#morgana: he says like a liar

[fluffypotatey]

Merlin: Arthur! Look! 💐

Arthur: What the hell is that?

Merlin: Flowers! For you! :)

Arthur: [404 error brain not found][artpen.exe has stopped working]

Arthur: Excuse me a moment.

Arthur: *goes in his chambers* *locks the door*

Arthur: *screams into a pillow*

Merlin, still in the hall: 💐 ?

Arthur: *opens door* *takes the flowers*

Merlin: :D

Arthur:

Merlin: :)

Arthur: ......i'll need a vase for them *shuts door*

Merlin: *smirking* right away, sire!

Arthur, leaning against his bedroom door: *clutching boquet tightly as he admires examines it*

Arthur: *mumbling* i didn't think he'd actually give me them

[merlincersei]

Merlin BBC UK TV Show - A Psychological Analysis Series Part 8

“ The deterioration of Arwen in season 5”

My biggest takeaway from Season 5 is how the Arwen ship was dismantled piece by piece by the show creators.

In season 5, Arthur and Gwen are married, but their relationship was shown to be exceedingly formal, chaste, without true communication and lack of personal touch. Let me elaborate:

Formal : They never kiss in season 5 !!!!!!!!!!

2. Chaste : Arthur and Gwen are always shown completely dressed even in the bedroom

whereas other couples are shown in a more sexually charged light than them.

Shirtless Gwaine and Eira who are not married

3. Lack Of Communication : Scene From Season 5:

Gwen: I know you sometimes desire time alone away from me… If you don’t wish me to accompany you I’d rather you told me yourself than have Merlin do it

4. Lack of Personal Touch :

It looks more like an intentional reference to the episode where Arthur and Gwen first kissed:

Arthur: I can kill a chicken from a thousand paces, just don’t ask me to cook it. That’s what servants are for.

Gwen: I’m not ashamed to be a servant. At least I’m not a liar.

Arthur: We had a nice meal together. What does it matter where it came from?

Gwen: Because I thought you’d shown some humility. You had done something kind for me even though I’m just a servant.

NOW THAT BEGS THE QUESTION, WHY WOULD THE CREATORS DO THIS ?

In cannon stories, Arthur and Gwen are married. Gwen has an affair with Lancelot. Their affair brings about the fall of Camelot.

In the TV series, Lancelot is dead, so the series creator try to highlight another love triangle

GWEN ------------------ARTHUR---------------- MERLIN

They could have Gwen out of this scene, but they didn’t. And if you know how these things are shot, then you also know it wasn’t a mistake on the filmmakers part, it was on purpose.

There are always 3 people in this marriage, and I don’t think that Gwen is very happy about that, even though she doesn’t always voice it out loud:

Gwen’s dissatisfaction of her marriage shows in the Dark Tower episode. Gwen: “Arthur doesn’t tell me anything”. And it wasn’t just a flippant statement.

It all plays into her greatest fears (as Morgana confirmed once again: “The mandrake root is cruel. It pierces the depths of your soul, twisting your unconscious into the very image of fear and dread.”)

So why would Gwen fear her husband lying and mocking her the most? As well as her brother and Arthur’s knight Elyan and Arthur’s best friend - Merlin?

It’s because she doesn’t fully believe Arthur on some subconscious level. This is what Morgana plays into. She knows that Gwen was feeling a little alone even before the Dark Tower (we see bits of it in the earlier episodes, when Gwen asks Arthur to stay with her and he politely refuses and goes with the knights to yet another mission.) “Gwen, you’re not alone now. You need never be alone again. I am the only one you can trust.”

Arthur acts as a knight should with his wife, he gives her beautiful compliments. You can’t really accuse him of abandoning his wife:

But what he does immediately after that? After all, it’s a Gwen/Arthur’s date, he pays attention to Merlin.

And if you ask me, Gwen doesn’t look happy about it:

The last Gwen/Arthur moment in the show ends with Arthur saying ‘Merlin’ and bolting out of bed because he dreamed his servant was talking to him.

LOL at Gwen’s face

And no goodbye :

More importantly, In the final episode of the series there is not a single scene between Arthur and Gwen. What happened there? They gave 'proper’ goodbyes to Perceival/Gwaine and Merlin/Gaius, even Arthur/Gaius. It was actually a stunningly disrespectful ending to the relationship they seemed to prioritize for so long.

It is because the show creators finally emphasized what the show was about in their finale episode:

Arthur does not mention Gwen once in his dying moments what so ever.

2. The Arwen romantic theme plays between Arthur and Merlin. The musical score is shot from Arthurs perspective showing Arthur falling in love with Merlin. LISTEN CAREFULLY

3. And the final clue to the puzzle, Julian called the final episode a love story between 2 men.

Mind you, I’m not saying Arthur didn’t love Gwen and vice versa. They did, but their marriage just wasn’t working as it should have. Give the show creators some credit for drastically reinterpreting the Gwen-Lancelot-Arthur triangle into a Merlin-Arthur-Gwen plot point.

Gwen certainly deserved better than this, so I’m glad sir Leon will be there for her. 

From Season 5 Episode 13 Commentary:

Katie: But she has Sir Leon, why would she need -

Julian Murphy: See, that’s another undercurrent in Merlin. Isn’t it? Sir Leon. Him and Gwen.

And some people like to say that Julian was joking and his words don’t count as a confirmation (And why is that, exactly?), but I disagree. Because Leon is heavily hinted to have feelings for Gwen in the show itself And there is this official promo photo. Mind you there is not a single photo of Gwen with any other knight for season 5 except Leon.

I think it totally counts as canon, because it would have been insensitive to show it explicitly in the show right after Arthur’s death. But still Leon was deliberately shown standing near Gwen and the throne in the last scene.

[lxvenderjewel]

song/ship analyses part 6: merthur and "call it what you want" by taylor swift

this one was inspired by a video i saw on yt: merlin & arthur || call it what you want [CC] go check it out after this!!

“My castle crumbled overnight” i mean in both s4 and s5 arthur loses control of his kingdom so like

“They took the crown, but it's alright” i know arthur’s like. magic-high during the s4 finale but if the shoe fits

“All the liars are calling me one” being a king he’s probably been called a liar a lot, even by his own father he’s been called a liar (which is like. hypocrite much??)

“Nobody's heard from me for months” during the entire s4 finale no one knows where arthur is except merlin

“Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to” merlin’s arthur’s servant, so of course he’s walking with his head down towards him (well maybe not with his head down he doesn’t have that kind of respect for arthur 💀)

“High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new” merlin never seems to be swayed by public opinion, he always has complete trust in arthur

“So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to” can you imagine how many rumors swirl around merlin and arthur? this lyric is so perfect be real

“Windows boarded up after the storm

He built a fire just to keep me warm” whenever arthur goes through hardship merlin’s always right there. when uther dies merlin sleeps right outside to offer arthur comfort as soon as he needs it

“All the jokers dressin' up as kings” morgana

“They fade to nothin' when I look at him” i think arthur has a lot of faith in merlin. like as in merlin is part of what motivates him to be a better king for his people

“And I know I make the same mistakes every time

Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right” he often fumbles romantically, and when he finally thinks he has gwen, he ultimately loses her to lancelot, but merlin stays with his unwavering loyalty to arthur

“I'm laughin' with my lover, makin' forts under covers

Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right” arthur and merlin antics, like that one pillow fight scene in an episode i can’t recall, and “trust him like a brother” of course he does. a term that comes to mind for merthur is “t’hy’la” from star trek, which roughly translates to “friend, brother, lover”

“Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night” merlin’s eyes when he does magic

“I want to wear his initial

On a chain 'round my neck, chain 'round my neck” this line reminds me of the deleted scene where arthur gives merlin his sigil (which i think is in the video as well)

“Not because he owns me

But 'cause he really knows me

Which is more than they can say, I” many people look at arthur like a kind of god, considering he’s king, and even his knights, who he’s closest with, still look at him with some sort of reverence, but merlin treats him like just another person, which must be so refreshing, to not have any expectations on your head and to be just known as you are without and preconceived notions

“I recall late November

Holdin' my breath, slowly I said

"You don't need to save me

But would you run away with me?"” he never actually says it to merlin but this line reminds me of when arthur is with gwen and he tells her he dreams of living in some village with merlin and just being a farmer, and living a calm, soft life

once again go watch the video!! it’s very well made and the person who made it is awfully talented

[nightmare-grass]

Descendants Rewrite

I got so irked with the lazy naming conventions and lack of coherent worldbuilding in the Descendants franchise, so I took my Disney obsession and made this. Enjoy!

Villain Pairings

- Maleficent/Chernabog (less of a romantic pairing and more of a professional workplace relationship and power couple, they rule the island with an iron fist and plot to break the barrier)

- Evil Queen/Magic Mirror (Grimhilde brought him out in human form for one night to conceive a child with enough magic to rival Maleficent, the only one she saw as a threat to her status)

- Evil Queen/Hans (he wanted to be king, and his wife is beautiful to be sure, but she’s the one wearing the pants in this relationship, he’s the backstabbing boy toy)

- Cruella DeVille/Clayton (he hunts exotic animals, she turns them into stylish outerwear, they’re a surprisingly functional couple who own the Isle’s main clothing production company, it’s more like a sweat shop that employs the poorest children on the Isle)

- Hades/Mother Gothel (she works for him like Meg did but her deal keeps her eternally young and beautiful, plus they’re just similar people, and even gods get lonely sometimes)

- Yzma/Horned King (Yzma uses necromancy to bring Horned King out of the Black Cauldron, now they’re a bony power couple vying for control of the island)

- Gov. Ratcliffe/Queen of Hearts (he’s no stranger to kissing royal ass to gain favor and status, and she appreciates his flattery and his bloodthirsty ruthlessness)

- Claude Frollo/Lady Tremaine (they’re similarly horrible people, both French, need I say more?)

