#the part of this that makes me most insane is still Gawaine’s

[amrv-5]

would you hold me and let me die in your arms, or would you just let me lay there and bleed?

from E.A. Robinson’s Lancelot - VIII

[inchidentally]

I love it when you tag Lewis as king Arthur 😘

<3<3 what's wild is that I had that idea in my head before I'd even gotten into f1blr bc of my F1 obsessed family members - they've been die hard Lewis fans literally since I can remember and they still talk about him as like a young phenom and changing the culture of F1 for the better. so the 'king' part was always there (esp when he did the Wakanda Forever thing) and then in my head it developed that he's ushered in a Camelot era to the sport (or trying to) and was like oh man this is gonna be my Lewis tag.

I mostly get all my knowledge from my history nerd friend or movies and wikipedia so obv this isn't extremely literal but:

I've got Lando tagged as 'heir apparent' sometimes bc Lewis adores him so much and I think sees a lot of himself. it cracks me up when ppl try to stir up drama about them when both of them will remember how much the press and fans loved taking Lewis' unfiltered early comments out of context for drama. BUT he is absolutely not Mordred from the later stories, he'd be the extremely early version who was a brave but complicated nephew of Arthur's and also Gawain/George's cousin (that fits so perfect). I don't want to use the name for his tag tho bc most of the associations are bad. so I use heir apparent as Lando becoming more like a reincarnation of King Arthur himself when Lewis leaves the future of Camelot to him.

I also love that there's literally a Lord Percival in Charles and I especially love that he's the character who was originally said to have found the sangreal for King Arthur after enduring many trials - which drives me absolutely insane since Ferrari means he always dresses in symbolic holy/royal blood red. even il Predestinato like ?? it all fits

I know they don't interact much at all yet but Oscar was already tagged by me as 'Galahad' for his bravery, chivalry and love for being a knight above all else - and the lore was changed to have him be the one to discover the grail which I could also easily see.

I've got a real thing for possibly naming Fernando as Lancelot bc he charms the royal court and I could also see him bedding someone he shouldn't and causing absolute chaos asjgfljas (that's coming up next!!) also him being Oscar/Galahad's father makes SO much sense narrative wise. the son has so much of the father's power but without the flaws/complexities.

I've got a wild idea that Nico is Guinevere and Fernando seduced him away from Lewis and that nearly caused the downfall of Camelot. Nico took himself to a convent/Sky Sports for redemption and healing asflgjasgfsla. I even love that I can pretend Lewis tried to summon Fernando back to Camelot after the whole affair but Fernando refused.

George's role keeps escaping me bc he's beautiful enough to be Lancelot but none of the rest of the narrative works as well as it does for Fernando. Gawain seems the most likely since he is Arthur's nephew and a powerful knight who also has a close friendship with Fernando/Lancelot and is cousin to Lando/Arthur's heir (2019 rookies brotherhood).

that's all I have so far!!

[gringolet]

TOP TEN GAWAIN AND LANCELOT QUOTES THAT MAKE ME GAY AND INSANE

10.  “But all that day Gawain took no hand at arms, though he was with the others there, for he took such pleasure in watching the deeds of him with the red painted arms that what the others did seemed to him pale in comparison.”

-- Gawain sitting out a tournment to watch Lancelot, Knight of the Cart

9. “That night he thought a lot about Lancelot and said to himself that he would not have thought that Lancelot would have aspired to leave his heart in any place that was not nobler and more honourable than all others [...]    That night Sir Gawain slept very little, because he was thinking of the girl and Lancelot,”

--Gawain lying awake at night thinking Lancelot is in love with Elaine, Vulgate

8. “He is the best knight alive in the entire world, and moreover the most handsome.”

--Gawain about Lancelot, Lancelot and the Hart With the White Foot

7. “Such a love as you have, there’s no better in the world. There is no lady of flesh or bone, In this world so lucky or stubborn, Though her heart were steel or stone, She could stop it  from loving him.’

--Gawain about Lancelot, to Elaine of Shalott, Stanzaic Morte D’Arthur

6.  “However, no business of his own can detain him, as soon as he sees Lancelot, from dismounting and extending his arms to him, as he embraces, salutes and kisses him. Now he is happy and at ease, when he has found his companion. Now I will tell you the truth, and you must not think I lie, that Gawain would not wish to be chosen king, unless he had Lancelot with him.”

-- Gawain reunited with Lancelot, Knight of the Cart

5.   “Then he saw his noble comrade lying there in the grass. Lord God, how happy he was then! He dismounted and wept sorely and said “Lancelot, comrade, Lord, tell me, who did this to you?”

--Gawain, having thought Lancelot dead, finds him alive and injured, Lancelot and the Hart With the White Foot

4. “Unto Sir Launcelot, flower of all noble knights that ever I heard of or saw by my days, I, Sir Gawaine [...] send thee greeting, and let thee have knowledge that the tenth day of May I was smitten upon the old wound that thou gavest me afore the city of Benwick, and through the same wound that thou gavest me I am come to my death-day. And I will that all the world wit, that I, Sir Gawaine, knight of the Table Round, sought my death, and not through thy deserving, but it was mine own seeking; wherefore I beseech thee, Sir Launcelot, to return again unto this realm, and see my tomb, and pray some prayer more or less for my soul. And this same day that I wrote this cedle, I was hurt to the death in the same wound, the which I had of thy hand, Sir Launcelot; for of a more nobler man might I not be slain. Also Sir Launcelot, for all the love that ever was betwixt us, make no tarrying, but come over the sea in all haste, [...] And at the date of this letter was written, but two hours and a half afore my death, written with mine own hand, and so subscribed with part of my heart’s blood. And I require thee, most famous knight of the world, that thou wilt see my tomb.”

--Selection from Gawains deathbed letter to Lancelot, Le Morte D’Arthur

3. “I do know that if I were the winner and ought to cut off his head, I should not be able to kill him for all the world, because I think he is too noble. Moreover, he is the man, out of all those in the world that have meant anything to me, that I have most loved, and still do,”--Lancelot about the fight with Gawain, Vulgate 

2. ‘It is certainly remarkable of you,’ said King Bors, ‘to love him so deeply when he hates you mortally.’‘Find it remarkable if you wish,’ replied Lancelot, ‘but he will never be able to hate me so much that I stop loving him.’

