#arthurian fanfic

[liminalpsych]

A very, very roughly sketched, unedited scene that wouldn't leave me alone this morning and demanded to be written (....oh hey @queer-ragnelle! I accidentally made a Lusty Month of May / May Day Parade contribution!):

The week they arrive at Sorelois. Perhaps even the day. Guinevere is half-mad with rage and grief, reeling from Arthur's betrayal, the loss of her marriage, of her court. It's the usurping of her entire life.

It makes her bold. It makes her want to be cruel. It makes her want to strike back or to take what she wants or to rebel in some small or large way. It makes her want to hurt Arthur in turn, or transgress since she has already been spurned from society and convicted for something for which she's innocent.

"There is something I wish to see," Guinevere says, there in the somber quiet of the receiving room with Lancelot, Galehaut, and Lady Bloie of Malehaut. An announcement to the air, undirected.

Lancelot responds first, of course, as expected. He kneels before her, the picture of earnest devotion. "Whatever you wish, my queen, I will strive my utmost to bring it to you."

Across the room, towering nigh to the ceiling even leaned against the wall as he is, Galehaut watches her with a carefully neutral expression. Unblinking, unsmiling, and there's the barest tightening around his eyes. He is wary of her still, and senses her mood.

The Lady of Malehaut is a different kind of unreadable entirely, lounging next to her with a spot of embroidery to keep her clever hands busy. Her full mouth is always a breath away from smiling, like she carries with her a trove of private amusements at all times. She observes from beneath half-lidded eyes, her needle flashing through cloth more by touch than sight.

Guinevere lifts her loyal knight's chin with a touch of her finger. His lips part, eyes wide and wondering. She smiles. "I want to you to give Galehaut a kiss."

Ah, if only she dared to watch Galehaut's expression in that moment! Yet she must keep her focus on Lancelot. His face pales. His breath catches in his throat. His pulse thrums against her finger like a trapped and frantic bird. "M-my queen?" he stammers, gaze darting side to side as if for an escape.

Her smile sharpens, serpentine. "Do you not wish to?"

"I— I am not—" He's breathing rapid and shallow now, on the edge of panic. It's a pretty quandary she's put him in, one with no known safe answer, and he's reeling under it.

(She feels more steady by the moment, her control re-establishing in the small sphere she still possesses.)

Galehaut steps forward. There's the edge of fury in his warning, in the creak of leather and the rattle of maille. "My lady," he rumbles.

Now Guinevere looks his way, and she lifts a graceful eyebrow at the storm in his countenance. Lancelot quivers beneath her touch, unmoored by the loss of her pinning gaze. "Will you tell me truly that you don't want this, Galehaut?"

He halts. His jaw works; the stormclouds thicken. He glares, proud and silent.

Guinevere laughs. It's a free, bell-like sound—as playful as a day a-Maying. Lancelot stills and his breathing steadies, soothed by her apparent merriment. She makes a show of taking pity on him, releasing his chin to stroke his cheek. "Do you wish to kiss me?" she murmurs, leaning closer.

His breath catches again, no different than before. He nods.

She kisses him, sweet and soft; he returns it with a small desperate sound against her lips. (It tastes like power.) He's breathless when she pulls away, and she smiles down at him, indulgent. "I know Galehaut desires a kiss from you as well," she says, "and he is the one who brought us together, yes?"

Another nod, and Lancelot seems more dazed than panicked now. Swaying towards her, and glancing shyly towards his boon companion, who draws a sharp bracing breath.

"It is not as if he's a lady," she says with a wink. "So it is not being untrue to me. And it is my request, is it not?"

"Y—yes, my lady...?"

"Do you not want to kiss him?"

"I..." Those expressive eyes flicker from her lips to Galehaut's and back again. His breath quickens again, but this time it is a little less panicked. "My lady, you ask hard questions," he says at last, helplessly.

She laughs again, darkened with satisfaction. "Kiss him, then," she commands, "and then tell me if you want to do it again."

"My lady," protests Galehaut, strained—oh, and there is longing so sharp that it is agonized, bare and naked in every rigid muscle and the aching furrow of his brow. He looks at Lancelot like a man starving. He looks at Guinevere like a man betrayed.

To give Galehaut what he so desperately desires, when he knows it is something she can take away at any moment? To receive a kiss from his Lancelot, but only on the order of Lancelot's lover-queen? For Galehaut to touch his companion in the way he desires, but only so long as Guinevere allows it, never knowing truly if Lancelot would have initiated on his own, never being certain of Lancelot's desire?