- Ursula/John Silver (these two are born schemers, liars, and cheats, John is just a bit more of a softy than Ursula)

- Scar/Sabor (they’re both big cats, they’re both evil, they both commit patricide to the protagonists, it’s kinda obvious)

- Shere Khan/Sabor (what can I say? Sabor gets around, she’s not the type to settle down)

- Madam Mim/Willie the Giant (both shapeshifters, both chaotic, messy couple)

- Dr. Facilier/Morgana (Call of Cthulhu vibes frame how these two met, Morgana supplies Facilier with magic from the mermaid world, and she can occasionally take on human form or make Facilier a merman, she’s his new friend from the other side)

- Captain Hook/Madame Medusa (both into hunting for treasure, both hate kids, but then one drunken night they sleep together and they panic. They abandon the kid to be raised by Mr. Smee)

Single Villains

- Jafar (I wanna have him steal Jasmine’s and Aladdin’s baby and raise it as his own to turn it against its parents)

- Drizella Tremaine (she’s ugly and ill tempered, and I’m out of young men villains)

- Gaston (he’d probably compete with Hans for the Evil Queen based solely on her beauty)

- Shan Yu (I’m out of female villains who aren’t weak and ugly. Plus I think he’d have a wife among the Huns, I can’t see him getting with any Disney villain.)

- Rourke (I can see him trying to pursue Gothel, but she’s tied down to Hades)

- Honest John (he’s a fox, not sure who I would pair him up with)

- Prince John (he’s a lion, not sure who I’d pair him up with)

Henchman Support Group

- Smee

- Snoops

- Gideon

- King of Hearts

- Jasper and Horace

- Kaa

- Sir Hiss

- Iago

- Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed

- Wiggins

- Pain and Panic

- Lawrence

- Le Fou

VKs

- Mal Faery (Antichrist-like, daughter of Maleficent with magical intervention of Chernabog)

- Dark Fairy powers like Maleficent, potential to get stronger like Chernabog, most powerful at night, can turn into a dragon but that’s a new power by the start of the story

- Eveline Grimhilde (daughter of the Evil Queen Grimhilde and the magic mirror entity, partly raised by Hans of the Southern Isles, goes by Evie)

- One of her powers is brief moments of omniscience, and she’s a little afraid of mirrors but doesn’t know why (it’s cuz she’s got a fear of being trapped)

- Jay Deja (son of Jasmine and Aladdin of Agrabah, stolen and raised by Jafar)

- Has instincts leading him to seek freedom and travel, but also has a complex about making his father proud, basically Rapunzel of Agrabah

- Carlo S’tan DeVille (son of Cruella DeVille and William Cecil Clayton, goes by Carlos, Jasper and Horace are terrible influence uncles)

- Parents barely give him the time of day, likes animals but hides it from parents and uncles, very good at sneaking around

- Uma Silver (daughter of Ursula Triton and Long John Silver, idolizes her mom but was mostly raised by John so she took after his pirate ways)

- Harry Hook (son of Captain James Hook and Madame Medusa, raised by Mr. Smee, has daddy/mommy issues so he’s constantly seeking approval from people who demean him, like Uma)

- Guinevere Gothel (daughter of Hades and Mother Gothel, goes by Ginny, crushing on Carlos, Pain and Panic get saddled with babysitting her a lot)

- Has very few powers from Hades but has lots of knowledge about dark magic and powerful entities like gods

- Dizzy Tremaine (daughter of Drizella Tremaine and an unknown man of the Isle, maybe Le Fou or Wiggins, her actual name is Daisy but she chooses to go by Dizzy for a bit more street cred)

- Her mom treats her similarly to how she treated Cinderella, teaching her at a young age how to cook, clean, and sew, and now relies on Dizzy for most household chores, feigning incompetence so Dizzy feels like she has to do everything herself.

- Celia Facilier (daughter of Dr. Facilier and Morgana, cousin of Uma, works at her dad’s shop, inherited her mom’s affinity for potions)

- Dr. Facilier sees things like it’s he and his daughter against the world, they have the potential to rule it all if they can get the right connections, and that puts a bit of undue pressure on Celia.

- Maddy Fadiddlehoffer (daughter of Madam Mim and Willie the Giant, adept shapeshifter and playful trickster)

- Heartly Crimms-Ratcliffe (daughter of John Ratcliffe and the Queen of Hearts, parents are divorced so she lives with her mother)

- Puts up with her mom’s temper and navigates her moods like her life depends on it, cuz it does. The King is hardly a help in this matter.

- The Bimbettes were so obsessed with Gaston that, when he’s banished to the Isle for his crimes, they willingly follow him. He’s had a son with each one of them, but none of the girls stuck around to raise the kids and now Gaston is a single dad of three strapping boys. Their names are Gerald, Giles, and Gaspard.

- Yzma and Horned King cannot have kids normaly, it’s just not possible with their biology, so they craft a homunculus to rival Mal and Evie, and they call him Churan, roughly meaning savior in Incan

Auradon Kids

- Benjamin “Ben” Beaumont (son of King Adam and Queen Belle of Auradon)

- Golden boy of Auradon Prep, his parents learned from Adam’s mistakes and raised a thoroughly good son.

- Audrey Rose (daughter of King Phillip and Queen Aurora of Auradon)

- Received gifts from Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather like her mother, but never faced hardship, never learned humility. Grew up a bit spoiled.

- Jane Fairchild (daughter of the Fairy Godmother to Cinderella)

- Being trained to become the next Fairy Godmother, but is also highly sheltered by her mother, which irks her because of how she doted on Cinderella and let her go to parties.

- Chadrick “Chad” Charming (son of Queen Cinderella and King Christopher “Kit” Charming)

- Parents never wanted their son to face hardship like Cinderella went through, but as a result Chad became spoiled and overconfident.

- Anthony Tremaine (son of Anastasia Tremaine and Robert Baker)

- Had a humble life in the village, but was bullied by his cousin Chad.

- Lan “Lonnie” Fa (Daughter of Fa Mulan and Li Shang, war heroes of China)

- Likes slow paced farm work with her grandparents, and prefers more girly pursuits than her mom did, but secretly feels shame about this because she idolized her mom growing up.

- Jordan (Daughter of The Genie)

- A fickle and temperamental teen, who struggles with shapeshifting and hates that she’s not as effortlessly charming and funny as her dad. Not constrained by bottle magic but will only give out wishes when it suits her.

- Melody Triton (daughter of Queen Ariel Triton and King Eric Caspian, granddaughter of King Triton of Atlantica and great niece to Ursula and Morgana the sea witches)

- Adventurous, loves the sea, often finds trouble without meaning to

- April Liddell (daughter of Alice, official ambassador to Wonderland)

- April and Melody are usually stumbling into new realms and new adventures

- Jane Darling (daughter of Wendy Darling, official correspondent with Neverland)

- First ever Lost Girl, good friends with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell

- Arabella Triton (Daughter of Attina Triton and heir to the Atlantica throne)

- Niece of Ariel, cousin of Melody, Attina is a strict mom like her father before her, but she means well and Arabella knows it

Worldbuilding

- Auradon is a magical country. The royalty of each Disney movie rules a kingdom within Auradon, basically kingdoms are like cities within this country.

- Haven’t decided who made Auradon Prep, but it’s a prestigious boarding school where students learn about the world, how to hone their magic if they have any, and how to rule a kingdom one day if they are royalty.

- Candidates for who made the school are the Fairy Godmother, the Blue Fairy, the Enchantress, or Belle and the Beast/Adam. Maybe it’s a council of fairies, and Belle and Adam were like the top donors since it would be founded closest to their kingdom?

- The Fairy Godmother is the only one canonically who has the power to reverse time, so as a protective measure and to make an example of the past villains of each kingdom, she plucks the villains from their timelines right before their deaths and the council of Fairies combines their magic to make the barrier on the Isle of the Lost, a veritable prison island where the villains could rehabilitate themselves. It was seen as a more humane punishment that made the royals sleep better at night.

- Auradon the country is like a smaller version of Europe with a faster moving history, where technology, fashion, and societal norms progress faster than they did in our world. Ariel and Eric’s kingdom is very Italian inspired, Belle, Adam, Cinderella, Charming, Aurora, and Phillip rule kingdoms in the French corner of the map, Rapunzel, Eugene, Snow, and Florian got the Germany sector, Arendelle is up in the Netherlands/Norway quarter, and there’s an England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales section where the British and American characters came from. Farther off to the East is a land where Agrabah, China, and Kumandra are. In the West, there’s the Polynesian islands, the Americas, all that is pretty far off. It’s like Epcot? Kinda?

- Hades is content with his status on the island because he knows he’s a god, he rules the underworld, and although Zeus has him on a leash now where he can only manifest within the Barrier or in the Underworld, he’s biding his time. He’s immortal, and everyone will fall into his domain eventually, he just has to let the others do all the heavy lifting and then swoop in to claim the throne in all the chaos.

- Chernabog and Maleficent hate being limited, and they’re two of the most powerful beings on the Isle, so it was inevitable that a partnership would develop between them.

- I just realized how many single dads there are in my rewrite. Gaston, Smee, Long John Silver, Jafar, and to some extent Dr. Facilier even though he’s a bit closer with Morgana than John is with Ursula. Drizella, Queen of Hearts, and Mother Gothel are the only single mothers, I guess if you consider that Hades wouldn’t be much of a presence in Ginny’s life. I presume you could also consider Maleficent a single mom, if Chernabog is just as distant as Hades is.

- I really glossed over how the Bimbettes each gave Gaston a son and each left him, he really is the epitome of Manipulate, Mansplain, Manwhore.

- Just like in the movies, there’s an animal world that goes along with the human world events, but they don’t really intersect. Scar, Sabor, and Shere Khan don’t talk to humans except for in very select cases, like Mowgli who was raised by wolves. Mice in themselves have their own special case, where Cinderella and others close to her can understand their language, but they’ve got their whole mouse society thing going on, like with Basil and the Rescuers. This set up is how we get Robin Hood and other such anthro animal characters, and how they’re separate from the main human stories.

