to the world that never let you be

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Fanfiction
Title: to the world that never let you be
Author(s): flypaw (aka Imperial Mint)
Date(s): 17 January 2011 - 27 May 2011 (kmm)
03 March 2011 - 27 May 2011 (repost on LJ)
Length: 54,316 words
Genre(s): slash
Fandom(s): Merlin
Relationship(s):
External Links: to the world that never let you be (LiveJournal)
to the world that never let you be (AO3)
to the world that never let you be (FF.Net)

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to the world that never let you be is a Merlin/Arthur story by flypaw. It was written for the kinkme_merlin prompt: "Arthur can ignore a lot of the strange things about Merlin, but when he sees Merlin with his shirt off one day he CAN'T ignore Merlin's scars."[1]

Summary: When Arthur notices the scars on Merlin, he sets off to find out why a servant of all people has such marks and discovers that Merlin might not be all that he seems.

Recs and Reviews

This is one of the best reveal fics that I have ever read. It's intricate, well written, and overwhelmingly emotional. Both Arthur and Merlin are fantastic in this; Arthur's thought process is bloody brilliant. Just read it, you won't be disappointed.[2]

I think this is the best revelation fic I've seen yet. I love how you didn't cut out on the explanations, took your time to have Arthur think his discovery over and not do anything rash, whether to obey Uther or protect Merlin. It gives his decision of protecting his friend (warlock-manservant-everything, really) much more weight and meaning. Besides, I really appreciate the feeling of hope we get from them in the end. The knowledge that things aren't right just yet, but they *will* get better."[3]

I like this writer for her way of thinking. She remembers things from the episodes and keep it in mind. Mainly here the scars Merlin should have. For her thoughtfulness I respect the author a great deal. The way she remembers how people react instinctively to things without meaning to is really something. And she goes through without skipping so we can follow the thoughts of Arthur while Merlin tells him [his secrets].[4]

I've read more magic reveal fic than I could possibly remember, and I feel like this one is the one I've been looking for all along. Most of the fic is Merlin telling Arthur what happened in the three first seasons of the show... And it's a long fic, so you can gues that it's not the "and he told him about the Questing Beast and this and that and Arthur made all sort of different faces". There's the actual dialogue. And more importantly, it's Arthur's POV and we see his reactions to it all, and their progression and everything. And this is positively delightful. It's also very interesting to re-live the show thru what Merlin tells Arthur. (I actually cried when he mentionned Balinor. But I did so in front of the episode too so I guess it just means the author has done a wonderful job.) And then they come back to Camelot, and Arthur tries to see what he can do, and there's long parts of Lancelot's POV which are amazing. This is not a fic where everything comes out fixed, but it's a fic with trust and hope and love (not only in the romantic way) and it's beautiful. The hints of slash are only an added cookie to the deliciousness of it all."[5]

References

  1. ^ Kink Me! #20, 16 January 2011. (Accessed 21 August 2011)
  2. ^ flatliner345. Merlin Recs ♠ Music Meme: Day Fifteen, 31 May 2011. (Accessed 21 August 2011)
  3. ^ TerresDeBrume. Comment, 29 May 2011. (Accessed 21 August 2011)
  4. ^ valum. Merlin rec.list or keep on collecting, 20 May 2011. (Accessed 21 August 2011)
  5. ^ tama_abi. The magic reveal we all dreamed of... Rec, 22 August 2011. (Accessed 27 August 2011)