In which something that beautiful deserves worship

[kylezy]

I'm somewhat of a bottom!Arthur ~connoisseur~, so when katie_andrew asked for a list of my fave bottom!Arthur fics, I was on it like, well, Merlin on Arthur. I was just gonna shoot her an email but then a couple of my other twitter followers seconded the request and I was all, well, why not make an LJ post and spread the love like, well, Merlin spreads Arthur's legs.

♥ I've tried to make note of any major warnings, but please make sure you read the warnings the author has listed for your own safety ♥ Assume all fics are rated NC-17 and not safe for work ♥ To the best of my ability, pairings are listed in order of occurrence/mention ♥ Please please feel free to leave your own favourites in the comments! ♥



In My Golden Years I Was a Slave by hackthis (Arthur/Merlin)
(Stripped) Down To The Bone by anon (Arthur/Merlin/Gwen/Morgana, bdsm)
just a common whore by pixieblues (Arthur/Merlin)
The Real Thing by anon (Arthur/Morgana, Arthur/Merlin, step-sibling incest)
Volcano by shesakicker (Arthur/Merlin)
The Weight of Words by waldorph (Arthur/Merlin)
Trained to Remember by chicago_ruth (Arthur/Merlin, dub-con (mind control), underage sex)
paint the sky with silver lining by anon (Arthur/Merlin, D/s)
no more sacred than simply breathing by anon (Arthur/Merlin)
The Magic Number by luisadeza (Merlin/Morgana, Arthur/Morgana, Arthur/Merlin/Morgana, Arthur/Merlin, incest though A/Mo are not blood-related)
Opened and Always Wanting by Violette_Royale (Arthur/Merlin)
Truth Is a Whisper by seperis (Merlin/Other, Arthur/Merlin)
it is most mad and moonly by This Girl Is (Arthur/Gwen, Gwen/Merlin, Arthur/Gwen/Merlin)
What Infinite Heart's Ease by ArcadianMaggie (Arthur/Gwen, Gwen/Lancelot, Arthur/Merlin)
you and i by s_k (Arthur/Merlin, crossdressing, bdsm)
Preparation by lamardeuse (Arthur/Morgause, Arthur/Merlin, age disparity)
We Make the Hipsters Fall In Love by i_claudia (Arthur/Merlin, not!fic)
everything that hurts too much to say by anowlinsunshine (Arthur/Merlin)

Comments

[skeletonwords.livejournal.com]

I like this a lot!

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

I like YOU a lot.

[skeletonwords.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Stop it, you. Really? No. Really? Come on, stop. REALLY though? Pffft. You. No, stop it. Really?

Hey, guess what? I like you MORE.

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

NO WAY, I like you THE MOST and that's final.

[skeletonwords.livejournal.com]

*bows down at your feet* Yes, Miss. Of course, Miss. You're wonderful, Miss. I LOVE YOU, MISS.

[clawdine]

OH YEAHHHHH

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

*snorts list* oh yeah, that's the good stuff right there

[nu-breed.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this! BTW, you should feel free to email me the ones that would have had caveats, if you want :P

[nu-breed.livejournal.com]

I have read some of these, btw. Paint the Sky with Silver Lining is so fucking amazing.

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

When I was going through ao3, I came across a few you'd given kudos to and I was like she's more of an enjoyer than she knows XD

[nu-breed.livejournal.com]

Well... I don't tend to choose whether I read a story or not based on who bottoms (I generally wouldn't flick to the end to check, anyway!) At the end of the day, if the story is super good, I DGAF who bottoms and tops because the writer will make me enjoy it regardless. Like... that isn't the basis for whether I read and enjoy a fic or not, y'know?

And I guess for me it's that I really enjoy Arthur being super toppy sometimes (okay a lot) and it probably stems from shameless self-insertion on my part. It's also the tropes I love: I love him jealous and possessive and protective (especially in canon fic,) so that generally tends to coincide with him being toppy in the sack as well.

