#hunith fucks up

[thatgaywizardoverthere]

Hey remember that time in 1.09 when Merlin went to take out wraith Tristan like “oh this’ll be SO discreet” because it was nighttime and then immediately proceeded to publicly light him up like a fucking Guy Fawkes Day effigy with a trail of fire leading directly back to him

#listen #tell me i’m wrong #a horde of guards like 10ft away are currently paying up their bets for #1) how long it would take merlin to attack the knight with magic #2) what kind of magic he would use #and 3) how fucking obvious it would be #the guards from that lying in the grass pic have made absolute BANK and are now planning an extravagant wedding #gaius is roasting marshmallows on a flaming tristan to stress eat #merlin can’t wait to tell hunith how discreet he’s being in camelot #arthur wakes to zero brain cells and one wedding invitation from the guards #just a normal day in camelot #in a land of myth #and a time of dumbassery #excalibur #merlin #bbc merlin

[himbo-aficionado]

I just think its interesting how at the very end of the story, we see Merlin walking past Avalon, the place where he sent off Arthur all those centuries ago. There are many different ways the scene could've went on to display his everlasting loyalty. It easily could've been a scene where maybe Merlin was with his wife and a kid who was named after Arthur, or he became a historian/scholar who kept the Arthurian legends alive after everything he went through or maybe even a physicist trying to build a time machine, find a loop in time to go back and fix the past.

But no.

We see him all alone, old and unequivocally miserable. No longer meddling with fate nor trying anything at all. Lost in a world beyond time that no man should live past or would even be able to comprehend. We see that he never moved on from Arthur, having somewhat a glimmer of hope deep within him. Nobody speaks about how insanely difficult it must have been to have hope especially when you have no end to your own life. As mortals, we can't even bear grief for a short period of time. Yet, Merlin lived the cursed life of an immortal, a life where he will only keep losing everyone he's ever loved. A life full of grief.

In the modern world shown, nobody even believes in magic or practises it and yet he...still believes that someday Arthur will return to him. In the past, he reiterates that he just wants Arthur to see that everything he does is for him. He tells Hunith that Arthur only likes him because he doesn't know him. We see he acknowledges that Arthur is doing acts of service because he likes him yet Merlin couldn't be satiated because he still wasn't his true self to Arthur. To be seen and known for who you truly are is to be loved, that is all he ever wanted from Arthur, even from the very beginning of their relationship.

"You never once sought any credit"

"Its not why I do it"

During the magic reveal, he said "I use it for you, Arthur. Only for you.", still desperately wanting it to be known that his entire life was devoted to Arthur. There was no talk about legalising magic and whatnot between them either after that. He only kept repeating that he was born to serve Arthur. We see in real time just how much he meant when he said "There will never be another like you, Arthur." Evidently, he meant that Arthur is the Once and Future King but it also plays out for Merlin, because there never was anyone like Arthur in his life after that. To the point where he could find no purpose upon losing Arthur.

And yes he keeps saying that its his destiny to be Arthur's servant, that he grew up and learned the meaning of duty but is that really all it is? Towards the end, it was apparent that Merlin's objective was no longer for magic to be accepted in Camelot (as much as he wanted it). Ever since he found out about Arthur's Bane, it was all about keeping him alive. Even when the great dragon told him that there is nothing he could do anymore, Merlin could not accept to lose Arthur. "I can't lose him, he's my friend." It didn't matter that magic isn't legal yet in Camelot. He could not give two fucks about it anymore or else we would've seen magic in the future scene. One can assume that he completely stopped trying to find a solution. Or even lost the will to live.

What I'm trying to say is that, the final scene really is more than just an epilogue to show his loyalty, immortality and despair. If you think about it for a moment, it shows that somewhere along all the fights, snide remarks, banter, and what he and Arthur think isn't exactly a friendship, - they're stupid, don't mind that - he was in love with Arthur. And Arthur loved him in return even in the face of death as the truth came crumbling down. Its not as simple as 'falling in love' because, I don't think Merlin woke up one day and realised that he was inconveniently in love with the idiot arrogant prince who was tied to him by fate.

Their love was inevitable but it definitely stopped becoming destiny and duty a long time ago, it became a choice. "I'm happy to be your servant till the day I die". Merlin was, and I quote "putting up" with Arthur not because it was his life sentence to do so; it was because he wanted to. The worst thing of all is: Merlin chose to do it for the rest of his life.

#didn't mean to ramble like that my bad #i was thinking #i will not do it again #merthur brainrot is real #warn ur friends #walk with me #today i will wear my white button down #merthur #bbcmerlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #bbc merthur

[ladyofthelake]

Im super fucked up about that Gwaine post I just reblogged because

Merlin would have had zero tears left to shed, he was utterly spent and broken yet would be told he had lost Gwaine too and he died without ever fully knowing him? I mean at least Arthur and Lancelot knew his secret at the end and that is <3 but fuck me how the fuck why the fuck on the same day WHAT THE FUCK would he bury him in the lake too OH GOD did Percival carry him to the lake so they could say goodbye??? THE LIST OF PEOPLE GROWS LONGER THAT MERLIN LETS GO ON THE LAKE

and wow one day it would be Gaius...and Hunith...and Gwen...until Camelot crumbles and Merlin wanders and waits...alone...1500 years later I

#merlin #merthur #gwaine #HE LOSES EVERYONE #IM GONNA FLING MYSELF INTO THE SUN #that post broke me haha </3 #I AM NEVER RECOVERING #how can we go from farting gwen and morgana and bald uther #to the most heartbreaking soul crushing pain

[mxcrayon]

i think im stupid because i've been a merlin fan since i was like 10 but i JUST realized

balinor was killed bc of anti magic, making hunith extremely scared for merlins life and willing to do anything to make sure he was safe. merlin started the series hating all nobles

ygraine was killed bc of magic, making uther extremely scared for arthurs life, willing to do anything to keep him safe. arthur started the series hating magic

merlin ended up best friends with king uther's son, the guy who ruined balinor's life in the first place and caused the anti-magic craze which led to his death, also fucking up merlin's life. and arthur ended up best friends with emrys, literally the most powerful sorcerer ever

they are literally like.. two sides of the same coin.. woah.

