#magic and the potential to destroy camelot

[justaz]

morgana and arthur have a sleepover when they’re teenagers and morgana brings out this summoning spell and arthur is all “magic?!?!?! :o thats wrong we cant do that” and morgana just says “pussy.” and then arthur is helping her set everything up. they light the candles and chant in the old tongue and then BOOM a figure appears but it’s not the mighty god emrys the text talked of, it’s just a boy a couple of years younger than arthur, scared and confused, who answers to the name merlin rather than emrys. while they’re arguing, merlin goes stiff and is like “do you hear that?” and then trails out of morgana’s chambers in a trance and obviously morgana and arthur follow him and they end up way beneath the castle where theres a fucking dragon???? now emrys, the once and future king, and the witch are chillin w a dragon and talking about destiny. none of them are happy about this btw

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

It's time for today's Merlin au! This time featuring some Mergwenthur (mostly focused on Merthur today though, but I have some more prompts planned for Mergwenthur because I love their dynamic!) and Arthur's emotional trauma from growing up under Uther!

Also, the option that won the poll will be the post after this one!

I just want to say that this au idea is so random that I'm pretty sure it came to me in a fever dream, so bon appétit my friends! :D

In this au, set in season 5, a sorcerer working for Morgana sneaks into the castle and creates three dolls: one of Arthur, one of Gwen, and one of Merlin. We see in the show that puppets and dolls with a likeness to their target can be used in dark rituals, and that's what this sorcerer plans to do.

However, Camelot's guards manage to catch and apprehend the sorcerer (whose powers just mysteriously failed them when the guards attacked, and no one sees Merlin loitering in the servants' hallway nearby) before the sorcerer could bind the doll of Arthur to the king. So, the small dolls of Gwen and Merlin are bound to them, but Arthur's isn't.

After the sorcerer has been locked up, Arthur discovers the dolls in the sorcerer's belongings and has Gaius take a look at them. Gaius tells him that they can go ahead and destroy the doll of Arthur since it isn't bound to anyone, but they'll need to wait to destroy Gwen and Merlin's dolls, since they had already been bound with magic and now any damage done to the dolls would be done to either of them.

Arthur is, rightfully, horrified by this and, as gently as he could, placed the two dolls in a secret compartment hidden in a wall of his room. He locks the two dolls away, feeling relief that no magical harm could come to the two most important people in his life.

Meanwhile, Gaius tells Merlin and Gwen about the dolls and their temporary solution to lock them away. Merlin's kicking himself for not being able to stop the sorcerer sooner, but he soon gets to work helping Gaius look for a spell to break the bond between them and the dolls.

However, as the days go on and no solution comes up, the whole doll situation falls on the backburner as more magical situations happen that demand Gaius and Merlin's immediate attention, leaving the whole doll mess to fall to the wayside. They'd find a solution eventually, they reasoned, and their temporary solution of locking them away had worked perfectly so far, so they should focus on the more pressing matters at hand.

However, Arthur couldn't seem to quite get the dolls out of his head. The cursed objects that could take away the two most important people in his life were just sitting there! Arthur's fears about the dolls ran wild, so Arthur asked Gaius for information on those types of dolls. After all, they could more easily take precautions around the dolls if they knew more about them.

Gaius directs Arthur to a certain book in Geoffrey's library that he knew had several chapters dedicated to the magic dolls and their potential uses. Arthur thanked Gaius and, that night, dedicated himself to reading all about the dolls so he could better protect his loved ones.

Most of what Arthur read disgusted and terrified him, reading about horrifying methods of torture and execution using the dolls, which would transfer every sensation and emotion directed at them onto the person they were bound to. Eventually though, Arthur came to a shorter chapter about the positive uses of the dolls. He read about druids who had taken vows of silence using the dolls to convey their affections for their loved ones, and even powerful sorcerers using similar dolls to comfort their far-away families.

As much as Arthur tried to shove that idea violently from his mind, it became fixed in his thoughts like a fly in a spiderweb. A way for someone else to feel the full depths of his love without having to use words?

Arthur, for all of his faults, knew himself. He knew that he was not the best at conveying his emotions. Words, no matter how long he thought over them, always felt like pale reflections of the enormity of his emotions, especially in regards to his love for Gwen and Merlin. With Gwen, he often stumbled over his words, unsure of how to express the depths of his love for her, even three years into marriage. With Merlin, on the other hand, any of his attempts at affection inevitably devolved into banter and friendly name-calling, never being able to truly tell Merlin how much he meant to Arthur.

Could these dolls be the solution? Could he somehow use them to convey his feelings for his beloved Gwen and Merlin? Arthur found his eyes frequently drifting towards the secret compartment where he knew the dolls lay. Could he...

Eventually, the temptation became so strong that Arthur couldn't resist anymore. Surely, if he was gentle and careful, then everything would be fine, right? Either Merlin and Gwen would be able to feel Arthur love through the little dolls, or nothing would happen and Arthur would go about his day only slightly disappointed.

With his mind made up, Arthur checked the lock on his chamber's door to ensure that he would be alone, and made his way over to the secret compartment in his wall, unlocking it. Sitting inside, exactly where he left them, were the dolls of Merlin and Gwen.

Arthur quickly darted over to his window, where had a clear view of Merlin talking with Gwaine in the courtyard. If anything happened to Merlin because of the doll, he would know right away, and he could reassure himself that this little experiment of his wasn't doing any harm.

They were both small, with his hand being able to cover the entirety of either doll with the exception of its head. As carefully as Arthur could, he pulled each doll out of the wall and set them down gently on his desk, making sure to cushion the back of their heads as he set them down.

It wasn't until Arthur saw staring down at the dolls did he realize that the book never specified exactly how emotions were transferred. Sensations were easy enough, but it never said how to convey emotions themselves.

Well, Arthur reasoned with himself, it couldn't be that difficult. He gently picked up the doll that resembled Merlin (it even had a little jacket and a red scarf on it and everything) and held it in front of him. Arthur took a few moments to contemplate his next move, before landing on an acceptable strategy.

Willfully ignoring the voice in his head (which sounded remarkably similar to his father) that was berating Arthur for seeking comfort from these dolls like a little girl, Arthur brought the Merlin doll close to his chest and held it there, trying his best to simulate a hug. There, that was a good start!

Moving back over to the window, Arthur was relieved to see Merlin unharmed and still speaking with Gwaine with a large smile on his face, not showing any signs of pain or discomfort.

Emboldened and relieved with the knowledge that he wasn't causing any harm, Arthur next had to figure out if he was really sending his feeling through the doll, or if this was just a huge waste of Arthur's time.

Keeping his eyes trained on Merlin, Arthur brought the doll up to his face and pressed a gentle kiss onto its forehead. To his amazement, right as he had kissed the doll, Merlin suddenly stopped speaking looked rather confused, touching a hand to his forehead, as if trying to check to see if anything was there, while a blush rose on his cheeks.

Arthur could feel a huge grin break out on his face. It had worked! Merlin had felt the affection he had shown to the doll!

Arthur, cuddling the Merlin doll: Get cherished idiot! Get absolutely adored!

Merlin, wondering why the hell he feels someone hugging him: Huh, that's weird.

Over the course of the next week, Arthur experimented with different ways to convey his emotions to Gwen and Merlin through the dolls. He found that holding the dolls close and speaking to them, spilling out all of the words that he was so clumsy with when he was with Gwen or Merlin, worked the most effectively. However, just holding, cuddling, or kissing the dolls had much of the same effect.

Arthur could even see the different it made with Gwen and Merlin! Even though Arthur was too embarrassed to tell them about how he had taken to trying to express his feelings through the dolls, he could tell that both of them were happier and more affectionate with him!

Oh, it was all working out perfectly! Arthur could finally honestly express his love to Merlin and Gwen to its fullest extent, and they were happier in return (even if they didn't quite know why)!

And it was all well and good, up until Merlin was injured. Not by the doll, thank god, because Arthur would never forgive himself if something like that happened. No, it was during a routine hunt through the darkling woods, which of course had to be ruined by bandits.

Arthur had thought nothing of it at first, as it was a smaller and untrained group, but horror gripped him near the end of the fight as he turned around to see Merlin, coming out of hiding and totally unaware of the bandit's crossbow aimed at him. Arthur tries shouting for Merlin to move out of the way, but he's too late. Between one heartbeat and the next, there's suddenly a crossbow bolt sticking out of Merlin's back.

Arthur makes quick work of the four bandits standing between him and Merlin, and frantically starts trying to treat and bandage the wound on Merlin's back. The wound is deep, Arthur's panicking, and Merlin's already passed out. Luckily, the knight quickly finished off the rest of the bandits, and they ride as swiftly as they could back to Camelot so Merlin could be treated by Gaius.

Luckily, they were able to get Merlin to Gaius before Merlin lost too much blood or the wound became infected, so Gaius was able to treat Merlin's wound and give him a good prognosis. However, much to everyone's concern, Merlin still hadn't woken up, and Gaius couldn't guarantee when Merlin would wake up or fully recover.

While Gwen stayed by Merlin's side all night, Arthur couldn't bear the sight of Merlin, looking still and broken on a patient's cot. Perhaps that made Arthur weak, but he couldn't ever bear to see his loved ones in pain, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help.

Or... perhaps... there was something he could do to help. Merlin likely couldn't hear what was going on around him, but if he could feel it instead...

Arthur took Merlin's doll from its secret compartment as gently as his desperation would allow. Arthur was pretty sure that there were tears running down his face, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that at the moment.

With trembling hands, Arthur carefully held the doll to his chest, right over his heart. Arthur tries everything he can, from kissing the doll to just speaking to it, telling the little scrap of cloth and magic all of the things he adores about Merlin and how he cannot cope with the thought of losing him.

Everyone is relieved the next day when Merlin wakes up, still weak from his injury, but recovering nonetheless. But man, Merlin had some weird dreams while he was unconscious. He dreamed Arthur was a giant and was hugging him! Merlin tried to play it off for laughs to lighten the mood when Arthur visited him, but Arthur didn't seem to find it nearly as funny as Merlin and Gwen did. Instead, Arthur turned slightly pale at Merlin's words.

After Arthur left, Merlin and Gwen turn to each other and discuss why they think Arthur had reacted like that. They both agree that Arthur had been acting differently lately, but if anything, it was an improvement. Arthur had been more open to both giving and receiving affection with them, and he had been more open with sharing his emotions lately, being overall less of a complete prat.

So, this sudden closed off response was rather suspicious to both of them. After some discussion, they agree to search for an explanation for Arthur's strange shift in behavior. After some snooping around and looking between the gaps on the door to he servant's entrance to Arthur chambers, Merlin and Gwen saw something truly shocking.

Arthur had been removing the dolls that were bound to them to their hiding spot! Did he know how dangerous that was for the both of them! What was he even planning on doing with them?!

Many of their questions were answered, however, when Arthur started pressing kisses to the top of both doll's heads, and both Gwen and Merlin could feel the sensation of the kiss touching their heads. Oh. So that's what the whole doll situation was about, and why both of them were having sudden and unexplainable sensations and bursts of positive emotion.

It made a shocking amount of sense, especially considering how frustrated they knew Arthur could get at his lack of skills in communicating his feelings. Merlin and Gwen turned to each other, and decided to not confront Arthur about this just yet. They could let Arthur have this, and he'd tell them when he was ready.

For now, Arthur would have his peace.

And that's a wrap for this au! Honestly, this au idea was so unique that I don't even know where it came from, but there's a lot of different ways this au could go! One of my favorite ideas is that any injury the person gets is also reflected on the doll, so after Merlin or Gwen goes missing, Arthur obsessively checks the dolls to see if they're unhurt.

