#it is late and i was reading a merthur fic

[wlw-queen-of-ships]

so i was just thinking about merlin and arthur as one does, and i started thinking about the episode where morgana puts the head of a snake in merlin’s neck with the intention to kill arthur

which means that the only thing that he could think was that he had to kill arthur

merlin being emrys, the most powerfull warlock to ever walk the earth, could easily kill arthur with the blink of an eye

but he doesnt, he tries it the mundane way and fails everytime

that means that that command went so against his love for arthur and the need to protect him at all costs that he did everything he could to stop himself from killing him

he was still fighting to keep arthur alive, to save him while he was brainwashed to only have the thought to kill arthur

[panevanbuckley]

when the hyperfixation kicks in like crazy and you end up reading far too many fics in a matter of days

[poisonedfate]

made a little moodboard for my new prompt turned ficlet:

you hold me by the heart and you wear my soul - 1.9k

s1 merthur and nightmares, need i say more

read on ao3 or on tumblr

[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!)

[nalua93]

So, I am currently in the middle of writing a Merthur fic heavily inspired by The Prince's Mistress by mayfriend. (If you haven't read it yet, please do, it is amazing.) Mainly because it ends at season 1 and my brain wanted the rest of it.

I am having trouble deciding of early or late I am going to allow the couple to get together. Hence this poll. As things stand the earliest they are getting together will be timeline equivalent of season 2. But I am actually evil enough to let them stew longer. Both options are delicious.

[reyl0ct]

Been reading way too many Merthur fics lately. And I have yet to read about a fic where some more important Nobles come to visit and one of them (A knight maybe or some important man) is head over heels for Merlin. And like can you imagine this Noble complimenting Merlin or giving him gifts and Arthur is becoming extremely jealous and a bit possessive.... I have an idea but I know I'll never getting around to writing it 💔

[catiecriesalot]

Speaking of Merlin and fluffy Merthur stories; as of late, I have been obsessed with the AO3 writer MerlinLikeTheBird.

They write some of my absolute favorite fluff! If you like your magic reveals, soft love confessions, and are a fan of good!morgana, i def recommend their writing.

If you love the tags: Idiots in Love, Best Friends, Emotion hurt/comfort, and Not Actually Unrequited Love and most importantly GETTING TOGETHER

Check her out if you haven’t yet! I’ve read 17/19 of their currently readable works on ao3 and they are so good!!! They have everything from cute little one shots, to medium length, and 100k fics. Great portfolio all around!

They are simple pleasant stories that bring sweet joys. Not to mention the writing is just incredible.

MerlinLikeTheBird manages to elegantly and effectively captivate with her delightful imagery and emotionally moving romance scenes!

I haven’t blushed so hard over a kiss in a long time!

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The Question of Debt

Hi! I've read a few Merlin fics recently where Arthur finds out that Merlin hasn't been paid what he should, if at all, 'cause no-one ever trained him or told him anything about his job. I'd love to see your take on this if you want to write it? With lots of Merlin & knights friendship too. Thank yooou <3 – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: merthur

Word Count: 4232

Look, alright, Arthur does try to give Merlin the benefit of the doubt, but when he walks into his room to see him immediately stand up straight, hide something behind his back, and that something is jingling, what exactly is he supposed to do? Well, if Merlin is to be believed, state his business and leave Merlin to his. But when a pouch of coin leads to a confrontation that reaches far beyond their normal spats, Arthur starts to uncover something very troubling about Merlin's time in Camelot.

Look, alright, Arthur does try to give Merlin the benefit of the doubt, but when he walks into his room to see him immediately stand up straight, hide something behind his back, and that something is jingling, what exactly is he supposed to do?

Well, if Merlin is to be believed, state his business and leave Merlin to his.

”Oh, and you’re King of Camelot now?”

“No.”

“Then what makes you think you can give me orders?”

”That wasn’t an order. It was a suggestion. One you asked for, by the way.”

“Merlin.”

Merlin just grins that stupid little grin that makes the tips of his ears stick out a bit more and Arthur is not being distracted by it, thank you very much. “Did you need something?”

“You’re late. Am I supposed to dress myself?”

”You’d be amazed what most young children are capable of, sire, most of them can actually dress themselves by the time they’re four or five.”

“Merlin!”

“Look, I’m just saying that it’s not a bother if we need to go over it again—“

Arthur picks up a pillow and smacks Merlin on the arm, which makes him laugh, yes, but more importantly it makes him let go of the coin purse he’s holding behind his back. It hits the floor with a clunk. They both look at it. Merlin scrabbles over the bed but Arthur’s faster and snatches it up.

“Hey! Give that back!”

He fends Merlin off with one hand, peeking inside. It’s hardly anything, really. “What is this, your tavern fund?”

“Give it back.”

”Is there something you’re saving up for? A pretty new tunic, perhaps, or one of those reck scarves you’re always wearing?”

“Arthur—“

“Or is this what you’re doing with—“

Whatever he was going to say is knocked out of him when Merlin slams into his side, hard enough to send him stumbling into the wall. His mouth opens in a wordless yell, righting himself and preparing to chew Merlin out because that could’ve hurt, you idiot, what were you thinking—

—and stops when he sees Merlin glaring at him.

