happy (belated) bday @childoftimeandmagic I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! i hope you like this small gift <3
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Dearheart, lay your head on my shoulder
Nothing feels more like home than to be in Arthur’s arms, cuddling, as they watch a movie. The world could crash around them, be destroyed and rebuilt, and Merlin wouldn’t even notice it in the warmth of the moment. In the safety of their shared space and skin and breath.
It’s in these moments, dates, that Merlin finds peace. With himself, and the world, future, present and past; nothing matters except Arthur and the movie. Nothing more important than Arthur’s arm around his waist, head resting on Merlin’s shoulder, his heat, his heartbeat.
It’s almost calming, running his fingers through Arthur’s blond, soft, hair as the movie plays on their TV - Arthur has fallen asleep on him more than once, truthfully Merlin has stopped caring long ago, it’s cute, lovable even, how comfortable he gets around Merlin. He tries to strain his ears, to figure out whether Arthur’s breath has evened out, if he’s actually fallen asleep, when Arthur interrupts his useless attempts, “This movie is ridiculous.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Arthur completely ignores Merlin’s jab, and keeps complaining instead, “Giselle just starts randomly singing, and what? Everyone knows this fictional song? The only sane person in this movie is Robert.”
“This is a disney movie, it’s supposed to be silly. Besides the world being a little magical is adorable and- oh god, does this make me the Giselle to your Robert? How absolutely romantic of us.”
“Isn’t Giselle going to end up with Prince Edward? Wouldn’t I be Prince Edward in this situation then?”
“I mean you’re idiotic enough to pass as him, but no. And just watch the movie, I’m not going to spoil it for you.”
“You’re idiotic”, Arthur grumbles under his breath, quieting down to pay attention to the movie again. It’s very funny how into it he gets, complaining away, while holding onto Merlin’s waist tighter whenever something bad happens, or relaxing when something romantic is shown on the screen, even sighing a little. Arthur is a romantic at heart, deep, deep down, but he is.
Truth be told Merlin is looking at Arthur more than at the movie, entranced by the cute way he scrunches his nose or bops his head when he likes the music, it’s the cutest damn thing Merlin’s ever seen. And he knows he’s the luckiest man to have ever existed, to be able to have this, to have Arthur.
Kissing the top of Arthur’s head, Merlin settles further into the couch, relaxed and happy.
Time passes by fast when you’re having fun, and it takes no time at all for the movie to end. As Arthur stretches out his arms to work out his sore muscles from the awkward position he’d been for so long, he says haughtily, “Happy ending for all? That’s not realistic at all. Everyone even gets paired off at the end. What a truly hateful movie, honestly. Can’t believe you enjoy this.”
Merlin wants to laugh, and so he does, because this man is ridiculous even if he loves him more than he could ever put to words. “Again, it is a disney movie. Of course it has a happy ending, that’s the point of it all, it’s a good thing. And yes, I enjoy this movie. It’s magical and romantic, what’s not to like?”
“You’re a sap, I hope you know that.”
He does know it, and he also knows that Arthur is just as much of a sap as he is, even if he pretends he isn’t, “And you love me for it.”
Sighing the most long suffering sigh of all time, Arthur rolls his eyes as he pulls Merlin into a soft kiss, letting his hands run freely under Merlin’s shirt. Scratching his nails down Merlin’s back and giving him the most delightful of shivers, Arthur whispers against his lips, “The jury is still out on that one.”
“Funny.”
Arthur’s smile instantly wipes out Merlin’s sour mood, love making his heart skip a beat, but Merlin still forces his pout to stay on his face, not wanting to give in so easily. Until Arthur starts kissing down his neck, licking and biting here and there, making Merlin unable to stop a smile from spreading on his face and a moan from escaping his open lips.
Before things derail completely, Merlin basically cockblocks himself, “Want to watch The Mummy?”
Arthur’s head pops up so quickly, Merlin’s worried he has sprained it. He looks just like an overexcited puppy, and Merlin’s love for him grows larger still.
“Thought you’d never asked,” Arthur says happily, giving Merlin a quick kiss, and pushing him down on the couch for a better cuddle, as they prepare to watch his favorite movie. And Merlin doesn’t even mind that they’ve watched this movie a million times, he’s learned to love it just as much as he loves Arthur.
Home movie date night shall forever be his favorite type of date.
Gryffindor // INFP // Chaotic Good // 1w2 for @childoftimeandmagic
“ Anyone can give up; it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, that’s true strength. ”
I was tagged by @childoftimeandmagic to make a portrait both as myself and fantasy self using picrew! Thank you for tagging me, Kennen! Yes, I would like to be a dryad if I was a mythical creature. I tag @meldorameliflua, @izzywhatsup, and @itwouldbeajoytobringyoutea if you would like to do it!
An anon asked me for lots of these + 20, so I’ll add that in to the list as well.
2. When you’re writing a new story, what is the one thing you need to know before you can start?
I need to know at least the general plot. Sometimes my fingers are faster than my brain and I get through a significant chunk of the story without figuring something out and back myself into a corner, so I’ve mostly learned to plot things out before I start now.
20. What is your best piece of advice for writing smut scenes?
Keep track of who has what clothes on, choose your euphemisms carefully (’manhood’ is gross), and try to remember to include things that aren’t strictly the sex bits (eye contact, kissing, talking, little touches, etc.).
21. What is your best piece of advice for writing romance scenes?
I am bad at romance scenes, but I guess to try to remember what each person is feeling and thinking and use body language to convey that in addition to dialogue?
22. What is your best piece of advice for writing fluff scenes?
Make sure it’s in character or it’ll come off as Too Much.
23. How do you balance your characters in an ensemble story?
I try to keep track of all the storylines, timeline them, and then I try to figure out what the most important parts of their story are and make sure to include them at the right time. I also never want the reader to feel like they haven’t seen a character in a few chapters and be surprised when they pop up. I am bad at this, but my intent is to make it feel natural.
24. How do you balance your characters when there are only a two or three in a story?
Same as above: I just make sure to give them equal airtime. Sometimes I write a scene from both perspectives to see which I like better and which contributes to the story the most.
25. How do you create an original character?
So far I create a frankenperson from a bunch of people who inspire them, troll tumbrls that have checklists and prompt questions, and try to insert them into random situations and see how they’d react in my head.
26. How do you go about world building?
I have a lot of color-coded tables and diagrams. I try to make lists of what’s different from the world I live in or things I need to remember. Whenever I think of anything I write it down, no matter how inconsequential it is. You never know what you’ll forget later, and I’ve learned that the hard way.
27. Do you try to do most of your research ahead of writing (when research is necessary) or do you do it as things come up?
If I know I’ll need to do research about something big I do it ahead of time, but usually it’s as it comes up.
28. How do you make sure your plot points are there while also making them blend in with the story?
Outlining. I outline everything. EVERYTHING.
29. How do you plot your stories?
See above. Outlining. Everything goes in the outline, even if it’s tiny, to make sure I won’t forget it.
30. How do you edit your stories?
I throw them at a beta and hope they are nice enough to help me. I also sleep on it for a day or two and reread, though that usually results in a lot of editing, so sometimes I just post because i’m too lazy... fanfiction is for fun, and I try to not stress too much about making it a masterpiece (or even good), because it’ll just make me anxious. It’s better for me to accept that it won’t be as good as it could be and post it. Otherwise I get my perfectionist issues.
