I decided to listen to some oldies and goodies!

"Student Prince" by fayjay, read by fayjay | Arthur/Merlin | AU | A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews. | 15hrs. 9mins.

"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."

I love, LOVE Gaius in this story. What a long-suffering old man he is :P And the dragon!

"Little Wooden Boy and the Belly of Love" by new_kate, read by sophinisba | AU | Arthur/Merlin | Modern AU. Arthur moves to a a different city to start a new life and become a new man. On a whim he decides to share a flat with an attractive stranger, and quickly gets drawn into Merlin's odd little world. | 1hr. 30min.

"Well. Here is a good place to do this," said Merlin. "Me and my friends, we fail at many things, but come as you are is sort of our motto. No weird thing too weird."

"The belly of love."

Merlin chuckled and kissed him.

Quite an unusual story. I don't think I've come across anything similar in this fandom before. Lovely.

"The Pendragon Guide to How Not to Date" by mariana o'connor, read by lunchee | Merlin/Arthur | AU | Morgana sends Arthur on some blind dates that don’t go quite according to plan. | 1hr. 47mins.

“What?!” she yelled, and he almost jerked his phone away from his ear. He could hear Owain asking her what was wrong in the background, but she ignored him. “He went off with some other guy, on your date?”

“Actually,” Arthur said, enjoying himself now, “he went off with the barmaid.” She had no reply for that, and he could hear her spluttering in the background. “Which was fine, I don’t mind.”

Quite a LOL'tastic story. Poor Arthur!

"Leashed" by riventhorn, read by lunchee | Arthur/Merlin | AU | Rather than killing all sorcerers, Uther has a select few "leashed" and enslaved to the service of his armies. Merlin is leashed and Arthur is his master. | 1hr. 30min.

“I’ll get you some food.” He didn’t move, though, still petting Merlin’s hair, his other hand finding Merlin’s under the blankets. “I could feel you slipping away,” he whispered.

“I just—I thought you were going to die. Dashing off into the melee like that.” Merlin swallowed and blinked up at the ceiling, remembering the terror of the moment.

Aww... So much angst and sweetness and Arthur being all protective and Merlin loving him for who he is and... Yes, yes, the fic pushed all my buttons.

"like grabbing my heart and taking my breath" by pandatwirls, read by lunchee | AU | Arthur/Merlin | the one where arthur leaves merlin breathless. | 1hr. 17min.

"Are you sleeping?" Arthur asks when Merlin is suspiciously quiet and a particularly funny joke concerning jelly gets no laugh from him.

"Yeah," Merlin makes a naively beguiling groan as he stretches out and wriggles back in his seat, yawning and rubbing his eyes, and all other signs of tiredness. "Sleepy."

"Okay," Arthur says and he just lets Merlin rest his head where he chooses, and if that so happens to be his shoulder then- Fuck.

Aww... Seriously, aww... That's one sweet tale! And I love lunchee's reading even though the music is way too loud.

"Honorable Intentions" by smilebackwards, read by lunchy | Merlin/Gwaine, Arthur/Gwen | There are several considerations Arthur would like to go over, starting with the state of Merlin's virtue. | 18 mins

"Sod Arthur!" Gwaine yells. Arthur thinks of taking offense, of finding a way to subtly remind Gwaine that he took an oath that included the phrase 'to hold my liege above all others' without admitting to eavesdropping like a gossiping old woman, but then Gwaine adds, "I want to protect you" and Merlin's features go soft.

Oh, fine, Arthur thinks with annoyance, forgiving Gwaine and resenting Merlin's ability to reduce him to sentimentality with nothing more than an expression.

So funny, yet at the same time so sweet. And I love lunchy's reading!

"Not In This Land Alone" by torakowalski, read by crinklysolution | Arthur/Merlin, Gwen/Lance, Morganna/Morgause | Modern AU | When Merlin Emrys gets a summer job at Buckingham Palace, he doesn't expect to even meet King Arthur, let alone become involved in protecting him from a plot to overthrow the monarchy.
 | 4hrs. 10mins.

"Merlin, come here and take this one too." He waved a small painting of a blonde woman who Merlin was fairly certain was Queen Igraine. "And do try not to shout at her, all right?"

Merlin took the painting with numb hands. It wasn't as if strange things didn't happen around him all the time, but he'd never actually had a dead king talk to him before. He looked at Queen Igraine suspiciously while he carried her, but she didn't offer up any conversation, snooty of otherwise.

Relieved, he bent down to set her against the wall, next to Uther.

Several times, I laughed out loud while listening to this podfic. What an awesome, plotty thing. And I just love the way crinklysolution's reading it!

"In Time of Trial" by shine, read by fayjay | Merlin/Arthur | Uther fears his son's power, and Merlin has helped Arthur flee to escape imprisonment. Now the two of them must fight to regain Arthur's rightful place in Camelot. | 36.800 words/4 hr. 8 min.

Arthur spun around, looking shocked, still disheveled from patrol, dressed--thank god, still dressed--in breeches and coat, face dirty and smudged. "Merlin, what on earth--"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," panted Merlin, kicking the doors shut and flinging himself at Arthur. He put one hand over Arthur's mouth and pushed them both back against the wall behind the bed. Arthur was rigid underneath him, stiff and outraged, but Merlin guessed some of his desperation was showing because Arthur didn't immediately throw him off, tolerated his touch for just a second, and that second was enough. He clung to Arthur, heaving for air, hand still over his mouth, pressing him flat to the wall, as the clatter of mail became louder in the corridor outside.

Loved the fic. Arthur and Merlin's relationship is amazing in this one. And the fic itself is quite intriguing, the storyline, I mean. I love fics with a good plot!

"Fools of Us All" by adelagia, read by fayjay | Arthur/Merlin | Future!fic, humor | Merlin accidentally makes everybody in Camelot fall in love with him. Everybody except Arthur, that is. | 11.300 words/1 hr. 12 min.

He knew Merlin. He'd seen Merlin rain down destruction on Camelot's enemies in the middle of a charred and bloodied battlefield, grapple with the ancient rules of the Old Religion and emerge the stronger, wield the balance of nature in his hands and willingly let that heady power go simply because he was better than that. Merlin was the most powerful sorcerer the world had seen in an age, and yet he still hadn't managed to master the basic fundamentals of walking in a straight line.

This fic is so funny! I love Arthur's running commentary on the idiosyncrasies of Merlin and Merlin just being... Merlin, a powerful wizard but also a little bit of a klutz!

"The Student Prince" by fayjay, read by fayjay | Arthur/Merlin, Gwen/Lancelot and others | AU, humor | A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love... | 147.000 words/15 hr. 9 min.

"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."

"Well – well, yes. Um. Sorry, sir."

My God, is that an awesome fic or what? I've spent the last couple of evenings listening to it and I love it to pieces. It's hilarious and oh so cute and just so amazing! I loved everyone in this fic: Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Lancelot, Morgana, Gaius, the dragon with an iPod fetish... Everybody. This is so incredibly, incredibly cool! *bounces*