minavox | Entries tagged with merlin

This morning I was rudely awoken from a dream in which my mind somehow created a Merlin AU with elements from Karl May (lovely German author of tons of purplest prosed adventure novels with strong slashy undercurrents - well, you could easily call him the German Godfather of Slash, I guess).

It featured Arthur as a frustrated, closeted arts teacher in a sort of 50ies setting (Details are hazy, as it tends to be in dreams...). During his lessons one pupil (Merlin?) outs himself, using his teacher's former art - and then Arthur decides to stop the lying. A pupil suddenly notices that in reality he does not really look dull, but has some sharp blue eyes hiding behind some sort of permanent eye infection he never cured or cared to have cured (she also immediately thinks of an easy cure, the good ~~Mary Sue~~ soul, bless her - and if this doesn't scream Sir David Lindsay (a character by May) I don't know how dreams work).

Cue in forboding of dramatic outing, where Arthur digs up old paintings he did (reminding of Paul Klees works from Tanger or where it was) and asks someone in the archive to look for some quotes from Karl May's Oriental books (did I mention the slashy undercurrent - which is more of an overcurrent...) to help him along -

- and then the alarm clock went off.
Raaaah!
I guess, this happens when doing a re-read of There are no gays in football and listen to the whole Student Prince while lying in bed with a fever next to a book-shelf brimming with Karl May novels, but still: How will I ever find out how this story ends???

therefore: have this!

The Hangover Cure from

giselleslash: a simple, straight friends-to-lovers story, but hot as hell and so funny and with a brilliant guestrole by straight and squeamish Merlin on top. So much fun!

Art:
A Christmas Tale
Just cute. Love the colours and especially Arthur's glasses.

Fic:
Denouement
Nice, fluffy read and adorable confused Arthur.

Threads
Forced (and after time of course happily consumed...) bonding is a favourite trope of mine (Unthinkable Thoughts must be one of the very first HP slash I devoured... wow, and how long haven't I been to Fiction Alley???) - so I liked this.

It didn't mean anything
Oh, look, there's a bonding theme here! Well, this is the modern AU version, Arthur as stressed out inn owner and Merlin as his magical assistent, plus lots of hilarious interaction with the whole staff - YES!

The Troublesome Reign and Triumphant Victory of Arthur Pendragon, Professor of History
University AUs, another weakness of mine. And this has all the ingredients: stuffy historian Arthur, sparkling queer study Merlin. Arthur's deep and unholy love for his custom made historical wig and roleplaying with it did surprise me at first, and at times the fic felt a bit rushed - but that's mostly because I would have loved to read more of it.

Timeless Circle
Time travel: Merlin confuses directions when he catapults himself off Uther's pyre, but Arthur of course goes for him. Nice touch is the redemption of Edwin Muirden as a side story.

Meet me beyond the horizon
Beautiful reincarnation story with a dreamlike atmosphere. Arthur as a sailor and builder of ships is utterly convincing, and his (and Merlin's) loneliness absolutely heartwrenching. Luckily it doesn't stay that way (the loneliness, I mean).

And this is how I see you
Nice and fluffy and with a healthy dose of seasonal spirit.

Hold on to what we are
And I don't even like zombies. But everything besides the zombies is written so beautifully.

I'm old enough to know better. Don't follow the lure of the WIP. You think you'll get a tiny glimpse, just to decide if it's worth waiting for. Then you tell yourself there's still so much left, surely one tiny chapter more will be ok. And then there's the end of the document and the long, dry season of anxious tapping of the F5 key begins...

So, since misery loves company: Three wonderful and very differently unfinished WIPs I enjoyed recently!

Four Seasons in one day by

hope: This is something I never read before: Arthur as a not-so-out-and-not-so-proud law student who shares not only a house with an artsy Merlin and Merlin's girlfriends Morgana and Gwen. In Melbourne. I loved this Arthur who wants not to pretend to be straight but is not so sure at times if he hasn't bitten off a bit too much with loving a Merlin who is probably just too much joy for just one person to take on. And just when I wondered if they'll make it - the story ends. After all, the author gives a fair warning at the beginning: This is an unfinished story. Considering I've drifted out of the Merlin fandom, this will never be completed. *sigh* But still, what is there is well worth reading.

