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@lanccelot
intermission: gwen in a circlet
(as of now, i have four different circlets for this picture but i figured it’d be awkward to post all of them in the same post.. if you want to see them, tell me! this one is the fanciest one, obviously..)
2.13 — The Last Dragonlord
hey! i'm posting this across pretty much all my social medias lol.
SO. i'm a college student, right. and i have exactly one semester left. and my financial aid isn't enough to cover the entirety of my last semester (i'm about $2500 short). and i'm kind of in a tight spot because a guy hit our family's car and we just had to get a new one (the old one still runs, but damages cost money to fix and we need transportation. never live in rural mountain areas guys), and obviously there are bills to pay as well, and on top of studying i'm also kind of looking after my elderly cancer patient father all the time. everything is just kind of hitting at the same time.
so everything's devolving very quickly into a mess right now! i'm already making a list of things i can sell haha. and like, that's fine, we'll figure it out, it's not an emergency. but if you're feeling generous and are an enjoyer of my many ramblings or whatever, i made a kofi. absolutely no pressure at all, but i'd appreciate anything immensely. thank you for reading! :)
edit: my cashapp is also here, if that's easier on anyone. :)
no like season 1 merlin rocks up to camelot and every magic user he meets is burnt out, bitter, or both. in season 5 mordred rocks up to camelot and the senior magic user that’s burned out and bitter is merlin. it’s merlin that’s perpetuating the cycle of hurt now and that’s crazy and they never get into it!
in s3 when gilli (I think?) comes to camelot and wants to use magic enhancing ring to defend himself and kill their oppressor and merlin tells him it's not what magic is for, it's for good (that he can't do because magic is outlawed) and he tells merlin that he has pretended for so long he forgot who he really is. it has been a theme since the beginning
#merlin goes through perfect indoctrination I think they actually nailed his character perfectly #you can see the shifts #he's hopeful in s1 #in s2 he believes it's necessary that he suffers at arthur's hand because it just has to be. doesn't trust morgana and poisons her #in s3 he's full of guilt over releasing kilgarrah and poisoning morgana. seems to fully believe arthur will never know about his magic #in s4 lancelots death and evil resurrection breaks him. his relationships with other people are detoriating. he is becoming emrys #s5 bitter obsessed merlin is obvious #just amazing progression (via @lovebotomy)
Funniest part of BBCM is that Arthur is canonically not pure of heart.
Second funniest part of BBCM is that Arthur is measurably not pure of heart.
He failed the second test that Anhora gave him. He failed the test on his pride, mirroring the event that leads to his own bane: forcing Kara to either apologize or die for trying to protect her people and right Arthur’s wrongs, instead of just admitting that she was right.
Anhora had to cheat the rules in order to give Arthur a test that did not challenge his pride. This means that Arthur is only about 2/3rds pure of heart, maybe even 1/2 considering the final test was designed to be more passable.
Meanwhile, Merlin “The Unicorn” Emrys-
am I misremembering canon again or did Kara try to stab Arthur on sight?
I mean. If smb tried to stab me with the intent to kill. For approaching. I would feel justified in killing them? Cause that's self defence (except my pick would be doing so on the spot without waiting for the threat to find another knife. That's the part I honestly don't get in the show - Arthur killed bandits all the time when they attacked, why not the girl? Because she is a girl? What does it matter what's between her legs if she wants him dead and made an attempt to turn that into reality? Like, he only took prisoners that one time with queen Annis hubby... at least from what I recall)
Also idk about pride... with the number of scenes where Arthur kneels in front of his enemies basically begging to be killed leave his kingdom alone. Like, sure, he has pride when it comes to daily things like when he was all "Merlin, why do they think I'm a simpletone" but when it comes to important stuff? Gurl, he kneels so often, I'm expecting him to wear specially made kneepads for comfort - perhaps ordered by Merlin who gets sick of the complaints after.
