Merlin Recs

[marguerite_26]

Squeezing these in before reveals @ hs_merlin. I didn't come close to reading all this fest. Mostly because I have a hard time reading bullying/homophobia, but the fics I read I really enjoyed. Looking forward to the reveals tomorrow. <3

[ART]
La Belle France by anon @ hs_merlin Arthur/Merlin [R] [NWS]
Summary: A lot can happen in 9 days...

[FIC]
Warm Wind Blowing by anon @ hs_merlin Arthur/Merlin [R] (12k)
Summary: When Merlin first catches sight of the boy in the trees, he can’t believe his eyes. Could it be him after all these years? Could it be Arthur—the boy that broke Merlin’s heart, the boy he’d tried so hard to forget? It seems Merlin’s past has come back to haunt him, and try as he might, there’s no escaping it.

A nice angsty “post-breakup, but they find each other again years later” fic. The ‘breakup’ for lack of better word happened when they were twelve, which to me is a bit of an odd choice. Only because by the time I was seventeen (as they are here) what happened when I was twelve was a different lifetime. I can't imagine still holding a grudge and/or romantic flame. So in my head I made it like ... 14. But the fic was lovely with lots of ~feelings. And I wasn’t left thinking anyone was a huge asshole and shouldn’t have been forgiven, which is important to me in this trope.

Sativa in Bloom (Or, How Gwaine Met Merlin And Everything Went Up In Smoke) by anon @ hs_merlin Gwaine/Merlin [NC-17] (24k)
Summary: Merlin likes weed. Gwaine likes Merlin. Step 3 is obvious, right?

Okay, so this is not for anyone who frowns upon recreational drug use. There is a ridiculous amount of pot smoking in this fic. LOL. But it was so well written. The friendship between Merlin and Gwaine was utterly charming, as was the fabulous UST and clumsy interactions and teenage insecurities. Very fun read.

Comments

[ellecc.livejournal.com]

Sativa in Bloom was really sweet--I really, really liked it. GwainePOV ftw.

I was totally thinking (for some reason) that reveals were today, and I've been staring at my inbox for the past two hours. (Today's not the 20th? Wut?) I'm glad you posted this or I would have spent all day going slowly crazy.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Gwaine's POV rocked that fic.

LOL. another 24hrs or so. ;)

[junkshop-disco.livejournal.com]

I loved Sativa in Bloom too. Can't wait for the reveals to see who wrote it and stalk them forever.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

um.

there goes my guess.

>.>

[junkshop-disco.livejournal.com]

Sorry, lol.

I would love to have written that, tbh.

[xfortytwo.livejournal.com]

I really, really loved Sativa in Bloom, which is weird considering I don't really read much Merlin/Gwaine at alll, and I'm also not hugely into drugs. XD So I was surprised that I ended up liking it so much.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

There a lot of drugs in that fic! LOL. I cringed everytime they got in a car and drove high. D:

But Gwaine was way too charming to resist. :)

[hardticket.livejournal.com]

There was a lot of homophobia written this time. It got a little much.

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

Oh god, AGREED. I was just about to say this exact same thing. I gave up after a while.

[hardticket.livejournal.com]

I hate to say it but I kind of did the same.

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

I was so bummed too, but so many of them had the same theme and I just couldn't read any more.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

yeah. thirding this.

After awhile I was like D: when each header seemed to warn for it.

and yeah, I think my hs_merlin last year warned for it too...so I'm not calling anyone's else's kettle black but it was hard to read so many on that same 'Merlin gets bullied because he's gay' theme. :/

It's outside my comfort zone even in the hands of writers I read anything of.

[giselleslash.livejournal.com]

I was talking about this with someone else, each time a new fic came out with those same warnings we were both like, AGAIN?? We couldn't figure out if there were just that many prompts that asked for bullying/homophobia or if the authors just happened to take them all there or what. It's just not something I'm into and it needs to be handled REALLY well when it's part of your plot.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

yeah... yeah... I had to be careful what I clicked. idek... it's just a topic that is too real for me to be comfortable reading about it as a main plot point. D:

[wickedcherub.livejournal.com]

I found that in general, warnings were overused this time. Especially the homophobia one. Like, one minor character might have used a homophobic slur once in a 17k fic or something and it was warned for.

I enjoyed the fest thoroughly.