#bamf arthur

[procrastinatorrex]

“What—“ Before Arthur could finish the question something changed— Merlin’s hand in his was no longer smooth and warm. Instead, something hard and rough, like well-worn fabric, was between their palms. Arthur gripped what he realized was a hilt (was it damp?) and pulled.

The blade came forth from thin air, spraying water, of all things, as it materialized. The attacking sorcerers stopped in their tracks, and Arthur thought he heard someone scream, but he wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe.

Arthur whirled, swinging the blade. It moved like an extension of his arm, perfectly balanced and almost unnervingly light. It sang as it cut the air, and he realized he was smiling. “Come on, then!” He cried, swinging the sword and grinning like a fool. “Come and see what you make of me!”

Merlin was at his side again, and his pleasure was a small bonfire in Arthur’s chest, “Of us,” He corrected, “Come, and see what you make of the prophecies now!”

[ebonyfirewolf]

Arthur deals with a siren. Merlin comes to his rescue.

[chappellcastiel]

I need more bamf!Arthur in fics and not just for Merlin but his whole kingdom.

someone starts disrespecting Gwen? Arthur threatens to assure they never speak again if they say another word.

someone called him a son of bitch? Broken nose because you can insult him but never his mother

bandits knocked out and threaten to kill his knights? Arthur kills five men with one dagger.

just more badass Arthur in general he was well known for his skills as a warrior let’s remember🙏🏽

[onceandfutureclotpoll]

Title: Evil Overlord, Inc.

Author: Footloose, mushroomtale

Rating: Mature

Summary: Merlin is a recent graduate with a double doctorate in metaphysics and physics. Arthur is a low-level paper pusher with a desk in the sub-basement of MI5. They live in a world with ridiculous laws and restrictions against anyone who might be supernatural in any way, shape, or design.

Merlin has huge debts looming over this head, a few quid left in his bank account, and no job prospects. Arthur is pushing thirty, in a dead-end job with no chances of promotion to fieldwork agent, and is thoroughly bored with his life.

One ill-advised Craigslist advert, five pushy mates, one nosy all-knowing sister, and a hacked email account later, Merlin and Arthur take the world by storm.

(Or, more precisely, they take over the world.)

[merlinemrys]

hi!! I was wondering if you have some fanfic recommendations with BAMF!Arthur or just him being like an amazing King/leader? <3

Preferably Gen, but if it's good, I wouldnt mind if its Slash 🫶🫶

hiiii !! sorry i'm getting to this so late! there aren't a lot of gen bamf arthur fics (at least tagged on ao3) but here r some recs 💙

Unfit by s0mmerspr0ssen (rated t, 106k)

Summary: Shortly after coming to Camelot, physician’s apprentice Merlin learns that Prince Arthur is suffering from a mysterious ailment nobody is willing to talk about. The Prince keeps exclusively to his chambers and is in danger of losing his status as heir apparent to the throne. When Merlin finally comes face to face with him, the Prince and he do not exactly hit it off. But in spite of Prince Arthur’s initial hostility, Merlin finds himself determined to help him – with medicine as much as with magic.

↳ this is not a typical bamf arthur fic but it is so incredible to read abt him dealing with his disability and come out the other end a great leader

Five Times Arthur Protected Merlin by Howlingdawn (rated gen, 5k)

Summary: …and one time he didn't. Or, Arthur and Merlin are always getting into fights, but Arthur is always there to get Merlin out of danger. Except when he's too slow.

Lies Undone by kimirce (rated gen, 4k)

Summary: The day after Morgause's deception nearly tricked Arthur into killing his own father, Arthur overhears a very interesting conversation between his manservant and King Uther.

