Merlin , very tired: Can I sleep in your bed?

Arthur: *half asleep* Merlin , this is a queen-sized bed. That means it’s for *gestures vaguely to himself* the Queen.

Merlin: ...

Merlin: If you're the Queen, then I'm your King and I will be sleeping with you-

Arthur: *eyes snap wide open*

Merlin: no, hold on, I didn't mean it like that!

Short: It's Merlin

i want to have a little chat with whoever decided to get rid of this slutty red shirt and necklace

He gave both to Merlin.

One was turned into a neckerchief, the other is hidden underneath <3

does anyone ever get into a magic reveal wherein Arthur is upset not only about why did you never tell me but also grieving that I was hurting you for so long and never even knew.

Cause I see a lot of complex emotions in Arthur and merlin surrounding various magic reveal scenarios- the betrayal, the love, the sadness of now being trusted by the one you trusted the most, thinking you had someone’s full heart but it turns out you didn’t, the confusion and love lingering behind the anger, but what I don’t see often is Arthur being consumed by the thought that, all this time, he was causing the man he loved so much fear and pain. Yes he wishes that merlin trusted him sooner, but he also realizes that he’s been seen as a weapon by the person he always let his guard down to the most and grieves for merlin that that’s who he was to him. I also think this is why there is no way that Arthur didn’t know how much merlin loved him in the end. he realized he was loved so deeply that even if merlin subconsciously feared him as a weapon and arbiter of death, he stayed with Arthur and cared for him and valued him above any other for no other reason than love.

but seriously could you imagine finding out that someone you share a soul bond with and that you love so deeply and purely fears their life while existing around you? Id be devastated on their behalf, like the last thing I would ever want is for them to fear me but I’d also be in awe that they stayed anyways and I’d do anything I could to ensure they felt safe around me like I do around them. magic reveals can be explored in so many different ways and I would love to see more people flesh out that response

Post magic reveal

Arthur: you have magic

Merlin: I know I should have told you. I know you're mad now, because I lied to you. But I never wanted to. I've been wanting to tell you for so long but-

Arthur: all this time-

Merlin: Arthur, please

Arthur: *pained and aghast* all this time, you were scared of me?!?!

Merlin: ... Arthur

Arthur: all this time you were talking back against me, challenging me, building me back up when I felt like a fool, you were actually terrified for your life?

Merlin: I mean, by law you should have chopped my head off -

Arthur: and you thought I would? You actually THOUGHT I COULD?!?!

Merlin: aren't you mad that I lied to you?

Arthur: *nearly crying* how could I do that to you?!? Merlin, I swear, I would never, ever hurt you. You are my best friend! You are -

Merlin: I'm just a servant

Arthur, realizing that's what he made Merlin believe he is: no. No!!!! No you're not, you never where!!!!

Merlin: Arthur, calm down

Arthur: how can I stay calm? I did this to you! I made you feel like you're not important when you're the most important person in my life. I made you afraid when I wanted to change the world for you!!!!

Merlin: Arthur, it's not that big of a deal!

Arthur: *cries* it is to me! It should be to you. Gods, Merlin, you should hate me!!!! You're supposed to be my equal, you should be upset that I didn't treat you like one!!! Pleased don't be relieved. Be anything, but please don't be relieved!!!

I'm pretty sure i was having a stroke whan i wrote this but eh idc

anyways-, i know for a fact that since merlin is an immortal among the mortal plane he tries not to get too attached to things but him being 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 and since 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 has a small amount of magic in them he really can't help himself and adopts a dog every now and then

at first he doesn't give them names cuz yk attachment issues AND he really doesn't know how to name it? UNTIL

one day he sees a dog wandering near a pub. At first he just kinda feeds him as he does most of the time he meets stray dogs but this one never left him alone and i mean NEVER

it follows him around literally 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 and at first it was a little annoying but after some time he kinda appreciated the company

Merlin and Leon meet at a pub to catch up with each other and talk about what tthey've been up to (im a very firm believer of the 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 theory, you can never change my mind about it)

obviously, the dog is still there and Leon is quite amused with the dog and asks what his name was but before Merlin could come up with an excuse on why he didn't name him, a bar fight starts and they accidentally get roped into it

the dog is actually pretty helpful in fighting the random men by biting their kneecaps and what not, but then one of the men kicks the dog effectively injuring it and the dog passes out

when the three of them get out of the fight they head to Merlin's home where they heal the dog until it wakes up with its tail wagging happily at Merlin

He suddenly feels a sense of deja vu and when he realizes why he laughs, Leon's a little concerned and asks why he's laughing, merlin tells the story of how he met Gwaine

Leon chuckles while he pets the dog and jokingly says something along the lines of "well, welcome back Gwaine" and right after that they decide to name him Gwaine

After that whenever Merlin gets a new dog they joke about whose personality it fits closest to their old friends,

time goes by and they run out of names to name the dogs so they just think of the things they miss back then as names, for example: blueberry tarts, silverpine, tourneys, etc. (merlin kept suggesting food and nature as names while leon suggested festivals and places as names)

eventually, Leon suggests the name Albion for a dog 𝘩𝘦 found this time, after running out of kingdoms and estates to use as a name

at some point Albion gets badly injured and i mean 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥, for some reason Merlin doesn't use magic because its been a long time since he did and he kinda didn't trust himself

Leon and Merlin take him to a vet where they meet a dude that looks like Arthur. Well it turns out it is him considering that when he actually makes eye contact with one of them he freezes and and nearly shouts "𝘔𝘌𝘙LIN?! 𝘓𝘌𝘖𝘕??"

they reunite and everything and bla bla bla and then they get emotional and stuff

and then Kilgharrah's voice pops outa nowhere in Merlin's mind ".. 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣.."

albion, the dog, is just happy to be healed again and just be there, witnessing the wonderful reunion

Hey OP, I wanna dissect your brain

arthur is truly a ridiculous guy, but my favourite little bit must be the "need to train? ah, must put merlin to work" he does. like?? tell me, mr princeling, exactly how much are you learning from the manservant-shaped target, when said manservant won't even put his back into it? arthur will bitch and moan about it too, but does anything change? not really. he could get anyone to train with him and yet. i'm convinced it's something equivalent to pet play dates for him. it's nothing too serious, they're having fun together (merlin doesn't know) (i'm sure he figures it out one day, though)

Arthur: (not verbally) *SCREAMING* I want to spend time with you!!!!

Merlin: can you say that like a normal person, fuck!

You know what gets me? The prophecy is that Merlin will help Arthur build a united kingdom where magic is free again. But at some point Merlin completely disregard the prophecy in favour of Arthur.

When Arthur finds out he's born of magic, Merlin reminds him magic is evil so that he may live without burden or ager.

When Mordred is dying, magic is evil because if we heal Mordred with magic he'll kill Arthur.

Magic and Albion are not part of the equation anymore. Arthur comes before anything else, even the prophecy itself

Post magic reveal

Arthur: so this is it? You only stayed with me because of this stupid destiny?

Merlin: *hesitant* yes

Arthur: well, fuck. And here I thought you cared about me! Turns out, you're only here because of a fucking lizard. And? Is this the destiny you were working for? Is this what you always wanted?

Merlin: no

Arthur: so you failed. I suppose I'm no longer worth it, then?

Merlin: Arthur, I stopped caring about destiny a long time ago

Arthur: - what?

Merlin: I said, I don't care. It started with destiny, but that was the beginning. I'm here for you. Only you.

Arthur: *speechless*

I will never get over the fact that Uther just knew that Arthur was gay.

Whenever he had a relationship with a woman he would instantly question it or think that it was sorcery.

But Merlin who would commit literal crimes constantly and once confessed that he was a sorcerer when Arthur defended him Uther didn’t care.

But yeah Arthur totally wasn’t gay.

Oh yeah, that's absolutely true.

Arthur: I'm in love with Gwen

Uther: what

Arthur: I love her. I don't care she's a servant

Uther: wow, I mean... The servant thing makes sense, but love?

