YES! I love this idea!
Maybe Arthur does some digging into the unknown family crest sigil, but he can't find much since, unknown to him, Uther had most of the dragonlord family records burned.
So, Arthur maybe doesn't learn that the Ambrosius family were dragonlords, but he does learn that they were a powerful noble family that once ruled over a decently sized fiefdom in Essetir's borders and were a formidable military force. Maybe Arthur also learns that the family was wiped out in a surprise massacre, with not even the elderly or the children of the house spared, and the only survivor was one young lord who managed to escape, presumably Merlin's father. Arthur is sickened and grief-stricken by this new information, his friend's entire family and birthright robbed from him before he was even born.
However, to Arthur's frustration, the records in Camelot never reveal who ordered and carried out such an awful and dishonorable attack. Arthur then assumes that some evil rival lord or king was behind the attack, and vows to help Merlin bring his family's killers to justice.
Arthur: Merlin, even if I cannot restore your family's rightful position and lands, I swear to you that this terrible crime against your family will not go unpunished. I promise that I will hunt down whoever was responsible for the massacre of the House of Ambrosius and make them pay!
Merlin, who knows full well that Uther was behind all of it: Uhhh.... thanks?
balinor giving merlin the ambrosius sigil and merlin carrying it around with him for years. merlin and arthur sitting around a campfire, both believing fullheartedly that they’ll be dead by morning bc like hell are they going to allow the other to sacrifice themself to close the veil. arthur giving merlin the du bois sigil as a parting gift and ensuring that merlin will be taken care of after his death. merlin biting the bullet and handing over the ambrosius family sigil in exchange. luckily, arthur doesn’t recognize the ambrosius sigil for what it is - a dragonlord lineage. BUT now he thinks merlin has noble blood and is wondering when tf he figured that out, if he ever met his father, and why he never told arthur.
Hi! Thanks for the tag @gd-dollopole (and for thinking that my unhinged au ideas are cool 😊)! <3
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Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the love you gave my most recent au! Here's a continuation of the Disir au! Enjoy!
Merlin caught on quickly that there was something... different about Arthur after his return from the Disir's cave.
He was jumpy, constantly on edge, and clearly losing sleep over something. And, worst of all, he was hiding something from Merlin.
Or, more like trying to hide something from Merlin. Because Merlin knew that something had happened at the Disir's cave, and he knew that it had something to do with the old religion.
Really, Arthur should know better than to hide a wooden worship effigy of one of the gods of the old religion in his wardrobe. The very same wardrobe that Merlin digs through every morning to find some outfit to dress his royal pratness in.
But Arthur's laughable attempts at hiding anything from his manservant aside, the crudely carved effigy in Merlin's hands raised the rather uncomfortable question: what was Arthur doing hiding an object of worship tied to the old religion in his wardrobe? If he was trying to learn more about druid customs or attempting to gain some advantage over Morgana, why hide it from Merlin of all people?
And it did seem like Merlin was the only one he was hiding this from, if the knights' shifty behavior and the unusual amount of time Arthur spent with Mordred over the past few weeks was any indication.
Even Gwen was in on it! The queen had started carving out time in the evenings for Arthur to be alone in his study, doing... something. Gwen had not told him what Arthur was doing during that time, only telling him that no one, not even Merlin, was to disturb him.
It felt like the entire castle was conspiring against Merlin! And given that it was mostly likely connected to the Old Religion based off of the presence of the worship effigy, the entire situation set Merlin on edge.
(Plus, there was a strange tingling in the back of Merlin's mind that had started the night after Arthur had returned from the Disir's cave. The odd sensation came and went at seemingly random times, but it didn't hurt. No, it felt more like something inside his mind was trying to get his attention, as strange as that sounded. Merlin wasn't sure what it was or what to make of it.)