At Camlann, still anonymous at the kinkmeme: Arthur as a rockstar with an artistic crisis and Merlin as a not-lover of open air festivals meet at an open air festival. Funny and hot and so true in the details of the atmosphere. And very regularly updated up to part 54. When obviously RL hit. Well, the author promises she never abandoned a work before, just has to take a little break. *sigh* (I was very astonished when I looked it up now and saw that the last update was just two months ago - feels like an eternity.)

Like a lonely house by

starlingthefool: This is a sequel to the wonderful Fundamental Imperfection (which certainly everybody has read? With Arthur and Merlin as writers who meet over getting into a fight about the dreariness of Dickens at a Con...?). I never even thought a sequel could be possible... A dream come true, but not finished by a long way. *sigh*

... which I got for Christmas, taste brilliantly.
Although I wouldn't say "no" to an added hot prince on the other end.

Well, to be honest, probably I would. I'm boring like that. :)

Since we're in South Wales at the moment (and it's beautiful!), I wasn't on babysitting duty, and the kids were so tired from a day spent digging holes at the beach (and why, o why did this wondrous occasion never happen while Merlin was still on???), we saw Atlantis.

Well, unless someone reports miraculous developments, it will be the only time. Nothing in it really interested me, neither story nor characters nor casts. It all had a definite I've seen this on Merlin and better air.

And while the producers probably deem themselves very clever because they have figured out what it is that makes the female fans go all crazy - they couldn't be more wrong. Slash is not throwing men whom I are not even remotely interested in on top of each other, nor is it gratious shirtlessness without a hint of a backstory which could make me care. (I won't even talk about the lack of pretty or chemistry.)

No, no, and no. It's the subtext that makes things interesting, not just heaps of buff (or not so buff) men-flesh shoved in my face.

(We'll have to break out the Merlin-DVDs this evening, and be it just for preparing the Grouch for our intended visit at Caerphily Castle...)

Interviewpartner today called two really, really serious facts being "two sides of the same coin". Could barely contain giggles. :)

I have just finished reading There are no gays in football by

malu_3. So wonderful and totally worth the wait for it getting finished - the Merlin!Football AU to end all Merlin!Football AUs, imho (and this even though Merlin isn't truly called Merlin, the only minor quibble to be had with this fic). Because it has not only a most wonderful Arthur who goes from nearly-self-destructive closet case to out and proud owning up his life (including the right for over the top romantical gestures and blue buttplugs), but also so much love for football. Which is not just a convenient backdrop for a run of the mill AU, but really an integral part of the story.

And the sex is brilliantly hot.

And now I'm feeling empty and strangely disoriented - what in heaven's name shall I read next??

In short: I do not approve. At all.

Slightly longer (and surely not spoilery for anyone who even remotely knows about Merlin...):
I really, really hate it.

I'm fairly lax on warnings, but if there's one thing I want to know before I start reading and which makes me not click on the fic in question at all costs, it is major character death. Remember Beautiful World? I loved the story when I started it in... well, a long time ago. Sure, the summary read Draco is afraid of living and Harry is afraid of dying, but sometimes the choice isn't offered. Draco's got to learn what it is to really live, while showing Harry how beautiful the world really is when you're not too scared to see it. - but how was I supposed to know that this wasn't some flowery prose? In the end, Harry was dead and I devastated. And I don't even like Harry that much. But how should the Draco I learned to love in that story live his life from then on with grief overshadowing everything? (On a sidenote: I always liked how serious J.K. Rowling took the topic of death as the one thing where magic is essentially powerless.)

This story took a long time to unlearn, until the sting was just a cognitive memory and no real pain. Probably went through a classical cycle of grief. I'd have appreciated if I had not to. I'd have gladly skipped the story - really, I'm not into fanfic to learn about me and my reaction to grief, thank you very much.

