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artistiquereader · 6 years ago

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Merlin Writer Month: Faves Week

So, I’ve been really looking forward to this week and I have a ton of recommendations. Hope I provide you with something new and that you enjoy it! This are in no particular order, they are just works that I love in equal measure for different reasons and that I feel everyone should read because they are amazing. Also, this is going to be long, so sorry (but not really) about that, so you’ll find everything after the cut.

Also, if the fic has a “*” beside it, it means it is a restricted work on AO3, so you’ll need to be logged in to read it.

The thing is, I need to start this list by putting my absolute favorite at the very beggining. After it, as I wrote above, they’re all equally beloved to me, but this first one is just it for me for various reasons.

The Sidewalks of New York by emmbrancsxx0 Lenght: 161,191 Summary: New York City, 1925. Jazz, flappers, parties, and violence. In the midst of Prohibition, crime boss Arthur Pendragon and his gang, the Knights of the Round Table, arrive from London to open a speakeasy in Chelsea. Fearing they’ll lose their hold on Manhattan’s West Side, the Black Kings send Merlin Emrys to spy on the Knights. The two gangs quickly become rivals, and there is no place for love in war.

Comment: This fic is just absolutely brilliant in every sense. It picked my interest because of the time it is set in (which is my favorite time in history). I’ve always had a fascination with New York 1910-1930 and the whole Prohibition and gangs aspect of it. This is just so well balanced in every aspect that it offers: the romance, the betrayals, the rivalries between gangs, the characters and their personalitites and motivations are just fantastic. Arthur as a crime boss is just delightful as is Merlin as the charismatic bartender of the speakeasy (even tho he is so much more than that). It’s tense, it’s violent, it’s romantic and it has a happy ending, what more could I ask for? This author writes so freaking amazing and I love everything she’s written so if you like this one, you should totally check out all her other stuff because it’s just as amazing. Also, Arthur is known as the “Golden Knight” and for some reason that just made me love it even more. Arthur and Merlin are brilliant and she just gets the point across so well of how much they love and get each other and that’s one of the reaons why I love it so much, it’s just... they belong together and I love the journey (the hearthache and the love and everything in between) until they get to the point of actual happiness and understanding.

1. True North by Kroki_Refur * Lenght: 6,752 Summary: Arthur is given a compass that is unable to tell north from south, but always points him to where Merlin is.

Comment: Oh, this fic. It follows Arthur and Melrin throughout the centuries, with Arthur always finding his way to Merlin. Soulmate-y of sorts and just lovely in the way this gets the point across that they belong together and that they’ll always find each other.

2. The Reincarnation Situation by orphan_account Lenght: 16,591 Summary: My series finale gift to the Merlin fandom. Reincarnation. Merlin and Arthur only remember their past lives for one night a year - New Year's Eve. This is a quick tour (and it's not cracky like the title suggests, I swear). Merlin still thinks that perhaps the dragon was right and one day Arthur will return as a king destined to save the people of Albion, but that day has not yet come. Arthur has not missed a single moment of life since Merlin laid him to rest in the waters of Avalon but the lives he has lived have not been for his people or for the greater good, they have been just for Merlin.

Comment: SO, SO, SO much love for this one. Again, anothe bitter-sweet read but so worth it, it tugs at your heart but comforts you in the knowledge that they’ll always have each other. Fantastic narrative and I love each of the reincarnations shown. It also has a lovely podfic. Soulmates is something I’ve always been a sucker for and this fic is amazing in how it portrays them througout time and the intensity of remembering for one night, who they really are.

3. Tulips Are Better; Dragons Are Best by sweetiejelly Lenght: 58,627 Summary: Arthur loses a bet with Morgana and ends up on The Bachelor. As he identifies as bisexual, the pool of candidates is quite diverse and includes one Merlin Emrys, his ex. Arthur thinks it's fate. Merlin thinks it's bollocks. Thus begins (again) their courtship.

Comment: So delightful and fun and angsty. Arthur’s complete dismissal of anyone that isn’t Merlin is just so fun to read, how he wants to just send everyone home as soon as he realizes Merlin is there is just hilarious and shows how gone he is. A Modern AU with magic with boths sides wanting each other but with issues that need talking over and mending before they get together and Merlin’s magic being as in love with Arthur as he is, is just one of the things that make me love this as much as I do. Stupid and stubborn boys make my heart melt with their longing. The art is so lovely and adds so much to it. Read it, it’s fantastic.

4. You bring music to my silent world by Balthamos Lenght: 49,818 Summary: Arthur and Merlin are thrown together as children when Merlin’s mother moves into the Pendragon Manor as the new housekeeper, bringing her deaf son Merlin with her. Arthur is a loud and obnoxious child, whereas Merlin is quiet but not as shy as everyone thinks. The two children become fast friends, but as they grow up together things begin to change, due to the pressure of wanting to be normal, and the growing lack of communication between the pair. Growing up is never easy and the graceful friendship they had as children gets lost as they reach their teenage years, but through their difficulties they develop a deeper, stronger relationship, one far more permanent.

Comment: I love, love, love, love this one. Like anything by this author is amazing, so you should totally check them out if you haven’t, but this one, gosh, it’s so lovely it hurts.

