Ship Manifesto, Arthur x Lancelot
Apr. 6th, 2007 08:55 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
sasha-b.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ship_manifestoI know my essay isn't technically due until April 28th, but I had a spurt of ... imagination ... and wrote it. Here it is.
Title: Arthur and Lancelot, or The Armor Factor in Action
Author: Ashley/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sasha_b
Fandom: King Arthur (2004 Film)
Pairing: Arthur Castus and Lancelot
Spoilers: For the whole film.
Word Count: 4800, counting coding.
Warnings: There's "language" in this essay.
Disclaimer: This version of the Arthur myth does not belong to me. I just play here.
Notes: This manifesto is based on the pairing of Arthur and Lancelot as portrayed by Clive Owen and Ioan Gruffudd, respectively. It is not legend based.
Feedback would be love.
Having read through some of the previous entries here, I’m a bit nervous at posting my own words. What I’ll try to do with my alloted space is to tell you a bit about my OTP, Arthur and Lancelot from the 2004 film King Arthur, why I fell in total love with them, give you some background about their characters, and then some sources and places to find more information about them. I also tend to ramble on and on about the wonderful thing that is A/L, so try not to blank out while reading, okay?
*deep breath* Hi! I’m Ashley, and I’m a rabid Arthur/Lancelot shipper. *laughs* Okay. So for those of you who don’t know anything about what I’m drooling about, here’s a bit of background information on the film and my involvement in it.
In the summer of 2004 Touchstone Pictures released a big screen “new” version of the King Arthur myth, starring Clive Owen and Ioan Gruffudd as the aforementioned Arthur and Lancelot. This version is classified as “new” because it stripped all of the magic and well-known mythology out of the legend and presented the old tale in a way no one had ever done before.
Lucius Artorius Castus (the name given Arthur in some of the shooting scripts and the novel) is the commander of a group of Sarmatian cavalry conscripts, men taken from their homes by the Roman Empire to fulfill a pact made between the Sarmatian elders and Marcus Aurelius. Fifteen years of service to Rome, live to see the end, and then get your papers of freedom.
Arthur starts with 100 knights, and finishes with 6 - and while this isn't made clear in the film, it is in the novelization.
Lancelot (he doesn’t get a last name) is Arthur’s second in command. He is brash, inquisitive, argumentative, annoying, a whiz swordsman and so obviously Arthur’s bitch that even the blindest of us can’t ignore that, even if you don’t look for slash in their relationship.
The first example of this is the conversation between the two men as they are riding back to their garrison after the first battle in the film. This is the first real conversation the audience is privy to between the boys, and it’s very telling.
Lancelot: And what will you do, Arthur, when you return to your beloved Rome?
Arthur: Give thanks to God that I survived to see it.
Lancelot: (makes a sarcastic noise) You and your God. You disturb me.
Arthur: I want peace, Lancelot. I’ve had enough. (pause) You should visit me.
Lancelot: Tah (looks away).
Arthur: It’s a magnificent place, Rome. Ordered, civilized, advanced –
Lancelot: The breeding ground of arrogant fools?
Arthur: The greatest minds in all the lands have come together in one sacred place to help make mankind free.
Lancelot: (leans over conspiratorially) …and the women?
What’s sad is I can quote this scene by heart.
By the books it looks just like a conversation between two close friends. However, the whole “you should visit me,” thing…what Roman commander would say that to his Sarmatian conscript lieutenant?
The tone of Lancelot's voice is also interesting. It's angry, but wistful. He obviously wants to know what Arthur actually thinks - but given his comments, it's also obvious he knows what Arthur will say. It seems they've had this conversation, or one very like it, before.
It gets better.
The visiting Bishop Germanus (Rome’s toady – blech!) has come to issue the knights their papers of freedom – but not without a cost. They are to travel north to save a prominent Roman family from the Saxon incursion that is beginning to sweep inland, destroying everything in its path.
Arthur about has an apoplectic fit when he’s told this, alone. “Tell me, Bishop. How do I go to my men, and tell them that instead of freedom, I offer death?” He loves those boys. In the fandom, a lot of writers assume that Arthur’s father instilled a love of loyalty and brotherhood in him, and push that point home in developing his character. Arthur is a true believer in honesty, loyalty, and not fucking people over. His actions in this scene are very indicative of that character trait.
So he gets to tell the knights that they have one more mission to fulfill for Rome. They don’t take it well, but they take it, because he’s Arthur and they love him. He’s the only Roman that has ever stood up for them or cared about what happened to them, so in turn he’s earned their (slightly begrudging) respect.
Lancelot – ah, this is one of my favorite scenes. Arthur speaks to each knight, asking them singly if they’ll come with him on the mission, if they haven’t already agreed to it. Except…he doesn’t ask Lancelot.
Dark broody eyes follow Arthur’s exit from the commons, and next we cut to:
Arthur in the stables, angrily praying for safety for his knights and offering his life in exchange for theirs so they may taste “the freedom that has so long been denied them.”
Lancelot: Why do you always talk to God, and not to me? Oh, pray, to whomever you pray that we don’t cross the Saxons.
Arthur: My faith is what protects me, Lancelot. Why do you challenge this?
Lancelot: (pause) I don’t like anything that puts a man on his knees.
Sure, you don't, Lancelot. With this simple exchange, they have established one of the main points of contention between them, and Lancelot's closeness and body language shows his simmering anger and his readiness to rip Arthur a new one. He's had it by this point, and wants Arthur to do something that makes sense for once.
By this point in the film, I was watching the conversation between the two men like I was watching a tennis match. It was very hard to figure out who was trying to convince who of what. Clive Owen, who normally plays subtle and hard to guess, is very open in this scene as Arthur, obvious in his love for his lieutenant, desperately wanting Lancelot to offer to come, to understand Arthur’s reasons for accepting the last order from Rome.
