Ok I'm not an IF person (not because I dislike it, more that I'm just busy and have limited time to play games), but I mentioned my love of Arthurian legend today & I was recommended this & now I have to write a giant essay about how much I love this.

I tend to be picky with which media about this topic I consume bc I was introduced to them first through T.H. White's The Once and Future King, and it set such a high standard to me that I get sad when the characters are depicted in rigid, one dimensional ways... which is why I love this so much.

First off, the premise is brilliant. Mordred is one of those characters that is rarely given a fair shake in Arthurian stories despite the similarities to Arthur and Uther's relationship (which you rightfully pointed out here). It's often that Mordred is a horrible, slimy villain that's out to destroy pure and perfect Arthur. Starting off the work with Mordred's childhood almost paralleling White's Book 1's The Sword in the Stone is BRILLIANT because you set up the emotional foundations of Mordred as a character -- his hurt about his status as a bastard, and how he's forced to understand the world through that perspective, especially adding to the fact the man who's hurt you the most is beloved and worshiped by everyone around you.

Second, the character writing is one of the work's biggest highlights. I was signing praises because of how wonderful this depiction of Morgana is -- yes, she's as bitter and spiteful as she's meant to be, but it fundamentally understands that such bitterness can only be created by deep love, which she's shown to still have for her chosen loved ones like Mordred, Gareth, Accolon, etc. Similarly, I also love how Arthur is depicted here, because Arthur is often a tricky character for people to write -- he's either an out of character despot like his father Uther or a well-intentioned goodboy that was ruined by a woman, but the truth is that even the most righteous king will hurt someone to preserve peace and power, even if that person is you personally. Tl;dr I think the creator has such a nuanced and powerful grasp of these characters and archtypes that is central to the strength of the overall work.

Third, I have to give it up for the writing and pacing. This universe properly captures the magic realism present in medieval stories like this, mixing very real human themes with mystical elements tied to spirituality, occultism, force of personality, character themes, etc. The prose is beautiful, but flows easily.

This is one of my favorite depictions of Arthurian legend I've seen in a long time and if people are into those, I can't recommend it enough!!

(Sorry for deleting and reposting it, I was raving so much that there were so many typos and redundancies but Itch wouldn't let me edit properly omfg)