#human aithusa

[nina-scribbles]

A little Human Aithusa for your soul 💫 

[mandoriana]

I was watching Spy Family and an idea came to my mind. WHAT IF... I drew Merthur and Aithusa in a Spy Family version?

[I haven't colored it yet, but this was the result.]

This is Aithusa. She has scales all over her body, horns, and sharp teeth. Her feet are completely dragon-like, and her left arm is a dragon claw that she always keeps hidden. Her hair is long and tied in a low ponytail that resembles a dragon's tail. Her pupils are thin, and she has a magical amulet on her belt.

Aithusa was abandoned the day she was born. Scientists adopted her and experimented on her body to understand where magic comes from, which irreparably affected Aithusa's magical core. She used to be able to transform into a dragon, but now it's almost impossible.

Arthur Pendragon is the son of the head of the anti-magic organization known as S.C. (Sentinels of Camelot) and adopted Aithusa to complete a mission to investigate a man named Cenred, who is suspected of harboring sorcerers in his mansion. The plan is for Aithusa to infiltrate the school of Cenred's son and befriend the boy so Arthur can enter Cenred's mansion.

In this story, Arthur would be a spy/hunter for the S.C.

Morgana would be his older sister who doesn't know that Uther and Arthur, her adoptive family, are from the S.C. She works in the organization L.A.M.A. (Arcane League of Ancestral Magic) for Cenred and Morgause, her half-sister.

Leon would be Arthur's informant, acting as the family's butler when Morgana is present.

Gwen would be the mechanic and creator of the S.C.'s accessories.

Merlin would be the feared Emrys, an assassin wanted by the S.C. for being too dangerous and a hero to the L.A.M.A., but in reality, he is just someone who got into a lot of trouble trying to help people. [He's a master of disguises, but nobody knows that, they believe Emrys is a trinity of agents who disrupts the plans of S.C. and L.A.M.A., actually just Merlin, but wearing the disguises of Dolma and Dragoon. ]

Kilgarrah is the equivalent of Anya's dog Bond, but here he is a giant, old cat who is just trying to make sure his visions of the future (destiny) don't come true.

[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

[the-red-butterfly]

Human Aithusa (Merlin BBC)

I just now posted the first chapter of a new story called He's A Part Of My Soul (a very self-indulgent crossover), in which, for most of the story, Aithusa is a human. My baby hunches a little cause he likes talking with Merlin face too face <3

You can find the story on FF and AO3, it's about Aithusa teaming up with the Avengers so he can save Merlin. Go check out if that sounds interesting to you. Lots of tenderness, lots of angst.

.

Open for Commissions

[calebauer]

dante and virgil • arthur and merlin

[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

[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.

[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 ;)

[moonzie-does-tag-games]

The young Aithusa has found you! She’s somehow human through the power of picrew

Bonus Merlin moment of realization

[nina-scribbles]

The last of their kind 🐉

[the-purple-possum]

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

[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]

Another Merlin au prompt! This time featuring Morgana, because I haven't been giving her enough love recently!

EDIT: You can find part two of this au here!

In a season 4 au, the Cailleach never tells Morgana that Emrys is her destiny and her doom. Instead, she merely tells Morgana that Emrys is her destiny. So, instead of fearing Emrys, Morgana believes that Emrys is the key to achieving her destiny and conquering Camelot. Thus, she starts her hunt to try and find an ally in Emrys.

Through the Druids and the Catha, Morgana learns that Emrys is the Old Religion's god of magic and is destined to come to the mortal plane in the form of a human to bring magic back to the land after a great tragedy. Morgana hadn't heard of Emrys before since Morgause (in her hubris) did not focus on educating Morgana in the gods and goddesses that they were supposed to worship, instead focusing on teaching her powerful, dark magic and battle strategies against their enemies.

So, Morgana spends most of seasons 4 trying to find Emrys and ally herself to him. Morgana eventually learns from a druid that defected to her cause that Emrys has already taken his human form and lives in Camelot, working in secret to bring about magic's return to the land. Morgana was shocked by this, since it was possible that Emrys had been in Camelot even before she knew of her magic, but also pleased, as having Emrys already established inside Camelot would make a takeover much easier!

Morgana, from there, starts attributing her every victory and defeat to Emrys in some way. She succeeds in killing Uther through the enchanted necklace? Emrys must have been in on her plans and delivered the final blow while Arthur trusted him to try to heal his father! Her plan to drive Arthur and Gwen apart through shade Lancelot succeeds? Because Emrys ensured that no one suspected the shade before he did his job, of course! Her magic fails during her takeover of Camelot? Emrys must be angry with her for trying to conquer Camelot without him! She makes it out of Camelot alive even without her magic? Praise Emrys!

Morgana's beliefs are further solidified when Aithusa heals her. She asks Aithusa who she is, how is there another dragon? Aithusa is too young to speak, but she instead shares images and ideas with Morgana. In Aithusa's memories, Morgana couldn't quite see the face of the dragonlord who hatched Aithusa, but she knew how that magical power felt! It must have been Emrys, as the druids also told her that he was the last dragonlord! He must have sent this young dragon, his own kin, to heal Morgana and keep her safe before their destinies came to fruition!

