#anti Merlin

[romanceclub-confessionss]

Confession:

"Master/servant relationships (such as Evthys and Set, Amabelle and M) give me the ick."

[salty-we-never-got-mergana]

Merlin gets on my nerves.

Watching "The Last Dragonlord" and further mind-boggled that Merlin has the fucking audacity to expect his father to be "better" and get over the trauma of being a survivor of a fucking genocide and help the genocidal nutcase who ordered his death along with everyone like him, in order save people who were complicit to that genocide.

Just omg. Going to be rewatching that "I hate Merlin" video numerous times after this.

[arguablysomaya]

please, elaborate on merlin bbc propaganda and stuff

okay basically:

bbc merlin is a show taking place during a genocide

camelot for 20 years has been genociding and ethnically cleansing everyone who can use magic, including magical creatures. They were all either exiled, fled, live in refugee camps or in hiding, and a great many were executed and slaughtered. Generally speaking, life is inhospitable in camelot for magic users.

And the show makes no attempt to hide this fact, either. We see multiple times over the death and destruction this genocide has wraught, and how radicalized most of the remaining magic population is because of it. For the past few decades, camelot has essentially been doing 2 things: persecuting magic users, and defending itself from vengeful/liberationist magic users

the king (uther) believes that magic users are (stop me if you've heard this one) corruptive, shifty, and evil. he's always paranoid that a magic user will take their revenge on him. and in a way, he's right: there are in fact a lot of magic users eager to kill him, but given the whole Great Purge and literally drowning children thing, you'd thing the show would be a bit more sympathetic to their plight. Nope.

in come merlin and gaius, our two main magic users. merlin is the protagonist, and gaius his benevolent mentor, so the audience is primed to be on their side. only one problem: from bascially the beginning of the series, these two are nothing more than agents for the very state carrying out the genocide. they devote their time to wholeheartedly defending camelot, especially from magic users, something they are rightfully called traitors for. they actively intervene to prolong the lives (and therefore regimes) of both arthur and uther, despite neither king showing any real interest in freeing their people. gauis represents the "diversity" of a genocidaire state; as someone uther only keeps around so long as he shuns any involvement with magic except what helps uther carry put his genocide, gaius hides and rejects every marginalized part of himself that threatens his access to power. even as a member of the oppressed class, he aids and abets the oppressors every step of the way. merlin, as an extremely powerful agic user in hiding, follows suit. the thing is, like so many other minority collaborators, this doesn't actually buy them safety, since they are Other, they still have to walk around on eggshells knowing one wrong move could get their heads chopped off. but this action of defending a regime that would kill you without a second's hesitation is presented as noble and heroic in the show, when in reality it's stupid at best and evil at worst. merlin and gaius might save a token kid from being brutally murdered, but they will never let anyone take action, let alone take action themselves, to proactively stop the brutality.

merlin is literally the most powerful sorcerer alive. if he wanted to, he could create a more fair, more just, better world in a blink. instead, he spends his time pretending to be a hapless servent, messing around with his war criminal friends, and killing any freedom fighter who dares to even look at the prince or king. why? well, he believes in the institutions (and a prophecy that never comes true... lol). ultimately, merlin and gauis hold the same prejudices and stereotypes about magic users that uther does: that they're untrustworthy, dangerous, and that it would be better for everyone if all but themselves (the good ones) just died or left.

and all the people they're defending the empire against... are other oppressed magic users. the VAST majority of antagonists are either magicians or magic sympathizers. even in the context of a genocide, the show takes the firm stance that the architects of genocide (the literal kings who order it to happen) are just flawed human beings who still don't deserve to be killed, while when the people they seek to wipe out fight back, our protagonists will happily mow them down. the show has no problem with killing people,and even killing innocents is only worthy of a fingerwag. it's fighting for liberation that the show makes the real problem. even when uther finally dies the show plays it like something sad, as if anyone is supposed to feel anything but joy that this old tyrant genocidaire finally kicked the bucket after having been saved a million times over from getting his comeuppance. Every magic user that has genuinely good reasons to want to tear down the kingdom are all painted with the "crazy evil person" brush.

another thing is that this show likes to get ~quirky~ with their agents of the state. along with arthur and merlin come a colorful cast of characters like the knights that you can laugh and cry with. the only problem is that despite how lovable these people are, they're still actively carrying out and enforcing a genocide. it's a bit like those tiktoks of IDF soldiers dancing or proposing. i can't feel for these people because despite seeming like relatable people, they're still engaging in something horrific. you can't escape the fact that these people can only exist in the relatively easy capacity that they do because the empire they work for is brutally repressing and eliminating entire cultures.

