i'm a badger primary model/bird secondary and u just blew the top off of my ongoing arthurian phase. it all makes sense now: king arthur is my comfort character. given the fanfic nature of the legend, which texts/adaptations are yr favourites to base sortings off of? and i'd love to hear more about maximum tragedy lion badger guinevere :eyesemoji:
I love the fanfic nature of the Arthur legend. Lancelot was an OC added way after the fact, and Galahad was an OC added after him (and was always a little too OP, to be honest.) Sir Gawain doesnāt have anything to do with the main story, but heās the fan favorite so heās always there anyway. He also stars in the super cool Song of Roland/Legend of Arthur crossover fic Orlando InnamoratoĀ (sadly abandoned. But picked up later by another author and the ending he wrote wasĀ awesome.)
Morgan le Fay is technically a gender swap, since Geoffrey of Monmouth either didnāt know that Morgan was a male name in Wales or figured since there was already a male magic user, a female magic user might be fun. Sheās a good guy when Geoffrey andĀ ChrĆ©tien write about her, but Malory headcanoned her as a villain, and Le Morte d'Arthur was a super influential fic, so she stayed that way until Tennysonās Idylls of the King. Tennyson couldnāt resist a pretty magical lady I guess.Ā
I love Arthurian retellings. Iāve seen... a lot. Camelot (1967) was my introduction, and the characterizations there mostly come fromĀ The Once and Future King. But for me, the gold standard will always be Mary Stewartās books. I have never seen better historical fantasy, ever. They lean into the post-Roman Britain origins of the story, hard. And theyāre so damn beautiful. Merlin is the POV character of the first three, and his magic is so bound up with him that sometimes heās not sure if heās actually using it or not... and Mordred is the POV character in the last one, and heās so practical and stripped down and defensive - and so compelling. No one is really the villain, which I always, always appreciate.Ā
Lancelot, when you get him down to basics, is a knight who has to choose between his cause and the woman he loves, and chooses his lady. Thatās a Snake/Lion at war with a Lion primary model. Arthur is the king who wants to bring peace to his land by starting an organization, giving his knights rules to live by, and and prompting them to solve conflicts by talking across a round table where symbolically everyone is equal. So a Badger Bird.
Guinevere is complicated. I think that sheās in love with both of them. She loves Arthur for his ideals, and the way he grounds her and makes her better - but she loves Lancelot because he gets her. Being with him is a release. I think if sheās a Badger Lion who shares a primary with Arthur and a secondary with Lancelot, that communicates this idea pretty well.Ā
(next phase of Arthur fandom: Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere OT3. Fingers crossed!)Ā


















