alicambs | Entries tagged with merlin rec

Fundamental Imperfection by Starlingthefool In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.) A highly enjoyable and very literate tale of Merlin and Athur's first encounter, in which Arthur manages to act like a prat, and their subsequent developing relationship.

Crossposts: https://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/72294.html

The Wrong Avalon by leashy-bebes Arthur's been stuck in this mysterious place for what feels like years, all invisible to the strange people who surround him. He's given up on anything changing until the arrival of a madman with a blue box. Or: All the Doctor wants is to give his friends a nice honeymoon in the galactically-renowned Hotel Avalon. Except he sort of stumbles across this medieval king who has a date with destiny and then, well, business as usual, really. An highly enjoyable Dr Who/Merlin crossover. The Ponds, the eleventh doctor and a misplaced Arthur go searching for Merlin. "He's been looking for you," the Doctor tells Arthur softly. "Through ages, across worlds... He's written your name in the stars. He's never forgotten, and he's never given up." Lovely characterisation plus fun dialogue and banter.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/65478.html

You're a Mile Away and You Have Their Shoes by Mad Maudlin Arthur wanted to know what was going on in Merlin's head. He just didn't mean it so literally. A very intriguing role reversal seen through Arthur's confused pov with both Merlin and Arthur remaining very in character plus lovely interactions with all the main characters, including the dragon. Also, as someone notes in the comments on LJ, possibly the only fic that has Arthur finding out about Merlin's magic AND Merlin finding out about Arthur's magic. Highly enjoyable.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/65171.html

Come Alive by kianspo Arthur Pendragon, the youngest Detective Inspector in Camelot, whose job is rumoured to be cursed, stumbles over a series of crimes no one can explain. Merlin Emrys, a constantly broke student working at a shady nightclub to pay the bills, comes in as a sketch artist - one with an unusual gift. The shadow of magic, supposedly eradicated centuries ago, makes things so much more dangerous for everyone. It's hardly a good time to fall in love. Enjoyable story beautifully illustrated by raideen9. Arthur is his arrogant high handed self and Merlin is just, well adorably Merlin causing Arthur to be annoyed, exasperated, protective and jealous in equal measures :-) The story is original and the way the canon characters are worked into the story is clever and often amusing, I loved this Killgarrah! Well worth a read.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/57848.html

It's Genetics. Unfortunately by Lisgreomg Merlin Holmes, the youngest Holmes brother, reaches out to Sherlock for help finding a friend that has gone missing. This is a Merlin/Sherlock crossover in Sherlock canon time. While it is presented as primarily a Merlin fic due to the pairings I found much of its pleasure was its depiction of John, Sherlock, oh and Mycroft. John and Sherlock, like Arthur and Merlin and the knights are reincarnations or as the author puts it ' souls with a capital-D-Destiny'. However, unlike Merlin and Arthur, they have no memory of their previous lives. All in all it's a very good read.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/57165.html

such stars as sworn to shield the sky by Etharei A tale of two worlds A Merlin space AU. Very impressive world building and a great use of the story of Camelot and Merlin and Arthur. Its the little details that make a story so enjoyable and the author has made great play of many of the iconic canon bits and pieces. I am particularly fond of the misunderstanding that occurs because Merlin wears a neck scarf. :-)

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/56853.html

Shadowlord and Pirate King by Footloose A fast ship, a good crew, a treasure, a Clan to lead -- that's all Arthur Pendragon has ever wanted. He sits on the Council, he supports his father's kingship, and he keeps an eye on the Imperial Conglomerate when they come too close to Pirate space. One day the Conglomerate infiltrates the Clans and poisons the King. Arthur must search for a cure to keep his father alive and the Clans from civil war. An escape route, a sharp knife, a target, the shadows at his command -- that's all Merlin has ever needed. He fulfills his assignments, he uses the Sterling to sustain his once-royal House in their exile, and wages a private war against the Imperial Conglomerate. When he learns of an elaborate plot to assassinate him, Merlin does the opposite of what's expected. He flees onto a Pirate ship. There's a saying among the Pirates: that one's fate is written in the stars. Destiny will always set to rights what has been made wrong. Arthur and Merlin know that they were meant for the other from the moment they meet. They can feel it from across the galaxies separating them. Nothing can stop them from being together or from fulfilling an ancient prophecy. Long, extremely well conceived and plotted, fast, exciting SF AU. Arthur and his 'knights' felt very much in character, Merlin much less so, but I was very drawn to him and rather liked this competent, mysterious portrayal of him plus his bumbling manservant act wouldn't have been appropriate at all. The art work by mushroomtale is delicious and the extras that expand upon the superb story telling is worth a wander through.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/56561.html

