#season 1 and season 5 morgana are completely different peopls

[all-i-do-is-live-in-daydreams]

still in my loki era but I'm having morgana thoughts. I would like you all to know that I fully believe morgause turned morgana into the end product we get of her. we never see what happens to morgana after morgause takes her. we have pretty much no idea what happened the year or so that she was gone.

I know morgana has been through a lot and that she's even right in some of her thoughts (uther 😒 hope he burns in hell) but the morgana in the last few seasons is a complete 180 from the morgana from season one. even with all the terrible shit she went through at the hands of uther and the neglect and fear she suffers from, I don't think she would've ever naturally turned into the dark sorceress she later becomes.

[ificouldwrite]

My Fic List!

this post has a link of the bbc merlin fics that i’ve written on ao3,  if you’d like to give them a read, that would be lovely! thank you so much :) i’ll also take requests if you want to send one in! 

i don’t write reader inserts, sorry! 

💚 = completed

💛 = in progress

here’s the list in no particular order: 

- To the Brows Laid in Thorn and Weapons Made of Words 💚: arthur finds out about merlin's magic prior to the events of season 5 and post-season 4. he goes into sullen silence to punish merlin for lying to him, leaving merlin in the interim of "does he want me dead or does he just need time?" Major TW: su!cide attempt, su!cidal thoughts, struggling with mental health, graphic depictions of violence, injuries, and death. (there will be a happy ending!)

- Arthur Pendragon Loves Flowers 💚: ~3,000 words, inspired by that one scene in one of the earlier episodes where Arthur asked Merlin where his flowers were, and Merlin proceeds to get Arthur bouquets of flowers from there on out. Very angsty fic, but there is a happy ending! (Love confessions, language of flowers, fluff and then heavy angst, Merlin/Arthur, TW: temporary character death, descriptions of violence, eventual happy ending).

- The Way Things Fall 💚: ~25,000 words (my longest fic!) Modern Crime AU where Merlin and Arthur are detectives trying to solve a serial killer case, but Arthur is emotionally repressed and the mystery may be closer to the heart than they think. TW: graphic descriptions of violence, death, and injuries. (Eventually happy ending, relationships: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot, Percival/Gwaine, Morgana/Leon). 

- Love Me Not 💚: ~3,000 words, post-magic reveal. Merlin/Arthur, past Gwen/Arthur. Arthur is repressed as always. He treats Merlin very differently than he had treated Gwen, and Merlin begins to wonder whether or not he's worth being loved in the same way. Whether Arthur even loves him at all. (Emotional hurt/comfort 4+1 with a happy ending!)

- The Cost of Magic and What a King Values 💚: ~9,000 words, Merlin’s magic revealed. Arthur reacts badly and ignores Merlin’s injuries, and they have a massive falling out. Set just after "The Sword in the Stone" (part 1 and 2). Aithusa doesn't go to Morgana because Aithusa being emaciated breaks my heart, and Gwen doesn't marry Arthur. (Eventual Merlin/Arthur love confession; hurt Merlin, TW: graphic descriptions of violence + temporary character death; guilty Arthur; eventual happy ending!)

- Tell Me You Love Me 💚: ~5,000 words, Arthur Returns fic in modern era, Merlin/Arthur relationship where Arthur is emotionally repressed (as always) and can’t bring himself to say the words “I love you” to Merlin. Angst with a happy ending, character injury. 

- I’m Forever Missing Him 💚: ~8,000 words, upon the magic reveal, Arthur has Merlin hanged. (Major TW: graphic descriptions of violence, implied/referenced suicide, major character death, HEAVY angst, happy ending in chapter 2, guilty Arthur, hurt Merlin). 

- breathing memories 💚: ~6,000 words, Arthur breaks up with Merlin for having magic and relives some of his old memories through a watch. (Modern era, angst with a happy ending, emotional hurt/comfort, breaking up/making up.)

- Oh, the Scars I’ve Left  💚: ~3,000 words. Merlin makes one too many excuses to Uther on Arthur’s orders, and has to pay the price. (hurt Merlin, angst, guilty Arthur, hurt/comfort, eventual Merlin/Arthur, first kiss, TW: graphic descriptions of injuries, happy ending). 

thank you so much for reading if you choose to! this list will be updated whenever i post a new fic. have a lovely day, lovely people :D

[pencildragons]

some assorted merlin headcanons:

word has it around camelot that merlin's favourite food is blueberries. this is incorrect. his favourite food is blackberries. he is deathly allergic to blueberries.

arthur found this out the hard way

that bracelet he wears in season 1?? gwen gave it to him. i don’t CARE that they’d known each for like 2 days gwen immediately saw this man and though he Will Be My Friend and then made him a friendship bracelet and nobody stopped her (i love u dork)

in ealdor the Thing He Is Known For is falling into ponds. that’s it. ‘oh who’s that?’ ‘that? that’s merlin. he falls into ponds.’

he almost set Will on fire as a child and will teased him mercilessly to his death about it. off-scene moments before death bitch literally made a joke abt at least he wasn’t set on fire and merlin strangled him then and there.

he can freaking shape shift. like man, how cool is that?? his shape of choice is an EAGLE rather than a merlin, but. the thing is. the way he figured out he could shapeshift was he sneezed one day and suddenly he was a goldfish

GODDAMN my man loves lancelot. he’s the og lancelot fan. he started the lancelot appreciation club and literally the entire round table, gwen, and a couple of randoms off the street are part of it. it’s a great hit. ironically, lancelot doesn’t know it exists.

he made gwaine a Bag of Holding but it’s just for apples. all that’s in the bag is apples, all the way down. gwaine proposed to him on the spot when he got it

he’s left handed BUT arthur taught him to use a sword with his right hand which is why he’s not,,,, fantastic (also because my man just Isn’t Good With Swords) BUT elyan sees him cutting some stuff up one day, yknow. with his left hand. and Realises and as a fellow leftie decides to train him and confuse the HELL out of everyone the next time merlin’s part of training

it works

oh! he was born on samhain, which does play into the fact that he’s immortal, because usually babies born on samhain die,,,, but he didn’t

this did lead to a lot of people being suspicious of he and his mother as he grew up

he didn’t do a lot to help this, admittedly

so y’know how babies can’t really control their limbs when their young?? yeah well merlin couldn’t control his magic

kid would just start spinning and shit right out of his cradle while hunith was having people over for dinner which was. interesting

his entire eyeball was completely golden until he was about 8. it used to freak ppl out so he just. stopped making eye contact

when he’s REALLY angry his eyes just start changing colour,,,,,

there is a Reason why he doesn’t get angry very much

lancelot saw it once and he was Shook forever

gwaine saw it and Immediately decided that it was the coolest thing

he is waiting for the day that merlin cracks because that will be the day that Shit Goes Down

in the 15th century merlin will discover coffee. a caffeinated merlin is a merlin that the world is not ready for

you know how he can speak to dragons? well that extends to all reptiles now. one day a snake starts talking to him and he just shrugs and rolls with it. whatever. this is normal

this is Not Normal

poor arthur walks in on him one day to find him fucking hissing at a twenty-foot python

he and gwen are at the very top of camelot’s rumour mill. they see everything. they hear everything. they know everything. they can also control it >:)

one day merlin’s had enough of arthur and goes to complain in the kitchens

arthur the next day: merlin WHY did i just get called in front of my father on allegations of being in love with a statue??

merlin, pouring a potion of itching into his bath: .....i really couldn’t say, sire

this continues for a while until arthur catches on

in retaliation he writes a letter to hunith detailing all the dumb things her son has gotten up to over the years

the effect is devestating

(as in: merlin doesn’t speak to him for a week)

my man can SEW. his mother was a seamstress and taught him how to make clothes to sell at market the next village over

he loves embroidery, and he also helps gwen out sometimes and they gossip

his magic acts up a lot when he’s sick or tired

this includes turning the sky green and wine into soup

at the same time

while at a banquet

arthur just wants to know why there’s soup in his goblet

he’s,,,,,, really uncomfortable with the druids’ worship of him, bc they see him as akin to a god and their savour and post-camlann they’re going ‘oh mighty emrys the rule of the pendragons has passed onto the once and future queen finally magic can be freed’ and he just loses it

too bad gwaine didn’t get to see it

or anything else, ever

he and morgana pretended to court for a while just so they could absolute SCANADALISE uther, and also to make arthur jealous. they fake-eloped at one point and uther charged merlin with high treason

he got charged with high treason a lot actually, and not just in camelot. he is now a wanted criminal in four different kingdoms

losing morgana (the first time after the poisoning) absolutely DESTROYED him and he became rlly recluse until she came back, which started the descent into who he becomes in s4/5

he is Small and Angry and he will throw hands with Literally Everyone

merlin is no longer allowed swords in public

he’s also tone-deaf but thinks he’s not, and it drives arthur, who’s very musical, absolutely INSANE

he gets his hands on the medieval equivalent of a kazoo and has stopped two bandit attacks and three assassination attempts to date with the ~Power Of Annoyance~

one of those assassination attempts took place during a council meeting and merlin just whips out his kazoo and starts playing

he gets charged with high treason again for that

he is TERRIBLE with plants and kills every single of one of them

he once woke arthur up by climbing through the window on the 9th floor of the castle or whatever and rattling the window pane until arthur woke up and nearly tried to kill him because he thought he was an intruder

he has tried to consume rocks but elyan stopped him

idk i just love him, i’ll probably do some more of others later ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[camelotsheart]

I think it's really interesting how one of the worst barriers in BBC Merlin is ignorance.

Almost everyone in the show is trying to do the right thing from their perspective. It's the ignorance of certain things that makes their actions seem wrong to different people, and it’s easier for the audience to relate most with Merlin because he knows as much as they do. Morgana (at least up till the end of s3) and the sorcerers supporting her are trying to engage in revolution to free themselves without knowing that Arthur is the one destined to free them. Arthur is trying to protect his people. Merlin is trying to do both, but with the knowledge of his and Arthur’s destiny.

How many of the sorcerers who attacked Camelot knew of Merlin and Arthur's destiny? I can only remember Nimueh, who's antagonism seems to be more of a personal hatred of Uther and his betrayal, similar to how Morgana's hatred of Arthur overcomes her sense of justice in s4 and 5, and Mordred, who I think would at least have second thoughts of opposing Arthur had he knew Kara was given a chance. It's very telling that Alator was quick to change sides after he learned of Merlin's identity despite supporting Morgana before. He even says that there are many people like him who are willing to sacrifice their lives to bring about the golden age.

Was Alvarr and his band of renegade wrong? Was Mary Collins wrong? Was Edwin wrong? Were the people who wanted revenge upon Uther for the loss of their loved ones wrong? Is it wrong to understand Kilgharrah's motives when he attacks the kingdom who killed all of his kind and entrapped him in a dungeon for 20 years? Everyone plays with different views of right and wrong because those views are not centralised in the first place. This is what makes the series so interesting - because it wants the audience to have stakes on both sides of the conflict.

This works for Arthur's side too. Arthur's most positive views of magic comes from season 1. That's because in that season the memories of the druid raids are closer to him than in later ones, and also because he is given more positive experiences with magic (the ball of light, Will, the unicorn, etc). However, after that point all the magic that he encounters, according to the knowledge which he possesses of the situation, has been used negatively.

He nearly dies because of a creature of magic, Sigan tries to take over Camelot, druids kidnap Morgana, a troll uses his father to take over Camelot, Gaius nearly dies because of Aredian,  Morgause tries to use him to kill his father, a shapeshifter kills Camelot's citizens, the undead attack Camelot, a dragon kills innocent people, a goblin wrecks havoc, he is nearly killed in a tourney by the use of enchanted swords, Morgause and Cendred use Elyan, Gwen and Morgana to get to him, Dragoon tries to bring dishonour to Camelot by enchanting him and Gwen, Morgana betrays Camelot, Gaius is tortured (yes, his actions does play a large part in this and he is shown to wrecked with guilt by it. There's a reason why in the next episode he talks so highly of Gaius), a monster of magic kills people in outlying villages, Morgana takes over Camelot and kills innocent people again....

The only positive experience he has with magic in seasons 2 and 4 is the knowledge that Dragoon tried to save Uther. And yet in season 5 he still stops a sorceress from being executed despite people claiming that her magic brought down a plague upon the village. He still gives Mordred a chance to become a knight (I hc that Arthur knew Mordred was a druid, but not that he had magic. Mordred was half naked when being treated by gaius in 5x05. Arthur would have seen his druid mark, unless he came in after Gaius bandaged him up. He also doesn't question how Mordred knows Kara, a druid). He still believes that in his heart, he should save Mordred and lift the ban, but his mind - his experiences - become an argument against his heart. And it is a strong argument from Arthur's point of view. You could say that Arthur was a hypocrite when he used magic to save Gwen and Uther, but you could also say that there was a part of him still hanging on to his views from season 1. What Dragoon and Dolma says to Arthur in both occasions regarding magic echoes Arthur's own views at finding a poultice at Gwen's - to save her dying father, that doesn't make her guilty of creating a plague. One's the act of, of kindness, of love, the other of evil. I don't believe evil's in this girl's heart. / There is no evil in sorcery. Only in the hearts of men. / I know you have suffered because of magic, as many have. But not all magic, and not all sorcerers are the same. I wish only to show you that magic can be used for good. And I think that after 5x09 Arthur does internalize Dolma's saying. He never once speaks against Kara's heritage as a druid when he talks about or to her. He explicitly states that her wrong is in murder, not in possession of magic.

This is what Merlin understands - that the conflict comes mainly from differing points of views caused primarily by ignorance of the prophecy itself. Merlin sees in 2x08 that Arthur is completely able of accepting magic and going against Uther, just like he knows that those who possess magic have an ultimate right to fight for what they believe. As one of the most informed people in the show, this is the line that Merlin tries to straddle everyday; to give his people freedom by making Arthur the king he is destined to be, even if to outsiders the two seem mutually exclusive. 

