#thats what i like about merlin the characters are so good

[arcanespillo]

i love this, hear me out, my hcs are =

lancelot is an aries sun, leo rising, pisces moon.

merlin is a scorpio moon, virgo rising, i'm unsure about his sun but cancer doesn't sound bad, even though he looks like a gemini to me, maybe an aquarius? i think it's something fun and light, a balance to the "dark" coded placements i'm sure he has

gwen is a gemini sun, libra rising capricorn moon.

morgana is an aquarius sun and rising with a scorpio moon and mars in cancer. heavy on the 8th house, maybe an 8th house stellium, she has a lot of scorpio and aqua for sure.

and lastly, because he's my favorite alright, arthur, a little bit more analysis on him, man.. i think he's a cancer moon (mommy's boy, loves his people, sensitive, takes on other people's problems as if they were his) and a sag rising, because of his big smile and overall body and also because he's soo so moody, also sagittarius risings are known to have horse vibes and i think he does, not in a bad way though, i'm a sag rising too, and for his sun hmmmm, i think he could be a taurus to be honest, like looking at stereotypes tauruses are lazy but determined, stubborn, touchy, very loyal !i think he has libra AND leo placements for sure, maybe his mercurys in leo.. i also think he has a pisces mars cos he gets so teary eyed.. i will probably change my mind from time to time about all of this but that's what i think right now, sorry if it's all wonky nonsense but i'd have to check my astrology notes stuff to assign them stuff in a coherent-linear-way that makes some sense

I don't know shit about astrology but merlin is a cancer pass it on

x

[dashiellqvverty]

the thing about bbc merlin is that in many ways it is very tragic, in the sense that so much bad shit that happens could have easily been avoided if charcters had made different choices, hadn't been so wrapped up in prophecies, had trusted people and communicated openly literally ever, just generally got their heads out of their asses. like i know thats the point, they are trying so hard to do the right things and protect people but the story is unavoidable. HOWEVER it is all soooo fucking poorly executed that none of it is effective. so instead of thinking "wow what a tragic story about fate/destiny/whatever" you walk away like "well that fucking sucked for no reason. i hate that fuckass dragon" and i sometimes feel very cinemasins in the way i pick apart the logic but the thing is the show is written in a way that makes the characters come off as so stupid and always making terrible choices rather than like. tragic victims of circumstance.

[daphnebowen]

descendants rise of red thoughts

warning: these are probably nonsensical and just a lot of confusion/venting/random excitement?? but enjoy regardless:

I'm glad that they explained jay, evie, and mal's absence right off the bat 

Uma and mal's relationship >>>

Not me bawling my eyes out already at the mention of Carlos, we all know uma's tears were china's tears 😭😭

Wonderland is GORGEOUS

"DEVIL ON MY SHOULDER" WHERE THE ANGELS USED TO BE

this fight scene is so unrealistic 

LUCIUS MALFOY?!?! (nope it's a dupe)

can I just say Kylie is GORGEOUS in red??

MAD HATTER SON SIGHTING AND I LOVE HOW HIS NAME IS MADDOX

who would have guessed she used the hug with Maddox to steal the Time Machine - hmm, not me!!

Brandy is absolutely KILLING IT her voice is majestic 

but where does Chad fit into all of this??? like isn't he the son of Cinderella but he doesn't look like his dad or mom?

the queen of hearts accent is soooo soothing

she (the queen of hearts) reminds me a LOT of Audrey, in her looks, her mannerisms, the way she speaks, her everything, it's kinda crazy 

A MENTION OF CHAD!!! Maybe it's possible! who cares about genetics!!

okay queen of hearts buggy is 🤩🤩

Chloe reminds me so much of evie and red reminds me so much of mal!! this is probably obvious to everyone and on purpose but oh well

WHATS MY NAME REMIXXXXX AHHHH

where's Harry and Gil bro not even a mention of them??? they were uma's best friends bffr

Omg I haven't seen Dara in a lot of other things but she is SLAYING the crazy uliana character 

Chloe running around fixing all the things red's messing around with is so accurate 

WICKED STEPMOM SIGHTING

anyways, the house Cinderella grew up in is soooo accurate to how I pictured it

I don't think poor chloe has ever touched a mop lol

Dara doesn't even sound like herself in this song

THAT EEL FREAKING SCARED ME GAGAHAGAGA IT LOOKS JUST LIKE FLOTSAM AND JETSAM which is probably the point but oh well here I am 

the way my heart DROPPED when she smashed the shoes!!!! 😢😢

oh snap. I did NOT expect red to go there (speaking about the "how did that end up for her?" talking about Chloe's mom) THATS SO AWFUL AND HORRIBLE MY JAW DROPPED

young Cinderella can SINGGGG

Love how they never showed Chloe's feet after she threw her glass shoes into the fireplace 😂 not important but I thought it was funny

love the kid barking and meowing and making Merlin rethink his life choices 

I definitely thought for a second that red was gonna be like "actually, I want to stay in this timeline"

