New Fic Finding Community!!

[magog_83]

Find_a_Merlin
Your ultimate Merlin fic-finding community



So, I am now the co-mod of a new comm with the lovely toodelicious. I have never done this sort of thing before, but I figure I cannot be THAT hopeless ::insert agreement and reassurance here:: As you can probably tell, toodelicious did all the hard work over there, I just admired and helped choose a layout (GO ME). I hope to actually be more useful in future ;)

Anyway, who DOESN'T want to find a Merlin? And he looks so cute with his serious research face on <3 <3

The aim is to not have too many rules, but for it to be a laid back place where you can leave your fic queries, request recs if you've had a crap day (or if you suddenly discover a hitherto unknown love of Geoffrey/Gaius slash fic) and I'm sure if you have a question relating to a picture/episode or whatever else, that will be fine too. Tagging is entirely up to you to use, or not use.

Lastly, if you DO find a Merlin, feel free to PM me. No really, I won't mind :)

Comments

[giecast.livejournal.com]

Oooh shiny! I want to find a Merlin too. And keep him. =DD Off to join.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

And yes, especially if he comes with his Serious Book and maybe some research glasses ;)

[giecast.livejournal.com]

I like helping find stuff for people. Btw is this strictly a fic-finding comm? Or can people ask help to find art, vid, etc?

Mmmmm...Merlin in glasses. *hearts in eyes*

[1nagromniloc.livejournal.com]

:) I want find a Merlin too hee.
Hey a great idea from you both to build find_a_merlin <3

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Thank you! toodelicious must get all the credit for the idea, but I was only too happy to help. I love searching out fics for people. For some reason, I can't ever remember where I put my car keys, but I can remember a random fic I read months ago!

[1nagromniloc.livejournal.com]

:)

hee, I think Merlin fics makes people addicted^^

[winterstorrm.livejournal.com]

I was worried for a moment there that you had lost mini-Merlin!

Good idea hon; going off to join!

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

O_O

What a terrifying thought. I'm sure if such a thing happened, Mini Arthur would leave no book unturned, no chocolate box unsearched!!

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

Squee! Oh, I love this idea :) - in the vast world of Merlin fiction there are just too many fics that get lost! Or overlooked! :) (And yes, who wouldn't love to find a Merlin :D?)

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

There really are! My delicious bookmarks have been a great help but still, sometimes you need to pick someone else's brain :)

psst. Have you read anymore JE??

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

Indeed - and I've been running out of rec lists lately to go through, so this is especially welcome :)!

Yes I have - but rather less than I wanted to today I'm afraid ... but at least I got through all of Mr. Rochester's explanation! And now that I (at least think I) know everything about his story, I feel kind of in between the lines ... because on the one hand it was obviously very wrong of him to trick poor Jane like that and really, for all her madness, his wife didn't deserve the treatment she got from him ... but on the other hand he was tricked into this marriage, as well, and was it really so wrong of him to want to find love and be happy?

And I've got to say, I find it hard to decide whether it was the right decision of Jane to leave him on that day. Although I admire her for standing up for her beliefs I think that Mr. Rochester was kind of right - screw what everybody else thinks, they could be happy together! But then I think again and I am not so sure that they really could have a healthy relationship with Bertha's condition weighing on their minds. And even if Mr. Rochester believes he could live with that, I'm not sure Jane could. (Am I making sense by the way? I feel so torn, I don't even know if I'm coherent anymore :D!)

Once again I loved Jane's speech to Mr. Rochester, though; particularly the part about how "laws and principles were not for the times when there was no temptation". That does somehow stike a chord with me, especially when I think about the world today and how it is okay to assassinate people, without giving them a trial first to convict them of their crimes like the bastards they are ... but I don't want to get political here :)! Sorry, I'll stop myself right there! (And I've probably been going on about this for way too long already anyway :D!)

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Actually you make a very good point!! That speech of Jane's is very apt in any period I think. After all, we can all be principled and moral when we are not really tempted to be otherwise. It's how we behave when we are faced with temptation that shows your true mettle, she was right there. I think Jane is such a moral person, for all her secret rebellions, that she just couldn't do anything else at that point. Doing the 'right thing' is absolutely her guiding principle. In that, even more than what other people would think, Mr Rochester was wrong - because I think Jane would never ever have forgiven him.

Having said that, to a modern reader you can't help just wanting them to grab their happiness! It's just stupid circumstance pushing them apart and it's neither of their fault, really :(

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

I think that especially what you say there about the 'modern reader' is very true. It is very easy - far too easy - for me to just scoff and say 'oh, please - who cares about what other people think? The most important thing is to be yourself and find happiness.' But in those times it was important what other people thought of you. Losing your reputation must have been one of the worst things that could happen to you, especially for a woman! I can't even begin to count how many plays we read in school about women (and men), who had to take their lifes because they couldn't live with the shame of losing their honour - stupid in the eyes of any modern, educated person, but a very real concern in those times.

