bluegrasssax

[bluegrasssax]

Glad to be picking this one back up again! The marathon continues 🥹

Chapters: 46/? Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: Explicit Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Characters: Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin (Merlin), Gwen (Merlin), Morgana (Merlin), Gaius (Merlin), Emrys (Merlin) Additional Tags: Genderbending, Falling In Love, bi-panic, Pining Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Penetrative Sex, Oral Sex, Bisexual Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), A touch of gender fluidity, identity crisis, Merlin is Emrys (Merlin), Arthur figuring out he's bi in the most convoluted way possible, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unplanned Pregnancy Summary:

Camelot is a lot bigger than the letter suggested it to be. The buildings here tower at three stories tall, sometimes even four, and that’s only in the lower town. The battlements alone leave trailing shadows over the roads, the stone and brick laid down who-knows how long ago.

Merlin clutches Gaius’ letter close, looking down every now and then to recheck the directions. The roads are winding and narrow with more than a few dead-ends. His offer hangs just under the directions:

"Mentor under me and I can teach you the control you seek – a physician’s apprentice is a noble trade not many young men have the opportunity to undertake. Do you understand?"

Merlin didn’t understand at first, not until Hunith pressed a set of Will’s old clothes into confused hands. As tough as it is for a sheltered boy to saunter into a new city to take a position under an esteemed healer – not even considering the illegalities of the implied additional tutelage – it would be an impossibility for even the most headstrong of women.

[bluegrasssax]

T~T

If I can hold you again, I won’t let you go.

●^●

[bluegrasssax]

Thank you Griffon for the fantastic art, I had such fun writing this story and it's been a lovely experience xx

Merlin BBC Reverse Bang 2024/25 - Bear With Me

Author: @bluegrasssax Arthis: @griffonskies Rating: Teen and Up Pairing: Merlin/Arthur

Summary:

Living with the druids has done wonders for Merlin's attunement with nature, and each day feels like something new altogether. When a day in the woods is interrupted by a shiver up his spine, he's horrified to find a royal interloper disrupting the balance, and worse, he doesn't even seem to realise! When the gods decide to intervene and set things right - in their own way - Merlin vows to help his new companion fix things, whether the fluffy clotpole likes it or not.

Link to fic HERE

[bluegrasssax]

Camelot looks different. It’s dreary.

Lifeless.

The grey sky eats into the stonework to suck all the colour from it. The red banners are drained to a dark burgundy, and the usually shining gold trim is tarnished. The wind howls around the citadel tower, whistling between the carved columns and cast bell; a scattering of doves flap out from their alcoves, trailing the gust down and out of sight. The sound of their beating wings echoes between empty walls.

Merlin stands beneath the looming portcullis. Glancing up, he finds the iron teeth pointed down at him, and when he moves away his boots scuff loudly against the ground.

He can’t remember where he was going, and so he goes no where at all, pacing uselessly against the cobbles as he circles the courtyard. The thatched roof of the stable rasps in the breeze, the hollow interior whispering with emptiness from within.

Pausing, Merlin cranes his neck to look at the windows high above. Set into the cold walls of the castle they watch endlessly and he finds himself nervous under their scrutiny.

He finds himself opening his mouth to call out, but is stopped when he can’t remember who he’s waiting for. Perhaps it is only him here, now. It makes sense, somehow. He’s the last one.

Merlin sits himself on the edge of the dry fountain, kicking his legs lazily to the tune of a song he’s forgotten.

The clouds don’t change – they’re still formless and matte in the sky, hiding a sun that must exist but doesn’t show itself. Moss creeps between the brickwork, and he watches its slow encroachment with mild interest; the time slips away and it’s uncertain just how long he sits there.

Eventually, when the first bricks begin to crack and the metal furnishing begin to rust, Merlin rises from the fountain’s edge and finds his way up the wide and welcoming stone steps into the castle. He thinks he sees ghosts on each one, but when he turns his head to regard them, they disappear.

Water has soaked through the flaking varnish of the heavy door, making it bow on its hinges. Merlin doesn’t dare touch it as he squeezes through the gap left at its frame, weary of its tendency to collapse. He knows it will, and sure enough, as he leaves the splitting shaft of white light behind for the allure of the dark corridor, there’s a splintering sound as the door finally lets loose of its binds. It thuds heavily on the stone, scraping and catching on the steps before it settles splayed within the courtyard.