#the last part is mostly a joke #i always understood it #like theyre opposites but coming from the same place #but i never realized JUST how parallel their lives are #probably bc their lives were developed so slowly throughout the show #and bc the last time i watched it through the whole way i was in elementary school #they actually mean so much to me. like so much. you dont even know. #merlin bbc #bbc merlin #merthur

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

Merlin AU: Arthur first meets Merlin's family, which includes his mum, his childhood friends Will and Freya, his grandparents (Dragoon & Dolma) and older brothers Lancelot and Gwaine. Merlin has already told his family who Arthur is.

And Arthur, who is generally confident and good at greeting and charming people because he grew up surrounded by nobles, celebrities and rich ass folks, has his own club of fangirls and fanboys.

Had never been in a serious relationship until Merlin, so he thought he was ready, easy, he's introduced himself many times.

"I'm Bradley"

Cue in Merlin going what the fuck? Before laughing and kissing Arthur who is utterly mortified and Hunith just smiling and going along with it,

"Hello Bradley, welcome to the family."

Arthur is just done whilst hugging a giggling Merlin, and Dolma(standing with her grumpy hubby) cooing in the background at how cute Merlin and "Bradley" are together. Lol.

Source pic: Twitter

#merthur #merlin #arthur pendragon #arthur x merlin #merlin x arthur #cinnabon sweetroll tiramisu #bbc merlin #bbc arthur #merthur prompts #merlin prompts #otp writing #otp prompts #otp ideas #merlin au #merthur shenanigans #medieval husbands arthur and merlin #medieval husbands #they're husbands your honor #merthur au #they're gay for each other #merlin emrys #hunith #lancelot #gwaine #dolma #dragoon #will #freya

[adhd-merlin]

merlin S1 rewatch: episode 10 ⚔

how could I not love the tale of the weird misfit who returns home one day, bringing with him an even weirder assortment of friends, to teach everyone how to fight back against the oppressors who have been stealing their resources?

but enough about a bug’s life. let's talk about the episode.

• I see Hunith throwing herself at a bandit and I immediately go “oh that’s where he gets it from”. I love you Hunith, you mad gal <3

• Hunith’s audience with the king is interesting – not just because she’s pleading with the man who would kill her son without a second thought if he knew about his magic, and she goes so far as to call him “a good king” and “a caring man” while doing so, but also because Uther seems genuinely sympathetic, even if unwilling to intervene. I think that says something about Uther – I think in the eyes of the people who don’t care much about sorcerers and their ilk, Uther is a decent, perhaps even a good, king. Certainly not the tyrant that Merlin and Morgana consider him to be (justifiably so).

• “I wish that Camelot was able to help people regardless of how far away they lived”, Arthur says, almost as if there were a prophecy about a united Albion under his reign

• “I want to make him pay for what he did to you” -> when Merlin sees Kanen is ON SIGHT. I love protective Merlin.

• I love this so much you. “Most powerful sorcerer on Earth” well to his mama he’s just a little boy. have you considered that

• Merlin almost decapitating Arthur lol. It’s a good thing Arthur has good reflexes or this would’ve have been a much shorter story

• YAY! A NEW KILL

• When Arthur ruins Merlin and Will’s little reunion and Will is immediately unimpressed

• “Am I the only one wondering who the hell this is?” > Will really interrupted Arthur’s speech to loudly ask “excuse you who the fuck are you??” and I love him for it

• The fact that Merlin just straight up slept on the floor. Like I get it, they are poor, but you’re telling me he had nothing all the years he lived there? not even a straw mattress, nothing?? because that sounds kind of weird. I mean alright, I’ll accept it, but I think it’s weird. I think if you had to sleep on the ground every night for years you’d try to make yourself a bit comfortable even if you never “knew any different”

• Anyway, I guess that explains why Merlin was reluctant to part with his bed when Alice moved in with him and Gaius. “I’m not going back to sleeping on the floor thank you! I love beds now”

• MERLIN: “Life’s simple out here (...)” / ARTHUR: “Sounds… nice” / MERLIN: “You’d hate it” -> I like that Arthur was trying really hard not to say anything rude about Merlin’s old life, and that Merlin was like “it’s alright you can say it sucks”, because really he wasn’t cut out for that kind of life either. It’s also funny that Arthur later tells Gwen he fantasies about being a farmer, like SIR BE REAL. You'd hate it.

• Arthur pretending to eat Hunith’s food. Making fake noises like a toddler. Spoiled brat behaviour

• WILL: Why did you leave? / MERLIN: It wasn't what I wanted. My mother was worried. When she found out you knew, she was so angry. → it sounds like Will actually didn’t know about Merlin’s secret for very long before Merlin had to leave. And the fact that Will has to ask Merlin why he left implies Merlin did it without even a goodbye or a made-up excuse. Merlin’s departure being apparently so rushed because Hunith feared for his safety means that the attitude towards magic in Ealdor isn't actually very different from Camelot’s, despite it not being officially outlawed.

• Arthur is a good leader!! and in this episode he shows it in big ways, like in his “Battle of St. Crispin speech” moment, but also in more subtle ways, like when he notices during training that Matthew is a hopeless fighter, and instead of dismissing him he takes him aside and goes “Matthew my friend I have a special task for you :)”, as a way of keeping him away from the fight while still making him feel useful, and without hurting his pride. (Sadly, this backfires later.) I know the fandom likes to joke about Arthur being a dumbass but he can be very perceptive (at times). And he is good at strategic thinking.

• No comment. Just Gwen and Morgana sharing blankets. They are very good pals.

• Merlin telling Arthur: “We're going to make Kanen rue the day he ever came to this village” hits different when I remember he said he wanted to make Kanen pay for striking his mother

• “In this circle, we're all equals” → a circle is very much like a round table in this way

• I love moments like Arthur’s Rousing Speech™ – because they show why he is the one destined to unite Albion. He’s capable of inspiring people and gaining the support of those who initially disliked him (Merlin, Gwaine, Will himself, to name a few), because he is noble of heart, and brave, and caring, etc. And yeah, he’s also a brat at times, but to be fair to him he’s 21. And he has a shit father.

• “Food is scarce for these people, you shouldn't turn your nose up at it!” → Gwen is no shrinking violet okay!! She will lecture the prince, if the prince is being a brat. I’m thinking about Arthur telling Agravaine “I don't want a queen who spends her days floating around the castle agreeing with my every word” in ep 4x09. He loves Gwen because she’s not afraid of calling him out! (same goes for Merlin)

• GWEN: “I have faith in you. I mean. We all do” / ARTHUR:

• Arthur helping Merlin with his armour is a very sweet moment. I can’t believe Merlin was about to tell Arthur he had magic here. HE LITERALLY WAS ABOUT TO TELL HIM I'LL NEVER BE OVER IT

• Battle. Battle. Another kill for baby Merlin (!).

