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tHIS IS JUST BECAUSE MERLIN GOT HIT AND HE LOOKS POSITIVELY DEVASTATED

We just have to think about when those rocks fall and Arthur looks like his entire life has just crumbled around him… and then that scream of Merlin’s name…

Anyway then you’ve got an Arthur who will order his knights who have just scoured a forest to scour it again. Who will not even let his uncle say that Merlin is dead, that will not accept a new manservant, that will plan to go out on his own to look for Merlin, who admits he can’t accept that Merlin is gone and that he wont rest till he’s tried to look for him.

And that’s just after Merlin is missing.

Oh and I could mention so many more instances where Arthur will put everything on hold for Merls. Like in 104 or when he wanted to abandon the quest in 402.

Could you imagine if Merlin died? And Arthur had to watch?

Arthur wouldn’t have handled it well. He would try to be strong at first but he would crack pretty fast and Merlin would know this and would probably want him to go to which Arthur would refuse because if Merlin is going to die, he won’t be alone.

And fuck, Arthur would at least have tears in his eyes or would actually be crying the entire time. He would then try to be strong again but then, Merlin is dying would hit him and he’d be set away again.

3 times merlin mockingly asked Arthur if he should "kiss it better" and the one time he actually did

1. arthur cuts himself on a piece of parchment

Arthur exclaimed a series of curses, putting his thumb up to his mouth to catch the blood. "I've cut myself," he mumbled around it, sounding like a petulant child.

"Oh no," Merlin clutched his chest theatrically. "Do you want me to kiss it better?"

The memory of Athur's scowl kept Merlin grinning all throughout the afternoon he spent in the stocks.

2. arthur bumps his head on the doorway

"Gods above," Arthur mumbled, muttering a series of curses underneath his breath. "Who builds doorways like this? In Camelot, I never have to duck my head." He rubbed his head where he had bumped it against the frame and shuffled into the dingy room of the inn they were staying at on the way back from Cendred's kingdom.

Merlin, who was already busy fluffing up the pillows to see which one was better aka the one he would keep for himself, chuckled. "Aww poor Arthur, do you want me to kiss it better? We wouldn't want your head to grow even bigger than it already is, would we now?"

Almost involuntarily, Arthur released an astounded chuckle. It never ceased to amaze him how Merlin had completely zero regard for his royal status. "I could put you in the stocks for that," he threatened and Merlin's grin grew even wider, knowing, by now, that this had become nothing but an empty threat, spoken solely for the pleasure of bickering, the foundation of the friendship they had forged over the years.

He sent a pillow flying the king's way. It bumped onto his chest and fell to the floor. "Oh no," Arthur grinned, picking it up and lunging across the room to exact his revenge. "I'm gonna get you." Merlin shrieked and tried to hide behind his arms at the onslaught. After the scuffle, Merlin somehow found himself in posession of both pillows and reluctantly relinquished his claim on the better one. He didn't mention that, of course.

3. arthur stubs his toe on the dresser

"MERLIN," Arthur bellowed.

"Yes, my lord?" Merlin looked up from where he was busy polishing Arthur's armour. Lately, Arthur insisted that Merlin should complete most of his duties in Arthur's rooms, claiming his supervision was necessary and that Merlin couldn't be trusted not to just sneak off to the tavern. Merlin didn't mind. In fact, he enjoyed the company. And a small part of him was determined that Arthur did too, wondering if (hoping) that was the real reason he wanted to keep him close by.

"Did you move the dresser? I stubbed my toe on it." Arthur scowled.

"I cannot say that I did although I would love to claim responsibility for your latest ailment."

"You're at the core of most of my ailments, that's for sure." Arthur said, sitting down on the edge of his bed to examine his foot.

"You know, usually I would ask you if you want me to kiss it better, but..." he gave an exaggerated grimace, gesturing to Arthur's foot.

Arthur was fighting hard to keep the scowl on his face. "You know, Merlin, most people would dream of the honor to kiss at their king's feet."

"Yeah, well I'm not most people."

"That is true," Arthur mused thoughtfully.

"In fact, I am one of the few people who know that your next bath is long overdue and-"

Within milliseconds Arthur had lunged across the room, capturing Merlin in a headlock.

