#especially to merlin

[dollopole]

“But we need to find you some kind of disguise, you’re too conspicuous in those clothes.”

“Whatever you say, I’m entirely in your hands.”

Okay.

This is their reaction after, btw.

[noodles-and-tea]

No because listen-

[seokjinite]

MORGANA

Merlin 1x03 | The Mark of Nimueh

[ethan-acfan]

I love the idea of merlin being like a crow and constantly looking for shiny things, and eventually, he starts giving some of his stuff to Arthur, and Arthur is just so fucking confused on why his servant keep handing him shiny rocks with the biggest stupidest grin.

[akelafang]

Arthur: Finally some peace and quiet Leon: ...In fact, it's too quiet Arthur: Where's Merlin?! Leon: Where's Gwaine?!

[cortex-rampage]

I find the way that BBC Merlin set up Merlin's powers in the first episode to be quite funny. I mean, we see this sort of lanky guy and it is established that he is Merlin and (according to our own common knowledge) therefore he is the most powerful warlock ever. Okay, cool. One might assume that he has come to Gaius to develop his powers, that maybe he's only in the beginning of his magical journey. But instead the exposition shows Merlin, in the pilot episode of this 5 series show, stop time and employ levitation to save someone's life with magic, and then it is announced that prince Arthur is essentially his soulmate, and their joint power will create the most glorious age Camelot has ever seen. Quite an exciting set-up. And then for the rest of the entire show this man who we know possesses TIME-ALTERING POWERS mostly uses them on-screen to do common chores and annoy and prank THAT SAME Arthur. Like that one post said, "All of it's destiny and all of it's his fault." :p

[justaz]

when merlin asks arthur for things, the king is usually inclined to give him what he wants but it is not always guaranteed such as when his emotions cloud his judgement. but merlin’s surefire way of getting arthur to give in? he steps into his space, lays a gentle hand on his arm, and says “arthur, please” and he folds like a house of cards.

[saladscream]

Merlin’s chest is a novelty.

And an unexpected one.

Because this is the first time Arthur has seen it.

His manservant doesn’t really make it a habit to traipse around the citadel bare-chested, and in all the years they’ve known each other Arthur has never found a good enough reason to make the man shed his shirt. Therefore, since there is no guessing when such a rare occurrence might happen again, Arthur’s eyes are presently drinking in the expanse of pale skin and its enticing, wings-shaped dusting of dark hair, like his crown depends on it.

It’s a lot to take in at such short notice, but Arthur’s keen gaze is certainly doing its utmost to commit to memory the taut planes of the deceptively firm pectoral muscles, the dusky softness of the shy nipples and the tender ridges of the nervous abs. There’s also a tantalising trail of short black hair leading Arthur’s heretofore relatively honourable focus from Merlin’s navel to a wondrous place down below, where the confines of Merlin’s trousers hide what no self-respecting prince has any self-admitted desire to become acquainted with.

Oh and there must be a bit of a cold draft where Merlin’s standing because the pecs are heaving, the abs are tensing, and the nipples are tightening into sinfully hard, pointy nubs before Arthur’s very eyes. They look stiff and sullen, and the flat of Arthur’s tongue tingles with an unholy longing that shall remain scrupulously denied.

So, indeed, it is a lot to take in.

Especially as there’s a confounding amount of arcane squiggles daubed in ochre and woad all over Merlin’s chest, utterly spoiling the view as far as Arthur’s concerned.

His outraged bellow of ‘What the HELL have you two been doing?!’ is aimed at both Lancelot and Merlin, who exchange perfectly synchronised guilty glances. ‘The druids insisted on a ritual,’ is Lancelot’s only explanation – though he goes on to hurriedly add ‘just for cleansing,’ exactly as Merlin mumbles about a ‘fertility blessing.’

And yes, well, Arthur could’ve guessed fertility was involved for there’s a conspicuous blue phallus painted in stark and rather disturbing detail, right in the middle of Merlin’s already distracting chest.

Arthur lets out a measured exhale and pinches the bridge of his nose.

In his youth, a savvy maitre d’arme taught him that breathing was the key to staying on an even keel during combat, and although the good man never envisaged that his royal charge would be faced with such an ordeal, the prince is still grateful for the teachings that allow him to keep a dignified and composed front – because it is undeniable that Merlin’s perky nipples are formidable opponents.

In truth, Arthur doesn’t know what is upsetting him most right now: the fact that he cannot lay into said pebbled nubs of sensitive flesh the way they so richly deserve, or the fact that Lancelot got to see them first. Feeling unduly thwarted, he dismisses the two men with an exasperated wave of his fingers and reminds Merlin to put a damn tunic on.

Arthur surrenders to a long-suffering sigh once they’ve left.

He is familiar with woad blue. It is a nuisance to get off your skin.

That dick is going to stay on Merlin’s chest – and on Arthur’s mind – for days.

If not weeks.