• IT FUCKEN WIMDY

• I’m not entirely sure what the windstorm did to be honest, it didn’t seem to kill anyone it just… scared the bandits away? Anyway, that doesn’t matter. Willing suspension of disbelief and all that.

• Arthur’s face when he marched up to Merlin and Will like “THAT WAS MAGIC WHO DID THAT?? IT WAS ONE OF YOU TWO”. This man is NOT ready for the truth (and yet Merlin was prepared to confess AGAIN. He was literally about to do it I HATE THIS SHOW)

• (sigh) well how convenient

• LISTEN I know Will was pretty much dead anyway but I can’t get over how NOBODY tried to do anything for him like?? They just put him on a table? And stared at him? Not even trying to do anything or. I don’t know, offer a word of comfort. If I were Will I’d be offended to be honest.

• Will’s last words being “Merlin, I’m scared.” EVIL

Merlin: *watching his best friend’s body burn on the pyre* Arthur: well when were you going to tell me he was a sorcerer

• Hunith: POWERFUL WARLOCK? NO HE IS BABY

• "When the time is right, the truth will be known. Until then, you must keep your talents hidden. It's better for everyone.” → kind of funny how Hunith went from "you should tell Arthur, he'll understand, he cares about you :)" to "never mind, BACK IN THE CLOSET!!" And by funny I mean tragic.

↳ prev commentaries

#unironically i do love a bug's life #when flik's all battered and bruised and he struggles to his feet and says “ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers!!” #well. it made child me feel some kind of way #rewatch1.jls #merlin's body count: 6

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Sooooo... I've had a thought for a while. How awesome would it have been if they had let Colin Morgan keep actual his Irish accent to remind ppl that he wasn't originally from Camelot? Like, maybe it becomes subtler as the seasons go on but it's always there and when he gets tired or angry the lilt would come out FULL FORCE and ppl that didn't know or forget would be like, yo wtf???

(Headcanon Masterlist) (Full Masterlist)

Ok so I rarely answer asks as soon as I see them but

Anon

I DEDICATE AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR OF EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY THINKING ABOUT MERLIN WITH AN ACCENT!!!!

Like.... I'm turning this into a headcanon set because I need to think about this right now (if someone else wants to expand it that's fine, or if it's popular enough, I'll add it to the next List update).

ANYWAY!!!

Say he's not actually from Essetir, but Ireland (from research I think it was called Hibernia during the medieval ages, or maybe Alba? I'm not sure, so I'll just stick with Ireland), and Balinor ran a little further afield before meeting Hunith, and then returning once things had settled down to live in that skanky cave, so he can keep an eye on how Camelot was doing. Hunith and Merlin travel to Essetir when Merlin is maybe twelve or so?? So the accent and customs (and even the language) is like... heavily embedded. (To cover plot holes... uh... Gaius is also Irish, but travelled over with... relatives(?) when he was so young that he doesn't have an accent, or even really any memories of home. He has however visited and been visited by his sister enough to have a good relationship with her, and they exchanged letters regularly before and after she moved to Essetir. There. Don't think about it too much.)

HOWEVER!! When he moves to Camelot, he covers it up, because Camelot already hates Bastards (check), Sorcerers (double check) and also Gaels (check again). So to make his life easier, he gives himself a generic Essetirian/Camelot accent, and no one really notices, Maybe he has a bit of a lilt here and there, but people chalk it up to him spending lots of time with a diverse set of people, and/or maybe just being a country bumpkin. The lilt definitely comes out more when he's angry, the angrier he is the stronger it is, but, what the majority of Merlin's friends don’t know, is that they've never really seen him truly angry. Annoyed, frustrated maybe, a little pissed off, but not properly angry. Not for the first few years at least, so again, no one really notices.

Sometimes he rants to himself under his breath in Gaels, more so when he's with Gaius because it's not like the guy doesn't already know, even if he can't actually understand (Gaius does mourn the loss of his heritage sometimes, especially because, when delirious, Merlin's accent comes back full force, and Gaius can't understand a word he's saying).

Anyway. I do have this scenario in my head of some poor page running into the Throne room all "Oh CHRIST, My Lord, there's a woman in the courtyard who claims to have killed Morgause and rescued Morgana!! BUT!!! She says she'll only speak to Myrddin??" And the whole room is in uproar and Merlin just rolls his eyes at them and goes "What does she look like?", at the description he just goes "Oh shit" except in Gaels and runs out. All the gang follow to see him embracing this woman and speaking fast Gaels to her. She's introduced as his sister or an old childhood neighbour/friend or something. She couldn't give less of a shit about Camelot's anti magic laws if she TRIED, and fully admits to defeating the two witches with magic, because she herself is also a witch, and basically dares Arthur to do something abut it whilst Merlin despairs. Once the shock passes, someone, probably Gwaine, just goes "Hey, Merls, what's with the accent?? And the name??" and the woman just raises her eyebrow and goes "Aye, Merls, what's with the accent and the name?" And he has to admit that he's Irish and his real name is Myrddin (I know it's actually Welsh but let’s pretend just for now) and talks in his normal accent and everyone just... blue screens.

At least three times a day for the next few weeks, if not months, he has to explain the "new" accent to friends whom he hasn't spoken to since before the incident. Overall it's very funny, and everyone in Camelot suddenly finds Merlin ten times hotter. Arthur is struggling to cope. Leon openly drools. Gwaine is so wowed he can't even flirt right. Gwen trips over every time he speaks.

His accent is naturally really toned down, from years of hiding it and just being around people who don't have that accent, but it still gets strong when he shouts, and is nigh impossible to understand when he's concussed/drugged/suffering from blood loss/exhausted to the point of delirium. He also starts using words like "aye" to mean yes, and "slán" (the original of Sláinte, meaning good health, or cheers), when he says goodbye, and it's very endearing but also very confusing.