Each padded step through the shadowed corridor is accompanied with a breath of dry air; the tapestries on the walls are browned with age, moth bitten and thready at the edges. He stops before one of them. Black splotches mar the image and obscure its meaning. He narrows his eyes, reaching out to touch at it.

As his fingers catch on the ridges of the weave it disintegrates, blowing away on an undetectable wind. Whatever image it held is now gone forever.

Merlin’s feet take him places unknown. Rooms and vaults that have no meaning, alcoves and cupboards that holds objects of nameless importance, halls and balconies that whisper with voices he can’t quite make out.

He enters a large space, one that shines in his eyes as once having been dappled in the colours of a thousand stained glass windows. High backed chairs sit on a dais at its furthest edge, one untouched by age, another weathered and featureless. The sweetness of the memory is short-lived as a hole in the arched ceiling opens up with a low boom. Stone and wood give way to draw the featureless sky into the room; the same whistling wind invades every corner and the chairs are left crumpled under the rubble.

Water drips steadily from the edges of the opening, a small stream catching on what remains of the padded seat to leave behind a stain.

When Merlin turns his back on the broken throne, something tickles at the back of his chest. Inside, on his skin, he can’t tell. Swallowing uncomfortably, he leaves the great hall behind.

Trailing his hand along the rounded walls of the staircase, he finds anticipation waiting in his throat. Every quiet rise has him holding his breath. He isn’t sure who he expects to suddenly appear around the corner, but every moment they fail to appear marks another drop of quiet resignation.

At the top of the staircase is a landing the extends out into a wide, long corridor. Unlike the rest of the castle, here all the windows are open and the curtains are drawn back. There are few shadows left. Everything is bathed in the same diffuse sunlight that haunts the wilderness outside.

Something taps at the back of his head.

There’s someone missing. But who are they?

As his foot touches upon the landing the wood flexes.

He waits.

The next step has the floorboards buckling under his weight, though they hold just barely as he moves across the failing structure. Soon only the shell of the foundations will remain, and then who will remember the magnificence of the city? Even now Merlin can see the vines crawling through the open shutters, encroaching like fingers that blindly reach for their own land to claim. They bud with wilted flowers, dead before they could even bloom.

The hallway stretches on and on, and soon Merlin is hopping from one beam to the next, the intermediary floorboards now fulling rotted away. If he looks down, he may see another hall below, another decayed level. He doesn’t dare, fearing that the exposed layer beneath is not the last. How deep does the castle go?

There’s a soft warmth that eases around his neck and drags him to a stop. Teetering on a weathered wooden support, he finds himself before a chamber door. The latch is tarnished and weeping black stains into the paled wood, and yet despite the crumbling façade it holds sure in its frame. He yearns to be on the other side of it.

There’s crashing in the distance far away. The clamour is distracting, but still, he won’t tear his eyes from the door. Somewhere, castle walls crumble. Maybe the dungeons cave in on themselves, or the battlements have given in to the constant expanding and contracting of the winter ice and summer sun. In any case, the door remains.

Plants encroach the edges of his vision, lining along the walls and consuming the dull solitude of the corridor; the beam on which he balances grows uneven beneath him, and with a soft drop he is no longer at the whims of its strength. Instead, a bed of moss lays the ground, and as the door degrades in the centre of his eye the ruins of the castle open up around them.

Only the door and he sit in the ring of stones, shielded from the wind but not the open surveillance of the sky.

A presence stands behind him. It smooths hands over his shoulder and down his chest. It whispers in his ear and urges him to turn around.

But he doesn’t want to. The door.

Why does he know this door?

It would be easy to sit upon the moss and let it overtake him. Let the creature of the misty morning seduce him into sleep, to crumble as the castle walls do.

Breaking away, he steps towards the door. Its frame of stone is jagged and ends in broken pieces where its corridor has melted away. He pushes carefully at it and it doesn’t yield. The wood is spongy against his skin, cold and wet.

Trying the latch, it catches on itself and won’t move, too caught in its rust. Merlin draws his lip between his teeth and thinks.

