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that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction · 3 months

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Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction "?

Top 10 fics, in no particular order, (these are all complete, in English and most have just a touch of angst. Also there’s no smut, it’s just not something I enjoy reading)

things lost in the fire by earlgreylover98

ALTA fic In which Zuko isn't sure Ozai knows which side of his face he burnt off and it sends him spiraling, the gaang finds out about his scar. It's a super great one shot, 5,067 words

Drinking Buddies and Diaries by dove_dove

Good Omens fic where Muriel reads Aziraphel’s diaries and Crowley finds out some stuff about his angel. 31,115 words

The death song of arthur pendragon by hanyuism

Merlin fic, Orpheus and Eurydice but make it Merthur, the angst is amazing, 6,827 words

Two Feasts and a Bard by emerillon

Merlin fic, pure Mercelot fluff, completely destroyed me, I’ve reread this an unhealthy amount of times. 2,785 words

Possessed by Emrys by ooh_look_the_void

Merlin and Gaius tell Arthur that Emrys is a magical entity who possesses people to interact with the mortal realm so Merlin can use magic. It gets a bit out of control when Merlin isn’t the only one getting possessed by Emrys. 10/10 fic had me wheezing. 14,759 words. (You do need an account to read it but well worth it)

Kilgharrah Moves to Camelot by ticketyboo00

In which Kilgharrah learns to actually be a decent person, gets therapy and is surprisingly a good brother figure to Merlin. 55,918 words

i know why the birds sing your name by ironfamjam

Arthur is banished from Camelot, Merlin follows him, together they unite Albion and find a family along the way. It’s really cute, Merthur and background Gwencelot. I can’t remember if there were a few mild smut scenes but they were skipable I think. 113,376 words.

Merlin in disguise by Theroundbartable

5 Times Merlin disguised himself. And 1 time he stops hiding, Gwaine being Gwaine, Arthur being smitten, Merthur. 21,576 words.

For Want of a Nail by 0hHeyThereBigBadWolf

Fleeing from Essetir in the bloody beginnings of the Purge, Hunith finds herself on the doorstep of Leon’s family (Hunnith’s old friends) so Leon and Merlin are raised as brothers. Also needs an account to read, but one of my all time favourite fics 234,831 words

the cute guy next door (might be a villain) by Alesyira

Mha fic Shinsou is an underground, undercover pro hero trying to find a lead on a case that may or may not involve the socially awkward guy living next door, (Midoriya) Misunderstandings ensue

And shit that’s 10. I have so many more so let me know if you want any others. I’ve got a few Yuri on Ice fics, a lot more mha and toh, one or two Sasaki to Miyano, Seraph of the end and Sherlock fics. I’m still getting into Song of Achilles fics, but there’s a few of them and a few crossovers too.

And for my name, there’s a kinda long story behind it, but the short version is my grandad used to call me Nerdy or clever or anything like that, he always said being smart and working hard to be smart was the best thing a person could do and I really looked up to him as everything I wanted to be when I grew up. Then when I came online in lockdown during Covid, it was just a whim that stuck to go by Nerd, or ThatNerd on Ao3 but the user was taken so I added bits till I found something available. After he died, it became more sentimental but generally it was just a lockdown thing that stuck.

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theroundbartable · 9 months

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Sometimes I wonder what it means, when Kilgharrah said:

"No man can know his destiny."

Because it sounds like he wasn't allowed to fully know Merlin and it retrospect, Merlin couldn't ever fully know Arthur.

Sometimes, when I rewatch the final episode and Gaius said: "you were right to tell him." i doubt it. I doubt it so much, because Merlin showing himself fully leads to Arthur's death in the great scheme of things. If Merlin hasn't told him, hadn't waited, hadn't reintroduced himself, he may have found another way. He may have called on Kilgharrah sooner. He may have found some way to save him. Maybe through the cup of life. Because in the narrative, it's them knowing each other that kills Arthur.

I wonder about this, because it means that there is a part of Arthur we never got to know. Merlin lives because he never knew Arthur completely. Arthur died, because he saw Merlin's true self.

Naturally, this doesn't fit in the whole "Arthur's bane is himself", except if you see Merlin and Arthur intertwined at their soul. As if they were one person together, which is a narrative I personally don't like very much. Let me know what you think.

#bbc merlin #merlin #merthur #merlin bbc #meta #ah #i hate this #Arthur's death #spoiler lol

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adhd-merlin · 3 months

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merlin S1 rewatch: episode 9

let’s move on to ep 1x09 because I need to get on. with my life. I already re-watched this ep months ago and I can’t be arsed to do it again so I’m going to use screencaps and perhaps the transcript to refresh my memory.

kilgharrah warning merlin that excalibur MUST NOT be wielded by anyone but arthur, and merlin handing the sword to uther literally the next morning is so funny to me. it's kind of the same thing that happens with the cup of life, when iseldir tells merlin “hey this is important so don’t lose it okay?” and five minutes later we see the cup rolling down a hill. I love consistent characterisation. please don’t give this boy anything important for safekeeping he has enough on his plate already!!

I think Arthur’s coronet looks a bit dumb but still it’s nothing compared to the horrendous Burger King crown he'll wear as king. why did uther get such a prettier crown. why couldn't arthur just wear his father's crown. so many questions

why did they name the undead knight tristan, was he supposed to be the tristan? I think he was. I think their take on tristan and isolde in S4 was so disappointing btw. anyway moving on

Merlin: Gaius have you seen that knight’s crest before? Gaius: No, I don’t think so. I didn’t see it clearly. Actually I’m not even sure I saw a knight. Perhaps it was a trick of the light or a collective hallucination

Sir Owain: I don’t need luck Arthur: oh fuck he’s going to die

Arthur’s face after Uther holds him back and someone else picks up the undead knight’s gauntlet. so much self-sacrificing acts of bravery and NONE of them done by him. wrong and upsetting

S1 Arthur I'm not sure how to tell you this so I'll just say it. your haircut looks dangerously close to a mullet

Merlin: maybe arson can fix this

Nimueh telling Uther she was his friend!!! fuck season 6 I want a Merlin prequel

he’s a precious baby. he’s shmol. only tiny

gwen doing her whole “you know I'd grant you anything merlin… I mean, not anything! haha” meanwhile merlin is too worried about keeping arthur alive to notice. GIRL HE'S BUSY

WHY. who stands like this

he holds this stupid pose the entire time morgana is talking to him. imagine begging someone not to commit suicide while they brood and look out of the window like a sullen byronic hero. I would have pushed him out of the window. drama ass bitch

this is the second nighttime encounter between uther and gaius in this episode. uther saying goodbye to gaius before going to fight in arthur’s place. toxic yaoi. is this anything

YOU KNOW NOTHING YOU STUPID CHILD. I love that Kilgharrah is a hater and a bitch. to be fair to him he spent 20 years in solitary confinement so he's earned it

gaius drugging arthur then gently helping him into his bed is hilarious. he’s so good at lying and drugging people. big fan of gaius using his evil talents for the greater good, or just to have a laugh sometimes which is equally valid

what a fine blade you have there… it would be a shame if something were to happen to it

he’s wearing silver bracelets!! plural!!