Ioan Gruffudd, on the other hand, is all growly subtext as Lancelot, with huge eyebrow acting and hand flailing and super breath-taking expression and his body! Sinewy to the point of ridiculousness. You can’t help but think that Arthur would be a fool to not have this man at his side. Talk to him! Persuade him! Who cares about pride? The two actors’ chemistry is palpable and Arthur and Lancelot’s pain in regards to what they see as each other’s idiosyncrasies is beautiful and well represented. I just want to squeeze them to death and knock their heads together at the same time.
The rest of this scene is an argument that Arthur of course wins. There’s a point in the middle of it where Lancelot has sat down, and he pinches the bridge of his nose in his fingers, and you can just see his thought process, which to me would be something like this.
Fucker. I have to go, now. He’ll get killed without me watching his back. Besides, it’s not like I’d let him go alone. Stupid Roman bastard, he'll do something dumb and I'll have to live alone, without him.
By the time he’s sat down, Lancelot, in my opinion, has already decided to go with Arthur. He just doesn’t want to give in to Arthur so easily.
Arthur: Lancelot. We are knights. What other purpose do we serve if not for such a cause?
Lancelot: Arthur, you fight for a world that will never exist. Never. There will always be a battlefield.
And yet he stands and agrees, albeit silently, to go with him. Arthur didn't have to ask Lancelot to go. He knew he would. I think he felt horrid guilt for it, knowing how Lancelot feels about Rome and Romans, but because he's Arthur's lieutenant and because Arthur needs him, Lancelot knows he must follow.
They are separated by a beam of wood, and both men stare at each other, each one leaning on the wood.
Lancelot: (resigned) I will die in battle. Of that I’m certain. And hopefully a battle of my choosing. But should it be this one, grant me a favor. Don’t bury me in our sad little cemetery. Burn me. Burn me and cast my ashes to a strong East wind.
He purses his lips and their eyes burn holes in each other. Then, smirking tiredly once at Arthur, Lancelot exits the stables, leaving Arthur to tilt his head and follow Lancelot’s wake with his thoughts.
It’s so great.
Basically the rest of the film involves Arthur and his knights rescuing the family, meeting up with Guinevere (boo!) in the process, who turns out to be a Woad princess who some in the fandom think is Merlin’s daughter.
Arthur and Lancelot rescue her from the dungeons at the Roman villa, along with a small boy named Lucan, both of them having been jailed there for being “pagan” and not willing to be serfs to the owner of the land, Marius Honorius.
This Guinevere is a feisty warrior, and has one goal. Get Arthur or Lancelot to agree to help her and her people fight against Rome and the invading Saxon to help protect the land, the only thing she holds dear.
Guinevere: Arthur and his knights. A leader both Briton and Roman. And yet you chose your allegiance to Rome. To those that take what does not belong to them. That same Rome that took your men from their homeland.
Arthur: Listen, lady, do not pretend that you know anything about me or my men.
Guinevere: How many Britons have you killed?
Arthur: As many as tried to kill me. It’s the natural state of any man to want to live.
Guinevere: Animals live. It’s the natural state of any man to want to live free. In his own country. I belong to this land. Where do you belong, Arthur?
Arthur won’t admit that her words have some sort of calling to him – he’s the son of a Briton and a Roman and with both parents dead, has no place he calls home, besides with his knights. And with them going home as soon as they arrive back at the garrison….
Guinevere tries this same tactic with Lancelot later, and he won't fall for it. The only thing he cares about is getting back alive, and keeping Arthur alive. He begins to resent Guinevere, as Arthur slowly becomes a believer in her passion, especially after the patriarch of the Honorius family turns out to be a traitor and Arthur finds out his beloved mentor, Pelagius, was executed in Rome a year previous for treason. Arthur is stunned and almost doesn’t find a way out of this overwhelming shock. He's a believer in the goodness of humanity, remember?
As they ride back to the garrison, Arthur’s pain, which he doesn’t share with Lancelot because he knows the other man will berate him for believing in Rome in the first place, seems to be fixable only by finding a ‘cause’ and helping people that cannot help themselves. Arthur is idealistic to the end, and as he finds out, sometimes to a fault. He is willing to sacrifice himself and those around him for what he sees as the greater good, and after discovering his beloved Rome has betrayed him and his men by lying to them all this time about what the might of the Empire has actually been used for, Arthur decides to stay with the Britons and fight against the Saxon invasion, despite his own freedom being granted and his men finally being given their papers of release.
The trip back to the Wall is painfully hilarious and heartbreaking, as we see Arthur’s final betrayal (yes, even he can betray) of Lancelot and of his men for the chance to have something to believe in. If he’d only have realized that his knights, and Lancelot, were enough of a cause….*sigh* Lancelot gradually pulls away from Arthur and watches from a distance as Arthur is drawn into Guinevere’s plan and remains stoically distant from it all. One of my favorite exchanges between Lancelot and Guinevere is during a night sequence where the knights and the people they have taken from the Honorius estate are camping for the evening. Guinevere has approached Lancelot, trying again to get him to see her side in terms of supporting her people – by drawing comparisons between herself and the Sarmatian.
She fails.
At last she asks him:
Guinevere: No family, no religion. Do you believe in anything at all?
Lancelot: (he sighs, and looks towards where Arthur lays sleeping) I would have left you and the boy there to die.
He strides off into the snow, ostensibly to check the camp perimeter or some such knightly thing. Later on that night, he watches as Arthur follows Guinevere into the forest, and smiles to himself. He knows it’s too late, and Arthur is lost to him.
He touches the only thing he has left from home, an animal pendant he wears that his sister had given him on the day of his conscription. He is truly alone, now.
*sob*
My other favorite scene between Arthur and Lancelot occurs the night before the huge battle with the Saxons, who have followed the knights and the people back to the garrison, intent on taking the Roman fortress for themselves. This scene to me is the ultimate expression of love from Lancelot – he knowingly lets Arthur do something rash and stupid because he understands the man – and also makes a decision that will alter his life.
