Avalon High Yearbook

Name: Marco Campbell
Nickname:Mordred
Interests: sailing, being angsty, hating his halfbrother, being jealous of what he doesn't have, and believing that he is the darkness in the world

 Name: Lance Reynolds
Nickname:Lancelot
Interests: Football, sailing, Jennifer, protecting Will, being strong, helping fight the darkness

Name: Jennifer Gold
Nickname: Guinevere
Interests: Lance, Will, cheerleading, and being dramatic

 Name: Elaine Harrison
Nickname: Lady of the Lake
Interests: reading (NOT the The Lady of Shalott), Will Wagner, floating, and running

Name: A. William Wagner
Nickname: The Bear, Your Highness, King
Interests: Football, sailing, Medieval music, Elle Harrison, saving the world from the darkness, thinking, and being amazing

And Now The Weather...

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy myself.  I mean it’s been years since I’ve been able to have any sort of fun and believe me, I was going to enjoy myself.

So when I found out that the reincarnations, or what I believed to be, the reincarnations of the King Arthur legends was going to play out the story right in front of me, I mean come on? How could I not have fun! I needed to up the ante by at least a hundred.

I’ve been watching the same girl for a couple weeks now, Elaine Harrison, or Ellie as she likes it, Elle even more when it’s spoken by the magistical, blue eyed boy she’s fallen in love with. And I just so happened to overhear that he might by Arthur. The King Arthur. Of Camelot. The Once and Future King sworn to return! And there he is. On that stupid boulder of his, listening to medieval music as so he so often does. Looking dead. Wait. That could actually work to my advantage.

Time to up the ante. A little thunder here. Lightening there. Oh! And to really freak out Ellie I’ll turn the sky a nice bloody red color! Ha! Look at her face! She’s totally spooked! Okay, more lightening. A just to have a little more fun, let’s add some hail! Nice! Huh, I wonder what she’s holding? Can’t be that important. BLOOD RED SKY! Yes! Oh my god this is so fun. Oh she made it, lucky her. I bet she’s probably thinking ‘oh no, he’s dead! I can’t believe he’s dead! What am I going to do if I can’t swim in those crystal beautiful blue eyes!?’ Pfft. Pathetic. Shut up Ellie some people have real problems!

Wait.. Does his brother have a gun? HOLY CRAP! I have to add my own soundtrack to this! MORE LIGHTENING! MORE THUNDER! MORE BLOOD RED SKY!!!

Oh boy! This is the kicker! She doesn’t believe he’s King Arthur, pfft! I’ll show you Ellie. As soon as he touches that sword..wait for it...wait for it...CUE: ANGELICAL CHOIR! THE SKIES ARE CLEAR! EVERYTHING IS BRIGHTER! EVERYTHING IS MORE COLORFUL! THE EARTH IS MADE A NEW! KING ARTHUR HAS RETURNED!

...and I’m bored again.

Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

Loyalty and forgiveness is a major theme in Avalon High. Many of the characters show loyalty in its many different forms.

Will is a great example of this. He is the personification of the devotion to duty that is found all throughout Arthurian literature. Will is a man who believes honor is important, he believes it is important to stand up for others and feels a responsibility toward maintaining peace and showing leadership. These are loyalties to duty and humanity. Will's actions also display the Arthurian ideal of chivalry, acts of honor, self-sacrifice, duty and loyalty against all odds. Will is loyal to his brother, his father, his team mates and his school mates. Even when Will finds out that Jennifer has been cheating with Lance behind his back he finds it in his heart to forgive them for this because he sees that they are truly happy with eachother (plus it doesn't hurt that Allie is way better). Even though the premise of this story was quite ridiculous it still held true to the themes that we've grown to be accustomed to seeing in Arthurian texts.  

Really!? Seriously!?

Then he said, "Hey," again-but in a different, much softer voice.

"Hey!?" I shouted back at Will. "Are you fucking kidding me! I thought you were dead! Dead! Gone! Kaput! Finito! That's it, see ya Will! And all you can say to me is fucking hey!?"

Will stood there with a blank expression on his face. Could he really not understand why I was so upset? Why I was so angry. With Will still sitting there silently, "I thought you were dead," I whispered raggedly.

"Far from it," he whispered back.

And then suddenly he was kissing me. Figures, a boy trying to solve his problems without words and simply by kissing it away. I'm not saying that it was bad or that I didn't completely want him to kiss me. I'm just saying that after all of this he has some serious explaining to do.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted at him.

"What do you mean? I was just laying down listening to my iPod. You came down and blew things way out of proportion." He replied with an attitude in his voice.

"Well... But... I..." I was stunned. I didn't even know what to say back to him. He was kinda right, wasn't he?

"Just come here," he said, pulling me in close to him and kissing me again. "I am right here and I am fine. And Nothing is going to change that."

King Arthur's Personal Theme Song

  No one can ever put their finger on the exact origin, but this song is consistently heard playing softly in the background whereever Will is spotted.  Little known fact, but I heard he was also the Karate Kid in a past generation.

Heroes Get Remembered, but Legends Never Die

By this definition, King Arthur is a legend. Texts like Avalon High prove that though King Arthur stands on his own, the way authors and storytellers continue to adapt the story perpetuate the tale in new ways. Mr. Morton/The Order of the Bear/Professors Harrison help demonstrate this point; Meg Cabot chose not to simply tell the story of King Arthur, but transform it into a Christ-like tale of resurrection, using Will as the hero of the world to save humanity the way Arthur did. With a sprinkle of cheesy teenage love. 

With this kind of story, it allows the story of Arthur to take on new life and evolve in a way that wouldn't be possible with a simple regurgitation of the legend. Through a teenage girl discovering the similarities of her high school crush to the great King Arthur, the story has now evolved into a modern tale that uses the original as a stepping stone. Without competing with the legend, stories like this one play with the idea of expanding. By taking the impressions left by the legend and creating something new, Cabot is taking the potential of expanding the legend and allowing it to flourish for a new audience. In this way, Arthur is no longer a hero, because he is not simply being remembered. He is a legend because he can't die with the, in this case literal, rebirth. 

Initiation Night

Okay……that was a lot weirder than I thought it was going to be, and I am kind of sick to my stomach. These people really took the whole bear thing too far, in my opinion. I got to the so called “Lodge” and the first thing I saw when I went in the front door were all the people and all the food. The selection was weird though……they had a lot of berries. Blue berries, red berries, gooseberries, they had bear claws, a pot of honey, and huge pot of porridge that was being bogarted by one of the blonde members of the Order. 

            After awhile came the ceremony. I can’t reveal the secrets of the Order but I can describe the ceremony somewhat. First they told me to get bare foot and to wear this bear cub costume. After a bunch of seemingly random movements and chanted phrases by the conductors of the ritual, I was put in the middle of the room on my knees and asked “Mr. Morton, are you ready to receive the secrets of the Order of the Bear”, I said “yes” but then someone behind me whispered in my ear. The person in front of me asked me the same question another time and then the person behind me whispered in my ear again. I think I was supposed to say what he whispered in my ear…..I then said in a confused manner....”does a bear shit in the woods?”. I then heard a loud VERY WELL! To which proceeded a costume battle between a bear and a wolf. It kinda looked like the marionette fight in Team America since all the members of the Order were so ancient. The ceremony ended with the death of the bear to which then I was forced to literally eat a piece of raw bear heart while everyone sang the bear necessities!…..I need to go throw up now.