#post5.13

[merlinfic]

You Have To Chase It 

Author: arthurandhisswordbros

Rating: M

Setting: Modern AU, Post 5x13

Word Count: 41,938

Summary: 

“Oh, I don’t know who he really is—no one does,” she says. “Although, some people think he’s probably a grad student doing some avant-garde project for a thesis or something. Others think the whole account is just an elaborate advertisement for Budweiser.”

Arthur doesn’t understand most of what she just said but nods anyway.

Squinting her eyes, she gauges his confusion regardlessly. “It’s someone pretending to be the famous sorcerer. See here, this is his most recent tweet.” At Arthur’s odd look, she clarifies, “It’s like a message that everyone can see.”

@asorcerersays: Guys why did he have to be so hot and like,,,funny? Like it’s been forever and I still miss him. He was pretty dumb though.

Arthur knows his face must look disgusted. “For everyone to see?”

Or, Immortal!Merlin goes on Twitter to complain about his dead king. Unrelatedly, Arthur joins Twitter.

Comments: Oh boy was this fic ever *chef’s kiss* I absolutely loved Merlin and Arthur’s twitter interactions (even though the didn’t realize they were actually talking to each other *cries*). And I honestly loved the original characters and Arthur’s found family he makes. The build up to when Merlin and Arthur finally meet in person!!!! Incredible. Read this fic if you haven’t! You won’t regret it!

[merlinfic]

I Love You

Author: evokingmemories

Rating: M

Setting: Canon AU, Post 5x13

Word Count: 37,459

NOTE: Need ao3 account to view!

Summary: 

Arthur has never let himself think about it. Not in any real way.

He doesn’t touch it. He doesn’t look at it. He doesn’t go there.

And then: Camlann. Merlin telling Arthur about his magic. Arthur being furious and betrayed, and then, later, after it all clicks, accepting Merlin for who he is.

Arthur ought to have died. He was prepared to, in the end. But Merlin ‒ brilliant Merlin ‒ saves him with his magic, and he lives on.

And that’s where it all goes to hell.

Reader’s Comments: It's an alternate universe post 5x13 where Arthur lives and has to come back to Camelot with Merlin. It has internalized homophobia, it's Arthur centric, it has all the drama, feelings realizations, confrontations, confessions and pining, which I live for, and is really greatly written.

Thanks to @yoonnamjin25 for sending in this fic rec!

[merlinfic]

fields of gold

Author: emryses

Rating: M

Setting: Canon AU, Post 5x13

Word Count: 92,814

Summary:

In which Merlin grieves, remembers, and lives.

You'll remember me when the west wind moves among the fields of barley. You can tell the sun in his jealous sky, when we walked in fields of gold

Reader’s Comments: this was so so so so so so so good! the author did such a fantastic job of representing Merlin's and Gwen's grief after Arthur's death, and tells a beautiful story of moving on and growing older, featuring Arthur's son. the writing is gorgeous and the story is simultaneously heartwarming and heartcrushing. I highly recommend everyone read it 💖

Thanks to @merthurmagic for sending in this fic!

[merlinfic]

Toxic

Author: WinterDusk

Rating: M

Setting: Modern AU, Post 5x13

Word Count: 116,958 (WIP)

Summary: 

Arthur wakes on the shores of Avalon. It’s fifteen hundred years into his future, and he is alone and lost: he thinks he might just hate Merlin for that. For what’s the point to having survived, if everything he knows is ground down to dust?

Yet as time passes and Arthur starts to find his way in the world, new questions arise to consume him. Why does no one seem to know anything about magic in this far-flung future? Why have the Sidhe chosen now of all times to return him?

And why do all the stories say Merlin should have been waiting for him?

Reader’s Comments: It’s still a WIP, but Toxic is honestly the best Post-Canon/Reincarnation Merlin fic I’ve ever read. Unlike many reincarnation fics, Merlin isn’t there at the beginning to help Arthur adjust to the modern world, and Arthur has to figure how to get by – everything from learning English (in a very realistic and tender way) to making friends/allies and finding a way to survive. The story is (very slow-burn!) endgame Merthur, but still holds onto the complexity and depth of Arthur’s feelings and love for Gwen. The entire thing reads sort of like a detective/mystery story, with lots of questions and several different story arcs of important characters (many of them OCs) that WinterDusk is doing an absolutely MASTERFUL job of weaving together. The writing style and pacing is lovely and the whole story is beautiful in how it portrays all of Arthur’s complicated emotions, opinions, and memories that he has to face in a jarringly modern world. There is angst, but nothing too extreme, and joy too, and I highly recommend reading this!

Thanks to @fields-of-stars for sending in this rec!

[merlinfic]

Merlin: A Hogwarts History 

Author: Mamalazzer

Rating: M

Setting: Other AU - Harry Potter, Post 5x13

Word Count: 85,208

Summary: 

After spending the better part of a thousand years as a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Merlin had given up hope that he would ever see Arthur again. Then Christmas 1993 happened and Sybil Trelawney wheezed out a prophecy about the return of the Once and Future King.

As ecstatic as Merlin is about the news, he wishes it wasn't because they were slowly approaching the end of all times, with magic itself beginning to fade from the land. Merlin also wishes Sybil had warned him how much more of a brat Arthur would be as a modern teenager, especially because this incarnation of him - terrifyingly - seems to have magic, too.

Somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, Merlin can hear Kilgharrah laughing at him.

Featuring nosy portraits with too much time on their hands, reincarnated knights with a penchant for Quidditch and such a supreme amount of Pendragon prattishness that it is practically a character on its own.

Comments: Oh my god did I love this fic!!! There was such incredible world building between the Harry Potter universe and Merlin that it really made the characterizations shine. I loved how the whole gang was reincarnated (I may have gotten a little misty at some parts...but that’s neither here nor there lmao) and it made Merlin’s waiting really pay off especially once everyone remembered! Merlin and Arthur’s dynamic was fantastic too and I really enjoyed how their relationship grew. It’s an incredible fic!

[merlinfic]

Hi. I was wondering, are there any stories where something goes wrong and Arthur has to wait however many centuries for Merlin instead?

Hiya! Some of these are more where Arthur remembers the past and Merlin doesn’t, which I hope will work? Enjoy!

Dandelion

Forever Love (The Round Table Remix) 

More Than Just a Game

Our Habit of Dreaming

[merlinfic]

(i want you) i’ll colour me blue

Author: orthogonals

Rating: T

Setting: Modern AU, Post 5x13

Word Count: 9,346

Summary: 

Arthur Pendragon comes back from the dead-- supposedly to save the world, but mostly just to decorate Christmas trees, analyse The Breakfast Club, critique American post-Impressionism, and generally act utterly domestic with Merlin.

--- OR: 5 times Arthur sees blue after he returns, + 1 time Merlin sees gold.

Comments: I absolutely loved this fic! It’s a delightful Arthur returns fic that gave me all the warm and fuzzies (I mean the fluff is just <333). Honestly though, if you’re looking for a fluffy, domestic post-canon fic...this is it!

[merlinfic]

Lending Softer Ears to My Lungs

Author: elysiumwaits

Rating: T

Setting: Post 5x13

Word Count: 3,091

Summary: 

Merlin dreams of Arthur as the years go on.

-- The Wheel of the Year cycles over and over, the hourglass is flipped on the table, seconds turn into days turn into decades.

Merlin stands through it all.

Alone.

Reader’s Comments: This is a really emotional Arthur comes back fic where Merlin goes to Arthur every night. Sad and lovely.

Thanks to @cloudyfromoobsession for sending in this rec!