well behaved women

Another Merlin post, this time a bit of a linkspam to articulate, well-thought out opinions, specifically concerning where Merlin falls through in gender and race issues.

How Not to Handle a Woman: The Problem(s) with Morgana

The White Mists of Avalon: Thoughts on Morgana's Race


And this, not on Merlin: [IBARW] It's not murder, it's a metaphor

Abstract: If you're going to argue about a text's metaphorical or allegorical representations of race, you may want to take a look at how it treats actual people of color before forming your conclusions about the subversion of racial stereotypes.

This includes huge problems I have with a frequent approach to supernatural genres: associating the plight of minority groups with the plight of supernatural beings that actually feed off of humans/are animals is actually pretty insulting in its own right.

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Merlin 2x07 and 2x08

How much do I love Morgause? I love her a lot. More than I expected to. She feels like a person, which I halfway didn't expect, considering the show's general development of female characters. How much do I love Morgause/Morgana/Gwen's interactions in this episode? A LOT. I like that she helped her, and their concern, and the interplay between them in the scant seconds we're given.

Here is my opinion on Merlin and Uther in the episode. ANGRY. (My second comment is a little less frothingly angry.)


I love the dragon.

Wait, people are depending on Merlin? You mean all the many, many people that he's pretty much murdered indirectly by saving a serial killer with a monstrously large kill count again and again? Wow. I'm sure they're glad to hear that.

I'm really glad that Morgana told on Gaius. People have been whining about how she 'threw Gaius to the wolves'--she told the truth. I feel nothing for Gaius. He has aided, abetted and supported a murderer for years and then--most loathesome--tried to blame the victims. Burn, baby, burn.

ETA: &hearts &hearts &hearts Can I just say how much I love Gwen, still and always, especially her detective work and her brilliance? Oh, but it's all the fault of the vanity of women, of course!

ETA2: Oh, and can I just say--this was the first episode where I really, really felt for Arthur. The actor hasn't had that much to do, emotionally, before now, but he was incredible here. I wanted to cry and scream encouragement at once. And even though I know they'll cop out when there is the reveal, I really want this to be dealt with; Merlin's first true betrayal of his prince, and it is a horrific one.

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I'm not sure why Uther being an asshole is supposed to surprise/alarm/set off warning bells for anyone. So he indiscriminately murders his people, but they're shocked if he taxes them? He isn't acting any different than usual, beyond fawning over Sarah Parrish, who is actually kind of awesome.

ETA: Guys, I can't help but think that saying 'Uther is good king except for the whole magic thing!' is like saying, 'he's a good boyfriend except for the bit where he stabs me in the face when I breathe in the vicinity of another man!'

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This is exquisitely well made, in all features; it's so beautiful I would tell people who don't know the fandom or don't intend to know the fandom to watch, because it is just that lovely, and poignant, and intense. Morgana in all her glory.

Origin and download link here, by la_esmeralda_.

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Why yes, Gaius, drugging, lying to and manipulating a young woman without pity or concern for her breaking sanity sure is 'taking good care of her!' You piece of scum.

Merlin! Does not know the meaning of subtle! And still runs everywhere. And is a total dumbass in so many ways.

( spoilers, obv. )

But beyond my babbling over how very, very fond I am of Gwen in BBC's Merlin, I would also like to direct interested parties toward a more clinical view of the episode and the very real and persistent problems in both it and the show.

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Merlin! 2x01, The Once and Future Queen, also titled: the Once and Future King is a lucky, lucky dude.

( Read more... )

I found the first season amusing but the anachronisms distressing, and none of the characters quite clicked for me. (Merlin, in particular, I am utterly indifferent to and now loathe for Nimueh's death.)

But. You know. This looks quite exciting.

And Gwen. GWEN! So pretty.

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Title: the night too dark by far
Day/Theme: Grey
Series: Merlin BBC
Character/Pairing: Morgana/Gwen
Rating: R
A/N: My first piece of Merlin fanfiction. It's femslash, in case you didn't notice.

10. Grey

Okay. Merlin! Um.

( I was REALLY disappointed in the finale )

I may have been a little insensitive! NO SHIT. Locking her in a dungeon? No really? A little?

Man, Merlin, you run everywhere. MORGANA, I LOVE YOU. SO FUCKING BADASS. No hesitation! I was think don't save him don't save him but she couldn't just stand back now that he'd given her a little hope, and she's just not a 'stand back' person period. DON'T FALL FOR IT--

SNOW, PLEASE BE BEING GONE TOMORROW.

The snow is coming down fast and hard. We may not be able to leave for L.A. This is really making me worried. I'm geared up for downright hysteria. I wasn't happy about the snow when it first came and I'm not happy now. It was washing away just yesterday!

I freely admit that when Uther was swearing Arthur to mercy and justice I thought 'as opposed to YOU'. Still loathe Uther.

