Because, you know, I need a new fandom like a hole in the head

[such_heights]

Dear LJ,

Today I slept a great deal and watched four episodes of Merlin. It was a good day.

Okay, I should have trusted you all in your infinite wisdom from the get-go. IT'S AWESOME. I love Merlin, he's adorable! I love the way all the plots are incredibly predictable! I love Richard Wilson and Anthony Head! I LOVE Gwen and Morgana!

I can has Morgana/Gwen recs now, plz? I mean, yes yes, the Arthur/Merlin, oh it is blatant, and omg Merlin/Gwen is so cute I can hardly stand it, but I am blindsided by the Gwen/Morgana. Like the episode where everyone's dying of the icky plague thing, and Gwen gives one flower to Merlin (n'awwww) and ALL THE REST TO MORGANA, hee! ♥ ♥ ♥

Also, I hear tell the episodes actually get a lot better soon? I am excited! :D

***

Also, though I'm not allowing myself to dive into the exchange properly until my own story is finished and submitted, grah, rs_small_gifts has started posting! And all looks wondrous. What I did manage to read was the following, and it was excellent:

Waiting For The Great Leap Forward, by woldy
Harry Potter ; Remus/Sirius ; PG-13
Four winters in Remus' life, told backwards.

This is a wonderfully intelligent story, on class differences and politics and how Remus and Sirius fell apart. It's quite a bit heartbreaking, but in such a plausible way, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Comments

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

Merlin, Merlin, Merlin! zomg. It is so heartwarming and gleeful and, and they have a dragon and it is an Arthur/Merlin shipper.

It is the gayest little show that could. And I mean that for all values of gay including happy & joyous. And it's so cheerfully anachronistic! Like, on purpose. SO CLEVER.

Also, you have upcoming episodes where there is camping out and Gwen and Morgana IN BED TOGETHER. Yes.

I ship everyone on it, including Gaius/Uther.

[demotu.livejournal.com]

It is so the gayest little show that could. I adore it and its deliberate anachronisms. Everyone is slashed like whoa, they aren't even TRYING. I am half expecting the beeb to actually get Arthur and Merlin together, only I find I have no inclination to seek out adult fanfic for them - just epic foretold romance.

[fauxkaren.livejournal.com]

Meeeeerlin! LOL. I'm so hooked on this cheesy, ridiculous show. Ngl, I'm a Arthur/Morgana shipper (in case the icon didn't give it away, heh), but I do know that there are a lot of good Arthur/Merlin fics out there. From what I've heard from other people in the fandom, there isn't as much good Morgana/Gwen and when people do pair them off it's more of a "remove the girls from the equation so Arthur and Merlin can be together". I'm sure that if you go poking around though you can find some.

I'm a huge Morgana fangirl, so I like any episode where she plays a part. :D Thus, my favorite episode is The Beginning of the End which is episode... 8, I think. But episode 12 (this week's episode) is going to feature Morgana really heavily. I'm ridiculously excited.

[fauxkaren.livejournal.com]

It's really funny because it's the little anachronistics that get me. Like, I know it's on purpose. But things like Merlin (and his mother) being literate drive me up the wall. Why would a peasant woman be able to write a letter to Gaius? Dives me nuts. But I know that the creators are just trying to convey "generic fantasy" and aren't going for a particular time period. So I have to quash the history person inside of me.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

I guess I love it because it always seems to be doing it with a wink. And also, I'd just come off watchingtrying to watch the BBC Robin Hood which starts out with a date, and then garbs all its characters in outfits that I literally see in hipster stores all the time. I'd much rather they chuck it all out the window and tell me they are in Ye Olde Lande of Somme Fantastickale Descriptione and giggle about its arthurian legend highschool AUness. It is self-aware and I love that. And the little meta-nods - Geoffrey of Monmouth, etc... just punch it up for me.

tl;dr I'd much rather they did this, then go for historical accuracy and inevitably fail.

[fauxkaren.livejournal.com]

LOL. Omg. Robin Hood. That show. hahaha. It's so much fun if you just turn your brain off. I seriously couldn't stop laughing when Elanor of Aquitain was the "national treasure". I usually turn Robin Hood on for background noise when I'm doing other work.

But yeah, I think deliberately not giving it a date is a really good move on Merlin's part. Because the legend itself sort of theoretically would be placed more in the early Middle Ages, but it embodied and became popular in the High Middle Ages. So idk, I do like that they're not trying to set it in somewhere specific. Although I love the Mists of Avalon which definitely is setting the legend in a specific place and time. Idk. I love that about Arthurian legend. I love that it's so flexible.

[hibernate.livejournal.com]

I'm a wee bit crazy about Morgana, and I must tell you that Morgana/Gwen is sorely lacking in the fandom. I was so disappointed, because how can you NOT ship those two?! THEY ARE EPIC!

It took me awhile to accept the show's, er, "interesting" approach to myth and history, but once I did, I was totally sold. Morgana's awesomeness helped, of course.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Hee! I've been catching up on it too, in any odd moments I have free. I adore it, and disagree with everyone who says it's anachronistic. Nobody's ever written a convincing historical Arthur (post-Roman native chieftain resisting the Saxons). It's absolutely in the spirit of the medieval romances which were so anachronistic they'd make your eyes bleed.

