whynot | Fic: "A Lever and a Place to Stand" (Arthur/Merlin, R). And further down: SPN inanities.

yue_ix made me my mafia!Pendragons. I KNEW IT, BB, I KNEW IT. <33 XD

Here's what I wrote:

A Lever and a Place to Stand
Merlin. Arthur/Merlin + ensemble. Rated R. Warnings: canon deaths, drug use. Thank you to

zempasuchil and

mrinalinee for the beta.
Summary: When a peaceful march for the equal rights of magicians ends badly, Merlin is forced to hide out in the apartment of law student Arthur Pendragon. ~12000 words

All Arthur wants to do is zone out on the sofa and watch reruns of CSI: Mercia, because after an entire day of reading case studies about the various legalized injustices carried out against the magical population, he can really go for a dose of predictable crime-solving and pretend that’s what the world is really like.

Writing this fic was annoying, but in a good way. I was initially going to write the Arthur/Lancelot part of my recipient's prompt, but then I looked through her LJ and she was clearly jonesing for the Merlin/Arthur, which is a ship that I don't find as exciting anymore. But it's Solstice, so okay, whatever. I'll Merlin/Arthur for Solstice.

And it was because of Merlin/Arthur that the fic became so long. Because I was less inspired by the romance, I started throwing in other things to keep my interest that I could write about. Sure, let's set the fic in faux New York. Let's give Arthur grad student angst. Let's talk nonstop about how much Will is missed. (NAME-DROP JAVA. SCRABBLE GAMES. Wade-Giles and LexisNexis and Muggle jokes, etc.) This eventually led to a series of frantic emails to Z wherein I wondered, "DO YOU THINK THEY ARE IN LOVE ENOUGH??"

Suddenly, this fic that was supposed to be a few thousand words long became TWELVE THOUSAND WORD SLONG (!! haha I will not fix that typo), and I got an extension, and two betas, and then... my recipient drops out.

LOLZ I could have been writing Arthur/Lancelot THIS WHOLE TIME (this whole tiiiiime), but if I had been, this would have been a much different fic. And even with twelve thousand words, I didn't end up unpacking as much as I wanted to, especially wrt Arthur's idealism and privileged position in society. For the purposes of this fic, Arthur and Merlin's idealism were championed, but I think introducing a more cynical perspective to deconstruct their "HURRAH REVOLUTION!" attitude would also have been interesting. ~~Maybe in the sequel.~~

Another thing I would've wanted to do if I had more time is include 'excerpts' from Arthur's textbooks or thesis a la Sea Change or Forms & Foundations. Gwen in her speech quotes Marx's 18th Brumaire, and Uther does too when he's talking about religion. Max Wechsler's Druidic Ethic is of course supposed to be Max Weber's Protestant Ethic, and the Wizard Manifesto is guess. Also, Merlin misquotes Arthur C. Clarke with the whole science/magic thing.

In the end, I am glad and grateful, ex-recipient, for the challenge. I would not have written it if not for you! A MERRY SOLSTICE TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

And now: Supernatural! My SPN-watching has been jumping around as per the orders of my id.

Reactions thus far to 5x04:

THIS ISN'T FUNNY, DEAN. THE VOICE TELLS ME I'M ALMOST OUT OF MINUTES. <333333

...I'LL JUST WAIT HERE THEN.

~*IF YOU DON'T SAY YES TO MICHAEL, SARAH PALIN WILL BECOME PRESIDENT*~

DEAN KIND OF LIKED IT WITH THE PINK PANTIES

WHERE IS THE FALLEN!CASTIEL/DEAN FIC SET IN THIS ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, WHERE. I wanna know all about fallen!AUCastiel.

omg Sam's white suit of facepalm hahahaha

Dean cries more than I thought he would.

