Sir Leon The Long Suffering - Blog Posts

Plot twist: Ed Sheeran has been Sir Leon this entire time

My absolute favourite trope in Merlin fanfic is when they all find out about Merlin’s magic and Arthur is brooding or feigning annoyance but truly doesn’t care, Elyan and Gwaine are asking so many questions because they’re so intrigued and need to know absolutely everything and somehow aren’t surprised in the slightest, Leon is weary but slowly indulges in the conversation, eyeing Arthur every so often because he’s nervous to display such behaviours about magic in front of his King but he still knows Arthur would never touch Merlin even if he was afraid and Percival is just so confused because he thought everyone already knew and just refused to speak about it

Merlin: It’s not that big of a deal. we don’t have to speak about it.

Elyan: Oh, no we absolutely do!

Gwaine: Yeah, c’mon Merlin, show us something cool, like money falling from the sky, or a pint in my hand, right now, come on.

Elyan: Can you really do that?

Merlin: *Sarcastically* If it’ll get Gwaine to shut up.

Arthur: Oh, so you can pour Gwaine a pint in the middle of the woods but you can’t clean my chambers?

It goes silent for a few moments, Merlin wonders if now is the right time for a joke but Arthur’s brow is furrowed and through the light of the fire he can see the firm press of lips on his face, he decides now is not the time. Gwaine rolls his eyes from across the flame before them.

Gwaine: He’s just saved all our arses, can you be grateful for two minutes?

Leon: Gwaine-

Merlin: He has every right to be upset-

Arthur: Do not address me as if i’m not even here, you owe me that at least.

There’s a tense silence as Merlin’s hand stills where it pokes at the fire with a stick, Leon eyes the King cautiously and Percival fiddles, wide eyed, with the frayed edges of his tunic. Merlin sighs and focuses again on the fire, it’s the only heat he can find.

Gwaine: What kind of things can you do?

Merlin is hesitant to answer but Elyan looks at him expectantly and even Leon has turned his attention to him now, seemingly awaiting either an answer from the servant or an order from his King.

Merlin: I- I can do small things like move stuff around, tell a broom to sweep or a rag to clean.

He thinks that’s enough but by the excited look in Gwaine and Elyan’s eyes it isn’t.

Merlin: I can light fires, fell trees, sense a nearby threat, anything… really.

Gwaine: That’s so cool

Arthur: So you could’ve been useful this entire time and you chose not to be.

There’s another lull as Arthur picks apart leaves and tosses them into the fire but as Leon speaks up even Arthur turns his gaze.

Leon: How long have you been able to do all this?

It’s hardly an innocent question but Leon’s tone is honest and Merlin cannot feel cornered by his words.

Merlin: Since birth.

Arthur: Lies.

Elyan: Is that possible?

Gwaine: What?

Leon: Is that all you can do? Move things? Will them to your command?

Now that question is loaded even if Leon means no ill will. Merlin swallows, he nods.

Merlin: Yes

Leon: What else can you command?

Merlin: The seas

Arthur: A mermaid are you, now?

Merlin: The trees and the ground.

Arthur: A nymph perhaps?

Merlin: The skies

Arthur: Now you’re just being absurd-

Merlin: Lighting.

Merlin cuts in quickly. He was never proud of it, bringing the bolt down so harshly and eradicating the sorceress to nothing but a pile of smouldering ash but Arthur will find out one way or another. Banishment or pyre he will make sure Arthur hears of his crimes before he goes.

Merlin: Nimue. I killed her. A bolt straight through her body. There was nothing left.

The group maintains their silence for a few moments and Arthur finally turns to look at Merlin for the first time since they’d stopped to make camp

Arthur: Prove it.

Merlin: Sire-

Arthur: Don’t call me that and prove it.

Merlin: Why? Hoping i’ll mess it all up and strike myself down? Save you the trouble of building the pyre?

Arthur: If I wanted you dead you wouldn’t be speaking so stop moping, get off your arse and prove. It.

Merlin doesn’t need to get up because the second Arthur stops talking Merlin’s eyes are sparking gold and the sky erupts in a violent flash of colour. tendrils of brilliant white crack the darkness apart, coating the forest in a momentary burst of day before the light fades and in its wake leaves behind the fading outline of the Pendragon crest in the forks of dying white.

The group remains still, staring upwards at the now pitch black sky before Elyan is laughing out loud and Gwaine is excitedly smacking Leon beside him.

Gwaine: Oh my god, we could do so much. We could strike Lord Harold down and he wouldn’t even know what hit him-

Arthur: shut up, Gwaine

Arthur is still staring at the sky and Leon speaks from beside him.

Leon: Forgive me for asking, ignore me next time

The Knight is almost blushing in his place and Merlin manages a small huff of laughter at that before he resumes poking at the fire but his moment of silence is inturpeted

Arthur: Sir Percival, you’ve been unusually quiet. Please, what are your opinions on all of this.

