{ Merlin Big Bang 2013 masterlist | A-H }
Below are the 2013 Merlin Big Bang entries, alphabetically listed A-H:
Title: A Beacon In The Dark
Author: zairaalbereo
Artist: crimsonswirls
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, past Arthur/Mithian, Gwen/Lancelot, Morgana/Leon
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 96k
Warnings/spoilers: non-con, violence, prostitution related dub-con and humiliation, panic attacks, forced drug use (magic repressing medication), minor character death. One scene includes non-graphic whipping, bondage and asphyxiation (also prostitution related). There are some very vague references to recreational drug use, suicide and incest.
Summary: In a society where people with magic are persecuted, Arthur is a lawyer who takes on a prominent murder case. The suspect is a sorcerer: Merlin, Arthur's former childhood friend, who vanished at sixteen when his magic was discovered. Now, ten years later, Merlin is a prostitute, and Arthur has to solve more than Merlin's secrets to save the man he still loves from execution. A story about two friends, who after losing their hope, their innocence and their way, finally find each other again.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost (Please comment on Ao3!)
Title: (A Change) Would Do You Good
Author: geekslave
Artist: frances_veritas
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur; Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Uther, Balinor, Mordred, Morgana, Vivian, Freya, Daegal
Rating: PG
Word count: 44, 061
Warnings/spoilers: Brief violence
Summary: Arthur is a pampered prince who has reached the point where he is tired of his father making every decision for him, including who to marry. When he is betrothed to the horrible Vivian he manages to convince his father to allow him to set off away from Camelot to "sow his royal oats." His sister Morgana on the other hand decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to actually find himself another bride. So along with his best friend and "bodyguard" Gwaine he heads to the small town of Ealdor. He's skeptical about finding true love here. But when he's robbed he meets an unlikely savior that could turn out to be exactly the person he was looking for.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: A Dream In Time Gone By
Author: queasy_mouse
Artist: blood_songs90
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Gwen/Lance
Rating: R
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Dub-con, Prostitution, Child Abuse, Character illness, some violence, some homophobia, lots of angst
Summary: When Arthur Pendragon is released from twenty years' hard labour in the salt mines, he must find a way to survive in a world that hates and fears him. He finds something to live for in an impoverished prostitute called Merlin, and his daughter Gwen.
Fifteen years later, there's a revolution happening, and Lancelot has to choose between his duty to his friends and the woman he loves. As the red flags of the revolution fly, the world is poised on the edge of a precipice, and no one is going to escape unscathed.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: A Lantern in the Dark
Author: reverie_indigo
Artist: ptelefolone
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Percival, Merlin/Gwaine, Arthur/Gwen, Hunith/Other, Gaius/Alice (implied)
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 118, 981
Warnings/spoilers: Graphic violence, Mature themes, Asphyxiation, Dub-con (just to be safe), UST, Consensual sexual violence, dark!Merlin, dark!Arthur
Summary: Canon-era, around the same time as S5. Tired, frustrated, and lonely, Merlin has spent nearly a decade as a servant pining after Arthur and made little progress in achieving Albion & restoring magic, while Arthur’s powers of denial are failing regarding Merlin’s secrets, and their relationship is fraying. Merlin seeks comfort and happiness in the ample arms of Percival, but can anyone really measure up to Arthur? Meanwhile, Morgana is catching onto Merlin too, and is carefully planning an assault meant to overwhelm even Emrys. Merlin’s distraction and lack of direction could have terrible consequences when Morgana makes her move final move...
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: A Matter of Choice
Author: jadesfire
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Gen (background Arthur/Gwen)
Rating: PG
Word count: 85k
Warnings/spoilers: Moderate violence, no worse than you’d see in the show.
Summary: Three years have passed since Arthur drew the sword from the stone and reclaimed his throne from Morgana, and Camelot is enjoying its golden age. Magic once again flourishes, and through his alliances with the druids, the kingdom has unrivaled peace and prosperity. When Merlin disappears in the icy wastes of Ismere, Arthur sets out to find him. After all, he can’t leave his friend, court sorcerer and the last dragonlord as Morgana’s prisoner. But the stakes are higher than just Merlin’s life, and while Guinevere protects Camelot from a traitor at home, Arthur must prevent Morgana from finding the power she is looking for. Because if he cannot stop her, then it is not just Camelot, but the whole of Albion that will suffer. AU of Arthur’s Bane, sequel to my story The Last Secret, but no knowledge of either is required.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: A Modern Manservant
Author: mamalaz
Artist: mithborien
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lance, Will/Morgana
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 113k
Warnings/spoilers: Spoilers for all seasons, Past Major Character Death, Reincarnation, Sex Magic, Promiscuous!Arthur
Summary: A modern magical comedy very loosely based on Ugly Betty. Publishing king Uther Pendragon has had enough of his playboy son seducing every female assistant he has ever had so he hires Merlin, a man he is sure Arthur will never sleep with. Merlin would be more insulted by this fact if he wasn’t so busy trying to juggle his duties, save Arthur's skin from ruthless fashionistas and keep his magic a secret at the same time. Expect appearances by oil-lathered knights, the occasional mad druid, a perverted Will and a mental caretaker who lives in the basement and keeps harping on about coins and destiny.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: A Siren’s Song
Author: hyunni27
Artist: wassereis
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Uther, George and others
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: (Hints on) non-con, (memories of) violence, major/character death, near major-character death
Summary: Canon AU. Captuered at the lake of Avalon months ago and sold to the circus Merlin had been travelling through out Albion until that day. When they enter the great hall of Camelot to entertain the prince on his 21stbrithday he can sense something unexplainably familiar. Something reminding him of home. But it's not until he steps forward and lays eyes upon Arthur Pendragon that Merlin understands. He knows he has to escape, has to lure the prince to follow him. In order to return home forever he has to kill one last time. He's a siren after all.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: ACAB
Author: neuroticnick
Artist: silver_falcon24
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot, Freya, Gwaine, Leon, Morgana, Uther, Elyan, Gaius, Percival, Hunith, Kilgharrah, Will
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 98, 414
Warnings/spoilers: Mental illness, drug use, graphic violence/death, angst, mild dub-con (to be safe)
Summary: In the year 3013, Camelot is under the strict rule of Uther and his police force of Protectors. The dystopian city is overpopulated and struggling with massive crimes despite (or possibly because of) police brutality. A gang of anarchists called the Knights certainly aren't helping things either, so Uther dispatches his only son Arthur to go undercover and take them down from the inside. However, the Knights teach Arthur the meaning of family, and with their guidance he sees Uther for what he really is: a tyrant. Oh, and he also falls in love with the dope-smoking, free-running scout named Merlin.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Ace of Hearts
Author: beccadearie
Artist: -afterism
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, side Gwen/Lance
Rating: M
Word count: 32k
Warnings/spoilers: Some comments against asexuality.
