Guenevere (WIP)

[_deltarhythm]

This is not a political forum, so I’m not going to say anything about politics. (especially since i’m still not done picking at my fanart!)

I will say, I love arthuriana. None of it is canon, and all of it is canon. The game you’re writing is every bit as canon as D’arthur, as Once and Future, as The Mists. And just by contributing feedback, we’re all sort of contributing to Arthurian canon as fans, in our own little way! Which is how myths and legends are supposed to be. They’re collaborative. They’re this gelatinous, amalgamate thing that builds up over centuries.

A lot of people probably think Guenevere is outrageously, revolutionary progressive in comparison to the rest Arthurian Legend, for including people of color, for including a girl that kicks ass, for including lgbt people. Honestly, the best part is it’s… really not? Since the medieval ages, Arthurian legend has sported gay knights (Galehaut), arab muslim immigrants (PALOMEDES <333), black knights (Morien!) and… vaguely feminist themes, I guess, if you want to think of Ragnell as a parable on the importance of a woman’s agency, instead of a hilarious proto-pixar retroactive shrek parody.

Oh, and T.H. White was gay.

If you look at his notes, he was also pretty sure Lancelot was gay:

> “17. Homosexual? Can a person be ambi-sexual–bisexual or whatever? His treatment of young boys like Gareth and Cote Male Tale is very tender and his feeling for Arthur profound.”

And yet, somehow, it seems that as time goes on we’ve only seen less and less of these themes, these marginalized demographics, in modern Arthurian media. The Moriens and Galehauts and Ragnells have been quietly scrubbed away. Until now. Now, we have Guenevere. That’s the magic of myth. It’s malleable. Our beloved Palomedeses, our bisexual Lancelots, we can bring them back! We can reintroduce them into canon.

Progress can slowed, it can sometimes be halted, it can even, in the worst of times, stumble backwards. And yet it marches, inexorably, on. There are things that can censored, erased, and surpressed, but not forever.

[lexa]

Bisexual Lancelot is my aesthetic.

[sirgalahad]

@_deltarhythm White basically just straight out wrote Lancelot as being in love with both Guen and Arthur, it was so great.

[jeantown]

@_deltarhythm Many, many thanks for that. Because of my autism, I often feel helpless to make the world a better place; most days it takes everything I have just to get myself to work and keep myself healthy. In the past I’ve tried to do more activist-type things and charity work, but those kinds of activities are so overwhelming for me that they genuinely threaten my ability to function (plus I often feel like I’m making things worse rather than better – for example, when I worked in a homeless shelter, my social awkwardness made everyone think I didn’t like them.) It seems like the best thing I personally can do to fight the darkness is to try to create stories that make space for underrepresented experiences and identities, insofar as I’m able. I want to keep getting better at that.

[matt_smith]

You’re autistic? Me too. You have my heart felt respect for writing something so amazing that… I can’t put into words how amazing it is.(seriously I just tried)

[jeantown]

Thank you, and ASD solidarity!

[derekmetaltron]

I’m dyslexic, which I know can be nothing quite as effecting, but I respect anyone who has to deal with that and is still able to craft a world an game series as awesome as you are, Jean.

[Cecilia_Rosewood]

silent supportive nudge

[Savriss]

I’d never heard of Palomedes in Arthurian legend. I recognised the name from Greek mythology and so was curious about this and it lead to a lovely expansion of knowledge.

Thank you!

[_deltarhythm]

@Savriss

I’d never heard of Palomedes in Arthurian legend. I recognised the name from Greek mythology and so was curious about this and it lead to a lovely expansion of knowledge.

Thank you!

Haha, thank you for taking an interest! If you’d like to see him in-game, Morgana rounds him up to do some translation work.

@Lexa

Bisexual Lancelot is my aesthetic.

Sure, sure!

But have you considered...

Tristram/Palomides/Iseult. We’ll call it isueltramedes. Quick, someone summon the fanfic writers…

[jeantown]

@derekmetaltron @Cecilia_Rosewood Thank you both!

@_deltarhythm BISEXUAL PALOMEDES MADE MY DAY and I almost never use all caps, so you know it’s true. I now deeply regret making my Palomedes more of a distinguished older gentleman, and I wish I could make isueltramedes canon. Somebody write this please. Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve wavered back and forth between saying that Tristan and Iseult are just a legend in my Guenverse, and saying that they’re the previous generation. So if they’re previous generation, maybe my Palomedes did know them in his youth… hm…

[sirgalahad]

Arthuriana is ripe as hell for poly couples. Pretty much because it’s all love triangles or love squares that can be easily solved by it. (The core love issue is ridiculous in and of itself, we got Guen/Lance/Arthur, Galehaut and Lance, Elaine 1 and 2, sometimes Morgause or Morgana are added, sometimes Kay is in love with Guen, etc, etc…)

I’m personally a big fan of Ragnelle/Gawain/Green Knight/GK’s-wife-of-various-names.

[HereticMole]

So, I’m back after a long time. I played Part II, so far the Frankish intrigue is good, the options for escaping the boat were good, deciding what to do with Lancelot and the spell was great, and holy shit those branching paths at the end.

