#just started reading king arthur & got inspired

[nightbigail]

“I once saw the face of God, a vast and sudden silence among the noisy heavens. That evening I dreamt I listened to one side of a conversation I should not have overheard. I do not watch the skies anymore. I do not look up.”

This Galahad lives in a dark fantasy world where monsters and terrible people run amuck and where everything sucks. He supposedly ascended to the heavenly realm after he found the Holy Grail, but nobody really knows what happened to him. He’s spotted years later as a lonely, jaded man who lost his chivalric spark. Whatever it was, he refuses to speak about it. Only God knows what he went through…

[whereforarthur]

Ménage à trois (Part 2)

Pairing: ItalianBach x Gf!reader x ArthurTv

Summary: Having had a threesome the night before leads to an interesting and revealing podcast episode, leading their friends to question what truly happened?

Word Count: 4.4k

Rating: PG-13

Category: Fluff with implied smut and teasing

*****

“A love triangle is a threesome delayed.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

The next day, you found yourself in the podcast studio with Isaac and Arthur, the memory of the night before playing like a sexy highlight reel in your mind. You couldn't help but blush as you thought about the things you'd done, the things you'd let them do to you. The tension between you was palpable, an invisible thread of desire that no one else could see.

Isaac leaned into the microphone, his voice smooth and professional. "Welcome back to 'The Bach and Arthur Podcast', today we dive into the wild world of fanfiction, smut and imagines that will make you scream minus the s." He glanced at you with a knowing smile, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "We've stumbled upon some… interesting fanfics, to say the least."

Your cheeks flushed at his not-so-subtle nod to last night's escapades. Arthur, rolled his eyes but couldn't hide the smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Interesting indeed," he murmured, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers down your spine.

You felt a thrill run through you, knowing what that really meant.

You couldn't help but laugh nervously, the tension in your chest unbearable. "You guys really read all the ones I found?" you asked, trying to keep your voice steady. Arthur's hand found yours under the table, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Well, not all of them," Isaac admitted with a chuckle. "But enough to get an idea." His eyes twinkled with mischief as he leaned closer to the microphone. "And let me tell you, some of those writers have wild imaginations."

Arthur coughed, his cheeks flushing a deep red. "I, uh, didn't read all of them," he said, averting his gaze. "Some of them were…pretty intense."

You leaned over, whispering in his ear, "Don't be shy, Arthur. They were all about you."

Arthur's grip on your hand tightened, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape. "I know," he murmured back, his voice barely audible. "It's just…it's a lot to take in."

Isaac’s laughter was low and knowing, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "You're telling me," he said, his voice filled with a teasing lilt. "Some of those scenarios were…inventive, to say the least." He cleared his throat, his gaze shifting back to the microphone. "But hey, if it gets the fans excited, I'm all for it."

Arthur shot Isaac a look that was half embarrassed, half annoyed, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a reluctant smile. "Guys," he started, his voice thick with good-natured protest, "you're making it sound like we're some kind of…"

"Smut kings?" Isaac supplied, his voice filled with a low chuckle. "Well, I suppose we are, in a way." He leaned closer to the microphone, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "But let's be honest, we couldn't do it without the imagination of our wonderful fans. So, to all of you who've written those steamy stories about us, we just want to say…" He paused for dramatic effect, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Thank you."

"We really do appreciate it," you added, trying to keep your voice light and breezy despite the heat that was still simmering in your core.

Isaac leaned back in his chair, his gaze lingering on you for a moment too long. "Yes, especially when it leads to…let's call them 'inspired' nights." He winked at you, and you felt your heart skip a beat.

Isaac leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. "You know, we should thank you for finding those fanfics," he said, his voice a low rumble that sent a shiver down your spine. "They really got our creative juices flowing, if you know what I mean."

Arthur's blush deepened, his eyes flicking to yours before darting away again. You felt a warmth spread through your chest, knowing that the reality was far better than any fanfic could ever capture.

You couldn't help but smile at the memory, the heat from last night's tryst still lingering in the air between you. "Well, I'm always happy to do my part for the podcast," you replied, your voice a soft purr. "And for our dedicated fanbase."

Isaac leaned over, kissing you softly on the cheek, his hand sliding up to tangle in your hair. "You're incredible."

You felt a warmth spread through you at his words, a sense of pride that you'd been able to push past your own boundaries and give into your desires. "Thank you," you murmured, looking up at him with a shy smile. "It was… an experience I'll never forget."

Isaac, ever the tease, leaned back in his chair, his eyes dancing with amusement. "So, which ones are we going to talk about today?" He looked at you expectantly, his voice dropping a notch. "I'm sure our dear audience is dying to know."

You bit your lip, trying to keep the smirk from your face as you handed him a printed stack of papers. "Why don't you start with 'Submissive ArthurTv Smut'?" you suggested, your voice a low purr.

Isaac's eyes lit up with excitement as he scanned the title. He cleared his throat dramatically before beginning to read, "Arthur looked so gone with each bounce, his chest rising and falling so dramatically with each breath, his eyes half lidded and completely dumbified, the way his lips twitched slightly as though he needed to say something but couldn't between all his high whimpers and moans which had you racing towards your climax."

Arthur's cheeks turned a shade of red that could only be rivaled by a ripe tomato. His eyes remained glued to his lap, his free hand fidgeting with the edge of his shirt. You could almost feel the heat radiating off of him, his embarrassment palpable. But it was the memory of those whimpers, those desperate, needy sounds that you had coaxed from him the night before, that had you squirming in your seat.

"And in this one," Isaac continued, his voice thick with amusement, "Arthur is being…shall we say, quite vocal." He cleared his throat again, his eyes gleaming as he read, "Arthur's cries grew louder, his voice hoarse from begging, his body shaking uncontrollably."

"Okay, okay," Arthur interrupted, his voice a little too high-pitched. "I think we've had enough of that one." He coughed, trying to regain his composure. "Let's, uh, let's move on."

Isaac chuckled, setting the paper aside with a smirk. "Alright, Arthur, don't get too shy on us."

You couldn't help but giggle, the absurdity of the situation hitting you all over again. Here you were, in a podcast studio, talking about fanfics that had gotten you so hot and bothered that you'd ended up in a threesome with your boyfriend and his best friend. You glanced at Arthur, who was still blushing furiously, and gave his hand a squeeze.

*****

"Alright, alright," you said, shuffling through the papers. "Let's go with 'The Unexpected Threesome'." Arthur's eyes shot up to meet yours, a silent plea for mercy. But you just smirked, knowing how much he enjoyed the real thing.

Isaac leaned in, his voice taking on a dramatic tone as he began to read. "Arthur and I were just hanging out, watching TV, when suddenly…" He paused for effect, letting the anticipation build. "You walked in wearing nothing but a silk robe that barely covered your gorgeous body."

You felt your heart race as he recounted the fictional version of last night's events. The room seemed to get hotter with every word, and you had to resist the urge to fan yourself with the papers. Arthur's hand inching towards yours, was now trembling slightly, and you knew he was fighting the same battle as you were.

"And before we knew it," Isaac went on, his eyes never leaving the page, "we were all tangled up in the sheets, exploring each other's bodies like it was the last night on Earth."

The words hung in the air, thick with innuendo and unspoken truth. The room felt smaller, the air charged with the electricity of the shared secret. You couldn't help but remember the feel of Arthur's hands on your skin, his breath hot against your neck as he whispered dirty things in your ear. You glanced at Arthur, who was now staring at the table with a pained expression, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of his hand.

"So, what happens next?" you asked, your voice a little too eager. You knew you were pushing it, but the thrill of being so close to the edge was intoxicating. "In the fanfic," you clarified, your own voice a little raspy. "What happens next in the fanfic?"

Isaac looked up from the page, his eyes dark with desire. "Well, it seems our dear Arthur is quite the eager participant in this little tale."

Arthur's eyes snapped up to meet yours, a silent question in his gaze. You gave him a mischievous smile, enjoying the way he squirmed under the spotlight.

Isaac raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying the discomfort he'd caused Arthur. "Ah, yes," he said, looking back down at the paper. "Arthur seems to have some…special talents with his tongue."

You felt a blush creep up your neck as you remembered all too fondly Arthur's skilled mouth on your body, the way he'd worshipped you with such passion and need. The memory was so vivid it was almost as if you could feel the sensations all over again. You swallowed hard, trying to focus on the podcast instead of the ache building between your legs.

"And it gets even better," Isaac read on, his voice a low growl. "The author really has a knack for detail." His eyes slid over to Arthur, who was now sweating slightly, his discomfort clear. You couldn't resist the urge to lean over and whisper in his ear, "Remember how good it felt when you did that?"

Arthur's eyes snapped to yours, a mix of surprise and arousal in their depths. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he murmured back, his voice tight. You just grinned and nodded, your pulse racing.

Isaac, ever the showman, picked up on the shift in the room's atmosphere and leaned back in his chair, watching the two of you with an amused smirk. "Looks like we've hit a nerve," he said, his voice a little too knowing. "Or should I say, a particularly sensitive spot?"

You couldn't help but remember that exact spot all too fondly, the way Arthur had touched you so tenderly yet with such insatiable hunger. The way his tongue had danced around your clit, teasing and coaxing until you'd shattered under his ministrations. You felt your cheeks heat up and a little tremor run through your body at the memory.

The podcast conversation flowed around the fanfics, discussing plotlines and characterizations, but all you could think about was the way Isaac's cock had felt sliding into you, the sound of Arthur's grunts of pleasure as he took you from behind. You had to bite your lip to keep from smiling too broadly, your mind replaying the vivid images like a private porn reel.

As the podcast episode drew to a close, Isaac leaned back in his chair, a smug smile playing on his lips. "Well, folks, that's all the time we have for today," he announced, his hand giving your thigh a squeeze beneath the table. "But don't worry, we've got plenty more to talk about in the future."

Arthur nodded, his own expression a mix of amusement and satisfaction. "Thanks for tuning in," he added, his eyes never leaving yours. "And remember, if you've got any fanfics you think we should read, hit us up on social media."

You took a deep breath, trying to ignore the throbbing between your legs. "Thank you, everyone," you managed to say, your voice surprisingly steady. "We love reading them almost as much as you love writing them."

With that, Isaac hit the button to end the podcast, the sudden silence in the booth feeling deafening. Arthur visibly relaxed, letting out a shaky sigh as he leaned back in his chair. You couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his relief.

"You two are going to be the death of me," Arthur murmured, his voice still a little hoarse. He playfully swiped at you with his free hand, the tension between you three now a living, breathing entity in the room.

"Is that a challenge?" you asked, your own voice teasing as you leaned back in your chair. You could feel the thrill of the secret, the excitement of the shared experience, and the anticipation of what might come next.

Isaac chuckled, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Oh, it's definitely a challenge," he said, his gaze flicking between you and Arthur. "But one I'm sure we're all more than up for." Isaac leaned back in his chair, his gaze intense. "So," he said, his voice a low growl that had your stomach flipping. "Ready for round two?"

*****

A week Later…

In the living room of their apartment, George, Chris, and Arthur Hill had gathered around the tv, their eyes glued to the screen, to watch the latest episode of their friends podcast, and today's episode had definitely been the steamiest yet. As the final words of the podcast faded out, they all exchanged knowing glances.

"Well, that was… something," George said, raising an eyebrow.

Chris leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. "They totally had a threesome," he exclaimed, pointing at the TV. "You can just tell by the way they're acting."

Arthur Hill nodded, his mouth hanging open slightly. "I know, right? Did you see the way they couldn't keep their hands off each other?" He grabbed the remote, pausing the video to replay a particularly telling moment. "Look at Arthur's face!"

Chris and George leaned in, watching the replay with rapt attention. The blush on Arthur's cheeks was unmistakable, as was the way his hand had tightened around yours. "They're totally hiding something," Chris murmured, his own cheeks coloring slightly.

"Come on, guys," George protested, though his eyes were twinkling with amusement. "They're just good friends having fun." But even as he said it, he couldn't help but look at Arthur with newfound curiosity. They had to admit, the situation was ripe for speculation.

Chris grinned, not missing a beat. "Yeah, but you know Arthur. He gets all nervous and flustered in social situations. Remember that time at the charity gala?" He giggled, recalling a particularly awkward moment.

"Oh, God, yes," George chimed in, chuckling. "He couldn't even hold eye contact with the caterer."

But Arthur Hill's expression grew more thoughtful, his gaze lingering on the frozen image of Arthur's flushed face. "It's true, he does get nervous, but this is… different." He paused, his thumb hovering over the play button. "It's like he's trying to hide something, and not just because he's shy."

Chris leaned back, his eyes narrowed in contemplation. "You think it's possible?"

Arthur Hill nodded slowly. "I mean, they're all adults. And let's face it, the tension between them has been off the charts lately." He turned to George, who was watching the TV with a knowing smile. "What do you think?"

George shrugged, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "Well, if they did, it would explain a lot," he said, his voice low and conspiratorial. "The way they look at each other, the way they can't seem to keep their hands to themselves…"

Chris's eyes widened. "Do you think they're into that sort of thing?" he whispered, his voice a mix of shock and fascination.

Arthur Hill nodded again, his gaze still on the screen. "It's not completely out of the question," he said thoughtfully. "They're both so… open-minded."

Chris leaned in, his voice barely above a whisper. "But what if it's true?" His eyes darted between George and Arthur Hill, his curiosity piqued. "What would we do?"

George's smile grew wider. "Well, we'd definitely have to get the full story out of them," he said, his tone playful. "It's not every day your friends have a secret like that."

Chris nodded eagerly. "Yeah, and maybe we could, I don't know, set them up with someone to make it a foursome?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Arthur Hill rolled his eyes. "Just because you're lonely and single doesn't mean you need to live vicariously through them, Chris," he said, though his tone was light.

Chris pouted. "What? I'm just saying, if they're going to be doing all these… adventurous things, I wouldn't mind tagging along for the ride."

George laughed, slapping Chris on the back. "Don't worry, buddy. They're not going to leave you out of all the fun." He winked. "But maybe you should work on your own love life before you start crashing their parties."

Chris playfully shoved George away. "I'm just saying, if the opportunity arises…" His voice trailed off, and the three of them shared a knowing look.

The atmosphere in the apartment was charged with curiosity and a hint of excitement. They couldn't ignore the palpable chemistry that had been sizzling between the podcast hosts. It was clear that something had changed, something that went beyond friendship.

*****

"So, guys," George began, breaking the silence with a casual tone, "did anything…interesting happen recently?" His question hung in the air like a dare, a challenge for you to either confirm or deny their suspicions.

Arthur Hill leaned in, his eyes boring into yours. "You know, Arthur looked a bit… flustered during the podcast," he said, his voice dripping with innuendo. "And you two," he nodded at you and Isaac, "you couldn't keep your hands to yourselves."

Isaac chuckled, playing along. "What are you trying to say, Hill?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

You felt your heart race as the three of you locked eyes, the secret hanging in the air like a thick fog. You licked your lips, a smug smile playing on your face. "What do you think happened?" you asked, your voice a sultry whisper.

