#I'm currently re reading Mythos

[windsweptinred]

Can we start a petition for Stephen Fry to retell the Silmarillion? The same way he did the Greek myths.

[thegodcyclecomic]

Hello again! Thank you for your post that covered my question on what sources of inspiration you used for Athena. It was super enlightening!

I know this is a tall order because the myths are broad, but could you discuss what aspects of characterization and dimensions you feel are often ignored about Athena? This is me practically begging for a meta post, but I genuinely love hearing your thoughts on her because I agree with your assessment that roughly most media tend to lean to simplistic aspects of Athena. I like hearing from your inspiration notes that you thought of Athena’s childhood with Pallas and how she is more of a pragmatic character that has agency.

I have a lot of thoughts on this so this post won't be as comprehensive as I originally intended, I will be briefly covering the points I want to list out. I try my best to base my writing of Athena on the canon source material, but there will be aspects that veer into my own interpretation/headcanon territory. All Iliad passages here are from the Robert Fitzgerald translation.

Anyway, here are the aspects of characterization I think are normally ignored when authors write Athena.

Her calculating nature / intelligence

This one sounds weird because it's paradoxically the first thing that comes to mind when writing Athena. The issue with this is the same issue when amateur authors try to write characters who are smarter than them: They resort to cheap shortcuts and stereotypes to show a character is "smart".

Examples of this would be the overusage of chess imagery. It's a game that wouldn't exist in Ancient Greece anyway, and it's a measure of spatial memorization rather than strategy. In real warfare, everything is variable to change. Chess pieces don't have motivations or biases that could influence their actions. Opening moves in chess have their counters, but real-life tactics allow you more freedom on how to engage with it.

The next writing shortcut people resort to re: Athena's intelligence is how they use her reading books to show she is "smart" but don't really elaborate on what kind of books she reads of what topics she specializes in which is already in the mythos that can give you lots of ideas.

I mentioned this before but when I started TGC I had a hard time characterizing Athena at first because I didn't understand her domains too well. So you know what I did? I picked up books about military history, Ancient Greek laws, political theory, philosophy, and similar. Learning about these things gave me a perspective of "how would the personification of the state act if they were a person?". Ancient Greece was big on the Social Contract, as exemplified in Socrates's speech in Plato's Apology.

There's a lot more to it, I'm not doing it justice at all in this post. But that's the idea. In the Oresteia, Athena created the practice of cross-examination for murder trials, and then immediately proceeded to undermine the entire justice process by attempting to bribe the prosecution (the Furies). In the Iliad Book 4, she disguises herself as a Trojan soldier to trick Laodokos to shoot Menelaus to break the ceasefire-- essentially enacting what we in modern day would call a False Flag Operation. It's so quintessentially Politician(tm) of her to do.

Athena's intelligence comes from how she seeks to improve and make efficient current systems, like her strategy to Ares's warfare. Or her various inventions in mythos. Another one would be her ability to manipulate people and situations to push for the outcomes she wants. You can see this in her various dialogues in the Epic Cycle:

Athena grifting in the Odyssey in a speech she makes to Zeus about why she should be allowed to assist Odysseus.

520: Athena kept the pace behind them, bearing her shield of storm, immortal and august, whose hundred golden-plaited tassles, worth a hekatomb each one, floated in air. So down the ranks that dazzling goddess went to stir the attack, and each man in his heart grew strong to fight and never quit the melee, for at her passage war itself became lovelier than return, lovelier than sailing in the decked ships to their own native land -Iliad Book 4

and this

100: “Son of Lykaon, I have in mind an exploit that may tempt you, tempt a fighting heart. Have you the gall to send an arrow like a fork of lightning home against Menelaus? Every Trojan heart would rise, and every man would praise you, especially Paris, the prince— you would be sure to come by glittering gifts if he could see the warrior, Menelaus, the son of Atreus, brought down by your bow, then bedded on a dolorous pyre! Come now, brace yourself for a shot at Menelaus. engage to pay Apollo, the bright archer, a perfect hekatomb of firstling lambs when you go home to your old town, Zeleia.” That was Athena’s way, leading him on, the foolish man, to folly. -Iliad Book 4

from what I can understand, Athena's domain of wisdom is not just limited to giving insight to people-- but also in obscuring the truth and leading others to their ruin. Which is in line with one of Athena's epithets which is Απατουρια (Apaturia) "Deciever".

Often times in other adaptations, they relegate Athena's intelligence to spouting random facts or a "nerdy" personality. Or they nerf it so that she doesn't solve these braindead plots in 2 seconds. Take Athena from Lore Olympus for example, the Athena of canon would've never allowed any of this shit with Persephone and Apollo undermining Zeus to happen TT_TT if you have to make your characters stupid for the story to work, then it is a bad story hands down.

2. Interpretations regarding Athena's relationship with heroes

This is something I see a lot where Athena is written to have a personal investment in her heroes like they are "her blorbos" (actual words I've seen people on this hellsite use for this). I'd like to direct your attention to this passage from of Athena speaking in Iliad book 8.

My father, now, is full of a black madness, evil and perverse. All that I strive for he brings to nothing: He will not remember how many times I intervened to save his son, worn out in trials set by Eurystheus. How Heracles would cry to heaven! And Zeus Would send me out of heaven to be his shield. Had I forseen this day that time he went down, bidden by Eurystheus, between Death’s narrow gates to bring from Erebos the watchdog of the Lord of Undergloom, he never would have left the gorge of Styx!

The way I understand this passage is that Athena does a lot of "NPC questgiver" tasks for Zeus in an attempt to curry favor from him. It's a calculated choice on her part and not something she does out of the kindness of her heart. A similar situation occurs when Orestes asks Athena for aid, she helps him on the insistence of Apollo.