The first question that popped into his mind was "do they know?", but something seemed too strange about this entire situation for the explanation to be as simple as his magic having been discovered, as disastrous as that would be. No, if his magic was truly discovered, the reaction would be loud, explosive, like Arthur's temper. There would not be this shifty, sneaking around behind Merlin's back if that were really the case. If Arthur felt betrayed by Merlin, he would not turn to conspiracy. That wasn't who Arthur was.
So no, Merlin's magic hadn't been discovered. Merlin's next guess was that Mordred's magic had been discovered, but that too seemed unlikely, since the king's prophesized killer was still alive and meeting with the king frequently.
Perhaps Arthur was planning on brokering peace with the druids and wanted to keep it hidden from the council to avoid the protests from Uther's lords? It seemed like something Arthur would do, and the thought of it filled Merlin with hope. But still, if that was truly what Arthur was doing, he would have told Merlin by now!
So then what could it be?! What reason did Arthur possibly have for possessing a handmade worship talisman and hiding it from Merlin?!
Merlin even tried to glean some information based on which god of the Old Religion the worship effigy was dedicated to, but the face was carved so crudely that there were no identifying features, and the base was plain, devoid of any symbols of worship that could point to the identity of the god in question.
With all of his other options having been exhausted, Merlin turned to the one method of getting answers that had yet to fail him: eavesdropping.
(Gaius could admonish him all he liked for not being able to mind his own business, but the old physician couldn't deny that Merlin seeing and overhearing things that he shouldn't have had saved the kingdom at least a dozen times over.)
Fortunately for Merlin, Arthur's newfound alone-time was at around the same time every evening, right after he had finished his dinner, and Merlin knew every nook and cranny of the king's chambers better than anyone.
It was almost laughably easy to sneak into the antechambers off of Arthur's bedroom through a hidden and rarely-used servant's passageway. These chambers would normally be where the king's manservant lived, but since Merlin lived with Gaius, they were just used for storage now, with the door between the antechambers and the king's chambers remaining locked for security purposes.
All Merlin had to climb over a few chests to get to the door and peer between a gap in the door's panels, and he now had a full view of the king's chambers without anyone even knowing that he was there.
... He probably should warn Arthur about this gap in his security at some point, since an assassin could easily make use of it, but that would have to come after Merlin had gotten the answers he needed.
Merlin sat and waited, watching Arthur's back as he stood up from his desk, stretched, and started sorting through his paperwork from the council meeting earlier that day. Merlin relaxed slightly at the sight, and as he watched Arthur do paperwork and other mundane tasks over the course of an hour, he began to wonder if he had gotten all of this wrong.
Maybe Arthur had started carving out time alone to fulfill his tasks as the king more independently? Arthur had done similar things in the past after all, pulling away from his friends and believing that he should shoulder all of his burdens by himself.
With his fears appeased by a familiar and plausible explanation for Arthur's strange behavior, Merlin considered leaving for the night, seeing as how nothing seemed to be amiss.
Well, Merlin was considering leaving for the night and dropping his suspicions there, up until Mordred silently snuck through the door and approached Arthur with a nervous smile. Merlin's body tensed at the sight, his anxiety skyrocketing at the sight of Mordred so close to Arthur with no one else present.
But Mordred didn't sneak up on Arthur with a weapon in hand, but instead greeted him warmly and led him over to the chairs in front of the fireplace. Arthur sat a bit stiffly, trying and failing to not let his discomfort show as Mordred ran around the room, gathering an odd assort of supplies from various hiding places around the room. Merlin narrowed his eyes at the sight, his jaw clenching with concern for Arthur and hatred for that little snake. What was Mordred doing to Arthur?
Merlin nearly threw stealth out the window and crashed through the door when he sensed the faint traces of magic on the supplies- ritual supplies, he finally recognized- that Mordred gathered. The only thing that made Merlin hesitate was the lack of magic on Arthur. If the king was already under some sort of spell or enchantment from that treacherous bane posing as a knight, Merlin would be able to sense it.
Then why was Arthur just sitting there and letting Mordred gather objects for a ritual?! Why would he-
"I'm glad that you're taking so well to the basics of the Old Religion, sire. I'm sure that the Disir would be pleased with your progress. Now that you've gotten the hang of the general worship rituals that druids perform to all the gods, we can start focusing more on the rituals and ceremonies specific to Emrys."