The true wrong of the show was to place that burden on one shoulder alone.

[ja-lin]

Finished Lyris’ remaining seasons, I completely agree with the fetch that true love’s kiss reviving memories is cliche. But, hey if k-drama can keep doing memory loss plots maybe lots of fans enjoy it. They do have to set it up very well though. My personal opinion is that I wish Lyris season 3, 4 had a different plot leading into the fae arc, and I also wish Lyris had 6 seasons like Sevastian.

Perhaps dealt more into Asa or more exploration to the other islands in the sky? They mentioned the MC’s mother! And, there were hints from Nisse about their kind and how difficult it is to get back home. Once you leave you can’t go back apparently.

They could have done more with Nisse and having her help MC and Lyris discover more floating islands. And, MC could have explored Lyris’ kingdom, met the king/queen and royalty. They could have asked them for help to reach the other islands to find MC’s mother and encountered conflicts. So many more things could have been done, so it’s kind of upsetting it was setup the way it was.

Maybe I would have moved the fetch/memory loss plotline to season 5, finished it up season 6 to the wedding. But, for season 3, add a return to Lyris’ homeland to repair broken ties and more backstory into Ubel/Sevastian/Lyris and his wings being ripped out. And season 4, a discovery of MC’s homeland and her mother. Then season 5, the fae trickery leading into resolution at the beginning of season 6. This would setup the wedding in season 6 to have Lyris’ family and MC’s family, and all their friends.

Season 1 - keep it the same

Season 2 - keep it the same, but change it a bit so Lyris has something happen so he must return to his homeland?

Season 3 - returning to Lyris’ homeland, but they aren’t happy MC is there which causes conflict, resolve conflict by end of season 3 leading into the Osceans helping MC find more floating islands by providing an airship of sorts, Galen the captain piloting it, Nisse as guard (sky pirates!)

Season 4 - we run into sky pirates as a conflict, galen manages to resolve the conflict, they find MC’s homeland and people, they find out MC’s mom sacrificed herself for something. conflict, they won’t let them leave. after conflict is resolved, they return for the coronation leading to the fae arc

Season 5 - fae arc and memory loss and travel to fae lands, largely the same

Season 6 - resolution of fae arc with Morgana leading to the wedding between Lyris and MC, their final CG on a floating ship with hummingbirds flying around as they explore more islands.

Would you all have liked to explore all the floating islands and gone into detail about Lyris and Sevastian’s past?

[hiimsociallyawkward]

a servant of two masters

hi friends welcome back to me aimlessly ranting about merlin. up today we have 4.06 and this episode. wow. literally just the title gives me everything i need and i'm absolutley here for the chaos that will ensue. hi bestie @lady-ofmagic-andstars

i love them in their capes

i want a cloak

dude the 'oh it's not gonna happen' and then it happens trope is so dumb but i laugh every time

notice how the knights ripped off their capes

dude people are falling off of horses and out

MERLIN

ok ok but how is he injured. ik this is rated for kids but i really dk how badly merlin is injured. it looks like just his shoulder but he shouldn't be almost dying like his yk?

:,) arthru making jokes

ok but i love arthur taking care of merlin

alskdjflsadk them trying to make jokes to make each other feel better :,)

stop arthur. stop telling the truth merlin's not dying here 😭

bestie vibes only deadass

HAHA

a s s

side note, the site i get my screenshots from- this picture has 61 views while others average maybe like 10-15?? perverts HAHA just kidding

sok i'm actually really curious as to what merlin's injury is

alsdjf;lasdfjsaldfjsaldf merlin making the rocks fall

idk if it's jut the angling but i felt like the enemies were way too close for merlin to create an entire rock barrier. i don't have any screen shot evidence but so you're just going to have to take my word for it

ok but like who even are these men. they were working for morgana trying to capture arthur?

and what's morgana going to do once she has arthur? kill him and take his place on the throne? remember how well that turned out last time she tried that? no one wanted her. idk idk morgana is just confusing as to what she wants

pls die agravaine

haha strangely fond of the boy? there's nothing strange about it

ok i laughed but i also felt bad when morgana splashed merlin awake and flailed around like a fish

dude merlin is so snarky here and i'm HERE for it

ok i like the knights being competent. thank you thank you

and now they're riding back into camelot with their capes on? you're telling me they traced back their steps to find their capes, dusted them off to make sure that they weren't too dirty and didn't have any leaves or branches still sticking to it before riding back to camelot? iconic

poor gaius. ok he's the worst but he does think of merlin as his son and this makes me sad

ok i have a dumb question. do you think merlin understands whenever other magic users are casting spells? ok i feel like this is a dumb question now. but like, is magic a language? are all incantations in a different language, so when other person who knows magic is watching you- they know what you're trying to do and such? i feel like "of course they'd know" but i'm basing that assumption on hp where everyone knows that alohomora is alohomora and where everyone knows that lumos is lumos. but what about here? does merlin know what she's incanting? can he slightly understand it even if he's never seen/done it before? is magic a language like latin, and even if you aren't completely fluent, you and parse together things and make an assumptions?

arthur is just so sad here

i just, i have to have these here

yes bby figure out that we have a traitor

gaius is not slick in the slightest. yes. look at the traitor king

wow morgana being able to bond with the snake? i wonder how

ok question, does the fomorroh have some sort of loyalty to whoever calls them?

✨kill arthur pendragon✨

ok that snake going in his neck is actually scary

pretty castle counter: 5

btw this is actually my zoom background sometimes. it depends from call to call but it changes between this pretty castle and peeta mellark

G E O R G E

ok i've seen all the tumblr posts but it doesn't get less funny. the 'merlin's missing and we can't find him so we're going to replace him with another manservent dressed EXACTLY like merlin so arthur feels better' makes me chuckle every time

i would like to have that for breakfast

i like the loyalty arthur thank you. i love the loyalty pls. i love that they're friends. like, i love the romance but i love just people being friends too

ok this whole scene. arthur wanting to look for merlin because he has to at least try, gwen just wanting arthur to be careful and to come back to her, gwaine being buds. i love all the friendships in this and just yes thank you

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok ok i'm not at the hug scene yet but i know it's coming and i'm beyond excited

ok this sound track is so cute.

saldkfj;asldkfjasldkfsd

matching icons for you and your best friends

deadass if someone wants to change their tumblr icons so we can match hmu bc i'm 100% down with that

another pretty castle scene

SASSY MERLIN PLS

ok ik this is dumb to comment on because i feel like it's not tremendously hard to execute but i love the differences that colin made in regular merlin and fomorroh merlin. it's the best

they say it later in the episode but i find it hilarious how bad of an assassin merlin is

dude pls you're pouring poison in front of EVERYONE else?

BOG MAN. ok guys i'm calling you guys bog mans now.

ASLDJFALSDFJS THE JEALOUSY SCENE

i am cringey but laughing at the same time you don't understand why am i this childish

ok but arthur is being so sweet right here. i feel like he's not trying to be showy in front of gwen, i feel like he wants merlin to rest and that's so sweet. he's so patient right here and i love him

i miss the gwen and merlin friendship actually

dude merlin is roasting gaius so hard today

leon geeking out over weapons is so cute. omg he's such a tiny nerd i love him

laskjflasdfj THIS SCENE. this makes up for the stew jokes that i may or may not still be mad about

i love that the knights LITERALLY turn a blind eye it's actually hilarious

LOOK AT MERLIN BEING COMPETENT?? HE'S SO SMART WITH THE ARROW RIGGING THING

it's literally treason leon pls and you're laughing you're the best 😭😭

i wish we had a pervical back story arc

ok i think it's dumb that i laughed when merlin ducked but i stand by that

ok why do i feel bad for arthur a little. he's talking abt some semi-deep stuff. not deep deep but like, he's trying to ask for advice from his friend, his close advisor. he would've never talked to merlin like this is season 1-2 but here he is, talking about trust. and MERLIN is trying to MURDER HIM. yes. i admit it's a little funny when i'm just watching merlin trip over things and such, but when i listen to arthur talking i feel slightly sad

literallly. merlin's passed out on the floor and arthur doesn't even think anything is wrong

gwen's face when she knocked merlin out is so cute

oop. why is arthur standing in agravaine's door way like an absolute robot

cyes arthur. figure him out

i hate agravaine. i just want arthur to be happy. he's only trusting agravaine because agravaine is family.

stfu agravaine 'you're all that's left of my dear sister' SHUT THE FRONT DOOR

ok there's a repeat of the castle from earlier but i'll spare you

pls this bath scene is so awkward. tt not being able to trust anyone anymore and we're laughing at merlin but arthur's talking so sad and deep

pls this bath scene is so awkward. that's all the notes i have

again, i miss gwen and merlin

merlin is MONCHING on those berries. i'm craving berries now

ok but like. yk that pouch that gaius is using to make the forromoh dormant? what if merlin tucked it in his neckerchief as a precaution. i'm just saying.

aslfkjasdaskdjf the tavern

yall why did merlin have to stop his horse to drink the potion

i want the knights to have a cool band name or smth yk what i mean?

i like that merlin is still a little in the camelot red. it's not the same shade but yk what i mean

HAHA LEON AND PERCIVAL BEING PUSHED TOGETHER. I JUST KEPT ON SCREAMING SUBTEXT SUBTEXT

damn morgana wants RESUKTS. i dont blame her

the frist interaction with merlin and morgana in the hut is so awkward. pls.idek how to comment on it

deadass morgana's dress is so pretty.

magic fight! magic fight!

stfu 'rightfully mine' pls

hehe there's a leaf in his hair

ok i feel like i should've commented more on the magic fight but idk bro

so ik that colin was in this whole episode but it really only just now feels like merlin is here and i think that's fun

arthur is the cutest. i'm loving this dynamic you have no idea. i live live live live LIVE off banter. pls

guys i'm sad apparently i can only put 10 pics in a post but pls enjoy this one pic of arthur right here 😭

ok idk abt you but i'd love to hear jokes abt brass

agaragvaine pls die already

YOU'RE SUCH A PERV LITERALLY

GO

AWAY

NOW

dude that last scene was actually really pretty and i'm sad that i can't attach it now

anyways thanks for reading my long ass rambles. but i'll be back next week to the secret sharer i'll catch you on the flip side

[percyjacksonfan3]

For the salty asks: numbers one, five, six, and twenty through twenty-three please 😇

I live for the chaos so pls just... go off my dude

Ah Tay, reason #187893467 that I love you is that you indulge me in my rants <3

Salty asks are from this post!

K this got LONG so here's a read more!

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Honestly even though I don't multi-ship often I DO usually get the appeal behind ships so this is a really short list. This will probably get me some hate but I still to this day can't get behind c/ex@ from the show that will not be named. But then again I do get the appeal of two super attractive women with chemistry and the whole ruler/ girl who makes the ruler change their ways thing. So I guess I get it even if I don't like it?

Also, and this is not to hate on Hinny, but Harry and Ginny from HP are not my cup of tea. I like what fandom has done for them but the actual content we get for them in the books (and movies, but I prefer the books) isn't enough for me to love them. Same with Mal and Alina from S & B/ Grishaverse, they're so bland to me in the books but the show is doing far better with them and actually making Mal ya know. Likeable. Again, I don't ship it, but best friends to lovers is top tier so I get it.

Oh! I also don't really get Dwalin/Ori from The Hobbit, but that is probably in large part because I'm a Dwalin/Nori shipper. Again though, all of the secondary characters' relationships in The Hobbit rely on fans to extrapolate HARD and wear extreme shipper goggles, and ik there's that scene where Dwalin helps Ori out of the river so like.. maybe that's where it's from? I don't hate it or anything but it's always something that's made me go ??? cause I have no idea where the heck it came from.

Apart from that... I can't think of any rn? I feel like I understand where all the PJO ships come from, even if I don't ship them. There are a couple that I don't understand how they can be someone's OTP, just because I find them super boring (no offense to those who ship C@leo or J@siper but I just don't love how Rick handled those relationships). In TSC I think fandom mainly vibes with the same pairings and that's true for most of my book fandoms. With the shows I watch I don't think fans majorly ship anything too out there for me. Maybe I don't interact enough with fandoms to tell. So this is all I got.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

Oh my god, oh my god, this is a can of worms, my lord. A pairing I'm not so sure about, but characters? Abso-fucking-lutely. I took a break from PJO fandom for exactly that reason and the list of characters is endless honestly, for multiple fandoms.

I won't say fandom ruined Bell@rke for me cause I still ship it, but I definitely lost enthusiasm with how toxic the shows fandom was and then that was made even worse when the show completely destroyed itself with the worst writing and plots ever in the latter seasons.

Also I have a feeling that G@me of Thrones/ @soiaf ruined one for me but I can't remember this very second. Maybe not, and again that's probably cause I don't interact with fandoms en masse, usually just through fic and following a few people I vibe with in each.

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Yes, quite a few! I used to dislike Drarry (for obvious reasons I feel) and Romione (as a kid I wanted Hermione to be with Harry and even when I grew out of that I really didn't like she was with Ron) but fandom changed that for sure. And same with Darklina now, I was upset cause I felt like the books really underutilized their relationship and fell short of what could have been a super awesome pairing if better explored, but the show fandom is taking it in so many different ways that I'm starting to really love them despite the reasons I shouldn't.

And I won't say I hated Hayffie in THG, but definitely the only reason I ship them is from reading @ellanainthetardis's fic Have a Drink Sweetheart and then all the others written for them. That portrayal of Hayffie and the characters have become my own headcanons now because I've been reading them for so long and they're so good.

Fandom made me ship Leon and Morgana from Merlin too, though that's very lowkey. I never hated them, I just never thought of them as a pairing until reading fic.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Percabeth. I don't care which fandom, it's Percabeth. Growing up together, going from enemies to friends to best friends to lovers? The establishment of them being best friends and the way Rick wrote that friendship was so pure, and they are a couple with no internal problems, all external, and you just know they're gonna be together through everything, fighting at each other's side, cause that's the way they are. There's a reason they're my OTP and it's cause they are the most well-established, ride or die couple I can think of. They're just so solid.