Arthur has bid farewell to his knights on the battlements, after deciding to stay and fight for the people of Britain. Guinevere is with him (actually, their sex scene was interrupted by someone pounding on Arthur's door to have him come to the battlements), and Arthur descends purposefully to the ground floor of the garrison, having said his goodbyes and after making his decision. Lancelot shakes his head while Arthur is declaring his thanks. “Knights…my journey with you must end here. May God go with you.”
Lancelot meets Guinevere’s eyes, and he shoots her a murderous gaze, then springs into action after Arthur.
Lancelot: (following Arthur down the battlement stairs) Arthur. This is not Rome’s fight. This is not *your* fight. All these long years, we’ve been together. The trials we’ve faced, the blood we’ve shed. What was it all for, if not for the reward of freedom?
(Lancelot’s voice has gotten louder and angrier, while Arthur keeps walking, refusing to look at his friend, his face a mask of stone.)
And now when we are so close, now when it is finally within our grasp – look at me!
Lancelot grabs Arthur’s arm and spins him around. Arthur stares at Lancelot, pain in his expression.
Lancelot: Does it all count for nothing?
Arthur: (stunned) You ask me that? You who know me best of all? (he resumes his stride.)
Lancelot: (runs in front of Arthur and stops him again). Then do not do this! (he’s yelling by now, his face contorted with anger and hurt) Only certain death awaits you here – Arthur – I beg you, for our friendship’s sake, I beg you –
Arthur: (grasping Lancelot’s neck) You be my friend now, and do not dissuade me. Seize the freedom you have earned and live it for the both of us. I cannot follow you, Lancelot! I now know that all the blood I have shed, all the lives I have taken, have led me to this moment.
Lancelot and Arthur stare at each other for a heartbeat. At last, Lancelot nods wearily. Arthur’s hands cup Lancelot’s face, and he walks away, his hand and arm sliding over Lancelot’s chest. Lancelot reaches for Arthur’s arm, but it slips from his grasp. He exhales into the sky, and cants his gaze to follow Arthur.
Seriously. How can you not love them? Lancelot, scrappy little sidekick, loves his commander so much that he’d risk having an argument in front of hundreds of people (not that he cares, but Arthur might) to try and convince Arthur to – for once in his life – not do something suicidal. For the sake of our friendship. For the sake of us.
And Arthur? Touching his friend intimately, one last time. Just awful. I wanted to chase after Arthur myself. What kind of fool chooses a fight he can't win over love?
In the theatrical cut of the film, after this sequence, there's a scene with Arthur standing alone in the main hall, looking over maps of the fortress. He looks up suddenly, and scans the Round Table, and peruses each seat. Each empty seat. He's alone, he knows it, and yet he still does what he considers noble, despite his closest friend begging for him to live his life and his earned freedom.
This period in the movie is the most fought over and fan fic'ed sequence in the whole thing. How could Arthur, no matter how stoic and stupid, stay and fight this battle, and not see his knights once more? How can he not spend the evening with his closest friend, his lieutenant and blood brother and (in my opinion, of course) lover? Idiot! There are a ton of stories out there that tell many many versions of this night. It's quite fun to search and see just how many differing opinions people have.
On the morning of the final battle, the knights realize that they owe Arthur their loyalty and allegiance (dummies) and stay and fight with him against the Saxons. Lancelot is the first to ride to Arthur’s side, and damned if they don’t look as pleased as punch to see each other. I was waiting for them to kiss, really. Clive Owen and his green puppy eyes of death just about rip my heart out when he reacts to Lancelot staying. And Lancelot's little smirk. Hoo boy.
Lancelot saves Guinevere from a gruesome death, sacrificing himself in the process. He sees her being attacked, and glances on the battlefield between Guinevere’s loosing fight, and Arthur’s battle with a Saxon. Choosing to save Guinevere, because he knows, or believes, Arthur needs her, because Arthur without a cause just does not work.
Another reason to rail at the screenwriters and shake Lancelot until his teeth rattle. Stupid man!
Arthur’s line at Lancelot’s crumpled body is a heartbreaker.
Arthur: (sobbing, screaming up at the heavens) It was my life to be taken! Not this! Never this!
Later when the survivors bring the body of Tristan to where Arthur is kneeling with Lancelot’s body and Guinevere, he sobs again.
Arthur: My brave knights, I have failed you. I have neither gotten you off this island, nor shared your fate.
Too late, Arthur.
Despite the historical inaccuracies and the sometimes uneven acting and hokey script, King Arthur sucked me in from my first viewing because of one thing.
Arthur and Lancelot.
So, why Arthur and Lancelot?
In the fandom, there are many OTP’s. Arthur and Lancelot, Gawain and Galahad, Bors and ….ew. At any rate, there are many great characters and reasons to pick certain ones.
I saw the movie for the first time on opening day, July 7th of 2004, and immediately went back the next day. I didn’t start life as an Arthur/Lancelot devotee. I loved the characters and thought they were suspiciously attracted to one another, but I started out writing het or general fic in this fandom - my first long fic was an Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot piece which I'm still amazed I wrote.
I started my own Yahoo! forum for the movie seven days after seeing it, and it now boasts over 700 members from all over the world.
In December of that same year I was surfing on LJ and came across an ad for a new Role Play game run by a girl calleddea_liberty. She was advertising for character sign ups for a game based on the King Arthur movie. I thought, genius! and after long thought, applied for Arthur. I had wanted Lancelot at first, but seeing Dea was playing him already, I thought I’d try the big cheese – I had written several fics featuring him, and was beginning to see that I had much too much in common with the upright and annoyingly loyal commander.
Luckily for me they accepted my app, and lo and behold I was playing in an RP game for the first time since I was in high school and played D and D and Vampire the Masquerade.
Dea had told me from the beginning she was an A/L shipper, and although I hadn’t written slash in the fandom, I had in others, and thought, well, I can see it, so okay, I’ll try it.
Three years and more than 50 plus stories later, I am completely and totally in love with my OTP and it’s all pretty much due to one RPG and months of watching and re-watching the damn movie.
Dea encouraged me to write my own KA slash, and thus spawned a monster.
