#fuck Uther all my homies hate Uther

[nextstopparis]

ollie schminkey

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Every few years I am re-possessed with the urge to suffer through the relentless tragedy that is BBC’s Merlin and repeatedly, futilely ask myself ‘but what if this time it didn’t have to be a tragedy????’

[casualbluebirdmentality]

do YOU hate Uther Pendragon?

do YOU wish Arthur had gone through with his attempted regicide in S2E8?

...then good news! i wrote a 700-smth word one-shot about Just That!

If you wanna hear me rant about the bonkers way this one-shot came to be, that's down here lol

(...Well, I guess it's not really that bonkers, but to me, it was just such a random little thing that spiraled into something really weirdly motivational, so I think I need to yell the story into the void to process lmao)

Ok so-- yesterday morning, I saw this post in the merlin subreddit (which I'd practically just joined):

And there weren't any in the comments at the time that I saw it, so I responded with this:

Which was quite insane of me for two (2) reasons.

Firstly, it's bc I write a lot privately, but I've never actually posted anything, and it's never been fanfic, but... idk man i just hate Uther. (What more does it take, really, to make someone leap into the unknown and submit themself to the mercy of the internet at large, than to just hate a fictional man So So Much?)

Anyway the second reason is that I tend to over-analyze/labor over every sentence I write, and edit it to death WHILE writing it, so I take so long to write literally anything. But, I wrote this shit:

First thing in the morning (and un-medicated, at that)

In 2-3 hours, a large chunk of which was spent transcribing the entire og fight scene (all dialogue and actions, every notable sword swing) from the moment Arthur first says "I know… what you did to my mother" and Uther orders the other knights to leave the room, to Arthur finally being talked down and gasping out an "Oh lord... I'm sorry" after collapsing to the floor-- all of which was just over a thousand words, even in the most bare-bones, script-ish language. (I only ended up using ~100 of those words as the lead-in to the fic lmao)

And then people liked it?!?!?!?!?

Don't get me wrong, it's not some magnum opus or anything, but like... Idk y'all it just absolutely made me day. I'd been pretty down on myself recently about my writing abilities (and other things lmao) but this made me feel SO much better, like-- damn, maybe this could work out as a career eventually if I ever finish my wips lol, rip. And it was so nice to just write something short without over-analyzing/-editing constantly that I'm DEFINITELY gonna continue doing/posting one-shots like that, which is also really good bc it gives me something more manageable to work on so I can get writing practice in more regularly. Idk y'all I'm just having a great time rn!!!

[mobycotton]

Chapter 10: Long Live The King

In which Arthur is taken from his marriage bed by the news of his father being close to death.

CWs: death, mentions/implications of suicide, self-harm, self harm through not eating, not sleeping, self-isolation, generally bad coping menchanisms

spoilers: Uther dies in this one (who cheered)

[marcskywalker]

if you really think about it, arthur's parents are ygraine and magic fuck uther all my homies hate uther

[albonium]

fuck uther all my homies hate uther

[and-damntheconsequences]

13 bc Fuck Uther 😤

Hell yes it's Uther Hate Time.

13. You decide Uther's death. When and how does it happen?

Honestly? 1x12. Exactly the same as the episode, only either Morgana doesn't change her mind, or she and Merlin aren't able to stop the assassins.

I've written about this before, but I think there would be something beautiful in that. That he didn't die from the magic he spent his whole life trying to destroy. But from a child who was sick of watching him murder, who was tired of being hurt for trying to defend others. He'd die because of something mortal and mundane. Nimueh would love that I think.

I think it could have been very interesting for everyone. Arthur's too young, really, for the throne. But he would learn. He would change. He'd have far more opportunity to unlearn all that Uther taught him. Would Morgana have gone down the same path? I don't know. Probably not entirely, but I think her darker side would have become much clearer at some point. But for the whole kingdom, it would have been a huge change, given how young Arthur was and how different.