How Arthur Got His Groove Back by thegeminisage (rated t, merthur, 134k)

Summary: Arthur Pendragon is at an all-time low: he’s still suffering from the day he nearly dueled his father to the death, his sword arm has been wounded so grievously he may never fight again, and, worst of all, every last soul in Camelot and the kingdoms beyond have had magic forced on them overnight. Now Arthur must contend with the chaos of magic run rampant, his father’s dangerous instability, Morgana’s increasing distance, catching Merlin in more lies than he can count, and the magic that is now threatening to consume him—all while searching for a way to break the curse before it consumes them all. It’s not going to be easy: Arthur grapples with a destiny he’s not sure he can handle, and a past he’d rather forget—and if he wants to save his people, he must be prepared to confront hard truths and harder choices. It’s a trial by fire, one that risks destroying everything Arthur has left to hold dear should he fail. But with enough courage, enough understanding, and maybe just a touch of magic, there’s nothing he can’t face.

↳ ngl i will always rec this is somebody is looking for smth remotely arthur-centric. what can i say! he's sexy, he's got a flaming sword, and he's iconic!

and i'm usually a canon girlie but i canNOT not put you only live twice in an ask about bamf arthur. yolt is a reincarnation/james bond merthur fic and arthur is so sexy in it i cannot stress that enough! i will also redirect u to this arthur-centric fic rec post bc most arthur-centric fic do have elements of bamf arthur!

[ollyrewind]

Look at him. I would die for him. I would kill for him.

Either way — what bliss.

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.3

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.4] [Pt.5] [Pt.6] [Pt.7] [Pt.8] [Pt.9] [Pt.10]

“Aquaman.” Batman swept into the room, beelining straight for the suddenly apprehensive Atlantean king.

“Batman. What can I do for you?”

“Phantom. Does he pay taxes?”

“Pardon?”

Batman makes a low noise that had Aquaman’s danger senses buzzing.

“Does Phantom have to pay taxes. Towards Atlantis.”

“No…? Why?”

“He wanted money, in exchange for… information, of a delicate sort,” Batman said, diplomatically avoiding the topic of Phantom bargaining for the identities of corpses in exchange for a measly $100 dollars per identity. Like a flea market dealer, that one was.

“You encountered Phantom again?” Aquaman perked up.

“Yes. Gotham’s bay is… polluted.” Batman paused. “With victims. Of murder.”

The entire area quieted as heads turned towards the Dark Knight.

“Yes, I am… distantly aware of Gotham’s waters.” By that, Aquaman gets green around the gills whenever he turns his awareness in that direction. There’s a reason he doesn’t enter Gotham, and the Dark Knight’s ban is only half of that reason. “Ah, but you’re correct. For what purpose would Phantom need mortal currency?”

“Hn.”

“Maybe he needs some stuff?” Flash zipped to a stop next to Batman, feet tapping as he dug into the pile of snacks cradled in his arms. “Us mortals are always coming up with new things, maybe he wants to try some games or something?”

Batman tilted his head down, seriously considering Flash’s suggestion. “It’s plausible.”

“Barry, Barry, Barry. He’s old as hell, right? He probably wants to try the new booze!”

“Hal, my man!” Flash fist bumped Green Lantern, who came up. “You’re back! What happened to John?”

“Dunno. He got called somewhere that way,” Green Lantern waved a vague hand towards the left. “Had to deal with a politician or something from that area.” He shrugged, swinging an arm over Barry’s shoulders to put him in a headlock and stealing a chip.

“Huh. Anyways, would our mortal alcohol even work on a demi-god or something?”

“We should ask!” Hal turned towards Batman. “You should ask if he wants to go for a drink, spooky!”

“He’s a child.”

“He’s been around for more than a millennia, Bats.”

“Informational gathering, right, Hal?” Flashgot out of the headlock, quickly munching on his snacks to stop Green Lantern from stealing them.

“Totally. Yup.”

“…Fine.”

“Wait, are we just gonna ignore that Gotham’s waters are full of bodies?”

“Yes.”

——

“What?” Danny asked, mind half on the bags he’s dragging out of the water and the other half on the essay he has to submit in about four hours.

“Green Lantern wanted to invite you out for a drink.”

