Country Bumpkin Merlin Not Knowing Anything About City Life And Accidentally Courting Arthur Without

fanfics are one of the best things that humanity has come up with. i fucking love reading stories about my favorite characters from people who have the same brainrot as me

Merlin (talking about gay marriage): “it’s legal now”

Arthur (thinking he means sorcery)

*cue a bunch of hilarious miscommunications*

do you guys think merlin and arthur knows its legal now

writing fanfics is so great because you can literally write ANYTHING. that idea’s been done before? who cares? that trope is overused? use it again! that exact plot line happened in another piece of media? call it a fusion fic!

as long as YOU are writing it and enjoying it, GO FOR IT. fanfiction is literally free!

UGH Look at how cute and young they looked

Rewatching Merlin S1E2, when Merlin is dressing Arthur for his duel and just generally being incompetent because it's like his first day on the job, but imagine:

Merlin: *hands Arthur his helment* great, yeah, I think you’re all set

Arthur: Aren’t you forgetting something?

Merlin: *frowns*

Merlin: Oh, right

Merlin: *kisses Arthur*

Arthur: *turning red* No, you idiot! My sword!

ok, i did in fact scour the internet for fics like this (and sadly there is not many! @ fic writers please feed us) but here is a list of ones i found:

Kissing Lessons by objectlesson [6k words | Rating: E]

Summary: Arthur is a shitty kisser. Merlin offers instructional assistance.

This fic is AMAZING and it is a CRIME that it's still incomplete! (but still reads well as a standalone piece)

People Should Marry for Love, Not Convenience by Fantasy_lalaland [6k words | Rating: M]

"So you don't know a lot about women." Arthur stands, strides over to his bed and flops ungracefully onto the mattress. "But you do know lots about men. Well I'm a man. Show me." Merlin's definitely hallucinating. There'd been something in the wine because this was impossible. Arthur waiting for him to come to his bed and fool around with him. He doesn't move from his spot on the floor. He only peers curiously at Arthur from beneath his heavy eyelids. "How will that help you know how to bed your wife?"

That Awkward Age by i_know_its_0ver [3k words | Rating: M]

Arthur is secretly in love with Merlin but can't tell him, so he comes up with a plan to get Merlin to help him "practice" his kissing.

Only Incidentally Homosexual by itsspanner [6k words | Rating: T]

“Merlin, would you be willing to kiss me?” Arthur asks nonchalantly, sounding perfectly monotone as if that was an acceptable thing to ask Merlin first thing in the morning, or at any time really. Merlin and Arthur kiss for the first time, never intending for a repeat. But who were they kidding really by thinking that they could stop once that they had a taste of what they wanted most? Or 5 times Merlin and Arthur kiss and one time they actually do anything about it

These probably exist, perhaps I even read them, but that's only more reason to ask for recs:

Arthur has never been kissed. As prince, it's hard for him to go out and try these things, and he mentions it to Merlin.

Merlin may or may not opens up the idea that he and Arthur could... You know...

Practice

I fully believe Arthur says Merlin’s name in his sleep regularly. Not everyday, but too often for it to be platonic. Am I supposed to believe that the two times he does it on screen are the only times it has happened?? No.

i simply NEED this fic

Idk if i read this in a fic or my delusional sick ass made this up, but can you guys imagine like Merlin with canonical curls and Arthur having a serious thing for them. Like his hair is always too short to see, but then one day Merlin just like was soo incredibly busy that he just forgot about his hair for weeks and then Arthur notices and like

short-circuits.

Bonus points if merlin is kind of insecure about his hair, because lets be real most curly kids are at some point, and we get fluff. Like just cotton flufff. Because turns out people like his hair??? Which makes merlin really happy but a little awkward, and then we get to see the nice side of arthur because Arthur can make fun of merlin, but god forbid merlin actually thinks something bad about himself.

Because god merlin is so cute. And arthur will be damned if he lets that cute, gorgeous, handsome- wait what? Nm he'll analyse that later. He'll feel bad if merlin is insecure, because then he can't insult him properly. Yep, thats what he's going with.. Nothing further.

Of course, its not a merlin fic without emotionally-repressed!arthur pretending to not be a simp.

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??

It’s always either or