#(it's not a good greek mythology retelling though lol)

[marybeatriceofmodena]

To whoever will reply "except Lore Olympus", or any TikTok dark romance that's popular right now, nope, you misunderstood the assignment, re-read what I said

I'm gonna choose violence today but. You don't get to put Madeline Miller on a pedestal and then simultaneously decry the current state of Hades/Persephone retellings.

[genericpuff]

Hi Puff! Idk if anyone has asked you this yet but what are your thoughts on the god of war game series? Are they actually more "accurate" about the greek mythology then LO? xD

oh lord, I'm def not a good person to ask about this question because I haven't played through all the original God of War games (though it makes me laugh to think about them because watching my oldest brother play the first game when I was like 7 years old was the first time I'd ever seen video game boobies LOL) but considering it's just a hack and slash game in which you brutally murder the gods... ima give it a big noooo on that one LOL it's about as accurate as LO in that it's more about spectacle and drama than it is about actually being accurate to the myths they're based on lmaoo

As for the Norse series of games, I actually HAVE played both God of War 2018 and Ragnarok and loved them both, though I'm not as well versed in Norse mythology so I also can't say if what they take from Norse myth is accurate. Obviously I know that Atreus/Loki has zero relation to fictional character Kratos from Greece and I have basic understanding of general concepts like Yggdrasil and the nine realms among other things like that, but the finer details regarding the stories of the characters themselves I'm not as brushed up on. Hella great storytelling though and I appreciate the lengths they went to to make it feel like a Norse-myth-inspired environment, even down to the vocabulary and terms used.

Just like with LO, you shouldn't be taking any of what God of War does or says at face value. If you like the games (or LO), use it as an opening hook to get more into the actual myths if they interest you. But definitely don't use them as any sort of credible source LOL

Now that I'm typing out my thoughts on this though, I think the biggest difference between GoW and LO (one that makes GoW far superior to it) is that the creators of GoW never once led their audience to believe that they were more than what they were, a hack and slash video game inspired by specific myths. What you see is what you get with GoW, but LO - and Rachel - constantly feel like they're actually trying to be taken seriously and that's what makes it all the worse when their storytelling is godawful and the amount of actual "myth" they have in the comic amounts to as much as a Family Guy cutaway gag. Just completely directionless and uninspired to the point you wonder why it's even an Greek myth retelling to begin with. At least GoW fully immerses itself in the myths their games are based on and has a shitload of fun with it, with LO it'll just source some copy pasted Princeton document or lazily tell some mythological metaphor that has nothing to do with the overarching plot so that it can remind you "hey this is a Greek myth retelling!" before getting back to its bland Keeping Up with the Kardashians romance. The mythological "inspiration" in LO feels more like tired lip service at this point rather than actual inspiration, which is really bitterly ironic considering Rachel used to tote around calling herself a "folklorist" and claiming that everyone else's knowledge of Greek myth compared to hers was "basic af".

TL ; DR: The biggest difference between GoW and LO in their retellings is humility IMO.

[sophiesbookishthings]

August Reads

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

This book reminded me a lot of Ella Enchanted for some reason. It had a very similar vibe with the love story and the adventure. Wit/Hoid was the narrator which was delightful. I always love a good immortal silly guy who's actually wise and powerful that shows up all the time. Also this book has pirates, so big selling point for me. And I thought the whole spore thing going on with Tress's planet was really cool. 12 moons is a bit excessive though lol. I really liked this book a lot, it was fun. Definitely a book I'll be rereading at some point I think.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Book of Bill by Bill Cipher Alex Hirsch

Oh Gravity Falls my beloved. This show is still like top 10 for me tbh. It just fits my brand of weird so well. And idk if I was always like this or if I'm like this because of Gravity Falls lol. I can't believe we got new content in 2024. Also, Ford and Bill are totally exes. Mabel's right.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Circe by Madeline Miller

I will always love a good greek mythology retelling. I was (and will always be) a Percy Jackson kid at heart. I will admit, though, I didn't know a ton about Circe going into this, as I often confused her and Calypso. But as per any mythology based book I read, there were a lot of ventures to wikipedia to learn a bit more about who's who and what else they were involved in. Oddly enough, though, I hated The Odyssey when i had to read it in high school. If there's 1000 Odysseus haters, I'm one of them, etc., etc. or whatever. But Penelope (my beloved) was done right in this book. I also liked that Circe is a morally grey protagonist in the story. She does a lot of stuff that is not really very good, but I support women's wrongs so I thought she was super interesting. And altogether i just really liked this book. There's something about the way Madeline Miller writes that hits just right for me.

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

I love the Wayward Children series so much. I was a lot like Lundy as a kid. Very about rules and books and pretty alone. I really found the goblin market super intriguing and I think it's one of the worlds from the series I would do best in. It's all about fair deals so it can be harsh at times but it was always fair. I knew the end of the book was coming since Lundy was a character in previous books but it did still hit hard.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

More Wayward Children! The main character of this book was intersex, which I didn't actually know going into it, but it was neat cause I don't think I've ever read a book with an intersex character before. I really liked the setting of this book. The Hooflands seem to be one of the least harrowing worlds in the series. I loved the centaurs that took care of Regan. They were fun.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

This one was really good. I've had this book for a while now and I just haven't got around to reading it until now and I'm so glad I finally picked it up. I really liked both the main character and the love interest, which is kinda rare for me. The whole concept of a girl that's quite literally followed by death was really cool and very well done. I'm excited to read the rest of the series, which I believe is recently completed.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm trying so hard not to finish all the Sanderson books (but mostly the stormlight archive) before Wind and Truth comes out in December. So I'm reading standalones and definitely not Rythm of War. Tell me why this book took me so long to finish though. I've read stormlight archive books in less time than this took me. It wasn't even that I disliked this book in any way I just don't think it grabbed me as much and I struggled to make myself sit down and read it. This book was super heavy on the politics and religious aspects of the plot and I think that may have been what caused it to drag for me since I tend to be a bit more interested in the magic aspect of fantasy books. But luckily that did pick up a bit more toward the end. But anyway! I loved Sarene in particular. I thought she was so cool. She was manipulating the hell out of people the whole book and I loved it. The end did make me interested see what Sanderson will do in the sequel.