Regarding Odysseus, I'm sure there is some fondness she has for him-- but that doesn't stop her from allowing him to be struck by storm (as collateral damage for the crimes of Ajax the lesser for raping Cassandra in Athena's temple). Or from her setting up the suitor problem so she could convince him to murder them all.

If you've noticed, all of Athena's champions are some kind of high-ranking warriors. A king or general or prince. You would think that the goddess of wisdom would favor the philosophers more, or would choose more often to avoid violence. But Athena is very quick to choose violence, it's who she is. And she needs a tool that she can use as a blade.

(these are my interpretations, if you disagree thats fine) 3. Athena as a "peaceful" goddess

This one makes me laugh and also drives me insane.

There are two Homeric hymns that directly and clearly contradict this idea.

(HOMERIC HYMNS 5 - 33, TRANSLATED BY H. G. EVELYN-WHITE) a. The Homeric Hymn to Athena

Of Pallas Athene, guardian of the city, I begin to sing. Dread is she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go out to war and come back. Hail, goddess, and give us good fortune with happiness!

b. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

...Yet there are three hearts that she cannot bend nor yet ensnare. First is the daughter of Zeus who holds the aegis, bright-eyed Athene; for she has no pleasure in the deeds of golden Aphrodite, but delights in wars and in the work of Ares, in strifes and battles and in preparing famous crafts. 

What I find insightful about the second one is that it gives a specific reason for why Athena cannot be moved by romantic love. It's because war occupies the space in her heart that love would normally be. Both hymns specifically name drop Ares, so the idea that Athena finds Ares's violence to be repulsive is just blatantly untrue. If anything, she adores it. The time it would become an issue for her is when his rampages act against her greater interests, which is the source of all their duels in canon.

Other proof for Athena being generally violent can be inferred from her characterization in the Iliad, the instances of which are too numerous to list here.

4. Athena's personality defined by her lack of childhood.

I mentioned this in another post, but Athena was born from Zeus as an adult (though in TGC I changed this to being born as a pre-teen. This is intentional and serves a purpose). What we know about psychology today is that for normal social and emotional development, young children need to form an attachment with at least one primary caregiver. Athena being born as an adult means that she would've missed out on important development milestones that other gods would've gone through.

I will preemptively say that before you bring up the "theyre Gods they're not like humans" that as far as mythos is concerned, the way that gods behave and think is almost exactly identical to that of humans. They experience the same range of emotions humans do, as well as grief and trauma. So I will consider that their psychology is also the same with the difference being that they might experience mental degradation not typically seen in humans because of cumulative negative experiences over a long period.

Back to Athena, the only framework she would have to start from literally being born yesterday would be the fragments of memories she gleaned from being inside of Zeus's head. I think this would be confusing for her, as these are from the first-person perspective of Zeus, so using his memories but lacking context for those experiences might lead to an early identity crisis. Athena would then have to play catchup in learning extremely fast everything to fill those blanks.

This is why I think Athena has a hard time forming personal connections. She doesn't have a true equal. Athena's relationships are defined by power imbalances and transactions, and that is how she understands relationships in general to work.

5. Athena's humanity.

I think what bothers me the most about Athena in adaptations is the lack of humanity given to her character. I know I just went over why she's a manipulative machiavellian character, but what I see is that Athena often gets relegated to the Unfun Stick in the Mud character. She exists to ruin the fun of the Fun Chaotic Dudes Dionysus, Hermes, and Apollo. She doesn't have anything going to her except being a snitch and a daddy's girl, or worse, she exists to be "put in her place" by other male gods. This is why I really dislike Fedini's and "incorrect greek gods" take on Athena. I think there's this underlying biases that an ace-coded goddess can't have anything interesting about her, because all media on tumblr and fandom these days are broken down to fucking shipping instead of seriously engaging with the source material. I've seen people call her a Mary Sue or act like she is an annoying bitch for exhibiting personality traits that would be praised in a male character (the traits of a Byronic Hero).

Portrayals of Athena go one extreme or another, either she is a wholly Good goddess or she is a Villain/mere annoyance. It's a real shame to see, because I hope I can show you now that she is a wonderfully complex and morally grey character. I want to see Athena's curiosity and how she tries to understand the world from her own perspective. I want to explore her relationships with Zeus and her siblings like Ares and Apollo outside of the Meme'fication of Greek mythology.

Anyway, that's all I can think of for now, I hope this answers your question. If you have any point you'd like me to explain more, I'd be glad to make another post in greater detail.

[thebearthatreads]

Writeblr Intro

Hi, so I've been a part of tumblr for quite some time but I've only really begun to be active again in the last month or so. I figured given my long absence perhaps it was time to introduce myself and open up to connecting with other writers here.

So who am I?

My name is Sasha Hanton (She/Her), I'm the author of It's All Magic To Me which was originally released in May 2022 (Re-releasing as Polishing Magic in May 2025). For a long time, I struggled with openly describing myself as a person of colour, coming from a mixed-race background it's always been a bit strange figuring out how to define myself. However I now feel more confident in how I describe and define myself.

I'm Australian but I have Eurasian heritage, meaning my family come from a combination of Asian and European backgrounds. I know some people don't like the term Eurasian, and that's perfectly fine you don't have to label yourself with something you don't identify with but for me, I'm proud to call myself Eurasian. My family have identified as Eurasian for more than three generations now, and we've always been proud of our mixed ancestry (feel free to ask me more about this if you're interested).

Coming from a mixed background I like to bring that mix into my writing, injecting influences from a variety of cultures and mythologies. Whilst I'm a cis, heterosexual, neurotypical woman I try my best to be an ally and am always happy to bring more diversity into my writing and to read more diverse stories (if you know any good books by diverse authors please send me your recommendations I'm always happy to build up my tbr).

