Fanfics Are One Of The Best Things That Humanity Has Come Up With. I Fucking Love Reading Stories About

WAIT THE THIRD CLIP??? WHERE HES MANHANDLING HIM INTO AN ALCOVE?? LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE SNEAKING OFF TO DESPERATELY MAKE OUT WITH EACH OTHER

They’re boyfriends here. My edit. I make the rules. They’re dating.

concept: Arthur dies at Camlann and Merlin’s magic goes feral and resurrects him right then and there. like, he doesn’t heal him, Arthur is actually dead and Merlin is just like “nope” and bends the laws of life and death for him.

and what if Arthur comes back changed? like maybe he takes something back with him (an ability, some sort of magic?) and Merlin has to help him adjust

I’m sure there are probably fics like this- please drop any recs!

Please, more your thoughts on arwen ☺ I feel like it's a taboo, but I don't know why.

It does feel taboo! But it shouldn’t be, because that’s not what fandom is meant to be about.

Now. I am going to try to be succinct, but I have strong doubts about how successful I’m going to be, lmfao. I have Many Thoughts™️, head is extremely full. In fact it’s taken me several sessions of coming back to this ask and adding more to my draft post to capture everything, so. 🤷🏻‍♀️ We can safely throw succinct out the window.

I want to start out by saying that I love both Gwen and Arthur as characters; just adding that as there seems to be this odd idea in fandom sometimes that if I don’t ship them together, it’s because I hate one of them. I also am going to preface this miniature novel (lol) by specifying that the characterisations I love are based on those in season 1 of Merlin — that’s what I see as their canon characterisations.

Okay, so in no particular order, here are my thoughts on Arwen and why it just doesn’t do it for me.

A sunburst does not an epic love story make. The writing of their love story is just so mediocre and half-arsed, and it’s particularly obvious given we have several points of reference to compare to. The BBC really did just go “okay, he’s a boy, she’s a girl, they’ve known each other for years and had absolutely no interest in each other until One Day™️ he stays in her house and they kiss and there’s a sunburst behind them — peak romance bby!!!!”

The BBC any time there’s a romance scene: SUN BURST SUN BURST SUN BURST

Tbh, even this dismal effort could have been a cute — if not super compelling — love story IF we hadn’t had such obvious alternatives to compare to, for both Gwen and Arthur.

Arthur is not Gwen’s type

Gwen clearly shows us — pretty much from episode one, actually — what type of person she falls for, and how she acts around them.

She canonically has a major crush on Merlin almost as soon as she meets him, and ditto with Lancelot. This tells us a lot about the men she is drawn to. Both Merlin and Lancelot are the type of men who unashamedly wear their hearts on their sleeves; they are open, kind, easy with their affection, and just so… lacking in ego. I think it’s also important that they’re “ordinary men”, as Gwen herself puts it — they’ve both come from commoner backgrounds, so there’s a level of understanding between Merlin, Lancelot and Gwen that will never be there with Arthur.

Also, I love Arthur to bits, but he does have an ego, and he’s much more blustering and posturing about things. While he does broadcast every single emotion from his eyes, lmao (babygirl xx), he isn’t easily open and genuine like Merlin and Lancelot are. Gwen herself points out that he’s not her type, early on in the show.

She also turns down Gwaine, and in some ways Gwaine is similar to Arthur in that he’s more showy and macho, on the surface. Gwen likes men who show tenderness and sincerity.

Personally I’m a Gwen/Lancelot stan through and through, but I can also understand shipping Gwen with Merlin or Morgana — the chemistry and connection is genuinely there in the show, so it just makes more sense to me.

Gwen is not Arthur’s type

For one, she’s a woman. Lmfao. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

The main thing that’s lacking in Arthur and Gwen’s relationship, for me, is banter. The BBC tried to show they were in love by making it all cute and sweet, but I actually think that shows a fundamental lack of understanding of their own characters — particularly Arthur. Arthur isn’t sweet — not in an outwardly normal way, anyway. He’s emotionally constipated and shows his affection by punching people in the arm and calling them names; pulling their pigtails, essentially. We don’t get that with Arthur and Gwen, and it’s a shame because I think it would have made them feel like actual humans who might just possibly be in love.

It’s also not just Arthur’s relationship with Merlin that demonstrates this — the way he acts with Morgana also shows us what Arthur looks like with his guard down, with the people he’s closest to. Yes he can be sincere and earnest, of course, but he also bickers a lot with the people he’s closest to. This is part of his personality! It’s part of his love language! It’s also something I’ve seen in my own relationships and the relationships of my friends — the banter and shit-talking is part of the affection. But Arthur is never like that with Gwen, so it just feels like an act; like Arthur is being who he thinks he should be with a woman he’s courting, rather than actually being himself.