21. What are your thoughts on crack ships?

Love em for fandom but personally I very rarely get behind crackships just because I usually need a lot of build up, scenes, good dialogue and chemistry, etc. to ship something, so most of my ships aren't crack ships. The only one I can really think of that I actively root for and ship and would read fic for is Billy/ Owen from 911 Lonestar which is just... something.

Like idk if Barduil from The Hobbit is crack because ik it's quite popular... what makes a ship a crack ship anyway? Lack of canon reference? Is it cause they two characters would be so random together because they barely ever interact? Or because it's SO unrealistic you know for sure it will never happen but want it to anyway? Or is it lack of popularity in fandom? I need someone to define this so I have a better answer :D if it's the second option then I have MANY

I love seeing fandom stuff for crack ships though, cause seriously, it's fiction, ship who you want. If you ship two characters just cause you think they're pretty side by side then that's enough for me. Make all of the fan art and fic you like.

22. Popular character you hate?

Oof. Jason from HOO. And Leo in everything after The Lost Hero. I hated Piper in The Lost Hero and Mark of Athena but like her after those. I don't like any of the book characters from S & B except Nikolai, but I like everyone in the show (except David? Why did they make him so weird? Like he's not even awkward, he's straight up rude imo, but anyway). In @soiaf I don't like Jon Snow, I think he's boring. And I despise Jorah Mormont cause I think he's creepy for having a crush on Dany.

Didn't love Stefan in TVD, too much of a goody-two-shoes. I liked dark Stefan but it felt like a totally different character. Honestly most of the characters I don't like cause they're boring or too by-the-book.

OH! A big one in M@rvel is Captain America. Can't stand him honestly, I like him as a character to have in the story, but I like never agree with him on anything. I like a couple of his one-liners but that's it really. I also don't like Gale in THG, idk if that's controversial. Or Lex@ from the show that will not be named because I think she's manipulative and not good for any of the characters i DO love.

Is Ron popular? I think so. I like fandom Ron but not canon Ron and idk why. I think I'm growing out of it but I read those books when I was like 7 initially so I thought it was awful of Ron to stop being friends with Harry because he was jealous and I never really got over that.

There are so many but I'm gonna stop now.

23. Unpopular character you love?

Again, tons. I love anyone whose got kind of a tortured backstory because it makes them more interesting to me.

I love Movieverse Hawkeye! I think Clint is great and while I wish his deafness was canon in Marvel and I don't love J Remmer, I do love Hawkeye a lot. He was honestly one of the only Marvel characters that felt consistent and in-character throughout the movies.

I like President Snow from THG just cause I think he was a fantastic villain. And Effie and Haymitch aren't unpopular, but they're probably my favourites, again because of the fics mentioned above.

Leon from Merlin!! I don't actually think he's unpopular, but he's like... my fourth favourite character in the show which I know IS considered high for most people.

Sandor Clegane from ASOIAF. Not the show, just the books. His book character is phenomenal and I am so excited for GrrM to finish the goddamn series so I know what happens to him.

The Stolls and Katie Gardner from PJO cause fandom created Tratie and sucked me in at a young age.

Bellatrix Lestrange? Is she unpopular? I don't think so but she's another one I think is a fantastic villain. I'm almost more interested in her than Voldemort tbh.

That's probably it!

Thanks so much for the ask Tay, this was tons of fun! Anyone else who's interested can feel free to fill my inbox!

[oceangenasi]

D&P and Merther for the shipping ask game???

Yax I would die for you except you’d probably stop me from dying with your EMT wizardry and then where would we be

🖤 D/P 💙

1. What made you ship it? I have eyes? But seriously, I like to joke about how my ships are either softboys and their badass women or queerbait m/m angst.... and then there’s this shining exception. A canon m/m ship that gets a love story and a happy ending :’’’) I started watching the show very casually, knowing David was queer but not that D/P was endgame and then the next thing I knew I had ascended to another plane of existence

2. What are your favorite things about the ship? I am never not thinking about the Dynamic... it’s the complementary aspects of their personalities for me!

You’ve got David: flamboyantly queer and deeply dramatic, who’s had intense emotions his whole life that have scared people away but he’s also brave and unique and creative and wonderful. He’s everything that Patrick didn’t know he needed. He’s been hurt a lot of times and he almost doesn’t believe that he’s capable of being loved so wholly and completely. Enter Patrick.

Patrick is so straight-laced and repressed and invested in being well-liked that he had built up a whole seemingly perfect life that was making him deeply unhappy. I don’t think that even Patrick knew he was capable of loving David the way he does, because he hadn’t cast off his old life and gone on that emotional journey until he met David. His “you make me feel right” speech is my favorite bit of the entire show. Patrick found himself in finding David.

They balance each other: Patrick grounds David, providing him the unconditional love that David can flourish with, and David brings beauty and color into Patrick’s life.

I also adore how much casual intimacy they get on screen, all the kisses and shoulder touches. It’s incredibly healing to watch after so much queer angst and suffering, when we get representation at all.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Yeah, Patrick’s not perfect. I get very pissy when people trash David for his actions surrounding the barbecue and/or the wedding and imply he was being unfair/selfish -- because even if he was, Patrick has a responsibility to communicate his concerns if he wants David to respond to them. Patrick has a tendency to avoid/repress his feelings and that can be incredibly damaging in a relationship if not addressed. David can’t read Patrick’s mind, nor should he be expected to. He doesn’t need to magically intuit Patrick’s distress from Patrick’s micro-expressions or whatever the fuck -- Patrick needs to step up and tell David when he doesn’t like David’s behavior. Yes, I’m projecting like hell when it comes to this but it is something that made me furious during season 6 and the discourse surrounding it.

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

💙 Merthur ❤

1. What made you ship it? I watched the first episode and was like “oh wow this show is even gayer than I’d heard it was.” No but seriously... fellas, is it gay to be literally and canonically someone’s other half? Fellas, is it gay to stare intensely into each other’s eyes at every given opportunity? Fellas, it is gay to dedicate your entire life to serving and protecting someone? Fellas, is it--

2. What are your favorite things about the ship? ah jeez where do I even start... Arthur is Merlin’s whole world. Merlin’s magic is “only for Arthur” and Merlin’s magic is... everything he is. I literally don’t know how you could read that as Merlin not being in love with Arthur. I genuinely and honestly think this interpretation is backed up by commentary by the actors and writers: Merlin loves Arthur, and that’s not even a point of debate. I adore Merlin as a character (son boy baby sweetheart sunshine child) and his unwavering faith in Arthur, his dedication, his tenderness, the years spent protecting someone who didn’t even know how much Merlin had done for him.... it gets me good.

And then there’s what Merlin is to Arthur! Setting aside the stuff Arthur doesn’t know about, which I will talk about in a moment, Merlin is possibly the only person in Arthur’s life who has always, always treated him as a person first and a prince second. Merlin’s unwavering faith and freely given friendship are because he sees the best in Arthur, not because of Arthur’s hereditary right to the throne. Merlin is Arthur’s first and truest friend -- I know the knights and Gwen care for him, but there is a component of social discrepancy to their relationship that Merlin simply has ignored. Merlin’s disrespect is because he fundamentally views Arthur as his equal, which is a gift Arthur didn’t even know he needed. Arthur was touch-starved, emotionally repressed, and incredibly lonely before Merlin came into his life. (Yes, the similarities between my two OTPs are well-known to me.) Just because Arthur struggles to express his emotions (thanks, Uther) and doesn’t have the same plot opportunities as Merlin to show how much he’d sacrifice for Merlin, doesn’t mean he doesn’t love Merlin as deeply as Merlin does him. This is why I like writing Arthur POV so much -- I like describing how fundamental and immutable a concept Merlin is to him. He takes Merlin for granted, yes, because there is literally nobody else that he is so vulnerable around or trusts so completely. This is why the magic reveal was so temporarily devastating to Arthur -- it broke something he’d built his entire life around. Or at least, that’s what he thought.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Canon is a trash fire and I hate a lot of things about season 5, because it had some stellar opportunities that got rushed and squished by the way they timed the plot.... but I actually really, really like the finale. I think that considering what they’d done with the plot up to that point, it was brilliantly executed and gorgeously acted. There wasn’t enough time to do everything I would have liked with the magic reveal*, but in the last episode they hit every one of my buttons at least once. Arthur witnessing a competent Merlin, Arthur experiencing realistic grief and anger but being able to see how deeply Merlin loves him... Setting aside the plotholes and the timing, the people who made the show realized what was critically important in the finale, and it was digging deep into the relationship between Merlin and Arthur. This is why it completely and totally wrecks me, incidentally, and why I can’t watch the last part of the episode because it actually unhinges me too much. I’m not joking, I went into some kind of grief spiral the first time I saw it that took me a literal week to recover from. I care about things too much and feel my feelings too intensely, but we been knew.

Oh, and an even spicier opinion on later seasons/the finale: I don’t think that Morgana “isn’t really evil” or that her fall was “unnecessary.” I think that Morgana was indeed capable of being a fiercely good and loving person, but I also think that people with the kind of anger she carries can be dragged into some very dark places. I don’t think it was unrealistic, I think it was painful to watch, and there’s a difference. She didn’t get the support she needed -- she was gaslighted, manipulated, and tortured -- and I think that the same person who could be good in another situation is absolutely capable of becoming monstrous, considering the hand she was dealt. I have very similar opinions on her as I do on Anakin Skywalker, which is to say: her evil was both believable and tragic. She was a product of her circumstances, but her actions are not excusable, and she is responsible for how she responded to her trauma.

*I can and will read every damn magic reveal on ao3 because it’s really important to me that Arthur understand what Merlin has done for him. Truly, truly conceptualizes how crucial Merlin has been in helping him build his kingdom. That’s the one thing that I wanted to see so badly that never happened in canon.

[karel010]

A missed opportunity: William Dey on Supergirl

Disclaimer: this essay is entirely my own opinion. I do not claim to have any knowledge on how a tv show is being run. A character is not his actor and an actor is not his character. I do not recommend nor encourage hate to anyone, fictional or not. Everyone has his right to his own opinion. Also, spoilers for season 5 and 6.

Before I start, I have to say that I came into this fandom quite late. This was when the pandemic just started, Supergirl season 5 was still airing and I had no idea what kind of show it was. All I know was that Dr. Lexi Grey, Marley Rose and Morgana were on that show. So like most people getting bored being stuck at home, I started watching. It took me a couple of days to get through season 1 to 4 and in the mean time I found people of the fandom on Twitter and Tumblr. I was aware of how underwhelming season 5 was (at this point episode 15 was going to air), but I remember thinking “it can’t be worse than season 2, right?”

Oh boy, was I wrong.

Let’s start with the big elephant in the room: Kara’s love interests.

(Honestly this can be a whole essay by itself)

I actually liked that in season 4, Kara had no love interest and was flying solo for a while. She kind of been defined by guys (even with James in season 1) and finally there was a season where her love life wasn’t the centre of attention. Season 4 ends with Lena finally knowing that Supergirl and Kara are one and the same and so season 5 was set up. (Lena and Kara in season 5 is a whole different rant but that is for another time)

We first meet William Dey in episode 1 of season 5. Catco was bought by Andrea Rojas (Lena being the previous owner) and she brought in a new journalist to help build Catco the way Andrea wants. I have to admit that I did not mind William (and Andrea) in the beginning. I actually liked that Kara had some competition at her work and that her boss is not a friend, so she will be having a harder time slipping away to do Supergirl stuff. I mean, William was a huge ass but then again sometimes in life you will have to deal with those kind of people, especially at work. But then slowly they started to give him a story (too generous to call it that actually). As they gave him more screen time, he became worse and worse.

Apparently, William was this huge dick because he was actually undercover, investigating Andrea Rojas and her family because his friend went missing after dating her. Although in order to be undercover, don’t you have to work for someone? What was he going to do with that information? Anyway, he wanted to keep people at arms’ length. As far as I can remember (I didn’t bother rewatching) he didn’t really have any evidence supporting his theory that Andrea had something to do with his friend Russell’s disappearance, just that his friend didn’t like her family (we see that Andrea does care a lot for Russell and did anything she needed to make sure he was okay).

Then Crisis happened and William is still there for some reason? In this timeline, Andrea never met Russell, which means he never disappeared, which means William never had to go “undercover” to investigate Andrea. And this is were the writers made the terrible decision of keeping him on the show and made an even worse choice to try to pair him up with Kara.

William Dey had the potential to be a good character. Not a great one, but good enough.

Beside the choice the writers make, I think there were 2 other scenario’s that they could have gone with him:

Scenario 1: William leaves after Crisis

This would have been the best choice they could have made. By the time they started filming the episodes after Crisis, the show must have known how bad of a reception William got. It didn’t help that the actor did an interview for 5x04 where he hinted to Kara and William getting closer. Like I said before, William had no reason to be around anymore after his “original” reason for being at CatCo didn’t exist in this timeline. This would have been the perfect way to send this character away (I am aware that there a rumours that the actor got a contract to stay on the show for at least 2 seasons). His whole storyline of investigating Lex Luthor should have gone to Nia, who is also a journalist but I completely forgot because she actually doesn’t really do anything with it?

Scenario 2: William is a villain

As mentioned before, when I first met William, I thought he would be a problem for Kara (and maybe even Nia). I thought that this was a guy that would do anything to get the biggest story and doesn’t care if he comes across as a dick. Think of Spider-Man 3, where Peter had trouble with his job. This would have been a great opportunity for a storyline similar to that of Spider-Man 3, where Kara has conflict at work. They did it in the beginning, not sure which episode but Kara didn’t have time to write an article that Andrea had assigned her because she was busy being Supergirl and William used that to take over her article and write it. William could have been a great problem for Kara in her work place.