Isaac leaned back in his chair, his eyes flicking to Arthur's hand, which was still clutching yours. "Well, you two seem pretty… cozy." His smile was a knowing one, a glint of challenge in his gaze.

You couldn't help but return the smirk, the heat from the podcast still simmering between the three of you. "What do you mean?" you asked, playing dumb.

Chris's eyes widened, his cheeks flushing. "You guys, seriously? Did you…" He trailed off, unable to find the words.

Arthur Hill leaned in, his gaze intense. "You can tell us," he urged, his voice low. "We're all friends here."

You felt a thrill of excitement at the prospect of sharing your secret with them. The tension in the room was thick, and you knew that if you didn't say something soon, it would be impossible to contain. You took a deep breath, bracing yourself for the onslaught of questions and reactions that were sure to come.

"Well," you began, drawing out the word as you let go of Arthur's hand and leaned back into the couch, "it's not every day you get to live out your wildest fanfic fantasies."

Isaac barked out a laugh, his eyes gleaming. "You're telling me," he said, his voice low and rumbling with his own memories of the night.

Arthur Hill leaned back, his eyes wide with shock. "Wait, what?" he spluttered. "You guys actually…?"

You nodded, a wicked smile playing on your lips. "Oh, yes," you said, watching the color drain from Arthur's face. "It was quite the night."

George's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. "You had a threesome?" he squeaked, his voice high with excitement.

Chris's cheeks were now a bright shade of pink as he stared at the three of you. "Oh my God," he whispered, his hand flying to his mouth.

Arthur's eyes went wide with shock before he buried his face in his hands, a muffled groan escaping his lips. "This is so embarrassing," he murmured, his voice barely audible.

"What's the matter, Arthur?" you teased, your voice a sweet symphony of innocence. "You don't want everyone to know how much fun we had?"

Arthur's muffled groan grew louder, his face still buried in his hands. "This is so not what I signed up for," he muttered, his voice muffled by his palms.

You couldn't help but laugh, the situation too absurd to be anything but hilarious. "Oh, come on, Arthur," you coaxed, reaching out to pat his leg. "You know you had fun."

Isaac leaned over, his voice low and firm. "Babe, maybe you should ease up on him a bit," he murmured in your ear. His hand on your arm was a gentle but firm reminder of his words. You turned to look at him, his expression a mix of amusement and concern for his friend.

You bit your bottom lip, considering his words. "I'm just having a little fun," you protested, your eyes dancing with mischief. But you could see the point he was trying to make. Arthur was practically squirming in his seat, his embarrassment clear.

Isaac leaned closer, his voice a gentle command. "Let's keep some things private, yeah?" His hand squeezed your shoulder reassuringly. "We don't want to make him too uncomfortable."

You nodded, understanding the unspoken request. You leaned back into the couch, the thrill of the secret still humming through your veins. "Sorry, guys," Arthur mumbled from behind his hands. "I just… I didn't expect this."

George, Chris, and Arthur Hill sat in stunned silence for a moment, their eyes darting between you, Arthur, and Isaac. The air was thick with a mix of shock, curiosity, and a hint of arousal that you couldn't help but notice. Finally, George found his voice. "Well," he said, clearing his throat, "that's… that's quite the revelation."

Chris's eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth slightly agape. "I… I can't believe it," he stuttered, his cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red. "I mean, I knew you guys had a… a certain chemistry, but…" His voice trailed off as he looked at Arthur, who was still hiding his face in his hands.

Arthur Hill was equally stunned, his expression a mix of disbelief and something akin to awe. "That's… that's crazy," he breathed. "But also… kind of hot?" He glanced around the room, gauging the others' reactions. "I mean, if you're all cool with it…"

Chris nodded, his eyes never leaving Arthur. "It's definitely… different," he murmured, his voice still tinged with excitement. "But if it makes you happy…"

George leaned back in his chair, his gaze thoughtful. "Well, I for one am not one to judge," he said, his eyes sparkling. "But I do have to admit, it's not every day you find out your friends are living out their fanfic fantasies."

Chris nodded, his cheeks still a delightful shade of pink. "Yeah, I mean, as long as everyone's happy and consensual, who are we to say anything?" His eyes darted to Arthur who was now peeking through his fingers, his face a picture of mortification.

"Thank you, guys," Isaac said, his voice sincere. "We appreciate you being cool about it."

Arthur finally lowered his hands, his cheeks still a deep shade of red. "It's not every day you wake up to find out your private life has become public podcast fodder," he mumbled, his voice laced with embarrassment.

You leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "It's okay, Arthur," you assured him, your voice soft and soothing. "They're our friends. They're not going to judge us."

*****

The room was still for a moment, the only sound the distant hum of the city outside. Then, slowly, the tension began to ease. Arthur took a deep breath and sat up, his cheeks still flushed but his gaze meeting yours with a newfound determination. "Okay," he said, his voice a little stronger. "Let's… let's just move on."

"So, who's up for a pint?" George suggested, trying to lighten the mood. The tension in the room dissipated like mist in the sun as everyone agreed. It was time to move on, at least for now.

The six of you piled into the cozy pub around the corner, the warm light spilling out onto the cobblestone street. The rich scent of beer and fried food filled the air, mingling with the laughter of the patrons. It was the kind of place where you could forget the world outside, and for a little while, you did.

As you sat at the worn wooden table, sipping on your pint, the conversation flowed easily, jumping from one topic to the next. You couldn't help but feel a sense of relief that the tension dissipated. It was as if the walls of the pub had absorbed the secret, leaving nothing but the comfort of good friends and the hum of conversation.

Arthur leaned in, his voice a little too loud for the intimate space. "So, are we going to read more of those…stories?" he asked, his cheeks still a hint of pink.

You smirked, taking a sip of your drink. "Oh, absolutely," you said, your eyes gleaming with mischief. "This is just the beginning of our journey."

Isaac's eyes lit up at your words, his hand sliding over yours on the table. "I like the sound of that," he murmured, his thumb tracing lazy circles on your skin.

The evening passed in a blur of laughter and good-natured ribbing, with Arthur slowly regaining his composure. As the night grew later, the pub's atmosphere grew more intimate, the lights dimming and the music taking on a sultrier tone. You couldn't help but feel a thrill of anticipation, knowing that the evening was far from over.

"You know," you said, leaning into Arthur, "this is only the beginning." Your voice was low and seductive, a promise of more to come.

Isaac's eyes glinted with excitement, his hand tightening around your own. "Yeah, we could make this a regular thing," he suggested, raising his glass for a toast. "To living our fanfic dreams."

The three of you clinked your glasses together, the sound echoing in the cozy pub. The others looked on, a mix of amusement and intrigue playing across their faces. It was clear that the cat was out of the bag, and now the question was, what would happen next?

*****

A/n: Omg!!! This took a lot of work but I loved how it turned out, hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks again to @g-xix for letting me use her imagine, definitely check her stuff out!

[sable-skies]

thought abt an au i doodled up months ago but never fully explored, so here's some concept designs for that. im gonna ramble about it now

+ height comparison under the keep reading!

god okay i gotta admit: i, unfortunately, kinda love game of thrones. truthfully i dont care for the sex and inc*st part of the show, but i really enjoy the interconnected weaving plot lines, drama, and utter bullshit that happens in that show. its amazing, i love it, its so fucking stupid. so earlier this year i doodled up some ideas for a game of thrones inspired post-totk au. those are here, and here!

I then dropped it and didnt return to it until now, because i started season 2 of house of the dragon and yknow. why not.

as for actual details about the au: i said in the past it was a got-loz au, but im gonna go ahead and say that i misspoke then because i mean more like, post-totk/loz au INSPIRED by got, because i would never want to do a 1-to-1 au of that god awful show. i mostly think exploring a hyrule that is peaceful, but secretly on the brink of civil chaos and how bad humanity could truly get would be really fun to explore!

i struggled to pick a single role for link to have in such an au, so i said fuck it and divided him up into four parts, in universe the hero's spirit has been split amongst four brothers. to nod towards this, and because i'm cheeky as hell, the first letters of each of their names spells link. Laurent, Irving, Nymos, and Kiran. (im so fucking funny (<- is not funny))

they're all noble born to Arthur Hearth, current lord of House Hearth which basically controls and sits on the Great Plateau, and their mother was Eyla, a member of the Sheikah from Kakariko Village who unfortunately passed away shortly after Kiran was born. Arthur btw is named after the King Arthur legends from Europe, as those served as inspiration for the series in general!

I think a plot would follow them all after the death of their father and how they cope with it and move forward, and how they combat suddenly being labeled traitors to the kingdom for their father's acclaimed crimes.

this is getting long, so I'll do some misc bullet points next on their personalities:

Laurent, as the oldest, had to mature pretty quickly after the death of their mother, Eyla. Which has caused him to grow protective of his younger brothers almost to an overbearing degree. He gets nervous when they're not home, which sucks because Irving is a knight, Nymos studies in Kakariko often, and Kiran wants to explore the world via the survey team. Other then that, he's responsible, quite serious in most situations, and still very kind hearted. After his father's death he starts to spiral into a rage-filled depression, determined to get his brothers back and make the king pay for killing his father.

Irving is the most middle child ever. Due to Laurent being in line for lord of their house and is never gonna back down from that, he sought his own purpose in being a royal knight / royal guardsman / kingsguard. It hasn't really worked out well for him honestly, his higher ups hate him for being Arthur's son, seemingly so naturally talented in combat, and charismatic amongst the ranks that some knights ignore their orders just to follow Irving's instead. So as punishment he's been assigned as the former princess Zelda's bodyguard / retainer. While it disappointed him to not serve his full duties at first, he's come to accept it and treats her kindly. He's proud, a little over-confident, just, and secretly a bleeding heart. After the death of their father, he's forced to choose between his family and Zelda, and knowing that Zelda will most likely die without him, he stays with her.

Nymos, oh poor fucking Nymos dude. As a child he fell into the depths and somehow survived, which was fine, but then he came across a patch of gloom that seemingly never faded, and ever since he's been cursed with doomed visions of the future and a talent for magic. No one believes him about the lingering gloom, and claims that he simply has PTSD from the incident in general, but he knows what he saw. He's sought out magical-based physical therapy in Kakariko because of this, and he's pretty much regarded as a local there. He's quiet, a bit withdrawn, pessimistic, but has a strong sense of justice and genuinely wants the best for those around him, even if he doesn't know how to say it properly. When Laurent and Irving are away, he's the one looking after Kiran and keeping him safe. When his father dies, he immediately starts to investigate the current monarchy for signs of dark magic tampering, which leads him down a rabbit hole he never even knew existed, all the while he's being tormented by visions of his brother dying gruesome and horrible deaths. he's forever an internal nervous WRECK

Kiran!! The baby!! Might be the most dangerous brother of the four, but we'll cover that later. As the resident youngest sibling he's naturally gotten away with pretty much everything and anything, because who can say no to those big baby blues. Thankfully he's not actually that destructive or ill-mannered, but he isn't above pulling a prank on someone for the fun of it. He yearns to leave home and explore the vast continent of Hyrule though, and shortly before everything goes wrong he's accepted into the Survey Team and gets to enjoy it for a bit. He's excitable, energetic, optimistic, and somewhat a handful (get this teen a child leash please) but he means well and is determined to get whatever is on his mind done and finished. He's the last to be told his father is dead as his team didn't tell him about the incident until suddenly there's a group of bandits attacking them and demanding they had Kiran over for ransom. Kiran goes willingly of course, as he doesn't want his team members to get hurt. He later falls into the depths and survives via the sail cloth around his shoulders and meets a strange little fox he calls Todd.

I have so many notes in my head about these guys but again, i'll shut up for now :] here are the heights!

btw; they're all based on a previous incarnation of link and a got character, if you figure it out I'll shake ur hand.

[vaguely-concerned]

btw my headcanon for sophia amell in veilguard is that she has been 'oh no... I think your letter got lost on its way to me first warden... too bad, I'll just stay here in amaranthine until I hear from you, then.... is this a letter I see before me...... a tragedy. I can't read all of a sudden. my eyes. you sent a messenger? my messenger now I'm adopting them. no message received sadly try again'-ed all summons to go to weisshaupt, so she's in denerim with alistair when stuff starts to go to shit and at least they spend the impromptu superblight together. they may both be right on the edge of the calling (? we just don't know!) and ferelden might be about to fall, but at least they're king arthur and merlin-ing (erotic and romantic connotations) it up together at the end of the world and kissing and holding hands about it. and what more could I hope for for them. that's what beating the odds looks like for wardens I think.

there's a particular incident where she saves his life through the power of spirit healing and. maybe the guiding hand of Something that seems to still reside in the petals of the rose he gave her that she's worn in a little glass vial around her neck and that have not withered all these long years, and it inspires actual myths and romantic literary traditions and folk ballads and all sorts of nonsense that outlast them both. neither of them care tho they're just. hugging right now. drenched in darkspawn blood like the old days. resting their foreheads together. taking every moment they may have left just to be together. whatever you do don't go without me. wherever you go let me go too. and with you let me be buried, and where you go after that let me go with you then as well. (of course. of course. after all of this, where would I ever go without you. the one good thing about the blight is that it brings people together. the one good thing is that it brought me to you.)

[stalkedbytrains]

“Cheryl? Where is the file for the next appointment? I can’t find it anywhere.”

“It’s the folder with the green tab,” Cheryl called from her desk at the front of the tiny office.

There was the sound of many papers shuffling around and finally an “aha!”

“The Rainbow Snake?” Came the voice from the office. Cheryl’s boss often read out loud when they were studying a client. Just a weird quirk of theirs. “Australian Aboriginal Deity. Oh I do remember them. We were at a party together… 2,000 years ago give or take. I don’t think they’ll remember me, ah well thems the breaks. Let’s see… hmm… I can see that this is going to be a problem Cheryl. Damn colonialists. I wish we could make the British gods fade away. Fucking King Arthur deserves to be relegated to the dust bin. I can tell that we’re going to need some deep cuts on this one. Start making a list of Australians we can contact, I have a feeling.”

Cheryl did as she was told. Her boss was almost always right about these things. She knew what the gods wanted before they even got here.

Several minutes later there was a knock at the office door. Cheryl got up to open it and invited in the dark skinned person and the beautiful snake they wore like jewelry but that might have only been because the snake itself was a living work of art. Like living breathing stained glass.

As Cheryl escorted the Rainbow Snake in, her boss came out and bowed deeply to their guest.

The chipper woman had tied back her full brown hair and smiled widely at the Snake and their human escort.

“A pleasure to meet you again,” the boss said, “it’s been many centuries but I am glad to see you once more. Please come in to my office. Would you care for any refreshments?”

After settling and getting water for the Rainbow Snake, Cheryl sat back down outside the office and listened to the pitch. She never got tired of listening to it.

“How can I help you?” Her boss asked.

“We heard that you can help us gods. Stop us from fading. We need faith. We need followers. The people are dying, the language is dying,” said a dual voice. The voice from the snake, and the voice from the human.

