I voted for more peasant chapters, hoping that "peasant" also includes the sort of middle class Gunnilda and Ethelmund and them belong to. I think it would be nice to see some of those old faces once all the ends are tied in the current storylines, and I can't think of any majorly important peasants right off the top of my head.

It looks like a vote for peasant is a vote for Gunnilda around here.

I was just thinking about Beddy myself! He's going to be 13 this summer... I can think of him stepping up to Gunnilda and Ethelmund and announcing that it's time for him to go up to live on the farm. And Gunnilda will fret and Ethelmund will huff, but they would let him go. And boy howdy will we have some fun then. Shirtless B and the Love Shack baby!

I wanna see Anson and Wynna's house again so yes let's see the peasants and the middle class.

Yep, basically my vote was mostly for Gunnie. Other than my wish to see more of her though, the balance is nice!

Ooooh, that might be interesting. Or some scandalous chapter about one of those "adventures" the young men tend to get into with the help.

MOAR PEASANT SECKS!

Wasn't Anna enough for you? She didn't sleep with Dunstan (clever girl!), but still. There was also Cecily.

Actually, you know, guys, if I did some chapters where some noble boy had a *cough* dalliance with a maid or farm girl, you all would be so outraged.

Or wait, that worked out spendidly when I did it with young Sigefrith and Wynflaed. But Hilda totally deserved to be cheated on. Thus, happy ending.

However I don't think you would enjoy, say, a week in the life of Caedwulf. I can only take the "But--but--IT'S THE TIMES! AND THE ARISTOCRACY!" so far.

No not Cubby or Hakkon. Maybe Cedric or Brede who ever else.

I'd be okay with that sort of story if:

a) the noble boy isn't married, engaged, or otherwise involved

or b) if he is, the girl he's involved with deserves it, like Hilda did

I can see him being a little restless as a youngster, but I'm sure when he settles down, he'll settle down for sure.

Meryt do you honestly think Malcolm would accept his son as a homosexual and not heterosexual? I don't think he will. What would Maud say if Cubby was gay?

...Anyone want to sign up for team Cubby/Cedric?

I think Cedric + Cubby could be a gorgeous love story over the years. Cedric seems pretty straight so far though. On the other hand he seems seriously confused about sex so maybe the problem is that he's trying too hard to like girls. On the other (third) hand he's only twelve, so naturally he's confused.

Cubby definitely has more potential to be gay if you ask me. For various reasons, not the least of which is that I have not yet begun to imagine him with any girl, except a grudging admission (which he himself would doubtlessly make, if pressed) that he ought to marry a daughter of Man-Flann if he can. And yet, paradoxically, he does seem to have the potential to be a very sexual person. So... ? I'm not going to fight it. It could be that poor Cubby falls in love with Cedric, and Cedric really just likes girls.

Or maybe Cubby could fall in love with Shirtless B and they can have a farmhouse and 2.5 kids! Beddy was born on the same day too!

I'm actually warming up to my little Love Shack idea I had the other day. It would be so cool if those three boys could become best friends... and I figure that if naughty little Cubby learns that there is a way-back-off-the-road household run by a thirteen-year-old, he would finagle his way into Beddy's good graces so that Cedric and Cubby could use his house as a base of operations for all their teenaged misdeeds. There is all kinds of potential there.

I don't know that anyone would be really OK with the idea of any of those boys being homosexual though. They don't hang people for that in this period, but it's considered so abnormal and abominable and diabolically wrong. Nobody would even feel the need to "accept" it because (a) it's not acceptable, period, and (b) it's a choice, and it's a very bad one. Nobody would feel the need to "accept" it if Cubby came in and said he liked to rape women, and I have the sense it's approximately on that level of wrongness in this period and in this culture.

If, as Magog thought, Sigefrith is capable of loving "without asking questions" he may hang on to his relationship with Cubby in that situation. And Alred might be philosophical and/or romantic enough to see past it, but as you said, he doesn't have much of a relationship with Cubby. (And I'm not sure Sigefrith's or Alred's indulgence, if any, would extend to their own sons.)

