#merlin: talented

[aventuras-de-andre]

i am haunted by the following scenario and i will make it y’alls problem: gwen finds out merlin has magic around s1-2 (whether merlin knows she knows is irrelevant).

even when she and arthur start a courtship she would not betray merlin and reveal his secret, absolutely not–EXCEPT merlin goes missing–like in A Servant of Two Masters? the point is that merlin is gone and arthur’s being pressured to stop the search. and gwen is like hey, no, no, I am pretty sure he’s alive. and leon’s like my lady we all saw him fall over the cliff. and gwen’s like yea no no I get that but you know merlin, he has a strong head.

like this poor girl is like arthur PLEASE look into um. those magic caves. and those rumoured magic sanctuaries. for absolutely no reason. i just have a hunch.

eventually Something makes gwen think merlin is dead too and then and only then does she tell arthur everything she knows because she thinks merlin should at least be recognised for all he did. and hey, maybe this will change arthur’s mind about magic; maybe gwen can do this one thing for her deceased friend.

and obviously, right after arthur processes her words and get confirmation from gaius, lancelot, etc., merlin walks in like damn who died ��🏻

[keitorin3]

Merthur Twins!

So I got obsessed with the idea of Merthur having Twin babies and made this. (It's still not finished but was impatient to show)

The idea I had for this was a typically slight(?) Angst Merthur plot. Where Merthur loved each other and then slept together. Shortly after, Merlin Confesses his magic.

Arthur does not take this well. Feeling lied to and betrayed, but unwilling to kill Merlin, he instead banishes him.

Both are heart broken as they separate. Unknowing of the lives resting in Merlin's belly.

7 years later, Merlin and his Twins, Allard and Irelene, are living in a cottage in the forest by the Perilous Lands.

Allard is the eldest by 10 minutes, and Irelene is the youngest twin sister. They are almost identical twins, the spitting image of both parents, with Arthurs Blond locks, and Merlin's slightly large ears. Their eyes are Heterochromia. One eye is the blue of the sky, and the other is the blue of the seas.

Allard is an extrovert, a Loving and very active and at times loud boy. Unable to stay still for long, unless calmed by his twin sis, and always coming back with dirt on his clothes.

Irelene is just as outgoing as her brother, but more focused, even if she doesn't act like it. Much like her twin, she is just as messy, if not more when she experiments with her magic.

Both Allard and Irelene are very talented children, both blessed with Merlin's magic and Arthur's fighting prowess. They all come to learn from each other and develop their own sense of martial arts. The kind Merlins never seen before.

They remind Merlin so much of their other father sometimes. It doesn't hurt anymore, and now makes him smile. Allard just had this potential for leadership, while Irelene was his most trusted and valued advisor.

They were born to lead, and it scares Merlin.

He didn't want his babies to be taken from him, if word got out somehow about who's children they were.

But as stories go, something has to give for the plot to continue!

Allard born as the first son, inherited Merlin's Dragonlord powers without the need of Merlin dying to have them. While playing in the forest with Irelene, they come across some wyverns. To protect his sister he roared at them a command, making them leave, but also caught the attention of others who heard his roar from afar.

News got around that a new beast was lurking near the Perilous Lands and false rumours that it would head for Camelot.

It's how the twins came upon the knights in red and silver armour in their forest. The twins stepped before the knight, confronting them.

Allard: Who are you? 🤨

Percival: Children? *Confused* 😧

Leon: *Does a double take* (It'll make sense later)

Arthur: *Surprised, but calmly approachs the obvious twins* Hello there, we're knights of Camelot, it's dangerous for young ones to be in these woods. Where are you parents?

Irelene: These woods are not dangerous, not to us.

Allard: Yeah, we play here all the time!

Arthur: I see, then can you help us? There's been rumours that a monster is lurking around here.

Irelene: Not really, just some Wyverns, but Al told them to leave us alone.

Knights: What? 😧

Allard: Yeah! They were being mean so I told them off! Mama always told people off if they're being dollopheads!

Arthur: *Whispers* Dollphead... 😧💡But wait...

Arthur: Who is your Mama? *Trys to keep his cool*

Irelene: Mama is mama. 🤨❔What else would he be?

Arthur: He...?! 😳 🤯

Gwaine: *Cuts in* Is your Mama a man with black hair, Blue eyes and large ears?

Twins: That's Mama! 😃

Knights: *Gasps*

Leon: *Whispers* They look just like you as a boy. Arthur... 😳

Arthur: *Troat suddenly dry, but keeps his smile for the children* How... How old are you two?

Twins: 7! 😁✨

Arthur: *Thinking* 'Oh my god... 7 years. They have mine and Merlin's eyes... They're-'

Twins suddenly turn their heads, as if listening to something. Ignorant of the Knights internal turmoil.

Twins: *Hears Merlin calling them through mind link that Lunch is ready*

Irelene: Oh, it's lunchtime! Bye bye Red knights, Mama is calling!

