Sophinisba Solis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophinisba) wrote2009-07-02 05:23 pm
sophinisba) wrote2009-07-02 05:23 pm
Entry tags:
3 modern AU Merlin ficlets
As resolved in this post, I've answered several of the prompts at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
writing_game Week 61 with mini AUs. I think I'm better off sticking to Camelot from now on, but this was fun as an exercise. :) I'm using the same heading for all three:
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: G/PG
Warnings: none
Spoilers: none
Words: 200 each
Insufferable (prompts: Common Knowledge, Insufferable, Hitchhike)
Merlin had been at this long enough to know what to expect. If anyone stopped it would be a trucker, some middle-aged guy, big and careful enough not to be worried. The cab would smell like sweat and diesel and air freshener. The radio would be playing breakup songs or Jesus talk. If he was lucky, the ride would take him a hundred miles closer to Camelot.
So if that red convertible was slowing down, it was only because the driver wanted a better look at the freak before he breezed by. He wasn't actually stopping.
(Except that he was.)
*
"You shouldn't be doing this, you know," said the guy, who smelled like soap and money and would be gorgeous, Merlin thought, if he'd take off those stupid shades. Merlin glared, but the guy wasn't looking at him. "Everyone knows it's not safe. I could've been a serial killer, for God's sake."
"Nah, just an insufferable prick," said Merlin, because fuck Camelot, he wasn't going to sit here and let this spoiled brat lecture him about safety. The guy could leave him by the side of the road if he wanted to.
Except he didn't. Just sighed and kept driving.
The Deadline (prompt: Deadline)
"Go take a goddamn shower, will you?" Arthur says affectionately, because even though he knows it's no good for Merlin's health or the quality of his writing, there's something very appealing about the look of him when he's stayed up all night working to a deadline. A vulnerability that shouldn't be nearly this attractive in a grown man.
"Had a call last night," Merlin mumbles, "the Tom Smith case. Had to go out and interview this… Tauren, the one with the..."
Arthur nods as if he understood.
"Just got back an hour ago and had to rewrite the whole…" He trails off and squints at his computer screen.
"But it's done now?"
Merlin nods. "Sent."
"Good. Come on then, come with me."
Other people (Arthur) work efficiently and during the hours when they can be most efficient. Other people go home and get eight hours' sleep, a shower and a shave and a good breakfast. Other people need to take care of Merlin when he's so caffeinated he can barely type, tripping over his own feet on his way across the room. Arthur finds, steadying his friend with a hand at his back, that he doesn't particularly mind this arrangement.
Hunger (prompts: Wet Suit, Ravenous, Yearn)
"And hurry up, I'm starving," says the British guy, in the manner of someone who's never gone to bed hungry in his life.
"No problem, right away," says Merlin. He feels like adding "sir" but knows that wouldn't go over well, so he smiles instead, aiming to convey friendly, laid-back obedience and efficiency. These surfers like to lord it over the locals, but if you call them on it you're the one who's uncool. He takes the rest of their orders and heads back to the kitchen, swearing under his breath and resolving once again to study hard, save his money, and move the hell away from the best beach in Australia.
Merlin's been talked down to by tourists for as long as he can remember, and most of the time it doesn't bother him. It only gets difficult when they're as goddamn beautiful and oblivious as the blond boy in the red wetsuit.
When Merlin brings their food they dig in without looking at him. They stay for an hour. They show their respect for Australian customs by failing to tip. When they start back toward the beach Merlin just stands there, watching, wishing he was one of them.
writing_game Week 61 with mini AUs. I think I'm better off sticking to Camelot from now on, but this was fun as an exercise. :) I'm using the same heading for all three:Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Rating: G/PG
Warnings: none
Spoilers: none
Words: 200 each
Insufferable (prompts: Common Knowledge, Insufferable, Hitchhike)
Merlin had been at this long enough to know what to expect. If anyone stopped it would be a trucker, some middle-aged guy, big and careful enough not to be worried. The cab would smell like sweat and diesel and air freshener. The radio would be playing breakup songs or Jesus talk. If he was lucky, the ride would take him a hundred miles closer to Camelot.
