Merlin Recs - Paper Legends

[marguerite_26]

This Silly Ol' Dance (Is Perfect For Two) by slantedknitting Merlin/Arthur [NC-17] 80k
Summary: Arthur is young, gorgeous, talented, and captain of one of the best football teams in England; his life should be perfect. But he can't keep a girlfriend for more than a few months, and it's not just because he isn't ready to settle down. When his most recent girlfriend dumps him, he has a rough night at the pub and has to be dragged home by his neighbour, Merlin. Merlin is an archivist, a Ph.D student, and he hates football almost as much as he hates Arthur. They both have their own reasons for not wanting to spend time with each other, but after that disastrous night, remaining silent neighbors doesn't seem like much of an option anymore.

I love the idea of Arthur being a Beckham style footballer, modelling and interviews and the ‘face’ of the team. And how all that plays into needing to stay in the closet. And the psychological damage himself has. Merlin and his gang of quirky friends are adorable, as are Arthur’s supportive footie mates. A really fun read.

With gorgeous art by achelseabee


Step By Step by eldee [NC-17] (67k)
Summary:The Knights: A Boy Band. (Or, rather, the ten year span of how Arthur Pendragon discovers who he truly is by going from teen idol to solo sensation, maintaining friendships with his Knights and close staff, inheriting a musical empire, and happening to find his #1 fan, best friend, and eventual love along the way.)

having been a huge NKOTB fan when I was a wee little girl and um... all that entailed (I shipped me/Jordan Knight so hard) this fic was like a trip through memory lane. I loved the journey here that Arthur took as his band grew in popularity and we watched him and all his bandmates grow up and start their own lives and finally find themselves again. The ‘mystery’ of Arthur’s mothers death and existence of the Old Religion in this Mod. AU added delightful depth. Another really fun read.

As much as I think all PL art add something really special to the reading of the big bangs, the art in this fic (by gwyntastic) makes the fic really come alive in readers minds. They can be viewed separately here but really, they deserve to be looked at while reading the fic. :)

Comments

[cassie-black12.livejournal.com]

Hee! I was more of a Jon Knight girl myself - I used to indulge in quite a bit of Tiffany bashing as a result ;P

I've just realised that I haven't read anything from paperlegends yet this year, so that might be just the fic for me to start with

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

by BFF was all about Jon! :D

It helped that we never had to fight for the best posters. LOL

YAY! PL fics! I have all my recs under the tag above, if you are interested.

[xfortytwo.livejournal.com]

The boyband one was a delightful read XD hahah took me back, for sure.

And omgggg This Silly Ol' Dance. I caaan't. ugh I loved it so much I don't even have words.

[marguerite-26.livejournal.com]

yay! so many really lovely reads this year. *happy sigh*

And I'm so behind on both reading and reccing.

not to mention commenting... >.>

guess I'll be doing that from now until Christmas!

[xfortytwo.livejournal.com]

Yeah there are tons of them :D There are a lot that aren't my thing so I haven't read them, but I'm sure they're great reads if they fit with your preferences and such and such!

[knowmefirst.livejournal.com]

Oh, I will totally read the first one, even thought I haven't even seen Merlin yet :D

[kathyh]

I loved both of these and you are so right about the art. It was the downside of reading on the Kindle not to see the embedded art so I was taking sneak peaks ahead of myself so I didn't miss it.

[eldee.livejournal.com]

(Sorry I'm a bit behind on this, but thanks for the rec! ♥ And gwyntastic's art is pretty much the best thing in existence, i still can't get over it. :))