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Best One-Shot Merlin BBC Fanfics

Merlin BBC one-shots under 10k words — complete reads in one sitting. Curated from AO3 and ranked by kudos.

TV Shows 25 one-shot fics Avg 5,488 words short stories under 10,000 words

Top 25 One-Shot Merlin BBC Fanfics

Ranked by AO3 kudos. Mid-length Merlin BBC fics — short stories under 10,000 words.

1

True Love

by platonic_boner

AU where soulmates can’t lie to each other.(That’s okay, Merlin wasn’t planning to lie to Arthur anyways! Haha.. ha.. ha…)

55,021 kudos 6,927 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
2

That's His Name

by ZairaA

In a world where Arthur and Merlin never went to Ealdor, Merlin is home visiting his mum. People soon are getting annoyed about all his talk about this Arthur chap, they don't believe for a second that Merlin of all people could be close to the king. Until the king pays a visit.Written for prompt #8

38,757 kudos 6,834 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences
3

Have you Heard

by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

“They say Emrys tamed the great dragon of Camelot and sired the white dragon of Albion-”“Sired?” Gwaine interrupted “This Emrys fellow is going around siring dragons? How exactly is that happening? Sex with other dragons?” He asked and despite the situation, Merlin flushed. The man in question blink

34,621 kudos 6,568 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
4

Catching Bees with Honey

by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

“So let me get this straight,” Arthur said, folding his fingers together as the man in front him awkwardly shifted. “You are under the impression if you win the favor of my servant that you will then win my favor?” he asked and the nobleman shifted again.“Well, sire,” he said “That is the common con

33,844 kudos 5,881 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences
5

The Truth Is You

by bigmamag

Arthur lies to a sorceress and gets slapped with a truth spell. Awkwardness ensues.

33,235 kudos 8,957 words 1/1 chapters Mature Complete
6

Strike of Lightning

by helloearthlings

Uther's commandment was very simple: If there should come a day when Arthur met his soulmate, he would drive a sword through their chest and kill them on sight.

31,710 kudos 4,830 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
7

Arthur Enchanted

by platonic_boner

Arthur is cursed to obey Merlin’s orders.Obviously this has very little impact on their lives, since no servant would ever dare give orders to a prince.

29,700 kudos 4,958 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete
8

glow in grey

by helloearthlings

Morgana opened the door to reveal Leon’s smiling face, Gwen hanging on one of his arms. They noticed the wine with narrowed eyes as Morgana dramatically poured herself a glass three sizes too big without uttering a word to suggest why.“What –?” Leon’s face scrunched up in confusion.“Arthur,” Morgana

28,940 kudos 3,304 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
9

Sharing is Caring

by platonic_boner

Arthur hadn't really given his soulmate much thought, until he beat a peasant with a broomstick and every blow hurt like he was hitting himself.

26,907 kudos 6,080 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences
10

No Harm Will Come to You Here

by fancyh

"That was magic," Arthur accuses."Oh." Merlin just nods, looking unperturbed. Arthur fights to keep his expression calm, mind racing and heart pounding. "Sorcery is outlawed in Camelot. On pain of death."Merlin splutters, finally fixing Arthur with an affronted glare. "It's not like I meant to do it

25,320 kudos 6,792 words 1/1 chapters Teen And Up Audiences
11

Finding Home

by riventhorn

Written for a kinkme_merlin prompt. When Gaius retires a new physician takes over and quickly kicks Merlin out of his room and takes it for himself. Arthur finds Merlin sleeping in the stables...and it's winter.

23,460 kudos 7,857 words 1/1 chapters Explicit
12

In A Name

by StarlightInHerEyes22

In the middle of some quest or another, Merlin, Arthur and the knights find themselves stuck in the middle of a shrine being told that, if they wish to proceed unharmed, they need only speak their true names and titles. Straight-forward enough, right?Wrong. Merlin really hates the Old Religion somet

23,262 kudos 2,541 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences
13

you are like me, you will die too

by DancingLilies

He couldn’t go to Camelot after— after Arthur. They wouldn’t blame him, of course they wouldn’t blame him. He blamed himself, though. It had been his job to protect Arthur, to bring about Albion and the Once and Future King. It had been his job and he had screwed it up.Despite what he may wish, Merl

102 kudos 5,945 words 5/5 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
14

The dying need but little dear

by Memoryloss_yes_again

After a hunt goes sideways, in a true Camelot fashion, Merlin gets stuck in a bedroll. Arthur is drowning in feelings he doesn't dare to say out loud. The knights won’t stop asking questions. And somewhere in the middle of all that, Merlin might be immortal. Overall a pretty normal day in Camelot.

