Guenevere (WIP)

[Elfwine]

@Kinruush Revenge - successful or otherwise - is definitely going to rock the boat, though.

I’m not arguing over good communication’s importance, I’m just not seeing why a character who is the most likely to be forgiving (“Because Arthur’s pain over what he’s done is more important than my pain.”) would be provoked into thinking favorably of a disruptive, hostile course of action.

Depression and pain? Yeah, this is a perfect “What did I do to make him do this?” scenario. But I don’t think it says “Too kind or good natured to just shout at him”, I think it says too unassertive of her feelings to just shout at him - which is not the same thing at all.

It is a fascinating route to go down, to be sure. But vengefulness does not spring from being accepting of others in itself - though someone who feels they have been too accepting of others might grow bitterly resentful of them while appearing to be nice and forgiving.

That’s all just how it looks to me, I’m not trying to make anyone change their Guen’s decisions, just showing my POV on them.

Speaking for my Guen, I’m not sure what her reaction to Mordred’s birth will be - shock, certainly, but beyond that no. Mordred himself is going to be fairly straight forward (to the extent she knows the truth, of course) - he represents the sort of person who is a threat to the kind of Britain she wants, as well as a personal problem for at least one person close to her.

[Kinruush]

It’s not a matter of being accepting; not really. This Guen would be intentionally swallowing her own pain and avoiding the issue because that’s all she knows how to do. But this issue might be too much for her to ignore. So, without proper coping mechanisms (and an unhealthy aversion to confrontation I’d wager), she takes the train straight to Crazy Town, nursing her resentment until it’s all-consuming. Maybe she starts to tell herself that Arthur did it on purpose. Maybe she starts to see slights where there aren’t any out of paranoia. Regardless, she doesn’t start planning revenge immediately. Well sure, it crosses her mind, but she’s not serious about it. Not at first. After all, Arthur may have hurt her badly, but that doesn’t mean he deserves to have glass ground up and hidden in all his meals so that his insides resemble the aftermath of a wolf in the sheep’s pen. Except that she realizes that she’s trapped. She couldn’t escape Arthur or the product of his infidelity even if she wanted to. So instead, every day, she masks her pain with a smile and greets her husband who, day by day, she slowly comes to associate with not just her broken dreams but also the daily toils that come with her position until she has that homocidal fantasy one day and realizes that it doesn’t sound quite so silly anymore.

Sorry, I kind of took buggygirl’s idea and ran with it.

[lexa]

Since talking about good guens i just felt urged to share my Guen. I have this problem where I can’t mistreat a fictional character unless they ask for it and in this game since they are so nice i can’t mistreat ANYONE. Literally. Everytime i try to be mean it just happens that they do something (mostly Arthur) that makes me want to put them in a box and keep them forever. That, of course, has consequences as my Guen kissed them all for her inability to say no and probably will be discovered later on.

[Elfwine]

@Kinruush I don’t mind you or anyone else running with this, frankly I think it’s fun to read (well, fun in a “Jesus Christ we’re writing some dark stuff here.” sort of way, which is appropriate with adultery - even unintentional adultery).

But it definitely sounds like the aversion to confrontation element rather than the kindness element is making this fester. And that’s probably going to make her revenge especially unpleasant, as she’ll be spending so much time thinking about what she could do that would hurt him, and not letting go and moving on (positively or otherwise) but brooding and obsessing and focusing and fixating and . . . you get the idea.

[jeantown]

@Logan_Chessar Glad you think so!

@anon48296871 Mordred cares a lot more about Guen’s power than he does her age. If she’s uncomfortable with the age gap, he’ll have some suggestions for workarounds.

@Ponku Thanks for the typo report! I went ahead and fixed it in Dropbox, so it should be gone now. Your ?evil? Guen sounds fascinating! I love how much character development you were able to work into just the first book. I’m glad that you noticed the difference in Arthur, and that Mordred’s appearance fit so well – that makes me really happy.