If they had to keep him around for after Crisis as well, they could have gone with the route that William was a member of Leviathan or even a hench of Lex Luthor. They could have made him friendly with the Superfriends, but only because he has alternative motives.

Honestly, there are so many ways they could have made William a better character and it’s obvious that this character only exists to be a “no homo” love interest for Kara and that the writers really don’t care beyond that point.

And then there is the actor that portrays the character.

I don’t know him personally and I can only judge on what he is willing to show through social media but man, does this guy need a lesson in PR. This fandom can already be very toxic with the different shipping wars going on. He really threw gas on a fire by that incident (even though he denies that he said it was towards certain shippers)

As an actor, you open yourself up to people forming an opinion on you. Doesn’t an actor get a job based off of someone’s opinion on whether you fit the show and the cast?

It is obvious that the actor is not experienced in being a series regular. He thinks that hate towards his character means that people hate him as well. Look, he is not the first actor on this show that gets hate. Chris Wood, Amy Jackson, Mehcad Brooks, Nicole Maines, Katie McGrath and even Melissa Benoist got/get their fair share of it. But they knew to never engage with it, since there is no point to it. Everybody will meet people who will like you and people who won’t. It’s literally a part of life.

If you came this far, thank you for reading! I really needed to vent about this since it’s been stuck in my head for a long time. Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, English is not my first language.

How would you have written William Dey if you had the chance? (And yes, he has to be part of season 5)

[eastonia-blog]

I’m going to do a weird.

I know a whole lot of us are stuck at home due to the COVID19 outbreak and all our respective governments attempting to flatten the curve. So I’m going to break out my VAST library of fanfiction recommendations for you to read! Please bear in mind that my tastes in fics are not necessarily like yours so the following 15 Fandom reccs might be hit or miss. All ships and above T ratings will be tagged with brackets, all crossovers will be mentioned in those same brackets. Also, if I mention it’s part of a series, I’m not just recommending the fic I mentioned, I’m recommending the whole series. I’ve tried to recommend a different author’s fic each time. So! Let’s start with the 3 fandoms I mention in my blog description.

1) ATLA Fate Deferred (Zutara) Aang remains in the iceberg ten years longer. Sozin’s comet comes, the world keeps turning with no Avatar to save it, and by the time he’s finally found by a waterbender and her Fire Nation husband, a lot has changed. [Zutara established relationship full series rewrite; Now on Book II: Earth]  Cheating at Pai Sho (Canon Divergence) “You said you were the Avatar!” “…I lied?” Aang doesn’t get rescued in episode two, and no one’s seen him go glowy yet… so he starts bluffing. Hard. Or: “The Avatar joins Zuko’s quest to find the Avatar.” In which Zuko doesn’t join the Gaang, the Gaang joins Zuko.  The Undying Fire: Blood and Fire (First in the Undying Fire Series, eventual Zutara) Book 1. In which rescuing the Avatar from Pohuai Stronghold doesn’t end so well. It’s a tough life being a banished prince trying to get home, especially when the Avatar just wants to be your friend and keeps making everything confusing. Oh, and did Zuko mention he somehow healed the kid? Yeah, that happened. Stalking Zuko (First in the Stalking Zuko Series, eventual Zutara) Katara has developed a new hobby. At the Western Air Temple she takes to stalking Zuko. Much silliness and shenanigans follow. In chapter 20: Katara and Zuko return home to the others. Katara hates the F word and she comes to a decision regarding Zuko.  Embers (Canon divergence) Dragon’s fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world…  2) Percy Jackson and the Olympians The Father (Percabeth in the GFFA, eventual Anidala) It all started with a wish, but because it was Percy Jackson it couldn’t have been a friendly goddess granting him a wish. No, it had to be Nemesis, goddess of revenge and balance. Now Percy and Annabeth are stuck in a strange new galaxy right when an ancient and powerful darkness finally begins to stir.  Glass Figures (MCU Mashup) I lifted my gun, pointing it towards the minefield of shattered fragments, and kicked the small coffee table out of the way.Only to stare down at an awfully familiar face, which split into a somewhat lopsided grin. The intruder raised his hands in a mocking surrender. //“Long time no see, dude.” //I lowered the gun. “What the hell are you doing in South Peru?” //Or in which Clint Barton and Percy Jackson have a long personal history that starts in high school. All Together, Cousins (Canon divergence) When Thalia ran away with her toddler brother, Jason, she slowly gathered her cousins: she and her cousins being Big Three children. As Jason gets older and their motley group expands to six, Thalia resigns herself to the fact that she won’t always be the leader of the pack. As she accepts that, something more is coming, able to challenge even the gods above. A Crown of Golden Leaves (Historical AU) Annabeth, a Lady from the declining polis of Athens, must marry the Heir Apparent of Rome to save the rapidly expanding world from a threat even the gods couldn’t foresee.  Deluge (Percy in the Arrowverse) Barry has to deal with yet another Metahuman that Zoom has pitted against him. But this ‘Metahuman’ is an unwilling pawn in Zoom’s plan and really wants to find a way around killing the Scarlet Speester. But how can he when Zoom is holding something against him? 

3) DC Firework (First in the Sparks in the Dark Series) Orphaned and removed from the only life he’s ever known, Dick feels like there’s no light left for him in the world. His new benefactor, however, still sees something worth saving… Chronological beginning of the Spark in the Dark series.   Iron, Fire, Mirror-Glass After a brutal confrontation with Bane, Bruce comes away with a broken spine and the certainty that his days as Batman are over. An unexpected discovery offers him another chance—but at what price? The story of a man who risks his soul for the sake of his mission, the dangerous creature he names Robin, and the unlikely partnership that will shape the legend of Gotham’s Dark Knight.  Get Back Up There was a mole, one who played a long game. The team was betrayed, crushed. Robin nearly died. What are they going to do now? Only one chirped the answer. Get back up. WARNING: lots of talking, little action, many follow ups  Five Times …Five times Damian thought of Dick Grayson as his father, and the one time Dick thought of Damian as his son. Future-fic. YJ characters will show up later. Batman!Dick and Damian as Robin. With guest appearances from Jason, Tim, Cass, and Steph.  Unveiling the Mystery Series of one-shots about the team learning a little about Robin (Dick Grayson).   With all the fics, I heavily suggest you also read what else these authors have to offer in their archive.

And now here’s the plethora of other fandoms I read fics in under the cut!

4) Harry Potter The Horse (Mature) Looking after a Muggle animal should be easy compared to saving Hogwarts from Voldemort. Harry and Draco might disagree with that. Featuring Luna, Marauders, peppermints and, of course, a tall, black, badtempered horse named Simon. The Potions Master’s Nephew An accident occurs and Professor Snape finds himself trapped in his fifteen-year-old body. Enrolled into Harry Potter’s fifth year, he is forced to hide his true identity. Girls, drama and teenage angst do not bode well with Severus. Keeping Up with the Grangers (Dramione, Mature) Mr. Malfoy, I invite you and your mother to tea next Tuesday, May 25th at 2o’clock to discuss recent events. Dr. Helen Granger //…  …// He glances at the boxy too-uniform numbers flashing on the face of Richard’s radio. It’s nearly noon, and he should be getting ready to leave; but there is still a harsh tension in his shoulders and neck that he wants to work out before Hermione finds him. It is, after all, Tuesday; and while his Tuesdays were designated ‘tea with Helen’ days previously, they are now ‘lunch with Granger’ days, ever since the chance meet-up with the Weasel’s wife and the insufferable swot herself. Faceless (Dramione, Mature) New year. New love. New threat. A powerful enemy is on the rise, and Hermione Granger finds herself intertwined in a relationship with Draco Malfoy – only she doesn’t know it’s him. / / RUNNER-UP: Enchanted Awards Summer 2017 for Best Relationship Development 

5) Devil May Cry And the Rest is Silence (Mature) The destruction of the Saviour wasn’t the end. Too many people had too much invested.  An Uncle’s Thoughts Dante’s thoughts and feelings regarding one particular quarter-demon kid. Vignettes that span from the start of Devil May Cry 4 through Devil May Cry 5, and beyond. Fortuna’s Fool Events after DMC5 with flashbacks to the events we briefly see in DMC4SE only with Vergil telling Dante all about Nero’s mother. Family ties are so complicated, aren’t they? Family of Happenstance Some orphans have happy endings, getting adopted or finding their family. Having a demon slaying half devil for a father tends to throw a tiny monkey wrench in the process. AU Father!Dante, Son!Nero. Rated because hunters don’t exactly have clean mouths.     

6) Power Rangers (Focus on Might Morphin’ and Dino Thunder teams) Of Love and Bunnies Set just after Dino Thunder. When Angel Grove announces another Power Rangers Day, Tommy takes the Dino Rangers to Angel Grove for a reunion with the original team… including Kimberly. TommyKim, JasonTrini, KiraTrent. The Reason (Part 1 of eclyptyk neo‘s Dino Thunder AU) COMPLETED. DT. AU. Years go by as Tommy Oliver becomes accustomed to his job as a teacher. A person from his past returns. The new ranger team grows interested in its outcome. How will these new changes between rangers young and old be? Sequel: Ordinary World Change of Hearts (Wild Force)   PRWF: When Jindrax and Toxica set out to find themselves, they had no idea that their greatest adventure was only beginning. Chronology Conundrum DT/MMPR - After a strange mutation is released in Reefside, the five Dino Thunder Ranges find themselves thrown back into the past, circa 1995 Angel Grove. Somehow, they have to figure out how to make it back to their present without destroying it or themselves. And if they succeed, they must navigate the consequences of their actions in the past, while still protecting Reefside. 7) Merlin (Mergana leaning) The Other Version of Events What if Merlin and Arthur had met when they were children? What if a mysterious illness fell over Ealdor and Merlin was blamed? What if Arthur had actually felt sorry for him? What if destiny was thrown at them in a whole new way? AU, no slash, Bromance, A/G M/M… You get the idea.  Flipping the Coin, Part 2 of Coins (2nd story in the Coins Sage but 1st multichapter) Merlin and Gwaine are sent on an adventure to discover their past and stay one step ahead of Morgana. Fearing for them, Arthur and the other knights set out to find them, but soon discover much more than they bargained for. Alt version Season 5. Sequel to “Two Sides of the Coin” Angst, Adventure, BAMF, Bromance, Redemption, Twists on Arthurian Legends.  The King’s Legacy “I hope you are rolling in your grave brother, I will find your son, and I hope he is like you. I will ruin him and gain a lovely weapon in the process.” Cenred spat on the grave, “I win Balinor.” .Sequel posted.  The Warlock’s Quickening (First in the Albion Cycle) Merlin might have come to Camelot to master his magic, not to end the Purge, but he’s not going to sit idly by while his kin suffer. Oh no. Whether it’s releasing a chained dragon, smuggling sorcerers out of the city, or trying to change Arthur’s mind, he’s fighting back. Now. Series rewrite beginning after 1X02 featuring Proactive!Merlin. AU. 

8) Dragon Ball Under the Radar (Gohan/Videl) Gohan is living life as a secret superhero, but Videl is making it her business to find him out! How will Gohan manage her and Saiyan hormones? Will he fess up? Or will he try to live his life -puts on sunglasses- “Under the Radar”? *applause* Thank you! Thank you! And GOODNIGHT! G/V obviously. Rated T because adult situations and language in later chapters. COMPLETE! Golden God (Mature) To save the lives of millions, Gohan is forced to expose himself as a Super Saiyan, proving that his tricks are indeed very real. And it drives the whole world to insanity. Warning; becomes a little graphic goes as it on. Walking Towards the Sunset Bardock’s curse sends him to a mysterious place where weaklings are abundant and an odd trio claim to be his family. Eventually giving in, he stays with them to discover that Earth is more unlucky than Planet Vegeta. Impatiently waiting for his son’s arrival, Bardock has to survive a new life with his estranged family and a certain girl set on finding the truth. (Saiyaman-Buu Saga) Plus One (Gohan/Videl, Mature) Tired of being pursued by the gold-digging, glory-seeking, Satan obsessed freaks of the world, Videl will resort to the only method open to a celebrity like her to find Mr. Right. 9) Sailor Moon (Mainly SenshiShitennou) The Crystal Age (Rewritten) In an alternate version of Season 1, as a result of Beryl’s curse at the end of the Silver Age, Tuxedo Mask and the reincarnated Shitennou are fighting a losing battle to save the city and find the lost princess. Sailor Moon has disappeared, Sailor V is working on her own, and the other Senshi are still just ordinary girls. Sequel to The Silver Age. MxU, SxS. Please R&R. Hooligans It’s after Galaxia and time for University. The Senshi and Mamoru settle into life in Great Britain and meet some old friends. Inner Senshi x Shitennou and Usagi x Mamoru. Modern Timeline. Strong language, crude humour, hilarity and sexual situations abound, be warned, there will be some heavy angst later on too. Never Gone R A single choice can change the course of Fate: a choice, say, like waking up on time. If that choice were made, Chiba Mamoru would never meet Tsukino Usagi; but, he WOULD meet Unami Seiya and the burden of Terra’s future would fall onto his shoulders. Never Gone AU. The Dinner Hour (Part of The Dinner Series) It can be hard to be patient in the face of eternity. But good things come to those who search and refuse to give up on their dreams. R/J. (Sequels: Dinner And Again, Dinner at Last completed!)

