#Oh! but back to Arthur’s line that's a call back to Merlin not going with him on the day and leaving that message in his sleep

[larluce]

Arthur and Merlin travel back in time without knowing the other is from the future too AU

Tagging @virgil-wannabe since you asked for a PART 3 ;)

LINKS TO THE OTHER PARTS OF THIS AU HERE: PART1 , PART 2 , PART3 (you're here) , PART4

In "The Dragon's Call"

Arthur: (bulling a servant for the third time just so Merlin meets him again)

Merlin: (appearing out of nowhere) You, oppressor!

Arthur: (thinking) finally

Merlin: (thinking) Wait, that's not my line.

Arthur: (thinking and barely containing himself from crying, running to Merlin and hugging him and kissing him right there) He’s just as beautiful as the day I lost him 🥺🤧

Merlin: (thinking in panic) He isn’t saying anything. Why isn’t he saying anything?! 😰😖

Merlin: Is that the way you treat your servants? You are a... a prat! and...and an ass!

Arthur:...

Merlin: (thinking) please say something, please say something, please say something.

Arthur: (coughs, just realising he's been staring for too long) You're right I was being mean. My apologies.

Merlin: ... wait what? 😧

In "The Poisoned Chalice"

Merlin: (ready to use a spell to make Arthur drop his cup)

Arthur: (dropping it on purpose) Oh, clumsy of me, I droped it.

Merlin: (to himself) What? But I didn't use the spell yet. (Looks at his hands) Or did I?... Ugh, whatever (picking up the cup) Hey, Gaius! What's that? (Pointing at the flower petal inside the cup)

Gaius: It's poison! Someone tried to poison the prince!

Arthur: (faking surprise) what? Really?

Merlin: (faking surprise too) I can't believe it!

In "Lancelot"

Merlin: He would make an excelent knight. He saved my life.

Arthur: (full panic mode) what?! When?! Are you okay?!

Merlin: (confused) ...yeah? The grif-I mean, the winged beast attacked me when-

Arthur: The griffin attacked you?! (Checks him) Why didn't you tell me?! Are you hurt?!

Merlin: (still shocked but blushing due to Arthur's sudden attention and closeness) Ahm... you didn't ask? And Lancelot stopped the beast before it could hurt me, so you don't have to worry.

Arthur: (swallowing his guilt for not asking in his other timeline)... Right. From now on you tell when these things happen, do you understand?

Merlin: Yes, sire.

Arthur: Good. (Lets go of Merlin realizing he's being holding him for too long) Well, as thankful as I am to Lancelot for saving you, I can't knight him if he isn't a noble. That's the code.

Merlin: I know but-

Arthur: So I'll give him another job in the castle and when I'm king I'll gladly consider knighting him if he's still interested.

Merlin: (more than surprised) You will?

Arthur: (nods) Is that all?

Merlin: Yes... (smiles) thank you

Arthur: (smiles) Anytime, Merlin. (leaves)

Merlin: (looking Arthur leave with hearteyes) 😍... wait. How did he know what the beast was called?😨

In "Excalibur"

Merlin: (debating with himself if he should let Arthur fight the Black Knight this time around or let Uther do it again)

Arthur: (arriving) Merlin.

Merlin: (utterly surprised) You are here! 😱

Arthur: Of course I'm here. You thought I would withdraw? I'm not a coward, Merlin.

Merlin: No! I'm just... surprised Uther let you.

Arthur: He did try to drug me to stop me from coming. (Looks at Excalibur in Merlin's hands, recognizing it) Where did you get that?

Merlin: Oh... I just thought... you would need a new sword for this. So I asked Tom to make it for you.

Arthur: You got it made... for me?

Merlin: Yes. (Thinking) Please use it, please use it, please use it.

Arthur: (holding the sword) It's good. Thank you.

Merlin: (blushing, still not used to Arthur thanking everything he does) I'm just doing my job. There's no need to-

Arthur: There’s every need. (Touching his shoulder fondly and smiling) Thank you, Merlin. For thinking of me.

Merlin: (screaming inside)

[overlyspecific]

Part 11 of Merlin Hood

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 12

Sometimes life is fair and sometimes you are Morgana Pendragon. If the fact that she had to hide her very powerful magic and the only other person she knew with magic was forced to flee into the forest wasn’t enough, she now had to watch as her servant/newly realized love flirted with a very handsome man. She was so distracted by the thought of it, she didnt realize said object of her desires had entered.

Gwen: *still smiling* Hello, my lady.

Morgana: *trying to pretend like she didn’t jump a mile when Gwen spoke* Hello, Gwen.

Gwen: Is something wrong, my lady? You look a little pale.

Morgana: Gwen, dear, we are alone. You can call me Morgana.

Gwen: Sorry, my-Morgana, habits.

Morgana finds that the room has gotten tense and wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for wiping a smile off of Gwen’s face so she tries to hide her sadness.

Morgana: Lancelot seems like a nice fellow.

Gwen’s smile returns to her face and Morgana tries not to let her heart shatter from it.

Gwen: *a little timid* yeah, he is sweet. *a small blush appears on her cheeks* he even kissed my hand when he left

Morgana: *turning her back on Gwen to hide her facial expression* oh wow that’s forward of him

Gwen: *not noticing anything wrong with Morgana* yeah, i thought Leon was going to chase him away but we were lucky he bought our lie that Lancelot is from a neighboring town.

Morgana: oh, Leon is on guard? I need to speak with him.

Morgana jumps at the opportunity to leave the situation and makes for the door.

Gwen: Morgana.

Morgana: *stopping at the door and turning back to Gwen* yes, Gwen?

Gwen: if i’d done anything to upset you, you’d tell me, right?

Morgana: right. i’m just worried about Merlin that’s all. you’ve done nothing wrong.

Morgana rushes out, leaving Gwen alone in her chambers feeling out of place without knowing why.

Back in the woods, a hundred feet from the entrance to the ruins, Arthur and Gwaine are hiding in a bush.

Arthur: I can’t believe I didn’t figure out sooner that you would be one of the forest ruffians that trampses around with Merlin.

Gwaine: technically you didn’t figure it out and Merlin does most of the trampsing.

Arthur: shut up! i see something. *Arthur points at the entrance to the ruins*

Aredian exits the ruins with his face a shade redder than a tomato.

Aredian: *ranting loudly to himself* Never in my life- in all my years- who even knows all the words to the tavern songs- If the king wants answers so bad, he’s going to have to get them himself!

Aredian angrily makes his way to his horse and rides off in the direction of Camelot.

Gwaine: well, that was easy.

Arthur: *looking around confusedly* usually these things take longer or something bad happens…

Gwaine: Usually you don’t have Merlin though *gestures to the ruins* come on!

Arthur puts aside his uneasy feeling and enters the ruins after Gwaine. Neither of them notice a figure shrouded in a deep violet cloak watching them from the tree line. The cloaked figure raises their hand and a large slab of rock seals the entrance, trapping them all inside.

Sorry things in this part got a little bit angsty with Morgana’s POV. There also might be a little more angst to come with Gwaine, Arthur and Merlin all being trapped together but don’t worry ill be sure to cut it with some light-hearted humor.

[messandahalf10]

Do you have a scene you really liked but weren't able to fit it in a fic? Would you care to share? Do you have a most recent favorite line or scene? What is it?

*Asks are sent for fun, no pressure to answer.

Omg I’m so sorry this is so late!!! I’ve been so busy and stressed lately 🙈🙈

But to answer, I do actually!! It was for a Merlin/Arthur fic, but it just never properly fit with the story it was supposed to be for.

And here it is!

“Have you forgotten, Merlin, just who you’re talking to?” Arthur asks, one eyebrow quirking up.

Merlin lifts his chin up, so he can almost look down his nose at the King. “Oh, I know exactly who I’m talking to, Your Majesty.”

He opens his mouth and inhales, ready to speak, but Arthur lifts a hand up, prematurely cutting him off. “If you call me a prat again, I’m going to send you to the stocks for a few days, followed by a stint in the cells. We’ll see how you’re feeling after spending a week sleep in on cold, hard stone with nothing but straw to keep you company.” He spins around on his heel, gesturing for Merlin to follow him over his shoulder. “Now come along, I’m going to be late for my own council meeting. Really, Merlin, I do have an image to uphold.”

Merlin glowers at his retreating back, but grudgingly follows after him. Yes, Arthur was definitely hiding something, and he would be damned if he didn’t figure out what.

[jsbluelove]

So, what did I know about Arthur and Merlin?

Not much. Just that these two names are always said along, knew something about Arthurian legends, and that's just about it. And I knew that these two are often shipped and when some people say, 'they were good friends ' others would go like, 'sure'.

I didn't even know there was a series called Merlin, until I saw someone say in the comments of a YouTube video on Red, White and Royal Blue trailer that Henry and Alex giving of Arthur and Merlin vibes.