Arthur seems pissed off, but not in an angry way, more of an i’ve been outvoted and i’m not happy about it way. Percival shrugs, picking away at the skin of nails like he has no idea what this conversation could possibly be about.

Arthur: Percival?

Percy: Mhh hmm.

Arthur raises an eyebrow. Percival stares back at him.

Percy: Yes, Sire?

Arthur: Don’t play dumb with me.

Percy: I don’t know what you mean, sire.

There’s a moment , a beat, barely a second.

Gwaine: You knew?!?!!!?!???!?

Elyan: You sly bastard!

Leon: oh lord-

Percy: I didn’t, I swear-

Arthur: Percival-

Merlin: How-

Percy: I THOUGHT WE ALL KNEW-

Gwaine: WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT-

Elyan: HOW WOULD WE HAVE KNOWN-

Leon: Kill me.

Percy: IT WAS SO OBVIOUS-

Merlin: HANG ON-

GWAINE: WHY WOULD’NT YOU TELL ME?

Elyan: Gwen’s going to be so pissed off she missed this

Gwaine: I THOUGHT WE WE’RE FRIENDS-

Merlin: HOW WAS IT OBVIOUS-

Percy: WE ARE, I JUST THOUGHT WE WEREN’T ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT IT

Leon: please lord,

ELYAN: WHY WOULD’NT WE BE ALLOWED TO- Oh, no, wait, yeah got it, continue.

Percy: I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL AWARE AND JUST NEVER MENTIONED IT CAUSE IT WAS SUCH A CASUAL THING THATS WHY I WOULD ALWAYS GIVE YOU A CLAP ON THE BACK AFTER AN AMBUSH OR-

Merlin: I THOUGH IT WAS CAUSE I DIDN’T DIE

Leon: Finish me off

Percy: YEAH, CAUSE YOU SAVED US. WITH MAGIC

Leon: I beg of you

ELyan: Holy shit-

Gwaine: Have we really been that blind?

Percival shrugs and Merlin still looks at him like he’s just betrayed his entire blood line.

Leon: Please, it would be the kind thing to do

Elyan: What?

Leon: What?

Gwaine: Did you tell him?

Merlin: Why would i tell him?

Percy: ouch.

Arthur: Percival.

Everyone pauses, Leon stops praying to a deity he does not believe in and Merlin stops looking so offended but Gwaine and Elyan still hold that child like wonder in their eyes.

Arthur: I’m not entirely sure what to threaten you with right now but I will think of something and trust me you’re going to wish you were never born.

Gwaine: Fair do’s, that

Percy: So Merlin gets away scot free but not me?

Merlin: OI-

Arthur: Oh, i’m not even started with you.

Gwaine: Oh, c’mon princess, don’t act like you didn’t have even the slightest hunch.

Arthur’s head spins at a pace that’s frankly alarming to look over at Gwaine. He narrow his eyes like he was lining up his next arrow for loosening. There’s another beat before Gwaine’s eyes widen

Gwaine: OH MY GOD YOU DID-

Then Arthur is launching forward, over the fire and it takes the four others an hour to get Arthur to release the impossible grip he has on Gwaine’s hair and another two to get Gwaine to apologise for the black eye now blooming on the King’s face.

i’ve never posted anything, ever. but i have a headcanon so…

OKAY this might have already been written in the vestiges and nooks of the never-dying, long-suffering BBC’s Merlin fandom. And it has definitely been thought but

Arthur heals a lot faster than others - whether it’s from sickness or minor wounds and injuries. Merlin canonically SUCKS at healing spells but tries to do what he can when he sees Arthur wounded and he’s like helping him change and stuff or putting gauze on it.

Also im a strong believer in the fact that Merlin is Emrys and has an insane, unlimited supply of magic so he could definitely learn healing spells. I’d think at some point he’d start learning them to heal Arthur faster but in a way that it wasn’t suspicious, not like “oh i had a massive scar cut into my arm and now it’s suddenly gone” but more like “huh that healed quicker than i thought it would”

Also I’d like to think Leon notices that Arthur heals quicker but doesn’t comment on it.

In case anyone was wondering about the context, this was 100% Leon reporting to the Round Table about these very important misleading statistics while Mr. Magics Georg himself stood right behind him!

"The average citizen of Camelot has committed treason" factoid is actualy just a statistical error. The average citizen of Camelot has never committed treason against the crown. Magics Georg, who commits treason every single second by simply existing, is an outlier adn should not be counted.

Fic Update!

Hello everyone! I've (finally) finished the latest chapter of "What to do When an Eldritch God Decides that You're Friend-Shaped: A Guide by Sir Leon the Long-Suffering"!

Here's the link if you want to check it out, and feel free to let me know what you think! 😊

If any of the knights possessed a single observant brain cell, Merlin would be in a lot of trouble lol!