3.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

[glitchy-creations]

I couldn’t sleep so I did a little drawing of my Blood of Zeus oc and her hubby Hermes 💕

(The pose ref is from Mellon Soup on Instagram! The @ on the side is for my instagram btw 😉)

More info under the cut!

So a little info on my bby 💕

First and foremost she should not be taken seriously to actual Greek Mythology! While I did try to use elements from theories about aspects from the mythos, she shouldn’t be taken seriously as a legit goddess! That’s my little disclaimer! ALSO; if I have anything wrong (such as names) please let me know! I’m more than happy to change anything that needs to be!

So I was looking up ambrosia and nectar a while ago just for funsies (I wanted to see what the actual mythology said about the food/drink) and saw a few times that it was theorised to have been honey. Or more specifically a really sweet kind of honey. This makes sense since honey can be consumed as a food (honey combs) and drink (mead). In typical me fashion this turned into me making an entire character based off this idea.

First off her name is Ambrosia and she’s a minor goddess known as a goddess of secrecy, mystery, magic (b/c we can never have to many of those lol), and she’s the maker of ambrosia and nectar. Her name is pretty straightforward.

She has two known epithets; Ambrosia Chrysus (meaning “Immortal Gold”) in reference to created ambrosia and nectar, and Ambrosia Mysterion (meaning “Immortal Mystery”) in reference to her being a goddess of secrets/mystery.

She’s also sometimes called Aigoklima (meaning Honeysuckle) because of her use of honeysuckles in creating the “divine foods”. That last one is similar to how Hades is sometimes called Aidonus.

I’m a big ol’ sucker for irony so against popular belief, Ambrosia is actually a chthonic goddess! She was born in the underworld and lives there most of the time. I haven’t decided if she’s an offspring of a goddess like Nyx or if she was born similar to Aphrodite and the sea foam. It should be noted that the whole “creator of the divine food” thing was given to her later in her life.

You maybe wondering how she creates the divine foods. Well let me tell you! First off she doesn’t make them in the underworld, what use is magic food if the Olympians can’t eat it right? So instead she has this little garden tucked away in a cave that she uses to grow her flowers and care for her bees.

So far I have a rough idea of how she creates ambrosia and nectar. For the nectar I imagine it’s a mix of nectar from her honeysuckles, honey from the hives, and Ichor (that’s how it become “divine”). One can either drink this mixture straight or it can be mixed with wine or other beverages. Ambrosia will usually set aside some to make into mead.

For ambrosia (the food) she essentially pours the Ichor-flower nectar mixture over a honeycomb and lets it soak in. For both of these processes she will mix everything in a larger pot, though because it’s simple enough to make she can make “single serving” amounts directly into a honeysuckle (great for on the road use lol).

It should be noted that in Blood of Zeus I believe the gods have red blood, not golden blood like in the myths or other media retelling. In this context, Ambrosia is special in she has the golden blood simply because of her extended time experimenting to create the foods. Literally a drop of blood from any god could theoretically be enough to make ambrosia or nectar since that’s where the divinity come from, her blood just looks different because she been at this for so long. Likewise i imagine her hair’s golden colour is also a result of over exposure to ambrosia/nectar.

Hebe also still holds her place as cup bearer! Think of it as; Ambrosia makes and delivers the goods and Hebe serves it. They work together.

As for her other work, Ambrosia is very organised. Because she has dominion over secrets and such she literally keeps records of secrets she finds important or interesting. Like she home in the underworld is full of scrolls and things. Her favourites are Zeus’s affairs mainly because she finds it entertaining to watch his come up with excuses to tell Hera 💀

While she claims to have no responsibility in keeping peoples secrets she would never reveal them unless given permission. She may be a god but she has morals.

Ambrosia herself is a very kind and even tempered goddess. She’s pretty chill and doesn’t really get offended easily. She’s pretty introverted so she’s content with tending to her garden and caring for her bee friends. She doesn’t have time for Olympus’s shit 😤

In terms of her relationship with Hermes, they are very loving to each other, though their relationship is kind of unconventional. Ambrosia is ace and has no desire for sexual intimacy, though she is very understanding of her husbands needs. While Hermes (at least in BoZ) doesn’t seem like he’s quite as promiscuous as his dad, he does travel quite a bit.

Ambrosia is totally okay with the idea of Hermes sleeping with others; she’s very comfortable and confident in their relationship, paired with her calm nature she really doesn’t care. She trusts Hermes whole heartedly 💕

Her only condition is that he doesn’t hide any potential “affairs” from her. As the goddess of secrecy it would be a huge offence for someone to think they could hide something from her. Like she’d get more pissed at the fact he tried hiding it than the affair itself. She’d rather hear it from Hermes then find out through her powers.

Ambrosia is also rather kind to the occasional mistress. Unlike Hera, Ambrosia doesn’t hold any animosity or hostility toward these women (for the reasons above). She doesn’t really have the time or energy to go killing random people.

Likewise, Ambrosia loves kids! She’s very motherly and would proudly wear that “I’m not the stepmom, I’m the mom that stepped up” shirt! She lives by the idea that the sins of the father don’t reflect the son; just because the parents had an affair doesn’t make it the child’s fault.

I actually have another character that’s one of Herme’s few demigod kids and he pretty much becomes Ambrosia’s helper in the garden. She very much adopted the child immediately upon seeing him 🤧

Her colour palette is primarily purple and yellow. Not only are they complimentary but they also show her status as a chthonic goddess (the darker colours) and her ability to create ambrosia and nectar. I also accented her with silver so it wasn’t fighting her already golden hair.

