever new surprise or danger came their way. Though she managed to hold back the outburst of affection, she still couldn’t help the frisson of awareness that ran through her veins at his nearness, even while proceeding to answer his simple question. “No, nothing funny really, just thinking how there truly is no night life here. It’s not even ten o’clock, and there’s no one out on the street!”

“Aye,” Killian nodded conversationally in agreement. “You’ve a point there. Any port town in which the Jolly ever docked - regardless of how small or remote - was more lively than our little town currently.”

Both fell silent once more, eyes unavoidably drawn to the entrance of the darkened pawn shop, looking deceptively closed and shuttered,but nevertheless the reason they were sitting on the street in a stakeout and wondering whether or not they should trust the seeming peace of the night around them. “Exactly,” she smirked at his comment, against her better judgement leaning closer as she did. She could feel that the spark always burning between them, fanned by both recent interrupted assignations, was still simmering hotly, barely banked by more pressing concerns, and knew that the right sort of look or touch might well be all that was needed to set it aflame once more. And yet, she couldn’t find it in herself to resist.

Killian reacted just as she had hoped, his response to her invitation almost immediate, hand balancing him on the seat beside her as he leaned even closer than they had already been seated, his breath warming her forehead as he exhaled and his hook tracing a purposeful path up her jean-clad thigh. “Looking for a bit more excitement, are you Darling?” he questioned devilishly, his lips and tongue pronouncing each sound and syllable of the words in a manner that left tingles racing up and down her spine.

The intentional progress of his metal appendage swung inward to trace along her pants inseam, ever closer to the goal, and Emma swallowed hard, irrationally embarrassed that he might already feel the heat radiating from her center and how her pulse seemed to be throbbing there noticeably. It was all she could do not to start shedding layers and crawl into his lap. She could only nod eagerly for several tensely heated seconds before finally affirming breathily. “What if I am, Pirate? Are you gonna do something about it?”

Killian’s heavy, dark eyebrows practically danced across his forehead merrily, as if she’d given him a present with her challenge. The tip of his wicked tongue poked from between his full, tempting lips before tracing along the lower one as if he had just glimpsed a meal her wanted to devour. “Oh, you know I will, Emma. Don’t you even doubt it.”

In the next instant, he seemed to pounce, his warm weight pressing her back against the leather upholstery of the Bug’s rear bench seat, as that tongue swept into her mouth to lay claim. The curved edge of his hook found its goal at last, putting delicious cool pressure against her still-clothed heated core and making her moan shamelessly into his mouth in return.

“Oh...Ki - Killian!... Please…. Ummm…” she raised her hips almost unconsciously, bucking toward his questing hook, and the added stimulation of his hand, which had now managed to slip under her shirt, up her side to her heaving chest. Emma forgot all about Gold, the newcomer, and why they were outside in her car at all, between the way his hand and hook were making her feel and his lips suddenly veering from her own to wander along her jaw back to the sensitive spot behind her ear, driving her even more out of her mind. She would swear under oath that she shouldn’t be held responsible when her desperately clutching hands pulled so hard at his shirt in her haste to touch him too and hold onto something to ground herself that she heard the sound of ripping fabric over her own gasp and whimper of need.

Not in the least disturbed by wardrobe damage - he had lost count of how many shirts and pants his wolf had destroyed in transformation ages ago - Killian merely chuckled with indulgent pride at the effect he was clearly having on his usually cool and collected girlfriend. It wasn’t lost on him that Emma rarely allowed herself to let go of control so completely. Splayed before him openly, eyes half-closed in bliss, Emma was offering him the trust and vulnerability few others received from her, and it awed him all the more beyond what her beauty had already accomplished. Not wanting the swell of emotion to derail them, now that they had at last managed to preserve a long enough moment alone, he bent his head back to the task before him. He nearly lost a handful of hair when a few seconds later he caught the lobe of her ear between his teeth and bit down playfully, not expecting the force with which Emma grasped the dark strands between her fingers as she keened breathlessly.

The wicked smile that quirked his lips as he murmured into her neck, “Feeling lively enough now?” was entirely unavoidable, if he did say so himself. For a moment, he allowed his mind to gloat inwardly as her pants seemed to indicate his Swan incapable of speech from his pleasurable ministrations.

Letting down one’s guard around Emma was never wise, however, as he was soon letting out an indecently loud and tormented groan of his own satisfaction. Somehow, while he had been occupied with tracing patterns over her collarbone with teeth and tongue, she had worked a clever hand into his tight jeans and dealt him more than enough taste of his own medicine.

“Ah! Wh- Swan…” he choked, his own head falling forward to rest on her shoulder as she squeezed and pumped delicately in the limited space she had to work with. “Mmm, love...easy does it,” he finally managed to grind out after riding the sensation for a minute. “Much more of that and you’ll bring the night to completion before I can finish what I started.”

