Merlin!!

[bluejeans07]

I just started watching Merlin while I paint and now I'm ridiculously addicted!! I don't care that they're taking the legend and the story I love so much and running with it, because they're running brilliantly. Knowing what happens in the legend doesn't change or spoil the story for me, rather it makes it interesting as the teenaged characters change and develop to become the adults that they'll be.

Awesome Things About Merlin Presented in List Form
- It was cast 'colorblind' so not only are there colored people in the background living in Camelot, one of the main characters is played splendidly by a colored person!
- It's designed so like a children's fantasy story, I love the rich colors and the non-accurate but gorgeous costume designs, I love the sets, and I love that the effects are just slightly cheesy.
- The women are STRONG in this series, as both heroes and villains. They kick ass, are compassionate, intelligent, brave women, who have awesome characters and really interesting journeys.
- Anthony Head plays good-intentions-gone-wrong King Uther so WONDERFULLY.
- The relationship between Merlin and Arthur. Now this is where my slash goggles come on, but how can it not when EVERY episode has Merlin being told that Arthur is his destiny?! They're constantly saving each other's lives, bickering good naturally with each other when everyone can see that "they share a bond" (their words!), and always worrying about each other!! Merlin at one points get gravely ill and Arthur goes out searching for a cure, and Merlin, delirious, watches him with his magic and keeps calling out his name. This is eternal, legendary love, man.

Favorite Lines
Arthur: Don't you know who I am?
Merlin: Yeah. You're a prat.

Arthur: Sometimes, I wonder if you know who I am.
Merlin: Yeah. You're a prat.
Arthur: Don't you ever change?
Merlin: Nope, you'd get bored.

So I am enjoying myself immensely! I've finished season one and am starting season two~ <3 And also, gasp, I started looking for Merlin fic. If anyone has any fic recs for me (esp for Merlin/Arthur, they have become my OTP) send them my way! :D

THIS. Oh god. Even when they're not acting, they're adorable dorks. XD

Comments

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

EPIC LEGENDARY SLASH! LOVE!

Favorite characters... damn, it's so hard to choose, I love all of them. But favorite pairing is definitely Merlin/Arthur. :D

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

O_O Those two. Those two are just... adorable. XD

[akavertigo.livejournal.com]

AND THEN THERE'S THE FIC. OH, OH MAN, THE GLORIOUS FIC.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

...your icon. *STARES*

[akavertigo.livejournal.com]

It speaks the truth.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I hart Merlin omg. When I am not on my phone at a bus stop we will go eeeeeeeeee about it together!

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

Let me know when we can EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE because this show is so worth EEEEEEEEEEEEing about!! :D

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

How far in have you watched? The finale of S2 is kind of awful and glorious at the same time. But I find it thoroughly enjoyable, like trashy lit. :D

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

I finished all of it a few nights ago. You're so right about the awful/glorious bits XD I totally agree with you about how it's enjoyable like trashy lit, although I think it's more like really interesting and expensively made King Arthur fanfiction XD

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

That! Yes, good point. It's like someone sat down and said "Well, I like the general IDEA, but I don't like X, Y, or Z."

I do have some critique of the way Merlin's secret has been handled, because they're starting to rely a lot on Arthur getting knocked unconscious. I also have issues with the way Arthur and Uther are set up power-structure wise (ie, Uther is doing in this what Arthur did in the original story and the cracks where that stops making sense are beginning to show) but it's...funny, and lighthearted most of the time, and I love that Merlin is his servant. LOVE THAT.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

I've been watching some of the extras and as it turns out, the creators were referencing 'Smallville'. XD

They do rely on Arthur being knocked out a lot and I agree with you completely that they can only use that so often. XD But I like how Uther and Arthur are being portrayed as 'opposites' in the series, that Arthur is seeing all of Uther's mistakes and decisions and storing them away in his mind to try not to be like him when he becomes king.

I love that too! I think my favorite part of that is that Merlin is the same age or close to the same age as Arthur so you have that great dynamic going. You can see Merlin growing up to be more of a friend and adviser to Arthur rather than a mentor and a parental figure. Also, the SLASH!! XD

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Were referencing Smallville in general, or in a specific part?

I like that Uther and Arthur are so at odds, but it becomes problematic because the basic premise of the Arthur story is that he brings order to chaos. He's the one who unites the kingdoms. Uther has pretty much already done that, or is in the process of doing it, which means that the original story is kind of eviscerated. Combined with the fact that Arthur is obviously going to be a less brutal ruler in re: magic, you sort of have to keep him in a static state as the princeling, because once he becomes king there's not a whole big area for him to derive conflict from. So it's not such an issue for me now but it seems to be becoming one.

I really wish Merlin had told Arthur about his magic somewhere around the middle of S2, because then you actually get some character development and some new conflict -- now it's Arthur, conflicted about magic and what he feels, helping to hide Merlin from his father and having to face his father's anti-magic stance.

So, eh, there are some things I'd do differently (especially the whole Morgana arc), but it doesn't at all ruin my appreciation of the show.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

Just the idea that you see a hero while he's growing up. :D

Uther doesn't seem to be doing it to me, I mean there was a peace treaty but that doesn't necessarily equal unification or even step towards it. The impression I was getting from the kings that were there were that they were very strong minded people who'd hold onto their lands/moneys/daughters and wouldn't give them up so easily. So Arthur is still going to have problems with any sort of unification if those guys are still alive, not to mention all the trouble he's going to have with convincing magical people that he means them no harm after years of genocide from his father's hand.

I'm all for keeping Arthur a princeling longer, he's definitely not ready to be king and honestly, I'd like them to be a bit 'older' first and more mature. Also, I don't really want Merlin to tell Arthur that he's magic, I want Arthur to find out for himself and wrestle with INTERNAL ANGST of "Oh noes, my bff/love interest is magic and my daddy told me that MAGIC IS BAD! But but but he's my bff/love interest! He's good in bed! I LURV HIM~!"

Okay, maybe not exactly like that XD But if they want to give this show a longer life, they have to keep Arthur from finding out about Merlin as long as possible. It's going to have to happen eventually, but there's more conflict and more chance for growth if they delay, but that's my pov.

Morgana arc, WAAAHHHH. I didn't like the way Morgana was treated in season 2 at all, they really shoved her off to the background in order to give Gwen a more prominent spotlight.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Arthur may still have trouble, but there's an essential lacking chaos -- Camelot and its surrounding areas have a pretty high quality of life, so even if he does ride out to fight the other local kings into submission (because treaty after treaty is boring, plotwise) then he's basically an invading conqueror, which kind of kills the idea that he's a good person. It's interesting to see him grow up as the son of royalty in a fairly rich household, but it's going to cause trouble down the line.

The thing about keeping Arthur a princeling, and keeping him in the dark about the magic, is that it might extend the life of the show but I'm not sure it's going to maintain any kind of quality. I mean, speaking of Smallville, have you seen it lately? It's like a parody of a mockery of itself. I'd rather have four really good seasons of Merlin than eight mediocre ones.

I kind of wish Morgana had been set up entirely differently. For one thing I wish she'd been younger and more of an heir, so that her living with Uther made more sense from a protectorate stance -- if Uther controls her he controls her lands, which adds an interesting bit of conflict.

Anyhow. Most of what I'm looking at aren't things that are actual problems yet -- and they may be able to dodge them, who knows. But I can only deal so many times with Arthur conveniently getting cracked on the head. In the S2 finale it was just absurd.

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

OMG AMANDA!!!!!! *HUG!* HOW ARE YOU?! :D

[bluejeans07.livejournal.com]

AWW YEAH!!! *HUG!* :D