#Arthur is NOT having a good day

[vikingsong]

WIP Wednesday (8/16/23)

In which spy!Merlin attempts break the Crown Prince out of an interrogation room after accidentally kidnapping said Prince and dumping him, unconscious, in said interrogation room to begin with.

Shifting aside one of the lay-in ceiling panels, Merlin gripped the edges of the frame and flipped down into the room, landing on his feet, silent and catlike.

The Prince jerked back from the table. “Who are you?”

“I’m the one who’s going to get you out of here.”

“And where is here, exactly?” the Prince asked, folding his arms and glancing surreptitiously between the locked door and the open ceiling panel.

Merlin chose his words carefully, admitting to nothing as he trod the line between honesty and insinuation. “I think you already know. You saw some of their handiwork earlier this evening.”

Arthur nodded, just once, and leveled his gaze on Merlin. “That still doesn’t answer my first question. Who are you? More importantly, why should I trust you?”

Impulsively, Merlin threw back the cowl.

“You!” the Prince blurted, taking a step back. “But you did—! Earlier, I thought I saw…” The Prince made several nonsensical hand gestures, and Merlin soon tired of watching him flail.

“No, you weren’t hallucinating.” Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I have magic—and, yes, magic is real…but I think you figured that part out already, what with the fireballs they were hurling at you.”

The Prince crossed his arms and raised an imperious eyebrow. “Those were rather hard to miss.”

“Rather.” Merlin cleared his throat pointedly and waved a hand at the ceiling. “We need to go.”

“But you have magic.”

“I thought we’d already established that.”

“You could be working with them.”

“I know you don’t trust me, alright?” Merlin grit out between clenched teeth. “But if you want to get out of here alive, you’re going to have to trust me for the next twenty-two minutes.”

“Twenty-two?”

“Twenty-two.”

“That’s oddly precise.”

“It took me sixteen to get in here; getting out will take quite a bit longer with you in tow.”

“I beg your pardon,” the Prince sniffed.

“Then beg.” He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction at the Prince’s shell-shocked stare. Merlin knew if Lance had heard that retort, he’d groan and tell Merlin to ‘touch grass,’ so Merlin simply wouldn’t tell him. Leaping up onto the table, Merlin grasped the edges of the metal ceiling grid on either side of the displaced tile and swung himself up through the gap.

“...You can’t speak to me like that,” the Prince sputtered belatedly.

Merlin stuck his head back through the ceiling to glare at the Prince upside down. “Well, I did. Are you coming or not, your Royal Pratness?”

“Fine,” the Prince snapped. He shrugged off his suit jacket—a jacket that Merlin knew cost more than Merlin’s rather generous salary—and tossed it carelessly over the hard metal chair before pocketing his patriotic cufflinks and rolling up his shirtsleeves. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered as he climbed onto the table and hoisted himself through the ceiling gap after Merlin.

Merlin hid a sigh of relief as he slid the tile back into place and led the way into the ventilation shaft. His entire plan hinged on convincing the Prince to trust him, albeit grudgingly. He’d made it past that first hurdle; the rest of the plan should be just fine.

***

It was not fine, Merlin soon discovered. He’d pulled up the front of his dark cowl to cover his nose and mouth, held in place by a handy sticking-spell, as soon as he’d re-entered the air shaft because the Shadow Division desperately needed to have their ducts cleaned. The Prince had no such luxury. He also had a dust allergy.

“Brilliant,” Merlin muttered under his breath as the Prince sneezed for the fourth time in barely thirty seconds. The sound rebounded off the metal, multiplying the echoes through the ventilation system. Merlin glanced back over his shoulder and hissed, “Are you trying to get us caught?”

[eva-birdman-art]

Debuting my human John design after a week of having him in my wips wooooo!!! Also a tiddie lineup prompted by @potato-lord-but-not 's poll lmao (you have found my weakness)

[arthursfuckinghat]

Arthur Morgan is the kind of man to save you from harm only to look at you with his sorrow-ridden eyes and tell you how much of a bad man he is when you thank him

[cgerice]

Been four years, time for this again.

With the trajectory these redraws are going, Merlin and Gwaine are going to end up just,,, making out. Full on sloppy style right in front of Arthur.

And honestly? Good for them they deserve it lmao

[xgermankittycatx--commsopen]

don't mind me, i'm in my merlin phase right now!!! (and i don't ever want it to eeenddd)

WIP

[luck-of-the-drawings]

ANCIENT wip that i finally got around to splashin color onto. NO idea where this colorin style came from n it WONT happen again!! anyway i LOOOVE the general dynamic between arthur n emizel. both are so cool and so awesome and yet SO silly...