-- THIS ICONIC quote from the vulgate thank you vulgate for every right

1. Then Sir Gawain thought a little, like a man who believed he would never be well again. “If God were to grant me my health,” he said, “I’d immediately wish to be the most beautiful maiden in the world, happy and healthy, on condition that he would love me above all others, all his life and mine.”

--oh you already know this quote is maybe even more iconic than the remarkable one. god. god. gay love

[royalsunshinehotel]

Love at first s(word f)ight. With Gawain? Feel like that could be some hot shit. Thx babes! xx

A/N: All I know about Knight Tournaments comes from “A Knight's Tale” starring Heath Leger (RIP King). Work with me here. Masterlist // buy me a coffee 🥰// Word count: 1,241

You had expected your father to say “no,” to the tournament. You had some sense of logic, but it was still a great annoyance. You were the third daughter of your family, and your brother was already poised to take control as the new lord of your small pocket of land.

Your father had no reason to say no, but he did anyway.

The man had trained you to fight, as your older brother was weakened with a health condition no one in your family would talk about. Someone had to keep the family techniques alive, but at the same time, you were never to use it unless your life was in mortal danger.

Fuck that.

So you signed up under your brother’s name, tied your hair back, got your gear, and left.

It was easy until round four, everything else seemed so far away now.

You weren’t entirely sure what the fuck was happening. The crowd was going insane, and your opponent knew every move you would make before you did. You were smart, strong, and for the most part, organized. And this knight was your perfect match.

Gawain was thinking the exact same, only he was a little more annoyed as this was supposed to be fun.

After his first quest, he’d come back somber and withdrawn. After urging from his mother, he’d agreed to “do something for himself”, so he’d chosen a local tournament.

Normally, due to his status as the King’s nephew, he’d simply compete for two rounds, and drop out due to “injury”, as to not draw sway any judges looking for his favor, or draw any particular ire from any opponent in the ring.

This time, he’d chosen to enter a tournament under a fake name. Not the best idea for a man of his standing, or the most original, but it was supposed to be easy. He needed it easy after confronting the Green Knight. He deserved it

Up until round four had been easy. and then there was you.

As your father had told you, “tall, burly men only know how to fight their own.” He’d been right, but your opponent was tall, he was clearly more lean, agile than the rest you’d defeated. You were smaller than your other opponents and used your speed to your advantage. It looked as if you weren’t getting away with it this time.

Every move he made was predictable, because you were going to do the same. If you had been in the mood to ponder such things, you’d have known at that moment he was a royal. The fighting style was too refined and smooth as opposed to your previous adversaries who had been taught to strike as hard as they could.

Watching the two of you fight was a savage and brilliant thing, but it’s not as if any of the peasants who frequented such events knew such words.

But both you and Gawain did, and that’s what mattered. It was a part of this even-matched fight, and a reason that you were both nearing your wits end with the other.

It’s in small moments like these, where one really finds out what kind of person they are. You knew it, Gawain knew it, and you certainly were going to act accordingly.

Gawain didn’t. He knew it was a cheap shot, but he did it anyway.

His fist connected with the jaw of your helmet with an alarming force, sending you down to your knees.

In the moment, you were absolutely livid. Your helmet had been struck with such a force that it was sent halfway across the ring, leaving you totally exposed.

You gasped, attempting to right yourself, as you felt the cold metal of the blade tilt your chin up.

Gawain sharply inhaled when taking you in.

Your hair had been tied back, but the force of the blow had left it in the dirt, leaving your soft hair to scatter across your face.

Gawain was sure he was going to die.

Clear, beautiful eyes. An elegant nose, and he could hardly bring himself to look at your mouth as he was still your opponent, even if his mind was racing at the sight of your face.

But a dull thud of reality set in across the inside of his skull, as it usually did.

A woman. He’d just punched a woman.

The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

Gawain’s mind snapped back from trying to memorize your features as he realized his sword had wandered down to your newly-exposed throat. He barely hid a shiver as you cleared your throat and spat a bloody clump onto the dirt between his feet.

He was supposed to be here.

He’d just met his future queen.

“Do you yield?” Gawain asked, voice feeling hoarse and far away. He’ll blame the fact you were a vicious and smart opponent, and not the fact that seeing your eyes sent a lightning bolt straight to his heart.

A woman. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Of course you looked as if you could snap him in half at that moment, but that was hardly new for Gawain.

You huffed, breath sending some strands of hair out of your eyes.

“No.” You used your gauntlet to knock his sword away and swiftly got up from your knees, striking your opponent square in the jaw of his helmet. The helmet didn’t come off, not that you were surprised at that, you didn’t use your usual amount of force. You’d later ask yourself why, but the answer would reveal itself in time.

Gawain wasn’t sure what had happened until he hit the ground.

It was love. It had to be love.

Whatever he’d been through with the Bertilaks had been lust, but whatever this was more. It had to be more, or his mind had truly not come back from his quest in one piece.

As Gawain fell, the screaming crowd faded into the back of his brain, as he tried his best to make a plan. It was a tough feat to accomplish with all of the blood rushing to one’s ears, but he’d win you over.

You didn’t know his face, but he’d win you over. He had to. Deep in his bones, he had to.

And Gawain goes down hard, in more ways than one, ears ringing in his helmet as the weight of his armor took him down. The referee rings their bell and the match is over, you're on to the next round tomorrow. Four rounds in two days was a lot, but you wanted this. You deserved this.

As you put your helmet back over your head, you felt your body begin to shake. The adrenaline started to take its toll as your mind started to race. Good. The fight was over, you could think at a reasonable pace.

Why did he do that for you?

Did he even mean to?

He left himself open and he stared at you. Two big, dark eyes staring at you like you were the moon or … something beautiful.

It wasn't as if you could find this ‘Sir Kay’ and ask, but you can feel the same gaze following you as you hustle away to your tent to change.

[grigori77]

Summer 2021′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 1)

The Runners-Up:

20.  LUCA – I’ll admit I really wasn’t sold on Disney/Pixar’s coming-of-age fantasy comedy, which revolves around a pair of young sea monsters living off the coast of the 1950s Italian Riviera, who discover they can assume human form when they dry out and go on land on a quest of discovery.  Thankfully the strong reviews convinced me to give it a chance – this is a frothy and irreverent romp through an exotically nostalgic world filled with Vespas, pasta-eating contests and found families that’s fun for kids of all ages.

