In Which Sophie Goes Batshit Crazy Over Wizards And Shit Like That

[sophieisgod]

Hey, remember this time last year when I freaked about the cracky awesome that is Robin Hood? This is like that, but with Merlin.

THIS SHOW MAKES ME SO VERY, VERY GLEEFUL. It's like Robin Hood, only better written (YOU KNOW I LOVE ME SOME RH, BUT S1 ESPECIALLY HAS SOME BLOODY AWFUL WRITING. But I still love it!) and with more slash and a lead character whom I adore rather than despise! Also, MAGIC! Ohh, BBC, I love it when you dick about with legends.

Merlin

Apologies for the lameness of these pictures, but I didn't want to rob off with any of the pretty ones from people's picspams. Incidentally, lonelyfajita's spams are insanely fabulous. So, you know, go and look at those and revel in the joy. Anyway! Merlin! I have got ridiculous amounts of love for Merlin and also for Colin Morgan. He is such a darling boy! He's just so open and lovely and awesome, and his happy face is the best thing ever, but he also has a healthy drama queen streak where he occasionally gets all WHAT IS THE POINT OF MY LIFE WITHOUT MAGIC??? and flings himself on the bed. It is magnificent. I'm liking the struggle between him and Gaius over the appropriate uses for his powers (and their relationship is one of the sweetest things on the show, oh my days), and I'm really looking forward to when he properly has to start getting his hands dirty, like he had to in 1x06. Also, characters with a destiny are FTW. Just ask Kara Thrace. Most importantly, he sports a Will Scarlett-esque neck scarf. THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT HIM I DON'T LOVE!

Arthur

Dude, I was so prepared not to like this guy. He's kind of a douche! He likes beating people up and he's arrogant and treats his servants like shit. But! Bradley James has a hilariously expressive face, and his looks of disgust are FTW, as are basically all his other looks (I'm a big fan of his OH SHIT A CGI GRYPHON!face myself), and he has a rather impressive chest which wardrobe likes to showcase often with open-necked shirts. And Merlin is going to make him awesome! This process has already begun! And his relationship with his father is so well-drawn and painful, because he will be a better king than Uther but right now he's biting his tongue a lot of the time while trying to curb some of his dad's more reactionary tendencies, and ON TOP OF ALL THIS he has all the shit of being a prince, and everything that means re: courage and self-sacrifice and not letting people see your emotions. So, yes, he is kind of Poor Little Rich Boy, but I love him more and more each episode. COME ON, HE SAYS THINGS LIKE "I SHOULD WARN YOU, I'VE BEEN TRAINED TO KILL SINCE BIRTH."



Arthur/Merlin
You know how Robin Hood is really, really gay? Merlin is like gay on heat. ABSOLUTELY BRIMMING WITH SLASHY GOODNESS. There's even a Great Slash Dragon who keeps telling Merlin that he and Arthur's destinies are entwined and that they're two halves of a whole! It is so very fabulous! And that's before we even get to their actual relationship! Phnar, I love them so much. Of course, they start off all hating each other because Arthur is a bullying douche and Merlin is really rather odd, and then there is a scrap which Merlin hilariously loses, and then there is more hate-filled banter/flirting (DUDE, THAT MOMENT WHERE MERLIN GOES "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO BE A PRAT, MY LORD", AND THEN HE LOOKS UP AT ARTHUR AND RIGHT THERE, THAT IS JUST EYESEX), and then another scrap (with flails!) in which Merlin sneakily uses magic but kind of loses anyway, and then Arthur actually says "There's something about you, Merlin... I can't quite put my finger on it." NEVER CHANGE, BOYS. And then Merlin ends up as Arthur's manservant (My Wifey templa_otmena actually thought Uther said "manslut"), which leads to him having to dress him all the time and awesome shit like that. And then they start saving each other's lives, and the fabulousness explodes in a way I never dreamed possible on family TV. I love paying my licensing fee.

Morgana

Now, I freely admit that I don't know very much about the source material on this one (although, darkangsty42, I have ordered The Mists of Avalon!), but I am liking this Morgana a lot. She's hardcore, but she can't be hardcore in the way that Marian is OMG THE NIGHT WATCHMAN hardcore, and that's okay. She's really the only character who consistently stands up to Uther, and she's great at talking sense into Arthur. I actually love the dynamic between the two of them - it's classic "I like you so I'll pull your pigtails" stuff. Also, she's utterly gorgeous, and she's not above using her fabulousness to flirt with Valiant or whoever and make Arthur jealous and/or gormless. This really is Camelot High, but whatever! I really hope we get to see her coming into whatever powers her psychic nightmares are hinting at, because that could get kind of epic.

