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| Yes, Arthur hugged him willingly. Too bad Merlin was enchanted to kill him. That and Arthur seemed to ignore how on earth Merlin got out of the situation of bogs and burglars at all. Arthur just seemed too happy. |
I know I have been giving fanfic recs for a while now but I don't feel like I want to give a review (mini or final). Not in a mood but giving those who want to read some good literature. Fanfiction is still literature. Yes, it may not be the best thing with all the smuts and slash all over the place but there are well-written pieces that must be shared that can be even better than the source material at times.
I really need to hold in my rants. I don't want to go into a huge rant like I did with my long complaints about Glee in my Dalton and SPAH recommendation post. I would just try to do this in concise words so you get the picture. Glee just agitates me with its potential and the writers' terrible writing.
Okay, Merlin isn't the greatest show ever lived. It does have its issues (issues you cannot deny although the chemistry of Brolin and great acting tends to shoot the plot holes. Remember that I will look at writing perspective first than other perspectives like feminism and cultural but I have to make sure of research first just to be clear. I honestly do not want to get cultural context wrong when reviewing something. For one, I personally dislike how they handled the Lancelot issue, with him dying when he could have lived and provide a better resolution to the love triangle. How I wanted to strangle the writers for that despicable episode in S4 although Arthur's wrath is IC even though the Arwen romance left much to be desired and it supposed to be the truest love ever when no it's Arthur and Merlin from the start. Hell, the two wouldn't even be interested in each other (I don't think that's right. It would be correctly be called teenage infatuation.) if it hadn't been for Merlin in this verse when we know that in the original legends the two of them were in an arranged marriage. Time after time again, we can see that Merlin is number one in Arthur's heart, not Gwen and if S4x07 have shown anything, it's that Merlin has the power to break Arthur's heart, not Gwen. Whether you see it as romance or bromance, you cannot deny that this is love, the truest form of love that the writers tried to do for Arwen. Merlin and Arthur is the heart and soul of the show and those who don't ship admits it so. Yes, I understand the schedules but even I know what to do with an actor's conflicted schedules (make Lancelot going on quests or missions, not kill him off. Just do something that do not remove agency of characters. This time, Lancelot can come back and show more interactions with Gwen who loves him not Arthur. We know how the legend goes. Are you telling me that one incident persists when we were supposed to believe that Gwen and Arthur has the happy marriage ever and the latter should be the one everyone would know not the former. How did Lancelot and Gwen become one of the enduring romances and not Gwen and Arthur in this verse? Tell me. God, you must make sense and even if this is a fairy tale or a pre-Saxon England, you must have logic why the original legends we know are more recognizable than say a Golden Era under Queen Guinevere. It's like saying that Princess Nunnally's reign of Area 11 and thus Britannia never happened. Legend hundreds of years later will only lower her to a Ophelia-like character while Schneizel would be fully recognized as the one who brought in the Golden Age instead of his young sister. I would be agitated too if something as welcome such as the Golden Era isn't jot down by the right person. Writers you kept using the 'family show' excuse. Really? When your show have murder, betrayal, and loss constantly in every episode, infidelity is the the type you want to drive away from even if it means disrespecting the legends, actors, and the viewers. Kids are more perceptive and understanding than the Disney show you trying to prove the Arthurian legends to be. Speaking of murder, why haven't we seen anybody mourn for anyone? Merlin, with the horrendous kill count out of everyone, is still the sweet and naive boy who would mourn anyone he would have to kill. He is the type of mourn anyone. Just because in the Dark Ages it's okay to kill in self-defense make it feel awful for the character who is too caring but have to go to desperate measures just to achieve goals such as poisoning a friend when he doesn't want to.). How the show handled the famous love triangle was not the greatest (in fact I wanted to be Shizuo Heiwajima and throw a person into the air with a street sign and won't kill them too) yet it does have a lot of potential seeing that all the people involved in the love triangle do love