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Chip-in-a-bag

@chipinabag

https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipInABag
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justaz

battle of camlann but merlin wasn’t ancient as shit. he blasts the warriors around arthur away and arthur turns to see a glowering, golden-eyed merlin. he tightens his grip on his sword but isn’t able to raise it. the inconceivable notion that merlin has betrayed him runs through his mind but he cant quite grasp it. his father is screaming in his head to kill the wretched sorcerer but all arthur can see is his friend wearing a face that looks too much like morgana’s. merlin glances up at arthur and the expression of rage fizzles into one tinged with fear and concern - all too confusing for him to unpack in the midst of battle. merlin is slow to approach his side and even then he keeps his distance. before either of them can say anything, mordred appears, sword in hand, glaring at arthur.

merlin tries to draw the former knights attention away from arthur, tries to goad him into fighting merlin instead, but mordred is deadset on fighting arthur. he calls morgana over instead and says emrys’s fight is with her while his is with arthur. with the extra seconds of back and forth, arthur isn’t as shocked when he raises his sword against mordred’s. morgana and merlin blast each other great distances until they’re far away from modred vs arthur and land on the front line between the two armies. both armies back off and watch the light show as morgana and emrys battle until morgana’s army uses the distraction to close in on camelot’s army.

three battles occurring at once until morgana gets a lucky hit in and merlin goes flying. he lands next to a gwaine who is currently bleeding out. he smiles when he sees who’s next to him “merlin!” which sounds so much like his greeting every time they ran into each other before gwaine became a knight. he reaches out and heals gwaine’s wound and leon just looks up at him for a moment before going “you’re always full of surprises, aren’t you merlin?” merlin grins and goes “i got one more” he stands up on surprisingly steady legs and calls on kilgharrah. in for a penny, out for a pound. arthur is already fuming at him, might as well rip the bandaid off right?

kilgharrah attacks morgana’s army while merlin orders aithusa to stand down. camelot’s army is able to march through the charred army and bring down those who remain, mordred is loosing but persevering through rage and spite alone, morgana is screaming (like she always is nowadays). merlin and morgana battle once more until mordred and morgana’s armies have fallen. merlin makes a tactical retreat to arthur who is still staring at him wearily (and definitely irate). he requests permission to kill morgana which is baffling but she is his sister and he’s always cared for her even after her betrayal so he supposes it makes sense. once he gives it, their fight doesn’t last longer than a minute. emrys was always stronger than her, he was just buying time.

camelot emerges victorious though they don’t seem all that excited about it. the other warriors cheer and clap each other on the back, but arthur is just watching merlin. the knights watch them uneasily. merlin returns arthur’s gaze. “is that the fucking dragon i killed?” merlin looks up at kilgharrah who is needlessly burning the remains of morgana’s army. merlin turns back to him “yes.”

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Now I want more awkward crush Arthur.

Merlin *about to retire*: is that all, Sire?

Arthur *suddenly captivated by the fire dancing in Merlin's eyes*: uh... Of course. Yes. Always, as you said.

Merlin: what?

Arthur: what?

...

After a long, awkward dream, during a game of never have I ever:

Gwaine: have you ever had gay dreams?

Arthur: *chokes on drink from last round*

Gwaine: you okay, mate?

Arthur *coughing* who'd ever have dreams about THAT? With Merlin? Don't be ridiculous, Gwaine.

Gwaine: I never mentioned Merlin?

Arthur: *blanks* but it was implied

Gwaine: noo... I'm pretty sure I would not imply such a thing if I knew it made you so flustered.

Arthur: well, anyways. I'm not going to drink on it because this never happened. *Chucks a whole glass of wine*

...

Lancelot suggesting at an inn that Merlin and Arthur share a room.

Arthur: what? No, we - this is inappropriate!

Lancelot: *jesting* Merlin is not a fair maiden. You don't have to protect his virtue

Arthur: that- but he's - i didn't mean - he couldn't have-

Merlin: Arthur, are you alright?

Arthur: did you? Lose your virtue?

Merlin: when I was 16. Jeez, Arthur, what the hell are you on about? We can share a bloody room, don't be a prat! Unless you have any virtue we need to protect?

Arthur: *sputtering nonsensically* maybe a little?

