#'morgana is annoying' you just need to imagine him like this trust me

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Precursor apology for the rambling, I just have Thoughts and I’d love to hear your own about them cause I love the way you think and interpret and handle characters. Feel free to ignore this if it doesn’t actually spark any particular thought/discussion (even disagreement) 😅

I’ve had the thought— do you think Merlin ever gets tired of everyone’s well intentions? Someone pushing him to trust people, to reveal or not reveal magic, to focus on his magic to focus on Arthur, to sleep more or eat better, to confide in people, to learn to defend himself? Not just a weary tiredness of “they mean well, but no” but pushed to the point where he starts to feel like everyone acts like they know him, know everything better (and sometimes, yeah, they do, it’s just a matter of perspective/being nagged one too many times), that turns to serious irritation if not resentment of his friends acting like he’s not “perfectly capable and been dealing with this by himself for years damnit.” In reality we know all of this is from genuine concerns but I can’t imagine that being constantly questioned about his capacity to take care of himself wouldn’t cause some sort of conflict (cause in his head being able to deal with the threats and mess and prophecy and moral quandaries is the same thing, though no Merlin, it really isn’t)

I love you!!!

And yes, I'm in total agreement with you.

First, WITH his magic:

He's got Gaius being condescending and spineless in one ear, demanding he use his magic to help Arthur and Uther and Camelot as a whole, telling him not to trust Kilgharrah or Morgana or Mordred or the Druids, whilst simultaneously telling him that Arthur can never know about his magic. The prophecy specifically says they're equals, two sides of the same coin; I understand not telling him at first, but I honestly think a lot of Merlin's fear comes from Gaius. That's got to be annoying, to constantly be underestimated and demanded of by a man who refused to face his King, and withered under his Genocidal insanity. Then he's got the likes of Lancelot and the Druids in his other ear, telling him that everything will work out ok, whilst... not really giving all that much support. I love Lance, I really do, but he really has no concept of the struggles Merlin faces, and is sort of too wrapped up in his infatuation with Gwen and his loyalty to Arthur to worry about anything else. He might be a good shoulder to cry on, but I also think he probably babies Merlin a LOT, which is understandably frustrating. He tries to force him to take time for himself to sleep or eat or just hang out/relax/rest, when Merlin KNOWS that he can't!! He's essentially got three jobs!! And no, Arthur won't lay off if I just ask him nicely (and no, I DON'T need you asking for me), and no, Gaius won't give me no chores for a week, and no, I can't just leave the Druids to deal with big beasty on their own and have a nap, and no, I can't just warn the guards about the assassin and leave them to it. That's not how any of this works. Yes, Lance means well, but his babying and nagging is, though sweet and loving at first, misinformed and condescending and insufferable after a few months/years of it.

And Kilgharrah is a whole other can of worms, what a dick. Demanding Merlin do this and that, not giving him straight answers, pretending to sympathise with Merlin and be his "kin" whilst also betraying him at basically every opportunity. Between him and Gaius, they make sure Merlin is almost completely and utterly alone.

Gaius' "good intentions" definitely come directly from fear, Lancelot's good intentions come from a lack of understanding, and Kilgharrah's "good intentions" come from a need to control Merlin at every turn. And whether Merlin sees any of this clearly or not, it definitely frustrates him. To the point that he stops going to any of them for help, and decides everything is just easier to deal with and manage if he does it solo.

Secondly, regardless of his magic:

Arthur is almost certainly the worst, when it comes to this sort of thing. He displays, every once in a while, an understanding that Merlin is braver and smarter than he gives him credit for, but he never actually treats him like it. It's like he genuinely thinks Merlin is an idiot, and interacts with him as such. He asks Merlin his opinion, and then ignores it most of the time, he never apologises to Merlin when he's hurt or trouble comes BECAUSE he ignored him, and just generally treats him like more of a nuisance. Merlin can deal with that, in fact it's actually kind of helpful for the whole persona, but when Arthur starts actually paying attention and tries to look after Merlin, he finds it both endearing, and incredibly annoying. Firstly, in the way that "you've never done this before, why are you acting like you care now?" and secondly in the way that "you're in the way, it's better when you're oblivious to me because I can get on with things." . Mostly, with Arthur, he just grits his teeth and gets through it, because he doesn't have much of a choice, but I can definitely imagine him snapping, in a small way, eventually "Arthur, I'm not a child, fuck off." or "I'm perfectly capable." or "I've been doing this for ten years, Arthur, I do not need your supervision." whilst normally things like that would be laughed off, he says it with such a tone that everyone in the vicinity is like... immediately taken aback.

With the others, it's mainly the protection. He's a servant, they're knights, it's kind of expected, but it does sort of annoy Merlin when they act like if he gets a papercut he'll die. He gets smacked around a bit by their captors once and they all FREAK out, demanding they take the punishment instead, and he just has to roll his eyes and sneakily free them with magic. He gets picked on by a Noble and they all get bristly and annoyed and it's just... frustrating, because they don't have the first clue how court works, and if they try to protect him, it'll get worse. They try to teach him how to throw a punch, or they start escorting him around town, or they put themselves in danger to rescue him, and he just can't... understand, that it's not JUST because they're underestimating him (which is annoying, but not the main reason), but also because... they love him?? They want him to be ok?? He has complicated thoughts about that because, first off, these people have no right to love him when they don't know him, and second off, everything was so much easier when people didn't notice him.

and AFTER the magic reveal?

Depending on the nature of the reveal, it arguably gets worse once they find out about his magic. They all automatically think he's weak and not that great at magic, and are always trying to get him to save his energy or train more or whatever. When someone against the repeal starts with him, they all jump in with weak, emotional arguments, which are all mostly factually incorrect, and just kind of condescending and infantilising. Then it's all "I don't need you to fight for me, not when I've been dealing with this my whole life." and "Actually, Sir Leon, you'd be wrong about that..." with a scowl and a stiff back. Even when he tells them he's powerful it's all "I'm sure you are, Merlin. Not like you've not used it for ten years." with rolled eyes and a smirk, until he goes fuck it, and shows off in a BIG way. Only then would they back off a bit, and even then... Merlin still has to glare at them or interrupt them or grit his teeth through it when they needlessly jump to his defence sometimes.

I guess it doesn’t help that he’s one of the babies of the group. I always see Mordred as the youngest, then Merlin, Elyan, and Arthur, then Gwen (I see Gwen as like... maybe two or three years older than Merlin?), then a fairly sizable gap (maybe 5-10 years?) followed by Percival and Lancelot, then Leon and Gwaine (who are, I’d say, up to five years older than Percy and Lance). But also this is all up to interpretation.

ANON I LOVE YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR ASK SUFFICIENTLY!! :D

[pangolen]

merlin liveblog tag quarantine post

edit: hit tag limit and got onto desktop to make it a readmore instead

tags were:

#merlin you are so FUCKING stupid

#the camera zooming everywhere is so good

#arthur and morgana have such incredible sibling energy even from the start #also i want the afanc to be some guy in a suit so bad #ALSO imagine if arthur had known about merlin's magic starting from this ep #i'm p sure that's not the case tho but i mean. i never actually finished watching the series

#i bet there's fanart somewhere of bird!merlin and bear!arthur. somewhere #i'm not gonna go look for it tho

#merlin truly causes as many problems as he solves

#gaius: you're being mature. too mature. suspicious.

#ugh gwen please don't be into merlin you can do so much better #also merlin do better @ falsifying documents #also uther is so frustrating. mr head it's a joy to see you but jesus christ

#gwen truly gets paired with Everyone and actually you know what good for her

#haha lancelot has a lance now

#merlin you're so fucking bad at hiding your magic it's insane you don't get caught by anyone who would hate you for it

#'the law is the law' uther you're literally the king

#how old are merlin and arthur supposed to be anyway

#AH! beetle episode #also probly once i'm done watching all this #i'll try rereading that longass fic i have in my bookmarks #one of the five million time travel fics in this fandom

#adhd KING #it's time for merlin to Touch Everything!

#god this is such a cheap plot it's painful

#oh ok so arthur is 25 or around that age #good to know #so was his actor! neat! #then can we also extrapolate merlin's age as 22ish or is that wishful thinking

---

anyway uther continues to be frustrating. they should just let the beetle kill him.

oh also as long as we're extrapolating ages, that would make gwen about 28 and morgana a mystery because mcgrath's dob isn't on wikipedia so it's impossible to know. i also can't remember if morgana is supposed to be older or younger than arthur. oh well!

i want to ruffle merlin's hair

oh these are the lake fairies or whatever right

i am bundling morgana up in a blanket and holding her close. she needs COMFORT she needs someone who BELIEVES her!!!!!!!

merlin is truly too good of a friend

it is kinda sweet actually that arthur trusts merlin so much that he can even struggle under an enchantment forcing him to believe someone else over him 🥺

(i'm such a sucker for soulmates you guys)

THE THING IS... i think this early on arthur would have been willing to keep merlin's magic a secret, if it came out in the right way. like yeah he'd feel betrayed and conflicted but once he cooled down like. it would become pretty obvious that merlin has been using it to help him. and probably save his life on multiple occasions, even only this far into the series. ughhhhhh

GROANS mordred episode......... makes morgana's villain arc so much more annoying later........ like hey! look at all this compassion she has!! haha yeah. so anyway morgana is evil now and only cares about how she's technically a rightful heir to the throne <3

ajsvdjsvdjd "what if magic isn't something you choose... what if it chooses you..." rly love that the first episode is like "people have to actively choose to learn magic otherwise they can't do it" and at this point it's "actually magic is innate"

idk man if a dragon told me i had some great destiny i would suspect it of trying to sell me something. no matter how big and cool the dragon was and even if it sounded super wise and spoke in riddles. strange women lying in ponds distributing swords etc.

damn dude that's your DAUGHTER where's ur fucking heart. #1 worst dad award

yeah merlin just throw it in a lake. it's a good thing no mortal man knows how to SWIM.

merlin really should've come clean in this episode (moment of truth). destiny or not this is probably the safest time to do so. like merlin you KNOW worst case scenario, arthur leaves you behind in the village. best case scenario, he accepts you fully and swears to keep your secret and respects you more, AND you get to use your innate talents to help your home village. ugh

like he DOES get to use magic but someone else covers for him. it's stupid. and the ending is supposed to be like "see it's better he doesn't tell arthur" but like. is it. is it worth it for another 5 seasons of hiding and pretending he can't do incredible things. that doesn't have to be the crux of the series

hedge maze episode i guess

if i ever see someone portray morgana as keeper of the brain cell i will fling myself into the fires of hell. she's JUST as impulsive as merlin and causes just as many problems.

tho admittedly gwen is probably more likely to be assigned Brain Cell Keeper. but she's so likely to go along with what the others come up with i don't think that's a fair assessment of her either

merlin just let uther die already jeez

also you should visit the dragon sometimes just to talk. why is it always "i need your help" "i need your advice"? it's never "hey do you want company". also lmao @ merlin asking for help to protect uther

"arthur's not ready" damn that sucks. can it be any worse than uther tho? (ok probably)

also GOD uther is SO READY to trust in morgana's intentions even tho she's consistently proven herself to be manipulative and more than willing to go against him when she disagrees with him on something. like yeah i meant what i said earlier about her being compassionate but she is also manipulative & selfish and it's incredibly stupid for uther to trust her

"that would make me as bad as him" ok gwen i guess but like. imo you could kill multiple people before you were anywhere near as bad as uther

"your father was the greatest man i've ever known" and so you fucked his wife lmao okay

"i know i'm not an easy man" LMAO

oh he regrets it that means it's fine then alls forgiven

oh rip merlin. it was a nice run

man. merlin's little brother energy is truly off the charts

ok season finale let's go

MAN. i love this monster it's so fucking cool

SIGHS. UTHER.

hey why DID he take merlin to go fight the questing beast. as far as he knows merlin is a clumsy servant with limited fighting ability

i mean it's GOOD that he brought him but still.

i thought arthur was scratched, not bitten?

yeah that was definitely a scratch. maybe it's another case of the cgi not matching the script

i don't remember who dies in arthur's place. hunith? it wasn't gaius, right? (was it???) w/e i'm stopping after this i think regardless

shcsjdvdjdvd is he going to carry that rainwater all the way h--oh nvm it's Water Which Has Been In The Cup not, drinking directly from the cup. anyway i think gaius is going to die. i feel like i should remember this

could you imagine if merlin actually died from this lmao. welp that's the show! roll credits!

is this show implying that merlin was kept safe because he had the rabbits foot

oh i guess it was hunith then ok. rip. narratively gaius would've been more impactful.

ah. THIS is why i couldn't remember who died alright

thinking about that art where two people keep working their way around the other to protect them from a bullet or whatever

merlin is going into the avatar state now

also i think killing nimueh should count here and let gaius live—ah

oh okay. so no one we care about died then. okay.

this show is so fucking stupid

lmao dragons pissed

yeah okay that's enough of that. liveblog done!!!!!!!!

[honestlyandrogynousnightmare]

magic reveal

So ive been thinking about the magic reveal we did get and also the different magic reveals we COULD have gotten so i thought id project all my thoughts into another massive tumblr rant:

personally, i dont think the magic reveal was bad at all. yes, i wouldve done it slightly differently, i think it was done way too late in the show and left little time to explore how that reveal affected merlin and arthurs relationship, and obviously we never actually ended up seeing if magic was legalised and all. but i dont hate the magic reveal we got. the key part i really love is that it was done on Merlins own terms, he could have just lied, but instead he finally told Arthur the truth and i think that there were many reasons for that decision being made. 

firstly, Merlin definitely felt guilty and blamed himself for Arthur being stabbed, he must have at least partly blamed himself because everything he did directly led to Mordred turning into a little shit. Part of him might have just felt as if he owes Arthur that explanation yknow. secondly, i feel like by that point he was tired of lying in general, he needed to get that secret off his chest. those two things combined with the fact that Arthur was dying may have pushed him to telling the truth,  because deep down he did know that it was probably the last chance to tell Arthur the truth. 

i liked how they presented Arthurs reaction too, the clear message there was that Athur was angry at the lying, thats the part he saw as betrayal, not the magic itself. he didnt want to believe that Merlin was a liar, when he always saw him as the one person that was entirely honest with him. hell, he still trusted him enough to send him back to Camelot and Gwen so he knew Merlin wasnt evil. If the writers actually did a good job at developing Arthurs character, i feel like itd be more obvious that Arthurs stance on magic was different from his fathers, but yknow bbc and their shoddy writing. I love that moment of acceptance as well, when he tells Merlin that he doesnt want him to change. He doesnt even now about all the things Merlin sacrificed and lost in order to protect Arthur and Camelot but he still accepts him. I think that when he first fund out it was all like “holy crap i dont even know him” but after spending a few hours with Merlin he realises that its still the exact same person he knew the week before. 

anddddd as much as i like the way they did that magic reveal, the ending of the show left me with no closure and a lot of tears. my ideal magic reveal wouldve happened earlier, either at the start of season 5 or near the end of season 4. It would give us a chance to see them talk it out, and god we know that there would be arguing, and if arthur wasnt dying he would probbaly be shouting but the key part here is that arthur wouldnt hurt merlin. i think he culd consider sending him away if his father was still king just to protect him but we all know merlin would reply with “no <3″. but since i cant see the reveal happening when uther is king, i will be ignoring that scenario. and again, theres many ways this could play out.

the one way that ive always found interesting was arthur figuring it out on his own, because he may be an idiot, but hes not stupid. *if you like this sort of thing read “so close and im halfway to it  on ao3, its a merthur fic and the magic reveal in that one makes me cry so much and the fic is so well written* I feel like at one point, he would just put the pieces together, and it would all make so much sense to him? Merlins random disappearances and scars would make sense, the luck he had when it came to fights, Merlins weird reactions when someone mentioned magic, how on earth merlin of all people managed to survive every battle and fight arthur was in when some of his best knights didnt. 

then theres the very cliche “merlin using magic mid battle to save everyone” reveal. because its mid battle, i really cant picture them talking it out there lol,  i picture a lot of ignoring but also if other people saw him using magic, we all know the first thing arthur would do is give the knights a good old “if you kill him i will kill you and then myself”, it wouldnt be until later that they would actually talk. 

and then like the canon magic reveal, theres Merlin doing it on his own terms. i personally really like thhis one because it gives him so much more control over the situation and over his words. *another fic rec here if you like this sorta thing, its called “to the world that let you by” and its really beautiful and made me cry at 1am so there you go, and as you guessed it, its another merthur*. i love this reveal because it gives merlin a chance to explain, and arthur a chance to listen and try to understand. 

now there are loads of different sub categories that could go into those, like Arthur finding merlin creating butterflies out of thin air lol, but i wont go into those. whatever reveal would happen, i feel like “the talk” after would usually end up in a similar way. Arthurs reaction would be similar to what we got in the canon reveal, because the actual magic isnt what would hurt most.  it would be the lies. Arthur has been lied to and betrayed by so many people you cant really expect him not to react badly to being lied to. the magic sure would confuse him and put him in a difficult position, because you have to keep in mind that his entire life he has been told that magic is pure evil, and to him, merlin is the polar opposite of that. i think it would just make him question everything, like does he even know this man? has he won any of his battles or has it always been merlin? why is he in camelot? why would a sorcerer be serving him? but he wouldnt hurt him. he wouldnt even consider that imo, sure, he will demand an explanation, but he wouldnt actually thin about hurting him. 

and merlin would understand why hes angry about the lying, that much is obvious. and he would be reluctant to tell arthur about the things that were happening behind his back all those years, but he would be honest. and go that conversation would be hard for both of them, i cant really imagine them having it without a lot of crying, shouting and even more wine tbh. arthur isnt good at listening which is why this would be so hard for him too, but merlin has to be honest, completely honest with arthur for the first time in his life and thatd be difficult. 

and i think merlin would handle arthurs reactions well, even if arthur decided to lose his temper lol. but i can still imagine him being a bit bitter if arthur judged his choices and stuff when it came to poisoning morgana and freeing the dragon, asking what on earth HE would do in that situation. where the only choices he sees are bad ones, and he has to pick the one thats least evil. 

arthur would probably be most pissed off at the thing about his mother tbh, because merlin outright lied there, usually its just deflecting but he made that deliberate choice to lie. but i really do think he would understand all of this, while not every choice merlin did was good, he did it with good intention. 

and then arthur would remove the ban on magic and they would kiss and get married amd live happily ever aft-

thanks bbc.

anyway if you want any more magic reveal fics (or links to the ones i mentioned, ao3 can be bloody annoying sometimes) feel free to comment or message me or anything, i have a couple more in my bookmarks. 

thanks for reading this rant, scuse the bad grammar, id love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this and magic reveals in general so feel free to comment! have a great day<3

[twinkleton]

ok but what if... a spin off of your douxie x reader where we get the details on how douxie proposed 👀

Ask and ye shall receive! This takes place a year after my At the End of the Century fic, I’m considering call this series just Married!Douxie since any fics I do with this universe they will be married. I didn’t imagine them living in the castle anymore without Merlin, and I just wanted some cottagecore lmao. And yes, reader invents cat trees 😂. Hope you guys enjoy!

Tags: @clarencebells @purplesinnerw

“Archie, could you come over here?” 

The familiar pokes his head up from his proclaimed resting spot, a basket generally used for berry-picking, and lets out a big yawn. 

“I’m afraid I can’t, you’ve sucked all the energy out from me already,” he mumbles, plopping his head back down. Archie and the young witch had spent the morning organizing their belongings into their new home. As a show of gratitude and solidarity for the small family, the trolls of Dwoza had been building them a little cottage in the forest for the past year, between walking distance of their land and Camelot. They graciously accepted the gift.

