LJ Crickets and Plot Help

[hells_half_acre]

Crickets

Man, LJ is kinda dead these days, eh? I can nostagically think back to just maybe 4-5 years ago when I could post an entry saying that I was thinking of writing some fic, and I've have 20 responses with suggestions.

I guess it's a number of things - people on LJ, moving onto different shows and leaving the SPN fandom, while newer SPN fans aren't on LJ at all, but rather tumblr and AO3 combos, or other platforms that I don't even know about. And then there are some who have just moved over to tumblr and left LJ behind.

It makes me wish I was better at tumblr.

A friend of mind recently joined the POI fandom and started, voraciously, writing for their main lesbian canon ship - and MAN, the amount of engagement they get makes me so envious... even though I know I had that back in the day too, here.

Anyway, this is all to say that if any of you ARE on tumblr and want to follow me, I'm at driftwooddragons. And if you have any suggestions on how I could tumblr better, let me know.

Plot Help

So, I kinda want to write a sequel to Men of Legend. But, I can't think of a good plot. I've got specific scenes that I want to write, which can only exist if Arthur and Merlin are summoned to the SPN universe BY THE BAD GUYS. So, any ideas for why? who? Because I have no clue, which is why I've never written a sequel to that fic until now (and possibly not now either.)

Comments

[cuddleyfeather3.livejournal.com]

I've already suggested this, have Arthur and Merlin be summoned by Sam and dean, for whatever reason (need Merlin to do some magic). I would love Arthur finding out about what actually happened in the legends. (Magic reveal or not, idc) It be nice if Gwaine's could be there too. Maybe the need all three, strength, magic and courage? Some witches could've been summoning them because they wanted power, and turns out that what the spell actually meant by "strength, magic, and courage" is Arthur, Gwaine, and Merlin. And the Winchesters could've broken in to stop them and find Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin standing there. Also side note on Men of Legend, I was a bit disappointed that Dean didn't make a single Twilight reference.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oooo, I hadn't considered having Gwaine too. That's a brilliant idea to use the "strength, magic, and courage" bit.

I do need them to be summoned by the bad guys, and not Sam and Dean... my problem is WHY would the bad guys summon them? It has to be part of some other goal, but I just can't think of one. It's driving me nuts.

And sorry for the lack of Twilight reference! I never read the books or saw the movies or anything like that - so... uh, yeah, it honestly didn't cross my mind. :P

[jennytork.livejournal.com]

Not as active --- temporarily -- due to mothering a tween.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

TWEENS! One of my sister's is currently mothering two tweens and a teen - so, I understand, if not completely, then at least in part, about how much work that is!

[ramblin-rosie.livejournal.com]

The legend claims that Arthur will return from Avalon at the time of England's greatest need, which frequently gets interpreted as "at the end of time." (I have a sneaking suspicion that Anti-Christ is going to try to pass himself off as Arthur returned, among his "fulfilling" other legends--but that's JMO.) I can't remember offhand when "Men of Legend" is set SPN-wise, but if someone is trying to restart the Apocalypse--maybe Raphael, maybe Abaddon, maybe Casifer, or maybe just some wacko doomsday cult [ETA: ooh, or Rowena!]--bringing Arthur and Merlin back might be one of the methods tried. However, since there's already been one connection between SPN-verse and Merlin-verse, maybe the spell goes astray... or maybe Arthur wasn't real in SPN-verse, or was killed in Season 4 as one of the seals or something, so the spell grabs the next available versions, which are the Arthur and Merlin from Merlin-verse. *shrug*

I look forward to reading whatever you do come up with next!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

That's the thing about Men of Legend, it's not set at any specific time in the SPN-verse, just post-S5 with a fully powered Castiel. But quite on purposely vague about any other details.

I WAS thinking of maybe using Rowena, or at least witches/warlocks, trying to summon Merlin because they want his power... but, I couldn't come up with a "why" for that. But, maybe jump-starting the apocalypse again...maybe sent by even higher-up evil to do so...in which case M&A could held S&D end that...

