#anti arwen

[justaz]

merlin convincing morgana to remain in camelot and bonding over magic. uther dies and arthur becomes king and merlin and morgana are eager for arthur to repeal the ban but it never happens. then arthur and gwen are courting and morgana and merlin are a bit upset but are happy for them (sorta) but mainly they’re waiting for the ban to be repealed. it never happens. then gwen and arthur get married and morgana and gwen (+ lancelot) are devastated but hanging on by a thread for the magic ban to be repealed. it never happens. morgana is growing angrier and angrier while merlin is growing more and more reckless. morgana picks fights with arthur while merlin sticks to the shadows and protects arthur from unseen threats like always but he stops putting up much of a fight. he keeps coming back beaten black and blue, bloodied, on the brink of death.

morgana finally snaps at merlin and is like “i’ve been waiting for the ban to be lifted like you promised it would be and nothings changed. i cannot stay in this kingdom and watch the love of my life be happy with my brother while hiding myself away! you can be fine with the lying and hiding but i’m done! i’ll make my own damn happy ending” and storms off to flee camelot. lancelot finds merlin and they talk about it and lancelot is like “honestly, she has a point. i’m in love with gwen and that’ll never change. it pains me to see them so happy even though i wish nothing but the best for them. the only reason i’m still in camelot is you, merlin. if you want to stay, i’ll stay with you. if you want to go, then we’ll go.” merlin unsure and lance goes “it was you and me in the beginning, it can be you and me again” and merlin tears up but is still unsure and lance compromises with “we don’t have to leave forever. just a month or two, a year or five. however long you need.”

merlin finally agrees and lancelot goes to pack while merlin finds gwaine and tells him his plan bc if he doesn’t tell gwaine then the man will hunt him down like a bloodhound. gwaine ofc immediately agrees to go with him and they all pack their things. merlin shuffles into arthur’s chambers and turns in his resignation from his service and arthur starts freaking out like “wait what?? what’s wrong?? what happened??? let me fix it. was it a nobleman? a knight? was it me?? please tell me it wasn’t me. what happened??” and merlin can’t handle it so he just restates that he’s resigning, bows and says it was somewhat of an honor, and then turns and leaves. he finds lance and gwaine in gaius’s chambers with mordred. merlin rolls his eyes but is also kinda grateful for his friends. arthur storms in and finds three of his knights also packed at they’re like “oh shoot we were gonna tell you in the morning but since you’re here, we’re resigning too”

now arthur is faced with three less knights and one less manservant than an hour ago (he has yet to find out about his sister’s fleeing). he questions them again and the room gives merlin and arthur some privacy for merlin to tell arthur that nothing is wrong but that they just need some time away. it probably won’t be permanent but they have to leave. arthur isn’t begging because kings don’t beg but he’s doing a damn good impression and merlin is on the verge of tears again and is begging arthur not to make things harder than it needs to be. arthur grows angrier now and is like “then tell me why. why are you leaving? why are my knights leaving? tell me.” and merlin can’t think of an excuse bc he doesn’t want to push his troubles of unreciprocated love onto arthur so he just stands there and arthur is like “i thought you were one of the bravest men i ever met. turns our you’re nothing more than a coward.” anyways they split on bad terms.

merlin, lancelot, gwaine, and mordred leave camelot and have their own little adventures and run into morgana again and they form their own little band of travelers. arthur, gwen, leon, elyan, and percival are still in camelot with gwen and arthur completely in the dark while the rest of the knights Know. it’s like a few months after merlin and them left and arthur and them are drunk and he brings merlin and them up and asks what happened. the knights are quiet and gwen sits up and asks elyan and her voice is desperate enough that elyan breaks and goes “morgana and lancelot were in love with you” and they all just stare at each other and elyan rushes to fill the silence with stuff like how they wanted gwen to be happy but couldn’t bear watching gwen and arthur be so in love all the time, he explains that morgana left on her own but lancelot followed merlin. arthur asks if merlin was in love with gwen too and the knights shift before percival goes “no, he was in love with you” and leon sighs before explaining the rest.

