weekly round-up 19

[aeroport_art]

It's been a quiet week in fandom, but YAY because it finally gave me the chance to catch up!!! I feel like I haven't had a clear backlog of fic for months :D

Anyone have/had fun stuff going on for the weekend? The weather was bee-yoo-tiful in NY, spent Saturday strolling about the park and some botanical gardens yesterday. Lots of coffee, some thai food. Caught a few (REALLY. AMAZING.) bands playing at a bar venue. Good times, good times.

There's no byword of the week because you guys were all over the place! AUs, maybe? There's a few of those. Anyway, keep on trucking, fangirls, and I'll keep reading <3

Weekly Round-Up
Titles in bold are extra-recommended ♥



Merlin recs

From Where I Stand You're in my Sky by paperclipbitch (NC-17, 18k)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, superheroes!AU, wherein Uther is the town mayor in charge of eradicating superheroes, Arthur keeps getting saved by the mysterious Emrys, and Merlin doesn't know how to make coffee.
Notes: A superheroes!AU! How can I not rec this? Plot-driven, premise-driven. Good, clean (well, straightforward) fun :)

Love Potion No. 9 by rubberbutton (PG-13, 7k)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, jealous!Arthur. Merlin kinda sorta concocts a love potion. It was meant for someone else! Still, you can imagine what happens next.
Notes: Classic fandom!cliche, and I mean that in the best way possible!!! There's misperceived Merlin/Morgana in this, which I LOVE and can't get enough of. Especially when it's being misperceived by Arthur XD The writing is simple and breezy, and this is just great fun to read.

The Wages of Gossip by srin (PG-13, 6k)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, Morgana/Gwen. In which Morgana has a secret, (which Gwen shares,) Arthur is determined to uncover the truth, and Merlin learns a great many things he doesn’t want to know and one thing he does.
Notes: This is a total gem. The character voices are completely, unnaturally spot-on, which makes this fic all the more fun as it's brimming with awesome, playful dialogue and banter. I was practically reading it aloud because of how FUN it was; you can totally hear the actors' voices, it was that close to canon. Love love loved Arthur's characterization; he's a total dork in this. MY FAVORITE. Read it for the dialogue, like it for the characterization, and finish it with a smile because this is CUTE INCARNATE.

This Moonlight Madness by lizardspots (art)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, R. good old-fashioned skinny-dipping with side-long glances
Notes: The digital illustration itself is impressive, but it was the accompanying ficlet that got to me. The UST! The romance!!

Look At My 'Girlfriend' by solanyxe (vid)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin. "Take a look at my 'girlfriend' / She's He's the only one I got / Not much of a 'girlfriend' / I never seem to get a lot Done to "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes.
Notes: This vid will charm the pants off of you! It's silly and CUTE. solanyxe uses familiar Arthur/Merlin footage but tells a fresh story with it. Good editing and lyric-matching makes for a solid piece. In short: CUTE CUTE CUTE. Made me all squishy inside.

Just Dance with the Memories by solanyxe (vid)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, modern!AU. Centuries later. Modern times. Merlin and Arthur are reborn. As they meet again, memories from their past lives emerge. (Club, restroom, magic.) Done to "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga.
Notes: This is one clever vid! In her second entry on the list this week, solanyxe demonstrates her vidding prowess by using a GIANT library of footage sources to stitch together a wholly new story. While the narration isn't seamless, it's still largely successful for such a mammoth undertaking. Anyway, go watch it. It's a whole new Arthur/Merlin story full of fun clips from their non-Merlin appearances, and the sweet story remains intact. This girl's one of my favorite Merlin vidders out there right now, and for good reason :)


RPS recs

Rain Wakes Me by spiny (NC-17, ~800)
Summary: Bradley/Colin, UST. Bradley only touches Colin when they're filming, when the cameras are rolling and they can both excuse the slip of Bradley's fingers along the cuff of Colin's shirt as something that belongs to two different people entirely.
Notes: There's a gorgeous, lulling rhythm to this piece, yet the narration remains focused and tight. The author packs in so much emotion with such few words! Fair warning, however: no happy ending. On the other hand, I think there are prequels to this fic so what's stopping spiny from continuing? As is, this is a beautiful standalone and really worth reading for the language alone.


All the Best Pranks Involve Bananas by woldy (NC-17, 3k)
Summary: Bradley/Colin. Bananas and deep-throating.
Notes: HOLY SHIT. Blowjobs in porn totally push my buttons, and this was ALL. BLOWJOBS. The author takes her sweet old time describing everything too, makes this extra hot and visceral. GO FORTH, FELLOW PERVY FANGIRLS.

Looking for previous recs? Check the tag. For FAQ and list of all bolded titles, check the primer.

Comments

[rane-ab.livejournal.com]

OMG those RPS fics. They both made my day in different ways. Thank you for pointing! <3

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

hai you with your gorgeous icon!!! you're totally right, those RPS fics are wicked awesome.

[betsyli.livejournal.com]

Hee, I read the banana RPS yesterday and GUUUUUUHHH. *drools*

THOSE VIDEOS!!!! Bahahahaha. The Girlfriend one made me lol so hard!

I wouldn't quite call "From Where I Stand" straightforward fun, because it broke my heart and made it clench so many times. But happy ending, yay!

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

GUUUUUUUUUHHHH DROOLS is right!!! SHAMELESS, that fic. It's AWESOME.

[riserva.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the lovely rec! <3333

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Of course, it's a lovely story!! And now that I've pimped it, you have to write a happy ending o_o Right?

[riserva.livejournal.com]

*whistles innocently* :D

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Hey sweets. How's it going?

Is there any reason things are no longer bolded?
It's not that I stopped bolding stuff, it's just that nothing's really wowed me lately :0 I'm hoping it's because everyone's busy with bigbang *__*

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Not bad, not bad at all. Just hunkering down for some fic-reading before I go to sleep. Then it's another day at the daily grind :D

[maddy-snape.livejournal.com]

I would just like to say thank you so much for taking the time to do this list. I don't have time to go through all the Merlin fics every week but I know if I come here, you'll have picked out the best ones!

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Awww, you're a sweetie for letting me know these are getting some use *___*

[lizardspots.livejournal.com]

Zomg I just realised that you rec'd my art in this post. \o/ Eeee, thank you! :">

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Hahaha you're cute XD I did rec this!! I loooooves the UST.

And GOD, YOUR ICON IS SO DISTRACTING. *stares*