“Please, just for a minute! Then you can continue your lounging,” Y/N pleaded from her and Douxie’s bedroom. Archie makes a low groan and rolls out of his makeshift bed, slowly making his way over to her.

“I swear if you ask me to fly over to a shelf you can’t reach one more time, I will-” His sentence stops short once he enters the room, eyes wide. Unbeknownst to him, while he was taking his little cat nap, the girl had been spending her time crafting up a tower for him, with all sorts of levels for him to climb, at the top of it being a cozy bed for him, made out of fabric she’d stolen from the castle. Old habits die hard. However, it was worth it for Y/N to see the look on her friend’s face. 

“Is..is this for me?” Archie climbs up to the first level. 

“Well I don’t see any other cat familiars lying around,” she replies with a smirk. 

“Always so cheeky,” he says with a chuckle. His nose slightly wiggled, detecting a fishy odor coming from the top. 

“Oh, you didn’t.”

“Oh, I so did.”

He swiftly leaps to the highest level, eyes gleaming with delight as his suspicions to what was there were confirmed. Y/N, being the angel in his eyes that she is, had prepared roasted salmon for him. How she somehow was able to hide all of this from him, he’ll never know. 

“Do-do you like it?” Y/N asked sheepishly.

Suddenly, there’s weight on her chest, as Archie had flown over to her, trapping her into a bear hug that she quickly reciprocated. 

“I don’t understand, why did you do all of this for me?”

She laid her hand onto his head, gently stroking, “I don’t need a reason, Arch. You’re my friend, we've been through a lot. You deserve this.”

If it was in Archie’s nature, there would have been tears falling from his eyes. However, what felt right for him was to embrace her for a little bit longer, ending the hug with a simple, “Thank you, Y/N.”

Their bonding moment was cut short by the sudden loud bang of the front door opening, a disheveled and filthy Douxie stumbling in. His man bun had completely become undone, leaving his hair a tangled mess on top of his head. His clothes were covered in soot and his shoes were mysteriously soggy, leaving footprints on the floor. He leans into the door, slamming it shut behind him. 

The two rush over to him. “Oh, fuzzbuckets. What on Earth happened to you?”

“Stealing my catchphrases now, love? I knew I’d eventually rub off on you,”

An annoyed groan escapes Y/N’s lips as she walks over to assist Douxie in standing. “I thought you said you were helping Deya with a simple errand. You look like you volunteered to be her personal target dummy.”

“Knowing Douxie, that probably isn’t far off from the truth,” Archie smirks, giving Douxie an all-knowing look.

“So she didn’t give all of the details of her request, she’s a busy woman. She has a legacy of Trollhunters to begin, can’t expect her to be so thorough.” Douxie chuckles nervously, a laugh that tells Archie all he needs to know but seemingly raises no concern for Y/N. 

“All right. Arch, go enjoy your dinner. I’ll take care of him,” Y/N says, leading Douxie towards the bath further down the hall.

Once she has filled the bath up sufficiently, she sticks a hand into the water, muttering under her breath a spell. Her hand glows a vibrant scarlet shade, and soon the water begins to bubble up with steam rising into the air. Douxie, with clothes discarded onto the floor, leans onto Y/N for support as he slowly descends into the bath. He relaxes his muscles, the warm water helping ease all the aches he has in his limbs. 

“Have I ever said that I love magic? Because I do, I really do,” his girlfriend giggles at his comment as she softly brushes out his mangled locks. Afterwards, she pours some of the water onto his hair, washing away the sweat and grime. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“With you, never better.”

“No, I mean, with everything. I know it’s been a year since the battle, but we haven’t really talked much about what happened. How it’s been for you without...Merlin.” Y/N had been hesitant with bringing up his master, not wanting to cause him any stress or discomfort. Still, she figured it was better than the alternative of Douxie bottling up his feelings.

He adjusts himself so that he’s facing Y/N, looking up to make eye contact with her. Despite himself, he can’t help but get entranced by her eyes, so vibrant and full of genuine love and concern for him. He reaches over and brushes away hair, cupping her face. How he became so lucky to have someone as kind, beautiful, and thoughtful as her be in his life, let alone be with him, he’ll never understand. He doesn’t know what living would be like if she wasn’t a constant presence and he doesn’t want to know. 

So, he lets out something he’s truly been bottling up. 

“Marry me.”

Y/N can’t fully process what he’d just said to her. Her brain hasn’t caught up with her heart, which fluttered the moment those two little words left his mouth. 

“What?”

Douxie lets go of her face to grab onto her hands, pulling them close to him. 

“I wanted to pick a better time to bare my heart out to you, one where I’m not bare...myself,” that earns a little chuckle from Y/N, “But, I just can’t wait any longer.”

He instructs her to grab his tunic still lying on the floor and to check the inner pocket. Once she reaches her hand inside, she feels a small band of metal, pulling it out to see. It’s revealed to be a golden ring, with intricate carvings all along the band, and secured on top was a small emerald gem, so polished that light reflects beautifully off of it. The sight of it alone is enough to make Y/N’s eyes start to water. 

“You made this?”

Douxie gives a little nod, “Hence my very repugnant appearance earlier. I did go to see Deya, but it was to ask her for a favor, not the other way around. I knew they would have just the metal and stone I needed for the ring, however had they warned me that retrieving said materials would be so difficult, maybe I would’ve looked elsewhere,” he explains with a smile. “Go ahead, try it on.”

Y/N slides the ring down her finger, a perfect fit. She looks up at him, eyes brimming with tears.

“Why?”

The answer is simple for him, “Because I love you. It has been hard without Merlin. He was always who I looked to for guidance, afraid of any misstep I would possibly make without his advice, but with you, I’m not afraid. You’re so encouraging and loving that I believe I can trust myself and make my own decisions and they won’t lead to chaos somehow. I look forward to each day because I know you’ll be there. I can’t imagine life without you in it, and I never want to. I realize asking to be with me for the rest of your immortal life is a lot, but-”

“Yes,” she answers, finally letting the tears fall. The biggest smile she thinks she’s ever had spreads across her face. 

Douxie lets out a mixture of a laugh and a gasp of surprise. “Really? Hold on, I don’t want this moment to be me in a bucket the whole time,” he jumps out of the bath, quickly drying himself and tugging on a clean pair of pants. His hair is still wet, leaving droplets of water on his shoulders. Then, he walks in front of Y/N, picking up her hands again to bring them to be his chest. “You’re sure about this?”

Y/N waves her thumbs over his fingers, feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness, “All I’ve ever wanted was a family. People and a place I can consider home. I thought I had found that with Morgana, but I was wrong. Who I really found it with was you. You and Archie are my family. I love Archie dearly, and I’m so in love with you. An eternity with you still doesn’t feel long enough.” 

Now it’s Douxie who’s crying tears of joy. This has to be one of the greatest moments of his life. He gets to be with the love of his life forever and always. He picks her up effortlessly, spinning her around while the two joyously laugh and squeal. Still in the air, Y/N grabs onto his face to pull him in, capturing his lips in a kiss. Douxie sighs into it, not able to properly kiss due to him not being able to stop smiling. They come apart, still holding onto each other and giggling like teenagers.

“Ah, so he finally did it. He’s been worrying about it ever since we moved here,” Archie says, doing his well known habit of waltzing in unannounced.

Douxie lets her down, facepalming at his familiar’s interruption. “That was supposed to be kept a secret, Arch.”

“Apologies. But really Doux? In the bath? Even I could’ve thought of something more grand than that.”

“Why you little-”

“How was your dinner, Archie?” Y/N says before Douxie can have a go at him. 

“Absolutely delightful, you truly are amazing Y/N.”

Y/N thanks him. As Douxie and Archie continue their snarky banter with one another, she can’t help but feel so content in the moment. She realizes that that loneliness she used to feel before will never come again thanks to these two. She may have had to defeat Morgana in the end, but she will be eternally grateful for the gift of love she granted her.

[raziroo]

Riddle Me This - James Potter x Reader

Pairing : James Potter x reader

Genre : Angst

Warnings : Mentions of injuries, reader-inflicted torture, hair pulling, reader-inflicted injuries, mentions of death.