So, good ideas! Thanks!! I'll have to contemplate that. :)

[ramblin-rosie.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! If you wanted to dissociate it from the Apocalypse, maybe Rowena wants Merlin to help her found the mega-coven, since being the Queen Mother of Hell and owner of the Book of the Damned still hasn't gotten her anywhere.

[kailita.livejournal.com]

Aw, I remember those times as well - I joined LJ back in 2004, when it was hopping, and had quite a community for a while. I think a lot of people have migrated to twitter and tumblr...and I don't really understand either of those platforms. How does tumblr even work? It's like a hub for gifs and hashtags? (I'm basically 80 years old when it comes to technology...) All that to say, I'm glad you're still here, even if it's quieter on this side of the internet. :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

That's the thing with tumblr, you can't really have a discussion there - not like you can here. People don't read long things, it's hard to search. It's best suited to things like fanart and pictures and very short commentary. It's like a weird cross between twitter and pinterest.

I don't know.

But yeah, I miss the golden years of LJ, back in the day... still it's nice that a few of us remain!

[liliaeth]

the problem isn't that you can't have discussions, you can, it's just incredibly hard to follow threads in said discussion. Or to look for responses to a post. Xkit helps, but lj's format is still a million times better.

[cuddleyfeather3.livejournal.com]

They could've wanted "strength, magic, and courage" and just didn't realize that the when the spell said "straight magic and courage" it actually meant Arthur Merlin and Gwaine. Or if you want to keep it so spn isn't set in a specific time in the show, Morgana might have summoned Sam and Dean and try to get them to kill Arthur (crappy idea, I know). Maybe they need Excalibur to kill some sort of monster (which wouldn't really make sense considering they already have the sword that dean pulled from the rock), okay scratch that. They could need the cup of life, so Cas might transport them back to Camelot to get it. I feel like Charlie would be super pissed that she didn't get to meet Arthur and Merlin also, so the entire time I'm reading Men of Legend that was the only thing I could think of.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I definitely want it to be set in the SPN-verse, not the Merlin-verse, and I need the bad-guys to summon Merlin and Arthur (and Gwaine?)... I'll think of something, maybe.

Thanks for the help though! And who knows, maybe I'll find a way to sneak Charlie in there. ;)

[liliaeth]

what if the bad guys (say Rowena) were trying to summonor or contact Morgana, and Merlin and Arthur were trying to stop whatever Morgana was doing, and Merlin gets pulled in by accident, leading to Arthur of course storming in after him, because there's no way he's going to let Merlin get killed on his watch.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I can't use that exactly, but you've given me an idea for something a little reminiscent of that... so, thanks! :D

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

See, now I feel bad for not replying, even though I can't really help at all. It's sad times that we're not in the same fandom anymore. I miss the chats. I should really just drop in every now ans again to ask how you are. :P So, how are you?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't feel bad! That was my point about it being understandable that some people just drifted to other fandoms and that's why they aren't active anymore.

And yeah, it IS a shame that our current obsessions aren't lining up as spectacularly as they once did. But that's okay, there's always THE FUTURE with it's INFINITE POSSIBILITIES!

Anyway, I'm doing alright, thanks. Still broke, still barely scraping by, but overall pretty good. How's it going with you?

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

Yeah but I still miss shooting the shit with you. So.

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES always sound good don't they? Speaking of, what are you currently watching/trying? I've not hit on anything that I'd consider anything fannish for, but I've been enjoying Mozart in the Jungle, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Jessica Jones and the West Wing. Sometimes Tumblr is good for something though. It's a good place to try out new fandoms and stuff. I've heard good thing about a show called The Expanse.

Yeah I'm basically the same. My job is kinda crappy, but it pays me for now and I'm looking for other stuff so hopefully that'll improve. Also, have had a vague idea to save up to do a masters in climate science. At the University of British Columbia. So, you know, I might crash your place. :P

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

ooo!! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME! I am all for you coming to UBC. You'd be living on the exact opposite of town than me (assuming you live near the Uni), but that's closer than the UK. :)

As for future possibilities - I'm actually not currently watching anything. I'm in a mood where I just don't feel like getting invested in fictitious people right now. I tried watching The 100, but I only lasted about six episodes or so before I just didn't want to watch it anymore - not because it was bad, but just because....*heavy sigh*... So, yeah. I'm not sure what my next thing will be. I haven't even caught up with Agent Carter yet, and I adored that show last year - but this year I'm just nonplussed.