So, I asked again, 'How come they know so much from one or two movies or few stories that might have been about Arthur and Merlin?', and then I also wondered maybe there is/was a show - which led me to discover Merlin(2008).

And I thought, 'oh what a great way to spend my Saturday!' Might be an old show but maybe I will enjoy'

And by Monday night, I'm watching 5x13, except for the last part, because I won't...I won't cry..I don't want to cry. I felt so alone because I was so late to the series, overwhelmed, a little offended because I was genuinely thinking that the magic will do the deed, and bring back Arthur.

By Tuesday, I have already read at least two fanfics, watched 10+ edits, but I still won't watch any video of that last scene. I don't want to accept.

But there's a silver lining: I'm not really alone, I see people creating fanfic even in 2023. Look, I just wanted to have a fun Saturday, but by today, I feel like I should go jobless and read through all the content around Arthur and Merlin.

My thoughts on Arthur and Merlin being gay

This is something I heard people saying even before I knew the show existed. I thought they came from the tales of the legend itself.

I also watched a video where the cast and the showrunners talked about the characters' sexuality. But what I think is, Arthur and Merlin don't necessarily have to be gay, and yet can definitely be romantic.

The kind of person Merlin is, and the kind of person Arthur was, they bonded so well for a reason. They tease each other, they enjoy each other's jokes - Arthur did, they worry about each other, they have each other's back, they have adventures together, they need each other, and most of all, beyond need, they want to be around and with each other.

And the kind of person they are, why would I not think that what they feel about each other is beyond their sexual preferences? It's so much more than that. Arthur doesn't have to be gay to want to spend all his life with Merlin, live with only him forever and wanting no one else(considering he didn't have any royal responsibilities), and vice versa. I believe if Arthur would love Merlin even if Arthur was straight, gay, bisexual, or anything else. Because his love for Merlin goes beyond anything else.

The show focuses more on Merlin's dedication, love and loyalty for Arthur

Merlin's love for Arthur is what we see most - because he has been told in the beginning that he is destined to serve and help him. So what did he do? He devoted his whole time and attention to Arthur - the bond with Arthur only followed after that.

But I want to focus on Arthur here.

I see Arthur's side more - because despite so many to love and bond as friends, he found his bond with Merlin. So much so that even when outing with a princess he should impress - he stuck to trying to annoy Merlin. Outing with his wife - he is nonchalantly talking about Merlin. He definitely pictures being away and alone, but alone doesn't mean not Merlin.

Merlin is adored by many - he is just that lovable. He has a great mother, friends find it easy to like him, and he finds it easy to talk and connect with most people. That's his character - cheerful and cheeky.

But Arthur had this particular nature that only comes out while he was with Merlin. I'd like to call it instant cheerfulness. Merlin was special to him.

Arthur, I believe, always knew how much Merlin meant to him, how much Merlin cared about him, and he also knew that it is mutual.

Arthur was really hurt to know that there's a great part of Merlin, his magic, which was kept from him. It truly hurt me too.

I don't know if I'll ever watch that last scene or if I'll ever cry. Maybe someday I'll get over it and finally watch it.. or maybe I'll just bite the bullet and watch it and cry..

[earlgreyinpajamas]

ooh la la more fake dating for both ships? x

merthur

The King's Final Defense by piece_of_pierce

Prince-recently-turned-King Arthur has a problem. You see, the royal family of a nearby kingdom, Lindania, have just made arrangements to come for a diplomatic visit. This, in itself, is a good thing. What causes the problem in this whole situation is the Princess of Lindania, Princess Leora.

Princess Leora, ever since they'd first met, has continuously attempted to woo Arthur with every meeting since. Not to mention the occasional letters.

Arthur's excuse not to court the woman has always been that he was waiting until he became King before pursuing a relationship of any kind.

Now he's King, meaning he's lost his last line of defense against Leora, and she's coming to visit in only a handful of weeks.

Luckily for Arthur, he has one more trick up his sleeve.

~~~

ahhh they're so cuteee

2. champagne promises by illiterateowl

“So, Arthur, I was wondering–”

“Merlin,” Arthur cuts him off, “the answer is no. I’m not going to dress up as you to get you out of work or take a cheesecake to the neighbors who put in a noise complaint because of you or try that disgusting plant water that you call milk–”

“My oat milk is perfectly palatable, thank you–”

“My point stands: I will not be risking my arse for one of your harebrained schemes again.”

“The oat milk was hardly risking y–”

Arthur fixes him with a look and it takes all of three seconds before Merlin visibly deflates. He even lets out a breath as his shoulders sag and he sinks into his chair.

“You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” he says petulantly. “Care to tell me what it is, then?” Arthur asks dryly.

Merlin fingers a deep scratch on the table and Arthur thinks that it was probably because of something else stupid Merlin did. “It’s about Cenred.”

or, fake dating to keep cenred off merlin's back would have been perfectly okay....if arthur wasn't a protective bastard.

~~~

scheming!merlin be like

3. Something Hitch-ish by Excited_Insomniac

Every time Merlin has ever dated someone, they have inevitably found their true love and dumped him. Now Morgana wants him to use his 'superpower' to save her brother from a lifetime of misery. Merlin, foolishly, agrees.

~~~

dhjfdkhla merlin why are you like this

00q

Like real people do by withered (@everything-withered)

Q finds out they're married after Bond's been declared Killed in Action. For Bond's sake, he better be.

~~~

i am emotionally compromised

2. The Odd Couple by soufflegirl91 (@soufflegirl91)

5 times Bond and Q had to pretend to be boyfriends for reasons and one time they were

~~~

gahhh why are they so cute i cannot

3. The Bonds from London by BootsnBlossoms (@bootsnblossoms)

“I should sleep on the couch,” Bond murmured.

“Don’t be a bloody idiot,” Q snorted unattractively. Bond, amused, filed away this propensity for sleepy swearing as something to remember. “What is it? That’s a text alert, not a perimeter alarm. Nightmare, then? Damn you double-ohs and your issues, I swear to god.” He lifted his arm in invitation.

“Q, I don’t think —”

“The window’s open and I’m cold,” Q insisted.

Bond sat on the edge of the bed and finished the last finger of his drink with a quick swallow. He had no idea if Q was hinting that they needed to keep up their pretense due to the open window, or if he really was just cold. Either way, Bond wasn’t a man to deny himself what small pleasures he could take from this wretched life, so he slid under the covers and tugged Q on top of him until their legs were tangled and Q’s head rested on his shoulder.

But as Q dropped back into sleep, Bond stayed awake, correcting himself. Having everything he wanted, in his grasp and completely out of reach, wasn’t a small pleasure at all. It was torture.

~~~

probably one of my fav 00q fics

[kateis-cakeis]

hi!!! Pls rant about Arthur having magic, I love stuff like that!! I’m invested, what’s your favorite fic idea for it?

Hi!!!!! :D

Definitely for sure Arthur having magic (in at least some form) is one of my favourite things to write and read, I just wish there was more of it!!!!

Okay okay, so to answer your question, my favourite fic idea for it, man that's so hardddd! There's so many interesting concepts likeee:

--Arthur finding out about his magic at a young age and keeping it a secret.

--Arthur finding out about his magic at a young age, in front of Uther (I've written a fic like this, but I want more)

--A baby Arthur magics some items around him, and either - his nursemaid freaks out and calls the guards in, and they agree that there's no way Uther would believe them so they keep it a secret, hoping that one day the king will see (as they're afraid of magic).

--Or baby Arthur magics some items around him and Uther sees and in his rage, and with the Great Purge still raging on (it lasted a year so Arthur would be a baby baby), he orders the guards to put Arthur in the cells.

--Or baby Arthur magics some items and Gaius sees, and in his panic smuggles Arthur out of Camelot with Nimueh's help (I wrote something like this once but I never finished it)

--On the other hand, child Arthur suddenly finds out about his magic in front of Uther and Gaius, and Uther, in a fit of rage, orders a stand to be built for his execution at dawn.

