#merlin bbc headcanon

[mightybog]

I know I'm not the only one who felt uncomfortable with Merlin's powers to compel dragons against their will, particularly with the show centred on Merlin trying to achieve safety and freedom for magic users.

But what if that power goes both ways? Dragonlords may be able to command dragons, but dragons can steer the course of destiny and absolutely wreck the ship.

What if dragons can cause a person monumental levels of predestined pain and suffering, absolutely crush them with the narrative and make not just their hero's journey, but the realisation of their destiny pure unadulterated hell?

Dragonlords who abused their power technically end up achieving their goals, but it's at so great a personal cost that the dragonlords of old were like "yeah, no, we're not gonna fuck with that. How about we just be friends and respect each other?"

Of course, no one was around to warn our poor boy Merlin. My new HC is that his and Arthur's destiny looked so different to the one he expected, and that he suffered so much loss on the way, because he messed with Kilgharrah.

[artmistersealy]

merlin bbc and harry potter crossover, where merlin comes to teach at hogwarts seemingly just for fun

to see how great the newest generation of warlocks is

yet no one knows that he is only there because at certain hours of the evening the castle looks just like the great camelot that is long destroyed

and this is as close as he gets to the only times he was happy

[justaz]

The knights love and hate Merlin coming to training. They love it because Merlin is their little cheerleader and they seem to perform better when Merlin is there to cheer them on. They hate it because he never cheers Arthur on and Arthur gets jealous and shows off to catch Merlin’s attention which means that Arthur performs better when Merlin is there which makes him a demon on the field. Which means the knights have to visit Gaius after training to get new bruise salves and that one time when Percival had to get his broken nose set because he ducked too late when Arthur was swinging the hilt of his sword down because he was exhausted from how hard Arthur was pushing them

[immabitqueer]

Had the idea that when visiting nobles meet Merlin for the first time they assume Merlin is the court jester. They hear this little peasent boy call the Prince/King "a useless clotpole with a waist bigger than his brain" and when no one does anything for the treason they just assume he's their buffoon.

[karistiltskin]

sometimes i like to fall asleep to the idea of every kingdom being scared of camelot because king arthur decided to lift the ban on magic and it’s revealed that emrys is his right hand man. like yes, wreak havoc and scare your enemies.

on the other side of this, the castle staff and knights have to bear witness to arthur and merlin’s shenanigans everyday. because tell me why arthur is chasing merlin around the castle with porridge stuck in his hair and a spoon raised in his hand while merlin is cackling, bumping into every surface ever.

[merlinmylove]

Merlin is on bed rest and unavailable to work so George has to step in for a few weeks

“George, where are my socks?”

“They’re in the sockdrawer sire, next to your smallclothes — here, i’ll grab them for you”

“But why are they there??”

“Because…that’s where the socks belong?”

“But Merlin always kept my socks in the basket next to the wardrobe”

“Why would he do that? that makes no sense?”

“Huh…no idea… but I prefer it that way, so dump the socks into the basket and leave the drawer empty”

🧺🧺🧺🧺🧺🧺

“Your breakfast is on the table sire, i’ve pressed your formal robe so it’s ready for petitions in the afternoon, and your ceremonial circlet is polished for you”

“Why are you standing over there? aren’t you gonna drag me out of the bed feet first?”

“Your majesty!? why on earth would I do such a thing?!”

“It’s just…that’s usually how merlin wakes me up — nevermind, hand me that apple”

🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏🍏

“I’ve packed your saddlebags for the hunting trip, my lord”

“Good, It’s going to be a great day for fishing”

“Fishing sire? I’m afraid I haven’t packed anything for a fishing trip, forgive me sire, I had no idea your plans had changed”

“Oh right, you wouldn’t know. Merlin hates hunting, so we always fish, but we still call it a hunting trip so that others won’t ask any questions”

“I see, sire (he didn’t) but are you still going fishing now that Merlin is on bedrest and unable to join?”

“Ah…I hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps you would join me?”