Lancelot: what do you mean, a little?

...

*Merlin dressing as a noble to fool some bandits. He and Arthur exchanged clothes and now Arthur is wearing Merlin's tight jacket that smells like him, while Merlin looks like a regal King. He even walks like one*

Gwaine: Oi, princess, you good?

Arthur: *in a daze* uhu

Gwaine: *waves hand in front of Arthur's unmoving eyes* I think we broke him

...

Princess: *trying to flirt with Arthur* maybe we should go somewhere else? to talk?

Arthur: *watching Merlin from afar* hmm? No, I'm good

Princess: you, eh - *follows gaze* oh my. That servant of yours is quite attractive, isn't he?

Arthur: yeah. *Realizes what he said* eh - what? Sorry, I wasn't listening. What were you saying?

Princess: I believe I've lost this battle, my Lord. *Leaves*

Arthur: uh - what?

...

Arthur: *undressing for bed*

Merlin: *stares*

Arthur: what is it, Merlin? Would you like to request a painting, it'll last longer.

Merlin: hmm... Would you do a nude for me?

Arthur: *voice breaking* now?

Merlin: i was - joking

Arthur: oh *chuckles awkwardly* yes, of course. Sure. ...

Merlin: go on - get ready for bed

Arthur: yes, sure, sure, of course *sweats*

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chipinabag

I don't know if this if a fic already but building on that one trope. The one where after arthur dies they ALL get sent back to the day merlin comes to camelot.

That, but merlin is the only one who doesn't know what has happened in the last timeline. (To reverse time has to give up his memories.)

And everyone is acting weird like the prince is glaring at his father and father's ward and is being really nice to me.

The king is keeps glaring at me but everytime he tries to be mean to me the prince just puts his hand on his sword. Gwen my new best friend is trying to set me up with my employer. And I just met these nice (and good looking) men. I think gwaine and lancelot know about my magic. Maybe the king too but I'm not sure since the prince doesn't let him talk to me.

The king's ward is kinda avoiding me for some reason, but she's kinda warming up to me.

The other servant keep treating me like a lord for some reason.

When I went to visit my mother there was a man named balinor who is actually my father and is a fucking dragonlord.

The dragon under the castle is kinda weird, keeps wanting me to bring a sword or something.

I might do something with this in the future, it will take me while.

I guess I'm writing a fic now..... I get to re-watch merlin again! I'm starting the plot points I don't know how long this will be but I feel like it's going to take a while. But I'm up to a challenge! First fic completed (that is not a oneshot) is my goal.

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merrilinie

Typical trope of the woman being better at archery than the man but the woman is Merlin and the man is Arthur (and the Knights).

It’s probably a bet or Gwaine trying to flirt with Merlin, or maybe Leon worries about his safety to the point he makes him, but one of the Knights offer to teach Merlin to shoot. They figure he’ll be safe as you normally need some distance to shoot and doesn’t require too much strength. (in the instance of Knights, they tend to not realise that a bow string is very taught and hard to pull if you want to shoot well as they are already sturdy in muscle.)

Gwaine goes to hold onto Merlin’s me show him a proper form but Merlin just scoffs and shoos him away.

Arthur finds it hilarious that Merlin is so confident as he thinks it will be funny to watch him embarrass himself, until he watched Merlin pull the bow with more ease than even the most trained archer.

Cue them watching Merlin shoot every target with as close to perfection as one can get (without controlling the wind).

Putting the bow down and blushing despite his prideful grin, Merlin just shrugs at them as if he didn’t just blow all their minds, “We had survive somehow in the village.”

Gwaine cackles with glee while Leon debates for illy picking up Arthur’s jaw.

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reblogged

The fact that Merlin is clearly uthers favourite servant is so funny to me. Because on one hand, utter dislikes Merlin as a servant, nm a person because all Merlin will ever be to uther is a peasant.

but the fact that he also see how devoted Merlin is to Arthur and honestly lets Merlin get away with a lot of shit. He flips between “ugh I hate Arthur manservant” and “you all should be as loyal as Merlin is, see Merlin, be Merlin

Not to mention the whole magic thing. I hate uther, but unfortunately his character is really fun to laugh at.