OMG I HOPE THIS WORKS

YESSSS UMAAAA SLAYYYYYY ILYYYY

the costume change for queen of hearts is EVERYTHING

how is Chloe going to explain the broken glass shoes to her mom lol

nothing gets past Uma lol she's ALL KNOWING OUR QUEEN

final thoughts: reaaaalllyyyy wishing we could have brought back more of the og's or even got a little more closure about Carlos and his death. even though I know everyone's moving on and healing and dove especially is distancing herself from Disney and trying to be her own person without that (which, I respect) I still would have liked a cameo, a sort of "passing the torch" thing. without them it kinda was abrupt and strange, but having fairy godmother and Uma definitely benefited the movie. Red and Chloe were definitely well thought out and loveable and relatable characters for me, being a perfectionist myself and having three little troublemaking brothers who want nothing to do with me or my family at all. I feel like there was hardly any real time to get to know the other characters at all though! particularly young Bridget and ella, I definitely would have loved to see more of them. even uliana, although she made such a big impact and interest with her limited amount of screen time, put it to good use and made the most, though I would have wanted more. More backstory between her and Ursula's relationship, perhaps??? Uma and uliana reconciliation?? where is uliana now??? etc etc etc. I feel like the movie was so short there wasn't a ton of time to fully flesh things out and explore the characters and yet the pacing was great for the plot, so I don't know how those two things work together but somehow it felt rushed and yet perfect at the same time?? Like I don't know what they could have added to make it longer. definitely wanted more Uma and fairy godmother banter and updates on all the vks and auradon kids!!! how's Jane!!! ESPECIALLY NOW CARLOS IS NO LONGER WITH US?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? what about Lonnie!! and dizzy and the twins and Doug and Harry and Gil and all those other rascals. good to know Chad's off playing tourney in college and we know mal, Ben, evie, and jay are sailing around the world making amends with other countries and forming alliances. but yeah. overall I was pretty satisfied, obviously I don't think ANYTHING could top the iconic original descendants but I feel like this one did its job. it continued the story and introduced many new characters and a new timeline and plot line that was easy to follow while also leaving room for more and for wanting more. didn't even mention the music but I felt a lot of it was suuuuper repetitive and just this pop thing. where are my ballads!!! my if onlys!!! everything was just like "rotten to the core" or "chillin like a villain" and I wanted some emotional songs. Yes, I love a good pop upbeat song but I don't want an entire movie of them. everyone sang great I think, except I couldn't tell what was real and what was auto tune, but anyways. so yeah, I'd rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10. Pretty decent but still... not the greatest. as to almost be expected without our original cast.

side note: anyone wondering, if Cameron Boyce hadn't passed away, do we think they still would have continued adding on to that original trilogy and storyline or do we think that they would have brought in the new characters and storylines anyway? just a thought, I've always wondering what it would be like if cam hadn't passed. rest in peace xo 💋 

[niamhthefae]

i just watched Descendants: the rise of red for the first time and i have a lot of thoughts.

lets start with what i thought was good: the songs for the most part were okay, i quite liked 'love aint it' and that duet they sing then they're trying to decide if they should trust each other. i think the costuming was nice. also, im gonna be real with you all, they made hook gorgeous and i loved how cocky and silly he was in the maybe 2 lines he had. but as a dbd fan joshua colley did throw me off a bit at first, i was questioning how he went from monty to captain hook because thats kind of crazy. obviously that isn't their fault though.

okay. now onto the bad:

first of all, the pacing was terrible. it felt really weird because 85% of the movie was just filler and build up and then the actual climax and ending lasts for 10 minutes. and because it was so short some of the characters they introduced felt useless. i found this especially with the VKs. they're supposed to be the main antagonists but they have barely any screen time and you don't really get a sense of who any of them are as people. they pretty much introduced characters and then forgot about them and had them just linger in the background. same with the settings, they introduce this giant fish thing where the VKs hang out and a whole new school and cinderella's home and things but these will probably never be seeen again unless they decide to set another film in the past. but i honestly don't think they will so these characters and locations are probably going to get thrown away now, never to be seen again.

i think it could have benefitted from being a series, then we could have seen more of the characters and had some development and it wouldn't have felt so... i don't know, simple? the solution to everything seems way too easy for what was happening. at this point i would have even preferred they did a cliff hanger or something so it wasn't so anticlimactic at the ending. the first few movies felt like they really filled the space sufficiently, but this didnt.

i also feel like they completely threw canon out the window. the best example is when in the first movie maleficent tells mal that 'when she was her age she was cursing entire kingdoms' and then in this movie she was a lackey for Ursula's little sister. it doesn't make much sense to me. they also ignored the general canon of disney by giving most of the characters completely different backstories. they basically discredited the entire aladin movie by having them meet at school rather than what happened in the actual movie, same with most of cinderella. also hades is a god so why on earth is he going to a mortal school? he has no need for that. not to mention the fact that morgana/morgan le fay isn't a disney villan. they replaced her in the sword and the stone and even so, with merlin running the school it doesn't make sense for them to allow him to be there since in some versions morgan/morgana was the one who trapped merlin for eternity and even in the versions where that isn't the case she still basically destroys everything.

I also thought the main characters felt pretty weak. Both Chloe's decision to help Red break into the office and their decision to trust each other at the beginning felt like they came out of nowhere, they didn't really have much to persuade them or explain why they changed their minds at either point. and with Red, we dont see anything that would make us assume she's good or bad, we're only really told by red that she thinks she's bad but she wants to be good, and when she suddenly is at the end we didn't really see her be good, they just said she is, and we also literally see her do bad things. she got a bit annoyed and called for cinderella to be beheaded and she wants to steal and threatens to rip out someones tongue. we have only really seen her do bad things and then go 'oh no now i feel bad'. for a movie called the rise of red, they really dont have Red do much rising or really any kind of development, she's pretty much the same person at the start and the end of the movie.

would i watch it again? definately not. but i think if they want to continue with these characters then they could, i just think they should do things a bit differently next time.

[multifandombullshitbabes]

21

24

27

And

30

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

thank you so much, I shall answer these prompts NEOW

21: Fics you wish you could find more of?

