#merlin prompts

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

Need a fic where Arthur has to get married before he is crowned King, so he's invited countless noblewomen and royal princesses to a competition for his hand in marriage. He doesn't want to however he cannot ignore the traditions set by his ancestors.

Merlin is of course jealous but also amused. He wants to see Arthur happy and if it means helping Arthur find a suitable bride and hiding his feelings of love deeper than before so be it; that is until Arthur pulls Merlin to the side and asks for his help.

Merlin nods, he probably shouldn't have nodded, he should have ran when Arthur began grinning mischievously.

Oh no...I'm not going to like this one bit. Merlin thought.

The Crown Prince tugs Merlin along the corridor towards his sister's chambers where Morgana and Gwen were waiting for their arrival.

Morgana has a sly smirk watching him with eager eyes as Gwen stands beside her with a helpless smile as all three told Merlin, in great detail, what his mission was to be should he choose to accept it. Or should they say the illusion of accepting...they had already decided Merlin was perfect for it.

"You want me to enter the competition as the only male—in a dress might I add—to marry Arthur!?"

Morgana's smirk widens her gaze gleeful as Gwen sends him an encouraging smile, dear friend that Merlin adores but is currently in cahoots with Morgana and Arthur, is now an enemy in his watery eyes. He totally won't make blueberry muffins for her ever again! And don't even get him started on Arthur, that prat. Can't believe he felt sorry for him and wishing him happiness.

Oooohhh I'm so mad! No doubt the dress is Arthur's idea! It was one time, ONE TIME, and he thinks I wear dresses!?

"First off, I'm not a noble. There. End of story. Now if you would excuse me—" Merlin turns around to leave but Arthur quickly grabs him and throws the lad over his shoulder.

"Don't worry ladies I'll convince my—" Arthur fondly pats Merlin's bottom, "—future queen of his role and what he needs to do to win."

"NO LET ME GOOOO—"

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Here's a quick au idea that just came to me today:

In a modern au where Merlin is still waiting on Arthur, historians recently discovered a whole batch of legal documents from Arthur's reign. These documents detail many changes he made to the laws of Camelot, including the repeal of the magic ban (which the historians assumed was just a halt on witch hunts).

However, one thing that the historians note as strange were the large number of laws that only applied to the king's personal manservant, who was never mentioned by name in the documents. These laws range from oddly specific, such as 'the king's manservant shall not accompany knights to the tavern', to downright bizarre decrees that make no sense, like 'the king's manservant is hereby forbidden from pointing out stew in the king's hair.'

The historians' first guess was that perhaps King Arthur was going a bit mad in his later years, but they didn't find any other ludicrous laws besides the ones pertaining to his manservant, which then led the historians to question the identity of this manservant and his relationship to the king.

All of this culminates in a historical exhibit showcasing the documents and postulating on this mysterious manservant of king Arthur. Many scholars flock to the exhibit, eager to examine the documents and debate their meaning and impact within a historical context.

Which then leads to a very tired Dr. Merlin Emrys, a medieval history professor, being dragged by his colleagues to see the exhibit and having to stifle is laughter as these world-renowned scholars tear their hair out trying to understand what was essentially a prank war between him and Arthur.

[pigfacedbitch]

How Morgana got Arthur to indirectly confess his feelings to Merlin...

Merlin & Morgana : [ hiding in Arthur's bedroom as he sleeps ]

Merlin: Are you sure this will work?

Morgana: Trust me, it will. [ throws a pillow on Arthur's face ] Wake up!

Arthur: [ jolts awake ] What the- Who's there?!

Morgana: [ uses magic to alter her voice ] Arthur Pendragon, Albion is in danger. People in Camelot will perish and the dark forces will destroy everything you hold dear.

Arthur: [ terrified ] Oh my God...

Morgana: You are our greatest hope, the one who can save us all. We are counting on you to help us.

Arthur: Okay?

Morgana: All we need to know is...

Arthur: Yes?

