Kingdom of Heaven
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Kingdom of Heaven |
| Abbreviation(s): | KoH |
| Creator: | Ridley Scott |
| Date(s): | 2005 |
| Medium: | film |
| Country of Origin: | USA |
| External Links: | Kingdom of Heaven on IMDb |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 movie directed by Ridley Scott, set in the 12th century. It follows the journey of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a grieving blacksmith who becomes a figure of the Third Crusade after being recuited by Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), who is later revealed to be his father. The movie is partly based on the events of the 1187 Siege of Jerusalem. It is rated 39% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.[1]
Fandom History
The movie acquired a small fandom, both FPF and RPF, even before its release. It featured a number of actors who were being heavily written in other RPF fandoms at the time, such as Orlando Bloom (Lotrips, PotC, BHD), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (BHD), Marton Csokas (Lotrips) etc.
Spurred on by the enthusiasm of BNFs such as Stewardess and Persephone, fans used an early movie script, interviews and production stories and eventually the movie's trailer to start producing fanworks. For many, actually seeing the movie was part reward, part fear of being jossed.
See for example the review by KoH fic writer aleathiel:
The film. I was terrified going in, as usual. I've invested too much emotion and time into this film to be able to bear another Troy. It didn't have to be perfect, I just wanted to be satisfied. (...)
I'm sorry they took out the Pope scene because I wanted to see that orange so much. But the sentiments were all there.
And to think that I angsted and worked myself in circles to make Godfrey repent when Balian asked him to. To think I anguished over how to make Godfrey say that he repented everything except Balian.
And then to FUCKING HEAR THAT IN THE FILM. It nearly killed me to stay silent. I wanted to stand up and cheer.[2]
The fandom was located mainly on Livejournal, and to a lesser extent FF.net.[3] Only a few of the older works have been reposted to AO3. Fannish interest has not completely waned, as some works were posted as recently as 2013 on LJ and 2014 on AO3.[4] [5]
Main Characters and Pairings
- Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom)
- Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson)
- Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the Leper King (Edward Norton)
- Sibylla of Jerusalem, Baldwin's sister & Balian's (married) love interest in the movie (Eva Green)
- Sultan Saladin, leader of the Muslims (Ghassan Massoud)
- Tiberias, Marshal of Jerusalem (Jeremy Irons)
- Kinght Hospitaler (David Thewlis)
The lack of women in the movie encouraged slash and incest pairings, as noted by writer ratherbrightred in one of her disclaimers:
and a disclaimer: Obviously Baldwin & Tiberias are not gay together, although Baldwin doesn't have much of a choice, given that the only woman in the film is his sister.[6]
Hence the main pairings, according to the koh-slash-fic LJ community's memories and AO3 tags:
- Baldwin/Balian
- Baldwin/Balian/Sibylla
- Incest pairing Baldwin/Sibylla
- Incest pairing Balian/Godfrey
- Godfrey/Tiberias
- Baldwin/Tiberias
- Balian/Saladin
- RPF Liam/Orlando
- RPF Orlando/Marton
Example Fanworks
- Kingdom of the Heart by Moonshine (in Bloomtown, 2011)
- All Your Sins trilogy by aleathiel (link to last part), Balian/Godfrey. Part 3 posted to LJ July 1st, 2004.
- Unconditional by perseh2hades (filtered to avoid squicking F-list, due to incest role-play.) Liam/Orlando, posted July 12, 2004.
- Inshallah by Telesilla. Godfrey/Tiberias, posted 2005/09/05.
- The LJ entries of Balian, Bastard of Ibelin series by rosemending (purged). Rec by rodneyscat: An hilarious Kingdom of Heaven crackfic series. Balian has a Livejournal! Complete with quizzes and everything.[7]
Leper!Slash
A crack sub-genre of KoH fic which centered around Baldwin's leprosy and creative ways to work around it.
- The Lepic by ratherbrightred, orginally a Baldwin/Balian, Baldwin/Tiberias series featuring many props used as sex toys, such as a cucumber and a silver dildo; became a community for the author's other Leper!Baldwin stories.
Fan Communities, Mailing Lists, and Resources
- koh-slash LJ community
- koh-slash-fic LJ community
- balian-slash LJ community
- kingdomicons LJ community (purged)
- Kingdom of Heaven Fanfic -- Yahoo! Groups mailing list
- Kingdom of Heaven MPregs FemPregs -- Yahoo! Groups mailing list
- Kingdom of Heaven Slash -- Yahoo! Groups mailing list
References
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes, Kingdom of Heaven, accessed Sept 20, 2014.
- ^ aleathiel, Kingdom of Heaven., posted to LJ May 7, 2005 (retrieved Sept 20, 2014).
- ^ Kingdom of Heaven on FF.net, 16 stories as of Sept 20, 20134.
- ^ doylebaby, Too Close, a Balian/Richard Sharpe crossover posted Aug 26, 2013.
- ^ AO3 Kindgom of Heaven tag, accessed Sept 20, 2014.
- ^ ratherbrightred, leppy!sex with a vengeance -- ph3, posted May 24, 2005.
- ^ rodneyscat, Fic rec: "The LJ entries of Balian, Bastard of Ibelin" (4/?) by rosemending crack, NC-17, posted May 10, 2005 (accessed Sept 20, 2014).