Our man is just so much happier being able to be himself and share his culture with no backlash, because Uther's been gone a while, and Arthur made peace with the Gaels ages ago (Merlin was basically just in too deep to back out then and kept clutching straws until the sister/friend arrived and blew it all wide open). Now he just has to do the same with the magic thing.... But then again!! Sister/friend not giving a fuck has maybe done that already. So. Maybe he's already set?

Anyway. Merlin with an Irish accent. Yes Please Please Please :D

#bbc merlin #colin morgan #merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin with an accent #irish merlin #gaels #medieval ireland #gwaine #gwen #guinevere #merlin with a kickass sister as a side plot? #leon #elyan #lancelot #morgana #mordred #percival #merlin headcanon #merlin prompt #bbc merlin prompts #bbc merlin headcanons

[kateis-cakeis]

hi!!! Pls rant about Arthur having magic, I love stuff like that!! I’m invested, what’s your favorite fic idea for it?

Hi!!!!! :D

Definitely for sure Arthur having magic (in at least some form) is one of my favourite things to write and read, I just wish there was more of it!!!!

Okay okay, so to answer your question, my favourite fic idea for it, man that's so hardddd! There's so many interesting concepts likeee:

--Arthur finding out about his magic at a young age and keeping it a secret.

--Arthur finding out about his magic at a young age, in front of Uther (I've written a fic like this, but I want more)

--A baby Arthur magics some items around him, and either - his nursemaid freaks out and calls the guards in, and they agree that there's no way Uther would believe them so they keep it a secret, hoping that one day the king will see (as they're afraid of magic).

--Or baby Arthur magics some items around him and Uther sees and in his rage, and with the Great Purge still raging on (it lasted a year so Arthur would be a baby baby), he orders the guards to put Arthur in the cells.

--Or baby Arthur magics some items and Gaius sees, and in his panic smuggles Arthur out of Camelot with Nimueh's help (I wrote something like this once but I never finished it)

--On the other hand, child Arthur suddenly finds out about his magic in front of Uther and Gaius, and Uther, in a fit of rage, orders a stand to be built for his execution at dawn.

Gaius smuggles child Arthur out with the help of some guards who renounced their magic during the Purge. During his escape, the Druids step out from the shadows of the forest and offer to take Arthur in. The guards agree and return to Camelot, while the Druids take Arthur over the border to Ealdor :)

Therefore, Merlin and Arthur grow up together, eventually heading to Camelot when Hunith grows concerned for Merlin (like in canon), and Merlin magically dyes Arthur's hair black - as well as the beard Arthur grows to disguise himself. Uther, of course, does not recognise his son. (Im planning to write this one day, but idk if I ever will) There's of course other ideas where Arthur discovers he has magic as an adult like:

--Maybe an AU where Arthur is a seer like Morgana but gets specific Merlin related dreams. He only works out his dreams are real when Merlin has an injury that lines up with his dreams (say like Arthur seeing a scar from Nimueh's fireball, which he had a dream about)

--Arthur and Merlin are cornered in a fight, and Merlin gets shot with a crossbow bolt - and falls. In a blind panic, Arthur shouts, and everyone gets pushed back. In the moment, he knows what has happened, but he ignores it in favour of getting Merlin home - to Gaius. (The dynamic of this AU would change depending on if Arthur is a prince or king here)

--Oh, another idea is like Aredian deciding to go after Arthur, which makes Arthur very confused - this AU would also include like Aredian being able to sense magic, because as much as he was a faker out there, he was right about who had magic sdjhfghjsd

And these are just some of my ideas, Im trying to not get too away from myself here for you! sdhjfgjhsdhg This is already getting to be a long post. But I love these ideas, some of them I've just made up now, that's how much I love this concept. I don't think I could pick a favourite, but if I had to right now, it would probably be a baby Arthur/child Arthur idea. Just getting to play around with a younger Arthur is so interesting. And baby Arthur requires an Outside POV which is fun to play with too!

But to rant about Arthur having magic, nowww, tumblr user gabalicious-g, aaaah. Okay.

Our mans is born of magic okay. The exact same phrasing is used for Merlin. Let the golden boy have magic, it would really fuck him up :P That's why I love playing around with it in fic! Like how would it affect him?

I don't see him going the way of Morgana. I could see him, if he had found out as child, repressing that part of him wholly in fear, and maybe even disgust. If he found out as an adult, I could see him freaking the fuck out - especially if he was still a prince.

It's just okay, right, right. Arthur is made up of magic, that's how I interpret it anyway. I think lately I like imagining Nimueh summoning water into the Cup of Life, in a similar manner as to when Merlin got the water to save Arthur. So, she gives the water to Gaius (who was the one sent to ask), and Ygraine drinks it, and boom, she's pregnant. So I like to think Arthur is basically like all of what Ygraine is (in looks at least :P) and then magic, magic makes up the rest.

Like it's very easy for me to go, well surely there's something he could do. I mean the whole dying to rise again one day is pretty magical enough :P So, I'm like all brrrr for this concept, so much I cannot resist it.

There's so much you can do even if you don't go full Arthur's a sorcerer AU. There's stuff that can more easily fit into canon, there's stuff you could do post revival to mess around with it. It's just there's so much thereeeee.

And of course, there's how this would all impact Merlin. Like what would he think if he found out/suspected Arthur had magic? Just aaaah so much potential to play withhh.

I love it, I love it. Thank you so much for sending this ask in and giving me an opportunity to talk about it ^.^ :D

Feel free to send another ask if you'd like! 👉👈 :)

#bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #i just loveeee magic Arthur so much #I could talk about it allll day #thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk about it :D #ask

[multifandombullshitbabes]

ive been obsessed with the concept of merlin who actually runs away with freya because after she got injured he panicked and healed her right in front of arthur. so he panicked, again, and ran away with her to live next to the lake. and they do build their lil cottage and have a strawberry farm and some cows. and they also have time to explore their feelings.

and its the funniest thing, because merlin has also been slowly crushing on arthur, and that much is clear whenever he talks abt him to freya. it doesnt make her jealous or anything, just sad that she knows they'll probably never be together. that the only time that merlin and arthur do "interact" is when merlin secretly saves his ass every week or so. like merlin technically never left, but now he gets creative, uses glamours, learns shape shifting after helping freya with her own curse.

he gets to meet with morgana now, because freya urged him to not leave her alone in this mess, so now we don't get evil morgana (yay!). merlin also tentatively tries to do the same with mordred whenever they do meet with the druids, especially when they were figuring out freya's curse, and mordred grows on merlin, so we also dont get evil mordred (great bonus).

