#and then gwaine always being there for him in his time of need and helping him achieve his goals… hm.

[irishyuri]

welcome back tenrose doomsday wall scene

[castelled-away]

@adhd-merlin i had some thoughts & just word-vomited everything into the tags (& I know you like Gwen so)

otp meme | [3/7] quotes

[queen-of-obsessing]

once merlin and arthur get married, they slowly implement three rules in their marriage. Three little rules that neither of them refuse to budge on, secret codes that only the other understands.

The first is Arthur’s. “A coin for your thoughts.” He implements it pretty early on when they had a fight over a lie Merlin told, and Arthur admits that he hates when people don’t tell him the truth, and that he can’t stand the idea of Merlin being dishonest with him - as he was all those years when he kept his magic secret. So they make an agreement, every night, when they’re lying in bed, Arthur will ask “a coin for your thoughts?” and his husband will have to tell him some truth. Regardless of its importance, good or ill, it has to be he truth. Sometimes he’ll whisper it, and Merlin would simply say “I love you” or “I have magic” and that would be enough. Sometimes he’ll tell him a joke he heard or an observation he made. But it’s always the truth. 

The second is Merlin’s. “10-year card.” Added a little after the first, when Merlin had gone on a dangerous mission and returned exhausted, only to return to his chambers to find a mess of papers that still hadn’t been cleared up, and his manservant Freddie already gone home. “10 year card?” Merlin had laughed. He said it lightheartedly to Arthur, a reference to all those years he was his servant. But his husband took it seriously, clearing all the papers, and what was meant to be a joke about payback slowly took on a life of its own. Could you do this for me? I need your help. When their daughter is a newborn, Merlin sunk to the floor, more exhausted then he ever felt in his life. “10 year card?’’ he had whispered, and Arthur scooped him in his arms and tucked him into bed, and looked after their daughter all night while he slept. 

And the third? “Merlin’s got his shirt off.” Merlin rarely ever takes his shirt off, unlike all the other knights and Arthur who run around topless all the time. But once, many years ago, before marriage was even an idea for them, Merlin wanted to initiate sex with Arthur, so Gwaine - the love and romance expert that he is - suggested he take his tunic off in front of him, slowly and seductively, of course. And after it worked like a charm, Merlin taking his tunic off slowly became code. He will walk in shirtless into their chambers, and Arthur will ditch his paperwork, rushing to his side. Even the knights are in on it (except Leon, he refuses to partake in this tomfoolery). Gwaine will pass Arthur in the training field and yell “Merlin’s got his shirt off!” if only to laugh at the way Arthur drops everything and runs. 

[worthyprnce]

gwaine had many hidden talents.

we all know about his amazing skills with swordfighting. a skill he learnt from watching knights and squires play and fight, from picking up fights even being too young to do that and during his many years traveling alone. he had to know how to defend himself and, most importantly for him in the begging of his life, his mother and sister as well. but that's not all he knew.

growing up without his father to teach him the arts of sword fight, he learnt a lot from his mother and older sister instead. at seven he got tired of his clothes tearing up all the time, so he asked his mother to teach him how to sew. even after becoming a knight, gwaine took a few minutes to mend his own clothes whenever he could. he needed this time alone. at nine, his sister taught him about the language of flowers and how to dance. he did it for them. he used to steal flowers from luxurious gardens around to gift his mother and sister, and he always took them to dance, using any excuses to do it. he just loved it, and he loved to see them happy, not worrying about money or grieving for once.

at eleven he already knew how to steal food from the market without getting caught. and he was an excellent bargainer too. he was known by some as the child who stole valuable objects from distracted rich people and sold them at a lower price afterwords. robin hood style. it didn't take him too long to learn how to make his own dagger. courtesy of the local blacksmith who took pity on him and his family.

but most of his little secret talents he learned along his travels, wandering alone after leaving home at an early age. he learned to play the lute, to play cards, to steal by cheating playing cards, how to get easy money, how to impress a girl, how to impress a boy, how to whistle, to cook — although he was not actually good at it, just very practical. he knew french, a little latin, how to orient himself by the stars, how to bandage a wound by himself and what to do if it became infected, body anatomy (for medical and first aid reasons only. mostly), cut his own hair, trim his own beard, how to read maps, how to identify poisonous mushrooms, how to cut wood for fire, to swim, and many other little things.

but the hidden talent he was most proud of, was his drawing skills.

when he was around twenty, he once saw an elderly man struggling with a few home repairs he had, and decided to help him. as a return, the old man let him stay in his home for a few days. gwaine soon found out the man loved to draw. he had plenty of sketchbooks filled with many different portraits and landscapes, gwaine was in awe. seeing gwaine's genuine interest, the old man taught some basic and quick drawing principles, and gave gwaine a sketchbook and a pencil as a gift for all the help and company.

during his long years alone walking aimlessly around, gwaine used his sketches to immortalise every place he passed, every interesting person he met along the way, passions that made his heart beat differently, animals he helped save, taverns that served a good ale.

by the time he met merlin, his sketchbook pages were full of sketches of camelot, gaius' chambers, bottles of potions with funny names, little details inside the castle most people wouldn't even notice. but gwaine did.

he found himself making sketches of gwen with flowers in her hair, of arthur with the worst expression possible, of gaius with his usual worried face. but merlin was the main focus of his new drawings. every page had a sketch of merlin, doesn't matter how big or small.

and when gwaine was no longer in camelot, he realized his mind had never left merlin's room. he went back into drawing landscapes and taverns, but no other person were interesting enough. not when he once had merlin.

the pages of his sketchbook were getting boring and lifeless, not what they used to be before. but it seemed like they would come back to life whenever gwaine and merlin were together again. he had many sketches of merlin with white lillies around him, merlin's eyes shining as bright as they did the night gwaine confessed he was doing it all for him, wyverns, an old and dirty trident he had no idea what it actually was for but he liked the shape of it. even arthur made a comeback to his sketchbook.

when he was made prisoner by jarl, he lost all of his sketchbooks. everything inside his bag was stolen and discarded, and since gwaine's escape was rushed, he had no opportunity to try and find it. he lost it all, all the memories of his travels, the beautiful places he saw, the people he met, his early adventures with merlin. all lost. he had only his memory now.

after he became a knight he was reluctant to go back to his old hobby. still bitter about losing it all suddenly. but after getting to know his new friends better, and after he started to see merlin everyday, he couldn't resist.

he used every moment he had alone to draw. he loved drawing lancelot's hair. he had his fun giving leon extra curls. elyan, percival, and even lesser known knights and guards owned gwaine's sketchbook pages.

but his muse was always merlin. drawing merlin was like muscle memory for him. he would be lying if he said he never lost himself in his own thoughts while admiring merlin's features and carving them into his memory so he could draw him later.

his drawings were directly affected by his mood, so it was easy to know when he was angry or upset. but there was only one emotion showing whenever he drew merlin, and it was love. pure, powerful and unconditional love. sometimes a brokenhearted love. sometimes a melancholic love. and there were even the times he felt a certain kind of guilty love, a mixture of insecurity and uncertainty. but it was always love. and it was always merlin.

the first sketch he made after getting back to draw was a memory very dear to him of the first day he met merlin. he was smiling, looking at gwaine with hopes he would stay, begging him with his eyes and words for gwaine to stay in camelot with him. for him. whatever his reason was, he wanted gwaine close, and gwaine remembered those eyes and words very clearly.

his last sketch was also one he made of merlin. he was smiling as he held gwaine's hand. just before he was the one leaving gwaine this time. and even though gwaine had his eyes blurred by tears, he made his best to register merlin in his pages one more time, one last time, forever.

[pigfacedbitch]

It's A Trap!

summary : Prince Arthur uses reader to lure Merlin out whenever he is hiding from him.

word count : 0.5k

type : imagines

pairing/s involved : Merlin x Reader (?)

warning/s : none. just Merlin pining over reader and Arthur being an ass.

here is my masterlist!

Note : I thought of this when I watched the clip where Arthur is looking for Merlin and he was hiding behind the door. 😂 It was a one shot before and I heavily edited it too.

There is no denying that Prince's Arthur's manservant is in love with (Y/N), a noble lady from one of the most prestigious houses in Camelot.

