Alrighty, another round of 'Finish that Fic, Merlin!' has passed! And this time, you guys managed to write a total of 279,053 words and finish 21 fics!! Way to go! That's a lot of words and a lot of fics that wouldn't be here otherwise!

And now, on to the winners and the prizes!

With and incredible 65,645 words definitelynotzets wins for 'Most Words Written' and thus will receive art from the equally incredible Ilizasartcorner

In the category for 'Most Fics Finished' we have a tie! Both schweet_heart and bad_peppermint have finished 5 fics each and as they obviously both deserve prizes for such amazing feats, schweet_heart will receive art by argentasterdisaster, and bad_peppermint will receive art by Chapollyn 

The oldest fic finished this time around was finished by bad_peppermint who did the impossible and finished a fic started all the way back in 2014! Sometimes time doesn't feel real, am I right? Though the art they will receive by Grace is very real!

Congratulations to all the winners!! Feel free to contact your artist to figure out what you want your prize to be. Remember though, that the artist is doing this of their own free will and if you demand something they aren't willing to create, they are free to say no. In which case you then have to wish for something different.

Aaaaand I think that should be all for now! Thank you all so much for participating, and I hope to see as many of you as possible back for the next round which will start in November :) Stay tuned!

This is only a round up of the fics that were posted in March. There will be a separate post announcing the winners later so these fics can get their time to shine.

Fics posted this month:

- Island in the Sun
- The Ghost of You
- You Above All Others all by bad_peppermint

- makes the whole world blind by schweet_heart

- in the ashes of our victory by SparrowRising

- The Bad Touch by definitelynotzets

Author: definitelynotzets
Title:The Bad Touch
Date started: 4/15/2025
Wordcount: 79,328
Rating: E
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Warning(s): No archive warnings apply, explicit sexual content (specifics not tagged, read at your own risk)

Author's note: Thanks to Calamity_Talvi for beta-reading and brit-picking!

Summary: An out-of-his-element Arthur gets the panic of his life while out with friends celebrating Morgana's birthday, because did that unfairly attractive singer just hit on him?! Featuring singing as flirting, unexpectedly tender connections with complete strangers, and dragon guitars. (And then, you know, the whole plot that exploded out of that, but who's counting?)

Link to fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/64805131

Author: bad_peppermint
Title: You Above All Others
Date started: 22 May 2014 and 13 May 2022 (two fics merged into one)
Wordcount: 3.7k
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Arthur/Merlin/Mithian
Warning(s): Animal death (hunting), implied sex under the influence

Author's note:
It may be after midnight for me, but I believe I remember reading somewhere that it's still March until I've slept. And I have not.
If I made that up, please disregard this as an entry. But also yay! I finished.
Massive thanks to BeBraveDearHeart for the amazing beta, and the mods for hosting! That's five+ fics I definitely wouldn't have finished this winter without this fest.

Summary:
Mithian heard about Merlin long before she ever actually spoke to him.

In fact, the servant was one of her future husband’s very favourite topics of conversation – Merlin’s insolence, his laziness, his incompetence. Arthur scoffed and sighed and shooed him away, but he paid attention to Merlin in a way he didn’t any of the other servants, and despite the tension that stretched between them like a worn-thin thread, there was affection woven through it, keeping it from breaking. Merlin, lowly, incompetent, infuriating servant that Arthur claimed him to be, was important.

It was too bad, then, that Merlin did not seem to like her at all.

Link to fic: On AO3

Author: SparrowRising
Title: in the ashes of our victory
Date started: July 2024
Wordcount: 17,821
Rating: E
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur/Gwaine
Warning(s): None

Author's note: A fix it where everybody (except Morgana) lives, but things still somehow end up melancholy and messy. Well, until the happy ending at the end.

Summary: After Camlann, Merlin is burned out and depressed, Gwaine doesn't know how to handle it and Arthur is busy with keeping Camelot afloat.

Link to fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76523076

Author: bad_peppermint
Title: The Ghost of You
Date started: 13 June 2022
Wordcount: 3,184
Rating: PG for extended kissing
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur, past Arthur/Morgana (not related)
Warning(s): teenagers and their parents being cringe

Author's note:
It's been barely three years since part 1, that's like, nothing 😅
Obligatory "my English is a hodgepodge of dialects and I didn't try to set this anywhere in particular" warning. And shout-out to Finish that Fic, Merlin! for making me more productive than I've been in possibly ever.

