Current WIP: Psych Ops - in a modern version of Camelot, Arthur is tasked with saving the life of a pilot who's been shot down over enemy territory - and more importantly, the recordings of the enemy base that will allow Camelot to infiltrate and neutralize the threat the unique Psychic of Essetir poses... (part 1)

You know, I did rather think that spending time in this Merlin 'verse would help to make that series ending 'all right' for me... but I find it isn't so. I have many different ideas for short stories or longer works for this site. Some in canon, some a/u, some that could function as an entirely original stories with a change of name and description... I figure as long as I do NaNoWriMo with an original - and as long as people are still reading Merlin fanfic - I'll keep writing...

A Once and Future Destiny, The Emrys Strain, and The Artorius Blade. My first fanfiction plus two. Modern reincarnation series, wherein Merlin doesn't initially remember the rest - and struggles with a rocky past and the knowledge of his magic going public...

Kingdom Games - at the epic length of 31 chapters! As far as plot bunnies go (for any Hunger Games fans), this one was dynamite! Part 1 - Uther holds a to-the-death championship to choose his successor, but can there be two? Part 2 - Cenred challenges Uther to the same sort of tournament, winner take both kingdoms; enemies can become allies. Part 3 - a final 'game' to determine who is worthy to be high king of all Albion; destiny takes a hand.

Vortigern's Tower - my own version of the legend about young Merlin and the trapped dragons. The More Things Change - a semi-season rewrite, I'm calling it an intermission. Part II The Towers of Lionys - the first and only (so far) story I've defined as 'romance'; Arthur is ordered to find a bride. Part III Torr Badon - a 'golden age' fic dealing with prophecy and battle.

Refined by Fire - Mid-season 3 in-canon reveal and fall-out. Reactions from Arthur, Uther, Morgana, Gwen. Torture scenes, execution scene, fugitive!Merlin and Gwaine pov. Spans the time frame of eps.3.5-3.7 (The Crystal Cave, The Changeling, The Castle of Fyrien). Epilogue 4.3 time-frame, intermediary episodes now added as extra chapters. Part 2, Released by Truth, an expansion of ep.4.4 "Aithusa", with extras. Arthur struggles with popular prejudice against magic, in his quest to change the laws following his father's death, and hopes not to lose Merlin in the process. Include some aspects of the legend as I've read in Tennyson... Part 3, Renewed by Love. The other kingdoms react to the news of Camelot's change in policy on magic - including Bayard of Mercia, Alined, Lord Godwyn, King Odin, Rodor of Nemeth, and finally Caerleon. Arwen, Merthian, other non-canon pairings of the knights, told in a series of love stories, but including plenty of action and politics!

A Challenging Hostage, A Challenging Quest. My take on royal!Merlin - if Annis and Caerleon had witnessed Merlin's use of magic as a child in Ealdor, and if they'd decided to take him as the heir of their kingdom. Merlin gets caught by Arthur's patrol as he raids across the border at his king's command... Takes place at the beginning of season 3, features differences in canon season 1 and 2 to allow for Merlin's absence during those incidents. Also features Morgana's reclamation - and maybe hints of Mergana... Quest - Arthur seeks to complete his knight's quest as a condition for regency, while Merlin is searching for his long-lost father. Both of them find more - and less - than they expected...

Son of Poseidon - Royal!Merlin as well as inhuman!Merlin, a high-seas adventure with a dash of Greek mythology just for fun. Seafaring!Arthur (Is that a tag?) and the knights on board as well! Also, Heir of Aetlantys - a story of Merlin coming to Camelot as a human guest at Arthur's wedding. But there's never a dull day in Camelot, and this time Arthur might need Merlin's unique talents if he's to reclaim what's been stolen from him

Angel - A modern A/U with no magic, murder-mystery featuring cop!Arthur and witness!Merlin. Combines past action with sections of present monologue, uses a nickname for Merlin for most of it.

Payment in Gold - a period a/u. Camelot is different since Taliesin's time, a matriarchal society. Queen Nimueh presses her daughter Guinevere, the heir to the throne, to choose a consort; Guinevere resorts to the challenge of a quest to decide between Arthur and Lancelot. Meanwhile Merlin as the first male citizen in a century, based on public proof of his magic, struggles to make ends meet after acquiring two new slaves in the arena, and might be open to Arthur's proposition.

The Necromancer's Apprentice - A modern boarding-high-school version of ep.2.12 "The Fires of Idirsholas" - Arthur is a new teacher at Lone Oak, trying to understand the factors which contributed to his sister's death a decade ago. Merlin is the school's security officer, trying to befriend Arthur and atone for his sins of long ago.

The Penned Dragon. Modern A/U, based loosely on "Sins of the Father" episode. Abused!Arthur, private-investigator!Merlin, corporate espionage (or something), canon pairings and most of the knights, too.

Past Faults and Future Perils - my very first ever attempt at a time-travel fic, using the closed-loop model. Morgana has decided that the best way of defeating Merlin is to switch him with his younger self, from a time when he didn't have the control or training to match her... So Merlin's young self is pulled ten years into his future and informed that he must and will defeat her, b/c he'd done it before... And Merlin's mature self is sent back to a Camelot and a young king who doesn't know him or his magic, facing the task of completing the ritual to switch his selves back to their proper time.

