FINALE, then essay and Yuletide. Yes.

[whynot]

OMGWTFMERLIN


-- lololol "quick we must divest Bradley of his clothes as soon as possible!!"

-- Arthur/Gwen fjlksfjlsjfljsd;fa;s he puts her hand over his heeaaarrrrrrt

<3 <3 <3 AND THEN THEY MAKE SEXY EYES

-- DO NOT MAKE THIS A TEST OF WILL <3333 AND THEN ARTHUR'S ALL, "FUCK YA'LL I'M LEAVING". He is growing up and becoming king, guys! He is standing up to his father instead of sneaking around! And he's not standing up in an angry way, but in a matter-of-fact way! FOR THE LOVE OF CAMELOT.

-- lol Parselmouths

-- "TIS BUT A SCRATCH." WAS THAT A MONTY PYTHON REFERENCE?? IT HAS TO BE XD XD. I feel bad for people who haven't watched 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' before watching 'Merlin' because they're probably bombarded by these references in fandom, and when they actually watch the Python film, maybe it's not funny anymore because of it.

-- IT PAINS HIM TO ADMIT IT BUT HE DOES ENJOY MERLIN'S SURLY RETORTS. HE KNOWS HE'S A PRINCE SO HE CAN'T BE FRIENDS BUT IF HE WEREN'T A PRINCE HE THINKS THEY'D GET ON. SO MERLIN CAN TELL HIM. fjkdsjflds.

-- I stopped shipping Arthur/Merlin ages ago, but lemme CP what I said to Heather. "Honestly I was quite <333 at their interaction this episode, but that mostly stemmed from Arthur being more openly affectionate with Merlin than ever and I was like, "Oh, I guess fandom is right after all!" because I never really bought all the clamoring that "OMG ARTHUR TOTALLY LOVES MERLIN YOU SEEEEEE". I think Arthur has wonky ideas of what friendship is because no one's ever really real friends with the prince. Like, Arthur knows how to love his kingdom and his duty and his father, but he's still figuring out how to love people. So this episode, when he's actually opening up and showing true affection for Merlin, it hurts so good when Merlin just keeps lying and lying and lying to him. OH ARTHUR. Oh Merlin! I love it."

-- LOL GRATUITUOUS ARTHUR BUTT IN THE CORNER. oh show.

-- !!! THE DRAGON HAS A NAME <333333333 YESSSSSSS. Kilgaroth? Kilgara? Kilgaro?

-- Gwen misses Arthur. OH WAIT SHE IS MISSING MORGANA?? I choose to believe the latter but I suspect they mean us to believe the former.

-- lol Gaius giving Gwen dating advice

-- SUPERCILIOUS, AND ALL THE MERLIN&ARTHUR CONVERSATION THAT CAME AFTER IT. <333

-- WHAT AHAHAHAHA. So, I was all jflsjfldsjfkldjsklf at the father/son reunion, and then RANDOM ARTHUR IS RANDOM passing through behind them and whistling dixie, totally not eavesdropping or anything.

-- DRAGON LORD MERLIN \o/

-- "GOOD NIGHT SON." LOOK AT THE LOOK ON MERLIN'S FACE OMG LOOK AT IIIIIIIT
"SLEEP WELL FATHER."
sfjdsjlKJFljls;FJ:KLSJFLKJSLFJLS:JKDLJFLKSJKLFDS aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this scene breaks me. MERLIN (THE CHARACTER NOT THE SHOW), I have not felt like this about you since like EVER, I think. I think this is the most I have ever loved him.

-- OH SHIT I HOPE BALINOR DOESN'T DIE
-- Well, I saw that coming. (A THOUSAND SADFACES)

-- OMG LOOK THEY ARE MAKING A SIGNIFICANT CIRCLE SHAPE!!!!!!!!!!! <33333333333333333333333

-- oh lolknights. Why do we not have more lolknight macros? Yes, the best thing to do is to stand huddled in the middle of a field together so the Dragon can incinerate you all in one go. Convenient!

-- MERLIN SPEAKING IN PARSELTONGUE SAVES THE DAY hahahaha

-- I'm so glad the Dragon doesn't die.

-- Arthur has been communicating in falsetto a lot this episode.

