#zykamiliah-merlin

[zykamiliah]

The mercelot tag has been invaded by bots so just to add some real content before mass reporting all of them:

Lancelot would laugh himself silly if he ever saw Merlin as Dragoon or the Dolma, but would commit to the bit and act as courteous and respectful as it's to be expected from a knight consorting with an elder or/and an old lady.

Just imagine Lancelot kissing the Dolma's hand chivalrously while the knights and Arthur gape like idiots

"the dolma" of course bats her eyelashes at the handsome knight and praises him

[zykamiliah]

the show has a big dissonance between what's told and what's shown sometimes. in one side you have the promise and gwen saying "he did it for me" (the writers' last no homo hurrah) and on other you have half the episodes revolving around.... lancelot and merlin, as friends AND individuals. like, one of the first scenes is them crossing each other in a hallway, and lancelot encouraging merlin to do magic. lancelot will be at merlin's side almost constantly throughout the entire of The Darkest Hour, from the moment merlin faints to the very end.

let's start from the end, and then go back to the beginning of the two-part episode.

lancelot saying "I look at you and I wonder about myself. Would I knowingly give up my life for something?" to merlin previous to his sacrifice means !!!!!! he wasn't clear about sacrificing himself up to that moment

merlin's answer to that is key: "You have to have a reason. Something you care about. Something that's more important than anything."

now who or what is something lancelot cares about and is more important than anything? that's the question here. we have the obvious three candidates, arthur, gwen and merlin, right? those are the people lancelot seems to care more about

first, let's discard arthur quickly here, not because lancelot doesn't care about him, but because when merlin was struck frozen and half dead by the dorocha, lancelot was the one to take merlin back. the plan was going all the way back to camelot, essentially leaving arthur behind as a second priority. ANY other knight could have taken that role, if lancelot's priority was to stay by arthur's side and protect him.

SIR LANCELOT: Let me take him.

ARTHUR: Carrying a wounded man alone, it will take you two or three days to reach Camelot.

SIR LANCELOT: Not if I go through the Valley of the Fallen Kings. You cannot give up on the quest.

(script courtesy of the wiki)

so what's also happening here is that lancelot is apparently breaking his promise to gwen. arthur can't abandon the quest but lancelot can, if only for a day, because saving merlin is more important, at the top of his priorities even.

would you like more evidence? here, from when the vilia heal merlin

SIR LANCELOT: Prince Arthur is riding to the Isle of the Blessed. He intends to heal the veil.

VILIA: He will need help. From both of you.

SIR LANCELOT: My friend is sick. I need to get him to Camelot.

so two things are happening here. the first one is the difference between lancelot's relationship with arthur and lancelot's relationship with merlin. notice that he uses the title for arthur, but a possessive pronoun and the word "friend" for merlin. merlin and lancelot's relationship is way more close and personal. furthermore, helping his friend comes first, helping arthur is second. he will not help arthur if it means leaving merlin behind.

aaaaaaand.....even after merlin is cured....this man is still insisting!!!!

MERLIN: Come on. We need to catch up with the others.

[Merlin takes the stick and starts walking toward the horses.]

SIR LANCELOT: No. You're going back to Camelot.

MERLIN:You might be.

SIR LANCELOT: Merlin.

MERLIN: Say hello to Gaius for me!

SIR LANCELOT: Merlin!

like... he was NOT going to let merlin go back to camelot all by himself since merlin couldn't do anything against the dorocha so. he was still going to take him to camelot, and then probably go back to help arthur

later, when both lancelot and merlin are on their way to regroup with arthur and the knights, they have another exchange where the pesky dissonance between show vs tell i mentioned earlier rears up its ugly head. why? because lancelot's actions and his words are contradictory (unless the confusion is intentional...)

MERLIN: You don't have to continue on this journey with me, you know. SIR LANCELOT (chuckles): Try and stop me. [Lancelot leans forward and pours Merlin another drink.] MERLIN: Why? Because you're a knight, you feel honour bound? SIR LANCELOT: You wouldn't understand. It doesn't make any sense to me either. MERLIN: Gwen? SIR LANCELOT: I made her a vow I would keep Arthur safe. MERLIN: You don't have to worry. I'll keep him safe. SIR LANCELOT: I made a vow, Merlin. MERLIN: Do you still think about her? SIR LANCELOT: No. Arthur's...a better man than me. MERLIN: I'm sorry. SIR LANCELOT: Why? He loves her and...she's happy.

like...yeah man you did make a vow but you didn't hesitate to break it before?? wth lancelot.

here when merlin asks him why he's going in this journey, lancelot makes a few statements: 1) merlin can't stop him from accompany him; 2) he made a vow to gwen, and reiterates it implying that the vow is the thing he cares about (but like i've said before.... it's not his priority...); and 3) protecting arthur comes last. In other words: Merlin, you can't stop me from going with you. And I made a vow to Gwen that I would protect Arthur. do you see where i'm getting at with this?

i don't doubt that he still has some feelings for gwen that he's still trying to let go off since gwen is with arthur, but it doesn't seem like gwen is the priority here. if he was so crystal clear about it, why have him say "You wouldn't understand. It doesn't make any sense to me either"? he's confused, he's trying to understand himself

KILGHARRAH: Of course. Sir Lancelot, the bravest and most noble of them all. SIR LANCELOT: I'm not sure that's true.