My writing

Currently, I'm in the limbo of waiting for feedback on projects and I generally try to stick to having one WIP on the go at a time (as otherwise I'm prone to overwhelm) . Predominately I write urban fantasy, generally with new adult-aged characters but written to be middle-grade and up friendly. Here's a quick breakdown of my works:

It's All Magic To Me - This is my novel, originally published under contract in 2022 but now out of contract and out of print but I will be re-releasing it in May 2025 under the new title Polishing Magic. It follows Willow, a university student, who discovers she has magical powers and goes on to be taught how to use them by Sphynx, a cat. Urban Fantasy inspired by the likes of Buffy, Charmed, Sailor Moon, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Themes involve family, responsibilities, and friendship. Venatores de Mythos Trilogy - My major WIP at the moment, I've written drafts for all three books but am waiting on feedback for book 1 before continuing editing. Urban Fantasy, follows three different characters who are all recruited by a mysterious agency that hunts and tracks down mythological creatures and artifacts. Globetrotting features a mixture of languages (Arabic, French, and Spanish with the main composition being in English). The main characters are from varying cultural backgrounds, each wildly different from the other with their own reasons for agreeing to join the agency. Percy Jackson kind of vibes. Chimera - Currently in the process of writing the first draft. Inspired by a short story I wrote for a recent competition following a mixed race, mixed species, witch and her family who are being hunted for parts. Dark Urban fantasy based in Australia, will feature lots of mythological influences. Adult because there's body horror, probably going to be some explicit sex scenes (not sure yet), and just generally dealing with heavier/darker themes. The Short Story Press Collection - A collection of short stories, currently available as an e-book on Amazon or in print (the print edition is newer and contains more stories than the e-book). Stories cover a range of genres from sci-fi, fantasy, gothic horror and more. Customerpocalypse - My first novel, currently available as an e-book on Amazon. Post-apocalyptic fantasy, written during a time when I was struggling with my mental health and it shows. If you've ever wondered why in post-apocalyptic video games there are NPCs who work in what's basically customer service then this might be for you.

Please shoot me an ask if you'd like to know more about any of my writing projects or about me. I'm hoping to share more on my WIPs here and to engage more, so please feel free to tag me in tag games!

You'll also see plenty of shares from fandoms I'm part of here, I have no intention of segmenting my Tumblr into two separate accounts so my apologies if you get spammed with Fairy Tail posts or DnD stuff (or anything else).

If you'd like to follow me on other social media or want to find my books here's a link you can follow for all of that: https://bit.ly/m/SashaHanton-Links

[havendance]

Having Finished Batman Eternal, I think it's a good time for another new52 read checkpoint/roundup:

Batman Eternal

This was a comic with far too many plotlines. Also, way too many twists. The ending sequence was pretty badass and I am a sucker for a good old 'let's all rally under the bat symbol!' montage but did we really need like three different twists in the last three issues?

I do think it had some fun beats for Steph especially at the end with her antagonism towards Batman

I wish I could have been more invested in the Row siblings but I think I have to admit that those characters just aren't for me. I do have thoughts about the parallels between Harper becoming Bluebird and Identity Crisis (the first one) (I think) for Tim (the story where he fought scarecrow) and how he became Robin there.

Just, Harper in general is a character that hits similar beats to Tim and I'm not sure why I'm neutral on her. Maybe it's because when she does it I miss post-crisis Tim.

On a different note, all the crime-lord Selina stuff is tempting me to go pick up her solo now

Julia was a highlight of this comic for me. She really grew on me and I love her now <3 Like, she did get stuck being an off-brand Oracle by the end, but also I am obsessed with her as this piece in the Bruce and Alfred relationship. Like, I think it would easy for her to hate Bruce, but she can't help but love and be sucked into his mission like everyone else and Bruce is also over here like 'alfred raised me' and he's sort of self-centered about that in a way but also he thinks Alfred and Julia's relationship is more important than either of them do and it's juicy!

Anyway, glad to be done (at least until I need to start Batman and Robin Eternal soon...)

Batman - I am currently still procrastinating on reading Batman: Endgame. I am sincerely toying with the idea of just skipping it because I do not particularly want to read another Joker event.

Batwoman - I finished reading this series and the last arc definitely felt weaker. Having an entire 'in medias res' issue to kick the thing off? I felt like I spent the whole issue waiting to get to the part where we flashed back to see how we got there and it just did not happen. I did like the Nocturna drama and the continued Kate-Maggie drama but the main plot was not all there imo. Oh, and the return of Alice, that was also fun. That being said, I am sad that this series got canceld because there was enough there that left me go 'well maybe the next arc would've been better'. Alas.

Arkham Manor - This was just a fun mini. It had a good mystery and some nice humor to it, and it was just a pleasant change of pace from everything else.

Grayson - Loved Grayson: Futures End, otherwise I keep re-writing this as I read to match the secret good version where Helena's in character in my head.

Batman and Robin - Damian is now back to life! I found myself largely uninvested in the whole Apokolipse fight though. Reading Kirby's Fourth World stuff endeared me more to those characters and that mythos but whenever Darkseid shows up to be a villain it sadly remains the most boring thing ever to me.

Detective Comics - I am enjoying the Manapul and Bucellato run on 'tec so far. Very good art. I remember enjoying the mystery, but it's been a minute since I read the first arc so I don't remember all of my thoughts there.

[lo-rebuildt]

Bullet points of Rewrite.

I'm currently re-reading LO (It took me a long time to get over S1 Episode 4.) But I wanna re rework and rewrite Persephones rage. The goal of the rewrite is to be as 'accurate' as possible in regards to Greek mythos and Greek characterization, *while* also being as true to the canon of Lore Olympus. That being said, there is some major differences right off the bat. More below.

