#and it's from uther of all people

[nerdyfangirlingbooks]

"I can't stand by and watch him die" "Then don't look" is too raw a line to come from bbc merlin

[echolocalia]

He then realises with a certain gravity that Arthur Pendragon has not recognised the man in his reflection is a long, long time.

He can actually pinpoint the moment.

He was wandering the halls, just as he was now. He couldn’t have been more than nine summers old.

He remembers looking into the mirror and grinning, a wobbly, gap-toothed grin, he had been unsure of himself, but now he felt like he could fly. He had just unwrapped the bandage from his first ‘battle wound’. Squire trained had started that day, he had nicked himself on a sword.

That was before father actually began to acknowledge his existence and began getting very hurtful in his words.

An older Arthur looks back at him in the mirror, weathered and battle-worn, with too many scars to count, eyes red and face splotchy, he will hear no more of what his father has to say.

[justaz]

growing up and radicalizing urself then going back to watch ur old favorite pieces of media and realizing you were siding with the true villains the whole time is wild

[all-i-do-is-live-in-daydreams]

still in my loki era but I'm having morgana thoughts. I would like you all to know that I fully believe morgause turned morgana into the end product we get of her. we never see what happens to morgana after morgause takes her. we have pretty much no idea what happened the year or so that she was gone.

I know morgana has been through a lot and that she's even right in some of her thoughts (uther 😒 hope he burns in hell) but the morgana in the last few seasons is a complete 180 from the morgana from season one. even with all the terrible shit she went through at the hands of uther and the neglect and fear she suffers from, I don't think she would've ever naturally turned into the dark sorceress she later becomes.

[merlinemrys]

merlin fucking up his life for pretty women... he's so mecore

[maddybthorne]

I want a BBC Merlin fanfic where Hunith visits Camelot as a surprise. Merlin doesn't know she's coming, only Gaius knows that she plans to visit. This is set in a time period where all the knights are alive (I'm looking at you Lancelot.) and Arthur is Prince, but running the Kingdom as Uther is unwell.

Hunith pulls up to Camelot and is walking towards the Castle through the citadel, burdened by her bags, when a cheerful voice rings out. "Do you need any help, miss?" It's one of the many Castle servants.

Hunith explains that she is heading to the Castle to visit her son who works there, the servant then offers to carry her bags.

"Oh I don't want to be a bother." Hunith replies

"It's no bother at all! Really, I was heading that way already." The servant insists and they both make their way to the castle, "What's your son's name by the way, I might know him if he works here."

"His name is Merlin." Hunith responds with a smile. The servant stops walking and looks at her. It's not only him that stops at this announcement.

"Y-you're Merlin's Mother?!?" A nearby servant who had been close enough to hear the conversation says in awe.

The courtyard that they're walking through gradually fills with hushed whispers as the news spreads. Everyone knows of Merlin. The Prince's manservant who had managed to not quit in the first week of serving him. Merlin, who changed the Prince from a spoiled brat into a good man whom the Kingdom was proud of and eagerly awaited the day he would be crowned King. Merlin, who had followed the Prince into battle time and time again to save Camelot.

I want a fanfiction where The Entire Of Camelot loves Merlin and is thankful for his role in making Arthur a good person. Where not only the Knights, but the Castle staff meet his mother and collectively decide that she is That Woman and treat her with Respect. Where they treat her like Royalty.

Ofc Gwaine loves her. That's his best friend's mom. Hunith looks at all the knights and adopts them on the Spot.

And Merlin is either really confused by this behavior or knows and just lets it happen.

Arthur has no idea what's going on or why but he treats her with reverence and love because that's his future Mother in Law and he's very much starved for parental affection which she gives him (and the knights) in spades.

But yes, I just want a fic of people meeting Hunith and being like "Thank you for giving birth to your son. I'd die for you both" and her being like "...please don't."

(Bonus if Leon meets her and is just like. "How did you survive being around that little shit (Merlin) for so long?" And she just laughs and gives him advice, which makes him cry because he's just so tired. #LetLeonRest2024 I will push this agenda till I die)

[firefly-fez]

As a proud promoter of ‘Morgana was right all along, actually’ rhetoric I would like to reblog this with my support and clarify what I mean

Like, yes. She was evil. She became evil. She lost a desire for justice and became fixated on vengeance and cruelty.