Merlin jumped at the mention of his druidic title, knocking over multiple pieces of furniture in his shock. It was only a quickly placed spell to dampen sound that saved him from revealing his presence.
What was Mordred thinking?! Why was he teaching Arthur about Emrys of all people?
Or... was he trying to sow a distrust of Emrys in Arthur? Yes, that was exactly what that nefarious puppet for Morgana was doing. Turning Arthur against his own protector would allow Mordred the opportunity to drive a wedge between them, leaving Arthur vulnerable and Merlin would not allow this!
Merlin called upon his power, the magic always swirling underneath his skin, and aimed it at that snake Mordred, ready to strike him down before his plans could come to fruition. But, before he could direct his magic to strike, Arthur finally spoke.
"Thank you, Mordred. I don't know how I'd do this without you. I cannot regret agreeing to the Disir's demands, of course, but never thought that the worship of the Old Religion was this complex."
Arthur's words made him pause, freezing in his cramped hiding place. So, it wasn't Mordred pushing Arthur into this?
Hm, shame. It looked like Arthur's prophesized killer was still waiting to play his hand. Merlin would smite him with all his might when Mordred finally revealed his true colors, but it seemed like that day was yet to come.
So, it was the Disir at fault for this? They were the ones responsible for this perversion of destiny's will?
Merlin's lips curled with disgust as he watched Mordred instruct Arthur on how to properly pray to Emrys using a talisman. His irritation only increased as that buzzing headache suddenly came back.
Because this?! This was never supposed to happen. Merlin- and by extension, Emrys- was made for Arthur, to guide and protect him as he fulfilled his destiny. The druids could worship him all they liked in the meanwhile, but Arthur was never supposed to kneel before Emrys, never meant to pray to him.
Emrys is Arthur's servant, not the other way around.
This had to stop. Now.
And that's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed this continuation! I'll probably do a part 3, since I have some ideas on where this will go next!
And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings! :D
A big thank you to everyone who requested this continuation! I'll try to tag you all here, my apologies if I missed anyone!
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Morgana controlling shade!Lancelot's mind so that she can finally kiss Gwen (by proxy, at least):
I <3 delulu Morgana!
Thanks for tagging me @larluce! I'm a big fan of your au's!
Now, a there's some spoilers for some of my projects, so be warned!
First, the fics on ao3 that I'm working on:
What do to When An Eldritch God Decides that You're Friend Shaped: A Guide by Sir Leon the Long-Suffering
The thing is, I've already got all of the rest of the chapter titles till the end of the story already decided (and it'll be in total 30 chapters), but I can't spill all of them here without major spoilers for the entire story, but I will drop a couple future chapter titles (and they might be very soon or very far into the future of the fic, who knows?)
Reassure Your King While Keeping Your Eldritch Friend’s Secret (Because Reality May Implode If Your Eldritch Friend Becomes Upset)
Try to Gaslight the King on Behalf of Your Eldritch Friend (Because Your Own Life Has Apparently Spiraled Out Of Your Control)
Arthur’s Guide to Confronting an Eldritch God
2. My smaller project, the Archeologist Merlin and Immortal Camelot au. There's only two more chapters left and they're both going to be bonus scenes for the story, so I'll go ahead and drop them here!
Merlin's Unending Hygienic Struggle Against Medieval Medicine
MI6's Very Bad Day
Next, a small sampling of the au ideas sitting in my drafts (this is only a small part of it, there's like 18 of them in total right now)
3. Some of my unhinged au ideas for tumblr:
Merlin amasses an army of baby dragons, chaos and kidnappings ensue
Gwaine accidentally joins the Catha (which he thought was just an extreme Merlin fan club)
Making the ball of light from "The Poisoned Chalice" a reoccurring character, which Arthur starts believing is his guardian angel and convinces him that magic can be good, and then Merlin gets jealous over the ball of light that he's controlling
I hope you guys enjoyed this sneak peek into my drafts!