Anyways, I've got the au idea that won the poll (an au idea featuring Arthur being an idiot) planned for tomorrow or the next day, so I hope to see you all again soon!

And, as always, thank you for reading though my ramblings! :D

[aftercamlann]

ACBB 10TH ANNIVERSARY RECS: The Test of Honor

This ACBB was recommended by dvigano10:

Title: The Test of Honor Writer: Rawks Artist: cover Art Sexgenius, art Rawks Ship(s): Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Rating: Explicit Word Count: 297,120

Summary: Merlin loses Freya and is off-kilter for a while. When a monster appears he misses a crucial piece of information which Prince Arthur is able to uncover. Things seem to go south when Merlin's magic is revealed. But as the stakes change with the arrival of King Galorian, Arthur has a change of heart. He begins to break away from his father's reign and acknowledges magic for what it is. Merlin's priority remains his devotion to Arthur, and he will do everything to prove it. The five kings visit Camelot and decide the political future, while Merlin and Arthur try to work out who is trying to destroy it all.

Link: FIC & ART: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7756987

Why dvigano10 recommends this ACBB: This fic was probably the first novel-length story I read in the fandom. This epic and mature reinvention of Merlin Season 2 deserves every hour I was glued to the screen reading.

I recommend this read even though the ending is left open-ended in many ways, because this epic tale realises the potential of Arthur and Merlin's story that I would have loved to see on screen. Bonus: the OCs in this fic are THINGS OF BEAUTY!! Want to rec an ACBB fic yourself that you feel deserves some more love? Feel free to send us your rec through our 10th Anniversary Rec form!

[oneknightstand-if]

So, uhhh, first ever message on tumblr, here's to hoping this is actually the place to post that stuff?

It's great, As a Game Master (mostly for rpgs on discord) I'm a big fan of the freedom of expression when it comes to characters. I just finished a run I'm pretty happy with, so I figured I should do as asked and share the results below.

(A word of warning, since I can only draw anime-style, this is now an anime.)

As a bonus, here's some design I doodled up for the character, to help myself visualize her.

Additional Data:

Adrian: Crush Merlin: To Befriend Pet: Cat (Roland)(Like the Paladin of Charlemagne) Wears: Frilly blouse and long skirt (She started wearing those to get reactions out of Adrian while avoiding more extreme outfits) Camelot Sequence: Lucid dreamer, talked to Merlin in the past (monty python reference to prove she's from the future), got directed to Arthur, asked Past!Arthur about lucid dreaming, Caught Current!Arthur about Lucid Dreaming (He now knows who she is), then spilled all the beans to Merlin after waking up (He knows who she is). Items: Magic 8-Ball, Cat memento, pouch of pearls, miniature garden (Audrey III!) Gas Station: Followed Merlin, Destroy Cameras, Clean traces, Get matches.

And now, for the wall of texts that nobody asked for but that you're all getting anyway!

Character Design

The design I went with was 'the super sussy character who actually is kinda hiding the least'.

Physically, she's basically hopeless, with her teeny tiny 10% on physical, which puts her firmly into the 'dead weight' category. Considering what's going on in here, it's a bit sus.

Even more sus is the amnesia background, because here's that girl popping out of seemingly nowhere with no memories right around the time the failed Lesser Circle happened, who just so happens to be a potential harbinger? Sus.

Appearance wise, her best features are her eyes (my dice determined they should be violet), but they are downturned (Tareme) ones, that usually express either gentleness, or belong to suspicious people, with a gentle, caring and overall traditionally feminine/motherly behavior (wears frilly outfits, cooks gourmet food, tends to her (mutant) plants). In other words, she's very much an 'ara ara'-type character. (The cuckoo is mostly limited to the confines of her mind).

However, she is an imposter whose special move consists of spilling all the tea (ironic, her favourite drink is Jasmine…), all the time. Had a weird dream (Part 1)? Write a report and drop it on Adrian's lap, almost shoving the marked arm under his nose. Freak encounter in a horse trailer? Write a report and drop it on the club leader's lap. Meet a strange but weirdly helpful stranger? Drop the Weird dream Dossier (part 1) on his lap. Questions about the self medication? Ha! She's got her entire (albeit short) life written in a folder ready for perusal! Had a weird dream (Part 2)? You better bet she's writing it down and dropping it on Merlin and Adrian's laps.

…

This is probably a side-effect of being overworked all the time and getting in the habit of making biology reports for everything, isn't it?

IC Thoughts on characters:

Merlin: Super strong incubus who may or may not be the actual Antichrist, may or may not want to cause the Apocalypse themselves to put humanity out of their misery if the Arthur plan doesn't pan out, and yet may very well be the most trustworthy person in this entire group, if only because waking Arthur up seems to be their number 1 priority. After all, all they needed to do was stand aside and do nothing if they wanted the Lesser Circle to fail, right?

Adrian: 'Friend' for several years, eventually got a crush on him a few months ago, but his ambiguous way of almost-but-not-quite friendzoning her is beginning to wear her down. Slightly suspicious due to his being much too prepared for the crisis at hand for a random bystander, but he had all the opportunities in the world to get rid of/corrupt her in all the years they knew each other, and she herself has this 'tiny' Impostor secret going on so she's trusting him so far.

IC thoughts about the adventure: 4 (Reluctant/panicking, but not forced)

What is there to be said. The end of the world, man-eating monsters, plagues, the end of the world, homicides, abductions, did she forget to mention the end of the world? For a woman with little inclination toward physical fighting and who would rather read a book in a corner, this is very much outside of her field of competence.

With that said, she almost got eaten by the monster under her bed and Merlin healed her when she was at Death's Doors, so she's giving them the benefit of doubt, for now.

Character affinities:

Probably Percival (cuckoo connection), Arthur (dream shenanigans) or Broderick (this entire thing is crazy!) would work best?

Here's to hoping this didn't get too long, I tend to get too verbose when I become enthusiastic about something.

It's impossible to be too verbose, especially compared to me. Also, my imagination runs in 4K surround-sound anime-style, so it was anime all along! Olwen fits in perfectly!

[merganalogy]

Part 5

Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

This one takes place in the 60s (Part 2)

“I got what I deserved?” Morgana echoed, her voice trembling with disbelief. “I deserved to be lied to, betrayed, and killed by someone I once trusted with my deepest secret?”

Merlin remained silent, refusing to meet her gaze. Morgana pressed on, her resolve unwavering. “It wasn’t just my secret, Merlin. I trusted you with my life.” Her voice quivered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to,” His confession came softly. “From the moment I knew you had magic, it was all I wanted to do.”

“Why didn’t you?” Morgana’s voice rose. "We could have supported each other. Eased the burden of our secret together.” She hesitated, then added, “Perhaps I wouldn’t have turned to Morgause.”

If only that was easy.

A feeling, a mix of anxiety and relief washed over him as he prepared to unburden himself from the weight of his secrets.

Merlin’s nod was barely perceptible. "When I arrived in Camelot, like you, I knew nothing of magic. Not until I received Gaius' teaching and Kilgharrah's guidance." He paused, his next words caught in his throat. His gaze dropped to the floor, and he took a deep breath, clearly wrestling with the decision to speak. "I trusted them with my life. So when they warned against revealing my magic to you, I listened.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

The air between them crackled with unspoken emotions, the tension palpable.

"The worst part is, I didn't always listen." Merlin admitted. "I knew Mordred was destined to kill Arthur ever since we first met him, despite that knowledge, I still saved his life, and it cost Arthur his."

Her eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at him in utter disbelief. The news was too shocking to comprehend, too surreal to accept. "You knew?"

“Kilgharrah foresaw much,” Merlin replied. “Including your path toward darkness. Camelot’s true enemy was never Uther—it was you. Lives could have been spared if I’d heeded his warnings.”

“But not mine.” A heavy sigh escaped her lips, carrying the weight of her disappointment. It was as if the air itself had grown heavy with unmet expectations.

"You, more than anyone, ought to grasp the ease with which your demise could have been accomplished." He instantly noticed how her brows furrowed, "If we are here today, it is because I disregard his counsel. I adamantly refused to acknowledge the potential for malevolence within you, as I held firm to the belief in your inherent goodness." He drew a deep breath, his voice heavy with resignation. "Yet, your actions have validated his warnings. You've obliterated entire lineages, laid waste to kingdoms, and snuffed out countless innocent lives. For what purpose?"

"You had those who cautioned you, whereas I had Morgause." A storm brewing behind her eyes as frustration began to simmer beneath the surface. "She exposed me to the true horrors of our world, the injustices inflicted upon our people by Uther and the likes of him. They needed to be halted."

"By seizing control of Camelot?"

"Uther's reign had to end, and though you may protest, Arthur was his father's son. What other recourse did I have, Merlin? To remain subservient and obedient, as you did? Clearly, that path led to naught but disappointment. You never trusted Arthur—"

"Because of you." How could she fail to see it? "Magic is merely a tool, neither inherently good nor evil. Its use determines its nature. Arthur needed to understand that. But how could he comprehend this, with you are embodying his father's teachings? Magic was evil, and you have only confirmed Uther's beliefs."

"I acted as I believed right at the time—"

“Don’t justify what you have done. You were no child Morgana, you should have known better. Done better.”

“You poisoned me.”

Ah, of course she would throw that back at him.

"Then direct your anger toward me alone," he bellowed. "But you cannot justify the slaughter of innocents—"

"You destroyed me that day, Merlin," her voice fractured. "I loved you, and you ruined me. Magic did not corrupt me, Merlin. You did."

Her revelation struck him like a physical blow, stealing the very breath from his lungs. She regarded him, awaiting. But there was nothing that he could offer her back.

She loved him?

Should he believe her?

His heart pounded deafeningly, drowning out his thoughts. All he managed was, "How unfortunate."

It felt as though they had been transported back to the throne room, the weight of their shared history hanging heavy in the air. The intensity of her gaze mirrored that fateful moment, as if the passage of time had dissolved, leaving only the raw emotion between them.

He had just poisoned her all over again.

In her eyes, he glimpsed a reflection of the betrayal and hurt that had marked their past, a silent acknowledgment of the wounds they had inflicted upon each other. It was a poignant reminder of how far they had come, and how much they had lost along the way.

"Indeed, it is," she sniffed. "Goodbye, Merlin."

From this list, send me a prompt if you’d like.

[andtheyweresquirrels]

Merlin, 2x03: The Nightmare Begins

I loved it! Finally some good Morgana stuff.

I really thought this would be the episode where Morgana gets traumatised and becomes evil. I wanted so bad for Merlin to tell her he's a wizard... I wonder if she'll ever find out and, in that case, if she'll feel betrayed. I really think Merlin should tell her. They would have a good ally in one another and they would feel less alone, especially Morgana.

I wished for Merlin to teach her, but alas, that won't happen. I know the dragon told him that her knowing the full potential of her powers will destroy Camelot (or something similar) but Merlin has already done stuff the dragon told him not to do. He "let" Uther use Excalibur and he didn't kill Mordred, so why not help Morgana? She now knows she has magic, so Gaius excuse (Morgana's in more danger if she knows) doesn't make sense anymore... unless he knows more. But why is Merlin not asking why he can't tell her??? I feel like I'm going insane.

With this episode, is now very clear (to me) that Morgana is Merlin's foil. At the beginning of season one it felt more like she and Arthur were foils of each other, because of how they reacted to Uther's orders and what they thought was just and unjust, but as the show went on Arthur got more kind. So what I'm thinking now is going to happen is that, at some point, she will "accumulate" too many hurtful experiences and she will retaliate (or, even better more tragic, she will try to do something in good faith and it will blow up in her face). I think she will be the "magic that destroys" while Merlin will be the "magic that does good". We'll see how I feel about her... For now I think I'll excuse anything she does because she's beautiful and intriguing and right she has been done dirty by Merlin and Gaius (and if she's ever found out she'll definitely be done dirty by Arthur and Uther). Also, I love an anti-hero.

