#human aithusa

[mandoriana]

Merlin talking to baby Aithusa.

Merlin: Shake daddy’s hand, sweetheart, let’s make a deal, okay? I’ll give you your favorite candy, and in return, I’ll sacrifice your first boyfriend in the name of the my love for you, okay?

Aithusa makes baby noises and shakes her father’s hand.

Merlin: Very good, darling.

Arthur: I’m not sure if this is right, Merlin…😰

Merlin: Shh.

15 years later.

Aithusa: Dad, this is my girlfriend!

Merlin: 😢

Arthur: 🤣

[nina-scribbles]

A little Human Aithusa for your soul 💫 

[featheredmoonwings]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

This is a lovely ask thank you!

Now let's see. 5 of my favorite fics I've written, hmmm.

I know no one asked for explanations but I'll give them anyway XD Here they are (these probably change depending on my mood), in no particular order even though they're numbered:

Lonely Stars Drifting In The Black (gen) Why is it fav? I of course CANNNOT go without mentioning this fic. My first, properly long fic that I finished. I remain so proud of what I achieved here and my commitment to writing it all out and FINISHING it. That used to be something so hard for me to do and I'm so proud of how I managed to write these complex relationships without sacrificing the character's morals. I-m still working on the series that sprouted out of it and I'm STILL so happy about the stories coming out of it. Fandom: Star Wars: Prequels Characters: Jango Fett & Obi-wan Kenobi Summary: It's an easy job, go in, get some information, and then Jango Fett can be on his merry way out of the disgusting Death Watch camp which he has nothing but contempt for. It WOULD be an easy job, that is if it weren't for the chained kid they've got, tied up like an animal… Jango sees red and nothing more. He'll make them regret the day they dared to lay hands on a child.

Of The Old Things Hidden In The World (gen) Why is it fav? I consider this one of my most self indulgent projects and I love it for this XD. It's a crossover but I take myself very seriously with it and that's one of the things I like so much about it. Could be silly but I don't let it be. I took a concept that I really liked (Merlin turning Aithusa human) and then I just REALLY ran with that idea. When I would usually hate miscommunication, this story is filled with it but it's purposeful and no one is being stupid about it. Fandom: Merlin BBC x Avengers MCU Characters: Aithusa, Merlin, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff & Clint Barton Summary: Merlin and Aithusa have weathered this world together since the long gone age of Camelot. But now Merlin is in grave trouble and there's nothing Aithusa can do to help him. Merlin has commanded him not to follow, not to help. If Aithusa keeps doing nothing at all, it'll soon break his heart, surely. But… this new age has heroes, perhaps they might help. After all, Hydra IS their problem, isn't it? The should be the ones to deal with it.

A Crime Of Passion (gen, but can definitely be read as shippy) Why is it fav? This story gave me SO much grief but since the MOMENT I conceived this story I've loved the idea and at the end (despite all the problems) I keep loving the result I got from it. I got some good narrative out of it and TENSION. Characters being forced to do something they don't want to my beloved. Fandom: Twilight Characters: Carlisle Cullen & Aro Summary: For the life of Edward, Carlisle Cullen must make a bargain with the devil of Volterra himself, the bargain though, is not at all what the Doctor thought it would be. (Canon Divergence from the end of New Moon)

After The Mist (pre-ship but SUPER gen vibes) Why is it fav? This ones OLD and you can see a lot of mistakes in the writing but I LOVE the interactions that I wrote and the relationship I was crafting. I like it so much, love the idea of the story, that I STILL want to finish it and give it the love it deserves. Fandom: Frozen ll Characters: Agnarr & Iduna Summary: After young Agnarr returns to Arendell that faithful day in the forest, there's a grief too deep inside his chest he cannot begin to comprehend it. But there's no time to dwell on it, he's a king now and he must act as such. Still, he is drowning, he's drowning all the time. But there's someone out there who might just understand what this profound pain is doing to him. "My name's Iduna."

