#uther was so messy

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

sometimes I go through the Cursed (netflix) tag and I'm always disappointed that it's 1000% the weeping monk/lancelot and weird Arthur hate and it's like...there were literally a hundred better characters in that show than the weeping monk/lancelot

[i-ashhart]

Keren has somehow leveled up her kerenesss, she is no longer demanding to speak to the manager she is the manager

[not-mary-sue]

And now, every d&d character I've played so far in ten words or less (some are technically the same character, but in different campaigns based at different times of their life)

Illa (Bard): Area woman joins adventuring party, universe immediately collapses.

Illa 2.0 (Bard): Has a majority time share with party's sole brain cell.

Uther (Fighter): It's time to make this midlife crisis everyone's problem.

Jade (Rogue): Messy divorce destroys multiple governments.

Victoria (N/A - From a different ttrpg system): Anicient goth single parent to three immortal idiots.

Caleb (Cleric): Poison results in time travel and existential crisis.

Old Man Caleb (Cleric): Grandpa is too old to die!

[cynthia39100]

Merlin rewatch -- S1E4: The Poisoned Chalice

Cute Arthur moments

Arthur’s slow-mode clapping in the opening was hilarious lol

Arthur’s mischievous smile when he went to fetch the “ official ceremonial robes for servant". Poor Merlin. He was so excited. I think it showed their friendship progression? They could be pranking each other now. Well, it’s still a bit one-sided but I’m sure Arthur wouldn’t begrudge Merlin if he did.

Arthur tried to drink but couldn’t because Bayard and Uther had a lot to say lol Such a child.

I love Arthur’s sweaty hair ~~ He looked beautiful in the whole episode, but especially good with the messy hair and the eyes that were made bluer by the lighting in the cell 💕.

He looked so CUTE after he set the flower on the plate and Gwen smiled at him ~~~ He looked like a child, sitting on the floor, dodging eye contact, embarrassed of his awkward acting. Aww Arthur, we knew you were a good man~ 🥰

I also like the way he looked up to make sure Gwen got the flower out. He looked authoritative even in the cell. (Also he looked super hot behind the bars, in that slutty red shirt with his chin tilted up ❤️)

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[achillesuwu]

Messy Arthur, Gwen and the knights return

Arthur who feels like just yesterday he was married to Gwen,

Gwen who fell in love and married someone else, that see Arthur as her old love and think about it fondly but that’s it

Immortal Leon who married Gwen but now it’s more than a thousand years ago

Elyan who does not know about the lifted ban on magic and now his sister grew old without him

Perceval who saw magic becoming legal & build a really close friendship with Gwen, Leon & Merlin

Gwaine who feels like he fell his friend & who feels lost because except Arthur none of them die the same day he did

Lancelot who knew about Merlin magic but at the same time never saw the golden age

Merlin who is not the young & lost man he was, who grew stronger and more confident. Merlin who does not shy away from using magic.

Gwen and Perceval being old belong their appearance, Leon and Merlin even older, Elyan Arthur Lancelot & Gwaine (Mordred and Morgana ? Hunith and Balinor ? Ygraine and Uther ?) being young oh so very young

A return where they aren’t just lost because of where they are but of WHO they are to each other now

[gvaine]

If you had to choose would you rather Merlin raised by Balinor not Hunith or Arthur raised by Ygraine not Uther?

hi!! this is such an incredible question that i had to think about it for (checks calendar) nearly a week, apparently. my first instinct was to approach this in a merthur context, for some reason, and immediately went: well, merlin raised by balinor, obviously, because-- i dislike different first meeting aus and if merlin had been raised by balinor-- or both his parents (your question didn't clarify but i assume you meant one parent instead of the other, not both?), it could still have led to everything else as we know it. it's not like merlin needed his father to know about his magic.

however. from a mere character perspective? i do think ygraine not being there had more far-reaching consequences both for arthur and for the kingdom as a whole-- magic wouldn't have been purged in camelot, and merlin-- if he had even existed, considering he was born because of the purge, but... that's another tangent-- everything would have probably been more peaceful all around.

as for arthur, ignoring all the consequences of merlin potentially not existing: he might have been slightly more well-adjusted, emotionally. probably. dude's a mess, not even really because he doesn't have a mother but because he was raised by an ygraine-less uther, who, i believe, had once been kind, and who loved his children but was so grief-stricken it all went downhill. if uther had still had ygraine, or to stay within the scope of your question, if arthur had been raised by a single, much less broken ygraine, i think arthur would have been happier. still a spoiled prat, but. well, maybe a bit less of one.

(another tangent: how did uther die? maybe for the same reason as ygraine did, except whichever power decided that a life must be taken took uther instead. would ygraine have told arthur about it? would she have descended into a magic-hating spiral of despair just like her husband did? i don't think so. much to think about)

merlin, as much as he struggled with his lack of a father, grew up relatively well-adjusted. the question that follows him being raised by balinor is, how much would merlin have had to still hide his magic? balinor was a recluse-- would merlin have lived similarly? if so, there's the potential of merlin actually growing up into a much more hardened, cynical man than he is, much like his father. he may have been aware of just how powerful he was, and learned how to use his strengths, but would he have been happier?

that was just me writing down my thoughts as they came, all messy. (ha!) anyway, what do you think 👀

[vecna-is-here]

Camelot - part I

Paring: JCB Arthur x F! Reader

Warnings: none

Genre: fluff

Part of a fluff, h/c series

For @jcbbby @moonlitdark @ram6421-blog @lma1986

You had heard rumours about the new king. Some claimed he was just a boy, some said he was the bastard of a peasant, and others said he was just an imposter. You knew Merlin had something to do with it, and that meant it was serious. You were intrigued enough to ride to Camelot to see for yourself. Perhaps, if he was truly the new king of the Britons, he could use the help of a druid.

It didn’t matter how much you loved your small cottage at the edge of the woods, your gut had told you to go. That was this morning, and now you were laying in bed in a castle ruin. Camelot was breathtaking. And so was Arthur… His grace and handsomeness had taken you by surprise, to say the least.

After getting past the guards and putting your horse in the stables you entered the great hall. You pushed the doors open and walked inside as they gave in with a creaking groan.

‘Stop!’ you heard and saw a man pulling his sword. He held it up to your throat and held it there.

‘I mean no harm.’ you said in a calm voice. All were surprised to hear that the cloaked figure was a woman… You removed your hood and your hair fell down your back and shoulders.

‘Remove your sword.’ you said, your tone was confident and commanding, yet innocent sounding. You looked the man in the eye and stared at him, waiting for him to pull himself together.

‘That’s enough, Leontes!’ you heard. You looked up and saw a young man standing in the middle of the room. Leontes’ eyes were narrowed as if he was looking for signs you weren’t to be trusted. After letting out a silent sign you pushed his blade away with two fingers and walked into the room. The crowd consisted of only men, and they were wary of a woman as fearless as you.