Oooohhh more fics involving Gwen, that's for sure. When she's written right she's one of the strongest, most relatable characters imo, 'cause all she wants is for the world to be right and just and kind and everything wants to prove her wrong, but she won't back down from her views. I would also adore more Elyan, just in general. And complete rewrites of the show 'cause the one I'm reading right now is so good I might do one as well. Also modern au's where they're all like secret badass spies or smth, 'cause those are so fucking cool (i am accepting fic recs for ALL of this, please feed me y'all)

24: Everyone knows that fandom doesn’t like uther but what are your feelings about gaius?

I think 1) we need more concrete info about how he was when he was younger, but 2) i think he is severely complicated and wanted what was best of merlin and morgana, but failed the two while also giving them a ton of love. With morgana, he just didnt want her to pursue her power lest she become uther's next victim, cuz gaius cares for the pendragon siblings like his own. With merlin, he was just trying his best with his overpowered nephew, who alos has a destiny regarding his people's genocide's son, and he just doesn't know what to do half the time, kinda like merlin. I didnt like how he lied to merlin n morgana, how he gaslit her and how he made merlin hide and become so anxious abt his magic (and we see what that looks like season 5), but i get it. I really get it. I dont know what i wouldve done if one wrong move could mean the death of two kids he considers his own. I bet he was scared all the time and hated himself for it.

27: Modern Merlin headcanons, if any?

OH BOY. OHHHH BOY. So many. It really depends on what au i have for modern merlin, but I'll give you a few generals:

he's a teacher of sorts; i like the idea that he's kinda collecting magical anomalies and teaching them how to understand their powers and being, since he knows what its like to be afraid of urself, so he's a personal magic teacher. I also rly like my magic elementary school au, since its merlin teaching magic to a bunch of kids, which is adorable

he has officially one cat, a black one called Midnight, that accidentally became immortal along the way and now hes severally attached. I say officially since hes also friends with any other animal that he might come across and they recognise him if he passes them again. disney princess fr

he's figured out his gender and he can turn into a woman if he wants; she looks exactly like merlin, same height, same weight n muscles, the hair is longer cuz merlin likes it that way and her voice is deep and gorgeous

his favourite weapon is a staff or any long distance fighting weapon of the sort; also he looks cool as fuck fighting with it, but thats just a bonus

I'll stop here but i have SO MANY MORE

30: Side character death that makes you the maddest?

Elyan. There was, quite literally, no need for it. I was gonna say Lancelot, since we did not get enough of him, but his death made sense for his character. Elyan? What the fuck was that? It was just for pain and nothing else. What did it add to the story if not just a sad funeral scene and thats it? It just felt like they wanted him gone n found a way, and that pisses me off. I feel like him saving gwen and living would've given such a complex situation when she turns evil, 'cause what if she "confides" more n more in her brother, creating a rift between arthur n elyan, which then creates a rift between arthur n the knights, which would just isolate him further n make him suffer, which is what morgana wanted!! we couldve had protective brother elyan! I think i just wanted more knights in general.

Thank you so much for this ask, I yapped a fuck ton but it was funn

[samwinchestermydude]

My Supernatural Journey I guess

I actually did go into spn fully expecting to ship Destiel. I came into SPN after watching Merlin, and I had often seen Merthur (my beloved) and Destiel likened together. I barely knew anything about Sam. I only found out that Sam existed because I saw that he was being shipped with his brother on the Ao3 ships polls last year. I didn't know if Sam was important or not because I hadn't seen much content about him. So I ended up calling him the hippie brother mentally.

The only things I thought I knew about Supernatural was that it had some religious stuff in it, Destiel was canon apparently, there were demons and stuff, and John really hated. My impression on Spn was this horror show that was featured this really tough macho dudes but the show was supposedly kind of gay??

I also followed this one person way back for discussing this one video game. They were an ex-supernatural fan way back but left because they found discourse surrounding destiel to be to exhausting. They also used to be a big Sam fan and shipped wincest. I like found the latter to be like really weird back then but man the tides have turned.

So I turned on the Spn pilot with my mom in the same room one day out of sheer boredom. Back then I was still considering Spn as that tumblr show. And then the rest was history, and I lost countless hours of my life obsessing over the show.

So first of all, I only saw one brief glance at Sam before voting for merthur in the wincest vs merthur poll (I'd have probably voted for wincest now lol) so I didn't really know who he was. To me initially he just looked like the 2nd big, gruff dude with long hair. And then I found out that the sweetest looking boy with the floppiest bangs was that guy, Sam.

Also I thought Dean was the younger brother for some reason before watching the show (Probably because Jackles just doesn't age lol). So I was really surprised to see that the little kid in the opening scene was Dean and that the baby was Sam. Oh and I was totally predicting that John died actually in the opening scene and that something else was pretending to be their father lol.

I think I fell in love with the show right away. There was just something really believable and palpable about the brother's estrangement and relationship from the start and I just wanted to see how it developed. S1 is just filled with great horror episodes, and I started watching around October so it was just perfect timing.

So Things that Ended Up Suprising Me the Most/Other Things

I actually ended up really liking John in s1. JDM was just stellar in his all scenes and brought an emotional and sincere side to John. He's tough for sure but he doesn't hide his feelings about his boys. Like you can see the tears in his eyes when they reunite. Also his speech about how he wants Sam and Dean to have normal lives and how he's tired and so broken up after seeing all his friends being killed by meg never fails to hit hard. Do I think John was a good father. No. But he did care about his boys truly. And while I do understand Fandom's widespread dislike of John it is disheartening to see him reduced to this unfeeling caricature. John's problem wasn't that he felt too little; it was that he felt to much and he never really properly managed it and it ended up hurting the his boys.

I thought Meg and Sam would maybe end up being a thing and was like :(((( (because I just liked the bros being by themselves even though I wasn't a wincest shipper at the time lol) but I was also like go Sam if thats what you want ig? Lmao Idk I just wanted Sam to be happy even back then. Anyways thank god that never happened.