Drizzle By The Sea (Gen) Why is it fav? Another VERY old work which I'm still very fond off. It captures one of the things I love writing the most and it's this little pleasures like walking in the woods or getting soaked by the rain. I find the feeling it produced beautiful and it makes me happy so, yeah. The execution is maybe a bit clumsy but I know what old me wanted to transmit. I keep coming back to this sort of writing and I hope I never stop cause it makes me feel alive and like the world is magic. Fandom: Teen Titans (cartoon) Characters: Robin & Jericho Summary: Jericho is a bit... weird. Robin can see in the way the sea captures his attention that there's a natural feeling and a sense of delight that he carries with him. It's contagious.

Thank you so much for the ask @cilil it made me very happy and I did want to answer something like this today. I'm glad for that emotional boost, so thanks again <3

[dae-15]

Ok but it's so freaking intriguing to me that the entire merlin fandom decided that Aithusa is a girl, cause I'm pretty sure that they're a boy in canon??? Like when was this decided who is the diva that started this movement cause I wholeheartedly support!!! Like every fic, headcanon, edit or just generally most fanworks have Aithusa as a girl and that's freaking cool

[calebauer]

dante and virgil • arthur and merlin

[knightswaypoint]

Merlinktober Day 18: Great Seas (skipping around a little as usual)

Technically a continuation from this art. It’s always an important lesson for hatchlings to learn to fly in even the harshest environments! Be it powerful waterfront breezes or battling the gulls!

[summertimeroses]

just came across a fic where aithusia is still a dragon but is disguised? can shapeshift? into a human form (smol child) with merlin as her father and now i’m obsessed with the idea of this dynamic, so consider:

- dragonlords all have dragon forms. merlin has a dragon form

- dragons all have human forms. kilgharrah as a man, bitter and cryptic and scarred from the purge, angry for being chained. aithusia, a young child, bone-white hair flowing long over her shoulders. her arms bend wrongly at the joints and tiny, paper-thin scars cover her body, from her time with the sarrum of amata

- there’s a distinction between the magic of dragons and the magic of dragonlords. the markings of dragons are different. their eyes in human form are all amber-gold, something in their teeth not-quite human. dragonlords are the natural leaders of the dragons, often more powerful in certain magics, especially in human form.

- in books of magical creatures and sorcery, dragons and dragonlords are put side by side, but categorised separately, for the difference in their appearance and abilities in magic. the sketches all show men with a beastly shadow, enormous and scaled and expressions set equally angry.

- the dragons are all kin, so culturally they all have a responsibility over the young. this counts doubly for dragonlords, protectors of the dragons. this makes merlin the natural guardian of aithusia.

- merlin, after rescuing her from the sarrum, returns to camelot with a tiny, fragile girl in his arms, bundled in rough blankets. the only explanation he gives is my daughter before he’s pushing past arthur to take her to gaius, get her injuries seen

- alternatively, merlin approaches arthur asking for time off to go retrieve his daughter, the same way he asked it for his mother. he’s pale and shaken but there’s a steel in his expression that arthur doesn’t know what to do with

- also, merlin sired a child. his manservant.

- there’s about a million different magic reveals in this. too many to list, but the ideas are exploding in my brain. arthur, clocking on to the fact that aithusia is so obviously a magical child. arthur, heartbroken that merlin didn’t trust him. arthur, initially scared of what he sees as a beast. arthur, in awe of the dragon form, realising the power merlin has.

- the angst of merlin trying to hide her magic in camelot when she’s such a powerful child. the angst of him bringing her to camelot and revealing her existence to arthur only to immediately make plans to send her away to someone trusted, maybe hunith, and arthur doesn’t understand what he means by ‘she’s not safe in camelot’ until he does.

- gwen being so gentle with her. arthur being scared to break her. leon picking her up and letting her curl into the crook of his neck as he carries her back from somewhere she’s wandered off to.

- all the knights being doting uncles (most especially gwaine)

- arthur learning of what the sarrum did to her and why, and rethinking his stance on magic. arthur thinking of all the magical children killed too young, first tortured or persecuted. thinks of all the fear and grief they did not deserve to carry.