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I don't know if this if a fic already but building on that one trope. The one where after arthur dies they ALL get sent back to the day merlin comes to camelot.

That, but merlin is the only one who doesn't know what has happened in the last timeline. (To reverse time has to give up his memories.)

And everyone is acting weird like the prince is glaring at his father and father's ward and is being really nice to me.

The king is keeps glaring at me but everytime he tries to be mean to me the prince just puts his hand on his sword. Gwen my new best friend is trying to set me up with my employer. And I just met these nice (and good looking) men. I think gwaine and lancelot know about my magic. Maybe the king too but I'm not sure since the prince doesn't let him talk to me.

The king's ward is kinda avoiding me for some reason, but she's kinda warming up to me.

The other servant keep treating me like a lord for some reason.

When I went to visit my mother there was a man named balinor who is actually my father and is a fucking dragonlord.

The dragon under the castle is kinda weird, keeps wanting me to bring a sword or something.

I might do something with this in the future, it will take me while.

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TML Favourites Friday – Round-up Masterlist 1

A masterlist for the TML Favourites Friday round-up posts! [Sorted oldest to newest; 2022–2023]

[This list is updated as continuously as possible; if you find that it is lagging several weeks behind, feel free to poke us via an ask or a message.]

July 2022

Theme 1: All Time Favourite Merlin Fic Theme 2: Druids Theme 3: Court Sorcerer Merlin Theme 4: Noble Merlin Self-Rec Round: Canon AU

August 2022

September 2022

October 2022

Theme 1: Rated G Theme 2: Rated T Theme 3: Rated M Self-Rec Round: Fics that deserved more love/attention

November 2022

Theme 1: Rated E Theme 2: Arranged Marriage Theme 3: First Date Self-Rec Round: Getting Together

December 2022

Theme 1: Angst Theme 2: Humour Theme 3: Hurt/Comfort Theme 4: Fluff Self-Rec Round: Favourite Ending

◇◇◇

January 2023

Theme 1: up to 10k Theme 2: 10 to 25k Theme 3: 25 to 50k Self-Rec Round: Shortest Fave

February 2023

Theme 1: 50 to 100k Theme 2: over 100k Theme 3: Valentine's Day Self-Rec Round: Merlin Bingo Fills

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

Theme 1: Gen Fics Theme 2: Roundtable BFFs Theme 3: Magic BFFs Self-Rec Round: Favourite Friendship(s)

June 2023

Theme 1: Enemies to Lovers Theme 2: Friends to Lovers Theme 3: Slow Burn Theme 4: Fake Dating Self-Rec Round: Pride

July 2023

Theme 1: All-Time Favourite Theme 2: Soulmates Theme 3: Established Relationship Self-Rec Round: Favourite WIP

August 2023

Theme 1: Love Spells/Potions Theme 2: Curses / Enchantments Theme 3: Creature Fics Self-Rec Round: Drama Scenes

September 2023

Theme 1: Omegaverse Theme 2: Fairytale AU Theme 3: Sci-Fi AU Theme 4: Modern with Magic AU Self-Rec Round: World Building

October 2023

Theme 1: Ghosts Theme 2: Fae Theme 3: Horror Self-Rec Round: Whump

November 2023

December 2023

Theme 1: Kid Fic Theme 2: Sibling Relationships Theme 3: Reunions Theme 4: Holiday Fic Self-Rec Round: Family Dynamics Bonus Round: Favourite of 2023

◇◇◇

A masterlist of the round-ups from 2024 and onward can be found here.

What is Favourites Friday? – The Basics

  • a different theme is announced on Friday each week; FF recs must match the theme of the week
  • only one FF rec per person per week/theme; actually pick a favourite!
  • FF recs must be unique within that week/theme; no double-posting the same fic for one theme!
  • no self-recs during regular rounds
  • only self-recs during self-rec rounds (last Friday of each month)

If you want to never miss a FF rec, or would like to participate and share your own favourites; join us on the Discord TheMerlinLibrary!

