Arthur Was Willing To Sacrifice His Life To Save Yours. He Has Proven What Is Truly In His Heart. (xx)

don’t mind me I’m just thinking about how crazy it would be to have a devoted servant who you trusted above all others and who was happy — honored, even — to spend their life kneeling at your feet like a loyal dog. and then one day it turns out that your servant is actually God, like capital-G God, making you not just God’s favorite, but the object of God’s worship: a holy figure to the literal divine.

Lancelot: What the fuck? People actually tell their crushes they like them??

Percival: What the hell do you do?

Lancelot: I die? What kinda question...

I would also like to point out that the way you build muscle has an impact on what muscle groups you build!

For example, Arthur has built his muscle through combat training and exercise, so he has well-developed muscles groups for swinging a sword and punching bad guys. Other physical activities will of course be easy for him, but the combat that he's built his physique around will be where his strength shines through the most.

But Merlin, on the other hand, has presumably mostly built up his muscle through manual labor as Arthur's manservant. He's hauling things around, carrying heavy armor, handling horses, etc. So, our season 5 buff Merlin would probably have muscle groups well developed for those sorts of motions, which could be slightly different muscle groups than the ones Arthur uses to swing a sword.

My ultimate point here is that, of the two of them, Merlin would probably have the better musculature to sling Arthur over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

bringing this back bc holy shit they r so…

Loved the “Arthur misunderstands what a warlock is" au! I completely get it if you’re done with that one and want to move on to the next idea, but I’d be very curious to read how the rest react to finding out how wrong they were? Perhaps some guilt as Arthur realises what he forced Merlin to do? But again, completely get it if you’re done! Thank you for sharing to begin with!

Thank you so much! I'll probably revisit the "Arthur misunderstands what a warlock is" au later on to write the aftermath of Arthur's terrible misunderstanding. It might be a while before I get to it since I have a lot of other au ideas that I want to share, but I will do a part 3 for that au eventually! In the meanwhile, I can say that Arthur is definitely having a rough time with his guilt, but also questioning why Merlin went along with it in the first place. I imagine that conversation would go something like this:

"If you thought that I was some soul eating beast, why the hell would you sacrifice prisoners?! Why would you do something so horrible for someone you saw as a monster?"

"Because you're still you, Merlin! And even when I believed such awful things about warlocks, I couldn't see you as anything but the kind-hearted fool who's the strongest man I know but still cries when he sees a baby deer! Despite everything, I couldn't see you as anything other than my closest friends, and I didn't want to lose you to some terrible hunger when I knew that I could provide for you, however horrible the method was!"

But Arthur's also feeling incredibly guilty that he had also abused Merlin's complete trust in him that way. What did it say about how deeply Merlin trusted Arthur if, from Merlin's perspective, Arthur had randomly commanded him to kill two men, to bloody his own hands, for no given reason, and Merlin still did as Arthur asked. Merlin would go to such lengths simply because Arthur commanded it, and wasn't that just an awful thing for Arthur to think about?

I'll end this for now, but this au will return (after I've posted a couple of new au ideas)!

Thanks for the question! :D

This au was created with the combined forces of the amazing and awesomely talented group of @griffonskies, @hufflehobbitmakes, @lorienrobins, and myself (and they're all super cool people and you should all check out their blogs!) in an absolutely hilarious conversation, so I had to flesh this idea out. Enjoy!

This is a post-canon AU, where Merlin is still living by the Lake of Avalon in modern times, awaiting Arthur's return. While the world has changed immensely in the time since Arthur's reign, there were a few things that have stayed the same. And one of the things that had stayed constant throughout the last 1500 years were the druids and their worship of Emrys.

As Merlin's powers grew following Camlann, he found that he could hear the prayers that the druids directed at him, and he could answer them to the best of his ability with his magic while staying at the shores of Avalon. Besides, the druids knew better than to seek him out in person unless there was an absolute emergency.

Now, fast forwards to the 21st century, and there's modern druids worshipping Merlin as Emrys, and they pray to him and leave offerings, and he still sometimes answers their prayers. While the most popular offerings to Emrys are physical offerings, such as wooden carvings and food, their songs and dances praising him work as offerings as well.

However, one day, some Gen Z druids get an idea. Their religion isn't very well known, how about they spread more awareness of it online? And what better way to reach a wide audience than to share one of their dances praising Emrys on TikTok!

And of course, their dances for Emrys blows up online and go viral. The consequences of this, besides the rising interest in their religion, is that Merlin has accidentally gained millions of new worshippers, who have performed the dance without really knowing what it means.

Suddenly, with millions of people performing dances in honor of him online, Merlin is more powerful than ever before, much to his own confusion, since he's just chilling in a cabin next to the lake and doesn't really spend much time online.

However, one day, Arthur's reincarnation does the new dance trend at reincarnated Morgana's insistence. Merlin immediately senses his king performing one of the dances made to worship Emrys and teleports to Arthur's location, scaring the shit out of him. Now Arthur's stuck with a maybe-a-god-but-honesty-kinda-hot guy in his flat who keeps calling him "sire" and telling him to go to some lake so he can pick up a sword. It's a very confusing day for poor Arthur!

