#good uther

[starklyy]

Merlin AU

currently imagining a no-purge au where Arthur and Merlin get together and have kids, and every time Uther does something Merlin finds annoying or disrespectful he threatens to bump his Grandparental Name down a level.

Like Uther very adamantly is like My Name Is Grandfather. But he knows whatever Merlin calls him to the baby is what his name will be forever.

And he says some shitty comment about magic users to the baby and Merlin just goes "congratulations! You are now PeePaw" and Uther's like WAIT NO

[wishiwasadruid]

Arthur : *mindless baby babbles *

Uther : LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT MY SON! THE MOST INTELLIGENT WARRIOR AND KING IN ALL THE 5 KINGDOMS! HE SHALL BE THE GREATEST YES HE-

Arthur : *confused baby noises*

@bluecrusadearcade thanks for this

Part 1

I want Arthur to be so fucking adorable he accidentally becomes the once and future king at like eight when he charms the entirety of albions royalty by running around being cute with his warlock bestie

[lucylichtenweg]

I'm looking for some Merthur fanfiction recommendations.

Where Uther ships Merthur or accepts their relationship.

Or where he is just a good father.

I just want some healthy father-son relationship fanfiction

[morganafayes]

because at the end of the day it’s about how love and hate will destroy you equally. it’s about the fact that merlin and morgana both lost themselves because they became so consumed by their love and hate respectively that it made everything else not matter. because merlin loved arthur so much he hollowed himself out for the sake of it and morgana hated uther so much it ate her alive and became all she was

[magicomens]

Ah yes. Anthony Justdontgetstabbed Crowley.

First >> Prev >> Next

[osinthewhite]

The problem with recommending people BBC Merlin is that you try to convey how emotionally destroyed the show left you and that it actually has very deep characters with complex motives where no one character is black or white

But there's Uther on screen having sex with a troll and it kinda undermines your point

[runwhileyoucan]

I am Sick so watched merlin.

[akelafang]

Arthur vs Merlin on asking for the parent's blessing:

Arthur: I somehow managed to make the trip out to Ealdor without Merlin following me and asked Hunith for her blessing. I barely made it halfway through my planned speech before she was hugging me and calling me her new son. As lovely as that was I hope Guias has a more moderate reaction when I ask him next. I know he's not actually Merlin's father but he's the closest Merlin's ever had so it'd feel wrong not to ask him too for permission to marry Merlin.

Merlin: I don't know who I'd even ask for Arthur's hand. Both his parents are dead, so is his uncle the traitorous bastard, and his sister is trying to kill him. I really couldn't care less if Uther approved of me marrying Arthur anyway. If anything I hope he's glaring at us from hell as he watches his son and heir marry a sorcerer.... Maybe I'll ask Leon.

[helaenadream]

like you don’t go into bbc merlin expecting it to contain such a powerful and realistic portrayal of what it’s like to have a toxic parent but then you watch season one episodes where everything was still mostly okay between uther and morgana and arthur and you end up crying somehow

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

I’ve heard a lot of people say Merlin should’ve told Morgana about his magic, and I agree, love the idea and the fics are always great.

But I’ve not seen a lot of Morgana telling Arthur first. Maybe during the witchfinder episode.

Like, he sees her as his sister even before that’s confirmed (fuck uther). I can imagine Arthur changing his mind about magic because Morgana is too good for it to make her evil. Imagine him being a super protective brother and Morgana just done with it all, slightly regretting telling him but also super happy to have his support in that typical siblings way like “I’m going to curse you.”

And Arthur’s completely unbothered by the threat, looking through the several magic books he found for her: “You don’t even need magic to do that, your presence is enough. Now focus, I broke into the library for this so you gotta learn how to light the candle.”

But also them being supportive of each other would be amazing. We always need more pendragon siblings content.

I can imagine Arthur noticing magic going on around him and him thanking Morgana for it, then Morgana confusedly asking ���did I do that?! I don’t know how!”

Meanwhile Merlin’s loosing his shit in the corner because Arthur is seeing magic and not reacting and he has no idea what that means. Morgana figures it out first when she finds Merlin on the edge of a breakdown and they start helping each other out.

I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before but if anyone’s found anything like this please please share it, I’m begging.

[myoonmii]

I keep thinking about Merlin’s love for Arthur and how it’s so clearly portrayed in the show to the point that it practically drives the plot of the show. However when it comes to Arthur’s love for Merlin it’s more subtle and sometimes difficult to even grasp, and I started thinking why that was, aside from the obvious fact that Arthur has a lot of trouble expressing his emotions affection or otherwise. I think it also lies in the fact that Merlin knows Arthur intrinsically throughout the show; he is one of the closest people to Arthur, and sees him for who he really is. Arthur admits as much.

