#merlin prequel

[hisladyandherchampion]

new (short) Merlin prequel about Uther and Igraine!

[derailedfiction]

Lonely boy | 1. An Coineachan

Characters: Merlin | Hamish Mycroft, Galahad | Harry Hart, Merlin | Richard Mycroft (OMC), and other

Warnings: sadness, parents loss, abandonment, anger issues, swearing, death

Word count: 1942

Summary: it is a prequel to Run boy, run

A/N.: An Coineachan (en. Highland Fairy Lullaby) a Scottish lullaby, supposed to be sung by a disconsolate mother whose babe has been stolen by the fairies. Translated by L. MacBean, author of "Songs of the Highlands"

It was an unusual night. After a long day of heavy rains, it finally calmed down and the ground started to release accumulated moisture, forming dense and heavy fog around a mansion. When everybody should be sleeping one person, a child actually, was awake and waiting. Left alone with its nanny, in an extravagant and big mansion, the child was waiting for its parents to return. Despite being asked to go sleep a little boy refused to do so. Something wasn't allowing him to sleep, some kind of anxiety that made his tummy hurt a little bit. At once he became scared and stressed and looking through the window, searching for the lights of his parents’ car didn't help. All he could see was a milky cloud tightly hugging his home. The nanny took the snivelling boy in her arms and carried him to his bedroom. She put him in the bed and covered him carefully with a duvet and a blanket.

"Sleep now little one. Papa and Mama will be home soon," she tried to calm down the boy, but she only received quiet sobs in an answer. "Come on boy. Do you remember what Papa promised to you?" he nodded with trembling chin.

"We'll go flying", the boy said calmed down a little bit.

"That's right. So, think about flying in a nice plane and going to sleep and in the morning, you'll hug your parents. Sleep little one," the nanny kissed his forehead and left.

He had a hard time falling asleep. Those strange figures out of the window were making him wonder where his parents were and why they hadn't already come home to him. He curled up into an embryo and lay in complete silence. Even his hamster usually noisy at night was quiet as if something big was oncoming. The boy cried a little bit more but after a while, he fell asleep.

***

In the other part of the country, a man was woken up by an unexpected phone call. It was nearly two in the morning when he answered the phone, shrugging the sleep remnants almost immediately.

"Yes, yes of course. What happened?" he sat up trying to understand what was said to him. "What? Is there any chance...", the speaker interrupted him with new information. "Are you absolutely sure?" He was listening carefully, but he couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was hard to believe in such terrible news. "All right I understand that", but of course he understood. He heard the words, but their sense was lost to him, "Is there any chance that the child will live? The woman... His wife was pregnant... Oh Lord..." He felt all of a sudden numb, unable to speak.

Such tragedy, no one was expecting. His brother was dying, and his lovely wife was dead as the child she was carrying. His mourning thoughts concentrated on the boy they left alone in this world. Quickly he put himself together. He had things to be done.

"Is there any chance for me to arrive there just in time to see my brother?" the hope of seeing his little brother for the last time enlightened his face but it disappeared as fast as it came. The doctor on the other end wasn’t giving him great chances to survive the surgery.

"I'll arrive at the hospital as soon as I can. Yes, thank you," he got up and dressed in extreme rush.

The boy can't wake up alone, that was the most important thought for him at the moment.

"Arthur? It's Merlin. I need to borrow one of the helicopters. It's crucial. My brother and his wife just died, and they left a four-year-old boy after. I would be grateful. I need to get to Scotland as soon as I can. Thank you I owe you that, Arthur."

He was relieved that it went so smoothly. Just one more call and he was free to go but that was the hardest one. He dialled the number and waited.

"Hello?" the sleepy voice answered, he easily recognised Amelia, the nanny. "Amelia, it's Richard, Thomas's older brother." he was trying really hard to remain calm.

"Oh, good night, sir. Is everything all right?"

"How is the boy?"