Me falling in love with Sam.

Dean. I always saw a lot about him but never found myself to interested in him as all I saw was Destiel content with him. But I ended up falling in love with his character so hard in Devil's trap. When he begs John not to kill him :(((((((((. I think Devil's trap is one of my favorite episodes for Dean. It's when I started to understand him and his loyalty to his family really touched me.

1x22 was also the episode that convinced me SPN was going to be a insane show. Like what a season finale. I feel so bad for the fans who had to wait to watch s2. I actually jumped up and said it ends like that?! The car scared me so bad.

Around s2 I set my foot in the wincest fandom. Back then I thought you guys were scary but in a good way. But I was also getting really into the codependency at the time so I found myself starting to seek wincest out because well you guys just get it. And then Dean sold his soul for Sam and I looked up wincest fic for the first time with the intent to read fic about wincest. Before it was reading wincest fic despite the wincest and then well all hell blew loose (sorry I just had to).

First wincest fic I read: half the man i used to be by dollylux. I wasn't exactly a wincest shipper then. But I thought it was fucked up and strangely fitting to Sam and Dean's relationship and fucked up lives. It was probably the fic that got me into wincest.

I had a bit of an internal rule I set for myself back then where I could only read Wincest fics that were about them being in a fucked and toxic relationship because I felt bad reading fics about an incest ship. So I guess in my mind it cancelled out because then I thought then I wasn't romanticizing the incest lol. Idgaf now. I read anything about Sam/Dean if it's good.

When You're Not Here by raziella was the 2nd wincest fic I read. I read it because it's pretty much gen but it does have some wincest leanings. It's a really good fic.

I gave up Destiel even before s4. It was around in S3 after seeing Sam slowly go insane that I realized I wanted nothing more than the two brothers together.

I just realized that even if Destiel was canon or not nothing could be as important to Dean than Sam was and vice versa for Sam.

I actually was anxious about s4 because I didn't want the show to change that much and drift from the focus on the brothers.

S4 and s5 were really difficult to go through for me. I thought they were great television but it was too painful. I felt horrible seeing what happened to the brothers and how they drifted apart.

S4 Sam hair was probably my favorite.

[chappellcastiel]

jumping off of that one anon but yeah the arthur hate is something that irks me so much because there are genuinely things to criticize arthur about and i agree that should be addressed in writing but to make it like everything is on arthurs shoulders is insane because the mistakes merlin makes are as bad if not worse than arthurs. the thing is merlins a good liar, even to himself, which is why people like pinning everything on arthur because hes so much more obvious (and accountable) for his actions and behavior (sans the magic thing which is honestly a complicated topic from both sides)

its why in aus i like exploring how merlin fucks up and then simultaneously starts justifying his fuck ups instead of owning up to it. because he does that ALOT even in earlier seasons, and i think its an interesting character trait that not many people like to explore. he has good intentions but he also covers up the truth for it. i want more fics about others (not just arthur) confronting merlin about that shit bc yknow thats not… healthy.

I have nothing to add on to this you hit every bullet point.

and you’re so right about the lying and the justification of his fuck ups. I think it stared with other people justifying things that he’d done so by the later seasons it came naturally without remorse. Merlin being the protagonist of the show is a heavy factor on why people don’t seem to explore that part of his character we know why he’s doing what he’s doing leading viewers to justify his actions right with him.

[veryace-ficrecs]

Asexual Fic Recs

These fics feature characters who either canonically or non-canonically identify as asexual. If I include a fic on this list that features a character that you personally don't think is ace - thats ok! everyone has their own headcannons for characters, Just be polite!

Merlin (TV)

keep me as i keep you by fabledfrog - Rated G

Merlin smiles, a smile that makes Arthur feel like he’s the one who brings out the sun every morning. It’s a smile that says ‘I am proud of you’ and ‘I know you will’ and spells out devotion and care.

Heart Lines by PeaceHeather - Rated G

Everyone is born with a heart line, a pigmented mark running from the heart down the left arm to the palm, which turns color when the person comes of age, telling them when it is time to seek their soulmate. Red indicates a romantic love, while blue is for platonic "heart-friends", as the minstrels called it. Uther had always told Arthur to ignore his heart line, that it wouldn't matter who his soulmate was; princes did not marry for love, after all. If was lucky, he'd be able to keep her as a mistress, so long as he did not get any children with her. Uther hated magic and would have urged Arthur to ignore the heart line anyway, if he could. Arthur wasn't sure his soulmate was really a woman despite Uther's assumptions. But Arthur's heart line hadn't even come into its full color yet, which meant he hadn't come of age in the eyes of the gods, despite being named crown prince by Uther. So it really didn't matter: whoever his soulmate was, he wasn't yet ready to meet them. Then one day his heart line comes in, and it's neither red nor blue.

Leverage (TV)

Not Quite the Birds and the Bees by YumeArashi - Rated T

One morning over breakfast, Parker asked Hardison, "So am I supposed to offer to have sex with you?" [Relationships get interesting where Parker's involved. Luckily, Hardison is a very understanding guy.]

Better than Normal by YumeArashi - Rated M

Parker's take on life, love, and sex (or lack thereof) with Hardison and Eliot.

Star Wars

The Slow Progression of Wanting by celeste9 - Rated T

Everyone in the Resistance seems to assume that Finn wants either Rey or Poe, with the only question being which one. Though Finn slowly comes to realize that he does want them, he doesn't want them in the way that people seem to think he should. He thinks there must be something wrong with him. (asexual!Finn)

The Princess and the Nerfherder by Fialleril - Rated G

“Are we dating?” Breha said to him one afternoon in the Academy’s library. Or, the life and times of Breha and Bail Organa.

