Question for those interested in my Merlin/SPN fic...

[hells_half_acre]

As some of you know, I'm writing a Merlin/Supernatural crossover at the moment. It's going to be roughly 20-24k words... maybe longer. It takes place in the Merlin universe. 

Now, my question to you is: Should I change Merlin canon???

I only ask, because I started writing this fic before Merlin ended. And...well... I hated the end of Merlin. I thought it was bad writing (not so much the dialogue and the characters, but rather the plot of the final season.) So, on the one hand, I could change all that... or at least, leave it ambiguous enough that the reader could imagine that everything changed. On the other hand, I usually stick with canon in these crossovers and that's what orders them and keeps them believable and satisfying (in my opinion.) But if the canon isn't satisfying....then, maybe I should change it?

It'd mean rewriting a little of what I've done already, but not actually that much when it comes right down to it. The major changes would be to the bit that I haven't written yet anyway.

(I also still have to decide where in Supernatural's timeline Sam and Dean are going to be.)

Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.

PS: I know I've been writing a lot slower these days than I used to in the past... but in the past I was under- and unemployed, and these days I'm actually working full time. So, I'm finding it a bit more difficult to find time to write. I know I just have to make a better routine of it though, so I'm working on that. I haven't been working on the poor novel at all, even though I think I have a good strategy for fixing at least some of the problems. What I should really do is stop reading other peoples fanfiction. I spend far too much time doing that, I suppose. I'll shut-up now.

Comments

[afastmachine.livejournal.com]

I'll be no help, I'm afraid, except to agree that Merlin's last season was less than fulfilling. I haven't seen the last two episodes, but despite tumblr's love of it, I just can't find it in myself to be interested. I used to really love the show, but really it's gone downhill a lot.
/rant

Would it be possible to make in ambiguous in a way that you could find satisfying from a canon purist way while also giving a little bit of leeway for people to see what they want? And while you're at it, maybe the sun, moon and stars for me? LOL.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I think I'll get working on that sun, moon, and stars...sounds easier. ;)

But yeah, I suppose that would be the dream - would be to leave it so open ended that people who actually liked the direction of the last season would still be happy. I'm just not sure I can pull it off, and still have it also believable that perhaps everything changed and the last season was avoided. :P

Don't watch the last two episodes. To tell you the truth, I was FINE with the season until the last two episodes - and then I hated everything and everyone. So, if you already thought the season was going downhill, then just avoid the last two episodes like the plague. Pretend the series ended after S4. It'd be just as satisfying.

[afastmachine.livejournal.com]

I've seen everywhere how apparently it was a huge love letter to Merlin/Arthur and yet everyone essentially still died and that seems like the whole point of the show instantly is negated. But yeah, I have no interest in watching a trainwreck lol and I know overall we have similar opinions on Merlin. Though honestly I like to pretend that the real characters died after S2 and were replaced with odd clones from then onwards. :P

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

LOL sounds legit.

Yeah, you are completely correct, even having never seen it. It completely negated the entire premise of the show - it was a TOTAL trainwreck. Now, within the twisted metal and mutilated corpse of that train, there happened to be some very fine acting done by Bradley and Colin, but much like the rest of the show, it wasn't enough to untwist that metal and put the train back on the rails.

Seriously, as much as I loved watching Bradley and Colin get up to antics every year, I think Bradley (and presumably Colin) made a wise career move when he told the producers that he was not signing for a S6.

The problem with Merlin was that it was a great original premise and fantastic actors, but the writers just never delivered on ANYTHING. I always feel like launching into that Adele song - WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALLLLLL... :P

[afastmachine.livejournal.com]

That's EXACTLY the problem I've always had with Merlin. They always had such great potential, especially with the chance to go darker in S3, but they wasted it all because they didn't want to commit to anything. *sigh* And I knew they didn't have enough momentum to give the finale what it needed to make it good, so that was just an educated guess lol.

I really do wish there were more shows that were willing to take a chance and commit to it. I may have really not liked the way Primeval's timelines changed, but at least once they did something they followed it all the way to the end, and at least that made it good...that's always my go-to thought when people go "well, but it was a kid's show, they didn't want to over-complicate it...".

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I'd be fine with them keeping it stupid and light and not over-complicated if they remembered what story they were supposed to be telling! That's what got me about it. I mean, YES, there was relatively no progression - but then when there finally was, they went completely off the rails and told a different story than we were promised.

So, yeah, they couldn't even commit to their own freakin' story. Ugh, show. And the thing is there was AMPLE opportunity to at least follow through with a conclusion to their premise. "Merlin has to protect Arthur so that he can unite and restore magic to Albion." So, end of S4, well on his way to uniting Albion, has his wife, his knights... ALL S5 had to do was have a magic reveal and have Arthur lift the ban on magic, and bammo, Albion, Magic, Merlin is accepted for who he is, and presto - satisfying ending. It WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HARD.

Ugh... anyway, at this point I'm just rambling. But Merlin S5 made me so damn mad. There was no reason to go all the way to Camlann. They were supposed to be telling a story about how Arthur BECAME great, not how Arthur died (somehow without ever becoming great, because they fuckin' forgot to tell that story.)

So mad.

[liliaeth]

It's one of the main reasons why s3 of the UK Being Human was so strong. They took the events of s2, and instead of ignoring them, or pushing them aside, they took full opportunity of them and then once again dealt with the consequences. I still say that what they did with Mitchell at the end of that season was the best possible ending any vampire character could have ever gotten dealing with that storyline. And I don't think there's many US shows that would have been that brave with it.

[afastmachine.livejournal.com]

I stopped watching in S3, but I agree, it was very strong and I'm glad they followed through on the wolf-shaped bullet. One thing I appreciate about shows like that is that they're not afraid to follow-through with what they set up, even if it kills characters in the end. I can respect it even if I don't always like it, lol.