Everyone, even Arthur himself, knows it. And that's saying something. 🫢😂

From the way Merlin would stare at you with heart in his eyes, how he would follow you everywhere like a dog, or his ears pick up whenever he hears your name.

Gaius almost wants to take a leaf out of Van Gogh's book and tear off his own ears because Merlin wouldn't shut up about you. He also writes about you in his letters for Hunith.

Now, does Arthur take advantage of it? Of course, he does. Like,"Do you know Lady (Y/N) would be there?" or "If you fetch flowers for Gwen, you could also get some for your lady love."

The epitome of the statement, however, is making you his trap. Confused? I'll explain further later.

"Merlin?! Where are you?!"

It's very common for the palace staff to hear the prince of Camelot blaringly calling out to his manservant. Although some people catch Merlin scurrying away from him or has an idea of his whereabouts, no one bothers to tell Arthur anything.

After all, it's completely understandable and why many servants can empathize. As admirable and honorable the prince is, he can be a handful at times.

That's where you come in.

Whenever Arthur has given up searching for Merlin, he would search for you instead.

He often finds you in the gardens with the other noble ladies, helping some servants with menial tasks, or having tea with Morgana and Gwen. Uther enjoys your company too, making the usual stoic ruler laugh and gossip.

"May I excuse Lady (Y/N)? I need her assistance with something."

"Is it Merlin again?"

"...Yes."

You would go to Gaius' chambers, the kitchens, servant's quarters, or anywhere Merlin could've gone to. Then, you would tell anyone that you're looking for him to speak about personal matters and you'll be waiting for him with a place of your choice.

Arthur would wait with you, but he's hiding where Merlin can't see him.

Why do you continue helping the royal prat? It's because you find it funny.

You're also curious, thinking how long will it take Merlin to stop seeking you out because most of the time it's just one of Arthur's traps.

The prince's knights bet on it. Gwaine and Leon are winning— saying how Merlin will never learn.

It's true, he doesn't. I guess love does make you an idiot.

Merlin always approaches you with a beaming grin on his face and blushed cheeks, acting like a lovesick school boy.

"My lady, you were looking for me?"

"Well you see..."

Arthur would wait for Merlin to get closer before grabbing the manservant in his clutches.

"Here you are, you idiot!"

Sometimes Merlin would free himself and run, sometimes he doesn't and Arthur would drag him away while warning him of possible punishments.

But he never misses the chance to look back and give you the most charming smile anyone has ever graced you with.

"Merlin really loves you, doesn't he?" You hear Gwen beside you, linking your arm with hers. Nervous and worried, you reply—

"Yes. I just hope that I get to tell Merlin that I share his affections. But Arthur is always with him."

[cynthia39100]

Merlin rewatch -- S3E4: Gwaine

Arthur's prattiness and princely-ness was in a great balance in this episode I love him so much! He did some mildly annoying things like dragging his reluctant servant around or giving extra chores. He also went to a local tavern undercover because he wanted to get to know his people, and helped chasing away bad guys.

--And he's adorably smug when he thought someone was complimenting him lol. Precious. His cockiness was in his finest this ep.

Canon good master Arthur confirmation!

Again, great balance of a prat and the golden prince. It's annoying that Arthur gave Merlin to Sir Oswald and Sir Ethan saying Merlin like hardwork, but he did assume they were kind people who didn't torture servants.

Another perfect prattish prince expression. Bradley had a way of throwing things. Amazing. He's annoyed (even though he did promised to reward Gwaine) but he didn’t make Merlin pay with money so it's not too bad.

~~~

I wished Arthur--The Best Warrior in Camelot--could put up more of a fight in the bar brawl. He didn’t need to be beaten up all the way through for Gwaine to save him.

Saying that, I do enjoy this angle. With Arthur pushed down on the table and bearing his throat😇

Yes! At least Arthur got a good fight scene in this ep, winning without breaking a sweat, and he let the fake knight keep the money.

I wish Arthur hadn't been damsel-ed (he did knock one down the horse by himself but Merlin dealt with the other and then Gwaine finished both off...). But I do like him being all humble and generous and giving Gwaine the spotlight~ He's always respectful of other's skills~

~~~

Arthur was so diplomatic here, calm, confident, and making use of his social status. Love. Since S2 he hadn't been yell that much if at all. Growth? And Uther actually listened (just a little) to him! I quite like this little nod from Arthur. It made him seem mature and more equal to Uther.

It’s a nice father and son moment, handing down the old sword. Uther still put a lot of pressure on Arthur but Arthur seemed to take it better than in s1. So that’s another nice growth. It’s all in Bradley’s performance. Not sure in the script

I kind of like Arthur’s resigned look when Uther called Gwaine's arrest. He didn't jump up and down and confront Uther right away, just silently dreading another stern talk with Uther. It could be that Uther had dismissed him too many times that he was tired of getting emotional. It could also be a sign of maturity. He learned a more effective and proper way to deal with these situations so he didn't need to hurt himself every time Uther did something outrageous.

[S3E4] [other episodes]

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Not If It's You

If you have the extra spoons: five times Merlin took care of someone else and the one time they figured out how much help Merlin needs? – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: merthur

Word Count: 3404

Merlin takes care of the knights, of Arthur, of Camelot.

Who takes care of him?

 

Gwaine winces as he pulls the third piece of mutton from his hair, tossing it aside with a grunt and submerging his head in the water bucket. The cold shocks a grunt from his throat as he gropes blindly for the towel. He scrubs his face a little too roughly. Gods, what he wouldn't give for another swig of ale, but his throat is already warning him against it and he barely chokes back the roll of vomit in time. He readies himself for another dunk when he hears the door open behind him.

"Gwaine? Are you—oh."

"Merlin," he says, weariness seeping into his voice, "sorry, 's a bit of a bad time."

"I can see that." He glances over his shoulder to see Merlin carrying something over his shoulder. "What was it this time?"

"Some visiting mercenary. Wanted to get his hands on some kid's necklace. Said it would sell for a pretty penny over the border." He rakes a hand through his hair. "Didn't care that it was the kid's last thing his mother gave him."

Merlin's mouth tightens as he comes to stand next to the basin. With a sweep of his arm, he clears a nearby table and sets his bag on top. "So you started a bar fight?"

"So I started a fight." He tries for his typical roguish grin and falls short by about a league. "Kid ran off with the necklace and I stayed behind."

"We can try and find him tomorrow, see if he's alright."

"Nah. Prick might still be watching me, might just lead him right to it. I—oh." He lets out a sigh when Merlin's cool hand touches his feverish cheek. "Did you just come out of an ice box or something?"

"How much have you had to drink?"

"Not much." At Merlin's look, he amends it. "Not much for me."

"Mhm. Come here, let me wash your hair."

"You don't have to do that, Merlin, it's—"

"Oi." He gets slapped lightly on the shoulder. "You just fought off a tavern full of men so a child wouldn't have the last remaining thing from his mother stolen for a quick profit. You can let me wash your hair."

"As I always say, whatever Merlin wants."

"That isn't what you always say," Merlin grumbles good-naturedly, steering him over to sit on a low bench, "and you know it."

"Perhaps it should be."

"Promises, promises." The flirtation rolls right off of him, as it always does, and yet Gwaine can't help but wish just a little bit of it stuck. It never seems fair, when he's like this, all soft and unfocused as Merlin tends to his needs. Even now, in the dim light of his chambers, with Merlin slowly filling the basin with warm water, carrying it over to set behind him, he wishes he could do something other than lie there, placidly, as gentle fingers work their way through his hair. "Gwaine? Are you okay?"

"Mm." He blinks up at Merlin's upside-down face. "Thank you. For being here."

He gets to watch that face smile and feels damp fingers scratch his scalp. "You're welcome. Now hush, I don't know how you managed to get this much stew in your hair, and no, I don't care enough to find out.

2.

Elyan sighs, wrapping the leather around his hand again. Gwen's right; he cut it far too short but there isn't enough left to re-cut a decent length and any sort of seam he puts into this thing will just become a weak point for moisture, cracking, or any sort of weapon that gets swung his way. Perhaps if he angles it slightly more, or if he starts a little higher, closer to the heel of his hand—

"Elyan? Are you in here?"

"Back here, Merlin." He looks up to see Merlin carrying a set of armor on his hip, dropping the leather and going to help. "Careful, you'll fall right over if a strong enough breeze blows by."