Reading fanfiction has definitely broadened the range of things I find acceptable and even fun when well written (mpreg? bdsm? watersports?). Other things do nothing for me but are no problem if I stumble across them by chance (incest, torture or extreme humiliation come to mind). But character death is the one thing I cannot stomach. Don't know exactly why. Perhaps because it's nearly impossible to un-know? Because it looms like a spectre from then on over the character, when well executed? I used to love Snape/Sirius - I don't any longer. Too much doom and gloom, no matter how much frolicking. There's a Draco/Neville story belonging to an arch I totally love - but lovely as this story is, it gets as close to character death as you could possibly go without really killing someone off. Permanently. The author somewhere said, she won't write in this universe anymore, but if she did, she could not envision a happily ever after for her protagonists or even something simple like life beyond their twenties. I have to admit, this is the one case where I'm deliriously happy that a favourite author is done with fic in one of my fandoms. Because if it existed of course I wouldn't be able to resist the lure. And then probably couldn't read any of the previous stories for ages.

Which brings me back to Merlin. Because of course I will watch 5.13 (I haven't yet). And I'll probably cry my eyes out. The crucial question is: what will happen afterwards? Will I still be able to see the Arthur who is joyful, issue-laden but very much alive and happily taking on everything life dishes out? Or will he be overshadowed by the dying king, dead before his time? (While I write this: perhaps my head-canon already veered off course since the coronation - which actually is a source of comfort in this case...) Whatever it will be: it cannot be unseen.

And yes, I did know that the Arthurian legends are not that prosperous on behalf of Arthur. But the producers lured me into their show with their promise of telling the story before the actual story - and for that to happen the main character surely would have to be at least alive, wouldn't he? The series would end before said character would be anywhere near the age where the machinations of destiny would set up something irreversible? Talk about scripts screwing viewers over...

Well, I also managed to overcome my obsession with "this is canon, fanfic has to deal with it, even if I hate it" by successful ignoring p. 603 ff of Deathly Hallows - so there is hope. :) Doesn't change the fact that I hate character death and no fandom of mine should inflict it on me without even asking!

...or, to be precise, this kink_meme the Evil Fandom Enableress has set me onto.

Working freelance and being easily distractible = certain doom.

Note to self: Interview in less than an hour. Close this window now!

I have finished watching season 1 (yes, yes, I know, late doesn't even begin to cover it, but I'm still proud of fitting them somehow into my days). I'll be tackling season 2 soon.

I'm reading myself through wonderful rec-lists. (Really, ladies, how do you find all those stories? And type the recs up so neatly and in time? I'm in awe!) I read Big Bang stories.

I have googled Bradley James. (Don't even think I knew it!, sister. I like them blond. Legolas was a blond, too, after all...) I'm making shifty eyes at RPS.

I have several days to myself and to desperately urgent work, as the rest of the family delights the grandparents with their presence.

Clearly I'm doomed. *g*

I'm late, but of course the Merlin bug has bitten. So, having read exactly two and a half stories in that fandom, I thought I'd write up what tropes and stories I expect to encounter (as soon as the World Cup is won...) for fun and for the sake of muttering "I told you so!" to myself.

- Merlin bottoms.

- Merlin is happily gay, has been for all his life - Arthur does the whole Omg, this cannot be for I'm a manly prince of Camelot who cannot lust after a man especially someone who is all ears woe is me-routine.

- Hypothermia!fic: trapped by an unexpected bout of winter (be it magical or meteorologic), Merlin and Arthur have to share bodyheat, which can only be achieved by removing the chainmail. Or melting the chainmail by magical means, of course...

- Sex magic! As in: alien sorcerers made them do it. And they just kept on.

- Lots of tournament action: travelling knights of otherworldly beauty and prowess prompt jealous fits on Merlin's side - which lead to some air-clearing action by Arthur.

- Arthur finds out about Merlin's magic and keeps him as his sex-slave. (Until love helps him see the light and make an honest man out of Merlin, if you are optimistically inclined.)

- Out of the blue / due to an ancient prophecy / due to a curse Arthur develops magical abilities that deeply disturb him. Merlin happily offers help and guidance.

- Arranged marriage (for Arthur) as a catalyst.

- Merlin and Arthur becoming allies on the run - Merlin ousted for sorcery, Arthur for sodomy - perhaps with added bonus confusion because both are cagey about their reasons.

- Lots and lots of sex magic! (After all, it's canon. Which is the main discerning feature regarding the potential of Merlin on one hand and LotR and Harry Potter on the other, if you ask me.)

Every hypothesis, of course, needs to be checked. Have any recs? *g*