Morgana: The truth. Do you love Merlin?

Arthur: What? No!

Morgana: Don't lie, boy! Even a blind man can see it! Now speak!

Arthur: F-Fine. I love Merlin, so much. For a long time now, but I don't think he feels the same.

Merlin: (๏_๏)

Morgana: YES! Err, I mean thank you. You may sleep again. [ discreetly leaves with Merlin ]

Arthur: That's it? [ waits for a reply but no one answers ] Hey, did I save the world or not?!

Morgana: Arthur's an idiot. [ nudges Merlin ] He's YOUR idiot, though.

Merlin: (｡･ω･｡)

more incorrect quotes here!

[akelafang]

Golden Age King Arthur accidentally gets sent back in time to the beginning of his reign. While making his way to Camelot hoping to find Merlin and figure out how to get back to his own time he runs into Agravaine making his own way to Camelot for the first time. Knowing he was a traitor working for Morgana in his own timeline, Arthur kills him and decides to take his place. No one had seen Agravaine since Ygraine's death, there were no portraits of him in the castle, and Arthur's premature greying hair has to be good for something other than Merlin calling him a silver fox. He can pass as his own uncle and be the caring advisor that young him deserved damn it!

[vandalyssm]

Merlin Prompt #2: Immortal Merlin

Merlin: "I shouldn't fall in love with you. I musn't."

Arthur: "Why?"

Merlin: "There'll be a day where you leave and I'll never be the same again."

[Arthur shakes his head.]

Arthur: "Just let yourself love me now," (Arthur's breath brushes against Merlin's lips.) "And never forget how it felt."

[Arthur's tongue licks the roof of his mouth, and Merlin mourns for a day that hasn't yet come.]

[merlinemrys]

remind me to write a mergwenthur fic where merlin and gwen have to pretend to be nobles who are courting for ~some reason~ idk idc but arwen’s together and arthur begrudgingly agreed bc merlin is the only man both he and gwen are okay with doing this façade and arthur has zero belief that this scheme will work bc he’s never really seen merlin court anyone and gwen—while she did have a crush on that awkward country boy when he first arrived at camelot—doesn’t know how merlin would fair in stuff like dancing and romance bc she also hasn’t seen much of him be romantic!

cut to a dance scene where merlin blatantly flirts with gwen and gwen’s all flustered and giggly and wide-eyed bc oh dear gods he’s so attractive and he’s so charming and you have arthur in the corner or whatever swallowing his tongue bc he has never seen merlin act with so much confidence, like he was born to charm his way into people’s lives and he realised he can’t even feel a single ounce of jealousy bc he wonders what it’d feel like to be the object of merlin’s affections.

and when arthur and gwen are alone, gwen admits, her hand coming up to the base of her neck where merlin’s touch lingered, “i didn’t think he’d be so good at courting.” and then she fumbles, continuing, “not that i thought he’d be bad at courting—it’s just that i rarely ever saw him—oh goodness. you know what i mean.”

and arthur laughs and tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear before tipping her chin up. he thinks of merlin and gwen on the dance floor, twirling beautifully and capturing the attention of everyone around them while they only had eyes for each other. “merlin’s full of surprises.”

annddddddd idk i never thought of anything other than this ngl

[amirmeavid]

hc that merlin did one day actually teach arthur poetry, specifically the oral tradition of ealdor, because Arthur may be extremely well-read, but he's been deprived of genuine connection most of his life so he'd hardly know the basics of folklore, let alone orally spoken poems which were never written down.

Arthur reciprocates this by teaching Merlin the poetry he does know, patiently explaining each word or phrase which merlin doesn't really understand because traditional poetry can be hard.

Leon spots them curled up together in bed Merlin's head in arthur's lap, Arthur holding a book of poetry. He smiles and leaves them alone.

[multifandombullshitbabes]

21

24

27

And

30

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

thank you so much, I shall answer these prompts NEOW

21: Fics you wish you could find more of?