"Just because I'm not a knight doesn't mean I'm liable to blow over," Merlin grumbles but doesn't protest the help any further. They manage to get it set down on a nearby table to clean when he notices the strap dangling from Elyan's wrist. He jerks his chin towards it. "What's that?"

"Oh, just the latest in a line of mistakes." At Merlin's confused look, he sighs. "Gwen warned me that I was cutting the leather too short to brace the gauntlet properly but I didn't listen, and now…"

"Now it's too short?"

"Now it's too short." He clenches his fist and tries to swallow the frustration. "It's alright. I still have an older one I can use instead. This…I'm sure I'll find some use for this."

"Of course you will."

He looks up in surprise. Merlin must glimpse the movement out of the corner of his eye as he goes to pick up the polish and turns to him.

"What?"

"What did you, uh, what did you mean?"

Merlin frowns. "Of course, you're going to figure out something else to use it for. You're brilliant, Elyan—no, don't look at me like that."

"Brilliant, eh?"

"You and Gwen both. That's why you work so well together. You're both clever and inventive and you'll find something to do with that leather strap, I just know it."

As the sounds of scrubbing and polishing fill the room, Elyan finds himself just watching Merlin for a moment. The ease of his movement, the quiet confidence of just doing a job well, well enough that he doesn't have to think through everything. It's with that same easy confidence that Merlin just called him brilliant, and, well, if being a knight of Camelot has taught him anything, it's that Merlin knows far more than he's letting on and is far cleverer than most people give him credit for.

He notices Elyan's staring after a moment and looks up, wordlessly quirking a brow.

"Thank you, Merlin," he says, "that means a lot coming from you."

"You're welcome. Though you should tell Gwen she was right."

He rolls his eyes. "Don't remind me. The last time I didn't admit she was right, she held it over my head for a whole month."

"What did you do?"

"Ask her, I'm sure she'd love to never let me live it down."

3.

Percival's low groan fills the room as he pries the dented armor from his chest. He stretches over to set it down and nearly collapses onto his side. One hand presses hard to the wound, blood already showing past his fingers, and he muffles a curse.

"Hold still."

"I'm doing my best."

"I know," Merlin says quietly, his quick and sure fingers effortlessly replacing Percival's as he pries his hand back, "I know. I'm sorry."

"You did not swing the halberd," Percival grunts, letting Merlin guide him back to lean against the wall, "the fault lies not with you."

Merlin's mouth tightens in that way where he wants to disagree, but he says no more on the matter. Instead, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a small vial, uncorking it with his teeth. "This is going to sting."

"I understand, I—hh."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry." There's a quick rustle and a cloth is pressed to the wound. "There, it's over. We just have to wait a few minutes for the poultice to do its work. I'm going to clean it a little more, then I'll put something on it and cover it, okay?"

Percival nods wordlessly, clenching his teeth to keep his bitten-off noises to himself. He lets his head fall back, staring over Merlin's shoulders at the other end of the physician's chambers. Herbs and other things he couldn't hope to name hang from too many hooks to count, pots and pans and other jars sitting on tables, ready to be filled with things he couldn't hope to understand. He is not a man of letters, nor a man of deep knowledge, and so he lets his eyes fall closed instead of giving voice to the questions on the tip of his tongue.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I am waiting for the sting to go down." A finger prods his side and his eyes open once more, glaring down. "What?"

"Don't fall asleep."

"The bloodloss isn't that severe."

"I'll be the judge of that, thank you." He knows better than to try and argue with Merlin. "Keep your eyes open. Keep talking. Say anything."

"What would you have me say?"

"I saw you looking at all of Gaius's herbs. Do you have questions?"

He swallows both the pained grunt and the hopeful words. "I'm a knight. I'm not a physician."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I…don't think I have it in me to learn about them."

"That's a bigger load of bollocks than the bandit who tried to bludgeon you," Merlin says bluntly, "if you're curious, then you want to know. And if you want to know, I'll tell you, so ask me."

Despite the pain in his abdomen, Percival smiles. It's a weak smile, worn long by the day and the bloodshed, but a smile nonetheless. He inclines his head slightly toward where Merlin's holding the cloth to his side. "Would you tell me what you've put onto me, then?"

"Gladly."

4.

Lancelot stares into the fire, his fingers tracing mindlessly around the crude sigil carved into the hunk of metal tucked against his palm. The dancing light has long since eroded his night vision, leaving him vulnerable against the threats lurking in the darkness. His shoulders hunch with the knowledge that he's supposed to be watching, alert and ready to respond at the first sign of danger, and yet he could no more drag his eyes from the fire than he could let go of the precious thing cradled in his hands.

"You're up late," comes Merlin's soft voice from just to the side of him, "is there something wrong?"

"I'm on watch."

"Mm." A quiet rustle as another body leans against his. The sudden contact makes his hands stutter in their near-feverish tracing. "And has the fire been behaving?"

He doesn't take the bait. After a moment, Merlin sighs, leaning against him more heavily, and his hand reaches to rest on his forearm.

"You need to rest," he says softly, "everything's alright. Everyone is safe—"

"We're in the middle of the woods," he interrupts, a touch more harshly than perhaps he should, "how many times have we been out here and been attacked by bandits? Or another enemy that requires us to fight for our lives, you included?"

Merlin's touch never wavers. "I'm alright, Lancelot, and so are you."

His throat closes. Merlin's touch wanders closer and closer to the piece of metal and he can't help tensing. Merlin notices, because when has the man not noticed something bothering him, and he retreats, settling his hand on his knee instead.

"Forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," he says, still speaking softly as though to soothe a frightened animal, "you're upset. I shouldn't push."

"I don't mean to be. I think…the nights have some…effect on me."

Merlin snorts and it isn't unkind. "You mean the thing that all of us have to deal with, where it gets dark and suddenly everything hidden in our minds comes out to torment us?"

"Yes, that."

"You're not alone," he reminds again in that terribly, terribly gentle voice, "you're alright. I'm right here."

"You should be asleep, it's my watch."

Merlin just hums, his thumb tracing soothing patterns on his knee. The fire crackles. One of the knights is snoring. Far away, an owl calls, the sound echoing softly amongst the trees. In the dark of the shadows, Merlin pulls one of their capes up and drapes it over the two of them, sheltering them a little from the frigid breeze that blows through.

"You're a good man," he whispers, too quiet for anyone but Lancelot to hope to hear, "you don't have to carry things alone."

"You're one to talk."

He chuckles. "Yeah, I know. That's why I've got you, though, right?"

"Always."

"Then you always have me." Merlin's head comes to rest on his shoulder. "So you can close your eyes for a moment. I'm right here. I'll keep watch for a second."

Lancelot lets his eyes fall closed and the metal in his hands warms for the first time that night.

5.

Leon lets the smallest of sighs leave him as he looks at the mountain of paperwork left on the table after a Council meeting. With the dignity of someone long-practiced in it, he reaches down and begins to sort it into three piles: to do immediately, to give to the King to sign, and to do later. The third pile quickly grows in size as he gets further and further from the head of the table.

Merlin slips in a few moments later, having settled the King back in his chambers, and winces. "That bad, is it?"

"We were able to get to three of the meeting points today that were on schedule."

"That's three more than last time, what an improvement."

Leon chuckles, wagging a slightly chiding finger that's far too fond for Merlin to take seriously. "We mustn't scoff at the Council members, Merlin, we know not what it is they have to debate over with themselves before they even open their mouth."

"Like whether or not they remember how to string words together in a sentence that doesn't make them sound like complete and total arses?"

This time he isn't quick enough to stop the snort. Merlin cackles as though he's won the highest victory in the land, getting Leon to laugh at one of his insults to the other Council members. In truth, Leon would happily join him in mocking their lack of intelligence any day, but today, when his pile is steadily growing higher and higher, he knows he must preserve most of that energy for actually drafting things that they'll have to read. And as tempting as it is, he has to refrain from making it as scathing as possible.

"Oh, come on," Merlin pouts when he says as much, "it'll do them some good! They're reading and writing the same dry things all the time, spice up their lives a bit."

"That spice might very well end up burning half of Camelot, as well you know."

Merlin huffs, handing him another sheet of paper. "Maybe you shouldn't do anything, then. Let them see how little they're really doing and make them deal with it."

