Fic: Freely Given (Merlin/Gwen)

[magog_83]

A couple of weeks ago I was stuck in a fic rut because I haven’t got time to get stuck into my WIPs, but I wanted to write something, so I posted and asked people for prompts. Rodneyscat was kind enough to leave me a prompt for Merlin/Gwen, which I’ve never tried to write before (as I’m usually a Merlin/Arthur girl all the way). Anyway, I gave it a go, and

Comments

[archaeologist_d]

Honestly, I just love your writing style. It's always filled with such warmth and charm that I want to read it with hot cocoa in front of a crackling fire.

Loved how flirtatious Gwen was and how Merlin didn't really know how to respond. Loved that Arthur was always looking out for him and making sure he was there, in Arthur's sphere of influence. Just so cute.

[rodneyscat]

It's always filled with such warmth and charm that I want to read it with hot cocoa in front of a crackling fire.

Yes that! Very much fics to read comfortably curled up on the couch, snug in a soft sweater :D

[magog_83]

Even though it's May, and getting reasonably warm here, the idea of a crackling fire and hot cocoa is just too tempting :) :) Thank you so much, this was so different to my usual M/A stuff that it felt like a real challenge to try and get into the Gwen and Merlin mindset. But I was really fond of them in series 1, they were so adorable together (I missed that in series 2, I must say), and once I started imagining that lovely sunny evening, it all started to make sense :D

Of course, I couldn't resist bringing Arthur into it even so, so I'm chuffed you liked that bit too! Thanks so much for your comment, as ever :)

[archaeologist_d]

You are welcome. You are one of my favorite authors and I always look for anything you post in Merlin fandom. :D

Write more!

[magog_83]

Somehow knowing Morgana vs clueless Arthur just seemed right :) I always like to think that the girls are much more on top of things than Merlin and Arthur, who have all the power but none of the intuition ;)

Thanks so much for reading!

[snottygrrl]

i have to love a writer or get a lot of recommendations to read a gwen/merlin, so that just shows how much i think of you ♥

you did a lovely job of capturing everyone here, even off-screen gaius. v. v. sweet. also, lurved the last line to death. ♥

[magog_83]

:D Aww thank you so much, what a lovely thing to say!! I have to admit, this pairing is not one I've tried before, and my OTP will always be Merlin/Arthur, but it was a real challenge and fun to give it a try so I'm so pleased you enjoyed it anyway. Not that I could quite resist squeezing in Merlin/Arthur (and Gwen/Morgana, my favourite Gwen pairing), but I was very fond of Merlin and Gwen in series 1 and their dorky adorableness.

Thanks again for reading :)

[dk323]

Awww...this was really sweet. Loved how you wrote the Merlin and Gwen interaction here. I could see them acting like that. LOL at Merlin "guarding" the ham - and I loved Arthur coming in at the end and the usual snark going on between the both of them.

I enjoyed reading this greatly. :) Such a fun, cute story. :)

[magog_83]

That ham needs to be guarded you know. There are lots of... er, ham thieves... about. You can never be too careful! And Merlin probably does a better job attending the ham than he ever has Arthur ;)

Thanks so much! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, this was something a bit new for me, but I had fun reliving happy season 1 Merlin and Gwen and their adorable crush :D

[rodneyscat]

Yay, public repost! I'm so proud I inspired you to try something new and really, Gwen/Merlin fits your writing style so beautifully, it was meant to be :D

[magog_83]

Yep, Ven very kindly beta'd it for me first, just to iron out some dodgy grammar and bizarre sentence structure :D

Thank you, I'm really glad in hindsight that I didn't put any caveats on the prompting (I almost did, as I wasn't sure I would be strong enough to write Arthur/Gwen if someone had asked). But this was different, and yet it's a Merlin and Gwen I really love (the way they were in series 1 together I mean) and I got quite nostalgic remembering it and imagining how Gwen might finally get a proper kiss from Merlin. Clearly this prompting business works very well!!!