and another thing that ive also been obsessed with thinking is that when the great purge began, nimueh tried to sought out balinor since i think they were friends, being 2 magic users with special abilities (high priestess and dragonlord). and she ended up at ealdor just in time to see merlin be born.

and then they meet later on, and nimueh kinda doesnt believe that that's merlin from ealdor since hes in fucking camelot. but then the questing beast happened. and when merlin goes to kill her, she manages to shield herself last second. and feeling that great power that she felt when merlin was born, because he was almost glowing golden and so potent she almost dropped him when she held lil merlin, her brain fucking stopped. she cannot kill merlin. and so she does something that she almost did when she met hunith, and she understood in that little time why balinor had stayed with her, and nimueh decides to use the power she has for her immortality to ensure arthur lives. so now she will age like a normal human, gaius is alive, and so is arthur. and now merlin and nimueh are very awkward with each other.

especially when a bit of time later they end up meeting with the druids to help freya and theyre also helping nimueh. she felt as if her powers were weaker, but merlin was like "yh no ure lying u feel exactly the same" n leaves thinking nimueh is plotting. when in reality she actually did think her powers were dying and that fear made it seem as if it was actually happening. her mind played tricks on her, and she almost believed her magic was dying.

so after this lil nimueh interlude, lets go back to freya and merlin.

the funniest thing abt theyre situation is that. while merlin is obviously crushing on arthur (and brooding abt it cuz yknow), freya is just. "merlin, i think im crushing on gwen." "???? have u met her?" "no but ive seen her and she smells like a good person and also i like what i know abt her from you." "ok-" "also im crushing on morgana." "freya." "also elyan." "GWENS BROTHER????" "HES. PRETTY. YOU CANT TELL ME THAT NOT TRUE CUZ LAST TIME I CHECKED UR EYES ARE WORKING FINE."

i do think that when freya finally gets control over her curse and has her lil space with merlin, her true sunshine gremlin nature comes out and she manages to be more chaotic than merlin, just also more sweet. and dangerous. she can turn into a literal monster.

also. merlin and freya getting married. and having babies. twins. its been on my MIND non stop yall, this has never happened before idc abt kids-

#bbc merlin #merlin #nimueh #freya #merlin x freya #freylin #merlin au #freylin runaway au #come get yall headcanons #hey look i posted a thing #ive been obsessed with thinking abt this gaggle of magic users. who do kinda look related?? #like yall. all of them have dark hair. except freya they all have blue/light colored eyes. like what #anyways yh. this au does. get. very angsty. i just wanted to focus on um. freylin for a lil bit theyre very dear to me #also i need yall to understand i want gremlin freya. shes a sweet gremlin but still a gremlin #merlin n freya both influence each other in the weirdest ways during their years together #also freya is basically begging merlin to fuck arthur already. shes tired of hearing him whine like a lil bby.

[lovable-bastard]

Some ideas that anyone can use

(w/ credit, you can change whatever you want) (i also may or may not write them)

Merlin

How We Change and Not

Basically BBC's Merlin, but with the parent's. The whole plot follows the love/hate relationship of Balinor & Uther, the immediate friendship of Ygraine & Balinor, the mutual hatred between Hunith & Uther and the suprise love of Ygraine & Uther. Some quest's and adventures on the side like the original series. Angst, fluff, banter, all that good stuff.

Over the Year

On new years eve Arthur comes back, to the suprise of Merlin and Leon (Immortal Leon for the win❗). Over the course of 2023 the knights come back, in their own "very them" ways, learn about the new world and learn to live in peace.

I just want the knights to come back and live a normal peaceful life!!! Also Merthur, but it's a side-plot. Because I love some found-family and platonic love.

New Old

S5!Merlin time travels to the past and try's to make this reality better (I can and will ignore the possible danger of it and I know you will to), while S1!Merlin gets a new mentor (can I call S5!Merlin a mentor?) and S1!Arthur gets gay panic every five minutes.

Merthur, reveal done early, Arthur accepting magic on his own pace, Morgana and Mordred getting the support they need, what else could you want :D !!!

Don't have name for this one yet

Based on the ep where we find Mordred, but instead of Mordred going into hiding he finds Merlin first, who pretends to be his brother. Mordred grows up in Camelot and never turns evil (and so doesn't Morgana), Merlin and Morgana become like older siblings to him, Arthur gets jealous, because they look like a family.

Just a fix-it fic, that I need :')

Glowing Like Gold In My Dreams

Reincarnated!Arthur and Reincarnated!Merlin have dreams of their past life, but they see different parts of it. By that I mean, in life Arthur saw Merlin as a lovable idiot, so now Merlin will dream of the more light-hearted moments, while Merlin saw Arthur as strong, funny, confident and generous and now Arthur will dream of the Merlin that past Arthur never got to see, at least not that much. And they both make art of it. Arthur paints beautiful paintings of his dreams that are all about Merlin and show how amazing he is. Merlin makes music with his band (he plays the violin and piano) about the funny, confident, kind, sarcastic dumbass that he dreams of and fell for.

(sorry for the longer explanation 😅 I just really like this idea and sorry for the maybe shit explanation it's 3:51 (am) and don't worry they do meet)

A Bouquet of Hydrangea's, Yellow and Red Rose's

Arthur gets turned into his 12 year old self, meets Merlin, who showers him with endless love and attention. Needless to say Arthur is confused, but doesn't want this strange man to ever leave. Arthur starts to love Merlin as a father more then his own, he seeks out Merlins approvel more then Uthers, his love, time, affection. And Merlin gives it to him with no problem.

(this summary sucked) Basically Arthur gets turned into his 12 year old self and Merlin acts like a father to him. Arthur gets attached. Arthur learns how to trust and love freely again. Oh and Merlin doesn't mind being seen as a father figure, he's suprised at first, but gets used to it.

Harry Potter

Wtf Is a Weasley?

Just a short fic about harry having his father's eyes & mother's hair and of course being confused as a Weasley by everyone. Even the Weasley's themselves.

Harry Potter and the Fucked Up Wizarding World

Harry at the age of 5 gets safed from the Dursleys and taken in by the Wilson's.

Until the age of 17 everything was wonderful! He had loving parents, one sibling that was his age and a family dog! But one day he meets 3 people who tell Harry what he is. A wizard. Of course he doesn't believe it in the beginning, but they prove that magic is real (they cast a 1st year spell).

