Gaius: So I Have A Riddle For You. There Are Two Islands Connected By A Bridge Capable Of Holding Only

Merlin by Amanda Tolleson Freehand digital painting on corel with oil paint brushes

arthur: where’s my idiot manservant?

arthur: *clears throat, cups hands over mouth like a megaphone*

arthur: NECKSCARVES SALE BUY ONE GET ONE HALF OFF

merlin: *from the other side of the fucking forest let’s be real here* diD SOMEONE SAY NECKSCARVES

arthur: found him

Ah yes.  Me.  My beloved.  And his 500-pound, fire-breathing dragon

Gwaine: In my defense, your honor, I simply do not vibe with the law

Before I let you pass, I’ll give you a little advice, as  C o u r a g e , there are two more things you’ll need to complete your quest.  S t r e n g t h  and  M a g i c . ❦ for @achillces

the disaster duo constantly meeting in dangerous situations is so funny. i can’t deal with them

Seeing that my other Guinevere piece is getting notes again, I thought I should share my most recent art of her!

Took me 32 hours to complete 💕🥺

I still miss Merlin 😭

*please dont steal my art, thanks*

I would bet that at one point, probably S1-2, Arthur tries to teach Merlin how to use a dagger and then immediately regrets his entire existence.

Think about it. He has a manservant who is bound and bloody determined to follow him literally everywhere, sometimes literally into the jaws of malevolent creatures, without armour or weapons or even basic survival skills, it seems. Of course, Merlin is more likely to injure himself than anyone else with a sword, so Arthur decides to give him a dagger instead. He was given his first dagger when he was seven. Merlin should be able to handle that, right? A dagger is small enough to be carried around without general suspicion, it’s not heavy enough for balance to be an issue (of course, with Merlin, balance is always an issue) and it doesn’t really require the skill a sword does. Hold the dull end, stick the pointy end in whoever is trying to stick you. It isn’t like Merlin isn’t ever in the thick of a melee anyways, so hopefully he’ll never need much skill.

At first, it almost seems like a good idea. Arthur gives Merlin his very own blade (it was Arthur’s, years ago, so it’s far better than whatever kitchen knife peasants normally use) and it takes, oh, about three days for him to realise that he’s made a terrible mistake when a guard comes and tells him that Merlin almost shanked someone in the tavern and started a brawl that sent three people to see healers. According to Merlin, his almost-victim had been talking unfavourably about Arthur. When he refused to shut his trap, Merlin decided to shut it for him. At dagger-point. He doesn’t know if he should be flattered or horrified than Merlin is willing to bleed someone just because they were speaking ill of Arthur.

This becomes a Thing.

Arthur has Regrets.

Arthur, trying to wrest the dagger out of Merlin’s hands: Let – let go. You can have it back when you learn some self-control. Daggers are for good servants who don’t assault people at random.

Merlin, keeping a death-grip on the hilt and glaring at the drunk who’d compared Arthur to the King: It isn’t random.