#arthur gets reincarnated

[onceandfutureclotpoll]

Title: See You in the Sunlight

Author: helloearthlings

Rating: Teen and up Audiences

Summary: Merlin tells stories about his life. Arthur listens, but doesn't understand. That is, until he does.

[knightswaypoint]

“Candid No. 24” by A. Penn Photo taken at “Camelot and Other Mythos” Exhibit, Natural History Museum

(Merlinktober Days 4 & 5: Foreign (Out of Place / Out of Time) & Lens)

[justaz]

merthur reincarnation au, merlin is constantly roaming the earth and running into various reincarnations of arthur’s soul. neither know but there is always this draw between them. they’ve met in many different lives with many different dynamics. when do they realize/remember? when arthur’s body is mortally wounded.

in one life they met on the battlefield, leaders of the opposing armies. they often ended up fighting each other and they grew to respect the others tactics and plans. despite being enemies, the level of shared respect grew to an odd fondness. merlin’s rival in his own army grew tired of watching merlin dance with the enemies leader and decided to step in and put an end to it. they attacked arthur from behind and left him for dead. merlin, who saw the whole thing but was too far away to do anything about it, rushed over to be by arthur’s side as he died. arthur took off his helm then and merlin was faced with a man who looked eerily similar to the man who had died just a couple of centuries ago. arthur’s memories began to rush back and he bled out and merlin Knew when arthur stared up at him the same way he had the first time he died. merlin was unable to save him then too.

in another life, merlin had taken to simply roaming, no settling down and no roots. he was homeless and napping on a bench outside a cafe. a woman came out with a bag of perfectly fine baked goods that she was supposed to throw out (dictated by corporate) and she instead brought them over to merlin and set them down by him. merlin woke at the sound of the crinkling bag and met her gaze. it became routine after they closed, she would bring merlin the goods from the day. merlin eventually began to come in and sit at the tables inside every once in a while and talk with her when it was slow. one night, merlin was late to his bench and when he got there the lights were still on and the door was unlocked but he couldn’t see the nice girl who always gave him food. he shuffled in and found her bleeding out from gunshots behind the counter where the cash register had been emptied out. merlin was there for her final breaths and she joked how he could definitely do better than living on the streets. merlin realized who she was as the light left her eyes.

in another life, they were corporate rivals. another they were best friends for five years. another they were pirates and merlin ended up delivering the final blow. another they explored the stars together. etc, etc.

merlin losing him again and again after just finding him. arthur remembering everything right before he dies. a horrible cycle that seems never ending. merlin is forced to live thru the deception arthur suffered over and over again - finding out just who he has known for years is someone else entirely but not having the time to revel in it. arthur suffers the other end of their twisted dynamic of never being able to express his true self until the end wherein death is imminent. the cycle continues for millennia.

eventually, like all things, humans destroy what they had whether it be nuclear war or climate change or what have you, the earth reclaims itself and sends humankind back into their caves. everything there once was is gone and now left with nothing, humans return to their roots. magic flourishes and spreads as new civilizations begin to establish themselves. merlin, oddly enough, hasn’t run into an arthur reincarnation in centuries. not until he ventures into a village and finds a young man toiling in the fields. he dons a face merlin hasn’t seen in millennia. when he looks up and catches merlin’s eye, he smiles wide and calls out for him.

he remembers

[halfateabag]

fanfic prompt #1 Avengers/merlin crossover

One man falls to his death in an icy ravine from a running train but ends up in a living hell.

But was he the only one unfortunate enough to end up in the clutches of HYDRA?

Merlin waits for Arthur to return. Centuries pass, and finally, the Second World War is on them. Merlin has the highest of hopes that this would be Arthur's moment, but the Triple Goddess decides to screw with him again and no one came out of the lake. After the war is won, depressed and tired of living with Arthur, Merlin gives up and purges his own magic so he can finally die.

Wandering through Europe waiting for death, Merlin gets captured by HYDRA who wants him for his magic now that the tesseract is gone. But Merlin's powers are gone, but his captors don't believe him.

HYDRA believes that Merlin is hiding his powers deliberately, and decides that the only way to gain access to the true legend of Merlin is to make the legend their own Asset.

(Basically where I desperately want to read a Winter solider!Merlin fic and Arthur fighting him on a bridge.)

[elizaisdunn]

been super busy lately and haven't been able to create anything of substance. but here's a sketchy thing I made of one of my OCs! her name is Meg and I love her very much :)

[oswinsdolma]

bbc merlin is literally 100x funnier when you remember how tiny the kingdoms of britain were at that time. like,, arthur and uther act like they're kings over a glorious domain but in reality they might as well be ruling over swindon or some shit

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

(first sentence meme)

Now he wasn't saying the place was haunted, but he definitely wasn't not saying it, either.

(fandom and character/au of choice!)

(y'know it's been a minute since i did anything msa... and per usual i'm absolute dogshit at sticking to that sentence limit. honestly i forgot it even existed this time) (src - still open!)

It wasn't just the age—though it was old—but old places weren't inherently haunted, in Arthur's opinion. Sure, every place tended to acquire a sort of... flavor, over time, as they were lived in, but sometimes that vibe was calm. Peaceful.

This place was—not. It was not that, even if Vivi apparently couldn't feel it. It had an almost oppressive air of anger to it, low and simmering, like the old walls were glaring daggers down at them. And it felt... there was this nagging in the back of his head, like something he was forgetting that he should have remembered. Something important about this place. That meant something.

Per usual, though, his vocal complaints were being ignored—until they came to a bigger room. It might have been some kind of theater, once, or a performance hall, or—

Any speculation was cut short when the centerpiece of the room—sparked, immediately making everything else a distantly secondary concern. That feeling of hatred spiked with it, too, sending his heart rate instantly through the roof—and seriously, if Vivi thought he was still making shit up now—

"You've got a lot of nerve, K," a voice echoed around the vast room, "waltzing back in here like nothing's wrong."

The fire—the fire that radiated an entire spectrum of warm colors, edging into a magenta that couldn't be anything natural—coalesced into a form that was starting to look almost—human.

"Your expression says you maybe haven't remembered me yet," it—he says. "That's fine."

He waves one hand, and a whip of fire whirls around the edge of the room, making doors that definitely weren't there before all slam in an almost rhythmic thunk-thunk-thunk.

A pair of neon-white eyes glare like they're trying to burn holes through his skull. It feels almost like they're succeeding.

"I'm more than happy to help remind you."

[starry-bi-sky]

I was hit with Brain Worms about this au last night at the sane hour of 3am (my dorm's AC turned off and i woke up sweltering and couldn't fall back asleep) and now that I have the time and energy to sit down, i am going to TALK about it.