Reluctantly his bold lass did release him and pull back slightly, one sculpted eyebrow arched in what could only be the beguilingly feminine equivalent of the look he had given her so many times before. “Can’t have that now, can we?” she teased gently, stroking along his stomach muscles, which quivered in response to her touch and practically smirking up at him.

“Certainly not, Love. It would be poor form indeed to leave a lady such as yourself unsatisfied.” He licked his lips salaciously, but meant every word, and the way she threw back her head with a wholehearted guffaw of laughter made him certain she knew it too.

“Well then, Captain,” she purred, pulling him in once more by the charms that hung around his neck. “Let’s see you make good on your word.”

Pressing forward with a deep, almost feral sounding growl, part his own desire and part his wolf within howling to break free, he lay her back unresistingly on the seat beneath them, spread out before him like a delectable banquet feast.

When they surfaced some time later, bare and skin glistening with sweat from their enjoyable activities, they had already missed both clouds of magic and the reappearance outside the shop of their new female nemesis - the reason they had been waiting in the car in the first place. Still, even if they had been less than purposeful, as they rested together, sated and entwined in each other’s arms, neither Emma nor Killian could bring themselves to mind.

~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~

After checking in with Emma and Killian at the station - and gathering a much clearer picture of how his deputy and her beau were progressing as a couple than he had needed or wished to have - making sure they had been alerted about the strange woman he had seen at daybreak, Graham was more than anxious to see his own lady love once more. Firstly, because he longed to be at her side, to see her happy, every second of each day that it was reasonably possible; a truly jarring sensation for a man who had up until that point led a quiet, solitary life and thought himself reasonably satisfied, but a sensation he had warmed to and treasured all the same. And secondly, knowing that she carried their pup - a child conceived of their love for each other - in her womb made the normal protective urges he already struggled to manage at normal levels exponentially stronger. To think that Gold still lurked around town and must wish to win - or coerce or steal - Belle back to himself worried Graham enough on a daily basis, but the attack on Granny and this obviously magical stranger’s appearance had him all the more on edge. No, Belle might argue that she was quite alright and could take care of herself, but he intended to stick quite close by whenever his duties as Sheriff allowed, and he might just speak to David and Snow about seeing if someone could stay nearby, just in case, when he could not. He would simply bear her annoyance and exasperation with his fussing as best he could; it was much better than seeing any harm come to her.

Letting his mind return to that morning, Graham thought back on how, after sighting the cloaked woman by the lake, he had hastened back to his cabin with extra speed, shifting on the porch back into his lanky human form so as to let himself in with ease and check on Belle where he had left her sleeping. The sight of her peaceful in repose beneath the moss-green cotton sheets upon the bed, her auburn hair spread out across the pillow, and the softest little purr of a snore escaping her pretty lips, had made him loathe to wake her.

Shirtless and barefoot, clad only in the grey sweatpants he slipped on for decency once human again, he padded across the smooth hardwood floor simply watching her sleep for a few seconds longer with an adoring smile on his face. He had never seen her look so serene, stunning in her sweet fragility, her petite beauty and kind nature concealing what he knew to be a backbone of strongest steel. Still, however much he hated to rouse her from much-needed rest, she had made him promise to take her with him back into town this morning. She was not content to hide out and wait passively until all was safe. And even if it was only researching information that might help prepare the rest of them for the storm they all knew was coming, or finding any accounts which might might better inform the two of them on the little one they were awaiting, she would not settle for anything less than doing her part, in her library, surrounded and aided by her beloved books.

Perching lightly on the mattress near her hip, Graham reached out a large, calloused hand, with a gentleness he hadn’t even known he possessed (having never known a tender touch until this tiny spitfire of a woman came into his life) lifted a loose strand of hair from her velvet-soft cheek and tucked it behind her ear. As he had known it would, even such a light touch had her stirring, beginning to stretch and slowly wake.

Now that his duties for the day were mostly complete, it eased his soul to once more slip into the cool, enveloping shadows and hushed, welcoming space of the town library. He could feel the taunt hunch of his shoulders relax within seconds of entering his love’s hallowed space, at the sound of Belle’s voice farther within the stacks, directing someone he could not yet see. Perhaps one of their friends had already had the same thoughts he did and undertaken to keep her company.

Venturing on silent feet, long accustomed to moving swiftly and without sound on the forest floors and castle courtyards of their old world, Graham stepped into one of the larger conference rooms toward the back of the library, one appointed with a large study table and numerous chairs for large groups. He leaned against the doorframe there, happy just to watch and enjoy the comfort and relief of once more being in her presence and seeing her in her element.

The Hatter in their world - Jefferson, Graham believed he went by here, was the first other person he saw. He recalled with a wince that this man had also been painfully manipulated by Regina - both in the Enchanted Forest past and their small town present. He knew with the same guilt-ridden certainty that he had realized Belle could have been freed from her imprisonment sooner if he had been quicker to awaken and act, that he had probably passed Jefferson on the steps of the mayoral mansion or in the frigid labyrinths of the Town Hall, but both had been too ashamed at being ensnared or indebted, or in some way under the command of the Evil Queen, to look up and meet the other’s eyes, to see a fellow sufferer or brother-in-arms. If nothing else, he reminded himself pushing off the doorjamb and moving into the well-lit and enlivened conversation humming around him, at least now he was beginning to see just how many friends there truly were here, as well as foes. Good people who could be relied upon and were hoping for the chance to regain their lives, just as much as he and Belle were.

