#merlin rant

[nekomim1]

When I first watched Merlin, I was entirely convinced that Gwen would find out about Merlin's magic.

Throughout basically all of season 1 and even into season 2, I was just waiting for the moment when Gwen would inevitably either found out by accident, or Merlin would tell her. It genuinely shocked and disappointed me to realize that the show wasn't going in that direction.

Like, obviously I knew that the issue of Arthur himself finding out would be a much bigger point of contention (although i still think it shouldve happened way sooner but I digress). But like... it just seemed so obvious to me that thats what should happen, right? Merlin has two guiding figures who know about his magic and provide him with advice. Hes got that fucking lizard, who is this ancient being with all this knowledge about destinies and magic and shit. Then ofc Gaius, who acts as more of a parental figure, warning Merlin to be cautious and helping him out from time to time. But it seems so clear to me that something is missing from this picture.... that being SOMEONE MERLIN IS ON EQUAL STANDING WITH!

Like hes got the older, more wise guidance figures. But what about a friend?! What about someone who can validate his fresher, more naive perspective while also providing a unique perspective of their own?! Am I going crazy here?!!!! Istg it boggles my mind that they didnt give him SOMEONE to talk to other than those two old ass crusty ass men 😭 and it so clearly felt like it should be Gwen too. She was immediately set up as a compassionate figure and I found it hard to believe she would ever turn merlin in if she found out, and in their season one era they were the besties of all time. I miss it so bad.

God and then they finally gave him a friend who knew about his magic in Lancelot. But then THEY FUCKING GOT RID OF HIM?? EXILED HIS ASS???? LANCELOT WAS SERIOUSLY IN LIKE 4 EPISODES TOTAL AND IN ONE OF THEM IT WASNT EVEN REALLY HIM. FFS. Bbc writers you will get whats coming to you i swear it.

#rant #merlin rant #im just angry as always #like its not unpopular to say lancelot shouldve been in it more #especially with how cute his dynamic is with merlin #and getting to see merlin actually show off a little and be playful with his magic #it was beautiful. ive seen this said before #but seriously in the 1st season it really did feel like they were setting up gwen to be #that friend thats in the know? the one he can turn to??? #i cant be the only one who sees this. plus it wouldve given gwen more of a role #bc we all know they didnt know ehat to do with her and she suffered for it fr #gwen my beloved you deserved so much better #bbc merlin #merlin #bbc guinevere

[kosmic-autokrat]

Merlin the cambion Merlin the son of a devil baptised at birth. Merlin who reflects on this and smiles and says 'Ah, this is why I don't feel, see?' but takes a little girl whose birth he caused and toys with her fate-knowing he must but warns her anyway even though he knows the result. But she has to know she has to be given a chance. But she regrets it in the end and he locks himself into the tower, trapping himself though he knew it was a trap. Go see beautiful things, he says. I have seen more than enough. His heart hurts. He wants a happy ending for her. If so, then--

But it's impossible and he mourns that but the impossible is sometimes possible and so she is saved, and he shouts for joy. Only the sinless may pass, and the sinful do so knowing sin exists. The sinful are human.

He passed into that prison knowing his sin, laughing because it hurt, and guiltily imprisoning himself in what was meant to be a punishment 'as though that was the fate of a man who meddled with the fate of a single girl'--

And man he is! Mortal and human and cambion. He feels. He does! And when he witnesses another dream, someone else who makes themselves inhuman and sets themselves up high so they can save all--

Not again.

But what can an observer do but support from the sidelines? Having meddled in one's fate already, he does what he does best. Little things to push everyone along to a happy ending.

Everyone.

(I am not a person, not human, remember that.)

#merlin rant #merlin fgo #i love merlin #fgo #fate grand order #merlin

[punkxcalibur]

In “defense” of Kara

A lot of people in the Merlin fandom seem to despise Kara and blame her for Mordred killing Arthur and while I have pretty neutral feelings about her, since she was badly written and barely even a character, rather than a plot device, I’m gonna say it:

Kara is not the murderous, ignorant chick you’re making her out to be. If the show was written from a different perspective, you’d be rooting with her. Kara’s family was most likely killed by knights of Camelot. And while Uther isn’t in reign anymore, Arthur hasn’t done much to bring peace to the kingdom. So, Arthur is Kara’s oppressor. In a lot of media it is portrayed as natural to want to kill your oppressor.

