princess-of-morkva

[princess-of-morkva]

Pls rb for a bigger sample size, i'm proving a point lol

[princess-of-morkva]

Hey there, I was thinking and I’m curious what you think of Gwen x Lancelot? And specifically how they rank for you compared to Gwen x Arthur?

oh hi!!! now this is a loaded question.

i'm sure everyone's aware i love myself some arwen, but i don't think i've talked about gwencelot nearly enough. you know how people sometimes refer to lancelot as gwen's first love (which i have a sort of an agree to disagree relationship with anyways)? yeah, that's almost what gwencelot is to me (not what their relationship is, but how i feel about them, if that makes sense)

it's hard for me to put one ahead of the other - much like everything else, it depends on the day. it's also difficult to compare, because, to me, they are two different types of love. not like romantic/platonic obviously, but just the very feeling of them is different. arwen is sweetness, they are devotion, kindness, trust. their love is deep-rooted and calm to me. it's big and all encompassing.

gwencelot, their love, is just as big, but in a quieter, though more feverish, kind of way, in a way that is more often than not just for the two of them alone. and as far as the main storyline goes, it is also a tragedy. it's a back and forth, a constant gain and loss. we saw arthur and gwen grow into their love, but gwen and lancelot were an instant, whirlwind of an attachment, and we saw them try and grow out of it instead.

as much as both of the pairings embody both of these feelings, arwen is the "live for me" to gwencelots "i'll die for you a 100 times" - which i think is a fair thing to say, considering these are words from the show. gwen and arthur fulfil each other, they make each other stronger. gwen and lanceot are like two puzzle pieces.

i also want to go back to the all encompassing/more intimate comparison. i'll often see people bring up the argument of camelot and arwen's love for it when talking about their relationship - mostly in a negative way. to me, it's not like that at all. yes, they are both devoted to camelot and its future, their future within it, but it's not the only reason for their love, nor is it a kind of stepback. it's what and who they are. their love is loud and it can (though doesn't have to) carry more than just themselves. i understand then, in a way, why it's so easy to see gwencelot and their commitment to the very being of each other as "better", as their relationship exists more outside the branches and reaches of camelot. perhaps a weird example, but to trust gwen to be queen, making her be the very heart of camelot vs the commitment to give your life, not for camelot, but for the very promise made to gwen to protect arthur (again, my thoughts on this aren't exactly alined with the original context given in the series, but that's not important right now). all you have vs all you are.

i want to point out once more that both of them can (and do) carry both sides of it, these are just one of many comparisons i could've made about the core themes of their portrayals/tones. they are equally important - to me, at least.

perhaps if i really had to choose, i would say gwencelot, but i'm a sucker for a tragedy (not saying that arwen is all sunshines and flowers all the time, but i'm sure you get my point here). arwen is beautiful in a way that lets them breathe when they are near and gwencelot is wonderful in a way that makes them lose their breath instead. from there it's just personal preference of characterisation.

#how literally how did you put it so well #i want to say so much but you said it all #i think i love you

[princess-of-morkva]

#mmm the soup is good... what do you know abou necromancy? #silly aromantic stuff

[princess-of-morkva]

bbc merlin - 03x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part II

10/10 line delivery btw

#fools would say that elyan and gwaine only just met in the last episode #but intellectuals know that they hooked up at some tavern in mercia years earlier #and both remembered the other fondly #tell me i'm wrong #< you're not wrong you're absolutely right

[princess-of-morkva]

my merlin unrequited crushes ultimate hc (the ones that are present for me in any universe) (may sometimes be reciprocated in fic) (but ultimately you can't convince me it wasn't there in canon) list:

morgana -> gwen (cute crush on bestie turned unhealthy obsession stalker shit) (perfect)

lancelot -> gwen (in later seasons) (i'll forever me mad at how he ruined his chance)

merlin -> lancelot (do i need to elaborate? probably. but it will an essay if i do soo...)

gwaine -> merlin (The Sad Thing ™)

morgana <- me

further elaboration may be provided upon request

#unrequited love #my hcs #merlin hcs #morgwen #gwencelot #mercelot #mergwaine #gwaine #lancelot #gwen #morgana #merlin #bbc merlin