I think that one of the side-side plots in these episodes is lancelot figuring himself out. is he a man bound by duty, bound my (romantic) love, or by something else (that's more important than anything)? the existential crisis lancelot goes through after becoming a knight looks like this, in my opinion. i would also like to bring back the deleted scene where he acknowledges that merlin was the one to call for his help back in the s3 finale, and makes a point of saying to merlin that merlin is the reason he's there.

after all this evidence, let's recontextualize this exchange:

SIR LANCELOT: When we get to the Isle of the Blessed, do you really intend to sacrifice yourself? MERLIN: What do you want me to say? SIR LANCELOT: I look at you and I wonder about myself. Would I knowingly give up my life for something? MERLIN: You have to have a reason. Something you care about. Something that's more important than anything.

now, after all that's happened, what is the most logical conclusion? lancelot didn't say anything when arthur was the one planning to sacrifice himself (although iirc he didn't know), his question comes when he learns merlin has the intention to take arthur's place. previously, and no matter what he says, because he's confused as hell, he abandoned his vow to gwen and arthur to take care of merlin.

like if the writers wanted me to think it was because of arthur or gwen they should have, idk, give those relationships more screentime???

you are free to interpret it however you want but I'm gonna keep thinking lancelot sacrificed himself for merlin until someone proves me wrong. also here's my lancelot character development meta in case anyone wants to read it

(also as an aside this is lancelot's face when merlin says to kilgarrah "It's my destiny to protect [Arthur], you told me that":

live slug lancelot reaction adslkfjldkfjldfksdlf)

Question: in Merlin, do you think that Lancelot sacrificed himself because he promised Gwen he’d look after Arthur or because he knew Merlin was planning to sacrifice himself?

[zykamiliah]

heeey i wrote a little coda for the dragon's call :DD

“I’m quite old, sire, so I’m glad to have a new apprentice to help me out with the work.” “I see,” Arthur replied distractedly, as Gaius applied a cool paste on his shoulder. Then he blinked. “New apprentice?”

[zykamiliah]

Because I can't help making parallels between my favorite characters, this recent issue with SY!SQQ kind of reminds me of BBC Merlin's Gwaine. This is another example of a really nice, morally sound and incredible character, specifically one who doesn't like royalty and refused to disclose he was a noble because he thinks nobility it's something you achieve in life with your actions. He loves his friends, he loves Merlin (you know it's canon) and Percival and Elyan and all of those he met in Camelot and became his family, will fight to the death for them.

But Gwaine unfortunately holds prejudice against sorcerers(which is the show is kind of a metaphor for queerness) because he doesn't know better, because that's what he has learned in the land he lives in. He ends up serving a kingdom that didn't lifted the ban on sorcery as a knight who has to enforce the law.

And still you can't say he's a bad person in canon because he isn't, those prejudices are just a reflection of his society.

The same applies to Shen Yuan.

And even then SY!SQQ is not actively exercising his internalized queerphobia on anyone, nor is he shaming anyone outside of his head. He treats even a villain with unspecified gender with respect and uses neutral pronouns on his head to refer to them. He never calls his future husband any derisive words. His queerphobia is all internalized and a reflection of his issues with his sexuality and how closeted and repressed he is.

Kind people and good people can be prejudiced. That's an unfortunate part of life. What I think is that there's always opportunity to learn to be better, chances to understand other people and experiences.

[ladyofthelake]

Hello! I hope you're having a good day. Thank you so much for sharing quotes from the Merlin books!!!!! I've always wanted to read them ❤ And I loved your insights and analysis. I was wondering if you could answer a question: does the book that covers The Curse of Cornelius Sigan happens to mention that part at the start of the episode where Arthur is using Merlin as a stool to mount his horse? I'm just curious about how the writer interpreted that. I wish you lots of good things 💫❤💙

Aww what a sweet message! Thank you my lovely! <3 I hope you’re having a good day too! :) You’re very welcome for the Merlin book posts I’m so happy you enjoy them! And that you liked my thoughts on them too <3

Sure! So the Cornelius Sigan book was one of the ‘children’s versions’ so slightly less detailed and much shorter than other Merlin books so the detail isn’t as much but I’ll post the exact scene here (I think out of the whole show I hate that scene the most tbh because it felt like a reset button but I remember them saying they only put it in in case people missed season 1 and didn’t know Merlin was a servant)

‘Merlin knelt down on the ground next to Arthur’s horse so that his master could use him as a mounting block. The indignity! He wondered sometimes how he coped with being a servant. With the help of his handy human step, Arthur swung himself up into the saddle. Which promptly fell off, depositing the prince on the ground. As the horse bolted across the square, Arthur dragged himself up, “Merlin!” he shouted angrily.  “I don’t understand”, Merlin said, examining the slipped saddle, “I did that girth up myself.” “Well I think that might have been the problem”, said Arthur unsympathetically.’