Persephone is not 19 at the story's beginning because it bothers me. instead, she's *physically* about 22-23, nearing her studies' end.

Why do this? In the story, her education is always on the back burner. It's dropped and forgotten about as soon as Hades and other plot-points are brought up. Sure, she loses her scholarship and assumingly...drops out? But then other stuff happens and we don't see her try to go back to school or anything. (And I just found out she wanted to be a lawyer and we never hear from that again.)

In the rewrite she'll be almost finished college, with a diploma in a general course. This allows her to really discover what she wants, she took a general course, but shes interested in Law. This also adds some turmoil and a "Time limit" with her time spent on Olympus, as it's agreed that once she graduates she'll go back to the mortal world with her mother.

Persephone's powers are controlled, just not in the Underworld or Olympus.

Olympus and the Underworld(Hades) are different from the mortal realm so her powers are muted and act uncontrolled, however, within the mortal realm her powers are her own and she can use them. Also her powers aren't really "powers" at first.

She is not a fertility goddess.

The whole 'Fertility gods' thing will be reworked and probably scraped? But for now, she is definitely not one of them, Dionysus, Hera and maybe Demeter are the fertility gods.

Timeline of events *relating to Persephone*

Persephone is born to Demeter and Zeus. Zeus plays a part in her creation, and gives her the name 'Persephone' to her. Demeter calls Persephone 'Kore'

**When Persephone is in her teens, mortals kill an ancient nymph tree- one of Demeters best friends. Persephone, in her rage not only kills the mortal who did it, but essentially his entire kingdom. This event isn't anything new or unusual for gods of that time. However, since Persephone was a minor goddess the penalty/punishment for this action would've been severe. Demeter takes the blame and covers for her daughter.**

years later, Persephone is suffering from her past. She's haunted by guilt and lingering rage. She meets Apollo sometime around this time. Apollo wants Persephone on Olympus with him, after he finds out she's not a nymph, she's Demeters daughter.

She wants to go to Olympus for school, after Artemis and Athena tell her about it. She *somehow* manages to convince Demeter to let her go to Olympus for school. Demeter agrees but places some restrictions and rules-them being; she is to stay in the care of Artemis and Athena. She is to return to the mortal world every seasonal break to help her. Finally, she is to return to the mortal world at the end of her schooling.

**PERSEPHONE DOESN'T HAVE MONEY** Neither does Demeter, really. Persephone actually *is* a broke college student, she's accepted into school without the tuition costs because of her connection to Demeter and Zeus but aside from tuition being paid...she has to fend for herself.

When the story begins it's Athena's party, and Persephones first party on Olympus. She's been here for a while now, but stays low. She meets Hades at the party. (She doesn't know he's Hades and doesn't find out until later)

She and Apollo are 'dating' and Apollo pressures her for them to be public with their relationship. This causes her presence at school to change, as people start to recognize her as the lover of *THE* sun god.

She lands an internship (paid???) in Hades. During this time she is interested in the cthonic gods and deities, specifically the aspect of punishment that some mortals get. She meets the Erinyes, Thanatos, Hypnos, the other death gods etc.

Because Persephone is working in Hades and dating Apollo, alot of photos and articles about her has been circulating. However, Athena and Artemis work hard to make sure this doesn't get back to Demeter- who doesn't want Persephone to date or to work in the Underworld.

Persephone tries to quite literally bring the dead back to life- trying to "break" out some mortals (The same mortals she had killed years prior) This goes wrong and Hades reprimands her, stripping her of the internship, but agreeing to not press charges or any action against her. Because he's in love, yuck.

At this time, Hades is still involved with Minthe and Apollo is still dating Persephone. When Persephone's let go of her internship with Hades, Apollo brings up the topic of marriage.

Persephone rejects this, and Apollo, doesn't take the rejection well. He's aggressive and curses her out, but doesn't break up with her. hurt, confused and now without an internship, she flees back to the mortal realm.

Her mother, Demeter is overjoyed to see her back, but Persephone tells her she's just doing her internship with her.

Apollo, in Olympus realizes Persephone had left, and is probably going to stay in the mortal realm and just commute to school. He takes this news badly, and learns indirectly from Hermes about the underworld incident. He uses this to punish Persephone, and he not only notifies their father, Zeus but also goes to tell Demeter.

Zeus, not only enraged that his brother had just let Persephone go without punishment, is also now mad that Persephone had the balls to try and bring a mortal back to life- something that's FORBIDDEN. so then, the trial is held.

[ranuunculus]

thx @phant0m-l0rd for tagging me! (sorry I didn't do this sooner..!)

what book are you currently reading?

I'm re-reading The Lord of the Rings... but this time in English. I first read it in spanish some years ago and I need to freshen up my memory about it because I really like Tolkien's writing. Also been reading through Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos in between books!

what's your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year?

without a doubt it was Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse. It was beautifully realized and I had been anxiously waiting for it since the first film came out! It was truly beyond any expectations I could've had, it was insane!

what do you usually wear?

oversized t-shirts, the occasional button up shirt and ripped jeans :P

how tall are you?

I'm pretty short, like 1.65 m i think (or a bit less...?)

what’s your star sign? do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

I'm a libra! I share birthday's with Zi:Kill's Tusk :3

do you go by your name or a nickname?

online, nickname always, irl a mix of both i think

did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

I think it's too soon for me to make that call, but surely my younger self didn't foresee me turning out like this :P

are you in a relationship? if not, who is your crush if you have one?

nope, and I don't have a crush either, I'm a loser when it comes to romance..!

what’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

I'm good at fixing clothes, I think, and I suck pretty bad at doing my make-up :,)

dogs or cats?

I love both, but If i had to choose one as a pet for myself, I'd go with cats!

if you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favourite picture/favourite line/favourite etc. from something you created this year?

