Mightybog - Your Local Bog/Otherworld

Sliding my timely fic into the reblogs here. Credit for the prompt goes to @futurepastme

Love Hold You 'til the Morning Sun

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61994113/chapters/158533081

Teen and Up | No archive warnings

At the whims of his magic and the demands of the world's various turnings, sleep never came easily to Merlin, that is, until he met Arthur.

Or

Lifelong insomniac Merlin discovers that he sleeps better next to Arthur, and better still in his arms.

You cannot convince me that Merlin and Arthur didn’t cuddle on trips through the forest. Like come on, Arthur literally sleeps holding his pillows and you cannot convince me Merlin doesn’t run cold in his sleep. There’s no way they didn’t cuddle, even if they didn’t mean too, they definitely woke up curled around each other. They never spoke about it, but it just got to the point where they’d place their cots right next to each other because they knew they’d end up snuggling at some point through the night.

I'm sick of internet negativity, so let's combat it: reblog this and saying something nice/pay a compliment to the prev in the tags.

hi!! youre one of the few blogs i know of that are familiar with both the bbc show and arthuriana so i was wondering if you could point me towards texts where gawain and merlin have any sort of meaningful interaction? or is prose merlin all there is? i love their dynamic on the show and i know it's probs one of a kind in arthuriana but it would be interesting to compare and contrast :) thanks!

so far i only know of Robert de Boron's Prose Merlin for this. In that text, Merlin had lots of interactions with the teenaged Orkney siblings and especially Gawain, acting as an annoying coach to them (i.e. shapeshifting into different disguises to insult them into getting their asses together, or just messing with these royal teenagers and making them laugh.)

Welsh Myrddin did not have anything to do with Arthur and Gwalchmai in the Mabinogion either. Actually Myrrdin isn't in Mabinogion.

Myrddin and Taliesin were the only ones who had some interaction in The Black Book of Carmarthen.

In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Merlin never met Arthur and his knights. because he left Uther's court permanently after he helped Uther beget Arthur by Ygraine

Medieval French! Merlin (Robert de Boron tradition) usually just takes a backseat and disappears from the narrative once Arthur properly rules the throne after he defeats the rebelling barons.

I haven't gotten far in the Vulgate Cycle myself (it is also based on Robert de Boron's initial work). Maybe there are more there. But I have no idea yet.

In Thomas Malory, Merlin would often only appear to Knights after some tragedy happens to tell them that he knew everything all along.

I don't know much about post-Thomas Malory Arthuriana yet to tell you if there are other adaptations where Merlin is constantly involved in the (mis)adventures of Arthur's Knights either.

.....

Here's the thing we have to remember tho. Legendary Merlin is supposed to be this old wise trickster fart that everyone in King Arthur's court fears and respects (because of his powers and because he has advised and assisted many kings). If he forms some bonds with the knights then it's because he wanna mess with them or he knows something that they don't, or he has some quests for them.

It's what we have to keep in mind when looking at arthurian legends and even classic arthurian tv shows and movies.

BBC Adventures of Merlin is an anomaly because they made their Merlin into one of the youngest, and most inexperienced characters (who doesnt even have a court rank). As a result, he formed some rather interesting dynamics with characters that bore the same name as Arthurian Knights.

...

thanks for trusting me with this question. i hope you find the stories you are looking for.

just finished my rewatch of all five seasons of bbc's merlin, and my sister and i decided it would be fun to keep count of how many times merlin saved arthur's life throughout the show, so here is an accumulated list:

(disclaimer: it is absolutey possible that we weren't always watching attentively and that we might have missed a case or two, but i like to believe that it is kinda accurate)

times arthur would have died if merlin hadn't saved him

• 1x01: dagger thrown at arthur ⟶ merlin slowed down time to pull arthur out of the way

• 1x02: snakes supposed to poison arthur ⟶ merlin exposes the snakes and arthur kills them

• 1x04: poisoned cup ⟶ merlin drinks from it instead

• 1x05: a griffin attacks them ⟶ lancelot fights it, and merlin enchants his sword/spear so that it’ll work

• 1x07: arthur is to be sacrificed to the sidhe ⟶ merlin saves him

• 1x10: ealdor gets attacked, including arthur, and they’re doomed ⟶ merlin creates a huge wind gust to save everyone

• 1x13: questing beast attacks arthur ⟶ merlin kills it

• 1x13: questing beast bites arthur, the poison is fatal ⟶ merlin gets water from the cup of life to save him

• 2x01: arthur gets attacked by a huge boar (?) ⟶ merlin uses magic on a crossbow to save him 

• 2x01: camelot gets attack by living stone statues ⟶ merlin destroys them

• 2x02: assassin tries to kill arthur during a tournament on horses ⟶ merlin uses magic to make the assassin fall off his horse

