Reporter: How does it feel to be the worst servant in all of Camelot??
Merlin: In a city full of ass-kissers I wear it as a fucking badge of honor!
Reporter: what about the rumors that you’re always in the tavern?
Merlin: WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT
Thanks for tagging me @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu! Here's mine!
No pressure tags! @guiltyscarlet @justaz @theroundbartable @larluce @247merthur, and anyone else who wants to join in!
show me your beautiful self this tuesday night 🤍
Ok, since you guys liked my last silly Merlin au idea, here's another one! :D
I think that the Knights of Medhir should have come back in some way. They're so versatile as villains, and supposedly any sorcerer powerful enough to awaken them could control them.
Combine their versatility in the story with my saltiness that Merlin never really got any minions despite Morgana getting, like, four whole armies, and I think there's a fun little au in there!
So, I'm imagining around season 4 the knights of the round table plus Merlin and Arthur are on a quest, but there's some sudden bad weather, so they need to seek shelter. However, the only shelter around is the ruins of Idirsholas, much to Arthur and Merlin’s discomfort. However, they’re reassured by the fact that the knights of Medhir are long gone after Morgause's failed invasion.
Let's say that Merlin was injured by a bandit’s blade, giving him a shallow but bleeding cut on his arm. They were able to bandage it with some cloth, but it was still bleeding a bit. As the knights and Merlin prepare their camp for the night, Merlin lights a campfire for them in the courtyard, put as he leans over the firepit, his bandage comes loose a bit, causing some of his blood to spill onto the fire. He thinks nothing of it as he rebandages his arm and starts cooking dinner.
Meanwhile, in the crypt underneath the ruins, the Knights of Medhir have been awakened by a powerful sorcerer lighting a fire in the castle, and then got a massive power-up thanks to being awakened by a blood sacrifice by Emrys himself!
So, the Camelot knights settle in and sleep, while the knight of Medhir are waking up more powerful than ever before. However, their new master hasn't given them any commands yet, so they're just... standing around. For now.
The next day, the knights of the round table pack up and leave, heading back to Camelot. The knights of Medhir can sense their new master getting further away, but they still don't have any orders, so they stay put.
After a couple days, the knights return to Camelot, just in time for a big tournament! Of course, with a big tournament, there's a bunch of rude and downright awful noble knights that show up and make Merlin's life miserable by treating him like dirt behind Arthur's back. One in particular throws a goblet at Merlin's head, and not playfully like Arthur does, and it strikes Merlin's head, giving him a small cut and making him bleed.
The knights of Medhir, sensing that their new master is hurt and hopping onto their demonic horses: We ride at dawn bitches!
So, a couple days into the tournament, the knights of Medhir crash the party! But strangely enough, they only attack a group of non-Camelot knights, even killing a few before they suddenly stop their attack. Then, the knights of Medhir make their way into the castle's courtyard and await their master's next commands, as still as statues.
Arthur, Merlin, and the knights of the round table are scrambling to find out what sorcerer summoned these knights, for what purpose, and why were those foreign knights targeted? Merlin in particular is pulling his hair out over this because the last thing he needs right now is another power-hungry sorcerer trying to take over Camelot!
What's the most confusing is why the knights are just... standing in the middle of the courtyard, unmoving. The Camelot knights try to take this opportunity to destroy the knights of Medhir, but nothing works. They try stabbing them, beheading them, drowning them, even setting them on fire, but nothing could destroy the undead knights. The knights of Medhir just stand there, unmoving.
The Camelot knights, after trying and failing to destroy the knights of Medhir for the twentieth time: They're just standing there... menacingly!
Merlin's also tried a bunch of spells to get rid of them, but nothing's working. It's like his magic refuses to destroy the knights! (Because his magic is now connected to the knights, but he doesn't know that.)
After a while, everyone just sorta accepts that the knights of Medhir are apparently just going to be creepy permanent statues in the courtyard, and life goes on. That is, until another assassin sneaks into Camelot trying to kill the king and Merlin's trying to secretly catch them, but is out in public, so he can't rely on his magic.
All of a sudden, and to everyone's horror, the knights are moving again! The knights of Medhir tear through the castle, thankfully not hurting anyone, but not letting anyone get in their way. They eventually make their way into the throne room, where the assassin is about to strike at Arthur. They brutally murder the assassin (whom only Merlin knew about) in front of the entire court and then march back out into the courtyard, going still once again.
And that's when Merlin realizes it: he's the sorcerer who summoned the knights! And now he apparently has them under his command.
Cue Merlin's life getting a hell of a lot easier.
I feel like this could go in a pretty humorous direction, with Merlin trying desperately to hide the fact that the knights are under his control, but he keeps needing to them save his friends (and himself).
But then Arthur sees Merlin and Gwen being constantly protected by the knights of Medhir, and comes to his own horrifying (and incorrect) conclusion that he himself may be the one commanding them, as they seem to be prioritizing their safety (since Arthur doesn't see them saving his life), which is what Arthur does himself. So Arthur thinks that the knights tearing apart people who hurt Merlin or Gwen is the knights acting on his own darkest impulses, and which makes him very uncomfortable.
I think that there's lots of potential here!