- merlin educating arthur on magic after the reveal. taking him to lessons with aithusia to teach her control of her magic, the pair of them watching her fly free in her natural form in the woods for a while. her injuries are healing, slowly, with the help of gaius and merlin’s magic.

- mordred, despite merlin’s suspicions, working hard towards earning trust he isn’t sure how he lost, and starting with proving he can be trusted with aithusia. he is, admittedly, really good with her and she loves him, so merlin can’t completely begrudge it. it leads to conversations that change all their fates.

- aithusia’s first language being the tongue of the old religion. the language of spells. she knows not to speak to avoid getting caught (merrlin tried his best to explain) but once, she slipped up around arthur. all of them freezing, even though arthur knows. the guilt he feels at her terror.

- kilgharrah’s anger at camelot manifesting again somehow. an attack of some kind. arthur being confronted with the question of the magic ban repeal and how to balance keeping his people safe from magic and reparations for decades of the oppression of magic users.

the fic that fuelled this is called The Darkest Dawn by spacegirl7 and quite a lot of the above takes elements directly from the fic, so definitely go read and check it out, it’s so good. i have been thinking about it and its premise for days.

[ireallyneedaintrestinglife]

I will forever be unable to visualize human!aithusa as anything other than Eri from My Hero Academia

For context:

This is her picture off the wiki and like just yes!! Swap her red eyes for blue and you got yourself Aithusa. Even the one horn could be symbolic of Aithusa being disabled!!

[xenioshelios]

Small art dump moment because im adding colour to some old sketches and thought at post them despite some anatomy mistakes ayyy.

This is human Aithusa that i totally hc her as merthur kid, she is adorable so here is Arthur being a supportive dad ✨✨

[kateis-cakeis]

"No, it must go free."

"Dragons cannot be used like that! They must be left unshackled, free to roam the earth."

"Dragon’s are magical creatures! They belong to no man! They are for the benefit of all!"

These are Merlin's lines during his confrontation with Borden (34:50 S4Ep4)

I know many in this fandom assume that Aithusa was under Kilgharrah's care after they (using they/them here because of the canon 'he' vs the fanon 'she') were born. But there's nothing to actually suggest that's true.

Instead, with Merlin's lines here, it heavily suggests dragons raise themselves. They go free, unbound from men (even Dragonlords it seems), and are left unshackled - in a world that lets them.

And this is directly seen in S4Ep13 as Aithusa seems to just be hanging about when they fly down to heal Morgana (and while they do fly away after, maybe they just felt the need to check in and got attached to Morgana at some point :P so I don't think it was an explicit betrayal)

Likeeee, let's say this was the Triple Goddess's way of prophecy being like yeah no, to letting Morgana just rot on a forest floor :P

But based off this, I think it's more than likely that dragons in BBC Merlin mirror many lizard species - where they just lay the egg and leave. This seems true and coincides with how Aithusa's egg ended up in a tomb to be protected (hundreds of years before the Great Purge).

And because a Dragonlord is needed to hatch it, this very much seems to be the case - that dragons are not raised but rather left to the wild to fend for themselves.

So Kilgharrah was never looking after Aithusa, and Merlin was never meant to either. Both left Aithusa to their own devices because that's how a dragon is meant to grow and live. On their own.

I know from the deleted scene in S4Ep1 that Daobeth was destroyed by dragons, suggesting that dragons can work together and be known to one another - so it's not like they're entirely solitary.

But I don't know! I think this is one of those things where it's like there's an assumption that's turned into a kinda blame game. (A bit like how some people believe in that Kilgharrah theory that feels sooo out of place to canon and the real story of the show).

Anyway, here's a different interpretation that doesn't put the blame on Merlin, or Kilgharrah, or Aithusa. Little dragon is allowed to make mistakes!