About the FF round-up lists:

  • Recs are listed in the order they were posted on the Discord; the order does not imply any sort of ranking.
  • The pairing given in this list is the main pairing of each respective fic – please read the tags for any possible minor or side-pairings, as well as any potential warnings or triggers.
  • Pairings and Eras are given as tagged in each respective fic. (?) signifies that the tags were unclear and I do not know enough about the fic to fill the gaps.
  • Round-ups are compiled on the weekend of the week after the respective theme of the post (when the new theme has already been anounced), to avoid omitting potentially belated FF recs.
  • Since I am running FF alone, it is not always possible for me to have the round-up list up immediately – please be patient.
  • The weekly round-up is not a guarantee! Again, I'm running this alone, so it can only be posted for weeks when I have enough time on my hands to compile a list. If you'd like to help out, feel free to contact me on Tumblr ( @zaharya ) or Discord.
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Does anyone else do this?

Do you ever go on ao3 and go to your favorite ship tag, and look at the first page and sigh. Not because there isn't anything good... it's just that you read it all and are up to date on all fics your subscribed to. And your just refreshing the screen hoping that someone posts something. And you just reprimand yourself because people have lives and don't write for only your pleasure. So you just go on tumblr but you very quickly read any updates for anything to do with the tag. And now your back to that purgatory again. So you go to tiktok, but your fyp is kinda meh and you're also caught up on your mutuals and following. Again your in purgatory you go back to ao3 and again no updates. No new fics. You can't just go to another Fandom or another ship because the ship you were looking for is the only ship your in the mood to read.

SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY FIC RECS PLEASE SEND THEM MY WAY. I AM INTERESTED IN MERLIN AND ARTHUR, FRIENDSHIP OR RELATIONSHIP. (but since I am already updated on the relationship part, please send friendship merthur.)

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mortalmab

Merlin puts up a sheet in the armory where all the knights can see. It’s their names in brackets like a tourney list. They were not aware there was a tourney coming up? What is this?

They notice Merlin observing them and making some notations. Not just during practice but all day. When he sees them around the castle, when they are relaxing at the Rising Sun, everywhere. It’s getting unnerving.

After a few days, some of them have moved up in the lists and some have not. And they have no idea why. Sir Ban seems to have bested Sir Agravaine (though let’s be honest, most of them would say they weren’t surprised). Sir Gareth won against Sir Kay and would now be facing off against Sir Devore who had won against Sir Mellion.

Now the knights are on their best behavior whenever Merlin is around. They still aren’t sure what they are being judged on, but damn if they aren’t going to WIN!

The next time the brackets go up, more knights are knocked out of the running for…whatever the criteria are.

The knights are now doing their absolute best on the practice fields. King Arthur commends each of them for their form - on point like he has never seen. Some kind of fire has been lit under them and he doesn’t know why but he likes it!

The next brackets go up and still they are no closer to figuring out why the winners are winning. You would think they would be insufferable about it - like any tournament - but since they don’t know why they were winning, they can’t be sure they are doing the right thing to win next time.

The knights of Camelot are suddenly the most chivalrous, most well behaved, most dedicated to their craft in all of Albion. The people are amazed at their sudden kindness and generosity. Meanwhile each of them grow more and more paranoid as the brackets keep going up.

Quests! Maybe it was quests? The knights start going out on quests and the word fame of Camelot spreads.

Arthur cannot figure out what has come over them all.

Arthur: Merlin, have the knights seemed…different to you?

Merlin: oh, you mean since I put up the lists?

Arthur:…what lists?

Merlin: the lists where they think they are competing with each other.

Arthur: competing for what?

Merlin: I have no idea what they think they are competing for but they sure are working hard to win it!

Arthur: and how exactly are you determining these “winners?”

Merlin: oh I’m just flipping a coin. They don’t know that though and they are all being extra nice to me😁

Arthur: so this was all…

Merlin: for shits and giggles, yeah

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In which Merlin finally mustered up the courage to tell Arthur...
Arthur: What did you want to talk about that was 'oh so important'?
Merlin: *sweating* *deep breath* I'm Emrys.
Arthur: You're embarrassed?
Merlin: No, what? I said I'm Emrys.
Arthur: Is that like a stage name? Ooooh you want to be a bard, why didn't you say so?
Merlin: *throws arms up frustrated* No, Arthur, I'm Emrys. Magic incarnate, the prophesied one.
Arthur: *skeptical* I doubt your lute playing is THAT good Merlin.
Merlin: *groans in frustration* You know what I'll try again next time... *starts walking out*
Arthur: *shouts after him after realising he said something wrong* I'M SORRY, I GET IT NOW, THE MAGIC OF MUSIC IS VERY IMPORTANT TO YOU.
Merlin: DROP IT ARTHUR.
Arthur: *muttering to himself*...I should get him a new lute to apologise...
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regulusrules