Summary: One night when out with friends, Merlin meets Arthur and quickly realizes that they have something in common: they are both asexual and trying to make their way through life and love in a sexual world without going crazy. What starts as hanging out between friends evolves into something more, and Merlin and Arthur decide to plunge headfirst into this tenuous relationship of give and take between the two of them.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: All My Tears Have Been Used Up On Another Love
Author: bend_me_baby
Artist: tink-sky-reid
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwaine/Percy, Gwen/Lance, Merlin/Others (past)
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 38.7k
Warnings/spoilers: Past emotional abuse, hurt/comfort
Summary: Merlin has never been loved. It sounded silly, but it was the truth, no one had ever fallen in love with him, no matter how many times he did or almost did himself. Every single boy along the way wanted one thing from him or another; and it wasn't him. Arthur intended to change all that.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: All the Ships Are Left to Rust
Author: paopu_parachute
Artist: suchaprince
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Lance/Gwen, Mordred/Kara and slight Gwaine/Morgana
Rating: R
Word count: 36, 689
Warnings/spoilers: Minor character death, blood, violence, mental illness
Summary: (Dinotopia AU) The morning had started off innocently enough, then the warning bells start chiming and suddenly Uther’s mortally wounded, Morgana’s missing, and Arthur (read: Merlin) has the survival of the entire island on his shoulders.
A desperate attempt to save Uther's life finds Arthur and Merlin braving the Great Desert for a sorcerer who brings to light a hidden war on magic and when the two return home, it's to discover that the attack on Uther and Morgana's kidnapping were only the tip of the iceberg: there's a force that wants to reunite the tiny island with the outside world but that in itself may lead to the island's downfall.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Always the Last Place You Look - Or: Merliniana Jones and the Homogay Crusade
Author: thalialunacy
Artist: bizarre_esque
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin ♥ . There's also Merlin/Morgana (of a fashion), Leon/Elena, Gwen/Lance, past Arthur/Gwen, past Arthur/Gwaine, past Morgana/Morgause, Gwaine/Morgana.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 39k
Warnings/spoilers: Mild violence, hospital talk, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, coming-out angst/internalised homophobia.
Summary: Sometimes, destiny is all about bad timing. When Merlin woke up this morning, he expected to go on about his life as a 20-something curse-blocked (don't ask) barista with a cat named Eomer (don't judge) and a tendency to get distracted by his own imagination. He certainly didn't expect to end the day engaged to the woman of his dreams. Probably because he's never spoken to her. She also happens to be unconscious. But she's suddenly his and Merlin finds himself stumbling over exes, ethics, and the fact that she comes as part of a package deal, along with an overbearing father, a group of friends-in-law that should have their own sitcom… and a brother named Arthur, who takes all of Merlin's assumptions about his life and turns them onto their heads. Sometimes, destiny is also about misdirection. (AKA: While You Were Sleeping, Merlin-style.)
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: An Almighty Thud
Author: patria_mori
Artist: dahlia94
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Gwen, Gwen/Lancelot
Rating: M
Word count: 61k
Warnings/spoilers: death, divorce
Summary: When Uther Pendragon first fell ill over a year ago, no one really took notice. He still arrived at work earlier than the secretaries. He still fired employees on a near weekly basis. Then he blacked out during a quarterly review and Arthur found himself the head of a multi-billion dollar business. The more Arthur uncovered as he righted his father's affairs, the more he began to realise that his father wasn't the man he thought he was, and that his enemies were far more numerous than he had expected. Murder and corporate coverups had never been something for which Arthur was well prepared. And Merlin - Merlin never intended to get caught up in any of it.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: An Eternity to Live, a Moment To Die
Author: awyvern
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Mordred, Arthur/Mithian, Uther/Helen (background pairings: Gwen/Lancelot, Percival/Sefa, Arthur/Cenred, canon!Arthur/Gwen); Morgana, the Cailleach, Will, Freya, Leon, Gwaine, Percival, Cornelius Sigan, Cenred, Gaius, Edwin, Elena.
Rating: Explicit/NC-17 (violence and sexual content)
Word count: 40, 212
Warnings/spoilers: Violence, reincarnation, character death (not Arthur/Merlin), angst, hurt/comfort.
Summary: Modern AU (reincarnation). Follows canon up to Arthur’s death in 5x13, but deviates after that. Arthur dies in Merlin’s arms after being stabbed by Mordred, and is sent to Avalon. As it turns out, the Great Dragon was right about something and Arthur gets to live life after life, unknowingly waiting for his destiny and an age-old prophecy to come true.
When Merlin dies, being a creature of magic, he is confronted by the Cailleach and gets the choice to either stay immortal, waiting for Arthur, or to be reincarnated until the two of them are reunited. Unable to imagine living forever with nothing but memories to sustain him, Merlin chooses to forget and be reborn. Morgana gets the same choice, but chooses immortality. What she doesn’t realise is that she will be stuck watching over the very people who caused her death, waiting for them to fulfil their joint destiny and setting her free. She also doesn’t know that her wards are in danger and that the inevitable storm is drawing closer...
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: And No Birds Sing
Author: omi_ohmy
Artist: peasgopopping
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, La Belle Dame Sans Merci aka 'the Lady', brief mention of other canon characters.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 35k
Warnings/spoilers: Angst, canon character death (implied/off-screen)
Summary: Merlin has been cursed and lives as a hermit, knowing he has lost something, although he cannot remember what. One day he finds a knight, weak and injured, by the lakeside.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Any Road Will Take You There
Author: tuesdaymidnight
Artist: tink_sky_reid
Pairing: Arthur/Gwaine, Merlin, Gwen/Leon, Morgana/Percival, Elyan/OFC, OMC
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 37, 500
Warnings/spoilers: Character death (not main), references to homophobia
Summary: By the time Gwaine is 17, Uther Pendragon has destroyed both his family's financial stability and his burgeoning relationship with Arthur. So Gwaine leaves England and lives all over the world for the next eleven years, until he gets a call from his sister that their father is dying. Gwaine returns to make amends for his abrupt absence, but he doesn't want anything to do with Arthur, despite his family and friends speaking highly of him. Eventually Gwaine and Arthur have to interact. Can Gwaine accept the man Arthur has become? Or will he let bitterness take over his heart? Modern AU.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Arthur Pendragon Is Many Things
Author: nomical
Artist: ragless
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lance, Morgana/Leon, Elena/Mithian, Sophia/Will, Freya/Elyan, Vivian/Percy, Morgause/Gwaine, Tristan/Isolde, Nimueh, Kay, Mordred, Daegal, Agravaine, Sefa, Gilli, George, Cedric, Tyr
