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arathenerd · 1 year

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✨Fanfic soulmate AU idea for Merthur✨

Hi, hey, hello.

So. Here’s the thing: this idea has been literally living in my mind rent free and it has developed into a sort of monster idea at this rate. I NEED this thing out so maybe someone actually competent at writing can pick it up and make me very very happy. So. So. So. I’m gonna divide this post in three parts to make it more understandable and all that, starting with the world building.

World building 🌎

I know what you are thinking. “Oh, soulmate au, must be very straightforward and boring” NO MY FRIEND.

Usually, in a soulmate au, a superior divine power (be it a god, the universe, or whatever) chooses the characters partners without their intervention. In this world, the characters are the ones who choose their soulmate.

“What?” Yeah. Hear me out.

In this world magic not only exists, but it’s also widely accepted and integrated in society. That includes practices such as marriage, which can be accomplished in three different ways.

Your usual magicless ceremony, though in this world is not as popular as,

Emotional-bonding ceremony. Pretty self explanatory, I think, but nevertheless, is about bonding emotionally with your partner, which means people can feel what the other is feeling. Is believed that this bond allows for a deeper connection in the relationship. And then there’s the most rare one,

The soul-bond ceremony. Like I said, extremely rare. This is mostly because of a series of different reasons, but is also considered the most important marriage bond you could ever have, if you do, and is widely romanticized. Soul-bonded pairs, because of this, are deeply respected, to the point that separating them is considered a grave violation.

Some of the reasons why soul-bondings are extremely rare:

a. It doesn’t work for everyone. What I mean with this, is that just being in love with someone isn’t enough. The soul bond requires not only a deep mutual understanding, but a love that transcends the body. In a matter of speaking, your soul has to be in love with the other person's soul.

b. It’s not enough if you do happen to love that person that way, but the same kind of love it’s not returned. It needs to be mutual.

c. It cannot be forced. You can’t make an arranged marriage with a soul-bonding ceremony. If the people involved aren’t willing and don’t feel like that, the magic simply won’t take. And finally,

d. Not that many go for it? I mean, the prospect of a soul bond is daunting as it is but on top of that, this ceremony is not as simple as that. As the name itself tells you, this is a soul-bonding ceremony. You are literally uniting your souls. That’s not only permanent, my friend, it will also transcend your mortal life and bleed into the next. Do you have any idea how desperately and profoundly in love you have to be to go for it? Yeah, exactly.

As you probably noticed, yes, this is where the chosen soulmate thing comes into play 😏.

Reincarnation exists in this world, but mostly, people can never know if they are reincarnations or new souls… unless, of course, the had a soul-bond from a past life.

People really don’t get flashbacks or memories if they do happen to be reincarnations, soulmate or not. There’s no such thing as a soulmark but the universe does have its ways to push people that are supposed to be close together.

You know when you are about to go on a trip, add all these thing to your baggage, and feel like you have everything you need, except… no. Not quite so. There’s something missing. You turn around your room, even search the bathroom, but for the life of you, you can’t figure it out. The feeling it’s maddening, anxiety inducing, really. What is missing?

And then, you can’t wait anymore and need to leave, so you do. You get to your hotel, and, while unpacking, it hits you. Suddenly you know exactly what you left behind and, yes, it turns out to be something you very much need.

That feeling, that nagging at the back of your brain, it’s how it feels to be reborn soul-bonded. Not that people can recognize it easily. Besides that, there’s the hunches. Sudden strong feelings that say “yeah, if I do this, if I go down this path, I’ll get closer to finding this thing I need, even if I don’t know what it is yet”. It’s slow working, but people always get there. Eventually. It only takes one look for your soul to sing in recognition.

Also, just because they are soulmates doesn’t mean they immediately fall in love. They are still strangers to each other. It’s more like, meeting someone and having the perfect comfort that if you work for it, give it your all, you will find a love like no other at the other side.

Engagements are also done with magic, usually. The practice is as sort of more formal promise, because once a person is magically engaged to another, any magic done in a ceremony (marriage) that isn’t done with the person you are engaged with simply won’t take.

Not only that, but if you happen to already be married (either with an emotional bond or a soul bond) and try to get engaged, the magic won’t take either. This means that if you are a reincarnated soul with a soulmate, you might find something new about yourself at your engagement ceremony lol.

Unless you happen to do a magicless ceremony I guess, but like I said, it’s really not the preferred thing.

Arthur in this AU 👑

After laying down the basics, who’s Arthur in this AU, within my head?

He’s the crown prince of a kingdom (it can be Britain if you wish, or a modern Camelot, idk, it really doesn’t matter) and he’s about to go through his engagement ceremony. *gasps*

Is an arranged marriage, of course. If you write this, you can choose whoever you like to be the woman at the other side, but either way it’s not gonna last.

Arthur, of course, isn’t happy about it but knows this is his duty and all. Never mind the constant feeling that he’s doing something he really shouldn’t be doing, or the feeling of guilt he doesn’t understand.