His adorable librarian was chatting happily with both Jefferson’s daughter Grace and Henry, who were all too content with darting back and forth from the stacks for any book Belle could think of to request - all of them trying to keep her seated and off her feet. Coming to her side eagerly, Graham leaned over to kiss her cheek, even as she turned her head upward to greet him with a welcoming grin.

“It’s good to see you,” he whispered in her ear, letting his scruff tickle along her skin slightly, making her giggle and tuck her chin toward her chest.

Still, she caught his hand and squeezed it back affectionately, holding on and pulling it down to rest his palm over her still-flat stomach.

His brow furrowed, confused, even as she beamed at him to wait and be patient. It was much to early for him to be feeling any sort of movement from their little one; Belle wasn’t even showing. He was more than a little puzzled, and a bit concerned if the truth were told, but willing to humor her, and so stilled dutifully, waiting for he knew not what.

Then, abruptly, a definite jolt jarred his large hand from where it rested against Belle’s stomach. Eyes widening almost comically as they darted up to her face, he felt as much as saw Belle suck in an excited breath as she nodded her head in enthusiastic affirmation.

“Wait, but, it can’t be… It’s too soon…” he sputtered. “Are you sure? Should we take you to Whale? Are you hurting at all, Darling?”

The flow of words was almost more than she had ever heard her gentle huntsman say at once, but no more than she expected. Still, she tried to implore him in her gaze and the steady pressure on his hand to calm, that she had learned some things about her particular pregnancy and she would fill him in, but she wasn’t in pain, and she wasn’t concerned or frightened - though she had known he would be, for her. Guiding his hand still, she brought it to her lips to gently kiss the back of it, hoping to soothe him. She merely wanted to share this miracle with this precious man, the depth of her joy causing tears to well in her eyes.

They were still for several grounding moments, and when she lifted her gaze to meet Graham’s once more, she saw that same welling of love and astonishment in his eyes as well.

Tagging: @cssns @kmomof4 @jennjenn615 @therooksshiningknight @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @resident-of-storybrooke @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @gingerchangeling @ilovemesomekillianjones @spartanguard @whimsicallyenchantedrose @searchingwardrobes @laschatzi @darkcolinodonorgasm

#cssns 19 #cs au mc #cs werewolf au #face to face in the broad daylight #chapter four #graham x belle

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the-original-bookworm · 6 years ago

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Merlin Rec list part 1

dreams for wings and wanderers

Dragons are feared and mistrusted throughout Albion, and there are very few of them left in Camelot, for Uther’s long campaign against magic also included hunting down all the dragons in the wild. Now, Camelot is recovering from the invasion of Cenred and Morgause's army. Prince Arthur is the one in charge, and Merlin finds out that his secret regular visits to the covert haven't been very secret at all. There's a great deal of manly bonding with the Knights, inquisitive dragons being inquisitive, and a record-breaking number of near-death experiences for Merlin. And this is before he gets his very own dragon. (A Merlin/Temeraire fusion.)

-little long, but extremely interesting concept. Loved the bond between Merlin and the dragons.

merlinfic: job orientation

In the not so distant future, Merlin builds a tower. That's not suspicious at all.

-short, post! Magic reveal, there is a prequel but I like this one better, love Merlin’s obliviousness. Both Arthur and Merlin felt very on point with characters, they acted exactly like themselves if that makes sense.

Touch Me (Not)

In which Merlin is reluctantly pure, Arthur is unfairly tempting, and the Great Dragon sits back with popcorn to watch.

-smut does happen. Basically Merlin thinks he can’t have sex cause he has to be “pure” for destiny to work. This doesn’t really have much of anything to do with any timeline in the series, it feels like you could stick it in between the scenes of the show and it just WORKS. Kinda short, one-shot type of thing

In Love with my Radio

Merlin listens to the radio, Arthur stalks Merlin, Morgana lives to create chaos in Arthur's life, and then everyone goes to McDonalds! Also love happens.

From the kmm prompt: Arthur has an anonymous blog/lj/twitter where he posts about his life, and Merlin follows it RELIGIOUSLY. Arthur starts posting about how he's stalking this amazingly hot guy...

-ok. This is just. HILARIOUS. And Merlin is so oblivious. Decent sized fic, there are some add on’s I would call them? Like one shots of the story continued. It’s an AU. And I just love it.

Pining for the Moon

First, there is the rage, like nothing Arthur has ever known. It’s hot, hotter than anything, hotter than the kitchen ovens and the blacksmith’s forge and dragon’s breath. It fills him to the brim and carries on, washing over him in waves that scald, and, as Arthur looks around him at the carnage, the man at its centre, he has no idea how he is ever meant to let go of it.

