weekly round-up 37

[aeroport_art]

HAPPY MERLIN WATCHING, GUYS!!!

Trend of the week: IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BOYS. Because sometimes all you need to make a fantastic story is characterization, as these fics below will demonstrate.

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

Merlin recs

For Worse or For Better by anna_zee (PG-13, 21k)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, modern!AU. In order not to get deported from the United States, Arthur forces his employee, Merlin, to marry him. Written for reel_merlin and based off the film The Proposal.
Notes: This is a perfect, well-rounded story--the PERFECT rom-com. The pacing is great, going at a clipped speed but with actual romantic progression slow enough to savor. The characterizations are spot-on and their changing relationship, from a working one to friendship to more, is ADORABLE. The adoptions from canon are refreshingly original (Lancelot as Merlin's ex-boyfriend? Nice deviation from having it be Will, for example). In conclusion, this is good for the angst and even better for the warm and fuzzies.

Four Ways Arthur Fails at Courting Merlin, and One Way He Doesn't by lavvyan (G, ~1k)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin. Arthur tries to woo Merlin.
Notes: I love stupid!boys and ESPECIALLY stupid!Arthur. This is ficlet is full of cracky love \o/ Plus, lavvyan is a great author who I'd love to see more of, so it's always a pleasure to see her on the comms.

Celebrations by i_claudia (R, 5k)
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, pre-series, angsty!Arthur. Merlin finds a way to make Arthur not hate his birthdays so much, anymore.
Notes: Like the week's trend goes, the characterizations here are convincing and endearing. Arthur especially--he's slow in realizing his feelings for Merlin, and tries to deny them for even longer. HOW NOBLE HE IS. Loved this description of Merlin: his eyes crinkle into little crescents when he laughs. They totally do!!

Looking For Things No One Else Catches by slightlytookish (PG, 6k).
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, modern!AU, reincarnation!fic. One Merlin finds a box of photos in Hunith's backyard and it leads him to Arthur. Written for reel_merlin and based off the film Amelie.
Notes: This story is exquisite. It doesn't hurt that Amelie is an AWESOME film, but the author translates the best parts of it with an adept hand and creates something epic and full of longing, but flush with hope as well. Instead of a direct knock-off of the plot, slightlytookish cobbles pieces from the movie together to make her own tale, and the throwbacks to MERLIN are very clever. Nearly bolded this title, but the only thing that stopped me was a lack of the sheer joy some other stories possess, if that makes any sense :0 Anyway, I only mention it to emphasize how solid this fic really is. It's intricate, smart, and pretty damned epic.

Be Resigned by franticsga (NC-17, ~30k).
Summary: Arthur/Merlin, military!AU, Take-Your-Fandom-to-Work!fic. The first time Lt Arthur Pendragon properly met A1C Merlin Emrys, he was doing push-ups on the floor of the Fort Campbell weather station. Merlin via the United States Air Force, the 19th ASOS Combat Weather Team, and Fort Campbell Army Airfield, Kentucky.
Notes: I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thought about how, while equal rights is great and all (OBVIOUSLY), it does slash fandom a bit of a disservice. What I mean is...the angst--that painfully delicious plot device that makes the world of slash go round, has become almost obsolete in this new, shiny world of legalized gay marriages and gay characters prancing all across prime-time television. Which leads me to this story: it takes place in the military. Where being gay is still taboo and could get your ass fired and---best of all--is still RIPE FOR FANDOM PILLAGING.

So um, yeah. This was pretty brilliant. One of the great thing about these Take your Fandom to Work stories is how immersive the AU worlds are, and this fic in particular is probably the MOST intact world I've yet to read. The language and day-to-day happenings are so natural and perfunctory, it creates this fantastic backdrop to the epic, angsty romance. While admittedly the sheer plottiness and inundation of jargon was a little off-putting to me, as was the ambulatory nature of the story progression, I can clearly recognize that people who have longer attention spans than me would appreciate these qualities :)

Basically, get your old-school repression and boys-quietly-but-audibly-wanking-in-the-same-tent over here! The (eventual) sex is hot, the boys are cute, and the story will certainly ship you off to another universe for the duration of its words.



RPS

crazy things by schmoooop (PG-13, ~2k)
Summary: Bradley/Colin. Series of vignettes between the boys.
Notes: I absolutely adore snapshot stories like this, mainly because characterization takes center front in them. For this story schmoooop takes that idea and runs with it--the boys are so damned lovable in here. Their interactions are believable and brimming with affection, coming together to weave a touching, romantic peek into their (unfortunately made-up :P) lives.

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

Comments

[virginhuntress.livejournal.com]

WOW. It's finally happened. I actually read all of these before I saw your rec post. I think this means the world is ending, but I can't be sure.

Also, COMPLETELY RANDOM aside. Your username makes my brain switch to French for a while every single time I see it. Just thought you'd like to know. :D

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

oh nooo i'm losing my touch!!

hahaha i'm glad the username sounds french! it was supposed to be. like a shorthand version of l'aeroport d'art.

[lexstar29.livejournal.com]

Your weekly round up is my Merlin reading list! I got sick of reading through a lot of not so good stuff, so now I just use these posts as my reading list. Another great batch!

Thanks so much for doing these.

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting me know you're getting use out of these :D

[staraflur.livejournal.com]

UNRELATED BUT IMPORTANT: TODAY'S WEDDING PHOTOS. THE GLOVE. OMG. LI. WHEN ARE OUR BABIES BEING BORN.

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

HEE GLOVES. very impt part of the outfit. *nodnod*

TOO MUCH MAD MEN MAKES LIPING A WELL-DRESSED GIRL

[meewunk.livejournal.com]

I loooooooved Be Resigned. And I toyed with the idea of writing my own Take-Your-Fandom-To-Work fic but then I remembered that my job consists of sitting at my own computer for a few hours a day, occasionally putting paper in a printer :p Huzzah for student work! Hardly interesting.

Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of these!

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

student work is totally interesting. think of all the college!AUs out there!!

hope you find some stories you like <3

[meewunk.livejournal.com]

I loved all of them <3 SO hard.

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Yay!! I'm glad :D

[meewunk.livejournal.com]

I am also going to bother my friend/co-worker who is also a Merlin fan into co-writing a college!AU about our job. There is potential for fun times, but if only our bosses/other co-workers were as attractive xD

[anna-zee.livejournal.com]

BOLDED! YAY! <3

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

that is all you, babe.

[naopium.livejournal.com]

Oh this is great! I ended up here while I was looking at your drawing (well I should rather say going into raptures over it) and again all I have to say is thank you for sharing, I've begun to read these and there are really really nice. =)

[aeroport_art.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I'm so happy you're using the recs XDDD Thanks for dropping by.