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forgottenarthur · 3 months

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50. Writer's preference - "And what if it is not you?"

The barb stung and Arthur turned away as quickly as if she had struck him.

These walks had become something of a tradition between the Prince and former Princess over the rolling weeks. With the out of doors near unpassable, Arthur's mornings had shifted to a shorter indoor practice before dawn, followed by a brief repast and then a stroll through the Orangery with the Lady Aria. Though they still argued as often as they didn't, there was something free and flowing in these conversations -- a strange sense that no subject was off limits...And that every single one was somehow taboo. It was perhaps true that they had each been raised as royalty, but it seemed their worlds could not have been more different.

Today, the subject had fallen to that all-encompassing theme of his life, the most pressing topic in the empire, and the one least likely ever to be openly addressed: Roderick's line of succession. It was an ache in his gut, this, a hill he had run up all his childhood only to find a sheer rockface confronting him. Now, scrambling for footholds in the brutal cliffside, it was a race to the top against those he loved most -- a climb now far too high to risk the drop. It was success or the death of all meaning. But what was he to do? Throw his siblings from the sides? They too held on by meager fingertips and he could not bear to think of them dashed against the teeth of the unforgiving stone so far below.

Arthur's jaw clenched. He kept her pace, but he no longer looked at her as she spoke; heard her only as if from a great distance. What was there to say? Yet, her last words burned, searing like vinegar in his cuts, and he turned sharply towards her, a rush sounding in his head.

"What? You favor someone else?" he demanded, all effort at bluster or calm stripped away. Surprise seemed to register in his face and, pressing his eyes shut, he shook his head, realizing she meant this only as rhetoric and, with a look of defeat, he sighed; shook his head. "How should I know? It would be the end for me."

He didn't look at her, now, gaze straying upwards towards the gently nodding trees, branches heavy and sagging with fruit. He thought of the tart-sweet of them, tawny and opening with a kind of crack. Fibrous chambers of juice attended the tiny seeds at the center and this, then, was life. Even trees limned their children with sweet cushions against the harsh reality of the world around them. When he laughed, it was a bitter sound.

Sighing, Arthur shook his head. "Aria, I--" but he stopped. He'd not said her name so baldly before and he gestured, helpless, voice trapped within his throat.

Her eyes were dark: not mere chocolate, but something else as if the sea had leaked into them and tossed against stormy shores within her mind. Her face was set, but he could not read it. He searched for something written there, something designed for him to read: he wanted it. He knew the message he wished to read. A very simple message. He wanted to read it again and again, see it roiling within the storm of her eyes. But there was nothing. She was no harbor. She was, perhaps, another deathly drop.

Aria lifted her chin. "Go on."

"I don't know what will happen if my father chooses someone else any more than you do. But I do know I will be a threat to whoever is chosen, simply for having been in the running, and..."

And if it were Edmund who were selected, whom Arthur regarded as the most likely alternative, he would not expect to long outlive his father -- or even his father's choice. Enemies of the House of Calainon had a way of disappearing. Arthur was not altogether certain they even lifted a finger: they were witches, after all. Likely, all they needed do was wish for a thing, and their dark magic did the rest. Edmund might not wish him gone, perhaps...but Amira would not hesitate. He could not help but think that would make for a horrible ending, all the demons of hell rising at her command. His would be a silent end, he had no doubt, yet he knew, too, that if it were by Amira's hand, he would die howling.

If Aria had said something else, Arthur had not heard it. At last, she said: "And what if the Emperor doesn't choose? What happens to us all, then?"

Arthur stopped short, and Aria beside him. "Then it'd be war."

He walked out without another word.

#this was really interesting to write -- he's actually much more clear eyed (when forced to confront it) than id thought he'd be honestly #drabble #challenge #aria stafford #edmund varmont #amira varmont #guinevere varmont #ask #honestly still ruminating abt this like...this response really shocked me??????#i kinda thought he'd be like 'guess id turn to duke or knight errant or smth' or just bluster but he was like 'nah im dead by black magic'#me: you ok arthur?????#arthur: obviously not #roderick varmont #arthur's gonna go hit smth really really really hard btw if you're wondering where he's off to #realizing being a knight isn't ~just abt proving himself (tho its v much that too!!!) its also a coping mechanism #and he's lowkey terrified every single day of his life and now im really sad #i honestly didn't think he was so aware of all that laksjdflkjslf #about #also if you're wondering what he was searching for in her face -- he just wanted to see a lil faith in him #that's all he really wants from anyone #and its all he never gets from anyone #if anyone anyone showed a lil faith in him or a lil love for him -- god forbid -- he'd go to the ends of the earth for them purely for that