“He had some difficulties with sleeping earlier this evening but eventually he is sleeping now," he could sense that she was suspecting something.

"Don't wake him, I’ll be there tomorrow. I have bad news, unfortunately."

Richard arrived in the early morning, quiet like a ghost. Of course, before arrival, he had taken care of things of practical matters like preparing necessary documents and contacting a lawyer. Some papers need to be changed. No sooner had he finished those small preparations than he went to the headquarters for the helicopter. The flight was surprisingly short, or it was due to the adrenalin and emotions building up. He didn’t pay attention to it deep in his thoughts looking at Glasgow bathed in the glow of the rising sun. The day looked promising, which even deepened the excruciating pain the man felt.

He tried to remember the last time was, he spoke to his little brother as he stood over his cold body, nodding to the mortician that it was his relative. It was not the first time he had to identify the body as the quartermaster of Kingsman, he got used to it. The coldness of the room and its sterility made him shiver.

Then Richard was presented with his sister-in-law's corpse, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Harsh gasp escaped his mouth as he helplessly tried to compose himself.

“Yes, that’s her,” he mumbled on the way out.

This was not supposed to happen. Never in his worst dreams has he imagined outliving his brother and being the one to determine if it’s the right body. He always thought it would be the other way around or that Thomas would end up getting a fancy letter with golden Kingsman’s emblem on it, informing with great sadness of his passing.

“Mr Mycroft?” he stood still observing the white-tiled floor with an empty gaze, “Mr Mycroft, are you alright?” a doctor touched his arm to get his attention, “I’m sorry for your loss, were you close?”

“We used to be. Unfortunately, my work wasn’t helping with keeping the relationship more devoted. At least at my end,” he cleared his throat and looked at the doctor, “How it will look like?”

“Well, we have to perform an autopsy but given it was a fatal car accident, it won’t take long. After that, the bodies will be transferred to the mortuary of your choosing for the funeral, Mr Mycroft. It will take a few days.”

“I see, you got my contact info?” after the confirming nod, he continued, “Good then I’ll wait for the call. I have to inform their son.”

“Mr Mycroft. Once again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Yes, thank you, doctor,” he brushed it off on his way out. The man’s thoughts were occupied and empty at the same time, already thinking how to deliver the news to his nephew.

***

“Amelia, is my mommy coming soon?”

“I’m sure she is, darling. Do you want to eat your breakfast?” the nanny showed him a plate of small pancakes with some berries on top.

“Pancakes? But it’s not Sunday,” the boy frowned puzzled with this offer, “I’ll eat them,” he added fast with a disarming smile.

“Very well, Hamish. Sit up and eat up, young gentleman,” Amelia put the plate with cutlery in front of the child and added a glass of juice after a moment, “When you finish you can go outside and play in the garden. How does it sound?”

“Mhmm,” he answered the best he could with a mouth full of food. He finished his meal excitedly, in his mind, already running on the barely dry lawn with a toy plane that would undoubtedly crush into the ground, “Thank you,” with a loud rumble he moved the plate away from him and ran away to dress up.

“Put your hat on, it’s rather chilly!” she shouted after her protegee. After a moment she heard a joyful scream as he ran out into the garden with his toys. She smiled to herself and started to clean up after the breakfast.

“Good morning, Amelia,” she jumped surprised.

“Good morning, sir. Quite an entrance,” she responded with a nervous laugh, “Can I get you anything?”

“Coffee, please. How is the boy?”

“He woke up in quite a cheerful mood. Is everything alright?”

“I’m afraid not,” he smiled softly, accepting the cup, “His parents had a car accident. They didn’t make it.”

Amelia gasped terrified, her eyes filled with tears, “My God, this is unbelievable. Oh, this poor boy. What will happen to him?”

“I don’t know, I spoke to the lawyer, I’ll become his legal guardian. We just need documents to move it further,” he heard a sigh of relief from the nanny, “Where is he?”