Maybe we could have had a golden Albion if that had happened.

((But also like, put the man in a paper shredder. We don't like him.))

[hooliganpearl]

I'm watching merlin for the first time with my sister and HNNGGGGHHH UTHER DIE CHALLENGE

AJXGAJDH RIGHT

I love that you came to my inbox with this it means you've seen my Merlin posts and how many of them are about how much I HATE UTHER

[arthursknight]

later seasons bbc merlin mood

[greyscale-exe]

the magic in bbc merlin is a perfect queer allegory

(this is long but i have so many thoughts about bbc merlin and specifically merlin’s character) 

we all know and love bbc merlin as a kinda queerbait-y show about a couple of pals (arthur and merlin) who go on adventures together, but it’s also a great queer allegory (an allegory being a symbolic representation of something else). 

throughout the show, magic is presented as an innate part of a person that they are born with that they cannot control, yet they are persecuted for it. some people can hide it and live fulfilling lives in spite of the anti-magic rhetoric in camelot, but others, like morgana, morgause, nimueh, and others cannot live any other way than loudly themselves. now does that sound at all familiar?? if it does, lovely! that’s a queer allegory!

you can also see this in merlin’s journey from s1 to s5 because in the beginning, he is not at all confident in his magic abilities and he’s (mostly) very careful about people finding out because he is terrified of being outed as a wizard in a city of people who would have him killed. gaius is really his only ally there because he understands merlin’s situation and what he’s going though. you might even say he’s a bit of a queer elder.

in s4 and s5, merlin is significantly more confident in his abilities and you see the shift from being a timid little guy early on, to proudly saying “i was born with it” when agravaine said he had magic. hell, he was even able to stand up to uther and show that he had magic during the ghost episode! to me, this feels comparable to when a queer person has fully accepted their queer identity and gotten over a lot of internalized queerphobia to be able to be loudly and proudly themselves. obviously merlin isn’t suddenly flaunting his magical abilities because as dumb as he can be sometimes he’s not a complete idiot, but he has made his magic a central part of his identity and he’s comfortable with that! 

for merlin “coming out” as a wizard to uther was a huge turning point in his character arc because he was able to leave some of his anger towards uther behind him and prove to himself that he won. uther was scandalized that he had given merlin such a privileged position and yet that just showed how merlin had won. he had survived right under uther’s nose, becoming arthur’s closest friend and lover and to me, that final scene with uther’s ghost is a massive “fuck you” to uther and everything he stood for, after which merlin is more able to come into his own and be more proud of himself and his magic. s1 merlin would not have been at all able to something like that and it always makes me smile when i watch s5. 

--

tldr: most stories about forbidden magic (including bbc merlin) can be interpreted as queer allegories and merlin’s character development over the show is simply so amazing :)

[fruithoods]

i love bbc merlin with all my heart but there are so many flaws in that show,,, uther being considered a morally grey character while morgana is a villain is definitely one of them.

uther committed genocide after causing the death of his wife.

morgana was coerced, living in terror over her father, completely alone (i love merlin but he handled this badly), was POISONED by someone she considered a friend, and was locked in a pit for 2 years. she made mistakes, she wasn’t innocent either. but she became who she was as a reaction to other people’s actions.

morgana was a victim of bad, inconsistent writing. uther was just evil.

[rejectfalseiconz]

HE WHAT

it’s the way I always thought uther chaining arthur up like morgana in 1.12 was a hc but theres actual, explicit evidence that he has done so before in canon,,

[catsxratsxbats]

Obsessed with bbc Merlin lately. He is the most audacious twit to ever wizard. We do stan his gay (affectionate) little scarf

[disasterbispn]

Not to analyze a low-budget 2008 BBC show on main, but (re)watching the first few episodes of Merlin makes it so obvious where Arthur’s inability to regulate his emotions comes from (specifically how all emotions get funneled into anger and then often unleashed on Merlin). That doesn’t excuse Arthur’s behavior, but, my god, when you look at how many of Arthur’s conversations with Uther end with Uther yelling and Arthur, cowed, slinking away, you can see where Arthur learned that the only acceptable emotion is anger, and that the only acceptable outlet for that anger is violence and/or nastiness towards one’s “social inferiors.” Anyway, fuck Uther. All the homies hate Uther.