10) Les Miserables (Warning: Enjonine ahead) When Apollo Met Persephone (1st of the 1830s AU) The revolution, or at least the first part of it succeeds. Enjolras confronts political and personal realities. Eponine is suddenly faced with more opportunities than she ever thought. Can they guide each other in a world that needs them as much as they need it? Les Choses Qui Sont Arrivées Après “You must flee Paris at once.” Enjolras and Eponine. The thief and the leader, the marble Apollo and the dark street girl… two wholly different survivors of the Revolution are forced together under a dangerous circumstance. Can they successfully fight their demons as well as each other? Neither of them knows quite what is going on, or what will happen when they figure it out.     Teacher of Man The first time Enjolras and Éponine meet, it is their wedding day. (arranged marriage AU) My Best Friend’s Wedding Éponine Thenardiér always thought that Marius would eventually come back to her, until the wedding invitation came in the mail. Now she is going to do everything that she can to get him back from that blonde tart Cosette. Nothing goes according to plan and even her partner in crime Enjolras is becoming an obstacle. E/E. 11) Naruto Beginnings  Naruto was six years old when he met the man who changed his life. …Now he’s kind of just hoping he survives it.  An Inch of Gold (Part of the Legacy of Fire series) Team 7 is sent on a mission to investigate a disturbance outside of the village, where they encounter an unconscious girl in a crater. The mysterious Sarada insists she’s a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf trying to rescue her teammates. When the team discovers she possesses a Sharingan, things become even more unbelievable. [Part of the Legacy of Fire Series]     Guilt of Innocence Uchiha Sasuke abandoned Konoha in his persute of power to join Orochimaru. However, this was only a cover story. In fact, on Tsunade’s orders, Sasuke is to act as Konoha’s spy within Otogakure. One agreement and his path had changed forever…  Blind (SasuSaku) It was almost time, Orochimaru was going to take his body as a vessel. He hated being used…he refused to be used. With that thought, he took the kunai in his hand and slashed across his eyes.     

12) Legend of Zelda (Zelink) The Conviction to Save The princess is dead. Those are the words being whispered in the streets. A great shudder sweeps across the land of Hyrule as news of its beloved monarch’s passing spreads like wildfire. In the midst of the ensuing chaos, a humble village doctor happens upon the body of a gravely injured young woman on the road. Legend of the Miraculous (Concepts taken from Miraculous Ladybug)   A legend retold through many a tale, but when a darkness resurfaces after so long, Athena and Sheikhan Wolf must return again! Will Link and Zelda be able to combat this threat? and will they figure out each others’ identities? Come inside and take a look! Hit List AU. It all started as a typical day at Ordon High, until a sudden school shooting turns the life of Link Hero upside down. Now, surrounded by enemies, can Link save his friends and escape the school alive? (Edit 10/2015) Counting Stars Link finds himself caught in the middle of an elaborate gang war. Lucky for him, being a B-list superhero makes that predicament a tiny bit easier. / Modern AU ZeLink, inspired by Spider-Man. Under Revision! 13) Hunger Games Vox Libertas Due to things playing out a bit differently in the last few minutes of the Quell, the rescue also goes a bit differently than expected. Now Peeta has the responsibility of representing the Rebellion thrust upon him. No pressure. *AU Mockingjay. Part I of Dandelion in the Storm AU. Mainly Peeta POV.*     Someone To Watch Over Me (Everlark, 1st in the Series) A HG rewrite. What would happen if Peeta was just a little bit bolder, and Katniss a little less emotionally confused? You’d be surprised. Let the Games begin. This is an AU, but I’ve tried to stay as canon as possible. Rated T to be safe.     Enthralled (Everlark, Gadge, Mature) Thrall (þræll), n., a slave or serf in Viking Age Scandinavia. After a successful raid, Gale is rewarded with a slave girl: the Saxon noblewoman Madge. Meanwhile, shieldmaiden Katniss grows closer to captive monk Peeta. Gadge/Everlark historical AU with background Odesta and other pairings.   Katniss, Vampire Slayer (Mature) “Into every generation a slayer is born.” the man droned out slowly, quietly, in a way that made her think he was quoting something. “One girl in all the world. A chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer.” //  Haymitch mocked. “One girl in all the world. Ain’t I just lucky it had to be you.” 14) How To Train Your Dragon Becoming Lífþrasir (Hiccstrid) People often wondered what kept Hiccup going during those early years. When that single, most-treasured thing is taken from him, there is little left to keep him on Berk. The day Stoick returns, and the day before the best recruit is finally chosen, Hiccup leaves Berk; little knowing that he would one day return under … strange circumstances. H/A, R/F, rated for violence.     HTTYD Easter Special Sequel to “The Unholy Offspring,” set after the season finale. When Alvin the Treacherous threatens Asgard with a rogue demigod’s help, Hiccup and Berk’s Dragon Riders must prevent an early Ragnorak. It doesn’t help that Alvin has learned to tame dragons, and that the only god that can help Hiccup is a sullen, suspicious boy named Mud. Happy Eos week, Hiccup!     The Blacksmith’s Apprentice (Hiccstrid) AU. Hiccup never took the shot on that fateful night-and the war continued. Three years later, Berk is beset by dragon raids and hostile tribes while the boy who should have saved the island is merely the assistant in the forge. With only Astrid as his friend, fate gives Hiccup one more chance to end the war and become the hero he was meant to be. Hiccstrid. Snap (Hiccstrid, Mature) He was just supposed to fix her back, and she doubted that at first. She definitely didn’t expect to get dragged into the ethics of a girlish crush. Modern AU. 15) Star Wars Double Agent Vader The one where Vader turned double agent for the Rebellion about three years after ROTS, and Leia is now his primary contact with the Rebellion. Or,  a man attempts to escape slavery by turning into one of his culture heroes, teaching his daughter how to do magic, killing people, and flower arranging. A New History During a heated battle, Dooku escaped into the past! Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker follow to stop him, but discover that Dooku went to the past where Obi-Wan is a young padawan to a very much alive Qui-Gon Jinn. Now, the two must go undercover to stop Dooku’s plans from coming to fruition in order to save not only the future, but also young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. Pulse AU for ROTS. As Padme’s life hangs in the balance on Mustafar, a stream of brilliant light causes Anakin to reconsider his choices. Jedi Shmi AU Shmi leaves Tatooine with Anakin and goes to the Jedi Temple.

[aspoonofsugar]

Tales of Arcadia: Three Rules

The first two installments of Tales of Arcadia explore similar themes, but they do so in almost opposite ways to the point that they become complementary.

It is, in fact, easy to see that the premises of the two shows are basically opposite.

On one hand, Trollhunters has a group of normal kids discover the magical and the strange. On the other hand 3 Below has three aliens trying to blend in human society. Both shows explore what it means to be humans, but the trollhunters do so by comparing their humanity with something different only to be enriched by it, whereas the akiridians do so by by underlining the weirdness of humans, but also by finding value in it.

The complementarity of the two shows appears evident thanks to multiple aspects and details which I will try to highlight in the meta. However, before starting I would like to underline that both shows have their protagonists follow three rules.

In Trollhunters the three rules are as it follows:

1) Always be afraid.

2) Always finish the fight.

3) When in doubt, always kick them in the gronk-nuks.

In 3 Below there are different rules:

1) You must prepare for change.

2) You must embrace your mistakes.

3) When in doubt, play with your phones.

It is obvious that these two sets of rules share a common function in the two stories which is to shed light on some of the main themes. In Trollhunters the themes explored are about living with and accepting what are considered by society negative or repressed emotions like fear and violence, whereas in 3 Below the themes are about understanding the strength of society like communication, the possibility of making mistakes and being forgiven and the ability to change.

Since we are at it, I really like that both lists have the third rule be apparently played for laughs and then have it be extremely important in key situations. As a matter of fact kicking people in the nuks in Trollhunters and using cellphones in 3 Below have been useful more than once. In short, the third rule of both lists is a practical application of the more abstract themes presented by the other two rules.

I will try to better elaborate both this point and others in this analysis.

THE TROLLHUNTER: WHY A TROLL WHO HUNTS TROLLS?

In Trollhunters our protagonists who are a group of normal teenagers discover that under their feet, in the underground of their apparent normal town, there is a world full of strange creatures who can be both extraordinary and dangerous.

The world of the trolls could be a representation of the jungian shadow.

Here is a definition taken from wikipedia:

In Jungian psychology, the "shadow", "Id", or "shadow aspect/archetype" may refer to (1) an unconscious aspect of the personality which the conscious ego does not identify in itself, or (2) the entirety of the unconscious, i.e., everything of which a person is not fully conscious. In short, the shadow is the unknown side.

Trollmarket is what lies beneath Arcadia, so it is a part of the city its inhabitants are unaware of and initially don’t want to face. What is more, trolls themselves are creatures which can’t stay in the sun and so they are beings who can only survive in shadows. They are also characterized by attributes like strength superior to the one possessed by humans and, generally speaking, their world is a very violent one and this is proven by some of their traditions:

In order to become a good trollhunter Jim must learn to live with fear and to finish his fights.

What is good about these rules is that they are not accepted as always true and there is no black and white view:

Fear is necessary and Jim must not block it out completely like he did in Young Atlas, but at the same time he should also control it since if he doesn’t he risks to be overcome by it. The idea of not being frozen by fear is explored also in 3 Below:

In this series as well, the idea is not that one can stop being scared, but that they must live with fear and insecurities. However, 3 Below’s approach is far more traditional than Trollhunters when it comes to fear, since the former simply underlines the necessity to overcome it, while the latter spends time showing its usefulness other than it being unavoidable.

The same could be said about the rule of finishing the fight. We see Jim discussing this rule and refusing to apply it blindly. For example, he doesn’t kill Chompsky and Draal and this leads them to become precious allies. However, as the series progresses it is made clear that Jim can’t hope to solve all his conflicts this way:

Jim’s first kill is not something which is glossed over, but it is given enough focus to make it clear that this is something Jim is not used to and something he will have to struggle with in his journey to become the trollhunter. Once again, killing enemies is something which happens in 3 Below as well, but it is not given the same focus and Aja doesn’t think about how she should finish a fight.

This is because Trollhunters is a story which deals with the shadow much more than 3 Below is.

This is proven by many details, like the amount of episodes which explore this specific theme (Young Atlas, Where is my mind?, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Mistrial and Error, The Exorcism of Claire Nuñez, A House Divided and Jimhunters are just some examples) and also by its hero and heroine’s paralleled journeys.

Jim and Claire have very similarly structured arcs.

First of all they have a similar flaw:

They think that it is all on them and this leads them to try to shoulder too much responsibility in an attempt to help others. For example, Jim thinks that, as the trollhunter, he should enter the Darklands alone to save Enrique, whereas Claire thinks it is her fault Enrique was kidnapped in the first place. Of course both ideas are wrong and this sense of wanting to shoulder it all alone actually creates bigger problems.

Jim entered the Darklands alone to avoid putting his friends in danger, but in the end they had still to enter that dimension in order to save him.

Similarly, Claire’s willingness to sacrifice herself for the trolls let Morgana possess her.

The two situations are clearly paralleled and Claire herself mentions Jim’s previous sacrifice when she is about to make hers:

The parallelism between their two arcs becomes even more obvious if one thinks about it in the following way.

At the end of a season (season 1 for Jim and season 2 for Claire) they sacrifice themselves ignoring their comrades’ prayers not to do it:

As a result, they both end up trapped in a reign representative of the shadow:

And they need to be saved by their comrades in episode 5 of the following season.

What is more they both integrate symbolically with their shadow:

And once they do they defeat the character representative of their darkest side (Gunmar for Jim and Morgana for Claire).

I would like to explore some of the above mentioned situations more.

First of all, it is interesting to highlight that Claire and Jim’s weapons are associated respectively with shadow and with daylight. After all, we are talking of a weapon called Shadow Staff and of an amulet which works with the words daylight is mine to command.

Because of this, Claire’s arc being connected to an integration with the shadow appears obvious.

First of all, her power is not simply called after the shadow, but it works by channelling negative emotions to open up portals. The first negative emotion Claire uses is rage, but later on she changes and starts using fear:

Once again, the first rule is at work here and Claire’s powers are an example of negative emotions being used in a positive way by the person who has them.

However, it becomes clear that indulging too much in negative feelings can let the person be engulfed by them which is what metaphorically happens to Claire when she is possessed by Morgana.

It is interesting to say that while she is possessed Claire refuses to aknowledge the problem:

The above frame of her finding the missing signs under the bed is especially telling imo. The idea of having monsters under the bed is something strictly associated with childhood fears:

Like the movie Monsters Inc shows perfectly, once a child faces it, their nightmare disappears. In Claire’s case however, she refuses to face what is happening to her and chooses to metaphorically hide it under the bed. She does so because she prefers to maintain the strong and independent persona she has rather than showing vulnerability and ask for help. This makes so that the situation gets worse and she ends up trapped in the Shadow Realm:

Here, Claire doesn’t have a shadow because her own shadow (which is symbolized by Morgana) has taken over.

So, Claire needs to be rescued by Toby and Jim. It is interesting that Jim and Toby find Claire in an illusory house while she is busy attending her daily chores as if nothing happened. All in all, this is the same behaviour she assumed about her problems after having opened the portal in Trollmarket. However, Toby and Jim are able to communicate with her and to make her snap out from this way of coping with her current situation. Once she does, she is able to fight Morgana herself:

It is interesting that she does so with Suzy Snooze which is an object strictly intertwined with her (it is what Toby and Jim use to find her) and her childish side (which is a vulnerable side of the self by definition and so one she tries to ignore).

After all, Morgana refers to Claire as her child many times, so, in the above scene, Claire freeing herself can be seen as her growing up and conquering her shadow at once.

After defeating Morgana, Claire is able to acquire some traits of the sorceress and to make them her own:

Not only she becomes the true master of the staff, but she is able to remember some simple enchantments and has some visions about how to reach Merlin. This shows that she has successfully integrated with the dark parts of herself acquiring new abilities, but she has managed to avoid being controlled by them.

Jim’s journey is very similar, but it takes longer and it might appear less obvious since, as stated above, his amulet is not associated with shadows, but rather with daylight, so the opposite.

However, I would like to underline some things.