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noodles-and-tea · 2 months

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Returning home

#I like to think it works like Sophie being old in Howls moving castle #without his friends and family and Arthur Merlin obviously ages #but Arthur makes him feel young again - like who he was with him #because Arthur woke up obviously because that’s what happens #it’s true and canon and I said so #(don’t tell anyone im only on season three currently)#my art #Merlin #bbc merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #Merthur

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elesketchii · 7 months

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baby john’s first bank robbery with big bro arthur (he tripped an alarm and they almost died)

#morstons dni obviously #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #rdr #rdr2 fanart #arthur morgan #john marston #my art #digital art #fanart

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samglyph · 2 months

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So that last 25 minutes huh.

#I ignored the poll #these will not be my only images. obviously. they’re just a bit too clean to count as sketches #and a bit too messy to exist on their own #malevolent spoilers #malevolent podcast #malevolent part 40 #my art #malevolent fanart #fan art #kayne malevolent #John doe #john malevolent #arthur lester #arthur malevolent #I’m calling the big guy jojojohn #cause that’s what it is

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bet-on-me-13 · 6 months

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Ellie isn't allowed to travel alone Anymore

So! Ellie was raised in a Lab by a Genuine Bonefied Supervillain. She was raised to be a Villain as well, so her Moral Conpass is a little skewed.

Sure she *mostly* knows what is right and wrong from Danny's quick lesson before her Adventure around the Country, but she still has trouble separating what is moral and what is not from time to time.

So it's really no surprise that the moment she left Amity Park she somehow ended up being branded a Villain.

Look, it's not her fault she didn't know not to attack the flying guy in Blue Spandex when he approached her! One of Danny's biggest warnings shen she left had been Stranger Danger! She did what any 12 year old girl would have done when approached by a strange Older Man!

Its also not her fault that her powers (being Magic based), managed to affect him! She didn't even use her full power! (She maybe should have kicked him in a different place tho...she hopes he wasn't planning on having kids...)

So she did what her instincts told her to do. She took any money he had on him and ran the hell away!

It wasn't until she was 2 cities over when she saw a newspaper titled, "Little Villain Girl Mugs Superman in Broad Daylight!", that she realized she may have screwed up...

After that, she really had no excuse.

She knew that she probably shouldn't have kept Mugging the Heroes who approached her, but she wasn't a Fenton for nothing! Her Family Motto had always been "Commit to the Bit", and she was gonna stick to it!

So when the Fast Red Guy tried to tie her up, she phased off all his clothes and took off with his money (not the mask, she knew enough not to take that off)

And when the Grumpy Bat Guy tried to corner her with some weird papers he pulled out of his Belt, she just distracted him while her clone picked his pockets and made off with the wheels of his Car. That one made her a pretty penny!

The flying Green Guy was fun, his attacks were just throwing Ghost Candy (pure willpower) at her. He did stop doing do after she nicked his fancy talking Ring however, but it was fun while it lasted

Then she came across a Orange Fish Guy, and he actually seemed nice enough. But she was committing to the Bit, so she took the fancy Trident he had and sold it at a nearby Pawn Shop for some extra cash. He would probably be able to find it, that's why she chose a nearby location.

All in All, her Adventure had been really fun! So she decided to visit Amity Park again to tell Danny all about it!

...

Aquaman walked into the meeting room of the Watchtower, a very frustrated look in his eye.

Barry spoke up first, "Oh! I know that look in your eye! She got to you too didn't she!"

Arthur just glared at Barry for a second before walking over to his Chair, sitting down with a thump. "She is certainly a tricky child."

"What did she take this time?" Clark asked.

"..mttrident..." Arthur grumbled out quickly.

"What was that?" Asked Barry with a twinkle in his eye. He heard it, but he wanted everybody else to know.

"She took my trident, Okay!" Arthur shouted out.

"I feel ya man." Responded Hal, "At least with me she threw it back at me when she realized it wasn't making 'candy' anymore. What did she do with yours?"

"She sold it at a Pawn Shop!" Arthus yelled in frustration, "She managed to steal one of the most Powerful Magical Weapons in the world, the Symbol of the entire Atalantean Royal Bloodline, and she sold it and a Pawn Shop!"

"...how much did she get for it?" Asked Hal.

At this, Aquaman just collapsed to the table and groaned.

...

