Merlin Picspam -- Valiant
I capped this episode early last week with the intention of proving what a great episode it is. Unfortunately, when I reviewed the pictures for cropping on Sunday I discovered almost all caps were close-ups of Arthur looking pouty and gorgeous and Merlin looking cute and adorable. Whoops! Oh well. You guys don't mind, do you?
You'll also notice the banner says mini-picspam. That is a lie. Click for 40-something of the buggers.
Merlin starts the episode on his back. Good boy. That's enthusiasm for you.
We then have a spot of fumbling. My god, Merlin is the single cutest being on the planet (apart from Ianto Jones, of course, and even then it's a close call).
The fiddling about prompts a small spat, a lovers tiff, if you will.
'How could you forget my sword, you idiot?! You'll have to make it up to me. With a naked massage.'
Knight Valiant. Oh, there's a tournament going on, btw. Did I forget to mention that? It's sort of the whole point of the episode.
Valiant is a handsome brute. Colour Arthur very unimpressed indeed. Hrmph.
Still, nice arse ...
Later, Merlin learns how to polish Arthur's sword with no hands. Not so much fun, surely. Actually, I love this little scene, where Gaius walks in and catches Merlin doing magic. Very teenagery reaction from Merlin, hilarious.
Next, we have an incident of Het Flirting. Yeesh.
As you can see, Merlin isn't very happy about it, either. 'You're mine! Girls smell!' (For anyone that hasn't seen the ep, that's Arthur's waist he's wrapped around. Slash goggles? I think not.)
'I polished and I polished and I polished ... How many girls can make your sword so shiny, hm?'
'Yes, I see your point, Merlin. And you did a bang-up job on my helmet, too.'
Now, here is example of where I spent about ten minutes capturing Merlin's lovely face and then completely forgot to cap the main point of the scene, which was Merlin spying on Valiant and witnessing snakes magically appearing from the knight's sheild. My god, Knight Valiant is cheating!!
Gratuitous shot of Valiant looking evol and oh-so-fuckable. Tell me you're not thinking threesome. Although maybe not with Valiant's rampant snakes wiggling around.
'Nice arse, don't you think, Merlin? Oh wait, we already said that.'
After a man is injured, Merlin decides it's his duty to inform Arthur of the wiggly snakes and the cheating. 'They come right out of the shield. Wiggle, wiggle!'
Arthur isn't convinced.
Excuse for pretty picture. Discussion and argument. Arthur starts to believe his strangely attractive manservant. 'Convince me, Merlin. Prove to me your story is true.'
Proof? 'Touch my rubber snake head.' Merlin cut the head off one of the snakes earlier and Gaius milked it for anti-venom to heal a dying knight. I should have capped some of that. I suck.
Arthur looks convinced, yes? 'Your snake head is so rubbery, Merlin. I like it.'
'I'm telling of you! Can I call ya Val?'
'Daaaaaaaaad.'
'Wiggle, wiggle? Do you have any proof?'
'Yes. Touch my ... Erm, no, hang on a sec ...'
'I'm gonna set my snakes on you, blondie.'
'I'm suddenly distracted by how hot you look, Merlin.'
'Me too. You are very blond. In a sexy way, not in an Arthur Thickydragon sort of way.'
Okay, I got got carried away there. The witness is dead and Arthur is displeased and humiliated. But more to the point, look at his beautiful eyes!! OMG!! I could drown in them. Well, hopefully not; I'm not a strong swimmer so I'd probably wear a rubber ring or something. There I go again with the rubber. I must have one of those 24 hour fetishes.
Another hot reaction shot.
So, the witness is dead, Uther was unimpressed with the snake head and Arthur blames poor Merlin entirely. Lovers' spat number two begins.
'You humiliated me! How will I ever hold my beautiful blond head up again?'
'I'm very annoyed at you, Merlin, and at all the fangirls who are currently admiring my manly jawline, lickable neck, pouty lips, eyes as blue as the crystal ocean instead of listening to me rant at someone who's fault it was not!'
No, no, no, Merlin, you can look away, you can blink. Unless you see a big blue box with unfathomable inner dimensions.
Puppy!
Merlin is very happy about this, as you can see. He so reminds me of Xander in that shot. That happy mouth.
Next we have some manly grappling.
Yes we know. And it's rude to point. Oh, you're doing a spell! Sorry! 'Wingardium Levi-!' Whoops, wrong fandom.
SNAKES!
Cut off their heads, Arthur! And then plunge your sword into that dastardly Knight Valiant!
Like that! (That's a hot shot, yes?)
At the celebratory feast, Arthur apologises to his boyfriend.
Merlin's a bit pissed off, but he'll forgive if Arthur buys him a drink (I kid you not).
But Arthur cannot be seen buying his manservant a drink. And besides, he left his purse in his bedchamber. 'BJ instead?'