Oooohhh more fics involving Gwen, that's for sure. When she's written right she's one of the strongest, most relatable characters imo, 'cause all she wants is for the world to be right and just and kind and everything wants to prove her wrong, but she won't back down from her views. I would also adore more Elyan, just in general. And complete rewrites of the show 'cause the one I'm reading right now is so good I might do one as well. Also modern au's where they're all like secret badass spies or smth, 'cause those are so fucking cool (i am accepting fic recs for ALL of this, please feed me y'all)

24: Everyone knows that fandom doesn’t like uther but what are your feelings about gaius?

I think 1) we need more concrete info about how he was when he was younger, but 2) i think he is severely complicated and wanted what was best of merlin and morgana, but failed the two while also giving them a ton of love. With morgana, he just didnt want her to pursue her power lest she become uther's next victim, cuz gaius cares for the pendragon siblings like his own. With merlin, he was just trying his best with his overpowered nephew, who alos has a destiny regarding his people's genocide's son, and he just doesn't know what to do half the time, kinda like merlin. I didnt like how he lied to merlin n morgana, how he gaslit her and how he made merlin hide and become so anxious abt his magic (and we see what that looks like season 5), but i get it. I really get it. I dont know what i wouldve done if one wrong move could mean the death of two kids he considers his own. I bet he was scared all the time and hated himself for it.

27: Modern Merlin headcanons, if any?

OH BOY. OHHHH BOY. So many. It really depends on what au i have for modern merlin, but I'll give you a few generals:

he's a teacher of sorts; i like the idea that he's kinda collecting magical anomalies and teaching them how to understand their powers and being, since he knows what its like to be afraid of urself, so he's a personal magic teacher. I also rly like my magic elementary school au, since its merlin teaching magic to a bunch of kids, which is adorable

he has officially one cat, a black one called Midnight, that accidentally became immortal along the way and now hes severally attached. I say officially since hes also friends with any other animal that he might come across and they recognise him if he passes them again. disney princess fr

he's figured out his gender and he can turn into a woman if he wants; she looks exactly like merlin, same height, same weight n muscles, the hair is longer cuz merlin likes it that way and her voice is deep and gorgeous

his favourite weapon is a staff or any long distance fighting weapon of the sort; also he looks cool as fuck fighting with it, but thats just a bonus

I'll stop here but i have SO MANY MORE

30: Side character death that makes you the maddest?

Elyan. There was, quite literally, no need for it. I was gonna say Lancelot, since we did not get enough of him, but his death made sense for his character. Elyan? What the fuck was that? It was just for pain and nothing else. What did it add to the story if not just a sad funeral scene and thats it? It just felt like they wanted him gone n found a way, and that pisses me off. I feel like him saving gwen and living would've given such a complex situation when she turns evil, 'cause what if she "confides" more n more in her brother, creating a rift between arthur n elyan, which then creates a rift between arthur n the knights, which would just isolate him further n make him suffer, which is what morgana wanted!! we couldve had protective brother elyan! I think i just wanted more knights in general.

Thank you so much for this ask, I yapped a fuck ton but it was funn

[raviraaa]

#9 of random merlin prompts:

s04e09: Lancelot du Lac AU

Morgana/Gwen or… Morgana/Gwen/Lancelot

When Morgana resurrects Lancelot, things don‘t go according to plan. The plan was to have Lancelot seduce Gwen. The plan she is currently adjusting to is seducing Gwen herself while trapped in Lancelots body. Added bonus is the sufferingly noble knight plaguing her with his thoughts and feelings for Gwen and trying to stop her plan while battling for control over his/their(?) body. It would be much easier if he wasn’t as privy to Morgana‘s thoughts, feelings and deepest desires as she was to his.

