#anti uther pendragon

[miasmultifandomdump]

I saw someone say Arthur was "just Uther but nicer".

Respectfully... no?? Uther made a choice and made everyone suffer for it constantly. Arthur was brainwashed into a certain belief system and had the weight of the world put on his shoulders from a young age.

He was open-minded. He was so open-minded it HURTS because every time he tried to understand those who were different it was twisted and warped and his heart became even more hardened. There were SO MANY times he was trying to understand.

His apology to the Druids, his saving Mordred, his listening to Merlin in disguise when they were trying to save Uther, his anger at Uther for lying and using magic and then tormenting magical people, his willingness to change the law for one of his knights...

OVER and OVER and OVER again he tries.

And every. single. time. it is twisted.

Arthur has problems. He's not perfect.

But he is NOT Uther.

[justaz]

like i’ve said time and time again, i haven’t watched bbc merlin in years but i was just wondering when the first time merlin called arthur by his name to his face and im scrolling thru the transcripts on the fandom wiki (supposedly it was s1ep4 btw) and im skimming the script for all these episodes and getting angrier and angrier. gaius was wrong for all that. morgana deserved so much better. edwin muirden was valid as hell (for targeting uther AND gaius. yeah. i said it.). also kilgharrah ate with that one lil line “then turn a blind eye. that is, after all, your talent” okay lizard brain pop offff.

[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.’*

[wlwarhammer]

Crimes BBC Merlin characters have committed

1) Uther

- no drip

- no bitches

- invented fascism and police states

- killed his wife for being hotter than him

2) Gaius

- learnt magic just to end up working for Uther

- the reason Merlin is like that

- payed to go to Lizzies platinum jubilee

3) Merlin

- his peoples biggest opp

- gay scarf

4) Morgana

- made me have a sexuality crisis at 8

- didn’t fire bomb Camelot

4) Gwaine

- in love with Merlin

- too funny and sexy

- medieval cop

- died homoeroticly

5) Lancelot

- died

- didn’t whack Arthur when given the chance

5) Arthur

- medieval Liz Truss

- room temp IQ

- annoying

- he’s who right wingers think Jesus is

- too old to be bisexual 😔

- stole my gf (Gwen)

6) Gwen

- Married Arthur

- in love with her husbands sister (awkward)

[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.

[mossmx]

Because I see routinely posts of the "we all hate Uther of course" variety:

I very much LOVE Uther Pendragon from bbc Merlin, yes HIM

I love his character, I enjoy what he does and how he does it, I want to draw him so much and he had AMAZING moments in the show.

I could go on but you get the point I hope 💕

I'm frankly tired of the fandom attitude that "of course every Merlin fan hates Uther" because we are not a hivemind and WE DO NOT.

Not everyone ships Merthur, not everyone hates Uther etc. but everyone deserves to go in the tags and not see constant negativity:

I'd like if haters would leave the tag alone for people who do want to see Uther content 👍 You can tag it uther hate or something else, you are making the tag unusable for other fans.

I am blocking every user that posts hate in the tag, so if you ever liked any of my art and would possibly like to see more of my art in the future it is in your interest to change tag you use if you hate him :)

For Uther fans: you'll always be welcome here 💙🤗

[krug3r2312]

Did you hear my covert narcissism

I might disguise as altruism

Like some kind of congressman

Tale as old as time

I wake up screaming from dreaming

One day I'll watch as you're leaving

And life will lose all its meaning

For the last time...

[immabitqueer]

Hey guys, remember when Arthur straight up said he didn't think his father would cry if he died? 'Cause I do.

[pendragonsclotpole]

sometimes i just think merlin the show would’ve been so much better if it really clung to the whole re-interpretation of the legend and gave us merlin/arthur and gwen/lancelot or like gwen/morgana instead of being such cowards and depriving us of every happiness

like imagine a fairytale ending where nothing ever goes wrong because merlin confesses to arthur his magic and his love, and then gwen saves herself from the heartbreak of arthur “emotionally traumatized by his father uther “genocide” pendragon” pendragon, and morgana becomes morgana“princess supreme anti hero evil smirk badass sexy queen who should step on all of us and go on magical adventueres” pendragon

like gives us depth, bbc, instead of giving us nothing

[quanblovk]

can I bounce uther like a basketball and shoot hoops with him 🥺

*(This ask is an exception since it was made before the pinned post)

WHY YES YOU CAN!