Word count : 5,298

~~~~~

It’s hard being the daughter of the Darkest wizard of all time, of the one they all fear, of Lord Voldemort. Harder than you can imagine.

Because there’s always expectations, and opinions. Expectations have of you, and opinions people have about you. And it’s not good for your own self-esteem when you know that you will never be able to be all that they want you to be. And by ‘they’, I mean my father.

See, contrary to popular belief, Lord Voldemort is capable of caring. Yes, he can never love, and neither can I, but we can care. And for me, that’s enough. Being conceived under the effects of a love potion, my father was doomed to never be able to love; but that didn’t mean he wasn’t capacitated with sympathizing, empathizing, caring. Yes, he would never in a million years be able to experience the joy of being able to love, of being in love, and neither could I, but that was only for the best.

That was one lesson, along with several others, that had been taught to me from the start by my father, and his followers. I could never, ever, ever love. And I should never want to. Because love is for the weak, love is for inferiors. Love itself is weak, and all it does is make bounds for you.

And thus far, I had been successful. I didn’t want love; I didn’t need it. I was capable enough as it is.

Another lesson I’d been taught, was being ambitious, having ambitions. Striving to be the best, being the best, and reveling in the satisfaction of winning, it was a value instilled in me from quite a young age.

And ambitious I was. I reveled in the satisfaction of proving myself right and others wrong; I basked in the glorious feeling of victory, of exceeding expectations.

Being homeschooled since a young age, and that too, with the occasional inputs of the Dark Lord himself, I was a trained witch, and a good one at that. Having Death Eaters as competition, and the constant expectations of being better than each of them, it wasn’t an exaggeration when I say, you do not wish to cross me. I usually came out triumphant in duels, all except when I was ill, or exerted, or when me and father dueled. He was the obvious champion.

But then came along Bellatrix LeStrange. The female, who previously belonged to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, was related to two blood traitors. One was her sister who, despite having such a rich and reputed heritage, eloped with a Hufflepuff. A Hufflepuff. The other was her first cousin, Sirius Black. And in the latter’s case, what surprised me wasn’t the fact that the boy had managed to escape and betray the Blacks, no. It was the fact that he had escaped Walburga Black. The woman was a tyrant, a hurricane, with a pitch high enough to rupture your ears, and fury blinding enough to make you cower back in fear.

I aren’t going to lie, I had severely underestimated the woman. Bellatrix, she was deranged, she was unhinged. Her eyes were maddening and crazy, and her skills beyond average. Her ruthlessness and un-sympathizing nature was what made her all the more an even terrible foe to have. She reveled in screams, hearing people scream and cry and writhe and shout in anguish pleasured her. She wasn’t sick. That made it sound like what she had, had a cure; when in truth, she was insane, off her rocker, and so, so dangerous.

So, as you might have understood, I lost in the duel against Bellatrix. And I had lost bad. Father had refused to speak to me for 6 straight weeks after that, he had been so disappointed. And it hurt me, because all he had ever asked of me to be the best, to strive for perfection, to outdo even the greatest of rivals. And I had failed him that day.

So when father asked me to go attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for the sole purpose of being able to keep an eye on Dumbledore, I had packed my bags without a sound of protest, as much as I dreaded going to the school. I wasn’t thick, I understood the fact that father could have very easily asked any one of his Death Eaters to-be to spy on Dumbledore; he had given me a chance. Something that he didn’t give everyone, and I was grateful.

. . . . .

I hated this place. Students swarming everywhere, so much noise, so many people, it was unbearable. I’d always been one to find solace in loneliness; this place was the exact opposite. I couldn’t fathom how you were meant to actually study in Hogwarts; sounds and voices and whispers and chatters were unescapable, anywhere and everywhere you went. Even the classrooms and the library weren’t spared – the former and latter, both, due to the courtesy of the Marauders.

Oh, the Marauders. They were a whole entire issue separately. A group of rambunctious, untamable, and obnoxious boys, and that too all Gryffindor, whose sole purpose was to create chaos and play pranks, and who went by the name, ‘The Marauders.’ A marauder, typically, means a person who roams around, looking to steal. Sweet Salazar, why would you decide to call yourselves that? And then be proud of it?

The group consisted of four ‘pupils’, if you could even call them that (they were just troublemakers, in my opinion), namely Remus Lupin, the only tolerable one, Peter Pettigrew, the rat-like one, Sirius Black, the blood traitor by choice, and James Potter, blood traitor by family. How very nice.

Now, me, being the live and let live sort of person that I am, didn’t care too much about those four, as long as they kept their noses out of my business. They didn’t. They were all overly curious about my background, my family, why I joined mid-year, et cetera, et cetera. Their curiosity was low-key harassment, in all truth. Merlin, leave me alone. But no, those blood traitors and half-breeds all wanted to invade my privacy, annoy me, make my life hell. So, I returned the favors.

See, father had sent Nagini along, just for a piece of home to be with me. And my snake not only spied on them and contributed in the ‘Trouble the marauders’ project in the day, she contributed during the night as well. And so, I’d ended up here, in an abandoned classroom after curfew, wand pointed at the Marauders after a particularly irritating day.

We Slytherins, every Wednesday morning, shared double potions with the Gryffindors. And as if that wasn’t torturous enough already, Slughorn had fixed seats, because “Some students have been disrupting the decorum of the classroom,” and so now I was seated beside Lily Evans, a “particularly bright muggleborn witch,” as Slughorn said. She was just a pathetic know-it-all, and a mudblood to top it off, in my opinion. The girl was sickeningly sweet, and was all chirpy-chirp when I had been assigned as her partner. She was ecstatic, probably to meet a new person. I was disgusted, probably to meet a new person.

And above that, Pettigrew and Black sat behind us, Lupin and a Slytherin named Severus Snape on a bench on my right, and in the front was Potter, sitting alone. And I know, I know, it seems exaggerated because a real life situation possibly cannot be this bad, but it’s true, trust me. Potter was reciting cheesy pickup lines to the Mudblood, all while she grew angrier, his friends suppressed their laughter, Snape turned green from envy, and I refrained from

 committing bloody murder.

“Hey Evans, why don’t you play Quidditch, you look to be a keeper.”

“Shut up, Potter.”

“Oi Evans, are you a dement-“

“-Sod off-“

“-Or, because I’d die if you kissed me.”

“You don’t die after a dementor’s kiss, Potter, your soul gets sucked.”

“Evans, we may not be-“

“-Godric, no-“

“-In Flitwick’s class, but you sure-“

“-Are a charmer? Potter, you’ve used this.”

“Did you use the stupefy charm, Evans-“

“-Potter, I swear to Morgana I’ll-“

“-Because you sure are a stunner.”

Merlin, this blasphemy was giving me a headache, and making it harder by the second to not kill someone. I was in the process of stirring the cauldron, and Evans was just adding a bit of snakeskin, when Potter abruptly turned around and started speaking, and so, out of shock (or it could be because she was mad), Evans dropped the snakeskin too early, and the potion suddenly became a brilliant blue, instead of a mellow violet, and exploded, covering me and mudblood and potter and Black in goo. On top of that, my hand got burned due to the jump I made on Potter’s suddenness.

As the entire class fell silent after the burst, I slowly brought up my right hand, which was shaking, and wiped off the slimy substance off of my face; the slime made splattering noises as it hit the floor. When I finally opened my eyes, my hands still shaking, I was met with a red-faced mudblood, probably with anger, red-faced Pettigrew and Black, probably with suppressed laughs, and a pale faced Potter.

And trust me, I tried so hard to contain the magic threatening to erupt from inside me; I’d bit my lip the hardest I could, clenched my shaking fists, and closed my eyes, hoping against hope that my magic didn’t lose control. No such luck, however.

Potter and friends were suggested to bedrest for 5 days after that.

Of course, they’d tried to escape out of the hospital win the very same night, and unfortunately, right at the moment I was on my way to the Owlery, so that Celine, my eagle owl, could deliver the letter to father. I was on the fifth floor corridor in the west wing of the castle, when those troublesome Marauders an into me. Literally, straight into me, for they had an invisibility cloak draped around them. How they had managed to escape the nurse even with the cloak was a mystery to me, because there were constant hisses and whispers and mutters coming from the direction in which, occasionally, a pair of feet came into view.

As I bumped into them, their cloak fell off, and I swiftly picked up the letter of mine that had dropped to the floor. “What are you idiots doing here, in the middle of the night?” I asked, brow raised.

They looked stricken for a moment, then sounded Lupin’s voice. “We could ask you the same question,” the scar-faced boy said, still a tad out of breath.

“Yeah, Riddle, what are you doing out here?” Black enquired further.

“That is none of your business, blood traitor,” I said, my tone sharp, eyes cold. Black looked a bit hurt, Lupin pursed his lips in what seemed to be disappointment, Pettigrew whimpered, and Potter looked angry.

“What, did you say to him?” he asked in a tone that would be menacing for some, but not for me. “I merely reminded your friend of what he is , Potter, what he’s become, what he’ll forever be. A blood traitor,” I said in a calm and cool voice, which seemed to irk the raven-haired boy even more.

“It’s alrig-“ Potter, however, cut his friend’s sentence off midway.

“Don’t call him that, you filthy snake,” he snarled.

“Seem to hit a nerve, have I, Potter?”

“You bloody-!”

“WHO’S THERE?” screeched a scratchy, gravelly voice. Filch.

All five of us gave each other a glance, and the next second, we were inside the nearest room, which just so happened to be an abandoned classroom that was priorly used for History of Magic. We all held our breath, until the steps and meows and purrs and grunts faded off into the distance.

“Now, back to what we were-“

“We weren’t doing anything, Potter. You took the truth a little too to the heart, when even your friend didn’t seem so bothered by it.” Potter was going redder in the face by the second. “Now, if you Gryffindors don’t mind, I should get going. I,” I waved my letter-holding hand, “have a letter to deliver.” Just as I turned around, Potter snatched the letter right from my hand. Oh, Merlin, no.

“Let’s see what we have here, hm?” as Potter said that, even Black’s troubled look evaporated from his face. They were back to their bully nature.

“Yes, Prongs, let’s.”

“No!” all four looked up from the half-torn envelope. “I- don’t open that.”

“Why? Why,” Potter waved the now half-torn envelope in a much similar fashion in which I had, “would I return this? Or not open this?”

“It’s a letter containing… things that I would share with people who’re… close to me,” I said, my stance cautious, manipulative mannerisms in progress. Although it would be hard to talk my way out of this one, and that was considering if I even could.

“Close to you, hm? Well then, it’s even more precious,” Black said this time, both dark-haired boys sharing devilish grins, as their friends behind them looked sheepish, but said nothing.

“Black, Potter, please. Don’t be immature,” I tried to reason, but the boys were having none of it, and tore open the envelope fully, and begun reading the letter aloud. “Dear father, I hope you are doing well. You will be pleased to know that Dumbl-“

“Accio letter!” I exclaimed. The letter didn't come into my hand, Black had anticipated this. The boys, having read and heard part of Dumbledore’s name in my letter, had now shed their teasing demeanor and their eyes furiously roamed the piece of parchment, as Lupin cast a Protego so that I wouldn’t be able to Accio anything again. “-that Dumbledore has been unsuccessful in finding out your location. I hope it will continue to be so, seeing that Malfoy and Avery can’t seem to keep their mouths close in presence of Gryffindors. I am sure you can take care of that.

As for the elder Black boy, chances of him joining your ranks seem to be as good as none, considering his constant company is half-breeds, blood traitors, and mudbloods, and he seems keen on troubling each and every Slytherin; he gets into routinely brawls with LeStrange, Crabbe, Goyle, the likes. His friend, the blood traitor Potter, his mother has caught the Dragon Pox,” Potter’s voice broke, “so it is assured that she will not survive. As for his father, Fleamont Potter, the auror, he seems determined to find the cure and weed out each and every member of your ranks; the man is livid. As for the werewolf, his company is same as Black’s; it is highly unlikely he will join your ranks.

My education here is going as expected, the Professors teach me nothing that I don’t already know.

I hope all the information I have been able to convey in this letter will be efficient for you. As always, Nagini has been an absolute darling.

Yours truly.” Potter finished, looking stricken and sad and livid, all at the same time. His friends all were furious, too.

He, however, was angrier than any of them; the mention of his mother’s name, and the fact that he now knew that father’s followers were the cause of his mother’s ailment, only added fuel to the fire.

Although I hadn’t once mentioned father’s name in the letter, it was clear that these four boys, whom I’d just assumed were naïve teenagers, knew more than they let on. And suddenly, it was clear why they bothered me so much, specifically, why I’d become their main target: these boys knew something fishy was up; something that wasn’t just related to a new transfer student.

With trembling hands, and a quivering lip, Potter looked up, eyes ablaze with fear-inducing fury. “You. It was… you, you were involved with… this, all along,” the boy declared more than asked. “You-!”

“OI! Who’s there?!” a scratchy voice asked, from not very far away. Merlin, Filch. I glanced at the boys, panic settling inside me. I couldn’t afford getting caught in an abandoned classroom with four of the most troublesome people I had ever met. My record, up till this day, had been perfectly clean. No failed tests, no late assignments, no detentions. If I got caught today, there would be a huge, ugly, black spot on my school records, as well as my reputation – because one thing I’d learned at Hogwarts was that news travels fast. Faster than I’d like.

In a panic-stricken haze, I made what was possibly the most impulsive decision in the entirety of my life. I pointed my wand, muttered a spell, snatched the letter, disillusioned myself, and fled the classroom as fast as I could. The letter could wait.

. . . . .

As I sat on the Slytherin table the next day, I chewed on my omelette with well-masked anxiety. If the boys came in, and started pointing fingers and started shooting spells at me, I would most certainly be in trouble, and the public humiliation would come hand-in-hand. However, if they’d decided to tell Dumbledore, then my trouble would be doubled. And if, if, by chance, by Salazar’s most divine blessing, my spell had worked, then I could seek refuge here in the castle for more time.

Lost in my thoughts and the chatter surrounding me, I completely missed on the theatrical but yet, routine and typical, entrance of the Marauders. Their flailing hands, arrogant smirks, loud banter and even louder chatter gained a couple students’ attention, though said students went back to what they were doing almost immediately.

As I looked up, the four Gryffindors appeared and behaved as they usually did – without a care in the world. No visible anxiety, no frown, no scowl, and definitely no pointed fingers. I was relieved, and my short sigh indicated so. Just as I was about to really go back to eating my food, I caught the mischievous eyes of one James Potter, and by the look in his eyes for that split-second, I knew something was definitely wrong.

. . . . .

Salazar, I hadn’t expected things to go this wrong.

See, the spell I’d used on the Marauders that night was a simple ‘Obliviate’, and then a bit of memory-modification; the boys were planning a prank to make everyone drowsy, and while they planned, they started messing about, used the spell on each other, and fell asleep. Simple enough, yes?

No.

In my hurry, I’d done something wrong, I don’t know what, and had made James Potter think that he was infatuated with me. And yes, I know, the odds of someone believing that were pretty not in my favour, but James Potter could be pretty persuasive, and the fact that the male had finally moved on and given up after so much time, was… expected.

But such a drastic change wouldn’t be believed. His first choice was the golden girl of Hogwarts, the redheaded muggleborn genius Gryffindor, the one who had a warm aura radiating off of her, whose emerald eyes were sharp yet so affable; and then there was me, the brooding Slytherin with green tips in her hair, a stare so pointed people would turn away if they were walking in my direction, and a resting bitch face so effective no one, not even purebloods, wanted to talk to me.

But that was just the beginning. The number of unwanted gifts I received was horrendous – roses in black, white, red, Merlin, even green color; poetry so bad it was tragic; pickup lines so bad I swear my ears would start bleeding if I heard more of them; and extravagant confessions of love that were embarrassing beyond comparison.

But I knew it wasn’t love; love can’t be created. Yes, it was infatuation, but it was just that. The effects the messed-up memory-altering spell were quite similar to those of Amortentia, the only difference was that I didn’t intend that.

. . . . .

A month had passed already, and we were all growing nearer to graduation. The workload was crumbling; seventh-years, such as myself, spent their days and nights in the libraries, the gardens, abandoned classrooms, dormitories, anywhere they got, just studying and learning and practicing. And the three essays we were doomed to get each day didn’t help either.

So now, Jam- sorry, Potter’s unwanted public displays of affection only added to my stress. The constant nagging, shouting, pickup lines, rejections – ugh.

I put up with it only until I snapped.

It was two months later, three days until our first exam, History of Magic, when it happened. I was roaming the dungeons, muttering spells under my breath and practicing wand movements, when I heard noise. I immediately knew. And even though if I’d been saner, I’d probably just ignore it and leave those Marauders and their shenanigans alone. But at that time, I was past the point of sanity, and my fingers were itching to do some actual magic – real magic, not the amateur spells this pathetic excuse of a school was teaching me. You would think that learning advanced stuff would make the basic spells and hexes and potions easier; it was quite the opposite. Having learned what first years learn at age four or five, and reaching seventh-year level by twelve, I was so ahead that I’d forgotten the basics.

So I whipped around, wand pointed, the boys’ cloak blowing off by a nonverbal spell, as they all stared at me. Potter spoke up first.

“Hey, Dahlia, how’re you holdi-?”

“Shut up, Potter,” I snapped. Dahlia was short for black dahlia, the name he used for me in his “poetry”.

“Aw, someone’s i-“

“Shut up, Potter!”

“Love, you shouldn’t preten-“

“Shut. Up,” I sneered, taking two quick strides and jabbing my wand at his throat. “I’m not pretending. I don’t have to. I loathe you, you imbecile! Stop bothering me, because I have work to do, and chapters to study, and spells to practice, and write letters to my parents, unlike you, who would much rather just roam around bullying people, and whose mother is on her death bed and father is half-mad, and whose entire family are filthy bloodtraitors!” I was heaving for air at that point, and once oxygen reached my brain and lungs, only then did I really comprehend what I’d said.

The hazel eyes of the boy in front of me had lost their glint, and had suddenly become too dull, even for me. His friends were standing stunned behind him, eyes flitting from my – as I then realized – guilty expression, and his heartbroken one.

It took him a few seconds and shaky breaths, but the Potter boy finally spoke up. “If… i-if what I say and, uh, do, g- gives you such a headache, then I’ll just, um, stop,” he said in a voice that was uncharacteristically quiet. I gulped, uncomfortable due to the pit that seemed to be settled in the bottom of my belly, and gave a stiff, curt nod.

He nodded again, gaze constantly on the floor, and then trotted away, his friends trailing behind him, now giving me angry glares, having come out of their stunned stages.

And although I should have felt relieved, because I somehow knew that Potter wouldn’t be back to his old ways, I instead had a strange tightness blooming in my chest, slightly constricting my breathing. Shaking my head, I went back to the dormitories, because I couldn’t possibly have gone back to sleep then.

. . . . .

Two days until the day all seventh-years would graduate, say goodbye to the castle, probably forever, but instead of feeling sadness or nostalgia or sadness on leaving the castle, I just had that constricting feeling in my chest growing every day, because I didn’t have even one happy memory in the castle.

My letters to father were sent occasionally, because honestly, except recruiting the seventh-year Gryffindors, and one Hufflepuff, to the Order, Dumbledore had done honestly nothing.

Potter had once again slipped back into his old routine, but his eyes never seemed to had that sparkle anymore. He flited with Evans, she flirted back, seemingly suddenly not liking the lack of attention she got when his affections had been aimed towards me, and each time I saw them that way, I would tighten my jaw, and grip my wand, or books, or even the hem of my sweater if I didn’t have anything, a little tighter.

The feeling was so foreign, and I didn’t like it one bit. Perhaps Evans’ case was what I was suffering with; but I had never liked the attention.

So…why?

. . . . .

During autumn 1979, Lily and James Potter had decided to get married, only at the supple age of 18. And I didn’t know why it bothered me, but it did. That’s why I had been the one to plan the attack on the same day as their wedding.

At 4 pm, the Death Eaters all broke in to the Potters’ mansion; an anonymous source had informed us of the location. I was part of the crew that was attacking – so were Bellatrix, the LeStranges, Malfoy, Pucey, Nott, Rosier, Selwyn, Regulus, the Carrows, Dolohov, Greyback, and Snape – we were father’s most ruthless and dangerous pawns, in the midst of the useless ones. Except me and Bellatrix, clad in hooded robes, the rest all wore their masks.

The wards around the Potter mansion had been taken down by someone inside, and so, there were little to no obstacles in our path.

As we all apparated in, it took the guests a hot second to even realize what had happened; once they did, there was a full-on battle.

The first person to attack me was Professor McGonagall, who was, as expected, one heck of an opponent. It was fun, going back and forth with a person who was suppose to have power over me, and that too in a dangerous duel. And yes, she caught me off-guard a couple times, but that was that. Confringo’s, stupefy’s, crucio’s, expulso’s, reducto’s, spells that melted your insides, jinxes that turned your heart to metal, hexes that made your wand obey your opponent, curses that blasted you apart; there was everything included, because I had lethal intent. It was a Sectumsempra, however, that finally took down my Professor, for she was growing out of breath, and when cuts and gashes made way into her arm and shoulder, she finally dropped to her knees, wand still not forgotten.

