#idyll thoughts

[gojoidyll]

dan heng on the express: *calls jing yuan his friend and doesn't use any titles*

dan heng on the luofu: *calls him general*

me:

[gawrkin]

I normally don't like Tennyson's narrative around the female characters due to his framing of them being the source of all the faults in Camelot.

But there's a part of this story that often catches my attention and its Guinevere's rejection of Arthur:

Like, I can't help but dig idea that Guinevere rejects Arthur because of his virtue. As if his holy character actively irritates her.

If I was writing, I would take it further and outright imply Guinevere is some kind of demonic being. If Tennyson can get away with turning Arthur into a mysterious, divine entity that Merlin found instead of being born of Uther's misdeeds, then I don't see why I can't apply that to Gwen.

Welsh Myth already provides the idea of Guinevere as a Fae/Giantess so I would just present her as a "Reverse Persephone" -

Guinevere is actually a mysterious girl who came up from the "Kingdom beneath the Earth", "a daughter of a Colossus of Old" and is reared as ward of one of Arthur's vassals. Arthur, being taken by her beauty, took her as his wife. "And so, the Worthiest and Most Righteous King on Earth married a she-devil, the fairest of all her race, and made her his Queen."

The reason she finds Arthur repulsive is because she's a "primal spirit" who was born deep underground and can't stand the presence of someone so "Heavenly", so divorced from "the touch of the Earth". Camelot falls into "sinfulness" because Guinevere is in fact a physical avatar of all Materialism and Worldly Values, both good and bad.

And instead of Guinevere repenting of her actions, I would just take a cue from E.A. Robinson and have Gwen reject Arthur to the very end:

And if Arthur and Guinevere ever meet again, Guinevere could go as far as threaten to eat Arthur - "as is the habit of my kind, says the Queen" - especially if Arthur starts posturing about his (Victorian) morals and being chaste for her.

If there was a way to present Guinevere as a proper Anti-heroine or compelling villainess without the usual sexism/misogyny, this is how I would do it.

She's not so much an actively evil force as she is simply incompatible with the "Blameless" Arthur and indeed, the marriage's eventual failure was inevitable.

But for a time, while the marriage endured, Camelot was the place where the Spiritual and Material meet as fellows and prosperity ensued.

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

thinking about superheroes unfortunately

[drawnwithrage]

Hey guys! I'm still here. Just focusing on things that make me happy. Felt lost for a little while. I'm glad that I'm finally able to enjoy things again. The break up was rough and that's ok. Because of it I was able to go back to my happy moments and remember why I wanted to be an artist in the first place. And omg, I'm so proud of myself. I was able to draw all these little sketches. Little Daisy would be so happy. So here is to my inner child. May I bring her joy through art 🌸🌸🌸.

[martilyongabo]

EO3 (partial) lineup - November-December 2022

Peak MAbo is collaborating with your best friend for a(n admittedly unfair) final project (for web development!!!! an elective!!!), saying you would post it, forgetting about it for a year, posting it on Artstation and forgetting about it again.

As always, AC drew the lineart, and I colored. Designs were more of a collaborative effort between the two of us!

Probably should have shared this when the HD collection came out... anyway it's here now!

Some design ramblings under the cut :0! There's a lot i wanna share especially given that we recently did a soft rewrite that departed from the guild system entirely ^^" and EO3's cast was actually one of the first that we had, surprisingly!

Micah is quite clearly alt gladiator 3, but in an entirely different profession. instead of going into the labyrinth, he works in what i imagine would be an analogue to the forge in Tharsis (aka helping people make things busted af). It probably works best for his character, since he was always a gizmo freak even in his first iteration! geomagnetic (or submagnetic, ugh) gizmo is AC's idea!

Micah's brother, Eva, is a very loose spin on zodiac 3, but with a wayyyy lighter colour palette. Admittedly, i did steal a little bit of the spiritmaster's coat from bravely default, but AC managed to spin it back to resembling the original coat that the class had. Eva works as an astronomer, hence the little telescope he always has on him.