Abstinence Only by mandocule - Rated G

Boba Fett was fine with the world thinking he didn't approve of sex before marriage. It was true, anyway, if only in the sense that he didn't want sex at all, before or after marriage. He just hoped Djarin would get the picture and stop trying to get with him before he had to lay it out - or, worse, before he caught feelings.

it's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out by redsquadronblues (aceofcorvids) - Rated T

Wedge and Luke keep coming back to each other for ten long years, and it's the opposite of a problem. Or, five times Wedge wakes up next to Luke Skywalker, and one time he doesn't.

Lord of The Rings

Three is Company by starryeyedknight - Rated T

“And what about you, Samwise? You’re going to tell me you’ve never looked as Mr Frodo with an eye for a quick fondle if he offered it – a handsome fellow such as him?”

Frodo straightened up, dusting off his jacket and shirt. “Yes, go on Samwise; I want to hear the answer to this.”

“No, I ain’t,” Sam said with laboured patience. “Mr Frodo isn’t interested in that sort of thing, and so I don’t consider it. It just seems…well, too much like taking liberties, if you take my meaning.”

“Do you know, I find that rather insulting? Just because I’m not looking for a good tupping doesn’t mean you couldn’t pine after me a little, Sam Gamgee, even as a matter of courtesy. What’s a hobbit got to do to be objectified around here?”

Sometimes relationships need a little communication to define. In which Rosie is bolder than the boys expect, Frodo is overcome with emotion (and a severe case of the giggles), Sam still doesn't understand what a catch he is - and all three hobbits love each other very dearly indeed.

9-1-1 (TV)

To Become a Family by RaspberryDreams1 - Rated M

Eddie's on leave before being deployed after the death of his 17 year old brother Leonardo, when his old school friend Shannon comes to him asking for help. Shannon is pregnant and Eddie's the only member of the family who knows that Leon had been casually involved with Shannon. Shannon doesn't want an abortion but cannot face the idea of bringing up a baby on her own. Believing that this may be his only chance at fatherhood, Eddie agrees to claim paternity and marry Shannon to provide the child with financial security and a father.

Baldur's Gate (Video Game)

joke me something awful, just like kisses on the necks of best friends by LyriumTainted - Rated G

“…If you wanted to cuddle, you could’ve just said so.” “I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m doing this for your benefit.”

Supernatural

Warmth by TheIttyBitty - Rated G

Asexual!Cas & Protective!Dean

What Matters by bumblewyn - Rated T

Cas thinks he owes it to Dean to have sex with him, Dean shows Cas what truly matters.

Get it Wrong, Get it Right by feraldanvers - Rated T

Dean’s been mixed up over his feelings for a long time, but it never occurs to him that Cas might be mixed up, too.

[forecast0ctopus]

how do you use references when you draw fanart or figure out how to draw irl characters?? it's just that i've been looking through your art and i feel like you ability to capture a character's idk essence, in vibes + appearence, are just unmatched! they're all so dynamic and like them i just <33

aaa thanks so much!! im glad to hear that since i honestly dont watch a ton of live action? i generally have done a lot more fanart for animated things so thats nice to hear haha anyways though!! i have far too many words that may or may not make sense to say so i'll put how i use references and figure out live action characters below

the main rule i like to keep in my head is that i am drawing the character, not the actor, if that makes sense?

this is all taking arthur as an example, to show what kinds of things i look for!! if i were talking about merlin any other live action character like. bobby briggs or something all the details would be super different haha a way i like to familiarize myself with a live action character at first is tracing which i must preface by saying TRACING ISNT BAD!! its a tool and it just needs to be used correctly. tracing is a great way to figure out a method to drawing things, so its really valuable in studying. im not gonna address using tracing in finished artwork rn bc thats where it gets a little dicey and i would talk about it too much.

i dont really need to do this for arthur anymore but it was a fun exercise lmao

sorry the images are so crunchy i always forget i work on small canvases, anyways in capturing a likeness i like to emphasize and exaggerate a little which features make the character most recognizable to me.

he's got a sharp nose which is bumped at the bridge and a little bit upturned at the bottom. when he's smiling his eyes crinkle a lot and his cheek muscle becomes more pronounced and connects into the corner of his mouth

very square jaw. his brows are thicker near the center and don't have much of an arch. his cheeks are hollowed with neutral expression and the muscles on the sides of his mouth (depressor anguli oris, if i remember correctly lol) are obvious when the corners of his mouth are downturned

the corners of his mouth fold in a lot when he bares his teeth if hes angry or agitated, its a different type of fold when hes relaxed or smiling

his masseter is rather pronounced when he's talking or agitated, and i usually connect the line of it to the line that goes down from the inner corner of his eye. i forget what the word for it is rn but its different from eyebags (though i do like to draw eyebags)

but none of these details work if whatever hes doing in the drawing isnt in character, yknow? like he could look like arthur but he wouldnt really feel like arthur if hes not acting like arthur. idk it s hard for me to put to words im sure u get what i mean enough

body shape and language are also super important to think about, these are some things i keep in mind with arthur - hes shredded but not like marvel movie dehydrated shredded (good for him) - hes very broad and his shoulders slope down because of his trapezius muscles - he takes up a lot of space! he hardly ever curls up or sits with his feet up in his chair. even when hes sleeping hes pretty sprawled out - his "closed off" body language is crossing his arms or raising his left hand to twist his index finger ring with his thumb (worried/thinking gesture) - he moves with a lot of purpose usually and isnt often clumsy (unlike merlin lmao) - he moves his shoulders a lot when he walks (see top left image)

honestly think body language is just as important as facial features if not more, for the purpose of creating personality and character

i probably sound like i think way too much about this stuff which i. i kind of do but not in so many words i dont need this many words when its all in my brain. but yeah thats how i figure out how to draw a live action character i guess? anyways this was kind of a mess haha

[tansyuduri]

Twenty Questions for Fanfic Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Thirty so far! 12 are Merlin and that is my only fandom I am writing for atm the rest are for dragon age and are from years ago.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

I have 282,018 published

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Merlin!!! There is one Dragon Age fic I might eventually finish, but Merlin for the foreseeable future.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Okay here they all are from the last year in the merlin fandom!!!