There’s something about the finale that I can’t just gatekeep inside mbarbyc and need to scream over with you guys. This right here

Arthur's in soo much pain here, right? He was stabbed in his fucking chest, holding onto Merlin for dear mercy. But do you notice how Arthur immediately asks Merlin not “where are we?” or “how did we get here?” or even “what happened to the battle that I just spent countless hours trying to win for my beloved kingdom?”.. but instead:

Where have you been?”

Which translates in Arthur Pendragon’s love language to: Oh Merlin, I feared I would die without seeing you once more. I feared I only hurt you last we spoke. I looked and looked everywhere for your face, hoping I’d be strengthened with your presence, hoping I would find the armour you enclose over my heart. Oh, Merlin, why did you leave me?

Because let’s be honest, did Arthur care about Camlann? Yes. Did he care about his men? Yes. But did he care miles more about Merlin to the point that he was the person on the forefront of Arthur’s mind? The source of his relief and subsequent misery? Yes.

And I swear to you guys, in my eyes, nothing hurt this man about the magic reveal more than thinking that Merlin didn’t love him just as much as he did.

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chipinabag

I fucking hate this Fandom, right when I think this episode (which BTW I re-watched yesterday and cried about) can't get any sadder. It does. I'll be in the corner crying of yall need me.

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reblogged

Time for today's silly Merlin au! This time featuring himbo Arthur!

I think that the show should have leaned into the whole "Merlin's technically a creature of magic" aspect, both in terms of being magic incarnate and kin to the dragons, and I think Arthur should have also been forced to come to terms with it as well. However, this is Arthur we're talking about, so of course he wouldn't come to the right conclusions right away.

In this scenario, around season 5-ish, there's an evil sorcerer seeking revenge against Camelot for the purge who puts a spell on all of the humans in Camelot, one that would weaken them and cause such fatigue that no one would be able to even stand up after a while. But it's a powerful and taxing spell to cast, so the sorcerer can only afford to target the humans in Camelot to keep the number of targets as low as possible. Besides, what could the livestock in Camelot do to stop him anyways?

So everyone in Camelot is falling under this spell, and Arthur and the knights are rushing to prepare for battle against the sorcerer to make him lift the spell. However, with each hour that passes, everyone grows weaker and weaker.

Merlin does, of course, know that this spell has been cast and what it does, but he doesn't feel its affects and assumes that his magic is protecting him. He acts like he's growing weaker so he doesn't fall under anyone's suspicions for the wrong reasons. However, after Merlin summons and talks to Kilgarrah for advice on how to break the spell, Kilgarrah informs him that Merlin wasn't protected by his magic, but rather by the fact that he isn't truly human.

And Merlin decides to unpack the implications of that some other time, because he's got a kingdom and a prat to save.

Fast forwards to the knights getting their asses kicked by the sorcerer and the evil sorcerer preparing to kill Arthur, who's lying on the ground with his eyes closed. All the other knights were knocked out by a blast from the sorcerer, but Arthur's still barely clinging to consciousness, yet he's too weak to even open his eyes. All he can do is listen helplessly as the sorcerer prepares to kill them all.

But then the sorcerer yelps, as if he were hit by something. Arthur's hope skyrockets as the sorcerer yells "You! How are you even still awake?! Every single human in Camelot should be feeling the full effects of the spell by now!" Arthur thinks for a moment that one of his knights has found enough strength to overcome the spell and fight back, but that hope is quickly dashed when he hears Merlin's voice responding like he isn't tired in the slightest, saying, "Well it's a good thing I was never really human then."

Merlin decided to say that to throw the sorcerer off-kilter enough to distract him and give Merlin an advantage in the fight. Besides, Merlin can see that all of the knights, including Arthur, are knocked out on the ground, so there's no harm in admitting it to this sorcerer who he's definitely going to have to kill.

