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crack_van2009-06-13 09:56 am
laceymcbain.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2009-06-13 09:56 am
Everything's Going to Get Lighter (Even if it Never Gets Better) by Raphaela667 (PG-14)
Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Guinevere/Lancelot
Length: ~ 3350
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raphaela667
Author Website: Master List of Fic
Why this must be read: If you're a slasher, don't let the het tag fool you--this absolutely deserves to be read no matter what your pairing of choice--and there is nothing explicit in the text for either pairing. It's the way a lot of die-hard slashers can come to terms with the inevitable future where Arthur and Guinevere must be together, only to have Arthur betrayed by Guinevere and Lancelot. (That's not a spoiler, people - that's just history.) Here you have a brief glimpse into their lives - the difference between public and private, what they do for the sake of the kingdom and for each other. What is appearance and what is truth.
The story is told from Gwen's point of view - the woman who went from a maid-servant to the most powerful woman in Camelot. She has the ear of the king, but nothing more, and although there may be moments of bitterness, there is so much more to her life than that. They are the sum of who they are together, rather than their own individual loves and losses. It's beautifully, poignantly told, and you can feel the heartbreak and love in every single character. This is a future I can believe.
She is Queen of Camelot and she can go where she pleases, and so she goes to see Merlin.
He is awake, and he tries to smile for her. There is a chair pulled to his bed, and state papers scattered over his covers. Not his, she knows, but Arthur’s. A maid sits in the corner, and she looks up occasionally. The stink of herbs hangs in the air, but Merlin smells of something clean and fresh. Magic, maybe.
“It’s the only way I can keep awake,” he says, when she asks what he’s doing, “and if I don’t keep awake, then I can’t figure out what’s keeping me asleep.”
“Where’s Arthur?” she asks. They do not pretend. She does not pretend to love Arthur, Merlin does not pretend that he doesn’t. It is a safe sort of feeling, perhaps the only connection between the three of them. There are days when she misses her easy friendship with Merlin.
“I sent him to bed,” Merlin tells her. He is the only one allowed to command the king of Camelot, and she knows that he loves it beyond reckoning. “He was so tired,” he smiles, fondly. “God, he’s an idiot, isn’t he?”
“Can you make yourself well again?” asks Arthur’s wife, who doesn’t know him well enough to say.
“I told Arthur I could,” Merlin says, “and that will have to be enough.”
He won’t lie to her, she knows. But he will lie to Arthur.
Read the story and feedback the author: Everything's Going to Get Lighter (Even if it Never Gets Better)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Guinevere/Lancelot
Length: ~ 3350
Author on LJ:
raphaela667Author Website: Master List of Fic
Why this must be read: If you're a slasher, don't let the het tag fool you--this absolutely deserves to be read no matter what your pairing of choice--and there is nothing explicit in the text for either pairing. It's the way a lot of die-hard slashers can come to terms with the inevitable future where Arthur and Guinevere must be together, only to have Arthur betrayed by Guinevere and Lancelot. (That's not a spoiler, people - that's just history.) Here you have a brief glimpse into their lives - the difference between public and private, what they do for the sake of the kingdom and for each other. What is appearance and what is truth.
The story is told from Gwen's point of view - the woman who went from a maid-servant to the most powerful woman in Camelot. She has the ear of the king, but nothing more, and although there may be moments of bitterness, there is so much more to her life than that. They are the sum of who they are together, rather than their own individual loves and losses. It's beautifully, poignantly told, and you can feel the heartbreak and love in every single character. This is a future I can believe.
She is Queen of Camelot and she can go where she pleases, and so she goes to see Merlin.
He is awake, and he tries to smile for her. There is a chair pulled to his bed, and state papers scattered over his covers. Not his, she knows, but Arthur’s. A maid sits in the corner, and she looks up occasionally. The stink of herbs hangs in the air, but Merlin smells of something clean and fresh. Magic, maybe.
“It’s the only way I can keep awake,” he says, when she asks what he’s doing, “and if I don’t keep awake, then I can’t figure out what’s keeping me asleep.”
“Where’s Arthur?” she asks. They do not pretend. She does not pretend to love Arthur, Merlin does not pretend that he doesn’t. It is a safe sort of feeling, perhaps the only connection between the three of them. There are days when she misses her easy friendship with Merlin.
“I sent him to bed,” Merlin tells her. He is the only one allowed to command the king of Camelot, and she knows that he loves it beyond reckoning. “He was so tired,” he smiles, fondly. “God, he’s an idiot, isn’t he?”
“Can you make yourself well again?” asks Arthur’s wife, who doesn’t know him well enough to say.
“I told Arthur I could,” Merlin says, “and that will have to be enough.”
He won’t lie to her, she knows. But he will lie to Arthur.
Read the story and feedback the author: Everything's Going to Get Lighter (Even if it Never Gets Better)