[Enter Arthur, visibly furious]

Gaius [gathering his things]: I've just remembered I've left something on the stove. I must go right now immediately

Arthur [while Gaius scurries away]: YOU HAD GAIUS DRUG ME??

arthur and uther little father and son moment was cute ngl

there are a few more scenes until the end but I don't have much to say about them except that I love gaius and merlin's relationship

Gaius: [stares loudly] Merlin: [pretends not to notice]

#a very serious commentary of ep 1x09 #rewatch1.jls #merlin's body count: still 4 #I'm sorry about the horrible wide spacing it is tumblr's fault

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the-knight-of-the-stars · 1 year

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10 years later after it's airing, I would like to dedicate a moment to talk about how I think Merlin last episode is an absolute GEM.

Is it perfect? No. It has its problems? Yes. But the things it does well, it does it with wonder.

First of all, I think it was brilliant, that most of the big ass battle and the fighting were on the previous episode.

Now it all reduces us to Merlin and Arthur. Them, their story. Everything that was built up between them has brought us to this. Their friendship, their trust, the profound love they feel for each other, the entire transformation their relationship had. From being rivals to being friends to being essencially each other's soulmate.

Season five really shinned on showing just how close and intimate Arthur and Merlin have become after spending every day thogeter all those years, after saving each other's lives so many times. And specially, just how blindly Arthur trusts Merlin, and how much Merlin has come to love Arthur.

And what I love about the final episode is that its respectful towards the characters, and towards what us as an audience have been living through them. It was always about them. Arthur and Merlin, Merlin and Arthur. Their magical bond, the fate they were destined to have, but also the relationship and love they chose to have for one another.

Is actually amazing how full circle everything comes. Specially regarding one of the most central themes of the show: Destiny.

From episode one, we were told about the inamovility of destiny in this world. And we saw again and again Merlin trying to change destiny, and each time he failed. And the most dreaded prophecy Merlin tried again and again to evoid from coming true was Arthur's death.

At first for a sense duty, then because he started to belive in him, and finally because he had come to love him.

The final episode is not some epic long battle, is not about saving the kindom, is not even about defeating Morgana. Is Merlin, one last time, trying to save the man he loves most in the world. And like every time, he failed.

All along it was true what Kilgharrah said in episode one: "None of us can choose our destiny, and none of us can skip it".

I can't recal any other show going with the theme of "You can't scape fate" all the way through, until the very end. The show is over when Merlin finally accepts that he can't change fate, that in that sense, he is powerless.

It all started with the prophecy of a Dragon, an with exactly that it ends. Is heartbreaking, and sad, and the perfect tragic tale.

And if that is not enough, this episode has hands down one the best dialogues on the entire show. So many beautiful, powerful and iconic lines that tell us so much about the characters in little words.

"I have magic, and I used it for you Arthur, only for you" - "Merlin you are not a sorcerer, I would know"

"You've lied to me all this time"

"I was born to serve you Arthur, and I'm proud of that"

"I also do this, because you are my friend and I don't wanna lose you"

"All this time, Merlin, you never once sort any credit" - "That's not why I did it"

"I don't want you to change. I want you to always be you."

"With all your magic Merlin, you couldn't save me"

"I'm not going to lose you"

"Just hold me, please"

"Everything you've done, I know now. For me, for Camelot, for the kindom you helped me build."

"I'm going to say something, I've never said to you before. Thank you."

"I can't lose him! He is my friend!"

"For when Albion's need is greatest, Arthur will rise again"

#bbc merlin #merlin bbc #I'm emotional ok?#merlin #arthur pendragon #merthur

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godmerlin · 4 months

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Ok so finally after all these years I've got my dad to watch Merlin with me. After years of my mom saying he'd like it. I managed. I'd like to think my mom knows and is really happy about this but also feels a bit mischievous the way I do because I already know he's going to HATE me when the show is over. 🤣 we watched the first 3 episodes. Going to watch more tomorrow. But first episode he's like "I didn't know Arthur was such an ass" and im like give it time....by second episode he's like "ok I see arthur's appeal" 🤣🤣🤣 my dad's an arthur girlie apparently but at one point I can't remember which episode it was in he paused it and stopped turned to me and wad like "is this a gay thing? It feels like a gay thing" 🤣🤣🤣 then he's like I don't know though the girls are quite cute and Merlin seems smitten. And then he's like why does Arthur have thr hots for his sister? I had to explain she's not technically his sister and it's a plot that quickly disappears hahahaha but he was like "so that's what the kids are calling it these days...destiny" hahahaha I was laughing so hard. Watching stuff with my dad is always a riot his commentary has always made me laugh but with this show its even more so. I told him to brace himself for the next episode tomorrow since it's episode 4 and we all know what happens in that episode. I can already tell my dad's going to be a confused multi shipper. 🤣 but he was just like "oh boy" hahahaa oh ajd when uther made Merlin arthur's manservant my dad was a bit like did he just make Merlin his sex slave and I burst out laughing im like no just his own personal servant and he's like but aren't they a bit historically sexual and im like there were cases yes. And he's like destiny, eh. I'm like oh my God. He's like you always like the gay things I shouldn't be surprised you and your people! 🤣🤣🤣 I'm like I promise it's not just a gay thing. And he's like sure okay and im like it's going to be all the things combined. Just wait. Watch it. Embrace it. Wait for the pain. 🤣🤣🤣 he's finally gonna understand after all these years and it amuses me to no end. I feel like cackling. When my dad made a quip when merlin yells out needing a straight answer to kilgharrah I knew this was gonna be a show for my dad. Lmfao

#merlin #you and your people #🤣🤣🤣#my dad watches mord explicity queer things than i do #and he always tries to get me to watch with him because he thinks it will lile bond us #but im like no pain death show please

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bitsandbobsofwriting · 2 years

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Been contemplating the implications of Phoenix!Merlin, in which yes Merlin is immortal, but he can't come back until his body burns. I think Lancelot knows Merlin is immortal but not that he needs to be burned. Maybe they wait hours, days, weeks, until eventually they're forced to believe they were wrong and he's not coming back, so they finally put him to rest and only then does he return

(Headcanon Masterlist) (Full Masterlist)

I hope it's ok that I turned this into a shorter Headcanon post than a full fic!! It's pretty similar to my Merlin Dies fic (the first one I ever posted😌)

SO

I love this Phoenix!Merlin idea!! BUT!! What if, in this world, Phoenixes don't exist, but all the legends and stories and lore around them came from people who had witnessed Dragon things?? And misunderstood/mis-seen it?? If we ignore Aithusa's egg scene (which we can do, because it's an AU, and the power of imagination is very strong) and replace it with Merlin having to use fire to burn the egg to ash, from which Aithusa rises, and this situation, decades/centuries prior, is what starts the rumours.