[ao3feed-merlinarthur]

by twistedgrass

In truth, his plan isn’t all that difficult to execute. With illegally purchased elven powder, patience, and access to Merlin’s every meal, getting the ball rolling took no effort at all.

Are you curious as to what plan Arthur is referring to? I recommend you keep reading, then. It’s quite the upset.

[bingo prompt: exhibitionism.]

Words: 1484, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 5 of i spend my free time making bbc Merlin characters fuck (sorry)

Fandoms: Merlin (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: my main main merlin, and Arthur pops in too

Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mildly Dubious Consent, Exhibitionism, uther’s pride gets fucked (and sadly he does not), this is an Uther hate fic, Fuck Uther All My Homies Hate Uther, Aphrodisiacs, Sex Pollen

[chronotopes]

whats your merlin thesis bestie

HIIIII okay i was gonna answer this first thing in the morning but then i drank coffee and had a "cleaning the house" fever come over me so now here i am

there's major ways to fix merlin, but both of them depend on the same basic premise, which is a) merlin is a bitchass liberal, b) uther and gaius are terrible father figures shaping arthur and merlin respectively into versions of themselves, c) fuck the dragon all my homies hate the dragon, d) morgana did nothing wrong*

*morgana probably did things wrong but as a product of very real things that shaped her, including gaius and merlin willingly keeping her in the dark as to her own magic, and an ongoing double standard within the show where merlin is allowed to murder every single magic user that makes an attempt on arthur and uther's life, but the moment anyone is like "so what if we just offed uther, you know, the guy who committed genocide" merlin does a whole BUT KILLING PEOPLE IS WRONG!!! kind of thing and then goes on to do his fifteenth murder of the season

so the 'averting tragedy' way to fix merlin is to make these institutions (sons becoming their fathers, morgana devolving into Scary Woman Villainy, the enforced status quo of 'you have to not tell arthur about your magic, ever') not NONEXISTENT but CHALLENGEABLE, make it a show about young adults who are manipulated by adults more powerful than themselves, who are raised to believe in Tradition and Decorum and Waiting For Destiny but who are ultimately able to care for each other and (in merlin and morgana's case) the oppressed group they are literally a part of more than they care for this upbringing, and choose to fight for that rather than the demands of uther, gaius, and that motherfucking dragon. that's a show i'd sincerely enjoy watching!

the 'entrenching tragedy' way to fix merlin, on the other hand, is to keep all of these elements – the tragedy of every goddamn stupid choice merlin makes on that show – and make it intentional. i don't want to really air out my "everything i like is the same" disease, but make merlin a fullblown terezi pyrope archetype, someone who is practically a child who, by means of necessity and of what he's rewarded for doing, grows to embrace the warped justice of upholding an institution that hurts him and everyone he loves. empathize with morgana on a writing-level the way katie mcgrath was clearly very capable of doing - don't make her Less Violent, but make her violence a Comprehensible Choice, not just a “she’s evil and sexy now!!!” message to the audience. basically, consciously and at every point of the story, write merlin as a fullblown irrational protagonist, and when arthur gets merked and the golden age doesn't happen, make it a show about the failures of fantasy-metaphor-liberalism and about sons becoming their fathers in horrible ways, and about the fucking tragedy of merlin killing morgana when they should have been allies from the start. that's a show i'd enjoy watching too, one that leaves you as hollow and angry as merlin-the-show had, but in a way that comes from skilled writing rather than largely-not-very-good writing that sometimes does something heartbreakingly meaningful long enough for you to keep watching.