“We can do that. Sort of. I am sorry to say that it’s not a direct thing. I don’t just snap my fingers and make you some new believers. Human beings a wonderful little creatures. They crave us. They need us even if they don’t believe in us anymore. They want our stories and our myths. And that is what I provide. Stories.”

“How does that help us?”

“Do you know how down bad the Norse were? The Christian’s basically destroyed their religion, all we know of it is this bastard version of what was left after the Jesus freaks invaded. But then the comics happened. The Mighty Thor! And don’t get me started on Neil Gaiman and his Sandman and American Gods stories. I send that man a fruit basket every year. I love him. Have you seen how well the Norse pantheon is doing? Loki has seventeen penthouses, and more belief than he knows what to do with.”

“Bah. Western religion. White religion.”

“You are right. I am sorry that was a poor example. Perhaps I should have started with Māui and how well he’s doing with that Disney film Moana. I set that up.”

“You did all of that?”

“Well. Not directly. You know how us gods work. I gave some inspiration here and there. Got a writer to have an idea. Got a director and a bunch of executives to see the bigger picture and how it could be a hit. They did the rest themselves. Like I said, whether or not they know it, humans want us.”

“You can make me a hit movie?”

“Or a TV show or a video game. Those are hard though. Movies are kind of easy now a days, TV is having a resurgence now but you run the risk of cancelation and things like that, video games can be hit or miss honestly. Only the Greeks and Norse really pulled that one off and hoo let me tell you they paid for that one. Great games but still. I don’t want to look at those God of War games ever again. Books are easy. Worked really well for the Greeks and some of the Egyptians. Rick Riordan does great stuff. It all depends on what you want.”

“I can have anything?”

“Sure. Internet stories are easy. Quick and cheap but you are really gambling with the payoff. Could be either a total wash or go viral. Not something I can really recommend but if you need something now it can be done. Movies or tv can be great but there are also risks. It might be two or three years before you see anything.”

“Do I get to choose who does the work?”

“A little. I can influence certain people but sometimes the best person for the job is some down on his luck writer in a hovel in LA. Sometimes it’s Neil. But Neil is expensive.”

“I want a movie, I want it to be written by one of my people.”

“I can do that. But the problem is that reach might be very tiny. There are plenty of Aboriginal writers, I’m sure some can even be extremely talented, but something big and grand and bringing in all the faith and worship and stories you may way may be limited. If you want the Disney treatment you have to give up a whole lot of control.”

“No. I want it to be of the people.”

“Very well. Now, I can influence and give inspiration all over. I can even get this in the right people’s hands. But it is always a crap shoot. All I need to do is channel some of your power into the right person when I find it. Then creativity takes over, they do their work, I nudge some agents and companies their way and if we’re lucky you see some return on investment in a couple of years.”

“What do you get out of this process?”

“My dear, I’m the Muse. I feed off the creativity. These artists come to me most of the time. I just set them up with gods who need a little faith. And six points on the back end. I have a lot of alimony to pay.”

[queer-ragnelle]

I read for spoilers for The Bright Sword, it sounded self indulgent -- The Lady of the Lake is the girlfriend of unprepossessing OC, fix-it for King Arthur but also colonialism is bad... am I picking up the right vibes or should I just read it and form my own view? 😂

Hi anon! I'm going to put my longer answer under a cut since the book is still really new and people may want to avoid spoilers. But firstly, all good stories are self indulgent. Writing for the market is dead, writing for yourself is thriving! So that never deters me from any book or movie. Please do some whacky stuff, I love it! Secondly, I encourage you to ignore bad faith spoilers that only offer criticism without any bright sides. (See what I did there?)

The Bright Sword has the kindest portrayal of Sir Palomides ever written and that means something to me!! It should mean something to anybody invested in the Arthurian literary tradition, I think, as it's been a long time coming. It’s no small thing. I really enjoyed the main cast—Bedivere, Palomides, Dinadan, Dagonet, Nimue, Morgan, Constantine, and OCs Collum and Scipio—they’re all wonderful in their own ways! They're queer, dealing with mental illness, disability, all sorts of things I've wanted from Arthurian retellings for years and haven't gotten in a satisfactory way. I bought the book for those characters and Lev Grossman delivered!

TL;DR I recommend the book! There was more done right than wrong. I shared lots of samples on tumblr and in my Arthurian Theater Server as I read along so people could make their own judgement based on the text itself, and they also liked it.

So my longer answer is—I thoroughly enjoyed the first 30/40 chapters. I couldn't put it down! I was reading at work!! After 31 it crashed and burned a little. There were still a handful of flashback chapters to "the good ol' days" between 31-40 that I also liked, but didn't care for the main post-Camlann conflict resolution, unfortunately.

However, I think I understand how Lev Grossman ended up there. In his Author's Note he stated his inspirations—Mary Stewart, Bernard Cornwell, and Nicola Griffith. And in his Reddit AMA the other day, he said it took him 10 years to write The Bright Sword. I believe all of this culminated in a bit of a disconnected story, as the ending seemed to blindside me. Let me explain.

In Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles trilogy, Lancelot is a huge piece of shit from the start. Cornwell’s clearly an Arthur enjoyer. I don’t prefer that approach, but I respect it, and I love Cornwell’s writing. His main character, Derfel, was also plainly a huge inspiration for Grossman’s Collum. That’s a good thing! What I didn’t enjoy was The Bright Sword seeming to shift gears suddenly near the end and make Lancelot out to be a villain that didn’t feel sufficiently foreshadowed. Prior to that, he felt much more like Mary Stewart’s poet-eyed Bedwyr (a hybrid with Lancelot) or Nicola Griffith’s sweetly awkward Lancelot, only to turn around and, literally, snap. BOOM! Cornwell’s garbage-tier Lance. [Insert “He would not fucking say that!” meme here.]

Now regarding Nimue: in Stewart's series, Ninian is with Merlin and then later marries the Fisher King. In Cornwell's series, Derfel is a childhood friend of Nimue and eventually her lover. And in Griffith's book, Peretur ends up with Nimue. So Ninian/Nimue has a long tradition as a spouse/lover of other characters and I enjoyed all of those examples. In The Bright Sword, she was a badass the entire novel, fighting in the battles with intense magic, and she even got her own pov chapters. I liked Collum well enough, he's not my favorite Arthurian OC, but I definitely didn't hate him! His back story was a little eye-roll worthy and his infatuation with Nimue was meh at times, but he’s literally 17 leaving home for the first time. That tracks. It’s not a deal breaker for me by any stretch. Cursed (2020) is where the worst Lady of the Lake romance is at. Nimue/Arthur with some weird shoehorned Gawain love triangle thing? Blech. Get it away from me. It can always be worse!

As a known Arthurian OC enjoyer, I’ll go on record in defense of Collum. He’s fine and characters like him are often paired with canonical characters. I much prefer Nimue end up with someone her own age, whether it be Pelleas or an OC, than stay with Merlin. And The Bright Sword goes to great lengths to show that Merlin is a creep and Nimue a victim who was in the right to bind him in the cave. So this didn’t bother me that much at all.

As far as "fix-it" King Arthur and colonialism bad, not sure what you mean by that. Arthur is dead. That's literally the plot. Did you mean writing Arthur as a decent husband to Guinevere in flash backs? Lots of books and films have done that already, Lev Grossman isn't the first to write Guinevere in love with her husband and an Arthur who is on-par or even better than Lancelot. Personally I prefer when it's balanced but this isn't new or noteworthy. Now, obviously colonialism is bad. That’s the point of King Arthur—the Saxons are colonizers he expels. Not sure what point the spoilers you saw were trying to make there. But it’s irrelevant since The Bright Sword doesn't touch on colonialism very much. Palomides travels west from Baghdad after hearing outlandish stories about Camelot but none of his friends have ever encountered westerners before and they have wildly inaccurate ideas. So Palomides wants to go there and write a book about it (which he does). There’s no talk of the west reaching east from his perspective, and the Saxons are moot, as the focus is a land in want of a king after Arthur’s death, not expelling the Saxon invaders. Could the spoilers have meant monarchy? I don't think anyone is reading Arthurian Legend, which is strictly fantasy, to dismantle the monarchy (or the crimes committed by real life monarchies, such as colonialism). Fantasy, and by extension Arthurian Mythology, is not true to life in any stretch. So that feels like an unfair criticism to make of the genre, even when it takes historical inspiration.

But anyway yes I think you should read the book for yourself! I always advise reading a book before passing judgement. Sometimes a trusted friend will read a book and tell you, knowing best what you like, that it’s not for you. That’s all well and good. But I generally don’t trust the internet’s opinions at large. Much better to feel it out on your own time. I’d love to hear from you again once you’ve read it! Let me know! Have a great rest of your weekend. :^)

[sunshinemoonrx]

Read: the Bridge Between Arthurian Chronicle and Romance

"I know not if you have heard tell the marvellous gestes and errant deeds related so often of King Arthur. They have been noised about this mighty realm for so great a space that the truth has turned to fable and an idle song. Such rhymes are neither sheer bare lies, nor gospel truths. They should not be considered either an idiot's tale, or given by inspiration. The minstrel has sung his ballad, the storyteller told over his story so frequently, little by little he has decked and painted, till by reason of his embellishment the truth stands hid in the trappings of a tale. Thus to make a delectable tune to your ear, history goes masking as fable."

So I've always been interested in medieval Welsh legend and the late antique history it relates to, of which early Arthuriana is part, which has given me the odd perspective of someone who can tell you all about fragmentary 10th-century poetry but has a pretty shaky grasp on the concept of "Lancelot". I've been wanting to finally check out the 'mainstream' tradition, but being me, I've decided to do so by tracing the chronological development into the famous chivalric romances. So the first step consists of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, supplemented by his Vita Merlini and glances at parts of Wace's Roman de Brut and William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum.

For such a foundational text, the HRB (for the uninitiated: the text that took the Welsh folk-hero Arthur and made him famous on the continent) forms a really interesting transitional point; it's not quite like what comes before or after it. Living in an age when we're thoroughly disabused of the notion that it can be treated as history in any way, I think it's easy to appreciate him as an incredibly inventive fantasy writer; I was extremely captivated by the earliest parts, depicting an ancient Britain of Trojans, giants, temples to Greek gods, warrior queens and wizard kings. (And the Life of Merlin I thought had a lot of fun storyteller's panache.)

The Spanish giant-slaying interlude before the war with Rome I thought was really interesting--you can see the story palpably shift gears from the pseudohistorical, chronicle strand of the tradition to the folkloric one. Suddenly we leave the army behind and go on a buddies adventure with Cai and Bedwyr where we fight a monster and explain some place-names!

I dragged my feet for a bit getting to Roman de Brut, the vernacular French translation of HRB from a couple decades later, on account of I'd just read the same story so it was repeating myself somewhat. The online availability of it sort of 'helped' in that respect, in that it only had the section from Vortigern through to Camlann. And...Fiiiiiiine, I guess Wace does have a knack for bringing out the human drama of each event to make it more human story and less chronicle, I guess he's a talented writer and I can see how this helped popularise Geoffrey's version among a variety of social circles or WHATEVER

I do still prefer HRB leaning into the anachronism to create this interesting historical fantasy world very invested in merging different ideas of the ancient past; Wace is kind of just writing the past like his own high medieval present, which is less interesting even if the character drama is all much sharper. Albeit that's not surprising, given that this is the missing link that got us mainstream Arthuriana taking place in a 6th century Britain that strongly resembles high to late medieval France. And I'm not against that! I think I'll vibe more with that setting when we're doing questing adventures in this timeless milieu, rather than there being these discernible elements of Romano-British pseudohistory playing out.

Wace also furnishes us with the quote at the start of this post; it's really fascinating to see this kind of engagement with the hazy area between history and myth we're working with as early as the mid-12th century. (And he also gives us an extremely strong flash of Kay/Bedevere, thank you for the food)

I also incidentally happened to find out that William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum came out ten years before the HRB--I'd disregarded other chronicles since for this period they're mostly dependent on the late antique/early medieval stuff I'm already well familiar with (Gildas, Bede, "Nennius"), but taking a quick glance at William's Arthurian mentions, it's very interesting that this close to Geoffrey he specifically frames him as not a king; rather as a warrior who "helped" the king Ambrosius--it seems to me he's taking Bede (who in turn draws on Gildas) as his basis and synthesising in stuff from the Historia Brittonum (not to be confused with HRB, earlier 9th century text, less narrative, first securely-dated mention of Arthur) where it doesn't conflict with Bede (using Bede's Ambrosius rather than HB's, but slotting in HB's Arthur underneath him). Point is, it seems he was still in an intermediary state right up until the mid-1100s, between the 9th century "definitely not a king" and the HRB confirming him as "definitely a king", where you could plausibly get away with presenting him as either.

William also mentions Gwalchmai/Gawain ("Walwin") and Arthur's prophecied return, interesting elements directly from the folklore to see in a non-Welsh source pre-Geoffrey.

Anyway! Next I will finally be reading the first generation of romances, however I can get ahold of the Chretien de Troyes stuff. (Maybe other stuff from around the same time like Marie de France and Beroul?)

[pascallatte]

Let's go to the beach

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x actress!reader

Summary: first sighting of the newly announced couple in public (a compilation of sightings in Hawaii)

Date: 2018 March

Warning/s: age gap, the first "video" was from a pap, the word screeching, not in your pov.

Taglist: @benonlinear, @t-stark35, @heyitsme-2, @elleeeee21, @holmesstrange, @tagakalat, @flyestvenustrap, @oldermenaremyreligion, @cherryred444, @avengersheart, @guacala, @pukka-latte, @hobiismyhopeu, @lilvampirina

a/n: I put this out because I want to but also because I might do something later too since I was inspired by one comment from you guys. Anyways hope you enjoy this !!!

Series Masterlist

Video from @deathalinechase

The wind hit the camera as soon the person started filming, it was obvious that the person was from a far distance hence the total zoom they did to get a clearer and closer look at you guys.

The cast of Triple Frontier: Oscar, Charlie, Garrett and Ben were on the shoreline talking to most probably their instructor for the day. They were all sporting the topless and swim trunks look, seeing that they were being told to dive.

On the far left, under the shade of a large rock and an umbrella, the newly announced couple was seen lying down on the sand, Pedro on his knees, wearing something similar to his cast mates, while you were wearing a black bikini. The two of you were seen talking— most probably teasing each other after you were seen playfully punching his chest as he gracefully fell next to you on the blanket.

The video blacked out but came back almost immediately, just in time to see you lean in for a short kiss, before taking Pedro’s sunglasses. He was called in by staff later on, leaving you in the shade to read your book.

Video from @.shashaila4013

The video started off with the usual, “I unexpectedly met Pedro Pascal and Y/n L/n while on vacation.” Shaila, as per her handle, introduced herself before heading straight to how she met the two.