You slowly approached the young man and inspected his face while doing so. He had to be the king; he wore the fur cloak that belonged to Uther. He was around the same age as you. His hair was a bit longer and messy, his face well-built and handsome. His blue eyes were mesmerising and a blonde lock of hair rested playfully on his forehead. You stood in front of him now, and you noticed how tall he was.

You bent down: ‘I pledge you my honour.’

You heard him chuckle sweetly and looked up - it made you realise just how handsome he was. ‘Please, I’m not your king.’ he said, ‘At least not yet.’. He offered you a hand which you accepted.

‘You will be soon enough.’ a man standing next to him said. You’d recognise that face anywhere.

‘Merlin.’ you said with a raised brow, followed by a laugh.

‘Y/N.’ he replied, cracking a smile. He turned to the young king and said: ‘This is Y/N, a druid and healer.’.

Merlin had knocked on your door once, seeking your help. He got injured during a fight and needed a healer. You took him in and tended to him. You were much younger than the great sorcerer, but your skills with herbs and healing were beyond him.

‘I’m Arthur.’ the blonde man said with a gentle smile.

‘Are you planning to stay? Because we could very much use you.’ Merlin asked pressingly. You were not only a witch; you could fight as well.

‘I will, if you’ll have me…’ you said hesitantly, avoiding eye contact with the king as you did.

‘Of course, we’d be honoured.’ Arthur said - his eyes sparkled with joy.

[houseofthelilypads]

When planning my rewrite of shrek the third one of the many ideas i had was make artie an ogre. The curse didn't just affect fiona but everyone else in her immediate generation so any cousins she may have were also turned, and why harold and lillian never had another kid.

The twist would be Artie taking human form by night & ogre by day. Ogre Artie defies the stereotypes: instead of brutish and messy, he's gentle and tidy; instead of being clumsy, he's careful and intelligent. He doesn't eat bugs or anything yucky but loves human food, and his closeness with human culture puts him at odds with Shrek. The conflict would be shrek teaching artie how to embrace his ogre side. Eventually Artie decides to keep the curse because he doesn't have to give up one side or the other, he can be can both. The idea of one of the greatest icons in history being a monster but possessing the HEART of a hero makes for a cool twist.

I also saw one au where Artie comes from harold's side of the family and is a frog as well, I think that could work. Eventually I just settled on the uther backstory and have artie be made fun of due to uther's behavior, showing how a parent's bad rep affect their own kids. But also bullying can happen to anyone, bullies don't need a reason to pick on you but you can chose to walk away and don't have to help them.

[caniruineverything]

i get by with a little help from my friends

ft. merthur and a bit of whump/angst (and a teensy bit of morgwen)

Summary: Merlin doesn't understand why Arthur's acting weird, but when Uther takes it too far with his words one day, Merlin realizes why.

"Mer-lin!" At the sound of his name, the warlock spun around, only to be met with an irate Arthur slamming the door behind him as he walked in. And he had been in such a great mood earlier, he thought to himself.

"Yes, sire?" If he put a bit more ire in the greeting than normal, well that was between him and the long list of chores he was sure was heading his way.

"Have you really been cleaning this whole time?" The question was rhetorical, but Merlin answered anyway, foolishly.

"Yes, sire. Your room is quite messy. Really, it's a shame no one ever taught you how to clean up after yourself." And, well, on any other day, the jab wouldn't have been of any importance, but that day, Arthur was in quite the mood.

"Well, it's a shame no one taught you how to speak to your Prince. Leave, I don't want to see your stupid face." The words caused something in Merlin to shrivel up, despite his attempts to stop it. He'd thought he and Arthur had been getting closer. He'd apparently thought wrong.

He left, moving away from the room and the unreasonable prince as fast as he could. As he exited the palace, he realized Arthur had not given him anything else to do. Part of him wondered if that had been purposeful, but he quickly dismissed the thought. After that display, it was clear the prince had no intention of being generous.

With nothing else to do he walked home to see if there was anything Gaius needed him to do. The old man answered that he did not, in fact, have anything that needed to be done. Instead, he suggested Merlin go help out Gwen or the knights. Deciding this was both a good idea and a way to pass time, which moved slowly when he was away from Arthur, Merlin left to go do just that.

As he approached the palace steps, mentally making a list of the places Gwen was most likely to be found-he knew from experience that it was very difficult to find people in the palace-when a voice called from somewhere to his left.

"Merlin? I thought Arthur dismissed you."

"Gwen!" He couldn't help it, a grin broke out on his face at the sight of his friend, a sweet but slightly confused smile gracing her lips. "Just the person I was looking for!" At her questioning glance, he elaborated. "Yeah, the clotpole did let me out early, not sure why, so I wanted to see if you needed any help." He paused, and she took her cue to respond.

""Oh! Thanks." At this, Gwen smiled kindly and continued, "Nope! Morgana let me out early too, said something about the nice weather." Merlin smiled, knowing Morgana too was weak for Gwen's smile, just in a different way than he.

"That's kind of her. Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me!" She grinned back, seeing his smiling face, and continued on to her house. He stood there, once again with nothing to do. Should he check on Arthur again?

The urge to both see the prince and make sure he was okay was not something one should feel for their employer, let alone their prince and their friend, but, well, he had taken one look at the prince when the latter had been consoling a woman looking after her ailing son and fallen head over heels. Yes, that prat could be such a cabbage head, but he could also be caring, and brave, and kind. And handsome, that little voice in the back of his head spoke up, but he banished it with a quick not the time.

So yes, he did want to check on Arthur. But at the same time, what Arthur had said has hurt. Merlin worked hard because Arthur expected nothing less, and it still wasn't enough.

But Arthur was a prince, and he was Uther's son, so it was almost to be expected. Almost, because even though it was explainable did not mean that it hurt any less.

He decided against reentering the paper in search of a prince who clearly didn't want him there, and returned home. At Gaius's raised eyebrow, he just said Gwen hadn't needed any help, and walked into his room. And no, he definitely hadn't closed the door more forcefully than normal.

He used his free time to read through the book on magic Gaius had given him. Sitting under his thin blanked with aagically conjured light to see by, he could almost forget about Arthur and his behavior. Almost.

Merlin blinked awake blearily, light glaring in through the window. He brushed a fallen lock of hair out of his face, then sat up. As he did so, he both heard and felt paper rustle, and looked down. He had apparently been using the magic book as a pillow, and there were a few drool stains on one of the pages. He quickly magicked away the stains and returned the book it it's hiding place, then turned to his clothing to get ready for the day. Now, to wear the red or blue neckerchief. . ?

He made it almost to the palace steps before he remembered. Arthur. He had been in such a foul mood the other day, and with a prince with anger management issues and a tendency to bottle things up, Merlin did not know what to expect.