The ceremony is a public affair. Nobility, high society and royalty are all there to witness the event as expected, including journalists to document the event. Then the ceremony begins, Gaius, the Court Sorcerer to King Uther, doing the spell casting. Except, it doesn’t take.

The guests, who had been silently expectant, suddenly start quietly murmuring. What’s happening?

Uther frowns, going to Gaius, wanting an explanation. Calmly, Gaius tells him that the engagement won’t be possible, since the magic bounced against Arthur. The murmuring gets louder. Is the prince already engaged? Married? Oh, my!

Uther turns to his son, red in the face, screaming “what have you done?!” But Arthur is just as confused as everyone else. He says as much.

Gaius intervenes, telling the king there’s no point in being mad at Arthur, since the soul bond was clearly done in a past life.

Now people are really going nuts with this. Soul bond? It’s rare of course, but do you have any idea how many centuries it has been since a noble, let alone a royal, was soul-bonded? Let alone the crown prince?

Arthur can feel his heart beat out of his chest.

This is pretty much the only clear scene I have in my head, so, yeah. I also played with the idea of having a sort of soul-tracking spell that lets you see who’s at the other side of the soul bond as if it was tv and make everyone look at Merlin and realize it’s him but I wouldn’t know how to make it work. If you can, I might kiss you.

Merlin in this AU 🧔🏻🪄

So, you probably noticed Gaius being Court Sorcerer to king Uther there, didn’t you. It will be relevant here.

Court Sorcerers and monarchs in this world work as a team. Usually, when a new king is crowned, a new court sorcerer will be named, and this sorcerer will be the most powerful one of the same generation as the will-be-king. Sometimes, they'll meet before the kingship, sometimes after. There aren’t really any hard rules about that.

The new Court Sorcerer prospect is not obliged to say yes, but it is considered a high honor. Not that Merlin in particular wanted to.

Merlin is not only the most powerful of his generation, but also the most powerful to be born in centuries. This is not surprising, since it doesn’t matter if he’s reincarnated or not, Merlin is always going to be the most powerful one. But I digress.

He was found by Gaius, when he was 17, barely getting out of school. He explained the process: he would go trough training, and when the time came, he’ll take his place.

Merlin really wanted to say no. He almost did, but something stopped him. A hunch, a feeling that, maybe, just maybe, saying yes would be worth it. The feeling was strong enough for him to doubt his original stance, and then, to yield.

And so, the man would spend years under Gaius’s tutelage on all things magic and royal customs and etiquette, these days being closer to his thirties (somewhere between 25 and 29 years old). And everything would be perfectly fine if he hadn’t had the most curious dream.

You see, I said that people usually don’t remember their past lives but Merlin is a bit different. He’s pretty sure this was a past life.

In the memory, he’s running through the woods. He runs, runs, runs, feeling the heartbreak, the pain, the tears running down his face.

Modern Merlin doesn’t know it, but his past self would dare to soul bond with prince Arthur of Camelot, even knowing he wasn’t his to have. They did it because they wanted something only theirs, for once. Something no one could take away. But, as was usual when it came to duty, prince Arthur would be forced to marry eventually. And that day was that day.

So Merlin runs. Eventually, he reaches a hidden stone cellar, abandoned a while ago. He goes in it, burying the precious item within. He buries it because he knows no one must ever find it. The gods only know what would happen if the nobles or, gods forbid, the king figured out what they’ve done. So he buries his dreams and hopes, protects them with magic so they are not eroded and damaged by the earth, enchants the cellar so it doesn’t fall apart on top of it, no matter how much time passes.

A sudden fear paralyzes him. What if he tried to recover it and didn’t find it? No. That wasn’t an option. He was being a fool, he knew. He would never get the item back. But just in case, he needed to make sure that he could.

And so, the Merlin of the past didn’t know it, but, the spell might have worked too well. The point was to brand the location in his brain, but he’s so desperate, so scared, he doesn’t realize he branded it in his soul.

Modern Merlin wonders at this memory, wonders at the sudden necessity to go look for the item. But the thing isn’t there anymore, is it? It probably never was. It was just a dream.

And yet, before he knows it, he’s already looking, something he can’t name driving him forward. He feels ridiculous, set for disappointment, but he can’t stop. He walks as if he knows where he’s going.

His heart stops when he sees the beat down entrance of the cellar. It goes up to his throat when he goes without stopping to the specific place the item was hidden. He chokes on it when he knows not only where it is, but how deep it was buried.

And then, it’s in his hand.

The ring is simple, but beautiful. A gold band with elegant Celtic runes. Merlin looks at it, fascinated. He can feel the magic embedded in it. Soul-bonding magic.

He gasps. It is believed that touching a soul-bonding item that’s not yours is bad luck, but he has the all encompassing feeling that this ring is his.

Now, within the library he seats with Will and tries to pretend there isn’t a necklace around his neck with a ring hanging from it, hidden under his clothes.

