About that concubine stuff (Or ‘They killed my puppy’)
I’ve been thinking about this ever since I’ve read the reports from the Merlin’s panel on London Expo in May.
I came to the conclusion that I won’t watch the second season of Merlin. I plan to do a few more vids and finish a few fanifics (and that will probably take a month or two), but after that I’m done with it.
I do hope Merlin succeeds in USA, and I wish the actors do well in future, but I don’t plan to follow the series anymore.
As they said at the Expo, in the new season they will start/develop the romance between Arthur and Gwen.
Or rather - what has been heard cannot be unheard.
I don’t expect many to understand this (I expect only one to understand, because she actually said she understands), but this pretty much breaks the whole thing for me.
(I’ve been glad that they decided to give prettier dresses to Gwen, because the dresses in the first season didn’t do the actress justice; you can take a beautiful girl like Angel Coulby, but if you give her a dress that looks like a potato sack, the final result will be something that looks like - a potato too. It was about time. Then I realized those dresses would probably be used to seduce Arthur, and that quickly and drastically changed my point of view. I'll try to be mature and not take it out on Gwen.)
I gave myself some time, because I didn’t want to jump and cry and whine that they’ve killed my puppy, and I was hoping that in the end I wouldn’t care so much about it, but it’s having the contrary effect. I’m becoming more and more grumpy.
Yes, they’ve killed my puppy. My favorite imaginary couple. It ruins my fun. My heart bleeds.
Yes, I will pout now in the most childish way possible, just watch me.
*pouts*
I hear there will be eye candies in the second season; new costumes, new actors, shirtless Arthur,…
Sadly, there is no amount of shirtless Arthur that could fix Arthur/Gwen for me (I was hoping that there would be a shirtless scene in the second season, because I know that I could abuse it in many ways for months to come), but what’s the point of a shirtless Arthur if I have no Merlin to push it onto?
Family show or not, I’ve grown very attached to the pairing for several reasons.
I don’t feel particularly ridiculous because of it.
Well, I see no point in watching the next series, even less keeping making fanvideos or writing fiction. I’ve been hoping that they would leave at least another season ‘canon romance free,’ but I guess they think romance sells (which it usually does) and fans have the ability to imagine their own version of the events regardless of what happens in the series (which is true too, I guess).
It doesn’t work for me, however. It’s one thing to play what could be there, expanding the hints and so on, and another to go completely against the events in the series.
I never expected Merthur to become an official pairing, of course not, homosexuality is sadly still considered immoral, unnatural, and what not, so nobody in his right mind would make a family show (or a show for children) with an open theme of homosexuality, because it would affect the rating negatively. I don’t expect a family show to take on the duty of educating children in that way.
But as long as they kept the hints in the show, as long as they didn’t break it, I was happy with my little Merthur illusion.
My lovely pair is not going to be a concubine to the ‘real pairing,’ just because boys ought to marry girls. (I’m grumpy enough that I could make a long post about the fixation with procreation and then about children as one of the most valuable merchandise for barter in social exchange, and how we follow this mentality even if there are so many people living that not all can be fed. Back to Merlin, back to Merlin.) Why did they even bother putting the subtext in? (Rhetorical question.) Just don’t mention destiny or coins to me again, mkaaaay? *pouts again*
Well, at least there’s one thing that won’t make me grumpy anymore - that unspoken imperative, according to which the interpretation of the show where Arthur and Merlin are in love is something shameful and it has to be hidden. It’s not like you can’t find it in public places, but how is it accepted among the general population?
(Now I’ll stop before I start rambling about the general lack of idols/role models gays can relate to, the heterosexual approximations of said idols, and other things that are connected to Merlin only in the broad term of the word.)
Anyway, I can’t ignore Arthur/Gwen, even if I expect it to be relatively tame in the next season, and I expect it to be only worse in the future seasons. I know the Arthur/Gwen romance was to come sooner or later, and I know that according to the legends it ends…badly.
Threesomes don’t work for me, and splitting Merthur doesn’t work either. (I tried reading fiction with Arthur and Merlin were romantically involved with other characters, and I don’t think I’ll be doing that again.)
So I’ll take this as an opportunity to quit while I still can and reclaim my life free time again.
I probably should be doing stuff that is more useful anyway. *sigh*
And such attachment to a fictional pair is unhealthy anyway, right? And Merlin is a very cheesy show, right? (Yes, the grapes are still very much sour, so watch where you’re poking. If I find any other useful defense mechanism, I’ll use it without remorse.)
I guess I’ll be at that point where I can use that wonderful line - So long and thanks for all the fish!
I’ll miss the show and watching the actors grow and change, and even more I’ll miss the community. *cries* There are LJ friends I would really like to keep in touch with, even if we won’t have a fandom in common.