Trusting Nagini to take care of her, I went off, assisting Snape in a duel against a certain redhead that he was going way too easy on. And it was easy to take her down, because with a carefully aimed Crucio, the bride had dropped down, screaming and writhing; my companion turned to me just as I heard a scream of “LILY!”, and I just knew he was grimacing underneath. Shrugging my shoulders, I then left Snape to engage in a duel against Dorcas Meadowes, who was fighting beside a heavily breathing redhead whose wand had been blasted off to who knows where. I needed to see the captured.

As I entered the mansion, I was impressed; I didn’t remember any attack in which we’d done this well. But then again, I’d been ready to kill whoever didn’t immerse themselves into pure torture of these people. Most guests had already escaped; only the groom, his father, his friends and colleagues, a couple Professors of whom Dumbledore wasn’t part of, and the bride who was soon brought in, we had mostly all the important ones in our grasp.

I locked eyes with Pettigrew, on his knees beside Potter, and was quivering. He seemed to know what I wanted to tell him – good job.

“Lily!”

“Dorcas, are you okay?”

“What happened?!”

“Lily, love-“

“SHUT UP!” exclaimed Bellatrix, just at the right time. She then proceeded to cackle madly, which I rolled my eyes at. Lucius hissed something about “embarrassing women”.

“Let her go, please,” uttered Potter, and only then did I turn to see Snape holding his wand at Evans’ back. Holding, not jabbing. Striding towards him, pulling her forward with her left arm, and forcefully making her sit on her knees directly in front of Potter as I held her in place with her hair, the girl couldn’t hide her quivering lip from me.    I didn’t blame her; I’d successfully destroyed her wedding, and would probably kill her. But I couldn’t help chuckling when Potter started pleading to let her go, because she was bleeding. And the twisted pleasure I derived from that sickened me, but I couldn’t stop it.

Tugging at her hair harder, I muttered a stinging spell under my breath, and the girl’s shoulder began burning more. She yelped and hissed, and I could make out the clenched fists of my fellow Death Eater from the peripherals of my vision. He had to get over her.

And that was the reason, I convinced myself, why I Crucio-ed the girl on her knees.

Her friends screamed at me to stop it, she screamed at me to stop it, Potter screamed at me to stop it, but I didn’t. Amongst the shouts, Black screamed at me to reveal my face, as his cousin already had. I didn’t. And the billow of wind that went past me, temporarily stopping me, and lowered my hood, I knew it wasn’t just nature’s wrath.

As Rabastan tortured Black for lowering my hood, McKinnon taunted, “Oh, your friend can’t defend herself, is it?”

I was flattered, honestly, with the uproar that caused among the Death Eaters. Chuckling, and then asking them to stop it, I wandered to McKinnon, and crouched to her eye level, looking head-straight into her blue eyes. I was aware of the tense gazes of the wedding guests on me, and I couldn’t help but smirk. Quickly suppressing it, I ran my hands along the girl’s face – her nose, jaw, lips, and then threaded them through her hair.

Pulling her head back with her hair, I tilted my head to the side. “You’re the half blood, hm? Gryffindor, like your mother. Your father was Ravenclaw.” She seemed creeped out a tad, at me knowing her family so well. I raised my voice, no longer muttering. “Dolohov, take this one back home. Don’t touch her, or her family. Kill them off, make it hurt. Once you’re done, come back here.”

And so the screams started again, protests and thrashing and writhing. Dolohov did as he was instructed, and everyone watched, horrified.

“Anyone else, have any problem?” I raised my brows. Silence.

I then worked efficiently. Meadowes, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin were taken to the headquarters, meant to be attended to by Father. Bellatrix was allowed to torture whoever she pleased. Once she was done, I dragged the mudblood by her lover, and both of them were tied together. The professors were sent back to Hogwarts as a message, and once those two, as well as Auror Potter were the only ones left, me and the Death Eaters trudged out. Standing at the door, I pointed my wand. “Fiendfyre.”

The doors were closed, and the screams inside would haunt the area forever. The Potters had been murdered, along with all the most valuable assets of the Order of the Phoenix, and Neville Longbottom, two years later, had been marked with a lightning scar.

No one messes with the Riddles and gets away.

No one is worthy of our jealousy.

[rachel-matteo-merlin-recs]

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.  

[fuyupeach]

In The Works // Ryuji Sakamoto x Reader - Chapter 9

(really) long time no see!! i hope you're all doing well and staying safe!! i'm doing my best trying to get through this fall semester, and playing among us with friends is really fun! i hope you all enjoy this chapter, it ends a little abruptly but i don't think it's a bad place to stop since i really wanted to update! hopefully the next chapter will be out soon! thank you all so much for the support!! <3

The air smells faintly of curry, coffee overpowering its scent as you walk into Le Blanc. Looking easily to the left you see Akira, Ann, and Ryuji seated at one of the many booths, each waving once they see you. 

“Welcome.” An older unknown voice greets you, an old man with glasses and a beard behind the counter. “One of Akira’s friends?”

“Yes,” you reply, still facing him as you slide into the booth next to Ryuji. “It’s nice to meet you.” You supply an awkward smile.

“No need to be nervous around me,” Sojiro smiles, turning to wipe freshly washed cups down. “Do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t interfere with my business.”

“That’s Sojiro for ya.” Ryuji catches your attention, lowering his voice as he looks at Akira. “So, we’re obviously all here because.. you-know-what.”

A cat pops up from Akira’s bag, seemingly sneering at Ryuji before it...talked.. 

“How do we know we can trust her?” Oddly enough, the voice sounded quite familiar to one very annoying creature that looked like a cat all that time ago.

“Morgana?” Your face scrunches up. Great.. You roll your eyes. “I can promise your secret will be safe with me. And it’s not like you won’t see me almost everyday at school.”

“I trust her.” Akira speaks up, pushing Morgana back into his bag and from sight.

“Me too.” Ann nods. “We’ve known her for a while, can’t imagine not trusting her.” She motions between her and Ryuji. It was true and common knowledge to you, but the statement still gave you comfort. 

“Meeting adjourned then.” Akira gives you a small smile. “Anyone want drinks?”

------

Much hadn’t changed, if you were being honest. It was easier to have more company around you than just Ryuji, your transportation routine aligning with everyone else’s. You’re standing next to Ann on the morning train to Shujin when you decide to bring up Kamoshida. You had talked to Ryuji, but you knew Ann was just as affected, even more so with Shiho leaving. You may not talk with Ann as much as you two had in the past, but you wanted to try and change that.

“How are you feeling?” You ask quietly. “With… I know it isn’t the best place to talk but we haven’t had many chances to talk alone. ” you gesture awkwardly with your hands, but Ann seems to understand just fine, a bit of a shadow crossing over her face. 

“I…” She sighs, tugging at the end of one of her pigtails. “I’m getting by. It’s a little weird being able to walk down the halls and not worry about having to avoid that asshole. It irritates me that he has that impact on me, despite his apology.”

Your eyebrows furrow, but you stay silent, letting her know you’re listening as you stand next to her. You weren’t sure if she needed a hug, but maybe you could ask her later. For now, you just listen.

“I know Shiho leaving will be for the best, but I’ll still miss her. It’ll be a little different, but I just gotta tell myself that we’ll both be growing stronger in our own ways.” Ann finishes, looking back up at you with a small smile on her face. “Thanks for asking, ___. I appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem.” You smile back, reaching for her hand and giving it a small squeeze. “We may not have been able to talk much before, but I’m totally here for you. I’d love to be close like we were before.”

“Me too.” Ann squeezes your hand back. “We should totally go out to this crepe stand I LOVE. And if you want, I’d love some updates on the Ryuji situation.” She winks.

“Ann!” You whisper, slapping her arm gently, eyes darting over to an unsuspecting Ryuji a few feet away. Akira seems to have heard it though, a small smile tugging his lips upward, Morgana’s eyes poking out of his bag, full or mirth. Goddammit. Whatever. Despite your thoughts your heart still races.

That had been the beginning of your assistance with the phantom thieves, though nothing much had happened for a good while after Kamoshida. You had gotten closer with Akira and Ann, sometimes even Morgana on his good days (he was still on thin ice). You helped out however you could, getting drinks from the vending machines and convenience stores when you could for their trips to Mementos, being there during their meetings, keeping a low radar. 

It wasn’t until one morning on the train to school that things had begun to pick up again.

You’re standing next to Ryuji as you both talk to Akira, waiting for Ann to show up, a yawn leaving your lips. You never were a morning person.

Ryuji yawns next to you, mumbling. “So sleepy… I ended up pullin’ an all-nighter once I realized today’s the last day of exams.”

“You? Staying up studying?” Morgana asks in disbelief.

“Nah, I gave up on the exam.” Ryuji states. “I was playin’ some games, then before I knew it, it was morning.”

“You’re failing for sure.” Akira adjusts his glasses.

“I tried to get him to study,” You sigh. “You’re lucky you have such a great friend that’ll let you study her notes on the way to class.” Ryuji smiles at you as Ann arrives, also yawning.

“Morning! ..Huh?” Ann looks behind her suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” Akira asks, taking the question right from your mouth.

“What, you see a groper or something?” Ryuji asks as well.

Ann turns back around to face you, twirling one of her pigtails. “No, that’s not it. It’s… nothing.” 

You continue to be concerned, standing next to Ann as you all get on the train. Not long after you all get off at the designated station, Ann still subtly looking around her. Everything seems fine until she turns back around while you’re all on the escalator out, gasping.

“Oh my god, that guy got off! Isn’t this bad?” 

“What guy?” you ask, immediately trying to spot who she was referring to.

Akira’s eyebrows furrow while Ryuji lets out another yawn next to you, lifting his arms. You try to ignore the flutter in your stomach as he seems closer than before. 

“Hey! At least act like you care!” Ann pouts. Ryuji scratches his head as he sighs, moving up the escalator.

“Fine. Come on.” The three of you follow him.

You stick with Ann while Ryuji and Akira hide not too far, standing open in the city square. It doesn’t take long to hear footsteps that grow closer to you, keys subtly jingling with each step the guy took. You wait until it gets too close, turning around to see a pale hand reaching out to the both of you. Looking up, the guy is actually quite cute, dark blue hair almost completely covering one of his eyes. He would be if he wasn’t stalking your friend. Ryuji and Akira step in front of the both of your, intimidation on their faces. The boy tilts his head in confusion. Ryuji and Akira also glance him up and down, Ryuji turning to Ann with a doubtful expression.

“Hey, uh… Are you sure that’s him or are you just that self-conscious.” Ryuji asks.

“Urgh, I’m not that--” Ann starts before the stranger interrupts.

“Is there something you want?”

Ann pushes past Ryuji, you following a little bit behind. “That’s my line! You were the one stalking me!” She points.

“Stalking you..? That’s outrageous.”

“I know you’ve been following me! Ever since the train!”

“That’s because…” 

And as if the situation couldn’t get any more comical, a black car pulls up, honking at you all. The backseat window rolls down, an old man in a green yukata laughing as he says this is where the stranger’s passion had led. What was going on…? 

“I saw you both from the car… and I couldn’t help myself from chasing you.” The boy starts, turning his eyes to you as well. “I didn’t even notice the calls from sensei… But thank goodness I caught up to you.”

“Huh?” You couldn’t help but let out.

“OK…” Ann trails off.

“What?” Ryuji scratches his head again. 

“You are the women I’ve been searching for all this time! Please, won’t you--”

“W-wait a minute, I--” Ann starts.

“Be the models for my next art piece?” The boy finishes.

All you can do is blink. This was already a tiring morning.

[ijustwant2write]

Sister’s Secret-Merlin x Pendragon!Magic!Reader

(GIF credit to @harritudur​)

Requested by @cokecola4211​: ‘Merlin imagine being Arthur's younger sister and having magic and always a struggle to hide it from your brother and even Morgana.’

Characters: Merlin x Pendragon!Magic!Reader, Arthur Pendragon x Pendragon!Magic!Reader (siblings), Morgana x Pendragon!Magic!Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Violence, fighting

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I don’t think I should attend the tournament today, I don’t feel too well.” I mumbled to Morgana, placing a hand over my stomach for effect.

“You won’t be getting out of this one (Y/N).” she sadly smiled at me, linking her arm through mine.“Be a part of the sportsmanship.”

“Sometimes I really don’t like being a princess.”

She scoffed.“Oh the horror.”

I giggled.“Not like that. I just really don’t want to go today.”

“We shall be sat together. We can talk throughout the whole thing and annoy Uther to no end.”

“Yes, my father will comment on our un-ladylike behaviour.”

“And we will watch your brother show of his amazing fighting skills, what a thrilling afternoon.”

We walked with the guards who were escorting us to the tournament, still chatting away. Morgana made me feel slightly better, though I could still feel nerves. I had tried to avoid every public event I could, though father was having none of it. I had got away with it the first few times, but then father became worried; once Gaius was called in, he knew I was faking it. I lied, putting it down to nerves now that I was coming of age to take on more responsibilities as a princess. Father had strict words with me, saying that I needed to face these head on, take a page out of Arthur’s book.

Arthur and I didn’t butt heads like he and Morgana did, though it was hard to put up with him when he got so much praise for being a prince; but I loved my brother dearly, he was a brave man.

However, I wasn’t feeling part of the family anymore. Something mysterious was happening to me, something I couldn’t control or tell anyone. I found myself controlling things without realising, items would float or be thrown across the room. It happened out of the blue, and I was extremely lucky to be by myself when I discovered what I had; magic. Why I possessed this power was unknown, and how did I have these powers when no one else in my family did? I kept this secret for months now, it had been difficult to hide at times, too many times there had been where I was almost caught. What would people think of their princess having magic? Especially since their king was so harsh on the law?

I remembered back to when I was a child, playing with Arthur and Morgana. We were stuck inside, rain pouring from the skies since the evening, and it had no sign of stopping throughout the day. Morgana and I were playing with our dolls castle, dressing up the dolls in beautiful gowns that we wished we could wear. Arthur wouldn't sit still, swinging around the wooden sword father had gifted him. He purposefully came too close to us, making us flinch and whine everytime we thought he was going to hit us.

"Arthur! Stop it or I'm going to call nanny!" I threatened, pouting my lips.

He continued his actions."You two are boring. You should play knights with me instead of those stupid dolls!"

Morgana gasped."Arthur!"

I stomped my foot."They aren't stupid!"

"Yes they are."

My fists were clenched, and I found myself storming towards him, about to shove him back, but he had already been thrown to the floor. He cried out as I halted, confused as to how he had fallen over when I hadn't even touched him.

"Princess!" Nanny had run into the room, attending to Arthur."You can't go around pushing people, especially your brother. You must remember your lessons as a lady."

"But nanny, (Y/N) didn't push him!" Morgana defended me.

"Morgana, we don't tell lies either."

"I didn't push him!" I screamed at the top of my tiny lungs, thunder and lightning violently cracking outside, causing us all to jump.

The noise silenced everyone, the light rain now coming down harsher. Nanny huffed, getting Arthur on his feet and brushing him down. Why was she ignoring me? Why didn't she believe me? Even Morgana was telling her the truth, and Morgana hardly said anything. I could feel the anger building up inside me, I felt hot, my hands were shaking; my vision was blurry, I couldn't focus on anything. As I went to step towards them, my knees buckled, but it went black before I even hit the floor. That was the last time I remembered my powers before they returned.

“Ah, (Y/N), you have decided to join us.” father smiled, though his tone held some sarcasm.

“Yes father,” I hugged him,“shouldn’t miss Arthur’s sparring after all the training he put himself through.”

“Indeed.”

Rolling my eyes at Morgana, we broke the hug, and he greeted her next. Following my father up the steps to our viewing box, the people of Camelot cheered once they spotted us, being silenced by a wave of my father's hand. He announced the beginning of the event, the knights filing out to the arena, crowds cheering once again. I clapped, smiling as I spotted Arthur; why men wanted to fight each other as a form of sport was unknown to me. Some knights I knew of were chivalrous, brave, others just used the title to boost their ego.

One of them was huge. He had darker armour on than the usual silver. He towered above the rest, his body wider in muscle. Whoever trained him had obviously wanted him to be a fighting machine. He made me nervous. Arthur was a skilled fighter, but sometimes strength overcame that.

Normally I wouldn't pay much attention throughout the whole tournament, but this new knight had my full attention. He had taken out man after man, and my brother was next to face him.

"Something doesn't feel right." I mumbled to Morgana.

She nodded."He's taken out every knight. Most of them have had to be carried off the field. Why isn't anyone stopping this?"

"Pride." I turned my head to my father."Surely we should stop this? Arthur is going to get hurt."

My father's expression did not change, masking his true feelings."I cannot pull Arthur out of the tournament, how would that look to the other Lords and knights attending?"

"But he's your son! You would rather keep your pride than to save him from getting hurt?"

"We both know that even if I wanted to stop him, he would still go in and fight."

I sighed, leaning back in my chair."Like father like son."

Anticipation grew as the men readied themselves for the final battle. The opponent walked out first, receiving some praise, whereas once Arthur appeared, the roars were so loud, they could probably be heard in the next kingdom. Although I tried to keep my composure as I clapped for him, I found my eyes never tearing away from his form, praying that no harm would come to him. It all seemed to happen too quickly. They began their fight, clashes of swords and shields ringing out as the people yelled, supporting their future King. My heart thumped in my chest, hands clutching to my chair, all of my muscles tensing. Out of the blue, Arthur was pushed to the floor, images of us as children flashed into my mind.

Everyone gasped, whereas I heard the splintering of wood. Looking down at my left hand, I realised that I had broken the arm of the chair. No, not now, not in front of all these people; not this close to my family.

Arthur was on his back crawling away from his opponent. I was on the edge of my seat as the sword was raised, all of sudden striking down on Arthur. Luckily, he swiftly rolled out of the way, stumbling to his feet. However, as Arthur quickly picked up his sword to fight again, we were all entranced by his fighters weapon. It was stuck in the ground, but as he grabbed it again, it snapped in half. Arthur took this opportunity of surprise to attack, taking him down. As chivalrous as ever, Arthur showed mercy. But I couldn't stay here any longer, I felt an overwhelming surge of energy in me, and if I didn't get away soon, I didn't know how much I could hide.

Leaping from my chair, I hurried away, ignoring the calls of my father and Morgana. The guards were quick to follow, though once away from the arena and near the castle, I commanded they leave me alone. There were plenty of places to hide in the castle, I just needed to find somewhere quick. As I ran down the halls, my breathing was erratic, vision blurry once again. I stumbled into a wall, crumbling the stone with just my hand. I stopped, leaning beside it before sinking to the floor. How could I feel tired, yet harness all this power? My hands started to shake, there was nothing to stop it; shutting my eyes, I focused all of my mind on my hands, willing this all to stop. It had to stop. Someone would come by soon, someone would see what I had done, then they would tell my father, and he would have no choice but to send me to the-

"Princess?" Merlin's voice scared me.

My eyes shot open, gasping as I saw him kneeling in front of me.

"What are you doing on the floor? Are you hurt?"

I furiously shook my head, wanting to get up though I couldn't find the strength. His eyes glanced down at my shaking hands, slowly taking them in his.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped."Please don't, just leave me!"

"Your highness," his voice was a whisper now, "I need you to trust me."

All I could do was watch as he held my hands firmer, staring at them. A cooling sensation flooded my skin, the intense energy I was feeling dying down. Shakily breathing, I caught his eyes flash to a gorgeous golden, amber colour. No, he couldn't be. My brother's manservant possessed magic?!

"Come to the infirmiry with me, we have much to speak about." he quietly said, helping me to my feet.

Willingly following him, he sat me down at the table in Gaius' chambers, kneeling in front of me. If I wasn't confused before, I certainly was now, a headache forming.

"You've had these powers for a while now, haven't you?" he calmly asked.

"Merlin, I-"

"You can trust me. You've just seen what I can do."

"Yes. But they've only just come back. I don't understand why."

"Magic has its own rules, unfortunately for some."

"Merlin, why are you working in the castle when you could easily be spotted? Someone could report you!"

Realisation flashed over his face."Y-you aren't going to say anything, are you?"

"Of course not! What sort of hypocrite would I be if I told of your powers when I possess my own? Though...looking back on my father's tales of how evil magic is, it just confuses me."

"Not all magic is bad. There is good that lies behind it, as long as it's in the right hands."

"But why me?"

"Why anyone?"

"You are starting to sound like Gaius more and more."

We both smiled."Was it you that broke the wall?"

"Yes. I broke the chair back in the arena too."

"You need to learn to harness your power."

"You could teach me!"

"W-well-"

"Merlin, how am I, the princess of Camelot, supposed to hide something like this without training?"

"When would I do that? You've seen how Arthur works me to death."

"Hm, my brother is a dollop head about that sort of thing."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at me, chuckling.

"I've heard you call him that, I like it."

We laughed until the door opening interrupted. My father stormed in, Gaius and Arthur close behind.

"What happened?" Father exclaimed.

"Merlin, you left me to take off my own armour!" Arthur seethed.