"And create more work for myself down the road, when I inevitably tire of their lack of competence?"

"Make Arthur do it."

Leon shakes his head with a smile. "I'm afraid that aside from you, Merlin, none of us have the power to make Arthur do anything."

"I'll make him make them do things instead of relying on you all the time, that'll be fair."

He can't deny the way his chest feels a little bit lighter, listening to Merlin grumble about how ungrateful the Council is to have him, or how much Arthur doesn't commend him enough—he does, truly, in their meetings alone, where the two of them do actually get work done. It makes the pile of paperwork look a little less daunting, if only he knows that Merlin would happily sit in the room with him while he rants about how annoying it is to have to explain the same thing over and over.

"It's what I have to do when I tell Arthur he can't just make something happen out of nothing."

"Doesn't much help your case that you can, then, does it?"

Merlin's ears turn red. "Don't know what you're talking about."

+1.

Arthur knows that Merlin has magic and that he's being an idiot about it.

Merlin, for some reason, has decided unilaterally that he is the only one allowed to shoulder the burden of secrets between them. That he will be the one to do the stupid self-sacrificial thing that saves the kingdom, that he will be the one to hold close the knowledge that could otherwise doom all of their people, that he and he alone will carry the weight of Camelot on his back and never once complain.

Merlin is also, for aforementioned reasons, an idiot. Because if he thinks for one second that Arthur's not going to be right there next to him, in the thick of it, fighting for the idiotic sorcerer that won't lift a finger to save his own skin, then he's the most incorrect person to set foot in the kingdom since Uther Pendragon outlawed magic.

He's working on that, by the way.

So when Merlin comes into his chambers at the end of a very, very long day, intent on doing nothing more than changing Arthur for bed and slipping out into the night, Arthur stands up from his desk, puts his hands on Merlin's shoulders, and walks him over to the table.

"No," he says, gently yet firmly when Merlin squawks a protest, "you are going to sit and eat something before you fall over."

"For the love of—I'm fine, Arthur, now let me up—"

He holds Merlin down and slides a plate of fresh cakes over to him. Merlin's eyes go wide but he tries valiantly to struggle up nevertheless. "Eat. Just one."

"Just one? What, are the rest for you?"

"They're all for you," he says patiently, ignoring Merlin's spluttering, but I know you and I know you won't believe me, so I just want you to eat one."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I've seen you eat anything today, and that's worrying." He glares at Merlin until Merlin picks up a cake and stuffs it into his mouth. "There, is that better?"

Merlin studiously avoids his gaze and he chuckles. That's as good an answer as anything. The hand on his shoulder gentles, stroking his fingers along the sharp curve of his back. He watches as Merlin eats a second, then a third, reaching over to slide the pear juice within reach. Merlin once again looks up at him with confusion, only for Arthur to raise his eyebrows and he mumbles something under his breath as he reaches for the drink too.

"There," he murmurs, still speaking softly, "that's much better. Now, up with you and let's get you changed."

"What—me changed? Arthur, I'm—"

"Ah—" he holds up a finger and to his surprise, Merlin's mouth shuts immediately. "Mm. You're exhausted. Don't bother trying to lie to me, I can see the bags under your eyes from here. Come over and lie down."

"What?"

Sighing at his oblivious idiot of a manservant, he goes and wraps his arms around Merlin's waist, smiling at the endearing spluttering as Merlin tries to ask him what the hell's going on. Arthur just waits, the smile playing on his lips, for Merlin to tire himself out and pull him close. He gets another short round of spluttering in his ear before he falls silent as he squeezes him around the middle.

"You've done a lot today," he whispers, "now it's time for you to rest."

"A-arthur? What's—what's going on?"

"You've taken care of everyone else except yourself. Now it's time for you to let me do that part."

Merlin's hands stutter where they landed on his shoulders. Arthur just holds him. After a moment, Merlin's voice comes again, soft and insecure. "I don't…I'm not…you shouldn't."

"Well, I'm the King of Camelot, and I can do as I like. And what I'd like, right now, is to take care of you." He leans back, one hand cupping Merlin's face. "Will you let me?"

Merlin stares at him for a long moment before jerking his head in a nod. Arthur smiles and leans closer, only to be stopped by a hand on his chest. "W-wait. I should—there's something I should tell you."

"Is it that you have magic?"

The hand falls away as Merlin gapes at him in shock. "How did you know?"

Arthur laughs low in his throat and leans forward to capture Merlin's lips with his.

Idiot.

[tigereyes45]

@ussmcspirk this was a fun Merwaine fic to write. Let me know you're Ao3 username and I'll gift it to you on there. :)

Story:

The forest is calm today. Most days it is when there’s not several knights trapiezing around, sending their hroses galloping through the trees. They made their way as deep into the woods as they could on foot. Animals scurried away, hiding just out of view, but Merlin can still ehar them. They haven’t left altogether.

It’s nice, digging his feet into the soil. No need to run or hide.

“You look happy.” Gwaine notes as he cuts apart the apple pie. Merlin still isn’t sure how he was able to get it out of the kitchens. No doubt the staff will have a whole new series of rules to try and plans on how to stop him. Not that, that will stop Gwaine. 

Merlin can’t help but smile. “I am happy.” He admits reaching out to take the plated slice from Gwaine. “It’s not everyday that I get a break from the castle, and enjoy an honest, pleasant day in these woods.” He takes a bite and practically stuffs his cheeks.

“Is it very different from your typical days here?” Gwaine asks, and Merlin loudly laughs.

Between getting chased by knights, running after magic users, chasing off dragons, and the many other strange occurences that have happened to him specifically in these woods, well it’s not very often he gets a simple, calm day. Merlin closes his eyes. He takes in the cool, firm breeze. The sweet tangy taste of apple pie on his tongue.There’s a group of squirrels chasing each other down a little ways off, leaves crunch under their steps as they rustle about.

It’s the smell of sweat, and metal that gives him a reason to open his eyes again. Gwaine is right in front of Merlin’s face. The wind blows strands of his longer hair against Merlin’s face.

“Yes,” Merlin smiles. “very different.”

“Would you like to make it even better?” Gwaine slips his hands on either side of Merlin’s face.

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

Gwaine chuckles. “Like this.”

The kiss is warm. Gwaine gives in as Merlin presses forward, allowing the young warlock to lead. Despite the fact that he had initiated, but Gwaine is always like that. So much talk, and sauveness. The moment his affections are returned he’s giving and steps back.

It’s nice, being allowed to take the lead for once. Especially in a situation that’s not life or death.

When Merlin pulls away he’s all smiles and joy. “Hurry up and eat your pie before the flies get it.”

“They can have it.” Gwaine leans in again.

“Now Gwaine!” Merlin insists as he pushes Gwaine back. “Or I’ll tell the staff how you got into the kitchens this time!”

The knight pulls back, confused. “How did you know about Elyan?”

Merlin smirks. “I didn’t, but now I do.”

“Cheeky little-”

Merlin pushes Gwaine’s face away. “Go on!”

I hope this makes your night and day easier. If anyone else would like to request some drabbles feel free.

[kissme-withyour-cherrylipstick]

what’s your favorite merlin ep from each season?

Ooh yay, good question! I don't have these already picked out so I will be giving it a think!

Season 1: I'm gonna have to go with the Moment of Truth. Thought I was gonna go with the Poisoned Chalice, but then I saw MoT on the list and realized it had to be that. There's just so much good in it. It does such a wonderful job of establishing how at home Merlin has become in Camelot, all his friends come to help him, Gwen and Morgana are awesome 😍 And of course all the Merthur stuff. When Arthur asks if Merlin has found a place where he fits in? 😭 Hunith absolutely shipping them? But what really tips this one over the edge for me is Will. I love him so much. He's such a good character, even though he's only in one episode. He's Merlin's best friend!!!! I have put a lot of thought and fanfic into what they must have been like together in Ealdor. Merlin being in the middle of the conflict between Arthur and Will.......... Ugh I could go on but this is already long 😅 And Dr. Bashir as Kanen is always fun ��

Season 2: The Last Dragonlord. My favorite episode of the whole series. I love Balinor sooooooooo much. He is just so. How do I put this into words? He's so harsh when we first meet him, but he is willing to help. There's a gentleness to him that has been hardened by years of intense persecution and grief. He's the last of his kind, just like Kilgharrah 😭 He's so lonely and expects nothing from Merlin, but then..........KASJDFIHALKSJAJD;LJAKJSDASJFDSK. Him and Merlin! All their scenes are so good!!!!! When Merlin says "We could be happy," my heart is destroyed. They got no time with each other!!!!! He would have been so good for Merlin!!!! And the little dragon he whittles for Merlin?? 😭😭😭 I am not okay. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HUNITH AND BALINOR. ROMANCE OF ALL TIME. Tolkien level love story. But so tragic. Again, I have spent a lot of time and fanfic thinking about what could have been.