each other immensely and doesn't want to hurt each other and the best execution of the love triangle I ever seen is T.H White's The Once and Future King book series in which this fic I recc'd right now takes a lot of inspiration from). For one, watching the show make me cringe because I read Arthurian legends (from which I can get my hands on) and knowing what's going to happen from Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love triangle to Mordred is just despairing especially for one who would love everyone get some good. Definitely the show's differences make it what it is such as the deaths of the many characters to Merlin being the same age as Arthur. The homoerotic subtext oh goodness... So much chemistry and potential... I know that you're adapting the Arthurian legends and making it your own identity much like how T.H. White's books did but you could have actually gone for the romance between our two male leads. Two straight males does not have eyesex constantly, eyeing each other intensely and looking at each other like you're the goddamn world. You only look at the one you pursue a relationship with. Even I know that and I'm not even dating anyone, too focused in getting my English degree. My brothers have his friends come over and they do not look at each other like that. I'm pretty sure I don't stare at my best friends that way and I'm bi. I don't know about my friends' sexuality since most of them never pursued relationships focusing on their careers. Everyone saw it - you the writers, BBC, the actors and actresses involved, you all saw it. Seriously, the subtext became text and everyone saw it and there was so much potential. Not to mention, it's fictional. If fans can write Merthur without fear, why not you, writers and BBC? You do know that you would just add to the legends, don't you? In the legends, Merlin and Arthur already love each other so depicting a romantic relationship between them would not only do well for your show but also for the LGBT community. Sure there will be detractors but you do know that Arthur needs love, right? In the original legends, he was one big f***-up and in many versions committed sins on par with what the show depicted, sometimes even worse than that. Why not just give this guy who may have been a Good King but clearly a flawed human being love especially from a character you deaged to match the same age as Arthur? And already destroyed the UST meter? I can feel their UST from gifs alone. I don't mind open-ended-ness but the 180 is just off-putting for you writers and BBC. I don't mind actors though since you're not the one in charge of the writing. Look at Tiger and Bunny where the title duo, according to the producers, was planned from the start to be either interpreted to be a romance or a bromance and are both correct. Why don't you try something like the crew in charge of T&B? Yes, you guys are queerbaiting (those who are concerned, do not attack ships. Do not hurt the people who just want to have fun and their interpretations. Go to those who are responsible. Let's see; There were literally no homosexuality implied in the Frozen sauna sequence and treated as more of a joke and that character seems more like the type to work his family in the cold and that family could have been some tourists. Fans put in homosexuality even though there isn't anything implication unlike any other show I seen and it's hard to interpret the romantic tension between Merthur or Suzalulu and those are my interpretations. This is fans' queerbaiting not the writers' queerbaiting which can be unfortunately be there in Merthur or any queer Merlin ships but other than that, slash is in every fandom so I really won't attack those who ship it especially for shipping reasons. I'm pretty sure Disney won't come right out and say that guy is gay. Anti-Freeze pointed out to the fans rather the writers and that's what make the difference. Don't you see that I hate ship wars with a passion with those who hate and those who love? With all those unnecessary ship hate when the point of shipping is supposed to be fun? I'm trying to be objective of shipping but it's hard when toxicity of ship hate and all the bashing of characters just for shipping reasons make me sick just like the feeling of hate I feel) but you sure as hell didn't expect the chemistry that pulled off between your leads that leads to the UST (those long poignant looks, oh god. I'm sure those weren't scripted and it's just the actors' chemistry coming full force just like Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch's and seeing the looks Bradley James and Colin Morgan is totally not scripted. Any other actor would not have the same level of chemistry as scorching one between the two latter and it would be a pretty different sort of chemistry between different from the latter two.).