- So far Kronk and Anastasia are two of the most prominent former villains to be reformed and brought to Auradon. They were released on good behavior before any of the villains paired up and had kids, and they were part of an early effort to try and reform some of the island residents that ultimately went nowhere. Kronk has a very popular restaurant that features traditional South and Central American cuisine, and Anastasia lives with her baker husband in Cinderella’s kingdom. The other two in this failed experiment were Drizella and the King of Hearts, but Drizella proved unwilling to change, and the King hasn’t done much with his new life of freedom since he lacks direction without the Queen of Hearts. Drizella was returned to the island under Lady Tremaine’s custody and the King elected to return to his queen’s side on his own.

- Ok so there’s a bit of a plothole in my rewrite, and that’s how the Isle of the Lost functions. It’s full of villains, so all the heroes don’t have to deal with them or the trauma of having them killed, so the only people who can be in charge of managing the residents of the Isle within its borders are villains. The good fairies and magic users of the world created the barrier, but they’re not gonna govern the people inside, yknow? So who governs? I envisioned the Isle as being divided into gang territories run by the most powerful villains, but surely the fairies would’ve seen that coming? So they should’ve put someone powerful in charge, at least at first, in the hopes that they’d maintain order. And I think that character should be Hades. He’s a god, he oversees the dead and most of these villains were killed in their original timelines, so he’d be familiar with them and their weaknesses that lead to their downfalls. I think we should give Hades a redemption of sorts, where the Olympians put him in charge of ruling the Isle of the Lost in the hope that giving him something else to do among the living this time will keep him out of trouble, but it’s just another chain weighing him down in his own mind, making him hate Zeus even more, so he decides to rule from the shadows and lets the villains run amok. Mother Gothel is the only one who has an inkling of his true power, on his own he can rival Chernabog and Maleficent combined.

[amyreadsandstresses]

AMY'S DAILY FIC REC SAYS HI

Continuing to welcome this year and all the vibes, comes another installment. Today with BBC Merlin, Teen Wolf and BBC Sherlock

*A warlock's best friend is the floor - Lola_Rose_Robins

6k, 1/1, Gen, Hurt Merlin, Disabled Character, Chronic Pain, Fluff and Angst and a bit of Crack. Arthur/Gwen, Epic Friendship

Merlin has chronic pain. After a nasty flare-up, his friends are there to support him.

*Lace Among the Rocks - PottersPink

1k, 1/1, Merwaine, Scar Reveal, Magic Reveal

The stream opens up into a small pool, warmed by the sun and tranquil in a way that Merlin craves; isolated and a little bit magic, a place for him to drift and sink his roots into the earth and stretch his wings with the birds.

*The Curious Case of Aithusa - TyalanganD

6k, 1/1, Merthur, Mpreg, Dragon!Merlin, Fluff and Angst, Soft Arthur

In hindsight, Merlin should have known that as a dragonlord and a shapeshifter, he was capable of giving birth. After all, all dragons could grow eggs, no matter the gender. And that magical ritual he did right before Arthur took him to bed after his coronation, definitely didn’t help matters.

*Untitled (I'll Keep You Safe) - PottersPink

2k, Merwaine, Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Magic Reveal, Canon Era, Soft Ending

Camelot, Merlin thinks, is held up by my bones.

*In Your Heart and Flowers In Your Hair - Biromantic_Nerd

4k, 1/1, Merwaine, Fluff and Humor, Canon Era, Protective Arthur

Merlin's head tilted to the side as he stared at his friend in obvious bemusement. "No, but you've got that look."

"Look?" Gwaine asked coyly. "Merlin, that's just my face. Are you saying there's something wrong with my face then?"

*Save me - orpgan_account

7k, 6/6, Merwaine, Canon Era, Hurt Merlin, Suicidal Thoughts, Good Morgana, Drug Addiction, Grief, Hurt/Comfort

Merlin's struggling to deal with everything that's going on in Camelot, and the others begin to notice

*after the storm (are you leaving) - Imagined, Scarlet_Ribons

59k, 6/6, Merthur, Drug Addiction, Hurt Melin, Kinda Hurt Everyone, Slavery, Queen Mithian, Court Socerer Merlin, Getting Together, Canon Era, Eventual Happy Ending, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Arthur lends Merlin's aid as a sorcerer to an allied kingdom. He doesn't expect to find Merlin, two years later, in shackles, and only a mere echo of the person he used to be.

*you know it's not the same as it was - softiecharlie

1k, 1/1, Merthur, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Court Sorcerer Merlin, Established Relationship, Married Merthur

“Do you love me still, Arthur?” Merlin whispered with a reverence that seemed like the only thing keeping him from giving in to his anemic state.

“Where is this coming from? Come here, you idiot, let me tend to your wounds first.”

“Arthur, just-- just tell me.”

*Bad Liar - cissathebookworm

8k, 1/1, Merthur, Established Relationship, Knights of the Round Table, Queen Annis, Episode Remake

Set series 4, episode 5 "His Father's Son" where Arthur kills that king in the forest and almost goes to war with Queen Annis. Arthur and Merlin are in an established relationship and Merlin helps Arthur realize some things.

Or: Arthur and Annis don't go to war because Merlin isn't actually dumb and has a lot of sway over Arthur and this is a Good Thing.

*When You Say Nothing at All - Skitz_phenom

10k, 1/1, Merthur, Minor Arwen, Agravaine, Leon, 5+1, Episode 0405 His Father's Son

Facing increasing pressure to assert himself as King, Arthur doesn’t allow himself the luxury of being able to speak his mind; not that he actually knows what to say. Until he does.

*Sir Merlin, Knight of Camelot - perish_the_thoughtless

1k, 1/1, Gen, Bromance, Fluff and Humor, Episode 0405 His Father's Son

An exploration of how that intriguing episode intro of Merlin dressed as a knight could have happened.

*fidelitas - theseourbodies

1k, 1/1, Leon & Merlin, Friendship, Class Differences, Dad Friend Leon

"It's heavy," Merlin mutters.

*The Only Reward Bestowed Upon Me - greatdumbking

4k, 1/1, Merthur, Fix-It, Angst, Love Confessions, Agravaine, Gaius, Canon Era

“You’re wrong Merlin. I don’t need anyone. I can’t afford that luxury. The kingdom's my responsibility now, and mine to bear alone. And you must learn to accept that.”

How could this hurt so much, a third time? Merlin could feel the façade of his casual indifference faltering. His face fell, tears were clawing at his throat, creeping into his eyes. It took all his effort to nod, steel his eyes, and swallow down the rising sob.

*Sharing Responsibility - Lolly047

3k, 1/1, Merthur, Fluff and Angst, Fix-it, Magic Ban Lifted, Humor, Marriage Proposal, Queen Merlin

In Arthur's humble opinion, Merlin comes up with the strangest ideas... But sometimes those ideas do turn into favourable outcomes. But this whole marriage thing may take it a bit too far...

*Destiny Says A Lot Of Things - Hollow_Whisperings

1k, 2/2, Crack Treated Seriously, Kid Mordred, Merlin is So Done, Druids, Kilgharrah, Hijinks and Shennanigans

For, rather embarassingly, Mordred's returning to Arthur and Merlin's lives seems to have happened... somewhat earlier than expected. It's a lot more difficult to harden your heart against your sworn nemesis, magical kin they may be, when said nemesis looks up to you and has decided you're their new big brother, after all.

*Rest, Now - TheAsexualofSpades

2k, 1/1, Merlin/Arthur/Gwen, Hurt/Comfort, Post Lamia

The second he sees the walls of Camelot, Merlin slumps in the saddle. Cara nickers in warning and he just manages to right himself before Arthur looks over.

*Dumb Luck - TheAsexualofSpades

2k, 1/1, Merthur, Knights of The Round Table, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Magic Revealed, Hurt/Comfort

Alright. Merlin’s going to be honest. Is the absolute best at hiding his magic from people? No. Is he a damn sight near better than some other bastards would be if they had his magic? Yes, yes, he is, thank you very much. They would do quite well to remember that he is magic, and he’s had it since he was born, so he knows what he’s doing when it comes to knowing that he has it. Yes, thank you, he doesn’t go around doing every single thing he could with magic because well, then he’d never get to do much of anything ever again.

And that would be boring.

*Base Instincts - TheAsexualofSpades

1k, 1/1, Merthur, Knights of The Round Table, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Shapeshifter Merlin

It says something about Merlin, doesn’t it, when they find out he can shapeshift and it only explains about twelve of his weird quirks.

No, Merlin, that doesn’t mean we’re excessively monitoring them, it means you’re a strange man who doesn’t make a lot of sense on your best day.

Yes, you have good and bad days.

No, this is not a good day.

*it took new york to make me a cowboy - piratattoos

15k, 1/1, Sterek, Future Fic, Derek Leaves Beacon Hills, ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS I'VE EVER READ, No smut, Recovery, Getting Together, Character Study, Slow Burn, Writer Derek Hale, Post Season 3B

After Beacon Hills, Derek heads back to New York. He doesn’t look back, lest he be turned into a pillar of salt. He leaves it all behind, a monument, a tomb, a thousand fuck ups and betrayals left to gather dust and slowly rot away to nothing.

He read somewhere once, that time is cyclical, that the universe repeats over and over, and that he will be reborn and make the exact same mistakes over and over again, helpless to change anything. He thinks Stiles told him about a Vonnegut novel like that once.

He doesn’t think about Stiles.

*Adventures and Explorations - Survivah

2 works, 30k, Sterek, AU-ish, Fox!Stiles, No Bestiality, Isaac Lahey, Stilinski Family Feels

Derek plans to spend the rest of his life holed up in the woods after Laura dies. Then he meets a stubborn young fox, and the stubborn young fox meets an urn of Deaton's magic powder, and his plans change.

*The Important Bit - Solshine

(Reread), 9k, 7/7, Queer Platonic Relationship, Johnlock, Beautiful, Marriage, Domestic

Just where exactly is the line between “to love” and “to be in love”? What difference is required between “flatmate” and “husband”? (Besides the rings, obviously.) No, the important bit is that they have each other. Thirty years, give or take, in an atypical marriage. Basically a long bit of platonic domestic fluff.

*Delirium - TheStrid

3k, 1/1, Developing Johnlock, Bipolar Sherlock, Hypomania, Suicidal Ideation, Self Harm, Mind Palace, Supportive John

Sherlock's sacked his mind palace.

*Case.Suspect.Chase.Jump. - MonkeySocks

2k, 1/1, Bipolar Sherlock, Mania, Protective Mycroft, Character Injury, John Watson

“I’m fine.”

“Fine?” Mycroft stands and pokes his finger to my arm. The one set in plaster and held to my chest in a sling. That was incredibly painful. I cradle the damaged side against me and away from Mycroft. I have numerous bruises down my left side, and I had a loss of consciousness for a few minutes because of the concussion. They said they wanted to monitor me. I know why I am really here.

*I Was in Your Arms - jhnlck

1k, 1/1, Johnlock, Soft, Depressed Sherlock, Soft John Watson, First Kiss, Dancing, Hurt/Comfort

John makes Sherlock dance to ABBA to cheer him up.

[thisisjustmefangirling]

Merlin rewatch 2x08 : "The sins of the father"

Part 1 :

Alright ! While Ao3 is down for maintenance, I'm going to watch "Merlin".

I like that we're going to see why the Purge happened, right after an episode like "The witchfinder", in which we saw how terrible witch hunting had been for decades.

It took me several times going back to this scene to notice that this is Sir Caradoc being knighted ? Karadoc ? Coucouuuu.

Wow, Uther praising his son ! "You'll find know one who embodies this values better than my son". (Nobility, honor, respect).

All the new knights circle in front of the king to protect him but Arthur steps forward. No one protects him but Merlin, and he doesn't even know it.

Morgana's interest in Morgause... She probably senses she's familiar.

Arthur is holding himself to the same standards as his fellow knights and I love him for it. No hypocrisy here.

He also states twice he refuses to be taken for a coward.

I love that Merlin points out the obvious : Arthur is gallant, he could hesitate to kill her because she's a woman, and she could use that to her advantage.

Ah, Morgause and her eyeliner...

"Who's to say Arthur's life won't rest in my hands ?" Merlin is like "oh fuuuuck".

Merlin comforting Arthur before the duel, stating he gave Morgause a chance to withdraw and whatever happens will be her doing <3

Lemme say I love that we saw him tinkering with Arthur's armor to fix it and later that we saw him finishing to put it on Arthur. In fanfic, it's such an important plot point. Even when Merlin can be rid of his other tasks, he'll never let anyone else take care of Arthur's armor, in case they mess with it. This armor is Arthur's life, and Merlin should have reinforced it with magic ages ago already.

Morgause's win is quite the accomplishment, as Arthur is apparently one of the best fighters in all of Albion...

That tear in Arthur's eye when he realises she could kill him...

"I have never been so humiliated in my life... I was defeated... by a girl." Arthur you really need to be less sexist.

Morgana you are gorgeous in that silver dress.

Morgause is not looking very straight in that shirt...

"You've shown yourself to be a man of honor."

And she hits where it hurts. Ygraine is Arthur's Achille heel...

Uther is showing himself to be the antithesis to Arthur. He was the one who knighted those new knights at the beginning to the episode, asking them to keep their word and behave with honor, but now he's asking his son to break his word and not go to Morgause. He knows more than he lets on and he's a liar.

Merlin enjoying Arthur's humiliation is pretty funny.

We need to stop with the fatphobic jokes. I never thought they were funny before and I still don't think they're funny now.

"THERE IS NO MORE ROPE" lol Arthur in horse dung !

"I swear this horse is even dumber than you Merlin" how about you stop calling your only friend stupid, dumb, etc ?

Gaius espèce de grosse balance.

I KNEW there would be an arrow flying right in front of them !

The spear is catching fire ? MERLIN ! How obvious is that !? And how oblivious is poor Arthur ?

Aww Arthur is opening up to Merlin and telling him Morgause knew his mother !

Help Morgana is too beautiful here and I'm too gay for this.

Those scenes by the fire in the middle of the forest are always some of the best for Merthur. They're far away from court, Uther, etc. It's just them, their personalities, and they open up and confide in each other. I think it's the first time Arthur talks about his mother and the first time Merlin mentions his father.

Part 2 coming soon.

[h3rmitsunited]

magic reveal

and it just breaks arthur

because he's been betrayed and lied to and had the trust he had in other people, important and loved people, just thrown back on his face

he's been angry, he's been sad, he lashed out and yelled and screamed and slashed his sword

but it didn't fix how hurt he felt and it didn't fix anything

but at least through all of that, he had merlin

until this. until merlin sits across from him, his eyes wide and wet and desperate, the whispered confession hanging in the air between them in arthurs chambers and it tears him apart

and instead of lashing out, instead of being angry at merlin or suspicious or sad or anything...

he just nods, hangs his head and says okay and goes to bed, leaving merlin sitting in the chair, unsure and waiting. he doesn't respond when merlin calls his name, when he prods for an answer, when he begs for him to say anything.

because this is worse. Worse than if arthur had thrown him out, locked him in the dungeons, tied him to the pyre, exiled him from the kingdom, called him a monster or a liar.

knowing that it was this that tore the fight out of the man that is his destiny. arthur who is golden and furious and brave, who throws himself into battle, who stands up for his people, who learns and grows and keeps going even through the hardships and hurt and pain

merlin watches arthur close off like his father had when morgana betrayed them and it hurts worse than anything else arthur could have done

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Merlin!!!!! with!!!! an!!!! accent!!!! supremacy!!!! maybe Morgana, Merlin and Gwaine being able to speak Gaels to each other and Gwaine taking every opportunity to mutter something under his breath during round table meetings to make either of them laugh (good morgana ftw)

(Referencing This Post, Part 2)

Love that I'm still getting asks about this lol.

And Oh My God YEAH! Morgana and Gwaine are so angry he hides it for so long, because they could have been gossiping!! This whole time!! Arthur always blames Gwaine when he hears something muttered just before Merlin starts laughing in the middle of a meeting, but it's always, ALWAYS Morgana.

They'll have completely normal, every day conversations in front of the rest of the gang, like Merlin: "When are we heading out for that hunt?" and then Gwaine: "Oh, Arthur said noon, but Leon is still with the new recruits so I don't know." followed by Morgana: "Yeah, I've decided to come too, I haven't been out for a while and someone needs to look after King Idiot over there." but they'll do it whilst side eyeing everyone, especially Arthur, and it puts them all on edge. They hate it SO much, but when asked about it, Merlin, Morgana, and Gwaine will just shrug and say "Just chatting. 'Bout the hunt and stuff." And no one can call them liars!! Because they really don't know!!

Anyway, it's just chaos incarnate. Especially if you add that trouble-making, magic using, couldn't-give-less-of-a-fuck-if-she-tried sister/childhood friend of Merlin's.

[jackiequick]

Star Wars OCs 💫

Astra Jade Cordage 🏹

— Name: Commander Astra Jade

Age: 42

Relationship Status: Single (Taken later on by her Clone husband Captain Rex <3)

Planet Of Origin: Naboo but now lives on Coruscant

Specific Species: Human

Occupation: Pilot

- Works for the Jedi Knights and plenty of otherwise leaders in the outer rim of the space centers.

- Pilot, Commander Jade. She is always flying Jedi, Royals, Council members, Prisoners and etc to places. Astra tends to be on the field for work and or behind a panel on a ship calling orders if she’s told to stay behind. But she’ll always find a way to make her mark!

- Friends with Obi Wan Kenobi since they were younger, kinda like a little sister to Obi Wan. Partners in crime in a way!

- Anakin’s friend and mother figure to him. She is also Padmé good friend and works for her on occasions.

- Astra has had a crush on her friend Obi Wan Kenobi for a few years and I mean who wouldn’t??? I mean, hello?! The man is gorgeous and a very skilled Jedi! However it wasn’t in the cards and Astra believed attachment should be allowed for everyone. She agreed with Master Qui Gon’s idea on attachment very much that she figured out Anakin and Padmé were in love, and she quietly encouraged it. She smirked always seeing them smiling at one another.

- The female pilot moved up in ranks and explored her placement in the center of the Coruscant. One day she was told about the clones themselves and met some of them, they were kind, smart and determined. Two caught her eyes, Rex and Cody. Yes they were similar in factual statements and facial expressions but different in mindset. Cody reminded Astra of Obi Wan in a way a few ways while Rex reminded her of Anakin.

- She fell in love with Captain Rex after they saved each other’s lives and had to go undercover on a mission as spouses to return a few stolen items. Little did they know they would become spouses in real life, breaking a few rules and falling for one another. There are many ideas she loved about her husband, Captain Rex from his sass to his humorous way of telling a story and his loyalty to his crew. But one of the things she loves most of all is that he can be a bit of a bad liar, the type of under circumstances of course.

-> Astra in the animated shows and older movies/shows

Sena Morgana 🫐

Full Name: Kira Sena Morgana

Age: 34

Planet Of Origin: Alderaan

Specific Species: Human

Occupation: Ex-Jedi

Relationship Status: Single

- Kira was part of the Jedi for a while. She was gifted with being Force-sensitive, so it was given that she joined in on the world of it all.

- She was skilled.

- Partaking in adventures, teaming up with Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi Wan, Astra and the rest of the gang. It was a rather large group of people.