Season 3: The Coming of Arthur, part 2 if I have to pick. One word: Mercelot. Merlin with the sword and Lancelot there and Merlin showing off 😭😭😭 THEM. lakjdlkajlkdjskfasjlkdslkjsalkja. It's also a really good episode and so cool to see the round table and everybody becoming knights. One of the episodes of all time. Honorary mention to The Sorcerer's Shadow. Merlin and Gilli have such an interesting dynamic.

Season 4: Some personal favorites in this season, but I gotta go with The Secret Sharer. Everybody is WORKING in this episode. Agravaine has finally gone too far and it almost breaks Merlin and Arthur 😭 Ugh that scene in the council chambers. "He would not have left without saying goodbye to me." Just kill me now. And then way Gwen is there to check on Merlin 😭 And then Gwaine! GWAINE!!!! A great Merwaine episode. He got bored of playing soldiers! He's really just here for Merlin!! The way Merlin is so dismissive of him at first! But then he helps him and the deleted scene!! And then of course all the Emrys stuff with the Catha is so cool. I'm a bit of a Gaius hater, but I love his relationship with Merlin and it's so strong and good in this one. And then what Gaius says to Arthur at the end 🥲 I'm fine.

Season 5: The Diamond of the Day, part 2. I feel like I don't really need to explain this one? You get it.

Wow okay all my picks are quite sad. What could this possibly say about me.

[camlannpod]

Yet another re-listen, yet more questions:

1) Did Gwaine have to *walk* back from the Alps?

2) Was Gwen winding a heavy worsted or bulky weight yarn, or is she just really fast at winding? (The last yarn I wound for my own knitting was a fingering weight (also known as sock yarn, if you are unfamiliar), and that took a fair chunk of time)

3) Is that how CB radios work, or is it story logic in play?

4) On the topic of story logic: is food governed by story logic of it's fine unless it needs to not be or is it more that I, being American, have no idea what a supermarket in Wales is likely to have or not have regarding perishables?

5) Did the Cataclysm happen during a specific time of year or just a nebulous nine months before episode one?

5a) How long *were* they in Anwn in episode 7?

Feel free to cherry-pick or ignore as needed, especially if I've accidentally landed on something plot-relevant, I am mostly just full of happy babble.

Thank you!

Hi! Omg!! No it makes me SO happy people are still relistening and caring enough to ask these questions! I know it's quiet on our end right now, but it's always a nerve-wracking kinda period of quiet where you just really hope people still care and are still finding the show.

SO in answer to your questions:

Great question, which raises the other one: did he walk to the Alps? There's a bit where Gwaine says the Green Man led him through a moss-covered old stone arch, and then he was in deep snow and mountains. Gwaine says he thinks he's in the French Alps but he doesn't actually know exactly what happened. Realistically there's no way he could've gotten there through ordinary means - as Gwen alludes to, London is a mess and he'd have had to backtrack past Glastonbury and the knights. The mechanics of this are supposed to be an open question for you, the listener - though I can say the trick to it is something important that will come up in season 2.

Straight up this one is mostly just cinema magic - in that we couldn't spend too long on her doing it but I wanted the intimacy at the start of her telling Morgan what to do. I do think there's an element where it probably is a bulky yarn though! She wants / needs to make four (and after Gwaine arrives, five) jumpers really fast - she's got about 3 months before they're in deep winter. To my, admittedly amateur, knitting knowledge - using a heavier yarn would let you make something much quicker, if of a lower quality, and in this case Gwen wants speed.

It is how CB radios work! I have an older gay friend (who presents the LGBTQ+ non-fiction podcast, ShoutOut Radio, check it out) who told me about how he and other gay people used to use this as a way to find each other in the 70s and 80s. So basically you'd give a location, like a high street, and agree on a frequency, then drive in circles in your car with the radio on trying to find where the signal was stronger until eventually you found who you were looking for. The problem is that, as Morgan says, it only works at like 2-3 miles away at most, so it wouldn't have worked with Gwaine. That was just Dai pulling them to try anyway.

Food is going to become a bigger and bigger plot issue as the story goes on. Right now, the gang are in the first nine months - so the supermarket didn't have any edible fruit or vegetables etc, but did still have canned and some dry goods that were workable. The big things for Camlann are a) the apparently tiny number of survivors, which means most places have been left untouched and not raided by anyone, and b) the cottage itself - which had an unusually high amount of canned and dry goods, which has helped the gang a lot.

Uh, it's kind of nebulous (I want to leave it open for myself for plot reasons) - but I've got a pretty strong idea the series starts in Autumn. If we put the beginning somewhere in September, then we're talking January, maybe December for the Cataclysm.

/ 5a. Similarly left nebulous for plot reasons, but if the series starts in November and we assume the first few episodes take just over a month, then they're there for about 4-8 weeks. The leave in mid-October and come back in late December (skipping Samhain, luckily for them).

Again, sincerely, your happy babble gives me so much joy, thank you so much for caring about the show enough to ask so many questions! <3

[isaidno]

A Small Treason

Diedra was Leon’s new laundress, and he was very fond of her.  His clothes were always fresh smelling, no stain, not blood, wine, or grass was beyond her skill, and she even mended his clothes without being asked.  She was quiet, polite, timely, and very good at her job. The castle cook had convinced him to take Diedra into his service, after the girl had begged for food and work. 

And after only week Leon had been convinced it was the best decision he had ever made. 

 There was only one problem, well technically two.  Leon was almost sure she was a druid, and he knew that she was a practicing member of the old religion.  Either one of those things alone was worth a death sentence in Camelot, and if Leon had real proof and he did not report it, it could be his head too.  But this girl she would not hurt flies.  Literally, he had seen her shoo them away rather than kill them.

 So when Leon had seen the triskelion tattooed on her arm, he had ignored it.  He watched her for signs or trouble or treason, but he saw nothing but hard work and loyalty from the girl. That was three months ago.

 It was one month ago that he had decided to commit treason.  He walked in on her lighting candles to the triple goddess. He had brought his best formal shirt, that Gwain had spilled wine on, only an hour before a diplomatic meeting he needed to be present at.  He had been young during the purge, but he had seen the ritual before, a prayer for safety for house and home.  His house. This woman was calling on magic to protect him and his household.  As the first knight of Camelot he should be calling the guards to have her arrested for treason. But she was trying to bless his house. What was he to do? Diedra was visibly terrified. Rather than acknowledge the prayer, or that he knew what it was, he made motion at the stain seeping into this shirt.  “The meeting with the Ambassador is in under an candlemark, can you help?”

 The girl’s eyes flickered between him and the candles, “Off with it.  I might be able to help.” As soon as Leon handed her the shirt, she continued, “Go fetch your green tabard, if I cant make this work, we might need that.”

 “The green one, I need to be in Camelot Red.”

 “Sir Leon, please.” She said softly, “Go fetch the green one, it has red lining, and I might be able to make it work if I cant get this dry.” Oh, or course, he wasn’t thinking about that, he hurried out of the small laundry room. 

 When he returned, Diedra was drying his shirt over the fire.  There was not a hint of a stain on it. “Here, the whole thing is a bit damp, but it was the only way to hide the washing.  It will be a bit uncomfortable, but only you will know.  Well as long as no one touches your shirt.”