@Logan_Chessar Yes. It won’t be easy, but Guen will be able to have one child, or not, depending on her choices.

@poison_mara At this point I honestly don’t know exactly how Arthur’s character development will play out, but it would indeed be really interesting if his development could affect Guen’s personality or worldview or goals.

@AJ_ eeeeeee Thank you so much for delurking and describing your main Guens! As for recognizing Mordred, he does have a distinctive eye color (for which there will be a specific reason), so a Guen who dreamed about him might notice the similarity in child-Mordred. I don’t think I’ll write a line as explicit as “This child must be the man from my dream,” but I’ll probably give a hint or two to suggest that Guen might be thinking about the possibility. Of course, once he gets older, there will have to be a point at which she does realize for sure that it’s him. Anyway, thanks again for your kind words! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it.

@Illmaster Funny you should mention that… Guen and Lancelot won’t be able to run off together permanently until the end of the series, but shortly after Mordred’s conception, the possibility of Guen having a child with Lancelot may indeed come up. And there may even be some woods involved.

@buggygirl11 That is a really cool interpretation! I very much hope I can enable that kind of character development; it’s certainly my dream. At the very least, I expect I might include a moment toward the end of each part where Guen can once again answer the question “What kind of queen am I?” and then the game will track her different answers as a way to track her development.

I’m enjoying the conversation about kindness leading to resentment leading to evilness, but I’m just going to observe for the moment. (:

@bellamyb hahaha, yes, your Guen may run into some problems down the road if she kissed everyone. But drama can be entertaining; at least, I hope it will be!

[Mirabella]

@jeantown

And there may even be some woods involved.

I think a very specific wood will be involved.

That aside, I think you should put together a FAQ for stuff like kids, Mordred, etc. since this thread has gotten so long that people can’t just go back and find where you’ve answered the questions before.

Oh and I love your idea to ask the “What kind of queen am I?” question at the end of every part. I especially can’t wait to see what that would look like at the very end of the game. Maybe for the final part, you could just ask the question and then not have any options, just end the game there.

[jeantown]

@Mirabella I feel a George Takei “oh myyyyyyyy” coming on…

edit: Wait, did you just edit that emoji sequence to include a CACTUS?!?!?!?!??!

That’s a good idea about the FAQ. I’ll have to figure out where/how to post it… I guess I could just post it in the thread and then link to it every time someone asks a relevant question? And I’m sure one of the mods would be willing to put a link to it in the first post (I wouldn’t put the whole FAQ in the first post, though, since it will contain some spoilers.)

Sooo… folks who have been around for a while, what questions do I keep getting asked? What should go in the FAQ? Here are some off the top of my head:

Will Guen be able to have children?
Will Guen be able to name her child?
Will Guen be able to influence her child’s personality?
Will Mordred be in the story, and will Arthur and Morgana be his parents?
What will Mordred be like?
Will happy endings be possible even though Arthurian stories usually end tragically?
How long will the fae pet stay alive?

(… and I’ll probably also include my now-standard answer to the perpetual “When’s the next update?”)

[Mirabella]

No, it’s bamboo! I couldn’t find a regular tree but apparently they have a bamboo emoji.

[jeantown]

Oh thank the Goddess.

[Elfwine]

@Jeantown I suggest including “What influence can Guen have on (the main three)?” There seems to be a considerable interest in if Guen can change any or all of Arthur, Lancelot, and Morgana - specifically Arthur’s "hardening’ and what that may mean, which might merit an entry on its own.

[Mirabella]

Common questions, let’s see…

• Guen’s age by the end of the game
• Will Merlin keep showing up
• How evil can Guen be

I’m tired, that’s all I’ve got.

Edit: Oh and you can probably post it on your tumblr if you don’t want all the spoilers in the thread.

[Mirabella]

@buggygirl11 @Elfwine @Kinruush In most cases of mood disorders, personality disorders, etc. there’s a genetic factor and an environmental factor. Stuff like chronic depression, paranoia, etc. usually doesn’t happen if the person isn’t genetically predisposed towards it. At the same time, even if a person is genetically predisposed, they might not develop any disorders if they are brought up in a loving home and don’t go through any sort of severe trauma or emotional repression in their lives. So buggygirl11’s Guen could totally happen.