Also, Arthur doesn’t stare at Gwen for 37525 minutes a day with his whole heart in his face. Like we SEE what Arthur is like when he’s pining for someone, and it’s just LACKING in his scenes with Gwen.

OKAY ARTHUR. Christ on a bike.

But back to my first point, about Arthur and women. I know this isn’t the most popular headcanon, but I think it’s actually really integral to Arthur’s character that he’s gay. There is something SO comphet about his character that is just so important. It’s about the repression, the fact that he’s had to mould himself into exactly what he needs to be, to be palatable to his father. It’s the fact that he CAN’T be gay, because he’s the prince, because he HAS to marry a woman for the sake of the kingdom and so he bottles it all up and refuses to even look at it. This is further reinforced by the fact that Arthur — on multiple occasions — has to be literally enchanted in order to show interest in objectively attractive women. The boy is gay.

But even if the BBC had taken the time to, oh, I don’t know, develop the chemistry between their TWO MAIN LOVE INTERESTS lmao, the love story still falls flat in terms of being dissonant with their characters:

Arthur wouldn’t have married for love

Look; it’s a nice idea. But it again fundamentally ignores his character, and what drives him. Arthur is THE epitome of self-sacrificing miserable loser. We see it time and time again; he would sacrifice anything for the sake of his people, for the betterment of the kingdom. And the reality is, that would mean marrying for political advantage. It doesn’t matter if Gwen would be a ‘good queen’; what would have really mattered is securing a political ally and doubling your lands, resources and armed forces by marrying royalty from another kingdom.

What annoys me about this, too, is that it actually would have made the love story SO MUCH more interesting. Give me Arthur marrying Mithian, and pining over Gwen from afar, while she marries Lancelot and moves on; angsttttttty and delicious. THAT would have been a rich love story, and true to character. So much better than a fucking sunburst.

Gwen and Arthur don’t understand each other as much as others

I kind of mentioned this earlier, about Lancelot being an ordinary man and how this connects Lancelot and Gwen, because he understands what it means to live an unprivileged life. Arthur does not.

Now, Merlin is also a peasant, but the key difference is that Merlin does understand what it’s like to have the weight of destiny and otherness on your shoulders. He gets Arthur, because like Arthur, it’s his responsibility to carry immense power, and use it — hopefully — well. They really are two sides of the same coin.

This isn’t to say that people from different backgrounds can’t fall in love, but again this is my personal opinion, and I think that Arwen falls flat as a romantic dynamic because Merlin gets Arthur in a way Gwen can’t, and Lancelot gets Gwen in a way Arthur can’t.

The writing lets Gwen down so bad

Aside from my personal feelings about the ship dynamic, the writing of their love story also just really lets Gwen down. She’s turned into this 2D prop that is only there to be Arthur’s love interest, or the object of a love triangle, and then later on, to simply be his queen. I love Gwen’s character in season 1 so much; she’s so awkward and delightful and genuinely sweet and soft yet strong… and then the BBC go “well! She’s Arthur’s wife now so that’s that”.

Not to mention… the writing also goes super hard on the romantic and homoerotic subtext between Merlin and Arthur, without having the same amount of romantic subtext (or text) about Gwen and Arthur. Like, if you’re going to tell a story about two men who are each other’s destinies, are two sides of a coin, and have a dumb old dragon spout shit like “a half cannot hate that which makes it whole” — sorry, but how am I meant to take Arthur and Gwen’s ‘romance’ seriously? They barely spend any time on Arthur and Gwen’s relationship development in the show; meanwhile, every second episode Merlin and Arthur are trying to die for each other and Arthur is saying shit like “You’re the only person I trust” (ARTHUR YOU HAVE A WIFE) and “You’re the only friend I’ve got and I couldn’t bear to lose you” (IS YOUR WIFE NOT ALSO YOUR FRIEND??) and then DIES IN THE ARMS OF THE MAN HE LOVES (again: not his wife????). Also this is the man who took the woman he was courting on a picnic where he told her in no uncertain terms that, if he could do anything, he’d run away somewhere nobody knew him to live a quiet domestic life, oh, except of course, he’d take Merlin. WHAT

This is the same man that also made sure Merlin was there when he proposed to his wife, and took Merlin on his anniversary picnic with his wife. Arthur, I see you, and I know what you are. Lmfao

I really need to wrap this up because you can clearly see I’m unhinged, but yeah, at the end of the day — Arthur and Gwen’s relationship wasn’t adequately developed in the show; it felt rushed and hollow a lot of the time, to me; their chemistry was lacking, compared to other pairings between each of them and other characters; and it was a disservice to both of their initial characterisations.

in no particular order, here are a few of my faves i've read in the last 6 months or so (as someone relatively new to the fandom, so apologies if you've already read all of these!)