Sorry for the long post, when I have ideas like this I kinda just go ham 😅

Like I mentioned before if anything needs to be tweaked or changed (such ad names or little details) let me know and I’ll fix them! Also, if there’s anything you want to know about Ambrosia feel free to ask! I think I have my inbox set up 🤔

[a-gnosis]

Hi, sorry to bug you! I’m trying to be brave and start a project about Ancient Greek myth. The breadth of scholars, literature, and opinions can be overwhelming and intimidating! If it’s okay, could you explain how you go about determining which sources are reliable? Apologies if this is too personal or involved an ask! Please don’t feel pressured to answer! Thank you for taking time to read this. Be well! (Also, do you know if Noel Robertson is reliable? Np if not, just thought I’d ask lol)

Don't worry, you're not bugging me! Ancient Greece and Greek mythology is a very popular and well-studied subject, so I understand that it can feel quite overwhelming and intimidating to start such a project. I myself have never tried to be 100% accurate about everything (because otherwise I would feel so intimidated that I couldn't draw a single line). My comics are inspired by Greek mythology, they are not supposed to be accurate retellings. I do a lot of research, but in the end it's my own take on it.

First I would recommend you to read the ancient Greek sources, or at least the parts that are relevant for your project, instead of going to retellings by modern authors (like Stephen Fry's Mythos. Don't get me wrong, such books can be a great introduction to Greek mythology, but the authors sometimes add details of their own or have their own spin on things). One site that has helped me a lot is theoi.com. There you can go to a certain god's page and see what the ancient poets and writers said about this god. It also has a collection of translated ancient sources (mostly very old translations, though). Sadly, the site is not complete, so depending on which characters you want to write about, you might not find as much information as you'd like.

As for other books, I always look at who has written it and who has published it. If the author is a professor of Classics, then they will most likely know what they are talking about. Even better if the book is published by a university press, since that means it has been reviewed by scholars in the field. Now, some scholars can of course still have some speculations and interpretations that not everybody agree with (for instance, a few scholars have speculated that Persephone's pomegranate seeds is a contraceptive that keeps her infertile. Even if I don't believe that the seeds have that meaning in the myth, it gave me inspiration to how the chthonic pomegranates work in my comic. I don't mind using speculative stuff as inspiration as long as it makes a good story, but then I usually point out in the comments that it is speculations and not facts). If a book is very old it can also have some outdated theories.

I haven't read anything by Noel Robertson, so I can't really say anything about his works. But he was a professor of Classics and his books are not that old, so he is probably a reliable source?

[theprinceandthewitch]

I really should have started with the Orfeo event because oh my god...

Shows me a smile of familiarity, as if we know each other.

===-

Orpheus: You..

Young Girl in a White Dress: Good evening! Orfeo!

Orpheus: You knew who I was playing as?

Orpheus: [The girl tilts her head and looks doubtfully at me]

Young Girl in a White Dress: Hasn't it always been like that? You're Orfeo and I'm Eurydice. Do you plan on playing a different character today?

When the player chooses the "Orfeo" option:

Orpheus: No, I'm Orfeo.

Young Girl in a White Dress: Did you study the script this time?

The video player bugs out so I can't tell what ption the person selected, but "Young Girl in a White Dress"'s name changes to "Eurydice and she asks Orpheus a question:

"Eurydice": But i've always wanted to ask, do you like the ending?

Orpheus, if you select the "I don't option: No, I think it's a tragedy.

"Eurydice": What kind of ending do you hope for?

Orpheus, If you select the [Eurydice and Orfeo never have to be separated again" option: I hope Eurydice and Orfeo never have to be separated again.

"Eurydice": Even if it means remaining in hell together?

Orpheus: Even if it means remaining in hell together...

"Eurydice: But Eurydice may not like this ending. [The girl mumbles and looks down].

The recording glitches so I can't see the message that pops up, but "Eurydice" leaves and the player goes to talk to Norton.

But yeah like... it's amazing how the sibling truthers tell on themselves... HOW do you play this event and not see the reveal of Orpheus being Alice's playmate coming? The Orfeo event came out about a month before the first episode of Ashes of Memory did... and yet people will still say AoM is a revamp when it's really just the pay off to what was set up in Time of Reunion... Ppl will look u directly in the eye and tell you theyre siblings knowing this was in the game...

====

Kind of unrelated, but I wonder if Melly's and Nortons designs for Pluto and Proserpina/Persephone is a reference to the Faerie King and Queen in Sir Orfeo. I said Orfeo is a reference to Sir Orfeo, but it could just be a reference to "Orfeo ed Euridice" which is a retelling of the Greek tragedy with a happy ending. It's also the way Orpheus is spelled in Italian lol.

But I can't help but wonder if they drew some inspiration from Sir Orfeo, because their appearance reminds me of the Tuatha de Danann - these were the Faeries the poet would have been referring to in Sir Orfeo, not those cute little creatures with butterfly wings. They just straight up looked like humans and were capable of benevolence and malevolence.

They probably made Norton look like that to tie him more closely with gold, since Pluto is also associated with wealth. So that checks out. Norton's association with gems and precious metals isn't far off from the way the Fairie King is portrayed either.

Even though most of their references lean more towards Greek and Roman mythology, I still can't help but think they've read that story, since Norton falls in line with the Fairy Kings actions in Sir Orfeo. Specifically the part where he whisks Heurodis [Eurydice] away to the Otherworld - the land of the Fae - after she falls asleep under a grafted tree. Norton is trying to take Alice away from Orpheus by... kidnapping her I think? Like idk what he's doing tbh, he chases her... the Orpheus knocks her out to get her away from him... then he gies her some medicine when she's in the cellar... but whatever he has planned for her ain't gonna be good.