“I can explain,” Merlin says, his eyes still blazing as he kneels there, charred by the fires he lit, blood on his hands. So much blood. “Arthur, sire, please, I can explain.”

First, there is the rage, and then there is a knife at Merlin’s throat.

-this is. Wow. I gotta say, this is a really heavy fic. I usually go for more fluff, good plot line but happy endings type thing. This was completely not that, tho there is a happy ending. Arthur actually kills Merlin for being a sorcerer only regrets it so much and Merlin was actually - well no spoilers but there is a happy ending. Read it, but be warned it’s heavy.

Damsel in a Phone Booth

it’s the middle of the night and i’m walking home alone in the dark and there’s this guy following me and he’s starting to gain on me and i found this phone booth with a lock on the door and i tried to call my best friend but my hands were shaking so badly i accidentally dialed the wrong number and i don’t even know you but help me” au (merthur)

-so, short and sweet, a good story, good fluff after the “pining for the moon” fic.

Sort of a Tourniquet

Arthur gives Merlin a plastic ring as a joke. But what nobody knows is how much Merlin really likes wearing it. Modern AU with lots of pining.

-sweet, pure fluff. The pining almost hurt me. It’s an AU, and I wanted to kill Merlin a few times, but good story.

Evil Overlord, Inc. Official Website

Merlin is a recent graduate with a double doctorate in metaphysics and physics. Arthur is a low-level paper pusher with a desk in the sub-basement of MI5. They live in a world with ridiculous laws and restrictions against anyone who might be supernatural in any way, shape, or design.

Merlin has huge debts looming over this head, a few quid left in his bank account, and no job prospects. Arthur is pushing thirty, in a dead-end job with no chances of promotion to fieldwork agent, and is thoroughly bored with his life.

One ill-advised Craigslist advert, five pushy mates, one nosy all-knowing sister, and a hacked email account later, Merlin and Arthur take the world by storm.

(Or, more precisely, they take over the world.)

-love love l0ve love. Even in an AU, Arthur can’t stand not running everything. Must read.

The History of Two Conversations (On Paper)

This is a very useful spell, Merlin wrote. He formed the letters carefully, small so he could write more later, if he needed to, and did not at all wonder if he was going to get in trouble or be cursed or something for writing in the margins of an ancient spell book.

He told the book (in case it had an opinion on the matter), "I am just imparting my knowledge to future generations. I'm sure they will find my comments helpful."

The book made no reply, so Merlin decided it was fine and leaned over the tome again adding, You can clean almost anything with it, even though in this book it refers to badgers alone. Don't believe that for a second. Just yesterday I cleaned out the extraordinarily vile bottom of Arthur's miscellaneous chest using this spell and it worked a treat. He thought for a moment before finishing, One downside: Leaves an odd sulphurous odour after use. Better not to use on clothing and/or self.

-so completely recommend, Arthur finds Merlin’s magic book with merlin’s handwriting in it. Wish we could have seen Arthur’s thoughts but that’s my only complaint

Radioman

The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can't keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn't good enough, either. Except he is.

-ok so this is a series, EXTREMELY long. I gotta admit I haven’t finished it yet but everything I read has been downright amazing.

The Crown of the Summer Court

The king sent me to get you," Merlin said, with a tone that implied strongly that he wasn't rolling his eyes where Arthur could see, but just wait until his back was turned. "He said you're to get changed into formal clothes and meet him in the Great Hall, there's a delegation coming from the Summer Court."

-right, so I am not only recommending this fic, I recommend any and all Merlin fics written by the author. She is downright AMAZING. Like, one of the best fics I’ve read amazing. Maybe THE best.

Three Tasks

Arthur is the Royal Arbiter for Suitable Suitors' Disputes. He (and his trusty companion, the golden-dragon-tasselled hat) alone can determine who is fit to woo royal servants and other assorted courtiers in Uther's court.

(In light of the sentence above, the following may not appear to be a truthful statement, but: not as cracky as that makes it sound. Really.)

This time: Arthur arbitrates a dispute (with heretofore unforeseen wisdom); Merlin observes.

-weird concept, but very good. I could really imagine being in Arthur’s head, it sounded just like him. And it kinda humanizes Uther, which is really hard to do.

The Pendragon Guide to How Not to Date

Modern day student AU. Still set in Britain. Morgana sends Arthur on some blind dates that don’t go quite according to plan

-warning. Smut. Liked it, was more fluff then plot, but seriously adorable

The student prince

A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...

This story was inspired by the thought of Prince William of Wales (and indeed the current Max von Hapsburg) studying at the University of St Andrews; it is also, as the title suggests, at least a little inspired by the operetta 'The Student Prince'.

-so I don’t really go for modern day royalty much, but this was really good. There is a plot, though it revolves mostly around the merthur romance. Reads like a romance novel.