I'm very glad to say I'm currently very happy with everything I've painted this year which is surprising for me, but the Ghoul illustration I made is honestly one of my favorites, I had no idea what I was doing in the process but now I'm trying to reproduce it ;_;

what’s something you’d like to create content for?

I've been very proactive in making art for things that interest me lately... but I still want to expand on my Silmarillion designs and maybe even illustrate some scenes from the book!

what’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

besides visual kei in general, I've been playing Ace Attorney and it's VERY fun.

what’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

I can't think of anything at the moment

what’s a hidden talent of yours?

I guess I can mimic other accents when speaking pretty well..?

are you religious?

nope!

what’s something you wish to have at this moment?

I could really benefit from una torta de milanesa right neow... I'm hungry...

gonna tag... @blanktryptich and @6side9side (u don't need to answer all of this though...!)

[berkeley-mews]

6 and 18 for the book asks!!

thanks for sending in an ask <3

6. what books have you read in the last month?

being caught up in Assessment Mania, i've actually read pitifully little these last couple of weeks, but some highlights have been: re-reading henry v, agatha christie's ordeal by innocence (this was focused not so much on the investigation of a murder, as on its "human aspect", the consequences which the family of the victim faced -- the ending wasn't christie's best work, but the character construction was excellent!), a number of lovecraft's stories (in an attempt to get into the cthulu mythos), a non-fiction work called horror: a thematic history in fiction and film, which has a great chapter on mad science (my beloved <3), and robet bloch's psycho, which i am currently reading & uh. i wouldn't say "enjoying". it's quite terrifying, actually!

18. do you like historical books? which time period?

i've just realised this could mean "books about history" or "books from a specific period in history" :') oh well, let's do both.

i very much enjoy learning about history, though i rarely have the time to pick up books written specifically about historical moments/figures/etc. i glean a lot of historical background from reading other types of non-fiction (mostly literary criticism), though! i'm quite fond of the late 18th and 19th centuries in particular, and one book which i plan on reading soon is nicholas roe's radical years on wordsworth & coleridge :)

when it comes to books from histrical periods, i once again gravitate towards the 18th and 19th centuries (this is largely due to my incurable love of the gothic genre), although i very much enjoy early modern drama & medieval (english) literature too! i wish that 18th c novels in particular were more widely read because they offer, among other things, some of the most entertaining plots i've come across, emotionally highly-wrought characters, and much more fun that you'd expect! some of my favourites are roderick random, a simple story, the castle of otranto (the most accessible of the lot, if you're interested in getting into some 18th c literary shenanigans...), and caleb williams.

[an-aura-about-you]

Hi @an-aura-about-you 👋🏻 I love doing these Q&A things with my followers and those who I follow! So, I thought it would be fun to ask some friendship questions to you, as you seem like a very lovely person that makes me want to get to know you better, and the fact that we both follow each other! ��🥺

1. What is your favorite season and why?

2. What is your favorite genre of music and why? If you have one, what is your current favorite song/artist?)

3. What are your favorite ships and why? 🤔

4. What is your favorite book genre? (If you have one, what is your favorite book series/book/author?)

Thank you for taking the time to read this! ❤️❤️

*sees that I hadn't been following you and re-follows* That was probably an "I'm catching up on my tumblr backlog" thing. XD; But rest assured, should I unfollow someone, it is not out of malice or thinking we're not friends. (I've unfollowed irl friends before just because blogs didn't jive, y'know?)

My favorite season is a tie between spring and autumn. As I get older, I find I don't like extremes as much. The welcome warmth of spring and the refreshing chill of autumn are my favorite times. But honestly, there is some charm in every season.

My favorite genre of music is classical music, but more often than not nowadays I find I like music that tells stories. So not just opera and ballet but also concept albums. Covering all my bases on that, my current favorite song is Blood and Whiskey from High Noon Over Camelot by The Mechanisms and my favorite... well, not artist so much as composer is Tchaikovsky.

My favorite ships are: Jon/Martin from The Magnus Archives (I am not immune to office worker enemy to lover romance in my horror media, but also how they just genuinely become friends on the way to becoming a couple), Hamid/Azu from Rusty Quill Gaming (not just romantically but any way you could put them together, they're best friends and have such an instant rapport, like I swear Azu picked Hamid up and That Changed Him As A Person), Aziraphale/Crowley from Good Omens (I am also not immune to the opposites attract/not so different dynamic, especially when it's been going on for literal ages), and Mytho/Rue from Princess Tutu (so the thing both Mytho and Rue are missing for most of the series is agency but while Mytho's problem is he's a storybook character who literally lost his ability to make choices Rue's problem is coercion via parental abuse and I really fucking love that the first time she ever truly makes a choice on her own it's for his sake and hers).

Somehow I think my favorite book genre has become celebrity autobiography? I wasn't seeking this out as a genre, but my favorite book and some others I'm fond of can be called that. Right now, my favorite is The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero with help from Tom Bissell. It is Sestero's account of his friendship with notable So Bad It's Good movie director Tommy Wiseau and how his magnum opus The Room came to be.

Thank you for sending these in! <3

[transman-badass]

RE: Mythos Noir - I'm working on Wes's backstory some more as I do research and I'm changing things up quite a bit. I'm gonna post what I'm thinking about under the cut - if you're familiar with the 20s/30s, mind reading this over and giving me your opinions? Obviously these are spoilers for his character, so if you don't want that, probably should skip this, heh.