Danny turned to the stoic Gotham knight, who had his wrist computer out to log the bodies’ info the moment Danny gave him the information. Some of them even told Danny who murdered them, so Batman could start building cases with solid leads.

Danny’s only twenty. He’s not legal yet but he doesn’t want to give any clues to who he is. How is he supposed to…

Ah!

“Can’t.” Danny shrugged. “I’m not legal. I died when I was fourteen so…” Danny trailed off, speechless at the drowned puppy face Batman was giving him. What the fuck.

“Anyways, fork over my payment.”

Batman wordlessly hands him a wad of hundreds.

“What do you need cash for?” Batman suddenly asked.

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious?” Danny tucked it in. “Material things, obviously. I need a blanket,” because holy shit, Gotham is damn cold this time of year. “Anyways, see you same time next week, litterer.”

“I don’t litter.”

“Tell that to the batarangs I found under the water,” Danny grumbled. “But I’ll stop calling you that if you get a signature from Poison Ivy. I have a friend who loves her.”

“An alive friend?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy?”

Danny snickered and disappeared. He’s gotta cram that essay.

——

“There’s a possibility Phantom might be homeless.”

“Batman, I mean this in the nicest way, but for the love of Atlantis, please stop giving me headaches. It’s time like these I wish I stayed a lighthouse keeper.”

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Random noble who insulted Arthur within earshot of Merlin, then didn’t like the consequences: That’s it! You have insulted me for the last time!

Merlin: Wrong! I’m just getting started. You seem like the kind of person who wonders why eggs don’t taste like chicken. Make like your hairline and take a couple steps back, looking like Rumpelstiltskin’s evil twin-

Arthur, picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder: Okay, that’s enough feral time for you. Let’s go.

Merlin: *hisses at the noble as he’s being dragged away*

[merrilinie]

Typical trope of the woman being better at archery than the man but the woman is Merlin and the man is Arthur (and the Knights).

It’s probably a bet or Gwaine trying to flirt with Merlin, or maybe Leon worries about his safety to the point he makes him, but one of the Knights offer to teach Merlin to shoot. They figure he’ll be safe as you normally need some distance to shoot and doesn’t require too much strength. (in the instance of Knights, they tend to not realise that a bow string is very taught and hard to pull if you want to shoot well as they are already sturdy in muscle.)

Gwaine goes to hold onto Merlin’s me show him a proper form but Merlin just scoffs and shoos him away.

Arthur finds it hilarious that Merlin is so confident as he thinks it will be funny to watch him embarrass himself, until he watched Merlin pull the bow with more ease than even the most trained archer.

Cue them watching Merlin shoot every target with as close to perfection as one can get (without controlling the wind).

Putting the bow down and blushing despite his prideful grin, Merlin just shrugs at them as if he didn’t just blow all their minds, “We had survive somehow in the village.”

Gwaine cackles with glee while Leon debates for illy picking up Arthur’s jaw.

[gldnstrngs]

the absolutely LETHAL face card that is s5 merlin… bamf!merlin truthers rise!

[justaz]

arthur and the knights getting cursed so they can’t hold a weapon, fight, and can barely walk. clumsy x1000 blast. the cure is idk somewhere in the woods or with the druids or something idk idk don’t ask me. anyways they get ambushed and arthur and the knights cant fight so merlin is like “damn it” and pushes them all back and looks at arthur and is like

merlin: you can’t fight so i’m going to fight them.

arthur, stumbling over his own two feet even while merlin is pushing him up against a tree: you can’t fight

merlin: i can. i’m going to. what i need you to do is wait, alright? you’re going to be mad, i get that, but that’s going to have to wait until later. can you do that?

arthur: you can’t fight, merlin.

merlin, rolling his eyes: will you just listen to me for once? be mad later. appreciate that i’m saving your life right now.