Gwen

Why yes, I did sneak in a picture of Lancelot, what exactly is your point? I like Gwen a lot, and I like that the Gwen/Merlin stuff is kind of light-hearted and bumbling and low-key. If she ever starts properly pining, that would be kind of shit, but right now it's fun! And also, Gwen/Lancelot was reet nice. But, I especially like it when she and Gaius form a "Merlin's in trouble!" tag team of awesome. Like Morgana, I hope she gets more stuff to do as the season progresses, because from what I've seen she could turn into quite the social reformer, and that would be awesome.

Other stuff
I think the way the show has set up attitudes to magic is really interesting. It's like, race isn't so much of an issue because of colour-blind casting or whatever, so magic becomes the site of otherness in the context of the show, which basically is really dangerous for Merlin and therefore awesome for the plot. I think it was the Guardian preview of the show which raised the issue of the character being a cipher for a) emo teenagers or b) gay teenagers, and it's kind of fascinating to see how people respond to him, whether or not they know about his powers. Gwen's kind of shocked response to the idea of magic was one thing that I thought was pretty cool and unexpected, and I can't wait to see what happenes when Arthur eventually susses it out. Also, the music! It's so pretty! And the crack is not quite at RH levels yet, but Will Mellor with a pimped out snake shield was pretty fucking hilarious.

Now, I need your help! I need recs! I need many different kinds of fanfic, I need vids, and I need picspams! Interviews! Sexy pictures of sexy boys! I KNOW I CAN COUNT ON YOU.

In Conclusion


Oh, and re: the whole Tennant thing - I think I've ranted enough about RTD and the way Ten's character developed for you to guess I'm kind of relieved by the news. I still adore The Tennant, and my issues with the character are not at all to do with him, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an awesome Eleven, and hoping that David continues to do magnificent theatrestuffs and other sexy things.

How are you? ♥

Comments

[darkangsty42.livejournal.com]

HEEEEE MERLIN.

Everyone does the best face-pulling in this. 4rlz.

Still waiting for Excalibur to show up. (Come on, it's in the opening credits! Season finale, meybee?)

THE GAY. THE GAY. My sister and I cannot contain our glee every time it goes even further. JOHN HURT WANTS THEM TO BE GAY TOGETHER FOREVER. (PS - John Hurt is scary as hell in I, Claudius.)

Mists of Avalon... I haven't read it in a billion years, but my sister's reading it for the first time and been keeping me up on her reactions. Be prepared to probably hate Guinevere really really hard. Honestly, this show is the first time I've ever like her character. (How could one, really? She's sunshine and bunnies in this.)

But yes, Arthur and Morgana have always been personal favorites.

Pompey's gonna be on this Saturday! Excitement!

THUMBS-UP GIF FTW.

Really, I just love this silly show and it's silly CGI so hard in the face. I'm just scared that when it comes over to the States and my friends see it, they'll think I was huffing crack when I watched it.

I too, feel that I'm relieved about the Who news. Except we're going to be distracted during the specials over speculation for who's next.

This comment just got long and all over the place. Sorry about that.

[auroralives.livejournal.com]

You will LOVE the Mists of Avalon! Love, I say!

[polarlucky.livejournal.com]

I'm so looking forward to sexy Mr. Tennant doing other things, threatre and beyond!

[tinkerrbell-x.livejournal.com]

I agree with like everything you've said.
I wasn't prepared to like this at all. Because yes I was bitter that RH won't be on til next year but anyway, I LOVE it for all the reasons you've given.
I didn't think it could surpass RH for being all campy and gay but it totally has and the characters are awessomee.

I didn't even realize the MANGIFICANCE of Bradley James' chest until like a few weeks and I was like, nooo way is it that built and then bam! it actually is.
Also a hugee fan of his facial expressions.

[clouded-logic.livejournal.com]

It's like Robin Hood, only better written (YOU KNOW I LOVE ME SOME RH, BUT S1 ESPECIALLY HAS SOME BLOODY AWFUL WRITING. But I still love it!) and with more slash and a lead character whom I adore rather than despise!

It is actually like YOU SHARE MY MIND. Merlin is so lovable! The dragon is kind of annoying (why do people keep asking him stuff? He's too busy being mysterious and conjuring up new riddles, HE WON'T HELP YOU) but even so, all of the characters are just made of awesome. <3

[headspin-x.livejournal.com]

I CAN'T ACTUALLY WATCH MERLIN BECAUSE THE ACTING HURT MY SOUL. I tried so hard for Tony Head and John Hurt's voice but alas, I could not. I'm happy that people are having fun with it though. SLASH IS NEVER A BAD THING.