[princess-of-morkva]

honestly never registered to me that it was IN THE SHOWW, always thought of it like a fanon thing, but it's realllll

bbc merlin - 03x08 The Eye of the Phoenix

truly a favourite of mine is the choice they made in physically showing the way magic pulls merlin towards itself

#how did i never notice #merlin #bbc merlin #merlin emrys

[princess-of-morkva]

bbc merlin - 03x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part II

#obsessed with them #the sync head turning #the lil smile in the first gif #the madness in their eyes in second gif #like hell yeah we're outnumbered three to one AND they're immortal #all is going as planned #unironically #that was their plan #they're so unhinged #we were robbed of more of these two sneaking off together on suicide missions #lancelot #merlin #lancelot × merlin #bbc merlin

[princess-of-morkva]

bbc merlin - 03x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part II

(merlins reaction to percival, elyan, lancelot and gwaine being knighted)

yeah, knights of camelot and, yeah, arthur's knights, but you cannot forget - they're merlin's knights, his pride and joy, his special little (big) guys

[princess-of-morkva]

Saw an edit of jesus yesterday

Actually thought it was eoin macken

So

That's something

#no but seriously

[princess-of-morkva]

No one:

My brain several times a week: in a land of myth and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy. His name…MERLIN

#i'm so glad i'm not the only one #my family is so sick of me chanting this at random times #but my brain says do it #and i oblige

[princess-of-morkva]

You know, something something Arthur desperately wanted to see the good in magic at any opportunity he was given.

When Gwen was first accused, when he first met Morgause, when he wanted to save Uther using magic, when he saved the woman from being burnt in that small village, when he was given a choice by the Disir, when he was determined to save Gwen from Morgana's dark magic...

(Honourable mentions include when he saved Mordred and argued with Uther about the Druids being peaceful (they are magic adjacent after all) - and well, given the second honourable mention being his remorse for the raid on the Druid camp when he was young, it's understandable that it comes from some sort of trauma. And of course, the result of that remorse was the promise that he would do everything to prevent it ever happening again, and that he would treat the Druids with respect. Hell, even with Kara he was respectful, even though she committed actual literal treason in the form of an attempted assassination of Camelot's king)

Of course, at every opportunity, Arthur's view that there is good in magic, that not all sorcerers are evil, that perhaps his father was wrong, or that his father had lied, ends up being proven wrong, at least in his eyes.

Time and time again Arthur is shown to consider magic as a more neutral force, like almost as if he's desperate for it to be true. It isn't even necessarily his fault that the opinions about magic and sorcerers that Uther taught him becomes reinforced once again.

The fact that he can even think critically about magic at all is a miracle alone. Like this man who has only ever known sorcerers to use magic for evil purposes, to destroy Camelot, attempt to assassinate him, attempt to assassinate his father, to harm those he cares about - and yet he still he still falls back on, what if magic can be good, what if we're wrong, what if, what if, what if--

And it's only when magic itself reveals himself to Arthur that he can finally see that yes, magic can be good.

Because if Merlin is good, if Merlin is the same person even with magic, then magic is neutral, and sorcerers aren't inherently evil.

Arthur was always going to accept magic, that's the thing, that's hardcoded into his character, he just needed the right push, and that push was always going to be Merlin.

Because as Arthur dies in Merlin's arms, blanketed by magic itself, he accepts that even with all of Merlin's magic, his life cannot be saved, magic cannot save him.

But he accepts it, and accepts Merlin, and he dies having brought about all that Merlin ever dreamt of, truly dreamt of, that Arthur would see him for him, and accept him and his magic. And more than that, what Arthur truly ends up doing is embracing it.

Arthur for whatever reason, perhaps because he was born of magic, perhaps because his soulmate is magic itself, perhaps because he has a heart of gold, wanted to see the good in magic at any given opportunity that presented itself, even though with all that Uther taught him, he never should have seen it that way.