So if that red convertible was slowing down, it was only because the driver wanted a better look at the freak before he breezed by. He wasn't actually stopping.
(Except that he was.)
*
"You shouldn't be doing this, you know," said the guy, who smelled like soap and money and would be gorgeous, Merlin thought, if he'd take off those stupid shades. Merlin glared, but the guy wasn't looking at him. "Everyone knows it's not safe. I could've been a serial killer, for God's sake."
"Nah, just an insufferable prick," said Merlin, because fuck Camelot, he wasn't going to sit here and let this spoiled brat lecture him about safety. The guy could leave him by the side of the road if he wanted to.
Except he didn't. Just sighed and kept driving.
The Deadline (prompt: Deadline)
"Go take a goddamn shower, will you?" Arthur says affectionately, because even though he knows it's no good for Merlin's health or the quality of his writing, there's something very appealing about the look of him when he's stayed up all night working to a deadline. A vulnerability that shouldn't be nearly this attractive in a grown man.
"Had a call last night," Merlin mumbles, "the Tom Smith case. Had to go out and interview this… Tauren, the one with the..."
Arthur nods as if he understood.
"Just got back an hour ago and had to rewrite the whole…" He trails off and squints at his computer screen.
"But it's done now?"
Merlin nods. "Sent."
"Good. Come on then, come with me."
Other people (Arthur) work efficiently and during the hours when they can be most efficient. Other people go home and get eight hours' sleep, a shower and a shave and a good breakfast. Other people need to take care of Merlin when he's so caffeinated he can barely type, tripping over his own feet on his way across the room. Arthur finds, steadying his friend with a hand at his back, that he doesn't particularly mind this arrangement.
Hunger (prompts: Wet Suit, Ravenous, Yearn)
"And hurry up, I'm starving," says the British guy, in the manner of someone who's never gone to bed hungry in his life.
"No problem, right away," says Merlin. He feels like adding "sir" but knows that wouldn't go over well, so he smiles instead, aiming to convey friendly, laid-back obedience and efficiency. These surfers like to lord it over the locals, but if you call them on it you're the one who's uncool. He takes the rest of their orders and heads back to the kitchen, swearing under his breath and resolving once again to study hard, save his money, and move the hell away from the best beach in Australia.
Merlin's been talked down to by tourists for as long as he can remember, and most of the time it doesn't bother him. It only gets difficult when they're as goddamn beautiful and oblivious as the blond boy in the red wetsuit.
When Merlin brings their food they dig in without looking at him. They stay for an hour. They show their respect for Australian customs by failing to tip. When they start back toward the beach Merlin just stands there, watching, wishing he was one of them.
=D
Journalist!Merlin, hee!
BritishSurfer!Arthur and AUSTRALIAN!Merlin! *glee*
Love this line:
They show their respect for Australian customs by failing to tip.
X-D
First one's my fav. *g*
Re: =D
Re: =D
Otherwise he'd be driving an Aston Martin.I'm amused because I find Australian accent fun =D (And a lot less incomprehensible than Irish accent)
Re: =D
no subject
no subject
no subject
I already liked the first, because it's... sunny, I guess. I just want to be with them in the car, feel the wind in my hair.
Yet I feel that I like the second one even better, for the last paragraph - the narration, and Merlin tripping over his own feet.
And the last one... I was pretty sure that it wouldn't be possible to come up with a drabble for such a combination of prompts. Arthur in a wet suit. And a red one, obviously... *iz amused*
no subject
no subject
I'm glad you enjoyed the prompts. I try to keep them relatively general in the main table, because we don't all write in the same kind of fandom, and swords and dragons aren't necessarily easy to include into a non-fantasy fandom. I put the less-common prompts in the PC tables, because I figure people always have the option not to write them (and I have more fun combining them that way^^).
You're welcome. It's always really entertaining for me to see what writers come up with.
no subject
I want to use picture prompts but keep on being too lazy to Google, crop & upload pics =P
Any requests and/or suggestions?
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
New things, courtesy of Merlin fandom
There's actually a lot of new things I'm experiencing in Merlin fandom:
1) I like Merlin only _slightly_ more than Arthur. (As opposed to my obsessive love with Draco and near-hatred to canon!Harry)
2) So far I don't seem to have a strong POV preference. I like AU-ing Merlin more, but that's because I prefer Arthur to stay as the crown prince.