"Let me go," Merlin cried out, laughing all the way through the knuckles brushing over his hair, tousling it in the process.

"Never," Arthur laughed gleefully.

+1 merlin kisses it better

Merlin's childhood home was dimly lit and he was sitting on a makeshift chair next to his old cot. In the low light of the fire, he could see every glistening droplet on Arthur's skin. Arthur was writhing on the bed, falling in and out of consciousness and muttering something unintelligible that sounded a lot like "More linen".

Hunith was outside, getting more water, knowing that Merlin wouldn't leave Arthur's side anytime soon. He held a hand up against his head, feeling the temperature there. It was rising steadily. A tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek as he wrung his hands. This couldn't be the end of the once and future king. A simple wound from a bandit's dirty knife. Carefully, Merlin reached out to roll up the hem of Arthur's tunic. "It's okay, it's gonna be okay," he said soothingly as Arthur stirred in his delirium. He lifted the dressing from the stabwound and inhaled sharply. The cut was merely a line, not even wider than a centimeter. And though it showed none of the usual signs of infection apart from slightly reddened skin, Arthur seemed to be on the brink of sepsis.

"I don't know what to do," Merlin admitted into the quiet of the hut, his tears coming more steadily now. If his theory was correct and the tip of the dagger had been poisoned, it didn't look well for Arthur. A remedy would need to be brought from Camelot but which remedy was Gaius supposed to prepare when Merlin didn't even know the nature of the poison. Arthur's breaths grew more ragged by the second. "More linen," he insisted, or something like it.

Merlin would never know what had come over him in that moment but as the tears carved rivers of salt over his cheeks until they merged on his chin, he leant over Arthur's body and pressed his lips to the thin red line on his torso. Arthur's chest moved with his shaky inhales and Merlin closed his eyes, pouring all of his heart into where his lips connected to Arthur's skin, letting his tears pool there. Please let him be okay, he begged, not knowing which goddess to address his prayers to. I can't loose him. He's my-

"Merlin?" A hand found his hair of head, threading fingers through his hair with barely any strength.

"Arthur?" Merlin shot up, clasping the hand to his chest before it could fall down from his head. The white sheen receded from Arthur's eyes, making him seem more lucid by the second.

"Heyyyy," Arthur drawled almost drunkenly. "Why're you crying?" he asked in concern.

"M' not," Merlin laughed, roughly wiping the tears from his face with the back of his hand. Arthur's thumb came up to his cheek then, softly wiping at the betrayal of his words. "Thank you," Arthur mumbled, seemingly ready to nod off into a restful sleep.

"What for?" Merlin asked.

"For kissing it better, of course."

Merlin exhaled shakily, bringing Arthur's hand up to his lips and pressing reverent kisses there. "I only use it for you, Arthur, you have to believe me. I was born with magic. I would never harm you or your kingdom. Please believe-"

"Shhhhh," Arthur said reassuringly, removing his hand from his grasp, not to draw it back but to hold his chin with the little strength he had left. His thumb grazed his cheek. Lovingly. Merlin's breath stocked when Arthur's thumb found his lower lip. "It's okay," Arthur muttered, repeating his earlier words back to him. "It's gonna be okay. Come 'ere."

Merlin had known that everything would change once Arthur knew of his magic. He had just never dared to hope that everything would change for the better. But it did. Slowly, but gradually.

"I couldn't bear to lose it," Arthur said, rubbing his thumb over the sigil that had been passed down to him. The only tangible memory of his mother. With a sigh, he turned to Merlin, gesturing for him to lower his head.

"What are y-" Merlin protested as the sigil was placed around his neck.

"I can't seem to get rid of you, Merlin. This way, I can make sure that the sigil will be safe and sound until the attack on Camelot is over. Promise you won't be a clumsy fool and lose it."

Merlin stood up straight, pride swelling in his chest at the unspoken implications of bearing Arthur's family crest as if it were his own. "I shall never take it off, sire. I will protect it with my life, if necessary."

Arthur smiled at his manservant's naïve heroicism, lifting Merlin's neckerchief just so, so he could drop the sigil in its new, hidden home.