Arthur, meanwhile, is still conscious and completely reeling from Merlin's words. What the hell did he mean he wasn't human?! Has some vile magical creature taken Merlin's place?

After the battle (which sounded to Arthur like a bunch of grunts, pained yelps, and a final, wet gurgle), Arthur could feel the effects of the spell lifting, letting him open his eyes with a gasp. He frantically looks around to make sure Merlin's ok, but Merlin's only a few steps away from him, while the sorcerer lies dead on the ground with a sword buried in his chest.

Hearing Arthur's gasp, Merlin turns to him with a relieved smile and helps pulls Arthur to his feet. Arthur, meanwhile, is too stunned to even ask how Merlin of all people managed to kill a powerful sorcerer by himself, but Merlin's giving some unbelievable explanation that involves distracting the sorcerer and then getting a miraculous opening and stabbing the sorcerer. Arthur's nodding along, but inside, he's really searching man who might be Merlin or might be some magical imposter posing as Merlin, as awful as that is for Arthur to consider, for any signs that he's truly Merlin.

If he's an imposter, Arthur has to give him credit, he plays his part well. The man in front of him looks exactly like Merlin, talks like Merlin, walks with Merlin's lanky gait, and seems to know everything Merlin knows, even their inside jokes. Still, Arthur needs to be sure, so after they get back to the castle, Arthur goes down to the vaults and grabs a secret object that Uther used in the purge that could detect illusions and glamor magics. It was a simple clear crystal in the shape of a sphere and small enough to fit in the palm of a person's hand, but if someone or something that was using magic to alter their appearance came into contact with it, the crystal would glow with a bright light.

Arthur plants the sphere in his chambers and disguises it as a new paperweight. The next day, Arthur pretends to accidentally knock it off his desk, sending it rolling across the floor, and orders the maybe-Merlin to pick it up and bring it back to his desk. Maybe-Merlin rolls his eyes in a perfect imitation of Merlin and walks over to the crystal. To Arthur's shock and relief, the crystal doesn't glow when Merlin picks it up, so he definitely is the true Merlin.

But then that leads Arthur to a horrible conclusion: the Merlin he knew wasn't a human, and never was. And the only creatures with the ability to look convincingly human were creatures of magic.

Oh god, Merlin was a creature of magic.

Arthur decides that, in order for him to plot an appropriate course of action, he needs more information. Namely, he needs to know what exactly Merlin is.

So, Arthur sneaks into the library and secretly takes some of the bestiaries, searching for what manner of creature Merlin truly is. Arthur tries not to jump to the worst possible conclusions, but all of the creatures of magic that can take human form that Arthur knows of are horrible monsters that prey on humans. Take the sidhe and the lamia for examples!

But people don't randomly go missing or turn up dead from monster attacks very frequently in Camelot, and Merlin cries when Arthur so much as shoots a bunny, so if Merlin's some sort of monster that kills and eats humans, he's doing a piss poor job at being one. So, Merlin must be some sort of creature that doesn't hurt humans, which certainly narrows down the list.

Arthur eventually finds a list of peaceful, human-like creatures of magic, and he starts trying to narrow down what Merlin is. He couldn't be an elf, since his ears were huge and round, not pointed. He couldn't be a gnome, he was too tall and gangly. He couldn't be a nymph, he spent too much time indoors to be a nature spirit. He couldn't be a leprechaun, he didn't have a beard or an affinity towards gold. He couldn't be a fae or a sidhe, he doesn't make deals with anyone (besides when he goes gambling at the tavern). And he certainly couldn't be a dragonlord, they were all dead!

Arthur was just about to give up when he finally found what he was looking for! The book's passage on fairies described them as benevolent relatives to the fae who would often disguise themselves as humans and would bring good luck and fortune to whoever befriended them, while sometimes engaging in some fun mischief! That must be Merlin!

Come to think of it, Arthur did have some great moments of luck, some of them almost miraculous! Morgana's magic failing her the day of a battle, defeating a dragon single-handedly, surviving the questing beast's bite, and of course defeating monsters that were said to only be killed through magic. And Merlin had been there for all of those events!