Wes was born female in Alabama, a bastard child of a preacher's daughter. His mother vanished not long after his birth, leaving him to be raised by his grandmother and grandfather. It was... not a great situation for him, but that's not what's important here. The important stuff is that Wes eventually left Alabama, after the death of both grandparents, and ended up in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. He wasn't part of that, obviously - he became part of the LGBT+ community that was there at the same time. Apparently there was quite the overlap between the two. During this time, Wes discovered he was, in fact, not a woman at all. More than that, he became a private detective. Presumably he abandoned any 'bad habits' [bigotry] he'd picked up in his birth state as well. But with the end of the good times and the beginning of the Great Depression - possibly even before it depending on how my research goes- Wes left the city he loved and headed to the only other place he knew he could be free - the New Orleans of the Northeast: Arkham, Massachusetts.

Its extremely possible Wes encountered some Mythos shenanigans in NYC, but without someone like O'Tipp, he'd have no way to understand what he was encountering.

He's also probably older than I wrote in A Meeting at the Sow's Ear. I'll have to rewrite that a bit at some point, but I'll keep the current version up for record's sake.

So! What do you think?

[baraste-legacy]

Ships: not many of those, now that I realize, which is curious. Maybe it's because I spend most of my potential shipping energy (Metric or Imperial units? 😛) in my own stuff. I've read tons of movie, TV, and game characters-based fanfics, and I guess it's more about the themes and writing than the specific pairings.

That said, there is one that I never see around (I even made an attempt at writing it): Mass Effect's Kaidan Alenko with… Ashley Williams! Not so much an actual thing going on as having Kaidan being enchanted by her and her antics without acting on it (the whole Normandy gang has enough shenanigans going on already).

Last Song: a cover of Sophie & Peter Johnston's "Torn Open" by Brothertiger and Yvette Young (that old synth-pop song has been forever with me, and I never expected anyone doing a cover, even less so a recent one).

Current reading: re-reading some of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series books. Also, some Cthulhu Mythos compilations, looking for fresh takes and angles on them (the less Euclidean the better). Thinking about getting some more Alastair Reynolds stuff: I'm a sucker for hard scifi's imaginary tech.

I recently re-read William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy in the original English (I read a translation decades ago, when my English wasn't able enough): it was nice getting to taste his style from back then. I tried his most recent stuff, but it was difficult: he has his tricks, and they feel more like vices at this stage.

Last Film: there was an attempt 😐. Several popcorn ones I tried to watch and couldn't get through, either out of cookie-cutterness (Lift) or bombastics (Rebel Moon's slomos-within-slomos). I hardly go to movie theaters these days: the really good multiplexes are far enough to be too inconvenient. Avatar 2 merited the effort. Dune 2nd part might, too, if it's not a dubbed version.

TV-wise, I'm watching True Detective Season 4th. Jodie Foster feels like she's having great fun playing this one.

I'm a Trekker (the weird kind whose first contact and love was Star Trek: The Motion Picture. TV SF-wise, Space:1999 was it 😤). ST:Lower Decks holds my faith on quality Star Trek, which is hysterical but I just don't know what's going on in the writing rooms these last decades: TNG-era Trek used to have a strong procedural TV element to it, and Deus-Ex-Machinating their way out of situations used to be a shameful last resort.

Damm, I'm such a greybeard 😂.

That said, ST:Strange New Worlds is a guilty pleasure. Cautiously curious about ST:Discovery's final season (it's been just too uneven a series).

Craving: a better attention span and willpower. I tend to overwhelm myself with projects and become paralyzed instead of just investing my time on them in an evenly fashion (even my fan art collectioning is suffering: there's a pile of a thousand plus drafted reblogs yet to tag and post 😭).

I think I won't tag anybody, if it's ok. I'm happy to show a little bit of ankle 😛, and everybody around is interesting, but I'm good with just whatever personal stuff casually emerges through the normal, daily Tumblring 🙂, so, reaching feels like I'd be imposing (I'm more expansive in other, more inherently chatty spaces, such as Discord. Here, I'm more of a lurker, I guess).

9 people you'd like to get to know better (Tag Game)

Tagged by @jukkariart - the little gremlin they are ;D

3 Ships • Canon Ship: Sarah Kerrigan & James Raynor (I am that old, yes) • OC Ship: My Gray Warden Aedan Cousland & The Witch of the Wild Morrigan (They're all bad decisions. These idiots hold a special place in my heart ❤️) • Ship of the Week: Tahr'rys Nelubin & Ashara Zavros (codependent idiots and disaster semi-couple partners)

1st Ship I'd say Jan Ors & Kyle Katarn but also Scully & Mulder. Can't decide. Seems I like complex and complicated ships the most. Sorry for not being sorry here.

Last Song: Many. I usually listen to Future-/SynthPop or a diversity of Trance radio channels at di.fm - depending on my mood Death-/Power-/NuMetal can occur too. It's radio guys - I don't know all the names of the songs they play lol

Current reading: I have the bad habit of reading several books and/or comics at once… 🫠 • The Cycle of Wind and Sparks aka The Chronicles of Hara by Alexei Pehov (Алексей Пехов) • The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers • The 13th Paladin Series by Torsten Weitze

Last Film: Trash! Rebel Moon, Forbidden World and our annual viewing of The Room on New Year's Eve, for sure.

Craving: Does it sound sad when I state that I crave some free time? There's only work, more work & even more work. I want some time to sleep and charge my creative batteries. Money can't buy that, though. Still, bills must be paid. So, it's back to work, I guess? 🥲

Tagging: No pressure (don't mind them if you were already tagged) @baraste-legacy @bigbadvv0lf @pioneer-over-c @xanthouransong @generouspicklesaladhumanoid @theoasiswinds @swtorpadawan @dingoat @kemendin

[helloamhere]

Hello! I just happened to see a reblog of This Multiplicity of Powers with your add about dealing with covid stuff, and I’m being shy bc that’s how in awe I am of your writing, but I wanted you to know that I’ve been recovering from long covid for the past 9 months and this fic was a literal turning point for me.

