merlinmagicmania

[merlinmagicmania]

Imagine you’re a scary bad person and you have this big plot to kill the king only to be stopped by this little guy

[merlinmagicmania]

[merlinmagicmania]

Ok, I don't really post here, but there's a Merlin AU idea that's been rattling around in my skull like it's a pinball machine and I need to get it out, so here we go:

Imagine an AU where Balinor doesn't die and banishes Kilgarrah before sneaking away so Uther doesn't catch him and can't put his newfound son in danger. Of course, both he and Merlin are heartbroken about having to be separated again after just finding each other, but they work out a way to keep in touch and occasionally meet in secret.

And this is all well and good, and everything in the show just kinda proceeds as normal up until about season 4, where we have the knights of the round table well-established in Camelot.

It'd make sense that after a few years of travelling around with Kilgarrah, Balinor would be pretty well-known and well-feared throughout all the five kingdoms as "that dragonlord who escaped the purge and now travels around on the back of a giant dragon", and people all over Albion are kinda terrified of the guy.

Rumors say that he never smiles, that he can kill a man in a split second without even utterring a spell, and can decimate kingdoms with the dragon under his total command. That makes for a formidable figure!

And then one day, Balinor is trying to sneak into Camelot to visit his son (he heard Merlin got hit by a dorocha and wants to make sure he's ok!), and the knights see him and freak out because holy shit that's one of the deadliest guys in Albion!

They're in a tense standoff, with Balinor threatening to call down the dragon on them if they don't let him through. The knights are all ready to give their lives to at least buy the people in the castle time to evacuate, when suddenly Merlin and Arthur make it to the standoff. Arthur immediately starts strategizing with his knights on how they're going to negociate with the sorcerer in an attempt to make sure that they aren't all slaughtered.

Meanwhile, Merlin just laughs and pushes through the rows of knights blocking Balinor's path to the castle. The knights, being very fond of Merlin and not wanting to see their kind little friend be brutally murdered by one of the most terrifying men in exsistence, are trying to grab Merlin and pull him back to safety or shouting at him to get back, but Merlin manages to avoid them as he walks up to Balinor.

For a horrifying moment, the knights and Arthur think that Merlin is about to sacrifice himself for them, but Merlin breaks into a huge grin, yells "Dad!", and runs right into Balinor's arms.

(Merlin and Balinor reason that now that Arthur's king, they might as well start easing him into some of Merlin's less shocking secrets)

And even more shockingly to the knights, Balinor hugs him back, asking Merlin all about how he's been doing, how are his studies under Gaius, etc etc.

And all of the knights just bluescreen. Because the math isn't mathing on this one. Hunith + Balinor = MERLIN?! Does not compute.

They're all pondering how could someone as joyful, friendly, and kind as Merlin be the spawn of a terrifying man like Balinor?? They just cannot comprehend it. The manservant who they all know and love came from this sorcerer who's name is synonymous with the threat of death and destruction??

They're all jolted back to reality however when Balinor asks Merlin if he wants to come back to Balinor's newly-renovated stronghold in the mountains (that's only accessable by riding a dragon) to learn more about one day becoming a dragonlord. And suddenly, the knight understand why Balinor's here. He wants to kidnap Merlin from them and twist him into a terrifying sorcerer to carry on Balinor's legacy!

It all basically dissolves into a long game of high-stakes tug-of-war between Balinor and the knights + Arthur, and Merlin's just enjoying spending time with his father and his friends.

Balinor will just casually crash one of their quests while riding Kilgarrah and "kidnap" Merlin while the knights fight to keep Merlin with them.

Balinor eventually gives Merlin Aithusa so he can get practice raising dragons, and the knights see it as some evil scheme to make Merlin betray Camelot and attack it from within, but damn it Merlin's already adopted the damn thing so now they're stuck with a baby dragon.

IDK if I'd ever write a fic about it since I'm pretty busy writing another fic rn, but I thought that it was a funny idea to throw out there!

PS: if anyone wants to read my current project, where I'm giving Sir Leon more anxiety with each chapter after a kinda-botched magic reveal on Merlin's part (and Merlin may or may not be an eldritch god), feel free to check it out here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54027337/chapters/136771564

Thank you all for sticking with my incoherent rambling! :D I hope you have a great day/night!

Also, please let me know if you guys wants to hear more of the ideas that pinball around in my head!

[merlinmagicmania]

[merlinmagicmania]

I will genuinely never let go of that fact that Arthur never found out Balinor was Merlin’s father. fuck the magic, that’s the secret that haunts me the most.

I wish Arthur found out early on, maybe if Merlin snapped after ‘no man is worth your tears.’ And Merlin swears that he did not inherit Balinor’s dragonlord powers (Arthur does not know they are passed father to son) and Arthur believes him.

and then YEARS later Arthur is bleeding out in the finale and Merlin calls Kilgharrah and Arthur is like wait. hold the fuck up. you said you were not a dragonlord

and Merlin’s standing there with the blood of hundreds on his hands, his last remaining sanity hanging by a thread like my brother in christ you cannot actually believe that’s where i drew the line about lying

[merlinmagicmania]

1 am

[merlinmagicmania]

“Everything here…so full of life. Every tree. Every leaf. It’s as if the world is vibrating.”