It's just, it's so fascinating, and it's so heartbreaking that when he finally knew, he died. But he'll return, and I'm sure then he can build something better with Merlin, really bring magic back to a time that needs it :)

#THIS #exactly this #is what i'm talking about #you've put it so good #and also essay posts are brainworm food and should be normalised #you just can't put this in two words #arthur is such a good boy #people who hate on him watched the show with closed eyes and stuffed ears #or maybe just have zero fucking empathy idk #arthur pendragon #arthur deserved better #bbc merlin #fuck uther btw

[princess-of-morkva]

bbc merlin - 03x13 The Coming of Arthur, Part II

so very not brave about this

#omg omg gwencelot #my cuties #my two rays of sunshine #i'm convinced the writers didn't let them be together because it would've been an absolute cuteness overload #gwencelot #gwen #guinevere #lancelot #bbc merlin

[princess-of-morkva]

I imagined it. And Arthur was the one singing.

Whatever you do, don’t imagine Uther Pendragon listening to Black Magic by Little Mix…

#uther is having a heart attack #arthur pendragon #i imagine he's very proud of his voice

[princess-of-morkva]

gwen save me

#bbc merlin #gwen #queen of my heart

[princess-of-morkva]

in all seriousness it's very alienating knowing theres Something Wrong With You. like seeing your mental illness come through in your behaviour and thought processes and knowing it's irrational and unhealthy, knowing other people are reading you as weird or stupid, and not being able to do anything about it is such a lonely experience

#feeling called out

[princess-of-morkva]

A few days weeks ago I came across this post redrawing the wardrobe of historical and fantasy movie and tv characters in period accurate (insofar as that is possible) clothing. Because I'm an art historian/ archaeologist/illustrator and have terminal campy fantasy show brainrot, here I am hours of research and drawing later to answer the question "What if the wardrobe in BBC Merlin was historically accurate?" (but like also based on my taste *cough*)

Disclaimer: Though I am a professional art historian I am not an expert in Sub-Roman Britain or Arthuriana. I cite my sources, but I wasn't about to spend several months on this, so please be kind. Also I used Clip Studio Paint so sorry if the text is wonky or misspelled, their text tool is awful as is my spelling.

Individual designs after the jump...

As it turns out, it is incredibly hard to know what they would have worn with any certainty. After a cursory search and a good deal of frustration with the unreliability of the internet's sources on the subject, I sat back and had to ask myself: there's a fucking dragon in this show, why should we care?

The answer, of course, is because it's fun and while I don't believe TV shows and movies (particularly high fantasy ones) need to be historically accurate (what reads to an audience, symbolism, faithfulness to a character, and even budget are all arguably far more important for crafting a good story) I'm always in support of picking apart popular culture's, and therefore our society's, view of history. It can also generate some new and creative visions of the same story. So here I am, bibliography in hand and illustrations done.

Problems:

Before I even began researching or drawing, I hit the typical roadblocks with Arthurian stories: When, Where, and Who. Already I was forced to make some subjective choices. I've laid them out below:

When: Arthur and his stories are generally placed in the 5th to 6th century. This places these characters directly between the end of the Roman Era and the beginning of Saxon control of the region. There are certain through-lines in clothing between what we know was worn in Roman Britain and in Germanic/Saxon Britain. These things I've confidently included, like tablet woven trim on garments, glass beads, and dyes that would have been locally available.

Where: The show places Camelot in modern day Wales, while Gloucester is another popular location in modern scholarship. I've looked at grave goods and archaeological objects found in this area during the 5th to 6th century (mostly metal objects), but most extant hints at what clothing of the era looked like exist farther afield. Each outfit retains slightly different geographical references, and, as it seems scholars often do for this era, I am operating on the principal of averages: This is what people around the area were wearing, and there's only so much deviation, so all four of them together might get closer to accuracy.

Who: I mean this historically, as in "Who is Arthur Pendragon based on?" Obviously there is no actual answer to this question, so I've taken some liberties with characters to fit into this particular version of the story and what wardrobe choices might make sense thematically as well as historically. based on what we know of the characters, rather than one historical figure. These outfits jump around a bit, so again, hopefully at least one of them gets somewhere close.