Not the play-scowling they do when they’re bantering back and forth, but actually glowering at him like he’s made him angry. It’s enough to throw him off long enough for Merlin to shove the pouch into his pocket and storm past him, mumbling something about how they’re late for things already. He’s left there, staring at the painfully thin mattress with the moth-eaten blankets.

That was…strange.

He gives himself a shake. Merlin got like that about things sometimes, it’s probably not anything to worry about.

***

It’s definitely something to worry about.

Merlin’s never so much as breathed a word about what happened in his room that morning, which is concerning in and of itself. Merlin never hesitates to throw their previous arguments back in Arthur’s face if he thinks it’s deserved—and Arthur will be gracious and humble enough to say it is, most of the time—but he won’t even mention it. He doesn’t bring it up even if Arthur gives him the opportunity, he won’t even acknowledge what happened. And every time Arthur tries to talk about coin, or Merlin’s family, or anything that could be even remotely related, Merlin clams up faster than Gwaine when they say there’s no more ale left.

So, Arthur does what any concerned King would do, and snoops.

Gaius won’t say a word about it, and not in the way he normally does where he says he doesn’t know anything but secretly does. No, instead Gaius gets oddly stern with him. At least, as stern as he ever outwardly gets when he’s talking to Arthur. It’s that strange disappointed-not-quite-angry voice that just makes Arthur feel like he’s a boy again. He tries to sneak in there once when Merlin and Gaius are out collecting pots and nearly gets caught by a patrolling guard and decides that no, he won’t be doing that again.

It has nothing to do with the fact that Merlin and Gaius came back to a cauldron with some sort of potion in it spilled all across the floor. Absolutely not.

Then he goes to ask Gwen. Gwen and Merlin talk about things. Maybe Merlin has talked to Gwen about…whatever that pouch was. But Gwen looks at him with a frown and says that she doesn’t know.

“I’ve never seen him with a pouch like that before. Are you sure it was his? Not someone else’s?”

“He nearly tackled me into the wall over it, that doesn’t sound like something he’d do if it wasn’t his.”

Gwen snorts. “He what?”

“Didn’t work, obviously, he’s not strong enough.”

“Of course not, My King.”

Still, he can hear her snickering as he turns to go.

As a last resort, he turns to the knights.

“I don’t know what that could be,” Elyan says as they take care of their armor after a long day of training, “it’s not like Merlin’s known for hoarding great treasures, he’s not a dragon.”

“Maybe it’s just something of his he wants to keep secret?” Lancelot hangs the training sword back on the wall. “We can hardly begrudge a man his privacy.”

“It was just a small amount of coin. Barely more than a month’s pay.”

“Perhaps he’s sending it to his mother?”

‘“I’ve asked if it’s that, he didn’t answer.”

“Maybe he’s saving it.” They all turn to look at Gwaine. “What?”

”He’s been working here for years, and he’s saved not even a month’s pay?”

“Well, if he’s spending his days in the tavern,” Arthur grumbles and Gwaine laughs. “Are you the one encouraging him then?”

Gwaine laughs again, like Arthur’s made a joke, but when he sees Arthur’s expression, his face falls.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

If Gwaine is hiding something, then this is far bigger than Arthur thought.

He does not follow Gwaine that night, because he is a King and kings do not spy on their knights, but if he happens to be outside Gaius’s chambers that evening when Gwaine and Merlin are also there, then that’s just a coincidence. A very lucky coincidence.

“Arthur told us something after training, you know,” he hears Gwaine say through the cracked door.

A thunk as Merlin sets down something heavy. “What, that he needs his armor polished until you can all see his face in it?”

“That he found you in your room with a pouch of coin.”

The room goes so silent that Arthur starts to fret they’ve vanished into thin air. He holds his breath.

“That’s all he said?”

He winces at how cold Merlin sounds.

“That and he thought you were spending all your money at the tavern.” Merlin laughs at that. It’s a humorless thing. “He doesn’t know, then?”

Know what?

”No,” Merlin says lowly, “he doesn’t. Did you—“

“No one told him,” Gwaine says firmly and Arthur moves as close to the door as he dares, “he thinks I’m the one dragging you there every day.”

Merlin’s sigh of relief is palpable. “Good. That’s alright, then.”

There’s another moment of silence. Then Gwaine shifts and his mail rasps against the table.

“Was it to send to your mother, then? That coin?”

Merlin huffs. “No. That’s all I’ve got.”

“All you’ve got? But Arthur said it was less than a month’s pay, how—“

“A month? What, for him, maybe. That’s all I’ve ever gotten.”

Arthur blinks. And blinks. And blinks again. That can’t be right.

Gwaine seems to agree. “You—aren’t you being paid more because you’re Princess’s manservant?”

“News to me if that’s true.”

Arthur’s heard enough. He moves quickly and quietly back through the halls, sitting down at his desk and folding his hands. The candle snaps and crackles as he stares unseeing into the shadows of his room.

Two things. First, Merlin is not being paid what he should be, clearly. He needs to go and have a word with the steward, find out exactly what Merlin is being paid, how often, and how much he is owed in lost wages.