Merlin stumbled with his words, standing up as he tried to come up with a lie.

"I told you earlier that I shouldn't have come today. Just seeing Arthur almost get hurt sent me over the edge." I sighed."I'm sorry that I ran off like that, but I didn't want to draw away any attention from your victory Arthur. And Merlin was the one who found me."

Arthur smiled."Your health is far more important than any victory of mine."

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before." Father started."Gaius, give her a full examination. Make sure she is alright. I shall stay with you."

"No father, you should go to the Lords and knights, it will be improper to keep them waiting."

"If you are sure."

"Of course. You will be the first to know if anything ails me."

He kissed my forehead before leaving with Arthur. Arthur squeezed my hand, following Father. My tense shoulders relaxed as they closed the door, looking to Merlin and Gaius.

"Your highness, what hap-"

"She has magic Gaius." Merlin interrupted.

"Merlin!" I snapped.

"It's alright, he knows."

"Oh, Merlin." Gaius sighed."You do seem to attract trouble, don't you?"

I pouted."Are you stating that I am trouble?"

"Apologies your highness. I am assuming Merlin has offered his help already?"

"Well, I sort of asked him myself."

"You do realise how dangerous this is, don't you your highness?"

"Yes. But I have no other choice."

"Gaius, I can help her. I have too." Merlin said.

"Well, I don't think I can really stop either of you, can I?"

We both shook our heads.

"We will do all we can to help you princess, just know, that it won't be an easy journey. You are bordering on treason of your kingdom."

"I understand. I will do anything to control this power. And who knows, maybe in the future, I will be able to convince my father that not all magic is evil."

[swanqueeneverafter]

Sins of the Past Pt.9

Camelot. Present. Morgana's Chambers. (Morgana hurriedly returns to her chambers through a back passageway.) Guinevere: (Calling from outside the door:) "My Lady?" (Morgana looks down at her muddy cloak and tosses it behind her bed just as Guinevere enters.) Guinevere: "I saw the light, wanted to make sure you were alright." Morgana: "I’m fine." Guinevere: "You were missed at the festival today, the people of Camelot are eager to welcome you back." Morgana: "They have already waited ten years, I'm sure they can manage without me for a little while longer." Guinevere: (Smiles:) "Of course. Will you be joining us for dinner in Storybrooke?" Morgana: (Hesitates:) "I think not. After a day re-familiarizing myself with the castle, I'm really quite tired." Guinevere: "I'll leave you to rest then. Would you like-" Morgana: (Steps back:) "Guin, you are queen now. You helping me undress would just be embarrassing for both of us." Guinevere: "I really don't mind, it wouldn't be any trouble." Morgana: (A sharper tone:) "I’ll prepare myself for bed. (Making her tone light again:) Goodnight, Guin." Morgana: "Goodnight, My Lady." (Guinevere leaves.)

Camelot. Past. Forest. (Morgana sneaks out of the castle at night to meet Morgause in the woods.) Morgause: “You look well.” Morgana: “Thanks to you. (Morgana touches the enchanted bracelet Morgause gave her:) I wear it all the time. I can’t remember when I last had a bad dream.” Morgause: “But you do not seem happy. Why is that?” Morgana: “I would be if I didn’t have to pretend.” Morgause: “Pretend?” Morgana: “That I’m Uther’s loving daughter when I hate him.” Morgause: “Have you ever imagined a new world, Morgana? One where Uther was no more?” Morgana: “Sometimes.” Morgause: “And is that what you’d like?” Morgana: “I once had the chance to be his assassin.” Morgause: “And what stopped you?” Morgana: “I don’t know. I believe he cared for me. But not anymore. He cares for no one.” Morgause: “So, you want Uther destroyed and his reign to end?” Morgana: “More than anything. But it doesn’t matter what I want. The future’s not of my making.” Morgause: “You are wrong, Morgana. You underestimate your importance. The decisions you make now will change the shape of everything that is to come.” Morgana: “What do you mean?” Morgause: “Whose side are you on, Morgana? Are you with Uther? Or are you with me? Are you prepared to help me bring about his downfall?” Morgana: “I am.” Morgause: (Reaching out to stroke Morgana’s face:) “I can’t tell you how much it means to hear you say that.” 

Storybrooke. Present. Swan-Mills House. (Tired, sore and covered in mud, Mrs & Mrs Swan-Mills arrive home victorious, carrying their trophy between them.) Regina: "Well, that worked out nicely." Emma: (Closing the front door:) "It did, didn't it?" Regina: "Although technically I still think I won. It was my horse who crossed the finish line first." Emma: "Hey, tell it to the judges, their decision is final." Regina: "Hm." Emma: "You heard them, it was a dead heat. Too close to call! Take the win, Regina. Anyway, I should be the one that's upset. I don't get to see your Lady Godiva moment now." Regina: "No, but I do still want to see you wearing that necklace tonight. So how about a compromise?" Emma: (Gasps in mock surprise:) "You? Mayor Mills, compromise? The hell you say." Regina: "It's Swan-Mills, and yes. Interested?" Emma: "I don't know... it’s a pretty ugly necklace. Your compromise had better be good." Regina: "What if, instead of heading back to the stables, I take off all my clothes right now, jump on your back and ride you around every room of this house?" Emma: (Laughing:) "The image I have in my head right now is so ridiculous. (Tries to control her giggles when seeing the slightly hurt look on Regina's face:) I'm sorry, it's just..." Regina: "Forget I said anything." Emma: (Reaching out and taking her hand:) "Wait. Please wait. (Composing herself:) Now, it's not the craziest idea I've heard." Regina: "Only the funniest, evidently." Emma: "Well, yeah, and I know you meant it to be sexy but, maybe with a couple of tweaks, it could be very, very hot." Regina: (Still annoyed:) "I'm open to suggestions." Emma: (Smiles:) "Okay, well, I have zero problem with the you getting naked part. That part I love. But how about instead of my back, you jump into my arms and, (Waving her hand, Emma envelops herself in a cloud of smoke. When it clears, Emma stands naked but for a few hefty straps at her waist. Smirking as Regina's eyes are immediately drawn to the appendage now bobbing between her legs:) I give you the ride of your life?" Regina: (Still transfixed:) "Well, there's only one thing I can think to say. (Using her own magic to shed her clothes:) Giddy up!" A Short While Later. (Reclined in each others arms in the bath tub, Regina and Emma discuss the night's plans.) Emma: "Do I really have to wear that thing to dinner?" Regina: "Not if we don't go." Emma: "Mom wants us there." Regina: "Then yes, you have to wear it." Emma: "What if she asks why I'm wearing it and not you?" Regina: "You tell her the truth. You lost a bet." Emma: (Smiling up at her:) "If you call this losing, I can't imagine what winning feels like." Regina: "Well don't ask your father, he wouldn't know what winning felt like either." Emma: (Chuckles:) "All right, you asked for this." (With much splashing and screams of delight, Regina and Emma take turns dunking each other under the surface, causing huge waves of water to spill over the edge of the tub and onto the tiled floor below.)

Storybrooke. Main Street. (While the festivities of the day begin to wind down and the crowds slowly disperse, Henry takes a break from driving to stretch his legs. When passing by someone clearly from Wonderland, Henry feels compelled to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. However, as he's about to dial Ella's number, he stops himself, remembering that there are no cell towers in Wonderland. Looking up from his phone, he spots a familiar face sitting alone on a bench.) Henry: “Drizella?” Drizella: (Sniffles, wiping her eyes:) “Oh. I'm sorry. I don't remember calling a taxi.” Henry: “Funny. You’re here for the festival?” Drizella: (Nods:) “If I had known it was going to be a celebration of the Charmings and the Swan-Mills’ I might not have bothered.” Henry: “Try living with them.” Drizella: “Ooh, trouble in paradise?” Henry: (Taking a seat beside her:) “Alright, that was a little unfair, but sometimes it can get a little annoying - living in their shadow I mean.” Drizella: “Tell me about it. At least you weren’t overshadowed by your sister all your life. (Thinks:) Oh wait, don’t you have a little sister now?” Henry: “I think you know I do. Judging by the amount of gifts my moms received, I doubt there’s one person in all the united realms who doesn’t know about my sister.” Drizella: “And so it begins.” Henry: “It’s not like that at all. I love Maria and I’m thrilled to be a big brother.” Drizella: “Just give it time.” Henry: (Shaking his head:) “Speaking of which, where’s your sister, Anastasia?” Drizella: "Oh, probably off somewhere moping. Torturing herself over her past as the Red Queen. I mean, it's not like it happened recently, it was for a very brief period thirty years ago. I wish she’d just get over it already." Henry: "Well to be fair to Anastasia, it was very recent to her mind." Drizella: "Oh please, not the resurrection again. You know people always talk about that but they never seem to remember that I was encased in stone for roughly the same amount of time." Henry: "That had to be a hard time for you." Drizella: (Smiles, despite herself:) "Ha. Ha. (Sighs:) Look at us, sat in the middle of a festival throwing our own little pity party." Henry: "Yeah, Ella would've loved this." Drizella: "Is that your little dream girl?" Henry: "She came from the Dream Realm, yes." Drizella: "So where is she now?" Henry: "Searching for her mother." Drizella: (Scoffs:) "If she's also looking for her mother's approval, she'll be gone a long time. Trust me, I speak from experience." Henry: "Well the good thing is you haven't let it effect you. I mean it's not like you released an ancient immortal creature and a dust cloud filled with hate over the land just to prove yourself to your dead mother." Drizella: (Pursing her lips:) "Exactly." Henry: "Cause that would've been crazy." Drizella: "This from the son of the woman who conjured the Dark Curse?" Henry: "Touche. At least you're not the only one on this bench with baggage." Drizella: "Okay, then. So, how do we get rid of it. The baggage." Henry: "Take a chance? Do the scary thing? Hope it all works out." Drizella: "Is that what you call what you’re doing with Ella? The 'scary thing'?" Henry: "I don't know. I'm just figuring it out, same as you." Drizella: "Well, I for one need a drink." Henry: "Good idea." Drizella: "So, come on." Henry: "What?" Drizella: (Squints:) "You are legally allowed to drink now, aren't you?" Henry: "Yeah." Drizella: "Well, let's go!" (Hesitating for a moment, Henry looks down at his phone, then puts it in his pocket. Standing, he and Drizella walk together in search of the nearest bar. From a short distance away, Tiana watches them leave, with a troubled look upon her face.) Wonderland. Night. Will and Ella’s Campsite. (Will lays on the floor with his arms crossed attempting to sleep while Ella stands, turning the necklace over and over in her hand.) Will: “Please go to sleep.” Ella: “I can't. You sleep.” Will: “How can I sleep if you insist on thinking so loudly?” Ella: “What you said before... maybe you were right. Maybe she's moved on.”

Will: (Sitting up:) “I'm sorry, Ella. I put that terrible idea in your head. Don't listen to me, I don't know nothing about it. Do you believe that she truly loves you?” Ella: “I did.” Will: “Well, that's good then. Because when somebody truly loves you, they can never move on. It’s like you said, you don’t need any proof.” Ella: “That’s true, but it's still nice to have.” Will: (Sighs:) “As much as I’m going to regret this, as your guide on this little journey, it is my duty to help you in any way I can. So, if you want proof, proof you shall have.” Ella: “What are you talking about?” Will: “I’m talking about finding a way to prove your mother is still out there somewhere.” Ella: “And how do you propose we do that?” Will: “That’s for me to know and you to find out. Tomorrow. After a good solid night’s sleep. Deal?” Ella: (Smiling:) “Deal.” Forest of Balor. Caves. (Mulan and Ruby walk through the caves carrying torches.) Ruby: "There they are." (The flowers they seek are across a large gap with a narrow ledge and long drop. Mulan looks down.) Mulan: "Keep back from the edge. Don’t worry. We’ll be out of here soon.” (Walking carefully over the ledge, Mulan heads toward the Mortaeus flower growing on the cave wall. The cave begins to rumble, but seemingly nothing comes of it. Reaching the flower, Mulan grabs it and puts it in a pouch on her belt, then makes her way back to Ruby.) Ruby: “Well that was easy.” Mulan: “A little too easy.” Lord Macintosh: “You’re right. (Ruby and Mulan turn to face him:) I’m afraid I can’t allow you to leave here with that.” Mulan: “Macintosh. So it was you who poisoned the goblet!” Lord Macintosh: “I don’t know what you mean, Lassie. All I know is with Merida gone, that makes me the rightful ruler of all Dun Broch.” Mulan: “Over my dead body.” Lord Macintosh: “Aye, I thought you might say something like that.” (Turning, Macintosh motions towards the darkness where several of his men emerge. Mulan draws her sword.) Ruby: “Mulan, no. We don’t have time for this.” Mulan: “I don’t think they’re going to give us much choice.” Lord Macintosh: “Surrender the flower and no harm will come to you.” Mulan: “So I give up the flower and you’ll let us go?” Lord Macintosh: “As the new King of Dun Broch, I give you my word.” Mulan: “You aren’t King yet. Quick, Ruby, hand me your cloak.” Ruby: “What?” Mulan: “You’re right, we don’t have much time. (As Ruby removes her cloak, Mulan places the flower carefully inside:) I need you to transform.” Ruby: (Realising the plan:) “Oh no, I’m not leaving you.” Mulan: (Folding the cloak:) “You have to. You have to get the flower back to Storybrooke before it’s too late. (Reluctantly, Ruby does as she’s told and transforms into the wolf. Macintosh and his men recoil at the sight. Placing Ruby’s cloak into the wolf’s mouth:) Take it and go!” (With a low growl, the wolf paws at the ground and leaps toward Macintosh’s men. Desperately clinging to the walls to get out of the wolf’s path, Macintosh looks on helplessly as it runs from the cave and out of sight.)

Storybrooke. The Dragon's Lair. (Sitting down to dinner, Emma looks around the restaurant, clearly agitated.) Emma: "Great, now everyone's staring." Regina: "Well who could blame them? I often find myself staring at my beautiful wife." Emma: "They're starting at this ridiculous thing around my neck! (Regina promptly hides her face behind her menu. Narrowing her eyes:) You know if I had won, there's no way I would’ve had you embarrass yourself in public." Regina: (Lowering her menu:) "Do you think I'd have anything to be embarrassed about if you did?" (Knowing she's been out maneuvered, Emma quickly changes the subject.) Emma: (Picking up her own menu:) "There's just so much good stuff to choose from. (Still feeling Regina's eyes on her, Emma looks around for a distraction. As Maleficent walks by their table:) Mal, what would you recommend?" Maleficent: (Without missing a beat:) "A stylist." (At this, Regina bursts out laughing while Emma glares at Maleficent's back.) Emma: (As Regina continues to laugh:) "Oh, shut up. (Looking over Regina's shoulder:) Wait a minute. Is that Henry?" Regina: (Turns in her seat:) "Yes it is." Emma: "Who's that he's with?" Henry's Table. (Drizella returns to the table with a bottle.) Henry: "What's this?" Drizella: "Something better than the cheap antifreeze you're used to drinking." Regina & Emma's Table. (Emma's eyes widen in recognition.) Emma: "Drizella? What the hell's going on?" (Regina puts a hand on Emma's arm to stop her making a scene.) Regina: "Calm down, we don't know what the situation is." Emma: "The situation is that Henry let Ella go to Wonderland alone so he could go on a date with Drizella!" Regina: "Would you keep your voice down! I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks." Emma: “Since when did you start giving people the benefit of the doubt?” Regina: "Since you did the same for me all those years ago. Need I remind you that's our son you're accusing? Now sit down and let me handle this." Emma: (When Regina returns to her menu:) "Well?!" Regina: "I'll go over there after we've ordered. I seem to have worked up quite the appetite." Emma: (Looking over Regina's shoulder again:) "Yeah well if you don't get over there soon, I'm going to lose mine." Regina: (Under her breath:) "And your mind." Emma: "What?" Regina: (Smiling sweetly:) "Nothing."

Camelot. Past. Council Chamber. (Uther dines as Morgana enters with tear stained cheeks.) Morgana: "I have come to apologise, My Lord. You have been generous and kind and fair. And I owe you everything. I truly don’t know what came over me." (Uther stands and rushes to meet Morgana. He embraces her with tears of joy.) Uther: "I am so glad you’ve seen sense. Come, dine with me. Let’s put this unfortunate incident behind us." Morgana: "No, no. I am on my way to the chapel, to pray forgiveness for my sins." Uther: "Of course." Morgana: (She wipes his tears away with a handkerchief:) "I don’t know why you put up with me. But I promise, in the future I will show you the love and respect that you deserve." (Morgana walks away, smirking.) Forest. Night. (Morgana leaves the castle and rides to a cave guarded by the Bloodguard.) Morgause: “My sister. How have you fared?” Morgana: “Uther has welcomed back his daughter with open arms.” Morgause: “Uther does not suspect?” Morgana: “He laps up my lies like the snivelling dog that he is. He believes I’ve changed. And he’s right. Soon he will see exactly how much.” Morgause: “You’ve done well. The tears of Uther Pendragon have only begun to fall.” (Morgause drops the handkerchief with Uther’s tears into a giant cauldron filled with boiling liquid and adds a large root. The root screams and Morgana flinches:) The mandrake root is very special. Only those with magic can hear its cries. But for those without magic, the mandrake pierces the very recesses of the soul, twisting the unconscious into the very image of fear and dread. Uther Pendragon will find that his great kingdom counts for nothing, when he has lost his mind. (She begins an incantation:) Mid þæm wundorcræft þæs ealdan æwþ ic þe hate nime Utheres wopdropan ond þa gemengan mid his blod. Sy he under wittig ond deofol seocnes his heorte afylþ.” (Morgause’s eye glow. She pulls out the muddy root and hands it to Morgana.)

Storybrooke. Present. The Dragon's Lair. (Guinevere sits alone at the bar deep in thought when Snow White joins her.) Snow White: "Guinevere. You look troubled." Guinevere: (Smiles weakly:) "Just thinking about Morgana." Snow White: "Where is she? I thought we might see her today?" Guinevere: (Shakes her head:) "She didn't feel up to it. And I can hardly blame her, after all she's been through." Snow White: "Has she managed to tell you where she's been all these years?" Guinevere: "No, but I can only imagine the horrors she's seen." Henry & Drizella's Table. (Drizella pours Henry another drink.) Drizella: "Thanks for listening to me earlier, no one ever does that." Henry: "No problem. I know finding where you belong in this world can be hard." Drizella: "So what happened with you and Ella? Why didn't you go with her? Couldn't take a chance and do the scary thing after all, huh?" Henry: "It's complicated." Drizella: "Hm. (Picks up her glass:) Well, to keeping things uncomplicated." (They clink glasses. Having seen enough, Regina is about to break things up when there is a commotion outside.) Main Street. (David and Emma exit the restaurant first to find people running for their lives. Heading towards the source of the chaos they find a wolf growling and charging at the doors to the library.) David: (Noticing the familiar cloak laying in the moonlight:) "It's Ruby!" (Picking up the cloak, David moves carefully over to the animal and drapes the cloak over it. Transforming almost instantly, Ruby lifts her hood and grabs hold of David.) Ruby: "You have to help me, they've got Mulan!" (Emma and David look to each other in surprise while a crowd begins to gather around them.)

[imagine-loki]

Beauty and the Beast

TITLE: Beauty and the Beast CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 15/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki is under a spell that will return him to his Aesir one if he learns to accept himself for who he is RATING: T (so far)  NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 here

Thor couldn’t help smirk when he saw that Loki’s cheeks had turned purple.  Though he was so relieved that Loki’s eye had turned green again.  He was on the right track to solving this curse.  Thor wanted nothing more than for his brother to be happy again.  And he seemed so much happier with Morgan than he’d seen him in years.  Especially over the last year of being cursed.  “I’m glad for you, brother,” Thor replied warmly.  He saw Loki’s relief that his brother was being supportive.  All Loki ever wanted was love and acceptance from his family.  However, they were brothers, and Thor had to smirk and add:  “However, Stark is going to kill you,” he teased.

Loki chuckled. “I can handle Stark. Let him try to kill me. It will just end up with him thrown out of a window,”

Thor boomed his laughter.  “You would say that,” he replied jovially.  Loki had a habit of chucking Stark through the defenestration window whenever the mood suited him.  There was even a tallyboard at the Tower to prove it.  

Loki shrugged.  “The man grates on my nerves. I wonder how many times he has had to have the defenestration windows glass replaced…” he mused. Tony tended to go flying through it frequently.  

“Well, last time he did not replace it with the special bullet-proof glass used in the rest of the tower; and hydra broke in through there and nearly abducted his daughter.  I am sure he has done a better job with the window this time,” Thor told him. Stark was pissed at himself when he realized that’s how Hydra had broken into the tower.  He’d left one window less defended and they’d found that tiny weakness and had exploited it.

“I am quite sure,” Loki agreed, then gave his brother a look. “You did warn Stark that I was bringing Ana here, did you not?” He didn’t trust the oaf to follow simple directions.

Thor rolled his eyes.  “Of course, I did.  He was not pleased until I reminded him that Hydra could not harm her here and that she would be under our guard and perfectly safe,” 

Loki nodded.  “Good. Then Stark has little reason to try and kill me for that,” he wanted to limit the number of reasons Stark wanted to kill him. 

“No, he will only kill us for his daughter becoming Asgardian and for you kissing her.  Or is it courting her?” he asked with a teasing smirk.  It was rare for his brother to be interested in anyone enough to kiss them, much less court them.

So of course he took the opportunity to tease his brother when it came around.  The gods only knew that Loki would have done the same. 

To Thor’s surprise, he actually got an honest answer instead of a snippet remark. “I’m not sure yet, to be honest,” Loki said with a sigh. “And her becoming Asgardian is her decision.  Neither of us even made her the offer.  Stark has no say in it,”

“He will still blame us,” Thor said mournfully.

“Of course he will. Me especially,” Loki growled at how unfair it was. 

“Especially when he catches you kissing his daughter,” Thor teased.

Loki shrugged. “Yet again, that is her choice to make,”

“You try telling her father that.  I will burn incense in your memory,”

Loki glared.  “How considerate of you,” he said dryly and stomped off to where his lady and his mother were chatting near the head table.  His mood lightened immediately upon approaching them and he kissed his mother’s cheek.  

Frigga gave him a warm smile and her expression brightened even more when she saw his green eye, but she could tell by his mood that now wasn’t the time to ask about it.  He was annoyed with Thor and it was lucky that Frigga was in the room or Thor would’ve gotten stabbed.   “Hello, darling,” she greeted him as warmly as ever as she kissed his cheek in return. 

“Hello Mother, Ana,” he greeted them in return and kissed Morgan’s cheek as well. She smiled in delight, though Loki could see in her expression that she was surprised he would kiss her in front of his mother, in front of the court, even on the cheek.  Silly little darling.  “What have you two ladies been talking about?” he asked them curiously.  They were way more interesting than his idiot brother.  

