Merlin

Zine: Vignettes From Camelot

/ Process, Zines / , , ,

“Vignettes From Camelot” includes glimpses into the lives of Arthurian characters: Merlin, Morgana, Arthur, and an unnamed messenger.

The zine is 16 pages long with 4 original stories and hand-drawn illustrations inspired by nature and magic. It’s printed in black and white.

I couldn’t decide on a blue or white cover, and neither could my Instagram poll. 😂 So both colors are available for $4 in my Etsy shop. Shipping is free in the U.S.

If you’re interested in reading about my process for this zine, keep scrolling. 🙂

White and blue covers for Vignettes From Camelot zine
Table of contents and first page of the zine, with "The messenger" as the first story.

The stories in this zine started as a series of tweets I wrote a few years ago. My original idea was to write 10 tweets in a thread and have that be one story about people in Camelot. I never finished that, but I took the ideas I had for Merlin, Arthur, Morgana, and a messenger and fleshed them out into these vignettes.

I drew the illustrations by hand using black and gray markers and pens. I wasn’t sure which illustrations would go with which stories, so I drew each page individually. Here are a few of the original illustrations.

Two illustrations for the zine. On the left are black shadowy swirls that reach up from the bottom of the page. On the right is a castle drawn in gray with black line work.
Two illustrations for the zine. On the left is several trees and branches drawn in black. On the right is gray swirls and black asterisks to symbolize magic.

When I finished all the illustrations, I scanned them so that I could do the layout digitally.

I used Canva to lay out the text and illustrations. I made many of the illustrations semi-transparent so that the text over them was readable. In some cases, I put white boxes behind the text, so that the words stood out without adjusting transparency on the illustration. Here are two of the pages in Canva.

A screenshot from Canva that shows two pages in layout. On the left is the castle illustration with text over it. On the right is gray swirls with text over them.

After I laid out all the pages, I did a few test prints to see how everything looked on paper. I made a some adjustments, and then printed several copies for my Etsy shop.

Hero, Sidekick, Villain

/ Books, Movies, Superheroes, TV shows / , , , , , ,
Hero, Sidekick, Villain

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a classic trio of characters with his Sherlock stories: hero, sidekick, and villain. For example: Sherlock, Dr. Watson, and Moriarty.

I took a look at other stories to see how closely they fit Conan Doyle’s setup. These aren’t in any particular order and this certainly isn’t an exhaustive list — just off the top of my head.

StoryHeroSidekickVillain
SherlockSherlockDr. John WatsonMoriarty
Harry PotterHarryRon, HermioneVoldemort
Merlin (v1)MerlinArthurMorgana
Merlin (v2)ArthurMerlinMordred
FringePeter/OliviaWalter, AstridWalternate
SupermanSupermanJimmy OlsenLex Luthor
BatmanBatmanRobinThe Joker
Doctor WhoThe Doctor[companion]The Master
Teen WolfScott McCall[his pack][multiple]
HavenAudreyNathan, Dukethe Troubles
ChuckChuck, SarahCasey[multiple]
Back to the FutureMartyDoc BrownBiff
Dresden FilesHarryMurphy, [multiple][multiple]
RoswellMax[his friends]FBI
MatildaMatilda(none)her parents, Trunchbull
The SandlotBennySmallsthe Beast
Star Wars (original triology)LukeHan, LeiaDarth Vader

Words for people with magic

/ Books, TV shows / , , ,
In books, movies, and TV shows, we use different words to describe people with magic. Sometimes the words specify gender or if the person uses magic for good or evil. But the terms and their meanings are not consistent across different stories and fantasy worlds. I wanted to compare the dictionary definitions of witch, wizard, sorcerer/sorceress, and warlock to how they are used in a few fantasy worlds that I am familiar with.

Most common dictionary definitions:
witch – A woman claiming or popularly believed to possess magical powers and practice sorcery.
wizard – One who practices magic; a sorcerer or magician.
sorcerer – One who practices sorcery; a wizard.
sorceress – A woman who practices sorcery.
sorcery – Use of supernatural power over others through the assistance of spirits; witchcraft.
warlock – A male witch, sorcerer, wizard, or demon.