Anyways, the point of this last bit is that you should read Sir Orfeo... and you should make Orpheus and Alice art that references Sir Orfeo... ;)

[honeyblockm]

I absolutely NEED your takes on tsoa I think I may die if I don't hear someone else talk about it

well they're kind of /neg so if you don't want to hear me complain about it for a little while then probably scroll away sfjdkj

so like i don't think madeline miller is a bad writer. i think her writing is pretty banging actually. I just think some of the ways she took her book was a little. hmm. WELL. it wasn't for me ^_^. Also i didn't read the whole thing bc i did not have interest in finishing it but i have skimmed most of it. The way Patroclus is characterized irks me especially like bro... he got defanged (in service of playing into, in my personal opinion, some :| mlm dynamics). i really do prefer more the patroclus in the iliad where his relationship with achilles was on more even footing. and he was a warrior! a damn good one! and not at all immune to getting caught up in the bloodlust and violence of the war! the trojans literally have to have apollo kill him because he was going on a huge murder spree, achilles' armor or no! i can see what miller was going for w the stuff about portraying the brutality and cruelty of war ig but to me that's a really odd leap to make for the characterization of a main character. Patroclus is nice, ofc. i love that guy. but mannnn let him kill people let him be affected by culture of his time let him folly!

also i feel like the book wouldn't have gained mainstream popularity with the. ........... crowd if patrochilles' characters hadn't been warped into something that could be crammed into easily digestible weird gay tropes. (though i don't think this was the intention of madeline miller.)

next thing. ehehem once again the (sort of) sanitation of shitty aspects of the iliad like... briseis. idk. i don't always want to read the silence of the girls type bare and brutal recounts of all the shit that happened to women. sure. and i guess it mightve been a precipice point for a lot of people who want to enjoy the protagonists? but it also feels weird how it's glossed over like the book's going wink nudge don't worry guys patrochilles are one of the good ones unlike all the other greeks. there's nuance to be had, though tsoa just seems to skate around it instead.

and oh this is an interesting one kind of related to the previous point but the way most of the women are portrayed is a little.. well why are they all set up as antagonists of a sort (except briseis). why are women like deidameia and thetis set up as obstacles between the two protagonist's epic gay love story or whatever, with only the barest of sympathy for their positions in the world?

+ every time i go into the iliad tag i have to scroll past 294020 tsoa posts where everyone acts like a marvel character and honestly, things have earned my undeserved scorn for less. lol

sighs deeply. anyways. it's a fine book. it's literally fine. whatever man there's way worse books and i am speaking from experience. it was kind of fun i liked the odydio snippets. i don't think it's ruining greek mythology or killing people or whatever, I'm just too bitchy to set my differing opinions aside about it. i would know him by touch or whatever that one went is a pretty epic quote. i have another line from it in a tentative webweave document rn. it's pretty cool but i hope queer retellings of greek myths get better from here on out. grits teeth. whatever man

[transmutationisms]

I’m like a dog running for food when it comes to Greek mythology. It’s just so interesting how the stories mutate, like with Persephone and Hades going from kidnapping to modern retelling deciding to make them in love and Pers a girlboss who pegs. Or Medusa! Went from always a monster to Ovid’s “cursed rape victim” (I’m a little biased though cos I like that more)

literally yeah when it's done well, psychologising a myth or classical tragedy gives you So much room to manoeuvre. like okay full disclosure i made that post because i was re-reading the rilke poem "orpheus. euridike. hermes" for Reasons lmao but like there's a prime example.

in the classical tellings orpheus looking back is generally foreordained, or a commentary on the weakness of the human will, or on the essential disjunction between living and dead (ie, orpheus's 'failure' was that he tried to retrieve eurydice instead of dying to join her). in rilke we get something totally different: this very compassionate exploration of his inner experience. his senses are split (gaze runs ahead, hearing stays behind), he's longing for her, he loves her so much that his music creates an entire "world of mourning" and his lyre becomes one with his hand "like tendrils of a rosebush in an olive bough"

and then too we also get eurydice: dead, already forgotten orpheus's face, "already become root" and hindered by her long grave-clothes as she walks with the messenger-god. so this is achieving a completely different effect than the universal-moral tellings. it's all focussed on their interiority, the buildup of how doomed they are, you as a reader seeing exactly why orpheus can't resist turning around and also seeing exactly why it would be futile even if he had resisted. it's not that rilke was uninterested in universalising the characters (he does much more of it in the orpheus cycle imo, although that's also a treatise on aesthetics) but that, by bringing the psychological domain to the myth, he's able to accomplish something totally different with it

like this sounds hyperbolic but i really don't think Love Stories the way we define them now exist in most classical texts. the love is very different if it's something divinely ordered, or experienced as an external intrusion into the psyche, or used in a moral or ethical discourse (often all three at once lol). it's a signifier of something else, it's rarely dissected on its own experiential terms, even if it's used to provoke catharsis

anyway yeah i love a good re-telling and also this is a succession blog so i can just go ahead and Say that i do think succ does this in the sense that it invokes classical tragedies (sometimes by name, sometimes by theme, frequently by story architecture) but then is totally driven by character psychology and psychoanalysis. oedipus roy is interesting to us precisely because we're forced to experience the internal conflict: i love him, i hate him, i'm gonna outsource it to my therapist (no you're not). it's a whole different modality of storytelling and it gives a totally different type of depth to the characters.

[neonponders]

Tumblr Writers Q & A

Thank you @anna-hawk 💗

Tagging @memes-saved-me , @catharrington , and @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger . No pressure, fam 💗

1) How many complete fics/oneshots do you have but haven’t published yet?

Complete AND unpublished?? None lol everything’s a wip ~

2) How many WIPs do you have?

I have about 20 on ao3 and 6 or so that I haven’t started uploading yet.

3) Do you take requests, write original fics, or both?

Both! Typically the requests become drabbles/ficlets, though. 

4) If you have requests how many do you actually have?

Every drabble from my Ask Box eventually goes into this compilation on ao3 ~

5) How many fandoms do you write for?

Only Harringrove, but for patrons, I have a Greek Mythology story as well as a Pride and Prejudice retelling (Elizabeth as a man and everyone is queer).

6) Are there any fandoms you used to write for?

Ooh yes lol the first I ever wrote for was Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan). Then BBC’s Merlin, Haikyuu!, Captive Prince, SpideyPool, etc.

7) Do you write for ships, reader inserts, or OC?

Ships, but I do often include original side characters ~

8) Niche fandom/Characters you write for?