“I …thank you sire, but my chores…”

“Of course, you’re right. I’ll ask Sir Percival if he will join me instead”

🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟

“My lord, might I help you with — that?”

“Ah no thanks George, I’ve got it”

“Right of course sire. Might I ask, no forgive me, its not my place to question his majesty”

“No no, go ahead, just ask”

“What…or I guess, why are you…dusting under the bed?”

“Merlin gets terribly sneezy when it’s dusty, so I always make sure it doesn’t get too dusty in here, otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it, ahaha”

“But why isn’t Merlin, your manservant, dusting under the bed himself?”

“Oh he hates dusting”

🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹

[rainbowsmagicandshit]

Headcanon that when Merlin started working for Arthur, he didn’t know what over half the names of things were—not only the parts of armor, but also just things around the castle and noble/city life—so he’d just make up names for them. When Arthur would ask for something, he’d have to describe what it was he wanted if Merlin didn’t recognize what the thing was by name, and then Merlin would go “oh, you mean the (weird name he came up with)!” and go get it. It always frustrates and annoys Arthur, and he tries to correct Merlin every time. Merlin eventually does learn the names of most of the stuff but still calls everything by the names he came up with because he knows how it annoys Arthur. Arthur still tries to correct him sometimes, but after a few years has accepted that Merlin’s not gonna stop and is doing it on purpose. Arthur will sometimes ask for something and Merlin will “correct” him with “you mean the (wacky name he came up with for it)” and Arthur rolls his eyes throwing something at him or cuffing him over the head as Merlin ducks away with a grin to get what he asked for. Eventually it gets to the point that Arthur adopts Merlin’s names for things without really realizing it. It just saves time. It gets to the point that Arthur will be talking to his knights or some noble or royal and he’ll end up using Merlin weird name for something. No one will know what he’s talking about and ask him to repeat himself. He does and they still look at him confused. He goes to explain what he’s talking about because he’s used to doing so with Merlin, and halfway through his explanation he realizes he called it Merlin’s stupid name and clears his throat and calls it by it’s proper name, a slight blush on his cheeks. No one calls him out on it or says anything to his face because he the prince and then the king, but Arthur stil complains to Merlin about what happened and “this is all your fault!!” while Merlin is grinning and laughing until Arthur has enough and throws something at him.

I just really want these two to have a language together. We get them having “prat,” “dollophead,” “cabbagehead,” etc. but I want it to extend to random objects too. Arthur adopts Merlin’s insults in canon and throws them back at Merlin occasionally, so I wanna see them do it with other stuff also. I think it’s be so funny and cute. Showing that Merlin really has a big impact on Arthur even down to the vocabulary he uses—changed irrevocably forever after. No longer the arrogant prince but the king Merlin made him, using vocabulary from the people rather than just the nobles and royals, setting him apart from his predecessors.

[biarthurpendragon]

hey tumblr. is anyone still actively posting about BBC merlin (and merthur by extension) in 2025?

could you like/reblog this post? I really need some mutuals who are still here <3

[twistedapple624]

Idea for an alternate ending:

Merlin gets Arthur to the lake in time and manage to save him.

They spend the night by the lake just talking, like they have been for the past few days, and realise that neither of them is ready to return to Camelot. For various reasons. They decide to take to the roads instead, just disappear, together.

Eventually their (few remaining) friends start to worry and the queen sends out her knights searching for them. Maybe Gaius points them towards the lake and maybe the knights find a neat pile of Arthurs belongings nearby, like his armour and cape (To heavy to carry and to easy to identify) and just assumes the worst. They knew Arthur was injured, and now presumably dead, but where is Merlin? Perhaps the grief was just to much for him? Perhaps he went home? But Hunith hasn't seen him either.

They are both gone. And life moves on.

Until a few months later when rumors start reaching the castle, about two heroes helping people throughout the realm. A fighter and a sorcerer working together using their skills to take out different threats from low life bandits to magical creatures attacking people.

