one of these is NOT AU! *gasp*

I'm a little swamped at work, but I wanted to do rec a few things I've read recently.

yanethyrael's Only in the Storms, written for i_reversebang and fae_boleyn's art. I had the pleasure of betaing for the lovely yanethyrael and totally got caught up in the off-the-grid lives of Ariadne, Arthur and Eames. It's mostly gen, though there are hints of interest. Most significantly, I'm not really a fan of Ariadne in canon or fanon, but this Ariadne is pretty darn cool -- I actually like her. All three of them are interesting characters and my only complaint is that there isn't more! It feels like the start of a story, and I'm shamelessly demanding some sequel ficlets! Go forth and read, and don't forget to comment!

ION, I'm relatively new to the Merlin fandom so for the last month I've been feverishly reading ALL THE FIC. (There is no end in sight, just yet.) There have been SO MANY great, epic fic and I haven't been keeping track of them as well as I should be, but since I've got a moment just now, I'm reccing a few (all Arthur/Merlin):

1. ardent's Break Like Time: The Fifth Column. JESUS FUCK. This is an epically and amazingly plotted canon-era AU which re-appropriates the events of the show and turns it all on its side while keeping the main themes and relationship dynamics intact. This reads like an epic fantasy, rife with secrets, betrayal, split loyalties, hidden plots, and well-timed revelations -- I don't even think the author would have to change names in order to get this published because it's just another take on the Arthurian legends (though clearly taking inspiration from the BBC show). 30k words AND YET IT IS ONLY THE FIRST ARC! I'm desperately hoping the author continues because reading this was satisfying in ways so much of the canon-era fic out there are not.
   
   
2. seperis's Privileges of Rank (but really basically ALL of her Merlin fanfic) because her Arthur is my headcanon!Arthur. All the interaction he has with other characters is SO in character with the canon, and yet we get to see how he tries to hide his compassion and dedication to justice, and god, how much he cares. And the dialogue! Dialogue can be SO difficult to write -- it's absolutely the bane of my own attempts -- but she nails it. So basically, go read everything she's written. PoR in particular, though, has a touch of dark to it -- a nod to the power dynamics in the show; in a completely self-indulgent way, I wish there had been more, but what was included REALLY worked for the story itself.
   
   
3. riventhorn's Knights of the Air, a ridiculously well-written, well-researched story about Arthur and Merlin as RAF pilots during World War II. The atmosphere of this was SO well done, I felt like I was watching a WWII movie. This was heartbreakingly lovely.
   
   ETA:
   
4. Just read everything by syllic.

PLEASE, don't hesitate to rec some more Merlin fics to me -- I've been on a spree and I still can't get enough. I feel vaguely guilty as there are some Inception fic (WIPs and others) that I haven't kept up with, but I know I'll get back to them soon. Oddly enough I've gone back to listening to my Inception-related playlist full of french music from the 60s and random emo-rock (yeah, don't ask).