I absolutely love this, it's giving me some ideas!

What if magic, the ambient natural magic of the world, loved Arthur? It recognizes Arthur as its own creation, destined to be with its physical form one day. So, even before Merlin and Arthur met, the magic of the world loved Arthur, knowing what he would one day become to Merlin.

As Arthur grows up, the magic that exists around Camelot aids him in whatever way it can. It can't do much without a sorcerer harnessing and guiding it, but it can influence the world around it in subtle ways, with a conveniently placed root tripping over an attacker here, or a branch falling from a tree there. Nothing that couldn't just be written off as good luck, but it happens so frequently for Arthur that he assumes that it's normal. After all, he's never known anything else.

So, when Merlin finally arrives and takes Arthur's protection into his own hands, Arthur doesn't notice anything amiss. Tree branches fall and knock out bandits all the time, that's just what always happens. His opponents, no matter how experienced, trip over roots. That's just the way it goes, nothing out of the ordinary.

So, when Leon tries to explain to Arthur that no, your attackers suddenly being rendered unconscious is not normal, Arthur doesn't buy it.

When Leon tries to prove it to Arthur the next time bandits attack, Leon's opponent is succinctly tripped over by a root and crushed by a falling tree. Leon just stands there in shock, while Arthur walks over like "See, I told you so! That's always what happens during fights! It always has."

And Leon's just standing there trying to figure out a) what the actual fuck just happened and b) how his king was such an oblivious dumbass.

Meanwhile, Merlin's laughing his ass off in the background.

*after battle*

Leon: Something strange is going on. During that fight a tree just... fell on one of the bandits when he was about to kill me

Arthur: Don't be ridiculous, trees and buildings and chandeliers fall on people I'm fighting all the time. It's normal

Leon: What?

Merlin: Hey look a distraction!

Fic Update!

Hello everyone! I (finally) finished the next chapter of "What to Do When an Eldritch God Decides that You're Friend-Shaped: A Guide by Sir Leon the Long-Suffering"! I've given Leon lots of pain and character development, so check it out if you're interested! I hope you all enjoy this new chapter! :D

Also, I saw that part 2 of the "Merlin accidentally conquers Camelot" au won the continuation poll, so I'll be working on that soon! Until next time!

New chapter of my main project, which features an eldritch Merlin befriending Leon, has been posted! I hope you enjoy it! :D

HELLO NEW BEST FRIEND, I JUAT GOT THE IDEA FOR A NEW MERLEON HEADCANON!!!!

The Purge began with the death of Queen Ygraine and the birth of Arthur. Before that, magic was legal and quite well-known amongst the nobility and common people, just a part of everyday life.

Leon would have been about 5 at the time magic was banned. Maybe six, as it took time for laws to be implemented across kingdoms.

There is a possibility there were people in his household who had magic. Maybe a servant who could clean his muddy clothes in a split second, so he didn't get into trouble. Maybe a nanny, or a tutor who could make the figurines in his storybooks come to life.

If Leon's father is half the man Leon is, there is a real possibility that his morals would have overshadowed his loyalty to the crown. So when the word comes by the King's messenger that all magic users are to be burnt alive, he send him back with the assurance that it will be done.

But instead, he start plotting.

Those who learnt magic and could stand to give it up did so. Those who couldn't, born with the innate ability, got help from a mysterious source to flee in the middle of the night, across the border to Dyfed and take a boat out of Albion, where magic was still welcomed.

And Leon, who is a curious little child, and confused as to why his father is disobeying the king, asks him knew night. And his father tells him "A man's loyalty to his morals must come before his loyalty to the crown, or he is bit a man at all, but a puppet with a sword."

And Leon remembers.

Leon obeys the crown. He joins the knighthood like his brothers, he serves his king, and he carries out Uther's orders without question.

And nobody but him notices when his blade cuts through grass or just tents instead of people. Nobody but him notices when his coin bag mysteriously falls a few feet away, conveniently right in front of the druid child hiding in the bushes. Nobody but him notices when he helps a child escape up a tree.

But the druids notice.

They notice when the child starts talking about the noble Knight of Camelot who helped them escape. And them another, who told them the same, and then another. It adds up.

So when their beloved Knight is dying, of course they will take notice. Of course they will pray to their goddess. Of course they will use the most powerful tool they have, the cup of life, to bring him back.

Even Gods listen when so many pray. They grant him the gift of immortality.

The druids aren't the only ones who notice.

The servants notice. They clean his armour, and his weaponry. Each and every time, it comes back bloodless. And if it doesn't, it's certainly not bloody enough to have been in a massacre.

Servants talk. Eventually, word reaches Gwen. And then, in her adorable way, she blurts it out at the most inopportune moment.

And Merlin finds out.