The reason she lost her desire for justice is so… beautiful? To me?

It’s just. She stops being obedient, stops listening to authority. The virtues of obedience depend entirely on the virtues of the authority one is obedient to, and in Morgana’s case, authority is unjust and cruel, so she’s justified to disobey. She tries to go to people that she trusts for help, telling Gaius about her dreams, but he lies to her. He literally gaslights her about her own magic, and to a lesser degree, so does Merlin. So she doesn’t listen to anyone around her. She doesn’t have support, doesn’t have community, she feels so alone and terrified that she jumps at the first chance to connect with someone who tells her the truth about her magic - Morgause. She’s so alone and isolated and desperate to not feel like she’s crazy that she’s so vulnerable and it’s the perfect recipe for someone to take advantage of her, and that’s exactly what Morgause does. She wants to bring Uther down, but she doesn’t really hnderstand what she’s doing when she is made the vessel for the curse upon Camelot, she’s alone and afraid and by some force of mercy, Merlin is helpful and kind so she trusts him… and he poisons her. He didn’t have another choice, not really. But everything she trusted failed her. She stops trusting anybody but herself. There’s no one to tell her when she’s gone too far, not anymore. Arthur has accountability around him when he makes a mistake, and that drives him to make amends when he kills out of cruelty or vengeance. Morgana doesn’t. She was persecuted in Camelot and abandoned by Gaius and made an outcast in the only home she’d ever known. She goes too far when she tries to have Uthur killed after Gwen’s father is executed and at first, she is repentant when she sees Uther’s remorse. But Uther’s mercy is fickle and few, and Morgana’s mercy to him dies alongside his mercy to others. The next time she tries to have him killed she doesn’t regret it. At first, it’s just Uther she hates. When she learns her parentage, that she has a claim to the throne of Camelot, it’s a turning point for her. She sees Camelot as rightfully hers. With so much denied to her, so much of her own safety and security denied to her, the perception of Camelot as rightfully hers changes her. She turns against Gwen as a threat to something that she, Morgana, deserves. By this point, it’s all hatred and revenge fuelling Morgana.

Arthur is a good man, but he wasn’t always. He used to be arrogant prat who killed sorcerers on his father’s orders. He saw sorcerers persecuted and stood by and watched. He turned a blind eye to suffering time and time again out of a desire to prove his worth to his father. People stood by Arthur and supported him and that helped him to change for the better.

(Merlin made mistakes, too, but he had support from people who knew who he was from the start. Lancelot and Freya knew his identity as a sorcerer and validated it, and Gaius was a moral support who understood his magic that he had from day one.)

No one did that for Morgana.

It just makes so much sense that she was driven to hatred.

Her emotional character arc is just…. *chefs kiss*

Morgana conquered Camelot twice and declared herself Queen. And what she did after that?

She killed innocent civilians. She burned their crops. She let their children starve. She tortured and killed the Knights. She tortured Gwaine by forcing him to fight for her own amusement. And then she tried to help magic users like her! ah no, she didn’t lol

I mean, i love Morgana because she’s a good villain and Katie is freaking amazing, but DON’T TELL ME she was fighting for freedom and justice 😭 Don’t tell me she was fighting for her people. She didn’t care about them.  As someone said in another post “Morgana’s quest was personal vengeance disguised as revolution”. She wanted vengeance and power, she wasn’t doing all this horrible things for revolution and for a change. Mordred KNEW she was bad, but he joined her because at some point he had something to avenge himself.

Just because you sympathize with an antagonist or villain, doesn’t mean they aren’t an antagonist or villain^^“ Morgana had good intentions in season 1 and 2, but after that? Nope!

[amirmeavid]

I know the fandom generally agrees merlin and arthur would sort out the magic ban before getting married. But i got to say it would be objectively hilarious to watch King/Prince Consort of fucking Camelot, the OG magic hater, just prance around, lax as fuck because who the hell is brave enough to accuse the literal 2nd most important person in Albion of breaking the law? 🤣

Like just imagine all the dialogues that could come out of it:

Magic-Hating Noble: I watched the chair levitate!