[seth-whumps]

weakening curses disguised as expensive gifts. rings that suck out the life force of the bearer. bracelets that seep a sickness into their veins. chains that drain magic out of the prisoner to use as a conduit. innocent looking runes that nullify healing. a brooch siphoning energy from the heart. swords that drink the wielder's blood as much as their foe's. knight whumpees faltering and stumbling, royals leaning on walls through surges of dizziness and illness and unstoppable fatigue, a servant's hands halt their collapse, struggling to stay awake...........

[th30ra3k3n]

“How could you recognize me

after all these years?”

“What a stupid question.

I was born knowing you.”

Dedicated to @thiamsxbitch

[cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu]

Need a story where Arthur is a ghost who follows Merlin around all day and only in dreams can he communicate and touch Merlin. But to Merlin, he thinks it's not real that he's imagining the Arthur in his mind because no way would Arthur, his golden King would ever call him precious or beautiful, it's just wishful thinking on his part.

So Merlin lives a long life without knowing Arthur is there with him, this time it's Arthur's turn to watch and protect Merlin from the shadows as the warlock once did when Arthur was alive.

Arthur could've stayed in Avalon til he was needed yet the urge to return to Merlin is powerful, although he entrusted the care of Camelot into the hands of Guinevere and Leon he could not do the same of Merlin, and only upon his death did he finally realise why.

He was in love with his best friend. Always had been.

And so it is with great stubbornness and a helpful hand from Freya, whom he just found out was Merlin's first love, he frees himself from Avalon and returns as a spirit that guards Merlin's dreams from nightmares and fights off evil creatures that want Merlin's magic or wish to claim Merlin for themselves...and if some of those creatures happen to be humans who wanted to court Merlin well, he's not going to make it easy on them, on his knight's honour he will protect Merlin's virtue!

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Hello! I'm back with another au idea for you all on this fine day! I hope you enjoy! :D

In this au, Arthur learns of the prophecy of Emrys and the Once and Future King before he learns about Merlin's magic. Because of this, he thinks that the golden age of Albion will result in Merlin becoming Emrys and thus losing his soul to magic. So, to ensure that Merlin is never taken from him by magic, Arthur resolves to make sure that there is no peace in Albion, so the golden age can never come to pass.

While this premise might seem angsty, I personally would see it more as a crackfic where everything Arthur does to try to prevent peace and prosperity winds up making everything more peaceful and prosperous instead!

Arthur would try to plunge Albion into chaos and war in a variety of ways, but all of them backfire on him. As a method of last resort, Arthur repeals the magic ban because he thinks that it'll ruin Camelot forever, only for that to be the last thing that finally brings lasting peace to the kingdom.

At one point during this, Arthur would try to reach out to Morgana on ways to ruin all the peace in the land (since, in his opinion, she's the expert on that), but Morgana realizes that Arthur is trying to burn down Uther's legacy and is going to repeal the magic and takes it to mean that Arthur is finally seeing things her way and decides to be friends with Arthur again, since they're now united in their goals of spreading chaos and ruining everything Uther built. Which would, inevitably, lead to more peace and unity in Camelot, against Arthur's best efforts.

I think that the funniest (or most heartbreaking) part of this entire idea is that Arthur is fully willing to deliberately ruin his kingdom and plunge the land into war if it means keeping Merlin by his side. This is because, in Arthur's mind, nothing Arthur can do to ruin his own kingdom can be as devastating to him as the consequences of Merlin being taken from him.

[multifandombullshitbabes]

10

11

12

13

And

14

let's fucking go round two

10: Favorite character.

this is quite literally one of the hardest questions for me, 'cuz whenever i choose one, another one pops in my head and makes a good case for themselves. hmm. I might have to say, except for the main 4, freya!! i love her, theres so much potential there. Freylin is one of my otps, right after merthur, etc.

11: Random Knights Headcanon.

Without them ever meaning to, late nights at the tavern always turn grim and deep. It always starts loud and happy and chaotic, but then they get emotional or wistful or what have you. They're both so emotionally repressed (men) but also closer than any brother any of them may or may not have.

12: Random Merlin Headcanon.

