This fic -- WOW. It's expertly woven, the motivations, desires and emotions of Arthur, Merlin and Morgana. I loved your Merlin and Arthur and thought they were expertly drawn in this story. But the most striking thing about this fic, I think, is Morgana's journey. I adore this three-dimensional version of her story and wish like anything it could have been canon. Morgana has every reason to have conflicting motives, and you dared to go there, where the show really didn't. I love her budding relationship with Leon and think that they would have been a good canon match, if Morgana hadn't turned out evil. And I love that she still cares about Arthur and Gwen, no matter what. It's never made sense to me that Morgana could suddenly hate Gwen and Arthur in canon, enough not to care what happens to them. You did a smashing job with her and because you made her more human than canon made her, you made me care about her choices and her reasons. Thank you for that.
I also really like how human Uther turned out. He's a complicated man, here, with complex, broken, human motivations and feelings. He holds on to his stance against magic and is ruthless in his strong pillar of habit, but he loves Morgana and Arthur, and isn't afraid to let it show. He's genuinely confused by Morgana's behavior, allows himself to be blinded by his parental desire to see her happy and safe that he doesn't see anything beyond innocence in her behaviors, even when what she's doing is considered scandalous by those she loves.
Altogether, this is a complex, tightly-woven story. You both did an amazing job with it. Well done!
YAY, you finished it \0/ Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments, hon; much appreciated! ♥
When we first started writing this, S3 hadn't happened yet, but once it started airing, writing our version of Morgana became more and more cathartic for us, lol. I agree that there was no reason for canon!Morgana to hate Arthur or Gwen, and even though we had no idea what S3 was going to do with her, I'm really happy with how we preemptively addressed that issue! And it's a compliment of the highest order that you wish our Morgana could've been canon, so thank you! :)
I'm so happy too that you liked Uther's role in all this. He ended up with a much smaller part than we'd originally intended for him, but, as with all the characters, we worked very hard to make him as believable and sympathetic as possible while remaining true to the core of his character.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment!
Wow, thank you SO MUCH for your incredibly sweet comments! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the Merlin/Arthur aspect of the fic, but I'm particularly thrilled that you enjoyed our version of Morgana.
As adelagia said above, we started planning this whole thing before series 3 even began filming. But one thing that we were always very clear on was the idea that Morgana was out to get Uther, NOT Gwen or Arthur. She has no reason to hate them, and I'm still upset with the show for expecting us to believe that without any justification or explanation whatsoever. Anyway, it means so much that you felt we were able to present her as a human, because all we really wanted to do was show this strong-willed but conflicted woman who was struggling to figure out her place in the world, and I'm pleased that we were able to make that come across effectively.
As to Uther, it's nice to hear that we were able to present him in a way that seemed true to the character while still displaying some of his positive features. Because the reality is that Uther does have a heart, and he does love his children, and he's not just this one-dimensional bad guy either. It's wonderful to hear that you liked our portrayal of him, even if his role was relatively small in comparison to others.
Thank you once again for your amazingly kind comments! I'm beyond thrilled that you enjoyed it :D
I also really like how human Uther turned out. He's a complicated man, here, with complex, broken, human motivations and feelings. He holds on to his stance against magic and is ruthless in his strong pillar of habit, but he loves Morgana and Arthur, and isn't afraid to let it show. He's genuinely confused by Morgana's behavior, allows himself to be blinded by his parental desire to see her happy and safe that he doesn't see anything beyond innocence in her behaviors, even when what she's doing is considered scandalous by those she loves.
Altogether, this is a complex, tightly-woven story. You both did an amazing job with it. Well done!
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When we first started writing this, S3 hadn't happened yet, but once it started airing, writing our version of Morgana became more and more cathartic for us, lol. I agree that there was no reason for canon!Morgana to hate Arthur or Gwen, and even though we had no idea what S3 was going to do with her, I'm really happy with how we preemptively addressed that issue! And it's a compliment of the highest order that you wish our Morgana could've been canon, so thank you! :)
I'm so happy too that you liked Uther's role in all this. He ended up with a much smaller part than we'd originally intended for him, but, as with all the characters, we worked very hard to make him as believable and sympathetic as possible while remaining true to the core of his character.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment!
Reply
As adelagia said above, we started planning this whole thing before series 3 even began filming. But one thing that we were always very clear on was the idea that Morgana was out to get Uther, NOT Gwen or Arthur. She has no reason to hate them, and I'm still upset with the show for expecting us to believe that without any justification or explanation whatsoever. Anyway, it means so much that you felt we were able to present her as a human, because all we really wanted to do was show this strong-willed but conflicted woman who was struggling to figure out her place in the world, and I'm pleased that we were able to make that come across effectively.
As to Uther, it's nice to hear that we were able to present him in a way that seemed true to the character while still displaying some of his positive features. Because the reality is that Uther does have a heart, and he does love his children, and he's not just this one-dimensional bad guy either. It's wonderful to hear that you liked our portrayal of him, even if his role was relatively small in comparison to others.
Thank you once again for your amazingly kind comments! I'm beyond thrilled that you enjoyed it :D
Reply
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