I’m also gonna mention how Merlin describes Sigan as slimey and also post this extract:

‘To Merlin’s annoyance, Cedric kept close behind the prince on the hunt. Arthur even let the man carry his second spear! The day was going really, really badly.  Merlin had thought at one time that he and Arthur were becoming friends, but it was abundantly clear that the prince thought of him as nothing more than a servant.  If only he knew how many times Merlin had saved his life...’

*gives Merlin a big hug*

Thank you so much for the message! <3 And I wish the same for you xx

[zykamiliah]

I think it signifying that arthur wants to include him in his family is much more powerful that it being a proposal because it shows that arthur wanted to leave some measure of protection for merlin, since he was on his way to give up his life to close the veil. merlin would end up without a job, only with gaius to support his place in camelot and the court. him passing his seal to merlin would make merlin a free man i think, no longer a servant or a peasant, probably adopted to the de bois family, and he'd have his loyalty to arthur as proof of why arthur gave it to him. It's unlikely he'd be raised to noble status, but it would give some leverage and protection to merlin if he were to stay in camelot after arthur's death (specially since Agravaine would be left in charge...)

I think the writers scrapped this idea because it would complicate things for them, and they were very fond of not changing the status quo, be it merlin's rank, arthur showing that he cared or merlin and arthur's relationship.

they also deleted the scene where arthur invites merlin to sit by his side at the round table of the ancient kings, and never let merlin wear different clothes even though it's implied arthur gave him some of the ones he didn't like or had outgrown.

i quite like the sigil scene. it showcases arthur's thoughtful side and the depths of his care for merlin.

okay! so. i’ve seen many people online say multiple times that the deleted scene of arthur giving merlin his mother’s sigil—

(you know, this one👇)

is essentially a medieval proposal, and that that’s probably the reason why the scene was cut. i’ve never really thought that much of it, but coming across the comment again earlier today, it made me wonder if it was actually historically accurate at all.

the short answer is no, but the long answer is a little bit more complex.

i spent about an hour or so combing through articles and other online resources, and couldn’t find a single source vouching for sigils/seals being used as a way to propose. i did, however, find these two pieces of information:

which make it clear that sigils/seals and signet rings reflect the same meaning and purpose, and that inheriting one signifies family ties and marks you above common men. signet rings were sometimes used as engagement rings (in fact, the ring arthur gives gwen in the series is a signet ring with his father’s sigil), but engagement rings were more commonly ornate gold bands set with precious stones like sapphires or rubies.

but! regardless of the fact that it isn’t technically a medieval way of proposing, i think you can still regard it as such, given the fact that it is essentially marking merlin as arthur’s family (his mother’s side no less!), and that arthur proposed to gwen in nearly the same fashion with the signet ring. i rest my case ✌️

[camelotsheart]

@zykamiliah​ i’ve been thinking. so the fact that

merlin conquers the power mastered the power of life and death itself in an episode called "the death of arthur"

the scene where gaius is revived has the same soundtrack as when old merlin walks by avalon

this cheesy parallel exists

merlin manages to to bring back lancelot for a bit using his magic, and does the same hand-on-forehead action with arthur in the finale

merlin's magic is the one to pull the resting excallibur (which can be interpreted as a metaphor for arthur especially considering the carving which says "take me up, cast me away" aka dying and returning) from the stone

the music in the last few minutes of the finale has the same format as the one when arthur pulled out excallibur

merlin's magic is the only thing able to save Arthur in 5x07

that merlin is magic itself and at the centre of the old religion is the powers of life and death

the first spell that Merlin does after getting his magic back means "create a life"

and he uses it to create a butterfly which in irish mythology symbolises the soul of the dead

suggests merlin will be the one responsible for bringing arthur back to life

[zykamiliah]

@probablyjustanartdump did this amazing mercelot fanart featuring shade!Lancelot and I couldn't help myself

-

au in which merlin takes morgana's control of lancelot from her; merlin ends up with a hollow man who swears felty to him, and has to teach him things, remind him of who he is— not the lancelot the people know, no, the real lancelot, the one that's insecure and chaotic and has existencial crisis; and he has to do this while hunting for a spell, a last attempt to bring lancelot back, for real this time, reach out for his soul through the veil, something that no one has ever done and is aledgely impossible without a blood offering. and lancelot follows him around everywhere, spellbound, and the tiny part of his soul that resides in the shade is attracted to merlin's presence, his magic and his power. merlin is heartbroken because he knows this isn't the real lancelot, not yet, but it's lancelot face saying "I am loyal to you, Merlin, no one else" and "The heart I don't have wants to touch you" much more bc merlin has been reading poetry to him, and it hurts that it isn't true and that the real lancelot would never say that to him bc he was loyal to arthur and he loved gwen

but then Merlin finds the ritual he has to perform to resurrect Lancelot (sacrifice the shade, pour out a great deal of his magic and blood) and tears open the veil after almost destroying the Cailleagh (because he could, he could and he didn't know before) and finally, finally he brings Lancelot back, among a storm and lighting splitting open the skies.

