I think I kind of I love you for writing this. I'm not sure I can articulate why in a way that does it justice, but ACK!, because it's a love story (duh). That is, a love story with a happy ending for those of us who don't really know how to make those work. For those of us who are better with written words and who are for some stupid reason inclined to confess all our worst faults before...right before... That was my favorite moment, among many. I almost always relate more with Merlin in fic but this Arthur...I had such sympathy. He expects himself to fuck it up and...well, thank fuck for Merlin because he apparently gets that. Mostly I love their connection - as physical as cerebral, but they have to dance there through words to have any chance of ever arriving. I know the feeling :)
Finally, I am so grateful Dickens had his champion because...HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE DICKENS?? Ahem. Sorry. But I'm totally with Arthur on this. Too long?! Dickens is definitely forced too young. I wouldn't have appreciated him any more in college than I did in High School. Maybe not even in my 20's. I loathed Dickens until I gave him one last try in my 30's and then HOLY SHIT. Bleak House is up there among my top favorite novels of all time. Little Dorrit maybe even in the top two. And David Copperfield? Not to mention A Tale of Two Cities. I mean, it's a brilliant, victorian polemic against the death penalty. In fact, before I found fic I don't think I'd read anything but Dickens for a year.
ok, maybe that's sort of pathetic. But there it is. Of course...now that I've found fic...well. Anyway, that was a tangent. I just can't help but feel you were taking Merlin's part in that particular argument and Arthur needs an ally.
I've been following you since that absolutely gorgeous alien invasion story you wrote and I love your ramblings. And yes, this all belongs on AO3 but I get intimidated when I have to leave a comment over there.
Mostly just thanks. Because your story made my day.
AHAHA okay so, here is where I show my own ignorance and confess that I haven't actually read Dickens. Never had to read him in school, and have no particular feelings about him either way. Instead, I just asked gollumgollum about what author Arthur should have ~feelings about, who a lot of other folks would hate. Dickens came up, as did the whole "he got paid by the word" thing, and I read up on critiques of him from both sides -- Christopher Hitchens' last column for Vanity Fair was about Dickens. Hitchens loved Dickens, but I think he admitted that the dude was prone to tangents, racism, and sentimentality. (In my defense, reading criticism of Dickens took a lot less time than reading Dickens' actual novels would have.)
I kind of fail at being an intellectual, but I'm probably a lot closer to Merlin's tastes than Arthur's. MURAKAMI. SLAVOJ ZIZEK. I'd say that I want to live in their brains, but I get the feeling I'd probably be killed and eaten by monsters that look like pop icons.
This was a pretty cathartic write. I am also one of those people that should come with a warning label for anyone interested in dating me. I share a lot of neuroses with Arthur in this story, though not all of them, thank fuck. I think I really like it when there's a level of "holy shit, how do we make this work?" feelings in any love story, since whenever I'm in a relationship, I spend at least 1/3 of the time trying to figure out WTF I'm doing.
TL:DR, thank you for leaving me a tangential comment that allowed a tangential reply, thank you for reading my fic, I'm really happy that it made your day. Hearing things like that always make me want to fistpump.
Well, we're even then, because I've never read Murakami or Zizek. Surrealist fiction scares me the same way horror movies do...if there were some way to read with my fingers over my eyes and with someone to hold my hand, I would. And Zizek! You say you're not an intellectual?! I've read some Lacanian philosophy (mostly to impress a girl) and some Derrida because I wanted to, but I'm much more susceptible to stuffy victorian novelists. Also, Dickens writes love stories with happy endings with witty political satire in the middle (and I do work on prison conditions...so)...maybe what I'm saying is that as I get older I realize I'm much simpler than I once fancied.
I remember that Hitchens' column...vaguely. I think I never got over myself enough to listen to him after certain...things.
And yeah, I'll never figure out how to make relationships work. I think that's why I'm drawn to Merlin fanfic specifically - they are not an easy pair to make work. The way I imagine them anyway.
Finally, I am so grateful Dickens had his champion because...HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE DICKENS?? Ahem. Sorry. But I'm totally with Arthur on this. Too long?! Dickens is definitely forced too young. I wouldn't have appreciated him any more in college than I did in High School. Maybe not even in my 20's. I loathed Dickens until I gave him one last try in my 30's and then HOLY SHIT. Bleak House is up there among my top favorite novels of all time. Little Dorrit maybe even in the top two. And David Copperfield? Not to mention A Tale of Two Cities. I mean, it's a brilliant, victorian polemic against the death penalty. In fact, before I found fic I don't think I'd read anything but Dickens for a year.
ok, maybe that's sort of pathetic. But there it is. Of course...now that I've found fic...well. Anyway, that was a tangent. I just can't help but feel you were taking Merlin's part in that particular argument and Arthur needs an ally.
I've been following you since that absolutely gorgeous alien invasion story you wrote and I love your ramblings. And yes, this all belongs on AO3 but I get intimidated when I have to leave a comment over there.
Mostly just thanks. Because your story made my day.
m.
Reply
I kind of fail at being an intellectual, but I'm probably a lot closer to Merlin's tastes than Arthur's. MURAKAMI. SLAVOJ ZIZEK. I'd say that I want to live in their brains, but I get the feeling I'd probably be killed and eaten by monsters that look like pop icons.
This was a pretty cathartic write. I am also one of those people that should come with a warning label for anyone interested in dating me. I share a lot of neuroses with Arthur in this story, though not all of them, thank fuck. I think I really like it when there's a level of "holy shit, how do we make this work?" feelings in any love story, since whenever I'm in a relationship, I spend at least 1/3 of the time trying to figure out WTF I'm doing.
TL:DR, thank you for leaving me a tangential comment that allowed a tangential reply, thank you for reading my fic, I'm really happy that it made your day. Hearing things like that always make me want to fistpump.
Reply
I remember that Hitchens' column...vaguely. I think I never got over myself enough to listen to him after certain...things.
And yeah, I'll never figure out how to make relationships work. I think that's why I'm drawn to Merlin fanfic specifically - they are not an easy pair to make work. The way I imagine them anyway.
Totally made my day :)
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