bbc merlin multishipping is like, gwen saying "this is my husband arthur and his boyfriend merlin and merlin's boyfriend gwaine and his other boyfriend lancelot (who is also my boyfriend), and lancelot's boyfriend percival and his queerplatonic partner elyan"
Merlin, Lancelot and Gwaine are captured while on a mission. Secrets are exposed and they find themselves face to face with some of their worst nightmares. ANGST with a... hopeful ending. Merlin avenges those he cares about and does his best to make things right.
I know this is such a cliche Mercelot moment to love, but I absolutely love it. As a person who has more walls than a maze and just as hard a time navigating my internal needs as one would have navigating a maze, there is something that has always drawn me to this moment. The complete and unwavering willingness that Lancelot has to keep a secret that could cost him his life, just because Merlin needs him to. Not because he wants something from Merlin, or because something is going to happen to him if he doesn’t. Just because Merlin needs the secret to be kept, and he cares about Merlin, so of course he’s going to keep this secret.
And Merlin doesn’t doubt that Lancelot will keep his secret. There is that trust between them that is unbreakable. That is unshakable. Trust that I can only really dream of as a person who was raised in places where that sort of trust could have had really really negative consequences if I chose to wrong person to put it in. I know something something Magic acts as an allegory for Queerness (unintentionally? Not sure) but I’m not even thinking about that allegory right now. I’m thinking about all the little pieces of me that I don’t share because I’m afraid of the consequences and how Lancelot had all of Merlin’s trust. I think you could also say Gwaine has a lot of Merlin’s trust (hi Merwainecelots) but Merlin just didn’t put his trust in a whole lot of people.
This moment, where Merlin believes that Lancelot will keep his secret, means so much to me. I tell people secrets all the time, and I never really believe that I’ll be safe afterwards. I never let go of the (irrational) fear that I’ll be exposed for having emotions, or queerness or interests. I’m getting better at it. I’ve met a lot of people who were like Lancelot’s and have shown me that it’s okay to trust people. This moment, every time I see it, makes my chest ache. I love it. I love them. I love the idea of well earned and well kept trust.
10. netflix and chill with, go ice-skating with, play dodgeball against
hmm, alright so i understand that "netflix and chill" is a euphemism but, uh, i'm going to go ahead and take it literally here - because i don't wanna do That; and also gwamerlot have each other for that!!
oh, this is a tricky one!
i think i want to play dodgeball against whoever is worst at it, and i suspect that isn't gwaine. he'd be very enthusiastic... hmm, merlin would be too good at it if he cheated and used magic, so i think lancelot is the safest bet here. he'd be a gentle opponent
i'd go ice skating with lancelot, because he's probably the most graceful and it would be fun to watch him skate shit i've just realised i tried to use lancelot twice. i was planning to say n+c with gwaine which i'll get to in a moment, which works out because if i go ice skating with merlin he could use magic to keep me from falling flat on my bum!
and i'd watch telly with gwaine, because for reasons too complicated to elaborate on, i feel like he and i would have very similar taste in tv, and also very similar opinions on what we watch. also, if i get a bit more specific for a moment and said we watched a whodunnit, i think he would have the most fun getting invested in trying to work out who did it before it is revealed to us
Percival: synonyms are weird because if you invite someone to your cottage in the woods that just sounds nice and cozy but if I invite you to my cabin in the woods you’re going to die
Merlin (looking at Lancelot): my favourite is explaining the difference between a butt dial and a booty call
Elyan: it’s called connotations
Gwaine (looking flirtily at Merlin): try this one on for size: forgive me father for I have sinned vs sorry daddy I’ve been naughty
Updated my BBC Merlin Rec List for the first time in almost two months, there are 33 new ones on there for you to check out!! (Including an old favourite that was updated, and went from 7k to 33k at some point when I wasn’t paying attention)
Let me just say — I love how excited you guys are! I look forward to the event! 🤍
anon, we are so very excited, perhaps even more so than these beautiful people
and are thrilled that you are looking forward to the event!!
we are very much looking forward to seeing all of the submissions when the 30th of August does roll around but, in the meantime, you can submit suggestions for prompts here (and they can be as vague or as specific as you'd like!)
it's going to be a wonderful week and we are stoked that other people have been dragged aboard this dinghy of a ship and we hope you enjoy the trip 💕
Some additional kisses from the notes; Perwaine 'kiss to distract from pain' and Lancelot/Merlin/Gwaine 'kisses on scars'
Kisses on scars for now. I have an idea for the other one too, so I'll probably reblog this post some time this weekend to add it
Merlin's room was all of their favorite, given how it had been where both Gwaine and Lancelot had really gotten to know the servant, but unfortunately the bed was a bit too small for all three of them. They'd relocated to Lancelot's chambers, since his bed was as big as Gwaine's but his room was significantly neater. Or at least it was until they'd hastily undressed each other and strewn clothes and armor all across the floor.
The three men lay naked in the bed, sprawled across it and each other. Gwaine, who was sitting up slightly with his back against the headboard, looked out over his two lovers, mentally cataloguing everything he loved about their bodies. Merlin lay on his stomach with his head on Lancelot's chest, with the knight's own head in Gwaine's lap facing upwards.
From there, he could run a calloused thumb over the two distinct scars on his face. The one on his forehead, a barely-there line that started between his eyebrows and stretched up and to the side an inch and a half, was apparently from his childhood, though he couldn't remember where exactly. The scar on his cheek was much more recent, from his time as a cage fighter, and more raised. Gwaine loved to feel it against his own face when they kissed or under his thumb when he took Lancelot's head in his hands. Like all of them, he had scars on the rest of his body too, but most of his notable ones, such as the talon mark from the griffin on his side and the sword cut on his shoulder from when he helped retake the castle from Morgana and her immortal army, were either on his back or otherwise hidden from view by Merlin lying on top of him. He gazed up lovingly at Gwaine as the knight stroked a thumb over the scar on his forehead. His own hand was tangled in Merlin's hair where his head lay on his chest as he dozed off.
Many of the servant's own scars were on his back and visible. There was the mace blow from when he had first met Arthur, and the serket sting right beside it. That one was fairly new, and it had taken his lovers months to bully the story about it out of him. And right by the two of them was the scar from the fomorrah at the base of his neck. The whole cluster was still painful sometimes, so Gwaine avoided touching it. Instead, he leaned over his sleeping friend to press a kiss between the scars. The servant stirred, but didn't wake. Normally he was an incredibly light sleeper and would be out of bed at the slightest indication of danger or trouble, so it was a sign of how much he trusted Lancelot and Gwaine that he could let his guard down enough that even his unconsciousness knew not to be afraid.
"Where's this one from?" Lancelot asked, reaching up with his free hand to a scar on Gwaine's stomach. He must've noticed the knight paying attention to the marks of injury on his and Merlin's skin.
"I honestly don't remember," he admitted. "I have so many; it's hard to keep track."
"Merlin and I will help," Lance said. Keeping his chest as still as possible so as not to disturb Merlin, he turned his head to the side to press a kiss to the scar before following their other boyfriend to sleep.