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officialinuyasha · 2 years

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Arthur Romantically Loves Merlin

In light of recent developments between Jericho and Lancelot regardless of your feelings on it, I am now certain that this is a very strong possibility. Arthur and Merlin tread a very similar narrative line just like Lancelot and Jericho, you can even say they started the ambiguously romantic teacher-student trope.

Both Merlin and Jericho are rejected by Meliodas and Ban respectfully.

Both Arthur and Lancelot are children of prophecies who meet their mentors at a very young age and form a strong familial bond.

Merlin rescues Arthur multiple times throughout 7Ds until his powers awakened and we learn that Jericho protected a helpless Lancelot during their Chaos Lake escapade.

Where they differ is that I believe there is a role reversal wherein Arthur is the one who Is pining for his teacher. Years ago, a question was asked to Nakaba during a Q&A on whether Arthur and Merlin love each other and he replies with a cheeky “They love each other as Master and Pupil”. Which we now know with The new chapter of 4kota that highlights the teacher-student relationship and that Jericho harbors romantic feelings for Lancelot. Nakaba is willing to go the romantic teacher-student angle and what was the premier teacher-student pair in 7DS that predated Lancelot and Jericho? Arthur and Merlin.

This next part delves into theory but I think that Arthur has crafted himself a fake Merlin to keep him company similar to how Jericho is living in a world with a fake Lancelot. I think Arthur’s bride being Guinevere is a red herring which has been a common practice in 4kota with bad demon village that turned out to be good lead by Gowther, holy knight Ardberg, Male Gawain, Traitor Chiran, and Platonic Jericho. What if the “bride” Arthur is looking for is the real Merlin who left him?

Of all people, I think Merlin would be the most depressed individual right now. She was a young girl who got her heartbroken by Meliodas but she couldn’t find it in herself to hate Elizabeth so with nowhere to vent her turmoil, she turned to Chaos as a coping mechanism. Only to discover too late in her life that Arthur, the embodiment of her hopes and dreams strayed from his path and ended up engaging in a crusade to persecute all other races.

In the final chapters of 7DS we see Arthur proclaim his motives, “When I was a child I dreamed of being able to protect everyone” Notice how he says “everyone” but he realized it was impossible to save everyone, a thought that drove himself into depression until “That’s when I met Merlin who told me to become a king that makes the impossible->possible”. She became his hope to carry on through life in much the same way that Chaos, the concept he now embodies was hers all those years ago. They were each others light at the end of the dark tunnel which further drives home how much he looked up to the 7Sins(a group comprised of various races).

But somewhere along his life he lost his big heart and became extremely flippant with life, 4kota Arthur doesn’t bat an eye at the death of his knights whereas 7DS Arthur would be emotionally shaken and prone to bouts of depression over his failure to protect a life. Arthur promised Merlin a world she had never seen before only to make a world all too commonplace, that of one race discriminating and flaunting their superiority over others. He lied to her.

So I believe there was a falling out between the two and Merlin abandoned him which lead Arthur, in his sadness to make a “fake” Merlin that would always be by his side. 4kota Merlin is odd, she rarely says anything unless spoken to and is unusually submissive saying “follow your own wishes” almost like a living doll designed to cater to their master. 7DS Merlin takes a more active role as his advisor, she directs him in how he should lead as a king(shes literally his entire reason for becoming a king, he wanted to be a knight as he said to Bartra) and critiques the poor infrastructure of the tower to which he remarks that she’s being harsh on him. Bottom line, Merlin isn’t afraid to put Arthur in his place, and I think its this dynamic that would cause her to regrettably leave which adds to the layer of tragic irony that she couldn’t hold true to Meliodas’s words, “Take responsibility for resurrecting chaos. From now on spend your life protecting and guiding Arthur.” Only to have that vow fall to shambles.

Merlin, the most machiavellian character in the series has a poignant and ironic theme and that is, “Life doesn’t go your way, No matter how badly you want it to”.

She is born with untold magical prowess and worked hard to gain her fathers love only to realize he never saw her beyond a test subject.

She stops her aging and modifies her appearance to win Meliodas’s heart only to realize he had long given his heart to Eli.

By the time Escanor comes along she had long given up her heart to Chaos and so the one man she claims truly loves her could never have his love be reciprocated because once again, too little too late.

She puts all her chips and marbles into researching and resurrecting Chaos, plunging Britannia into war and putting her own life at stake against DK and his forces to bring Chaos back which she is convinced could create a better world via its limitless abilities.

Compounded by the fact that Arthur, avatar of Chaos promises to be a great king and craft the world of her dreams. So she raises him up to kinghood(at a time when he was casted aside as Arthur recounts), gave him purpose, always willing to sacrifice herself for him, brings him back from the dead, gives him the power of creation to which Arthur was extremely happy because she must trust him a lot to do that. Arthur is always self-conscious about how he appears to Merlin, he wants to look good in front of her that is why Meliodas told him “It’s not how others think of you but what you think of them that counts”. He was distressed over failing to save her from being turned to stone, to which Mel broke it down for him that it didn’t matter if Merlin thinks he’s a loser(she didn’t) so long as he cares about her (followed after with Mel and Ban reuniting with their lovers). Which is why Merlin giving him Chaos was one of his happiest and character defining moments, Arthur got to see that she did see him as a competent person and it fulfilled a quota in his life, that is to validate himself in front of her eyes.

But of course because this is Merlin, something tragic always happens when Arthur does a 180 and becomes a supremacist. Turning all she gave him into a weapon that threatened her friends and yes, she does genuinely care for the Sins.

Can she come off as uncaring because of her stand-off ness and scientific pursuits? Yes, such as when she insinuates Escanor was an intriguing test subject. But she does an incredibly sentimental thing by giving him a kiss at the cost of scarring her as a memorial to him(everyone else just gave him a toast and in time he’ll fade but Merlin will always strongly remember because Escanor is carved into her very skin) whilst people jeered at her for “wasting a pretty face”. Can she be pragmatic and almost ruthlessly so? Yes, she will but it is for her “greater good” or “better world” such as reigniting Eli’s curse but her actions are always one part cold pragmatism and one part sentimental. To rid the DK invites Chaos her penultimate goal but it also means to permanently extinguish the eternal cyclical curse placed on Mel and El. And as The lady of the Lake said, “They used her just as much as she used them.” Merlin regularly indulges her friends request from Hawke going to purgatory to Diane wanting to be smaller and she was willing to die with the sins throughout each battle. At worst she is multi faceted. So is Merlin heartless? Far far from it. She can rub her chin, give a foxy up to no good smile and cackle like a maniac but as Arthur puts it “That’s the usual Merlin I know so well” when she inspects his excalibur. It’s the surface level persona she displays to others but anytime the chips are down and something drastic happens like Meliodas turning evil, Arthur in danger, Escanor on his deathbed, you’ll see her cracks and tears. She represents gluttony, the starvation but for what exactly? If you look at the unfortunate outcomes with her father, Mel, Escanor, Chaos and Arthur what she really starves for is love which is no coincidence that Chaos is posited as the very thing that will “fill her gaping heart”.

Now that her entire life’s work has essentially come crumbling down and Arthur, her newfound hope having now turned into a sort of calamitous evil king entity that threatens Britannia and the livelihood of those she cares for and worst of all , realizing that she is the cause for all of it—Merlin should be well near suicidal at this point. I actually raised my brow when I found out Merlin was still by Arthur’s side during 4kota because it honestly doesn’t line up with her character to just sit back and let Arthur go about doing all this (and we’re talking about Merlin, she’s well known to be a meddler). We also hear in chapter 1 of 4kota when Percival’s grandfather mentions wondrous phenomenas and landmarks that occur in the outside world and one of them was a “twisting tower with eccentric magicians”.

Of course this segment is purely theoretical, could be Merlin is a double agent, could be she actually is willingly complicit, could be she is brainwashed like Jericho but the idea of a guilt ridden Merlin isolating herself in a tower as penance for her actions while trying to rectify her mistakes while her old charge Arthur seeks her out to wed his former master. It’s hot stuff.

It would also be an interesting scenario because in Arthur’s profile where it lists their fave foods and dreams, each character has someone that they least want to fight. Do you wanna know Arthur’s? The last person he wants to have as his enemy is Merlin. And low and behold, 4Kota is setting up for a confrontation between the Sins and Camelot but it would add flair of drama if the “real” Merlin, the women who always stood by him and who he loves is on his opponents side which would make all the more sense as to why he would want to find and wed her, so as to force her onto his team.

Now concerning the ship itself, honestly at this point the community should be well aware of Nakaba’s kink by now. He likes age gaps, King met and fell in love with Diane when she was a kid. Current Eli was a baby at a time when Mel looked at her and still had romantic feelings for an infant. Ban and Elaine is a hot mess between a young adult and and old loli. Escanor is literally centuries younger then Merlin. Not a dozen chapters ago, Guinevere a little girl went up and kissed Lancelot without his consent.

All I’m saying is if your gonna hate on Jericho and Lancelot then you should hate on all of the ships above, don’t just cherry pick the finer details and say its not that bad cuz it kinda just makes you hypocrites. Personally look on the positive side, in Arthurian legends, Galahad(the son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic cuz theirs like a dozen women who all share the name Elaine in the legend) would look really good with Jericho’s platinum silver grey hair color, really fits with the chosen holy knight of the Grail look he would have going on.

That aside, I would expect Nakaba to go down the romantic route for Arthur and Merlin so expect that possibility coming the near future so that the subreddit isn’t gonna blow up into a dumpster fire. Update 1/11/2023: Chapter 90 -

1/24/2023 - Chapter 91 -

#seven deadly sins #7ds #four knights of the apocalypse #merlin and arthur #merlin x arthur #arthur pendragon

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forthegothicheroine · 2 years

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Hi!! So I don't really know if this counts as a headcanon request per se, but... I was wondering what the Princess of Swords LIs initial reactions to Rowena being kidnapped were? Because by the time we see them they're all basically in rescue mode, so I was curious as to what they were like when they first realized. (Also, I'm super glad you're continuing PoS and I can't wait for the next part!)

This is a great question, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to answer! It is a lot of fun thinking about this stuff! It's also a good chance to think about what feelings they were already starting to have for Rowena at the time. I think we can assume that after she vanished while riding, if Arthur and his knights couldn't tell from any trails left behind where she'd gone, then Merlin made sure to give helpful clues to speed the plot along (a wizard did it!)

Lancelot liked Rowena, though he was also dealing with a crush on Guinevere that had not yet fully blossomed (at least, not in his path!) He accepted her favor on an impulse, but still took his role as her champion deadly seriously. In "The Knight of the Cart", his original story, much is made of Lancelot just fucking bolting on foot and horse and cart when he learned Guinevere had been kidnapped, and I think that probably happened here, especially if he was propelled by an explosion of anger because how dare this happen to her.

Gawain rocket-propels himself into action much like Lancelot, but he'd be a lot more optimistic about being able to save her. While I generally prefer the "flower of chivalry" Gawain from poems like The Green Knight, I do like him to have at least a touch of Mort D'Arthur's "dangerously unstable hothead". Of course that medieval dickweed Maleagant kidnapped a princess, someone was going to have to do something about him sooner or later, but now time is imperative that the princess-kidnapper get his shit wrecked!

Kay liked Rowena a bit against his own will, and I imagine dealt with three reactions- "I'm going to go take care of this right now!", "Let some younger man do it, I've never been anyone's epic hero" and "What if a younger guy fucks around showing off or looking for glorious fights and gets her killed?" (Pointed look towards Lancelot and Gawain.) This would lead to the knightly version of those latter-day westerns where the aging gunslinger gets out his coat and weapon because someone has to do something, even if it has to be him.

Morgan spent her whole life clawing her way towards a place where nobody could ever hurt her, so while there would be some of Lancelot's rage, there would also be a deep and profound fear that this sweet girl could be placed in danger with none of her own defenses to help her. She'd helped Arthur before but rarely went on her own "quests", but this one was extremely personal. Someone should have been there for her mother, too.

Mordred, of course, didn't know Rowena had been kidnapped until he saw her in the tower! He was already falling for her, but in that moment, when he saw that she was in danger because this lowlife he was manipulating put his hands on her, he made an instantaneous decision that her safety was more important than any immediate scheming he had going on. It wasn't even a question.

Arthur hadn't done much personal riding to the rescue since the last war, but if there was any chance his presence could bring Rowena back safely, he would go. He would feel immensely guilty because Camelot was supposed to be a safe place where this sort of raiding by the nobility didn't happen, and now someone he'd become fond of in a short time was in danger because he had failed. (He's also probably the only one to have the thought that if she died it might mean war with Ireland, but that was an additional weight on top of everything else.) He also felt guilty again afterwards when Guinevere pointed out that if she'd been kidnapped he would have sent Lancelot to rescue her. He worried that she was right.

#princess of swords

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gremlinbehaviour · 2 years

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Good morning! Have a short little fic inspired by @lemissingmask‘s magic lancelot au! This was supposed to be about over-stimulation from Lancelot being able to see both magic and the real world, but it became hurt/comfort featuring the Vilia instead! I’m still planning to write the fic about his vision too though

At the beginning, right after Merlin rescued Lancelot from being a shade by burning Morgana’s influence out of him, he absolutely loved his new left eye and what it allowed him to see. Like when he had first seen the Vilia’s lights, he was enthralled by the magic all around him that was now visible through his golden eye, and insisted on going riding out of the citadel (which was notably absent of magic except for Merlin and a particularly brave laundress who was known for getting impossible stains out of clothing). Arthur wasn’t cruel enough to confine him to his room or throw him in the dungeons, despite his lingering reservations about magic and feelings of betrayal regarding both the Shade’s attempts to seduce Guinevere and the fact that Merlin had hid his magic for so long. Neither of those could be said to be Lancelot’s fault, though, so while the king forbade the knight from going into town or anywhere that his newly glowing eye and skin might attract attention, he allowed him to go riding in the forest when accompanied by one of the other Knights of the Round Table.

Today he was with Percival, riding in front of the knight on his horse. His body aches and tremors were bad today, preventing him from riding on his own. Although he knew that Merlin had tried to be gentle, it was to be expected that burning a foreign influence out of someone would cause some lasting consequences, and along with the visible hand print brand on his chest and the scarring through his eye, he had been dealing with muscle pains and spasms as his body adjusted to the magic flowing through his blood. Hopefully it would improve, but even if it didn’t and this was just the price he had to pay for being brought back and gifted with magic, he would be okay with that.

They arrived at the brook behind the castle and Percival pulled his horse to a stop before dismounting. He turned around to help Lancelot down as well, since getting out of the saddle on a draft horse was difficult under the best of circumstances. Since he had known they would be riding double today, he had chosen one of the hardier work horses instead of the gelding he normally rode so they wouldn’t strain its back. It’s larger girth made it so riding for a long time would be less comfortable for the men, but they were only going a short distance. Once Lancelot was safely on the ground, Percival led the horse over to a nearby tree to tie it up. Meanwhile, his newly magical friend stumbled down to the edge of the creek and knelt down beside it.

“Hello,” he greeted the water with a grin as wide as when he saw his friends. “How are you all today?” Percival, who had taken a seat on a rock a little ways away, didn’t know who he was talking to, and obviously couldn’t hear them respond, but Lancelot seemed to listen intently, presumably to their side of the conversation. It took a little while before he spoke again, so whoever he was talking to must’ve had something to say instead of just ‘good, how are you?’ like a human would mostly answer. Maybe magical beings had different customs around brevity and honesty.

