#merlin x arthur

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

I’m not usually one for miscommunication as a trope but hear me out:

Arthur thinks he and Merlin are together because Merlin says shit like “you’re my destiny” and “two sides of the same coin” fairly often.

He even looks fond or proud whenever he calls Arthur a prat, and pet names never suited them. He considered it once but it just felt weird. “Idiot.” Changed to “Idiot <3” when they finally got together and that suits them much better than Darling or Babe or whatever else.

And it’s not like he doesn’t say romantic stuff back, all: “you’re the bravest man I ever met.” Or “you’re the best friend I have and I couldn’t bare to lose you”

Meanwhile, Merlin pinpoints the same moment Arthur believed they started dating as when Arthur started acting more affectionate and Merlin’s crush got dialled up to 11.

Arthur doesn’t seem to mind, so he pushes his luck occasionally and will hug Arthur after a long day or will lean on him if they’re eating together on a hunting trip. Merlin absolutely cherishes these moments, but he’s secretly wishing they meant as much to Arthur as they do to him. (Spoiler alert: they do.)

So they must be together, Merlin just can’t be bothered with titles and with everything that happened, Agravane and Morgana betraying him, it would be ideal to wait for an announcement of their relationship.

He gifts Merlin clothes, new boots, will leave flowers in his chambers and asked for the cook to make more of Merlin’s favourites so he can steal food from Arthur’s plate because he claims it tastes better when it isn’t his food.

Arthur gave Merlin his mother’s sigil, for crying out loud. They’re obviously together.

And even better, (you can pry demi or ace Arthur from my cold dead hands) they don’t even need to be intimate beyond the occasional hug or soft gestures like Merlin brushing the hair from his face before Arthur goes to sleep at night and Arthur doing the same whenever they’re not in the castle and sleeping next to each other. He was worried at first, but Merlin never expected it, which Arthur just takes as: “And how stupid to worry? who knows him better than Merlin? Of course he would already know Arthur didn’t feel comfortable with that sort of stuff.”

Then one day, a delegation comes to Camelot and one of the foreign knights is flirting with Merlin. Arthur sees, and he doesn’t usually feel any need to act on his jealousy because he trusts Merlin, but this knight isn’t flirting in the way Gwaine does that’s just part of who he is, and Merlin looks uncomfortable. So he calls Merlin over to him, starts acting like a prat, and keeps Merlin “busy” all night by keeping his goblet full or usual servants duties.

Then later, Merlin thanks Arthur but says he doesn’t need to worry and he can handle himself. Arthur, finally relaxing after being ready to start a fight for the past three hours, pulls Merlin into a hug and kisses his forehead, because let the medieval gays be soft sometimes. He whispers something like, “I know you don’t like talking about it, and that you’ve said you don’t need a title, but you shouldn’t have to handle everything on your own.”

Merlin pulls back, looking shocked and confused. Then they actually have to talk about everything.

Merlin’s just fine with actually dating the guy he’s got a massive crush on and now he’s more willing to instigate hugs and affection. (Arthur just thought Merlin wasn’t going to push him to not make him uncomfortable but secretly wishes that he would instigate more) They end up sleeping in the same bed in Camelot too, because cuddles and softness, something Arthur wanted for a while but didn’t know how to ask for.

Basically all the problems in the relationship that Arthur was worried about but kinda felt “it’s already more than I could hope for” so didn’t want to bring up get worked out naturally and Merlin, who was previously worried about his friendship getting ruined if they changed the dynamic too much, is shocked by how little actually changed now that they’re together. He just gets to hold Arthur’s hand, can be less subtle about stealing from his dinner, gets to relax and gets an Arthur that’s more clingy and soft now that Merlin knows he’s allowed to reciprocate affection.

They still tease each other, they’re still two idiots sharing a braincell that they occasionally give to Leon to babysit, they’re just more open about being in love now. (More open to each other, anyway. Literally everyone else in Camelot knew long before they did)

Bonus points if they’ve been talking about their relationship and having the important conversation with each other the entire time, just without actually talking about it. Merlin asking why Arthur suddenly changed how affectionate he is and Arthur saying he thought he was allowed. Merlin’s just like “cool, as long as you’re okay. I’m glad you’re feeling more comfortable and relaxed.” And glad there’s no love spells or anything sinister going on. Arthur says he doesn’t like Merlin flirting with Gwaine, even if he doesn’t mean it, and Merlin agrees to stop if it makes him uncomfortable. He doesn’t think too much into it, just thinks Arthur doesn’t like the casual flirting and believes that relationships are important so casual stuff isn’t super comfortable. Merlin is still friends with Gwaine, just makes less jokes about going home with or marrying him.