Merlin: I was the only other person in the room at the time... :/

Arthur: Are you accusing your King Consort of sorcery? *royal angry face*

Magic-Hating Noble: No! No... sire.

Arthur: Are you... accusing yourself of sorcery?

Magic-Hating Noble: ...

*merlin in the background making no effort to hide the fact that he's literally reading a spell book*

Merlin: *Teleporting into a busy council meeting because he's late*

Everyone: *Stares*

Merlin:

Arthur:

Everyone:

Arthur: *clapping his hands* Anyway, lets get this meeting started!

Merlin: *coming back from very publicly creating a massive storm to defeat some magical attack* Weird weather we're having right guys?

One of Uther's Loyalists: *literal steam coming out of his ears but too traditional to contradict a royal*

Merlin: *swans off, spell book in hand*

Let me know if you want more!

PART 2:

https://www.tumblr.com/amirmeavid/763239515298103296/part-2-full-disclosure-i-was-not-expecting-people?source=share

[bibliophilicstranger]

Someone should write a fic where Gwaine and Lancelot meet on the road before Lancelot ever goes to Camelot. They're in a tavern, sheltering from the rain, and over pints of ale Lancelot would tell Gwaine how much he wants to be a knight, how he's on his way to Camelot because he wants to help people, to protect them. And all the while Gwaine is sitting there thinking, "you poor sucker, you've got no clue about the First Rule." But Lancelot's genuine desire to help people gets to him and so Gwaine sits there getting drunker and drunker, wishing that knights were as good as Lancelot idealistically thinks. And he gets this absolutely crazy idea.

When Lancelot wakes the next morning, a still half-drunk Gwaine is sitting across from him. And he tells him, dumping a piece of paper and a signet ring on the table, "You can't be a knight in Camelot. You're not a noble. But I could be. So Congratulations, you're now Gwaine, Son of Lot of Caerleon. Take this to Camelot and they should welcome you as a knight."

Lancelot protests. Strenuously. But Gwaine knows the rules. As a peasant, Lancelot could never be a knight in Uther's kingdom, no matter how good his fighting or how noble his character. And Lancelot wants his dream so much that he agrees. From now on Gwaine will be Lancelot and Lancelot will be Gwaine.

And so Lancelot heads off to Camelot. He and Merlin meet as they do in canon, but Lancelot fumbles the introduction, unused to his new name, then ends up confessing all to Merlin. Merlin is more than willing to help with shenanigans and helps Lancelot practice his introduction so he doesn't screw up again, then introduces him to Arthur. Lancelot gets knighted and doesn't get outed as a fake, since the paperwork is valid (even if it's not his paperwork). He and Lancelot defeat the Griffin, with Lancelot discovering Merlin's magic, but Lancelot gets feted rather than exiled.

This gives Merlin an ally, which has various effects, lets Lancelot and Gwen court, and means that when Merlin meets "Lancelot" in the tavern brawl, he knows who he is.

I think it'd be a interesting change to see the spiraling consequences of.

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Ok, I don't really post here, but there's a Merlin AU idea that's been rattling around in my skull like it's a pinball machine and I need to get it out, so here we go:

Imagine an AU where Balinor doesn't die and banishes Kilgarrah before sneaking away so Uther doesn't catch him and can't put his newfound son in danger. Of course, both he and Merlin are heartbroken about having to be separated again after just finding each other, but they work out a way to keep in touch and occasionally meet in secret.

And this is all well and good, and everything in the show just kinda proceeds as normal up until about season 4, where we have the knights of the round table well-established in Camelot.

It'd make sense that after a few years of travelling around with Kilgarrah, Balinor would be pretty well-known and well-feared throughout all the five kingdoms as "that dragonlord who escaped the purge and now travels around on the back of a giant dragon", and people all over Albion are kinda terrified of the guy.

Rumors say that he never smiles, that he can kill a man in a split second without even utterring a spell, and can decimate kingdoms with the dragon under his total command. That makes for a formidable figure!

And then one day, Balinor is trying to sneak into Camelot to visit his son (he heard Merlin got hit by a dorocha and wants to make sure he's ok!), and the knights see him and freak out because holy shit that's one of the deadliest guys in Albion!

