Guys it’s becoming a Christmas tradition at this point to listen to The Student Prince by FayJay podfic and giggle like a mad woman when the BBC Interview scene comes on.
I was gonna reread Student Prince but??? I literally physically and emotionally couldn't? I remembered Kay was an asshole there and my fingers went "ABORT. ABORT. NOT KAY. NOT BRAN'S DAD. NOT WILL'S PARTNER. NOPE. ABORT."
“Glad to hear u r OK. Sorry cannot come back this term. Merry Xmas.” That’s the opening of this chapter. It’s a text from Arthur to Merlin and Merlin starts freaking out that Arthur wants nothing to do with him after that whole murder situation. “Of course, Merlin was pretty damned sure that if he'd just seen somebody he was sleeping with turn around and kill somebody they both knew – kill them really quite horribly, and whilst they were trying to run away, at that – well, he'd probably have been a bit horrified himself.” At least Merlin is somewhat self-aware.
Merlin has a chat with Morgause who tells him that he’ll end up killing more people if he takes the job to protect Arthur. Merlin acts like this is brand new information.
Later, Lance and Merlin are getting ice cream and Merlin asks Lance if he would stop loving Gwen if she robbed a bank. Hopefully not. How else is he supposed to get his share of the loot? Anyways, Lance of course says he wouldn’t and brings up Arthur because Merlin is not subtle. Lance tells Merlin to not assume things on Arthur’s behalf. That’s pretty good advice.
Merlin has an aneurism over sending an “I miss you” text to Arthur. Arthur responds with, “Me 2. Hope to see u in the New Year.” Yikes. That’s not really something you text your boyfriend. It would be more like, “See you in the New Year!”
Chapter 32
Merlin and Gwen are taking the train home and Gwen is worried about seeing her mother’s side of the family.
Merlin worries about Arthur, “He was wondering where Arthur was right now, and what he was doing. It was five days since he'd seen his face.” Wait, I’m sorry. It’s only been FIVE DAYS? Calm the fuck down, Merlin, damn. I thought it had been like two weeks or something.
Gwen invites Merlin to go see fireworks with her, Lance and a few other people. Merlin asks if he can bring Will.
Merlin gets home to his mother, “And then he was ringing the doorbell, and he could make out his mother's sihouette through the frosted glass, and a moment later he was holding her tight, startled again that she was so much smaller than she should be and losing himself in the familiar smell of her hair and the warm press of her arms.” Why the hell is he ringing to doorbell to his own home? That’s really weird.
“There was so much he wanted to tell her – about his magic, and about Arthur, and about Morgana and Gaius and Gwen and everything that had happened to him since she waved him off at the train all those months ago. But he couldn't find the words, and he had a lowering suspicion that if he did try to explain himself he'd end up in tears.” Has… Merlin not spoken to his mother since September? What?
A couple of days before Christmas, Morgana breaks her radio silence and asks Merlin, “’Oh my God, Merlin, did you know?’ ‘...sorry?’ ‘Did you know what he was going to do?’ she hissed.” “’You didn't know? Bloody hell fire, I never thought – Uther's going absolutely ballistic. I don't think they're going to show the whole thing on the Beeb after all – at least he's trying to stop them from airing it, but they're quoting the Royal Charter back at him, and it's all on tape, and they've got an army of lawyers, and he can't actually have Mark Thompson or Martin Bashir beheaded, however much he might want...’ her voice was stifled suddenly, and Merlin strained to pick up what was happening. ‘Shit – sorry, got to go. Look, if they air it – you'll want to watch it.’” How fucking useless. I fucking hate it when people start a conversation to make a massive big deal about something and then don’t answer questions or explain what the fuck is going on. It’s a huge pet peeve for me.
Merlin texts Arthur asking what the fuck is going on and his response to Merlin is just as useless as Morgana’s phone call, “Everything alrightish. Do not think pater likes his Xmas present much. Please watch Bashir interview tomorrow if it airs? Am v. sorry about all of this. <3”
Then the chapter ends on that cliffhanger. It would be annoying if it wasn’t painfully obvious that Arthur outed himself in the interview.
Chapter 33
Merlin and his mother are watching the interview Arthur gave and she gets all up in Merlin’s business trying to get him to tell her what the big reveal is. Calm down.
“’How are you finding life as a student?’ Bashir asked, his voice warm and attentive. Arthur smiled. ‘Obviously I have quite a heavy workload, with essays and presentations and things – International Relations is fascinating, but it's not exactly a walk in the park.’ He laughed. ‘And my other subjects are just as bad! I'm afraid I've spent a lot of late nights in the library – that's a bit sad, isn't it?’” What? That’s news to me. When has Arthur ever gone to the library? Does he even know where it is? Arthur is a liar.