Like, they’re having entire conversations and maintaining a fully functional healthy relationship, they’re just fucking idiots at the same time.

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

I know a lot of people don't like that Merlin is the one who helped Arthur pull the sword from the stone but I honestly feel it worked so perfectly in this universe. The fact that Arthur could not have pulled the sword from the stone without magic is so thematically in tune with how Merlin is behind him every step of the way, helping him build this new Camelot together. The fact that they work best as one — Merlin making up this story and using his magic to make the story come to life, and Arthur being the figurehead who the people want to follow and believe in, the one who cares and is willing to fight for the citizens of Camelot.

This isn't the story of Albion. It's Merlin and Arthur's story, about how THEY came together. They are two sides of the same coin, they are each other's destinies and one does not work without the other. It needed to be BOTH of them pulling the sword from the stone

[thedaselcor]

It's even weirder when the realistic guy is one of the protaganists and probably the other guy's secret lover.... probably.. definitely...

I love it when characters in the same book are clearly from different subgenres of the same genre. Like a fantasy book has a character from extremely normal, pseudohistorical, gritty-realistic low fantasy where herding sheep is boring and people shit themselves when they die. And then there's some absolute High Fantasy Main Character mf going "I had a message from god revealed to me in a dream. I am on a quest now."

And the Sensible Realistic Fantasy character skitters after them like what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuuuuck

And then there's some other motherfucker they've never met who's also like that, going like "I received a vision from the divine that it is my task to find this person with an oddly specific but absurdly vague dedcription. You must be him. It is now my duty to aid you on your holy quest."

And the first guy doesn't find that weird in any way, because obviously this is a normal thing that happens to people like this, and just goes "ah, so our fates have been woven together, by the great forces of the universe. It was inevitable that we must meet."

...And meanwhile the person who thought that the first guy was just bat shit insane skitters behind both of them like

what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuuuuck

[gldnstrngs]

this is so humiliating

[the-medieval-husbands]

"I am someone who did not die when they should have."

- Anne Carson

"The truth is, I can stand alone, grow alone, be alone, but I do not want to have to."

- L. E. Bowman

"All these people think love's for show, but I would die for you in secret."

- Taylor swift

"I don’t want to have to be the one who mourns everything when everyone else has clearly forgotten. It’s mortifying. It’s mortifying to be the one who remembers."

- Ryan O'Connell

"They told me you were gone and I screamed. I wailed, I cried and I screamed. As loud as I could. I halfway hoped that if you could hear me screaming on your way to heaven, you would turn around and come back to me."

- HDHwrites

"For most people, it's history now. But for me, whenever I close my eyes, it all comes back clearly."

- J. V.

[resu-w-ana]

Some more of my pony AU🦄

[evadne01]

This is the same thing old knights told old knights.

And I feel like writing this fic...

New servants being introduced to the prince’s servant.

Old servant: That’s Merlin…

New servant: Cool, he seems nice.

Old servant: He’s not. He hears and knows everything around here. One moment he can be your best friend, and the next, kill you if he thinks you’re a threat to his treasure.

New servant *sweating bullets*: Message received, I won’t go near that guy’s money.

Old servant *confused*: Money? No, Merlin’s treasure is the prince. The bastard serves our prince as if he were serving God, so you better serve the prince as if you worship the ground he walks on, or Merlin might think it’s better to get rid of you.

New servant *nervous laugh*: Talking like that, it sounds like a cult…

Old servant: It is a cult. The prince is God, and Merlin is his most faithful devotee. We are the followers and will be sacrificed if Merlin thinks it’s best.

New servant: 😰

[chillhypocrite]

*Merlin, hand on his hip*

“oh my god, AGAIN?”

[saladscream]

Happy Friday 13th, folks! 🍀😁

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

The exact moment that Merlin tells Arthur he’s going to be a good king for the first time, Arthur looks like this.

That boy never had a word of praise growing up, he’s way too surprised by someone believing in him even after he “failed”/got injured.

Also, just that face on his face whenever he’s looking at Merlin.