Again, a comforting warmth tiptoes up his spine. It almost pushes him forward, sensual and demanding in equal measure. Something on the other side of the door is reaching for him, he knows it. It doesn’t wish to bar him, no matter what the trapped wood and stone says.

It strikes at him with the subtly of the breeze, touching at his mind almost on accident.

Taking a deep breath, he raises his fist.

He knocks.

And the door swings open.

Beyond the threshold is a pristine chamber, lit with the brightest sunset oranges and rosy reds that he’s ever seen. Shards of sunlight streak across the floor, burning like radiant fire as they catch on the dazzling patterns of overlapping rugs. Gilded details call from the edges of frames, mirrors, bedposts, and each sing with a voice rich with life and history.

When Merlin steps through into the room, he’s met with a sense of peace.

Gone is the grey, the lost self, the remains of something forgotten – in its place is home. From the simple cups on the table, to the delicate refinement of the quill set upon the desk, each spark a smell, a taste, a sound.

The presence from before doesn’t follow him into the room, it settles at the doorway like a sleeping dog, content to let him go.

Merlin feels a hand in his, though looking down finds nothing there. It caresses at his knuckles, swirling circles at his pulse point, and soon the phantom begins leading him towards the canopied bed. When he sinks down into the plush silk and down, he feels the exhaustion of a hundred years of sentry rolling over him.

And as the last of the castle deteriorates into the dirt, buried by the land and all the things that have happened, Merlin falls asleep, safely in the arms of something greater.

[bluegrasssax]

I don’t know why, but I always thought Leon would be a silly drunk

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Characters: Merlin (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table (Merlin) Additional Tags: Lads Being Lads, Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs Summary:

Gwaine likes to think he's the best at head, and Merlin wishes to not be involved in this conversation. or Lads talking shit, and Merlin wanting to be anywhere but here.

[bluegrasssax]

Just wanted to say I just finished Take Your Pain Away after bingeing all of today and it blew my mind. It's by far the best Merlin fic I've ever read, and definitely one of my favourite soulmate AUs in any fandom. I love you worrying some, the plot, the characters, the relationships, the worldbuilding, how you make everything come together - truly, it's been an honour to even be allowed to read it. So thank you for writing and sharing it, and thank you for letting this beauty out into the world.

I'm sorry this is such a late reply! (is it obvious I don't check my Tumblr often...) But thank you! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, and it warms my heart to see people continuing to enjoy it after it finished :) x

[bluegrasssax]

Ooooo

It’s time to sign up for the 2024-2025 round of the BBC Merlin Reverse Bang!

Don’t forget that artists are allowed to submit art for as many concepts as they like, and may choose to allow those concepts to be claimed by multiple writers. THIS MEANS that there will be plenty of art to go around for all writers!! Do not be shy in signing up!!

Without further ado, head to our carrd site HERE to get the sign-up links!

Podficcer sign-ups are open thru Sept 28th and writer claims will open on Oct 6th.

Artist sign-ups are open thru Nov 16th, art is due on Dec 7th, and writer claims will open on Dec 15th.

If you haven’t already done so, please refamiliarize yourself with our updated FAQs & Info/Rules, and this year’s schedule!

Please sign up, spread the word, ask any questions you have, and get hyped!!

[bluegrasssax]

Ah I'm so chuffed to see Parchments here, thanks @themerlinlibrary !

Favourites Friday (July 2024) – All Time Favourite

TML Favourites Friday round-up! July 2024 round 1

What is Favourites Friday? – The Basics

a different theme is announced on Friday each week; FF recs must match the theme of the week

only one FF rec per person per week/theme

FF recs must be unique within that week/theme; no double-posting the same fic for one theme!

no self-recs during regular rounds

only self-recs during self-rec rounds (last Friday of each month)

Theme for week 1: All-Time Favourite!