Now he has to somehow fix the magic world and not fuck up.

#merthur #arthur pendragon #merlin #merlin emrys #the adventures of merlin #bbc merlin #merlin and arthur #my writing #balinor #hunith #mordred #ygraine pendragon #uther pendragon #time travel #fanfic #arthur pendragon comes back #so do the knights #immortal leon #harry potter #harry potter fic #ron and harry #harry and hermione

[cbk1000]

HIII my god I am a huge fan of all your fics, I have gone through just about every one of them besides the book of merthur (still trudging through that one I fear.........) and the way you encapsulate arthur's horrible mommy issues is the best I have seen of it. Sometimes I try my best to find some merthur fics and I don't recall seeing that part of Arthur EVER explored (to be a little more fair the show was shit at doing that too..... but come on if you truly love arthur you're obligated to fuck his life over some more ☝️.) Making Hunith essentially adopt him is so endearing to me as well I really just love what you're doing.

This is just out of curiosity because I've seen with most of your fics you've kept balinor out of the picture, and I'd really love to know your thoughts about him (bad thoughts and/or good thoughts I am all for toxicity and hate 🙏). I think I like the concept of him more than the shows portrayal of him, I have in the past found deleted scenes and concepts that kept more references to him???? And that was for Arthur too with his mother???? That is quite up there for me for some of the worst things the show has done to me. Anyway. Again I like the idea of him, haven't personally found fics that portray him that caught my eye (how do you make the title 'dragonlord' so lame. it has DRAGONS to it. I should've immediately been all for him) I'd love to have your thoughts :)))

'(to be a little more fair the show was shit at doing that too..... but come on if you truly love arthur you're obligated to fuck his life over some more ☝️.)' The show was shit at most things characterisation, to be fair. lmao But, yeah, I agree, I think Arthur's parental issues are central to who he is. He has a mother he never got to meet and therefore idolizes because a dead mother is a perfect mother; and then his only remaining parental figure has never been a source of warmth or comfort to him.

Balinor I don't think is as huge a presence in Merlin's life. Merlin always had a parent who loved him; his dad was just somebody who was gone before he ever knew him, and I don't think that's haunted him to the same degree as Arthur because Hunith was a loving, stable constant in Merlin's life. He also has a father figure in Gaius. The show really just brought Balinor into the picture as a deus ex machina to enable Merlin to control dragons; the emotional impact of his appearance falls short because we never really see Merlin wondering who his dad was or lamenting the fact that he grew up without one.

I'm actually more interested in Balinor from Hunith's perspective. Was this some tragic romance? Was he the love of her life who had to flee unexpectedly when Uther sent people after him? He's still talking about Hunith decades later. Does he just sit around in his cave sadly thinking about her and she's in Ealdor like, "Balinor who? Oh, yeah, that guy who knocked me up." Or is that why when we see her, she's single and seems to have raised Merlin by herself and never took (a? another? I can't remember if the show says for sure, but I had the impression she and Balinor were never married) husband?

In the OG medieval versions of the legend, Merlin was fathered by an incubus, making him half-demon. I think exploring that would have been more interesting than a cranky hermit who shows up for half a second just to be killed off for some cheap angst. It also would explain why Merlin's father is never really talked about; if I were Hunith, and I had been impregnated by some sexy male demon that showed up at night while I was half-asleep, I wouldn't tell my kid about it either. And that would be a pretty huge revelation for Merlin, who in the very first episode asks Gaius if he's some kind of monster. It would explain why he's so powerful and create a huge source of turmoil for him because the answer to whether or not he's a monster is actually, "Well, yeah, kind of. Half, anyway." I have actually toyed with the idea of doing something with this, so I might read up some more on those origin stories and do a one-shot at some point exploring this concept. Balinor as a dragonlord, tbh, doesn't really do it for me; Balinor as an incubus, on the other hand. *chef's kiss*

Balinor, for me, is really just one more in a long line of 'Well I wish they had done THAT differently.' The show is riffing on a body of myths that has many different versions of many different stories; there is no concrete canon, like with any folklore. So I don't take issue with them putting their own spin on so many of the stories that are central to Arthuriana: I just think the specific spin they put on many of the main aspects of the legends were lazily executed, and not worth changing if they weren't even going to bother laying the groundwork for their own individual take on a story that has been told and retold and tweaked for centuries. Balinor is just one more victim to the BBC's propensity for prioritising fart jokes and bad bald caps over silly things like consistent characterisation and narrative coherency. Not that I'm bitter, says woman 662,372 words into her second show rewrite.

#gloomybirdie #fic #writing #bbc merlin

[thatgaywizardoverthere]

Merlin doin highly public and suspicious magic to add some spice to his life in Camelot

#listen #tell me i’m wrong #this boy really be gagging for that spice in life like he’s fuckin christopher columbus #that time he made the campfire dragon directly in front of arthur and morgana while telling hunith with a straight face that he’d be careful #that time he created the Ealdor toranado with his hand out in broad daylight #that time he levitated and jangled the keys directly next to arthurs head #that time he swiped arthurs breakfast sausages from right under his nose like a treasonous glizzy guzzler #that time he let his eyes glow in front of literally everyone at knight practice just to magically mess arthur up and watch him get wrecked #that time he lit up the wraith in the middle of the courtyard like it was fucking bonfire night #the multiple times he deadass levitated spears instead of just picking them up and subtly using magic to guide their aim #the multiple times his feral little ass kept creating disguises to sass the life out of the royal family #the multiple times his feral little ass kept creating disguises even though he knew he’d be recognized by his eyes #the multiple times his feral little ass kept getting recognized for his eyes and still never fuckin changed them #iconic #if you’re not adding so much spice to your life that your fellow medieval peasants would die of flavor shock are you even really living #I’m as dead as merlin would be if literally anyone in camelot could recognize magic #merlin #truly the most chaotic bitch of 500AD #and I support him so much #in a land of myth #and a time of absolute fuckery #bbc merlin

[tiodolma]

Gaius and Merlin were the most powerful class traitors of magic who were complicit in the actions of their genocidal bigot bosses just because they believe in one big dumb prophecy.

Gaius taught Merlin to distrust other magic users, to not help them, to hide himself and just devote himself to the crown.