“Oh, um, I’m alright,” Lancelot lied, presumably when they returned his question. Another tremor ran through him, betraying his words. Percival decided he must’ve been right about the honestly thing and that the spirits didn’t appreciate being lied too, because Lancelot flinched like he always did when he was berated. It was only a second, however, before his expression brightened with whatever it was they said next. “Really? You would do that for me?” A moment later, he stripped off his left glove and reached into the water. It was faint, and Percival had to look hard to see it, but after a moment he began to notice a golden glow in the water. Lancelot sighed in relief and began to relax, his body tremors fading and the tension around his eyes dissipating along with the pain. “Thank you,” he breathed.

“What happened?” Percival couldn’t help but ask. He hadn’t wanted to interrupt the conversation, but he did want to understand and thank whatever had so clearly helped his friend.

“They’re called the Vilia,” Lancelot replied adoringly. “Spirits of streams and rivers, and healers. They say hello, by the way.”

“Oh,” Percival hadn’t considered the fact that whatever was talking to Lancelot might be able to see him, even if he couldn’t see them. “Hello. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay,” Lancelot smiled at him. He went back to talking with the Vilia, mostly about how Merlin was doing and what he thought might happen in Camelot now that two of Arthur’s closest friends were revealed to have magic. He sounded cautiously optimistic, but Percival’s heart still clenched in sympathy at the very fact that he had to consider things like whether he would be thrown out of Camelot or rejected from society for his visible magic.

After half an hour or so, Lancelot said goodbye to the Vilia and got to his feet. Percival rushed over to help him, but he was steadier now and didn’t seem to need the support. Hopefully whatever the spirits had done him would be a permanent change and that they’d been able to heal the magical burns, rather than just soothe them temporarily.

“Ready to go home?” Percival asked, and Lancelot smiled back at him and nodded.

#bbc merlin #hurt/comfort #magic lancelot #lancelot #percival #the vilia #i adore them and so does lancelot #hurt lancelot #i mean it's ME writing this what else do you expect #friendship #magic #fanfic

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oswinsdolma · 3 years

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Proving all the Knights of the Round Table have magic part 3: Elyan

I've seen quite a few people headcanon Elyan with magic before, and it's definitely one of the more popular magic!knights hcs, so I apologise if I accidentally hijack anyone else's points xx

The most obvious indicator of this is the fact that Elyan leaves Camelot a year before Merlin arrives. This is about the same age Morgana's magic shows itself, so it would be natural to assume he left because he began showing signs of being a warlock, Camelot's laws being what they are.

It is also implied that Elyan left fairly abruptly, with Gwen having no idea where he went. He may have left in a hurry because somebody might have noticed him, and not told Gwen or Tom for fear of putting them in danger.

Perhaps in a darker note, he didn't say where he was going because he was ashamed of his magic and didn't think his family would accept him.

Gwen says that "[Elyan] always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time". Maybe accidents happen around him because he had trouble controlling his magic and found it increasingly difficult to cover for. This could be another indicator as to why he left.

Elyan didn't return to Camelot even for his father's funeral, and while he expresses his guilt, he doesn't give sufficient reason why: the reason? He may not be able to tell Gwen because he was still scared to return with magic.

When Gwen reveals her relationship with Arthur, Elyan is skeptical, and maybe even a little panicked. After all, would your sister falling in love with someone with the power to set you ablaze not be a terrifying concept to anyone with magic? But when Arthur comes to rescue them and proves himself to be slightly less of a prat than he may think, he tentatively agrees to return home, though I suspect this is mainly for Gwen's sake.

When the immortal army invades Camelot, Elyan manages to stay hidden and fight off some soldiers. Note that he is the only one of the group within Camelot with no Knights' training, which begs the question: how did he manage to escape? The answer could very well lie with magic.

Again, in The Darkest Hour, he is one of two knights that survived the meeting with Morgana. He is one of the more inexperienced knights as well, which suggests that he may have aided himself magically in the fight.

When faced with a seemingly unbeatable threat, Elyan says to Arthur: "tomorrow, we fight in your name, sure. For freedom and justice in this land." Now there is a lot to unpack here, but if we break it down, firstly there is the fact that Elyan places is emphasis on "your" when addressing Arthur. He has previously made a statement about the Pendragon crest, but in this moment, it seems that he cares more about Arthur than this. This is clearly indicative of the fierce bond between Arthur and the core knights, but it could be more than that: the emphasis of "your" is specific to Arthur, but perhaps more importantly, it is an exclusion of Uther. In his time, Arthur has made mistakes, but he has generally been more sympathetic towards magic than his father, and this may be Elyan's subtle way of acknowledging that.

In addition, the words: "for freedom and justice in this land" could just be in reference for Arthur's abilities as king, but this is a deep speech and one would assume it has a deeper meaning. Freedom and justice are two things that have not been afforded to those with magic for a long time. Uther's twisted "justice" involved executing anyone who disagreed with him and anyone who could be vaguely affiliated with sorcery. As for freedom, Arthur has created a fairer kingdom than his father, but magic users still live in fear. Combined with the earlier stress of "your", this is indicative that Elyan too believes that Arthur may one day come to bring peace to anyone who is born with magic.

This last point also has the implications that Elyan knows of the Once and Future King and surrounding prophecies. Though he is described as a troublemaker by Gwen before he comes to Camelot, he keeps his head relatively low upon arrival. Perhaps in the time he spent travelling, he sought help from magical communities, e.g. the druids, who helped him control his powers. This would also explain his vagueness about his whereabouts and lack of contact during the years he was missing.

I could go on about this quote but we'll leave it there for now.

Before he is overtaken by the power of the Lamia, Elyan is vocal in standing up for Merlin. This could be because he knows what it is like to be shunned by society. Magic could be a reason for that. (Also I fully believe that the only reason the Lamia didn't try and take over Merlin was because she was scared of the extent of his magic, not just because he had magic.)(and the merthur reasons when I'm in the mood)

Then Elyan falls sick, before the others begin to show symptoms. Maybe the Lamia sensed some magic and decided he was more trouble than he was worth.

Elyan was not raised by druids, and does not have the same powers as Merlin so wouldn't have sensed the power of the shrine, at least not too strongly. When he first sees the spirit though, he is genuinely sympathetic, even before the murderous intent takes hold.

In the Dark Tower, Elyan is consumed by his need to find Gwen, convinced that he is to blame for her capture. This could be survivor's guilt (and to an extent, probably is), but it is equally probable that Elyan believes that he should have used his magic to protect her.

Going off on a slight tangent here, the theme of "I have magic so it must have a purpose" within warlocks/sorcerers in the show is a) not a healthy mindset and b) uncomfortably common. Elyan may have latched onto the idea that he must use his magic to protect Gwen to convince himself to stay in Camelot, and with that conprmino, he began to fall apart. His behaviour is almost identical to Merlin's fervour regarding Arthur at this point, and it's fairly disturbing that these characters adopt this mindset that is Not Good For Their Mental Heath, Please Get Some Therapy.

Elyan dies. It's heartbreaking, and he does so trying to save his sister. But what is interesting is his funeral. When most main characters die, they are given a funeral in Camelot, e.g. Uther, Lancelot (the first time). But then Freya and Shade!Lanceot (and later Arthur) are set to rest in the Lake of Avalon. The difference between the two is that the lake funerals were arranged by Merlin, and those laid to rest there can somehow be affiliated with magic.

Now I'm not saying that Merlin knew about Elyan's magic, because sometimes he can be really not very perceptive about that (though it's always fun when fics cheerily toss that out the window because it's fun goddamnit-), but I don't believe he was entirely oblivious. Think about it: there are two of Arthur's closest friends canonically hiding magic from him and it's fairly probable that they'll pick up on Elyan's magic at some point. Even if it's just little things like his sympathies with magic or gentle arguments about the way mages are treated. There are so many avenues to explore with this it's overwhelming-

I also think Elyan may have picked up on Merlin's magic later in the series: the point of realisation was probably when Merlin rescued him during his time being possessed by the drowned druid boy, upon which he says: "you know, Merlin, you're much braver than you look." This is the first time Merlin has revealed his more BAMF side to Elyan, and in this moment, something unspoken passes between them. If not mutual understanding, it is at least Elyan realising what Merlin does beneath his carefree exterior, and despite the possession, I think he acquires a lot of new respect for his friend.

(also are we going to ignore that the lake funeral implies that it was arranged by Merlin. How close were they and what stuff did we miss out on behind the scenes for him to be trusted with this?? I need to know)

Elyan and Mordred have a friendship in series 5. If the earlier headcanon about Elyan learning to control his magic with druids is true, perhaps he may have recognised Mordred from his time there. They probably didn't acknowledge it much, but it created a bond between them.

And now for the mythological context!!

Of all the Knights of the Round Table, Elyan's backstory is perhaps the most estranged from the original legend (of course all of them are fairly disconnected *flashbacks to pope-gwaine* but Elyan's is w a c k y)

As a consequence, there is little to draw on for behind-the-scenes evidence of magic.

Elyan, or Helayn, was another Knight whose origins stem from France (the Vulgate Cycle, I think, though he could have surfaced earlier). He is said to have joined Lancelot in exile after his affair of 'courtly love' with Guinevere (go and look up this concept- it gets convoluted in the myths but is really interesting in terms of both origin and content). Anyway, his exile here could represent the time he spent out of Camelot before his appearance in s3, and relates to hiding from harsh laws, particularly if we regard Lancelot and Guinevere's relationship in the same way as we do in the Vulgate Cycle (basically keep the context with the appropriate work and it sort of makes sense)

I appreciate this seems a little like grasping at straws but that's literature I suppose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In the legends, Elyan is nephew to another of Arthur's knights, Sir Sagramore. This knight is less famous than some, but at one point, he embarks on a quest to find the fay. The fay are closely linked with the she, and perhaps also live on Avalon, somewhere mortals are only supposed to see moments before death. Perhaps Elyan can be associated with this magic?

In reality, there is little written of Elyan and no prose or poetry dedicated to him so it's quite hard to find stuff about him.

Also legend!Elyan is heir to the throne of Constantinople, which just goes to prove how widespread and deeply convoluted the mythos is.

#pope-adopted-gwaine and emperor-of-constantinople-elyan team up in an epic crack-y au lmao #honestly the idea of elyan having magic is so plausible but also so sad #he isolated himself and then lost the person he cared about and that's heartbreaking #won't stop the headcanoning though ✌️#bbc merlin #bbc elyan #sir elyan

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rachel-matteo-merlin-recs · 3 years

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Canon Era - Single Fic Arcs

Rheged

Author: McShame

Description:

Post S5 (AU): canon to the end of S4 & part of the way through S5.

Gwen and Arthur have been married for several years, Merlin’s magic has been revealed and Arthur has now reached a kind of cold peace with it. Then a delegation arrives from a kingdom based on magic, and suddenly Destiny is starkly and ruthlessly thrust to the fore. The question is should - can - it be avoided?

Word Count: 124,383

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Definitely might want to pay attention to the tags on this one; one scene can be interpreted both as dubious consent (but more like a I want this, but I can’t do this type of situation), as well as mentions of infidelity and attempted suicide by magic because Merlin just doesn’t want to deal with the fallout and aftermath of his and Arthur’s actions and the consequences it has on their relationships with Gwen and Gwaine. But if you can handle the rough spots, this fic is truly spectacular.

Whispering Your Name

Author: CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

Description:

A different take on the dorocha. Instead of them being faceless screams that attack you, they are actually figures of the dead. Merlin doesn’t quite realize how much death affected him until him and the knights go to close the veil.

Word Count: 22,517

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

One of my absolute favorite fics of all time. It also has a bit of Uther redemption in it and Lancelot lives! It also has one of my favorite interactions in a fanfiction:

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Arthur growled, throwing up his hands. “That thing murdered my people and you allowed it to live--”

“You murdered my people and I allowed you to live,” Merlin said sharply. Gwaine felt his eyes widen. Bold words. Part of him wanted to ‘ooh’ at it but knew it would lead to a very bad outcome.

Dower the Stars

Author: RurouniHime

Description:

During a time of great prosperity in Albion, the Druids offer Emrys a precious gift. Arthur is not amused.

Word Count: 40,654

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

A super fun but also very romantic fic. Druids far and wide come in and kiss Merlin, hoping that their magic will react a certain way with Merlin’s and he’ll bond with one of them. Merlin however decides to throw a wrench in his plan when he chooses to bond with Arthur instead after almost losing him.

Overstepping

Author: Masked_Mayhem

Description:

Merlin knew he was pushing his limits, that he was millimetres away from overstepping the invisible line that Arthur had wordlessly set and the warlock had been careful not to cross, but he was never one to listen to the rules that were set for him. Especially not when he was afraid.

Agravaine had managed to weasel his way into his king’s mind and ingrain doubts in the people he loved, the people that loved him...doubts that only took place and bloomed as the traitor lied and deceived and planted things against them. He had gotten rid of Gwen easily enough, and had almost gotten rid of Gaius. Merlin was afraid. Were a few words and items all it would take for Arthur to turn against him too?

Word Count: 51,915

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Merlin steps over a line and Arthur punishes him for it. Later, when Merlin was right, Arthur regrets his decision and saves him. Romance blooms between the two, but a wrench gets thrown in along the way with the reveal of Merlin’s magic and deeds in Arthur’s name. There is a lot of angst, but I like to feel as if it’s a happy ending for the two.

Springes to Catch Woodcocks

Author: myashke

Description:

When Arthur pushes Merlin away to protect him, what lengths will Merlin go to remain in his life

Word Count: 83,292

Completed: No

Comment(s):

Unfortunately the only negative that this fic has going for it is that it doesn’t seem as if it’ll ever be finished. There are 7 chapters and they were last updated in December of 2011. Still worth the read.

Two Souls

Author: Naelyn

Description:

A few days after Camlann, Merlin and Morgana find themselves imprisoned in the same place, and forced to spend their days together. Basically, this is just a pretext for non-stop Merlin and Morgana interaction once the Emrys reveal has been made.

“I’ve gone soft over the day, you know. A few months ago, I would have killed you where you stood.”

“A few months ago, you did try to kill me where I stood,” Merlin reminded her, and she could hear the smirk in his tone.

Word Count: 11,417

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

One of the only fics on this list that won’t be specifically a Merthur fic; but it still isn’t Mergana either. The idea is that after the revelation at Camlann, one can assume that Arthur lived and that Morgana wasn’t killed; that Merlin had been banished or sent away for the lies he told and somehow was subsequently captured.

What starts out as a hostile interactions between Merlin and Morgana leads to understanding and apologies that lead on a path to healing. The end is left open ended, it’s implied that they are sent to their deaths in another kingdom without hope of being rescued, but you can use your imagination to decide if you wanted them to have a happier ending.

The Patter of Tiny Feet on Cold Stone Floors

Author: TheAvalonian

Description:

When Guinevere finds that she is unable to bear Arthur a child, Merlin offers her the perfect solution: an ancient spell which can create new life out of love, if that love is pure and powerful enough. But after the ritual, it becomes increasingly obvious that while Gwen has indeed become pregnant, the child she carries might not have been created from the love between Arthur and his wife - but rather from the love between Arthur and his Court Sorcerer.

Word Count: 79,131

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Merlin and Arthur have a baby! But it’s not an mpreg fic. Guinevere discovers that Arthur and Merlin are more tied together than she and Arthur are - and while that is difficult for her to come to terms with, she concedes that Arthur has the chance that she never had with Lancelot and doesn’t want to stand in the way. Queue of course evil plotting on behalf of Morgana and a kidnapping of the queen and princess - who happens to have shown gifts of her own - and it’s a rollercoaster of a tale that leaves you wanting more.