Firstly, Jim is able to kill Bular who is his first major enemy thanks to him being a human:

He succeeds where his predecessor failed because of his humanity. Similarly, there are other situations where Jim uses unusual approaches because of his human nature. He avoids killing enemies, insists on working with others and so on. This leads to great results to the point that trolls start appreciating Jim and humanity more. However, at the same time, Jim slowly realizes that he has to embrace the trolls’ traditional ways of thinking more.

This is why he goes to the Darklands alone, for example. The Darklands are a place without sun, so they are perfect to symbolize an immersion in one’s shadow.

What is more, when Jim goes there he wears the Eclipse Armor which is made thanks to the three triumbric stones. These stones are linked to Gunmar himself, so it is as if Jim is assimilating a part of Gunmar in order to become strong enough to kill him.

However, Jim’s journey in the Darklands ends with him needing to be saved and Gunmar is freed as a result. This is probably because when Jim faces Gunmar (a symbol of his shadow) the first time he is still not ready. He forces himself to fight him before the time is right. This is basically the opposite of what Claire does when she ignores Morgana’s presence in her.

However, he will still have to integrate with the shadow when the time comes:

This scene is a direct parallel to when Jim repairs the bridge and goes into the Darklands. Both times his friends are calling him from behind a closed door and both times Jim ignores them and acts on his own. However, Jim’s final choice is framed as necessary to win against Gunmar, whereas him going to the Darklands alone is presented as a mistake. Why is that so?

It has probably something to do with Jim needing to mature and to find a better equilibrium between who he is as a human and his role as trollhunter. As a matter of fact it is made clear in many situations that deep down Jim has always known that his mission as trollhunter would have required him to sacrifice his normal life as a high school student:

After all, the episode Hero with a Thousand Faces is precisely about this. In the episode Jim faces different sides of himself and the most antagonistic one is the one embodying his trollhunter duty. His trollhunter personality represents his fear of having to sacrifice who he is to fulfill his role and Jim’s challenge is to reconcile this side of himself with the others.

Another instance which seems to support the idea that, at least unconsciously, Jim had always known the kind of choice he will be asked to make in the finale is what happens in the Deep:

It is explained that the Deep shows you your worst fear against which you have to fight. It becomes clear after rewatching the episode that the one Jim is fighting against is nothing more than himself as the Eternal Knight. In short, Jim is fighting his troll-part which is nothing more than his shadow. This interpretation can be used to explain some things.

3 Below offers us an explanation of what the Deep actually is:

If Krel’s hypothesis is correct and if Jim had actually conquered his fear there, then he should have found Gaylen’s core and broken the curse of the Deep. However, when Krel enters it, the Deep is still working properly. This may mean that Jim did not really conquer his fear, but simply fought it and managed to remain level-headed enough to escape.

This would also clarify why we never see how the battle with the mysterious individual ends. As a matter of fact, in the next episodesJim meet his friends after he has already escaped from the Deep and no more explanation is given. This is odd, but it makes sense if the battle had actually no real end.

This reading would also fit thematically since one of the points of Jim’s arc is to learn how to deal with fear. Sometimes it is not possible to completely conquer one’s fear and the person must learn to consantly struggle with it.

What is more, it would have made no sense to show us a resolution between Jim and his shadow in the Deep since the aim of the narrative was to have him reach that resolution at the very end:

In the series finale Jim becomes half-troll and wears the Eclipse armor for the first time since the Darklands. This is Jim’s second attempt to integrate with his shadow and this time he succeeds because he manages to find an equilibrium between the different parts of himself:

He has to face some responsibilities alone, but this doesn’t mean that the people who love him are gonna leave him behind. In the end, the battle is won because of everyone’s help even if Jim had to make some personal sacrifices and individual choices.

In conclusion, we can say one of Trollhunters main themes is the necessity to face unknown and dark parts of one-self the individual who lives in society usually avoids. In order to do so, the protagonists have to enter a world which is magical and less bound by society rules.

All of this, as anticipated in the introduction, can be summarized with rule number 3. This rule is a rule which must be applied during physical confrontations in order to survive. It is a very instinctive thing to do and implies that the one who does it is fighting for their life without any kind of regulations like the ones in sports.

So the characters must learn to survive in such a world and to adapt to it and at the same time they must show this world the value of humanity.

Here comes another joke which has been repeated a couple times in the series. The trollhunter is someone who hunts trolls, but at the same time it is usually a troll. Why does he have this name then?

The answer is here. It is because he has to protect two worlds. As a matter of fact, it is obvious that if humanity’s shadow is represented by trolls, then trolls who are creatures who can only live in shadow needs to integrate with the “light” aka with their more human parts. This is why the trollhunter is given the amulet of daylight even if all the trollhunters before Jim could not be in the sun. The trollhunter duty invites the one who must accomplish it to understand both humans and trolls and to be an in-between.

As Merlin puts it:

The trollhunter is both a hunter and a troll. So, he is one who hunts trolls, but also a troll himself because each individual must both embrace and control their instinctive parts to become a full fledged adult.

So, in a sense, the trollhunter must hunt himself:

3 BELOW: THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY AND SOCIETY

Akiridions are representative of the “other” and of the “stranger” even more than trolls are.

This is made obvious in 3 Below.

First of all, there is the fact that many Akiridions talk with different accents which strengthens the idea that they are not from Arcadia.

Moreover, the series is full of jokes meant to compare the protagonists to members of different minorities:

That said, the main characters exhibit prejudices too:

In short, their story is nothing more than a story of integration between different cultures.

What is more, this theme of different cultures integrating or choosing not to is something which goes beyond just the royals’ experience on Earth.

Let’s consider, for example, an important part of Aja’s arc i.e. her struggling to become a queen in waiting who would use her power to help others:

This specific part of her arc is explored by her foiling with Kubritz.

Kubritz is immediately set up to be Aja’s foil since their first fight when she comments that Aja is not the only woman trained in combat. However, their foiling is not about their physical prowess, but about them being two women in a position of authority who want to protect their planets.

Kubritz wants Earth to be safe from invaders who have a much more developed technology than humans. It is because of this inferiority that Kubritz is so scared of other life-forms and chooses to dominate others through strength and fear as her treatment of Tronos Madu especially shows.

Her approach is completely different from Aja’s who tries to communicate with people:

What is interesting is that Kubritz’s behaviour can be compared to the King and Queen’s. Aja and Krel’s parents are surely different from Kubritz and they are positive characters and beloved royals. However, in order to preserve Akiridion’s peace, they chose not to help other planets and not to stop dangerous criminals despite having the means to do so. This is also what it is implied to have led to their downfall:

Aja is trying to be better than her parents:

She has repeatedly chosen to help others even when it was not beneficial to her. For example, she refuses to listen to Zadra’s advise not to engage in the fight against the Gumm-Gumms, frees Buster even if that puts both her and her family in danger and so on. It is probable Aja will have to struggle between taking care of the interests of her planet and her generous nature which leads her to be willing to help others. However, I think it is made clear that her rule will be different from the one of her parents and something might have already changed:

Because of Morando’s coup, the Akiridions have become more active and have taken part in the final battle against him. In her speech, Zadra underlines that the King and Queen protected Akiridion’s peace and that now it is the people’s turn to protect them. In short, it seems to me that we might assist to some change in Akiridion-5 policies now that Aja is the queen.

At the same time, the theme of the “other” is something which is explored also on an existential level:

Krel’s mind reading glasses are here used to represent empathy aka the ability to understand others and to relate to them.

This is also why Krel is not able to pick up as many voices as Aja does. It is because, according to Aja, he has got the signal range too low since he is scared of breaking the device. This can be seen as a small detail which sheds ligth on what Krel’s main problem is.

Krel’s initial discriminating behaviour towards humans or his acting superior are nothing more than a defensive mechanism born by the fear of not being accepted. This is made clear by Krel being overjoyed whenever someone shows him even the smallest appreciation like Seamus in season one and later on when Toby and Eli tells him they are already friends:

In short, the story makes clear that it is not that Krel isn’t generous or caring or lacks empathy, but that he is probably scared of being hurt by interacting with others. This has probably something to do with him not having had many chances of interacting with peers on Akiridion-5 because of his status as a royal.

In short, Krel, just like Aja, desperatly needs to be normal, but, differently from his sister, doesn’t aknowledge such a need and assumes a somehow arrogant behaviour which ends up putting distance between him and others.

His arc is essentially about overcoming such a defense mechanism and being more honest with himself when it comes to his feelings towards others.

This ties up nicely with Krel’s passion for technology. As a matter of fact technology plays a huge role in 3 Below as the third rule makes clear. In this series, the possibility to use new technologies to bring people together is explored. For example, they use social networks to promote Dog Fight to save the planet, the siblings are saved from Kubritz thanks to the threath of having a video of the woman making racists remarks going viral and so on. Even in the finale the cannon is built thanks to a picture Toby took with his new phone.

So technology is something which is depicted as useful and fundamental to promote a more open society and it is not by chance that in the end Krel is able to create a wormhole to connect Earth and Akiridion 5 despite the two worlds being extremely far away.

When it comes to Krel, it is also shown in season 2 that his passion for technology is not seen as something completely positive by his father:

And tha Krel felt belittled for it since his father gave more importance to traditions and considered technology a hobby.

Throughout the series, we also see advanced robots becoming more human. I am talking of the Blanks and of the Mothership especially:

Mother starts becoming more human the moment she is damaged. From that point on she becomes less perfect in terms of performance (she can’t fly anymore and also makes mistakes), but in exchange she learns the importance of human emotions and human connections and becomes a real mother.

In short, we are shown society and community developing thanks to technology, but also technology becoming more human. This is because technology should never be separated from humanity in order to remain something positive.

We can say, in synthesis, that the series is about “otherness” both in how we react to someone different by being at the same time intrigued and scared and in how we are able to develop as individuals only thanks to interactions with others.

When it comes to this, let’s consider Aja and Krel’s two biggest moments of realization:

Both siblings have them while they are in a dimension symbolic of the subconscious.

Aja has it while she is in her parents’ subconscious, whereas Krel has it while he is in the Deep which models itself after a person’s interiority. In other words Aja realizes something about herself thanks to observing another person and Krel realizes something about his feelings for others thanks to a journey in his own mind.

As a matter of fact Aja has come to realize what she herself wants. She wants to be a warrior and her main problem with her title of queen is that she thinks a queen can’t be one:

However, by seeing her mother being an excellent fighter she realizes she doesn’t have to give up this part of herself to rule and that she can actually be a wonderful queen and a fighter.

Krel is instead stuck because he refuses to be honest with himself when it comes to his feelings for his friends on Earth. Throughout the series it is made clear that he is slowly growing fond of the planet and of its people, but he doesn’t want to admit it. This is why facing the Deep is so important for him. He grows not just because he overcomes his fear of Morando, but also because he finally accepts Earth as his new home.

These two situations are complementary (like the siblings are on many levels) and they show how the self and the other are strictly intertwined on different levels. Others can be mirrors on which we project sides of ourselves and at the same time understanding one-self better is useful for our relationships with others.

Moreover, when it comes to the royal siblings, their arcs embody the first rule (you must be prepared for change) perfectly. As a matter of fact they have inverted arcs in which each character discovers that what they wanted in the beginning is not really what they needed.

In the beginning Aja wants to be normal and her development makes so that not only she comes to accept that she has responsibilities to fulfill, but she realizes that doing so is really in her own nature and not something which conflicts with it as she thought in the beginning.

Krel is presented as more responsible than her sister and more obedient when it comes to his role as king in waiting. Moreover all he wants in the beginning is to go back home. However, as time passes he starts to exhibit a more childish side and he comes to the realization that he prefers staying on Earth rather than going back to Akiridion as King. Similarly, in the beginning he keeps highlighting his own superiority compared to humans, but by the end he chooses to live on Earth as a normal teenager.

Aja and Krel are also a play on the red oni and blue oni dynamic.

Quoting from the page I linked:

This trope is about two individuals (or occasionally, factions or civilizations) that are significantly linked together somehow (such as through a rivalry, friendship, being siblings, co-workers, competitors, etc.) that have differing personalities and, with it, often different approaches to the world in general, especially whatever they might be competing in/for/over.

The Red Oni is associated with passion, wildness, and defiance. A Red Oni character is often more brawny than brainy, extroverted, enthusiastic, determined, and filled with a zest for life. They are also much more likely to break conventions and rules than their counterpart. 

The Blue Oni is associated with serenity, control and observing authority. A Blue Oni is more intellectual, proud, traditional, introverted, and cultured (sometimes more spiritual, although that's not guaranteed). Blue Oni personalities are often respected by others, but also likely to puzzle or confound their peers because they are difficult to read and have a mysterious quality to them.

Aja and Krel fit these descriptions and can be easily associated respectively to the red oni and to the blue oni as their respective colours in human form make clear.

However, as the series goes on it becomes obvious that the attributes listed above are nothing more than the surface of Aja and Krel. As a matter of fact Aja, despite how she appears in the beginning, is actually more mature than Krel under certain aspects and Krel has a very sensitive side which can manifest itself very strongly.

Let’s consider these two scenes in season 1:

They are parallels and inverses. At the beginning of the season Aja is the one who appears the most lost and is encouraged by Krel, whereas by the season’s end Krel shows insecurities and how the responsibility of repairing the ship is getting to him and Aja is the one comforting him.

By the end of the series Aja and Krel have acquired attributes which in the beginning were more strongly associated to the other.

For example, at the ending os season 1 Krel is the one improvising a speech and is said to be better than Aja in formal situations. However, in the last episode, he encourages Aja to speak for the both of them:

In this way, he shows to have overcome his little jealousy for her by letting her take the spotlight and at the same time he encourages her to speak in public and so to become better in a thing she feels nervous about.

Similarly, Aja accepts his brother’s feelings for his new found home and respects his choice to be on Earth and in this way she gives him the chance to pursue the normal life she once wanted.

In conclusion, it seems obvious that the two royals have changed and have reached endings which are the opposite of the ones they would have wanted in the beginning.

