whynot | some might say we will find a brighter day

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some might say we will find a brighter day

#1 - IN WHICH THERE IS A CONFESSION. When I started seeing the name Britomart around, I thought it was some sort of British convenience store or supermarket, and I thought, "Oh, maybe they are writing a crackfic AU! Perhaps a 'Clerks' fusion!"

Okay. I get it now.

#2 - IN WHICH I AM PERHAPS BEYOND HELP. So I was replying my way through a backlog of comments and I felt guilty for ignoring them for this long, but then I check the date on them and it's only been 5 days. It felt like longer. Going on the internet is like spending your time in an enchanted otherworld where you can shape things to your will and magical things happen everywhere, but then you go back to the real world (so-called) and find out that nothing's changed since you last left. Time in the other world is not like time in this world, and it's like all that stuff in the other world amounts to nothing here. But no, that can't be true, you tell yourself that can't be true.

So I guess that makes Aslan the dormitory's internet connection, because he is sometimes great and sometimes painful.

oh god i can't turn narnia off

#3 - In which

merlin_xovers now offers a prompt table!

#4 - A WILL REC: Until We Run Out of Road by

mariana_oconnor. Oh my god, you guys, this fic <33. Modern AU in which Merlin runs away on a road trip after Will's death, and is haunted anyway. Sort of.

#5 - This week's 'Merlin'!

You know how in the beginning, fandom was like, "Oh, Gaius/Uther is kind of like Merlin/Arthur." And then people fell away from this idea because Gaius and Uther are obviously crazier and creepier than their respective son figures. But the parallel pops up again this episode. The way Merlin would do anything to save Arthur, Gaius seems to have the same attachment to Uther, 'cos okay: how many times in the past has Gaius said "No, Merlin, you can't save your friends with magic!"? But now he is all for saving UTHER with magic! Uther, who won't appreciate it enough to spare Merlin's life! Merlin's all about saving the world with his magic, so whether he doesn't notice Gaius's double standard or just doesn't care, I don't know.

Do you think we'll ever see a Gaius-centric episode? Why does Gaius do the things he does? Why would he risk Merlin for Uther but not for Arthur? What is the big love story between Gaius and Uther? They obviously care for each other? Why is Gaius so spooked? Why does he think keeping secrets is always the best way? Why is he so used to secrets and to trickery and lies? Does Gaius tell himself he's being practical, but also suspects that he is a coward? Is he tormented by the past or has he made peace with it? Gaiussssssssss \o/

#6 - I still have to finish that 'seven days of joy' meme, and maybe post thoughts about 'Lucifer', but this post is kinda long already, so let's end it on a note of IN WHICH OASIS IS NOT QUITE DEAD. I recently downloaded their complete discography in a fit of nostalgia and oh maaaaannnnnn <33 <3 <333. There is nothing quite like the beloved crap music of your childhood and the assholes that sing it. I really like this YouTube playlist of an acoustic show that Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer did in Paris in 2006.

#6a - Tell me I'm not the only one who's ever wanted Liam Gallagher/Damon Albarn fic.

#6b - TELL ME LIAM GALLAGHER WILL FOLLOW THROUGH ON THESE RUMORS TO COLLABORATE WITH JAY-Z. WHAT. \o/

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that makes Aslan the dormitory's internet connection, because he is sometimes great and sometimes painful

AHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ahem.

No one is ever accorded any bandwidth but their own :(

I don't want to talk about characterization in Merlin, because I think I've lost faith they're going to get into ANY OF THEM. Because this TWO PART episode could have been the perfect opportunity to explore not only UTHER (which they didn't), but also ARTHUR, because WTF random spin on his head reaction from, "DNW" to "Well if it makes him happy." WHERE IS THE DELETED SCENE WHERE HE TALKED THIS OVER WITH MORGANA OBVIOUSLY?

Whatever. I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THAT WILL FIC. AM GOING TO READ IT TODAY, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE LIKE EIGHT OTHER THINGS ON MY TABS I WAS SUPPOSED TO READ FIRST.

LOL at the Britomart thing, that just makes me want her to open up a British convenience store that just sells magical lances and probably is a sex shop considering the puns you could make with MAGICAL LANCES.

I can see what you mean. Fanfic can't be doing ALL the work here, writers! Take it up a notch! Season 2 needs soooo many missing scenes.