Sure, Arthur knows Merlin but the main part of the plot is that he really doesn't know Merlin. Merlin wants him to desperately understand him and “see me for who I am” but he can't yet. And I think this subconsciously creates a barrier in the way in which Arthur can care for Merlin, and how Merlin can let himself be seen by Arthur.

Which is why I think he was also so hurt when the magic reveal happens because more than the betrayal of Merlin having magic, it was the betrayal of Merlin not letting Arthur see him for who he really is and for hiding a main part of himself. Arthur says it himself “why did you never tell me” that’s what hurt him the most.

I think the most damning piece of evidence for this is the fact that while we see snippets of Arthur’s feelings for Merlin thought the show, the biggest signs are in the last episode after the magic reveal; in which he finally gets to understand Merlin, and this time REALLY know Merlin, and as the barriers of what held them back from understanding each other truly fall away, Arthur evidently “falls in love with Merlin all over again”. We see him actually express himself to Merlin.

This is another reason why I think if anyone was ever to create another season of Merlin after Arthur’s return, it’s physically impossible not to make it about Merlin and Arthur acknowledging their feelings for each other. Because there is no way forward without them acknowledging how deeply they care for each other, obviously anyone is free to argue what kind of love that is, but its impossible not to see the deep love there either way.

They always knew they loved each other, just maybe never realising how much and what that means, because its almost second nature to everything that they do.

[morganadeservedbetter]

Arthur: I just had a thought…

Merlin, and Morgana, simultaneously: Congratulations.

[justaz]

arthur (prince of camelot) still has to study under a tutor bc yknow uther wants him to be very intelligent before becoming king or something bc its super important idk idc anyways merlin is doing chores in his chambers while arthur is squinting at a book and merlin eventually caves and asks him what he’s reading and arthur gruffly explains that its a collection of stories from greece that make absolutely no sense so merlin asks him to read them outloud to him. arthur of course teases him and calls him an idiot and asks how he could possibly help but does as he’s asked and reads the stories to merlin as he does his chores. merlin (being crushed under the weight of destiny and tormented by the prophecies that kilgharrah spews) understands the stories almost immediately and gets all excited and starts rambling about them with arthur. arthur is glad to have someone who understands so he can give something that reflects a hint of understanding to his tutor who accepts it and moves onto the next unit of education.

the thing is, arthur finds more stories in camelot’s library and brings them up to his room to read them aloud to merlin under the guise of completing his studies but really he just wants to watch as merlin’s eyes gleam when he understands whats happening and listen to him ramble on and on about them bc he’s gay. the stories stick with merlin though and he realizes that they’re cautionary tales, that the heroes who were told too much of their future doomed themself to fulfill them - that them fighting the prophecies led to their completion. merlin takes it to heart and gives a big “fuck you” to kilgharrah before forging his own fate and helping morgana with her magic and handing out an olive branch to mordred and now everyone can live happily and peacefully in an albion teeming with magic.

[springs-hurts]

Gods but the way people think Arthur was stupid, trusting Agrvaine so much, first, Agravaine was a manipulative bastard, who came just after Uther died, a time when Arthur sorely needed parental support, seeing as his Father died and in a way, his whole family was gone. Mother, already dead, father, his king, dead, his sister betrayed him, forgive him for thinking, someone who was his last link to his mother, who was manipulating him on daily basis into thinking that he's the only one who had good intentions and cared for him. At a time, when he was most vulnerable. Forgive him for thinking that person won't betray him. Forgive him for thinking he had little of his family left. Forgivr him for thinking, even after all that has happened he was still loved by someone of his family.

Gods but I hate agravaine more than Uther, more than Morgana, more than any other villain. The way he manipulated Arthur, Gods, that's legit breaking the whole man, I wonder how Arthur managed to trust people after such deepest betrayal. Nobody talks about it,

But to think even after all of this, he still accepted Merlin and loved him so much!

[casually-eat-my-soul]

Ok so funny Merlin au, I don’t know if anyone has already had this idea but:

Arthur begins to believe that Merlin is magic after Merlin has “funny feelings” about things such as dangerous scenarios and bad nobles. Arthur realizes that Merlin has scarily good intuition that he, himself can’t explain. And the fact that Merlin knows so many things about magical creatures and that said magical creatures “that can only be killed by magical things” end up dead via Arthur when Merlin is around. So obviously the only answer is Merlin has magic and doesn’t know about it.

Arthur is so worried that Merlin will be devastated to learn he has magic and doesn’t know how to tell him. He also worried about the fact that one day he won’t be able to protect Merlin the next time someone accuses him of being a sorcerer because Merlin might have done magic by accident. He tries to breach the subject carefully, never fully bring up the whole sorcerer, he keeping watch on Merlin making sure he doesn’t display any signs about having magic.