- She adored it. A lot. The people she met, the ones she saved and relationships she made across the galaxy. Being a rather gentle soul to many.

- Until she was met with the truth of the Jedi. They only carried about themselves and who they can save, not how they can save someone. Love wasn't ever the card for their line of work either, and it hurts

- It started with problems they had with Anakin and Ahsoka teaching abilities, with her having to defend both of there friends. It was a fought battle, she hated.

- Secondly was during a fight on Coruscant, having almost lost Astra in battle and the a lot of other Jedi didn't bat an eye.

- Thankfully she was alright!

- And lastly, when she met a certain rebel on Mandalore, he was an solider in protection of Duchess Satine Kryze. It was handsome, loyal and kind. Her heart fluttered, having not understood what that feeling once was until she realized it was..lust.

- One could say it was love she felt. But Jedi weren't allowed to love, they were never given that chance to do so. The part of made it harder to resist that feeling was, that he liked her too.

- Sadly, he died trying to save The Duchness..

- Sena was tired of fighting, feeling at odds with other people where she almost lost friends and never getting a break to go home. Just be herself..

- So that became to final thing, Sena was willing to take chance and make a change to put down Jedi rode in exchange for simpler set of clothes.

- In result, Sena made a deal with Sentor Organa a friend of her, to work with him and stay with leads. Still being near her friends and help out when needed. To her surprised, he quickly accepted to idea, having missed her and wanting her back home on their planet.

-> Sena in the animated series

Thanks for read this! I hope you like it, it was sitting in my drafts for months now and I decided why not just post

Please like, share, comment and reblog

Tags:@gcthvile @msrochelleromanofffelton @meiramel @gaminggirlsstuff @sherloquestea @starkleila @mallowbee4 @thisgirlisonfayeeer @whitewiccan @rickb-chaos @rooster-84 and etc

[arcplaysgames]

i have SO MANY DAYS TO KILL ugh i know this is like the reason why a lot of people like persona but i have never experienced a wait time of TWENTY-ONE DAYS before

I wanna study Yusuke like a specimen.

I went glasses shopping for Kasumi's dad with her. She gives massive liar energy like Akechi does, but unfortunately her meet-ups are not actually that interesting. i think a shoe is gonna drop with her at some point and it'll be like a steel-toed timberland snow shoe to the cranium. Until then sadly i'm just nodding along.

Persona should let girls be freaks more, okay. Aigis was buck fucking wild 24/7 and I miss that. Let more girls be fucking batshit, Persona!

I took the twins to church.

It went fucking great, y'all.

OH BTW REWIND

HEY. THE FUCK YOU MEAN NOTIGOR DIDN'T KNOW REVERIE HAD THE WILD CARD.

Is Notigor just ganking people off the street into the Velvet Room? Has he pulled in other "inmates"? The prison has other cells, while the past Velvet Rooms were a limo with limited seating and an elevator. Very different spiritually in comparison to a cell block.

I so badly want to know who might be in the other cells.

But Notigor is the big bad of this game, I'm telling you.

Especially since I have unlocked the gallows in the VR which is as grisly as it sounds.

Again: No one is allowed to say shit about Persona 3's edginess ever again, this game has it completely beat.

THE THING IS Reverie has been invited to new places by other people in this game, but Akechi always makes it seems like a date???

.... Are we, Akechi?

yeah akechi has definitely killed people before. maybe with his boring fucking tie even. he really has such strong Bryan Fuller-directed-romantic-murder vibes it's wild.

I didn't know you could work for Lala-san! And it's actually really good for Kindness, so that's perfect.

ONCE AGAIN MORGANA AND I ARE ON THE SAME PAGE, NO, THE SAME WORD IN THE SAME SENTENCE.

Are you JOKING, look at Reverie's face!

That soft but angled jawline, the big sad eyes, he'd look AMAZING in drag. Complete heartbreaker.

Persona games gotta stop teasing me about this, drag is awesome, fun clothes are awesome, rebel with some dark dusky lipstick, Reverie, go for it.

SIGH. Anyway.

I am POWERING through Yusuke's link but I need more images so I'll make that its own post.

I leave you with the worst persona I have yet seen:

[tealbeats-archived]

@withinchains sent: quiet does she stand there , phone in hand , glamoured icy shades glaring upon him. knuckles were white around her phone , cheeks flushed with embarrassment and irritation. ❛ did you know , anything and everything you do in your life as someone who is famous , will be posted and found? ❜ her tone holds a certain venom to it , yet it is not directly pointed at him. the phone is tossed onto the counter , plainly painted upon the screen the sheer pale skin of her nude son. ❛ i won't shame you. i won't get onto you. but i will warn you that this could hurt you in the long run. these things follow you everywhere , Ezreal. ❜

He wasn't really doing anything, mostly just scrolling on his phone, flipping through social media, checking out if there were any good places to eat nearby. When Morgana speaks, he notices her, blinking over at her and tilting his head to the side as he sat at the counter, brow raising in confusion at first before her words settled into his mind, and his eyes looked at her phone, then her face, then her white knuckles.

"Oh, fuck—“

Words were barely a whisper, he nearly jumped out of his seat. He should have realized someone he knew might have found it, but still, he didn't expect that it was going to Morgana who would catch him and Sylas' online escapades. But at least they took the proper precautions! That's what mattered, right? ....Right?

"Morg, I dunno what you're talking about!" Of course he did, and he was a terrible, terrible liar. Colour burns his cheeks before he coughs into his hand, completely avoiding eye contact.

“Uh, first of all—“ his gaze flickers down to Morgana’s phone; there’s a slight widening of the eyes from what he sees, but—It’s not like you could see his face! ( you couldn’t, he and Sylas made sure of that ). He squints at it and huffs softly, though still clearly embarrassed.

“That’s not me.” He lied again, shrugging his shoulders. “Different name too!” As if Morgana didn’t know of his Jarro Lightfeather persona—it was the name he used when he didn’t want a lot of attention, and yet…

“Besides, whose saying it was found and uploaded? Whose to say the guy didn’t upload it himself—which uh—he didn’t! I think! Probably!” Way to out yourself.

[thesoundofmadness]

Cognitive Thieves? *grabs comfy blanket* you've intrigued me, friend. Tell me more.

ASLFKJSDFFG OH BOY MOTHER FUCKER YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST UNLEASHED. strap the fuck in bc this is gonna be Long

Spoilers for P5R Third Semester btw.

Okay so the cognitive thieves are my idea of what Joker's Palace could be. I'm thinking the palace can act as a recap of the story before the ending. ya know, to make the ending hit a bit harder.

The palace is the very last, yet longest, palace in the game. I'm not sure exactly when it formed. It's not very hard, especially compared to the Momentos palace, it's just super long. The real world equivlent is Leblanc, of course. The reason Joker formed a palace is... complicated. There's multiple reasons.

A big part of it is the trauma he's endured throughout the game. Having to deal with getting your entire life uprooted, people talking shit about you at school, and just being Not Like The Others is rough.

One of the reasons it formed is imposter syndrome. Joker has spent the whole game learning how to wear a mask, changing himself in order to help others help him. The mask of a concerned friend, a loyal lover, a vigilant hero who doesn't know how to quit... He's lost his sense of identity and doesn't know who he is. He feels like a massive liar for it.

Another reason is, well, he just doesn't want to leave. His probation is almost over. He likes being a phantom thief and loves his friends. He's finally found a place to belong and simply doesn't want to lose it.

Another reason is.... resentment. He's pissed off at, unforuntely, everyone. He's pissed at Shido for ruining his life, pissed at his peers at school for talkin' shit, but most of all.... he's pissed with his friends. He's upset that no one has come to help him despite him doing all he can for them. He doesn't want to be angry at people who don't deserve it, especially not those who mean so much to him.

He's also grieving over Akechi's death. He feels awful he wasn't able to save Akechi. If Akechi accepted his help, he could have become another Phantom Thief and be welcome in their found family. He feels like it's his fault that Akechi is dead.

Joker couldn't handle all of this. So he just pushed it aside, almost forgetting about it entirely. This self neglect resulted in his palace being formed.

After Maruki's palace, Joker gradually stops coming home, and eventually outright disappears all together. He wanted to deal with the palace himself, not wanting to push the burden on his friends.

In order to avoid them, he told everyone he was doing something else whenever they asked to hang. He told Sojiro he was going with Ryuji, he was with Ann, he told Ann he was with Yusuke, etc. He even went as far as telling non-thief confidants lies.

One morning, Morgana wakes up and sees Joker just, gone. He asks Futaba and Sojiro where he might be, only for them to have conflicting awnsers. They bring the team together and it seems he's lied to all of them.

They decide to go out looking for him. Futaba takes a look at the MetaNav, only to see that there's a new palace. Immeditately she calls everyone.

After some fucking around, they say the right keywords and, oh no. the palace belongs to their dear leader. They instantly decide they have to tackle this palace and save their friend. The deadline is two weeks.

From this point on, you can't play as Joker. Instead, you have to choose a "temporary" leader from one of the remaining thieves. The only one you can't choose is Futaba, because navigation. Each character has their own "leader skill" that can be used in the palace. The game defaults to whoever has the highest confiant rank (in the case everyone is maxed, it's whoever you maxed first)

You still have all the money, items, and confidant skills from before. However, you can't fuse personas (bc only joker and akechi can wield multiple personas), or raise confidant levels.

The palace itself is a mix between a theater and a circus, and it's big enough to span over the entire city. It's filled to the brim with puzzles, illusions, and shadows of all kinds. It's EXTREMELY unstable.

You won't ever actually see Shadow Joker until the boss fight. He uses illusion to shield himself. He'll show up as spotlights, a disembodied voice through a speaker, and maybe even various figures from previous palaces.

The palace has 4 areas, each area resembling a different palace from before. First Area is Kamoshida's palace, 2nd is a mix of Madarame's and Futaba's palace, Third area is Kaneshiro's and Okumura, and the 4th is Shido's and Maruki's.