Next up we have Eva's protégé, Miri (who was imported from AC's stories)! Theoretically, Miri would be a second zodiac, and, after watching some EO3 speedruns, would probably be really strong in the earlygame when working with Eva in an actual playthrough. AC's design heavily borrows from Patho II's Grace, hence the coat + dress combo.

Following Miri in this lineup would be Noa, her admittedly very lazy but clingy sibling. I think it's apparently here that we didn't have much time to filter what a believable design would be in an EO setting, given that Noa's clothes were translated directly from our designs of them in school attire. It's actually funny how for we diverged from their original portrait (buccaneer 3) to the point that she is literally unrecognizable. Truly a pipeline from good sea boy to j-horror twist character.

Last in the OC section would be Masaru, who recently found work for the Senatus. Admittedly he does have another example of "incongruent time period" clothing (the jacket), though it's a lot more reworkable than Noa. We also made his design a lot less poofy and rugged compared to the original, and I mixed the base and alt color palettes as well to make him less, well, glaringly red. Probably one of the funnier things is that his clothing palette made him blend in more with the likes of Kujura, but given that they work for the same place, it'll probably work out fine.

Now we go onto NPCs, and who better to start than with Flowdia! Admittedly, her art was one of the last ones that we did, hence why her design looks relatively plain (sorry lola). Probably one of the things I would like to add would be more ornate patterns, perhaps of butterflies to tie her closer to Gutrune!

Before we get to the Princess, we gotta get through her bodyguard first! >:0 I honestly don't like Kujura because I answered honestly in his first question, and he said that I was prideful, but AC likes him so he looks really good here. He isn't as rendered here as he is in his portrait, since he was also one of the last characters we made, and I didn't really get to notice that he doesn't have as much value contrast in his clothing as Masaru does. Probably something to think about next time I color him >:0

Next up we have Gutrune!! We decided to make her look more jellyfish-like, while still keeping it a bit uncanny and unsettling. We tried to give her a more traditionally Filipiniana look (mostly on the Maria Clara gown), but we haven't yet made a poncho design that mixes well with butterfly sleeves without looking cluttered. As such, she has a more nightdress-y look here. AC drew in a few tentacles, and I couldn't help but make them look squishy.

Last but not least is Olympia! We wanted to align her appearance more with her background, hence her altered design :0 Having rips of the artbook easily accesible online also helped us flesh out her hair in particular, since we didn't want to just transplant Gutrune's hairstyle onto her.

And that's all of them!!! I'm honestly hoping to draw more EO characters, though Seyfried's design scares me (honestly the reason why I couldn't make a Reversed Emperor comic).

Currently, I've made a lot of progress on the EO4 game, and I'm excited to draw up the three N-turned-PCs + Xiuan >:'0!!! I don't think I can ever get as cool as Morika tho. If you've come this far and aren't into EO, please check out their blog!! Their art is stunning and has come a really long way :")

[pygmy--tyrant]

house in the cerulean sea essentially has the same plot as a hallmark movie and to be clear this is not a criticism

[missr3n3]

Archangel Uriel is probably the local teddy bear in Heaven, because their name means "God is my flame" and they're considered an angel of wisdom and light (they teach people alchemy sometimes btw)

Want a hug to feel cozy? Go to Uriel Want to start your alchemy course? Go to Uriel

oooouuughhhh thats so cuuuuute T_T

[chiropteracupola]

WOW I am going to be EXTREMELY SOUPED about the NEW PART OF THE IDYLL OPUS for THE FACT THAT IT IS BOATSTHEME but also because it has given me a potential opportunity to be WEIRD ABOUT D.K. BROSTER'S 'THE WOUNDED NAME'

[idyllicsimmer]