I’m still not sure I can pinpoint *exactly* what made me love the complicated heartbreak that is Arthur and Lancelot. It has to do with a number of things, including the fact that I’m a huge fan of angst (which they have in spades) and I’m also a fan of unrequited lust or longing. Hurt/comfort fic also abounds in this universe, and it’s ripe for all kinds of possible story lines and AU’s and you name it.
I can, after thinking about it, boil it down to mostly these things.
Arthur is me. His violent belief in the inherent goodness of mankind, and his refusal to see evil until almost too late rings too true for me. He’s innocent goodness personified, and he ends up paying for it in spades. He is handsome, heroic, painfully broken, an excellent leader, and he screams for love and loyalty without saying a word. I’m not saying I’m just like him, but his personality and mine are too similar for my tastes. I’ve been writing him now for three years, and I can catch his character with my eyes closed. I’m not bragging - I just know him that well, because I took the time to get to know him, and in turn, learned to love him desperately despite – or perhaps because of – his flaws.
Lancelot. *sigh* He is complicated, and beautiful, and angry and sad and wanting and flawed and he’s the bestest. knight. ever. He will do whatever it takes to protect Arthur, including fighting for a cause not his own, and he will die for something he sees as true and worthy. He's a knight with a capital K, despite desperately not wanting to be.
I have/had a really close friend that I met through my yahoo group. She was so much like Lancelot it was scary. Our friendship was fast and instantaneous and scared me. I see her as him and vice versa, even though I haven’t spoken to her in forever. He is ingrained as much in me as she is, and as much as Lancelot is ingrained in Arthur. They are each other. Without the other, they don’t work.
Not many words for a relationship I see as important as some in my real life. This fandom changed my life for good. It dragged me out of a bad place and allowed me to see that not everything in life was blood and darkness. That’s melodramatic – but I want to get across the idea that just because it’s a “fandom” doesn’t make it unimportant. Many many people have been shaped and changed by things smaller than a simple film, and that is really fucking cool. Life is interesting like that, and I thank Lancelot and Arthur for being my muses. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be.
So why do I ship Arthur and Lancelot?
Because I do, and because as muses they love me and provide my life with interesting and fulfilling experiences that I’d never have had without this fandom.
Besides – have you seen what they look like? The armor factor indeed.
Other Sites and Places of Interest
So you stayed awake through my rambling and are interested in knowing more? Here are a few sites you can use to poke your brain.
Fallen Knights. This site is run by a friend, and she does a magnificent job of keeping up the look and the information. It has a huge picture gallery and the full script for both versions of the film. It also has one of the most active RP boards around (and I’m playing Lancelot, this time. Hee!).
My own Yahoo forum, King Arthur Fan Fiction. This is mainly used for fans to stay in touch and post work, including everything from art to stories to songs and everything in between. I’m very proud to say how much I still enjoy having it around.
On Live Journal, the not so active![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
knightgasm still has a great selection of fics to read.
For fans of actors, there is Clive Owen Online, and Ioan Online. Both of these sites are updated regularly and have wonderful news and picture galleries.
Fic Recommendations
There are a few people who write in this fandom still that consistently blow my mind. Here are few writers that are active – and a few that aren’t.
amari_z. While she’s a friend, I’d rec her anyway. Her movie verse stuff is amazingly dead on, and about a year ago, she began an AU series called Resurrection that I’m completely and utterly ga-ga for. Even if you don’t normally read AU’s, give this one a go. I’ve never read any Lancelot more right.
guede_mazaka. Guede’s not really active in the fandom any more, but she’s done some short and long pieces that about broke me. Her Arthur/Lancelot is more violent than the way I write them, and it’s endlessly fascinating to read other people’s interpretations of them. Her AU series Theoryverse would be a good place to start if you want something different.
literarylemming. Mnemosyne (her pen name) hasn’t written in KA in ages, but I’m still very fond of her Lancelot/Arthur/Guinevere stuff. Gasp! L/G/A? It’s mostly Lancelot and Guin, but her Arthur, despite appearing only briefly, is so noble and self-sacrificing I want to punch him. She’s worth a read.
dea_liberty. The first person to get me involved in this fandom. She’s no longer active but has some Arthur/Lancelot stuff that is out of this world good. Like, cry into your cereal good. Don’t miss her fic. Her writing journal can be found at tigers_prowl.
If anyone were to ask me for my favorite of my own things, I’d have to give these, I guess. It’s hard to pick from all of them. I like certain things about each one. Any of my fics that are multi parters are all finished. Each chapter is listed in my memories.
Live By The Sword. My AU series. One police captain, one heir to a crime dynasty. A huge opus that will never let me go.
Constant. Written for theworldstage_fic challenge a few years ago. It’s only mildly slashy, but represents what Arthur and Lancelot mean to each other to me exactly. Plus, bashed!Arthur. Hee!
Caught In The Rain. My first attempt at PWP and I still like it.
Felt Like A Lifetime. My post movie “what would happen if Lancelot had lived?” fic.
Brown Eyes. Written for my Lancelot, this piece still strikes cords of hurt that I’m happy to never forget.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little randomness and are inspired to check out, if not just the film, some of the wonderful sites and fic mentioned here.
~
Title: Arthur and Lancelot, or The Armor Factor in Action
Author: Ashley/
sasha_bFandom: King Arthur (2004 Film)
Pairing: Arthur Castus and Lancelot
Spoilers: For the whole film.
Word Count: 4800, counting coding.
Warnings: There's "language" in this essay.
Disclaimer: This version of the Arthur myth does not belong to me. I just play here.
Notes: This manifesto is based on the pairing of Arthur and Lancelot as portrayed by Clive Owen and Ioan Gruffudd, respectively. It is not legend based.
Feedback would be love.
Having read through some of the previous entries here, I’m a bit nervous at posting my own words. What I’ll try to do with my alloted space is to tell you a bit about my OTP, Arthur and Lancelot from the 2004 film King Arthur, why I fell in total love with them, give you some background about their characters, and then some sources and places to find more information about them. I also tend to ramble on and on about the wonderful thing that is A/L, so try not to blank out while reading, okay?