Gaius smuggles child Arthur out with the help of some guards who renounced their magic during the Purge. During his escape, the Druids step out from the shadows of the forest and offer to take Arthur in. The guards agree and return to Camelot, while the Druids take Arthur over the border to Ealdor :)

Therefore, Merlin and Arthur grow up together, eventually heading to Camelot when Hunith grows concerned for Merlin (like in canon), and Merlin magically dyes Arthur's hair black - as well as the beard Arthur grows to disguise himself. Uther, of course, does not recognise his son. (Im planning to write this one day, but idk if I ever will) There's of course other ideas where Arthur discovers he has magic as an adult like:

--Maybe an AU where Arthur is a seer like Morgana but gets specific Merlin related dreams. He only works out his dreams are real when Merlin has an injury that lines up with his dreams (say like Arthur seeing a scar from Nimueh's fireball, which he had a dream about)

--Arthur and Merlin are cornered in a fight, and Merlin gets shot with a crossbow bolt - and falls. In a blind panic, Arthur shouts, and everyone gets pushed back. In the moment, he knows what has happened, but he ignores it in favour of getting Merlin home - to Gaius. (The dynamic of this AU would change depending on if Arthur is a prince or king here)

--Oh, another idea is like Aredian deciding to go after Arthur, which makes Arthur very confused - this AU would also include like Aredian being able to sense magic, because as much as he was a faker out there, he was right about who had magic sdjhfghjsd

And these are just some of my ideas, Im trying to not get too away from myself here for you! sdhjfgjhsdhg This is already getting to be a long post. But I love these ideas, some of them I've just made up now, that's how much I love this concept. I don't think I could pick a favourite, but if I had to right now, it would probably be a baby Arthur/child Arthur idea. Just getting to play around with a younger Arthur is so interesting. And baby Arthur requires an Outside POV which is fun to play with too!

But to rant about Arthur having magic, nowww, tumblr user gabalicious-g, aaaah. Okay.

Our mans is born of magic okay. The exact same phrasing is used for Merlin. Let the golden boy have magic, it would really fuck him up :P That's why I love playing around with it in fic! Like how would it affect him?

I don't see him going the way of Morgana. I could see him, if he had found out as child, repressing that part of him wholly in fear, and maybe even disgust. If he found out as an adult, I could see him freaking the fuck out - especially if he was still a prince.

It's just okay, right, right. Arthur is made up of magic, that's how I interpret it anyway. I think lately I like imagining Nimueh summoning water into the Cup of Life, in a similar manner as to when Merlin got the water to save Arthur. So, she gives the water to Gaius (who was the one sent to ask), and Ygraine drinks it, and boom, she's pregnant. So I like to think Arthur is basically like all of what Ygraine is (in looks at least :P) and then magic, magic makes up the rest.

Like it's very easy for me to go, well surely there's something he could do. I mean the whole dying to rise again one day is pretty magical enough :P So, I'm like all brrrr for this concept, so much I cannot resist it.

There's so much you can do even if you don't go full Arthur's a sorcerer AU. There's stuff that can more easily fit into canon, there's stuff you could do post revival to mess around with it. It's just there's so much thereeeee.

And of course, there's how this would all impact Merlin. Like what would he think if he found out/suspected Arthur had magic? Just aaaah so much potential to play withhh.

I love it, I love it. Thank you so much for sending this ask in and giving me an opportunity to talk about it ^.^ :D

Feel free to send another ask if you'd like! 👉👈 :)

[poisonedfate]

but it's better if you do

for @merlinmicrofic, march 24 prompt: "Trust me"(merwenthur/490/teen/no warnings)

ao3 or under the cut

"It's going to be fine, Arthur," Gwen said for what seemed like the tenth time already. She was sitting at the table, chair turned to face him currently pacing up a storm about four steps in front of her. 

"How can you be so sure?" he had said this exact line ten times himself. They were going in circles. 

Gwen seemed to notice this as well, or rather, seemed to decide enough was enough, the leg she had been swinging to a melody only she could hear coming to a halt. 

"Arthur, it's Merlin. He wants this, same as you, same as me."

He gave a look at that, clearly unconvinced. 

"What if...what if it doesn't, you know, work? 

"It will work, trust me. Trust him," she smiled, something slightly teasing in her features. 

"You know I do, but-," the door of their chambers burst open before he could finish his sentence.

"Out of bed already, are we?" Merlin's voice was chipper as he threw a glance at Gwen. 

Arthur followed his eyes, mostly for his own benefit, hoping to steal away Gwen's gaze, attempting one last look of concern. She only gave him another small smile in response as she got up, making her way over to Merlin. Arthur wanted to go back to sleep. 

They exchanged a couple words that he couldn't quite hear due to the still-present pounding in his head - a reminder of last night's activities. He did, however, hear the slightly louder call of his name, spilling over Merlin's lips. His lips that, well... Arthur shook his head, aiming to rid of the thought creeping in, though all it did was provoke the pulse in his temples. 

"Arthur," Merlin said once more, stepping closer, hands behind his back. Gwen stayed back, watching. Before he knew it, Merlin was only a breath away from him. "I'm terribly sorry, sire, but I don't think I can do this," he said, leaning closer still. Arthur wondered if he was hallucinating, perhaps dreaming still - something vivid and wine-made. 

Arthur couldn't look away from his mouth that was still moving, words beginning to merge together. He leant in without meaning, chasing, but Merlin managed to escape, giggles filling the room, Gwen standing near now - he wasn't sure when that happened. 

"I knew it would work," she whispered as Merlin pulled her by the waist and into a kiss - not a very long one, they were still laughing. She only gave Arthur a sly nod before letting go of the other, staying connected only by the hand.

"Are you still having doubts, Arthur?" Merlin then asked mockingly sweet. 

"Oh, so many," he sighed, grabbing him by the other wrist and pulling until he could finally taste his laugh too, only managing to pull apart once the air wasn't quite reaching their lungs anymore.

"I'm not through with you, either," he raised his eyebrows at Gwen.

"I wouldn't dare to assume."

[lohstandfound]

tomb raider au quotes using lines from tomb raider legend timeline

Jeremy: Well, this is a tomb. I'll make them feel right at home.

Jeremy: Isn't she beautiful? I'm falling in love all over again. Michael: Yeah, you say that to all the ruins.

Jeremy: Really, Mike? It's just like going up a flight of stairs, only less boring. Michael: Yeah, well I want to throw up every time you look down.

Michael: You know, I think you forgot your climbing gear on purpose. Jeremy, on the side of a cliff with no ropes: What gave you that idea?

Michael: So the shaman would be Merlin and the staff would be whatever the hell Arthur's sword was called. Christine: It's called coincidence. Michael: Huh. Funny name for a sword.

Michael: Chloe's is gonna bill you for that. Jeremy: It's not a party until something gets broken.

Madeline: You have disrespected me. You have broken into my house... you have killed my men. Jeremy: I've simplified your payroll, and now if you don't mind, I'll streamline your inventory.

Jake: Hey, now that the power's on, maybe you can go back and pull out Excalibur. Christine: It's not Excalibur! The Sword in the Stone and Excalibur were two different bloody swords. Arthur got Excalibur after the Sword in the Stone broke in his battle with Pellinore. Oh, good grief, nobody gets it straight. Michael: That's because nobody cares. Jeremy: Guys... Michael: Sorry.

Michael: [a sealed door is blown into pieces] Now THAT'S how you open a door! Jeremy: I prefer door knobs.

Michael, seeing potential ancient torture devices: It's the center of the evil coat rack empire.

Jeremy: [Jeremy strolls into a Peruvian town sporting his two trademark pistols. All the town residents quickly run indoors] They don't seem quite so keen on visitors these days, do they? Michael: Well hey, you're the one with the guns. Jeremy: You can't blame me for knowing how to accessorize.

Dustin: Jeremy! You're a busy beaver, aren't you? Jeremy: Oh look, it's Kropp. Fancy dropping down for a chat, then? Dustin: Only if you can shoot this far. Jeremy: You know long-distance relationships inevitably come to an end.

Squip: My company has recently turned its focus on the study of ancient artifacts, and I am lead to believe that with the right incentive, you are just the woman to find them for me. Jeremy: I'm afraid you've been mistaken. I only play for sport. Squip: Which is precisely why I've come to you Mr Heere. This is a game you've played before.

Jeremy: Eric Squip, you just don't know when to die. Squip: A trait we have in common.

[penny-anna]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

oof only 5 okay!!

i was gonna do 1 per fandom but then i realised that came to 6 so screw it u get 6:

The Engraving (BBC Merlin)

Arthur had somehow got into a situation wherein he had to bugger the man who was – let’s face it – the closest thing he had to a best friend, and unless luck was very much on his side things were going to be awkward forever. Camelot has been stricken by a terrible drought! Fortunately, Merlin has found a magical ritual that can bring back the rain. Unfortunately, it requires group sex - and Merlin is a virgin.

this was one of the last merlin fics i wrote n its a very stupid and silly and fluffy gangbang. really enjoyed writing the 'everyone lives happily ever after' AU on this one. very fun :)

Golden (Doctor Who)

Good gracious, it had been so long since he’d been seduced. He’d forgotten what a delectable experience it was. After an exhausting run-in with the local monsters, the Doctor takes Jamie to a hot spring to relax.

THIS IS ANOTHER SMUT. SORRY. very honest answer here. this is my dw piece i go back to most often. love the atmosphere of it.