“morgana and lancelot were in love with gwen while merlin was in love with arthur. morgana left on her own and merlin was influenced by her choice to leave and lancelot and gwaine followed him. mordred followed both morgana and merlin, i’m not sure what he would’ve done had merlin stayed and morgana left. gwaine followed merlin bc he’s in love with him.” he rubs his eye bc he can’t believe the mess things are even though it’s been this way for years “morgana couldn’t stand it. lancelot was loyal to merlin. gwaine was loyal to merlin. mordred was loyal to merlin and morgana. and merlin…merlin has been protecting you for years, arthur. he’s charged into battle against the threats you can’t see, the ones in the shadows. i’ve kept an eye on him since he got here but he’s had it handled. but recently, after your wedding, he grew reckless. he came back from every fight beaten like a pulp. he stopped trying. not to let you die, but to let them get the upper hand over him. he was dancing with death. it wasn’t healthy for any of them. that’s why they left.”

the knights leave arthur and gwen in their chambers to stew in silence, drunk and guilty and missing their friends and wondering how they could’ve missed the signs. merlin and them on the other hand are traveling from town to town, village to village, kingdom to kingdom and protecting villages from raiders, protecting druids from raids, stepping in on executions and freeing sorcerers.

[queen-of-obsessing]

the ending of merlin 4x13 will never fail to piss me off. because there’s nothing like watching a perfectly good queer ship get fucked over for the straight one again...

[aisin-gioro]

Sometimes I’m having a good day then I remember arwen is a thing and now my day is completely ruined :)

[youmisguidedmartyr]

What if you were born during a WAR and your dad became a STAR and your mum became a BIRD and your people were KILLED and then you and your twin were KIDNAPPED and then your kidnappers either DIED or fucked off to the BEACH and then your twin chose a MORTAL LIFE and then you became a HERALD and then your King got given a really cool RING but there was ANOTHER WAR because SAURON WAS ACTUALLY the RING GUY and then your King DIES and then your cousin/wife gets ATTACKED and then she SAILS and then your Foster son falls in LOVE with your DAUGHTER and then there's ANOTHER FUCKING WAR because SAURON IS BACK and then your daughter also chooses a MORTAL fucking LIFE and then you just FUCK OFF TOO but your twin sons didn't make up their MINDS

[1shadowhole]

It's like hearing seeing the voices in my head transcribed on screen😌

All this

Yes.

I'll never stop saying that the fact that Gwen had no flaws was not a good thing

And Merlin should have absolutely told Arthur that Lance was a shade

Yeah, like Gaius said, it wouldn't change their situation. But huh... Gaius... This is absolutely not about them! It's about Lancelot's legacy! What the actual fuck!

Who gives a shit if doesn't change the way Arthur sees the encounter? Lancelot doesn't deserve to have his legacy tarnished by no fault of his own. Justice for Lance!

Ugh. I have to say it. I’ve been holding it back because I know how much fandom hates this plot point so much. And like maybe it’s because I enjoy angst, or because characters coming in a vacuum sealed ‘morally upstanding’ package is just not realistic or enjoyable to me.

But Gwen should not have been ‘bewitched’ to cheat on Arthur with Lancelot. For one, it just sets another horrible precedence of magic use within the narrative. And two: it’s boring as hell. Oh, and also apparently Gwen was only allowed screen time in later seasons when her autonomy was nowhere to be seen. So three. Three reasons why I find it dumb as hell. And one that last front? Yeah, I think she should have willingly had an affair with Lancelot. I know, I Know. Cheating bad. Cheating make evil wrong person. Or whatever twitterinas are saying.

But hear me out (or don’t). How did Gwen feel after Lancelot died after she made him promise to return Arthur to her alive? Did she feel that she had unwittingly sentenced him to death? Her first true love; the man she looked for in other men. (Maybe we’d know how she felt if the writers didn’t have her going off like a broken record and just keep repeating what a great king Artie would someday be). I wish we had seen her grief, I wish she had been given time to mourn (as we know she never is in a series that kills every family member she has). And then Lancelot returns. She realizes she stills loves him, she feels guilty and blames herself thinking she had a part in his death. She thinks she asked him to sacrifice himself. And she wonders if she made the right choice. Lancelot and Arthur are there before her, and her wedding is in two days, and it’s all so sudden and the window of opportunity is about to be closed for the rest of her life; and she wonders if she’s chosen the right man. Gwen wonders if she’s been given a second chance, can she amend her previous choices. Does she want to amend them. Yes, this storyline opens her up to all sorts of criticisms. Fandom would condemn her a slut, she would join the ranks of women who can’t just make up their damn mind. Someone would declare it’s anti-feminist, because women aren’t allowed to be portrayed with “bad” qualities and when they are it just sets us all back.

But…it would be so much more nuanced than the plot they gave us. It would give Gwen the opportunity to make the choice because in the past it had been robbed from her (Lancelot leaving when he realized that Arthur loved Gwen, and Lancelot dying the first time). It would grant her autonomy over her own sexuality and choice of partner(s). Unlike the male protagonists in this show, Gwen is never actually given a real chance to morally grapple with anything, especially her own actions. She just is a good person who never does anything wrong, can be a bad-ass if it’s required, and falls into the straight and narrow path of ideal womanhood when she gets a boyfriend in a position of extreme power.

I know I’m barely making sense, but she just could have been written so much better. She could have been treated like a real person in the writers room, but she wasn’t.

[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'

[tanoraqui]

I've seen 2 separate infuriating, or at least baffling, posts about Rings of Power recently, so as a reminder, here's the 5-season outline of the Young Aragorn show that I would make if I was given Amazon money + copyrights to The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit, including the Annals & other indexes but NOT The Silmarillion. Highlights include:

dumbass baby Rangers!

dumbass baby Ranger bisexual love triangles, interrupted by Fated Romance!

healing and diplomacy!

Aragorn and Arwen bonding over being history nerds!

walking into Mordor despite multiple explicit warnings not to do that!

guest appearances from: teen Theoden; anxious, about-to-be-a-dad Drogo Baggins; chatterbox teen Ioreth of Lossarnach; toddler Boromir & baby Faramir; all the (living) House of Elrond; Stephen Colbert and many more!

Arwen and Finduilas discussing mortality and queenship!

Aragorn and Denethor representing estel and amdir, respectively, clashing for two seasons as potential rulers of Gondor!

framing narration by Sam Gamgee, parent of at least six by the time he's telling this bedtime story!

[salty-we-never-got-mergana]

Man I hate people that go even though it makes sense that Merlin and Morgana should be together due to the formulaic romance and how the other two main leads were paired together, it still wouldn't go well with each other because the two of them are clearly gay 🙄 like bitch that's your opinion, there's nothing in the narrative that indicated either Morgana or Merlin were ever gay. And they didn't despise each other from the get-go, it happened once Morgause entered the picture and due to Kilgarrah's manipulation on Merlin to kill Morgana due to her destiny of being a villain. The show was setting up Morgana to be a bad guy from the get-go and sadly Merlin had put up the bare minimum of resistance on that despite his insistence on Morgana being his friend. Sadly, there isn't all that many scenes of the two interacting or of Morgana interacting with Arthur and Gwen especially once Arthur and Gwen start their relationship and Morgana discovers she has magic. It's almost like she's distancing herself from everyone, but you'd think she'd be keener to keep contact with Merlin since he's the only one who knows she has magic but nah. It could be he steers clear of her due to Kilgarrah's words affecting him. Anyway, the next episode will bring back Mordred again and Kilgarrah will be saying the same garbage he keeps spewing while once again Merlin will stop another plot to liberate those who have magic.

[mfshipbracket]

[alex-the-bringer-of-chaos]

Taking op's tags out of tags

camelot has a betting pool that everyone has participated in at least once (including actual children) about when and how merlin and arthur are going to get together (and one about whether they’re together already or not). after arthur and gwen get engaged, a new betting pool is made - how long until that marriage falls apart

[maskedhatter]

Merlin is the No.1 Arwen shipper and no, you cannot change my mind.

[technoturian]

I saw your post about trop and just need understanding. I'm so confused by the Fandom. Why is everyone so okay with this terribly written show? I'm not a super Tolkien fan. I know the lore but never read the books (much to my mother's and my bestie's shame) but even I know that Elrond isn't supposed to be frenching his mother in law. And I just see all these replies and posts swooning over it and praising how platonic their relationship is?????? Are people deliberately misunderstanding? Is this a "don't believe your lying eyes" situation? You don't usually make out with platonic friends.

I'm not sure which of my posts you're referring to, but like I'd said in any posts I made about R*P last year, I'm not a huge Tolkien nerd, just someone who saw the movies and knows some vague Silmarillion backstory. So I'm not really tapped into that fandom. And I can't really answer why people still like the show, as I'm not one of them, I'm not even watching season two so I have little to say about it. All that said,

Elrond did what now?????

[silalcarin]

The many parallels between Aragorn/Arwen and Cloti

(Preface: before I start, I want to point out that I've already touched upon the first two paragraphs of this post, in more detail, in my previous post from last week.)