And hell, Kilgharrah's theory about Aithusa doesn't have to be wrong, 'the light of the sun' being a positive and fitting meaning could simply be about a new dragon at all. It could be about post canon even. There's a lot there, Kilgharrah only had a theory, he literally says 'I believe'. Cut him some slack!

sdfhhsdf all this to say, I think you can do some fun worldbuilding with dragons based off canon, and this is just one example of that.

Dragons roam free and have no parents :D It's fine, that's nature and magic ;)

[the-purple-possum]

New rule: rewatching just the last episode of merlin is a form of self harm.

[mandoriana]

Aithusa (human) walks past Arthur and Merlin with a sign in hand.

Merlin: Hey, hey, hey, where are you going, Mrs. Satan?

Aithusa: I’m going out to protest.

Merlin: Huh, why?

Aithusa: Dad raised the tax prices, and that made the old tavern owner raise the price of drinks.

Merlin: Okay, but so what? How does that affect your life?

Aithusa: It’s affecting my uncle Gwaine’s parties, and I protect my own.

Merlin: 🤨

Aithusa: 🤨

Arthur: 🫣

Merlin: Give me that sign, let me see what you wrote on it.

Sign - “Let’s invade Cenred’s kingdom!”

Merlin: What is this! Aithusa, are you crazy!?

Aithusa shrugs: I heard they have a lot of gold there.

Arthur considering: Well…

Merlin rolls his eyes: So you think it’s right to start a war for gold? 🤨

Aithusa: You started a war with me over a sign. 😒

Merlin: 😠

Arthur: 🤣

Merlin: Arthur! Stop laughing, idiot, say something!

Arthur clears his throat: You are not going to protest, Aithusa, I’ll lower the tax prices.

Aithusa smiles: Long live the patriarchy!

Aithusa looks at Gwaine and raises her arms in celebration.

Aithusa: We beat the system!

Gwaine claps and whistles, celebrating with his niece.

Aithusa yawns: Now I’m going to take a nap, wake me up later, please.

Merlin: And there she goes, sleeping as if she didn’t just make the king her doormat. 😒

Arthur: I tried. 😞

[nina-scribbles]

The last of their kind 🐉

[snirtsnirkarts]

OKAY OKAY HERE ME OUT!! The Sealing Merlin’s Magic troupe. So many different takes on this one, but one of my favorites is that it will seal Merlin away in some way. Like where he stops acting like himself, forgetting how or why he ever bonded with Arthur. Or just completely ragdolling. God, or the one where you literally would be unable to take away or conceal Merlin’s magic.

Also Human Aithusa or Parent Merlin(to Aithusa, human or not, or to others) underrated as fuck I’m going to read every story that’s written about this.

Oh my god, the kingdom loving Merlin or Merlin himself basically being in charge is my favorite. The Rules by Slayer_of_Destiny may be one of my favorite examples of this, I’m sure there are many more, but I actually don’t think I know of many more. But when everyone just knows Merlin, loves Merlin, or knows Merlin isn’t technically in a position of authority, but listens to him anyways. Because it’s Merlin! I do need to find more of those. Or and the gossip of Camelot ones, where all Servants and Knights just gossip constantly, or every castle worker knowing about Merlin’s magic but no one saying anything because everyone loves Merlin and Arthur would still be a massive ass without him.

Also very niche, by there’s a story concept I saw that’s unfinished by I love, Aithusa calling Merlin to help heal Morgana and Merlin like promises to help and regrets it. A tiny bit.(This story is called The White Sun Guilds Us Home (To Albion) by Coffee_Scribbles, if you’re interested, although unfinished and may have been abandoned) I love the concept and I love the different routes it can take. I just love any story that could have a redeemed Morgana, because I love her being good, but I do want her to have some time to be bad, because she is a queen and slays.(I don’t actually think the story I was reading planned for a redemption arc, but the concept has the possibility)

