Arthur Repeals The Magic Ban! Yay! Druids, Catha, And All Others Come To Camelot To Live Peacefully Under

arthur "babe what's wrong?" pendragon

y’all weren’t lying when you said this fic was god-tier, i am HOOKED

was completely unprepared for this military fic to have a whole fake dating plotline… absolutely screaming and kicking my feet rn this is the best

celebrating the season by reading Loaded March for the very first time, wish me luck

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??

that one scene where merlin was going through arthur's drawers and when arthur woke up he panicked and said "i'm looking for woodworms" and arthur just gave him an unimpressed look through his sleepy eyes and asked with the softest voice, "...before breakfast?" the way he sounded so unguarded and so vulnerable in that moment. the way he trusts him with his life. do you even understand?? this is the guy that jumps out of his bed at the slightest noise and pulls out his sword. he woke up to find merlin basically in his face and he was unfazed. he felt so safe and so comfortable around him it's actually making me sob

thinking about all the times Merlin had to go through something deeply traumatic and Arthur had no idea, and Merlin just had to laugh it off and make up a lie

I YEARN for more scenes where Arthur actually notices something's wrong and tries to comfort Merlin (even if he doesn't know the full truth)

Like, I just watched S2E09 and this scene at the end:

Arthur: something's been upsetting you, hasn't it?

and then he tries to cheer him up, and smiles at him like this:

I just need more of this! soft arthur comforting sad merlin

they’re so in love

It’s always either or

MinorMagicalAbility!Arthur Prompt

Arthur has a minor magical ability: he can hear people’s thoughts when he touches them (unluckily for him, he never learned to control it so he gets this overwhelming and painful rush of thoughts whenever he touches someone… but as the crown prince he can usually avoid touching people and he always wears gloves).

BUT THEN he meets Merlin, his sassy and clumsy manservant. He doesn’t let Merlin dress him at first, too scared of the barrage of thoughts/feelings/memories/emotions. But one day Merlin trips and Arthur instinctively catches him, accidentally brushing his skin. He braces himself for a loud flood of Merlin’s thoughts, but instead all Arthur can sense is just a 'wall' and he can’t hear anything beyond it. So he starts becoming super handsy with Merlin to try and figure out why Merlin is different. Arthur has never had to wonder what someone was thinking before, but Merlin is a complete mystery to him.

Cue: Arthur watching Merlin closely to learn his mannerisms and facial expressions, Arthur asking Merlin about his life back in Ealdor, Arthur falling in love in the process.

BUT LIKE ALSO Arthur is touch-starved because of his gift, and suddenly Merlin is the one person he can touch without being completely overwhelmed with their toughts, and Arthur takes every excuse to manhandle touch Merlin because he's never been able to be physically affectionate before.