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"Well, how did you know I would..." Arthur seemed to search for the words. "React positively?"
It was now Merlin’s turn to scoff. “Oh please, Arthur, you’re not as sly as you think. When I took off my neckerchief, you turned puce.”
“That should be illegal." Arthur flushed red. "I shouldn’t have to see your neck.”
Or, Merlin and Arthur start hooking up around the end of s1, after they’ve both, in a completely platonic way, decided the other is worth dying for. This situation is just a FWB one, not at all romantic, right? Right?
(OR or; author explores Merlin's crazy fucking devotion to Arthur, and Arthur's crazy devotion to Merlin. They're so codependent.)
Bookmarked by brae21
04 Dec 2025
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“Sometimes,” Uther said, leaning forward, “no matter how strong you are alone, you will need someone else by your side. Someone who will make your days easier.” He looked at Merlin expectantly. “Do you understand what I’m suggesting?”
“… You want us to… visit more often?”
“No!” cried Uther.
“No,” Merlin echoed, shaking his head.
--
Merlin doesn’t want to think about his relationship with Arthur, because there is nothing to think about. His relationship with his friend/boss/blond jerk whose life he happened to save when they first met, is completely normal. The people in his life disagree.
AKA “5 times the people around Merlin try to tell him something + 1 time Merlin tells Arthur something” (though not strictly structured as such)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 36,550
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 217
- Kudos:
- 1,022
- Bookmarks:
- 264
- Hits:
- 15,023
Bookmarked by brae21
26 Nov 2025
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It was an act of appalling, ghastly cruelty that, had Arthur not been so horribly in love with him, he might never have noticed Merlin was a sorcerer.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 41,317
- Chapters:
- 5/5
- Comments:
- 208
- Kudos:
- 1,408
- Bookmarks:
- 327
- Hits:
- 16,690
Bookmarked by brae21
31 Oct 2025
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“I haven’t slept with anyone in eleven years,” is what he says, mostly to make this stupid argument go away, and swallows away the embarrassment the moment he says it. That’s truly the best way to make Arthur even more smug, to let him know that Merlin has devoted every second to him since the moment he set foot in Camelot. How lovely.
Arthur slowly turns back towards him. “Eleven years?”
“Well, you know,” Merlin says, trying to edge himself out of the situation. “It’s not as if I had time. Or occasion. And really, I can’t think of a single person I ought to have slept with, anyway.”
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 10,830
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 81
- Kudos:
- 1,415
- Bookmarks:
- 216
- Hits:
- 14,807
Bookmarked by brae21
19 Oct 2025
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Wherein Arthur falls victim to yet another love potion, except this time, it has him setting his sights on Merlin.
Cue lots of heartbreak, angst, and pining.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 11,936
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 40
- Kudos:
- 1,658
- Bookmarks:
- 310
- Hits:
- 21,427
Bookmarked by brae21
16 Oct 2025
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The next time Arthur doesn’t say thank you, Gwaine puts his hand on Merlin’s back, stroking down the long length of it, from the short curls of hair at the nape of his neck to the neat cinch of his waist.
“Thanks,” he praises, throwing a wink to an agape Arthur as he does. It’s wonderful.
So wonderful, in fact, that for the next fortnight, for every brusque word that spills from Arthur’s lips, Gwaine spills three sweet ones.
Bookmarked by brae21
16 Oct 2025
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ask me why (my heart's inside my throat) by Scarlet_Ribbons for Imagined
Fandoms: Merlin (TV)
24 Nov 2022
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“You’re hurt.”
“What gave you that impression,” Arthur says as he smiles at another couple, this pair far less egregious than the first. “I’m doing perfectly alright.”
Merlin snorts. “The next time you lie, my Lord, perhaps try to be more convincing?”
[Arthur's overcome with a temporary bout of amnesia. He has no idea why Merlin's acting so odd, but knowing him, it can't be good.]
Bookmarked by brae21
15 Oct 2025
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'Be out of the city of Camelot by sunrise, or so help me, you will burn.'
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When Merlin confesses the truth of his magic to Arthur, he finds himself exiled from Camelot. He intends never to return to Arthur's side, but destiny is not so easily defeated. Can he and Arthur heal the rift that has yawned between them, or will they both suffer the consequences of destiny's displeasure?
(AKA: Merlin and Arthur get shoved into the magical equivalent of a "getting along" shirt because they're idiots.)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 57,826
- Chapters:
- 11/11
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 939
- Kudos:
- 3,668
- Bookmarks:
- 861
- Hits:
- 62,211
Bookmarked by brae21
12 Oct 2025
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With Wilson only having five months left to live and House faking his own death to avoid going back to prison, they hit the road with the goal of going to as many national parks as possible. Thinking it's now or never, they get together.
Then, Wilson doesn't die.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 21,666
- Chapters:
- 2/2
- Comments:
- 103
- Kudos:
- 1,680
- Bookmarks:
- 301
- Hits:
- 13,591
Bookmarked by brae21
11 Oct 2025
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"You guys really don't get it, do you?"
"Get what?"
"It's almost insulting, really."Or, five times the team missed the point completely, and one time where they figured it out
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 4,149
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 3
- Comments:
- 191
- Kudos:
- 18,040
- Bookmarks:
- 2,105
- Hits:
- 106,172
Bookmarked by brae21
07 Sep 2025
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After drinking something he wasn't supposed to, Arthur's demeanor regarding his manservant Merlin has entirely changed, leaving everyone to believe he had been snuck a love potion. But when it seems to be something else, a potion that amplifies existing feelings to an almost obsessive state, the only way to pull him back is for him to willingly participate in the spell needed to save him. What is Merlin to do when Arthur won't let him out of his sight and there are no other willing sorcerers within the kingdom?