@achillesuwu, @justaz, and @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu
Thank you @tansyuduri for tagging me 😊
Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
I actually do have a lot of drafts of each story I have. I don't mind sharing snippets if you don't mind spoilers, of course. So I'm going to catagorize them as this:
Drafts of my fic "From the Grave to the Cradle" (because yes, I'm still working on it, I havent forgotten it):
Chapter 6: So far and yet so close (incomplete)
Merlin and Arthur after Emry's dead
Merlin and Gaius after Arthur is discovered as "The Lost Prince"
Arthur's confinement in his Royal Chambers
Morgana meets Kilgharrah
After war with Essetir
Merlin kills impostor knights
Merlin discovers Gwaine
And eye for and eye
The real prophecy
Memory transferency
Arthur hides Merlin's dagger
(I'm willing to share more of this one cause the story has been on pause for too long and I think it's the least you deserve)
2. Drafts of my fic "Dragonlord's son series" (or rather the sequel of it, "Loving the Dragonlord's son"):
Reconciliation (kind of the end of the saga, I already published the summaries of all the chapters in a previous post. I needed to have the end clear to know where I was going)
3. Drafts of my "Arthur and Merlin travel back in time without knowing the other is from the future too AU"
"The sins of a father"
Alternative "La morte of Arthur"
4. Drafts of my "Merlin as Arthur's familiar/Arthur's shapeshifter falcon AU"
Arthur arrests King Carleon's cousin
5. MerlinxThe son of The Song of Achilles AU
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Hello everyone! Since the "Morgana wants to be allies with Emrys" au received so much support, here's a continuation of that au!
NOTE: You can find part one of this au here!
To recap, in this au, Morgana is never told that Emrys is her doom, and instead assumes that the whole "Emrys is your destiny" thing means that she needs Emrys as her ally in order to achieve her destiny and conquer Camelot. She seeks out Emrys to no avail, but Mordred reveals to her that Merlin is Emrys. She then tries to get Merlin to join her, but he refuses. So, Morgana is trying to fight Arthur for Merlin's friendship so that she can finally take Camelot for herself.
Without further ado, onto the new stuff! Arthur and Morgana first try outdoing each other in terms of physical gifts. Morgana notes how Merlin still lives in relatively poor conditions, so she sends him things like nicer clothes, magic books, and the severed heads of his enemies. Arthur, who still doesn't know about Merlin's magic, gives Merlin new chambers, new furniture, and better pay. This leads to Morgana sending him a chest full of golden coins and jewels, and Arthur has to outdo her and give Merlin an even bigger chest full of gold and as send one to his mother. Morgana has her men steal the chest while it was en route to Ealdor and send it under her name instead.
Arthur gave Merlin access to the royal gardens so that he could just grow his medicinal herbs instead of having to go all the way out into the woods, and then Morgana refurbished the castle run-down nearest Ealdor, had it decked out in all the best finery that magic could conjure, and dedicated it to Merlin.
Merlin, meanwhile, just wanted a break, but he wouldn't get one.
Eventually, Arthur and Morgana get the memo that physical gifts wouldn't work, so they switched tactics.
Morgana then tried to appeal to Merlin a different way. If he wanted Arthur so badly, then she could provide him with an even better version of Arthur! Morgana selected loyal Emrys-worshipping druids who looked and spoke similar to Arthur and sent them to Camelot to try and woo Emrys to their side.
Merlin, waking up and seeing six knock-off Arthurs standing around him: Wait a minute, I've had this sex dream before!
Arthur, barging into Merlin's room because he's late and seeing six knock-off versions of himself standing around Merlin's bed: ... ARTHUR.EXE HAS STOPPED RESPONDING
When Arthur could finally comprehend what was going on, he had the look-alikes all sent to the dungeon. He's not sure who he was more pissed off about: Morgana sending those men, or Merlin looking like he was interested in them. But Arthur couldn't stay mad at Merlin for very long, so his rage was settled on Morgana once more. But how could he outdo a stunt like that?
