#Morgana was trapped in one for like one year

[dollopheadedmerlin]

Someone help I am falling down the Kilgharrah is actually kinda hot pipeline

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Hello everyone! I'm back with a (kinda late) spooky au! This is the monster-themed au that won the last poll, so here we go!

In this au, set in season 4 (post-Aithusa), where, after feeling Aithusa call to him from within her egg, Merlin could now sense dragon eggs.

Since dragons mated every year and laid multiple eggs each time, and there were only so many dragonlords around to hatch them, there were hundreds of dragon eggs hidden around Albion, waiting for a dragonlord to get close enough for them to call out to, yearning for the world outside of their shells. And since the dragonlords were nearly wiped out in the purge, those hundreds of eggs were still hidden, still waiting for a dragonlord to call them into life.

And now that Merlin can recognize their calls and knows how to call them forth them their eggs, he collects and hatches as many dragon eggs as he can, determined to bring the magical creatures back to their former glory.

And this goes fairly smoothly, except for one issue: he needs a place to hide all of them. They're all still so young, despite growing rather quickly, and the world is still hostile towards dragons, not seeing them as the majestic creatures of wonder that they are.

So, Merlin finds a hidden place for all of them to nest: an underground cave system beneath a mountain. It was near enough to Camelot that he could visit frequently, and the tunnels were large enough for all of them to have their own space, even as the number of baby dragons grew from five, to ten, to twenty, to well over seventy baby dragons took refuge inside the caves.

Aithusa was delighted by each new baby sibling Merlin brought to her in the caves, and she took care of them as best she could. (Kilgharrah, the rubbish babysitter, was not invited to the nests, as he would surely fill the babies' heads with all sort of nonsense about hating humans.)

And so, Merlin kept this up for well over a year, hatching dragons and bringing them to the nests, where he would be bombarded by baby dragons looking to cuddle with their egg-father. He loved spending time with all of them, but he worried about them too. What would happen when grew too large for the caves? Where would they go? Would they be safe?

But as the young dragons grew, they were content to stay in their hidden sanctuary, keeping each other company and eagerly awaiting their egg-father's sporadic visits. They especially enjoyed his stories of Camelot and his golden king. They loved to imagine the man their father was describing, a man with gold for hair and jewels for eyes. He must be the greatest treasure in all the lands! It was no wonder their great and powerful dragonlord kept him safe in his hoard!

And it went on like this for several years, up until Morgana heard rumors of strange growls and reports of terrible beasts coming from the caves underneath the White Mountains. Upon hearing these rumors and sensing with her magic that were was a small army of powerful magical beasts within the caves, she came up with the brilliant plan of luring Arthur, Merlin, and the knights into these tunnels and trapping them there. Those beasts, whatever they were, would surely make quick work of all of them!

Her plan, of course, succeeds. After all, she knew that using a knight as bait would lure all of them into the caves, and then using her magic to collapse all of the exits was simple work. As she walked away from the mountain, she cackled with furious glee. At long last, all of her enemies were doomed! Camelot was hers for the taking!

Meanwhile, underneath the mountain, Arthur, Merlin, and the knights were all trapped. While they hadn't run into any of the monsters Morgana had mentioned, they could hear growls echoing off of the stone walls, heralding their doom getting closer and closer.

(The growling, translated from dragontongue: Papa! Papa! Papa's back!)

As the sounds of the ferocious growling grew closer and closer, they could see the shadows of the beasts approaching on the walls of the cave. They were enormous, with wings and claws! Arthur and the knights all drew their swords, ready to fight to the end against a mob of these horrid beasts.

As the monsters came into view, the shocked gasp came from the group. Before them was an impossible sight, dozens of dragons, each as long as two men and as tall as Percival!

(Merlin gasped at the sight because his babies had suddenly hit growth spurts! They were so much bigger than the last time he saw them!)

Arthur and all his knights braced themselves for what would be a devastating attack from the monsters, when suddenly, to their horror, Merlin ran out in front of them!

"Merlin! This is no time for your sacrificial idiocy! Get back behind us!"

But Merlin didn't even glance back at them, h simply ran forwards towards the beasts!

Arthur gave out a heart-wrenching cry as the monsters pounced on his friend, their razor-sharp claws tearing through his skin and their horrid jaws opening to bite at his flesh.

(Merlin, meanwhile, was being cuddled and playfully licked by his dragons, who took great care to keep their claws and teeth away from their egg-father's soft human skin.)

With a savage and anguished war cry, Arthur ran forward, sword in hand, praying that Merlin was still in one piece. Jolted out of their horror by Arthur's cry, the other knights follow, ready to slay these monsters and save Merlin from their grasp!

The dragons, who recognize Arthur from Merlin's descriptions of him, dart forward, excited to finally meet the golden king that their lord talks so much about! The golden king was as radiant as their lord said he was, and he even gave a play roar and charged at them! He wanted to play and be their friend!

His strange gray hand-fang stung a little bit when it hit their scales, but it hurt no more than their siblings' claws when they were play-fighting together.

The young dragons had a great time playing with all their new friends, who gave play roars and hit them with those strange gray fangs. Their new friends were so fast too, not letting the dragons hit them easily.

This went on for a while, until Aithusa become too excited by all of the play fighting and accidentally knocked the golden king down too hard, knocking the air out of him.

Aithusa whined apologetically as she walked over to him, opening her mouth so that she could breath her healing breath on him, when he suddenly grabbed his grey-fang and aimed it at her open mouth, ready to strike. Aithusa flinched back in surprise, but the golden king's movement was halted by a call from her lord.

"STOP!"

Everyone, knights and dragons alike, froze at the order, even though the command had not been given in dragontongue. Aithusa whined in apology again. She hadn't meant to hurt her lord's king! She had just forgotten he was less sturdy than her siblings!

"Merlin! You're alright! Come quickly, we must leave before these beasts... why is that dragon nuzzling you like an overgrown housecat?"

Merlin gave Arthur his most innocent look, but it wasn't very convincing. Sighing, Merlin wrapped his arms around Aithusa's neck and hugged her, which caused her to start purring with joy, much to the knights' shock.

"Well, you see, I kinda... found a dragon egg out in the woods one day? And I couldn't just leave it all by itself, anything could have happened to it, so I put it somewhere safe! And then, it hatched! And I couldn't just leave the poor baby to fend for herself, so I brought her here, where I thought she'd be safe and not bother anyone. But then I couldn't just leave her alone here, so I came back to visit her and bring her food!

And then, I started finding more dragon eggs and brought all of them here and took care of them!"

Merlin finished his rushed explanation with a smile, hoping that Arthur would just buy it and not ask any questions, like how Merlin found any dragon eggs in the first place. By the end of his explanation, Arthur had gone from alarmed to completely exasperated.

"So what you mean to tell me, Merlin, is that you found dragon eggs, and, instead of killing them before they could become threats, chose to raise them like they were stray kittens instead?"

Arthur's tone indicated that yes, he had bought Merlin's lie, and yes, he also thought Merlin was a much bigger idiot than he did before.

Merlin just nodded, praying to anyone that would listen that none of the knights would possess any critical thinking skills and start poking holes in Merlin's hastily made-up story.