they ride back to camelot and the only person to know of the change is gaius, although the knights notice that lancelot looks more lively, and elyan remarks jokily that he was like a dog following his master all those weeks, and lancelot looks at merlin and merlin ducks his head, avoiding his eyes

later that night in merlin's room lancelot takes his hand and whispers "I felt my soul reaching out to you through the darkness" and he kneels before before a stricken merlin, voice charged with wonder "I never dreamed of meeting someone willing to so much for me. I don't deserve you."

"No, Lancelot. You did so much, you gave your life back then—"

"And I would do it again."

"For Camelot."

"No, Merlin," he kisses Merlin's hand, presses it to his heart, and smiles oh so softly. "For you."

Merlin shakes his head.

"I couldn't— I don't want you to die, to lose you again."

Lancelot ponders this for a moment, and then stands up. He doesn't let go of Merlin's hand.

"Then let's live together."

Merlin breaks into a watery smile like sunshine after rain, and hugs him tight.

[lit-in-thy-heart]

For the hug prompt: 15, merwaine!!

@zykamiliah thank you for the prompt!!! i'm sorry it's taken so long and i sort of made it merwaincelot as well...thanks again, i hope you like it!! 💕💕

(for context, this is set between s3 and s4)

Training sessions, Gwaine had long since decided, were worse than patrol. At least with patrol, he could allow his mind to drift. In training sessions, if Gwaine’s mind drifted for a split second then he would be on his back, winded, before a coherent thought even had time to form.

It was hard enough to keep his thoughts from drifting when Lancelot was beside him in training, let alone when Merlin was also in the vicinity.

Particularly when Merlin was intently watching him. Not that Gwaine really minded Merlin being so close to him; Arthur had recently taken to banning Merlin from the training ground since walking past him, pinned against the back of a target by Gwaine, with his neckerchief woven between Gwaine’s fingers and his shirt halfway up his torso, with Lancelot kneeling down to kiss Merlin’s abdomen. It was a natural reaction for Gwaine: training always made him so aware of his own body and his mind automatically jumped to how it slotted against Merlin’s and Lancelot’s, but Arthur didn’t seem to approve of that particular collision – at least not when he’d been ambushed by it five times in the space of three days. So Gwaine was going to prove that he could finish a training session without making Merlin moan and hopefully persuade Arthur to lift the ban on Merlin watching training sessions permanently.

Merlin, when Gwaine snatched a glance that he promised himself would be the last one, was quietly talking with Elyan, who was sitting out after Percival had accidentally dislocated his partner’s shoulder with the ferocity of his hug after Elyan had escaped, unharmed, from bandits. They looked over at Gwaine at irregular intervals with sly smiles and, judging by the speed at which Elyan’s mouth was moving, Merlin was receiving a summary of all the various references to him Gwaine made when he wasn’t around. Before he turned back around, Gwaine caught Elyan’s eye and scowled lightly at him. Merlin knew that Gwaine had a soft spot for him and Lancelot – which was to be expected when they were in a relationship – but Gwaine was reluctant to expose just to what extent he truly cared for the two of them. Lancelot, of course, knew about how much he cared for Merlin, the two of them having discussed their love for him numerous times on patrol, but Gwaine was always careful not to talk too incessantly about Lancelot when he was within earshot, just in case it became overbearing. Because if Lancelot and Merlin knew that they was the force that pushed each breath out of Gwaine’s body each day, if they knew that every slight touch from their fingertips managed to make the nerves in Gwaine’s skin scream in exhilaration, if they knew that Gwaine would slice his soul into ribbons to bind any wounds Merlin or Lancelot bore, then they would both leave him. The only person Gwaine had ever unloaded his soul to had been his sister, and that bond hadn’t left her any more unwilling to sell him off.

At a call of his name, Gwaine returned to the session and caught Lancelot channelling silent concern in his direction. He shot him a reassuring grin and angled his face towards Leon to demonstrate that he was actually paying attention to what he was saying about the importance of catching the enemy unawares. As much as Gwaine understood that they all needed to be trained to a certain standard, he also had had much practice at catching people unawares throughout his life so far. He himself had been caught unawares, namely by Merlin and Lancelot but in entirely different circumstances, but he could reel off at least nine different methods of a surprise attack off the top of his head, and probably seven more if he had a moment to think about it. Gwaine still had a long way to go, but he wasn’t terrible at the skills a knight required. None of them were, really. Percival had his stupendous strength, Elyan and Lancelot were both light on their feet – though Elyan was comfortable with more weapons than Lancelot was – and Leon, of course, had been a fully-fledged knight for almost two years. And Arthur, of course, was Arthur. They all had their individual strengths, but when they came together they were unstoppable and Gwaine, for the first time in his life, felt like he was part of a singular organism that operated as one. As if he finally had found his settled place in the world.