They're in a tense standoff, with Balinor threatening to call down the dragon on them if they don't let him through. The knights are all ready to give their lives to at least buy the people in the castle time to evacuate, when suddenly Merlin and Arthur make it to the standoff. Arthur immediately starts strategizing with his knights on how they're going to negociate with the sorcerer in an attempt to make sure that they aren't all slaughtered.

Meanwhile, Merlin just laughs and pushes through the rows of knights blocking Balinor's path to the castle. The knights, being very fond of Merlin and not wanting to see their kind little friend be brutally murdered by one of the most terrifying men in exsistence, are trying to grab Merlin and pull him back to safety or shouting at him to get back, but Merlin manages to avoid them as he walks up to Balinor.

For a horrifying moment, the knights and Arthur think that Merlin is about to sacrifice himself for them, but Merlin breaks into a huge grin, yells "Dad!", and runs right into Balinor's arms.

(Merlin and Balinor reason that now that Arthur's king, they might as well start easing him into some of Merlin's less shocking secrets)

And even more shockingly to the knights, Balinor hugs him back, asking Merlin all about how he's been doing, how are his studies under Gaius, etc etc.

And all of the knights just bluescreen. Because the math isn't mathing on this one. Hunith + Balinor = MERLIN?! Does not compute.

They're all pondering how could someone as joyful, friendly, and kind as Merlin be the spawn of a terrifying man like Balinor?? They just cannot comprehend it. The manservant who they all know and love came from this sorcerer who's name is synonymous with the threat of death and destruction??

They're all jolted back to reality however when Balinor asks Merlin if he wants to come back to Balinor's newly-renovated stronghold in the mountains (that's only accessable by riding a dragon) to learn more about one day becoming a dragonlord. And suddenly, the knight understand why Balinor's here. He wants to kidnap Merlin from them and twist him into a terrifying sorcerer to carry on Balinor's legacy!

It all basically dissolves into a long game of high-stakes tug-of-war between Balinor and the knights + Arthur, and Merlin's just enjoying spending time with his father and his friends.

Balinor will just casually crash one of their quests while riding Kilgarrah and "kidnap" Merlin while the knights fight to keep Merlin with them.

Balinor eventually gives Merlin Aithusa so he can get practice raising dragons, and the knights see it as some evil scheme to make Merlin betray Camelot and attack it from within, but damn it Merlin's already adopted the damn thing so now they're stuck with a baby dragon.

IDK if I'd ever write a fic about it since I'm pretty busy writing another fic rn, but I thought that it was a funny idea to throw out there!

PS: if anyone wants to read my current project, where I'm giving Sir Leon more anxiety with each chapter after a kinda-botched magic reveal on Merlin's part (and Merlin may or may not be an eldritch god), feel free to check it out here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54027337/chapters/136771564

Thank you all for sticking with my incoherent rambling! :D I hope you have a great day/night!

Also, please let me know if you guys wants to hear more of the ideas that pinball around in my head!

[mossmx]

People exaggerately hate on Uther: he's not this unimaginable evil, nor the worst ever with no redeeming qualities.

The fierceness with which they hate on him in fandom is overreacting.

(ps people who hate him, you do you, but please don't tag the hateful post, that's common courtesy)

hey. do you want to send me your unpopular opinion(s) about merlin? but it needs to be something actually unpopular

[mandoriana]

Percival: Merlin, I'm bored. What do you do for fun?

Merlin: I spend time alone. No problems to solve, no talking, no interacting. When I close my door, my peace begins!

Percival: 😅

Elyan: But wouldn't being alone be boring?

Merlin: I won't be alone, I'll have my own company. I'm on a very restrictive diet that consists of avoiding certain human beings.

Elyan *laughing*: Which human beings?

Gwaine: It will break my little heart if my name is on the list.

Merlin: First Uther, then Morgana, Mordred, and sometimes Arthur, but that one is harder since I have to see him every day every five minutes.

Leon: Don't you think that's a bit exaggerated?

Merlin: Nonsense, even you, who are of the same "species" as the other knights, can't stand being with them all the time, and you should be a united group.