Thanks for reading through my rambling! :D
This looks awesome!! I love @larluce's time travel au, it adds so many great twists to the canon and has great emotional moments like this one! I had a lot of fun coming up with the trailer!
Be sure to check out their au!!
sorcerers in camelot realizing merlin is head over heels in love with uther’s son
does anyone wanna hold hands until we feel a little braver
The Knights trying to figure out if the alarm bells are ringing because Camelot’s under attack or because Arthur can’t find Merlin:
Merlin's arms strain with the effort of hauling Arthur, barely-conscious, towards the misty shores of Avalon. It takes little more than his presence to call the Sidhe forth from their sanctuary in the lake, but Arthur groans with both pain and shock as their winged blue forms fly out of the water.
"You must save him! I am willing to give up my own life, but he must live!"
Arthur weakly struggled in Merlin's supportive arms, protesting Merlin's plan now that it had become clear that Merlin was set on self-sacrifice.
Hovering above the gleaming surface if the lake, one Sidhe gave Merlin a sharp, almost menacing, grin.
"While we cannot take your life to exchange for his, Emrys, there is another sacrifice you can make that would save your king."
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Arthur gently places a young tree that's barely tall enough to brush against his knees into a prepared spot in the center of the royal gardens.
There are no tears on his face, for he ran out of those long ago.
"I hope you like the view from here, Merlin. I think you'll be able to see out over all of Camelot in a couple years."
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The knights watched as Arthur viciously pulls out the axes that had been stuck in the tree's trunk and had carved a large gouge in its base. Arthur whirled around at them, and many, including his closest companions on the round table, flinched back at his near-feral expression.
Arthur's eyes locked into the spy responsible for this.
"Anyone who so much as touches this tree pays for their transgression with their head."
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"So you can perform the spell, then?"
"We can, your majesty, but only with the proper materials. A blade bearing the lifeblood of 300 men and 3 dragon scales are not easy to come by."
Arthur leans forward from where he's sitting on his throne, his eyes wild in a way that disturbingly reminds the druid delegation of the look in Uther Pendragon's eyes as he hunted down every living creature with a hint of magic.
"Do not concern yourselves with that. I will gather these materials for you. Just make sure that you can perform the ritual successfully when the time comes."
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Two pairs of eyes, the owners of which both believed themselves to be dead moments before, blink open to the same sunny morning. An unforgettable morning that they had both lived through before, many years prior.
This was, after all, the morning that their destiny was set into motion.
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I hope you enjoyed this! I tried to write some scenes that are implied in larluce's au, but are never directly shown, so that you aren't spoiled for many scenes in the au!
Check out the time travel au here! (You should definitely go read it right now because it's awesome!!)
Reblogging for the amazing addition! I loved your description of Merlin's wings @bearryleal!
An idea that just came to me: an au where Merlin, by virtue of his status as Emrys and a dragonlord, is part fae.
However, he wasn't always fae, so his new powers come as a shock to him when they start appearing soon after he banished Kilgharrah. Still, Merlin starts reading all he can on the fae and their powers, trying to know what to expect, but there aren't many books on the fae available to him in Camelot, so his knowledge is very limited.
So, the next time Arthur took Merlin out for an overnight hunt, Merlin prepared a stew dinner for the both of them, which was nothing out of the ordinary. But, when Arthur ate the stew, something happened, Merlin could feel it. It was like his magic had suddenly grown an extra connection to Arthur, and it was very strange.
What was even stranger was the fact that every time Arthur or one of the knights ate food that he had prepared, Merlin's strange magical connection to them got stronger, like strings of wool being woven together to form a stronger fiber.
By the time Merlin learned about the rules surrounding fae food, it was already far too late. Merlin freaked for a very long time over the fact that he apparently owned all of his friends' souls, and now there was no way to undo it!
However, as time went on and things continued on as they usually did, with all of his friends acting normally towards him and not like they were under any sort of magical compulsion, Merlin slowly relaxed.
Eventually, after a disastrous encounter with a Sidhe in disguise who was trying to trick Arthur into selling his soul, Merlin decided that this might be a good thing. No one else could take his friends' souls if he already owned them.
Besides, he loved all of them! He'd take very good care of their souls, treating all of them with the respect and kindness they deserved.
(Some part of Merlin, buried deep below, cried out in horror at the notion of owning any person's soul, let alone his loved ones', but it was quickly silenced by a new instinct, some foreign logic that now took over his mind. This was his nature, after all.)
And perhaps, one day, Merlin would be correct in that him owning his friends' souls was a blessing instead of a burden. When, one fateful day, Merlin stood at the shores of Avalon holding his king's dying body, he refused to give up Arthur's soul.
Avalon could take Arthur's body if it wanted it that badly; Merlin could always create a new one for his king with his magic alone. But Arthur's soul belonged to Merlin.
Forever.
(And whether this is a good or terrible ending for Arthur is up to you!)
If anyone ever did something like this for anything I wrote, I would be grinning nonstop for a day and kicking my feet my joy! Knowing that my silly stories gave people some joy and inspiration makes my day!
All of these used to be so common for people to show their appreciation of different fics and authors, and I think it’s a shame people don’t do it anymore. I love seeing fan work for my fics!!
A great selection of my incoherent thoughts!AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticNeutral01/pseuds/ChaoticNeutral01
307 posts