Introducing: The Sir Uther Pendragon printed Basketball! Complete with his distinguished face and shiny crystal eyes!

You can bounce him, dribble him, put him under a hydraulic press! Run him over with a car! Pour spoilt milk on him and even MORE!

Watch as our very founding father demonstrate how one would typically handle this prized item in a simple basketball game!

Aaaand HE'S CLOSIN' IN! HE'S GONNA SHOOT FOR IT!-

BUT WHAT'S THIS?!

SIR MORDRED COMES IN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!! A BRILLIANT TATIC!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥 HE IS NOT RECOVERING FROM THIS ONE BOYS‼️‼️‼️‼️

(The council submits their Anti-Uther propaganda to @kirbyoctournament )

[ravenwilds]

Merthur fic recs for my @merlinbingo square H2 'enemies to lovers'

This is one of my favourite tropes and I have loved re-reading some of these fics while putting these recs together. My recs are all smutty, some very smutty, but I guess that's kinda what I love about this trope :))

World Enough and Time by alicephantomwise

Explicit; 19K; posted 2021; modern au

This is one of my very favourite Merlin fics. They are both expert assassins on opposite sides, with a slight age difference - the dynamic between them is so perfect and Arthur is so besotted with Merlin and the angst is so gorgeous. Can't recommend this enough. The summary and tags don't really sell it but it is so worth reading!

Arthur had had it all figured out. And then Merlin shot him in Beijing.

six months, four days by merelydovely

Explicit; 5.5K; posted 2021; modern with magic

This was gifted to me for the 2021 Glompfest and I love it so much! So much story and world building, great characterisation, very very hot! Merlin is a leader of the magical resistance tasked with seducing Arthur to enable one of their plans

“As long as it’s not my idiot brother,” says Morgana, making a face. “I dunno,” says Merlin, eyeing the headshot labeled 'Arthur Pendragon'. “Magic-hater or not, he’s quite fit.” The Resistance movement needs an in with a member of an elite anti-magic task force. Merlin ends up far more entangled than he'd planned.

Sweet Retribution by SPowell

Explicit; 30K; posted 2012; modern au; dub-con

The whole premise of this fic is non-con/dub-con - Arthur is contracted to Merlin by Uther in order to save his business. In that context the fic is actually very sweet overall (but not sweet at all in places) and both characters go on a huge emotional journey, especially Merlin, and the shift in how Merlin thinks about himself and Arthur over time is brilliantly written. Features a great Merlin and Will friendship too. It may be too dark for some and it doesn't have many tags so if you want to know more about it before trying it feel free to DM me

Merlin hates the wealthy. A perfect opportunity to purge himself of his feelings of helplessness against them comes in the form of the young Arthur Pendragon.

Excalibur Hotel and Casino by rubyjayne

Mature; 3.2K; posted 2021; modern au

The hottest kiss on AO3 - big claim I know but it lives up to it. Such excellent 1:1 vibes with Merlin being a little shit and Arthur full of arrogant swagger *fans self*

“You just coughed, deliberately.” The man clenches his jaw, a look of genuine irritation on his face, and Merlin can’t help but roll his eyes. “Admit it.”  “Bravo, jackass, you caught me,” Merlin deadpans, slightly pissed now. “No fooling you, huh?” The iconic 5x12 tavern scene, but Merlin meets Arthur at a casino in Las Vegas.

My Significant Bother by Leandra

Explicit; 96K; posted 2021; modern royal au

I love all Leandra's fics and this one is a modern royalty au with such good snark and friction turning to feelings and affection between Merlin and Arthur - the fake boyfriends with benefits phase is so hot

Merlin's job as PR junior on the royal account isn't as glamorous as people believe: Most nights, he's saving Arthur, Duke of York and black sheep of the family, from possibly committing monarchy-shattering shenanigans... Roped into posing as Arthur's fake boyfriend, he's supposed to make Arthur's popularity levels rise with his steadfast and relatable presence and elevate him from scandalous rake to romantic figure...

This Is Not What I Came for (It's Better) by GeekLover

Explicit; 56K; posted 2016; modern sports au

An Olympics AU is perfect for enemies to lovers, right? In this one they are both gymnasts who do not like each other. Until they do ;-) Gaius is the unsung hero of this fic, trying to deal with them both

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Great Britain's men's gymnastics is ready to work together to win gold, except two members can't get along. When Merlin & Arthur get caught on camera fighting like idiots, Gaius comes up with a solution to knock some sense into them. Merlin and Arthur have to share a room and decide if what they have in common outweighs their major differences.