The knights look at Leon expectantly.

Leon *looks away*: ��

Knights: ����

Leon: Okay, I admit that sometimes I just want a minute of peace...

Merlin: See! That's what I'm talking about. The truth is that the Earth is too small for so many humans! God must think every day, "Oh, I miss the dinosaurs, why did I send that meteor!"

Lancelot: Dinosaurs?

Gwaine: Meteor?

Merlin: I say I'd rather be running from a T-Rex right now than dealing with certain people!

Leon: I think he's going crazy again.

Lancelot: I'll call Gaius.

Elyan: I'll call Arthur.

Merlin: God should send some exclusive, custom-made meteors to hit certain people's heads. To avoid mistakes, he could send the meteor with names like "This one is for Mordred, this meteor is for Uther..."

[justaz]

Young prince Arthur exploring the castle bc his emotionally and mostly physically absent father doesn’t care what he does as long as he gets his studies done. He pretends he’s a brave knight with a small wooden sword in hand and ventures down in the belly of the castle and stumbles upon a cavern under the castle. It’s not long before Kilgharrah lands before him and laughs at the young child before him, a baby really. This is no Once and Future King. But…Arthur does not scream and run, he holds up his wooden sword, shaking with terror as he stares down the ferocious beast, full of courage. And Kilgharrah stares and stares and stares before sighing heavily and going, “Fine. I’ll adopt you. Stop looking at me like that.”

Anyways, Arthur grows up visiting Kilgharrah and hearing about prophecies and destiny. He watches Kilgharrah perform small bits of magic and grows up knowing the truth of what’s happened. By the time merlin arrives in Camelot, Arthur is pro-magic and anti-Uther but holy fuck is he the most arrogant prick of all time. Not only did he grow up a prince to be king, he grew up knowing he was to be a king of legend. Merlin bullies him relentlessly like in canon and everything happens as it did.

But Arthur visits Kilgharrah for advice of magical threats and leaves like right before Merlin visits him for advice. Kilgharrah never says anything bc he likes to watch them be idiots. Arthur and Merlin sneaking behind each other’s back to use/consult magic (users) to help solve their issues and never telling the other. But Arthur keeps failing. He goes to find a powerful enough Druid or Sorcerer to combat magic from a High Priestess and he can’t find anyone. However, as if by magic (ha ha ha), the threat is neutralized without Arthur’s interference. Baby boy is so confused.

This goes on for years and slowly breaks down his confidence as he thought that being the Once and Future King meant conquering all these threats and protecting his people yet…he can’t. He hasn’t properly neutralized a threat in a while, bc I mean sometimes it happens but the other times he’s knocked out for SOME FUCKING REASON. So he’s moping in his room and Merlin’s like “What’s wrong?” In a super soft voice when he sees Arthur’s kicked puppy look.

Arthur barely thinks about it before telling Merlin. He’s wanted to for years but he never wanted to drag Merlin into danger by getting him involved in treason bc while his father would be irate with him, Uther wouldn’t hesitate before chopping off Merlin’s head. But Merlin has always been there for Arthur, and rebuilt his confidence despite the other times where he’s humbling him. So Arthur tells him everything. And Merlin is silent. And quiet. And silent. And quiet. And silent. And quiet. And-

He starts cursing the dragon angrily and drags Arthur down through the castle to Kilgharrah’s cavern. The dragon is already there laughing his ass off. Arthur is confused on how Merlin knew where to go. Merlin is shouting curses up at the dragon. Kilgharrah just looks down at them as he laughs and is like, “Finally, the Once and Future King and Emrys have united.”

Arthur (grew up knowing he had someone out there who was “half of his soul” as Kilgharrah said which he took to mean his soulmate and has been fantasizing about meeting this mysterious and powerful Emrys and…other things… Well, until he met Merlin. Then the fantasies featured all three of them) is…staring at Merlin wide eyed and flustered and a little turned on at how the small human is shouting angrily at the big dragon as if the big dragon couldn’t just stomp the both of the small humans or roast them alive. Arthur’s fantasies merge Merlin and Emrys together and it’s back to just the two of them.