“So my friends and I were in this place in Hawaii, that was recommended to us by the locals. It was all fun and games before we headed out for a dip at our place. So when we got there there were all these vans and like cars out in the specified parking area, which made our taxi stop and lead us to walk to the beach itself.” She explained showing pictures and videos of her and her friends.

“When we rounded up near this big ass rock, we were stopped by these people in black saying there was a shoot going on. At that moment we were annoyed since it meant we had to walk all the way back, which was a long walk by the way. So on the way back, we decided to just keep walking and exit the other way, AND THIS IS WHERE IT HAPPENED.”

“A friend of mine, Katie, pointed out the cameras and the amount of crew on the beach so being the troublemaker that she is she slipped past the fence for a minute to go and see who was there. So she ran back all smiley and shouting names we weren’t able to hear at first. Katie babbled on seeing that the one from King Arthur was there, along with Ben Affleck. She then like jumped up to join us on the other side, now shouting that she has seen Pedro and Y/n walking in our direction.” She breathes out to calm herself as she reminisced on the feeling.

“Ok, so we didn’t believe her at first. But of course, it had to be true because they really appeared in front of us, hand in hand with two other staff members assisting them. So us being the fangirls that we are screeched our lungs out making them look at us, actually let me just show you the messed up video we took."

As said, screeches were heard as soon as the video was played, you and Pedro were seen standing directly in front of them assuming they were waiting for something or someone. Pedro was seen wearing a loose white shirt and his swimming trunks, while you were wearing this Hawaiian print button-up shirt that was evidently Pedro’s because of the size. Hearing the noise, you turned to look only to make eye contact with Shaila herself. An audible noise was made from the back of her throat before she was seen waving at you. You having fun seeing their reactions waved back which resulted in guess what?… more screeches.

One of the girls asked if they can take pictures with Pedro, which Pedro looked at you first before nodding at them, beckoning them to stand near him. The video stopped at that, making her continue her not-so-short story now.

“The video accidentally ended when we went to them so let me tell you what happened. At first, y/n thought we were going for Pedro alone so she kind of like stranded away from him, but of course Pedro seeing her actions looked at us, like really LOOKED at us. Not in a judgy way but in a why, and kind of like asking way?-" she questioned herself.

"-Before extending a hand out for y/n, she insisted that she was okay, but me being a bigger fan of hers called to her asking if we can take a picture WITH her. She looked at me like with the largest eyes before nodding-“

“-And so yeah we took a couple of pictures after that.” shaila then placed the photos on screen, seeing the genuine smiles you had on your faces. As well as the sweet and protective stance Pedro had on you seeing that in the picture you were surrounded by the group which made him wrap and arm around your waist so that you won’t get squeezed or pulled back due to the people moving around you to fit in the picture.

“Assuming you guys would be asking questions about them, let’s start off with Pedro. Both of them were shocked to see us by the way, I mean who wouldn’t, we were screeching and all. And he looked good as hell by just wearing a plain white shirt. he had the warmest voice I’ve heard coming from a guy and had one of the sweetest smiles. I also didn’t expect he’d be that taller than me given that I was 5’7, but yeah he was towering over us. Now, this is the cute part, y/n was small— like small-small, I think she reached just below my ear which made her look up at us. Her height difference with Pedro was adorable, she just reached up to like under his chin- something like that, al-and-” Smiling wildly at the camera, she buried her face in her pillow. Before getting up as quickly.

“-She’s the sweetest I’m telling you, they were the most humble pair of celebrities I’ve ever met, after we said our thanks and apologies for interrupting them they just like smiled and said thank you back like it was nothing, they also offered us the drinks they ordered, which was the reason as to why they went our direction in the first place. They were also so sweet to each other seeing that Pedro was blocking her out of the sunlight and her asking if he was fine after a minute. They also argued about who’d take the most drinks back but someone helped them so they took like a bag each. Yeah, so that’s the story of how I met my now favourite celebrity couple. Thank you!”

Video from @gabefkundest17

Like the first video, this was shot from a far distance since the area you were in was closed off hours ago for a night celebration.

The sun was already setting at that time, making people go out of their cottages to watch it. Gabe’s group were one of those who went out and at the right timing saw you guys setting up to watch it too.

“It’s really them, I’m telling you.” Assuming this person was Gabe, said looking in the direction of the blocked-off area.

Mumbling was heard coming from a friend of his, making him shake his head. “No, it was leaked they’d be filming in Hawaii, just not which part of Hawaii. If I do get this right you’ll buy me drinks the whole night.”

Gabe was seen walking closer to the shore, almost parallel to you guys, and zoomed in. And at that moment he sucked in a breath hiding his excitement. slapping his friend in front of him, “I told you it was them.”

There in front of them were you and Pedro, laying down on a beach towel near the shore. Music coming from your side of the beach was heard in the video, confirming that it wasn’t just a spot for the two of you. It was uneventful, to say the least before the music switched up into something more lively.

Pedro being the dancer that he is turned to look at you and grinned. Wordlessly, he extended a hand out to you, beckoning for you to go dance with him. The group Gabe was in was silent during the whole interaction, they, however, let out similar squeals when you were seen reaching up and pulled into Pedro’s arms as you both tried to stay on beat, Pedro being the most on par. 

“Aww isn’t that the cutest. If I knew they’d be like this, I would’ve stayed tuned for years.” One friend cooed which made Gabe chuckle. Zooming in a bit more, you were both seen with large grins on your face, laughing when one of you makes a mistake, which the majority of the time was you.

Your little moment was then interrupted when Charlie called to Pedro from afar saying that something was ready. This only made Pedro shout out an audible, “Yeah, we’ll be there.”

He turned to look back at you and walked closer, for him to be able to wrap an arm around your shoulders. You were still laughing when you leaned in closer to him, arm now around his waist. Pedro was seen leaning down to kiss your temple, making you smile up at him before pecking his jaw.

Muffled sounds of excitement were the last things heard on Gabe’s end before he said bye ending the video.

[junefl0wers]

heyy june!!! how are you doingg? i wanted to ask you if you have book recs (any genre honestly bc i feel like you have a super good taste) im trying to get out of my reading slump sooo bad

hey zel!! i just got home from class and i’m doing pretty good :> how about youu??

also i’m not the best with book recs but for you i’ll try <3

the poppy war by r.f. kuang (first in a trilogy) - this one is a pretty long fantasy series that takes inspiration from chinese history & mythology. it’s very politic heavy and the plot is based around a war so it has quite a few graphic scenes. i’d suggest looking up trigger warnings before reading this series (it’s still really good tho).

legendborn by tracy deonn (first in a series?) - ok this is part of a series that isn’t finished yet, so just keep that in mind if you start it. it takes inspiration from the legend of king arthur and the knights of the round table. it deals with some heavier themes like grief and racism, so again, read at your own comfort. both of the currently released books are pretty long but they’re so gripping that i binged them in 4 days.

if we were villains by m.l. rio (stand-alone) - a group of friends in college who perform shakespeare plays end up immersing themselves in their roles so much that it spills over into real life, and someone ends up dead. it’s a mystery and it’s sort of written in the format of a play. be warned, you might cry at the end.

shiver by maggie stiefvater (first in a series) - this is one of the books i’ve currently started reading, and it’s not good (imo), but the ridiculousness of it is hilarious to me. it’s a not very well done werewolf romance, so parts of it will catch me so off guard that i can’t help but laugh. this recommendation is literally just for shits and giggles, so keep that in mind if you choose to read it.

vicious by v.e. schwab (first in a duology) - i’m almost done with this one, and i’d say it’s perfect if you like stories about people with superpowers. neither of the main characters are morally good, and they’re both trying to kill each other so it’s a pretty interesting read :)

[reneesbooks]

24 & 28 for the weird writer questions !

(--@space-writes)

thank you <3

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

it really depends? my wips usually start with a vibe or an idea that a character gets involved in, and then a setting around that, and then i just start writing and see what happens. with the raedoran cycle the prep has gotten more detailed and it's been nice to have that structure, but i definitely still go off the rails once i get into the groove of actually writing, so i can never really spend too much time on prep work because i know it will all be ruined by a character slapping me awake at 3 am because fuck the outline, they decided they don't want to be doomed by the narrative

it was fun to think about my prep work process so here's a wip by wip breakdown:

the raedoran cycle: originally was between three and five short scenes that i wrote in college for a creative writing exercise where we looked at paintings and wrote a scene based on it. birdie was in one, arthur and jack in another, and finally emilia and fabin in a third. i remember the paintings so vividly but g-d damn me if i can find them again :( so we were all vibes at first. and then nanowrimo was happening and i started writing out what all three stories together as one intertwined novel would look like, then abandoned it for two years until i took a novel writing class and revived it. most of the prep work happened there and i made a bunch of plot notecards (still my favorite prep method) but that was back when the story was a little less complex

lacuna: started once again with vibes--wanted to give a maura prequel backstory and came up with the character of keelan. and then he grabbed the steering wheel out of my hands.

thieves: planned out diligently. plot notecards, outline, the whole shebang. maybe this is why i've been stalled out in the drafting process for months :(

dragons: i don't know what the plot is yet

the witch: see above note about the cycle as a whole. also more recently all that has gone out the window as birdie snatches the steering wheel from my hands so you know. grain of salt!

hurts, doesn't it? (low sci-fi dystopian drama, shelved atm): i started writing this in eighth grade bc i thought the idea of a paint smuggler who threw knives was cool and wanted an excuse for her to exist. i never prepped anything and it showed lol--i just started writing and once i had a draft i went back and figured out what the hell the story was about.

log date persephone (high sci-fi story told through the transcripts of the audio logs of an astronaut stranded on an unknown planet, looking at getting back into it): got inspired for this by a combination of a book i read for a class and a sandbox video game. no prep no plan just vibes and then editing it until it's presentable for the thesis committee. yes this was my senior honors thesis yes i did pass no i did not ever have anything to tell my advisor when she asked me about my process

sting (sci-fi romance about gays on a boat studying aliens, shelved until i looked at it again this morning and fell back in love with iris): had a dream about aquatic aliens and woke up thinking that was a banger vibe. two nanowrimo plot worksheets later i got sick of prep work and started writing

i don't generally love the prep work process? it's fun to decide where the story is going, but for me the meat of the process is always in the actual writing, and that's honestly where i have my best ideas

28. Who is the most delightful character you've ever written? Why?

this is such a cruel question it's like asking me which of my children i love best so i'm going to cheat and take multiple definitions of delightful

delightful (would want to interact with them on a daily basis in real life): will moore -- hurts, doesn't it?

we stan a jewish king. he's got bad jokes for days and will absolutely let you crash on his couch if you're having a rough go of things. goofball extraordinaire loves his mom and his friends more than himself. he's just a florist!!

delightful (writing about them is very fun): vonnie mallory -- the raedoran cycle

i love vonnie she's such a hot mess. middle aged lesbian allergic to commitment but a big softie deep down. has a drinking problem but still manages to be better at her job than 95% of the men she works with. turns every scene she's in into a sitcom. has been ruining the tonal consistency of the third acts of lacuna and the witch of the west but i don't even mind bc at least she's fun

delightful (pinch their cheeks at the family reunion): iris adenaur -- sting

dumbass lesbian knows so much about biology and aliens and is so smart but cannot comprehend that kiri thinks she's pretty. gets excited about science and will ramble about her research for hours if you let her, sweetest person at the party/the drunk girl that tells everyone she loves them, lets her friends drag her to the gay bar but dreams about her lab the whole time she's there. requested a sample alien corpse to study and got laughed off bc the company that owns them wouldn't give her one and decided right then and there that she would just get a boat and catch one herself, dammit. never mind that they're incredibly dangerous and if she gets stung she'll be dependent on their venom for the rest of her life and also she doesn't know how to operate a boat. none of this can stand in the way of science!!

this got so long but u know what i got weird about it and isn't that the point? thank you again for the ask <3

[warmth-and-wonder]

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ARTHURIAN PAGANISM

Do you like digging through rarely translated Welsh manuscripts and crusty PDF’s searching for a little known truth that cannot be found? Do you enjoy wild goose chases but religious this time? Do you want a spiritual practice focused on digging in and coming to your own conclusions? Do the legends of King Arthur and his knights inspire a spiritual admiration? Then, you’ve stumbled upon the right tumblr post.

This is meant to be a base level introduction to Arthurian Paganism, an open path anyone from anywhere can follow. I am not an expert, and and do not wish to be treated as such. However, I do think I have enough information to springboard someone else’s journey.

Let’s gets started!

WHAT IT IS

Many religions have a concept of hero worship or hero cults. Worshipped in the terms of divinity or pseudo divinity, sometimes compared to the concepts of local gods and Catholic saints, but not exactly. It could be said this concept dates back to heroes like Gilgamesh and Enkidu, all the way back in 2900 bce! Such, Arthurian Paganism is the tradition of revering Arthur and other Arthurian figures just as one would revere other ancient heroes.

The historicity of Arthur has been subject to lengthy debate. Evidence can point to him being a Briton chief who fought back an Anglo-Saxon invasion shortly after the fall of Rome, or point to him not existing at all. That mystery is a piece of what makes Arthur unique to practitioners who revere him. We will never know the real truth of who he was until his messianic return. (If that even occurs as well!)

It is also worth noting the Christianization of Arthur’s story. The Anglo-Saxons won the war, and with them brought ancient Christianity. Fairies became demons and queens became virgins, and those virgins bore pentacles on their shields. This strange melding of Pagan and Christian symbolism merged into a story that could survive. Christian authors contributed to and thus preserved Arthur’s story through centuries of distance. This merging of legends and religions is an important part of this path. Practitioners wishing to stray further from Christian symbolism must do a bit more digging to access the Pagan meanings underneath.

Because of the lack of a solid ground line, historical or spiritual, this is a branch of worship filled with personal findings and UPG more so than any other form of Paganism. Arthur expects you to quest for what the truth is, who he is,who you are and what you believe. It’s up to you in the end regarding the heroes, villains, and relationships wound up in this tale. We quest just like the knights who scoured for the Grail and the Questing Beast, and we come up short like them as well.

“So many scholars have spent so much time trying to establish whether Arthur existed at all that they have lost track of the single truth that he exists over and over.”

-John Steinbeck

WHAT TO DO

Interacting with heroic figures is done similarly to how we interact with spirits and deities. Create them an altar, leave them offerings, wear devotional jewelry and listen to songs with spiritual significance! Invite them to reveal the unseen to you, and to work with you in spells and rituals. These figures, Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, Morgana, Mordred and more, they can interact with you as any other spiritual being would. Invite them in, and develop a personal and unique relationship as you progress on your never ending quest.

As is good advice with any unseen being, start with a tarot reading or a prayer. Sit with them, introduce yourself, state your curiosity and intentions. Doing a tarot reading is how I got started!

There are also several ways to include these figures in your craft. Biblomancy using Arthurian literature, calling upon them in spells, and keeping a chivalrous code of honor in your magick. Also use Arthurian symbols such as red dragons, grails and goblets, circles or spirals of stones, triskelions, celestial bodies, fairies/faeries, and the general aesthetics of the knights of yore.