[rosesofenvy]

How Far We’ve Come - Music Theory Analysis

[Disclaimer: I went to university for music as a violin primary and have the most confidence with classical strings. I passed my piano proficiency courses, but that is the extent of my piano knowledge. It has been a few years since I have done an in-depth composition analysis of any piece, let alone transcribing a piece by ear and then analyzing it. Music theory has never been my strong suit! Please excuse any mistakes in notation, and any inaccuracies in my transcription or analysis. I did my best and this was purely for fun *shaky thumbs up*]

----------------------

'How Far We’ve Come' by Harlan Guthrie is a duet between Grand Piano and Cello. This piece opens with solo piano, either in a pickup measure or in a single measure of 2/4 before transitioning to 4/4 time in measure 2. Throughout its entirety there are many moments of rubato which have been notated as ritardando and a subsequent a tempo. To most accurately follow the phrasing, listening to the recording is highly recommended.

This piece begins in the key of F#M or the enharmonic spelling of GbM. Although unpleasant to look at with either 6 sharps or 6 flats, depending on which spelling is followed, this key is often used by composers to invoke emotions of a conquest story, evoking relief, triumph, victory, and clarity. As we know from our story in Malevolent so far, this meaning is not lost on us. I have chosen to keep this piece as F#M since that is how I originally began transcribing it. I have also attached the GbM version at the end of the post, however all the analysis follows F#M spelling.

The lone piano begins on the third of our I chord with a hesitant, heavily rubato 8th note pickup into measure 1. The transition from measure to measure in this first phrase gains little confidence, especially with the transition from the pickup into m. 1 as this is the only instance in the piece where the set of 8th notes in the left hand do not lend itself into the next right hand pickup (four 8th notes instead of five). Each lead-in to the downbeat is stretched, pedal held throughout the measure to allow the sound to linger. Each press of the keys is deliberate, yet maintains a mezzo dynamic as the sound fades. m.2 is introduced with a vi chord, creating a hint of unease before resolving in m.3 to a IV(add7). We end our first phrase with a half cadence to a V chord, leading into a V7 as our next phrase begins with a B. 

As we enter our second phrase it is similar to our first with  m.5 beginning with a I chord, m.6 expands our vi chord compared to its first iteration, resulting in a more confident feel as we continue into m.7 with yet another expansion to our IV(add7). M.8 ends this phrase as we reach another half cadence V chord almost V7. 

Beginning m.9 the piece has a few possible paths of analysis, we arrive on a vi chord if we are remaining in F#M, which unlike our other initial starting phrases this throws us into a melancholic mood. There is a possibility of modulation to the relative minor (D#m), however I believe it remains in F#M and utilizes inversions of our chords and will continue with this assumption for the next phrase.

Remaining in F#M, m.10 could be a vi(4/2) inversion, or a I(6/4) inversion. Because Measure 11 moves to a ii chord, I believe it makes more harmonic sense for m.10 to be a vi(4/2) inversion as moving from a I(6/4) - ii is less common than a vi(6/4) to a ii. 

M.11 into m.12 is a fascinating progression. We have a V with the (g) in m.11, then we are descending to a Dnat, A#, E# progression. The Dnat is what has thrown me off the most, as it is a minor chord of sorts but doesn’t exist within our key of F#M, or relative D#m. The E# A# progression I believe is a I(4/2) chord, as it is leading us back into the next phrase. Even spelling enharmonically as a A#, Cx, E# chord it does not naturally occur within our existing key. After many hours of checking theory textbooks, writing out possible modulations, and playthroughs of the chords, I’m choosing to leave this as a V-I(4/2) progression and accepting my loss that I do not know what chord exists in the downbeat of m.12. However, I can say that resolving to something that is not a root tonic further creates this sense of melancholy.

Bringing us to our next phrase at m.13, similar to our previous phrase a vi chord but instead of resolving to an A# it resolves to the root D#. M.14 is identical to m.10 with the exception of the lower octave A#3 before resolving in m.15 to a ii chord until the fourth beat of the measure which leads us into measure 16 - resolving to a IV-V half cadence by the end of the measure. 

Reaching m.18 we are returning to our original phrase. This is where our cello enters for the duet, in which I have some observations about musicality first. As the piano is using a significant amount of pedal to sustain the sound, the cello utilizes a wide vibrato to create a warm sound. Notably, this doesn’t occur as significantly when entering with the lower notes. The cello is confident, encouraging the piano forward and maintaining a solid momentum even with the hesitance the piano has shown. 