In his younger years, he had been at the centre of a group, but never part of it. He had been a tool for the bandits he lived with, a means to their ends, a weapon that they could wield whenever they required it. Then, of course, any kinship he might have had with them had been severed when he’d murdered a third of them on his first active mission as an adult. Merlin had been the first person since then whom he had felt a connection with, and Merlin had led him to Lancelot, and then of course the Round Table. There were still moments when he thought Leon could do with being dragged down a peg or two, and moments when Lancelot was far too noble and self-sacrificing to the point where Gwaine had to poke him in the back to check if he still had a spine to stand up for himself (he always made sure to kiss the place he’d touched afterwards just to reassert his love for him), or when Elyan and Percival were too hesitant to attack, or when Arthur was perhaps a bit too harsh on Merlin (Lancelot had held him back from threatening the regent with a knife many times over past treatments that Merlin had flippantly mentioned) but, for the most part, he loved them all. Not that he’d ever dare tell most of them that.

He’d told Merlin that, many times over, in the held breath of the night, in various ways. After that melee, where Gwaine had killed two men and saved Arthur’s life again, when Merlin had been patching Gwaine up as they had waited for Uther’s final judgement, Gwaine had plucked up the courage to tell the servant that he loved him. Not with those exact words, of course, he’d simply said that he had been glad Merlin was safe, but the look in Merlin’s eyes had given him hope. Gwaine had taken that hope and used it as armour against the physical blows that had been dealt between being banished from Camelot and next seeing Merlin. Protecting himself against mental blows had proved to be a bit more of a challenge. And he’d told Lancelot he loved him, many times over too, in the shadows cast by a stirring dawn when Merlin had slipped away in the darkness so as not to get persuaded to stay for a little longer. He’d told Lancelot, one morning, that the Knight’s Code could go to hell and he would live his life by the code that Lancelot and Merlin had written with their fingers across the scroll of Gwaine’s skin. Lancelot had written that down, sliding from Gwaine’s arms, and had said that he should try his hand at poetry, to which Gwaine had murmured something about leaving that to the professionals and enticed the other knight back into his arms.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Gwaine tuned in again just in time to be knocked to the floor as his legs were taken out from beneath him with a very large stick. Groaning, Gwaine squinted up into the sun and tried to make out the silhouette looming over him. ‘Thanks, Lancelot.’

With a soft smirk, Lancelot offered his hand to help pull him up. ‘You shouldn’t have been distracted.’

‘I wasn’t distracted,’ Gwaine grunted, swinging to his feet.

‘What was the last thing Leon said?’

Gwaine’s gaze slid towards the place where Merlin was stood. ‘That everyone take a moment to admire Merlin.’

Shaking his head, Lancelot grinned. ‘I agree that everyone should take a moment to admire Merlin, but Leon didn’t say that. He said to partner up.’

‘I mean...that makes more sense,’ conceded Gwaine, dusting himself off. ‘So we’re just trying to get people on the ground?’

Nodding, Lancelot spun the lance – Gwaine made a mental note to make a joke about that over dinner – in his hands. ‘Preferably with receiving as few blows as possible in the process.’

‘Alright. In that case—’

Gwaine tied back his hair with the string around his wrist and set his jaw, watching Lancelot intensely. They stood for several moments, neither of them daring to make a move first, and held each other’s gaze, silent aside from laboured breaths. Then, Gwaine launched forwards before making a sharp turn and sprinting towards Elyan and Merlin, who had been quietly talking and not paying much attention to the knights on the training field.

Merlin barely had time to cry out before Gwaine’s arms had hooked themselves around his torso and securely trapped him against the ground. Straining his head, he struggled to meet the knight’s eyes and heard Gwaine’s victorious shout towards Lancelot without seeing the expression on his face. He had been having a very engaging discussion with Elyan about healing spells when Gwaine had rudely interrupted, and he had now completely lost his train of thought. He had a habit of losing his train of thought when he was around Gwaine and Lancelot, or thinking about Gwaine and Lancelot, and it had a habit of driving Arthur slightly insane. Especially when he was asking Merlin about his thoughts on which route they should take and Merlin absent-mindedly suggested taking the route along the prominent vein on Gwaine’s forearm in front of the council. Still, it had been a month since he had last done that and Merlin had been doing remarkably well at not getting distracted by either of his knights during this particular training session.

As Gwaine turned around, Merlin saw his grin melt into the smile that was reserved for him and Lancelot alone and the knight shifted so he was sat on top of Merlin, his hands skimming the latter’s shoulders. ‘Did I catch you by surprise?’