Metamorphose

Author: clotpolesonly

Description:

When Merlin falls into bed with Arthur, he doesn’t expect to wake up alone. He doesn’t expect Arthur to give him the cold shoulder either, but there is something else he expects even less which forces him out of the kingdom for over a year.

He returns to find a traitor in the court, an army on the way, and a love he’d thought all but lost waiting for him with open arms.

Word Count: 33,753

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

I don’t usually enjoy mpreg fics because they don’t make sense to me from a biological stand point and usually get explained away as “because reasons”. This fic is an exception, it does a good job of explaining why it is that Merlin might wound up in his situation and it deals with difficult question about how to handle the knowledge and who to share it with.

Flowers in the Wind

Author: the_seaworthy_muffin

Description:

A thousand and five-hundred years ago, Arthur Pendragon is sent to the god Emrys as Camelot’s yearly tribute. He comes to befriend the god, and as the prince continues to spend time on the god’s island, something more seems to blossom between them. But then the Lady Morgana goes missing, and Arthur betrays Emrys to his father in a moment of misguided trust. Emrys’ island burns, the heart-broken god refusing to fight for his life. In dying, he puts a terrible curse upon the prince: to live forever, and never forget.

A millennium and a half has passed. Arthur is being slowly torn apart from the inside-out, memories of the past an ever-growing weight in his chest. When he finally finds Emrys again, he is elated - he’s ready to beg, weep, anything, if only he can find blissful forgetfulness. But while the god’s power has not faded, his memories have, and he lives his life as young artist Merlin Emrys, believing himself to be a simple man with interesting gifts. And Arthur’s hopes are dashed. But there is one last way: Arthur can try, and make Merlin remember again.

Word Count: 67,366

Completed: No - but it is being continuously updated

Comment(s):

This is a truly spectacular work of fiction and I almost didn’t give it a chance. I am so glad that I did. Honestly, this is now one of my favorite authors on AO3.

Peace, Plum, Pear

Author: sweetestdrain

Description:

How in his tenth year of rule King Arthur chose a man to take the role of Court’s Magician, and how Arthur made his decision.

Word Count: 13,700

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Merlin fled the kingdom after Uther found out about his magic, and now it’s been ten years since the old king’s death and Arthur’s ascension to the throne, and yet Merlin is still nowhere to be found.

Arthur gives in and holds trials for the new Court Sorcerer and in walks in an old man named Myrddin Wyllt. But, there’s more than meets the eye to this strange and mysterious magician.

Deluge

Author: Suaine

Description:

In the aftermath of Merlin’s battle against Nimueh, the rain seems a minor complication, perhaps even a cleansing influence. When the rain doesn’t stop, Camelot is pushed to the brink once more. This time, Arthur may be in over his head.

Contains: a lot of wet boys in emotional scenes, Arthur knowing more than he lets on, Merlin being an idiot, both of them being a bit stupidly heroic, telepathic chess, rain (lots of), war, making out against a tree, coincidental druids, co-opted history, co-opted myths, magic, coming of age (metaphorically), and more magically annoying yet surprisingly un-floody water than you can shake a stick at.

Word Count: 50,565

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Beautifully written fic, truly a great addition to the fandom.

Idiosyncratic Romance

Author: F0rcryinoutloud

Description:

“And what about your destiny?” Gaius asked softly. “Merlin, you know Arthur needs you - whether he realizes it or not. You won’t have to hide from him forever.”

Word Count: 13,942

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Beauty in the Ashes of our Lives

Author: Fulgance

Description:

After Merlin is executed for Uther’s murder, Arthur’s world falls apart.

Word Count: 21,599

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

Arthur makes a huge mistake when he executes Merlin following the reveal of his magic.

Tiercel

Author: waldorph

Description:

Arthur is constantly at war.

Word Count: 6,571

Completed: Yes

Comment(s):

This is a wonderful magic reveal fic where Merlin goes out and discovers more about magic while still taking care of Arthur and protecting him; Arthur is constantly at war because Uther has decided he wants to take over and unite Albion.

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merlinbingo · 3 years

Text

Aaand last but not least, rounding off the February round up: all the M/M fills created over the month, sorted by ship and then by rating.

Take a look, take heed of the tags/warnings/ratings (including those where the creator has decided to use the 'Not rated' and 'Choose not to use archive warnings' options - these works could contain anything at all, so please practice self-care when deciding whether or not to click on that link!) and make sure you leave these wonderful creators some love!

Elyan/Gwaine

You are enough by donttouchtheneednoggle Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: Deep in the midst of all manner of chaos, Elyan and Gwaine find each other.

Elyan/Percival

Meet the polycule by donttouchtheneednoggle Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: We got to see Percival meeting one member of the round table, but what about the rest?

Knights of the sewing circle by donttouchtheneednoggle Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Everyone keeps stealing Elyan's hoodie. And really, what is Camelot's pettiest knight supposed to do?

Gwaine/Percival

Rule Breaker by vampdocx Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Gwaine knows Percy is into it. He just isn’t sure if Percy is into it right now, when Gwaine is half-hard in his friend’s hot tub because Percy called him a slut.

Merlin/Gwaine

untitled by merlinsprat Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: gifset :)

A Little While Longer by SneakyBoyMerlin Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: Merlin is kidnapped, and Gwaine is the one who finds him.

Merlin/Lancelot

Who are the Sinners Among Us? by archaeologist_d Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: Love takes and takes and takes and they keep loving anyway. Or how Merlin and Lancelot deal with Arthur’s marriage to Gwen.

Merlin/Mordred

Dragonlords Grow Horns?! by fxndom-hoe Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Mordred finds out something about Dragonlords.

Merlin/Arthur

Merlin's Princess Bride by fxndom-hoe Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: A retelling of The Princess Bride in which Merlin uses magic to save Prince Arthur from his kidnappers and prevent King Uther from forcing him into marriage.

Where Did You Go by QueenoftheBritons Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Merlin enters the veil to secure it, but the memory of him is erased as a result.

no use crying over skimmed milk by heartsocold Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: There was no need to cry. It’s just, he supposed, that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. His entire week was awful - absolutely terrible - and this was just the thing that pushed him over the edge.

Fresh Flowers by schweet_heart Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: After dealing with Edwin and ensuring the king's recovery, Merlin takes care of a small personal matter.

Baby, it's cold outside by Stardustwrites17 Rating: General audiences Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: In which Merlin cares too much about others (and too little about himself), Arthur is a good prince and he's hopelessly in love with his servant.

The Dolma Deception by archaeologist_d Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Arthur finds the Dolma’s ratty outfit in Merlin’s room. Merlin is a crap liar about it.

Excalibur Reborne by archaeologist_d Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Merlin might be teaching Arthurian legend—he’d lived it after all, but when one of his students finds Excalibur, it raises more questions than answers.

Wrapped Up In You by tehfanglyfish Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Not long after Freya’s death, the first in a series of mysterious packages appeared in Merlin’s room. Though they all contained ornate dresses sewn from material so fine that they befitted a queen rather than a servant, his name was clearly written on the accompanying tags. Over the years, whenever Merlin faced great triumph or great tragedy, the dresses kept arriving. The sender, though, remained a mystery, until one night when Merlin learned the truth of who had given them, a revelation that led to Merlin sharing secrets of his own.

Etemenanki by esmerod Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Merlin is taken as a child and brought to Camelot where he's locked up in a tower. He meets the prince, and destiny takes its inevitable course, as it always does.

Just a stupid Thing Teenagers Do (Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt) by lea_ndra/ Leandra/ nuttersinc Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: It's Christmas and Merlin's boyfriend comes to an uncomfortable realisation after family dinner.

Excalibur Reborne - chapter 2 by archaeologist_d Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Merlin might be teaching Arthurian legend—he’d lived it after all, but when one of his students finds Excalibur, it raises more questions than answers.

Slipping through my fingers (all that time) by Stardustwrites17 Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: On her deathbed, Magic let's Ygraine watch her son grow up, to be the king Albion needs. More than that, she's assured Arthur will be happy and loved.

Sleeping Beauty by archaeologist_d Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Rescuing Arthur from the curse of eternal sleep should have been a piece of cake, but kissing him to break said curse? That was a step too far.

Suit Up by evaelisaa Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Merlin is joining Arthur to a Pendragon corporate event for the first time, but he doesn’t own a suit, so Arthur makes him wear one of his.

Tell me every terrible thing you ever did (and let me love you anyway) by Stardustwrites17 Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: In which a witch-hunt takes place in Camelot, Arthur worries for Merlin's safety and Merlin worries for his secrets.

The Road to Knighthood by evaelisaa Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: Merlin is about to get knighted when Lancelot barges into the antechamber where Merlin is getting ready with the news that Guinevere got kidnapped.

No Hands Had Ever Been So Gentle, Nor So Deadly by queerofthedagger Rating: Teen Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Arthur's kidnapped. Of course, Merlin comes to find him, but getting Arthur out might've been the easiest part.

In Dreams by mornmeril Rating: Mature Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Arthur remembers on a Sunday, but Merlin isn't here. His dreams may yet lead Arthur to him.

Intricacies of Love (Or A Lack Thereof) by @gwen-cheers-me-up (tumblr), OwlsWithFins (ao3) Rating: Mature Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: Arthur confesses his love for Merlin and is deeply confused by Merlin's response. To everyone's chagrin, he seems quite intent on staying that way.

The Knighting by J_Gun_i Rating: Mature Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: After long last, Merlin finally get to be knighted. Not much could go wrong anymore, right?

Arthur Pendragon Is Not A Wizard by tehfanglyfish Rating: Mature Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Merlin and Arthur watch Cherry Magic, leading to several unexpected revelations.

The round mirror by YouKeepMeRight Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: "I've bought you a gift." Arthur stopped humming along with the song on the radio and turned his head towards the driver’s seat.

no better love by TheDragon Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Wherein Arthur falls victim to yet another love potion, except this time, it has him setting his sights on Merlin.

Duty Beyond Knighthood by evaelisaa Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: It’s the first evening where Merlin is a knight, but because of a deal he made with Arthur, Merlin is still the one who has to help the king get ready for bed.

Less Than Greek by Blake Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: The whole Valentine’s Day gift thing is meant to be a joke.

The Spies have It. by archaeologist_d Rating: Explicit Ao3 warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Summary: The spies sent to bring about Camelot’s downfall weren’t exactly expecting Merlin locked up in the stocks and Arthur busy behind him. Oh, my.

#merlin bingo #round up #february

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coinofstone · 4 years

Text

3x01 The Tears of Uther Pendragon pt 1

(Since there's commentary for this episode, I will not be combining 3x01 and 3x02 into a single post.)

The double fisted callback shots are interesting. First, Arthur & co walking into a deserted camp only to be ambushed, complete with whizzing crossbow bolts (have you learned NOTHING) which is essentially the same exact scene as in 2x11 The Witch's Quickening when they come upon Alvarr's camp. It's a neat nod to the audience, who already know that Morgana wasn't exactly captured, she was (from Morgause's perspective anyway) rescued after Merlin tried to kill her. So calling back to that ambush sequence is a nice way to signal to the audience that Morgana is once again knowingly and willfully colluding with Uther's enemies in a plot to destroy him, despite all the dialogue giving the impression that she needs rescuing. That Morgana had in fact aided in setting the trap for Arthur & co is both further pushed by and contrasted with the second callback, when she emerges from the woods looking like a hot mess. This references 2x04 Lancelot and Guinevere when Morgana had in fact been actually captured, but she managed to escape and find Arthur who'd been out looking for her. The difference of course being that Morgana is full of shit this time, but repeating that moment is a clever way of demonstrating Morgana's intent to trick everyone into believing she's the same damsel in distress she'd once been, while we, the audience, know she isn't.

Uther's unquestioning acceptance of Morgana's return is irksome. I know it's been over a year but has he just forgotten that she helped Alvarr escape? It was made perfectly clear that he knew and that they were at odds with one another, yet it's like none of that ever happened. He's just thrilled to have her back and has no memory of any of those events.

Drunk!emo!Uther is amusing as hell. Also a little odd that they're worried about explaining Uther's behavior at the well as tho they didn't have the perfectly viable excuse of him having been drunk off his ass and emotional about Morgana's return.

Morgana being a dick to Gwen even as she tries to convince everyone else that she's back to her old self is just as confounding as Uther's lack of suspicion.

I love Tom Ellis. Everyone loves him for Lucifer, and you can definitely see some early shades of Lucifer in Cenred, but he will forever be Gary to me. Idk why Lucifans aren't all over Miranda, I mean just look at what you're all missing:

What's not to love?

I can understand Morgana leaving the sentry alive by accident, but why in God's name would she leave her dagger after stabbing him?

You'd think the king would have better security while he's ill, and servants competent enough to notice motor oil dripping onto the floor under his bed.

I cannot adequately express how much I LOVE Morgana's calling out Merlin after he's followed her to her meeting with Morgause. "Did you really think I was that stupid, Merlin?" YES HE DID, BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE INEXPLICABLY SEEMS TO BE. Merlin is clumsy as fuck and yet somehow he's the stealthiest dude in Camelot. I looooove Morgana calling that shit out 😂

I know she's evil and stuff but Morgause is so cool.

Merlin rockin the wackest shibari of all time. It's a little hard to see but they've got it wrapping his legs as they're bent too. That can't have been very comfortable to film in.

Roasted scorpion, offical delicacy of Camelot.

I know it's stupid to question the summoning of a talking dragon via a magical language but honestly I can't help myself wondering whether Kilgharrah hears Merlin or if it's like, dragon-radio where wherever that language is spoken by a Dragonlord, every dragon can hear it? Cuz either way I still have questions.

Commentary by Bradley and Katie.

They've made comments about the weather during the first scene and then promptly forgotten they're supposed to be doing commentary 😂 apparently it's they were brought in to do this very early in the morning during the last week of filming, which probably explains why they're so quiet.

Cracking jokes on shirtless Arthur, and how Gawain puts him to shame later on, then going on about how he's got the best hair in Camelot.

I love that Katie asks how Bradley did the blindfolded swordfight then doesn't let him answer😂 I would've liked to know how exactly they coordinated that

So for S3 they built additional corridor stages in Wales to reduce the amount of time they spend shooting in France. Katie's disappointed by that, but Bradley was happy it meant he got to go home to watch more of the world cup, except that England did horribly that year - Katie is surprised to learn the world cup happened that year 😂

I normally love Katie on these things but I think because Bradley's not entirely awake his storytelling is a bit slower or more drawn out, and Katie keeps cutting him off so he keeps like, dropping stories halfway told. This annoys me for two reasons: I'm a woman whose friend group is mostly men, who do this to me irl ALL THE TIME and it's INCREDIBLY annoying, so I'm over-relating to Bradley in this moment. And also, because I really would've liked to hear the rest of these stories! What did Tom Ellis do at the read through! Why does it make no sense that Sir Leon is alive? I counted bodies of least two knights that didn't get burned. HOW DID THEY DO THE BLINDFOLDED SWORD FIGHT. Let the man speak

Bradley makes fun of Colin for being overly excited by how great the music was during the episode screening they did.

They've talked more about Bradley having a stretch than they did about the entire episode.

He's got a really irritating laugh, not in general but like just this one particular sort of shrieking bark that irks me.