19.  FAST & FURIOUS 9 – the high concept action franchise may be bursting under the ever-increasing weight of its own ludicrousness, but it’s still TONS of fun, packed with stunning over-the-top action, colourful globe-trotting and a loveable bunch of misfits we’ve grown incredibly fond of over the past TWENTY YEARS.  This time Dom (the irrepressible Vin Diesel) and the team are up against ruthless hi-tech mercenary Jakob (John Cena), a lethal jack-of-all-trades with a dark connection to the Toretto name.

18.  REMINISCENCE – Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy’s attempt to make it on the big screen looks set to go down as one of the biggest cinematic flops of 2021, which is a shame because the feature-debuting writer-director has crafted a genuinely fascinating speculative sci-fi noir detective thriller.  Set in a darkly dystopian future in which Global Warming has caused the sea levels to rise and society to start breaking down, it tells the story of Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), a former soldier who ekes out a living using revolutionary tech to help the idle rich relive their fondest memories, until a life-changing mystery from his own past resurfaces, threatening to tear his whole world apart.  Frustratingly, it looks like most audiences are going to bypass this, which is a criminal loss.

17.  FREE GUY – after a seven year hiatus, Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy returns to the big screen in fine form with this deliriously inventive fantastical comedy adventure about Guy (a typically on-fire Ryan Reynolds), an NPC in an anarchic, Grand Theft Auto style MMORPG called Free City who discovers his own sentience after falling in love with Millie (Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer), a player with a hidden agenda that puts them both at odds with the game’s nefarious creator, Antwan (a thoroughly hilarious Taika Waititi).

16.  EVANGELION 3.0 + 1.01: THRICE UPON A TIME – visionary anime creator Hideaki Anno brings his long-running sci-fi saga to a close with this fourth instalment to his wildly ambitious cinematic “Rebuild” of cult TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s as frothy, melodramatic and bonkers as ever, packed full of weighty themes and crazy ideas, while the animation maintains this series’ ridiculously high levels of quality and the action is as explosive as ever, and Hideaki brings the whole mad mess to a climax that’s as rich, powerful and thoroughly befuddling as the saga deserves.

15.  THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD – Sicario writer Taylor Sheridan returns to the director’s chair (after impressive debut Wind River) with this intense and enthralling suspense thriller adapted by bestselling author Michael Koryta (along with Sheridan and Blood Diamond’s Charles Leavitt) from his own acclaimed novel. Angelina Jolie is (ahem) fiery but fallible as haunted smokejumper Hanna Faber, whose PTSD drives her to protect a desperate boy (Finn Little) who’s being hunted through the wilds of Montana by a pair of relentless assassins (Aidan Gillen and Nicholas Hoult).

14.  CRUELLA – far from the clunky cash-in retcon many were predicting, Disney’s ambitious black comedy crime caper does a thoroughly admirable job in delivering this fascinating and deeply compelling reimagining of the story of rogue fashion designer Cruella de Vil (one of the best performances I’ve ever seen Emma Stone deliver, hands down), the dastardly villainess of 101 Dalmatians. She’s certainly far more complex here, no longer a raging monster, but far from a whitewashed PC apologist, either, much more of a morally grey antihero with a very wicked dark side – then again, with I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie at the helm it’s not really a surprise.  Richly designed and dripping in spectacularly adventurous period detail, this is an divine romp from start to finish.

13.  THE GREEN KNIGHT – the latest feature from writer director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saits, Pete’s Dragon, The Old Man & the Gun) is as offbeat and unusual as you’d expect from a visionary filmmaker with such a wildly varied CV.  Adapting the fantastical chivalric romance Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, he’s crafted what’s surely destined to be remembered as the year’s STRANGEST film, but it’s a work of aching beauty and introspective imagination that sears itself into the memory and rewards the viewer’s patience despite its leisurely pace.  Dev Patel is unbearably sexy and wonderfully complex as Gawain, while Sean Harris delivers show-stopping support with stately charisma and world-weary integrity as King Arthur.  This film is sure to divide opinions as well as audiences, but I think it’s a bona fide masterpiece that must be seen to be believed.

12.  CANDYMAN – after watching this wildly imaginative and frequently gut-wrenching soft-reboot/sequel to Bernard Rose’s acclaimed adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story The Forbidden, I feel supremely confident about emerging writer-director Nia DaCosta’s coming MCU breakout with The Marvels.  Wisely papering over the clunky previous sequels, this streamlined trailblazing deep dive into the pure horror of the legend of the righteously mad spectral killer haunting the Chicago housing ghetto of Cabrini-Green sees a daring modern artist (Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) find his latest project turning into a dangerously self-destructive obsession. Writer-producer Jordan Peele’s fingerprints are all over this, but DaCosta clearly shows signs that she’s going to be a hell of a talent to watch in the future.

11.  THE WITCHER: NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF – I wouldn’t normally shout about an animated spinoff to a TV series like this, but I was SO INSANELY IMPRESSED with this brilliant prequel to Netflix’ popular fantasy show (which clearly intends to lay some origin story groundwork for the impending second season) that I just can’t help myself. Recounting the backstory of Geralt of Rivia’s own Witcher mentor Vesemir, this beautifully expands on the already compelling universe the series has created, as well as delivering some breath-taking thrills and chills through some of the most exquisite cell animation I’ve ever seen outside of the greats of anime.  A must-see for Witcher fans, then, but one I’d also highly recommend to anyone who likes their animation a bit more grown-up and edgy.

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 73 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch and co. are still stuck in China and Xingke’s flipping out because the Chinese assholes are gonna kill the Empress and go with someone less problematic for their political marriage to Britannia’s creepily overaged prince. However Lelouch pulls out a Knightmare that’s basically the Twink version of the Gawain and busts everyone up as well as pulling a Father Cornello on them and letting the people know they’re all elitst 1% assholes that don’t care about them, which I suspect all countries probably know about their leaders but it sucks to hear it in a recording so riots show up all over China and CC Geass Flashes Anya to take her out so Britannia has to back out because the Chinese Hierarchy are now the least popular people in the world. So Xingke gets to be with his Empress and joins the Black Knights but Dietard wants the Empress to marry someone on their side so they can basically do the asshole move Britannia just tried to do but for them. All the girls are like ‘hey no’ and Lelouch is like “Oh hey Tamaki buddy, let’s go talk and get me the fuck out of here” so before Lelouch actually has to give Tamaki more lines and elevate him beyond the Black Knight’s Yamacha Shirley calls and Lelouch just straight up asks Shirley about love in a weirdly forced series of circumstance. But Shirley’s like “Yeah don’t fuck with love, don’t you love anyone?” and Lelouch is like “Yeah I do, Nunally!” and I don’t think that’s at all what Shirley meant but it does mean Lelouch sees that fighting for something beyond politics is powerful and agrees to not marry off the twelve year old girl, so that’s good. Lelouch decides to return home while they hunt down the Geass cult which is in China for some reason despite that being one of the like two places on earth Britannia doesn’t control and the Geass Cult largely being a Britannian affair. Meanwhile Sayoko is basically a Lelouch Vtuber at this point with her insanely accurate Lupin III mask of Lelouch and kisses Shirley so Shirley’s a little bit more gay than she was before and is not sure how to feel about that. When she’s about to tell the real Lelouch he kisses like a girl, Anya and Gino show up because we’re retreading the whole ‘sleeping with the enemy at school’ thing from the first season except with way less interesting enemies. Also the preview for the next episode is Lelouch dramatically talking about enemies finding out he’s Zero overtop footage of Shirley and Milly absolutely naked in a batthouse scene so I think we know what kind of episode that’ll be.