I really admire Jane for how moral she is, and I hope that if I was faced with such difficult choices, I would end up making the right decision, too, even if it hurt me. On the other hand, though, being so deeply moral can be dangerous, too. You cannot see the world in black and white, in my opinion; if you take lying for example, even though we get taught from when we are very young, that it is shameful and despicable, I think that there are some situations in which it may be necessary, in order to protect somebody, for example.

But when you say that she would never have forgiven him, do you mean for marrying her under false pretenses or the whole thing about living with him whilst still knowing all about Bertha? Because I think she did say that she forgave him for all his lies when they finally had their talk and he came clean, didn't she?

But having said that, I quite like Mr. Rochester's speech, too - the one where he recognises, that he may be able to dominate her body but never her soul, and that ultimately that is what he loves about Jane. And even though he says all this in a fury and I was even a bit afraid for Jane, at the same time my brain went 'awww', as well.

Conqueror I might be of the house; but the inmate would escape to heaven before I could call myself possessor of its clay dwelling-place. And it is you, spitir - with will and energy, and virtue and purity - that I want: not alone your brittle frame.

That is just love in my eyes - I hope I can find someone who will love me like that someday :)!

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Yes, she does forgive him (I really love that bit, despite her morality she DOES see past the 'sin'), but I still feel like if he had married her and she had had his children and THEN she'd found out, then she might have felt differently. At that point she was betrayed, but her honour was still intact and the damage wasn't irreversible. Hmmm. It's tough because we can't actually know, but she would have been his mistress and her children would have been illigimate and I think that would have been a bitter pill to swallow :(

The line I love in that section is,

No sleep was there: the inmate was walking restlessly from wall to wall; and again and again he sighed while I listened. There was a heaven—a temporary heaven—in this room for me, if I chose: I had but to go in and to say, “Mr. Rochester, I will love you and live with you through life till death,” and a fount of rapture would spring to my lips. I thought of this.

When I first read that, it really brought home to be the enormity of Jane's decision. Here was this wealthy, powerful man who wanted her, however she chose to give herself to him, and would love her and devote himself to her, and she had only to push open the door to have that security and love, but she can't, she has to leave. It's so powerful I think!

I love how Mr Rochester loves Jane for who she is, not for a list of idealised qualities women are supposed to possess :)

I hear what you say about Jane's repuations though. Morality aside, her virtue and good name are the only things she possesses. Without those she can't hope to get employment or regard herself as part of 'good' society.

Ack! I have so much more to say about Jane's decisions when you have finished :D

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

Sorry that it took so long to reply - just had to spend an hour playing Roblox with the boy and another half an hour reading Harry Potter to the girl. I feel tortured ... :) (In all honesty though, I feel a bit harrassed when they burst into my room and both demand my attention at the same time ... but I should stop it with the whining already and be glad that they love me this much.)

Back to Jane Eyre :D! I think it's really difficult to decide whether she would have forgiven him or not if he hadn't told her, because Jane is such a magnanimous character. Of course she would have been upset and bitter (as well she should be!), but on the other hand she is such a forgiving person ... and I've got the feeling that the more time she would have spent with him, the more she would have grown to love and know him and to become completely enraptured by him ... which is also the reason why this kind of betrayal would feel even worse to her, if she only discovered the truth after five years of being "married" to him. Gah, this is hard to make out! What I think can be said though is that if she hadn't known and found out later, then she probably would have stayed with him, simply because she wouldn't have had anywhere else to go - but what kind of relationship they would have had then I can only guess. Probably not a too happy one, though :(!

Oh, that line stood out to me as well! It could've been so easy for her, to just give in and settle into this new life with the man she loved, even if it was a life in sin to everyone's and her eyes. But she didn't for her own principles and values - I really do have to respect and even admire that!

And I'm looking forward to hearing about it - and about the stuff you said you couldn't tell me about Mr. Rochester and his decision to have her in the drawing room with the others of the party yet!

Oh dear, this is so much fun :)! I love discussing books like this :D :D :D!

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what Roblox is?!? It sounds like a computer game??

There are a couple of real "what if" moments with Jane Eyre that could be debated forever I think and that's definitely one of them. It would be a BIG lie, although I think you make such a good point about her not having anywhere else to go by that point. If she had been living with him, and they'd had a family... :/

There is another moment much later like that, someone once described it as one of the great 'what if's of English Literature!! But then I think in novels like JE, there is such a strong theme of destiny and what is 'meant' to happen (God's path for everyone and all that). There are some twists that modern readers can't help but find far-fetched, yet for a Victorian reader, presumably it would have seemed like divine intervention!

Actually the Mr Rochester inviting Jane to the drawing room thing isn't really a twist, but it's one of those things I've never truly understood and I've read a few articles that discussed it. What was he trying to do there? He knew he wasn't free to marry her so why does he seem to be trying to make her jealous, to play 'games' as he says (and that whole bit with the gypsy woman). It's very hard to know his motivation there. It all works if he was a free man, but if he ISN'T (and we later know he isn't), then it seems strange. My mum hates that bit, she thinks it's dishonest of him to 'manipulate Jane's feelings' when he isn't free to truly return it. But that's just mum, we've had many discussions over it.