When they're captured by Sarrum, Aithusa called out for her dragonlord, and after a couple hours in that damned well, a golden light filled the entire space, and their magic-binding chains were removed, allowing them to climb out of the pit and escape. There was no doubt in Morgana's mind that Emrys was the one who saved him, but to her disappointment, he was not there when they escaped.

(Merlin, back in Camelot, performed a ritual to send his magic to aid Aithusa, wherever she was. He could sense her cries and her fear, but he couldn't pin down her location, so this was his only way of sending help.)

By season 5, Morgana's patience was growing thin. She knew that Emrys probably had some grand, years-long plan for how they were going to conquer Camelot and let magic reign, but she wanted the throne that was rightfully hers! But to do that, she needed Emrys. So, she sought out the Diamiar to ask how she could find Emrys. Unfortunately, she never found the Diamiar and was forced to retreat.

Fast forward to Kara being captured and Mordred begging for her life and getting locked up with her. In this au, Merlin helps break Mordred and Kara out of the dungeon and helps them leave Camelot safely, leading to Mordred not growing bitter against Merlin, but still holding animosity towards Arthur for not being merciful towards Kara.

Kara takes advantage of Mordred's newfound anger towards Arthur and convinces him to join Morgana's forces. Morgana welcomes Mordred with open arms, but he's hesitant to tell her Emrys's true identity after Merlin saved him and Kara. However, after Morgana tells him that the only way that they can defeat Arthur is with Emrys fighting alongside them, Mordred reluctantly tells Morgana Emrys's true name: Merlin.

Morgana is absolutely shook by this news. How could her ultimate ally, the key to her victory, be one of her worst enemies?! He was Arthur's most loyal lacky! He saved Arthur's life repeatedly, keeping her from the throne! He had poisoned her!

Morgana was in absolute denial over this news, until she started thinking over it. When she had first told Merlin about her magic, he had tried to help her and led her to the druids. Yes, he had poisoned her, but that was the last push she needed to join Morgause. Perhaps that was his plan from the beginning? To ensure that she joined her sister and fulfilled her destiny in becoming a high priestess?

And his position as Arthur's closest confidant and servant gave him the anonymity to not be noticed by the nobility and the perfect place to manipulate Arthur, weakening him and his kingdom from within! Emrys truly was a mastermind with a plan to take down Camelot! And to think, she had fallen for his disguise as a cowardly servant as well! He was effortlessly playing all of Camelot for fools!

And oh, Morgana could see his vision! Emrys- Merlin- would crush Arthur's heart, his very soul, by revealing his power and his glorious destiny of returning magic to the land. All Merlin would have to do was pull the rug out from underneath Arthur, and Arthur would be so heartbroken and weakened by the betrayal that Camelot would be ripe for the taking!

Perhaps Merlin would revel in Arthur's humiliation? Wrap obedience spells around the king's mind and make Arthur his servant? What glorious justice that would be!

The most powerful sorcerer in history, magic incarnate, living in Camelot and having the absolute trust of the king! Everything was poised so perfectly! Morgana had to give Emrys credit for this, he had set everything up, from Morgana's rise to her true power to surrounding Arthur with commoner knights who owed more to Merlin than they did to the king, so that Arthur's end and magic's rise was inevitable. She did wish he would have told her about his plans sooner though. They could have been working together all this time!

Still, this meant that all of the pieces for magic's takeover of Camelot were in place! All she had to do was reach out to Emrys and let him know that she was ready, and they could conquer Camelot!

Mordred tries to warn her that Merlin is trying to fulfill the prophecy is a different, more peaceful way than what she has in mind, but Morgana brushes that aside. Emrys was her destiny, the key to her success!

However, after luring Merlin into the crystal cave and finally offering an alliance with him so they could take over Camelot, Morgana was shocked to be vehemently rejected by Merlin, with Merlin telling her that there was no way that he would ever betray Arthur, Emrys or not.

Morgana was not really expecting that and was forced to revise her plans. She needed Merlin to be on her side if she was going to have any chance at taking the throne from her undeserving brother, but Merlin, despite all of his power and destiny, was reluctant to join her and take his rightful place of power.

It was rather confusing for Morgana. Why would Emrys truly want Arthur on the throne? Was Arthur already his thrall, and he didn't want to lose his puppet king? No, if Emrys had Arthur under his power, magic would already be returned to the land.

Perhaps it was some sort of odd affection that Merlin had towards Arthur? That must be it! Merlin had been forced to tolerate Arthur for so long that some sort of forced feelings of connection towards Arthur had wormed their way into Emrys's heart!

So, Morgana goes on a campaign to win Merlin's loyalty over to her by 1) trying to undermine Arthur's rule and make his look like a fool and 2) make herself look like the better option. She has dozens of spies in Camelot and has sorcerers who can scry for her, so she knows when Arthur treats Merlin like a fool and dismisses his thoughts like an arrogant prat, and she chooses those days to send Merlin gifts, like spell books filled with useful curses, enchanted jewelry to make him more powerful, and the severed head of an assassin who managed to land a cut on Merlin while he was trying to kill Arthur (on Morgana's orders, but that's just semantics).