Bonus: some quotes from Gen Z druids in this au explaining their religion online: "Yeah, we can talk directly to our god, but he doesn't always respond because he's kinda busy being sad next to a magical lake."

"No, we swear he isn't a cult leader looking for a tax break!"

"If you catch him in a good mood he might do a pub crawl with you! That happened to my cousin once!"

"Yeah, I heard he turned water into beer on that pub crawl! Wild night."

Poll Time!

If you've enjoyed the last few gifs with Arthur or Merlin spinning, please pick one of these options to help me pick which gif I'll make next!

Thanks for the tag @thefreckledelf!

*Stares at my username* Well, this is going to take a while! Let's do this!

Ruthlessness from Epic: The Musical

Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene by Hozier

Millie, Warm the Kettle Once More by Rabbitology

Be by Hozier

Like Real People Do by Hozier

It Will Come Back by Hozier

Nobody's Soldier by Hozier

Get in the Water from Epic: The Musical

Shrike by Hozier

Open Arms from Epic: The Musical

Foreigner's God by Hozier

Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier

Curses by The Crane Wives

Hot To Go by Chappell Roan

Abstract (Psychopomp) by Hozier

There are Other Ways from Epic: The Musical

Take Me to Church by Hozier

In the Woods Somewhere by Hozier

Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan

NFWMB by Hozier

Eat Your Young by Hozier

The Underworld from Epic: The Musical

Too Sweet by Hozier

Rockslide by The Crane Wives

Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives

Love in Paradise from Epic: The Musical

Well, I have probably just revealed how much of my spotify top songs of 2024 playlist consists solely of Hozier's music. 😅 It's good background music for writing though!

No pressure tags! @achillesuwu @griffonskies @sugar-coated-prat-dragon @tansyuduri @guiltyscarlet

URL song game with a twist!

Write down your url only using songs from your Top Songs of 2024 playlist on Spotify (or equivalent) and tag as many people as the letters in your url! 🎶🕺

Thank you for the tag @breathing-and-stuff

Eternal eternity from Sailor Moon Crystal

L’Impeto Oscuro - Young Xehanort by Yoko Shimomura

Inertia by AJR

L’EminenZa Oscura I - Ansem by Yoko Shimomura (it’s z what was I supposed to do lol)

A thousand years by Christina Perri

Beautiful Trauma by P!nk

Everything by Parachute

The Last of the Real Ones by Fall Out Boy

Helena by My Chemical Romance

Deep in the woods by Hayley Kiyoko

It’s About You by Brye

Crazy = Genius by Panic! At The Disco

MakE Me Feel by Janelle Monáe

Wilson (Expensive Mistakes) by Fall Out Boy

If I Lose Myself by OneRepublic

MonstEr by Jorge Rivera-Herrans

Love Me Anyway by Parachute

Don’t Think Twice by Hikaru Utada

BattlE of the Larynx by Melanie Martinez

Road To You by Five for Fighting

Tagging @twilight-blaze @joost8910 @lavenderlivres @sapphoslibrary @nagemeikenu @share-the-skye @absurdistlesbianism @dafmusic22 @abbyworldshaper @thefreckledelf @omnifitense @twistedthicket27 @rhythmmortis @stresslitzia @larkawolfgirl @casuallyspookytidalwave @comradesummers @mimiplaysgames @toxicfighter @puertorican-74

Behold! Dragoon the Great pondering his orb!

I wonder, what secrets of the universe is he peering into?

This idea is so dear to me! Because we see Arthur self-loathing so many times, both in relation to himself and his father's legacy, but it goes further beyond that.

There's a deleted scene from either "The Tears of Uther Pendragon" part one or two where Arthur is discussing Uther's descent into madness with Merlin. Arthur reveal's that Uther's father fell into a similar state later on in life, and Merlin "helpfully" points out that he learned from Gaius that those sorts of things tend to run in families. This leads to Arthur glaring at Merlin in anger at the accidental implication that Arthur himself would fall into a similar state of madness one day.

So, we can make a logical guess that Arthur, on some level, believes Pendragon blood to be cursed with madness and bloodlust. While it doesn't really come up again later in the series, we can assume that Morgana being revealed as Arthur's sister and becoming a tyrant only further solidifies this belief in Arthur.

To Arthur, he killed his own mother with his birth, having been born a murderer and trained form that day on to be the perfect warrior. To Arthur, he is damned by his own loyalty to slaughter as many people as it takes in the name of protecting his kingdom, and he's never known a single day in his life without blood on his hands.

And, on top of all of that, madness and tyranny runs through his blood, as evident from his father and half sister.

Arthur wants so very badly to be a good king, to be kind and protect his people, but he feels like he can never achieve that with all the lives he's taken and the evil that runs through his own blood. He could not carve out the part of himself he sees as rotten more than he could empty his own veins.

That's part of why Arthur is always so awed at Merlin's never-ending loyalty and kindness towards Arthur. Arthur sees himself as good for nothing except violence, and he does not know what to do with Merlin's soft care.

“something is rotten inside of me, i have to find it and cut it out” — house song; searows