Best One-Shot Arthur/Merlin Fanfics
Arthur/Merlin one-shots under 10k words — a complete read in one sitting. All curated from AO3 and ranked by kudos.
Top 11 One-Shot Arthur/Merlin Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Mid-length Arthur/Merlin fics — short stories under 10,000 words.
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.
[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
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
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 �
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
Confessed Love
by Shippeoforever
Merlin is a brilliant but reserved science student who prefers to fly under the radar and stay in the library rather than participate in university social life. In contrast, Arthur Pendragon is the popular quarterback of the football team, the center of attention across campus, and—in the eyes of th
That time Kilgharrah turned himself human
by SillySpaceRock
Merlin hasn’t visited for a while, Kilgharrah decides to visit him.But he needs to go under cover. With cute murther parenting shenanigans, Kigharrah being Merlin’s Uncle and Aithusa being a cutie pie
Once and Future
by ALonerInDisguise
Twitter is a confusing place for Arthur. What is Once and Future and why are people yelling at him about it?
The moon and the sun
by Fallenmagic
Arthur accepted the little tube, placing it between his lips like Merlin said. “I’m gonna light it for you,” Merlin said, leaning forward. “When it catches, just breathe in.” Arthur nodded, almost going cross-eyed as Merlin flicked the lighter and held it to the end of the tube. It started to smol
What is true? I hope it's my love for you?
by KeeperOfDragons
Merlin always worked so terribly hard for his and Arthur’s kingdom, sometimes too hard. Or Merthur Microfic Sickness
Spun Faster and Faster
by Fallenmagic
After they had all died, all left him behind, Merlin had withdrawn from the world, wandering aimlessly alone for years. As the gap of time passed while Merlin sat on the floor, he could feel that pain, that loneliness. The time ticked on. By this point, the sun had set long ago and the moon was ma
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Why Read One-Shot Arthur/Merlin Fics?
One-shot Arthur/Merlin fanfics — anything under 10,000 words — are the format of choice for sharp emotional payoffs, single-scene character studies, smutty interludes, and tropes that don't need a full arc to land. You finish them in one sitting.
Ideal for a commute, a lunch break, or right before bed when you don't want to start a 200,000-word fic at 11pm.
About This List
This list of 11one-shot Arthur/Merlin fanfics spans 44,219 total words. Kudos range from 5 on the newest entries to 70 on the most established. 64% are marked complete — check the status flag before committing to a longfic. The most common rating is General Audiences (4 of 11 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Love Confessions · Fluff · Modern Era · Post-Canon · Canon Compliant.
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