A Modern Manservant by Mamalaz A modern magical comedy very loosely based on Ugly Betty. Publishing king Uther Pendragon has had enough of his playboy son seducing every female assistant he has ever had so he hires Merlin, a man he is sure Arthur will never sleep with. Merlin would be more insulted by this fact if he wasn’t so busy trying to juggle his duties, save Arthur's skin from ruthless fashionistas and keep his magic a secret at the same time. Expect appearances by oil-lathered knights, the occasional mad druid, a perverted Will and a mental caretaker who lives in the basement and keeps harping on about coins and destiny. A highly entertaining, funny and very clever reincarnation fic. Merlin was totally and utterly adorable while the manner in which the characters of the Arthur story were introduced was inspired, I'm still giggling at the druids. Do go and read it. :-)

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/56074.html

A New Low by rosemaryandrue Written for this prompt at kinkme_merlin, which asked for diabetic!Merlin stuck in a lift with Arthur. It grew from there. Very sweet, very fluffy but with the requisite amount of snipe and banter which makes it highly enjoyable.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/55299.html

The Crown of the Summer Court by astolat "The king sent me to get you," Merlin said, with a tone that implied strongly that he wasn't rolling his eyes where Arthur could see, but just wait until his back was turned. "He said you're to get changed into formal clothes and meet him in the Great Hall, there's a delegation coming from the Summer Court." A fascinating AU, with Elves. Beautifully written with great Merlin/Arthur interaction and a delightfully dry and witty Morgana.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/54987.html

Drug Stores Flowers by Lady Ragnell Merlin starts to receive lovely gifts (and less-lovely flowers) from a secret admirer. Just bright, charming and totally delightful without every becoming soppy or smarmy. Boys being boys with all that entails in regards to actually communicating with each other. :-)! Play On (Drug Stores flowers prequel) is best read after this story and really adds to the general charm.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/55225.html

Gibraltar May Tumble by shes_gone Merlin's life in London is a bit of a mess: his career trapped somewhere between student and professional, his love life trapped in a relationship gone sour, and most days he feels physically trapped in the tiny, shared flat he can't afford to move out of—until an unexpected opportunity sends him packing for the coast. There, he meets someone who might be in a even worse fix than he is: Arthur, a Victorian-era sea captain who's trapped, a bit literally, between life and death, and who refuses to leave the house he died in over a hundred years ago. A delightful reincarnation story that starts, as all Merlin and Arthur relationships appear to, with snark and spats plus many accusations of prattish behaviour and becomes a rather beautiful love story.

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/54318.html

The Merlin fandom has some excellent AUs, I think it helps that the two main characters are such fun to play with (Merlin in particular). So here are a couple more I've enjoyed.

For Your Information by reni-days Merlin sighs. "After your...announcement," he explains, "your father decided he needed a bit more information. Which is apparently where I come in. I'm sort of like his gay tutor, it's hard to explain." Very funny! Merlin and Uther were so wonderfully in character that I grinned through almost every part of their interactions. While Merlin was, delightfully, the focus, the other characters were well used and Arthur when he arrived on the scene was perfect. A brilliant read.

Loaded March Series by footloose The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can't keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn't good enough, either. Except he is. There are 12 very long parts to this series, it is still a WIP and the author started writing it in August 2011! It's a military AU and it's bloody fantastic. There are times when it got just too angsty for me (not a fan of angst) and then times after the UST had become RST that I felt that the sex scenes were beginning to swamp the plot. It improved and the plot, which to be fair has always been very strong, reemerged triumphant. :-) It's very male centric, obviously this is a story of Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Roundtable, but when we got the girls, which occurred more and more as the story continued they were magnificent! The author is American and she had done a good job on the language and culture, but I wished she'd had it Britpicked. For example Brits use the abbreviation 'maths', not 'math' which sounded so damn wrong coming from Merlin's lips (and 'math' is used very often in this story). Same with the use of cellphone instead of mobile, pants instead of trousers and a number of other Americanism that threw me out of the flow from time to time. That aside this is excellent writing and well worth a read, I'm just not too sure how long we have to wait for the next part...

Crossposts: http://alicambsrecs.livejournal.com/53962.html

I was on Goodreads chasing up a list Best Fantasy Books with Gay Main Characters and followed up the link to the Captive Prince, an Original fic I've already recc'd. Five other books/reads were recommended, one being The Student Prince, which I realised was a Merlin based modern AU, so I read it.

The Student Prince by FayJay. A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love... It's well known in the Merlin fandom, it's on Fanlore, it's a podfic and it's delightfully and utterly British through and through. It is well worth a read whether you are aware of the BBC TV show Merlin or not as it is very well written and a total pleasure to read.