Oh my god and I am currently working on a story that I don’t even know how I’d try and look up if anyone has done this, basically my own spin on the trying to cage Merlin’s magic this. You can’t really cage Emrys per-say, since he’s made of magic, so it basically splits Merlin and Emrys apart, and Merlin is powerless, although still a Dragonlord, and Emrys without being held back by his mortal form per-say, is a little more powerful. But they kind of also split up some of his personality or things he may have learned over the years. Emrys is a great liar, Merlin is not even close. Emrys is the embodiment of the word Stressed, Merlin is not. Emrys is aware of the destiny and a lot more professional, Merlin is oblivious and took all of the clumsy nature. For this concept, I was thinking the only way to put them back together is for Merlin to go through every time he’s ever technically died. Emrys is immortal, Merlin is not. So Emrys has to lie to convince everyone Ermys is Merlin, and Merlin is a different person, in this story I made it that the first time he died was sneaking out to play with Will and falling out of a tree, so he’s a few years younger, he would convince everyone it was a relative or something. While also trying to keep this clumsy, brave, and accident prone child alive. One of the goals of it is to find the Cup Of Life, since some deaths Merlin has are basically incurable other then through that. Chaos ensues. I just kinda wanted to ramble about my silly little story ngl but I think it’s still pretty fitting to the question.

cat!merlin comic idea :]]] WIP (totally) IMPORTANT QUESTION! what's your favorite underrated (merthur) ff trope? (...asking for a friend) ((totally not cuz i might want to draw more of those funky tropes)) (((no no, i would never do that)))

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Hello everyone! I'm back with a (kinda late) spooky au! This is the monster-themed au that won the last poll, so here we go!

In this au, set in season 4 (post-Aithusa), where, after feeling Aithusa call to him from within her egg, Merlin could now sense dragon eggs.

Since dragons mated every year and laid multiple eggs each time, and there were only so many dragonlords around to hatch them, there were hundreds of dragon eggs hidden around Albion, waiting for a dragonlord to get close enough for them to call out to, yearning for the world outside of their shells. And since the dragonlords were nearly wiped out in the purge, those hundreds of eggs were still hidden, still waiting for a dragonlord to call them into life.

And now that Merlin can recognize their calls and knows how to call them forth them their eggs, he collects and hatches as many dragon eggs as he can, determined to bring the magical creatures back to their former glory.

And this goes fairly smoothly, except for one issue: he needs a place to hide all of them. They're all still so young, despite growing rather quickly, and the world is still hostile towards dragons, not seeing them as the majestic creatures of wonder that they are.

So, Merlin finds a hidden place for all of them to nest: an underground cave system beneath a mountain. It was near enough to Camelot that he could visit frequently, and the tunnels were large enough for all of them to have their own space, even as the number of baby dragons grew from five, to ten, to twenty, to well over seventy baby dragons took refuge inside the caves.

Aithusa was delighted by each new baby sibling Merlin brought to her in the caves, and she took care of them as best she could. (Kilgharrah, the rubbish babysitter, was not invited to the nests, as he would surely fill the babies' heads with all sort of nonsense about hating humans.)

And so, Merlin kept this up for well over a year, hatching dragons and bringing them to the nests, where he would be bombarded by baby dragons looking to cuddle with their egg-father. He loved spending time with all of them, but he worried about them too. What would happen when grew too large for the caves? Where would they go? Would they be safe?

But as the young dragons grew, they were content to stay in their hidden sanctuary, keeping each other company and eagerly awaiting their egg-father's sporadic visits. They especially enjoyed his stories of Camelot and his golden king. They loved to imagine the man their father was describing, a man with gold for hair and jewels for eyes. He must be the greatest treasure in all the lands! It was no wonder their great and powerful dragonlord kept him safe in his hoard!

And it went on like this for several years, up until Morgana heard rumors of strange growls and reports of terrible beasts coming from the caves underneath the White Mountains. Upon hearing these rumors and sensing with her magic that were was a small army of powerful magical beasts within the caves, she came up with the brilliant plan of luring Arthur, Merlin, and the knights into these tunnels and trapping them there. Those beasts, whatever they were, would surely make quick work of all of them!