“Garden, playing with his planes,” her voice trembled as she tried to hold back tears. She was unable to imagine how he would feel when he finally heard the news, “Are you going to tell him, sir?”

“Unfortunately. I have no conscience to put you through it, Amelia,” Richard came closer to the window observing his nephew’s last moments of child’s light-hearted plays, “Let's give him some more carefree childhood. I’ll talk to him when he’s back home.”

Within half an hour a breathless and sweaty youngling stormed the house like a tornado, loudly demanding something to drink. Boots, hat, and jacket were left like a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the kitchen where he bumped into two adults conversing quietly.

“Uncle Rick!” he exclaimed throwing himself in welcoming arms, for a tight hug.

“Hello, dear boy,” the child nested himself comfortably in his arms and with cold hands touched his relative's face with naïve pietism, “What are you looking for, Hamish?”

“You look different, older…” he paused frowning, “Sadder.”

“Well, I am really sad today, lad,” Kingsman smiled softly, which puzzled the boy even more, “Let’s take our drinks and maybe we’ll go to the playroom?” he passed a plastic cup to the child and ordered to hold it tightly. With his other free hand, he took a half-finished coffee and they headed to another room.

“You stopped coming often, why?” nephew inquired, focused on not spilling his drink.

“I had a lot of work,” now I regret it, he thought to himself, “Alright, now off you go.”

As soon as Hamish stood on the floor, he greedily drank up the juice and gave back the empty cup to his uncle, eyeing a particularly soft teddy he wanted to play with. Richard sat down heavily on a black sofa and sank into it. He didn’t want to have this conversation with the four-year-old. All he wanted was to disappear or wake up from this nightmare.

“Hamish,” the boy looked at him expectantly, “Come here,” he stretched out his hand encouragingly, watching the child coming quickly holding teddy’s paw and dragging it behind him.

“Are you crying, uncle?” it was impossible not to hear how concerned the boy was, “Is it because you’re sad?”

“Yes, lad,” he lifted him and sat down on his lap, “I’m sad because something happened and I’m even sadder because I have to tell you about it,” as best as he could, Hamish tried to hide behind his teddy. If such a big adult was crying about something, what would be with him?

“What is it?” he whispered.

“Your parents won’t come home, boy.”

[inalandofsadclowns]

Hunith sent Merlin to Camelot as a result of finding out that Will knew about the magic, she got "so angry", and she sent him away so fast, the two didn't even have time to discuss the thing, right?

I-

I'm sorry, but just how bad of an opinion had Hunith of Will, if she trusted her son more with Gaius, in the heart of Camelot, than with Will in Ealdor lol

[liltaireissocute]

[forkaround]

i can excuse bad production if there is good writing.

i can excuse bad dialogue if there is solid intention.

i can excuse problematic story/relationship if there is an understanding of why

i can excuse toxic characters that don't change if they are interesting.

[nerdtamin]

Why Rey's Story Should Have Been Similar to Anakin's (WITH A TWIST 😉 )

Ok! Bear with me, I know this can be a touchy subject but I promise you it's not the path you think this will go.

Anakin Skywalker was the chosen one who was destined to bring balance to the force. I'm not sure why he had to become Darth Vader to achieve this, but that may be a topic for another time. However, there is no doubt that he was destined to fall into darkness, as this was confirmed back in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, episode Ghost of Mortis (3x17), where Anakin was shown a vision from The Son about his future. However, Anakin has his memories wiped out by his father so the events would play out. Why do I bring this Up?

Picture Rey's story going this route: PALPATINE IS DEAD. However, he was working on a clone son that would surpass his apprentice Darth Vader. The Clone is a failure and is set free after the events of Return of the Jedi. At some point, the clone meets a woman and they have a daughter named Rey. However, her parents abandoned her on a desert planet because they were terrified of her powers and the darkness that resides within her. However, she survives, joins the resistance, and fights the evil in the galaxy. However, her greatest adversary finds out her true lineage, hoping she will join his side. However, there's a twist: REY KNEW.

She knew her parents left her behind because they feared her. She knew the true origin of her lineage because she overheard her parents talking about it (or another source). She knew what would happen if she allowed her negative emotions to get to her while surviving on Jakku. She knew but she fought against it anyway.

I believe this would have been a compelling story for the sequel trilogy to adopt. The protagonist fights against the destiny that everyone around her expects her to become. She's pulled in so many directions: Her friends fear her, her enemies push her, and the entire galaxy wants her dead. Yet, she chooses hope. JJ Abrams could have also sneaked in a few hints about Rey's dark potential until the big twist. Some examples could be:

Losing control (maybe like a sonic scream)

Physical deformation (like The Son)

or classic Sith eyes (maybe she keeps them hidden under her own mask)

I know this felt more like a rewrite than an analysis but I'm sure we've all come up with thousands of ways a story could have gone.

[sofiadragon]

Time to watch BBC Merlin again. Break out the DVDs!

[skatesfullofsunshine]

I’m not saying anything original in saying this, but.... I truly both love and loathe finding a draft in my Docs that clearly has such potential to be a decent story, but then I come to the end of where I last stopped writing and sob, because I’m the one who has to finish it if I wanna read it. 

[theroundbartable]

Hey, you guys remember the fanmade sixth season of BBC Merlin? Merlin Kingdom come? It has an audio version on Youtube. At the end of the last episode, the narrator promised to soon upload a story about the FIRST Dragon Lord.

I've been meaning to watch this for a while. I'm excited for this. Give it a go if you have the time. The prologue already convinced me! "In a land of myth, and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man. But not the one you're thinking of.

For you see the last Dragonlord cannot fulfill his destiny

until the first Dragonlord fulfills his."

The video only has 600 views or so and has been out for 11 months, so I figured it would be a great idea to share it!

[bestmothertournament]

[pod-together]

Pod-Together Day 6 Reveals 2023

C.U.P.I.D. (Teen Wolf (TV)) written by ReformedTsundere, performed by CrimsonMoonn Summary: "A werewolf?!" Stiles's voice is raised, a frantic curl to his question. He's pacing his hotel room, holding his headpiece like a phone out of habit. "You didn't read the briefing?"

Blood and Ozone (Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Republic (Comics)) written by Opalsong, performed by Flowerparrish Summary: The Dark Woman taught Jon that his heat was a path to the Dark Side. Finding the Sith Master was worth the risk, with Fay there to guard the lives of the clones around them. It was worth the risk of Falling to stop the evil that was brewing in chips in the Clones’ heads. It turns out his heat isn’t Dark - it brings Light to the Vode, to the Galaxy, and to Jon himself.

The Yaatree : Old Voyages / New Voyages (Original Work) written by KitKaos, performed by BardicRaven Summary: “This is Tesin’th Kar. I was told by Starlight-Starbright to get in touch with you about an open position on your ship."

Dare to Imagine [text, audio] (镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018)) written by velithya, performed by flamingwell Summary: An attack in Dixing forces Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan and Ye Zun to test new and fragile bonds of trust and family.

Percy Jackson and the Pipe of Pan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types) written by HadrianPeverellBlack, performed by Aether Summary: Percy, Annabeth and Grover are once again together for a new adventure

but these shoes I’m wearin’ don’t fit me like they should (Check Please! (Webcomic)) written by dairaliz, performed by thesleepyskipper Summary: Jack learns more about himself through an ugly pair of yellow running shoes.

So Close to Reaching that Famous Happy End (Merlin (TV)) written by TrebleMaker07 and Robin_Fai, performed by Robin_Fai Summary: "You are cordially invited to a fancy dress masquerade ball!! Attendance is mandatory. See you there!!" Where Arthur meets a Mystery Man at a masquerade ball and tries to find him; however, he's much closer than Arthur would think.