Merlin's fears were alleviated when Gwaine began laughing hysterically, walked fearlessly between the dragons, and clasped a hand on Merlin's shoulder.

"My friend, I knew you were a special kind of crazy for putting up with Arthur all these years, but this! This beats any insane stunt you've done before! You've just tamed dragons, you madman! Hell, you've got them all wrapped around your finger by the looks of it!"

Gwaine, amazed and almost giddy, looked around at the dragons, who were contently cuddling up around Merlin now, tired from all of the play fighting.

Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, nervous and slightly embarrassed at all of the attention. The other knights looked on in wonder as Merlin told the dragons to go off the sleep in the nest, and they all listened. He really had tamed them!

Merlin turned and gave Arthur, who was still looked at Merlin with frustration and disbelief, a nervous smile.

"So, uh, it's probably a bit late to be asking this, but do you think I can keep them in Camelot?"

And that's all for now! I had a lot of fun writing about Merlin army of baby dragons! Please let me know if you'd like a continuation of this!

And, as always, thank you for reading through my ramblings!

[overlyspecific]

Part 11 of Merlin Hood

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 12

Sometimes life is fair and sometimes you are Morgana Pendragon. If the fact that she had to hide her very powerful magic and the only other person she knew with magic was forced to flee into the forest wasn’t enough, she now had to watch as her servant/newly realized love flirted with a very handsome man. She was so distracted by the thought of it, she didnt realize said object of her desires had entered.

Gwen: *still smiling* Hello, my lady.

Morgana: *trying to pretend like she didn’t jump a mile when Gwen spoke* Hello, Gwen.

Gwen: Is something wrong, my lady? You look a little pale.

Morgana: Gwen, dear, we are alone. You can call me Morgana.

Gwen: Sorry, my-Morgana, habits.

Morgana finds that the room has gotten tense and wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for wiping a smile off of Gwen’s face so she tries to hide her sadness.

Morgana: Lancelot seems like a nice fellow.

Gwen’s smile returns to her face and Morgana tries not to let her heart shatter from it.

Gwen: *a little timid* yeah, he is sweet. *a small blush appears on her cheeks* he even kissed my hand when he left

Morgana: *turning her back on Gwen to hide her facial expression* oh wow that’s forward of him

Gwen: *not noticing anything wrong with Morgana* yeah, i thought Leon was going to chase him away but we were lucky he bought our lie that Lancelot is from a neighboring town.

Morgana: oh, Leon is on guard? I need to speak with him.

Morgana jumps at the opportunity to leave the situation and makes for the door.

Gwen: Morgana.

Morgana: *stopping at the door and turning back to Gwen* yes, Gwen?

Gwen: if i’d done anything to upset you, you’d tell me, right?

Morgana: right. i’m just worried about Merlin that’s all. you’ve done nothing wrong.

Morgana rushes out, leaving Gwen alone in her chambers feeling out of place without knowing why.

Back in the woods, a hundred feet from the entrance to the ruins, Arthur and Gwaine are hiding in a bush.

Arthur: I can’t believe I didn’t figure out sooner that you would be one of the forest ruffians that trampses around with Merlin.

Gwaine: technically you didn’t figure it out and Merlin does most of the trampsing.

Arthur: shut up! i see something. *Arthur points at the entrance to the ruins*

Aredian exits the ruins with his face a shade redder than a tomato.

Aredian: *ranting loudly to himself* Never in my life- in all my years- who even knows all the words to the tavern songs- If the king wants answers so bad, he’s going to have to get them himself!

Aredian angrily makes his way to his horse and rides off in the direction of Camelot.

Gwaine: well, that was easy.

Arthur: *looking around confusedly* usually these things take longer or something bad happens…

Gwaine: Usually you don’t have Merlin though *gestures to the ruins* come on!

Arthur puts aside his uneasy feeling and enters the ruins after Gwaine. Neither of them notice a figure shrouded in a deep violet cloak watching them from the tree line. The cloaked figure raises their hand and a large slab of rock seals the entrance, trapping them all inside.

Sorry things in this part got a little bit angsty with Morgana’s POV. There also might be a little more angst to come with Gwaine, Arthur and Merlin all being trapped together but don’t worry ill be sure to cut it with some light-hearted humor.

[dafodils-on-the-moon]

!!!! So many questions bc I love this with all my heart <3 First, it's freaking hilarious that he became jester because he was "difficult to handle." LOVE that. Second, I gotta know, what does everyone else think about him? Arthur? Gwen? Morgana? Is Morgana doomed to die by the hands of a COURT JESTER?????

Ok so. Crucial part of this Au: Uther knows Merlin in Balinor’s son but does NOT know abt the magic. Merlin does not know about being Balinor’s son. Uther kept him cause he thinks it would be a good idea to have a dragonlord on hand that's loyal to Camelot, given what he's keeping under the castle.

Also I'm very aroace and don't wanna write romance for a while, so no romantic Murther.

Instead, Uther raises Merlin and Arthur as brothers. He deeply encourages the loyalty to one another as keeping Merlin loyal is essetail and Merlin is a very valuable asset that bears protecting. He emphasises to Arthur that as the eldest, Merlin is his responsibility and he should take care of him. Merlin is his younger brother.

Arthur takes to this role like a wildfire. Protective as SHIT over his new baby brother (Merlin is two years younger), esp. Since he was… not doing too hot when he first got to the castle. He was greiving and seemed *terrified* and didn’t speak at all for months. He was sickly too, for reasons no-one could pinpoint. Arthur had made it his mission to cheer Merlin up, as no one should be that sad. He and Merlin communicate at first via drawings.

He only seemed to improve after he started talking quietly to an imaginary freind he named “Kiggah.” It seemed to help cause merlin slowly started talking to Arthur and then in general and his health imrpved too.

Yeah… Merlin’s imaginary freind is Killgarrah lol.

Killgarrrah, or Kiggah as a now 5 year old Merlin could pernounce, is getting a major overhaul in this AU. His is going to be far far less of a bastard. Cause dragons are too cool for him to be the absolute worst.

In this AU Kiggah actually cares more THAT HIS ENTIRE RACE WAS ERADICATED than that he was trapped under the castle. Cause, fr, that is not the part id focus on. Also I gave him a family before, sorry man. Kiggah was also really really fond of dragonlings and hatchlings and was very excited to see the hatching of his first great-grandhatchling before the purge. Ow.

Anyway, Merlin is TERRIFIED of being in Camelot. He’s terrified he’s going to say something wrong and reveal his secret and die. He blames himslef for his mother’s death (cause he’s like 4 1/2 and thats normal for kids that age) and more specifically, his magic. So he supresses the shit out of it, which is why he’s so sickly.

Kiggah senses Merlin basically killing himslef and tries coaching Merlin into using his magic again. Adopts Merlin as his own hatchling. Kiggah doesn’t know Merlin’s dad is Balinor, but he DOES know he’s emrys, magic itself. As a result, Kiggah views Merlin as a fellow magical creature and raises him accordingly. He… doesn’t really get how human hatchlings are supposed to work.

Merlin starts acting weirdly dragonlike. His growling, he’s biting people, hee’s climbing everything, hoarding things and has a major fixation with fire. He is gettign “difficult to handle” as UTHER, assumes this is just how dragonlordlings are, (good gracious), but needs a way to coverup the fact he’s raising one.

