#but the quote is from binding blade lol

[tamafry]

Lord Eliwood loved his wife deeply. And one night...before the two became engaged, Lord Eliwood suddenly disappeared from the castle. When he returned to his love three days later, he presented her with a beautiful white flower which only grows in the snowy highlands. It was the flower which she loved the most.

[atlantablack]

Atlanta’s Merlin fic rec list

These are all going to be fics that come off of my bookmark list from Ao3. I have a lot more in my google chrome bookmarks, but these are the ones i have the clearest memory of! 

Alright we’re going to start off with my favorite merlin author ever. If you haven’t read all of CaffeinatedFlumadiddle’s works then like what are you doing, go, read! I’ll list my top three of their works if you want a place to start!

Fool Me Once | 18,728k | Rating: T+ | complete

Uther finds out about Merlin’s magic, but can’t seem to kill him. Merlin is just trying to protect Arthur. They become a begrudgingly effective duo. Arthur doesn't understand why they think he isn't noticing this.

Cheers and Spirits | 5,022k | Rating: no rating | complete

Despite all the supposed trips to the tavern none of the knights have seen Merlin drunk. They decide to rectify that. A poor decision, really.

Dragged Down and Hellbound | 46,929k | Rating: T+ | incomplete 4/6 chapters posted

After living with demons for sixteen years, Merlin decides to explore his human side by venturing to Camelot. Also, he has a destiny to unite his species and bring magic back into Camelot, but he's not too worried about that.

To Serve and Protect by Ultrageekatlarge | 25,324k | Rating: Gen | complete

After something terrible happens, Arthur, Gwen, Gwaine, and Lancelot take their turns in protecting their protector, watching over their watcher. Merlin’s the one in trouble, now, and it’s up to them to save him.

This is one of my all time favorites. It’s not merthur but, the characterization is so on point that it’s basically merthur. you know, like the show wasn’t technicallyyyyyy merthur buttttt well, we all know it really was. 

My fave quote:  “Mighty Emrys,” Cor crowed, laying the blade across Merlin’s bared throat, “Time to die.” “Hey!” A woman’s shoe flew out, and with frightening precision, slammed the side of Cor’s head. The dagger fell to the ground with a clatter, but the sorcerer kept a tight grip on the staff, staggering back in surprise from Merlin. Arthur froze, and turned his head to his left. Gwen, clutching her other shoe in her hand, glared at Cor with murder in her eyes. “You will not touch him again,” she said.

The Game of Lying by CastleScribe | 7,262k | Rating: Gen | complete

It's just Merlin's luck to get trapped in a castle with the knights and a crazy fae who wants to see how well he can lie. Fortunately, he's very good at lying. Unfortunately, the fae isn't too pleased about that.The knights are going to have a lot of questions if they live through this.

I just love reading about Merlin being a badass and the knights + arthur realizing he has hidden depths. The sequel to this is also fucking bomb A+, 15/10 would recommend

Safekeeping by schweet_heart | 5,531k | Rating: E | complete

“There were bandits,” Arthur confirms. There is something grim in his tone which tells Merlin this is not the whole of it. “There was also a sorcerer.” Merlin sighs. “Of course there was.” As it turns out, there was also a magical beast, and there was also a sacrifice.

i have an honestly wild amount of schweet_heart’s fics bookmarked lol but they’re all really good, and most of them are relatively short so that i can binge my way through them easy! This is def one of my favorites though. 

My fave quote: He wakes up again, briefly, when Arthur breaks the shackles free from his wrists and feet. Without the cold iron to bind him, magic pours back into his body like a flood, choking and drowning, and he writhes for a moment in the dirt, fighting to keep his head above water. “For God’s sake, Merlin, be quiet,” Arthur hisses, pulling him close and clamping a hand over his mouth. “Are you trying to get yourself caught?” Merlin hadn’t even been aware that he was screaming, but the effort of holding back the sound is enough to send him under again, white-hot pain searing behind his eyelids. After that, he doesn’t resurface for a long time.

