#i've reblogged a bunch of them so hopefully they're not too hard to find

[to-many-towered-camelot]

So...you're into arthuriana...

What's one work you'd recommend as a good starting place?

Not going chronologically like I did 😂

Hmmm but a little more seriously, it does depend on a few things, like how much you know about the most common story beats, how much exposure to medieval lit you’ve had already, and also just what you’re keen on in Arthuriana 🙂

[Edit - TL;DR: In general, Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. For medieval lit, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (or, if you’re like “who ?? is Gawain ??” then the Alliterative Morte Arthure]

If you’re brand squeaky new to Arthuriana, the best advice I’ve seen is to actually start with a movie (I’d say start with one of the older ones, as more modern ones are all about subverting the existing narratives, which isn’t as helpful for this purpose). Doing this is just about getting familiar with common tropes, characters, adventures etc because tbh there’s no official cannon to learn and if you tried to mush together all the different traditions to make a coherent narrative….you couldn’t, some things directly contradict each other.

I’d also really recommend the Myths and Legends podcast’s King Arthur series for this same intro approach! This series goes into more depth and breadth than any one movie can. This intro approach can also help you figure out what interests you - and then you can use that interest (e.g., a character, topic, trope, or event) as a pathway through Arthuriana, jumping from text to text, if that’s a method that sounds good to you (the Camelot Project can help you find texts related to your interest). Or you can go by country, or by chronology, or by tradition or text type, or do a survey of the most famous texts and then double back for the more obscure. There are lots of different ways of doing things 🙂. 

For written material, as long as you’re okay not starting with medieval lit, I’d actually recommend Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. It provides a great sweep of those main story beats but isn’t as long as, say, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur (this is a 15th century Middle English text that is very famous and often people’s first go-to – but it’s very long and more than a bit intimidating). Once you move on from Tennyson, you’ll notice that his attitudes towards certain characters and events don’t match up to other texts – never fear! That’s Arthuriana in a nutshell, where every author has a different favourite character and does something slightly – or majorly – different with the stories. Tennyson is Victorian-era and his vision of Arthuriana has really shaped modern popular understanding.

If you’re interested in starting with medieval lit, I would recommend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (author unknown, called the ‘Gawain Poet’ or the ‘Pearl Poet’ after one of their other stories). This is a late-14th century Middle English poem and it has a very self-contained narrative, so you don’t need to be familiar with other stories to still enjoy it. Plus it’s a gorgeous piece of literature by itself. That being said, if this is your first exposure to medieval lit, it might not be aaaas enjoyable as it could be? I do think it’s fine as-is, but a lot of the narrative tension relies on notions of honour and virtue that are very much of the time and place. But if you feel like you have a handle on those ideas already, or if you find a version with a solid introduction, I’d say definitely go for it!

Or else, I think ???? it was Ellian (@/ pendraegon) who once suggested starting with Chrétien de Troyes’ Yvain, the Knight of the Lion for a more intro-level exploration of honour and chivalry. Unlike the others I’ve mentioned above, he is a French author and was writing in the late 12th century. He is one of the first Arthurian romance writers (romance here meaning something different than our modern understanding) and is the originator of the Lancelot / Guinevere love affair. Chrétien’s other stories are good as well but less suitable for an intro, except maaaaaybe Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart if you’re a big Lancelot fan (or I guess Perceval if you’re keen on the Grail Quest, but that one – while it is the origin of the Grail – is unfinished. Queue a bunch of continuations that were written by other people to finish this story, who added the “holy” part to the Holy Grail).

Or if you want an intro that is more about Arthur, I’d recommend the Alliterative Morte Arthure which is a Middle English poem from ~1400. It – like its buddy the Green Knight above – is written in alliterative verse. This one covers the latter part of Arthur’s life – so not his birth or the sword in the stone, but rather his fight with Rome, his betrayal by Mordred, etc. This one is inspired more by the chronicle tradition (while the Green Knight is more inspired by the romance tradition). This means that it has more in common with Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136, written in Latin) than it does with Chretien. But it's way less dry and boring than the chronicles lol, especially Simon Armitage’s translation.

There are shorter stories that would be good little tasters that I could recommend, but they’re not as easy to find in your library or second-hand bookstore. You should check out Lou / Jack’s (@/ gringolet) intro post and Ellian’s (@ / pendraegon) post as well. They have links to PDFs of shorter stories and also links to good translations of the medieval lit I’ve suggested above. These posts touch on traditions from places that aren't England or France, which I high-key recommend diving into when you feel ready. They also give a bit of an intro to genre and form, if you’re keen on that 😊

I'll also send you to a post of mine that pulls together free audio versions of some Arthurian stories / texts both medieval and modern.

Finally, if you've set yourself the (big! and fun!) project of getting into Arthuriana, I’d recommend digging up a copy of Alan Lupack’s The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend, either from your library or for cheap somewhere if that’s an option for you. There’s a bazillion different traditions and even more stories that can all be labelled as "Arthuriana", so knowing how what you’re reading ties into the bigger picture can be really helpful (just search the text you're reading in the index of Lupack’s book, you’ll likely need to use its untranslated name).

I hope there's something in this post that interests you and helps you get started. Let me know if you have questions about any of this - and enjoy! 🏰 🗡️ 🐉

[humblemediagenius]

i have been curious about your characters since I heard first about them! unfortunately, am a little shy talking online, but since now seems like the least bother-y time i'll take now not really 100% sure what to ask first, so I'll start with this: What different stories do you have going on right now? Or do you just have one large narrative? (by stories I mean anything from big projects to a little handful of guys who happen to be in the same place doing similar things) Either way, I'm interested in hearing any synopses, little details, or longform rants! I like hearing about others' ocs

HI IT'S TOTALLY OK anyone can ask about my ocs anytime it's never a bother !!

But to answer your question! I have THREE stories I am currently working on! My motivation to work on them fluxuates on whatever im fixating on LOL but I realize I havent talked about them too much before so I might as well explain a little bit

Story #1: OUTCAST CHAOS !! It is my passion project and the most developed story (it turned 2 years old in January!) I'd like to make it a TV show or webseries some day! It is about a bunch of people finding themselves in a really weird game show, and discovering more about the weird little town they live in 🤔 this is indeed the story with Mic in it, LOL!! I'm literally in the process of planning entire seasons and episodes, hopefully I will get around to designing secondary characters soon HDKDHKDBD

Story #2: CORRUPTION (this is a placeholder title because I can't think of a better one, but I will someday istg) this is the story I've talked about the least on here unfortunately I just haven't gotten around to it, but you can see I tag the main characters in my oc tag a lot LMAO!! It's about a really nosy teen and the worlds saddest man having to deal with an evil sentient computer. It's a little dark but I've been really confident with story beats lately, id also like to do something with it! But I haven't been fixating on it like I was last year LOL

Story #3: MICROBIAL!! My most recent story and what my blog is currently themed to LOL its conception is so silly (it was an AU of an AU with my outcast chaos ocs that got turned into something both original and completely separate)!! It is both about the microbe apocalypse and about the very hectic relationship between two bisexual and mentally ill young adults. It's my current fixation (see how long that lasts) and I've been working hard on it since last October! I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it yet but I know the internet is not immune to the microbez. Also Eve and garrett are from this story for anyone who's been paying attention to my incessant poll reblogs and my blog takeover on April fool's day

I have more OCs than just the ones in these stories, but they're basically all in metaphorical storage and I don't draw them much anymore. I'm really proud of my current works and I hope to tell people more about them soon! I unfortunately have a lot of anxiety, so I tend to just tell people major story stuff in private, but I'm trying to get out of my shell more! I have WAY too much info about like, all my OCs, I can answer basically anything you'd wanna know about any of the characters LOL

[tranquilstudy]

(tap for better banner quality)

Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I've done one of these more traditional studying challenges, the last one I did being in April to May. Wow, such a long time. But, I'm back and hopefully you guys will join me in celebrating the wintertime with this new studying challenge! It is very similar to the last one I did, as not all the questions are study-related but I think it would be an awesome way for us to all connect through the winter time, get to know each other better and hold each other closer this winter season! (Also I should mention that technically this won't start in winter, but since I live in Canada winter is kind of a skewed season that lasts most of the year for me haha)

CHALLENGE INFORMATION:

You are more than welcome to answer these questions whenever you find them! You can start early or later than when the collective challenge starts. but if you wanted to join the group and do it with (what I'm hoping will be) a whole bunch of other people, I'll be officially starting the challenge on November 13th, 2021.

This challenge has 30 questions or challenges for each day, and will therefore end on December 13th, 2021 (if my counting skills serve me right, which they didn't the last time but here's to hoping they've improved)! Again, you can answer these questions in bunches like I typically do if you've been watching my posts for a while or you can answer them once a day, whatever works best for you! I really do hope the questions connect with you, as they're a little bit all over the place but I was hoping to challenge some of us with some more unique questions :) as well as a ton of fun ones!

And, just like last time, I will be making a tag list to add to this main post so that people can see who else is planning on doing this challenge! I may try and make it into a separate post and just pin it to this blog, I'll see what works best for me and for you guys too. Regardless, there will be a tag list and if you want to be added to it, lease reblog this post! I'll then add your name! You can also send me an ask in my ask box (no DMS please, I find them too hard to keep up with and see) if you want to be added or removed from said list :)

Starting on November 13th I will also be tracking the tag #tranquilwinterbuddies so please use this tag when you're posting about this challenge! I would absolutely love to see and share your posts!

QUESTIONS:

So, in my last challenge I had people start each day by setting themselves an intention, or a goal, or just by stating their mindset for that day and a lot of people seemed to like that, so I'm bringing it back here! So, every day (or for every post you make for the challenge), an additional question is added where you can simply fill in one of the choices here:

1. Today, I am ________. (Stating your mindset or emotional state for the day. I find this can help me to accept emotional states or certain states of mind when I'm feeling confusion or doubt).

2. Today, I choose ______. (Inspired by Yoga with Adrienne, whom I still admire very much).

3. Today, my goals are _________. (what do you want to accomplish today?)

You can switch up your choices too, or you can fill out two or all three of them if you want to! Just pick one, two or three that you feel suits you best for that post. Or, you can make your own if you want!

QUESTION PROMPTS:

Day One: The beginning of the challenge, woohoo you did it! A lot of the time starting is the hardest part. So, tell us a little bit about yourself! What are you studying currently, what where are you in your life right now? Are you happy with where you are right now? What are your goals in doing this challenge?

Day Two: Write yourself a thank you letter.

Day Three: What is your favourite piece of technology to study with and why? (iPads, tablets, laptops, etc.)

Day Four: Do you believe in fate?

Day Five: Name five things you are really good at.

Day Six: If you could write any research paper or study any niche area within your field, what would you study? OR, if this doesn't apply to you, what field of study do you want to go into?

Day Seven: What movies have you been watching lately? What movies would you recommend to others?

Day Eight: Do you speak any other languages? What is your favourite word or phrase in each language you speak?

Day Nine: Share a time when you were struggling and what you did to get through it.

Day Ten: What advice would you give to someone in terms of writing an awesome essay?

Day Eleven: What element do you feel most connected to and why? (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)

Day Twelve: Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and change something about your life? If you did, what would be different now?

Day Thirteen: How do you feel about taking a "self-care day" and not studying for a day or two?

Day Fourteen: What do you think you add to this world?

Day Fifteen: Do you feel like art and creativity is something to be shared, or something that should be more personal? Do you feel like there is more merit given to people that share their creations and art with the public?

Day Sixteen: Favourite food or drink to study with? (Bonus points if you share pictures of said food or drink)

Day Seventeen: When are you graduating from your current academic institution (university, high school, etc.) if you haven't graduated yet? and if you have already graduated, when did you graduate? What are your plans now that you've graduated?

Day Eighteen: If you could study abroad, where would you go?

Day Nineteen: Do you prefer silence or noise when you are focusing? How about when you're relaxing?

Day Twenty: Give yourself some love today! Post a picture of yourself or your favourite outfit and tell us five things you love about yourself!

Day Twenty-One: Do you ever question your worth? What do you do to get out of this mindset? Do you feel like questioning your worth is a universal feeling?

Day Twenty-Two: Where do you feel most at peace?

Day Twenty-Three: Do you feel like there are certain books, whether classics or otherwise, that you just don't "get"? Share your unpopular book or reading opinions.

Day Twenty-Four: Send love to your top three favourite study or book blogs, and write down something you love about each of them!

Day Twenty-Five: What mindset do you put yourself in to be the most successful version of yourself? What mantras do you tell yourself to find motivation?

Day Twenty-Six: Tell us a sweet or wholesome story.

Day Twenty-Seven: What are your favourite ways to take breaks while studying? What do you do to relax?

Day Twenty-Eight: What would you tell someone that is struggling right now?

Day Twenty-Nine: If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?

Day Thirty: The end of the challenge so it's time to reflect! I'm very proud of you for completing this challenge so give yourself a high-five! Where are you in your life now that you've finished this challenge? Have you made any friends or discovered any new blogs during this challenge or because of this challenge? If so, tag them below!

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If you have any questions or concerns about this challenge please don't hesitate to send me an ask! Take care everyone :) and see you on the 13th!