Allard: Bye! *Turns and runs through the woods with his sister*

Arthur: No- Wait! *Chases after them*

Knights: *Follows*

And as much as the knights tried, they soon lost the three in the woods.

Yes, three. Because Arthur was still able to follow them.

And that's all I've got so far. Want to know more? Or have any ideas of what could happen next, let me know! I'd love to hear ♥️.

And just a sneak hint, the twins know what they're doing 😉

Until next time fellow dreamers~✨ 😁

[rnmidnm]

I don't think people appreciate how much stuff you can do with Merlin fandom.

It's heaven for fic writers. Let me explain.

Do you need your characters behaving strangely and doing something they would've never done?

Potions/Curses/Evil sorcerers/etc.

Do you need somehow add a new character?

Visiting nobles.

Do you need to explain some wild shit?

MAGIC.

Sometimes i deeply regret that i cannot write well, but gods there's just sm variety with Merlin. I don't think you can meet that everywhere

[dollopole]

They should have dwelled more into Merlin’s skills (and I’m not talking about just magic)

As I rewatched Merlin, I realised this man has so many skills?!

We often talk about how surely Arthur must have thought him how to use a sword (I agree 100%) but Merlin also knows how to hunt?

He dislikes it, yet years and years of going hunting with Arthur proves to be fruitful. Merlin founds the deer in season four before the entire Camelot patrol. He knows how to recognise tracks on trees and traces of feet in the mud (he knows how to build them in the right way with magic, too). And I have proof that Arthur teaches Merlin, because in season five, Arthur makes Merlin see what was wrong with the branch. when they went out and Arthur noticed that someone (Mordred) had walked past the woods.

Also, season four, episode two? Merlin wakes up before Lancelot and HE IS HUNTING FISH LIKE A MASTER?!

Have we talked about this? Who taught him? I believe most things he already knew how to do, since he grew up in a village with a single mother where everyone had to fetch up for themselves.

He also knows how to cook. And he gets compliments (even if they are jokes) from the Knights and Arthur himself too.

HE IS A PHYSICIAN, and I wished we could have seen so much more of that, because he is hot, because it proves that is so good at learning, listening and also teaching. He tells Daegal how to get rid of the poison, poison, in his body and HE IS STILL SO HUMBLE ABOUT IT?! He spent more than ten years being an apprentice and when Daegal tells him he is a good physician, Merlin denies it?! Bro has low self esteem.

Merlin also has all the skills required from a servant, like sewing, cleaning specific fabric in a certain way, polishing armour and so many other things, adjusting swords and weapons ecc.

I guess it pisses me off when Merlin is described (heavily in fanfictions too) like an incapable manservant, unable to do things for himself or defend himself without magic, when he spent ten years in Camelot doing new work after new work. Just because he was scared at the end of season five without his powers (because he had never lost them before) it doesn’t mean Merlin isn’t capable of using a sword, or help himself, since he does and challenges Morgana too, even without powers.

EDIT:

Merlin also knows how to use a crossbow and how to fight side by side with Arthur and he knows where to head, where north and south are, based on the scent of the air?! Merlin knows so many things.

[srslylini]

having talented friends is so COOL

yes, show me your absolutely awesome sketch/drawing, can I scream at how good it is?

yes, show me the way you use words and sentences in your breathtakingly stunning story you wrote through the night on no sleep and energy drinks???

YES, show me your thoughts on that topic and please enlighten me about the thing you fixated on.

what? I can't right now? Idc, spamm our chat and I'll come back and read through it. DO IT. NOW, this is a threat, I love you

[windmaedchen-oceanhorn]

I was inspired by Vetyr's art and so tried to draw something for Knight of the Dark. I do love the results! ❤️ But sadly, the final composition did not work out, so instead I will share individual pictures. 😉

Here are a few thoughts about it:

I adore the roughness of everyone's hair with this brush, especially Valen's. It suits him so well.

I am happy with how Lavi's expression turned out. Just the right mixture of desperation and defiance.

Valen ended up static on the ground, begging rather desperately to know everything and take action. Which he cannot in the end and that's one of my most favourite aspects about him in KotD, actually.

Berial's not quite as threatening as on might imagine. For him, this entire thing was out of boredom and an observation game about how mortals react. A prelude to his next target, Orson.

Merlin is way to pretty. xD

About Hogan and Lorenzis... something I realised now that I have drawn them again. And something that did bother me back when I drew for the chapters: I never liked Lorenzis in armor. And now I know why. Because he rose to his position due to his connections. I bet he never fought on the frontlines as Hogan did. Lorenzis is the man who wears not only his rank but also his (undeserved) medals for show. Hogan on the other hand, I always wondered why he, as a magistrate, would still wear his armor. And it is because he is a man of action and he will not hesitate to fight to protect. He hardly has to lift a finger and yet he still chooses to be with his soldiers rather than being perched up high behind his office desk and give orders.