Leon put the shirt on, and she was right it was bit damp and uncomfortable, but it looked perfect.  She had removed Elderberry wine in less than 10 minutes.  The only way to do that was magic, his last laundress had thrown out any garment stained by Elderberry wine. Diedra had sent him out of the room so she could do magic, to clean his shirt? Looking at the small woman, he noticed her sleeves pulled up and the triskelion on her arm.  He looked from her to the door and back to her, and he made his decision, grabbing her arm.  She visibly flinched, as Leon commented, “Such an odd birth mark, there could be horrible consequences if the king were to see it and confuse it for something else. You should consider covering it.  Talk to Guias if you need help finding sufficient bandages and coverings.” Leon pulled her sleeve down, as she meet his eyes, “I must go. I don’t want to be late.”

 They never spoke of the candle blessing or her mark, but now the girl always keeps her arm covered or bandaged. And Leon’s clothes never do seem to tear or fray any more.

[thebroccolination]

ELYAN!!!

I NEED ELYAN FIC RECS.

I NEED THEM LIKE I NEED LIFE.

I just watched "A Herald of the New Age" for the first time and my god????????? This moment between Elyan and the Shrine Boy was hands-down the sweetest I've seen in the entire series.

THAT IS THE BEST KNIGHT. THAT ONE.

After Elyan disturbs the shrine in the forest by drinking from the well because Gwaine drank all his water (I already shipped the hell out of it before this and now I ship it even harder), this ghost boy shows up before him twice and terrifies him.

And yet???

His first impulse is to hug and protect this child.

I made the most wounded animal noise when he did this??? Like, especially in an episode where he's punched unconscious by Gwaine and then Percival, Elyan's gentle and protective nature is so, so beautiful. He immediately offers to help the child, too, and I don't think the insinuation is that the child was using magic to influence him. I think it was just Elyan's empathy.

Man, what a great episode.

To recap, I watched season 1 of Merlin as it was airing, lost all interest when season 2 began, then just exclusively read fic from then on until my friend was like, "PLEASE WATCH THE OTHER SEASONS WITH ME," and I said, "Yeah, okay," so we've been gradually doing that for the past two years.

Therefore, I only knew Elyan through fic until now and, like??? I knew plenty about Gwaine and Percival and Leon and Lancelot from the fic I read (canon and AUs alike). But I only remember Elyan being mentioned in fic occasionally? And it was either just in passing or as The Older Brother of Gwen. At the time, I always figured, "Well, maybe it's because Elyan didn't get a whole lot to do in the show." And, sure, he doesn't seem to have as much screentime as Gwaine or Leon so far (I haven't seen S5 yet), but this whole episode was about Elyan! And we find out so much about who he is!

I've now seen more of Elyan's personality than I have of Sir Ripped His Chainmail Sleeves Off, and I've seen lots more of Percival in fic. Even when Elyan's possessed in this episode, we find out plenty about him through the other characters reacting to it. The general consensus is, "Whoa, Elyan went after Arthur?" even though his sister was just banished and a few characters think that would be enough to turn his loyalties (I still can't believe the writers expect me to believe that nonsense was consistent for Arthur's character like the writing in BBC's Merlin was very weird sometimes).

This one episode has made Elyan my favorite knight.

HOW IS THERE NOT MORE FIC ABOUT ELYAN.

OR AT LEAST BIGGER ROLES FOR HIM IN ENSEMBLE FICS?

On the bright side, I just went looking for Elyan/Gwaine fic and there was literally one posted two days ago set after this episode and I'm going to read it ASAP and then scour the rest of the tag for more. \:D/

Like, man, I've never written Merlin fic before despite the hours of my life devoted to reading Merthur fic but I think I have to write some Elyan/Gwaine when my friend and I finish watching the series. :')

(If anyone with Elyan fic recs of any kind reads this please please please feed me.)

[thenerdyindividual]

Ship ranking?? Uhhhh I want in!

The most random ships I have:

Mithian / Vivian, Mithian could turn out to be the one to free Vivian from the enchantment and make her into a better person!

Hunith /Uther or Ygraine / Balinor or Hunith /Ygraine etc etc. All the combinations

Gwaine / Elena I just think they're neat. They both have chaos energy. Plus, Elena's Father seems like a chill guy who would accept a peasant (who isn't actually a peasant huhhhhhhh)

Hear me out... Finna / Alator.

Nimueh / Freya

Julius Borden / Will

I swear I am not throwing these name out randomly there's a thought process behind it

Like Nimueh is of the old religion, so maybe she finds Freya after death in Avalon. And Freya being the kind soul she is can help her heal and grow out of her hatred.

And for Julius and Will... Picture a world where Will didn't die. And now everyone thinks he is a sorcerer. Julius hears rumours of the son of the last dragon lord living in Ealdor. So he goes there and he assumes it's Will, and Will just agrees to cover for Merlin, so he has to fake being a Dragon lord until the letter he sent reaches Merlin to warn him and to idk get help? But huh huh they actually fall in love.

Okay! There’s a lot here and I’m going to unpack all of them! This is fun!

Mithian / Vivian

I’m in favor of lesbian queens ruling a kingdom together, but also I like Mithian and feel she deserves better than Vivian. And I really dislike Vivian because she was mean to Gwen and I adore Gwen. I’m just not that interested in Vivian’s character, personally. I think Mithian, Gwen, and Morgana are all more interesting in her. So for that reason I rank it:

E-Tier

Hunith /Uther

No. Just no. Okay I know Uther was probably not always a genocidal maniac, but to quote Brennan Lee Mulligan “Before you were a fascist, you were a bully.” I think Hunith deserves to get her needs met by someone who would not one day gleefully send her son to the pyre. I rank this ship:

E-Tier

Ygraine / Balinor

Ohhhhh now this has some interesting vibes. Does Ygraine have a romance with Balinor before meeting Uther? Does she find out that Uther cheated on her, and got revenge on Balinor? Was it both? Does that mean that Uther and Ygraine were an arranged marriage? If so that makes Uther and even bigger hypocrite by using her death to justify his hatred.

For sheer implications and intrigue, I rank this:

C-Tier

Hunith /Ygraine

Ooooo a parallel to Arthur and Merlin, hell yes. I’m in favor of more sapphic romances in this fandom, and this could be fun. But also I now want an extremely cracky one shot where Merlin and Arthur are dating and introduce their moms, only for their moms to start hooking up, much to the horror of Merlin and Arthur.

I rank this:

C-Tier

Gwaine / Elena

I see this one a lot in the background of fics and I’m never much of a fan. It’s just a little too quirky for me. Like I’m sure there’s a fic out there that could get me to ship it, but most of the time it feels like people just want to ship the chaotic one with the chaotic one. It rarely feels thought out to me, and often feels like shoehorning it in because everyone needs to be a couple.

That said, it’s never enough to make me click away from a fic. And I could see how I would enjoy it if there was more time and thought put into their relationship. I mean, Gwaine is wandering rogue pre season 4. Chances are he ended up in Gawant at some point right?

I rank it:

C-Tier

For the potential

Finna / Alator

Tbh? In my soul, this is canon.

B-Tier

Nimueh / Freya

I just feel like Nimueh would trigger Freya. Super powerful, super scary, witch lady? After Freya got cursed dating Nimueh would just set Freya up to be terrified all the time. I don’t vibe with it. Also I think Freya has been through enough and doesn’t need to be fixing Nimueh.

I rank it:

D-Tier

Julius Borden / Will

Here’s the thing, I love Borden as a character but I like to make him Merlin’s shitty ex. I know the go to is Cenred, but he has way more chemistry with Borden.

So as far as shipping him with Will? Idk man. I’d maybe be tempted to read the fic you described because it sounds fun as hell, but Borden is just such a fun scummy piece of shit that I don’t ship him seriously with anyone. So without reading that fic, going on vibes alone…. I rank it:

D-Tier

Send me a Merlin Ship and I’ll rank it on a tier list. Note: This is a subjective ranking and a low ranking in no way means that I am shaming you for your taste in ships.

[theroundbartable]

If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

Ooooooh, that is a very good question.

On my ao3 count, I currently have 125 published works. 3 of them are works in progress, one of them is discontinued. (I have a rather good publish - actually finishing ratio.)

I'm gonna list a few but in no particular order. It's just my personal highlights. For a full fic list, you can find my stories on ao3, aka, HERE.

No... just no (Merthur)

For some reason, out of all of my fics, this one is the most popular (so far). The idea was that Merlin is caught doing magic and just thinks: Lol, I'm Emrys, whatcha gonna do? kill me? I'm immortal, lmao. The inspiration was that I just wanted Merlin to carry on with his life when Uther tries to kill him and fails every time.