It’s usually only there in softer moments in season 1. Like in episode two where Arthur believed Merlin about the snake shield, or in episode four where Merlin drank poison and Arthur defied his father and risked his life to save him, even against Gaius’ advice, Merlin’s uncle, because of how dangerous it was. Or the Lancelot episode. Or the Ealdor episode. Or the unicorn episode. You get the idea.

There’s a lot of these moments, but this one is kinda where I pinpoint Arthur realising how much Merlin means to him.

Also because in season 2, Arthur goes back to picking on Merlin and trying to keep him at arms length. I think he got scared of his feelings towards Merlin - whatever you want to say they are, romantic, platonic, or otherwise - and tried to distance them. Cedric showing up was just convenient with the timing before the whole Sigan thing. It gave Arthur a chance to panic, push Merlin away, and then reaffirm his fears until later on in season 2.

This scene is also the reason why Merlin not joining Cedric/Sigan with the whole “It doesn’t matter how Arthur treats me, he’s a good man” thing makes sense. This is the last time they interact in season 1 and it wraps up everything they’ve been through up until this point really well.

I can go more into how and why the timeline of season 1 and 2 are really important to how the show was going to progress if people want that. The character development in BBC Merlin is brilliant. It’s not as good as atla but not even its own live action could compete so that’s fine. Honestly, I think Merlin is as heartbreaking as it is because it’s more believable than a happy ever after, because of how things were set up in the first two seasons.

Anyway, I just feel like I’m rambling though so I’ll leave this here before the coherency leaves entirely.

[bagmanunlucky]

���tis the fucking season

my newest hobby is tweeting things almost as shamelessly as posting here, then tweeting that i probably should've left said content for tumblr. then continue to tweet about merlin or good relationships/fanfic with zero engagement.

i'm losing followers there (if you can imagine) and gaining them here.

taking the rejection like gwaine.

bonus content

sorry i forgot what your lips looked like for a second there, bro.

shoutout to @katherynefromphilly as always cause i just got to the chapter in the One and Future fanfic where Arthur has that dream about Gwaine and friends...

[starchaser45]

If I see anymore "oh Arthur was mean to Merlin", " oh poor Merlin " , "Merlin deserves better than Arthur" blah blah blah I'm gonna go insane Arthur pendragon deserves better he was lied to from basically the moment he was born was betrayed by everyone his father, his sister, his uncle and his closest and most trusted friend everyone he cared about everytime he gave magic a chance it took something from him and then the last thing he learned before he died on the hand of someone he trusted and betrayed him is that he's best friend who he trusted with everything has been lying to them all the time they knew each other and he couldn't even blame him, Arthur had to pay for everyone else's fault just because of some flashy destiny that he never asked for he played for things he did sure but he mostly payed for things uther, Morgana and Merlin did

So boh ho Arthur was mean to Merlin MERLIN LIED TO HIM FOR 10 YEARS and I will die on this hill

ALSO ARTHUR STILL ACCEPTED MERLIN IN THE END

[chipinabag]

I'm not sure if I have posted this yet but I found it in my notes.

I just relized something something sad, merlin didn't think he was going to see arthur again after they had fought. If arthur would have died instantly merlin would not have been able to make amends with arthur or te him of his magic. Arthur's final words to merlin would have been arthur being disappointed in merlin and calling him a coward.

(I cried when I found it.)

[mandoriana]

Arthur: What should we call ourselves now that we’re together?

Merlin shrugs: I don’t know, I’ve never thought of calling you anything other than Clotpole.

Arthur rolls his eyes: How about darling? It sounds a bit cheesy.

Merlin: Yes, you can think of better nicknames.

Arthur: Merls?

Merlin makes a face: No, the knights call me that, be more creative, sir.

Arthur: So what should I call you then?

Merlin smiles: Future husband sounds perfect to me.

Arthur: 😳

Merlin: 😏

Arthur blushing: Shut up, Merlin!

Merlin: 😘

[thesongistheriver]

👀

Just a little something I'm playing around with this evening...

[mababwionarts]

“From now on,” Arthur declared. “This is where I judge you. Whatever you do from this point forward is how I will choose to remember you being. Because this isn’t just a second chance, this is a second life. We have all gone through entirely different things – we’re separate people. Yes, we can learn from the past, but only so we can plan for the future.

This is where the cycle ends."

Wings of Time by mababwion