merlin, leaving arthur to fall flat on his face, muttering under his breath: like always

and then woosh merlin saves their lives and is a bad ass sorcerer yippee gwaine is very turned on and so is arthur but he’s also definitely pissed while lancelot is so proud of his bestie (and a little turned on)

[takingasterix]

Queen Guinevere's guard dog (AKA the Court Sorcerer of Camelot)

quick little thing because i got bored and LOVE this concept

[your-local-asylum-escapee]

remember when the lizard with wings was being cryptic about when Arthur will return, saying ".. 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙡𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣.."

what if Merlin was so distraught and desperate that he 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 with the wishful thinking that Arthur would return while he's just rampaging across the five kingdoms

[mythmerth]

it’s a petty complaint but you know what pisses me off a lil bit? when there’s no reason for merlin to not be BAMF and he still isn’t. it feels almost forced sometimes like they have to tone him down to make the plot work, cause just on his own and with a liiTtle bit of guidance and freedom with it, Merlin is absolutely BAMF. that man messes with the laws of the universe like it’s another Tuesday and u want me to believe he can’t get out of the way/put up a shield for an expected and clear attack even after he’s been trained in magic AND allowed to use it openly in this circumstance? hmm.., like ok… sure …,,

[valerileygreen]

Do you guys think that after guiding his teammates into the elevator, Arthur took just one moment to squeeze Eames' hand, maybe even touch their foreheads together while taking a deep breath, just to center himself and give himself the courage to face the most difficult challenge of timing the kick right?

[gaiussleechtank]

I just thought of this theory so now I’m going to inflict it on all of you because I am no longer well after thinking this:

Magic existed in Albion long before Merlin and Arthur, et cetera, did. And based on canon - the books, the tales, even the geography and beings - magic used to be massive in Albion. A huge part of life and nature and living. Then Arthur is born and Ygraine dies and the Purge begins. Magic is killed off, reduced and nearly wiped out; thousands of species go extinct, entire cultures are burnt, and hundreds of millennia of knowledge are erased. So as a last resort to save itself, Merlin is born.

Merlin - Emrys - Magic Itself/Incarnate.

All of this desperate power is out there and channelled into one single being. Think of it, all the land's magic rushing into a single entity and given life, evolved from having existence in everything to truly living and experiencing a concentrated point. Maybe this is why Merlin has such a deep connection with everything, because he has existed before as something so much greater than the human mind.

I think this is why he is Emrys, why Emrys is immortal, you can't kill Magic, Albion's world doesn't work that way. There is the balance of life to maintain.

This is where Arthur and the Prophecy of the Once and Future King come in: Merlin and Arthur are greatly connected. It's Arthur's birth that forces Merlin into creation and it's together that they are meant to bring greatness to the land.

Except they don't, Albion's 'Golden Era' doesn't come. Arthur dies and Merlin continues living because Magic cannot die. Centuries pass, Merlin is missing his other half and Magic continues to disappear because Merlin and Arthur didn't save it.

So there is a build up, Magic keeps going to Merlin to protect itself, Albion ages and falls and is rebuilt over and over again into something new with each passing century. As time progresses Magic turns to its greatest source - the undying force of magic, the greatest concentration of it given life - and because of this the land slowly forgets that it even had magic to begin with.

This is what forces Albion's Greatest Need. The balance cannot handle this, the land cannot handle this and so Arthur returns to save it all.

He is Merlin's other half - their destinies are literally written and entwined with one another.

They would figure out that Magic had disappeared from the land and that it was why Arthur was back, but it would be Merlin to realise where Magic had gone to and what it would take for it to be brought back.

Merlin would have to die for Albion to be saved. His life would have to end and return to its previous state of unconscious sentient existence.

But how can someone that cannot die stop living?

It's easy really: have their other half of their soul - the one that they were born for, who they live for and exist for - kill their physical body with an immortal blade.

Only Arthur wielding the Excalibur would work. After all, Arthur was the reason that Merlin was born, so who's to say that Arthur's not the reason Merlin dies?