No one really suspects anythingat first, but Gwen sends out her knights to find these two heroes. To confirm the rumors and if so offer a reward for their bravery. And maybe see if they would be willing to join forces?

It's not until Sir Leon hears a description of the two that he start to wonder.. A blond sword fighter with blue eyes and a regal nose who talks like a noble? A dark haired sorcerer also with blue eyes and a wide infectious smile? And they are constantly bickering and insulting each other? It couldn't be? Could it?

Trying not to get his hopes up Leon still doubles the search efforts.

No matter what they do though the knights seems to always be one step behind the two. Always gone before the knights reach the village or town they just saved. Missed them by a few days, a few hours down to mere minutes.

Somewhere along the way Leon hears about The Kiss. Told by an eye witness who saw the blond grab the warlock by the front of his tunic, haul him in and kiss him fiercely for almost getting himself killed (again, the idiot <- Arthurs note).

And suddenly things are making alot more sense. Why they never came back. Why they are staying away and don't want to be found.

He never tells Gwen. Or anyone. But that is the day Leon starts pulling back, cutting down on the search. Telling everyone it's not worth it, it has been over a year ( several years?) and there are more important things for the knights of Camelot to do then chasing ghosts. It's better if people start moving on with their lives instead. They are not coming back.

An undecided amount of time later Leon finds himself drinking alone in some random tavern in some random town, in an unknown part of the kingdom. When two cloaked strangers sit down uninvited at his table. And as he looks up their hoods fall back to reveal two very familiar and very dear faces.

Merlin grins widely. 'We heard you were looking for us?'

[mandoriana]

What if...Ygraine Returns as a Ghost to Care for Her Son

Servant: Sir, I came to inform you that the knights you sent to battle are all dead.

Uther (sitting on the throne, distracted): Well, send their belongings to their families and tell them they were heroes. And bring more cookies, I'm hungry.

Arthur (six years old, watching the scene with distracted eyes next to a very angry ten-year-old Morgana): Good people die young, so when I grow up, I want to be bad like mom. 😌

Morgana: What are you talking about, Arthur! Your mother was a kind and good woman! Where did you get the idea that she was bad!?

Arthur: Yesterday I heard mom say that her dream was for a manure cart to run over dad so he would die once and for all. 🙂

Morgana (eyes wide in complete shock): Your mother would never say such a thing, Arthur… 🫢

Ygraine (next to Uther, trying to strangle him but unable to because she is a ghost): Don't listen to her, baby, mom hates dad and doesn't support anything he's doing! I still can't believe I married this man, listen to what mom says, Arthur, don't follow in his footsteps!

Arthur (turns to Morgana): Mom just said she hates dad, she's also trying to strangle him, but her hands keep going through his body, I think she's a ghost. 🫠 *slowly losing sanity*

Morgana (realizing that the young prince might be crazy): Arthur, maybe she's just joking…

Ygraine (trying to make Uther trip by stepping on his own cape): I'M NOT JOKING! If I could, I would kill him myself! I just can't because I can't touch him!

Arthur: I don't know if the gods would like so much violence…

Ygraine: The gods don't like your father!

Arthur: Okay… 🙂 *takes a cookie from the tray the servant brought*

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

I need a fic where Lancelot gets hit by a curse that makes him extremely honest/completely removes his thought to speech filter.

Like, he doesn’t blurt secrets but he’s got no sense of fear for saying things he probably shouldn’t and just starts saying all the quiet parts out loud.

Merlin’s immediately worried about him. I kinda imagine it like:

Merlin: Do you think you’ll say anything about..?

Lance: your secret? No. Definitely not. It’s your secret to tell. Arthur should know how much you do for him even without it though. You should remind him you’re not obligated to do so much if he keeps taking advantage of your kindness.

Merlin: That…

Lance: I clearly mean it. It’s your choice of course. You know I love you too much to betray your trust.

(I’m a sucker for Mercelot but take that however you want)

Then when they all get back to Camelot and one of the towns people is struggling to fix a cart with a broken wheel.