Finishing thoughts 💭

If you write this in a slow burn, longish fic, with angst but also mostly softness and drama from an external threat I would love you forever. Bonus points if you use third pov, specially with the media. I love when that’s included with characters that are supposed to be public. I mean, people gushing about the fairy tale with prince Arthur on twitter? Newspapers documenting what’s happening? Yes please. External pov is the best.

Super extra points if you write it without miscommunication being the center of the angst and the fic. Forget kissing you, I would soul bond with you.

Anyway that’s it. It’s pretty long, but hopefully someone feels as excited as I do about this AU and picks it up. If you do, don’t forget to leave the link in the comments ❤️.

#bbc merlin #merlin #Merthur #Merthur fic #fanfic idea #fic idea #Merthur fanfic #Arthur pendragon #merlin emrys #this idea has been HAUNTING ME I SWEAR #Is it obvious with how long this post is?#i just keep thinking about Arthur suddenly looking at Merlin and forgetting how to breath bc holy that man’s gorgeous #and the media going crazy bc the crown prince being soul bonded to a man? talk about unexpected #and then everyone and their mother shipping it so hard they are trending on Tumblr for a full month with gifs and everything #and Merlin seducing the hell out of Arthur and Arthur trying to pretend he isn’t helpless against it #uuughhhhh #king arthur #camelot

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merlinemrys · 1 year

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i think what the writers rly got right was showing us that arthur really WAS an ass bc to see the progression from him as an arrogant prince to a kind king is just sooooo delicious

#shows #bbc merlin #merlin s1 #merlin 1x01 #arthur #text #tais toi lys #lys lb: merlin #me seeing arthur just Bully people and wreck camelot in the first episode: oh i forget EVERY TIME how unbearable he is #*

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adhd-merlin · 11 months

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unpopular opinion: arthur (as much as i like him as a character) was useless in terms of prophecy and liberation of the magic people. not just bc he never ended up lifting the magic ban but bc literally anyone sitting on the throne could have done that. i see no reason why it had to be arthur specifically. but the show liked to pretend like he was the only way to achieve a positive future bc the opprressed community cant simply help themselves that would be silly ig? no no they need to patiently wait that maybe one day their oppressor (whos literally continuing his fathers genocide even if less zealously) has a change of heart and they wont be hunted down like animals anymore. never mind the countless people that will have to die in the mean time. merlin can kill a bajillion people on screen and thats fine and for the greater good but if someone tries to kill One guy sitting on a fancy chair with a fancy hat suddenly thats too extreme. half the time it felt like the show was pointing to merlin as a poster child of how to act when oppressed. the fact that morgana growing bitter about uthers reign is framed as inherently bad and what directly lead to her becoming evil tm is particularly infuriating to me. the choice to create this very ya dystopian setting and then cast the oppressors as part of the main cast and the final solution is just very weird to me. i think it wouldve been objectively for the best if the magic community had overthrown arthur (or uther really but thats not really contested.. unless youre the bbc. this show is so british (derogatory))

in that vein: mordred has never done anything wrong in his entire life and that includes killing arthur

one more for the "arthur was a loser" folder

[ok but about the rest!! I have many thoughts about it. merlin as a member of an Oppressed Minority. his betrayal of his own kin. I'm putting it all under a cut bc you guys don't need to see me rambling about this and the disir again]

you make a good point — the way in which a story is framed, even the moment we choose as a "beginning", determines what characters we'll feel sympathy for, even when the facts at our disposal are the same.

I don't think the writers were trying to create any kind of deep social commentary btw. just so we're clear. merlin is the hero of the story and his mission is to keep arthur safe. we've got to root for them both.

to have a king with a hatred (fear) of magic gives us a convenient antagonist within the court. merlin having to defend the men that would have him killed for his magic is a great source of dramatic tension. it sort of follows that the people he has to fight against to defend the king/prince are other magic users, or magical threats. (it also keeps things interesting because there would be no challenge for merlin otherwise).

there isn't much of a point in exploring the motives and backstories of other characters with magic (with the exception of morgana, perhaps). They are only briefly touched upon — so these characters remain vaguely antagonistic for the most part. Neutrally aligned at best (see mordred).

We are shown that the druids are (mostly) aware of the prophecy that marks merlin/emrys as the saviour of their kind.

what I find fascinating are merlin's interactions with magic people who are either not aware of this prophecy (gilli) or have no faith in it (kara, possibly?) Because we're never given the chance or the time to see things from their perspective. To see merlin through their eyes.

When gilli says:

"It is time that someone struck a blow for the likes of you and me. And if you're too weak, then I will." (!!!)

It makes him sound like some kind of extremist, but really, when you think about it. isn't his anger kind of justified? I'm not condoning his violence, I'm just saying — it's understandable. uther has killed so many innocent people. literally drowned innocent children. and merlin's like "violence isn't the answer!" — and I can see his point!! but I can see gilli's just as well. and I find it so interesting that he's still addressing merlin as a brother ("the likes of you and me"), even when expressing disappointment in his actions and calling him weak. because they are the same. he's saying "you're deluded, and cozying up to the enemy won't save you"

this episode also contains what is (probably) my favourite dragon call. when merlin summons kilgharrah in other episodes, he's usually in the middle of some Urgent Situation. matters of life or death. there is nothing urgent here, really. yeah, it is arguably a matter of life or death, but nothing merlin couldn’t have stopped on his own. he really just called on kilgharrah to have a heart to heart with a friend — a member of his class.