I'm about to rewatch Due South instead of watching anything new. It was my favourite show in the 90s, and what got me into fandom in the first place... so, that ought to be fun... or at least full of nostalgia.

I tried watching Jessica Jones, but I think it might be too dark for me. Who knows though, once this bought of ennui passes, I might end up trying again.

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

Haha it would be awesome! But it is still only a vague idea. I need way more money before i embark on high education in a foreign uni. :P Still, I will totally come harass you if it ever comes to pass.

Agent Carter is behind here, so I've only seen Ep1. Also, I'm watching it with my flatmate, so we need to have corresponding nights in. :P I do, however, have a friend who is TOTALLY into The 100. But nothing I've heard about it makes me go YES I will watch this. I have a vague idea about trying The Man In The High Castle because I heard it's good, but the episodes are an hour long and that seems way to heavy for after work.

I understand that feeling though. Sometimes the last thing I want is to spend time with fictional characters because... *heavy sigh* indeed.

Jessica Jones is... It's fantastic TV, but it's tough and loaded and deals with some pretty heavy shit. It's good but it's one of the few TV shows I've watched recently that I would actually warn people about. A lot of unpleasant things are dealt with pretty well in it. But that doesn't mean it's for everyone. So hey, try again if you want, but it can;t be everyone's cup of tea. Did you watch Daredevil?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think my problem with The 100 was that it's a VERY large ensemble cast - to the point where, besides maybe two or three characters, there's absolutely no guarantee about who will live and who will die... and, I haven't watched a show like that in a LONG time, mainly because I got real tired of all my faves dying. (I know, I watch SPN, and some would argue that show is even more kill happy - but it's a different sort of thing when everyone else's storyline is subjugated to Sam and Dean's... rather then there being a storyline that all characters are effected by and participate in nearly equally.)

I'll probably catch up with Agent Carter once I finish watching Galavant... which I'm also five episodes behind on. :P

Yeah, I don't know about Jessica Jones - it just might be too much. We'll see though. I DID watch Daredevil and I enjoyed it immensely. I'm hoping that my enthusiasm for TV shows renews itself before S2 starts - though, right now I'm a little wary of them bringing in Elektra - just because I'm not actually a fan of the whole "my girlfriend might be evil" trope.

That's actually a lot of my problem with superhero shows is that I REALLY don't like villains. I'm not interested in their storylines or motivations, besides the fact that they are an obstacle for the hero. I actually re-edited Daredevil in order to remove all of Fisk's backstory/scenes, because I honestly did not care. I also don't like knowing things that the hero doesn't know when I'm watching a show. I like to discover everything WITH them, and work out the puzzle WITH them, not before them. Though, I do appreciate the artistic distorted-mirroring in Daredevil that they did with the hero/villain storylines on my first watch. I edited them out because I knew if I ever rewatched, I wouldn't want to watch those scenes again.

I haven't heard of the Man in the High Castle.

I'll cross my figures that you're able to save up enough money to come out here... but yeah, Vancouver IS an expensive city to live in, and UBC is one of the more expensive universities in Canada (if not THE most)... though, I'm sure being familiar with London, you're used to expensive cities.

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

Well, with a title like The 100, the large cast isn't a huge surprise. Though to be honest, I never actually considered that as a downside. Though as I never really planned on watching it, I guess it's a moot point.

Well, Jessica Jones has very little of the villain outside of what you need to know to understand Jessica. Which, in constructing his character, just makes him worse. I, however, fall on the other side of the fence. I love well developed villains. I like seeing more than just 'blanket evil'. Fisk's character arc made is so clear how much choice has in making you who you are. That could have been a hero origin. It's almost Steve Rogers'. But he made a different set of decisions and ended up the villain. I find that really interesting. I've no interest in following a story about the villain (why I'll probably never watch things like the Sopranos, Breaking Bad or Narcos) but I like that the story isn't one-sided.