“Magic and the transition to Asgardian,” Frigga replied warmly.  “Lady Morgana expressed interest in learning the healing arts,” she added with a touch of pride in her voice.  She always wanted and needed more qualified healers in the realm.  They were always in demand and in short supply.  Morgan smiled shyly at the optimism in Frigga’ voice.  

Loki smiled warmly as well.  “I am not surprised. She expressed the interest to me as well,”

“Your mother thinks I have aptitude for it,” Morgan told him and he could hear the hope in her voice and knew it was something she truly wanted.  He never wanted anything to squash her hope or eternal optimism.  

“Then I am quite sure that you do.  Mother is never wrong about anything,” he said with a smirk in Frigga’s direction, which made her laugh. “But especially not about such matters.  Your magic is quite strong, after all,”

Frigga smiled warmly at the pair, they seemed so happy together and Frigga thought they were adorable.  “Darling, we should take our seats so dinner can begin,” Frigga told Loki and subsequently his lady.  

“Of course, Mother,” Loki replied and settled Morgan’s hand on the crook of his elbow to escort her to her seat.  Frigga watched them while she took her own seat, impressed with the care that Loki took with the blind girl and how trusting Morgan was of him.  Loki pulled out Morgan’s chair and sat her at the table.  She kissed his cheek when he seated her at the table.  “Thank you, Liam,” she told him warmly, grateful for his help.  

He gave her a light peck on the lips before he took his own seat next to her.  “My pleasure, Ana,” he replied.  She was surprised that he would kiss her in front of his family and the court, but she was pleased by the development.  

Knowing that Asgardian place settings were different than what she was used to, he took her hand and guided it to where each of the utensils were.  He made sure her glass was within reach and she knew where it was, also that it was filled with a fruit juice instead of alcohol.  Midgardians couldn’t handle Asgardian alcohol. Morgan looked so grateful and relieved by his consideration, it warmed his heart.  

Odin made a brief announcement to the court that Morgan is the daughter of Brunhilde, to the amazement of the court, but they quickly accepted her presence at the head table and at Loki’s side after that.  Morgan drew on her facade of the heiress to Stark Industries that she had been perfecting since she was 14.  There were whispers of course, at her obvious handicap, but none that could be heard by Loki, who would’ve smited whoever spoke ill of his lady.  

With that business taken care of, dinner was served.  

They dug into their meal, chatting companionably while they ate.  Both of them were starving and neither had eaten enough after recent events.  Morgan was surprised that she’d eaten as much as an Asgardian, but she had unknowingly used a lot of magic in that vision. 

She sat back after dinner with a contented purr, full and happy.  Until the desserts came out.  Loki lit up in delight when he saw the sweets making their way to the table.  Morgan noticed his posture shift, noted him sitting up in anticipation.  Her mouth started watering when she smelled the desserts making their way to their table.  It was a delicious chocolaty creation that Loki devoured with glee.  Morgan purred in pleasure over the delicious treat, savoring it.  

Loki smirked at the sinful noises she made. “Like it, darling?”

“I think this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” she replied.

He chuckled.  “The palace chefs are quite skillful,” he agreed.  

“I see that,” she replied and returned to her dessert.  She made such delicious noises over something as simple as a good dessert, which sent shivers down Loki’s spine as he thought of how to make her make those noises in much more… intimate… situations. 

“What do you think of Asgard so far?” Loki asked as the dishes were being cleared.

Morgan pondered that.  She hadn’t experienced much of the realm yet and her disability was definitely a hindrance.  “The food is delicious and the company pleasant.  I will take your word that it’s beautiful as I’ve only seen a small portion of the throne room.” Frigga had helped her remember her vision properly.  

Loki nodded and sighed. “I know. I wish I could show you more,” he said softly. “but I will take what I can get,”

She nodded and looked up with interest when music began to play, her head turning toward the dance floor, though she couldn’t see the dancers as they took the opening positions to begin the dancing. 

Loki stood from his chair and offered her his hand, placing her hand in his. “Would you allow me the honor of a dance, Ana?” he asked with all the grace of a prince.

She squeezed his offered hand and stood.  “The honor is mine,” she agreed.

Loki led her out onto the dance floor.  When they stopped, she slid her hand up his arm to place it on his shoulder, taking his hand in her other one. She was clearly used to dancing.  Loki was cautious though, his arm around her waist, but he started by just swaying them to the music, unsure if she could dance and not wanting to push her when she couldn’t see. 

She gave him a look.  She was perfectly capable of dancing.  So she jabbed at him.  “Do you not know how to waltz, prince?” she teased, knowing full well that he knew how to dance.  

He chuckled, chastised for thinking less of her for her disability.  He wouldn’t do it again.  “I will show you just how good of a dancer I am,” he purred seductively and swept her into a fluid waltz, with all the grace of a professional dancer.  He was surprised that Morgan kept up easily.  She danced extraordinarily well, only relying on him to make sure they didn’t run into other couples, but that was part of what a lead did anyway.  She knew the steps and could read his body language to know where he’d step next.  The mark of a perfect waltz was in its fluidity, its smoothness, its delicacy, in the couple’s ability to make it look like they were floating effortlessly.

And that required the perfect partner. 

Loki had found his. 

They spent the entire night dancing and as the last notes filled the great hall, Loki kissed Morgan deeply in the middle of the dance floor for the entire court to see.  She was perfect for him and he was realizing that he loved this little Midgardian.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

The former God of Magic resents The Mother for sticking him on Earth, and plans on causing as much havoc as he can to punish Her;

Version 2, Dark!Merlin

INTRO

(Version 1, Good!Merlin)

TW: A lot of emotional manipulation, a little violence, a lot of angst.

~

“You’re late.”

The woman’s well practiced blank mask falls into a scowl as she stares at Merlin with mistrust:

“Well, perhaps I was putting off coming to see you, no matter how necessary it is.”

The gang can see the bob of Merlin’s head as he lets out a low chuckle, and they have to stop themselves from recoiling; they’d never heard a noise like that from their young friend before, it sounded almost... cruel.

He lifts a hand to cover his heart as he says in faux offense:

“You wound me, sister. You didn’t want to see your favourite sibling?”

Everyone frowns in confusion, Merlin doesn’t have... siblings. That’s not even mentioning the fact that this woman barely seems human.

The woman doesn’t hide her slight disgust, taking a step back from Merlin and letting out a harsh breath:

“I came here to tell you that you need to hurry up. Time is running out.”

Merlin chuckles again, turning to the side and taking a few short paces, his hands held leisurely behind his back. The amusement on his face is disturbing, and Arthur gulps, not noticing the way Mordred is growing paler and paler by the second. Merlin doesn’t turn to look at the woman as he speaks, and his smirk stretches wider:

“But I’m having so much fun, Ava!”

The woman, Ava, huffs again, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. If the gang weren’t so semi-sure that Merlin wasn’t dangerous, they’d think she looked scared:

“Mother sent you here to complete a task. Get it done, and you can come home. Isn’t that what you want? To come home?”

Merlin’s smirk falls, and the snarl that the gang briefly see on his face before he whips around to face Ava takes their breath away. They barely notice the thunder, snapping in the distance in time with Merlin’s anger:

“Mother’s the one keeping me here in the first place. She could accept me back any time.”

Ava takes another step back, and Merlin tilts his head ever so slightly at the movement, but waits for her to speak:

“As punishment for your cruelty. She isn’t happy, you’re making a mess of things.”

Merlin chuckles again, tilting his head even further, and his words have an immediate chilling effect on the group hiding in the bushes:

“Well, if she insists on sending the God of Chaos to fix a problem, perhaps she should expect a little mess. Plus, I’m having more fun here than I’ve had in centuries. These humans... so gullible.-”

Ava shakes her head mournfully, but before she can say anything, Merlin continues, now pacing calmly around the clearing, waving his hands and grinning in his excitement:

“-I mean, they’re just so... easy. To play with, to manipulate. You know they all trust me? They all come running to naïve, innocent, loving little Merlin, spilling all their secrets as they go. Did you know, the drunkard is the son of a noble? “Fuck nobility” my arse, he is nobility.-”

Gwaine clenches his jaw and looks to the floor, ignoring the stares of Arthur and Leon, but before anything can be muttered, Merlin continues, listing their greatest secrets off on his fingers:

“-The gentle giant is terrified that someone’s going to find out that his preferences lie with men, which is ridiculous considering the way he stares at the aforementioned drunkard when he thinks no one but little old me is watching. The blacksmith, even years on, is terrified that his whore sister will never forgive him for... something or other, I wasn’t really paying attention. Camelot’s first, The King’s most trusted, has a debilitating fear of heights, and oh if it isn’t just hilarious to watch when he has to patrol the city walls. And then, there’s the-”

Ava rolls her mournful eyes and interrupts him:

“Your point, Em?”

Merlin laughs, fully and from the belly, but the sound doesn’t bring the gang joy like it normally does:

“My point, is that I’ve got these idiots wrapped around my finger. Mortals: the universe’s most fun toy. I haven’t even gotten to half of them yet. There’s the noble one, who thinks he holds my trust, the Druid boy, whose only redeeming feature is that he’s destined to kill the King Prat one day; believe me, if it weren’t for that I’d have killed the annoying little twerp years ago. Then there’s the King Prat’s magical sister, who is full of such terror. I play with her dreams some nights, force visions of pyres and hatred and destruction to play over and over in her mind. It’s rather amusing, watching her thrash and sweat and whimper in her sleep.-”

Arthur’s head had whipped around to Morgana when Merlin had mentioned her, but the tears streaming down her face and the way her hand was clamped tightly over her mouth stripped his anger from him. Which left him with no distraction, no way to ignore the simple fact of what was happening right now. Merlin was... not what they thought. He was powerful, he was using them. He was playing with them like puppets and pulling their strings this way and that, watching as they could do nothing but follow. Arthur didn’t know what to think, and he definitely didn’t notice the tears on his own cheeks.

Mordred was pale to the point of looking like he was about to faint and Lancelot had a deep frown on his face, tears in his eyes but not quite falling, not yet. This was... a misunderstanding. He... he knows Merlin, this is a trick, or a trap, he’ll explain later and everything will be just fine. He just has to... to trust him. Everything will be fine.

Gwaine keeps his gaze on the floor. A small part of him was feeling a little prideful that Percival liked him back, but the rest of him... had no room for anything but grief. He had suspected that Merlin had magic, but this was something else, this was... a whole new person. Did he ever really know Merlin? Did any of them? 

Elyan and Gwen sat pressed together tightly, though Gwen had one hand on Morgana’s shaking back, and her other was reaching around Elyan, gripping Leon’s shoulder tightly. Leon was just staring blankly at the scene in front of him, though anyone that knew him well enough would be able to see the tight clench of his jaw and the anger (and grief) in his eyes.

Ava interrupted Merlin’s gleeful ranting, the tears in her eyes a little more prominent as she took on a slightly more desperate tone:

“Please, Em, just... stop. They’re important, they have destinies, you can not destroy them or push them too far; this is cruel, even for you. This... you never used to be like this.”

Merlin turns around, facing away from his sister and giving the hidden group full view of his rage-filled face. His voice is quiet and clipped and angry as he asks:

“Oh?”

Another roll of thunder echoes through the clearing, closer this time, and fat droplets of rain fall harshly from the sky, mixing with the tears on everyone’s face. Ava sighs, tears overflowing as she gulps before answering, her voice shaking slightly as she takes a step towards Merlin:

“You’re meant to be the God of Magic, not Chaos. You were so... beautiful, balanced. You saw wonder in everything, every little spark of magic and every single prayer put a smile on your face. You loved humanity even more than Mother did. Now look at you, you’re tormenting them, torturing them. This isn’t you, Em, please. Help them, and things can go back to the way they were, help them and you can come home.”

The anger on Merlin’s face had only grown as she spoke, and each individual hidden in the bushes had to make a concerted effort to stop themselves from bolting. None of them had felt terror like it, and the fact that it was Merlin they were all so scared of... well, it didn’t help.

Lightening streaks across the sky and wind howls violently through the forest, calming only when Merlin shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, straightening his back and smirking slightly before he replies, still not turning around to face his sister:

“You’re right. I loved humanity, I was desperate to see them succeed. And then they butchered me. I gave them this universe to frolic in, and in return they call me a monster, a beast, they call me evil, they make nightmares out of me. I still listen to every little prayer, and do you know what I hear? I hear my people, my wonderful little creations, my creatures of magic, begging for mercy, begging for the pain to stop. The humanity I so used to love turned on them, began to burn them, out of spite and fear and hatred. I will not show them any more grace than they have showed me, I will give them exactly what they deserve, and that blonde idiot is at the top of my list of people who have to fucking pay. I won’t destroy him entirely, because ultimately I want my creatures to stop suffering, but I will break him. I will rip him apart piece by piece for what he has done to me.-”

The absolute fury in Merlin’s words, the hatred, translates to thunder in the sky and agony in Arthur’s chest. The King can barely breathe, muffling the sobs tearing from his mouth with both hands, both terrified of being discovered, and desperate to... to let Merlin punish him for the pain he has caused.

Leon settles a shaking hand on his shoulder, but Arthur doesn’t look his way, his blurry gaze focused on Merlin, now finally turning back to his sister:

“-You know, I’m this close to getting that big blonde idiot to fall in love with me. How pathetic is that?? All it took was a few touches here, a few lingering stares there, saving his life occasionally. The man is so pathetically starved for attention I imagine he’d fall for anyone who showed him the barest amount of affection. That is how I will break him.-”

The only thing stopping Arthur from sobbing aloud is Leon collapsing behind him, pulling the young King back into his chest and wrapping a tight arm around his torso, one hand clamped over his mouth as he mutters desperate reassurances into his ear. Morgana pulls Gwen close in a similar way when the servant’s cries grow harsher, her brother burying his face in her shoulder.

Lancelot barely notices Gwaine gripping his arm hard enough to leave bruises for weeks, or Percival pushing his forehead into Lance’s shoulder blade. All he can do is sit and stare at the ground, his breathing slow but shaky, tears streaming silently down his face as he rethinks everything he’s ever known.

Mordred sits on his own, rocking back and forth rhythmically as he tightens the clutch he has around his knees. Tears drip from his young cheeks, poisoning the ground beneath him as he struggles to consider his faith. His faith in magic, in Emrys, who was meant to be balanced and beautiful and giving. Emrys, who he now knew was twisted and angry and desperate for revenge.

All of their hearts are splitting, cracking down the middle.

“-It won’t be physical pain, no, that’ll be down to the Druid boy. He doesn’t want to kill Arthur now, but he will, one day, when I give him one final push. He’ll fall so far into the darkness there’ll be nothing of him left to save, and when he plunges his sword into The Pendragon’s chest, I’ll sit back and watch with a smile on my face, and Arthur will realise that the man he loves, the man who claimed to love him in return, hated him all along. Tricked him. I will watch the life drain from his eyes, and he will spend his last few moments on this world in every kind of agony imaginable, lost in the knowledge that I wanted him to suffer, that he is being punished for his sins.”

Ava shakes her head, silver tears dripping from her emerald eyes as she stares at the floor:

“Are Sir Mordred and the Lady Morgana not your creatures? Do you not wish to save at least them?”

Merlin chuckles darkly:

“I had faith in them once, but they made their decisions. They sided with a Pendragon over me. Mother may be fond of her precious Once and Future King, but to be fair, she’s fond of anything with a pulse, and I, for one, can not wait until she’s not quite so fond of him anymore.”

Ava gulps, taking a desperate step towards her amused brother, but before she can say anything, before she can make one last plea for mercy on humanity’s behalf, Merlin tilts his head, smirking dangerously:

“Do you think they’re scared?”

She halts in her tracks, blinking in confusion, and Merlin’s smile grows into a chuckle as he gestures behind him:

“The King and all his little friends, hidden in the bushes. Do you think they’re scared?” 

The gang barely have time to look up in shock before their bodies are moving, out of their control. They stand rigidly and walk single-file out from their hiding place, coming to stand in a line at the side of the clearing. Merlin hasn’t even looked at them, but his hand floats in the air, a sickly looking yellow mist swirling around his fingers as he tilts his head at his sister, staring in horror at The King, the knights, the Lady, and the servant.

Merlin drops his hand and they all fall to their knees, not even bothering to be brave as they sob. The angry God finally turns, and the serene smile on his face is chilling as he walks towards them, coming to stand in front of Lance and Mordred first. The two of them are the calmest, though calm in the way that they don’t really look... present. They stare blankly ahead, breathing shallow and tears still falling as Merlin crouches in front of them, gripping a chin in each hand and shaking their heads roughly. His voice comes out a whisper, the frown on his face looking more disappointed than anything:

“So much faith, so much trust. It’s a little pitiful, if I’m being honest.”

They don’t react to his words and he smirks before letting them go and standing, moving on to Elyan and Gwen, gripping the knight’s shoulder and saying with mocking sympathy in his voice:

“You were right, by the way,-”

He glances at a fully sobbing Gwen with disgust:

“-she’ll never forgive you, but she’ll never tell you that. You’ll just spend the rest of your life wondering why your relationship was never the same.”

Next, he shuffles over to Gwaine, not even bothering to see the siblings’ reactions as he passes Leon and Percival with a look of disinterest on his face. He leans down in front of the knight, running a soft hand through his hair, waiting for the man to relax slightly before gripping his hair harshly and yanking back, so he has to look up at him. Merlin gives him a blindingly cruel smile:

“You're grateful that Percival is just as in love with you as you are with him, but don’t think yourself too lucky. You’re a hypocrite and a drunk, and my dear old Percy has too much self respect to put himself through that. I’d go for a good tumble in the hay and give up while you’re ahead.”

Once again, he moves back, his sister having to look away in her grief, her empathy drowning her. The God comes to stand in front of Morgana, who is desperately trying to look brave but failing miserably:

“And you. You’re meant to be The Darkness, but I couldn’t very well have you outdo me, could I? Try your hardest, I’ll still be the end of you, and I wait with baited breath for the day you fall, and the day soon after that, when I get to kill you.”

She break down in tears again at that, horrified with the idea that she might one day be on the same end of morality and cruelty as this monster in front of her.

Merlin smirks before rolling his eyes and finally coming to stand in front of Arthur. The King calms his breathing just enough to look up at a smirking Merlin, his voice cracking and barely-there as he mutters:

“Please... Merlin, please...”

The smirk drops from Merlin’s face as he brings his hand up, the sickly yellow mist back again. Arthur rises from the floor, hands clutching at his throat as the air is drawn from his lungs. Merlin steps closer to his with a snarl, his free hand gripping Arthur’s chin like a vice, though his voice eerily calm as he murmurs:

“You. You and Uther were so desperate for a scape-goat, for a villain, for a monster. And you picked magic, you picked me. So stop being so fucking pathetic, I’m just playing the part you gave me to perfection. You picked the premise, I’m writing the ending.”

Ava finally speaks up, her voice loud, despite the waver:

“Brother please, this is... this is beyond cruelty, please just stop.”

Arthur is dropped, and The King can barely find it in himself to choke for air as Merlin turns back to his sister, the amused smirk back on his face:

“Why? None of them are going to remember in the morning anyway. I’ve had my fun, this has been cathartic, but I can’t have them ruining my plans. So run along now sister, tell Mother that her precious task is being completed, I’m just taking the scenic route.” 

She shakes her head in defeat, staring at the floor. She lifts her head, opening her mouth to make one last attempt, but she closes it, realising that there’s nothing she could possibly say to persuade him to suddenly have mercy, mercy that no one had ever shown him. She gulps, letting out a deep breath before shaking her head again and turning around, walking back into the trees, the way she came.

The God looks back to his puppets, shivering in time with their knotted strings, smirking once more before he clicks his fingers and everything goes dark.

~

Arthur wakes the next morning feeling oddly refreshed and surprisingly unannoyed at his idiot manservant’s lateness. He rolls his eyes at the bright sunshine glaring through his curtains, the sun certainly a lot higher in the sky than it should be at the time The King wakes, but oh well. Merlin has been chipper lately, and the warmth that Arthur feels in his chest at the younger man’s happiness makes him more likely to forgive him his tardiness.

As if thinking of him had summoned him (wishful thinking on Arthur’s part), Merlin bursts through the doors, not bothering to knock as per usual, a breakfast-laden tray in his arms and a cheeky grin on his face. Arthur rolls his eyes again, chucking a pillow at Merlin half-heartedly as he grumbles, also half-heartedly:

“You’re late.”

Merlin chuckles, setting the tray down on the table before jogging endearingly over to Arthur’s bedside, grabbing his hand and pulling him to stand upright:

“Something tells me you don’t mind all that much, Your Pratness.”

