Reciprocation (Merlin story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Reciprocation
Author(s):	astolat
Date(s):	03 February 2009
Length:	~8,600 words / 49:59 min
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Merlin
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Reciprocation (merlin_flashfic) Reciprocation (author's site) Reciprocation (AO3) Reciprocation (Audiofic Archive)
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Reciprocation is a Merlin/Arthur story by astolat. It was written for merlin_flashfic for the "primae noctis challenge". The story was a runner-up in the PWP category in the Spring 2009 Merlin/Arthur Fanfic Awards.

Summary: He only meant to complain; you didn't take serving girls on hunting trips, and the alternative interpretation didn't even occur to him until Merlin said indignantly, "I'm not going to do that!"

ann ciudad podficced the story and cybel turned it into an audiobook. It is available at the Audiofic Archive.

Recs and Reviews

• "This is a lovely story of an Arthur who learns the subtle arts of reciprocation and consideration."
• "Do you need a reason to read Astolat's stuff? This involves a brilliant characterisation of Arthur, a pretty steep learning curve, and wickedly hot smut."

• "Arthur has a reputation among the servants -- a bad one. Of course, Arthur is just horrified to learn this is true and proceeds to spend most of the story proving that that reputation is entirely deserved. This story had a *ton* of potential. Arthur is deep (deep, deep) down a good guy, but having been brought up believing that servants were there to cater to his every need, he's been using the vast majority of them for sexual favors without worrying too much about anything but his own pleasure. Merlin, of course, shows him the error of his ways, but as always, Arthur has to mess up seven or eight times before figuring it out in the end. While the premise is interesting, the problem with this story is that it is much too short to adequately address its subject matter and the end result is that, even if you can get over the casual way that Arthur is described as a borderline rapist, he also proves to be way too dismissive of Merlin's feelings to be anything but a crappy boyfriend. If the latter half of the story had been seriously expanded (and, you know, including anything like contrition on Arthur's part) I think astolat could have pulled the premise off. As it is, I walked away unsatisfied and pretty unhappy with Arthur."

• "The One in Which Morgana Punches Arthur. I Suggest Re-Reading That Part a Lot. It Never Fails to Cheer Me Up. Reciprocation, by astolat. Merlin, Arthur Pendragon/Merlin. (Okay, it just occurred to me - I can think of three major pairings involving a character with a single name: Kirk/Spock, Duncan/Methos, Arthur/Merlin. What's the fourth? It'd make a great recs set.) I can tell you what I love about this story in one sentence: Arthur Pendragon is totally clueless. I mean, how could he not be? He is exactly the kind of guy who goes through life assuming that he is Just That Awesome, and yet he's decent enough to be horrified when he realizes there is a small (very small, of course, because he's Arthur Pendragon, who is, by definition, awesome) possibility he is not awesome enough. (This is a rare intersection - stunned by own awesome x still a reasonably decent human being - and I'm not sure I can think of another character in fandom who lives there. Hell, I can only think of one person I've known in real life who does, although, sadly, I can think of many, many people who lived on just the first street. In my teen years, I slept with basically all of them, so it makes me especially happy to see one getting, you know, schooled, even in fiction.) And Merlin - he is a reasonably decent human being who gets laid a lot, which is as he should be. The funny thing, of course, is that Merlin could totally be Arthur times a million, because instead of princeliness, he has magic, and in other fandoms, he'd be all strutting around magicking people into worshipping his cock or whatever. (Deny it. He'd be like Jack Harkness with a magic wand - or, as I am sure Captain Harkness would insist I put it, Jack Harkness with a second magic wand.) ...And now I kind of want to read that AU, BUT. Let me soldier on with this rec. This story is awesome, and it features these characters pretty much exactly as they are in my head, and also Merlin educating Arthur will never be less than totally appealing. Read now."

Comments from a Podficcer

• "I wanted to read this one because it's wonderful; but that meant I also didn't want to screw it up. And it's a complicated story, because it is a light-hearted sex romp, but it does take place in this much darker context of the fact that Arthur and his men have undeniably been coercing girls into sex. Which I at least didn't get at first - I was willing to suspend disbelief and accept that we were in a happy Disney medieval fantasy with sandwiches and frequent baths and that it was all in good fun, because that was what Arthur thought, right up until Morgana storms in and makes it clear that uh no. For a lot of the people involved in the story it's actually been rather horrible just offstage. And even she accepts that life is just like that for lower-status women, she's just pissed that Guinevere has been treated like one of them. Most of the comedy in this story comes from the fact that it's a very tight third person Arthur point of view, and the contrast from you as the reader knowing what's going on and Arthur having no idea. This is a hard balance to get right as a reader! It's very tempting to be in on the joke and yet I think that destroys it. Thinking just about the reading, I believe that it's listenable and hopefully enjoyable - otherwise I wouldn't have posted it - but it's pretty clear I think that I'm still figuring things out. I read a lot of this too fast, unfortunately, and I'm still working out the balance between noise reduction and that weird tinny effect. I did futz with the gain on this recording and I hope it's easier to hear.