I absolutely want to see Morgana and Merlin interact more.

[popart-vvv]

Arcana Analysis--Sonic the Hedgehog (Fool, Fortune, World)

Here comes the next edition of my ongoing analysis essay series, this time giving the next set of characters more than one card because they are over a decade old at this point!

Good old Sonic the Hedgehog. Free as the wind, wandering the globe, going with whatever life has in store for him. That being said, he's also incredibly loyal to his special people, his iconic rivalry with Dr. Eggman happening because the bad doctor messes with his friends. An early quote sums it up best:

"Sorry for being brash. People who are all talk are the worst. I don't do what I do out of righteousness. I do what I do because I love to do it. But I'd never betray you." (Source: JP manual for the very first Sonic game in 1991)

The following cards represent him best:

The Fool--It's the story of Sonic's life. Carefree and adventurous, he hops from one story to the next as if it's business as usual for him. "Endless Possibility", being from his POV, is self-explanatory regarding that particular aspect. Reversed, the card represents recklessness, a key flaw with Sonic's character. In Sonic Lost World, he impulsively breaks Eggman's control over the Deadly Six, causing a domino effect that leads to the rebelling villains nearly destroying his world and killing his close friends. Sonic Frontiers takes this flaw in the other direction--his recklessness harms himself as well because in saving his friends, the cyber-corruption initially containing them starts taking over Sonic's body, eventually leading him to a state close to death. It's only when they give up their bodies that he's able to make up for his mistake by defeating the villain that he was manipulated into releasing. It's interesting to note that, in Frontiers' case, Sonic's rashness in saving his friends is more of a combination of tunnel-vision and Sage's crypticness regarding why jumping right to saving them is a bad idea. Either way, it just goes to show that Sonic highly prioritizes his friends, sometimes to his own detriment.

Wheel of Fortune--Pun notwithstanding, Sonic's own carefree nature is such that he's content to go with the flow, to the point that you hardly see him complaining about the constant chain of events in his life. This aspect of him is most prominent in Sonic and the Black Knight, where the big bad, Merlina's goal was to ensure the invulnerability of Camelot, which she executes through dubious means. "Dubious" as in "using the underworld's dark magic", which would definitely do more harm than good for Merlina's people. Sonic, while sympathetic, thwarts her and educates her on the natural cycle of life. "Every world has its end. I know that's kinda sad, but... that's why we gotta live life to the fullest in the time we have. At least, that's what I figure." The card reverses in Sonic Frontiers, indicating a major disruption to the status quo: Sonic and his friends--Tails, Knuckles, Amy--going their own way for the time being, the latter three to further develop their own potential. Sonic, while saddened, accepts this and supports them in their pursuit of self-actualization.

The World--It speaks to Sonic's travels themselves, as well as where he is in life. The card represents travel, the bread and butter of Sonic's major activity, as well as completion. This part requires some reading between the lines to relate it to Sonic's story, but it's easy to recognize if you squint. Sonic has no overarching purpose in life other than going wherever he feels like, and any goal he takes tends to be short-term, usually being resolved by the end of whatever journey he takes. That's his personal completion--as long as he can go wherever he pleases, he's happy with himself.

Despite there being many interpretations of Sonic's character throughout the three decades of his franchise, these cards represent his core traits best. Laid-back, fun-loving, but willing to fight the good fight for his friends, Sonic is a traveler with a heart of gold.

"Alright!! Our next adventure awaits us, so there's no time to waste!"

[thekeeperofbalance]

7: Are there aliens?

8: Are there yokai/magical beings?

Questions from the ask game for secret garden

7) yes there are aliens, the kraang do exist here (and, as this is heavily rise influenced, they are more like rottmnt's kraang than any other canon iteration) and they are important to the lore

edit: you can tell i Did Not read the ask game thoroughly before answering this- outside the kraang (which are strictly aliens in the gardens saga, there is no dimension trapping or anything) there are no aliens- like, outside one's that are important to the kraang's backstory (yeah they have a whole-ass backstory and it's kinda tragic, i.e. lost/forsaken potential)

8) there are multiple different magical beings, as secret garden/the gardens saga (as i am now calling it, because i was never really happy with secret garden) is technically a crossover with my fantasy world meaning it has the unending

minor tangent to explain the unending:

so. in the unending weave, there are two types of immortals, the divine and the unending.

the divine not being truly immortal (such as the greek gods in pjo, who fade if their seats of power or domains are destroyed or if they aren't remembered) meaning they somehow enter nonexistentance. they also are limited to their specific universe, while the unending exist outside the multiverse.

the unending being just that. the unending cannot die, they cannot be destroyed, they cannot fade, they have no end and are truly immortal. they will exist without humanity, without the universe, without time, without physical existence. they cannot become nonexistant. they are truly without end.

anyways, other than the unending (there are no divine beings in the universe of the gardens saga), there are the emayi which are humans blessed/cursed by the keepers (basically the protectors, priests, rulers, and almost gods of the unending who exist to keep their domains, which i will discuss in some other post because who the keepers are isn't really important to this universe) to be stronger, faster, more durable, have better senses, and far longer lifespans, at the cost of the appearance of humanity (aka they're anthromorphic beings that take an android form of a specific species of animal or are too other to be considered human aka they are like the unending in appearance but not immortality).

they inspired the yokai in japanese mythology and are the ancestors of the fae- the fae also exist in the gardens saga btw

i think that's it- this iteration has so much magic and so much influence from the unending weave-

tdlr; 7) yes, the kraang exist

8) yes, there are the unending (basically gods), the emayi (the humans blessed/cursed by the keepers (basically the unending's gods, even if they are unending themselves) to be a species of the unending without the immortality (just extremely long lifespans)) and the fae (descendants of the emayi)

this has nothing to do w/ ur ask but if i had to rank my stories by level of influence from the unending weave it would be: (warning: this is a bit spoilerly)

this hope rising like sparks. (one of the many larks (almost mc of the unending weave) across the multiverse befriends hisirdoux casperan before camelot)

in the gardens we grow of starlight. (the turtles are literally sponsored by the keepers, and everything to do with the hamato family lore has some time to the keepers)

within waters of the underworld. (magic is a blessing from a keeper, and every mage has a specific keeper as their patron, of which there are thirteen keepers)

homes; these places we've hoped for. (just background influence and worldbuilding, otherwise there would be too many gods/god-like beings)

[servingliesarch]

i crave to explore all those different scenarios merlin could have taken instead of going to camelot which was perhaps the worst idea his mother ever had for her very magical son. i mean, perhaps he found the druids? perhaps nimueh found him and she taught him what she knew? i often think about it and i crave for merlin to be surrounded with other magical beings so he doesn’t have to suffer everything that happened in the show.

[okay-j-hannah]

They Meet You And Your Powers

Preference

Characters: Merlin, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Theseus Scamander

Warnings:

Request: “My magic boys! Please, Merlin, Ron, Harry and Theseus reacting to meeting a girl with "Wanda's powers" and falling in love with her!” Anon

~~~

Merlin

She held the glass bottle full of the healing brew. It had taken days to collect all the herbs and stew the petals to create the antidote. It was going to be the saving grace for the infectious disease plaguing the town.

Merlin was sitting on the staircase to his bedroom, watching (Y/N) as she bustled about preparing the precious brew.

“Do you think it’s going to work?” he asked.

“It better,” she replied, “Gaius is no fool.”

“Which is why he asked you to make the brew instead of me.”

(Y/N) laughed aloud and knocked into a table, the bottle of medicine flying from her hands. As it fell in slow motion, she considered for a second whether to use her magic to save the bottle. But that would reveal herself to Merlin and risk her chances of all of Camelot knowing.

But in that instant a pillow came levitating off Gaius’ cot and cushioned the fall of the bottle.

(Y/N) looked up, astonished to see Merlin with an outstretched hand and golden eyes.

“Merlin, you have magic!”

“Yes,” he said quickly, “I can explain.”

She had her hands over her mouth, “I don’t believe it.”

“It was something I was born with,” he said, a clear panic in his voice, “Nothing evil about it.”

She laughed, “I’m not going to turn you in, Merlin.”

He stared at her, his look of fear turning into one of confusion. “I never picked you to be a supporter of magic, (Y/N).”

“You can’t help what you’re born with,” she shrugged, feeling her own power grow in her fingertips. “You’re not the only one.”

Merlin paused, “What do you mean?”

(Y/N) smiled, her eyes beginning to glow scarlet as ribbons of red mist flew from her fingers. It wrapped around the glass bottle and floated it to her hands.

It was incredible the shift of emotion on Merlin’s face. “(Y/N)!” he cried, “You have magic!?”

“I guess Gaius prefers apprentices with powers.”

They shared a laugh, Merlin shaking his head in wonder. His voice became soft and fond as he said, “You’re incredible, (Y/N).”

Ron

She walked down the halls of Hogwarts with hunched shoulders, trying to keep herself as small as possible. Being an extraordinary student came with an upheaval of consequences.

Students saw her magical abilities as an unfair advantage and full of the potential to be evil. Professors revered her and often requested demonstrations of her talents.

Regardless, (Y/N) sought the solitude of her common room more often than not. There were few that regarded her as a friend and not as a magical abnormality, meaning she avoided social interactions as much as possible.

Another instance was now as a group of Ravenclaws passed her in the hall.

“Oh, look out,” they said, “Here comes the freak.”

She ignored their snickers, escaping down the next corridor, only to be stopped by a flying menace.

“Ah, the wee red witch is upset,” came the grading voice of Peeves the poltergeist. “People should run for their lives!”

“Shut it, Peeves,” a new voice appeared, “Go destroy the trophy room and leave her alone.”

(Y/N) turned around to see Ron Weasley defending her. He was one of those fair few that treated her more kindly than the others.

Peeves blew some raspberries in their direction, floating off to cause more mayhem.

“You alright?” he asked, approaching her.

She sighed, “I’m fine.”

“I bet you could’ve sent him off with that magic of yours,” he said, smiling.

“You think,” she said, a surge of power descending her arms and to her hands. It was involuntary how red mist began to spark between her fingers. “You’re not intimated by it?”

Ron looked at her in awe, “That’s the appeal.” He watched as the red tendrils of magic grew and danced in the air, “I think your magic is amazing.”

She grinned at him, that was until the sound of blowing raspberries returned above them.

“The red witch is at it again!” yelled Peeves, “Harming students, she is!”

(Y/N) grumbled, flicking her wrist and sending ribbons of magic towards the poltergeist. His hands and mouth were immediately bound in red. Another crack of her fingers and the ghost was sent flying through the wall.

Ron laughed aloud, “That was incredible,” he stared at her with clear astonishment. So much so that (Y/N) started to believe she really was something special.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, sending a few threads of magic to play with his robes and hair.

He continued to laugh, “I love you!”

He said it so causally and she knew it was because of the way she took down Peeves, but despite that…

… his words made her blush.

Harry

The library was overly quiet that evening, books lazily floating to their respective shelves. The lamps were beginning to dim, and (Y/N) was peering over into the next cubicle, packing her schoolbag.

Harry Potter was slumped over the table surface, head bent at an uncomfortable angle. He was fast asleep, his glasses digging into his nose.

He was twitching in his sleep, his face beginning to contort as if he were in pain.

He was dreaming, she thought, perhaps having a nightmare. She slung her schoolbag across her shoulder, finding herself drawn to him.

Making sure no one was watching, (Y/N) let tendrils of her magic empower her arms. Her eyes began to glow, and ribbons of red came from her fingers, searching for the open mind of her classmate.

He was starting to mumble, sweat dotting his temples as the red magic went for his dream.

She tried not to watch, keeping his thoughts private as she envisioned a peaceful scene for him to wake up to:

Sun on the Black Lake. A warm breeze across the cheek. Back resting against a mighty tree. Green grass tickling toes. Laughter filling ears. Friends gathered for a summer day outside, free from homework and exams.

(Y/N) knew of his friends and made sure they were there to calmly pull him from the previous nightmare.

His face was now serene as he awoke. He sat up, hands going for the crick in his neck. He caught the last remnants of the red glow in her eyes.

“Hello,” she said awkwardly, “You were mumbling in your sleep.”

Harry shook his head, as if to expel the fleeting tendrils of her magic. “Was that you?”

(Y/N) looked down sheepishly, “I know nightmares aren’t fun.”

He knew of (Y/N) and her extraordinary magic but normally she kept to herself. “How did you do that?”

“Change your dream?” she asked, wringing her hands around her schoolbag strap. “I can change realities and give visions to others. I just put a different picture in your head to cover up the nightmare.”

Harry seemed torn as he considered her, his fingers fidgeting with his own bag. It was long enough that (Y/N) started to back away, embarrassed by what she did.

“I’ll see you around, Harry.”

“Thank you,” he choked out. She turned around as he continued, “That was the first time, in a long time, where I woke up from a good dream.”

She smiled, “You’re welcome – anytime.”

“I might take you up on that,” he said more warmly.

Theseus

“What are you doing here?” she asked, resting against the countertop in the lounge room.

Theseus Scamander, head auror for the offices, was looking at her with an interrogative stare. “I’ve heard a few things floating around.”

“Such as?” she asked, stirring her coffee.

He smirked, “That you have some pretty extraordinary abilities. Things that the wizarding world has never seen before.” He tugged on his vest, “I’m impressed that MACUSA was able to recruit you.”

“Why?” she asked, “Surprised that I’m not one of those villains you need to take down.”

“I’ve had my suspicions,” he said all smug. “Can you show me?”

She scoffed, “I’m not a dancing monkey.”

His smile had a bit of mischief and (Y/N) had the impression that he might’ve been flirting.

“Then I’ll duel you for it.”

She raised her brows, “You don’t want to take me on.”

“I like a challenge.”

“I can tell,” she said, enjoying the banter more than she should. “I could obliterate you.”

He nodded, “You’re not instilling confidence in how you’re not a villain.”

She felt a flicker of power surge to her fingers. The heat was building behind her eyes. This auror was really trying to rouse something out of her and she was embarrassed to say that it was working.

“Oh no,” Theseus said, spotting the light dusting of red appearing between her fingers. “Losing some control there, are you?”

“Are you always this infuriating?” she said lowly.

He kept smiling, “I’m a perfectly pleasant person.” His eyes widened as her power grew, “What are you able to do?”

She sighed deep in her chest, raising her hand and bending her fingers. Rivers of red floated around her palm, matching the color of her eyes.

“Telekinesis and manipulation.” Her coffee mug began to stir itself, red mist levitating the mug between them, “I can invade your mind,” she said darkly, “I could make you see things – believe things.”

Theseus swallowed hard, trying to watch her demonstration of power without much of a reaction. “Fascinating.”

Her blood was boiling, “Had enough? Could you leave me alone now?”

The smirk returned to his face, “If you’re interested in auror work…” he tossed a business card towards her and watched as her magic caught it in midair. “… give me a call.”

He winked at her, and (Y/N) knew it was just the beginning of their relationship. The flirtatious, overconfident wizard was going to be the death of her. But she might as well have some fun with it.