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 38,433
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Arthur Pendragon can pinpoint the exact moment his life started going downhill. It wasn't when he came out at thirteen because his childhood had been a relatively happy one, if a little light on the expression of affection and feelings. Because his life isn't the plot of a romcom, it wasn't the moment when he met Merlin at a Freshers Week party, got in a fight with him, and subsequently threw up on his shoes. No, the moment his life really went to shit was the day Gwen and Lance got together and broke the pact they had all made four years ago to date outside their group of friends. Because everyone knows that couples spawn other couples, and once all the couples have gotten together, the only thing they have left to do is set up the rest of their single friends. And when you've been secretly pining away after your best mate for the better part of a decade as Arthur has, you'd feel understandably nervous when everyone is suddenly fixated on finding the perfect match for Merlin.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Awake
Author: corilannam
Artist: phoenixacid
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 50k
Warnings/spoilers: Some descriptions of war violence
Summary: King Arthur sleeps in Avalon, waiting to return at the hour of Albion's greatest need. But once a year he awakes and spends a single day with Merlin, who will never, ever leave him.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Below the Darksome Yew
Author: inheritedjeans
Artist: amphigoury
Pairing: Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine; past Merlin/Morgana, eventual Merlin/Arthur
Rating: R
Word count: 44k
Warnings/spoilers: Graphic violence and minor character death
Summary: The Tyrant King Uther Pendragon would have had Emrys under his thumb until the end of his days but for one mistake: the execution of Camelot's Seer Witch. Driven mad with a lust for Pendragon blood, Emrys will not rest until Uther's dynasty is broken and Camelot forever changed, and he will use all the fury of the last living dragon to do so. Alone and unaided, Arthur Pendragon knows he will never have the strength to stop Emrys, nor the power to slay the dragon Kilgharrah. But there's a reason the Druids speak of the glory of the prophesied Trio: It is only with the unity of Courage, Strength, and Magic that Camelot will be saved.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Bend Before the Sea
Author: i_canz-dragon
Artist: patria_mori
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 36, 065
Warnings/spoilers: Sex with a magical creature
Summary: Seeking his birth father, Uther Pendragon, Arthur arrives on the remote Camelot Island in the farthest flung reaches of the Orkneys. Dismayed to discover a tiny, superstitious community obsessed with selkies, Arthur thinks Uther mad until he meets the mysterious Merlin.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Blues: A Year in the Life
Author: madame-beret
Artist: praeparadigm
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Morgana, Gwaine, Gwen, Lance, Leon, Elena, Uther
Rating: T
Word count: 40k
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Merlin knew starting at the highly prestigious Cambridge University would bring a wealth of new opportunities and experiences. But he had never thought that would include falling in with royalty. Soon he's sucked into a world where everyone has a title and a duty to uphold. And maybe one or two people are also prats. Quickly, though, he realises one prat in particular might be something. This is a modern royal AU told through a series of events and meetings between Merlin and the Prince of Wales
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: But Doth Suffer a Sea-Change into Something Rich and Strange
Author: emrys_mk
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Merlin, Sir Leon, Gaius, Gwen, Original Male Character (six-year-old child), Kilgharrah, Percival, Original Male Character (eventually Arthur), Mithian, Morgana
Rating: PG
Word count: 37k
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Three weeks after Arthur's death, a distraught Merlin is lost and alone. He is unsure if there is still a place for him in Camelot, but when Gwen tells him she is with child, he has reason to stay, and a new purpose, one made all the more important when the child's very existence will depend on him. When the six-year-old is near death, Merlin seeks help from a stranger … who is so much more.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Caged Little Bird
Author: deminos001
Artist: blood-songs90
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Merlin/Gwaine
Rating: NC-17 (explicit)
Word count: 49, 015
Warnings/spoilers: Rape/non-consensual sex, dubious consent, Stockholm syndrome, dark!Arthur, bondage, kidnapping, sex toys, minor character death, drugging, violence
Summary: Arthur Pendragon has almost everything he could ever want; he’s smart, handsome, charismatic, and rich. However, he longs for the same kind of perfect, loving relationship his own parents had enjoyed…the kind of relationship that generations of the Pendragon family have enjoyed. But in all his searching, Arthur has never found the right person to love, the other half of his soul... until now. Enter Merlin Emrys. A recent university graduate, Merlin arrives at Pendragon, Inc. to interview for an internship, but has a fateful run-in with the company’s gorgeous CEO instead. Arthur knows immediately that there’s something special about the man he hires as his new Personal Assistant. It’s not long before Arthur realizes that he and Merlin were meant to be together, each formed for the other’s happiness. Fate has brought Merlin into his life and deep down, Arthur knows he would stop at nothing to make Merlin his own. If only Merlin felt the same way about Arthur. However, Merlin’s initial reluctance only inspires Arthur to work harder to win his love. Because it’s always been said, true love conquers all.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Calling All Heroes
Author: darkravenwrote
Artist: ortthree
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, side Gwen/Lancelot
Rating: T
Word count: 34, 769
Warnings/spoilers: mild slash, language, moderate violence
Summary: It isn't Arthur's fault he's a villain. He was just raised that way. People should be feeling sorry for him, really, have you seen the mask and costume combos Morgana's been making him wear? Sympathy please. And of course, because the world hates him that much, he would be sent to Camelot, where the only living warlock with any power left studies, apparently destined to be a superhero. The battle of nature vs nurture flares; will they choose to be Merlin and Arthur, fated lovers, or Emrys and The Dragon Prince, rivals to the bitter end?
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost (Arthur) / Link to art: Art masterpost (Merlin)
Title: Candle, Cup, and Casket
Author: eternal_jazz
Artist: aku_rin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot, past Gwen/Lancelot/Arthur, Others
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 234k
Warnings/spoilers: Temporary Major Character Death, Reincarnation-fic, Character Death (Canon deaths only), War and Military violence, Graphic description of physical injury, Lovecraftian Horror, Nightmares, High Fantasy Science Fiction fusion, Intense Worldbuilding, Fluid Relationships, mentions of pastlife Merlin/Other pairings, mentions of pastlife genderswap.