Fever Talk | Kudos: 527 | I have two kinds of fic, Hurt/comfort/whump somtimes with plot and plot focused noevel lengrth new adventures. This is one of the former and the first in an au I have for prompts of this kind!

Treat Me Warmly | Kudos: 289 | This is the first in ANOTHER Au word I have (hurt/comfort/whump style) It was for a merlin tarrot card fest and started me tradition of commissioning tarrot card based pictures or the ones in this series.

Merlin, Enchanted| Kudos: 236 | Ever see a post on tumblr and be like I"M WRITING THIS? thats what happened here!

Better Than Burning | Kudos: 233| I just posted this one most recently It was due to a former beta currant alpha requesting somthing and me having a bingo scuare I was thinking about.

Unthinkable | Kudos: 207 | This was from bingo Square prompts!

The next one after this would be one of my long fics XD

5. Do you respond to comments?

Every single one. I love comments

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm almost always a happy ending girl. But I wrote this. it takes place in the same world as my Arthur returns fics

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhhh Hmmm I'd say problubly the one I plan to start posting in decemeber but other than that Uhhhh POSSABLY treat me warmly? or fever talk? IDEK It could be. We are bruised but whole together? or Our stars still shine together

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got this one reader who hated on Gwen and believed Merlin deserved better in my Arthur returns fics because Arthur still mourning Gwen OBVIOUSLY Meant he would choose Gwen Over Merlin if given the choice. Which is not the case.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

There are Smut scenes in my Arthur returns fics and in treat me warmly fo far. I think I did okay and I got a lot better after having a gay beta who was like "you know that would hurt right, they have to do this first!" Basically, I'm borderline Aroace (And more ace then aro even) but decided when I started writing that my Merlin and Arthur would not be. Still, I've only included explicit sex scenes in long fics or if asked by someone requesting!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but I would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

merlin enchanted was me ficizing someone's pretty detailed tumblr post

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Merthur. <3

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't really have one? One of my fics int he dragon age fandom I MIGHT eventualy finish. I will possably get to it eventually? OH I started writing about Gwen's reign after Arthur was gone. It doesnt even have a chapter published but I doubt I will ever finish it

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uh, I'm pretty good at getting inside character's heads and dialogue. I like to think I am good at keeping cannon characters IC

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIPTION OF ANYTHING PHYSICAL. Like casual elements of it. Body language the like!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I perfer when there are translations or its oblvious

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Uh LOTR when I was in elementary school? I wrote a parody.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Our stars still shine together! It was my first Merlin fic and the fic that made me realize I could write again after major health issues!!!

Lemme see who I can find:

@calamity-talvi @catsconflictscopicsandchamomile @kadenemrys @thedaselcor @aeonthedimensionalgirl

@mudtwist @katherynefromphilly @poisonedfate @shanastoryteller @247merthur

AND OF COURSE EVERYONE ELSE Who wants to!

[f4y3w00d5]

May I ask what you're writing/what you enjoy writing? Perhaps a short synopsis?

*gasp* OMG SOMEONES ASKING ME ABOUT MY STORY???

OKAYOKAYOKAY

Im not very good at the short part but (very) long story short, we've got this 12 year old kid named Asmodeus (half demon), mother gave him away to a circus when he was two (she didnt want a part demon kid even though she literally fucked a demon lol) blah blah blah a whole lot of abuse (treated like one of those freak shows they used to have) and basically one day these two dead teenagers (17 yrs old, technically 18 and 25, but stuck in the mindset of late teenage years and in the form of 17 yr olds) come and they kidnap him essentially (i say kidnap but he went happily) oh and the teens are dating but thats sorta irrelevant (OH BUT WHATS NOT IRRELEVANT IS THAT ONE IS ACTUALLY MY CHARACTER FAYE, MILDLY DIFFERENT COS SHE WASNT ALWAYS FOR WIZARDPOSTING) and they take him to Merlin (old version where he was one of the fae) and he scrys this guy named Evil (pronounced Eh-vil, hes this omnipresent immortal psycho, i drew a picture if ya wanna see) and they go there and they find out who the boys demonic parent is (because when theyre 12-14 they get demon powers in this world, and they needed to know who gave them to him so they could control it), they find out and then they introduce Azzy to the rest of their group!!! 10 chapters, 13,000+ words currently, hoping to get it published. Titled it Freak Show. Im hoping to turn it into a series (already got ideas for like 5 other books with the same characters lol)

I hope this wasnt too long!!!

[followtheechoes]

do you think that's how he felt when he met merlin?