I'm reverting back to my middle school roots and playing the game "how much can i fuse this character with another before the host character becomes recognizable".

AKA: How much Ras can I make Danny before he stops being Danny. And I have SO much practice here, i am frothing at the mouth. Beautiful world and character building here.

SO, meet Danny Fenton! At least, Danny Fenton to the rest of the world. His full name is Ras Danyal Alghul-Fenton. It's a mouthful, I know, but that's what makes it fun! Known as Danny to his friends and the world, known as Ras to his family.

Fenton is actually his mother's name, Alghul is his father's. Yehya Aghul, who changed his name to Jack legally for an easier transition immigrating to America with his family. But to family and friends, his name is Yehya. (Yehya is the arabic spelling of John, and Jack is a nickname variant for John, hence why his name is Yehya)

Yasmeen and Ras; Jazz and Danny.

The LOA is situated in Nanda Parbat, as it does not exist in Danny's world, it's simply the little town/village Jack grew up in before his family decided to immigrate. Danny's family visits in the summers when they can.

Growing up, Danny and Jazz were constantly told about these "secret underground pools full of ectoplasm" that Jack stumbled upon as a kid after he was playing around the area and fell down a hole. He'd broken his leg on the way down, and when he'd gone to wash the blood off in the strange water (he was desperate and in pain) it healed the injury entirely and reinvigorated him. He was able to climb out, but he could never find the cave again.

("I didn't know what to call it, so I called it lazarus until i learned later that it was ectoplasm!")

It's what started his obsession with ectoplasm, and then ghosts. Prior to the portal, Danny and Jazz just brushed it off as simply their dad telling tall tales again. The idea that ectoplasm had healing properties was never proven because whenever Jack tried, he was always stopped by either Maddie or Vlad in college. And then after the kids were born, he was banned from trying to test the theory on their kids.

It was only after Danny had his accident that he realized that his dad was right, and after that he started carrying a water bottle full of ectoplasm around with him. But since he couldn't call it that in front of people, he just called it lazarus water. Says his dad came up with the stuff, and that typically tends to deter people from wanting to try.

Now I know you said that Danny ends up in the DCU via a portal in the GZ while he was on the way to Clockwork, BUT. I had this idea and had to share. Nanda Parbat, know how Danny and his family visits Nanda Parbat in the summers?

:]

They weren't able to visit the first summer after Danny's accident because of Issues with the portal -- Maddie and Jack didn't want the thing to malfunction while they were gone, so they wanted to stay for the summer and make sure it could sustain itself in long term hibernation -- but the summer after? Oh yeah, they're going.

Danny steps foot in Nanda Parbat for the first time since his accident, and after getting accosted by Mother Soul ("Ras saghiri! Ya tiflati, laqad kabarat kthyran. Daeni 'ulqi nazratan ealayki."**) he goes looking around for the cave that his dad mentioned.

**("Little Ras! My child, you have grown so much. Let me take a look at you")

He finds it within a week, and he falls down the tunnel leading into it much like his dad did nearly thirty years earlier -- without breaking his leg, that is.

His dad never mentioned that the pools were so vibrant. A much richer shade of green than any of the ectoplasm he keeps in the fridge, as deep as the ghost zone's sky. And surrounding the misting waters were small bushes and flowers, the ectoplasm seeping into the ground and feeding the soil.

"Incredible." Danny breathes, running a hand through his hair in breathless shock, and he tiptoes closer to the water. He can feel the ectoplasm in the air, thrumming in his core like a pleasant hum.

He kneels down and dips his hands in the water, and as the water escapes off his skin, the scrapes and bruises on his palms seal and close as if they were never there in the first place. Danny's eyes are reflecting green in the water, the same rich shade.

Naturally, he falls in. And accidentally, in combination with his own core and ectoplasm and the water, a portal opens up as he does, and he lands in the DCU.

…And thats approximately where the brain worms end. With a bonus doodle! Because I couldn’t not try my hand at it.

Danny Is An Alternate Version Of Ra's Al Ghul And Flash Already Called Dibs On Adopting Him

Danny In All His Sleep Deprived Slightly Scuffed Up From A Fight Glory Is On His Way To Clockworks Tower To Hopefully Get A Nap And Maybe Some Homework Done When A Natural Portal Opens Up In Front Of Him And Proceeds To Unceremoniously Drop Him In The DC Verse Just Outside Of Central City Before Promptly Closing Leaving A Tired Danny Behind In A Run Down Abandoned Parking Lot.

It's Times Like This When Danny Regrets Putting Off Learning How To Make His Own Portals, Cause Now He Is Very Much Stuck For The Foreseeable Future And He Has No Idea Where Or When He Is. Luckily For Him However Central City Isn't Too Far Away, Unlucky For Him However Is That Once In The City He Realizes This Isn't His Dimension. He's Pretty Sure He'd Remember Something Called The Justice League.

So What Do You Do When Supernatural Bullshit Fails You? You Fall Back On Your Mad Scientist Roots And You Make A Portal Gun. So That's Exactly What Danny Plans To Do.

Unfortunately Staying Alive And Building Questionably Safe Portal Technology Requires Money And Supplies, So He Ends Up Wandering From City To City Doing Odd Jobs/Fixing Up Busted Tech For Cash Or Unwanted Electronics For His "Operation: Get Home" Needs. This Obviously Ends In A Few Superhero Encounter Shenanigans.

Though He Always Ends Up Back Near Central City, Both On The Off Chance The Natural Portal Will Open Up Again And Because Out Of All The Superheroes That Apparently Exist In This Universe The Speedsters Are His Favorite (Red Robin Is Solidly His Second Favorite Ever Since The Gotham Vigilante Gave Him A Large Coffee Filled With Enough Caffeine To Kill A Man).

Unbeknownst To Danny However Is That Every Hero/Vigilante He Has Encountered Has Come To At Least One Of The Following Conclusions; 1. Run Away Meta Who Is In Desperate Need Of A Good Meal/Adoption Bait. 2. Possibly Red Robin/Tim Drake Clone 3. A Good Kid But Could Possibly Be A Future Rouge If Left Unsupervised. 4. Did Bats Get A New Kid And Why Is He Here?

All Flash Knows Is That He Saw The Kid First And Therefore Has Dibs. Suck It Bruce.

Fast-forward A Few Months And Danny Gets Hurt During A Rogue Attack While Trying To Help Some Civilians Get To Safety (Old Hero Habits Die Hard (Ha Die Hard) And All That Jazz) And He Nopes Out Once Everyone Is Safe And When The Paramedics Are Busy With Other People Unaware He Left A Blood Sample Behind.