Summary: In some far distant future, Arthur heir Pendragon, Captain of the galley-class Kilgharrah and Prince of the Camelot, answers a distress call from the alien-besieged Ealdor. There, he finds Merlin, a plausibly-deniable sorcerer with an irresistible grin. This is the story of how the terraformation of planet Albion was threatened by the prejudices of the past, of finding solid ground and taking a stand, and of giving yourself reasons to trust. A phantasmagorical space opera, high fantasy in a science fiction setting, this work includes cyborg Arthur, fighter-pilot Morgana, spectral dragons, Lovecraftian horrors, sentient spaceships, and a little bit of that kissing stuff.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Capes and a Strong Sense of Justice
Author: wiccanisms
Artist: dylogger
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Morgana, side Lance/Gwen
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: violence, blood, crime and such, allusions to attempted rape at the beginning
Summary: Prince is a superhero, his actions fitting the truest sense of the word. Warlock is new to this whole "saving people" thing, but Prince sees potential in him. Before long, they're partners. Arthur Pendragon is the son of the CEO of Camelot Publishing. He sometimes seems like an arrogant prat, and he gets a bit mad when the new guy from proofreading spills dark soda all over his nice, new shirt. Merlin Emrys is mortified, and Arthur realizes how overly horrible he was, but Uther has already caught wind of the incident and Merlin is made Arthur's new assistant so they can smooth things over. Enter Witch, a woman with potent magical powers and a tendency to wreak chaos across the city of Albion. Arthur and Merlin struggle to balance their lives, spending their nights as heroes and their days as workplace friends. Tensions rise, and Prince and Warlock are still clueless as to each other's true identity- or the identity of the villain that threatens their friends and families.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Come Alive
Author: kianspo
Artist: raideen9
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Lance, Gwaine, Elena, Morgana, Morgause, Leon, Owain, Percival
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 50k
Warnings/spoilers: attempted sexual assault, non-consensual drug use, violence
Summary: Arthur Pendragon, the youngest Detective Inspector in Camelot, whose job is rumoured to be cursed, stumbles over a series of crimes no one can explain. Merlin Emrys, a constantly broke student working at a shady nightclub to pay the bills, comes in as a sketch artist - one with an unusual gift. The shadow of magic, supposedly eradicated centuries ago, makes things so much more dangerous for everyone. It's hardly a good time to fall in love.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Counterpoint
Author: planejane
Artist: alby_mangroves
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin and the rest of the gang
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 56k
Warnings/spoilers: Some violence and bloodshed, references to off-screen torture and capital punishment, recreational intoxication
Summary: Dystopian AU. Twenty years after The Great Purge and the continuing effects of a High Priestess’s curse, Albion is a nation on the brink of collapse. Not even High Chancellor Uther Pendragon’s Compatibility Regime can curb the plummeting population. To add to his troubles, his wayward son, Arthur, makes no disguise of his unwillingness to wed. With good reason. Arthur is secretly leading the Movement, a covert organisation plotting to overthrow the government and return magic to Albion. Not to mention, it’s been foreseen that Arthur’s future, his destiny, is an indomitable union with a warlock-not marriage to the farm-boy matched to him by Uther’s Compatibility Machines.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Crime in Magic City
Author: chicago_ruth
Artist: fuckyeah
Pairing: Arthur/Gwaine/Merlin
Rating: M
Word count: approx 56k
Warnings/spoilers: Choose Not to Warn
Summary: September 1927: Chief of Police Tristan de Bois is murdered, and Private Investigator Merlin Emrys is a convenient suspect. After all, he's been suspected of magic use almost since the first day Prohibition went into effect. Now Merlin needs to try to clear his name, keep the gangs of Camelot from running the city to the ground, and sort out the mess that is his social life.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Cry Havoc
Author: k_nightfox
Artist: altocello
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, also featuring Gaius, Kanen, multiple minor OC's and a few walk-throughs by Uther (Big apologies but the girls just didn't fit in this one.Despite the fact that I would have loved to have both of them, there just wasn't a way to work them into any significant roles)
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 81k
Warnings/spoilers: Graphic Violence, Graphic Rape, Child Abuse/Molestation, Slavery, Angst, Fluff, Magic Suppression, Film Fusion, Canon AU, Romance, Bottoming from the Top, Rimming, Oral Sex, Fingerfucking
Summary: Enslaved by Kanen since childhood, Merlin has been raised to believe his collar is all that keeps him in check. That it is the line between the beast that bites and the dog that obeys…but either way, he's still an animal. Then one day Kanen's gang is ambushed and in the ensuing confusion, Merlin escapes and flees to Camelot where he attempts to start a new life. However, his old master isn’t about to let him go without a fight.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Do not go (Gentle)
Author: blostma
Artist: haezofdaust
Pairing: Ygraine/Uther; Nimueh/Aredian; Kara/Mordred; Merlin/Morgana; Gwen/Arthur; Gaius, Gwaine, Cornelius Sigan, Freya, Will, Lancelot
Rating: T
Word count: 40k
Warnings/spoilers: Major Character Death, torture, mental abuse, child abuse, suicidal thoughts
Summary: Haunted by memories of his wife’s death and the Last Stand of the Dragons, Uther captures his destined doom, Emrys, and binds his magic. He thinks nothing of making him Arthur’s manservant in an attempt to humiliate the magic race, but as Merlin grows weaker and increasingly unstable, is this truly the wisest course of action?
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: Don't Listen To A Word I Say
Author: agirlnamedtruth
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur with background Gwen/Leon and Merlin/Percival, past Arthur/Gwen and Gwaine/Percival.
Rating: R (for thematic reasons)
Word count: 50k
Warnings/spoilers: Canon 5x13 character deaths, grief, near death experience, temporary character deaths (including one self-inflicted temporary death), ideation of death, explicit language, explicit descriptions of violence and war, general angst.
Summary: You're gone, gone, gone away, I watched you disappear. All that's left is the ghost of you. Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, there's nothing we can do. Just let me go, we'll meet again soon. Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around. I'll see you when I fall asleep. - Post 5x13 fic where Merlin can't let go of Arthur and convinced that Camelot need is greatest, Merlin accidentally brings him back using the Horn of Cathbad. However, once he's back, it's Arthur than can't move on.
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Title: Enough to Feel Your Breath on Mine
Author: seravia
Artist: whimsycatcher
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Freya
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 39k
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Merlin and Arthur wake up in the middle of a board meeting in the twenty-first century when they were in Camelot just moments before. Now they’re lost in a world they don’t understand, where Merlin is the son of the company owner and Arthur is the employee. Merlin’s lost his magic, Arthur doesn’t know how to not be a king, but somehow the world keeps turning.
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Title: Everybody Goes to Gwaine's
Author: alba17
Artist: p_sharkbait
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Gwaine/Merlin, Leon, Percival, Uther, Elyan
Rating: Mature
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: Infidelity, brief mentions of concentration camps, lots of smoking and drinking
Summary: In the midst of a world torn apart by the war for magical rights, an old love, Merlin, turns Gwaine's life upside down when he appears at Gwaine's Casablanca nightclub with his new partner, the famous freedom fighter Arthur Pendragon. A Merlin/Casablanca fusion.
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Title: Flying Change
Author: magnolia822
Artist: alby-mangroves
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Gwaine, mentions of past Merlin/OMC; Mordred, Mithian, Gwaine, Percival, Kara, Gaius, and others.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 48424
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Living the life of a bachelor on his country estate in Oxfordshire, Arthur Pendragon hasn’t been much of a father ever since his ex-wife took their son to start a new life in America. Seven years later, when Mithian makes plans to remarry and sends Mordred to live with Arthur for the summer, he’s in for a crash-course in parenting. Literally. Mordred is no ordinary thirteen year old-he can set things on fire with the blink of an eye. And he absolutely hates Arthur. Merlin Emrys teaches at the Edinburgh Academy for Magical Students; he loves his job and respects his mentor and headmaster, Gaius. So when the latter asks him to tutor Mordred as a personal favour, he can’t refuse, even though he’d rather sleep on hot coals than spend three months in the country with some stuffy old aristocrat and his spoiled brat of a son. After a few false starts, Arthur and Merlin find common ground in their exasperation, affection, and concern for Mordred, and their mutual attraction quickly blossoms . . . but an unforeseen event threatens their fragile happiness before the summer ends.
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Title: Go On and Break Me
Author: oomnydevvotchka
Artist: chosenfire28
Pairing: Gwen/Morgana, Arthur/Merlin
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 33, 357
Warnings/spoilers: Imprisonment, violence, canonical character death
Summary: When it becomes obvious that the Morgana who has been attacking Camelot is a magical fake, Gwen, Arthur, and Merlin must adjust to having the real Morgana, who has been imprisoned for over a year, back in their lives.
