hi hi i was reading ur hcs and i think their really great!!! do u have any hcs about arthur and merlin talking about kids, and like how they would look after kids of their own??
Thank you!! And sorry this took so long! Life is busy but I'm trying to vaguely stay online!
I've said before I firmly believe Merlin is great with kids and Arthur is.... not. He wants to be he really does, but he just doesn't really get them. And maybe this comes from a number of things, the main one being their upbringing...
Hunith wasn't an especially open or communicative mother, she wasn't perfect, but that's another post, but she cared. She loved Merlin, she made him feel safe and happy and loved. Merlin's childhood was likely far from ideal, but she showed him love and care. And Uther... sucked. Did he love Arthur? Well, yes. But Arthur genuinely didn't know that. In fact when Uther tells him he loves him ("more than this entire kingdom and certainly more than my own life"), Arthur responds with "I always thought I was a big disappointment to you."
He didn't know he was loved. And propriety held him back from any care or affection he might ever have received. His childhood was severely lacking and given a child he just wouldn't know what to do with it.
But at the same time he cares deeply for others and would want to do the best possibly thing, while having no emotional intelligence or concept of childhood. Picture like, Merlin walking in on Arthur telling a "bedtime story" to an eight year old and having to quickly wrap up and change subject before Arthur gets to the bit in that particular memory where everyone was brutally murdered. Or Arthur sitting and wondering "Hmm.... what engaging conversation can I have with this toddler?" and landing on "swords". But he would love any child in his care with the whole of his idiot heart no question about it.
Any conversation about kids... Arthur would bring it up. Family is such an important thing to him. Having people to care for.
Plus I don't think he'd appreciate how difficult kids can be...... Despite everyone else pointing out that HE was a NIGHTMARE to look after, and if any kid was like him there's no way he could handle them.
In terms of Merlin, I think he'd somewhat just understand children well. But perhaps not royalty, and if this is a child in Arthur's care I can perhaps see problems here... Formal events would inevitably end up as "Arthur you can't put a kid in that, it's way too heavy!" "It's a formal event I can't dress them in rags!" "How's he supposed to run around??" "He's not."
Oh and also, I think kids would tune into Merlin's magic somewhat. Because he is magic itself after all. Canons a bit of a mess in how magic and magical ability works, but I think in children, there's a more natural pull towards it — without the fear that grew towards the idea of sorcery as they grew up — and also just because kids are kids and they're curious and young and interested. So they'd maybe feel safer around him, or just know that he was safety, that he'd protect them, without really knowing why.
I would also like everyone to imagine Merlin doing magic to calm kids down, or using it to animate stories as he tells them. And maybe Arthur being secretly just as fascinated by it.
That's all the thoughts I have for right now, I might have more later. Thanks again 💕💞