("You are a creature of magic, and only a creature of magic could hope to understand.")

this episode is about merlin looking for kinship and still feeling isolated from his magic brethren. there's something tragic about the way the prophecy makes him unable to connect to some of the people who would be best placed to understand him.

and gilli plants a small seed of doubt in merlin's mind. "You've been pretending for so long now that you've actually forgotten who you are" (!!)

but kilgharrah reassures merlin that there's a golden age coming. so merlin does what he has to do — he saves uther once again. before gilli leaves, merlin reassures him that one day they will be free.

he tells mordred the same:

"It won't always be like this. One day we will live in freedom again."

and then, when he has the unique opportunity to use his influence on arthur to sway his opinion in the right direction. he fails.

he condemns himself, and the people he spoke to of freedom, to keep living in fear and in hiding — and what's even more upsetting, he does so while talking of a "just and fair kingdom"!

("You must protect the world you spent your life building, a just and fair kingdom for all." What an interesting choice of words. camelot isn't just and fair to all — as merlin knows well. he's lying to arthur, and possibly to himself.)

imagine being gilli or mordred and hearing him say that "there can be no place for magic in camelot." (!) What a slap in the face.

I've read meta suggesting that the disir were testing merlin just as much as arthur (or even more so than him). I'm inclined to believe it — I want to believe it. If anything because it makes the story all the more interesting and tragic. (I know what some are going to say — if mordred's destiny was to kill arthur, it would've happened anyway. but remember what else kilgharrah said — the future is never clear. there are many paths).

I understand why merlin did what he did, I really do. but for a moment, the fair and just kingdom he spoke of was within reach, and he failed to grasp it.

so was gilli wrong after all?

[and kara. I feel quite sympathetic towards her. we know arthur. she can't see him from our (merlin's) perspective. for her, he might as well be uther. magic people are still persecuted under camelot's law. she has spent her life on the run, she has seen people she loved be killed. and from our (arthur's) perspective, she looks like some kind of fanatic. but in reality. put yourself in her shoes. when arthur offers her a chance to save herself by "repenting" for her crime, she says she has nothing to repent for. "it is not a crime to fight for your freedom". that's the belief she's willing to die for. did she deserve to die for it?

(I also think there's an interesting parallel in merlin failing his kin in the disir, and arthur failing mordred in ep 5x11 by condemning kara to death. something about pinning all your hopes on someone who's going to fail you, and doom you both. idk idk.)]

sorry anon. you were saying

#merlin meta #more like brain vomit really #there is nothing particularly insightful in here #do you have an episode or a scene that makes you lose it #for me its that scene in the disir probably #I just [insert stick figure violence meme] when I think about it #many thoughts about merlin and the druids and those who knew him as 'emrys'#you have people like alator and finna - with an almost fanatic level of faith #but surely there must have been skeptics #druids who were like “what is he even doing. he's been in camelot for years”#“are we sure he's the right one”#it's just... from an outsider & skeptic perspective. merlin is a race traitor #defending uther and arthur like that #merlin iscariot #betrayal is such an interesting concept #but yeah I love it when he talks of freedom to his fellow oppressed sorcerers #bc it's easy to forget how much he suffers because of camelot's stance on magic #even merlin is so busy looking after arthur that he doesn't seem to have much time to dwell on his own oppression. if that makes sense #and meeting other sorcerers. it brings it back to the forefront #these are the people he's fighting for. brothers and sisters.#asks

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merlin-knights · 1 year

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fluffypotatey · 1 year

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I need more of Hunith for a number of reasons.

1) Arthur gets some motherly affection, God knows he needs it

2) Merlin has a more solid support system

3) someone to counter some of Gaius's more...out there advice bc I could so see her 😒 some of his suggestions

4) Hunith: "LOL fuck the King." Morgana: 😀💖

5) let her yell at Kilgharrah. Just once. Please.

6. her & Gwen are the most observant characters (other than Merlin) and would have the most...fascinating tea time gossip (obviously Leon gets invited at some point)

7. she's book smart herself (who else taught Merlin how to read) and would be beneficial help to strategizing how to defeat Camelot's monster/villain of the week

8. mother-henning the knights is a MUST

9. emissary for Emrys to the Druids (saves Merlin so much stress and everyone knows how much she means to Emrys; the trees protect her as well when she journeys to them)

10. bullies Uther (he's unaware her "compliments" are, in fact, insults)