I sometimes think about what destiny must feel like to the characters in this show and while merlin understands what he's feeling by now, arthur doesn't. arthur looks at merlin and goes, there's something about you, and then he lets him go without (serious) harm. he and merlin became good friends! if he felt that way when meeting lancelot or gwaine or any of the other knights, of course he would lower his weapon. there's something about mordred that arthur is drawn to, the same way he is drawn to every other part of his destiny. merlin, gwen, the knights, his throne, his death. it's all the same force.

it's the same impulse that merlin and morgana both had on meeting mordred for the first time. it's the same thing that passed between them in the forest when mordred was a child and the same thing that's helped him feel out how to make his reign stronger. it's destiny, and arthur has no reason to distrust his destiny when it's never steered him wrong before.

obsessed with the look of understanding that passed between arthur and mordred when arthur lowered his crossbow and spared mordred's life. obsessed with the intimate bond that comes from being the other's victim and executioner. obsessed with the idea of them carrying the knowledge of it within them all along, somewhere in their subconscious. of them being pawns in the hands of fate because, perhaps, it was always going to end this way

[yj-98]

okay not story related but. how do the horses work

THANK YOU CROW ‼️ for asking <3 hehe i love talking game mechanics and like. details in general dw

so! horses are an important part of this game. to quote my best friend and the biggest horse + horsegame fan i know (gabe @porthavens):

it's not a true "horse sim", in that taking care of horses isnt a major gameplay mechanic with significant impacts. but there are MANY different kinds of horses with different stat levels, and you can tame wild horses OR buy horses from stables, and you can pet+feed+clean your horse, and you can form a bond with your horse by earning their trust. IMPORTANT Is that you can also name them and style their mane/tail differently.

now forgive me as i go into more detail because im allergic to simple answers:

what he said honestly got the basics i think. you feed your horse food or give it medicine to heal it/help it replenish energy, brush it to keep it clean, you have the choice of bringing hay to them at camp, you can use them to hunt or as transportation. etc. in general theyre really useful!! theyre well implemented in the game and thats important imo considering the time period its set in + who the main characters are.

(and thats not even touching how theres like. honestly so much detail put into each breed having a distinct body type + the coat colors and tail dynamics like theyre honestly just so well animated. and horses are notoriously difficult to animate. but they feel real, down to how their coats ripple)

i feel like RDR2 especially handles the horse as not only a mechanic or a vehicle for the player but also like... as a way of furthering characterization + humanizing the characters.

each of the main characters in the gang have their own horse that stays with them, or doesnt, throughout the game. its apart of their personality + identity. something important to know is that in the genre of westerns theres a visual motif with white hats, black hats, and similarly with black horses + white horses. it usually is as cut and dry as "bad buy wears black + has black horse, good guy has white hat and horse" and we dont have time to unpack that but it DOES mean that when we are introduced to certain characters its important to look at whats close to their identity and see

dutch van der linde, the leader, + father figure to the main characters, as long as an antagonist, has a black hat, but the most unique white horse. on the contrast, micah bell, the true antagonist of rdr2, has a black horse and white hat.

^ horse and hat spiel aside its about how each character is talked about in relation to their horse. dutch's horse, the count, looks more like an aristocrats pet. baylock, micah's horse, looks starved and bleeding later on in the game. john and arthur can talk to their horses and hum on horseback and call them petnames. each horse has a personality that informs the characters story yk.

lastly its like...... you do grow attached to your horses that You get. i had a grullo dun mustang named merlin (yk. arthur and merlin. arthur gets compared to the legend by jack his nephew) and i adored her. i also watched her die as arthur thanked her. its like. its about how the horses are more than a game mechanic but also more than just a narrative device. perfect blend

[pippin-katz]

i actually disagree. not every character has to be a favorite (as we all know) and there's nothing wrong with not liking them. You dont need a good reason. As long as they don't spread hate against them, quitely not liking them is fine.

it doesnt make someone misogynistic or racist to just not like a character. its a neutral thing, not everyone's vibe will suit everyone, and not everyone finds the same character interesting.

on the whole are female characters neglected across fandom? sure.

That doesn't mean a person should force themselves to like a paring or a character, just so they dont offend someone LMAO thats not what fandom is for. its people engaging with shit they love for fun and creating stuff from that love.

You seem to be missing my point and manipulating my words.

I did not say that disliking Guinevere makes you misogynistic or racist, but that there are people who ARE that will spread hate.

When I say you need a “reason” not to like a character, that reason can be as simple as “I don’t like her personality” or “I don’t like her vibe”.

THAT is a personal preference a person can have about a character that has nothing to do with a fan-driven ship.

Saying “Gwen sucks because she ruins Merthur!” has nothing to do with her as a character or her portrayal. It is not a commentary or opinion of her character at all, but just a blatantly rude statement because Merthur is not in the show.

If Merlin and Arthur were set up and explored as a potential relationship within the context of the show, and they ended up not doing it/breaking them up within the show, saying you don’t like Guinevere for her role in that plot line would be completely valid. Because they are not explored as a potential relationship, that is not a real criticism of her character.

Nothing I have said implies that you have to like Guinevere, or her relationship with Arthur.

I personally like the chemistry he and Merlin have better. If they had been willing or planning to go that route, I would have much preferred it, but that is not what happened, and that does not mean that what we got is inherently bad because of my personal preference.

People mistake opinions for critiques.

Do not misunderstand, many critiques are opinions, but most opinions are not critiques.

For example: my mother cannot watch the first fifteen minutes of Pixar’s Up because it upsets her too much. She then goes on to say that “it’s horrible”.

Those are two entirely separate concepts. You can dislike something, or be upset by something, but still recognize the quality of that something.

This can work both ways. You can love something, and recognize the lack of quality in it.

Cult classics are a fantastic example. The film Rocky Horror Picture Show is not a well-made, high quality movie. In this case, that is an intentional part of the film’s goal, but regardless, nearly every part of that movie is lackluster in execution. However, I and many other people love it. I am not saying that it is a good film because I personally love it. I can recognize something as poor quality even if I personally enjoy it.

In regards to Guinevere, you are well within your right not to like her. I have my own qualms with the character myself. Her writing in later seasons started lacking the spark and personality she had in season 1, in a way that was clearly not an intentional development. Notice how I did not outright say “Guinevere is a bad character” just because I feel her writing got worse.