*deep breath* Hi! I’m Ashley, and I’m a rabid Arthur/Lancelot shipper. *laughs* Okay. So for those of you who don’t know anything about what I’m drooling about, here’s a bit of background information on the film and my involvement in it.
In the summer of 2004 Touchstone Pictures released a big screen “new” version of the King Arthur myth, starring Clive Owen and Ioan Gruffudd as the aforementioned Arthur and Lancelot. This version is classified as “new” because it stripped all of the magic and well-known mythology out of the legend and presented the old tale in a way no one had ever done before.
Lucius Artorius Castus (the name given Arthur in some of the shooting scripts and the novel) is the commander of a group of Sarmatian cavalry conscripts, men taken from their homes by the Roman Empire to fulfill a pact made between the Sarmatian elders and Marcus Aurelius. Fifteen years of service to Rome, live to see the end, and then get your papers of freedom.
Arthur starts with 100 knights, and finishes with 6 - and while this isn't made clear in the film, it is in the novelization.
Lancelot (he doesn’t get a last name) is Arthur’s second in command. He is brash, inquisitive, argumentative, annoying, a whiz swordsman and so obviously Arthur’s bitch that even the blindest of us can’t ignore that, even if you don’t look for slash in their relationship.
The first example of this is the conversation between the two men as they are riding back to their garrison after the first battle in the film. This is the first real conversation the audience is privy to between the boys, and it’s very telling.
Lancelot: And what will you do, Arthur, when you return to your beloved Rome?
Arthur: Give thanks to God that I survived to see it.
Lancelot: (makes a sarcastic noise) You and your God. You disturb me.
Arthur: I want peace, Lancelot. I’ve had enough. (pause) You should visit me.
Lancelot: Tah (looks away).
Arthur: It’s a magnificent place, Rome. Ordered, civilized, advanced –
Lancelot: The breeding ground of arrogant fools?
Arthur: The greatest minds in all the lands have come together in one sacred place to help make mankind free.
Lancelot: (leans over conspiratorially) …and the women?
What’s sad is I can quote this scene by heart.
By the books it looks just like a conversation between two close friends. However, the whole “you should visit me,” thing…what Roman commander would say that to his Sarmatian conscript lieutenant?
The tone of Lancelot's voice is also interesting. It's angry, but wistful. He obviously wants to know what Arthur actually thinks - but given his comments, it's also obvious he knows what Arthur will say. It seems they've had this conversation, or one very like it, before.
It gets better.
The visiting Bishop Germanus (Rome’s toady – blech!) has come to issue the knights their papers of freedom – but not without a cost. They are to travel north to save a prominent Roman family from the Saxon incursion that is beginning to sweep inland, destroying everything in its path.
Arthur about has an apoplectic fit when he’s told this, alone. “Tell me, Bishop. How do I go to my men, and tell them that instead of freedom, I offer death?” He loves those boys. In the fandom, a lot of writers assume that Arthur’s father instilled a love of loyalty and brotherhood in him, and push that point home in developing his character. Arthur is a true believer in honesty, loyalty, and not fucking people over. His actions in this scene are very indicative of that character trait.
So he gets to tell the knights that they have one more mission to fulfill for Rome. They don’t take it well, but they take it, because he’s Arthur and they love him. He’s the only Roman that has ever stood up for them or cared about what happened to them, so in turn he’s earned their (slightly begrudging) respect.
Lancelot – ah, this is one of my favorite scenes. Arthur speaks to each knight, asking them singly if they’ll come with him on the mission, if they haven’t already agreed to it. Except…he doesn’t ask Lancelot.
Dark broody eyes follow Arthur’s exit from the commons, and next we cut to:
Arthur in the stables, angrily praying for safety for his knights and offering his life in exchange for theirs so they may taste “the freedom that has so long been denied them.”
Lancelot: Why do you always talk to God, and not to me? Oh, pray, to whomever you pray that we don’t cross the Saxons.
Arthur: My faith is what protects me, Lancelot. Why do you challenge this?
Lancelot: (pause) I don’t like anything that puts a man on his knees.
Sure, you don't, Lancelot. With this simple exchange, they have established one of the main points of contention between them, and Lancelot's closeness and body language shows his simmering anger and his readiness to rip Arthur a new one. He's had it by this point, and wants Arthur to do something that makes sense for once.
By this point in the film, I was watching the conversation between the two men like I was watching a tennis match. It was very hard to figure out who was trying to convince who of what. Clive Owen, who normally plays subtle and hard to guess, is very open in this scene as Arthur, obvious in his love for his lieutenant, desperately wanting Lancelot to offer to come, to understand Arthur’s reasons for accepting the last order from Rome.
Ioan Gruffudd, on the other hand, is all growly subtext as Lancelot, with huge eyebrow acting and hand flailing and super breath-taking expression and his body! Sinewy to the point of ridiculousness. You can’t help but think that Arthur would be a fool to not have this man at his side. Talk to him! Persuade him! Who cares about pride? The two actors’ chemistry is palpable and Arthur and Lancelot’s pain in regards to what they see as each other’s idiosyncrasies is beautiful and well represented. I just want to squeeze them to death and knock their heads together at the same time.
The rest of this scene is an argument that Arthur of course wins. There’s a point in the middle of it where Lancelot has sat down, and he pinches the bridge of his nose in his fingers, and you can just see his thought process, which to me would be something like this.
Fucker. I have to go, now. He’ll get killed without me watching his back. Besides, it’s not like I’d let him go alone. Stupid Roman bastard, he'll do something dumb and I'll have to live alone, without him.
By the time he’s sat down, Lancelot, in my opinion, has already decided to go with Arthur. He just doesn’t want to give in to Arthur so easily.
Arthur: Lancelot. We are knights. What other purpose do we serve if not for such a cause?
Lancelot: Arthur, you fight for a world that will never exist. Never. There will always be a battlefield.