The moment the sigil hit his chest underneath the fabric, Merlin knew something was wrong. There seemed to be a hiss of ice-cold air and soon after, the material turned sweltering hot, sizzling where it met his skin. Cold iron. Of course, Uther would ensure the sigil could never be passed on to somebody with magic. He tried not to let the excruciating pain show on his features and excused himself soon after.

He wrapped the sigil in cloth to keep it one layer away from his skin, while still keeping it hidden underneath his neckerchief. He put a salve on the burnt skin, hissing as the cool tincture kissed the oval wound. Still, the proximity to the material made him sluggish and rapidly depleted his energy, cutting him off from his magic with each passing hour.

It was a relief when the attack was over and the enemy slain, the few survivors sent back to tell their king that the Pendragon heir was not to be underestimated. Merlin returned the sigil to Arthur, instantly feeling its magic-restricting weight lifting from his shoulders. There was an undercurrent of sadness, too, at the fact that it had only been a temporary loan.

----

"You're not wearing your neckerchief," Arthur observed when Merlin brought him his dinner one night a few weeks after their victorious battle.

"Nothing gets past you, doesn't it?" Merlin chuckled. "It's got a hole in it. Gaius is mending it for me." He bent down to set the plate in front of Arthur and made to get up when a hand on his wrist kept him there.

"Wha-" Merlin wanted to ask but Arthur's other hand had already reached up to tug at the loose collar of Merlin's tunic, pushing it down to trace his finger over the skin that was hidden beneath.

"Is that my-?"

Merlin inhaled sharply. The burn mark formed by the cold iron sigil sat in puckered white lines beneath his collarbones. The family crest. Distorted, but unmistakable. "Merlin...," Arthur exhaled shakily. "Why didn't you say?" His index finger traced the raised lines, his gaze transfixed by the sight.

"I did it for you, Arthur," Merlin admitted. Neither of them stated the obvious, but in his mind, Arthur created a list.

Merlin had magic.

Merlin had worn the cold iron sigil even though it hurt him because he was loyal to a fault.

Merlin's skin was branded with Arthur's family crest.

First of all,why are we acting like "saving Arthur" and "fighting for the freedom of magic users" are two mutually exclusive things?

Merlin doesn't choose Arthur's safety over the freedom of magic users. He fully believes that Saving Arthur is 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 to their freedom.

Why? Because the prophecy - the prophecy that the entire show is 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 - dictates as much.

Merlin is loyal to Arthur in big part 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 he believes he will bring about the golden age, returning peace 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 to the land of Albion, ending all wars,𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 the one on magic. I don't understand why that gets lost in translation.

Boiling down 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 Merlin does to "he just loves Arthur so much" is not only wrong. It is 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭. It minimises his fear,his motivations,his actions,every heartbreaking choice and every loss.It minimises the fact the weight of 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 of lives on his shoulders. It paints Merlin as merely an extention of Arthur and not his own person. Merlin is someone with autonomy and he exists outside of Arthur and not everything he does is a reflection of his love for Arthur. It's so much larger than that.

Merlin was given exactly one instruction on how to make this golden age happen (saving Arthur) and he threw himself into that at his own detriment because he wanted to help his people. He wanted not to live in hiding and fear anymore.

And for the record, Merlin isn't wrong,nor irrational,nor stupid for believing in this prophecy. Like,I know we joke that it was all some mad dragon's rambling to end the Pendragon line(which is admittedly kind of funny) ...but it is not true.

A good chunk of the magical world clearly seems to do so as well. From the druids to the fisher king to the Catha. There is nothing( besides that dogshit ending) that suggests that prophecy is anything but genuine.

And I would like to discuss Merlin's treatment of Mordred. Contrary to popular belief, Merlin 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 Mordred. He says as much himself. And everything he does isn't just because he believes Mordred will kill Arthur( and more than kilgarrah have warned him about this as well) it's because he believes that by doing so he dooms the golden age. He dooms the 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 of their kind.

All of that brings me to the disir,the episode that most people point at to say that Merlin betrayed his kind,which is not true.

Merlin's decision here - saying that magic shouldn't be allowed in Camelot - is essentially the trolley problem,one of many he's faced with throughout the story( I think the entire show is one big trolley problem from Merlin's perspective actually,but I digress). 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺.

