astolat's livejournal

Bless you! I had to come in to work today, which was supposed to be 40 min, but has turned into 6 hours so far. It's just file transferring, so I have been out of my mind with boredom.

But to get an excellet fic that sandwiches between two of my favorite Merlin fics ever? That just might make it worthwhile.

oh dude, I feel your pain. happy to provide distraction! :)

omg omg omg [flails]

I recced this on my journal, because I have been meaning to write you an epic LoC about Beltane, which is PERFECT and I read it even before I got into Merlin and therefore I loved it for the beautiful fairy-tale epic wonderfulness of it well before I realized how perfectly it suits the Merlin canon and mythos.

And now there's MORE! And it's perfect and Arthur-POV and there's enchantresses in the woods and Arthur losing his memory and it's all really just what a story should be.

[goes to reread 45748952034 more times]

aww, yay! *grins* I am so glad you are liking this wacky grab-bag of myths.

I was in love with That Shall Achieved The Sword already but learning that you will turn it into a part of the series makes me just want to worship you :)

hee, yay! yeah, I realized after I wrote Beltane that it was the backstory for That Shall Achieve & its sequels, and this sort of stitches in some of the missing threads. :D

Fantastic! Teh stag god was terrifying, as was Merlin's brief inhumanity. Arthur was love.

\o/ I love the myth of Herne :DDDD

OMG OMG. :D Sequel to Beltane! Prequel to That Shall Achieve The Sword! Series!

Also, having actually read the story - oh, it's wonderful. I love the details about this whole complex world of magic, and the stories that Arthur knows despite everything, and Merlin being so uncanny but also young and a bit clueless and adorable.

Also, Arthur + dragon = instant win! The idea that Arthur's already had dealings with it is inspired.

yay!!

And yes, see, I totally feel that young boy prince Arthur, knowing there is a dragon chained up underneath the castle? There is NO WAY he did not sneak down there to see it at least once! *grins*

I don't even want to look at how many things I have going at once right now. *covers face*

Me too, man. And they breed. I'm trying to work through them and I only end up with more -_-

*off to read*

No matter how long your stories are, they are never long enough. I always want more! This one was wonderful and a great sequel to Beltane. I loved the otherworldly atmosphere and that Merlin's and Arthur's feelings were almost there, right beneath the surface, before the chance of discovering them was swept away with the current of wild magic. Merlin chose Arthur! ♥ (I must add this to my rec list immediately. :)

I love the fairytale feel of Beltane, and how you wove it into your own Merlin mythos in this one. This was fantastic. I loved reading this, and I look forward to any/all Merlin fics you write. Count me a fan.

That was haunting. I love the mythology behind this.

I have been dipping into fan fiction for something like 18 years. Of all the writers I have come across, you are the one I admire most. The first story of yours I read was That Shall Achieve the Sword, and I was yours, unreservedly.

Beautiful writing, metaphors flowing easily, not laboured, not purple. Perfect characterisation. Humour. Great plots with moments of confrontation where the tension is enormous.

And I desperately love both your Arthur (young, irritably protective, at the same time brave and down-to-earth, a great king in the making) and your Merlin, who moves apparently effortlessly from klutzy to incredibly powerful, master of his destiny.

Accept my moved thanks.

Bwahahaaa, yes, YES!! Um, I mean...

Okay, so, this fandom is clearly unhealthy for me. I don't even want to look at how many things I have going at once right now. *covers face*

I have totally not visited your LJ constantly during the past week to see if your predictability had given us more fic. I also totally haven't started writing a mean Arthur!mpreg ficlet (to remedy a shocking lack thereof) which as a non-native speaker of English is taking me hours that need to be spend with work OMG.

So it's not just you. Basically, it appears as though Merlin is the new Supernatural.

*wanders off to read your fic*

Oh yay! I love how it turned out! (Although someday I will send you a gift of pitch.)

I particularly like the way you handled Arthur forgetting. After the story ends, I bet Gaius ends up pulling a splinter from the back of Arthur's shoulder, and Arthur is completely clueless about how it got there...

I love the folktale/fairytale feel to this mixing with the more everyday "He doesn't have enough sense to fill a thimble." I'm also loving how you managed to *explain* so much, hint at greater arcs, old magic and the dragon, Merlin's great magical abilities, Arthur's eternal sleep, and maybe even the eventual loss of magic from the world.