‘You did indeed,’ Merlin said, eyes flickering across Gwaine’s body. ‘Was there any particular purpose?’

‘That was the purpose. We had to practise taking the enemy by surprise,’ Gwaine stated, his hand now pushing a path through Merlin’s hair.

Sitting up, Merlin rested his arms on Gwaine’s shoulders. ‘So I’m the enemy?’

���No, you’re taking the place of the enemy,’ corrected Gwaine, settling his hands on Merlin’s waist.

‘And why hasn’t Lancelot taken the place of the enemy?’

‘Because Lancelot is a much better fighter than you are and would be prepared for a surprise attack.’

‘Which is exactly the point of the exercise,’ Lancelot warmly interrupted, wandering over with the lance resting across his shoulders. He said nothing for several moments more, staring at both of them sat there on the grass, using all the strength he had in him not to join their loose hug. ‘Come on,’ he murmured, instead choosing to kick Gwaine’s ankle gently with his eyes still fixed on Merlin, ‘what did we make a deal about this morning?’

Sighing, Gwaine extracted himself from Merlin. ‘I know, I know. If we go the whole session without making out with Merlin, then we can spend the whole night making up for it, I know.’

‘I am still in earshot,’ Elyan stated, looking between the three of them. ‘You know that, right?’

As Merlin mouthed an apology in Elyan’s direction, Lancelot turned around to glance towards Arthur. He was distracted by a staring contest with Percival, it seemed, and Lancelot took the opportunity to quickly dart over to Merlin and press a kiss to the skin that was illuminated by the sun as it tentatively peered out through the clouds. At Gwaine’s scandalised look, Lancelot shrugged. ‘It wasn’t making out and I never said you couldn’t do the same. Especially since Arthur is not paying attention.’

Grin transforming his face, Gwaine kissed the same spot and allowed his fingers to linger on Merlin’s throat for a suspended second before drawing away and catching Lancelot’s hand as they discreetly returned to their training spot, sharing a brief kiss. As Gwaine’s tongue made its way into Lancelot’s mouth, Lancelot dropped the weapon and moved instinctively closer to Gwaine’s body.

Gwaine took the opportunity to let his hands sneak down to Lancelot’s waist and promptly threw the other knight over his shoulder and onto the ground with a wicked grin. ‘Gotcha.’

Across the field, Merlin was laughing.

[zykamiliah]

just thinking about the political repercussions of merlin being arthur' Friend/favorite person in the court, and the fact that EVERYONE knows, mithian is there for 0.5 days and already knows, agravaine eventually knows too bc arthur puts merlin's opinion above his, MORGANA uses it against arthur. evil!gwen tries to take merlin out of equation bc, she too knows deep down

like my mind is blown by how IMPORTANT merlin is on this level. man I'm having feelings, i need more fics that explore this

i'm like absolutely obsessed with the way merlin and arthur care for each other. they're such polar opposites. like arthur loves merlin so goddamn loudly in front of everyone else, he rages when he's gone, refuses to accept his likely death, he shuts down until merlin is returned to him, it's a loud and public love. and yet in private arthur loves so secretly so shyly, loves behind a thousand insults and a hundred complex justifications (#it'stherepression) whereas merlin loves so privately. like his devotion is clear for all to see but very few understand the depths and truths of it but when it's just him and arthur merlin loves so loudly even if it feels like he gets nothing in return because he wants arthur to know he's cared for. arthur who has to put his people first always, loving merlin in front of his people where he can hide behind righteousness and duty and compassion then there's merlin who gets to love however he pleases choosing to keep it between them, quiet and pure and no less special, to give arthur something just for him that he doesn't have to share with the world like everything else. idk it's just very special to me.

[donttouchtheneednoggle]

if you don't mind another one being sent and you're still taking them, what about a careful hug with elyan and gwaine? either romantic or platonic, i don't mind :)

!!!! Elyaine my belovedddd I very much do not mind my dude!! <3

this is definitely mainly Elyan and Gwaine, but I ended up stacking an obnoxious amount of ships on top of them, hope you don’t mind! Tysm for the prompt <3

You and @zykamiliah know exactly what inspired this (:

Read on Ao3!

Here are the prompts

“All right, well we’d better get going,” Leon announced as dinner drew to a close, looking pointedly at Percival, who looked vaguely apprehensive. Leon had been taking the new knights out on patrol one by one to get them used to it, and tonight was Percival's turn.

“Have fun!” Lancelot smiled at his friend encouragingly.

“It’s dead boring Perce,” Elyan reassured him, eyeing Leon cheekily.

“Yeah,” Gwaine agreed, lounging with his feet up on the table. “I nearly fell asleep on my horse when it was my turn!”

With great dignity, Leon ignored them and said, “Armoury in five minutes,” to a trying-not-to-laugh Percival before exiting the room.

“You’re terrible,” Percival admonished them both as he leaned against the table. Percival was never in a hurry about anything. It was one of the many things Elyan liked about his good friend.