Fooleswurth, nuerdodivergent in ye-old times, sees Merlin and his like “haha verily. Reminds me of when I was that age, I was just the same. He must have “The Jester’s Spark, haha.”’ Uther goes “yes and” and now fooleswurth has an apprentice and Uther has a way to explain why his ward is so weird.

Anyway, Kiggah is NOT excited about Merlin’s new older sister, but Merlin loves her. He is very excited for whenever Morgana’s magic manifests. She grows on Kiggah. (Esp. With all teh trouble she gives Uther). Morgana’s going to be fine.

She and Merlin get on like a house on fire. Gossipy bitches. Morgana sics Melrin and his “jester’s privolegde” on bothersome nobles to insult them into the ground.

Gwen becomes Morgana’s maidservent, and she Morgana and Merlin are great friends.

[symphonic-scream]

Okay hear me out

Persona 5 Stardew Valley au

So we've got the animal seller, Haru, who's parents divorced when she was young. She spent her teen years in the city with her father, but once an adult she decided to live with her mom, and has fallen in love with country life

Makoto has lived in town her whole life. Her older sister left to have a fancy city job, and thinks Makoto is wasting her talents and smarts by staying to keep up the family tradition. Makoto knows someone has to protect the town, and gladly draws her sword to do so. She trains by cutting down trees for the local artist and for town projects

Ryuji is a former golden child. He was going to be a star athlete, but an accident took it from him. He's not really doing anything at the moment, just working on loving life again. His Ma is the bus driver

Shiho moved to town after a similar incident to Ryuji, only she puts all she is into work, to have a place so when they're adults, her girlfriend can leave her family behind so they can be together. She only recently took over the carpentry business from her mentor, and her girlfriend Ann helped expand the business to include furniture and house decor, with design input

The pub in town in Leblanc. While the owner, Sojiro, specializes in coffee, he'll accept local foods to make dishes by request of the townspeople. His daughter Futaba is a recovering shut in, and his wife Wakaba runs the town clinic, with her med student Tae

Yusuke appeared one day, having sold all he had to find a font of inspiration. He fell for the valley, and at first lived in a tent near the mountain. Makoto, who nearly mistook him for a monster, invited him to stay on her family's property. He mostly paints, but does sculptures for order from the nearby city to pay his share of living costs

The town blacksmith is named Munehisa Iwai. He's the broody type, but cares for his son a whole lot. He's just, not good at showing it. He often requests things his kid would like

The town store used to belong to an older man, but he passed it on to a wayward boy and his younger brother, both whom he met by chance. The boys, then in foster care, lived with him until he became too old and ill go run the store. Akira and young Morgana still keep the Velvet Room running, even if old man Igor is living in Hospice

And, the mayor, Lavenza. She's very new to the position, which used to be Igor's. She's hoping to improve the town a lot, and is caring for her younger twin sisters

A strange man lives on the beach, with a strange talent for fishing. Goro doesn't talk about who he was before he moved there. It's behind him.

The library is run by Hifumi, who wants to reopen the museum portion after her parents sold the artifacts to keep it from closing. Hifumi thinks a museum would inspire tourists to donate,

And, finally, our farmer.

Sumire feels lost. Her sister died, her parents can't speak to her without crying, and she feels, trapped, so she impulsively quits her profession. She finds a letter from her grandfather, with the deed to a farm. Needing a reset, she leaves the city and life behind to live in a small town in the valley, where no one knows her, or her sister.

To clear things up, Makoto and Ryuji both grew up in town, have been friends the whole time. Futaba has been in town since she was 6, Hifumi was born there, and Akira and Morgana have been there since they were 14 and 6, now about 21 and 13. Shiho and Ann were in Ryuji's class at school, since they had to travel to a nearby city for school. Haru moved there when she was 18, Yusuke and Goro appeared around 19-20.

Anyways. Talk to me about this

(I'm open to any ships for it pretty much, but I will say I have Okujima in it.)

[wellpresseddaisy]

The Potion Master's Guide to the Magical Ton pt.1

Narcissa suppressed the urge to bite her lip and forced her face into a smooth visage, even though no one else sat in her boudoir with her. She would not give Mother even one forty-sixth of an inch to get her claws in the next time they met. She heard what Mother said to Bella at the last Lattimore-Comstock card party about her complexion. No, she would not frown or bite her lips or do anything that would allow Mother to find either wrinkle or imperfection, which made the letter in her hands all the more irksome. Who on this earth did Frank Longbottom mean? Lucius, while certainly exceeding pretty, hadn’t been considered ‘little’ for a great many years. Possibly never, if Maman Amelie’s complaints over birthing him were to be believed. Narcissa patted the soft swell of her abdomen and hoped her child would be quite a bit smaller than Papa at birth.

Lucius also hadn’t made a curtsey at Almack’s, so that let him quite out. Purebloods only ever complained when they found one of their number who’d curtseyed unchaperoned in London, specifically. She’d no idea why London made them get their backs up when meeting in a country lane did not, but there lay the hypocrisy of Society. Social conventions must be honored, but only where everyone could see. But why would Frank think it her problem? She and Lucius had guardianship of precisely 0 young men who’d curtsied.

Could he mean Severus? Surely Longbottom knew Severus was not actually under their purview? He was the only one Narcissa knew who might get into anything termed a row with anyone, although he generally had good reason. Docile, Severus was not. Lucius had, after one full day of Severus at his most waspish, likened his personality to a bear trap in a moment of frustration. As much as Narcissa adored their young friend, Lucius had a point.

She rose from her escritoire and went in search of Lucius. Perhaps he could make heads or tails of any of this? She thought he’d been rather close with Longbottom, once. Perhaps he would still understand how the man’s mind worked? She ran him to ground in his study, frowning over a pile of ledgers.

He’d taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. Merlin and Morgana. She took in the sight for a moment, appreciating the soft, golden light of a Summer afternoon shining off his hair and highlighting the breadth of his shoulders under crisp, white linen. She could be half dead, she decided, and she’d still get up off her bed to see her husband in shirtsleeves and waistcoat, especially when he’d removed his cravat and his shirt fell open at the throat. He had such a lovely throat.

“Trouble, darling?” she asked. She could ogle him later.

“My beloathed Pater biffed off to France just as the ten-year audit is beginning and left me holding the bag,” Lucius grumbled.

“Of course he did, dear one. What do you think he’s dodging this time, beyond the  responsibility?” Narcissa joined him behind the desk and enjoyed running her hands over his broad shoulders.

One made one’s fun where one could, of course.

“I’ve no idea. He’s left running the estate to me for the past few years. It could be his investment account, I suppose. He doesn’t much like me seeing what he’s doing there.” Lucius sighed and raked his hands through his hair.

“Hmm. Yes, most likely. Would you have a moment? I received the most intriguing letter from Frank Longbottom in the morning’s post. I can’t make out precisely what he means.”

“Why would Frank—” Lucius reached for the letter.

“That was my question, as well.”

“Oh Merlin, he’s trotted out all his titles. He really must have been in a snit while writing. My dear Mrs. Malfoy—” Lucius read.

My dear Mrs. Malfoy,

It is with great displeasure that I felt I must write to apprise you of the shocking lack of  conduct of one under your guardianship.

“He hasn’t changed a whit,” Lucius commented. “Still as officious as ever. He wasn’t this bad at school, though.”

This morning, I went into London. It was there I found your ward, unchaperoned and in the midst of a row with the proprietor of a shop. I will not assault your tender eyes with an account of the invective or the opprobrius epithets

“I wonder how many times it took him to spell opprobrius?” Narcissa asked. “If I remember correctly, he was always in disgrace with professors over his spelling.”

“So was half of both of our classes.”

“There is that, I suppose. Parents should take much better care over early education.”

“Shall I continue?”

“Please. You do ‘insulted stuffed shirt’ so well.”

Lucius snorted and continued.

the opprobrius epithets hurled at the poor shop keep. I, of course, stepped in and remonstrated sharply with your ward. He behaved much the same to me. While I do not wish to cause trouble, I would recommend a sharp word with him regarding his conduct. I would further recommend, when you or your husband are unavailable, that he be assigned a chaperone who will brook no nonsense.

I cannot believe one who is under your tender care would so forget his conduct as to behave in such a thoroughly disgraceful manner. Thankfully, I know you and your husband will see to it that it never happens again. I hope you will not think it amiss that I took him under my own authority and saw him through the nearest Floo to your home. I did not feel that he, in that state, ought to be allowed to go any further astray.

I do hope that your husband will impress upon him the dangers a pretty little lad might face unchaperoned and unprotected in London. Do tell him, from me, that I think six would suffice. Eight if he’s quarrelsome and willful.

Ever in your service,

Francis Longbottom

“I’m not reading the full collection of titles. It’s positively indecent putting them all in.” Lucius scoffed at the closure. “Ever in your service? Salazar’s wand he’s become insufferable. And it shows he doesn’t know me at all. I would never subject anyone to six of the best. Beastly. I’ve always been able to get my message across in other ways.”

“I blame his mother,” Narcissa commented idly. “She behaves as if every word from his mouth is straight from Merlin. I have an idea of who he might mean, but surely not. He has to know it can’t be.”

“Just, for one moment, consider that Frank Longbottom is famous for having no sense of humor at all. Further consider that absolutely exhausted little joke the Slytherins made, and still make, about Severus being our first.”

“No,” Narcissa breathed in horrified delight. She hated being correct on some occasions. “He wouldn’t be so mutton-headed.”

“Frank is capable of a great deal of mutton-headery, I’m afraid. You know he voted for the guardianship bill that came up last Wizengamot seasion. I can do the whole speech if you’d like.”

“As much as I would love to hear it, darling, I think we’ll have to save that for later. Where’s Severus? If that happened this morning…oh, the poor dear. He must be fuming. Mipsy!”

A quiet pop heralded the arrival of an extremely tidy elf.

“Mistress called?”

“Could you locate Mr. Snape and ask him to attend us in the study?” Narcissa asked.

“Mipsy will find Master Severus.” She popped out again.

“Does he know they call him Master Severus?”

“Hmm? Oh, I’ve no idea. He hasn’t smashed a decanter over it, so he may not know precisely what it means.” Lucius looked up from his ledgers. “Do you think I should play the angry prefect with him?”

“Don’t be cruel, darling. He’s going to be confused enough being called to the study as it is.”

“And he always responded better to that face you made — the ‘I’m not angry only terribly disappointed’ one.”

“We’ll be as normal as we can be about Frank Longbottom crashing in where he isn’t wanted,” Narcissa decided.

“Did you hear that he ordered his wife to stop working the minute he heard she was expecting?” Lucius asked. “In front of all her colleagues at St. Mungo’s?”

“And he isn’t searching Lancashire for his bits? Mrs. Longbottom has more patience than I could ever muster.”

“Between the husband and the Dowager, I’m surprised she’s ever allowed to express an opinion.”

“Er, you wished to see me?” Severus sidled into the room, holding a stack of cards and looking shifty.

“Yes, dear heart. Oh, please don’t look so nervous. Come and sit.” Narcissa crossed to Severus and pulled him further into the room. She easn’t entirely sure the Study would help calm him at all. When Severus got in a state nothing would, really.

The sofa was a deep and squashy one, perfect for afternoon naps while avoiding work. Narcissa perched on the edge of a chair while Lucius pulled Severus down to sit on the sofa with him.

“I received a perfectly ridiculous letter just now,” she began.

“Bloody Longbottom!” Severus interrupted, flushing. “The apothecary promised faithfully to provide the finest quality ingredients, and at the time I specified. He had nothing ready when I got there and then, then he tried to sell me inferior belladonna. I specifically told him I needed the premium quality and I don’t know what I’m going to tell Master Cavallieri when I go back. This was meant to be part of my Master Work. On top of that, bloody Frank Longbottom scruffed me in bloody public and told me to mind my manners like the nice lad he knew I was!”

Narcissa blinked. “And you didn’t bite him? ”

“I think I was too shocked at being scruffed,” Severus admitted.

“Did he say anything else?” Lucius asked gently.

“He apologized for my reprehensible conduct.” Severus looked angry enough to spit tacks. “And then he dragged me out of the shop and to the nearest Floo, since he couldn’t allow me to run about loose and unsupervised as I was clearly overwrought. Overwrought! I have never been overwrought a day in my life!”

Narcissa could argue with that, but kept her counsel. No sense in twitting Severus when he’d been so embarrassed already.

“I hope you got him with something truly awful,” Lucius soothed.

“Er…” Severus bit his lip. “It was immensely petty of me, I know, but…flatulence.”

He muttered the last so low that it took Narcissa a moment to fully understand. She snorted.

“Excellently done,” Lucius said. “He’s grown into an appalling windbag, I fear. Now, would you like to continue to be angry or would you like a solution?”

“Why don’t we take this to the family sitting room and have some tea?” Narcissa rose as she spoke, moving toward the door.

“Wondeful idea, my love. Outrage does make one so parched.” Lucius chivvied Severus after her.

[crossover-enthusiast]

I blame you for reminding me I did that idea of the monster town AU, I have to give you my own ideas now.

Michelle: A skinwalker and the first monster Maurice met when he arrived in town (at first he thought she was human), Michelle made him think she would help him find a way out but uhh. Then she tried to eat him. Luckily for him,Ivan managed to save him just in time.

Carmen: A giant who proclaimed herself queen of the town's mountains. Everyone who lives on her land is practically her slave and those who disobey her will end up under her heels.

Streber: HE'S NOT A VAMPIRE >:), I still don't know what he could be but definitely not a vampire.

Radford: A sleep paralysis demon, He can only communicate with people while they are sleeping and can create nightmares when he manages to possess someone. He is not particularly aggressive but he and his nightmares have been a nuisance to Ivan for years.

Thats it for now :)

OOOOO THESE ARE SO COOL

I think I love skinwalker Michelle in particular because that is just so fucked up it's great

Sleep paralysis demon Rad too!! Hell yes!! That's SO unique. I feel like the nightmares he inflicts onto Ivan are based on movie plots- he's still Radford after all. If he can't watch movies anymore he'll just reenact them with Ivan as his unwitting lead!

Also Streber not being a vampire is funny. Rip bozo /silly Maybe he could be a robot?

Also wanted to add onto this-

Zombie Kevin is hilarious, yes. Sometimes he just falls apart but can easily put himself back together like a lego- however unlike Skid he needs to "manually" reassemble and the only thing that really moves when detached is his head (for obvious reasons), so it's harder for him to find his body parts. One time he lost his bottom jaw for a few days and it was torture

Also I had more monster ideas here you go:

Evermore: gorgon/Medusa type beat, he has a bunch of little snakes and then one big "ruler" snake in place of that bump of hair. Unlike a regular gorgon (or perhaps because of the nature of the town), the petrification from looking into his eyes isn't permanent and wears off after about a day. This has caused Evermore to stone himself multiple times because he keeps trying to look at himself in the mirror. Garcia finds it funny

Speaking of, Garcia! Not quite sure what to do with him, but my current thought is him and Mr. Clown are in a Jekyll and Hyde situation; Garcia is technically still human, but Mr. Clown very much Isn't. He runs on toon logic and wants to beat everyone -- and I mean everyone -- to death with a hammer. When they switch seems to be random, or at least as far as Garcia can tell

Lucky: living scarecrow. He got hung up in the center of town and can't get himself down, so he's just Stuck for a long while. Ivan had always assumed it was a trap and so left him there even if he felt bad about it, and it's not until Maurice shows up and Lucky's able to convince him to help that he actually gets down. On the brightside of Lucky's predicament, being in the center of town means that Lucky's heard a Lot of things and knows way more than he should

Morgana (I am including her as well bc Yes): living doll. She's made voodoo dolls of everyone in town and they actually work as long as she has something from them. She mostly just uses them to fuck with people tho

Also, take a Bonus Thought about the tree entity: she's a woman by the name of Teresa that's been here even longer than Ivan, however when she first came into town she was attacked and ran into the woods. She has stayed there ever since and is Not Doing Good

[longlivearthur]

Heavy is the head

18+ - minors, get yaselves outta here.

*established secret relationship - reader is Arthur’s fiancés lady in waiting*

Warnings - Cheating, illusions to smut, Y/N, fiancée is an OG character.

I do not own any of the characters in this fic, credit to the own of this gif!

The sun shined boldly through Arthur’s curtains, accompanied by the sounds of happy birds chirping as if taunting him. “One day closer to being trapped in a loveless marriage”, they sing. Readying himself to get ready to go and have breakfast with Loralie, his mind slowly wanders to you. The softness of your skin, the breathless whisper of his name on your lips, your shining eyes looking up at him with nothing but love.

Being a prince was something that never phased Arthur, after all, he had everything a man could want. That was until he met you. Darting effortlessly through the crowds of the hall with your hands full, smiling and curtsying to each nobleman who laid eyes on you. He was entranced by your beauty from the moment he saw you, but unfortunately for him, the day he met you, was the day he met his arranged fiancée.

Uther had told him that if he wishes to be King before the year is out he must marry. Arthur begrudgingly accepted and the search for a wife commenced. He was happy with Loralie, she was pretty, well mannered and stayed out of his way, but he couldn’t help to seek you out every chance he got. When he learned that you were to become Loralie’s lady-in-waiting his heart did a dance and then dropped to his feet. Seeing you every day felt like heaven and torture at the same time.

A back-and-forth became the norm between you and the prince. Playful jabs here and there turned into subtle glances, which transformed into brazen flirting once his fiancée left the room. For months, he felt himself falling deeper and deeper in love with you, until one day, he couldn’t take it anymore.

Earlier that day you had fallen victim to one of Morgana’s schemes and were left with a heavy bruise on your face. His eyes clouded with red when he saw what his sister had done. He cupped your face with his calloused hands and examined the damage, his heart squeezing each time you winced in pain. You returned to your chamber that night with a heavy heart and a throbbing face. The tears fell in sync with the stormy weather, believing love was painful.

A knock at your chamber door had you wiping your eyes and breathing heavily. “Who would be coming to see me at such a late hour”

The door heaved open and there stood Arthur. His chest rose and fell quickly, his hair tousled and cheeks pink. “Arthur?” Your eyes scanned him for any signs of illness, injury or god forbid something had happened to your mistress. “Y/N”. You looked up at him with tears in your eyes, lips parted to speak, but before a word could get out his lips attacked yours. Soft and desperate.

He took you that night, repeatedly whispering how much he loved you. He’d lie awake each night he was with you, figuring out how to be with you. Then it hit him.

Once he ascended as King he would change the law, divorce Loralie, as much as it pained him, and marry you. His father would have no say…

And he did just that.

[starrieisdelusional]

so i thought about it and i’m giving you reasons why kilgharrah morgana interaction would make more sense rather than the aithusa and morgana bond that we see in canon (continuing from my rant abt aithusa):

1) mordred killing arthur with a dragon forged sword

i think that pretty much sums up aithusa’s purpose in the storyline (also healing morgana in s4) it’s not a coincidence that morgana and arthur died from a sword forged by different dragons.

2. aithusa

i find it strange that aithusa doesn’t appear in any of the prophecy that we hear in the canon timeline (or maybe she does but i missed it). morgana and mordred name came up pretty often, but it’s strange arthur’s (sort of) cause of death was never brought up. maybe kilgharrah was biased

her name and design also didn’t make sense that she’ll eventually become a part of arthur’s end since she’s supposed to represent a good omen in merlin’s destiny.

it makes more sense for merlin and aithusa to bond since merlin also hatched her

3. kilgharrah

ok so first of all, he’s very selfish. He acts base on his own gain. He doesn’t hesitate to kill a child. Okay yes maybe he does change in later seasons, but uther killed all his kind and trapped him under camelot for 20 years. He despised uther, can you guess who else hates uther?

okay yes i know that kilgharrah wants to kill morgana from season 1 but i don’t think their relationship need to be sincere. That’s perfect for their character who are selfish and work for their own gain

Kilgharrah was only against morgana because of the prophecy, and i think that’s kind of weak. His actions should be based on what he wants, not the prophecy. The reason why he favors the prophecy in the first place is because he wants to get out.

Maybe somewhere in between seasons, kilgharrah is tired of merlin bs and starts to question the prophecy. He eventually decides to turn to morgana instead (as she is taking a more active roll in restoring magic and trying to kill uther, morgana can be the one who frees her instead) but he realizes half way that she’s kinda crazy, and he kinda regreted his decisions

Plus merlin is kinda a bitch towards him, like that one time he forces him to let him heal morgana, and that one time he doesn’t listen to him, etc, etc

But i think that kilgharrah and merlin dynamic is interesting too. In a way he represents merlin’s not so bright morality and that’s another part of merlin that makes him interesting

idk this is such a random rant 😭

[sugar-coated-prat-dragon]

Title: Hunith went hungry countless times so her son could eat

Episode: The “Moment of Truth” questions

Questions by @tansyuduri

Tagging: @miyriu

Books used as references: “The Magic Begins”, “Dangerous Quests”, “The Death of Arthur”, “Lancelot and Guinevere” and the “Heroes” Guide

Question: It was normally a lord's responsability to make sure raiders did not come and take food? I know it’s a border region in Cenred's kingdom, but it doesn’t seem to have a lesser noble of the kingdom ruling over it?