Second, Merlin is hiding something. Something that at least Gwaine knows, if not the rest of the knights. And it has something to do with the fact that Merlin is not, in fact, at the tavern nearly as much as Arthur thinks he is, if at all.

Sleep comes fitfully that night.

***

”If you glare at that parchment anymore, sire, you’re liable to burn a hole through it.”

Arthur doesn’t care. He’ll set fire to this whole office if he damn well pleases. Especially this rude, blasphemous, audacious piece of paper.

“How did this happen,” he snarls with enough venom to make the steward and even Leon shuffle, “did we not increase all servants to a minimum payment after my coronation?”

“We did, sire.”

“Then explain this.”

“Merlin was not chosen by you initially,” the steward says, voice remarkably even as Arthur glares at him, “he was appointed by your late father.”

“So?”

“So,” Leon continues, “the King’s appointments exist outside the normal agreements for servants. They have their own terms and conditions, including modified pay rates.”

”Show me.”

The steward gets up and goes to a chest of drawers, opening one and rifling through it. He produces a single sheaf of paper and carries it back over to the desk, adjusting his glasses.

“Here, sire, if you would?”

Arthur does not snatch it, because he is a King and kings do not snatch, and the paper was certainly already torn when it found its way into his grip.

Not for the first time, he wishes his father were somewhere he could talk to him, so he could shout about the man’s hypocrisy for serving the people when he would give them a barely-livable wage and call it fair.

“What is a King’s manservant supposed to be paid?” The steward slides another sheet of paper towards him. “Good. Change it to that right now.”

“Right away, sire.”

“And give him what he should’ve been paid before.”

“How much?”

“As much as he’s owed,” Arthur growls.

“We would only be able to excuse that if we went back as far as your coronation, which would be—“

”Fine, fine. Whatever makes it so you give the man what he’s owed.”

The steward looks far too pleased to carry out the order, which just gives Arthur more motivation to shout at Uther, but he pushes that down because he is a King, now, and kings do not scream at people who do not deserve it, if they scream at all.

“Will there be anything else, sire?”

“Not at this time. Thank you.”

”My pleasure, sire, as always.”

Arthur nods and turns to leave, striding down the hall with Leon at his side. The man is as inscrutable as always, not offering any condemnation or encouragement as Arthur mutters to himself.

“Didn’t so much as say anything, idiot, barely a livable wage for someone in the poorest part of the city, honestly…”

Leon doesn’t say a word until they reach Arthur’s chambers. “If I might?”

“Please, old friend, come in.” Arthur all but collapses into a chair and buries his face in his hands. “I don’t—why didn’t he tell me?”

”Merlin is a private person. It’s likely he preferred not to discuss such things, especially with you.”

Arthur peeks out between his fingers. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Aside from the fact that you’re his employer, the two of you don’t exactly have the…typical relationship between a king and his servant.”

Arthur huffs. “Which is why I thought he’d tell me.”

“Perhaps.”

“I know that tone of voice, or perhaps what?”

“Or perhaps Merlin didn’t know that something was amiss.”

Now Arthur does sit up, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“As the steward said: you did not choose Merlin upon his original appointment. He saved your life and the then King had him assigned to you. He was not trained to be a servant, much less the Crown Prince’s manservant. I seem to remember many complaints when he was first starting?”

“But that’s—but he did get training.”

“Only after he began working for you, and only from other servants who were not experienced with being your servant. The exception to this would be Gwen, but—“

“But I’m not Morgana.”

“Quite.”

Arthur slumps against the back of his chair. The worst part is that it makes a disturbing amount of sense: Merlin fought against him on how he was treated, how Arthur treated most servants, but not about the coin. Because he knew that people deserved to be treated better than that, but he didn’t know anything about how servants were supposed to be paid. And how could he? He wasn’t a servant—he came from a relatively poor village, how could he know? And so when he was asked by the steward originally—and probably with Uther ushering the process along as quickly as possible, he hadn’t known that he could ask for a better wage.

“Damn,” he mutters. Leon hums. “Damn.”

“You have a council meeting in a few hours, sire. The new allocation of funds is likely to be discussed.”

“Wonderful.” Leon chuckles at his tone. “Will you be there?”

“Of course, sire.”

As he goes, Arthur moves to his desk and starts writing out some of the formalities that the steward will need to add to the record. It’s mindless enough work that he starts to wonder about that other half of things. His gaze finds the door where Leon had just vanished.

Did Leon know?

It was almost a certainty. If there was one person Arthur could rely on to know almost everything that happened in Camelot, it was Leon. Something about the man’s quiet nature made him the ideal confidant, not just for the upper echelons but the lower as well. He swears Leon could put together a list of everything he had ever been told in confidence and it would run the length of the city.

So Leon knew, most likely. And with that came the conclusion that Arthur would never, ever be able to get it out of him.

Gwaine was probably the easier bet, but Gwaine isn’t about to come to this council meeting.

With that in mind, he quickly finishes the paperwork and sets it aside before Merlin comes sweeping in to make sure he’s ready. They manage to get there early, for once, and take their places before the rest of the lords come in to talk about whatever it is the lords believe is worth discussing.

“And as the last thing,” the steward says as the meeting winds to a close, “is the budget allocation for this next period.”