#bonus (SotRT edition): mother hens the squires; they call her variations of madam or mother or grandma hunith #listen merlin and s1 camelot gang were in ealdor for...what? 3 days(ish) and she clocked in immediately their team dynamics????#hunith is an intelligent observer and i stand by that #i forget her relation to gaius (niece? cousin?) but she was clearly given SOME education and has great leadership skills that she used to #survive living in Essetir outlying village which seem to be where bandits enjoy ransacking (and i bet she utilized these skills the most #after having merlin bc if anyone knew how special he was then she could lose him and tho hunith may only be human she has the ferosity of #a dragon who seeks to protect her hoard of treasures; nothing gets passed her without her oversight)#anyway #hunith's a badass and i stand by that #bbc merlin #merlin emrys #merlin #hunith #asks #headcanons

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onceandfuturewarlqck · 2 years

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merlin looks in the mirror and smiles.

he counts the years, the centuries, one after the one, he keeps track of them, like prisoners in a suffocating cell making tally marks on a wall.

he looks in the mirror every morning, his personal routine, between waking up and staring at the ceiling of his small apartment and getting ready for breakfast.

(there is a single moment in which he asks himself where he is. which country, which age? which house is his new home? none, a traitorous voice whispers in his ear, none, because his home is gone, forever, not a trace of it left. history has deleted everything but him.)

merlin looks in the mirror and he hates his eyes the most, but he smiles.

(there is nothing left but smiling)

("I haven't seen you smile these past three days")

lately, he walks around a lot.

this century is not made for walking and leisure, for moving around slowly and letting the mind ebb and flow like the tide. fast cars flashes on concrete streets, the noise of motors and the dirty smell of smoke drifting through the air.

merlin has lived too many years to remember how it was, when the sky was full of stars, and the city full of the chatter of people instead of the noise of business, when the woods sank into magic. now the woods are disappearing, and even magic comes more slowly than honey to him.

there’s a phantom of how it was, so feeble it often slips away through his fingers.

(merlin is terrified, because he is forgetting. he is forgetting and there is nothing he can do. he reads his journals, thousands of them, filled in a tiny cursive with memories, but that’s not enough. he reads, camelot was coated in dark red and sweet gold, and, gwen and i once got drunk together on mead and spent our days weaving crowns, and, arthur’s prattishness was forgiven the day he gifted me my first cloak. he reads everything he wrote but those events are further and further away.)

(merlin wonders how much is memory and how much he is just imagining. he doesn’t remember the color of the cloak arthur gave him. he wrote that it was blue, but he isn’t sure. he has to believe the words, because his mind comes out blank, and oh, how scary, to have to rely on pages of paper, weak to the elements of life, destined to turn to dust. all his life, contained in a few journals. all his life, one he can’t remember.)

every morning, merlin looks in the mirror, and his eyes stare back at him, and he hates them, because they always were a shade away from arthur’s. they are so similar to his king’s, and yet different enough.

it is an awful thing, being deprived of arthur’s gaze as well as his life.

(some days, merlin is not able to look at the color red without his chest aching.

some days, merlin thinks about arthur, about gwaine, about gaius, and he doesn’t feel anything. his heart doesn’t hurt and his stomach doesn’t twist in pain.)

(he doesn’t know what’s worse: his blind, useless grief, or this dull indifference.)

merlin is not sure what would become of him if he forgets about camelot, but he knows that everything that keeps his life together is the love he feels for those he left behind, all those centuries ago.

without his love, he is nothing.

the day he’ll stop missing them, will be the day merlin would die as well.

but for him, death is not the end of life.

he can’t see his friends anymore if not in his memories and dreams, after all.

there will never be relief for him.

(will he ever be ready to stop clinging to them? he doesn’t want to know. he doesn’t know if he wants to move on.)

(a part of him knows that he doesn’t deserve to move on, and oh, isn’t that so sweet?)

merlin counts the years and writes his journals and wakes up every few decades in a different place. his roots have rotten, and there’s no ground for him to grow into.

his roots are in a past no longer tangible.

merlin is tired, as he walks and writes.

(have i done enough, arthur? when will have i done enough? when can i rest?)

merlin tells arthur’s story, but no one will tell his.

his love is but a forgotten shore, dry and overflowing in all the wrong directions.

the future is behind him now.

he looks in the mirror in the evening and smiles.

he doesn’t remember how arthur’s voice sounded.

these days, he is forgetting his own as well.

when he goes to sleep, there’s a body in his desperate arms, and the sound of wings leaving him, dooming him to eternity.

in a sea of sweet, flowery moments, shining and warm, the one to remain with him is rusted blood and the taste of salt on his lips.

