zmorak
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forget what we're told (before we get too old), show me a garden that's bursting into life by zmorak
Fandoms: Merlin (TV)
16 Mar 2026
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There's a house at the edge of Lake Avalon. It's a small thing, more a shed than a proper building, but a there's a certain charm to it, a homeliness associated only with places which love as much as they are loved.
There's an old man living inside the house at the edge of Lake Avalon. He's been living there for as long as anyone in the nearby town can remember, or maybe even longer than that.
There is a garden attached to the house at the edge of Lake Avalon. It's a beautiful garden, lush and full of life, decorated with every colour of the rainbow, and then some.
It's a miracle—or maybe it's magic.
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When he’s six, he gets a book about music on his birthday. He’s not too good at reading, but it’s so rare for him to get anything he treasures it anyway, and desperately tries to improve his skills. When his father is out, he asks his mum to read to him, and then he attempts to follow after her. There is a chapter on key instruments in it which he’s re-read so many times he knows it by heart now.
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A panoramic view on the life of one Charles Rowland, as told by the keys of a piano.
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Do you wish that you loved me? (Take it easy on my heart) by zmorak
Fandoms: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co. (TV)
05 Oct 2025
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He suddenly gets this intense feeling of hating everything about himself — he feels like a caricature, a broken glass reflection of everyone who's ever loved him. He blinks, and between one moment and next the bathroom mirror cracks, a spiderweb of tiny fractures breaking the silver surface and the skin on his knuckles. His reflection takes on its true form — a twisted, crude portrait of a broken boy — as blood drips into the sink.
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Lockwood is haunted by his reflection. Lucy is taking none of it. -
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There’s something about a sunrise. He’s never been good with words, so he’s struggling to put a finger on it, but he knows it’s there. Maybe it’s the rarity of it – he can’t remember the last time he was up before the sun, so the few times he saw it rise were few and far between. Or maybe it’s the fragility of it which isn’t there once sunset comes, the soft surprise of when the rays first appear, chasing away the night.
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In which Charles's earring gets lost at the beach.
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So, I'll sing Hallelujah
You were an angel in the shape of my mum
When I fell down, you'd be there holding me up
Spread your wings as you go
And when God takes you back
He'll say, "Hallelujah, you're home"___________________________________
He looks at the empty couch while the office clock tick-tacks in sync with his phantom heart, and he fails to understand the emptiness. It reminds him of the time he lost his mum at the shops when he was little, sobbing until a kind old lady helped him find her again. For some reason, the woman flashes in his mind in perfect clarity, despite it being decades since he saw her that day. Her face is so vivid he wonders if she’s some sort of guardian angel, reappearing to guide him back to his mum again.
Recent series
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Summary
Collection of works detailing life and accomplishments of Lance Corporal Edwin Nicholas Payne (1900-1989)
- Words:
- 15,929
- Works:
- 2
- Bookmarks:
- 7
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- Words:
- 6,705
- Works:
- 2
Recent bookmarks
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Son of the Suns by steelneena for SwiftSnowmane
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
04 May 2026
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The best day of Anakin’s life is simultaneously the worst of his mother’s. Though he knows that Qui-Gon tried hard to free him, and that his mother would have preferred that it were him, a big part of him is far happier that it is his mother who will no longer have to slave away without any hope of seeing returns, even if it means that he will not.
There are a lot of ‘not’s that come with not being free.
Not leaving Tatooine.
Not becoming a Jedi.
Not seeing every star system in the galaxy.
And, a secret part of him whispers, not having to leave my mother.
So, earnestly, over his mother’s quiet weeping, he thanks Qui-Gon Jinn for making sure that at least one Skywalker is free, even if it's not him.
Or
What happens when a slave boy doesn't become a Jedi.
COMPLETE
Now containing several timestamps post fic. Updates yearly on May the 4th.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 119,544
- Chapters:
- 35/35
- Collections:
- 1
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- 528
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- 1,528
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Bookmarked by zmorak
06 May 2026
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“Do you have scales?” Arthur asks. “Wings?”
The cow at Merlin’s side begins munching on the heads of his handful of wheat.
“Oh, I see," he says, "You’re an oaf."
“What did you call me?”
“An oaf. A pumpkin short of its seeds. A turnip with no greens or roots.”
“How dare you.”
“Quite plainly, I thought, but I suppose given your intelligence or lack thereof, I might have been more direct the first time.”
Arthur draws himself up to his full height, aghast.
“You,” he says. “Are the strangest, most repulsive hatchling I have ever met, and I should like nothing more than to escape your company immediately.”
(Pride & Prejudice AU - Lady Ygraine asks her dear friend Lady Nimueh to help her children get off their asses and strike out into the marriage market. With her help, Arthur soon finds himself introduced to a mysterious, magical man who calls himself a botanist.)
Bookmarked by zmorak
23 Mar 2026
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Arthur caught his sorcerer’s eye again. “If Emrys did have a simple, human identity, you wouldn’t have any suspicion who it could be, at all?”
“I wouldn't, I’m afraid.” Merlin shrugged one shoulder, seeming somewhat defeated. “I’ll look into it.”
Once, years ago, Arthur had been sure he could tell when Merlin was lying through his teeth. How frustrating it was to know that couldn’t be further from the truth.Or: In a fixed-it post-canon, word begins to get out about the godlike sorcerer Emrys who will aid the Once and Future King to unite all of Albion. This, of course, results in all the leaders of Albion beginning their attempts to win the elusive Emrys’ favor, in order to be chosen as his prophesied King.
Even as his Court Sorcerer, Merlin lives to antagonize Arthur and decides to inform the world -as Emrys- that he has already chosen his King, in a... less-than-conventional way.(Can be read standalone from the series.)
Series
- Part 2 of The King and his Sorcerer
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 29,358
- Chapters:
- 7/7
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Bookmarked by zmorak
23 Mar 2026
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The Attic of Portland Row by sunny_plays
Fandoms: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co. (TV)
27 Aug 2025
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For the first month, they kept saying he’d wake up ‘any day now’. That everything looked good, and it was likely just the exhaustion from years of agent work that was keeping him asleep. That this might actually be good for him in the long run.
Lucy Carlyle finds her way home in a world where nothing seems right anymore. How do you find your way back to normal when everything has changed? What do you do when the one thing you thought you’d always have is just… gone?
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Summary
When Merlin uncovers a betrayal at the heart of Camelot, the jester-servant the court thinks they know vanishes—and Emrys steps into his place. On the day a pyre is built for a midwife, one choice pits mercy against a king’s law and cracks open every bond: mentor and ward, knight and oath, friend and crown. As prophecy presses in, love and loyalty are forced to live without trust. This is a tale of a kingdom remade by refusals, and a guardian who saves it—even if he must do so from the shadows.