Come Alive
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Come Alive |
| Author(s): | kianspo |
| Date(s): | 14 September 2013 - 07 October 2013 |
| Length: | 60,302 words |
| Genre: | slash fanfiction, Modern AU |
| Fandom: | Merlin |
| External Links: | Come Alive (AO3) Come Alive Art (AO3)  One of five illustrations by argen7. Merlin doing magic followed by cop!Arthur. "It feels as though his eyes are pierced by red-hot needles, shooting straight into his brain, and Merlin shouts in an inhuman, ultra clear voice, bypassing every octave known to humanity, and strikes." |
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Come Alive is Merlin/Arthur Modern AU with magic by kianspo. It was written for Paperlegends 2013.
Summary: Arthur Pendragon, the youngest Detective Inspector in Camelot, whose job is rumoured to be cursed, stumbles over a series of crimes no one can explain. Merlin Emrys, a constantly broke student working at a shady nightclub to pay the bills, comes in as a sketch artist - one with an unusual gift. The shadow of magic, supposedly eradicated centuries ago, makes things so much more dangerous for everyone. It’s hardly a good time to fall in love.
Originally, only the first part was posted and a note said "Don't kill me, give me a couple more hours to get Chapter 2 up...", but real life took over and it took almost a month which let to a few nasty comments and speculations whether it might have something to do with the political situation in Russia (which the author had posted about before on Tumblr).
argen7 created five beautiful illustrations. The drawings were all posted at the same time as the first part of the story.
The story was listed as a Merlin Hot Rec a few days after part 2 was published.[1]
Recs and Reviews
Oh god, this was absolutely gorgeous. [...] The entire cast is full of brilliantly written characters, real and genuine, and despite the age difference between Merlin and Arthur—it works. I also like how aggressive Arthur is, but he’s not overly so, and though he’s a bit of a jerk in the beginning, he does come around. Merlin doesn’t take his shit (when does he ever?) but eventually he swallows his pride and goes along with him, and I love the hidden secret of the magic he doesn’t know he has, plus he’s a genius when it comes to finding criminals. All in all, this is beautifully crafted with a true mystery feeling, and it definitely didn’t disappoint me or my expectations. Give it a go![2]
Why I loved it: Arthur's characterization was so wonderful. I loved his reactions to things and how truly screwed up he was. I also loved Merlin's stubbornness and his brilliance with things artistic. The plotting was great and flowed well. Her language was beautiful, everything made sense and I just enjoyed it thoroughly.[3]
Lovely!! What an idea to have Killgarrah be magical software programme, and for the villain to be Cornelius Sigan. Cool idea for a story to have people being robbed of their magic. As I was reading the moment when Merlin uses Killgarrah at the police station, I wanted it to show Merlin, and I love how you instantly made it happen, making Merlin the brightest beacon on the screen. Loved no-nonsense!Morgana suggesting Merlin move in with Arthur, that was such a perfect moment, I chuckled out loud.[4]
In the city of Camelot, where there’s barely even latent magic, people of magic keep disappearing/found dead. Arthur’s on the case and then there’s Merlin, the poor as dirt uni student who’s a bit magic, even if he doesn’t know it. The drama and action in this fic is thrilling to read. Arthur’s an absolute idiot, but he’s kind of endearing because you’re yelling at him constantly (stop sticking your foot in your mouth, clotpole!) Make sure to read the tags for warnings.[5]
i cannot articulate nor show with enough *chefs kisses* exactly how *chefs kiss* this is ok. its lovely and (maybe?) a classic. plot and beautiful writing and magic and the WHOLE gang… what more could i want? explicit nsfw scene[6]
This has a nice twisting plot that sucks you right in. Merlin is not that taken by Arthur at first, since he has a lot of preconceptions about the police – with good reason. But Arthur is not brought down that easily.[7]
I quite enjoyed this modernly-magical!AU. The characterisation of Merlin was a tad off (I felt), but it wasn’t too noticeable, and I love detective AUs in general, so yeah.[8]
References
- ^ merlinhotrecs. Hot Rec: Come Alive by kianspo, 13 October 2013. (Accessed 22 October 2013)
- ^ albionalbums. Come Alive // kianspo, October 2013. (Accessed 22 October 2013)
- ^ archaeologist-d. Merlin fic recs, 12 October 2013. (Accessed 22 October 2013)
- ^ Merlocked18. AO3 Comment, 08 Octoeber 2013. (Accessed 22 October 2013)
- ^ "Post at merthur rec blog". Archived from the original on 2023-03-06.
- ^ "so heres a rec list of some of my favourite merthur fics:)". Archived from the original on 2023-03-06.
- ^ "Fanfic recommendations". Archived from the original on 2023-03-06.
- ^ "January 24th, 2014 - Merthur". Archived from the original on 2023-03-10.