#druid merlin

[wickedwitchofthesouth]

So I did some cutting and pasting and doodling and now I've absolutely fallen in love with my own version of merlin and arthur

[arianna-creates]

Fun fact! I actually turned these in to my art teacher because one of our assignments was to do something artistic every single day! This included painting mugs, drawing pictures, and creating collages on our walls at home...

Merlin with a beard had a GRIP on me back when I made these (a year or two ago I believe?)

Curly hair also has had a grip on me :)

[emrysxdragon]

If anyone has fic recs where the druids treat merlin like a god or king in front of arthur, who's left absolutely speechless, pleaseee share 🤍🙏🏻

[whydon-twego]

Merlin remembers the flat, emerald-green hills when the sun rose and caressed his skin, warming it after the cold winter nights.

He remembers the festivals, the barefoot dances in the earth, he remembers the laughter, the children playing happily at their parents' feet, and the smiling faces of the old people exchanging stories in front of the fire.

He remembers the nights of the full moon when they would all gather in a circle around the fire to talk about the day, to exchange advice, to tell horror stories to strike fear into the children who never had to stray too far or they would never return home.

And then remember when the horror really happened.

Merlin opens his eyes and sees no green hills but only wreckage and blood covering the ground.

He sees bodies of people he has known for years lying on the ground with wide, terrified eyes staring straight into the void.

He sees death.

And his heart weeps and bleeds for his people who are now gone.

"Emrys, what shall we do?"

Merlin twitches his lips at that title but says nothing about it, the few surviving people trust him and he already has too many deaths on his conscience, he is not worthy of the title of Emrys.

"Uther Pendragon has made his decision tonight. And he will suffer the consequences. Aithusa!" The dragon, who was resting after the journey she had made with Merlin, got up and went to her master, who stroked her muzzle and looked at her with sad eyes.

"We have one more journey to make, my friend."

"Emrys, you cannot go alone!"

Merlin turns to the few remaining people and feels his heart clench in a vice.

He will avenge them.

He will avenge them all.

"Not a house will stand in Camelot, not a single road will be remembered to lead to that cursed place, and not a single arch will stand of that damned castle. I cannot afford to take you with me."

His mother always told him that death only brings death. But his mother is no longer there because Uther Pendragon has decided that druids and magic holders are dangerous people. So there is no one left to stop him and Merlin has no intention of being stopped.

The war has begun.

[steve-needs-a-hug]

little fanart of Druid Emrys in 'the wish that broke the world' by @whatswiththemustache

[vintage--lilacs]

When word first reached King Arthur of the prophesied druid leader Emrys, he’d pictured a wizened old man with sunken cheeks and a long, scraggly beard. Not a youthful face, jutting cheekbones, and a plump, sinful mouth. He grappled for something to say that would provide reasonable explanation for his ogling. “I—I like your dress.” Emrys frowned. “It's a sacred druid robe.” Fantastic. Arthur had managed to offend him within minutes of meeting him.

[themerlinlibrary]

TML Favourites Friday – Round 2: Druids

Favourites Friday round-up!

Recs are listed in the order they were posted on the Discord. The pairing given in this list is the main pairing of each respective fic, please read the tags for any possible minor or side-pairings, as well as any potential warnings or triggers. Pairings and Eras are given as tagged in each respective fic; (?) signifies that the tags were unclear and I do not know the fic well enough myself to fill in the gaps.

[This weekly round-up is not a guarantee! It will only be posted in weeks when someone on the TML team has enough time on their hands to compile a list! Details and structure may vary. If you want to make sure you never miss a FF rec, or would like to participate and share your own favourites; join us on the Discord TheMerlinLibrary!]

Theme for week 2: Druids

through this life, and into the next (this is a marriage of equals) by thedaughterofkings T, 23k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Divergence AU

bloom how you must, wild until we are free by SlantedKnitting E, 29k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Divergence AU

My Big Fat Druid Wedding by sethxo E, 68k, Merlin/Arthur Modern with Magic AU

Rising From the Ashes by QueenofCamelot T, 5.8k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Divergence AU

The World Will Follow After by sassafrasx E, 4.5k, Merlin/Arthur Modern with Magic AU

The Third Path by TyalanganD M, 74k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Divergence AU

I Will Share Your Road by PinkGold E, 7.2k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Divergence AU

Misunderstandings, Rings, and Magic by thenerdyindividual T, 26k, Gwaine/Merlin Canon Era

A masterlist of all round-ups can be found here.