And so many sly references to myth ^_^ *loves the dragon under the castle*

[sundayave.livejournal.com]

AHA 'TIS VERY AWESOME INDEED. It's so ridiculously shippy, I LOVE IT DEARLY ♥. And yes, hurry up for this week's ep sounds and looks utterly promising and yeah, just, you know, it's finale time soon too! :D

As for fic, I'm sure you've seen merlinbbc, but there's also merlin_ljguide, which is a fandom guide of sorts, and they're always adding new comms and so forth. One of them is bound to have something of interest ;P.

[fauxkaren.livejournal.com]

The producers themselves have said it anachronistic. But it's on purpose. When people complain that there are anachronisms, they mean that there are elements of X time period and Y time period existing side by side. But the writers and producers have said that they do that on purpose in order to give the series more of general fantasy setting as opposed to a historical place and time.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hadn't heard that. That's interesting. I've seen a few people being sniffy about the anachronisms, but I love them (it drove my Year Eight class up the wall when we watched it in a lesson).

I'd love to know who was providing them with their source material, because it's one of those things, like A Knight's Tale, which is a lot less ignorant than it's trying to appear.

[liseuse.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad that people on my flist are loving it. I love it so. It's the Little Show That Could! It basically makes me happy for 45 minutes each week, and I LOVE IT FOR THAT.

I'm even learning to love the anachronisms because they're done with such glee. Strawberries! Arthur eating strawberries in front of Merlin! LOVE.

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

It's absolutely in the spirit of the medieval romances which were so anachronistic they'd make your eyes bleed.

I 100% agree. That's another reason why it's so awesome.

And so many sly references to myth ^_^ *loves the dragon under the castle*

And Emrys! They call Merlin Emrys! *loves*

[fairlilith.livejournal.com]

Hee!

Oh yes, blatant slash all around. Boys and girls alike. And because the Dragon said so.

I watched the Plague episode only yesterday and the flowers from Gwen to Morgana are indeed a dead giveaway.

Welcome to the fandom of the other Boy Wizard! :)

[sunnyrea.livejournal.com]

You and your wonderful recs, always gutting me

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Hmm, if they modernised that, he'd be called Ambrose.

Somehow, that doesn't quite fit the mood of the thing. ^_^

[such_heights]

*beams* It has brought so much joy to my day.

Also, you have upcoming episodes where there is camping out and Gwen and Morgana IN BED TOGETHER. Yes.

WHAT YOU SAY. God, I'm not going to get anything done for the rest of the week, am I? This show is so much fun, because there really is no Srs Bsns stuff to get in the way of the magic and the shippiness and general yay.

[such_heights]

there isn't as much good Morgana/Gwen and when people do pair them off it's more of a "remove the girls from the equation so Arthur and Merlin can be together"

*sigh* Whatever the canon, fandom can be so predictable sometimes. Sounds like I'm going to have to do all the work around here!

And dude, yes, Morgana FTW, and I look forward to seeing more of her relationship wit Arthur - currently, I'm intrigued, so I'll probably be shipping them by, you know, tomorrow. :D

[such_heights]

Gah, I am very saddened to hear this! Sounds like I'm really going to have to go a-hunting.

[such_heights]

I've got the next three lined up and ready to go! :D :D

Off to hunt, thanks for the links! *will fail at everything else in life now, clearly*

[such_heights]

It basically makes me happy for 45 minutes each week, and I LOVE IT FOR THAT.

Yes! This is my overriding feeling thus far. I always need more shows like that.

[such_heights]

The John Hurt-voiced dragon is a shipper! I-- I cannot even. Arthur is Merlin's destiny omg. :D

And yes, the extent to which Merlin is actually Harry Potter but in the past is alarming. Also, how Merlin is Harry and Arthur is a more awesome version of Draco. LOVE IT.

(... ahahaha. this icon? NEWLY HILARIOUS.)

[such_heights]

God, I know, this one is just so quietly devastating.

[such_heights]

Yes, this does make me wish I knew more about Arthurian legend, because I suspect there's a fair bit that's passing me by! (I, um, had to google Morgana to get she was Morgan Le Fey. >.>)

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

I'm a shameless Arthurian geek. One of things I love most about the whole myth cycle is the way that every century finds a new way to rework the material. You can tell a lot about an era by the way its populist writers tackle the Matter of Britain.

[lorannah.livejournal.com]

:D

You might already know this, but a significant figure in post Roman Britain was Ambrosius Aurealis who many think may have been an early inspiration for Arthur.

Pretty close to Ambrose.

[lorannah.livejournal.com]

Hee!

I am so happy that you love it. I am still full of flail about how much I now love it. I've practically had to padlock my wallet this week to stop myself buying the first DVD set - I really want to wait until the full boxset comes out - but I missed a couple of early episodes (i.e. the plague episode at least) and my download speed is abysmal... it's so, so tempting.

I just can't believe how much I love every character - I even really like Nimueh - and I may be moving towards shipping her with Morgana or Merlin or both (apparently OT3 is my new thing as I also seem to be heading that way with my nano novel).