That fic is pretty grait. I need to leave some keysmash on it soon.

Bahaha, and Merlin wants to know how convenient is it really if it only sells lances? How many lances do you need for the sake of convenience? And Arthur says, what do you know about lances anyway, Merlin. Morgana just smiles amused and says that if you do it right, then you need just the one. And Arthur turns kind of red, and Merlin wonders if he's missing something.

I may have to put off the Will fic until tomorrow, I am feeling down today and I don't think dead!Will is going to help with that (although I am going to marathon all the behind the magic specials I haven't seen yet and see if that perks me up again).

Hahaha. OH MORGANA. ♥

Yeah that fic is sad, but also hopeful sort of, but... yeah. There's not a lot of dark fics in the fandom, I was pleasantly surprised to find this one. I am sorry you're feeling down! <3 <3 <3 HUGS AND EMBRAAAAAACES <3 I hope you feel better, girl.

I always feel like I cannot keep up with the internet. It moves so fast! New things happen so quickly! And IT NEVER SLEEPS. I am pretty grateful that real life goes rather more slowly, otherwise I would fail it EVEN HARDER. :D

Haven't yet watched the most recent episode of Merlin but I do wish they'd give us a few more hints about what Gaius was up to twenty years ago. Something more for us to play with!

Also, Merlin isn't Gaius, but sometimes if I tilt my head just so, I see exactly how Arthur could be Uther.

The internet never, ever sleeps.

Also, Merlin isn't Gaius, but sometimes if I tilt my head just so, I see exactly how Arthur could be Uther.
Yeah, definitely. They just love their kingdom so much! (What about a fic where Arthur wonders, with some trepidation, if he is becoming his father?) And Merlin may not be Gaius, but I think Gaius was once Merlin.

They just love their kingdom so much!

Ahahaha, I meant more in terms of their talent for coming to the wrong conclusion.

I don't think Gaius was ever as rash or as quick to get attached as Merlin. Though I suppose you could say that those things come from being very powerful, which Gaius never has been.

Ooh, that too.

No? I think that maybe all his careful pussyfooting around is an effect of a fall sometime in his past, whether from power or grace or what, I don't know. Whether the lowering comes from his own judgment or someone else's, I don't know. But he's got a little magic up his sleeve, he's got some magical contacts in his phonebook. He may not have been as powerful as Merlin, but I'm not sure if he has always been this afraid.

Not always this afraid, certainly, but I just can't see him ever having charged around the way Merlin does. He doesn't have that spirit.

#2 is SO TRUE. I feel horrible if I've left a comment unanswered for 2 days, but I often don't call my mom back for a week irl, and she doesn't usually care.

#5: So help me intarwebs, when I get done with Camelot_solstice and Yuletide, I am going to drop everything and write the Great Gaius Epic. It will be complicated and sad and sweet and scary and everything Gaius is. We get so much from his face but the writer's give us nothing, nothing!

(Though, uh, a later episode might fix that.)

the Great Gaius Epic. It will be complicated and sad and sweet and scary and everything Gaius is.

YES YES WHAT THE HELL GAIUS. He will do anything to save Uther! But...at the same time...idk, he seemed sort of cowardly about it? Like if it were Merlin and Arthur Merlin would have done the same thing, not gotten his protege to do it instead, yeah? And I guess Merlin is more powerful, but, just, the scene where the priest is all "Objections?" and Gaius looks around for Merlin instead of doing anything himself...I don't know. I thought it was interesting. I WANT A GAIUS EPISODE, WHAT IS THE GAIUS/UTHER BACKSTORY, TELL ME MORE, WRITERS.

the scene where the priest is all "Objections?" and Gaius looks around for Merlin instead of doing anything himself
Yes I really like this scene! The show continues to sell Gaius as the kindly father figure, but under the surface there are all these subtle things that reveal Gaius for the... the THING that he is!

Someone put it like this, that if Gaius chose to help and protect Uther committing genocide, then he has to constantly support Uther in everything because he has to continue buttressing this fragile belief that this is all for everyone's own good.