AND ALSO, "CHANGING CHANNELS", I WAS LIKE WHAT. WHAT IS THIS, HOW IS THIS EVEN OMG WHAAAAA. DO YOU NEED MORE CRACK SHOW OH I GUESS YOU DON'T, WELL CAN I HAVE SOME OF YOURS THEN, YOU CLEARLY HAVE TOO MUCH <33

ALSO: THE FACT THAT SOMETIMES, DURING APOCALYPTIC ALTERNATE UNIVERSES, THERE ARE TWO DEANS. Twoooooooo. Count 'em, two! This show knows what's up. \o/

I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE "CHANGING CHANNELS" EXISTS HAHAAAAA

Where does Castiel go when he's not stalking the Winchesters? Off fomenting rebellion elsewhere? What does he do when he's looking for God? Is he collecting intelligence? Making shady deals in back alleys? Or just... standing still on roadsides waiting for Dean to wake up?

How EVIL was Show for showing us Castiel drinking those shots in 5x10 with Jo and Ellen, but then opting out of a drunk!Castiel scene. I FEEL CHEATED. WAY TO TOY WITH MY HEART. "I think I'm beginning to feel something" indeeeeeeed.

Castiel is SUCH A ROBOT. Switch 'angel' with 'robot' and it's the same shtick, what with being programmed to be obedient but beginning to feel feelings. Feeeeelings. C3PO emotes more than Cas does. By odd coincidence (or perhaps the law of averages), I found the AU fic where Dean finds robot!Castiel in the scrap heap. Then when I thought of Arthur!Dean and Merlin!Castiel, I found the art manip! Ah, the joys of well-established fandom! Everything is out there already, and SOMEWHERE OUT THERE is the Dean/Castiel fic that will break my heart to a million pieces, I WILL FIND IT.

BECAUSE SRSLY. The two-parter in S4 where Anna made out with Dean at the end? And Castiel made goggly-boggly eyes at them, a ~*significant look of vague longing*~ and I was like, "IS THIS HOW WE ARE PLAYING IT, SHOW???" KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT ~*CROWLEY*~ AND HOW NOW I AM INCAPABLE OF SEEING THIS AS NOT A GOOD OMENS CROSSOVER??? Also, the whole thing with Lucifer and Michael makes me think this is a Lucifer crossover/fusion. Fair enough, all these stories deal with the same mythos, so intersections are bound to happen, buuuuut if Castiel occasionally hung out with Aziraphale, wouldn't that make your life so much better? (Yes.) They can go around being repressed and socially inept together, sauntering downwards.

I feel for Sam and his inner demon, I do, and I think he's got interesting stories to tell. The whole 'mere vessels' premise makes for some nice parallels, but TO BE HONEST I am so much less interested in that when CASTIEL WILL DO ANYTHING FOR DEEEAAAN and Dean, y'know, wants to make sure Cas is alright (<333). I think there's a compelling story about the end of the world going on somewhere in this show, but I can't tell through all the personal space invasions!

Speaking of which, 5x03: ONE OF BESTEST?!

And may I say how unexpectedly delighted I am at finding Britishisms in SPN fic! This must be how Brits feel when people Americanize in Merlin or Harry Potter fic. Suddenly Dean is like THE BLOODY THING IS BROKEN or Sam is like LET'S GET SOME TAKEAWAY and sometimes they have a ROW, and I'm just like, "...AWW, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CRUMPETS AND TEA?!??!" <3333 BLESS YA'LL, how delightful. XD

So, just out of curiosity, if you could rec someone a Dean/Castiel fic that would brutally rip your heart to shreds via either of them wrestling with duty and realizing each other's role in their respective worlds... which fic would you rec? WHICH DEAN/CASTIEL FIC MAKES YOU ACHE, FANDOM, WHICH.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heehee, fair enough! I suspected it was you when you got excited at the Fleet party about something you CAN'T TELL ME ABOUT QUITE YET. And I hoped! Oh I hoped, and lo, fulfilled! \o/ WE'LL HONEYMOON IN THE BAHAMAS. Briar can come too XD

jflksjlfd I would have looooooved to talk mafia AU with you all day, omg are you kidding. It didn't even occur to me that I could've called you out before reveals! lol I wish I had. THE FUN WE COULD HAVE BEEN HAVING. ALL THE AU FUN. YES LET'S TALK ABOUT MAFIA AU NOW, LET'S DO SO OMG.