It's a power like none she's ever wielded before.

Lancelot stumbles to Galehaut on unsteady legs with a last hesitant glance over his shoulder. Guinevere smiles encouragingly and nods her approval. One last nudge—and still, Galehaut could refuse Lancelot. Galehaut is sworn to neither Guinevere nor Arthur; he needs not obey her. Galehaut could save the last unconquered edges of his heart and maintain this last barrier of distance. He could still refuse himself what he wants so badly.

Galehaut tenses, and Galehaut wavers, and Galehaut's heaves great draughts of air as if he's in the thick of a melee.

Lancelot reaches out, and Galehaut surrenders.

[universee-cityy]

Merlin AU social media - Merlin’s phone

[liztparadox]

MY FAVORTE TAG ON AO3

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

I just need to inform you nerds about absolute madlad academic Joseph Brennan

most notably, he wrote a paper about a queer reading of Mordred in BBC Merlin which heavily cites his own (poorly photoshopped) pornographic slash manips

but he also edited a whole book about queerbaiting, including chapters about: Supernatural, Xena Warrior Princess, One Direction RPF, Supergirl, and the fucking Johnlock Conspiracy

all the rest of his work is about gay porn

I fucking love academia

[escespace]

No comments this time because it is TOO BEAUTIFUL to not make spoiler  and I really don't want to spoil it..

I'll just say that it deserves all the kudos and comments in the world. 

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin), Lancelot (Merlin), Leon (Merlin), Percival (Merlin), Elyan (Merlin), Gwaine (Merlin), Geoffrey of Monmouth (Merlin), Mithian (Merlin), Elena (Merlin), Iseldir (Merlin) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, in a land where people are actually happy, Merlin (TV) Season/Series 04, think depressed arthur that we never got to see on the show but he’s actually happy in this case, Touch-Starved, Pining, Idiots in Love, they actually take idiots in love to another level, Boys Kissing, arranged marriage but not in the way u think i swear, Merlin Loves Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon Loves Merlin (Merlin), he just doesn’t know it yet, Arthur Pendragon Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon is Bad at Feelings (Merlin), Understatement of the century, Implied Sexual Content, Your Honor They Love Each Other, Fluff, angst but not really??? it’s just arthur pining and being dumb, Happy Ending, also uther pendragon is dead, we cheered, Good Morgana (Merlin), Good Sibling Morgana (Merlin) Summary:

Arthur ignored the other. “Marry me.”

Merlin choked. “What?”

 a story in which merlin and arthur (but mostly arthur) are idiots in love.

[mageofthepeople]

Writer's Guild presents...

The Lady of Rheged Chapter One

Rating: E, overall. T, this chapter.

Word count: 3168

CW/TW: None

Summary:

After they part ways in the marshlands of Wessex, Aziraphale returns to King Arthur's court to find that he's been volunteered for an escort mission to the distant northern Kingdom of Rheged. With his two charges in tow, Aziraphale finds that there's still plenty of old magick left in the world and sometimes things are exactly as they seem, no matter how hard he tries to deny it.

Excerpt:

A tall woman—taller than Aziraphale—stepped out into the light. Her dark red hair twisted into plaits flowing down her back, completely uncovered. She was dressed in black with red peplos over her dress, and the brooches at her shoulders each had a crow on them, a symbol of the House of Rheged. She also wore a string of red glass beads. Only the lower half of her face was visible; her thin lips were pressed tightly together, and her eyes were covered by cloth. She curtsied in Aziraphale’s direction but said nothing.

Continue reading on AO3

Special thanks to my wonderful beta-readers @dbacklot99 and @tismrot for the beta and for having the same usernames here as you do on reddit.

@goodomensafterdark

[lindiloo02]

Merlin Prompts

Valiant

What if Arthur/Uther noticed one of the snakes had a head missing? would they question merlin where/how he got the snake head?

[gramnel]

Just a little fanart I really wanted to draw for @regulusrules fanfiction. And I strongly recommend to read it. It's beautiful

And thank you for your permission!

[lturnips]

when the merlin fic has done its research into arthurian legend>>>>>

[ebonyfirewolf]

Arthur deals with a siren. Merlin comes to his rescue.

[msue0027]

do tumblr girlies (gn) know why it's merlin emrys?