[regulusrules]

not an artist (kinda wish that I am for the sake of only this) but i'm sort of going insane because of my breaths are run by your compass and its mental image of arthur kneeling in the middle of camelot for merlin. so i'm sending this ask in hopes someone sees it on your blog and draws it. because oh my god i cannot recover your writing is just SO GOOD!!!! thank you for blessing us

you and me both, nonnie— you and me both.

tumblr, do your thing 🫶

[elevenstork]

What know one tells you is that just how many songs there are that fit them perfectly, and how depressed it makes you feel

[ladyofthelake]

Got some purchases from Etsy and they're gorgeous! I got Merlin and Arthur mugs and candles the candles smell so good! And also a beautiful detailed map of Camelot and all the locations in Merlin it's like the Merlin Middle Earth I'm sobbing it's so beautiful 😭😭😭💙🦋 Highly recommend this seller they're Cultzilla on Etsy do check them out :)

[envythemouse]

My main fandoms and the characters I obsess over:

[shehungthemoon]

Bradley James' face acting is something to behold smh

[denimbex1986]

'Fleabag’s hot priest is about to take on his most liberating role yet: a one-man show of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in which he will play all nine roles, male and female. He loves taking risks, he says. It seems to be paying off…

I last saw Andrew Scott in the flesh eight years ago. I was sitting in the gloom at the top of what used to be St Martin’s School of Art in the Charing Cross Road – a tiny, temporary theatre had sprung up there – and he was three feet away from me, surrounded by great piles of stuff: newspapers, books, chairs, cupboards… a piano. The occasion was Richard Greenberg’s play The Dazzle, about two compulsive hoarders, the Collyer brothers, and his performance as one of them was mesmerising: in truth, almost too mesmerising. My mind went into overdrive. All that paper and mahogany. What if something toppled, and he was crushed – as the real Langley Collyer was – beneath a chest of drawers?

He wasn’t crushed, of course. But what’s striking and slightly odd is that today I’m seeing Scott in the flesh for the second time, and we’re again at the top of an old building – in this case, a public library – in rooms that feel a bit dilapidated, if not exactly derelict. People imagine the actor’s life to be a glamorous one, particularly if the actor in question has been in a Bond film – and of course it has its enchantments. But then there are the hours spent in spaces like this: long days of sandwiches, bottled water and elusive lines. When we came up in the ancient lift together, I couldn’t decide which of us was the more anxious. He was, I would guess. “MY TWELVE HOURS TRAPPED WITH FLEABAG STAR” ran the ticker tape in my mind as the mechanism creaked and groaned, and we each did our best not to meet the other’s eye.

Scott has spent the past three weeks here, deep in rehearsals for Vanya, a new version by Simon Stephens of Anton Chekhov’s great tragicomedy Uncle Vanya. But there’s new, and then there is… new. This adaptation gives the play, among other things, a contemporary setting. However, when the production opens in the West End, its chief novelty – and its chief draw, given Scott’s huge following – will be the fact that it is a one-man show. He will be playing all nine parts: male and female, young and old, beautiful and not-so-beautiful. It must be hard to learn so many lines, I say, once he’s (semi) comfortable on a battered leather sofa, his old, white T-shirt giving him a slight look of Marlon Brando. Doesn’t he feel like he’s going mad, with all these voices in his head? He laughs – a high-pitched, wicked laugh. “Yeah. I do, and it’s really hard [to learn]. Usually, when you can’t remember a line, another actor will say, ‘What time is it?’ or something, and then it comes to you. But now I’ve no one to cue me.” Alone on stage, he has had to change his mindset completely: “I’ve come to understand that I’m sort of looking after all these characters.”

The idea for a one-man production came about by accident. Scott, Stephens, and Sam Yates, who is directing the play, were workshopping it together (Scott has worked with Stephens twice before, most notably in Birdland at the Royal Court, in which he played a rock star who has made a Faustian pact with fame). “We miscalculated the parts, and I ended up having to act with myself, and it was kind of interesting. It gave birth to the idea that, as much as these characters say they’re different from each other, actually, some of them are very similar. I’m more interested now in those similarities than in, you know, doing a funny voice [for each one]. The production seems to me to be about what the act of creation is. I love the idea that you might be able to represent what a writer experiences on stage, all these characters in his head.”

But how on earth will the audience work out what’s going on? I understand about the funny voices, but won’t Scott have to change his a little bit when he’s acting the part of a woman? He smiles, teasingly. “I don’t think I should tell you that… But you don’t need to worry too much. I feel so liberated! I hope people will start to look at what’s within the performer so that something happens that can only really take place in a theatre – which is that you’re seeing one thing, but imagining something else.” This sounds like reading a novel, visualising scenes and characters for yourself, filling the gaps between words. He nods. “Look, I definitely don’t want to shy away from the ridiculousness of this project, and yeah, I’m nervous, but I’m loving the process. I think it’s a really sexy play. You know, Chekhov was a doctor, and he saw death so much, and I think he was able to understand human beings like no other writer.”