Inuyasha: The Panther Demon filler concludes with everyone meeting at the site where the Panther Master is being revived behind a strong barrier, if only someone just got a barrier upgrade to their sword, oh wait. But yeah everyone manages to free the hostages so even though Kagome’s jewel shards revives the Panther Master he’s still a zombie without a sacrifice which is weird since Naraku managed to completely revive the Band of Seven with one jewel shard each from skeletons and the Panther Lord has three shards so idk the rules here but yeah he steals the souls of his own men to revive and is Wind Scar Proof because he just is. It’s pretty cool to see him shooting his claws and lightning and shit but he’s too big and slow for it to be much of an interesting fight. Sesshomaru’s about to go full demon which would be interesting since we haven’t seen his full demon form since he lost his arm but in a neat bit of character development, Tenseiga calms his rage and tells him to use it instead. You get the feeling Sesshomaru only goes full demon when he flies off the handle and forgets about speed and strategy so him opting to not repeat the mistake he made against Inuyasha is pretty cool. Anyway Tenseiga heals the souls of the Panther Demons and drains their energy from the lord so he’s back to Zombie Cat Man which Inuyasha can Wind Scar because that’s what happens to villains on this show, all Wind Scars all the time. The Panthers don’t wanna fight anymore since their boss just killed them and tell Inuyasha to tell Sesshomaru the feud is over and they’re going back to the West. Honestly this is basically the same backstory they gave Kirinmaru in Yashahime so it’s funny for them to say they’re going back to the same place Kirinmaru is from, wonder if it’ll ever come up in Yashahime since most filler seems canon there.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke and Kuwabara continue the assault on Tarukane’s compound and basically plow through the lower demons easy since they’ve been fighting minor deities up to this point. It’s always pretty cool in Shonen to just have a few rounds to show how much power creep the heroes have had where certain things just don’t bother them anymore. Toguro murders a Chimera which has an oddly similar backstory to Nina from FMA and he seems really bummed about it but he’s like “Hey we’re both monsters made by humans telling us to do shit, so sorry for killing you bro”. And Tarukane basically sees Toguro is the next boss and is like “Yup time to scam some people off of this” and he sets up a betting ring for how far Yusuke and Co will get into his compound. This is kinda neat because it puts Tarukane in the weird position of betting against his own guards and hoping Yusuke will make it all the way to Toguro and then lose after everyone else has seen how awesome Yusuke is and bets on him. And funnily enough Sakyo’s in on the betting and he’s watched anime before so he knows to bet on the plucky teenagers with weird powers. So yeah Yusuke and Kuwabara finish plowing through the demons while Hiei kinda stalks them and remembers getting his eye surgery and wanting to help his sister but it’s kind of against spirit world rules for demons to just go plow through humans even if they’re scumbag humans so now Yusuke and Kuwabara have to go fight the Triad of boss demons Toguro has under him before Hiei busts in and just murders everyone for kidnapping his bird-loving jewel-crying little flower of a sister.

Fate Zero: So Kiritsugu can break Kayneth’s Terminator 2 Gaara defenses with rib bullets that just say ‘no’ to using magic and fucks his arrogant ass up. Saber and Lancer do some combo shenanigans to stab Caster right in the book and disrupt all his hentai tentacle demons but the book heals so idk why he can’t just make more. Kirei fucks up Maiya and Iris but didn’t double tap Maiya and DID double tap iris but she’s got Saber’s bullshit healing scabbard on her which no one knows about so Saber’s like “uhhh why are you healing” and Iris can’t tell her so she’s basically “Uhh internet?” Lancer comes in to save Kayneth’s worthless ass and tells Kiritsugu to stop being a dick to Saber because she’s pretty dope. But as usual for an early Fate encounter, no one dies and nothing of terrible consequence happens despite it being teased a couple times. I’ve noticed a trend with Fate that it really doesn’t like killing characters early so you’re basically guaranteed to have the first 2-3 major battles have a zero net gain/loss. Rider in UBW was probably the subversion to that since it happened crazy fast and anticlimactic but even that wasn’t till like ten episodes in.

Konosuba: So we finally meet Wiz the big booby Lich and Kazuma learns a new skill, both fun things. Also the gang gets a house to stay in after escapades with an army of haunted dolls and the most “I need to pee” in a horror setting since Corpse Party. But yeah, good progress this time honestly, the living in a stable gag was getting kind of old so Kazuma’s a bit stronger now and they have a home base so that’s pretty cool. Also Wiz is a Demon General or some shit but no one cares cause there ain’t no money in murdering busty zombie waifus.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So turns out Minako is Princess Serenity, except everyone who knows anything about Sailor Moon or indeed plot structure knows Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity, that’s like the Luke I Am Your Father of this series. But still turns out Minako has been guiding everyone with the power of video games but also thinks the power of friendship sucks and she’s gotta go do everything alone. This makes things super awkward because Mamoru’s pretty sure he was in love with the Princess but likes Usagi, now instead of running with this interesting thread of a reincarnation falling in love with someone new we’re gonna do the reveal that Usagi’s the princess and the whole ‘till death do us part’ part of marriage was just a metaphor and you’re stuck with one person no matter how many times you reincarnate. But yeah, Minako fights the bad guy on top of the tower but he has Naraku’s Barrier now and Minako doesn’t have the Red Tessaiga upgrade yet so she needs the power of friendship but this barrier is friendship-proof and this fight is basically a bunch of kids on the playground making up increasingly stupid powers that negate the other powers the other guy just made up. Anyway Tuxedo Mask shows up and is like “Holy shit Sailor Moon I love when you kiss me and kick ass, go get em sweetie I’ll hold your flower” and they kiss and Usagi has learned that if she just pretends she got this the power of her confidence will beat the bad guy. Unfortunately she does not got this and Tuxedo Mask has to pull a Piccolo and throw himself in front of the blast.