“I expect everything is the same?”

“With the exception of the compensation fund we discussed earlier, yes, sire, all the same.”

Arthur nods and moves to close the meeting when one of the lords speaks up.

“Pardon the interruption, sire, but…what compensation fund?”

“It has come to my attention that someone in the castle has not been paid what they are due, and so we are compensating them for their lost wages.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Merlin look at him.

“But surely that is not a sum worthy of factoring into the crown’s budget, so…” The lord trails off as he catches sight of said sum over the steward’s shoulder. He stands up with a horrid screech. “Have you gone mad?”

“Your tongue, my lord,” Leon says lowly, stepping forward, “you will address your king with respect.”

“I’ll address him with respect when he’s not spending a mountain of coin on a single person!” The lord tries to snatch the paper but the steward holds firm. “What is the meaning of this?”

“They were not paid the proper amount for several years,” Arthur says calmly, “we are rectifying this.”

“But this—this—this would put the crown in debt!”

“And any proceedings from a legal standpoint would as well. Or would you rather the crown be taken to a formal trial and then forced to pay owed wages?”

Leon steps up to contain the lord’s fury, but Arthur couldn’t care less. Not when Merlin is looking at him with his mouth open and something suspiciously shiny about his eyes.

He risks only a glance at him before he stands and brings the meeting to a close.

***

”That was good of you,” Gwaine says, quiet enough that it’s hidden under the clang and clash of swords on the training field, “making up his pay like that.”

“It’s what he’s owed.”

”Still.” He wipes his blade with a rag. “Never seen a King stick his neck out like that for a servant.”

“It’s Merlin.”

“That it is.” Their shoulders bump. “Still. Good one, mate.”

Arthur just nods. Merlin is across the field, tending to a table of armor that needs to be repaired. He sees Lancelot, Elyan, and Percival each go up to him in turn, talking to him or ruffling his hair. Even Leon glances over from where he’s supervising a group of younger knights and gifts him with a softer smile.

“He looks happier.”

“He does,” Gwaine agrees, stretching out next to him, “he’s sleeping better too.”

Arthur whips around. “How would you know how he’s sleeping?”

“Whoa, easy, Princess,” Gwaine laughs, “not like that. He’s finally bought himself a proper mattress, that’s all. Heard him talking about it with Gaius this morning.”

“Oh.”

Gwaine chuckles. “Don’t worry, none of us would dare.”

“You’d better not.”

“Oh, I like myself intact, thank you very much.” He sniffs. “Not that you’d actually manage to do that much damage.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Gwaine shoves him lightly and they both laugh. It trails off and they go back to watching the men train. At least, ostensibly they’re watching the men train. Really they’re both watching Merlin.

”I wish he’d told me,” Arthur says, almost too quiet to hear. He knows Gwaine does by the way he hums.

They look at each other. Arthur searches his expression for a long moment. Gwaine’s eyebrow twitches.

Tell me, he pleads silently, please, tell me.

Gwaine doesn’t say a word.

With a sigh, Arthur looks back at Merlin. Their eyes meet across the field. Merlin’s brow twitches in a silent you alright? Arthur nods. Merlin grins.

With a grunt, he heaves himself to his feet, readying his sword to go and relieve Percival from his bout with Lancelot, when Gwaine catches his arm.

“Arthur.”

“Yes?”

“Next time you and Merlin go on a hunt, don’t kill anything.”

He frowns, a thousand questions building up on the tip of his tongue, but he nods. Gwaine nods back and loudly goes to make a nuisance of himself.

“Sire,” Elyan says as he approaches, “is everything alright?”

“Fine, fine. Shall we?”

“Ready when you are.”

***

“I still don’t understand why you insist on these hunts,” Merlin grumbles as he shoves something else into a pack, “it’s not like we don’t have food in the castle.”

“Maybe it’s not about the food, Merlin.”

“Oh, so you just want to go kill something. Should’ve guessed.”

He cuffs him lightly upside the head. “Just get the horses ready.”

Merlin grumbles something unflattering about Arthur’s resemblance to his horse as he goes. Gwaine’s words turn over and over in his mind as he packs up the crossbow. He truly isn’t planning on killing anything, but the woods aren’t exactly free of dangers. At the very least, if there are bandits that decide to attack them.

Merlin can say all he wants about not enjoying hunts, but he can’t hide the way his shoulders slump when they leave the walls of the city. He has that terribly earnest and whimsical look on his face as they make it into the woods, the breeze ruffling his hair and the birds calling out from the trees. Arthur has to remind himself to look where his horse is going and not just stare at Merlin the entire time, but Merlin’s not exactly looking at him either, so he can get away with it.

He may have claimed this was a hunt, but Merlin hasn’t seemed to notice that they’re not hunting anything. They pass more than a few obvious deer tracks that Arthur completely ignores and any smaller game like rabbit scatter well before Arthur could so much as reach for the crossbow. Instead, Merlin is in a little world of his own, marveling at the forest like it’s the most splendid thing he’s ever seen.

Arthur supposes he can’t talk, that’s how he’s looking at Merlin.