The argument that actors should only play who they are – that a gay character, for instance, may be played only by a gay actor – is made more and more often lately. But this production seems (to me, at least) subtly to resist the notion of identity politics in the theatre; to suggest that such rigidity may sometimes be a cul-de-sac. “It can be a cul-de-sac, certainly,” Scott says. “Of course those arguments have to be heard. The world isn’t a level playing field. But I think transformation is as important as representation. Our first understanding of storytelling happens when we’re young. Our mother or father is pretending to be a wolf. We know we’re safe, but we’re scared, too. Our parent can be a wolf! Human beings can create worlds within themselves. I don’t think we can just slice that out of ourselves.”

He knows some will heartily dislike this Vanya, but the thought seems, if anything, to excite him. “It could go wrong,” he says. “But we need a bit more of people not liking things.” He’s ambivalent, to put it mildly, about standing ovations, which seem to happen in the theatre most evenings nowadays. “My concern is that everything becomes meaningless. I think it’s unfortunate that if someone decides not to stand up, it’s perceived that they hated it. That’s not necessarily true. Maybe I thought it was very good, but I didn’t feel like rising to my feet. My producers are going to hate me for saying this, but I strongly believe that if people don’t feel like standing up, they shouldn’t. People feel lonely, having to stand when they don’t want to. Equally, it’s kind of moving when most people are not standing up, and three people are.”

Does he blame the internet for this? Is it just another form of “liking” something? “I do blame the internet, yes.” But perhaps, too, it has to do with cost. “I was recently on Broadway, and tickets there are astronomically expensive, and I thought: well, these people have to stand up because they’ve spent $390, so it’s got to have been one of the best nights of their lives.” Either way, he doesn’t understand it: the firmness and immediacy of people’s responses. “When you’ve just seen a play, it’s a really sensitive time. It’s weird when people start talking straight away about their new conservatory.” All this may explain why he feels there is more value for him in doing experimental work. “Some people will like it, some people won’t, and that’s great. I feel ferocious about wanting to take risks.”

In the coming months, Scott will be everywhere: a trick of scheduling, rather than by design. Vanya will be followed in January by the release of All of Us Strangers, a film in which he stars with Paul Mescal and Claire Foy (he plays a depressed screenwriter who goes to visit his childhood home, only to find that his parents, far from having died in a car crash when he was 12, are alive and well – though much of the coverage of the movie so far has focused on the fact that his character and Mescal’s are lovers). “It’s a beautiful film,” he says, dreamily. And then there’s Ripley, a Netflix series (its release is expected at the end of this year), based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley, written and directed by Steven Zaillian, the screenwriter of Schindler’s List and Hannibal.

“It’s a big, big thing,” he says, of his role as Tom Ripley, grifter and serial killer. And yet, Scott said he wouldn’t be doing any more crazed sociopaths, having played Moriarty in Sherlock (he was also a baddie in the Bond film Spectre). “I know, but what I find interesting about him is not the psycho-ness; it’s the otherness. To me, it’s about what it’s like never to be invited to the party. We all know people who don’t make it easy for themselves, who are maybe a bit strange. But if you’re constantly ignored, or sidelined, or don’t fit in, what happens? Is it that something dark emerges? I don’t mind saying that playing him was challenging. It was very lonely. We filmed during Covid, and the five-day isolation requirements that were in place both here and in Italy meant people couldn’t come and visit, and I couldn’t come home. It’s eight hours of television, and he’s a solitary figure in this version, so I was on my own a lot.”

Scott is 46, though you wouldn’t know it; his enthusiasm, like his fidgetiness, belong to a younger man. He grew up in Dublin, with his two sisters – his father worked at an employment agency; his mother was an art teacher – where he was educated at private Jesuit school, attending drama classes on Saturdays. Art was his first plan – painting is still his great love; he can’t wait for the forthcoming Hockney show at the National Portrait Gallery – and he won a bursary to art school at 17. But then he was cast in a film, Korea, about an Irish boy emigrating to America in the 1950s who’s enlisted to fight in the Korean war, so he turned the place down, and once the movie was done, went to Trinity College to study drama instead. After six months, bored by the course, he left to join Dublin’s Abbey theatre.

He seems hardly ever to have been out of work, and his CV is such a mixture: Gethin the tense gay Welshman in Matthew Warchus’s film Pride; eccentric Lord Merlin in the BBC adaptation of The Pursuit of Love; an acclaimed Hamlet in 2017 at the Almeida theatre. By this point, his mantlepiece – he has two, one in London, and one in Dublin – must be quite frantic with statuettes (his most recent win, in 2020, was a Laurence Olivier award for best actor for his performance as Garry Essendine in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter). Does he feel blessed? “Yes, and that’s a really nice way of putting it. I’m grateful.” But perhaps this sounds too… humble: “I’ve never understood why there’s some sort of shame associated with being an artist. I feel able to call myself one.”