Okay, and here’s another author that like really, if you haven’t read their fics where have you been?? Astolat is bloody amazing and her fics just fucking kill me tbh. I’m going to list my top three of hers and fave quotes from them

Favorite | 13,012k | Rating: E | complete

Arthur was tipped back against the wall, his mouth open for breath and staring at the small arrow-slit window over Merlin's head, trying to work out how it could possibly be that good with Merlin, of all people.

My fave quote: Uther stared at him, for long enough that Arthur started to feel a bit anxious, and then Uther said almost warily, "What is this boy to you?" and he wasn't asking for the facile answer. "He's—I—" Arthur said, stuttering in panic. He was getting on extremely well not thinking about what Merlin was to him, and he had no desire to start now. He stopped. Uther said, "I see," with a peculiar expression on his face, a little as though he'd eaten something unpleasant. After a moment, he said, "What does he want from you?"

Emblazoning | 18,797k | Rating: M | complete

Morgana turned away from the high, barred window and rubbed her arms, chilled and bare. Arthur was sitting in the dirty straw at the very limit of his chains, which kept him a few inches too far away to touch Merlin's limp body. Outside they were putting up the stake

This one is Arthur/Merlin/Morgana/Gwen which may put some people off but it’s really good I promise. and none of them are aware that arthur and morgana are related, so there’s that. 

The Crown of the Summer Court | 24,339k | Rating: E | completed

"The king sent me to get you," Merlin said, with a tone that implied strongly that he wasn't rolling his eyes where Arthur could see, but just wait until his back was turned. "He said you're to get changed into formal clothes and meet him in the Great Hall, there's a delegation coming from the Summer Court."

My fave quote: "Your mortal-forged blade would not be able to enter the ring," Eldren said contemptuously. Merlin dragged himself straight and said, golden eyed, "Try this one, then," and grabbed Arthur's hand. He took it and plunged it into the wash-water basin Gwen was holding, the water still pink with blood. "What are you doing—" Arthur said, but Merlin was shoving his hand deeper—deeper than the basin was, and Arthur's hand was brushing something cold and hard. He put his hand around the hilt, and slowly drew the sword out, water spilling from the cross-brace and running down the blade like rain. Gwen stared wide-eyed at it, and down into the basin, which was looking just like a basin again.

a king of infinite space by schweet_heart | 1069k | Rating: E | complete

When they bring Arthur home, he is silent. Written for Pornalot 2017 Challenge #4 (Bound).

It’s really short but holy shit there’s so much emotion packed into this. 

My fave quote: “Merlin.” And this time, Arthur is smiling, no longer silent, something whole and real behind his eyes. “You reckless little idiot. You tore apart an entire castle to get to me – did you really believe I wouldn't know that it was you?”

Broken Days, A Guide and How To Manual by arsenicandsunshine | 20,653k | Rating: E | complete

In which if Merlin has to see the cracked gray of his bedroom ceiling one more time, he’s gonna scream. Or punch someone. Maybe the wall. Definitely Arthur, who can’t seem to find the words to say what he wants to, but after the morning Merlin’s had, whatever it was can’t possible help.

It’s a groundhog day fic, what’s not to love? honestly why don’t we have more of these in the fandom i love them so much

Winning the Battle by Prattery | 5,498k | Rating: T+ | complete

This husk of a man wears Merlin’s face and has Merlin’s magic, but he’s not Merlin. Merlin’s gone. Albion has claimed him as the price for Arthur’s victory at the battlefield.

listen....this fic will destroy you and then put you back together. It’s short but holy shit there’s a lot packed in and it’s so damn good. def one of my fave fics

Nine Weddings and a Funeral by giselleslash | 11,322k | Rating: E | complete

Merlin and Arthur keep meeting at a series of weddings.

This is a modern AU, which I don’t rec a lot of but this one was really good and the writing was fantastic

My fave quote: “Do you think we’d be here now if we’d gotten together then? Be honest. Think about what you feel about me right now, the way it burns, and tell me you would’ve been ready for that at nineteen.”

Okay! I think that’s enough for now, i have sooooo many more but this is already super long so imma stop!

