Title: Structural Beauty
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Categories: Reincarnation, Angst, Modern AU, Halloween, Happy Ending
Length: Medium (5,230 words)
Warnings: Mentioned past major character death, intoxication

Author on LJ: This author does not appear to be on LJ, from what I can tell.
Author Website: Violette_Royale

Author's Summary:
"It's one of his skeletons. He calls it Arthur and he's been cooing over it all day."

Merlin is an osteologist (or physical anthropologist, if you're from over the pond) far too fascinated with his latest skeleton. In order to find him a man with some flesh still attached to his bones, Gwen and Morgana take him to a fancy dress Halloween party where Merlin has a strange cocktail and things don't go as planned at all.

(Very, very loosely) based on this Kinkmeme prompt: Merlin is the brilliant scientist who creates a (mostly) perfect lover: Arthur.


Review:
I've had a lot of fun reccing "spooky" fics this month, but all good things must come to an end. My apologies for this review being a bit on the short side…things are a little hectic around here at the moment.

One of the fun things about this story is seeing Merlin in a somewhat unique profession as a physical anthropologist, which is something I'm not sure I've seen before. It's interesting to see Merlin in this line of work, and the author incorporates it perfectly. It is an integral part not only of the setting, but of the story. Merlin even mentions Arthur's clavicles in the midst of their lovemaking.

The love scene is tender, and suffused with yearning without losing any of its heat. You can feel Merlin's desperate longing for Arthur, his need to have him in his life. I ached for him when he woke alone, and only the "happy ending" tag kept me going.

Despite the bit of angst (which makes the happy ending all the sweeter), the overall tone of this story is lighthearted and fun. While the main focus of the story is the relationship between Merlin and Arthur, Gwen and Morgana fill an important role in the background and add to the enjoyment. I could absolutely picture Morgana as Morticia. :)

Overall, it was a delightful little Halloween read.

Structural Beauty