Two Weeks Notice

Arthur is a prattish Executive VP of the Pendragon Corporation with a disturbingly non-ironic love of Demotivational posters. Merlin is a tree-hugging barista with a "magic" tongue. Morgana's a peeping Tom and her breasts have superpowers. Gwen and Lancelot get married. Owain is the company bicycle. Arthur attempts to steal Merlin's affections from Will through epic DDR combat. Merlin gets drunk a lot. There is a pillow fight, and a helicopter ride, and rooftop confessions, and Arthur decides Merlin really is his destiny, whether he likes it or not.

-it’s like if you took the Merlin story and set it in modern times. Like, almost exactly. There are plot differences of course but it just feels like Merlin. well, if it was ‘stop killing the planet’ instead of ‘stop killing sorcerers’ and Arthur was prince of a company instead of a kingdom.

Harmonia Mundiais

Music has always been the centre of Merlin’s reality, and the idea of silence is unimaginable. But when Camelot is deafening, Arthur is distracting and the dragon is utterly unhelpful, will his gift turn out to be a blessing or a curse?

-the ultimate concept , takes the music instead of magic idea and makes it music is magic, like literally. Amazing. It does do this thing where Merlin gives off this kind of innocent thought process? It’s not a bad thing, it just gives this idea that Merlin prioritizes this music in his head and on a subconscious level he can’t understand how others can’t hear it, though he knows they just don’t.

Stars Above, Stones Below

After the disastrous end of his betrothal to Gwen and the regret of his offer to Princess Mithian, Arthur swears off finding a wife until he's ready to wed. When Merlin offers himself to Arthur as bedmate, Arthur suggests they hand-fast in secret for a single year of mutual pleasure without obligation. As their year together unfolds, and secrets and betrayals unravel around them, Arthur and Merlin learn there is no such thing as uncomplicated pleasure. Everything they thought they knew can change in the span of a single year.

-smuuuuuut happens. Magic reveal is good, lobe how it handled the Gwen banishment thing

send me any awesome merthur fics not on the list!

#merthur #fic rec #merlin #arthur #fanfic #fanfiction

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lyra-rosier · 4 years ago

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⧼ gemma chan, cis female, she/her / i did something bad by taylor swift + having so many secrets to keep and lies to remember that you’re afraid you’ll lose track of what’s real; long, empty corridors; green silk and black velvet; busy days and busier nights. ⧽ ━━ hey, isn’t that LYRA ROSIER? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the FORTY-TWO year old [ pure blood ] WITCH is a [ SLYTHERIN alumnus who has gone on to be a DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS PROFESSOR ]. i’ve heard they can be quite INTELLIGENT & ADAPTABLE, but i don’t know… they came off very SECRETIVE & MACHIAVELLIAN in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it? [ carly, 24, gmt, she/her ]

Fast facts

Full name: Lyra Cordelia Rosier

Birthday: 7 July

Birthplace: Letterfrack, Ireland

Age: 42

Parents: Aurelius Rosier and Lavinia (Fawley) Rosier

Hogwarts house: Slytherin

Occupation: Defence Against the Dark Arts professor

Patronus: Chameleon

Boggart: Her true self

Amortentia: Fresh ink on parchment, roses, espresso

The story starts when it was hot and it was summer

The youngest of the Rosier children and the only daughter, Lyra Rosier was born on 7 July to Aurelius and Lavinia Rosier. The darling of the family, little Lyra could do no wrong in the eyes of her parents. But in reality, she did plenty of wrong. She constantly bugged her older brothers and even stole their toys on occasion. But then she’d put on her winning smile and claim innocence and, well, she’d get away with whatever she had done. This only served to further annoy her brothers until, one day, the four of them realised that they’d get more done if they simply worked together. From that point on, the Rosier children were on the same side. Always.

For every lie I tell them

Lyra Rosier has been a liar all her life. She isn’t a compulsive liar, though. No, every lie has a purpose. She always has a motive. And she has always known when to lie and when to simply spin the truth in her favour. Because of this, she has never been caught in a lie. Not once.

Her first lies were simple enough: saying someone else stole the toy, saying she never hit her brother. But they grew quickly. By the time she got to Hogwarts she was lying about where she had been and when. Slowly but surely, this turned into cheating on essays. Then cheating on boyfriends. Before even leaving Hogwarts she’d told one of the biggest lies of her life: saying she already had the Dark Mark. She did get the Dark Mark, of course, but not until after she was out of school.

Not until after Evan was dead.

Evan’s death affected Lyra more than she ever let on. When people asked how she was doing, she just lied. Said she was ok. That they weren’t that close. He was the oldest, after all. And people accepted this. But none of it was true. None. No one questioned her lies before and they had no reason to question them now. She was just as believable as she’d always been.

No one knew that she was devastated. That she could barely get up in the morning. That nothing seemed to have a purpose anymore. Because no one knew that Evan had been more than her brother, he’d been her best friend. All four Rosier children were close, but Lyra and Evan were closest, despite being the youngest and the oldest. (Even then, there was only 3 years between them.)

