Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen Gwen
pushing my “Arthur has cat who wont let you pet them if you want it too bad energy” agenda
more merlin fics should dig into the fact that’s he’s like. legitimately kind of insane. like he heard that mordred was going to be the one to kill arthur and did not think for even a second before deciding to treat him like the literal scum of the earth. he would have lived in hiding for the rest of his life if it meant mordred was dead and, iirc, mordred hadn't even done anything yet. wherever arthur is concerned, merlin will bleed and suffer and kill and he does all of it with a blind loyalty that is definitely not healthy and I just feel like that is such a compelling character element that more people should play with.
there’s so much I love about this addition in the tags by @fuckingfandomfreak but what’s especially killing me is the comparison to arthur. because. yeah. I feel like throughout the show we watch arthur become a much kinder and warmer person, influenced largely in part by merlin. and yet merlin in that same time becomes a much more cynical and dark person, willing to do anything and everything it takes to keep arthur alive, no matter the cost.
this all makes me desperate for a fic where s5 merlin meets s1 merlin…like even early seasons merlin was a little crazy but he was so much more forgiving and willing to place his faith in the benefit of the doubt, and I think the dynamic of s1 merlin seeing what he’s going to become and s5 merlin realizing what’s become of him would go absolutely fucking bonkers.
I can talk about Arthur and Merlin’s inverse development forever don’t even get me started
I love it bc there are so many factors (imo Arthur is a softer person than Merlin in general) but not least of which is each other. Obviously, Merlin influences Arthur, but there is this element that just knowing and loving (in any way) Arthur personally influences Merlin both negatively and positively
funkylittlebats