siiiiiiiiiiiiick

[marguerite_26]

boo. have a cold. feel awful. *sneezes*

so... I have a get shit done plan this week. it involves me being strictly Merlin-minded this week. I have to get my merlin_holidays fic done and I'm itching to get writing it. So a ~hiatus~ of sorts is called for. *closes twitter and tumblr tabs*

To get me in the Merlin writing mood, I think I'll spew out a few thoughts. (they aren't happy ones... keep scrolling if you are looking for squee)


5.5
ugh. so i have some basic fundamental issues with 5.5... i really really detest the concept of killing someone for something they might do in the future. it disgusts me. i hated it when it was mordred as a wee little creepy boy and i hate it even more when mordred is a sweet thing that everyone loves (including merlin!) and yet merlin is honestly ready to kill him because the dragon told him so. fuck that. there is no honour is defending arthur's life by killing a boy who has shown only love and respect for arthur. saved him twice over. fuck visions. fuck destiny. fuck the dragon. i don't believe in that shit.

merlin's decision was wrong on so many levels and 'not giving us a magic reveal' is actually one of the LEAST of my complaints. the episode itself was well structured enough and certainly a better quality than many a merlin ep, and the acting was stellar on all counts. completely breathtaking. but it was also awful. it left me feeling awful. it left me with no hope for the future. any resolution and true understanding between merlin and arthur i can't imagine finding believable. i don't trust the writers to pull it off.

i do understand that maybe merlin's choice was meant to be wrong, but i think the writers want us to believe it was wrong only because it didn't succeed. it me it was just WRONG. the spirit with which it was done was wrong. nothing, nothing about that decision was right.

the only thing i will concede is that magic has no place in camelot. >.> and what i mean by that is that only person to ever do good with there magic seems to be merlin. the three ominous ladies in this ep seriously creeped me out. would i want to agree to their terms? fuck no. you don't get to come into my kingdom and hold peoples lives in the balance as you demand i respect your religion. what exactly are the merlin writers doing???? are they trying to say that magic is evil? that magic corrupts and manipulates? that people with magic aren't peacefully fighting for their right to co-exist, but demanding through threats and blackmail that their way is the only way and must be embraced. because dude, i'm not into that. and for that reason alone, i'm glad merlin made the choice he did.

magic ~like that~ has no place in camelot. a conversion of the kingdom to the old religion actually gives me chills after the way those three zealots were talking.

so yeah... 5.5... an interesting episode that could have been brilliant. instead it left me wondering if i'll ever look forward to another merlin episode again. i seriously doubt it. (i'm well spoiled for the next few). i know a lot of people feel differently. i respect that. i'm not a fan of feeling like characters and relationships are broken beyond repair. i like tv that makes me happy.



5.6
i don't even know were to start. the above is already so negative... ugh. sometimes i feel like criticizing merlin is like picking up a toddlers drawing and mocking their use of crayon. i want to like it for what it is.

i actually really liked seeing morgana and gwen together. loved it, tbh. is this the first merlin episode since S1 that actually passed the bechdel test???? i don't mind that it was all torture/mind games ... they spoke to each other. that was cool. i really liked that gwen was refusing to eat, refusing to drink. she'd rather starve to death than be a pawn. i approve, bb. too bad the (gasp!) twist is that you weren't strong enough.

i really which we'd had more exploration of gwen's weakness in this. why the screaming and the laughing??? you know what would have been horrifying? her seeing arthur actually say cruel things. see arthur talk to one of his knights about how he's embarrassed by gwen. how when gwen makes a suggestion in council he blushes for her. how he looks at the land he could have gotten marrying mithian and knows he made the wrong decision. have her see the knights agree with him. days and days of that... yes, she would learn to hate him, not trust anything he says.

idek... too much screaming for me.

i did love queen mab. omg... I LOVED HER. she stole the episode for me. *goes back to rewatch her tiny tiny scene*

also loved Arthur truly freaking out over being lost in the forest and losing precious time and merlin using his magic to lead the knights. that was cool.

so ... anyone want to bet whether or not we'll get any explanation about morgana's capture? or will it be like the awesomeness of agravaine and the lost plot of how the uncle came to be?