[We're nearing the end of this mini-series. Only one more instalment to go, I think. Two if Arthur is feeling chatty and/or sentimental. Many thanks for the reblogs, comments and likes. They're greatly appreciated! ❤️]

Tagged: @miyriu @neptunesyellowsands @dollopole @shuukichan @merlininthedogpark @kintsugikid-moonysversion @toomanyfanficsbruh @blueliketheclues @solnishkomoon @evedaser @storigami @bertytravelsfar @graceless-angel @knightswaypoint

1 - Merlin's eyes

2 - Merlin's lips

3 - Merlin's hands

4 - Merlin's throat

5 - Merlin's hair

6 - Merlin's ears

7 - Merlin's legs

8 - Merlin's forearms

9 - Merlin's chest

10 - Merlin's penis

11 - Merlin's arse

[ireallyneedaintrestinglife]

Everytime I see those scenes of Merlin calling Arthur fat and intending it as an insult I just get so upset. I know the show doesn't go super in depth into Merlins background as a peasant but like cmon he knows nothing of court rules and etiquette (episode 2 briefly mentions how he has to learn duelling etiquette which he still completely fucks up but still).

I think the show could've had a lot of fun exploring misunderstandings that arise as a result of their social status and if you're asking what plot relevance that has it can be Arthur learning to overcome years of Uthers horrible brainwashing.

Imagine if you will Merlin goes to compliment Arthur because he's feeling really down because Uther had told him to get close to a visiting princess and it DID NOT go well and Arthur was basically insulted appearance wise. So Merlin, being Merlin, goes to cheer him up by pointing out all the ways in which he looks good which results in him calling Arthur fat.

Arthur is understandably insulted, he's a prince and more than that a knight, he shouldn't be big by societies standards. So he's just standing there gaping at Merlin while Merlin has this big dumb content smile on his face cause he thinks he's just complimented Arthur (remember as a Peasant having meat on your bones was seen as attractive cause it meant you could actually eat).

[merlinmylove]

I made this i hope you all love it

Inspired by this wonderful scene

[dollopole]

I was just thinking about the fact that in so many Merlin fics, Merlin keeps being an healer/doctor/medic, which makes sense, since that’s how he started his life, by helping people however he could, but now consider this:

Merlin, who has lived so long and more than probably witnessed the deaths of thousands, even of those he loved, cherished and respected. So what if a millennia of life completely flipped his view on what it means to heal and study medicine. What if after all Merlin saw, everything that happened had the opposite effect on him, which means that he stopped trying and left the job to someone else.

Merlin still helps, surely, in the end, it’s in his nature as human, but we can already see how he changed, even only after ten years of being in Camelot and witnessing death after death.

What if he despaired because disease spread and not even his magic could help it, what if his magic decided that humans had to live with their own course of actions and so his magic simply refused to help them, which got Merlin just angry at the prospect of doing this for so many years.

But now take into consideration when Arthur returns:

I believe Arthur would be the healer/doctor/medic this time around.

He would be eager to help everyone he can, because that’s also in his nature, but since he can’t do it anymore in the way he once did, he has to find another path for him, a path that would make him heal too, heal from all the times he killed, instead of helping someone in danger.

Arthur lived a life of death even before Merlin could start to think about killing someone.

Arthur had his hands smeared with blood since he was a child. Being Uther’s son was automatically, in both magical people and peasants’ perspective, who lived under Uther’s tyranny, a sin and a guilt, even before Arthur could pick up a sword.

He did not just kill sorcerers, but he was raised with a mind of a killer of justice. To defend his kingdom, his father, his counsellors, his court and his people no matter what he felt regarding it, was and had always been his main duty.

He was trapped in a murderous cycle, literally, where he couldn’t do anything but raise himself to believe that the only way to help people was to kill them.

On one side, we have a man who spent his life helping people and who got tired of death, and on the other side, we got another man who spent it killing people and still got tired of death.

But to Arthur and Merlin it happened in different ways.

Where Merlin left the responsibility to someone else, Arthur decided to take that responsibility himself, in the hope that maybe, one day, he could bring back to life all those he had condemned for the simple act of living as themselves.

[atdawn]

MERLIN | 4.09 Lancelot du Lac

[emrys-rusts]

I keep seeing medival arthurian literature pop up on my dash, and I did a little digging because I'm a huge literature, arts and language nerd

I dont know you, and you dont know me, but I really love you guys, wherever you may be

Good for you good for you

I admire the dedication

[sword-wielding-sapphic]

[adhd-merlin]

the thing that gets me when watching random merlin bts videos is just how much work went into producing this silly show... I'll make fun of the little blue sidhe and then they'll interview someone from the costume department going "yes the makeup took us 8 hours to put together :)" or one of the CGI guys will talk about how they spent months trying to figure out how to animate kilgharrah and I'll feel bad for ever laughing at the bad special effects. the beautiful sets, the gorgeous handsewn gowns, the music. so much love was poured into this project it makes me a bit emotional if I think about it too much

[schrodingerseurydice]

the reason merlin and arthur don't kiss in the series finale is because that would be true love's kiss and arthur would be healed and they wouldn't get their tragic ending or arthur's reincarnation as once and future king. in this essay i will -