Imbolc by MerlinLikeTheBird G, 145k, Merlin/Arthur Canon AU

Sorcerer's Bane by BeautifulFiction E, 265k, Merlin/Arthur Canon divergence, Abduction

Once and Future Pride by Papysanzo89, Pinky_Wisteria, Snarky_Ship (Pinky_Wisteria)  E, Series of 8 art works, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU, Comics, Pride

The Crown of the Summer Court by astolat E, 24k, Merlin/Arthur Merry Gentry fusion

The Hands We Use To Catch Each Other by scripps T, 10k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era

From Shadows to the Light by PeaceHeather T, 16k Post-Canon Fix it

My Significant Bother by evaelisaa, Leandra E, 96k, Merlin/Arthur Modern Era, Royalty, Friends with Benefits

wanna be your end game (my youth is yours) by ladililn E, 63k, Merlin/Arthur Modern Royalty AU, Series

Twitch Your Whiskers and Pull My Tail by BlueSimplicity E, 62k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU

Avalon by s0mmerspr0ssen E, 133k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU, Escort!Merlin

All lives are (love)stories by amithia E, 193k, Merlin/Arthur Canon Era, Soul Bond, Fix-it

Dower the Stars by RurouniHime E, 41k, Merlin/Arthur Canon era AU, Golden Age

Parchments by BlueGrassSax E, 33k, Merlin/Arthur Canon era

Let's Be Winners by Mistake by Seravia E, 48k, Merlin/Arthur Modern AU

A Challenging Hostage/A Challenging Quest by wryter501 T, 390k, primarily Gen with background ships  Canon AU

A masterlist of all round-ups can be found here.

If you want to make sure you never miss a FF rec, or would like to participate and share your own favourites; join us on the Discord TheMerlinLibrary! Happy reading!

About the FF round-up lists:

Recs are listed in the order they were posted on the Discord; the order does not imply any sort of ranking.

The pairing given in this list is the main pairing of each respective fic – please read the tags for any possible minor or side-pairings, as well as any potential warnings or triggers.

Pairings and Eras are given as tagged in each respective fic. (?) signifies that the tags were unclear and I do not know enough about the fic to fill the gaps.

Round-ups are compiled on the weekend of the week after the respective theme of the post (when the new theme has already been anounced), to avoid omitting potentially belated FF recs.

The weekly round-up is not a guarantee! I'm running this alone, so it can only be posted for weeks when I have enough time on my hands to compile a list. If you'd like to help out, feel free to contact me on Tumblr ( @zaharya ) or Discord. Thanks to @ravenwilds for helping me out with these round-ups, and to Chel for making a whole-ass bot to make it easier!

[bluegrasssax]

Woohoo!

Imagine how many words :0

We are officially at 64 thousand fics!!!!!!

[bluegrasssax]

I lost my spark with this one, but recently found it again - I forgot how much joy this brought me

Happy to be back and writing

Also, lmao, I have come to accept that I might be gender fluid WhO CoUlD HavE SeEn ThIs ComInG (Morgana, probably)

Emrys and Merlin are one and the same - woman, man, it doesn’t matter. All the matters is that they wish to protect Arthur, regardless of the cost to themselves.

or

Arthur finds out he’s bisexual in the most convoluted way possible.

[bluegrasssax]

babies need shoes too, it's like a win win marketing wise!

support your local businesses!!!

[bluegrasssax]

I'm still so in love with this

at the same time that I love this I also mildly hate it but Im also proud of it, mixed feelings.

anyway, wINGED!MERTHUR FOR YOU

I tried to give Merlin's wings that blue shimmer that ravens/crows have but Im not sure I completly succeeded

[bluegrasssax]

This is the cutest thing since sliced bread

“I did the ‘I was wrong’ dance in 1650, in 1793, 1941…”

[bluegrasssax]

🙏🙏🙏

I would like to personally thank that vial of oil, which is always there in Merthur fics on Arthur's night stand ready to be used.

Thank you, vial of oil. Either you get yanked in by magic or a hand, you always guarantee that the mood won't be broken by one of them having to stand up.

[bluegrasssax]

I always flip flop on whether Arthur would be embarrassed by nudity

On one hand, he's a noble so we have to be proper and refined and above such common indecencies

On the other, he's been around knights and who knows what he's seen (and you just know Gwaine doesn't care enough to be shy in the Armoury)

[bluegrasssax]

following you because i read Take Your Pain Away and loved it SO SO MUCH!!!! it was so sweet and lovely and the soulmate reveal moment was great and then the final chapter was great and NIMUEH!!! I AM A NINUEH STAN!! anyway i couldve left a comment but im already here so instead you get this in the form of an ask.

thank you so much, dearest author!!!