[justaz]

*merlins magic gets exposed in front of the knights*

merlin, magic user: oh fuck

arthur, finally taking this opportunity to pretend as if he just found out merlin has magic after agonizing for the past month on how to bring it up: you have magic?

lancelot, merlin defender, already knew of merlin’s magic: no! i have magic

gwaine, merlin defender, already knew of merlin’s magic, lover of chaos, ride or die: no, i have magic!

mordred, desperate for his hero’s approval bc no matter what he’s done emrys just stares at him with distrust and the poor boy is tired and so close to tears: no…i have magic.

percival, raised by druids and bonded strongly with mordred over that and does Not agree with the persecution of magic in camelot, had an inkling that merlin had magic but no proof: no. i have magic.

*leon and elyan exchange a look, elyan, amused and leon, exhausted, elyan shrugs*

elyan, knows how much gwen adores merlin and completely understands her stance bc merlin…is merlin, down to clown and put on a show, really playing up the dramatics: no! i have magic.

leon, exhausted, has known of merlin’s magic since he stepped foot in camelot, knows of his feelings for arthur and arthur’s feelings for him, knows arthur knows of merlin’s magic and wouldn’t harm him, thinks everyone is being absolutely ridiculous:

*the knights stare hard at leon and even merlin looks slightly offended at leon not jumping to his defense with the rest of the knights, arthur hasn’t said anything and is staring at leon expectantly*

leon, sighing: …no. i have magic.

[adhd-merlin]

I firmly believe at least one druid, at some point, looked at Merlin and thought "are we sure we have the right guy"

[merthur-she-wrote]

Prompt:

When negotiating a treaty and the return of magic to Camelot, Arthur agrees to marry a magic user.

The druids suggest Emrys, the greatest and most powerful sorcerer who will ever live - magic incarnate.

Arthur counters this by suggesting Merlin, his dorky but ever loyal manservant, who just happens to have a little bit of magic in him.

Druids: Good. Then we are in agreement.

Arthur: Wait- What?

[myths0f01d]

I feel like merthur is the type where one goes to propose and the other laughs hysterically before pulling out their own ring to propose with.

Double proposals except its a druid magic coin and arthurs mothers sigil.

[tiredcowboyy]

I cant help but cry over how extra lonely merlin was when it came to his magic. Everyone always spoke about how lonely and awful it was to have to hide your magic, for sorcerers and druids in places like camelot and how isolating it was.

But at the end of the day they could somewhat always find others like them. They could escape to druid camps and be with people like them or find others hidden in the shadows.

But merlin couldnt. Sure he found other people that could do magic. But they always had him on this platform, emrys this emrys that, he was always the great emrys who had this big destiny and was the greatest sorcerer.

Never just merlin who could do magic. He never really got that equal companionship and relief of having someone the same as him around because the other person always saw emrys, this important person for the world, and never just 20 year old merlin who knew magic and wanted to help his friends.

[pondermoniums]

Someone already said it but BBC Merlin is truly unhinged for having seasons 1-3 being a good time and then 4&5 plunged into the depths of tragedy.

[steve-needs-a-hug]

wip of Druid Emrys based on a fic i'm reading!

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

I hate that Merlin got no good mentor figure in the show.

Like Gaius was fine, ish, because Merlin liked him and he did very genuinely try to keep Merlin safe. But he was also traumatised as fuck and literally agreed with a genocidal maniac who decided killing everyone was better than actually grieving his dead wife.

And Kilgharrah was a spiteful basement lizard and an absolute bastard. He did nothing other than be a convenient plot device who gave Merlin more trauma than he knew what to do with.

And it wasn’t like he had many other options either, like

Alator of the Catha, dead.

Balinor, dead

Hunnith, amazing but no idea about magic.

Uther, read it in a fic one time. I’ve had trips that were less trippy.

Gaius, traumatised to the pyre and back. A few times.

So I can’t really blame him, same as Morgana he just latched onto the first person (or nightmare cave beast basement lizard in his case) who told him he wasn’t cursed or a monster.

But the show would’ve been better if he actually had someone to turn to consistently instead of an immortal who wants to die, a cryptic shut in, a druid he sees twice a year or whoever else showed up for less than 15 minutes of screen time.

[whydon-twego]

Merlin thought he was enough.

He thought he was enough to defend his mother from the bandits but in the end it was his mother who defended him by sending him to Camelot.

He thought he was enough for Freya and that they could live happily together, away from Camelot, but he could not save her.

He thought he was enough to help Morgana but cowardice prevailed and he failed to save her.

He thought he was enough for Gilly, Taliesin, Iseldir and all his people but he failed.

He thought he was enough for Arthur, but Arthur chose Gwen.

He thought he was enough to help Arthur forge a new destiny and unite all of Albion and remove the ban on magic on Camelot, but Arthur died and none of this was done.

Merlin once thought he was enough.

Now Merlin knows he never was.