Each area has a different Cognitive Phantom Thief that acts as a mini-boss. The more you've leveled your teammates up, the stronger their cognitive counter part.

Cognitive Ann, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, and Sumire's fights will be different depending on if you romanced them or not.

Joker genuinely doesn't want to hurt his friends. He loves them more than anything. The cognitive thieves goal ISN'T to kill you, they just want to Kick You the Fuck Out. However, Joker's anger is likely to shine through. If you don't take them out quickly enough, they may use a few one-shot moves and kill you instantly.

The only cognitive thief who won't try to kick you out is Cognitive Morgana. Cognitive Morgana genuinely wants to help you save Joker. He will heal you completely and give you hints if you ask. Though, he tends to give misinformation.

Your goal with the cognitive thieves is to take their masks and return them to Cognitive Morgana. If you do, Cognitive Morgana will open the backstage door.

Im thinking theme for this palace is a distorted version of Last Surprise.

I'm not TOO sure on the initial meeting with Shadow Joker after the phantom thieves enter the palace. I have a few ideas but none of them are concrete.

I also have an idea on the Shido portion of this.

If you wanna hear those lmk

[weakforarwen]

Merlin Week 2022 Day 1: Favorite Character - Gwen

I've written so much about Gwen that I'm stumped right now trying to find something new to say. But I'll share something random I love about Gwen.

First, I love that Gwen was a servant. I love that Gwen loved that she was a servant. The show undoubtedly glossed over the harsh realities of being a servant - even a palace one, which likely came with extra benefits - but, all things considered, Gwen was happy with her life. She was Morgana's personal maid and up until season 3 they were friends and Morgana was good to her. Gwen's life wasn't the easiest, but she lived comfortably and she was happy.

Gwen didn't like being a servant because she had been brainwashed into believing she didn't deserve more (though it's also true that she never allowed herself to dream due to her position), but because she genuinely respected servants. No one in the world had the power to make her feel ashamed of being a servant or inferior to anyone. She believed respect was earned through good conduct, not bought or born into. When Arthur accidentally implied he was too good to cook, Gwen told him she wasn't ashamed of being a servant; at least she wasn't a liar. Gwen certainly didn't need Arthur to rescue her from her lowly position, or to validate her existence. Being loved by Arthur didn't make Gwen feel she was above any other servant. She married Arthur despite him being the King, and not because of it. She didn't romanticize royalty or feel trapped in her life.

One of the best things about Gwen was her dignity and strength. She was able to survive and make the best of any situation, because, as long as she was true to herself and lived by her ideals, she was happy, or at least, at peace, with herself. Living with one's self is always the hardest part, but Gwen's self-respect, confidence, and intelligence meant she was able to face whatever challenge life threw her way and remain optimistic. She didn't need a grand purpose in life because she believed her work had merit, same as everyone else's, and her loyalty and kindness insured plenty of people loved and were loyal to her in return.

Still, Gwen was more than a servant, in the sense that she had so much potential to do real good. Not everyone can change the world with their ideals and conviction. It takes courage to stand up for what is right, as well as selflessness, determination, intelligence, kindness. Gwen had all these qualities in spades - she genuinely loved Camelot and wished for her people to prosper. That's one of the reasons why she cared for Arthur initially; she believed he could bring about real change in Camelot, so it was important to care for him and protect him. It never crossed Gwen's mind that she would also one day be the person to make Camelot a just and fair Kingdom where the people were proud of their sovereign. How could she have imagined it? She'd been only a servant, and a woman too.

But Arthur made it happen for her. Through her relationship with Arthur, Gwen was able to do create change on a bigger scale. Yet, it's wrong to say she meant to have any kind of impact at all. While Gwen was dating Arthur she didn't have any plans or ambitions for when she became Queen. She didn't want to become Queen to do good; she only wanted to marry Arthur, and everything else was secondary. She believed ruling Camelot was Arthur's purpose, not hers, and she was happy to support him; she believed that was her duty, because she loved Arthur and Camelot, but not her purpose or destiny. If you asked her, I'm sure Gwen would said she had no destiny.

Gwen is not a conventional hero like Arthur, Merlin or even Morgana. Everything she did was out of love for Arthur and because she was a good person - of course she had to help Arthur become a good King, just like she had to help Mary and her village, stand up to Agravaine, or risk her life for her friends and Camelot in the seasons 3 and 4 finales. There's something as beautiful about Gwen being a nobody who was able to achieve great things as there is about Gwen being happy with her lot in life and achieving great things only out of duty and love. The world tells us we're weak if we're not ambitious, that we should strive for excellence, not happiness. We should be "winners", not followers; we should stand out, not help from behind the scenes.

The world tells us to dream big (re: prestige, wealth), and that being a good person isn't enough - why not become a famous activist or a politician? And I get it, the world needs leaders; but just living your life and being a good person should be enough - you can still be an outstanding person regardless. Gwen certainly was, even before she became Queen; were everyone like Gwen, the world would be much better for sure. Gwen was just someone living her life who believed in helping those in need and giving them a voice when they couldn't speak for themselves. She didn't think that was her responsibility the way Arthur did; she just believed it was everyone's duty to be kind.

Gwen was a hero, but she was also just a normal person. Even as Queen, she was content to sit back and trust Arthur, unless Arthur gave her a reason to voice her concerns. I kind of resented her for not being more outspoken, but did she have to be? Surely, it's okay that she believed in Arthur and just did her job as wife and Queen without trying to change things too much? She wasn't particularly ambitious, but that's okay too? Even without a destiny (that she knew of!), she helped so many people.

I have a lot of ambition that I can't bring to fruition because I'm burnt out and really not that brave or good. And that makes me feel really bad and guilty because I'm wasting my "potential". I guess I just want to believe you can have a life worth living and be an admirable person while keeping your head down. I'm sure Gwen probably went on to achieve great things, but she really was just a person living her life. She didn't believe she was reaching her full potential by becoming Queen, and that is both sad (were she a noble man, she would've been super ambitious), and great, because she was content with herself and believed in her own worth regardless.

Gwen just reminds me of one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite books - Dorothea from Middlemarch. Dorothea was an outstanding woman, who, due to being a woman, could not achieve greatness herself, and, instead, was limited to helping her husband(s) be great; she married her first husband because she believe he could help many people and teach her many things, and, when she married a second time, she was pitied for being the reason for her husband's success yet having to stay in his shadow - what other choice did she have though, asked the author? Gwen was different from Dorothea because she didn't use Arthur as a means to achieve her dreams, nor did she live in his shadow, but, all the same, she was another great woman whose potential was limited by her circumstances.

Yet, I ask myself, had Gwen never become more than that timid but amazing girl from season 1, wouldn't she have been enough? I think the beauty of Gwen's arc is not her rise to power, because she had no desire for it or even any great ambition to use it, but simply that she became confident in herself. It's easy to love her growth from servant to Queen, but that's not really what mattered the most.

Gwen was not like Dorothea, with dreams too big for her gender, or a reluctant hero, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She represented a rarer type of heroine - she showed the kind of exemplary life an ordinary person could live. Regardless of her relationship with Arthur, Gwen never became or tried to become a hero; she was never ambitious for recognition or greatness - and that wasn't a good thing, because we know she couldn't have dreamed of more yet was capable of more, but, at the same time, it made her an interesting and necessary hero. Gwen was undoubtedly a hero, but all she wanted was to take care of her loved ones and be as happy as possible. She was great because she had no extraordinary powers or goals. She was strong, confident, loyal, brave, intelligent, kind and made a difference just being herself.

My favorite season for Gwen is season 4. She was still a servant yet helped so many people: Uther (for Arthur), Mary and Merlin in Lamia, Arthur and the whole of Camelot in His Father's Son when she helped Arthur remember himself. Gwen is proof that being a good person is more than enough to make a difference, and that the ordinary can be extraordinary (but power and connections are still helpful).

Gwen's journey is beautiful regardless of her becoming Queen; it's beautiful because she was a beautiful person, outstanding even as a "mere" servant. But that doesn't mean I don't love that she became Queen. Arthur's death sadly meant she could reach her full potential. Unlike Dorothea, she was able to achieve tangible greatness herself. She deserved it.

[tiodolma]

lol, this ain't related to old mergana in anyways, but just out of curiosity, what is your ideal modern mergana au or au's?

Ideal huh.

I will actually read anything tbh. I’m all for fluff and angst and whatnot. I enjoy almost every modern fic from coffeeshop aus to meet-cutes to one night stands to only getting together after like years of knowing each other. I enjoy them all.

However something that i really want to see is the dark kind of modern mergana. I wouldnt say "ideal” but more like.. i wish there was more fic where they both lie horribly to each other in a modern context.

Coz u see, It’s so common to see morgana manipulating merlin/ going behind his back in all manners of mergana fics. Merlin is always "the last person to know” party.

That begets my next problem: Sometimes when I get sucked into too much fanfiction domain, my brain tricks me into thinking that "Merlin did nothing wrong ever. He’s innocent and a whump,” headspace.

Which... is you know... totally not his role in the og story. In fact, Merlin was The Liar that everyone should have been wary of.

So...What i hunger for is the kind of fic where Merlin is the one going behind her back and doing shady shit "for morgana’s own good”.

I remember i’ve only read one (or two) modern fic of this kind. It tends to be quite dark. Both of them try to protect each other but do it in opposite paths. They’re both liars. As expected, there’s a serious issue of trust between them that takes a while to get resolved.

..........

I’m actually currently building a tentative modern mergana fic rec list! It’s just taking me a while coz I keep forgetting to take note of the titles or links after i finish reading.