Yesssss. He is a kindly father figure, but he's also a coward and he hides things from the cast--Morgana, frex--and WTF DON'T HELP UTHER KILL PEOPLE GAIUS. He seems to be kinda--like, he just follows orders? He can't go against Uther, but I don't know if that's Uther-as-Uther or Uther-the-king.

he has to continue buttressing this fragile belief that this is all for everyone's own good
Oooooh, I like this. I was just thinking he was in too far to back out/didn't want to leave Uther and was afraid to risk his life.

he was in too far to back out/didn't want to leave Uther and was afraid to risk his life.
That's what it comes down to, I think. He can't back out of Uther.

Uther-as-Uther or Uther-the-king.
Interesting! I'm inclined to say Uther as Uther, because genuine caring tends to blind people, but I can see arguments for Uther-as-king.

Maybe it's both? He cares for Uther-the-man but he's afraid of Uther-the-king. I guess he stayed because...wait wait wait, why is he alive to start with? Did he renounce his magic? Are there other ex-sorcerers running around?

I don't think Uther ever knew about his magic. He is pretty unforgiving when it comes to magic, so Gaius probably saw his undercover as a prudent move. If Uther DID know Gaius dabbled in magic, that brings up a whole new set of questions. Are Gaius and Uther just constantly each other's exceptions?

He must have known--he was pretty magically inclined early on, right? Like, with Igraine and all?

Are Gaius and Uther just constantly each other's exceptions?
I think so. Weeeeeeird.

But Igraine was Nimueh. Gaius might've hung out with magical creatures, but I don't remember evidence that Uther knew he did anything more with them than hang out. Or maybe Gaius was just a regular muggle who liked to read about magic, and just as he was learning to do practical magic, Uther started his anti-magic thing. Who knows! Oh Gaius!

Oh hrm. I always imagined that Uther was all "Yay magic!" until it killed his wife, so Gaius would have had no reason to hide it. And you'd think it'd be necessary for a court physician. His whole "This must be magic, sire," thing always struck me as very ex-magiciany.

Oh true. Hmm. This only invites more questions! How deeply/shallowly was Gaius into magic that his promise to swear off it was sincere/believable? To what extent and how? Why is Gaius so valuable? Why is Uther worth all the lies? Is it maybe that Gaius and Uther are the only people who knew what each was like before they were fallen, so to speak?

Ooooooh, unless it's not the magic that made Gaius trustworthy but their relationship! Because Gaius won't betray Uther ever ever ever (...even by harboring a young wizard? idk)--although even that, like, he's protecting Morgana and protecting Merlin who's protecting Arthur, so even then Gaius is looking out for Uther's interests. What's the age difference between them, you think? like, what could their relatnioship have been? hmmmmm

Not more than 20 I think? Say Uther is 40 and Gaius is 60? -ish? I can't quite see Uther having a mentor figure, I just can't. But I guess Merlin is too wild to really have Gaius for a mentor figure, but he is anyway. So perhaps it's possible that Gaius was Uther's mentor thingy.

What if Gaius sees Uther in Merlin? The single-minded drive to Do Good and damn the consequences?

I don't want Uther to be overthrown and killed, I decided. When Uther's reign comes to an end, I just want him and Gaius to take a vacation all over the world, having road trip adventures and sending their kids cheesy postcards from distant locales.

Maybe he was, like, Uther's tutor. OR OR OR what if he knew Igraine? Uther loves him because Igraine did, and he loves Uther because Igraine did. And as the physician he would have worked with them on the infertility thing.

Oooh, that's interesting. He certainly doesn't see himself (unless he totally changed?), but that--that is really interesting. The idea that Merlin is always right, Merlin will fix everything. Yes.

Dear Arthur, I hope Camelot is safe under your rule. Gaius and I are in France and I hear the most ridiculous stories about some round table. Love, Father.
His postcards to Morgana would be much nicer, and she would get presents too.

Igraine! Such the missing piece. I wonder what her relationship with Nimueh was. I can see friendship, but I can also see wariness. Uther may have welcomed Nimueh at court, but did Igraine? I dunno, but also fandom has instilled in me a gag reflex against women hating each other.

Haha yes! Uther wonders if everyone is okay, if Camelot is safe, and Gaius has to remind him it's not his problem anymore, and then they go off to eat some crepes. (Uther still doesn't like the French, but he is warming to their food.) I suppose they come back for Christmas, but Merlin keeps saying awkward things like, "Hey, I've just realized that you've thrown everyone in this room into the dungeons at least once! Except Gaius. Isn't that funny?"