The book also describes fairies as creatures that love all living beings and are closely connected with nature, which makes perfect sense considering how much Merlin hates hunting! And fairies could see into the true hearts of people, which was how Merlin always knew if a person was untrustworthy!

It all made so much sense! This even explained Merlin's random "visits to the tavern", when Arthur knew that Merlin rarely ever drank. According to the book, fairies could only maintain their human forms for so long before they needed to spend some time in their smaller winged forms.

The book even addressed how fairies could be born from a union between a particularly powerful fairy and a human, which even explained why Merlin never knew his father and how Merlin could be a creature of magic while having a human mother!

Now that he knew the truth, Arthur felt so much relief! His best friend wasn't some diabolical monster, he was just a playful and friendly fairy trying to live as a human! It made so much sense!

And now all Arthur had to do was prove it. All evidence pointed to Merlin being a fairy, but he needed concrete proof before he could take any action. According to the book, the blood of a fairy in a human disguise sparkled under the light of a full moon. So, Arthur devised a plan to take Merlin out on an overnight hunting trip the day before the next full moon and "accidentally" cut Merlin's arm with one of the crossbow bolts. Arthur would then bandage the cut for Merlin and, after a couple hours, insist on changing the bandages, and pocket the first bloodied bandage.

Sure, Arthur felt guilty about purposely cutting his friend, but this was Merlin's fault for keeping the fact that he wasn't human a secret over their ten years of friendship! So, Arthur goes through with his plan, and when he held the used bandage up to the moonlight after Merlin had fallen asleep, he has to hold back a gasp as the red blood on the cloth shimmers and turns a bright golden color. Well, the book was right, the blood certainly sparkled!

(It was a shame that Arthur never read into warlocks, and how the magic in a warlock's blood made their blood turn gold under the light of a full moon.)

Arthur then turned to look at his peacefully sleeping friend, and swore that he would do everything he could to help his friendly little fairy.

Shortly after that revelation, Arthur starts actively noticing all of the strokes of luck he has. Bandits can never land a hit on him because they're too busy getting knocked out by tree branches or tripping over roots, his baths and meals are always the perfect temperature no matter how long he waits, and his injuries all heal at near-impossible rates. Hell, Arthur couldn't even recall the last time he got sick with something as small as a cold!

So Arthur tries to do little things for Merlin to show him his appreciation, like giving Merlin flower crowns (which fairies are said to like and Merlin absolutely adores), giving him a shiny silver mirror (fairies are supposed to like shiny things, and Merlin's never had a proper mirror before), and giving Merlin parts of his own meals as a food offering (which Merlin of course isn't about to turn down).

(Arthur's also kinda frustrated at the lack of information about fairy courting rituals lol!)

But Arthur isn't the best at keeping secrets, so the knights of the round table eventually catch him trying to set up a nice little fairy ring for Merlin in the garden, and they also "figure out" that Merlin is a fairy, and it all spirals from there until the entire castle is trying to show their appreciation for their fairy friend.

Merlin's very confused by all of this (since Arthur's terrible at actually communicating, Merlin doesn't know that Arthur thinks he's a fairy), but he's not about to turn down all of these lovely gifts!

And there's lots of different directions the story could go from there! A pretty funny scenario would be some rival king catching wind of how Camelot's great victories are all because of their king befriending a kind fairy, so he kidnaps Merlin in an attempt to make Merlin grant him such great luck and victory in battle. However, all they do to imprison Merlin is pour a circle of salt around him (since they firmly believe that fairies cannot cross a barrier of salt).

Merlin's just kinda raises an eyebrow and thinks that this is the weirdest kidnapping ever, steps over the salt, and escapes back to Camelot.

Thank you for reading through my rambling! :D

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Merlin: well, if I was Emrys

Merlin: AND I'M NOT-

Morgana: *suspiciously and reluctantly crosses out Merlin’s name on the list of possible Emrys suspects*

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It's starts with a coin, they are rare in his time not because of the magic in the world, but because of the population of the world.(there is about 1 every 100.) he is given his first one when kilgharah tells him of his destiny. Of course when he asks he is only given a riddle as an answer. A riddle he figures out only after he is holding Arthur's dead body. He carries that one around his neck with a leather cord to keep it there.

A coin is floating over nimuah's body after she is struck by lightning, he often questions if it is because he killed her or because he masters the power of life and death. He collects it anyways.