Maybe some travellers see a Dragon hatching in flame, and from the bushes they're hiding in, the creature looks like a bird rather than a dragon, and the story is spread and mis-told and warped and changed for the sake of the story/because of bad story telling. Things just go from there. Sightings of Phoenixes are common both because people lie, and because baby dragons used to be far more common than they are now. And once a rumour/legendary creature like that is invented, it's basically impossible to destroy, so even when dragon scholars and Dragon Lords come out and are like "actually... uh..." it's just... not common knowledge that it's a Dragon thing and not a Phoenix thing.

And as we know, anything that is a Dragon thing, is probably a Dragon Lord thing as well. Merlin is immortal because he's Emrys or whatever, but that just means he doesn't age and heals very quickly. If he actually DIES it's the Dragon Blood that brings him back to life.

So yeah, either pre or post magic reveal, Merlin dies. It's very horrible, everyone is heartbroken, but they either know already, or are told, that he's immortal, and it's only a matter of time before he wakes up again. HOWEVER Balinor isn't around and Kilgharrah is still feeling petty, so they have no one to tell them how it actually works. They keep Merlin's body clean and presentable to the best of their abilities, which is HORRIBLE, because even if you know your friend will be waking up any second, you still have to handle their corpse.

But then... he doesn't wake up. The body goes stiff, and then it stops being stiff, and then it starts doing all the normal corpse stuff of smelling and leaking and just generally being gross. He gets paler and paler and the blood pools at the bottom of his body and his eyes and cheeks and abdomen sinks in and they have real trouble keeping flies and bugs away and it just gets to the point where... this isn't sustainable. They have to accept that Merlin is dead and, if he IS coming back, it surely can't be to this?? Arthur, after much persuasion from Gaius and maybe some Druids (who have no real idea how his immortality works, and are half grieving that they were wrong and half trying to convince themselves that everything will work out in the end), finally decides that Merlin deserves a proper funeral. He originally intends to bury him like normal, but the Druids, various other sorcerers, and probably Lancelot (though this is eating him up inside, he thought he'd have Merlin forever and sort of took that for granted) convince him that considering how magical and powerful he is... was, it's too dangerous to leave his body intact. There are some creepy, dark strands of necromancer's magic out there which could cause severe amounts of damage if Merlin's body was desecrated and broken down into components, so he's burned instead.

It's a hugely sombre affair. Basically everyone is crying, because they'd put this off for so long, and lighting the wood feels like a final acceptance that he's not coming back, that they've given up. And then like... a while later, when there’s literally nothing left but dust and charcoal black scraps, some sooty, dirty, butt naked body just... sits up?? Coughing up ash and shards of bone?? Everyone is shocked into silence until Gaius or some random Druid or Mordred or someone, just goes "Holy Fuck... he's a Dragon Lord" and then Merlin like... covers his junk up and shivers in the wind and is all "You... you didn't have to make this such a public affair, could someone grab me some clothes please?" and they all jump into action. Arthur covers himself in... the ash of his best friend's gross mouldy body jumping up onto the pyre to pull Merlin down. He's hugged, he's wrapped in about twenty knights’ cloaks, everyone cries some more. He makes some annoyed comment about having to wash all this shit out of all their clothes, and the crying gets, somehow, significantly worse, until he sighs and hugs them back and allows himself to be smothered with love.

Arthur pulls back, punches him, and goes "What the shit was that?? What took you so long??" and Merlin has to explain that like... his Emrys immortality is just not aging and healing quick... his coming-back-from-the-dead immortality is a Dragon thing and requires being burned before it like... kicks in. Everyone is mildly embarrassed, especially the people who knew about the Dragon Lord thing, and ESPECIALLY when someone says "Oh! Like a Phoenix, right?" and Merlin gets all grumpy and is like "No. Like a Dragon.".

Anyway, it's a big lesson, and if he ever dies again they take a LOT less time before burning him, do it privately, and have clothes and a bath ready for when he rises. They take to calling him Phoenix as a cute little nickname, but only because they know it annoys him because apparently Phoenixes don't actually exist and it's just been a huge, centuries-long miscommunication, which Merlin is now desperately trying to fix within the public education system or whatever.

~

Thank you Heart and I hope you liked this!!!

Let me know your thoughts, Gang!!

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mistydaysofavalon · 1 year

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ok i'm super curious about the "Don't Wake the Dragons" wip 👀 such a wonderful title, first off, but like yeah would this be related to Dragonlords????

also the "not a hogwarwts" one made me giggle and i'd love to hear about how much it's not hogwarwts

ah, thank you! I do remember being very smug about that title ;)

it's not connected to Dragonlords in general, but to our dear Merlin. (however, that is a very intriguing idea and I'll get to it in a second, but first on to the actual wip.)

it is set in modern day britain and everything is essentially the way it is right now. a team of scientists discovers a new system of caves and proceed to accidently wake Kilgharrah, who has been sleeping in that very cave for centuries.

now, you can imagine that a dragon suddenly flying around causes panic and chaos. a special unit is formed to stop the "horrible beast". Arthur, to his dismay, is not part of that unit and instead has to stay back to do research. and oh boy will he find something interesting...or perhaps someone?

that being said...

your ask made me imagine a canon era au where the dragonlords along with the dragons managed to survive the purge but went into hiding. (seriously, you can't tell me uther managed to extinguish such powereful beings with...a few knights? who, as we can see when kilgharrah attacks Camelot, don't stand the slightest chance against just one dragon.)

this au would probably be set relatively shortly after balinor's death and still under uther's reign. maybe merlin somehow stumbles across a sleeping dragon somewhere and discoveres a whole soceity of dragonlords living in peace away from Camelot. then there'd be the conflict between staying there comfortably and the responsbility merlin feels to use all this power to change something about the situation in camelot. it'll take some convincing but eventually the dragonlords agree to join him.