Anyway, welcome to the madhouse

XD

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

I've been watching them on the BBC website, which even my temperamental internet connection has coped with so far.

Here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/merlin/#/episodes/3/), in case you haven't found them already.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

*nods* I always quite liked Mary Stewart's take on it in The Crystal Cave, where Merlin was supposed to be Ambrosius' illegitimate son (can't remember if it was clearly announced in the novel or just unmissable implications).

Aurealianus is a fascinating figure - a sort of precursor of Arthur. I'm intrigued enough by him that I pinched his name for one of the key characters in my novel.

[lorannah.livejournal.com]

P.S. While I 100% agree that this is the best sort of joyous tv, which is why I love it, I also feel the need to warn you that what was supposed to be a silly little programme made me cry two weeks ago.

But in the good way.

Which is also why I love it. :D

[lorannah.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I've not tried the streaming yet, but I have downloaded a couple while they were available - I think it took two days or something close.

Going back to a dial up equivalent is hard.

:(

[lorannah.livejournal.com]

Hee.

I thought you might have known.

I've not read the Mary Stewart book, I think I'll put it on my reading list for next year. I'm actually horrendously badly read on Arthurian stuff, just the Once and Future King and a few kids fantasies that use it as backstory, so if you have any recomendations they'd be greatly appreciated.

I have been geekily enjoying reading about 'sub-Roman' Britain recently - although I hate that name for it, silly archaeologists and was really intrigued by Aurealis, enough so that he worked his way into my nano novel this year. His bits definitely going to be rewritten though, once I have time for better research.

Nano is too rushed.

[nekare.livejournal.com]

AHAHAH MY ENTIRE FLIST IS FALLING FOR IT! I love love love the show and its slight rubbishness and its crack and its shiny and YES the last three episodes have been Good TV, caps included. It's a bit like Torchwood, really - starts like crack, and then suddenly reveils its HIDDEN DEPTHS. LOL.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

I like most of The Crystal Cave, but I got quite irritated with the later books.

My favourite pseudo-historical Arthurian novel is Catherine Christian's The Sword and the Flame (Some editions were called The Pendragon). It's Bedivere's perspective and it's beautiful and satisfying and heart-wrenching. Sadly, it's also out of print, but there are secondhand copies around.

a few kids fantasies that use it as backstory, - Susan Cooper?

*waves at such_heights* Sorry for hijacking your post with Arthurian geekery.

[gorgeousnerd]

I am tragically American and can't watch Merlin. Considering I know it has Tony Head, this distresses me greatly. *sigh*

In other news, wow, that Sirius/Remus fic was amazing. I never really considered class differences in their relationship before, but now I feel like I should have.

[multiclassgeek.livejournal.com]

Proxies. Proxies are your friends.

Find a UK-based proxy, and you should be fine.

One of these (http://www.xroxy.com/proxy-country-GB.htm) should sort you out. Or google for it.

[multiclassgeek.livejournal.com]

I swear, at one point, the Librarian Guy referenced a book that actually exists in the real world... And is actually a book of Arthurian Legend.

Can't remember which ep, though.

[multiclassgeek.livejournal.com]

YES! The world totally needs more Morgana/Gwen (and I'm not just saying that because I'm male. Those two are *awesome* as a team, and as a pairing). The boys get all the fun because the fandom is overwhelmingly female, but still...

[woldy]

Hmmn, all this slashy enthusiasm about Merlin makes me think I need to investigate. Especially if there's femslash potential. *adds to Xmas viewing list*

I'm really glad you enjoyed the fic. I worried that it would come across as preachy and/or terribly obscure to the non-Brits, but somehow I didn't notice that it was a depressing story until other people mentioned it. *headdesk*

[such_heights]

But it's so educational! *grins* I am amused; do carry on.

[such_heights]

The characters are all so awesome and shippy and awesome! And I'm sorry, Nimueh/Morgana, did you say? I think this is the kind of show where I am allowed to be utterly shallow and declare that to be INSTANT WIN. :D

I'm so looking forward to going home and watching more this evening, hurray!

[such_heights]

It's like some kind of disease of glittery, cracky awesome! And hee, I'm so glad to hear it takes the Torchwood approach to doing things. Hidden depths, you say? I can't wait!

[such_heights]

Woes! But I do not know whether said proxy things will work, or also whether you could acquire it by other Nefarious Means? >.> Because definitely worth the effort!

And yes, I know what you mean - I'd considered it to a point, but woldy really takes it seriously in a way I never had. Oh, boys. :(

[such_heights]

*sigh* It is a perennial tragedy unto basically every fandom apart from, like, Xena that there's never enough femslash - a bit to do with the make-up of fandom, a bit to do with the source canons, etc etc. But a show that's got a ship ready and waiting to go? I hold out fandom must be meeting needs somewhere or other! *hunts*

[such_heights]

Yes yes! Basically, you can ship all four leads with each other really rather marvellously, so. Whatever your poison, you've got it!

Not at all - First War era stories really do cry out for some social realism from time to time, there's not nearly enough of it, especially so well done.