It also must be far from Cenred's court. Since Cenred would have more of an interest protecting villages that actually provided him food. (Thus kept up their side of the feudalism deal?)

My answer: When Merlin first came to Camelot, he noted the table in the great hall had more food then he’d ever seen in his life and that just this one feast alone could feed his entire village for a year.

Also, according to the Camelot maps, Ealdor is very small (barely a blip on the map) and the only houses on the map in that village seem to be tiny ramshackle huts.

If you look above Ealdor in the map, you can see Jarl’s castle, which is much bigger then the whole of Ealdor and therefore their likely isn’t any nobles anywhere near them (since everything nearby seems to be unoccupied land, caves and forests).

Considering how little food Ealdor has been mentioned to produce, it’s likely Cenred doesn’t even take food from them, since less then a tables worth of food at a single banquet is hardly worth taking and likely only taxes them to farm/live there.

Book description: Merlin enjoyed just looking at the great hall with its rich wall coverings and vast hanging chandeliers, at the beautifully carved wooden tables laden with more food than he'd ever seen in his life before.

This one feast would feed Merlin's entire village for a year - but he was in too good a mood to begrudge the guests their meal.

Question: Why didn’t Uther send only a few men as Arthur suggests. ESPECIALLY since there is little likelihood of any of Cenred's soldiers being in the area to know?

My answer: Uther himself admits that Cenred had never been openly hostile towards them without good reason and was therefore shocked when the mercenaries attacked without provocation.

(THIS 👆 could also be a major reason why Uther was not willing to send aid to Ealdor, even in the form of a few knights. He was not willing to risk starting a war with a neighboring kingdom who had so far never attacked with provocation).

(Source: “Traitor Within” book)

In the “Lancelot and Guinevere” book, Morgana muses to herself about how Uther always considered the ‘bigger picture’ and acted accordingly.

In many ways, Uther sending even a few soldiers to Cenred’s kingdoms would be a bigger risk and he would consider it not worth it, especially given how the ‘bigger picture’ is that he’d be risking war in order to protect a tiny village that isn’t even on his land.

1st Book description:

'We've had reports that mercenaries are streaming into Cenred's kingdom,' he announced to the assembled councillors.

Uther frowned. Cenred had never been openly hostile towards them without good reason. It seemed strange that the situation had changed. 'Do we know why?'

2nd book description: Morgana had been angry with Uther before, but this time her rage against the king's indolence left her physically shaking.

She had long ago recognized that Uther would always make an appeal to 'the bigger picture, but the least she expected was that Arthur would plead for Gwen.

(Source: “Lancelot and Guinevere” book)

Question: So from what we see, Merlin's diet growing up would have been milk, grains, eggs, and likely some fruits and vegetables as we saw those taken earlier. Perhaps every once in a while some meat?

My answer: Merlin mentioned that men would go out to trap animals for food when times were desperate and they were facing starvation.

As Hunith grew sicker as the result of the deal with Nimueh, Merlin recalled the countless times his mother had gone hungry so that he’d never once had to miss a meal.

Book description: “Dangerous Question” book

In the little village where he'd grown up, men would go out and trap animals for food. In lean times, it was a choice between that and starvation.

But the Crown Prince of Camelot sat down to a banquet every night - he had no need to hunt. This was just sport to him, the challenge of his wits against the beast's.

Taking the life of a feeling, thinking creature for fun? Merlin couldn't see how it could ever be right. Yet he knew that Arthur was a good man. It was very confusing.

Book description in “Dangerous Questions”:

Merlin remembered how she'd always been there for him when he'd got upset, unable to come to terms with the great powers that had been bestowed upon him.

The countless times she had gone hungry so that he d never once had to miss a meal.

Question: It seems like most of the Ealdor did NOT know about Merlin's Secret?

Book description:

As Merlin's childhood friend, William of Ealdor was the only other person, apart from Hunith, who knew Merlin's secret.

Question: What is Merlin’s relationship like with the other villagers in Ealdor?

My answer: Merlin admits to knowing people back in Ealdor, who thought they could get away with anything just because they were good looking and skillful. (Funny enough he thinks about this while watching Arthur throwing knives at his servant).

Book description:

Merlin watched with a frown as the boy scurried back and forth across the yard, the young knight throwing dagger after dagger at him - hitting the target spot-on every time. He would, of course.

Merlin knew the type - even back in Ealdor there had been people like that, who thought that being good looking and skillful meant they could do whatever they liked.

All the girls fancied them too. It was funny how girls couldn't spot how much of a prat someone was if that someone had big enough muscles.

[princess-ibri]

I would love to hear more of your headcanons for what Triton's childhood was like and maybe even how you think he may have met his future wife.

Sure! So my basic idea for Triton is he kinda has a Cinderella meets King Arthur set up. He has pretty nice childhood at first, being the heir to Atlantica, spending time with his father Poseidon and grandfather Neptune, learning the history of the kingdom and to play the undersea calliope and all that.

But things change when he turns 10. His beloved grandfather falls ill and dies mysteriously, and his father soon after remarried the strange Octopin healing woman who’d come to try and heal Neptune—the beautiful Thalassa, who also brings along her two young daughters, Ursula and Morgana.

Life becomes more difficult for Triton in the following years. He’s still the heir but his father grows distant and more infatuated with his new wife, who increasingly builds up her power behind the throne, and his two step-sisters, though they somewhat bond at first begin to more and more constantly tease and torment him.

(Greater details on Thalassa and the girl’s backstories here )

Things continue to go downhill for Atlantic and Triton and when he’s 18 his father too dies, and Thalassa moves to finally take the throne for herself. Triton flees and over the next two years builds up a resistance to take back the kingdom, though they’re kept on the run by Thalassa’s magic/the army kept under her control with magic and fear and desire for power. At last he’s able to stage an attack on the castle, and pull out the Trident from where it’s been stuck in its pedestal, Thalassa and her daughters unable to draw it out as Poesidan never passed the right to the throne to them.

Using the power of the Trident Triton is able to finally overcome his stepmother, who in an epic battle tries transforms into a terrifying eldritch monster, and as she is too powerful to fully kill he traps her in a cave for all eternity, and then deals with Ursula, who begged for mercy and received the lighter sentence of banishment. (Morgana already having left years before)

I think he would have met his wife Psmathae during the years he was on the run leading the rebellion. She’s a kind and playful young mer-woman of common birth with an interest in the World Above. She helps Triton to keep a sense of hope and cheer during the dark years. She’s a beloved queen, wife and mother for the years she lives.

Unfortunately her interest in the World Above does end badly, as she is killed by human pirates when she was exploring above the waves one day, something Triton never recovers from.

This is actually a great start to doing backstories for the Disney Parents so yeah we’ll say this is the first one and put it under the #Disney Parent Backstory tag

[icanbeyourgenie]

" How does things work here?... " - Miakoda to Wendy, about being a servant

Showing the new-comings what being a servant in the fae kingdom meant wasn't Wendy's favorite part of the job - but then again, she disliked every aspect of what she had to do. Miakoda had come only yesterday. She was not allowed even one day to deal with the shock before being thrust upon this new life. A bad one. And Wendy was showing her the place.