Trying to post more, but stressed AF! I swear, when life stressors come, it’s like in bulk. The only thing I want in bulk is chocolate 🤣 It’s lovely to watch everyone else’s posts though ❤️

[iphisesque]

call me guilty the way i feel the need to atone for wanting to be my own person

[gojoidyll]

you all know how boothill sends voice messages to trailblazer? has anyone asked boothill's english va to do the voice over for those messages? cause like, i would pay to hear it lmao XD

[gawrkin]

Morgause' Innocence

I once said in the tags of one of my reblogs that Morgause needs to be blameless in the conception of Mordred because of Lancelot and I felt I need to clarify:

Morgause must be fundamentally innocent any wrongdoing regarding the incest with her brother, so that Arthur alone is responsible for Mordred's existence - The Fall of Camelot must be Arthur's responsibility in some capacity.

This is because one of Arthur's fundamental pillars of his narrative: King Arthur is a divinely chosen ruler. The whole of point of "the Sword of the Stone" is to physically prove to both the in-story characters, and to the Medieval readers, that Arthur has the backing of God himself. Therefore, for narrative purposes, Arthur's sovereignty and properity as a ruler is because of God's Favor and anything bad that happens to Arthur and his Kingdom, has to have some measure of "Arthur must have broken his relationship with God somehow" (This is why during the Galehaut War arc, where Arthur is losing, he consults with a wise man to confess his sins, in order to reestablish his rapport and standing with God)

The problem that arises with Lancelot's inclusion into "the Fall Narrative" - that is, the collapse of Arthur's reign - is that the "Exposure of Lancelot and Guinevere's Affair" negates and replaces the Conquest arc, where Arthur engages in the moral grey zone of conquering all of Europe, thus at least providing at least a passable rationale for why Arthur lost favor with God.

With "the Affair Narrative", Arthur is innocent overall and totally in the right to defeat Lancelot and win. With all the bias and favoritism Lancelot gets from the French writers, having Lancelot lose would not only be humiliating but also defeats the whole purpose this version of The Fall was written in the first place - the real reason Lancelot is even part of this story: to enshrine him as an unquestionable element of Arthurian history.

So, what did the French Writers do? Simple: they retcon Mordred from nephew to a bastard born of incest (perhaps inspired by certain Charlemagne stories, where Roland is secretly his bastard son).

This is their out, their clever little plot device: having Arthur commit such an abominable act - even if unwittingly - removes whatever favorable ties he has to God, and thus, Arthur has his kingdom collapse from right under him while he's fighting Lancelot.

Which ultimately brings us back to Morgause. Making Morgause evil defeats the whole point why incest!Mordred was introduced in the first place. Evil!Morgause absolves Arthur of wrongdoing.

And if Arthur's squeaky clean, then he can't Fall and God would prevent any negative narrative consequences from occuring to Arthur.

Lancelot would lose (hah!), Camelot/Logres would be perfectly fine and Arthur would move on with his life.

This is why Tennyson's and T.H. White's narratives never made sense to me: Why is Arthur being punished for the actions of others? It makes God look incompetent in punishing those actually responsible and the Sword in the Stone/Excalibur of the Lake end up looking like pointless gestures.

(It's worse in Tennyson's because he's trying to portray Arthur as a semidivine figure unrelated to Uther) (Ughh)

Their stories feel like they ignore God as an active force in Arthur's royal life and in the lives of others. *Points to the Post-Vulgates' version of the Mayday Massacre, where God protects all the infants - They SURVIVED, unlike Malory's*

[leondegranced]

9 People You’d Like to Get to Know Better

Tagged by @the-tenth-arcanum (on my personal account but I'm posting here instead hello something non-merlin related)

Last song I listened to: I watched Camelot last week (the 1967 film version) and the Guenevere track has had me in a chokehold, so that's been on repeat while intermittently being interspersed by the rest of the OST (very good movie, very good music, would recommend)