He is deeply scared of the idea of being stuck in a cave filled with water, even if the water is just shin deep. He got a really bad scare once when he was a kid and it never left him, even when he knows he can save himself. It always freezes him up to the point where it becomes dangerous.

13: Random Servant Headcanon.

There's a few people that the servants consistently thirst for, and they do sometimes move their duties around so that one of them might have some more time with their crush. This crush list consists of: Merlin, Gwen, Elyan, Leon, Morgana, Lancelot, Percival. Gwaine isn't on this list much since he's actually a lot cornier than ppl think, and also cuz he will wingman you himself to his buddies, so theres no point. Arthur isnt here since a lot of the servants know him for too long and cannot feel nothing of the sort for him; also, everyone knows that hes terribly spoken for (gwen and merlin).

14: Favorite oc of yours?

Ngl, my Freylin kids LMAOOO. They're twins and so cute!! I'm still trying to choose names, but it's a boy and a girl. Also Freya bet on twins while merlin bet on just 1 bby, so he nows owes her money.

[orpheeeeus]

Arthur: So what. You're not going to help my sister, your friend, because some dragon told you that she might turn evil one day, in a far away future?

Merlin: No, he told me that she will kill you, or that she will be responsible of your death. Morgana will betray you. I can't let her do that. I have to protect you

Arthur: *worry evident* A dragon told you that. A dragon… And… Are you sure you can trust it, this dragon?

Merlin: He's a him, not an it. *not looking at arthur* And… who else could I trust?

Arthur: *tears in his eyes. Take a deep breath, trying but failing to keep his mouth from curling downward* Me? *voice breaks* You could trust me?

[merlinsearlobe]

I don’t know if i hallucinated this but i swear earlier seasons Bradley said something about hoping Arthur realises Merlin has magic on his own.

And i wish, i wish, that had been the case.

That Arthur, knocked out, bleeding, injured, awakes too early and sees Merlin, eyes golden and angry, bending the power of the earth in raw wrath and fury towards their enemy.

And Arthur is bloody fucking terrified. But Merlin screams ‘not him, never him, never Arthur’ and the earth shakes and… Arthur can’t even remember what poor soul or creature had thrown him from his horse, certainly not now their body is torn apart by Merlin’s words and his flaming gaze.

Of course Arthur is terrified. Is he hallucinating? Is this some malevolent vision? His head throbs and he can taste blood in his mouth and he can see Merlin, Merlin his incompetent and clumsy and funny and innocent and soft and gentle manservant who wakes Arthur with a brilliant smile and some drivel about lazy daisies, stood like a deep and dark and threatening shadow over what was left of a once-body.

Arthur’s breath comes in short gasps and tears prick his eyes. Panic. And Merlin turns to him as he clamps his eyes shut against the image of Merlin dripping with death and anger. But deep within his shattering mind a small voice whispers to him. The voice is soft and gentle, blonde curls and kind eyes and patient hands cupping his cheek. She reminds him of each time Merlin has looked at him with pure, unadulterated devotion - his eyes deep and blue, a tiny ring of gold-green swirling around his pupils. How each time Arthur’s lain on the brink of death, and Merlin has never left his side, tending to his wounds with such tenderness that Arthur has never felt before. How it was in Arthur’s name that Merlin’s magic, Merlin’s magic, raged.

Another voice, thick and real and worried, breaks through the soft whisper of Ygraine.

Arthur felt shaking hands - how could they be so gentle when moments before it was from them that such unbridled power was released - stroke his matted and sweat-soaked hair, wiping the blood Arthur felt trickle down his cheek away. Arthur forces open his eyes, meeting Merlin’s as the gold fades to the deep familiar ocean-blue.

Did Merlin know Arthur had seen? How much blood had soaked Merlin’s hands when Arthur had lain unconscious, how many victories has Merlin won in Arthur’s name?

And deep within Arthur’s heart he knows he is safe in this sorcerer’s hands. Knows in fact he’d choose these hands over anyone else’s.