Eventually, he calls for a break near the river. Merlin just hums and gets off the horse, taking the bit from its mouth so it can graze, and loosening the saddle’s girth. Arthur sets the pack on the ground and rifles through it for their water skins.

“I’m going to fill these up, set up the rest of camp.”

“But we haven’t caught anything yet.”

“No harm in taking a rest, is there? Though if you want to keep going—“

“No, no, rest is good.”

Arthur chuckles as he heads off through the trees, listening to Merlin bustle about behind him. He manages to get down to the river in a few short minutes, holding the water skins under a small waterfall to fill them.

”Hey,” he mutters to himself, “so I’m glad we sorted out the thing with your pay, but now apparently there’s something else I don’t know about. What is it?”

Yeah, like that would work.

“The knights know something about you and I’m worried it’s similar. What is it?”

Also not likely to work.

“I’m worried about you and also quite hopelessly in love. Help.” He scoffs at himself. “I’d have better luck telling my father I want to court a servant.”

He mutters half a dozen more to himself, each worse than the last, before he realizes the sun is going down and he’s been ‘getting water’ for far too long. He drags his feet through the brush as he goes back, still muttering, when he hears something from the direction of their camp. Instinctively, he crouches and reaches for the dagger on his hip.

He peers around a tree and—

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, no.

Merlin is sitting in the middle of camp with golden tendrils of magic—it must be magic, it couldn’t possibly be anything else—creating a suspended web of leaves and flowers in a sphere around himself. Butterflies flit around him like he’s some forest nymph. His fingers move and twirl through the air and it responds to him like a living thing. Arthur is speechless.

Merlin has magic.

Merlin had magic.

And it’s beautiful and incredible and so very Merlin and Arthur is done for.

Just as he’s coming to the conclusion of how irrevocably bollocked he is, Merlin turns and sees him.

The yelp he makes is heartbreaking and all the things crash down around him as he scrabbles away. But he goes too fast and ends up flat on his back, staring at Arthur with his eyes so wide he can see the whites all the way around. Arthur quickly decides that this is unacceptable and Merlin is never allowed to be scared like this, and so he raises his hands in a gesture of surrender.

Merlin doesn’t move.

Slowly, so slowly, Arthur starts to make his way across the clearing. Merlin flinches and bites his lip to stifle his whimpers whenever Arthur accidentally snaps a twig or crushes a leaf. It takes an age and Arthur’s shoulders ache by the time he makes it, but then he’s standing over Merlin and he reaches out a hand.

Merlin takes it. He can feel it tremble.

Carefully, he pulls Merlin to his feet. The poor thing still looks so scared and Arthur wracks his brain for something, anything he could say to make this better, let Merlin know he would never, that it’s all going to be alright…

But he’s never been particularly good with words.

Actions, on the other hand…

Telegraphing his movements so Merlin can stop him, he cups the side of Merlin’s face, feeling his jaw tremble. With a courage he does not feel, he leans in.

Merlin makes a surprised noise when he kisses him, but slowly, slowly, he kisses back.

Camelot could go to war, bandits could ambush them, Uther himself could stride into the clearing and Arthur would tell him to wait.

They break apart but dare not separate, still breathing the same air. Arthur swallows heavily and pulls Merlin closer.

“I’m going to legalize magic.”

Merlin’s breath stutters against his cheek. “You’re—you what?”

“I’m going to legalize magic.”

“So…you’re not going to kill me?”

“No. Never.” He tangles his fingers in Merlin’s hair. “I would sooner throw myself on the sword.”

Merlin huffs a strangled laugh. “Will you kiss me again?”

Arthur doesn’t hesitate.

Gwaine is never going to let him live this down. But he’s the King, so it doesn’t matter.

[the-pen-pot]

Hi! I came from your AO3! I love a good slow burn Merthur fic- and while I (not so patiently) wait for more of yours I was wondering if you had any recs? Your recs tab seems to not be Merlin based, but I apologize if you have posted about it and I'm missing it! Thanks for the guidance- I LOVE your work :)

Ohhh, sorry this was a late reply, lovely! I really need to update my fic recs page. You can find all my Merlin bookmarks here but I can particularly recommend the following authors!

OhHeyThereBigBadWolf (For Want of a Nail is a brilliant fic)

Horsecrazy (A really unique style which I love!)

QueeroftheDagger (So much good Merlin fic!)

Syllic - (I particularly like So are they all, all honourable men)

Astolat (Everything. just read all their Merlin fics.)

Thenerdyindividual (Protect you anyway is *chef's kiss*)

RurouniHime (Dower The Stars is one of my absolute faves)

Unpossible (I love Gadrene, but as with all fics, do check the tags)

Footloose (The Loaded March series, if you've not already read it, but all their stuff is superb)

Hope that gives you something good to read!

[centurieslove]

that... changed me as a person

I'm going fucking insane over this fic

[kimdokjas]

tag games! 💌

i'm so late and i'm 100% sure i missed several of these because tumblr only keeps notifications for the last ??? who knows how many months. so sorry for the delay! i promise i wasn't ignoring them i genuinely just forgot 😭

edit: i had this drafted since january 18 and i forgot to post it. again 💀 i'm leaving it exactly as it was as a capsule in time for myself though

~~

tagged by @orviposition @karura @misakarose @hansooyung @milaghoul - thank you for the tag mira, may, tay, roy, and mila! 💕💕 these were actually three separate tag games but since they were really similar i decided to combine them!

tag someone you want to know AND/OR some of your besties

favorite color: blue!