Durarara!!:  So now that we’ve had our climax for the arc we have a six month timeskip and everyone’s just kinda living life, Mika and Seiji are being clinically insane together, there’s cops harassing Celty to the point of mental breakdown (normal cop stuff) Shinra’s dad’s in town, Namie’s become Izaya’s secretary for blackmail shit, you know, normal stuff. Also there’s a katana-wielding maniac going around slashing people and Anri’s being bullied and sexually harassed to the point of mental collapse, normal stuff.

[modreduscycle]

Green Knight Pt. 1

Arthur clapped his hands, momentarily bringing a halt to the racket emanating throughout the hall. “The king has an announcement!” Kay yelled, which made even the lingering quiet conversations fall silent.

“Alright, I didn’t think I’d need to say this, and I’m not naming any names…” Despite saying that, Arthur cast a glare at his nephews, specifically Mordred, who took a sip of wine, “But enchanted mistletoe, of any kind, is not allowed. I appreciate the person or people in question obeying by the original rule of not having mistletoe enchanted to make people kiss under it, but making them non-fatally duel each other isn’t a great alternative.”

Kay didn’t even try to hide his smirk as he glanced over at Lancelot, who still had a red mark on his jaw. “It’s a great alternative when you realize what’s going on before the other person.”

“Kay, no.” Arthur was clearly trying to give his brother a death glare but failing miserably. The king sighed and repeated, “Just don’t put any more of them up, whoever it was.” He looked at his nephews again and Gaheris laughed, giving away his involvement in the scheme as well. The others managed to keep it together a little better, although Gareth looked a little abashed at being basically scolded by their king.

“So, as much as I absolutely love the violence this has caused, are there any kissing mistletoes?” Agravaine whispered to Mordred.

The magic knight shook his head, grinning. “That was specifically against the rules.”

“Pity, there are so many people here who need some romance in their lives.” Agravaine not-so-subtly pointed at Gawain and rolled his eyes.

“I saw that!”

“You were supposed to,” Agravaine deadpanned. “Seriously, Father’s getting worried. You know how awkward it is to get a letter asking you to get your older brother married and/or laid?”

“Is Christmas really the time to bring this up?” Gawain asked.

“Apparently Father thinks so,” Agravaine retorted.

“You are his heir,” Gareth reminded.

“A prince?” Gaheris prompted.

“Supposed to make more heirs?” Mordred added.

Gawain groaned and put his head on the table. “Any of you want to switch places with me?”

“Yeah, no. Have fun, crown prince,” Agravaine teased.

“It’s a vassal kingdom!” Gawain complained. “Why is it a big deal?”

“The key word there is, ‘kingdom,” Mordred reminded.

Gawain ran his hand down his face. “Here’s a game we can play: no one mention romance, inheritance, or family duties until the new year.”

His brothers all muttered their agreement with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Arthur wasn’t eating yet, wanting either something exciting to happen or someone to tell a good enough story before he started with the feast. Some of the knights were attempting to regale him with various tales, but most of them were just things they had done, which Arthur already knew about.

Gawain started to reach for the wine when the door burst open, bringing the chill air with it in a flash of cold. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at the newcomer.

The man was tall, really tall, to the point where between him and Galehaut, the literal half giant, it would be hard to tell at a glance who was taller. His hair was a deep vibrant green, with his skin an only slightly lighter emerald hue. His clothes, his eyes, his axe, everything about this man was green. It was like someone poured dye all over him. Even his horse was green, dappled in varying shades of the color. A bushy green beard covered the lower half of his face, looking insanely fluffy and soft. He half-wondered what it would feel like kissing him with it. That thought caught Gawain by surprise and he looked away, blushing, just as the green knight started to speak.

“I really hope this is the court of King Arthur. The last guy I visited wasn’t so happy about the mistake,” the Green Knight commented, brushing flakes of snow off his cloak. His voice was deep and melodious, flowing like honey into Gawain’s ears.

Arthur nodded and gestured to one of the tables. “Go ahead and take a seat. I can call for a servant to lead your horse to the stables.”

“Oh no, I don’t want to stay long,” the Green Knight explained. “I’m just here to issue a challenge, a game of sorts, to anyone who wants to play.”

This being the round table, everyone’s ears perked up at the word challenge. Arthur looked a little surprised, but smiled and nodded. “Alright, what’s the challenge? And are you sure you don’t want any food?”

The Green Knight hesitated and Gawain, without thinking, scooted over and patted the empty spot he had just made. The Green Knight’s gaze moved over to him and he froze for a few seconds before recovering. “Maybe something for the road just before I leave, if you still want me to. As for my challenge… you see this axe?” He twirled it the huge weapon around for emphasis.

“Hard to miss,” Kay deadpanned, somehow remaining thoroughly unimpressed by the whole thing.

The Green Knight smiled. “Well, here’s the game. One of you can take this axe and hit me in any part of my body. Then, in one year, I get to hit that person in the same place. I’ll even give you the axe to keep! How does that sound?”

Somehow, not even Lancelot looked thrilled at that game, and that was saying something. “Can we hit with the handle?” Bedivere asked.

“No, sharp part of the blade only,” the Green Knight corrected. “So who wants to play?” No one spoke for a very long time. The Green Knight looked disappointed, pouting a little. “Come on! Isn’t this supposed to be the greatest court in the land? Bravest of knights? Where’s your spirit?”

No one volunteered. Arthur looked around at his knights, then took a deep breath and stood up. “Alright, if no one else will, I guess I’ll play this game.”

“Are you crazy?” Kay snapped, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back. “You’re the king! The technically heirless king, I might add.”

“Arthur, be reasonable,” Guinevere begged.

Gawain stood up. “I’ll go in your place!” He turned to the knight and, swallowing his fear and reluctance, walked toward the large man. “I’ll play your game.”

The Green Knight’s eyes brightened. “Excellent! Here, take this axe and cut anywhere, but remember, I’m going to hit you in the same place if I’m still alive so you should probably make it count.” He tossed the axe to Gawain, who almost dropped it from the sheer weight of the thing. It was night, so he didn’t have super strength even though he really, really wished he did right now. Hefting the axe up, he realized it was all or nothing. He didn’t have enough control with the weapon to make a small cut on the back of the knight’s hand, or enough precision to just take off a finger. If he wanted to live, he’d have to go for something more fatal. His eyes strayed up to the knight’s neck and before he could feel the guilt, swung.

The axe cut like butter and the knight’s head flew off, blood spurting everywhere. Gawain dropped the axe and stumbled back, waiting for the body to hit the ground. Time seemed to slow down as the decapitated corpse just stood there, until he realized everything else was moving at a normal speed. After a few more seconds, the body raised one hand and gave him a thumb’s up.

He felt like he might faint as the body turned around and picked up its severed head, putting the usually hugely important body part under its(his?) arm. He could hear Kay softly muttering, “What the sard?” over and over again with growing intensity. Every other knight seemed just as freaked out, but no one knew what to do so they just stood there, waiting.

The Green Knight grinned. “Well, won’t lie, that was pretty interesting. Come to the Green Chapel this time next year. Enjoy the axe, maybe put it up on the mantle or something. It’s more decorative than functional, after all.”

“Wait, you’re just… leaving?” Gawain asked finding his voice. The Green Knight looked surprised.

“You want me to stay after all that?” he asked.

“I mean… yes?” Gawain stuttered. “It’s got to be a long journey for you and you could use a meal— wait, can you eat while your head’s…?”

“No, but I appreciate the sentiment,” the Green Knight replied. He fell silent, then opened his travelling bag. “I might take something for the road, if you would be so generous.”

Gawain, still reeling a little bit from what just happened, took a turkey leg, a couple apples, and a loaf of bread from the table and tossed it in the bag. “Anything else you’d like?” he asked.

“No, no, really, this is too much already,” the Green Knight protested. “But thank you, Sir…?”

“Gawain, Sir Gawain of Orkney,” Gawain introduced himself. The Green Knight grabbed his hand and lifted it up with one hand and with the other brought his head down to kiss it.

“Well, Sir Gawain of Orkney, may we meet again in a year.” Gawain’s face turned bright red as the Green Knight mounted his horse again and road off into the night, lighter one axe, which had fallen to the floor in all the excitement.

Gawain stared at the door he left through, then sat back down and went back to eating without a word. Eventually, most of the other knights stopped staring at him. After a few minutes, Mordred prodded him. “Gawain?”

“Yes?”

“Did you just sentence yourself to death in a year?”

“Looks like it.”

“And did you, immediately after learning that, proceed to try and make friends with your to-be killer?”

“I may have done that too.”

“Then, and I need to make sure I have this right, did your future killer just flirt with you?”

“Also yes.”

“Okay, and did you enjoy it as much as you looked like you were?”

Gawain glanced away and took a long sip of wine to delay answering. “...maybe.”

Mordred pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gawain, we both know I would never judge you for liking men, considering I’m about as into women as Patroclus was, but do you think maybe you could not fall in love with the guy who wants to kill you for five seconds?”

“Look, he’s hot, okay?” Gawain argued.

“Don’t you like women, though?” Agravaine asked. “You had a pretty big crush on that noble girl when we were growing up, what was her name again… Muire?”

“Yeah, I like them too, but he was also really, really attractive,” Gawain argued.

Agravaine rolled his eyes. “So are you planning on proposing before or after he cuts your head off?”

“I know it’s not going to work, okay?” retorted Gawain. He sighed. “How about we don’t talk about my impending death until tomorrow. Then we can put together a list of things I should do before I die.” The mood among the siblings turned sour and they all looked back at their meals.

[gentlelarkspur]

Thoughts on Medieval Text Adaptations and Sir Gawain & the Green Knight

(Originally posted this on twitter, after hearing the news about this adaptation)

I am having some thoughts about the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight adaptation I posted about earlier. Not bad thoughts, I should mention! Just some contemplations. So here's a super nerdy thread of me doing some medieval musing.

So Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is my absolute favorite medieval text. Like, I did an entire self-directed study in my grad program dedicated to outlining my OWN proposal for a modern-setting adaptation to SGGK, including some art:

So obviously I don’t think adaptations are a bad thing. I am actually super excited because I hope that this one can make more people interested in the text and bring more people into the fandom (if that’s what you want to call it, lol).

Gawain in general is my favorite knight, for many reasons (ask me if you want more nerdy gushing about Gawain). One of the reasons I love SGGK is because it's such a rich text. But plot-wise, SGGK really isn't that dense. 

For those who don’t know what SGGK is about, a short summary: 

An entity comes to challenge Arthur at Christmas to a beheading game that is rigged in the entity's favor through magic. Gawain, being a good knight, takes his King's place in danger, and must suffer the trials put to him after.He gets one year to put his affairs in order and then has to go face the Green Knight at New Years. He gets lost, meets a lord, stays for Christmas, and engages in a competition to exchange their "winnings" at the end of each day. The lord goes out hunting while Gawain gets smooched.Gawain smooches the lord when he gets back in exchange for whatever the lord has caught. He's usually honest, but on the day he needs to go see the Green Knight and face being beheaded, the lady gives him a magical belt. Gawain does not share this "winning" with the lord.When he goes to face the Green Knight, he's spared from death because he was honest, except for a cut on the neck because he lied about the belt. (also ta-da! the Green Knight is the lord, who would have guessed). Gawain goes home alive, the end.

(this is super reductive, btw)

What makes SGGK such an amazing poem is how rich it is. I'm not being metaphorical when I say that reading SGGK is an experience. It was meant to be read and re-read. It's dense, and packed with an insane amount of small moments and visuals that are distinct and beautiful.For example, Gawain putting on his armor before heading out to find the Green Knight is a visually rich moment. We see him suited up in fine detail. His armor, the design on the inside and outside of his shield, the colors, his features, ect. 

Same with the first appearance of the Green Knight, who is described in what can only be explained as t h i c c medieval beefcake. Also, the poem oscillates between earthly sensuality and spirituality, which aren't mutually exclusive when performed according to chivalric values. 

Also also, if you want to do some deep dives into medieval texts through the lens of queer theory, there is just. So Much. in this text. Seriously, just read the part with Gawain & Bertilak snogging, it is NOT some quick peck on the lips. The subtext is strong with Gawain & Sir Beefcake! 

Gawain's internal struggle with his draw toward earthly life (Christmas parties, kissing men & women, feasts, games) and his spiritual & chivalric duties coupled with intense visual imagery are at the very core of what makes this poem compelling & evergreen.