“The number one rule is to never disobey the high queen Morgana. If you're lucky enough, she'll soon forget about your existence. The second rule is to try not to be noticed. You do your work, pay off your indenture and pray you can leave this place.”

“Indenture?”

“Basically slavery, but with the promise that after a number of years you'll be able to go free.”

“How many years?”

“It depends on the contract you signed.”

Miakoda stopped. Wendy looked at her as she appeared distraught.

“I don't... really remember the contract I signed.”

“Yes, I figured.” Miakoda looked puzzled. “Do you remember how you got there?”

“I'm not sure... I was in the human world, and I was hungry, I suppose I fed from a fae sentinelle, they got me like that... ”

Wendy sighed. The vampire really was confused. “You didn't feed from a fae sentinelle. You fed from the lady Euphemia.” Miakoda looked even more lost, so Wendy explained. “Here's how the royal family works. You have the high queen Morgana, which you've met and signed your contract with, even if the details are blurry to you know. She has three children. Prince Aeron, Prince Xanthe and Princess Lyra. She also has a brother who's almost as dangerous as her, and he has two children. Lord Aldris, and the lady Euphemia. She's the one you drank from. She must have dragged you into her fairy trap.”

“.... Why can't I remember?”

“You should not drink from faes. Everything about them is poisonous. They're masters of illusions. It probably disoriented you and that's why you don't remember your contract.”

“..I have to feed though.”

“Sadly you'll find that there's plenty of humans there. And also faes with more... distilled blood.”

“I can't stay there. I've been a captive before, I won't do it again. I'll leave.”

“You can't.”

“Clearly you have never met a vampire. Trust me, I can.”

Wendy knew that behind that bitter answer was hidden fear, and she was truly sad for the girl. And she hated being the bearer of bad news.

“I know you can, but it doesn't work that way. When you sign a contract, it binds you to the land. If you try to leave... Well, it won't be pretty. Ask the other servants, we all tried at least once.” Wendy tried to convey sympathy, but she knew nothing could soften the blow. “You should try to figure out the terms of your contract. I can help you.”

Miakoda shot her a wary look. “Some of the girls here said I shouldn't trust you.”

“As a general rule I'd advise you not to trust anyone here.”

“They said you were Morgana's right-hand woman.”

“I am.”

Wendy knew this didn't inspire trust, but what was the point in lying? She knew Miakoda would try to escape anyway, and that she'll be met with the same disappointment as anyone else in this quarter.

“Come on. I have other places to show you.”

She proceeded to show the vampire the most important parts of the castle. But Miakoda was distracted and that place was a real maze, Wendy quickly figured she'd have to show her multiple times.

“The general rule with the royal family is to not be noticed by them. Especially Aldris and Rhysand, trust me on that one. You're lucky, the lady Euphemia did not request you as her maid. You were assigned to the princess.”

“How am I lucky?”

“Because Euphemia could've requested you. Apparently she seems to think that biding you was punishment enough. You'll meet the princess this afternoon. First, I'll introduce you to Lena. She's the one who trains all the maids here.”

“You're not a maid?”

“No.”

“What do you do here?”

“Other stuff.” Wendy was not comfortable going into details, but it definitely didn't stop the vampire.

“How did you end up here?” She asked again, but wasn't offended by Wendy's silence. That was a relief. “It's okay.” She simply said. “Everyone has secrets, don't they? I'm sure you'll tell me yours when you're ready.”

Against her better judgment, it made Wendy smile. They were in front of Lena's door now. there was nothing more for Wendy to do that to go away. But she added:

“The princess is really nice you'll see. She'll treat you well.”

It was a poor confort, Wendy knew that. But it was all she had to offer.

She left, but they met again that night, when Morgana sent Wendy searching for Miakoda who inevitably tried to escape, and experienced what it meant to be binded to the land. She found the vampire screaming from the pain, her skin burning and completely disoriented. She held her for hours that night before Miakoda finally found a sleep full of nightmares. And as horrible as that night was, it was the beginning of their story.

[albentelisa]

Hi! What do you think would happen if Jim was born as Gwen and Arthur's kid, but somehow still meet Claire and Toby?

Oh, that's what I call 'let's give Jim an even messier biological dad'. So, in this AU, Jim is a baby when Gwen dies, so technically he doesn't remember her well enough. Much like in the canon, Arthur starts a crusade against the supernatural and pretty much neglects his son, visiting him only occasionally. Morgana, on the other hand, spends way more time with her nephew (partially because of guilt, but she also genuinely loves Jim). Jim grows a bit, and much to his own horror, Arthur realizes that his only son takes after his mother too much when it comes to curiosity about magical creatures. Jim keeps sneaking out of the castle into the forest and befriending all kinds of magical beings there (including Nari). He also sets free inhuman prisoners rather regularly. And Arthur, instead of reconsidering his stance, is now bound by fear that he will lose the last memento of Gwen. He goes to Merlin looking for the best working solution to keep Jim away from 'dangerous beasts', and this is where those two commit something unforgivable. They put Jim in a time stasis until Arthur obliterates all non-humans.

Unfortunately, nothing goes like planned as Arthur dies and Merlin goes to sleep without giving any instructions how to release Jim.

Barbara in this AU is also from Camelot times. She's Jim's nanny and secretly a witch. She is furious when she learns what Arthur has done to his son and swears to find a way to free Jim. She isn't a powerful or knowledgeable magic user, so it takes her centuries until she manages to do it several years before the beginning of the events in Trollhunters.

As Jim is still a kid, he has less trouble adjusting to the modern world. He is still sad because most of the people he knew are not around anymore (though it's easier with Barbara, who is a true mother figure to him, around). Besides, Jim dreams to become a noble knight which is impossible in the modern world.

On the other hand, Jim still befriends Toby like in the canon, though he doesn't tell him about his origin right away (that happens only after Toby learns about trolls).

As for Jim and Douxie in this AU, those two never met in Camelot times, because technically Jim should be older than Douxie (he would have been an adult by the time Douxie became Merlin's apprentice if Merlin had never trapped him). However, as Jim is physically and mentally the younger one now, Douxie takes over the elder brother role for him when those two meet. It happens soon after Barbara breaks the time stasis as she is friends with Douxie. Initially, Jim is a bit afraid of Douxie as he is Merlin's apprentice and Jim fears that he might be back to that time trap. He opens up once he realizes that Douxie helped Barbara with finding the way to free him.

I think that most of the canon event will still happen. The differences will be:

Jim knowing about the supernatural. He's also not a big fan of fighting for 'the glory of Merlin'. That is his main reason why he wants to refuse the mantle at first. However, later Jim realises that no matter what kind of words are used, the amulet is still meant to protect.

Jim still have some chivalrous mannerisms from his Camelot times and Claire finds it cute. She also teases him about being a prince (as he's is one) and Jim wants to die of embarrassment.

Douxie is obviously involved earlier and Barbara knows about Jim's trollhunting from the very beginning. Barbara still starts to date Strickler and Jim is reluctant to tell her that Walter is a changelling once he learns that. So Barbara still gets bond to Strickler by Angor and only learns the truth later.

