Just Something I Found While Cleaning

I ran across this piece of some sort ot packaging with this on the back.  It made me smile.

Because you are my "Best Friend,"
I will keep you close to me.
Wherever I go, whatever I do.
When I'm miles from home, thinking of you,
You'll be right there with me.
You make me smile and make me laugh,
Always there for me when I need you most.
You are truly a devoted friend...
...My "Best Friend."

I Don't Get It

I just don't understand people sometimes.  I really don't. 

I'm a bit of an Arthurian scholar.  And I might be a little bit obsessive about Arthurian Legend right now.  It really doesn't help that the fourth series of Merlin was teased at San Diego Comic-Con recently. 

Anyway.  The thing that is really getting on my nerves is the fact that everyone in the world seems to consider Morgan le Fay to be evil, vengeful, or something of the sort.  She is expected to be this evil queen or evil sorceress that is always out to get Arthur (and Merlin in the television show). 

What people don't understand is that Morgan - Morgana as I prefer to call her - is not evil.  She has become portrayed as evil, but she never was like that.  Not originally.  She was a powerful sorceress from the isle of Avalon.  She was a shapeshifter and a healer.  She was the eldest of nine beautiful sisters.  She was not evil.  Not until she was made to be. 

She was not even Arthur's sister until the time of Chretien de Troyes, who wrote for the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine.  She was not even vengeful until the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and that was only when Arthur killed her lover.  

Some people have tried to shift her portrayal back to how it should have been, but it never lasts.  She is the victim of so much misportrayal.  It actually makes me a bit sad to see what people are doing to her.  


The way she is being portrayed in Merlin is one of those ways.  In series one, she was amazing.  She was my favorite character.  In series two, her romance with Arthur was dropped inexplicably, even though it was beautifully done before and absolutely wonderful (anyone notice that they decided to make her Arthur's sister after that?  Stupid writers) before that.  She was overlooked and manipulated.  It only gets worse from there, and now even the actress who plays here considers her darker side to be the true Morgana.  Lovely.  


I don't think that's how Morgana is supposed to be.  Maybe that's just me and my love of the legends, but I don't think it's fair for them to do this to her character.  All she ever gets is the blame.  That's just not fair to her.  Would it kill people to treat her character properly?

Books I Finished in July

July was a really busy month for me, I have to say.  I was out of town a couple of times, always on the go...I actually didn't get a whole lot read, to be honest.  I wish I had read more.  I really do.  I loved the books I read, but there just wasn't enough time...

The Winter King
Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 1
Honored 
Enemy of God

These were all interesting books (or in the case of the manga, it was funny).  The Winter King and Enemy of God were the first two books of The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell.  I actually just finished the third one (Excalibur) today.  It's another take on Arthurian Legend that was very, very good.  I would highly recommend it, though it is a tad bloody and a more adult version of the tale.  It's not really graphic, but there is a lot of death in it.  It's still a really good read and a lot of fun.