One DNA Test Brought To You By Paranoid Bat Concerns Of A Possible Red Robin Clone Later And They Find Out That Dannys DNA Matches One Ra's Al Ghul.

They Now Think Danny Is An Escaped Ra's Al Ghul Clone.

Memes For The Vibes:

[morganadismay]

we have GOT to get weirder with arthurian retellings. david lowery and the slightly unsettling whimsy of his green knight is the only one that scratches this itch but i would like something even more rooted in magical realism and absurdism. i've been plagued with visions of arthurian characters living past their myth and becoming Something Else for months now... get into Morgan's necromancy more, the double Guinevere as a doppelgänger narrative, the whole deal with Merlin being entombed for years on end.

[whereisthedamndaddymanual]

They can clearly see my straw man corporation is not for profit.

All my funds go toward buying my children shit they don't necessarily need, but I try to do better for them then I was done for.

[onceandfutureclotpoll]

Title: Memories

Author: shadowglove88

Rating: Teen and up Audiences

Summary: Merlin is tired of the centuries in between reincarnations in which he's so alone, so he stops looking for Arthur, making a life for himself. And yet Arthur comes back into his life, and even without his memories Prince Arthur is playing for keeps.

[sailorb00]

Sorry don't mind me, just reblogging this mostly to act as a bookmark for me to reread later because it's very insightful and my ADHD doesn't do great with long texts unless I'm committed to the task fsdf

Also just wanted to also write down some thoughts I got when reading through this (mostly for myself in case I forget them later lol)

I think you're absolutely on the money w/ everything in your post, but especially that last thought; i.e. the relics being a reflection of their corresponding maiden in the current story.

Like, yeah, I always found it strange how the relics didn't align w/ what we (the audience) would perceive to be the rational corresponding season/maiden (i.e. spring=creation; summer=choice; fall=knowledge; winter=destruction) and that they actually appeared to be more arbitrary/random in nature??

I mean, like you've said, the maiden mythos/fairytale supports the audience's initial view of the 'correct' order, but then instead we have spring=knowledge; summer=destruction; fall=choice; winter=creation, which seems out of place.

Until you look at the current Maidens and their actions/motives/narratives.

(these are just basic ramblings/thoughts and not super in depth, so forgive me fsdff. also apologies if you've touched on this before in a previous post or s/t)

First you've got our Fall Maiden and Choice, Cinder.

Girl has made so many spicy choices; some resulting in favourable outcomes, many not so much fsdf

— She willingly defies Salem's orders/plans in want of her own desires i.e. going after Winter maiden powers

— She killed Watts (which while yes, his usefulness at the end of the Atlas Arc kinda ran its course, I'm sure Salem might beg to differ, or at least not appreciate Cinder killing her followers w/o her say so)

— She also lied to Salem about Ruby being killed by Neo + about RWBY using the lamp (though we know she more than likely saw through that fsdf)

(also, yes she isn't a Maiden, but Pyrrha was forced to make The Choice™ and I think that is also vital evidence/fuel for this theory fsdf)

Then you have the Spring Maiden and Knowledge, Raven.

— She tells Yang in V5 to keep asking questions, to question everything about Ozpin, etc.

— She clearly knows what happened to Summer Rose and the previous Spring Maiden, and that knowledge has made her fearful as all heck, forcing her to go into hiding.

Then you have our Winter Maidens and Creation, Penny and Winter.

— Penny is literally created 3 times. Twice in robot form/s, then lastly as a human. She is a Creation™ and also embodies the theme of spring/creation most. i.e. youthful, naive, etc

— The obvious Winter comparison is the Scheme family semblance of summoning. She also sees Penny transference of the Maiden power as a gift, which I see as also kind of aligning w/ 'creation'. Kinda pulling at straws there, but I'm sure there's something I'm missing fsdf

Then we have Summer and Destruction, ????

— while we don't know who the Summer Maiden is, I have a sneaking suspicion they're going to be connected to destruction in some form, whether they do some destruction in their past and that has made them fearful of their powers or something along those lines, or that they will be destructive in the future volume, whenever it is released.

I am so excited for V10 and Vacuo, etc and really hope RWBY Beyond helps quell my anxiety and anguish that it may be the last RWBY content we get for some time 🥲

Read your post on the relics and I did not pay any attention to the chains until you brought it up.

I remember seeing a theory that the sword will essentially be Excalibur and the spirit inside will essentially be the lady of the lake. Her name in Arthurian lore is either Vivian or Nimue.

Also have you noticed that the environments in the vaults is the season AFTER the corresponding maiden’s? The spring maiden’s vault had a hot desert (summer) and the winter maiden’s vault had a grassy field (spring). Which if the sword does turn out to be Excalibur, then the summer maiden’s vault might end up looking like a pond surrounded by trees with red-orange-yellow leaves.

Then imagine if the fall maiden’s vault looks like a snowy forest, just like Ruby was walking through in the red trailer.

kinda of two minds on the sword-as-excalibur thing because, while it does seem like the obvious pull and it is where i landed when i first started mulling over the sword and the crown for the purposes of fanfic (which is something of a complicating factor here, in that i have a pair of full-blown OCs and i gotta be real clear to myself on the distinction between "this is lore i assembled out of canonical crumbs to suit my fanfic" and "this is a theory i have about what's going on in canon," particularly when the two overlap significantly, which in this case they do)… well, rwby doesn't often go for the obvious pull. and jinn isn't an allusion to arthurian myth, so there's not exactly a pattern here, ya know?

the thread of imprisonment linking the genie in the lamp to merlin in the tree might be a pattern, or a coincidence, but as far as speculation goes i think “mythical characters for whom being trapped is a notable theme/event” is probably a category worth taking into consideration.

(for what it’s worth: the pulls i made for the aforementioned OCs were loki [sword] and prometheus [crown], and while obviously constructing OCs is a WHOLE other ballgame, on the most basic level of possible allusions they do check the “imprisonment” box and hold water if refracted through the lens of “spirit of destruction/choice,” so it’s like. i wouldn’t be SURPRISED? if rwby also went there. prometheus in particular feels like a solid candidate for the spirit for the crown because, well. something about choice and stealing fire from gods. and cinder lmfao.)

and oh ho ho i have a... theory? a thought ? about the interiors of the vaults. because it's, well, arbitrary. the maidens all have the same pool of general elemental powers. likewise the relics don't just lack any clear reason for their associations with the season of their respective maiden— they strike me as deliberately flouting the associations you might expect them to have based on the common cultural associations the four seasons have. like:

spring - the planting, the world thawing after winter = creation summer - a time of growth, freedom, maturation = choice fall - harvest time, preparation for winter = knowledge winter - cold, dark, symbolically everything 'dies' = destruction.

yeah? and where it gets even weirder is that the symbolic 'lesson' of each sister/season in the canonical fairytale describing the origins of the maidens themselves also fits much more naturally into the spring-creation, summer-choice, fall-knowledge, and winter-destruction schema:

spring plants a garden and teaches the hermit to tend to it; "life returned to the tired hermit and the forest, which flourished and became green and lush." creation, right?

summer dances and teases and invites the hermit out of his shell, reminding him of the possibility of joy and freedom. he learns not to limit himself to passive observance of the world and to instead takes an active part in it. that's choice!

fall advises the hermit to let go of his misconceptions about himself and his life and see himself clearly at last; he "realized that Fall was right" and eventually achieved a fuller understanding of himself. knowledge!

and winter—who arrived first, encountering the hermit at the height of his isolation, taught him to reflect and meditate until he found serenity and a renewed sense of purpose—in a sense, transforming his metaphorical 'death' into a period of rest or hibernation until his frozen solitude began to thaw. destruction, before the creative energy of spring entered his life.

and yet:

spring maiden = the maiden of knowledge summer maiden = maiden of destruction fall maiden = maiden of choice winter maiden = maiden of creation

why?

(the important thing to keep in mind here, i think, is that rwby has never presented these associations as a natural or intrinsic quality. the maiden-season-relic connection only exists, in-universe, because ozma set it up that way.)

now consider that—as you said—the two vaults we've gotten a look at so far don't line up with the seasons they're 'supposed' to have, with winter's vault [creation] being lush and green inside and spring's vault [knowledge] being a barren desert. so we've got this winter->spring, spring->summer pattern going on, and if that holds we should expect summer's vault [destruction] to be evocative of autumn and fall's vault [choice] to be evocative of winter.

BUT. i think—because of the arbitrariness of the seasonal associations in and of themselves, and because those associations are explicitly a social construct, and because if we follow the seasonal associations the plot has gone fall->spring->winter->summer and that’s um, not right, and i think it’s deliberately not right—there may be something different entirely going on.

namely, the relics exist in two different sets of pairs. right? we've got destruction+knowledge and creation+choice—the pairs given to humanity by the two brother gods. and we've (maybe) also got creation+knowledge and destruction+choice—the complementary power pairs, with the lamp able to eliminate (or at least mitigate) the risks of using the staff and (maybe) the crown and the sword being similar. [the world of remnant episode pertaining to the great war makes a heavy visual implication that ozma used the crown of choice in tandem with the sword of destruction, is where i'm getting that.]

moreover, the four relics symbolically [and perhaps literally] represent the four essential qualities that, together, define what humanity IS: creation AND destruction AND knowledge AND choice.

not four individual, separate magical artifacts. it's a set. we know there's a way to combine them into one thing that will summon the brothers back to remnant, and with the limited information we have now about how they work mechanically it seems very much like they are intended to be used together.

so: the vault with the lamp of knowledge inside it. what does it look like, on the inside? a desert.

knowledge was one of the gifts given to humanity by the god of darkness; the other was destruction. and where is the sword of destruction locked away? the desert of vacuo.

likewise, the staff of creation? hidden in a vault filled with green, grassy meadows. very much like the landscape of vale. where the crown of choice is hidden—and if i'm right about precisely where the crown's vault is hidden, namely the circular ruins where beacon academy's initiation is conducted, the crown is in fact hidden directly under a large, grassy meadow!

further: the vault doors we've seen echo the color scheme of the relics they protect. removing a relic from the vault destroys the doors, which to me suggests that the relics themselves might be the 'anchor' that sustains the vaults themselves—we don't really know enough about how magic works mechanically to say for sure that an 'anchor' is truly necessary, but cinder's use of the staff in v8 demonstrated that if you directly use a relic to create a portal to another realm, you cannot then destroy those portals until the relic has been removed from the 'interior' realm. the vaults were created by some other means, but the same basic principle of linking the existence of the vault to the presence of the relic inside it could very well still apply.

aaand if the vaults are materially connected to the relics in some way—if the presence of the relics in the vaults is somehow providing the energy necessary to maintain them, like plugging in some kind of magical battery?—then... it's not that much of a leap to wonder if maybe the vault interiors symbolically reflect, or are influenced by, the location of that relic's missing pair.

especially in light of the fact that: 1. the nature of the spirits inside the relics is very humanlike, with both jinn and ambrosius clearly being emotional, fully sapient beings, and 2. it rains in the ever after when ruby starts to cry.

[my secondary theory here is that—well. the god of light says explicitly that modern humans do not have the divine blessings given to their predecessors, and while mechanically that seems to mean "they don't have magic," metaphysically it's not... entirely implausible that for ancient humans, "creation, destruction, knowledge, and choice" weren't abstract capabilities but rather actual. literal gifts, something that materially, measurably existed in the human soul, were the source of magical abilities, and were taken away when the gods left. (consider the four larger orbs of energy salem conjures when she's fidgeting with her magic at the beginning of lost fable, which are conspicuously missing when her daughter does the same trick later on.)

ozpin's explanation of the maidens is that he "divided his magic" somehow and his "remaining" magic is now dwindling, but the thing about that is magical power doesn't really... seem to be a limited resource in the way that aura is? we've yet to see anyone with magic 'run out' like people run out of aura. even ozpin seems to be fairly cavalier in his usage of magic—he's cautious of giving it away, and it's not the first thing he turns to in a fight, but he's never hesitated to make full use of his own power when the situation calls for it.

i've been thinking that maybe?? what he actually did with the maidens was give them each one of the divine blessings. like literally, removed the Quantifiable Gift Of Creation from his own soul and gave it to winter, and so on, leaving himself with the metaphysical capacity for these qualities—because that can't be taken away, just as the gods couldn't truly obliterate humankind—but giving up the limitless energy source of the blessings themselves; ergo, his magic is 'dwindling' in the sense that he has to use aura to fuel it now.

this does leave the question of how the hell he gave the branwens shapeshifting abilities, but considering salem seems to have given cinder the ability to control grimm long before she got the maiden powers... maybe folks with magical abilities can just do that? share specific skills? and what makes the maidens so uniquely powerful is that they didn't get specific skills, they got the power source.

anyway all that to say i do wonder if maybe 'seasons' are just an arbitrary smokescreen ozma fabricated and the maidens are literally rather than symbolically the maidens of choice, creation, knowledge, and destruction, with the relic vaults each being linked to the maiden with the matching blessing.]

