PAPERLEGENDS, v. THALIA.0, COMING AT YOU LIVE FROM OLYMPIA

Always the Last Place You Look
Or: Merliniana Jones and the Homogay Crusade
story by thalia
art by biliousgreen

Summary:

Sometimes, destiny is all about bad timing.

When Merlin woke up this morning, he expected to go on about his life as a 20-something curse-blocked (don't ask) barista with a cat named Eomer (don't judge) and a tendency to get distracted by his own imagination. He certainly didn't expect to end the day engaged to the woman of his dreams.

Probably because he's never spoken to her. She also happens to be unconscious.

But she's suddenly his and Merlin finds himself stumbling over exes, ethics, and the fact that she comes as part of a package deal, along with an overbearing father, a group of friends-in-law that should have their own sitcom… and a brother named Arthur, who takes all of Merlin's assumptions about his life and turns them onto their heads.

Sometimes, destiny is also about misdirection.

(AKA: While You Were Sleeping, Merlin-style.)

story with art integrated
story with art on AO3 | art masterpost | art tumblr post link

Fandom: Merlin
Genre: Semi-magical modern AU. Rom-com. Movie fusion. Coming out story. Pile of puppies and rainbows.
Pairings: Arthur/Merlin ♥ . There's also Merlin/Morgana (of a fashion), Leon/Elena, Gwen/Lance, past Arthur/Gwen, past Arthur/Gwaine, past Morgana/Morgause, Gwaine/Morgana.
Characters: Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, Gwaine, Freya, Leon, Elena, Gwen, Elyan, Lance, Uther, Morgause, a couple OCs. And a cat.
Length: ~39K
Rating: NC-17, yar.
Warnings: Mild violence, hospital talk, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, coming-out angst/internalised homophobia.

Sources/Inspirations/Etc: While You Were Sleeping obvs, In & Out, The Book of Daniel, The Dark Crystal, Ani Difranco, The Labyrinth, Snatch, The Princess Bride, Mel Brooks, Amahl & the Night Visitors, 'Least Complicated' by the Indigo Girls, and, as always, Aaron Sorkin.

Thank yous: Le jazzy_peaches. I can't even describe how great she is at being supportive. Probably because she teaches kindergarten and I tend to whine like a five year old. tourdefierce, whose encouragement re: coming out made this story what it is. The rest of my absurdly amazing beta/Brit/pre-reading team, kim47, hardticket, & queasy_mouse; their help was immeasurable. The folks in #paperlegends. The superhero mod of paperlegends, the_muppet. ideaspace & janice_lester for the research assistance. Any remaining mistakes are my own poor life choices. And really, it takes a village to write a big bang, so thank you all. ♥

summerpornathon week 5!

This week was not much, lol, considering all the things going on.

Bonus Challenge was about DRINKING and of course I had to get kind of melancholy:

It's tradition. One of those traditions that started three years ago, maybe, but you really can't remember, because you're all thirty-something and those days of starting seem inexcusably long ago, even when they were just last week. And you're never really sure who started it, because they all could've, at moments in their lives, moments you were mostly there for and can see on each other's faces. And you never know who's going to start it because you can look around at all of them, all the people you call family, standing on a porch or around a kitchen counter, fags in hand on a bad day, eyes narrowed by drink and smoke and tiredness, arms slung over shoulders and around waists: huge Perce next to tiny Gwen, Gwaine's slightly sweaty hair and Arthur's drink-slack jaw, Leon's benevolent smiles and Elyan's protective eye, and you see them all swaying to the inescapable one-two-three, and you find you are, too. And then you will raise your glass with them, and bellow it out: 'THEY'RE SHARING A DRINK THEY CALL LONELINESS / BUT IT'S BETTER THAN DRINKING ALONE.'

Because it is.

'Piano Man' by Billy Joel

The actual challenge was a toughie. It was canon-era, with one 'tweak' allowed. I... am a hardnose bitch about canon, so I wrote Arthur/Gwen, which has been an OTP of mine since I was ten. It fulfilled a need I've had for a while. And I know at least one person voted for it, and I am content with that.

In Memoriam
In which Queen Gwen dreams of her late husband.
R for sexual situations and generally being depressing.
530 words