Connecting the dots (Merthur)

While this one doesn't have the best world building, it was definitely the most fun to write. The brainstorming had me laughing at work like an insane mad man. I loved working on this one, it made me very happy. The premise is that the knights make up stories to explain the strange things that happen in Camelot. It's a game, like D&D and they accidentally end up being right. Somehow I turned Gwaine into a god and the whole D&D game into a religion were people get babtized when you put them in the stocks. It makes no sense but it's so absurd that it's funny again XD

Chosen (Merthur)

This one is depressing but it marks a certain change in my writing style. When I wrote this, or rather, AFTER I wrote this, I swore to myself to only ever write happy endings again. This one really hurts, so I wouldn't advise to read it ;)

I realised how my writing influences my own mood and what I needed to do to keep myself happy. And that making myself happy is a good thing!

Clockroom (Merthur)

This is my oldest ongoing project that requires an enormous amount of work. Because of historical research, working with literal transcripts of the episodes, and because it's timetravel and time travel is IMPOSSIBLE to write... at least well... at this length.

Reversed (Merthur)

The premise is that everyone knows Merlin has magic - except Merlin. Before I wrote this, I actually had writers block, so I told myself: You always think backwards. How can you make BBC Merlin backwards? This was the result.

And I really think that this is one of the best fics I've ever written. Merlin's stubbornness and the way magic works in this fic have really influenced later one shots, but this one is very special to me because it wasn't meant to turn out as deep as it has.

The magic realm (Merthur)

Likely my best world buidling concept, challenged only by Dragon island. Well except for Incarnation but that's a novel I'm working on, not a fic. The idea is that the day Merlin loses his magic, Arthur is ready to turn to magic for help. Gaius sends them into the magic realm to learn magic there. Only that Merlin IS magic and so everything in there is connected to him in some way. I loved how the characters turned out and how magic is seen, depending on who is looking at them.

Mirror of truth (Merthur)

This one was an accident, really. Originally, Merlin was meant to be Camelot's champion, but then I thought about borders and how would the mirror know how to show Merlin and I got so deep into it that I eventually realised that Merlin couldn't be Camelot's champion at all. It was mind blowing. As I believe it is to you when you read the summary:

Every ten years or so a tournament is held between all the five kingdoms. In which one (strongest of the kingdom) sorcerer is chosen as a representative of their king/queen/crown bearer. The monarchs, however, do not choose the sorcerer for themselves, which Arthur is thankful for, since magic is still banned in Camelot. Instead, they are chosen by the mirror of truth. It shows the face of the strongest sorcerer in said lands, so Arthur can reach out to them. When the mirror finally chooses the participants, Camelot's champion is......... well i mean, who is the strongest magic user in Camelot? Exactly! It's Morgana. After all, Merlin was born in Cendred's kingdom.

8. The eternal suffering (Leon & George)

This one is special because it's not about Merthur. This is a fic that marks me as one of the two first people within this fandom who wrote Leon & (servant) George fanfics. And I am very proud to have coinvented this ship (although I'm more inclined towards them being entirely platonic). The idea was that I saw many parallels between Leon's and George's character and started imagining them complaining about their jobs to each other.

9. Everything I do, I do for you. (Merthur)

This one isn't even good. The reason this one is dear to me, is because of how much honesty and truth I put into these words. It was inspired by real life and I should warn you before you read it. It's a bit heavy. This one and Regent have the same/ similar orgigins and themes and may be the most painful for me personally to revisit.

10. Haunted (Merthur)

The ghost!Arthur Au no one asked for. It switches between funny moments and heartbreaking pasts and I think it's one of my better paced and thought through fics.

I just often keep wondering what Arthur does in Avalon and then I sometimes wonder, what if he didn't go there at all?

11. Free Delivery (Merthur)

This one is definitely one of my better thought through fics. I made notes and everything! Haha XD This one was inspired by DIrty Laundry, THE Klance fanfiction. I was rereading it and it somehow - I dunno - developed into this fic.

12. The Joker (Klance)

I can't believe how old this one is. Personally, I liked Alternative realities better, but people keep commenting on this one more. And well... comments inspire. That's why I've started a new fic in the godforsaken year of 2024. The Joker was just me mary sueing Lance. Because why not?

13. Second Chances (Drarry)

So far, this is my only Drarry fic and it is the LONGEST fic I've ever written. Including the clockroom. This one has been 2 years in the making and over 300 pages and I am TIRED. Anyways, I hope I'll be able to finish this one eventually. Otherwise my gf will kill me, I'm afraid XD

The idea is that Draco is a therapist, because I love psychoanalysing him and I wondered what he would do with himself after the war. I also tend to write time travel on accident, so that happened too. This was once supposed to be a one shot. Can you believe it?

I think 13 is a good hill to die on. Thank you for the ask, anon ^^

[the-pen-pot]

Sanctuary

Merlin knew that, by any normal standards, he was a useless manservant. He did not bow and scrape and flatter Arthur. His head was big enough already; he didn't need any assistance with that. He rarely bothered to get him out of bed in time, and he did not keep the Prince's chambers in an immaculate state of cleanliness. He answered back and called Arthur by his given name whenever he thought he could get away with it. He stole food from his plate and disobeyed his orders more often than not.

What no one ever seemed to grasp was that Merlin did it on purpose.

It had taken him a day to realise there was far more to Arthur than the prattish prince he had met in the market place. Within a week he had figured out that Arthur cared less about the state of his rooms and far more about the repair of his armour. Before the first month was out, it had become blatantly obvious that Arthur needed better friends than the sycophants that surrounded him, and not long after that, Merlin was finally able to put the problem into words.

Arthur was the Prince of Camelot. He was Uther's son. He was the heir to the throne and the kingdom's best and bravest warrior. He was under almost constant scrutiny by everyone, from commoners all the way up to the King, and yet none of them saw him. Not really. None of them saw Arthur.

None of them treated him like a human being, either. He was expected to be perfect and infallible. That constant judgement would wear away at anyone, whittling them down to a shadow of an individual. He might be a cabbagehead, but Arthur deserved better than that.

It wasn't the kind of thing that changed overnight. He couldn't just magic up loyal knights and good friends for Arthur: people who would give him the strength to grow into the king Merlin knew he could be. Still, with a gentle nudge here and there, he began to fix things.

He started small. Arthur did not need his chambers to be bland and stark and royal. He needed comfort, not neatness. He might never admit it out loud, but Merlin always noted the way that Arthur's shoulders lost their tension when he stepped through those doors.

When he first came into his service, he suspected Arthur's bedchambers were a place he slept and little more. It was part of the reason Merlin didn't take up the side-room, as was expected of him. It should be Arthur's space, as private as he could make it within the public arena of the citadel, though he still drew the line at knocking on the door. He needed to keep Arthur on his toes somehow.

In a hundred little ways, Merlin tried to remind him that he wasn't special, at least, not because he was a prince. He pinched his food to prove that he wasn't afraid of him. He insulted him for pretty much the same reason, and it was glorious to see Arthur snipe back, stepping out of the shadows of court to come alive in response to Merlin's gentle jibes and subtle care.

And it worked. It took time, as all things did, but day-by-day, as the year turned, those small differences built a strong foundation. Arthur gathered good knights around him, and with their help, he gained a better sense of who he was outside of the expectations of court.

In turn, those men – who became his friends with the occasional nudge on Merlin's part – helped him weather the storm of finding out about both Merlin and Morgana's magic. When some of Arthur’s fundamental truths were rattled on their foundations, it was Lancelot, Gwaine and the others who steadied him.

So it was that the trust he and Merlin shared, briefly shattered by those revelations, had the opportunity to reform stronger than ever before.

Now, months later, Merlin sprawled in the chair by the fire, his legs thrown over one arm and his back propped against the other, comfortable in the deep furs that covered the furniture's sturdy frame. A book on healing magic lay open in his palms, and subtle wards laced the door to warn him of anyone's approach.

The flames crackled happily in the grate, filling the room with warmth and comfort as the scratch of Arthur's quill over parchment added to the general air of tranquillity. It was not the frantic scrawl of him working through something urgent, but a slower, steadier sound, as if he were doodling while he lost himself to his thoughts.