And yet he stands and agrees, albeit silently, to go with him. Arthur didn't have to ask Lancelot to go. He knew he would. I think he felt horrid guilt for it, knowing how Lancelot feels about Rome and Romans, but because he's Arthur's lieutenant and because Arthur needs him, Lancelot knows he must follow.
They are separated by a beam of wood, and both men stare at each other, each one leaning on the wood.
Lancelot: (resigned) I will die in battle. Of that I’m certain. And hopefully a battle of my choosing. But should it be this one, grant me a favor. Don’t bury me in our sad little cemetery. Burn me. Burn me and cast my ashes to a strong East wind.
He purses his lips and their eyes burn holes in each other. Then, smirking tiredly once at Arthur, Lancelot exits the stables, leaving Arthur to tilt his head and follow Lancelot’s wake with his thoughts.
It’s so great.
Basically the rest of the film involves Arthur and his knights rescuing the family, meeting up with Guinevere (boo!) in the process, who turns out to be a Woad princess who some in the fandom think is Merlin’s daughter.
Arthur and Lancelot rescue her from the dungeons at the Roman villa, along with a small boy named Lucan, both of them having been jailed there for being “pagan” and not willing to be serfs to the owner of the land, Marius Honorius.
This Guinevere is a feisty warrior, and has one goal. Get Arthur or Lancelot to agree to help her and her people fight against Rome and the invading Saxon to help protect the land, the only thing she holds dear.
Guinevere: Arthur and his knights. A leader both Briton and Roman. And yet you chose your allegiance to Rome. To those that take what does not belong to them. That same Rome that took your men from their homeland.
Arthur: Listen, lady, do not pretend that you know anything about me or my men.
Guinevere: How many Britons have you killed?
Arthur: As many as tried to kill me. It’s the natural state of any man to want to live.
Guinevere: Animals live. It’s the natural state of any man to want to live free. In his own country. I belong to this land. Where do you belong, Arthur?
Arthur won’t admit that her words have some sort of calling to him – he’s the son of a Briton and a Roman and with both parents dead, has no place he calls home, besides with his knights. And with them going home as soon as they arrive back at the garrison….
Guinevere tries this same tactic with Lancelot later, and he won't fall for it. The only thing he cares about is getting back alive, and keeping Arthur alive. He begins to resent Guinevere, as Arthur slowly becomes a believer in her passion, especially after the patriarch of the Honorius family turns out to be a traitor and Arthur finds out his beloved mentor, Pelagius, was executed in Rome a year previous for treason. Arthur is stunned and almost doesn’t find a way out of this overwhelming shock. He's a believer in the goodness of humanity, remember?
As they ride back to the garrison, Arthur’s pain, which he doesn’t share with Lancelot because he knows the other man will berate him for believing in Rome in the first place, seems to be fixable only by finding a ‘cause’ and helping people that cannot help themselves. Arthur is idealistic to the end, and as he finds out, sometimes to a fault. He is willing to sacrifice himself and those around him for what he sees as the greater good, and after discovering his beloved Rome has betrayed him and his men by lying to them all this time about what the might of the Empire has actually been used for, Arthur decides to stay with the Britons and fight against the Saxon invasion, despite his own freedom being granted and his men finally being given their papers of release.
The trip back to the Wall is painfully hilarious and heartbreaking, as we see Arthur’s final betrayal (yes, even he can betray) of Lancelot and of his men for the chance to have something to believe in. If he’d only have realized that his knights, and Lancelot, were enough of a cause….*sigh* Lancelot gradually pulls away from Arthur and watches from a distance as Arthur is drawn into Guinevere’s plan and remains stoically distant from it all. One of my favorite exchanges between Lancelot and Guinevere is during a night sequence where the knights and the people they have taken from the Honorius estate are camping for the evening. Guinevere has approached Lancelot, trying again to get him to see her side in terms of supporting her people – by drawing comparisons between herself and the Sarmatian.
She fails.
At last she asks him:
Guinevere: No family, no religion. Do you believe in anything at all?
Lancelot: (he sighs, and looks towards where Arthur lays sleeping) I would have left you and the boy there to die.
He strides off into the snow, ostensibly to check the camp perimeter or some such knightly thing. Later on that night, he watches as Arthur follows Guinevere into the forest, and smiles to himself. He knows it’s too late, and Arthur is lost to him.
He touches the only thing he has left from home, an animal pendant he wears that his sister had given him on the day of his conscription. He is truly alone, now.
*sob*
My other favorite scene between Arthur and Lancelot occurs the night before the huge battle with the Saxons, who have followed the knights and the people back to the garrison, intent on taking the Roman fortress for themselves. This scene to me is the ultimate expression of love from Lancelot – he knowingly lets Arthur do something rash and stupid because he understands the man – and also makes a decision that will alter his life.
Arthur has bid farewell to his knights on the battlements, after deciding to stay and fight for the people of Britain. Guinevere is with him (actually, their sex scene was interrupted by someone pounding on Arthur's door to have him come to the battlements), and Arthur descends purposefully to the ground floor of the garrison, having said his goodbyes and after making his decision. Lancelot shakes his head while Arthur is declaring his thanks. “Knights…my journey with you must end here. May God go with you.”
Lancelot meets Guinevere’s eyes, and he shoots her a murderous gaze, then springs into action after Arthur.
Lancelot: (following Arthur down the battlement stairs) Arthur. This is not Rome’s fight. This is not *your* fight. All these long years, we’ve been together. The trials we’ve faced, the blood we’ve shed. What was it all for, if not for the reward of freedom?
(Lancelot’s voice has gotten louder and angrier, while Arthur keeps walking, refusing to look at his friend, his face a mask of stone.)
And now when we are so close, now when it is finally within our grasp – look at me!
Lancelot grabs Arthur’s arm and spins him around. Arthur stares at Lancelot, pain in his expression.
Lancelot: Does it all count for nothing?
Arthur: (stunned) You ask me that? You who know me best of all? (he resumes his stride.)