Tbf to merlin he was just 16-18 when all these just started. He was too young. He wasn’t ready. He was sent to the most dangerous place for people like him. He was impressionable. His heart was too good. He was too moldable.

He took “I will not fall into anger and rage like Morgana” too far to the point where he couldn’t even find his voice against Arthur who was still relentlessly chasing down and killing his people anymore. He put all his eggs into the biggest bigot in their universe because the magic world told him that the guy was the hottest sht. Merlin was so broken down, so brainwashed, so indoctrinated that he still continued to forgive even after years of getting dismissed, insulted, derided and abused and only shown rare bouts of kindness by his supposed best friend in the universe.

Arthur didn’t deserve any of that devotion. As king he still persecuted and treated magic folk like shit. He blamed them for their own oppression, never accepted his father’s actions as wrong, showed no remorse in arresting and killing their women and children (shut up he only made promises to a frkn ghost), refused to learn more about their ways despite having the biggest knowledge base in albion, continued to imprisoned them for existing, calling them the most disgusting slurs, using their magic techniques recklessly for himself and still called magic “evil” when they don’t work.....and then played victim when he got called out by the oppressed magic folk.

It’s such a shame that Merlin hoped and believed in his potential after everything. Merlin could never truly relate to magic folk after all. The only people left alive who truly loved him made sure of that. His mother raised him to fear and hide himself. His mentor taught him how to be the judge and be the arbiter of life and death not only over the kingdom but also the magic folk. He was overworked and pressured to the point that he had no free time for himself. He was supposed to be the strongest warlock but he only had enough time to receive education from the dude who hasnt practiced sorcery for 20 years when he should have beenseeking out other magic users and learning from them. His life was constantly dictated by the big magic institutions who never give him the tools to actually start their liberation, only empty promises.

Merlin’s sense of self died gradually throughout the span of the whole series every time he lost a loved one and every time Gaius/Kilgharrah/Hunith asked him to forget himself and serve the crown. The kid who wanted to be seen and recognized for his talent, kindness and potential turned into a biggest self-sacrificing royalist who truly believed that his life was valued lesser than a king.

It’s a monarchist story. It’s a divine right of kings story. It’s a fascist story. It’s an anti-radicalism story, it’s a defender-of-the-status-quo story.

It is NOT a story of acceptance, of positive change, of equality, of democracy.

I thought we learned from Diogenes for fuck’s sake.

#adventures of merlin #bbc merlin #bbc arthur #bbc gaius #anti arthur #bbc hunith #anti merthur #merlin crit #merlin critical #arthur crit #doomed hero merlin #there i said it #hot takes #thots #aom is democracy bait

[queerofthedagger]

word search game ✨

Thank you for the tag @emryses 🥺💖

my words are: freckle, echo, metal, sweet, hello, touch

Freckle, from [wouldn't you like to know weatherboy.jpg]

“Kansas City, there are---technically---two of them; one in Missouri, one in Kansas. The latter is---also technically---inside the former.” “That---what? That doesn’t make sense,” Harrington says, stopping his search to look up at Eddie. He’s very close; from here, Eddie can make out the shadows beneath his eyes like an ink spill, could count his lashes and faint freckles beneath the fading bruises.

Echo, from Yours to Conquer

“No,” Nimueh says, and Hunith notes how her arms tighten around Arthur, making him shift slightly in his sleep. “No,” Hunith echoes, and the realisation of what Nimueh is asking of her, what this truly means, is slowly but surely sinking beneath her skin. “You want me to raise him, and then send him back to Camelot to do your bidding.”

Metal from [weatherboy.jpg]

Mostly, he can just tune the music out, does it often enough. Hell, half of the time, his complaints are all for show; he might prefer metal, but he can appreciate lots of music, even if he does, in fact, draw the line at fucking Wham!

Sweet, from 'Till the Sun Comes Up

No matter the truth of it, no matter the threat that Valiant poses to Arthur’s own life, the accusation of sorcery tastes vile on his tongue. Tastes like betrayal, something unforgivable, and he watches the scene spool out around him as if removed from his own body. It makes the voice stick in his throat, sickly-sweet and useless. It makes him watch Valiant spin tales, his father’s arbitrary reactions to accusations of sorcery—always depending on accuser and accused—and it is all he can do not to retch right then and there.

Hello (how do I not have a hello in my various wips lmao)

Touch, from Reeling Through the Midnight Streets

Steve wonders if he had planned this. If he’s the idiot, for not being able to laugh about it, too. For feeling like the words had wrapped around the cage of his ribs like a fist, ready to choke him. “What,” Eddie laughs softly, not unkindly. “That I viewed you as some untouchable thing, the babysitter?” “God you’re---“ making it worse, with each and every word. Steve clears his throat. “I always thought, you know, if you hadn’t left. I thought we could’ve been…”

Tagging (no pressure): @seadeepy @wordsinhaled @softest-punk @patchworkgargoyle @violetsteve @groundbreakingdot872 @aeonthedimensionalgirl

Your words are: hello, warm(th), laugh, hand, night, light

#tag game #mona rambles #mona's writing

[mintedemrys]

Alright I'm gonna take another swing at the hornet's nest today because fuck it

I'm also going to be slightly amending a belief I've held staunchly since the show freaking aired

I don't think Arthur is 20 in season one.

Think about it. The Great Purge began with Ygraine's death. If we are to believe that Arthur is exactly 20 years old in season one, we must also believe that the entire Purge - from conception to execution to capturing Kilgharrah and all the horrors in between - happens in less than a year.

In 1x01, Uther does not say "It has been 20 years since the Purge began" he says "twenty years since the Great Dragon was captured" meaning that there is an indeterminate amount of time between the start of the Purge (Ygraine's death/Arthur's birth) and Kilgharrah's capture.

So, my new estimate for Arthur's age in season one is twenty-four, prior to the Black Knight episode that names him as "coming of age" and making him Crown Prince, which puts him at 25.

Does that align with the medieval concept of "age of majority"? Probably not, but neither does the costuming, accents, language, or setting of the show, so if they're taking liberties with everything else, we can assume they took liberties here too.

Now, we can adjust what we know of the other main characters going off what we know about the Purge, and Arthur's probable age.