Harringrove in itself is pretty niche haha and within that, I LOVE Nancy Wheeler lol I also prefer to write Steve’s parents as more wholesome. I did recently dabble in a Stonathan fic, which got a few really sweet comments on 💗 

9) Do you read fics as well as write them?

I do! I write more than I read because I am SO SLOW at reading, but I try 😭 

10) Favorite genre to write for?

🧐 Romance, I suppose? I’m a sap, what can I say? I do fusion fics, like romance and action rolled into one ~

11) What is your favorite trope (to read/write)?

Vampires/Werewolves, catboys, sugar baby/daddy, and omegaverse. 

12) What do you do to get motivated to write?

I’m the worst person to ask this lol I struggle to write for patrons every week, and I fly by the whims of my creative energy. Mostly I just daydream, and the fics that are the easiest to daydream about are the ones I write that day.

13) Is there a trope/genre you like to read, but not write?

I’m not good at writing nitty gritty or darker smut plots. I can read it but I can’t dish it out lol I’m soft and squishy.

14) Any characters/fandoms you want to write for that are never requested?

There are plenty of drabbles that I’d like people to comment on or request more of, but the reality is that people like what they like, and there’s not a high likelihood that I’ll write more for it anyway lol 

15) How long have you been writing fanfiction?

Since 2015 ~

16) Did you read fanfiction before you started writing?

I did! But it’s the fan art that got me here. Fan art that was inspired by fics or that included fic recs are excellent bait. 

17) Do you only post on Tumblr, or any other sites?

I post on ao3 and my website. From there, if you’re interested, you can find my patreon haha

18) What do you personally consider the word counts of "Drabble", "One-Shots" and "Fics"?

If it’s long enough to want a “Read Under the Cut” then it can qualify as a one-shot. Both drabbles and one-shots can be ficlets. More than one chapter? Fic.

19) Which do you prefer to write more?

Anything that gets me comments lol ficlets are lovely for that, and I can actually finish them in a day.

20) Are there any stories you have discontinued?

Yes, but they’re in other fandoms.

21) What is one of your main "pet-peeves" as a writer on Tumblr?

This hasn’t happened to me (yet) but any time someone reblogs content with shady tags or commentary. Like.....why? Baby boo, this isn’t middle school. Fuck off.

22) Do you write at a particular time of day?

Morning is my TIME. I’m like a bird or cat. Morning and sometimes evenings.

23) Do you listen to music or ambiance/noise to write, or do you need total silence?

It depends. I often put on an asmr video or a gaming livestream/vod. I honestly think I’ve developed adult adhd, because as a teenager, I could write all day in total silence or with music lol my adult brain is difficult.

24) Do you outline your fics at all before writing?

..........outlining is a tricky subject LOL I write fast, die young, upload with reckless abandon.

25) Do you post your writing as soon as you finish it, or do you schedule it to come out at a specific time/day?

I can’t do schedules. I can’t even stand a watch on my wrist or a clock on the wall, let alone a schedule.

[antiloreolympus]

Bunch of (Older) Asks [P.3 / Finale]

1. this is the most minor thing in comparison to, y’know (gestures at the entirety of L0), but the ‘kore-cob’ nickname bothers me SO much. like either ms. rachel ‘i know more about greek mythology than you’ ‘second coming of hesiod’ smythe thinks kore is pronounced like ‘core’ as in apple core or she just didn’t care that the pun fails on a structural level and just threw it in there anyway and i honestly don’t know which one is worse LOL

2. How is Persephone this smart, competition winning girl when she doesn’t even know how to use a computer? It’s so weird and doesn’t really make much sense? Like Demeter could surely afford to buy her a smartphone and laptop for school. And if you want to go into the whole helicopter mom narrative RS could simply write that Demeter child locked everything?

3. One of the biggest issues in LO is the age gap between Persephone and Hades and LO fans and RS constantly try to defend that by saying that they’re gods so it’s doesn’t really matter. Well, if it doesn’t matter why was it made such a big deal in the comic? Hecate, Hera and even Hades himself kept making the age gap a big deal (Persephone being a naive 19 year old and Hades being the 2000+ year old king) It is weird and creepy bc that’s what the comic insinuated as well in many chapters... and then it was dropped off like it was nothing. If age doesn’t matter between the gods then why give them an age? And why give then human rules and laws? Their ages simply being mentioned in the comic and then the age gap not being made into a big deal than the main characters themselves factoring their age in regards to the relationship.

4. On the latest LO episode apparently Hecates true form is just a human body with three head where the centre head is turned upside down and there is a half upside down moon above her head. In the middle of the comic her head turns normal again and the moon disappears (the three heads are still there tho). You can literally see that RS and her team do not care at all about the artwork and just draw a quick doodle and colour it and yet again her fans will somehow find some meaning in it??

5. I guess 1 week in LO timeline equals 1 year in human time.. either way RS is milking LO to the point where there’s going to be nothing. It’s sad actually bc if done proper research and writing beforehand LO would have had much more success and far less backlash. And if RS wanted to include other gods stories she could have made series for them instead of putting everything into one storyline. This is another issue with LO where it claims to be a modernised retelling of Hades and Persephone story (even though there’s not much about this from mythology but anw) however adding the stories of other gods into this mostly creates confusion and just not a good story line.

6. The art inconsistency in LO is just another way of RS and her team simply not caring and just making a sketches and that’s it and it is also incredibly problematic. One of the best examples is Persephone where in some panels she literally looks like a 6th grader with huge boobs and in some panels she looks like a 30 year old woman. It’s not just about the way she dresses but also her face features. Hades as well goes from looking like a late 30-40 year old to a 60 year old grandpa. We know a bunch of info about each character however due to the art inconsistencies we can’t really place a timeline neither associate the information given with the character. How are we supposed to associate Persephone as this powerful fertility goddess when she looks like a child? Or how are we supposed to think that she looks 19 when in some panels she looks like she’s in her late 20s? These inconsistent create a gap and distance between the characters and the reader.