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Title: A Beacon In The Dark
Author: zairaalbereo
Artist: crimsonswirls
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, past Arthur/Mithian, Gwen/Lancelot, Morgana/Leon
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 96k
Warnings/spoilers: non-con, violence, prostitution related dub-con and humiliation, panic attacks, forced drug use (magic repressing medication), minor character death. One scene includes non-graphic whipping, bondage and asphyxiation (also prostitution related). There are some very vague references to recreational drug use, suicide and incest.
Summary: In a society where people with magic are persecuted, Arthur is a lawyer who takes on a prominent murder case. The suspect is a sorcerer: Merlin, Arthur's former childhood friend, who vanished at sixteen when his magic was discovered. Now, ten years later, Merlin is a prostitute, and Arthur has to solve more than Merlin's secrets to save the man he still loves from execution. A story about two friends, who after losing their hope, their innocence and their way, finally find each other again.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: (A Change) Would Do You Good
Author: geekslave
Artist: frances_veritas
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur; Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Uther, Balinor, Mordred, Morgana, Vivian, Freya, Daegal
Rating: PG
Word count: 44, 061
Warnings/spoilers: Brief violence
Summary: Arthur is a pampered prince who has reached the point where he is tired of his father making every decision for him, including who to marry. When he is betrothed to the horrible Vivian he manages to convince his father to allow him to set off away from Camelot to "sow his royal oats." His sister Morgana on the other hand decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to actually find himself another bride. So along with his best friend and "bodyguard" Gwaine he heads to the small town of Ealdor. He's skeptical about finding true love here. But when he's robbed he meets an unlikely savior that could turn out to be exactly the person he was looking for.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: A Dream In Time Gone By
Author: queasy_mouse
Artist: blood_songs90
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Gwen/Lance
Rating: R
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Dub-con, Prostitution, Child Abuse, Character illness, some violence, some homophobia, lots of angst
Summary: When Arthur Pendragon is released from twenty years' hard labour in the salt mines, he must find a way to survive in a world that hates and fears him. He finds something to live for in an impoverished prostitute called Merlin, and his daughter Gwen.
Fifteen years later, there's a revolution happening, and Lancelot has to choose between his duty to his friends and the woman he loves. As the red flags of the revolution fly, the world is poised on the edge of a precipice, and no one is going to escape unscathed.
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Title: A Lantern in the Dark
Author: reverie_indigo
Artist: ptelefolone
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Percival, Merlin/Gwaine, Arthur/Gwen, Hunith/Other, Gaius/Alice (implied)
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 118, 981
Warnings/spoilers: Graphic violence, Mature themes, Asphyxiation, Dub-con (just to be safe), UST, Consensual sexual violence, dark!Merlin, dark!Arthur
Summary: Canon-era, around the same time as S5. Tired, frustrated, and lonely, Merlin has spent nearly a decade as a servant pining after Arthur and made little progress in achieving Albion & restoring magic, while Arthur’s powers of denial are failing regarding Merlin’s secrets, and their relationship is fraying. Merlin seeks comfort and happiness in the ample arms of Percival, but can anyone really measure up to Arthur? Meanwhile, Morgana is catching onto Merlin too, and is carefully planning an assault meant to overwhelm even Emrys. Merlin’s distraction and lack of direction could have terrible consequences when Morgana makes her move final move...
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Title: A Matter of Choice
Author: jadesfire
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Gen (background Arthur/Gwen)
Rating: PG
Word count: 85k
Warnings/spoilers: Moderate violence, no worse than you’d see in the show.
Summary: Three years have passed since Arthur drew the sword from the stone and reclaimed his throne from Morgana, and Camelot is enjoying its golden age. Magic once again flourishes, and through his alliances with the druids, the kingdom has unrivaled peace and prosperity. When Merlin disappears in the icy wastes of Ismere, Arthur sets out to find him. After all, he can’t leave his friend, court sorcerer and the last dragonlord as Morgana’s prisoner. But the stakes are higher than just Merlin’s life, and while Guinevere protects Camelot from a traitor at home, Arthur must prevent Morgana from finding the power she is looking for. Because if he cannot stop her, then it is not just Camelot, but the whole of Albion that will suffer. AU of Arthur’s Bane, sequel to my story The Last Secret, but no knowledge of either is required.
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Title: A Modern Manservant
Author: mamalaz
Artist: mithborien
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lance, Will/Morgana
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 113k
Warnings/spoilers: Spoilers for all seasons, Past Major Character Death, Reincarnation, Sex Magic, Promiscuous!Arthur
Summary: A modern magical comedy very loosely based on Ugly Betty. Publishing king Uther Pendragon has had enough of his playboy son seducing every female assistant he has ever had so he hires Merlin, a man he is sure Arthur will never sleep with. Merlin would be more insulted by this fact if he wasn’t so busy trying to juggle his duties, save Arthur's skin from ruthless fashionistas and keep his magic a secret at the same time. Expect appearances by oil-lathered knights, the occasional mad druid, a perverted Will and a mental caretaker who lives in the basement and keeps harping on about coins and destiny.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: A Siren’s Song
Author: hyunni27
Artist: wassereis
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Uther, George and others
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: (Hints on) non-con, (memories of) violence, major/character death, near major-character death
Summary: Canon AU. Captuered at the lake of Avalon months ago and sold to the circus Merlin had been travelling through out Albion until that day. When they enter the great hall of Camelot to entertain the prince on his 21stbrithday he can sense something unexplainably familiar. Something reminding him of home. But it's not until he steps forward and lays eyes upon Arthur Pendragon that Merlin understands. He knows he has to escape, has to lure the prince to follow him. In order to return home forever he has to kill one last time. He's a siren after all.
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Title: ACAB
Author: neuroticnick
Artist: silver_falcon24
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot, Freya, Gwaine, Leon, Morgana, Uther, Elyan, Gaius, Percival, Hunith, Kilgharrah, Will
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 98, 414
Warnings/spoilers: Mental illness, drug use, graphic violence/death, angst, mild dub-con (to be safe)
Summary: In the year 3013, Camelot is under the strict rule of Uther and his police force of Protectors. The dystopian city is overpopulated and struggling with massive crimes despite (or possibly because of) police brutality. A gang of anarchists called the Knights certainly aren't helping things either, so Uther dispatches his only son Arthur to go undercover and take them down from the inside. However, the Knights teach Arthur the meaning of family, and with their guidance he sees Uther for what he really is: a tyrant. Oh, and he also falls in love with the dope-smoking, free-running scout named Merlin.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: Ace of Hearts
Author: beccadearie
Artist: -afterism
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, side Gwen/Lance
Rating: M
Word count: 32k
Warnings/spoilers: Some comments against asexuality.
Summary: One night when out with friends, Merlin meets Arthur and quickly realizes that they have something in common: they are both asexual and trying to make their way through life and love in a sexual world without going crazy. What starts as hanging out between friends evolves into something more, and Merlin and Arthur decide to plunge headfirst into this tenuous relationship of give and take between the two of them.