It's so obvious that she left such a hole! I want to know lots more about her. Did Nimueh grieve? Was she pissed at Arthur for taking her place? Does Uther have to hate magic so he can love his son?

also fandom has instilled in me a gag reflex against women hating each other.
Seriously. I am like OH STOP IT, because I want to see women with decent relationships with each other

...And then things go reeeeeeally quiet and Morgana goes "Wait, when did you throw Arthur in the dungeons?" (Or has he? I can't remember.)

Does Uther have to hate magic so he can love his son?
fjdslfjsdfds aaaaaaahhhh Pendragons! SO TRAGIC. How beloved by the people was Igraine, I wonder?

1.04, dude! For trying to save his dying manservant!

The Pendragons are just trying to break my heart all the time. I wouldn't like Arthur so much if his dad wasn't so mean, though, huh.

(oh, also, the comments you have in your feminism/historical stuff post are reeeeeally interesting, so, um, you should post questions like that more often?)

OH I TOTALLY FORGOT. HE HAD THE FLOWER AND EVERYTHING.

I wouldn't like Arthur so much if his dad wasn't so mean, though, huh.
I know what you mean.

Me too. I actually have half a mind to link to that post and repose the question so it's not under an LJ-cut. I don't tend to do srs bsns soapboxing on my LJ and the chances that I ever will are very slim (though it does tend to come out in comments), but just throwing out this question was interesting. It is an issue I wasn't sure how to tackle because I was such a staunch cultural and historical relativist (and still pretty much am?), but now I'm thinking about feminism and media representations more and i wasn't sure yet how to smish these things together.

I totally left another comment on it because I am a dork, but I know what you mean. It's hard to reconcile the whole idea of--like you can't judge a character for their whole culture in a short story? But also oppression is bad. I think I would totally love it if you did more soapboxing on your journal, 'cause it's awesome in comments. :) And I mean, if I wait long enough at a post you and Steph will go all Marxism in comments, so. ALSO ALSO what do you do when you're just, say, filming the Aeneid? Like, do you change it so the sexism isn't so apparent? But then you lose the story. But if you don't you're left with flat women and sexism. aaagh.

I saw that comment! It takes me a while to reply to comments, especially the ones that require thought and coherence. So much more fun and quick to speculate on the postcards Uther would write to Arthur from France! So, the order that I reply to comments to is not indicative of anything except my own laziness.

See, that's the thing. People lose stories because of the politics of the day! The way a system ends up suppressing certain stories because it's not about Jesus, another system suppresses certain stories because it's not about independent women. And that's kind of a crazy analogy, i apologize, but it helps the point i'm trying to make? Gender issues and sexism are always important, but they are not always the MOST important thing.

(And I mean, if I wait long enough at a post you and Steph will go all Marxism in comments, so.
XD)

Lol, no, I totally get that. Comments take lots of energy especially at insane hours of the night. I totally didn't mean to be like "Reply to my comment!!!"

Yesssss. Exactly. Yes. And I want those stories to stay alive! Maybe there should be reinterpreting instead, 'cause, like, the Aeneid, right, we don't see much of the women but did that stop Ursula le Guin from writing a whole novel about one? No! So there should be that, and even like if you're filming an old story, maybe there are ways of playing the character without changing her that make it less sexist. Because a 3d woman is really all I ask, sometimes.

there are ways of playing the character without changing her that make it less sexist.
This is what it's all about, really.

All the different ways to be strong. All the different practical feminisms around the world.

What are you doing still up anywaY? i kind of just woke up 12 hours ago, that is my excuse.

All the different ways to be strong YES THIS. I was totally just lurking around the comments on my flist and someone was saying that a lot of the acceptable ways to write strong females use masculine strengths, who said that, was it you? Because yes! There are more ways of being strong than picking up a sword and refusing to cry, or not wanting to bear children, or being scornful of the women around you who are not so "strong".

I have such a screwy sleep schedule and my roommates do too, that is my excuse.

Haha, it is entirely possible that that is me. Yet another pet issue I love to rant about in comments but have never in an actual post. Like, all that does is two-dimensionalize women and ignore their other possible avenues of strength and agency!

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some might say we will find a brighter day

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