Morgana also sees how Merlin's living situation with Gaius isn't great, so she sends him things like new luxurious clothes and rich foods, which are things that she supposes that he'll have to get used to after he takes his rightful place as the conqueror of Camelot.

Merlin, however, remains suspicious of these gifts and knows that Morgana is trying to tempt him to her side, so he ignores them for the most part. Eventually, Arthur finds out about Morgana trying to bribe his manservant with extravagant gifts and loses his mind over it. He knows that Merlin would never betray Camelot to the likes of Morgana, but the fact that Morgana has set her sights on Merlin puts him very ill at ease.

And this, of course, devolves into a tense game of tug-of-war between the Pendragon siblings. Both of them are tripping over themselves trying to prove themselves to be more deserving of Merlin's loyalty, while Merlin just wants to go back to sleep.

Let me know if you'd like to see a continuation of this prompt! I think that seeing a high-stakes sibling rivalry between Arthur and Morgana over Merlin would be pretty funny!

EDIT: You can find part two of this au here!

Also, please let me know if there are any other Merlin characters you'd like me to feature! I'm working on some Gwen-focused and Lancelot-focused prompts, but let me know if there are any others you'd like to see!

And, as always, thank you for reading through my rambling! :D

[mandoriana]

Salazar Slytherin (Pendragon)

Curiosities about Salazar Pendragon:

Salazar is the youngest son of Merlin and Arthur.

He is the only one of the siblings who can always see Thestrals because he was weak and almost died when he was born.

Salazar is the "mama's boy"; Merlin spoils his youngest, and Salazar loves the attention from his mother.

Since he was little, he has had Basil, a basilisk. Merlin allowed Salazar to keep the young Basil because he trusted his son to control the magical creature.

Salazar walks very gracefully and rarely falls unless one of his siblings trips him, which happens often because the others inherited Merlin's clumsy legs.

Salazar has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and his hyperfocus is snakes.

Sal is the second tallest among the siblings, standing at 1.90 meters, only shorter than Godric.

Basil hatched on the same day Salazar was born. Merlin felt the connection between the two and decided to let the young Basilisk live with Salazar until the creature grew too large.

Sal is afraid of horses because they remind him of Thestrals.

Sal loves astrology and would spend his entire life looking at the starry sky if the sun didn't eventually rise.

Merlin was always more concerned with keeping Sal out of sight due to his magical "asthma" (instead of lacking air, Sal's magic can suddenly drop and kill him unless someone helps by transferring magic to him).

Arthur and Salazar spent nights awake looking at the sky. Initially, it was because Arthur wanted Merlin to sleep and knew his husband wouldn't agree out of fear of leaving Sal alone, but it soon became a tradition for the two.

Salazar's autism comes from Arthur.

Salazar is gay.

Salazar created the first wand with a phoenix feather. Since using his magic was dangerous, he solved the problem with the wand, which allowed him to better control the amount of magic he used and thus avoid risks.

Salazar spoke Parseltongue because Basil taught him.

He is the best swimmer among the siblings and loved swimming in the lake with Basil.

When he founded Hogwarts with his siblings, he thought it was okay to mix magical and non-magical people, but when a nearby village started a witch hunt, Sal lost faith in humanity.

Sal was the last of the siblings to die.

Sal never had a husband or children, but he fell in love with a man once. When the man discovered magic, he started the witch hunt.

He loves drawing and was the one who designed the layout of Hogwarts Castle. This is also how he created the Chamber of Secrets where Basil could live for years.

Salazar inherited from Merlin the druids' ability to speak telepathically. Thanks to this ability, he developed the Legilimency spell, allowing him to read minds and detect lies, which he uses to protect his family.

Gaius died at the age of 100, so Sal had time with his grandfather to learn some medical tricks.

Salazar has a secret garden where he cultivates plants and herbs, many of which he uses to create potions and remedies.

Besides Basil, Salazar has a special affinity with other magical creatures, such as griffins and Aithusa, and often spends time caring for them.

Salazar is known for accidentally creating several cruel spells. He tried to create one that would make cuts for surgical purposes, but it went wrong and became an Unforgivable Curse (Crucio).

He has a collection of ancient magical artifacts that he found on his travels with his siblings, each with a unique story.

Arthur feared not having moments with Salazar because, unlike his other children, Sal hates swords. So, to have father-son bonding time, Arthur began teaching Salazar to play the flute and guitar.

Salazar keeps a Pensieve where he stores his most precious memories, including special moments with his family and important magical discoveries.

Salazar loves the sea and frequently visits the coast to swim and explore underwater caves, where he finds rare ingredients for his potions.

He is responsible for gifting Rowena with pearls he finds during his visits to the sea.

He keeps a detailed diary of his family's adventures and achievements, ensuring that the Pendragon history is preserved for future generations.