GNxDDD Does Bootcamp!

Merlin-dom Analysis

Analysis

Being a college student who was in the middle of exam period, the first prompt in the Fanfic Bootcamp challenge was literally perfect for me to be able to participate in.

I have written a few short stories over the years and I end up enjoying the writing process more with them as opposed to writing a 50(+) chapter story which is rewarding but a very physically/mentally draining process to complete. Lately I have noticed I have fallen into a trap of writing monster chapters which results me publishing just one mere chapter a month when really, I have always aimed to try to get something out every week (at the least!!).

Would I have ever written a 100-word story if it weren't for the competition?

Nope. I don't think I have ever even considered it.

Now that I have been exposed to it, I'm sort of in love with the possibility of writing drabbles. 100 words is so little, but it allows you to pay more attention in making every single word count. I suppose this is one of the purposes of the competition; to expose us to writing 'drabbles' and 'dribbles' and whatever other obscure words can be used to say 'short-story'. :)

Why did I choose Merlin as the fandom I would write my drabble for? I haven't written a Merlin story in forever and I've missed writing about that world. The Merlin-universe is such a beautiful universe and after writing non-stop for the Hetalia-universe for about five or so years now, it's nice to take a mini break to put something new in my works.

The 100-words I wrote were heavily inspired by that season 2 episode of Merlin, "The Witchfinder". Enter the first scene which Wiki describes, "While collecting wood, Merlin takes a break and amuses himself by shaping a distant column of smoke into a horse. Unfortunately, the horse is seen by a woman, and though Merlin denies having seen it, she insists it was magic at work and runs to tell the King."

The drabble sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it?

How did I make it my own? ENTER MALKYN, STAGE LEFT. (Malkyn is a truly authentic Medieval name, by the way! :) ).

It works, adding a little kid into the forest. It's not changing the story as such, just telling it from a different perspective. Cathryn and her sighting could occur at a different time. A day later, a week later, 30-seconds later. Malkyn's a kid too which was extremely purposeful to differentiate her from Cathryn and further set her apart from the canon universe because really, aside from Mordred, there are not too many children who appear in Merlin.

Of course, we can assume the man who Malkyn sees is Merlin. Another reference to the episode is Malkyn's hunt for belladonna, which is...I suppose somewhat sinister. Why is a little girl looking for a hallucinogenic flower? Maybe this is set after Aredian (the Witchfinder) has been called to Camelot?

The prompt specifically stated that the story was to be written about an OC experiencing our favourite fandom for the first time. This leads me to my last point to discuss; Malkyn's reaction to the magic she has witnessed. Here we have a little girl from Camelot (tyrant-ruled Camelot) who sees something so harmless and amazing but reacts to it by being shaken due to the pre-conceived notion that magic in the kingdom is dangerous and a terrible force. That is sad.

Anyway, I have written about 400 more words than that of the actual drabble. The drabble that I uncreatively called 'Merlin-dom'. What a stupid title. Oh well. Ce'st la vie.

Thank you for reading this ramble!