And as far as I can work out, it seems less "my girlfriend might be evil" and more "who the fuck is that lady?" But then again, I have only been keeping up with stuff like that in the vaguest sense.

The Man in the High Castle is based on the book of the same name by Philip K Dick. It's a 'what if?' story; what if the Nazis won the war? So the US is half New Nazi Land and half The Japanese States. Obviously it's about the resistance movement, but it's been reviewed very well.

Yeah, London is expensive. But in London I'm living with friends. I reckon it'll be 'more expensive' anyway. and international fees are always balls for universities. It's a wonder anyone can afford to study outside of their own country.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, I wasn't SURPRISED by the large cast - I was just surprised by my reaction to it - which was "uh, actually, do not want."

I like well-developed villains too. I just...don't want to see them? I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's really mostly just that I don't like knowing things that the hero doesn't know. I really liked how well-developed Fisk was and how it all came down to choices. I guess it just really comes down to what information is being given to me when... and overall I'm much more compelled by good-alignment characters. *shrug* It is what it is.

Sadly, it's also a huge weakness in my own writing - because I have no interest in villains, I can't write them. They either end up being one-dimensional moustache-twirling types, or my villain is something abstract like "institutionalized racism" and then probably no one is bloody interested, because there's not the satisfaction of a defeated personified evil at the end.

And cool about Man in the High Castle - I think I actually did hear about that when it was just a book, but then forgot the title. Let me know how it is when/if you watch it.

My friend just reminded me that they REALLY want me to watch Person of Interest. So, I might be watching that next, once I catch up with Agent Carter and get over my ennui towards TV shows. :P

It's too bad I don't live closer to UBC and conveniently have a multi-room apartment that I can't afford by myself... but sadly I am across town in only a one room place.

It's really only affordable to go to foreign universities when they're in countries that otherwise offer free university. The fees in Germany weren't that bad at all.

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

Yeah that does sound hard to explain. :P But hey, whatever floats your boat. :)

Oh I've never tried to write villains. At least, not villains that aren't a/ easy to imagine (e.g. horrible gladiator slave owner) or b/ largely absent. But then, I tend not to write those kinds of stories, so it's not much of a surprise. Though, I dunno, getting back at institutionalised racism can be super fucking satisfying, even in fiction. And hey, not all stories need villains.

Will do! I keep forgetting that I need to watch S3 of Orphan Black too. I'm so bad a keeping up with things sometimes.

I would totally hijack your spare room if you had one. :P Aah free universities. What a wonderful, Utopian ideal that would be. *dreams*

Incidentally, can you speak fluent German?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah that does sound hard to explain. :P

HAHAHA, so polite for "You don't make sense."

I'm really hoping that getting back at institutionalized racism will be satisfying, because that's basically the goal of the high fantasy novel that I'm currently writing. :P

It's really hard to keep up with TV when there's SO MUCH OF IT.

I was never really fluent in German. I was "pretty good" and could follow most conversations, movies, and read and understand most books. My spoken German was always broken and accented with incorrect syntax. Basically, if you take the thick-chinese accent stereotype in English, that's probably what I sounded like to Germans - or I'm being too hard on myself. But yeah, I could understand it okay.

That all being said, I'm using the past tense because I really haven't spoken German in 10 years, and it's super rusty - and probably my comprehension isn't what it once was either. I used to watch TV shows and such in German on youtube to try to keep it up, but I haven't done that in a long while either.

I have a couple friends in Berlin, but I haven't been able to afford to visit them since 2010. So, yeah... it's hard to keep up language skills when you don't use the language day to day.

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

Hey! I never said that! :P

I think it can be pretty satisfying, though you do always need a person who "showcases" it. Like Agent Thompson being the "showcase" for 1950s misogyny in Agent Carter. But I've always thought that's a little easier than making a villain from scratch, because they're still people, and you know what their one really bad character trait is already. But that's just me. And, like I said, I've not actually done anything like that.