When he had gathered up the courage to walk to Arthur's room, he was greeted with the sight of the blonde glaring at him, picking at the good in front of him.

"You're late," were the first words out of the prince's mouth. "I had to get woken up and delivered breakfast by George." His distaste was clear, and on another day, Merlin might have laughed. Not that day, though, when he was already feeling the sting from the careless words.

"Oh, poor you." It was almost hilarious how obvious the double take Arthur was trying to hide was, as he had clearly been expecting sympathy, but Merlin was not in the mood. "You should be happy, you had a servant who didn't talk back."

"Well, Merlin, you should be happy. I have a long list of chores headed your way, just for being late." Merlin sighed. Why him? Why did he have to bother with the unreasonable man who happened to be both his employer and the prince of Camelot?

"Yaaaaayyy. . ."

"That's the spirit! Now, you'd better get started or you won't finish by tonight, and we can't have that." By Arthur's tone, Merlin could tell he was implying something important, and though he really didn't want to, he gave into the blonde's ploy to get him to ask.

"What do you mean by that? What's happening tonight?"

"Oh, did no one tell you?" God, the nerve of this man. "Father's having a feast in honor of the new alliance. And yes, before you ask, you do have to be there." Damn, how had he known that was what Merlin was going to ask before the latter even opened his mouth? "Because, idiot, you ask that every time. Of course I knew." Okay, now Merlin was slightly freaked out.

"Did I say that out loud, or did you somehow acquire mind reading skills?"

"I could read it on your dumb, expressive face. You didn't need to say it, and I don't need to read your mind to know what you were going to say." Arthur scoffed at Merlin's confused face and ordered him to get to work before he wasted the day trying to understand a simple sentence.

All day, Merlin simultaneously carried out his chores, fuming at Arthur and his pompousness, and ran their earlier conversation through his head, trying to make sense of it. And make sense he did. It was no secret that they two were developing a strong bond, but he hadn't realized how strong it was, if the prince was able to deduce what Merlin was going to say before he said it.

But of course their 'strong bond' wasn't enough to keep them from bickering like a dysfunctional couple. Resigned to his foul mood, and with no intent to forgive the prince any time soon, he got to work on the long list of chores Arthur had handed him.

By the end of the day, Merlin had somehow managed to get everything in Arthur's ridiculously long list done. Well, not somehow, he may have used a bit-just a bit!-of magic to help. The list was otherwise way too long for him to finish by midnight, much less in time for the feast. The only good part about any of it was that he got the satisfaction of seeing Arthur's shocked face when he realized Merlin had actually been able to complete the list. Well, he had also been given a bit of the food for the feast to taste test (impeccable as always), which had been nice.

His last task was to help the prince prepare for the feast. Bathing him, dressing him, and just making him look like the prince he was. If Merlin was honest, there were a few things he liked about feasts.

For one, there was the fact that he was allowed to eat some of the leftover food, which was even better than the food the kitchen normally prepared. There was also the fact that Arthur looked even more presentable than he usually did, and while Merlin thought the prince looked handsome in anything, it was nice to see him get dressed up a bit. And the feast provided something to make the evening a bit more entertaining, which was something, at least.

By the time he was done getting Arthur ready, it was time for the feast. Merlin looked over the prince one more time to see if he was ready, and he was. But Merlin also noticed that Arthur seemed a bit more nervous than he usually did for a feast. Was it that this was celebrating an alliance and he didn't want to do anything to put that in danger?

Merlin wanted to ask, he wanted to make sure his friend was okay, but before he could, Arthur spoke.

"Well, Merlin, are you ready?"

"Wh-what? Why are you asking me if I'm ready? You're the one who needs to be ready, not me."

"Well, yes, that is true. But you know if I'm ready or not, and you're not ready until I am. I'll ask you again. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sire." For once, Merlin's voice was completely free of any sarcasm or mocking. He sensed that Arthur was nervous and he didn't want to make things worse.

"Alright then. Lets go."

The feast was a typical feast, all things considered. There was good food and wine, a few performers, and speeches from Uther and the allied kingdom. Arthur did not give a speech that night, which Merlin did not find particularly odd, as not every feast required a speech from the prince.

Though Merlin did notice that Arthur was more tense than normal, he figured it was just the blonde worrying about how the guests would find the feast. What he did not notice, however, was the way Arthur's eyes kept darting to his father, and the way Uther was nearly glaring at his son.

There was one slight hiccup during the whole thing, which was, in Merlin's opinion, not bad at all. One of the servants, a tall skinny boy with brown hair, spilled wine on Uther. In the boy's defense, it was not much, and Utter had bumped into him slightly, but that did nothing to quiet the king's rage.

But before Uther could say or do anything, Arthur leaned over and whispered something to his father. This calmed the older man down only slightly, and now his rage seemed directed at Arthur. Nothing happened however, except that Arthur apparently dismissed the servant, as the boy scurried away as quickly as he could.

If Merlin had paid a tiny bit more attention to the king and his son, he would have noticed how Uther's anger remained, and how Arthur was clearly masking his fear.

But he didn't, so he paid no notice as, when they were walking back after the feast, Arthur was silent. Merlin figured that he was simply tired, as a feast would tire anyone out, especially someone who was as involved as Arthur.

When they got back to the prince's chambers, Arthur dismissed Merlin as soon as the latter had finished getting Arthur ready for bed. Merlin once again figured he was simply tired, although he did begin to suspect something was up with the prince.

Hey, he wasn't stupid, not by a longshot, but he hadn't really seen anything that would make him worry. His whole job was to protect the prince, whether Arthur knew it or not. He would never purposefully do anything to put his friend in danger, and not just because it was his job.

That night however, he did remember Uther's angry glare at his son, and the way Arthur curled in on himself infinitesimally. Unfortunately, he fell asleep before he could think any more about it, and by the time he woke up in the morning, he had almost completely forgotten it.

The beginning of the morning the next day was pretty predictable. He woke up, got dressed, ate a hurried breakfast, and left to go wake up the prince.

When he got to the prince's room, however, breakfast in hand, he discovered that Arthur was already awake and dressed. Merlin set the food down on the table and looked the prince over.

"Wow, sire, you managed to put on your shirt correctly, nice job. However the back of your shirt is not quite tucked in. Here, let me get it." But when he reached over to help fix the shirt, Arthur batted his hand away.

"It's fine. I can do it myself. Thank you for telling me." This was very odd. When had the prince ever woken up and gotten dressed before Merlin arrived in the past?

Actually, he could remember a few times, and it was always odd. He was not usually able to get everything on right, either. Also, why had he not let Merlin help him? That was certainly unusual.