Speaking of Arthurian legends, I would mostly refer to the familiar versions we hear from Le Morte d'Arthur and other versions that came out around that time and a little after. King Arthur didn't exactly exist even though likely he's a 5-6th century chieftain or general who had been given a historical hero upgrade. Wow to that war hero, good job being remembered even if it's basically fanfiction of your life. And then fanfiction of that fanfiction. Look, I don't mind changes as long as they kept major events such as Arthur's Excalibur, The Round Table, Merlin's advisory, somewhat implied incestuous feelings at most between Arthur and Morgana (you could have them having sex too and producing Mordred even but seeing how society looks upon incest and since the Arthurian legend was meant to be Christian-based, yep, much like a PSA), and the famous Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love triangle. The Little Mermaid kept major events enough to be recognizable but Frozen has nothing of their supposed inspired Snow Queen bit except really queen with ice powers. No matter what version even before Lancelot was even created, Guinevere did and always will cheat whether it was with Mordred or Bedivere. You cannot change Guinevere's infidelity, ever. It's there, even in the medieval legends and just because the show is like every other revival/reboots of Arthurian legends, fanfiction...publicized and approved fanfiction since the Arthurian legends are public domain. Just because one creator have the rights to create a show based on the legends does not make fanfiction of Arthurian myths written in the internet any less approved. The show doesn't even want to tackle the love triangle maturely but rather neutralize it so it won't get in the way of Arwen TRULUV4EVA in a single episode rather than an overarching storyline like Merlin X Arthur's relationship. I honestly want to like Arwen, I really do (I try to avoid shipping and try to objectively see if they're plausible or not based on chemistry and circumstances and since I am very kind and respectful due to my upbringing and school that knocked these virtues into me, I am open-minded enough to listen to shippers' reasons why they ship this couple and those I seen are sensible unlike the rabid fans of both het and slash. Het fans do seem to have a sense of entitlement to them and just because people ship slash does not negate their opinion, don't be a child, rabid het fans. I seen Arwen fans trying to negate Merthur even though shipping as a whole supposed to be fun and that's from one fandom. Hell, in the Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan's fandom I avoided shipping anyone...to a degree since I do love Eren X Levi, Jean X Marco, Armin X Annie and I didn't ship Furuya with anyone in Daiya no Ace's fandom since I'm waiting for Furuya to grow up first before I would think of coupling him with anyone. Even in How I Met Your Mother, I have a distaste for Robin X Ted ship due to expectations and inability to be oneself and pure unhealthiness while I like Barney X Robin because whether or not you like Barney, you know that Barney according to the overarching narrative changed and he changed for Robin just as Arthur changed for Merlin) but when the show is forcing it down my throat and suffocate me with forced awkwardly written romance that makes no sense with equally nonexistent chemistry with constant telling of their supposed true love coupled with the actors' best efforts to make the most of the script, I really wanted to throw something at the writers, yelling at the top of my lungs to make it more believable that other characters and their relationships (even Arthur and Gwen are warped so much. Is it bad that in other shows and works that the characters aren't warped to make them into a relationship like even Ted and Robin doesn't have warped personalities...unless you consider the finale that is. I want the characters I recognize and love, not the characters who needed to tell the audience that they're willing to do everything for each other. Why do we need to be told that Arthur would be saving Gwen? Look at how Merlin and Gaius' relationship was depicted. We're shown a lot especially the season 1 finale. It's bad writing that we needed to be told this because anyone watching an episode where both Gwen and Merlin are both in distress would see that Arthur is doing something for Merlin, saving him not Gwen because we were shown constantly that no matter how much belligerent the relationship Arthur loves Merlin so much he does not want him to die on his account, saving him in a few weeks after his appointment as his personal manservant. Why do we need to be told that? Bad writing, so bad writing. How about Gwen's supposed destiny? When did Merlin and the Great Dragon talked about that? There is no way since The Great Dragon is all about Arthur and Merlin's destiny, coin metaphors and all whole nines. I seen nothing about Gwen's destiny to note as so did many others when I was reading canon fics I noted that there is literal no mention of Gwen's destiny at all, even in stories that dealt with Camelot as a whole there is literally nothing. If many people can see that Gwen's destiny is in no way intersected with the main duo you know this is bad. Bad writing to force two people together when everyone knows Gwen would choose Lancelot. Don't give me the crap that Lancelot was an infatuation and he's no longer in her heart. If you do, you would face my wrath because the love triangle was an incredible part of the Arthurian lore, a tale of human courage and piety as much as it's about human fragility. When you do a vanity search of Guinevere and..., what name popped out instead of Arthur? Lancelot. That part was relegated for the Merthur but not the TRULUV4EVA Arwen. When the show neutralized the love triangle, the love triangle that everyone was waiting for to tackled with maturity, we got childish cowardice instead. The potential you got from your own bad writing was mountainous and would help you but instead you got us angry. This is the development editor in me screaming. I may love Merthur and try my hardest to like Arwen but I am ultimately kind and just want to tackle the legends maturely. You may be loose such as de-aging Merlin and Uther being alive till Arthur's adulthood and the main knights you pick to be common-born but there is things you want me to scream while throwing mailboxes and street signs into the air. Arwen is nothing more than Shine's invention and in no way showing how powerful the Arthurian lore still is today.) greatly suffered in the cause for Arwen even though everyone know that the relationship of the show is Merlin and Arthur.
