[Arthurian Lit] Le Chevalier Mal Fet

[danse_amore]

Title: Le Chevalier Mal Fet (The Ill-Made Knight)
Fandom/Pairing: Arthurian literature, Gawain/Lancelot
Wordcount: ~4000
Disclaimer: Um, as far as I know the Arthurian legends aren't copyrighted, but much of my inspiration and characterization comes from T. H White's The Once and Future King.
Warnings: Suicide themes, scarring, mention of self-

Comments

[macbyrne]

I loved this; what I know of Arthurian legend is based on Disney's Sword in the Stone (try not to laugh!!) so I'm swimming in unchartered waters here, but I loved the inevitability of it, how no matter what they do, they're destined to play out their roles, which is so sad, and yet, as Gawain seems to feel, almost freeing. I really, really enjoyed this. Great job.

[danse_amore]

Thank you so much! I won't laugh, but I will suggest you read The Once and Future King, because it's absolutely brilliant (although a million pages long) and is technically what Sword in the Stone is based on (as much as any Disney film is based on anything). It establishes a lot of the things that I take as canon and that later works often do as well, and though it's not as widely respected as Mallory it is much more fun to read.

I'm really glad that Gawain's voice was believable. This is only the third time I've written in this fandom, and the two comment-fics I did before this were both from Lancelot's POV, so I was a little nervous about the style.

[macbyrne]

Already requested it from the library!! Thanks so much, I can't wait to try it!

[leavesoflorien]

Oh this is wonderful! I absolutely love it. You captured a lot of T.H. White's characterization (minus Gawain's brogue, which is kind of unnecessary). This story is heartbreaking, but comforting at the same time. How do you do that? You should always be writing Lancelot/Gawain, because seriously...

Even the non-initiated love it! (macbyrne)

[danse_amore]

Hee! Yay! ::does a little dance:: I'm so glad you like it.

Yeah, I actually considered doing the brogue, but I felt like a) it would tie me too much to White's characterizations, because I was also giving them a little bit of my own spin, and b) it would be really annoying to write out.

...I love you! ♥

And hopefully the uninitiated shall be initiated soon! ::grins::

[igrab]

So, I've been about twenty pages or so into The One and Future King for a while now, and I love it, but then I got distracted by other things. I think I definitely need to pick it back up again now!

And anyway this is beautiful.

[danse_amore]

You definitely should, although the canon of this doesn't match the canon of The Once and Future King much at all, it's mostly the personalities that I stole, and there's only the barest subtext between Gawain and Lancelot.

Lancelot/Arthur, however, is ridiculously blatant.