The rest of the day was relatively normal. They went on a hunt with the knights, as Uther had ordered Arthur to capture an assassin who had killed a few villagers overnight, for an unknown reason. It was nice to get back into the woods, and Arthur seemed happier because of it, joking around with Merlin and the knights in a way he hadn't in the last couple days.

The hunt, despite Arthur's best efforts, was unsuccessful, and they did not manage to capture the assassin. The hooded man escaped, after a fight that ended with Elyan slightly injured, and the entire party disheartened.

After a short visit with Gaius, Elyan was fine, and Arthur and Merlin headed back to the palace. Arthur was acting odd, not talking much, and when he did, he was very short with Merlin. Merlin opted for silence instead while he took Arthur's chainmail off.

"I have a meeting with my father to discuss my failure in apprehending the assassin. You are free to leave. Enjoy your afternoon." It was phrased so oddly. To discuss my failure. Was that really all Uther wanted to talk about? Arthur had accomplished a great many things, and yet Uther seemed only interested in the few failures. He really did expect his son to be perfect.

Arthur left, and though he had been dismissed, he did not have anything he needed to do, so he decided to stay and tidy up the room a bit. While he was in the middle of cleaning the fireplace, his magic suddenly became alert. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and he became convinced something was wrong.

He didn't do anything about it, as he didn't even know what was wrong. He waited it out, and it dissipated slightly. There were a few more times during his cleaning that he felt it rise up, and then it began to rise steadily until the door creaked open.

Merlin looked up, and his heart seized in his chest. Arthur walked in, tears dripping down his face, and bruises on his face.

"Oh, Arthur, what happened?”

"Merlin?!? Why are you still here? I dismissed you." Though he sounded angry, the tears hitting the floor said otherwise, and his face did not show any anger.

"I, uh, wanted to do some cleaning. Seriously, what happened?"

"Nothing, Merlin, please just leave." It must have been serious if the prince was using please.

"No, Arthur." Merlin stood steadfastly in front of the crying prince. "You're my friend, and you're hurting. I want to help. What happened?"

"Nothing. My father just-he just got angry. That's it."

"Arthur. That is not it. You are crying. Please tell me what's wrong. It hurts to see you hurting."

"Fine!" More tears dripped down his face, and he looked up angrily. "He was angry that the hunt failed, and he yelled at me. When I told him I'd done the best I could, he just said that. . ." The prince trailed off, clearly very pained.

"Arthur. What did he say?" It was becoming hard for Merlin to just stand there and not go off to kill, or at least maim, Uther.

"He told me," Arthur sobbed harder, "he told me that Ygraine died for me, and I was wasting her death by just existing." The blonde broke down, sobbing loudly, not caring who heard him, and Merlin's heart broke. How could anyone say that to someone, let alone their own son?

"No, no. Arthur, you are a wonderful person, and your mother would be so proud of you for everything you've done. Uther doesn't deserve you, he never has, okay?"

"No, I'm useless! I can't do anything right! The feast, the hunt, and now I can't even take a lecture. Just leave, I'm not worth it."

"Never say that. Never. I love you because you are kind, because you always strive to do the right thing, even when it is harder. You saved that boy from getting flogged. You tried to catch the assassin, and the only reason you didn't is because you were protecting your friends. Uther is wrong. You are not useless. I love having you in my life, I'm grateful for it every day, and I know Gwen, Morgana, and the knights are too. You're amazing, Arthur."

That was the first time Merlin had gotten to voice his thoughts on Arthur in a long time, and it felt nice, even though it was brought on by Uther being an asshole.

"Do you mean that?" Merlin's heart broke impossibly further by Arthur's unsure tone.

"Of course I do! We're all incredibly lucky to have you around." Arthur just cried harder, stilling when Merlin wrapped his arms around the prince, sensing the blonde might need a hug.

When the prince sank into it, he realized that Arthur likely didn't get many, if any, hugs.

"Are you injured?" The prince was silent, and Merlin's heart rate skyrocketed.

"What?!?"

"He just slapped me a few times, and I have a few bruises. It's not that bad." This prince. Now Merlin was beyond pissed. He had assumed Arthur's face was red from crying, but now there was a handprint visible. That was why Arthur had dressed himself! He hadn't wanted Merlin to see the bruises.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be," was the quiet response.

"Take all the time you need. I need to go hunt down a king"

"Merlin, please don't. He is still my father."

"Fine. For you." They were silent for a few moments while Arthur composed himself and Merlin thought up ways to creatively harm Uther, not that he would actually carry them out. After a few minutes, Arthur's soft voice broke through his thoughts.

"You. . . love me?"

"I-What?" He thought back over what he had said, and blushed hard. Damn it, he had confessed to Arthur!

"I'm so sorry! I mean yes, I do, but I didn't mean to tell you. You can fire me, you'll never have to see me again, I'll-" He was speaking really quickly now, trying to apologize and reassure the prince.

"Merlin! Listen to me! I, uh, love you too. So please, don't leave. Ever." No way. No. Way.

"You-you love me too?"

"Of course I do. You're Merlin, how could I not?"

"What does that mean?"

"That it was inevitable that I'd fall for you, you clumsy oaf." Of course Arthur would compliment someone and then insult them, all in a declaration of life. Oh my god, he loves me!

"Hey! Thanks?"

"Now get over here." What? Why? Then, his silent questions were answered as Arthur kissed him. Their lips moved together as though they were made for this, and Merlin wondered if they had been. Two sides of the same coin. How had he not realized how romantic that sounded?

When they broke away, breathing hard, Merlin pulled Arthur in for another hug, sensing how touch-starved he was. The prince melted impossibly more into Merlin than before.

"You don't need him. You have me, you have Morgana, you have Gwen, and you have the knights. You have people who love and care about you. You don't need him."

"I. . . don't need him. Okay. I don't need him!" Arthur sounded as though he had been freed from prison, and in a way, he had. As Arthur stood up and got ready for bed, tired from crying and professing love, Merlin realized that as long as they had each other, and their friends, they would be okay.

[cestacruz]

i've seen some FATE genderbend tierlists. and i've heard it explained as that S-tier and not genderbend are nearly interchangeable. BTW no neither okita nor Nagao are S-tier, they're usually B-tier, but ibaraki is usually in the S-tier. blah blah blah. personally my favorite genderbends are the 1s that could work, or're really nifty

I like most of them tbh, AND ALSO, there aren't as many as one would think

Like fate is "known" for this trope of making historical men into women but like, compared to the overall number of figures who kept their historical gender(?) , its not that many?

Putting a read more because i just start going into the ones i remember and sht, ALSO ITS MESSY AS HELL BECAUSE IM TYPING AS I REMEMBER and i make a lot of clarifications because i like to overexplain myself!

