Archived fic rec - Post hoc, ergo propter hoc

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (and a revised but WIP version at AO3)

Author: hitome-bore (AO3 mirror)

Fandom: Merlin (BBC, tv, 2008)

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Merlin/Arthur

Warnings: explicit sex (gay), underage sex, homophobia (historical context), major character injury, corporal punishment, warfare, betrayal

Other notes: exchange fic, time travel, fix-it fic, alternate universe, education, disguise, dual identity, fusion

Length: 90k+

Summary: History books would not remember Gaius’ death precipitating the greatest war Albion had ever seen. That blame rested entirely on the shoulders of an inexperienced sorcerer and the Prince whom he’d lied to a hundred times over.

 

I must admit, I’m not sure which is “worse”–finding out the already-long story I need to read and review has a/many sequels, or finding out there’s an entirely revised version that’s even longer. Makes it hard for me to keep to schedule.

Still, this fic is fuck-all amazing, and what I’ve read of the revised version seems to make it even more amazing, so, you need to read this.

Fix-it fics can be cheesy, but sometimes you just want to read something where things finally go right for once. I find Merlin is an odd fandom for me, in that I don’t really like the show that much anymore. It’s the sort of show you watch and immediately start thinking, “okay, I would have written it this way,” or “man, seriously, what happened to that build-up last episode? I was so sure they were gonna…” I find the plots and character development kind of spastic, one step forward, two steps back, but at the same time, I still really like the characters. Thus my love for Merlin fic more than Merlin show.

Anyway. This is time travel fix it fic, one that delves deep both into the tragedy that could happen if the characters keep going the way they are, but also shows an alternative, much happier version of what could happen if they were free to be honest with each other. The fun thing is, while this author takes out most of the original tension–the threat of Uther’s execution-happy, magic-hating ways ends up fading into more of a background threat than anything else–s/he still proves that there is danger and tension. Merlin and Arthur are still at odds with each other, disagree about what the best plan is. Also there’s sexual tension, and Arthur is just short of being the handsome (and legally of age) prat prince of the show.

Although I do wonder what’s going to happen to the young Merlin already in this timeline. Perhaps the extended version will go back to this.

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Originally posted on tumblr on 11/22/12