“But Arthur’s a good person!!!”

He may be. But Kara never got to know him personally, not like Merlin or Mordred. Kara only knows that he is king, a king that has done nothing to end the bloodshed caused by his father.

All in all, the real problem is the show’s writing. They needed a motivation for Mordred to turn evil, and what is better than a loved one dying?

So they had Arthur execute her, and Merlin betraying Mordred, in order that he could be mad at them. But of course Arthur is the good guy, so they can’t just make him murder his friend’s gf in cold blood. Ergo, Kara tries to kill him, because anyone who tries to kill Arthur is a bad person, now it is justifiable that Arthur wants to execute her and to show how much of a good person he is, he even gives her a second chance! But Kara is a bad person, like everyone that’s against Arthur, so she chooses to die, despite the king’s incredible generosity.

Now, they can justify Mordred’s 180 turn, after portraying him as a kind and gentle person throughout the whole season. Because there is no better motivation than your girlfriend.

#merlin #rant #mordred #kara merlin #mordred x kara #merlin rant #merlin analysis #mordred merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin bbc

[inalandofsadclowns]

Forever salty over Kilgarrah not being able to help save Arthur, because if he couldn't save Arthur, that means his sole purpose in the finale was to give Merlin a speech. Just an elevated speech that was supposed to give Merlin hope for the future. The dragon, who had used Merlin's trust to break free. The same dragon, who had convinced Merlin to do some really bad things, while dangling the hope of a brighter future in front of his face like a treat. Bad things Merlin did NOT want to do, like attempting to kill Morgana instead of helping her–even though helping her was the choice that came naturally to him. Or like making an enemy out of Mordred, until he finally became one for real. Choices, he had made between tears, all because he trusted Kilgarrah. And then the dragon's words are going to be the final ray of hope for Merlin for the coming 1500 years, you say?

#arthur did NOT end up uniting the lands of albion as promised #no that bitch is saying it's all gon' be alright #while bf is lying dead by his feet when bf should be legalizing magic and be making out later #bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #merthur #kilgarrah #merlin meta #merlin rant #enough you're going in the queue

[closetsof-backlogged-dreams]

okay let’s do more

thoughts on gwen + lancelot

ohhhhhhhhh, this is a good one—so many thoughts on these two.

okay, in order to ~properly~ give you my thoughts on them, i also have to give you my thoughts on arthur and gwen. more specifically, season one arthur and gwen.

when we meet lancelot in season one, i'm sorry, but it doesn't look like arthur and gwen are going to be together at all. there are several points (too many, tbh) where arthur arrests her or someone related to her (like her father) without even flinching. the only reason he ever intervened was due to morgana initiating it and bringing athur into the conversation. overall, arthur really doesn't care about gwen. there's nothing wrong with it. it's not his fault; he just doesn't know her. he cares about people like merlin and morgana far more.

enter: lancelot. i will admit, the part where lancelot is supposed to fall in love with gwen is arguably terrible. horrible. abysmal, if you will. but the actual love? *whistle* it's awesome. (and to be fair, arthur's and gwen's was pretty bad too. obviously wayy better, but still bad.) they're so sweet and loving to each other, and you can really tell that they would make such a good couple with good communication and just a healthy relationship in general. they could have been so great, but they ditched gwen and lancelot for arwen. remember, up until this point, arthur did not give two shits about gwen. then suddenly, out of the blue, they fall in love in an episode in season two after showing no signs of this in season one?? especially when the only relationships that would have made sense when building off of season one were gwen and lancelot??? i'm sorry, it just doesn't make sense to me.

but that isn't even my biggest problem with all this. my biggest issue with both gwencelot and arwen is that they gave us this dramatic love triangle and did... absolutely nothing with it.