“Leon loves me,” he replied airily, with the confidence of one who had come perilously close to swearing a blood oath with his childhood friend and his sister to always be friends when they were four, eight and five respectively. “He basically doesn’t have a choice.”

“And he arrested me,” Gwaine put in. ”Twice now. You really can’t get worse than that.”

Obviously stumped by their superior arguments, Percival just smiled, that blinding smile of his that always sent a wave of warmth through Elyan. What a good friend his friend was.

“And was the second time for as noble a feat as the first?” Merlin jumped in teasingly from his place beside Lancelot.

The servant was meant to have been serving them but he had mostly spent the meal perched on the table, picking food from Lancelot’s plate and trading jokes and stories with them all, while Leon shot half fond, half scandalised looks at him.

Gwaine laughed back at him. “It still involved fighting a bunch of dickheads, so…” Merlin cackled and Gwaine’s smile only got brighter. “You could come with?” he offered, and his eyes sparkled. “See if you’re any better at keeping me out of trouble.”

"Sorry Gwaine, I've got stuff to do," Merlin said cheerfully, shooting a swift, secretive grin at Lancelot that had Elyan wondering how likely it was that Lancelot was 'stuff'.

Gwaine's hopeful grin only faltered for a second before it grew even wider as he got to his feet abruptly. "All right well, have fun! I’m off anyway."

Elyan's eyes met Percival's over everyone's heads. This was the third time this scene had played out, it was getting kind of tragic.

Not that he was counting. He was not.  He wasn't worried about Gwaine. The idea!

Elyan had known Gwaine for the best part of three weeks. The first week he had spent bickering in a cave with him, watching him throw longing looks every time they paused at a distracted, worried and apparently oblivious Merlin.

The second week they had mostly spent digging through rubble and throwing dust at each other and Percival while Leon yelled at them. And every time they had a break, Gwaine would gravitate towards Merlin, just as surely as Merlin would gravitate towards Lancelot. And now this was fast becoming the staple for week three.

Leon had offered to accompany Gwaine once after he had been shot down by the object of his affection, though knowing Leon it was more out of a mixture of ‘how bad can it be’, having enjoyed frequenting the tavern with his old noble friends (before he had got lumped with a bunch of delinquents), and also to show the world he was not ashamed of his (would be) peasant comrade, rather than any awareness of the delicate situation. Gwaine had spent that night in the cells, making it the second time Leon had arrested him.

Both Elyan and Percival meanwhile were more the quiet type (in that sense anyway) and had not been to the tavern yet. They had taken to hanging out together some (most) evenings, mainly just chatting in one of their rooms, or sometimes Percival would come down to the forge and watch him work. It was nice. He was nice. That was all.

Merlin and Lancelot were still smiling at each other, gazing into each other's eyes, and Elyan was pretty sure they had forgotten anyone else was there. Gwaine was at the door, cheerfully not looking at them, when Elyan spoke up,

“All right fine.” He got up and slung his arm round his shoulders, careful to be rough enough that Gwaine wouldn't get it into his thick head that he was being pitied. "You’ve been nagging me enough, might as well get this over with. You're going to drag me there one way or another."

The grin Gwaine aimed at him at him wasn’t as wide as one he might fix Merlin with, but it was also real.

“You’re going to love it.” Elyan considered the gleefully spoken words as a threat.

“And I must be out of my mind,” he responded as they walked out. “Enjoy patrol Perce!” he called over his shoulder.

When he glanced back, Percival was smiling.

……………

As they walked through the lower town, arms still draped round each other’s shoulders, Gwaine was in full flow: "…. It's a crime you haven't been there yet, but I'll let you off-."

"I told you, it's not really my scene-"

"-because you've been busy fucking Percy-"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh ok, well you should be."

"Ok! A, I don't know what you're talking about. B, I don’t fuck people, as you so delicately put it."

"All right well, cuddling or whatever you wanna do then."

"Nothing!"

"Hmm." Gwaine fixed him with a dubious stare and Elyan's cheeks were not heating up and he was totally making eye contact, thank you very much.

It occurred to him that Gwaine was very brave, making suggestions about Elyan’s love life, given the scene that had just played out… but unfortunately Elyan wasn’t that cruel. And in the three weeks he'd known Gwaine, he’d come to except nothing less than bravery from him.

Why did Elyan have to inherit the family trait of being a total sap?

After a bit he chanced a look at him, hoping to steer the conversation in a safer direction. “You know I told you you don’t have to get spectacularly drunk every night. You could just come hang out with us.”

Another grin, wider than the other, that made Elyan worry the perceptive bastard had clocked onto his not-worry. “Thanks, but I don’t do third wheeling.”

“Well that’s fine, because you wouldn’t be,” he shot back, moving his hand from Gwaine's upper arm to mess up his hair before he could retort with another unfounded accusation, and ducking out from under his arm grinning as he let out an outraged yell

……………

An hour later, Elyan ducked as a tankard whizzed over his head and smashed into the wall behind.