Arthur:

Merlin:

Guinevere:

Morgana:

Additional notes:

I took some liberties based on my inability to find almost anything on what shoes would have been like, aside from "leather".

The column of decoration running up Arthur's tunic might also be inaccurate, but I felt the red needed to be broken up and its not impossible such a style existed. Realistically, the cuffs of the garment would probably have the most elaborate design, and the rest of the woven bands would be simpler. He is a prince/king though, so if anyone is going to be over the top why not him!

I may have gotten a little gold-happy with Morgana's second outfit. I just really like drawing metallics. Gold thread didn't enter the scene until later for the saxons, so just pretend its really over the top brocade like in Morgana's first outfit (which would have been strips of thin gold plate inserted into the band, rather than a solid ribbon of woven gold.)

If I were designing outfits with fantasy rather than history in mind, I would have designed veeery different outfits.

Sources (Most used bolded):

Brown, Katharine Reynolds. Migration art: A.D. 300-800. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995.

Carroll, Maureen, Lucy Creighton, Patrick Gibbs, and James Osborn. “Rediscovering the Dead of Roman York.” YouTube, June 12, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ23upbKBHU.

Dean, Jenny. “Anglo-Saxon Dye Experiments - Part 1.” Jenny Dean’s Wild Colour, February 25, 2013. https://www.jennydean.co.uk/anglo-saxon-dye-experiments-part-1/.

“Disk Brooch: Anglo-Saxon.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed March 26, 2024. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466157.

“Getting Dressed in Roman Britain.” YouTube, August 23, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeqdgZ0QpZE.

Jarrett, Jonathan. “Seminar CLXVII: What about the Women of Post-Roman Britain?” A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe, June 13, 2014. https://tenthmedieval.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/seminar-clxvii-what-about-the-women-of-post-roman-britain/.

Kent, Shane. “How the Irish Dress in the 4th-6th Century.” YouTube, April 27, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njADJ_Jd8Qw.

Klein, Janice B. “The Life and Times of King Arthur.” Expedition Magazine, 1987. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-life-and-times-of-king-arthur/.

Loven, Nicole. “Getting Dressed in 7th Century Britain.” YouTube, July 29, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q877Z5eePVg.

“Merovingian Architectural Ring: French.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed March 26, 2024. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/661705.

“Rare Merovingian Gold Ring Found in Jutland.” The history blog, February 20, 2024. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/69517.

Rogers, Penelope Walt. Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-saxon England: AD 450-700. York: Council for British Archaeology, 2007.

Roberts, Mike. “Articles Dyed with Woad.” Woad dyed, December 23, 2023. http://www.woad.org.uk/html/woad_dyed.html.

Siddall, Ruth. “Red Pigments in Roman Britain.” The Pigment Timeline Project Red Pigments in Roman Britain Comments, October 31, 2018. https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/pigment-timeline/2018/10/31/red-pigments-in-roman-britain/.

Snyder, Christopher A. “A Gazetteer of Sub-Roman Britain (AD 400-600): The British Sites.” Internet Archaeology, September 3, 1997. https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue3/snyder/part1.html.

Wild, J. P. “The Textile Industries of Roman Britain.” Britannia 33 (2002): 1–42. https://doi.org/10.2307/1558851.

Marzinzik, Sonja, "Expressions of Power – Luxury textiles from early medieval northern Europe" (2008). Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. 237. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/237

“Fabrics.” Oxford University Historical Reenactment Society. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://users.ox.ac.uk/~wychwood/costumefabrics.shtml.

“Quoit Brooch: British Museum.” The British Museum. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1893-0601-219.

“Weapons - Antiquity and Early Middle Age.” TEMPL. Accessed April 9, 2024. http://www.templ.net/english/weapons-antiquity_and_early_middle_age.php.

Makin, Alexandra. “Early Medieval (Mostly) Textiles #7.” Dr Alexandra Makin, January 1, 2021. https://alexandramakin.com/2021/01/01/early-medieval-mostly-textiles-7/.

“Belt Buckle with a Griffin: Frankish.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464928?pos=5.

“Celebrating Ivory Bangle Lady .” York Museums Trust. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/blog/celebrating-ivory-bangle-lady/.