I think there is more than the tie Uther kind of dropped on them linking them in their adulthood.
Word. I'm of the belief that they still find each other attractive and are not above playing each other's emotions to get what they want. I'm not entirely unconvinced that they don't occasionally sleep together as well, for reasons of their own. Each character is music-themed? Tell me more! What's this about Kant? Now I'm confused. What was I talking about Xenakis about?! omg my terrible fannish memory.

COPS!Merlin&Gwen collaborating with Mafia!Arthur and Morgana from time to times, and hiding in each another places or patching the other up, and angsty times arguing about laws and moral honesty.
*___* <333333 <333

And Arthur can be like, "FAMILY IS IMPORTANT" and Gwen does not need someone to tell her how important family is, thank you very much. Also, Morgana gets a little frowny-face at Arthur's family talk because she sometimes gets freezed out of 'family' stuff because she can't trace her family back to Sicily. OR ALBION, WHATEVER THE EQUIVALENT IS.

BECAUSE MAYBE. Maybe Gwen is the detective who has been after Uther Pendragon for YEARS. YEARS. Like, she lives and breathes the Pendragon dossier to the point where sometimes Merlin worries for her, but hey (she says) someone has to worry about the Pendragons, especially if Merlin is just going to goof off on stake-out all the time. But Merlin also brings her her favorite muffin for breakfast and coffee just the way she likes it, so Gwen can't begrudge him too much.

AND NOW. Now that they have fallen in with the Pendragon children, she finds herself having FEELINGS for them, now just as she is closing on Uther. WILL SHE BETRAY HER FEELINGS OR HER JOB?? *dramatic music!!!*

OH YA REMEMBER WHEN BOONDOCK SAINTS FANDOM EXISTED? Supernatural is kinda as awesome as Boondock Saints. I figured out through the following calculations:
incestuous brothers + vanquishing evil = awesome!

Word. I'm of the belief that they still find each other attractive and are not above playing each other's emotions to get what they want. I'm not entirely unconvinced that they don't occasionally sleep together as well, for reasons of their own.

SO MUCH YES. THANK YOU.

Each character is music-themed? Tell me more!
YAY. So, Morgana's boots are based on concert flute, her skirt's 'ladder' sides were actually meant to be closer to a piano (if I repost this, I'll need to do the black halfkeys thicker...), her collar is like the one from 101 but with strings, her hair and skirt were with my idea of those wavy Musical notation because she's jazzy music. There is pretty much only one element of hers that doesn't match the rest: the hat. Because it's Arthur's hat, that she just stole while he answered the phone, saying it fits her better anyway (it doesn't - they are both as dashing).

Speaking of Arthur, his top is based on Alexander Rybak's. Every time (no, really, Every.Single.Time) I see Uther up there, there is a low dripping voice that says "grooovy~". He's meant to be all DJ MASTERZ and playing the floor.

The thing about phylosophy is nothing - it's one of those awesome thing you can mix with your fic but I really really can't, but wanted to do that 'cherry-pineapple mix' mentality with something I can understand, and that's, well, art and music.

the rest of the comment when I'm home!

it's Arthur's hat, that she just stole while he answered the phone, saying it fits her better anyway
fklsfsdjd OMG YES PERFECT. It's so obvious! Why didn't I see it before?! XD

That is FASCINATING with the music themes! The process of fanart is mysterious to me, and it's really interesting seeing where your inspiration comes from and how they come together. Morgana is totally jazz music. I don't know what Arthur is. I think he thinks he is classical music, but he is maybe closer to the oldies station. Not that there's anything wrong with oldies. The thought of DJ Uther is cracking me up, and it's kind of like DJ Morgana when those caps from Freakdog went around. They should have a DJing empire together, and Uther can be like WE NEED MORE VOCODER but Arthur can see that the clubs are weary of tyrannical vocoding.