Arthur tells the interviewer all about Raisin Sunday and Half of Monday. “’That sounds like fun!’ said Merlin's mother, beaming over at him. ‘Did you do that, cariad?’” I am convinced that Merlin literally never called his mother once in four months. How would she not know any of this? Merlin is a horrible son.
“’Well – more or less like a normal student. There are always bodyguards, and so forth, but I do my own laundry and burn my own toast, like anyone else.’….” Again, when? Arthur gets his toast from the cafeteria. Stop making up weird lies, Arthur.
The interviewer awkwardly asks Arthur about a girlfriend. They have a really long winded conversation where they really beat a dead horse instead of actually getting to the point and Arthur says at least four times, “I don’t think I’ll ever get married,” and the interviewer kind of drops the ball. It’s an annoying conversation because all Arthur had to do was say, “I’ll probably never get married because I’m gay,” instead of beating around the bush for 84 years.
“’I'm really not expecting to meet the girl of my dreams over a jar of coffee, because I'm gay, Martin,’ Arthur said, each word clear and deliberate.” Fucking finally. He could have just said that the second the dude brought up the parents meeting over coffee story instead of going on and on and on and on.
Arthur gives a big long speech about how he can’t hide his sexuality with all the bullies and hate crimes and such and I’m just kind of “too little too late” because he never once did anything about Kay, who he even praised in the interview. So it’s fallen on deaf ears for me.
The interviewer asks Arthur if he has a boyfriend and Arthur says that he hopes so. I would actually be furious with Arthur if I was Merlin, to be honest. Arthur did this entire thing and outed their relationship to the entire world without so much as a heads up to Merlin. He’s an ass. Merlin of course doesn’t see it that way and flips his shit. "Merlin?" said Hunith, her voice going suddenly shrill. “Merlin? tell me you didn't seduce the Prince of Wales? You're not having an affair with Prince Arthur, are you? You're not, are you? Merlin?” Merlin does not love his mother. He doesn’t tell her shit. She probably doesn’t even know what his major is.
Chapter 34
Gwen immediately calls Merlin and confronts him about being with Arthur. Merlin says it’s true then gets off the phone with her to call Arthur… who doesn’t answer.
Merlin then calls Morgana who answers the phone with a whisper. “’Oh, thank God – is this a good time?’ he asked, wondering where she was and who was listening.” I mean, I feel like her answering the phone with a whisper is a fairly good indication that it’s not a good time but what do I know? Morgana tells Merlin that Uther is pissed and that he has to rewrite the whole King’s Speech now to address Arthur’s coming out. Morgana says shit has really hit the fan and she’s worried that Arthur is going to be forced to step out of the line of succession which would make her the heir to the throne. Merlin tells Morgana to tell Arthur he loves him and then they hang up.
Gaius calls Merlin and asks him about that love spell from forever ago. Merlin tells Gaius that he was the one who kissed Arthur and broke the spell. Gaius is worried about Uther’s feelings about Merlin once he finds out that Merlin is the one whom Arthur came out for. Then Gaius is, as usual, a useless critical asshole, yelling at Merlin for shit that isn’t his fault. “’Really – do you stay up late at night trying to work out the most stressful thing you can throw at me?’ ‘No!’ Merlin said. And then he felt a wash of guilt, because Gaius was an old man. ‘No, sir. Sorry, sir.’ ‘When I asked you to try to keep out of trouble over Christmas, this really wasn't what I meant, you know.’ ‘But this isn't my fault!’ ‘And yet here you are in the middle of it again, Merlin.’” Then he makes it even worse by asking Merlin if he has any siblings. Gaius is the worst.
Christmas Morning, Merlin and Hunith are watching the news and Kay gets the most infuriating redemption arc ever. He assaults a journalist who is trying to offer him money for information on Arthur. “I'll stick your bloody camera where the sun don't shine, you scum! Offering me bloody money for dirt on Arthur! You're not worth the mud under his shoes, you leeches, even if he is a bloody poof! He's our bloody poof!”
Like… am I supposed to forget all the shit he’s pulled? Because I don’t. Merlin thinks about how he is rooting for Kay and he and his mother decided it’s great how loyal he is to Arthur. What. The. Fuck. Nope. Fuck right off with that.
