#arthur pendragon will return

[tiredcowboyy]

sometimes I wake up In a cold sweat thinking about the idea that kilgharrah was just using merlin to get the outcome he wanted which was to end the pendragon bloodline. That he knew how it would end and that without merlin it wouldnt all occur, so he convinces him that all his decisions will help save arthur knowing damn well where it leads them.

[myoonmii]

Started this over a month ago and Probably never going to finish or render this but haha ha heyyy 💖

[irishyuri]

they were 100% joined at the hip post-finale

[gyrhs]

If Merlin was honest, he didn’t planned to be arrested by the Met the day Arthur finally returned, but here he was...

[pyjamacryptid]

So. I drew that “Arthur’s fished out of the lake” au of mine

edit: yes I know that boats like that likely wouldn’t fish on a lake, and that where avalon should be isn’t really a lake anymore - I promise I know this 😂 - the imagery of Arthur being fished out of a lake in a net was just too hilariously powerful 😂

[paticmak]

part one

part two here

[weaponizedducks]

au where arthur returns. rises out of the lake. and people just think he's jesus. he's all over the news as the second coming of christ. his ego's at an all time high. he's so fucking confused. he goes on the graham norton show and graham norton introduces him as jesus.

merlin has no idea about any of this until he sees arthur on the news and goes batshit

[gaiussleechtank]

Arthur’s love language is gift giving, always has been. He realises this when he returns to a modern Albion full of all these new terms and words and definitions. Back before he died, he didn’t have the time to properly make things for his loved ones as he was the King and he was incredibly serious about his duties.

Yet when he returns to a modern world, he finds himself crown-less and with a lot of spare time. Cue discovering YouTube and google, how-to-tutorials, craft books and step by step guides.

Back in Camelot, Merlin was a nightmare to get things for, nothing flashy or expensive or Arthur would have his ear nagged off about wasting money. But now? Paper and paint seem to be limitless to Arthur and he’s just learnt what origami is.

Merlin comes across him one morning to find the returned king fast asleep and surrounded by hundreds of painted paper dragons. It’s the best gift the immortal has ever received.

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Headcanon for modern Merlin that the first time Arthur goes out, Merlin gives him a feather boa, kids costume wings, tells him it’s modern fashion and basically makes him look like an idiot as revenge for the “servants uniform” hat in episode 4.

They laugh about it, of course, but it begins a prank war type game where they both remind each other of stupid shit they did in Camelot.

Arthur buys Merlin a wooden carved worm and left it in his bed to remind Merlin on the time he woke Arthur up and the best (worst) excuse he could come up with was looking for woodworm.

Merlin makes chicken and labels the leftovers “destiny and chicken”

Arthur retaliates by leaving a miniature stocks model in their living room.

Merlin buys Arthur donkey ears on a headband.

Arthur buys Merlin a book of poetry.

Merlin buys Arthur a copy of the ghost busters movie.

You get the idea.

Arthur leaves a romance book out about a couple who don’t realise they’re engaged out, (sigil conversations happen, and so does Merthur)

[justaz]

au where arthurs death only lasted like 20 mins bc merlin spent time setting up his little boat to send him out into the lake but before he could part with him, he gently kissed arthurs forehead and it was actually true loves kiss and they lived happily ever after

[heartxout]

how am i supposed to NOT ship merthur when merlin walks around saying shit like

“his life is worth one hundred of mine”

shut uP BOY SHUT UPPPP god i can’t do this anymore

[tiredcowboyy]

my favourite merlin hc of mine is that arthur will only return when merlin gives up on the idea of him doing so. That when merlin gives up on him coming back, his magic starts to fade with his hope and that the danger albion faces that requires the king to return isnt world wars or global pandemics, its when the world loses its magic.

Basically merlin is albions greatest need

Edit: if arthur did come back bc of this, him and merlin would reunite and then I imagine Merlin would be so stressed and on edge for months he would just constantly be in a state of ???? Looking at the world confused on what catastrophe was finally so bad that arthur returned (not knowing it was him who was the catastrophe) he would probably only realise later when Arthur cracked a joke about how bad merlin looked when arthur first got there.