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

I’m tempted to write the knights (plus Merlin, Gwen, Arthur, and Morgana obviously) having game night but reincarnated in the modern era, knowing they can’t kill each other but also wanting revenge for 1500 year old grudges.

Morgana would be petty towards Merlin and Arthur still, but whenever she says something about Merlin killing her, Gwaine just rolls his eyes like: “Oh no. The horror. I can’t even begin to imagine what torture you must’ve suffered.” Completely deadpan followed by “go fish, witch.” Or “uno, fuckers!”

Arthur makes Merlin constantly skip turns. Merlin gets annoyed but Arthur says he can’t cheat if he’s missing turns. (He’s more salty about Merlin cheating at dice with his magic than anything else)

Elyan and Leon gang up against Gwaine as revenge for all the tavern tales he told on long patrols.

Leon changes to colours he knows Merlin or Arthur don’t have and just says “Poetry” to explain why he’s upset. Merlin starts playing the ghost busters theme on his phone and Arthur is stuck between being traumatised and wheezing on the floor. Leon’s just wondering if that’s worse because at least ‘poetry’ would’ve meant they’d gotten over the pining. Whatever Merlin’s talking about with ghost busters means he didn’t walk into anything Merthur happening but also means he’s got another reason he was underpaid.

Gwen makes Morgana +16 and Morgana complains that they’re friends. Gwen looks her dead in the eyes and says “We were friends. Want a reminder of what happened?” And Morgana silently counts 16 cards. (They’ve made up about it all, but it’s still used as ammo to be petty and competitive on game nights)

Lancelot and Merlin have their own thing going on, no one can tell if they’re working together or trying to destroy each other. They all know better than to question it.

Percival wins because everyone always forgets about him.

Please tell me you see the vision.

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Seeing as how my last au idea, where reincarnated Merlin finds Camelot again, got a ton of support, here's a continuation of that au! You can find part one of this au here.

EDIT: You can find part three of this au here!

Note: Translations for the Old English are at the end!

As a recap, in this au, Merlin died at Camlann and his magic made everyone in Camelot immortal, but they all eventually fall into a comatose state until Merlin returns. Merlin's reincarnated without his magic or memories and winds up as an archeologist working at the site of the ruins of Camelot. While exploring with his colleagues, Merlin accidentally awakens Arthur, whom he thinks is some sort of undead creature, and Merlin is captured by Arthur and the knights along with his colleagues. Arthur and everyone else speak in Old English, so Merlin's got no clue what's going on and assumes that these undead creatures are going to kill him, while Arthur and the knights assume that Merlin has just returned from Avalon and still has all of his memories and magic.

So, without further ado, on to the new stuff! I figured that it would be better to see the next part from Arthur's POV!

For Arthur, waking up had always been a struggle. The morning sun had always been his enemy, mockingly telling him that his time being warm and comfy in his bed was over. But if he had looked forwards to seeing a certainly lanky frame throw his curtains open and wake him up with whatever cheery, inane greeting he had come up with that morning, then that was Arthur's business and Arthur's business alone.

However, when had Arthur sat down in his seat at the round table, barely able to keep his eyes open and knowing that this was the last time he would be conscious for hundreds of years, he was thoroughly looking forward to waking up again. Because when he awoke, his centuries-long wait would be over! His love would be back where he belonged, by his side, and they would have all the time in the world to grow close once more!

And when that glorious day finally came, when Arthur's mind awoke and his eyes opened again, it was to the best sight Arthur could have imagined. Merlin, here in front of him, whole and healthy! Oh, Arthur had dreamed of this day for centuries before his long slumber! Those long centuries without Merlin were grim, with a phantom pain of Merlin's absence lingering within his heart and his life, and the pain was only slightly lessened with the assurance of Merlin's eventual return.

But now Merlin was right here, within his grasp, and they could be together once more! Arthur slowly got his arm, stiffened by centuries of disuse, to move, trying to reach out and touch Merlin, to prove to himself that Merlin was truly here and was not some desperate illusion conjured by his mind. Looking into Merlin's wonderfully familiar eyes though, Arthur knew deep down that this was real.

Before Arthur could get his arm to cooperate, however, four oddly-dressed strangers ran up to Merlin. Merlin yelled in surprise, probably at seeing the strangers running at him, and tried to dodge them, but wound up clumsily falling to the ground instead. Arthur would have laughed at his lover's antics if he heart wasn't pounding with rage at the sight of those intruders grabbing ahold of Merlin and dragging him away!

Arthur finally got his legs to work as the intruders dragged Merlin out of the council room, and shouted as soon as his jaw would allow it, "Gripan híe! Híe syndon fandian to niman Myrddin!"

The others at the round table were startled awake at his shouting, and looked around the room confused. As joyous as Arthur was at seeing his brothers in arms and his lovely wife again, Merlin's abduction was a far more pressing matter. Their long-anticipated and happy reunions would have to wait until after Merlin was rescued from those strangely dressed invaders.

Despite the awful situation, Arthur had the urge to smile at Merlin's situation. It was just like Merlin to get himself into trouble only mere seconds after reuniting with Arthur. Arthur had been so afraid that Merlin would be different when he returned, but it seemed as though that wasn't the case! He was still the same old Merlin that Arthur was so devastatingly fond of, finding trouble anywhere he went!

Still, regardless of Arthur's nostalgia, Merlin was in danger and needed to be saved! After a few seconds, Guinevere and the knights had all woken up properly and had registered what Arthur had shouted, sharing in his panic. However, these intruders were in Arthur's castle, where he had the advantage.

"Hwæt, Guinevere, far to þæm wæpnedhuse and find hwæt wæpnedu sindon gód in þæm stæde. Leon, far and wec þa oþre cnihtas. Hæbbe hí ceorfan of þæm unrihtwisan fleon. Oðer ealdras, fylgað me!"

After shouting out his orders, Arthur pulled Excalibur from its sheath and took off in the direction of the intruders who had stolen Merlin, moving as quickly as his stiff legs would allow. He could hear Percival, Elyan, and Gwaine behind them, their weapons at the ready.

It didn't take long to find the intruders, as they were clearly not familiar with the layout of the castle and had no sense of stealth whatsoever. If they were spies or thieves of some sort, whoever hired them deserved their money back. Arthur just had to follow the sounds of their rapid footsteps echoing off the ancient stone of the hallways.

As Arthur came around the corner to a long corridor, he caught sight of his prey, about halfway down the corridor from him. As they turned back to look at him, he could see the fear etched onto their faces.

Good, Arthur thought, they deserved to be afraid of him after what they had just tried to do. The group of thieves made it only a couple more steps before Leon burst into the hallway from the other side, flanked by about a dozen more knights and cutting off the intruders' escape. The knights made quick work of apprehending the inept thieves and freeing Merlin from their clutches.