Lance *goes over to help and starts berating the knights*: we’re knights. We’re supposed to help people. If you just want to beat people up, we’ve run into plenty of bandits that would probably take you.

And we all know he doesn’t like the structure of statuses and how power is distributed in Camelot so while he’s still respectful to Arthur as a king, the rest of the lords not so much. He avoids them as much as possible to avoid causing unnecessary problems but when Arthur asks if he’ll be at a council meeting, he’s gotta say no:

Lance: I don’t think that’d be a good idea.

Arthur: why not? I could use someone honest on the council.

Lance: I am honest with you. Mostly. You definitely shouldn’t ask what I think about magic until I can be tactful about my answer. But If I get a chance to be honest in the same room as Lord NoName I’m going to ask him if he doesn’t want to pay taxes because too much of his coin already goes to his mistresses and his wife will find out if he’s forced to document it.

Arthur: …

Lance: …

Arthur: … I don’t know which part to focus on first. If Lord NoName isn’t there will you attend?

Lance: he’s not the only one. Personally, I think they should hear it, but I don’t want to be callous about it. Their wives deserve better and forcing them to find out through gossip and rumours just seems unnecessarily cruel.

Arthur: I’ll call a round table meeting later.

Lance: Probably for the best. You should give Merlin a seat, he’s braver and has done more for you than anyone. I’ll see you later, sire.

I can imagine the magic thing would keep coming up too, just little comments about how he’s frustrated that he’ll be used as an example for why magic should be banned when it’s not all bad and can actually be quite amazing.

Everyone’s confused but he just asks Leon if he likes being alive because he wouldn’t be without the Druids and the cup of life.

Heaven forbid anyone says anything bad about Merlin. He never out’s Merlin’s secret as promised, but he absolutely makes sure everyone is aware how much Merlin does for people out of the goodness of his heart.

I also want him to shit on Uther at some point. About his parenting style or how he ruled Camelot, I don’t mind which.

I imagine someone mentioning how well Lance is handling the curse and “taking it like a man” and getting immediately shot down.

Noble: he’s handling it well, taking it like a man.

Lancelot: Hypocritical coming from you, Lord He-Payed-Less-Than-I-Did-Even-Though-It-was-Proportional-To-Everything-Else. (I don’t pretend to understand how a fictional court set in about 5 different historical eras is run) Actually, not complaining about a situation that sucks isn’t a manly trait at all. All of the problems we’re dealing with are because something happened and someone “took it like a man.” Tax evasion, wars, uneven distribution of wealth, *putting reports on the table for each one* The last time someone “took it like a man” we ended up with an entire people being murdered because a king fucked up, lost his wife, and didn’t want to admit fault and grieve like a sane person.

Everyone’s just silent for a moment.

Lance: … *thinks about what he said for a second*

Lance: No, I stand by that. I’ll apologise for my lack of tact, but not the content.

Meanwhile, watching in horror and barely contained glee:

Arthur: Should have let him sit this one out.

Merlin: Absolutely not. This might become the most productive council meeting we’ve had in years.

Anyway, I just want Lance being able to lean more into the unhinged side of his character sometimes.

He’s still got to fundamentally be a good person, he’s just less filtered in watching the casual stupidity of the nobles, or more honest about people not thanking servants enough (especially to the knights who seemed to forget that they were once common born too) and isn’t afraid to call people on their bullshit when necessary.

Everyone learns to appreciate it too so when the spell wears off, he’s less anxious about giving his opinions on things.

Just let Lancelot be the unfiltered chaotic good that he is.

[penneinwonderland]

Headcanon- Merlin only ever tells one person about his magic and it’s Arthur. Morgana finds out when Merlin helps her out of a magical panic attack and proceeds to beg for his guidance. Gwen suspected for a while before confirming he has it when Morgana confesses that she has magic and someone has been helping her. We all know how Lancelot figured it out. Gwaine knew when he was called magic by the guardian. Leon, Elyan, and Percy all saw glimpses of magic in fights. When Merlin tells Arthur for a brief moment he thinks Arthur might snap. He doesn’t even realize that the rest of the table is behind him glaring at Arthur.

