#I looove blonde Apollo though <3

[my-name-is-apollo]

Dark-haired Apollo

I know everyone likes blonde Apollo, and for good reasons! A lot of poets seemed to have been fond of imagining him with long, beautiful golden hair. But dark-haired Apollo, though quite rare in the poems, also exists and I honestly like that too.

• From the Erythrean paean to Asclepius (which then continues into a paean to king Seleucus):

"Over the libations, sing of Seleucus, son of dark-haired Apollo, whom the god of the golden lyre himself begot..." – (Trans. P.A.LeVen)

> κυανοπλοκάμου (kyanoplokámou) - dark-haired is used to describe Apollo's hair here.

• From Limenius' paean to Apollo (also known as the second Delphic hymn):

"But you, O god who owns the oracular tripod, come to this ridge of Parnassus where the gods tread, and where divine possession is welcomed. Weave a crown of bay about your wine-dark hair, and drawing with your hand . . . you encountered the monstrous child of Gaia . . ." (Trans. J.G.Landels)

>It was a bit difficult for me to figure what word is used here for his hair because the original Greek text is fragmented and I'm not knowledgeable about the language - I rely on the online translations - so a disclaimer. But from what I've put together, the word used to describe the color of the hair is οἰνῶ̣πα (oinõpa) which translates to "dark", "ruddy complexioned". Also, the same hymn calls Apollo "golden-haired" in the beginning lol.

In Deipnosophists by Athenaeus, a comment is made on the poets' imagination of Apollo's hair vs the painters' preference:

"And you do not either like the poet who spoke of the golden-haired Apollo; for if a painter were to represent the hair of the god as actually golden, and not black, the picture would be all the worse." – (Trans. Charles Burton Gulick)

> according to this, the painters liked to represent Apollo with black (μελαίνας) hair. Or rather that making his golden will make the painting look worse.

And if the Roman paintings and mosaics are any proof, these painters did actually seem to prefer representing Apollo with dark hair.

So yeah, while in the myths he's often called golden-haired, dark-haired Apollo is a more common sight in the paintings.

[hotheadhero]

🌴 and 🌷

🌴: a favorite canon character in my fandom + 🌷:  a song I identify with my character (also asked by @prayerwitch )

This is kinda long now, so I’ll have fave chars above and representative songs below the readmore. I recommend you click the readmore regardless XD Biased, but I have songs that miiight apply to Edelgard, Dimitri, and couples in there too.

a favorite canon character in my fandom

Within the entire Fire Emblem series, I have a huge, rose-tinted boner for most of the Archaneans, particularly Camus/Nyna (I’m well aware this is a decanonized ship, sigh), Midia/Astram, Horace, Navarre/Ogma, Roger for recruitment mechanism, Marth, Caeda, Merric, Cain, old-man Lorenz, the Whitewings (particularly Catria and/or Palla), Belf, Leiden... This is in no particular order, though Camus and Nyna are nearly untouchable as far as my favorites thanks to super-thick rose-tinted lenses. To some extent, these are also the characters I used most in my playthrough, which was also my very first experience of any Fire Emblem game in general. Alas, I was always terrible at using armor knights like Draug, even though the info I read later and his performance in FEH say he’s an amazing unit who can actually be VERY good outside his default armor-knight role.

Excluding Archanea, I tend to very quickly jump for: 

Lance boys, e.g. Ephraim, Seth, Dimitri, Percival (strictly on sight in FEH--I haven’t played his game). Bonus points if they’re kickass warriors and/or noble (social rank or ideals) or mounted (I looove range). 

Camus archetypes: Almost obligatory. Examples include Camus+, Mustafa, and Reinhardt. 

Hotheads, e.g. Kieran of the Radiant games and Caspar himself. 

Certain playboy characters, especially with more depth to them, e.g. Sylvain, purple-boy Lorenz after supports, and Ringabel (latter from the Bravely series). 

Old but tough guys are fun too, e.g. Mycen, Duessel, and old-man Lorenz.