His fame is at a level that means he can move around London unnoticed, and he’d like to keep it that way. “I’m suspicious of it. I’ve no real interest in the value of it. The idea of being followed by a photographer seems hellish to me.” Does it affect his relationships? He doesn’t believe that it does, though there are “creepy, unsavoury people” out there who might not “have my best interests at heart”. Is he single? “Yes, I am.” Would he like to meet someone? He would. Surely it’s easy in his world? So many lovely new people entering his orbit all the time – and with his looks… He laughs. “That’s a lot of projection, there,” he says, sounding suddenly more Irish.

I read somewhere that some women in Ireland will always think of him as the guy who turned up to their demonstrations in the run-up to the abortion referendum in 2018, even when it was raining (the vote overturned the ban on abortion in the country, and followed one of 2015, which allowed same sex couples to marry). Isn’t it amazing how much Ireland has changed? When he was 16, it was still illegal to be gay, as he is. “Yes, it’s immense for people of my generation to have been emancipated from the shame of the Catholic church. But it’s interesting. Privacy matters to me, but then I remember Sinéad O’Connor being on The Late, Late Show, talking about human rights, and how important that was. Her kindness… We’re only just finding out about it. She didn’t announce it to the world. Again, it brings us back to social media. Does kindness happen if you don’t tell everybody about it?”

Scott is no longer a practising Catholic. But he can’t be certain this means he won’t call for the priest at the end (this conversation has taken a morbid turn, and it’s my fault). Perhaps it’s in the marrow. “It’s the organisation that’s the problem, not the principles behind it, which are very beautiful for the most part. I remember when Simon and I were doing [the play] Sea Wall. One of the lines in it is: show me God, where is he? And then the next line is: well, show me love, where is that? You can’t get evidence for either of them really. They’re just strong feelings. I believe in the power of love. I feel it’s stronger than anything, because you can’t do anything about it. I’ve so much of it in my life, and one of the things I’m most proud of is how much I’m able, not only to receive it, but to give it – and if somebody thinks that’s sentimental or mawkish, well, to me it’s the opposite.” He talks for a while in this vein. “I want to try to be a good person; not just a nice person, but a good person,” he says, his voice racing on – and it makes me think of him as the Hot Priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, the role for which he may now be best known. If every pulpit came with an Andrew Scott, our churches would be bulging at the seams.

Soon after this, there’s a knock on the door. It’s time to begin rehearsal (in the hall outside, his director stands at a lectern, looking quite priestly himself). He has, he says, another three weeks to go before Vanya opens, and when it does, he’ll be looking out for me; I’d better be sitting down at the curtain call, he jokes. Well, perhaps I’ll have good reason to be sitting down, I joke back. But he’s ever serious: “I always remember what my mum used to say. She’s an art teacher, and she used to tell us that a good drawer never rubs out. So, you draw a line, and then you get it wrong, and then you start a new line. The fact that people can see your old line doesn’t make them appreciate your new line any less. It may even make them appreciate it more.” What he means, I think, is that he believes it’ll be all right on the night.'

[cannedvampirejuice]

i need to get a cheap locket and put salieri in there. and when I'm miserable I pull it out and look at his face

[tansyuduri]

Heathers Songs Merlin Version!

Okay so I first posted these in this post but I decided they needed their own post. (I linked videos in the song above) SO! I SAY NO (Arthur and Uther Version) ARTHUR:

You are a drug. You are a poison’d cup

I've got to show my feeling now and stand up.

I craved the love. When you would keep me close.

But you will not be satisfied until I overdose

This is it. For their sake. I am finally awake!

Let me be. Let me go

You need help. I can't provide. I am not qualified

This future king is coming clean. I say no

UTHER:

Arthur , they are-

ATRHUR:

No, no, no, no. Don't say a word

You speak and I cave in. You'll twist the truth again

And drill deep down beneath my skin

You said it was for her. And I believed in you

But you're still using ust o justify the harm you do

This is it. What you make. Call it all my mistake

Long as you let me go

You need help. I can't provide

I'm not here to stand beside

It's not too late, I'm fighting fate

I say no!

Blame her loss. Blame being sad. Blame the life we never had

But hurting people. That's your choice, my king.

'Cause I believe that love will win

And hate will earn you nothing in the end

This is the end

UTHER:

But I love you

ARTHUR:

Father!

This is it. I won't cry. Starting now. I will try

To pay back all the karma I owe

Start again, help those two. Far from people like you

So goodbye 'cause now I. I say no.

Just in time, I say no

Somehow I'm saying no

Just say no

I say no No!

__________________________________________________________ DEAD GIRL WALKING (Merlin and Arthur Version)

MERLIN: The evil king of the kingdom has decreed it.

He says Monday, in the morning, I will be deleted

They'll hunt me down in every hall.

Burn me alive until I fall.