3 ships: yoohankim (orv), llojavi (tged), shiguang (sgdr)

first ship ever: merthur (? genuinely can't remember sorry my liege)

last song: IS - sue

currently listening to: dizzy bezerko album by unlike pluto (nothing but bangers it's insane)

last movie: children who chase lost voices (2011)

currently watching: sabikui bisco, a sign of affection, cherry magic, mr. villain's day off, solo leveling, 7th time loop, dungeon meshi

other stuff I watched this last year: my main obsessions were buddy daddies, trigun stampede, moriarty the patriot

shows I dropped this last year/didn't finish: i rarely drop shows but i had to pause to your eternity bc it was making me cry too hard lmaoo

currently reading: the greatest estate developer, sabikui bisco, lord of the mysteries, thriller trainee, and a bunch of manhwa/manhua

currently consuming: coffee (decaf bc caffeine is now poison to me)

currently craving: idk i think a cinnamon roll could fix me actually

currently working on: crocheting a snoopy-themed gift for my mom's bday!

current obsession: tged brainrot babeyyy

sweet/spicy/savory? savory!

relationship status: happily single amen

last thing I googled: ranjatai

~~

tagged by @aomitois thank you tem! 💞

Which feeling that has no name are you?

~~

tagged by @userfrieren thank you sm for tagging me jenna! 💖

alias/name: gaby

birthday: sep 3

zodiac: virgo

height: too tall

hobbies: reading novels, playing video games, making gifs

favourite colour: blue

favourite book: omniscient reader's viewpoint !!!!! it changed my life please read it i am on my knees

last song: 云与海 - 阿YueYue

last movie/show: the middle

recent read: i think the last thing i finished was mdzs (i say this when i haven't even managed to finish the extras lol)

inspiration: finding something that hits like orv is what keeps me going ngl

story behind url: idc if i have a kim dokja url i WILL beat the kdj kinnie allegations 💪

fun fact: i know at least the basics of 11 languages!

what’s the colour palette of your name?

(duplicated image for sizing) i actually love this! these are all colors that i would normally wear bc i'm a big fan of subdued shades with a slight touch of earth tones!

~~

tagged by @sugaaz and @hansooyung to do this picrew! thank you moon and roy 💕

~~

tagged by @koushuwu to do this picrew! tysm mica this was so cool! 💖

~~

tagged by @sawaisanna to post a wip - thank you malina! 💞

i don't have any edits in the works atm, but here's a wip from a fic i'll likely never post.

~~

top six reads of 2023

tagged by @tls123 - tysm francesca! 💖

global examination by 木苏里 *

devil venerable also wants to know by 青色羽翼

thriller trainee by 妄鸦 *

the book of disquiet by fernando pessoa

mist unlimited by 微风几许

camera lucida by roland barthes

(*) haven't finished these yet

first things first can i just point out how fucking funny it looks to list danmei and philosophical books together bc it's sending me 😭

i read relatively "few" books in 2023 but that's only because i spent the most time reading two monstrous books that unfortunately didn't make it to my top 6 :/ (iykyk)

it seems like 2023 was the year of narratives that break out of their confines, self-awareness, and deconstructing paradigms <3

~~

💫 preference 💫

tagged by @aomitois - tysm tem!

ancient or modern

bitter or sweet

chocolate or vanilla

coffee or tea

create or destroy

day or night

early bird or night owl

freckles or dimples

gold or silver

greek mythology or egyptian mythology

macarons or eclairs

hot or cold

thunder or lightning

typewritten or handwritten

secret garden or secret library

spicy or mild

dark magic or light magic

virtue or vice

ocean or desert

moon or stars

rough or smooth

mermaids or sirens

known or unknown

rain or snow

~~

tagging for any of these: (no pressure!) @icythot-bakubitch @ruanbaijie @feitanporter @itoshisae @dokjaism

@mudanonaito @himawaari @aroacehirano @mauxanhduong @apparently-artless

@72g @miyamiwu @focryst @justapieceintheirgames @smol-ackerman + anyone else who wants to join!

[raindrops-on-concrete]

Some Fic Recs

I've been reading a lot of fanfiction lately and also organizing my Ao3 bookmarks into collections, so I thought I might as well share some recommendations on here.

Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation:

if you ever feel alone, don’t - a fun texting fic about the juniors trying to get WangXian together

save a sword, ride a socialist - very unhinged modern au fake dating WangXian, but also very fun and mostly lighthearted

on the unfortunate termination of your betrothal - approx. 15 years post-canon Jin Ling/Lan Sizhui that somehow end up in some sort of situationship after Lan Sizhui's fiancée calls off the wedding; it's very tender and just a lot of emotions

Gremlin Twitter Boyfriend - a lovely multivoice cast podfic, modern au fake dating WangXian, just very funny and lighthearted

Dream SMP/SBI:

How to Smile with Bloody Teeth - bedrock bros fluff where Tommy is the blood god and Techno is his last devout believer; it also has two sequels, one about Phil and on about Wilbur; a lot of very fun dramatic irony in the entire series

It's Not Arson, It's Team-building - tntduo modern au where they're both counselors at a summer camp and Wilbur is very melancholy because it's his last summer as a counselor

six fly amongst bloody stars - Aria Cinabun's lesser known space au, I believe, where Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, Purpled, Drista and Lani are a crew of space vigilantes that accept a job to kidnap senator Nihachu in order to save a planet which makes them the number one most wanted criminals in the galaxy

take this compass, follow it home - a sbi foster fic that deals with neurodivergency and self-worth issues; it's not sad but defintely heavy at times

[Podfic] CLASSIFIEDS. - a multivoice podfic, SCP au sbi told through incident reports and files on supernatural beings that are being held at the SCP foundation

Stray Kids RPF:

the book of us: electricity - Seungjin highschool au, they meet by chance on twitter during Seungmin's second to last year of highschool; just a very real down-to-earth story about teenagers, not knowing what the future holds and about not living the teenage dream; it also has a very eloquent writing style imo

pathos prairie - Minsung modern au, slice-of-life, in which Han has OCD and struggles with internalized homophobia, very down-to-earth, has a reoccurring them of the number 3 which ties in with the OCD plot, has its tender moments but also gets quite heavy

Merlin:

The Student Prince - modern university au with magic Merthur, where Merlin is the most powerful wizard of his generation and supposed to protect Arthur, but Arthur is also his roommate and really fucking annoying (I linked the podfic bc it's very lovely, but you can obviously also read it)

FayJay's Merlin fics are generally very good, if you want to check them out after the Student Prince

feel free to also check out my collections for more recs or shoot me a message, I have lots of more fics to rec that I haven't bookmarked yet (bc alas I'm super bad at bookmarking, I usually forget):

1 Fics that rewired my brain | Archive of Our Own - some of my favourite fics of all time that I consider to be masterpieces in their own right

2 Rain's Favourite Fics | Archive of Our Own - all my bookmarks sorted into subcollections by ship or fandom

4 Rain's Podfic Collection | Archive of Our Own - most of the podfics I've listened to, but unfiltered, so doesn't necessarily mean that I enjoyed them

[sneakyboymerlin]

Hello! Would you happen to have any non-Merthur Merlin fanfic recs? Preferably with Gwen in them?

So sick of most fics just inserting Merthur in even when it’s not tagged that way 🤦🏽‍♀️

I’m pulling straight from my bookmarks for this one (filtered to include Gwen 💜❤️🧡)

Before Excalibur - Madlady2

Gwen comes home to her father, Tom the Blacksmith, working late. He is making Excalibur. This is just a scene between a proud father and an empathetic daughter.

Short little ficlet (330 words) showing one very significant day in the life of Gwen and Tom.

The Once & Future Besties - whitecrossgirl

Arthur and Merlin may be two sides of the same coin however there was one relationship that Merlin had in Camelot that was more important than that. His friendship with Gwen.

5 chapter, 5k word friendship/adventure fic. What more could anyone ask for?

Company - ArienElensar

“There, now you have some company whilst we’re gone,” Elyan said.

Elyan gets Gwen the greatest gift of all. (No, it’s not the friends we made along the way.) Another oneshot, only 565 words, but super sweet.

My All The World - Signy1

Arthur had forgiven the magic. He'd forgiven the lies. He'd forgiven the mistakes. He'd forgiven the unintended consequences of actions taken with the best of intentions and the worst of outcomes. But this... this was beyond forgiveness.

A longer one, at 4 chapters and nearly 10k words. Very grim and dramatic, with a bittersweet conclusion. I remember Gwen being fairly prominent in this, stuck in a difficult position as Merlin’s friend and Arthur’s wife while the two are at odds. TWs in fic tags.

The Ballad of Arthur and Gwaine - rbrgl

A quest for some mysterious object rendered mysterious by its sheer mysteriousness, for example, was enough to justify any lethally foolish adventure.

This one’s just hit 10 years old (and maybe it’s just me, but you can tell, lol). Classic Arthur vs. Gwaine story, told primarily from Gwen’s POV. About 11,700 words.

some have called thee mighty and dreadful - stanzas

En route to the kingdom of Nemeth, Camelot's party is attacked. Gwen and Merlin are separated from the rest of their traveling party. Merlin is gravely wounded, leaving them with the last dredges of hope that they will catch up with Arthur and the others at Nemeth's border.

Some 5.5k words of Gwen getting to show off and be the hero. @stanzas never lets us down.

Aaaaaand if I may be so bold…

I’ve written a couple fics myself that might meet your standards. They’re predominantly merwaine-focused since it is my agenda, but when you wanna write Gwen, you wanna write Gwen. So I wrote Gwen. I’ll rec you Empty Words and A Change For The Better (both comedies) and The Other Side (NOT a comedy—heed the trigger warnings before reading).

Hope you enjoy :D

[trickster-shi]

Five Fandoms and Five Ships

Tagged by @sparklytimetraveler forever ago, I kept reminding myself to go make a post and never did >_< BUT. Better late than never.