Anger welled up savagely in Arthur's chest as he looked at Merlin, who looked rather frightened by this failed kidnapping. He might still be in pain from his injuries at Camlann, and these fools would have no doubt injured him further while they dragged him along with them, sprinting through the castle!

Arthur grit his teeth as fury rolled over him in waves. If he lost Merlin a second time due to these intruders, then there would be hell to pay.

"Hū darrst þū āsceacan hine from mē! Iċ hæbbe bīdode ofer þūsend geara for þisne tīman, and þū ātēowedest tō nīefre hine from mē stelan! Þū scealt āgildan for þis!"

It felt nice to release even the slightest bit of his rage onto these thieves, but Arthur had to keep his priorities straight. Punishing these fools could wait until after he knows more about Merlin's current condition.

Arthur turns his gaze to Merlin once more. Oh, how he had missed his dear Merlin! If only his Merlin's face wasn't marred by fear, but that would change after his would-be kidnappers were safely locked away.

"Nimðað þa ungewelwieras to ðære cyrcan cwellan, wē magon dēmian mid him æfter. Gwaine, nim Myrddin to his geardas and hafa Gaius locian ofer hine. And be mildheort, he sceal hæbbe geferod eft fram Avalon and mæg swilc bēon in pinunge fram his wundum! Gecyða eft to mē mid Gaius's gemetungum þonne hē geendod hæfð."

As hard as it was to part from Merlin's side now that he had just gotten him back, there were still other matters that Arthur had to attend to before he could truly give Merlin the attention he deserved. Still, he knew that Merlin would be in good hands with Gaius and Gwaine, and Arthur would rest easier knowing that Merlin was whole and healthy.

After ensuring that the intruders were securely locked away in the dungeons and awaiting punishment (which would solely depend on how uninjured Merlin turned out to be), Arthur retreated to his study. Now that the whole castle was waking up, he needed to sent out scouts to see how the land around Camelot had hanged, to coordinate with the council to arrange a full head-count of who was awake and see if it matched the last census before everyone fell asleep, to meet with the cook and arrange for their emergency food supplies (which were thankfully also preserved by the same magic that kept them immortal) to be distributed and hopefully keep everyone from going hungry until the next harvest, and to draft a speech to address everyone and get everyone on the same page. The last thing that they needed right now was for chaos to break out, so hopefully keeping everyone well-informed of the situation would allow them to keep everyone's fears at bay.

During his paperwork, one of the guards reported to him that the prisoners were shouting loudly, but in a language that none of them could understand, and they didn't seem to understand anything that the guards told them. Arthur told him to gag them with some cloth for an hour if they got too loud, but otherwise don't bother with it. They could work out some way to get information, like who they worked for and why they had dared to target Merlin, from the prisoners later.

Near the end of the day, had received a report from Gaius that Merlin was completely healthy and unhurt, which abated most of Arthur's fears. However, Gaius also included in his report that Merlin seemed to not be speaking, which Gaius theorized would have most likely been caused by the lasting trauma of his death. A deep pit opened in Arthur's stomach as he read that. He had been so focused on having Merlin back and physically healthy, but he hadn't considered if Merlin would be mentally healthy upon his return. Arthur steeled his resolve that, no matter what condition Merlin was in, he would support his dear Merlin and help him heal from whatever lasting scars his death had left. Merlin had died for him, it was his solemn duty to see that Merlin would recover from it.

As if on cue, Gwaine burst into his chambers, without knocking of course, and gently set Merlin down on the ground. With a teasing wink and a genuine smile, Gwaine closed the door, leaving Merlin and Arthur alone together. Merlin flinched at the sound of the door closing, and Arthur wondered how deep the scars on his mind must be if Merlin looked so frightened even here, in Arthur's chambers, which should be the safest place in the world for him.

Arthur stepped closer to Merlin's shivering form, concerned by the way Merlin pulled back from him. Still, Merlin obviously needed comfort, so Arthur pressed forward and pulled Merlin into a hug, the warm, sappy kind that Merlin had always tried to coax out of Arthur.

Arthur couldn't help the words that spilled out from his mouth next. "Oh Myrddin, hwǣr eart þū bēon?"

Arthur could feel Merlin stiffen in his arms at his words and immediately knew that he had just messed up. Merlin had, of course, been in Avalon before his return, and if Arthur knew Merlin at all, Merlin had probably spent all of his time in Avalon trying to escape, to get back to Camelot and return to Arthur's side. Arthur should have known that Merlin wouldn't like to be reminded of his time being dead!

Quickly, Arthur released a tense and still wordless Merlin from his hold and guided him towards the table, lightly manhandling Merlin into the seat next to Arthur's. Dinner had already been sent up by the kitchen, but Arthur hadn't had the chance to eat any of it yet, so there was plenty of smoked ham and vegetables for Arthur to pile onto Merlin's plate. It was doubtful if there was food in Avalon for the dead, so Merlin's probably starving!

"Ēat, Myrddin, and þæt is ān bebod! Þū eart ǣac þinra þonne ic þē lǣstan gesēah! Þū scealt nū hungor hæbban, swā þū ne eart fēor þæt þū þæt disc fullfremed hæbbe!"

Merlin simply blinked at Arthur and looked at him with painfully blank eyes. Worse yet, his fear was still present on his face. Why was he still afraid? Was Merlin even mentally present, aware of where he was? Or was he stuck in some sort of nightmare conjured by his own mind?

Concerned, Arthur stepped closer to Merlin. However, Merlin still didn't even look at the food on his plate, his eyes stuck to Arthur's face. Arthur tried to move slowly, like he was guiding a particularly skittish horse, and took hold of Merlin's hand to guide it to the fork on the table. Luckily, Merlin seemed to be aware enough to know what to do, as his fingers grasped at the fork and picked it up.

Arthur gave Merlin a smile, hoping to coax him further back into reality. He then guided Merlin's hand, now holding the fork, back towards Merlin's plate, where he led Merlin's hand to stab a nice-sized piece of ham, and then guided his hand to Merlin's mouth.

Merlin seemed to get the hang of it from there, taking the piece into his mouth, chewing, and swallowing. After a quick glance at Arthur, Merlin started eating through the food on his plate of his own accord, which Arthur counted as a victory. Merlin was already showing so much progress!

By the time Merlin had finished the plate, the fire in the hearth was burning low, and Arthur knew that it was time for him to go to bed.

As Arthur stood to walk over to his changing screen though, he heard Merlin speak, which sent his heart jumping up his his throat his surprise and joy.