I really can't imagine what people would do or say. If they just caught the boys together or something, they might try to hush it up and just say it was a one-time act of sin and not a lifetime of having feelings for the same sex. But if Cubby actually announced or otherwise openly assumed that status... I don't know what would happen. It would be like a bomb going off among his friends and family.

Of course that kind of drama makes for good novels, right?

Now I reeeeeeeeally can't wait for Cubby to get a few years older

I guess it's no secret that I love the idea of Cedric and Cubby together? I think I may have pitched/responded to someone else's idea on that in the comments for some chapter...a long time ago.
I think the idea of Cubby longing for his heterosexual best friend is a very beautiful one, too. That could be one hell of a love story, for sure! And I would trust it in your hands not to get all *melodrama*.
*Continues the off-topic-ness*
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I'm romantic, literary, cynical, and a diehard Alred Sebright groupie.

Well, if Gwynn ends up with Finn, that would almost be like a noble woman marrying a peasant. Finn was born a peasant, after all

I can totally see Cubby marrying one of Flann's daughters for convenience and having love affairs with men on the side. Wouldn't that spring some interesting conversation in the ladies' sewing circles if she knew about his romantic exploits? "So my husband is sleeping with our maid." "Really? Mine's sleeping with his steward."

Yeah, I think Gwynn and Connie have been pretty firmly established as heterosexual. Emmie's pretty wild, I can maybe see her getting bored of Baldwin, and then getting bored of men in general and starting to gravitate more toward women. That would probably be even more taboo than two men having an affair, though.

Ha, Cassie, I knew you would be along before long if we started talking Cedric + Cubby!

Van, I don't know why, but when I read your sample conversation with Cubby's future wife and her friend, I was imagining it was Margaret. I can see Margaret just so unruffled by the whole thing, like if they made a deal or something: Cubby can have affairs with men, and Margaret can do X... I don't know, have affairs with men too (or women?) or go on campaigns with him or something. And one day Margaret could find herself sewing with the ladies of Cubby's enemies, and she would be all haughty and Matilda-like and say "Really? Mine's sleeping with his steward. Please pass the scissors." *jaws drop*

Yeah, François, I can totally see the reason for a noble woman wanting to marry a peasant, if the peasant was HOT. Why not? What if Brede kicked the bucket and Estrid wanted to marry K for example? (Ooh wait you don't know who I'm talking about...)

It would be a lot harder fort the noble woman + common man than the contrary, though. A woman is expected to marry above her station, or at least not lower. I could easily do such a story though, even though (unless she were Gwynn) she would not be likely to get her way. Emma falling in love with a common lad would be quite interesting however.

Or Emmie with a common girl? Interestingly female homosexuality is not such a big deal in this period. There are no laws regarding it, unlike male homosexuality, and the penitentials are almost silent about such matters. Considering that unmarried women (related or otherwise) thought nothing of sharing beds with other unmarried women, it was bound to happen. (I always left open the possibility that with Cat and Flann it did....) Some men (like Egelric) even seem to like the idea. We already have Connie in bed with Gwynn and Emmie in bed with Margaret... things could happen, even if only the "I wonder what it's like to kiss a girl" sort of thing.

Obviously no one is going to allow anyone to openly live in a homosexual relationship, but it's OK for two unmarried women to live and sleep together, so it's easy to carry on such a thing secretly.

Unfortunately, you're right, Emma probably couldn't get away with it. Every unusual thing she does is going to be seen through the prism of her mother's insanity.

Ooh, now that I think about it, the same thing could happen to Cubby. What if it gets out that he's gay, and instead of sending him to talk to a priest, they lock him up for insanity? That could totally happen... Especially if Sigefrith is dead by that time (and OK, Cubby would have to be in Lothere, but still...) I can totally see Caedwulf locking him up. "I love you, bro, but you're obviously loopy..."

Now how'd we get here?