30 hours to live, how shall I spend them?

I don't have to stay and die like cattle.

I could change my name and avoid that last death rattle.

But I can't just leave all my freinds.

Wait, here's an option with better ends.

Spend these 30 hours gettin' freaky, yeah.

I need it hard I'm a dead man walking.

I'm in your yard I'm a dead man walking.

Before they grab me from the stock.

I'm magicin' off your window lock.

Got no time to knock, I'm a dead man walking.

ARTHUR: Merlin? You Idiot, What are you doing in my room?

MERLIN: Shh...

Sorry, but I really had to wake you.

See, I decided I must ride you 'til I break you.

'Cause Uther says I got to go.

I'm drunk and here to let you know:

Shut your mouth and lose them night clothings.

Come on, tonight I'm yours.

I'm your dead Man walking.

Get on all fours.

Kiss this dead MAN walking.

Let's go, you know the drill. I'm done waiting. I've had my fill .

Bow down to the will of a dead man walking.

And you know, you know, you know

It's 'cause you're beautiful.

You say you're numb inside But I can't agree.

So the world's unfair. Keep it locked out there.

In here it's beautiful

Let's make this beautiful.

ARTHUR : Uh... That works for me,

MERLIN: Yeah, Lets go ahead

Take this dead man walking.

Let's break the bed. Rock this dead Man walking.

No sleep tonight for you.

Better Kiss me right down there.

Take me by the rear.

Make this whole town disappear.

Slap me, pull my hair, Touch me there and there and there

And no more talking.

Love this dead Man walking.

Love this dead Man walking

Love this Dead Man walking.

BOTH: Yeah, yeah, yeah Ow, yeah.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEVENTEEN (Gwen and Morgana version)

GWEN:

Fine! You're “damaged” Really “damaged” But that does not make you “wise”

Fine you're “special”, Fine you're “different” But we don’t choose who lives or dies.

Let’s be normal, watch bad jesters. sneak a picnic and watch the sky.

We’ll bake sweet things or go riding.

Don’t you want a life with me?

Can’t we be as a team?

That’s all I want to do.

If you could let me in I could be good with you.

People hurt us

MORGANA: Or they hate us

GWEN: And you’re right, thats full of woe But we let go—

MORGANA: Take a deep breath

GWEN: Then go buy some special clothes We'll go camping—

MORGANA: Work together

GWEN: And convince Arthur to hear us out Maybe moon light

MORGANA: Maybe dancing

GWEN: Don't stop looking in my eyes

MORGANA: Your eyes

BOTH: Can't we be as a team.

Is that so hard to do?

If you could let me in. I could be good with you.

Let us be as a team. If we still got the right.

GWEN: So what’s it gonna be? I wanna be with you

MORGANA: I wanna be with you

GWEN: Wanna be with you

BOTH: Tonight

GWEN: Yeah you've been damaged

MORGANA: Badly damaged

GWEN: But your love’s too good to lose

MORGANA: Hold me tighter

GWEN: Even closer

Morgana: I’ll stay if I’m what you choose. Can't we be as a team.

BOTH: If I am what you choose

MORGANA: If change how I fight

GWEN: ‘Cause you’re the one I choose

MORGANA: You’re the one I choose

BOTH: You’re the one I choose

[katherynefromphilly]

There may come a day when I don’t cry as I watch Merlin send Arthur’s body to Avalon in that boat… but today is not that day.

[merlinbingo]

And another month goes by!

In March, we received 45 fantastic fills from 23 wonderful participants, 36 of which will be listed below the cut! We've got 27 fics, four artworks, three fic + artwork combos, one fic + moodboard combo, and one lovely gif!

Since peach is still pretending people are interested in the stats part of the monthly round up, she's going to prattle on a little longer about ships. Gen/no ships came out top again this month with 16 works, while Merlin/Arthur came in second with 14. Merlin/Gwaine is third with two fills, and then we've got Gwen/Morgana, Merlin/Will and Lancelot/Will all with one.

(Another fun stat for you - there are only six works for Lancelot/Will on ao3, and a third of them are bingo fills!)

Now, finally, the bit you all care about: the fills themselves! Remember to check the warnings and ratings, practice self-care when clicking on those links, and leave so much love for the fabulous people who've created them!

No ships/gen

Not a Blacksmith by bugbonz Rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: weapons, blacksmithing, minor injury, weapon appreciation Summary: From the time he was old enough to hold a proper sword, Arthur had been trained, honed, into the best fighter in all of Camelot. And that’s where his fascination began.

Pole Dancer by art stelle Rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: fanart Summary:

What's the problem, weather boy? by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Sassy Merlin (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Immortal Merlin (Merlin), God Merlin (Merlin), Percy Jackson & Merlin Friendship Summary: Percy and Merlin meet

What have you done? by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Tired Leon (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Merlin is a Little Shit (Merlin), BAMF Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson is a Little Shit Summary: Leon has to deal with Merlin and their new friend, Percy Jackson. Leon isn't paid enough for all this.