Merlin treasured moments like this, and not just because it was rare that Camelot itself was so calm. It settled something deep in his chest to share Arthur's company without any secrets casting their shadows between them. He had not known how much it hurt to hide who he was from Arthur's gaze until it was no longer necessary, and the lack of that burden was a beautiful blessing.

Of course, it stood to reason that Arthur would find it necessary to disturb that tranquillity only a moment later.

'Thank you.'

'Hmmm?' Merlin tilted his head but did not take his eyes off the page, only half-listening.

There was a faint sigh as Arthur rose from his seat, his socked feet quiet over the flagstones as he approached. That was another sign that Arthur felt safe and content here. No sword, no boots and no wretched royal masks. The thick rug before the hearthstone silenced his passage further, and Merlin looked up in surprise as Arthur plonked himself on the floor, watching the fire dance in the grate as he started to speak.

'Did you think I wouldn't notice?' Arthur looked over his shoulder, a wry smile caught on his lips. 'All the things you've done for me, right from the start?'

Merlin wrinkled his nose, letting his doubt make itself known in the slant of his expression. It was not that he thought Arthur stupid, but the man was horribly self-absorbed, sometimes.

'Not straight away, maybe,' Arthur grudgingly acknowledged, 'but I got there eventually.'

'I didn't do much.' Merlin closed the book and tucked it down beside him.

'You did the things that mattered.' Arthur's fingers picked idly at the rug, the ring on his finger gleaming in the firelight. 'Not to Camelot, but to me. That's more than anyone else has ever attempted. Also, you –' He pursed his lips, as if he thought he might be saying too much. 'You stayed, Merlin. Even when I threw things at your head and acted like a prat. You didn't go anywhere.' Arthur pulled a face. 'Though what that says about your intelligence...'

Merlin cuffed him gently around the back of his head, grinning as Arthur merely ducked out of the way, reaching up to catch Merlin's hand in his. He expected a brief touch and nothing more, yet Arthur's thumb swept over the back of his knuckles, tentative and hypnotising. The caress made Merlin's next breath catch in his throat as delicate heat bloomed under his ribs, and he sternly told his foolish heart not to read too much into it. Arthur was grateful, that was all.

Except that when Arthur shuffled around to face him fully, rising onto his knees, the emotion that writ itself upon his face looked too intense to be mere gratitude. The fire lit him from behind, turning that golden hair into a gleaming halo, but it was the light in Arthur's eyes that held Merlin enraptured. He did not think that he'd ever seen Arthur look at anyone like that before: all breathless, eager hope.

'You don't – I –' Arthur sucked in a breath, biting his lip as if he were trying to hold back a battalion of words. His shoulders rose and fell in a sigh, sandy lashes dipping to hide his gaze from view as, very slowly, Arthur lifted their entwined grasp to his lips and brushed a kiss against the back of Merlin's hand.

It was sweet and shy and courtly, and Merlin briefly wondered if he had fallen asleep in front of the fire and was dreaming. This moment seemed far more likely to be a fantasy conjured by his stupid, hopeless heart than anything real, except that no amount of blinking shattered the illusion. Arthur was really there, sitting on the floor in front of Merlin like a penitent before their king.

When had everything changed?

Belatedly, Merlin's stunned thoughts began to pick up speed, flashing up memories for his consideration. When he had found out about his magic, Arthur had stopped touching him. There were no more playful fights and punched shoulders and headlocks. Instead, he kept his distance, and Merlin hated how it felt like a punishment.

But then, when Arthur had reached out again, things were different. He let his shoulder knock against Merlin's when they stood side-by side, or reached out a hand to steady him as they traipsed through the woods after game. He sought him out, too, less because there was some chore to be done and more because Arthur seemed out of sorts when they were apart. Even if they were still in the same room, Merlin had felt Arthur's gaze on him more often than ever before.

Maybe Arthur wasn't the only one who could be self-absorbed. Merlin had been so wrapped up in his quiet, unacknowledged love for Arthur that he had never stopped to notice the tiny clues that maybe, just maybe, Arthur felt the same way about him.

'I'm sorry.' Arthur's voice was rough as he moved to withdraw, misreading Merlin's shock. 'I shouldn't have –'

'Stop!' Merlin's hand tightened around Arthur's, holding him in place as he all but fell out of his chair. The rug saved his knees from a bruising collision with the flagstones, but Merlin wouldn't have noticed either way. All his attention was on Arthur and the hollow, pale look that had replaced the softness in his face, as if he thought he'd overstepped and was berating himself for it. 'Arthur, please. Look at me?'

He reached out with his other hand, resting his palm against Arthur's cheek as he guided his head up. Arthur faced down monsters and furious sorcerers without so much as flinching, but it seemed matters of the heart were different. 'You took me by surprise, that's all. I didn't realise...' Merlin swallowed, pushing aside his excuses. Maybe Arthur had the right of it. Words felt imprecise and clumsy in his mouth, too prone to misunderstanding. Instead, he shifted his grip on Arthur's hand, bringing it hesitantly to his own lips.

He did not close his eyes as his kiss whispered over Arthur's skin, preferring to watch the way Arthur's eyes darkened. A hint of a flush graced his cheeks, and desire flashed its demands down Merlin's spine to clench between his legs. Yet this was about more than just a quick tumble. He could read that much in Arthur's gaze even as he felt its certainty right at the core of him. They could never be fleeting lovers, and not because of something so trite as destiny. Instead, Merlin realised, this was what they had been building to all along.

A moment when all the shifting aspects of their relationship settled into something firm and resolute, hot and yearning.

'You're sure?' Arthur murmured, his words little more than a breath given shape. 'This isn't some duty or obligation, Merlin. This is not something you owe me. It's not another way for you to make me – comfortable.'

'Clotpole.' Merlin's reply was soft and fond as he straightened up. There were a thousand soft reassurances waiting to be spoken, but he held them back. Instead, there was really only one answer that mattered. 'I'm sure.'

Arthur's arm was a warm, firm band around his waist, tugging him close as their lips met: dizzying and breathless. It was heat and longing, and Merlin's scattered thoughts could only coalesce around one notion.

Nothing in the world had ever felt so right.

This room was not just Arthur's sanctuary, it was theirs: a place for them to peel away the masks the citadel forced upon them and simply be themselves. Servant and prince, sorcerer and knight.

Merlin and Arthur. Now, and always.

[mqttelektra]

i really need to be writing an essay so naturally i'm going to talk about gwaine and how if the writers had kept his season 3 trajectory we would have world peace.

it's actually that serious like he was set up to be a real member of the main cast like moreso than just being a knight there's a universe in which he replaces morgana in the big 4 and i'm very unhappy that we don't live in that world.

he has the perfect dynamics with every other major cast member (merlin arthur gwen) like it would've worked SO WELL if he became merlin's magic confidant after lancelot's death because he would be such a good friend about it and provide backup like he did in the secret sharer all the time and i think after lancelot died merlin became really untethered from everything except his destiny and gwaine would be able to help him remember that other things are important!

i've already discussed the arthurgwaine dynamic but i have more to say so we're going again! gwaine is a character that says what he believes and says fuck the consequences and if we got to see him in a meaningful and trusted position in season 4 i genuinely think agravaine wouldn't have been able to fuck shit up as much as he did because gwaine was the perfect counter to all of agravaine's manipulations ESPECIALLY if he decided to trust arthur with his noble heritage. a lot of the reasons why he was able to brush off merlin and gwen so easily was because "they couldn't understand" but guess what now you have a guy who does understand and still thinks the shit agravaine proposes is wild!

and then gwen... gwen and gwaine's friendship in the gwaine episode was so important to me and it's kinda awful that we didn't see more of it! like we got a hug in the coming of arthur part 1 and the occasional banter but we didn't get to see MEANINGFUL INTERACTIONS like we deserved to. merlin and gwen's friendship is beautiful but for the most part arthur is always merlin's central figure so gwen having someone that's not like that would have been excellent. (i do believe that merlin is gwaine's arthur but that wouldn't have been a problem for gwaine's relationship w gwen as much as it is gwen's relationship w merlin)

anyway i <3 the idea that we could've had courage strength magic (and love) slash soldier poet king (and queen). who is soldier who is poet? that's up for debate. i personally lean towards merlin soldier gwaine poet.