The Merlin Rewrite

change my mind.

actually, i'm trying to change my own mind right now by editing the episode.

my problem with it is that it's such an important episode - it's the creation of excalibur, the true sword of arthur, and consequentially, is merlin's acknowledgement that arthur is deserving of the destiny he's been given. merlin forges excalibur in arthur's name because he believes arthur is worthy of excalibur, knowing the danger merlin puts himself in by creating a sword of such power. he trusts arthur to wield unstoppable power because he knows, if confronted, would be merciful. he knows arthur would stop, even if tempted by power beyond what any man should hold.

it's such an important development for arthur and merlin (namely, merlin's respect (and love) for arthur), but it's written like an inconsequential filler episode.

warning: this is fully promotional material for the merlin rewrite. but also, i'm speaking from the heart. i believe in the rewrite. the rewrite is the friends and trauma we got along the way.

in MY rewrite, nimueh plays a much more prominent role (at least in the first season). she's a detrimental character, but in the show, she's only used as a plot device to explain uther's hatred of magic and arthur's birth. she deserves more than that. obviously, she's a bitch, but she's an impressive bitch nonetheless.

in the rewrite, nimueh will make sure uther gets the point. she will not let tristan's defeat mean anything. she'll hate merlin for it, of course, because she (as an incredibly powerful sorceress) can sense the immense power merlin holds. she will take her revenge in the most devastating way possible.

slight trigger warning for the chapter to come, though: the scene i'm adding is very reminiscent of the Witcher episode 'A Grain of Truth' (or the book chapter of the same name in the 'The Last Wish').

sorry guys. I was watching the Witcher while writing this chapter, and while creating Nimueh's character was inspired by the bruxa.

the horror of nimueh isn't for nothing. don't worry. this will all play into the rest of her story.

read the merlin rewrite to see what happens.

recently i found this website and it has been incredibly helpful with research for my projects (and just research for interest's sake). for arthurian folklore, especially, there are not only many different versions of each story, but many different pronunciations for each name, many different names for each character - you get the idea. in my opinion, this website displays a good variety of each legend while still getting the point across rather simply.

here it is: Nightbringer

project gutenberg has everything from the dean of lismore's book to some of phyllis wheatley's poems. fun fact: it's named after johannes gutenberg, who invented the first european printing press - this allowed books (particularly the bible) to be published in the vernacular, making them accessible to people other than nobles!

Library Ireland: irish history, genealogy, and culture

i am only irish american (but to be fair, a significant portion of the irish population moved to america because of the colonization of and conditions in ireland at the time) but i feel it is my responsibility to keep irish culture alive, even if i can only do it by learning the irish language and irish history/folklore. i cannot relate to the cause as much as native irish people can, but for the irish people who have faced both colonization and the erasure of their colonization in western media (which continues even today), i think this website is a great way to start reconnecting with your irish heritage.

the Smithsonian Open Access online library is amazing in all ways