Ok, so I have some icons lying around, Merlin and Adam Lambert's American idol audition. Oh and I also have an Adam Lambert wallpaper. Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with him right now. :-) Teasers, the rest are under the cut.

[15] Merlin (BBC) Icons
[33] Adam Lambert (AI Audition) Icons
[1] Adam Lambert Wallpaper

001

002

003

004

( This is the cut, that is all. )

In the past couple of weeks I've become totally addicted to Twitter. Feel free to follow me @katyggls.

I've made a few Twitter backgrounds for anyone who'd like to use one. These are all made from free stock images that I've resized and tweaked in some cases. I've also included a suggested color scheme with each background, but of course you can use whatever colors you want.

Colors:
Text: #000000
Links: #a72d38
Sidebar: #d469af
Sidebar Border: #fddf29





Colors:
Text: #000000
Links: #c90034
Sidebar: #ffc702
Sidebar Border: #31bbe2





Colors:
Text: #0e0023
Links: #321f79
Sidebar: #6b045d
Sidebar Border: #321f79




How To Change Your Twitter Background And Color Scheme:

( Under the cut... )

I have a whopping four new texture sets today, all made from some vector stock. Hope someone can find a use for them. For a couple of the previews I added drop shadows to the textures, just so they would show up better, but there are no shadows on the actual textures.

Rules:
- Comment if taking.
- Credit ravenclawwit .
- Friend my journal for updates.
- Enjoy! :-)

I have 2 new sets of icon textures today. Hope someone can find a good use for them!

I was thinking about this the other day, and was wondering about other's thoughts on the subject. How did Igraine die?

I've always assumed that she died in childbirth, and in fact, in episode nine, Gaius tells Merlin, "Igraine died in childbirth, he [Tristan du Bois] blamed Uther". But after thinking about this, I decided that Gaius may have been less than truthful. We know from the same episode that he made an oath to Uther never to reveal the true circumstances of Arthur's birth. He doesn't want to reveal those circumstances to Merlin who, even as of the series finale, knows nothing about Nimueh's involvement in Arthur's birth and Igraine's death. So I think Gaius may be lying about Igraine dying in childbirth.

Why? Because if Igraine did die in childbirth, how on earth would either Gaius or Uther know that it was Nimueh/Magic that killed Igraine? It was the middle ages. Women dying in childbirth was extremely common. Wouldn't Gaius and Uther simply think that she died of complications of the birth? For this reason, I theorize that something else must have happened to Igraine. Something that indicated to Gaius or Uther that her death was the work of sorcery instead of "natural" death as a result of childbirth. I think it's quite possible that Igraine horribly died of the same condition that Merlin's mother almost died of in episode thirteen.

If you think about it, it would explain a lot. Watching your beautiful wife slowly and painfully die with horrible boils all over her body would unhinge anyone, so it would explain how bitter and angry Uther is. It would also explain why Tristan blamed Uther for Igraine's death, especially if Tristan somehow knew that Uther had used witchcraft to achieve Igraine's pregnancy. If Igraine died in childbirth or if it appeared that way to outsiders, why would Tristan blame Uther for that? I suppose it's possible that Tristan was just a completely unreasonable jerk, but I don't think so. It would also explain why when Merlin's mother showed up in Camelot in episode thirteen, Gaius immediately knew that her condition was the result of magic. When Merlin begs Gaius to do something to help his mother, Gaius responds, "If I could. This is no ordinary illness." In the next breath he asks, "Who did you meet at the Isle of the Blessed?" I believe Gaius had seen this very condition before with Igraine when she died, which made him immediately suspect that Nimueh was involved.

Thoughts anyone?

In the process of writing a Merlin (BBC) fanfic, I compiled a list of resources that I thought might be useful to other writers in the fandom. I've tried to organize this list in a way that makes some kind of sense. By no means should this be considered an exhaustive list of reference material about Arthurian legends/The Middle Ages. I've only included resources that I think a fanfiction writer like myself would find interesting and useful, rather than dry scholarly works and the like. If anyone has a link or resource that they think would be a valuable addition to this list, please let me know in the comments. I'll add it to the post along with a credit to you. I'll be updating this post as I stumble across more useful resources, so please bookmark or save it in your memories for future reference.