Alternatively she could have just kept all those things, and gradually built up a collection of all the JLA's most treasured possessions.

She has Supermans Wallet, not very important to him but it was her first mugging

She has Batmans Utility Belt (trackers removed) along with his Tires

She took Flashes Costume Ring (his civilian clothes still stuck inside)

She took Green Lanterns ring as well, but unfortunately it managed to escape after a few days. It was feisty.

And her crowning Jewel is the Trident she took from Aquaman.

(She avoided WW, cause she likes her too much to steal anything from her)

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dollopheadsandclotpoles · 1 year

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It would have been so fun to see the opposite of the George scenario with Merlin. Some nobles are visiting and Uther forces Merlin to serve one of the new princes who's so well-behaved and polite, and Merlin's like... this one isn't a lil bitch and can't take my sass, I'm so bored

#BBC merlin #merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #merthur #merlin x arthur #arthur x merlin #BUT he pretends he loves it so that arthur will get jealous #which he does obviously

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rdr2gifs · 4 months

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One of my favorite aspects of Arthur’s character is his curiosity and his non-judgmental nature. Even if they are people who are totally different from him he doesn’t judge and he is always intrigued by the unknown.

For example Jamie, having joined a cult and behaving quite foolishly, gave Arthur a lot of trouble. Despite this, Arthur chose not to ridicule him and instead comforted him and said that he cannot judge him because he doesn’t know how his life has been.

Even though Arthur hates big cities, civilisation etc. he is not judgmental towards a woman who comes from a wealthy family, who doesn’t know a thing about survival, who probably never had to work for a single thing in her life. Instead, he is encouraging and helps her be more confident in herself.

Albert Mason, who is totally helpless and who probably couldn’t survive 2 days in the wild couldn’t be more different from Arthur, yet Arthur respects him and likes helping him.

Some of my favorite wholesome encounters include Algernon Wasp, who wants to sell Arthur a corset and make him try on extravagant hats, which aren’t Arthur’s style at all. Arthur could be mean to him but instead he makes excuses to not disrespect his work and even lets him put on the hat after little persuasion!

Arthur is intrigued by the flamboyant Charles Châtenay and his mischiefs and helps him/spends time with him even if there’s no reward for him.

He helps a crazy scientist obsessed with creating his robot son, a crazy palaeontologist..he is obviously drawn to new/unfamiliar things. Even though he might find them weird at first he doesn’t mind and wants to know more about them.

Arthur also doesn’t seem to like physical affection much but I can remember at least 4 instances where he lets people hug him to comfort them even though it might be uncomfortable for him.

I genuinely think that for anyone to say that Arthur wouldn’t be accepting of people different from him, would be homophobic, transphobic, would kill you if you were near him, would be mean to you etc. have no understanding of him at all. Arthur treats people like they treat him and he doesn’t think he is in any position to judge how others live.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Bonus: if you manage to find “Bigfoot” and visit him for the second time he asks Arthur if he has missed him and Arthur is really awkward and doesn’t really know what to say so he says he also missed him haha

#Arthur always likes to act all mean and grumpy and then gives in after 10 seconds 😆#obviously experience can vary based on players decision but most of these aren’t even based on honor #arthur morgan #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #and there’s more encounters I didn’t even mention!

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ranna-alga · 1 month

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"Do the Evolution" - Pearl Jam

#ranna word dumping #this specific lyric of the song reminded me soooo much of dutch/john and hosea/arthur #obviously john is very different from dutch but i think there is a reason why he was considered to be dutch's favourite son #john seems closer to dutch in a similar way arthur is with hosea but in a different manner i think. there is obviously a tension present #dutch is observant but only when he wants to be (otherwise i think he would have kicked micah out of the gang a long time ago)#john is just observant. he saw first-hand what happened in blackwater and is sus of dutch throughout the rest of the game #he isnt as dumb or slow as he calls himself #i read a meta about it and it explains it 1000x better than i can #as for hosea/arthur the parallels are already obvious enough #also i am quite a fan of pearl jam so teehee i had to make the selfish parallel #might make more like this idk #rdr #rdr2 #red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #rdr2 arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #rdr2 dutch van der linde #john marston #rdr2 john marston #hosea matthews #rdr2 hosea matthews #outlaws for life #pearl jam

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shrimperini · 2 months

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au doodles :3

gladys’ badly concealed bias towards chell + mayadys stuff. the more i draw them the more i love them