So, my bestie and I were watching The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition), and it got to the part where Aragorn rejected Eowyn because she wasn't actually in love with him. My bestie is more well-versed in LOTR Lore than I am, so she surprised me when she said that if you look at the book's timeline, Eowyn "knew" Aragorn for only 6 days at most before she confessed that she "loves" him, then he rejected her because she was actually Loving a Shadow.

I had to look this up for myself, because I haven't read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit in years. Sure enough, Eowyn meets Aragorn in Third Age 3019, March 2nd, and on March 8th, literally 6 days later, before Aragorn departs for the Paths of the Dead, Eowyn confesses that she "loves" him, and he rejects her. Also in the book's timeline, by the time Aragorn met Eowyn, he and Arwen had been betrothed for 39 years. And Aragorn and Arwen have known each other for 44 years before Eowyn was even born. Heck, Aragorn and Arwen have known each other for 10 years before even Eowyn's father was born.

This is almost exactly like Final Fantasy VII. Cloud and Tifa grew up together and were very close as young children, as confirmed in Trace of Two Pasts. They've known each other for literally their whole lives (20 years, due to the 1-year age difference), and they've been in love with each other for over 7 years by the time they met Aerith, whom they knew for only 3 weeks at most before:

Aerith literally trapped Cloud in her dream world where Zack and Tifa don't exist and she manipulated Cloud into going on one last "date" with her (a.k.a. the infamous nightmare date/funeral date) — which was actually a recreation of Aerith's date with Zack in Crisis Core and which, like literally every other "date" Aerith has claimed to go on with Cloud, Cloud never actually agreed to go on this one last "date" with Aerith because Aerith physically stopped Cloud from angrily protesting against her; in other words, Aerith forced Cloud to go on one last "date" with her without his consent — and Cloud was visibly miserable and uncomfortable throughout its entire duration, and Aerith struggled to confess that she didn't know what type of "like" she feels for Cloud, only for Cloud to respond to Aerith's confession by calling her weird (twice in Japanese) with zero hesitation — per Trace of Two Pasts, after Elmyra adopted Aerith, Aerith's ability as a Cetra to talk to people through the Lifestream led to a lot of misunderstandings with the people around her and, as a result, she assumed that people thought she was weird, so she hated being seen or thought of as weird and wanted to be normal, but in Crisis Core, Zack made Aerith feel better about her thinking of herself as weird by telling her "normal is overrated" — thus Aerith realizes that, by calling her weird, Cloud rejected her and she finally understands that Cloud does NOT like nor love her, and

Aerith was killed later on the exact same day as the infamous nightmare date/funeral date.

I honestly wonder if Kazushige Nojima, the head writer of FFVII, took some inspiration from LOTR, because there are many parallels between Aragorn/Arwen and Cloud/Tifa:

(1) Aragorn is the hero (with Frodo and Sam) of LOTR.

Cloud is the hero of FFVII.

(2) Aragorn grew up in Arwen's home, Rivendell.

Cloud and Tifa grew up together in Nibelheim.

(3) Aragorn was very young when his father, Arathorn, was killed by Orcs. He was raised by his mother, Gilraen, until he left her in Rivendell to become a Ranger in the wild. During his time as a Ranger, Aragorn concealed his name and identity. Gilraen didn't hear much from Aragorn after his departure. They were reunited when he returned to Rivendell several years later, shortly before her death.

Cloud was very young when his father was possibly killed by a monster. He was raised by his mother, Claudia, until he left her in Nibelheim to become a SOLDIER. During his time as a Shinra infantryman, Cloud concealed his name and identity. Claudia didn't hear much from Cloud after his departure. They were reunited when he returned to Nibelheim several years later, shortly before her murder.

(4) Arwen lost her mother, Celebrian, after she was tormented by Orcs and her poisoned wound never healed, so she departed to the Undying Lands.

Tifa lost her mother, Thea, after she became struck with an unknown illness and she was never healed of it, so she died sometime afterwards.

(5) Arwen is Aragorn's beautiful light-skinned dark-haired future wife whom he's known for several decades.

Tifa is Cloud's beautiful light-skinned dark-haired future life partner whom he's known since they were toddlers.

[Side Note: per a discussion I had with one of my friends, Tifa is physically based on her Japanese voice actress, Ayumi Ito (as confirmed in the Advent Children Reunion Files), and Tetsuya Nomura stated that Tifa has Asian features and cuteness in this 2019 Famitsu article. However, in the actual games, Tifa is just as fair-skinned as Aerith, and there's no visible difference between their skin tones. Per my friend, who suggested either "fair" or "light", I decided to go with "light".]