btw I see ur point about 2/3 success rate and while true, still not bad with Uther for a father? Btw unicorns being "pure" and Merlin being like... very questionable with his morals. And I can't even call him "good", not rly, the guy is just that devoted to his Arthur. Morals are secondary for him (and that's all kinds of hot and attractive, love me a one-track-mind unhinged blorbo, but I can't think of him as a "pure good" person. He is averagely human like that - flawed and guilty and loving)
To this, I must repeat:
Arthur is not “acting in self-defense” by executing revolutionaries. The revolutionaries are the ones acting in self-defense. The governmental authority is the aggressor, whereas the oppressed group is the one victimized. Abuse (in this case, social abuse) is about power imbalance, and the power is ultimately all Arthur’s. Magic or not, Kara carries no social power as an oppressed woman. Arthur, on the other hand, decides what will be law and chooses to maintain the same unjust, genocidal rulings as his father before him. Kara acts in self-defense and in defense of others, as a martyr, in her assassination attempt against Arthur, who is a tyrant against her people.
Arthur is prideful in the most significant sense: he cannot and will not admit to his wrongdoings against magical peoples, and in fact never meaningfully develops beyond his initial classist evaluations of the people in his life. He is only willing to consider lifting the ban on magic so long as he has a personal stake in it, never once considering that what may be maligned to the monarchy is exactly what would benefit the people he is responsible for. To do this, he would need to truly comprehend that he is not more worthy than any other person of insurmountable power and hoarded wealth. As for the latter, when he deems a commoner worthy, he simply promotes them to a higher status. This implies that all who are deemed commoners are seen as less worthy by his estimation. Merlin remains a commoner despite his invaluable contributions because Arthur lacks true respect for him as an intelligent, dignified individual.
Uther is frequently cited as an excuse for Arthur’s behavior, but if Arthur’s behavior needs excusing by this method, then you are deliberately omitting the fact that he is undeniably comparable to Uther in his continued oppression of those he deems inferior to him based on class, religion/ethnicity, and gender. You unintentionally acknowledge that he maintains the same systems that Uther put into place, but with slightly less aggression. This isn’t “not bad with Uther as a father,” this is a direct result of glorifying Uther’s tyrannical rulings out of monarchist pride.
Most interestingly, you say that you can’t even call Merlin “good,” as you claim this is a misconception based upon his extreme devotion to Arthur. This is quite an assumption, as it is this very devotion to Arthur that threatens his moral standing. It is even more telling that you hold Arthur to such a low standard by comparison to Merlin. Arthur’s moral ambiguity can surely be excused by the fact that he was raised to be immoral, yet Merlin was raised under the same social norms, only as a peasant farmer rather than royalty. Arthur is coddled to remove his accountability in his own actions and beliefs, while Merlin’s autonomy is acknowledged only to convict him. Merlin’s comparative lack of autonomy compared to Arthur, who holds the highest social and political power in the land, is methodically omitted.
Morals are not secondary to Merlin — they are in fact his primary quandary. Because his morals are often challenged and he feels, at times, forced to compromise on morals he would rather not, some fans are under the illusion that he simply does not struggle with morality and is always willing to forgo his morals to achieve his end-goals. In reality, these events show that the exact opposite is true: Merlin’s primary struggle is in maintaining his morals when the destiny he has been landed in challenges the breadth of his autonomy. Whenever possible, he attempts to find another way — such as lifting the fever curse on Camelot and saving Morgana’s life, or saving Camelot and sparing Kilgharrah, when these were set as mutually exclusive goals — but as a poor commoner and servant who is forced into hiding as part of an oppressed class suffering genocide, he is wholly unable to wield the same social and political power that Arthur does. That is the goal of kingship: to withhold power from other people and permit it to oneself.