You can tell they were DONE with the commentary because they wrapped it up before the credits actually started 😂

#bbc merlin #bbc merlin spoilers #merlin #merlin spoilers #merthur #bbc merlin 3x01 #merlin 3x01 #3x01 #the tears of uther pendragon #the tears of uther pendragon pt 1 #onceandfuturerewatch

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melnchly-a · 4 years

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@messianique sent: we had guin gush about arthur, so can guin gush about LANCE NOW? what does she love about him? why does she love him so much? how does she come to even fall in love with him in the first place? what makes her really decide to have an affair with him despite her also loving her husband???

gosh OKAY.

i think her initial attraction to lancelot is that he’s Different, and then - - just slightly further - - there’s something in him that seems a lot like the part of herself she has to hide in order to be the type of queen she thinks she’s supposed to be. something that doesn’t quite fit in court, something wild. i do also think that there’s a part of her that?? sort of just intrinsically likes the qualities that make you relate him to dogs asdfghjk there’s a deep-rooted love and loyalty to him once that’s won, and though she sees that first with his dedication to arthur, she likes it immediately. and then it just? it just takes her being herself to soften him toward her, and that love and loyalty turns toward her, too, and though she doesn’t know that’s what’s happening intellectually, she feels it. they’re very much alike, and the times she’s spoken to him or been with him alone, she doesn’t feel the same pressure to be the high queen. there’s a freedom to being with him that she can’t help but like. as things develop between them, i think she also really likes the contrast in the way he is with her: how passionate they are together, the fact that he doesn’t treat her like she’s made out of glass, and yet when there are quiet moments he can be stunningly gentle.

she falls in love with him sort of in the background of her own mind/heart, if that make sense. sort of slowly at first, then in a way that she doesn’t immediately recognize as love, and then all at once. it starts off by just knowing him at court/seeing him with arthur, then getting to know him more closely/personally when he’s the one to rescue her from kidnapping attempts, then the start of their affair. i do think a lot of that is mostly attraction with like? foundational elements of becoming a Real Relationship, but a lot of the more deep emotional connection happens after the affair actually starts. not that it isn’t there before, that connection. it certainly is. it’s just the beginnings, though, and then they strengthen over time.

as far as her deciding to have an affair, that’s...more complex than anything else asdfg. we talked briefly about this, but i really do think there’s a part of guinevere that at least inwardly resents the way arthur puts camelot before her. it starts to feel like that happens every time, and while she would have known going into the marriage that he’s a king, that he would have to prioritize his kingdom over even her, i don’t think she fully knew the extent to which that would happen. so while lancelot always being the one there to guard/rescue her from the kidnappings/kidnapping attempts is not the real impetus for her jumping into an affair, it reflects what she’s already starting to resent. lancelot, on the other hand...doesn’t do that. he’s the one sending knights back to swear to her, he’s the one coming to her rescue, etc, so while i don’t think that’s an active part of her decision-making it’s definitely an underlying factor.

and then, of course, as i’ve spoken on before, lancelot is the first person guin really got to choose, and the dancing around before/at the start of the affair is the closest to a courtship she’s really ever had. her marriage to arthur was much more contractual, without much of a courtship period happening beforehand.

and, last, there are a few facts, considering that guinevere does have a.) an impulsive streak, b.) a fondness for physical touch as an expression of love, c.) a much more....frank? i guess? view of sex/sexuality than would have been a standard in a kingdom like camelot at that time. idk where it comes from, tbh, but it’s just. part of her.

so when all of those things combine AND they have the opportunity, she does kind of just. jump into the affair. i don’t know whether she expected to last as long as it did, but she absolutely walked into it with her eyes wide open.

lastly, i think? from the beginning, at least for guinevere, the loves she feels for lancelot and arthur is just....both very distinct and very much the same all at once. she really does see them as halves of a whole, and loving both halves means loving the whole. intellectually she knows that having an affair isn’t what she’s supposed to be doing, that it goes against the vows she took, but even those vows are so tied up in her internalized resentment at not having a choice in her life. so she really just. doesn’t feel she’s doing anything wrong by loving. and, in her mind, hidden love isn’t really love at all, so why wouldn’t she act on it?

ASK ME HEADCANON QUESTIONS ABOUT MY MUSES : ACCEPTING!

#messianique #guinevere: lancelot (messianique)#guinevere: general #guinevere: headcanons

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oddnub-eye · 4 years

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Mythology Drabbles #11

@whatissleepeven since I know you like these.

Back at it again with Arthurian Angst!

Disclaimer: Some of these drabbles are not presented entirely accurately to the source material they are drawn from. They are not meant to be entirely accurate. That being said, I hope you enjoy, and constructive criticism is always welcomed and encouraged.

...

The Rescue of Guinevere

Arthur wasn’t there on that day. Guinevere wasn’t surprised. Arthur didn’t want this. Guinevere didn’t want this. But they knew it was happening. Guinevere had been discovered in the act of Adultery. Tantamount to treason.

Guinevere grunted in pain as the ropes tightened her to the stake.

“I’m sorry.” Gareth muttered.

Guinevere didn’t respond. No one wanted this. No one wanted this, so why were they doing it.

They were doing it because that was what everyone assumed was right.

That wasn’t true, Gaheris wanted this. He wanted Guinevere’s head. He wanted Lancelot’s head. It was due to them that Agravain had died, and they had. Gaheris did not care for Agravain’s known duplicity. That was fine too. Care for family was correct.

“You should leave.” Guinevere said, “It is dangerous to be here.”

“You are the one tied to the stake.” Gaheris responded, “Once the sun reaches its highest, your time will be up.”

“It won’t get to that.”

“What? You think your precious Lancelot will come to save you?” Gaheris sneered, “What makes you-”

“Shut your mouth brother!” Gareth snapped, “Do you not realize I am unarmed, or that we are the only ones here? No one wants this but you! If Lancelot is to come, it did not matter how many of us were here! Only the King or Gawain could dream to stand against the Knight of the Lake.”

“You’d let Agravain go unavenged?!”

“You seem perfectly fine with leaving Dinadan unavenged!”

The crowd murmured at the fighting of the knights. Gareth’s opinion was the popular one, no one wanted to see the Queen burned. Suddenly, the crowd began to plot.

Gareth and Gaheris stopped their argument, staring into the crowd.

“Gareth is right you know.” Lancelot said, face a mask of cold emotionlessness, “Only Gawain or Arthur could match me. So stand aside Gaheris.”

Gaheris and Gareth were taken aback. Lancelot climbed the platform, moving with a cold stillness. This...this wasn’t Lancelot. He moved too coldly. The Knight of The Lake wasn’t just Arthur’s champion, he was the champion. Everything Lancelot did defined how a champion should be.

There was none of that. Lancelot made only one move that mimicked the champion. Tossing Arondight into the air, the sword spinning before Lancelot caught it. Even that lacked the energy Lancelot was known for.

“Lancelot…” Gaheris sneered, “THIS IS FOR AGRAVAIN!”

Gaheris drew his sword. But Lancelot was the greatest knight of the realm for a reason. Lancelot moved forward, swinging Arondight overhead. Gaheris could barely block, but was sent tumbling back.

Gaheris tried to roar, but Lancelot was faster, stabbing through the knight. Gaheris staggered back, attempting to turn towards Gareth.

“You. You should’ve fought…” Gaheris murmured before falling onto Gareth, the smaller knight unprepared for their brother’s weight. Gareth stumbled back, the two bodies beginning to tumble from the platform.

“Gareth!” Lancelot’s voice flickered with emotion, the knight launching forward, attempting to grab the younger knight from the fall. Lancelot’s fingers missed the tumble of bodies, and they fell from the platform.

Unarmored, falling from a height, and the great weight of Gaheris falling on top of them, Gareth was nearly crushed. But just nearly. Gareth sputtered out blood in pain. Lancelot let down to try and pull Gaheris off of them.

“Gareth! Are you…” Lancelot began, seeing the mangled lower half of the knight.

“Lancelot….” Gareth asked, desperately attempting to draw breath, “Please, tell me, why? Why did you do this with our queen?”

Lancelot seemed taken aback by the question.

“It...to be the strongest is a burden one bares alone. To be a king is to be lonely. To be queen is to be one who must deal with distance. Guinevere must have sought to build a bridge between three great mountains...and I naively believed she could...I am truly a fool Gareth. I apologize it must end like this…”

Gareth attempted to nod, for this was their strength. Empathy. They could see the loneliness of their king, the burdens Lancelot bore as Camelot’s champion, and why Guinevere would try and build these “bridges” as Lancelot put it.

“Bridges built that high are doomed to fall,” Gareth gasped, “And, I’ll admit, your methods were flawed...but that goal. That goal is admirable.”

With that, Gareth closed their eyes, never to open them again.

Lancelot stood and walked back up the platform to free Guinevere. “You are right Gareth. But hindsight matters not….we made our choices, and now, we must see them to their ends.”

#oddnub writes #reimagining #interpretation #arthurian mythos #gareth #gaheris #lancelot du lac #guinevere

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darthstitch · 5 years

Text

10 Random Headcanons About Mr. Hart and Mr. Unwin

1. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a certain senior Knight newly crowned as Arthur, must be in want of a Guinevere."

The above piece of wisdom was delivered by one Roxy Morton, a.k.a. Lancelot, complete with a rather Significant Look directed at Eggsy Unwin a.k.a. Galahad.

Eggsy's response was an equally eloquent: "Sod off." Also, he was blushing so hard that Harry even noticed it after he walked into the room five minutes later. Which prompted a completely awkward (and adorable, according to Roxy) exchange that consisted of Harry fussing and Eggsy getting all the more flustered, not helped by the fact that at some point, Harry actually called him: "my dear," seemingly by accident. Harry called for tea and Eggsy had to sit through the rest of the Round Table meeting hiding behind a mug of chamomile and scones.

2. Tristan might be a badass assassin who doted on his dog and could easily kill a dozen men with a dull pencil, but he was also interested in crafts and had a puckish sense of humor. He gifted a framed, cross-stitched version of Roxy's quote to Eggsy. Eventually, Eggsy did end up hanging the damn thing in his own office. This was long, long after Eggsy could finally get over the initial abject horror and sheer mortification that John fuckin' Wick had noticed Eggsy's hopeless affections for Harry Hart.

3. It gets worse. EVERYONE actually saw that Eggsy was arse over tits for Harry Hart. "There, there, lad," Merlin told him much, much later, when they'd finally sorted themselves out. "Actually, everyone else had also noticed that he was equally besotted with you."

"Oi," was Harry's reaction to that, in a very deadpan, accurate imitation of Eggsy's accent.

4. Eggsy's "posh" voice gets any number of reactions when he has occasion to use it. His mates have all died of laughter when they've heard him use it in the shop. His mum is also not immune to the giggles, but only because, as she's remarked, "It suits you, Eggsy-boy." Originally, it was a beautiful, dead-on impersonation of Harry himself. These days, when Eggsy slips into that accent, every syllable crisp, cold, and clear, he can actually be terrifying. This is how Galahad takes command of half a dozen Knights in order to go rescue their King and how he even gets Merlin to snap to attention.

5. What most people don't know is that Harry is equally capable of taking on Eggsy's chav accent. The following exchange was recorded for posterity:

Harry: Ah, yer th'guvna, Merlin. Fanks.

Merlin: You're welcome, Galahad.

Harry: S'Arfur, now, innit?

Merlin: ...

Eggsy: *in the background, giggling*

Merlin: Arthur?

Harry: Yeh, bruv?

Merlin: Don't ever do that to me again.

Eggsy: *loses it completely*

6. Harry Hart, of course, spent some time privately agonizing over the fact that he'd gone and fallen for a man half his age. He'd ruefully thought to himself that if he HAD to go through the obligatory "mid-life crisis" he figured that living the life of a Kingsman would have sorted all that out. But no, he had to go arse over teakettle for one beautiful, brave, bright young man who deserved to have the world laid at his feet. Harry was a gentleman of honor and he was quietly prepared to never openly speak of his feelings. If he could have Eggsy in his life as a very dear friend, then Harry would count himself fortunate. If he could have that familiar voice call him " 'Arry" and laugh and tease and generally be the impertinent, mischief-making, cheeky darling that he was, Harry would be content.

(Merlin has heard all this and had to pour himself a very stiff drink, prior to banging his head on his desk because, OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE, HARRY ARTHUR FITZWILLIAM HART.)

7. Harry had quickly become wrapped around the tiny, sticky fingers of little Daisy Unwin from the moment they were introduced. Daisy adored her 'Arry and immediately demanded to be picked up and even Eggsy couldn't completely pry her away, at least until she'd finally fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder, one little hand fisted around Harry's tie. Thus, Harry soon became a regular at tea parties, helped Daisy dress her dolls and also helped her invent fanciful adventures for the dolls to go on, involving kings and dashing knights and dragons and princesses.

8. It was Daisy, actually, who'd managed to finally drive home some very important truths.

"I wuv you, 'Arry."

"I love you too, poppet."

"Eggy wuvs 'Arry too. Wilf you marry Eggy, 'Arry?"

Harry's normally brilliant brain had temporarily gone offline at that innocent question but he must've sputtered out some suitable answer: (Perhaps if Eggsy says yes... / O'course 'e will, 'Arry! Eggy wuvs you muchly!) And right on the heels of that, Harry had heard Eggsy respond in this broken, ragged tone that Harry dearly hoped he would never hear again:

"Eggsy would say 'Yes' - that is, if Harry would only ask."

Needless to say, the two idiots eventually managed to bring Daisy back to her Mum, so that they could have a private talk that involved several heartfelt confessions, kisses and other interesting things best left to the imagination.

No, Merlin, Harry and Eggsy absolutely did not end up defiling the Round Table. Why on earth would they do that when there was a perfectly acceptable bedroom?

In any case, the above incident had convinced Merlin that Daisy might well be a worthy "Morgana" to take his place one day.

9. After Harry and Eggsy, in their friends' own words, "finally got their respective heads out of their arses and sorted their shite out," Eggsy has observed that Harry is apparently incapable of at least going one day without addressing Eggsy by some sort of endearment or the other. "My dear" used to slip out quite accidentally, back when they were both mutually pining, which pretty much confirmed everyone else's suspicions about Harry's real feelings. These days, Eggsy will often hear Harry call him "darling" or "dearest" and it never fails to make him blush and feel all warm inside.

Of course, Eggsy has his own endearments and calling Harry "love" or referring to him as "my Harry" never fails to bring out the smile that Eggsy loves the most, the sweet, shy smile that will eventually give way to the one with the dimples.

10. In the wake of the former Arthur's treachery and the clear weaknesses he had in running Kingsman, Harry as Arthur took a different approach in rebuilding and making sure that changes for the better were made. Going out on missions was one of those changes. "Code Excalibur" became an official thing when it became patently clear that while Arthur and Galahad were already deadly working by themselves, they were absolutely lethal when working together. Of course, this was only invoked in missions where basically the fate of the world was at stake.

The most epic case in which a Code Excalibur was invoked happened during what should have been just a simple intelligence gathering mission that the trainees would be watching from the feeds in Merlin's office. Up to this point, the trainees had not realized that the apparently senior Knight known as "Harry" who so often shamelessly flirted with Agent Galahad and regularlymanaged to wipe the floor with the more arrogant trainees, was actually Arthur himself. Somehow, explosions, potential doomsday weapons and Arthur and Galahad being magnificently badass together happened, at which point Merlin just gave up and called the rest of the Knights in to help.

