Graphic + Manip - Wear your mask

May 16, 2020 23:14

Title: National Treasure instagram: Wear your mask
Artist: Hakka ( prue84 )
Fandom: BBC's Merlin (post-canon, modern magic) AU
AU: National Treasure
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin (implied)
Characters: Arthur Pendragon.
Rating: G
Tagline: Even Once and Future Kings wear masks against the Covid-19 spread.
Series: National Treasure instagram
About the graphic: The threat of Covid-19 has reached New Camelot and even someone returned from the death takes precautions against the contagion. Especially if they have someone else born with and from magic forcing them to.
Merlin is a bit obsessed, when Arthur’s health is concerned, so he would insist on carrying out all security practices as soon as the presence of Covid-19 in Europe was revealed. Hence.. Well, Italy. No matter that in other countries the virus was already present, we're known as the "European Covid spreader").
Arthur would buy time because “we’re far away from the former Western Roman Empire Merlin, you’re overfretting” - Arthur thinks like a medieval king, despite living in the modern times for some years now, and believes that it will take months for the sickness to reach Britain. But then contagion clusters popped up here and there all over the continent and Merlin would become more and more insistent until Arthur surrendered to the pressure (Merlin's a stubborn old grumpy man). Besides, "if the Romans are under siege, I guess we could prepare for a siege as well: I trust the decisions of the Roman Empire" "Arthur, the Roman Empire literally collapsed a century before your parents even met each other..."
About the AU: Under the graphic.
Notes: A note about the date. I set a specific day instead of a generic "x minutes ago" like usually with the Twitter/Instagram graphics because this manip is at least a month late. But I had the idea only few days ago, so...
Anyway. March 8th is the day Italy officially went in tight lockdown (and the police state started).
Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip): Original manip is slightly bigger (1280px) but I decided to scale it down to 1080px as that is the size of the pics on Instagram.
Instagram graphic made all by-hand, with much moving/copy/pasting and, especially, a wearying research to find out which font the website used. No template site. Since I created my own template, it won't reflect any future changes the platform might make (I have no intention of modify my template).
Disclaimer: Don't own anything on this. Full credits below the manip itself.
Crossposted: Dreamwidth, Deviantart (instagram post, photo), Tumblr.







Click to see fullsize (935 x 600)

And the photo in full size:


Click to see fullsize (1080 x 810)

Credits
Bradley James at Pierrefonds, September 2010. Foto taken by Yavannauk.
Linen face mask by Vetafashion.

About the AU
It's the 21th century and the existence of magic has been widely known since Guinevere, the last queen of Camelot, lifted the ban and had made Merlin her own advisor. With the centuries the myth of the Once and Future King has grown unchecked: Arthur Pendragon belongs to the category of the great people of history who the most have influenced the world, with the only difference that he will one day return.
Magic, for a number of circumstances never verified (possibly a mix of abuse and industrialization), seems like having been drained, leaving only the passive one: charms applied to old houses or objects still works, but new charms cannot be cast and are ineffective. Immortality is a rare gift unavailable to most, but few people belonging to the world Before The Drain still live, the oldest of them born in the Late Renaissance age.
Merlin, former wizard and oldest man of the world as the only one alive since the Middle Ages, is considered the world's grumpy uncle, that one parent who is a font of knowledge and tells funny stories about an otherwise serious topic like History but isn't willing to sit down and socialize with the youngsters (which means basically anyone, to him). Told to be always traveling, he imparts his knowledge almost exclusively through his blog, "Merlin's Cave". Unknown to all, though, Merlin has also a second identity under which he lives an almost ordinary life: Gaius de Bois, young professor of Medieval History at the University of Avalon, down-to-heart person, a professor much loved by his students, and, especially "nephew" of the Great Merlin.
Arthur Pendragon emerges from the secluded Lake of Avalon and his return is made official by Merlin with a post on his Instagram, a photo about the two halves of a broken coin (with Merlin's and Arthur's profile) reunited. Arthur leads a quiet life, residing in Merlin's cottage on the shores of the lake, with his grumpy (not-so) former servant to protect him from meddlers and fanatics. To preserve and allocate the necessary resources to restore a conducive environment for him and his needs of Middle Ages man, he is given the title of National Treasure that grants him a monthly revenue, total coverage of expenditures and funds to restore the castle of Camelot - castle that Merlin has preserved by magically miniaturizing it and placing it in a snow-less globe.
Merlin, through his social media and website, shares with the world the chronicles of how his king is adjusting to the modern times.
Arthur is initially followed by paps and generally by the curiosity of the people: it's just Merlin's angry presence (and an endless stream of ordinances) that shelters Arthur from the frenzy although soon it becomes an ordinary sight to see the king going around wearing his armor and sunglasses. When Camelot is restored, it gets the status of Principality within the United Kingdom, a kind of enclave named New Camelot on which Arthur is granted absolute power: initially a city-state enclosed within the strong walls of the citadel, it grows when further lands and pastures are assigned to the principality to assure Camelot's self-sufficiency. Life in New Camelot, per Arthur's choice, doesn't reflect the innovations happened after the king's death, and the citadel will become a haven for people who wish to live a simpler life or simply unplug a bit from the modern times.
With time Arthur will fully embrace the perks of modernity, thanks to Merlin (and his money) who spoils him, and he'll even get a driving license (against Merlin's will). But that's another story for another time.

char merlin: merlin, + graphics, au: national treasure, ++ fandom: bbc's merlin, series: national treasure instagram, + manips, char merlin: arthur pendragon, relat merlin: arthur/merlin

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