M.18 we begin on a I chord, supported by the cello playing a low F# as the root. In the pause between phrases, it's as if you can feel the performers breathing together before they move to m.19, our vi(add7) chord. 

Measure 20 I have quite a bit to talk about. Stacked chord analysis is not my forte (pun intended). From what I could hear, there is a B1, F#2, B2, F#3 in the cello, while the piano continues with a IV(add7) chord. B1 is impossible to play on a cello with traditional tuning, in order to achieve this note they would have to tune their lowest string - their C string - down a half step. The chord B1/F#2/B2/F#3 is also impossible to play on a single instrument. If one cello tuned their C down to a B, then they could feasibly play the bottom chord, possibly the two B’s in octaves. It is possible for a cellist to play an F#/B/F# chord, however it would be uncomfortable and not result in a good tonality with it being a triple stop - but, the second cello could split the chord and play a different combination (F#2,B2 or B2,F#) with success. Other solutions to this could be having a double bass play the pedal B, as it would be within their ability on and remain in the correct octave, or having the piano cover the pedal B. This massive chord then resolves simply to a half cadence V chord in measure 21. 

Entering our last section, m.22, we return to a phrase similar to the beginning, with a confident I chord. With each measure we go to a more traditional chord progression to a V-IV-V in measures 23, 24, and 25 respectively. In an exciting turn of events, we land on a I chord in our final measure. The first PAC in the entire piece, and yet, it doesn’t sound as if the piece is finished. Throughout its entirety, all the phrases have been a form of inauthentic cadence. We end on a Perfect Authentic Cadence, a V-I, it should sound resolved. And yet, it continues on. The notes ring, and if left on repeat (as I have done for this analysis), it makes sense for it to continue. 

In conclusion, I believe this duet is in an general AABBAA format, with A being Major key tonality and B encompassing a minor key tonality. This piece is a conversation, it’s full of emotion and hesitance and is a fantastic representation of everything we’ve seen Arthur and John go through so far in the podcast. I can’t help but think of “I’ve come so far…and I have miles to go before I sleep” with this piece as a reflection of that. This composition is saying “Look, see how far we’ve come, what we’ve done to get here. How we’ve changed and grown.” All this to say, it’s an amazing story and an amazing composition. If you made it this far, I’m glad you came along in this musical journey with me and feel free to add anything I may have missed (or possibly mistaken). 

[mossy-rainfrog]

[ID: Several drawings of Calvin Wright, Tenebrosum, Arthur Lester, and John Doe. There are a few portraits of Calvin and Tenebrosum alone, and a few others of Calvin and Arthur kissing or otherwise intimate together. More detailed ID in ALT.]

FINALLY posting this on a random monday, here are some of my drawings from @croik 's Arkam Horror/Malevolent Crossover series that has made me category 10 unwell for months. I absolutely recommend this series, it's hot, it's got just a Delightful dynamic of jarthur x another possessed traumatized guy and his Personal Horror, it's got a plot so good it could be its own arc of the show, and also, its got The Horrors!!! give it up for the horrors everyone

Genuinely I have been SO obsessed with this series and ESPECIALLY their characters of Calvin and Tenebrosum. Thank you op for writing over 100k for these guys, i need to inject them into my brain. Calvin and Escuridão specifically are like catnip to me i WILL be rereading this many more times

[bloodydrew]

Would be SO FUNNY if John (malevolent) and Jon (tma) switched places for a bit it’d be so SO chaotic

[tinyclowndancer]

Hello, Carnival. It's been a while.

[cel-estria]

Episode 33 of Malevolent:

Awww Arthur is having a good day full of wins! Worried about John though, but this is a good comfy epi-

*butcher enters*

Ahh yes back to the horrors I guess.

[poisonedfate]

thinking about the lyric “you should have raised a babygirl, i should’ve been a better son” and thinking about morgana and arthur, both separately and together, and thinking about uther and seeing something

[achirding]

SatBK Prompt Week - Day 7: Peace

Even knights take days off, and what better way to enjoy a peaceful day that to share stories and laughter over some hot tea and snacks?

[arthursfuckinghat]

I'm at that part of chapter three my friends, so let me be a reminder that Colm O'Driscoll's plan to lure in Dutch after taking Arthur failed because nobody came looking for him.

He would have died being held captive any longer, he barely escaped.

The gang did not come for Arthur.

[papaue00]

Handsome cowboah

[sofitai28]

my face every time my professors keep assigning me shit

i am still kicking!! simply going back into my Greek myth phase (as if I ever left). ask me about greek myth please i have too many in my head