Saladscream's den

Wiping feet on the doormat.

One slow measured breath, and Merlin opens the door to their flat — his flat — bracing himself against the slosh of anguish that briefly swamps the pit of his stomach every time he returns home from work these days. Something about the erosion of constantly renewed and refreshed disappointment.

He drops his keys on the pair of gloves that lives — untouched — on the shelves in the hallway.

Nothing moves in the flat. Light from the street spills through the windows, drawing sharp patches in variations of amber and orange across the floor and furniture. A faint smell of last night’s lonely Chicken Vindaloo lingers rather unappetisingly in the still air. He turns on the lights. Same old empty flat.

“Hello, I’m home,” he announces with fake cheer to the emptiness. He regrets it immediately. His own voice sounds strained and hollow. Truth be told, he is a bit of a prize-winning idiot in the self-inflicted wounds department. “Aithusa?” he calls gently, needing the emotional support.

Merlin flings his messenger bag on the couch and goes on to the kitchen area. No one there. The generous portion of eye-wateringly expensive kibble still sits in Aithusa’s bowl perfectly undisturbed.

Merlin heaves a controlled sigh. Rubs a tired hand over his brow. It was worth a try.

“Aithusa?” he calls again, injecting a forced buoyancy that he doesn’t feel into his tone. “You big tit, where are you?”

Merlin takes a better look around the living-room, then goes back into the hallway, checks the bathroom, then approaches the bedroom. The absence of stench is encouraging. Maybe this time he will be spared the puddle of piss on his side of the bed and the runny turd in his favourite trainers.

In the end, Merlin finds the tuxedo cat sulking under the bed.

“Come on, you can’t keep doing this, mate,” Merlin chides as he gently drags the toneless pet from where he is hiding. The soft, plaintive mrow is a jab to Merlin's already aching heart. The yellow eyes are gunky and full of reproach and sorrow, and Merlin can feel the ribs a bit too sharp under the lacklustre fur. He gathers the sickly cat to his chest and holds him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “You can’t go on like this. I know you miss him, but you have to eat,” he pleads as the black tail remains motionless. "It's hard enough as it is without—" he cuts himself off and hugs the miserable cat a little closer.

There's only one possible way out of this mess and he hates it.

"Golden Age Merlin"

Huge thanks to @colinmorgan-beautifulsmile for sharing the bounty that is Kerry Howel in Trying.

Hi :)

Here are some prompts for the trope!

Exes to Lovers Prompts

Having broken up, but still living in the same area they keep running into each other. At the park, the grocery store, the laundromat, … everywhere.

They are still in the same friend group and they want to make it work as friends. But hanging out all the time makes it hard to get over each other.

Person A moves to another apartment and finds some of Person B’s, their exes’ stuff while moving and the former lovers meet up for the first time since the break-up to exchange the goods.

While not having adopted it together, Person A’s pet becomes miserable after Person B stops being over, so finally they have to arrange for a meeting in a park, like two divorced parents.

They are still each other's emergency contact. Which becomes apparent when one of them ends up in the hospital.

Having their car breaking down by the side of the road is bad enough. Their ex being the one to come save them is even worse.

They had already booked everything for their friends' destination wedding before they broke up. To celebrate them and not lose their deposits they decide to still share the hotel room.

Person A’s family still invites Person B to all of their family events. And Person B actually goes.

They bought tickets for their favourite band’s concert one year in advance. It’s been a few months since their break-up and they believe the emotions have calmed down a bit, so they decide to still go together when the time comes. But maybe they don’t have calmed down that much, when their song comes on.

They know each other best. Even after their break-up their ex is still the first person they want to call when something good or bad happens.

Hope you enjoy them!

While not having adopted it together, Person A’s pet becomes miserable after Person B stops being over, so finally they have to arrange for a meeting in a park, like two divorced parents.

Thank you for the cool idea!! 😊

It's BBC Merlin fic

Title: Arthur Again Pairing: Merlin/Arthur Rating: Explicit Word count: ~11k Tags: Modern AU, ANGST!, Merlin's POV, jealousy, pining, Happy Ending



reblog if you believe anon is wrong and writers are writers, no matter what they write about. no matter how they portray these taboo topics.

reblog if you believe art can be about topics that are controversial, taboo or outright disturbing, and artists who create controversial, taboo or outright disturbing art are as valid as artists who create art of conservative values.

“Martha’s job is to watch a bunch of immature children constantly screaming at each other.

“So when she comes home, she likes to relax by turning on the tv and watch a bunch of immature adult women constantly screaming at each other.

“The difference is that the adults are not Martha’s problem.”

Which are basically "what if falling to your death wasn't actually a problem" and therefore fun.

"Golden Age Merlin"

Huge thanks to @colinmorgan-beautifulsmile for sharing the bounty that is Kerry Howel in Trying.

'What if –' Arthur's voice choked as if a noose had tightened around his throat, strangling him to silence, but he persevered all the same, his eyes fluttering closed as if he could not bear to see Merlin's reaction. 'What if I wanted that? A handfasting between us?'

---

After a long, stressful winter at court, Merlin decides Arthur needs some time away from the castle to reclaim his peace. Can he bring his prince the pleasure and tranquillity he needs to carry on, or do the old gods have other plans for them?

finished my thesis, and now I have time to finish the illustration of Merlin

really love the interactions between these two idiots

- sincerely a chronic oneshot writer afraid of commitment

ooo okay well most of my multi-chapter fics were supposed to be one shots when I started 😆 BUT I have tips anyway! I think it depends on where the fear is coming from - so here are some possible options and suggestions!

AO3 SCAM

There's been a number of people reporting over on the AO3 subreddit that they're getting messages like this posted in the comments shortly after posting new fics.

The AO3 team are NEVER going to try and contact you about TOS violations via the comment section (or about anything else for that matter)

Don't click any links. Report the accounts involved (which might claim to be things like "LucySupport"), delete the message and move on.