Arthur: I do!

Uther: are you sure

Arthur: I'd give up my throne for her!!!

Uther, who's watched Arthur do practically the very same thing for Merlin and had him in the dungeons for it ...: okay, don't be unreasonable now. My son would never do that for a WOMAN.

Arthur got his priorities straight.

Tbf, Merlin IS flirting.

After they get together....

I’m utterly in love with the relationship we get to see between Merlin and Arthur in series 3 episode 5 The Crystal Cave and 6 The Changeling.

In ep5 Morgana is dying, and Arthur is completely broken with grief. Merlin tries to comfort him, then ends up just standing in the rain watching Arthur go absolutely unhinged on a training dummy with his sword. And the way you see Merlin’s soul break in the face of Arthur’s grief… That’s the thing that makes his take a wild and completely under-considered decision - to save Morgana at any cost.

Then there ep6, in which Uther tries to force Arthur to marry a random princess. Arthur feels trapped and helpless - he seriously considers that his father’s rhetoric might be right. That it’s his duty to make a politically beneficial marriage for Camelot’s future, and that what he wants means nothing - that he has no right to love someone and be loved in return.

And right as he’s about to get married, he confides in Merlin. He talks of destiny, and how trapped he feels. And Merlin holds his gaze and pours his goddamn soul out. He literally tells him everything, and yet allows him a get-out if he doesn’t want to see what Merlin is actually saying. And Arthur genuinely stops, and locks eyes with Merlin, and hears him. And for one moment they connect and he’s not alone. He has a friend - maybe he feels a deeper connection than that - someone who understands, who sees him.

So beautiful, and it broke my damn heart.

OP... Your words just did something to my heart. I think I need surgery

Does anyone else think that Arthur would be at least sensitive to magic, if not actually have a tiny bit of magic himself?

I mean he was born of magic, it would make sense that something would have made its way into his DNA.

But it’s clear that he doesn’t know it on a conscious level, that he’s completely unaware (or perhaps wilfully ignorant).

I mean, we’re always being told how he’s Camelot’s greatest warrior, how he’s a genius at tactical planning and managing his knights… what if that’s the magic part?

Maybe he had “dreams” that showed him battle plans? Maybe he just knew the right things to do, and who to put where, and how things should be done?

Maybe he saw things no-one else could, or at least saw things in a different way. Maybe he was a little bit omnipresent, or could do some mild divination without realising it, or just had a feeling about certain future events that was always right.

Maybe he was connected to those around him, to people he loves, and to his knights in a different way. Maybe he could always sense them, or always knew where they were, or could somehow see them even though they were an impossible distance away. I mean, he always sensed when something was wrong with Merlin. Always. Even if he didn’t fully comprehend what kind of “something wrong” it was.

What if that’s why he never got suspicious of Merlin, no matter how many times it was obvious there was something a bit different about Merlin or something not quite explainable about a situation? Because the magic in him recognised the magic in Merlin and didn’t find it at all threatening - in fact, it found a kindred spirit.

Maybe that’s why Arthur got so strange when he eventually found out about Merlin’s magic - some subconscious part of him always knew and was sad that it could have had a companion, a sidekick, all this time? (That and the frustration that “we could have done it together”).

And, you know, it’s not really totally human and non-magic to be “The Once and Future King Who Will Rise From the Dead”, is it???

But also, what if some part of Merlin / Merlin's magic knew. What if that's part of why Merlin is so attracted, so attached, so connected to Arthur, even just at a subconscious level?

Imagine if all this had been played out in the series. Imagine if we’d found out Arthur has magic.

Well. I’m rewatching the series right now, and I can’t un-see it, so it’s canon in my head now.

I personally prefer that Arthur doesn't have magic, but OP you got some really strong points there.

I especially like the part of Arthur sensing the magic, and I want to jump on that to add my two cents.

Merlin is Magic. Magic is Life itself.

There is one moment in Arthur's life where he recognises magic, but not as a moment of this is magic, but this feels familiar, you feel familiar, like you're a part of me. And it's when he meets Merlin for the first time.