Where are you ~ Please, don't leave me by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Worried Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Scared Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Guilty Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Episode: s04e07 The Secret Sharer (Merlin) Summary: Arthur discovers that his servant has not come to wake him and, at dawn, runs throughout the castle looking for him.

Remember that time? by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Good Uncle Hades (Percy Jackson), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), POV Merlin (Merlin), Percy Jackson & Merlin Friendship, Sassy Percy Jackson Summary: It's time to ask Nico his help in their research. Of course, when Percy says 'everything's going to be fine', Merlin should worry.

Sweet Persuasion by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Omega Merlin (Merlin), Omega Gwen (Merlin), Alpha Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s01e07 Gates of Avalon (Merlin) Summary: In his attempt to keep Arthur safe, Merlin uses Gwen's advice: sweet persuasion

Excalibur by LikeAPaperPlane Rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Summary:

Red by kairennart Rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: digital art, screenshot redraw Summary:

in time of daffodils by willowsmarika Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: N/A Summary: Five characters' stories about discovering Merlin's magic and coming to terms with it. Each representing one of the five stages of grief.

Rain or Shine by s0mmerspr0ssen Rating: Teen Warnings: Rape/non-con Major tags: Post-Season/Series 03, Canon Compliant, Caring Gwaine, Misunderstandings, Loyalty Summary: Gwaine, plagued by doubts about swearing fealty to a prince, is pushed to the brink when Arthur seems to prove himself unworthy.

On a Blade’s Edge by VikingSong Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Loneliness, Friendship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fleshing out Elyan’s backstory because canon failed us Summary: The trouble with being a blacksmith-turned-knight was that Elyan was very picky about his swords…but even he could admit there were things more important than craftsmanship. Like purpose and belonging, for example. Or: In which Elyan turns his assessing gaze from broken swords to broken manservants.

You're just special by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: Teen Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Survivor Guilt, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Merlin Needs a Hug (Merlin), Protective Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug Summary: Merlin has a nightmare. Percy is there for him. They trust each other

Why I hate hunting by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: Teen Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Sharing secrets, sharing past trauma, mention of slavery, Protective Knights (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin) Summary: During a hunt, the knights and Merlin are stuck in a cave and must say the thing that weighs most on their minds.

the motivations of a friend by sleepygecko Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling, Soft Arthur, BAMF Gaius Summary: Arthur was angry at Merlin until Gaius made him understand that he couldn’t truly understand what it was to grow up as a magic user during Uther’s purge. He seeks out Merlin to apologize but can’t hold in the utter devastation he feels at the mere glimpse Gaius showed him of Merlin’s justified fear.

Relationship Takes Effort by cynthia1314 Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Merlin & Arthur Parabatai, AU - Shadowhunters, platonic soulmates, character death (Uther) Summary: Arthur and Merlin were Parabatai, but Arthur didn't know if Merlin was as content about this relationship as he was.

Gwen/Morgana

tender deception by queerofthedagger Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Porn without Plot, Orgasm Denial, Post Canon Summary: “All you have to do is renounce your claim to Camelot’s throne once and for all.”

Arthur/Gwen

Forgiving Yourself Is the Hardest Thing by VikingSong Rating: Teen Warnings: Major character death Major tags: Merlin dies, Gwen POV, Grief, Guilt, No magic reveal Summary: Gwen is intimately familiar with grief; she was prepared—as much as anyone can ever really be—to tread the long, winding road to the place where the sudden rush of loss hits less often, when it will no longer knock the wind out of her at every trifling reminder of Merlin. What she was not prepared for is the invisibility of her grief. She is the Queen now; no one seems to remember that he was her friend, too, back in the days when she was just Gwen and he was just Merlin. Or: Gwen struggles through her grief after Merlin’s sudden death and wrestles with guilt as she reflects on the slow demise of their friendship.

Lancelot/Will

Blue by bugbonz Rating: General audiences Warnings: Major character death Major tags: afterlife, Summary: Stepping through the veil, Lancelot wasn’t sure what to expect. He anticipated pain. Or perhaps himself just blinking out of existence. Anything but the room around him staying exactly as it was, only now shrouded in a deep blueish shadow.

Merlin/Will

A Letter of Farewell by gwenpendragons Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Canon era, established relationship, love letters, goodbyes Summary: Merlin and Will say goodbye before Merlin leaves for Camelot.

Merlin/Gwaine

The knight and the king by HadrianPeverellBlack Rating: General audiences Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: Episode: s04e06 A Servant of Two Masters (Merlin), Deleted Scenes, Pining Gwaine (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Summary: A deleted scene in A Servant of No Master. Arthur and Gwaine look for Merlin

A Fairytale, This Is Not by Fighting_for_Creativity Rating: Mature Warnings: Major character death Major tags: Alternative Universe- Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Past Lives, Tony Stark(Merlin)- Centric Summary: Chapter Summary: Tony was dying, not that he regularly didn't risk his life but- who would have thought that Palladium is poisonous? The line between past and future, dream and reality merges more and more. While Tony and his friends try to figure out how to save his ass, Vanko appears, SHIELD being interfering and time nearly runs out. Maybe, sometimes the solution to present problems lays in the past.