[gemgdynamxght]

Headcannon - When Arthur was a kid he used to sneak into Uther’s room to steal shirts and wear them as nightwear.

He thought that a piece of clothing he wore to sleep, that smelled slightly like his father, is what a hug from Uther would feel like.

He never really found out if that was true because he had never experienced a real hug from the King.

Maybe, when he’s older and Arthur and Merlin are friends, but have obliviously feelings for each other, he steals Merlin’s neckerchief somehow. He doesn’t think or know to ask Merlin for a hug because he subconsciously thinks he’ll be rejected instantly.

So instead, he steals Merlin’s neckerchief and hides it under his pillow until night and while he’s sleeping he kind of just holds close it next to him.

[ethan-acfan]

So I know merlin canonically has a really low alcohol tolerance, but I like the idea of merlin being physically unable to get drunk even more

I love this specifically for the idea that when Arthur takes Merlin to the tavern and insists he has a drink, merlin then has to spend his night pretending to be tipsy/drunk because he has had over 3 bottles at this point and it would be strange if he wasn't affected at all. And once the night ends, Arthur offers to walk merlin home or send him with an escort and merlin tries to decline, but arthur insists because "what sort of prince would I be if I let my personal servant walk home drunk and in the dark alone?" So merlin has to keep up the facade until he's home, where as soon as the door shuts, he promptly drops the act only to turn around and see Gaius up late staring at him with an amused look

[immabitqueer]

I have a hc that Arthur just picks Merlin up like a sack of flour whenever and everyone just gets used to it. I mean not a soul mentioned Arthur dragging Merlin out of the throne room in The Witch Finder. I like to imagine that that's just how they are. Merlin starts to pick a fight in the market with a neighboring kingdoms knights? Arthur has an easy solution. Throw that servant over your shoulder and walk away. Is Merlin trying to join a fight with no weapons to protect himself? As soon as your open and the other knights can handle it grab him bridle style and haul ass. Works every time. When this first started Merlin would try and fight back and squirm away but it was no use so he just goes with it now.

[justaz]

oooouuuuu you KNOW merthur fight like them toxic couples that just love to argue. Merlin would come into arthur’s chambers, stop, look around, look at him, then go “why was george in here?” And arthur would roll his eyes and say something about him needing a competent servant every once in a while so his chambers don’t grow fungus or whatever and then they’d just go back and forth but their point would change every minute. Like in the beginning merlin is arguing that he’s a perfect servant and arthur is arguing that merlin never gets anything done, the next merlin is saying that if arthur really wants that then he should just keep george and fire merlin and arthur is like “??? wtf no ur not leaving me” and argues that merlin is being ridiculous.

Merlin storms off and sends george in to clean and arthur is just like “fine! Yeah! I would rather have george as my servant!” And merlin storms in like “wow so I’m just replaceable like that huh?!” And it’s just back and forth back and forth back and forth and poor george is just trying to do his job he didn’t want to get pulled into all this. Anyways, merlin is waiting for arthur to cave and switch his argument but he doesn’t so merlin starts ordering george to leave (EVEN THO HE BROUGHT GEORGE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE-) and arthur tells george to stay. Merlin orders him to leave. Arthur orders him to stay. For some reason, merlin’s orders have the same weight and authority behind them as the king’s…..anyways-

Merlin is still waiting for arthur to switch up and say he would rather keep merlin but he doesnt so merlin just goes “fine. keep him then.” And goes to walk out but arthur grabs his arm and orders george to leave (he leaves with extraordinary haste and refuses to be within fifty feet of either merlin or the king for the next week) then pulls merlin towards him and is like “don’t be stupid. You’re my servant not him.” And merlin just huffs and puffs until arthur looks away and then he’s giggling and twirling his hair OOOOUUUUUU THEY THRIVE OFF THE TOXICITY IM TELLING YOU LISTEN TO ME IM RIGHT-