--> MORE THAN A WEEK LATER. It's very embarrassing how easily distracted by shinies I am.

And Arthur can be like, "FAMILY IS IMPORTANT"

I could see Arthur and Gwen bonding over some indirect family time, only to clash heads terribly about it some scenes later and then bonding back. Gwen could be "He's my father, I'm not giving anyone the possibility of having him in danger because of me!" and Arthur be shocked at being snapped at but then agrees to help cover her traces/send incognito men to watch over him, just in case, and later he can answer an accusation in her eyes with "My father asked me this!" and her be all "he's not in danger! pleasing your father isn't worth the loss of innocent lives". And then Uther could actually be in real danger and Arthur would need the cops' help and he'd be awkward with Gwen, all "listen, you.. you were right back then, you were, but this isn't the same and he is in trouble and I, and I.." with Merlin going "We'll help. Gwen?" and she can nod very seriously and think, now it's personal.

MORGANA. I imagined her to be a lot like early S1 Morgana, knowing of her weapons (mind, rank, looks and actual weapons) and using them a bit whimsically at first, while pursuing a few morals, but maybe getting involved in some drugs problems that apparently the family she never really knew had, and while Arthur and Gwen trust her completely, Uther summons her to his office a few times through the plot and they both leave the room cold and more silent but A has no idea what's happening, except Merlin has to work on the file at one point and doesn't know what to do. (THIS IS ME TOTALLY ROOTING FOR "SHE WAS ON THEIR SIDE ALL ALONG BUT COULDN'T TELL, despite having had this big crush on Morgause and tagging along, but she quickly realized she'd rather have her heart broken than fight against her morals and see her family and friends destroyed").

I LIKE GWEN STALKING OUT DOWN THE PENDRAGONS, and having a net of connections around and through them, sometimes making it for bizarre times where she has to pretend not to know this person Arthur is introducing under another name, or that one where they waved at her first and the secret got out. Plus, reflections on how different things are from the inside and from the outside, with some bits where she knows how this would look like written on paper but has nothing on the real thing, waiting in the dark and hoping to ambush a spy before they ambush you. SHE WOULD BE TORN LIKE MORGANA AND MERLIN WOULD BE é__è (but maybe secretly, while they had seemed to grow apart, Gwen will actually find out about Morgana being on the good side through one of her private investigation, and she and Morgana worked it out together and are then firmly back in times with the Pendragons, only no one knows about it).

ALSO, Merlin and Arthur could butt heads about team-working - Arthur's way is giving orders and watching it unfold but actively participating, Merlin's training is about teamwork and making sure everyone, including themselves, is safe at all time, and they yell and banter at each another until someone starts shooting/STUFF EXPLODES and then they fire back in synch.

I'd think Leon to be a Pendragon spy in the police force, because, IDK, dept towards Uther and/or Arthur, and watching over them from the outside. Gawain is the Pendragon's firearm dealer and a good friend. Will is a DJ that knows about girls and some ~scene~ and hopefully doesn't die (this is sorely because I can't stop picturing some gratuitous club scenes. Arthur would look so pretty crossing his arms and moping/snarking in the dark-with-red-streaks while Merlin talks with Will, and then something can happen there and there is action. action in clubs is fun.). Edwin could be the opposite side's bomb&explosives expert.

YOU KNOW THAT SCENE IN BOONDOCKS WHERE THEY MAKE-SHIFT CAUTERIZE THEIR WOUNDS, WITH GAGS AND ROPES? I'D HIT THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Fic: "A Lever and a Place to Stand" (Arthur/Merlin, R). And further down: SPN inanities.

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