70 kudos 9,470 words 3/3 chapters Not Rated Complete
15

[Reddit] My bestfriend is a vegan cannibal [Night Mode version]

by AchilleUwU

u/Snowbalding on r/AITA: it remind me of that post where some dude thought his best friend wanted to eat his actual meat…u/BigFootsTiddies: What the fuck ? u/Snowbalding : There you go. There is a light mode version if you prefer but I didn't do the light mode version yet for chapter 2

69 kudos 2,316 words 2/2 chapters Teen And Up Audiences Complete
16

Hemlock

by SheerWillpower

Morgana uses Lancelot to get revenge on Merlin for betraying her so long ago, rather than sabotaging the wedding. Merlin, of course, refuses to die. This time he may manage to save Lancelot as well.

51 kudos 9,259 words 3/? chapters Not Rated
17

The Royal Wedding

by sull3n_d0ll

Arthur Pendragon is getting ready for what is supposed to be the happiest day of his life.Camelot has spent weeks preparing for the royal wedding. The kingdom is celebrating, the castle has never looked finer, and in just a few hours Arthur will marry Guinevere and begin a new chapter as king.Morgan

48 kudos 1,402 words 1/? chapters Not Rated
18

Dream or reality? (A re-write)

by SnakeDraig

Arthur and Merlin keep having nightmares and bumping into each other on midnight snacks and tasks. Arthur needs to check if he's dreaming.Also, just cute Arthur courting Merlin and general shenanigans

34 kudos 7,746 words 4/? chapters Not Rated
19

THE WIZARD BEHIND THE THRONE?

by RitaSkeeter

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐌𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫,𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐁𝐲 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝟏𝟒 �

24 kudos 5,676 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete
20

I'm not the one you want, babe.

by 3mrys_cc

After Gwen's exile, Arthur is left adrift—grieving, lonely, and desperate for something solid to hold onto. Over time, he begins to seek comfort in Merlin, relying on him more than ever before, until their bond slowly blurs into something deeper. But when Guinevere returns. Arthur is left to untangl

20 kudos 4,765 words 2/? chapters General Audiences
21

Your Love Warms My Bones

by PageTurnerEm

Merlin has been waiting for Arthur's return for centuries. When Merlin agrees to attends a renaissance faire with his friend. Arthur comes back and wanders into the renaissance faire thinking that he is back home. They meet again, But will it be the same? Will they have to courage to say what they h

17 kudos 2,159 words 3/3 chapters General Audiences Complete
22

Well, I'm alive!

by Little_little_one

After the final of the series, Arthur is back alive and will have to face the world after a thousand years of his absence. Of course, Merlin waited for him

15 kudos 3,841 words 2/2 chapters General Audiences Complete
23

Recipe for Disaster

by reclaiming_erebor

“Gwen is dead and to our knowledge, Arthur has no living relations. There is nobody to claim the throne. Not legitimately, at least. That makes Camelot vulnerable to outside attacks from people who want to take the throne. There’s going to be people from within the kingdom fighting amongst themselve

14 kudos 6,814 words 2/10 chapters Teen And Up Audiences
24

The new round table

by Jxck_h

Merlyn is the ward of Uther Pendragon. Arthur Pendragon and Merlyn are chaotic siblings and Sir Leon being a tired older brother. If Leon, first knight of Kamalot and soul mate of two Pendragons, had been told in advance how chaotic his life would be, he probably would have laughed or fled. It all b

13 kudos 4,641 words 3/3 chapters Not Rated Complete
25

The Blacksmith's Daughter

by apinchofm

Mithian meets the new Queen of Camelot, the Blacksmith's daughter who had upheaved the natural order of things.

12 kudos 1,633 words 1/1 chapters General Audiences Complete

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About This List

5,881
median words
56%
complete
55,021
top kudos
~24 minutes
median read time

This list of 25one-shot Merlin BBC fanfics spans 137,196 total words. Kudos range from 12 on the newest entries to 55,021 on the most established. 56% are marked complete — check the status flag before committing to a longfic. The most common rating is General Audiences (10 of 25 fics).

Recurring tags across this list: Canon Era · Magic Revealed · Fluff and Angst · Fluff · Modern Era.

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