If you believe you are being contacted by an Arthurian figure, I encourage you to listen. Merlin sent me hawks, Arthur appeared in the clouds. These signs can be invitations! Don’t be afraid to accept, for the thing awaiting you just might be the holy grail.

INCOMPLETE BEGINNER BLIOGRAPHY

Arthurian Magick: the complete book of meditations, rituals, and visualizations- John and Caitlín Matthews are wonderful sources, but I will only put my favorite books of theirs here for brevity’s sake. This is the big book of Arthurian spells and the perfect place for anyone interested in him to begin.

Arthurian Tarot- also by the Matthews’. This deck is one of the most visionary, insightful, and detailed I’ve ever worked with. Jam packed with Arthurian symbolism and the history to back it up. There is a digital version available as an app that is my favorite digital divination method ever, and is excellent for witches who cannot have physical decks for any reason.

Temples of the Grail: the search for the world’s greatest relic- again, by John Matthews and Gareth Knight. A very detailed history of the Grail and what it could be, a subject of fierce debate and incredible importance!

Histories of the Kings of Britain - a pseudo historical list of kings written in roughly 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. More often considered an epic rather than a historical document, and is considered to be the text that introduces Merlin into Arthurian mythos.

Gwaine and the Green Knight - written by the mysterious Gwaine and/or Pearl poet in the 14th century. Perfect example of the merging religions I touched on earlier.

the Four Ancient Books of Wales - four important 13-15th century texts that contain some of the earliest mentions of Arthur in Welsh.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Le Morte D’Arthur - both by Sir Thomas Malory in the 1400’s. Both contain important stories and even important prophecies!

SOME EXTRA RESOURCES

Masterpost of Arthurian offerings- a work in progress for ideas and inspiration for items to fill your altar spaces

My devotional playlist- devotional playlists are excellent for meditation, shufflemancy, and spiritual mindfulness. This is the one I use

FINAL NOTES

First, thank you for reading this far! I hope I managed to impart even the slightest semblance of useful information.

Secondly, I wish you luck on this never ending quest. If you have any other resources, tips, or guidance to share please discuss it in the notes! If you have questions, my ask box is open.

All of magick, and perhaps even life, is an eternal search for more knowledge. Arthur himself was placed onto the trail of an unobtainable, impossible quest too. It matters not that his attempts can be described as futile, for the futile is sacred. For each and every aspect of his life and longer reigning mythos was foretold in prophecy. For even today there remains those who seek the same impossible journey to find the king, the grail, the truth, and simply the journey itself.

[mooremars]

Camelot 2023 Act 1 ramblings about the music and book and also the visuals again because turns out 3,000 words wasn't enough.

I cannot possibly recommend anyone actually read this because it is so absurdly, comically long but I needed to get some feelings out. Also it's in two parts because apparently Tumblr has a maximum character count and I hit it.

Overture

• Firstly, female conductor, we love to see it

• I love overtures and entr'actes and this show's is so good

• Shoutout to the orchestra

• I have never experienced a bad Broadway orchestra but still doesn't mean they do not deserve serious praise

• Does just the instrumental of Camelot make me very emotional and think about fundamental human goodness?

• Yes, this show did its job

• The end of the If Ever I Should Leave You part is just permanantly in my brain as the part during bows where they point to the orchestra

• Whatever the music that plays as everyone starts walking onstage is epic

• The vibe is set and I'm ready

Act 1 Scene 1: A hilltop near the castle at Camelot

• I've said it once and I'll say it one thousand times, I am obsessed with the way they've used the space in this show

• I love that they can walk up the back of the stage, I love that they have the stairs in front, I love that they've got so many exit and entrance points

• Sorry to the actors who probably had to do a lot of running around but it was fun for me

• As much as I like spectacle, I don't inherently prefer it over this kind of more minimalist thing

• But I do feel like they did a good job at conveying scale and drama even though the set is extremely minimal

• "I have the exact same amount of information that you do" just immediately starts the show off on the right foot

• This is a new take and I was here for it instantly

• And such a funny way to deliver a ton of exposition, this will be the first of what will become the prevailing theme of my rambling which is I adore Sorkin's writing beyond measure

• Merlyn's delivery drenched in sarcasm for every line is perfect and we clearly see where Arthur gets it from

• Specifically "do you know what calamity means?"

• But also "things in England are changing too fast"/"words that have never before been spoken"

• Establishing Sagramore in a funny way that becomes so serious by the end

• We jump right into the Sorkin dialouge rhythm and it feels so right

• There's the perfect amount of everyone overlapping each other and finishing the other characters' thoughts

• And also the jaunty music when most of the guards leave, like I don't exactly know why it sounds like that since it doesn't fit but I love it anyway

• I know it's part of at least the movie's score but like to me it's still strange, I've been calling it clown music in my head

• The difficulty finding the king exchange and also the pheasant hunting exchange are so funny and set the tone so well

• Can you see I'm attempting not the write out every line of dialouge?

• But also I love that we get this little build to Arthur to wonder what the hell is going on with this guy

• Because if you're me, you've come into this show with basically the association with JFK and that's it

• So I had no clue and was curious

• The knights have like mostly terrible points but Sagrimore's delivery of "snear all you like but five minutes ago we were at war with that girl's county and tomorrow I'll be swearing an oath to protect her with my life"

• He's not wrong

• The knights are so good, the actors are perfect

• Every bit of casting is inspired and those three are no exception

• "Arthur get the hell out of the tree"

• Again with no context, the tree really got me

• "Hiding, I'm obviously hiding" - I am instantly in, the delivery on this line is so funny

• Okay fine I was in from the way he said hello, also a hilarious delivery

• My roommate brought up immediately how effective it is not to have him do a British accent and how it again just makes Arthur relatable - genius

• Whatever voice he's doing is a perfect choice

• Also young Arthur is so much the right choice it's staggering to me that they ever did it any other way

• They thread the needle so perfectly of Arthur being young but not in a way where he's like an incompetent child

• Which I feel like is actually how some of the other versions with older actors still managed to come off

• But this Arthur is just young and trying

• "My mouth disconnects from my brain"/"I've witnessed that"

• As like a character note, I love that exchange but I also was worried this was gonna be what it usually is, which is a male character who cannot treat a woman like a human person

• But no, Arthur has absolutely no problem with that, his mouth only disconnects from his brain when he's trying to confess feelings and that is 1000% more endearing

• "Years of tutoring in philosophy and law, why didn't you ever teach me about love and marriage?"/"You're not marrying for love and there's nothing about it that can be taught."

• To which my roommate that I dragged to see this twice and who has just been forced to talk about this show with me, maintains that perhaps you could maybe convey that relationships are about communication

• That lesson might've helped just a bit

• "You're not marrying for love" like Merlyn is trying to warn Arthur and he sure did not listen

• "They should be reading" Arthur babe they literally can't, it's the Middle Ages

• Also the establishment of no magic is so deftly handled

• Arthur complaining that people think that dragons are real and you get exactly what this world is

• I love that I Wonder What the King is Doing tonight becomes his noble king music

• Also I just absolutety love any time anything has a recurring musical theme it just lights up some part of my brain every time

• The yelling of "he's scared" and all of the subsequent lyrics in that spot is again hilarious and just very good characterization

• Also the delivery of the slaying a dragon part whatever that singing accent is I love it

• Actually the way he sings all the parts where he's imagining what other people are saying

• The other characters have a lot of songs that are gorgeous and require some incredible vocals and songs with fun lyrics and fun performances but not at lot of them get to infuse this much personality and character into the songs through just the delivery

• Don't know if that's from the original or not but it's one of my favorite characters introductions I've seen in a bit

• From what I've seen this is definitely an escalation of previous versions and I adore it

• He's so annoyed, he hates this shit so much and he's so funny

• I mean also lots of credit to the lyrics because they are obviously very funny

• I love this song a lot

• Arthur's "shhhhit" when he realizes that he's managed to run into his future wife

• The multi-layered complication line, so quintessential Arthur

• The contrast between the gorgeous Julie Andrews channeling singing and Genny's brashness in her movement and dialouge

• Like obviously that's already in the lyrics but the book and direction just stretches it

• Everyone knew Phillipa Soo was going to be perfect and she is

• A lot of my strongest impressions are about Arthur

• Because I had no idea who the actor was and because in the limited amount of adaptations I'm familiar with of this whole story, Arthur is the bad guy or a good but extremely boring guy

• But I knew going in that I was gonna love Guenevere and Phillipa Soo even if I've never seen her on stage before

• So it was unsurprising

• Like my expectations were sky-high and she's so talented in every way and the writing for Genny is so good that she exceeded them anyway

• And she's so damn funny

• Obviously the whole rescued in the wood bit is already just a good joke and I'm honestly impressed with how funny the original songs are

• I am a sucker for the thing in stories where we know what's going to happen because they've been told so many times

• When they have a character say something the audience knows is foreshadowing

• "Cause a little war" is what I'm thinking of in this moment but there are tons and every time it's a hit with me

• The delivery of the clause one bit is perfect and her backing Arthur into falling on the bench and then just turning around and back to angelic singing

• The turnaround from the aggressiveness to the extremely soft and feminine singing is brilliant

• "The more knights slaughter each other, the fewer there are to slaughter the rest of us"

• The exchange about the dowry still being in the carriage

• Their deliveries are so funny

• They immediately bounce off of each other perfectly

• And Genny not even escaping with the dowry she's supposed to be using to buy her freedom, amazing

• "What is power uuuused for? That is a very interesting question."

• Genny just immediately knocking Arthur's socks off

• Trying to write out some of the word deliveries he does is so hard but there are a few that absolutely kill me

• They've known each other for five minutes and they're already having a debate

• "I've known kings, I'm daughter of a king so marrying a king doesn't have the same allure for me that it apparently has for you"

• She just speeds through those words at the end and it's great

• "They run to here" is another bit of hilarious delivery but I also love the contrast it sets up between Arthur trying to be kingly in a way that doesn't fit versus later when he does it his own way

• I could listen to them go back and forth saying why for ten minutes

• Genny's incredulousness when he says the weather

• I can't remember but I think she's walking away and then just turns to stare at him in absolute confusion

• Like he's so ridiculous that she can't help but engage

• I did a quick bit of intermission math and we know this takes place seven months before the Lusty Month of May which is obviously happening in May

• So Arthur is literally singing to Genny about how there's no winter until December while at best - assuming the one month later and six months later are rounded up - it is snowing at the absolute beginning of November

• More likely October

• No wonder Genny thinks he's full of shit

• His improv did not pan out

• This is a joke for me, thank you Aaron Sorkin

• Do love that canonically, Arthur is in fact singing the song Camelot - that he just made up in a panic - what a dork

• Genny's little interjections of skepticism are all so funny

• Also just instantly establishing her as someone you love

• She's perfect

• But my favorite is "my escape is time sensitive, do you understand that?"/Arthur still singing/"no he does not"

• These actors are both hilarious, the amount of stuff required of musical theater actors continues to blow my mind

• Like not only to do the whole singing, dancing, and acting thing but then you have to convey it to a whole theater but also not overact to the people up close and be able to do comedy and drama how

• I was in practically the back row up top and not a good view but extremely close (like seeing the actors spit close) on the side for the under 35 tickets and then also in very good seats and the performances by literally everyone never felt too much or not enough

• "Are there any other people in these woods you could recommend?"

• Also this moment which is the cutest thing you've ever heard

• Do I remember exactly what happened? No. But do I know it was adorable? Yes.

• "And we have poets in France"/"Oh yes of course... But do you?"/Genny angrily naming French poets/"Understood" and he's already singing again

• The entire performance of this song and especially getting her to sing along, so charming in the most annoying way

• But also she's sort of into it which is cute

• I do see on YouTube that there was a bit more to this French poets discussion which was probably right to cut but I am delighted to find literally anything new

• Sidebar

• I have been known to have issues with staying present when I watch things and not letting my mind start wandering. And one of the reasons I knew Camelot was good the first time was that I was totally engaged the whole show. But the last time, I did have the one moment where a thought popped into my brain during this song that completely threw me out of it

• And that thought was "this Barbie has taken a carriage ride to hell" after Genny says that line and like why brain?

• (For the record Genny and Arthur are both Barbies. They are everything. Lance is just Ken. Perfecting his body and soul is his beach. He is Kenough. Arthur and Genny have a terrible day every day. Lance only has a terrible day if Arthur and/or Genny look at him.)

• (I believe I have come up with a combination of words that have never been spoken before and perhaps a genuinely new opinion on a thousand year old legend)

• (In a bad way)

• Anyway

• The pure chaotic comedy of the knights finding Arthur and Genny freaking out is not something I can articulate but I adored so much

• Phillipa Soo is stealing the whole show in this one

• Does Genny come out of her hiding spot with her mouth wide open before she gets on the ground or am I misremembering?