"Please, what do you want from me? I don't understand."

Arthur whipped around at the sound of Merlin's voice, a sound that time had cruelly eroded from his memories, and he couldn't contain his excitement.

"Hwæt wæs þæt?! Myrddin, hwæt sægst þu? Ic bidde þe secge me!"

Merlin flinched back at his outburst though, stopping Arthur dead in his tracks. Speaking slowly and gently, Arthur tried again.

"Myrddin, hwæt sægdest þū? Mihtest þū āgēan sprecan for mē, þancie?"

Merlin blinked at him again, his eyes filling with tears. Oh no, what happened? Arthur hadn't meant to upset Merlin, he had only wanted to hear him speak again! Before Arthur could try to comfort his distraught lover, to his amazement, Merlin spoke once more.

"I don't know what we did, but please let us go! We'll never come back here again, I swear! Just please let us go!"

Arthur blinked as he tried to make sense of what Merlin was saying. He didn't recognize any of those words. Had Merlin come back from Avalon speaking another language?

Well, Arthur knew that languages changed over time, perhaps Avalon sent Merlin back speaking the language of whatever century they were in now? That would make the most sense after all.

Wait... a minute, if Merlin couldn't speak their language... then that meant...

Arthur frantically set his hand on the table, just a few inches away from Merlin's arm, and spoke as clearly as he could.

"Hwæt, Myrddin, gif þu me understandan mæg, þonne set þin hand on min."

Arthur's heart pounded in his chest as he waited for Merlin to move his hand. He waited and waited, but Merlin just kept looking at him with those painfully blank eyes.

Eventually, Arthur lost his tenuous grip on his grief and rage, and he grabbed a goblet and hurled into the wall with a shout. Why?! Why had Avalon done this?! How could the fates be so cruel as to return his love to him, but place this barrier between them?!

Arthur took a few deep breaths to get himself under control again. He looked over at Merlin, where his lover as practically shaking in his seat. Poor Merlin must have been so confused! To return home only to find that he could not understand anyone! It was no wonder he was so frightened, he had no idea what was going on!

Then, an idea struck Arthur. If Merlin couldn't understand his words, then he would surely understand his actions! Arthur was a man more suited for actions rather than mere words anyways.

Keeping a keen eye on Merlin, Arthur made his way across the room towards a locked chest, one that had not been opened for centuries even before everyone fell asleep. Arthur could not bear to look upon its contents, but he needed to keep them for Merlin's eventual return.

Arthur carefully unlocked the chest and opened the lid, revealing Merlin's few material possessions at the time of his death. It had saddened Arthur deeply, even in the fog of despair that had surrounded him in those days following Merlin's death, to realize that all of Merlin's possessions could barely fill a chest halfway. Even when he was the beloved consort of the wealthiest king in Albion, Merlin lived as though he was still in the poverty that he had grown up in.

Inside the chest sat a few articles of clothing, a couple books of magic, a carved wooden dragon, a few bags, some letters from Hunith and Lancelot, and two gifts from Arthur. Arthur had only been able to give Merlin one of those gifts during his lover's lifetime, but he kept the second gift safe in the chest, ready for Merlin's return.

Carefully, Arthur pulled out his mother's sigil and a delicate silver crown from the chest and made his way back to Merlin.

Merlin was looking at him confused again, so Arthur held up the sigil and, keeping is movements very clear, pressed the sigil into Merlin's hands. To his dismay, Merlin looked at the sigil like he'd never seen it before in his life.

Oh god, were his memories warped as well?! What did he remember?

A thin, hurt voice whispered treacherous questions in his ears. Did he remember Arthur at all? Did he remember the love they had shared, or did he only see a strangers face when he looked upon Arthur's?

At this point, tears were silently streaming down Arthur's face as he swallowed back wailing sobs. He had just gotten Merlin back, and yet he still remains lost to Arthur!

Arthur let out a gasping breath and, desperately hoping for some sort of response, he placed the silver crown on Merlin's head, as he should have done centuries ago. Still, Merlin only looked at him with confusion, and no recognition was sparked in his eyes.

Unable to bear it any longer, Arthur lurched forwards towards Merlin. If absolutely nothing else worked, if this was the only thing Merlin knew of Arthur, then by god let it be how much Arthur loved him.

Closing his eyes, Arthur softly pressed his lips onto Merlin's. Merlin, unsurprisingly, did not respond, likely too shocked at the stranger kissing him. After a couple seconds, Arthur pulled back, not waiting Merlin to get too uncomfortable, and dared to look at Merlin's eyes once more, hunting for any sort of recognition, but only one thing caught his attention.

Merlin's eyes were gold. They definitely weren't golden before.

Arthur stood, frozen, as Merlin seemed to go through some journey within his own mind, his face changing expressions every few seconds. Slowly, though, the golden light began to dim from his eyes.

As his eyes returned to their usual lovely blue, Merlin let out a loud gasp, and looked around Arthur's chambers as if he was only just now becoming aware of where exactly he was. Ever so slowly, his eyes drifted back to Arthur, and Merlin, through the tears that had now gathered in his eyes, let out a gasping laugh.

"Þū ne miht gān ymbe cyssende folc butan gewarnunge swā, þū dolop heafod! Þū ēac næarwe mē ġefēngest þæt mīn heorte ġeswenced wæs! Būton þām, hwæt wōd þ��n lufiende gemǣra, þā hērde þone cyning cyssende folc on ætǣlum!"

Then it was Arthur's turn to laugh, to excited and relieved to do anything else but kiss Merlin again, with his love back where he belonged.

SOME TIME LATER:

Arthur yelped as Merlin punched his arm as they were both laying in bed, his lover giving him a somewhat scathing look, the same one he wore when Arthur ordered him to mucked out the stables.

"Hwæt wæs þæt for?"

Merlin huffed at him indignantly, but his eyes held the barest hint of mirth in them.

"Þæt wæs for þrowing mīn ġeweorċiend in þā ġeolu! Hīe wǣron ġeþēodende tō ālȳsene mē, and þæt is hū þū þancast hīe? Nā mā cossas for þē oþ þū lǣte hīe faran!"

Arthur rolled his eyes but complied with his lover's wishes, getting out of bed and calling over a guard and telling him to release the prisoners. Really, how was he supposed to know that the intruders were just Merlin's coworkers? They had looked like kidnappers from Arthur's perspective!

Huffing with amusement, Arthur made his way back over to the bed, softly kissing Merlin as he climbed back in, ready to sleep for the night. Before he closed his eyes though, he called out to Merlin.

"Beheald þū mē þæt þū beōn hēr þonne ic āwacige?"