How these terms are used in fiction

Merlin

In Merlin, the dragon Kilgharrah calls Merlin “young warlock.” Warlocks can sometimes be associated with dark power (see “demon” in the definition above), but the dragon never seems to think that Merlin might use his power for evil purposes. In Merlin’s world, then, “warlock” is synonymous with wizard or sorcerer (x). The prophecies call Merlin a “sorcerer,” and that is the general term used in the series for anyone who practices magic.

The Dresden Files

“Wizard” refers to a man or a woman with a substantial amount of magical talent. Sometimes “dark wizard” will be used for someone who uses magic for evil purposes. “Warlock” is the term for anyone who breaks any of the Seven Laws of Magic (x).

Harry Potter

“Witch” refers to a female and “wizard” refers to a male. In the Harry Potter series, “witch” and “wizard” do not carry with them a certain expectation of power or experience. Twelve year-olds studying at Hogwarts are witches and wizards and adults who work for the Ministry of Magic are witches and wizards too. “Warlock” usually denotes a person with high skill or achievement (x).

A Modern Witch

In this novel by Debora Geary, “Witch” refers to a male or female with any level of talent. No mention of any other terms for people with magical talent.

I like that writers use already-existing words for characters with magical talent, but at the same time, it can be confusing that these words do not have universal meanings. There’s another way of looking at this though: molding these terms to their specific worlds means that writers can form their own structures for how magical talent is defined in their stories.

When Arthur Finds Out

/ TV shows / ,

No spoilers here. Just my speculation.
Here’s a scenario I’d like to see on Merlin when Arthur finds out that Merlin has magic.

The knights of Camelot, Lancelot, Arthur, and Merlin are away from Camelot, fighting a small army or maybe magical creatures. The knights are losing and Merlin knows he can save them all if he uses magic. Similar situation to that episode about his hometown. Problem is, he’ll definitely expose himself. But Merlin can’t let everyone die so he uses magic, defeats the bad guys, and saves everyone.

Everybody saw it. Everybody is stunned.

Arthur orders two knights to grab Merlin and bring him to Arthur.

“All this time, Merlin?” Arthur says.

Merlin looks at him and nods. “Yes.”

Arthur takes a step back, rubs his hand across his face. “I thought I knew you. I trusted you.”

Merlin doesn’t say anything for a moment and then: “Arthur, look, I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you.”

Lancelot hangs back, watches both Merlin and Arthur carefully.

“Merlin, all that time,” Arthur answers. “You were in the castle. Close to Father. Close to me. And…”

“And what?”

“I don’t know. What were you doing?”

Merlin stands up straight. “Serving you.”

“Using magic.”

Merlin sighs. “Yes, when I had to so that I could help you. To protect Camelot.”

Arthur shakes his head once and steadies his voice. “You can never return to Camelot.”

“What?” Merlin tries to step closer to Arthur but the knights hold him back.

“The king will have you executed if you do.”

“Arthur–”

“No.”

Lancelot steps in. “Arthur, Merlin just saved all of our lives.”

“With magic.”

“Yes, with magic. He’s a brave man. He knew what you’d think but he did the right thing. And you’re going to punish him for it?”

But Arthur won’t listen. He orders the knights to ride back to Camelot. He tells Merlin not to follow them.

Then Merlin is in exile for a few episodes until he hears about some attack on Camelot and he has to go back to protect the castle. After Camelot is safe, Uther orders Merlin’s execution. Uther questions Gaius to find out if he was helping Merlin keep his secret. Arthur doesn’t say anything in public.

Then it’s up to Arthur to save Merlin, to convince Uther that Merlin did nothing wrong. If Arthur can get over the way Merlin lied to him over the years.

—–

However the show deals with Arthur finding out, I want it to last a few episodes. We’ve seen the measures Uther takes to forbid magic in his kingdom. We’ve seen Arthur question Uther and evaluate the pros and cons of magic. All the while, we’ve seen a friendship between Arthur and Merlin that grows stronger. When Arthur finds out that Merlin has magic, they will have a messy problem. I don’t want to see it tidied up nice and neat in one hour.

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