This is why adaptations of medieval texts are often so hard. They are absolutely meant to be read and contemplated over and over again. They are the literary equivalent of lambas bread-- there's enough in one bite to keep you going for ages. 

Literally. It's been like 600 years.

So this is what makes adaptations really tricky. Because if you stick too closely to the original text, you'll often find that it's shallow and pale feeling in comparison. There just isn't that much, plot-wise. But stray too far and it loses the heart of what makes it special.

This isn't to say that its impossible to adapt while maintaining the heart of what makes SGGK important, mind you. But it will require a devotion to building complex characters that a lot of medieval movies lack, or replace with sword fights.

I can see this adaptation veering from the text in a few ways: 

1, they make it about a love triangle between Gawain and the Bertilaks,

2. they make the relationship between the Green Knight & Gawain adversarial,

& 3, they replace character building with sword fights and make-out sessions, i.e. turning it into most Arthuriana-based movie before it. 

Doing these things won't mean its not a success financially or even as a narrative, but I personally feel it wouldn't share the same spirit as the poem. Which is in general a problem with most Arthurian adaptations, tbh.

Anyway, I'm still looking forward to seeing David Lowery's version. I don't think it's blasphemy to be different than a text during adaptations. But there's a lot of difficulties in doing it, and the reasons for them aren't simple. It's gonna be interesting to see the results!

TL;DR because most won't read this thread (I don't blame you), some highlights: t h i c c medieval beefcake bertilak Gawain is a bi icon sword fights can't replace a lack of personality Arthur is a dick That last one wasn't really in the thread but is worth saying anyway. :p

[epic-summaries]

Thank you for giving Ettard a Happy Ending where Pelleas isn't rewarded for his creepy Nice Guy behaviour. If it's not too much to ask, could you also write a story where Nimue and Ettard both rebuke him for his stalking? At first he angrily insists he did nothing wrong, but later on realizes his behaviour was wrong. He then goes to Ettard ashamed to apologize and make amends.

Sorry this took so long. But here’s the sequel to https://epic-summaries.tumblr.com/post/187624143434/random-idea-pelleas-and-ettard-story-but-nimue.

“You are the embodiment of the Virgin herself!”

Lady Ettard starred at the lonely insane knight at her castle gate. She then turned to the woman beside her. “How is that romantic? Who wants to have sex with the Virgin Mary?”

“The Holy Spirit and Joseph, I assume,” said Nimue.

Lady Ettard giggled.

“Your eyes shine like the morning sun!”

Both women rolled their eyes.

Lady Ettard made a dismissive motion with her hand and left to run her castle. Nimue stayed enjoying the cringe.

Her “charming knight” was not giving up. Lady Ettard didn’t know what to do. She told him that she did not love him many many many times. It didn’t matter. She sent knights to fight Sir Cringe. But even losing time after time, he came back. He found her in bed with another man for God sake! Now that she found love with Nimue, she wanted him even less, something she did not think was possible. Did he think that his persistence was cute? Probably. Did he think he would wear her down and she would eventually have to say yes? Probably.

“My Lady.” Her knight bowed. He held the hilt of his sword. “Would you like us to chase Sir Pelleas away?”

“Not until Lady Nimue gets bored of him. How are the villagers doing? I see the harvest is almost over.”

“Yes, and there is a surplus for winter.”

“Good. Any news from Camelot?”

“Not since last time.”

“Perhaps I should go there and get the King to order my stalker to leave.” Lady Ettard doubted that would actually stop him.

“Maybe if you were to marry, he would give up?”

Lady Ettard laughed. “That doesn’t matter. He is a romantic. Queen Guinevere has many knights pledge their love for her and she is married.” She sighed. “Send for Nimue. I have a plan.”

Lady Ettard went to her stables where Nimue was standing near her horse. Lady Ettard didn’t know if she could ever get used to Nimue’s magic. Nimue was teaching her some magic but it still felt mysterious to her. But there was a power in the mystery of magic and she was going to discover it.

“My love.” Nimue had her her horse and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Lady Ettard took her horse and pulled Nimue into a kiss. “I love you.”

Nimue blushed dark blue. “Are you going to fight Sir Halftwit yourself?”

“No, we will have a civil conversation and you are coming with me.”

Nimue toucher her face and gave her a chase kiss that still brought a tingle to her spin. “I would follow you to Annwn itself if I had too.”

See that was sexy and romantic. It was a romantic punch to the gut stealing the air from Lady Ettard’s lung. Sir Asshat could learn a thing or two from Nimue.

Lady Ettard climbed her horse and Nimue sat being her. Her arms were around Lady Ettard’s body and face in the crook of her neck.

“Stop that. I am a proper lady.”

Lady Ettard rode to Sir Stalker. His face lit up seeing the object of his affection. He was wearing armour with such little quality that it was rusting in some parts. His horse was unarmed, but looked well fed. His camp was quite pitiful. Lady Ettard saw it every day from the roof of her castle wall, but it looked worse up close. The bones of birds, rabbits and squirrels surrounded the camp. Most of the bones were crushed from hooves or Sir Idiotface’s walking. Some bones still have flesh, which was probably one of the sources of the strange smell of the camp.

“My lady.” The Idiot went on one knee like he was about to swear fidelity to Lady Ettard.

“Get up.” He listened right away. He knows the meaning of that word. “You are not my champion knight…”

“We can change that and I will swear the oath right now.”

“You will not because I do not want you to be my champion.”

He looked genuinely confused at that statement. It was like she surprised him, which surprised Lady Ettard. How was he surprised? He was a dullard!

Nimue gave Lady Ettard a squeeze on her hand for encouragement.

“I want you leave me and my castle.”

“But my lady, my queen, my goddess, you are the most beautiful woman in the world and you must be honoured with a champion!”

“I have many knights in my service.”

“You must have someone declare their love for you and protect that love.”

“I have that.” She looked at her beautiful fairy lover.

“What do you know of Lady Ettard?” Nimue asked.

“She is the most beautiful…”

“Yeah, yeah, we know that.” Nimue rolled her eyes. “What else do you know about Lady Ettard?”

Sir Dullard looked confused. “She runs a castle.” He thought again. “She has quality knights in her service.”

“What else?” asked Lady Ettard.

“What do you mean what else? Does anything else matter?”

Both women groaned.

“You don’t love me,” said Lady Ettard.

