An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
Merlin has a poetry blog and Arthur believes that it is an illegitimate form of publishing but begins to follow Merlin's obsessively.
Comments:
Cute! I love whenever Arthur can’t help being obsessed with Merlin / admires him helplessly, it’s one of my favorite tropes in merthur modern AUs. The Rupi Kaur style poetry added an authenticity to this, I can’t explain it haha. I have to say the involvement of the ~writing egotistical~ dirty talk while they got down made me cringe and giggle at the same time, but the rest of it was sweet.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
Merlin knew Arthur's trust wouldn't be unlimited, but he wished it hadn't run out now.
Comments:
warning for non-con!
Ughhh I am literally disgusted with Agravaine. (I haven’t watched the late seasons of Merlin in a while so I don’t remember the ~details~ of Agravaine’s character but I remember hating him/being repulsed by him, and this fic doesn’t help). I liked how Arthur reacted when Merlin asked to leave (I also appreciated seeing Merlin draw a line in the sand that I never see him draw-- usually in fics like this he bears his abuse to stay close to Arthur, which don’t get me wrong is in character, but seeing him stand up for himself and choose his own well-being and refusing to accept this was fantastic to read).
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
by @ohtemporas
Summary (by me):
Sansa misses Jon, and although the worst is behind them she is missing something. Missing him.
Comments:
Excuse me but I have to scream!!!!!!!!!
In all honesty there’s nothing shocking or groundbreaking about this little smutfic. the smut itself is pretty vanilla. except. I haven’t been able to read ANY post-canon fics yet, no matter how good it seems, because it hurts too much, because I can’t accept the ending of the show in order to read a fic following those events. AND YET. as soon as I started reading this fic, I felt like I could trust it. I felt like it wouldn’t hurt me. There was just something about the straightforward but well-written manner of the first few lines, the images the author chose to evoke, that made me decide to trust it, to keep reading.
I’m so glad I did.
It was surprisingly emotional, and I think it worked that the sex portion wasn’t too wild or descriptive. The raw, simply explained emotions took center stage here.
Here’s A Line: I legit got up and paced a bit after this one:
It takes a moment before she realizes Jon is saying something, lips moving underneath hers. It is a longer moment before she realizes he is saying "Please," voice low and rough, covering her mouth in the words, "Please, please, Sansa, please."
It’s weird to react this strongly to such a short smut one shot??? Idk? Maybe I’ve been subconsciously looking for this exact fic so it sort of hit the spot? This is going to sound arrogant but it reminds me of my own writing style. Like I have literally written lines SO SIMILAR to the one I copied above (it takes a moment to realize someone is saying something in the middle of a carnal act, and it’s an emotional punch). Maybe that’s the connection I feel. Idk. JUST GO READ IT and leave the author some love.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
by @ladyalice101
Summary:
Jon had hoped that he was stronger than this, but – when he stumbles into the Throne Room of the Red Keep, sleep deprived and sick to his stomach with guilt and worry and fear, he catches sight of Sansa gagged and bound by Cersei’s side, her red hair sheared to her jaw and a bruise blooming across her cheek, and he immediately falls to his knees.
Comments:
This wonderful fic definitely fed some of my darker jonsa niche desires. And I love it for that!
some excellent lines:
“eyes downcast in that way that he has learnt so well since becoming acquainted with Daenerys”
“if he’d come to Cersei with the determination of fire and blood rather than the melancholy of his true House” "the melencholy of his true house" slays me
“Go on, then,” Sansa encourages him, kissing the arc of his cheekbone, “get your sword. Kill the guards.” was so sexy?? jon is all yes my lady i kill for you my lady!! order me again!
And Sansa fucking him on the Iron Throne, her composure and control- and- But Jon doesn't mind. this is a battle he is happy to lose." GLORIOUS.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
by @penaltykeks
Summary:
"Slow down," Merlin says, tearing his gaze from the passing scenery and allowing himself to stare at his companion. His Arthur, hale and whole and actually here again after such a terrible absence.
Comments:
"Miserable cheat!" Merlin yells. He doesn’t really care about winning, but the instinct not to lose sight of Arthur has only grown more powerful over the centuries. He tears off after him as soon as he's sorted the zip.
OKAY YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO GO OFF LIKE THAT. Just CASUALLY tear my heart out, why don’t you.
Or: Merlin and Arthur go camping and are unbearably cute.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary (by me):
When Sansa leaves the pain behind, there’s only one place for her to go: Jon Snow’s apartment. There she heals. And what’s his becomes hers, then theirs.
Comments:
Yeah So Maybe I Enjoy Crying....
This hurt though. I don’t like seeing Sansa in such pain... any Sansa post-abuse fics hit me hard because they remind me of my own experiences but at the same time it’s part of why I connect so much to Sansa and her strength as a survivor.
The writing is stellar, real. The passages gloss over time and the details the author chooses to perfect on are the perfect ones to communicate everything that’s happening, the emotions Sansa and Jon are feeling. Her pain and his helplessness. Then her healing. And their closeness.
“You were occasionally awful.” (Part of him secretly wishes that she still was. He would rather have her be haughty and awful and cruel than so beaten and broken.) I LOVE THIS SENTIMENT. I die for Jon wishing Sansa was still as she was when she was a child because it means she wouldn’t have suffered. I think it’s perfect characterization and heartwrenching.
more below the cut!
Then she starts reading. His apartment is full of books and she devours them. He finds them, finished and discarded in the bed, the laundry basket, on the bathroom vanity, the coffee table, the kitchen counter.... ugh this made me emotional, what can I say.... that’s what I did too. After I left my situation I devoured books. My life, my healing was books and my cat. Anyway, I really connected to this line.
I didn’t loooove the Catelyn choices, I prefer to avoid fics where she treated Jon badly especially since it doesn’t really apply well in modern AU, but it’s such a tiny, background part of the fic that it doesn’t matter. Just wanted to mention for those sensitive to Catelyn-bashing (though I wouldn’t call this bashing at all) like me.
Some of the passages were just gorgeous, simple but so emotional, the perfect cocktail for me. Like: He doesn’t have champagne flutes, but she laughs, a real laugh, and tells him that bubbles are bubbles as she fills a pint glass, and he would give anything to hear her laugh again. He watches her sip the champagne and for the first time she looks like the girl he knew, the Sansa he remembers from what feels like long ago.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary:
LemonDrops: Do you think we've met yet?
WhiteWolf: I don't think we're that lucky to have already met out of 8,000 people that go here.
LemonDrops: You're so pessimistic.
WhiteWolf: Maybe you're just too optimistic.
x. also known as the modern au with a cinderella story twist that no one asked for.
Comments:
So adorable. Sansa and Jon start a new phase in their lives at the same university not knowing that the other is the online persona that’s been helping them through the transition...