okay. i'm done. debbie downer is out. off to go to the happy place of writing fanfic where all this can be ignored and/or fixed.
merlin fandom... i love you smf no matter how badly these last few eps are disappointing me.




i'll close this off with link to the Teen Wolf Fall Harvest Round Up Week 1 . Guys - seriously awesome fic and art have been posted so far. And plenty of rare pairs! And the one gen (lydia-focused) is so gorgeous.

anyway.... also here's insta-rec for you before I disappear:
Love Comes in Spurts by talktowater
Derek/Stiles [NC-17](26k)
Summary: Stiles has always had sort of a hero worship thing going on with Scott's step-brother Derek so moving into a house with him freshman year was basically fulfilling a childhood fantasy. Discovering how Derek was putting himself through college, well that was a whole other fantasy that Stiles didn't even know he had.

Unexpectedly good porn industry AU. I'm not always a fan but this had way way more going on than just porn-as-easy-plot-device-to-get-dick-in-ass.

ty kayoko! <3

Comments

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure we are going to find out more about Morgana's capture in the later episodes. There was a hint when Katie said something about the person who did it showing up later in the series.

I totally agree with killing Mordred not being right on so many levels. I began to wonder if Merlin weren't an anti-hero in a lot of respects when he killed Agravaine and didn't look that upset about it last series.

Too much screaming. I thought they should have had someone calling for help and then screaming - but that might have been too much for a 'family' audience. I like the idea of Arthur looking at Gwen in disgust. For now, I'm going with Gwen being a bit enchanted and a bit mind-manipulated.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

I do hope we get an explanation of what happened to Morgana. Like the WHY, and not just... random guy X did this to her and drove her more crazy. but you know... actually ~relevance~ to the entire ark. that would impress me. :)

I can see them making Merlin the anti-hero... i just don't understand the choice other than the fact that Colin looks so very pretty when he cries. (which is a valid reason, i suppose - but isn't enough for me to respect it)

I think the bbc 'family' audience can handle a lot. isn't DW considered 'family' as well? that shit is downright scary. nightmare-inducing at times.

Merlin could have done a lot with gwen's torture that had nothing to do with gore and had everything to do with playing into her insecurities.

[kattale.livejournal.com]

Oddly, for me, it was when Merlin killed the Witchfinder by framing him for a crime he actually didn't commit, (and a crime Merlin didn't want to be a crime - sorcery), watched him fall to his death, and chuckled later, over dinner, about how clever he was. This is not the good guy. :(

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

oh. that is a very good point. :)

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

I had a long discussion with one of my friends about whether he was a good guy or not. He thinks he is but then all villains/anti-heroes do.

[kattale.livejournal.com]

My head-canon Merlin is still a good, good-hearted kid doing the best that he can to please everyone and earnestly trying always to do the right thing, even when circumstances drag him into tough decisions and catch-22's, and the "right thing" isn't always clear. I blame the writers for not knowing how to convey that. It seems they confuse "growing up" with "losing one's ethics". :(

[ginger-veela.livejournal.com]

Feel better soon, bb.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

thank you! :)

[k-nightfox.livejournal.com]

Sorry you are feeling sick! I hope it passes quickly *sends chicken soup*

Can I say that I think you've summed up my feelings about 5x05 & 5x06 better than anyone else so far? I will continue to watch the show till the bitter end but I have honestly lost hope. They have fulfilled all my fears for this season and only took 5 eps to do it. They can't fix it, they can't save it, they've ruined it. The writers don't have the capacity to save it, not enough talent. What a waste of a good cast and crew.

Feel better soon!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

thank you!

They have fulfilled all my fears for this season and only took 5 eps to do it.
THIS. D:

They really can't fix this. I imagine the critic love that. How awesome it is to feel so much pain!!! so much despair!!!! the show has truly risen above it's silliness!!! ... ugh... NO NO NO... it's just gotten darker. not better.

makes me so cranky.

[otta-ff.livejournal.com]

Boo sickness! Hope you feel better soon. ♥

I have many of the same feelings about this series of Merlin. I was disappointed about the lack of magic reveal - not because I wanted it so badly (though I do) but because I feel like there's no way back from that for Merlin and Arthur. After *all* the betrayal Arthur has suffered, I can't possibly fathom him being able to forgive Merlin for keeping his magic a secret at this point, regardless of M's reasons. Not in any believable way, anyway.