(6) Lord Elrond, Arwen's father, disapproved of her and Aragorn's relationship, but that never deterred their love for each other.

Brian Lockhart, Tifa's father, disapproved of her and Cloud's relationship, but that never deterred their love for each other.

(7) Arwen is the sole source of inspiration and motivation for Aragorn, who must become King of Arnor and Gondor before Elrond allows her to marry him.

Tifa is the sole source of inspiration and motivation for Cloud, who felt that he must become a SOLDIER and a hero before he becomes special to her.

(8) Aragorn fell in love with Arwen first. Many years later, Arwen reciprocated Aragorn's love.

Cloud fell in love with Tifa first. Many years later, Tifa reciprocated Cloud's love.

(9) Aragorn/Arwen became betrothed on Cerin Amroth in Lothlorien (her second home), many years before Eowyn briefly came into his life and tried to come in between them, despite her knowing full well that Aragorn is in love with another woman, before Aragorn rejected Eowyn 6 days after meeting her and she was Loving a Shadow.

Cloud/Tifa made their promise on the water tower, a popular date spot in Nibelheim, where Tifa realizes she's in love with Cloud and wants to spend the rest of her life with him (as confirmed in Trace of Two Pasts), and Cloud holds on to that promise several months later as he travels to Midgar to become a SOLDIER for Tifa (as confirmed in 2000 Gil to Becoming a Hero), many years before Aerith briefly came into their lives and tried to come in between them, despite her knowing full well that Cloud and Tifa are in love with each other, before Cloud rejected Aerith 3 weeks after meeting her and she was Loving a Shadow.

(10) Aragorn is loyal to Arwen. Aragorn is deeply in love with Arwen, his only love interest. Due to his deep love for Arwen and his loyalty to her, Aragorn is never tempted by Eowyn, whom he knew for only 6 days.

Cloud is loyal to Tifa (as confirmed in a 2022 video on FFVII's official TikTok account**). Cloud is deeply in love with Tifa, his only love interest. Due to his deep love for Tifa and his loyalty to her, Cloud is never tempted by Aerith, whom he knew for only 3 weeks.

(11) During their marriage, Aragorn and Arwen have a son, Eldarion, and also at least two daughters, who are younger than their son.

During their relationship, Cloud and Tifa have an adopted son, Denzel, and also take care of Marlene, who is younger than their son.

I'm aware that the similarities between Aragorn/Arwen and Cloud/Tifa aren't perfect, but there's still enough there that I just can't help but have a feeling about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Link to the official TikTok video: https://www.tiktok.com/@finalfantasyvii/video/7137687150564314374

** Here's an alternate link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYpmaB8a/

** Here's another alternate link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT21236Gy/

Here's a screenshot of it, in case you still can't view the TikTok video for some reason:

[queen-of-obsessing]

When you see a post about a ship you don't like:

[darklinaforever]

Wait, wait ! Are there people who count Jon & Sansa (Jonsa) as Aragorn and Arwen's relationship ?!

WTF ?!

First of all, I'm not a big fan of Aragorn and Arwen, (I mean... normal, since Arwen isn't really a character in the book and she and Aragorn are basically Beren and Luthien 2.0 but less good) even if they are okay, and for once, I find that the film has sublimated their relationship.

(While for Faramir & Eowyn, or Farawyn if you prefer, it was reduced, which really annoys me…)

But the fact is that… Aragorn and Arwen is a well-written canonical romantic relationship, and Jonsa is pure fanon that won't never happen displeases the fans) !

Like… WTF ?!

[arwenkenobi48]

The more I think about it, the more I realise I don’t really subscribe to celebrity culture. Sure I can appreciate it if someone has a talent in the arts and they’ve done well for themselves because of it, but I still recognise that they’re human beings and don’t idolise them, you know? And when it comes to the view famous people I have interacted with, I liked them precisely because they were so down to earth and honest about themselves. Those were some amazing interactions, not because they were idols, but because they were people. It sometimes alarms me how much we forget that.

I feel like we’ve been forced to view humanity as some kind of metaphorical threshold/standard of quality; we’re either disgusting for being beneath it, or it should be our greatest achievement to transcend it. Idolising people is just as dangerous as demonising them; both are dehumanising and misanthropic stances to take. Why can’t humanity be considered a good thing? Why is being human vilified?

You don’t deserve to be dehumanised, no matter what demographics you’re part of. You don’t deserve to be objectified based on your skills and talents either. You deserve to be treated like a human being because being human is a beautiful thing.