Just Can't Get Enough by Ravenwilds

Explicit; 1.7k; posted 2024; mob/mafia au

And a bonus self-rec - it's a hate sex mob/mafia AU and more enemies to fuck-buddies than enemies to lovers but I was happy with how it turned out

“There’s no need to be pissy. I’ll go if you want me to.” Arthur paused. “If that is what you really want.” “Yes, it's what I want,” Merlin spat back. “Or do you want my knee in your balls again?” “I want your face in my balls and you fucking want it there too, sweetheart,” Arthur replied.

[miasmultifandomdump]

Arthur and Morgana are victims of abuse. Uther is an abuser. And they both deserved better.

[peachblossom-odyssey]

Sci Fi/Cyberpunk Merlin au where instead of magic being banned and feared it’s androids/synthetics, and Merlin has to hide the fact that he’s a synthetic while also protecting the spoiled son of Uther Pendragon, leader of the most anti-synthetic city on Earth, Camelot.

Of course he and Arthur fall in love, and it adds another layer of plot if Arthur doesn’t believe synthetics are capable of emotions such as love.

[thekingofthenameless]

I’M BACK

And I’m rebranding everything.

Profile picture change, username change (in a few days), etc.

talesofarcadiaforever -> thekingofthenameless

I took a long hiatus from writing and Tumblr in general because of bad burnout and putting expectations on myself that I shouldn’t have. Ha. But I’m back! And good news! I started writing again! Better news?

I decided to officially discontinue Emerald Embers and the Daylight’s Redemption series and write my own book.

I was already making everything so different from ToA that it was practically an alternate universe already: redesigning Merlin, making Merlin and Charlie familiars, adding magical species that weren’t explicitly in canon, completely changing other characters… I still love ToA, but I’m not hyperfixated on it anymore. And that’s okay. I was so scared of letting go for a long time, but I’m happy with my decision.

My wip is now called The King of the Nameless!

Currently, there are five main characters, and tidbits about each of them will be a little further down. (Except for one guy. He sucks.) Their attempted designs will also be down there.

In some aspects, it probably hasn’t changed too much. I’m still basing it off of Arthurian Legends, and Merlin is still the protagonist. But I redesigned him. Again.

The deuteragonist is Charlie; he and Merlin are still familiars. I tried several different names for him, but none of them would stick for him no matter how hard I tried; so Charlie the dragon he stays. But he now has the last name Ambrosius to reflect that he and Merlin are found family as well.

The other three characters in this stage of the story are Igraine, Gorlois, and Uther.

Igraine is Arthur and Morgana’s mother in the Arthurian Legends, (which I did not know at first and was wondering how Arthur and Morgana were half-siblings because they have different fathers…) and will stay the same here. I couldn’t find any official last name for her besides Pendragon from when she marries Uther? (Which is not going to happen here.) So I gave her and her husband the last name “le Fay” to match their daughter!

Gorlois is Igraine’s husband, and like I said, is Morgana’s father. However, unlike some media, he’s not going to be portrayed as a jealous and abusive husband. He’s the epitome of the “I love my wife” guy.

Uther is… a piece of work, to say the least. He’s the character who’s going to have a separate post because of triggering topics that I don’t want in this post.

I’m also going to make a separate post for upcoming characters, which include Nimue, Morgana, Arthur, etc.

Bear with me on lore and designs though please (I’m still working on the lore and I’m not sure if these will be their permanent designs except for Charlie). Some of it might be just random babble until I decide on something 😭 You’ll definitely be able to tell which characters I think about most ahaha.

Anyways, in more good news, I don’t use Artbreeder anymore. I attempt to use Picrews, but sometimes they don’t have everything I want, so I also use character creators from video games. If I could use Baldur’s Gate 3’s, I definitely would, but I’d have to spend like $600-ish to get something to play it on and get the game. 😑 I could also play it with my boyfriend, but our schedules are so busy with both of us working that’s it not really a convenient option.

But there is a game called Dragon’s Dogma, and I’ve been using that one! It’s an older game, so it doesn’t really have many fantasy character options, but it’s good enough for human characters lol. I made Igraine and Gorlois with it, and a few other characters yet to be posted.

Design and lore time!

Merlin:

This is him at the beginning of TKN! Expect more art of him eventually.