Arthur huffs, but only to stop himself from smiling, and resolutely ignores the way Merlin’s hand is still in his. The servant squeezes his palm softly, and Arthur gulps, pulling away and walking towards his meal, hoping the food would squash the butterflies in his stomach.

He rubs the sleep from his eyes, smiling to himself softly at a whole range of things: the good night’s rest he’d had, the bright sunshine, Merlin’s good mood, the sensation of Merlin’s hand in his own, Merlin’s dazzling smile, Merlin, Merlin, Merlin...

Merlin stares at his back as he goes, noting with a dangerously satisfied smirk the red blush of his ears.

The scenic route indeed.

~

THE END!!

Oops I made myself sad. Sorry to say but I hope this makes you sad too.

This was SUPER fun to write and I’m so glad I decided to do two versions😅

Link to the Good!Merlin version (much MUCH fluffier, I promise) at the top!!

[thegreatestsorcerertoeverserve]

Merlin’s just a fast learner: Chapter Five, Lots of Trouble (you’ll get the joke)

You can catch up here on tumblr, and here on AO3. As always, thanks for your feedback, and as newly, all my love and gratitude to Gen (@magicandfandoms) for helping me out. 

The hardest part about faking learning magic in front of Arthur was deciding what was the earliest he could believably start using his magic for his chores. Washing Arthur’s clothes?  Polishing his armor? Mucking out the stables? Of course, this dilemma didn’t hit Merlin until it was too late; specifically, a week after he’d been given the task of court sorcerer.

About fifteen household items, including mops, wash rags, and scrub brushes were working on every surface in Arthur’s chambers while Merlin sat in Arthur’s desk chair, feet up and whistling a tune.

“Merlin, I wanted to ask-”

Arthur got a foot in the room before he was smacked in the face by a stray mop. “Arthur!” Merlin yelped, jumping to his feet. His mind offered up a helpful dose of AHHHHHHH, and so he went with it. “AH-I-uh-SEVEN SECONDS! Personal record!” He continued to yell, cheer, and jump around, eventually getting to a thoroughly confused Arthur, who began to jump and yell along with him.

“WHAT PERSONAL RECORD?”

“OF HOLDING UP MOPS!”

“OH! THAT’S… GREAT! CONGRATULATIONS!” Arthur cheered proudly.

Needless to say, Merlin didn’t want another close call like that.

Gwen stopped him in the hallway one afternoon. “Did you hear?” she whispered urgently. Merlin shook his head.

“What is it?”

“The spies have come back from Essetir, with terrible tales about Lot, the king who took control after Cenred’s death. They say he is planning an attack. Merlin, I think you need to speak with Arthur.”

Merlin stared at her. “What could I possibly do?”  

Gwen looked nervously down the hallway, making sure they were alone before continuing. “Merlin, I won’t say it. I won’t even make you say it. But you can be truthful with me.” Merlin couldn’t lie to her, not when she so obviously knew.

“When did you find out?”

“The battle of Camlan.”

“Gwen, I’m sorry-”

“Nonsense!” Her tone was stern, but she gave him a hug that just about cracked his ribs. For someone so small, she had amazing upper body strength. “You never have to apologize for who you are. I just wish… you didn’t have to hide it, even now,” Here it was. She wanted him to tell Arthur.

“Gwen, I can’t. You of all people must understand that. Arthur would never forgive me; he would never trust me again. And he needs me, Gwen.”

Gwen nodded solemnly. “Now more than ever. I just think, Merlin, that you don’t always give him enough credit.”

Gaius appeared around the corner. “Merlin! There you are! Arthur is requesting your attendance at the Round Table immediately.”

“Requesting me?” Merlin murmured incredulously.

“You are the Court Sorcerer now, Merlin. It is a position of respect.” Gwen reminded him.

Gaius shrugged, a grin on his face. “I’ll revise. It was more like… I believe the kids say… bitching?”

Gwen let out a snort. “Never mind. Some things never change.” She patted Merlin on the shoulder. “Go on, Merlin. But please do think about what I said.”

By the time Merlin made it down to the Great Hall, he was winded and sweaty. He continued his rush in, bursting through the large wooden doors.

“Merlin! Nice of you to join us.” Arthur said, looking up to be annoyed for only a second, which was how Merlin knew it was bad.

“What’s happened?”

Arthur pointed something out to Leon on a map spread out on the table, murmuring, so Gwaine answered Merlin. “King Fucking Lot decided he wasn’t happy terrorizing just one kingdom of people. So he’s decided to take a shot at ours.”

“When?” Merlin replied anxiously.

Percival answered this time. “Three months. He has his own army, plus two hundred he’s bought out from our enemies.”

“Merlin,” Arthur finally looked up from the map long enough to look at his friend. “They have sorcerers in their army. We can’t compete with that.”

Merlin swallowed hard. “We can.”

Almost everyone around the table fell silent at this. They were all still grappling with the fact that magic was legal, and especially that Merlin was the most knowledgeable about it among them. Silence was a common response whenever he spoke about it. Leon, Gwaine, and Percival alone seemed unfazed.

Arthur was the first to speak. “You’re certain? In three months?”

Gwaine looked Merlin in the eye. “Perhaps if we had the sorcerer from Camlan, we might stand a better chance.”

“Perhaps.” He said quietly. Did he know too? God, was Merlin just terribly obvious all this time and had no idea?

Arthur stood up suddenly and cleared his throat. “This meeting of the Round Table is adjourned. We all know what we need to do moving forward. Godspeed men-” Gwen, having appeared in the time after Merlin came in, cleared her throat loudly. “-and women.”

The room cleared slowly, the knights making their last minute comments and jokes as they filtered out. Gwaine squeezed his shoulder as he passed, and Merlin could’ve been imagining it, but the familiar gesture seemed to him to hold more depth than just a goodbye. He didn’t have enough time to dwell on it, however, because Arthur motioned him closer. “Merlin, I don’t know whether you’re incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.”

Merlin grinned in spite of himself. “One of my finest qualities.”

“I’m inclined to agree.” Arthur wasn’t looking at him, but there was a fond smile on his face that made something in Merlin’s heart jump.

“Erm, sire?”

“... yes?” Arthur came out of whatever daydream he was in, finally turning to face Merlin. He seemed a little disconnected now that he wasn’t in front of all of his knights.

“Are you alright?”

Arthur again took his time to answer. He took a deep breath. “I am… I will be.” He sighed deeply. “It’s funny, in the back of my head, I had the idea that everything after Morgana would be… fine. Not easy, maybe, but… better. But now, with Lot taking over right where Cenred left off… do the villains ever stop coming?”

Merlin chuckled bitterly. “I don’t think so. But we can defeat Lot, and we will. Together.”

“Merlin,” Arthur started, then stopped. “I was thinking, it might be apt for us to strategize every so often, me as head of army strategies, you as head of magic strategies…”

“I am the magic strategy.”

Arthur snorted. ��Alright, just, report to my chambers on Tuesday mornings.” Back to king mode. Merlin was well versed in the Pendragons’ emotional- vulnerability-then- straight-to-barking-orders move, so he let it pass. Plus, he was pretty sure he just scheduled a regular Tuesday morning brunch date with the love of his life, so he was pretty willing to let some things go for the time being. Including figuring out exactly who knew he had magic, and if he had to worry about them letting that slip to Arthur.

Never mind. He was worried.

[comin-up-for-air]

(I haven’t done this in years but I felt like doing it so here we go) The end of 2017 is near and I decided to rec my favourite fics of the year (which doesn’t necessarily mean that they were written in 2017 but that I’ve read them in this year). Under the cut there are 12 recs, one for each month, I hope you’ll like them as much as I did.

IF GREATER WANT OF SKILL by Emjayelle Rating: Explicit Details: 5k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, PWP Summary: Merlin's Friday isn't going to plan, to say the least. Especially when he takes the wrong late-night bus and ends up in Frat Row where he meets Arthur, the annoying frat boy that sits behind him in poetry class, who, by the way, is entirely to blame for the drunkenness, betting, sex, and poetry reciting that follows. Comments: If you think that reading poetry is boring you should definitely read this one. I never knew that Keats could be THIS sexy.

BRINGING ON THE GREAT by Detochkina Rating: Mature Details: 18k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, 2016 Summer Olympics Summary: Arthur Pendragon has been on the fast track to Olympic success since childhood, fellow teammate and rival Merlin Emrys keeping Arthur on his toes. Between dueling fathers, doting mothers, and a media frenzy—there’s no room for error in Rio, let alone a romantic relationship. But when Merlin tries to confide to Arthur a secret, one linked to their shared pasts, Arthur needs to decide if his history with Merlin is worth more than gold. Comments: I have a thing for fics where Arthur is an athlete, but those where both Arthur and Merlin are sportsmen are my weakness. Even more when there’s angst (A LOT), repressed feelings and an emotionally constipated Arthur who needs to get his head out of his arse (I’m sorry, I like my Arthur this way). Oh and I was almost forgetting the bonus: there’s also a beautifully jealous Arthur.

PERMANENCE by bevinkathryn Rating: Explicit Details: 3k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, PWP Summary: Merlin's inspired, Arthur's sleepy, and on a lazy morning, Arthur's skin becomes Merlin's canvas. Comments: What’s with me and the PWPs this year? I don’t know, anyway this is very short and I can’t actually tell you anything because I might spoil this beauty for you. But it’s worth it, trust me.

PUNK ROCK BOY by silver_etoile Rating: Explicit Details: 31k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, highschool!AU, punk!Merlin Summary: There's so much pressure on Arthur to choose the right university (Oxford) and date the right girls (Mithian), but a relationship with the weird punk kid was never in Arthur's plan. When Arthur finds himself in the unfamiliar territory of keeping secrets, he begins to wonder how much of what he thinks is right actually is. Comments: It’s probably because of whimsycatcher’s stunning art, but I’ve come to adore punk!Merlin. Oh and our perfectly posh Arthur can’t possibly be seen hanging out with a punk, right? That’s why this fic is worth a read! But beware, at the end you might not be able to stop imagining Merlin with a silver lip ring.

THINKING THEIR OWN KISSES SIN by helloheartlings Rating: Teen and up audiences Details: 29k, 2 chapters, dystopic!AU, Merlin/Arthur Summary: Love, Arthur had been taught from a very young age, was nothing more than pain and suffering, and the world was much better off without it. Comments: First of all it’s a fic from helloheartlings and that’s already a guarantee of great quality. (It looks like I’m advertising knives and pans on the telly, QVC should hire me). And then it’s an innovative take on the dystopic universe theme. Basically, if you thought that Uther banning magic from Camelot was a shitty way of dealing with the death of his wife, imagine him eliminating emotions so that nobody will have to feel anything anymore. (And once again the award for the worst dad of the year goes to… Uther Pendragon!!!)

LOVE, MERLIN by goodluckgettingtosleep Rating: Mature Details: 66k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, slow burn Summary: Merlin and Arthur have been best friends since they were kids, but even though they’re inseparable, life always seems to be getting in their way, separating them against their will. Timing, fate, and life itself seem to have conspired against them and when it comes to love, there always seems to be someone else. Will they ever get their timing right and both realize that they were meant to be together since the beginning of time (quite literally), and that even across time and space, the bond they share can never be severed? A tale of magic, friendship, family, and a love that outlasts centuries. Comments: I should have read the name of the author before I started reading this fic, because it’s long and I had the ill-advised idea of starting it at 10pm. Needless to say I stayed awake to finish it even if I had to wake up at 7am. It’s the kind of fic that gets extra gripping because those two bloody idiots spend 66k words pining for each other and are so oblivious it’s maddening (in their defense I must say that they were downright unlucky). Bonus: Merlin’s the ADORABLE daddy of a fantastic little girl.

WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES by samyazaz Rating: Explicit Details: 11k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur Summary: Gwaine's parties are the stuff of legend, if his own bragging is to be believed. He holds them every month or so, and he's been trying since freshman year to get Merlin to come to one of them. "C'mon," he always says, wheedling. "You don't know what you're missing. It's not like you're going to be doing anything, anyway." Gwaine thinks anything less than full-blown partying is "not doing anything", and Merlin long ago gave up the fight to convince him that an evening spent in his room with a challenging essay or a good book is actually an enjoyable way to pass the time for him, and not grounds for pity. Merlin's never going to win that battle, and he knows it. Usually, he shrugs Gwaine off. He's heard rumors about what goes on at Gwaine's parties, and mostly, it sounds like what goes on is orgies. Definitely not Merlin's scene. Comments: Reading the first part of this fic gave me the most terrible wave of second-hand embarrassment, Merlin was so out of place at Gwaine’s party. But then our favourite knight in shining armour (also known as Arthur) rescues him and, honestly? One of the best smut fics I ever laid my eyes on. AND the ending was so sweet I couldn’t stop giggling for hours.

SEASONS by wangler Rating: Explicit Details: 40k, 4 chapters, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, underage sex Summary: Arthur and Merlin meet in high school. When they're separated after a magic duel gone wrong, hearts are broken, lots emails are written and a few cupcakes are set on fire. Sometimes it takes a while to figure destiny out. Comments: This is kind of a classic? I don’t know, I remember reading it a chapter a couple of years ago and thinking that it was pure gold but then, somehow, I couldn’t find the remaining chapters until last summer. It’s a modern!au with magic, it’s jam packed with angst, Merlin’s too powerful for his own good and I spent the whole time wishing I could give Arthur (who, if I remember correctly, is younger than Merlin in this one) the biggest hug because he really goes through hell. KEPT AWAKE WITH WOLVES TEETH by InkandOwl Rating: Explicit Details: 13k, one-shot, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur Summary: Merlin and Arthur have one of those friendships where they're just so comfortable with each other they see no problem in sleeping in the same bed together Comments: At this point you already know that I love angst (don’t you say?), but this one is the PERFECT mix of angst and fluff (flangst?). Arthur’s truly a jerk, you might feel the urge to punch him at some point, but he’ll get his head out of his arse at some point, I promise. THE GOOD TIMES ARE KILLING ME by minor_hue Rating: Explicit Details: 15k, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, pretend relationship Summary: In which the boys pretend to still be together for Christmas (and there is more than one kind of charade) Comments: This is truly a classic. If the summary sounds familiar to you it means that you’ve already read it (I’m probably the only idiot who’s found it only a couple of months ago), if it doesn’t READ IT. NOW. It’s a masterpiece. The essence of angst with the sweetest ending. I could write poems on this fic, I re-read it once in a while and it never ceases to amaze me.

THE DREAMS INSIDE by winterstorrm Rating: Mature Details: 10k, modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Morgana Summary: Arthur had always held back, not trusting himself. After all, he'd been in love with Merlin since he was eighteen years old—and Merlin had been with his sister. Now that Morgana was off the scene, could Arthur be blamed for taking his chance with Merlin? Comments: This time it’s Arthur who pines and we get to see it from his point of view. Uther’s a shitty dad with a penchant for blackmailing Arthur and Morgana’s loved ones but, unfortunately for him, Merlin ends up being romantically involved with both.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE by storyforsomeone Rating: Explicit Details: 160k, 13 chapters for now (IT’S A WIP), modern!AU, Merlin/Arthur, JamesBond!AU, slow burn Summary: Agent Arthur Pendragon is the best double 0 the agency has seen in decades, trained and honed to be MI6’s finest weapon. He does not need a voice in his ear telling him how to do his job. He does not listen to stubborn geniuses who apparently had no sense of self-preservation and enjoyed baiting professional killers. He certainly does not fall in love with quartermasters with haunting blue-gold eyes and an irritating habit of saving his life. (Or the one where Arthur is 007, Merlin is Q, and they’re both still idiots.) Comments: It’s a WIP so if you don’t read WIPs stay away, but no, please don’t. I never rec WIPs which should speak volumes about how much I love this fic. Arthur is 007, Merlin is Q (no, I’ve never watched James Bond so no previous knowledge is necessary) and they’re both BAMF. The other spies (the knights) are equally awesome. There’s action, humour, incredibly well-potrayed characters, an intriguing plot and, I repeat it, they’re spies, do you need anything else? No, you don’t. Go read this fic.

Every fic is available on AO3 or LiveJournal. I hope the links work, in case they don’t send me a message.

[confinedmadness]

Merlin (TV Series)

Finished watching Merlin at 2am this morning and spent another hour just rewatching parts of the last episode again and again. It has been a very good and fun week. I will miss Merlin so much. I can only imagine how the people who actually watched the series as it aired feel. The fandom is still very much alive until now and I believe it just goes to show how deeply this series stayed with everyone and how it will with me.

SPOILERS BELOW

Merlin and Lancelot

It is my personal belief that had Lancelot lived longer, he really would have been Merlin’s best friend (and maybe he already was). Lancelot is too kind, it actually hurts. And Merlin is the only person who knows it completely. Likewise, Lancelot was the only one Merlin could truly be himself with (well, apart from Gaius, Freya, and Kilgharrah… but they were his guardian, lover, and mentor; I just really wanted him to have a friend who was just… a friend. A good friend). That scene (in season 4?) when Merlin cleaned Arthur’s shirt with magic on Lancelot’s suggestion was so short, but so so precious.

Merlin and Freya

I have seen that some people do not like Freya. But I liked her, and I liked the two of them together. Merlin was so happy when he was with her. And though he was the one taking care of Freya for most of the time they were together, Freya had a gentleness about her that put Merlin at ease. She loved him to the point that she planned to escape alone so Merlin would not have to leave the life he had in Camelot (which he had been wiling to give up!! and that was probably the strongest indication of his feelings). I only wish their time together had been a little longer or the development of their relationship given even just a little more time. I am so conflicted because I like to believe Merlin never loved anyone the same way again, but I am also sad for him and want him more than anyone to find new love. </3 When he hesitated for a bit before setting Freya’s dead body on fire was surprisingly the most painful moment of that episode. (Colin Morgan is an acting genius, I swear).

Merlin and Arthur

I enjoyed the dynamic between the two of them. I really love how Arthur gradually listened more and more to Merlin as time went on. When Merlin was imprisoned in season 5, I was so happy when Arthur said there was no way Merlin could have done it. And even though he masked it as Merlin being not smart enough to do anything, we all know he actually does trust Merlin not to betray him regardless of whether he had the ability to do so or not.

I’ve always believed that Merlin was Arthur’s best friend. But that unless Arthur knew of and accepted Merlin’s magic, Merlin would never really be truly comfortable around him. Which is why, I replayed the last episode so many times. Because it is in those short few days that both of them are finally their true selves around each other and it was beautiful. Arthur’s face when Gaius told him Merlin is the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the earth was priceless. More than that, I loved that Arthur was smart enough to realize how Merlin has been protecting him all this time, and yet I also like how even then he still has no idea of the true extent of what Merlin has done for him. Because I guess it just shows that all Merlin really wanted was for Arthur to know of his magic, but not necessarily of anything and everything he does for him. It is so selfless, I can’t even.

Dragoon the Great

He was everything. My gosh, he was absolutely precious. I loved it every time he appeared and he never fails to make me laugh. Oh, if Lancelot was alive he would have loved him too, I just know it. Favorite scene? I want to say everything! Favorite quote? Too difficult to choose!!! But for some reason, what really stuck with me more so than others was: “Percival! That is a sword. It does hurt.” =))

Aithusa

Once again, I am going to rave about Colin Morgan’s acting ability because when he met Aithusa again in the caves, the hurt, worry, and confusion was so clearly expressed. Actually, every time he has to use his dragonlord powers to force Aithusa to do something (even if that something is to stop her(him?) from killing people) always seems to hurt Merlin. When they met in the caves, he even tried to just tell her to go before he was forced to command her.

I’m wondering if Aithusa was able to speak when she first met Morgana. Otherwise, Morgana knowing her name is such a big plot hole. I like to believe that at the end, Aithusa was free and that Merlin often called her and Kilgharrah together to have dragon tea parties. Hahaha Unlikely, though, as Merlin respected their freedom and tried as much as possible not to call on Kilgharrah. Also, since Kilgharrah has started to weaken by end of season 5. I do hope that Aithusa and Merlin became as good friends as Kilgharrah and Merlin were.

Mordred

The funny thing is, the prophecy happened precisely because Merlin tried so hard to prevent it. Mordred was good, and I believe he really was up until the very end. The reason he betrayed Morgana was because she had lost all compassion. And when he helped Kara escape, he was also shocked to see her kill people so easily and with no remorse. When Morgana took the magic of one of their people, he was also the one who noted how there should have been no reason to do so, especially to their own kind. And at the very end, I interpreted him telling Arthur “you gave me no choice” as Modred saddened by the fact that (at least in his perspective), Arthur likewise wasn’t the man he thought he was. If anything, Mordred was probably the main character who despised violence the most (even more so than Merlin). I can’t help but be sad because Mordred had the makings of becoming a very good friend to both Arthur and Merlin because he was both a knight and a druid. He had a connection to both and it just didn’t happen and it makes me sad.

Morgana

If anyone wants to compare Morgana before and after her betrayal of Camelot, one only needs to see when Gwen was captured on both times. Her actions and her reactions were so different. It was really when I thought, “yes, she’s gone now”. I wonder what would have happened if Gaius had told her she had magic, and helped her hide and nurture it like he did Merlin. I wonder what would have happened if Merlin had told her he had magic, too, and they bonded over their similarities. I wonder what would have happened if she’d been able to stay with the druids she met when Merlin helped her find them. They were peaceful druids who didn’t want to hurt Uther, unlike her sister Morgause. It was really terrible how all her sufferings made her so different from what she was.