Eventually, Lyra started to believe these things too. She believed she was ok. She believed they hadn’t been that close, at least no closer than she was with her other brothers. This was the first time in her life that she’d ever lied to herself.

Made your mark on me a golden tattoo

On the day of her 18th birthday, Lyra received the Dark Mark. Mere days after finishing Hogwarts and a little under five months before the Dark Lord fell. Less than a year after Evan was killed. Suddenly, with this new tattoo on her arm, she felt like she had a purpose again. She’d believed the lies she’d told herself, but she’d still felt numb. With her new status as a Death Eater, that feeling was gone. She knew what she had to do ... and it was whatever Lord Voldemort wanted her to do.

In those few months, she did everything that was asked of her. And she did it well. She played to her strengths: defensive spells, duelling, protective enchantments. But mainly, she lied. To anyone and everyone, about anything and everything. Lyra had more names in those four and a half months than most people will ever hear in their entire lives. She was Sarah in the morning and Morgana in the afternoon. A Carrow on Tuesday and a Smith on Wednesday. Lyra liar pants on fire was finally putting her talents to good use. (That, of course, is what Evan called her whenever she lied to their parents.)

I can be a phantom

After Lord Voldemort fell, Lyra felt lost again. Like a lot of Death Eaters, she wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t well known that she had joined and her lies had kept her fairly anonymous, so she wasn’t hunted down. She didn’t feel the need to go into hiding like others did and she had no reason to claim that she had been under the Imperius curse. (Even if someone had tried to use the Imperius on her, it wouldn’t have worked. Lyra is unusually talented when it comes to controlling her own thoughts and actions and can resist the Imperius curse – she is also a gifted Occlumens.)

Even though she didn’t go underground, Lyra figured it was best to avoid trouble for a while. So she decided to hone the skills that had proved useful during those few months. She became a bit of a con artist, moulding herself into whatever type of person other people wanted to see. Instead of feeling lost in her own life, she became lost in her roles. She interacted with muggles mostly, fascinating them with her charm and beauty.

Eventually, word of what she was doing got back to her family. Her parents hated it and her brothers weren’t particularly fond, either. But it’s hard to track down someone who doesn’t exist. And, for all intents and purposes, Lyra Rosier didn’t exist. She switched identities so rapidly that there was simply no time for the real Lyra to emerge. Some jobs took a few months, others took years.

Lyra has always been adaptable, but she became malleable. At a moment’s notice, she could change everything from her name to her personality to the way she walked.

There’s nothing like a mad woman

Due to both her interactions with muggles and her ever-changing name, Lyra quickly gained a reputation of madness amongst the pureblood community. They couldn’t understand why someone of such a high station would stoop so low. Many theories were circulated, the most popular being that she simply cracked after Evan died and this was her way of coping. No one seemed able to understand that she just loved lying. It made life fun. It kept things interesting.

Lyra never cared to dispel the rumours. She liked the idea of madness. Of insanity. Of not being fully in control. She had never wanted to be in control, anyway. She was a follower. Evan was the leader. And then the Dark Lord was. And now, apparently, her madness was.

When the Dark Lord returned, the rumoured insanity proved very useful indeed. Although hers was no match for Bellatrix Lestrange’s, people came to expect the unexpected from her. If Lyra Rosier showed up at your door, you had no idea what you were in for. You had no idea who she was showing up as. Her anonymity that allowed her to fill any role during the First Wizarding War may have been gone, but it was replaced by something even more useful. The ability to insight fear.

On occasion, when Voldemort needed things done quickly and correctly, he would send both Bellatrix and Lyra to get the job done. Those missions were the most fun.

My castle crumbled overnight

And then, Voldemort fell again. Lyra couldn’t believe it. For the second time, she had put all her faith in someone and they had failed. He had failed. He was a failure. Again.

And it all reminded her of the story her grandmother, the great Vinda Rosier, used to tell her. About when Vinda had served Grindelwald flawlessly and he had been beaten by Dumbledore in a single duel. All that work, for nothing. All her loyalty and hard work and nothing to show for it. And Lyra found herself in the same situation. So she chose a different path than her grandmother had. She chose to stay loyal to the cause, but not to the man. Lyra said she had been under the Imperius curse, that she’d been under it for years. It made sense, the healers had said, given the apparent madness she had suffered.

Once again, her lying had saved her.

I’m so very tame now

Now, six years after the Second War, Lyra is the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. One, she is in a great position to influence young minds. Two, it’s about as far from her Death Eater past as she could get – it backs up her Imperius curse lie. And three (her favourite reason), it’s something that Lord Voldemort could never accomplish.

She hasn’t given up, not by any stretch. She’s simply biding her time. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Waiting for orders. From Bellatrix. From a woman, this time. She’s given up on villainous men, history has proved they’re of no use.