The timeline in Merlin is very vague and I'm unsure what are their ages at the beginning (hell there was a fanfic series on AO3, setting during S2, and the boys are described as teenagers, making Arthur 19 and Merlin is younger so it's really vague). Conflicting canonical details and from what fans said like one fan said he died in his twenties and another in his thirties. First season said 20 years since the magic ban and then how Camelot came to be so I'm going off on a whim here and have Merlin come to Camelot when he's eighteen, shy younger than Arthur whose eighteen or nineteen, which is still close enough for the two-decade marker the series set up. In Rumors-verse, the pair finally got together after 5 years of obliviousness and really unconscious intense stares that best friends do not exchange on a daily basis (unless you know they're in love with each other) so they would be nearing their mid-twenties or a little close to the early twenties but a little later than that if you take my thoughts on the ages based on what the first episode set up. This is all opinion though so you can make them get together in their late twenties and married six years later. Regardless, Merthur in this fic would get together in five years since the first episode and married six years later and if Arthur's prophetic dreams aren't indicating something, they have been together for decades.
I ended up not keeping the promise anyway. *Sighs* Well, expect wall of text AKA rants in anything I would likely post.
For this fanfiction series Rumors, I would mostly focus on the second installment since the later installments, while pushing some relationships forward and some development, isn't as in-depth. You could find it in the author's compiled list on her FFN profile or in the collection on AO3.
All The King's Horses And All The King's Men/Truths and Rumors - King Arthur and Queen Guinevere are loved by the people, The Knights of The Round Table are becoming legends, and the king's manservant is stumbling his way through Camelot as always. The King is on his throne and all is well. Until the rumors start ... (A/M)
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| Red means romantic. Yellow means platonic. Pink means either unconditional or obliviousness depending on the person. |
Characters are very spot-on. As depicted in the show, Gwen and Lancelot are not the type for infidelity unlike their Arthurian legends versions (although if King Arthur was real and is real in Merlin universe, we can see how these events shaped the familiar stories we heard about King Arthur today...in Rumors-verse. Since scribes aren't close to those involved, it makes sense they would make use of gossip and rumors circulating to form the stories. If they don't know, why not use the sources, no matter how awful the sources are? Certainly there are some truth). Only outside forces would finally give the couple what they want: each other despite the horrible events that led up to their get-together. I do believe that Gwen and Arthur do love each other, not once upon a time, but I don't think that a lasting relationship would do either of them well that no matter how much they do love each other, they're in love perhaps more than they ever have with another. Merlin, being oblivious to Arthur's growing feelings for him, is totally him. Merlin's too focused on the Destiny bit for any kind of romance to come into mind. If his own feelings grow for a particular someone, he wouldn't likely to notice until someone points it out, specifically Gwaine who is still observant in spite of appearances. Arthur is just like the one in the show. Also Arthur did changed from Merlin's influence and he did not change for Morgana or even for Gwen who did brought out something good in him but in comparison from what she did to what Merlin did...yeah, admittedly there are so many intimate moments between Merlin and Arthur that the Arwen moments paled in comparison. The only person he would change for is for Merlin and in this universe, it is indeed Merlin he changed for, the person he's in love with more than Gwen, his feelings he desperately tried to ignore. I'm sure Gwen know, not about Arthur's love for Merlin, but about the attraction that she knows that she could lose Arthur to Merlin any time, knowing just how deep the relationship and how it's very unusual very much like her relationship with Lancelot; Likewise with Arthur, who always knew that Gwen loves Lancelot. I couldn't help but see that our royal couple had taken the safer route. Arthur would either take the Gwen route or the Merlin route while Gwen herself has the Lancelot route or the Arthur route. Even though Arthur and Gwen knows that they love the far more dangerous route endgame more than they love each other and they do love each other. Lancelot stirred passion in Gwen far more than I saw with Arthur, again I don't doubt she loves him as well. That's how I always see Gwen and Lancelot; there's a passion and love stronger than I had seen in canonical Arwen, which while it has sweet moments compared in stark contrast with Merthur and Lancwen paled in comparison with the latter two's intimacy.