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Title: All My Tears Have Been Used Up On Another Love
Author: bend_me_baby
Artist: tink-sky-reid
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwaine/Percy, Gwen/Lance, Merlin/Others (past)
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 38.7k
Warnings/spoilers: Past emotional abuse, hurt/comfort
Summary: Merlin has never been loved. It sounded silly, but it was the truth, no one had ever fallen in love with him, no matter how many times he did or almost did himself. Every single boy along the way wanted one thing from him or another; and it wasn't him. Arthur intended to change all that.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: All the Ships Are Left to Rust
Author: paopu_parachute
Artist: suchaprince
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Lance/Gwen, Mordred/Kara and slight Gwaine/Morgana
Rating: R
Word count: 36, 689
Warnings/spoilers: Minor character death, blood, violence, mental illness
Summary: (Dinotopia AU) The morning had started off innocently enough, then the warning bells start chiming and suddenly Uther’s mortally wounded, Morgana’s missing, and Arthur (read: Merlin) has the survival of the entire island on his shoulders.
A desperate attempt to save Uther's life finds Arthur and Merlin braving the Great Desert for a sorcerer who brings to light a hidden war on magic and when the two return home, it's to discover that the attack on Uther and Morgana's kidnapping were only the tip of the iceberg: there's a force that wants to reunite the tiny island with the outside world but that in itself may lead to the island's downfall.
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Title: Always the Last Place You Look - Or: Merliniana Jones and the Homogay Crusade
Author: thalialunacy
Artist: bizarre_esque
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin ♥ . There's also Merlin/Morgana (of a fashion), Leon/Elena, Gwen/Lance, past Arthur/Gwen, past Arthur/Gwaine, past Morgana/Morgause, Gwaine/Morgana.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 39k
Warnings/spoilers: Mild violence, hospital talk, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, coming-out angst/internalised homophobia.
Summary: Sometimes, destiny is all about bad timing. When Merlin woke up this morning, he expected to go on about his life as a 20-something curse-blocked (don't ask) barista with a cat named Eomer (don't judge) and a tendency to get distracted by his own imagination. He certainly didn't expect to end the day engaged to the woman of his dreams. Probably because he's never spoken to her. She also happens to be unconscious. But she's suddenly his and Merlin finds himself stumbling over exes, ethics, and the fact that she comes as part of a package deal, along with an overbearing father, a group of friends-in-law that should have their own sitcom… and a brother named Arthur, who takes all of Merlin's assumptions about his life and turns them onto their heads. Sometimes, destiny is also about misdirection. (AKA: While You Were Sleeping, Merlin-style.)
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: An Almighty Thud
Author: patria_mori
Artist: dahlia94
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Gwen, Gwen/Lancelot
Rating: M
Word count: 61k
Warnings/spoilers: death, divorce
Summary: When Uther Pendragon first fell ill over a year ago, no one really took notice. He still arrived at work earlier than the secretaries. He still fired employees on a near weekly basis. Then he blacked out during a quarterly review and Arthur found himself the head of a multi-billion dollar business. The more Arthur uncovered as he righted his father's affairs, the more he began to realise that his father wasn't the man he thought he was, and that his enemies were far more numerous than he had expected. Murder and corporate coverups had never been something for which Arthur was well prepared. And Merlin - Merlin never intended to get caught up in any of it.
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Title: An Eternity to Live, a Moment To Die
Author: awyvern
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Mordred, Arthur/Mithian, Uther/Helen (background pairings: Gwen/Lancelot, Percival/Sefa, Arthur/Cenred, canon!Arthur/Gwen); Morgana, the Cailleach, Will, Freya, Leon, Gwaine, Percival, Cornelius Sigan, Cenred, Gaius, Edwin, Elena.
Rating: Explicit/NC-17 (violence and sexual content)
Word count: 40, 212
Warnings/spoilers: Violence, reincarnation, character death (not Arthur/Merlin), angst, hurt/comfort.
Summary: Modern AU (reincarnation). Follows canon up to Arthur’s death in 5x13, but deviates after that. Arthur dies in Merlin’s arms after being stabbed by Mordred, and is sent to Avalon. As it turns out, the Great Dragon was right about something and Arthur gets to live life after life, unknowingly waiting for his destiny and an age-old prophecy to come true.
When Merlin dies, being a creature of magic, he is confronted by the Cailleach and gets the choice to either stay immortal, waiting for Arthur, or to be reincarnated until the two of them are reunited. Unable to imagine living forever with nothing but memories to sustain him, Merlin chooses to forget and be reborn. Morgana gets the same choice, but chooses immortality. What she doesn’t realise is that she will be stuck watching over the very people who caused her death, waiting for them to fulfil their joint destiny and setting her free. She also doesn’t know that her wards are in danger and that the inevitable storm is drawing closer...
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Title: And No Birds Sing
Author: omi_ohmy
Artist: peasgopopping
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, La Belle Dame Sans Merci aka 'the Lady', brief mention of other canon characters.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 35k
Warnings/spoilers: Angst, canon character death (implied/off-screen)
Summary: Merlin has been cursed and lives as a hermit, knowing he has lost something, although he cannot remember what. One day he finds a knight, weak and injured, by the lakeside.
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Title: Any Road Will Take You There
Author: tuesdaymidnight
Artist: tink_sky_reid
Pairing: Arthur/Gwaine, Merlin, Gwen/Leon, Morgana/Percival, Elyan/OFC, OMC
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 37, 500
Warnings/spoilers: Character death (not main), references to homophobia
Summary: By the time Gwaine is 17, Uther Pendragon has destroyed both his family's financial stability and his burgeoning relationship with Arthur. So Gwaine leaves England and lives all over the world for the next eleven years, until he gets a call from his sister that their father is dying. Gwaine returns to make amends for his abrupt absence, but he doesn't want anything to do with Arthur, despite his family and friends speaking highly of him. Eventually Gwaine and Arthur have to interact. Can Gwaine accept the man Arthur has become? Or will he let bitterness take over his heart? Modern AU.
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Title: Arthur Pendragon Is Many Things
Author: nomical
Artist: ragless
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lance, Morgana/Leon, Elena/Mithian, Sophia/Will, Freya/Elyan, Vivian/Percy, Morgause/Gwaine, Tristan/Isolde, Nimueh, Kay, Mordred, Daegal, Agravaine, Sefa, Gilli, George, Cedric, Tyr
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 38,433
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Arthur Pendragon can pinpoint the exact moment his life started going downhill. It wasn't when he came out at thirteen because his childhood had been a relatively happy one, if a little light on the expression of affection and feelings. Because his life isn't the plot of a romcom, it wasn't the moment when he met Merlin at a Freshers Week party, got in a fight with him, and subsequently threw up on his shoes. No, the moment his life really went to shit was the day Gwen and Lance got together and broke the pact they had all made four years ago to date outside their group of friends. Because everyone knows that couples spawn other couples, and once all the couples have gotten together, the only thing they have left to do is set up the rest of their single friends. And when you've been secretly pining away after your best mate for the better part of a decade as Arthur has, you'd feel understandably nervous when everyone is suddenly fixated on finding the perfect match for Merlin.
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Title: Awake
Author: corilannam
Artist: phoenixacid
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 50k
Warnings/spoilers: Some descriptions of war violence
Summary: King Arthur sleeps in Avalon, waiting to return at the hour of Albion's greatest need. But once a year he awakes and spends a single day with Merlin, who will never, ever leave him.