Oh hey, that's way better than any of my "second" languages. I know people sometimes read the news in the language of choice as a way of keeping up with the language. Have you ever tried that?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's true about Thompson, and I'm cool with "villains" like that, who aren't so much villains as just people. I guess it's really the "evilly plotting" villains that I don't like seeing the story of. Like, Thompson can almost get Peggy killed by accident, due to being a misogynist, but we don't see him sitting around going "Now, I lay my trap in which to kill Peggy, because she stands in the way of my dreams. Little does she know that tomorrow will be her LAST DAY AT THE OFFICE!" No, he's just like "Ugh, Peggy is the worst. I'm going to insult her a lot and be big prick, but then get on with my day."

Actually, Agent Carter is a good show for me for that reason, because there's only a few villain centric scenes, where we see the hitman getting orders, or someone else buying bombs, but we don't see the wide web of Hydra/Red-Room/Leviathan/Whatever until Peggy does. They don't have meetings and discuss their next moves and how they are or aren't dealing with Peggy. That was my big problem with Daredevil.

ANnnnnnyway... yeah, in my high fantasy novel, I tend to just have Thompson-esque villains. I mean, a little worse than Thompson, because I've modeled them more on 1930s antisemitism, where there's at least a few people actively dehumanizing a large segment of the population (it doesn't help that they aren't actually human, so... yeah, pretty easy to do.) I've also got another person/group who is sort of that PLUS examples of toxic religion, like you see currently in the states a lot when it comes to homophobia+money-hungry churches.

But, yes, it means that I DO have villains that I can defeat, I guess! So, yay!

I used to read the news about once a month or so in German... that was when I was working my other job though, on days when I had to go into the office. Because it was a gov't office, a lot of websites were blocked (social media, mostly - because the gov't doesn't want you wasting time)...but news sites aren't blocked at all, so I used to see what was happening in Germany whenever I wanted to do something other than my job. Anyway, I should start doing that again, instead of wasting all my time on social media. :P

[franztastisch.livejournal.com]

I think, at least in that respect, you'll enjoy Jessica Jones more. But then, it might be counter balanced with a lot of unpleasantness re: misogyny, rape, consent and control issues and graphic... ickyness (I'm not sure it's quite violence or gore on Daredevil levels, but it's definitely something and it's definitely unpleasant). All handled very well, I hasten to add, but not exactly easy to watch. On the other hand, Trish, Luke and Malcolm are all delights. Especially Malcolm. <3

But yay to having defeatable villains! Always a good thing. :)

Haha maybe it's a idea. That being said, the news is so very depressing. :/

[liliaeth]

Have you tried watching Supergirl or the Flash?

I'll admit they can be a bit cheesy (or a lot cheesy ;-) ), but they're both well written, have great characters, and it's definitely less dark than Jessica Jones.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I tried the Flash, but the Barry/Iris storyline really bugged me. I haven't tried Supergirl.

I don't mind cheesy, as long as it's well written cheese. :)

[lon-dubh.livejournal.com]

After a quick skim of the current responses first to prevent some duplication here's mine:

They are summoned by accident. Bad guy is trying summon Morgana and get the boys instead.

Perhaps Avalon is an alt universe, much like Oz, and the bad guys open a doorway to get something or other, Arthur and Merlin try to stop them at their end, and end up following the baddies back through to the real world to retrieve said object. (A spell book perhaps?)

Merlin is the original Man of Letters and whilst working on some spells, screws it up and he and Arthur end up in the modern world. They show up in the midst of some cult/witch/bad guy du jour ritual and are (temporarily) convinced to assist in the quest. They showed up, right, must be part of their destiny. It's not until the Winchesters arrive that they realize they are on the wrong side.

Hope these help.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

They are summoned by accident. Bad guy is trying summon Morgana and get the boys instead.

Yes, I'm thinking something similar....perhaps, perhaps.

And yes, I've already established that Albion is an alt-universe, so that'd be pretty easy to reinforce.

And very interesting thought about the Merlin crew coming in on a quest of their own... the exact details of your idea won't work with what I want to do, but PARTS of it could - and you've certainly got my brain working on some possibilities... so this is fantastic!