Ah thank you so much, that's so very kind of you to say! 🩷

You're my first ever comment/question/thingy on Tumblr, for which I am very chuffed!

I'm also a huge fan of Nimueh, it was so fun to bounce her "older" knowledge against Merlin's younger (and lets be honest, more foolhardy) magics

[bluegrasssax]

I thought I'd give an intro to me and the fics I've written (Merlin x Arthur, E, AO3). I started late 2021 after I found writing helped me through _stuff_

This is in the order I wrote my stories, my thoughts, what I liked about it and what I wish I'd done better.

For most of the fics I started with a canon character trait for each of Merlin and Arthur that I carried through the story (that they either both come to embrace or overcome), I find this works well in keeping to the og character vibe

(No major spoilers)

1. A Fall We Can't Forget

Character archetypes: lost Merlin, naive Arthur

My likes: I love opportunities to be open about feelings without the pressure of consequences, hence dreams. I loved writing Merlin's Druid dream, and that Arthur could appreciate him without fear that way.

Even better if: This was my first fic and I definitely made some classic blunders! I feel I rushed things, and there were many other dream sequences I wish I'd managed to sneak in!

2. Wingless

Character archetypes: guilty Merlin, protective Arthur

My likes: Wings. I mean, come on! That's just cool! I'm honoured someone took the time to make art following reading the fic, it warmed my heart <3

Even better if: Again, I think I rushed into the reveal. I'd have liked better pacing especially in the last few chapters.

3. Parchments

Character archetypes: denial Merlin, self sacrificing Arthur

My likes: similar to the dreams, an opportunity to talk without repercussion. I liked this version of Gwen a lot, and I'm a huge fan of Samhain midnight shenanigans. Also poor Gaius. Sorry man.

Even better if: this is one of my shorter ones. I think it would have been neat to have an Arthur POV through to explain some of his actions too. Alas. Maybe a sequel.

4. Take Your Pain Away

Character archetypes: self sacrificing Merlin, dutiful Arthur

My likes: oh boy this one was a labour of love. I love soulmates, and I thought the dynamic of one person knowing way before the other way good in this case. The added layer of pain transference was for flavour and it snowballed on me lol, but in a good way I think.

Even better if: honestly, I have the fewest Gripes about this one, though I wish I'd taken a bit of a different route with Edith. There could have been more bullshit with that, but maybe it was angsty enough already.

5. Dead To Me

Character archetypes: powerful/unfortunate Merlin, growing Arthur

My likes: actually my favourite story of the lot I think, just because it's a different flavour of "destiny" than I'd considered before. It was a fun challenge to develop intimacy with no physical contact!

Even better if: I liked what I did with Gaius, but I know it wasn't necessarily a popular characterisation of the poor bloke - so if done again I'd like to have made his motivations clearer.

6. Passing Through

Character archetypes: innocent Merlin, whimsical Arthur

My likes: it was nice to have the "love at first sight" sort of vibe with this one, even though I tend to be more of an enemy to lovers fan myself! Merlin's magic felt so natural in this one and I'm really chuffed with how it came out. He is a part of magic as much as it is a part of him, and so it's no wonder it's overwhelming sometimes.

Even better if: I initially planned a bigger blow up with the Arthur reveal, but it didn't quite fit. Maybe in another life. This one could have handled a bit more smut imo.

7. The Satyr and The Prince

Character archetypes: outsider Merlin, conflicted Arthur

My likes: I'm a big fan of body horror - and while this is no xenomorph situation it was interesting to play with a tiny bit of gore. I'm proud of the inner conflict Arthur had, and I hope it came across well.

Even better if: as with most of my fics it seems, I feel I rushed it a bit. My initial plan was more drawn out, more angst (somehow), but I got impatient! Also, didn't get the chance to include any sex! It just didn't fit in naturally without seeking forced :/

Now?

And my current fic is on going, so I won't comment just yet on it. Only know that archetypes revolve around Wonderlust Merlin and Awed Arthur

If you've read any of these I'd love your honest feed back on it - this is a hobby I really enjoy, and I'd like to keep on it for a bit longer!

Also, let me know how this Tumblr thing works, I'm floundering lads XD