A so-so movie and a great fic

[sophinisba]

Tonight I went out to see the movie The International as a reward for finishing the things I meant to do today. From the preview I'd figured that the story wouldn't interest me much but that it would involve Clive Owen looking hot in various countries, with guns. So it was! I ate popcorn and drank Cherry Coke and looked into his soulful eyes while, for reasons I didn't really understand, he shot at people and got shot at.

Speaking of me being more turned on by violence than I should be, hey Claudia and S. and whoever wants to join in, can we discuss shinetheway's Loss, and the Finding? Because, um, sldkjf;lfkj sd;ldkjfa;s.

Comments

[caerdroea.livejournal.com]

Where are you watching Merlin?

[sophinisba]

I'll e-mail you. :)

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeee!!! I'm almost done with it - will be done this evening! Haven't had any time since I'm getting in all my Miss Rose time right now and then was talking to S on phone!

[sophinisba]

TELL HER TO COME HERE AND WE WILL TALK ABOUT POSSESSIVE!ARTHUR AND MERLIN'S ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE IS LOVED AND WILL BE RESCUED.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I WOULD BUT SHE IS DEALING WITH A PLUMBING EMERGENCY RIGHT NOW OMG!!! BUT SHE SHOULD READ THIS FIC SHE SHOULD!!!11

[sophinisba]

AH I SEE MY POSTING WAS PREMATURE. BUT ONCE THE PLUMBING EMERGENCY IS RESOLVED SHE SHOULD GIVE HERSELF THE FIC AS A REWARD FOR GETTING THROUGH IT, AND THEN SHE SHOULD COME HERE AND DISCUSS.

SQUEE!

[(Anonymous)]

ahahaha! here i am!
yes, I am ready to discuss this fic. In fact, Claudia, I see in my e-mail thread that I recced this fic to you, on Feb 16th. So I get credit! As I was telling you earlier, I must have seen there were ruffians messing with Merlin and known it was a fic for you. And of course Arthur was awesome; he was so single-minded about getting Merlin back that even Uther was (uncharacteristically) backing the fuck off. Ha! Don't mess with Arthur when little Merlie is in trouble.

Now, Sophi, speaking of hotness, why have you not yet read Astolat's latest fic, the Summer Court one? I don't care what issues you have with her stuff, if any, this one needs to be read. Claudia can back me up on this one. Look, I'll say this once and then we'll speak of it no more (spoiler alert): Arthur gets whipped, and it's fantastic. And that's just a small part of its awesomeness. By the way, I lied when I said we'll speak of it no more. I will totally speak of it again. I just want to speak of it WITH you. I am impatient for Claudia to get to that part of the fic. It's the only part I've spoiled her for as well (it's my tantalizing tidbit to get you both to read it). Read it and let's discuss!

yours faithfully in Merlin squee -- S

Re: SQUEE!

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I got FARTHER along last night! HAHA. But still not to the whipping part! It's at the point when they're taking care of Merlin after he gave it his all to make that magical tree!! :D

Re: SQUEE!

[(Anonymous)]

and by "taking care of" you mean? never mind, i can tell by the way you wrote this that you stopped JUST SHORT OF SOME SERIOUS AWESOMENESS. nudgenudge winkwink. -- S

link for Claudia and Sophie

[(Anonymous)]

hey guys

i don't know anything about the quality of fics listed here; i don't vouch for them. but i notice they got awards according to different genres, like, there's "best angst" and "best hurt/comfort". these aren't my things per se, but i am always looking out for my Merlin BBs! i thought you guys might find them useful. -- S

http://smokey2307.livejournal.com/17920.html

Re: link for Claudia and Sophie

[sophinisba]

What makes me sad about this link is that I've already read several of the prize winners and found one of the ones in a favorite category to be somewhat disappointing. However I do have new links to explore now so don't complain if they keep me from getting around to the summer court one for a little while lol. No seriously, thank you.

Re: link for Claudia and Sophie

[(Anonymous)]

but remember, the summer court fic is the one that i DO vouch for, so its rec gets priority. the link i gave here is just something i came across that i thought could be a resource, but is not so much of a rec, per se. it's just when i see the words "hurt/comfort" and "angst," i have a pavlovian response to pass it along to Claudia.... -- S

p.s.: summer court. :-)

Re: link for Claudia and Sophie

[sophinisba]

Thank you for the reminder omg I've been distracted by a few people being jerks in Lotrips fandom but just went back and got to where they name Merlin so I'm interested now. ♥ (I mean obviously I was interested in the whipping and also this other sex thing that I saw quoted elsewhere but now I'm actually interested in what I'm reading, so.