Thanks so much!

[khek.livejournal.com]

I miss the old days of LJ. I like looking at Tumblr, but it's like getting sucked into a black hole. I come out two hours later, dazed from the pretty with no idea how I spend so much time there. And I can't keep track of discussions at all. Unless you happen upon another response, it just kind of...disappears into the mists of time.

As for your story, witches could summon anyone for any reason, right? They'd just have to have a reason. If you're looking for a connection with Merlin and Arthur, what about using the witches played by Spike and Cordelia? (Don and...??? You know, from Buffy.) They're both over 900 years old, so maybe they pull them to our time for some reason.

The other thing could be some bumbling baddie who raised a dragon or something, and to correct their mistake, they pull Merlin and Arther to fight it?

You could really have anyone or anything who read the legends of Merlin and/or Arthur try to pull them to our time for any reason. They just have to be stupid enough to think that the guys will help them, not function under their own free will.

Or maybe Rowena knew them back in the day, and Crowley pulls them to the present to deal with her. Or his son does..?

Good luck! If you can figure it out, I'll read it! :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

You could really have anyone or anything who read the legends of Merlin and/or Arthur try to pull them to our time for any reason. They just have to be stupid enough to think that the guys will help them, not function under their own free will.

Exactly, yes, this is my problem. I already know HOW I want them summoned - I just can't think of the WHY. WHY would someone need Merlin?

The problem is that the plot I have now (which doesn't have a good quest-y WHY attached to it) ENDS as soon as Merlin and Arthur (and possibly Gwaine?) are summoned. Which is all well and good, but it gives me only roughly 1% of the story in the actual crossover. So, I don't know. Maybe my actual story could be in flashbacks or something. Yarr.

Or maybe Rowena knew them back in the day, and Crowley pulls them to the present to deal with her. Or his son does..?

I like the idea of Gavin bumbling into it - but I like Gavin as a goodish guy, and I already have a scene that I need a lot of minions for, and Gavin doesn't have minions. And the problem with Rowena summoning them is that a)I don't think Rowena would summon someone more powerful than she is, because she would know that it could blow up in her face too easily if she's not the most powerful witch in the room, and b)My Merlin and Arthur aren't from the past - they're from an alternate universe...so, unless there's a character that's been universe hopping, no one but Sam and Dean have ever met them before and would know them only from stories like we do (which also works really well for a scene that I want to write.)

Good luck! If you can figure it out, I'll read it! :)

Thanks!! I'll keep plugging away at it. I'm sure that something will come to me. Or, I'll just write my ideas so far and people will have to forgive the completely plotless story. :P

[khek.livejournal.com]

WHY would someone need Merlin?

Well, they wouldn't know about the AU Merlin, so someone summoning him from our universe would probably have to be thinking they were summoning OUR legendary Merlin, right?

From what I remember, wasn't Merlin supposed to be the devil's child in some legends? Didn't Sam and Dean mention him in the episode with Jesse, the "anti-christ" child of a demon and an innocent? Maybe someone could be trying to get Jesse, and gets Merlin (and Arthur) instead? With different powers and more free will!

Merlin also had some connection to the Holy Grail. So if he's the protector of the HG, maybe someone is trying to get that, and thinks he will know where it is or help them retrieve it? Or really, this might work with any Arthurian legendary item--The Sword in the Stone, Excalibur, um...I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them at the moment.

If you had this world's Morgan La Fay, or Nivivane, or The Lady of the Lake trying to get our version, and pulling the AU version instead, could that work?

And I suppose if he was imprisoned in a tree, someone could come across him by accident. It could be a bad guy as much as a good guy, and the wrong person just happens to be in the right spot?

I suppose someone could just need a druid for something, and tries for the most well-known druid?

Now I'm intrigued! :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I guess I had it in my head that there IS no other Merlin but the AU Merlin. Which, is kinda funny, because all other mythological figures in SPN are real people in SPN - but the way I wrote Men of Legend, I pictured that there was ONLY AU Merlin - and in the SPN-verse, he was fictious.