But Arthur can’t say the words just yet. He can’t admit to himself that the man he loves is made from that which he hates. Hated. Has been taught to hate. A new wound has been torn in him, one not made of blood and flesh. Because if Merlin is magic, how can magic be evil.

So Arthur lets Merlin’s hands and Merlin’s words and Merlin’s soft smiles wash over him. He feigns ignorance of what he saw.

But he watches. His wounds sit quietly: clean and placid from Merlin’s assiduous care. His face is washed from blood and grime by Merlin, who had fussed and worried as he went. Now he watches. He notices the damp wood Merlin had collected whilst the rain has fallen burst into eager flames within seconds of Merlin’s attentive hands and wonders how he never noticed before.

When they return to Camelot, limping but alive, Arthur notices the stone-deep warmth that graces his chambers. Where his room should be chilled and still from his absence instead there’s a soft and humble feeling of life suffused throughout, and Arthur realises with a small, private smile it is the same feeling that radiates from Merlin.

The lessening part of him argues he should recoil. For why is he rejoicing at feeling the touch of a sorcerer all around him. But Arthur argues back. He’s felt the saccharin, sticky grip of dark, evil magic masquerading as sweet ladies or sycophantic servants. He remembered the groggy, aching return to his own mind after Sofia had dragged him under her spell. Merlin’s gentle, joyous presence is worlds away. His magic may be hidden from Arthur, but Merlin’s grinning insults and blatant disregard for any sort of protocol meant any fears for further hidden motive besides self preservation withered immediately.

Arthur keeps watching. He notices now the shine his armour has, beyond what weary hands and cloth could ever achieve. He notices, or rather feels, when Percival’s muscled arm brings down the practice sword and Arthur - his mind worlds away - notices too late, yet the ensuing bruise is not angry and mottled but timid and quickly fades, even though ordinary chainmail would never have warded off such a blow. He notices Merlin’s unbridled joy when the two of them leave Camelot for the forest. He notices the bird that lands on Merlin’s shoulder, the whispered smiles Merlin exchanges with the creature. He notices the grass grow a little taller beneath Merlin’s feet, the way the trees bend to him as if they’re greeting a long lost friend.

Slowly, magic - or at least Merlin’s magic - loses the rotten, sharp edge Uther had imposed. Arthur begins to yearn to see the flames of the fire burning in his room reflected once more in Merlin’s eye. Still he can’t quite bring the words lingering in his throat up to his lips. Guilt begins to fester. Arthur remembers the years of Uther’s reign, how the screams of burning sorcerers - some of them so young, so young - had echoed through the cold stones of Camelot. He remembers now Merlin’s pale face and wide eyes, ghosted with tears Arthur knew not what for. He knows now.

And so when his knights bring him talk of a druid camp away to the south, Arthur stands tall, facing the court, and tells them to leave it be. That there will be no more raids (not that he had issued any since his ascension to the throne, but no formal proclamation had thus far been made). He tells himself privately he will end the ban on magic. He will forge a Camelot where Merlin will not live in fear, in a half life. The faces staring back are curious, some wary. But the one meeting Arthur’s steady gaze, wide-eyed with a shocked, gentle, proud, smile and slightly trembling hands gripping the wind jug, is that which Arthur cares about. He gives a slight nod. Too subtle for anyone else to notice, but as obvious and clear to Merlin as it ever could be, the two of them long since having needed words to communicate.

Merlin has a lot of questions. Naturally. They tumble from him as Arthur undresses behind the screen. And Arthur knows now that he’s ready. Merlin has magic. Merlin is magic. And Merlin is good. Deeply good. The words don’t quiver and cower in his throat.

And I wish Arthur had then told him. Had taken a deep breath and met Merlin’s gaze and told him he knew. That he had been scared. But he had trusted. Trusts. Loves.

We deserved Merlin fighting beside Arthur, raw devotion and power and fierce, fierce love.