• 6' 8"

• “my son crump he has every disease”: schizophrenia, C-PTSD, misophonia

• is still a cambion like in the Arthurian Legends (specifically half-human, half-demon)

• was supposed to be the Anti-Christ (also like in the Legends)

• is also a romance and sex repulsed, non-partnering aroace <3.

• usually excudes a regal, dignified presence, and his preference for flowing outfits helps

• may seem slightly formal with strangers, but on a good day where he can clock their personality, he’ll either warm up to them quickly, or distance himself, depending on the person

• has a strong sense of justice, which also makes him anti-authoritarian for the most part. (unless they’ve actually proven that they’re not just in their position for the power of it, or because of nepotism; and really do want to help people.)

• extremely loyal

• highly empathetic; cries easily

• has a lot of trauma, but is still kind because he’s not going to make people suffer just because he did

• adrenaline junkie in regards to flying with Charlie

• Doesn’t kill if not necessary.

• Is very punctual. If you tell him to come at 5 he’ll be there at 4:30. At most.

Charlie:

• 6' 6" (top of muzzle)

• 7' 3" (top of head)

• the marking on his leg is his familiar mark!

• still nice, seems a little rougher around the edges than Merlin

• says the things that his wizard thinks but won’t say, and doesn’t hide that he stares people down while gauging their character. he sometimes won’t care that he sounds mean or very direct either

• very protective of his familiar and is intensely loyal to him. isn’t really willing to leave the latter alone with people they don’t really know because of people attempting to take advantage of his schizophrenia in the past, gaslighting him into thinking that their actions weren’t real and were things he hallucinated/imagined

• Do no harm but take no shit

• Far more willing to kill than Merlin

• “Hey do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like he sucks and I will totally kill that guy for you.”

• (I guess he technically counts as an emotional support animal but like. he’s sentient so idk 😭)

• is an omnivore (most dragons are, but he eats more human food than them from growing up and staying around them.)

Igriane:

• 6' 5"

• a wizard!

• was originally a red head before I realized that oh yeah. Morgana has brown hair, and a ginger and blonde would definitely not for the most part have a brunette kid

• purple eyes (haven’t decided if I’m gonna stay with this concept, but I like the idea of all wizards having some type of heterochromia, or technicolor eyes to show that they have magic)

Gorlois:

• 6' 0"

• he doesn’t have any type of unique eye color yet because I didn’t have the concept of that for wizards yet, and still not sure if I’m gonna keep it so. blue eyes for now

• again I say he’s the “I love my wife” guy!!

• also a wizard (which is where Morgana gets her magic when she’s born. You have two parents with magic you’re like. guaranteed to have magic.)

• maybe not really much of a fighter? Would probably use some type of sword if he was.

Wow that was so much lore. 👍 If anyone wants to talk to me about my ocs or suggest ideas, my ask box is always open! (And I love love love getting asks)

Artist credits!

Merlin:

Charlie’s original artist:

Charlie’s second artist:

Charlie’s saddle:

[pigamariofthestars]

Heya Luni, do you know who Sir Arthur is?

Hmm… can’t say I do. I have heard many stories of Sir Uther Pendragon over my years, though. For my whole life, I’ve aspired to achieve the same goals and status as him.

But since entering this tournament, I have noticed that some competitors have… interesting opinions of him? And what’s all this about anti-propaganda?

Oh well, I still believe in all the competitors! I hope I can meet both Uther and Arthur in the @kirbyoctournament !

I still have so much to learn about these people! Guess I’ll study and be back later.

[wumiings]

Anyway the Pendragon family trait is guilt deflection. It’s having the capacity for profound sympathy and compassion but only when they’re not the ones at fault. They don’t want the people they care about to be in pain but will rationalize to high heaven about how the things they did were correct and justified and those whom they’ve hurt were really in the wrong and/or overreacting.

When Arthur and Morgana tell each other they’re more like Uther than they realize, they are both once again seeing in the other what they do not want to see in themselves: Morgana cloaks her blind power lust in her righteous fury over the persecution of magic; Arthur cloaks his blind bigotry in his grief over his parents’ deaths and Morgana’s alienation.

This is also how Arthur “I haven’t seen you smile these past three days” Pendragon can still be hitting the best friend he’s more than once been ready to lay down his life for in S5 and insist it’s just ‘horseplay’. This is how Morgana, for all her cruelty, can care so profoundly for Aithusa, whom she sees as solely a victim of anti-magic sentiment like herself.

It’s all the same damn thing.