If Mordred dies here —> he cannot kill Arthur —> the imminent threat to Arthur and Albion is gone—>Arthur is alive to bring about the golden age(which includes freedom of sorcerers) —> Merlin has time to backtrack on this statement. Plus,if Arthur had allowed magic to return here, there's a good chance of it being conditional at best, easily revoked at worst,since he may very well believe he was coerced into it(he's dumb like that).

Is it somewhat stupid? YES. but you can see the train of thought behind it and it definitely was NOT Merlin Loving Arthur more than he wanted his freedom and turning his back on the magical community. Can we 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 put the shipping goggles down for a minute I'm begging you.

And of course, Merlin does love Arthur outside of the prophecy. I'm not saying he doesn't. But even if he didn't,even if Merlin didn't have an ounce of genuine for Arthur,I firmly believe he would have made the same choice because it's NOT ABOUT ARTHUR. It's not even about Mordred. It's certainly not about Merlin's love for arthur. It's about the greater good. It's about playing the long game instead of the easy(but likely not great) solution. It's about Merlin giving himself over completely to destiny.That's it's own tragedy,but it wasn't a betrayal not to all of his kind,to Mordred yes,but not the rest.

Merlin here doesn't put Arthur above the greater good. He believes Arthur IS the greater good,and he has good reason for doing so.and I will repeat that as many times as it takes for people to get it.

Genuinely the only way I would have come out of the disir with the conclusion that Merlin betrayed his entire kind is if I 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 watched this episode and have no context for everything prior. But I do.

And another thing,why are you people so certain that if Merlin had said "yes I think magic should be allowed" Arthur would have changed his choice? It's not like he's ignored Merlin's -usually sound- advice countless times beforehand right?🙄

And just watch this scene again. Merlin is teary eyed. His face is ashen. He looks in literal physical pain getting those words out( absolutely devestating acting by Collin Morgans btw) and that doesn't even earn him a sideway glance from Arthur. Which it 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥, considering how long they've known each other at this point. Merlin was being very obvious,it should be abundantly clear that something is wrong,but of course Arthur doesn't notice. Or my guess, 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 not to notice,Likely because he's already made up his mind.

But frankly,even if Merlin would have had any bearing on Arthur's decision.....it was 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐫'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. Merlin didn't hold a gun to his head to force him to do that. Arthur is the king and -as previously stated- has ignored Merlin's advice often enough before,this one time he decided to take it because it aligned with what 𝘩𝘦 wanted. That was his choice.

Like as another post on here so aptly put it, Arthur is confronted with the trolley problem and his response was to let the train run over the one person(one of his favourite knights mind you) so 𝘩𝘦 can go personally stab the five people on the other train track. Who exactly should we be judging in this situation?( I'm sorry I can't find that post and I don't remember the blog name).

Arthur is a grown adult. He shouldn't need to have his hand held through figuring out that genocide is bad.

And this is why all those "Arthur's death was Merlin's punishment for putting him above Destiny " or "Merlin was actually Arthur's bane" never work for me. (Don't even get me Started on the people that day that Merlin didn't try hard enough to convince Arthur that magic wasn't evil)

For one, it's very antithetical to a theme the show sets up in the 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 . "Someone shouldn't be punished for another person's actions". Grief is not punishment. Grief 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 punishment.

And I'm sorry but it sends such a terrible message. Was Lancelot's death also Merlin's punishment? Was Freya's? Balinor's? Like if you come on here and imply that Merlin somehow 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 his losses for trying to help as many people as possible I will fight you.

Secondly,it paints Arthur as this innocent who did nothing wrong and was only collateral damage and,again, that's simply not true.

Arthur was infact his own bane. His death was 𝘩𝘪𝘴 punishment. Delivered by Mordred. For holding on to his prejudices. For oppressing a group of his people. For ordering Kara's execution.

--

Shapiro drowning in Dubois’ EVA suit. Dubois with Shapiro's suit taped to him and her helmet balanced on top of his head

Grace looking at the camera confused while the core time circle around him like the one girl surrounded by five guys meme

Stratt reclined on a couch looking demure with a coffee mug and using Grace's legs as a lap board for her tablet. Grace is dead asleep, obviously snoring with his mouth wide open and covered in reports. His glasses are on Stratt's head.

Carl walking by the camera with Grace thrown over his shoulder. Grace is visibly pleased and yapping.