("I haven't seen you smile these past three days")

#i love the idea of merlin slowly forgetting camelot #merlin spreads the story of arthur in the world #he talks about him and he tells his adventures and arthur becomes a myth and then a legend #and yet merlin still forgets him #he remembers that arthur won battles and defeated armies #and yet he cant remember how #he remembers arthur fought with his father #and yet he is starting to forget the exact words that were exchanged #arthur comforted merlin when freya died and still merlin cant remember what he told him #merlin forgets and forgets and forgets #all he has is memories #and theyre disappearing as well #and merlin himself is the same but also a different person and all he has left to remind himself of what he was #is his love for camelot #love he has to hold on tight #grief he cant let go if he doesnt want to be alone definitely #because all he has is love and memories #merlin #merlin bbc #merlin and arthur #merthur #merthur fic #Arthur Pendragon #merlin emrys #i wrote this #merlin as the memory of the world #modern era merlin #flashfic #merlin fanfic #fanfic

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castelled-away · 9 months

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Do you ever read a fic & then some random side characters that pop up again & again throughout the whole story do something together in the background while the main character is occupied with their own thoughts & just brushes over them like a fleeting, unimportant observation? And you’re like these two, I wanna ship these two. And then you keep your eyes open for more background interaction like those as a secondary goal besides reading & enjoying the fic (that’s when a fanfic really starts to live at least to me).

Though I’m all insecure & paranoid now bc the author surely didn’t mean to paint these two in a romantic light & just needed that side interaction as a description filler & im reading too much into this, but like…I ship it. Oops. How did that happen

Link is here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830772 (it’s actually Part 2 of a longer 5-Parter-Series & Part 1 was already awesome but it keeps. getting. better.)

#like. I knew perwaine was a ship & I was all “oh how cute“#& then just brushed over it bc to me it only had cuteness & nothing more #there wasn’t this heartwrenching emotional investment yknow what I mean #BUT THEN. one seemingly normal but also faithful day: I read this sentence in a super cool merthur fic #i read it to the end of the paragraph. reread it again & SUDDENLY Arthur’s emotional turmoil took a backseat #fics that are so long & complex that you ship the side characters my beloved #scratch that: fics that are so complex & thought through that they become independent pieces of literature separated from th original media #i love this fic #have been reading SOLELY this big boy for days now. yes it’s that good #can’t put it away. I love it. it has literally EVERYTHING: nice plot. Arthur gets an actual character arc. humour. angst. mysteries #also Gwen is treated like the queen she deserves to be (and there’s even a hint of Mergwenthur there MY HEART CANNOT TAKE IT)#it explains Camelot lore & the laws of the old religion #and let’s not forget the smut okay. let’s not forget that #ALSO the FUCKING BADASS magic reveal. kudos to the author there for depicting Arthur in a realistic way CONSISTENLY throughout this #Anyways. I love this fic #would definitely recommend dude. you haven’t lived until you read this one #it’s worth it I swear #bbc merlin #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #perwaine #merthur #the hands of a hundred winters #The Dust of Hope #i love this author. I wanna peak into their brain #fics I have read & need to hype up #minee #as in my post. not my fic. I couldn’t be this brilliant #fanfic recs

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vifetoile · 1 year

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Look upon this moment. Savor it! Rejoice with great gladness! Great gladness! Remember it always, for you are joined by it. You are One, under the stars. Remember it well, then... this night, this great victory. So that in the years ahead, you can say, "I was there that night, with Arthur, the King!" For it is the doom of men that they forget.

(Excalibur, by John Boorman, spoken by Merlin to the Knights of the Round Table, after their first united victory against the Saxons)

Did Galahad see the cup of life as the holy chalice of Christ? Did it matter? Gareth, Gawaine, Lucan, Bedivere, Palomides, Cai… all the old Companions and many she did not recognize, and it seemed at the last that they walked somewhere beyond the space sof the world, and all of those who had ever been among them, even those who had passed beyond this world, came to commune with them at the Round Table this day— Ectorius, Lot, dead years since at Mount Badon, young Drustan, murdered in jealous rage by Marcus; Lionel; Bors; Balin and Balan hand in hand, like brothers again past the gates of death… all those who had ever gathered here around the Round Table, past and present, today were gathered here in this moment beyond time.

(The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, pgs 771-772)

[ARTHUR]

Each evening, from December to December Before you drift to sleep upon your cot Think back on all the tales that you remember Of Camelot Ask every person if he's heard the story And tell it strong and clear if he has not That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory Called Camelot

Don't let it be forgot that once there was a spot For one brief shining moment That was known as Camelot

(Camelot, the musical, by Lerner & Lowe, finale)

But it was too late for another effort then. For that time it was his destiny to die, or, as some say, to be carried off to Avilion, where he could wait for better days. For that time it was Lancelot's fate and Guenever's to take the tonsure and the veil, while Mordred must be slain. The fate of this man or that man was less than a drop, although it was a sparkling one, in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea.

The cannons of his adversary were thundering in the tattered morning when the Majesty of England drew himself up to meet the future with a peaceful heart.

(The Once and Future King, by T.H. White, final lines)

#web weaving #king arthur #merlin #arthuriana #arthurian mythology #memory #forgetting #mythology #my posts #tumblr comparative literature #the mists of avalon #the once and future king #camelot #excalibur #john boorman #th white

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kateis-cakeis · 9 months

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You ever just think about how fanon is so firm in the BBC Merlin fandom that people (like I used to) go around believing Cenred's kingdom is called Essetir and that Odin's kingdom is Cornwall.

Or how like the wiki says Alined's kingdom is called Deorham and the Perilous Lands are Elmet. Which I'm pretty sure comes from that fannish map on AO3.