~~~

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[pippin-katz]

With Merlin trending, allow me to share my genius idea.

I don't really want a revival or season 6, but maybe they could do an epilogue/post-show special?

I think the funniest and most potential idea is obviously a special where Arthur rises and Merlin has to introduce him to the modern world, but that pretty much cuts all the other characters out of the equation for what is supposed to be a reunion/anniversary/comeback special.

So maybe it could be a series of moments in time, like episode 3 of Good Omens?

Here's some things I thought of that would have good potential to be in a special:

Parts of Guinevere's rule: Did she get remarried and have kids? Did she repeal the magic ban?

Did Merlin ever go back to Camelot? If he did, a scene of him and Guinevere actually discussing his magic would be awesome, since her "reveal" was an indirect confirmation from Gaius.

Where did Aithusa go? We know she was alive after the battle, but it never shows her again after Emrys sends her away. Did Merlin finally get to be her mentor/guardian? Did she recover from the crippling that she experienced, and learn to speak?

How did Camelot fall/disperse into a modern country? Camelot is obviously in modern day England. How did it stop being Camelot? Was it destroyed or absorbed by an enemy? Did it gradually turn into England?

Magic: What is magic like? Does it die out except for Merlin? Does it still exist, but the general population stopped believing it to be real because of how rare sorcerers become? What about magic creatures like the griffin and the fomorroh?

Merlin waiting for Arthur: Episode 3 of Good Omens includes a compilation of scenes of Aziraphale and Crowley across the centuries and in different eras. It would be cool to see Merlin moving through time similarly.

Arthur rising from the lake: This is a given, it has to happen. We have been very patient, and Merlin has been even more patient. We deserve to see the Once and Future King rise again.

Arthur in the modern world: Obviously, this would be really fun and silly, as well as somber. Seeing Arthur learn about modern things would be funny, but obviously, he would have to come to terms with the passage of so much time.

The only issue I find with this lineup of events/scenes is finding a way to bring Katie McGrath back, since Morgana died during the events of the canon show, not in the future like Gwen, Gaius, Percival, or Leon.

I guess it would be most effective to have some flashback scenes mixed into the flashforward scenes. Flashbacks would also allow other important, deceased characters to come back for the special, like the knights, (Lancelot, Elyan, Gwaine) and Uther, since Anthony Head was a major actor in the show.

Regardless, THIS is what I would want if BBC Merlin "came back". THIS would be amazing. It would satisfy the desire to see into the future of the characters without needing a full season, which the cast/crew have all said they don't want to do.

Share this around if you like this idea! I would love to see other people's additions.

[xjulixred45x]

Arthur Pendragon/King of Chaos X Reader

I inadvertently deleted the request for this scenario, so here is a short version of it, Arthur with a wife(reader) who has a dangerous magic, consequently, makes her very vulnerable.

Thanks @ultravioletqueen for the order! I've been wanting to write about Arthur for a long time, although I like almost everything in 4KotA (except Loli Guinevere, please take that out).

Character: Arthur Pendragon/King of Chaos

Genre: Headcannons

reader: female

Warnings: illness (?something like that), sick/weak reader, Arthur himself is a warning now, spoilers for the four knights of the apocalypse manga, mainly Fluff.

There are two ways in which you two could have met (even if it ends in the same scenario).

The first (and the most probable) is that You both met after the anime (that is, in 4kota) and the second (less likely) is that you met during the series, but the first possibility will be used mainly as a reference (apart from the fact that there Arthur is already an adult).

Your kingdom became one of Camelot's greatest allies after the holy war, they were fed up with the other races doing what they wanted with their lives, so they provided Arthur with all the necessary support (be it ballistic or magical, spreading their ideas, etc.).

Thanks to this they gained a certain level in the Camelot hierarchy, and that is where you, the princess of said kingdom, come in.

For as long as you can remember you never knew how to control your magic well, no matter how hard you tried to measure it or take it out, or it was something very small or it almost killed someone (or you), so you decided better to just contain your magic and hope that nothing will happen.

Spoiler, something happened.

And it is that your body could hardly handle the intensity of your own magic while you were growing up, it was like having a container that was too small, and when you tried to release all that pressure you almost killed half of the curt.

As a consequence you were weak all the time from the force you had to exert to prevent the magic from coming out and it still did sometimes, you were so depressed about it all.

And your parents too, they decided to take a chance and use their connection to the king of chaos and find out if there was something, anything, to help you.

Arthur was interested to see this new type of unknown and apparently powerful magic, besides, your kingdom would not be of much use without an heir, so he agrees to see you and try to help you.

Even so, he doesn't admit it, the first time he saw you he felt sympathy for you, having all that potential that at the same time destroys your conscience, he understood it and was willing to see what he could do.

The first few days he came I was accompanied by Merlin, who did a few tests and Arthur made sure that the energy waves of your magic will not affect them.

While Merlin was doing her thing, he would walk around your room/tower and talk to you, quite basic at first, but as you went, showing more of your side without pain, he became friendlier, more sincere.

There were times when he only came to keep you company (because very few people came close for fear of your magic) and in general he tried to cheer you up and so that you did not feel so isolated, it was a breath of fresh air for you, and for him.

Someone so innocent wouldn't have to go through all that physical and emotional pain, It motivated him in a certain way, wanting to change the world for people like you.

After a few months Merlin already knew what you had and how to help you, Arthur was surprisingly happy, considering that at first it was just a means to gain more sympathy, now he felt very comfortable with you and it definitely didn't go unnoticed.

Let's just say what Merlin made was an amulet that drains your magic enough to finally be able to live your life in peace, the happiness with which you ran to hug your parents fearlessly for the first time in god knows how long was just adorable.

It was the moment he realized he was in love.

Going directly to when You two are married, I think Arthur would be very cautious with those who talk to you, many people will see the potential of your magician to be destructive and will want to have her-have you as a weapon, which for Arthur is obviously a big NO.

you are not a weapon, you are his wife, the queen of Camelot.

He will not let you be disrespected by treating you like an object.

He sees you with a Real respect that many people don't show him (with one hand and you have plenty of fingers) but still he can't help but want to protect yourself from everything.

Very affectionate behind closed doors or alone, hugs, kisses, snuggling, everything. If you are the one who initiates the affection it is even better, you will stay trapped in his arms until you ask him enough to leave you or until he has to attend to some real business.

You're just like his favorite stuffed animal, especially if he sleeps with you.

He wants to keep away from everything shady about the "everlasting kingdom" plan, he would be really sad if you come to be afraid of him or even suffer because of him, he sees you as a fragile spirit and he is so afraid of crushing you with the truth.

Usually having those kinds of thoughts just makes me clingier than usual, wanting hugs or saying "I love you" almost out of the blue.

I imagine that there are days when Merlin has to extract the magic accumulated in the amulet, so your pain can return either very slightly or terribly, depending on the day.

In those situations, you are practically forbidden to move or make a basic effort, seeing you in pain overcomes it, so he expects to have it attached to you during those days.

The only thing I'd let you do for yourself on those days would probably be going to the bathroom (no kidding).

All his knights know how to bow to you, not only the heiress of one of his main allies, but also the king's wife, no one is foolish enough to try to hurt you.

Sometimes he'll just sit on his throne with you on his lap telling you about his day (excluding the bloody parts) and probably because of this you know even more about the current situation than many of his trusted knights.

It's slowly turning you into a spoiled person, you literally just have to mention something you slightly liked and almost the next day you have it.

He definitely wants a family, he is a king after all, he needs an heir, but he will wait until you are ready both physically and mentally for that.

For what happens in the manga, you most likely also know about the knights of the apocalypse and vice versa, so just as a precaution Arthur would not let you leave Camelot until he has everything under control with his knights.

When he returns from his first run-in with the knights of the apocalypse, you expected anything but a radiant Arthur, but he just wanted to go to sleep with you (and maybe more than just sleep).

(probably with the residue of your magic Merlin is planning something sinister bastard, I'll leave that to interpretation).