[brionnne]

Liar's Den WIP [Working Title, Unfinished]

Almost a solid year (Mar 23rd, 2022) since I started writing and editing this thing, and I planned / plan (?) to do more with it, but I'm honestly not quite sure where to go, and in a way, I honestly think it works alright as a standalone, so I'm just going to throw it out there to show that I do, in fact, write. I had fun writing it, at least, and I hope to make something more of it someday, but...?

Wariness is her natural state. Calculating. Observant. Perceptive. Even then, it isn’t very hard to notice that, out of all the seven deadly sins, she had only ever seen six. No mention of Sloth, of Belphegor, was made—seemingly a taboo topic among the brothers. No wonder why, Morgana thinks now. 

“Why are you trying to trick me? I have eyes, you know.” Her expression turns into a bemused smile. “A brain? I may be a mere human,” she makes mystical motions with her fingers, eyes wide and dramatic, before she drops the act with a scoff, “but I know exactly who you are.” Her eyes flicker towards his fingers, blue-tipped nails, which tighten on the door. Another giveaway, Ana observes. She knows by now that Asmo paints all of their nails, but his are chipping; faded. How long has he been here? As long as I have? Longer? She doesn’t ask him. “I’ve seen your portrait, you know? Even if I hadn’t, your fingernails are painted. That might be fine by itself, but your eyes?” She tilts her head, “Strange color for a human. What is that? Purple, right?” Related to Beel? Internally, she rolls her eyes. Obviously.

His hands slacken. He shrugs, trying to appear lax— a nice imitation, or it would be, except the tightness has moved up. The stiffness of his shoulders makes the action slightly less loose than it should be. Interesting, her eyes narrow. He doesn’t like being called out on this. Why, though?

“You caught me,” he raises his hands in a gesture reminiscent of Asmo. It’s sort of … cute, on him. Intentional? Questions she can’t answer yet run rampant. There’s not enough information to infer much of anything, as frustrating as that is—very. As for his lies, she thinks there could be a logical reason behind them, and while his state of captivity makes him look like a victim in some form, his deception speaks against that. Regardless of logic, the hasty fabrication, the stiffness of his fingers and shoulders, makes her have doubts. He’s certainly capricious—just listen to how even toned he sounds now, compared to his earlier panic—but to what extent? Perhaps further sarcasm would be … unwise.

Morgana looks back up, “So what is it that you want, then, if you were desperate enough to lie for it?” She frowns, gesturing to the door that holds him. “Freedom, I assume?”

For the first time, she sees something like a spark in him. Energy that wasn’t there before. 

“I thought I might get your help,” he says, “if I pretended to be human.” She can’t tell whether this is duplicitous or not. Even a close inspection shows no obvious signs. Perhaps he’s just that good of a liar. Perhaps he isn’t lying at all. It could be both. Insertions of truth, twisted to fit one's liking, have always made lying easier. Harder to detect by a casual, or even careful, viewer. She’s only seen a single tell, and even then, being stiff doesn’t always indicate a lie — it can be normal tensity; discomfort. Plenty of things that make her slow to place any defining bets. He’s shown her basically nothing. 

She had never really given further thought to the implications of Sloth on behavior. Acedia, she remembers, is apathetic. Listless. Lack of care. Her eyes track to his hair — messy; bedhead — to his clothes. They’re barely resting on his frame, and not in the sense of weight, but rather, the jacket he wears is nearly falling off. His shirt — plain, white — is a bit more kempt, but only just. It lifts at his midriff, revealing an un-tied pair of sweatpants that dip low on his hips. He wears no shoes at all, but when she peers in, she can see a pair of long boots sitting in the corner. Effortless. Slip-on. Morgana’s eyes find her own slippers, and she shrugs. Understandable, she thinks. Nice, too. The room itself reflects his state of dress. Untidy. Lacking organization. Her gaze falls onto Belphegor again. He seems, as expected, unbothered. It isn’t like she can criticize that; in fact, it appears they share these traits in common. That being said … 

This … probably shouldn’t bother me as much as it does. Her brow furrows. Regardless, the feeling doesn’t leave. It isn’t very often that she can’t get a good read on someone. Being out of her element like that makes her feel uncomfortable. Most people—even the other demon brothers—are easy enough to read at the best of times. Belphegor …isn’t. 

(Asmo tells her that she isn’t, either. Is that what dealing with me feels like to him? Eugh.)

“I can’t break the seal on this …door,” he admits, scowling. Surprisingly expressive, his hands flutter before it. That, at least, is truthful. There’s no hesitation in his words, no tightness of his frame. His emotions are visible, but not overdone.

“Frankly,” she says, unable to tamp down her bitterness, “I don’t know what you expect me to do about that. I have no magic.” This may not endear him to her, but it’s true. She’s been painfully aware of her status since being deposited here. Even with potential, the understanding of theory, all that becomes useless when she can’t even apply it.

“That may be true, but you have pacts.”

Morgana raises her eyebrows. “And you know about this …how?” 

“Don’t get so worked up,” he huffs, rolling his eyes. “Lucifer told me.”

She snorts. He is cute. Sort of. Shakes her head. “Humor me, then. If I were to free you,” Ana posits, “what is it that I would have to do?”

“If you made a pact with all of my brothers, that would be enough to break the seal.”

She hums. “What do I get out of this deal— I mean, why should I?” It sounds cruel. He could be innocent, she reminds herself. But it’s a genuine enough question, really. Why risk herself? Mammon’s pact was pure luck, and Levi's was borne of some uncanny trickery. Fooled into believing she had won when she hadn’t. He’d been too worked up to realize, and she was, of course, in no hurry to correct him. She was weak here; having something concrete would be protection. “I don’t even know you.”

“Are you—?” His eyes flash. She has to cradle her face to hide the smile this brings. Thumb and forefinger resting on her cheeks. Her hand; a curtain. Neither his apparent anger nor her amusement lasts for very long. “You’re a human,” he says, incredulous. “Don’t you want power—or something?”

Morgana sniffs, fingers coming down to rub at her eternally stuffy nose, “I don’t particularly care.”

He blinks. “Are you not driven by … generosity?” His words are metered, strained, and pushed through clenched teeth; she suspects the word he wishes to have said was not half as nice as the one he had chosen. He’s being careful. It’s notable that he does seem genuinely curious, however. It’s just a guess, really, but this probably wasn’t how he had expected their meeting to go. And it must be weird to meet a human not simply drawn in by that promise of power, especially a power received so idly. A thing that Belphegor is known for accomplishing at a price; a particularly devious demon—manipulative, her textbooks had warned. She’s not sure she wants to deal with the cost of that, really; power and influence are overrated things, anyway—she wouldn’t deny a level of self-motivation in seeking out pacts like Pokemon cards, but. Power is the least of her concerns. Control is a trivial matter. She simply wants to live unburdened, and to do that, she needs to actually be alive. It’s a simple desire; all things considered. Base. Yet she’s curious—for answers no one else would give, she knows. Who would be so forthcoming? Lucifer? Certainly not. There’s clearly something going on here—this attic room, these spiral stairs, up which Lucifer had told her nothing was or would be—and damn it if she doesn’t want to know why this would be worth lying about; if everyone else was lying to her, too. Did Beel know? It didn’t seem that way, certainly, but she doesn’t really know him, either…

“I can be generous,” she reveals after a moment, “but I’m not going to go out of my way if I don’t need to. Plus,” Ana turns her gaze on him. “You’ve given me no reason to trust you.”

. . .

Trust. She falls onto her bed, sighing. How fucking complicated. It’s true that his lies had made her wary, but a part of her — an annoying, shoved-aside part of her — wants to help him. That feeling is as annoying as it always is. She’d been working on this part of herself, slowly but surely. It’s uncountable how many times now that her generosity has hurt her rather than helping, but attempting to be so selfish hurts all those good parts inside her, too. Tears them up and crushes them underfoot.

Tonight, it bothers her so much that it even stalls her sleep. Lying. Rolling. Restless. Why do you want to help him anyway? She doesn’t know, and more than not knowing him, her ignorance of herself is infuriating. She should know this. She should understand herself like the back of her hand. She thinks restlessly. She thinks endlessly. She thinks and comes up blank every time. He’s a stranger, Ana tells herself. He might even deserve it.

“Deserve being locked away?” She murmurs, an uneasy frown twisting her face. “With nothing?” Closes her eyes. It was glaringly obvious how little he actually had, after all. No D.D.D., which she’d already noticed early on. Absence from chats. Communication. Healthy things that were necessary. Isolation. Loneliness. One of Lucifer’s ham-fisted ‘punishments’? It doesn't feel right.

Even without trust, even if he did deserve some form of punishment, could she say that it would be this? Could she condemn him? Because that’s what it would be. Damning. Not helping Belphegor would only mean that he would be stuck there—living in those conditions, alone, for as long as Lucifer saw fit to hold him. Her wariness didn't mean she had to be okay with that by default—didn’t allow her to simply turn a blind eye. It’s true, she knows this, but that doesn’t mean she likes facing it.

[glass-frogs-and-dragons]

The World bleeds away when you dance with me

For @ilikedumbknightsinlove and @donttouchtheneednoggle

Pairing: Gwaine x Lancelot

Warnings: Slight angst, maybe some language

“A royal ball?” Arthur asked, tailing behind his sister, her maid and his best friend.

“Yes! It has been two years since we defeated Morgause, after all,” Morgana cheered as she strutted down the halls to her bedroom. “And we have all been working so hard,” -she winked at Gwen, making her laugh- “That we simply deserve this. Wouldn’t you agree, Merlin?”

Merlin, the traitor, looked back at him in the eye and gave him the most innocent smile he could muster.

“Absolutely, my lady.”

At Gwen’s laughter, the only thing he was left to do was grumble about how they ganged up on him.

The news flew fast, and soon everyone in the palace was buzzing with excitement at the upcoming ball; the only person who was more nervous than ecstatic was the noble Sir Lancelot, who had taken to pace in his rooms whenever he was allowed a moment’s peace. He wanted to ask Gwen for a dance, to spend a pleasant evening twirling around with her before backing off completely and to have him be the cause of the smile he so adored; there was a slight problem with his plan, though.