But that doesn't mean it's correct shfjgshdfg. These things are never said in the show

It's just using the wiki as a resource gets tricky when you have to dig through what is canon and fanon. Which is no fault of the wiki, that's completely fine. It's just amusing how much this fandom is built on fanon instead of canon.

Which makes sense for how long it's been around, with long held beliefs that get passed around us all. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just good to remind ourselves what is canon and what is fanon. Because it sure as hell shocks me sometimes :P :)

#bbc merlin #merlin #this is like howwww we all believe there to be a lake in the modern day #the lake is totally there guys trust me ive seen it #it's just behind the mist - Merlin is just further away - the green fields and lake can exist at once - the lake is just smaller #I know Julian Murphy said in the commentary it's just grass now or something but likeeeeee it's fine Merlin wouldn't have let the lake go #the lake is there just smaller :) yep #sometimes fanon is better like sometimes it just issss #furthermore it's also like how we all believe Aithusa to be female when Kilgharrah uses 'him' but then again we can wave that away with #dragons use he/him regardless and Aithusa is still female but with he/him pronouns so we can just put canon and fanon together and all be #happy :) yay #anyway this is just my way of saying that dont be confined to fanon it doesn't rule you just like canon doesn't rule you - you can do what #you want to do and make a brilliant story or art or whatever you do here :)#oh let us not forget that Golden Age we were promised? Never said in the show that phrase is never ever said. It's only ever in a desc for #first episode of season 5 saying that Camelot has been in a golden age so yeah just putting that one out there too

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drewsaturday · 2 years

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i like.... obviously am just tossing strickler & co. into shows that take place in the past because it's fun but i forgot that lost world is the specific brand of batshit that REALLY makes it work.

for example, lost world's plateau has an unseen city of avalon that is noted to be a place untouched by time and has some really mystical capabilities.

toa has camelot as a fucking floating castle surrounded by time travel.

#trollhunters tag #how did i forget about that #veronica is probably descended from like... king arthur or morgana or something honestly bc she's from the avalon line #(or ugh even merlin :') i cant live with myself imagining a world where merlin fucks tho)#and marguerite being from mordred's line & the note about there being some offspring of mixed lines means #she could be that too #i think the changeling gang would go to the plateau in the first place for SOMETHING related to morgana obvs -#trying to find a host for her or some artifact that would help release her #or maybe even just to find camelot if it really is just vibing there #but jfjjl;slkjj man lost world rly is just like 'oh vaguely popular thing in history and mythos??? our city now <3'#which makes it. a wildly perfect time to cross over with literally anything #ALSO the plateau has ~shifting realities~ and time travel altogether #which we didnt get a ton of because ~cliffhanger~ but the season 4 notes go off the rails #and it makes cross-dimensional stuff work too if u wanna go by the idea of them taking place in diff universes/timelines #but i do think all of the above & sanctuary all work as taking place within the same universe weirdly so im just.#man.

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fluffy-alpacaness · 2 years

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going through another dramatic merlin nostalgia, pls help

#THEIR STORY IS SO TRAGIC #and i mean EVERYONE'S #of course merlin has the worst of it because he has to live alone forever waiting for arthur #but like #gwen also lives her life alone #lancelot's death always makes me cry because he was so good SO GOOD and he died thinking nobody loved him #LANCELOT #morgana was completely consumed by bitterness and i think i would have become like her if i had been a woman in the middle ages #i would have definitely been a murderous witch so i totally relate to her #and my baby arthur he was so repressed my boy #gwaine died like lancelot basically #poor percival and leon were left alone #and we know merlin never went back to camelot so gwen really was totally alone #also elyan #i forget about him because his character was written rather badly but he had so much potential #i'm also sad for poor mordred because he was just a kid and merlin totally lost his mind in season 5 #merlin #crying forever over merlin

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weaponizedducks · 3 months

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imagine what the ealdor villagers must have thought of merlin. when he lived there they thought he was a bit odd, probably accident prone, on the outside, bit of a funny guy. he had exactly one friend. all of a sudden he leaves to go to fucking camelot of all places. why? stfu we don't need a why. they think nothing of it and forget about him.

IMAGINE THEIR REACTION WHEN HE RANDOMLY SHOWS UP WITH THE FUCKING PRINCE OF CAMELOT, THEIR ENEMY, FOLLOWING HIM LIKE A LOST PUPPY. I WOULD BE SHOCKED OUT OF MY FUCKING SKIN IF A LITTLE WEIRDO REAPPEARED HAVING BAGGED A PRINCE. NO WONDER WILL WAS SUSPICIOUS. WHY IS AN ENEMY PRINCE HERE. WHY IS HE HARDCORE FLIRTING WITH MY BESTIE. WHY IS HE SO WHIPPED.