As long as Arthur knows you're safe, happy, and healthy, he can handle anything.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

5 times Merlin does something that requires a considerable amount of strength;

+1 time the gang has time to actually bring it up.

Everyone is baffled, half distracted by Merlin’s surprising buffness and half amused by Arthur’s gay panic:

1)

The clearing fills with the sounds of a brutal fight. 

The Knights of Camelot, along with their King, had given up on trying to figure out how bandits always managed to find them in the woods. It seemed impossible for there to be so many mercenary groups that it was just coincidence for them to stumble upon each other so often, but equally, the knights moved quietly and always covered their tracks well, so... yeah, who knows.

The point is, they’re outnumbered three to one, and all of them were starting to regret not listening to Merlin’s earlier suggestion that they keep riding for another hour or so; their camp was destroyed and the fight was tiring them out.

Three to one weren’t bad odds, especially for knights with such a high level of skill, but it was exhausting and time consuming and they just wanted it to be over. Merlin was having similar thoughts as he stumbles through the middle of the crowd, trying to get out of the way. He was keeping an eye on them of course, but his friends were winning so his magical intervention wasn’t really needed; he was just annoyed that Arthur was almost certainly going to make him clear everything up afterwards.

His attention is suddenly caught when Percival’s voice rings out across the clearing:

“Merlin! Behind you!”

All of the knights’ gazes whip to the servant when they hear the giant’s yell, and they all abandon their own battles to step towards him despite knowing that they were too far away to be able to help in time. The servant takes in a sharp breath at Percival’s warning, becoming suddenly aware of a fast-moving presence behind him; he forms a fist and turns, swinging blindly with all his strength and following through even when his knuckles crunch with surprising accuracy against the temple of a bandit.

The man, not expecting the rapid attack, doesn’t have time to move out of the way, and his head jerks to the side, his entire body following as if an afterthought. He crumples to the floor gracelessly, unconscious before his head makes contact with the trampled undergrowth.

Merlin hisses at the pain bursting through his knuckles and up into his wrist, shaking his hand out as he steps over the bandit’s still form without even blinking, back to focusing on attempting to find a tree to sit behind and sulk, as if nothing had happened.

The knights only have a fraction of a second to freeze in shock before they’re dragged back to their own fights, forced to defend themselves lest they get skewered. 

The battle only lasts a few more minutes; despite being outnumbered, the knights far outmatch the bandits in skill (and sufficient armour) and Merlin was correct in his assumption that they wouldn’t need any of his DIY luck, which is a good thing really, considering how much his hand is throbbing. He peeks his head around the tree when things go suspiciously quiet, getting up and making his way to the abandoned bag of medical supplies when he sees the knights victorious.

The servant runs a quick gaze over them, taking stock of any potential injuries as he makes his way through the clearing, injured hand clenched tightly and held to his chest. He may have knocked the bandit out, but that just meant that the punch was hard enough to do damage to his hand as well as the other guy’s head. When he finds nothing more than the odd bruise on the others, he grabs a roll of bandages for himself, quickly wrapping his hand almost painfully tight, before turning to Arthur with a scowl:

“I told you we were too close to the road, I told you we should’ve kept on going. But do you ever listen to me? No, because you’re-”

He’s cut off by The King stepping towards him and taking his bandaged hand, cradling it gently and looking to Merlin in concern:

“Merlin, are you alright?”

Merlin just rolls his eyes and huffs, snatching his hand back and retreating to check on the horses, thankfully tied and uninjured at the edge of the clearing:

“No, my hand fucking hurts, because, surprisingly enough, these idiots have skulls almost as thick as yours. We need to move camps, like I said earlier. Prat.”

Arthur frowns, looking down to Merlin’s unconscious bandit at his feet, and then glancing back to the other knights, who all just shrug with wide eyes. The King sighs, reluctantly nodding at Merlin’s assertion as he stares up at the darkening sky, deciding that Merlin must’ve... hit a pressure point or... something:

“Everyone pack up, I want to be moving on in three minutes.”

2)

Merlin had foregone his jacket and rolled his sleeves up in the surprising Spring heatwave.

Which was a sight in itself.

But what really made the knights look twice (I mean... Arthur was just outright staring, but Leon had long since glared the others into not mentioning The King’s little... crush) was the way the supposedly wimpy servant had two sets of chainmail folded on one shoulder, his arm curled over them to keep them balanced, and a few odd bits of mismatched armour clutched in his other hand. He was making his way from the training field up to the castle, presumably to find an empty room to sit quietly and clean them.

Elyan waves at him across the field, the movement just about catching the servant’s gaze as he twists around, flashing a bright, sunny grin in place of waving back. 

Arthur gulps, eyes drawn to the vein standing out from Merlin’s uncovered neck; apparently the heat had encouraged him to abandon his neckerchief as well. The King takes a deep breath, sending a scowl Merlin’s way to cover his... surprise, holding in a smirk when the servant just rolls his eyes and turns back to the castle.

His stride was strong, and though his arms were straining against the weight, he looked entirely unbothered, not even breathing deeply as he picks up his pace, jogging up the citadel steps.

Training had all but stopped at this point, the roundtable knights staring in confusion as Merlin carefully pulled the door open, making sure he wouldn’t drop anything, before nudging the door shut again with his hip. Gwaine was the first to break the silence, quirking one of his eyebrows up as he speaks in a slightly surprised tone:

“Didn’t know he had it in him. Wearing one set, when the weight is evenly distributed, is hard enough, let alone carrying two sets. And armour. Up steps. Huh.”

Arthur clears his throat, looking away with a slight blush as he asserts:

“Yes, well, knights carry the same weight in armour and weapons everyday, if not more. If you’re that impressed Sir Gwaine, perhaps you should work on your strength.”

Gwaine turns to him with a smirk, but Leon’s warning glare stops him from teasing, or saying anything else that could be considered treasonous. Instead, he rolls his eyes at the first knight before humming non-committedly and pointing his sword at The King:

“That, Princess, sounds like a challenge.”

Arthur, blush forgotten, looks up with raised eyebrows and a chuckle, noting with satisfaction the way the other knights spread out to form a circle around the two of them, swords lowered and expectant looks on their faces:

“Does it now? I suppose you’ll have to take me up on it then, won’t you?”

3)

The knights were on some stupid (in Merlin’s opinion) quest.

The group was currently making their way through a complicated cave system. They had maps, thankfully, but they were old, and provided by a small village of locals who hadn’t spoken common very well. 

They’d had to trade away half of their supplies in return for the maps, so Arthur was already in a foul mood, but a dotted line on the page across the path they were following was worrying him. The note written next to it was in some old, almost lost native language, so The King had just resigned himself to carrying on and hoping for the best.

Which is why he let out a series of echoing curse words when they turned a corner to find a ragged overhang, about eight feet above the path. The wall curved in on itself before jutting out again at the top, making it impossible to climb, even without armour and swords and packs.

Elyan is the first to break the tense silence after Arthur’s outburst, his tone half amused, half annoyed, as he mutters:

“That’ll be why the locals kept pointing at that ladder then.”

Arthur huffs, glaring at the knight with a rare venom, but Leon gestures to the map in his hand before he can retort:

“We can always go back, or is there another way around?”

Arthur huffs louder, letting out a short growl as he thrusts the maps to Leon’s chest and paces closer to the overhang:

“Feel free, if you can find an alternative route, please, enlighten me. The village is a day’s journey away, we don’t have time to go back.”

Leon covers his annoyance at Arthur’s harshness well, but Merlin scowls at The King openly before moving to stand at the junction between the wall of the corridor, and the overhang in front of them:

“Don’t be an arse, Arthur, it’s not Leon’s fault that none of us can understand Old... whatever it was. And it’s not that high, just-”

With that, Merlin braces his foot against the wall, bending his knees slightly before pushing off and jumping up, reaching out and grabbing the overhang, his feet dangling off the ground. The knights stare in shock, but before they can say anything, Merlin swings his feet forwards, and backwards, and forwards again. When they swing back for the second time, he uses the momentum to pull himself up, his arms locking out straight beneath him as he lifts his knees up, crawling over the edge and onto the floor above them.

Arthur blinks, looking from the floor, to the wall, and up to Merlin again, trying to figure out how the hell his manservant had enough strength in his arms and core to pull himself up; he hadn’t even taken his pack off.

Lancelot clears his throat, tilting his head and frowning as he slowly speaks:

“That was... impressive. But we’re wearing armour, Merlin, I don’t think we’ll be able to manage that with all the extra weight.”

No one mentions that they don’t think they could do it even without armour.

Merlin just rolls his eyes and sits on the edge, his feet dangling below him as he gestures vaguely:

“Well if you just get your hands on the ledge then I can pull you up. Take your packs off and throw them up first if you’re so worried, you can give each other a hand up, and Percival can go last because of how tall he is. Come on, it wasn’t that hard.”

Lancelot shrugs, taking his pack off and throwing it up with all his might. Merlin leans out, catching it with ease and chucking it behind him as he motions Percival to interlock his hands. The knight does so, allowing Lancelot to step on them and throw himself up, just about managing to catch the ledge and groaning at the strain in his arms. Merlin brings his feet back over the overhang, bracing his heels against the stone as he reaches down, gripping Lancelot’s wrists and hauling him up and over the edge.

Lance yelps as Merlin yanks him up, rolling onto his back and panting at the ceiling as he blinks in surprise. Merlin doesn’t pay him any attention, frowning down at the others and gesturing at them to hurry:

“Come on, I thought we were in a rush?”

With that, they all huddle below, taking turns to be thrown up and hauled over the edge. Merlin drags Elyan up on his own, Lance still recovering from his slight shock, but the more people gather at the top, the less work Merlin has to do. Which is good, because he may be strong, but he’s not sure he could manage Percival on his own. The giant has to take a running leap at the ledge, and it takes four of them to pull him up without dislocating any shoulders or throwing out any backs.

When they’re all successfully at the top, Merlin wordlessly picks his pack up, shrugging it onto his shoulders as he begins a quick pace along the corridor as if he hadn’t a care in the world; the knights break out of their stupors and jog to catch up, knowing that Merlin was right and they needed to hurry.

4)

Arthur was glaring resolutely at the floor, trying to psych himself up to confront whatever arsehole had managed to get the drop on him and his six best knights. The others were arguing in whispers around him, trying to figure out some way to escape the dungeon unscathed, though The King kept silent, knowing that the only way out was if someone unlocked these infernal chains first.

They’d only been there for around an hour, so no one from Camelot would have realised they were missing yet; their only hope was that Merlin was making his way back to the city to get help. He’d been off gathering firewood, and he’d already been gone half a candle mark when they’d been ambushed; Arthur would never admit it, but he had faith that Merlin would be able to sort everything out.

The King harshly shushes the knights as he hears the guards begin to yell, but frowns in confusion when he hears “They’re going crazy up there!” and “What the fuck?!” before the unmistakable sound of armoured boots running up the stairs and away from the dungeons reaches them.

The knights all look to each other in confusion, straining against their chains to try and see through the small barred window at the top of the door. A shadow passes through the square of light on the floor, and they all shuffle back against the wall, staying silent. None of them manage to hold in their surprised yelps however, when the door suddenly bursts in, the wood around the lock splintering violently and spreading shards across the dungeon floor.

A strong arm extends out, stopping the now broken beyond repair door from swinging shut again, and the knights look up, taking in sharp gasps when they see Merlin stood there, scowling disapprovingly with a ring of keys in his other hand and one foot in front of the other, as if he had... as if he had kicked the door. Leon is the first to break the silence:

“Merlin?? What are you doing here?”