#{ ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams | bio }#nox.intro #death tw

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symphonicwinds · 8 years ago

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Sophia Reviews: Persona 5 Confidants

I keep seeing people posting thoughts/opinions of each social link confidant of p5, but I noticed a lot of them were based on not 100% runthroughs, aka they didn’t finish everyone’s social links and don’t 100% understand everyones character arcs. And I guess I wanted to talk about everyone/my experience going through EVERY SINGLE FRICKIN SOCIAL LINK besides caroline and justine’s or else I wouldn’t have a reason to NG+ to full competion.

This discussion only covers the development/characterization of each confident within their own link, and the overall quality of the social link and their benefits to the gameplay. This does not include how I feel about the character as a whole, especially the ones with a significant amount of screenime in the main story. Me not liking a confidant’s link =/= me not liking them as a character.

I should also mention that I flip between the words “social link” and “confidant” a lot. For those of you who haven’t played past Persona games, social link was the word for confidant before Persona 5 decided to get Edgey™ and change the name.

This is the first of a series; because I tend to talk a lot and there are 21 stinkin’ confidants in the whole game, I will be dividing this into parts. This is part one, and it covers Arcanas 0 (the fool) to 4 (the emperor). I will release them as I finish them, with 5 arcanas at a time. Stay tuned for arcanas 5-10, tomorrow!

PSA: BEWARE OF SPOILERS. This is a spoiler-tastic discussion, since this discussion includes late game/end game social links. If you haven’t beat the game yet, please, good lord, please do not read this until you’re done. Don’t do that to yourself.

0. FOOL - IGOR

Igor’s link was probably one of my favourite social links, mainly because of the twist of Not Igor towards the endgame. I know some people dislike auto progressing social links, but I think it worked just because of the twist. I played persona 5 blind (besides using a confidant guide because holy shit there would be no other way I would be able to do that in my first play through otherwise), so I legitimately didn’t pick up on the Fake Igor thing. I also played persona 5 with the Japanese cast because I’m a fucking weeb I’m learning Japanese right now and holy shit I need all of the listening practice I can get. I knew the voice was off but I figured they didn’t want to impeach on the original talent of the previous voice actor, who had died.

Honestly, I still don’t 100% understand the final arc, in the rebirth v staying the same, and I’ll revise this section once I do get a comprehensive understanding of it, but I liked the idea of the Protagonist breaking free from his chains to the point where it’s visually shown in the velvet room. The fact that he only breaks free from the velvet room’s chains by the time the reveal happens was really interesting to me, and the fake igor plot was really intriguing because it completely changes your perception of the game.

As a social link, on the gameplay side, Igor’s is great, but also expected. More personas, extra EXP when fusing personas. You get these as the story progresses, so you can’t miss out on them.

I. MAGICIAN - MORGANA

Again, another story progressing confidant. I do like Morgana as a character, and I especially think that he is much better than Teddie, but I kind of found Morgana’s confidant to be slow moving. Igor’s social link was similar in that regard, but it’s expected to be because the beginning of Igor’s social link is more mechanical/for the sake of the game than actual character development. And the effect of the twist is compounded by that. The highlight of Morgana’s social link was definitely his disappearence, as it helped resolve some character issues along with advancing the plot along. I also didn’t like how everything came together at the very last second; again, this works with Igor because you don’t expect Igor to have growth/his own character, but Morgana does, so the pacing of his social link was kind of rough. Obviously this is because it was tied into end game plot points, but I wish his dreams were more explicit, or that he learned a bit more about himself over time, rather than shoving it at the end.

Morgana’s unique confidant boost is the ability to create infiltration tools, which are really useful in your Palace runs. You will not be able to miss out on getting this, but it is a great individual benefit. He also receives the standard party boosts but he lags behind other party members in this regard because he doesn’t reach rank 10 until the end of the game, making him the last party member to get maxed out. Obviously this isn’t as much of an issue if you didn’t max out all of your party members beforehand, but because of that he was always backup for me, besides during boss fights.

II. THE HIGH PRIESTESS - MAKOTO NIIJIMA

I guess I should start this off by saying that, Makoto is best girl.

Makoto appealed to me, mainly because I related to her the most, out of pretty much the entire cast. I sympathize with her dynamic with Sae, her desire to be “useful”, and her struggle with creating an purpose for herself, rather than doing what other people tell her.

In terms of her social link, I really liked her dynamic and relationship with Eiko, as they were really great foils to each other. Persona 5 is great at having minor NPCs/other characters affect the character growth of their confidants, and Makoto’s link is no exception to this. I really liked how Eiko and Makoto helped each other grow, and watching them bond was sweet, especially since you know that Makoto hasn’t really had any friends prior to joining the Phantom Thieves. I think the biggest thing I enjoyed about Makoto’s link is how subtle it is; she doesn’t have a huge fundamental change as a character, but rather, she gains the resolve to follow her dreams. Ann’s link functions in the same way, but it’s a bit less subtle than Makoto’s.