HOWEVER, I have recently been branching out and deliberately seeking out stories that have Arthur bottoming because mmmm pretty and also, like you said, that arse is too beautiful to not deserve some love. *g* I think the ones you saw kudos from me on might have been quite recent.

I do think there's a bit of a propensity for mixing up D/s with topping and bottoming in fandom, though, but that's a WHOLE OTHER STORY. Like, really, being fucked up the arse has nothing to do with how "toppy" you are personality-wise and vice versa. It's very easy, I think, to get the two mixed up and I saw something on the meme recently in relation to my recent story that made me really realise that - i.e. Arthur bottomed for Merlin and it was referred to as "allowing Merlin to dom" or something very similar. Like... two very different things.

OMG SO SORRY FOR THE TL;DR

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

Never apologise, I love reading how different everyone is when it comes to fandom. Because we're all so in our own heads, we tend to assume how we do fandom (and all that it entails) is how everybody does fandom, and it's fascinating - at least to me - to be reminded constantly that that's not the case at all.

I think we like what we like for the exact same reasoning, we just happen to lie on different sides OF THE SAME COIN YEAH I WENT THERE. Shameless self-insertion? Yeah, I feel you hard. Where you like the jealous and protective tropes, I'm all about trust or the lack of - Arthur having trust and intimacy issues because of DADDY reasons and learning he can be himself and open up to Merlin, both figuratively and literally XD

I am all for personal preferences. OBVIOUSLY. And if I come across as a bit of a dickhead about dynamics at times, I do apologise, I never want to seen like I'm attacking someone's preferences. We like what we like and there should be no need to defend what we enjoy in fandom. What gets to me though, consistently, is exactly what you're talking about in your last paragraph. The misconception that being fucked in the arse is for people who fall under traditionally "subby" personality (and physical) traits. As if fucking actually has ANYTHING TO DO with D/s dynamics in the first place.

YES, sometimes it IS about those dynamics for some people.

YES, sometimes D/s play is about giving it and taking it in regards to penetration.

But sometimes? People just wanna get fucked in the arse because it feels fucking amazing. It doesn't get deeper than that. Sometimes your jealous, possessive Arthur wants his prostate nailed, just like my trusting Arthur wants to bend Merlin over the nearest table and sink into his tight heat. And hell, even if they were in a D/s relationship, why can't the top enjoy penetration? Control and power doesn't just magically disappear when something goes into your butt.

Picture me with puffs of smoke coming out my nose right now XD

The only thing I'm going to disagree with you about, and tbh, it's less of a disagreement and more of a 'oh, well here's how I do this differently' is what you mention at the start about not choosing your fic based on who bottoms or tops (which also, ps. I didn't mean to imply, in case you thought that's what I was saying. How do words, etc).

When I joined fandom, I devoured ALL THE FICS. And then, as time went on, I started to realise the lower rated ones didn't give me as much enjoyment. Shallow yes, but WHATEVER OKAY, I like the sex. This didn't stop me from reading something PG if it had a summary I was super into, or ones that came highly recommended from my friends, but for the most part, if you put a PG fic next to an NC-17 fic, I'm going for the porn every time.

So cut to more time passing and just this year finding myself enjoying bottom Merlin less. I suspect this actually has less to do with Merlin having a peen in his butt (because there's no reason not to love that, come on *__*) and more to do with the sheer abundance of this dynamic already in existence. I feel like I've already read it a thousand times, you know? But anyway, yeah, sometimes for long fic - when I'm ambivalent about the summary - I do the old ctrl+f "kiss" to see how things end up going. And I'm less inclined to start the fic if the sex doesn't do it for me.

There's no way to admit that without sounding like a total shallow tosser, because fic is a gift and it takes amazing talent to even just put words on screen and it's a talent I certainly don't have, but there you go. At the end of the day I can only do what makes me happy. You're absolutely right in that, top or bottom, it doesn't matter a lick if you're in the hands of a good author. But I think it's also a lot easier to say you don't read fic based on who bottoms alone, if your favourite bottom is the one most produced by fandom, you know what I mean?