but the thing is, this strategy actually works. the fandom is often so taken in by fun character interactions and shipping moments that you can often witness people literally look past, or even praise their acts of genocide. these characters are so charming with each other that you can look past how awfully they treat oppressed people. yay! the prevalence of merthur brings up too many idf pinkwashing parallels it's actually insufferable. i had hoped we left oppressor/oppressed person ships behind in the 2010s but guess it's still around

by the time he takes over as king, the "great, kind" arthur is essentially an IDF soldier who only realized that Killing Is Bad Actually when he's got crosshairs on a random kid. now Reformed (TM), he takes the brave stance that he should only kill the angry bad magic users who try to exact their revenge for the whole genocide thing on him, and the peaceful (more often than not, harmless) magic users should accept the merciful counterplan of ethnically cleansing themselves from the region, or continuing to live in refugee camps, but this time with less threat of massacre. in this show, the only acceptable answer to being genocided is to either lay down and die, hide forever, or displace yourself hoping the empire doesn't come and kill you anyway. fighting back, getting revenge, defending oneself, trying to change things: these are all reserved only for the genocidal state.

in other words, bbc merlin is the exact type of genocide obfuscation that most modern genocides engage in. the suffering of oppressed peoples, even innocents, is a footnote. when they suffer, sometimes it's presented as sad, and other times it's presented as deserved. meanwhile, the suffering of the oppressors, no matter how justifyable, is always landmark and deserves our full attention and sympathies, because the thing about the oppressors is that it's always their story.

(the last thing is a common fantasy problem, which is that when you create stories where different classes have actual, material, biological distinctions, it can end up justifying the oppression. in the real world, there is a very limited range of innate human abilities, and people from across the world are largely evenly matched. but in merlin, a sorcerer actually does pose an increased threat to those around them. in terms of allegory... kinda not the best thing to so without any real refutation to the idea that magic corrupts)

so yeah. that's why i don't fuck with this show even though it's enjoyable to watch.

[isthatmyjacket-covenofchaossq]

Morgana and Regina deserved so much better 🤧

[craeatus]

god. The posts about Merlin being a cute little precious angel uwu who has never done anything wrong fills me with so much irrational rage.

[loosethreadsofyoursoul]

the degree to which magic in bbc merlin is an allegory for queerness is insane. what do you mean people with magic hide in fear for their lives because it’s illegal. what do you mean merlin’s mother sent him away to the big city bc she was afraid of what would happen if their small town found out he had magic. what do you mean merlin is taken in by an unmarried old man who used to practice magic but can’t anymore. what do you mean morgana was morally on uther’s side until she realized who she was and that he was wrong for wanting people like her dead. what do you mean anti-magical propaganda spreads misinformation that all magic is evil and everyone who practices it is also evil and should be killed. what do you mean there’s a recurring underlying theme of magical being solidarity

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

I'm sorry but the energy of these pics is so funny to me

its giving 'art lesbian and theatre gay going to prom together'

[thefabledpheasant]

Alright, I just saw a post using voice cloning of Colin Morgan and Bradley James for a smutty Arthur x Merlin fanfic scene and it’s not ok. I’m going to message the creator and the author of the fanfic and explain why it shouldn’t be on there, but please if you see it do not reblog it or endorse it.

AI voice cloning is not ok. AI has no business in art. The actors did not consent.

I truly don’t wish any hate to anyone, but this is not a topic that should be taken lightly. It’s not an issue of “oh it’s just not for me” it’s an issue of consent and what is morally ok to do.

[justaz]

Look I was already critical of merlin with the whole having the kings ear and choosing arthur over protecting and saving his people, but seeing what my country is devolving into I can’t help but feel a bit more anger towards canon and merlin’s choices. I get it no victim blaming he grew up in fear blah blah blah but he had arthur’s fucking ear and all the power in the world and he couldn’t go “heyyyy lets talk about the antimagic laws for a moment yeah?” And just (at the very least) nudged arthur in the right direction??

Sorry, I know that focusing my attention on bbc’s however long old show is silly in comparison to whats actually happening but fandom is my little get away when shit gets tough and to hide away and see the same shit is fucking mental. I’m grabbing merlin by the throat and throttling him rn. Get ur act together fuckface. Love you 🫶 SAVE YOUR FUCKING PEOPLE

[romanceclub-confessionss]

Confession:

"I have no problem with monsters or snakes but there’s just something about M’s design that’s unappealing to me. Maybe it’s the colours?"