And I'll shiver like I used to (LOTR)

He could taste it on his tongue, the salty tang of the sea, fresher and somehow saltier than the sea he knew. He could feel the sand, soft and light underfoot, warm from the sun. 'Sam,' the voice had said, saying his name so tenderly, so carefully, as if it were something precious, something to be treasured. 'Oh, Sam. I’ll wait for you.' Samwise Mason is a junior member of the Stonemason's Guild of Haven City; he works hard, but doesn't stand out. He dreams, again and again, of a beach with white sand and a kiss goodbye. Samwise Mason is making a statue.

tough call here but im still so pleased with this one i worked so so hard and i think it's the most romantic thing i've ever written

Constellations (The Witcher)

"I know how soulmarks work. If a person has two names writ upon them by destiny, then one is to guide them to their true love and the other to their worst enemy. Everyone knows that." / "That’s an old wives’ tale." When Jaskier was fourteen, two names appeared on his skin: 'Geralt' and 'Yennefer'.

VERY tough call here as i wrote a lot of witcher fics i still love but hand on heart this is the one i most enjoyed writing. blasted it out in like a week iirc. great stuff.

the world won't wait till you're older (DCU/Shazam)

Shazam didn’t understand how taxes worked. He always seemed kind of lost when they talked politics. Wally often had the sense that he was nodding along with things he didn’t really understand. He knew what vaping was. Inexplicably he knew what TikTok was. Weird guy. The Justice League try to adjust to their newest member. They know he's hiding something from them, but in their line of work everyone has secrets. Shazam's no different. Is he? Or, the Justice League accidentally inducts a child and then deals with the fall-out.

obvious choice haha!! my most popular DCU fic!! its a banger i hope to match it one day

time to time (Back to the Future)

“Will you shut your damn mouth and listen to me?” his other self hisses. He gulps in a breath, and breathes out; then, resolved, he does his best to shake his head. “No,” he says. “Whatever you have to say, I won’t hear it – having any knowledge of my relative future could –” His other self claps a hand, hard, over his mouth. His palm is damp. Clammy. Emmett makes a protesting sound against it but before he can wriggle free, the other him speaks. “Marty dies.” A cloud passes over the sun. The Brown family are on vacation, taking a break from the stresses of 1986. It's a beautiful summer day. What could possibly go wrong?

hnghh got a lot of bttf fics i love but this one remains the stand out for me. obsessed honestly.

thank u!! i'm not going to send asks bcos im lazy but for once i will tag some people uhh ok @uighean @limerental @bg-sparrow @megamindsupremacy @wromwood

[artaxlivs]

Trick, please? (Only if there's still time 😄)

Okay soooo I did go to your blog to make sure I'd be in the right realm of interests (Even though its a trick and I get to pick, I still want you to like it) and I saw these two things...and couldn't resist the combo.

Drumrolllllll, a frog leans out of the skrim on the stage and wails, "It's the special Halloween Muppet Show with tonight's guest star, His Royal Highness Arthur Pendragon!"

"And cue the dancing girls."

Arthur looks over to the scrawny dark haired man wearing the headset. He looks frazzled and strangely cold because it's sweltering backstage but he's got on a jacket and a red scarf around his neck for some reason. Maybe he's sickly?

"Excuse me-" Arthur starts to say loudly, trying to get the man's attention.

"Shhhh!" A chicken hisses at him.

A chicken.

Arthur raises an eyebrow and glares at her but she's not cowed.

A scraggly looking bear in a neckerchief leans across Arthur and looks out to the distance, waving his hands cheerfully, and says "Wokka wokka!" Then he wanders away.

Arthur sighs, turning to get the man in the headsets attention again.

"Listen, Arthur? Is it? I'm gonna need you to move aside. The dancing girls are coming straight through here in a second and you'll get run over." The man whispers, nudging Arthur into the corner behind his podium.

Scoffing and bristling because how dare he, Arthur starts to step back toward the man but a line of kicking cancan girls dressed like witches all linked together at the elbows kick their way past him. They continue kicking, linked together well into the hallway. Arthur shakes his head and moves back near the man again.

"Now, see here. You may address me as Your Royal Highness-" Arthur starts to say but then a pig in a black evening gown and opera gloves pushes him to the side. He thinks she's supposed to be dressed as Mortica Addams since the frog was wearing a pin striped suit and had a mustache drawn on.

"Merlin, Merlin, where is my Ker-my?" She pouts to the man in the headset.

"He's dealing with that blown tuba in the orchestra pit, Miss Piggy." He cringes a little like he's preparing for a physical blow.

"I need to talk to him about my number!" She hurumphs; her facial expression morphs into anger and she's squeezing her hands...hooves? No she has fingers - hands - into fists.

"Well, I'm here and His Royal Highness is here if you wanted to talk about your duet," the man, Merlin, waves his hand toward Arthur. When Miss Piggy gasps and crowds Arthur, Merlin's whole body relaxes and he turns back to his work, keeping one eye on the stage and one on his call sheet.

"Ohhhhh Arthur, may I call you Arthur? We're going to make such beau-ti-ful music together." She turns her body so she can lean into him and gaze up, eyelashes fluttering.

"Uh..um, er...yes. I mean, yes our duet will be good but no, you're not allowed to call me Arthur, it's Your Royal Highness," She starts to shake like she's going to explode and Merlin inches away from her, though he doesn't look over at her, almost like he's afraid to make eye contact. "You know what, just for tonight, you may call me Arthur."

She melts instantly, leaning in again, eyelashes fluttering, "Oh Arhth-y, I'm so hap-py. I have to go warm up my voice but I'll see you soon, okay?" She makes an air kiss and turns away. A chicken run across her path and she growls, voice dropping low and gravelly, "get out of my way you stupid chicken!" But then she simpers back of her shoulder, "by-yeeee!"

He can hear her singing "I Put a Spell on You" By Nina Simone as she walks away and he gulps.

"What-" Arthur starts to ask but then a Muppet in a chef's hat mumbles by, knocking Arthur into Merlin who ducks his head and blushes. "Excuse you!" Arthur almost shouts and the chef doesn't looks him just mumbles gibberish as he pushes a cart with a bubbling cauldron on stage.

The chef immediately starts throwing in whole bottles that say "eye of newt" and "dragon's teeth." The impact splashes and slooshes liquid over the sides of cauldron and it hisses as it splatters on the stage. He continues to mumble happily the entire time.

"If you'd get out of the way, Your Royal Highness," Merlin says snarkily, "you'd stop getting pushed out of it. Sit here." And he points to a chair next to his podium.

For a moment, Arthur thinks about being difficult because this person, this stage manager, this Merlin, can't tell him what to do, he's royalty, dammit. But then he nearly gets bowled over by the chickens again as they run across the stage in the middle of the chef's skit for apparently no reason.

"Why did the chickens cross the stage?" he asks in confusion.

The bear leans in from nowhere again, waggles his jazz hands and says, "To get to the other side! Wokka wokka!" and then he wanders away. Again.

Arthur sighs, sinking into the chair. What is wrong with these people?

The entire show seems to drag on for an eternity but also is over like a whirlwind and Arthur finds himself sitting next to Merlin for all but the two skits he's in. One where he's afraid that Miss Piggy actually did put a spell on him and another where he fought a dragon to save Miss Piggy.

The dragon was actually just four Muppet monsters wearing a big shaggy pink rug with a hole in it where one of the monsters stuck his head out and growled at Arthur menacingly before he stabbed it with a rubber sword. When Arthur returned to his chair after that one, he found Merlin smiling down at his call sheet, the tips of his ears as pink as the shag dragon.

As the night wears on, Arthur has to admit that he finds Merlin rather charming, efficient and well organized. When Miss Piggy comes to collect Arthur for their skit, Merlin blushes again, nodding to Arthur and advising him to break a leg, "but not really."

It's endearing really. And even amid the loud chatter of a herd of Muppet monsters and a broken tuba that sounds like a foghorn, Arthur finds his eyes drawn again and again to Merlin, with his secret little smile and his ears that are just a little too big. But every time he goes to ask Merlin out for coffee, there's some calamity happening that can only be solved by the stage manager.

After the final bows, Arthur returns to the stage manager podium, hoping to find Merlin but instead he finds a note addressed to "The Once and Future King." It contains only one sentence, "Not yet, but soon." It's signed with a drawing of a wizard hat.

[vikingsong]

oh is the aliens and swords one the one that you were asking about museum practice a while back? I want to hear more about that 👀

@sydneysageivashkov Yes, it is! 🥳

(Thank you again for answering my museum questions a while back! I have even more museum questions now if you’re amenable sometime!)

This is the elevator pitch:

Arthur Rhydderch had spent years trying to ‘find his calling,’ as his thesis advisor described it. This wasn’t quite what I had in mind, the reincarnated Once and Future King thought as he gave his sword a twirl and launched himself at the alien before it could breathe another blistering spurt of flames.

Up-and-coming paleontologist Dr. Myrddin “Merlin” Emrys had thought he was adulting quite well; most days, he even managed to avoid getting yelled at by his landlady. Then secrets from his past life resurfaced, and everything fell apart. Facing an impossible choice, Merlin must come to terms with who he was, who he is, and—most importantly—who he wants to become.

