#is so entrenched in every fibre of my being that i wouldn't be me without hating me

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

So the Merlin fandom as a whole is remembering more and more that Gwaine was actually pretty harsh and quite vocal about his hatred towards magic in the show, especially in season 5.

I understand the whole "don't ignore something that is canon in the show, whether that is an act a character did or a character trait, etc. just because you don't like it and it doesn't fit with your ~wholesome~ view of a character." I get it. I agree with it. (Mostly, but also, sometimes fandom and fanfiction and headcanons are just fun to mess around with, it doesn't have to be that deep sometimes my dudes)

But when it comes to Gwaine specifically and his view of magic,,,, I just,,, I can't get behind it. Yes, it's annoying when people continually ignore parts of a character in order to make them "fit" into their fics or headcanons, because some of these things that are ignored constantly are huge! And really important to address. But.. when it comes to Gwaine, I just. I can't see the way that he was written, especially in season 5, as Gwaine. I look at s5 Gwaine and I go "that's not the Gwaine we know."

I can't for the life of me, imagine a reality where the man who said "Nobility is defined by what you do, not by who you are" and "if there's anything my father's life taught me, is that titles don't mean anything, it's what's inside that counts." And has a deep understanding of what it is like to be disconnected and disassociated with nobility and royalty, would also be the same man to shout and point his sword "This is your king!" To the disir when they disrespect Arthur. Or be so completely entrenched in Camelots laws he just hops into hating magic with every fibre of his being without any thought to critique the rhetoric. I can see Gwaine being hesitant about magic and being distrustful and having some anger, because Gwaine really cares about injustice and he hates when people abuse their power to undermine others, so he would have some anger about sorcerers using their power to hurt others. But I can't see that he would be full of so much vitriol hate as he is in season 5. I hate being that person, but I look at Gwaine in season 5 and think anything "these are all bad choices the writers made and I do not agree with them."

Anyway, sorry for just popping in. I just, I love that people are getting more aware of not just bowling over anything they don't disagree with in canon, but I also can't help but go "No no no! No!" whenever I see a "hey remember Gwaine actually had a very harsh stance against magic in the series" post and I had to vent my thoughts and feelings somewhere

#not my gwaine

SO true bestie, s5 gwaine especially past 5x04 is an absolute TRAVESTY yOu spEaK oF tHe kiNg he actually looks deranged

as much as i dislike s5 gwaine i also feel very sad for him, you can see him becoming more and more withdrawn and depressed and losing himself throughout the course of the season and that at least feels in character, especially after losing elyan, but the rest of it... no

that being said gwaine did show distrust of magic before then, even in his first episode he spoke of it with disgust and you can see merlin registering it, and it makes sense given his noble upbringing, but i certainly don't believe he wouldn't change his mind very quickly if he found out merlin had it, which you could argue is not that great a reason to lose a prejudice but that's another post

but yeah s5 gwaine was another level, particularly with regards to his loyalty to arthur as a king not a good man

also... the hair 😖

also i found this screencap while looking for that one and i can't not share it 🤣

#bbc merlin #gwaine #also like. its not a crime if you do ignore it snfjkghl #if you wanna imagine a world where gwaine adored magic go right ahead!! #who has the time to remember how lowkey shitty literally ebery character was :')) #ask #ty anon!! 💖