"And you wonder why people don't go to the tavern with you!" he yelled to Gwaine, who just laughed, a proper, joyful laugh, as he was hurled backwards over the bar by two patrons, pulling a broad grin from Elyan as he dove back into the fray.

Leon could throw them both in the cells if he wanted. Elyan would never admit it aloud, but it would be worth it.

[zykamiliah]

it's funny that almost all characters show different sides of themselves depending if they're interacting with merlin or someone else

like, with merlin:

gwaine shows his most serious, thoughtful side. he plays a character for the others that disappears when he's alone with merlin. (i would have loved to see more of his relationship with Percival, as it seemed he had started to trust him more in s5)

lancelot is not the perfect knight, in fact he's always philosophing about everything he lacks, and he shares things with merlin he doesn't with others

gwen. oh, gwen. merlin knows more about gwen that her own husband, no one can dispute that. she was the first friend he made in camelot, and he protected, helped and reassured her when she needed it.

gaius. he looks wise, but he's always roasting everyone in his mind, except if he's alone with merlin, in which case he proceeds to sass him verbally.

arthur doesn't need to be explained. there's a whole show and plenty of meta about how it.

this post really has no point except that i find it very meaningful that merlin's nature compel others to be themselves.

[lit-in-thy-heart]

thanks for the tag @gwaine-lover !!

Why did you choose your url? Because I'm a sucker for (poor) puns and was very much into Harry Potter when I first joined and was (and still am) a literature nerd and I thought it was a nice combination

Any side blogs? Strictly speaking, yes? I'm a mod for @merwaincelotweek (we are still taking prompt submissions by the way 😉 no shameless promotion here no sirree)

How long have you been on Tumblr? Since February 2019, according to my archive! But my activity rocketed up during autumn 2020, really

Do you have a queue tag? I do (#why have you got queue in your hair) but I use it sporadically

Why did you start your blog? Because I had thoughts that I wanted to put into posts. That's literally it.

Why did you choose your header? My current one is one that I made for pride but tbh I don't know if I can be bothered to change it again after tomorrow...it's celebrating another one of my rarepairs because I love them <3

Why did you choose your icon? Because Merwaincelot deserves all the love and that is the label for my blog now. You will find Merwaincelot here.

What's your post with the most notes? This one, which I was expecting to maybe get a few likes and that would be it because I was just getting excited over seeing BBC Merlin when I was researching for an essay and it somehow snowballed and most of the fandom seem to have also read that article

How many followers do you have? 360, though I'm not quite sure how (they're all wonderful though 💕)

How many people do you follow? 469 currently

Have you ever made a shitpost? I'm pretty sure I have many times over yes

How often do you use Tumblr? More than I should...I'm on it most days

Did you have a fight/argument with a blog once? I had a conflicting opinion with a Charlotte Brontë stan in my notes once (I love Anne Brontë with all my heart but Charlotte? Not so much) but it wasn't really shots fired, more like differing views

How do you feel about "you need to reblog this" posts? I mean most of my dash is Merlin related so I don't see a lot of them but I'm not really sure

Do you like tag games? Yes! I'm just awful at picking some of them up

Which one of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous? @camelotsheart (particularly after the spn asks, it's beautiful that this fandom is gaining more attention from a show that refuses to die) @donttouchtheneednoggle @flyingpurplepeopleeater42 @thebookluvrr1816

Do you have a crush on a mutual? Platonic ones count, right? Because I know for a fact that there are some people who always make me feel warm when I see them on my dash and I definitely miss them when they're not there

No pressure tags: @donttouchtheneednoggle @sirwilliamofdeira @little-ligi @zykamiliah

[zykamiliah]

Arguably the only good thing Uther ever did for Arthur was put Merlin permanently in his life

[zykamiliah]

Gwaine had to be jealous of Lancelot at some point.

No, listen

This handsome man that's not Arthur (who was already there when he met Merlin) suddenly shows up and it's like Merlin can't go anywhere without him, even after defeating Morgana & Morgause, which must have vexed him because HE is supposed to be the one Merlin relies on for his secret quests??

And it's amazing the way Merlin and Lancelot's faces light up every time they meet each other! Imagine his face when he's told how Merlin met Lancelot!! Poor puppy, he must have been very confused and annoyed. There were probably times when Merlin and Lancelot were conspiring in low voices and they'd grow quiet the moment Gwaine approached :(

I'm glad he had Percival and Elyan as his new buddies.

[zykamiliah]

you know it just occurred to me that despite all their differences arthur always listens to merlin because occasionally merlin has this "wise side" and since he's a peasant he's a little more worldly, etc etc, knows more about the day to day life and is very sensitive about animals so of course merlin know about woodwords, but he'll never admit that. so i'm picturing arthur alone in his chambers those mornings merlin is late, putting his ear against the headboard, trying to listen for woodworms

MERLIN | 4.12 “The Sword in the Stone Part One”