Or: When Albion’s greatest need arrives in the form of an alien invasion, the reincarnated figures of legend must deal with the consequences of their shared past even as they fight for humanity’s future.

Arthur is cornered during the initial invasion in a building that has a collection of artifacts displayed in wall cases, so he breaks the glass (not security glass! just regular plate glass! There’s a joke about it later in the story) and pulls out a medieval sword in a ‘might as well go out fighting’ mindset, then ends up successfully killing the alien that cornered him.

It quickly becomes apparent that conventional modern weaponry is useless against the aliens. Only authentic medieval swords can kill them.

Arthur finds out that he’s the new King of England, despite having been 28th in line and having always held generally anti-monarchist views. He has to learn on the job how to actually lead/govern because Parliament and the rest of the upper levels of government have been obliterated, too, so all the ministers’ authority has temporarily reverted back to the Crown. He ends up working closely with the staff of an eclectic and widely respected (fictional) museum in London to try to figure out what it is about the swords that makes them effective. If they can figure it out, then everyone will have a better idea of how to fight the aliens effectively. (Spoiler: aliens = pterosaurs = dragons, and their only weakness is steel that is forged in dragonfire.)

Gwen is an expert on medieval weaponry. Elyan doesn’t work for the museum, but he’s roped in because his specialty is chemistry/materials science. Paleontologist Merlin joins the party because the aliens bear a striking resemblance to Cretaceous pterosaurs. Freya, the museum staff member responsible for sourcing items for collections (I have questions about this job!), fulfills her Lady of the Lake role by sourcing and distributing swords to the knights. 😉 Many other canon characters pop up along the way. (You may also remember a snippet about an OC named Mrs. Nettleburn? She’s Merlin’s landlady who wears a violently floral housecoat and wields a frying pan during suspected break-ins. 🍳)

Meanwhile, the characters start getting their first-life memories back sporadically throughout the story, and they have to separate the truth of their incomplete memories from the distortions of the literary legends. Merlin ends up betraying everyone by siding with the dragons based on his distorted interpretation of those incomplete memories. Arthur refuses to give up on the friend he remembers, and Merlin gets an intensive redemption arc.

The story began as a crack prompt, but it has evolved into a crack-treated-very-seriously novel. 😂 I have about 60k written so far…

[icharchivist]

I know we joked about Gbf Lancelot getting the better deal compared to the one of legend, since our Lancelot has Vane, but I've been thinking about it and I do really like that Gbf is remixing the story like that

Pretty much everyone is at least passingly familiar with King Arthur and his knights, but instead of just randomly using the famous name, they are referencing a lot of the things from the legends, even including some lesser known details, like Percival being Welsh etc

It's really fun and it's clear that a lot of effort went into it

Arthur and Mordred are connected, Arthur was supposed to be mentored (parented) by Merlin, but Merlin failed to step up. Now he's close to Lancelot, but not as a king and his knight but a fledgling knight and his captain. It's been flipped and twisted in interesting ways and if they hadn't done that, I would not have yelled "Morgan le Fay????" at the top of my lungs when I first saw Morgan, so you know. Good writing. 😤

oh yeah definitely, i adore it

i had a major Arthurian legends phase when i was a kid, and while a lot of it is fuzzy now i have a strong affinity with those legends and i tend to pick up some of the stuff even more and it really makes me very giddy with the Dragon Knights.

Like the really big distinction from the general canon tend to not be just "yolo let's do whatever we want" but clear "drawing the lines" on storylines they don't want to happen. Like making sure Lancelot is a grown adult while Arthur is a kid under his care is not just a way to say "we do whatever we want" but a way to say "we will not explore the romantic rivals angle with them", it's deliberate.

but meanwhile everything is still very similar to some of the legends, or at least the legends are worked in to justify some of the connection

when i read Strength to Wield, i was stressed out the whole event because the kids were sent to Camlen, which, in the legend, is the place Arthur and Mordred killed each other. I spent the whole event expecting the worst, and the ending of the event was Arthur and Mordred having a near death experience because they wanted to save one another. The story still carried this heavy theme of death following those two in Camlen, but twisted the theme around that instead of killing each other out of hatred, they loved each other so much that they were ready to die for one another to save the other. It's a really great way to take the weight of one of the most pivotal moment of the legend while keeping the ultimate vibe of "this is a place of death that changes the course of their journey"

Other details that for me sells it for example: did you know Gawain and his brothers are the ones to kill Lamorak in the legend? Because i think about it everytime Gawain mentions he's going to save Lamorak and bring him back home everytime. They deliberately made Lamorak someone that annoys Gawain and that, in normal situation, has Gawain talk about how he's so annoyed he'd hit him for sure, but in reality, made him the one person who's determined to save Lamorak. It's a deliberate way to keep their connection, yet flipping it around.

In a sense a lot of the kishi saga is about how characters who are, in the legend, meant to bring each other death, now bring each other salvation, while characters who are supposed to save others (like Merlin) do the opposite.

Another one: Gawain going through a story of self growth to leave his arrogance behind is the crux of the Green Knight storyarc, where the Green Knight challenges Gawain and his humility, and as such the Green Knight is the proof of Gawain's growth. In the myth, the Green Knight pretends to be a man called Bertilak to test Gawain's humility, and this is this test that ultimately saves Gawain's life.

As Gawain of the legend is forced into self growth after an arrogant action made him the target of a supernatural spell that caused his life to be put in danger unless he passed this trial, our Gawain was forced to grow after Florence cursed him to teach him a lesson after his behavior made her fear for his life.

By our Gawain's Light 5*, we meet Bertilak, a kid that is exactly like how Gawain used to be, and Gawain decides to take him under his wing because he knows exactly what kind of guidance he needs. just like the legend, Bertilak works as being the one to showcase exactly just how far Gawain grew and changed. He ends up filling the same role on that regard.

Another one: Maleagant, in variations of the legend, is directly an enemy of Lancelot who's set on darkening his heart and bringing him to self destruction, while also closing his eyes to the truth. Our Maleagant meanwhile is directly opposing Lancelot, sure, but the whole point is for him to address Lancelot on something Lancelot USED to have a closed mind about, and instead is all about opening his eyes to the truth and opening his heart to the sins of the past. They switched Maleagant's role around completely.

There's also constant callback to the Tale of Two Dragons through the full story as well, except that instead of being solved by Merlin like in the tale, it's almost always caused by him.

As for Siegfried, who comes from Nordic Legends, he also constantly has elements of his lore dropped here and about. Both the men who killed Siegfried in the legends have attempted killing our Siegfried. Siegfried's wife in the legend became a woman who crushed on Siegfried before falling in love with the man who is trying to steal her in the legend, and then Siegfried became the godfather to their son, who himself was named after a track from a Siegfried centric opera, a track specifically about "the light of Siegfried". Fafnir, obviously, is still there. The call backs are still there, just different enough to be its own thing, but similar enough that everything is deliberate.

so yeah exactly like you say, it ends up being genuinely thrilling when a new element gets added to the chessboard because everything has been worked on with direct intent that it builds enough good will that we expect a pay off from stuff being introduced. Because after all of this, seeing Morgan becoming an active player became immediately harrowing knowing how the myth has painted Morgan as one of the major element causing the fall of Camelot.

It's fascinating and i love it. I love it sooo much. They take inspirations from legends and myths, but instead of just slapping a name on it and making up their own stories, they really try to see just how much they can still evoke them.

It makes it enjoyable whenever you have a passing knowledge of those stories or an intense one. I'm having so much fun. Everytime something new happens i'm always opening a wiki again just to refresh my memories.

i love that so much thank u Granblue.

[fashionstatement-deathwish]

I’ll love you until my flesh decays and my soul descends.

Gwaincelot week day 6- ghosts, angst "why are you doing this?"

Warnings: Major character death

Notes: This was meant to be posted in @glass-frogs-and-dragons

Lancelot woke up, trembling and disoriented, in the physician’s chambers. Had he been paler he would have passed for dead; his skin was clammy and his eyes unfocused and he felt overall like a dragon had mauled him. Before he could grab ahold of himself, he felt a cold hand on his forehead and was met with bright golden eyes. His vision then turned black once again.

Lancelot woke up for the second time and found Merlin sitting in front of him.

“Merlin?”

“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Lancelot,” The younger man attempted to smile.

Lancelot rubbed his face, noticing his unkempt stubble and the dark bags under his eyes. Vines and thorn bushes had grown in his mind since the last time he was awake, and so he was having some trouble recalling his memories, but he was sure that whatever had led him to be where he was, it definitely wasn’t good. He closed his eyes as tightly as he could, then opened them again, confirming that he had, in fact, completely forgotten about the reason why he was in Gaius’ chambers. 

“Lancelot,” Merlin began. “Do you… I mean, what do you… what do you remember?”