5. Where the Hurt Is by undersomestairs Lenght: 12,349 Summary: For this Kink Me! Merlin prompt: They were childhood/teenage sweethearts but Arthur's family moved away (because Uther detested Merlin but Arthur doesn't know this) and they promise to write. After Uther's death Arthur finds all the letters from Merlin he never received. All the time he thought Merlin had forgotten him. Arthur seeks him out.

Comment: Oh my god, this one made me cry. It takes your heart and stomps on it and then mends is back but not before it kind of destroys you. How you see Merlin losing hope, Arthur’s feelings after he realized Merlin didn’t forget him but that it was Uther and then his sorrow over what he thinks lost. Read it, it’s just beautiful.

6. License to Thrill by lady_ragnell Lenght: 14,174 Summary: Merlin's employees bet him the recipe for the most addictive cocoa in the world that he can't find out what the hot blond who comes into his chocolate shop does for a living within the month. He ends up getting far more than he bargained for.

Comment: Arthur as James Bond (kind of) and Merlin as the chocolatier who steals his heart via his sweet tooth and shameless flirting from Arthur’s part because Merlin is lovely. So incredibly good and it has a podfic by wildwildwoods which is also incredibly lovely. Read/listen to it, you’lll feel better after.

7. Remember, Remember by winterstorrm Lenght: 16,480 Summary: Prince Arthur gives up the person he loves to do his duty, but Merlin's impossible to forget.

Comment: So, anything by this author is amazing (please, check out all of their other stories because they’re fantastic), but this one just breaks my heart. Arthur’s longing and regret is so palpable through every word. His love for Merlin is just so big and I always love to read something where I get to see how much Arthur feels for Merlin, how much Merlin means to him, how much he loves and needs Merlin.

8. Mr. & Mr. Smith Series by Detochkina * Lenght: 101,837 Summary: Merlin Emrys is used to living life on the go. As an agent for the Agency of Magic, Merlin’s days are consumed by travel, exotic locations, and battling a faceless rival -- an officer from the competing Bureau of Corrections, who is always hot on his heels and ready to one-up him. When Merlin is sent on a mission to Las Vegas to secure a powerful artifact, he allows himself one night off. Just one, because he bloody deserves it. Drinks and foreplay lead to a bet with a hot financial advisor he just met. Merlin ends up as a newlywed. Oops.

Comment: This series has a special place in my heart because apart from being so bloody good it made my head spin and has me (still because it’s a WIP) on the edge of my seat, I was actually in Vegas and stayed in the hotel in which Arthur and Merlin are in the first two installments. Being able to read while on the locations described in it, made me feel an even bigger connection with the world. This is an absolutely addicting read that before you know it you’ll have read the 5 available works and will be eagerly awaiting the next.

9. So Are They All, All Honourable Men by seperis Lenght: 18,199 Summary: Considering Arthur's future wife will be chosen less for compatibility than for her political value, Merlin may be the only marriage he'll have that won't end in bloodshed or a great deal of fortifying wine.

Comment: Lovely, so very, very, lovely. SO many great lines and the old married couple dynamic and them being so in love is just brilliant. Canon Era, Magic Reveal and lots of love and pinining and getting together. Please do yourself a favor and read it if you haven’t, and if you have, do it again because it’s just amazing. There are moments here in which their love and worry is so palpable it hurts, I love it so much.

10. Oscilliate Wildly by suntipped Lenght: 11,246 Summary: Fucking Arthur, he thinks, pushing his head against the seat. It’s not so much that he’s breaking promises left and right by bringing up that thing between them in public again; it's just his ever-irritating sense of entitlement. It’s Arthur being a prick and thinking he can go around doing anything he wants sometimes, because obviously, obviously the entire world exists only to amuse him.

Comment: This is just one of my all time favorite fics ever. Oblivious, pining boys in love are my favorites. Also, pet-names. A lovely Modern AU with stupid boys who won’t talk to each other. I read this at least 3 times a year, yes, I love it that much.

11. These Feathered Breaths (a Handfasting remix) by Emjayelle Lenght: 3,580 Summary: There was at least a dozen reasons why Arthur, Prince of Wales, couldn't marry Merlin, bird-whisperer, but it didn't stop him from thinking it was the best idea in the world.

Comment: This is one of the most romantic, heart-wrenching and loved filled reads I’ve ever encountered. It’s so insanely beautiful and it tugs on my heartstrings because of the absolute love, devotion and longing that fills each word. The knights as little robins is one of the most adorable concepts ever and if there’s something I love is seeing Arthur not being able to cope with how much he loves Merlin and this conveys it in such a way that it puts fairytales to shame.

12. We Pull These Jobs To Make A Little Money (No One Gets Hurt If They Don’t Act Funny) by leashy_babes Lenght: 48,918 Summary: Arthur and his friends have been making their money this way for years. It's all they know and they're good enough to get away with it. Merlin grudgingly works in a bank, wishing his days away. Their worlds collide and everything changes.AKA: Bank robbers of the round table.

Comment: Arthur is so smitten with Merlin he almost forgets what he actually was there to do. If you haven’t noticied, besotted!Arthur is one of my most favorite things ever and this nails it. I love the concept and the development is fantastic, please read it if you haven’t it’s such an entertaining and lovely read and I love it a lot.

#merlinwritermonth2018 #merthur #bbc merlin #all time favorites week

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