festivids, recs, and more on Merlin

[such_heights]

+ Whee, Yuletide! My assignment is awesome. \o/ (Yuletide author, if you're looking for my letter it is this way.

+ Also, IN A FIT OF I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT, I just signed up for festivids (like Yuletide but for rare vidding fandoms). It was shiny, I couldn't resist! *facepalm* Anyway, if you want to join me, sign-ups close on Tuesday.

+ I have not seen Doctor Who yet, though I am sure I will soon, as my desire to see Tennant wins out over my apathy at anything RTD writes these days.

+ Some recs:

Mr Potter Lives For A Day by snegurochka_lee [Harry Potter, Albus Severus-centric, with a bit of implied Albus Severus/Scorpius and cameos by James, Lily, and portrait!Snape, PG-13]
Albus wakes up on his seventeenth birthday determined to make the most of it.

This story is about far more than the summary would imply - it's a brilliant piece of slowly unfurling narration, and the premise has been haunting me for days. There's not a lot more I can say without spoiling it.

Like Water On The Moon by magnetic_pole [Harry Potter, Alice/Amelia, PG]

A gorgeous First-War snapshot and a lovely pairing.

Project Run,way Galaxy [Doctor Who] by othellia, a hilarious piece of crack told in over 130 macros.

You Don't Bring Me Flowers (Anymore) by blue_fjords [Torchwood, Tosh/Adam, R]

Adam (both the episode and the character) creeps me out like no one's business, but this is more tragic than disturbing, and a brilliant look at the alternate characterisation of Tosh in that episode.

+ Lastly, some more on last night's Merlin, with spoilery recs.

Wow, intense reactions from all sides! Reading it all has been quite invigorating. *g* In particular, there's a lot of really good stuff in the comments of this post.

I ADORE la_esmeralda's take on it as a medieval dyke drama, that is delightful. Also, speaking of Morgana/Morgause, to which I say, shut up, shantirosa wrote For A Body In The Garden [R], which is gorgeous. Also, shut up!

The thing that's really sticking with me is how much they've emphasised the Gaius/Uther/Igraine/Nimueh - Merlin/Arthur/Gwen/Morgana parallels. That's fascinating and the sort of thing I'd love to play with once I get the time to non-deadline vid/write. But, the thing that's troubling me, is that given how much they're playing up the sins of the previous generation, how can they tell a story whereby Arthur and Merlin avoid their predecessors's mistakes AND one where Morgana goes evil/rogue/ambiguous/whatever. I mean, this is Merlin, obviously they can and it will frustrating and make no sense, but I can't imagine a scenario where Morgana leaves that I wouldn't blame Arthur and Merlin for. Or, if she leaves more because of Uther and Gaius, why she wouldn't come back once Arthur was king? I want to be on everyone's side, I want my happy OT4, dammit! Or, at the very least, I want the show not to go so far down the road that we actually see it happening. I do, however, have the suspicion that they'll make Morgana randomly evil a la Nimueh (who isn't evil really! also, just biding her time), and then I will be SAD. Don't crush my dreams, show!

Comments

[snegurochka_lee]

Aw, thank you, sweetie. And urf, I know: I rewrote the summary a dozen times. It makes the fic sound boring as shit, but I could not for the life of me come up with something else without giving away the farm. :)

[such_heights]

Your story is much too sneaky for summaries, clearly! :D

[tavella]

If the writers were any better, I'd think they were setting up a story where the story is all about how they failed. How they destroyed themselves just like the first generation did, maybe worse.