• "We call that a sin of omission your majesty"

• With no remose "oh we call it that too"

• "Were you never going to tell me?"/"No I was going to get to it"/"When?"/"After I told you about the weather"

• Not a single bit of remose again

• I don't have anything to say, I just think the exchange is very funny

• I love not making Arthur any kind of royalty, he is truly just some guy

• Like I'm reading The Once and Future King and Arthur's lineage is so weirdly complicated and I just don't care, I like him as some guy

• "He discovered he didn't have his sword because I left it at... a house, that doesn't matter, that's my fault"

• Now that's a line that is funny on time one and fills you with dread afterwards

• The most exasperated "I was just going to borrow it for the day"

• Something about the delivery of "when I opened my eyes the square was filled with people shouting god save the king"

• Like Arthur never actually says out loud that he didn't want to be king but Genny gets it right away

• "I see you now, you're just a boy wearing a crown you never wanted sitting atop a throne two sizes too big"

• Just an absolute cutting response but Arthur doesn't take it that way at all, he's so earnest

• She reads him to filth but it doesn't even rattle him, he just takes it because it's true

• Gorgeous writing in what she says and his response

• "But provenance has put us both here, both of us highness and want it or not we are commanded to wear that crown and to grow into that throne"

• Chills, the delivery is outstanding

• We finally get King Arthur

• And Genny being convinced, all it took was one genuine moment and she's ready to engage

• Then Arthur again just taking so passionately about what he wants Camelot to be

• No wink, no sarcasm, no shame

• This show is unabashedly sincere and optimistic and I love it

• Genny falls in love with Arthur, I fall in love with Arthur, Genny falls in love with Camelot the idea, I fall in love with Camelot the show

• Everyone including the audience and Arthur were already in love with Genny for Phillipa Soo reasons so there's no moment for that one

• I feel like the trope-y thing would be to have Genny be a cynic here but no, she's just as much of an idealist as him

• She put up a little front of cynicism at the beginning but as soon as she gets the option of hope, she's choosing it instantly

• "Or you can stay. And together we may discover if power might be harnessed as a force of good"

• Like he's instantly treating her as a partner in this endeavor

• And I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight playing under it so beautifully and then the seamless musical transition back to Camelot is so perfect

• I am music stupid so I wish I had something to say about it but your songs have got to be tight to flow that way

• "I don't know if I'm worthy" also just a heartbreaker

• We don't really get to hear anything about Genny's life in France but she's clearly very opinionated and competent and I wonder if besides the whole wanting romance and adventure thing

• She also had an idea of what the life of a queen is like

• After all she's the daughter of one

• And she didn't imagine having this kind of role in actual ruling and doesn't know whether she can live up to this ideal that Arthur has set

• Like maybe she thought the only way she'd get to impact the world was knights killing each other over her or being the cause of a war, at least that's something

• But now she has a chance at more and she's grabbing it

• Genny singing the reprise is so beautiful thematically - it makes me a little teary just watching her instantly be like I see your dream and understand it and I want to be part of it but via some of the best singing maybe ever

• Such an amazing recontextualization from the original

• I've seen little clips of this reprise from 1961 and this one just feels warmer and more meaningful because it's about the ideals and not them confessing love at first sight

• And somehow more romantic

• They're instantly established as a team who share intellectual and philosophical similarities

• To so quickly convey that and make it believable

• It not only cements their relationship but makes them characters you root for

• And then the sounds of people coming in as soon as or maybe even before they get to finish singing together, like it's their world and they're falling for each other but there's no time, they're king and queen now and that will always supercede their relationship

• Also something about the moment when Arthur introduces her to the court just also really gets me

• "She's nice... some of the time"

• It's cute how smitten he is with her, all of her, immediately

• "Something about her makes me want to be a better king" (so Arthur is actually capable of expressing a romantic thought, don't get used it it)/"She's very attractive"/"Oh she is but it's not that"/"Arthur"/"Well it's not just that"

• I love the way they flip the speech Arthur gives Genny from the original about not feeling like a king until now meeting her

• But now that they've actually gotten to know each other a bit and it's after she's agreed to stay it actually makes sense here

• I do also love that even though he can't manage it to Genny's face, he does feel completely comfortable expressing his feelings about her to Merlyn

• The "oh she is" is so cute, he's so excited

• The music under his conversation with Merlyn before he starts just monologuing, very ominous

• I'm obsessed with it

• "We finally have peace" is another line delivery that I just need to sit and think about

• The joy of it, the relief

• Again the idea that Arthur has been a king at war this whole time

• Merlyn mentions, as part of a joke but still, almost as soon as we meet Arthur that he's fought armies

• He's not optimistic about the world because he hasn't seen conflict

• He's more determined because he sees what it does

• Channeling best man in all fiction Waymond Wang this is how I fight energy and that's very my shit

• Very much my shit might be a slight understatement

• It might not be surprising to learn that Arthur is my favorite thing about this show, they revamped this character so well

• So much of my life was spent in the media age of male anti-heroes and I love that we've returned to a point of male heroes

• Arthur idealistically talking about how they can finally start making Camelot for everyone and Merlyn walking off stage while the ensemble sings I think the part from the cut song and I assume some new stuff that's very Medieval church music

• So so good

• "What do I do next?" so eager and then just the emotional drop-off to his scared little boy when it becomes clear what's happening "Merlyn?"

• Stunning performance

• I think Arthur falls to his knees at some point but I'm already doubting

• The "what the hell do I do now?"

• Perfect scene ender

Act 1, Scene 2: The King's study - one month later

• The transition music between scenes is always good

• It's gonna be a struggle not to just quote this whole scene

• "Arthur, please call me Arthur" is so desperate like he has no one now, no actual human connections to him as a person instead of a king now that Merlyn is gone

• And then asking what she was called back home, he wants connection so badly

• And probably he still feels guilty for taking her from her home to be his wife

• "I was a royal princess, I didn't have friends"

• Well there is a reason they're both terrible at relationships

• I also love the way Phillipa Soo says Arthur in such a stilted way at the beginning of this scene and it becoming more natural every time she does it

• Genny telling him he's not attending to his duties with enthusiasm like she is not the least bit afraid to challenge the king a month in

• Love to see it

• Arthur's "I beg your pardon" when she asks about cortesans and the look he gives her

• "My father kept his women, his extra women, in their own wing of the palace. Where are yours? Might they cheer you up?"

• Genny the proactive problem solver

• Also something about the way she says extra women makes me laugh

• "I don't have extra women, I'm a married man. You were at my wedding" perhaps one of my favorite deliveries and lines in the whole show

• Genny's point of view in this scene is very interesting

• Like she does bring up that it's his legal right instead of dropping the whole thing and that's a choice

• Does she think he's lying about not having cortesans and reminding him that she is legally obligated to be cool with it so to be honest?

• Or is she just baffled by Arthur and his choices because this is a normal thing for a king to her?

• Or maybe since she already has feelings, she's trying to balance her own expectations to not get hurt?

• Possibilities

• "I'm aware of my legal right in that regard and I assure you I have no intention - oh my god - no intention of exercising it"

• Specifically the delivery of oh my god but the whole thing, he is so offended

• "And making the world into Camelot, are you abstaining from that too or will men at honor continue to plunder villages and take, rape, and kill whatever they please?"

• Genny

• Genny you are a hero

• She's so smart and fierce and unafraid to stand up to Arthur

• "I didn't make the world"/"You make a part of it"

• Arthur being so defensive and Genny calmly holding her ground

• She's taken to her new role so well

• And then Arthur admitting he doesn't know how to proceed without Merlyn, I love the way he builds trust in her in this scene

• "What would he say?"/"He'd say my god you're the slowest student anyone's ever tried to teach"/"Well I can convincingly say that"/"It's good that you mock me, kings should be mocked from time to time, it brings people pleasure. But for the record it's no fun for the king"

• Genny sounding so pleased with herself, Arthur getting out another sarcastic response

• Also what a lie, it is fun for him

• Mocking each other and public policy are their love languages

• "He once explained why but I got distracted because a white tailed eagle flew right by" with the most excitement and boyishness

• And then starting to go off on a tangent about eagles

• Never change Arthur

• I just think it's sweet the way she redirects him because she's fully committed herself to the idea of Camelot and her role in it

• "Pace freely at your own pace"

• Another brilliant line and delivery

• Channeling some Mary Poppins here

• Genny getting Arthur to think is so good

• "You had to pace and comcentrate to arrive at that?"/"It's hard to imagine why your country was willing to part with you"

• The proposition/resolved structure of this scene is very good

• And also that he starts with this pessimistic tantrum about human nature and Genny guides him back on track

• It's a great relationship moment but it also lets Arthur have some struggle and lets Genny be for Arthur what he was for her in the first scene

• Arthur collapsing on the floor and muttering "extra women" like wow he cannot handle being thought of as not a good person

• "That's it?"/"Wait"/"I wasn't going anywhere"

• Her being on the floor with him, gently pushing him

• He can't even maintain cynicism for more than a few minutes

• Them building the idea of the round table together, this is peak romance

• I can't just quote this scene in its entirety but every moment of it is a delight of them passing ideas back and forth

• "Isn't it also about the law?"/"It is"

• A standout delivery

• I love when they're working out the wordings like they make each other better

• "The law will be the stone upon which this rock - the rock upon - wait the church?"/"Have mercy"/"The law will be the rock upon which this church is built"/"Nothing can be more important"/"Nothing can be as important"

• This is what I love about Sorkin's writing

• The way that he has characters discuss ideas

• Like everything is an exciting discovery

• There's no singing in this scene but it has so much rhythm and is so compelling when in another writer's hands it would be boring and forgettable

• I broke out a chunk but it's so dense there are so many words and I love each one

• Genny counting down to his return, she already knows him so well

• Again I am trying not to type out every line

• I think they both yell for the page but I'm actually not sure, either way they are so excited and yelling something

• The new book has done so much to deepen their relationship, I adore these idealistic little nerds

• Arthur cannot contain himself

• His attempt to cool things down for himself by taking his hands off her face and then "you were very helpful, thank you"

• Smooth

• Convincing

• Definitely professional and platonic

• Truly do not know how Genny does not realize he's in love with her at this point but she sure is not gonna get better at that

• "And I suppose France too"/"I know that hurt"/"A little bit" and then he laughs it's adorable

• They're both so giddy here

• "Arthur I did already know that about you, that you were a decent fellow"/"I'm glad"

• They're in love. They are so in love.

• Arthur has taken on Genny's tone for the word inspiration when he talks to the knights

• "You've invited the French" every time Sagramore says it, it's just as funny

• "We may not be born equal"/"We are not sire" (with so much contempt)/"So our laws will make us equal" (with no room for disagreement)

• The immediate conflict

• And we see Arthur being a king and taking a hard line which we don't get to see much in this show and I love it

• "What about God's laws?"/"Not. Our. Jurisdiction" like are we sure this is not actually from the west wing

• I'm internally cheering when I hear it, I love this line far too much

• It's funny but also authoritative and kingly

• I get that some people do not vibe with Sorkin's style and that's fine but I very much do

• This show is so for me it's kind of incredible it was not made with that purpose

• A Sorkin character who would love Sorkin's work, I just adore it

• And according to the funniest line from any review I read, also has Sorkin's haircut

• That just lives in my brain because it's funnier than any piece of media criticism I will ever hear

• The knights already dissenting is very good but also that they don't fully agree yet with each other

• They build it in immediately and that's such a good choice, it makes every escalation feel totally plausible instead of the knights just easily falling for Mordred's bullshit

• Dinadan quoting Plato's ideas and saying how they're the well-educated people who should be in charge is great

• I love that the knights get to be characters and have thoughts

• Their constant vacillating between loyalty to the king and loyalty to the power structure they benefit from

• One of my favorite running tensions

Act 1, Scene 3: The countryside outside of Camelot - six months later

• The performance of C'est Moi is so funny

• Going 100% immediately

• Jordan Donica was just as perfectly cast as everyone else

• The lyrics are so funny and then he is just so loud

• His little whispered "C'est Moi" after the second verse while posing is so much funnier than it is on the cast recording

• "Had I been made the partner of Eve/we'd be in Eden still" is my favorite lyric

• The scream on clean destroys me

• Lance is always at a 10 and he's so delusional, I'm obsessed with him

• There's so much loud breathing in this performance which I love

• And whirling his sword around the stage

• "Beware enemies of Arthur do you hear me beware, from this moment you answer to me" while Arthur is literally unconscious behind him, this is comedy

• "You raised your sword to me"/"Oh I was saying hello"/"I did not know that"

• Lance is not sorry at all and it's hilarious

• He's just on another planet compared to everyone else and I love it

• Also Arthur so pure, just seeing a random person and trying to say hi

• Like you're the king of the country, you do know many people are not exactly going to be friendly, right?

• "I honestly thought I was more recognizable to the French"

• "Have you changed your Francs to English shillings?"/"Why?"/"This man's face is on money"

• Arthur subtly trying to tell Lance what's happening but the word subtle is not in Lance's vocabulary

• "I'm underwhelming in person"

• Says the man that keeps making French people instantly fall in love with him in the woods

• "My security detail... right in the nick of time"

• "I beg your majesty to forgive for me for by forgiving me I'll suffer even more"

• Lance is screaming the whole time

• I don't know how he does it

• "But my strength comes from purity of spirit"/"What was that?"/"Purity of spirit, my personal relationship with the almighty, he favors me"/"I'd keep that to yourself"

• I can't write it out but this

• And this is about to have to switch out for the rest of the show so like even more screaming somehow

• He's so funny, it isn't reasonable

• Also love that his language is the least modern of them

• It fits

• Seems like some of his lines come directly from the original book and it works amazingly

• "Be a faultless example to children" is another iconic delivery

• Also Lance asking for a mission, incredible

• He just plays everything so straight and it's perfect

• Like not a single acknowledgement of the ridiculousness of this character

• Arthur will literally get a concussion to avoid a social function, relatable

• "Until you came along and whacked me in my head"/"AND FOR THAT I BEG YOUR HARSHEST PUNISHMENT"/"Nope, nope, we're not going back to that"

• Yes the all caps is necessary, Lance is always speaking in caps, if he lived in a time a cell phones all of his texts would look like that

• And Arthur's tone when he responds

• When Lance starts singing again and then Arthur just says nope so many times

• This is their whole relationship

Act 1, Scene 4: A park near the castle

• This scene is just a magnificent Phillipa Soo showcase that we have been blessed with

• Like she is just so talented and I am blown away

• There's a reason Lusty Month of May is the song they have the most out there

• "The birds and the bees with all of their vast/amorous past/gaze at the human race aghast" is my favorite and she does it so perfectly

• Also the intro music just exactly captures that buzzy spring feeling

• My roommate and I both had the experience where the first time we saw the show, none of the music stuck with us

• And then the second time, all of the sudden it burrows into your brain

• This burrowed first because of course, it's so vibrant and lovely

• The original music is so good and somehow the transition from the more modern dialouge into the songs is seemless

• Genny has two missions: justice for all and bringing sex to England

• Look there's none in her own marriage and she needs an outlet, make those people kiss, it's all you have

• Genny's so fun and adorable in this song and it's perfect and I have no notes

• I'm just gonna go watch the today show performance and bask in it, this is the most classic Broadway musical sequence in the whole thing

• I love the idea that she's inviting all these normal people in and the beginning of the knights absolutely hating it

• "Be right quieter"

• And when they refer to Genny as a guest in the country

• The original is very and everyone loves her and I love that there's this tension where the people with power don't like her but everyone else does

• They say all the quiet parts out loud in this scene

• The show needs the knights so badly to show the discontent growing over time

• But they still respect tradition enough to enforce respect for the queen on Pellinore

• "I've only lived here a short time"/"Oh and you're already the queen, well done"/"I really had nothing to do with it"

• "Full of youth he was but brooding over problems that would confound Solomon. Ever met him your majesty?"/ "Constantly, he's my husband."

• With such affection ahhhh

• "You must be Morgan Le Fay... oh how he'd go on about the loveliness of Morgan Le Fey, her unsurpassing beautiful"

• Genny getting emotionally slapped in the face, it hurts so much

• The first crack in their relationship because they couldn't talk to each other...

• "I'm glad that nice young man found a nice young lady"

• Why does this make me feel things?

• I love the royal music every time

• "As you were everyone, pick grapes, eat flowers, or uh the other way around"

• Arthur and Genny's little catch up about Pelli is very cute, we don't get to see them be cute for a while after this so I just want to appreciate it

• Lance having no social awareness and continuing to make proclamations while Genny could not care less and is actively trying to speak to someone else, brilliant

• Genny and Arthur just waiting for Lance to stop talking after she keeps being interrupted and then Genny rushing out her lunch invitation and Arthur rushing out his response

• Arthur immediately wanting to run ideas by Genny, she is crucial to the development of Camelot and it's very much not a secret

• Arthur's "uh oh" when Lance is doing some casual misogyny

• "That sounded like a friendly exchange of pleasantries"/"It was not"

• No fucks for Genny today

• I wish I could one day know the translation of Genny and Lance's friendly exchange of pleasantries

• "Who would serve as the standard?"/"Oh certainly not me your majesty"/"See no hubris"/"My standards are much too high"/"Dammit Lance"

• "Have you achieved perfection milord?"/"Please say no"/"Of course I haven't your majesty"/"Good"/"Refining the soul is an endless struggle... but physical perfection"/"No"/"Yes"/"Go back to speaking French"

• "And in your quest for spiritual perfection have you considered the value of humility?"/"Ah something we should all consider. In fact let's take two minutes of silence to consider the value of humility."