Your Arthur voice is awesome. Hee! His thoughts about Gwen! Not wanting to strain the horse, can't give Merlin an inch! And I love how he's chivalrous towards old women (a very important trait for a fairy tale prince) and willing to sacrifice so much for Merlin, but also not knowing about Merlin's coming-of-age. And the scene on the horse... aw. It may be pre-slash, but there's so much love and affection there already, it's pretty heart-warming. awesome awesome.

I also read Beltane... love adding some extra coolness to Hunith, and more otherworldliness to Merlin.

I can't even tell you how thrilled I am that this is turning into a series. Yay! And this just gave me chills:

A priestess of the Isle gave her power, your father his honor, your mother her life, and the blood of a thousand sorcerers has been spilt in further repayment of the debt into which they entered, all that you might live."

So awesome! And I love how this parallels That Shall Achieve The Sword, with Merlin striking out from his father's legacy, and how Arthur will do the same, and how they do it for each OTHER.

This was astounding. While I was reading it, I had this strangely intense reaction to every word you'd written, and as the story progressed I could feel myself growing stressed out and even more attuned to the tenor of the story and Arthur's emotions. By the end, I was exhausted. Once I was finished, I said aloud, "That was good," and then my brain corrected me and said, "No, that wasn't good, that was an experience. I think we need to go outside now."

So, really, thank you for that.

Loved all of this and yay for them both possibly escaping the web at the end.

That was fantastic. You mashed my Celtic mythology buttons and my Merlin/Arthur buttons all at once. Whee! And I love the language and atmosphere here, the eeriness of the wild hunt, gorgeous.

I really love your Arthur. The little hints of slash are awesome, the best kind of subtext that could be subtext or foreshadowing. And I love Wild Hunt stories, so it's great to see how it can be incorporated into Merlin. Thank you for the fic!

Oh, wow. This is why I love mythology. So magical/otherworldly yet so humane. Your style made it seem like it was an actual folktale, with the old woman who turns out to be a witch, the magical presents, and, of course, my favourite, the Wild Hunt. It seemed authentic, genuine, like, the essence of what makes Arthurian/Celtic mythology so fascinating.

You also managed to hit one of my weak spots: Merlin actually choosing Arthur, not because of destiny or some other BS, but for himself. And I <3 the final dialogue between the dragon and the old woman. "He is Pendragon's", yesss.:D

Oh. That was amazing - you have such a great grasp of folklore and how these things should piece together, and this absolutely took my breath away. Your Herne is terrifying, and your Arthur the perfect balance of his snarky practical self and someone wise enough to take the advice and aid of magical creatures.

I must say, after facing down Merlin's father together Arthur's must look almost easy!

I love love love the line about the way Merlin says his name. It's so incredibly, overpoweringly evocative.

I. Love. You.

More with every progressive story. I squealed out loud when I saw that you'd done a sequel to Beltane (which is now my canon back story for Merlin, and I don't care what anyone says) that also worked as a prequel to That Shall Achieve the Sword.

Then I read it. I think I scared my cat.

It's perfect. Herne's claim, and Merlin's hesitance, and Arthur's desperation, and the way Merlin says Arthur's name! Guh! I love the image of Arthur kicking the dragon, it makes me giggle. And the conversation between the Dragon and the Enchantress at the end is a killer.

*shivers* This is astounding. I can't wait to read more from you in this universe.

This was incredibly intense. I got shivers throughout reading the fic and I am still shaking now. Even though all was restored and all ends well for the time being, I have this incredible feeling of foreboding for what's yet to come. Incredible writing, absolutely beautiful to read and very haunting. I'm off to reread That Shall Achieve the Sword and then eagerly anticipating the next in the series. Phew! Brilliant work.

This is the first time I read these stories and wow, great, great stuff.

I'm so glad you're in Merlin fandom, Astolat.

OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, I DON'T EVEN KNOW BUT - DARK IS RISING REFERENCES? RIGHT? NO? OH MY GOD. *FLAILS* THIS WORKED. SO WELL. HERNE THE HUNTER! NARGLE. OH, IT ALL MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW. *______*