Within Fodlan, my favorite characters are:

The entire Faerghus Four: They and particularly Dimitri are why I went BL first. Dima hits the aesthetic and classic noble lord checkbox and HEAVILY reminded me of Marth esp after one CG; Felix is “cold” yet hyper-focused and caring = aaa <3 ; I knew Sylvain had more to him than being a playboy and was not disappointed; and Ingrid was initially an aesthetic pick (was sad when she lost the braid) and if paired with Dimitri struck me as the perfect pretty/blonde homecoming king/queen couple at a glance--this may stem directly from Camus and Nyna also being blonde), 

Caspar: adorable doofus, though my love of him definitely grew as a result of hanging around here so long

Petra: such incredible drive; wish I could match it

Marianne: her war aesthetic appealed to me esp because it was such a confidence change from academy phase

Constance: huge visible personality change -> I really want to dig into it more

Lorenz, Claude, and Leonie grew on me as a result of later readings and TOA. (Edelgard too, though something about her still rubs me the wrong way and Idk exactly what it is...)

a song I identify with my character

Uh... tbh, I so rarely listen to music in general, let alone while writing, that I couldn’t give you a song that I STRONGLY identify with Caspar. When I designed video games, I kept a list of songs that hit a certain Mood, so maybe I can think of some of those...? The following list will come from skimming through my offline music archive.

It might be cheating because I just happened upon this, but Denny Schneidemesser’s Dreams of Flight symphony, e.g. Mvt2: Dreams of Flight (starts around 2:50 there or separate video here), could fit Caspar. It sounds bright and adventurous, well-representative of Caspar’s unerring tendency to keep moving forward now matter what cards he’s been dealt.

Denny’s Tiny Nomad has a similar bright/adventurous energy, but sounds more... little-man, somehow? (Seems it went to a cartoon featuring a mouse, sooo XD) Fits, honestly, lololol.

Denny’s Limitless from 7:15 in this demo reel could work for a post-/late-war Caspar who’s realized his full potential and is fully secure in himself and his role in and out of war. Possibly also one where he, not Julian, takes over the role of Minister of Military Affairs.

Phoenix Wright: Objection! (Dual Destinies): Sounds bold and bright enough to possibly work for Caspar. This IS Nick’s theme, but Caspar himself is more in-line with Apollo Justice. Chords of Steel--need I say more? XD

Journey’s Dont Stop Believin’: Lyrics indicate a clear striving. The only lyric song already on my phone that could remotely suit Caspar.

The below don’t apply to Caspar SPECIFICALLY, but they evoke specific moods I’d love to use someday.

Beethoven’s Symphony 6 Pastorale (song has movement timestamps in the description): Would love to use this for an “exploring the countryside” thread/oneshot someday. It’s got it all: Rolling hills with galloping horses (1) and babbling brooks and birdsong (2), staying with the locals in said rolling hills (3), a dreadful thunderstorm (4--and y’all know how well THAT’ll go over with Caspar XDD), and post-storm celebration (5)... The plot kinda writes itself!

Similarly, Denny’s Morning Adventure writes itself in the song. Even includes a “wake up” sequence. tbh, I think it was partly influenced BY Beethoven; I can hear a sort of “wilderness flute” inside it within the first minute that also appears in Symphony 6.

Incidentally, I’d highly recommend everyone look at Denny’s work. I discovered him on DeviantArt (over 4 years ago, well before it all went bad, lol), and his stuff all hits specific moods; it’s great! I have the demo reel above; there’s a Veni, Vidi, Vici that I could easily imagine on Edelgard, for instance; Love in a Nutshell is great for young/springtime love; and The Flow of Water is so peaceful.

Thomas Bergersen’s Empire of Angels: tbh, I clicked on this one purely by name, but I’m a sucker for angel-evocative things. This and one other song on my list remind me of specific things I want for my old angel OC. (Perhaps this song could apply to Dimitri?)