“Nothing after when… I think it was yesterday. We went on patrol… it’s all hazy. I think we may have encountered some bandits?”

“Lancelot… oh, gods. That was around a week ago. You’ve been unconscious for days,”

The knight swallowed and groaned. Tempted as he was to cry, scream, rush out of bed, punch something, find… No. He had a reputation to uphold and Merlin didn’t deserve a tantrum. His eyes, wild and unthinking, scoured the room in search for… what was it? What did he need? What was he so desperately missing?

He found it. He found him. His hazel eyes were dull and his skin tinted grey but, as always, Gwaine had a soft, private half-smile. His body relaxed, but a gentle squeeze from Merlin made him jolt and tense up again.

“You might need a few weeks of… to adjust. Arthur told me to tell you that you don’t have to go to training or anything for the time being. At least not until you get better.”

“Merlin, I feel fine! I can-”

“You have barely recovered from the stab wound and the poison and… well, everything else. You need to rest. Please, Lancelot, if not for anything, rest for me.”

Lancelot looked back at the corner of the room, but Gwaine was long gone.

“Yeah. Maybe… maybe it’s for the best.”

The next few days were an unsettling blur for him. People still smiled at him, though their lips and eyes were lined with pity. Everyone refused to tell him what had actually happened, making up excuses or simply saying: “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry for your loss”. He still didn’t know what he had lost. The knights would put their hands on his shoulder or nod whenever he saw them (which was not often); even Arthur and Merlin refused to meet his eyes.

But that wasn’t the worst part. Sure, he could somewhat handle Leon’s polite ‘I think Arthur is calling me’ or Percival’s ‘I am meant to meet up with Elyan for patrol. See you later?’, but what hurt him the most was Gwaine. Gwaine, with whom he had built a tentative relationship based on sneaking out, dancing around each other and being far closer than most friends without barely talking about it. Gwaine, who Lancelot could have sworn loved him and whom Lancelot loved in return.

Gwaine, who refused to direct a single word or glance in his direction.

He had tried to call his attention as discreetly as possible because they hadn’t told anyone about… well, about them yet. He had tried politely asking him for favours in order to be alone, or nodding towards empty alcoves or his own chambers. Even during his walks around the palace and city, when he could swear up and down that Gwaine was following him, the other man ignored Lancelot.

Lancelot, however, was oblivious to the whisperings and pitying glances that he was shot every time he tried to speak with his lover.

“Gwaine,” He tried one day.

He was tired. His head and heart and legs ached. According to both Merlin and Gaius, his recovery was going slower than intended, and at this point, Lancelot had given up in trying to understand.

“Gwaine, please,” He begged.

The long-haired knight was walking in front of him, but he gave no signs of having heard him.

“Gwaine!” He shouted, uncaring about his reputation or anyone who might overhear. “Gwaine, why are you doing this?! Why are you ignoring me?! What did I do?”

Gwaine had stopped, but he had kept his back turned towards Lancelot.

“Do you…” The curly-haired knight ignored how his voice broke. “If you regret what was going on, if you regret us, then at least have the guts to tell me face to face,”

“I love you,” Was Gwaine’s answer.

He then turned around. His skin was still grey and his eyes were still dull but there was an underlying panic, a desperation that Lancelot had not seen before.

“I love you, Lance. I love you, I love you, I love you. And I’ll love you until my flesh decays and my soul descends. I love you.” 

And oh, Lancelot wanted so desperately to believe it but here they were, arguing in an empty hallway that was growing colder by the second. They were shouting at each other after Gwaine had ignored him completely for days. Lancelot still wanted to believe him, but Gwaine’s voice was breaking and bitter.

“Then why…?”

“Don’t you remember?” The hazel-eyed man asked in disbelief, tears finally falling. “I died, Lancelot! You love a dead man! I’m not really… I’m stuck here for some god-forsaken reason and this? Watching you pine, watching you love me and hurt from afar, watching you see me but not being able to do anything about it? It’s painful, Lance. For both of us.”

It was then that Lancelot stopped walking forward. Gwaine’s hand found its way to Lancelot’s cheek but, far from the usual warmth he felt, it was now cold and boneless.

Gwaine smiled at him and Lancelot blinked behind his tears. He could only mutter his name over and over again.

“Let go, Lance. Please… for both our sakes, yeah?”

Lancelot covered his mouth and collapsed onto his knees. When he wanted to look up, just as he heard his name being called (was that Merlin?) an onslaught of memories invaded him. Gwaine was gone.

~ooo~

“Gwaine! Gwaine! Where is he?!”

“Calm down, Lancelot. It’s best if you-”

“With all due respect, My Lord,” His words were spat with the bitterness of any poison. “I need to see him.”

“Wait, Lancelot. Don’t-”

“LET ME SEE MY LOVER! LET ME THROUGH!”

Gwaine was on the floor; caked in mud and grime and blood and sweat, with tangled hair and a smug grin on his lips to hide the pin he was in. Blood trickled from his nose, his lips, his side, and Lancelot had been too slow to stop it.

“Gwaine. Gwaine, Gwaine, Gwaine, Gwaine, please…”

Gwaine’s hand shook as it lifted to land on Lancelot’s cheek. His thumb caressed his lips, leaving a bloody mark on them, only watered down by the tears rolling down Lancelot’s cheeks. Blood and salt water dribbled down his chin and his sobs echoed in the now silent battlefield.

“Gwaine… I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. And I’ll love you until my flesh decays and my soul descends. I love you, don’t go. Please, don’t leave me here. Don’t leave me alone…”

[unravellingsilencehq]

“Oh, Merlin, tell me, does THE CHALLENGER get what he deserves?” He is in THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX & OPEN to finding out. 

— he walks through the world as ;

name → arthur weasley pronouns → he/him identification → cis male year of birth → september 1955 - september 1956 face claim → george mackay blood status → pure-blood sexual orientation → up to applicant occupation → researcher for the department of magical law enforcement at the ministry of magic future information → father of fred, george, ronald, and ginvera weasley

— he is best described as ;

The UNIQUE amongst the ordinary, built up with an abundance of LOVE and IMAGINATION. He is the FRIENDLY face you see actively listening, the CURIOSITY when met with the unknown, the voice of STRENGTH and SUPPORT when times seem dark. He is the FIGHTER for all things good. Under the CAREFUL PROTECTION of those he loves, he can see the LIGHT that peaks through the end of a long storm.

— his story starts with ;

Being a family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, it would be expected that Arthur Weasley was born into the usual lap of luxury so many others were but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even with Cedrella Weasley being from the prominent Black family, her marriage to Septimus brought nothing except her estrangement from the Noble and Ancient House of Black. Instead Arthur’s childhood was spent in a large country cottage located in Ottery St. Catchpole, passed down from generation to generation, fondly named The Burrow. A home that was as comfortable as it was quaint and Arthur wouldn’t have it any other way. He had many memories of dishes washing themselves, kettles singing songs when they were ready to be poured, running through various hallways with BILLIUS WEASLEY [brother] and ALFRED WEASLEY [brother]. Overall, Arthur and his brothers lived the sort of childhood Muggle children would read about in storybooks; surrounded by all sorts of magic but never given any expectations to how he was supposed to live. He could just enjoy the magic for what it was: magic.

The laughter and fun of the Burrow only grew when his cousins came around. With DAISY HOOKUM [cousin] so close in age, it was only natural that Arthur became close with her. Daisy understood him in many ways his other family members could not, she lived in her own fantasy world and Arthur was more than happy to go along with her on the adventure. Daisy’s adventures also tended to include her younger sibling IRIS HOOKUM [cousin], trailing along behind them as Arthur led them through the various fields surrounding his home. During one of these trips outside, the wizard had come to discover a mismatched cube of colors sitting amongst the dirt. Arthur had never known any other families in the area besides the few wizarding families just over the hill, so why such a contraption was just innocently sitting there was beyond him but he carried it with him everywhere. It juggled around in his pocket as he picked up his Hogwarts robes with Daisy, it was his comfort as he stood in line to be sorted at Hogwarts and it was only in the safety of Gryffindor’s common room that he even brought it into the light.

He had been rather surprised when a blonde haired witch sat down next to him and told him it was called a Rubik's Cube. LILIAS ROSMERTA [best friend] gathered it in her hands, fingers shifting the pieces quickly, and finally tossing it back to him with all the sides matching colors. She had been his first friend outside of his cousins and Arthur discovered quickly she was the person who would hold all the answers to his questions. Lilias was a loud and outgoing Muggle Born, having only heard of the wizarding world from her older sister until her Hogwarts letter arrived. It was through Lilias that Arthur became acquainted with KALEB JOHNSON [friend] and COINNEATH MCKINNON [friend]. They became a close knit group and watching Lilias and Kaleb be targeted for their blood, sparked Arthur’s interest in activism. Something that came in between him and his brothers quickly. He found himself getting in trouble for raising his wand towards those who chose to bully students that were believed lesser than them. While his brothers were making plans to join a respectable career path, Arthur was busy arguing with LUCIUS MALFOY [adversary] in the school hallways. 