-- WAIT WAIT ARE THE OTHER KNIGHTS DEAD!??!? IS SIR LEON DEAD?@!?!?!? nooooooooooooooo


THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE, FOLKS. WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY SATURDAYS NOW.

Plot Bunny #479743: Reincarnation fic about Will and old man Simmons, where what happens in each life is that Simmons tries to catch him but Will always escapes. Simmons will never catch Will despite his neverending efforts, but we must assume Sisyphus is happy. Will is like the Road Runner to Simmons's Coyote. The Peter Pan to Simmons's Hook? The Jerry to his Tom? It is a little tragic and a little absurd, but in a way it is all either of them really need. It is perhaps not a hunt, but a ritual. Maybe in one life, Will and Simmons can be allowed a moment to meet over coffee or whatever, but in the end the chase must continue, as it always has before.

Comments

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

LOL mostly I hope someone else will so I won't have to. It could def work as original fiction. Hmm! Will represents our instinct to defy death, and Simmons represents our futile desire to recapture youth.

[matildafilch.livejournal.com]

I agree with every last keysmash in this post. Arthur being more mature than Uther! Merlin! All the time! (though the not-telling-Arthur thing is doing my head in. Oh well. It is something I am resigned to now).

Hi. Hello. I love your fic and it turns out I love your Merlin posts and almost everything else round here too.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Hello there! Thanks so much, I'm glad you're enjoying my stuff! I hope you continue to enjoy my babblings XD

Yeah I don't see how not telling Arthur WON'T end in something messy, but I'm looking forward to the messiness anyway? I dunno, characters in terrible situations interest me.

[marycontraire.livejournal.com]

THIS EPISODE WAS SO SPECTACULAR, I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE IT. BUT I STILL HAVE COMPLAINTS, OBVIOUSLY.

1. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE IF WE ACTUALLY DID SEE GWEN MISSING MORGANA.

2. NO ONE FOUND OUT ABOUT MERLIN'S MAGIC, DESPITE HE AND THE DRAGON SHOUTING ABOUT IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SQUARE AND THEN ARTHUR LYING RIGHT THERE WHILE HE SPEAKS PARSELTONGUE. WTF, ARTHUR, YOU ARE UNCONSCIOUS MORE THAN GILES ON BUFFY. PERHAPS YOU INHERITED IT FROM ASH? I KIND OF KNEW NO ONE WOULD FIND OUT SO THEY CAN DRAG IT OUT SOME MORE, BUT I AM STILL IMMENSELY FRUSTRATED.

3. WAS THERE REALLY NO WAY OF FORCING MERLIN TO BE ALL DRAGONLORDY WITHOUT HIS DAD DYING? POOR HUNITH TOTALLY DESERVES HER HAPPY ENDING.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

THIS EPISODE SET MY HEART A-FLUTTER, OH SO MANY FEELINGS.

1. WORD

3. Apparently I was like one of two people who didn't foresee his death sooner than the knight attack?! I was already totally thinking of interesting Balinor & Uther interactions upon his return to Camelot. I totally wanted Merlin and Balinor to BOND MOAR. Mooooaaaaar.

[marycontraire.livejournal.com]

AGREED. NEEDZ MOAR FATHER/SON BONDING. POOR BABY MERRRRLINNNNN!

[themadlurker.livejournal.com]

-- lol Parselmouths
THIS WAS MY THINKING TOO

-- Gwen misses Arthur. OH WAIT SHE IS MISSING MORGANA?? I choose to believe the latter but I suspect they mean us to believe the former.
GWEN DOES MISS MORGANA AND NO ONE WILL CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.

-- lol Gaius giving Gwen dating advice
I hadn't thought of it like that! priceless!

-- oh lolknights. Why do we not have more lolknight macros? Yes, the best thing to do is to stand huddled in the middle of a field together so the Dragon can incinerate you all in one go. Convenient!
LOLKNIGHTS! Fandom, get on this.

You know what you said, on heather's post, about Merlin making Arthur doubt his prowess as a knight? THIS FIC NEEDS TO EXIST.

"But what about that time, with the afanc?"

"No, you were unconscious. Also dying. Also I brought you back from the dead."

"But what about-"

"No."

"Or-"

"No."

"Merlin, bring me my boots."