Idk how that even makes sense but the way you described Louis’ powers and feelings definitely intersected with the way my nervous system has been on the fritz and and the trauma of the whole experience and yeah. You deserve a more coherent message than this about it but I’m afraid if I wait and try to do that it’ll never get sent so I hope this will do!

And re being sick specifically, at this point I have a list of resources as long as my arm about what has gotten me from being bedridden for 3 mos to 2 Harry concerts - solo! On a train for an hour! - in one week, and daily long walks in the woods again, but I won’t share that unsolicited. however happy to come back/come off anon because the world NEEDS you well and making your art.

Like, I’m a professional writer irl, and have read plenty of literature, and probably tens of thousands of fics in the last 20 years and there’s maybe 5 authors in the whole of them I’d say this too—you have a gift unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The sentences you craft, the characters you create, the worlds you build?! The mythos?! Unfuckingbelievable.

Please stop believing in yourself in all of the levels you need to. Sending all the healing you’ve given me back at you. ❤️‍🔥🙏🏼

I saved this message like....like it was waiting for something that's too hot to pick up, but here I am a few days later and it's still burning my fingertips. I can't even tell you directly how much this meant to me because it's too hot to touch, too hard to look directly at it.

Thank you. I'm in pain and I'm scared and you have helped me so much with this one message. Thank you. I am so profoundly glad that TMOP spoke to you in a way that you could take up and do your own work with -- I fully believe that people read things and bring their own problem-solving genius to things and that when we write things we're mostly just trying to create a stage for someone to have their own process -- it's also just so SHOCKING to me, such a surprise to feel like everything I put in that story about bodies and healing and loving our fragile selves was helpful to real healing.

I would love to hear any of your resources about long covid. No obligation and do not fear or feel pressure, as I have a lot of support around me and a lot of access to information, but I am in the early days of struggling right now and truly having a hard time understanding what is happening and would welcome even just the comfort of other people's journeys (my current long covid experience seems focused on some kind of lung issue, like severe pain & tightness that just seemed to happen overnight even though I have no shortness of breath and all my cardiac health seems good). Feel free to send on anon or off, in any way you like. "long walks in the woods" is all I dream of right now. I am so happy for your progress and so full of warm wishes that it continue.

I've read this message over and over again. You are the reason I opened my novel manuscript file for the first time in a month, this weekend. I feel that healing you are sending back at me. Thank you for giving me this unconditional love and support. In the depths of all the bullshit right now your message feels like a literal gift from the universe.

[toomanybandstocare]

Y’know what would be so cool is if you did like an epilogue kinda thing where she meets Eddie again. Maybe Chrissy broke his heart and he grew up and matured a little or they ended up in the upside down years later somehow or she’s working somewhere and he meets her there like idk I loved it but part of me wanted some sort of closure or reunion after the whole drama but I think a time jump would work cause there’s no way you’d face someone again straight after that I’d literally skip town hahaha. Just an idea of course you don’t have to consider it or even read this or reply to me I’m just greedy for your writing lol

hey, camper!

i needed to sit on this and think about how i wanted to word how i feel about this series before answering.

i've mentioned in a different ask that i think for a lot of people, they seek fanfics and works as a way to escape. they want to ignore real life for a multitude of reasons. and real life just isn't something a lot of people want to read. that's just the way fiction is. we want to immerse ourselves in these fantastical adventures or feel overwhelming emotion or have a slice of comfort.

i didn't want to include closure in this fic, because in real life, you don't always get that. and since this is a primarily an angsty fic, i thought it would best fit here. rather than reader going through angst at the end, they finally let go of their feelings causing eddie to endure angst. then they move on. they go have fun. they enjoy the company of their best friend, steve. they're ready to start the next chapter of their life, how ever they want.

so i will not be writing an epilogue for the Heartbreaker Series- for the time being. i'm certainly open to the idea, but i want to take a break from this series and return to it later with a fresh perspective and new ideas. but i'm not promising i will write one. i wrote this series over the course of a week, and i could tell that, esp in p.4, that it started to feel less emotional and i wasn't as invested in it as i was at first. should i want to come back to this series, i want to improve the ending within the epilogue. and for that, i need to move onto other ideas and focus on fostering my creative writing skills once more. i am not the type of person who can just work one type of work for a long period of time. i like to bounce around!

so i'm going to be focusing on other ideas and stories to help myself grow and feel more confident in my writing again! currently, i'm working on a summer carnival series where each of the ST characters on my roster and i am so excited! i think partially is because my town fair is coming soon, and i'm really looking forward to going again. and i'm currently open for requests, so if you or any other campers have an idea or story you want to send my way or even chat about, i would love to hear from y'all! :)

probably not the answer you were expecting, but i wanted to try and express how i feel about this series. i absolutely love it and i'm so glad it was my re-debut to writing. but something's not clicking with it anymore. so i need to take a step back.

hope you're doing well!

Counselor Mythos, out! <3

[metanoiamorii]

I think I'm currently stuck on which wip project group to start with by (re) introducing, and what order to go in. The list would include:

A Hero To A Villain [current wip count: 4]: the main theme here is about colonization, slavery, and rebellion

A Story To Tell [current wip count: 3]: these are a little project of mine that are set entirely separated from my other projects, they are little rambles of stories I have for my fiance's novel, to help flesh out her story

Burn Together [current wip count 14]: the main theme here is dragons get to do war crime

From Eden [current wip count 18]: all that really happens here is witchcraft, and covens, because I wanted to write Harry Potter but better

I'd Rather Watch My Kingdom Fall [current wip count unknown]: this reads like a fantasy history book, honestly, telling of one specific old kingdom (it has dragons)

It's Ancient History [current wip count count 14]: this is themed after found family and finding where you belong (it also has dragons)

Keep Your Judgement [Current wip count 11]: this deals with demonization of culture, genocide, rebellion, and witchcraft

