At the end of June, I started reading The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. It is a medieval fantasy story centered around Fitz and his life where nothing goes right… ever. I am on the last book in the trilogy, Assassin’s Quest, and I have dove head over heels for all things medieval fantasy. Welcome to July’s theme, a Summer in Buckkeep Castle.
When I began thinking all things Medieval fantasy, I realized just how popular and common it is among the fantasy genre in general. Right now, my boyfriend is playing Final Fantasy 16, he went into it pretty blind and we are both enjoying different media loosely set around the same time period.
The Medieval aesthetic I will adopt for this month is reflective of the descriptions and setting of The Farseer Trilogy; the stone castle overlooking the coast, climbing dark towers, stopping by the kitchens to take some bread, cheese, and hear the keep’s gossip, and running in the forest with your dog, minus the hunting for me. In the first two books, Fitz is always running, or, sneaking around. He studies weapons and scribing, aids with stable work, does countless errands, and secretly trains to be an assassin in the night hours with his mentor. Robin Hobb does an amazing job of immersing you into Fitz’s life, I could reread the second book again just to relive it!
Reading about Fitz’s life made me wonder about the real history and lifestyle of the mid to late middle ages, approximately 1300-1450 CE. This month, I plan on exploring this theme through movies, books, artwork, games, and videos covering food and fashion.
Here is a very loose “curriculum” of what I hope to enjoy this month, let me know if you have watched any of these movies, read any of these books, or played any of these games!
Movies
Since I am not a huge movie person, I just picked out two that I really wanted to watch to include in this intro post. If I end up watching more or starting any middle age period shows, I will list them at the end of the month.
The Princess Bride (1987)– An absolute classic and required viewing for this theme!
Black Knight (2001)– Despite the low ratings on this movie, I saw a video of someone saying it was their favorite time-traveling movie. I’ve never seen it before so I wanted to pick something new and potentially fun lol.
Books
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb– I am almost halfway through this last book in the Farseer Trilogy, and what an adventure it has been for adult Fitz so far. I don’t think he was ready to re-enter society but let’s see how it plays out!
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb– This is the next trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings. We will follow a whole new cast of characters for this next series so once I finish Assassin’s Quest, I will decide whether I want to stay in this world of take a break.
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman– I have seen this book around many times, but have never picked it up. I am always in a spooky mood so if I want to take a break and savor the Realm of the Elderlings longer, I will read this book instead!
Games
Final Fantasy XVI– I will be watching a playthrough rather than playing the game myself, but I hope to watch the entire story since my boyfriend really enjoyed playing this game.
Old School Runescape– I only have one more free to play quest to complete, so I plan on playing and snooping at the Grand Exchange until I get my strength up to finally complete the quest.
Videos I’ll Be Referencing
Tasting History With Max Miller
Tasting History is probably one of my top favorite YouTube channels and has been for many years now.
Medieval Mindset
Medieval Mindset is a new to me channel but the topics he covers seem really interesting.
Premodernist
I can’t wait to watch this to fall asleep to and pretend I am preparing to time travel.
Activities I Hope to Try
- Drawing animals in a Medieval style
- Trying pottage for the first time
- Baking a Middle Age dessert
- Wear a few completely natural fiber outfits
- Learn something about Medieval life that I have never thought about before
Conclusion
That is all for this month’s intro! Feel free to explore the Buckkeep Castle grounds with me. I know I will be trying to use the Wit to communicate with my dog, Tori!
What’s your current fixation this month? Let me know and I will see you all soon.
findingwithout 
I have always found those years to be very interesting. Imagine living the way they did! No creature comforts like we have today. And much more. The Princess Bride is still such a fun movie!
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It’s crazy to think that we are related to someone from that time, that we are related to someone from every generation to the beginning of time! Lots of my ancestors weren’t even in Europe during the Medieval ages where all of the fantasy is based off of, they were in North America in indigenous tribes. I wonder if it was more comfortable than in Europe, especially during the years of the Black Plague. I’ll have to do some research on what is known!
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Thanks for mentioning your heritage, Katelyn! ❤️ I have so much respect for the First Nations people. Off hand I would think that life was better here than in Europe when considering the Black Plague, so terrible!
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Gonna give Hobb’s Farseer a go on my fam vacation later this month. Final Fantasy is a cool series. I played XIII shortly after it came out. I love the battles, choosing the right combination of your squad based on their abilities. Not sure if that’s how all the games in this series work but… The animation is also breathtaking.
It’s the year of The Fire Horse in the Chinese Zodiac. Maybe you could weave that in somehow. But it sounds like you already have plenty of inspiration and a game plan😼 Bring on Medieval!.. Oh yes Black Knight is a good— been a while since I’ve seen it but love me some Martin Lawrence… Blue Streak…. ⚔️
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Also RIP Rob Reiner (Princess Bride)
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I’m still new to all things Final Fantasy, but I absolutely love the character styles! Can’t lie, the ability part of it was kind of confusing to me while watching FFX because it seems like there are so many options, so I just leave the work to the player and I get the enjoyment of watching haha. I’ll have to check XIII out.
If you do read the book let me know what you think!
I was born in the year of the Water Horse. I read that when the current and birth Chinese zodiacs are the same, it’s bad luck for that person 😵💫
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Sounds like a nice theme to dive into! The Princess Bride is the only one I’m familiar with, and, unpopular opinion, it isn’t really one of my favorites. I didn’t dislike it, I just never really saw what all the hype was about. I think part of the reason for that is that I was unfamiliar with it until I was an adult, so there are no childhood memories attached to it, and had I seen it as a kid, I probably would like it a lot more now. For the record, I feel the exact same way about A Christmas Story and The Karate Kid (the original with Ralph Macchio) (although I did at least know of the existence of The Karate Kid as a kid, I just hadn’t seen it until I was an adult).
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I have the same feelings about A Christmas Story, I didn’t watch it until a couple of years ago and I wasn’t very impressed. I’m not a Christmas movie or music person though!
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Ahhh, I’m obsessed with all things medieval fantasy. The Farseer Trilogy sounds really good — I will have to check that out. If you are able to squeeze in another movie, I’d suggest Ella Enchanted — fun and lighthearted medieval fantasy film. Also, love the YouTube channel recommendations, I will look into that as well! Have a magical month!
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I don’t think I’ve ever watched Ella Enchanted, but I have definitely heard of it! I will add it to my list. If you end up reading the series, let me know what you think! Each book just kept getting better for me, it really feels like entering a different world. I wish you a magical month as well! ˙⋆✮⋆˚࿔
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Medieval cat paintings are fun to draw…haha
also love the videos you chose!
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I was thinking about trying to draw some animals in the Medieval style, or guessing what animal was drawn. They took some creative liberties while drawing some animals during that time haha! Some are hard to recognize, and some have human faces for some reason
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yass! distinctive humanisque frames..and only the cat’s face goes through such changes…an effort to humanise the cat lady 😭 little cute monsters…
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Me encanta. Felicidades.
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[…] month was full of adventure for me. I have been looking through Middle Age colored lenses, and so many aspects of this month felt Medieval even though they were just every […]
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