And ANOTHER clarifications are

1. This is all written from what i personally remember and interpreted from the source materials

2. Me saying this isn't stopping anyone from continuing to Headcanon something different

Some of them are like "yeah i was a woman all along who enjoyed the privileges of a man's life while still being a woman but ig people didnt like that so they recorded me in history as a man" (iirc francis drake is this one, so is yoshitsune)

The "i was a woman but i faked being a man my entire life to be allowed to be (a king or a samurai)" (okita** and arturia, one of those two had way more issues with that than the other. And its actually important to the way the lore was written and focused that Arturia was born female lmao because uther rejected her at birth because she was a girl and merlin was the one who convinced him "hey we can still put the dragon blood on her and just raise her as a man yknow" and then uther accepted but then died because his daughter was a daughter (that last part was a joke but theres so many men like that in modern time irl too so :/ the whole plot overall is very genderqueer still i wont deny it) (and then theres Okita who also kinda needed to do it but it feels like it was way less like, necessary for hee to do that, so its easy for people to hc okita as trans (i dont personally but that hc has some Great fics))

** I ALSO HAVE TO SAY THAT i dont remember if they actually ALSO retconned that and okita was just Trested as a man because of gender roles but never Actually bothered or cared to say "im a girl actually" even Now, she gets refered to as "okita-kun" or "okita-san" which are (kun specifically?) more masculine honorifics

Saito gets called with the "-chan" honorific sometimes, iirc

These two existing might confuse people on "wait if ushi was allowed to be a woman and do all the things why wasnt okita" and that's probably because misogyny strikes at any time in history yknow? Probably by ushi's time, they didn't care that much or because it was incredibly war time, they could Afford to care. Meanwhile, okita would have had a harder time because it was less violent times so roles were starting to set into more "men have the violent jobs and women stay inside"

Or "i was in fact a man but i always identified more as nonbinary or as a woman" (iirc nero?? At Least at the start of her lore it was like that. Idk if they retconned it to being similar as the first tho. And ofc trans icon leonardo da vinci)

Im not mentioning all of them because im too lazy rn (or am i... i mostly dont remember)

Jing Ke iirc was also interesting, but i CANNOT for the life of me remember what was her deal

And then there's Sugitani Zenjūbō who was a man but then (Kashin Koji???) Turned them into a woman literally just for fun ??

Actually will add im not sure if Kashin Koji and Sen no Rikyu are or not genderbends

Bringing it back to Arthuriana for this but its funny Gareth was Also a woman the whole time but she Had to fake it if she wanted ti be accepted as a knight UNTIL she participated in that joust and thats when she revealed "ACTUALLY im a GIRL I WAS FAKING THE WHOLE TIME" and King Arthur who is also faking to be a man starts sweating profusely but accepts her and declares her a knight still even tho she was a woman because at least she can do that. The king wasn't allowed to be a woman still, tho, unfortunately."

Jacques, who we know was a man, but the eldritch god transitioned her good for her she refuses to talk about it, tho

Oda Nobunaga, who either was 1. Always a woman and history recorded her as a man because she enjoyed the privileges of a man's life (which is also similar to Yoshitsune/Ushiwakamaru's case), or 2. Literally from a different parallel universe where she was always a woman and the worlds are so similar that she never realized

Musashi we know is from an alternate universe as well

Raikou is also verily implied to be a trans woman in some dialogues but in others is the "i had to be pretend to be a man to enjoy the things i wanted to enjoy" (which also just sounds trans but still, you know what i mean) (i love the hc of Raikou being trans and you will take it from me only when i am Dead, and even Then)

Frankenstein's Monster, who was just built as a woman iirc

Xu Fu literally just a woman now, no changes in the lore to try and explain or anything at all, incredibly gay woman at that too. Love that they make it explicit that she is in Love with Yu Mei Ren and yes it IS romantic. Im gonna go cry again btw

Pollux who funnily enough is just (probably accidental Or Probably not) implied to be trans because she and Castor are identical twins and we know identical twins cannot be different sexes (that OR Castor is the trans one)

Quetzalcoatl who is a genderless god (usually regarded as male) who chose a vessel that happened to be a woman and is living her best life

Kukulkan i Assume is the same case as Quetz

Kiichi Hougen is treated as a woman rn because their current body is female, BUT when they met yoshitsune, they were using a male form. They are agender, tho, btw, not a woman.

Some people might wonder why arent there any genderbends of Female historical figures Into Men in Fate and to that i will point to hundreds of years of history that bury female and queer accomplishments and history by pretending they were all men becsuse "no way a woman could do this"

JUST like Fate plays into with some of the genderbends (like i said, Francis Drake or Ushiwakamaru)

So if they did that it would just, be normal misogynistic history ? Good old "no way women are as competent as a man"

Anyway

Thats all

[sparklymanacakes]

Jaina and Arthas

Well I was hoping for more as far as Arthas’ story in Shadowlands was concerned but we got what we got. I’ve taken awhile to think on how Jaina might process all of that and it’s so sad to me. Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth on my personal opinions about Jaina/Arthas and my feelings about Arthas in general. Before he took Frostmourne, I don’t think he was a bad guy, just a “typical” one for the kind of life circumstances he had (based on the novel). So, while I recognize that he had flaws, I also saw a lot of good in his character and even more potential for goodness and great things had he remained on that particular life path he was headed in the beginning. He could have grown to be a great king, especially with Uther and Jaina in his life.  Jaina saw and fell in love with all those good things about him. A lot of Jaina fans hate on the Arthas/Jaina ship nowadays and I get that as I myself have been there and occasionally still go there but ultimately if the drama hadn’t of happened, it’s a ship that could have worked in the long run and both of these fictional people could have grown really well together, challenged one another, and ended up happy. But I also think it would have been on again, off again once or twice more before they settled. Jaina would have taken him back and he would have balked on her at least once more, probably twice lol. And.....she’d have kept taking him back. XD *sigh Eh, sometimes love stories are messy but that doesn’t always mean it’s not worth it to those involved. And idk, I’m just speculating based on my own perceptions of who I think these two are. Who knows what would’ve happened.

[uniasus]

fic rec! BBC Merlin AU. 48K

Summary: When Merlin proposes to his sister, Arthur knows nothing will ever be the same between them, and he can live with that. He won't be happy about it, but even if he's loved Merlin for years, he's not going to stand up at their wedding shouting, "I object," not when it won't do him any good.

Comments: If you're looking for romantic angst, look no further than this. There isn't anyone who isn't hurt by this mess (well, maybe Gwen, but she's certainly shocked!) and it comes in a bunch of shapes. Jealously and loss and pining and betrayal and a whole, whole bunch of stuff. Things are so messy at one point, Merlin moves in with Uther because that's the best option.

There's so much here to love, if you love the pain. There's like, no fluff. Well. Maybe the last 500 words.

[kitkatt0430]

5, 7, 10, 19, and 22 for the salty ask game - for MERLIN because I strongly desire the salt for that.