And so the dragon awakes and flies for Camelot to take back the land where magic once roamed free....or maybe it's a bit more diplomatic and Arthur is involved somehow (boo, boring, diplomacy). no, i think i like the idea of a) merlin having enough of waiting for arthur to maybe eventually change things as king and taking matters into his own hand and b) the moral conflict between not wanting to overthrow your friend's kingdom but on the other hand not being able to stand by watching as your people are killed.

alright, alright, i'll stop there but i think you've just added a new wip to my list

moving on to the one that is definitely not a "hogwarwts" au. first of i'd like to clarify there genuinely is no harry potter in sight and it technically isn't even an alternate universe. however, it has some tropes that will appear in merlin x hp crossovers and a school where magic is taught, so...

man, i forgot how much i love this one. i had way too much fun with worldbuilding and figuring out backstories. It started with the thought of what if gwen legalised magic and it continued to prosper after her reign?

we are left with a modern world similar to ours (and distinctly differnet to HP, might i add ;)) where magic is just a usual part of life. some have it, many don't (i may or may not have made an excel diagram showing how magic is distributed in the population).

due to unfortunate circumstances merlin was turned into a child and lost all his memories. due to more fortunate circumstances he ends up in a prestigious school where (amongst many other things) magic is taught. Arthur naturally chooses the time where merlin can't help him navigate the modern world to come out of his lake.

to make things even harder, legends about the canon era of the show have survived but, as this is a pro-magic soceity, arthur is generally portrayed as the bad guy and strongly disliked.

#my wips #tag game #you might notice two patterns within my wips #a) they are usually taking place after the canon events and have a strong focus on how merlin deals with his immortality #b) i usually spend much more time on worldbuilding and setting the scene for the story than the actual writing #(which is my favourite thing about writing so i'm not complaining and i am doing this for my own enjoyment after all)

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none-ofthisnonsense · 2 months

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Merlin S4E2, "The Darkest Hour: Part Two"

Leon is logical and I both hate and love him for it.

I'm totally not crying at Percival carrying Merlin followed by the knights.

I am LIVING for the Gwaine/Leon interactions.

Lancelot takes good care of Merlin.

Ohh Merlin can interact with the water spirits? That's really cool. Lancelot is special.

I like these Vilia. Based on the music they're nice.

We seem to be getting more Celtic mythological figures this sseason.

THEIR FACES

Gwen you're great but also your plea is going to fall deaf on Agravaine's ears.

GEOFFREY!!! I KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU!

I am loving Merlin this episode.

Gwen you go girl stand your ground. But also don't trust Agravaine. OH THE FILTHY BASTARD TELL A FRIEND AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WHO WITH.

Gaius is wary. GOOD.

Taxidermy museum?

Morgana in Camelot??

Wordless spells - she's way more powerful than she seems

Slimy arsehole don't you dare touch her

Of all people, Elyan is the one you can tell.

Oh piss off Lancelot the only thing Arthur has better than you is social standing

Merlin why the fuck are you summoning Kilgharrah

Lancelot is thinking. I'm thinking that he's considering sacrificing himself instead.

Aww Kilgharrah… He and Merlin have the best complex relationship. I need more of them interacting just for the sake of it.

Knight talk is the funniest.

Arthur and Merlin conversations cannot be surpassed by anything.

I forgot Merlin was a dragonlord! (Despite him summoning Kilgharrah ten minutes ago.)

I've never seen Merlin look so pale.

LANCELOT YOU DON'T GET TO DIE

Fuck I'm crying. I don't believe Lancelot is dead he can't be. It's not possible. IL A PAS LE DROIT DE MOURIR J'Y CROIS PAS IL EST PAS MORT J'Y CROIS PAS IL PEUT PAS MOURIR

#merlin #bbc merlin #merlin s4 #merlin s4e2 #the darkest hour #the darkest hour part two

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eihwaz-y-d · 1 year

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Dragons in Human clothing

Part 1

Hi. As I said in the bio I'm also a fan of BBC Merlin / the Adventure of Merlin and I really like Dragons and so I did this. This story was inspired by two fanfiction that I read if I find them again I'll let you know the names. I will probably write this story here as a rough story and later will make a proper fic (with chapters that are logical rather than just ending a part if I don't want to write further and with a proper disclaimer and structure and everything.) but till than, I hope you all enjoy reading it like I enjoyed writing it!

Disclaimer : I do not know anything and I do what I want, it's a fantasy story.

Why does the prat and his knights never listen to him then he tells them not to do something, like going into the creepy cave just because there are rumors about magic.

Alright, there is magic in this cave, Merlin could immediately tell but it's old and dormant. So freaking old and whatever this magic is, it's better left sleeping. Naturally they woke up whatever it was and it wasn't quite happy to be woken.

There was a growling and roaring, something really deep in the belly of the cave started softly glowing and the walls started moving. Some ways closed, some new ways opened up and some stones rained from the ceiling, splitting up the group till Merlin was all alone. He could hear the knights calling for each other and just as Merlin wanted to call out for the other too, he heard something. A whisper, a plea to follow and Merlin did follow it. The next thing he remembers is standing in an open space much bigger than Kilgharrah cave under Camelot with a soft blue glowing stone plaque and a dragon skeleton curled around the stone. The stone looks like it once was bigger, the top part broken away and with some inscription on it. Merlin is drawn to it like a moth to the light. He never saw symbols like that but he still can read them like it was all plain English. He reaches for the glowing stone and the words, not unlike the dragon speak, are tumbling from his lips without a way of stopping. With the last word spoken, cold stone meets his hand and he feels he magic within bursting out, knocking him out.

Slowly Merlin regains consciousness and promptly regrets it.

Everything hurts. His head, his back, his fingertips and palm, heck, even his teeths hurt. Merlin hates waking up like this.

It's dark, the open space with the glowing stone and the skeleton are gone. Maybe some falling stone hit him in the head and everything was just a dream but Merlin is never that lucky. Something did happen, the magic is quite awake now.

Feeling around he tries to find a way out, the soft humming from the magic leads him easily but slowly out and to the others. He can hear the knights and Arthur before he sees them.

Everyone made it out of the cave and no one was seriously hurt, except for Merlin. Merlin has yet to come out. Arthur thinks, The cave was strange, it separated everyone but leads also everyone out again with its opening and closing of ways, everyone expects Merlin.

Behind him the knights are arguing or more likely Gawain is arguing with everyone else, while his other knights from the round table are silent.

" We need to go back, Merlin is still in there!" shouts Gawain. And Kay shouted right back.

" You want to go back in? The cave is cursed! It's like a moving labyrinth in there, we are lucky to have made it all out alive!"

" Not all! Merlin is still in there! We should-"

Arthur has enough of it, he can't think with them arguing like that.