Merlin’s “purity” comes from an absence of moral “contaminants,” these being arrogance, selfishness, cruelty, and indifference, among other things. Arthur did not kill the unicorn for any moral failing of the unicorn — he killed it because it is a magical creature and killing it would boost his reputation. The combined factors of pride and cruelty on display disqualify Arthur from the same comparison to the unicorn that Merlin is subject to, especially given Merlin’s status as an oppressed creature of magic under Arthur’s authority. The unicorn represents Merlin because both would be killed for their mere existence, not any true crime they committed, and both show a certain moral purity in their absence of cruelty.
Case in point, monarchism is wrong, Arthur’s actions and beliefs cannot be excused no matter how you tilt the tables in his favor, and if Merlin were given the same tests as Arthur was, he would have made the decisions that earn the title “pure of heart” because he does not possess the same flaws as Arthur does.
pple, this is what it feels like to click on smth and get an 1h long vid dropped in ur lap
Yes, we watch that show on different lvls of seriousness
No, I don't think Arthur is hot without a shirt - I think he is a cute oblivious gullible and spoilt guy (irrelevant of the monarchy)
And re: Kara. Well. See. Direct threat vs political movement. Like, say, remember the insurance guy? Was it wrong of the dude who offed him to do so? Nah. But was the insurance guy in the right to self defense against whatever fck tried to kill him? Yup. Because that's just basic instincts and common sense with a direct threat in sight, has nothing to do with politics, both of their morals and causes. Don't tell me ya wouldn't smash smb with a brick if they tried to stab ya in an alley - same thing, rly.
Basically, it would actually be more morally acceptable if Arthur just offed Kara right there cause he was trained to do so when smb goes for his insides (the kill or be killed situations are simple). The trial made it complicated and political. And sparing his would be assassin would also send a message of "everyone is welcome to try and kill the king, no punishment!" - which is also not great. So, rly, Arthur put himself in that corner with his choices over the years.
Monarchy. Well. Yes, he fcked up on the magic side of things but well - pretty much every magic user he met tried to kill him, with very few exceptions, so. He didn't have an incentive to lift the ban, probably bc he didn't see the benefits it could bring - the show made him stupid like that ig cause there was Gaius who could provide a lot of pros if asked - and from what I remember he stopped going after pple with magic who didn't try to kill him. (Not saying that was a major step buuut think of it like ussr queer laws where being accused by ur neighbour of being gay landed ya in jail and compare that to current russia laws where ya have to be publically open and gay to land in said jail. Both are not ideal but the later is a bit better, right? Cause the later requires some physical or online evidence at least)
Btw Merlin is totally selfish cause that wish to keep 1 treasured person above all safe and happy? Yup, that's selfish. And having moral struggles doesn't make ya "good"? Btw ya can totally injure/kill without cruelty (cause it's not personal, just wrong side of the battlefield). Oh, and ya say he is of lower class and a servant - true but he is also pretty much magic incarnate??? Which gives him options outside of laws and tbf if he played his cards right, he could step in as a druid leader under a disguise and influence things on the political front. Yes, idk where he would find the time between Arthur and Gaius but in theory
Oh, forgot. Yes, Atthur killing the unicorn for no reason was wrong and stupid. But having an "illegal from birth" sticker on ur head doesn't make one pure by itself... ya could totally be trouble irrelevant of the sticker
In conclusion. They are both not pure or 100% good. Also me understanding the motivation of a character != agreeing with said character's actions
Lets agree to disagree on our blorbos)
(Btw have u read "Perle"? It's a manga, I think u would love it's conflict)
Hey have you checked your walls for black mould
Guinevere after Arthur’s death
Close ups:
David Jones, from “Love and Space Dust”
‘I like him myself, but I can’t ignore what I saw’
to me the problem with merlin becoming absolutely convinced that he was "born to serve arthur" (and that his magic, which is his own because he IS Magic Itself, is also arthur's by default) is that by DOING that it means that the prophecy had already gone completely askew. they're supposed to be two sides of the same coin not half a coin and its holder. it was already out of balance. it was already fucked up. the first half of the story (the "once" in "once and future") was never going to have a happy ending precisely because of that. one has to wonder if uther pendragon threw a giant wrench in things when he made merlin arthur's manservant because i think that 1) arthur would've been a hell of a lot more likely to treat merlin like a person instead of like a dog if merlin had remained gaius' apprentice (i.e. becoming a proper physician himself) and 2) merlin would've been a hell of a lot less beaten down as a person if he weren't in a position where arthur could constantly berate him and his kind as if he were subhuman while at the same time getting way too attached to him because he spent all his time around him. like great job uther you took two characters who were supposed to be on equal footing with each other and instead forced them into a violently unhealthy sun and moon dynamic and look what happened. A Fucking Death Spiral!