One further note. These resources should not necessarily be seen as a way to make your fics "historically accurate". Very little is known about the Dark Ages/Early Medieval period in which the legend of King Arthur originates, and perhaps more importantly, the BBC production is not particularly concerned with accuracy, historical or otherwise. These links are simply meant to provide useful, fun, and possibly inspirational material and information for writers.


The Court Librarian: A List Of Arthurian Reference Materials and Resources for Writers

1. King Arthur And Friends - All about the legends of the "real" King Arthur and related people.

King Arthur on Wikipedia

Merlin on Wikipedia

List of Arthurian Characters on Wikipedia

Timeless Myths: Arthurian Legends - Website with very general information about the Arthurian Legends.

Encyclopedia Mythica: Arthurian legend - Encyclopedia of Articles on King Arthur and associated characters and legends.

The Camelot Project - Website from The University of Rochester with scholarly and student essays and Art depicting Arthurian characters and events.

Arthurian Legend - Very nice looking, well done website with lots of interesting information about the Arthurian legends.

Arthuriana Chronology - A timeline of persons, events, and works associated with the Arthurian legends.

The Quest - Good site with a lot of information about King Arthur and Arthurian England. (Note: Click the Headings on the page [eg. Arthurian Art Gallery, Arthurian England, The Celts, etc.], not the links in the dropdown menus, as they're mostly broken)

King Arthur: History & Legend - Well written and accessible information on King Arthur and related topics from the Britannica.com website.

2. The Land Of Albion - Britain in Arthurian legend.

Arthurian Archaeology and Geography - A lot of broken links on this page, but still some interesting information and pictures of places mentioned in the Arthurian legends.

Sacred Sites: Places of Peace and Power - Sacred and Ancient places in Europe. (Scroll down for sites in England)

Arthurian Sites in England - Descriptions and some pictures of places central to the Arthurian legends.

A Gazetteer Of Arthurian Sites - List with very brief information about places mentioned in Arthurian legend.

3. Everyday Life - General history and information about life in Britain from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance.

Armour on Wikipedia

Components of Medieval Armour on Wikipedia

Swords on Wikipedia

Spatha on Wikipedia - A type of sword of Roman origin, the legendary Arthur probably would have used a sword similar to this.

Arming Sword - Sometimes called the Knightly sword. The type of sword shown in the BBC's Merlin.

ArmorVenue.com - This is a commercial website, but they have hundreds of reproductions of Roman and Medieval Armor and Weapons. Extremely interesting.

myArmoury.com - Interesting information about historical swords and weapons.

Real Armor of God - This website is run by Christians who are trying to proselytize a bit, but it does have very good information on medieval swords, armor, and weaponry. In particular see the History of Medieval Swords section.

The Arador Armour Library - Great source of information on period Armour.

Celtic Iron Age Sword Deposits and Arthur's Lady of the Lake - Interesting article about Celtic Iron Age swords found in British lakes. Where the legend may have originated.

Clothing of the Middle Ages - All about clothing in the Middle Ages from the Fashion Encyclopedia

The Costumer's Manifesto: Barbarian Europe Costume Links - Links and Information about costume and fashion in Early Medieval Europe.

Anglo-Saxon and Norman Britain Foods - Food and cooking in Anglo-Saxon Britain via The Food Timeline

Food and Diet in Roman Britain - Food in Britain while it was under Roman rule, just prior to the time of Arthur.

Food And Drink in Anglo-Saxon England - The diet of people living in Anglo-Saxon England.

Feasting and Fasting in Anglo-Saxon England - All about Feasts in Anglo-Saxon England.

The Labyrinth - General information about all aspects of Medieval life.

The Code of Chivalry and Courtly Love - Information about Chivalry and Courtly Love in the Middle Ages.

Knighthood, Chivalry, & Tournaments Resource Library

Dark Ages on Wikipedia

Early Middle Ages on Wikipedia

History Links To The "Dark" And Middle Ages

Britons on Wikipedia - The Britons were the indigenous Celtic peoples of the isle of Great Britain. If Arthur did exist, he was likely a Celtic Briton.

Celts on Wikipedia

Insular Celtic Languages - The languages that might have been spoken in Arthurian times.

Brythonic Languages - Branch of the Celtic languages.

Roman Britain on Wikipedia - The period just before the Arthurian legends.