Her plan, of course, succeeds. After all, she knew that using a knight as bait would lure all of them into the caves, and then using her magic to collapse all of the exits was simple work. As she walked away from the mountain, she cackled with furious glee. At long last, all of her enemies were doomed! Camelot was hers for the taking!

Meanwhile, underneath the mountain, Arthur, Merlin, and the knights were all trapped. While they hadn't run into any of the monsters Morgana had mentioned, they could hear growls echoing off of the stone walls, heralding their doom getting closer and closer.

(The growling, translated from dragontongue: Papa! Papa! Papa's back!)

As the sounds of the ferocious growling grew closer and closer, they could see the shadows of the beasts approaching on the walls of the cave. They were enormous, with wings and claws! Arthur and the knights all drew their swords, ready to fight to the end against a mob of these horrid beasts.

As the monsters came into view, the shocked gasp came from the group. Before them was an impossible sight, dozens of dragons, each as long as two men and as tall as Percival!

(Merlin gasped at the sight because his babies had suddenly hit growth spurts! They were so much bigger than the last time he saw them!)

Arthur and all his knights braced themselves for what would be a devastating attack from the monsters, when suddenly, to their horror, Merlin ran out in front of them!

"Merlin! This is no time for your sacrificial idiocy! Get back behind us!"

But Merlin didn't even glance back at them, h simply ran forwards towards the beasts!

Arthur gave out a heart-wrenching cry as the monsters pounced on his friend, their razor-sharp claws tearing through his skin and their horrid jaws opening to bite at his flesh.

(Merlin, meanwhile, was being cuddled and playfully licked by his dragons, who took great care to keep their claws and teeth away from their egg-father's soft human skin.)

With a savage and anguished war cry, Arthur ran forward, sword in hand, praying that Merlin was still in one piece. Jolted out of their horror by Arthur's cry, the other knights follow, ready to slay these monsters and save Merlin from their grasp!

The dragons, who recognize Arthur from Merlin's descriptions of him, dart forward, excited to finally meet the golden king that their lord talks so much about! The golden king was as radiant as their lord said he was, and he even gave a play roar and charged at them! He wanted to play and be their friend!

His strange gray hand-fang stung a little bit when it hit their scales, but it hurt no more than their siblings' claws when they were play-fighting together.

The young dragons had a great time playing with all their new friends, who gave play roars and hit them with those strange gray fangs. Their new friends were so fast too, not letting the dragons hit them easily.

This went on for a while, until Aithusa become too excited by all of the play fighting and accidentally knocked the golden king down too hard, knocking the air out of him.

Aithusa whined apologetically as she walked over to him, opening her mouth so that she could breath her healing breath on him, when he suddenly grabbed his grey-fang and aimed it at her open mouth, ready to strike. Aithusa flinched back in surprise, but the golden king's movement was halted by a call from her lord.

"STOP!"

Everyone, knights and dragons alike, froze at the order, even though the command had not been given in dragontongue. Aithusa whined in apology again. She hadn't meant to hurt her lord's king! She had just forgotten he was less sturdy than her siblings!

"Merlin! You're alright! Come quickly, we must leave before these beasts... why is that dragon nuzzling you like an overgrown housecat?"

Merlin gave Arthur his most innocent look, but it wasn't very convincing. Sighing, Merlin wrapped his arms around Aithusa's neck and hugged her, which caused her to start purring with joy, much to the knights' shock.

"Well, you see, I kinda... found a dragon egg out in the woods one day? And I couldn't just leave it all by itself, anything could have happened to it, so I put it somewhere safe! And then, it hatched! And I couldn't just leave the poor baby to fend for herself, so I brought her here, where I thought she'd be safe and not bother anyone. But then I couldn't just leave her alone here, so I came back to visit her and bring her food!

And then, I started finding more dragon eggs and brought all of them here and took care of them!"