TRUST:
Arthur: 13
Lancelot: 20
Morgana: 18
SKILLS:
Sword: 31
Leadership: 26
Light Magic: 0
Dark Magic: 2
REPUTATION:
Kind: 3
Brave: 26
Stubborn: 2
Convivial: 12
Intelligent: 12
Responsible: 9

So taking the “kind but bloodthirsty” Guen through Part II, I wounded Meligaunt, said no to Grimald’s deal, saved her own skin, er, I mean left Morgana behind when escaping, said to Lance “I made myself clear three years ago, yes we can still be friendly, and we’re going to stop that spell.”

Ultimately, I sent Lance to stir up unrest in Frankmarch to take out a potential threat while I went to Camelot to Save Lives and Kick Butt through Superior Swashbuckling and Tactics. I decided to go that way because there was only so much to allocate. Splitting up to do two objectives means that at least she could take out two birds with one stone.

Going to find Morgana could leave her with little time to make a decision, and Guen knows she can take care of herself. (besides, reading that post about if you find Morgana, you’ll be locked into a path did influence my decision) Michaelsmount was a hard choice, but she decided that the needs of the many take precedence over the needs of the few, no matter how important they were, and even if Frankmarch were resolved with one side holding power, Grimald will act like Grimald or, if Radagund was queen, some in her court wouldn’t be happy with her idealism and lobby everyone else to take actions that would undermine Britain.

Now I feel like going through another playthrough, with a Guen who’s an honest jerk. I envision her being like “Yeah, I know your opinion, we can agree to disagree, but I don’t like it, want no part of it, and want to change it if possible,” and “I know you said never to kill in cold blood, but I did it, and at least I was honest.” She definitely won’t act “evil” to the characters, either in the Lannister way or the “Captain Evulz who kills cute pets for a living” and wants to act like a challenge to their ideals and Arthur’s rule, believing that all people face obstacles, and it’s their job to overcome them to get their fulfillment in life.

[Mim]

I feel like most of my random questions in relation to the Guenverse are aesthetics.

SO:

Are piercings a thing in current Guen day and age?

As such, within the noble folk, not just some outlandish crude thing (“Oh did you hear Lady Yvette of Frankmarch took on a boorish lover, pierced her nose with a pike she did”) but associated with the fancy royalty, etc, as fashion or so on, and if so, other than earrings?

I’m just head cannon-ing a Guen at the moment, and I can’t make her bald, so I wanna know if I can cover her with metal instead. (Let’s ignore practicality for the moment)

Also- if Guen were to die, for any off reason, before having an heir, what would Arthur do? Would he have to marry that other chicky, or what?

Hypothetically, of course. ^^

[Asura]

@Mim

Would he have to marry that other chicky, or what?

Hypothetically, of course. ^^

And what other chicky might this be?

[jeantown]

@sirgalahad yes please

@HereticMole Yay! Glad you enjoyed part 2.1, and many thanks for posting the stats. Honest Jerk Guen sounds fun to play – I wonder what sort of trust stats she’d end up with… I do want to go back and add more variation to the NPCs reactions in part 1 someday.

@Mim

Are piercings a thing in current Guen day and age?

Hm, I hadn’t really thought of it. I think I’m going to say that piercings and tattoos are, for the most part, one of the visual details that I invite you to imagine as you like, along with most elements of the NPCs’ appearances. One of Lancelot’s moms has canon face tattoos, but other than that, piercings and tattoos don’t seem to get mentioned. And I did feel bad about forcing Guen to have hair for plot purposes, by the way. But at least her hair length and style is never specified.

@Mim

if Guen were to die, for any off reason, before having an heir, what would Arthur do?

He would probably have to marry someone else, though given the Romano-Saxons’ behavior, it almost certainly wouldn’t be Julia. Most likely candidate might actually be Elaine? Hypothetically, of course.

[thatdodgymoggie]

So what was up with Meligaunt’s question to Guen (would your father have sold you to any man who held the crown of this country?) - was he trying to frighten her or flirt with her? Both?
ETA: maybe he’s trying to make her angry. That feels more likely.

[Asura]

@thatdodgymoggie

So what was up with Meligaunt’s question to Guen (would your father have sold you to any man who held the crown of this country?) - was he trying to frighten her or flirt with her? Both?
ETA: maybe he’s trying to make her angry. That feels more likely.

Meligaunt: Would your father have sold you to any man who held the crown of this country?

Guen: You’re making me angry, Meligaunt. You won’t like me when I’m angry…

[derekmetaltron]

Guen: “Puny Giant.”

[Lys]

ponders

Guen: Morgana, I need your help.

Morgan: Sure, Guen. What can I do you for? Who do you need to have a rain of leeches fall upon?

Guen: What? No. Not that kind of help. You know, I’ve been with Arthur a while, and we’ve been trying to have a child…

Morgan: Say no more. Merlin has some anatomically correct finger puppets. You can use them to teach Arthur what he needs to learn.

Guen: No, no. Arthur’s…um…fine in that department. I just want to know if there is something you can magically do to help us.

Morgana: Oh, a fertility potion? Well, there are two kinds of potions here.

Guen: What’s in them?

Morgana: The first is sugar and spice and everything nice.

Guen: And the second?

Morgana: Snips and snails and puppy dog tails. I know, the apothecary was running low on the ingredients at the time.