(Merlin: God help my sanity)

#hartwin #harry hart/eggsy unwin #harry hart #eggsy unwin #kingsman #harry hart is fitzwilliam darcy as a gentleman spy #daisy unwin #john wick #is a kingsman #you will pry that headcanon from my cold dead paws #i crack what i want #i regret nothing

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hayleysstark · 5 years

Note

Queenie emerges! Thank you for answering my asks! Don't worry about taking too long to reply, I know the Internet can be a pain sometimes lol. Sadly, I had to cancel my Netflix subscription, so my Merlin binge has come to an end for now. But, I absolutely adored watching the episodes and geeking out with you! Hopefully I can continue the series in the future. Speaking of the future, if you were able to write a season 6, how would you do it? I'd love to hear your interpretation!

Oh no I’m sorry you lost your Netflix subscription. That sucks :( I’m glad you enjoyed what you saw of Merlin, though, and thank you so much for letting me talk your ear off about it for the past few weeks lmao. I’m sure I’ve lost at least like,,,,,,,,, a hundred followers,,,,,,,,in the last two weeks alone. what can i say??? People don’t follow me to hear my thoughts and i honestly can’t blame them.

Season 6?? dfghjkytghnfgfd can i get uhhhhh a complete rewrite of S4 and S5 instead???? As much as I ADORE S4 ((Servant of Two Masters???? The Darkest Hour???? Aithusa??? The Sword in the Stone???? Lamia???? all EXTREMELY BLESSED thank you)) I can admit that it has its flaws for sure, to say NOTHING of S5 ((it was literally eleven goddamn episodes of how much filler can we pack in before Arthur has to die and it was,,,,,,,, just Objectively Bad like I can’t even.)) Like can we just. can we just talk. about S4 and S5?

S4 went all right for the first few episodes, objectively speaking - and more than all right, personally speaking. Absolutely adored the season premiere two-parter, and “The Wicked Day” was a perfect blend of solemn but hopeful, absolutely everything I could have imagined for Arthur’s inevitable ascension to the throne. I think, ironically enough, “Servant of Two Masters” is riiiiiiight about where I would have deviated from canon. Like right after it. the episode right after it.

4x07. “The Secret Sharer”. Whoo boy. You didn’t say whether you saw this one or not, so here’s the lowdown: Morgana’s been searching tirelessly for the all-powerful sorcerer Emrys, ‘cause the Callieach ((the gatekeeper to the world of the dead)) informed her that Emrys was to be her doom. She enlists the Lord Agravaine, Arthur’s slimy uncle and her personal spy within the kingdom, to try and help her find Emrys, as she believes he’s hiding in Camelot, close to Arthur. Merlin, of course, is Emrys, and when Agravaine questions Gaius in the absolute least subtle way he possibly can ((literally what the fuck Agravaine how have you survived as a spy this long)), Gaius lies like a rug. UNfortunately, Agravaine isn’t fooled, and remains convinced he knows something. Meanwhile, Arthur finally gets his head on straight and realizes there’s a traitor in his court. Give the boy a prize. Anyway, he suspects his slimy uncle Agravaine, but Agravaine turns Arthur’s distrust around onto Gaius instead, convinces Arthur to interrogate him, you know. Arthur continues to make terrible decisions and comes to the conclusion that, as Gaius never out-and-out condemns sorcery during the course of his interrogation, because he must be untrustworthy. Cue Agravaine taking this opportunity to kidnap Gaius because fuck the elderly right??? anyway, he brings Gaius to Morgana, who’s hired this dude named Alator to torture for information about the elusive Emrys. It’s really convoluted, just go with it. BUT, since Agravaine is the snake to end all snakes, he didn’t JUST kidnap Gaius, oh, no, he staged it so it looked as if Gaius ran away from the kingdom. Arthur thinks Gaius is a traitor who practices magic and scarpered at the first sign of trouble, Merlin of course knows Gaius is completely innocent, Arthur still refuses to send a search party, so of course it’s up to Merlin to find and rescue Gaius. Gwaine comes along for the ride, so go Gwaine, basically. Sir Gwaine is the real mvp and that is just the tea.

ANYWAY so now you’re up to speed. BUT. but. In the S4 rewrite, let’s make it so Merlin doesn’t rescue Gaius. Let’s make it so he can’t find Gaius. Let’s make it so he searches high and low, but Agravaine covered his tracks way too well. We can intersperse the remainder of the season with scenes of unsettling, even outright gory, if we want to go that route, torture. The viewer can see in horrific detail as Gaius’ imprisonment steadily grows more brutal and unlivable until they genuinely don’t think he’s going to last. Or, alternatively? Radio silence. Nothing from Gaius after that episode. The viewer doesn’t know if he’s dead or alive. The viewer knows nothing Merlin doesn’t. Either way, it would help set the tone they were obviously aiming for - the grim, grisly shit they never quite achieved.

And removing Gaius from the narrative changes very little about the rest of the season as a whole. Merlin and Arthur’s relationship grows steadily more strained as Merlin continues his quest to rescue Gaius from Morgana, and Arthur remains stubbornly convinced of Gaius’ treachery. Even better? Merlin is completely, totally alone, allowing the story to take progressively darker and darker turns, and the demands of destiny to weigh even heavier on Merlin’s shoulders than they already do. The next two episodes - “Lamia” and “Lancelot du Lac” - could still happen. Without Gaius. And a doubly painful blow to Arthur in “Lancelot du Lac” - the betrayal of Guinevere, his future queen, and Lancelot, his noblest knight, is just another ache to add to the pile at this point. Even if the viewer disagrees with Arthur’s decisions up til now, his pain would doubtless give their heartstrings a tug or two. And with his and Merlin’s friendship buckling under the stress, Arthur has, or is at least convinced he has, next to no one left to turn to.

“Herald of a New Age” serves as a major turning for Arthur’s character in canon, and I don’t want to hurt or minimize that at all, but at the same time, I would certainly change it in any way I could to make it less....... dull, I suppose? I feel bad calling it that, as it’s one of the precious few episodes that focuses on Elyan, who I love and adore and support with everything in me, and oh, how I wanted to like this one, but I was honestly bored out of my mind for half of it. Not to mention, Elyan just watched his king banish his sister from their lifelong home, and he’s????? okay with it???? what. what. what. Definitely would have added in a bit of tension between Arthur and Elyan for this episode, possibly even for the rest of the season as a whole, and a hell of a lot more focus on Elyan warring with himself, torn between his loyalty to Gwen and his loyalty to Arthur.

“The Hunter’s Heart” was another one I personally found dull, but I don’t necessarily think it was a failing in the narrative itself so much as an opinion. I hold no love for Princess Mithian, and the writers’ attempts to force their series to mesh as fully as possible with the mythology was,,,,,,,,, clumsy, to say the least. No thank you. Personally? I would cut this entire episode from the series, but I recognize and respect it wasn’t exactly bad, just not to my speed.

“The Sword in the Stone”? SHIT GETS REAL SON!!!!! At the end of “The Hunter’s Heart”, we receive a small glimpse of Gaius, but it’s far from reassuring - he’s not dead, but he’s damn near close, and he’s just broken under Alator’s torture, and revealed Emrys’ true identity to a furious Morgana, who swears to topple Camelot and exact her revenge on both Arthur and Merlin, and she’s got a few tricks up her sleeve this time to ensure it happens.

Morgana marches on Camelot, and takes the kingdom, with Agravaine by her side, and as in the episode, Arthur and Merlin manage to get out of the citadel and into the relative safety of the woods, but the knights aren’t so lucky, and wind up imprisoned in the castle dungeons.

And while Morgana obviously didn’t plan on Arthur and Merlin slipping through her grasp yet again, she’s not as shaken as she could be by the thought of Emrys and his king out there working against her - we’re gonna be doing some serious switching around here, and taking the Eancanah from the S5 finale and setting it loose on Merlin here instead. Thus, Merlin is on the run with Arthur, and without his magic.

Arthur can’t know this last bit, of course, but Arthur’s having his own issues. His uncle’s betrayal has completely shattered him at this point. He’s at his absolute lowest here, out of confidence, out of courage, out of the tenacity that’s seen him through every other trial. So many have turned their back on him, after all. What’s wrong with him, he wonders, that makes them betray him? What’s wrong with him, he asks Merlin, that those he cherishes most don’t care for him at all?

The friendship between Merlin and Arthur that’s been crumbling all season faces the ultimate test here. While Merlin struggles to restore Arthur’s self-confidence, he’s hard put to keep himself going, as well - his magic defines him, his magic is who he is, his essence, his lifeblood, and what is he without it? Who is he without it? If he can’t use magic, what good is he? If he can’t use magic, what does he matter?

On their journey to regroup, and retake Camelot, Merlin and Arthur find and rescue Gaius, badly injured and in desperate need of medical attention, and of course, Gwen as well, who Arthur realizes he can no longer live without, in spite of her perceived betrayal. He’s still got a long way to go before he’s completely back to his old self, but the restoration of his relationship with both Gwen and Gaius buoys him, and it sets him on his path once again.

Merlin absolutely falls apart upon seeing his mentor in such a state, of course - look, the father/son feels would be STRONG, I’m just saying. Merlin does everything he can to save Gaius - he’s sure magic is the answer, a bit of magic would do it, if only he had his magic. He’s forced to resort to the old-fashioned way, for now, and to his own intense surprise, manages well enough to keep Gaius going for far longer than he ever would have if Merlin hadn’t stepped in at all. In fact, Merlin does a lot of things like that - things he didn’t even realize he knew how to do, things he didn’t even realize he could, and slowly starts to see that yes, his magic is a part of him, but that’s all it is. A part. A piece of the whole. And he’s the whole. And he matters, and he’s good for something, and he’s a badass, without magic, because magic is NOT all he is goddamn it!!!

Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone, as in canon, and I like to imagine Merlin gets his magic back when - and ONLY when - he accepts that he’s a whole and complete person without it, because that should have been a thing at some point. ((”you cannot lose what you are” fhrfhgfggfgfdfd mY ASS. Merlin is PURE BADASSERY and UNDYING LOYALTY and y’all can leave if y’all try and say magic is all he is.))

Anyway, Arthur and Merlin and co. retake Camelot because we gotta give these kids SOMETHING, and Morgana is killed in the struggle, because let’s face it, by S5, she felt really fucking STALE as a villain. So. Arthur stabs her with Excalibur - or maybe that should be Merlin, because “Emrys is your doom” anyone? also not sure Arthur could bring himself to kill Morgana, to be honest.

Onto S5!!!! can you believe how fucking long this is already but I’m gonna keep going, because I’m really in my stride at this point. Okay, with Morgana dead, and Arthur and Gwen on the throne, Camelot has officially hit its Golden Age. Arthur has slowly begun to change his views on magic, with some small, inevitable steps backward here and there. He’s making peace with the druids, relaxing his stance on sorcerers in his city, uniting Albion, all the good shit. Gaius survived, at the end of S4, but barely, and even now, he remains weakened and frail, and everyone kind of knows he might not see the end of the year. Kilgharrah continues to give cryptic advice. Merlin wants to tell Arthur about his magic but is also a dumbass and can’t bring himself to do it even though the opportunity is RIGHT THERE and we as the audience scream at him to get a move on.

ANYWAY. With Morgana dead, no one’s left to threaten Camelot, right? Everyone’s gone, right? Merlin has all the time in the world to tell Arthur about his magic, and Arthur has all the time in the world to grow into the king Kilgharrah says he will, right?? lmao. no.

Because - wait for it - MORDRED GONNA FUCK SHIT UP SON. MORDRED’S JUST. OUT HERE. FUCKING SHIT UP. Mordred is MAD tbh, he’s really fucking sick of waiting around for Emrys to get his ass in gear and free magic and be the savior of the druids and all that shit. Mordred’s sick of it. He doesn’t care WHAT the prophecies say, it’s OBVIOUS the Triple Goddess chose wrong, and as far as he’s concerned, it’s up to HIM to fix it. So Mordred, with his ladylove, Kara, are raising a literal ARMY of sorcerers, witches, ex-druids, and the like, to exact their freedom from Emrys. They don’t care about Arthur. They’re not after Arthur. In fact, they’re pretty okay with Arthur. He’s not the man making pretty promises edged in gold and not delivering.

Mordred and Kara deliver an ultimatum to Camelot, threatening to tear the kingdom apart, brick by fucking brick, unless King Arthur gives Emrys up to them, and lets them have their way with him. Poor Arthur is like ??????????? I’m sorry????? who is this Mr. Emrys???? what did he do to piss y’all off???? can i interest y’all in a peace treaty?????

Arthur fails to comply with Mordred’s demands, and deliver Emrys to him, so the attacks begin, growing progressively more violent as the weeks go by. Of course Arthur doesn’t take it lying down - he and his knights go out to counter every assault, to try and intercept every threat, but they’re losing, and they can’t pretend otherwise. They rely on steel and sinew alone, whereas Mordred’s army uses magic in spades. They summon deadly magical creatures, they kill the crops, they manipulate the weather to bring about droughts. They do everything they can to topple Camelot. Merlin is almost sick with the guilt and shame of it all, as he watches his home torn apart, razed to the ground, all because of him. He tells Arthur the truth, and gives himself up, and Arthur’s so furious with Merlin, he doesn’t even try to stop him from heading into Mordred’s clutches, but Gwaine gets wind of what’s going down and he’s just like FUCK NO and goes after Merlin because he’s the Real MVP aaaaand this,,,,,, sounds like a bad fanfiction doesnt it ANYWAY Cue The Battle of Camlann FOR REASONS!!! and utter heartbreak. but with more time for Arthur to adjust to Merlin having magic, and working things out with him. jUST!!! more than one episode where Arthur knows the truth about Merlin!!! pls!!!! pls!!!! thats!!!! all i ask!!! also Arthur’s conscious when he meets Kilgharrah and wants to know why the FUCK Merlin is friends with the DRAGON that ATTACKED his kingdom. talk your way out of that one, Merlin. I fucking dare you.

fghytghbfdfhgfg GOD i’m,,,,,,, so sorry,,,,,,, this got,,,,,,,, so long,,,,,,,, dfhytghnjhgfghgfghgfrty if you made it to the end,,,,,,, thank you,,,,,i’m so sorry,,,,,, i talked,,,,,, so much,,,,,,,

#merlin #bbc merlin #ask #queenie #Anonymous

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hannibalcreative · 7 years

Photo

FIC

Keith & Eddie: A Tristhad Story by hotsauce418

Summary: This is the story of Keith and Eddie, two friends who met in college.

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Schooled by vix_spes

Summary: Galahad’s choice of attire may be different to the rest of them but Tristan doesn’t care. In fact, he seems to rather appreciate it.

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Good Tips by Kateera

Summary: Delivering pizza’s to a fraternity may be the worst part of Tristan’s job. A chance encounter/rescue might be all it takes to change his mind.

Mature

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

At the beach by starkaryen

Teen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Tristan’s Stable by starkaryen

Summary: Tristhad. Galahad is searching for a stable for his horse. He finds “Tristan’s Stable”

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad, Modern!AU

Not A Horse At Market by wraithsonwings

Summary: Based on this prompt:

OK… so everyone pretty much headcanons Tristan not dying at the end. So how about he doesn’t die but is injured and has to recover. Meanwhile Galahad is sent off on some random scouting exercise or something as he is still fit and well and it needs doing. Turns out all this time they have been skirting around being interested in each other. Maybe Galahad doesn’t even know Tristan pulled through. But he gets back and Tristan is recovered and neither of them can hold back the relief of being back together and then SMUT!