Merlin is an anxious mess because Arthur keeps making sly comments about magic around him and is constantly watching him. Like Arthur is waiting for Merlin to slip up. Merlin is going insane and having heart palpitations on the Daily now. He thinks Arthur knows he has magic and is angry.

Arthur on the other hand, sees Merlin withdrawing from him and being extra nervous and secretive and naturally comes to the conclusion that Merlin has figured out he has magic, with Arthur help, of course; And is not distancing himself away from Arthur because of it.

Imagine Arthur seeing Merlin’s get really close to Lancelot during this time. He’s worried that Lancelot will figure out that Merlin has magic, or that Merlin is telling Lancelot that he has magic. He’s a little (a lot) muffled at the fact that Merlin might have talked to Lancelot about his magic. Arthur is also worried about Lancelot snitching so he has a “talk” with him about Merlin and magical behaviour and many threats but never directly saying that merlin has magic, you know in case Merlin didn’t actually tell Lancelot. Lancelot is just so confused. (For a week straight after this “talk”, both Lancelot and Merlin think that Arthur thinks that Lancelot has magic)

This would be especially funny if this is during the time when Uther is alive because there would be one giant misunderstanding where Arthur is protecting oblivious Merlin from being found out as a sorcerer but Uther thinks he walked in on his son boning is manservant.

Uther later tries to have a talk with Arthur about Merlin but Arthur panics because he thinks Uther is accusing Merlin of sorcery.

And it just goes back and forth until the reveal, just a constant series of misunderstandings.

[dryadalisliv]

Merthur ao3 recs

The trouble with Daisies 23.4k words

Merlin is just settling into his new role as Court Sorcerer and trying to figure out where he's exactly standing with Arthur when he finds himself adopting a dog completely by accident.

A dog who seems to hate the king with a burning passion.

Arthur is far from amused.

---

The moon stays warped in silence 12.6k words

"What is wrong with me Ma?" asks little Merlin his mother. "What is wrong with me?" asks Arthur Pendragon to the moon. About monsters and their hearts and how they love life so much that it hurts.

---

Little ones 14.5k words

“Did you just say you found two children in Arthur’s bed, Merlin?” Gaius gave him The eyebrow. Or, when two children who look weirdly similar to Merlin and Arthur appear in the prince's chambers, they have to find out where they came from. In which secrets get revealed, families founded and chaos ensues!

---

Sunny in Camelot 14.6k words

"Merlin," Uther says, "For your alleged crimes, I would normally sentence you to death by fire. But, because my son has requested it… I have granted you a fair trial. All witnesses and involved parties shall state their cases, and then a verdict will be reached. Is this understood?"

"Yes sire."

"Now you will each tell me, in your own account, what on earth happened this week."

"Your majesty, it all began Tuesday…"

---

The Hunt for Red Emrys 27.9k words

King Arthur sets out to keep his promise to the spirit of the Druid boy by repealing his father's ban on magic. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, for reasons including but not limited to the following:

(1) He can't change the law until he understands magic better, but no sorcerer is willing to explain magic to him until he changes the law;

(2) The sorcerers all have some strange obsession with Merlin, which is awakening all sorts of feelings in Arthur that he really doesn't fancy examining too closely;

(3) He is starting to feel like the butt of some Druid-population-wide inside joke involving the mysterious phenomenon called Emrys; and

(4) Oh yeah, Morgana is still trying to kill him.

Thus he embarks on a journey of discovery, diplomacy, accountability, and self-improvement, and maybe even falls in love along the way.

---

Forgotten Memories 8k words

Relying on pure luck and Merlin’s inexistent ability to keep a secret was not working any longer. So, Merlin figured better to be prepared and memorized a spell that could erase short-term memories. Honestly, he’d meant it as an emergency protocol, he had no idea how he’d become so careless that he needed it so often. It wasn’t his fault Arthur seemed to be paying way too much attention to him lately. Look, Merlin was just trying to survive while protecting his prince, he hadn’t done anything to deserve all this stress!

Or the 5 times Merlin erased Arthur’s memory of his magic and the 1 time he let him remember.

---

The Laughter From the Next Room 24.5k words

A small ball hovered in her hand, shining with a silver-blue light. It floated there, getting brighter and brighter before dimming again. Wisps of cloud swirled at its center. It was pure magic. And the breath was stolen from Arthur’s lungs. “I thought you’d recognize it. He said it was warm. He said it reminded him of home.”

It has been one year since Merlin's death when Arthur meets Morgana on the battlefield. Somehow, between all the guilt and shame, he discovers that his sister knew Merlin better than he ever did - and ever would.

^^

( actually one of the best fics i have ever read, and it made me sob and ugly cry, my god!)