#BBC Merlin

[nextstopparis]

“i asked chatgpt—”

ok well i asked the cryptic fucking dragon that was imprisoned underground 20 years ago and he told me that no one can choose or escape their destiny so. he may have also told me i have a soulmate in the guy whose guts i hate but i dont really have time to think about that right now

[16th-of-a-twigg]

He's just sleeping he's just sleeping he's just sleeping he's jus

Ko-Fi

[theladydi]

whatever the fuck this was...

[starlight-kestrel]

AU where Arthur finds out about the prophecy and pieces together that "his closest ally Emrys" must be Merlin because who else would it be, but incorrectly assumes that Merlin doesn't know and therefore has never practiced magic before.

Even better if he finds out early season 1 so He's just so devastated the entire time and he's just like "I can't believe this, this prophecy is going to turn my best friend into a sorcerer, and it's all my fault for being the once and future king" and Merlin's in the back just murdering a sidhe

[lunali-moon]

Two sides of the same coin

[unfortunatelymerlin]

the thing about merlin and arthur is that, while yes there are lots of moments we can point to in the show when arthur is an utter arse to merlin, he is in fact — and especially based on what arthur knows — incredibly accepting and indulgent of merlin, about everything from his more seemingly benign quirks (intense strangeness... see: woodworms) to his more serious transgressions (apparently disappearing for days at a time for, *checks notes*, a drunken bender) and arthur just. lets him. by series 4 especially. merlin gets away with murder (which, to arthur at least, is an idiom)

and the thing about that is! i think merlin sees this as arthur ultimately not caring, further evidence of arthur not seeing him, and of arthur dismissing him as ultimately unimportant, in the grand scheme of things. but it's actually because arthur has just decided to dismiss whatever it is he has to, to have merlin in his life.

[k62256]

excalibur :)

[koffeinkaos]

Leon enters the throne room looking disturbed.

Leon: Sire I arrested someone in the rising sun. The man was starting fights and didn't pay his bill. He claimed you would pay for him, as you are friends. Ramblings of a drunken fool I suppose but he insisted on seeing you.

Arthur leans forward: Bring him in

Merlin also leans forward his arms resting on the back of Arthur's throne

Leon brings in a familiar looking man with dark brown hair and a beard.

Gwaine: Princess, Merls!!

Merlin running towards the man, hugging him awkwardly as Gwaine was still handcuffed: Gwaine!!

Meanwhile Arthur falls back in his throne seemingly disappointed but the smile on his lips betrayed the act

Leon almost offended: You know this man??

Arthur sighs: Yeah he's Merlin’s uhm stray? Person??

Leon looks confused

Arthur: Like Lancelot but this one this one bites and isn't potty trained

Leon: ah

[irvingsbailiffs]

MERLIN 3.01 — The Tears of Uther Pendragon

[autisticallosaurus]

Also I really want to add: there is a lot of shows that I hold very dear to my heart and recently I‘d been wondering why those shows are all either at least ten years old or 90% comedy. But reading this made me realise it‘s because of filler episodes.

Like, let‘s take BBC Merlin as an example. I love that show so much but it can be downright heartbreaking at parts. If I‘m having a god awful day and I just need something, anything, that gives me love and comfort to calm me down I can always pop on one of Merlin‘s „filler“ episodes – because they‘ve got all the fun character dynamics I love so much and provide a familiar environment I can lose myself in without worry.

Now let‘s apply that to a more modern show: I loved Arcane a LOT but I would and could never turn it on if I was having a bad day. There‘s ALWAYS something stressful happening to the characters and you‘re always on edge because the plot is moving at light speed and you‘re constantly reminded of your favourite characters eventual fate (if you‘ve already watched it). It wouldn‘t calm me down, it‘d rile me up way more and make me even more upset. That‘s not to say it‘s bad, because I still really like it, it just stayed with me way shorter than shows that do have some breather episodes and casual points in their story, because even though it‘s exciting and fun it doesn‘t provide the same comfort, the same opportunity of escaping to a safe space that AtlA, or tng or Merlin can give you if you just know which episodes to watch.

And I think that‘s a damn shame. There‘s many good and fun shows out there that I liked watching, but ironically the thing keeping them from being great and becoming part of my all-time favourites is the lack of light-heartedness, the lack of seeing the characters relaxed for once, the lack of getting to see the character‘s true personalities, the lack of what back then was used as critique – the lack of fillers.

genuinely one of the worst things that’s happened to television in the last few years (exacerbated by streaming services) is death of Filler. going from 20 episodes to 8 because “we didn’t really need that episode where the main characters went to the beach right? it had no long lasting effect” but we DID!!! we needed to see how they act without the Big Bad Plot and to establish the dynamics between the characters and lay in the sun (do they forget sunscreen? how do they react to a thieving seagull? do they get buried in the sand or do they do the burying?). the plot isn’t everything. the action doesn’t hit as hard without the quiet moments. give us character development and our little scenes back

[unwillingstars]

this interaction got me cackling sjisdjkidj

S4 E09

[unfortunatelymerlin]

[shhhhimwatchingthis]

BBC Merlin (2008-2012) trending again as it does a few times every year, NBC Hannibal (2013-2015) trending once again as it does every year, Hilson (ship name for Dr. Gregory House and Dr. James Wilson) from Fox's House (2004-2012) trending in Tumblrs House Renaissance

It is March 2025 for those without timestamps on.

Truly modern TV has nothing on whatever the fuck they put in 2000's and 2010s homoerotic television named after one of the main characters

[fuckyeahsnackables]

It's also the plot of BBC Merlin.

nice pair of characters who trust each other more than anyone else in the whole entire world it would sure be a shame if one of them betrayed that trust for the sake of trying to keep the other alive. it would sure be a shame to love someone so much you destroy them

[count-pudding]

(tw suggestive) pretty Merlin