But, you're right, it could be a case of summoning the wrong one. Again, though, I have a problem with why they'd want Merlin in the first place.

Trying to get their hands on an artifact would also be interesting - but again, why? Why would they need the Holy Grail? (Cup of Life in Merlin - since BBC's Merlin wasn't as tied to Christianity as our actual Arthurian myths are)

Why would someone want Morgana? Why would someone want a druid? It always comes back to WHY! So frustrating. Basically, what I need is an end goal for my baddies... so that once Merlin and Arthur are here, they have something to do. They can help thwart an evil plot.

I don't know though, the problem is that the "lesson" I want to teach the baddies works best as a lesson for angels - but the baddies can't be angels, because then the scenes that I want to write won't work, because angels are too powerful (so are arguably demons)... which basically leaves me with witches/humans, and then I'm back in dark yelling "BUT WHY?!!" into the heavens.

[khek.livejournal.com]

Ahhh. Okay. Some kind of goal for the bad guys.

I know! It's Trump, and he wants to win the election by hook or by crook or by magic! So he calls Merlin! (Sorry--too many political commercials while I'm stuck at home, waiting for a cable technician to come on a lovely Saturday morning.)

The Cup of Life--someone wants to live forever? Or wants to cure someone of something?

The only thing I remember about Excalibur is that the person who wields it is the rightful king of England. So I don't know how that would help either.

Ooh, maybe Mordred comes back to life and wants revenge? That way there doesn't really have to be a purpose.

What's the lesson? Maybe you could back-end it?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

HA! At the Trump idea - as much as I'd love to write that gruesome death - might be a little too cracky for the story. ;)

Loyalty=/=Obedience - that's the one lesson that I have now. But, maybe it doesn't even work for a lesson, maybe it's just a good punchline to a particular fight that I want to write.

So, yeah, I've got no clue. I really appreciate the help brainstorming though!

[cappy712.livejournal.com]

I have a confession to make - I don't remember reading Men of Legend.


I hope others were able to give you help with the plot.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, you don't have to read everything I write! It's okay! :)

ETA: Oh, and between people's suggestions and a very good RL friend of mine who is awesome to brainstorm with, I think I've managed to come up with something!

[cappy712.livejournal.com]

I will get around to reading it = now my interest has been lite.

Something I wanted to say about the fact that LJ is quiet. Yes it is, there are other places out there but with AO3 it's hard because you don't have the ability to write and converse like we can here.

I'm on tumblr and a few others however, they are too discombobulated for me.

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

I can't help you on the plot help, but I do agree about LJ being quiet. There are cobwebs gathering on my LJ from the absence of everyone on my flist. I know all of them and I hear regularly from maybe 2 or 3, but everyone else are either completely gone or I see once in a blue moon. Then I look at the posts of those 2 or 3 and they regularly have comments and such. Makes me want to do a friending meme to see if I can add to my flist at all. It gets lonely sometimes. But, I am so far behind on my responses to others. My inbox has grown to almost 300 again of posts that I want to comment on or something else. Not even mention the reviews that I want to comment on. Yikes. Life is just not making it easy these days.

As for newer fans, yea, they congregate more on Tumblr, Twitter and FB. But, given some of the comments I see from fans on the FB pages I am part of, I'm not sure I would want them on LJ anyway. The questions and theories they put out are so eye-rolling, I just can't take it. It's hard enough keeping my mouth shut and not saying what I would love to say to some of the inane comments put out there.

I am finding all everybody wants to do on FB is theorize about this and that and speculate, and frankly, I don't care to do that anymore, even if I did back in the heyday. I just want to enjoy the show without any expectations.

[cuddleyfeather3.livejournal.com]

So, you gonna write it soon?

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yup. I'm working on it now, actually. I've got about 15k done. It's a bit complicated though, because I have two layers of flashbacks from 3 povs, plus then Sam and Dean's pov in the present... so, yeah, not sure how it's all going to come together in the end, but I'm doing my best!

[cuddleyfeather3.livejournal.com]

Can't wait!!!