As for 5.06, I was on board with the Gwen/Morgana scenes but think they could have done more to show Gwen's downward spiral (as you said). The 'twist' at the end seemed to come out of nowhere and having only spent a short time in the dark tower, I find it very hard to believe she's suffering from some sort of Stockholm syndrome. And let me not drone on about how four knights were overtaken by a couple of (admittedly magic) snakes to protect the Queen of Camelot. *sighhhh*

I'm enjoying the hell out of TW Fall Harvest fest and concur that TW friends should read all the things. *nod* Good luck with the hols writing!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

first! I can't thank you enough for so devotedly reading and reccing from fallharvest!!! It's hard running a fest on lj when the fandom is so tumblr focused. It's hard to know if people are even following it, other then happening to see fics pop up on AO3.

as for Merlin - the snakes. god... the snakes... i can't even. :/

oh! another thing about the 'twist' at the end that sucks? Elyan's death is like completely useless. It was unnecessary on every level AND Gwen's tears weren't even real. apparently she 'hated' him at that point. she doesn't get to properly mourn her brother. so why kill him? why do something so drastic then take away the opportunity to have Gwen truly feel something like that?

odd choices.

[otta-ff.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Yesssss. I was so annoyed at the end of 5x06 for exactly the reasons you said above. Gwen *seemed* convincing in her grief in the tower but then was stone cold when they set Elyan's body afloat. So are we to believe she's just that good at faking (in the tower) or that she was bewitched at some point post-rescue? Either way, I don't really care. It was just bad writing.

I think I'm struggling with Merlin so much this series because I'm finding Merlin (the character) to be so unlikable. It's not just him making bad choices for the greater good (i.e. Arthur and the throne). It's like he's been consumed with that and has completely lost who his is as a man in the process, not caring what he's doing in order to follow the dragon's great prophecy. That's not the Merlin I want to see become all powerful. They have so many opportunities to touch on some pretty dark stuff in the legends but I think they've just lost the plot - literally - and I'm afraid there's no coming back from it now. Which is really, really depressing. :(

Oh - and you're most welcome about reading/recc'ing Fall Harvest fics! It has truly been my pleasure with so many wonderful fics and pieces of art so far. I know the other TWR reccers have been enjoying them as well and we're more than happy to help spread the word.

[clawdine]

I read it that she had no more tears to shed - it's a certain kind of numbness. That first her father was killed, and now her brother. Even when she's enchanted I'm certain she had some true feelings, those tears in the tower looked real.

[kattale.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask - why no commentary on Elyan's death? But here it is.

When he wasn't filming in Pierrefonds in the fall, I braced myself for this, and at Mab's warning, I knew it was him. I'm angry about it - the way everyone else was angry about Lancelot, that's how I feel about Elyan - it was a shitty thing for the writers to do to a character that has done nothing but good things for his King and land.

But it's not really even anger any more. It's just such a sense of being utterly discouraged. I've been loyally clinging to my love of the show all last season, when everyone was disappointed and angry and wanting to give up. I now feel totally disconnected from Merlin - I have no sympathy with the character anymore - but Elyan was my last straw. Now the show is just something to be endured until the end (it had better end this season) so I can say I finished it and move on. So discouraged.

[groolover.livejournal.com]

Agreed - I can't imagine that they're going to fix things (to my satisfaction, at least!) Depressing. It'll be a lovely surprise if they do, though!

Hope you feel better soon!

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

It will certainly be a surprise if they do! I'll be watching out my window for pigs flying. ;)

thank you!

[kathyh]

i do understand that maybe merlin's choice was meant to be wrong, but i think the writers want us to believe it was wrong only because it didn't succeed.

No, I think we were supposed to see it as wrong on every level. I could be mistaken because it was a very dark episode but Gaius questioning him on his decisions did give me the impression that you were supposed to see Merlin as wrong and that his attitude that he must protect Arthur at any price is very wrong. He's adopting a fanatic's tactics to fight fanaticism and I really don't think the show is condoning that because it has always shown that fanaticism is wrong with regards to both Uther and Morgana.