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

The Silent Man 3- Double Skirts/Double Braids by Hotsauce418

Summary: Tristan, Galahad and One Eye are sharing their version of domestic bliss. Running into Tristan’s older brother brings up some questions and some good times.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan, One Eye

Tristhad, One-Eye/Galahad, One-Eye/Galahad/Tristan

Something Radical by FrostyLee

Summary: Galahad was ready. He had geared himself up for this but in no more than a moment, everything changed.

Unrated

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan, Bors, Lancelot, Arthur, Gawain, Dagonet, Guinevere, Isolde

Tristhad

What Remains Behind by shiphitsthefan

Summary: “See me,” whispers a familiar voice. All Galahad has seen in these mountains is a great black stag.

Unrated

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan, Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham

Tristhad, Hannigram

The Virgin’s Beast by wolftraptobaltimore

Summary: It was said that only pure-hearted virgins could tame unicorns. At an abbey such as Galahad’s, virgins were in no short supply, but the bright, white beast approached Galahad and rested the soft flesh of its muzzle in the palm of his hand.

Explicit

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Semper Fidelis 1 by sepia-ink

Summary: @desperatelyseekingcannibals - I am on a mission to prompt everyone I can with ABO Tristhad so… ABO TRISTHAD PLEASE!! Maybe on a mission and keeping warm around a fire? Lots of fluff please, but smut is more than welcome if it goes that way XD

Unrated

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan, Bors

Tristhad

Trope: Sharing a Bed (Tristhad) by TigerPrawn

Summary: The storm outside is nothing compared to the one that has raged within Tristan throughout the years he has denied himself. After all, what alpha would take another as their lover?

Explicit

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Dragon Heart by FunkyRacoon

Summary: Galahad goes on a mission with the Knights of the Round Table, things go horribly wrong when he wakes a dragon from it’s slumber, and gets soul bound to it.

Explicit

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

The Tale of Sir Galahad and the Ridiculous Chicken by Devereauxs_Disease

Summary: Tristan’s hawk takes a sudden interest in Galahad, stealing his things whenever Galahad isn’t looking. Tristan is unhelpful at solving this problem.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan, Bors, Lancelot, Arthur, Gawain, Isolde

Tristhad

Hawk and Little Pup by Funky Raccoon

Summary: Tristhad Centaur Sex

Mature

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

everywhere by FauxFidele

Summary: Arthur sends Tristhad on a quest together, they sort out their feelings while adventuring.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan, Bors, Lancelot, Arthur, Gawain

Tristhad

Waves and arrows by veefromthesun

Summary: Galahad is ready to leave behind Arthur’s madness, but he can’t leave behind Tristan, too. Not when his constant nightmares keep reminding him that he’s more than a fellow warrior. And not when Tristan explicitly asks him to stay.

Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Galahad, Tristan, Arthur, Cedric

Tristhad

Cor Aut Mors (Heart or Death) by Beelieve

Summary: Galahad swallowed, tilting his head as far as the unwelcome grip on his face would allow. The corner of his lips lifted, innocent and seductive and so, so very young. “I would not struggle; I would be yours. Why fight for what can be—” Galahad paused, smile deepening as he chose his final words, “—freely given?”

Explicit

Rape/Noncon, Graphic Depictions of Violence

Galahad, Tristan, Bors, Lancelot, Arthur, Gawain

Tristhad

The Fox Waits Quiet At The Coop by ElectraRhodes

Summary: Every knight of the Round Table knows each skirmish might be his last. And still they wake and face each day with courage and a keen blade. And the love of their brothers in arms.

Teen

Major Character Death

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Putt Putt at Camelot by Dandelion_Wishes

Summary: A short first meeting Au for Tristhad week.

Gen

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Fairest by Llewcie

Summary: Galahad and Tristan are rivals on the jousting field and casual acquaintances off. Galahad is keeping his secondary gender a secret, after all, and it’s just easier not to be close to anyone who might discover it and start treating him differently. It’s a great plan.

Mature

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan, Gawain

Tristhad

Bondless by Llewcie

Summary: Galahad runs an Omega club with the best security on the eastern seaboard. Tuesday nights are Alpha Night, where alphas can pay dearly for the privilege of buying an omega a drink. Tristan is willing to pay just to look on Galahad from behind the glass security wall. Galahad is pretty sure he wants more.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan, Arthur, Gawain

Tristhad

Model Citizen by Cognomen

Summary: In which Galahad and Tristan are live models for the holiday season for Rival store brands; but retail hell makes allies of them.

Mature

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Only The Horses by acemattmrdck

Summary: “He’s never been this open, but neither has Tristan. There’s always been some shared knowing glances and shoulder brushing. Slowly they’ve built up to to hand holding and the occasional gentle kiss. Galahad’s title of Sir Galahad the Pure remains true.”

Mature

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

Two Days, Two Knights by wolftraptobaltimore (ogidni)

Summary: Galahad hefted the staff into his hands and checked on the weight and grip of it. He then tested the staff that had been aimed at Tristan. Deciding this one suited him better, he dropped the former at Tristan’s feet.

Explicit

No Archive Warnings Apply

Galahad, Tristan

Tristhad

#tristhadfest #tristhad #roundup #tristan #galahad #hugh dancy #mads mikkelsen #king arthur

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beyondthedreamline · 7 years

Text

Ladies of Legend: Isolde

References: Mythology: Myths, Legends, & Fantasies (Hodder, 2013) by Dr. Alice Mills, Le Morte d’Arthur in two volumes: volume one and volume two (J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1978, originally published in 1485) by Sir Thomas Malory, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iseult, http://www.timelessmyths.com/arthurian/tristan.html,

Trigger warning: references to rape

When it comes to famous tales of tragic love, June’s Lady of Legend is up there with the big guns. ‘Tristram and Isolde’ are two names bound together in the same way as ‘Lancelot and Guinevere’, and in fact predate them, being originally separate from the Arthurian cycle. There are two distinct versions of their legend: the early romances and the Prose Tristran. I shall begin with the Prose.

Women in Arthurian legend have a certain tendency to come in threes. The ancient Welsh myths reference three different Guineveres; in Le Morte d’Arthur, Igraine has three daughters; and in the story of Tristram(/Tristran) and Isolde (alternative spellings include Iseult, Iseo, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Izolda, Esyllt and Isotta) there are three royal women bearing the same name. The heroine is Isolde the Fair, who was named for her mother, Queen Isolde of Ireland. The third Isolde is Isolde’s rival in love, a woman she never met. For their stories to make sense, you need a little background on the man who spectacularly screwed up all of their lives; and for him to make sense, you need some background on his mother.

Tristram (also known as Tristran) was the son of King Meliodas of Liones and Elizabeth of Cornwall, the sister of King Mark. According to Le Morte d’Arthur, Elizabeth was pregnant with Tristram when a sorceress kidnapped her husband and imprisoned him. Elizabeth went to get him back. She never reached Meliodas; she went into labour in the forest and died there. Tristram’s name means ‘sorrowful birth’. He was found by his father’s barons, who would have killed him for the power if not for Elizabeth’s companion, a lady-in-waiting so persuasive she got a majority vote for Tristram’s continued survival. The same lady-in-waiting brought the queen’s body home to her husband, who was released from his prison by Merlin (too late to be of any use; that’s Merlin for you.)

It was not a good start.

When Tristram was seven, his new stepmother tried to win a crown for her own children by poisoning him, and it was only through Tristram’s pleading for her life that she was kept from the pyre. After that, bizarrely, it was Tristram who had to leave home. He went to France for his education, which was very thorough and knightly. And fortuitous, because his uncle Mark was in a spot of financial and political bother. Cornwall traditionally owned truage to Ireland, but had not paid up in seven years. King Anguish of Ireland, upon being told he was never going to get his money, decided to settle the question with a duel of champions and sent his brother-in-law Sir Marhaus to Cornwall. This being Isolde’s uncle. Do you see how this gets very messy very quickly?

Marhaus arrived outside Tintagel Castle and Mark regretted all his life choices, as nobody at his court was willing to fight a celebrated knight from the court of Arthur himself. Tristram, full of youthful fervour, asked his uncle to make him a knight in order to take on the duel. While he was busy getting ready for his big Knightly Moment, he received word from King Faramon of France’s daughter, who fell in love with him during his time abroad. Tristram was not interested, and the poor girl died of sorrow.

And Marhaus didn’t even want to fight Tristram, he thought he was too young and tried to send him home. The battle that eventually ensued was brutal. Marhaus received such terrible head injuries that he ceded the field, returned to Ireland and died there with a piece of Tristram’s sword embedded in his skull. His sister kept that fragment after Marhaus’ death, and ached for revenge. Her daughter did not have an uncle any more, so that Tristram’s could escape his debt.

Tristram did not escape the duel without injury. Marhaus’ spear was poisoned and in consequence, Tristram’s wounds would not heal. A ‘wise lady’ advised that Tristram seek help in the land of the venom’s origin. Having no better ideas, that was what he did. Which is how he ended up outside the castle of King Anguish, Queen Isolde and their very beautiful, reknown surgeon of a daughter. Surgeon being Malory’s word, by the way.

Tristram’s skilful harping caught the attention of the court. He called himself ‘Tramtrist’, because that’s just what he’s like as a person. Pretending he was injured fighting on behalf of a lady, he finangled his way into Anguish’s circle of knights and into the care of Princess Isolde, who cleaned his wound properly. In return he taught her to play the harp. There was flirting of the courtly, deceptive variety. Isolde, however, already had a serious suitor at court: Sir Palamides the Saracen. Like Marhaus, Palamides was a knight of King Arthur’s court, and he was head over heels for Isolde, sending her gifts every day, even planning to convert to Christianity for her sake.

For all that, Isolde was not interested in him. With Tristram more or less recovered from his injuries, she urged him to compete in an upcoming joust. Palamides was an excellent jouster, but Tristram was the Hero of the Story and therefore not only defeated his rival, he forced him to give up the trappings of war for a whole year and give up on his courtship of the princess. Which one would assume was her intention.

She was certainly delighted by his victory. Together, she and the queen prepared a bath for him. Unfortunately, Tristram left his sword in his chambers; the same sword he used to kill Marhaus, with a tell-tale piece missing. Queen Isolde put two and two together, and came up with rage. She picked up that sword and marched off to run Tristram through with it.

She failed to kill him, and so took her revelations to Anguish, who could not have wanted to deal with it less. He did not take Tristram’s actions personally, but could hardly let the killer of his brother-in-law stay at court. Unashamed, Tristram pledged his service to Anguish’s daughter and asked for a final audience with her, which he got. Princess Isolde was more concerned with Tristram’s continued survival than the lie he had told or the death of her uncle; he told Isolde his life story and swore loyalty to her. In turn, she swore not to marry within the next seven years except with his consent. They exchanged rings.

Then he returned to King Mark’s court in Cornwall and hooked up with a married lady. Such loyal, so pining.

This fling was where he first clashed with his uncle, who fancied the same lady. Suffice to say, they both behaved very badly. King Mark decided to get his own back by marrying Isolde and sent Tristram to fetch her, intending his nephew to die en route. Instead, Tristram washed up near Camelot and defended King Anguish in a very dodgy trial-by-combat legal situation. As his reward, Tristram asked for Isolde’s hand…on Mark’s behalf.

In what universe did that seem like a good life choice, Tristram? Honestly?

Anguish, a low-key Tristram/Isolde shipper, was disappointed but agreed. Isolde was not consulted. Her mother made the best of the situation (probably grateful that Isolde wasn’t marrying Tristram) by giving her daughter’s gentlewoman, Dame Bragwaine, a love potion to ensure Isolde’s marital success. And complete loss of consent. SURPRISE, Tristram and Isolde accidentally drank the potion. If they weren’t in love before, and let’s face it, Tristram did not appear to be, now they had no choice in the matter.

On the way to Cornwall, they stopped at the castle of Pluere, where they were taken captive by its resident homicidal nobleman. Lord Breunor had a rule that whoever passed through with a lady was obliged to take part in a bizarre beauty contest. If their lady was less beautiful than his wife, she would lose her head. If the knight lost a fight with Breunor, the lady would die anyway. Upon seeing Isolde, Breunor planned out loud – IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE – to kill Tristram and have Isolde for his own. Tristram expressed his feelings on the subject by cutting off the poor woman’s head, like any of this was her fault.

He also killed Breunor, which is something, I suppose. Tristram and Isolde returned to sea. When they reach Cornwall, she married Mark. And if you thought all of this was already soap opera worthy, just wait for the next bit.

Isolde’s new ladies-in-waiting were so jealous of Bragwaine’s place at court that they tied her to a tree in the forest for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT, until Sir Palamides appeared from nowhere and took her to a nunnery to recover from the ordeal. Which was a truly noble thing to do! Less noble was offering Bragwaine’s safe return to a sad and frightened Isolde in exchange for an unspecified favour, and upon being promised said favour, cashing it as Isolde coming away with him against her will. King Mark allowed this on the assumption that Tristram would save her. Then he found out Tristram was away on a hunting trip. “That by mine own assent my lady and my queen shall be devoured,” Mark bemoaned, too late to do anyone any good whatsoever.

One of Tristram’s friends, Sir Lambegus, went after Isolde instead. While Palamides was beating him into the ground, Isolde made a run for it. Her first, somewhat hysterical, plan was to drown herself in the nearest well, but a knight called Sir Adtherp saw her and invited her back to his castle. His chivalry extended to then going to fight Palamides, which was a bad idea because Palamides demolished him and demanded to know where Isolde was hiding. She was, however, prepared for him, locking down the castle to wait out his one-man siege.

Tristram did eventually come to rescue her, pouncing on Palamides outside the gates, and it was only Isolde’s mercy that left Palamides with his life. She forbade him from returning to Cornwall while she was there, and even used him as a messenger to send a letter to Queen Guinevere. “There be within this land but four lovers,” she wrote, “that is, Sir Launcelot du Lake and Queen Guenever, and Tristram de Liones and Queen Isoud.”

This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Nobody could understand what it was like to live inside an epic romantic tragedy like Guinevere could.

Isolde returned to Tintagel with Tristram, and the two of them became lovers. All was well for a time, until Tristram’s cousin Andred found evidence of their adultery and told Mark. The king tried to kill Tristram, who responded by hitting him in the neck repeatedly until he collapsed, then riding off into the woods and killing one of Mark’s knights there. He sent the dead man’s brother, mortally wounded, to bring the first man’s decapitated head to Mark. Isolde saw that knight die in front of her. The man she loved was a ruthless creature, but it’s not as if the other men around her were kinder.

It was only the cold logic of Tristram’s value as a knight, and the knowledge Arthur would snap him up if Mark let him go, that led to reconciliation after all of that. Not that it was much of a reconciliation. Mark invited his wife and nephew on a hunting trip, and wheeled out Tristram to joust against Sir Lamorak. Tristram won without enthusiasm and Lamorak left in a huff. Encountering one of Morgan le Fay’s minions on his way, a knight bearing an enchanted horn, Lamorak maliciously offered directions to King Mark’s pavilion, thereby transferring the problem from its intended target – Guinevere – to Isolde. The horn could not be drunk from by a woman unfaithful to her husband. Only four women of Mark’s court didn’t spill it. Isolde was not one of the four.

Mark wanted to burn the lot of them, because apparently it’s all right for him to take a married woman as his lover but grounds for mass murder when ladies do the same. Mark’s barons averted the slaughter by pointing out the horn came from Morgan le Fay, of all the untrustworthy people, and the knights of the court swore against the sorceress.