Also spoilers in the aftermath of the story's magic reveal: I do believe that Arthur is both justified and unjustified on the mercy/punishment for Merlin's sentence. He does love Merlin so very much and he's not willing to kill someone he love more than his wife. Also the magic outlawed is still a problem so Arthur can't let him go unpunished. Arthur not only have the kingdom and its people in mind but also what he know what he have to do even when he hates having to punish Merlin, the one person he loves most in the world. No-win for all involved. The story is very much on the gray area when there is no black/white in reality especially in the reality of Merlin's universe.
It's not only faithful to the show's adaptation of the legends but also the legends itself...well the versions we are mostly familiar with like Lanceverethur love triangle. I mean it's very unlikely we're going to see an Arthur/Merlin romance (you know the reason why) in any other work except Merlin. Morgana being good and all kinds of wonderful at the start was admittedly startlingly since I know about Morgana Le Fay and the show could have provide a chance of redemption. I do not honestly believe a woman who grew up with caring family, friends and staff and threw it all away because her half-sister is driven too much by hate. I already know what's going to happen but this is Merlin, a revisionist King Arthur.
Speaking of revisionist King Arthur (hey, I will see and read any version of King Arthur I can get my hands on and yes I know Code Geass is a huge allusion on King Arthur legends and again not even subtle. Come on, Suzaku pilots Lancelot. I will be in heaven if I ever went to a library that has every book ever written from poetry to nonfiction to legends/fables, etc...Yes, I am still crying about the Library of Alexandria.), the fic takes a lot from T. H. White's The Once and Future King series and the Disney adaptation. Remember what I said that the love square have people love and care for one another. I would have to give some spoilers. Please skip the slashed lines, please.
As for the plot, again slow build with all the tension from the romance and politics, politics that make sense in-universe. It's not stifling but it's slow burn. I wonder how the royal household's reaction from the relationship taking a turn to the romance for Merthur. I mean rumors and gossip must be going around at some point of the really inappropriate relationship of Merlin and Arthur. It's understandable about Gwen and Arthur but in comparison to Merlin's relationship, it's sugar and sunshine.
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| Yeah, well, in this verse, you would be promoted from manservant to friend/adviser to lover to consort (hell after Gwen escaped with Lancelot, the chapter has The Consort, lyrics by Rufus Wainwright and in some ways Merlin already fulfilled some of the role of a consort even though he have yet to come to terms about the true extent of his feelings for Arthur) Although I'm not quite sure about the consort part since Arthur did propose to Merlin (via handfasting) who did accept and did say what they're doing is kinda illegal and Arthur made a remark that he's the King and he can do what he wants. I'm not sure if Arthur did implement a law that allowed same-sex marriage in the Dark Ages or it's just something between the couple. We know Lancelot and Gwen married in a private ceremony at Elena's kingdom so it would make sense for the other Official Couple to marry privately. |
I don't mind canon divergence at all since I do love Canon AU (Dalton, SPAH, Walk on In, The Trajectory of Laughter to name a few) but again some fanfiction are just so great that it deserve to be literature.
Just read it, please. I haven't seen it recc'd enough so it deserve a spot on recommendations.