Summary:
“How?” Mordred had stuttered, some time later, when they were out of Arthur’s ex’s house and back in the small two-bedroom flat Arthur rented nowadays, black nail polish-adorned hands trembling around the meet&greet tickets. “These sold out in like, less than twenty seconds. H-how?”

“I have my connections,” Arthur had said, mysteriously, and Mordred had rolled his eyes and let it go.



Or; Arthur takes his teenage son to another concert. This time, he has ulterior motives.

Link to fic: On AO3

The way I have been busy this month, is not even funny... Or rather, some of it was fun, but the following crash out wasn't. I do realise that it's almost the end of the fest, but better late than never, eh? Also, because people have obviously published fics since February ended, I am going to include those fics in this round up to avoid getting confused when I make the final count and round up by the end of this fest.

Top 3 for most words written so far:
1. definitelynotzets with 49,139 words written
2. schweet_heart with 43,967 words written
3. dianaprallon with 34,559 words written

Top for most fics finished so far:
1. schweet_heart with 4 fics finished
2. fyre and definitelynotzets who have finished 3 fics each
3. BeBraveDearHeart and bad_peppermint who have finished 2 fics each

Oldest fic finished so far:
An Incurable Affliction by schweet_heart which was started on December 18, 2018

Fics published this month:
- A Rabbit's Tale by definitelynotzets

- Lessons in pleasure by Teagirl

- Cosa Nostra
- Little Boy Blue both by bad_peppermint

Author: schweet_heart
Title: makes the whole world blind
Date started: 20 Dec 2021
Wordcount: 3015 words
Rating: Gen
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Warning(s): Canon typical violence.

Summary:

“Put down your sword,” the man said.

“Arthur,” Leon began, but Arthur was already doing it. He laid the sword on the ground and stood with his hands up, showing that he was unarmed.

“Now release him,” he said. He still wasn’t looking at Merlin, because if he looked at him now he knew exactly what he would find, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to go through with it if he saw Merlin watching him with those beautiful, blazing eyes. “Release him, and I’ll come with you. Harm him, and you all die.”

Link to fic: https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/214510876

Author: bad_peppermint
Title: Island in the Sun
Date started: 06 January 2023
Wordcount: 6,113
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Warning(s): Main character injury

Author's note:
I wrote 4k of this in a single evening back when it happened and then spent another three years writing the other 2k, so thanks to FTF!M for the motivation to finally finish it.
Was I exorcising my demons by projecting them onto Arthur? You betcha. This isn’t quite what happened to me, but it’s close. 0/10 do not recommend

Musical vibe is "Island in the Sun" by Weezer


Summary:
It’s stupid, really. Dumb. The kind of mistake Arthur can’t believe he’d make.

He wades into the water without hesitation, a familiar cold rush that soaks his shorts and rashguard in moments, and waves to a couple of familiar faces in the shallows before he throws himself onto his board. He lets the waves crash over his head on his way out, distracted by the sun dipping towards the horizon and the gulls overhead and the memory of Merlin’s lips on his skin – it really is a gorgeous day, fuck.

Or it was.


Link to fic: here

Author: bad_peppermint
Title: Little Boy Blue
Date started: 6 May 2020
Wordcount: 5,385
Rating: Teen on AO3, I would rank it PG if I could
Pairing(s): Gen
Warning(s): Referenced/implied (physical) child abuse

Author's note: I started working on this over five years ago for reasons I can no longer remember. Big shout-out to FTF!M because without it, I would no doubt still be working on it five years from now. And another massive thank you to @Matador for the beta and britpick and lovely encouragement as always. ♥

Summary:
She’s setting the flowers in water, trying to recall if she remembered Merlin’s favourite biscuits the last time she went to the shops, when the doorbell chimes. She glances up, a greeting already on her lips, but the shop remains empty. The door shuts with a quiet click as she watches, but there’s no one there.

Frowning, she half-rises from her seat to peer over the high counter, and that’s when she sees him – a boy a little older than Merlin, maybe 7 or 8, his shoulders and jaw tight and dirt in his hair.

“Hello,” he says, quiet and stilted. “My name is Arthur. May I use your telephone?”

Link to fic: On A03