#my art #portal 2 #portal human au #gladys #human glados #morality core #maya #chell #intelligence core #arthur #fact core #craig #doug rattmann #yes thats him next to craig #first time drawing him!! obviously he has to be present in this au hehehe #mayadys #glados x morality

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poisonedfate · 18 days

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bbc merlin - 03x08 The Eye of the Phoenix

the guy who can barely get the words "we're friends" past his lips vs the guy who will call you his best friend within the first day of you meeting aka the different representations of love and affection in bbc merlin

#merlin rewatch #bbc merlin #03x08 #merlin #gwaine #arthur #merwainthur #?#s3 #i dont want to see anyone tagging this as 'arthur doesn't care'#obviously you're entitled to your own opinions #but this is just inward and outward affection #they were both equally worried in the scene just before this

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blackkatdraws · 9 months

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Something dumb I drew last night

———✧

Arthur belongs to @indigo-art

Harry belongs to Sad-ist

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sou-pp · 2 months

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Something about Johns return in season 3 and how he had been driven to do seemingly horrible things in the dark world for countless years and was literally living in a hell that he never wanted to go back to and he was still able to bring Arthur back from total corruption. Despite everything he had been though and the terrible things he had been forced to do he still had enough humanity in him to see and understand that what Arthur was doing was wrong and needed to be stopped. He still had empathy for those trapped in the mines and wanted to save them even though no one would have blamed him if he came back as batshit crazy as Arthur was during season 3. His time with Arthur and humanity left such an impact on him that he was able to cling to that even while living in actual hell. Enough that he was able to come back and become Arthurs sense of morality and reality.

#malevolent #if anyone says that the real reason is because arthur was being reckless and didnt care if he died and he needed him to live so he could #get to the order im going to bite you #like yes obviously that was one of his motivations but its clear that his main one was how much he cares for arthur and how human he'sbecome #malevolent podcast #i love you john malevolent #john doe #malevolent spoilers

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noodles-and-tea · 1 month

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I’m apparently a year late to this concept, however …

#obviously they’re both British so it’s not quite #but with a few tweaks it’s strikingly similar #like there’s that story that Henry makes up about the Prince and the peasant boy #that’s just the plot of Merlin actually #ugh firstprince I miss you #my art #bbc merlin #merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #merthur #firstprince #rwrb #red white and royal blue

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l3irdl3rain · 5 months

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guys I think I’ve changed my mind and I’m going to give him a full name. Wouldn’t it be so funny if everyone else just had the one name and his name was John Marston

#I keep saying ‘John. Arthur’ in Dutch’s voice and it just feels right #my post #now I just need to decide if I tag his posts as ‘John’ ‘Marston’ or ‘John Marston’#‘John Marston’ is the funniest obviously but also I don’t want to bother ppl actually looking for the character

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bibuck-saved-me · 3 months

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it’s a selfish thought and arthur knows it because merlin has spent so much time hiding a vital part of his existence, his very being, all because of arthur. so he presses it down into the deepest recesses of himself and focuses on doing everything he can to support merlin, to give merlin the world he deserves. a world where he is free.

but sometimes, when he’s alone in his room surrounded by his endless responsibilities, he will think to himself, i am nothing.

merlin and the old religion hold him as this once and future king, but no matter what they say, he can’t understand why they think any of this is about him. it was never him. everything he’d done, every accomplishment and fight he’d won had never been his to claim. he was a fraud. he was a lonely king with nothing to his name beyond the blood on his hands, the blood staining his every crevice.

he isn’t the once and future king. he doesn’t deserve any of the praise. he is the moon, a piece of rock in the sky that shines only because of the sun. without the sun, the moon is worthless. without the sun, no one would have ever looked at the moon twice.

arthur had never been proud of his mistakes and his inaction when it came to his father’s slaughter, but he had been proud of the things he had done to keep his kingdom and his people safe and healthy and happy. he has fought and fought and fought only to discover he had never even landed a punch. every knockout, every victory he had held up to hide the ugly nothingness of his true, empty self was never his to hold. with the discovery of merlin’s magic, any worthiness he thought he’d earned had slipped through his fingers like sand through a sieve.

merlin is beautiful and powerful. merlin is a god amongst men, a gift given to this world, given to arthur, and for what?

this prophecy for arthur was always about merlin. he carried the weight, he fought and fought and fought and he won, merlin was the one who had carried this kingdom on his back until they reached the safety of the golden era of the current day.

it’s a selfish thought, to be thinking of himself in relation to merlin’s magic when merlin has suffered every single day because of arthur. and yet, in those moments, he can’t help but wonder why he was born at all, why he was named savior of a group of people who would’ve never died if only he had stayed unmade, a whisper of nothingness in his mother’s womb.

