Pendragon Siblings Yet Again

Gave the middle finger to Microsoft, its pushing of Windows 11, generative AI and all of the e-waste they're creating simply because older machines can't support the pure shite they're pushing, and installed Linux Mint.

Decided as well that there was definitely still life in my seven year old laptop and got a hold of a new battery from the manufacturer (I enjoyed the "this is quite an old model..." from the support line person).

Happy to report that the old girl's running like a dream now!

Loved all of the learning and unexpected good that came out of it.

I learned lots of new things, like the basics of Linux, how to flash a USB stick, how to open up my laptop with a screwdriver and a few guitar picks and how to replace an internal battery.

I connected with tech savvy friends for their advice and opinions, got excited with others about doing the same thing or getting into similar projects, used my local library to take out a book on Linux and borrowed a mini-screwdriver off of a colleague, who I'm in chats with now about laptop repair.

All this is to say, save your stuff from the wasteful destiny that's planned for it!

women in PHLEGM (poetry, history, language, english literature, ghost stories, music)

I know I'm not the only one who felt uncomfortable with Merlin's powers to compel dragons against their will, particularly with the show centred on Merlin trying to achieve safety and freedom for magic users.

But what if that power goes both ways? Dragonlords may be able to command dragons, but dragons can steer the course of destiny and absolutely wreck the ship.

What if dragons can cause a person monumental levels of predestined pain and suffering, absolutely crush them with the narrative and make not just their hero's journey, but the realisation of their destiny pure unadulterated hell?

Dragonlords who abused their power technically end up achieving their goals, but it's at so great a personal cost that the dragonlords of old were like "yeah, no, we're not gonna fuck with that. How about we just be friends and respect each other?"

Of course, no one was around to warn our poor boy Merlin. My new HC is that his and Arthur's destiny looked so different to the one he expected, and that he suffered so much loss on the way, because he messed with Kilgharrah.

hi!! youre one of the few blogs i know of that are familiar with both the bbc show and arthuriana so i was wondering if you could point me towards texts where gawain and merlin have any sort of meaningful interaction? or is prose merlin all there is? i love their dynamic on the show and i know it's probs one of a kind in arthuriana but it would be interesting to compare and contrast :) thanks!

so far i only know of Robert de Boron's Prose Merlin for this. In that text, Merlin had lots of interactions with the teenaged Orkney siblings and especially Gawain, acting as an annoying coach to them (i.e. shapeshifting into different disguises to insult them into getting their asses together, or just messing with these royal teenagers and making them laugh.)

Welsh Myrddin did not have anything to do with Arthur and Gwalchmai in the Mabinogion either. Actually Myrrdin isn't in Mabinogion.

Myrddin and Taliesin were the only ones who had some interaction in The Black Book of Carmarthen.

In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Merlin never met Arthur and his knights. because he left Uther's court permanently after he helped Uther beget Arthur by Ygraine

Medieval French! Merlin (Robert de Boron tradition) usually just takes a backseat and disappears from the narrative once Arthur properly rules the throne after he defeats the rebelling barons.

I haven't gotten far in the Vulgate Cycle myself (it is also based on Robert de Boron's initial work). Maybe there are more there. But I have no idea yet.

In Thomas Malory, Merlin would often only appear to Knights after some tragedy happens to tell them that he knew everything all along.

I don't know much about post-Thomas Malory Arthuriana yet to tell you if there are other adaptations where Merlin is constantly involved in the (mis)adventures of Arthur's Knights either.

.....

Here's the thing we have to remember tho. Legendary Merlin is supposed to be this old wise trickster fart that everyone in King Arthur's court fears and respects (because of his powers and because he has advised and assisted many kings). If he forms some bonds with the knights then it's because he wanna mess with them or he knows something that they don't, or he has some quests for them.

It's what we have to keep in mind when looking at arthurian legends and even classic arthurian tv shows and movies.

BBC Adventures of Merlin is an anomaly because they made their Merlin into one of the youngest, and most inexperienced characters (who doesnt even have a court rank). As a result, he formed some rather interesting dynamics with characters that bore the same name as Arthurian Knights.

...

thanks for trusting me with this question. i hope you find the stories you are looking for.

dandelions are magic. literally tiny suns in the grass that turn into the moon and then the stars when you blow on them. fucking insane.

4x06 || 5x05

Behold! Dragoon the Great pondering his orb!

I wonder, what secrets of the universe is he peering into?

for the @merlinmicrofic prompt "harvest" Gaius/Geoffrey, G , no warnings, 290 words, ao3 link

seedling

You'll want to wait for the grain to wither, to go brittle-dry, before you take the scythe to it. Not meant to be cut are stalks still full of sap, unless nature made them weak. Or so Death would reason if it had a voice.

By Uther's wrath though, old and young alike fell before the reaper. The king's most trusted were tasked to ensure bountiful yield. There were lists.

Gaius felt sick. He had sworn, he'd sworn to leave his old life behind and all that came with it. Magic. Tradition. Conscience? “I couldn't bear it,” the king had said, “if any harm came to you,” and Gaius had cowered before the threat.

There were lists, and Gaius felt sick. “So many souls.”

Geoffrey looked up, gaze sharp, quill idling. “Do you not love our king?”

“And do you not love me?”

It was as much as either of them could say out loud. The moment lingered, then something broke between them. The quill resumed its scratching. The reaper bound sheafs.

Sneaking out in the night was not something that came easily to Gaius. He cursed this bout of courage as fear constricted his throat, a premonition of the hangman's noose.

Up in the tower over the courtyard, there was a light in the window. The infant prince must be keeping his wet nurse up again. Would he one day have to pick the fruit grown from his father's bitterness, and choke on it? Had fate, moving its playing pieces into place, already entrapped him in its vines?

“Gaius?” The blonde girl's eyes shone bright with fear and magic both. “What of my sister?”

“Don't be afraid. She will be safe.” Gaius took her hand. “Come, Morgause, let's go.”

what is it abt bbc merlin that makes it. linger