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[personal profile] amphigoury
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It's not like I'm not doing art or anything.... everything I've been doing is for fests though! LOL! But here is one that I can share:

It's another comic! It deals with grief and canon minor character death:

Title: A Question of Destiny Ch59
Rating: T
Characters: Arthur, Merlin, Will
Content notes: Grief, canon minor character death
Summary: Gaius takes Merlin to a canyon to let out his grief after the events of "The Moment of Truth" - Story from "A Question of Destiny" by Alaia Skyhawk.




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EXCERPT FROM CH.59:

"Why are we here?"

Gaius followed suit, moving and tying his pony to a tree. He then sat on a convenient rock.

"So you can think things through and clear your head. Perhaps your magic will be easier to control if you can let out everything that you've got bottled up, and this is certainly a place you won't have to worry about restraining yourself. Go on, go in there. This one is a dead end, so no one will be able to sneak up on you without passing me. Go, I'll come check on you when it's time for us to head back."

Merlin stared at him.

"You brought me out here to think?"

Gaius sighed.

"I brought you out here to grieve. I know you too well, Merlin. I know the tears you've shed until this point are only the tip of what lies inside. You've known your magic has been slipping out when you let your emotions go, so you can't tell me you don't need this... Call it something like when grown men scream their lungs out to get rid of stress. It might seem silly, but it works."

Merlin still looked a bit unconvinced.

"Are you sure about this?"

The bland look he got in response said yes, and still a bit confused he did as he was told.

The canyon was old, tangled with weeds except where the tumble of stones in the bottom restricted them. He clambered his way past them, eventually arriving at a point where it widened out quiet a bit. Across the way any further progress was blocked by a rock fall, and looking around at what was almost like a crude and barren arena, Merlin understood why Gaius had chosen this place.

This place would be somewhat hard to damage, or at least kept him away from being close to things that would burn. Here he could truly let go, and not fear any stray magic resulting from that would get him executed.

Merlin took a deep breath as he finally let everything well up, screaming out like the men Gaius had mentioned and feeling like his magic was about to explode in a fury of power tied into it. Rocks near him were violently thrown into the air away from him, bushes among the rocks were reduced to ash in an instant. He then dropped to his knees, pounding his fists into the ground with his magic still wrapped up in everything. The earth shuddered with the hit, cracks radiating out from him, until finally he curled up in a sobbing ball.

He'd lost his best friend, the friend who had known about his magic since they were both nine years old. Yes they'd been separated by distance these past months, but the knowledge that Will was still there in Ealdor if he needed him had... But now Will was gone, dead. He could have stopped those raiders with ease, with as much effort as rolling over in bed. But Arthur had been there, and Morgana and Gwen. He'd hesitated out of fear of rejection because they were there, and that delay had created the situation that got Will shot. And then Will had taken the blame for the magic, and the reaction of the rest of the villagers to that had only made Merlin feel worse.

They'd accepted Will, honoured him even, for saving them with magic because it was still that... Saving them. How hadn't mattered, and that's why he felt worse. If Arthur and the others hadn't come, the people of the village would have kept his secret if he'd revealed it to get rid of the raiders. He didn't blame Arthur for coming, or the others, he blamed himself for not trusting them enough to take the risk until it was too late.

He heard more rocks crunching as they hit canyon walls, but he didn't care. He just lay there for a long time, listening to the forest around the rocky area and forcing himself to meditate. He let his sense of the web of magic calm him, going deeper into it when his magic seemed to want to pull him down, and discovering that when he wanted to he could sense more than just the web.

He started to lose sense of himself, like he was becoming the land itself, and he started to feel all the little creatures and animals in the area closest to him. So much life, in a land that needed him to protect it... Will had done what he did so he could continue to do that.



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In the end, I think the hardest part was figuring out what/how Merlin screams and finding the perfect balance of "A"s and "R"s and "!"s.