Illyukhina walking by the camera with Grace thrown over her shoulder. Grace looks vaguely ill.

Yao passionately doing karaoke with each of the core staff members.

Lamai asleep on a prototype coma bed.

Steve Hatch maternity shoot with the Beatles.

Grace and Dimtri using a centrifuge to make butter.

Grace and Dimitri getting yelled at by Lokken for using a centrifuge to make butter.

Dubois carrying Grace and Shapiro under each arm to the cafeteria. They all are talking like this is a normal occurrence.

Yao hanging upside down from a simulator that glitched with a straight face while Illyukhina is crying laughing on the floor below him.

Compilation video of the world's greatest minds dropping tools, tripping, and running into the glass walls.

Videos of the astronauts defeatedly drifting away from the mock ship in the buoyancy tank after losing their grip. The others are dramatically reaching out for them.

Redell teaching the Russians about New Zealand bombing dives in the training pools.

Shapiro, in formal wear, standing next to a slideshow titled “How I Cloned and Replaced the World Leaders”

Dubois - “My Alien Seduction Tactics"

Grace - “Middle Schooler vs Scientist”

Dimitri - “Using the Incorrect Equipment for Correct Results"

Hatch - “Yoko Ono: First Contact?”

Lamai - “How Not to Use a Coma Robot”

Lokken - “Grace is an Idiot”

Leclerc - “The Ice Age and You”

Stratt - “Things I DO NOT Have Time For”

Carl - “Securing a Home Depot for Idiots”

Yao - “Worst Times to Make a Joke”

Illyukhina - "Benefits of Vodka in Space”

Reddell - “What I Did in 1989”

Illyukhina passed out on top of Dmitri (also passed out) surrounded by a minefield of bottles none of which are for alcohol.

Leclerc looking upset and holding a penguin plushy.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

The engineering crew using Legos to help visualize various designs for the ship.

Compilation of lab technicians stuffing themselves under desks and piled in corners for 10 minute power naps.

Chinese soldiers standing menacingly in the background. Occasionally, some throw peace signs.

Rubber ducks at every computer station.

Lokken holding a model of the ship and spinning in her chair loudly reciting an equation that is giving her trouble.

Leclerc walking away from the camera, his back is covered in colorful paper fish. (He puts them on the wall of his dorm.)

Grace ugly crying because the bio lab made him a paper mache solar system for his birthday.

Absolutely insane gingerbread ‘house’ competition entries.

A shakey video taken around the edge of a doorway of Dimitri belting some Russian opera while running a late night test ‘alone’ in the lab.

Yao kicking ass at the mahjong table.

Bill Nye watch parties. Everybody looks like zombies except Grace who looks like he just shotgunned a Redbull. Hearing scientists in the labs chant Bill, Bill, Bill under their breath is not unusual.

A notes app document full of the most popular multilingual vocal stims going around.

Carl pulling a blanket over Stratt and Grace after they fell asleep against each other on a plane.

The core team half asleep after a late check in meeting with The Governments™ Stratt has her head on the table, Grace tries to eat a donut but misses his mouth, Lokken and Lamai are looking into their coffee mugs like they hold all the answers, Dimitri is fully asleep and snoring, Redell is not far behind, Hatch is petting his Beatle prototype like a cat. Even Carl looks like he's asleep standing up.

Rave night with homemade glowsticks.

Stratt and Grace sitting on swings after a meeting in Switzerland edited to look like an album cover.

--

Stratt's Vat Documented Shenanigans Part 3

Short list this time since I also wrote a little discovery fic for the phone.

You guys have my full permission to use anything in these posts for writing or drawing. Just tag me so I can yell about it, please!

--

Grace is bored. Bored, bored, bored. Capital B, bored.

Rocky, his partner in crime and entertainment is currently 2 hours deep into his 6 hour nap leaving Grace on his own in these enrichment deprived times. He's currently laying starfished on the floor of the dormitory running through every project they've come up with to fill time and get ready for arriving to Erid but none of them are sparking joy at the moment.

Grace groans, rolling onto his stomach and thumping his head on the floor hard enough for Armando to chirp in concern.

“It's fine, I'm fine, everything is fine,” he mumbles into the floor, “Not going crazy or nothin'.”

Armando chirps in a decidedly disbelieving way but returns to standby anyway.