Monsters From The Shadow [current wip count 5]: this is loose mytho stories on the various gods and pantheons I've written into existence

No Longer Alone [Current wip count 14]: pirates. That's all that really matters. Pirates doing pirate things

The Devil You Forgot [current wip count six]: this is for the religious trauma people. Involving angels and demons, overthrowing gods, rebelling, finding yourself, etc

The Syndicate [Current wip count 28]: the main theme that ties all these projects together is organized crime

The World Set Aflame [current wip count 28]: these are what I refer to as my soap operas. They're all exactly that, soap operas. They're heavily East Asian themed

Who I Was Or Who I Am [current wip count 7]: this deals with found family, but found family who does war crime for each other, and accidentally fight gods to prove a point

I want to get back into posting here, and interacting with everyone, but I feel like I've been gone so long that it's pointless to try

[kitsoa]

Ok after reading your latest kh3 remind meta essay. Are you saying Sora's original lion person chainsaw weilder design is the one Yozora might be recalling? Because that'd be awesome if we got to see that Sora design in the game (also Zidane could be introduced around then as a FF companion). I'm definitely getting the impression Yozora knows a lot about whatever higher power is in the KH universe. Which makes sense since/if he's based off V!Noctis then Yozora should have deep connections to -

2 whatever diety of life/death/rebirth(?) that's most likely active in matters of universal laws. Which doesn't seem all that different from Sora's connection to Kingdom Hearts. How KH seems to choose and favor Sora over all other Keyblade weilders despite many weilders thinking others are more qualified. The big difference is is that Yozora is more aware of this reality questioning relationship then Sora is. But Sora is catching up. If KH1's first quote is anything to go by. Sora's always-

3 been confused and sensed something is wrong by his senseless reality. This alone binds the two characters together. Even characters who know the history of Keyblade wars and the Realm of Light being fractured don't sense how senseless their reality is. But deep down Sora and Yozora naturally question and feel unrest by existence itself. Something is wrong. Something isn't real. Does Yozora know his own current corrupted state even if he doesn't have the reasoning/ability to do anything-

5 about it yet? Does he see Sora as corrupted and needing to go back to his original design in order to fit the uncorrupted story? Whatever the case I think the bartending is important because it serves 2 purposes. 1) More insight/mystery of Yozora's personality and agenda. His idea of saving and connections to the FF crystal mythos that preserve and immortalized characters. 2) foreshadowing Sora's inevitable fate if he loses too much strength. Sora will be immortalized by Yozora. That is a -

6 fact I believe Yozora knows. He doesn't lose. I don't think he thinks he's really lost yet considering he just says 'my powers aren't needed YET'. How ominous. =I Maybe Yozora is in a war where all of reality is collapsing and they're fighting for their right to live on passed being CANCELLED to put it lightly. But Sora is special. He's from a different realm. But Yozora is heavily invested in saving him no matter what. Maybe Sora turning crystal will ensure he survives passed any end?

Oh, thank you anon for really considering that crazy meta essay I wrote.

Re:Sora’s “Original” appearance--> I didn’t want to say it outright because there is ultimately no substance to back up the claim but if we are to assume Yozora doesn’t always look like himself and we have a good suspicion that he is harkening to his V!Noctis-- then yeah-- The only other variation Sora has in the modern consciousness is Beta-Sora. I am alluding to that, which if true would be… admittedly kinda fanservice-awesome, but it would also complete the parallel the two types of endings draw between Sora and Yozora. It’s worth mentioning that… by definition one of these protagonists is wrong so the truth is that only one of them actually “got corrupted” and that is very much Yozora by meta-logic but the inverse created is meant to challenge what is real and fiction and expose the proverbial Creator from the woodworks. 

Re: How much Yozora knows→ Despite potentially not knowing of Nameless Star’s absences, I agree that Yozora has experienced a games-worth of content with the “I wandered here on accident and did some trials” line. He’s clearly encountered someone who has tasked him with Saving Sora and this fated meeting has MoM’s name written all over it. But I hesitate to think that Yozora is more cued in than Sora about the meta-reality. I think he has a different relationship to his dreams than Sora does and it makes his experience in the Final World and the meeting with Sora more grounded on his end. He understands them as ‘not real’. “I don’t look like this” “This isn’t the real world” etc. etc. Sora has more respect for the realm of dreams and thought because his world thrives on the happenings in between the physical world more so than probably Yozora’s does. That and Sora struggles with what is the real world on a regular basis due to his profession. He’s just too close to the action to have the clarity necessary to function. Yet in the end quote, Yozora’s just as confused about what is ‘real or not’ as Sora so it’s even.

As a result, I think Yozora is not aware of his corrupted existence. It’s his hostility to Sora of whom he wishes to ‘save’ that convinces me that he is unknowingly projecting his situation onto Sora (most likely due to some outside manipulation).

Re: Doomed End and Immortalization→ I don’t have the FF context with crystals to bounce off your point but it’s very thrilling to see this ‘crystal=preservation’ idea supported in some way because then his actions are a means to Save Sora. Your doomsday scenario is very enticing because of that.

In the essay, I talked about what it means to be alive and dead in the meta-perspective-- how sharing one's story is a form of immortalized preservation and how the story is never-ending unless something smothers it like executive meddling or the obscurity of time and negativity (a parallel for darkness and light? I once made a meta draft on this exact theme). That would work immensely well with Yozora’s motives but would require him to be more aware of his level of reality than I think the text supports. If we want to really dig in and continue to compare Yozora with V!Noctis and the FF15!Noctis-- knowing that this incarnation of Yozora represents the latter scenario… then that means he could be actively fighting against the ultimate DLC-cancelled fate of FF15. But I honestly think that strays too far from Nomura’s story. 

God! this is good stuff. Big thank you to you anon!!