As Arthur was plotting his next move that night, he caught sight of Merlin sneaking around the castle. He knew that Merlin would never betray Camelot, but Merlin sneaking around right after being offered gifts by Morgana is rather suspicious. Maybe there was more to the situation that Merlin was keeping from Arthur? In any case, Arthur had to follow Merlin, if only to ease his own fears.
So, Arthur stealthily followed Merlin and witnessed him using magic to kill an assassin sent by Morgana. Arthur is shocked by the revelation that Merlin has powerful magic, but all of a sudden Morgana's crusade to lure Merlin to her side made much more sense. He now knows that if he loses Merlin, he'll be losing all of the magic that's been thanklessly protecting him for years.
So, Arthur does the only thing that he can do: repeal the magic ban. The threat of execution for his magic is the one thing that could possibly drive Merlin from his side, so Arthur would simply remove it and thus remove any reason for Merlin to ever leave Camelot. Merlin would be happier and finally feel safe in his own home, and Arthur's wouldn't lose his closest friend (and secretly the object of his affections) to his harpy of a sister. It was a win-win for Arthur!
Arthur, of course, faced staunch resistance from the council, but he was the king at the end of the day, and so the magic ban was revoked. Arthur had a whole speech to the people and a celebratory feast after the repeal of the magic ban was signed into law, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Merlin as he proudly proclaimed to his citizens that magic would no longer be persecuted in Camelot. Arthur knew that he would be late to the feast as he spent the next few hours after his speech holding a sobbing Merlin in his arms, comforting him and whispering sweet reassurances in his ear.
Morgana, upon hearing the news of Arthur's repeal of the magic ban, was furious. It was her destiny to bring magic back to the land with the mighty Emrys by her side, and her idiot brother's!
Morgana became so infuriated by this that she marched her army of sorcerers right up to the gates of Camelot and demanded that Arthur hand over Emrys, or else she would march into the land and tear him away from Arthur by force.
Morgana, yelling at the walls of Camelot: Emrys, get out here! I have hundreds of shirtless himbos with swords for you to choose from! Take your pick! You don't need Arthur!
Arthur met Morgana at the walls (after ordering Merlin to stay behind in the castle so that Morgana couldn't take him and leaving a dozen knights behind so Merlin couldn't use magic to escape and follow Arthur like the annoyingly loyal and devoted friend that he was) and tried to negotiate with her, but Morgana wouldn't budge. After a while though, Arthur had an idea.
Arthur offered Morgana the chance to return to Camelot as a noble guest and live within the castle again, granting her full access to Merlin at all times so that she could try all of her tricks to lure him over to her side. In exchange, Morgana would call off her army and send them away and NOT try to kill anyone while she was living with them. Arthur's offer stated that if she did manage to get Merlin on her side, then she could, as she said, fulfill her destiny and try to take the throne from Arthur.
Arthur's logic was that if Morgana ever did get Merlin as her ally, Arthur's reign was already over then and there. If Merlin ever willingly turned his back on Arthur, then it surely meant that Arthur was no longer fit to be king. However, Arthur was certain that that would never happen. So, to Arthur, this deal would keep Morgana in the castle and keep her from killing anyone, allowing him to try and make amends with his sister.
Morgana thought over the deal for a while. To her, while living in Camelot and not being able to kill her enemies and claim the throne while she was there would be disappointing, having unimpeded access to Emrys would make achieving her destiny much easier, and once Emrys was her ally, they could easily conquer Camelot from within. Yes, Arthur was a fool, and this deal was a straightforward plan for her to take her rightful throne!
To Arthur's surprise, Morgana accepts her deal and sends her army away, willingly entering Camelot, much to the citizens' unease. Morgana glares at him and the knights as they make their way up to the castle.
Morgana was given her old chambers back, which hadn't been touched in the time that she was gone. All of her old clothes and jewelry were still there too.