Makoto’s romance exclusive scenes were great, but they weren’t spectacular. As someone part of the Queen’s Guard (Makoto fanboy/girl), I liked them a lot! And getting her flustered was absolutely adorable. My only gripe with Makoto’s romance option is that it is too subtle. While this works for her character development, I kind of wish her feelings for the protagonist were more apparent. Her confession felt kind of forced, especially in contrast to other romanceable social links. Once you romance her, it’s great, but the confession itself is kind of flat.

Makoto’s social link bouses are the same as any party members, so they’re very useful! Her unique attribute is letting you see enemy drops, which I never found to be that useful.

III. THE EMPRESS – HARU OKUMURA

I really, really want to talk about Haru, because all of the discussions I’ve seen around her sum up to be “She was okay, but I didn’t really finish her link.”

LET ME AMEND THAT FOR YOU.

I do like Haru as a character, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate her gentle, sweet character. I also think it’s hilarious that she uses an axe and a machine gun as weapons. But I don’t think her character was handled very well, especially with her father’s death.

I know, for story reasons, that we couldn’t have Haru out of commission for long for the sake of her grieving. But Haru never openly grieves about her father’s death, and it seems like she’s completely unfazed by it. I understand that grief comes out in different forms, and it is explicitly shown that Haru stays with the Phantom Thieves to avenge her father, but there is no sadness shown. The death of a parent, especially your only one, can’t really be “gotten over” in the span of a week or two, it’s something that follows you for the rest of your life. I understand that Haru didn’t want to bring down the rest of the team, but I kind of wish that in her actual social link she does show signs of distress behind closed doors. Of course, that would probably make her social link busier than it needed to be, especially since she already has so much going on, but I feel like that should have been addressed.

Haru’s link is essentially her trying to figure out what she wants to do with her future, between trying to dissolve the arranged marriage between her and Sugimura, figuring out who to trust in the swarm of advisors trying to help her manage Okumura Foods, to her own life goals and aspirations outside of her father’s company. And while these are all great ideas, ultimately I feel like Haru’s link was too overloaded with different problems for each issue to develop in the best way possible. And because of that, completing Haru’s link left a lot to be desired for me. I think what’s there is fine, and I especially enjoyed Haru developing her passion for gardening and later coffee making, but I wish there was more time to explain or to go through the other issues presented in her link. I also think that the whole “Sugimura lied to you about your engagement” resolution felt like a cop-out to what could have been an interesting story in itself.

One more thing I wanted to mention: Haru’s social link does succeed where Makoto’s doesn’t where it shows Haru slowly falling in love with the protagonist, cumulating in an adorable “denial” of her feelings for him. It genuinely hurt me to turn Haru down, because I had already romanced Makoto.

Other than the standard party bonuses, Haru’s confidant also allows you to grow veggies a la Persona 4 Golden. The veggies are great, especially because they’re SP healing items. What makes this better than Leblanc coffee is that it doesn’t take time out of your day to plant and harvest your veggies, as Haru essentially does it for you. While it’s not absolutely vital to plant veggies, especially when you can make coffee/curry at Leblanc, and you probably have SP adhesives at this point of the game, it’s definitely a good bonus.

IV. THE EMPEROR – YUSUKE KITAGAWA

Yusuke is another one where I love his character, but his confidant wasn’t my favourite.

While there aren’t any major glaring flaws like Haru’s link, Yusuke’s link just wasn’t as memorable to me. I know a lot of people love his link, and I know a lot of people wanted him as a romance option but really the true OTP is Akechi/Protag, but I think his link was…okay.

I do appreciate Yusuke’s internal struggle; either “selling out” to earn a living or staying true to his ideals, while trying to figure out the true meaning of beauty, but it didn’t really resonate with me as hard as some of the others. I’m not entirely sure why? Perhaps I don’t relate because I’m not an artist. However, I will say that, while it didn’t personally wow me, Yusuke’s link objectively was well done. Yusuke is a comic relief character in a lot of ways, and his social link had a great balance between comedy and more serious moments. I also really like how Yusuke always appreciates the Protagonist’s company, and this social link does a really good job at showing the bond between Yusuke and the Protagonist, rather than the social link just happening while the Protagonist is just there.

I also want to disclose here that, I have no idea what Yusuke’s sexuality is. While I don’t necessarily think that he’s straight, I also don’t believe that Atlus intended on making him queer, just because Japan is still incredibly conservative about sexuality. And from the way his character is presented, he seems more eccentric more than anything else; he doesn’t strike me as queer in the same way Kanji from Persona 4 does.

Yusuke’s confidant bonus, besides party skills, is the ability to duplicate skill cards. If you manage to get a good skill card, this is a fantastic skill to have. I personally didn’t utilize this as much, but that was because I didn’t use or obtain that many skill cards during my playthrough.

#sophia's thoughts #persona 5 #p5 #p5 spoilers #igor #makoto niijima #morgana #yusuke kitagawa #haru okumura

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