While Aja and Krel’s arcs are perfect to represent the first rule, Varvatos’s is perfect to embody the second one which deals with the necessity of accepting one’s mistakes:

Varvatos’s arc is an arc of redemption and at the same time it is a redemption arc which is a deconstrution of the trope according to which a character has to die to redeem himself:

As the scene above shows, Varvatos’s way of having his honour restored is not to die a glorious death which would be very painful for his young lieges, but it is to care for them as their new family.

This is not only something which he must do to help them, but also something which can help him to overcome the sadness for the loss of his family.

The series makes clear that Varvatos’s love for the siblings grows as time passes and he becomes a proper guardian for them to the point that he has no hesitation to suggest using the King and Queen’s cores to spare the two kids. Basically Varvatos repeats what he did in the beginning (he is ready to sacrifice the royals for his family), but this time his choice is framed as the right one and it is confirmed to be the will of the King and Queen themselves once they wake up.

As a matter of fact it is as Mother says:

3 Below is the story of two children losing their parents and finding a new family all in once:

What Morando says here turns out to be the truth since the two siblings will never be able to go back at being a family with their parents. So, we can say that the entirety of the series is a way to let Aja and Krel deal with the loss of their parents and build a support system.

Because of this, their family ends up incorporating many dynamics representative of many different family situations.

First of all, Aja and Krel have to deal with the deaths of their parents, but also with the discovery that they were not perfect. Realizing one’s parents’ limits is a necessary step to grow up.

This is something they must deal with also when it comes to Mother:

Realizing that a parent is not perfect means the child is starting to see that the world is more complex than what previously thought. At the same time, the parent stops being seen as someone perfect and is accepted as a person.

It is interesting to note that Mother parallels the royal parents in the general way her arc is outlined.

At the end of season one, Aja and Krel must fight an omen which has eaten their parents’ cores and a brainwashed Mother. This is symbolic of the two children’s struggle to overcome their parents and to grow up. This can only happen through some kind of conflict which in this case is symbolic and not a direct one. At the same time, the kids are taking their parents’ roles as protectors of the family.

However, even if it is right for the kids to become stronger and able to live by themselves, this doesn’t mean they should be the ones to protect their parents and to shoulder all the responsibility. This is why in the end Mother and their parents are the ones who sacrifice themselves for their well-being in a direct inversion of the season 1 finale.

Other than having to grieve for their parents, Aja and Krel finds themselves in a new family dynamic with Vex who becomes their guardian and later on with Zadra.

Vex and Zadra’s relationship is similar to the one two divorced parents have. Even if there was never romance between them, they still find themselves in disagreement on how to take care of the kids and keep fighting. However, in the end they are able to overcome their problems for the sake of the children and reconcile.

Finally, I would like to talk briefly of the two Blanks. They are basically a parody of a stereotyped American family and it is not by chance that they first appear when Aja and Krel needs to be accepted in school. It is a failed attempt to conform. At the same time, them feeling completely off to others can be seen as a joke about what a “normal” family should be like. In the end there is not a normal family and all family dynamics can be equally beautiful.

In the end the Blanks stay on Earth with Krel and become his guardians. This is a good way to end their story since this means that they have finally settled in Arcadia with a kid who, after some initial struggle, managed to fully integrate. Them being robots also tie with the role of technology both in the series in general and in Krel’s character which has been discussed above.

In conclusion, 3 Below is a series which shows both positive and negative aspects of human society. It explores how society treats the different, but it also shows that integration is possible. Finally it offers a view on multiple family dynamics present in modern society.

CONCULSION: TWO DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON HUMANITY

Both Trollhunters and 3 Below are about exploring humanity, but they do so from two different point of views.

In Trollhunters humans find their humanity challenged by something different and an equilibrium must be found between the trollish and the human.

In 3 Below the weirdness of humanity is shown thanks to the eyes of people who come from a different world. At the same time, these aliens also discover what is good about humanity and what they have in common with it. This shared part is obviously the core of human beings.

At the same time, the two stories are coming of age narratives and it is interesting that their protagonists growing up happen in different ways.

Jim grows when he leaves home together with Claire who is his companion. By doing so, he separates from his mother who build a new life together with Strickler.

Aja and Krel grow when they manage to go home:

This is fitting for a series where the main characters keep running away. After all, Aja is introduced while she is running to avoid a ceremony and after that they run from Morando and hide. Krel too, in a sense, is running away from his growing feelings towards Earth and his friends which he comes to accept in the end.

At the same time, the behaviours of Claire and Steve who are the MC’s love interests are also opposite. Claire chooses to invest on her relationship with Jim and to follow him in his adventure, while Steve chooses to stay on Earth with his family.

There is not a right or wrong choice, but simply different people who want different things and are taking care of their respective romantic relationships in different ways.

This is something which happens with Barbara/Strickler and Varvatos/Nancy as well.

Barbara chooses to let her son go even if it pains her and embraces a new life with her new partner, whereas Varvatos chooses to postpone his relationship with Nancy to when both Toby and Aja will become self-sufficient and won’t need their help anymore.

These are two different situations a parent might find themselves in and they are both shown as equally valid choices by the series.

[loversmore]

5 Shows and Some Questions

Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag 10 (or however many) people.

I was tagged by @matteoflrnzi, thank you magda!! 💞

merlin

dark

ragnarok

druck

anne with an e

Who is your favorite character in 2? jonas kahnwald.

Who is your least favorite character in 1? morgause.

What is your favorite episode of 4? season 3, episode 4 (yes, under water).

What is your favorite season of 5? probably season three because it’s the most recent and i remember it better, but every season is so important.

Who is your favorite couple in 3? not romantic couple: isolde and magne.

Who is your favorite couple in 2? you don’t want me to start talking about relationships in dark. anyway: ‘83 aleksander and regina and katharina and ulrich.

What is your favorite episode of 1? season 4, episodes 12 and 13 (the sword in the stone), but honestly, every episode of merlin is my favourite episode.

What is your favorite episode of 5? season 3, episode 8 (great and sudden change), the post-exam celebrations are everything.

What is your favorite season of 2? mh, probably season two.

How long have you watched 1? four years, i think.

How did you become interested in 3? ohh, thanks to @247-series and @florenzim: they blogged about it and made me curious about it. look at me now (thank you girls).

Who is your favorite actor in 4? michelangelo fortuzzi.

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5? whyyyy? i love dark and anne with an e, but merlin has my heart.

Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3? merlin, more episodes.

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? i’d love to be amira, she’s such a determined woman, she works hard and knows what she wants.

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? matteo florenzi as thor? where can i sign?

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? merlin and morgana!! imagine the power.

Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5? they’re completely different genres, but i’d say anne with an e because it has more episodes and the storyline is more developed.

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4? dark has some pearls, but i’m still listening to the druck soundtrack (season three), so yeah.

i tag: @druck-in-love, @the-haunted-pencil, @brokenhearts-5, @mia-ami, @sunsinksdown, @amiras-bitch, @kikimachwitz, @carlasmina, @a-chorus-of-storytellers, @youleavebehindmemories, @wanderlustin-chaos and everyone who sees this and wants to do it 🌸

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Hi, why did Jim not like Strickler dating Barbara? With Trollhunter!Claire how would things play out in Unbecoming? If the show had kept AAARRRGGHH female, how would this affect it, both in the show and meta? And finally, you mentioned the gay subtext with Blinky and AAARRRGGHH, why didn't they make them a couple? I mean, ever since Korra and Steven Universe, LBGT representation has skyrocketed, I don't want to come across as a SJW, but I just wish that the show took more chances with itself.

Okay, well, I should preface my analysis of Jim’s reaction to Stricklake by saying my biological parents are happily married to each other, so I have never personally been in the position of ‘child whose single parent has started dating again’; and I only knew two kids in high school whose parents I knew were divorced, and they didn’t talk to me about their parents’ love lives; so I can only infer based primarily on media stereotypes.

There are a few reasons portrayed in media as to why the child of a single parent reacts negatively to that parent getting a new love interest.

We can rule out Jim hoping his biological parents will get back together, because James Senior is a complete nonentity in their lives. Jim only mentions him four times, all in the first season - twice to Barbara (“You remember when I was old enough to ask about Dad? Remember what you told me? You said, we just have to take care of each other. And that’s all I’m doing, Mom.”) (“Shrimp cakes? Gosh, I haven’t had those since … since …” “Dad made them for us?” “I didn’t think you were old enough to remember.” ”Oh, I remember enough. I remember how his beard used to scratch my face when he hugged me. How he used to make you laugh. But most of all how much he hurt you when he left.”), once to Bular (“You wanna see Dad. I get it, trust me. But we don’t always get what we want.”), and once to Blinky (“You know I don’t care about my father!”)

There is, popularly shown in media and I’m sure it comes up in real life too, a dissonance in a kid’s mind between their school and home lives, which makes it uncomfortable to have their parents and teachers interacting, exacerbated if the student is having some kind of difficulty at school. Jim reacts negatively to Barbara’s interest in Strickler before he even knows Strickler is a Changeling. (“So. Mr Strickler. He seems very nice. Is he single?” “What?! I don’t know!”) (“Did you seriously just ask my teacher out on a date?!”)

Jim assumes something like a caregiver role at home, taking care of food prep and household maintenance. The introduction of a new person into their lives could set off a reflexive response of, “No, we don’t need you, we’ve been managing just fine on our own.”

Jim’s also very protective. The precedent of Barbara having a relationship that ended badly means Jim might be worrying from the start that a new relationship will also end in her getting hurt.

Any change, positive or negative, creates a stress response while a person readjusts. Having his mother start dating again would be a big change for Jim. (We see no indication she’s done so in the past ten years, although it’s possible she did and the relationships just never got serious enough for her to introduce the person to her son, and it’s also possible that it just never came up because Barbara’s past relationships weren’t relevant in a show focusing primarily on Jim being the Trollhunter.)

And then, of course, Jim finds out Strickler is a Changeling, and thereafter views all of Strickler’s interactions with Barbara through the lens of “he’s trying to get to me and using my mom as both a weapon and a shield”, which is accurate for quite some time, and of course is going to make Jim angry and scared, and not going to warm him to the idea of them being together. 

An Unbecoming with Trollhunter!Claire raises the question of whether Not Enrique would still take Enrique’s place.

In canon, Enrique getting swapped was indirectly Jim and Toby’s fault. Because they followed the goblins to the museum, they saw Nomura in troll form, and she revealed the Fetch and suggested bringing in a new Changeling to convince Bular not to kill her after her identity was compromised.

Therefore, a solid argument can be made that in the show’s version of Unbecoming, Enrique was never kidnapped. We never do find out for sure.

If the swap happens because of something Claire did as Trollhunter, Enrique would probably never get switched in the Unbecoming episode, which would be one of the reasons Claire thought at first that it was a better world. (Though she might eventually realize she misses Not Enrique.)

On the other hand, if the initial Trollhunter!Claire timeline was one in which Not Enrique were already planted in the Nuñez house before Claire became the Trollhunter, then Claire’s dynamic with Not Enrique just got a lot more complicated. She has memories of growing to see Not Enrique as an adopted sibling, which he no longer shares, and she has memories of saving Original Enrique from the Darklands, which she is no longer in a position to be able to do.

I figure the ‘failed attempt to thwart the reopening of Killahead Bridge’ thing would happen, because I interpret Unbecoming as a worst-case-scenario vision crafted by Merlin to make the Trollhunter off-kilter and desperate enough to do what the wizard wants without question, but I see this backfiring when he reveals himself because Claire would be furious.

Either way, time reverts itself to how it was before at the end of the episode.

Honestly I don’t see it affecting the overall plot of the show much if AAARRRGGHH had remained Johanna, especially if the writers still went with the show backstory of “raised by Gumm-Gumms and then deserted” rather than the book backstory of “one of the leaders of the armies against Gunmar”.

She would probably have stayed a pacifist for the first half of Season One, to force Jim to have to learn how to fight instead of just hiding behind his big scary troll friend.

We might’ve actually seen cats in the Domzalski house, if the gag was kept that they are drawn to Johanna and love sleeping on her fur, to their peril; but all the cats-being-eaten scenes were just barely off-camera in the show, so maybe not.

I personally would’ve had a less negative reaction to Jlaire, because Claire wouldn’t be the only girl in the core cast, although I might still feel like it was an “Obligatory Het Romance So The Main Character Looks Straight (Or If He’s Bi It Never Comes Up In The Show)”.

BlinkAAARRRGGHH would probably be just as popular as it is now, but if the ship still wasn’t canon (or even if it was), there would also be a number of people defending keeping Blinky and Johanna ‘just friends’ because of the under-representation of close male-female friendships in popular media.

The fandom would probably also create the sapphic ship of Johanna/Nomura, based on how they’re both kickass fighter ladies who used to serve Gunmar and then deserted. (Johannomura? Nomuranna, despite the different number of ‘N’s, sounds like it refers to Nomura/Morgana, though I think that would called Nomurgana, and Jomura could be misinterpreted as the ‘J’ being for Jim, which … no. Johannomura is clearest. Maybe Johmura if that’s too long.)

I don’t know why BlinkAAARRRGGHH was never made official, but I can make some guesses.

Option 1: they didn’t know how popular the show would be and didn’t want to lose potential popularity due to censors not allowing it to air in certain countries or conservative parents not letting their kids watch it.

Option 2: because Blinky and Johanna genuinely did seem to be Not Romantically Involved in the novel, the writers didn’t realize that the adjustments and expansions made to the characters and their interactions made them look like they were together, and so the romantic subtext was unintentional.

Option 3: it was presumed that it went without saying, like how no one in the show goes out of their way to point out Claire’s parents are married to each other. (Okay, except Jim does address Claire’s parents as “Mr and Mrs Nuñez” twice, so that comparison doesn’t quite work.) This is probably the interpretation that will ‘age best’ as LGBT+ rep in children’s-marketed media becomes more prevalent and accepted.