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 26,713
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Comments:
- 200
- Kudos:
- 2,713
- Bookmarks:
- 543
- Hits:
- 32,904
Bookmarked by brae21
07 Sep 2025
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Don't Hide Your Flaws (I'll Cause Them All Again) by livinginthetheater
Fandoms: Merlin (TV)
17 Aug 2025
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Summary
No servant should have so many scars. When a visiting knight sees Merlin's, he can only come to one conclusion: King Arthur is a violent abuser, and Merlin must be protected at all costs.
Series
- Part 7 of Living's Standalone Merthur Fics
Bookmarked by brae21
03 Sep 2025
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Summary
Someone in the Camelot (Merlin) has rooted out a spy on the council. This anonymous person (who is obviously Merlin) put this accusation into a long letter, full of evidence from a thorough investigation and infiltration of the spy's circle within the staff. Arthur is remarkably impressed with this mystery detective (again, Merlin) and becomes set on uncovering their identity.
Merlin didn't think things would get out of hand. He only wanted to get rid of the spy publicly and legally, so he forewent the magic and decided to conduct a counterintelligence mission for months to gather evidence the old-fashioned way—like anyone would! But suddenly Arthur is searching for him, and magic or not, he learned a long time ago to stay in the shadows.
George is so tired. It is so obvious. King Arthur is disappointingly unobservant, and George cannot take this much longer.
Series
- Part 6 of Living's Standalone Merthur Fics
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 27,520
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Comments:
- 120
- Kudos:
- 1,210
- Bookmarks:
- 226
- Hits:
- 11,823
Bookmarked by brae21
03 Sep 2025
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Summary
"It started during your coronation," he said carefully.
Arthur stopped pacing. "During the ceremony itself?"
"Yes."
"So it was someone who was there. Someone in the crowd." Arthur's eyes lit up with the fervor of a man who'd found a crucial clue. "I can get the guest list. Cross-reference it with people you've had contact with. There couldn't have been that many — "
"Arthur, you're not going to figure it out that way."
"Why not?"
Series
- Part 5 of The Great War Challenge
- Part 180 of Taylor Inspired
Bookmarked by brae21
02 Sep 2025
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Let us take back the Castle now, and you can behead me later, Sire. by coldishcase
Fandoms: Merlin (TV)
26 Apr 2021
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Summary
An AU of the season 4 finale, wherein Arthur refuses to abandon his castle during Morgana's seige, and Merlin refuses to use magic to take away Arthur's will, so they're at an impasse.
Rather than break his moral code to bewitch Arthur, Merlin decides to break his secrecy. If Arthur doesn't want to leave his Castle... fine. They won't. Merlin will just have to take it back for him... and all that entails.
Series
- Part 2 of Merlin 2021 Rewatch Canon Divergent Drabbles & Fics
- Part 1 of Taking Back The Castle (season 4 finale au)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 39,790
- Chapters:
- 12/12
- Collections:
- 11
- Comments:
- 457
- Kudos:
- 7,461
- Bookmarks:
- 1,586
- Hits:
- 136,857
Bookmarked by brae21
27 Aug 2025
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A careless comment sends Arthur in a spiral that makes him rethink everything that was him and Merlin. All while a new threat complicates things.
Or, Merlin has always been Arthur's Favourite apparently. It would've been nice if someone's bothered to tell Arthur.
Bookmarked by brae21
25 Aug 2025
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Summary
It started after the death of Uther, the possessiveness.
Maybe it’d always been there to some degree. Merlin blamed it on their destiny, the unbreakable umbilical cord that tied them together even when they physically existed on opposite ends of the kingdom.
After Uther’s death, though, the cord tightened on Arthur’s end and Merlin went willingly.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,821
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 65
- Kudos:
- 3,906
- Bookmarks:
- 549
- Hits:
- 28,444
Bookmarked by brae21
22 Aug 2025
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Summary
“My father wishes to host a dinner for Lady Mithian and her father. They have arranged a marriage.” Arthur’s mouth barely moved. Merlin’s body ran hot. Then cold.
And then, nothing.
It was always going to happen. Merlin knew it was always going to happen, but the sudden, agonizing reminder almost brought Merlin to his knees.
~~~
Regency Era!AU
Bookmarked by brae21
16 Aug 2025
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Summary
Merlin’s days and evenings blur together into one long, overheated, mess. He is tired.
Which is why it is perfectly understandable that he got confused.
Bookmarked by brae21
15 Aug 2025
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“Might I ask you what do you think of Arthur?” Uther asks.
“Arthur? Oh, that’s easy,” Merlin says. “He’s a pompous, arrogant, self-important prick, whose compassion I’m sure will make him the greatest king that this kingdom will ever see.”
Uther needs a moment to work through all that.
“Romantically,” he clarifies. “I meant romantically.”
(Uther learns that Merlin is the son of the last dragonlord. He sends him away with Balinor in exchange for a promise that Kilgharrah will not attack Camelot again, and in doing absolutely shatters Arthur's heart. In a flare of fatherly regret, he does what he feels he must to soothe Arthur's distress, which includes trying to figure out what it is that Arthur likes so much about Merlin in the first place.)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 33,473
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 195
- Kudos:
- 1,257
- Bookmarks:
- 299
- Hits:
- 16,966
Bookmarked by brae21
13 Aug 2025