Merlin is grumpy bc he had to hide his magic from Arthur for YEARS only to find out that the clotpole was ON HIS FUCKING SIDE?????? AND THE DAMN LIZARD KNEW ABOUT IT????? Oh, Merlin wants a set of Dragon scale armor and Kilgharrah’s golden scales would suit him nicely, he thinks. He’ll skin the damn beast himself-

[gaiussleechtank]

I never like thinking about Merlin’s dragonlord heritage for too long because I start to think about the implications of it.

If the lord part of being a Dragonlord meant nobility, then surely Balinor had an estate/ noble house of some kind.

All I can imagine is Merlin finding that grand home one day, and it being nothing but a hollow ruin. Flying in the wind are burnt and tattered banners of a family crest that Merlin doesn’t know is his because that knowledge is forever lost. Rooms upon rooms that once were occupied by his ancestors, ancestors who he will never be able to name. The kitchen frozen in time with dusty and moulded plates sitting on the table, a plate that maybe his aunt or an uncle, maybe a grandparent or a cousin was eating from before Uther’s men came after them. Little trinkets, jewellery, heirlooms, beloved toys, precious keepsakes scattered everywhere, and he wouldn’t know that by default they were his.

He would walk those abandoned halls, seeing how clearly loved that home was, how full of life and people and family it had had before the purge had broken out: only to wish that he could have experienced that in his childhood.

He would just see that grand house as nothing more than another of Uther’s victims, completely unaware of his connection to the place.

EDIT: OH GOD WHAT IF MERLIN HAD A SIGIL???

[thedollopheadofcamelot]

Ah I rambled a bit in the tags but

I think some of Arthur’s tragic flaws are:

His need to have faith in people (Uther, Morgana, Gwen, Agravaine, Merlin, etc.)

His loyalty in others (believing the loyalty mutual)

And he always relied on others morally (especially looking to Merlin and others to make the right decision) rather than believing in himself and deciding for himself what he should believe/how he should act (and this is definitely part of his fatal flaw as a king) (and his relationship to magic was always fluid- he could never fully decide for himself whether it was truly good/evil/neutral (part of that was due to his conditioning and his upbringing))

Good luck on your presentation!

(And you can present what you want to present

I’m just rambling about some of my opinions and like my quick analysis of the series/Arthur) (Trust your instincts/your concept is good)

Im doing a tragic hero presentation for english about arthur pendragon and for his tragic flaw I'm think of doing like. his loyalty to uther. how he sort of did things based on what he thought his father wanted regarding magic and that ultimately led to camlann + his death. but I feel like that might not make sense. so I need assistance...

[queerofthedagger]

the thing i feel people don't really take enough into account when it comes to arthur's supposed obliviousness regarding merlin's magic is that merlin is the absolute opposite of what arthur has been raised to believe sorcerers to be. merlin is clumsy and kind and - in the earlier seasons - like walking sunshine. he so obviously has negative desire for actual power, nor any respect for it, and while arthur absolutely knows that merlin isn't stupid, he 100% is an idiot.

and it's not stupid or ignorant on his part! people just do this, whenever they are taught someone who does or believes a certain thing is inherently evil! it's never the friendly guy next door who snacks half of your breakfast and then just grins when you complain, obviously not! arthur trusts merlin even early on, and beyond belief later on. of course merlin can basically do magic in front of him, because there is no part of arthur that actually thinks someone like merlin could have magic. you don't see what you're 100% convinced can't be there. if he ever got there, his already brittle construct of indoctrination and supposed repeated confirmation of said construct would crumble immediately! as it does in dotd after like, a day. it only doesn't in regards to morgana because as far as arthur is concerned, the moment she started using magic she became the cold and ruthless enemy he still couldn't bring himself to actually pursue! like.

it's very easy to think it's startingly oblivious, but one thing i really wish people would keep in mind a little more is that the viewer watches from a different point of view, and operates with a whole other set of information. that arthur operates under a certain worldview in an environment that does not teach to question it at all, and gives little opportunity to do so. it's actually wild arthur questions uther's teachings as often as he does, and considering that every time he does, they, to his knowledge, just get confirmed again (nimueh, morgause, morgana, uther's death, and so on and so forth), it's even wilder that he keeps doing it