idk if you’ve posted or talked abt this before but i’m curious
in some distant au of sorts, devotee/high priest/worshipper!leon x deity!merlin?
imo i think deity aus for merlin work so well considering the power and scale of who emrys is in canon but also i LOOOOOOVE devoted x worshipped type dynamics in my ship. especially if it goes both ways. so like instead of leon’s loyalty being to camelot, it would be to emrys and his temple and keeping it clean and sacrificing daily to emrys. and merlin takes notice of the devoted man in his temple or shrine and eventually makes him either immortal or a fellow god to keep him with him for eternity
OR a canon divergence au of sorts where (i think it’s when kilgharrah attacks camelot? unless this doesn’t actually happen in canon and it’s a huge fandom hc? i haven’t watched the show in years forgive me 😭) leon is injured and he drinks from the cup of life and becomes immortal, BUT he gets like amnesia of sorts and is taken in by the druids since they made him immortal (right?) so he becomes just another druid while camelot thinks he died in the attack. and he becomes like…the druids’ immortalized keeper of their culture? they teach him everything they know (which includes magic but whether or not he can use it is up to you) and they impart him with all this knowledge bc while they may die, he won’t, so he can keep their culture alive. and he becomes this immortal worshipper of emrys since the druids also worship emrys
etc etc idk lol
GODS I LOVE DEITY EMRYS X LEON
feel like I’ve drawn that before but I’m too lazy to find it…
Pretty sure there was also a fic weresome Druids thought Leon was a high priest of Emrys i read a while ago but it wasn’t romantic Merleon
BUT YES I love both versions sm (I’ve actually had a fic planned that’s similar to the second one that I’ll probably post about soon…)
Leon being obsessed and worshipping Emrys is so cute to me. I also think it’d be really funny if he’s worshiping Emrys in a canon divergent au and Merlin has no idea until he realizes the person that prays to him daily and gives him offerings is actually sir Leon.
I can imagine a scene of them coming across a Emrys temple and Leon gets really excited but also nervous because he’s with the other knights and doesn’t want them to know he follows a god of the old religion but Merlin is also panicking because he’s Emrys and can’t be caught.. meanwhile the other knights are just so confused on why they’re acting so weird.
Anyways
I also love Druid Leon so much i wish the show had explored his connection to them and magic because they never even talk about it again after that episode and it’s such a cool idea!!