OOOO THIS IS SO COOL

ima add some thoughts to this….

Merlin would either immediately tell Leon about his magic like and idiot or not tell him anything and just get really close to him.

Everyone, including Leon, was heavily confused at to why Merlin was trying to get so close to Leon, he was practically stalking him.

Once Leon bumped into some Druids on patrol and was talked to them, Merlin, who was following him, tried to hide and hoped that none of them would notice him.

Of course, the Druids noticed and called him out, thinking surely Leon knew about Emrys and who he was.

And obviously, he didn’t.

Merlin realizing he had been caught, stepped out from the trees.

Leon was confused and terrified of Merlin being there.

Why was he here? Was he following him? Why? Would he tell Arthur what he saw?

Then he realized that the Druids had called him Emrys.

From being around the Druids so much Leon must have heard about Emrys, which only made him more confused,.

Why were they calling Merlin Emrys? Wasn’t he almost a god to the Druids? Merlin wasn’t a god. He was Merlin.

Apparently Merlin was not just Merlin, he was Emrys.

Leon and Merlin had a long talk after that, both having to explain the full story to each other (mostly on Merlin’s part)

They both grew very close after some awkward few days of processing what they learned about each other, so much so that people started to suspect they were courting.

Their denies of the accusations were not taken seriously, thinking they were just trying to keep their courtship secret.

Eventually, Arthur found out, who was not happy about two of his best friends courting.

Arthur demanded answers they couldn’t give, especially when Arthur wouldn’t take them just being friends as an answer.

So, as a last resort, they bought into the lie of them courting. Saying that they just realized their feelings over time.

This lie worked for a while, people still asked questions but most of them accepted the fact they wanted to keep their relationship lowkey.

This worked until they actually started to have feelings for each other.

She was so sweet helping him get it on, too. And all for nothing, Morgana tracked them anyway.

Gwen and Leon

"What's taking so long?"

"I'm a woman!"

Gwaine being Gwaine, who has travelled all of Albion and seen plenty of homosexual relationships in his time (if not experimented himself), takes it upon himself to voice a slew of the raunchiest, filthiest jokes known to man, because he doesn't understand why loving someone of the same gender is so shameful.

Arthur is conflicted, at first, because he worries about Leon's standing in court and his status amongst the nobility. But Leon was his very first friend, so he finally decides that his first Knight deserves to be happy and anyone who disagrees has a one-way ticket to getting Banished and stripped of all lands and titles. The rumours settle down real fast after he makes good on his threat to one of the Lords.

Gwen has known since the very beginning, of course, she was there when Leon tripped in the pond and accidentally kissed Elyan for the first time, so she takes every opportunity to tease her brother about his new beau.

Percival and Lancelot haven't known Leon or Elyan for long, but they're both supportive and gossipy anyway, like proud mama bears on the sidelines.

Leon is awkward. Like, really awkward. He turns into a stuttering candyfloss anytime people even acknowledge him for something other than work, so this all turns him into a incomprehensible tomato. It's adorable, honestly.

Elyan flirts. It's an automatic reflex to cover up his embarrassment, like going along with a joke when you're at the butt of it, but he secretly lives for the way Leon gets all shy and blushy when they meet eyes. Besides, he's got nothing to lose anyway, especially after he all but got Arthur's permission.

And Merlin, bless his little heart, gets a break from saving Camelot and watches the drama from the sidelines.

(He totally helps Elyan pick flowers for Leon and teaches him how to court a noble, he's got the experience after all of Arthur's dates with Elena and Mithian, even if they were a bit disastrous.)

Elyan and Leon would totally have that stableboy/son of a lord kind of relationship where Elyan would leave a flower he picked in the meadow at Leon's bedside because he knows he's a romantic and Leon would tie up all of Elyan's letters in a silk ribbon because he's done thst with their notes when he was younger and it's habit by now.

They keep at it when they both become knights, and then Gwaine finds out.

And...and...and then?? How dare you stop there! 😆

Elyan would be a sweetheart (just don't let Gwen know that because he'd never hear the end of it), and Leon is totally a romantic:

*Arthur and Merlin sneeking around the castle at night* uh yeah we’re doing.........poetry

Leon: uhhh ok...I’ll leave you to your...poetry... *leaves*

Arthur to Merlin: YOU DUMB FUCK NOW HE THINKS I LIKE POETRY

Meanwhile...

Leon to Gwaine, Percy, Elian, Gwen, and Mordred: yeah they’re definitely fucking

*Elian hands money to Gwen*

Everyone agrees that if Merlin and Arthur were together, the entire kingdom would know and everyone would be chill with it, and I have no problem with Merthur (I mean have you seen the way they look at each other), HOWEVER I do think it would be a million times funnier if everyone assumed they were together (because Merlin totally gets mistress treatment) and they actually weren’t. I just think that would be really, really funny.