Poe Dameron And The Unknown Demigod (Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy) written by flipflop_diva, performed by korechthonia Summary: It was Poe's fault. He never should have tempted The Fates. And now he was off on a dangerous hunt to find a ray of light. Or whatever that meant.

Get the Balance Right (Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types) written by wanderingjedihistorian, performed by litra Summary: “It’s why we have to get the balance right,” Cody pointed out. “You are my mate which means in our pack hierarchy your word carries weight. But if I’m there and you speak up when I don’t?” Realization dawned on Obi-Wan’s face. “It could come across as me trying to take authority from you,” he said. “The very thing our mating is designed to prevent.” Cody nodded, grateful that Obi-Wan finally understood.

Close encounters of some kind (Star Trek: Voyager, Avatar: The Last Airbender) written by alchemicink, performed by bluedreaming Summary: A story told through letters and logs and lists.

[dollopheadedmerlin]

NO Merlin season 6

NO Arthur returns

NO sequel

YES prequel

YES tenuous Ygraine and Uther love story

YES Nimueh and Uther friendship exploration

YES Gaius swearing off magic on screen

YES Hunith and Balinor story

YES Agravaine and Tristan being hearty brothers to Ygraine

YES Gorlois backstory

YES Kilgharrah's desperate attempts to refuse his dragonlords as they're forced to imprison him

YES Uther getting his forehead scar on screen

YES ten year old Morgana meeting lil baby Arthur

YES seeing how magic was once free and present in the court

YES to seeing Uther reluctantly ally with corrupt kings as he too becomes corrupted by grief and guilt

YES Nimueh looking betrayed and scared by Uther's anger

YESSS PREQUEL TO MERLIN FOREVERRRR

[misscrazyfangirl321]

I have a very specific genre of fix-it fic that I often think of but rarely ever write while watching shows, which is basically "What if one specific character took a leap of faith and trusted another character?"

[inalandofsadclowns]

So we know Merlin had shared all of his magic and destiny related worries with Gaius, dilemmas like laying his secret out to Arthur, Morgana, or anyone ever, or the trusting Morgana and Mordred against the profecies, and there's a steady pattern of Gaius raising serious and eventually prevailing doubts in Merlin about doing all of these things. Right, Gaius has a fine ability to talk Merlin down from doing and saying stuff.

If only Merlin had mentioned his consultations with the shifty, vengeful, lying dragon as well...Wouldn't Gaius caution Merlin against that, too? Then imagine if Merlin's conscience wasn't overpowered by fear of the ominous words of a centuries old magical creature. It's possible that without Kilgarrah's constant presence in the equation Merlin would never have come to doubt Morgana and Mordred so irreversibly. That would have done more good than stabbing Morgana in the back instead of opening up to her I think. But seriously, why didn't he mention the dragon then?

I had always found it odd that during his most impressionable era Merlin never talked about Kilgarrah to Gaius. It's also out of character for him not to discuss it. Maybe Kilgarrah put a spell over Merlin that keeps him from mentioning his own input to the greatest warlock's decisions or manipulated him otherwise, maybe he even "warned" Merlin not to do so?

What I'm thinking is Gaius once used to known Kilgarrah personally before the great purge and had some juicy conflict with him that we don't know about.

[sprnklersplashes]

I feel like the show wants us to believe Balinor loved Hunith because she was ~so kind and gentle but I am choosing to believe he fell in love with her for being a badass. Like yes she is so soft and loving as well but this woman gives every corrupt official the politest middle finger anyone has ever seen. Man was likely hiding in her floorboards and heard her say to a knight "oh I'm sorry is this your kingdom? no? then flounce back to uther you pompus weirdo" and went 'oh gods I'm gonna marry that woman'.

[sauraunderscore]

My Last Bingo Fill

I'm really happy to have this story as my blackout. I wrote it in less than a week and my wonderful beta did a tremendous job of having it ready before @merlinbingo's time limit.

For those who asked for the prequel for "Idol" here it comes!!