A handful of shorter stories: Blood Brothers - kind of a rip-off of a tv-show episode (Moonlight), a short story with four additional one-shots... Royally Disired; followed by A Day in Crystal - My 'fix' of episodes 5.5 (The Disir) and 5.13 (The Diamond of the Day)... About Time - a oneshot of Merlin's time between the day of Arthur's death and the day of his return, Arthur pov - additional chapters about Merlin's reaction and adjustment... Destiny's Pet - satire/allegory, Merlin's loss of friend, lover, father, king, to heartless destiny... Possibility - a four-chapter in-canon reveal based on Merlin's confession scene from ep.1.3 "The Mark of Nimueh"... The Memory of Trees - post-canon take on the idea of Merlin trapped in the tree from Tennyson's "Merlin and Vivian" and how that might have ended... To Carry the Fire - Camlann with a Merlin-takes-the-injury-for-Arthur twist... and 3's Company, a trio of unrelated stories about ghosts and beasts and evil-black-mist-of-destiny...

Also, a couple of headings for short-story collections: Revelations, which includes in-canon reveal stories; and Something Completely Different, which is everything else...

Also, for those of you who are interested, original fiction on fictionpress.com, under fiction:fantasy. "The Mageman", and "The Tune-Tinker". Same nom de plume, same image... reviews always welcome. :D

I came across BBC's Merlin by accident - channel surfing while bored, stumbling across old episodes running in an all-day marathon in preparation for a new season. I think it was the somewhere in the middle of episode 1... I was enchanted (pun intended) by the idea of a young, clumsy, naive Merlin, and an arrogant princeling who can't stand each other. Then there was the servant named Gwen... and a princess named Morgana... I ended up watching the rest of that season, all day long.

Unfortunately, my life during those years was sporadic at best due to the military. Last summer I bought all five seasons and watched them straight through. I'd been under the impression that the series would concern itself with the "before they were famous" concept I had fallen in love with, and I was surprised at how far season 4 went, bringing Arthur to the kingship, and the knights of the round table together in Camelot. I confess to reading reviews before I started season 5, so my experience with the final season of Merlin was abnormal, in that I knew the ending before watching it, and watching it one episode each night for two weeks, rather than once a week for three months or so.

Therefore, my impression of that season, by itself and in relation to the rest of the series, may be slightly skewed. I was disappointed, my friends. Not with the acting - never that! - nor with the writing, which mostly was beautiful (or else Colin and Bradley just made it beautiful...) but with the choices made by the producers. These are my contentions:

1) The series spends 3 seasons under Uther's kingship. I have no argument with this, as it allows the focus on "before they were famous", which I love. However, this choice begs the series to bring Arthur and Merlin and the rest to the point where the legends begin. Arthur as the young new king, Merlin as his sorcerer, ready to begin a lifelong reign of peace and prosperity and magic.

2) Seasons 1 and 2 deal heavily in magical creatures. This added to the 'fairy tale' quality that I loved. However, the invasion of the Saxons is strictly historical, and anchoring the series with a modern-day Merlin expects the audience to believe the events portrayed as actual, rather than fictitious.

3) The love triangle of Arthur-Gwen-Lancelot. Making Gwen a servant girl with no chance at marrying a prince, no matter how they may feel explains her willingness to fall for a common-born knight, who is much more in her league. Taking Lancelot away from Camelot for a few years allows Gwen to fall in love with Arthur while explaining how her feelings for Lancelot would remain, as well. Making the "betrayal" a result of Lancelot's shade acting at Morgana's orders and Gwen herself being under enchantment, is a very gentle and kind way of treating that part of the legend. Merlin forced into sparing young Mordred's life, or being reluctant to kill Morgana through seasons 4 and 5 is in keeping with these ideals as well. Which leaves one unprepared for (and a little betrayed by, honestly) the harsh absolutism of Arthur's prophesied end. And don't even get me started on the use of prophecy in literature and film...

4)The series ends with the death of Arthur. This also, I have no argument with intrinsically, as of course it is semi-historical and Arthur did (eventually) die. However, if this was the intention all along, I contend that the 3 seasons of King Uther (as opposed to only 2 for Arthur) take volumes away from the claim that Arthur was the greatest king in British history, and the extreme youth of the characters negate the ideas of Merlin's power and success and a golden Arthurian age. If the end of the legend was the goal of the series, it would have been better to portray middle-aged characters who'd been vital to Camelot for decades. It would also have been better to leave off the explicit prophesies that Merlin is unable to circumvent (though not for lack of trying), and the intro line of every episode placing all responsibility and blame directly on the protagonist. All that considered, it cannot be argued very well that Merlin succeeded. And how do you do that to the star of the show?

All right, now, enough of the soap box. I had thought that as the months passed, I would 'get over' the series end. Alas... I never had any inclination to dabble in fanfiction for any other series - LOTR, Harry Potter, whatever... But, due to the unsatisfactory ending of a series I have loved like no other, here I am, seeking solace in fandom. I have read MANY good stories here, and am not planning to stop writing, myself!!

Well. I know I haven't said anything exactly "personal" here, but if you're still reading... congratulations. And thanks. I feel a little better.

wryter

(PS. IDOM. Goes for all my stories. Obviously.)