[salty-we-never-got-mergana]

Gotta love when fics do such a beautiful call-put like yesssss

[arguablysomaya]

Exposing merlin bbc as a genocide monarchist propaganda thAt it actually is such a taboo topic that gets one blacklisted and dogpiled in the general fandom. You are brave for doing so. Thank you for voicing out these concerns tbh. Kudos to you.

yeah and it's honestly sad because simply trying to ignore the messenges present in media doesn't make them any less present or harmful. people shouldn't be afraid of consuming, enjoying, or breaking down problematic media, because content consumption is not activism. it's always best to acknowledge the real harmful parts of what you're consuming, otherwise communities formed around these things become hostile and reproduce the same marginalizations that went unaddressed in the canon :/

[theroundbartable]

Some of you might have seen this one Mergana poster who is using both the Merthur and the Anti-merthur tag. I have also seen someone be really upset for being forced to see it on the Merthur tag.

I have something to say about that.

Full disclosure: this was my initial reaction

" you could just block the Merthur tag. Why are you so upset? Hating a ship just to validate your own is pathetic." I went on a full tangent in my head about how shipping is for fun and shouldn't be so serious. About how it's telling that this person complains about how canon didn't treat Mergana right but then goes on about how Merthur shouldn't be allowed because canon dictates that Arthur is so and so.

And then I realized how arrogant I am.

It was actually the one who complained about the Mergana shipper using the Merthur tag that made me realize it. Because yes, it feels shitty when someone complains about your ship in your ship tag, exposing you to hatred and anger.

But you know what the Mergana shipper also did? They used the anti-merthur tag. We can block that tag.

And that is a kindness we did not repay.

I went to the Mergana tag because I wondered when was the last time I saw a Mergana post? And I wanted to see whether my suspicions would be confirmed. I went there and saw the Mergana shipper's complaints reflected in my face.

We Merthur shippers post post after post there about how Mergana is so funny because we see both as gay, or how it doesn't make sense in canon etc. Etc.

We've been flooding their tag with anti-mergana shit for months, taking it over, without tagging it as anti because we think we're being funny and because it's not hateful and not serious, and no one's complaining. No one's getting hurt, right?

And then it takes one, ONE persony one POST from their tag to make us upset, to make us rant. Because now we've been exposed to -

What? The same thing?

It's no wonder they are so frustrated, when they go to their ship tag and get just flooded with being made fun of, for their ship to be ridiculed. They are exposed to our ignorance and our arrogance and they didn't even complain about it.

They just went to do the same thing we did.

And they've always had a right to their opinion, even if we dislike it or disagree. Just as we are entitled to ours. But we can't tell them to be quiet when we've been so loud.

This post is meant to call myself out, btw.

[yourfavecharacterisqueer]

Morgana: Uh, I think I got your lunch. *Holds up a note that reads: ‘I am very proud of you. Love, Dad.’*

Arthur: Oh yeah. I didn’t think this was for me. *Holds up a note that reads: ‘Be good. For the love of God, Please be good.’*

[emrys-merlin]

I really could never transition to atla tumblr because aang is my favorite character and i could not deal with the way some of you freaks talk about him. It’s like yall forget he’s a 12 year old genocide survivor who has the literal weight of the world on him.

and it really pisses me off cuz it’s always those shippers at the scene of the crime and that’s why generally ppl dont like you bitches. You cant simply like your wack ass ship instead you have to paint aang out to be this violent evil predator....just weird

aang being my favorite since 2008 and then in 2024 i searched his name on tumblr the first thing i found out was a giant ass zutara opinion on how he is the patriarch emulated and this is my villain story

What show you all are watching?? How can grown ass people (GROWN ASS PEOPLE) watch a cartoon for kids and saying crazy things like this?

Insane behavior

[crazynerdandproud]

I don’t love Merlin and Freya. Like, it’s been a while since I saw the episode but only one episode and we’re supposed to believe they fell in love? Like, I get what they were going for but why did they have to bring romance into it? It felt kinda forced and just….idk, like for some reason their relationship being romantic kinda squicks me out. (I hope I’m using that term right.)

I am very much open to an argument for them as a couple but I have yet to come across a very compelling one.