Merlin/Arthur

In Arthur's Chamber by LikeAPaperPlane Rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Summary:

That Loving Feeling by ravenwilds Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Top Gun AU, slow burn, banter, found family, gray-asexuality Summary: Dr. Merlin Emrys is a civilian instructor for Top Gun, the U.S. Navy's elite aviation combat training school, which means he knows all about brash pilots, and their cocky attitudes. When Lt. Arthur Pendragon joins the program, it looks like he’ll be just another one of the same, but in a class of show-offs, Pendragon is determined to be noticed—and it seems it is Merlin's attention, in particular, that he wants. Merlin's not sure what he did to deserve this ...

Somebody Roll the Windows Down (There Are No Windows) by prettylittlecandid31 Rating: Teen Warnings: One use of the word "homosexuals" bc it's a period piece Major tags: The "Oh" Moment, Carriage Ride, Period AU, Arranged Marriage Summary: Arthur is on a carriage ride to his arranged marriage fiancee's home. He has forced Merlin, his best noble friend to come with him. Along the way he realizes his true feelings for Merlin.

Meet Me More Than Halfway Up by thesongistheriver Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: long-suffering Leon, pining Arthur, friendship, coming out, modern era Summary: Arthur's star is on the rise in Hollywood; Leon's a nose-to-the-grindstone sound editor. L.A. may be superficial and artificial, but the friendship they forge there is real. (And eventually Leon will get Arthur to Merlin, so help him, before he loses his damn mind with all the pining.)

Dragon of the Dawn by SlantedKnitting Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: dragon dads, baby aithusa, druid merlin, dragonlord merlin, healing magic Summary: To avoid war with the Druids, Arthur lifts the ban on magic in Camelot. As a sign of peace, the Druids gift him a dragon egg. Now Arthur must decide if it would be wise to bring a dragon into the world, or if his interest in the egg is only due to the handsome Dragonlord who wields the power to hatch it.

Dancing in the Dark by gwenpendragons Rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: modern au, nonbinary merlin, first meetings, love at first sight Summary: Arthur thinks he’s done with dating until he meets a gorgeous pole dancer at a nightclub.

let the punishment fit the crime by insane-ohwhyfandoms Rating: Mature Warnings: Choose not to use archive warnings Major tags: modern au, boarding school, bdsm, spanking Summary: Merlin deliberately irritates Arthur.

Ghosts by s0mmerspr0ssen, PapySanzo89 Rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Dom Merlin (Merlin), Sub Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Past Character Death, Grief Summary: Merlin’s past comes back to haunt him—right in the middle of a scene.

More Melodies Than Can Ever Be Heard by thesongistheriver Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: smut, banter, established relationship, domestic fluff, musician AU Summary: Arthur's movie finally premieres! Merlin and the trio rehearse, Gwaine and Percy take a big step, and now it's time for what comes next.

Into the Inward Places of Our Souls by thesongistheriver Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: established relationship, fluff, smut, banter, snark Summary: With the new flick getting more positive buzz than Arthur had expected, it's starting to look like he just might write his own ticket into a high-visibility West End role, even as he tries to rework his treatment for the stage. Merlin's own star is on the rise too, with the Proms and a new world tour. They've always been good for each other ... so maybe this is just the beginning of something even better.

Limits by s0mmerspr0ssen, PapySanzo89 Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - BDSM, Dom Merlin (Merlin), Sub Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Developing Relationship Summary: When Merlin turns out to be everything Arthur could ever wish for in a dom, Arthur realises he would do a lot of things to make him stay—even ignore his own limits.

Am I Nothing More Than an Inconvenience to You? by TrebleMaker07 Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, POV Arthur Pendragon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parent Uther Pendragon, Friends With Benefits Summary: Meet Arthur Pendragon: lawyer, gay, works for his father, and in a friends-with-benefit relationship with Merlin. Meet Merlin Emrys: principal dancer, gay, owns a ballet studio, and in a friends-with-benefit relationship with Arthur. Just two normal guys living very normal lives, until life decides it wants to throw some hurdles into the ring. What will happen to Arthur and Merlin then?? Will they be able to persevere, or was everything doomed to fail from the very start??

The Viscount's Depravation by ravenwilds Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Victorian AU, Smut with feelings, Orgasm control, D/s, Dom!Merlin Summary: In which Arthur endures great depravation and finally earns his reward

Home by s0mmerspr0ssen, PapySanzo89 Rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Dom Merlin (Merlin), Sub Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Uther Pendragon's A+ Parenting (Merlin) Summary: When Uther finds out Arthur has been dating a dom for months without his approval, things come to a head—and fall into place, too.