When you choose to share your opinion in a public space, you should be thoughtful of how you do so. Not everyone will be, obviously, but if you have no ill intentions, you should be.

THAT is what I mean when I say you should have a “real reason” for disliking a character. If you have an opinion that is a valid personal preference you want to share, that is completely fine, but otherwise, you should “quietly dislike the character” as you put it.

Even if you do not intend spread hate with your own post, there are people who will use it as an opportunity for them to do so.

THAT is my point.

You are correct. Fandoms are meant to be places to engage with something they love, to create and talk about it with other fans. It is meant to be fun, which is why more people, in all fandoms, should think more when choosing what to say and what not to say and how to say it.

If more people made the individual effort to be polite and understanding with their opinions of media, so many fandoms would not be as toxic as they are.

THAT is my goal in saying all this.

I have not been perfect in the past with being considerate or polite in sharing my opinions, and every time, it led to negativity and frustration that could’ve been avoid if I or the other person had stopped to consider how our words could come across.

It ruins the experience of a fandom for the people involved, and many times steers curious individuals away from the content itself out of fear or distaste for the fandom’s behavior.

I hope that this clears things up a bit.

[fishoutofcamelot]

BBC Merlin - in particular, its fandom - really ought to take on the Danny Phantom mindset when it comes to secret-keeping.

For context, Danny Phantom is a show about a boy who gets turned into a ghost, but must hide this from his parents who happen to be ghost hunters by pretending he's still fully alive. Obviously he keeps this a secret from them, for fear of what they would do to him if they ever found out what he was. Secret-keeping hijinks and glossed-over angst ensue.

And trust me, if you think the magic in BBCM is a queer allegory, just wait till you watch Danny Phantom.

Never in the series is Danny's secrecy viewed as a bad thing. In fact, both canon and an overwhelming majority of the 'phandom' are in agreement that even though his parents wound up accepting him in the end, their anti-ghost rhetoric made him feel extremely unsafe - and on that basis alone he was under no obligation to tell them his secret. The narrative isn't framed as Danny being responsible for his parents' views - instead, the responsibility is on his parents alone to abandon their prejudices and become better people.

Thats not to say Danny is free from accountability, of course. While DP is far from perfect, one thing it does rather well is explore the ways families can drift apart, and how maintaining relationships is a team effort. Danny pushes his parents away - and for good reason - but in the process he also pushes away any opportunity for reconciliation, assuming the worst of his parents for his own safety even in the face of their personal growth.

Sound familiar?

Likewise, Merlin is also constantly surrounded by dangerous, harmful rhetoric against himself and people like him. Arthur in particular is often either actively espousing or remaining passive in the face of this rhetoric. Like, I really do love Arthur, but it would be a disservice to his character to pretend he was always entirely in the right. And we could go in circles about whether or not Arthur deserved to know, or what he would/wouldn't have done if he found out Merlin's secret. The bottom line is, Merlin didn't feel safe. Arthur's words and actions directly contributed to Merlin's uncertainty, which in turn fed his fear.

Just like with Danny Phantom, Merlin isn't responsible for Arthur's views and opinions. Arthur is a free-thinking adult who can make his own decisions. And sure, blah blah blah, Arthur only ever encountered evil sorcerers and dark magic, so he never had the chance to challenge his views - but Danny's parents were also consistently exposed to evil ghosts wreaking havoc, yet they found it in themselves to change anyway.

(And to add to the parallels, "Sins of the Father" from BBCM and "Reality Trip" from DP both feature instances where Arthur and Danny's parents respectively grow from their harmful misconceptions and accept that which they used to hate. But then Merlin and Danny take actions to restore the status quo, resetting any growth they may have had - textually because they thought it was for the best, but subtextually I would argue it was because they were still scared of change and exposure and rejection, and the status quo made them feel safe. Was this the right thing to do? Probably not. But their actions are entirely understandable given the circumstances. Idk, i just thought that was an interesting parallel worth mentioning.)

TLDR - Merlin lying to Arthur wasnt a bad thing, BBC Merlin and Danny Phantom are uncannily similar, and both Merlin and Danny deserve lots of hugs

[supreme-leader-stoat]

Ten bucks says they make live-action-hypothetical-prequel Ursula trans because she was based on a drag queen, and thats actually why she was banished by King Neptune. The fact she makes crooked deals for people's lives will be 1) changed to propaganda, 2) reframed as "girlboss" and justified, or 3) played completely straight and still framed as a good thing.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go dodge Apollo for a few years.

Naaaah. Campy I buy, even expect, but they wouldn't make her trans. Probably not even gay, if for no other reason than it'd threaten their overseas market sales. Remember, we're talking about the company that's almost the poster child for "five dozen First Gay Characters" at this point, it's the sort of thing they like doing lip service towards and stirring up hype/controversy with, but they wouldn't commit that heavily.

No, what we're gonna see if I'm right in my prediction about this coming down the pipeline is this:

Route 1. She's King Neptune's former lover or at the very least a former close companion of his. Maybe his mentor in magic or politics or something. But then he betrays her for power and/or personal reasons, and so her actions are reframed in terms of justified vengeance against him.

Route 2. She fell in love with a human man and used her magic to live on land with him, which is what resulted in her banishment by the merfolk. But then he betrayed her and broke her heart, leading her to return to the sea and leaving her bitter against both humans and merfolk. Her story will be framed as a tragic mirror to Ariel's. (note: It's unlikely, but I could see them also doing some sort of Merlin and Nimune thing, where her human lover is the one who teaches her magic.)

In either case, I'm inclined to agree that they'll reframe her making exploitative deals as a good thing/power trip.