Merthur Glompfest

Title: Of Cabbages and Kings By: Jockles Gift for: veronyxk84 Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 23,631 words Warning(s): None

Creator Notes (Optional): 

I was seized by demons when I started writing this fic and so while I don't think I've precisely fulfilled your prompts, I hope this still falls firmly within the spirit of what you were looking for.

Summary: 

As darkness falls on Arthur Pendragon, as he comes to the end of his life on the shores of the lake at Avalon, he is unexpectedly sent back to the day that he didn't know would change his life.

Title: close to you By: @schweetheart Gift for: Crayon Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 6525 words Warning(s): None Creator Notes (Optional):

Dear Crayon,

When I originally agreed to pinch-hit for this prompt, I thought I'd be writing something fun but short—something that I could complete in time for the deadline. Instead, it just kept getting longer and longer, consumed my every waking thought for four days straight, and went in a totally different direction than I was expecting. I hope you enjoy the finished product! 💝

With thanks to diaryofatrekker once again for the stellar beta work, and for encouraging me to keep making things better. You're a star ⭐️

Summary:

In the months since Arthur became king, he has repealed the ban on magic, appointed Merlin as his Court Sorcerer, and made peace with the Druids. The Golden Age of Albion must surely be at hand—if only he and Merlin could stop arguing long enough to enjoy it.

Or: Merlin and Arthur fall foul of a proximity curse. What could possibly go wrong?

Title: High King of Albion By: @schweet-arts / @schweetheart Gift for: IAmSoLostRightNow Rating: General Word Count/Medium: Digital painting Warning(s): None Creator Notes (Optional):

Dear IAmSoLostRightNow,

Thank you so much for signing up for Merthur Glompfest this year! I had a great time creating something for your prompt; I really love the way Merlin looks at Arthur in those moments, so I hope you think I did his expression justice in this imaginary (happy!) future I gave the two of them 💝

Summary:

"You're the last person I'd have expected to get emotional about this," Arthur said, catching Merlin's gaze in the mirror with a knowing smile. "It's just a crown, Merlin."

"I know it is, you prat," Merlin said, reaching out to make some final adjustments. "But it's the High King's crown now, isn't it?" He sniffed. "And it's crooked."

Title: Hold You Together (I’ll Hold You Forever) By: Phoenix Reborn Gift for: perniky Rating: M Word Count/Medium: 4,200 words

Warning(s): Blood, major character injury, angst

Creator Notes (Optional): I had so many ideas for this delightful prompt! I hope that I get the chance to touch on them again sometime in the future. Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Summary: Arthur can’t stop staring — at the blood, the heartbeat, the pulse… at the life that slips and sputters and flows through veins, torn skin, trembling fingers… only to land like broken dreams on a floor of red.

He did this.

Now he must undo it.

Title: Epiphany By: fallenfairytale Gift for: childofmagicandmagicschild Rating: Explicit Word Count/Medium: 143,506 words Warning(s): Major Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Explicit Sexual Scenes, Themes of Grief and Depression

Creator Notes (Optional): All I can say here is, it was one hell of a ride creating this story. So many sleepless nights spend on it and I just hope you all will enjoy it was much as I did writing it.

Summary: A single moment of magic changes everything. When Merlin’s secret is revealed under the worst possible circumstances, Arthur is left to navigate truth, trust, and a grief that cuts deeper than he expected...

Title: que tenemos que hablar de muchas cosas By: EndlessNatterings  Gift for: Ilien Rating: Gen Word Count: 1,663 Warning(s): No warnings apply

Creator Notes (Optional): Shorter than I had intended, but life got a bit hectic. Title from Elegia by Miguel Hernandez

Summary: 

Arthur's new life is good. It's going great even! He's even managed to reunite with some old friends. Which only makes the only actual problem he has worse.Because Merlin is still not back.

