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(after the Palladium Heist incident)

Odysseus: So, what are planning to do to me?

Diomedes (holding him at sword point): I'm going to kill you.

Odysseus: No, you're not.

Diomedes: I am.

Odysseus: You're not.

Diomedes: I am!

Odysseus: Nah. You like me too much.

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Odysseus: *kisses Diomedes cheek*

Diomedes: What was that?

Odysseus: Affection.

Diomedes: Disgusting!

Diomedes: Do it again!

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Diomedes with a dissociative disorder.

It started at Thebes, as a way to protect himself from the horrors of the war around him.

It's why he has very little memories of the Epigoni war. It does get better once he gets back to Argos, but whenever things get too emotionally intense, he still feel like he isn't exactly here.

It starts again with Iphigenia's sacrifice, and it only gets worse from here.

Sometimes he sits in his tent and realises that he has no memories of what happened between this very moment and earlier that day during their pre war council.

People praise him for his exploits on the battlefield, scold him for the friendly fire, and he pretends to know what they're talking about. During daily training he sometimes feels unsure. Now that killing has become an automatism that he doesn't have to think of, the conscious feeling of his spar in his hand feels unfamiliar.

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heh

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fascinated by the lack of information on why diomedes followed agamemnon to war. like, babe was most likely a child when the suitors swore loyalty to Helen and Hesiod's inventory doesnt even mention his presence there at all. like, did my man just feel obligated to join and bring a fleet of 80 (eighty!!) ships? did he just fancy a fight? did he want to prove himself worthy of his father's legacy? or did he just join because they forced odysseus to go and he didnt want his brother in arms to be alone?

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I very humbly ask for horse girl obsessed Diomedes doodle

this is a wonderful idea however im never drawing horses again

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Odysseus knows how to make you worry

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we already know the iliad is hella gay (achilles and patroclus) but we so often ignore odysseus and diomedes... they matched each other's freaks and got no recognition for it

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Ancient idiots

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I need the sixth scene

Scene 5

(Diomedes swiftly turned around to face Odysseus. Odysseus gasped at the sight. Diomedes, his Diomedes was a mess. Eyes bloodshot, under them puffy skin from crying, and mucus running down his philtrum. Odysseus broke at the sight, wanting nothing more than to wipe his tears. But he knows Diomedes, how he responds to affection. If Diomedes wants it, he is gonna have to make the first step.)

D: “…what?”

O: “ I said, " There are no words worthy of how I feel for you.” I thought that was only the case with Penelope and Telemachus, but I was wrong. So wrong. I will never be able to express how much I love you in words and that kills me, love.”

(Diomedes has never been a particularly loud cryer, he doesn’t even remember the last time he cried. But now, walls, his walls he put up are crumbling like they were weak from the start. It’s too much. Diomedes, overwhelmed by the emotional night, his conflicting emotions, and the unabashed honesty from Odysseus, his body could not handle anymore. In a blink of an eye, he drops to his knees, knees weak but his heart painfully full.)

O: Dio! What happened? Are you- hold on.”

(Odysseus quickly kneels down, in a weak effort to comfort this distressed man. He tries to whisper comforting words and soft promises but Diomedes couldn’t handle it.)

D: “get out.”

O: “…diomedes, please I,”

D: “Get out now! Please, I'm begging you. Leave me.”

(He is crying, on the brink of panicking. He would have stayed despite his words, but Sthenelus and Euryalus clearly heard. And if found in this situation, he might be speared to death.)

O: “Dio, I’m sorry. I will leave. If you need me, I will be in my tent. You won’t have to ask to come in, just do. I’m so sorry.”

(Diomedes' sobs are haunting as Odysseus leaves the tent. He hurries away before Sthenelus and Euryalus can ask him any questions about the commotion in the tent.)

(Odysseus ignores all the men on his way to the Ithacan camp. Agamemnon and Menelaus, wanting to talk to Odysseus, received the short end of his anger. He flops on his cot, exhausted from the night’s events. He thinks and reminisces of the words said. Finally, Odysseus feels the tears fall. But not just tears. Throughout the night, he switches through painful crying and hysterical laughter; the realization that the man that he loves, he broke. In his grief, the thought of his wife kept him from using the blade on his bedside table. He dreamed about Penelope, her soft hands, her sweet naiad smell, and her wise advice on how to go about the mess he made. Oh how he longed for her. How he longed for Dio to meet her. How both parts of his heart would have meshed together perfectly. Would have, never could be now. Hypnos, saw his anguish and carried him to sleep. He was so deep in sleep that he didn’t even notice the barely concealed footsteps and the shadow covering the outside of his tent.”

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just picturing an outraged odysseus calling for the stoning of lesser ajax (derogatory) and diomedes already picking up the biggest boulder he can find while in the distance Athena is absolutely hollering YEAH BABY!!! GET HIS ASS!!!! THIS IS WHY YOU TWO ARE MY FAVOURITES!!!

Only for the rest of the Greeks to suddenly be against murder 🙄

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Dio is so bad at flirting when he's sober.

Lovely designs by @simo0n 🌿

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Little fans ✨

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Diomedes, 4 yrs old, stood with his mother, Deipyle, before the big brazier where they made offerings. Several men in armor stood around it, hands dripping with the blood of their offerings to the gods, their faces serious as they made solemn oaths. 

“Your father was a great warrior,” his mother bent to whisper in his ear, her hands gripping his thin shoulders. “Favored by Athena. She was going to make him a god…” her lip curled in an expression somewhere between disgust and disappointment. “Now it’s up to you, my heart, to bring honor to your house and avenge him. Earn the goddess’s favor for yourself.”

Dio nodded, determined to do as his mother said. Deipyle’s fingernails pricked his shoulders as she pushed him gently toward the fire. 

“Go on, my light,” she urged. “Make your offering.”

Dio took the packet of herbs and the best cut of the meat from the priest, and walked up to the brazier. He’d never made the short walk on his own before, but this was not a prayer his mother could offer up for him. He carefully dropped the bundle into the fire, and it sent up sweet smelling smoke as it burned, which Diomedes found strange, considering what was in the packet. 

“Say the words,” Deipyle said. 

“Oh mighty Athena, daughter of Zeus…” Diomedes mumbled, looking over his shoulder at his mom. 

“Speak up, my heart,” she urged. 

“Oh mighty Athena, daughter of Zeus, king of the gods!” Diomedes shouted obediently. “Hear my words!” His voice was high and weak, but he kept going, only looking back at his mom once he’d finally finished the speech they’d been practicing since Tydeus’ funeral.

“I, Diomedes son of Tydeus and Deipyle, so swear on my honor and on the honor of my kingdom, that his death by the Thebeans will be avenged, and I will bring about this vengeance with my own sword. I swear to bring honor to the gods, and to my house, like my father before me.”

There was a moment of silence, then the bone in Dio’s packet cracked in the flames and split open, sending up a shower of sparks and hisses as the juices spilled into the brazier. 

Diomedes felt something soft pass by his cheek, like a bird flying close, though he saw nothing. 

“Well done, my light,” Deipyle said, as he ran back to her, hugging her skirts as if he were a baby. “Your father would be proud.”

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Some recent epic / odyssey doodles

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Athena's power is cool. But Diomedes is just a man...

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Im havin a day today