Don't leave a voicemail, seriously.

I just spent the afternoon reading Merlin fic. This is odd for a whole number of reasons (one being that I just about never read fanfic these days--this isn't remarkable because I go through cycles with fic the same way I do with books), the most important being that I'm not in any way fannish about that show. I actually barely watch it. But I *am* one of those people for whom the antecedent material is nigh on to biblical to me.

I think most people who read fantasy novels at least go through an Arthurian phase. I would hazard to assume that for most of us it's a whole lot more than a phase. I will admit to gasping and pearl clutching when people actually say that they "don't know anything about that stuff" regarding Arthurian legends. How is that possible? For one thing, the core stories and themes are embedded in Western culture to a point where they're ubiquitous. And further a lot of complaint about publishing being so blind to the needs and desires of a diverse population can be argued flippantly with a simple "why publish something new when they have to publish ANOTHER Arthurian retread?"

The pillars of my childhood reading were those retread novels, Tolkien, and the Baker Street mysteries. I am pretty sure a pretty high percentage of people reading this can say something very similar.

This whole ramble is my intro to my piteous wail: why is there NO Arthur/Lancelot shipping in Merlin fandom? Which is into the echo chamber of my own knowledge that it's because the show clearly isn't so inclined itself. One of the reasons I can't take the show too seriously. (Look, I am ready to roll with the dragon and Uther being a comic book villain, but Lancelot and Arthur cannot be unmade, y'all!)

I think this must be what Kirk/Spock shippers felt about the new Star Trek fandom.

What're y'all up to?