#Merlin AU

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Hello everyone! You all remember how I said I was working on something special to celebrate some tumblr milestones? Well, my surprise project is finished!

To celebrate both reaching 500 (500! holy cow!) followers and my 100th post, I decided to challenge myself! So, I joined @merlin-fic-server's Tournament of Champions, a challenge for Merlin fic writers, fan artists, and podfic makers! The challenge for writers that I chose was to write a new 10k fic based on a randomly generated prompt in 24 hours.

I've never participated in anything like this before, but it felt nice to challenge myself! The result is a fic both fits with the usual themes of my stories (like characters getting put in ridiculous situations), but it's also different from anything I've ever written before, feeling a bit more grounded than my usual silly writing.

So, I'd like to thank you all! I never could have imagined that this blog would bring me and so many people so much joy, and I wouldn't have been inspired to challenge myself if it wasn't for you support! You all have been amazing to me, and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my unhinged ramblings with this fandom!

For now, I hope you all enjoy this little experiment of mine! I'll see you all next time! :D

[xgermankittycatx--commsopen]

merlin and arthur co-parenting human aithusa (even though they would NEVER talk about it) my beloved

(...yes, I've been reading too many fanfics again, NOW TELL ME WHAT YOUR FAV MERTHUR FANFICS ARE >:])

[quinnoliver]

Merlin: you're a good horse *kisses*

Arthur: ....

Merlin: hi! You're so smart! *Kisses a dog*

Arthur: Merlin

Merlin: what? Do you also want kisses and get called a good king or something?

Arthur: ...................yes

[silverdrws]

time traveling au inspired by this post by @mountmortar

feat. confused af arthur and tired at life merlin

more of this au

[zoyalaaai]

two sides of the same coin or smth…

imagine arthur waking up after centuries & stumbling into a new world only to find a merlin who doesn’t remember him, but still wears his wedding ring around his neck as if it means something.

[insanusnavicularis]

I just had a dream and hear me out okay? Noble George.

It’d be something like:

Merlin, barging into Arthur’s chambers: yOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FOUND OUT

Arthur: …What did you find, Merlin?

Merlin: George. GEORGE.

Arthur: you found… George? The servant? Was he lost?

Merlin: THATS THE THING! George! The servant! Right? Right?!?!

Arthur: uh- have you hit your head? Please tell me you don’t actually have a mental affliction.

Merlin: George! The servant! The servant who loves polishing and sweeping and- and I don’t even know, doing laundry I guess? And brass!

Arthur: okay, Merlin, you’re starting to worry me, you either calm yourself down or I call Gaius.

Merlin: calm down? He’s not actually a servant, Arthur!

Arthur: what- what does that even mean?

Merlin: it means, Arthur, he’s a noble.

Arthur: what.

Merlin: he’s a noble, Arthur! An actual, royal, noble! Like with- with the lands and, I don’t know what, the riches and- he should have servants! But he is one.

Arthur: I’m gonna be real with you, I don’t know what you’re talking about. What do you mean he’s a noble? He’s a servant! Has been a servant here for- since I was a kid.

Merlin: for since you were a kid?

Arthur: for since I was a kid! Yeah! He is not a noble Merlin, why would he be a servant here if he was?

Merlin: That’s the thing! Look- just hear me out, okay? I was in the library doing research on magic when I stumbled upon a book with all the noble families of the whole kingdom, okay? And don’t ask how I found it, but suddenly there it was! Name and surname and all: George! So then I asked Geoffrey and he confirmed it was OUR George. Apparently Geoffrey knew the whole time!

Arthur: what-

Merlin: so then I obviously went to interrogate ask George what was going on, and he confirmed it! Didn’t even try to deny it! He said it wasn’t supposed to be a secret anymore.

Arthur, getting invested, eating popcorn: what does that even mean?

Merlin: he told me that being a servant has been his dream since he was little. When he was a kid he was always running after the servants in his household and trying to help them and learn from them but his father didn’t like that because he said it was below his station or some other classist shit.

Arthur, eyes wide: omg story time.

Merlin: anyways fast forward to when he was fifteen summers, he decided he was going to make a life for himself and follow his dreams so he ran away at night leaving only a note behind that explained the situation. He went from city to city until he reached Camelot and his dream finally came true and he became a servant. He didn’t tell anyone he was a noble because he didn’t want to be treated differently or be sent back to his father.

Arthur, in the edge of his seat: wow.

Merlin: wow indeed.

Arthur: wait- why did he tell you then? If he didn’t want anyone to know?

Merlin: he said he didn’t think it’d be a problem now with how much time has passed and all. I asked him if I could tell everyone and he said that as long as it didn’t interfere with his duties he couldn’t care less, so I ran here and told you.

Arthur: wow.

[takingasterix]

Queen Guinevere's guard dog (AKA the Court Sorcerer of Camelot)

quick little thing because i got bored and LOVE this concept

[papysanzonew]

Head canon: Merlin knows that a strange (handsome) guy is trying to kidnap him for reasons and he simply goes with it. He writes a letter to his parents “hey mum, dad, I met this guy and he is REALLY handsome. I decided to go on adventures with him and maybe I’ll marry him. See you soon, love you, bye~❤️”

My other Merlin art

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

I imagine Merlin and Arthur are married in the future, with Arthur living his dream of being a farmer and Merlin helping out sometimes but mainly Merlin be gardening and baking, sometimes mixing ingredients in his cauldron when he needs to restock on healing potions.