How did you know this place was sacred?

[merlinmagicmania]

and I hope you die, I hope we both die

[merlinmagicmania]

There’s just something so human about wanting to go back and fix things, and something so compelling about getting that chance and still getting it wrong over and over again. It’s equal parts devotion and hubris, because you’re choosing to relive something terrible and you’re convincing yourself that you’re capable of redirecting everyone’s fate. Coupled with the already doomed narrative of Arthur and Merlin, where all actions lead to sorrow and it’s so so easy to trace the path of everyone’s downfall, I just think the repeated magic reveal could be so intriguing. Because everything going wrong wasn’t only Merlin’s fault: it was Arthur following Uther blindly for years, it was Morgana letting her fear overpower her compassion; it was Gaius always suggesting the more cautious path and it was Kilgharrah and his obsession with prophecy: it was also (obviously) Uther himself, Morgause, even Nimueh. And it was Merlin, lost and alone, overlooked and frightened doing his best with the cards he was dealt and still failing because the fate of the kingdom can’t rest on the shoulders of one man, no matter how powerful. And yes, he could’ve told Arthur sooner, but there would never have been a good time; too early and he would be turned in, too late and Arthur would be hurt by the lies, not to mention that every major victory of Merlin’s came with a new secret, a new source of shame. In a repeated magic reveal set-up, Merlin could have a hundred chances, a hundred timelines to get it right and it still may not take without everyone involved deciding to adjust course and rebuild their trust together. And I think there would never be a perfect timeline (it would always be painful in some way) but he would have the chance to choose compassion first, and to give others the knowledge they need to choose compassion too.

In regards to my earlier post, Smallville and Charmed had so many fake-out superpower/magic reveals and every time I see one my brain immediately thinks ‘but what if we made it merlin?’

[merlinmagicmania]

If Aithusa got to grow up in Camelot

[merlinmagicmania]

Your GORGEOUS Merlin fanart has reawakened my merlin obsession. My mind has been in OVER DRIVE. My fave plot bunny I've been pondering thus far after you launched me back into the fandom is an AU where Merlin's magic is discovered so obviously he flees Camelot, meaning OBVIOUSLY Arthur goes after him. Except that's not what Camelot thinks happened. What everyone else DOES think is that the evil sorcerer Merlin kidnapped their crown prince and is now holding him hostage, resulting in a slew of knights embarking on a 'rescue' mission to save Arthur from Merlin's evil clutches. Basically, this is just an excuse to subvert the damsel(Arthur) locked away in a tower guarded by a dragon(Merlin) au. Your art has literally inspired me soo much it's absolutely crazy. You've sparked a creative fire within me!!! ✨🔥

THATS SO FUN I LOVE THAT!!!

[merlinmagicmania]

I just had a dream where there was another season of bbc merlin. In the season, the events of diamond of the day hadn’t happened. Instead Merlin is still with Arthur and the Knights except he’s just tired. He’s way more obvious about his use of magic bc some subconscious part of him wants to be caught. He also starts sending anonymous letters to Arthur to warn him of threats and Arthur obsessively tries to figure out who’s sending them. At one point, Arthur, who is beginning to have his suspicions, finds a blank notepad in Merlin’s room and starts coloring the page with a pencil (yes i know notepads and pencils are out of place) to read what was written on the missing page above. Merlin is right next to him as he does this and Arthur conversationally says it’s bc he’s bored and has nothing better to do. As the damning evidence starts to materialize, Merlin causes some soot from a nearby fire to land on the page ruining Arthur’s work. Arthur sighs, studying Merlin. It’s not enough proof, he didn’t really see the magic, but he’s becoming more convinced. He’s disheartened and wants the ruse to end.

[merlinmagicmania]

gaius, politely informing uther that his wife is a troll: she also has, what appears to be, a set of fangs.

sir leon the long-suffering, also very politely: i wouldn't so much as call them fangs

gaius:

uther:

leon: they're more like tusks.

LEON SWEETHEART YOU ARE A GEM

[merlinmagicmania]

Okay no, but the implication of Kilgharrah saying Merlin should kill Mordred and Morgana to protect Arthur is that Arthur’s fate wasn’t set in stone. And if Arthur’s fate could be changed, why couldn’t Morgana’s or Mordred’s?

[merlinmagicmania]

one of the things we really missed out on bc of Merlin being terrified of the prophecy:

Mordred and Merlin shenanigans and the two of them causing the chaos we all know and love

like the two of them would just prank the knights and arthur constantly

bonus points that they use mind speak to help the other get away with it

and when arthur asks Merlin where he was (bc its always Merlin’s doing) he can truthfully shrug and say “it wasn’t me”

[merlinmagicmania]

“Sorcerers are not permitted marked graves. It’s alright, Merlin. I would have done the same. He was one of us, after all.”

MERLIN 5.05 — The Disir

[merlinmagicmania]

merlin is the best tv show ever bc every episode arthur is like “oh that’s my attention seeking whore, merlin. what is it now, dumbass?” meanwhile the merlin and morgana subplot: