#arthurian wip

[wrennwyrmnest]

i’m very very curious about your arthurian retelling! who are the central characters? what do you find most interesting/exciting/compelling about them? what are your arthurian sources & inspirations (be that medieval texts or modern retellings)?

Hey there anon! Thank you so much for asking this question - this is going to be a bit of a long answer but I get the feeling that won't be an issue :D (Maybe grab a snack?)

Firstly I'll explain why I'm using 'reimagining' rather than 'retelling', namely it's because of moving Arthur and co into a high fantasy setting rather than just Britain etc. which, while of course there will be analogues, there's going to be a bigger part that other fantasy species play. Christian themes and I guess, reasonings, aren't found but linger where appropriate (Grail Quest is there but but Galahad doesn't like yk go to Heaven afterwards) as some media I've been inspired from as well as I think a big thing of Arthur's legend of moving from one world into another whether that be Pagan -> Christian or Anglo-Saxon -> Britain(* all the big asterisks there because yk fiction and history not aligning).

Characters

Oh boy. Firstly I'd like you to check out the chart that was added to the wikipedia for King Arthur's Family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur%27s_family *how I wish this was there last year :sob:* and basically this kinda gives a good scope of characters I have 'webbed' out. I've gone to both Welsh and French texts for inspiration since Welsh includes Arthur's trips to the underworld ( ;) ) and French is when we get Lancelot and the Grail Quest. Firstly know I have taken some liberties both in Arthur's family tree as well as some creative ways that account for say multiple parents (Lancelot is recorded as being the son of a King but also as a son of The Lady of the Lake ~plot reasons~ they're separate uh, instances lets say ;) of his parents in my story). But in terms of characters whose voice I have a pretty good grasp of, their emotional arc(s) and a clear image in my mind of what they look like are (and grouped for no particular reason...):

Arthur, Lancelot, Gwen, and two others in their polycule.*

Igraine, Uther, and Gorloris.**

Merlin <- think druidic Loki vibes, he's a pain in my ass and I love him.

Hector his daughter Ser Kay.

Nimue and The Lady of the Lake.

Morgause and her son Mordred.

Madoc and his brother Mark.

Morgaen and how they were separated from Arthur at birth.

... The notion database I've created by pulling all the characters from sources comes to 258 but the above lists some uh key figures that are fleshed out as protagonists, antagonists, and anti-heroes.

(*) I'll get to Arthur/Lance/Gwen's triad a bit more below, but what I will say is that polycule is an important term here as everyone isn't with everyone, if that makes sense? But imagine found family five-man-band vibes.

(**) SO fun fact, when I watched the movie Merlin as a kid I misheard Gorlois as Goloris so I just kinda stuck with it. Unsure if that'll upset people too much though aha.

Why Tho? Exciting/Interesting/Compelling reasons why these characters have my soul.

I'm a big fan of Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Mythology. Seeing comparisons and also seeing both the Disney-fied versions but also the original tales. Arthurian legends has scratched an itch of dragons, knights, and magic that I've loved and is also shared by other stories too - which in part is why I'm spending so much time worldbuilding up front so I have a whole world sandbox to play in and tell some other tales too with it.

Why did I go with Arthur instead of say the Little Mermaid & Harpy sapphic reimagining I've got stashed? Honestly? Because he answered the call to adventure - the quest I have planned - but also because the Arthur I have in my mind, a big theme for him is Courage and doing the thing even though you're scared to which I resonate with a lot. Lancelot came stumbling in as his best friend from their squire days after disappearing for a few years for a second chance romance plot. Gwen butting heads with her twin sister had a certain, fire let's say ( ;) ), that need to pull these two dorks out of their heads while also exploring themes of empowerment. Mordred's arc which I hope to pull off as well as Zuko's was. Merlin, whom I love, was the one who revealed the world to me and really sparked the magic of it all. But then two scenes came to my mind, in full colour and with a big emotional impact.

Arthur and Morgaen's next meeting after finding out they're siblings.

Lancelot's lost memories returning and Arthur knighting the man who had turned to stone to save him.

I'll need to go through and make a full list of tags eventually but uh, lots of Angst/Hurt/Comfort mixed in with wholesome moments. I'm leaning towards potentially writing in a serial format and also doing maybe side stories from different character perspectives.

Sources & Inspirations

In terms of Arthurian specific things:

Welsh sources: Black Book of Carmarthen; Red and White books of Hergest; Culhwch and Olwen; Mabinogion; and the Welsh Triads.

Geoffrey of Monmouth, notably for Arthur's connection to the Roman Empire and characters from that region.

French sources: Le Mort de Arthur, Tristan and Iseult, Perceval and other stories such as Lancelot and the Knight of the Cart (I cackled a bit when I read that one ngl).

I tend to listen to the Myths and Legends podcast by Jason (something) who will be coming out with an Arthurian book sometime which I am keeeen for.

In terms of post-medieval things, there's a lot of nodding to fairy tales such as Tom Thumb and any story where Jack is mentioned.

Merlin the 1998 miniseries with Sam Neill. (This is the one that I misheard Golois as Goloris aha.)

