the main problem is the show didn't let Gwen decide. Lancelot decided for her that she would be with Arthur, she didn't get a say.

at the end, it's pretty clear she only chose Arthur because Lancelot left. the show made him leave because Gwen and Arthur were supposed to be endgame, and then they were like oh shit we can't have Lancelot be a regular because then Gwen doesn't have any reason to choose Arthur.

another reason he couldn't stay is that he would have been a true friend to merlin, therefore not keeping him isolated with (almost) no one knowing about his magic. also his staying would have made keeping the magic secret from Arthur even more illogical, or alternatively lancelot would have become Merlin's best friend.

the writers really wrote themselves into a corner there by making all the worst decisions early on lmao.

but yeah Gwen's choice was robbed of her (probably so she remains "pure" morally, if she actively chooses one over the other she hurts the other's feelings, and Gwen couldn't possibly be a complex character who makes decisions that might hurt people, women can either be a villain or a love interest and there is absolutely no in between) so I really don't blame her as a character for "choosing" Arthur after the guy who declared all the romantic feelings for her just up and left out of nowhere.

oh exactly this. both lancelot and gwen suffered the same fate of getting stuck in their own characters imho. the writers DID write themselves into a corner here

lancelot's honour (as many have pointed out in the tags) made it literally impossible for him to fill the role he was supposed to play in the story re:guinevere. they set up a character so uncompromisably righteous that it would feel extremely ooc of him to do anything even remotely reproachable, leaving the writers no choice but to remove him from the picture entirely, and then bring him back wrong so the plot could move forward plausibly

same for gwen, who was tragically locked into her role as 'angelic love interest' and thus stripped of any agency + her godgiven right to fuck up and make terrible choices (or even just ordinary ones). this is why, even if lancelot had stayed, i dont think gwen would have been the one to make the final decision-- because as you said, actively choosing one over the other would have probably made her too complex as a character

also (tentatively, since idk what the general opinion is) i was so curious abt the whole cheating storyline and was left kinda disappointed for these exact same reasons. not only lancelot comes back as a shade but gwen has to be literally enchanted for the kiss to even occur. so in the end it's not even real cheating (except from arthur's perspective). and i get it, family show etc etc. but it's a very weak and spineless way to handle the whole thing if im being honest. my bad for loving women who sometimes make disastrous decisions i guess

I HATED the way they handled the cheating storyline. It robbed Gwen of all agency and had a whiff of the Madonna/whore complex about it. Of course Gwen would only hurt Arthur because she was literally forced to by magic; she's the most pure of all creatures. Only a Bad Woman would do something like have conflicted feelings when a man she loves and thought was dead suddenly returns.

adding my tags for posterity (future me) because im feeling particularly bitter about this whole thing and will probably have to revisit this sooner or later

Listen, this is serious.

Do not use the website called Sci-Hub!

It lets people access scientific articles for free. This is dangerous. It helps the free flow of knowledge and reduces the competitive edge of all the people who worked really hard to have been born into a wealth.

Like, it’s literally a website where you can type in the DOI of an article and read it, without ever having to pay the publisher who exploited the author.

So, again, do not, under any circumstance, use Sci-Hub. I mean, can you imagine a world where knowledge is free and easily accessible to everyone? Even, y'know, poor people?

Libgen also has many books online, including textbooks, searchable by name, author, and ISBN. Can you imagine textbook companies not getting their hard-earned income from poor college students? Here is the link just so you make sure that you never accidentally stumble across this horrible, unethical website.

Oh, and while we’re talking about books, if you’ve managed to stay clear from Libgen, definitely don’t go to zlibrary, where you can also find a lot of textbooks, but unfortunately they’re completely free.

Reblogging so you know which sites to totally avoid

Good Job.

#this post gets me every time 

It’s from two days ago fam how many times could there have been

do you think no one else has time travel

Happy one month anniversary to this post that has not allowed me a single day of fucking peace since I made it.

#surprise reblog!! 

STOP IT’S BEEN MONTHS. MONTHS!

YOU CAN STOP.

wow if only you had a time machine

Honestly having reached a billion notes I think it’s safe to say that in the Year of our lord 2041, this is the most popular tumblr post out there.

I’m killing your parents before you’re born

:)

Still here, why’d you hesitate @derinthescarletpescatarian

Your mum’s ability to hold up under active gunfire was really hot. I’m your dad now.

Isn’t that the plot of Terminator

Where do you think the plot for Terminator came from?

This is such a classic trainwreck post that has the vibes of a 2014 screenshot posted to Pinterest and then the last addition is just last Tuesday I can’t even

Imagine how I feel

POST, LIVE FOREVER!!!!!!

Originally posted by stahl-konigin

It doesn’t have to

Yes it does.

BRING IT BACK BOYS

I don’t deserve this

Someone out there needs to see this post so they can remember how much trouble it caused and not tell derin to make it.