When it comes to awaking Merlin, both Jim and Barbara (especially Barbara) are against it. Jim gives in after realizing that they have no other choice.

Morgana doesn't want to harm her nephew, but she thinks about trapping him somewhere so he isn't involved.

Merlin doesn't expect his last Trollhunter to be King Arthur's son. After all, he knows that his champion should become a half-troll, but doing it to his friend's son can be quite a betrayal. Not that it stops Merlin though (or make him think for an alternative).

the reunion between Jim and Arthur in the past is a royal mess. Jim don't even want to confess to his father he is his son (and honestly, both Blinky and Strickler are better in that role).

Jim also can't succeed Excalibur at first because he connects that one to his father too much. He also doesn't want to be a king as he doesn't want to become like his father. Though Aja's example makes him reconsider.

[tiodolma]

Yo isnt morgana (and aithusa) like kilgharrah? Both were powerful and dangerous seers, captured by magic haters, trapped alone in a dark hole with only their darkness for company for years, losing hope and only seeing the future in their madness?

And on the chance they get away they were determined to see the world burn.

And yet their kin, their strongest kin choose to lie and spurn one forever and be truthful and give clemency to the other.

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Have the origin of my fic Things that Won't Last! (I'm still archiving old AU's)

So, Douxie and Krel get off on the wrong foot. Douxie cuts in line, and he isn't able to make it up by freeing Krel from the ice bc in this AU it was Zoe who helped to make the time trap. Afterwards, Krel is a little rude to Douxie for the cutting in line incident, and Douxie is rude right back because his grief over Merlin is impacting his ability to be polite to people who aren't polite back. Their friends try to get the two of them to maybe be a little nicer to e/o but eventually give up. Besides, it's not like Douxie and Krel's snark is actually hurting anyone, it's just annoying to deal w/the two of them.

It goes on like this for years until the Arcane Order kidnaps Douxie and Krel. (They also knock out Claire in the process, and by the time she wakes up Douxie and Krel have been so thoroughly hidden away that she can't find them).

In the mean time, Bellroc and Skrael forcibly merge Krel w/Gaylen's core. They also try to steal Douxie's magic from him, but all they can manage is to mess w/his connection to it. It still hurts, of course, and makes Douxie feel empty, but it doesn't completely break him. What does break Douxie is when Krel comes to kill him. His steps are jaunty, and his eyes, the tips of his hair, wings glow a sickly gold, the same gold of Morgana and the Green Knight. Douxie doesn't have the magical strength to fight back, so he pleads with Krel for a few short moments before shaking his head.

"There's nothing I can do to reason with you, is there? I know you hate me, but please just make it fast for the sake of our friends."

Douxie closes his eyes and waits for a blow that doesn't come. He opens his eyes, and watches as a neon red and electric purple light burns off the gold.

"Speak for yourself. I… I never hated you," Krel says before he takes Douxie's hand. And they run, and then Krel flies the two of them away from the base until they awkwardly crash-land in an empty field. Douxie is too tired to say the instinctual biting words at Krel. They find out they're slightly closer to Arcadia Oaks than NYC, so they decide to start a roadtrip together.

(They for some reason can't pick up burner phones, and of course between Gaylen's core and Douxie's new Magical Trauma™️ Claire can't portal to them.)

They decide not to kill themselves by renting a car and driving w/o stops aside from switching off drivers, so instead they have to stay at a lot of motels that, coincidentally, only have rooms with one bed! Technically, said beds are big enough that Douxie and Krel can go to opposite sides of the bed, but more than once Douxie wakes up to find Krel clinging to him. Maybe an excuse could be made for how Krel has wings he didn't have before and sure, one of them is stretched out behind him, but the other is protectively laid over the two of them.

Douxie doesn't say anything because even though Krel gets on Douxie's nerves during every waking moment (or at least he did before their capture) he's always found Krel attractive… and Douxie knows he ruined anything they could've had

Both of them silently agree to be nicer to each other, and yet they also both are unnerved by how nice their companion is being. And yet, when their conversations don't devolve into biting snark too, they find they like each other as friendly acquaintances. (They both consider themselves too far gone for more.)

After multiple close calls in fights (and multiple times of listening to Douxie cry himself to sleep, not reaching out bc Krel knows that Douxie dislikes him for no reason and yet once he's asleep Krel reaches out to comfort and hold Douxie) Krel ends up tinkering w/some Akiridion technology he had on him when captured and attaches it to Douxie's staff, and this amplifies what magic Douxie can summon. Douxie thanks Krel, and it's probably the first time he's ever given such a genuine unguarded smile to Krel.

"I never thought Akiridion technology and magic could have ever been so compatible." I never allowed myself to wonder if we could've been so compatible.

And then, sometime after this, the softness couldn't last. Krel is lamenting the changes brought about after having been merged w/Gayen's core, and Douxie tries to make a soft comment about how not everything's changed, but. Douxie is tired. It's far too easy to make an assholish comment about how thankfully Krel's still slightly shorter than Douxie. He's found that he really likes Krel, though, and internally he's screaming because he doesn't want to go back to how they were.

On instinct, Krel snarks back that Douxie should wipe the smirk off his face, or Krel would remove it for him. He doesn't want to go back to their rivalry either. Douxie asks just how Krel would remove said smirk.

And finally, the tension that's built between them for years finally breaks when Krel kisses Douxie, and Douxie kisses Krel back before Krel can apologize for overstepping. This time, when they fall asleep Krel is already holding onto Douxie.

(When they get back to Arcadia Oaks and their friends, said friends are thankful that the two of them are alive but also very confused by the way they're holding hands)

[cbk1000]

do you have any fic recs? i absolutely love your writing and everything you blog here and i was wondering if you had any

Well, there's @aemelia's work, which I need to be uploaded at a rate faster than one chapter every 84 years, so please join me in bullying her. (She does have some short, complete fics written for Kinkalot. I've seen a couple of people in her comments note that her work reminds them of mine, and she herself has said it's basically just fanfiction of my fanfiction, so I think that would be a good place to start. Also, again, I would like some help in my campaign to bully her into writing more.)

I also really enjoyed Gibraltar May Tumble by shes_gone, which is a reincarnation fic featuring Victorian-era ghost!Arthur haunting a cottage Merlin moves into. (Don't worry, they figure out how to bang.) Gibraltar May Tumble - shes_gone - Merlin (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Quickening Days by Fahye, canon-era, a sort of Groundhog Day scenario wherein Morgana is inadvertently keeping them trapped in the same day because she's dreamt something terrible is going to happen to Camelot. This is basically an episode, except Merlin and Arthur get to have actual sex instead of just eye sex: Quickening Days - Fahye - Merlin (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Take the Reins by anonymintea, featuring bottom!Arthur my beloved and smut with feelings: Take the Reins - anonymintea - Merlin (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

The Future Soon by lady_ragnell, modern AU, Morgana makes the group scry for funsies, and Arthur and Merlin both see a vision of themselves married to one another and try to do everything they can to stop it. They do not succeed: The Future Soon - lady_ragnell - Merlin (TV) [Archive of Our Own]