i'm sorry, where's the drama? where's the emotional turmoil? where's the who could i possibly choose of these two completely different men, the blonde one or the brunette one? they set up a scenario that should have had so much drama and angst and just completely ditched it in favor of making lancelot leave and not return until like season three for AN EPISODE before FINALLY coming back semi-permanently in season four. like. what?? but honestly, that could've been fine, if gwen expressed any kind of loyalty or devotion to lancelot!! of course they weren't in a relationship, so she wasn't under any moral obligation to, but gwen obviously really cared about him. it felt so odd to me when the show writers just dropped gwencelot like a hot potato so they could pick up arwen and show it off to everybody, like baby simba in the lion king. yk what im talking about. it just felt so out of character to me.

even worse? gwen and lancelot never once have a real conversation about their feelings!! there's one verge-of-death "i love you" (kind of) from lancelot in season two, but again, he disappears and gwen never has the chance to really communicate to him whether she reciprocates or not (which she probably did.) then, when lancelot comes back again, her and arthur are together and that whole drama isn't really addressed.

overall, i think gwen and lancelot could have been such a great relationship if it had just been given the time to properly grow and develop. instead, they only gave it to us in tiny patches without actually developing the relationship, so all we were left with was this sad mess.

#so again #this was alll over the place lmao #and if you can't tell... #i dont like arwen much #sorry!! #merlin rant #merlin thoughts #gwencelot #arwen #merlin #bbc merlin #bbcm #arthur pendragon #gwen merlin #gwen pendragon

[constant-merlin-torture]

Merlin Hot Take, but

I don’t think A Servant of Two Masters should have taken a funny/comedic tone after Merlin was found. And in that weird period in between where George was dressed up as Merlin and it was supposed to be funny.

like Merlin as a whole has issues with tone shifts in the show, but I wish they had fixed it for this episode. Imagine the angst, the care, the protectiveness!!

if they could’ve stuck with the whole “omg Merlin’s gone and Arthur’s losing his shit cause his husbands missing” tone I think this episode would’ve been so much better.

also, I’m sorry, but the George thing was funny till it makes it look like Arthur would’ve actually slept that well after Merlin went missing? Like I’m supposed to believe that Arthur would’ve just??? Gone to sleep?? And woken up well-rested and relaxed and not at all stressed???

idk I had issues with that because until that point I was so excited to see Arthur putting in real effort for Merlin in a way we haven’t really explored.

lmk what you think, and submit to my literary journal if you write anything!

deadline is end of september

#merthur #arthur pendragon #bbc merlin #merlin #arthur #merlin emrys #merlin x arthur #gwaine #guinevere #gwen #merlin rant #uther pendragon #merlin bbc #rant tag #ranting #bbc rant #A servant of two masters

[hannahhook7744]

Merlin pet peeves;

That the friendships kinda went down in quality in later seasons.

That most of the character die (MERLIN DESERVED TO BE HAPPY).

That we didn't get enough Arthur and Gwaine's being besties (because why yes, Gwaine would do anything for Merlin, he'd do the same for his other friends because Gwaine is a loyal friend).

That we didn't get enough friendship content between Gwen, the knights, Arthur, and Merlin.

That we didn't get enough of Gaius being 100% done with everyone's shit. YOU KNOW HE IS.

That we never hear about Gili again.

That Merlin never mentioned Will to Gwaine (Gwaine would have definitely loved hearing about Merlin's old friend who is nearly as chaotic as him).

That we didn't really get too much insight into the others' pasts.

That we didn't get a scene where the other knights led by Gwaine and Gwen try to get Merlin and Arthur to make up after an argument. That would have been funny.

Barely seeing Gwen and Elyan's sibling relationship.

#gwaine merlin #merlin gwaine #merlin bbc #merlin bcc #merlin pet peeves #pet peeves #merlin rant

[pondermoniums]

I'm never getting over the fact that Arthur, on every single date he goes on, talks about Merlin. Brings Merlin along. Aggravates the living hell out of Merlin right in front of the salad.