There was an obvious strain in the family as his brothers wrote to him to watch his tongue and hold back on the detentions. Though the strain lessened when Arthur began getting close to MIRAY WEASLEY [wife], back then Molly Polat, another member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. It was Molly’s love for her friends and family that drew Arthur in; she wore her heart on her sleeve and often found herself putting others' needs above her own. By the time graduation from Hogwarts came around, Arthur and Molly were in a serious relationship and he had accepted Billius’ help in acquiring a job as a researcher at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. There wasn’t much in the job that was exciting to him, that was until he discovered the overpiling of Muggle Artifacts in the Auror’s Office. Most of the artifacts had been tampered with by dark wizards and handed over to Muggles with the intent of harming them. It was a string of objects leading to Muggle fatalities all around London that brought KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT [friend/colleague] into his life along with the Order of the Phoenix. 

Arthur had been working with Kingsley to reverse the curses on the objects when the man had approached the topic of the Order. Having heard of Arthur’s activism in school and seeing his spell casting abilities firsthand, Kingsley had thought Arthur would be a perfect member to the team. It came as a shock to him at first, but Arthur quickly agreed to join, anything to help combat the darkness that was slowly taking hold of the world. Shortly after joining up with the Order, Molly had come to him and announced she was pregnant. With Arthur’s eyes opened to what the world was going through and how that would affect their future family’s future, he brought up the idea of an elopement. Despite being surprised, Molly had accepted and they had been married before 1981 was over, welcoming their first child William ‘Bill’ shortly after. But their happiness only lasted so long, Molly’s parents were quick to disown her for marrying a blood traitor. Arthur stood beside her as any good husband should and did what he could to help her through the difficult time. Things did not get better in 1982, despite them discovering they would welcome their second child, Charlie, instead it seemed the chaos was just starting.

The night of the Summer Solstice ball seemed to haunt Arthur, watching Lilias faint in the middle of the party before being transported off to St. Mungo had left an unsettling feeling in his stomach. The feeling only intensified as ALASTOR MOODY [mentor] ordered him and ALICE YEN [friend/colleague] to return to the Fountain of Fair Fortune to protect the prophecy the Order had obtained. Once they stepped foot in the bar, it became known they were vastly outnumbered and unfortunately found themselves in St. Mungo’s as well, the prophecy long gone. While Arthur was happy to have made it out alive to be home with Molly, Bill, and Charlie, he was fearful as Alastor relayed the events that took place at the ball after he had left. Having welcomed their third child, Percy, in the beginning of 1984, Arthur had high hopes that the world would be stepping up to fight against the Dark Lord but it seemed people had gone into hiding for their own safety. He’s spent the last two years alternating his time at home with Molly and the boys and working with the Order to figure out why the Death Eaters have seemingly gone silent. Obviously they’re planning for something big and Arthur is ready to be on the front lines to fight for a better world for his family.

— he is a LEVEL 6 WIZARD & readied for war ;

[bbcmerlinvault]

[Article] “Bradley James talks Buffy, Merlin, and much, much more”

by Julia Hass for cliqueclack.com, first published  16:14 EST Aug 27 2010 

[Original article]

A copy/paste of the article followed by screencaps (I removed a few links from the copy/paste because they went to YouTube videos which have since been removed):

Season three of 'Merlin' begins airing in the UK on September 11, so what better time to have a chat with one of its stars, Bradley James?

Well, Merlin fans, season 3 will be airing soon in the UK, and to celebrate I naturally thought, why don’t I call up my good buddy Bradley James (who plays Prince Arthur, for those of you not cool enough to be in the know)? Because, as I’m sure you’re all aware, I have him on speed dial. We’re tight.

Hah, hah.

No, in reality, it took me quite a few months, but I finally got a chance to catch up with Bradley James (he managed to second-hand charm my mother, who could hear him because he was on speaker phone) and pick his thoughts on Buffy (he’s a huge fan), soccer — sorry, football — Prince Arthur, and traveling with his co-star Colin Morgan.

Hello? Hello, is this Julia?

Yeah, sorry, I think we have a bit of a bad connection, can you hear me? I think we have a bit of a comedic time delay, which should provide us with some awkward silences, which we can talk about later.

We can. Next time you’re in Boston you can come over for drinks and we can discuss it. Okay, and then maybe we can pretend we have the same delay and play a little game where we have delays in between each line, before each one talks … but that’s just me.

No, I think it would be a good time! We could start a drinking game with that. Definitely, right.

So you’ve been actually kind of MIA lately, you weren’t at Comic-Con or anything. Have you been busy filming? Yeah, well, I mean, I was there in spirit. But I think the budget allowed for Mr. Merlin himself [co-star Colin Morgan] and Buffy‘s Anthony Stewart Head to get plane tickets. But they decided to send me in spirit by the form of an interview with Warwick Davis, so I was pleased to, you know, make some kind of appearance.

Well, if you could have gone to Comic-Con, what was the first thing you would have done? Is there anyone you would have wanted to go see? I … that’s an interesting question, but you’re clearly someone who knows more about Comic-Con. I have very little knowledge of it. I only know that it’s a huge event where lots of people have a great time and, you know, there’s just loads going on. So I wouldn’t have the first clue as to what I’d go and do. But hopefully the opportunity will arise for me to go at some stage. It sounds like it was a lot of fun.

It’s pretty much TV nerd Mecca, where you go and you meet everybody who’s ever been on a television show. Ever. Oh, okay … wow. That’s a lot of people.

It is! It’s huge. Wow! Okay then.

Well, you’ve mentioned you’re kind of a TV nerd yourself, especially when it comes to Buffy. How big of a Buffy nerd are we talking? Are we talking you know all the words to the musical episode? I know a couple … I have, in fact, sung some of the songs to Anthony as the course of filming happens.

So is that your next music video that’s going to happen [after You’re the Voice]? It’ll be a “Once More With Feeling” music video? I don’t know! Here’s my deal with Buffy, right. I’ve got … I mean, I’ve seen all the episodes, I’ve got them all on VHS. Not DVD.

So, old school. Yeah, and “Once More With Feeling,” I think it’s one of those episodes that, were I to go back, that’s one of the first ones to go back to watch, because it was very unique. And having Anthony around on set, there’s moments where, um, I sing him a few lyrics.

Which I’m sure he appreciates. Oh, I’m sure he does. I try to do it sparingly so I’m not just barraging him with, you know, Buffy moments that he’d, you know, perhaps like to move on from.

Well, have you ever considered that Camelot is, perhaps, on the Hellmouth? Considering how many monsters tend to come there? Yeah! It seems to be since Merlin’s turned up, that seems to be the case. I think before that, you’d probably have to ask the question of how Arthur managed to stay alive, due to the fact that hes been certainly healthy, nothing wrong with him, and then Merlin turns up and all of a sudden…

…it’s all Merlin’s fault. Yeah, absolutely everything. So yeah, being on the Hellmouth, I don’t think it’s that far-fetched a reality for Camelot. They might put that in the story somewhere.

But Arthur could definitely take on vampires, right? Ohhhh, that’s a good question. Vampires … To be honest with you, vampires are probably being done to death at the moment.

They really, really are! I mean, we’ve got,you know, the obvious, Twilight…

…oh, God. That’s doing the rounds at the moment, I think there’s various TV shows. But yeah, right, vampires! Let’s get on that bandwagon.

Yeah, Colin [Morgan] has mentioned he’s into True Blood, which is, like, the big vampire show over here. Yeah, he got into that quite a bit, I think. He’s sort of been talking about it on set. I’ve kind of faded out a little bit. I mean, when you do this [schedule] you have to be quite specific with your television watching, if you get any time to watch it at all, and I didn’t really keep up with that one, I’m sorry to say.

Did you get to keep up with the World Cup, though? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I managed to, you know, install my flat with everything required, you know, getting a big TV to watch it on, the producers very kindly arranged so that the crew got to have a TV on set for the England games … it’s a very important part of my life, the World Cup every four years it’s like my, like my religion suddenly arrives, and I’m in my element, basically. So it was terrific, being able to see, you know, the England games, despite the fact that we were rubbish.

Yeah, my condolences on that. I was for Team Spain from the beginning, so I can’t quite say the same. Ah, I see, I see. Well basically, all you need to know is that we didn’t deserve to do any better than we did. We deserved to be taught a lesson. So just, hopefully well learn from it, and we’ll just change everything.

And they’ll call you up next time. Oh, I’d love if they called me. But I think, uh, 50 million other Englishmen are probably throwing their caps in that ring as well. So, you know, we’ll see how things change. Hopefully they will.

Well, so you are on this show Merlin, which is going to be premiering in England again soon. Yes!