[achillesuwu]

Back on my merlin doesn't spend 1500 years being a sad wet cat and has a life agenda but I think it would be very interesting if Merlin never shies away from talking about Arthur. He grieves him in some way yes but as he lives his life he talks about him to his (immortal or not) friends/lovers/spouses/children to the point where (and it's where it becomes funny) it becomes litteraly common knowledge that Emrys is in love with the once and future king and NOBODY even think about the fact that Arthur may not know

Imagine Arthur's face if someone say to Merlin "Don't worry, I can manage to babysit the Love of your life for 5 minutes!!" and Merlin doesn't blink/blush, he just nod and smiles "Good luck, see you later!"

Arthur being utterly confuse because it should be a big deal, right? Why Merlin act like nothing happen?? What the hell????

And if the Knights came back too, just IMAGINE their face when someone just casually break the 10 years "Don't ask, Don't tell" Merthur version

[kateis-cakeis]

Do you ever think about how the scene where Arthur catches Merlin with a dress in S2Ep9, and the scenes where Arthur is like "girl??????" in S5Ep8

that it's like just a lil bit suggested that Arthur thinks Merlin is both into men and crossdresses (which does that suggest some kind of queer culture in Camelot where gay men are known to do drag?? who knows) and not only thinks that, but accepts it too.

Like Arthur who is presented with the fact that Merlin might wear dresses in his spare times just shrugs and says what a man does in his spare time is up to him, and that the colour suits him.

He literally could have made any joke about Merlin being a girl like he often does when he teases Merlin about being a coward (which we know is just teasing) but instead he just accepts it, and still calls Merlin a man.

Meanwhile in The Hollow Queen, well, I'll let the lines speak for themselves:

GUINEVERE: He’s not in danger. He’s seeing a girl.

ARTHUR: Merlin?

GUINEVERE: Gaius, I’m sorry, but there is no reason to worry.

ARTHUR: Except for the poor girl.

---

ARTHUR: Oh, so you can go and visit that girl again.

MERLIN: What?

ARTHUR: Girl.

MERLIN: Don't have one.

ARTHUR: That's not what Guinevere tells me. So, why don't you tell us all about her?

MERLIN: Right.

ARTHUR: And why you're walking with a limp.

---

The first lines could be interpreted that Arthur doesn't think Merlin is good with women, but paired with the lines from the 2nd scene where Arthur asks him about it.... it definitely feels like Arthur is saying to worry for the girl because he thinks Merlin isn't attracted to women.

I mean the sheer disbelief alone when he says "Merlin?" like it's so out of realm of possibility. (I mean it could also be suggested that Arthur doesn't think anyone would be attracted to Merlin, but with the 2nd scene it definitely doesn't seem so.)

Especially the way he says "girl" with sarcasm dropping from his tone, like literally "girrrl" is how he says it. Like he's basically calling out Merlin, or saying that he knows that the girl Gwen told him about is actually a man.

Which I believe is why the "and why you're walking with a limp" has Arthur so, well,

like this. I think he truly believes that Merlin is lying sjhdfghsdfg Like he's thinking in that little brain of his that Merlin got pegged by a man and just isn't admitting to it.

And he's definitely accusing Merlin of sneaking away to have sex, you know, during an important time and all.

Basically, with these like 3 scenes in the show, I'd say it really comes off as Arthur accepting Merlin as gay and just waiting for the day where Merlin tells him the truth.

And that's really funny to me.

[ikol-art]

Everyone always assumes Arthur is gonna come back in 'our' time in fics, but when is someone gonna write an 'Arthur returns because Aliens have invaded Earth' futuristic one

[pyjamacryptid]

I want a silly au where Arthur’s return is just him being fished out of the lake by a fishing net, which is a surprise to both him AND the poor fisherman, who immediately lets go of the rope and dumps him back in the water. After he’s recovered from the shock, Arthur’s hauled back up again, looking like a drowned rat with a fish flopping about on his head. Merlin only finds out from a breaking news headline titled DROWNED MEDIEVAL COSPLAYER FISHED OUT OF LAKE BY HERO FISHERMAN, STILL IN CHARACTER