[Illmaster]

Yay! I love lance and I love woods and I love the possibility of having babies with “fae lit blue eyes”.

[Elfwine]

@Mirabella I’m sure it could happen, I’m just not seeing the link between “nice” and this path. But it’s not a whit less interesting for that.

[WulfyK]

Maybe you could even add it to the game itself, as a temporal page in the stats.

[LanaRose]

So two of the three possible romantic interests lead to the birth of Mordred. My Guen, despite her love for Arthur, is probably going to jump into Lance’s arms for at least one night after that. I mean this is hoping that by this point he hasn’t also done something to betray her trust.

[Logan_Chessar]

Are you going to make it a possibility that guen can have a kid with Auther

[brandizzle93]

I dying for this game to be completed. I really can’t wait to give you all of my money.

[buggygirl11]

@Elfwine I imagine that part of the problem is “Why in God’s name is a Guen that’s turning evil titled Goodie-Goodie Guen?” Well, I created that title BEFORE I ever planned on her going over to the dark side; it has to do with her original personality in Book I/Book II, NOT the one she will develop. I talked about that more in a prior post, which I copied and pasted part of here.

(Note that “mental breakdown” at this point meant crying/sobbing/freaking out-NOT descent into evil.)

"Goodie-Goodie Guen was unhappy about being forced to leave home to marry a stranger, but quickly fell hopelessly in love with Arthur. She’s not stupid, but has a childlike immaturity. For example, she realized bringing the sheep into the castle was a bad idea, but quickly forgot her misgivings when she began chasing and playing with the cute little sheep. Goodie-Goodie Guen has easily forgiven Arthur for his mistakes so far, as they’ve mostly been accidents, but Mordred’s conception will likely be her breaking point. I’m picturing a mental breakdown here, made worse by the fact that she considers Morgana her best friend.
Goodie-Goodie Guen believes in Arthur’s vision wholeheartedly, and wants to do everything she can to achieve it.
In Part II, Goodie-Goodie Guen is going to Michaelsmount to save her husband from being maimed, and sent Lancelot to make peace with Frankmarch."

Come to think of it, she might need a new title now…

As @Kinruush said, Currently Titleless Guen will not be turning vindictive overnight, or even in Book III at all. Book III will only be the start of her journey; she’s not descending into full-blown cackling villainy just yet. By the time she DOES get to that point when she’s planning vengeance seriously (as opposed to a passing revenge fantasy in her mind) her hatred for Arthur will be such that she really won’t care about “rocking the boat” anymore.

Also, to clarify, Currently Titleless Guen won’t be turning evil because she’s “too nice,” she’ll be turning evil because her anger and bitterness will fester inside her until it consumes everything good about her. That much anger, when you try to ignore it and hide it rather than deal with it, can turn UGLY. (Believe me, I know. Been there, done that.)

[poison_mara]

I love your character development idea. It is really credible for me. I just think what I could rp in a similar situation. This is just some suggestions for you , feel free to ignore them If you like.

-If I were your Guen I would be angry for Arthur for being a coward and don’t recognize Mordred and Let Lot carry the “problem” away. A real knight could suffer the consequences of his actions not hide his stuff under the carpet. He is so hippie but whe s**t hit the fan he acts as a liar hypocrit.

For a Guen like this that first doesnt want marry a unknown guy and then fall for the innocent good guy. I could imagine end thinking if he could let his first son being away with another name given to him, a son that he had with his half sister… I wonder if I could believe anything he could say me Anymore, anger betrayal and rage… And of course jealousy, if he has banged her own sister who couldn’t he flirt with? And what he could do to my children if he doesn’t like my heirs… or if I have no children soon…
Maybe a fear of that kind could become your Guen more ruthless. Just my thoughts.