Merlin Fic Recs – The List
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Canon 1 shots – close to the official canon, such as episode codas and fix it fic
Words: 5551, Warnings/Rating: Teen And Up Audiences (Fluff & Angst, Happy Ending)
Five times Arthur wanted to make Merlin smile and one time he did not.
Words: 4177, Warnings/Rating: Teen And Up Audiences (mild sexual content right at the end)
“The great, loosely packed snowball hits Arthur straight on, collapsing against the strong line of his tense jaw and catching in the fringe of his hair from brow to sideburn. Arthur is perfectly still as it goes soft against the warmth of his cheek and begins to drip icy water down the collar of his greatcoat. Nobody breathes, Merlin included.”
Words: 4926, Warnings/Rating: General
When Arthur becomes King, Merlin overworks himself.
History Books Forgot About Us – TheAvalonian
Words: 5367, Warnings/Rating: Teen and Up
The world remembered the legend. Merlin was beginning to forget the man. Thousands of years later, Merlin is still waiting, but he is beginning to wonder if Arthur will ever actually come back to him. – Post-finale reincarnation fic. Angst, but with a happy ending.
Canon Magic Reveal
Words: 20639, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
When a visiting prince sets his sights on Merlin, Arthur is not amused. A story of love, loyalty, and secrets too-long kept.
The Weight of Truth – giselleslash
Words: 2191, Warnings/Rating: Gen
It is the eve of Agravaine’s execution and Merlin can’t bear the thought of one more person lying to Arthur. | Canon AU | Magic Reveal
Give Me a Word, I’ll Give You My Worth – serenphoria
Words: 2511, Warnings/Rating: PG-13
Arthur had expected a pep talk from Merlin, but this is not how he saw it going.
Canon divergent / Canon AU (Alternate Universe)
Words: 36,807, Warnings/Rating: Mature – Sexual Content, canon-typical violence
Uther begins to fear Arthur’s strength and power he holds over his knights and banishes him. Arthur must then begin to fight to become the king he is supposed to be. While it contains a MAGIC REVEAL, it’s one of the few stories where Merlin and Arthur leave Camelot NOT because of Merlin’s magic.
A Study in Natural Philosophy – Mad_Maudlin
Words: 13358, Warnings/Rating: canon-typical violence and threat
It wasn’t all that unusual for people to hide their daemons; Merlin, however, seems to be taking it a little far.
Favorite – astolat & Podfic by Fleur Rochard
Words: 13012, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Arthur was tipped back against the wall, his mouth open for breath and staring at the small arrow-slit window over Merlin’s head, trying to work out how it could possibly be that good with Merlin, of all people.
Made of Dreams and Bones – lady_ragnell
Words: 7476, Warnings/Rating: canon-typical violence, canon-compliant minor character death.
Arthur would have starved that first winter, if it weren’t for Hunith and her son. – When Arthur is disinherited, he finds himself farming in Ealdor.
Rest Awhile, You Cruel Cares – riventhorn
Words: 43979, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Historically accurate-ish post season 4 – Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin work on kingdom building and politics.
AU (Alternate Universe)
Modern monarchy AUs
Drastically Redefining Protocol – rageprufrock
Words: 70828 (Main Story – 64059 + 7 accompanying ficlets), Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
In which Arthur (The Prince of Wales) meets Merlin (junior doctor at St. Bartholemew’s Hospital) and all hell promptly breaks loose.
Flutter Kick – rotrude – Prequal, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Words: 28100, Warnings/Rating: NC-17 – Sexual content
Merlin’s dream is to get a gold medal and his passion is swimming. The World Championships seem like a good start but things get more complicated when he gets to know the Prince of Wales better.
Reincarnation
Timing Verse master post – Mad-Poetics
Words: 50100, Warnings/Rating: Explicit sexual content – Adult having sex with a teenager. The teenager is above the age of consent in the UK, where this is set.
Modern reincarnation. Merlin and company have been reborn countless times; this is the story of the latest.
I Keep Going Over the World We Knew (Over and Over) – Mellacita
Words: 53153, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
When Merlin Emrys is sent on a ’round-the-world assignment, he begins remembering a life of magic, dragons, and kings. To make matters worse, a strange woman starts stalking him along the way. And that’s before he even meets Arthur Pendragon, whose answer to climate change is going to save the world. Because apparently just saving Britain won’t be enough this time around.
Gibraltar May Tumble by shes_gone
Words: 24601, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content; Major character death… sort of…
An unexpected opportunity sends Merlin packing for the coast. There, he meets Arthur, a Victorian-era sea captain who’s trapped, a bit literally, between life and death, and who refuses to leave the house he died in over a hundred years ago.
Firsts For Everything – bevinkathryn
Words: 9312, Warnings/Rating: Mature
Sometimes, people seem to forget, in all this fighting for equal rights, that ‘gay couples’ are just ‘couples’. Merlin and Arthur, and a first-time hundreds of lives in the making.