A coin is around Cornelius Segan's neck with a gold chain when merlin fights him, he manages to grab it before he kills him.

Freya gives him one during her final moments with merlin.

His father gives him a coin with a silver chain, while he dies. Merlin now keeps that one on and arthur one day relizes where he got that chain but he doesn't asks questions he just gives merlin a silver chain and tells him (more like orders) to swap the leather cord for the silver one.

When he meets gwaine he noticed a silver chain around his neck with a crescent moon, a ring and a coin but he doesn't ask for it he is too distracted by saving gwaine's life. He never asks about it, but he does sorta eyes the chain every once in a while.

Lancelot is given one during his time with Percival but sadly gives merlin it when he relizes that he is going to sacrifice himself for merlin. He doesn't know why but it feels right to give it to merlin. He guesses it will help merlin with his destiny in the future.

Mordred gives him one when he becomes a knight hoping it will get him on merlin's good side. (It does not) later on when he is dying on the sandy planes of camlann he smirks at the thought of the coin he has given Emrys and when his fate lies ahead now that he has stabbed the once and future king.

A coin floats over morgana's dead body after merlin stabs her and arthur watches as the coin floats to merlin and merlin grabs it. "We are finally at peace." Again merlin doesn't know why he is given the coin, for killing a high priestess or because he has killed morgana and brought peace.

Arthur now relizes that he is going to die it his last moments with merlin. He manages to grab the chain around his neck and puts it in merlin's hand when he says "thank you". He doesn't know if it was because he was dying but it felt right and his body felt light as he closes his eyes.

Merlin now relizes what the coins mean and what kilgharah's riddles means.

Gaius gives him a coin after merlin comes back from avalon and has earned the title of court physician. That night Gaius passes in his sleep, merlin now carries that coin with his father's coin.

His mother said that she was given the coin when she gave birth to him. She gives it him as he holds her hand as she passes.

Percival gives him the necklace that gwaine wore right before he goes on a patrol mission. Merlin tries to give it back, begging him to take it back. Telling him he will die if gives him the necklace. Percival smiles and pulls him into a hug, "I know." He says into merlin's neck. Merlin was quiet after his tears stopped. He is silent during the knights death ceremony.

Leon and Gwen both died in their sleep both giving him a coin. Leon was given his after he was saved by the druids. Gwen was given by her brother before he died. She didn't relize she had it after she was released from morgana's spell. She cried over her brother that night with arthur to comfort her.

Merlin, now alone, leaves camelot and spends a couple of decades in his hut by the lake of avalon.

He tries to throw the coins into the lake but he wakes up wet and the coins where they had were previously.

He is mugged for them multiple times, but he wakes up alone, bloody and the coins in his pouch and around his neck.

When he burned he returned back from the ashes again with the coins.

As years go by he becomes anything that would get him close to people. Not because he wants to but because he has to. He needs the coins.

physician,

teacher,

Student,

painter ,

poet ,

lover,

whore,

robber,

cop,

Bank teller,

Book store owner,

Centuries has passed by and the coins are even more rare as before, over time they became more and more harder to find. Now not because of population but because of magic in the world. Now it maybe 1 in 5,000 people have a coin.

He had time and the magic (though not as strong as before) to help him achieve his goal.

Time passes he now only needs one more, one more to finally join his friends in avalon. One More and he can leave this world and move on.

The time has come and merlin has bumped into someone and he feels it. He feels the coin on this person. He looks up to apologize he stubbles back and lands on his ass.

This man. He has seen this man. In his dreams. In his nightmares reminding him of his failures. Of his destiny.  His other half.

"Watch where your going you clumsy idiot, do you know who I am?"

Merlin now confused and now exciting where this final life with this reincarnated arthur will take him, but he is excited.

"No, but I know that your a pompous prat!"

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l0vedove

Watcher google drive

i think the title is pretty self explanitory

Only ghost files on it atm but Mystery Files and Puppet History are next. Watcher has back pedalled on deleteing all their free content to lock it behind a pay wall but y'know what? maybe I just dont want to give them ad revenue anymore, which is evil but screw them. Also they may still back pedal on their back pedalling, which is to many pedals anyways.

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