Oh, OUCH Arthur. "I know no one braver." That's a compliment, but not necessarily an advantage. I love Gwen's BITCH PLEASE face so much when he's all oozing confidence. Although he only lost because of cheating. Tristan has been my favorite knight since that King Arthur movie. So waaaah. And I liked Igraine. (deadnooo) Morgause was my favorite character in The Mists of Avalon, so I hope she shows up here.

Love Morgana. Love Gwen. Thought Mordred was pretty spiffy keen, as a character anyway. I look forward to Mordred/Morgana interaction later (all grown up?)

I really, really hate Uther.

I think it's because I loathe self-righteous evil more than any other evil, and I can't stand him--but oh, he makes for a deftly near-undercover villain that you can hate with all your heart. I keep getting weird random hankerings to write Chronicles of Narnia/Merlin crossovers because hey, Magical Kingdom vs/interacting with kingdom where magic is suppressed could be interesting!

But then I watch an episode where Uther makes me grind my teeth and actual complications and interaction devolve into wanting Susan to SHOOT HIM IN THE FACE.

Also, it always makes my teeth grind when they say 'too smart to be a servant/slave/lower class' etc. It's always a reference to how the character in question isn't really or isn't only and it always makes me go 'uh, uneducated does not equal stupid, thanks'.

This talks about Merlin 'trampling the Arthurian legend' and confirms my baffled impression that there was no one Arthurian legend (thus leading to me being bemused by people getting huffy about it diverging from THE Arthurian legend.

Also: I don't venture into fandom so I wasn't as familiar with the claims that it's historically inaccurate--ones which confused me where I did see them in reviews since uh, this is mythology, which is by definition implying inaccuracy--but I know that when I was discussing the Arthurian remakes my admittedly sketchy knowledge of the time period was clashing, so now I'd like to pull out this quote and say: VINDICATED, YO.

It's what the Arthurian legends already do. They are wildly different from each other. And not even remotely historically accurate. Really, there were no knights in full armor during the period the hero "Arthur" would have lived.

There's even a bibliography, which amuses me and instills feelings of nostalgic passion.

**cuddles The Dragon Queen to chest**

D.Grayman art that I am totally not familiar with at all keeps popping up, and when asked people give me exceedingly aggravating answers like 'oh, it's everywhere' and 'oh, it's really easy to find.' IF I'M ASKING, CLEARLY I HAVEN'T FOUND IT SO. **throttles air**

All I have to say about Bleach is: I am getting SO TIRED OF SHOUNEN BATTLES and also, Orihime was so cute on the cover! And he didn't even draw her breasts that would break her spine!

Also Merlin continues to be awesome. Gwen! Gwen! I love you!

I've come to suspect that there is an inverse relation between writing and special effects. US shows tend to have superior special effects, but irritate me at the very best with stereotypes, tropes, and downright idiocy. BBC shows--and Blood Ties, which is Canadian--have crap special effects, but awesome characters. (Well, Hex's male characters sucked, but what do you do.) And usually pretty entertaining stories.

This is either a distressing trend or simply indicates that I need to watch BBC. And that is actually to my advantage, I think, because in my experience looking for episodes after the iron is hot, US shows seem to get sniffed out and deleted online faster. And I wouldn't have a TV with channels if my life depended on it, yupthnx.

Also, megavideo keeps crapping out right at the end of the episodes, leaving me on tenterhooks trying not to Hulk Out and hurled the laptop through the window. RAGERAGE.

Also: watched Incredible Hulk movie, v.2, last night. Was it just me or was her voice kind of ridiculously breathy throughout the whole thing? I wonder if she was instructed to do that? I don't care I LOVED HER ANYWAY. Break the soldier's nose without breaking stride! VERBAL BEATDOWN. I wish it was Jennifer Connelly, but that is because though I am polyamorous in my adoration for actresses, there are some that stand on pedestals.

I'm going to try and get Mom to go with me to see The Day the Earth Stood Still. It wasn't a fabulous movie--I already watched it online--but I was entertained okay, I want to see JC on the big screen and she likes Keanu Reeves and totally needs to get out of the house.

Leaving for L.A. in two days.

Okay, I am a full on fan of Merlin. I have no problem with the acting and am blithely unconcerned with anachronisms; it's a mythological medieval setting, handwave, excuses, etc.

BUT OH MAN THAT SCENE DOWN IN THE CAVES TRYING TO KILL THE MONSTER WAS BAD. Like...beyond funny bad. Like, Dark Angel Max-vs-Spitting-Monster calibre of bad. SO BAD.

And Nimueh--(OMG MICHELLE RYAN OMG)--COME ON. That fall was so fake! You just went down. At least teeter! Lose balance! Make it convincing! Even I could do a better job of fake-falling down than that! Maybe that's just because of practice at real falling down, though.

Angry Chicks in Leather containing discussion pertaining to urban fantasy, paranormal romance, highbrow and lowbrow, Anita Blake, and noir.

I really do love Lilith Saintcrow.

In other news: I WAS WARNED. I REALLY WAS. AND NOW MERLIN IS EATING MY BRAIN.