5.) Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

I think the way fandom polarized over Merlin vs. Morgana made it harder to enjoy the Merlin/Morgana ship, but I wouldn't say it was ruined for me since I'll still poke my nose into that ship when I drift back into a Merlin fanfic mood.

7.) Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

I wouldn't say I can't stand the dragon, but I'm a lot more dragon critical than I was when I first watched the show. There was a lot of 'ooooooh, talking dragon!' that I had to get over. So fics or fandom analysis that isn't critical of, and even suspicious of, the dragon's use of the prophecy as a mechanism to control Merlin kinda get side-eyed from me. If the dragon is always right, then I'm probably gonna nope out of there with the back button.

10.) Most disliked arc? Why?

So many to choose from, but I'd have to say Morgana's turn to villainy. She gets betrayed by her sister, but probably never really knows the full extent of that especially since Morgause saves her from Merlin poisoning her afterwards. But also... Morgana gets betrayed by someone she'd entrusted with the secret of her magic - Merlin. She's lived afraid of herself for years and the person she reached out to, smiled as her friend and then tried to kill her.

It's... there are a lot of misogynistic tropes died up in Morgana's turn to villainy. Not helped by the fact that the majority of the magically powerful women in the show wind up being evil either by choice or by circumstances outside of their control, making Morgana another piece of that pattern. (In fact, the show opens with a sorceress for the first villain and then ends both the first season and the entire show with evil sorceress villains. There are a lot of plots over the course of the show where the bad guy is a woman.)

19.) What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

The treatment of Gwen by the fandom could be a heck of a lot better. Like Iris from the Flash, Gwen gets a lot of hate for being a.) the female love interest and b.) being a black female love interest. She's a fascinating and well rounded character and one of the few non-magic users in a position of power (admittedly takes her a while to overcome the class divide to reach that power) who, despite having been hurt by magic, chooses compassion towards magic users instead of hatred.

She's such a wonderful character, so it really sucks to see her get hated on.

22.) Popular character you hate?

I don't know that I really hate any of the characters. I mean, there's Uther, but that's expected. And while I am super critical of the Dragon's motives... Kilgharrah is still a very fascinating and enjoyable character to me. He's just not ever at any point a good influence on Merlin.

I think it'd be easy to hate Gaius for the way he betrayed his fellow magic users for a friend he knew was wrong and the promise that he, of course, would be spared. But I just kinda like messy characters so I find him interesting instead.

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: TV Shows

¡Feliz Dia de los Reyes! And Happy New Year! And also happy belated Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule, Bodhi, Kwanzaa and Diso, probably some other holidays. BOXING DAY. You all get a gift! And it's the same thing you ask for every year that I know you love so so much: Unwarranted opinions about tv shows from a stranger on the internet! I am truly generous.

Shadow and Bone s1-2

Confession: I grew up with these books. It’s one of the only book series I snatched up as soon as they were released, and to this day I will read anything Leigh Bardugo slaps my face with, so I was ecstatic to discover they were making a Netflix adaptation. And damn one thing I cannot critique is the casting for this series. Jessie Mei Li pulls off the classic orphan chosen one YA protagonist so well without being cliche, which is also something Bardugo was able to do in the books. And Freddy Carter and Kit Young have just become Kaz and Jesper in my head, replacing whatever image I had of those characters originally. Also evil Prince Caspian is hot!

Season one is genuinely a fantastic adaptation. They seamlessly combine the storylines of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. The gaps in pacing from the first book have had their slack picked up by these lovable criminals playing out a similar storyline to their first book, with Alina taking the place of the Grisha scientist as their object of kidnapping. Everything plays out so fluidly that I was enamored with my first and second watch through.

Season two on the other hand is messy as all hell. They try to adapt multiple books into one storyline like season one, but none of them blend in well together. The bastardized Crooked Kingdom plot (which was my favorite in the series) is completely disconnected from Alina’s story to the point it felt confusing and exhausting each time they went back to it, while the Siege and Storm and the Rise and Ruin plotlines are so rushed I could barely follow what was supposed to be happening. Plus they added their own ending, which is fine conceptually, I get them wanting to do their own thing, but I wish they either just adapted the books, or committed to making something original, instead of this clustered amalgamation.

The Owl House s3

Everyone knows this is a show that deserves MINIMUM six seasons and a movie. The world is incredibly fun and versatile, and the characters are fascinating and enjoyable to watch. But Disney is homophobic and lame and Oh My Shit is that Steamboat Willy making out with Oswald the Rabbit?? Holy Shit. I can’t believe that’s canon now! Thank you Bob Igor. 

That being said the writers and animators did a fantastic job on tight storytelling in these last two seasons. A lot of shows that aren’t given enough space to tell their story will cut out “filler” content to shove all the dramatic moments they want in your face (looking at you Voltron), but Owl House strikes a nice balance between slice of life character episodes and the more plot focused episodes in the short time they have. There’s so many background details and one off lines that create an intricate backstory that adds both to the lore and the motivations of our deadly Puritan villain. It also delivers on a fantastic ending that works both as a definitive end to the series or the jumpstart to a sequel if it ever gets graced with a renewal.

Merlin s1-5

Back in the day this show was grouped in among the other popular BBC shows at the time + Supernatural, and thus it gets a similar reputation nowadays as a queer-baity overrated show that goes on for too long. I don’t think that’s wholly undeserved, but Merlin is leagues better than either Supernatural or Sherlock and is much more consistent in delivering quality episodes than even New Who, though that last one is higher quality overall imo.

The cast all give a fantastic performance as their characters go through some genuinely well written character arcs, especially Anthony Head as Uther who blends goofy freak with hateable bigot so well that his antagonism commands the flow of the entire first three seasons. Like what’s his fucking problem? After he gets out of the picture however the pacing does tank as the plot forces out about three near identical Morgana takes over Camelot conflicts.

This show is also campy as all hell, and blends together lighthearted comedic episodes alongside extremely well written dramatic plots pretty well, though it occasionally stoops to some tonally dissonant melodrama. Uther falls in love with a farting witch like two episodes before Morgause nearly kills Arthur. I do think the will-they-won’t-they between Merlin and Arthur was written intentionally, and while their friendship is enjoyable to watch develop, the answer is obviously Won’t, because gay people don’t exist in Camelot times. Also Guinevere’s characterization fucking tanks in the last season for no reason at all, but it does have a good ending overall.

Dragon Ball Z Kai s1-4

Every year I make my dad watch a shonen anime all the way through. In 2020 it was Jojo’s, 2021 it was Hunter X Hunter, last year it was Naruto (Ocean Cut), and this year it was Dragon Ball Z Kai. So far there’s been no losers, he’s loved all of them (though he got burnt out on Part 5 of Jojo’s). It took a bit for him to get into Dragon Ball; the Saiyan saga did not hold his interest until the Vegeta fight, but he was thoroughly engaged through the Frieza saga and ESPECIALLY the Cell saga. He told me Cell is the most evil villain in all of the anime I forced this 49 year old to watch. I myself had never watched all of Dragon Ball Z in order before this year, and I’m happy to say most of it holds up, at least in Kai.

