Merlin RPF big bang recs

Two Bradley/Colin recs for you:

Gold in the Shadows by xfortytwo [NC-17] (12k)
Summary: Bradley and Colin get stranded in France for a night and somehow it changes everything. Or, well, maybe it doesn't change everything so much as it brings out what's been there all along. In fact, nothing much changes at all except Colin stops pretending that anyone else can ever be as important as Bradley.

Awe, Bradley here is so sweet and obvious and Colin is so oblivious. It begins with them being lost together in France for what could be a romantic time, but ruined plans can be make it too frustrating to enjoy the moment (I sympathize with Colin here). Their personalities were perfectly opposite in dealing with the situation. I really enjoyed Colin’s POV in this fic, he was frustrated, hurt and really at a loss to understand why Bradley was acting as he was both in France and after. It was delightfully awkward to read them interact and watch Colin just not get it. Very sweet, romantic fic.

With graphics that work so seemlessly into the fic they really bring so many moments to life. (by aarins_rou)


The Waiting That Happens in the Space Between by nympha_alba [R] (11k)
Summary: There had been a time when Merlin and Arthur were teenagers and the actors who played them were still trying to figure each other out. There had been a time when they had been inseparable. But all that was long ago, and when Merlin wraps, Colin finds himself waiting for something that may never happen.

With S5 coming to an end, this is exactly the sort of fic I was itching to read. What happens when it’s all over? There has got to be regret and excitement and confusion and nostalgia there. This fic has all of that in spades. It’s a post-breakup fic (in which Bradley and Colin had a ~thing in S1/S2) but now that Merlin is done everything is raw all over again. Colin’s ache in this made me hurt so good. So well done.

With stunning stunning stunning art by mushroomtale