"You seem familiar. Do I know you?"

Back to before Merlin. Uther can't tell who has magic and who doesn't, and neither does Arthur. Uther doesn't know, because he can't feel magic. Arthur can feel it, but can't tell because the magic he senses is never hostile. And because it's never hostile, he doesn't believe it's magic. Because the magic other people have is a tool, something they can use. Merlin is magic itself. Therefore Merlin's emotions are what Arthur senses in his enemies. It's pure and good and it's magic.

And that is what Arthur recognises when he meets Merlin. He's felt this before, this sense about people. And it's this odd goodness that radiates of them that he can't place with their actions. Merlin has that. Merlin IS that.

Arthur becomes used to this feeling. Everything around Merlin feels so... Full of life. So pure. But other people had it and fooled him with it... Except, Merlin is so much MORE of it. It's not a facade, Merlin is the real deal.

Merlin doesn't ever feel magic as a part of himself, he sees it all around him, unaware it's all a part of him. Arthur can't sense these other magics, because it mixes with what Merlin is. Because it connects to him, is him.

Arthur can't unsense these things. And his prejudices and confusion have been so ingrained in him that he ignores it. But when Merlin tells him about it, when someone else feels it too, he can trust the feeling. It's not just a figment of his imagination.

And because Merlin can put in words what he feels, KNOWS what it is and how to interpret it, knows what actions to take...

"how did you know this place was sacred?"

"it's obvious"

"pretend it isn't"

That's why Arthur chooses Merlin to make the decision with the disir.

OP, let me know if this is what you had in mind :)

Has Arthur come back yet?

Year 1 Day 143



Global warming is wild

So do we just all agree that the knights absolute love Merlin the way cat owners love their cats?

Knights, holding up Merlin from under his arms: so this is Merlin and he’s so nice and we love him.

Merlin: *is actively breaking the law by existing* *has literally killed people* *drops branches on peoples heads* *and even tried to kill the king*

Knights: he’s just a funky little guy :)

I would even bet money he knocks glasses off tables when he wants to annoy someone (Arthur-)

The last one is canon actually. (Ok, technically, he's not doing it on purpose.... Technically)

Omg I was just think which I’m sure someone else has said this but…

Yk the color of the Camelot seal are red and gold.

Merlin is always trying to save Arthur using his magic which is gold. Arthur always ends up hurt anyways because he’s an idiot but he bleeds which is red.

So yes two sides of one coin and what not. So when Arthur does Albion or whatever it’s called can’t come to its golden age because the red (Arthur) is gone. Leaving only one part of the great Albion which is the gold (Merlin).

Unwanted headcanon:

Arthur had to die for the golden age to happen. Merlin had to grow into his magic, so he was given responsibility over the once and future king. The golden age could only happen, if the world stopped bleeding (Arthur and red). The blood was always staining the gold. And only now, after Arthur is gone, could magic be fully itself. (Merlin and gold.) And the golden age begin.

Thanks, I hate where my mind went.

Okay that’s a really interesting thought but…

The symbol of the pendragon house hold is red supporting as backdrop to the golden dragon. So while your hc makes sense the red (Arthur) doesn’t bleed and cover the gold (Merlin). So, Arthur abd merlin(red and gold) can’t begin the golden age until the dragon lord Merlin (hence the gold dragon in the symbol) has the red background support(Arthur).

I love merlin don’t get me wrong but he simply exists as a way growing Arthur. So while they are two sides of the same coin, yada yada  one cannot exist without the other the hate towards magic, which is represented by the pendragons for the majority of the show cannot exist without magic. Merlin was born with magic. His entire being is magic at its core.  The way I interpret this is the only way we can get the golden age is by excepting the parts that we were taught to hate so for the golden age to happen, Arthur must come to  accept  magic, accept merlins magic. So when this acceptance happens, the golden age has arrived, because the golden dragon meets the red as one. 

I hope that makes sense because it took me forever to figure out how to halfway word it into making sense.

No absolutely. I love this, thank you. I hated mine, because it's so sad. You put it together nicely. Thank you ^^