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Title: Below the Darksome Yew
Author: inheritedjeans
Artist: amphigoury
Pairing: Arthur, Merlin, Gwaine; past Merlin/Morgana, eventual Merlin/Arthur
Rating: R
Word count: 44k
Warnings/spoilers: Graphic violence and minor character death
Summary: The Tyrant King Uther Pendragon would have had Emrys under his thumb until the end of his days but for one mistake: the execution of Camelot's Seer Witch. Driven mad with a lust for Pendragon blood, Emrys will not rest until Uther's dynasty is broken and Camelot forever changed, and he will use all the fury of the last living dragon to do so. Alone and unaided, Arthur Pendragon knows he will never have the strength to stop Emrys, nor the power to slay the dragon Kilgharrah. But there's a reason the Druids speak of the glory of the prophesied Trio: It is only with the unity of Courage, Strength, and Magic that Camelot will be saved.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: Bend Before the Sea
Author: i_canz-dragon
Artist: patria_mori
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 36, 065
Warnings/spoilers: Sex with a magical creature
Summary: Seeking his birth father, Uther Pendragon, Arthur arrives on the remote Camelot Island in the farthest flung reaches of the Orkneys. Dismayed to discover a tiny, superstitious community obsessed with selkies, Arthur thinks Uther mad until he meets the mysterious Merlin.
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Title: Blues: A Year in the Life
Author: madame-beret
Artist: praeparadigm
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Morgana, Gwaine, Gwen, Lance, Leon, Elena, Uther
Rating: T
Word count: 40k
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Merlin knew starting at the highly prestigious Cambridge University would bring a wealth of new opportunities and experiences. But he had never thought that would include falling in with royalty. Soon he's sucked into a world where everyone has a title and a duty to uphold. And maybe one or two people are also prats. Quickly, though, he realises one prat in particular might be something. This is a modern royal AU told through a series of events and meetings between Merlin and the Prince of Wales
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Title: But Doth Suffer a Sea-Change into Something Rich and Strange
Author: emrys_mk
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Merlin, Sir Leon, Gaius, Gwen, Original Male Character (six-year-old child), Kilgharrah, Percival, Original Male Character (eventually Arthur), Mithian, Morgana
Rating: PG
Word count: 37k
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Three weeks after Arthur's death, a distraught Merlin is lost and alone. He is unsure if there is still a place for him in Camelot, but when Gwen tells him she is with child, he has reason to stay, and a new purpose, one made all the more important when the child's very existence will depend on him. When the six-year-old is near death, Merlin seeks help from a stranger … who is so much more.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: Caged Little Bird
Author: deminos001
Artist: blood-songs90
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Merlin/Gwaine
Rating: NC-17 (explicit)
Word count: 49, 015
Warnings/spoilers: Rape/non-consensual sex, dubious consent, Stockholm syndrome, dark!Arthur, bondage, kidnapping, sex toys, minor character death, drugging, violence
Summary: Arthur Pendragon has almost everything he could ever want; he’s smart, handsome, charismatic, and rich. However, he longs for the same kind of perfect, loving relationship his own parents had enjoyed…the kind of relationship that generations of the Pendragon family have enjoyed. But in all his searching, Arthur has never found the right person to love, the other half of his soul... until now. Enter Merlin Emrys. A recent university graduate, Merlin arrives at Pendragon, Inc. to interview for an internship, but has a fateful run-in with the company’s gorgeous CEO instead. Arthur knows immediately that there’s something special about the man he hires as his new Personal Assistant. It’s not long before Arthur realizes that he and Merlin were meant to be together, each formed for the other’s happiness. Fate has brought Merlin into his life and deep down, Arthur knows he would stop at nothing to make Merlin his own. If only Merlin felt the same way about Arthur. However, Merlin’s initial reluctance only inspires Arthur to work harder to win his love. Because it’s always been said, true love conquers all.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: Calling All Heroes
Author: darkravenwrote
Artist: ortthree
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, side Gwen/Lancelot
Rating: T
Word count: 34, 769
Warnings/spoilers: mild slash, language, moderate violence
Summary: It isn't Arthur's fault he's a villain. He was just raised that way. People should be feeling sorry for him, really, have you seen the mask and costume combos Morgana's been making him wear? Sympathy please. And of course, because the world hates him that much, he would be sent to Camelot, where the only living warlock with any power left studies, apparently destined to be a superhero. The battle of nature vs nurture flares; will they choose to be Merlin and Arthur, fated lovers, or Emrys and The Dragon Prince, rivals to the bitter end?
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Link to art: Art masterpost (Arthur) / Link to art: Art masterpost (Merlin)
Title: Candle, Cup, and Casket
Author: eternal_jazz
Artist: aku_rin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Gwen/Lancelot, past Gwen/Lancelot/Arthur, Others
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 234k
Warnings/spoilers: Temporary Major Character Death, Reincarnation-fic, Character Death (Canon deaths only), War and Military violence, Graphic description of physical injury, Lovecraftian Horror, Nightmares, High Fantasy Science Fiction fusion, Intense Worldbuilding, Fluid Relationships, mentions of pastlife Merlin/Other pairings, mentions of pastlife genderswap.
Summary: In some far distant future, Arthur heir Pendragon, Captain of the galley-class Kilgharrah and Prince of the Camelot, answers a distress call from the alien-besieged Ealdor. There, he finds Merlin, a plausibly-deniable sorcerer with an irresistible grin. This is the story of how the terraformation of planet Albion was threatened by the prejudices of the past, of finding solid ground and taking a stand, and of giving yourself reasons to trust. A phantasmagorical space opera, high fantasy in a science fiction setting, this work includes cyborg Arthur, fighter-pilot Morgana, spectral dragons, Lovecraftian horrors, sentient spaceships, and a little bit of that kissing stuff.
