10/10 merthur fanfics
my 6 all-time favourite merthur fanfics. you guys don’t understand- these fics and their authors deserve aLL the good in this earth. pls be sure to read additional tags on the actual link. all fics can be found on ao3. all summaries shown here are my own- be sure to read the aCtual summaries on the site. all comments are safe to read- no terrible spoilers.
in spite of everything, the stars
by polomonkey and mushroomtale
82, 243 words | Mature
summary: modern au. arthur is the son of anti-magic politician uthur. merlin is a Magical Rights activist and advisor. tension between magic and anti-magic supporters is high, and arthur is ordered to kidnap merlin.
comments: so much pain in this one. just so much pain and sadness i love this fic. a lil bit of enemies to friends to lovers. arthur protecting merlin- which i honestly love due to watching 5 seasons of merlin mostly protecting arthur- it’s fun to read the opposite now. and a lOT of pain.
pianos are made for falling
by fishwrites
103, 679 words | Teen and Up
summary: modern au. arthur is a renowned violinist, and morgana, his accompanist, is a pianist. when morgana breaks her wrist two weeks before the recital, merlin replaces her. merlin emrys, the man that plays by ear and just really wants to be a kindergarten teacher.
comments: this is the one, guys. i know- the summary might not sound super exciting- but read this. i can’t stress this enough- this fic is perfection. how the author writes their personalities and all the plot and the friendships and tears and sadness and happiness i just love this fic so much. one of the only fics to ever make me cry. this fic wiLL affect you.
we are all diamonds
by footloose
134, 304 words | Mature
summary: modern au. arthur is deaf and is heir to a diamond company. merlin is an opera singer has-been, and is a translator with magic. when arthur’s translator doesn’t show up for the most important speech he’s ever gonna make in his life, he’s about to let his not-trustworthy uncle make the speech instead of him. luckily, lancelot brings merlin.
comments: pining. a lOt of pining. how the author shows and writes how merlin’s singing voice feels is just so pUre. i was sold to this fic the second merlin and arthur met.
pink and black and blue (for you)
by polomonkey
7, 508 words | Mature
summary: modern au. soulmate au. some people are born with soulmate connections, and arthur’s one that has a rather unfortunate one- they share bruises. and his soulmate just happens to be the clumsiest person in the world. luckily, he has the friendly IT tech Wizard to keep him sane.
comments: i shit myself laughing over this one scene in the fic. a good thing to read if you wanna be take a break from all the sadness from reading my other fic recs. no terrible angst or bad emotional pain in this fic.
shelter
by sinestrated
39, 504 words | Teen and Up
summary: 8 years have passed since merlin fled Camelot after revealing his magic. now, with his kingdom crumbling under a sorcerer attack, arthur reaches out to sorcerers across his land to find a solution.
comments: one of the first ever merthur fics i’ve read and i spent so much time trying to find this again. a take on the what-if-merlin’s-magic-was-revealed-and-he-was-sentenced-to-death au. i fuckin love reunion scenes so this was just blEssed.
time forward
by kianspo
23, 180 words | Teen and Up
summary: college au. merlin, gwen, and arthur are best friends. arthur falls in love with one of them, but marries the other. but this isn’t arthur’s story to tell- it’s merlin’s. and merlin will always remember he saw arthur first.
comments: a bit different from all my other recs, but still vEry good. lil bit of a love triangle going on. i don’t usually go for these college au’s, but this fic still made my top 6. a lot of pining in this one. some angst. kianspo is deFinitely one of my fave merthur fic authors.
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side note: as you can probably tell, i am a complete sLUT for fics that are hella painful. if you know of any fics that made you cry oR any fics that have the childhood-friends-but-then-falling-out-but-then-meet-again-like-10-years-later-and-have-to-deal-with-their-history then pls pls pls reblog with those fics. also any fics with beautiful first meeting scenes or reunion scenes would be nice.