Merlin’s scowl deepens as he glances down the corridor before stepping into the dungeon, sorting through the keys to try and figure out which one would open which set of chains:

“Well I’m rescuing you lot, obviously. I leave camp for barely a candle-mark and you get yourselves kidnapped. Honestly, how hard is it to not find trouble, for once?”

Arthur is too busy staring at Merlin’s apparently muscled legs to say anything, even when Elyan clears his throat and kicks him, so Percival is the next to speak as Merlin unlocks his chains:

“Why not just... unlock the door?”

Merlin doesn’t look at the largest of the knights as he moves on to the others, unchaining them one by one as he responds, his scowl still firmly in place:

“The key was on a separate ring and I only had time to grab one, figured the door would be easier to break than the chains.”

Arthur finally blinks and shakes his head free of.... distracting, thoughts as Merlin finally turns to him, holding his hands out to be unchained as he clears his throat and says strongly, forcing the waiver from his voice:

“How did you distract the guards?”

Merlin finally smiles at that, standing and reaching into his pocket to pull out a lumpy looking bit of plant:

“Snuck in and pretended to be one of their slaves, laced all the jugs with mandrake root. They’re all going loopy with hallucinations upstairs, a few of them vomited and I think one guy might have shit himself. The guards went to see what was wrong, so we don’t have much time, come on.”

Arthur nods impressed, and was the last of the group to sneak from the dungeon, pausing briefly to run a hand over the splintered wood and warped metal of the kicked-in door, before shaking his head and following the others out of the not-quite-abandoned fort.

5)

It had been almost a year since Merlin had last seen his mother, so when the servant requested two weeks off to visit home, wanting to help the village out with repairs before the winter set in, Arthur agreed immediately, on the condition that he and a couple of the knights could tag along.

Merlin reluctantly gave in, but only after insisting that he wouldn’t be Arthur’s servant, and whoever came would have to dig in and help out. To be honest, Arthur was mentally exhausted after months of work on repealing the magic ban, so Merlin was silently grateful that he was coming; The King needed a break, and Merlin knew how secretly fond the man was of Merlin’s mother, and her simple country life. 

In the end, Leon and Mordred were the only ones who could come; Lancelot and Elyan were left in charge of patrols, Percival and Gwaine were left in charge of training, and Guinevere, Gaius, and Morgana were left to oversee the council and the general running of the Kingdom. Arthur wasn’t worried to be honest, they were only going to be gone for two weeks, and if disaster set in they were only a two day’s ride away at most.

It was chilly, the winter was setting in early so Merlin and Hunith were eager for work to start as soon as possible. There were numerous leaks and fences to fix, and one of the village’s barns needed clearing out so it could filled with grain over the snowy season.

That, and as much firewood needed to be collected as possible so they could stockpile. They normally barely had enough to last them through the winter; Arthur had nodded in approval when Merlin had meekly asked if they could take a cart of wood with them from Camelot, but they still had a lot to gather.

It was the afternoon of their first day, Leon had been sent to a neighbour’s to fix a roof, Merlin was doing something outside, and Mordred was just about to head over to one of the livestock pastures to strengthen a few of the fences. Hunith was preparing the evening’s meal and Arthur stood politely in the doorway as he spoke:

“Merlin said that firewood had to be gathered? I can get started on that if you can point me in the right direction.”

Hunith smiles over her shoulder briefly, and Arthur ignores the warm fuzziness in his stomach at the sight as she speaks:

“Oh don’t worry about that, we’ve only one axe in the village and Merlin is out by the barn chopping wood now. I know there’s a leak somewhere in the basement of the village hall, a few of the boys are already down there if you’re looking for something to do?”

Arthur raises his eyebrow at Hunith’s insistence that Merlin, his lanky manservant, was outside with an axe chopping wood, and he glances at Mordred over his shoulder, who just shrugs, nodding to Hunith’s turned back. The King responds quietly, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice:

“Hmm. I’ll go check in with Merlin and then head down to the hall, if he doesn’t need help.”

Hunith hums in agreement, but otherwise doesn’t reply, mumbling under her breath about herbs and measurements as she stirs something into the pot. Arthur smirks at Mordred and the two of them head out, neither mentioning how Mordred was following Arthur to find Merlin instead of getting to the fences.

They walk in silence, though they both freeze on the spot when they turn a corner to see Merlin, once again with his sleeves rolled up, hefting around a huge lump of wood, a ginormous axe resting on his shoulder. He gets the wood where he wants it, stepping back and wiping his forearm across his sweaty forehead before lifting the axe and swinging it down again. The stump splits easily beneath the sharpened metal, and Merlin wastes no time in repositioning the new pieces of wood, ready to be chopped again.

Arthur doesn’t even realise his mouth is hanging open until Mordred looks at him and smirks, biting his lip before giving in and snorting quietly:

“You’re the colour of our capes, Sire, and you might want to shut your mouth. Don’t want to catch flies, do you?”

Arthur’s jaw snaps shut with a clack, and he frowns as his teeth begin to ache. Mordred chuckles slightly and though Arthur is grateful that the young knight is finally comfortable enough to joke around with him, he desperately wishes he wasn’t at Gwaine’s level of comfort.

Instead of retorting, Arthur just clears his throat and turns around, striding towards the village hall:

“It appears he’s got things handled. Those fences won’t fix themselves, Sir Mordred.”

Mordred only just manages to hold in his giggle, looking up to see Merlin staring confusedly at him and Arthur’s rapidly retreating back. He waves briefly, sending a quick “I’ll tell you later.” over their mental link before turning himself and heading in the direction of the pastures.

He knows full well that he has no intention of telling Merlin about Arthur’s crush; watching them tiptoe around each other was the funniest thing ever, and he didn’t want to ruin the bet that Gwaine had going.

+1)

The fight was vicious, more so than any of the skirmishes the knights had dealt with in the last several months.

They were vastly outnumbered, and the addition of four powerful sorcerers to the enemy ranks meant that Merlin and Mordred were quickly running out of energy, having to focus on both the magical aspect of the fight, and trying to keep everyone else alive.

The metallic scent of blood was almost overwhelming, and the constant clang of metal on metal mixed with the whooshing echoes of sorcerous fire and vines was deafening. The fight went on a lot longer than Merlin had thought it would; the enemy was clearly more skilled than predicted, but the Camelot knights did prevail eventually, Percival ending the fight with the smooth slice of his blade across the last mercenary’s throat.

Merlin wastes no time in running his gaze over the knights, giving special attention to Arthur as he searches for any injuries that need seeing to immediately. The last of the sorcerers had managed to escape, so they needed to get out of there as soon as possible: there’s no way they’d survive a second attack if he came back with reinforcements.

Merlin was relieved to see nothing too serious; Lancelot had a gash on his temple that would need a thorough cleaning and a few stitches, and Gwaine was holding his wrist to his chest in a way that told Merlin it was likely broken, but everyone was on their feet and no one was crying. That’s a good start.

Merlin relaxes, but his shoulders quickly tense again as Mordred’s voice echoes weakly through his head:

“Emrys... I’m... I’m tired...”

Merlin whips around quickly, his eyes wide and panicked as his frantic gaze lands on the young knight. He’s leaning against a tree, his eyes hooded and focused on the floor. Merlin leaps towards him, catching him just before his head lands harshly on a boulder, and pulling the collapsed younger man into a more comfortable position as Arthur rushes over:

“What’s wrong with him? I don’t see any blood, was he hit with magic?”

Merlin waves him off, checking Mordred’s pulse and breathing before he relaxes again, sending a tired, but relieved smile up to The King:

“He’s fine, just exhausted. This is the first time he’s used this much magic in years, he’ll need a little while to recover his strength, but we need to get out of here in case they come back.”

Arthur lets out a relieved sigh and nods, leaning down to take one of Mordred’s arms and waving Gwaine over to pick his legs up, but before either of them get even close, Merlin stands up, dragging Mordred with him and settling the armoured knight across his shoulders. He looks to Arthur next to him, not seeming to notice The King’s shock as he quickly says:

“I know you’re The King and all, but would you mind carrying my bag?”

Arthur nods dumbly, picking up Merlin’s dropped medical bag without taking his gaze off the Warlock, who wanders around double checking that the other knights were ok and that all the bandits were dead as if he didn’t have about 240 pounds of man and armour dangling from his shoulders.

Leon catches Arthur’s eye, nodding pointedly towards the path they needed to take, trying to pull Arthur back into the present before the others notice him gawping. Arthur gulps, blushing as he nods his thanks and moves away from the battlefield, Merlin’s bag secured on his shoulders as he confidently speaks:

“Merlin’s right, we need to get as far away from here as we can. I saw a cave about two hours’ back North, we can make camp there before heading back to Camelot in the morning. Gather as much as you can carry, we’ve no hope of finding the horses before nightfall, hopefully they can make their own way home.”

The knights all nod, following Arthur’s lead as he steps carefully through the underbrush, trying not leave any obvious pointers to their direction. He keeps his gaze resolutely ahead as he hears Percival ask:

“You alright, Merlin? Sure you don’t want a hand?”

Despite keeping his gaze stubbornly forward, Arthur strains his ears to hear Merlin’s response, refusing to acknowledge the sudden weakness in his knees at what the Warlock replies with:

“Nah, it’s fine, he’s not that heavy.”

Leon subtly sidles up to walk next to The King, glancing behind him before leaning in close, talking quietly as they moved:

“Perhaps you should... let him know of you affections, Sire?”

Arthur’s blushing gaze quickly finds the older knight’s before he looks away again:

“I don’t know what you think you’re implying, Sir Leon.”

Leon just raises his eyebrow in an unusual display of amused defiance:

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Arthur. He’s been by your side for ten years, you’ve been through the unspeakable, both with each other and for each other. That, and he has a surprisingly... admirable physique.-”

Arthur’s blush deepens and he clears his throat, crossing his arms petulantly and staring resolutely ahead. Leon puts a hand on The young King’s shoulder as he continues:

“-You’re...-”

The knight sighs and bites his lip again, debating with himself over whether he should say it or not:

“-you’re head over heels for him, Sire, perhaps it’s time to do something about it? Gods know he feels the same, and the Gods also know that he’ll never make the first move. He’s still... nervous, about messing things up, I think. His-”

Leon glances over his shoulder again to make sure no one could hear him before dropping his voice to a whisper:

“-his magic being outed put him... on edge, even after all these months. He won’t do anything that he think could push you away or anger you.”

Arthur sighs and nods, before turning to him slowly with an embarrassed scowl on his face; he doesn’t shrug off Leon’s hand, which the knight takes as a good sign:

“Not a word to anyone, Leon, I swear to the Gods.”

Leon holds his hand up and uses his other to wave a cross over his heart:

“I swear, Sire. Though I feel the need to tell you that... at least three of the other servants, and I do believe Lady Bronwyn and Sir Galahad, also have... uh... their eyes on him, as it were.”

Arthur’s scowl gets impossibly deeper as he huffs, muttering to himself:

“They do, do they? Well, we’ll see about that.”

Leon just smirks again and rolls his eyes fondly before falling back to walk with Elyan.

~

They finally make it back to the cave, though it took them even longer without horses. Merlin had requested they stop around a candle mark in so he could remove some of the heavier bits of Mordred’s armour, passing them off to the other knights, but he had once again rejected any offers of help, saying that he was slowly siphoning his own magic into Mordred so he would wake sooner. Apparently they needed to be touching for that to happen, and though Merlin had been teaching them, none of them had enough knowledge on magic to know whether that was true or not, but they did know that Merlin was incredibly protective of the young Druid, so they let it be.

A fire was lit quickly and supplies were laid out. A map had been saved, thankfully, so they could figure out roughly where they were and how long it would take them to get back home as Merlin quickly treated Lance’s gash and Gwaine’s wrist.