Sir Idiotface looked aghast that the accusation. “Have I not proven time and time again how much I love you. Each day I stand here declaring it.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have tried to kill me!”

“Sir Gawain had dishonoured you. He was a demon you lead you away from God and his holy rule. He dishonoured me.”

“And makes it okay to kill me?”

“Lucretia taught us that only with death we can be pure but that doesn’t matter because I have forgiven you, like God surely will.”

Lady Ettard was very happy Nimue was there to protect her. She did not trust this man.

“Did you know that Lady Ettard loved looking at the stars in heaven?” said Nimue. The insane man shook his head. “She is learning astrology. She laments that she would love to ride her horse again. She loves the feel of the wind on her face and the freedom it brings. She hates carrots and gives any to the hounds under her table. She snores loud enough that you can hear from the other side of the hall”

“I do not!”

“You do.”

Lady Ettard shook her head in opposition. She didn’t want Nimue to stop telling her stalker how much she loved her.

“She keeps one of the best organized castles I have seen. Her name is Arcade but she hates that name and prefers Lady Ettard.”

“I did not know that.”

“I know,” said Lady Ettard. “I hope you will be gone in the morning.”

She went to her horse and Nimue followed.

The next morning, Lady Ettard was awoken by a knight.

“My lady, it is a miracle!”

“Pardon?” She was still half asleep and could not process what was being said.

“Whatever you did yesterday, it worked! Sir Pelleas is gone!”

Lady Ettard shot up. She stared at the knight wide eyed. “Are you sure?”

“He told Sir Reynold that he was mistaken and he must respect you and your wishes. He wishes you would hear his apologies and would leave you.”

Lady Ettard felt like something was lifted off of her. She could not believe it. She ran to see if this was a lie. It was not. He was gone. HE was gone! She was finally free of Sir Pellaes!

[epic-summaries]

Fantasy Book Review - The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell

I’m going to only review books I liked or loved. Partly because why would I want to think more about the books I didn’t like? But mainly because I want to put some positivity in this terrible world.

The Plot

It’s King Arthur, okay Warlord Arthur because it’s a plot point that he is not a king. Bare bones plots, Derfel is a monk in the care of Queen Igraine and Bishop Samsun. Queen Igraine commissions Derfel to right of his friend Arthur. The rest of the books are the story of Arthur threw Derfel’s eyes. It starts with the birth of Mordred, the true born grandson of Uther. Before Uther’s death, Uther has some of his men, which includes his bastard son, Arthur, take an oath that they will protect the young prince. Uther dies. Britain goes to hell and Arthur goes through a lot of trouble keeping his oath. The Anglo-Saxons are attacking Britain and there are others who want the throne. Also, Merlin and Nimue want to bring back the Old Gods of Britain. And you know where it’s going eventually, because it’s Arthur. You know it’s going to end with Mordred vs Arthur (I still cried like a baby).

I have a feeling if you didn’t read the Welsh Arthur you would look at the plot and think that it was a very unique and fresh take on Arthuriana. It has some of the pop culture Arthurian stables; like the Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere love triangle. But for the most part it takes from the Welsh and the historical annuals. The treasures of Britain is a plot point. Loholt and Arm are in the story! Culhwch is in the story. I’m very happy that the Welsh Arthuriana was getting some love. However that being said, there are still twists and turns on the way to the end of the story. Some twists and turns were good, and in Excalibur some were weird. Other than Lancelot’s character I didn’t dislike one twist on the story, though, it worked very well with the story.

There is a theme of Christianity vs Paganism which is meh to me. It was the only part I didn’t like and it’s the reason that Enemy of God was my least favourite of the books since that was an important theme of the novel.

Tone and Style

The series is written as Derfel himself is writing it years after the events of the story. Derfel is thankful a fun narrator. While I’m sure he is writing the story trying to be as unbiased as possible, his biases to come out, like whenever he talks about Lancelot. I’m glad he’s unbiased because it is entertaining. He made me laugh and he made me cry and he made me cheer and he made me boo. After some of the characters I put the narration as one of my favourite parts of the story.

Cornwell is going for a more ‘historical’ Arthur by placing him in 5th-6th century Britain. It is gritty and brutal at points. The brutal and gritty are never overwhelming because Conrwell does not forget to be hopeful and to show the good in life and people (something I wish more pieces of media would remember).

I would call the genre of this series historical low fantasy. I have no doubt that there is magic in the story but there is very little of it. For the most part, magic is just mundane tricks. .

The Characters

For a ‘historical’ Arthur it’s very weird that Kay, Bedevere and Gawain are not characters. Well, Kay is mentioned and Gawain is sacrificed then his zombie does some cool stuff in battle and not so cool stuff with Olwen.

My favourite characters are Arthur, Culwhch and Nimue (even after spoiler things happen in Book 3.)

Derfel: I’m still convinced he’s in love with Arthur. He’s my fourth or fifth favourite character.

Ceinwyn: Despite being Derfel’s common-law wife and official love interest, I don’t have much to say about her. She had her moments, like when she went eff you to Lancelot and decided marriage was not for her. She was at her best in the Winter King.

Arthur: I LOVE YOU!

Guinever: I wish I had more of you because you could have been my favourite character.

Culhwch: He’s basically Kay and I loved him.

Aelle: I didn’t mind him. He was hatable when he needed to be but he had moments where I was like okay you’re not the worse.

Lancelot: Fuck you. ‘Nough said.

Galahad: Aka the token good Christian. He’s good and pure. :)

Mordred: Brat but not in a good way. I hated him as much as Derfel wanted me to hate him.

Merlin: I have mixed feelings, because I would go from I love you and then he would say something sexist and I’m like meh.

Nimue: She’s smart, magical and great. Sure she goes crazy at the end and joins Mordred but she’s still great.

Morgan: I like her.

Samsun: I dislike him but not as much as Derfel wanted me too.

Tristan: I enjoyed him, I usually do. But he’s mainly on this list so I can say that death scene was insane. Poor Iseult. Fuck you Mark. And isn’t Tristan famous for beating someone in one on one combat? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s something he’s famous for.

Igraine: LOL! She makes me laugh, especially when she’s like but that’s not how the bards tell it.

There are more but I don’t want this to be too long.

Conclusion

I would say The Winter King was my favourite, then Excalibur for the weirdness and lastly the Enemy of God.

When Cornwell finishes The Saxon Stories, I will be reading that series. Or maybe my mother and I will watch the Netflix show… we have to finish the Medici one.