Merlin is likely 19-20 when he comes to Camelot. Reason being that Balinor was hunted after the Purge - after Kilgharrah was captured and Balinor escaped Camelot with Gaius's aid. If we assume the Purge lasted 4 years, which is the most likely - and shortest - amount of time for such a widescale and massive genocide to happen, then we can assume that Balinor fled to Ealdor at Gaius's urging, stayed for a few months at the most, before Uther's men caught wind of him and hunted him down again. This would put Merlin's birth shortly after Arthur's fifth birthday, as Balinor didn't even know that Hunith was pregnant by the time he left Ealdor.

Morgana's age is a little tougher to estimate, because while we know the circumstances of her birth, we don't have canon confirmation of the timing. But what we do have, however, is cast confirmation that Morgana is older than Arthur. Now, if we go with my personal favourite theory, which is that Uther grew tired/annoyed with Ygraine's inability to conceive, and went on to have an affair with Vivienne first, that would put Morgana at a minimum two years older than Arthur. My theory on this matter is also that if Vivienne had birthed a son, Uther would have abandoned Ygraine for her, and raised that son as his own, leaving Ygraine penniless but at least alive. I believe though that since Vivienne had a daughter, that Uther gave up hope there, and likely distanced himself from Vivienne and Gorlois from that point on (which we can also then attribute Gorlois's death to, since we're told that Gorlois died when Uther refused to send reinforcements to him). So, to sum up, we can assume Morgana is roughly 26-27 in season one.

Gwen, we have absolutely no point of reference for, unfortunately. We don't know when she was born, we have no significant events in the timeline that we can pinpoint for her birth, so her age is the most questionable. I've seen estimates that Gwen is 18 in season one, I've also seen younger estimates. Personally, I like to think that she's at least a couple years older than Merlin, but still younger than Arthur, so let's say about 22-ish. (I don't have an estimate for Elyan because I still cannot decide whether he is the older or younger sibling, so let's discuss that too.)

The knights range in age in my head between early 20's (Lancelot and Elyan) to early 30's (Leon and Gwaine) at the time of introduction. The exception being Mordred, who I assume to be somewhere between 18-20 in season five, since we don't actually know how old he is in season one, though he looks to be under the age of ten.

And all of this, of course, is running on the assumption that the entire show takes place over the course of ten years. I saw someone say recently that "well we never see winter or fall so REALLY the first two seasons are one year, then 3-4 is one year, then a three year break, then like. 6 months for season 5, so its only really been like five years!" Like.... okay, firstly, lets take a moment, alright, we know that there are time skips happening in canon, the events are not linear, though they are chronological, these episodes are not really happening back to back, if that was the case, everyone would be dead on their feet exhausted by like 1x10. The only real back-to-back episodes are the two-parters, and Kilgharrah's release, and even with Kilgharrah's release, there was still three days in between those episodes that we didn't see.

So what do we know?

Well, we know for certain that there is one year in between seasons 2 and 3 where Morgana went "missing" with Morgause. We know for certain there's another rough year between seasons 3 and 4. There are three years in between season 4 and 5. That's five years already of time we do not see. Now if we allow a year each per season as well, and just accept that things Didn't Happen during winter or fall, that rounds us up to a nice even ten years.

So, in the end that gives us the following in season 5:

Arthur - roughly 35 by the time he dies

Merlin - just on/under 30

Morgana - 36/37-ish

Mordred - 18-20

Gwen - roughly 32

And all of this is dependent entirely on how long the purge lasted. Because it's just unfeasible to believe it all happened in less than a year. Possible? Yes. Likely? No. Camelot is a well-supplied and well-defended kingdom (mostly) but they don't have the resources to create, begin and end a massive genocide at the level it committed, in less than one year.

And that was far more math than I expected to do before midday on a Wednesday but here we are I guess. If you've read this far, let me know what you think. I want to talk about this, and I am so tired of the "Arthur's 16 in season one" rhetoric, so let's talk about it please.

ETA: a very quick google search shows that the common age of majority in medieval England was 21 for men, and as low as fourteen for married girls, so yeah, we are Taking Liberties here. many liberties. all the liberties.

#bbc merlin #merlin #as always these are my OPINIONS and nothing more than that #this is all speculation #because we are never given any actual DETAILS in the show and that still bothers me #meta

[fluffypotatey]

Being a medieval geek and watching medieval shows is both a blessing and a curse, because sometimes the anachronism is funny, and other times it makes you want to throttle the writers and ask them what the fuck they're doing.

Funny Things: technically none of the saddles on BBC Merlin should have stirrups, those didn't reach England until 10th century during the Viking invasions. The shiny decoration on Morgana's green dress wouldn't be beading but most likely preserved beetle shells. The bright red colour of the Pendragon banners and capes would come from a dye made with bugs.

I-Have-QUESTIONS Things: If Gaius and Hunith are supposed to be siblings and Gaius wasn't previously a freeman (ergo bound in service to Camelot, meaning his entire family was also) how did Hunith end up in another kingdom, that's literally illegal, she's also got an education that she clearly passed on to Merlin, so their family must have had wealth/importance at one point, so again WHY IS SHE IN PODUNK, ESSETIR, and [gunshots]

here me out: Young Hunith was an anarchist and deliberately left Camelot bc she wanted to start her own life somewhere else, thereby going against Gaius's wishes to stay low and keep the peace. unlike her relative Gaius, who stayed bc that was the law and whatnot, Hunith said "fuck that" and in this essay i will--

#evidence? you mean the stuff where their sources are me? that evidence? #part one of the essay is explaining medieval hierarchy and fealty #part two is explaining why hunith left camelot willingly with the knowledge that such an act was punishable #conclusion is a segue to explain why her past actions can be reflected on her son merlin and how he goes about the show #bbc merlin #hunith #she's a powerhouse of a woman #headcanon??? i think you mean absolutely canon #yep nothing to see here but the truth of hunith #better yet let's pull will into this he's basically hunith's 2nd son tbh #will and merlin provide great example of who hunith was in her younger years #why will?? bc her and will's mom was close and she raised him when he had no one else duh #asks #also can we discuss the absolute confusion on WHEN THE FUCK ARTHURIAN LEGEND TAKES PLACE????? #KNIGHTS WEREN'T A THING UNTIL HENRY THE CONQUEROR CAME BC FRENCH INFLUENCES #THEY SAY THEY FOUGHT THE SAXONS BUT WERE ALLIES WITH MERCIA (AN ANGLO SAXON KINGDOM) #WHEN ARE YOU SET TELL ME