I agree that a lot about 5.06 could have been stronger though I think it was interesting that what Gwen actually went through mirrored Morgana's perception of what happened to her in Camelot - tormented by visions, friends turning into enemies and desperately alone. That's how I'm explaining it to myself anyway, that Morgana was using her own experiences to torture Gwen instead of thinking about what Gwen's fears might be. In the end it's all about Morgana.

Hope you feel better soon.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

No, I think we were supposed to see it as wrong on every level.

it's possible. you are right about Gaius being the voice of reason (one of the rare times I've agreed with him!) I just always get the impression that the ends justify Merlin's means. always. (in the writers minds)

They never show consequences of his murders. They never show Merlin feeling guilt over his choices as long as the ends are met. (and really, he has built up quite a lot of murders along the way)

it has always shown that fanaticism is wrong with regards to both Uther and Morgana.
I want to believe that! I'm afraid that they are implying that Merlin's 'fanaticism' like his magic is good and right, because it is rooted in good intentions. :/

That's how I'm explaining it to myself anyway, that Morgana was using her own experiences to torture Gwen instead of thinking about what Gwen's fears might be. In the end it's all about Morgana.
oh, I like that idea! though I didn't think mandrake root worked that way. I thought it looked inside your soul and tortured you uniquely to how it would be the worst for you. Or at least that's how it worked for Uther. idek!

[kathyh]

They never show Merlin feeling guilt over his choices as long as the ends are met.

I think this time it's going to come back to bite him but we'll see. When Gaius asked him what had become of the boy that first came to Camelot Merlin said "he grew up...and learnt the meaning of duty". I think he justifies everything to himself because he feels he's doing his duty to Arthur so that abnegates guilt. It's like Giles in Buffy 5.22 killing Ben in completely cold blood and saying something like "I do it so she doesn't have to." I remember fans saying then that this should all come out but it never did and Giles didn't seem to feel a flicker of guilt because he'd done what he saw as his job. As long as the shiny prize of united Albion and magical freedom is before Merlin's eyes he'll do whatever it takes. He was prepared to let Mordred die in 1.08 and only just didn't go through with it so this dark aspect of him isn't new.

Or at least that's how it worked for Uther.

Uther was such a guilty man he didn't need any help but I bet Morgana's enchanted those mandrakes in some way and she can't see beyond her own idea of pain. Fanwanks I has them *g*.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

*brings you some virtual chicken soup* Hope you feel better!

I can't say that I disagree with any of your Merlin points, although I don't really feel any disappointment at this point. My disappointment got burned out of me somewhere along the way - now I just kind of shrug and think, well, yeah, it's that point in the season where it all starts to go to hell in a suck basket. Right on schedule!

Merlin's characterization has been extremely dubious for a very long time now. I can't say I'm surprised that it's gone even darker now. He's always prioritized his secret over everything except Arthur's life and throne. With the number of people, including friends and comrades and innocent bystanders, that he's let die over the years, I'm not at all shocked that he's perfectly willing to manipulate Mordred's demise even if he's not yet willing to murder him outright. Fandom loves to characterize Merlin as the do-gooder vegetarian pacifist, but that's never been who he is on the show. I don't like it, either, but I think I just abandoned all hope when we had the time jump before this season.

i really which we'd had more exploration of gwen's weakness in this.

Yeah, this was just lazy, lazy writing. I mean, the whole episode was horribly written, but it would have been so much more effective to show any of those things you mentioned rather than that ridiculous scene of the knights talking about their dreams of how scary the dark tower is. I think we all read into it the same way with her insecurities, but FFS, would it kill them to actually give her just one minute of real characterization on the screen instead of making us do all the work?

[shinyslasher.livejournal.com]

aww hope you feel better soon, hon! *hugs*

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

thank you! :D

[hardticket.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 5.5 burned out any anticipation or joy I had for new Merlin episodes entirely, now I just want to know the end.

I'm also rooting for this to be the last series harder than ever because of that episode.

What's the chances we'll get a total rewind at the end. Merlin just breaking when Arthur dies and starting over? I'd actually like to see that.

[who_la_hoop]

Get well soon!