• The dialouge between the three of them is so funny in this scene

• The ship is sinking and Arthur is just there with a tiny bucket while Lance and Genny keep creating giant new holes

• Genny calling Lance a jackass is both hilarious and also so valid

• "She already has an affectionate nickname for you"

• We have officially reached the beginning of the end, well we had some nice moments

• Like imagine if Pelli didn't start going on about how in love Arthur was with Morgan and then Arthur didn't show up with his new best friend who immediately implied women were too stupid to engage in government

• Genny was having a no fucks day and was probably ready to do a stupid thing and maybe that stupid thing was her husband

• A true tragedy

• "And with humility I"

• Dinadan's line deliveries are so dry and good

• And Genny's laugh

• "And whom will the three of you want to impress?"/"We want to impress the king too."/"Ah yes English men"

• I love the knights, they've all got their own little comedic touches in this song

• Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss Genny

• Take Me to the Fair is a masterpiece

• I don't know what constitutes a hot take about this show because there are 5 people talking about it

• But my hot take is that as much as Lusty Month of May is a brilliant and amazing song

• This is actually the Phillipa Soo tour de force

• Her fake crying is so good

• There are so many good flourishes in the singing

• Same thing I feel about I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight, Phillipa Soo is just enhancing every line with her hilarious delivery

• Also this sound

• Sagramore is always operating at 50% more intensity than the rest of the knights and it's perfect

• Him having to be held back by the other two when Genny sings to him

• It's involuntary at this point that I turn my head back at French during this verse

• His very loud delivery of "I swear to you the challenge will be met"

• "Sirrrr Liiiiionel"/"Ma'am"/"Ugh"

• And when she gives his chest a little slap after "and young du Lac"

• Perfect

• And her laugh-cry at the end of Lionel's part

• Their faces when she touches them are also just very confused and funny, she is not good at this

• I love when the knights are singing together, bringing up Lance really has wrapped them around her finger

Act 1, Scene 5: The King's study - the night before the tournament

• "You know that it's your move right?"/"I did not know that. I'll need to alter my strategy now"

• Honestly so relatable I suck at chess, Pelli is the best

• "If we're to care about justice, we need to care even more about injustice"

• Just a good little Sorkin nugget

• Pelli refusing to understand any of Arthur's ideas, excellent

• "Do I understand that you intend to be history's first king to yield power?"/"Oh now you're catching on"

• I do just love Arthur so much

• And the delivery of "she wrote what you just read"

• He's so pleased to inform Lance that Genny's writing treatises about justice

• Pelli's smug little "it's your move" like that's correct, no one is allowed to not respect women in Arthur's study

• "He's had you in checkmate for an hour and a half"

• Arthur's patience is astounding, Lance should be taking notes while he's perfecting his spirit

• "Would you like to play me or do you ever do anything but perfect your soul?"/"No I also perfect my body"

• Again just perfect deliveries and honestly so much respect to the new book for making Lance even more irritating but eventually more human too

• I am not dragging Lance, this is a compliment

• Just the way Jordan Donica plays it completely straight without being able to detect sarcasm is hilarious

• "The arrangement I'm in is called a marriage, having some fun would be called treason. And finally I hate his breathing guts."

• Setting up the consequences we know are coming with a little joke, I like it

• "Well be sure and give us clear skies tomorrow when you're arranging things with god tonight"

• Savage, I don't like most of the original dialouge but we had a winner with this one

• Her delivery just elevates it

• "No one could refuse your wish"

• The gall of Lance to say that like that in front of Arthur like he is shameless

• "Why do you have to bait the man?"/"I dislike him, I thought I was making that clear"

• Genny is so relatable

• Their first fight and Arthur's already insulting the French, I'm not sure why he thought this was going to go well

• Arthur trying to delicately ask Genny to withdraw her permission from Dinadan

• He's trying to have this conversation as her husband and not her king but Genny is not even having it a little

• Genny explaining that she already gave permission for all the knights is so funny

• I know they're basically the original lines but ya know, sometimes Lerner nailed it

• "It will seem to the entire court as if you are rooting for his downfall and championing his defeat."/"The only reason it will seem that way is because I'm rooting for his downfall and championing his defeat."

• "He's going to embarass those three. These are not men who take well to embarrassment."

• Like Arthur already knows exactly who his knights are

• He knows that they don't exactly match up to his ideals

• The delivery on "will you withdraw your permission" is also spot on like Arthur is ready to exit this conversation right now

• Also on "if I do will you forgive me"

• Like he knows that's not happening

• "Not as long as I live, no"

• Perfect riff on the original book's line

• Arthur doing some investigating on Genny hating Lance like he knows before she even does

• Ouch

• And then him starting to get frustrated when she's not answering like babies' first fight is not going well

• "Because he needs to be brought down to earth... literally not metaphorically"

• Like she has yet to be wrong

• "Merlyn never taught me how to handle a woman"/"You didn't read the book?"/"There's a book? No I can see from your face that there's not a book. Though maybe in France they would have published something, no I can still see on your face"

• We love a Genny dripping with sarcasm moment

• And Arthur being an idiot nerd

• He's so so stupid

• Another one of my truly favorite lines and deliveries, he is so excited that he completely forgets he's mad at her for a second and then pouting when he realizes

• "If the king wishes me to withdraw my permission, let him so command... nope, then I will bid you goodnight"

• The aggressiveness on her daring him to command her is so much

• Perfect

• I love her nope, a little power play

• Because she knows he won't and he knows he won't and she's happy to remind him of that they both know that and then leave

• His silence is doing so much work too

• Damn this scene is good

• "And before I go to bed as a gesture to Lancelot and to you, I'll pray it's over quickly"/It will be"

• They're so mad, I love it

• "There should be a book"

• Grumbling sullen Arthur is very funny even if How to Handle a Woman is lowkey the worst song

• And Arthur's worst impulse, which the narrative knows because it plays under him talking about vengeance and what he's entitled to later

• Like they do a good job recontextualizing it but it's still not the best

• Just hearing him sing the word threaten is kind of jarring, I cannot even slightly imagine this Arthur even thinking it once

• In my opinion they should've just cut it, I'd gladly take more Sorkin dialouge instead

• I do appreciate the way they scaled back this music in the rest of the show

• Because it's all over the second act of the movie, Arthur and Genny's theme if you will

• Like even during their last conversation

• Because they're not the love story so their theme isn't really a love song

• But then here, they play it under Arthur's worst impulses at the end of act 1 and banish it which is so smart

Act 1, Scene 6: A grandstand - the next day

• The music coming into this scene and when Arthur and Genny show up, again fantastic

• The outright hostility between the knights and Lance, they turned it so far up in this version

• Pushing him down and shit

• I love Athur and Genny showing up and getting to see them actually be king and queen and have their over-the-top outfits and crowns in this and the last act 1 scene because it's so removed from who they are the rest of time

• Arthur's speech at the beginning trying to glorify them not having the tournament and how great losing is and having to be stopped by Genny

• He's trying so hard and his speech is not good

• The fact that she basically tells him to stop and his response is fine like I think he forgets that he's actually in charge

• I love a sword fight

• The movement, the drama, the loud clanging...

• I am but a humble girl raised on the Pirates of the Carribean movies

• Dinadan being a dick before the fight with "and now for your lesson sir"

• The way Lance knocks the sword out of Dinadan's grip and makes him pick it up before defeating him, such an asshole move

• I truly can't tell if Lance has just such a superiority complex that he doesn't realize what parts of his own behavior are making people dislike him or he's just so stuck in his toxic little mindset that he doesn't care if people hate him for it

• I kind of feel like Lance is so into his specific notions of the world that even he doesn't really know why he acts the way he does

• "Dinadan seemed very inspired by your kerchief, should we continue?"

• "You know he almost had him, right up until the moment he never stood a chance"

• Their fight being played out by proxy while Arthur makes snide comments and they give each other looks is good shit

• Sagramore's scream, he's always going so hard

• The fact that Arthur fighting instead of Lionel is new for this

• Genius

• So good

• The dialouge around it is good too

• The temptation to just transcribe the whole thing is so strong

• Commanding Lance to pick back up his sword like damn

• I love seeing this new side of Arthur

• He can and will fight and he's good at it

• "I know what a damn baguette is"

• His little bit to Lance about it just being about morale is very good

• But also he can see what's going on even if Genny can't so is it?

• The fact that he may well have won the fight if it wasn't for a cool bird, what a man

• Fun fact about me, I didn't even see the bird or realize that's why he got distracted until the last time

• He and Genny are like very much not in a good place this moment but he will let it slide to point out a bird

• Arthur's fall is very good

• Can you tell I think this scene is also very good, I've only written it like twelve times

• The fact that they're letting people fight with swords and there isn't a doctor for 12 miles, amazing planning by everyone

• The bit of everyone thinking Arthur was dead and him sarcastically correcting them is amazing 100% of the time

• "He put life back into him" is just consistently hilarious

• "I'm not wanted here Arthur"

• With the most heartbreaking delivery

• Aw we finally see Lance have some shred of being an actual person

Act 1, Scene 7: The castle terrace - on the evening of the same day

• I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight intro-ing into this scene

• "Well you got me there" being screamed is perfect

• Pelli sensing that something is bothering Arthur, their relationship is very sweet

• Pelli describing the way Genny and Lance were looking at each other, what a shit stirer

• "It may be the only way to get him to stay"/"Maybe it's best if you let him go"/"Let him go?"/"Maybe it's best"/"Why is that?"/"Well...You said yourself, morale"

• Like she's trying to protect them but she won't say it

• For obvious reasons

• But it's confirming what Arthur already suspects

• And just drawing them further apart

• Another great her silence is doing so much work moment

• The entire telling Lance he's being invested discussion is so intense

• So much anger simmering in Arthur that can't help but come out in the line deliveries in the beginning

• Genny refusing to engage and turning her back to the whole thing

• "I'm sure he'd like to hear it from another child of France"/"This is my country now"

• Oh boy I love this exchange

• Like she's trying, she's trying so hard

• And I don't know what the fuck Arthur is thinking with that one, in what way could she possibly respond that's not going to be bad for him?

• Arthur leaving them alone like whyyyy

• And then Arthur giving Genny back her bloody kerchief, fuck

• All is very much not forgiven here

• "God dammit Pelli, I wasn't dead"

• Genny making it clear she does not believe Arthur was dead, I appreciate that she's also very clear on the fact that their world is not magical

• I wonder if Lance does think he willed Arthur back to life

• Probably

• "Don't ever say it out loud. Neither of us can ever say it out loud"

• This was another straight up gasping in the theater moment

• The entire conversation between Genny and Lance is so good and tense

• And the delivery on that line just feels like getting punched in the gut

• Phillipa Soo is amazing

• I love that she won't let them say it, that she's fighting it

• And the way she cuts him off, the way she makes him agree to not say it

• This is the intense love she wanted and it doesn't need to be said which is exactly what she needed to feel from Arthur but didn't get

• Also Lance just trying to confess his feelings the first second he can is just such an interesting character choice

• Like the truth is his purity of the soul bluster doesn't hold up to the slightest temptation

• He's ready to betray Arthur the second he leaves the room

• It's all a front

• Not intentionally, like he believes the things he says he believes

• But he can't keep to it

• I think he's so drawn to Arthur because Arthur actually has the qualities he's proclaiming define him

• But I don't even think Lance knows any of this about himself

• At least not until later

• He's just impulsive

• Which is I think what makes him an interesting character to me but also makes his motivations hardest to decipher

• Before I Gaze at You Again is such a stunning song

• And watching Phillipa Soo just emote for the whole time

Act 1, Scene 8: The great hall - on that evening

• All the music that starts this scene is brilliant

• "I'll never disappoint you"/"I know"

• I just...

• Like we the audience know but also the characters sort of all know and they are determined not to let it happen but that only makes it happen anyway

• Ugh those lines are a little nothing but they're everything

• I have the YouTube clips of Richard Burton's version of this and it does just indicate how well they've modernized

• Theater has changed so much so the pacing of 1961 compared to this is kind of fascinating

• This is also actually the writing I think is the best from the original and it is so fascinating to compare the two versions which I'm sure someone has done and I want to read it because there is so much to say

• It's so bold to close act 1 with a speech instead of a song

• I had no context coming in so they had me in the first half, I wasn't sure if this was Arthur's turn into the villain moment

• Once again I'm just like pointing to the whole speech and yelling how good it is

• Whoever decided this belonged on the cast recording is my personal hero

• This is just on my normal spotify playlist and as long as I'm not reading, I will not skip it

• But I love the idea that in the original book Arthur starts out by declaring his love for Genny and Lance and in this version it's like he's actively talking to the audience to defend himself

• To say he's not some stupid optimistic kid, that he sees everything we have

• Comes out swinging

• I can't explain how much "proposition: I am not a befuddled king" shook me, I was ready for shit to go down and I love it as the opener to this

• The pause before "whom they love", the sadness in it

• "And she didn't choose whom she married"

• Like Arthur can never get rid of that guilt

• The push and pull of this entire thing where he will try to make an argument with himself that everything is fine but the bitterness keeps seeping in until there's no rationality left

• Trying not the write out the whole thing but the rhythm of it, the pacing, this performance is spectacular

• The way the audience startles when he starts screaming

• Like he's having his back and forth rational debate with himself and finally we see him lose that control

• And it is the good shit

• I can't explain how much I came in with no context for this show and how much this completely threw me in the best way

• We're finally a glimpse of what's happening inside Arthur's head, to see the way he's been holding so much back from everyone else

• I love that he's still yelling at Merlyn, not exactly sure what I want to read into that, I feel like there are a few lines of thought

• "Am I not entitled to a man's vengence?"