Merlin 2x01 The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
this fanfiction shit is easy
Im not a monster
And the old religion humming in your veins, Some animal instinct starting up again.
FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - THE OLD RELIGION
Gwen is a blacksmith’s daughter. It’s not one of the first things we learn about her, but it gradually grows more important as the series goes on. As she drops the refrain “Morgana’s maidservant” and trades it in for something more meaningful to her person.
Over the course of season two, Gwen lessens her time at home, and subsequently the forge, to spend more time at Morgana’s side, night and day. Primarily because of Morgana needing her presence to tame her nightmares, but also in the wake of her father’s death, which invited so many grief-stricken emotions to the surface. The forge reminds her of him, plain and simple. Morgana had also played a role in Tom’s murder and is again, if subconsciously, pulling Gwen away from the setting that reminds her of her own family. In a similar way, Morgana’s power over her own magic emerges in destructive flames, seeming to symbolize the physicality of Gwen is losing ground of an art her family had been mastering for decades.
But season three changes the game. Gwen is given more space in the larger narrative, and her family returns to the center stage. Elyan is brought back into the fold in The Castle of Fyrien, and with his presence, the forge is up and running again for the first time in years. This is the also episode where Morgana’s ploy to further break Gwen’s surviving family apart fails spectacularly, because the love she wields to save her brother subverts that hatred instead, “It’s what you do when you love someone.” This follows a pattern over the rest of the season, and we see the significance of Gwen being the blacksmith’s daughter again in Queen of Hearts, where Tom’s death is finally given space, even if the only one advocating for the sum of her father’s memory is Gwen; defying Uther openly in the face of his ugly condemnation. Gwen is the one who’d “kneel on a stone-cold floor morning after morning” for her father, and it’s that fire Morgana once admired that leads to Gwen defeating her, once and for all.
And at the end of the season that very phrase comes to a fitting climax, as Gwen uses her skills and experience to outwit a Morgana who’s forgotten she was ever a blacksmith’s daughter in the first place, “I...forgot you too had suffered.” She returns to her forge, a place of terrible pain and the hope of new invention, and reclaims her own fire by making something of it, fittingly a key to escape. Something her father had lived and died in the hope of, something Morgana had given secret ambitions to, and ultimately worsened him for. Something his daughter would use years later as an instrument of escape, because it was her hands that melt it into shape, and it was her inheritance to ultimately wield it for good.
In a season about choices, Gwen makes a very deliberate one as an answer to the question, “Why else would Arthur fall in love with someone like you?”
Not just a commoner, but someone like Gwen, who’s heritage is a forge from a man falsely condemned for magic, and brutally excecuted for the same. Uther’s question is pointed at the very heart of the insecurity Morgana has sought to exploit, a place of deep fear from long-lasting repercussions. Why do you still dare to call yourself the blacksmith’s daughter? And Gwen, who’s found a new hearth amongst friends, and having used her wit and honesty to survive his regime thus far, openly embraces her father as the good and honest man he was, when she replies “I don't expect someone like you to understand that.” Fin.
gwens and an elyan
Morgana Pendragon in every episode: 3.13 The Coming of Arthur – Part 2
Guinevere Appreciation Week
Day 4: The Queen of Hearts