Morgana settled in very quickly, she didn't have much to bring with her anyways. She'd have to have Mordred send Aithusa over to her though, since the young dragon hadn't been with her at the gates.
For now though, it was time to get down to business: she had to get Emrys to join her cause.
Granted, that might be a bit harder than she anticipated, given that the man in question looked like he had swallowed a lemon when he saw her in the castle. Clearly, he was wary of her, but she was certain that they would grow closer, as their glorious destiny intended!
In the meanwhile, Arthur had foolishly given her a seat at his council, so that she could advise them on magical topics and affairs. She did take great pleasure in seeing the lords and knight at Arthur's round table squirm at the sight of her though.
It didn't take long for Morgana to see how useless and inept Arthur's advisors were at actually running a kingdom. Dear gods, it was a miracle anything got done at all with how much those worthless lords squabbled with each other over inane topics! And all the while, her idiot brother sat in his chair, almost falling asleep!
Morgana was about to get up and storm out of the pointless meeting, but stopped when she saw Emrys, who was standing behind Arthur holding a pitcher and looking at the soon-to-be-deposed king (such a disrespectful job for someone as powerful as Emrys!) with a disappointed frown. Wait, this cold be how Morgana wins him over!
She has to prove to Emrys that she would be a better, more efficient ruler than Arthur! Then he would side with her!
So, Morgana threw herself into outwitting Arthur's useless council and winning arguments against them, making the whole thing much more productive really. She strongarmed them into discussing topics that actually mattered and not their own personal petty squabbles.
She was so busy watched Emrys's reactions that she completely missed how Arthur's eyes lit up with joy at seeing bits and pieces of the old Morgana shine through.
From there, Morgana is slowly redeemed as she tries to prove herself to be a better ruler than Arthur. Arthur has trouble ensuring that the harvest will be plentiful enough? Morgana can use magic to make crops grow with ease! Arthur has trouble negotiating a trade treaty with a neighboring kingdom? Morgana knows how to intimidate them into making a deal favorable for Camelot! Arthur's worried about an invading army getting too close to Camelot! Morgana can blast them all away with the wave of a hand!
Slowly, the people of Camelot become less and less scared of Morgana. As she's redeemed, Merlin gets closer with her again, almost sharing the friendship that they once had. Morgana sees this as a sign that she's close to winning Emrys over, so she doubles down. Morgana gets better, Emrys grows closer, and the cycle repeats itself until Morgana finds herself looking at Arthur and doesn't feel any of that familiar dark rage under her skin that usually accompanies the sight of her brother.
Maybe... maybe she could get used to the idea of staying in Camelot indefinitely, at least until her brother got himself killed. But the world seemed to already be doing a good job of throwing Arthur into deadly situations without her, so maybe she could just sit back in Camelot and teach those idiots in the council how to actually get some work done. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.
And that's all for this au! I hope you all enjoyed it! I have a little surprised planned for my next post, so be sure to stay tuned!
Also, here's everyone who asked for this continuation! Thank you so much for your support! @kj-owl, @smileytrinity, @nannersthespellcast0r, @nalua93, @wolfnight2012, @lucifertookmyshoe, @ath99, @thisinhumanplace, @hopeaha, @lightoftheemeraldstar, @valiantkittenwitch, @adragonhoardingstories, @foursixtwonineoh-pieces-of-lego, @the-king-and-the-druidess, @jellytamalies, @keenest-of-heart
And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings! :D
Ooh, this looks like fun! Beloved mutuals, what crazy theories do you have about me? :)
Hey guys! I've just posted the next chapter of my "Eldritch Merlin befriends Leon" fic! I hope you enjoy the new chapter! :D
I wanna write a really mundane magic reveal.
This has definitely been done before (please send fic recs) but I’m procrastinating and really want to write it.
Literally nothing is happening, Arthur is having a bath, Merlin is tidying up in his chambers one night and everything is basically fine.