YAYYYYY!

[(Anonymous)]

omgomgomg i am so excited now BOTH of you are reading it! i can't wait to discuss my favorite parts with you guys! squee to infinity! -- S

Re: YAYYYYY!

[sophinisba]

I am just about halfway through now Arthur just got out of the bath and climbed in bed with Merlin!!

Re: YAYYYYY!

[(Anonymous)]

yes, because Merlin was so exhausted by both the magic he had to do to protect Arthur and his insane worry for Arthur while Arthur was epically fighting (for Merlin). SIGH!! -- S

Re: SQUEE!

[sophinisba]

Arthur with the ruffians was just like, a machine or something and he was so upset he couldn't even look at Merlin, and when the fighting was over he was touching him all over and he was making like it was to see if/where he was injured but really he just wanted to touch him because Merlin is HIS omg. And the same thing when they get back to Camelot Arthur talks to Gaius without even looking at Merlin because he's so upset by the thought of what might have happened to him that he can barely think straight! It's so awesome! And Merlin is so damn calm! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH I DON'T EVEN CARE THAT ARTHUR KILLED ALL THOSE PEOPLE IN FACT I ENJOYED THAT ALSO.

why have you not yet read Astolat's latest fic, the Summer Court one?

I actually have a specific answer for this! I saw another rec that said it was crossover between Merlin and a bunch of books I haven't read! I am already so confused from reading all this Seperis fic where people have conversations full of Significance but I don't know what's going on, and I think, what, try to manage a crossover with books I don't know anything about? And there is also, I think Claudia has told you she has trouble getting into Astolat's fics because they're a little too clever and I have that same issue, I have been more in the mood for straightforward angst (preferably including sick or injured Merlin, and/or Arthur finding out about Merlin's magic) followed by straightforward resolution and smut.

However, no one else seems to be concerned about the crossover business and I'm all about characters getting whipped, so I will give it another try!

mini-dissertation...of squee!

[(Anonymous)]

yes, this is what i was alluding to -- i understand you have issues with her writing, but i say to you, you need to read it anyway. i said the same thing to Claudia, and so far she isn't regretting it (ask her!).
btw, the cross-over business doesn't matter at all. my impression is that she applied some ideas from something else into the Merlin universe. You absolutely don't need to know that other canon, (i certainly don't know it, and most other readers don't seem to know it either). in fact, the few who DO know it leave comments to the effect of "I was worried when i saw you were using that other canon, because it sucks, but thankfully your use of it is much better."
I have a different take on Astolat than you and Claudia -- I think her relative weakness is in setting up a story/characters of lasting emotional resonance, but i don't think she's clever in a bad way (that is, gratuitously so). having said that, i really don't think this fic is confusing. it's juicy and lush, but straightforward (i think!). you know i had the same issues as you with seperis' stuff; that's not the case with this fic, i promise.
Can you tell how badly i am reccing this to you? read it! how many fics do you think we're going to get in this fandom where Arthur is whipped, and so damn well. don't squander this opportunity! also, Merlin is fantastically magical in this one, which i happen to really like; i like a powerful Merlin.
Claudia is making progress, and soon we'll be able to squee about it, so join the fun! make it a squeesome! (get it, like a threesome, but we're squeeing?)
yours is benign badgering -- S

P.S.

[(Anonymous)]

have you read it yet? how about now?

:-) -- S

Re: P.S.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA! You are so funny!!! :D

For myself I can't read about Arthur being whipped when my little niece is sitting five or so feet away from me looking innocent and pure omg! :D :D :D

Re: P.S.

[(Anonymous)]

miss Rose has to learn sometime.... -- S

Re: P.S.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

She's SO going to be writing and reading fan fic some day....*nods*

Re: P.S.

[(Anonymous)]

aww, baby's first fanfic! :-) -- S

quick rec for you and sophie

[(Anonymous)]

this is a short pwp that is unabashedly about how Arthur owns Merlin. i'm guessing it's not 100% your kinks, but close enough. and it's a short little interlude you can take amongst all the longer fics you're reading -- S

http://waldorph.livejournal.com/50932.html

Re: quick rec for you and sophie

[sophinisba]

Thank you for this also. I read another fic by that person yesterday and it was great.