his first breath caused a massacre, a genocide, and yet he was given an angel and a title and a prophecy of greatness he could never actually fulfill.

he would never tell merlin about these thoughts he had. merlin would end up feeling guilty somehow, would carry the weight of arthur’s worthlessness even more by taking on the deserved revulsion arthur had for himself.

no, he couldn’t tell merlin about this. merlin would tell him he was wrong, would try to talk him up and fix it. would use that endless kindness to tell arthur endless stories about his own importance. merlin would shine his sunshine on arthur until arthur forgot he was just a lump of rock. he wouldn’t rest until arthur loved himself, until arthur took all the credit for merlin’s own accomplishments again.

no, he would keep this to himself. he would give merlin the attention and love he deserves. this story isn’t actually about arthur pendragon. it never was.

#idk what this is #anyway #sorry #me? projecting? never #also to clarify uh this is obviously not how i feel personally about arthur!!#i love that man i just wanted to explore how the insecurities we see him have in the show would look post magic reveal #merlin #arthur pendragon #bbc merlin #bbc arthur #merthur #it’s hinted at more than anything though #character study #character introspection #might delete later #ficlet #angst

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kateis-cakeis · 3 months

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Do you ever think about how the scene where Arthur catches Merlin with a dress in S2Ep9, and the scenes where Arthur is like "girl??????" in S5Ep8

that it's like just a lil bit suggested that Arthur thinks Merlin is both into men and crossdresses (which does that suggest some kind of queer culture in Camelot where gay men are known to do drag?? who knows) and not only thinks that, but accepts it too.

Like Arthur who is presented with the fact that Merlin might wear dresses in his spare times just shrugs and says what a man does in his spare time is up to him, and that the colour suits him.

He literally could have made any joke about Merlin being a girl like he often does when he teases Merlin about being a coward (which we know is just teasing) but instead he just accepts it, and still calls Merlin a man.

Meanwhile in The Hollow Queen, well, I'll let the lines speak for themselves:

GUINEVERE: He’s not in danger. He’s seeing a girl.

ARTHUR: Merlin?

GUINEVERE: Gaius, I’m sorry, but there is no reason to worry.

ARTHUR: Except for the poor girl.

---

ARTHUR: Oh, so you can go and visit that girl again.

MERLIN: What?

ARTHUR: Girl.

MERLIN: Don't have one.

ARTHUR: That's not what Guinevere tells me. So, why don't you tell us all about her?

MERLIN: Right.

ARTHUR: And why you're walking with a limp.

---

The first lines could be interpreted that Arthur doesn't think Merlin is good with women, but paired with the lines from the 2nd scene where Arthur asks him about it.... it definitely feels like Arthur is saying to worry for the girl because he thinks Merlin isn't attracted to women.

I mean the sheer disbelief alone when he says "Merlin?" like it's so out of realm of possibility. (I mean it could also be suggested that Arthur doesn't think anyone would be attracted to Merlin, but with the 2nd scene it definitely doesn't seem so.)

Especially the way he says "girl" with sarcasm dropping from his tone, like literally "girrrl" is how he says it. Like he's basically calling out Merlin, or saying that he knows that the girl Gwen told him about is actually a man.

Which I believe is why the "and why you're walking with a limp" has Arthur so, well,

like this. I think he truly believes that Merlin is lying sjhdfghsdfg Like he's thinking in that little brain of his that Merlin got pegged by a man and just isn't admitting to it.

And he's definitely accusing Merlin of sneaking away to have sex, you know, during an important time and all.

Basically, with these like 3 scenes in the show, I'd say it really comes off as Arthur accepting Merlin as gay and just waiting for the day where Merlin tells him the truth.

And that's really funny to me.

#bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #Arthur disbelieving Merlin going to see a girl is genuinely hilarious no matter how you see it #like this man who has known Merlin for years - Merlin whose only romance was in secret over a few days #like he just doesnt believe it and whether it's because he thinks Merlin is into men and only men or that the man just doesnt care for it #either is funny because like Arthur knows so little in reality dhfghfg but hey in this fandom we know the truth #and that boy is bi bi bi just like his king :PPPP #of course any references to gay as an identity are just references because obviously it would not be used by the characters sdhfhsdg #this post was inspired by me writing about the dress scene in an arthur returns fic where Merlin is like ???? at Arthur being accepting #of queerness

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