" Enough! Gawain I understand your worries but going I blind will not help Merlin. We can't go in there without a safe way out. We need a plan-. ''

Before he can say more, Merlin stumbles into the clearing. He looks worse for wear, tired and pale, his clothes have tears everywhere and are dirty with dust and something brownish red, what Arthur prays is not blood but mostly like is. He is swaying where he stands and blood is running from his hands. Aside from that, he is alive. Merlin looks from one knight to another till his gaze locks with Arthur's and the relief he is feeling is like a huge weight was lifted away till Merlin opens his mouth and starts talking. Arthur nearly rolls his eyes.

"Arthur, please listen to me the next time I say I've got a bad feeling about something."

But before Arthur can say something, Merlin's eyes roll back in the back of his head and pass out.

Lancelot is the first one to reach Merlin, Gawain hot on his heels, and Carefully examined his friend.

" Sire, there is a nasty wound on the back of his head and his palms. I fear he needs Gaius or at least another physician."

"Saddle the horse, if we hurry we can make it to the next village before dark, hopefully they have a physician there."

Gawain and Lancelot are carefully cleaning and dressing up the wound and then they are on the way.

There isn't in fact a physician in the next village.

If they were to ride through the night, they would reach Camelot till noon. He could send someone forward to tell Gaius to prepare for the emergency, let the other horses and knights rest for some hours and then someone should share their horses with Merlin. Maybe it would be easier for the horses if the extra weight would be shared every few hours. Merlin really needs some medical attention. But as long as he doesn't get worse, Arthur thinks, there is no need to be fast and reckless, then they need to be careful and fast. It's just his luck that the physician apprentice, the one who would know how to treat the injured, is the one in need of a physician.

He sends Lamorak ahead.

Merlin did not wake fully till they reached Camelot.

On the way his temperature started to rise rapidly and he was murmuring and wimmering. Sometimes he would start to twitch and crying out in pain till consciousness pulled him under again. After that, Arthur took Merlin's limp form from Percival and held him till they arrived in Camelot.

#fanfic #work in progress #the adventures of merlin #bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #Dragons in Human clothing #knights of the round table #Dragons

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circle-mp3 · 1 year

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Fandom: Merlin?

Send me a fandom and I’ll tell you my:

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Morgana, i'm pretty sure my first blog was themed after her but i don't talk about her enough here tbh :')

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): mordred <3 not even just s2 mordred he had one of the best season five story lines imo

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): HUNITH

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): vivienne and ygraine. technically vivienne didnt get Any screentime but. anyway

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): morgause. yes i like her for the same reasons i dislike kilgharrah what about it

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): uther. i am not usually a villain apologist but season two morgana was literally right about wanting that guy dead

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): kilgharrah i feel doesnt need explaining

#bbc merlin #nightingaleflow #asks #thank u for the ask <3 <3

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weakforarwen · 2 years

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That analysis on Merlin's journey was so depressing & so true. For me nothing is more heart-breaking than the young, idealistic Merlin full of hope on the road to Camelot in the first scene of the first episode, reduced to the old, demoralised Merlin in the final scene circling modern-day Glastonbury, still waiting for Arthur. What a great personification for the emotions of those who watched from the beginning to the bitter end!

Yeah, Merlin's journey was the typical hero's journey. I've yet to see a hero who doesn't become demoralized and bitter due to the choices they've made and the things they've seen. In that regard, Arthur's arc was much more satisfying than Merlin's. He didn't grow nearly as much as he should've, since the writers insisted on having him repeat the same mistakes over and over, yet, despite being betrayed twice, losing his father, being at war with Morgana, seeing death and killing people all the time, he remained a trusting and hopeful person 'til the end. Unlike Merlin, Arthur had people he relied on: Merlin, Gwen, the Knights. Gwen always reminded Arthur to follow his heart and tried to stop him from becoming someone vengeful and hardened (eg. His Father's Son or Another's Sorrow). She was a beacon of light in his life; as long as he had her, he could overcome everything ("Where's Guinevere? [...] Then there's still hope."). Merlin gave Arthur hope and believed in him too.

But Gaius was Merlin's only support system, and, while he believed in Merlin and loved him, he was also very passive, always telling Merlin not to act, to not follow his instincts, to stay hidden; more than half the time that didn't help, and isolated Merlin even more. Kilgharrah was the same; he told Merlin to kill Morgana and Mordred, but Merlin wasn't that kind of person. He could've helped them both; instead he became their enemy.

Arthur and Merlin had such different journeys for ones who shared a destiny; two sides of the same coin indeed - a coin has two different sides and you can only see one side at once. Arthur was the happiest he'd ever been in season 5 while Merlin was the saddest. Arthur was happily married, more sure of himself than ever, optimistic about the future; Merlin was alone and disillusioned. He was still a good person though, and because of him Arthur got Gwen back. Merlin protected Arthur's innocence and optimism. What would Arthur have become had Uther murdered Gwen? Had Gwen been lost to Morgana forever? I often wonder what kind of man Arthur would've become without Gwen. How much more like Uther would he have been?

It's not that Merlin lost more than Arthur. Both lost their fathers, Morgana, Lancelot; at least Merlin had Gaius and had been lovingly raised by Hunnith. However, Merlin had to live in secret and always lost the people who knew who he really was, like Will, Freya, Lancelot, Balinor. Living in secret and not being able to share his pain, fears, insecurities with those closest to him is what made Merlin become so withdrawn and miserable. Furthermore, Arthur lived his life freely; he had responsibilities but believed he had free will. Merlin believed he had a destiny to fulfill, so every loss, every mistake, every kill, was so much worse for him, for a boy who hadn't been raised to become a warrior or a King for whom death was a currency.

Everything would've been different had Lancelot lived. Unlike Gaius, I believe he would've shouldered some of Merlin's burdens and tried to protect his physical and mental well-being. He wouldn't have been the only one either. I don't think Gwaine would've cared that Merlin had magic. Gwen would've understood too, and perhaps the other knights as well. They were loyal to Arthur, but I think Gwaine would've kept Merlin's secret and Gwen would've helped Arthur accept Merlin. Imagine Arthur had known what Merlin did. What kind of choices would he have made? I know he would've tried to understand why Mordred would kill him and made sure he didn't give him a reason to. Arthur wouldn't have poisoned Morgana either; he would've fought those knights to the death if necessary. Ironically, the king of bad decisions would've probably made better ones than Merlin. What Merlin had needed was to believe in people like Arthur did.

But, yeah, Merlin's journey was very typical of a hero. For example, Buffy also had a depressing arc; most heroes are closer to antiheroes at the end of a series, and every series tends to become bleak and depressing as it progresses. I think writers conflate development and maturity with darkness. To mature a character or a show, they end up making it 'darker', but that doesn't necessarily imply growth. You can keep a show interesting and raise the stakes without depressing the audience...