To Be A Hero - fancyh | 78k words | rating: M

Modern magical AU where Merlin is a forensic scientist by day, magical vigilante by night, and Arthur is the police detective trying to catch him. SECRET IDENTITIES! SUCH A SLAY!

 Charting Stars on a Stained Glass Ceiling - mornmeril | 80k words | rating: E | 🎙️podfic by Amanita_Fierce

Futuristic scifi AU, with a love potion, forced proximity and fake dating. Such a beautiful build, and so much yearning. And the podfic is SO PROFFESSIONAL. This fic feels so addictive, and it genuinely has ALL of my favourite tropes

The Arduous Taming of a Difficult Prat - Saladscream | 55k words | Rating: E

SUCH a good canon era fic that made me cry like a baby (in the best way)

My Way Home is Through You - evaelisaa, Leandra | 118K words | rating: E

I still think about this fic to this day. IT'S AMAZING. Such a genius blend of canon and modern era.

of course anything and everything written by horsecrazy

and I finished the Loaded March series by footloose earlier this year, which was excellent and definitely worth the time inverstment

and as a last resort, if you've read all of these amazing works, I am writing a dumb little Farmer Wants a Wife AU because why the hell not

Help! I think I’ve run out of good #Merthur fics! Share your fave??

happy valentine’s 💞

country bumpkin merlin not knowing anything about city life and accidentally courting arthur without knowing

merlin, watching gwen give lancelot her favor: why do you do that

gwen, heart eyes at lance and not paying that much attention to the conversation: so he knows i’m rooting for him

merlin, with an Idea: ah.

gwaine, lover of chaos, pisser offer of nobles and royals alike, ultimate wingman: merlin…you have such lonely lips. shall i introduce them to mine?

merlin, unaware of the game gwaine is playing: so you can steal my breath away? i think not, scoundrel

arthur, crushing his goblet in his hand:

merlin: arthur’s been in a bad mood recently :( i should cheer him up

merlin, remembering when arthur was put out when merlin brought morgana flowers and not him: i know just the thing

merlin, bringing a bouquet of carnations, roses, and tulips and setting them on arthur’s table while he’s eating breakfast: good morning, sire

arthur, trained on flower language in hopes that one day when he was to take a queen he could woo her easily, trying not to audibly choke on his sausage as he reads merlin’s declaration of love sitting in front of him:

arthur, who recently found out about merlin’s magic and was trying to find a way to bring it up, catching him in the act and watching merlin panic to explain himself:

merlin, Freaking: and i swear to you arthur, i have only ever used it for you. my magic is yours. my life is yours. i am yours. i would never do anything to harm you. i have protected you for years and will continue to do so at your side if you’ll have me

arthur, already believing them to be courting, desperately trying to figure out if that was a proposal for marriage or not but tired of being confused and deciding fuck it: here.

merlin, taking it: i…uh…huh?

arthur, watching merlin with hawk eyes and trying to figure out what he’s thinking and feeling: it’s my mothers sigil

merlin, confused as FUCK but is focusing on the fact that arthur is handing him something of his mother rather than a death sentence: my…my lord?

arthur, realizing how scared merlin’s must be about him finding out about his magic and trying to comfort him while also proposing, killing two birds with one stone: i will always keep you at my side, merlin, so long as we both shall live. if you’ll allow me.

merlin, almost collapsing with relief and tearing up, smiling at arthur as if he had parted the storm clouds to allow sun to shine down on them in that moment: of course…of course, arthur. always and forever.

merlin, watching the castle staff rush this way and that: wow. this banquet must be incredibly important

sir leon the long suffering, day one ride or die, one of the original merthur shippers: banquet? merlin, this is for your wedding

merlin, overworked and exhausted: my WHAT? to WHO??

leon, regretting everything he’s ever done in his life that led him to this moment: to…arthur?

merlin, over joyed but also absolutely befuddled: i’m getting married to ARTHUR?????

leon: you two have been courting for the past year or so, have you not?

merlin: i’ve been COURTING ARTHUR?????? FOR A YEAR?????????

it’s always so disappointing to see AI art on my dashboard. like, come on. I thought we all agreed to keep AI out of fandom??

sorry yeah we queer coded your boyfriend. he’s arguing with his brash and emotionally reserved rival over something trivial for comedic effect. they have a special, vaguely suggestive bond that sets them apart. hm? oh uhh. yes they are blue and red

The awkward smile/unsure expression Merlin does after repressed Arthur punches him on the shoulder, because he doesn’t know how to communicate feelings (just kiss and make up).

One thing I love about Merlin is that when Arthur finds out about his magic, one of his first thoughts is "you fucken cheated during that game we played almost 20 years ago"