The close call certainly didn’t put an end to Tristram and Isolde’s clandestine meetings; Andred eventually caught them naked in bed together, and Tristram was sentenced to death. He reminded everyone that Cornwall would still be paying tribute to Ireland without him. He then killed ten knights while stark naked and jumped into the sea. Never let it be said that Tristram doesn’t bring the drama!

Tristram’s friends at court sought him out and found him safe among the coastal rocks. He asked immediately after Isolde and learned Andred’s supporters had placed her in a leper-house. Tristram stormed off to get her, installing her in a forest manor and they experienced a fragile domesticity for a short, sweet time before Mark found out where they were. He dragged Isolde back to court. Tristram was injured in a separate fight, and unable to rescue his lover. Isolde got word to Tristram through a cousin of Bragwaine’s, advising he retreat to Brittany, where Isolde of the White Hands, daughter of King Howel, might be able to heal his injuries.

She was going to regret giving that advice, in case you hadn’t already guessed.

Howel was under attack from an earl named Grip who had already wounded Howel’s son Kehydius. The king was in the market for a champion, and along came Tristram to save the day. Howel offered him the kingdom in gratitude, but Tristram considered the rescue a suitable thank you to Isolde of the White Hands for healing him. Which would have been fine. Except then he married her. In true Tristram fashion, he got cold feet about it on the wedding night and so refused to consummate the marriage, ensuring maximum unhappiness for everyone involved.

Word of the marriage filtered through to Lancelot, who was vocal about his deep disappointment in Tristram. Who was finally ashamed of something. Lancelot has that effect on people. Isolde, for her part, wrote miserable letters to Guinevere about her lover’s inconstancy and Guinevere wrote back that maybe Tristram was enchanted, and anyway, he’d definitely come crawling back in the end.

Tristram took his new wife and brother-in-law on an ill-advised holiday to the Isle of Servage. The lord of the island, a giant Sir Nabon le Noire, had a particular thing for killing knights of the Round Table. Bad news for Lamorak, who happened upon the island as well. Tristram had not forgotten the horn incident, but the two of them chose to get past it, possibly the first mature decision Tristram ever made. Together they overcame Nabon and parted ways. Later, Tristram wrote to Lancelot, excusing his inconstancy and asking if Lancelot would speak for him if he saw Isolde first. Lancelot was a tad busy at the time shepherding a young knight through his very first quest, but as it happened, Isolde took matters into her own hands and invited Tristram – wife, brother-in-law and all – to Cornwall.

Tristram duly set off. He got sidetracked on the way by a lot of fighting in Wales, and Nimue enlisted him to help rescue King Arthur himself from an obsessive sorceress, but eventually Tristram arrived in Cornwall and was smuggled into Mark’s castle, where he and Isolde took up their affair like they’d never left off. Her rival vanishes from the narrative.

Kehydius, unaware of all the history, fell for Isolde at first sight, writing letters and ballads to woo her. Isolde tried to gentle him out of the crush. When Tristram found the letters, he had the goddamn nerve to call Isolde a ‘traitress’ and Kehydius, unfortunately present, was so shocked he accidentally stepped backward out of a window. Which sort of caught Mark’s attention. Tristram sulked his way out of Tintagel, and Isolde took to her bed in a lethargy of despair.

Tristram got as far as the castle where he fought Palamides that time over Isolde’s hand. He broke down crying outside the walls. Fortunately he’d been tracked the whole way by a benevolent messenger girl, who explained his situation to the lady of the castle, and together they tried to feed the wailing knight. He stayed with the lady for around three months, sadly playing the harp, before giving up on even pretending to cope and going wild in the forest instead.

Kehydius survived his fall, by the way. Isolde sent him away from Cornwall and he ended up meeting Palamides, with whom he bonded over their mutual fixations on the queen. Sir Andred, meanwhile, convinced his girlfriend to pretend she saw Tristram die, which would make Andred the heir to Tristram’s kingdom. Mark cried crocodile tears and Isolde nearly killed herself, jamming a sword through a plum tree in the garden and preparing to impale herself on it. “For,” she declared, “he was my first love and he shall be the last.” Mark intercepted his wife before she could go through with it and put her on suicide watch in a tower.

Tristram returned to his role of Cornish Hero by killing a thuggish local giant. Mark, not recognising him after so long running feral in the forest, brought Tristram back to Tintagel for healing, and no one there recognised him either – except Isolde’s little dog, who was a gift from Tristram and greeted him so excitedly Isolde knew it was her lover. Afraid Mark would work it out too and have Tristram killed for real this time, she sent him away to Arthur’s court.

She was just a little too late. Andred put the pieces together and Mark summoned his barons, hoping to compel a death sentence out of them. Tristram was still a popular man in Cornwall, however, and merely received ten years of banishment, which was quite bad enough to the lovers. Typical to their holding pattern, Tristram got himself in as much trouble as possible, eventually landing in prison, while Isolde sent him letters with the long-suffering Bragwaine as go-between and listened intently to all rumour concerning Tristram’s doings. Tristram’s captor was honourable enough to release him when Tristram fell ill, but it was a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, because Tristram ran straight into the clutches of Morgan le Fay. She convinced him to carry a shield to his next tournament, it being emblazoned with the imagery of a knight standing above a king and queen, intended to sow discord in Arthur’s court.

By this point, Palamides and Tristram had formed an epic relationship of their own – Tristram prevented Palamides from committing suicide, then they got locked up in prison together, it reached the point where it was even odds whether they’d rescue each other or demand a fight to the death any time they met. When he eventually arrived at Arthur’s court, Arthur and Guinevere welcomed Tristram and he took Marhaus’s seat at the Round Table. I wonder how Queen Isolde of Ireland felt about that. Murderous, I expect.

All his nephew’s fame and fortune did not go over well with King Mark. He disguised himself and went to finish the matter once and for all. On the way he heard a lot of praise of Tristram and a lot of bad things about himself, with Palamides declaring King Mark did not deserve such a wonderful queen as Isolde. This did not make Mark any less inclined towards killing Tristram.

Not being physically present did not make Isolde any less capable of foiling him. Her ladies at Guinevere’s court revealed Mark’s identity, and his treachery. Lancelot wanted to fight him on the principle of the thing. Arthur, at his most kingly, established a chilly peace, insisting that Mark take Tristram back to Cornwall with him. Lancelot was strongly against the idea, but Tristram so badly wanted to go home and see Isolde again, he was willing to take Mark’s insincere assurances of friendship at face value (they had a fraction more weight after Lancelot was done threatening him).

Tristram reassured his friends with letters, and the same messenger girl who delivered those went to Isolde afterward. The Cornish queen was eager for news of Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere, who she considered friends. Mark, though, felt much more secure once back in his own kingdom. He had the NERVE to send a letter to Guinevere, trying to shame her for infidelity; furious, she showed the letter to Lancelot, whose friend Dinadan retaliated by having a very insulting (and very popular) song written about Mark.

Soon Mark had bigger problems. Problems the size of an invading army, actually. Tristram was the saviour of Tintagel once more with a sudden assault, and after that took over strategy, since Mark would appear to be very bad at it. Admittedly, Tristram’s strategy was pretty much just ride or die, but it worked for him. Not long after Tristram freed Tintagel, a different army landed on the coast and Mark’s much more likable younger brother Boudwin claimed an impressive victory of his own by setting the enemy’s ships on fire. It was all too much for Mark. He would seem to be allergic to other people’s success. He sent for his brother and Boudwin’s wife Anglides, pretending friendship, then stabbed Boudwin through the heart. It was only through Isolde’s quick action that Anglides and her young son Alisander got away alive.

But Mark still had Tristram around the place, which wouldn’t do, so he seized upon someone else’s rivalry to do the deed and still keep his hands clean. There was a plot to kill Lancelot at a tournament in Cornwall. Learning of it, Mark pretended that Tristram was Lancelot. Unfortunately for Mark, Tristram survived the plot, though he was injured. Mark fed him a sleeping potion and dumped him in prison to die.

It was a miscalculation. Isolde sent a loyal knight to find Tristram and when he couldn’t pick up a trail, Sir Sadok roused an impressive array of supporters into a full-blown rebellion. Sir Percival, one of the Round Table’s big up-and-comers, eventually found Tristram and set him free in no time at all. Tristram being freed put an end to the rebellion, but Mark threw him straight back in prison.

Isolde had had enough.

She enlisted Sadok and her ally Dinas to take Mark captive and arranged for a ship; Tristram was set free again and the lovers took off for England, where they crashed a tournament and were adopted by Lancelot. He offered them his castle of Joyous Gard as a new home. He also told Guinevere about their arrival, and she told Arthur, and Arthur threw a massive celebratory joust. For the first time since that ill-fated retreat in the forest manor, Tristram and Isolde could be together in peace. Tristram exasperated his friends with his lectures on the power of love and Isolde, still tickled over that song about her ex-husband, made a point of befriending Dinadan.

Tristram remained a famed jouster. During one of his periods of friendship with Palomides, and after joining forces with Sir Gareth (he who married Lyonesse), they entered a tournament together with Dinadan, choosing to oppose Arthur’s team for more of a challenge. Isolde came with them to watch the tournament. She remained a skilled healer, examining Gareth after a mishap on the field. The whole team performed well – though Palamides apparently had ‘love triangle’ written all over him to the point Lancelot took him aside and told him to keep his passion to himself.

Palamides sucked at that. When he noticed a man staring at Isolde, he knocked him off his horse, only to discover it was King Arthur (he got knocked off his horse in return by Lancelot). After this incident Palamides’ ill will towards Tristram was reawakened and he disguised himself to fight Tristram. Isolde, having been watching so closely, recognised who was fighting her lover and confronted him furiously afterward, calling him ‘a felon and a traitor’. Tristram was willing to accept Palamides’ excuse that he did not recognise Tristram on the field; Isolde did NOT. Devastated by her disapproval, he cried all night and parted company with them all the next day. He had to admit to himself that Isolde did not love him, that he had ruined everything through his own actions. “Therefore,” he concluded, “I have lost the love of her and of Sir Tristram forever.”

In case you’re wondering why Guinevere was not at the tournament, she was laid up with a malady in a castle by the sea, and was eager to have news from visiting knights. When they gushed about Isolde’s beauty, humour and kindness, Guinevere wished she could have met her in person. She also expressed her firm disapprobation of Palamides’ conduct, remarking that the envious never do well.

Well, he certainly did not do well. Palamides was captured by the men of a lord he had killed during a tournament. Facing imminent execution, he sent his love and regrets to Tristram and Isolde, honour to Arthur and a farewell to his friends. This being the weirdest relationship ever, Tristram resolved to rescue Palamides, but that proved unnecessary as Lancelot happened to pass the would-be execution and fought all twelve of Palamides’ guards to set him free. The two of them ran into Tristram going the other way. Palamides made a very nice apologetic speech and Tristram invited them home. Isolde was delighted to see Lancelot, embracing him like family, and put up with Palamides.

He despaired, literally lovesick, and sang out his sorrow by a well. Tristram, overhearing him, would have killed him had he been armed. Palamides stated he expected to die as Kehydius apparently had, for love of Isolde. She did not love him, and never would, and Palamides believed he could die by no better knight’s hands than Tristram’s. They agreed to fight a duel in fifteen days time, but Tristram was injured and could not make it, so once he healed he fought a lot of other people to make himself feel better. His homeland sent their pride, his admirers sent gifts, and he came home to Isolde every time, safe and sound. It seemed her love triangle had resolved itself exactly as she hoped.

Guinevere was not so fortunate. Due to a horrible combination of prophecy, rape and miscommunication, Lancelot went missing for two years. And who did Guinevere turn to in this terrible time? HER BEST FRIEND ISOLDE, THAT’S WHO. She wrote a letter telling her everything, and Isolde rejoiced when Lancelot finally returned. She wanted to go to court and see him, but her presence usually encouraged knights to challenge Tristram, so she told him to go without her. When he showed reluctance, she put her foot down on the subject. “What shall queens and ladies say of me?” she demanded, and Tristram duly went. With four knights, because Isolde put her foot down on that too. She’s a queen, you know, and Tristram better not forget it.

On the way, Tristram met Palamides, who wanted to get their long-postponed duel over with, only this time Tristram was unarmed so they just yelled at each other for a bit before acknowledging one another’s courage. Another knight loaned Tristram the equipment he needed. The ensuing fight was a long and hard one, with Tristram at last victorious. After that they agreed, yet again, to be friends, and cemented it by going off to get Palamides baptised. Tristram and the knight who owned the armour (Sir Galleron, whom Palamides had been fighting before Tristram came along) became Palamides’ godfathers. They joined the celebrations in Camelot. Afterward, Tristram returned to Joyous Gard and Palamides chased the Questing Beast. It was the last time they would be together.

For three years, Isolde lived at Joyous Gard. One day, as Tristram sat harping for her – as he did during their first fumbling courtship – King Mark entered their home unseen and stabbed Tristram through. Tristram managed to take Mark with him before he died; Isolde fell in a faint upon her lover’s corpse, and never woke. In an alternate version, she begged Tristram to take her with him as he died, and he crushed her to death in his arms.

And that, believe it or not, is the optimistic version.

In the early romances, it was Queen Isolde of Ireland who was the healer, not her daughter. Tristram called himself Tantris, and it was at Isolde the Fair’s specific request that he entered the court, to teach her the harp. Forty days later, he had recovered his strength, and he departed without incident. Once back in the unfriendly court of Cornwall, he told his uncle of Isolde’s beauty, and Mark sent him to arrange a marriage. The timing was fortunate for Cornwall – Ireland was under attack by a dragon. In this story, Isolde’s father is King Goram, and he promised the princess to any hero who could slay the beast.

Needless to say, Tristram managed the feat and took the dragon’s tongue as proof. Unaware of its potent venom, he hid it under his shirt, and the contact with his skin was enough to knock him out. The dragon’s corpse was discovered by the opportunistic royal seneschal, who cut off its head and claimed Isolde. Suspecting deceit, she took her concerns to her mother and the two women went to find the real hero. They recognised the unconscious Tristram on sight as Tantris the Harper and the queen healed him once again. Queen Isolde then told her husband of Tristram’s claim. The king decided to settle things with a duel – and as Queen Isolde had supported Tristram, her life would be forfeit if he did not show up to fight.

In this version, it was Princess Isolde who noticed the notch in Tristram’s sword. She would have run him through in the bath if her mother’s life had not been on the line (plus her only other marriage option was to a man she despised). The two Isoldes reluctantly allowed Tristram to live. He explained his purpose in coming and pointed out that if Isolde married Mark, her children would rule over both Ireland and Cornwall. The seneschal ran away, and Isolde went with Tristram.

The queen hoped to ensure the stability of her daughter’s marriage with the love potion, but Tristram mistook the bottle for ordinary wine and drank it together with Isolde. The two of them had no particular bond before; now, they could not keep their hands off each other. This was a problem for two reasons: firstly, Isolde still had to marry Mark, and secondly, she was no longer the virgin he expected to get. Bragwaine took Isolde’s place on the wedding night, so that Mark would have a maiden to deflower, and apparently it was dark enough that he couldn’t tell the difference. Talk about taking one for the team. Bragwaine also gave the rest of the love potion to Mark, to ensure he would be passionately in love with Isolde.

This was not a good idea.

Despite Bragwaine’s support, Isolde did not trust her. This young woman had much harder edges than the one from Le Morte d’Arthur. She ordered Bragwaine be taken out into the forest and killed, and it was only the mercy of her servants that gave Isolde the time to reconsider. When she repented her ruthlessness, Bragwaine was returned safely to her, though I doubt Bragwaine ever felt safe with her mistress again.