Season one is overall hard to rewatch from the beginning, since after Goku’s death we get several episodes of mindless training and running on Snake Way that we already know won’t pay off, but damn the cinematography and choreography in that first Vegeta fight is genuinely stunning and I can probably rewatch that anytime. Season two on Namek pulls off writing without Goku much better. There’s a strong sense of tension as all of these different conflicts barely miss each other: Frieza’s army killing off the already small population of Namekians as Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin are searching for the Dragon Balls. Writing Vegeta as a secondary protagonist in this arc despite still being a violent jackass is genius and this whole section is thoroughly engaging. Pacing grinds to a crawl when the Ginyu Force show up, and I’m sad to say this continues into the Frieza fight. It’s a good fight, but after the Supper Saying shows up they could have ended things pretty quickly, but the fight draws on and on until even Goku gets bored. 

The Cell saga is easily peak Dragon Ball. This is the season Saturday morning cartoons would replay over and over again, so it's the one I’m most familiar with, and damn it I see why they did that. It’s a fun, messy time travel story that focuses on the development of our two biggest protagonists. Goku and Krillin? Nah fuck them I mean Gohan and Vegeta. We get conclusions to their character arcs that are so bombastically enjoyable that Toriyama NEARLY approaches good writing.

Season 4 on the other hand can’t decide whether it wants to be a continuation or its own thing and it shows in the pacing. The Buu saga is way too fucking long for no reason, the stakes rise to an absurd extreme and towards the end none of the characters seem to take any real notice. Goku lets his own son die to save a dog and an old man and then laughs it off as a brain fart. I like Majin Vegeta and regular Buu but everything afterwards overstays its welcome.

Castlevania s1-2

It’s kind of insane to me how good this show is. It takes the plot of an NES game with minimal dialogue and cool set pieces and transforms it into an epic ensemble story where every character has a fascinating arc to explore, not to mention animated BEAUTIFULLY. The show does NOT hold back on gore, but at the same time pulls it off with elegance so the blood and guts don’t feel gratuitous. Castlevania 3 was also my favorite as a kid despite never having finished it so it was personally very satisfying to see this one adapted. 

The relationship between Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha is also adorable and one of my mainstays when I think of fictional Polyamorous couples. Their dynamics are further developed in the latter seasons, but the Dracula fight is so stellar that I was satisfied with ending it there for now, I still need to watch the Rondo of Blood anime.

My Adventures With Superman s1

This show was so cute! And also very vindicating after Snyder’s Superman changed every depiction of the character into a deconstruction on whether helping people is good or evil. Or maybe those were the only ones I saw after that. I was introduced to Superman through the Justice League cartoon and that will always be my primary understanding of the guy, so it’s nice to see Clark written in a similar light. 

However, it’s Lois Lane that really takes center stage in this show. I mean it’s her adventures after all. She is NOTHING like any previous Lois Lane and is an essential brand new character, and she plays off of Clark’s personality SUPER well and their romance is adorable to see develop. I saw a lot of comparisons of her character to Luz and honestly I see the resemblance, not only in design but in dialogue. Which is fine I like Luz, but it forces me to compare it to the Owl House. 

While this show also has very little time to tell its story, unlike TOH it’s paced like shit. Every episode that they put out is fantastic, but all of them feel like the conclusion to a grand story arc, rather than 10 episodes in succession of each other. They introduced multiverse shit in episode SEVEN. And while I love the new design of Mr. Mxldsjdnsk (especially considering I had just finished Dragon Ball Z), they did not earn that shit. This is obviously a production problem I can’t blame on the writers, but this is a show clearly designed as a slice of life with action thrown in, it needs cute fillery episodes, dammit. STOP RUSHING EVERYTHING.

King of the Hill s1

I don’t know if it's a controversial take to say King of the Hill is easily the best adult-oriented American cartoon, right? I think everyone should be on the same page on this. Like the Simpsons is way too long to be objectively good anymore. Maybe Futurama outclasses it but like. Family Guy? American Dad? BIG MOutH? None of those even have jokes. King of the Hill manages to not only be hilarious as all hell, but also tell a meaningful story.

As someone who has grown up in the relative south (Not Texas) I see it as both a satire, celebration, and deconstruction of the culture of rural America. Most episodes focus on Hank trying to give Bobby a meaningful childhood and teach him valuable lessons, but in the process realizing that the culture he grew up in kind of fucked him up a bit, and instead of digging his heels in and refusing to change, he alters his behavior and views for the sake of his son. Bobby himself is a lovable goofball who shows off the fun of growing up as some country hick. Watch this clip of Bobby playing spin the bottle right fucking now.

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake s1

ANOTHER PIECE OF MEDIA CAPITALIZING ON THE MULTIVERSE TREND LETS GO. I spoke before about the inherent metafiction in Multiverse narratives. I think Fionna and Cake understands that aspect well, which makes sense as in Adventure Time the Multiverse had already been an established fact. This sequel is more of an elaboration on previous world-building from the original, rather than following the trends of Marvel or whoever. It also makes me care about two characters I couldn’t give a shit about in the original, that being the title protagonists. They were cute in Adventure Time, but in my first watch through I really couldn’t be bothered with the watered down, gender-swapped variants of our main dudes, and in this show they basically discard all those episodes anyways! Cool!

Their arcs follow the existential nightmare of being people from a “noncanon, illegitimate” universe, and their quest to bring magic back to their world. It’s a compelling narrative and their differences and similarities with Finn and Jake are genuinely fun to compare and contrast while also being fun characters in their own right. I like the realization Fionna has midway through the series that the violent adventures she craved are actually kind of horrifying, and the simple quiet life she used to have was nice. I’m excited to see what the writers have in store for the both of them in the future.

But the real meat of this season comes in the deconstruction of the fan favorite character, Simon Ice King. Fionna and Cake was his fanfiction, after all, though that gets somewhat retconned. He was already a tragic figure in the original, and the final season gave him a bittersweet ending: his sanity returned but now eternally separated from his wife by her Eldritch transformation. This show gives his character the space and time to process exactly what the hell he’s supposed to do with his life now as well as understand the problems he and Betty had when they were in a relationship. I’m glad to see Simon finally get something far more resembling a happy ending than he ever got in the original.

Adventure Time s1-7

This is a show that I would describe as “high patience, high reward.” It’s not something I truly got into until college, as I was put off by what I saw as Lolz Random humor I was trying to distance myself from as a Cool Mature Teenager™. I still had a hard time getting through the first couple seasons in my first watch-through, but it was an easy show to put on in the background while doing research for papers. Eventually I was hooked and sped through all of it at blinding speeds. 