Ashby, Steven P. “Grooming the Face in the Early Middle Ages.” Internet Archaeology. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue42/6/9.cfm.

#fuck fuck fuck #this is so amazing #thank you so much for the research you put into this #i always try to find some references while writing to be at least a little historically realistic #but it's hard to do so as i don't really know where to search this info #but it's so amazing #and i'm so glad that the extent of roman and mediterraen trade in my head for tge period is not much exaggerated #because i like to constantly refer to it in my head #and the thing about possible immigration from north africa #which means i can now confidently hc that gwen's family immigrated to britain at some point #before her or elian's birth #and it's such a cool detail #no excuse to whitewash gwen when her being black is perfectly historically plausible #and dresses #so beautiful #while i'll change them a little in my mind i'll now have a reference to what they really could've worn #because dresses in the show are pretty but entirely unrealistic #and i always struggled to alter them in my mind to something more accurate

[princess-of-morkva]

part two of that post-camlann piece of gwen&merlin i wrote earlier

—

Gwen enters the room silently, closing the door behind herself. The lively sounds of the castle die away as soon as it clicks shut, leaving her in a heavy silence. The curtains in this chambers are always shut nowadays, preserving it from being worn down by the sun. In near darkness, she's only able to find her way around due to it being oh so painfully familiar.

There she finds him, of course. A silhouette, hunched on the floor, having been sitting there for god knows how long.

"Gwen? Is it you?" He asks, noticing her presence at last.

"Yeah."

She steps closer, and, gathering her many skirts, lowers herself beside him. From this close, she notices him holding something - clutching it so hard his fingers must hurt.

Merlin has been coming here way to often, in the Queen's opinion.

It isn't doing him any good.

Gwen tries to keep him company, whenever she can. Truly, the man shouldn't be left alone for long - not in this state of mind, she doesn't trust him not to do something foolish.

She lays a gentle hand on his shoulder, offering meager comfort.

"We all miss him, Merlin." She talks to him softly, almost as if she were speaking to an animal and trying not to spook. "It's been months already." A deep inhale. "You can't spend the rest of your life grieving, Merlin, you're wasting away."

Merlin jerkily looks up from where he was staring at his own clutched hands, looking perhaps the most present she has seen him in this last few months.

"And what does it matter?" He still won't look her in the eyes, instead he's staring up ahead, where a thin gap in the curtains casts a single ray of daylight. "I deserve it." He whispers, barely audible.

"What do you-" Gwen is quick to protest, but gets cut off.

"He's dead!" Merlin's voice cracks, and they both realise it's the first time he's admitted so aloud. "He's dead. He's gone. I couldn't save him, I failed, because i was an idiot and got it all wrong!"

He looks her in the eyes this time, and the look makes her heart ache helplessly.

"I have nothing left, Gwen, he- He was everything to me, and now he's- he's gone, and- " He stumbles over his words, and there is such desperation in Merlin's eyes when he looks at her, begging for some answer. "What do I do, Gwen?"

And while she can't grant him an answer, she pulls him closer into her embrace, wiping away his tears.

Because oh, of course she knows, she understands it all. And Arthur was her husband, and she loved him with all her heart, but she also was his Queen - and Arthur entrusted his kingdom to her, and she has her duty to her people. She is the Queen, and she must be strong and lead the kingdom, she has her purpose.

But Merlin, their sweet, ever-loyal Merlin, was absolutely and utterly lost.

Because Gwen - she lost her husband, and grieved deeply. But Merlin, he lost just that - his everything, his life's purpose, and all that and even more, and- Gwen was beginning to fear he might lose his will to live as well. She couldn't let that happen.

She pulled the man closer and held him tightly as they both were crying silent tears, on the cold stone floor of these chambers - the fireplace here hasn't been lit in months, since there was no need - no one lived here anymore, not since the previous owner hadn't returned home from that fateful battle. A worn, red knight's cloak laying between them, memento of a man who wasn't there.

—

(there will be part 3)

#merlin #gwen #bbc merlin #merlin fanfic #merlin post finale #not proofread #i'm a lazy ass #please forgive me