Tennant... eh. I was okay about it... and then I wasn't... and now I am again. Because to be honest, it wasn't good for his career to be stuck in a role where the writing was less than stellar most of the time and the character wasn't really growing at all. In other things we'll be able to see his acting as it should be seen. Yep.

Also, I have every faith that Eleven will be awesome and YAY MOFFAT. (James Callis for Eleven. I WANT. Or Matthew MacFadyen. Or Andy Serkis. Or anyone else I approve of. I'll be easy to please.)

[auroralives.livejournal.com]

HOLY SHIT SOPHIE YOU ARE GOING TO FLIP OMGOMGOMG

Edit: Ahahah. Okay. According to the comments it's not the BBC's "Merlin" but some other upcoming TV show. With James Callis as Merlin. LOLZ. I LOVES IT.

[anothersadsong.livejournal.com]

i fully intend on watching merlin at some point, seriously.

also? i'm quite sad that david is leaving doctor who, but i'm kind of excited at the same time, 'cause i really want to see who's going to be eleven.

[mo-shmoe.livejournal.com]

I guess I really need to get off my ass and watch the episodes I've downloaded. XD

P.S. I so called Arthur/Merlin when the trailer first came out! I believe I used the phrase "guaranteed."

[piyo-halliwell.livejournal.com]

Why, WHY, do I always not have the right kind of cable to get the channel to watch these shows?!?!?! *mubles*I so have to fix that*mumbles*

Oh, and Mists of Avalon is love.

[agguss.livejournal.com]

I started really disliking Arthur and I now adore him. He's so much fun as a character, and of course, I love Merlin/Arthur and I honestly like them together, which is odd for me since I don't usually ship... even less man/man. I haven't seen the last two eps but I have them, so I will watch when I have a moment. The only thing I don't like about this show is Gwen :/

However, this shows lacks the Armitage :(:( so I'm never going to like it as much as RH.

[velvet-midnight.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THIS SHOWWWWWWWWWW. ♥ IT'S SO FULL OF CRACK & PRETTINESS

[alkalinegabi.livejournal.com]

I freakin' love Merlin. Lol. Him and Arthur are just too cute not too love.

(My Wifey templa_otmena actually thought Uther said "manslut")-
Truer words have never been spoken. :)

Camelot High is what they should call series 2 if we get one.

[alkhoon.livejournal.com]

I didn't think I was going to love Merlin as much as I do now. It's absolutely filled with awesomeness! :D

Merlin and Arthur are adorable!!!

I'm excited to know who might be Eleven. :)

[lunylucy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm going to have to see this eventually.

[vivere.livejournal.com]

his happy face is the best thing
Absolutely! Honestly, whenever he smiles, I smile. He's too adorable! :D

[templa-otmena.livejournal.com]

Spoliers! 'Gwen' is measureing Lancelot's neck??!?! Meep!

The Tennant will indeed go on and continue to be awesome.

See you back at the boudoir for more actually awesome goodness xXx

[lizzy-loplegs.livejournal.com]

Ok you cannot like Arthur. That is just wrong. He is a gimp of the first order. But if you do like the whole Merlin-and-Arthur-working-together-to-fight-for-right-stuff-cos-its destiny READ friggin' Song of the Lioness!!!!

Its set in fantasy medieval world with MAGIC with a coll herione disguised as a boy who serves her friend the Prince!! Its amazing!! And its somewhere in your bloody room so find it!!

Also Mists of Avalon Morgana is way cooler...

Ooh and Merlin Trilogy is on its way. Now I loved this Merlin since I was 12 and he was only in paper form...

[jaune.livejournal.com]

That gif was the best thing ever. I never noticed Gwen's hilarious face there, I was too focused on Merlin's. I don't know why but I can never see Gwen/Merlin together romantically at all. I rather see them as friends. LANCELOT! PLZ come back for anther ep or two.

[lalumena.livejournal.com]

YES. :D I must admit I have a couple of reservations re: the acting but I have a great affection for Colin Morgan. And Arthur, somewhat unexpectedly.

LOL at The Great Slash Dragon. After you said that I watched ep 7 and the fact that it started with Merlin bumbling int Arthur from behind? I sniggered. I am five. Ah yes.

I wasn't sold on Morgana at first, but she seems to be getting more hardcore and conflict-y lately. Which is All Good. And the lack of angst (between major characs, mostly) makes me hopeful for happiness and a non-stabby future.

(With the exception of the 'I'm your friend' 'No, you're my SERVANT' dialogue that made me all WOEFUL in ep 7.)

Also, Merlin's being all romantic for Arthur was adorable. I want to see more Gwen, though! I like her so far, she seems like she has hidden feist and depth.

Sorry, shall stop rambling! :D Hope you're all good. :D