Merlin smiled gently at Arthur and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Ic behēte."

TRANSLATIONS:

Gripan híe! Híe syndon fandian to niman Myrddin! = Catch them! They're trying to take Merlin!

Hwæt, Guinevere, far to þæm wæpnedhuse and find hwæt wæpnedu sindon gód in þæm stæde. Leon, far and wec þa oþre cnihtas. Hæbbe hí ceorfan of þæm unrihtwisan fleon. Oðer ealdras, fylgað me! = Guinevere, please go to the armory and find whatever weapons are still in decent condition. Leon, go wake up and gather the other knights. Have them cut off the intruders' escape. The rest of you, follow me!

Hū darrst þū āsceacan hine from mē! Iċ hæbbe bīdode ofer þūsend geara for þisne tīman, and þū ātēowedest tō nīefre hine from mē stelan! Þū scealt āgildan for þis! = How dare you try to take him from me! I have waited over a thousand years for this moment, and you've attempted to steal him from me! You must pay for this!

Nimðað þa ungewelwieras to ðære cyrcan cwellan, wē magon dēmian mid him æfter. Gwaine, nim Myrddin to his geardas and hafa Gaius locian ofer hine. And be mildheort, he sceal hæbbe geferod eft fram Avalon and mæg swilc bēon in pinunge fram his wundum! Gecyða eft to mē mid Gaius's gemetungum þonne hē geendod hæfð. = Take the intruders to the dungeon cells, we can deal with them later. Gwaine, take Merlin to his chambers and have Gaius look over him. And be gentle, he must have just come back from Avalon and could still be in pain from his wounds! Report back to me with Gaius's findings when he's done.

Oh Myrddin, hwǣr eart þū bēon = Oh Merlin, where have you been?

Ēat, Merlin, and þæt is ān bebod! Þū eart ǣac þinra þonne ic þē lǣstan gesēah! Þū scealt nū hungor hæbban, swā þū ne eart fēor þæt þū þæt disc fullfremed hæbbe! = Eat, Merlin, and that's an order! You're even skinnier than the last time I saw you! You must be hungry now, so you're not leaving until I see that you've finished that plate!

Hwæt wæs þæt?! Myrddin, hwæt sægst þu? Ic bidde þe secge me! = What was that?! Merlin, what did you say? Please tell me!

Myrddin, hwæt sægdest þū? Mihtest þū āgēan sprecan for mē, þancie? = Merlin, what did you say? Could you try to speak again for me, please?

Hwæt, Myrddin, gif þu me understandan mæg, þonne set þin hand on min. = Merlin, if you can understand me at all, then put your hand in mine.

Þū ne miht gān ymbe cyssende folc butan gewarnunge swā, þū dolop heafod! Þū ēac næarwe mē ġefēngest þæt mīn heorte ġeswenced wæs! Būton þām, hwæt wōd þīn lufiende gemǣra, þā hērde þone cyning cyssende folc on ætǣlum! = You can't just go around kissing people without warning like that, you dollop head! You almost gave me a heart attack! Besides, what would your loving consort think, hearing about the king kissing people at random!

Hwæt wæs þæt for? = What was that for?

Þæt wæs for þrowing mīn ġeweorċiend in þā ġeolu! Hīe wǣron ġeþēodende tō ālȳsene mē, and þæt is hū þū þancast hīe? Nā mā cossas for þē oþ þū lǣte hīe faran! = That was for throwing my coworkers in the dungeons! They were trying to save me, and that's how you thank them? No more kisses for you until you let them go!

Beheald þū mē þæt þū beōn hēr þonne ic āwacige? = Promise me that you'll be here when I wake up?

Ic behēte. = I promise.

And that's a wrap! Man, this thing quickly spiraled out of control. What was supposed to be a short and sweet prompt evolved into this beast of a post. Well, I hoped you liked this au!

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

Also, here's everyone who asked for this continuation (and if I forgot to tag someone, I am so sorry, there were a lot of you who asked for a part 2 and I couldn't really keep track of them all 😭): @valiantkittenwitch @gaiussleechtank @laundryandtaxesworld @ath99 @dont-know-how-this-works @young-skam @authenticblob @regulusrules @linotheghost @olidun @championrevali @lil-gremlin-things @hopeaha @mitoconniedria @candlemouse @starlightdreams-blog @todolist-nothing07 @princess-of-morkva @mortalmab @livewondrousss @araevenn @shesthewindandsea @that-ghost-bitch @myself-being @queencutl @hakka84 @asagijing @izzymizzyofficial @thedollopheadofcamelot @lostinthe--stars @larluce ( <- also I'm a big fan of your au's so thank you so much!!) @allisnotfairinloveandbooks @arthursbubblebutt @rain-dragons @ofqueensandwitches @ramadiiiisme @righteous-scamp @cwilbah @merthurogies @merlinrepost @once-upon-the-earth @fluffy-loves-chocolate @lightoftheemeraldstar @tansruduri @avixenk

Also, a shoutout to @theanishimori, who inspired the "true love's kiss" element of the ending!

I'll see you all again soon with a new au idea!

[dsabian]

It's been a year since I finished this.

Not sure how tf that happened, but I'm still pretty pleased with myself 🤣

Well, I've done it. I have tonight posted the final chapter in my 100 chapter Merlin fic o.O

It basically asks, and then answers the question "What if the prophesy was wrong?" Merlin is immortal, it's about 800 years on from canon, and it turns out this was not a question he particularly wanted to know the existence of. But in true Merlin style, he rolls with it, there are unexpected consequences, a smidge of angst, a fair amount of BAMF and a truly unholy amount of fluff.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with myself.

[fanf1cadd1ct]

You know I absolutely adore the Arthur getting resurrected in the modern times and learning how to navigate it with Merlin's (who's been waiting for him to return for centuries) help (and them finally getting together in the process). But man I really want a fic where when Arthur dies in the last episode, rather than having to live through centuries without Arthur, Merlin or his magic just decide to put him to a sleep like state for centuries (like in the sleeping beauty). Like, Merlin buries Arthur, delivers the news of his death and just disappears into some sealed off crypt or place far away from any civilization and goes into a deep slumber there, blessed to never wake up till the other part of his coin does too. And then fast forward to modern day and Arthur gets resurrected and at the same time Merlin wakes up. Shenanigans ensue as Merlin, confused asf at everything happening on in this day and age but knows he must find Arthur first before figuring everything out, uses his magic to find Arthur, who is just confused asf Abt everything and two seconds away form getting hit by a car. And once they're finally united further antics ensue as they learn to navigate modern times together (and get together in the process)and get reunited with the rest of the (now reincarnated) cast.