Mordred begins to stir just as Percival serves up food, groaning slightly and rubbing at his eyes before struggling to sit himself up. Merlin had rushed to his side as soon as he felt the Druid begin to wake, and helps prop him up against the cave wall, handing him a water-skin as he stares at him with concern. Mordred takes a long drink, nodding his thanks and clearing his throat before speaking, his voice gravelly and slow:

“This... this is the cave we passed a few hours ago...”

His voice trails off, and Arthur answers the question in his tone:

“Hmm. We had no horses, so we were never going to make it back to the city, but we couldn’t stay where we were.”

Mordred nods, yawning widely and rubbing his eyes again as he asks:

“How did you get me this far without horses?”

Arthur clenches his jaw, blushing slightly as he looks away, but thankfully Gwaine butts in, answering with a grin on his face before anyone notices The King’s flush:

“Merlin here is stronger than he looks. Carried you the whole way, didn’t use magic or anything.”

Mordred turns his incredulous gaze to Merlin and he just shrugs absentmindedly:

“You don’t weigh that much, it was fairly easy.”

Elyan laughs and shakes his head, joining in on the conversation quickly:

“Are you kidding me? I mean... sure, I could’ve carried him for maybe an hour, if I was at full strength and it was easy terrain. You carried him for three, only took his armour off in the second hour, down what could barely be classified as a path, in a barely tamed forest, after a pretty hefty fight. That’s... impressive.”

Merlin raises an eyebrow, looking around the room in bafflement as he realises that everyone is staring at him with varying levels of impressed confusion:

“You guys... you guys know that I grew up in the country, right? I spent my childhood climbing trees and running away from predators, and my teenage years chopping wood, building things with barely any help, and fighting the odd bear. I then arrive in Camelot, only to immediately be given a job that involves carrying a shit ton of heavy stuff, including, but not limited to: armour, luggage, hunting equipment, and the occasional unconscious idiot.”

Arthur sits up straight and scowls slightly when Merlin gestures to him instead of Mordred:

“You have never had to carry me anywhere.”

Merlin raises an eyebrow, gaze sinking to the floor as he smirks and coughs out something that sounds suspiciously like “Sophia”.

Arthur’s blush deepens and he jabs an accusing finger in Merlin’s direction:

“That. Didn’t. Happen.”

Merlin bites his lip to stop himself from laughing, but his dimples still show through despite his best effort and he holds his hands up in surrender:

“Whatever you say, Sire.”

Arthur just clenches his jaw and sits back against the wall with eyes focused on his food and cheeks red, stubbornly ignoring the knights’ curious stares as everyone eats their food. Merlin fusses over Mordred for a few more minutes but is quickly waved away by the younger man; the Warlock huffs and rolls his eyes, but gives in to the fact that Mordred did not need, nor want, to be babied. He moves subtly around the cave to sit down next to Arthur, barely a foot of air between them despite the abundance of space elsewhere.

Arthur forces his blush down at Merlin’s proximity, refusing to think of anything but his food and the difficult journey home, desperately keeping his gaze on his meal instead of Merlin’s strong legs stretched out next to him.

The King doesn’t acknowledge him, but doesn’t move away either, which Merlin takes as a good sign as he settles in, wrapping himself in a blanket to protect his body from the impending cold.

The other knights have long since finished their meals, scarping the lot in a matter of seconds in an attempt to gain back a little energy after the hours of riding and fighting and walking; they quickly settle into the blankets and cloaks and bedrolls they had managed to carry, though Leon seems to deliberately move slower, waiting for Arthur to glance up at him so he can give a pointed look to Merlin, just finishing his food, before laying down and attempting to sleep.

Arthur blushes with wide eyes, but Leon turns around before he has time to glare at him, and The King huffs quietly, risking a glance to a shivering Merlin next to him. He quickly frowns, not moving his gaze away like he had intended to, instead whispering softly:

“Cold? Can’t you use magic to warm up?”

Merlin looks to him tiredly, leaning his head back against the wall as his eyelids droop slightly:

“Hmm. I gave most of my reserves to Mordred, he was worse off than I first thought so he needed a lot more magic than I realised to keep him alive long enough for his energy to build up again.-”

Arthur widens his eyes at the fact that he was so close to losing one of his knights, but then shakes his head, huffing as he glares at the Warlock disapprovingly, but Merlin closes his eyes and continues before he can get told off:

“-I’ll be fine by morning, I just need-”

He’s interrupted when his body is wracked by a particularly strong shiver:

“-I just need some sleep.”

Arthur rolls his eyes, shuffling into a more comfortable position before opening his arms, spreading his cloak wide as if they were a pair of majestic wings:

“Come here, you idiot. I can’t have you freezing to death because you refuse to look after yourself.”

In normal circumstance Merlin would’ve argued, but he really was cold, so when he cracks his eyes open to see Arthur ready and waiting, he doesn’t hesitate to crawl hurriedly over. Arthur ignores the flush rising on his cheeks as Merlin clambers over one of his legs, settling between them and shoving his head under the blonde’s chin; he wraps his cloak around the two of them and rubs his cheek into the Warlock’s soft hair. 

He can feel Merlin grin against his collarbone, and it’s enough to distract him from the surprising, but not unwelcome, weight of Merlin’s muscled form against his chest:

“You know, Arthur, if you wanted to feel up my muscles so badly you just had to ask. You stare far too often to think you’re subtle.”

Arthur’s flush deepens and his body goes rigid as Merlin giggles. He clenches his jaw and lands a punch, far softer than he would normally go for, on the other man’s shoulder, but that just makes him giggle harder, and Arthur has to hush him in fear of waking the others. Merlin looks up at him through thick eyelashes, blinking tiredly with a satisfied smile on his face:

“Just let me know if you ever want carrying around, I’m more than happy to help.”

Arthur gulps, refusing to make eye contact as he stares resolutely at the opposite wall and not acknowledging the red hue of his cheeks:

“When we get back to Camelot, I’m hanging you for treason.”

Merlin snorts quietly, re-burying his face in Arthur’s chest and curling up tightly in his lap to stave off the cold:

“Whatever you say, Sire.”

Arthur gives in, smiling slightly and rolling his eyes as he tightens his hold on the other man. He lets his cheek fall back to rest on his soft hair as he closes his eyes, allowing his exhaustion to take over and descending into an easy sleep.

~

THE END!!

We stan Arthur gay panicking and all the knights (bar Leon of course, who handles it as tactically as he’s able) ruthlessly taking the piss :D

I hope y’all enjoyed reading this, I certainly enjoyed writing it! Thank you anon, I loved writing this!!!

Same as always, someone wants to write it up in full, go for it!! Drop me a message and credit/tag me :)

[honeyxmonkey]

So! Guess it’s time to officially announce the book I’m writing! It’s far from done but I’m excited and can’t wait to talk about it.

It’s called Tales of Esparia and it’s a fantasy/adventure book with a highly fleshed out magic system that I’ve been working on since I was thirteen. It has bits and pieces of Arthurian legend and lore! This is gonna be fun 👀

Naturally it wouldn’t be a Honey Post without some art so here we go!

Rynadel Estelar is our main protagonist! Cursed from birth with dark magic, he was given to a powerful wizard as an apprentice in hopes proper training would keep that darkness at bay. He doesn’t have many friends, but the ones he did find are in the crown prince of Esparia, Kaden, and an avian anape girl, Elavara. Once their adventure begins, they find two more friends in a boy named Virgil, and a pixie named Cera.

Prince Kaden Ettethi is young and inexperienced, preferring pranks and ditching his lessons with his father in favor of dragging his best friend Rynadel into mischief. Despite his playful and uncaring demeanor, he truly loves and cares for his friends and would do anything to protect them. He’s a great swordsman and a natural protector and he has the heart of a true leader. He’s going to be a great king one day.

Elavara Arili is a sarcastic but caring young woman who gets into just as much trouble as Kaden does. Best friends since childhood with the young prince, Kaden and Elavara are an inseparable duo who would do anything for eachother. As an anape (which is an original species I made for this world. They’re really cool), Elavara faces scrutiny from the people of Esparia. Her people are shape-shifters, seen as dishonest and untrustworthy tricksters who seek destruction. Kaden, never one to judge based on appearances, befriended her when they were young and they’ve been best friends ever since. Rynadel has the only brain cell among this friend group.

Virgil Amuri is an archer from an outlier village in Esparia. He joined the group when his village was destroyed and his family killed by the monster trying to destroy the world. He may not have magic, or be able to shape-shift, but he’s a keen shot. He’s sworn revenge on the sorcerer Orion and promises to avenge his family’s death.

Cera Istaric is a pixie who was tagging along with Virgil for some good old mischief and adventure. But when she met the others, she came to really and truly care for the group. She specializes in illusion magic, tricking her enemies into seeing things that aren’t really there.

And finally! Merlin the wizard. While appearing as a middle aged man, he’s actually thousands of years old. He took Rynadel in when he was young, seeing his potential for magic. While his home lies in Camelot, and his loyalties with Arthur, he’s staying in Esparia for an indeterminate amount of time as a favor for King Elrick. Over their years together as mentor and apprentice, Merlin came to care for Rynadel a great deal. Eventually he would need to charge the boy with a single mission on the day Orion attacked Esparia. Protecting Kaden with his life.

[avenger09]

A Owl in King Arthur's Court

A crossover stpry comcept between The Owl House and Arthurian lore where Luz and King find themselves in the much more stable, but none the less dire, Isles of Avalon when one one of her attempts to go home goes wrong. 

Finding themselves in the middle of an eternal war between the legendary Knights of the Round Table, and the Famorian demons from the void, the lost owl residents must help mend the divide thats risen between these legends in hopes of awakening the greatest of them King Arthur himself, from the slumber, Balor, the cruel Famorian King has trapped in, so that Excalibur may again be raised to turn the tide and return them to the Boiling Isle.

(I tried to replicate the shows designs with admittedly mixed results)

Arthurian Legends

The famed Knights of the Round Table, united again in Avalon and gifted with revival by the grace of the Lady to repel the vile Famorians and their endless quest to destroy. However, many remain burdened by their choices in life which remain unresolved or addressed despite their centuries battle together. 

Wounds inflicted on the body by a foe my heal in time but ones which are caused through the breach of trust and kinship, and the betrayal of loved ones, run infinitly deeper. Perhaps a neutral party might see them finally begin to heal?   

---

Merlin: 

The legendary wizard hasn't lost a step in his centuries in Avalon, though his ability to see outside of time continues to cause him some frustration when he looses track of which timeline he's in and gets finer details wrong.  

He was delayed from helping Arthur at Camlenn, due to the actions of her dear Nimue, who was tricked by Morgana to keep the wizard within her sanctuary grove and away from the battle Though aware Morgana was using her, Nimue none the less couldn't stand the idea that fate would part them, all the same, she eventually conceded that the world needed Merlin more then her, and opened the way for him, arriving in time to help escort the wounded Arthur to Avalon. Though Merlin has not seen her since that fateful day, Merlin still thinks of her fondly, and wonders if perhaps they'll meet again.

Often Merlin is seen in the company of a raven, who he converses with regularly and seems to function as a personal agent of his. Not uncommon for an earthly magic user, but what is most curious is the birds name... Muninn, which carries strong implications regarding just who else the ancient Merlin is associated with.

Sir Morian: 

Nephew of Sir Percival, the moorish prince took his father, Aglovale's, place at the roundtable when he returned to Morian's mother after his knightly duties kept him from her for so long. Morian may be one of the roundtables newer members but he's more than come into his own in Avalon. 