#if anyone has any fics like this pls rec them #ealdor #god they must have been so confused #merthur #outsider pov #merlin #hunith #bbc merlin #if leon were here he would be sufferin #i'm tagging it #long suffering leon #leon the long suffering #will of ealdor #arthur pendragon #blue rewatches merlin

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camelotsheart · 1 year

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i dont think we talk enough about how popular merlin is with the ladies. like, this boy got gwen - the everyone has a crush on her gwen - to kiss him in the span of four episodes. he got morgana's "he's a lover" approval in less than three. he had freya falling for him in less than two days. mary saw him for less than a minute and insulted the prince of camelot to his face. he and mithian had basically the same or even more chemistry that she had with arthur, who was set to marry her. and then he has a quintessential anime meet cute "i bumped into you and helped you pick your things up from the floor" on the first episode of season 5 with sefa

forget lancelot being a knight in shining armour, hot rugged gwaine, hunk percival, loyal swordsman elyan, leon being leon, or literally any other bachelor including arthur "every woman in the land is attracted to this boy! i'm almost attracted to him myself" pendragon. ladies see merlin and immediately label him as marriage material

#and dont even get me started on his relationships with the non-ladies #HE EVEN HAS CHEMISTRY WITH A FUCKING ALIEN #like how do you even DO that #bbc merlin #merlin

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pendragonsclotpole · 3 months

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building on my idea that merlin takes on the name ambrose pendragon after arthur’s death, like imagine it’s 50 years later.

everyone from camelot is dead. the anglo-saxons have won, historical conquests of britain are continuing on as they did and here remains merlin, previously known as emrys, neither name really a surname and the latter always more of a title, but both representative of a world that no longer exists, a kingdom that has fallen apart, a servant with no master, a half without that which makes it whole.

so maybe merlin leaves. he explores. first he travels the isle and perhaps when people ask him who he is he defaults to an ancient practice. people, you see, have often been known by what they do or who they serve or where they come from. for a while, for the decades that pass wherein people remember the rule of the pendragons and the great kingdom of camelot and the failed prophecies of albion, he is not Merlin of Ealdor but Merlin of Camelot.

but people die. memories fade. time passes. merlin remains. and after a while, he cannot call himself Merlin of Camelot. not only do people forget his old kingdom, they forget his name, they bring along new languages and then around 300 years after arthur’s death, a collection of stories begin to be written, about magic, about merlin, about—

Arthur.

people you see, have often been defined by what they do or who they serve or where they come from. when the stories of arthur begin to be told anew, and remain with merlin through the tide of centuries, merlin resolves to forge a new name. he devises first the name in the style of a servant or of some of the common folk.

Merlin of Pendragon.

merlin toys with that idea, wears it for a few decades but something in those words rings false, sounds wrong, and unsettles his blood, as if he lays claim to a dynasty that shall never be his and will never rise again. when he uses it, people laugh and think him an uneducated fool playing at legend. it feels trite and awkward and wrong.

Merlin Pendragon sounds better, more forgivable if not entirely presentable. It makes merlin sound like he is a Pendragon, but only one sorcerer has ever laid claim to the Pendragon name and her name had not been merlin. (it makes merlin a Pendragon, and not even when Arthur lived had merlin considered such a fate a possibility, that Arthur could ever consider—)

merlin continues thinking, and by the time he settles on a replacement it is out of obligation and urgency. he cannot be nameless while he works as a healer and travels the world and serves other people as best as he can. he cannot be merlin Pendragon if the only man who could have conferred that name to him is dead.

instead he becomes Emrys Pendragon, and for a while, that name becomes a second skin. but like the serpent he has always been, merlin eventually sheds that skin. centuries have passed and those who once bore the name emrys, the last descendants of the druids and the people of Camelot, now only recognize that name in legend. the name once more marks him as stupid fool in love with the romantic notion of chivalry. besides, the languages have shifted and a name that once rolled off the tongue has become clotted and stuck in the mouths of people. no one can say it as it had once been said nor as it once belonged by arthur’s side, if only in secret.

merlin again returns to the drawing board, and luckily by that time he is aware of the translations of his many names. on a visit to rome, the grand imperial capital Arthur once dreamt of seeing as a young man, merlin thinks of a perfect substitute. His final name.

Ambrose.

Ambrose Pendragon.

it is emrys, but not quite.

it is merlin as he is forced to live without Arthur.

it is what Arthur could have been if he had lived at merlin’s side.

it is, written shorter, A. Pendragon.

it is a simple name. it is a stupid name. it is a name that breaks his heart and reminds him of his failings and keeps the faith alive within him.

years after adopting the name, merlin wakes up and walks to his desk and sees the name written on the outside of an envelope and he imagines it’s a letter from arthur.

a thousand years later, he sees it written on the sides of coffee cups and envelopes, monogrammed on his coats and cufflinks, inked on his essays, emblazoned on the side of his shop, and merlin imagines that when Arthur returns, he will return to a world already familiar with an A. Pendragon.

It shall be a welcoming world, as if across all these centuries, by some miracle, Arthur Pendragon had lived all along.

#merlin #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin bbc #king arthur #merthur #merlin emrys #bbc merthur #merlin’s name is a. pendragon #merlin quotes #arthur and merlin #married names

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