3) I can easily imagine them in AU, non-magical situations. (I've only written ONE non-magical HP fic)
4) I like reading genderbend!Merlin & genderbend!Draco, when girl!Draco and girl!Harry makes me want to scream D:
5) I'm shameless about Bradley/Colin RPS. ...I guess because they're of legal age and seem to be currently unattached to anyone? Erm. I blame the video diaries.
Re: New things, courtesy of Merlin fandom
2. I have a strong preference for Merlin POV, as a reader at least, because I think there's a tendency for a lot of writers to go overboard with clever little asides showing how arrogant Arthur is and I don't generally find that funny so much as maddening, plus it takes us longer to get to the plot and/or sex.
3. I think I'm with you on this! It's also a difference from LotR where I never had any interest in taking the hobbits out of Middle-earth.
4. Maybe it is something about the characters? I've read Harry in girl clothes a couple times and not been able to get into it but it just seems like something canon!Harry would hate, whereas Merlin, eh, he has such a sweet face? Also I think fans are just generally getting better at writing both genderswap and transfic, but I might be making that up.
5. I have not yet watched the video diaries or read Bradley/Colin to speak of, but I read Lotrips for a long time so that's not really an issue for me. Probably once I watch the videos I'll cave.
Re: New things, courtesy of Merlin fandom
That's actually why I don't like him as much as Draco, lol.
2. I like reading Arthur-in-denial. Or, for writers like
(Both are also true for Merlin's pov; Merlin's regard & sacrifice are just much more obvious than Arthur's in canon.)
3. Hobbits = non-human creatures --> erm, in a non-magical AU, they'll be a humanoid alien race? Maybe?
I wrote lots of AU HP fics, but they're still set in the same magical world =)
4. Merlin, eh, he has such a sweet face?
X-D
He looks less butch than Harry, if that's what you mean ;-) But Harry has prettier eyes.
Hm, it's true that the girl!Merlin & girl!Arthur fics I've read so far are well-written.
Crossdressing I can read in any fandom. Genderbend, not really, not until Merlin.
5. I've always felt iffy about it before because the actors involved usually have girlfriends/wives ^^;;
Either that or they're underage.So Bradley and Colin are the first RPS pairing I've read who are both unattached (as far as the fans know). Also, Bradley seems to be one of those people who always perform and doesn't have an "off" switch. So I take the video diaries as another Bradley James performance.Re: New things, courtesy of Merlin fandom
3. There are a few AUs where the hobbits characters are human rather than hobbits and live in different historical contexts on earth, but they're extremely rare. In LotR FP, AU usually means that canon took a different direction, like someone or other claimed the Ring, or the Ring stayed hidden and Frodo never went on the Quest.
4. I mean not just that Merlin has a girly face (though he does) but that like, he doesn't seem to have the anger or the...strong negative reactions to things that Harry has that make it hard for me to imagine, say, Harry crossdressing unless he were forced into it (or maybe it's just because that was the situation in the first HP crossdressing fic I read) but I think, like Merlin gets into crazy situations all the time like becoming manservant to this guy he can't stand, and he just sort of rolls his eyes and goes with it. As long as no one's trying to kill his mother he can get along, and I think if someone suggested he wear a dress he would at first be incredulous and then sort of shrug and say okay, and he'd also be able to enjoy it. (((Merlin)))
5. God, the documentaries and cast commentaries on the LotR DVDs. So fucking glorious.
Re: New things, courtesy of Merlin fandom
Will have to keep that in mind when I write longer fics.
4. he just sort of rolls his eyes and goes with it. As long as no one's trying to kill his mother he can get along, and I think if someone suggested he wear a dress he would at first be incredulous and then sort of shrug and say okay, and he'd also be able to enjoy it.
X-D <3 this insight.
5. I started listening to the cast commentary of FotR, but I still haven't finished them because they're just so long! (I have the extended DVDs, although they never did send me a box. *makesadface*)
no subject
no subject
no subject
Hehehe...
no subject
no subject