Lancelot: (runs in front of Arthur and stops him again). Then do not do this! (he’s yelling by now, his face contorted with anger and hurt) Only certain death awaits you here – Arthur – I beg you, for our friendship’s sake, I beg you –
Arthur: (grasping Lancelot’s neck) You be my friend now, and do not dissuade me. Seize the freedom you have earned and live it for the both of us. I cannot follow you, Lancelot! I now know that all the blood I have shed, all the lives I have taken, have led me to this moment.
Lancelot and Arthur stare at each other for a heartbeat. At last, Lancelot nods wearily. Arthur’s hands cup Lancelot’s face, and he walks away, his hand and arm sliding over Lancelot’s chest. Lancelot reaches for Arthur’s arm, but it slips from his grasp. He exhales into the sky, and cants his gaze to follow Arthur.
Seriously. How can you not love them? Lancelot, scrappy little sidekick, loves his commander so much that he’d risk having an argument in front of hundreds of people (not that he cares, but Arthur might) to try and convince Arthur to – for once in his life – not do something suicidal. For the sake of our friendship. For the sake of us.
And Arthur? Touching his friend intimately, one last time. Just awful. I wanted to chase after Arthur myself. What kind of fool chooses a fight he can't win over love?
In the theatrical cut of the film, after this sequence, there's a scene with Arthur standing alone in the main hall, looking over maps of the fortress. He looks up suddenly, and scans the Round Table, and peruses each seat. Each empty seat. He's alone, he knows it, and yet he still does what he considers noble, despite his closest friend begging for him to live his life and his earned freedom.
This period in the movie is the most fought over and fan fic'ed sequence in the whole thing. How could Arthur, no matter how stoic and stupid, stay and fight this battle, and not see his knights once more? How can he not spend the evening with his closest friend, his lieutenant and blood brother and (in my opinion, of course) lover? Idiot! There are a ton of stories out there that tell many many versions of this night. It's quite fun to search and see just how many differing opinions people have.
On the morning of the final battle, the knights realize that they owe Arthur their loyalty and allegiance (dummies) and stay and fight with him against the Saxons. Lancelot is the first to ride to Arthur’s side, and damned if they don’t look as pleased as punch to see each other. I was waiting for them to kiss, really. Clive Owen and his green puppy eyes of death just about rip my heart out when he reacts to Lancelot staying. And Lancelot's little smirk. Hoo boy.
Lancelot saves Guinevere from a gruesome death, sacrificing himself in the process. He sees her being attacked, and glances on the battlefield between Guinevere’s loosing fight, and Arthur’s battle with a Saxon. Choosing to save Guinevere, because he knows, or believes, Arthur needs her, because Arthur without a cause just does not work.
Another reason to rail at the screenwriters and shake Lancelot until his teeth rattle. Stupid man!
Arthur’s line at Lancelot’s crumpled body is a heartbreaker.
Arthur: (sobbing, screaming up at the heavens) It was my life to be taken! Not this! Never this!
Later when the survivors bring the body of Tristan to where Arthur is kneeling with Lancelot’s body and Guinevere, he sobs again.
Arthur: My brave knights, I have failed you. I have neither gotten you off this island, nor shared your fate.
Too late, Arthur.
Despite the historical inaccuracies and the sometimes uneven acting and hokey script, King Arthur sucked me in from my first viewing because of one thing.
Arthur and Lancelot.
So, why Arthur and Lancelot?
In the fandom, there are many OTP’s. Arthur and Lancelot, Gawain and Galahad, Bors and ….ew. At any rate, there are many great characters and reasons to pick certain ones.
I saw the movie for the first time on opening day, July 7th of 2004, and immediately went back the next day. I didn’t start life as an Arthur/Lancelot devotee. I loved the characters and thought they were suspiciously attracted to one another, but I started out writing het or general fic in this fandom - my first long fic was an Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot piece which I'm still amazed I wrote.
I started my own Yahoo! forum for the movie seven days after seeing it, and it now boasts over 700 members from all over the world.
In December of that same year I was surfing on LJ and came across an ad for a new Role Play game run by a girl called
dea_liberty. She was advertising for character sign ups for a game based on the King Arthur movie. I thought, genius! and after long thought, applied for Arthur. I had wanted Lancelot at first, but seeing Dea was playing him already, I thought I’d try the big cheese – I had written several fics featuring him, and was beginning to see that I had much too much in common with the upright and annoyingly loyal commander.Luckily for me they accepted my app, and lo and behold I was playing in an RP game for the first time since I was in high school and played D and D and Vampire the Masquerade.
Dea had told me from the beginning she was an A/L shipper, and although I hadn’t written slash in the fandom, I had in others, and thought, well, I can see it, so okay, I’ll try it.
Three years and more than 50 plus stories later, I am completely and totally in love with my OTP and it’s all pretty much due to one RPG and months of watching and re-watching the damn movie.
Dea encouraged me to write my own KA slash, and thus spawned a monster.
I’m still not sure I can pinpoint *exactly* what made me love the complicated heartbreak that is Arthur and Lancelot. It has to do with a number of things, including the fact that I’m a huge fan of angst (which they have in spades) and I’m also a fan of unrequited lust or longing. Hurt/comfort fic also abounds in this universe, and it’s ripe for all kinds of possible story lines and AU’s and you name it.
I can, after thinking about it, boil it down to mostly these things.
Arthur is me. His violent belief in the inherent goodness of mankind, and his refusal to see evil until almost too late rings too true for me. He’s innocent goodness personified, and he ends up paying for it in spades. He is handsome, heroic, painfully broken, an excellent leader, and he screams for love and loyalty without saying a word. I’m not saying I’m just like him, but his personality and mine are too similar for my tastes. I’ve been writing him now for three years, and I can catch his character with my eyes closed. I’m not bragging - I just know him that well, because I took the time to get to know him, and in turn, learned to love him desperately despite – or perhaps because of – his flaws.
Lancelot. *sigh* He is complicated, and beautiful, and angry and sad and wanting and flawed and he’s the bestest. knight. ever. He will do whatever it takes to protect Arthur, including fighting for a cause not his own, and he will die for something he sees as true and worthy. He's a knight with a capital K, despite desperately not wanting to be.