[genericpuff]

Hello, I want to say that I enjoy reading Lore Rekindled. I used to try and get into Lore Olympus back when it was starting, because I'm a huge Mythology Nerd, especially when it comes to Greek. But, even though the comic had so much potential, I really hated it. The art style was very inconsistent and messy. Like I see why it was appealing because it was striking and unique for the time on Webtoon, but it strained my eyes because it was hard to tell who was who half the time. The writing was all over the place with so many plot's that were supposedly to exist but were either settled in an anti-climatic way or just never were addressed at all. And the characters... by gosh, they act more like fake celebrities' and cardboard cutouts than their actual counterparts. It's so laughable when people say "I can relate to Persephone" like... the girl doesn't have any set traits, she's just a self-insert with no actual flaws! And the fact LO labels itself as a feminist retelling, while it pits women against each other, labels them as objects for men and vilify them for having justifiable concerns... yeah that is a laugh. And I'm not even gonna touch on the Apollo plot... you know the one. But when I heard about Lore Rekindled from Dazzling Kate on Youtube, I decided to check it out because I figured a fan version could not be any worse than what Rachel herself created. And holy Hades, I can see the un-to god effort and care this comic has! This is the complete opposite of LO: it has consistent character models with stunning backgrounds and art, the plotline makes way more sense and is easy to follow with no unnessearcy subplots, and the characters actually have separate personalities! I know Lore Rekindled is still in it's early stages, but already it has shown more promise and potential than what Rachel has created in the last six years! This is why ghost writers and fanfiction have a special place in my heart, because they care more about the stories than the authors themselves! Seriously, what you are doing is incredible! I really hope you continue with Lore Rekindled and I will be following the story because you have sparked my interest! It takes a special kind of talent to turn something that an individual like myself loathes, into a piece of work that I can find joy and entertainment in.

On that note, because I really love your story so far, I wanted to ask your permission on something. I have a YouTube channel, it's a small one but I do a bunch of things there like voice dubs, reviews, theorizes, and writing advice. So if it is alright with you, would it be okay if I could do a review of your Lore Rekindled Series and maybe potentially do a comic dub of the story as well? I'll be sure to credit you, I just want people to see this story that you worked hard on.

Ahhh I'm so glad you like it! Everything you mentioned about LO's missed or lost potential was exactly why I set out to make Rekindled, so it always brings me so much joy when people tell me it connected with them, means I gotta be doing at least something right LOL Though I've had to adjust Rekindled's update schedule to make room for other projects and priorities in my life, there's still loads left with it that I wanna tackle.

If you wanna do a review or any sort of video content with it, by all means! DazzlingKate's review took me by surprise (in a good way) because I had no idea it was happening until someone linked me to it after it was posted haha It's a little nerve-wracking sometimes to see it breach outside of Tumblr, but so far all the occasions of such have been generally fair game without any issues so I don't see why not! ~ <3

Thank you again, I hope Rekindled continues to entertain you and bring you joy ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

[i-breathe-therefore-i-read]

Starcrossed series by Josephine Angelini

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

*What I thought: 4 out of 5 stars

read: 9/19 

I thought it started off good. Had my interest until the Delos family showed up. I was so confused as to why Helen was so blood thirsty around them! It just boggled my mind as to why they were acting like that. THANKFULLY it was explained. Glad it happened earlier than later because idk if I could still read it. I really like the mythology take of their family and to why they wanted to kill each other. If you know me, I love Greek mythology retells. 

I really liked reading how much Helen grew. When we first met her, she wanted not to be noticed to learning what she is and how she is dealing with that to learning how to control her gifts.

I loved her friends. Claire is the BFF that everyone hopes for. I laughed so much when she was telling Helen about her “experiments.” 😂 I also loved her dad, Jerry. He was what one would wish their dad was too. lol

Romance was minimal but that wasn’t because one wasn’t trying really hard! lol. It was because if it happened, it’d be catastrophic. Which would be terrible! I really liked their explanation of that too. 

I’m interested to see how things play out in the next book with the bombshell that was dropped on Helen and how they fix the problem with a cousin. 

Can true love be FORGOTTEN? As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on. Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out - a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder. As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

*What I thought: 4 out 5 stars

read: 9/19

I liked it but it took forever to read. It dragged in some parts but overall, I enjoyed reading. I like seeing Helen trying to figure out what to do with the Fates and how to solve the Scion’s blood for blood. I’m glad a new character popped up and he helped her big time! I love Orion but not more than Lucas! So beware, the dreaded love triangle shows it’s presence in here even though there is a major yuck factor as far as the what the character’s believe. 

Lucas I felt bad for and disliked him at the same time. lol He was such a jerk, I get it but it made me sad. I wished he did things differently. 

I love who the villain/mastermind is in the book and why they’re doing everything. The next book, there will be trouble! What this person did to Helen was terrible and horrific! But Helen showed them! SHE’S A BADASS.....when she wants to be lol

Overall, I’m very interested to see how things play out with this prophecy and to see more of the characters I love.

After accidentally unleashing the gods from their captivity on Olympus, Helen must find a way to re-imprison them without starting a devastating war. But the gods are angry, and their thirst for blood already has a body count. To make matters worse, the Oracle reveals that a diabolical Tyrant is lurking among them, which drives a wedge between the once-solid group of friends. As the gods use the Scions against one another, Lucas’s life hangs in the balance. Still unsure whether she loves him or Orion, Helen is forced to make a terrifying decision, for war is coming to her shores.

*What I thought: 4 out of 5 stars

read: 9/19

Powers are changing, Gods are out to play, Challenges are being called out.

OMG, that was a way to end a series! Helen has gotten more powers! Hard to believe but true. They way she got them was interesting. The new powers definitely came in handy numerous times but it caused people near and dear to her to become afraid of her. Which sucks because her friends were not as cool in this book. Helen learns more about being a World Builder which was cool. How cool would it be to make a world how you see fit? 

The Gods are very naughty! Surprising the only decent one was Hades. It took a little bit for Helen to figure out what to do to make the Gods behave but she found a way. I liked that Helen was seeing flashbacks of the past Helen, that helped her on too.

