The long-promised fic is here

[rosiespark]

.
Title: Two Sides of the Triangle (part 1)
Author: rosiespark
Disclaimer: Not mine. For fun, not for profit. Etc.
Rating: probably R
Pairing: Lancelot /Arthur
Notes: Because I fell in love with Ioan Gruffud's Lancelot. Takes place between scenes in the recent film, on the night before the mission North of the Wall
Thanks: to fajrdrako for a thorough,

Comments

[rosiespark]

I'm a big fan of internal logic - I tend to apply rigorous standards to other people's fics, so it's nice to know that one of mine passes the test. I'm not sure where my take on the L/A relationship comes from - as you say, it's a rather twisted form of "soldierly bonding". *g* I didn't consciously set out to subvert Rosemary Sutcliffe's "Eagle of the Ninth"-type male bonding... Did you have any particular relationships in mind, when you said that you see a pattern that it fits in to?

I suppose it is passive/aggressive - L provokes A in order to get what he wants without actually saying that he wants it. Except that what he gets (rough semi-coercive sex) isn't really what he wants. They do love each other on some level, but there's very little real communication between them and they might almost be on different planets. A has no idea what's going on in L's head, and L wants from A something he can't give. Poor Lancelot, he's trapped in a very unequal relationship - and he knows it, but doesn't dare rock the boat in case he falls out. I didn't want to have a saintly Arthur (he's really rather boring in the film and it's not entirely Clive Owen's fault) who is betrayed by his wife and his best friend. I have to confess that I'm mostly interested in Guinevere in so far as she affects the dynamics between L and A. And if I do write the second part of this, things will only get worse for L. *eg* I am evil and will doubtless burn in hell for tormenting my characters. But it will have been worth it. And I'll be in good company, I'm sure. ;D

[semyaza]

Unfortunately, although I know that I've come across this kind of relationship more than once in forty years of reading fantasy novels, I can't think of an example at the moment. Your assessment of the L/A dynamic sounds like exactly the sort of thing that was going through my mind, though. Actually--it reminds me a bit of the relationship between Ben Hur and Messala in the movie (and working on Stephen Boyd's assumption that the two had been lovers as boys), where there's the power relationship of conqueror and conquered that can never truly be overcome, and had the two charcters gone back to being lovers as adults this is pretty much what would have happened to them as well.

I've never seen a truly sympathetic Arthur, and I can't stand Clive Owen. I don't understand why Lancelot and Guinevere continue to be the focus of the various movies when the more Celtic and pagan Arthur/Merlin thing is much more interesting. The exception would be that tv mini-series with Sam Neill.