I love discussing books like this too! I fully intend to pick your brains about my own JE once you're done. I am canvassing opinions on certain aspects :)

[jamie15.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's some kind of online game that Charlie made me download last week I think - kind of like Lego but somehow a bit cruder? Anyway, I got out of it by accidentally (cough) driving into the river and drowning (though I'm not sure if those Lego things actually have lungs ...)

I think that simply for her family Jane would probably try to pull through even such difficult times at these, because she would think that it wasn't her kids fault, after all, what their father did or didn't do. It's just the love story, that would have suffered greatly if Jane hadn't found out the truth on that day - because even if you are as generous a person as Jane is I don't really see how you can ever learn to trust a person again after such a betrayal :/. Even now, I think it will be very hard for her - although I think it certainly did help that he told her everything, even if it was at the last moment. But what am I doing theorising about this? I should just read it, really :P!

Speaking of divine intervention, I'm sooo tempted to look up the meaning behind the split ... oak tree I think it was right? Anyway, the one the lightning split in half after Jane and Mr. Rochester got engaged? Because I remember there was a little footnote for that too, when I read it, but I didn't dare skip to the back to look it up because I was afraid of getting spoiled :(. It's got to be some kind of bad omen, though, right?

I completely agree that it is difficult to understand his reasons for inviting Jane to the drawing room :/. All I've been able to come up with is that he wanted to test her feelings, maybe get a reaction out of her? Because obviously he was already falling in love with her (I think he said that she'd caught his interest right from the moment she helped him back onto his horse), but maybe he just wanted to see if it was at all possible that she could return his feelings? It was very wrong of him to pursue her like this in any case, but perhaps he just couldn't help himself. I think Jane must have truly intrigued him and it was just a natural progression for him from having those late evening talks with her to including her in his little soirees. Underneath it all though I think he was being a bit selfish; he already knew that he could never have Jane without at least telling her the truth and still he pursued her and made her fall in love with him. I think in a way he must have thought that it was his right to fall in love with Jane and marry her, because he didn't really acknowledge Bertha as his wife, did he? He said that he could never consider a woman like her to be his equal and when he finally found the woman he was looking for in Jane, I think that, given that he was tricked into marrying this in his eyes inferior girl he must have thought 'Well - Jane would have been my choice for a wife, so it is only right that I should be able to marry her!' But I'm truly starting to ramble, I'm afraid :)! I cannot believe how long I can go on about one subject ... O.o so beware of picking my brains about your JE :D! I'll definitely be looking forward to discussing that, too!

[mordyn4]

YOU'RE A GODDESS.

I really wanted to make a new comm, but knew I wouldn't be an attentive mod, especially during the summer. THANK YOU!!!!!

I am pimping this. :D

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Well there are three of us on this one now so I am sure it will be well modded :D :D

And thank you!!! I am hoping it takes off and does well :)

[dk323.livejournal.com]

Great idea for a comm. :) There are definitely times when I lose a link to a story and can only recall a few details of the story -- so frustrating. :( It's nice to have a laidback comm to search for fics in. I hope it's a success. :)

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

I think we've all done that! Sometimes all I can remember is a line or tiny little detail and it can be SO annoying. Hopefully this will be somewhere else people can search for those sorts of fics :)

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Definitely :) I think my eureka moment was discovering Delicious bookmarks. SO MANY TAGS, a tag for every kind of mood and kink and setting. It was glorious :D Until then all I had done was follow mxa and click randomly on contributors (there were less contributors back then!). But once I found Delicious I was just devouring fic at a rate of knots.

[yue_ix]

I'm not joining, but yay for your first mod experience. Good luck with all of that! Merlin on that banner looks really cute. =)

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm hoping it all goes smoothly and I don't accidentally delete the comm or something terrible <3

[yue_ix]

Oh, hey, this comes in late but if you ever have a question about modding or wonder about something, you can join bbcmerlin_mods and directly ask there.

[norwegianblue47.livejournal.com]

Cool idea. I approve of the laidbackedness/non-anxiety attack inducingness of it.

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) I think searching for fic should not induce anxiety, definitely. Hopefully this comm won't!

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

Please say it's not just me and someone else is totally reminded of The Neverending Story movie with that image of Merlin crouched over the book, y/n?

*ducks* *hides*

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

I SEE IT NOW.

::cannot unsee::

Now I am getting awful flashbacks of Artax sinking - nooooooooooo :(

[capricornucopia.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I think you'll be great at it, I see you finding stuff all the time. :D

[magog-83.livejournal.com]

Hahaha yes, it does seem to be my hobby! I seem to have a good memory for fic, luckily (if not for actually useful things like where I put my car keys...)