Arthur asks Merlin how he manages to always get the bath water perfect and Merlin jokingly says “must be magic” while he’s distracted, Arthur stops and starts thinking about all the fallen tree branches, how his armour is perfect and even if Merlin is late, his food is always hot.
So Arthur realises Merlin is a sorcerer, but not a very good one if all he can do is boring stuff with chores. And if he’s not using magic to defeat all the bandits, it must be because he can’t defeat all the bandits. Not that he’s trying not to die or anything. In fact, the thought of killing Merlin, or of Merlin being punished for his magic, never even crosses his mind.
Arthur shrugs, because Merlin made the joke before, it was just his fault for not noticing it, also his father is still king, so it’s probably for the best that Merlin never said anything, and he tells Merlin to be careful about his magic and to only use it if he’s locked the door.
Merlin’s too shocked by the easy acceptance to panic, so he’s just like: “you’re cool with it?”
And Arthur, oblivious but in love, is just like “well, at least you’re good at something.” Because, sure, Merlin isn’t powerful, but he’s not about to piss off the guy who gives him perfect baths. Then he’s like, “maybe figure out how to lie so my father doesn’t find out about you though. We can figure out the ban once I’m king”
I’m picturing this to be in early/mid season two. Morgana never turns evil, Merlin helps her with her magic because I said so.
So Merlin and Arthur have a while for Arthur getting used to Merlin magically lighting fires, sharpening his sword, adding protection charms to his armour, heating his baths, removing stains from his clothes and even putting them back to being like new if they lost buttons or anything.
Then they go to find the dragonlord, Balinor survives also because I said so.
Merlin tells Arthur Balinor is his father in the inn before they meet him. Arthur is a little worried for Merlin, but ultimately happy for his friend.
Then Merlin uses magic infront of Balinor and Arthur after Merlin told Balinor that he’s his son. Balinor shoves Merlin behind him protectively and Arthur is confused, “why would anyone assume he’d hurt Merlin? It’s Merlin. If anything, he’s more useful as a servant and more honest as a friend since he found out about the magic.”
Balinor is floored by it, and starts treating Arthur a lot better. Arthur gets to ask about pre purge stuff, Balinor tells him a bit about his mother from when her parents visited his when they were kids, then about Ygraine visiting the dragons and how she, Balinor and others in court at the time were friends.
They take him to Ealdor after the dragon is defeated/banished and Arthur looks over at Merlin and realises “oh my god, you summoned the wind.”
And Merlin is like, “yeah? No big deal.”
So Arthur is left wondering why Merlin is downplaying what he thinks is the strongest bit of magic he’s ever done. He comes to the conclusion that Merlin is embarrassed that it was a fluke, he tries to reassure Merlin that he can always practice and learn to do stronger magic like that. Merlin is confused because the wind wasn’t strong magic?
Balinor realises what’s happening and decides he wants nothing to do with it so he stays quiet. (He’s already sensed a lot of power from Merlin, so he knows he’s strong.)
Anyway, they keep going to Ealdor. Merlin still hasn’t caught onto the fact that Arthur thinks he’s a weak sorcerer, Arthur hasn’t caught on to Merlin being strong and just thinks he’s a little bit embarrassed about not being that strong of a sorcerer.
Then they get to Ealdor, everything is great for about two days until it starts down-pouring. Enough rain to flood the village and everyone is worried because Cenred or Lot(?)(I don’t remember when Cenred dies in canon) isn’t going to do anything because he just doesn’t care so their fields will flood and they’ll starve and not be able to afford taxes.
Arthur tries to reassure Merlin that it’s okay, but Merlin just hums. He asks Arthur if they can still lie and say they were on a hunting trip if he does something about the rain, Arthur tells him he shouldn’t push himself or anything, but Merlin says he won’t and Arthur trusts him so it’s fine. Merlin then goes outside and casually stops the rain, clearing the clouds and moving the rainwater into the river.
Arthur is shook.
Then he’s got to realise that Merlin is powerful, but again he never lied about it so he can’t really get mad, so he decides it’s better to just be shocked and carry on as usual until he gets used to the idea that Merlin is stronger than he looks.