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Title: Capes and a Strong Sense of Justice
Author: wiccanisms
Artist: dylogger
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Morgana, side Lance/Gwen
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: violence, blood, crime and such, allusions to attempted rape at the beginning
Summary: Prince is a superhero, his actions fitting the truest sense of the word. Warlock is new to this whole "saving people" thing, but Prince sees potential in him. Before long, they're partners. Arthur Pendragon is the son of the CEO of Camelot Publishing. He sometimes seems like an arrogant prat, and he gets a bit mad when the new guy from proofreading spills dark soda all over his nice, new shirt. Merlin Emrys is mortified, and Arthur realizes how overly horrible he was, but Uther has already caught wind of the incident and Merlin is made Arthur's new assistant so they can smooth things over. Enter Witch, a woman with potent magical powers and a tendency to wreak chaos across the city of Albion. Arthur and Merlin struggle to balance their lives, spending their nights as heroes and their days as workplace friends. Tensions rise, and Prince and Warlock are still clueless as to each other's true identity- or the identity of the villain that threatens their friends and families.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Come Alive
Author: kianspo
Artist: raideen9
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Lance, Gwaine, Elena, Morgana, Morgause, Leon, Owain, Percival
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 50k
Warnings/spoilers: attempted sexual assault, non-consensual drug use, violence
Summary: Arthur Pendragon, the youngest Detective Inspector in Camelot, whose job is rumoured to be cursed, stumbles over a series of crimes no one can explain. Merlin Emrys, a constantly broke student working at a shady nightclub to pay the bills, comes in as a sketch artist - one with an unusual gift. The shadow of magic, supposedly eradicated centuries ago, makes things so much more dangerous for everyone. It's hardly a good time to fall in love.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Counterpoint
Author: planejane
Artist: alby_mangroves
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin and the rest of the gang
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 56k
Warnings/spoilers: Some violence and bloodshed, references to off-screen torture and capital punishment, recreational intoxication
Summary: Dystopian AU. Twenty years after The Great Purge and the continuing effects of a High Priestess’s curse, Albion is a nation on the brink of collapse. Not even High Chancellor Uther Pendragon’s Compatibility Regime can curb the plummeting population. To add to his troubles, his wayward son, Arthur, makes no disguise of his unwillingness to wed. With good reason. Arthur is secretly leading the Movement, a covert organisation plotting to overthrow the government and return magic to Albion. Not to mention, it’s been foreseen that Arthur’s future, his destiny, is an indomitable union with a warlock-not marriage to the farm-boy matched to him by Uther’s Compatibility Machines.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Crime in Magic City
Author: chicago_ruth
Artist: fuckyeah
Pairing: Arthur/Gwaine/Merlin
Rating: M
Word count: approx 56k
Warnings/spoilers: Choose Not to Warn
Summary: September 1927: Chief of Police Tristan de Bois is murdered, and Private Investigator Merlin Emrys is a convenient suspect. After all, he's been suspected of magic use almost since the first day Prohibition went into effect. Now Merlin needs to try to clear his name, keep the gangs of Camelot from running the city to the ground, and sort out the mess that is his social life.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
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Title: Cry Havoc
Author: k_nightfox
Artist: altocello
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, also featuring Gaius, Kanen, multiple minor OC's and a few walk-throughs by Uther (Big apologies but the girls just didn't fit in this one.Despite the fact that I would have loved to have both of them, there just wasn't a way to work them into any significant roles)
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 81k
Warnings/spoilers: Graphic Violence, Graphic Rape, Child Abuse/Molestation, Slavery, Angst, Fluff, Magic Suppression, Film Fusion, Canon AU, Romance, Bottoming from the Top, Rimming, Oral Sex, Fingerfucking
Summary: Enslaved by Kanen since childhood, Merlin has been raised to believe his collar is all that keeps him in check. That it is the line between the beast that bites and the dog that obeys…but either way, he's still an animal. Then one day Kanen's gang is ambushed and in the ensuing confusion, Merlin escapes and flees to Camelot where he attempts to start a new life. However, his old master isn’t about to let him go without a fight.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Do not go (Gentle)
Author: blostma
Artist: haezofdaust
Pairing: Ygraine/Uther; Nimueh/Aredian; Kara/Mordred; Merlin/Morgana; Gwen/Arthur; Gaius, Gwaine, Cornelius Sigan, Freya, Will, Lancelot
Rating: T
Word count: 40k
Warnings/spoilers: Major Character Death, torture, mental abuse, child abuse, suicidal thoughts
Summary: Haunted by memories of his wife’s death and the Last Stand of the Dragons, Uther captures his destined doom, Emrys, and binds his magic. He thinks nothing of making him Arthur’s manservant in an attempt to humiliate the magic race, but as Merlin grows weaker and increasingly unstable, is this truly the wisest course of action?
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Don't Listen To A Word I Say
Author: agirlnamedtruth
Artist: aaweth_edain
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur with background Gwen/Leon and Merlin/Percival, past Arthur/Gwen and Gwaine/Percival.
Rating: R (for thematic reasons)
Word count: 50k
Warnings/spoilers: Canon 5x13 character deaths, grief, near death experience, temporary character deaths (including one self-inflicted temporary death), ideation of death, explicit language, explicit descriptions of violence and war, general angst.
Summary: You're gone, gone, gone away, I watched you disappear. All that's left is the ghost of you. Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, there's nothing we can do. Just let me go, we'll meet again soon. Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around. I'll see you when I fall asleep. - Post 5x13 fic where Merlin can't let go of Arthur and convinced that Camelot need is greatest, Merlin accidentally brings him back using the Horn of Cathbad. However, once he's back, it's Arthur than can't move on.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Enough to Feel Your Breath on Mine
Author: seravia
Artist: whimsycatcher
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur, Merlin/Freya
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 39k
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Merlin and Arthur wake up in the middle of a board meeting in the twenty-first century when they were in Camelot just moments before. Now they’re lost in a world they don’t understand, where Merlin is the son of the company owner and Arthur is the employee. Merlin’s lost his magic, Arthur doesn’t know how to not be a king, but somehow the world keeps turning.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Everybody Goes to Gwaine's
Author: alba17
Artist: p_sharkbait
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Gwaine/Merlin, Leon, Percival, Uther, Elyan
Rating: Mature
Word count: 30k
Warnings/spoilers: Infidelity, brief mentions of concentration camps, lots of smoking and drinking
Summary: In the midst of a world torn apart by the war for magical rights, an old love, Merlin, turns Gwaine's life upside down when he appears at Gwaine's Casablanca nightclub with his new partner, the famous freedom fighter Arthur Pendragon. A Merlin/Casablanca fusion.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Flying Change
Author: magnolia822
Artist: alby-mangroves
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Gwaine, mentions of past Merlin/OMC; Mordred, Mithian, Gwaine, Percival, Kara, Gaius, and others.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 48424
Warnings/spoilers: None
Summary: Living the life of a bachelor on his country estate in Oxfordshire, Arthur Pendragon hasn’t been much of a father ever since his ex-wife took their son to start a new life in America. Seven years later, when Mithian makes plans to remarry and sends Mordred to live with Arthur for the summer, he’s in for a crash-course in parenting. Literally. Mordred is no ordinary thirteen year old-he can set things on fire with the blink of an eye. And he absolutely hates Arthur. Merlin Emrys teaches at the Edinburgh Academy for Magical Students; he loves his job and respects his mentor and headmaster, Gaius. So when the latter asks him to tutor Mordred as a personal favour, he can’t refuse, even though he’d rather sleep on hot coals than spend three months in the country with some stuffy old aristocrat and his spoiled brat of a son. After a few false starts, Arthur and Merlin find common ground in their exasperation, affection, and concern for Mordred, and their mutual attraction quickly blossoms . . . but an unforeseen event threatens their fragile happiness before the summer ends.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
Title: Go On and Break Me
Author: oomnydevvotchka
Artist: chosenfire28
Pairing: Gwen/Morgana, Arthur/Merlin
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 33, 357
Warnings/spoilers: Imprisonment, violence, canonical character death
Summary: When it becomes obvious that the Morgana who has been attacking Camelot is a magical fake, Gwen, Arthur, and Merlin must adjust to having the real Morgana, who has been imprisoned for over a year, back in their lives.
Link to fic: Fic masterpost
Link to art: Art masterpost
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