The flip flopping between Lucas and Orion was majority of the book. In the end, Helen knew who her heart always belong to. It took a long time but that was because of what her mother told her, that’s why she couldn’t fully go for it. Speaking of her mother. That woman is evil! The things she did and said for her own selfish goals! Gah, I’m glad at what happened in the end with her. 

Even though the ending wrapped up and we got an epilogue in a nice tidy bow, I want to know when Lucas has to fulfill his vow! I want to know if curse that Cassandra has to bear will stop her to continue with a certain someone. 

**Trigger warning: mentions of rape and a very, very minor character is proud to be a pedophile**

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

hii. this one is for the "top 5" ask thing. top 5 book series or single books??? (no Tolkien or grrm pls) would love some recommendations

I have to admit that when you said no Tolkien or GRRM, it took me a moment to think of some books/book series lol. I’m too obsessed with those two and need to actually read something else. (My reading has dropped significantly in the last few years, honestly; life is so busy and I miss the days where I could spend hours at a time with a book.) 

In addition to these books, I also recommend the series that I mentioned in this post, although I didn’t include any of them in this list because I saw that you already reblogged that one, and I don’t want to be giving you the same recommendations over and over again. 

*In no particular order, because I suck at choosing :P

1. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

This book was heartbreaking, and I enjoyed it absolutely (I love suffering, what else is new >:D). In essence, the book is a retelling of the Trojan War in Greek mythology told from the eyes of Patroclus, with its main focus being the romantic relationship between him and Achilles, and in my opinion, executed this quite well while remaining mostly faithful to the original myth. I liked Miller’s Achilles for the most part, even though he was a prideful, insensitive, selfish prick who could honestly be somewhat horrifying without Patroclus’ betterment, and loved her versions of Patroclus, Achilles' closest friend and in most cases, lover, and Briseis, a woman who was taken as a captive by the Greeks and given to Achilles as a war prize. As you might predict, they are the major characters of the story, and their dynamics with each other were beautiful. Naturally, it’s not perfect, and I had my gripes, but I would still highly recommend it. 

2. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Another book based on The Iliad, I particularly loved this one because it gave a woman of the war a voice. In this book, the main character is Briseis, who provides us a window into the lives of all the raped and enslaved women whose lives were affected by the Trojan War. Briseis’ relationship with Achilles is much more antagonistic in this one as compared to The Song of Achilles, as The Silence of the Girls writes her as Achilles’ concubine. Achilles is also a POV character, and although we never get to know him quite as intimately as we do Briseis, Barker still creates a very fascinating figure who marks a stark contrast between ruthlessness and civility. All in all, I think this book was a very good depiction of the women of the Trojan War, who, in the original Iliad, seem to have been created solely for the advancing of the men’s arcs. 

3. The Witcher by Andrej Sapkowski

Not a series that I’ve actually read, but I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it, and I’m greatly looking forward to being able to read it when I get my hands on it. It was recommended to me by @marta-elentari, who says it’s like a perfect mix of LOTR and ASOIAF. The main characters are Geralt of Rivia, a man who makes a living by hunting monsters, Yennefer of Vengerberg, a sorceress, and Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, a princess whose blood gives her the power to cross space and time. I’m told that the plot includes dwarves, elves, war, Celtic and Slavic mythology, and political intrigue.

4. Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession by Alison Weir

As you can tell by the title, this story follows the second of King Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn, who is also my personal favorite among his queens. (By the way, Alison Weir is writing a series called Six Tudor Queens, obviously one book per queen, and this one is part of it.) I believe Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession did quite well in capturing Anne’s spirited and passionate personality; the personality that attracted Henry VIII as a mistress, but was considered distasteful for the wife of a king. I also loved its depiction of Anne’s dignity and courage during her final days, and even up until the moment that she died. Unfortunately, it can also get pretty repetitive with the constant Henry attempting to woo Anne, and Anne staving him off, and I didn’t dig Weir’s portrayal of Henry too much. He just seemed too … lovesick and lacking the complexity and charisma of the historical figure.

5. For the Most Beautiful by Emily Hauser

Yet another retelling of the Trojan War. XD I’m sorry, Greek myths are one of my favorite things to read about, especially since I first read about The Iliad and The Odyssey when I was a child, so I kind of grew up on them. (What I did not read were the poems themselves; that would have been way above my comprehension level at that age.) This one focuses on Briseis and Chryseis. You already know the former, whom I also mentioned in recommendations 1 and 2, and Chryseis was also a war prize who was given to Agamemnon, the king of all the Greeks (who was also an absolute pig in this book, he can burn in hell). The book does a good job in fleshing them out and giving them backstories, motivations, and personalities, as well as some of the agency that was stripped of them in the original Iliad. 

I have two personal complaints: Chryseis was implied to have been raped by Agamemnon, and Hauser seems to fail to capture the traumatic effect of this on her psyche. The other complaint is that the complexity in Achilles and Briseis’ relationship is rather nonexistent, and I honestly found it off-putting to see it treated like a love story; in that regard, The Silence of the Girls did it best. Overall, the reason I recommend this book has less to do with the relationship between characters and much more to do with the fact that I liked seeing these two women fleshed out and humanized. 

[splendidemendax]

I know I talked about it when I started reading it (like a month and a half ago, lol) but Charlotte Higgins' Greek Mythology: A New Retelling is absolutely incredible.

I talked about this some in my first post about the book (here) but basically, ancient Greece and Rome were violently misogynistic and that obviously turns up in the things those cultures produced, e.g. myths. That was two thousand years ago and every generation since has brought their own baggage to it. You can, in fact, import bonus misogyny into an already misogynistic text (for a good discussion, see Emily Wilson's introduction to her translation of the Odyssey; for a quick one, see this Tumblr post).