Anyway, thanks for the ask!

#ask #bbc merlin #merlin #bbc arwen #arthur pendragon #gwen pendragon #lancelot #gaius #thanks for the ask!

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oneirataxia-girl · 9 months

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ALVITA YOU GORGEOUS PERSON!!! You're on my OC Creator Bingo Card, and since I have not the talent to make anything for your beautiful children (😅), here come the questions!!

First off, I recently looked through your tag for your Merlin baby Lynelda, and I love love love her!! So, take this ask as your chance to infodump about her!! Tell me about her past, her personality, her relationships, how she gets together with Merlin, anything you want, this is your chance to tell the world whatever you want about her!!

Hope you're doing well, my love, and expect more asks soon!! ❤❤❤

raven raven!! i'm so glad i'm on your card!! and okie dokie i'm ready to use my pea brain aksdasd

(under a cut for those who don't wanna scroll)

SO, Lynelda -- the dragon of the people, as some would call her, due to (1) Elda notoriously always giving up half of her month's wages to those who need it. (2) that one time she slapped a soldier because he was verbally assaulting Valeria, another barmaid in the Rising Sun, which is actually where she and Merlin first meet!! the Rising Sun is the tavern that he goes to whenever he can, both to unwind from the stress of being Prince Prat's manservant and to check out the pretty girl his fellow townspeople dubbed little dragon; but what the folks don't know is that they're actually correct about calling Lynelda a dragon -- a more accurate term would be a dragonborn, but that's something to talk about at another time -- and when Lynelda first heard the name, she nearly grabbed all her stuff and ran for it via the underground tunnels of the city, which was also how she discovered Kilgharrah one sleepless night when she was a no more than a child. Lynelda doesn't like Kilgharrah and the feeling is more or less mutual, Elda thinks that the Great Dragon puts himself on a high pedestal while Kilgharrah thinks that Lynelda cares too much and she'll understand his hatred towards humans sooner or later; Lynelda can't really say that she doesn't wish that some people are dead though, after the execution of her adopted brother Thomas Collins, she helps his mother/her adoptive mother Mary Collins to try to kill Arthur, and when that fails, she only watches from the sidelines when other people try to kill the prince until the events of The Poisoned Chalice, when Arthur's willingness to defy orders for Merlin makes Lynelda wonder if Uther's family is really all bad

i listened to her newly revamped playlist while writing this btw!! you can find it here <33

#oc: lynelda #holy moly this is long #i am so sorry if you read all that #im just really happy for a chance to ramble about my dragon child #oc creator bingo #ocb2023 #alvita's answers #thank you sm for the ask

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adhd-merlin · 3 months

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merlin S1 rewatch: episode 8

this is a thing I was doing do you remember? do you remember this was a thing I was doing

it’s been like 3 months since I re-watched episode 8 (and 9!) so I’ve just re-re-watched it. Just now.

Would you let something terrible happen if it meant you'd stop something even worse happening in the future?

A fascinating ethical dilemma. Would you pull the lever in the trolley problem? Would you travel back in time and kill baby Hitler?

It isn't just Mordred’s life for Arthur’s, but Mordred’s life against the Golden Age and the freedom for magic people that Arthur is supposed to bring, so I understand why Merlin felt torn. There’s no clear-cut answer, which is what makes this storyline so compelling.

Anyway, let’s start with my main grievance – Mordred’s powers.

Merlin tells Gaius that he heard the Druid boy’s voice inside his head, to which Gaius replies:

Yes, I've heard of this ability. The Druids look for children with such gifts to serve as apprentices.

In this episode, Mordred mind-speech is a special ability that sets him apart from other children. By season 5, any random Druid can use it, to the point that Merlin is surprised when he tries to communicate with Daegal telepathically and the boy cannot hear him. The episode hints to Mordred’s magic being remarkable, even dangerous (like when he magically shatters a mirror in a fit of rage), but by season 5 Mordred barely even uses it.

I am fascinated by Mordred’s backstory and disappointed that the writers forgot their own set-up, or decided to ignore it.

I only knew Asa Butterfield from Sex Education, so it was weird to see him as young Mordred. He did a good job at looking mysterious and vaguely threatening, though it must be said he spent most of the episode unconscious.

Who was the Druid accompanying Mordred? The Merlin Wiki transcript names him as Mordred’s father, which is not in the credits (where he's only named as “Cerdan”). I didn’t get father-son vibes from their interactions, but maybe it’s just me. My impression was that he was some kind of mentor. Apparently I saw Mordred and decided he was an orphan. Don't ask me why.

We see Arthur trying to challenge his father (in private) multiple times, but he still spends a good chunk of the episode as an antagonist. He searches for Mordred when his father demands it and he’s willing to let him die, even if he’s not pleased about it. It’s only when Morgana begs him that he caves in (30 minutes into a 43-minute episode).

Uther is a fascinating portrayal of an emotionally abusive parent. I wonder what he would have done if Morgana had “come out” to him – because he clearly cared for her, in his own fucked-up way. At least enough not to want her dead. Acceptance would have been out of the question, but I’m not sure he would’ve had her executed. Probably attempted to make her go through some kind of “conversion therapy”. He did keep Gaius as his physician after all, after making him vow never to use magic again (not that Morgana would ever have accepted it).

Now Arthur, I believe, would’ve accepted Morgana if she had told him she had magic. He’s so obviously fond of her, despite all the sibling bickering.

We get the first mention of the name Emrys – from Mordred, then confirmed by Kilgharrah.

Morgana saying she couldn’t live with herself if anything happened to Gwen or Merlin is such a !!!! statement considering what will happen later in the series

You are a guard of Camelot minding your own business when suddenly someone knocks you out. Just an ordinary Tuesday. You don’t get paid enough for this.

Arthur telling Mordred (as he's freeing him from his cell) “Don't be scared. I've sent word to your people” -> HOW??? literally how. How does Arthur know where the Druids live. how did he get in contact with them. many such questions

Mordred glaring at Merlin when he finally comes to his rescue is so funny. “I had trouble getting out of the castle” he's like bitch you did NOT!

