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1. Between Destiny and Desire by vinemidnight14

   Fandoms: Merlin (TV)  

   • Explicit
   • Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
   • F/M
   • Work in Progress

   07 Dec 2025

   Tags

   • Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
   • Merlin/Morgana (Merlin)
   • Morgana (Merlin)
   • Merlin (Merlin)
   • Gwen (Merlin)
   • Uther Pendragon (Merlin)
   • Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
   • Gaius (Merlin)
   • Original Characters
   • Morgause (Merlin)
   • Cenred (Merlin)
   • Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
   • friends to lovers to enemies to lovers as enemies
   • Angst
   • filling plot holes
   • hopefully fixing egregious writing errors of the show
   • what if morgana remained complex
   • what if merlin didn't always listen to gaius
   • Morgana-centric (Merlin)
   • Morally Ambiguous Morgana (Merlin)
   • Morally Ambiguous Merlin (Merlin)
   • A lot of Moral Ambiguity
   • Enemies to Lovers
   • Romance
   • Villain romance
   • Friends to Lovers
   • Slow Burn
   • mostly canon compliant until early season 2
   • then it's gonna be its own thing
   • Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
   • Miscarriage
   • Minor Character Death
   • Physical Abuse

   Summary

   If serving Arthur was Merlin's destiny, then why was Morgana the one he felt inexorably drawn to?

   Every time his thoughts followed this trail, he felt the press of the dragon’s prophecy, the beast's rasping words so potent it was as if they were etched into his skin like scales. Arthur was the one he was meant to serve. Arthur was the one who would make it safe for magic users to thrive once again in Camelot.

   So why was it Morgana he couldn’t help but fixate on?

   --

   OR A Morgana-centric BBC Merlin rewrite in which Merlin doesn't blindly listen to Gaius and finds connection with Morgana amongst the dangers of Uther's court. Burdened by destiny but hounded by desire, Merlin navigates the treacherous path of fate. Morgana attempts to walk the righteous road but makes difficult, and often bad, choices in her quest for a just world.

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   138,506

   Chapters:

   23/?

   Comments:

   123

   Kudos:

   205

   Bookmarks:

   56

   Hits:

   7,936