Sterek

What can I say? I love the Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic to bits and these two sarcastic assholes just hit all the right buttons for me. They had such great chemistry on screen and there are so many good fics written about them that I'm always finding new faves to hoard. Still my current obsession and probably will be for a while, I never get tired of reading this pairing. Or writing it.

2. Zukka

I never watched ATLA as a kid, I only discovered it during Covid when Netflix added it, triggering the renaissance explosion on my Tumblr dashboard. I fell in love with all the characters and multiple ships, but this remains my absolute favorite. Sokka had my heart from the beginning and Zuko stole it during the Pouhai Stronghold episode, and I spent way too long binge reading their tag.

3. Cougar/Jensen

No one was more surprised than I was when I just latched onto The Losers, and these two assholes in particular just completely ruined my life for a while. I've lost count of how many times I watched the movie and I even went out and bought the graphic novels the movie was based on, and I am completely content to ignore how those ended in favor of the cute as shit ending the movie had. Also, I can't hear Don't Stop Believin' and not smile like an idiot anymore.

4. Tony Stark/Steve Rogers

...you know, I'm starting to sense a theme here. Hmm. Yeah, we're gonna ignore that for now. ANYWAY. I got hooked hard on these two after The Avengers movie came out and happily read all the team fics where everyone lived in Stark Tower and these two danced around each other before finally getting together. They aren't my only ships in this fandom but they are my top one out of them all.

5. Sam/Dean & J2

Supernatural has probably been my biggest fandom due to just how long I was in it while it was airing and because I participated in the fandom during it's hay day on Live Journal. Which was so wild, eye opening, and amazing. I even managed to save up and go to a convention and meet them, which I still regard as the best weekend of my life. I love both these pairings for different reasons and can't really separate them so they get their own spot together. Even though I haven't read any or rewatched the show in a long time, this fandom will always be my first home.

Honorable Mentions:

Merthur, BBC's Merlin

Parker/Hardison/Eliot, Leverage

Zoe/Wash, Firefly

Charlie Spring/Nick Nelson, Heartstopper

Eddie Diaz/Evan Buckley, 911

Low-key tagging anyone that wants to do it, just tag me back so I can read your post, too! :D

[earlgreyinpajamas]

by any chance do you know any merthur au in which arthur is a prince/king and merlin is his assigned royal consort? i've been craving it after reading the dynamic for another ship i love!

To speak the whole truth (in prayers, words and thoughts) by GonEwiththeWolveS (@lexa-gui)

"Does he frighten you?” Arthur grows quiet, mulling the question over. “I guess. I do not know him, or his motives. And to be in possession of that much power…” It never ends well, in Arthur’s experience. “Why the interest in Camelot? In me — an arranged marriage? Why would he pursue that after… everything?” “Maybe you should ask him.” “Hmm,” Arthur muses. “Maybe I will."

In which an alliance is forged between Camelot and the Druid people to beat back Morgana at Camlann -- one that calls for the union of the Once and Future King, and the High Druid Chieftain, Emrys.

~~~

the ANGST!!! it's so well written i love it sm

2. This Is My Idea by Nerd_by_Definition (@nerd-by-definition)

In order to secure peace between the magical and non-magical kingdoms of Albion, Prince Merlin and Prince Arthur are given the opportunity to court each other in the years leading up to their highly anticipated arranged marriage. Unfortunately, neither one seems keen on being together—until they are.

~~~

ok they aren't married yet in this fic, but they are arranged to be married, and it is one of the cutest fics i've read

3. Of Kings and Sorcerers by psychicdreams

Arthur and Merlin are clearly in love, but are unaware of it. The Knights of Camelot decide to fix this before it's too late.

~~~

ok so this is an arranged marriage due to meddling from knights fic with a substantial plot

other arranged marriage recs:

arranged marriage au, pt 2

[chronic-dreamer]

Get to know me tag game

I was tagged by @traincat! 🩷 Tag whoever you want to get to know better!

Three ships: ikesoren (fire emblem path of radiance / radiant dawn) , who thanks to @ladypfenix have been nearly all I've been thinking about. Bingqiu (scum villain self saving system) who are still my darlings who I love to write for. Merthur (bbc merlin) an old ship for me that I've been reviving lately through this one long fic I really want to write.

First ship: I genuinely don't remember. I've been getting obsessed with media I like since forever and kid me definitely had some ships from cartoons and stuff like that. I thiink the first one I joined fandom for must've been anime related but I have no idea.

Last song: Lost - BTS

Last film: split. It was as frustrating an experience as I imagined it would be, but a friend wanted to see it.

Currently reading: Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries. I was told it was a cozy book about faeries, it's delivering so far!

Currently watching: I've been watching suspicious partner for the first time and re-watching inuyasha. It's been fun to have some romances to wind down with after I spent a week watching solely horror and suspense movies with a friend (well, suspicious partner does have a murder mystery plot... but still, it's a romance, it manages to be pretty chill).

Currently consuming: if this means food, nothing. For things in general, I guess fanfic.

Currently craving: soup, since I was told it might be a dinner option.

Tagging: @fireandgrimstone @gothicakvtagawa @transmanjohnconstantine @sepia-mahogany @oneeyedoctogod and anyone else who'd like to join!