Currently watching: I'm slowly catching up with the new season of It's Always Sunny, along with Dead To Me and Five Star Chef (really I'll inhale any decent competition show)

Currently reading: The Committee by Sonallah Ibrahim. It's… a strange one, and not a book I would've picked up myself, but my aunt gave it to me for my birthday last year and I needed a short read after getting through Idylls of the King so I figured why not give it a go (I should finish it by tonight and then I'll start reading Inferno by Catherine Cho)

Current obsession: All things Arthuriana, I'm compounding the brainrot bby 😎

Tagging (no pressure): @gardenbastard @feuxx @groundbreakingdot872 @gargoylewithcottagecheese @kitmarloweki @anamericanwerewolfintraffic @tamaha @agapantoblu @kuronnii

[girlspecimen]

i want fluttershy’s life so bad just chilling in a cute cottage with all my pets sort of unemployed but sort of essential to the society around me. awesome giant garden, grow my own weed and herbs, the rabbit can answer the door for me if need be

[dennydreadful]

nastytober 1

[zany-brainy]

Lilith knew she shouldn't be as offended as she was. Of course Beatrice and Ava would start a regular game night with their local friends.

With serious demonic threats growing increasingly infrequent and Jillian aiding the OCS in being ready for the threats that did exist, few situations required the presence of the Warrior Nun.

Beatrice and Ava had fallen into a disgustingly domestic lifestyle. Beatrice was going to university and Ava was studying for her school equivalencies. They worked at a local bar together, where Beatrice had once again become management in record time. They attended art classes at a local studio. They were saving money to buy Ava a Vespa and planning to visit Australia and New Zealand in the summer.

They were such an idyllic and utterly insufferable couple.

Lilith would have been foolish to think their little unit would always remain close. She'd have to be an idiot to think she'd remain one of their few friends when Beatrice and Ava deserved to thrive for all they'd been through.

So Lilith resolves to not be angry. It's the next phase of their lives. Lives she had a heavy hand in making more difficult. They'll still talk when situations call for their aid in missions and the pair make it a point to regularly visit the Cat's Cradle when they can.

"Did it never occur to you that you have a standing invitation to Game Night?" Beatrice tells her over a video call, looking as disappointed as Lilith had seen her since her days of doing Adriel's bidding. Of course it hadn't occurred to her for even a moment.

"We didn't think we had to plan too far ahead with you since you kind of love bamf'ing around everywhere in the blink of an eye. We'll make sure to call your manager to book an appointment in two weeks." Ava joins in on the call with a giant bowl of popcorn and the world's most annoying grin.

"Why would I want to hang out with you and your friends?" Lilith fires back, partly out of habit and partly to give her brain some time to realize that she's wanted as part of their silly little game night with their painfully average friends. It made her nervous. It made her heart beat faster. It made her face flush. She was wanted at their stupid little game night.

"Because you love winning and and hate our friend Ramon. His hair is yellow and purple now." Beatrice says, easily baiting her with two things she loves, winning and the chance to humiliate someone she detests. He really needs to choose a hair color and stop vaping so much.

"Plus there's Clue. You love Clue. We won't be playing Monopoly because no one wants bloodshed tonight" She hears Camila say as Beatrice turns the phone so she can wave hello. In the background she can see that Mary and Yasmine are there as well. Along with some of Beatrice's classmates, Mary has setup the day's running game of Catan and Yasmine seems lost already.

"Fine, let me change. I'll be there shortly. I'll bring wine. Good wine, not...whatever Ava found on sale." She says before disconnecting the call. She's invited to game night. She has a standing invitation. There are people who still want her around.

She won't cry over something so frivolous. It's just a game night. With the people she might consider family and some of Ava and Beatrice's annoying friends. She's going to pop into her parent's wine cellar and pick something not too expensive, maybe something from the 80s and then she's going to that little apartment in Switzerland and she's going to destroy Ramon.