experiencing cognitive dissonance

[burntcopper]

okay, that Merlin fic I've been writing?  It's clocking up the hits and kudos gradually, but the comments are... interesting?

You know me, I occasionally try to go a bit historical and 'try-to-work-out-how-it-would-work'.  Merlin fandom is a fun and interesting place.  You often see fic that examines political stuff and the vague historical period

Comments

[terrie01]

If people have their shipping goggles firmly on, any interaction is proof of TrueLove (tm). Even if it's just "Please pass the salt."

[snowballjane]

Yep, people are so very used to taking that intense friendship dynamic from canon and shipping it as twoo wuv in fic, that it does feel like you went somewhere unexpected/unconventional with this (for which I do like it all the more). I also love how it found a real story-shape, despite staring out as 'snippets'.

[burntcopper]

*phew*.

I'm still pondering whether in the epilogue I meant 'we only shagged when drunk once' in the 'and the birth control failed also due to it being Beltane, never risking that again' or 'we only shagged once. we were drunk.' Thinking it's more fun as ambiguous.

I'm still vaguely horrified at the people who think Uther would approve of Arthur marrying Merlin, even though he totally encourages the mistress thing and is *extremely* cheerful about the sprog. People. READ YOUR HISTORY. (and canon. look at the ep where Uther is utterly fine with Arthur shagging Gwen as long as he doesn't let it interfere with any marriage stuff.)

[burntcopper]

Rest of court: 'Oh dear, *someone*'s sleeping in the spare room tongiht...'

I'm still vaguely horrified at the people who think Uther would approve of Arthur marrying Merlin, even though he totally encourages the mistress thing and is *extremely* cheerful about the sprog. People. READ YOUR HISTORY. (and canon. look at the ep where Uther is utterly fine with Arthur shagging Gwen as long as he doesn't let it interfere with any marriage stuff.)

[illereyn]

No, it doesn't read as a True-Love-and-marriage fic, though with the epilogue it reads (to me at least) as an intense-friendship-that-veers-to-sexual-sometimes. Without the epilogue, I'd read Merlin and Arthur as established intense platonic friendship, but the epilogue, especially with the repeated comments about possible future offspring, seems to veer into the (modern-day, anachronistic) de-facto couple territory. Mistress doesn't seem to fit either because Merlin has so much power and standing apart from her relationship with Arthur (daughter of the Dragonlord and Morgana's friend, for example).

Sorry, very wordy way of saying: this reader doesn't see them that way in your (really lovely) fic, but I can see why people do?