Mordred’s name drop at the end is so epic. Even if you aren’t familiar with Arthurian legends (I wasn't), the music and Kilgharrah’s warning to Merlin make this moment sufficiently ominous and tense (and if you already know who’s going to kill Arthur, you will have guessed the boy’s name already anyway)

Arthur returns Mordred to Iseldir. The next time we see young Mordred is in ep 2x03 (The Nightmare Begins) and then again in episode 2x11 (The Witch’s Quickening) — in neither of them he is with Iseldir anymore, though Iseldir is still alive, given he reappears in S3. WHAT HAPPENED. Mordred’s childhood is a compelling mystery. I like the idea of there being different Druid clans with different beliefs about Emrys and Arthur’s destiny – and possibly Mordred’s, too. Not every Druid recognises Merlin as Emrys or thinks of him as a savior, after all (see Sefa and Kara). Is this why Mordred was (perhaps?) abandoned by Iseldir? Did he find out something about Mordred's role in Arthur's death? It’s an interesting idea. To me.

#rewatch1.jls #merlin's body count: still 4

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pencildragons · 4 years

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#merlin #I DON'T LIKE KILGHARRAH CAN YOU TELL #using that tag again because its relevant #bbc merlin #kilgharrah #dragonlord #dragon #this guy sucks #so much???

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fishoutofcamelot · 2 years

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👀 i would like you to do the opposite of shut up about the ninjago au, it sounds cool and i'm getting weirdly invested in it for someone who knows nothing about ninjago

Well, ask and ye shall receive!

I'm gonna take this opportunity to discuss an aspect of the AU that I haven't talked much about yet: Arthur.

See, for every year in Ninjago, only a week passes in Camelot. So while Merlin has experienced five years of separation, from the Round Table's perspective he's only been gone for a little over a month.

Not to mention that Merlin has done a lot of growing in this time. He's become more confident, more skeptical of destiny and more critical of authority, has worked through a lot of his self-loathing, and has finally gotten the opportunity to flourish in an environment where he doesn't have to fear persecution. Merlin has unlearned a lot of his "I'm just a servant" mentality, too. So while he's still the same Merlin, he's also different in a lot of way his friends won't be expecting.

At first the Round Table thinks Morgana's spell killed him, and she's in no rush to inform them otherwise. Something something "Your misery will destroy you far better than any spell I could cast." You get the idea. So for a few weeks, they're all mourning and miserable, and Arthur's trying to reconcile the fact that Merlin only 'died' because he took a hit meant for Arthur. So uh. Big oof there. I'm still figuring out how each character's grieving/coping process would look, but obviously it's gonna be angsty no matter how it plays out.

A few weeks later (or in Merlin's case, years), they receive information that the spell Morgana cast didn't kill Merlin but rather banished him to a distant realm. So now they've mobilized with renewed hope that he might still be alive out there.

Unfortunately, their only available ways to reach Ninjago are: A) find Morgana and have her banish the rest of them too; or B) find a dragon to teleport them there. I think you can guess which option they take, although Arthur is pointedly not comfortable with the fact that the Great Dragon is still alive. He almost flat-out refuses Kilgharrah's help, but once the rest of the Round Table convince him that the only way to bring Merlin home is to work together, Arthur very reluctantly agrees to a truce with the dragon.

Because of the potential that he may never return, Arthur doesn't want a large band of knights accompanying him. Instead he just takes Gwaine - or rather, Gwaine comes along regardless of what Arthur wants - and tells everyone else to look after Camelot in his absence.

Of course, Gwen has just lost Merlin and has recently lost Lancelot as well. She can't stand the thought of losing Arthur too. So if he and Merlin end up stranded in another realm for the rest of their lives, then she intends to be stranded right along with them. She's ride-or-die like that.

And of course, Elyan has a similar sentiment too. He sees Merlin as something of a brother, as family - not to mention that Elyan has no intention of abandoning his sister again. She's ride-or-die for Merlin, and Elyan is ride-or-die for her.

And so an away team is formed: Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, and Elyan. And Kilgharrah, who's basically their getaway driver.

Anyway there's a lot of angst and plot that happens when the away team finally arrives in Ninjago, but I don't wanna spoil too much so I'll just narrow down to the parts that are important for this infodump:

Arthur and Lloyd don't get along at first. Like, at all. Being a chosen one himself, Lloyd always took to heart Merlin's stories about the Once and Future King. He looked up to this man Merlin so greatly admired, even saw Arthur as an inspiration, and he hoped to one day make Merlin just as proud of him as he is of Arthur. But then they actually meet each other, and it's...messy. There's a lot of mutual contempt, to say the least

I'm actually rather fond of this line that Lloyd says to Arthur in the middle of a big argument - "I always wondered what Merlin saw in you. And I had hoped that if I ever met you in person, I'd get to see it too. But this? This is just disappointing."

Arthur and Lloyd DO learn to get along and put aside their differences (and uncanny similarities), but it's less of an "enemies to friends" situation and more of a "this is our get-along shirt" kind of situation

Unfortunately, The Away Team quickly learns that this fic has a policy that non-magical realms can't be accessed by magical means. And since events such as the Purge and the more recent departure of Emrys have caused the magic in Camelot to die out quite severely, Camelot practically registers as a non-magical realm itself. It will be nearly impossible to go back through magic. Not even the dragons are capable of teleporting there. Which means that Arthur, Gwaine, Gwen, Elyan, and to a lesser extent Kilgharrah are now stranded here too. Yayyy

Merlin is happy to reunite with Gwen, Elyan, and Gwaine, and although he's been without them for five years he doesn't hesitate to try and rebuild old friendships. It isn't a simple or smooth process by any stretch of the imagination, but all parties are mutually willing to put in the work to have a close relationship with each other. And at the end of the day, isn't that what love is all about?

Of course, Merlin and Arthur are a bit...trickier. The combined efforts of a somewhat unusual magic reveal, Arthur's lingering biases, Merlin's newfound confidence in himself and his magic, and several other smaller details, has led to things being...frosty...between them. To say the least. So with Arthur trapped in Ninjago right alongside Merlin, their character arcs now involve them trying to make amends and redefining their friendship in a way that isn't as unhealthy as it used to be in Camelot

I've got a LOT of fun ideas for how Gwen, Gwaine, and Elyan would fit into this new world and the character arcs they would go through, but for the sake of brevity we can save that talk for another day. For now I wanna bring your attention to a fun lil bit of dialogue I have planned for when Merlin and Arthur finally reunite

Merlin: Now hang on. You're the king. If you're here, then who's leading Camelot?