Really loved how she feared Emrys though. XD

The Ending

Gwaine’s death was really sad because he could have survived. :(

I was happy that Gwen figured out Merlin in the end. I just hope Merlin being unable to save Arthur didn’t change her view on anything (yes, I’m being pessimistic, and we’ll never know).

On my previous rant about Uther

In a post I made after I finished the first season, I ranted about how I just couldn’t understand why Uther thought magic was against him when all that happened was he made the mistake of using magic to have a child and it killed his wife. I said it made sense he hated the sorceress or even magic in general (even though he was to blame, at least partly), but that it didn’t make sense why he’d think all sorcery is a conspiracy against him and his kingdom.

When Arthur learned about the truth of his birth in season 2 and he angrily charged at Uther, I think he put it really well when he said that Uther was looking for something/someone to put all the blame to and in that attempt to free himself from guilt, he made everything/everyone related to magic an enemy in his mind. I guess the old druids were right. He is not someone to hate, but someone to pity. (I still hate him though, urgh. It just really became so annoying how he has managed to convince himself that he and only he is right and that he really did no mistake.)

And seeing just how Morgana changed by the time of the fifth season, I guess I could see how Uther could have reached his beliefs. Both were filled with grief and were in distress. Both couldn’t get rid of it until it just turned to hate– very strong hate to the point that their actions against the target of their hate no longer had reason or meaning. Unfortunately, father and daughter truly are more alike than Morgana would ever dare admit.

[myheartisbro-ken]

Hi! 💙 I hope your are doing well. Congrats on the article. The reading will probably be okay. Are you a fast or slow reader? I read rather slowly, especially if I'm enjoying what I'm reading. It sticks with me better that way, but it takes me longer to do things. 😅 My semester ends next week, then have finals period. l'm taking Summer courses tho to get ahead. I get what you mean. I don't party, but around TH and F there's a certain restlessness about some of the students to drink/part. (Pt 1)

Ugh, I hate group work. 😐 Best of luck to you. Maybe your for a decent group. Anyway, I prefer morning courses. I get up at an obnoxiously early time to attend though. I’m fine with it though because it lets me take my courses in a block with out breaks, so once I’m done, I’ll be done for the day. 😥 Probably an unpopular schedule though. Oh, so My Immortal can actually be constructive to writers. That makes sense. It’s what a writer shouldn’t ever do. About JK, I think it’s an attempt (pt 2)(pt 3) Lowkey don’t recall my train of thought..Anyway, wow, I definitely agree with your statements about Lena knowing Kara’s dual identity. Snapper knowing wouldn’t help anything, since he’s too minor a character to do anything useful with information. Lena knowing would create more depth, tension, plot possibilities etc., which is why’d it would be a shame for her to be left in the dark. Also, I feel her not knowing (or at least theorizing Kara’s supergirl) is ooc. I suppose the writers– –haven’t had an issue with that based on what they’ve done to Alex. :-/ Hmph. I’m still so annoyed about that. Partially, because I’m a SuperCorp shipper, but mainly because it’s an insult to Alex’s personality to force her to advocate on Mon El’s behalf. Who was your favorite character from S1, btw? I’d probably go with Kara, but for S2 it’s definitely Lena. Anyway, yes Lena looks so amazing in the trailer! Heh, I intended it to be a soft FMK…I was going to make it all Katie, but wasn’t–(4)–words, words, something, but wasn’t going to be that cruel to you. (Hopefully that fit with my previous thing). Smh, you’ve no qualms though do you? ;-) I’m kidding. Your answers were well thought out…even though you didn’t kill anyone. I can’t blame you though. I don’t think Red K! Kara is all that bad, but she’s definitely intimidating, so is Kate. Anyway, let’s see FMK: Lena, Morgana,and Kate… :-/ 3 M'kay, that’s hard, especially since I love them all and ship SuperCorp. (5 TBC)–words, words, something, but wasn’t going to be that cruel to you. (Hopefully that fit with my previous thing). Smh, you’ve no qualms though do you? ;-) I’m kidding. Your answers were well thought out…even though you didn’t kill anyone. I can’t blame you though. I don’t think Red K! Kara is all that bad, but she’s definitely intimidating, so is Kate. Anyway, let’s see FMK: Lena, Morgana,and Kate… :-/ 3 M'kay, that’s hard, especially since I love them all and ship SuperCorp. (5 TBC)(6) Uh, let’s see. I’m going to assume they are all brought to current times, so the 21st century. I would marry Morgana. You know what? I’d marry Morgana S1 or S5 because I’ve so many emotions for her and what she went through. I’d want her to know someone would be on (*cough* and by *cough*) her side. Also, she has magic that’s cool, but not the point. I don’t really want Supergirl to kill me or be sad. I wouldn’t kill Lena as of now; she’s not done anything wrong. Also, her company is (TBC)(8?) So, yes: M:Morgana, F: Lena, K: Kate. Hmm, I see yours and raise you: FMK: Lucy, she’s a vampire now but has some control over it | Kara Danvers, more so S1 in personality, but she’s still elects to become a reporter and encourages you | Lena, before she met Kara and is still learning to be a CEO…I guess that’s a younger!Lena? Idk. Okay, that should work. I hope you have a good day and night. Do you read comics? I don’t, but was curious if you did. U seem to know some lore. :-)

Heyyy! I’m not so sure I’m a fast or slow reader, it depends on my state of mind, if I take my meds and external interruptions. Usually I can read pretty fast if it’s something I’m interested in but I tend to miss things and have to read it again, with school things I’m the worst. I still have things from last year that I never got around to read and one of them was about superman (I miss studying cinema because we could have an entire class about superman and co and then write fanfiction of the world as an activity). We don’t have summer classes here, that sounds interesting, it’d be nice to get ahead, also it’s about to be winter here so after July we’ll get maybe a month off and then it’s back to being unresponsible adults. I’ve nothing against drinking and partying, I like drinking (parties are usually weird but sometimes it’s cool) but don’t freaking leave class to do it, go after the class, how disrespectful is it to leave the poor teacher there waiting 20 minutes to see if the rest of the class will show up or they’ll have to do with six or seven people? Also you pay over 1.000 bucks a month to study and you don’t give a shit about being in class? it’s throwing money away and it’s disrespectful to whoever is paying school, even if that someone is yourself. I’m not those kids that say you should only do what’s right and never skip class never drink or do anything because you have to study instead of throwing your life away. But school is expensive and respect is something you should have for everyone (unless someone is a jerk, because it’s not murder if the person is a jerk…jk)

I never liked studying in the mornings but it’s sort of better, however, my classes only exist at night, there is morning journalism classes, but it’s in another neighborhood and we have to cross the bridge and there’s no cool campus. I like my campus.

group projects are the worst. They end friendships, they end marriages, they end happiness, they lead to murder… it’s never fun. I always imagine that scene with the guy getting pizza and coming back to the place on fire and people bleeding, or that one from Mean Girls with the fighting over Aaron Samuels in animal style. Those are the only representations of group projects that are realistic.

I love how you just started to talk about JK, had two words in and

Honestly Alex has been so ooc this season it’s almost sad. No offense to Sanvers, but I think even that relationship is a bit ooc. Not the fact that there is a relationship but how it is being handled. Not gonna go into it cuz I don’t want to rant here. but I would ship Sanvers if they had put a bit more of effort into getting them together not ‘I don’t want a baby gay rn, so let’s be friends. PSYCHE I just got shot in the most harmless area of my entire body, let's make out!’

The same Alex that thought James wasn’t good enough for Kara and decked Maxwell Lord for existing would never make excuses for someone that is basically the dumb alien version of Lord with worse hair and more aggression and more pretending to be a #goodguy who’s just trying so hard and changed because after 9 months on earth as a grown man he decided to read a book, feed himself and clean his own mess… or pretend to clean his own mess while Kara actually does it and he just sits there and says she’s annoying because she doesn’t want to run away from her problems. (hey look, ranting… she said with surprise in her voice for some reason)

My favorite character was definitely Cat… and Kara. Both at the same time, I can’t choose between them, please don’t make me. and now it’s Lena… and still Kara even though she’s basically dead inside and that girl who cries because her boyfriend is moving away and it will destroy her life because that person she knows nothing about and met 9 months ago when he tried to kill her and has been lying to her and shoving her self-esteem down ever since is apparently the most important person in her life and she can’t live without him. he cooked her breakfast so he can’t move away and face his responsibilities, she’s the best thing he’s ever known, not person, thing. That woman in the best thing… god, this is so gross I cannot continue even to joke about this. so yeah, Kara is SUPER ooc this season, but I still love her and have faith she will recover from this terrible illness and come back to us, I miss her.

Yes! I would totally still marry Morgana even season 5 Morgana. poor thing just needs a hug and a friend to tell her she’s not a monster for being born different. I might start crying now so I’ll change topics. 

Definitely Marry Kara, no questions asked. Fuck Lena because, I mean, just look at her. And Kill Lucy, my poor bby, but she’s a vampire so she has to go, control or not, ‘vegetarian’ vampires are dumb.

I do read comics, not as much as I’d like, but I also watched all of the DC cartoons (minus Legion because it looks dumb) most of Smallville and Lois & Clark and when I want to know some more I read about the storylines and all, like even when I don’t read the comic itself, I read about the comic. I won’t say I know all about everything, but I can hold my ground, I guess, I’m also not above admitting I don’t know/haven’t read enough about one subject/character and reading about that on one of the sites I trust. Also watched a lot of Marvel cartoons and most of the movies aaaand I read a lot of Marvel comics, specially Balck Widow, Hawkeye, and Young Avengers.

Did you watch any superhero cartoons? They were a pretty big deal in the 90′s and early 2000′s.

Hope you have a great day and night 💙😊

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 44: A Match Maid in Heaven

The next day at school, Ren was walking around when she overheard Ryuji. “Yo! Mishima!” Ryuji walked up to Mishima as Mishima turned around. Ren snuck up to watch. “So, uh, listen….” Ryuji seemed a little hesitant. He grabbed a flyer out of his pocket. “I, uh, found this, and I wanted to give it a try, but like, you're the only person I can sort of trust with this, OK?”

Ren was confused. Morgana, who had popped out to see what was going on, was also confused. Neither were more confused than Mishima though. He grabbed the flyer. “‘Maid servi-’”

“Shhhhhh” Ryuji hushed. “Not so loud, OK?” Mishima indeed. “So, like, yeah. Maybe we could use their services, ya know?”

Mishima looked at the flyer again. “I dunno.” He paused. “Hold on. ‘Will do anything you ask’? I need to investigate if that’s true. I’m in.”

“Alright! Now that’s what I’m talking about” Ryuji said.

“Please” Mishima said, trying to uphold his pride, but fooling no one. “I’m doing this for justice.”

“Suuuuuuure” Ryuji taunted. “So, meet me at my place, tonight.”

“Um, I don’t know where you live,” Mishima responded.

“Oh, right, uh, just meet on Central Street then” Ryuji countered.

“Um, why are you asking me?” Mishima said. “I don’t think we know each other all too well…”

“Well, uhhhh” Ryuji stammered. The truth was rather complicated. Ryuji didn’t have the track team as friends anymore. And out of the men in the Phantom Thieves, one was a cat, one was a child, and one seemed disinterested in this sort of thing, and was still basically trapped with their abuser, even if they were slowly having their heart changed.

He did have a lady friend who might be interested in Ryuji’s endgame, but he wasn’t about to out his friend to some random maid. So, instead of explaining all of that, Ryuji answered “I think this would be a good chance to get to know each other. Since you know my secret and all.”

Mishima’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Is this a mission for… well, ya know…”

“I guess you could say that...” Ryuji said, rubbing his back. He was still sort of sore from stealing Madarame’s treasure yesterday, so at the very least he was hoping for a massage.

“ALRIGHT!” Mishima said. “Let's go! Tonight it is!”

“Uhh, yeah…” Ryuji said, surprised by Mishima’s mood swing. Mishima nodded and walked off. Ryuji walked off in a different direction.

“Well, that was something,” Ren said.

“Maybe we should tail them…” Morgana suggested. “Just in case.”

“Oh please, what could go wrong?” Ren said. Morgana gave her a look. “Yeah, you’re right, we should follow them.” She continued on her way

After one of her jobs, she headed down to Central Street to see if Ryuji and Mishima had the courage of their convictions. Sure enough, they did. “Alright” Mishima cheered. “For JUSTICE!”

“...You can drop the act…” Ryuji said, annoyed.

“What act? I’m here to prove the justice of this maid service” Mishima pushed back.

Ryuji decided not to fight it. Ren, from a distance, couldn’t help but snicker. “Anyways, follow me,” Ryuji said. He and Mishima started walking, with Ren following them while keeping her distance. They made it to an apartment building.

“So, what’s the game plan here?” Mishima asked.

“Well, my neighbor is out of town,” Ryuji began, “and they asked me to bring in their mail and feed their fish, so I was thinking we could use that place.”

“Oh, I get it,” Mishima said. “It’s to hide our identity.”

“Uh, yeah” Ryuji said. In reality, his mom was also home, and he didn’t wish to disturb her. Ryuji unlocked the door, and they went in.

Ren decided to stick outside, but with a view of the door. “I’ll give it about an hour, and if nothing happens, I think we’re good.”

“Sounds fair,” Morgana said. The two waited patiently.

About a half hour later, they heard a knock. They peered around the corner. The maid had showed up. “Hello?” they said. “You request me?”

Ren’s heart was racing. What was Ryuji and Mishima’s plan here? Were they actually going to go all the way with this maid? Ryuji…

Instead, the opposite happened. The maid stood outside the door for about five minutes with no answer. Ren was relieved, but the maid was annoyed. She sighed. “Figures. I knew it had to be a prank.”

The maid was leaving when a thought occurred to Ren. Wait, I know that annoyed tone anywhere. Against her better judgment, she called out “Ms. Kawakami?”

The maid turned around to see her student, the one with a record no less, as a maid. “What, no,” Kawakami said. “I’m, I’m Becky! Meow!” Both of them were embarrassed, and neither of them were buying it. Kawakami groaned. “Why me?”

“So, what’s all this?” Ren asked. Kawakami groaned some more. “Um, if that’s alright with you.”

Kawakami looked up. “First, I’d like to know why you’re calling a maid service.”

“Well, I didn’t…” Ren said, slightly nervously. Wow, she goes into teacher mode on a dime. “I overheard Ryuji and Mishima saying they were, and I decided to follow them to make sure nothing too off-kilter happened.”

Kawakami looked at her. “Yeah, that tracks,” she said. “So, I’m assuming they’re in there.”

“Yeah,” Ren said.

Kawakami sighed. “I guess you get something out of me then. I do this stuff part time, and no one, I repeat, NO ONE at school knows about this. So please. Not a word to anyone.” Ren nodded. “Good.” She sighed again, “Of course something like this would happen.” She walked out. Ren followed a minute or two after that.

Soon after Ren left, Ryuji and Mishima opened the door. “...Is the maid gone yet?” Ryuji asked.

They investigated. “All clear,” Mishima said.

Ryuji sighed. “Man, there were SO many things I didn’t think of…”

The next day, after school, Ren was wandering the halls. “I wonder why Ms. Kawakami does that sort of thing” Morgana wondered.

“Well, it’s not really our place to judge,” Ren answered.

“True,” Morgana said. “I guess people have their reasons.” They overheard something. “What’s that?” Morgana asked.

Ren shushed him with her finger and went to investigate. Another teacher was scolding Ms. Kawakami on her abilities as a teacher, and why she kept missing meetings and stuff. Ren, being Ren, had to jump in. “Um, Ms. Kawakami? I have a question about some of the assignments.”

The teachers looked at Ren. “‘Question’?”

“Uh, yeah” Kawakami said, not missing a beat. “Amamiya has been asking me questions practically every day non-stop. She did transfer here you know, so it’s a new experience for both of us. I never imagined having such an involved student, with such in-depth questions.”

“Huh,” the other teacher said. “You know, I take back what I said. You are a good teacher.” They walked off.

Kawakami sighed. “That was too close.” She looked at Ren. “You know, I gotta thank you. Usually, it takes a while before Ms. Chouno finishes chewing me out… Although I suppose you only came to my aid because of...well…” Ren couldn’t deny that wasn’t it. Although it probably wouldn’t seem odd without that context. “Ugh…”

Ren tried to comfort her. “It’s OK…”

Kawakami looked at her student. She sighed. “Listen, you seem like an OK kid. So, I’m willing to help you,” Ren looked up, “IF you help me.” Kawakami fished out a business card. “That’s my number for my…’associate’ Becky. If you utilize the services, then I’ll help you out by letting you slack off a little in class.” Ren was confused for a second, but nodded. “Oh, and don’t go using your cell phone to call. You’re still in high school. If you get caught repeatedly using these services, it will not look good.”

“I understand,” Ren said.

Kawakami looked at her. She wanted to believe her, but still had a few preconceived notions about her and her arrest record. “You better.” They nodded at each other, and headed off.

“Boy that was a lot,” Morgana said.

“You know, if she sees me talking to you, that might give her more cause for concern” Ren sniped.

“Well… I mean, at least she’s willing to trust you on this” Morgana added.

“True” Ren nodded. She hurried off to a part-time job, still a bit anxious about this whole thing.

Later that evening, she entered back into Leblanc. Sojiro had gone home already. Ren looked at the payphone that was there for whatever reason. “I guess this could work.” She took out the card, picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Hello?” said the voice on the other side.

Probably some manager. “Um, I’m looking for Becky?”

“Hang on,” they said.

A moment later, Kawakami answered. “Hello~ This is Becky~ Meow~”

“Meow~” Ren answered.

Kawakami sighed. “I should have known it was you. ...But thanks. I’ll be right over! Well, as soon as I get some directions.” Ren gave her the address, and Kawakami came over.

Once Kawakami arrived, she looked around. “You live in a restaurant?”

“Well, I live upstairs,” Ren explained. “Although I’ve been told it’s not much better.”

“Well, no matter where you live, I can help~” Kawakami said. She sighed again. They headed upstairs. Kawakami took a look around. “Well, I’ll say it's better than I expected… but it could use some touching up. That’s why I’m here!” Kawakami cleaned up for a bit.

After some cleaning, Kawaki sat down. Ren sat next to her. “You wanna drink or something?”

Kawakami looked at her. “Water would be nice.”  Ren nodded. She went downstairs to get the both of them a glass of water. After a few sips, Kawaki said “AH! That hit the spot.”

Ren looked at her room. She smiled. “Thanks for cleaning up a bit.”

“Well, I’ve gotta admit, you keep this place looking alright, so I didn’t need to do much,” Kawakami said. She sighed.

Ren turned her full attention to her. “Are you OK?” she asked.

“Well…” Kawakami began. “It’s hard to say. It’s nice that I’m getting this gig, but it came about through, shall we say, less than ideal circumstances.” Ren rolled her eyes at that understatement. “However, it’s nice to have someone request me. Usually I’m sidelined due to my age. However, I still think I’ve got it! Do you?”

Ren looked her over. “Do you really think you should be asking a student that?”

“Yeah, that...yeah,” Kawakami floundered.

Ren changed the subject. “So, did Ryuji ask for you last night?”

Kawakami shook her head. “He just asked for ‘anyone’ and I fell under that.”

“I see…” Ren said. Kawakami sighed. “If there’s any other way I can help…”

“No, this is fine,” Kawakami said. “I just hate dragging my students into my messes.”

“Well, we had a deal, right?” Ren reminded her. “I’ll call upon your services, and you allow me time to slack off in class.”

Kawakami smiled. “Right.”

“But, why IS that my end of the bargain?” Ren asked.

“Well…” Kawakami said. “Due to your circumstances, and the whole Kamoshida thing, I figured you could just use some breathing room.”

“I see,” Ren said.

“If there’s anything else you want…” Kawakami bgan.

Ren smiled. “No, I’ll accept that.” Kawakami was relieved. “But I do have another question.” Kawakami was a bit worried. “Did you know? About Mr. Kamoshida?”

Kawakami averted her glance. “Well, sort of… Bits and pieces anyway When I went to the principal with what I knew, he said everything was under control.”

“I see…” Ren said.

“And, well,” Kawakami continued, shocking Ren, “if I’m being completely honest, part of me didn’t want to believe it.” Ren was shocked further. “Before all of that came out, he and I actually had a really good rapport. And, well, I sort of had a thing for him.”

“Oh” Ren said, trying to process what that was.

“Between that, and the principal saying it was alright, and other things on my plate, I kind of felt like it was fine,” Kawakami explained. “Ugh, I feel awful that I let that happen to my students. I must be the worst teacher ever.”

Ren placed her arm around her. “We both know that’s not true. The worst teacher ever got arrested last month.”

Kawakami cheered up a little. “I guess that’s true.” She sighed some more. “Ya know, before he confessed, he reminded me a lot of my high school boyfriend. That's part of the reason I liked him.”

Ren thought now would be a good time to lighten the mood a little. “But then he became very much unlike your high school boyfriend?”

“No,” Kawakami answered. “He became too much like him.”

“Oh” Ren said, horrified.

“God, why do all the men I like turn out to be so awful?” Kawakami lamented.

Ren wanted to cheer her up. “I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

Kawakami looked at her sternly. “Easy for you to say, I bet none of the boys you like are as bad as Kamoshida.”

“Well, technically you’re correct…” Ren said, nervously.

Kawakami sighed once more. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“It’s fine,” Ren said.

Kawakami chuckled. “You know, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. I might enjoy it when you give me a call. Which, you will, right?”

“Of course,” Ren said. “I had fun too.”

“Hm,” Kawakami said. She stood up, gave a courtesy, and said “Thank you for using our services~ ...Sorry. They make us do that.”

Ren chuckled. “It’s fine.”

“Well then, until next time, thank you,” Kawakami said.

I am thou... Thou art I… Thou hast acquired a new vow...

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Temperance Persona I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.

Temperance-Sadayo Kawakami: Rank 1

Kawakami left, and Ren and Morgana soon went to bed.