Then Arthur will go in town selling wheat, eggs, and wool or sometimes the honey from Merlin's beehive.

They also have two cats and two dogs, the dogs help Arthur with the goats, sheeps, and chickens whilst the cats follow Merlin around at home sometimes catching mice or meowing (chatting) at Merlin.

I just like seeing them living a domestic married life.

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

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!

[bellalunadreams]

Merlin Cinderella au 🫣

I’m not good at writing but, I think it would be really cute to have a Cinderella au with everything being the same (setting and Arthur being the prince wise)

It would take place when Merlin just comes to Camelot, and instead of living in the castle, Gauis has a house/healing center in the lower town.

I don’t think the evil stepmother and sisters would come into play. But it would just be Merlin coming to Camelot like in the show and becoming quick friends with people in the kingdom (huge ‘everyone loves Merlin’ believer)

Uthur wants Arthur to marry to continue the bloodline and to secure him as next in line to rule. So he holds a ball for all eligible (noble) suitors in the kingdom (suspended disbelief of Uthurs possible bigotry 💀)

Merlin wants to go cause he thinks it’ll be fun but he can’t since he’s not a noble. He goes looking through Gauis’s old magic books to find a spell to change his appearance and accidentally summons a fairy godmother.

He gets his disguise but it’ll only last till midnight so he makes the most of it and causes as much mischief as possible, when else is he ever gonna get an opportunity to get into the castle and get away with anything he wants with no repercussions? (No one will recognize him 😈)

Arthur is overwhelmed with everyone practically throwing themselves at him so he gets away to the gardens( or something of that sort)

There he spots Merlin setting up a prank or something. He questions what he’s doing and Merlin says something like “are you a snitch?”

Merlin and Arthur proceed to pull pranks on a bunch of the nobles and Arthur has the time of his life for the first time in forever. Merlin doesn’t treat him like the prince, he treats him like just some guy and Arthur loves it.

They settle down back in the gardens with them both in a fit of laughter after their last joke. One of them makes a comment about having not danced the entire night. With the overbearing music of the hall muffled by the quiet of the garden, they dance together under the moonlight.

Arthur makes a comment about not even knowing Merlin’s name when the bells chime for midnight.

Merlin’s eyes widen like saucers and he takes off, shouting apologies as he goes. And in his rush off his neckerchief snags on one of the flower bushes.

Arthur finds the neckerchief and swears he’ll find that mysterious man again.

Merlin makes it back to Gauis’s hut just in time as the spell wears off and passes out in bed

The next morning there’s a royal decree to find the man danced with the prince and lost his neckerchief getting away

I feel that Arthur would be really determined to find him. And he would know that Merlin was not a noble, no noble would behave the way Merlin did.

Arthur would personally go through the whole kingdom, house to house if he had to.

I feel like they would meet again in a really funny way too. Like Merlin would be delivering something for Gauis and they would run into each other like how they met in the show.

As soon as Arthur would hear his snarky comeback he would know that it’s him lol

Arthur would propose to him on the spot with the neckerchief

And they would live snark-ly ever after

[samglyph]

Arthur, meet Arthur

Gang I’m so tired please except this small offering that I needed to get out of my brain.

[quinnoliver]

Merlin: *does magic*

Knights: *in awe*

Merlin: *calls a dragon*

Knights: .....

Merlin: *grins* Isn't it awesome?

Knights: *smile back but also in fear* yes, absolutely

A new knight's code: Do not piss off Merlin

[myoonmii]

Do you see the vision

[vandalyssm]

Merlin Takes No Shits AU (crack)

Enemy of the Week: Hah! What can a filthy, pathetic, lowly servant like you possibly do without the protection of your prince?

Merlin:

Merlin:

Merlin: Hasta la vista, bitch (shitty fireball cgi)

---

Gaius: What were you thinking?! The king could have sentenced you to death! Have you any sense of self-preservation, boy?

Merlin: No

Gaius: ...And?

Merlin: ???

Gaius: Do you have anything to say for yourself?

Merlin: Nah lol

---

Arthur: Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?

Merlin: ...Are you propositioning me?

Arthur: (wide eyes) (blush)

Arthur: You—Of course not! What is wrong with you?

Merlin: Cause if you were, I wouldn't turn your offer down. (easy smirk)

Arthur: (jaw drop)

Merlin: See you around, stranger.

[Silence as Merlin strides away]

Arthur: (shouts) I am the prince. You can't just walk away from me!

[Merlin waves without looking back]

---

[Merlin enters the Dragon's cave for the first time.]

Khilgharrah: How small you are for such—

Merlin: Can you, for the love of the Gods, shut up with the mindspeak? I'm trying to sleep.

Kilgharrah: (shocked)

Merlin: thx (leaves)

---

Merlin: (mutters) dayum shawty thy bumcheeks should be illegal

Arthur, who's not deaf: WHAT?

Merlin: what

---

Uther: [hate speech about sorcerers]

Merlin in the background, seething: 🤌🤌🤌

[calebauer]

dante and virgil • arthur and merlin