#to be clear it's gaius

[merlin-reboot-when]

So I decided to get back into bbc Merlin. I have been thoroughly obsessed with that show several times over the past 6? 7 years? But somehow, I never really wrote for that fandom beyond short headcanons.

Haven't come very far with this new wip yet either, but I always thought that in season 4 one of the knights (other than Lancelot, RIP) should've discovered Merlin's magic and maybe that Gaius had fulfilled his purpose and should've... died? Sorry Gaius. Anyway, here are the first ~400 words of my 4x07 (the secret sharer) AU.

There was a fire in the courtyard. Not a pyre, not today, but one could still smell death in the air. It was a funeral fire. Dozens, maybe hundreds of people were present, all gathered on the wet cobblestone to pay their respects and honour the man they’d all known. Arthur could feel Merlin quietly standing behind him on the palace steps as he delivered his speech. Usually writing that speech should’ve been Merlin’s task, but under the given circumstances Arthur had for once opted to write it himself. As he spoke he tried to keep his voice calm and even, but even he could hear the slight tremor in his voice. For the first and only time since Merlin had come into his service, the servant’s quiet presence did nothing to soothe Arthur’s nerves. Quite the opposite, really. The guilt over what had transpired was eating him alive. He had even gone so far as to avoid Merlin alltogether since his return to Camelot yesterday. Not entirely on purpose, he had actually been pretty busy with planning the funeral, listening to Agravaine and Gwaine’s narrations of what had happened and grieving himself – all on top of his usual duties. After the speech was done the crowd slowly dispersed, the cold and terrible weather driving them back to their homes, but Arthur and many of the knights remained there by the fire for a long time until even the last of the flames had died down. Eventually he turned around to face Merlin. He couldn’t avoid him forever, the man was his employee and, Arthur had to admit, his friend. Surprisingly, his usually rather emotional manservant didn’t look like he had shed a single tear. Instead he just stared straight ahead to the ashes, stone-faced and silent. Arthur sighed and opened his mouth. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say. “I’m sorry” didn’t seem like enough. “Are you alright?” was probably the most stupid thing he could possibly ask right now. Maybe a pat on the shoulder and a sympathetic look would be more appropriate? Arthur had never done well getting his feelings across with words anyway. But before he could decide on a course of action, Merlin beat him to it. His gaze was still empty and his voice carried absolutely no emotion. “You’re going to need a new Court Physician”, was all he said and without even looking at Arthur he walked away.

[mayasaura]

Do we ever think about how Gideon rejects Pyrrha's attention as a mother because it's a little late to come into her life and instead accepted John as a father? (even though she had some reasons to hate him)? sure, john gave her everything she wanted, but why is pyrrha different? I wish Pyrrha had a chance :((

I think the main difference is that Pyrrha did have a chance to do better by Gideon, and she fumbled it.

John gets dad status because he stepped up as her father as soon as he knew she existed. She knows he had his own blood-related reasons for launching a military expedition to recover her body, but it still must have meant a hell of a lot to her that he did. Vindication for all her childish hopes that maybe she was just lost, and not abandoned. See, Harrow? Her dad really would have come for her, if he had known.

Pyrrha proves the exact opposite. She did know, and it changed nothing. The whole time Gideon was growing up on the Ninth, telling herself there was someone out there looking for her, Pyrrha knew exactly where she was. She thought she must be dead, but she never actually checked. She never even tried to claim her body. It was an extremely complicated situation for Pyrrha, but from Gideon's perspective, that looks a hell of a lot like abandonment.

So yeah. John gets dad privileges despite being a fucked up bastard, because he's the fucked up bastard who went looking for her. Pyrrha watched her fall to the surface of the Ninth and quite literally left her there to rot.

[kairos-polaris]

some BoE soldier: you gotta hand it to John Gaius, it's not his fault our ancestors signed a contract valid until the death of the guy called "King Undying"

another soldier: under no circumstances should you "hand it to" John Gaius, the tyrannical coloniser and self proclaimed god, who tricked people into signing a fraudulent contract

[mercyisms]

old, horny, and the dynamic of all time

[arttsuka]

(augustus playing the piano with his tongue while octavius sings along, off key)

jed: "the heck you two doin'?"

octavius: "just having some quality father and son bonding time"

He'd have a small electric piano because realistically why would a real, big piano be in a museum (although I haven't been in the British museum in years so it may have one? Anyway..)

[blanc-ci]

Guys I might be drawing my craziest au yet

[justaz]

god!merlin

druids can NOT speak in people’s minds. when they are before a high priestess, they can pray to her directly and she can hear them (hence the scene between morgana and mordred when he spoke in her mind).

merlin who constantly has this buzzing in the back of his head that he can never understand besides the occasional odd word which makes no sense. but when he’s closer to a druid or when their prayer is super strong, then he can make out what they’re saying.

merlin who brings up the fact that druids can speak into peoples minds to gaius who casually unfurls a scroll containing his ongoing list of reasons why merlin is/evidence of merlin being a god of the old religion.

[sforzesco]

lmao this is a re draw of a sketch I posted back in december

regarding the antony-cassius dynamic here

Cassius and Brutus: The Memory of the Liberators, Elizabeth Rawson

anyway, @ Cassius: Antony's not obsessed with you because of Caesar and tyranny, he's trying to (redacted) you

society6 | ko-fi | twitter (pillowfort, cohost) | deviantart

[mosthuggableffxiv]

Round 1A: Alphinaud Leveilleur (ARR) vs Gaius van Baelsar

"In realm reborn, Alphinaud is a smug know-it-all who thinks his understanding of Eorzean politics is somehow better than the people who have lived there their whole lives. He also totally steals Alisae's thunder in the Bahamut raid quest questline. He does improve as a person! But before he did I wanted to dropkick him."

"this guy went from monologuing turbofascist hellbent on conquering the world to Reformed Dad almost entirely offscreen and we didnt even get to punch him once? after everything he did?"

[yoursincalendricalheresy]

So we know that TM uses names a foreshadowing of characters eventual fates and I’ve seen some neat analyses of potential ways those could play out (Ulysses=Odysseus=coming back after a long journey). But after reading Nona and having the confirmation that Jod literally renamed all of his friends, I also have to wonder what those names say about how he thinks of them.

[fore-seer]

out of curiosity i read a few of the gay hack’s gaius supports and as i suspected they’re like… not really in “he would not fucking say that” territory but there is something slightly off about them

[mossmx]

I want to (re)assure y'all that I'm 100% serious and not-ironic in my appreciation for all the characters and ship I ship not any "doing it for laughs" "ahahah it's so absurd" "this is crack"

if I spend time on something it is because I love what I'm doing.

Irony and sarcasm are not my style, and besides, I don't see what's "funny" about these ideas most of the time. I just wanna love the things I love honestly <3

[kateis-cakeis]

every time i rewatch S5Ep13 Im like, wow, Arthur really gets over his best friend lying to him for years and years real quickly. Good for him <3

[wlw-webcomic-bracket]

That is. A lot of titles.

[kresnikcest]

All the fics where Ludger and Julius run away to some cabin in the middle of nowhere after the Bad Ending where Ludger keeps cooking for Julius and murdering anyone who comes looking for them is FUN I don’t even care if it’s unrealistic I fucking adore it. Inject that into my veins.

[elliewiltarwyn]

FFXIV Write 2023 | Prompt #14: Clear

TIL i use clear as an adjective and adverb way too much

-1164 words

----

“But do not think I reserve all of my scorn for Cid nan Garlond… adventurers.”

Nero tol Scaeva curls his gauntlet in front of his masked face. “Certainly, that Lord van Baelsar desires him at his side stings. Indeed, the thought that he would desire any such fool, one who has also made clear their lack of interest in ruling this blighted land, rankles.” And then his masked visage turned slightly to Elilgeim’s right. Towards Mia. “And you, traitor, are no exception.”

What? Elilgeim blinks rapidly, curling her fingers tighter around the haft of her cane. Traitor?

And then Nero moves, faster than any of them expects—it may be because of jets or boosters on his armor, but Elilgeim can’t see—and slams to a stop right in front of Mia, his gauntlet crackling with levin and glowing with energies, and he curls his fingers and delivers a fierce punch to the direct center of Mia’s brow; she cries out and staggers backwards onto her knees, clutching at the struck spot with her left hand. “Mia!” Lilyana shouts, and Elilgeim focuses her energies and slams a small blast of wind forward; Nero’s still too quick though, and he jets backwards, the blast flying by harmlessly. Lily capitalizes, lunging forward with knives bared, but he raises his hand and an electronic signal emanates from it, just before a massive jet-propelled iron hammer slams into the floor between them. Lily yelps and skids to a stop, and Elilgeim focuses again, drawing upon her curative spells this time—then stops herself, confused.

Mia’s not actually injured—from a solid punch to the face. How in the…

“When were you going to tell them?” Nero demands, grasping his hammer and hefting it over his shoulder. “When were you going to let your Eorzean allies know you hail from the very nation attempting to stomp them out… Maia jen Asina?”

Time itself seems to stop as Elilgeim—and Lilyana too, judging by the way her ears flatten against her head—processes what he means. Then she snaps her gaze over to Mia, who remains on her knees panting through clenched teeth and glaring at Nero with eyes blazing with fury. Underneath her hand, still resting over the spot where he struck her, is a strange shimmering wave that bends the light and warps the air. It takes her a second to narrow down that it’s the sort of phenomenon that appears over entities or clothes when a glamouring spell is cast upon them… or removed. But as far as she can tell, Mia looks the same…

“If you think… that means anything… about my allegiances… about what I fight for…” Mia exhales one more breath and curls the hand on her head into a fist. “Then you’re even more ignorant than I thought, Nero tol Scaeva.” And as she rises to her feet, she finally lets her hand drop, to two-hand her blade and level it in Nero’s direction. There’s a small black pyramidal object upon the spot, emanating the waves, but it finally fades away to reveal a small, pale, pearlescent orb, directly where Nero had struck—embedded directly in the middle of her forehead. Elilgeim’s heart stops. The Garlean third eye.

She’s pureblood Garlean.

And then she thinks about it for one split-second further and turns to slam a spell of Stone upon Nero’s head. He shouts in pain and swings his hammer wide, but Lily ducks underneath and strikes at his side, and it’s clear the battle has engaged. But even after everything Nero had already laid bare, he still isn’t finished somehow—

“What is it that draws his attention!?” he demands as Mia charges forth, slamming her shield against his hammer’s head before stabbing from behind her guard with her sword. “What is it about expatriates, heirs to the legacies of the most brilliant engineers in Garlemald’s history who deliberately spurn those legacies and turn their back on him—why does he give a whit about their loyalties, and not mine!?”

“Do I look like I care an onze?” Mia growls gutturally, just as she forces the hammer aside and lays into him with a hard slash. Elilgeim catches up to her right side at that moment, Lily on her left; and Elilgeim’s shocked by the look of consternation and contrition on her face. Her eyes flick to Elilgeim’s, then to Lily’s on the other side, and she freezes, paralyzed by uncertainty and doubt all of a sudden.

“Do we?” Elilgeim mutters with a bemused smirk.

Mia blinks at her, then back to Lily, who’s side-grinning fiercely at her. She takes in a deep breath, looks at Nero with clear resolve swelling within her, and charges forward once more to meet his attack.

The battle is short and furious—and so is Elilgeim when the power is cut, and he vanishes into the darkness, cackling. That they had been forced to slay Rhitahtyn and Livia, but let this one escape… She regulates her breath and clamps down on her rage as Cid breaks back in over the linkpearl, and she quickly updates him on their situation. In turn, he updates them on the other moving parts of Operation Archon. It’s all coming to a head—their final duty is set before them. As she lowers her hand from her ear, she glances back up at Mia; the other woman gulps, nerves settling in and wrinkling her brow around the little grey stone.

“I… I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to— I mean, I was hiding it, but… I was afraid that—”

Elilgeim claps a hand on her shoulder as she walks by. “Seriously: it does not matter even a little bit.”

“Huh?”

“We’re working with Cid Garlond, in case you haven’t noticed,” Lilyana says slyly, and as Elilgeim casts her gaze back she watches Lilyana gently nudge Mia’s other shoulder with her fist, that cheerful grin ever-present. “You’re literally not the first defector from Garlemald. You’ve also led the charge on fighting the primals and investigating for the Scions and a thousand other little things.”

“But—those things Nero said—”

“Does not matter,” Elilgeim repeats, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in bemusement; she crosses her arms and taps her foot, and jerks her head over her shoulder towards the giant funicular elevator behind them. “Do you seriously think we’re the sort of people to judge based on homeland? Nero’s amorality, Gaius’s madness—they’re not remotely because they were born in the same country as you. You’re annoying and you’re preachy and stupidly purehearted—”

“Elilgeim!” Lilyana snaps, her eyebrow arching sharply in indignation.

“—but it’s been clear from the beginning: you hold no love for the Empire and its ways and ideals.”

Mia blinks, meeting Elilgeim’s gaze. “Now are we getting on this lift or not?” Elilgeim says impatiently, a little quirk at the corner of her lips.

Lilyana rolls her eyes, squeezes Mia’s shoulder, and sprints past Elilgeim towards the console in the corner, and a small smirk of disbelief slowly grows on Mia’s face.