Words: 23827, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Reincarnation – in Cambridge Peter recruits Rhys to help in restoring a Spitfire. Familiar faces turn up in unexpected places.
Defenders of the Realm – Lamardeuse
Words: 57604, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Modern AU. Arthur and Morgana are Metropolitan police officers drawn into a strange case involving robbery of ancient artifacts. Merlin is a graduate student at Imperial College studying the healing plants of Ancient Britain under Gaius – or at least that’s what he tells everyone. Soon they, along with Gwen, Lancelot and Uther, will be facing a battle for the future of the country. Can they defend the realm from those who would seek to destroy it?
Modern AU
Words: 54616, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
The one in which Arthur works in finances and his suits are various (two) shades of grey, Merlin works in advertisement and has no boundaries whatsoever, Morgana drinks rum, Mithian stages a coup, Agravaine is aggravating, and Elena’s house is amazing. Also, Andy Warhol is mentioned in vain, and Arthur and Merlin fall in love in Victorian era style.
Living In Hearts Left Behind – giselleslash
Words: 36506, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Arthur has been living abroad for several years, wanting to get as far away from his family and the expectations placed on him as possible, but the unexpected death of his brother brings him back home where he must confront the things that drove him away. He has to deal with the guilt of not being in his brother’s life for the last few years and how much he missed because of that as well as the fact that maybe his father wasn’t what he thought he was. And to make everything even more complicated there’s his brother’s boyfriend, Merlin, who might just be his salvation if their guilt and sadness doesn’t drown them before they even get started.
A New Low – Rosie_Rues – Part 1, Part 2
Words: 15019, Warnings/Rating: PG13 (occasional swearing)
Written for a prompt at kinkme_merlin, which asked for diabetic!Merlin stuck in a lift with Arthur. Sweetest, fluffiest of romantic comedy.
Words: 40000, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Arthur and Merlin meet in high school. When they’re separated after a magic duel gone wrong, hearts are broken, lots emails are written and a few cupcakes are set on fire. Sometimes it takes a while to figure destiny out.
Fundamental Imperfection – Starlingthefool
(sequel, spanning the time gap mentioned at the end of Fundamental Imperfection, abandoned WIP, VERY DIFFERENT to main story)
Words: 12175, Warnings/Rating: Mature (occasional sexual content)
In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.)
Resistance Fighters Series – dreamdustmama
Words: 87,404, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content and graphic description of violence
In a world where magic is on the brink of being banned and sorcerers are looked upon as second-class citizens, Merlin Emrys does whatever is necessary to protect his loved ones and help those who are like him. Arthur Pendragon, despite his father’s open hatred of magic, has never had a reason to care one way or the other – until he discovers that his sister Morgana has powers, and is working underground to rescue those being targeted by the government. Merlin fights with words while Arthur is forced to face the truth about what is really happening to those who use magic, and despite an earlier encounter, it isn’t until a chance meeting between them one night that their worlds truly collide.
Good News (is on the way) – derryere
Words: 60796, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content, Age Difference (Arthur is 28, Merlin is 18)
Arthur, a travelling businessman, decides to rent a room with the Wyllt family while in town. Hunith is charmed. Her son, Merlin, is not.
AU shorts
Effanineffable & Interval – callista_mythol
Words: 12030, Warnings/Rating: PG-13 mostly, then briefly R
Oh well there never was a cat so clever as magical Mr Mistoffelees… Merlin and Arthur are actors on the West End
The Wrong Avalon – leashy_bebes
Words: 11322, Warnings/Rating: TEEN – no sex or violence and only minor cursing
Crossover with Dr Who (11th Doctor) – The Doctor, Rory, and Amy find King Arthur on the planet Avalon with no real idea of how he came to be there or how to get home. The tardis team embark on a mission to get Arthur back to earth and to Merlin.
Words: 6824, Warnings/Rating: Teen and up
Modern au, Merlin is a rather hard to please high fashion designer, Arthur is his surprisingly patient and well-read model. Fashion babble and snark ensue, and maybe even love.
The Good Times Are Killing Me – minor_hue (kink-meme thread. Contact us if you want a word document version by email)
Words: 15364, Warnings/Rating: NC-17, Angst, Sexual content
In which the boys pretend to still be together for Christmas (and there is more than one kind of charade).
For Your Information – reni_days
Words: 9887, Warnings/Rating: PG-13
“Merlin sighs… ‘I’m sort of like his gay tutor, it’s hard to explain.’ “
Told from Merlin’s point of view, it focuses on Uther’s stubborn quest to understand what it means to be gay so he can support Arthur. Several “Odd Couple” moments ensue as Uther and Merlin start to become something like friends. So much so, that Uther’s convinced Merlin should date his son.