There were those in Mark’s court who suspected that Tristram and Isolde were sleeping together and trap after trap were set for them. The lovers were crafty. One time Mark tried to catch them in the act by hiding in a tree beside the stream where they met, but Tristram glimpsed his reflection in the water and instead of hooking up, he and Isolde had a very serious conversation about Tristram’s career options, should his uncle not appreciate his presence at court any more. That was enough to allay Mark’s suspicion for a while, but eventually the lovers slipped up. Tristram left blood on Isolde’s sheets from a re-opened wound.

With actual evidence, Mark forced Isolde to endure an ordeal to prove her innocence. She was to take a hot iron against her skin, and if she told the truth, God would theoretically protect her. The ritual was to be held at Carlion, which gave Isolde enough time to come up with a plan. She had Tristram disguise himself as a peasant, who carried her from her boat to the shore, ostensibly to prevent her dress getting wet. On Isolde’s instruction, he stumbled. She landed on top of him. This way she could truthfully claim that no two men had been between her legs apart from King Mark and that (unnamed) peasant. In one account, she called on King Arthur and his knights to witness her oath and protect her. Gawain, Yvain and Girflet were present at the time, and took Isolde’s side. So it would seem did God, because Isolde passed the test.

Mark was unconvinced. According to one story, he banished the lovers; in another, he tried to have them burned at the stake, and when Tristram got away, handed Isolde over to a group of lepers in the hope that they would rape her. Tristram rescued her, and they fled together into the forest. Exhausted, the lovers fell asleep fully clothed, with a sword between them. Mark happened upon them and took this position as evidence of their innocence, so decided to try and reconcile with Isolde. After trying to have her raped. There is a significant divergence in different versions at this point – in one Isolde returns to Mark despite still loving Tristram, while in another the love potion’s effects wear off after three years, leaving the lovers bewildered and ashamed. Either way, Isolde returned to Tintagel.

As in Malory’s account, Tristram went to Brittany and married Isolde of the White Hands, though he did not love her. Defeating the giant Moldagog in battle, Tristram compelled him to make a startlingly life-like statue of Isolde the Fair so that he could come to Moldagog’s cave and feel he was in his lover’s presence. He also had a statue of Brangwaine, holding the love potion, which is a bit creepy. When his brother-in-law confronted him over his sham marriage, Tristram showed him the statues as Exhibit A and the two of them went to Cornwall in secret. Kehydius fell for Brangwaine. At first, she used a magical pillow to make him fall asleep every time he came to her, but on Isolde’s recommendation, Brangwaine eventually decided to have sex with him. Isolde and Tristram were obviously banging like a screen door in a hurricane, though Isolde was certainly not happy about Tristram’s marriage – especially as she’d had a knight called Cairado hanging around hoping to take Tristram’s place in her bed, and she’d point blank refused him.

The two sets of lovers did at last have to separate. While they were apart, Tristram was wounded in battle with a poisoned lance and he knew only Isolde the Fair could help him. The crew of the ship sent to fetch her were told to fly white sails if Isolde was aboard, black if she was not. They arrived with white sails flying but by then Tristram was too weak to leave his bed and out of jealousy, his wife told him the sails were black. Tristram died of despair. La Beale Isolde died of a broken heart. The lovers were buried side by side and a tree grew from each of their graves, the branches inseparably entwined. Though a furiously jealous Mark tried to hack them down, the trees grew back, unstoppable.

This version holds echoes of other myths – the significance of the sails is also present in the Greek myth of Theseus and Aegeus, while the grave trees are present in the Irish tragedy of Deidre and Naoise. Isolde is a fiercer woman, and a sadder one. Though I admire the early Isolde’s determination and cunning, it’s the Isolde from Le Morte d’Arthur I love best. She gets to grow up: from the girl who fell in love with a liar to the queen who walked out of her kingdom because she wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her any more. Her lover and her husband both abandoned her, she was kidnapped and humiliated, and what did she do? She made new friends. With their help, she made a new life.

No, she did not get a happy ending – but she was happy. And maybe that’s enough.

These stories vary wildly depending on time and teller – I work with the sources I have to hand but if you know an alternative version I would love to hear it!

Originally posted on Wordpress

#my writing #ladies of legend #isolde #guinevere #arthurian legends #mythology girls #tw: references to rape

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hermioneblack · 7 years

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Orginal Story- Chapter fivish

Unbetaed. unchecked and historically wrong...... give me some tips, ideas, help with with bulky sentances or tell me not to give up my day job.

“So, King Arthur is real?”

Merlin took a drag of the cigarette, she nodded in agreement her long dark curling bobbing in the moonlight.

“The round table?”

“Real.”

“Morgana the Evil witch?”

“Real.”

“Dragons?”

“Real but extinct.”

“And you are Merlin, the old white dude with the beard?”

“Kind of, I go by Merlin and I have magic. But the whole white dude beard thing is a myth that must be made up later in time. Probably by old white bearded men who couldn’t deal with Arthur's closest companion being a black woman.”

Guinevere rolled her own cigarette over her fingertips, her brain working a mile a minute taking in the world around her.

They sat on top of tower of castle, that only two days before she had stood in its ruins, or was it in a thousand odd years she would stand in its ruins. The whole time-travel thing made her head hurt and she took a calming drag from the cigarette, the smoke escaped her mouth and as she blew the rest out she got lost in the patterns.

Merlin placed a hand on her knee bringing her back to her new reality.

“I know you’re confused. But I know where you are right now. And it gets better. At least it will get better once we work some stuff out.”

Guinevere’s hazel eyes met Merlin’s brown, she smiled weakly at her and patted the hand still lingering on her knee.

“How did you do this for seven years? How did you not go insane?”

Merlin broke the eye contact and looked out to the stars, with no pollution in the air Guinevere realised how beautiful the Welsh sky could be the stars lit up the night’s sky like a million tiny fireflies.

“Arthur. He helped me, rescued me really. I fell through the portal wearing tiny shorts and a shirt that said ‘Fuck the Police’. And when I landed I caught on fire. My magic appeared that day and for about 12 hours I burnt, nothing burnt away, not my clothes or the frozen ground around me but no one could touch me. It was like that part of snow white where she is encased in that glass coffin, sleeping like the dead. But instead of glass it was fire and instead of some ivory girl it was me with tattooes up my arm and ebony skin. Arthur was called to see the witch encased in flames, he was still a prince then. He sat with me for hours, just sat and kept people away from me. When I woke, I was scared and afraid and every other descriptive word for fear. But Arthur looked at me, and simply said, ‘I think you could use a friend.’ He took me to a bedchamber, got me clothes to wear and scrolls on witchcraft and we would sit for hours each day scouring over them trying to work out where the fire came from. One day we stopped looking for answers and just accepted it. When we finally accepted there were no answers to find, we realised how good we were together, how my mind and his worked differently but together we could answer every question put before us. When he was made King, I became his royal advisor and I swore I would make sure he was never harmed, that the future I knew to be true would never come to pass. And I have been good so far, my magic keeps Morgana away, battles are avoided by diplomatic talks and I have scared away every woman from court with even a name similar to Guinevere. But then you fall through the same damn portal with a name like Guinevere and a face that could launch a thousand bloody ships and I really want to hate you. But I can’t because he is going to fall in love with you. And he will be happy.” Merlin stopped to draw breath and light another cigarette, the packet now half empty.

“What if I don’t talk to him, or ignore him or I am not his type?”

“You are his type.”

“How do you know, maybe he hates red head.”

“He doesn’t.”

The pair tell into silence, smoking the packet of cigarettes away neither of them thinking of saving them.

“I want to go home.” Guinevere whispered.

“I know. That feeling won’t go away.”

Guinevere clasped Merlin’s hand, their fingers entangled together.

“I am glad that even If I am stuck here, I am stuck here with you.” she leant over, her long red hair spilling over her shoulders as her lips gently kissed the witch’s forehead.

Merlin ducked her head and looked away pulling her hand from Guinevere’s.

“Me too.” She muttered before flicking the finished butt over the tower wall and leaving. The tower door slamming behind her.

“Well done G.” She muttered to the now empty tower. Since she had woken up Merlin had been by her side, she had held her hand while Arthur had interrogated her. She had helped her dress in the ridiculous dress she wore right now with its corset and poufy sleeves. She had warmed her bath and washed away the dirt from her hair. Merlin had been there the whole time and in return all Guinevere had to give her was half a package of cigarettes and the horrible future her existence would bring.

She wasn’t dumb, her parents had raised her in a bookstore, she knew the story of King Arthur and his Guinevere, she had been named after the infamous queen after all. Guinevere marries Arthur, falls in love with him and they rule the kingdom of Camelot together for years in peace. Then Guinevere meets Lancelot, they fall in love, Arthur is betrayed and in a burst of anger goes to war with Morgana his half-sister, and dies. The story changes depending on the author but the ending was always the same, Guinevere betrays her husband and he dies.

She was going to kill the King.

And then Merlin would kill her.

And guinevere would let her.

Suddenly the cigarette in her hand didn’t feel so good and the meal she had downed only an hour before at uncomfortably in her stomach.

“I don’t want to kill him.” she prayed to the universe, hoping that maybe someone would hear her.

“I don’t want to be her, I don’t want to be Guinevere. I want to be Gwen again.” Her voice broke as she rambled every thought out loud, her face wet with tears that fell freely.

Finally, she stopped, her voice gone and her eyes dried up. No more tears would fall and she had no more prayers to say, she was a woman of the 21st century with more experience in handling difficulties then most.

Who on earth said history was written in stone.

“I am not going to kill King Arthur!” She shouted to the sky, rising to her feet and staring out to the dark welsh countryside.

“Well that is a nice comfort to know.”

She jumped back, hitting the tower ramparts. Arthur had snuck through the door as she had been crying, he gave her a crooked smile and leant back against the door hand on sword, sealing her only exit.

“Shit.” She muttered and turned her back on the king, closing her eyes she tried to calm herself. She wasn’t going to kill King Arthur because he was about to kill her.

“Language, you’re almost as bad as Merlin.” She turned back, plastering a smile on her face that hurt so badly her cheeks quivered. She curtsied, badly, and looked down at her feet like Merlin had instructed her.

“Your Highness.” She kept her head down but heard his shoes scuff as he walked towards her. His calloused hands cupped her downward face, with a level of gentleness she did not think the king capable of, he lifted her face look at him. He was smiling again, and against his pale skin and shining blue eyes he truly looked like a Disney Prince Charming come to life.

“You don’t have to look away from me.” his voice was low, gravely and made something deep in guinevere's stomach shake and quiver.

Fuck she muttered to herself trying to resist any type of eye contact, in less then 30 seconds she had failed her self made task of not wanting the young King.

“I must your Highness, you are the King.”

“I am the King, so you must follow my orders, correct?”

Guinevere swallowed, her heart beating in her throat, she nodded, trying to move her head from the king's hands.

“So if i order you to never look away from me, You would have to obey. Correct?”

“That would be impractical surely, what if i wish to converse with someone else, or look at my dinner as I eat it. I would have to look away from you then.” Guinevere shuffled to the left slipping out of the King's grasp. But he was quicker, and taller, with just one stride he was back in front of her.

“I don’t like the idea of you conversing with others.”

“Well that's too bad, my mum always said I was a chatter box.”

Arthur's brow furrowed in confusion.

“A Chatter box?” the words sounded so very wrong on his tongue and made Guinevere giggle at the sight of the ancient king saying Chatter Box.

“Yes, it's an origami kind of thing,” She moved around the tower, trying to out maneuver the king to allow herself to between the door and his very hard body.

But the king was fast and while he listened to her rambling, smiling at her antics of hand waving and trying to explain paper folding from a land he had never heard of, he laughed. Which made Guinevere mad.

“You shouldn’t laugh at me your Highness!” She kept trying to worm around his body but with each of her carefully thought out steps he was in front of her, staring her down with his crooked grin and beautiful blue eyes.

“You are under my roof, Lady Guinevere, I can laugh at you if it is my heart's desire.”

She looked up, her own golden eyes staring up at the thousand brilliant stars.

“We are under no roof, your Highness, so I ask you please don’t laugh at me.”

This made the king laugh more,and his roaring sent her heart and stomach plummeting south. It was a sound so familiar and so foreign at the same time, and even though she had vowed to ever harm the King or cause him pain. It was in that moment she realised that she was falling in love with the king.

And that could bring his death.

The thought sobered her, the laughter and joy that had shone through her eyes dimmed and she had to look away, turning from the King she leaned against the towers ramparts, her eyes filled with tears.

Two Days.

Two days is all it took for her heart to thaw and beat for someone else.

For the man who now leant against her, who was wrapping his strong arms around her shoulders.

“Tell me what is wrong, my lady, tell me and I will fix it.”

She shook her head, her red hair falling in her eyes and down her back. What she would give for a hair tie and bobby pins.

“You wouldn’t understand.” she whispered, refusing to look at him. Staring still at the stars, how she wished she could be amongst them and far away from her current predicament.

“You can’t fix me, I am not broken.”

“Then why do you cry?” his voice was so soft, it was almost carried away by the faint breeze.

“Because I am going to break something- someone.”

“Who?”

She turned and looked the King in the eyes for the first time, tears still streaming down her face and with a voice that was barely there she croaked out,”You, I am going to break you.”

He looked taken back and stepped away from her.

“I don’t think you could break me.” but his voice didn't match his confidence, and Guinevere knew it was true.

She swallowed a sob and with shaking gentle hands she cupped his face, his whiskers were softer than she had thought they would be and his skin soft and warm under her chilled fingers.

“I promised Merlin that I would leave you alone, that I would not be the one who falls for you, I wouldn’t be that stupid woman from the stories that takes and takes till she leaves a crumbled ruin in her wake. But then you come up here with your stupid half smile and your pretty face and you think I’m funny for rambling and making no sense and it makes me want to kiss you and hold you. And i don’t like kissing people or holding people but you're here and for some reason I want to do all that with you and I can’t because I promised. So I think I will take my leave now.” she bobbed an awkward curtsy and ran for the door, tripping on her skirts as she went. Finally as she ripped the door open she took one last look at the King. He was looking away, his gaze out past the welsh countryside. She smiled weakly at the back of his head and made her way slowly down the stairs.

She would leave. It was the only way to make sure she did not ruin the King and bring Camelot to the ground.

She walked through the empty corridors, almost everyone had gone to bed by now and she was truly alone.

Her Bedchamber was cold, the fire gone out hours before and she opened her wardrobe to find dresses she couldn’t possibly take with her, to fine for whatever life she was going to lead away from the castle.

I can do this, she chanted in her head, I can change the past.

But with every action her body felt weaker, her muscles tightened and her brain felt foggy. The panic Attack she had felt building up on the tower wanted to take over, it wanted to claw out of her mind and into her body. Like it had when her parents died, when Joe died and she was alone. The panic had taken resident in her soul for so long that she had forgotten what it felt like to be without it, but one day after years of sorrow she had awoken and realised the sun was out, that her body was hers again and she had felt free.

But the panic was back, its dark claws edging into her body once again, her vision blurred and she felt her body fall. Her elbow hit the floor first followed quickly by her left side, her head hit with a loud thud sending her back into the darkness she didn’t want to crawl out of.

“Guinevere!” she thought she heard arthur call just before the sweet nothing took over.

#orginal story #please critique #gwenxarthur

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