Vivian, Elena, Gwen, and Mithian are the epitome of, "Hi, this is my boyfriend, Arthur. And that's Arthur's boyfriend, Merlin."

It's really freaking rich that Arthur made a joke about Merlin being sheltered with no tact with women - meanwhile, this literal castle-bound prince cannot function without his best friend, manservant, and boyfriend.

#this is a rant #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin #merthur

[panevanbuckley]

mutuals who share multiple fandoms with you are like rare gems

#like you can switch hyperfixation and know that you won't drift apart because they'll still be down to rant with you #i have much love for my multiple fandom mutuals 🥺 #911 fox #hbo war #marvel #harry potter #detroit: become human #doctor who #good omens #pjo #bbc merlin #bbc sherlock #shameless #gotham #law and order svu #venom #teen wolf #succession #the maze runner #the chronicles of narnia #shadow and bone #criminal minds #ace attorney

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Writing Mordred is slowly making me realise I don’t actually hate him.

The more I think about it, the more I realise he’s just a traumatised child who felt trapped and ran out of options when every single person in his life who was supposed to help him failed in some way or others. Most in more than one way if we’re being honest.

The kid literally had no one to turn to when the girl he loved died and was openly hated by the guy he’s thought of as a god since he was a child.

Like let that sink in.

Merlin openly wished him dead, and Mordred literally worshipped the ground he walked on.

(I’m usually a Merlin apologist but bloody hell he fucked up at every opportunity when it came to Mordred)

Morgana was the exact opposite of his morals but wanted magic free, (at the cost of non magic users lives which is also problematic, but that’s a different conversation) so he didn’t stick around with her, but when Camelot no longer felt safe for him, he ran.

Which is definitely a trauma response considering how he grew up with the Druids and then whatever the fuck happened after he left them.

Arthur was the only person who was continuously good for him, saving him as a child and later becoming a brother/father figure, but then he killed Kara and Mordred had to watch another magic user be killed by Camelot except this time it was someone he truly believed was good. He didn’t see her attacking Arthur like she did, just that the king of Camelot was killing another magic user which was bound to bring up trauma that he hasn’t felt safe enough to unpack and heal from.

I have a lot more to say on this, but I’ve got to leave for work in a few minutes so I’ll come back and scream about it another time

Fucking Mordred though, poor kid. He really went through it.

#writing this out made me realise I probably kin him a little too much #bbc merlin #mordred #character analysis #merlin emrys #uther pendragon #is shitty #kinnie moment #arthur pendragon #merlin #Kilgharrah hate club #kilgharrah #morgana #they’re all just traumatised kids #Mordred apologist apparently #long post #rant

[scionofguineverependragon]

“if mordred is not arthur’s bane, then who is? // himself.”

this irks me because arthur is only his own doom because the people around him (yes merlin) don’t let him think for himself (except for gwen) they coddle him and manipulate him for the sake of this great destiny but keep him in the dark of every single important aspect until it’s too late to make right decisions.

yeah sure his bias could be his doom but it’s more than that, especially considering his bias is only enforced when people don’t explain everything to him when it comes to magical situations and conflicts.

or the fact that his bias towards magic is formed by real and impactful fears.

in the end “his bane” was listening to merlin to let mordred die instead of bringing back magic, when you could SEE he considered bringing it back but the writing sucked and screwed him over and took away his agency to give us angsty merlin/merthur moment…but anyways let me shut up…

#bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #rants #merlin meta #sp

[kosmic-autokrat]

merlin is my silly goose hes so unwilling to accept that he feels things but hell be like 'will flowers bloom wherever you wander my lord' and 'you've become an important part of my life'. hes sucj a silly little guy i love him

#not important #merlinposting #merlin rant #fgo #fate grand order #merlin fgo

[hannaxjo]

About Fanfiction

You know when you come across a fanfiction that is just so wonderful in every way, and once it's over you genuinely don't know what to do. There's just this static going on your brain and it's just like- I - I don't - like a genuine loss of words. Because you have read something so beautiful and unique, and thoughtful, something that has actually changed parts of you and the way you view things.