Option 4: the writers have a different love interest planned for one or both of the characters, to be introduced in Wizards, and the romantic subtext between AAARRRGGHH and Blinky was either unintentional or meant to be one-sided.

Option 5: they aren’t together yet, and the script is building up to them becoming an official couple in Wizards.

[heka-write]

MERLIN REWRITE 

It’s the tenth year anniversary of the show, and while I did not watch the show on it’s original run, it has become one of my biggest fandoms. I love all the characters, I have plenty of my own ships, and I still partake in discourse on tumblr and instagram almost every day. 

However, I do think the show did reach a downfall in it’s third season. Morgana became completely OOC, the episodes became repetitive, Merthur’s relationship regressed, the politics of the show skidded off it’s course, etc. 

Of course, these are just my opinions. I have a lot of feelings and thoughts on how I would have done this show differently, and I wanted to create discussion on my social media writing blog. I’d love responses, and people are free to agree or disagree. 

What I’m mostly gonna do, is argue my points on the basis of character development. I don’t have much knowledge on the Arthurian legends, and I feel like I don’t have to because the show changed so much in it’s inception. I feel like ignoring the character’s motivations and trying to fit the legends was what lead to the downfall. 

Of course, people who know more are free to disagree and spill as much tea on my posts as they want! 

The show really had a lot of potential, so if BBC ever decides to re-do it I think there are a lot of avenues they could explore. Stay tuned for these upcoming posts two days between each other!

1) Merlin revealing his magic sooner 

2) Morgana’s Villain Arc 

3) The Ending 

4) The Arthur - Gwen - Lancelot’s relationship 

5) Destiny vs What is Right

6) Gwen and Morgana’s relationship 

7) Merthur’s relationship + Mergana’s relationship 

8) Uther’s Death & The Knights

[fifty-5ty]

First Lines Meme

Rules: List the first lines of your last ten published stories. Look to see if there are any patterns that you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any! Tag up to ten friends!

(OMG, there is one that isn’t Merlin!)

1. Their first stop is Starbucks. Merlin figures somewhere quiet where they can get a hot drink (Arthur's become ridiculously addicted to coffee in the mornings since he returned) and where Arthur can sit and observe for a while will be a good way to start Arthur's first foray into the modern world. - A Moment of Pride, (Merlin/Arthur, Teen and Up)

2. The sea was calm and serene as the sun set across its dark blue expanse, and Merlin smiled to himself as he inhaled a deep lungful of salty air. The light breeze caressed his face and ruffled his hair like a lover. It was so peaceful here out on deck with everyone else inside to dine. At moments like this, Merlin didn’t feel like he needed things so frivolous as food; the fact that he was here watching this magnificent sunset was nourishment enough. - Sail Thou Forth (The Untold Want Remix), (Merlin/Arthur, Explicit)

3. Merlin opened the door to the flat and kicked off his shoes. As he hung up his coat, he noted that it was strangely quiet, except for the faint sounds of dramatic computer game music floating down the hall. - Cursing, Camelot and Winning the Game, (Merlin/Arthur, Explicit)

4.  The accident had been a scare too far for Webb. Though he would never admit it out loud, it had changed him a bit. The thought that he might not have his brother at his side anymore... well, it was unthinkable. It had been several weeks now, and Keegan was almost completely recovered, though the car had been a total write-off. Webb’s heart still pounded in his chest when he thought about the moment when, for just a few moments, he thought that he might have lost his brother. - Brotherly Comforts, (Keegan/Webb, Explicit, Bounty Hunters 2017)

5. This was not supposed to happen. They were supposed to have been hunting down some kind of innocent, helpless animal (which Merlin would purposefully scare away with a carefully placed cough or stumble), leaving Arthur sulking for the rest of the evening. - The Pint-Sized Manservant, (Merlin/Arthur, Teen and Up)

6. Outside, the night was cold and dark. But inside the small hut it was warm and bright. Not only because of the fire burning merrily in the grate, but because of the beautiful, vibrant woman whom dwelled within. - For Safekeeping, (Balinor/Hunith, Gen)

7. As he stared out across the landscape, stretching out for miles in all directions in the late evening sun, Merlin could not help but let out a deep, heart-felt sigh. How different his life had become in just a few short years. Not all that long ago, his biggest worries would have been when he and Will could get away from the harvest and run off to have some fun. Never even stopping for a minute to contemplate what the future would hold for them. - Lilac Kisses, (Merlin/Arthur, Teen and Up)

8. As Arthur turns into the winding driveway of his family home, he can’t help but admire the view. The Pendragon estate is beautiful at this time of year, he has to admit. He has always loved the way the driveway leads up to the house, hinting at adventure and bygone times that by all rights should belong in the pages of a history book, and the way the stately gardens hug it on either side, followed by acres of land in the background. The trees are bare and barren, so unlike the way that they used to be when he and Morgana came home from boarding school for the summer. But that does not take away from their beauty. - Stepping Up, (Merlin/Arthur, Explicit)

9. Arthur Pendragon would be considered lucky by most others, graced with good-looks, a well-to-do family and enough wealth to never do a true days work; he was the envy of many in London high society. Though it was true that just last year he had been jilted by the Lady Guinevere Leodegrance, a huge scandal by any standards. The fact that she had left him for a lowly French writer by the name of Lancelot du Lac had made it the scandal of the season. - Clouds and Silver Linings, (Merlin/Arthur, Explicit)

10. Merlin started to dance a little as he walked down the aisle of the university library. He was listening to his favourite ‘Getting Shit Done’ playlist as he searched for books for his essay that was due the next week. - The Prat in the Library, (Merlin/Arthur, Teen and Up)

I think my pattern is that I describe or talk about feelings? IDK.

Tagging @emrysmk, @kittylovesmerthur, @newmoonflower, @plutonia94, @pelydryn77, @schweetheart, @spiritofcamelot, @thepolomonkey, @turned-her-brain, @viridianjane, and @yesimafan, (what do you mean that’s 11 people?? XD ) but only if you want to do it! I don’t often do these things, but I thought it was quite fun and interesting to do!

[emilyzh2019-blog]

The Best Places to Stay in Playa del Carmen

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Plan your Mexico trip with my advice for the best places to stay in Playa del Carmen (hotels, budget hostels, and resorts) for each unique neighborhood around the city!

Located on the Yucatan Peninsula, the Mexican city of Playa Del Carmen was once just a small ferry port for people on their way to the island of Cozumel.

Over the years it grew into a popular beach town in its own right due to a beautiful coastline, tasty Mexican cuisine, sunny weather, and central location along the “Riviera Maya” route.

Playa Del Carmen became a cheaper and less-busy option to Cancun – exploding in popularity in recent years.

Visitors can explore nearby Maya ruins, swim in underground rock pools called “cenotes”, or go scuba diving to see one of the largest reefs in the world.

For those planning a visit and wondering about the best places to stay in Playa del Carmen, I’ve put together this free guide to the city’s best neighborhoods and accommodation options!

Best Places To Stay In Playa Del Carmen

When it comes to finding a place to stay in Playa del Carmen, all-inclusive resorts are typical, however, there are many other accommodation options like smaller hotels and guesthouses if you want to save money.

It’s important to book Play del Carmen hotels early to get the best deals.

Especially if you plan to visit during the winter high season, when finding a good place to stay can be much more difficult.

In this guide, I’ll cover everything from budget backpacker hostels to luxury Playa del Carmen resorts, vacation rentals, local guesthouses, and more — you’ll learn exactly where to stay in Playa del Carmen to have a great time.

Airbnb article for a $35 discount!

Best Neighborhoods In Playa Del Carmen

El Centro “Downtown” Playa

For the typical tourist experience of Playa Del Carmen, El Centro (downtown) is the place for you. This is where all the action is. Stay right on (or close by) La Quinta 5th Avenue for easy walking access to great restaurants, nightlife, and shopping. This is the beating heart of the city.

The North End

North of Avenida Constituyentes is where the city has been growing, and it’s a little more “trendy”. There are more condos and vacation rentals up here than hotels. It’s a bit quieter than El Centro too — but still easily within walking distance to all the nightlife and action on 5th Avenue.

Playacar

Playacar is a residential development just South of Playa del Carmen. It’s split into two “Phases”. Playacar Phase 1 is quieter and more local, with just a few hotels (but some excellent beaches). Playacar Phase 2 is home to a variety of hotels, golf courses, an aviary park, and shopping centers targeted at tourists.

Luxury Resort Area

This area has a handful of luxury resorts for travelers with larger budgets. There are four Mayakoba resorts up here, as well as the Grand Velas. It’s not really walkable from here into the city center, so you’d need to take a taxi or shuttle bus.

Playa del Carmen Hotel Guide

Where To Stay In Playa Del Carmen

Playa del Carmen may be an eclectic mix of the old with the new, but it is still a great destination of any kind of traveler – thanks to the variety available when you come to find a place to stay. So on with the list!

Cheap Hostels In Playa Del Carmen

Hostal MX (El Centro)

Located in the heart of Playa del Carmen, Hostal MX is right next to shopping, dining, nightclubs and the beaches. They have access to hammocks, a hot tub, good local transport and free wi-fi. A great place to stay if you’re trying to save money!

Yak Hostel (El Centro)

The Yak Hostel offers a free breakfast to all its guests, with a bathroom for every bedroom and even a charming little book exchange. It’s a simple but pleasant place to stay, close to the beach, and just around the corner from some of Playa del Carmen’s best nightclubs.

Selina Hostel (El Centro)

One of the best things about Selina Hostel is its social atmosphere, including a great outdoor pool area (often with good parties), bar, lounge, and a restaurant with a shared kitchen. The hostel rents out bikes too.

Budget Hotels In Playa Del Carmen

Hotel 52 (The North End)

Hotel 52 is located right in the center of Playa del Carmen with fun decorative touches from the owner, including a rooftop pool and great beach views. They offer massage services and are completely smoke-free for the health-conscious!

Hacienda Real del Caribe (El Centro)

One of my favorite places to stay in Playa del Carmen, it has a very tranquil atmosphere that really lets you escape the noise of downtown. The ornate hotel balconies frame a central swimming pool located right in the middle of the courtyard.

Fiesta Inn Playa del Carmen (The North End)

Despite being a budget hotel, Fiesta Inn has all the luxuries you might expect from a higher-priced place, including air conditioning in every bedroom and private showers. A shuttle to and from the airport is also very convenient.

Mid-Range Hotels In Playa Del Carmen

Reina Roja (El Centro)

Looking for a romantic hotel in Playa del Carmen? Reina Roja is for adults only. Enjoy your free welcome cocktail before settling into one of their very quirky themed rooms or relax in the rooftop pool. Keep an eye out for the creepy mannequins too!

Magic Blue Boutique Hotel (El Centro)

The Magic Blue has a great swimming pool and garden area, along with in-house massage services, and a selection of gourmet restaurants. You get excellent value for your money, with a perfect location only one block away from 5th Avenue.

Hotel Morgana

Hotel Morgana features only 20 rooms, with each paying homage to Mexican history and culture in its design. The whole hotel feels like an immersive piece of historical art, intended to allow guests to experience Mexican culture rather than just observe it. They also have a rooftop terrace, pool, bar, and sea view restaurant.

Luxury Hotels & Resorts In Playa del Carmen

Fairmont Mayakoba – A 5-star all-inclusive resort, Fairmont Mayakoba gives each party their own private terrace, access to water sports and bike hire, and even car hire. When they say all-inclusive, they really do mean it. This resort is one for the luxury-hunters, with every bedroom kitted out with everything from a flat-screen TV to free toiletries. Staff are happy to welcome you in any language, and the on-site restaurant happily caters for all manner of dietary requirements. It’s one of the best-rated locations in Playa del Carmen, and it isn’t hard to see why.

Thompson Hotel – this hotel is great for the fitness fanatics, with an outdoor pool and fitness center available 365 days a year. Every room has air conditioning as well as a complimentary bathrobe, toiletries and a wide variety of included activities. Guests can also enjoy added bonuses as part of their stay, ranging from early morning yoga to tequila tasting – and even Mexican sweets left on their pillow daily.

Hilton Playa Del Carmen – the Hilton Hotel brand is widely accepted as being one of the best, and Playa del Carmen is no different. The hotel is located on the Maya Riviera, right on the beachfront, with every room offering either an ocean or a garden view. One of the highest rated hotels in our research, the Hilton has a hot tub placed in every room, alongside satellite TV, bathrobes and slippers, a proper sound system, free toiletries, and even a premium minibar. Guests don’t even need to leave the resort if they don’t want to, with entertainment available on a daily – and nightly – basis. A real luxury.

Vacation Rentals In Playa Del Carmen

BRIC Hotel and Spa – The BRIC hotel is one of those that makes you feel at home. A small boutique hotel, it offers a concierge service as part of the guest experience, leaving you free to enjoy all the hotel has to offer without lugging around your bags. The hotel advertises its bed linen as some of the best around, with an American breakfast available every day either as room service or in the on-site restaurant. Every room boasts a hammock overlooking the outdoor pool, and guests are free to arrange scuba diving tours and archaeology tours as part of their holiday anytime. And, of course, the beach is never far away!

Enjoy Your Trip To Playa!

So there you go, my roundup of the best places to stay in Playa del Carmen while on vacation.

Playa del Carmen is a perfect place to base yourself in Mexico, and each day will bring something new and entertaining to your trip – whether you prefer a relaxing holiday or a hefty dose of adventure.

Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Find cheap flights on Skyscanner. This is my favorite search engine to find deals on airlines. Also make sure to read how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Car Hire is a great site for comparing car prices to find the best deal. They search both local & international rental companies.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent apartments from locals on Airbnb. Read more about how I book cheap hotels online.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.

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Have any questions about where to stay in Playa Del Carmen? Are you planning a trip to Mexico? Drop me a message in the comments below!

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.