• Perhaps my favorite line in the first half

• Every line is sort of my favorite but I guess let's settle on this one

• Because the original is "I demand a man's vengence"

• And same sentiment but entitled is so much more toxic

• Like the thing about this magic-less universe is that Arthur wasn't destined for some greatness and so he pulled the sword from the stone

• He wasn't owed something, he didn't deserve it, it just happened and he chose to rise to the challenge

• And this is the first moment he's decided he might be entitled to anything

• And then he does a 180 into deserving nothing

• "Proposition: I'm not a man, I'm a king"

• Like wow so much to unpack psychologically there

• I mean he and Lance have very much the same problem of trying to suppress their own humanity but the reasons are so different

• When Arthur switches into his idealistic mode and they start playing I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight because he's being kingly, literally gets me every time

• The entire thing is so good, I love the second half so much

• "I wasn't trained for this"

• I love the running theme of Merlyn training Arthur in all of these important skills but never teaching him how to handle emotions and relationships and uh maybe he should have

• There were perhaps some limits to Merlyn's wisdom that set Arthur up to fail

• Because he's been king since he was barely out of childhood

• He never got the chance to have normal, equal relationships where he could figure shit out

• So instead he just pushes it all down because he's not wrong in that he doesn't get the luxury of following his emotions

• I love every second of this scene

• I love every line, every delivery, every movement

• Like it is a hard ask to make an actor just walking around the stage monologuing compelling in a musical and this is so so compelling

• Just on the whole of this show, I don't know that I've ever been so blown away by a stage performance as I was watching Andrew Burnap and this scene is just a perfect encapsulation of why

• Whatever he's in next, I will go

• Okay real talk something about this man's face just renders it unrecognizable to my brain so more than likely I'll see something and be like wow that person was amazing, who was that and then it will turn out to be him

• I say specifically because I happened to be watching Under the Banner of Heaven the whole time I've been having a Camelot obsession and how did I find out he was in it? I happened to see his name in the end credits four episodes in...

• But anyway I will at least try to know whatever he's in next so I can go on purpose because this performance is living in my brain and I don't think it's leaving

• I do make fun of previous versions of this show for casting people who are clearly not musical theater actors in this role but actually I do think casting actors who do straight plays does add so much as long as they aren't terrible at singing

• All of which to say again that I do think this was some of the most perfect casting I have ever seen

• Basically the statements you can tell Andrew Burnap is not a musicals person and you can absolutely tell Phillipa Soo and Jordan Donica are absolutely musicals people

• Are both extreme compliments to the people that decided on this casting

[wondereads]

Weekly Reading Update (06/10/24)

Reviews and thoughts under the cut

Forced Bonds by J. Bree (9/10)

I think this is my favorite of the series so far. The majority of this book was par for the course, but there were a few major things that really brought it to another level for me. One is the reveal about the main characters' bonds, which I'm very interested to see a resolution to, and another is the ending, which I never expected from this kind of series. I have my doubts that that development will actually hold, but it still took me by surprise!

Toward an Aesthetic of Reception by Hans Robert Jauss (5/10)

This is a literary theory book that is highly useful to some research I'm doing. It is also incredibly opaque and miserable to read. I feel like I retained about 40% of what I read, even if I did get some useful quotes and ideas.

The Once and Future King by T. H. White (8/10)

I went into this one with a certain idea of what it would be like, and I was completely blindsided. Despite being a fantasy classic from the mid 1900s, it was quite accessibly written and a good bit of the humor holds up. I think what I liked most about this version of Arthurian legend was its portrayal of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guenever (that's how her name is spelled in this book). White did a great job getting across the nuance of the conversation and not villainizing any of them, even if they did act horrendously stupid at some points. There are certainly things I did not like about this book, major ones being how White is so obviously a white English man and how Freud's theories must have still been popular when he was writing, but it was overall an enjoyable read and a very obvious inspiration for a lot of modern medieval and Arthurian fantasy.

Haikyuu!! Vol. 34 by Haruichi Furudate (8/10)

It's a bit tough for me to rate manga volumes since they go by so quickly, but I think I would be hard-pressed to find a Haikyuu!! volume I don't like. While I've watched the anime many, many times, I'm finally committing to finishing the story through the manga. This volume in particular was quite good, focused on a highly anticipated match. There were some moments that got a little repetitive, but I expect that's the point since part of this arc is the Karasuno team's frustration at being unable to break through.

Haikyuu!! Vol. 35 by Haruichi Furudate (9/10)

There was a bit of a shake-up in this volume, and I think it's a great one for showing how Hinata has developed over the course of the story. The fact that he's being targeted for receives to keep him out of the game instead of because he's shit at them is a huge amount of growth in the first place! I liked the problem-solving displayed by him and the rest of the team, and the Hinata/Kenma dynamic is really starting to take off. I kept this at a 9 instead of a 10 because while the ending got me excited, I don't see yet how it's supposed to disrupt Nekoma's strategy.

The Dark Secret by Tui T. Sutherland (86%)

Starflight's character development through this book is really quite good. He's always been a nervous worrier, and I think the way he moves through the plot allows him to come into his own and find courage without abandoning his intelligence and conscientiousness. A good balance is struck, giving him character growth that doesn't overshadow or completely change his core personality. Looking forward to finishing this book and reading the final one in this arc of the series!

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (15%)

The first isekai? I have so much to say about this book, but it's just going to end up being five paragraphs of nonsense, so I'll just say this for now: Hank is an annoying hypocrite and perhaps the first isekai power fantasy character. Do with that what you will.

Haikyuu!! Vol. 36 by Haruichi Furudate (33%)

So far I'm really liking this volume, and I just got some backstory for Kuroo and Kenma! They're so cute as children! I honestly can't tell who's going to win this match. My preference, of course, is for Karasuno since they're the main characters, but Furudate does such an amazing job of making the reader root for both sides. I'll be working through these next few volumes quickly since I want to go see the new movie this week!

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (1%)

I've barely started this book, but I'm a little uncertain. I am not one for historical fiction usually, and I'm really only reading this for my book club. So far the main character seems a little too perfect to me; clever, driven, beautiful. I hope she becomes a more well-rounded character as the story progresses.

[pastel-player]

Round 1 Results

ALRIGHT IT’S TIME

A few of these results really surprised me! Others did not in the slightest. But either way, it is time to reveal the losers of Round 1!

MATCH 1: Scarlet Amin is Eliminated!

Scarlet Amin a wealthy and charismatic business woman, known for her energetic personality and love of mystery! She revels in filling her home with secret passageways and hidden compartments. She is the girlboss to her husband’s malewife. Speaking of which...

MATCH 2: Ronin Amin is Eliminated!

(Art by https://twitter.com/_Cinnaart_?t=06fAdEVxEb7Fo7Rb5ulueg&s=09)

Ronin is, simply put, sopping wet. He’s much more shy and timid compared to his wife, and tends to handle the paperwork of the business. Yes, I have a favorite, what about it? He’s quite gentle and is known for his caring demeanor. He and his wife also own the mansion a certain OC story of mine takes place in ;D

MATCH 3: Burst is Eliminated!

Art by @samthecookielord​

Burst is a Paper Mario OC, inspired by Origami King! Basically I decided that Bobby deserved a boyfriend. Burst is highly energetic, always jumping to new opportunities! He is acutely aware of his mortality and strives to do as much as he possibly can in the time he has. Love this little guy. Funnily enough, speaking of Paper Mario...

MATCH 4: Twiss T. is Eliminated!

(It’s Sam again)

Twiss T. is another Paper Mario OC, based on the older games this time! He’s meant to be an antagonist- not outright evil, but he definitely doesn’t prioritize his morality. He’s a theatre kid through and through- though he’s dying to play a villain. He is so so willing to be manipulative, love that for him. His only loyalties are to the stage and to his pride <3

ROUND 5: Nightlight is Eliminated!

(It’s Sam. Again.)

Nightlight is the mother of one of my more well known OCs- Nightcap! She works at a library reading out stories, as well as writing kids books in her spare time! She’s very kind and gentle, though she very much has a sense of humor. This woman would have a Tumblr account.

ROUND 6: Misery Wizary is Eliminated!

(Take a guess.)

Misery Wizary is my necromancer save from West of Loathing! She started with a somewhat warped sense of morality- having far too much confidence in herself as a good person, and far too quick to assume the worst of others. This lead to her learning necromancy, through the idea that the person most skilled in it should at least be a good person. She ended up hiding away after an Epiphany TM followed by The Guilt. And then she was pulled out by a strange little child name Romy who is now her son. Love this woman.

ROUND 7: Storm is Eliminated!

(Take. A. Guess.)

This one sorta devastated me ngl. Storm is a teenager with arguably the most complicated origin of any of my OCs! What’s important is that they’re part of (in at least one timeline) the Omori Deltarune AU! They’re one of Halkinna’s best friends- they can come off as edgy, but they have soo much love in they heart. They also enjoy writing angst.

ROUND 8: Arthur Morris is Eliminated!

(picrews are: https://picrew.me/image_maker/1706331 and https://picrew.me/image_maker/1414503)

Arthur Morris is one of my Shadows Over Loathing OCs- specifically my Cheese Wizard save! He’s very intelligent and rather soft spoken. He loves learning about various forms of magic, as well as their history. He also had an.. interesting dynamic with Noel, since he just simply could not match her energy. Oh yeah he also a crush on Charles, love to see it. He’s actually part of a duo- wonder if the other is somewhere around here ;D

That’s the end of part one cause this got very long lol, part two of the results should be soon

[bobfloydsbabe]

Helena m'dear, I just had the cutest Teacher!Bob thought this morning when I was at work, I dunno how it came to me, but it somehow did.

Maybe you and Bob have just had the little one and he's only a week old. You're supposed to be on leave but you promised Bob's students that you'd come in with the baby and no sooner do you do so than all the students start gasping and squealing at the sight of this tiny little baby who clearly has Bob's cheeks (lol).

*BONUS!*

You and Bob live in one of those older Victorian types of houses and one of the rooms is your private library all full of the stuff you guys love to read. Bob might be an art/history/art history teacher at the school, but he absolutely LOVES anything to do with fantasy novels, particularly the classics. You guys have stuff like Frankenstein, Dracula, Shakespeare, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, King Arthur, Robin Hood and a whole bunch of other stuff that you spend those shitty winter days reading by the fire and when the kiddos start coming into the fold, Bob makes it a point to have them read all the Dinotopia books by James Gurney (if you're not familiar with this series, I totally recommend it, it's such a fun read and I'm using it as the inspiration for a WIP I've got going for Bob x Reader and the Daggers, lol).

Mary, I'm obsessed with this!!! The literature nerd in me is having a field day with all this, and you're absolutely right that you're bringing the baby into school for the students to meet. Round cheeks, a dusting of dark blonde, babbling and smiling as the students surround you and the baby. Bob watches it all happen with an absolutely besotted look on his face, and even though you just had a kid, he's ready for next one right away.

And the bonus??? Be so fucking for real. I don't want kids myself, but dammit, if I don't want that kind of life with a partner. I'll take Bob and a couple of dogs, please and thank you.

Thank you for sending this in, darling! I adore hearing your thoughts and thots, and it's unreal how much dopamine this AU is giving me right now!

[atomatowriter]

If it's not too late, 3 and 4 for the Time's Sacrifice trio?

What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

Hokay this got long but thank you so much for asking this: I was trying to make a D&D character for my quip's new campaign based on FE3H, which I'd seen @frankensteined talk a lot about and Cressida had talked a lot about it but I didn't have much personal experience. I think in her descriptions of the three countries she said something about horse riding being a big thing in Faerghus, and I thought "Oooh, I could play a horse girl." So I guess that was my first thought, funny enough.

I had a pinterest board of different character art pieces at the time that I would use to get ideas when I didn't have anything. I found this piece by Cher-Ro of DeviantArt, which made me want to play a paladin. Then I think I used some random personality type generators to get...I think ISFJ for her MBTI (that's certainly what I think it is now) and a 2 enneagram type, and I sort of filled in the rest of her. A lot of her family dynamics - especially with Theo, Thibault, and her grandmother - were figured out on a phone call with Cressida. And I think I remember specifically deciding to make her 5'11" because that was my sister's height.

I based the initial conceit for the Time's Sacrifice Trilogy on a kinda joke AU that I pitched to Cressida that had to do with Celin, Dedue, and Dimitri. Basically what happens in the last chapter of Wounds. But I wanted to make the book my own thing and I did NOT want Nico and Alasdair to feel like Dedue and Dimitri. (I did want Artrus to feel kinda like Faerghus though, I'll be honest.) And I didn't want their dynamic with each other to be exactly like Dedue and Dimitri's. I knew that I wanted Nico to be less formal with Alasdair and a bit less "my only purpose is to die for Alasdair" but to still be super dedicated to him.

I had the image of Nico fighting his way past the castle guards to the dining table and then dropping to a knee and begging Alasdair to let him serve him, and the image of Alasdair almost immediately accepting that offer from this strange boy in a panic before one of the guards could kill him. And I wanted him to have a reason for coming there, which is how I decided that his Wisdom was visions. That was the initial seed for him and then I just made him very grumpy and rude because it was fun for me to write.

Well, okay. Actually no I do have more to say about that. Because the other seed of inspiration for Wounds was "what if Arthurian romance but they were all in love with each other, just in different ways." Which I got from the beautiful way that TH White portrayed Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot in The Once and Future King. The scene that ALWAYS sticks out to me in the Once and Future King...I don't have my copy anymore, so I don't remember exactly how the quote goes but it's one of Lancelot's first chapters, and it describes how Lancelot hated Arthur because Arthur was so perfect and good and everything that he wanted to be. And basically how he hated Arthur because he loved him. So Nico's tsundere attitude was born from this mental image of a scrungly young Lancelot aggressively attacking a training dummy and thinking about Arthur's stupid beautiful face and his stupid noble bearing and how much he stupid loves him.

Again, I started out knowing what I DIDN'T want - which was for someone to read the book and go "so this is just Dimitri Fire Emblem." But I DID want to keep the idea of a young prince who everyone has placed all their hopes on for being king...who kinda sorta doesn't want to be king. So why does he not want to be king? Because he is an empath. And he feels everyone's emotions so strongly that he fears sometimes it renders him kind of useless. Because he kinda just wants to curl up in a cuddle pile with his loved ones and get the affection that he doesn't get from Sigimar but kings don't get to do that. And because honestly he doesn't LIKE Artrus very much. He cares about the people, but the country as a whole he actually kinda resents it. Then I leaned into the empath thing and him relying on his people skills instead of being a strong combatant just to honestly again differentiate him from Dimitri.

And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

For Celin, it was getting her across as a distinct character on the page as opposed to in D&D where I played her. I actually got a lot of feedback that said they felt like Celin was the least developed of the three or that she just kinda felt like a blank protagonist. I also had to scale back some of the talents and rebuild a lot of her skills because in D&D, her parents did actually get married and she grew up noble, whereas in Wounds, they did not and she grew up in a little village with some advantages compared to the usual commoner (a noble father who would discreetly visit her and teach her how to read and stuff) but NOT as much as game!Celin.

But I will say that because getting her across on the page was so hard, when occasionally people who don't know her from D&D so clearly GET her? It's so fucking satisfying.

Alasdair was the easiest. He's very much my kind of character. What I struggled with the most was his name. I couldn't find one that I really liked for him for ages. It used to be Tobias, actually, and Celin was going to call him Toby. Cressida is still mad at me that I didn't go with that because then his beast forms could have been "Toe Beans."

With Nico I had a hard time cracking past his surface level, and it's something I'm still exploring the more I get into his POV in the sequel. Alasdair wears his heart on his sleeve, and while Celin usually tries to put on a good face for people, I KNOW her. But Nico's prickly and reserved. He's a very private person even to his writer so he's taken a bit of work delving deeper.

Character asks for the Time's Sacrifice crew or the Fox Eyes crew