All this hatred of women makes a lot of people (women and otherwise) pretty uncomfy. Assuming you're interested in engaging with the classics anyway, there are basically two ways to deal with that:

rework classical things to be less awful to women

expand on women's perspectives in classical things as they stand

Option 1 is extremely popular (e.g. Tumblr's "original" Persephone myth). I get the appeal but it's not really my thing, especially because often times it's presented as the "real" version, which is pretty exasperating. Even when it's framed properly, it can feel kind of cheap to me, less like a good fix-it fic and more like revisionist history (see this article for a good discussion).

But Higgins goes for option 2 and does it in a deeply classical way and absolutely kills it and I'm in love.

Higgins frames the myths as ekphrases (detailed descriptions of art, in this case tapestries), which is super cool and very classical. Catullus 64, a text I used in my BA thesis, does this exact same thing, telling the story of Ariadne and Theseus by way of ekphrasis of a bed cover. In addition to being awesome, it gives her the opportunity to put the stories in the hands of the women who are weaving the tapestries; the book's eight sections are each the work of a different mythological woman with a different focus (e.g. Athena, who in part one weaves the stories of the creation of the world). This, again, is very, very classical: in a famous episode of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Philomela, whose brother-in-law cut out her tongue to silence her, tells her sister the story of her rape by weaving it into a tapestry.

Spoilers aren't really a relevant concept wrt classical myths and ancient texts, but if you're already convinced and want to be surprised by the particulars of how Higgins handles things, go read it now. If not, here are More Of My Thoughts:

So the whole weaving bit is integral to the text and it's very good and I was enjoying it a lot. The weaving and weavers are frequently themselves part of the myths in a way I find super cool, as in Arachne's section, where the stories she tells of gods' misbehavior are embedded in her own story of competition with (and subsequent punishment by) Athena.

But the last section, where Penelope weaves the post-Trojan War stories, is incredible. The Trojan War is a liminal event in Greek myth: the ancient Greeks told stories of the heroes of the war and of their children, but not of their grandchildren (the Romans, who have a thing about Aeneas' descendants, are a bit different). These generations are the point at which what we'd consider myth sort of fades into what we'd consider history, though that's very much a modern distinction.

So we have this last gasp of the heroic age being woven by Penelope. She's the iconic stallwort wife of classical myth, whose weaving is a symbol of her faithfulness and whose un-weaving (a famous trick to fool her suitors) is a symbol of her cleverness. She hears the heroes' stories and weaves the scenes of her cousin Clytemnestra's fate and looks at the violence done in her own home and begins to wonder about the gods. She's never really encountered them herself; they're a degree removed from her, and that degree is her husband, a famous liar. She doubts them (in terms that Higgins takes, quite effectively, from pre-Socratic philosophers).

And then this book, which started with Athena weaving the story of the creation, ends with Penelope un-weaving her tapestry and walking away.

Let me tell you: I finished this book on the train this morning and I just about screamed when I hit the last two paragraphs. It's a stunning piece of literature. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[haikyuuhoo]

Oh god every time I get a new book I can feel my unreads judging me 😭 what books did you buy though? :D

Right??? I lowkey start feeling guilty 😂 I look at my bookshelf like “I promise I still love you”

I was just at Target so their whole selection was basically booktok (which isn’t too bad if you ask me lol) so I grabbed some of those for my booktok shelf I’m filling up haha. I got Neon Gods (I was iffy until I saw it was a Greek mythology retelling, which I’m an absolute sucker for), The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (I’m behind the times I know), and The Love Hypothesis (bc who doesn’t love a good fake dating trope??). They’re gonna have to go a little further down on my TBR though because I’ve got some books I promised my friend I’d read first!

[phantom-faces-in-the-sewers]

Ho hO HO!! Phantom Santa again!~

Sorry for being late to message! Been busy working on special gifts to bring to a certain someone's way <3

Anyway, ooo Holly's Instagram, I might have interacted with her stuff but you might have to remind me who she is so can make sure, lol.

Also, I'm unfamiliar with the AIAOY, what it abbreviated for? I would oh so love to know what it is that you are currently gearing up for!

I also love the regency period! Super fun~

I would have to agree with you about reading often. I find it hard to these days (even though I really want to get back into doing so) But I'm glad you keeping up with something has helped!

As for book recommendations that is a tricky question, lol. I'm more of a fairytale kind of person so most of what I read or try to are centered around that! If you are interested in that kind of genre I'll for sure have a few to recommend! :D

So onto some questions,

I noticed some of your posts~ Do you love theater or musicals more? If so which ones do or have you enjoyed? (POTO I imagine, and I did see Anastasia on you page!)

Hope you are doing well! Don't worry about taking a bit to respond, the holiday season is gearing up so take your time. <3

-Your Secret Santa <3

Wow, I lost track of time + forgot to reply, sorry!

Holly's currently WE alternate christine, and I love her instagram because she just posts so much lmao, truly a blessing (links here, her gantom tiktok has good vibes). and AIAOY - all I ask of you, as a Raoul stan its easily top 3 phantom songs for me :)) Phantom is making its triumphant return to Sydney next year with not one but two productions, one in the Sydney Opera House in their newly renovated theatre which should be absolutely amazing, as well as a production staged on the harbour itself as part of their yearly opera on the harbour series. It's truly spectacular - this year they staged La Traviata and had an enormous chandelier lifted by a crane that Violetta was able to climb into and sing from (a photo, and some more)

100% interested in some fairytale-esque books, I've recently gotten back into retellings of folk tales and mythology after finishing Lore (hunger games meets the greek gods in New York).

I definitely love musicals more, I'm a musician and a byproduct of my years in music classes and theory lessons is that (much like English students who can't help but analyse every piece of media) I love to try and identify what it is that's going on in the score and stuff. While I do enjoy theatre, I'll almost always pick seeing a musical over seeing a play lol. Anastasia is one of my top musical movies, it really has it all! Great score, Anya's dresses, historical setting, enemies to lovers trope. I also used to be obsessed with Beauty and the Beast, mostly for the same reasons as Anastasia lol. Theatre wise, I haven't had much exposure outside of what I've studied at school (predominantly Shakespeare, which I did enjoy for the most part), but now that theatres are opening up again post lockdown I'm trying to find time to go see something!