The Mists of Avalon 2001 miniseries. (I haven't read the books and don't plan to support the author or that estate in any way due to the abuse she aided and abetted in).

Sword and the Stone is a classic Disney film but the main thing here I took inspiration from was to really highlight The Great Game in some way... Which is also a nod to Talesin in the Mabinogian. Also enjoyed Quest for Camelot as well.

There's a sapphic scifi retelling that I love called Once and Future.

And I also watched King Arthur's Disasters as a kid which, ngl I prefer the Welsh versions where he's a badass but this was amusing at the time.

In terms of non-Arthurian sources and inspirations, oh boy this gets quite long but basically from the above there are offshoots that I've done in terms of exploring:

Other Welsh tales.

Folklore of Europe as well as Ireland, Scotland, and Britain.

A lot of dabbling in comparative mythology and folklore as well as such as the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index for folklore to create some original but familiar folk heroes and lore for my world.

Consuming pretty much everything on Overly Sarcastic Productions.

I've mentioned that Avatar the Last Airbender and Fullmetal Alchemist are two comparative points of media: the first being for the elemental magic system as well as just some solid worldbuilding and character arcs - one of my blocks with writing is that I have like this big epic quest, various wholesome slice of life moments, deep emotional beats, but then also some spicey scenes that come to mind; the latter is mainly for a nod to alchemy, and magitech as well as some character beats.

I've also mentioned ASOIAF and really want to highlight that there won't be any inc##t at all in my books. There will be dark themes such as abuse of power, manipulation, and there will be people who get hurt or take advantage of, but I just really don't like that plot beat at all. Hence why Mordred is no Arthur's son.

*flops* Okay thank you for sticking with me through all of that. Let me know if you have more questions or if you'd like me to elaborate on anything! Thank you again for your question, it means a lot that people are finding it interesting (helps stop the imposter syndrome voices yk?)

[demoniacal-art]

hello arthuriana tumblr, have a wip of gawain + gringolet

[mortiscausa]

ive been a bit all over the place recently but finally getting back to working on stuff for my arthurian project

[mxpvtrx]

Sneak Peek of my next Merthur project, yes they're gonna be old and gray because I want them to be happy, and also yes Merlin is Arthur's Queen

Also my first project that I'm working on Krita and not Procreate, that's why it looks like a mess lol.

[bardicious]

Crossing the Boundary - Another illustration for the Albion series.

Read more about my process here! https://www.patreon.com/bardicious

Find all my timelapse shorts here! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD3fgwZ4l_SIzV1aQXBYG8Q

[toadlett]

There are no good kings

[marthalmary]

My characters and there orientations shone with gifs part 1

Arthur

Merlin

Gawain

Bedivere

Guinevere

Morgan

Tbd

Kay

Agravain

bonus Gawain

[andalon-historian]

WIP for Arthuriana August number 3, the original three Knights of the Round Table having a good time

To-do before inking and coloring: lengthen Kay's left arm(s?), and mess around with Arthur's cloak lines and Bedivere's hair to try to figure out what isn't landing for me.

[cryscendo]

tagged by @nicoise !! tysm <3

i haven’t done one of these in a hot minute, mostly bc i didn’t have anything to show. but i figured i’d give a little peak at the next chapter of the royalty au bc we get to see kurt and blaine properly interact for the first time <3 (not 6 sentences. never is.)

“What’s your favorite genre to read, Your Highness?” He inquired, easily moved on from his previous statement. The question caught Kurt so off-guard, he felt inclined to answer.

“Oh, uh… probably romance, I suppose.” It was a silly thing, but it was true. Kurt loved romance, and even though he had never experienced any of his own, he could envision how it might feel. That’s where romance novels came in to assist. They offered him a perspective of a life that he often fantasized about. They did their job of transporting him to a world where he could have those things. It made his rather jaded perspective of life a bit more rose-colored.

Kurt watched as Blaine traced his hand down the spine of a shelved book, as if pondering whether or not it was worth pulling out. “I see,” he acknowledged, finally deciding to pull the book. He balanced his weight on the ladder so that he could open the book. “So more along the lines of Lancelot and Guineviere than Sir Gaiwan, I take it?”

Kurt shrugged in response, even though Blaine was not looking at him to see it. “Perhaps without all the adultery.”

Blaine let out a soft laugh, and for some strange reason, the sound rang through him in a way he couldn’t fully comprehend. He ignored it.

tagging for either art or fic. sorry if you’ve already been tagged, it’s a close-knit community: @hevanderson @backslashdelta @porcelainvino @twinkkurt @warblercore @kurtsascot @blaintism and any others who’d like to participate <3

[cain--abel]

Arthurian Tale: Camelot

Friendship, Slice of Life, Romance.

Inspired by: Arthurian Fantasy and Welsh Mythology.