"Why?"

"Because I want to polish them. It will make me feel more useful."

"...you do realize I could do that faster and better with magic, right?"

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

LOLKNIGHTS OF THE LOLTABLE OF CAMELOL. We fight evil! For love of lulz.

AHAHAHA IT TOTALLY DOES. Sir Valiant, afanc, the gryphon, OH AND REMEMBER SOFIA??, Edwin, and basically every interesting that ever happened in Camelot, Merlin solved. Arthur never did a fucking did he?! Come to think of it, has he ever actually legitimately saved the day? Or is he always the damsel in distress? (ARTHUR IS ALWAYS THE DAMSEL OMG) Either way, Arthur eats humble pie.

And maybe this can take on a creepy tone too, like a fic in which Merlin is totally the power behind the throne. And his friends knows how much they owe to Merlin and have come to find him a little intimidating.

[moment-of-sen.livejournal.com]

As soon as Merlin said to Balinor "when this is over we'll have happytimes," I was like, well he's going to die. Exactly the same as in Harry Potter when Sirius showed up and they were going to be happy families and then Sirius had to go on the lam and then died.

I'm starting to think that Arthur is spectacularly dim. Maybe it's like the Clark Kent/Superman thing- you just don't see it when you're not looking for it. Arthur really doesn't suspect Merlin at all so completely overlooks all the clues. Again, if it turns out he knew all along, I will be pissed. But I don't think they will do that. I hope they don't do that.

And Naaawwww at Gwen running to Arthur at the end.

;_; Sir Leon!

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

XD He was totally Sirius. He even kind of looked like Sirius, and kind of had Sirius's whole fugitive shtick! Also, am I the only one who didn't figure it out from like BALINOR'S FIRST SCENE that he was gonna bite it? I totally wanted him to have happy family times with Merlin, and maybe have magnificent confrontations with Uther and the Dragon.

SIR LEON D: if there is no body, there is no death! D: D:

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

OMG AT THE ARTHUR/MERLIN CLOSENESS. OMG ARTHUR/GWEN. (Omg can we get more than one line about Morgana?)

WTF WHY ARE ALLLLLL THE KNIGHTS DEAD WHAT ABOUT SIR LEON THIS IS NOT ON. Also, I cried.

So they jossed my theory that the dragon was Merlin's dad. DAMN. And...was this all some sort of test? Because I still don't understand how almost killing Arthur helps with the whole Golden Age thing the Dragon's been going on about. Unless he was never serious about it? I DON'T KNOW.

I didn't think we'd lose Merlin's dad QUITE SO FAST. Man.

In conclusion: <3 this episode, more please!

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Seriously! I haven't felt my heart swell at Arthur/Merlin since 1x10! And Arthur/Gwennnnn omg. I love it when Gwen and Arthur make sexy eyes at each other, I melt into goo. It is almost as (IF NOT JUST AS) wonderful as Gwen and Lancelot making sexy eyes at each other, AUGH I LOVE THEM BOTH. I cannot wait to see MOAR Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot on-screen. Where does Lancelot keep running off to?! Santiago Cabrera, pls clear your calendar and stick with this show! MAKE MORE SEXY EYES.

I was reading some meta somewhere that Arthur/Gwen is the most honest relationship on this show so far. They're not lying to each other at all! Well, I guess Lancelot and Gwen didn't lie to each other, but Lancelot loses major points for always running away.

I've come to take everything the Dragon says with a grain of salt. Maybe he was just making shit up to manipulate Merlin, who knows. But then maybe the made-up shit will reveal itself to be a self-fulfilling prophecy because Merlin made it happen? Maybe the Dragon is fine almostkilling Arthur because destiny has already ordained that he won't be reallykilled, so it gives the Dragon free license to do anything. Or whatever.

I TOTALLY WANTED MOAR MERLIN&BALINOR FAMILY BONDING TIMES and I was so saaaaaaaad when he died. What.

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

SERIOUSLY, where is he?! All the other knights are dead (LEON!) so he'd better get back to Camelot!