And I have to ask about Arthur — first of all, you’ve mentioned before you think he’s pretty misunderstood. Oh, yeah. [Laughs]

What is it exactly you think people don’t understand about him? Besides that he’s secretly a good guy? Well I … the thing with Arthur is that his upbringing has kind of stunted his emotional intelligence, shall we say. He’s really a bit pathetic.

So he didn’t get hugged enough as a child? Oh, he didn’t get hugged at all.

Aw, poor kid. Yeah, Uther is not a hugging man. He is, at best, a sturdy pat on the back, but no he’s certainly not into hugging. So I’d say that basically, as far as Arthur’s concerned, he, you know, puts on a front that he thinks he has to put on a show and has to perform in a certain way, and, you know, really deep down he’s the guy who sort of guy you’d look to have on your side in times of crisis. So, you know, he’s a good guy, down deep. He makes the right decisions eventually.

Well, do you think he even had friends before Merlin? Um, I think his friends all consisted of his fellow knights, they all probably were involved in a lot of jocular behavior. And in the case of his position, they sort of had to look up to him, had to respect him. So you could argue his friends were people who were only friends with him because of who he was and what he was.

Well that’s I think what so many people find interesting about Merlin and Arthur is that they’re actually equals, because of Merlin’s power. Yeah, exactly! There’s that dynamic of, you know, Arthur not knowing about Merlin’s power, but I think you should sort of give him credit for his feelings kind of changing for Merlin despite not knowing that Merlin’s a pretty powerful guy. He’s, you know, seeing him [Merlin] for who he really is, or I think he’s trying. And then when he finds out about Merlin’s magic he’ll hopefully kind of say hey, well, Merlin’s my friend and that’s fine.

Right, but how is going to trust Merlin when he’s kept that secret for so long? I think that’s something a lot of fans wonder. Yeah, I’ve got no idea how or when that’s going to come about, but I’d like that to be delivered in an intelligent way, and I’d like… I think there’s some interesting ways it could be dealt with. So, you know, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things work out with them.

You and Colin have just … fantastic chemistry. So how much do you guys rehearse before you go and actually do the scene in front of the camera? Actually … not a great deal. Myself and Colin are kind of in every day and we’re — I mean Colin’s certainly in every scene and, you know, I’m not far behind him. So we’re having to sort of go through the scenes very quickly without time to prepare three scenes ahead, or whatever. So we kind of just try to snatch moments in the car on the way home, or before the cameras the cameras start rolling we’ll try to go through it a couple of times.

When you’re not making video diaries, that is. [Laughs] When we’re not making video diaries, yes, we are actually doing some work. And it’s been fun! Colin and I sort of… we know each other very well now, and what each other’s rhythms are and each other’s timing, so when you sort of take that dilemma away of having to figure that out, you can kind of, you know, experiment with other things. And I really enjoy working with him. We have a lot of fun.

Well, you guys did go on a road trip, which, to my disappointment, was not to America. No, to my disappointment, it wasn’t to America either.

But, okay, you guys were late every single time. What was happening there? [Laughs]

It’s like every scene you show up and go “oh, we’re late, sorry.” Well, it was a bit of a bizarre road trip, we just found ourselves driving around… I mean, it was a trip funded by the BBC Wales, so there was a bit of propaganda around it. I mean, all the Arthurian points of interest aren’t in Wales.

Right, they’re in Cornwall, or somewhere near there. Yeah, exactly, they’re kind of in the southwest parts of England. But as I say, it was a bit of Welsh propaganda, so we found ourselves only being able to look at places in Wales. Which made it a little bit frustrating, because we didn’t actually find anything. But I sort of knew we wouldn’t find anything.

You did find that guy who did the ley lines with you! He was my favorite character, I think. Oh, yes.

He was … fantastic. We could have made an entire show based just on what he was doing, I think.

Colin looked terrified the entire time. Oh, God, I’m glad that came across. I’ve never seen him act so worried in my entire life.

I’ve never even seen him act that worried in front of fans. He’s normally … I thought I’d seen the most nervous he could get when he was in front of fans, and that was nothing compared to how scared he seemed in front of the ley line guy. Well the crazy thing about the ley line guy was, I think it might have been late October, maybe early November, I can’t quite remember, but it wasn’t warm. You can see we’re both all bundled up in jackets and whatnot. And that guy, he turns up in shorts, and they’re very short shorts. Like maybe footballers — that’s soccer players — in those shorts. And he just turned up out of the woods in a pair of shorts and carrying some handles. So we pretty much knew from the off this was going to be a bit of a freaky experience. But it was … you know, it was a pleasurable one. Not one I imagine I’ll experience again any time soon.

Well, Colin mentioned he was very upset he didn’t get to go see the Arthurian library. Do you know if he’s ever made it back there? He’s not been back there, I think largely due to the ridiculous filming schedule over the course of when we’re filming, so when we’re off it’s nice to, you know, take a bit of a break. But I myself would quite like to get myself down to Tintagel at some point, that’s in Cornwall, which is the epicenter of Arthurian legend. Or Glastonbury. I’d like to get myself out there. Probably around the time they have the Glastonbury music festival.

So if you and Colin could go on another road trip, is that where you guys would go? Yeah, well if it was based on Arthurian legend I’d go there, because we might actually find something about Arthurian legend. That would probably be helpful, of course.

I’m a fan of the idea of just the Bradley and Colin show, where you just go places and they film you two, because it’s pretty entertaining, just on it’s own. That American road trip, it’s got to happen sometime.

I’ve been rooting for it for a long time. I think that’s your next opportunity after Merlin, is you and Colin. I think you have your careers made as just traveling places as a comedy duo and just recording what happens. Right. [Laughs] After Merlin, I think myself and Colin have earned a well-deserved break from each other. I’m sure Colin, at least, would enjoy a five minute break from me.

Aw, I don’t think so! He’d like some peace and quiet, I think. As opposed to, say, having me around all day. But who knows! It could be something for us to do in later life, when we’re old pensioners.

Well, I would look forward to it, and so would a lot of fans. Well, if there’s anything in the works along those lines, I’ll let you know.

And if you ever come to Boston, myself and the people who work at our blog would be more than happy to host you. Wow, thank you so much!

So thank you so much for doing this interview with me, in spite of the technical difficulties, and good luck with season 3 and whatever comes after that. No, thank you, Julia, and here’s hoping … I’ve got the feeling it will go down well. Cheers!

[winter-leftovers]

Haunted by Taylor Swift

(Morgana LaFey, Arthur Pendragon)

A/n: silly little drabble that I wrote the other night 💖

Word count: 533

You and I walk a fragile line

I have known it all this time

But I never thought I'd live to see it break

Morgana would sit at the end of the long table and watch his brother eat. She would observe him tear the meat with his sharp teeth and ask herself if, one day, she would be the meat on his plate, if one day, her brother would hang her on the wall amongst the other beast he had slaughtered.

“Is there something wrong, sister?” Arthur cleaned his mouth with his cloth.

Every movement was carefully chosen to not upset him.

“Of course not, brother” she smiled.

It's getting dark and it's all too quiet

And I can't trust anything now

And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake

Morgana rushed to her room. She wanted to be there before the tears that were burning her eyes would fall. Merlin had rejected her request for help once more. She needed his help to remind her brother that magical creatures weren’t dangerous but the wizard ignored her once again. She wondered when the old man had forgotten what he was. What it meant to be a wizard in a place like Camelot.

In the darkness of her chambers, Morgana cried. Cried like never before. Whatever was the outcome of this war she would lose.

Oh, I'm holding my breath

Won't lose you again

Something's made your eyes go cold

“Brother, please” she begged.

“I think you had forgotten your place, sister” he spitted the word like it was acid in his mouth “You better don’t return with a clean sword”

Morgana looked at her brother horrified. Where had the boy that would protect her from evil with his wooden sword had gone? Who was this angry man that had taken his place?

Come on, come on, don't leave me like this

I thought I had you figured out

Something's gone terribly wrong

You're all I wanted

Come on, come on, don't leave me like this

I thought I had you figured out

Can't breathe whenever you're gone

Can't turn back now, I'm haunted

Morgana felt the cold metal slice her hand. She looked down hoping that it was all her imagination, that their game was taken a little too far and soon they would be called for supper but she was wrong.

Suddenly, the world slowed down. A scream erupted from her chest. Her arm wouldn’t stop bleeding, her hand was no longer there.

She looked at her brother with the same disdain he had seen her all those years as she took a step back.

Stood there and watched you walk away

From everything we had

But I still mean every word I said to you

“No” he screamed, tears falling from his eyes.

His sister fell from the cliff, her head hitting the ground making a noise Arthur would never forget.

He stood there, watching her sister's lifeless body being carried away by the tide “No” he whispered as the sea swallowed the last person he loved.

He cursed God, he cursed himself. Magic had taken everything from him and he would put an end to this.