AO3 Link: 

Title: (Scattered) Reliquiae By: Diana Prallon Gift for: Iamsolostrightnow Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 7271 words Warning(s): Setting: The Diamond of the Day, parts I & II. That means: Canon typical violence, Canon Magic Reveal; Hurt/Comfort; Heavy Angst; Emotional Trauma; Dissociation; Canon Compliant/Minor Canon Deviation; Ambiguous/Open Ending; Fix-it (of sorts); Canon Show Dialogue; period-typical attitudes; Mutual unrequited (these idiots); MCD 

Creator Notes (Optional): So, I had the pleasure to work through a beautiful prompt: “If it stays, it’s love. If it ends, it’s a love story. And if it never begins, it’s poetry.” In truth, I went through several different pitches in my head before panicking and landing on this one; the prompt basically screams Finale, soooo I just accepted it and went along. And, yeah, all the pain you felt through the finale is here, just made a bit worse, you’re welcome. Sorry, not sorry. Any emotional damages claims should be directed straight to BBC, please and thank you.

Verses in the beginning/end of each section have been hand-translated by me; any mistakes are my own and any weirdness probably comes from, well, poetry. Poetry is weird (but thankfully as we know Arthur loves poetry, as he told Leon).

I made abundant usage of canon-dialogue; you may want to set a bingo with “episodes with absurdly merthur dialogue” and see if you complete a line. May even help with the crying (didn’t for me, but, hey, hope springs eternal, you people may be luckier or more resilient).

Before I finish this (which is far too long), I should thank Roe for beta-ing this for me and putting up with my weirdness and my random linguistics commentary. Any remaining errors are my own because I definitely won't stop fidgeting around a text until it's published. Oops.

Finally, I must thank the mods for this fest for their work and their dedication and their patience with my emails after I’ve been out of the loop for so long. We’re all lucky to have you around. Thank you.

Summary: One word, six letters, your own name. That was all that it took, each time.

Title: to be loved, and found magical By: @schweetheart Gift for: haveyoueverconsideredpiracy Rating: Teen and Up Word Count/Medium: 2222 words Warning(s): Mild violence/gore Creator Notes (Optional):

Dear haveyoueverconsideredpiracy,

Thank you so much for taking part in Merthur Glompfest this year! I did my best to include as many of your likes as possible, so I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it 💝

With many thanks to diaryofatrekker for the expert beta help.

Summary:

Shortly after Arthur is crowned and Merlin reveals his magic, he and Merlin take on a magical beast together.

In retrospect, they probably could have planned things better.

Title: Marriage & Mayhem By: Can_I_hear_a_wahoo2 Gift for: haveyoueverconsideredpiracy Rating: Teen and up audience Word Count: 3,452 words Warning(s): No archive warnings Creator Notes: Heyyyy, so this is my first time being the Glomper and not the Glompee so it's been quite fun writing someone else's idea.

Title: A Coin With Two Faces By: TheDrow Gift for: hamsterfish Rating: Explicit Word Count: 16,247 words Warning(s): Suicide, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death Creator Notes: First things first, please heed the warnings on suicide, suicide attempts, aftermath, etc. This is a fairly strong theme throughout this story, and if this is triggering for you, please take care of yourself. <3

Second, I picked up this prompt for hamsterfish because I read it and at first glance thought it could be interesting to dive into. As some of you know, I truly love to create stories that are rooted in some very intense and sometimes dark themes and flushing them out in a way that I hope makes those themes still somewhat beautiful. So when I read the prompt, my first thought was to be horrified, and then I went… There's a truly powerful story here… and then I set to writing a quick outline that found a mind of its own and became a 5k word grammarless, colourless rough draft. Summary: Arthur wakes to find a black serpent coiled on his bed, which is frightening enough. But then Merlin bursts into his chambers and magics the creature out of existence. Magic is outlawed in Camelot, and the reveal of Merlin's magic leaves Arthur with no choice but to sentence his loyal and once-trusted friend to death. Which goes somehow worse than what one might expect for it to go. And then Arthur wakes up; and there's a black serpent coiled on his bed. And then Merlin is bursting through the doors...