Chapter 35
Uther gives his King’s Speech and it’s all very boring and blah blah blah. Here’s the only part we care about, “Let me make this absolutely clear: Arthur is, and will remain, the heir to the throne. Whether the Church of England finds the prospect of him eventually becoming Head of the Church of England to be tenable or not is of course a matter for the Archbishop of Canterbury and his colleagues to discuss, and it is possible that when he succeeds me as king he will not succeed me as Head of the Church.’ Uther's voice dropped lower, and his expression grew sterner. ‘But succeed me he most certainly will.’” Good job, Uther.
The King’s Speech ends and Merlin’s mother is super annoying, “’Ooh, no,’ said Hunith, shaking her head in disapproval. ‘I don't know about importing random Germans to be king! No, no, you'll have to sort something out with a surrogate mother, or adopt a Romanian orphan or something.’”
This isn’t the first time she’s said anything like this either. Merlin and Arthur have been together for like two months and they are 18. Stop it. Merlin agrees with me.
Morgana and Merlin text each other and it’s weird because they get super specific when in the previous chapter she says she shouldn’t talk to him on the phone because paparazzi have spies on the phones. Whatever. Morgana says Arthur left Merlin a message, “I quote: ‘Second star to the right, and straight on till morning. Another stupid adventure. Come and be king of the world?’ Does that make any sense to you?”
Merlin creates a magic door on his bedroom and has a chat with the dragon. They banter. Merlin just tells him he wants the dragon to take him somewhere in a few days. Well that was stupid. Now Merlin is stuck with the dragon. Why didn’t he just create the door the day he wanted to go somewhere?
Merlin and Arthur meet at that building they snuck into and spent the night at that one time. They have a big conversation and make out and it’s nice but it’s right in front of Arthur’s bodyguard so it’s super awkward. Then Arthur invites Merlin to go with him to meet Uther. The end.
So that’s all folks. The famed Student Prince fic! Now I know sometimes in reviews I come off sounding a little hateful but I do actually like this fic for the most part. The parts I hate just kind of overshadow the parts I like. I dislike Gwen and Lance in this fic because their will they won’t they set up is so infuriating but not in a well written angsty way. It’s ridiculous and no real person acts the way they do in this fic. I also HATE Kay. There was absolutely no reason to have him written the way he was and then continuously beat us over the head with it in EVERY. SINGLE. SCENE. Then that redemption arc? Get the fuck out of here with that. I found Arthur to be genuinely unlikable. He’s an asshole to Merlin during the whole Raisin Weekend thing and he’s an asshole when it comes to his weird undying loyalty to Kay. Fucking. Stop. That’s about all want to say about the fic. I feel like anything would just repeating myself. I did like the general Arthur/Merlin angst, minus when Arthur is being an asshole towards Merlin. I also like Raisin Sunday and Half of Monday.
“Let us rejoice, therefore, while we are young.” I’ve loved Mario Lanza’s powerful tenor ever since I first heard it as a boy. Marvelous voice, ham though he undoubtedly was.
So I’ve been watching Merlin, as you may have noticed, and once it was clear I was in it to sob uncontrollably win it , @mrsmarymorstan suggested I read The Student Prince by FayJay. I looked on their AO3 profile and the tumblr URL they list is inactive now. So. If you know where they are hmu because I’d like to tell them I’m reading. I mean, I’m commenting on AO3 too, duh, but they haven’t updated in a long time so maybe they don’t use that email anymore? I DON”T KNOW. Anyway. Here is my reaction to chapters 1-3 of The Student Prince by FayJay
CH1
finally started The Student Prince bc life is dumb and i'm ignoring it
it is... very british
Gwen and Merlin’s instant friendship makes me smile. The first chapter reads a little, um, young? but in a very charming way where I imagine FayJay sitting on the train platform dreaming about their upcoming fresher year
They get Merlin’s jabbering down like pat though it’s so good, and the explanation for his clumsiness (reflex delay due to reining in the magic) is perfection
CH2
I mean naturally Arthur’s his roommate right like as if there were any other option
"Oh, bloody hell, he's a communist," muttered Gawain, looking entertained. yes good
wtf is a jaffa cake
Kinda like Gaius so far and the whole dragon door thing is a really clever way to incorporate whassname
CH3
what the hell is an "academic family"
what is "snakebite and black"? Whiskey and Guinness?
lance is a BUDDHIST what the shit
"raisin weekend" i am so like... I'm inferring that it's the weekend before classes start? maybe? but i'm also UTTERLY LOST HELP
"Students Union Bar" wow Scotland really is a whole other world. i mean like obviously it's different when your drinking age is whatever the fuck it is but like since it's 21 in USA most campuses are dry*
whenever they say "Stunt bottom" i just think about gay porn. was this intentional? I don’t care. it’s great.