Also if you want to talk to me about seeing friendship instead of romance, that's fine. I have already seen people not shipping Kotetsu and Barnaby, Kurt and Blaine, Suzaku and Lelouch, etc. Shipping is subjective and supposed to be fun, not supposed to break friends apart, just don't make me yell at any of you. Do not take offense to something like shipping that is supposed to minuscule to something like trust. Love is love, regardless of friendship or romance, both of which are still love. You know they love each other still so interpretation of friendship or romance still counts. Believe me, I saw a comment that says that same-sex relationships aren't romantic when I was reading a review for an episode of Merlin. I was stifling screams at that post since I am bi and there are LGBT's out there, fighting for their rights, for their relationships. I don't have anyone to talk to about my sexuality and I couldn't join the gay alliance at my high school since I was hardly thinking of my sexuality at the time although its existence piqued the question of my attraction to both sexes, well that and that I was really insecure of myself like how would my friends think of me if I join it when I am questioning my sexuality or my family would ask questions about my school life due to their constant needling to know what's going on as long as I do well with school. Just because I join the Queer Alliance at my college does not mean I am ready to come out to the rest of the world meaning my world of friends and family. Just because you don't ship one pair does not mean you can offend an entire communities of gay, bi, queer, trans, lesbian, and more labels out there under the LGBT circle.
Yes, like what I did to my previous post, I will add on stories so that I don't have to make a needless single post dedicated to one fanfic from a fandom. I won't really add edit so if you know where the changes was, then there it is. It's a side-effect due to the essay-writing I do since high school. Anyways, moving on.
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| It's a good set of pics for one of the stories I'm recommending. |
Summary for LM: Captain Arthur Pendragon has put together the best team of specialists that the SAS has ever seen, but when his superiors assign Lieutenant Merlin Emrys as his communications officer, Arthur does everything to make him feel unwelcome. Arthur's job is to protect and guide his team through dangerous missions, and he worries that he can't do that when the newest member has a mysterious background and acts suspicious when he thinks one is looking.
As their assignment become more dangerous, Merlin can't help but use his magic to keep his team-- even his prat of a Captain -- safe from threats they couldn't possibly understand. But when they are sent on a undercover mission against a group of zealots intent on a magical apocalypse, Merlin needs to confront his fear of discovery and derision, and to finally trust his team with his secret.
Arthur and Merlin rely on each other for much more than the sake of their mission. The entire world is at stake. When they learn -- from dragons, no less-- that they are prophesied to restore the balance of magic to the world, they fight regardless of the outcome, because duty, honor and loyalty is a far stronger driving force than destiny.
Summary for WAAD: As the precocious heir of a diamond magnate and a famous designer, Arthur lives his entire life sheltered, protected, nurtured, and spoiled. He always knew that he would have to step out from behind the scenes and into the limelight to run the family business some day, but he never expected that it would happen so soon or that he would enter resistance from a board of directors who believe his disability makes him unfit to lead.
Merlin has stood on every stage in every city in the world, performing to critical acclaim, but after years of globetrotting, he's well and truly burnt out. He didn't quit -- he ran away from stardom, dropping to obscurity in the blink of an eye, forgotten, just another face in the crowd. He's aimless and without purpose until a friend asks him to fill in on a job.
Neither Arthur nor Merlin are looking for salvation. They don't think there's any for them, that things are just too rotten, too far gone. But in the end, Arthur's quite strength will be a balm to Merlin's broken soul, and it will be in Merlin's steadfast faith that Arthur finds courage.
I haven't read all of Footloose's fics yet but I am assured of her skill of storytelling and characterization. Just how each conflict is highlighted, the characters aren't name-dropped and definitely not in passing, the attention to detail and the research, each character made in impact and especially the romantic tension of Merlin and Arthur.
It's much more easier to explain how a machine doesn't work as opposed to one that does. Regardless, while I do love LM, I felt a connection with WAAD that just hit me. I don't know but it just does hit my heart. I have felt this feeling before such as my first viewing of FMA 2003. If you read my Favorite Anime Not-List, then you would know the 2003 version of FMA is number one on the list. WAAD just hit my soul and I just can't describe it.
I certainly does help I love opera too so it's a bonus. Nonetheless, both of these fics are deserving of one of the Merlin's subfandom Merthur's classics.
Character - Arcana
Merlin - Wheel of Fortune/Death
Arthur - Emperor
Gwen - Empress
Morgana - Moon
Gwaine - Hanged Man/Sun
Lancelot - Star
Mordred - Wheel of Fortune
Uther - Tower
Gaius - Hermit
Hunith - Priestess/Hierophant
Hunith - Priestess/Hierophant
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