This is why its ridiculous how much shit fanfiction gets, because this feeling, is so incredibly rare, and let me tell you, not once have I read a published book that has had this effect on me.

Sure, there is bad fanfiction, but guess what. There are also bad books. And just like there are amazing books, there are amazing fanfictions. And I got to read one of those for free.

The skill, not only in the writing but the way the characters are told, the story, the emotions, everything. The time and research that writer has put on this work, and I got to read it for free.

Through fanfiction we get to read and tell stories that the mainstream media is too bigoted to publish.

It is really fucking stupid to shit on fanfiction because "some of it is bad". Some of us don't get represented in the media as much, some of us at all, and some of us only in negative light.

So yeah, say thanks to fanfiction writers, leave kudos, leave comments. Fanfiction can be really fucking amazing.

#fanfiction #fandom #literature #this was supposed to be just a post because i finished a really good fic but i just got pissed and it kinda got out of hand #marvel #mcu #supernatural #harry potter #good omens #merlin #stucky #destiel #fanwork #rant #vent #she ra #captain america #star wars #bbc sherlock #sherlock fandom #doctor who #my hero academia #johnlock #teen wolf #the avengers #shadowhunters #malec #catradora #wolfstar #supergirl

[inalandofsadclowns]

I feel like the biggest mystery/plot hole of the show is why did all the magical catastrophies start occurring in Camelot - for the first time since the purge - the moment Merlin stepped foot into the castle?

In The Fires of Idirsholas Merlin asks Kilgharrah for help when Morgause cursed Camelot through Morgana.

MERLIN: What's going on?! Why is everyone asleep?!

*Kilgharrah pretends to be snoring*

MERLIN: Please not you as well. I need your help! What am I going to do?! Don't pretend. I know you're listening to me.

KILGHARRAH: (yawn) I don't need to listen to you, Merlin. You always say the same thing: "Help me". And yet you refuse to give anything in return. Now you will face the consequence of that decision. Camelot's end is nigh, and there's nothing you can do about it.

MERLIN: I know I promised to free you, and I will!

There's just so much malice in his words. He says: "you refuse to give anything in return. Now you will face the consequence of that decision." The consequence of Merlin not freeing the dragon...is that Camelot suffers once again... Does this make you feel like anything? Because to me, it sounds like Morgause's curse was supposed to be a punishment for Merlin for still not freeing Kilgharrah. If we go further back, then we could easily apply this little slip of the tongue to all the rest of the magical attacks since episode one. I think it isn't far fetched to suggest that Kilgharrah might have been behind much of it, setting shit up.

One important detail is that, before Merlin, dangerous sorcery couldn't have been an everyday occurence in Camelot. The most plain evidence is, well, that Arthur was alive to begin with.

Then let's just look at the execution in The Dragon's Call. What were the chances, that there is this man and his old mother, who both practiced magic, but have never gotten into trouble. Then they suddenly do, just in time for Merlin to witness. Yet it is much likely that Kilgharrah had influence on the events. first wanted to give Merlin a little taste of Uther's politics. Maybe he wanted to scare him enough, so that poor, confused, still impressionable Merlin would cling to his words as his only guiding light.

Then one by one the fake knights, creatures, Uther's former enemies keep appearing, conveniently putting Merlin in Kilgharrah's debt for all his advice. And finally, he could even bribe Merlin in exchange for the people's safety.

Now why would Kilgharrah do this? He really just wanted to escape from his captivity.

I mean, he knew Merlin would come, he had loads of time to plan this out in the cave. He had the ability to talk to people and other creatures telepathically - he did so with Merlin as soon as he arrived. Who's to say that this ability just stops over the walls of the castle? What if Kilgharrah could reach all the seasons 1-2 villains, talk to them, manipulate their thoughts?

Maybe he was the common point in all the random citizens who suddenly decided this was the perfect time to try their luck with dark magic in Camelot of all the places.