There’s also a little bit of a bi panic in there somewhere because Arthur definitely has a thing for competency. We all saw his crushes on Gwen, Merlin, Lancelot, Mithian if she wasn’t just the wrong person for him, I’m pretty sure Percival too. There’s definitely others I haven’t noticed or forgot about. You get the idea though.
He sees Merlin being good at Magic and is suddenly very confused by the feelings he’s too emotionally stunted to recognise. Even if it’s just small things, Merlin is good at something and ‘what the hell happened to the bumbling idiot who forgot to hand him his sword the first day? What? Huh?’
Then after he accepts Merlin is really good at magic, he decides: “great! He can train with me now! :D” and he drags Merlin out of Camelot to spar which is basically just Merlin teaching Arthur how to defend himself against magical attacks. Arthur thinks he’s helping Merlin to protect himself because ‘if all he can do is wind that’s hardly an offensive attack so he needs more help mastering that. And considering no one else knows, it’s my responsibility to make sure he’s safe if he ever needs it.’
Merlin is just glad to be accepted and that Arthur is willing to learn how to protect himself against the numerous magical attacks every week so he lets Arthur think whatever he wants about why they’re sparring.
But yeah, there’s minimal trauma, it’s not a big deal and they get the happily ever after they deserved.
POV: Someone accuses you of sorcery, but you're just a chill manservant who definitely doesn't practice magic:
THE HOT MEDIEVAL & FANTASY MEN MELEE
William Thatcher, A Knight’s Tale (2001) Portrayed by: Heath Ledger Defeated Opponents: - King Arthur [Charlie Hunnam], King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) - King Vortigern [Jude Law], King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) - Frodo Baggins [Elijah Wood], The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
“13-year-old me had such a HUGE crush on Will Thatcher / Ulrich von Liechtenstein, and you know what? 13-year-old me was RIGHT (and had much healthier taste in men). He's a dreamer, he's sweet (except maybe when you're dismissive about jousting...), he gives to others despite having little himself, he has the most charming, contagious smile. And to play us out... he's blonde! He's pissed! He'll see you in the lists! Lichtenstein! Lichtenstein!”
Sir Lancelot, BBC’s Merlin (2008-2012) Portrayed by: Santiago Cabrera Defeated Opponents: - Sid [Luke Youngblood], Galavant (2015-2016) - Chu Hun [Peter Ho], Double World (2020) - Sultan Alauddin Khilji [Ranveer Singh], Padmavaat (2018)
“THE MOST PERFECT LANCELOT TO EVER LANCELOT. Sorry I don't make the rules. He's got pretty hair and kind eyes and a killer smile and he's brave and noble and gorgeous and idiotically self-sacrificing in every aspect of his life and he's got hidden chaotic depths and everyone falls in love with him a little bit!!!!!!! And how can they not!!!!!!!!! How could you ever resist that intensity of loyalty and gorgeous brown eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
For William Thatcher:
“HE'S SO CUTE AND BRAVE AND STUPID AND DETERMINED AND FUNNY AND POETIC AND HE HAS BIG BEAUTIFUL BROWN EYES AND FRECKLES AND HE'S BISEXUAL-CODED HE'S MY BOY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH”
“The only man that could have pulled off a David Bowie dance scene within a medieval ballroom.”
For Sir Lancelot:
“He's just so pure and kind and romantic and also god*damn* his face is *literally* flawless and he's got those big brown eyes you could just fall right into and its an actual travesty that they only had him on the show like once a season he should have been a lead, that man deserves justice. For further propaganda I would like to submit the entirety of S2E4, which absolutely rewired my brain chemistry.”
“Hot as the dorky lowborn night with fluffy hair and as the evil, come-back-from-the-dead temptation.”
“Pretty much the whole of Camelot falls in love with him”
A great selection of my incoherent thoughts!AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticNeutral01/pseuds/ChaoticNeutral01
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