• 2x12: dead stone statue thingies attack arthur and his knights ⟶ merlin uses magic to make the ceiling cave in and pulls arthur to his side, separating them from the statue thingies

• 2x13: arthur's wounds are getting worse ⟶ merlin finds balinor in time and has him help him (HONORARY MENTION)

• 3x04: arthur gets attacked (again) ⟶ merlin uses magic to save him (again)

• 3x07: morgause tries to kill arthur with a fire beam ⟶ merlin uses magic to make the fire beam explode before it reaches arthur

• 3x08: arthur gets attacked by wyverns ⟶ merlin uses his dragonlordness to stop them

• 3x08: arthur wears the eye of the phoenix bracelet (sucking life-force out of someone) ⟶ merlin takes it off him

• 3x12: arthur gets shot by a poisoned arrow ⟶ merlin uses magic to help him, then brings him to gaius

• 3x13: an army of immortal deads attacks camelot ⟶ merlin empties the cup of life of their blood to “kill” them all

• 4x01: dorochas attack arthur ⟶ merlin pushes arthur out of the way to get attacked instead

• 4x04: their food gets poisoned ⟶ merlin uses magic to save them

• 4x05: arthur fights in a duel and is about to be striked down ⟶ merlin makes the opponent’s sword fall out of his hands with magic

• 5x01: arthur and their men get attacked by morgana’s men ⟶ merlin saves arthur and gets them away from the battle

• 5x04: arthur almost got beheaded by odin ⟶ merlin created an earthquake with magic to stop that

• 5x06: dark tower traps ⟶ merlin parries an arrow with magic

• 5x07: arthur gets poisoned ⟶ merlin saves him with magic

• 5x08: someone wants to shoot an arrow at arthur ⟶ merlin attacks the shooter and saves arthur

• 5x11: kara tried to stab arthur ⟶ merlin uses magic to save him

and the one time he fails: 5x13, mordred stabs arthur with a sword forged on a dragon’s breath — merlin doesn’t get him to avalon in time

which brings us to a total of 27.5 times that merlin has saved arthur's life throughout the show

we also kept track of all the times arthur saved merlin's life, so here is that list:

• 1x03: merlin tells uther he is a sorcerer to save gwen (which would’ve gotten him a death sentence) ⟶ arthur convinces his father that merlin is lying out of love for gwen

• 1x04: merlin drank from a poisoned cup ⟶ arthur gets the antidote for him

• 1x11: arthur drinks poison so that merlin won’t have to ⟶ it was actually a sleeping draft though (HONORARY MENTION)

• 1x13: questing beast attacks ⟶ arthur pulled merlin out of the way

• 2x12: dead stone statue thingy attacks merlin ⟶ arthur strikes it down

• 4x01: a dorocha flies towards merlin ⟶ arthur pushes him out of the way

• 4x08: the lamia was about to kill merlin ⟶ arthur comes in at just the right time

which brings us to a total of 6.5 times that arthur saved merlin's life

it's kind of crazy to me to compare it like this, because on the one hand 27 near-death experiences across 65 episodes doesn't really sound like a lot. but at the same time i can't believe that arthur would have died 27 times if it hadn't been for merlin. and to think that arthur only saved merlin's life 6 times though?? oof

on my next rewatch, my sister and i want to make a list of all the moments that contributed to arthur's death (a so-called "doom list" with moments like merlin poisoning morgana in 2x13 etc), but that one is definitely going to be more subjective, since it'll be based on things that we think could've prevented arthur's death if they had gone any different

very excited to debate all the things that could go on that one!

I'll never drop my sword.

scenes from my recent animation.

Irish megalithic sites illustrated by Paul Blades.

Merlin/Arthur | Mature | No Archive Warnings Apply | Word Count: 100

Merlin's Magic Revealed | Merlin's Scars Revealed | Angst and Hurt/Comfort

For @merlinmicrofic with the prompt "nightfall"

As night falls Arthur learns about Merlin's sacrifices and fears for his safety

☾ ☾ ☾

After all was aired, once the word “lied” had been thoroughly exorcised from Arthur’s tongue, he could only listen.

Night fell and the veil was lifted from his eyes.

How could he match such devotion? He could not, he could only whisper his promises of protection, his thanks into Merlin’s skin.

Merlin wore his scars all too casually.

“They were easy,” Merlin whispered, his lips on his bare shoulder. “A small price, Arthur, and I’d pay it again.”

“No,” Arthur replied. “Never again.”  

“Fate punishes that kind of talk.”

In Arthur’s dreams, fate was Uther warming himself on Merlin’s pyre.

this was going to be a normal lancelot edit but it suddenly turned into a compilation of him having just one braincell 😭