(And just right when I began to ‘meet people’ and to know my f-list! Just when I began to learn how viding works! *cries* And when people started subscribing on YT… The tragedies of life, eh? XD )
It is possible that I will give in when everyone else will be squeeing about this or that in the last Merlin episode, but for now my opinion is… There’s no way in hell I’ll be watching season two. Keep your storyline and the new costumes, and I’ll keep my imagination.
All right, now I’m done with the whining, here’s some more useful stuff.
The things I still plan (or at least I would like) to do:
Vids:
There are 3-4 I would still like to do, one of them is about Morgana, the others are Merlin/Arthur (I'm afraid at least one will deal with large amounts of UST -.-)
Fics:
-Albion University
-Merlin episodes from Arthur's point of a view (either the whole series or only the most interesting parts)
Other things I *might* do:
Fics:
-Road to redemption (UST-y porny fic; anger, sex, tears, road to redemption; exactly in that order)
-a few crossover minifics
-a Merlin/Arthur fic set in a fantastical Middle East toward the end of a fantastical 19th century
Meta:
- finishing "A silly walk with Freud, Merlin, and Arthur" (or why in my opinion the Arthur from the first season in more gay than Merlin)
-more about Uther and Nimueh
Random:
Random Merlin WTH moment and various observations
Other things I know I won't do:
Vids:
I have a large list of songs, and I’ll probably post it sooner or later.
Fics:
01. Upside down (humorous fic):
A Camelot where Igraine is alive, Uther is not so horribly grumpy (but you still want to be careful around him), and Morgana's visions are used to strengthen the national security. *ahem*
Arthur is still a prat because his mother spoils him too much, and he still thinks he has to prove how wonderful he is and how he can hunt down any magical beast, be it a unicorn, an Avanc, or Sophia (because poor Arthur, contrary to half of the kingdom, doesn't have magical abilities, only a sword.)
Merlin becomes prince Arthur's personal adviser and 'guard' because of his exceptional magical skills (a position Arthur benevolently translates as 'servant to the prince and Arthur’s exclusive property').
Nimueh still spies on the happenings in Camelot (and sometimes visits in disguise to make things more interesting, but everyone soon laughs at her pranks), because believe it or not, being a priestess of the Old Religion is not as funny as it sounds.
Gwen is still Morgana's maid (because that sounds better than 'her ladyship the female companion of lady Morgana'), and when Igraine doesn't force them to do embroidery, they hide around the castle and play with armors and swords. If they can embarrass Arthur in the process, even better. (Unfortunately, it's not that easy to embarrass Arthur in fight now that Merlin's constantly at his side.)
The dragon flies free in the skies and occasionally lands on the castle towers (much to Uther's displeasure - it must be the dragon chuckle that Uther doesn’t stand). He gives cryptic prophecies to everyone, Uther included.
There are almost as much magical accidents in Camelot as they would be in a Camelot where magic is forbidden, the difference is that they happen because people are happy, careless, and clumsy (to the point Uther wonders if it wouldn't be his duty as the king to chop a few heads to make his underlings take him and the court matters more seriously), and not because they want to murder everyone in sight.
Gaius is still the passive physician, only it's because he spends most of his time reading magical books - and there are many magical books in the kingdom. (There are some suspicious rumors (fueled by the queen herself) about him and the librarian, but Gaius will vehemently deny all of them.)
02. Could be any genre, but I imagined it as dark!fic.
The Pendragons have been overthrown time ago. Magic is common in the kingdom, Merlin is the prince, and Arthur infiltrates the castle to seek revenge under his father’s orders. (Uther is the head of a small resistance, which thinks magic users are suppressing those who cannot do magic - this may or may not be true.)
Despite not possessing any magical powers, Arthur manages to grab Merlin’s attention and the position as his servant. Under the circumstances, Arthur and Merlin end up saving each other’s lives.
Arthur is proud and difficult to deal with (no change there, really), because he is aware of his royal blood and feels that his throne has been taken away by unjust means. He resents Merlin for his position and wants to kill him at first, but soon he becomes torn between his desire of revenge, his father’s wishes, and a growing affection for Merlin. As he learns more about Merlin, Arthur feels the need to hide his true identity and his purpose not to carry out his original plan, but because he doesn’t want to lose Merlin’s friendship.
Merlin is sheltered by the life at the castle and by the Queen Hunith’s care. He worries if he can be a good king, so he sometimes comes across as naïve and perhaps even easy to manipulate. (He may not be as naïve as it seem at first glance, though.)
The dragon gives a prophecy to Merlin (but otherwise doesn’t interfere with the course of events.)
Gaius is the court physician and gives invaluable advice to Merlin and the queen.
Morgana plays for both sides, and Gwen tries to do the right thing.
03. Another humorous fic:
The story of the rat and the librarian (a small shrine for the great sacrifice one rat made in ep. 11.)