[liminalpsych]

Hi also if it's cool to get a lil abnormal in the askbox I also just realized your the author of like my ALL TIME FAVOURITE ARTHURIAN FIC and I have read it like 3 times over it's so 🤌🏼 mwah🤌🏼 love your writing

Aaa thank you! Totally cool to do that, I’m so glad you like it, writing that fic got me into Arthuriana in the first place!

…also it was some of the first writing I did after a long time of… not writing any fiction at all, and then there was a 10 year break where it sat in a folder in my closet and didn’t write hardly at all some more… and then I finally pulled it out again and finally finally finished it.

So I have a lot of mixed feelings about it, especially now that I’ve learned so much more about Arthurian literature and gotten so much deeper into it. La Morte d’Amour is best classed as a fanfic of Heather Dale’s song Trial of Lancelot, because I knew very little of Arthuriana at the time and was writing it as a fix-it fic in response to that song.

After reading a bunch of classic literature (and falling in love with the Vulgate Cycle), I feel almost a little embarrassed… even though I was very proud of it when I first wrote it! So it’s gratifying to hear you like it so much, helps me feel better about it as a story. ;)

(I had originally planned to write more and expand on it, but at this point I’m probably going to write Vulgate fanfic instead, heh.)

[universee-cityy]

Merlin AU social media - where everyone is alive and happy lol

[inenochian]

Thank you @klayr-de-gall for making this happen! ❤️❤️❤️

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Supernatural (TV 2005) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester Characters: Castiel (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Additional Tags: Art Series: Part 4 of Sweet is the Dream - Verse Summary:

Art post: Castiel and Dean on their swing in the forest - from the 'Sweet is the Dream-Verse.' Artist - Klayr de Gall, @KlayrG

[themerlinrewrite]

for anyone interested in arthurian folklore and/or mythology around the world: an efficient source

recently i found this website and it has been incredibly helpful with research for my projects (and just research for interest's sake). for arthurian folklore, especially, there are not only many different versions of each story, but many different pronunciations for each name, many different names for each character - you get the idea. in my opinion, this website displays a good variety of each legend while still getting the point across rather simply.

here it is: Nightbringer

i'm going to be reblogging some other good websites/pages for folklore; view my blog page for the other ones :) also, if my fellow writers/nerds/autistic people out there want to add to this thread, i will appreciate and explore every single one of your suggestions

[agonizingdespair]

If you've been following me or reading through my blog, you might notice I've posted recently about Pastra. More specifically the Jeff The Killer rewrite they did. Now watching that got me to watch a stream they did a few months back on quinnamon's channel with some other people where they talked about the Jeff the killer fandom, and I left a comment on that video regarding an observation I've had stuck in my head for a while now about internet media in general that I feel the need to also voice here because I find it so fascinating.

With that context out of the way, here's my copy pasted (but slightly cleaned up) analysis of human mythology and memetic evolution of stories and canons as it pertains to the internet, creepypasta OCs, popular AU fanfiction, Star Wars, and The Bible:

The Jeff The Killer OC rabbithole reminds me of the Undertale AU community. The Undertale community in general has people convincing themselves that fan additions are canon, but the OC fanfic network of OCs being made to interact with other OCs is the same thing basically, except with the multiverse involved. Which, I'm told, was also the main basis of the Onceler fandom beyond the initial selfcest pairing.

But as I mentioned it also reminds me of the Undertale fandom in general and over there, there are arguments about what is fanon and what is canon to this day. Canon is a term we invented because of similar arguments regarding religion, more specifically christianity. The modern depiction of both hell and Lucifer are based on fanfiction, that being Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. Which goes to show that religion and mythology is just a big web of fanfiction that becomes considered canon with time and popularity. Its all a game of telephone but with people intentionally changing stuff to add OCs or headcanons. As another commenter pointed out, this is also the entire basis of Arthurian Legend. And I've also seen people make comparisons between fandom and religion plenty of times, notably, someone once said that people argue over star wars canon down to the smallest details as special editions or original edition, and they treat it the same way different denominations of Christianity treat the different versions of the Bible that exist. And I can see exactly what they mean by that and they have a point

The thing is though, is that the internet allows these things, like Creepypasta OCs, and AU versions of characters, to happen much faster and without being nearly as limited by geographical concerns. It's like a sped up, but less mainstream, version of that phenomenon. People say comics are the modern american mythology or whatever, and its kinda true, but this is how it really works, because this is entirely in the hands of the people and there is no true canon.

In conclusion, Jeffrey Woods is Sans Undertale who is also Jesus Christ, none of which actually have those last names by the way. Thanks for reading.