Date: 2011-07-12 01:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] carolinmescalin.livejournal.com
I think you just killed me a little bit. Poor Merlin!

Date: 2011-07-12 07:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Only a little bit? I'll have to try harder next time! ^__^

Thanks!

Date: 2011-07-12 04:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] altocello.livejournal.com
I think you found the balance on the roar of frustration and grief. Love the panel with them as littles, the fire, and the fetal position at the end. Really well done. Thanks for sharing!

Date: 2011-07-12 07:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Thank you very much! That fetal position one really turned out, eh? Glad you enjoyed it!

Date: 2011-07-12 06:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] riventhorn.livejournal.com
Just fantastic--and heartbreaking!! I watched that episode two days ago, actually, and this is a wonderfully cathartic coda to it. I really love the frame where Merlin is the tiny silhouette with the red background. And the one with the rock and Merlin shaking--however you did that, it works really well.

Date: 2011-07-12 07:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Thank you! I was having a hell of a time wrapping my head around how I was going to get the shake effect, and then it hit me, and I almost face-palmed at the simplicity of it! LOL!

Thanks for the comment!

Date: 2011-07-12 08:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
LOL! Glad you like!

Reni_m and I are trying to hoodwink someone into writing up some Top Gun!Merlin, ha ha ha!

Date: 2011-07-12 08:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] riventhorn.livejournal.com
Well, Arthur would be the perfect Iceman

Date: 2011-07-12 08:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Oh, he would be!

LOL! Oh, now I have THIS in my head!

Date: 2011-07-12 07:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reni-m.livejournal.com
Ah, wow.
<3

Date: 2011-07-12 07:56 pm (UTC)

Date: 2011-07-12 10:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jissai1988.livejournal.com
jesus this one went right to my bones

Date: 2011-07-12 10:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Emotional BAMF!Merlin does have that effect, eh?

Date: 2011-07-13 12:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jissai1988.livejournal.com
you kicked my comic muse into gear. If I fail that test tomorrow, I will inform the teacher that you were responsible.

Date: 2011-07-13 12:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
I will take full responsibility for your academic failings! ^___^

Date: 2011-07-12 10:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madnessisreal.livejournal.com
See, this should have been how Merlin really acted! Wonderfully done!

Date: 2011-07-12 11:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Indeed! It's one of the reasons I like that fic. It fills in some of the gaps of the show like how Merlin dealt with the dog statue, how he worked out the Staff of the Sihde, and how Merlin confesses to Gwen that he took her father's best sword and threw it in a lake...!

Thanks for the comment! ^__^

Date: 2011-07-13 02:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fuzzytomato02.livejournal.com
so beautiful Amph.

Date: 2011-07-13 03:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Thank you very much!

Date: 2011-07-15 04:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gfeather.livejournal.com
I love how all the effects look. And you rar has a great consonants to vowels ratio ;)

Fabulous as always!

Date: 2011-07-15 04:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
I cannot stress enough the importance of the delicate consonant/vowel ratio! LOL!

Thanks very much!

Date: 2011-07-15 07:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sallyna-smile.livejournal.com
this is beautiful....

Date: 2011-07-15 09:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Thank you very much!

Date: 2011-07-15 07:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] i-slash-thee.livejournal.com
Oh.. My god! Such fantastic fanart! My favorite was the screaming part, so pretty! I have always had a thing for Merlin and Will. I have to read this! :D

Date: 2011-07-15 09:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
The scream was pretty fun to draw! I'm glad you liked it!

Thanks for the comment! ^__^

Date: 2011-07-17 09:36 pm (UTC)
ext_54755: (Default)
From: [identity profile] thedeathchamber.livejournal.com
[...] finding the perfect balance of "A"s and "R"s and "!"s.
Haha, tricky!
I love the last two panels in particular, full of emotion. And the way the panels are organized as well.

Date: 2011-07-17 11:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amphigoury.livejournal.com
Thank you very much!
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