Fionna and Cake inspired me to revisit the show, and I’m happy to say I have a higher tolerance for the aspects of the show I found obnoxious the first time around. The wacky mathy-math lingo of the characters generally fades into the background and builds a distinct vocabulary of this goofy sci-fi fantasy world. It was also fun to see how aspects of the earlier episodes inspired later developments of the world, like the Zombie Businessmen establishing a possible dystopian setting for our goofball protagonists.

Unlike my first viewing, the pace breaker actually started around season five. Their are some fantastic episodes in this period of the show, but overall the world stops developing as fast and each episode acts more as an exploration of the characters. It’s nice to spend more time with all of these weirdos, but it’s made it tough to binge. That’s actually a positive now that I think about it. 

I like Finn a lot. I like that he’s flawed and he fails all the time, it makes it more enjoyable to see him mature as a person. If any episode encapsulates his personality the most, I think it’s the Hall of Egress, where Finn is trapped in a dungeon that resets every time he opens his eyes. It’s probably my favorite episode in the entire show, and plays to all of AT’s strengths: a great mix of comedy and introspection without ever being melodramatic

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

I was initially disappointed with this show when I realized it wasn’t a direct adaptation of the original comic. It plays this fact as a twist, playing out the first volume in its entirety until the very end, where SPOILERS Scott Fucking Dies. The “Takes Off” part was literal: that dude is Gone. The second episode even plays this for laughs as Envy Adams has a spontaneous concert over his funeral and no one besides Ramona seems to care that their friend exploded. It felt like a cruel joke making fun of fans of the original. 

I’m glad I pushed through, though, as all of this was a ploy to put Ramona in the center stage, changing the goalpost of Beat Up the Seven Evil Exes to Investigate the Seven Evil Exes for possible murder/kidnapping motives Columbo-style. In most of the adaptations, Ramona is always playing off of Scott’s dumbass behavior, and it takes a while to truly dig into her personality. Putting her center-stage gives the audience an immediate view into her character and she may be the most likable she’s ever been. 

This show works as a sequel to the original through some time-travel shenanigans, and brings back series creator Brian Lee O’Malley, as well as the cast from the movie. This whole deal, if the rumor is true, apparently came out of Michael Cera responding to a group email meme with the og cast a decade late with “That’s funny,” and got everyone talking again. With that in mind it changes my view on the show as a whole, it's not a cruel joke, it’s a love letter to everything that came before it. 

I do still have a couple complaints, mostly that a few characters are heavily flanderized, namely Wallace and Scott himself, but like. That’s fine. How many times have we seen these characters explored? Like what 5 times now? I’m fine with them taking a comedic back seat to explore the dynamics of the rest of the cast. It’s also really satisfying to see all the exes get meaningful character arcs, which they never really got in the other versions of SP including the original. It makes me want to see what else they might have in store, but there are no plans for a continuation. Probably because that cast listing was expensive as hell. Do you know how much Chris Evans voice acting costs??? $7.50/hour AT LEAST.

Bee and Puppycat s2

Damn this show is so comfy. Everything from the characters, the music, the voice acting, the animation style, the COLORS! Even when the show hits the dramatic button it never stops being such a delight. It’s also longer than I remember, and gives a lot of time for every plotline to unfold. There’s intrigue and mystery surrounding every inch of this Mario Galaxy-ass setting, and it never fully reveals its hand, but that never takes away from the simple, slice-of-life story about two roommates taking part time jobs to make ends meet.

There’s a heavy theme of responsibility and young adulthood with all of the characters, which is also super relatable to me rn. The most responsible character in this show is the six-year old landlord with WAY too much on his shoulders. I like the dynamics with the Wizard family, I feel they present very realistic sibling relationships overall.

I tried checking out season 1 on youtube. I’ve heard people call it a continuation, but season 2 really is just a reimagining of this short youtube series. It’s only an hour long but for some reason it failed to grasp me. It’s somewhat tonally different, and the romantic tension between Bee and Deckard is weird to me after watching season 2. I’m glad they abandoned that as a plotline.

And those are all the shows I watched this year. LAST YEAR. I did not finish this when I wanted to, so to speed things up I’m gonna skip over the final movie list. Long story short Coraline rules, Home Alone 2 is violent and funny, Love Actually Hugh Grant is hot, and Christmas Vacation SUCKS. Fuck National Lampoon all my homies Hate national lampoon. Next time I will be doing the final games list. Wahoo!

[juniaships]

Babygirl (derogatory)

A shrek movie wouldn't be complete without a villain and who better to play the role than the manliest man in the kingdom! So here's Bruce (aka Uther Pendragon). In the story he comes to help Charming out of the lowest point of his life by teaching him how to be a man. However this is just a ploy to put him on the throne to live out his dreams of being king

Pinocchio: and people call me puppet!

Anyways I feel like Shrek 3 could've been a discussion on toxic gender roles, & that you don't have to stick to family members if they refuse to change. Even, especially if they are biological. Bruce is what happens when toxic masculinity and fear of being vulnerable dominates your life. Given the use of fairytale archetypes, in Bruce's case he deconstructs the Dashing Rouge/Missing Dad.

Some key notes:

Either has grey or red hair; red because of Fiona (he's like an older bitchy version of her)

I want him to look like a ✨slutty✨ ver. Of Charming

However the boyish doe-eyed look adds a deceptive innocence

Long messy hair & a full beard

Icy Blue eyes (symbolic of Fairy Godmother one of his past lovers)

Kinda roundish squarish jawline not too gaunt but not too soft either

Archetype is "Dashing Rouge"

Links to picrews:

https://picrew.me/image_maker/1414503

https://picrew.me/image_maker/21969

https://picrew.me/image_maker/41153

Brightgoat Picrew by @brightgoat

[best-of-fanfic]

But what exactly was the relationship between Arthur's two lovers? They seemed close enough to be friends, but if Arthur was truly sleeping with them both… would Arthur’s first lover really be so understanding or supportive? Why would Merlin not be jealous for the rise in stature of Arthur’s latest lover when he had come first?

Uther decided to press the issue now, preferring the outburst to happen early and in relative privacy rather than have it happen out in public where anyone could hear.

Uther from Accidentally My Companion

It was so hard to pick a quote that I felt encompasses the messiness that is Uther in this fic. Uther not only thinks Merlin and Arthur are doing it like rabbits but because Arthur shows someone an ounce of care they are also lovers.

Uther thinks Arthur is a hoe and needs to make sure his son isn't being a messy hoe and that's the funniest thing.

I NEED for there to be more people Uther thinks Arthur is fucking. His reaction every time is priceless