Green Knight: 

An enigmatic and atypically valorous Sidhe who seemingly acts independent of the Seelie courts. He's proven himself an enigmatic, if intimidating ally to Camelot since his days of trickery on Sir Gwain, all the same, the knights grant him a wide birth less they find themselves suffering his wrath.

Arthur Pendragon: 

The Once and Future King. While his legends are famed, the man behind them has endured suffering making them long before he was wounded that fatful day at Camlenn. Weighed down by responsibilities thrust upon him when he pulled mystic blade from the stone, and the costs of upholding them, as being king always took precient over being a husband, a father, a brother and a friend. Yet even then his heroic will endures even in slumber.

Queen Guinevere: 

Never forgiving herself for her lapse with Lancelot, which directly led to Arthur forsaking Excalibur when he needed its protection the most, Guinevere sought out the blade to return to her Arthur, which led to her discovering her own potential as arcane warrior. Joining him in Avalon she has protected his form for centuries in hope of one day properly resolving their issues together. 

Sir Percival: 

Most famed for two things; his quest with Galahad to seek an aspect of the grail to cure Arthur of a dreadfuk curse and his personal family drama. While he, his sister, nephew and half brother have since rallied as a unit he continues his errant mission to locate another piece of the Grail he is convinced lay somewhere in the isles and has uncovered many of its secrets in the process. 

Galahad: 

Considered to be the greatest exemplar of the Roundtable's chivalric ideals and the noble aspirations of Camelot, however awakening in Avalon upon his death instead of the heavenly gates of St Peter dampened his spirit considerable. 

Though he has reconciled his predicament by recognizing the treat posed to creation by the Famorians and the nede for champions like him to stand against them, even his indomitable will is not immune to the inevitable fatigue that centuries of war can affect such a earnest soul. 

Morrok:

A longtime loyalist of the Pendragon's, Morrok has mastered the curse placed upon him by his insidious wife, with the help of the talismen made for him by his daughter. Now the knights no longer must wait for a full moon for the wolf knight to come to their aide. 

Mordred Pendragon: 

The formerly embittered son of Arthur and Guinevere. Galvanised by his aunt to rebel against Camelot in a misguided attempt at satisfying his feeling of resentemt by destroying the kingdom he beliived robbed him of his parents love, wielding a magical blade of his own and dark magics to do so as the dread knight. 

Despite his posturing, the battle that decided his and Britannia's fate was not triggered by his wrath but by an Adder and a knight drawning his blade to defend his steed from its bite, misconstrued as an trecherous attack under a flag of truce at Camlenn. While father and son did cross blades in the chaos that followed, no one in fact saw their supposed mutual final blows, in truth neither could bring themselves to strike down the other. Arthur's famed wounds came by other means after admitting his failures to his family.

Despite knowing this the knights have been slow to forgive Mordred for his actions in Britannia despite the dread knight now facing the same voidspawn that besiege Avalon, and for his part Mordred is content with his solitary vigil across the isle.

Morgana Le Fay: 

Half-sister to Arthur she was once counted amongst Camelot's greatest allies in its early days, but with the decline of the Old Faith in favour of the Cross, she became subject to derision from those who she had once mended and healed - prefering the unconditional favour of God to the fair trades required for the druidry she practiced to maintain natural balance.

Labed an apostate in her own home, the resentment she shared with Mordred, when he was given to her as ward while her brother fought the invading Saxons, was cultivated into a plot to ensure the old faiths dominion in Brtiannia by gathering it together into a well of power at Camlenn, cursing Arthur to prevent his interference when the chance arose.

But thanks to the Grail Arthur indeed interfered, and Morgana was forced to trust her spell to her acolytes to face the might of Camelot with Mordred, when Guinevere awakened power joined the fray. This proved a grave error as without her expert guidance the spell tore away from her followers and the great maelstrom of power they had amassed threaten to tear the land apart. 

Putting aside their feud they broken family united once again to try and contain the spell, but it proved an almost impossible task until her brother made a bold gambit by using Excalibur itself to siphon the energy, resulting in a blast which mortally wounded Arthur. Deeply humbled at the sacrifice he made to avert catastrophe Morgana and Mordred vanished from history, eventually arriving in Avalon years later.

Sir Ector:

When Ector took in the baby Arthur when the mysterious Merlin asked it of him, he had no idea he was holding in his arms the future king of Britannia, he was simply glad to have another soul in his house after the passing his wife.  

Raising two sons alone wasn't an easy task, but Ector did what he could, teaching them the values of duty and responsibility hoping it would make Arthur and Kay into honourable knights, but he would later regret not equally stressing the importance of being there for ones loved one's as well. Ector may not have predicted how many responibilities his foster son would go on to have but, all the same, he blamed himself for how bad things became between Arthur and Mordred, feeling his influence contributed to Arthur's tragic flaw of always putting his own desires second to the detriment of his personal relationships.

Seeking redemption of a sorts, he began to study the holy magics of Christendom, hoping to find clarity and wisdom to share with his grandson, unfortunatly, while he held no ill will toward his grandfather, Morderd instead turned to his aunt for guidance, whose own bitterness only increased Morderd's, despite Ector's warnings. He has held strong rivalry with Morgana ever since, which persists even in Avalon, their magic power equal to their faith in deities they've championed.

Champions of the Lady

Famed heroes whose tales sadly ended in tragedy, earning the Lady of the Lake's pity. Given a new purpose as her personal agents on the Isles, they aide the righteous knights of Camelot in their mission and protect the sacred places of Avalon from those who would misuse them.

----

Beowulf: 

The mighty Dane who slew the mad troll, Grendel, by ripping off his arm, but there is more to the story. Beowulf tracked the wounded troll to his lair hoping to finish him, but instead finding a climatic battle within those caves the only thing he found was the sight of a mother weeping over her lifeless son.

Unwilling to kill a mourning parent, Beowulf slipped out of the cave seemingly unnoticed, but despite this merciful act the dane was not above embellishments, and boasted of a great battle which never happend. Partially to silence questions but mostly to guard and boost his own reputation, as he believed a true warrior would have never avoided a battle, even out of sentiment. 

Despite what he assumed, Grendel's Mother had indeed noticed Beowulf's incursion and in a mixture of appreciation and anger, only understandable to her kin, appeared to him in a dream, as a beautiful women, promising to make him an even greater legend if he sired with her child. After the deal was struck, the King whose Kingdom Beowulf had just saved suddenly died, and being the nations hero had the crown soon placed upon his head, doubts already beginning to form in his mind.

Over the years Beowulf attempted to reach out to the child only to be rebuked by his son again and again, maladjusted over his duel nature as man and monster. Eventually unleashing his wrath upon his fathers people in the form of a dragon. Filled with regret and shame for the selfish actions of his youth, Beowulf faced the dragon in an epic battle, which ended with both father and son perishing. 

Boudicea: 

Leader of one of the most sucessful rebllions against the Roman Empire in history, Queen Boudicea and her two daughters swore bloody revenge against the Romans when they refused to honor the oaths made to her and her husband after his death annexing the kingdom promised to his family. 

Uniting the tribes of Britannia, then known as Albion, her army pushed out the Roman's forces, town, by town, but despite their success they were eventually bested by the ruthless war machine cultivated by Rome's Legions. 

Having no desire to spend the rest of her life on the run from the Empire, Boudicea sought to die honorably in combat, but none of her remaining followers were willing or able to grant her wish. It was then a young druid, who would one day be known as Merlin, appeared before her and guided her to the Lady of the Lake, who brought her to Avalon and named the Warrior Queen the first of her, once mortal, champions.  

Joan D'Arc:

The Maid of Orleons whose strong faith and indomitable spirit inspired the demoralized and downtrodde French army, during an arduous period of the hundred years war with England, after she came across a lone sword amidst a field. Joan interpreted its discovery as a sign from God to help save French from the ravages of war. 

Escorted by a cadre of knights, who rallyed to her due to her grace and wisdom, Joan quickly proved herself an adept to the lessons of warfare they had to teach and personally led a rescue of the Dauphin, the heir to the throne, from his English captors armed with the sword of Charlemagne, the father of France. Her charismatic leadership made her the pride of Franch, but with this fame also came envy. Many nobles resented that a mere girl of sixteen, a peasant to boot, had the ear of the Dauphin, these courtiers began whispering to him lies while Joan was away fighting, undermining his trust in her and leading him to think she sought the throne for herself, which with her popularity and apparent divine sponsorship she'd be able to attain. 

Thus, tragically, when she was captured by the forces of Burgundy it was not France who paid her ransom, but England, who tin an attempt o discredit her holy cause, had her burned as a heretic. This however only galvanised the French people, leading them to oust the English occupying forces for, Joan went down in history as a Martyr and was posthumously beautifed as a Saint. None the less the Lady of the Lake felt pity that such a pure soul met such an inglorius end, and brought her spirit to Avalon, offering the young lady the choice of a place among her champions, or, if Joan was satisfied with her life, to be allowed to move on to her final rest. Joan accepted the first choice.   

[mello-t-befan]

The video accompaining this project (turn the subtitles ON ^^)

Did you know that the movie "Quest for Camelot" was based on a book trilogy by Vera Chapman ? But the producers were so preoccuped by the idea of copying the Disney formula that they didn't honor the story's potential. Well here's how I'd picture them if they respected the original materials !

If I had to rewrite the movie, I'd say that Kayley -renamed Lynette- is the oldest daughter of the Blue Domain's master. She's kind of a tomboy, who likes hunting and has good bases of swordsfighting. She's particularly protective of Leonie, her young sister. Alas, on a faithfull day, the Blue Domain gets invaded and destroyed by Sir Rubeus, the Red Knight who rules in tyranny over the far Red Lands. After killing their father and most of their people, Rubeus kidnapps Leonie and demands that Lynette brings Lancelot to him in three weeks or else. Problem, Lancelot is out of the country with the rest of the Round Table and won't come back in England until the next month. Desperate, Lynette decide to propose a deal with Rubeus : her sister for the Holy Grail itself. Not knowing who to trust, she makes up the identity of a royal messenger boy named Lucius and go on her quest. She shows little emotions and is determined to save her sister no matter what.

Her travel with Gareth would help her becoming most trusting and more confident in her own force.

If I had to rewrite the movie, I'd say that Sir Gareth is the youngest brother of Sir Gawain and the last one becoming a knight. He was injured in a battle and became completely blind. Not wanting to give up on knighthood (kind of a family business to him), he learned to fight with his other senses, a staff and the guidance of his faithfull silver-winged hawk, Hayden. He then went among the roads in order to prove to everyone -but mostly himself- that he can still protects people despite his handicap. In doing so, he meets a strange young messenger boy named Lucius determined to find the Holy Grail no matter what. He'll follow this strange young fella, and will later learn that Lucius true name's Lynette and that she wants the Grail to save her sister.

His travel with Lynette would help him accepting his vulnerability and understands that his lost sight doesn't define neither his value nor his identity nor his future.

If I had to rewrite the movie, I'd say that Rubber -renamed Rubeus- is the Red Knight who tyrannize over all of the Red Lands. With his armies of living monstruous shadows, his cruel mind, his armor reinforced by a magical blood ruby and the druids at his service; he reigns by the force while aspiring to expand his territory. Until one day where one of his druids predicts that his doom will be brought to him by a child of the Blue Domain and a knight in conflict with Arthur. And like every bad guy who gets their end prophetized, he tries to beat fate by invading the Blue Domain and killing most of its inhabitants. But before killing Lynette and Leonie, he changes his mind and makes a deal with Lynette : her sister for Lancelot. He then go back to his country with his hostage, now confident that the prophecy won't become real.

But who ever said that Lancelot was the only knight in conflict with Arthur... ?