#and the emo twink's story is about being a queer menace and disruptor of the system and the peace

[all-chickens-are-trans]

the fun thing about bbc merlin s1 is so many of the writing decisions (accidentally?) allow for the queerest readings possible. aside from magic as a metaphor for queerness (magic reveal = coming out, anti-magic laws = queerphobia etc.) and aside the fact that there's just this off the charts chemistry between all the main cast, the way these relationships are written is just so friggin' funny to me. like:

morgana and gwen? sure gwen works for morgana, but they're just genuinely good friends and really close. and the writers show this by??? gwen bringing morgana flowers?? morgana going against uther and going to jail for gwen more than once?? gwen doing everything in her power to save morgana's life?? seems like they wanted to go for "they're friends!" and "morgana is a good royal because she doesn't care about hierarchies or social standing" and where they got to is an epic tale of love, up there with all the greatest lesbian fantasy and period dramas!

arthur and merlin. i do not need to elaborate on that do i? we all see it. we enjoy it. "do you know how to walk on your knees"? please arthur you just met this boy and this is a kids show.

merlin and morgana? clearly they were trying to show that merlin has a bit of a crush on morgana because he mentions once or twice that he finds her beautiful. which is ridiculous because while merlin is the pov character, we don't need anybody to tell us that morgana is beautiful. hello??? they cast katie mcgrath and we all have eyes. yet every time those two get close to each other and bond, it's got something to do with magic. and since we've already established that magic = queerness, their dynamic is just 'self recognition through the other'. queer people being drawn to each other even before they know they're queer. especially because they almost completely forget about merlin's "crush" in the later seasons in favor of them being somewhere between gay/lesbian hostility and solidarity instead.

merlin and gwen? left this for last because this is my favorite. remember how merlin mentions he thinks morgana is beautiful? he does so because he's prompted by gwen, who asks something like "isn't she beautiful?" and only then merlin agrees and they both sigh longingly. and the funny thing is, that happens multiple times! constantly, gwen asks merlin about a woman she thinks is beautiful and only then merlin weighs in on it. what??? is it that the writers wanna tell us that gwen wants to be like these rich and powerful women? do they want to show us that merlin is into girls without making him be creepy about it? because what I see is a sapphic girl in the closet signaling to a friend that she likes girls, and merlin comphet-ly agreeing that these girls are beautiful. and the angle that gwen has a crush on merlin and she's just jealous/envious of these women doesn't really work either because it's always her who brings it up first.

honestly what were these writers THINKING. bless them all, this is such good shit. just a bunch of queer kids in the closet trying to signal to each other that they're queer and in love with each other to various degrees.