Uther Pendragon was defeated by your father. He has since been forcibly removed from Camelot by an impostor claiming to be Uther's chosen heir. An evil warlock known as Merlin is believed to have helped the false claimant. You are sent to Camelot for the sake of peace between both kingdoms. If you wed the pretender, you could have a fulfilling union that turns into love, alternatively, you may prefer to have a purely political arrangement. If you decide against the marriage, there are a number of people you can still pursue. But don't be fooled—even if you do marry the pretender, it might not prevent you from finding true love with another.

Play as yourself, or create a new identity.

Agree to an arranged marriage, or refuse and find love for yourself.

Betray Camelot, or become a steadfast ally.

Form alliances, friendships or have an affair.

Choose from five romance options. Two men, two women and one flippable.

Total Word Count: 148′000 Without Code: 136′000 Average Playthrough: 49′000

Play Here

Forum 

Romance

Progress Tracker

Patreon 

Ko-Fi

[caer-gai]

Wip of Pellinore's family =)

Top Row is: Feirefiz (unfinished) , Tor, Aglovale, Lamorak, Alyne, Drian, Dindriane, and Percival

Bottom Row is: Belacene (not started, Feirfiz's mum), Tor's mum, Drian's mum, Pellinore himself, Queen Hedozyine (Ag, Lam, and Alyne's mum) and Yglais (Percy and Dindraines mum)

The kids are in order of their ages except Alyne and Drian are switched and Percival and Dindriane are twins.

[theredandwhiteknight-if]

A little blurb from the Prologue as I’m editing and rewriting parts of it.

“Your nightmares are trying to draw you somewhere, to lead you to where these dreams are to take place. I fear they will only get worse as you get older and spend more time away from where fate wants you.” Well. That isn’t very comforting to learn. As you look at Vivian you see that whatever happiness she felt at finding the solution to your pain has quickly gone, which only makes you more nervous.

“Where… where is this place I have to journey?” You ask warily. What if you’re going to be sent far away? To some unknown land you could not return from?! Perhaps you will have to go back to your birthplace of Benoic and face your parents murderer! Maybe… maybe you even have to find a way to the Otherworld itself. You feel yourself grow cold at the thought.

“Oh Sweetheart,” Vivian runs her hand along your [hair type choice], sensing your increasing anxiety, “It is nothing quite so bad as you fear. In fact, you’ll enjoy it quite a bit,” She laughed at a joke only she knew. “I’m simply going to miss you dearly”

“Dear, tomorrow you’ll be heading across the sea to Camelot.”

[thegreatyin]

what are interactive fiction authors putting in the water to make their arthurian legend games absolutely fire

[mxpvtrx]

Slowly but surely making some progress.. Still a long way from finished. Still not happy with the colours either lol

I'm hellbent on making this meet my expectations and vision, cuz if I don't I might just cry.

[trisshawkeye]

Would love to hear about Gawain and the Green Knight retelling and Sad Bi Astronauts if you are still sharing WIPs!!

Yeah! So, Gawain and the Green Knight retelling is... not exactly fanfic in the sense that I'm approaching it like I would ofic. But the gist is that, due to a friend misremembering how the story goes and thinking that Lord and Lady Bertalik were the same person rather than Lord Bertalik and the Green Knight, I then thought to myself, well, what if they all were the same person, offering to Gawain something like a challenge and a courtship?

I then wondered about the aftermath of the story, when all is revealed, what if Gawain were inclined to accept that bizarre sort of courtship visited upon him, but only if he could set a challenge—if this genderfluid fay could stand to be a regular ordinary guest at King Arthur's court and play along with the ritual there. And it ends up overlapping a bit with the Dame Ragnelle and Pulzella Gaia stories, only there's more gender and queer desire involved. As well as old and new religion, the romantic ideal of Camelot versus the reality, what it means to be insiders and outsiders to a space, and growing beyond your own bounds while still staying true to the core of your identity.

Anyway, this WIP is still mostly outline, though a lot of that outline is quite detailed, but I haven't figured out the details of how it's going to end yet. If I set it down, though, it's probably something I'll see if I can float towards professional publishing rather than AO3. We'll see!

--

Next up, Sad Bi Astronauts is where I'm keeping my Space Brothers rarepairs, which is a hilarious situation to be in when the fandom itself is so tiny and there are hardly any fics at all, let alone depressing queer minor character ones.

There's two WIPs in there right now. One is for Jason Butler/Ronald Cooper, two very closeted astronaut candidates, one the backup for the other and who later drops out of the program due to trauma from a plane crash, wrecking their relationship beyond repair. Seriously—while Jason is a fairly regular minor character, Ronald only shows up in like one episode when we learn more about his backstory. This fic does not end happily for them.

The other is Pico Norton/Vincent Bold, which is the more obvious old-man-yaoi ship in the show. Their whole deal is that they were part of a childhood trio who wanted to go into the space industry, but they lost their friend Rick young to a car accident. They both go on to become a space engineer and astronaut and gain large amounts of baggage over that time. The fic is about them hooking up over the years but always feeling kinda bad about it because there's one of them missing. Sad!

These will get finished eventually, but only because I know there's at least one person in the world interested in reading them, which is my housemate.

[bardicious]

Reunited

Read more about the art here: https://www.patreon.com/bardicious