'Yeah! You're the bestest boyfriend ever!'
The End
I actually loved this episode and it still remains my favourite, although obviously I will have to watch all episodes at least another five times before I can come to an official decision.
You'll also notice the banner says mini-picspam. That is a lie. Click for 40-something of the buggers.
Merlin starts the episode on his back. Good boy. That's enthusiasm for you.
We then have a spot of fumbling. My god, Merlin is the single cutest being on the planet (apart from Ianto Jones, of course, and even then it's a close call).
The fiddling about prompts a small spat, a lovers tiff, if you will.
'How could you forget my sword, you idiot?! You'll have to make it up to me. With a naked massage.'
Knight Valiant. Oh, there's a tournament going on, btw. Did I forget to mention that? It's sort of the whole point of the episode.
Valiant is a handsome brute. Colour Arthur very unimpressed indeed. Hrmph.
Still, nice arse ...
Later, Merlin learns how to polish Arthur's sword with no hands. Not so much fun, surely. Actually, I love this little scene, where Gaius walks in and catches Merlin doing magic. Very teenagery reaction from Merlin, hilarious.
Next, we have an incident of Het Flirting. Yeesh.
As you can see, Merlin isn't very happy about it, either. 'You're mine! Girls smell!' (For anyone that hasn't seen the ep, that's Arthur's waist he's wrapped around. Slash goggles? I think not.)
'I polished and I polished and I polished ... How many girls can make your sword so shiny, hm?'
'Yes, I see your point, Merlin. And you did a bang-up job on my helmet, too.'
Now, here is example of where I spent about ten minutes capturing Merlin's lovely face and then completely forgot to cap the main point of the scene, which was Merlin spying on Valiant and witnessing snakes magically appearing from the knight's sheild. My god, Knight Valiant is cheating!!
Gratuitous shot of Valiant looking evol and oh-so-fuckable. Tell me you're not thinking threesome. Although maybe not with Valiant's rampant snakes wiggling around.
'Nice arse, don't you think, Merlin? Oh wait, we already said that.'
After a man is injured, Merlin decides it's his duty to inform Arthur of the wiggly snakes and the cheating. 'They come right out of the shield. Wiggle, wiggle!'
Arthur isn't convinced.
Excuse for pretty picture. Discussion and argument. Arthur starts to believe his strangely attractive manservant. 'Convince me, Merlin. Prove to me your story is true.'
Proof? 'Touch my rubber snake head.' Merlin cut the head off one of the snakes earlier and Gaius milked it for anti-venom to heal a dying knight. I should have capped some of that. I suck.
Arthur looks convinced, yes? 'Your snake head is so rubbery, Merlin. I like it.'
'I'm telling of you! Can I call ya Val?'
'Daaaaaaaaad.'
'Wiggle, wiggle? Do you have any proof?'
'Yes. Touch my ... Erm, no, hang on a sec ...'
'I'm gonna set my snakes on you, blondie.'
'I'm suddenly distracted by how hot you look, Merlin.'
'Me too. You are very blond. In a sexy way, not in an Arthur Thickydragon sort of way.'
Okay, I got got carried away there. The witness is dead and Arthur is displeased and humiliated. But more to the point, look at his beautiful eyes!! OMG!! I could drown in them. Well, hopefully not; I'm not a strong swimmer so I'd probably wear a rubber ring or something. There I go again with the rubber. I must have one of those 24 hour fetishes.
Another hot reaction shot.
So, the witness is dead, Uther was unimpressed with the snake head and Arthur blames poor Merlin entirely. Lovers' spat number two begins.
'You humiliated me! How will I ever hold my beautiful blond head up again?'
'I'm very annoyed at you, Merlin, and at all the fangirls who are currently admiring my manly jawline, lickable neck, pouty lips, eyes as blue as the crystal ocean instead of listening to me rant at someone who's fault it was not!'
No, no, no, Merlin, you can look away, you can blink. Unless you see a big blue box with unfathomable inner dimensions.
Puppy!
Merlin is very happy about this, as you can see. He so reminds me of Xander in that shot. That happy mouth.
Next we have some manly grappling.
Yes we know. And it's rude to point. Oh, you're doing a spell! Sorry! 'Wingardium Levi-!' Whoops, wrong fandom.
SNAKES!
Cut off their heads, Arthur! And then plunge your sword into that dastardly Knight Valiant!
Like that! (That's a hot shot, yes?)
At the celebratory feast, Arthur apologises to his boyfriend.
Merlin's a bit pissed off, but he'll forgive if Arthur buys him a drink (I kid you not).
But Arthur cannot be seen buying his manservant a drink. And besides, he left his purse in his bedchamber. 'BJ instead?'
'Yeah! You're the bestest boyfriend ever!'
The End
I actually loved this episode and it still remains my favourite, although obviously I will have to watch all episodes at least another five times before I can come to an official decision.