Arthur: Don't worry about it! I left Agravaine in charge :)

Merlin:

Merlin: YOU DID WHAT

Anyway, thanks for the ask! <3 You have no clue how much it means to me that people are willing to listen to me rant about a show they've never seen

#fun news: i told myself that i would start writing the au once i got to season 3 in my ninjago rewatch #and. well. guess what happened last night #definitely wont get the usual viewership my fics tend to get but im okay with that. im having fun and thats all i care about #im trying to get better at adopting that mindset with my writing #bbcm #ninjago au #ask #fish post

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bitsandbobsofwriting · 2 years

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Precursor apology for the rambling, I just have Thoughts and I’d love to hear your own about them cause I love the way you think and interpret and handle characters. Feel free to ignore this if it doesn’t actually spark any particular thought/discussion (even disagreement) 😅

I’ve had the thought— do you think Merlin ever gets tired of everyone’s well intentions? Someone pushing him to trust people, to reveal or not reveal magic, to focus on his magic to focus on Arthur, to sleep more or eat better, to confide in people, to learn to defend himself? Not just a weary tiredness of “they mean well, but no” but pushed to the point where he starts to feel like everyone acts like they know him, know everything better (and sometimes, yeah, they do, it’s just a matter of perspective/being nagged one too many times), that turns to serious irritation if not resentment of his friends acting like he’s not “perfectly capable and been dealing with this by himself for years damnit.” In reality we know all of this is from genuine concerns but I can’t imagine that being constantly questioned about his capacity to take care of himself wouldn’t cause some sort of conflict (cause in his head being able to deal with the threats and mess and prophecy and moral quandaries is the same thing, though no Merlin, it really isn’t)

I love you!!!

And yes, I'm in total agreement with you.

First, WITH his magic:

He's got Gaius being condescending and spineless in one ear, demanding he use his magic to help Arthur and Uther and Camelot as a whole, telling him not to trust Kilgharrah or Morgana or Mordred or the Druids, whilst simultaneously telling him that Arthur can never know about his magic. The prophecy specifically says they're equals, two sides of the same coin; I understand not telling him at first, but I honestly think a lot of Merlin's fear comes from Gaius. That's got to be annoying, to constantly be underestimated and demanded of by a man who refused to face his King, and withered under his Genocidal insanity. Then he's got the likes of Lancelot and the Druids in his other ear, telling him that everything will work out ok, whilst... not really giving all that much support. I love Lance, I really do, but he really has no concept of the struggles Merlin faces, and is sort of too wrapped up in his infatuation with Gwen and his loyalty to Arthur to worry about anything else. He might be a good shoulder to cry on, but I also think he probably babies Merlin a LOT, which is understandably frustrating. He tries to force him to take time for himself to sleep or eat or just hang out/relax/rest, when Merlin KNOWS that he can't!! He's essentially got three jobs!! And no, Arthur won't lay off if I just ask him nicely (and no, I DON'T need you asking for me), and no, Gaius won't give me no chores for a week, and no, I can't just leave the Druids to deal with big beasty on their own and have a nap, and no, I can't just warn the guards about the assassin and leave them to it. That's not how any of this works. Yes, Lance means well, but his babying and nagging is, though sweet and loving at first, misinformed and condescending and insufferable after a few months/years of it.

And Kilgharrah is a whole other can of worms, what a dick. Demanding Merlin do this and that, not giving him straight answers, pretending to sympathise with Merlin and be his "kin" whilst also betraying him at basically every opportunity. Between him and Gaius, they make sure Merlin is almost completely and utterly alone.

Gaius' "good intentions" definitely come directly from fear, Lancelot's good intentions come from a lack of understanding, and Kilgharrah's "good intentions" come from a need to control Merlin at every turn. And whether Merlin sees any of this clearly or not, it definitely frustrates him. To the point that he stops going to any of them for help, and decides everything is just easier to deal with and manage if he does it solo.

Secondly, regardless of his magic:

Arthur is almost certainly the worst, when it comes to this sort of thing. He displays, every once in a while, an understanding that Merlin is braver and smarter than he gives him credit for, but he never actually treats him like it. It's like he genuinely thinks Merlin is an idiot, and interacts with him as such. He asks Merlin his opinion, and then ignores it most of the time, he never apologises to Merlin when he's hurt or trouble comes BECAUSE he ignored him, and just generally treats him like more of a nuisance. Merlin can deal with that, in fact it's actually kind of helpful for the whole persona, but when Arthur starts actually paying attention and tries to look after Merlin, he finds it both endearing, and incredibly annoying. Firstly, in the way that "you've never done this before, why are you acting like you care now?" and secondly in the way that "you're in the way, it's better when you're oblivious to me because I can get on with things." . Mostly, with Arthur, he just grits his teeth and gets through it, because he doesn't have much of a choice, but I can definitely imagine him snapping, in a small way, eventually "Arthur, I'm not a child, fuck off." or "I'm perfectly capable." or "I've been doing this for ten years, Arthur, I do not need your supervision." whilst normally things like that would be laughed off, he says it with such a tone that everyone in the vicinity is like... immediately taken aback.

With the others, it's mainly the protection. He's a servant, they're knights, it's kind of expected, but it does sort of annoy Merlin when they act like if he gets a papercut he'll die. He gets smacked around a bit by their captors once and they all FREAK out, demanding they take the punishment instead, and he just has to roll his eyes and sneakily free them with magic. He gets picked on by a Noble and they all get bristly and annoyed and it's just... frustrating, because they don't have the first clue how court works, and if they try to protect him, it'll get worse. They try to teach him how to throw a punch, or they start escorting him around town, or they put themselves in danger to rescue him, and he just can't... understand, that it's not JUST because they're underestimating him (which is annoying, but not the main reason), but also because... they love him?? They want him to be ok?? He has complicated thoughts about that because, first off, these people have no right to love him when they don't know him, and second off, everything was so much easier when people didn't notice him.

and AFTER the magic reveal?

Depending on the nature of the reveal, it arguably gets worse once they find out about his magic. They all automatically think he's weak and not that great at magic, and are always trying to get him to save his energy or train more or whatever. When someone against the repeal starts with him, they all jump in with weak, emotional arguments, which are all mostly factually incorrect, and just kind of condescending and infantilising. Then it's all "I don't need you to fight for me, not when I've been dealing with this my whole life." and "Actually, Sir Leon, you'd be wrong about that..." with a scowl and a stiff back. Even when he tells them he's powerful it's all "I'm sure you are, Merlin. Not like you've not used it for ten years." with rolled eyes and a smirk, until he goes fuck it, and shows off in a BIG way. Only then would they back off a bit, and even then... Merlin still has to glare at them or interrupt them or grit his teeth through it when they needlessly jump to his defence sometimes.

I guess it doesn’t help that he’s one of the babies of the group. I always see Mordred as the youngest, then Merlin, Elyan, and Arthur, then Gwen (I see Gwen as like... maybe two or three years older than Merlin?), then a fairly sizable gap (maybe 5-10 years?) followed by Percival and Lancelot, then Leon and Gwaine (who are, I’d say, up to five years older than Percy and Lance). But also this is all up to interpretation.

ANON I LOVE YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR ASK SUFFICIENTLY!! :D

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