I have/had a really close friend that I met through my yahoo group. She was so much like Lancelot it was scary. Our friendship was fast and instantaneous and scared me. I see her as him and vice versa, even though I haven’t spoken to her in forever. He is ingrained as much in me as she is, and as much as Lancelot is ingrained in Arthur. They are each other. Without the other, they don’t work.
Not many words for a relationship I see as important as some in my real life. This fandom changed my life for good. It dragged me out of a bad place and allowed me to see that not everything in life was blood and darkness. That’s melodramatic – but I want to get across the idea that just because it’s a “fandom” doesn’t make it unimportant. Many many people have been shaped and changed by things smaller than a simple film, and that is really fucking cool. Life is interesting like that, and I thank Lancelot and Arthur for being my muses. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be.
So why do I ship Arthur and Lancelot?
Because I do, and because as muses they love me and provide my life with interesting and fulfilling experiences that I’d never have had without this fandom.
Besides – have you seen what they look like? The armor factor indeed.
Other Sites and Places of Interest
So you stayed awake through my rambling and are interested in knowing more? Here are a few sites you can use to poke your brain.
Fallen Knights. This site is run by a friend, and she does a magnificent job of keeping up the look and the information. It has a huge picture gallery and the full script for both versions of the film. It also has one of the most active RP boards around (and I’m playing Lancelot, this time. Hee!).
My own Yahoo forum, King Arthur Fan Fiction. This is mainly used for fans to stay in touch and post work, including everything from art to stories to songs and everything in between. I’m very proud to say how much I still enjoy having it around.
On Live Journal, the not so active
knightgasm still has a great selection of fics to read.For fans of actors, there is Clive Owen Online, and Ioan Online. Both of these sites are updated regularly and have wonderful news and picture galleries.
Fic Recommendations
There are a few people who write in this fandom still that consistently blow my mind. Here are few writers that are active – and a few that aren’t.
amari_z. While she’s a friend, I’d rec her anyway. Her movie verse stuff is amazingly dead on, and about a year ago, she began an AU series called Resurrection that I’m completely and utterly ga-ga for. Even if you don’t normally read AU’s, give this one a go. I’ve never read any Lancelot more right.guede_mazaka. Guede’s not really active in the fandom any more, but she’s done some short and long pieces that about broke me. Her Arthur/Lancelot is more violent than the way I write them, and it’s endlessly fascinating to read other people’s interpretations of them. Her AU series Theoryverse would be a good place to start if you want something different.literarylemming. Mnemosyne (her pen name) hasn’t written in KA in ages, but I’m still very fond of her Lancelot/Arthur/Guinevere stuff. Gasp! L/G/A? It’s mostly Lancelot and Guin, but her Arthur, despite appearing only briefly, is so noble and self-sacrificing I want to punch him. She’s worth a read.dea_liberty. The first person to get me involved in this fandom. She’s no longer active but has some Arthur/Lancelot stuff that is out of this world good. Like, cry into your cereal good. Don’t miss her fic. Her writing journal can be found at tigers_prowl.If anyone were to ask me for my favorite of my own things, I’d have to give these, I guess. It’s hard to pick from all of them. I like certain things about each one. Any of my fics that are multi parters are all finished. Each chapter is listed in my memories.
Live By The Sword. My AU series. One police captain, one heir to a crime dynasty. A huge opus that will never let me go.
Constant. Written for the
worldstage_fic challenge a few years ago. It’s only mildly slashy, but represents what Arthur and Lancelot mean to each other to me exactly. Plus, bashed!Arthur. Hee!Caught In The Rain. My first attempt at PWP and I still like it.
Felt Like A Lifetime. My post movie “what would happen if Lancelot had lived?” fic.
Brown Eyes. Written for my Lancelot, this piece still strikes cords of hurt that I’m happy to never forget.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little randomness and are inspired to check out, if not just the film, some of the wonderful sites and fic mentioned here.
~
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 03:57 am (UTC)I thank you for taking the time to read this. I cannot stress enough how much I love this pairing and this film. It is immensely gratifying to have someone read my ramblings and comment like you did - so thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it and I'm more than happy to tell the world about A and L. *g*
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 05:30 am (UTC)Thank you for the beautiful manifesto.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-07 04:43 pm (UTC)Thanks again very much for taking the time.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-18 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-19 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 03:01 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for reading. I enjoyed writing this thing. They are my babies, so I'm glad you enjoyed the writing.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 07:42 am (UTC)Have you heard of a song called 'May Queen' by Heather Dale? It doesn't fit into the movie's universe, but it's still a beautiful song - it's Lancelot's POV of the first time he sees Guinevere, the sad realization that he's lost Arthur to her, and his attempt to be happy for the couple. If you're interested, I'll e-mail you the song.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 03:48 pm (UTC)sasha_br@sbcglobal.net
no subject
Date: 2007-07-08 09:20 pm (UTC)idgari(at)gmail(dot)com
no subject
Date: 2007-07-08 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-08 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-08 09:59 pm (UTC)And I sent you the song, too.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 01:52 pm (UTC)Great essay and I think I'll go read the fics now.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 11:44 pm (UTC)Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think of the fic. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-24 10:21 pm (UTC)Guinevere? Pfffft >.> Totally a political decision.
But yes just wanted to say <3 the manifesto and it's always good to find other like minded souls XD
no subject
Date: 2011-05-28 02:27 am (UTC)Thanks so much for taking the time to read this; I still love the pairing and totally ship it. I write upon occasion in the fandom still and have my own RP with
Cheers muchly!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-28 10:00 am (UTC)And totally not a problem. I adore the ship and i never comment enough so trying to get better at that! It's great pairing :)
Very cool. Roleplay is fun, i have my own going on to celebrate the pairing and get my dusty muses out for air.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-30 12:57 am (UTC)Well, enjoy the roleplay - I certainly still love it. Glad to meet up with you again!