Hm, this is true, I think. No lies there. Lancelot is--I don't know, he's honest until he cuts and runs. :/

I have no idea. I mean, it just seems like that took a lot of dragon energy to do two season's worth of nurturing both sides of the same coin and whatnot. Yeah, Idk, maybe it's all destiny. But way to not even go after Uther, Dragon! This show melding the people of Camelot with its rulers makes me really uncomfortable.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I wonder what keeps noblemen lining up to join up as knights when the risk of death on the job is, like, 100%. Who's gonna sit at the Round Table?! I guess just Arthur, and Lancelot when he's around. Oh table, he would say, you are my only friend.

My friend was telling me about how in one version of the legends, Lancelot goes around challenging people and defeating them, and those he defeats, he sends back to Camelot to serve for the good of Camelot to assuage his guilt. Haha maybe this is where the replacement knights come from?! Do you think Arthur ever forgets the names of his knights because they always die before he gets to know them? And then he gets embarrassed about it?

Maybe it goes back to land=body, or in this case, kingdom=body. I mean, Uther already takes everything personally anyway. Except for when it's convenient not to, like when it's definitely gonna get Arthur killed. Which brings me to my next question: what the hell was Uther doing while his son was off presumably getting roasted by a vengeful dragon? Sitting on his throne twiddling his thumbs, whistling dixie? wtf uther. BAD KING, NO COOKIE.

SPEAKING OF BAD KINGS: Arthur has never, EVER once legitimately put down a villain. Redshirts, sure, but not the villain-villains. Arthur may be good at duels, but whenever Arthur tries to save the day for real, he fucks it up somehow and Merlin has to save him. Arthur is always the damsel in distress.

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't know how that goes. Maybe their parents don't like them? They're the rebellious sons????

Arthur would fix it by calling everyone "Knight". "Because they're knights now! ...Shut up, Merlin." He's probably feel bad though.

Argh, that's probably what it is. It still irritates me, especially when the villains are all "I hate Uther, with his killing of innocents! So I will kill his people! HAHAHA!" Yeah, okay.

I don't know! Sitting there I guess. Does he ever fight anymore? Only when Arthur was in danger I guess.

Hm. Those are always magical villains, right? Do you think he knows? I mean, at some point he's got to realize his fights always end with him waking up on the ground and Merlin going "Dude you totally killed it!"

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Where the son's all like, "I hate you guys! I'm gonna go join the knights!" and then later the mother yells at the father, "See? YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE??"

Yeah I guess a lot of them were magical villains. 1x10 wasn't magical though, but I guess that's Will who saved Arthur, not Merlin. Well, I guess Merlin called up the windstorm. And I guess he saved Gwen and Lancelot or whatever, but that wasn't for the kingdom per se. I want the magicreveal!fic where Arthur's ego is totally bruised because it turns out he has done NOTHING useful. I bet he gets a little resentful at Merlin about it. He always thought he could take care of himself, and to find himself apparently indebted to Merlin, he's not sure how he feels about that.

Another fic that needs to exist is the futurefic where Merlin is the real power behind the throne. Arthur is the charismatic figurehead and Merlin is ruthlessly efficient. And no one would ever actually admit it but they're starting to find Merlin a little scary. And of course Merlin thinks he is a total Gryffinpuff himself, but perhaps all those years of killing for and lying to Arthur for Arthur's own good might have set his moral compass askew. Maybe this is what was meant by being two sides of the same coin, that Merlin does the things Arthur can't/shouldn't. And he'd do anything for Arthur, in an obsessive dysfunctionally loyal way.

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

Yes! "I'M GOING TO BE A KNIGHT AND THEN YOU'LL BE SORRY!"

Hm, yeah. He's always thought that Merlin was useless but APPARENTLY NOT. :/ I wish he was able to let Arthur in on it; Arthur could utilize his skills and hide them at the same time (if he didn't arrest him).

Hoooow can you just throw out these fic bunnies? Omg that would be awesome.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it weren't for Arthur's loyalty to Uther, Merlin would've told him by now?

Haha, it's not the throwing out of fic bunnies, but about the writing of them that's a problem. I just wanna be the ideas guy, someone else can do the heavy lifting XD

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Arthur definitely wavers on the magic=bad thing, so. And he definitely is all "This is the LAW" so he might follow it even if he disagrees--like, he's not going to make an exception, you know? Arthur is definitely dangerous to Merlin.

Lol, I know what you mean. :)