Merlin finished his rushed explanation with a smile, hoping that Arthur would just buy it and not ask any questions, like how Merlin found any dragon eggs in the first place. By the end of his explanation, Arthur had gone from alarmed to completely exasperated.

"So what you mean to tell me, Merlin, is that you found dragon eggs, and, instead of killing them before they could become threats, chose to raise them like they were stray kittens instead?"

Arthur's tone indicated that yes, he had bought Merlin's lie, and yes, he also thought Merlin was a much bigger idiot than he did before.

Merlin just nodded, praying to anyone that would listen that none of the knights would possess any critical thinking skills and start poking holes in Merlin's hastily made-up story.

Merlin's fears were alleviated when Gwaine began laughing hysterically, walked fearlessly between the dragons, and clasped a hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"My friend, I knew you were a special kind of crazy for putting up with Arthur all these years, but this! This beats any insane stunt you've done before! You've just tamed dragons, you madman! Hell, you've got them all wrapped around your finger by the looks of it!"

Gwaine, amazed and almost giddy, looked around at the dragons, who were contently cuddling up around Merlin now, tired from all of the play fighting.

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, nervous and slightly embarrassed at all of the attention. The other knights looked on in wonder as Merlin told the dragons to go off the sleep in the nest, and they all listened. He really had tamed them!

Merlin turned and gave Arthur, who was still looked at Merlin with frustration and disbelief, a nervous smile.

"So, uh, it's probably a bit late to be asking this, but do you think I can keep them in Camelot?"

And that's all for now! I had a lot of fun writing about Merlin army of baby dragons! Please let me know if you'd like a continuation of this!

And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings!

[theonceandfuture]

Once & Future Infodump #1

500 years ago, the kingdoms of camelot and balor were one. camelot was ruled by a family of dragon shifters, notorious for their strong connection to magic, their kingdom lying deep within the darkling woods. balor, to the southeast, was ruled by the dragonlords, companions of the dragons that lived within both camelot and balor's borders. it is said that the peace between the kingdoms ceased when one man, known now only as the dragon king, the leader of the dragonlords, became too greedy, and desired the throne of the pendragon family as well as his own. (some sources argue that it wasn't the greed of the dragon king that motivated his actions, but the influence of a trickster god, but since the beginning of uther's reign, this knowledge has more or less been lost to time due to the purge of magic in camelot.)

the dragonlords used their unique abilities against the pendragons, twisting them to their will. as punishment for their cruelty, the gods had no choice but to intervene, (possibly because this problem was caused by the gods themselves, but who's to say?) and they struck the dragonlords, diminishing their numbers and dimming their power. the last of the dragonlords went into hiding for hundreds of years, keeping their ways to themselves and protecting the dragons from persecution. the pendragons thrived, though the dragon blood in their veins thinned over the years, naturally diluted by their mingling with humans. though it is still whispered that the pendragons retained many of these traits, despite no longer harnessing the ability to transform. in uther's time, the remaining dragonlords reunited with the pendragons, forming a friendship once again. but once again, the peace did not last between them...

some quick facts about dragon shifters:

the ability to transform into a dragon sticks around for about 5 generations

usually they are born like humans, but sometimes (say, like, 25% of the time?) they are hatched from eggs, much like actual dragons

most of the dragon shifters that have been around for the past century or so are related to the pendragons, hence why dragon shifters have disappeared (they can only copulate with humans, think of it kind of like how scientists think that the neanderthals disappeared)

some dragon shifters used to be created purely through magic (aka they have no genetic parents) and thus they would typically take on the appearance of the humans they grew up with in their human forms

anyway. that's what you needed to know in order to understand the joke i'm about to make. merlin was under the impression aithusa would probably look like him or gaius/freya because he assumed she was created through magic, but aithusa is actually a distant pendragon ancestor who's egg was preserved for centuries using magic!

thus, this image:

(aithusa is just arthur with albinism)

edit: corrected my language on this post! for those who may not be aware, "person with albinism" etc is a more respectful way to describe people with albinism as opposed to the way i said it before. here and here are my sources.