This exchange happened in 2x12. Until this time, any of the magical threats could have been attracted by Kilgharrah. He was freed three episodes later, so from then on, he had no reason to stir the pot for Merlin. He most likely left him alone accordingly, although that wasn't too useful anymore, as from Morgana's poisoning up until the battle of Camlann Merlin and the whole of Camelot were already facing something much more dangerous: Morgana. But that wasn't the dragon's problem anymore.

#bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #kilgarrah #merlin meta #merlin rant #merlin theories #enough you're going in the queue

[closetsof-backlogged-dreams]

thoughts on mordred’s story arc

oh boy do i have thoughts on mordred's story arc. (warning: theyre allll over the place)

here's the thing: i legitimately think that it was a good story arc, one of the best. i love bbc merlin and the charm of its terribleness, but the character arcs rly do piss me off. the constant and consistent problem with almost all of them is that the characters will change massively for... kind of no reason?

for example, when morgana began to hate arthur and want him dead and stuff—that development came out of nowhere. for the entire series up until that point, she had loved and cared for him. now, all of the sudden, she wants him dead?? now, it had made sense for uther. he had done terrible things to morgana and could very clearly see the line between her love and hate for him. you could to watch her tip-toe along it in real time until she began plotting his murder. that arc made sense. but arthur? there was no point where we saw arthur do anything that would make her hate him the way she did. he was just randomly lumped together with uther as another pendragon she had to kill to get the throne. but, again, it doesn't make sense! she never lumped them together. in the episode To Kill the King, morgana directly compares arthur and uther by telling him that, "You're a better man than your father. Always were." again, she never lumped them together! yet, later on, that's exactly what she does.

anyways, that was a bit of a mini-rant, but it was illustrating the point that bbc merlin was terrible at providing reasoning for their characters' arcs.

mordred's, tho? made sense. the reason he wanted to kill arthur was because arthur killed the girl he loved, kara. now, do i think that we should have spent more time with kara? absolutely! do i think that mordred's story as a whole made sense? of course not!

like, his connection to morgana never made total sense to me? i just wish that we got to see a lot more of his bond with her. when he ends up leaving morgana to join arthur, it feels kind of dry. like, yes, this is big and important and everything, but the only emotions i felt were panic from merlin. a bit more distress and grief over the lost relationship between morgana and mordred would have made the story infinitely better.

but i sort of get why they didn't do that, and its because they didn't show too much of mordred's emotions at all—he was a very bland character, tbh. with the rest of the cast, we know them through their emotions. everything they did was reasoned by what they felt. with mordred, we know him through his actions. he does a lot of stuff that i wish was more fueled by emotions the audience could actually decipher. tbh, when he killed arthur, it felt kind of out of place to me, because it was one of the first times we actually saw him do something so obviously fueled by his emotions.

overall, i think mordred's arc was objectively good because his actions did make sense. he did everything for a reason. i just think it would have been a million times better if we got to see his emotions more and watch them explicitly fuel the things he did. if they had done that, i think arthur's death would have made a lot more sense and hit a lot harder, because we would be able to justify it. when they distanced us from mordred, it was easy to hate him. i would have liked to see the audience's emotional turmoil if mordred had been a character that they could actually understand and relate to:)

#sorry for the rant lol #im a sucker for a good character arc and lemme tell you bbc merlin does NOT provide #i will criticize the way they develop every single character in that show (except uther because that was STELLAR) until the day i die #merthur #merlin #bbc merlin #bbcm #merlin thoughts #merlin rant #mordred #bbc mordred

[abandoneddinosaur]

just saw one of those merlin soldier poet king edits on tiktok and of course merlin was the poet and arthur was the king right

and I go to the comments

and

and

and

one of them said something like yes and arthur loves poetry

and I just

we all know the poetry scene, and something about that comment just made me go a little crazy and I had to expel it somewhere, but arthur ‘loving poetry’ and merlin being the poet in all these edits just makes me happy

#bbc merlin #merlin #merthur #arthur pendragon #sorry for the rant #or maybe you’re welcome