trying to get two monks to kiss

[kindkit]

Today I passed 10,000 words on my WIP, so I feel safe(ish) in mentioning that it exists. Cadfael TV fandom, all about Brother Jerome and Prior Robert and how they got that way. I keep needing to research 12th century theology, monastic practice, etc. etc., although I could write any damn half-recalled or entirely made up thing and still not be less historically accurate than the show.

I'll need a beta reader for this beast eventually, if anyone feels like it. Warning for lots and lots and LOTS of Christianity: the search function tells me I've used the word "sin" 14 times already in this draft.

I am so glad to be writing something again. I'm even enjoying, more or less, the actual process of getting the words onto the page. I have no idea why this fandom or this character was the one to break through years of stuck-ness. Why an officious, sanctimonious, puritanical little monk instead of, say, a dashing serial killer and his ethically-challenged boyfriend, the protagonists of a show of vastly higher quality than Cadfael? (The answer probably has a lot to do with their being no fic about Jerome and Robert vs. reams of it about Hannibal and Will, but still. I do sometimes find myself puzzled by the things and characters that appeal to me.)

Comments

[sovay]

Cadfael TV fandom, all about Brother Jerome and Prior Robert and how they got that way.

Congratulations! 10,000 words is not a small number!

I would cheerfully volunteer as a beta-reader, but mostly because I want to read the thing; if you want someone who can seriously evaluate the portrayal of twelfth-century Christianity, it is not my field of expertise.

[kindkit]

Ooh, that would be great, thank you! And, no, I'm not terribly worried about getting 12th century Christianity right as such, just not howlingly wrong. Hopefully any serious medievalists and/or scholars of Christianity who happen to read will forgive me. I mean, in at least one respect I have already done better than either Ellis Peters or the TV show, in having a wedding take place at the church door rather than inside the church.

Fair warning, though: most of it is Jerome's guilt, self-loathing, loathing of almost everybody else as well, and confused near-blasphemous adulation of Robert. There is no kissing so far and may never be any on the page. (Off the page, after the ending as planned, I have hopes for them.)

[sovay]

Ooh, that would be great, thank you!

I shall look (patiently) forward!

I mean, in at least one respect I have already done better than either Ellis Peters or the TV show, in having a wedding take place at the church door rather than inside the church.

I admire that. (I used to write very little historical fiction because it was a surefire way to end up languishing in research K-holes. Now that I write much more more historical fiction, all I can do is try not to drown in the research, but I care about things like the right brand of cigarette.)

There is no kissing so far and may never be any on the page. (Off the page, after the ending as planned, I have hopes for them.)

Frankly, if you can get him to contemplate the concept without exploding, I'll rate the fic a romantic success.

Yay!

[lilacsigil]

That sounds exciting! I often find that my fandoms have to be middling quality for the words to come - too good and I'm satisfied with canon, too awful and I have no more interest - so maybe this hits the sweet spot for you?

[kindkit]

Yeah, the feeling of "this could be improved" definitely helps. Also the feeling that there is a story the canon isn't telling--an underused character and/or a performance that brings more than strictly required.

[sovay]

Also the feeling that there is a story the canon isn't telling--an underused character and/or a performance that brings more than strictly required.

+1.

[halotolerant]

Huzzah for fic! The pleasure/pain of writing it (nothing like inspiration) and the joy of getting to read what other people write! \o/ I am delighted (and looking up where I can find Cadfael on my various streaming services *g*)

[kindkit]

Yeah, I am pleased, and also somewhat baffled, to be writing again. I'm trying very hard to keep the part of my brain that says "This is no good, why are you bothering?" under control.

Did you manage to find Cadfael? I watched it on Amazon Prime.

[halotolerant]

It's not on Prime in the UK it seems! I'm going to check ITV Player and Netflix but might get the DVD collection secondhand for some watching over Christmas. You've fired my imagination for it! I've always loved monk/nun stories (I mean either, not shipped, heh!)

Did you watch the Jeremy Irons 'Name of the Rose'? I haven't had a chance yet but hoping to catch it before it leaves iPlayer

[kindkit]

Ooh, I hope you do get to watch it somehow (without paying too much for it, because it's not really that good). You will like Brother Jerome and Prior Robert, though, I think. Did you watch Secret Army? Michael Culver, who played my favorite character in that, plays Prior Robert.

I haven't seen The Name of the Rose. (Jeremy Irons has said some really homophobic things, and I've never been able to like him since I learned that, though he's still a good actor. I don't seek out his work anymore, though I'm not unwilling to watch him in something good.) If you get a chance to see it and like it, I might give it a try.