Sorry for not posting lately folks, I’ve been working a ton. (also I just had my Xbox repaired, and find fighting dragons more relaxing that writing blog posts.)
As Close as it Gets (for readers just joining us) is my ongoing series on Femdom and assorted D/s in mainstream(ish) fiction. I’ve been intending to do another one of these for a while. The one I had on deck was for Kushiel’s Dart, which is a pretty good book, and makes masochism into something beautiful, but other than that I don’t have that much to say for it, the protagonist is a femsub, most of her encounters are with maledoms and the villain is *spoiler alert* a wicked Female Dominant. – still it’s a decent read.
So instead I’m going to talk about A Knight’s Tale, which was and is the only underdog sports movie that I really like, and it hardly counts as a sports movie because it’s about jousting and that nerdy ren-fair stuff. You know what I still love it, and you should too, even if you’re not a fan of medieval dorkery (and not just for the incomparable Alan Tudyk or Shannyn Sossoman’s perfect smile) because it is one of the all time best mainstream Femdom romances.
The things she could do to me with those teeth...
The synopsis is, there this peasant bloke William Thatcher (played by the late Heath ledger) who, after the noble he squires for dies, poses as a knight and tries to win his fortune with the help of his fellow peasant buddies, Geoffrey Chaucer, and a lady blacksmith. He then falls in love with a noblewoman, Jocelyn and evokes the ire Count Adhemar. A rivalry between the two begins for Jocelyn and to gain acclaim in jousting tournaments.
I say that it is a great example of a Femdom Romance, because while so many films have an (inevitably) male protagonist vying for the affection of a woman, Jocelyn is not just a passive love interest, fated to fall in love for the hero so long as he succeeds in his goals. She is her own character and challenges William to demonstrate that it is her that he loves.
Lady Jocelyn (nothing like a woman with a title) responds, when William first asks if she will speak to him, with the wry remark that her sex is marked by their silence, when he returns that he would hear her speak if it cost him his ears, she smiles and reveals that she does not want silence in her life.
After some courtship, William blunders and vows to win a tournament for her, (an idle promise made by several suitors in the film) She insists that he would win anyway, that he does it for his own pride, and that if he wanted to prove his love for her he would lose. They argue, but William eventually goes out to the joust and begins to lose for her. After William take a ton of punishment for Jocelyn, she sends out her maidservant to tell him to instead win for her.
Sorry about making you get pummeled by men on horses all afternoon, let's have sex.
With Jocelyn’s love and jousting acclaim, William is at the top of the world, However due to some treachery by the douchey Count Adhemar William’s low station is revealed, and rather than leaving him for his deceit and ignobility Jocelyn says this, which I think is just perfect.
“Your name makes no matter to me, so long as I may call you my own.”
Also, she offers to live in a peasant shack with pigs to be with him, which is true love if you ask me.
It’s a great movie, a terrific love story, It’s got lots of fun for the whole family and a little something extra for people looking for vicarious F/m thrills. And some seriously great romantic quotes.
It is strange to think, I haven’t seen you since a month. I have seen the new moon, but not you. I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face. The pieces of my broken heart are so small that they could be passed through the eye of a needle. I miss you like the sun misses the flower; like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter. Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has banished me to. I next compete in the city of Paris, I will find it empty and in the winter if you are not there. Hope guides me, that is what gets me through the day and especially the night. The hope that after you’re gone from my sight, it will not be the last time that I look upon you. –William in a letter
If I could ask God one thing, it would be to stop the moon. Stop the moon and make this night and your beauty last forever. – William
William: Your name lady, I still need to hear it.
Jocelyn: Sir hunter, you persist.
William: Or perhaps angels have no names, only beautiful faces.I love you. There is nothing else to do. Run and I will run with you. – Jocelyn