Another minute passes before Grace fails his legs in frustration like a toddler and introduces his toes to the wall -hard-. He yelps, pulling his leg up to grab his toes so he can continue rolling around the floor like an idiot.

“Oh, sugar honey iced tea, that was a bad idea. Mother fluffer.”

He almost doesn't hear the panel he kicked fall to the floor..

“Oh good, now I'm breaking the ship,” he wheezes, “Sorry, Mary.”

“Apology accepted, Dr. Grace.”

He drags himself over to pop the panel back into place when he notices a device crammed between the wire bundles. Carefully, in case it's actually a part of the system, he works it out from the space and finds himself holding a smart phone with OLESYA written in silver sharpie on the back.

Heck yeah, contraband.

Magic turns eyes gold. Merlin is magic. Therefore his should be gold.

They start off blue, but the longer he’s in Camelot, the more his magic grows, the more in tune with the magic inside him he is, they slowly start to turn gold even when not casting spells.

So Merlin lives a long life without knowing Arthur is there with him, this time it's Arthur's turn to watch and protect Merlin from the shadows as the warlock once did when Arthur was alive.

Arthur could've stayed in Avalon til he was needed yet the urge to return to Merlin is powerful, although he entrusted the care of Camelot into the hands of Guinevere and Leon he could not do the same of Merlin, and only upon his death did he finally realise why.

He was in love with his best friend. Always had been.

"Yeah, death had a near-Merlin experience,"

"Merlin doesn't cheat death. He wins fair and square."

"Witch Morgana checks his closet every night for Merlin."

"Merlin once played Death roulette with a crossbow and won."

"Merlin was once bitten by a snake and after five days of excruciating pain, the snake died."

Then somehow the knights and Arthur heard about it and it went downhill from there.

Arthur: When Merlin enters a room, he doesn't turn the lights on, he turns the dark off.

Gwaine: Merlin doesn't have good aim. His arrows just know better than to miss.

Laneclot: Merlin actually died four years ago, but the Grim Reaper can't get up the courage to tell him.

and then one day someone invents the camera. and suddenly merlin realizes people can keep faces now. people can carry the people they love with them. people can look at them whenever they want.

arthur died more than a thousand years before anyone thought to preserve a face.

there are probably millions of photographs in the world and merlin would trade every single one of them for one blurry photo of arthur. a picture he could keep in his wallet until the edges wore away. a picture he could look at on lonely nights when the waiting became unbearable. a picture to prove that arthur was real. that he existed.

If I’m not mistaken (tumblr historians fact-check me) Merlin was just given a shit ton of jobs he absolutely would not have to do in a properly functioning castle.

Like

Arthur’s laundry? Laundresses.

Mucking out stables? Tacking horses? Stable Master and Stable Boys.

Scrubbing floors? Housemaids/Maidservants.

Delivering messages? Pages.

Sharpening weapons? Squires and Blacksmiths.

Taking care of Arthur’s wardrobe? Chamberlain.

Not even to mention that as the literal Prince’s Personal Servant he had wayyyy more power in the staff hierarchy than I think he ever realized.

Arthur just looked at this poor farmer-boy peasant who had never even seen a castle before in his life and decided to give him the work of 6 different people, just to be petty, correctly assuming he wouldn’t know any better, then proceeded to keep that up for like 10 years.

Merlin: *slams open Arthur’s door*

Arthur: Merlin? You alright there?

Merlin: I’ve just had a lovely conversation with Elizabeth, the Laundress

Arthur: *with fear* …Okay?

Merlin: You know what she said to me?

Arthur: Do I want to know?

Merlin: She said “Oh Merlin, I just don’t know why you insist on doing all that extra work for Arthur!”

Arthur: *eyes widen*

Merlin: When were you going to tell me what The Prince’s Manservant actually does???

Arthur: Uh… You see…. But you’re just so good at it all!

Merlin: *eyes glowing* You should run.

Cryptid Series Part 6- dragon Arthur + fae Merlin

‘You’re quite far from your kingdom, little knight. And I do NOT like unexpected visitors in my home.’ 'I warn you, I’m the best knight of Camelot, I’ve been trained to kill since birth. I only need one blow to take you apart.’ 'Oh, do you?’