The last couple of Merlin eps have been so poor - this Saturday's was a mess of plot holes and HERE WE GO AGAIN storylines, and the Saturday before's was just unbelievable. I didn't understand how the writers could justify Merlin refusing to save Mordred either, and his decision not to tell Arthur about his magic was equally incomprehensible. I'm really sad that we haven't had the magic reveal, because then the show could have introduced some new, interesting plot - like Arthur and Merlin being 'enemies', despite their personal feelings - rather than rerunning the same old tired storylines.

I think my main problem with Merlin is that it keeps showing flashes of brilliance, before going back to the same old same old, so I can't stop myself from watching.

[destina.livejournal.com]

Hope you feel better soon! <3

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[castmeaway.livejournal.com]

YES. thank you for saying exactly what I've been thinking in such a clear way. I was skeptical about this season when we got aliens, and now... I'm not sure if I'm having such a hard time with Merlin because it's just gotten that ridiculous, or if I've found something to move on to (TW).

I think I finally gave up on the show after 5.5. Just...I wonder if the contrast between this ep and the season one ep with Mordred was deliberate? Merlin went against the dragon/destiny crap to save Mordred that first time, vs now when he made the deliberate decision to kill him. It made me hate Merlin. I think Arthur's decision was absolutely not a commentary on him at all, how he's grown as a character or grown in his acceptance of magic. It was all about Merlin and how far he's fallen. In many ways I think Merlin is representative of tptb here. He's become so focused on maintaining his vision of what should happen in the future, that he's lost sight of the bigger picture. I have no faith in him anymore, and no faith in tptb.

ugh. and now the newest ep. I like the morgana/gwen interaction but it was soo badly done, for the reasons you said, but also I just felt like it sort of came out of nowhere. It felt contrived to me, and aside from Arthur none of the characters motives made any sense to me. Morgana pisses me off as a villain, the knights annoy me, Merlin and his magic...ugh. why do these magical creatures/people keep having faith in him? he clearly doesn't have their interests in mind, and itjust... why do THEY have to tell Merlin to use his magic? That just killed me when queen mab had to remind merlin that he was magic and could get them out of the forest, but oh yeah I still have faith in you *eye roll*

/end rant. sorry.

[blue-eyed-1987.livejournal.com]

You've summed up my feelings about Merlin so well here. We've seen hardly any magic this season, instead its mostly Merlin's (morbid) fascination with Mordred. I also have issues with Arthur suddenly being openly affectionate with Mordred with no explanation/character development. The whole series seems to be missing chunks.

I'm more frustrated than disappointed, to be honest. The writers have had so many opportunities to write good eps and they just seem to think 'fuck it' instead.

I always feel mean for harshing people's squee though? So I try to keep it at a minimum. It's been so hard these past two eps though.

Hope you feel better soon, bb!

Love comes in spurts is a fantastic fic <3

[shutupeccles.livejournal.com]

Opinions of Merlin episodes consistently quote my senior high school report cards. You know the old potential/effort adage. At least the acting is anything but mediocre. Angel and those boys carry these writers.

[tourdefierce.livejournal.com]

You will write all the words and be so productive, bb. You will. ♥ You're awesome and I appreciate you.

[knowmefirst.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Hope you get well soon!

[clawdine]

You bring out some very good points. The whole free will versus destiny thing. What I liked is that Merlin is becoming more ruthless and morally ambiguous, so he's not the kid we saw in S1. I really liked 5.05 as frustrating as it was, because for once, the plot twist was actually clever. It gave me a punch to the gut!

I agree, I think the ~old religion~ is outdated, they're... they're like crazy fundies, you know the type. What needs to be brought back to the kingdom is a new thinking, where magic isn't used to hold something over the heads of non-magical folk, but also where it isn't hated and feared. A joining of non and magic folk, with peace. I guess it's what uniting Albion is all about.

I don't think Gwen gave in in 5.06, it's obvious that after Morgana failed to get her to her side after a couple of days of psychological torture, she put an enchantment over her. It's obvious from latter episode summaries that "strong magic" is needed to lift the spell from her. So what Morgana did was to weaken her psychologically (with torturing her so that her mind instinctively saw Morgana as "good" with her moments of "kindness") and then finish her off with the enchantment.

Totally agreed with how those things would have been FAR more effective fears of Gwen. Some people on tumblr said similar things!

Queen Mab and her ridiculous rhymes! I loved her :D