Omg, did I get everything, did I cover it all? This has taken me nearly 5 hours and the headache I had earlier is now pounding. You're evil, I hope you know that. Never expect this kind of depth or clarity from me ever again, this is me DONE for the year, this is my quota, I have reached my limit XD

[nu-breed.livejournal.com]

I think we like what we like for the exact same reasoning, we just happen to lie on different sides OF THE SAME COIN YEAH I WENT THERE. Shameless self-insertion? Yeah, I feel you hard. Where you like the jealous and protective tropes, I'm all about trust or the lack of - Arthur having trust and intimacy issues because of DADDY reasons and learning he can be himself and open up to Merlin, both figuratively and literally XD

And I think this is what turned me off bottom Arthur in the first place - because I GET that. I absolutely can see that, but so many of the fics I read were Merlin humiliating and treating Arthur in a way that I considered not at all something I could see Merlin doing AT ALL. Abusing his power over Arthur is something he would never do - unless it is what Arthur wanted and even then? I need to see some guilt, some struggle with it. So yeah, I think that is what turned me off initially because there was a big preponderence of what I felt was OOC characterisation and it upset me - I don't like seeing Arthur hurt. UNLESS HE WANTS IT OF COURSE, BIG DIFFERENCE. And like, even then, I want to see some negotiation, some working through that and I need to see that he is loved.

This is why I love Truth Is A Whisper so much, because it was COMPLETELY IC and it was all about love and mutual respect and Arthur really really enjoying being fucked :D

What gets to me though, consistently, is exactly what you're talking about in your last paragraph. The misconception that being fucked in the arse is for people who fall under traditionally "subby" personality (and physical) traits. As if fucking actually has ANYTHING TO DO with D/s dynamics in the first place.

Yeah, like... not everyone has D/s components to their sexlife and to say that whoever bottoms is weaker? That's kinda edging on heteronormative thinking for me. Like they're "the girl in this relationship" which... screw that. They are both men who can like what they like and not have to bring anything else into it.

And the physical thing? This was such a pain for me back in SPN. I shipped Sam/Dean and Sam is physically larger and I recall a conversation with someone who said "Sam would never bottom because..." blah blah blah he's so big and manly and blah blah blah Dean is smaller and more feminine. FUCK THAT. Large, manly men are allowed cocks up their arses too!

But I think it's also a lot easier to say you don't read fic based on who bottoms alone, if your favourite bottom is the one most produced by fandom, you know what I mean?

*nodding* I absolutely hear you. This is what it was like for me in SPN. I got to the point where I wass flicking to see (with long fics) who bottomed because it was SO frustrating to see the same porn over and over. I absolutely hear you.

As a writer, though, it's kinda a bummer when you see someone say "I WOULD READ THIS BUT X PERSON BOTTOMS SO I SKIPPED IT" it hurts my fragile ego! Like... I don't sit there writing with a preconceived notion of who is going to be fucked, it really does depend on the characters/plot etc. I will say though, I always try to, in a longer fic, have them switch because let's face it a lot of men do! ALL THE SWITCHING KPLZTHX.

But, having said that, I absolutely understand your position on this. I know (BELIEVE ME I KNOW) how fucking frustrating it is.

Aaaaaaand, I think I'm done. FOR NOW. I really do love discussing this kinda stuff. And I miss it. COME BACK TO LJ EVERYONE GDI.

[nu-breed.livejournal.com]

Also, clearly the right solution is what we talked about yesterday. EVERYBODY BOTTOMS AND EVERYBODY WINS :DDD

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

BUTTSEX FOR ALL, it's the only way XD

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

At least one of them made it to this list, I just kind of went 'fuck it', I couldn't be bothered anymore with the overthinking I was doing. I might do a second list anyway though just for you guys xxx

[nu-breed.livejournal.com]

YAY YAY YAY THANK YOU

[amazonbard88.livejournal.com]

Yesssss, bottom Arthur!

[kylezy.livejournal.com]

/fist bump