Sub-Roman Britain on Wikipedia - After the Romans left Britain.

Romano-British Culture on Wikipedia - the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure.

4. A Circle of Stones - Religion, Folklore, and Myth in Ancient, Roman, Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Britain.

English folklore category on Wikipedia

Wild Hunt on Wikipedia

Yule on Wikipedia

Saturnalia on Wikipedia

History of Christmas on Wikipedia

Celtic Midwinter (Winter Solstice) on Wikipedia

Celtic Christianity on Wikipedia

5. What's In A Name? - Names in Anglo-Saxon and Arthurian Britain.

Anglo-Saxon Names - Boy And Girl Names

Baby Name Guide - Arthurian Legend Baby Names

Chistopher Bruce's Arthurian Name Dictionary

6. Tales of The Bards - Arthur in literature and fiction.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's Histories of the Kings of Britain

Le Mort d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory

Le Mort d'Arthur: Volume 2 by Sir Thomas Malory

Idylls Of The King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Illustrated by Gustave Doré

Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson - Project Gutenberg

The Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

List of books about King Arthur on Wikipedia


UPDATE LOG:
Updated January 11, 2009 - Added several links to Everyday Life about Medieval swords.
Updated January 31, 2009 - Added new section about Religion and Folklore, Added many links to Everyday Life about Celtic and Roman Britain as well as a couple of links about armour and knighthood.

I haven't given anything back to the lovely graphics community here at LJ for awhile, so I made two new sets of icon textures today, from stock images. Hope someone can use them!

Today I have 33 new Merlin icons, from episode 101. I also tried my hand at a wallpaper, which I think came out crappy because the only large caps I could find were kind of bad quality. I really wish the BBC would release more episode stills.

[33] Merlin (BBC) icons
[1] Merlin (BBC) desktop wallpaper (3 sizes)

Teasers:

001	002	003

( If a great wave shall fall... )

Ok, so the BBC's Merlin inspired me so much that I actually tried my hand at making my first fanvid! I'm actually really proud of myself. I went through a lot of frustration let me tell you. First I tried Windows Movie Maker because I'd heard it was easy for beginners. After 30 minutes using it, and having it crash on me like 5 times, I decided they meant it was easy for beginning sadomasochists or something. Then I tried Sony Vegas, which was decidedly NOT for beginners. It was so confusing I gave up after 10 minutes. Finally I came across Corel VideoStudio Pro X2. Finally, something I could work with. And I've just realized that I sound like I'm writing ad copy. I'm not, I was just so relieved to find something that actually worked for me. I wouldn't recommend Windows Movie Maker to anyone who wants to keep their sanity or hair. I'm sure Sony Vegas works great for someone exponentially smarter than I. For me, I'll stick with good old Corel for Dummies. ;-)

The video is about Arthur from Merlin's POV. It's a Merlin/Arthur video but probably more a friendship thing than a slash thing (but feel free to see it as slash if you like, I do! ;-))

The song is "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart. The video is more fun if you know the lyrics, so:

May the good lord be with you
Down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home
And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you'll always stay
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young

May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to heaven
With a prince or a vagabond

And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever young
Forever young

And when you finally fly away
Ill be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell

But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
Forever young, forever young
Forever young ,forever young
Forever young, forever young
For, forever young, forever young

Yes, I know, pure cheese, but I love this song and it seemed to fit so well. So without further ado, here's my finished video. You can see it at YouTube HERE or embedded below. If you go see it at YouTube, I strongly recommend clicking the watch in high quality link beneath the video if you have a high speed internet connection, as the low quality version is quite craptastic. I've embedded both the high quality and low quality version below. I say don't bother with the low quality unless you're on dial-up or a really slow connection.

High Quality:


Low Quality



UPDATE: I've also uploaded the video to imeem, in case YouTube goes evil and deletes it, plus I've uploaded it to Rapidshare for those that want to download it.

imeem:


Download (from Rapidshare):
http://rapidshare.com/files/183962793/MerlinForeverYoungXvid480.avi

I'd love to know what everyone thinks of it!

Just taking an opportunity to pimp the Merlin Season 1 Overview meme over at princess_narnia . Click the banner under the cut to participate and make some Merlin fan buddies!
( You're a prat. )