He had no idea how to dance.

He had considered asking someone for help, but Arthur was most definitely a no-go, most of the knights as well as Morgana would just laugh at him, asking Gwen would just defeat the whole purpose and Merlin was busy enough as he was, so he resigned himself to watch other people dance and then try to imitate the steps alone in his chambers. He was in the process of doing so, watching his feet intently and grumbling every time he misstepped (which was often) when a vigorous knock and the door swinging open interrupted him.

“Hey, Lance! The other knights and I are going drinking, care to jo─oh? What are you doing?”

The curly-haired knight’s head shot up, his cheeks instantly aflame.

“Um… nothing, Gwaine, I-”

“Were you dancing?” The long-haired knight smirked.

“What? No!”

“You’re a terrible liar, my friend,”

“I wasn’t-”

A raised eyebrow from Gwaine made him fumble through the rest of the sentence.

“Fine. I…  I wanted to dance at the ball but-”

“You don’t know how to?”

Lancelot nodded shamefully and expected Gwaine to laugh at him and leave, but to his surprise, he heard the door closing and felt a distinctly warm presence in front of him; as he looked up, coffee-coloured eyes met hazel ones and the smirk decorating Gwaine’s face broadened into something happier.

“I can teach you, if you like,”

Unsure of what to say or how to respond, Lancelot merely nodded, prompting Gwaine to grasp his left hand and put his right one on Lancelot’s hip, waiting for the noble knight’s free hand to fall onto his shoulder.

“I’ll lead first, okay? When you have the hang of it we can change,”

“... Okay,”

“So, we start with the right foot…”

Gwaine was, much as it pained Lancelot to admit, a great dancer. He had the grace of a nobleman and held him gently enough so that he did not feel awkward yet remaining a steady constant, muttering quiet ‘one-two-three’s to keep the beat constant; he wasn’t proud to admit that he fumbled and misstepped many times (Gwaine would probably have sore feet by the end of it), but the long-haired man would merely smile at him and say: “You’re doing better than most, Lance.”.

By the time he realized that night had fallen, they had been dancing for hours, safely cradled in each other’s arms and feet moving instinctively, then Gwaine pulled back with his usual flirty grin, yet with underlying specks of something softer.

“Would you like to do this again tomorrow?”

His voice was soft as to not break the spell that had fallen over them, and Lancelot could not be more grateful for that.

“I’d love to, Gwaine.”

“Great then.” ─ Gwaine disentangled himself from the other knight and ran his fingers through his hair, like he always did in the rare occasions when he didn’t know what to say. ─ “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

And he left.

“Right… I’ll see you.”

Warmth filtered into the room, cocooning him into a safe, gentle haven. 

The next day Gwaine did not mention the dancing at all during training, and he did not acknowledge Lancelot more than he did any other day, something the noble knight was grateful for, as it allowed him to pine (it wasn’t pining, he didn’t pine) for Gwen. In the afternoon, however, he found Gwaine already in his chamber with a pitcher of mead on the bedside table and a book in his hands.

“Ah! Lance!”

“Hello, Gwaine.”

With a grin, a flourish and a bow, Gwaine got onto his feet and took Lancelot’s hand once again.

“Do you want to lead or should I?”

“Maybe it’s best if you lead,”

“Alright then,”

This time, it was not quiet ‘one-two-three’s accompanying them, but the gentle tune of a forgotten waltz that Gwaine was humming under his breath, making Lancelot wonder, and not for the first time, who Gwaine really was. This time, Lancelot allowed himself to close his eyes and he allowed Gwaine to pull him closer, the lilting lullaby now being sung next to his ear.

The days passed and the dancing became a routine. Sometimes Gwaine would bring food and they would eat between pauses, sometimes he brought mead, ale or something stronger and they would end up dancing drunkenly (those nights they would end up sprawled in the same bed, sleeping entwined in each other without a care in the world. They were the nights Lancelot regretted the most yet could not help but secretly crave more of). Sometimes Gwaine would hum to old lullabies or waltzes or just keep the beat with ‘one-two-three’s that remained ingrained in Lancelot’s memory as they were whispered into his ear. One memorable night he began singing sea shanties, with the abashed excuse of “Hey! Those are the songs I know, okay? Don’t make fun of me!” 

Gwaine, Lancelot had to admit, a wonderful voice.

It was rough and lilted around the edges, yet gentle and soothing when it counted; it was obvious he had been involved in many tavern singalongs, yet Lancelot could also tell that he was used to either singing softly to himself or to others in the cold hours after nightfall. He even sang some songs he recognised, even when he changed the words (only to rile him up, Lancelot suspected) because he claimed that they had similar rhythm to waltzes.

Lancelot would just chuckle at that, but when he found himself alone in his bed, his dreams were not of a kind-hearted serving girl, but of a shanty-singing rouge instead.

He tried to keep his distance after that, he truly did, but every choice and every thought that crossed his mind inevitably led him back to Gwaine. It was frustrating.

It was the last night before the ball. They all had their clothing prepared and the servants had been run ragged to prepare everything to perfection and everyone was absolutely ecstatic; Lady Morgana had tried to pry whom he was going to go with and, though he indulged her graciously, he avoided giving any signs: though Gwen’s name was almost on his lips, he would not have stopped himself from blurting something else.

It was the last night before the ball and Gwaine was in his chambers once again. He allowed Lancelot to lead and softly sung his songs, pressing himself closer and willing his heart to beat at a slower rhythm because if he could feel Lancelot’s heart Lancelot could feel his.

“Gwaine?” 

“Yes, lov- ah, Lance?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I won’t be dancing at the ball, so I’m making up for it now.”

“You won’t be dancing?” Lancelot asked, pulling away slightly.

“Why?”

“The one I want to dance with is besotted with someone else,”

“I hardly think anyone would refuse you.”

“Trust me, mate. He’s not interested.”

“Give it a try, at least?” Lancelot pleaded. 

“Fine,” Gwaine huffed out a laugh, feigning annoyance, his hazel eyes boring into Lancelot’s coffee-coloured ones.

“Lancelot… would you save a dance for me tomorrow?”

Lancelot froze, eyes widening and jaw hanging open. At once, every little detail of every interaction between Gwaine and him connected and what he had found strange now made sense. The realization hit him like a thousand-pound block of ice. He stepped away. Gwaine scoffed and put his hands back at his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists; a careful mask of nonchalance placed on his face. 

“I’d… I’d best get going. Goodbye, Lancelot.”

And the noble knight was left alone once again in his chambers, yet this time the cold had crept inside, wrapping vines around his limbs and chilling him to the bone.

It was the night of the ball and Lancelot was dressed in his finest clothes and laying on his bed. Thoughts of the day before invaded his mind like a particularly persistent ache that would not dull. Someone knocked on the door and he dutifully ignored them, his reputation be damned. The knocks became more insistent and Lancelot just groaned and considered putting his head in his pillow, but the door opened before he could.

“Lancelot?” Merlin’s voice echoed in his ears. “What are you doing here? The ball is about to begin!”

“I’d rather not go.”

“Is it because of Gwen… or about Gwaine?” Another lilted voice interrupted, making him sit up lazily to meet Lady Morgana’s eyes.

“Your guessing ability both astounds and terrifies me, my lady.”

“He’ll be waiting for you,” Morgana mused.

“I know.”

Merlin asked, astounded: “He asked you?”

��Yes.”

“And what did you say?”

“I didn’t answer.”

“Why not?”

“I panicked.”

“But do you want to?”

Lancelot paused. Oh, had that question been so easy to answer he would not be here, sprawled over his bed covers and rethinking every single one of his life choices and he would be at the feast hall, twirling Gwen (or Gwaine, the treacherous part of his mind he had been hellbent on ignoring helpfully supplied) around the dance floor and actually happy for once. He tried his damndest to forget Gwaine, but to no avail: he could still see their figures waltzing together under the moonlight, Gwaine’s gentle smile (nothing like the charming, fake one he usually displayed) and his eyes focused solely on him… he had never felt as wanted as he did during those nights.

“Yes. Yes I do.”

He could feel Merlin and Morgana smirking at each other from above him even with his eyes closed.

“Then what the hell are you doing here?” Morgana cheered. “He’s waiting for you! Come on!”

Reluctantly, Lancelot stood and allowed Merlin to fix his clothing and drag him down the corridors. Morgana peeked inside the ballroom and frowned, turning back to her partner in crime.

“Gwaine’s not there,”

“Where is he, then?"

Morgana gasped when she caught sight of a strange movement across the window.

“Try outside,” She grinned, nudging at the noble knight.

They both shot a pointed glare at Lancelot and he sighed, rubbing his face and lifting his arm as a sign of surrender; followed by the sound of their cheers, he was off. He found Gwaine sitting on a bench with his legs spread and a goblet of wine in his hand, staring at the sky with forlorn eyes.

“I never got to say yes,”

Gwaine scrambled to his feet, managing to tip the goblet far enough to make the wine spill to the floor, an extremely satisfying blush coating his freckled cheeks that only made Lancelot chuckle softly.

“You… bloody hell, Lance. You can’t just say things like that.”

“Well,” Lancelot rubbed the back of his neck and held his hand out shyly. “You never did let me answer.”

“Your silence and shock were answer enough,”

“Maybe not. Do you… do you want to lead or should I?” 

The question was nothing more than a whisper, but it successfully pulled Gwaine out of his reverie and made his lips curl into a hesitant smile.

“Maybe it’s best if you lead.”

And so, Lancelot pulled Gwaine into his arms and they fell into a comfortable rhythm, swaying slowly with the muffled music that came from inside and uncaring of who could see them or the consequences that would bring: for now, it was just the two of them and the warmth blossoming in between. They would worry about the world tomorrow.