[cthep]

Hi Guys welcome back to my humble little efforts here at Beginners Journey into CosPlay, finally here are the other pics of the Destiny knife build, hope you will forgive the lack of them I have been so busy that occasionally I forget to take pics and before you know it I’m a lot further on, but this one is pretty straight....

Forward, first you can download the template for free from Bill Duran and his good Lady at ‘PunishedProps.com, ‘Thanks guys for the freebies, love your stuff.  Cut out and stick together then use to cut out the basic shapes that you need, this here being x2 1/4 “ to 1/2″ E.V.A. Foam floor tile and x2 of the thin 2mm? craft foam, (doesn’t really matter as long as it works). cut the detail shapes out as seen in pics  before trying to glue together, take off the rough sides of the foam..I used my new band saw but you could use a Dremel or just sand paper but these are a bit more messy and harder to do. Then glue the pieces together. I use an EVO stick Contact adhesive for this bit. Next I used my new Belt sander to carve the knife shape, it was sooo much easier with this machine but be careful as I did press too hard at one point and it takes the foam away FAST..luckily it was something I could cover by just gently removing a bit more, PHEW. I then used a heat gun on low to warm the foam where I had cut detail lines..circles etc to open the lines wider, be very careful not to burn yourself here and also..the foam will be melting so don’t leave the heat on it directly...pass it across the areas until the gaps open a bit then leave it. I did manage to melt a section but again I managed to recover from this silly error....again though it is a learning curve and I am now more aware so hopefully won’t do that again. Ok, now I cut some thin strips of the craft foam and glued around the hand grip as shown to represent the leather binding, again using the contact adhesive, Bill used a white craft foam...it doesn’t matter what color as the next step is to cover the whole thing with ‘Plasti-Dip’ as shown,  I have an outside area well ventilated and I wear a good mask and safety goggles NOT safety Glasses as the spray can get around them...as I found out the hard way. I gave it 5 coats allowing each coat to become ‘Tacky’ before adding the next. then I allowed it to completely dry before giving it a coat of Silver..this was just ordinary car spray paint, again about 4-5 coats, don’t be in a rush or you can get drips...again I made that mistake but was able to correct it, nice and slowly build up the coats is the best way to go about it. Then after drying fully I used a Black Acrylic to paint the handle ‘wrap’, At this point I used a Matt clear fixer spray to cover the whole thing to protect the paint from the next steps, I now followed by a using a brown ‘wash’ over it which I then wiped off just to leave an ‘ingrained dirt’ look to the handle...I did this around a few other areas...this is a personal choice whatever your thoughts tell you...go for it, it can always be changed. then I used a Grey Acrylic paint to make the grey ‘splatter effect on the blade and a Silver Acrylic to add highlights along the blade edge and any where that I felt was metal and might be a bit worn and shiny from use, then, cover with a final coat of the Matt clear fix spray and allow to dry..and voila, my first ever attempt at a foam copy of the Destiny Hunters Knife to go with the axe I made..da daaaaaa lol. I was pleased with the end result, don’t be put off if half way thru it looks a bit raggedy as they always do..the end result is what counts.I hope you have enjoyed my beginners effort, I’m happy with it, I hope I have encouraged at least one person to give this a go themselves, maybe the leather craft is too expensive..as I am aware, but 6 foam tiles costs £10 from Halfords and a bit of glue is not expensive, the paints are quite cheap and most things can be done by hand with craft knives and sand paper...if you give it a go I hope you will let me see your work, maybe share a few ideas. please leave a message if you like I will always answer. Please remember, I am new to this myself, this is MY personal Journey and I’m just sharing it to hopefully entertain you..possibly inspire you and hopefully help to prevent others making the little mistakes I make lol. Best wishes thanks for following, please LIKE if you did. next project coming as soon as I can..hoping to do a Hand Cannon of some type..we’ll see, don’t quote me..things have a habit of changing lol. till next time on Beginners Journey into Cosplay...stay Crafty. Bill Duran and his Lovely lady have a Video on YT showing all these steps which is where I got this from, all credit to Punished props and many thanks for letting us have the templates for free.